Speaker 1: Welcome to this League uncut in the world of twenty
Speaker 1: four hour NBA news. Just do you lose Chris Haines,
Speaker 1: it's time, Mark Stein, It's show time Loop shakalaka Chris
Speaker 1: Hanes and Mark Stein. This line, uncutt is underway and
Speaker 1: on fire. This should be a good one. Stein and
Speaker 1: Haynes back again with you on this league uncut. We're
Speaker 1: recording on a Wednesday night. It'll be out Thursday morning,
Speaker 1: but it means given when we're actually at the MIC's here.
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant just made his long awaited debut for the
Speaker 1: Phoenix Suns tonight. Nice little twenty three points in twenty
Speaker 1: seven minutes. Kadie always does this. This is the third
Speaker 1: time he's come back from this kind of knee brain injury,
Speaker 1: and you know, he always he seems to make these
Speaker 1: things look like they didn't even slow him down when
Speaker 1: he when he gets back on the court so quickly.
Speaker 1: And look, I don't I don't think we want to
Speaker 1: read too much into it when they're playing a Charlotte team,
Speaker 1: even though Charlotte had won a few games in a row. Here,
Speaker 1: no LaMelo Ball, Obviously, LaMelo ball season is over. After
Speaker 1: the ankle injury he just sustained and had to undergo surgery.
Speaker 1: So I don't I don't want to make too much
Speaker 1: of it. But for a first look at the Phoenix Suns,
Speaker 1: Durant looked great, Devin Booker looked great, and I think
Speaker 1: they gave us a glimpse of why everybody is not everybody.
Speaker 1: But so many people think that the Suns can win
Speaker 1: the West now because I mean, their two main guys
Speaker 1: are just absolutely dangerous. What were you looking for tonight
Speaker 1: out of Kady? Oh? What was I looking for from Kady?
Speaker 1: I don't think I was looking anything related to Kady.
Speaker 1: I was looking at how the other guys were going
Speaker 1: to play and how they were going to mess with him.
Speaker 1: That's what I was looking forward to. I think you
Speaker 1: saw early on guys were kind of deferring to KD,
Speaker 1: trying to get him acclimated and get on some shots
Speaker 1: early on, and they did a good job. But you know,
Speaker 1: I'm not surprised by anything. KD was the last person
Speaker 1: I was looking at to try to see if he
Speaker 1: was going to be into form or not. He was
Speaker 1: going to be ready. Like you said, this is not
Speaker 1: the this is not the first time he's gone through
Speaker 1: something like this. But you know, I think that you know,
Speaker 1: they showed again it is Charlotte Hornets, but you know,
Speaker 1: they they're still trying to get a field for one another.
Speaker 1: And I think, you just they just have really smart guys.
Speaker 1: I'm talking about the star players, Chris Paul, Devin Booker
Speaker 1: and KD. These guys are too smart not to figure
Speaker 1: it out. And I think once they figure it, figure
Speaker 1: it out, man, And I think the only thing that's
Speaker 1: going to be able to stop them is an injury.
Speaker 1: So you know, so far, so good. It looks good.
Speaker 1: Chris Paul didn't have that a good game offensively, but
Speaker 1: he still had eleven assists and so he's still going
Speaker 1: to be effective. And you know, they're just still getting comfortable. Man,
Speaker 1: They're right now. I still I feel like they're going
Speaker 1: to be the team to be for sure. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: I remember we had Jamal Crawford on not that long ago,
Speaker 1: and Jamal was saying that he thinks KD will get
Speaker 1: acclimated here in record time because these guys are all
Speaker 1: so skilled. But I mean, it is it is a
Speaker 1: pretty fascinating contrast that the Suns are really gonna get
Speaker 1: not even twenty games, because I'm sure there's going to
Speaker 1: be a game here too down the stretch where you know,
Speaker 1: they don't have all three, they don't have Chris, Paul
Speaker 1: and Book and Kad. I'm sure one of them is
Speaker 1: going to miss at least one game here for down
Speaker 1: the stretch, So they're not even gonna get twenty games
Speaker 1: together until the playoffs. And the other three teams that
Speaker 1: I think are recognized as the best in the league
Speaker 1: Denver in the West, Boston and Milwaukee in the East,
Speaker 1: and even if you want to throw Philly in there,
Speaker 1: all these teams have a lot more continuity. So it
Speaker 1: is such a contrast to see how the Sons can
Speaker 1: they you know, can they mesh super quick and become
Speaker 1: an instant factor and they're going to have to overcome
Speaker 1: top contenders who have so much more time together. But
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I live in Dallas. Obviously, the
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving trade has not worked anywhere close to what
Speaker 1: the MAVs had hoped coming off the bat. They're you know,
Speaker 1: one and four when Kyrie and Luca both play, and
Speaker 1: you know that win was the only win was against
Speaker 1: San Antonio. But the anticipation for Sunday's game here in Dallas.
Speaker 1: I'm actually surprised I'm going to be at a big
Speaker 1: game and you are not, unless you're planning on making
Speaker 1: a surprise trip here Sunday. That I don't know about
Speaker 1: that Suns MAVs game. The Sons and MAVs already hate
Speaker 1: each other after last season seven game playoff series. But
Speaker 1: now to see k d in here with all those
Speaker 1: familiar Sons faces and taking on Luca and Kyrie, that
Speaker 1: that that is going to be a wild Sunday afternoon Sunday.
Speaker 1: So that's not going to be a nationally televised game there, huh.
Speaker 1: I think it is. No, it's I mean, it's a
Speaker 1: noon start, so it has to be. I think it
Speaker 1: has to be on national TV. It's a great question.
Speaker 1: I haven't I haven't looked. I just assumed at noon
Speaker 1: that it is a national TV game. I'm actually gonna
Speaker 1: check now, but I think it's got to be if
Speaker 1: it's that, because a noon tip off in Dallas is
Speaker 1: really early. You know, you say, you know the Lakers
Speaker 1: MAVs last Sunday was two thirty. Yeah, it's ABC. It's
Speaker 1: an ABC game. Okay, that's going to be a real
Speaker 1: You know what, Stein, if I didn't have to fly
Speaker 1: to Minnesota the next day, I probably would be at
Speaker 1: that game. I probably would be at the game. That's
Speaker 1: going to be a very interesting game. But you talk
Speaker 1: about Steyn, you talk about guys still mashing and teams,
Speaker 1: you know, still trying to figure things out, trying to
Speaker 1: implement these new guys. I just I'm covering the Clippers
Speaker 1: this week. So I had the Clippers Timberwolves Tuesday for TNT,
Speaker 1: and now I have the Clippers Warriors Thursday, which is
Speaker 1: tonight for T and T as well. And Russ is
Speaker 1: not to blame for sure, but they have yet to
Speaker 1: get a win since Russ has been on board. They're
Speaker 1: O and three, so they're still trying to figure things out.
Speaker 1: Kyrie still trying to figure things out with Dallas. Who else?
Speaker 1: This seems like somebody else is going through a bit
Speaker 1: of a process here since being DEALT dropped the Clippers
Speaker 1: up because we were talking before we started what else
Speaker 1: we did we want to get into, and I forgot
Speaker 1: I did want to bring up the Clippers since you
Speaker 1: you you are seeing them, So do you think are
Speaker 1: they you know? I think you summed it up well,
Speaker 1: they're oh and three since since Russ joined them. But
Speaker 1: you know, Russ has played well and he's done what
Speaker 1: they want him to do. I mean it's not just him.
Speaker 1: I mean he had seven turnovers in his Clipper debut,
Speaker 1: but he also add what I think seventeen seven, seventeen,
Speaker 1: fourteen and five, and I mean they are a high
Speaker 1: turnover team. That's not just on him. How do you
Speaker 1: think they're kind of coping with the slow start because
Speaker 1: they were playing well before they got him. They were, um, look,
Speaker 1: they're a high turn I'm glad you mentioned that they
Speaker 1: are a high turnover team. And last night for Tuesday Night,
Speaker 1: Paul George will turning the ball over. They all were.
Speaker 1: I think they had twenty five turnovers in that loss
Speaker 1: to the Temples. And Russ looks good. Russ looks good
Speaker 1: with them. I don't know what it is with this
Speaker 1: spadum ty Lou. You know, I spoke to him at
Speaker 1: the end of the third quarter and he was talking
Speaker 1: about guys playing with heart and effort, and you know,
Speaker 1: talking like that this late in the season, that's not
Speaker 1: really encouraging. You know, if you're a team that's trying,
Speaker 1: if you're a team that has aspirations of winning the championship.
Speaker 1: So they got some things to figure out. Man. That
Speaker 1: definitely did some twitter noise that that in game interview
Speaker 1: you had with ty Lu because basically he I mean,
Speaker 1: he said they weren't playing hard enough, right, I mean
Speaker 1: that's basically what he said. Yeah, you don't You don't
Speaker 1: hear that. Again, you don't hear that this late in
Speaker 1: the season from a team that we expect, or we
Speaker 1: we think has a legitimate shot to be amongst the
Speaker 1: final two. But I don't know. This is not a
Speaker 1: rust thing. It's not a rust thing for sure. But God,
Speaker 1: they gotta figure they gotta figure something out. You know,
Speaker 1: they got the Warriors. You know, here tonight in Golden State.
Speaker 1: I'm here. The water is beautiful, by the way, beautiful weather,
Speaker 1: beautiful weather. Oh loo. I love the bay. I love
Speaker 1: the base. I don't know if I told you that. No,
Speaker 1: it's not in the come on now, well we don't
Speaker 1: get much snow in the base time. It's beautiful, man, beautiful.
Speaker 1: So you know, they got their work cut out. They
Speaker 1: definitely have they work cut out. The Clippers that is.
Speaker 1: And look, let's not forget that the Warriors here with
Speaker 1: no Steph. Draymond's been banged up a little bit recently,
Speaker 1: they've actually managed to win a few without these guys,
Speaker 1: and they've creeped back up into the top six. And
Speaker 1: it's really what they did the first time Steph got
Speaker 1: hurt with a long term absence this season. I remember
Speaker 1: talking about it with him when I caught up with
Speaker 1: the Warriors on the road and had a chance to
Speaker 1: visit with him in January. And this is now the
Speaker 1: second time this season that the Warriors have managed to
Speaker 1: string some wins together in the face of injury, and
Speaker 1: it sounds like Steph's coming back next week and suddenly,
Speaker 1: finally we've been waiting for them to, you know, turn
Speaker 1: it on and look like some semblance of the defending champions.
Speaker 1: But I'm sure that there's I mean, they have to
Speaker 1: be feeling good right now too. I mean, a three
Speaker 1: game winning streak normally wouldn't be caused for celebration when
Speaker 1: you won four championship in eight years, but in this
Speaker 1: season's West, you win three in a row and you
Speaker 1: go skyrocketing up the standings, which is what's happened. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's what that's the situation. A lot of teams in
Speaker 1: the West, you know, see themselves in right now. Three
Speaker 1: game losing streak could really put you down. Three game
Speaker 1: winning streak could really take you up. There's still a
Speaker 1: lot of time, and that's why this race is gonna
Speaker 1: be really it's gonna be really good, you know, as
Speaker 1: we get you know, towards the latter part of this
Speaker 1: regular season. I think it's gonna make it for a a
Speaker 1: great TV. There's gonna be a lot of teams in,
Speaker 1: a lot of teams out. The play in is gonna
Speaker 1: be that much more I wasn't a fan of play
Speaker 1: in implementation a few years ago. I think it's going
Speaker 1: to be that much more compelling now, you know, with
Speaker 1: how tight the race is with these teams, and so
Speaker 1: they go to State Wars. You're looking at st I'm
Speaker 1: looking at the schedule for to go to State Wars,
Speaker 1: and you know, they got the Clippers Thursday, they got
Speaker 1: New Orleans Friday, then they're at Lakers Sunday and at
Speaker 1: Okac Tuesday. I'm thinking about I don't have any intil
Speaker 1: on this right now, but if I'm Steph and the
Speaker 1: word is he could come back next week. Uh, that
Speaker 1: March seventh game against Okac. OKC looks pretty good. You
Speaker 1: know you think about like when when when star players
Speaker 1: like to come back from long hiatus, is from an injury.
Speaker 1: You know, you look at you look at some of
Speaker 1: those games, look at the schedule, you look at the UH.
Speaker 1: You just look at the UH the competition of what
Speaker 1: that team presents. And I think OKAYC makes a lot
Speaker 1: of sense. Again, don't have any intail, but I just
Speaker 1: see OKAYC on the March seventh Tuesday. Then after that
Speaker 1: they got Memphis, Milwaukee, Phoenix. It's it's tough. They gotta
Speaker 1: the Warriors got a tough schedule. Okay. Oh they well,
Speaker 1: they're they're gonna they're they're gonna cut They're gonna cut
Speaker 1: off right before you said that, so they're not gonna
Speaker 1: get that warning. One more thing about the clip. Since
Speaker 1: again you just saw them with your own eyes, I
Speaker 1: have not seen them yet since Russ joined them. Does
Speaker 1: Russ look comfortable to you? He's looking good, man, He
Speaker 1: looks good stuff. He looks really good. He's not he's
Speaker 1: more in control right now. And I think he's probably
Speaker 1: more in control now because they have a lot of
Speaker 1: guys who hand to the ball with Lakers. It was
Speaker 1: pretty much him and Lebron. You know, here you got
Speaker 1: Paul George handles the ball a lot, Kawhi handles the
Speaker 1: ball a lot. Ye Terence Man who comes off the
Speaker 1: bench and handles the ball a lot, so he doesn't
Speaker 1: have to do as much. But he's looked he's looked
Speaker 1: really good. You know. I overheard him, you know, as
Speaker 1: as a sideline reporter, you're allowed to, you know, go
Speaker 1: behind the team's bench during the time out huddles, and
Speaker 1: at one point, and I said it on the air,
Speaker 1: at one point he was like the real vocal guy
Speaker 1: telling everybody to get back in transition and explain to
Speaker 1: him to how, you know, I half court defenses is great,
Speaker 1: but Minnesota is getting their their points because we're not
Speaker 1: getting back in transition and we're not finding a guy.
Speaker 1: So he was really vocal. And if you look at
Speaker 1: that Clippers roster, they don't have a lot of vocal
Speaker 1: guys on that roster, and so that that that's a
Speaker 1: void right there that I think, you know, he takes
Speaker 1: care of and I think it's a good addition. I
Speaker 1: definitely think it's a better fit for him with the Clippers.
Speaker 1: I do got a question. Play started as I looked
Speaker 1: this up. It's pertained to rush total. Me. Let me
Speaker 1: look up this stat real quick. Okay, this season Russ
Speaker 1: has started, damn that's it. He started a total of
Speaker 1: six games total, and he's played in a total of
Speaker 1: fifty five fifty two with the Lakers, three for the Clippers,
Speaker 1: and it looks like he's going to be the starter
Speaker 1: from here on album Does this eliminate him from the
Speaker 1: six men a year? Candacy? The rule is, the official
Speaker 1: rule is as if he plays as long as you've
Speaker 1: as long as you've come off the bench one more
Speaker 1: game than you start, you're eligible. So even if he
Speaker 1: starts every game he plays for the Clips, he's going
Speaker 1: to be way under fifty percent. And so he's good.
Speaker 1: But I guess the biggest way to explain is if
Speaker 1: he had if he had played seventy games, if he's
Speaker 1: played thirty six off the bench and thirty four as
Speaker 1: a starter, he's eligible. All right with you saying that?
Speaker 1: And I'm not trying to start something here, but what
Speaker 1: you saying that, Stime? You know, I spoke to somebody
Speaker 1: from the Clippers yesterday and I was asking, you know,
Speaker 1: how teams start to towards the end of the year,
Speaker 1: they start to send out these packets or these gifts
Speaker 1: to media members to get you to vote for whatever
Speaker 1: candidate that they're trying to promote, whether that's MVP or whatever.
Speaker 1: And so I asked about what the Clippers, will you
Speaker 1: guys be trying to advocate for run to get six
Speaker 1: man a year even though he's not going to be
Speaker 1: a six man prospect for you guys, And what I
Speaker 1: was told was no, they would likely only do it
Speaker 1: for Norm Powe. Well, look, I mean the reality is
Speaker 1: he's not going to come off the bench for them,
Speaker 1: so I guess I could see it to a degree.
Speaker 1: But on the flip side, yeah, like he is their
Speaker 1: player now, and if that's the award Russ is eligible for,
Speaker 1: I mean it would be I think it would be
Speaker 1: weird if the Clippers are sending out all this And
Speaker 1: like you said, you know so many teams send us
Speaker 1: paraphernalia to try to get us to vote a certain way.
Speaker 1: I have not been an active voter since twenty seventeen.
Speaker 1: I still make my picks public, but they're not official picks.
Speaker 1: It's just the ballot that I do for publishing purposes.
Speaker 1: So I haven't. I haven't actually voted on anything since
Speaker 1: since twenty seventeen, which was the year that Russ won MVP.
Speaker 1: And yes I did vote for Russ. And no, I'm
Speaker 1: not taking that one back. I think he deserved the
Speaker 1: MVP that year. But we'll get into that one. We'll
Speaker 1: get into that one another for Russ that year as well. Um,
Speaker 1: the Rockets were mad at me. The Rockets were mad
Speaker 1: at me that year about because I told him, No,
Speaker 1: I told him because Russ wanted the last few weeks
Speaker 1: of that season. You know, I had hardened, Like I
Speaker 1: was telling people, you know, look like Harden is gonna
Speaker 1: get it. That's where my vote is gonna go. And
Speaker 1: and Russ just had a crazy two weeks span. Has
Speaker 1: has some game winners in that last two weeks. You know,
Speaker 1: that's a that's a different topic for the day. But yeah, no,
Speaker 1: same thing. I thought that that was the season that
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant went to the Warriors, and I thought Oklahoma
Speaker 1: City was going to fall off the face of the
Speaker 1: NBA map. They I think, won forty seven games, and
Speaker 1: Russ average the first triple double since uh since Oscar
Speaker 1: And for me, forty seven wins with that team after
Speaker 1: losing in k D and the Oscar Feet. To me,
Speaker 1: it was close enough to fifty wins that Russ got
Speaker 1: my vote. And that's always been the standards, you know,
Speaker 1: since since I've been covering the league. You got to
Speaker 1: go all the way back to Moses Malone in the
Speaker 1: early eighties with Houston for the last MVP from a
Speaker 1: non fifty win team except the two exceptions. I'm doing
Speaker 1: this off the top of my head, so if if
Speaker 1: I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will correct me. But I
Speaker 1: think the only two MVPs we've seen since Moses with
Speaker 1: less than fifty wins were Russ and Yokich last year,
Speaker 1: So I do I'm with you. I thought he deserved it.
Speaker 1: But again that I'm sure now we're gonna get a
Speaker 1: We're gonna get a lot of a lot of a
Speaker 1: lot of people who don't like either one of us
Speaker 1: after we can rebrought We brought that back up. But look,
Speaker 1: it's a tough six man field. Powell certainly in it,
Speaker 1: Malcolm Brogden certainly in there, Tyrese Maxie certainly in there.
Speaker 1: But that was a great question that you asked the Clippers,
Speaker 1: because that's kind of a that is kind of uncomfortable
Speaker 1: for them, Like Norman Powell is he's been a Clipper
Speaker 1: all year, but Russ is a Clipper now, so it's like,
Speaker 1: do they just not promote him? And that was you know,
Speaker 1: I didn't get the chance to talk to Russ. We
Speaker 1: you know, we said what's up before the game, but
Speaker 1: I didn't get the chance to talk to him about
Speaker 1: I'm curious to see how he feels about it, Like,
Speaker 1: is that an award? He really wants it because it
Speaker 1: took a lot for him to buy into that role
Speaker 1: and then he bought into it and he excelled. So
Speaker 1: you know, I'm interest in the scene and how how
Speaker 1: he feels about it. Does he feel like that that's
Speaker 1: an award that he should still be in the running
Speaker 1: for it, even though he's like he's going to be
Speaker 1: a starter. Maybe you'll get that chance to ask him
Speaker 1: before Thursday's game to work at India, to work at
Speaker 1: India coverage. I'm sure he's gonna be glad to see you, Russ.
Speaker 1: You know, Russ's hitting this man. You never know what, Russ.
Speaker 1: I'm absolutely furious. I can't believe you're doing that game
Speaker 1: instead of the game that's in my city. You could
Speaker 1: have been you know, you could have been on you
Speaker 1: could have been on Sixers, MAVs six things. What day?
Speaker 1: What day is that? That's that's the first game of
Speaker 1: the doubleheader. Wow, Sixers, Sixers, MAVs than Clippers, Warriors. They
Speaker 1: I mean, you're a West Coast guy. Let's face it,
Speaker 1: you're they sent me. They're sent to me to Minnesota Monday,
Speaker 1: Minnesota Sixers. I love Minnesota. Minnesota for a visit. Now.
Speaker 1: I don't know if I could live in Mines in Minneapolis,
Speaker 1: but I love visiting Minneapolis. Yeah, it's I've gravitated to
Speaker 1: it more of the last few years. But no, typically
Speaker 1: I prefer to get away from the snow. Start. I
Speaker 1: got a snow story, Can I say it? Now? Start? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: we got we all we're always ready for a story.
Speaker 1: You know. It's like an old bad I got a
Speaker 1: story to tell. So when I I'm from California, born
Speaker 1: and raised Fresno, California. Never really lived outside of California
Speaker 1: until I took the Cleveland Cavalier. No excuse me when
Speaker 1: I moved to Portland. Moved to Portland when I was
Speaker 1: like twenty seven. But then When I moved to Cleveland
Speaker 1: to cover Lebron, I was what thirty and this was
Speaker 1: twenty fourteen, So that was my first time really outside
Speaker 1: the West Coast. Spent about three to four years in
Speaker 1: Portland before that, but California my whole life. So so
Speaker 1: I don't know if you noticed, but in California, if
Speaker 1: you if you come up in the hood, right, we
Speaker 1: tend to have beat up cars. You know, we tend
Speaker 1: to buy cars for around five hundred a thousand dollars
Speaker 1: and you know it's not the best of shape, but
Speaker 1: they get you from point A to point B. And
Speaker 1: for a lot of our cars, we ten to fill
Speaker 1: the radiator up with water opposed to something else that
Speaker 1: I will talk about later. But so you know a
Speaker 1: lot of times you know your car may be leaking,
Speaker 1: and you know with with uh maybe leaking in you know,
Speaker 1: we put water in your your car's over heating, we
Speaker 1: put water in it. Put water in it. Pull up
Speaker 1: to pull up to your homeboys porch, get the water holes,
Speaker 1: put water in the radiator to take you where ever
Speaker 1: you need, wherever you need to go. All right, So
Speaker 1: that's always been my philosophy. So now I'm in Cleveland Star.
Speaker 1: And I just moved to Cleveland and I'm there for
Speaker 1: a few days and I had to go to Brazil.
Speaker 1: The Calves were playing the Miami Heat. Uh preseason. Did
Speaker 1: you go to that too, Star, No, you didn't go
Speaker 1: to that? Okay, all right, So win Horse was there.
Speaker 1: Win Horse was there. So anyways, I leave my car,
Speaker 1: which I drove from Portland to Cleveland. Leave my car
Speaker 1: to the airport. From Portland to Cleveland. No problems. Yes,
Speaker 1: car made it all the way from Portland to Cleveland.
Speaker 1: It's a little it's hoopedie. I have made it all
Speaker 1: the way from Portland to Cleveland. So I'm at the
Speaker 1: I'm at I'm in Brazil. And while I'm gone for
Speaker 1: that week's time, a snowstorm happened in Cleveland. It's like
Speaker 1: one of the coldest periods and in a while. So
Speaker 1: I get back to Cleveland snow. I've never really seen
Speaker 1: snow like that, never been in snow like that. So
Speaker 1: I get to my car in the parking lot of
Speaker 1: the airport. Try to start it. It wouldn't start. It's
Speaker 1: making a noise I've never heard it make before. You know,
Speaker 1: I've been in lots of cars where it wouldn't start up.
Speaker 1: But I've never heard a sound like this before. Never
Speaker 1: ever could have explained the sound to you if I tried. So,
Speaker 1: get the car towed from the airport to the mechanic,
Speaker 1: and a mechanic evaluates it and said, bro, I've never
Speaker 1: seen anything like this. And I'm like, what are you
Speaker 1: talking about? He said, your engine it's frozen. I'm like,
Speaker 1: what you mean, my engine is frozen. I said, well,
Speaker 1: you know it's snowing out here, like the snow can
Speaker 1: freeze the engine. It was like, no, your engine is
Speaker 1: frozen because you've been putting water all throughout your system
Speaker 1: and it froze everything and it cracked your engine. He
Speaker 1: was like, you have to put Annie freeze in here.
Speaker 1: You're supposed to put Addie freeze. And I'm like, hold on,
Speaker 1: I said, so Addie freeze don't freeze. He said, yes,
Speaker 1: that's why it's called Antie freeze. Start. I'm from California.
Speaker 1: I had no clue how Annie freeze works. Man, I
Speaker 1: had no clue. I messed up a perfectly good vehicle
Speaker 1: because I was doing my California regiment in Cleveland, and
Speaker 1: so you had to get a new car. I had
Speaker 1: to get a new car. What was the car? What
Speaker 1: kind of car was it that you lost? This was
Speaker 1: a god are you familiar? Oh? This car was only around,
Speaker 1: I want to say, for like a five year window.
Speaker 1: And I'm ashamed to say it, but a brother was
Speaker 1: struggling back there. I wasn't on my feet financially back then.
Speaker 1: But do you remember the cars they called a Sterling?
Speaker 1: Do you remember those? I don't. It was a it's
Speaker 1: a foreign car. They were probably around for Oh, they're
Speaker 1: probably around for seven years, probably seven years if that.
Speaker 1: They started having a whole bunch of problems and they stopped.
Speaker 1: They stopped making them. It's called a Sterling. Are you looking?
Speaker 1: You looking at up Stein, You see it. It's a
Speaker 1: Sterling old in North America from nineteen eighty seven to
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety one, So I had to have the latest
Speaker 1: version of ninety one in twenty fourteen. The car was done.
Speaker 1: It was really the car was Uh, it was as savable.
Speaker 1: I mean, you could probably could argued the car was
Speaker 1: done even before that incident. But it got me from
Speaker 1: point A to point B. Yeah. I got you all
Speaker 1: the way from the five O three all the way
Speaker 1: to Cleveland. Yeah, man, yeah, that so that's my story.
Speaker 1: So Anna freeze doesn't freeze everybody. So that's how you know.
Speaker 1: But again in California, we don't know. We don't. We
Speaker 1: didn't have to do that. We didn't have to use that.
Speaker 1: Throw some water in there, your car run, your car
Speaker 1: runs five. That is not the story I thought you.
Speaker 1: I don't even know how weega. Now we haven't even
Speaker 1: talked about Lebron yet and the most serious derail the
Speaker 1: Lakers season. And I'm supposed to come up with a
Speaker 1: clever segue after that story. Well, okay, well let's let's
Speaker 1: let's go. Let's get to Lebron. You know, my car's
Speaker 1: not running. Lebron's not running right now, so let's go.
Speaker 1: I know they're saying two to three weeks and they'll
Speaker 1: be reevaluated. I mean, so what I can say on
Speaker 1: Lebron is that sources didn't inform me that you will
Speaker 1: not require surgery. That's good news. And so that's that's
Speaker 1: good news for the Lakers. So right now, it's all
Speaker 1: about time in the rehabbing process. And this this is
Speaker 1: this is why it's the crucial period. You know, the
Speaker 1: Lakers have to really do what they can to buy
Speaker 1: him some time. And what I mean by that is
Speaker 1: they gotta win. They gotta win. They gotta win. They
Speaker 1: gotta win a chuck of games, move up these standings
Speaker 1: to keep buying Lebron some time. That's what it's gonna
Speaker 1: take during this process. Could Lebron get out there and
Speaker 1: play right now? You know, it'll be a risk, but
Speaker 1: I think he probably could, you know, if he if
Speaker 1: he just necessarily had to. But it's too much of
Speaker 1: a risk, it's too much pain right now. The plan
Speaker 1: right now is to give him as much time to heal, um,
Speaker 1: you know, for this rehab process. But the Lakers gotta win.
Speaker 1: They gotta win. They gotta keep winning. They gotta buy
Speaker 1: on time. But the good I mean they manufactured to win.
Speaker 1: They manufactured a big win tonight. Yeah nod with no Lebron,
Speaker 1: no AD, no DeAngelo Russell. I mean, look, everybody now
Speaker 1: is pointing at a D and saying, you know, he's
Speaker 1: the one who's gotta you know, be the savior and
Speaker 1: all that, and and I do get that, but I
Speaker 1: don't know, I just I feel like a D. I mean, look,
Speaker 1: the numbers are the numbers, and the past three seasons
Speaker 1: since the bubble. He's he's basically missed half the games.
Speaker 1: There's no getting around that. But you can also say,
Speaker 1: I mean the reality is Lebron. If if Lebron misses
Speaker 1: two three weeks and then comes back, I mean, this
Speaker 1: is gonna be the third successive season that Lebron has
Speaker 1: lost thirty thirty percent of the season or more to
Speaker 1: injury too. So it's it's not all just a d
Speaker 1: And I don't know, I just I just I you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's easy to go after him and you know
Speaker 1: every you know, street clothes and day to day Davis
Speaker 1: and all that stuff, and I just think it's too much.
Speaker 1: I think it's gone too far. He is still such
Speaker 1: a good player. I mean, you saw what he did
Speaker 1: in Dallas on Sunday. The guy is still a monster,
Speaker 1: great player, great player. He's one of my favorite players
Speaker 1: to watch, you know, just the versatility of his game,
Speaker 1: you know, And I told him that, But yeah, I mean, Wronka, right,
Speaker 1: He's going to get a bulk of the credit and
Speaker 1: a bulk of the blame that the Lakers fall short
Speaker 1: because this is such a pivotal period right now, because
Speaker 1: again they have to hold down the fort not even
Speaker 1: hold down the fourth. They got to move up the fort.
Speaker 1: You know, they got to move up in the fort
Speaker 1: while Lebron James is out, which is not an easy task.
Speaker 1: But I think they still have the depth to do it.
Speaker 1: They just have to. Ad has to play like a monster.
Speaker 1: He has to get the most out of his guys.
Speaker 1: And you know, look, man, nobody's gonna feel sorry for him.
Speaker 1: You know, this is the Los Ange Lakers. Nobody's feeling
Speaker 1: sorry for. Everybody outside the Laker Land is you know,
Speaker 1: hoping they don't make it. I mean, here's the thing.
Speaker 1: A month ago, they didn't have that. They did not
Speaker 1: have the depth. I mean, now they really do. When
Speaker 1: you bring in Russell and Vanderbilt and Hatchet, Mura and Bomba,
Speaker 1: you know they've they've made all these editions, so they are,
Speaker 1: you know, Malik Beasley, They're a much deeper team than
Speaker 1: they were, There's no question about it. So there is
Speaker 1: more firepower there for them to get through. I mean,
Speaker 1: it sounds like D'Angelo Russell should be back soon, so
Speaker 1: I mean it'll be he and he and a D
Speaker 1: leading the way. But then then the other thing is,
Speaker 1: you know, I I don't know it's just some of
Speaker 1: the some of the discourse to me is just crazy
Speaker 1: because before this injury, when Lebron missed three games, Lebron
Speaker 1: pass Kareen to get the all time scoring lead. But
Speaker 1: then the left foot issue, he missed three games in
Speaker 1: a row. You came on this podcast and talked about
Speaker 1: how he's been playing through way more pain than people realize.
Speaker 1: But there were there. You know, you still see that
Speaker 1: chatter out there that Lebron's had he just wanted the
Speaker 1: record and he's he's good with the record. No, he's
Speaker 1: not just good with the record, because I think he's
Speaker 1: going to get the most blamed if the Lakers missed
Speaker 1: the playoffs, whatever the circumstances, no matter how many games
Speaker 1: ad misses, no matter no matter how many other injuries
Speaker 1: there are, Lebron's resume will take the hardest hit. It
Speaker 1: will be three non playoffs seasons out of five, and
Speaker 1: if he's on the team, he's the one who's gonna
Speaker 1: bear the brunt of it. That's all. That's the way
Speaker 1: it is. He is the face of that franchise, and
Speaker 1: so you know he's the one, I think who really
Speaker 1: is going to take the brunt of it. If the
Speaker 1: Lakers missed the playoffs again. So, um, I'm sure if
Speaker 1: he can get back out there, he's gonna find a
Speaker 1: way because you know, to just to to to miss
Speaker 1: the rest of the season and and and this thing
Speaker 1: and badly again. I mean, I don't even know where
Speaker 1: the Lakers go from here if that happens. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: that's that, that's that same foot stein And again, you
Speaker 1: know I said it back whenever I said that a
Speaker 1: few weeks ago. You know, Lakers were not putting that
Speaker 1: injury on the on the injury list it was. They
Speaker 1: were saying it was his ankle, and I was hearing
Speaker 1: it was that right foot. So I don't hear it
Speaker 1: was the same foot. Not mean I guess what it
Speaker 1: was that same foot, Yes, that same foot. And I
Speaker 1: don't know, you know, I don't want to, you know,
Speaker 1: I don't want to jump to conclusions and say that
Speaker 1: that injury or what was bothering him led to ultimately,
Speaker 1: you know, this injury. But you know it's hard not
Speaker 1: to try to connect the dots right there. Yeah. Look,
Speaker 1: you know they're not publicly, they're not saying very we
Speaker 1: have very few specifics about what this injury that has
Speaker 1: Lebron sideline now actually is. But it's obviously severe enough
Speaker 1: for him to have a boot covering his whole lower leg,
Speaker 1: and it's severe enough for him to be not be
Speaker 1: playing when the Lakers are in an absolutely desperate situation,
Speaker 1: because again, Lebron knows how this works better than anybody
Speaker 1: in today's NBA. You could talk about all the games
Speaker 1: that Anthony Davis has missed, you can talk about how
Speaker 1: long it took the Lakers to make moves to upgrade
Speaker 1: the roster, but it ain't gonna be a d or
Speaker 1: Darvin Ham or Rob Pelinka or Genie Buss. The blame,
Speaker 1: the blame will be foisted first on number six. You know.
Speaker 1: That's you know, Charles Barkley always says it. That's the NBA.
Speaker 1: The stars get the credit, the stars get to blame.
Speaker 1: And he is. He is the foremost star on that team,
Speaker 1: and he knows it. So I'm sure if he can't play,
Speaker 1: he can't play. It's not because he wants to go
Speaker 1: watch the super Bowl. He can't play. I mean, this
Speaker 1: is a legit issue. Will Stein. I wouldn't call this
Speaker 1: an issue, but I'm a little before we get out
Speaker 1: of here, Stein, you're wearing a brand a hat that
Speaker 1: I haven't seen really since I was probably in high school.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if this is a tennis thing,
Speaker 1: but you have a FeelA hat on it is is
Speaker 1: that brand is that prominent of tennis thing? And you
Speaker 1: are you are not wrong. I was. I've been there
Speaker 1: this time of year. I have been known to sneak
Speaker 1: away and get in a little tennis, which is um
Speaker 1: really my first sporting love. So I actually spent four
Speaker 1: days at a tournament in Waco, Texas. I missed MAVs Lakers,
Speaker 1: I missed MAVs Pacers. I had to sacrifice two pretty
Speaker 1: important home games to see some live tennis, but I did.
Speaker 1: And yes, I am. I mean, I'm glad that we
Speaker 1: don't have video on this podcast because I'm literally wearing
Speaker 1: tennis gear head to toe and I'm sure you would
Speaker 1: get a good laugh if you saw me, and a
Speaker 1: great laugh, I'm pretty sure I would. Sources may or
Speaker 1: may not say that there is further tennis in my future,
Speaker 1: because you know, March is always March is a month
Speaker 1: that features the two best tennis tournaments in the United States,
Speaker 1: besides the US Open, ones in Indian Wells in the
Speaker 1: desert near Palm Springs, and then there's Miami. So is
Speaker 1: there potentially more tennis in my life and more clothes
Speaker 1: that would make you laugh harder than you did it
Speaker 1: your anti free story. Yes there are, but now now
Speaker 1: that you're onto me, I will never wear this gear
Speaker 1: again on the I'm just curious. I'm just curious. Fila
Speaker 1: was held a big place in my high school years.
Speaker 1: Gret Hill brought you know, basketball hoops. Who's oh yeah,
Speaker 1: Gret Hills, Jerry Stackhouse. This is gonna hurt you then,
Speaker 1: like I literally have in the garage eight ten. I
Speaker 1: don't know why Phila brought all those shoes back from
Speaker 1: the Stackhouse, the Grant Hill. They brought them all back,
Speaker 1: and they just kept sending me these pairs. But I
Speaker 1: know you said you were you're like a size fifteen.
Speaker 1: I'm not size fifteen. So like, yes, I have all
Speaker 1: these shoes that I would happily hand to you, but
Speaker 1: they're way too small for you. I was only I'm
Speaker 1: only a ten and a half. Yeah, yeah, I couldn't
Speaker 1: do nothing with that, but they still they still got
Speaker 1: Grant Hill. Yeah, these are all remakes, but it's like
Speaker 1: the Stackhouse, the Grant Hill. I mean they're mm hmmm yeah.
Speaker 1: Hold hold, hold, hold the deep place in my heart up. No,
Speaker 1: I didn't. I didn't play in them. I would wear them.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't play in them. Not not that I didn't like,
Speaker 1: you know, playing in them, but it's just shoes like that,
Speaker 1: signature shoes unless they were our team shoes back in
Speaker 1: the day, but signature shoes. I would just wear them
Speaker 1: with with my clothes. I'm gonna have to take I
Speaker 1: didn't watch some of these boxes in my garage, and
Speaker 1: you're gonna gonna, yeah, you gotta do that because they're
Speaker 1: not not just me. I think everybody else listening will
Speaker 1: be shocked. Oh I'm no. Look, I'm a closet sneakerhead,
Speaker 1: but it's I have a very narrow, a very narrow
Speaker 1: lane of the of the sneakers that I love. But
Speaker 1: I think you would be surprised. MAVs general manager Nico Harrison,
Speaker 1: who of course spent many many years at Nike before
Speaker 1: he moved into the mass front office even he's been
Speaker 1: surprised at at at some of my like I said,
Speaker 1: of course, because I'm a I'm a nerd and a weirdo.
Speaker 1: So like I said, my yeah, I think the bar
Speaker 1: is kind of low. I think that's why it surprise.
Speaker 1: You'll be surprised I got I got some I got
Speaker 1: some interesting ones in my collection. But like I said,
Speaker 1: I don't know Jordan's zero Jordan's for me, but you know,
Speaker 1: gave me the vintage Georgetown hoy isshoes from the eighties
Speaker 1: I got. I got some stuff that would surprise you. Hm. Well,
Speaker 1: but before we go, Before we go, I do want
Speaker 1: to just intribute and kind of dedicate this episode in
Speaker 1: the NBA. On Wednesday, we lost someone in our world,
Speaker 1: David Benner, who was the long time pr man for
Speaker 1: the Indiana Pacers, and I know you worked with him,
Speaker 1: and he worked with so many of us in the media,
Speaker 1: and I really just wanted to sing his praises and
Speaker 1: just just at least give a mention of how respected
Speaker 1: and how loved he was in our community. You know,
Speaker 1: we had Dame on recently, and you heard me say,
Speaker 1: I'm a basketball romantic. I love that Dame stays with
Speaker 1: the Blazers. I love that Reggie Miller spent his whole
Speaker 1: career with the Pacers. Okay, Reggie Miller didn't win a championship.
Speaker 1: But Reggie Miller is synonymous with the Indiana Pacers, David
Speaker 1: Benner was also synonymous with the Indiana Pacers. For me,
Speaker 1: David Benner used to actually be a sportswriter in the
Speaker 1: eighties and for into the nineties, and then the year
Speaker 1: that I started covering the league ninety four, right around
Speaker 1: that time, he made the jump from our side of
Speaker 1: the fence to become the Pacers PR guy, which is
Speaker 1: it's very rare, it doesn't happen too often that a
Speaker 1: sportswriter becomes the PR man. But basically, for my whole,
Speaker 1: my whole thirty years covering the league, David Benner was
Speaker 1: synonymous with the Pacers, just like Reggie Miller. And of
Speaker 1: course they're great friends. And I'm sure you've seen, you know,
Speaker 1: Reggie used to make it part of his pregame Richel
Speaker 1: to get in David's face and you know, chew him out,
Speaker 1: even though it was all fake and for show, but
Speaker 1: it was great scenes. And I'm sure the next I
Speaker 1: don't know if you're working with Reggie at this Clipper
Speaker 1: Warrior game, but I you know, I know Reggie is
Speaker 1: devastated and and David Benner was just he's just an
Speaker 1: absolute NBA all teimer and I loved him, and a
Speaker 1: lot of us loved him, and he's just going to
Speaker 1: be deeply, deeply missed. No, don't doubt I didn't know.
Speaker 1: David Bennet was such a joy one, a true rare,
Speaker 1: great pr gentlemen that we have left in this field.
Speaker 1: Really took his job seriously. I didn't know that he
Speaker 1: was ascribed before he went over to pr for the pacers.
Speaker 1: I saw David Aldgets write something eloquently on his Facebook
Speaker 1: page about it, so that, yeah, so that's that's where
Speaker 1: I learned it and learned about it. But now he
Speaker 1: was a pleasure man, and I just want to get
Speaker 1: my condulecens out to his family, his loved ones, all
Speaker 1: of his friends who were closer to him than we were,
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, my thoughts and prayers are with
Speaker 1: them and that they will be able to grieve and
Speaker 1: and just know that they got support if they needed.
Speaker 1: So now that's that's a tragic loss in the NBA community,
Speaker 1: for sure. There is no good way to sign off
Speaker 1: on a show after that. But um, I'm glad we
Speaker 1: did talk about mister Benner, because, like I said, he
Speaker 1: is an absolute legend and an absolute fixture in this
Speaker 1: league and someone that we both worked with and all
Speaker 1: of us worked with. So beautiful words from you there.
Speaker 1: Everybody thanks them ill for being with us. Chris and
Speaker 1: I back Monday with another edition of This League Uncut.
Speaker 1: You guys know what to do. Please rate, review, subscribe
Speaker 1: and we'll be back with you very racy and that'll
Speaker 1: do it for us. See you next time. This League
Speaker 1: Uncut is an iHeartRadio production