Speaker 1: Well, well, well, I'm already peaking. I'm so excited. What
Speaker 1: color is that metal? Jabari? Do you see this metal
Speaker 1: all everything? I'm not getting caught up in the semantics
Speaker 1: of whether we're calling them the champions of the World
Speaker 1: or simply the Olympic champs. You had to tell me
Speaker 1: what that was a reference to. But salute to both
Speaker 1: the men's and women's team USA basketball teams for taking
Speaker 1: the gold in the Paris Olympics in style. We're also
Speaker 1: talking nineties greats and we're doing it on our own
Speaker 1: one on one baby. Okay, I'm Jack O'Brien and.
Speaker 2: I'm producing Jabari in for the guest and Miles. I guess.
Speaker 1: We won't worry about it, and this is my story.
Speaker 1: Got it?
Speaker 2: Look hits okay, mb driving.
Speaker 1: Spinny Fatter number eighteen that's been.
Speaker 2: Secured the Celtics or NBA champions over the double team.
Speaker 1: N be honest with the look out, no showtime, what
Speaker 1: you got?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 1: What a run of Olympic basketball games. Wasn't too long
Speaker 1: after our last recording that the US played Serbia and
Speaker 1: it looked like it was lights out. It looked like
Speaker 1: this was going to be a very different podcast. They
Speaker 1: were down fifteen seventeen in the second half. I feel sure.
Speaker 1: It was sure, Okay, this is going to be an
Speaker 1: ongoing thing. In this episode, Jabari has promised to try
Speaker 1: and sneak in as many k dot references as possible
Speaker 1: and we'll we'll see if you catch them all. I
Speaker 1: don't know. So both games were instant classics. Serbia France,
Speaker 1: team USA shot forty from deep for the tournament.
Speaker 2: Pretty good.
Speaker 1: We went from being, I feel like, in for a
Speaker 1: while there we were like the University of Kentucky under
Speaker 1: John Calipari, where like they were just like athletically superior
Speaker 1: and like getting every rebound and just not much going
Speaker 1: on outside of the lane. And you know, we were
Speaker 1: having to win against a bunch of sharpshooters from around
Speaker 1: the world. And now that this particular Olympic team for
Speaker 1: US men's basketball a little bit slower than maybe some
Speaker 1: of the teams that we were going against, but with
Speaker 1: the best shooting in the world, we flipped the script
Speaker 1: on them, Jabari.
Speaker 2: We took their game and made it hours that's right here,
Speaker 2: the beautiful game.
Speaker 1: By choosing to have Steph Curry on then Olympic team,
Speaker 1: We're like what if what about this guy? This guy
Speaker 1: seems like we feel like he's still got a got
Speaker 1: a trick or two up his sleeves, But I don't know.
Speaker 1: So I watched gold medal game against France. Beginning to end.
Speaker 1: The US had control throughout, but it, yeah, France kept
Speaker 1: it close, uh, and towards the end it felt like
Speaker 1: it could go either way. And then Steph hit four
Speaker 1: threes in two minutes in the fourth quarter, the last
Speaker 1: one being absolutely ridiculous, like making I think everybody who
Speaker 1: was watching it stand up and scream.
Speaker 2: It's that shot. It's that shot that when someone makes
Speaker 2: it against you, you just turn it. You know. It's
Speaker 2: kind of like a versus Jokic in the playoffs the
Speaker 2: last couple of years, where you just turn on him
Speaker 2: and you're like, Okay, gay man, you've got.
Speaker 1: It all right, Cool, dude, we get it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we get it. You know, you're pretty good at
Speaker 2: that congress.
Speaker 1: But even like I couldn't believe he was taking the
Speaker 1: last shot. When he took it, I was like, well,
Speaker 1: that's obviously not going in. That's barely a basketball shot.
Speaker 2: You had le Ron wide open on the wing, Yet
Speaker 2: other guys that are opened He's like, no, no, I.
Speaker 1: Double teamed fading away as the shot clock was running down.
Speaker 1: The shot clock was running down on that right. I
Speaker 1: think it wasn't just like it was.
Speaker 2: It was like it was like, you know, hey, there's
Speaker 2: seven seconds left. Maybe I could have kicked it over there,
Speaker 2: but not go ahead and take that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but it was just he the best person when
Speaker 1: he's got it, going to have taking any shot, and
Speaker 1: he was just taking the most ridiculous shots that I
Speaker 1: think I've ever seen. And the French commentating crew we
Speaker 1: have the translation. We should play a little bit of
Speaker 1: the audio for you. First of all, I love that
Speaker 1: the French are that poetic about it, calling him this
Speaker 1: this demon Steph Curry? Is that what they called him?
Speaker 1: This devil? Devil? It also harkens back to one of
Speaker 1: my favorite NBA tweets of all time was when do
Speaker 1: you remember the game where he was just locked in
Speaker 1: against Okac, like before KD came and he ended up
Speaker 1: hitting the game winning shot from like half court. Yes,
Speaker 1: and someone tweeted, Steph's got a demon, That's all there
Speaker 1: is to it. And I feel like watching Steph Curry
Speaker 1: locked in is like one of the things that makes
Speaker 1: me realize, Oh, this is why exorcisms exist. This is
Speaker 1: why people believed in witchcraft for so long. It's that.
Speaker 1: And it's like when my child has a temper tantrum
Speaker 1: and I'm like this, how is this happening? But how
Speaker 1: is that? How did that spirit? How did that person
Speaker 1: enter that body? Those are the two things that make
Speaker 1: me understand why people used to, uh, you know, have
Speaker 1: witch trials in the past.
Speaker 2: Hey, look, I'm just glad I don't have to ever
Speaker 2: have to face somebody like him. Like, if we're keeping
Speaker 2: it real, like, look, I watch all of Kobe's career,
Speaker 2: and to be clear, I'm only I'm only providing context
Speaker 2: in reverence of these greats. But I watched all of
Speaker 2: Kobe's career. I watch a lot of Magic's career, obviously,
Speaker 2: I watch a lot of Jordan's career. I've seen a
Speaker 2: lot of dominial shack. I've seen a lot of dominant performances.
Speaker 2: I think the reason why Steph's always stands out to
Speaker 2: me is because it it does look like, oh, that's
Speaker 2: one of us out there, and I get it. He's
Speaker 2: six to three, he's a professional athlete. He you know,
Speaker 2: he is actually physically you know, physically gifted, you know,
Speaker 2: beyond belief. But the stuff that he does, it makes
Speaker 2: you feel like man one of us and we got
Speaker 2: it and we got one of the greatest of all time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we really do that. I mean we did. We
Speaker 1: did a review of that documentary Underrated on this show
Speaker 1: that that is wild, like just going back, I still
Speaker 1: can't believe. And I talk about it every chance I get,
Speaker 1: Like when I'm when I was watching this, I was
Speaker 1: telling people about that documentary like that he was like
Speaker 1: thought to be too small for Division I basketball. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like they really he wasn't recruited. I mean, that's why
Speaker 1: he ended up playing on Davidson. You know. He was
Speaker 1: seventeen for twenty six from deep over the past the
Speaker 1: last two games after struggling in the lead up to
Speaker 1: the knockout rounds. But it was just Miles said it
Speaker 1: really well during the Serbia game, and then it came
Speaker 1: true again in the France game that it was like
Speaker 1: watching the Avengers assemble. It was just like everybody's superpower
Speaker 1: came through in the clutch right when it was needed
Speaker 1: in a way that it was like, oh, only the
Speaker 1: only thing that we could do right now is have
Speaker 1: the best shooter in the world just knocking down absurd
Speaker 1: threes and and they were just doing it. It is
Speaker 1: so cool.
Speaker 2: Let me ask this, do you think we're ever going
Speaker 2: to see and And I know, you know it's kind
Speaker 2: of a silly question, but we're a silly show, so
Speaker 2: here we are, and I'm a silly guy. Yeah, is
Speaker 2: this the last time we're going to see him on?
Speaker 1: You're more weird than silly. You're just your vibes are weird.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I appreciate that he's the political term.
Speaker 2: Yeah, say, oh wait, you're lumping me in with that, sir,
Speaker 2: kind of.
Speaker 1: The JD Vance NBA basketball Now, I'm just, oh no.
Speaker 2: Stay off of my couch. Okay. The reason why I'm
Speaker 2: asking this question is because, like I am one that appreciates,
Speaker 2: you know, like great news. I'm a pre I'm one
Speaker 2: that appreciate you know. I think the league has been
Speaker 2: great forever. I think the old greats if you gave
Speaker 2: him the benefit of it, you know, like the benefit
Speaker 2: of modern medicine and all of modern training and whatnot,
Speaker 2: they would be great in these times. But you know,
Speaker 2: at the same time, I do think this is the
Speaker 2: best or the most skilled the league has been, so
Speaker 2: my all time greats. I love seeing them on the
Speaker 2: on the big stage. Given the fact that Golden State
Speaker 2: doesn't necessarily look like they're you know, they have any
Speaker 2: more deep runs left in them as currently constituted, it
Speaker 2: didn't make me sit back and appreciated, because they did
Speaker 2: make me wonder, is this the last time we're going
Speaker 2: to see him on this type of stage.
Speaker 1: I think it probably is, unless they can make I
Speaker 1: don't know, Like I do feel like this has been
Speaker 1: so like those two games were so iconic that if
Speaker 1: I was running an NBA franchise, I would like they
Speaker 1: would change how I thought about it, and they shouldn't, right,
Speaker 1: but I like i'd be like, I don't know, man,
Speaker 1: let's roll the dice. We got Steph Curry. Did you
Speaker 1: see that game? I mean that was crazy and we're
Speaker 1: going to talk about that with regards to the Lakers
Speaker 1: in a moment. But I think it might be the
Speaker 1: last time we see him on this because I don't
Speaker 1: think he's going back to Game seven of the finals.
Speaker 1: You know, yeah, I would They would have to be
Speaker 1: pulling off something truly incredible that I can't even like
Speaker 1: conceive of at this moment, but or or a trade,
Speaker 1: you know, he was like, yeah, definitely possible. Do you
Speaker 1: think he's going to like the thing you always hear
Speaker 1: about him is like, well, Steph's going to age better
Speaker 1: than anybody because he can shoot. But I feel like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know that it's not always the case that
Speaker 1: like the shooters aged the best, and especially when they
Speaker 1: have like non uh like not normal NBA bodies, you know, like, yeah,
Speaker 1: Larry Bird was a great shooter, he didn't age very well.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: I guess I see it kind of in the way
Speaker 2: that like how Reggie Miller was able to still be
Speaker 2: highly effective over the course of it, like like even
Speaker 2: down the stretch of his career. Yeah, I recognize Reggie
Speaker 2: Miller was six with seven, so it's a little bit
Speaker 2: different of a conversation. But because Steph, you know, so
Speaker 2: much of his offense is generated off of off of movement,
Speaker 2: off of you know, back cuts, off of.
Speaker 1: Double yeah, I guess that's what I'm thinking.
Speaker 2: I do think that he'll still be able to be
Speaker 2: effective basically as long as his wheel stay right and
Speaker 2: you know, like you know that's not that's nothing small.
Speaker 2: Given the fact that he had, you know, such so
Speaker 2: many issues with him earlier in his career. As long
Speaker 2: as he can still move around, I think he'll still
Speaker 2: be effective. Now. I don't know how much longer we
Speaker 2: have this level where it's like, hey, that's the greatest
Speaker 2: player they you know, and and I'm you know, saying
Speaker 2: it hyperbolically, but also I mean it a little bit
Speaker 2: like when he gets it going, it's he still looks like,
Speaker 2: oh man, that's the greatest player of it.
Speaker 1: It's the best weapon you can he's Yeah, when he's
Speaker 1: got it going, it really is. I mean, I so
Speaker 1: Steph hit the big shots. I do just want to.
Speaker 1: I will take them. Let's take a quick break, and
Speaker 1: then I want to come back and talk about Lebron
Speaker 1: because I feel like, across the entire Olympics, he was
Speaker 1: the best player in the Olympics with a full gray beard.
Speaker 1: Go yes, which was very cool and I really shaded it.
Speaker 1: But yeah, let's take let's take a quick break and
Speaker 1: come back and talk about the rest of the gold
Speaker 1: medal winning USA men's basketball team. We'll be right back
Speaker 1: and we're back. Also, I just want to I do
Speaker 1: before we leave, Steph totally bam on Steph's last three.
Speaker 1: I was kind of like, what the fu? And then
Speaker 1: I remembered who was shooting it and exactly that is
Speaker 1: exactly the thought process that we all went through. In
Speaker 1: one and a half seconds.
Speaker 2: I didn't even get the no out, I got the
Speaker 2: oh okay.
Speaker 1: I screamed so like that was the loudest basketball game
Speaker 1: has made me scream in a long time.
Speaker 2: So much.
Speaker 1: That was a lot of fun. Uh, And I didn't
Speaker 1: it was my first time rooting against Wemby. Didn't love it.
Speaker 1: Didn't love rooting against him, just sol a little bit,
Speaker 1: hurt my soul a little. But he he played well.
Speaker 1: He wasn't like dominant and but he was. He was
Speaker 1: really good. Yeah, I feel like a good showing from him.
Speaker 1: Love the tears at the end. Uh, And yeah, you
Speaker 1: know more to come from him. So just real quick
Speaker 1: players to win an NBA title, n b A, m
Speaker 1: v P Finals, m v P and an Olympic gold medal.
Speaker 1: We've got Michael Jordan, We've got Larry Bird, We've got
Speaker 1: Magic Johnson. Larry Bird was this guy who played for
Speaker 1: the Celtics. I actually just referenced him. He's a good guy,
Speaker 1: that first guy that you said, Oh Michael Jordan.
Speaker 2: Oh, Oh, Michael Jeffrey Jordan.
Speaker 1: Oh, Michael Jeffrey Jordan. Yea yea, the Hakeem Elajahuan Center
Speaker 1: for the Houston Rockets. Kobe Bryant. Uh, and then you
Speaker 1: got your Lebron, you got your Kevin Durant, you got
Speaker 1: your Shakhilo, and now Steph. I thought Lebron and Durant
Speaker 1: were the two people who soothed my soul anything. Anytime
Speaker 1: things were not going great for this team, Lebron was
Speaker 1: throwing like no look behind the back passes through traffic,
Speaker 1: like just unbelievable and just so steady. He is a
Speaker 1: basketball computer who always makes the right move, always gets
Speaker 1: the ball to exactly where it should be going. He
Speaker 1: was showing things on defense. I didn't really know he
Speaker 1: had left. I feel like this is another good argument
Speaker 1: for uh, you know, fewer NBA games than like maybe
Speaker 1: taking taking the time down a little bit, so people, Yeah,
Speaker 1: let's wear and tear. But Lebron and KD KD is
Speaker 1: just so awesome.
Speaker 2: He's the best, just truly a lethal weapon, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean. But when he gets when he I
Speaker 2: understand exactly what you mean about, you know, feeling most
Speaker 2: comfortable with those guys because it's like, for one, we've
Speaker 2: seen them do it for years too. They when they
Speaker 2: get when it when it when it's when it's put
Speaker 2: up or shut up time, you know they're gonna you know,
Speaker 2: they're going to bring it. I'm gonna throw I. I
Speaker 2: generally each time I appear on here with you, Jack,
Speaker 2: I say something ridiculous. Here comes my ridiculous thing.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: Oh, if Lebron is healthy, he's playing in twenty twenty
Speaker 2: eight in LA. I'm not saying he's going to be dominant.
Speaker 2: I'm saying a forty four year old man is going
Speaker 2: to be on that roster somehow, some way.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm not here to complain. I'm not here to
Speaker 1: doubt Lebron. I'm currently forty four. Uh and I only
Speaker 1: barely missed this Olympic Games, so right, yeah, but yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know. He just he looked so awesome. Ad
Speaker 1: was also I do want to mention a d was
Speaker 1: in the top four of the people I felt most
Speaker 1: comfortable having out there like he was. He was the
Speaker 1: big man that played the best. So it's weird that,
Speaker 1: like on this team that had the best players in
Speaker 1: the NBA. The two people I felt most comfortable having
Speaker 1: on the court among KD, I'd say it went Lebron,
Speaker 1: KD Steph, you know, depending on which game it was.
Speaker 1: But you know, Booker and then Anthony Davis. And of
Speaker 1: those five, four of them or two of them play
Speaker 1: for the Lakers and two of them play for the Suns.
Speaker 1: Neither teams that you know made it anywhere out of
Speaker 1: the first couldn't make it out of the first round
Speaker 1: in the playoff slasher as a Lakers fan, because I
Speaker 1: will say as a Sixers fan, watching MB kind of
Speaker 1: be limited in various ways, I was like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: this is this reminds me of why I feel like
Speaker 1: our ceiling is maybe a little bit limited. As a
Speaker 1: Lakers fan, watching Lebron and ad play incredible. How what
Speaker 1: did that feel like? And do you have a new
Speaker 1: outlook on the coming season.
Speaker 2: I do not have a outlook on this season because
Speaker 2: what it looked like is exactly what I both love
Speaker 2: and hate about this current team. I love the fact
Speaker 2: that we've got you know, Lebron, an all time great,
Speaker 2: if not the all time great. I don't care about
Speaker 2: the semantics of it. You know, you guys can choose,
Speaker 2: you know, where you put them. He's one of the
Speaker 2: great He's one of the greatest, if not the greatest
Speaker 2: ever do this. And you've got Anthony Davis, who is
Speaker 2: a generational player on the defensive end as well as
Speaker 2: as a secondary you know, support guy. But if you
Speaker 2: have no faith and I'm speaking generally here, if you
Speaker 2: have no faith in the front office and you have
Speaker 2: no faith in the organization's ability to place you know,
Speaker 2: championship pieces around them, it's actually more frustrating than anything.
Speaker 2: So I like, I celebrated it, I loved it. I
Speaker 2: will always go into the year hopeful. But since twenty
Speaker 2: twenty when they and I know people are tired of
Speaker 2: hearing about it, when they dismantled what was a great
Speaker 2: roster and a chance in a very clear cut championship team,
Speaker 2: I haven't had much faith in them. And honestly, the
Speaker 2: same could be said for the Suns, Like they've made
Speaker 2: splashy moves and and and big deals over the last
Speaker 2: couple of years, but not the right types of players
Speaker 2: in support of very clear you know, the very clear
Speaker 2: advantage that they have.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Katie, it makes sense why Kadi and Lebron are
Speaker 1: always like going after great players because they play really
Speaker 1: well next to great players, you know, like why they're
Speaker 1: always like, yeah, give me a big three, We're good here. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I don't know. It made me a little bit more
Speaker 1: bullish on the on the Lakers, maybe not the Suns,
Speaker 1: but definitely the Lakers because Lake Lebron and a D
Speaker 1: like ads so great defensively and on the boards. And
Speaker 1: just the thing with Embiid, like he had his moments,
Speaker 1: but his foot speed is a real disadvantage, like even
Speaker 1: against international competition. It's just like you can't give up
Speaker 1: that many offensive boards, and like defensively he was a
Speaker 1: little a step slow. He's still great. I'm still excited
Speaker 1: for the sixer season, but there were moments where I
Speaker 1: was like, ah, yes, the playoffs, you know, yes, having
Speaker 1: a REDI middle yeah, yeah, but yeah, I mean in
Speaker 1: the France game, Lebron and Booker paced them in the
Speaker 1: first half and wound up making huge plays throughout the
Speaker 1: second half to help close France out. There was a
Speaker 1: controversy about playing time. I always felt good about the
Speaker 1: rotations down the stretch for the US, like I felt
Speaker 1: like Booker was I should have been there, and I
Speaker 1: was glad he was in. When he was in, I'll
Speaker 1: just say.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, and you know, I put it in the notes,
Speaker 2: But I did want to acknowledge that man Devin Booker
Speaker 2: came in and everybody was, you know, like talking about him, like, Okay, yeah,
Speaker 2: he's a great scorer, and I'm talking about young Devin Booker.
Speaker 2: He's a great scorer. But it's not you know, leading
Speaker 2: to success, whereas in one guy you know can win
Speaker 2: any you know can win you know, consistently in the NBA.
Speaker 2: But I do also want to acknowledge his game and
Speaker 2: his approach the game has changed over the years. I'm looking,
Speaker 2: you know, we are now looking at a highly intelligent,
Speaker 2: highly mature individual that it you know, yeah, he knows
Speaker 2: he can go you know, he can go off and
Speaker 2: give you thirty maybe even forty or more at a
Speaker 2: given time. But I've never seen him look better as
Speaker 2: an actual teammate, a guy that is specifically looking to
Speaker 2: make the right plays for his team, regardless of whether
Speaker 2: that's him scoring or him rebounding, or him just you know,
Speaker 2: a knocking a ball away or doing whatever it takes. Basically.
Speaker 2: So I wanted to acknowledge that because because that is
Speaker 2: a tremendous amount of growth.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you put it in the doc last week that
Speaker 1: you know, when somebody was like, somebody needs to come
Speaker 1: in and just like be the you know, role player
Speaker 1: on the US men's basketball team in the Olympics, and
Speaker 1: you know, just tie everything together. We can't just have
Speaker 1: all alphas. And Booker responded to that and said, I'll
Speaker 1: do it. And then after the gold medal game, USA
Speaker 1: Basketball responded to requoted that and said he did it.
Speaker 1: Because he did, and that's why Twitter is our greatest
Speaker 1: communications platform. Nothing bad ever comes out.
Speaker 2: Of there, nothing whatsoever.
Speaker 1: The game averaged nineteen point five million viewers on NBC
Speaker 1: and Peacock, making it the most watched gold medal games
Speaker 1: since nineteen ninety six, which I don't even really remember
Speaker 1: that team that well, but you do. That was obviously
Speaker 1: the Atlanta Olympics, the second Dream Team two, And you
Speaker 1: made the case do you think they were actually better
Speaker 1: than Dream Team one?
Speaker 2: All right, so I'm gonna pump my brakes on that,
Speaker 2: but I but I will say I think they compete
Speaker 2: with them. I legitimately do the only reason why I
Speaker 2: can't say that they're better is because ninety two, as Prime,
Speaker 2: you know, uh Prime, Pippin and Barkley, whereas in ninety six,
Speaker 2: while they're still on the squad, obviously it's four years later.
Speaker 2: But what I will say is, admittedly, the only reason
Speaker 2: why I remembered those teams, or the you know that
Speaker 2: team in particular, was because it was either Taco Bell
Speaker 2: or McDonald's. It might have been McDonald if I'm not
Speaker 2: mistaking it was McDonald They had that, they had that,
Speaker 2: they had the cups. They had those cups, and I can,
Speaker 2: I can, like uh, I can completely remember Shack. It
Speaker 2: was it was a period in his life when he
Speaker 2: had the shaved head, but the sideburn, not the beer,
Speaker 2: not to the shaved head with the sideburn, and it
Speaker 2: was on the cup.
Speaker 1: Is this part when you're comparing those two teams, is
Speaker 1: this part of the bit where you act like you
Speaker 1: don't know who Michael Jordan? Is that because you said
Speaker 1: the only reason that you're going to give ninety two the.
Speaker 2: Mean reason, to be clear, Mike is Mike, and he's just.
Speaker 1: One person who I will not let his team lose.
Speaker 1: Other than this version of Lebron James, maybe the yeah
Speaker 1: ninety two versus this team would have been a lot
Speaker 1: of fun because in nineteen ninety two they hadn't figured
Speaker 1: out the math that three pointers were worth three points,
Speaker 1: which is a lot more than two points. So I
Speaker 1: don't know, I think they could have done it. What
Speaker 1: else Wemby Victor Wembyama with a silver medal around his neck.
Speaker 1: I'm learning, and I'm worried for the opponents in a
Speaker 1: couple of years in FIBA or the NBA everywhere. So
Speaker 1: we'll leave it at that.
Speaker 2: First of all, don't tell me you're worried about me,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean? Yeah, Yeah, that's a very's
Speaker 2: like it's it's one of those where it's not a threat,
Speaker 2: but it's a threat. Yeah, I'm really worried about you, man.
Speaker 1: We're all worried about you to everybody else in the league.
Speaker 1: All right. The other question that my family immediately started
Speaker 1: debating after the gold medal game is who is Team
Speaker 1: USA's best hope at leading the twenty twenty eight team
Speaker 1: to victory. Steph would be forty, KD would be thirty nine. Obviously,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter how old Lebron is, he's going to
Speaker 1: be leading the team. So you have I'm assuming Anthony
Speaker 1: Edwards Devin Booker got four Celtics of some stretch, you know.
Speaker 2: I mean, is Drew Sill around then maybe?
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, seems like jaw might be a good addition,
Speaker 1: like I I've never seen. I don't know, Like, on
Speaker 1: the one hand, the middle seems to be like a
Speaker 1: little bit more clogged up in international basketball. On the
Speaker 1: other hand, I don't think I've ever seen it really
Speaker 1: matter that much because he's just so good at creating space,
Speaker 1: like I feel like he would he would be creating
Speaker 1: incredible moments. Jalen Brunson, Yes, please, like all point guards?
Speaker 1: Maybe we go all point.
Speaker 2: Just all points. Yeah, Look, I hear you on joh
Speaker 2: and on straight up. I'm you know, I recognize it's
Speaker 2: a it can be a sensitive subject. But I'll just
Speaker 2: say he's heading in the year six and I hope
Speaker 2: that this is his best year moving forward. You know,
Speaker 2: if he's healthy, give me him dunking off the Olympic rings,
Speaker 2: give me all of that. I'm also glad that you
Speaker 2: mentioned Jalen Brunson because and and I mentioned to you,
Speaker 2: you know, this year earlier. I think because people like
Speaker 2: envision him as shorter than what he actually is. If
Speaker 2: I'm not saying he's a legitimate six two, but because
Speaker 2: he's kind of stocky like people like. I feel like
Speaker 2: at the beginning of this year, people were underrating him
Speaker 2: and now we are now and and for those of
Speaker 2: you that were not, if you're Knicks fans, I recognized
Speaker 2: you said he was the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Speaker 2: But for a lot of folks out there, they were
Speaker 2: under reading him.
Speaker 1: I'm ns are they They don't like Jalen Brunson. I
Speaker 1: don't hear enough about Jaylen Brunson from them. They Yeah,
Speaker 1: he snuck up on me this year. The Knicks fans
Speaker 1: were just wouldn't say that way to keep the secret
Speaker 1: Knicks fans. I guess maybe that was your strategy because
Speaker 1: they talked about them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yep, but no, I'm I would I would love.
Speaker 2: I would love to see your roster that looks something
Speaker 2: like that. And and hell, you never know, maybe we've
Speaker 2: got some other crazy, you know, crazy guys coming up.
Speaker 2: Baby Cooper flag is so good that he's it.
Speaker 1: He's flag, the Cooper flag hype. I'm here, I'm saying,
Speaker 1: de Vincenzo, get him out there, get him in, Josh Hart,
Speaker 1: get him out there. Go all wild cats bro. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm not obviously Lebron captain and leading scorer.
Speaker 1: Otherwise we might need to do some Cold War era
Speaker 1: spying and get more great players to defect like we
Speaker 1: did with MB this year. Shout out to Wimby, shout
Speaker 1: out Tomba, here's room. Well, the great state of Texas
Speaker 1: will take you join, join up. Yeah, so I don't know,
Speaker 1: it's it's gonna be fun though, Like I what what
Speaker 1: a what a great Olympics, What a great team. That's
Speaker 1: been funny even just like watching everybody party and celebrate
Speaker 1: in the aftermath, including Kevin Durant going down a water
Speaker 1: slide like it was the first water slide he'd ever encountered.
Speaker 1: All right, uh, should we get into some nineties hoops?
Speaker 2: Let's do it.
Speaker 1: Let's just okay, let's take a quick break. We'll come back,
Speaker 1: we'll get your nineties hoops picks, and we'll do two
Speaker 1: rapid fires. We'll be right back and we're back in
Speaker 1: jabbari as you may may or may not know. Uh,
Speaker 1: this summer we're doing a nineties whoops retrospective and uh
Speaker 1: we we put out the list of the greats and
Speaker 1: you chose all by yourself. Kobe Bryant, Timothy Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki,
Speaker 1: and Dwight Howard. Dwight is an interesting one because Dwight
Speaker 1: was before his back injury. He was not shack, but
Speaker 1: he was like kind of a version of shape. He
Speaker 1: was so big and dominant it was wild.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I honestly, legitimately think he's underrated at this stage
Speaker 2: because of the back injury. But prime Dwight, prior to
Speaker 2: that injury was it, you know, was on pace to
Speaker 2: be that top twenty five type, you know, guy of
Speaker 2: all time. Now, I have no idea where I would
Speaker 2: rank him, you know, obviously I think, you know, I
Speaker 2: think he's probably top one hundred and and maybe even
Speaker 2: top seventy five. But trajectory was, you know, was just
Speaker 2: ridiculous prior to that, and I actually wish people could
Speaker 2: let go some of the silly stuff and actually just
Speaker 2: acknowledged how great of a Pleary was.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think it's also after the injury, there was
Speaker 1: a lot of time of him being a second strength center, right,
Speaker 1: Like that's how a lot of people. Yeah, it's one
Speaker 1: It's one thing to be like, oh man, this younger
Speaker 1: generation like doesn't even have a memory of this guy,
Speaker 1: and then they can go back on YouTube and be like, wow,
Speaker 1: he was great, Like when it's like this younger generation
Speaker 1: remembers this guy as being just a very animated person
Speaker 1: on the bench doing weird uh glasses things and uh yeah, yeah. Anyways,
Speaker 1: Tim duncan greatest power forward to ever play?
Speaker 2: The basic questions for you because you know, you remember
Speaker 2: at one point, for a large portion of his career,
Speaker 2: he was a center. He was playing the center position. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and then he switched to the power forward. I don't
Speaker 2: I'm not saying it was all market, No, I like, yes,
Speaker 2: the answer is yes, he's the greatest prober forward ever
Speaker 2: played a game. I'm sorry for anybody that's disagreeing with that. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I don't know what. I don't know what game you
Speaker 2: will watch.
Speaker 1: Do you think if he if his game was put
Speaker 1: into the modern NBA, he would still be like a
Speaker 1: top five MVP candidate every year.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, because he defended like crazy. He was, you know,
Speaker 2: I mean, let's be real, He's called the Big Fundamentals
Speaker 2: for a reason. You know, he he'd be destroying folks
Speaker 2: with those turnarounds, you know, kissing it off the glass
Speaker 2: just the same. Uh, you know, he's he was always
Speaker 2: the consummate team guy. Yes, one hundred percent of Tim
Speaker 2: Duncan in today's league would still be that guy.
Speaker 1: I think he'd stink moving on. Okay, did did Dirk
Speaker 1: Nowitzki's footwork around his jumper have the most impact of
Speaker 1: any player of his?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: Was that? I feel like the step backs, the weird
Speaker 1: like you know, one legged jumpers, Like it's a skill
Speaker 1: that I didn't really see people having before Dirk and
Speaker 1: now it's absolutely everywhere. Do you think like he's one
Speaker 1: of the most impactful guys in the past, you know,
Speaker 1: twenty years.
Speaker 2: Absolutely like every big and now, look, would biggs have
Speaker 2: eventually gotten to where they were you know, where they
Speaker 2: are now and where they will be moving forward? Probably,
Speaker 2: But I guarantee the bigs of today they looked back
Speaker 2: at they looked at Dirk. Uh they you know, they
Speaker 2: you know, watched his progression, watched exactly how he worked
Speaker 2: out there on the court, and they had to be
Speaker 2: you know, that had to be of influence. I definitely
Speaker 2: think it did.
Speaker 1: Mm I think he stinks all right, all right? And finally,
Speaker 1: obviously on the list, favorite Kobe moment.
Speaker 2: Oh, Game four, two thousand Finals, Shack, you know, like
Speaker 2: it's a back and forth game. They're battling the you know,
Speaker 2: like the Lakers were up to to one, you know
Speaker 2: on the on the Pacers. I think it was Game four,
Speaker 2: And if it was game three, people are gonna crush
Speaker 2: me about it. But I'm pretty sure it was Game four.
Speaker 1: But uh, guess what, we don't care exactly if he's wrong,
Speaker 1: we don't care.
Speaker 2: Hey, it happens, it won't be the it won't even
Speaker 2: be the last time I'm wrong on this show.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we tried to be wrong as much as possible
Speaker 1: on this show.
Speaker 2: So exactly, Shack fouls out down the stretch. It's still
Speaker 2: you know, the game is still in the balance. Kobe,
Speaker 2: you know, twenty one years old at the time. Knock
Speaker 2: you like knocks down and jumper over. Reggie knocks down
Speaker 2: and jumper over. I think it was Mark Jackson puts,
Speaker 2: you know, get you know it gets a put back
Speaker 2: and basically turns to the bench and goes like I
Speaker 2: got this, Like you know, he's giving the calm down.
Speaker 2: That's probably that that that would probably be my favorite Cobe.
Speaker 1: WoT okay, And I know better than to say I
Speaker 1: think he stinks.
Speaker 2: Yeah, please don't say this.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I do still live in Los Angeles, so yes,
Speaker 1: all right, Jabari? Uh it is time for the fastest
Speaker 1: segment in podcasting. As you well know, sir, your your
Speaker 1: role here. I'm gonna fire questions at you that you wrote.
Speaker 1: Then you're going to have to you. You don't know
Speaker 1: what's coming, You're gonna have to answer them. Are you ready?
Speaker 2: I am ready, but only if Brian's ready.
Speaker 1: Okay, and we do need to yell at Brian. Brian,
Speaker 1: please start the clock, good sir.
Speaker 2: I don't think he's gonna hear you.
Speaker 1: Brian, Brian, Brian, start the clock, Brian, Brian. Do you
Speaker 1: know how serious I am right now? That's this is
Speaker 1: why my kids don't respect me. This is as serious
Speaker 1: as I can get there. Yeah, okay, dad, do you
Speaker 1: understand how serious? I am? Young man? Anyway, don't talk
Speaker 1: to me like that. I immediately pose like an old timey bike,
Speaker 1: sir when I said why, I want to why? All right?
Speaker 2: Uh?
Speaker 1: Uh, Jabari, you get to choose obviously. Snoop, one of
Speaker 1: Southern California's finest took over the Paris Olympics, who from
Speaker 1: Los Angeles, Southern California should run the show at the
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Olympics in twenty eight. Let's get your top three.
Speaker 2: All right, it's in LA you know that. I think
Speaker 2: that Lebron's going to be a part of it anyhow.
Speaker 2: But if he's not, then he's definitely going to be that.
Speaker 2: So like, let's let's put Lebron out there. Second second, Wait,
Speaker 2: were you saying Snoop is obvious? So he's already one
Speaker 2: of the Snoop's in.
Speaker 1: Snoop's already part of the team. Who's standing next to him?
Speaker 2: Is so Lebron Snoop and Lebron mister pop out and
Speaker 2: show players Kendrick Lamar?
Speaker 1: Is that the lyric?
Speaker 2: That is pretty sure? That's all it goes?
Speaker 1: Mister pop out? Hey, you know, I mean the NBC
Speaker 1: came a long way on Snoop, you know, from the
Speaker 1: early nineties to Yeah. So all right, yeah, I like it.
Speaker 1: I don't. You guys can't claim Lebron.
Speaker 2: I mean, look, he will at the Ohio. Man, he
Speaker 2: will have played here for like seven eight years.
Speaker 1: Nice, and Lakers fans are going to be no closer
Speaker 1: to adopting him.
Speaker 2: Okay, Fine, Okay, fine, we're gonna take Lebron out because
Speaker 2: you know what, You're right, Lebron's gonna be playing. Yeah,
Speaker 2: Lebron's gonna be on the court, so he can't be that.
Speaker 2: Oh man, this is more difficult than I would have anticipated,
Speaker 2: to be honest with you said, You're like, well, who
Speaker 2: could it be? Who could it be? There's gonna be
Speaker 2: like there are people that are listening, like, come on, man,
Speaker 2: it's obvious.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's gotta be like Flee. I feel like Flee
Speaker 1: is probably from Red Hot Chili Peppers. You know this,
Speaker 1: this is.
Speaker 2: A two American situation because you came out with Flee
Speaker 2: and I was just about to say, rig Yeah, but
Speaker 2: Fleewood makes sense as well. I mean, like, if we're
Speaker 2: being real, I'm pretty sure they are going to be
Speaker 2: a part of it.
Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, yeah, uh is also good. All Right,
Speaker 1: we do have to replenish because you selfishly picked uh
Speaker 1: three the three best players left on the list Kobe,
Speaker 1: Derek and Tim Duncan. So who are the nineties players
Speaker 1: that still need to be added to this list for
Speaker 1: our final installment of nineties nostalgia?
Speaker 2: All right, let me get Chris Gatling. No.
Speaker 3: Shout out to Chris Gatling Gatling Gun No no disrespect,
Speaker 3: no disrespect, all right, Uh, all right, So even though
Speaker 3: they're on the list, I'm just gonna name these guys
Speaker 3: because he's the guys that we need to get in.
Speaker 3: We need to be able to talk about a Chemo
Speaker 3: Laju one because I don't feel like enough people of
Speaker 3: to day recognize how great he truly was.
Speaker 2: Right, you cannot have an nineties conversation about basketball without
Speaker 2: talking about Dennis Rodman. So Dennis Rodman also must be
Speaker 2: a part of next week's conversation.
Speaker 1: You are showing our guests how this is done. Two
Speaker 1: grand answers.
Speaker 2: This is how we do this, and then the last one,
Speaker 2: and then the last one. Let's be real. This man
Speaker 2: was a true cult of personality. He is Oh, I
Speaker 2: mean him too. This man should have led this conversation.
Speaker 2: This man is very near and dear to both of
Speaker 2: our hearts. He stepped over Tyron Blue. He gave Derek
Speaker 2: Fisher fifteen Game one of the finals. We need to
Speaker 2: have an in depth conversation about Alan Iverson and he is.
Speaker 2: He was on the list, but we no one has
Speaker 2: mentioned him. That's what. Wow, those three it came allows
Speaker 2: the one Dennis Rodman and Alan Iverson that is who
Speaker 2: Jason Tienth of the Volume Network will be discussing with
Speaker 2: you guys.
Speaker 1: Sorry, Jason, Uh, It's up to you two choose wisely.
Speaker 1: You did it. You nailed it, stepped in, you filled
Speaker 1: both roles. You you tried. We we had a whole
Speaker 1: episode where you did different voices. You had a guest
Speaker 1: voice and then a co host voice, and it didn't
Speaker 1: work at all. But I think I think we pulled
Speaker 1: it off the second time, so well done. I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna say which one was just wildly offensive, but one
Speaker 1: of them was. You have some work to do on
Speaker 1: your Italian accent. But Jabari, where can people find you?
Speaker 1: Follow you all that good stuff.
Speaker 2: I'm easy on Twitter at Jabari A Davis. What about you?
Speaker 1: Oh, you can find me on Twitter, Jack Underscore, Obrian,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for asking you. Bar Hey, you
Speaker 1: can follow us. You can go search the hashtag mad
Speaker 1: Boosti's mad bub O s t a i E s
Speaker 1: for show links and updates, and you know sure to
Speaker 1: join the conversation on our discord, which you can also
Speaker 1: find the link for when you search mat Boostie's and
Speaker 1: that's another one in the book. Swish from way Downtown
Speaker 1: Stepp We're going away. Yes, we did it, good job,
Speaker 1: we did it.