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Speaker 2: Welcome in What Drive with Nick rit Episode two forty four.
Speaker 2: I felt it only appropriate to sheepshually wear Celtic screen
Speaker 2: demand's you're on the precipice, my friend. This is I
Speaker 2: don't think you've ever experienced really a championship for any
Speaker 2: of your teams, No, because I mean you're you're kind
Speaker 2: of a Chiefs fan, Like you don't root against the Chiefs,
Speaker 2: but you don't claim the Chiefs because you're not from
Speaker 2: You don't really claim Kansas City. You don't have a
Speaker 2: baseball team. The Celtics have been your team ever since
Speaker 2: you had a Ray Allen fathead on your wall growing up,
Speaker 2: and you, I mean technically you were you know, you
Speaker 2: were obviously alive for their last championship, but you weren't
Speaker 2: a Celtics fan in two.
Speaker 3: That was when I feel like I first became a
Speaker 3: Celtics fan. Was when they were facing Kobe in the finals.
Speaker 4: Like it was like.
Speaker 3: I almost want to say, it was like one of
Speaker 3: the first basketball games I've seen.
Speaker 2: Yes, but I think it was the finals they lost.
Speaker 2: I think it was.
Speaker 4: You are right about that.
Speaker 2: They didn't. Yes, yes, they beat Kobe in the eight finals.
Speaker 2: They won the twenty ten finals. I'm sorry they lost
Speaker 2: the twenty ten finals. So yeah, so this is this
Speaker 2: is a good moment for you, This is a good
Speaker 2: moment for the folks of Boston who were so kind
Speaker 2: to me a few days ago. Not a great moment
Speaker 2: for me, not a great moment for Luka Doncic. And
Speaker 2: we will discuss all of that, and in fact, let's
Speaker 2: just get right into all of that. So here's what
Speaker 2: missed the cut Lamar and I bury the hatchet. How
Speaker 2: about this? Lamar sent this tweet that I missed. He
Speaker 2: sent it just hours after he sent that picture of
Speaker 2: the probiscus monkey with the long nose saying no, not
Speaker 2: cousin Nick's list. That's my guy for real, just kicking
Speaker 2: from the net. One hundred emoji and then a Raven's
Speaker 2: colored heart, which made me feel a little bad when
Speaker 2: I did the exact same list on television yesterday. But
Speaker 2: I like Lamar, I root for Lamar. I just gotta
Speaker 2: be honest. There was never a man, There was never
Speaker 2: a more obvious. This has to be some marketing ruse
Speaker 2: than Joey Jessnup banned from the Nathan tot dog eating contest.
Speaker 2: Chessnu versus Kobe Yashi's gonna be on Labor Day on
Speaker 2: Netflix and who could have seen this coming? The Lakers
Speaker 2: are gonna interview JJ Reddick this weekend, but we've got
Speaker 2: to start with Game three of the finals and these
Speaker 2: Thermo nuclear Luca takes so de monse go ahead.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So the Mavericks needed the win last night. They couldn't
Speaker 3: pull it out.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: Luca fouled out with about four minutes left in the
Speaker 3: fourth quarter. Kyrie obviously couldn't handle the load.
Speaker 4: After he left, A few media.
Speaker 3: Members are blaming Luca and saying that his pouting and
Speaker 3: whining towards the rev is causing them the game or
Speaker 3: the series. So Lucas never faced any heat like this
Speaker 3: or eating backlash.
Speaker 4: Do you think that? Do you think it's at all warranted?
Speaker 2: Okay, So I am going to try once again to
Speaker 2: preserve my title as the most honest and fair man
Speaker 2: in sports media, and that means criticizing my large adult
Speaker 2: Slovenian son where it's warranted, and it also might mean
Speaker 2: pumping the brakes on some of the hyperbole that really
Speaker 2: got rolling by my dear friend Brian Windhorse right after
Speaker 2: the game. And I am not talking bad about Brian.
Speaker 2: And in fact, I texted with Brian this morning and
Speaker 2: I'm not going to you know, I'm not going to
Speaker 2: reveal private text, but I will say what my first
Speaker 2: text was too hard on Luca exclamation point, and I
Speaker 2: will I don't think Brian would be mad. I will
Speaker 2: reveal his first text back to me, which was that's
Speaker 2: been a big problem for Luke in his career, people
Speaker 2: being too hard on him. I sent some sarcasm there, Brian,
Speaker 2: and then we went back and forth and I also
Speaker 2: told him a take I had that he replied to
Speaker 2: with don't go with that, but I am going to
Speaker 2: go with it at some point. So here, here's the thing.
Speaker 2: Wendy crushed him, absolutely crushed him. Everyone since then has
Speaker 2: joined the crushing. Here to me are the fair criticisms,
Speaker 2: and then I will get into where I think we've
Speaker 2: lost the plot a bit fair criticism. It's the god
Speaker 2: Doog NBA Finals, and you cannot give up five on
Speaker 2: four transition baskets because you are either barking at the
Speaker 2: ref or laying on the ground trying to sell a
Speaker 2: call that can't happen. That is on Luca, undeniably, that's
Speaker 2: on Luca. I'm going to say another one. It is
Speaker 2: the NBA Finals. Your team can't win without you, which
Speaker 2: is an important element here. Even if you think you're
Speaker 2: getting hosed by the refs, which Luca always thinks, he
Speaker 2: usually has a bit of an argument, but there is
Speaker 2: clearly a boy who cried Wolf element to it, which
Speaker 2: is if you're always complaining, then we don't know if
Speaker 2: it's actually a missed call. There was a sequence early
Speaker 2: in the game when Luca throws It was kind of
Speaker 2: an encapsulation of what is got to be frustrating for Luca.
Speaker 2: He throws a perfect lob to Derek Lively, Lively misses
Speaker 2: the dunk, they get the offensive rebound, Luca drives to
Speaker 2: the basket, gets fouled twice on the play. They don't
Speaker 2: call either foul. They say Maverick's ball, and then the
Speaker 2: Celtics challenge and it's like, well, he got fouled twice,
Speaker 2: but the ball went off him, so the calls overturned.
Speaker 3: So you want to call that a no question foul though,
Speaker 3: like that that's like what I like, That's another one
Speaker 3: of those things.
Speaker 4: I didn't really see the clear foul in that.
Speaker 3: You tell them when he threw it out of bounds
Speaker 3: and they and they called it on They called it
Speaker 3: on Boston initially, and then they challenged it overturned it.
Speaker 2: So you're if you're I am talking about when Boston
Speaker 2: challenged it, but if you don't think it was clear foul,
Speaker 2: then you're thinking of a different play. It's not. When
Speaker 2: he threw it out of bounds, he was going up
Speaker 2: for a layup. He gets fouled on the arm by
Speaker 2: Jalen Brown and then fouled on the hand by Drew Holliday.
Speaker 2: The broadcast said when they that about how obvious he
Speaker 2: was fouled twice, so that again, I'm just setting a
Speaker 2: context here. I wish we could pull the video for
Speaker 2: the pod, but he complained every time. So in that instance,
Speaker 2: maybe if he didn't conduct himself the way he normally does.
Speaker 2: If you then go to the refs and say, man,
Speaker 2: I got fouled twice on that and now it's gonna
Speaker 2: be Celtic's ball, maybe they feel like they owe you one.
Speaker 2: They're never gonna feel like they owe Luca anything, And
Speaker 2: that's on him and the way he treats the refs
Speaker 2: from opening tip to the end of the game, that
Speaker 2: is a fair criticism. Him being hunted defensively is obviously happening.
Speaker 2: That is a fair criticism. I think what we are
Speaker 2: seeing is that there is one guy in league history
Speaker 2: that's been able to have that type of offensive workload
Speaker 2: demand from game one to Game one hundred and still
Speaker 2: be able to go on deep playoff runs and have
Speaker 2: everything left in the tank on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 2: It's one guy, ever, and Luca's not quite in that
Speaker 2: same shape as that guy, And so Luca's fitness is
Speaker 2: a fair critique. The way he lets the refs get
Speaker 2: in his head is a fair critique. And the fact
Speaker 2: that the Celtics were able to hunt him on defense,
Speaker 2: those are all fair critiques. Here's another one. They needed
Speaker 2: him toy for them to beat this team. He's got
Speaker 2: to score thirty five a night. He hasn't done that yet.
Speaker 2: They Kyrie did it last night for the first time.
Speaker 2: So those are all fair critiques. I was ready to
Speaker 2: crown Luca the best player in the world. That can't happen, now, okay,
Speaker 2: So all of that is legitimate and fair, and this
Speaker 2: is part of the process. And in Wendy's defense, what
Speaker 2: Wendy he was saying more this morning than in that
Speaker 2: clip that's going viral last night, is that he believes
Speaker 2: one day Luca will be a more complete player, will
Speaker 2: be holding the Larry O'Brien and the Finals MVP trophy.
Speaker 2: And we'll say I learned from twenty twenty four usually
Speaker 2: about how it goes. I think there were right there.
Speaker 2: Wendy was kind of making some Lebron illusions where Lebron
Speaker 2: talked about learning from twenty eleven. Now that was a
Speaker 2: different circumstance. I don't think people think that Luca's melting
Speaker 2: down the way people think Lebron did in that series.
Speaker 2: So all of those criticisms are fair, okay, But here
Speaker 2: is what also must be said. No matter what you
Speaker 2: think Luca's defensive deficiencies are in that game last night,
Speaker 2: in the thirty eight minutes he played, the Mavericks won
Speaker 2: by nine, and in the ten minutes he sat, they
Speaker 2: lost by sixteen. So whatever you think he takes away defensively,
Speaker 2: which is legitimate, whatever he adds offensively is significant enough
Speaker 2: that even last night, which people are calling the worst
Speaker 2: game of his career, they beat the Celtics handily. In
Speaker 2: the thirty eight minutes he played and got whooped. In
Speaker 2: the ten minutes he didn't. Now that speaks to why
Speaker 2: it is very important that he not foul out and
Speaker 2: why he has to find a way to stay on
Speaker 2: the court. So I think those criticisms are fair, and
Speaker 2: then we will get to the fouling out thing in
Speaker 2: a moment. But it looked demonde like you want wanted
Speaker 2: to say something, So go ahead, Uh.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean you see his his plus minus wow
Speaker 3: while he's on and off the court. I get that,
Speaker 3: But I mean, does it does it matter if at
Speaker 3: the end of the day he's still gonna have a
Speaker 3: PC attitude with the refs and make him have an
Speaker 3: extra target on his back.
Speaker 2: Well, listen, I think that he needs to mature in
Speaker 2: that regard. I think that he is hurts he at.
Speaker 2: I've told you guys before, and I know that you
Speaker 2: that there is you kind of disagree. I don't know
Speaker 2: if you disagreed with me. But the point I made
Speaker 2: a couple rounds ago, which was Luca's always going to
Speaker 2: have a problem. Up to this point, He's always had
Speaker 2: a problem with the refs. The question is are we
Speaker 2: getting snarling angry Luca or hands up rolling his eyes,
Speaker 2: Woe is me, Luca, because snarling angry Luca is the
Speaker 2: scariest offensive player in the league. Hands up rolling his eyes,
Speaker 2: woe is me. Luca can get in his own way.
Speaker 2: And so I think that though those are all fair criticisms,
Speaker 2: now let's talk about him fouling out. I thought the
Speaker 2: fifth and sixth fouls could have gone either way, but
Speaker 2: you can't put yourself in that position for the sixth foul.
Speaker 2: I thought the fifth foul jailing, you could have called
Speaker 2: a hook on Jalen Brown. They didn't, I thought, or
Speaker 2: was it Tatum? I think it was Tatum and the
Speaker 2: sixth foul was a to me a fifty to fifty
Speaker 2: call because Luca's feet weren't set, but there was a
Speaker 2: push off it felt to me. Tell me, if you
Speaker 2: agree to monse As someone who's watching rooting for the Celtics,
Speaker 2: that if they had called that a charge and Boston
Speaker 2: had challenged it, they wouldn't have overturned the charge. They
Speaker 2: called it a block, Dallas challenged it. They didn't overturn
Speaker 2: the block. Do you think that's fair, like that was
Speaker 2: a judgment call that could have gone either way.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I do.
Speaker 3: I do think that like with it was very close,
Speaker 3: it's very close to him being set or not set,
Speaker 3: and I don't And I think with him having the
Speaker 3: attitude that he has towards the refs, he's not going
Speaker 3: to get that benefit of the doubt. And I'm gonna
Speaker 3: be looking to give you charges if that's how you
Speaker 3: are the whole game before.
Speaker 2: It right, And that that part is fair is that
Speaker 2: you've got to recognize the refs are human and if
Speaker 2: you're abusing them from the opening minute, you're just not
Speaker 2: going to get the benefit of the doubt on stuff.
Speaker 2: And so some of This is kind of a self
Speaker 2: fulfilling prophecy. Luca thinks the refs are out to get him,
Speaker 2: so he you know, goes after them, and that makes
Speaker 2: the refs more likely out to get him. So all
Speaker 2: of that. So I'm not making excuses and I'm not
Speaker 2: blaming the refs. But here is what I want to
Speaker 2: say about Luca fouling out and the reactions to it.
Speaker 2: You have a player who is an offense unto himself,
Speaker 2: unlike almost any player in league history, whose team is
Speaker 2: in the NBA Finals thanks to him more than anyone
Speaker 2: else by a massive measure, who in a critical championship
Speaker 2: in the balance finals game gets hunted repeatedly, defensively, loses
Speaker 2: his composure a number of times, and fouls out of
Speaker 2: that game. I just told you about Steph Curry in
Speaker 2: game six of twenty sixteen. Now I also told you
Speaker 2: about Luca. The difference, I guess there is Steph's team
Speaker 2: was trying to win a championship that game rather than
Speaker 2: stave off elimination, and Luca was whining earlier than Steph was.
Speaker 2: But Steph did end up culminating with throwing his mouthpiece
Speaker 2: into the crowd, hitting a fan and his wife saying
Speaker 2: the league was rigged for ratings or money. She doesn't
Speaker 2: know which. Now, I, once again, trying to be the
Speaker 2: bastion of fairness and consistency, crushed Steph for that crushed him.
Speaker 2: So Luca's gotta get similar heat. But my colleagues did not.
Speaker 2: Nobody was out here saying this is you know, Steph Curry,
Speaker 2: and now he had already won a championship, he had
Speaker 2: won two league MVPs. I understand that, but this idea
Speaker 2: that we've never seen something like this, we actually saw
Speaker 2: something exactly like it, very similar. A guy who was
Speaker 2: unimpeachably brilliant offensively, whose weakness on defense can be exploited
Speaker 2: in the playoffs, and smart teams will hunt him getting
Speaker 2: in late foul trouble of a critical finals game, fouling
Speaker 2: out and losing his s. We've seen it. And that's
Speaker 2: why I push back a little bit on some of
Speaker 2: the nuclear level Luca takes, because I do think we
Speaker 2: need a bit of a breath and recognize, hey, the
Speaker 2: criticism is warranted. When you are trying to become the
Speaker 2: best player in the world, you are held to a
Speaker 2: best player in the world standard and you need to overcome,
Speaker 2: You need to be a plus when your team's only
Speaker 2: expecting an A. All of those things. Also the pendulum
Speaker 2: swinging so far in the other direction. As if Luca
Speaker 2: is the reason the MAVs lost, I reject out of hand.
Speaker 2: Luca is Kyrie was brilliant last night. Luca is the
Speaker 2: reason they're in this spot now, demonsay, and see from
Speaker 2: the look on your face and the split screen you
Speaker 2: disagreed to a degree, which is fine. I think most
Speaker 2: of the audience probably does.
Speaker 3: So go ahead, Wait what you said that if you
Speaker 3: can't count that, you can't put this on Luca. This
Speaker 3: isn't Lucas fault. It was just Lucas fault in that game.
Speaker 4: And then.
Speaker 2: What I'm saying is that I feel the pendulum has
Speaker 2: swung in the last twelve hours so far out of whack,
Speaker 2: to where the discussion turned to, Luca is the problem
Speaker 2: for the maps, Luca is the solution for the maps.
Speaker 2: Lucas the reason the MAVs are here. This was a
Speaker 2: brutal moment for him, and it was, if we're being honest,
Speaker 2: a game that the MAVs appeared down two to zero
Speaker 2: at home to let go of the rope in that
Speaker 2: third quarter, and that's on your leader. That's on like
Speaker 2: that is fair criticism. The hyper ventilating about the about
Speaker 2: him fouling out of the game, as if we've never
Speaker 2: seen that when we saw it in a very famous
Speaker 2: moment in the NBA Finals with a player whose roles
Speaker 2: and responsibilities to his team are very similar to Lucas,
Speaker 2: which is you create our entire offensive system is thanks
Speaker 2: to your one of one talents, and we're going to
Speaker 2: have to hide you defensively. That's where I felt like
Speaker 2: the criticism was out of whack and so and that's
Speaker 2: what I texted Wendy. Wendy disagrees. I also do want
Speaker 2: to say, I don't there is There aren't three people
Speaker 2: in basketball media that I have more affection and professional
Speaker 2: respect for than Wendy. So I'm not attacking him. I
Speaker 2: just I thought he has such a respected voice that
Speaker 2: if the and he's so rarely goes after anybody, that
Speaker 2: if like, let me use another person, I'll you steven A,
Speaker 2: another guy that I'm friends with and that I respect.
Speaker 2: If stephen A had said the exact thing, Wendy said,
Speaker 2: I don't think it sets the conversation the way it
Speaker 2: did when Wendy did it, because stephen A says very
Speaker 2: bombastic if you will things all the time, it's part
Speaker 2: of the gig. It's just like I do, by the way,
Speaker 2: so it's not a shock at all. I mean, yeah,
Speaker 2: he's polarizing and he's out of here giving takes because
Speaker 2: Wendy so rarely crushes somebody when he does. To me,
Speaker 2: it signaled to the whole basketball world, Oh, it is
Speaker 2: going to be feast on Luca today. And I think
Speaker 2: by the way that I name another guy that I
Speaker 2: have massive respect and affection for. I think Van Pelt
Speaker 2: felt the same way, because Van Pelt later in the
Speaker 2: postgame said, man, I'm still processing Wendy taking a blow
Speaker 2: torch to Luca, and so I thought that was a
Speaker 2: touch too harsh. I smart people can disagree. I thought
Speaker 2: it was a touch too harsh in part because I
Speaker 2: didn't see, yeah, twenty percent of it. When Steph fouled
Speaker 2: out and the Warriors were in the midst of losing
Speaker 2: the three to one lead, I didn't see that. So
Speaker 2: that's where I fall on the Lucas stuff go out, I.
Speaker 4: Think it was like a sound of the alarm type
Speaker 4: of thing.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: I think Whendhorse coming out and saying that was just
Speaker 3: speaks to how dire the situation is. I do think
Speaker 3: that Curry and Luca are in a little bit different situations,
Speaker 3: being that Curry had already been there, when he had
Speaker 3: already done it, Luca hasn't, and it's just like you're
Speaker 3: finally here and that stuff has got.
Speaker 4: To go out of the window. I think it's just
Speaker 4: it's like that kind of sounding a lot.
Speaker 2: Of times that so that demands is a great take,
Speaker 2: it's a fair take. I think it's how most people feel.
Speaker 2: It's it is level headed, legitimate. I think that is
Speaker 2: and there is this is where track record matters, that
Speaker 2: that moment for Steph felt totally aberrant. It felt like
Speaker 2: what is happened? It felt like a one off meltdown,
Speaker 2: even though he did then the next year fling his
Speaker 2: mouthpiece into the crowd again, but he hadn't done it
Speaker 2: up to that point in his career, and he had
Speaker 2: track record matters, and he had earned such massive goodwill,
Speaker 2: and he already was a champion, So you couldn't have
Speaker 2: the take Steph Curry's defense is gonna stop you from
Speaker 2: winning a championship? That my My pushback is really twofold.
Speaker 2: One is I just think it was a little too
Speaker 2: harsh the general Luca conversation today and last night. And
Speaker 2: the other one is the idea that, oh, with Luca
Speaker 2: playing defense like this, the MAVs can't win a title.
Speaker 2: That I think that he should be better. I think
Speaker 2: at twenty five, you're supposed to get better across the board,
Speaker 2: like he's not a finished product. I think all that's true,
Speaker 2: But I also think the MAVs can win a title
Speaker 2: with his defense as it is. I think last night,
Speaker 2: I think that other guys have to pick him up
Speaker 2: because of what his deficiencies are. But the idea that
Speaker 2: he and last night. The reason I brought up the
Speaker 2: plus minus is people can show me as many clips
Speaker 2: as they want of Sam, of him losing Sam Hauser,
Speaker 2: him losing Jalen Brown, of all of it. The fact
Speaker 2: of the matter is this, even in that game, which
Speaker 2: was one of the worst defensive performances he's had all postseason,
Speaker 2: when he was on the court, they won those minutes. Now,
Speaker 2: let me also be fair in this regard for you
Speaker 2: move on getting joh ten percent better defensively, twenty percent
Speaker 2: better defensively, in my opinion, is what moved Joker from
Speaker 2: a great offensive player who I was not comfortable calling
Speaker 2: the best player in the world to best player in
Speaker 2: the world. And I thought one of the reasons the
Speaker 2: Nuggets didn't end up in the finals this year was
Speaker 2: he slipped a little defensively, and so that it is
Speaker 2: fair to say Luca needs to do the same thing.
Speaker 2: And it is fair to say that Jokers plus minus
Speaker 2: was always great and he was still subject to criticism.
Speaker 2: I'm not arguing Lucas shouldn't be criticized. I'm not arguing
Speaker 2: he played well yesterday. I am arguing that I think
Speaker 2: it's been in the last twelve.
Speaker 4: Miles gonna lose this series. Like that's what you're.
Speaker 2: Correct, correct, and so like that is that is the
Speaker 2: part of it that is frustrating me. The the Bill
Speaker 2: James quote that I always go to and sometimes I
Speaker 2: get this because to who much is given, much is
Speaker 2: expected the best player. Let me see if I can
Speaker 2: find the quote the Bill James. Let me see Bill
Speaker 2: James blame best player, worst teams. So I can't find it.
Speaker 2: The I think it's the Bill. I think it's Bill
Speaker 2: James who said it. But regardless, the quote is bad
Speaker 2: teams have an uncanny ability to blame their best players
Speaker 2: for their biggest problems. Now, obviously the MAVs aren't a
Speaker 2: bad team, and that's I'm kind of mixing metaphors there
Speaker 2: because I think the MAVs are necessarily blaming Luca. But
Speaker 2: I to the day is going to be across sports
Speaker 2: media annihilate Luka Doncic today, it just is there. Today
Speaker 2: is going to be a if you're trying to win
Speaker 2: a championship, here is the list of players you would
Speaker 2: rather have. And if you make that list and you
Speaker 2: have more than two people on it, I think you're
Speaker 2: being disingenuous. If you want to say you're trying to
Speaker 2: win a championship you'd rather have Joker, Sure, And if
Speaker 2: you want to include Giannis, no problem. But if all
Speaker 2: of a sudden we go from one game of what's
Speaker 2: wrong with Jason Tatum to actually Jason Tatum is better
Speaker 2: than Luca, we've gone too far and so like, So
Speaker 2: that's just kind of what I'm pushing against. So there's
Speaker 2: the Luca part of it. Now demands let's get to
Speaker 2: you know, the team that actually won the game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so on the other side, the Celtics. They are
Speaker 3: in a commanding three to zero lead at this point.
Speaker 3: Nobody's impressed with the Celtics. Everybody's saying this route has
Speaker 3: been easy, and they are They're a game away from
Speaker 3: being twenty to two in the playoffs. Why is nobody
Speaker 3: impressed with what the Celtics are doing right now besides me?
Speaker 2: So I think that's a straw man. I think people
Speaker 2: are very impressed by their finals performance and we don't
Speaker 2: have to relitigate their path to the finals. But in
Speaker 2: these finals, and as I've said all year yet, no
Speaker 2: one is going to care about the path if they
Speaker 2: win the title, and if they they're going to end
Speaker 2: up demanse pardon me, if they finish the sweep with
Speaker 2: some gaudy records, undefeated on the road. Sweet. I don't
Speaker 2: think any team ever has swept the conference and the
Speaker 2: NBA finals and they are they're going to finish the year.
Speaker 2: What were they They were.
Speaker 3: Sixty they were sixty four and eighteen.
Speaker 2: Sixty four and eighteen, thank you, So they might end
Speaker 2: up demons eighty and twenty. I mean, that is that's
Speaker 2: all time. That is all time.
Speaker 3: And the Warriors that year, that they did the that
Speaker 3: they they went like seventy two, and what.
Speaker 2: Was it, They went seventy they went seventy three, and
Speaker 2: they win seventy three and nine. But what hurt them
Speaker 2: was they lost the championship to Lebron. They didn't finish it.
Speaker 2: The MJ's Bulls in ninety six went seventy two and ten,
Speaker 2: and then how many playoff games did they lose? I'll
Speaker 2: look that up, like this is going to be on
Speaker 2: the very short list. In ninety six, I know, the
Speaker 2: finals went six games. The Bulls lost three total playoff games,
Speaker 2: so they won. They were fifteen and three in the playoffs,
Speaker 2: seventy two and ten in their regular seasons, so that
Speaker 2: team ended up being eighty seven and thirteen. Pretty unbelievable.
Speaker 2: The next year, by the way, that Bulls team ended
Speaker 2: up being they were sixty nine and thirteen in the
Speaker 2: regular season and then lost four games in the playoffs,
Speaker 2: so that team was eighty four and seventeen. So it's
Speaker 2: that the record and the metrics are going to say
Speaker 2: this is an all time team. We can get to
Speaker 2: that part in a second. First, let me give them
Speaker 2: their flowers. I actually think the maps. So here's the
Speaker 2: other thing that I find so interesting about the Luca
Speaker 2: conversation and the conversation of this series. The MAVs are
Speaker 2: not losing because of their defense. They're just not will
Speaker 2: you can show me as many clips as you want.
Speaker 2: The fact of the matter is, if going into these
Speaker 2: finals you had told Jason Kidd the Celtics are gonna
Speaker 2: score one oh seven, one oh five, one oh six,
Speaker 2: he would say, sign me up for it. The Celtics
Speaker 2: offense because they haven't had that red hot from three game, like,
Speaker 2: you know, shooting for forty attempts. The because they haven't
Speaker 2: had until last night, the simultaneous Tatum and Brown scoring
Speaker 2: explosion game. And when they got it last night, they
Speaker 2: were They didn't really get help from the other guys.
Speaker 2: The Celtics offense has just been okay despite whatever issues
Speaker 2: the MAVs defense has. The reason the Celtics are in
Speaker 2: this position is the Celtics defense, their scheme, and their
Speaker 2: personnel has been legendary, and that must be credit must
Speaker 2: be given. You. You forced Kyrie Irving into two impossibly
Speaker 2: bad games. You frustrate did Luca enough last night to
Speaker 2: where you're up twenty and he's pressing in the fourth
Speaker 2: quarter and the Celtics defensive personnel last night without Christaps,
Speaker 2: I mean, the MAVs were up twenty five to twelve,
Speaker 2: and then the Celtics were up twenty one. So in
Speaker 2: a basically a two and a half quarter span, the
Speaker 2: Celtics out what's that? So they were up thirteen. They
Speaker 2: had a thirty four point turnaround. I mean that it
Speaker 2: was a seventy nine to forty five run, if you will,
Speaker 2: in the middle middle of this game. They held the
Speaker 2: MAVs last night. How many points did the MAVs have
Speaker 2: at halftime? The MAVs at halftime had fifty one, So
Speaker 2: they held the MAVs last night to fifty one in
Speaker 2: the first half, nineteen in the third quarter, which is
Speaker 2: when the game was decided, and then the obviously went
Speaker 2: on that little run. But you have held the MAVs
Speaker 2: under one hundred every game these playoffs. Like, I'm gonna
Speaker 2: try to look this up very quickly. I should have
Speaker 2: looked it up before, but this is where I'm trying
Speaker 2: to give Boston credit because they deserve it. Did the
Speaker 2: MAVs have three straight games under one hundred points all
Speaker 2: year going into this. I'm looking it up right now,
Speaker 2: so this is all right, So this is pretty remarkable.
Speaker 2: All right. If you remove the final two games of
Speaker 2: the year, and I'm doing this in real time, if
Speaker 2: you remove the final two games of the year when
Speaker 2: the MAVs rested everybody, they scored less than one hundred
Speaker 2: points one two, three, four, five five times all season
Speaker 2: in the regular season. In the playoffs, well there's a yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean there's a one forty seven yeah. In the playoffs.
Speaker 2: The MAVs going into this series had been held under
Speaker 2: one hundred four times back to back once. So going
Speaker 2: into the NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks had been held
Speaker 2: under one hundred. Again, let's just throw out the final
Speaker 2: two games of the year when they were resting everybody.
Speaker 2: They had been held under one hundred going into the
Speaker 2: playoffs five times. Going into the finals, you include the playoffs,
Speaker 2: they've been held under one hundred nine times back to
Speaker 2: back once the first two games of the Clippers series
Speaker 2: and they actually won game two. And they have now
Speaker 2: been held under one hundred three straight games. Dusty just
Speaker 2: texted me, first time three straight under one hundred since
Speaker 2: December of twenty one, and I'm without knowing I'm gonna
Speaker 2: go ahead and check and see was Luca even playing?
Speaker 2: You know what I mean? Like, was he was in
Speaker 2: that stretch? Was was Luca active in December of twenty one?
Speaker 2: And the answer to that question is, like I thought, no, So, Dusty,
Speaker 2: if you're watching for the first thing's first studio, has
Speaker 2: Luca ever in his career been held on his team
Speaker 2: been held under one hundred points in three straight games
Speaker 2: that he played in. My guess is no. So that's
Speaker 2: where the Celtics defense deserves all the credit in the world.
Speaker 2: That was not the script I saw coming into this series.
Speaker 2: I obviously was wrong about this series. That's undeniable. I
Speaker 2: obviously undersold the Celtics. That's undeniable. I'm just you know
Speaker 2: what I mean, I was wrong, and I'm that there's
Speaker 2: no yeah butts about it. They won yesterday without Chris
Speaker 2: STAPs and by the way, good thing they did, because
Speaker 2: I don't think he's playing again in this playoffs. And
Speaker 2: if they had lost that game, particularly, it'd be one
Speaker 2: thing if they had lost it because the MAVs just
Speaker 2: crushed them, But if they had blown that twenty one
Speaker 2: point lead, then we are having and they don't like
Speaker 2: now we're having a whole different conversation. But they didn't.
Speaker 2: They held on, They kept their composure when it looked
Speaker 2: like it could go a totally another way. And now
Speaker 2: they're a game away from being champions. And I would
Speaker 2: guess I don't know this for certain, but I would
Speaker 2: guess this is the first time in Luca's career he's
Speaker 2: played in three straight games where the team didn't score
Speaker 2: one hundred points. You can now ask the question about history,
Speaker 2: de monsay, unless there's something else you want to ask me.
Speaker 3: Yeah, do you think that it's time to start considering
Speaker 3: Boston a historically great team?
Speaker 2: No, I do think they had a historically great season.
Speaker 2: And folks can say that I am that. This is
Speaker 2: the data says, and Dusty just texts me, it's never
Speaker 2: happened that Luke has played in three straight games where
Speaker 2: his team didn't score one hundred points. It's never happened.
Speaker 2: Then it happened in the first three finals games. Yeah,
Speaker 2: the margin of victory. The record says, this is one
Speaker 2: of the greatest teams ever. And if you want to
Speaker 2: the metaphorical, you not you Demanse want to say, well,
Speaker 2: then they are guys, then they are I understand. I disagree.
Speaker 2: And my argument is that pretty simple, simple one, and
Speaker 2: people gonna say it's caveman thinking, But to be a
Speaker 2: historically great team in this sport, you've gotta have There
Speaker 2: were too many of the historically great teams that had
Speaker 2: historically great players.
Speaker 3: And if we just want to do that, you gonna
Speaker 3: you're saying it could end up like the Nugget situation,
Speaker 3: since we don't have the greatest player.
Speaker 4: In the NBA.
Speaker 2: No, the Nuggets might have No, the Nuggets have Jokic.
Speaker 2: I think it's probably more comparable to the Eight Celtics
Speaker 2: or the four Pistons, which were great teams, but not
Speaker 2: historically great teams. When and again, I guess what when
Speaker 2: we say historically great, if we're opening the purview to
Speaker 2: you know, there have been seventy five champions, Is this
Speaker 2: one of the twenty five best champions? Sure? And even
Speaker 2: though some teams they'd be ahead of don't have the
Speaker 2: resume or have have better individual you know, superstars. Sure,
Speaker 2: but when we're talking about the greatest teams of all time,
Speaker 2: just off the top of my head, if we are
Speaker 2: just going through the last since nineteen eighty, right, you've
Speaker 2: I'm going to try to do this kind of in order,
Speaker 2: so to speak, the eighty three six Ers, the eighty
Speaker 2: six Celtics, pick your favorite showtime Lakers team. I think
Speaker 2: there were at least two Bulls teams better than this
Speaker 2: Celtics team with Michael the one Lakers, the twenty thirteen Heat,
Speaker 2: the twenty seventeen and eighteen Warriors. Like now, we're up
Speaker 2: to no teams just off the top of my head.
Speaker 2: So I think all of those teams were better than
Speaker 2: this team. But there is no yeah but about a championship.
Speaker 2: And I will not abide folks who try to retroactively say, well,
Speaker 2: their path in the East was easy. That part's correct,
Speaker 2: and their path in the finals was easy. They are
Speaker 2: making it look easy. But the MAVs were playing unbelievable
Speaker 2: basketball with a guy who looked like he was poised
Speaker 2: to become the best player in the world. So I
Speaker 2: don't think that this is an easy finals. They are
Speaker 2: making it look easy and so.
Speaker 4: That.
Speaker 2: But I don't think that if we are making a
Speaker 2: list of the ten greatest teams in NBA history, that
Speaker 2: you spend much time considering this Celtics. I just don't.
Speaker 2: Now you mentioned the Nuggets demanse Okay, I feel the
Speaker 2: same way about last year's Nuggets. If the Nuggets had
Speaker 2: then won the title this year ripped off like three
Speaker 2: and four years, then you're like, well, damn, I guess
Speaker 2: they you know what I mean, retroactively, I guess they were.
Speaker 2: It's a similar boat the Celtics are in. If we're
Speaker 2: gonna end up thinking of this Celtics team as good
Speaker 2: as their record is historically speaking, then it's going the
Speaker 2: title defense and everything that comes next plays a piece
Speaker 2: of it, especially because they bring everybody back. They've got
Speaker 2: this whole team locked for next year, so we'll get
Speaker 2: to see it. I don't think that's unfair. I don't
Speaker 2: think that is a double standard.
Speaker 3: You go ahead, that was that's nice, that's nice. I
Speaker 3: didn't know the full team coming back next year is awesome.
Speaker 2: But oh, you didn't know that they had everyone under contract. Yeah,
Speaker 2: they have everyone under contract for next year, all five stars.
Speaker 2: That yeah, But that's similar to the Nuggets, right, That's
Speaker 2: similar to the Nuggets where they had all five stars
Speaker 2: coming back. Nuggets lost Bruce, they lost Bruce Brown well,
Speaker 2: and so and I think here's the thing. Maybe I'm wrong.
Speaker 2: I could out if they win the title, could Al
Speaker 2: Horford retire maybe? I mean he's old, Uh, he does
Speaker 2: have he has one year left on his contract though,
Speaker 2: so I mean they don't have to worry about losing
Speaker 2: him to free agency, but he could retire. But yeah,
Speaker 2: that's kind of their Bruce Brown version of it. Go ahead,
Speaker 2: de Monte.
Speaker 3: So do you think, like, so you're saying that this
Speaker 3: they're not historically great now, but if they do come
Speaker 3: back next year and win it, is that what you
Speaker 3: were just kind of saying.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well then yes, I mean then you start to
Speaker 2: re examine, you know what I mean. Then you start
Speaker 2: to say, like, just like the Four Pistons, that this
Speaker 2: is I know, you don't know this, and a lot
Speaker 2: of the audience probably doesn't know it. The Four Pistons
Speaker 2: are considered, uh, unbelievable team that you know, shocked, shocking
Speaker 2: Kobe's last year together. The Lakers won that finals with
Speaker 2: ease in five games, but they're not considered a historically
Speaker 2: great team. The very next year to Monsey, they lost
Speaker 2: in the NBA Finals in Game seven. The next year,
Speaker 2: they lost in the conference finals. The next year, they
Speaker 2: lost in the conference finals. The next year they lost
Speaker 2: in the conference finals. So that four Pistons team made
Speaker 2: the conference finals in three, then won the championship the
Speaker 2: next year, lost in seven in heartbreaking fashion to the Spurs,
Speaker 2: and then made one, two, three more conference finals in
Speaker 2: a row and never broke through. So here's my point.
Speaker 2: If that O five Pistons team had won the title,
Speaker 2: then I think people might look back on that four
Speaker 2: Pistons team and say, man, maybe they were better than
Speaker 2: we thought, you know what, I and so. But because
Speaker 2: they didn't, and even though they were still really good
Speaker 2: year after year after year, they were just banging on
Speaker 2: the door like they they never quite got into that
Speaker 2: all time team room. Now, they didn't have the regular
Speaker 2: season the Celtics did, and they didn't have this dominant
Speaker 2: of a postseason that the Celtics did. So take that
Speaker 2: for what you will. All right, Demansey, what's a finals
Speaker 2: MVP question before we move on?
Speaker 3: Yeah, a couple because I want to talk to the
Speaker 3: Joel Embiid thing as well. But yeah, do you think
Speaker 3: Jalen is finals MVP or Drew? Who do you think
Speaker 3: is in that?
Speaker 2: And I think right now it's jailing with a bullet.
Speaker 2: I think right now it's clearly Jalen, and my money
Speaker 2: would be on jail and winning it, because I don't
Speaker 2: think Drew's going to have this massive offensive explosion he was.
Speaker 3: He was taking a little bit of too many shots,
Speaker 3: like too at the game of the game, he was
Speaker 3: doing a little bit.
Speaker 4: I was like, and listen.
Speaker 2: And Tatum, I mean, Tatum took a bunch of shots
Speaker 2: and obvious.
Speaker 3: At least three three three three three three step back
Speaker 3: in eight step back three.
Speaker 4: Ye.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And so but listen, he's I mean, he scored thirty.
Speaker 2: I'm not crushing him for it, but I think right now,
Speaker 2: I think it's Jalen's MVP to lose for sure. All right,
Speaker 2: you want to talk Joel and bid?
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So Joel Embiid used his extensive playoff experience to chime
Speaker 3: in on what's going on. He tweeted, did the Bucks?
Speaker 3: Did the Bucks give them the championship? Is refer instance Celtics? So, uh,
Speaker 3: do you what do you think about that?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 2: What do you think about it?
Speaker 3: You wanted to I don't know why Joel e Bead's
Speaker 3: talking about the championship, and I think that he's gonna say, like, oh,
Speaker 3: did the Bucks give it to him? The last time
Speaker 3: the Celtics played the Bucks, they beat him in the
Speaker 3: Game seven, and the Bucks had Drew Holiday, Am I
Speaker 3: or am I? Am I wrong about?
Speaker 4: Yes?
Speaker 2: They have?
Speaker 3: And you expected that the Bucks were going to beat
Speaker 3: the Celtics. It's just like, Joe, just stay home and
Speaker 3: enjoy your vacation, dude.
Speaker 2: Okay, So I don't think he was saying the Bucks
Speaker 2: were going to beat the Celtics. What I think he
Speaker 2: was saying is.
Speaker 4: They're going to wear him down.
Speaker 2: No, no, no, no. I don't even think he was looking
Speaker 2: at it as the Bucks versus the Celtics. I think
Speaker 2: he was saying, and I don't think this is actually
Speaker 2: a bad take, that the final piece for Boston was
Speaker 2: made available.
Speaker 4: Yes, And I was just like using that to yes, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: I know that's that fair. I was like, oh, I
Speaker 2: was like, you're so close to seeing what he's saying,
Speaker 2: but you didn't. And then you mentioned Drew Holliday but
Speaker 2: you didn't quite get there. What he's saying is the
Speaker 2: Bucks feeling that we have to get Dame was the
Speaker 2: dominance that allowed the Celtics to get.
Speaker 3: Drew, which was all so still to this day kind
Speaker 3: of blame you, honest for but go ahead.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's fair. I mean that. I mean they did
Speaker 2: that because they were afraid Giannis was going to say
Speaker 2: I want to leave. So they made a impulsive move
Speaker 2: to try to up because Drew had not been good
Speaker 2: offensively in the playoffs with Milwaukee, even when they won
Speaker 2: the title, he wasn't good offensively. They thought they needed
Speaker 2: more in that spot. They were worried about Chris Middleton's
Speaker 2: deteriorating health, so they made a move. But would I
Speaker 2: I guess, the question asked Celtics. Well, there's that question.
Speaker 2: The other question is this, would the Bucks have made
Speaker 2: that Dame trade if they knew Drew was gonna end
Speaker 2: up on Boss? I think the answer that's no, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean, I don't think they would have
Speaker 2: done it if they knew that. And so I.
Speaker 4: I don't think that type of stuff happens.
Speaker 3: I love that type of stuff, like, sorry, you shot
Speaker 3: yourself in the foot, You shouldn't have done it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, that's a that Well, so there was in
Speaker 2: a much, you know, much much smaller stakes. The Thunder
Speaker 2: made two moves on draft Day and then at the
Speaker 2: trade deadline that allowed the MAVs to get Derek Lively
Speaker 2: and Daniel Gafford, and then those two guys were huge
Speaker 2: reasons why the MAVs beat the thunder So it was like, like, oh,
Speaker 2: you helped us get those guys, and now those guys
Speaker 2: are beating you. This is again, it's not the finals,
Speaker 2: and it's different stakes, all of it. But yeah, I mean,
Speaker 2: this was It's so the reason I liked Embiid's tweet
Speaker 2: is I said it on first things first, after Game one,
Speaker 2: I have, you know, I keep all my folders that
Speaker 2: I write all my notes on. I wrote, literally, I
Speaker 2: should take a picture of it and tweet it out
Speaker 2: Later today I wrote something along the lines of do
Speaker 2: the Bucks does someone in the Bucks front office deserve
Speaker 2: a ring if the Celtics win the title? And so,
Speaker 2: I mean I and Drew's been so good for him,
Speaker 2: so good for him, and yeah, so that's what Embiid
Speaker 2: was talking about. So it's not a bad sports take.
Speaker 2: You just might not want to hear it from Joel Embiid.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, not hear from Joel Embiid, especially in the
Speaker 3: context that I was thinking of it. But now, like
Speaker 3: I understand, okay, all right, let's do let's do Aaron
Speaker 3: Rodgers quickly. Yeah, so Aaron Rodgers' sets is still miss
Speaker 3: mini camp. No one's coming out and saying what the
Speaker 3: actual event is that he's attending. But yeah, so we
Speaker 3: know where you stand on this guy. The rest of
Speaker 3: the media, a lot of other media members are saying
Speaker 3: that this isn't a big deal considering where it is
Speaker 3: in the point of the year. So so, yeah, where
Speaker 3: where do you stand on it?
Speaker 4: Now?
Speaker 2: Okay?
Speaker 3: I mean.
Speaker 2: Everyone else is at their mini camp. He isn't he.
Speaker 2: I'm not I the the I And by the way,
Speaker 2: Colin reported he's on vacation. Colin said, he's on an
Speaker 2: international vacation. And so listen, I don't I have Like
Speaker 2: you said, people know where I stand, and I've talked
Speaker 2: about this a lot on TV, and today's an NBA
Speaker 2: Finals day, so I don't really want to and we've
Speaker 2: gone We're gonna maybe set our record for longest day
Speaker 2: block ever. The guy's a phony and I'm not gonna
Speaker 2: dance around it anymore. He's an absolute phony. He is
Speaker 2: the worst type of leader anyone can have in any organization,
Speaker 2: which is the self righteous, preachy get the bullshout out
Speaker 2: of the building that doesn't have to do with winning.
Speaker 2: We are locked in. We're doing all this. By the way,
Speaker 2: I'm flirting with being the vice president. And also I
Speaker 2: just can't you know, I can't afford the flight switch
Speaker 2: fee to move around my trip stop it and to
Speaker 2: have the the the idea. So here is here is
Speaker 2: one thing that I will say. And every time I
Speaker 2: tweet about this or I post a clip, it's just
Speaker 2: these morons in my mentions being like you must be
Speaker 2: on your fourteenth booster, guys, I could be the biggest
Speaker 2: anti VACS conspiracy theorist RFK junior tattoo. And still think
Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers, the quarterback leader of the Jets, is a charlatan.
Speaker 2: The idea that it is almost become because he was
Speaker 2: criticized for non football things that now folks are trying
Speaker 2: to pretend all of the criticism about football things are
Speaker 2: related to that. There are thirty two starting quarterbacks in
Speaker 2: the NFL. How many of them are unexcused missing mini
Speaker 2: camp one last year it was zero, the year before
Speaker 2: it was zero, the year before that it was one.
Speaker 2: Any guests on who it was Aaron Rodgers, So don't
Speaker 2: tell me that this. In the last four off seasons,
Speaker 2: there has been one. There have been two times what's
Speaker 2: thirty two times four one hundred and twenty eight. There
Speaker 2: have been one hundred and twenty eight possible instances of
Speaker 2: a starting quarterback being fined for missing mandatory mini camp.
Speaker 2: The whole world is one hundred and twenty six, one
Speaker 2: hundred and twenty four and oher on not being fined
Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers is five hundred. He's two and two, and
Speaker 2: so that is that's just objective fact.
Speaker 3: And here go ahead, Demonse, go Yeah, I was probably
Speaker 3: the last person you want to hear. But on the
Speaker 3: other side of it, he did just like Terror's Achilles
Speaker 3: last year, and he's like super he's old, and you
Speaker 3: know that his offensive line might have problems. It probably
Speaker 3: isn't his best interest to begetting the most activity going
Speaker 3: on that he possibly can be getty, Like I could
Speaker 3: see if I feel like if he didn't just Terror's
Speaker 3: Achilles last year, it'd almost be a little bit more excusable.
Speaker 2: But oh, you're saying, because he missed so much time
Speaker 2: he needs the practice or he doesn't need the practice.
Speaker 3: No, he probably need like needs it, like to get
Speaker 3: physically back. He missed the whole football season last year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and they have a new offensive line and they
Speaker 2: have they added receivers. They yes, they need to get
Speaker 2: on the same page. Here is. And also they won't
Speaker 2: say where he is. It's all of it is just
Speaker 2: so it's just so embarrassing. So here is. So people
Speaker 2: are wondering why the Jets didn't let people know this
Speaker 2: was happening a month ago. So and by people, it's
Speaker 2: not just the media. Tyrod Taylor didn't know it. That's
Speaker 2: the other thing. Aaron's teammates did not know he wasn't
Speaker 2: gonna be there until he wasn't there. I'll say that again.
Speaker 2: Aaron's teammates did not know he wasn't gonna be there
Speaker 2: until he wasn't there. And so people are wondering, since
Speaker 2: Aaron was there for all of the optional stuff this offseason,
Speaker 2: why the Jets didn't handle this from a pr perspective better,
Speaker 2: which was six weeks ago. Have as an aside during
Speaker 2: a press conference, when you're singing Aaron's praises about him
Speaker 2: being there, just say, and you know, we're really glad
Speaker 2: he's here because you know, we know he can't be
Speaker 2: at mini camp and blah blah blah. And then at
Speaker 2: some point, someone follows up and they're like, wait, did
Speaker 2: you say he's not gonna be at Mini camp? Be like, yeah,
Speaker 2: we've talked about it. We know it's not a big deal.
Speaker 2: He's got something going on, and then it's not a
Speaker 2: story the first day of Mini camp. So why didn't
Speaker 2: the Jets do that? Everyone is assigning just raw incompetence
Speaker 2: to that decision, and it's the Jets, so raw incompetence
Speaker 2: is always on the board. That's not my theory. Here's
Speaker 2: my theory to Monsey. I haven't heard anyone else say this,
Speaker 2: but to me, it's so clearly what happened. Why didn't
Speaker 2: the Jets let the media know? Why didn't they let
Speaker 2: his teammates knowing? No, No, that's not it. I believe
Speaker 2: they knew. I don't think that. I mean, that's possible.
Speaker 2: I guess that they're lying that they've known for months,
Speaker 2: But I believe they knew. Here's my theory. They were
Speaker 2: hoping he'd change his mind. They were hoping that at
Speaker 2: some point he would be like, hmmm, international vacation or
Speaker 2: the only two days I'm required to be in this
Speaker 2: building in a three month stretch, we can you know
Speaker 2: what I've made the most money of anyone in the
Speaker 2: history of professional football. I can move some flights around.
Speaker 2: They were hoping that, and again raw speculation. My guess
Speaker 2: is the last day of the OTAs there was a
Speaker 2: bit of a you know, hope to see on Tuesday Arin.
Speaker 2: It's like, ah, like, maybe he'll surprise us. The other
Speaker 2: option is they're just totally incompetent in all phases. I
Speaker 2: think they were hoping he'd change his mind because objected,
Speaker 2: and someone would the Jets is pissed, someone important with
Speaker 2: the Jets is pissed, or else they call it excused.
Speaker 2: They simply say he's excused, and this idea, well, they
Speaker 2: can't say he's excused because then they have to excuse
Speaker 2: the Sonrettic. No, they don't. And the other thing is
Speaker 2: they could just excuse a Sonretic, but a Sonrettic. I mean,
Speaker 2: this is the incompetence. The Eagles traded a Sonretic because
Speaker 2: he wanted a new contract they didn't want to give him.
Speaker 2: The Jets traded for him without getting the Sonretic stuff
Speaker 2: locked in. It's just so he's upset didn't have a deal.
Speaker 2: So that's my theory. My other theory is a very
Speaker 2: simple one, which is when Aaron does talk about this,
Speaker 2: he will be sanctimonious. He will not so subtly scold
Speaker 2: Robert Salah like, well, yeah, you know, I don't you know,
Speaker 2: we had talked about it, so I don't know why
Speaker 2: it was, you know, made quite the deal it was.
Speaker 2: And then he will just talk about the fake news
Speaker 2: media and everyone making a big deal out of nothing
Speaker 2: because the guys in Peru or Portugal or wherever the
Speaker 2: hell he is. It's just so embarrassing. Quick break right
Speaker 2: back after a one hour long a block What's Right?
Speaker 2: Welcome back in What's Right? With Nick Wright, episode two
Speaker 2: forty four on what is almost Celtic's coronation Day not
Speaker 2: quite demands some somber news. Yesterday in the sports world,
Speaker 2: let's get to it. Go ahead.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so yesterday the logo Jerry West passed away at
Speaker 3: the age of eighty six, and we had actually just
Speaker 3: touched base on Jerry West, I think the episode before, and.
Speaker 4: He said, over the last sixty years, he's one of the.
Speaker 3: Most impactful players in the sport. Uh, could you ever
Speaker 3: imagine an NBA without him?
Speaker 2: Well? No, I mean so, so here's the thing we
Speaker 2: in order to properly eulogize Jerry West, we'd probably need
Speaker 2: to do a whole episode one of the I was
Speaker 2: really really happy. Happy is obviously the wrong word when
Speaker 2: I heard he passed. You're obviously very sad, but I
Speaker 2: was happy that we had just impromptu talked about him
Speaker 2: on Thursday and did a kind of just off the
Speaker 2: cuff retrospective on what a badass of a player he was.
Speaker 2: What's crazy about his playing career is that you could
Speaker 2: argue it wasn't as good as his executive career, and
Speaker 2: one of the great what if it's an NBA history
Speaker 2: demon say this is worth looking back and finding the
Speaker 2: video of Jerry West. So he builds the showtime Lakers
Speaker 2: that they actually when they announced pat Riley is going
Speaker 2: to be the coach, Doctor Buss announced Jerry West was
Speaker 2: going to be the coach at the press conference and
Speaker 2: Jerry West said, no, I'm not not doing it. At
Speaker 2: the press conference, like doctor Buss surprised him, You're gonna
Speaker 2: be the coach?
Speaker 4: Uh?
Speaker 2: And then it's like because Magic had forced out the
Speaker 2: previous coach didn't like him, and then Jerry West was like, no,
Speaker 2: I'm not so then They're like it was very weird,
Speaker 2: and it's like, Okay, this is not the video. I'm
Speaker 2: telling you to look up. So pat Riley, No, pat
Speaker 2: Riley's going to be the coach, right, yeah, exactly right,
Speaker 2: pat Riley's going to be the coach. Jerry West was
Speaker 2: like an offensive consultant. Pat Riley ends up being one
Speaker 2: of the greatest of all time. Jerry helps build the
Speaker 2: showtime Lakers. Jerry then trades for Shaq, drafts Kobe, and
Speaker 2: you know, executes a draft day trade for Kobe. It
Speaker 2: should be noted Kobe was the thirteenth pick of the
Speaker 2: draft trade, acquired for Vlade divants. It's not like it
Speaker 2: was a Lebron can't miss won the lottery situation. Jerry
Speaker 2: West saw something in him. Brew told a story off
Speaker 2: the air yesterday that one of the reasons the Lakers
Speaker 2: fell in love with Kobe was because when they brought
Speaker 2: him in for a workout, instead of just having him
Speaker 2: work out, they had him work out against Michael Cooper,
Speaker 2: who was aging but was one of the best defensive
Speaker 2: players in the league in his heyday. And Kobe did
Speaker 2: great in that workout. And so Jerry was a visionary.
Speaker 2: He was the reason demands. The Warriors didn't trade Clay
Speaker 2: Thompson for Kevin Love in twenty thirteen. That was on
Speaker 2: the everyone in twenty thirteen. Everyone wanted to do it.
Speaker 2: It's like, we already have staff, we need more rebounding.
Speaker 2: Kevin Love was available. Kevin Love at that point was
Speaker 2: like putting up twenty and twenties all the time. They
Speaker 2: were going to do it, and Jerry West stopped it,
Speaker 2: and then they end up turning into a dynasty. Jerry
Speaker 2: West helped put the Clippers together in later years. Sadly
Speaker 2: he had a falling out with the Lakers. They continue
Speaker 2: to be petty about it. It's one of the reasons
Speaker 2: they are embarrassing as a high level organization. Their statement
Speaker 2: on Jerry West was three sentences long, and in my opinion,
Speaker 2: they shorted him championships and so it's it's weird he
Speaker 2: has a statue there, but they still there's still bitterness
Speaker 2: between ownership there. It's clearly because.
Speaker 3: You said clip teams, it wasn't He ain't have anything
Speaker 3: to do with Lob City, did he?
Speaker 2: So let me know, because with so he was he
Speaker 2: was with the Clippers as a con sultan. Let me
Speaker 2: get it exactly right. When he was with the Clippers.
Speaker 2: I want to have his the timeline correct on that
Speaker 2: it wasn't lob City. He was with the Clippers in
Speaker 2: this latest in twenty seven, starting in twenty seventeen. Oh yeah,
Speaker 2: so he was. He was there with you know when
Speaker 2: they when they got Kawhi and those guys. He was
Speaker 2: with the Warriors from twenty eleven to twenty seventeen and
Speaker 2: the Grizzlies from O two to seven. This is the
Speaker 2: video I was referring to. So he takes over the
Speaker 2: Grizzlies in O two. The three draft is the Lebron Draft.
Speaker 2: The Grizzlies had traded their pick years prior for nothing. Really,
Speaker 2: you know, it was one of those picks like it's
Speaker 2: protected this, protected this, but they find owed it. They
Speaker 2: only got to keep it. It was protected for number
Speaker 2: one overall in the Lebron James Draft. Okay, it was
Speaker 2: gonna go to the Pistons otherwise, And that lottery happens.
Speaker 2: And the final two teams left picking one and two
Speaker 2: or two and one are the Calves and the Grizzlies.
Speaker 2: And Jerry West is on the podium knowing if they
Speaker 2: open the envelope and it's US, we get Lebron James.
Speaker 2: If they open the envelope and it's Cleveland, we get nothing.
Speaker 2: The number two pick then goes to Detroit. So it's
Speaker 2: either the greatest prospect in sports history or nothing. No
Speaker 2: pick ended up being nothing. That pick ended up turning
Speaker 2: into dark O, but it obviously could have been d Wade, Carmelo, Bosch,
Speaker 2: those were the next guys taken. But there is and Cleveland,
Speaker 2: Lebron's from Akron. There's all of that, but there is
Speaker 2: a whole another version of NBA history where Lebron gets
Speaker 2: drafted to a team run by the greatest executive ever
Speaker 2: and does he never you know what I mean. There's
Speaker 2: so many things there or whatever. But Jerry West was
Speaker 2: just a legend's legend. And the clip I played on
Speaker 2: TV yesterday was him recently relatively at a conference talking
Speaker 2: about how players come into the league these days and
Speaker 2: they're like, he's a dog, he's a dog. This guy's
Speaker 2: a dog, and he just says, matter of factly, well,
Speaker 2: I was a wolf.
Speaker 4: I ate dogs.
Speaker 2: And he's not lying, man. And it's also why when
Speaker 2: he he you know, when JJ did the plumbers and
Speaker 2: fireman thing. And he was asked about it.
Speaker 4: Ye, he flamed him.
Speaker 2: He was like, at some point the numbers matter, young man,
Speaker 2: what did you eat? His his quote was what did
Speaker 2: you do in this league to impact winning? I mean,
Speaker 2: he was like, what were you twelve points per game?
Speaker 2: And so and again, I understand you have to adjust
Speaker 2: it for era, but Jerry West, for his era, he
Speaker 2: said it probably at the highest vertical in the league.
Speaker 2: Maybe Bill Russell or Wilt had higher, but those guys
Speaker 2: were freak freak athletes. But was as fast as any
Speaker 2: player in the league. Was the best shooter in the league.
Speaker 2: And justin all, it's why you know, most people have
Speaker 2: him as the third best shooting guard ever, Michael Kobe, Jerry,
Speaker 2: there's an argument he's the second best shooting guard ever.
Speaker 2: When I did my Top fifty, one of the reasons
Speaker 2: I cut it off of the last fifty years is
Speaker 2: because it is really hard to parse the guys from
Speaker 2: Jerry's era and the previous era. And here's the other
Speaker 2: thing that I'll say that is sad. Before Kobe passed demons,
Speaker 2: if you said, hey, let's get the fifty greatest NBA
Speaker 2: players ever in a room, all of them were available
Speaker 2: except for Wilt and Pistol. Pete and Pistol died very young.
Speaker 4: Pistol died in his forties.
Speaker 2: Since Kobe passed, we've had a lot of legends go.
Speaker 2: We just had Bill Walton go recently, Jerry went, Bill
Speaker 2: Russell went, I'm not gonna be you know, Kobe. Obviously
Speaker 2: there's others as well, and now when the lead. You know,
Speaker 2: the league just celebrated its seventy fifth anniversary, which just means,
Speaker 2: by definition, unfortunately, we're gonna have a lot more of these.
Speaker 2: You know. Bob Coosey gave a quote yesterday or the
Speaker 2: day before it is that I'm nine. I don't know
Speaker 2: if he's ninety five or ninety six. He's like, I'm
Speaker 2: ninety five years old. I've got one foot in the grave.
Speaker 2: I just want to see the Celtics hang banner eighteen,
Speaker 2: which was a great quote by a legendary player. But
Speaker 2: it's just, you know, it is so many of these guys.
Speaker 2: And one other thing I'll say, uh, everyone should go
Speaker 2: check out uh Dan Patrick on Jerry West. So, Dan
Speaker 2: Patrick is obviously a lot older than me and d
Speaker 2: so Dan Patrick is he's mid to late sixties looks unbelievable,
Speaker 2: by the way, but he's you know, he he Jerry
Speaker 2: West was his favorite player as a little kid, and
Speaker 2: then he became friends with Jerry West through the show
Speaker 2: and Dan, I've never I'm sure he's done it before,
Speaker 2: but I've never seen him do it. He cried on
Speaker 2: the air yesterday when we found out the news, and
Speaker 2: it was touching. In a great moment, I text Dan
Speaker 2: and said how moving it was. The guy's a legend,
Speaker 2: made the Demons, He made the Hall of Fame three
Speaker 2: different times. He made the Hall of Fame three different
Speaker 2: times for three different roles. And obviously I didn't even
Speaker 2: say it. He is literally the logo. I mean, he's
Speaker 2: literally the logo. So just in all time, all time legend.
Speaker 2: Let's the best questions that we have today, save them
Speaker 2: and let's add them to the questions next week because,
Speaker 2: by the way, if this thing gets wrapped on Friday,
Speaker 2: we're gonna have a lot of open space over these
Speaker 2: next few weeks. Today was a very long show and
Speaker 2: I kind of want to end it on the Jerry
Speaker 2: West stuff. Great job demands. Congrats to the Celtics thus far.
Speaker 2: Everybody pump the brakes a bit on the crushing Luca.
Speaker 2: I'll try to see what I can do about that
Speaker 2: on TV in a few hours.
Speaker 4: What's right?
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