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Speaker 1: What's that bullyball? Fam, You already know basketball season is
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Speaker 1: last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Welcome to Bullyball, presented
Speaker 1: by DraftKings. I am Rachel Nichols. That of course is
Speaker 1: DeMarcus Cousins and Boogie. Here's my question for you this morning.
Speaker 1: Do I blend in with this couch so much that
Speaker 1: I'm just a floating head because I forgot and the
Speaker 1: material is exactly the same. Man.
Speaker 2: You may blue, You may blue, look really good, Rachel.
Speaker 1: Enough, all the maps, thank you, thank you, my friend.
Speaker 1: I just you know, if you're watching this at home
Speaker 1: and I disappear into the sofa, just know why. That's
Speaker 1: all I'm saying. But we got to talk about the
Speaker 1: Western Conference standings because it's been bunched for a while,
Speaker 1: but it's getting serious now with so few games left
Speaker 1: to go. The Suns and Kings, they both leapt into
Speaker 1: the top six after their wins on Sunday and Phoenix.
Speaker 1: That was pretty high profile win right with that, you know,
Speaker 1: beating the Lakers, and that's how the West is right now.
Speaker 1: I mean you in one game, you're up here, you're
Speaker 1: down here, and those top six spots are obviously so
Speaker 1: important for the plan. The downer for the Suns though,
Speaker 1: is that Bradley Beal is still out hamstring injury right now.
Speaker 1: They thought he was going to be able to come
Speaker 1: back a couple of days ago, has not been able
Speaker 1: to did a pregame warm up and cut it short.
Speaker 1: They have the toughest strength of schedule remaining in the league.
Speaker 1: If you just go look at their last you know,
Speaker 1: go from the bottom of their schedule and look at
Speaker 1: the ten games that they have to finish with. It's insane.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's an insane schedule. I guess I'm just
Speaker 1: wondering with Bradley out again, Booker's been out. I mean,
Speaker 1: how confident are you with the health of this team
Speaker 1: if they can squeak into the playoffs.
Speaker 3: Well that that was always going to be the biggest
Speaker 3: thing for this team, is you know, dealing with health.
Speaker 3: You know, Kevin Durant has had his injury, pass Bill
Speaker 3: has had his, and as of recently, he's been dealing
Speaker 3: with one of this entire season. So and you can't
Speaker 3: ignore the fact that a hamstring injury lingers the way
Speaker 3: that it does. Even with I do like the precaution
Speaker 3: they're going with they're going about with, you know, dealing
Speaker 3: with Bill's hamstring injury. But any person that knows how
Speaker 3: hamstring works, it's an injury that can linger for the
Speaker 3: rest of the season, even going into the playoffs. So
Speaker 3: that's always a scary thing. So you have to be
Speaker 3: really really cautious for moving forward with that. But I mean, obviously,
Speaker 3: with the talent that's on this roster, if you said
Speaker 3: in the beginning of the season that their season would
Speaker 3: go the way that it has this year, I don't
Speaker 3: think anybody would have, you know, agreed or even guessed
Speaker 3: that that would be the case. But they have found
Speaker 3: a way to stay afloat this season. They are still
Speaker 3: one of the most talented teams on paper in this league.
Speaker 3: And if they do find a way, you know, to
Speaker 3: get healthy before this season finishes out, it could be
Speaker 3: a make or break type situation for him. And the
Speaker 3: reason I say that they do have one of the
Speaker 3: hardest schedules finishing out the year, So it could be
Speaker 3: a situation where you know, it goes to complete shit
Speaker 3: and you know they kind of crumble towards the end,
Speaker 3: or it could be a situation whereas it's where they're
Speaker 3: going to go into the playoffs, very very polished, and
Speaker 3: you know, being able to finish out the season with
Speaker 3: these tough ten games or ten plus games or so.
Speaker 2: It's a make or breaks type situation.
Speaker 3: And you know, obviously health is the huge concern, but
Speaker 3: one paper, they have everything they need to win a
Speaker 3: championship or compete for one. It's just gonna come down
Speaker 3: to the small, detailed things. If everybody's on the same page.
Speaker 3: Is that, if everybody is healthy at the same time,
Speaker 3: and how they decide to finish this season out Being on.
Speaker 1: The same page I think is part of the issue
Speaker 1: here because I mean, look, by the way it's been
Speaker 1: super frustrating for Brad. No one is more upset at
Speaker 1: the way things have gone for him this season than
Speaker 1: he is. I've talked to him. But if they are healthy,
Speaker 1: even on day one of the playoffs, they will barely
Speaker 1: all play together. I mean, but how important is that
Speaker 1: for a team. I mean, they're all vets, I get it,
Speaker 1: but you also have a supporting cast there, and how
Speaker 1: big a deal is it that they won't have had
Speaker 1: a lot of time to get on the court.
Speaker 3: It's a really big deal and Obviously, you can always
Speaker 3: talk about the chemistry and the camaraderie and the flow
Speaker 3: of the game when all three guys are on the floor,
Speaker 3: But when you just look at it from an individual
Speaker 3: standpoint of just Bradley Bell alone, I've been in that
Speaker 3: type situation. I've had a season where I was in
Speaker 3: and out all year and I never really found my
Speaker 3: rhythm or was in a consistent flow when it came
Speaker 3: to just performing on a nightly basis. And it's a
Speaker 3: kind of identical situation because I ended up returning during
Speaker 3: the playoffs, which is which is a challenge within itself.
Speaker 3: The playoffs are already hard because the level of competition raises,
Speaker 3: the defensive schemes.
Speaker 2: They changed the.
Speaker 3: Way they prioritiz prior to prioritize certain players and defensive
Speaker 3: schemes and things of that nature, it's going to make
Speaker 3: them game that much more difficult. So if you come
Speaker 3: in and you're already out of rhythm and you have
Speaker 3: to face that type of dynamic, that's a tough thing
Speaker 3: to deal with. So, like I said, I think it's
Speaker 3: more of a challenge for Bradley Bell and the individual
Speaker 3: standpoint compared to you know, having those three guys all
Speaker 3: out there together and making it flow. They're still a
Speaker 3: dangerous team with just Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, but
Speaker 3: there are a much more dangerous team when they're all healthy,
Speaker 3: all in rhythm, and all flowing with their three headed monster.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I still am very curious to see
Speaker 1: what happens with them. The talent there is just kind
Speaker 1: of intoxicating in terms of, like, well, that could be fun.
Speaker 1: But they have a lot stacked up against them. The injuries,
Speaker 1: the lack of of being able to establish chemistry, the
Speaker 1: strength of schedule. They've had the easiest schedule up until now.
Speaker 1: So the idea that they've had the easiest schedule and
Speaker 1: they're only where they are in the standing is because
Speaker 1: of all these injuries and other factors. And now they've
Speaker 1: got just a monster coming up. So it's going to
Speaker 1: be interesting to see what happens. I do know someone
Speaker 1: who's a fighter, though, Boggie. That is Kevin Durant. He
Speaker 1: understands not just the game, but the game within the
Speaker 1: game within the game, and Charles Barkley had some comments
Speaker 1: about him during All Star weekend, and I think Kevin
Speaker 1: heard it. This is my opinion My opinion is that
Speaker 1: Kevin knows what he said. And this is why Barkley's
Speaker 1: comments was that Katy is a follower, not a leader.
Speaker 1: It's pretty harsh talking about him. Now. On yesterday's broadcast,
Speaker 1: I want you to take a listen. Here Katie used
Speaker 1: the word leadership or some variation of it six times. Listen.
Speaker 3: This was a complete team performance.
Speaker 1: What impressed you most?
Speaker 2: Leadership?
Speaker 3: Leadership in another engine struggles let's first of the games,
Speaker 3: but everybody was talking. Coach leaving us, players are leaving us,
Speaker 3: and that just helps us all go into the rim.
Speaker 2: It helps us with detse off on. This team has
Speaker 2: been for quarter played.
Speaker 3: What did you see from your group in that final period? Well,
Speaker 3: I said, just our leadership, man, we came through it.
Speaker 2: Everybody was talking on the same page. We made a
Speaker 2: big shot out the big shot, and we gotta stop.
Speaker 2: So the credit the leadership, but from the coaches and
Speaker 2: the flares.
Speaker 1: How do you feel about Katie's response to Charles.
Speaker 3: I can't be mad at it. And the reason I
Speaker 3: say that is because it's already been said and well
Speaker 3: known that Katie leads the way that he leads. He
Speaker 3: leads by example. He's not really the guy that does
Speaker 3: a lot of barking. He's not a guy that you know,
Speaker 3: wants to be in front of the camera saying all
Speaker 3: the right things. And that's just not who Kevin Durant is.
Speaker 3: I think there's different forms of leaders you know, you
Speaker 3: have guys. You have guys like Kevin Durant. Then you
Speaker 3: have guys like Lebron James, who's very vocaland speaks on
Speaker 3: every on everything that's going on and you know, has
Speaker 3: his hands on everything that's moving. You have guys like
Speaker 3: Damian Lillard, who you know, as cool as a fan,
Speaker 3: gets along with every teammate, encourages it.
Speaker 2: So it's always different forms of leadership.
Speaker 3: And to sit here and try to, you know, make
Speaker 3: it seem like it's one right way to go about it,
Speaker 3: that's that's just not the case. You have to cater
Speaker 3: to every situation differently, you have to lead to every
Speaker 3: lead in every situation differently. And I think Kevin Durant
Speaker 3: has been his I think Kevin Durant has been the
Speaker 3: best leader that he can be in his way of
Speaker 3: being that and say and to say he's a follower
Speaker 3: is just that's that's bullshit and corny honestly, And the
Speaker 3: reason I say that, who the hell is he following?
Speaker 3: He's one of the hardest workers we've ever seen in
Speaker 3: this game. He's one of the most skilled players we've
Speaker 3: ever seen in this game. He's one of the most
Speaker 3: consistent players we've ever seen in this game. So I'm
Speaker 3: trying to figure out what guys he following to, you know,
Speaker 3: fit this mold.
Speaker 1: I guess maybe it's an illusion to him following Kyrie
Speaker 1: to Brooklyn. I don't know. It was a while ago,
Speaker 1: so I don't know where this comes from. At the
Speaker 1: All Star Game.
Speaker 3: I mean, that's that still has nothing to do with
Speaker 3: who Kevin Durant is.
Speaker 2: It is as a leader.
Speaker 3: He's in a position where he can pin I did,
Speaker 3: and he's in the position to where he can pick
Speaker 3: what teammate he wants to play with, Like yeah, that's
Speaker 3: that's the right he's earned in this league. So I'm
Speaker 3: just not really sure how he's being labeled a follower
Speaker 3: or anything of that nature. Now, Like I said, Kevin
Speaker 3: Durant is going to lead the way he knows how
Speaker 3: to lead. He's found success leading the way he has.
Speaker 3: He's dominated in his league since he's stepped foot, So
Speaker 3: I'm just not really sure who the hell he's followed,
Speaker 3: and if he is following somebody, I wish I would
Speaker 3: have followed that same fucking person. But you know, obviously,
Speaker 3: Charles and Katie have their history. The ever really be
Speaker 3: on the same page. They viewed things totally differently and rightfully.
Speaker 3: So they're both great, They're both Hall of famers, like
Speaker 3: they've both had tremendous success in this league. So who's
Speaker 3: how can you sit here pick and choose who did
Speaker 3: it the right way? One hass championships, one doesn't, but
Speaker 3: you know, one is probably respected a little more than
Speaker 3: the others. So's there's really no right answer to this.
Speaker 3: And I think, honestly, I think they could have both
Speaker 3: benefited from one another and in a way. So I
Speaker 3: don't agree with charles comments. Like I said, Katie all
Speaker 3: lead the way he leads, and he's been doing that
Speaker 3: and he's found success doing it.
Speaker 2: So that's all I really got to say about that.
Speaker 1: No, I mean, and you were with him. See, you
Speaker 1: guys were together in a locker room on the court
Speaker 1: in Golden State, and Charles has never been in a
Speaker 1: locker room with KD and that's the thing. And I
Speaker 1: love Chuck obviously worked with him for a long time
Speaker 1: and he's great and great for the game. But this
Speaker 1: is the kind of thing I don't quite understand how
Speaker 1: you can speak on when you haven't been in that
Speaker 1: locker room and you haven't been on a roster with
Speaker 1: the guy, and you haven't been on the bench and
Speaker 1: heard what he's telling the other guys. And you know,
Speaker 1: Katie is a different cat than some of the like
Speaker 1: out there in your face leaders, but he's still been
Speaker 1: a leader in so many ways. So guys like you
Speaker 1: who have played with him, to me, you're the ones
Speaker 1: qualified to speak on what kind of leader he is.
Speaker 1: And I just got to give Kevin credit because the
Speaker 1: answers in that postgame interview were fantastic.
Speaker 3: And I just have to say something about that too.
Speaker 3: We're talking about who's a follower or who's the leader.
Speaker 3: You know, it's so many young kids coming up in
Speaker 3: this game, and the person that they're modeling their game after,
Speaker 3: the person that they're following or following his lead, is
Speaker 3: Kevin Durant. Like we see so many young guys coming in.
Speaker 3: I want to be like Kevin durant'l My gold is
Speaker 3: Kevin Durant. Things of this nature, And I mean, as
Speaker 3: long as I've been playing the game, that's just not
Speaker 3: the case with y'all's bark You don't hear kid come
Speaker 3: in and saying I want to be like Charles Barkley. So,
Speaker 3: like I said, who can really say what's a leader
Speaker 3: or what's the right way to lead or.
Speaker 2: The proper way to lead?
Speaker 3: It's like I said, to each his own, and you know,
Speaker 3: you lead the best way you can.
Speaker 1: No one's trying to follow Charles Berkley on the golf course.
Speaker 1: I know that. Let's talk about Dallas real quick. They
Speaker 1: did lose on Sunday to the Pacers, but they are
Speaker 1: seven and three in their last ten. Luca is leading
Speaker 1: the league in usage right now at about thirty six percent.
Speaker 1: If you want a frame of reference, the highest usage
Speaker 1: rate effort was Russell Westbrook. I believe the season he
Speaker 1: won MVP was forty one percent. So Luca, you know,
Speaker 1: not quite up there, but still a lot. He's averaging
Speaker 1: thirty four points a game. He's also averaging nearly ten
Speaker 1: assists a game. So if you have a usedge rate
Speaker 1: that high, but you're also averaging nearly tennis is per game.
Speaker 1: It's crazy, eight point out eight point eight rebounds a game.
Speaker 1: So I guess the question is, and the MAVs be
Speaker 1: successful long term if Luca right now and it's not
Speaker 1: even the playoffs yet, it's playing so many minutes and
Speaker 1: it's so involved in every aspect of the game.
Speaker 2: I believe so.
Speaker 3: And the reason I say that is, well, one, this
Speaker 3: is how this MAVs team is built. They're built off
Speaker 3: the success of Luca. And you know, we talk about
Speaker 3: the user's raid and who has the ball in their
Speaker 3: hands the most, and you know, you can sit here
Speaker 3: and try to talk about the negatives of having the
Speaker 3: ball that much, but at the end of the day,
Speaker 3: when it comes to this MAVs team, outside of Kyrie Irving,
Speaker 3: who the hell that's is going to Who the hell
Speaker 3: else is going to have the ball in their hands?
Speaker 2: That's I want to hear a.
Speaker 3: Suggestion on who should have the ball more than Luca.
Speaker 3: Dont like just I would love to hear the suggestion.
Speaker 3: And you know, it's it's silly to even talk about
Speaker 3: these type of things because Luca is your best player,
Speaker 3: Like your second best player is Kyrie? Who has the
Speaker 3: second it's usage, right, it only makes sense. So, like
Speaker 3: I said, this team is built around Luca. They go
Speaker 3: as far as he takes them. I think he has
Speaker 3: a great kund of accounter part and you know Kyrie Irving,
Speaker 3: So they're figuring things out. Things is working in their favor.
Speaker 2: Uh. You know, they found success lately right after the
Speaker 2: trade deadline. PJ.
Speaker 3: Washington was a great addition. Gotford was another great addition.
Speaker 3: So I think there's ms Mavericks. Team is moving in
Speaker 3: the right direction. And like I said, I think they
Speaker 3: go as far as Luke as Luca takes them, which
Speaker 3: is what you know, this whole team has been built around.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the new additions have just really seamlessly melted in,
Speaker 1: which I think is a credit to Jason Kidd, not
Speaker 1: just the way he's ex and no coaching, but just
Speaker 1: you know, his style is so easy going with the guys,
Speaker 1: and he's so canny about what to tell them when
Speaker 1: and things like that, So I credit him for that.
Speaker 1: Luca's usage, man, I remember when Kyrie came back from
Speaker 1: his latest injury, and Luca's response when they asked him
Speaker 1: about it was just like, well, I'm so tired, I'm
Speaker 1: just so glad that he's back because I can be
Speaker 1: less tired, and he was just so spent at the
Speaker 1: end of every game. Now he's built for it. Like
Speaker 1: his build, he's not a frail guy. Like his build
Speaker 1: is sturdy, and he's used to playing a lot from
Speaker 1: the time he was a teenager. So I think he's
Speaker 1: mentally there and ready for it. But it's a lot
Speaker 1: to ask of him. And then also when a guy
Speaker 1: is that dominant within his own team, it can be
Speaker 1: a factor because obviously you know how defense has changed
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. In fact, the last NBA champion, the
Speaker 1: last guy to win a title with being a thirty
Speaker 1: point per game scorer was Michael Jordan. That was ninety six.
Speaker 1: It has been since nineteen ninety six that a team
Speaker 1: won the NBA Championship having one guy on the team
Speaker 1: scoring thirty or more. I don't know that's where the
Speaker 1: MAVs are with Luca.
Speaker 3: I think it's possible he's in that category of greatness.
Speaker 3: So as far as talent on paper, obviously you know
Speaker 3: the achievements and accolades haven't mashed up to Jordan's. But
Speaker 3: as far as talent and just effect on the game,
Speaker 3: I think he's in that cut of Gord for sure.
Speaker 1: Well, they're gonna they try hard to make a run.
Speaker 1: They've mortgaged a lot of their future. They want Luca
Speaker 1: to stay. They need this to work out this year.
Speaker 1: The West standings, though, are so nuts because when they
Speaker 1: lost that one game, and again I want to point
Speaker 1: out that going into the game, I think they were
Speaker 1: ten to two on a run of twelve games. They
Speaker 1: fell from fifth place to eighth place on the back
Speaker 1: of one loss, and that's because the Suns, Kings, Pelicans,
Speaker 1: they're all bunched together there.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: The Pelicans also lost, they just lost to the Bulls,
Speaker 1: but they are seven to three in February. They had
Speaker 1: the tenth to of schedule remaining. But their defense is
Speaker 1: buckled down, which so that's good. And then if you
Speaker 1: look at the the Kings, Sabonis just had his twentieth
Speaker 1: criple double on Saturday night. Fox is averaging almost thirty
Speaker 1: three points a game over the last four games. They
Speaker 1: like to stay out of the play in too. So
Speaker 1: I want to just ask you about your old team there.
Speaker 1: Given all the other teams in the West we've talked about,
Speaker 1: what is your take on the Kings right now and
Speaker 1: what their chances are going forward.
Speaker 3: I mean, well, obviously I'm a bit biased. I always
Speaker 3: want success for this, you know, this Kings team. I
Speaker 3: think they did something great last year and you know,
Speaker 3: finally ending that drought making the playoff run. Uh, So
Speaker 3: they've built a lot of momentum moving forward. They have
Speaker 3: a young cord whose future is very very bright, the
Speaker 3: playing style, you know, uh, coach Brown being in the mix.
Speaker 3: So it's a lot of things in their favor right now,
Speaker 3: and I think just moving forward, only thing they need
Speaker 3: to focus on is you know, just improving his team.
Speaker 3: Continue to add talent, continue to add complimentary pieces to
Speaker 3: you know, d'aranyon, Fox and Sabonis, also Monk who's a
Speaker 3: huge piece of that team. So they got a lot
Speaker 3: of things in their favor moving forward. It's just about
Speaker 3: continuing to add the right pieces and improve this team.
Speaker 3: I am a little disappointed that after all of the
Speaker 3: success last year, they didn't really make any moves, no
Speaker 3: deadline moves, no offseason moves. They just kind of returned
Speaker 3: with the same team. And I think after last year's
Speaker 3: you know success, it should have just been a year
Speaker 3: of you know, continuing to build off of that momentum.
Speaker 3: Obviously they're still in the place of success that they
Speaker 3: are a playoff team, they have a great chance of
Speaker 3: you know, missing this play in, and even if they
Speaker 3: are in the plan, that's a very scary team to
Speaker 3: play for a one game you know, all type situations.
Speaker 3: So my biggest thing is they just have to continue
Speaker 3: to improve this team because I think they have the
Speaker 3: foundation to you know, find some real, real success in
Speaker 3: this league. But it's just about adding the right pieces
Speaker 3: to that talent. So very young, exciting team and you know,
Speaker 3: the future is very, very bright for this King team.
Speaker 1: I feel like there's so matchup dependent in this playoff
Speaker 1: that's coming up. Like I just feel like whoever they
Speaker 1: draw in the first round, they could win that and
Speaker 1: you know advanced, or they could get knocked out in
Speaker 1: the play in. It just kind of depends a little
Speaker 1: bit on who they're playing. So that will be interesting.
Speaker 1: The seating and the switching around in this conference, it
Speaker 1: seems like it's going to come down to the final day.
Speaker 1: That's exciting. It's part of what the play in was
Speaker 1: built for to make this last kick of the season
Speaker 1: a little more involved and more fun. But I'm not
Speaker 1: sure how fun it is for the team is involved.
Speaker 1: It seems like these coaches must have a migraine every
Speaker 1: morning when they wake up and look at the standings,
Speaker 1: because it is nuts out there, and it's made even
Speaker 1: more nuts when I don't know your players are involved
Speaker 1: in a major ball We had five players suspended in
Speaker 1: heat Pelicans the other night, and it got you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, look, no fight in the NBA is serious,
Speaker 1: but it got heated. It got heated. You had Jimmy
Speaker 1: Butler and Naji Marshall getting into it. Marshall ended up
Speaker 1: choking Butler. Thomas Bryant got into it with Jose Alvarado
Speaker 1: left the bench. They each got three games. So I
Speaker 1: don't know. I just wanted to ask you, because you've
Speaker 1: been in some scraps, Boogie, what is a mindset if
Speaker 1: you're a player, especially on the bench, and you know
Speaker 1: the rule and the rule's been there forever, but you
Speaker 1: see a fight breakout on the court and you want
Speaker 1: to stick up for your team, what do you do
Speaker 1: in the moment there? What's going through your head?
Speaker 3: It's a lot of emotions going, it's a lot of
Speaker 3: thoughts and when things just kind of happen spurred the moment.
Speaker 3: You know, being an athlete, being a professional athlete, a
Speaker 3: lot of things are just reactions.
Speaker 2: It's instinct.
Speaker 3: So you know, being role players being you know, having
Speaker 3: certain roles on teams, some guys are there to be
Speaker 3: you know, protectors, protect the stars, things of that nature.
Speaker 3: So every situation is different. But for the most part,
Speaker 3: if you're a role player, you know you want to
Speaker 3: protect your stars. You want to one protect them from
Speaker 3: harm too. You want to protect them from doing anything
Speaker 3: that's going to then harm or put the game in
Speaker 3: harm's way. You also have to keep in mind that
Speaker 3: the goal is to win the game at the end
Speaker 3: of the night. So sometimes it's just pulling that star
Speaker 3: away or pulling that teammate away to prevent it from moving,
Speaker 3: you know, going any further, or having it to where
Speaker 3: they can't finish out this game. So, like I said,
Speaker 3: every situation is different. I've never agreed with the rule
Speaker 3: or if you step on the court you get suspended.
Speaker 3: That's like to me, that's like the front office doing
Speaker 3: half assed work, a lazy job of actually, you know,
Speaker 3: looking into the details of what.
Speaker 2: The situation is.
Speaker 3: So it's just like, ah, he was on the court,
Speaker 3: everybody suspended. So it's just like, to me, it's a
Speaker 3: lazy rule. But at the same time, rules are the rules,
Speaker 3: So as a player you have to be conscious of that,
Speaker 3: and even in the most heated moments, you have to
Speaker 3: you know, still shift your mind to you know, protecting
Speaker 3: your teammates, protecting the team, and still you know, reaching
Speaker 3: that end goal, which is winning the game that night.
Speaker 3: So it's a tough balance, especially in the heat of
Speaker 3: the moment, but it's it's more than possible.
Speaker 1: What was yours sort of hold me back moment? Like
Speaker 1: which teammate held you back in a scenario on the
Speaker 1: court where if it hadn't gotten that way it would
Speaker 1: have been bad for you.
Speaker 3: Me. Uh, nothing really stick out. I was a pretty
Speaker 3: mind mannered guy.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm not sure that sentence has ever been
Speaker 1: said about you. I'm sorry, but.
Speaker 3: It's been a few And like I said, when your
Speaker 3: emotions are going, it's the heat of the moment, you know,
Speaker 3: you always do need those teammates to kind of bring
Speaker 3: you back to reality or bring you back to a
Speaker 3: place of calmness and just you know, kind of help
Speaker 3: you refocus. So it has been situations for me, And
Speaker 3: like I said, that's a part of being a teammate,
Speaker 3: protecting your stars, protecting guys from harming themselves, and also
Speaker 3: the team. And you know, the main goal every night
Speaker 3: is to go win the game. So I appreciate every
Speaker 3: you know, teammate that kind of righted that situation for
Speaker 3: me or put me back in a place of focus.
Speaker 1: I mean, not that you needed it, because you were
Speaker 1: so mild mannered on the court. Gen you a sign
Speaker 1: of desk sign mister mildmanner. An unfortunate situation in Atlanta.
Speaker 2: Bug.
Speaker 1: The news came out over the weekend. Trey Young he
Speaker 1: will be reevaluated in a month. It's not that he's
Speaker 1: going to be out a month. He will be out
Speaker 1: a month and then reevaluated with the finger injury. The
Speaker 1: Hawks right now are sitting in a tenth place in
Speaker 1: the East. They've got twenty six games to go. Now.
Speaker 1: The gulf between ten and eleven is so huge that
Speaker 1: it's possible they will weather this without a Trey coming
Speaker 1: back and they'll still be in tenth. But I don't
Speaker 1: see them getting out of the plane if that happens
Speaker 1: and they don't have him, And if i'm him, I
Speaker 1: don't know if I just come back for like the
Speaker 1: first of all, I don't know when doctors are going
Speaker 1: to say he can come back, and you know, if
Speaker 1: they do get back for one game, for two games,
Speaker 1: and that then begs the question of is this the
Speaker 1: last time? Have we seen the end of Trey Young
Speaker 1: in a Hawk's uniform? Because there's been so much chatter
Speaker 1: around him in possible trade scenarios, do you think he'll
Speaker 1: ever suit up for Atlanta again?
Speaker 2: I hope not.
Speaker 3: I hope this is the last time we see him
Speaker 3: in the Hawks uniform. I've spoken this plenty times before.
Speaker 3: I feel like his talent is being wasted. His prime
Speaker 3: is being wasted. His talent is being wasted. I feel
Speaker 3: like him handling this situation the way he is. I
Speaker 3: think it's a move based on, you know, a personal
Speaker 3: it's a more personal decision. This is a more selfish decision,
Speaker 3: which I'm okay with. And the reason I say that, one,
Speaker 3: this team isn't going anywhere this year. Two, they haven't
Speaker 3: really shown that they're trying to improve or that they
Speaker 3: want to take the step to you know, improving his
Speaker 3: team or anything of that nature. So I totally feel
Speaker 3: it's Okay, for Trey Young to make this type of move,
Speaker 3: get healthy, get yourself one hundred percent correct, and you know,
Speaker 3: look forward to the next season, whether that's in Atlanta
Speaker 3: or you know, fingers crossed. My personal hope is the
Speaker 3: San Antonio Spurs.
Speaker 1: Spurs. I mean it's so perfect.
Speaker 2: Right, It's a matchmaking heaven. It just it just makes sense.
Speaker 3: But with that being said, this this Hawks team just
Speaker 3: isn't doing anything for this talent. And you know, I
Speaker 3: take it personal because I was in that situation once
Speaker 3: and I would hate to see this talent just go
Speaker 3: continue to go the ways I want him to be
Speaker 3: in a successful and winning environment so he can really
Speaker 3: show his talent and I think he deserves that. So
Speaker 3: hopefully this off season, this is a season where he
Speaker 3: puts his foot down, uses his power, and moves to
Speaker 3: a situation that's going to be healthy for him. So
Speaker 3: you know, get healthy, get your injuries together, and you know,
Speaker 3: be ready for your future.
Speaker 2: So I don't see anything wrong with this move at all.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and look, we don't know how serious it is.
Speaker 1: Sometimes something looks really minor, but there's ligament damage or whatever.
Speaker 1: So you know, who knows what went into the medical decision.
Speaker 1: But I got to say, not only would he be
Speaker 1: such a perfect fit in San Antonio, the Spurs have
Speaker 1: a lot of the Hawks picks from the Dejonte Murray deal,
Speaker 1: so I'm sure Atlanta would like some of its picks
Speaker 1: back as well, So we have to look for that.
Speaker 1: But if Trey is available, there will be a lot
Speaker 1: of suitors lining up for Trey Young. And I know
Speaker 1: all about the defense and everything, but he's improved. He's
Speaker 1: not a great defender, but he has improved on defense.
Speaker 1: He has steadily improved offensively and just look more comfortable
Speaker 1: throughout the last couple of seasons. And I think he
Speaker 1: would make a big difference to a lot of teams.
Speaker 1: Are the Lakers gonna make a move for him this summer?
Speaker 1: They're going to have three number one draft picks starting
Speaker 1: after the you know, starting at the draft, so that
Speaker 1: is going to be an interesting question. I just think
Speaker 1: there's going to be a lot of interest there, And
Speaker 1: from the Hawks perspective, in a way, this gives them
Speaker 1: a you know, four to six week run to see
Speaker 1: what a de Jante Murray led team looks like, right
Speaker 1: because they've only been able to see him paired with
Speaker 1: Trey except for a couple of random games this way, Okay, great,
Speaker 1: your team. He was obviously dangled out in trade for
Speaker 1: like a month leading into the trade headline, but now
Speaker 1: he's going to have the chance to be the leader
Speaker 1: on the floor, and I'm curious to see what happens
Speaker 1: and whether it turns out that they're like, huh, we
Speaker 1: could trade Trey Young. We have something here with Dejante.
Speaker 1: We're going to keep that part of the equation. So
Speaker 1: I do think it's an interesting turning point for the
Speaker 1: Hawks and Trey Young in their relationship, and we'll have
Speaker 1: to see what happens. But uh, I don't want to
Speaker 1: take anyone off a team because I know the fans
Speaker 1: of that team are always upset with media when we
Speaker 1: do that. But I just the idea of him and
Speaker 1: weinby together is just so appealing.
Speaker 3: Absolutely insane. Like I said, that's a match made in heaven.
Speaker 3: And I pray to the basketball guys.
Speaker 1: On a night please there you go.
Speaker 2: I need this to happen for basketball.
Speaker 1: Yeah, man, right, it would be so so so much fun.
Speaker 1: I'm going to give you ever played the game two
Speaker 1: truths in a lie book? Are you familiar with that.
Speaker 1: I'm going to we give you three stats. Two of
Speaker 1: them are true, one of them is a lie. You
Speaker 1: got to figure it out. Here goes stat number one,
Speaker 1: Drew Holliday is shooting sixty four percent on corner threes.
Speaker 1: Stat two, Mike Conley has never had a technical foul
Speaker 1: in his entire career.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: Stat three Dearon Fox is leading the league in steals.
Speaker 3: Oh, okay, And one of them is a lie. Mm hmm,
Speaker 3: all right, I'm gonna say the lie is Drew Holliday
Speaker 3: shooting sixty four from corner threes. I know Mike Conley
Speaker 3: has never had a technical foul.
Speaker 1: Which is crazy, by the way, crazy.
Speaker 2: It really is crazy.
Speaker 3: As long and as great of a career as Mike
Speaker 3: has had, it almost makes you wonder has he ever cared?
Speaker 1: You know, we know he cares. He such a releader.
Speaker 2: I know we know Mike can.
Speaker 3: But man, it's like I said, it's just so many
Speaker 3: motions in a basketball game to never get one.
Speaker 2: It's tough.
Speaker 1: Imagine if the two of you could like combine your
Speaker 1: technicals that way, you would have had half.
Speaker 3: Nah, we probably just end the year with seventeen zero
Speaker 3: for him.
Speaker 2: Seventeen for me. But but.
Speaker 3: I think the Aaron Fox leading the league and steels
Speaker 3: is also a true.
Speaker 1: So I like it.
Speaker 2: What are the results? Let me know, let me know.
Speaker 1: You are wrong, but be cousins, you are not correct.
Speaker 1: Aaron Fox is not leading the league in steals.
Speaker 3: Man, it's my other Kentucky guard right yo? Oh Man,
Speaker 3: Well I was closed. Shay, you have an incredible year, bro, incredible.
Speaker 1: Ye yes, I mean, and shout out to Drew Holliday.
Speaker 1: Sixty four percent on corner threes.
Speaker 2: That's tough, Drew, that's really tough.
Speaker 1: That's not bad. That's not bad. I still think that
Speaker 1: Mike Conley said is the most.
Speaker 2: Impressive, definitely the most IMPRESSI there you.
Speaker 1: Go, all right, I'll take that back. Presented by DraftKings,
Speaker 1: Let's look at the odds for Lebron reaching forty thousand points,
Speaker 1: which is just an insane sentence to say forty thousand points.
Speaker 1: DraftKings has odds on when that is going to happen.
Speaker 1: Lebron right now as we sit here, is seventy four
Speaker 1: points from hitting that Mark Bogie. Let's take a look
Speaker 1: at the upcoming slate here and which games we think
Speaker 1: he might do this now. DraftKings is paying the best
Speaker 1: odds for the March fourth game versus the Thunder. There's
Speaker 1: also a March second game before that where they have
Speaker 1: that at plus one fifty. That's against the Nuggets. There's
Speaker 1: a March six game versus the Kings. There's a game
Speaker 1: versus the Bucks, and then there's a game on Leap
Speaker 1: Day February teny ninth versus the Wizards where the odds
Speaker 1: are plus two thousand. But I don't know if the
Speaker 1: theory is he could get all seventy four points in
Speaker 1: that game because it is against the Wizards. All right,
Speaker 1: So book, which bet are you taking? Which game do
Speaker 1: you think Lebron will hit that number?
Speaker 3: I'm gonna say it's going to take about, you know,
Speaker 3: three games to make this happen. So I'm gonna go
Speaker 3: with March second versus the Nuggets. You know, let's say
Speaker 3: he just has two incredible games. Let's say he goes
Speaker 3: to you know, thirty a piece.
Speaker 1: Like we were still get into that third game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, we know he's about fifteen away, and you know,
Speaker 3: Lebron scoring fifteen, I don't think that'll ever be an issue.
Speaker 3: So I'm gonna go with March second versus the Nuggets.
Speaker 3: I think just timmy wise, mathematical and wise, it just
Speaker 3: makes sense.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think part of it that you're playing
Speaker 1: with is better is you know, does he play on
Speaker 1: that back to back that the Lakers have coming up?
Speaker 1: So obviously that'll be a huge difference in all of
Speaker 1: these odds. And again, don't underestimate the Wizard's defense, I'm
Speaker 1: just saying, And don't underestimate Lebron by the way, in
Speaker 1: the fact that when he got close to passing Kareem,
Speaker 1: like he just like put the foot on the gas.
Speaker 1: He wanted to do it, he wanted to do it quickly.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: I think he definitely enjoyed the distraction and he enjoyed
Speaker 1: what was happening, but he also wanted to get it
Speaker 1: over with a little bit, and he wanted it to
Speaker 1: happen at home, so he sort of made that happen.
Speaker 1: You know. Lebron is very wise about these things, and
Speaker 1: obviously passing forty k is not as sort of a
Speaker 1: tent pole moment in NBA history as passing Kareem specifically,
Speaker 1: But he knows, he knows every point, every minute, everything,
Speaker 1: and I would expect him to try to get this
Speaker 1: done kind of quickly. And you know, as I said,
Speaker 1: the odds against the Wizards or plus two thousand. But
Speaker 1: you never know, people, you never know. So we'll see
Speaker 1: what happens. All right, We got to get to a
Speaker 1: quick doom scroll here as we wrap up. Paolo Bancaro
Speaker 1: was out Sunday with an illness. Now that was just
Speaker 1: one day removed from hitting the game winner. The Magic
Speaker 1: had it back to back with Detroit, right, so Saturday
Speaker 1: and Sunday in Atlanta. Let's see, he was well enough
Speaker 1: to hit a game winner the day before, but I
Speaker 1: don't know. Do you think he got Magic City?
Speaker 3: Oh man, I'm gonna go out on the limit. Say,
Speaker 3: you know, young fella is the ultimate professional. Okay, He's
Speaker 3: always prepared for work. He's going to be a pro
Speaker 3: no matter if he's at work or outside of work.
Speaker 3: I think he carries himself the correct way. And I'm
Speaker 3: just going to blame it on a bad batch. He
Speaker 3: encountered a bad batch and.
Speaker 1: But not a bad batch of Magic City wings. This
Speaker 1: is what you're saying.
Speaker 3: I can't say that because they Friday wings hard, So
Speaker 3: I just don't really see that.
Speaker 2: So I'm gonna go out on the limit. Say this
Speaker 2: is a legit illness for the young fella.
Speaker 1: All right, all right, I think that is probably true,
Speaker 1: by the way, But if you're following along and don't
Speaker 1: know what we're talking about, just Google you'll you'll see
Speaker 1: everything you need to see. In fact, you'll see quite
Speaker 1: a lot really, so over there there you go. All right,
Speaker 1: but thank you so much, as always for everyone out there.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: You can catch all episodes of Ball on the DraftKings Network,
Speaker 1: which is really cool. You can catch us something all
Speaker 1: the Smoke Productions YouTube channel, and of course you can
Speaker 1: find us wherever you get your podcast. So if you're
Speaker 1: listening right now in the car and boogie and I
Speaker 1: got to ride along with you, thank you. We enjoyed
Speaker 1: the ride. And you know, slow down in the passing lane.
Speaker 1: That's all I got to say. We'll catch you next week. Bye, guys,