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Speaker 1: The volume The Colin Cowherd Podcast brought to you by

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Speaker 1: Fan Duel. It's never been easier to play fantasy on

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Speaker 1: Fan Duel. Whether he love basketball, golf, soccer, or any

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Speaker 1: fantasy sport. There is a contest for every fan. Fan

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Speaker 1: Duel more ways to win. Hi, everybody even welcome to

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Speaker 1: the Monday Morning Podcast. You know when a D got hurt?

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Speaker 1: It really illustrates Lebron's new reality if he is going

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Speaker 1: to win another NBA championship, to a large degree, it's luck.

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Speaker 1: Is a D healthy? Is a D hurt? Listen? He's

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Speaker 1: a six eleven and a half slasher. He trips, he

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Speaker 1: gets tripped, he falls. That's a very hard floor not

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Speaker 1: to mention reoccurring injuries for a seven foot I at

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Speaker 1: twenty eight that has already gone through innumerable injuries. It's

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Speaker 1: all luck from this point forward. But I don't have

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Speaker 1: incredible sympathy for Lebron. Patrick Mahomes lost his left tackle

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Speaker 1: before the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were

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Speaker 1: virtually one healthy. Chris Paul getting hurt as a member

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Speaker 1: of the Houston Rockets while they let in the series

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Speaker 1: is while the Warriors escape to the finals, Lebron James

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Speaker 1: lost both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in the finals

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Speaker 1: and subsequently lost the finals. Kevin Durant got hurt. Translation,

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Speaker 1: the Warriors lost the finals. This is the way the

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Speaker 1: world works. It is remarkable that, considering how great a

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Speaker 1: shape these athletes are in, I mean million dollars a

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Speaker 1: year per athlete for some of the top guys, how

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Speaker 1: often health desides the championships. So you watch the Suns yesterday.

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Speaker 1: This series now is all about health. Chris Paul remains healthy,

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Speaker 1: eight Sons win the series. Ad healthy, Chris Paul gets hurt,

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Speaker 1: Lakers win the series. That's all it comes down to.

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Speaker 1: I still believe the Lakers are the better team if

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Speaker 1: everybody is healthy, but with Anthony Davis now having a

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Speaker 1: groin strain, he will not be one hundred percent for

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Speaker 1: the rest of it. And similarly, on the Eastern side,

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Speaker 1: keep your eye on Joel Embiid's health. That's always up

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Speaker 1: for debate. The Celtics have already lost Jalen Brown. You

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Speaker 1: know a Brooklyn team where Kyrie Irving and kd over

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Speaker 1: the last several years have been highly injury prone. So

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Speaker 1: it's Lucker bad luck is determining a lot of these

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Speaker 1: championships in all of these sports. All Right, As for

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Speaker 1: the New York Knicks, it's really not about health. It's

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Speaker 1: about they don't have anybody that can shoot, sort of

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Speaker 1: a problem. Listen, the NBA playoffs have always been great,

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Speaker 1: and the playoffs in general, they unveil the truth. And

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Speaker 1: I've been saying this for weeks on Fox Sports. In

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Speaker 1: the regular season, playing hard wins you forty five games.

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Speaker 1: That is a big edge. You see a lot of

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Speaker 1: these veteran teams, resting stars, a lot of these top seeds,

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Speaker 1: the Milwaukee's, Miami Phoenix, Utah resting players. I mean, Donovan

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Speaker 1: Mitchell didn't play the last two weeks of the regular

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Speaker 1: season for the Jazz. But then you get to the

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Speaker 1: playoffs and guys play hurt, and guys play more often,

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Speaker 1: and everybody plays hard. And so the number one Knicks advantage,

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Speaker 1: we play hard, has been lost. And they're an entirely

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Speaker 1: limited roster. I mean, when Derek Rose is your go

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Speaker 1: to at this point in his career, you are not

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Speaker 1: getting to the second round. So that series, though it's

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Speaker 1: not over, feels absolutely over. So the Knicks are a

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Speaker 1: great story. They've got a great foundation. You know, if

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Speaker 1: there's any advantage for a New York sports fan is

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Speaker 1: that Julius Randall and his agent don't have a lot

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Speaker 1: of leverage in the next negotiations. The reality is the

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Speaker 1: playoffs are when everybody watches the NBA and every scout

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Speaker 1: and every general manager and every vice president and every

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Speaker 1: owner saw how mediocre, in fact, mediocre's kind how awful

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Speaker 1: Julius Randall was. So he's not going to have a

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Speaker 1: big market. Meaning, you know, can the Knicks get a

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Speaker 1: little bit of a break? You cross your fingers if

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Speaker 1: you're a sports fan in the Tristate area. All right,

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Speaker 1: let's bring in Ethan Strauss, writer for The Athletic wrote

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Speaker 1: The Victory Machine, the Making and unmaking of the Warriors Dynasty.

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Speaker 1: So I'm sitting there thinking to myself, good, hell, if

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Speaker 1: I'm Lebron, I am so exhausted this year from Anthony Davis.

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Speaker 1: We talked about this before, Ethan. They can't get out

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Speaker 1: of the contract. He signed a five year deal. But

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Speaker 1: he's a twenty eight year old who slashes, who falls,

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Speaker 1: who has a unique body that's injury prone. And I

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Speaker 1: had said this earlier on the podcast Lebron winning titles

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Speaker 1: now is just a case of luck. That's all it is.

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Speaker 1: It's just he pluck. Whoever wins this series has the

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Speaker 1: healthier roster. I don't think ad will be healthy going forward.

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Speaker 1: Your thoughts, those are pretty much my thoughts. And we

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Speaker 1: don't know much at this moment that we're having the conversation.

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Speaker 1: But they said groin strain, and anybody who's ever had

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Speaker 1: a groin strain knows that ain't good. If that's the case,

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Speaker 1: If it's an abductor strain, just based on the trainer

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Speaker 1: as I talk to, that's really not good. That's done

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Speaker 1: for the season. Not good. And we don't totally know.

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Speaker 1: And there might be an element of Boy who Cried

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Speaker 1: Wolf here, not saying that Nanton Davis ever fakes anything,

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Speaker 1: but there is the sense among fans that a gust

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Speaker 1: of wind hits him and he looks like he's to

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Speaker 1: go to the hospital. So that doesn't mean that he's

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Speaker 1: impervious to injury, obviously, so he might be seriously injured

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Speaker 1: in this case, and man, does that flip the series?

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Speaker 1: And I think back to we talked last time about

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Speaker 1: Lebron complaining a lot, and he was complaining about having

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Speaker 1: to do the All Star Game, and he was complaining

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Speaker 1: about the season having to start in December, and he

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Speaker 1: was complaining about having to do the play in game,

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Speaker 1: and that's all very annoying for the league. But I

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Speaker 1: think right now you can see why it is an accumulation.

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Speaker 1: It is like that pounding the rock mantra that the

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Speaker 1: San Antonio Spurs have, that the stonecutter keeps on pounding away,

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Speaker 1: and you might think that it's a hundredth blow, hundredth

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Speaker 1: blow that cracks the rock, but really it was everything

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Speaker 1: before that. It feels like with the Lakers, they won

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Speaker 1: their championship in the fall, they had to start their

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Speaker 1: season in the winter, and they're not healthy as talented

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Speaker 1: as they are, and it's just going to be a

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Speaker 1: matter of can this shuttle not break apart as it

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Speaker 1: zooming back to Earth right now? Can it hold together?

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Speaker 1: And it's a little tenuous. I don't think a D's

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Speaker 1: growing will be healthy. And I thought Chris paulock pretty

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Speaker 1: good today, pretty sharp, and again his was more of

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Speaker 1: like neck nerve, you know, stuff that I do think

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Speaker 1: he's more quickly. If a D is out and the

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Speaker 1: Laker are not a championship level team. You know, I

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Speaker 1: sit there and I watched the depth of Utah and

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Speaker 1: their ability to have seven different guys hit threes. I

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Speaker 1: watched that Saturday night. You know, Denver played a shot

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Speaker 1: about as poorly as it will shoot the entire year

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Speaker 1: against Portland. I think they escape that series. If Portland won't.

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Speaker 1: They're not good enough defensively to get to the championship.

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Speaker 1: Memphis is not there yet. I mean, who is the favorite?

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Speaker 1: I mean, seriously, who is that? Phoenix to me offers

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Speaker 1: the most ways to win. I would probably go with

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Speaker 1: Utah as the favorite, but man, does it swing. This

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Speaker 1: is not a profound insight, but we are being reminded

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Speaker 1: how much of a difference a star makes, one player makes.

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Speaker 1: Chris Paul not looking great, Phoenix dead in the water,

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Speaker 1: Oh my, Anthony Davis goes down. Oh my, the Lakers

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Speaker 1: fall apart. Not only do they fall apart, but they

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Speaker 1: look miserable in those men. It's that Lebron James misses

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Speaker 1: and then earlier Donovan Mitchell can't go for the first

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Speaker 1: game for Utah and people are going, oh man, these Grizzlies.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's great they won because of the Warriors won,

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Speaker 1: they wouldn't put up a fight, but these Grizzlies will

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Speaker 1: put up a fight. Well, guess what, Donovan Mitchell kind

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Speaker 1: of matters for the Utah Jazz. They're a different team

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Speaker 1: with him. So that's a long way of saying that

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Speaker 1: it is a war of attrition. We don't want it

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Speaker 1: to be injuries. We don't want that to be the reason,

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Speaker 1: but that's often the reason, and that's part of how

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Speaker 1: you manage your roster. We act like injuries are pure luck.

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Speaker 1: They are not necessarily pure luck. It's just like a

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Speaker 1: shot in basketball. You work to create the best shot

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Speaker 1: for yourself. That's no guarantee that the layup's going to

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Speaker 1: go in or the corner three is going to go in.

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Speaker 1: But these teams, they manage their roster, They try to

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Speaker 1: manage their minutes, and they try to give themselves the

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Speaker 1: best shot at having enough juice and just enough health

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Speaker 1: at the exact right moment and hopefully get rewarded for it.

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Speaker 1: And I think Utah has done a pretty good job

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Speaker 1: of that, all things considered. And if I have to

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Speaker 1: name a favorite at least out West, it's going to

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Speaker 1: be them. You know, we know the Lakers roster will

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Speaker 1: look much different next year. They're not going to resign

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Speaker 1: Andre Drummond, although with ads lingering health issues, you do

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Speaker 1: wonder who the big is. Montrez Harold is not Night

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Speaker 1: Tonight as trustable. Shrewder when he's good is really good,

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Speaker 1: but he's going to get really expensive and I'm not

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Speaker 1: sure they want to spend that kind of money on him.

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Speaker 1: So I think it's a real tenuous future for the

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Speaker 1: Lakers once they get expelled from these playoffs if Ad

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Speaker 1: remains injured, which I think he will be. You brought

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Speaker 1: up something very interesting this week because we've talked about this.

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Speaker 1: Lebron not being in the finals, Steph not being in

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Speaker 1: the finals is really really bad for the league. So

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Speaker 1: the Western Conference, if it's Utahn Milwaukee, these will be

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Speaker 1: the lowest ratings non bubble in the history of the

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Speaker 1: sport in at least the last thirty years. And it's

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Speaker 1: interesting you brought up something that I had never thought of.

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Speaker 1: You went back and looked at the local television ratings,

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Speaker 1: your callum for the athletic and tell people who did

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Speaker 1: not read it what you found. It doesn't shock me.

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Speaker 1: I didn't think about it, but you examined what is

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Speaker 1: clearly the case where fans appreciate loyalty, they do. They do,

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Speaker 1: And no matter how many segments on ESPN where they're

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Speaker 1: being lectured about how great it is that players are

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Speaker 1: changing teams and pursuing their individuality, no matter how many

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Speaker 1: times that happens, the fact remains. People like it. They

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Speaker 1: like when a team drafts a player, when they get

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Speaker 1: to know that player, and the player grows up before

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Speaker 1: their eyes. So when you look at the local ratings,

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Speaker 1: the recent report by the Sports Business Journal very interesting.

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Speaker 1: You'd look at the top six, what do you see

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Speaker 1: in the top six? Number one Stephen the Warriors, even

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Speaker 1: as a team that didn't make the playoffs, they have

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Speaker 1: the best rate in basketball locally. And it's not one

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Speaker 1: of those markets, by the way. I mean, I don't

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Speaker 1: want to get two to rail talking about Steph's drawing power,

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Speaker 1: but it's it's crazy in a kind of big market,

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Speaker 1: big city action. This isn't a Cleveland, this isn't a

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Speaker 1: Green Bay, you know. But they have the best ratings

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Speaker 1: and among them the Blazers, the Jazz, the Bucks, and

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Speaker 1: the Spurs who don't have a drafted, superstared building around,

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Speaker 1: but they've got the familiarity of Popovich, and I might

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Speaker 1: be missing one other that also has a drafted superstar

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Speaker 1: in there. But the bottom line is that five of

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Speaker 1: the top six most watch teams locally are built through

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Speaker 1: the draft. They're not built through getting some mercenaries who

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Speaker 1: come on over. And then conversely, you've got the Clippers

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Speaker 1: and you've got the Nets with all their talent in

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Speaker 1: the bottom five local radiing wow, and you might say,

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Speaker 1: and you might say, well, hey, their little brother, the

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Speaker 1: Lakers aren't in the top ten coming off a championship,

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Speaker 1: defending champions So look, LA appreciates Lebron, they appreciate Anthony Davis,

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Speaker 1: but they don't love those guys like they loved Kobe Bryant.

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Speaker 1: And not only can we just say that, and it's

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Speaker 1: all very subjective, but you can see it in the numbers.

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Speaker 1: So David Stern knew this. He knew this, He wanted

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Speaker 1: players to play for these teams for a long time.

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Speaker 1: And it's a balancing act because you can't end free agency.

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Speaker 1: I don't even think that's morally defensible, even if it

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Speaker 1: was impractical, but it's definitely something the NBA should seek

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Speaker 1: to encourage because that connection. That connection between player and

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Speaker 1: team and market is a real thing, and it has

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Speaker 1: So you're a sports fan, right, that's why you're listening.

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Speaker 1: it's really fascinating that you know. And this is what

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Speaker 1: I think is hurt college basketball's ratings is that when

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Speaker 1: you finally meet the team in the tournament, they're gone.

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Speaker 1: The most talented players leave, so you know it, Ethan.

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Speaker 1: What's funny about this is that football, because of the

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Speaker 1: regulated level of violence, we just don't think it's smart

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Speaker 1: to put nineteen year olds in the NFL Basketball, although

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Speaker 1: it is incredibly physical you can see by all the injuries.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it's just incredibly how many teams have fallen

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Speaker 1: prey to injury in the playoffs. But the reality is,

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Speaker 1: when you look at the basketball culture in America, spot

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Speaker 1: the talent, pay the talent, let the talent move at

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Speaker 1: his discretion. And what you're saying, and what the ratings

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Speaker 1: are saying is people don't like that. They do not

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Speaker 1: you know, for me as a talk show host, having

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Speaker 1: a league villain is great, but it is not good

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Speaker 1: for ratings in Utah's ratings, you know. And you could

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Speaker 1: you could also say what's interesting about your point? You

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Speaker 1: could say, well, they're mostly small markets, but the Warriors

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Speaker 1: are in a massively crowded market with two NFL teams

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Speaker 1: and two Major League Baseball teams. So I literally, after

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Speaker 1: watching the Sun's Lakers an a d go down, one

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Speaker 1: of the first things I thought of is these titles.

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Speaker 1: I don't mean to be hyperbolic, but if I ask

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Speaker 1: you today, Lebron gets another title, I just don't see it.

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Speaker 1: I think they got a huge bubble break in the

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Speaker 1: pandemic four and a half months for addiot not play. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I told you earlier. I'm short in the Lakers. Some

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Speaker 1: of that's because of Lebron. I mean he's out there

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Speaker 1: playing with a high ankle sprain. He's I think been

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Speaker 1: amazing considering that he's just so smart. And they mentioned

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Speaker 1: in the broadcast city he's on a playoff game number

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Speaker 1: two sixty four, So it's in a just a level

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Speaker 1: of experience in basketball IQ that is unmatched. And when

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Speaker 1: he was really dragging that right foot, he was still

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Speaker 1: making brilliant passes at the top of the arc and

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Speaker 1: from the angle. And now you're seeing a little more burst,

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Speaker 1: but we're not getting Lebron all the time. It feels

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Speaker 1: like we're getting Lebron in spurts. You're getting Lebron occasionally,

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Speaker 1: and you're getting that oh my cruser put off the

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Speaker 1: backboard he slammed at home jumping off the left foot,

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Speaker 1: of course, but it's not necessarily two thousand and nine

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Speaker 1: Lebron or Miami Heat twenty thirteen Lebron. And then when

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Speaker 1: you take eight potentially out of the picture. As savvy

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Speaker 1: and veteran and big as these Lakers are, it just

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Speaker 1: seems like it would be a miracle if they get

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Speaker 1: through this. If they get through this, what do we

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Speaker 1: even want to call it a gauntlet and get all

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Speaker 1: the way to the Championship and win it. I mean

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Speaker 1: it would be miraculous. And I don't know if it

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Speaker 1: would be regarded as such because they've been thought of

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Speaker 1: his favorites. But I would be surprised on a personal

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Speaker 1: level if they pulled it off. How shocked are you

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Speaker 1: at the sweep by Milwaukee? Now, I picked Milwaukee to

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Speaker 1: win the championship. I thought we dismissed them, there was

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Speaker 1: no pressure. I think they match up well with Brooklyn.

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Speaker 1: What is amazing is we're always looking Ethan for an

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Speaker 1: encore and sometimes you watch a good movie, it doesn't

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Speaker 1: deserve a sequel. And I said the Miami heat of

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Speaker 1: the Tennessee Titans the year they beat Baltimore the number

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Speaker 1: one seed, and you went, oh, Derrick Henry's great, Ryan

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Speaker 1: Tannehill's pretty good. But they had a bad back end,

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Speaker 1: They had no pass rush, their best receiver, Corey Davis,

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Speaker 1: was inconsistent. And you look at Tennessee and the next

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Speaker 1: year everybody thought, this year in the NFL, where's the encore? Well,

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Speaker 1: they just weren't that special. I look at Miami and

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Speaker 1: I think Tyler heroes a one trick Pony Duncan Robinson

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Speaker 1: can't defend bam average is about fifteen when he faces

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Speaker 1: elite bigs. Miami's just not that special, that's my takeaway.

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Speaker 1: They're just not that talented. Yeah, they need Bam to

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Speaker 1: reach some other kind of level or open up a

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Speaker 1: new aspect of his perimeter game in order to be

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Speaker 1: a contending team, and they didn't get that this season.

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Speaker 1: They didn't get there, and they might have been suffering

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Speaker 1: a little bit from the same thing the Lakers were

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Speaker 1: suffering for, but they don't have the Laker level of talent,

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Speaker 1: which is they didn't have a whole lot of time

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Speaker 1: for that turnaround and for his punishing culture as they

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Speaker 1: have the practices they have. Yeah, and you here rumblings

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Speaker 1: out of there. I mean Jimmy Butler amazing player and

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Speaker 1: alpha player, but not always happy and maybe not thrilled

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Speaker 1: right now and certainly played very poorly by his standards

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Speaker 1: in that first round series. So yeah, I was surprised

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Speaker 1: by it. They theoretically had a few matchup advantages over

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Speaker 1: Milwaukee that they could leverage last season, but this season

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Speaker 1: totally flat. And I guess the only unfortunate thing out

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Speaker 1: of it for just basketball fans worldwide is that Evincenzo

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Speaker 1: gets hurt and is out now, and Milwaukee relies so

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Speaker 1: much on their starters and they're not very deep. And

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Speaker 1: as somebody who just so wants to see that nets

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Speaker 1: Buck series with everybody in full health, because it's offense

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Speaker 1: on defense and it's kind of glamorous mercenaries versus the

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Speaker 1: team built around one guy who was drafted as we

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Speaker 1: were talking about, I just hope that's not something that

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Speaker 1: tilts that particular series, because that's one I know we're

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Speaker 1: not there yet, but that's what I'm very excited for.

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Speaker 1: I gotta be honest. I was incredibly impressed by the

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Speaker 1: Clippers went over Dallas in Game three, so Dallas got

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Speaker 1: off to a monster lead. Luca was laughing at Pat Beverley,

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Speaker 1: who airball to corner three, and then I thought, Paul,

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Speaker 1: I thought Kawhi and Paul George. I thought to myself,

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Speaker 1: this is really genuinely impressive. Your thoughts on if it

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Speaker 1: continues or it was just one burst of energy to

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Speaker 1: avoid utter humiliation. I think it can continue because they're

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Speaker 1: really only a few decisions away and maybe just some

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Speaker 1: better energy away from winning this series. They shouldn't be

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Speaker 1: down in it. In my opinion, the way they've been

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Speaker 1: guarding Luca doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

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Speaker 1: I want to give credit to Andrew Boga, who does

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Speaker 1: the Rogebogues podcast, who's been mentioning it. I was on

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Speaker 1: his podcast. He's been talking about it, how they're not

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Speaker 1: getting the ball out of Luca's hands, they're not blitzing him,

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Speaker 1: They're switching, and they're switching with guys who have no

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Speaker 1: shot of guarding him. And I don't know what the

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Speaker 1: strategy there is. Is it a Muhammad Ali like let

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Speaker 1: foreman punch himself out and get tired. I mean, is

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Speaker 1: that the thought process behind it? Because he murders, switches

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Speaker 1: if the guy is too small, if the guy is

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Speaker 1: too slow. He is maybe the scariest dude left in

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Speaker 1: these playoffs with Lebron being compromised, So it seems to

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Speaker 1: me that they have the personnel to handle that situation

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Speaker 1: better than a lot of teams, maybe almost all the teams.

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Speaker 1: And if they do that, they can really flip this

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Speaker 1: series on its head and they can take control. But

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Speaker 1: it has not been an inspiring performance save for that

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Speaker 1: game so far in these playoffs from these Clippers. You know,

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Speaker 1: Kawhi is just an interesting cat and that you know,

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Speaker 1: I understand that Popovich. I've often lamented his ego, but

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Speaker 1: I understand that he had a system like Belichick that

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Speaker 1: worked for twenty years. And you know, listen, we're all

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Speaker 1: capable and susceptible to believing in ourselves and our success.

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Speaker 1: And so then he gets Kauai and Kawuhi is inconsistent

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Speaker 1: and doesn't trust the Spurs doctors. But you know, it

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Speaker 1: really is interesting when I watched the Clippers. If Kawhi

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Speaker 1: is your best player and he's a top five or

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Speaker 1: six player in this league, ethan he's a little bit

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Speaker 1: of an enigma. Yeah, he's the opposite of Lebron. He's

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Speaker 1: rarely healthy for three to four straight games. He doesn't communicate,

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Speaker 1: he doesn't necessarily elevate others. I mean, if he was

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Speaker 1: on the market, there would be a lot of teams

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Speaker 1: lining up. But the Clippers history is peaks and valleys,

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Speaker 1: mostly valleys. And I really look at Kawhi Leonard differently

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Speaker 1: on a Sunday night as we talk than I did

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Speaker 1: two years ago. I just I can't wrap my arms

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Speaker 1: around somebody who's kind of non verbal and doesn't really

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Speaker 1: elevate others. I think I got two indo his ability

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Speaker 1: to make a stop and make a basket. How do

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Speaker 1: you view Kawai today, Yeah, I mean that's almost a

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Speaker 1: bigger question of how does a guy we don't know

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Speaker 1: resonate where we just it's completely he's completely closed off

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Speaker 1: to us. What's been said to me talking to coaches

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Speaker 1: is that it's a real thing when your best player

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Speaker 1: isn't a leader and is noncommunicative. Now, I'm not saying

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Speaker 1: that he needs to communicate, because this just must be

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Speaker 1: him and he know he's had an incredible career and

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Speaker 1: he's won championships. It's clear that he can win championships

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Speaker 1: if you have the right leadership around him, if you

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Speaker 1: have somebody like Kyle Lowry flanking him, or the players

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Speaker 1: they had in San Antonio. But enigmatic, I think is

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Speaker 1: the right word that you're using there. And that breakup

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Speaker 1: between him and Popovich, it was almost like the Brady

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Speaker 1: Belichick breakup that nobody cared about. I mean, that was

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Speaker 1: very surprising and it was ugly. It was it was acrimonious.

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Speaker 1: They did not leave on good terms on either side.

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Speaker 1: Maybe they call each other every now and again. These days,

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Speaker 1: I don't know, but that was an ugly breakup and

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Speaker 1: we almost just swept it aside because in San Antonio

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Speaker 1: they don't really let the media do anything on a

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Speaker 1: local level or get inside get inside that organization at all,

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Speaker 1: and so he in a way is kind of like

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Speaker 1: a man without a country. Because the Clippers have so

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Speaker 1: few fans. They could win the championship and I feel

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Speaker 1: like they'd go down Figaroa and you wouldn't even know

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Speaker 1: that anything happened. It would be like a regular Wednesday.

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Speaker 1: So it's just a strange situation. It's worse for Paul George,

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Speaker 1: who's truly a man without a country because he hasn't

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Speaker 1: won the big one. And to tie it back to

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Speaker 1: the article I wrote, there are there are There is

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Speaker 1: a value. I mean when we get to what stops

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00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:35,359
Speaker 1: players from moving around, I don't I'm not into punitive,

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00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:39,040
Speaker 1: I'm not into restricting. I'm more into maybe they should

428
00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:41,879
Speaker 1: look into how it goes for guys who stay versus

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00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:45,480
Speaker 1: guys who go. Not everybody's Lebron, Not everybody is the

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00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:47,800
Speaker 1: franchise face of the NBA, and we're going to care

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00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:50,640
Speaker 1: about what you're doing when you go to a new city.

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00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:53,239
Speaker 1: These guys who go to a new market, they just

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00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:56,240
Speaker 1: kind of fall off the map. And Damian Lillard up

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00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:59,040
Speaker 1: there in Portland, he hasn't won, you know, just like

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00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:01,520
Speaker 1: Paul George. He hasn't won a championship. But we care

436
00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:05,159
Speaker 1: way more about Damian Lillard, and we have a brand

437
00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:08,520
Speaker 1: association of him and the Blazers, and we respect the

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00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:11,840
Speaker 1: fights hard for a team that's imperfect, and ultimately he's

439
00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:14,640
Speaker 1: going to resonate more than some of these guys who

440
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:18,520
Speaker 1: team hops. So maybe Quai doesn't care about any of that.

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00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:20,960
Speaker 1: I think Paul George does. But it's just a strange

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00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:24,919
Speaker 1: situation because they're almost in basketball obscurity. For all the

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00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:28,159
Speaker 1: talent and all the money that franchise has well on

444
00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:29,840
Speaker 1: the market, he's going to get something, you know, I

445
00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:33,439
Speaker 1: threw this out. I mean, the Blazers have been the

446
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,240
Speaker 1: same team for about six years. They can't defend anybody.

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00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:40,720
Speaker 1: They're scoring overwhelmingly comes from the backcourt. They keep trying

448
00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:42,959
Speaker 1: to fake people on the wing with an old mellow

449
00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:46,879
Speaker 1: or Robert Covington or Rodney Hood. The reality is CJ.

450
00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:49,919
Speaker 1: McCullum basically is a poor man's name. They do the

451
00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:54,320
Speaker 1: same thing neither defends if the Clippers wash out against

452
00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:59,239
Speaker 1: the MAVs, Paul George to Portland, Dame McCullough points at

453
00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,440
Speaker 1: the Guards a couple of draft picks. Maybe another forward

454
00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:05,240
Speaker 1: Robert Covington to Clippers makes sense to you? Or is

455
00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:07,800
Speaker 1: it is Paul worth more than that? I mean something

456
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,080
Speaker 1: like that makes sense to me. In general, breaking up

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00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:12,320
Speaker 1: that tandem makes sense to me. I feel like they're

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00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:15,640
Speaker 1: one of those teams that refused to make the hard decision,

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00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:18,359
Speaker 1: refused to take the big risk, and said pretty good

460
00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,760
Speaker 1: was good enough. I'm reminded, in a totally different way

461
00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:25,600
Speaker 1: of that Grizzlies core that you remember GrITT and grind right,

462
00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,720
Speaker 1: where that team was good for around fifty games every year,

463
00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:33,320
Speaker 1: very likable, everybody loved them. Everybody loved them, they had

464
00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,399
Speaker 1: a brand identity, but they were never going to win

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00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:39,080
Speaker 1: a championship, and it seemed like they had to break

466
00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:41,880
Speaker 1: it up or shake it up and not have the

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00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:44,919
Speaker 1: ultra big look in an NBA that was getting increasingly

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00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:49,119
Speaker 1: smaller and more versatile. And I feel similarly with the Blazers,

469
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:52,560
Speaker 1: where they've just never made that hard decision of we've

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00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:57,560
Speaker 1: got our two great scoring guards. It's an undersized backcourt. Yeah,

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00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:00,280
Speaker 1: this is good for maybe fifty wins or maybe making

472
00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:02,080
Speaker 1: the playoffs, but it's not going to compete for a

473
00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:05,240
Speaker 1: championship when it comes to our allocation of resources. And

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00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,119
Speaker 1: they've kind of just said it's good enough. And so

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00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:09,560
Speaker 1: I don't know if they're going to make a big

476
00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:11,640
Speaker 1: risk like that or take a big risk like that.

477
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,360
Speaker 1: It's funny to me looking at how they there's these

478
00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:17,120
Speaker 1: rumors about Terry Stotts and oh my god, what kind

479
00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:18,960
Speaker 1: of job has he done? I look at the roster

480
00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:21,320
Speaker 1: and I go, what more did you want out of this?

481
00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:24,879
Speaker 1: What did you think you could get beyond this, considering

482
00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:27,640
Speaker 1: what you've filled it with, considering that you occasionally dump

483
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,360
Speaker 1: a player in there like a Hassan white Side back

484
00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:33,640
Speaker 1: in the day and expect these amazing results. So they

485
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:39,280
Speaker 1: don't have, let's say, a roster that's very complete, and

486
00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:42,320
Speaker 1: they're often saddled with these vulnerabilities that can be exploited.

487
00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:44,200
Speaker 1: So they have to do drop coverage with their slow

488
00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:47,160
Speaker 1: footed bigs, and I just think they need to take

489
00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:48,920
Speaker 1: that big risk that you're talking about. I don't know

490
00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:50,399
Speaker 1: if that gets it done, but I do think that

491
00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,400
Speaker 1: they should break it up if the opportunity is right.

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00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:59,320
Speaker 1: Ethan Strauss, the Athletic on a Monday morning, we're talking

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00:27:59,359 --> 00:28:02,040
Speaker 1: Sunday night. Great seeing you. You're a good guy. You're

494
00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:06,680
Speaker 1: out there helping. Who are you helping? Your babysitting right now.

495
00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:09,680
Speaker 1: I'm not helping anybody. I'm having my mom look after

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00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:12,679
Speaker 1: my son. But she's helping, so I'm related to somebody.

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00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:18,200
Speaker 1: Who else? Colin's you know. I love talking to It's

498
00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:20,520
Speaker 1: great seeing you get the feelings mutual, Colin, Thanks for

499
00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:26,280
Speaker 1: having me on you bet Ethan Strauss, that was fun.

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00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:32,000
Speaker 1: At The Volume Sports, Twitter and Instagram sign up, rate, review, subscribe,

501
00:28:32,119 --> 00:28:36,240
Speaker 1: tell us what you think. By the way, three months,

502
00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:41,720
Speaker 1: we've grown each month by about thirty percent. Thank you.

503
00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,600
Speaker 1: We're working our asses off. We love what we do.

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00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:50,080
Speaker 1: NBA playoffs have been a blast. Chris Bosh and Bill Cower,

505
00:28:50,200 --> 00:29:25,080
Speaker 1: the former Steelers coach, both coming up this week. The

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00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:25,720
Speaker 1: Volume