Speaker 1: What team you both would want to rematch against to
Speaker 1: beat I would want to run it back with that.
Speaker 1: We believe team versus Utah is clear obvious. The Lakers
Speaker 1: Game seven, I mean, gosh, eight nine, ten points. I
Speaker 1: don't hurt. Welcome back to what's burning the finals? Uh Man,
Speaker 1: we got a special guest here before we get started,
Speaker 1: a friend of the family, friend of the program. Uh
Speaker 1: NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce. We appreciate you, man.
Speaker 1: I'm hearing you might becoming part of the Showtime family,
Speaker 1: so we could we could be seeing you here more.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, we got some stuff in the words well welcome,
Speaker 1: but let's get right into it. Milwaukee Phoenix. Phoenix goes
Speaker 1: up to oh Milwaukee wins the next two at home,
Speaker 1: goes in Game five after being down double digits, uh
Speaker 1: to secure win um with some tough defense from jew Holiday.
Speaker 1: Tell me how the momentum has swung in these finals.
Speaker 1: I'm telling this series might be over man, truthfully, because
Speaker 1: Drew Holiday, think about this. He played terrible in Game four,
Speaker 1: and that was a game Phoenix should have won. It's
Speaker 1: always that one swing game. It was Game four, Phoenix
Speaker 1: should have won that. So now all the momentums in Milwaukee,
Speaker 1: and I don't know how Phoenix is gonna recover because
Speaker 1: I can't even see them playing much better. They shot
Speaker 1: over from the field from three. I mean, what can
Speaker 1: they do better? Usually when you see them numbers Matt,
Speaker 1: you usually win a game like that. They was up
Speaker 1: sixteen and game in Game five in the first quarter,
Speaker 1: it's like, Now you go to Milwaukee, where they've been
Speaker 1: dominant at home. I don't know how they get back
Speaker 1: in it, to be all honest, They're a whole different
Speaker 1: team at home, and I think it's you know, that
Speaker 1: Game four lost in Milwaukee was big. Obviously, that turnover
Speaker 1: down the stretches what stands out, you know when CP
Speaker 1: lost the ball and they go down and get that
Speaker 1: the bucket by Middleton. But same thing in game five,
Speaker 1: Drew Holiday again in there. You know, Devin Booker's hesitant.
Speaker 1: Instead of pulling up, he turns and Drew takes it
Speaker 1: down and takes it and then throws a lot to Janice.
Speaker 1: It's the three point play and the momentum is gone.
Speaker 1: I see flashes of this teams and what I've been
Speaker 1: impressed with them all playoffs is they haven't showed their age.
Speaker 1: You know, all those CPS, their leader, they're a young team,
Speaker 1: and that to me, they haven't showed their age. They've
Speaker 1: showed like they belong or they've done it before. You're
Speaker 1: seeing spells now in these final games where it's it's
Speaker 1: just a little bit tighter um that they're showing their
Speaker 1: their age with shot selections, defensive rotations and small careless
Speaker 1: turnovers that Milwaukee is eating on. So Holiday has been
Speaker 1: up and down, but you also got to say, like
Speaker 1: his defense has been so pivotal on CP. I think
Speaker 1: he's starting to wear CP down. And then that last game,
Speaker 1: obviously Holiday was on fire with the scoring. I think
Speaker 1: when they have those three guys over twenty, they're hard
Speaker 1: to beat. Yeah, I mean when you look at both
Speaker 1: of them, they're they're so called big threes. Booker is
Speaker 1: kind of like high end taking you honest the numbers.
Speaker 1: You know, they're both high thirties forties. Then you look
Speaker 1: at Dtleton, he's up and down. CP is not taking
Speaker 1: advantage of that matchup. You know, they posted a CP
Speaker 1: post to dominate one of these matchups. But then Middleton
Speaker 1: he goes for thirty eight. Then he has another good
Speaker 1: game he's been clutched for them, and then eight and
Speaker 1: the X factor he's pposted. He got to be the
Speaker 1: X factor and Drew Holidays the X factor. And we've
Speaker 1: seen their two X factors take advantage of this series
Speaker 1: because in every series you gotta have that X factor
Speaker 1: and drews Bean the X factor because you know what
Speaker 1: you're gonna get from the stars. The X factors, especially
Speaker 1: in the finals, there are kind of the wild card
Speaker 1: they're gonna hw are they're gonna play in That kind
Speaker 1: of dictates how it goes. Yeah, and so when you
Speaker 1: look at it from top to bottom, from their top
Speaker 1: three to to Milwaukee's top three and Phoenix they're just
Speaker 1: getting out played. You know, Johannese has been consistent, Booker
Speaker 1: has been consistent, Middleton has been great down the stretch,
Speaker 1: And I think that's what it comes down to. And
Speaker 1: then you gotta have that. See, Phoenix never took advantage
Speaker 1: of when the role players played great. You know, when
Speaker 1: Crowder have a game where he getting you fifteen eighteen points,
Speaker 1: you know you gotta win them games. You have six
Speaker 1: team at home, that's a swing game, and it's tough
Speaker 1: to come back from that. So Obviously we both know
Speaker 1: the world knows. Milwaukee is a much tougher team and
Speaker 1: a different team mindset wise. At home, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: a tough job to go in there and do it.
Speaker 1: But I think, like I said, Phoenix can because it's
Speaker 1: coming down to the wires. I like they're getting blown out.
Speaker 1: It's been really it's been one play here, one play there.
Speaker 1: So if they can go in there and have that
Speaker 1: mindset of, you know, we gotta get this back to Phoenix,
Speaker 1: it could happen. But I think we all know it's
Speaker 1: gonna be really tough. Man. But but one more thing.
Speaker 1: When you got the best player in the series, all
Speaker 1: Milwaukee at home, I don't know. You gotta you gotta
Speaker 1: like their chances. You gotta like the Milwaukee has to
Speaker 1: have the mindset we're celebrating after, you know, Tuesday night
Speaker 1: and you're walking on for their beer. They better have
Speaker 1: a lot of beer ready. They're gonna have it ready
Speaker 1: this Tuesday. So this Tuesday, tomorrow night will be Game
Speaker 1: six in Milwaukee. We talked a little bit about you
Speaker 1: know who's doing what Bookers at thirty points a game
Speaker 1: from the field CPS twenty one, nearly nine assist from
Speaker 1: the field aiden uh fifteen and thirteen, and then you
Speaker 1: jump across Janice at thirty two thirteen and nearly six
Speaker 1: sixty cent from the field, free throw percenters nearly up
Speaker 1: to sixty sixty. And one thing we forgot though, is
Speaker 1: I gotta admit when I saw y'all this hyper extended
Speaker 1: his knee and the Eastern Conference Finals, I thought he
Speaker 1: was done. Man. I thought I thought the season was
Speaker 1: over right, and he thought that too. And to think
Speaker 1: that he can, you know, rally that up and and
Speaker 1: and possibly come back and win his first championship and
Speaker 1: probably when the if they win his finals M v P,
Speaker 1: that's the hell of a story. And I'm happy for
Speaker 1: him because this has always been the question about Jannie.
Speaker 1: Can he do it on the biggest stage in the
Speaker 1: biggest game. He's been great during the regular season, and
Speaker 1: he's taking a lot of heat for not getting his
Speaker 1: team where they need to be. Now, you could say
Speaker 1: what you want about teams were hurt, but that a
Speaker 1: lot of you note, a lot of luck goes into
Speaker 1: teams win the championships. Lost one of your big players
Speaker 1: going into l A for your guys a second championship,
Speaker 1: you know this has been a great run. Obviously, Middleton
Speaker 1: at nearly twenty six and seven and six man, he's
Speaker 1: been killing the Holidays picked this game up at sixteen
Speaker 1: and a half, nine assists and nearly six rebounds a
Speaker 1: game and nearly two steals and playing forty minutes a game.
Speaker 1: So Drew Holiday to me, has been the ultimate X
Speaker 1: factor that hasn't always been from the scoring side. Has
Speaker 1: been from the scoring side of late, but the defensive side,
Speaker 1: you can. I think he's really starting to wear CP down,
Speaker 1: picking up CP full court and really making him work
Speaker 1: every time down the court, and that that obviously favorites Milwaukee. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but when you look at through Holiday's game, you look,
Speaker 1: there's nothing sexy about his game. He's just a hard
Speaker 1: hat player and and I believe the reason that he
Speaker 1: hasn't been that effective on offense, if you just look
Speaker 1: at his playoff run. He's had the match up with
Speaker 1: heart Trade Young then he come in this series, he
Speaker 1: got book or Chris Paul. That can take a lot
Speaker 1: away from you because I remember in two thousands of ten,
Speaker 1: I matched up with Lebron for the second time in
Speaker 1: the series, and I put so much energy on defense.
Speaker 1: People don't even know. I average like fourteen points for
Speaker 1: that series, but I I expended so much energy on
Speaker 1: just trying to slow him down. That takes a lot
Speaker 1: away from your offense, especially when you put that much
Speaker 1: effort in the defense in and that's that's the reason
Speaker 1: Holiday've been up and down offensively. And I agree because
Speaker 1: I mean I've seen that firsthand. You know, that's the
Speaker 1: kind of the Clay Tompson effect with Golden State. You know,
Speaker 1: when he's always had the tough matchups and he would
Speaker 1: have offshooting nights or his points on his high he's
Speaker 1: literally taking that's the best player on the other end
Speaker 1: every night, and that ship. Like he said, it's a mindset.
Speaker 1: But then that also just mentally and physically, what does
Speaker 1: Phoenix have to do to get this back to Phoenix
Speaker 1: for Game seven? In your opinion, man, I'm not I'm
Speaker 1: not even sure because when I'm saying you gotta go
Speaker 1: into a hostile environment, you need some goons, I'm not
Speaker 1: sure if they got the goons, you know, to get
Speaker 1: it done. I mean, yes, CP is great, and I love,
Speaker 1: you know, his mental because I feel like CP is
Speaker 1: a guy who's never shaken. So I think his leadership
Speaker 1: gotta come into play right here. You know, he gotta
Speaker 1: look at everybody in the eye and be like, look,
Speaker 1: this one game we gotta win. You know, I think
Speaker 1: it's really gotta come from here. You gotta stand up,
Speaker 1: look everybody in the eye, and like, look one guy.
Speaker 1: Y'all telling me we can't beat this guy's one time
Speaker 1: on the road. We've been good all year long. We've
Speaker 1: been one of the best teams in the league. We
Speaker 1: can get us one game. It's gut checking time. It's
Speaker 1: gut checking time. This is it. I mean, he gotta
Speaker 1: look and they gotta come with it. We know. I
Speaker 1: think Booker is gonna come with it. He found a rhythm.
Speaker 1: It'll be interesting to see. So it's gonna be a
Speaker 1: dog fight. And uh but I know Milwaukee Smell Championship.
Speaker 1: They're gonna have the trophy. That's one thing when you
Speaker 1: at home, Because I was there, I knew the trophy
Speaker 1: was in the building somewhere. It's in the building. I'm like,
Speaker 1: ain't no way this trophy leaving the building tonight. And
Speaker 1: so this is a tough one. But I don't know
Speaker 1: what Phoenix can do. Talk to me about you. I mean,
Speaker 1: you've had experience in these situations. You know, you've been
Speaker 1: up three two with the chance to close at home,
Speaker 1: um three to versus l a close out and then
Speaker 1: three too and uh and lost in Game seven with
Speaker 1: the Lakers and ten. But talk to us about both
Speaker 1: sides of that coin. I mean, you feel a lot
Speaker 1: more comfortable when you up three two at home. That's
Speaker 1: just I mean, I'm sitting at my couch sitting. It's
Speaker 1: like you're being at home, putting up my feet. I
Speaker 1: got my food ready, and come know, the bathroom is
Speaker 1: I ain't gonna ask. But when you go on the road,
Speaker 1: you're like, where is this? It's it's it's tough that
Speaker 1: that was one of the toughest going on the road.
Speaker 1: Were up three two. You just feel like, man, two
Speaker 1: games in l A, we gotta get one. Then Pert
Speaker 1: go down. It just took the air out of this.
Speaker 1: It's tough to win on the road, man. That's why
Speaker 1: I always tough me. It's hard to win the championship.
Speaker 1: I mean you've been a part of it. You said
Speaker 1: that's hard to win a championship. Man, I don't care.
Speaker 1: You know, you've got some guys that did the two
Speaker 1: or three times, four or five times just to win one.
Speaker 1: It's tough. And that game seven you were talking about
Speaker 1: off came before we started with was that energy like
Speaker 1: uh in Staples Center? Uh? For for that it was surreal. Man.
Speaker 1: I just remember we we were up most of the game,
Speaker 1: fourth quarter, everybody standing up. It was just surreal. Dude,
Speaker 1: they didn't feel real. I really can't even explain it,
Speaker 1: because every shot you took, it was just like something
Speaker 1: was on the line. It was like one of them.
Speaker 1: I felt like, it's like almost like one of them shots.
Speaker 1: You take a half courter NBA game where you can
Speaker 1: you can go win a ten thousand dollars. If you miss,
Speaker 1: you just feel so down. And so that's every shot
Speaker 1: you're taking the finals of the fourth quarter. You just
Speaker 1: felt so down every shot you miss, and then every
Speaker 1: shot your hit was so big. It was just like, man,
Speaker 1: I still I still didn't watch that game. That's tough.
Speaker 1: I still be sitting on two chips. But you know
Speaker 1: that's the way the cookie crumble sometime. Yeah. Next step
Speaker 1: we have on the radar presented you by Draft Kings.
Speaker 1: Dame Lillard is in the discuse since of late. You
Speaker 1: know he's he's he he wants to see some activity
Speaker 1: from that Portland's front office. He's put a lot of
Speaker 1: time in and they haven't really got over that hump um.
Speaker 1: You were in a similar position in the early two
Speaker 1: thousand's where you know, guys are trying to get you
Speaker 1: to leave bust and you stayed down and uh you know,
Speaker 1: ended up picking up ray Allen and KG and and
Speaker 1: making your guys run. Do you think Dame will ask
Speaker 1: out of this situation or he's he gonna, you know,
Speaker 1: give Chauncey a chance and kind of see what they
Speaker 1: can do with there, Because, like I said, you've been
Speaker 1: in a situation like this. Yeah, I think my circumstances
Speaker 1: was a little different because when I look around the league,
Speaker 1: what Dame needs is not out there. And what I
Speaker 1: mean by that, there's no other superstar that you can say,
Speaker 1: is this grundo that you can bring over to Dame
Speaker 1: to say, all right, if we add this piece. This
Speaker 1: has put us in championship contention, and uh so I
Speaker 1: think the best thing for Damn. I think he needs
Speaker 1: to get out of it. I really do. I really
Speaker 1: think he don't have to be loud about it, you know,
Speaker 1: Dame has always been one of the most loyal guys.
Speaker 1: So more it's more his situation unlike mine, is more
Speaker 1: like KGS because kg was doing all he could from
Speaker 1: Minnesota and they just got to the point he couldn't
Speaker 1: do no more, and uh it was like, you know,
Speaker 1: it was time for him to go. I think Dame's
Speaker 1: time is up there, and you know they don't squeezed
Speaker 1: all the limit juice out of him. He can't make
Speaker 1: no more limit name man, I mean even making even
Speaker 1: making too much limit name for years. He gotta move on.
Speaker 1: So if he does end up moving in whatever fashion
Speaker 1: that may happen, where do you see a good landing
Speaker 1: spot or a good fit for him? Who are maybe
Speaker 1: two or three teams you obviously any team he goes
Speaker 1: who's gonna help, But anyone off the top that that
Speaker 1: comes to mind that could be like damn, Yeah, well
Speaker 1: there's two teams off the top that if you land
Speaker 1: Damn Lillard, you put yourself in championship contention, which is
Speaker 1: I mean, there's a lot of teams, but I'm saying
Speaker 1: best fit. I think the seventy sixers because I believe
Speaker 1: they got the pieces that they can make a trade.
Speaker 1: You know, maybe Ben Simmons, who knows. It's it's a
Speaker 1: lot of things rumbling over there. Who knows in Miami,
Speaker 1: the Miami, I think they got a lot of young pieces.
Speaker 1: If you don't get rid of Jimmy Butler, and you
Speaker 1: could find a way to keep Bam, try to forego
Speaker 1: some of them other little pieces Duncan, Robinson, Tyler, Hero
Speaker 1: and you can bring Damn in there. I think those
Speaker 1: two are realistic, and I would really look into that
Speaker 1: if I'm all the those GMS something. I don't know
Speaker 1: if it's been unofficial or or official, if it's actually
Speaker 1: real talk. But I've heard Golden State try to trade
Speaker 1: their two picks and maybe one of their young players
Speaker 1: for Dame to join Clay Draymond and Steph back at
Speaker 1: the crib. I mean, dude, you know what greatness always
Speaker 1: figuring it out. I don't care how much of it
Speaker 1: you got around each other and people. Yeah, just like
Speaker 1: you know, if hardened Katie and Kyrie would have been healthy,
Speaker 1: they probably would have won. And so like if they
Speaker 1: come together and and you know, the casuals are gonna
Speaker 1: be like, that's two repetitive Dame. You know he played
Speaker 1: like staff and clay. It won't work. It's too no.
Speaker 1: I love to try to figure that out. Greatness always
Speaker 1: gonna figure it out if they if they're healthy, they'll
Speaker 1: figure out a way to make that work, and they
Speaker 1: will be the favorite surmise if that happened. And you think,
Speaker 1: I'm going back to the town too and be at home.
Speaker 1: This Thursday July, catch our next all the smoking episode
Speaker 1: of Our mann e Manuo cho himself. Enjoy this teaser.
Speaker 1: Care Richardson band for spoken with marijuana on the days
Speaker 1: after her mom had passed. And I saw what you said.
Speaker 1: You made a comment on something. I remember what it was,
Speaker 1: and I said, I said, come on, bro, you're better
Speaker 1: than that. And you had made a comment, and I
Speaker 1: think you were taking a lot of heat that forced
Speaker 1: you to kind of go back and do some home
Speaker 1: work in your research on the situation. Man, let's go there.
Speaker 1: Fellas literally came here for this. Welcome to all the smokes.
Speaker 1: A pleasure to be here all right. First and foremost,
Speaker 1: let me preface with this, I was at a Lympic trials.
Speaker 1: Let me press with this. Track is actually my first love.
Speaker 1: I love track because track is quantifiable. It's like why
Speaker 1: I love math two plus two will always before. I
Speaker 1: don't care if Stack feels like it's five or if
Speaker 1: Matt feels like it's six. Two plus two is four.
Speaker 1: Point blank. We watched the NBA finals. How much was
Speaker 1: jan Is helping? How much was Middleton helping? How much
Speaker 1: was Chris Paul helping? Track is simple, I ran faster
Speaker 1: than you, point blank got a debate nothing. So let
Speaker 1: me preface with this my first love. Let me preface
Speaker 1: with I was at the Olympic trials. Let me preface
Speaker 1: with I keep up with not only what goes on
Speaker 1: in American track circuit, but the entire track circuit, Jamaican's,
Speaker 1: Nigerian's everything, because I love track. Also preface with condolences
Speaker 1: to she carry does not overstep. Let's not overlook. This
Speaker 1: is a woman who lost her biological mother. Let's not
Speaker 1: stup over that for the sake of debate number one.
Speaker 1: So my my comment after she got she tested positive
Speaker 1: for marijuana, and so many people was jumping out saying
Speaker 1: they should legalize, it should be legalized, it should be legalized,
Speaker 1: it should be legalized. I'm like, okay, here's a kicker.
Speaker 1: It's only illegal in competition. You can smoke all the
Speaker 1: weeds you want as a professional track athlete, you just
Speaker 1: can't do it in competition. A rule exists. A rule exists,
Speaker 1: whether it's fair or not. You broke the rule, you
Speaker 1: should be punished accordingly. I grew up in Texas. I
Speaker 1: drive through the back roads in Texas. If there is
Speaker 1: a red light, and I see the red light, camera
Speaker 1: and I choose to run the red light, and I
Speaker 1: see it flash. I got in the middle. I've seen
Speaker 1: the red light and I ran to joint. Now I
Speaker 1: can debate why was the red light there. We can
Speaker 1: debate that to me all day. But the fact that
Speaker 1: the matter is the red light was there. Last thing
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say on this matter is this, and again
Speaker 1: I was there. The fastest man in the in the world,
Speaker 1: not in America. Noah Liles through twos, the fastest man
Speaker 1: in the world. We're reigning world champion. He said that
Speaker 1: the USA Olympic Trials make the World Championships feel like nothing,
Speaker 1: just saying Olympic trials are more difficult than the World
Speaker 1: champions I was in a warm up area with Noah
Speaker 1: before he had to rent run, nervous as all could be.
Speaker 1: He was watching my phone he was had my phone
Speaker 1: is hand dropped, nervous as all could be the fastest
Speaker 1: woman ever through two hundred meters second to flow Joe
Speaker 1: Gabby Thomas, she trains in Austin. I know her well,
Speaker 1: graduated from Harvard, fastest woman ever. She had to take
Speaker 1: off her whoop watch the week before the two because
Speaker 1: she didn't want to see how bad her CNS was
Speaker 1: because she was so anxious. So everybody was anxious there.
Speaker 1: With that being said, everybody had to deal with their
Speaker 1: anxiety differently. So there was a rule in place. No,
Speaker 1: weed doesn't make you faster, It don't make you stronger,
Speaker 1: doesn't make you have more quick twitch muscles. No. But
Speaker 1: the fact of the matter is it was a rule.
Speaker 1: She broke the rule. And the last thing is remember
Speaker 1: this in the NBA, this in the NFL, This is
Speaker 1: not the MLB. This is global stages in China, if
Speaker 1: you smoke. In Japan, if you smoke weed, punishable by
Speaker 1: five to ten years in prison. So the tests in
Speaker 1: Japan have to match the tests in America because they
Speaker 1: compete against each other. Unlike America. We can just do
Speaker 1: rules for America. But the rules got to compete against
Speaker 1: each other. So you can't make something legal for one
Speaker 1: country that's illegal in another country because the country has
Speaker 1: got to compete. And so this is a nuanced conversation.
Speaker 1: It has to be had with nuanced individuals. You can't
Speaker 1: just fire off a hundred eight characters to make sense
Speaker 1: of it. Over But that's my stance. Racism is why
Speaker 1: marijuana was ever made illegal in the first place. Marijuana
Speaker 1: should not be illegal. Shaky did break a rule, shi
Speaker 1: carry should be punished accordingly for the rules she broke.
Speaker 1: All of those things can be true. Next up, one
Speaker 1: of our favorite segments. We have fan questions, So let's
Speaker 1: get started with this step up and get clowned. What
Speaker 1: is the US basketball team missing in order to be successful?
Speaker 1: In your opinion, the US basketball team is never missing nothing.
Speaker 1: Come on, we we hadn't shoulders the best in the world.
Speaker 1: I don't care who we put out there. We just
Speaker 1: need time. We just need time together. I don't care
Speaker 1: who we put out there. We're heading shoulders better than
Speaker 1: everybody in the world. Everybody wants to be in the NBA.
Speaker 1: And we're sitting twelve fortune NBA guys over there, and
Speaker 1: most of these teams maybe got one NBA player maybe too.
Speaker 1: We don't need nothing, just time to gather for them
Speaker 1: to get their chemistry. But this should be USA go
Speaker 1: every time. Hands down, I agree. The one thing I
Speaker 1: will say is, obviously I think the world has not
Speaker 1: caught up, but has gotten better. It has definitely gotten
Speaker 1: better from a standpoint, and we've just been up used
Speaker 1: to be able to just throw whoever out there, and
Speaker 1: it was just we're that much better. We're gonna be fine.
Speaker 1: Now that chemistry is starting to weigh in because I
Speaker 1: think there is more NBA players from around the world.
Speaker 1: So and the way I was having a conversation from
Speaker 1: my homeboy and I think that people don't understand is
Speaker 1: we have twelve guys on the team. Probably ten of
Speaker 1: those guys are the man on their team, the go
Speaker 1: to man that takes shots all these other teams, even
Speaker 1: if they haven't even played their role players, so they
Speaker 1: know how to play in a system. They know what
Speaker 1: they have to do, the cuts, the passes, the screens,
Speaker 1: that ship they have to do. We just have to
Speaker 1: get used to playing with so many stars that are
Speaker 1: used to not playing together, but also being the man
Speaker 1: on their team. So that just takes time in that
Speaker 1: chemistry to get that ball because once you saw the
Speaker 1: last game against Spain, once that ball starts moving around,
Speaker 1: there's nothing you could do with us. Not only adjustment
Speaker 1: US gotta be ready for is international whistle. It's different
Speaker 1: from the NBA whistle because the fouls used to get
Speaker 1: you know, the Lebron calls, Tatum calls. You know, they're
Speaker 1: not getting those over there. So once they get used
Speaker 1: to that, I think they'll be fine. What was your
Speaker 1: Olympic experience? Like, oh, man, I didn't play Olympics, but
Speaker 1: I played World Games and it was it was tragic
Speaker 1: two thousand two and we were the first team. We
Speaker 1: had Baron Davis, Andre Miller, remember Jermaine O'Neil el and
Speaker 1: brand Reggie Miller, uh, the Matrix, Sean Marion being Wallace.
Speaker 1: We just didn't get it done. But this is where
Speaker 1: the world, this is where we ran into the first
Speaker 1: time I ran into a guy named man new Genoboli.
Speaker 1: This is the first time. You know, he wasn't in
Speaker 1: the league and it was like this kid, So I
Speaker 1: was like, what whatever I got him? Man? He put
Speaker 1: it on us. He put it on It was a
Speaker 1: monster too. You do everything to keep off that left
Speaker 1: he'll still get to us left and he used to
Speaker 1: dunk that bit in the lane on you too. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So my USA experience was all bad. And I think
Speaker 1: the reason after two thousand and this was a two
Speaker 1: thousand I believe U three and four around there, they
Speaker 1: changed the whole USA program to where now how they
Speaker 1: started bringing guys earlier out for camp because we just
Speaker 1: showed them, got together, practice for a couple of days
Speaker 1: and play. Now it's a whole program. After that, after that,
Speaker 1: that tragic event, they changed the whole USA program. And
Speaker 1: that's why we're back on top. This is it's just
Speaker 1: me what team you both would want to rematch against
Speaker 1: to beat both would want to rematch against probably in
Speaker 1: our careers. I would want to run it back with that.
Speaker 1: We believe team versus Utah, I think we had we
Speaker 1: were we were on a crazy high that year and
Speaker 1: we was up in Utah. Both games, whistles got crazy
Speaker 1: um and they ended up battling San Antonio in the
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference finals excuse me, Western Conference finals. So that
Speaker 1: I mean to me, that would probably be a one.
Speaker 1: Let's run it back because I thought we should have
Speaker 1: beat them. Yeah, I mean, mine is clear obvious the
Speaker 1: Lakers Game seven. I mean, gosh, we was up eight, nine,
Speaker 1: ten points. I don't hurt. I don't still stink to you.
Speaker 1: Is that your biggest that's just, you know, just your
Speaker 1: biggest crush man right there and then, But like a
Speaker 1: couple of them, people don't like like when we say
Speaker 1: you have to be good and lucky. People forgetting two
Speaker 1: thousand and nine. We came back and started the season
Speaker 1: like twenty nine and three, and KG gets hurt and
Speaker 1: uh we probably would go back to back because we
Speaker 1: was crushing teams and then we get healthy the next
Speaker 1: year and then we lose per I mean, you gotta
Speaker 1: be good and lucky man. Injuries are a factors. So
Speaker 1: all you people out here saying that Phoenix wouldn't be
Speaker 1: there or Milwaukee wouldn't be there, Injuries are a factor.
Speaker 1: It is a part of the game. It happens every
Speaker 1: year Toronto one Katie went down. Oh well, it's part
Speaker 1: of the game. Yeah, absolutely, I agree. You can't definitely
Speaker 1: take nothing away from these teams. Uncle one e pH one,
Speaker 1: What the funk that says after partially tearing his a
Speaker 1: c L With his injury history, will Qua be the
Speaker 1: next star? To have his career altered by injury. Who
Speaker 1: tough question. I mean, how much altering can you do
Speaker 1: with Kauai's career? Look at his career, you know, it's
Speaker 1: not the same as when I look at like Penny
Speaker 1: Hardaway or Grant Hill or Tracy McGrady. You know, Kauai
Speaker 1: has won a couple of championships, He's been on great
Speaker 1: teams already. I don't think it alters his career. Will
Speaker 1: he win Moore? Who knows? But his career is set
Speaker 1: in stone pretty much. His legacy is there, and so
Speaker 1: I like, like I said, al turn it, I don't
Speaker 1: think so, because Kauai could retire today and he's going
Speaker 1: down one of the greatest. So I would agree. Now
Speaker 1: this might alter his longevity, I think, um, just because
Speaker 1: there's always been whispers there's something going on in his hip.
Speaker 1: Now he has this minor a c L tear um,
Speaker 1: already had the surgery recovering. We wish him the best,
Speaker 1: but this could probably prolong that probably the length of
Speaker 1: time he plays. But I think, like Paul said, I
Speaker 1: mean to championships, two finals, m vps um, he's pretty
Speaker 1: much all right. We got a question from S. J.
Speaker 1: C forty four oh one, Matt, where was you rank
Speaker 1: Joannice currently? If he wins a ring this year? I
Speaker 1: really to be honest with you when we're talking about
Speaker 1: greats and we'll just go top twenty five grades. I
Speaker 1: don't think he's cracked that list yet. I think, um,
Speaker 1: he's at a great start, still young, two time m
Speaker 1: v P. But like, what about amongst the league right now? Current, like, like,
Speaker 1: who's the best player in the league? If he wins
Speaker 1: a ring this year, I think we gotta. I think
Speaker 1: you gotta put him in the top five. I think
Speaker 1: you gotta put him in the top five. And that's
Speaker 1: that's saying a lot because there's a lot of motherfucker's
Speaker 1: in the number one in the league. I don't think so.
Speaker 1: I don't think so you gotta be you gotta be
Speaker 1: number one? Oh you got him? Because I'm still like
Speaker 1: and I'm if I'm thinking number one, I'm still taking
Speaker 1: k D over Jannice. I don't know. And this is
Speaker 1: what all due respect, I don't know if going into
Speaker 1: here night about this. We won, right So I go
Speaker 1: to Spain to do a bad skitball camp and it
Speaker 1: was like, hey, Ida interview and He was like, hey,
Speaker 1: you bess, you just beat the best player in the world.
Speaker 1: And I was like, huh. I was like, currently, I'm
Speaker 1: the best player in the world because I beat them
Speaker 1: I want and so like I think, Janice, if he
Speaker 1: wins a chip, he's the king. He's the best player
Speaker 1: in the world. I mean, look at the numbers he's
Speaker 1: putting up. Dude. Man, he's sixty who shoots six from
Speaker 1: the field average, and his impact is on the novel. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's not that player, but neither with Shock. You know,
Speaker 1: everybody asking Honest to do all this. He's not a closer.
Speaker 1: That's why they need Middleton and Drew Holiday to do that.
Speaker 1: But everything else in between he taking care of. You know,
Speaker 1: there's other guys who we got in front of them.
Speaker 1: They closers, Okay, Katie, uh bron, you know these guys,
Speaker 1: you know, they closer, they do it all. But this dude,
Speaker 1: he the best right now, He coming off two m
Speaker 1: vps and and he win it. Not mad at that.
Speaker 1: It's gotta be he gotta he gotta feel he's the best. Yeah. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: and you I'm not even allow you made a better
Speaker 1: argument than me. So I'm good with that now. We're
Speaker 1: up with quick hitters. We touched on this early in
Speaker 1: the show. Uh. The U S team defeats Spain. They're
Speaker 1: off to Tokyo. First game I think is versus France. Uh.
Speaker 1: One thing I did like, and this was kind of
Speaker 1: controversial because they added Kelton Johnson, was a young player
Speaker 1: off San Antonio who got a lot of respect in
Speaker 1: the process leading up to being able to join the
Speaker 1: big team, and then they grabbed JaVale McGee and there
Speaker 1: was a lot of controversies saying that possibly other guys
Speaker 1: deserved it or earned it more. What was your thoughts
Speaker 1: on those feeling those two pieces, two spots with role
Speaker 1: players instead of bona fide stars. This is the one
Speaker 1: thing I think people gotta get because it's easy for
Speaker 1: me to say, you know why you didn't add a
Speaker 1: Trey Young or or um, well it's Donovan Donovan Mitchell
Speaker 1: is not on the squad. No Donovan Mitchell. But you
Speaker 1: gotta understand sometimes these guys turned down and people don't
Speaker 1: know that that, Like they might have asked these guys trade,
Speaker 1: do you want to play? Or it's about availability. You know,
Speaker 1: some guys turned it down and so it's not about
Speaker 1: why they didn't pick them up like I turned down
Speaker 1: Team USA. You know it's sometimes it was like why
Speaker 1: they didn't put peers because I didn't want to play
Speaker 1: that something had other things to do. Uh, But there's
Speaker 1: no excuses. These guys are more than enough. They added
Speaker 1: some role players. They got their stars. K D. Think
Speaker 1: about this. You can add two of them guys on
Speaker 1: the NBA team on the USA team and there're be
Speaker 1: contenders in the NBA. So they got more than enough.
Speaker 1: And so there's regardless, maybe to help with their chemistry
Speaker 1: and to help them with defense. Then when the finals
Speaker 1: is over, they ad Booker, Middleton and Drew that they'll
Speaker 1: be fine. I like the Obviously there are people who
Speaker 1: are more solidified and and maybe put more work in
Speaker 1: UM then these guys. By the end of the day,
Speaker 1: I think role players needed because as we touched on earlier,
Speaker 1: we've got so many ball dominant stars that are used
Speaker 1: to being the man on their team. Is good because
Speaker 1: you know, Kelton Johnson came in and and fucked the
Speaker 1: whole energy up for Spain with his hustle, is rebounding,
Speaker 1: his cutting, it's splitting his ass back on defense, and
Speaker 1: you know we've all seen with Javel's. Javal's to me
Speaker 1: has been unsung. He's got what two or three championships,
Speaker 1: always to keep peace on championship teams, plays hardy, rebound,
Speaker 1: the ultra shots. So with these adding these two role players, yes,
Speaker 1: like but think could you imagine a couple of years
Speaker 1: ago before I go to State, Absolutely not, they would
Speaker 1: have been they would have been going. That's a testament
Speaker 1: to him. Shout out javail Man, your hard work over
Speaker 1: the last few years. Alutely man, he's always been a
Speaker 1: key peace on championship teams. Reported and then like you said,
Speaker 1: you know, book, Middleton and Holiday will come after the final.
Speaker 1: So obviously we're still ODZ on favor. I don't see
Speaker 1: anyone really being in problem and may not be dream
Speaker 1: team number blowouts, but it's gonna be you know, the
Speaker 1: USA with if you do that thing up next West
Speaker 1: Unsell Junior name the head coach of the Washington Wizards. Um,
Speaker 1: I think we want to say we have seven new
Speaker 1: black head coaches in the league, which were running total
Speaker 1: of the thirteen. I think it's a beautiful thing with
Speaker 1: your thought on this, I think it's a long time
Speaker 1: coming because I think with this new generation. You've got
Speaker 1: a lot of these guys as former players, and they
Speaker 1: can relate. That's the key word, you think. I think
Speaker 1: to now, coaching is more about relatability to actual excell those. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because you can get some excells and those, but you
Speaker 1: need a guy who they can relate to, who they're
Speaker 1: gonna respect. J K Chauncey. When I look around these
Speaker 1: guys who may they respected in the NBA circles, ty Louse,
Speaker 1: we already know they respected. And you know I respected
Speaker 1: Doc because he knows where we go through on the
Speaker 1: day to day crime. He's somebody I feel like, man,
Speaker 1: you know, away from basketball, I could really have a
Speaker 1: real conversation with him and ain't always gotta be basketball talk.
Speaker 1: You know, he can understand and like if something I'm
Speaker 1: going through off the court is affecting me on the court,
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm comfortable and having that conversation and
Speaker 1: see people don't see that part of you know. And
Speaker 1: that's what I love when you get these young black
Speaker 1: coaches who've been there, who understand the new generation who've
Speaker 1: been around them, because it's it's more than just hoop sometime. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: you know, I didn't have to have conversations with Doc,
Speaker 1: not even about who, just somebody who I can that's important.
Speaker 1: And then it got my mind back right now I
Speaker 1: can hoop. Yeah. What I think is dope too is
Speaker 1: six have the seven coaches were assistance And when it
Speaker 1: comes to this situation, normally the black assistance are the
Speaker 1: cool assistant coaches. They'll have to go wrangle us up,
Speaker 1: talk to Paul talk. So for these guys to failing,
Speaker 1: you know, not have to be them dudes, no more.
Speaker 1: I actually get to sit in that front seat. Man.
Speaker 1: It shout out to my man, really green who got
Speaker 1: the job over in New Orleans. Good luck you know,
Speaker 1: hopefully you guys do what you do in the finals.
Speaker 1: But congratulations on the job in man, So I love
Speaker 1: to see it. Let's also talk about your team, who's
Speaker 1: got a new head coach? Email Udoko but then also
Speaker 1: picked up David Stoudemire as an assistant. Talk about he
Speaker 1: May's job and what what you know being a part
Speaker 1: of the Celtics franchise looks like in them building around
Speaker 1: Brown and Tatum. Well, yeah, I think you know Brad Stevens,
Speaker 1: you know he you know, he already made the foundation
Speaker 1: and I think his time was up as far as
Speaker 1: coaching and now I love the fact that you're bringing
Speaker 1: these two uh, former players who who understand the game.
Speaker 1: They're both are guards, you know, and this team is
Speaker 1: guard heavy, uh Tatum and Brown and guys that they're
Speaker 1: gonna respect. You know. David Stoudom are definitely made a
Speaker 1: name for himself in this league. I mean we all
Speaker 1: know that. And uh, you know sometimes about having a
Speaker 1: new voice, but the right voice key, you know, but
Speaker 1: the right voice, and that can take a team to
Speaker 1: the next level. Um, you know, the Steltics still as
Speaker 1: far as being a continder, they need some few a
Speaker 1: few more pieces. That was gonna be my next question.
Speaker 1: What do you feel like they're missing? I like the
Speaker 1: Moses Brown pick up from He's Raw from Oklahoma City,
Speaker 1: former us A kid to put up a couple of nights,
Speaker 1: was gonna you know, push, uh, the the young Williams
Speaker 1: kid to work harder. What do you feel like they're missing?
Speaker 1: I think they need a young athletic big you know,
Speaker 1: just when you look across the board, uh at the contenders,
Speaker 1: you get they got the guards. The wings is fine,
Speaker 1: you know, Brown at Tatum could handle. But I think
Speaker 1: they need a young guy, theng athletic big who's capable
Speaker 1: any given night giving you a twenty and ten night. Now,
Speaker 1: they may have one already there my young boy over there.
Speaker 1: But I just think you need somebody consistent in that
Speaker 1: spotted a borderline All Star, uh, if they want to
Speaker 1: take the leap, you know, like how Milwaukee went on
Speaker 1: got Drew Holler, who's a borderline All Star to go
Speaker 1: with the other two All Stars. And this lead to
Speaker 1: that you need three all Stars or two in the
Speaker 1: borderline one to win it all or to you a contender.
Speaker 1: And that's all they're missing. But they're young. They can
Speaker 1: keep building on what they got for a long time.
Speaker 1: Because these guys are about to sign some long term
Speaker 1: deals in the next year or two. They're gonna beat there,
Speaker 1: I believe, you know, they signed once, but they'll sign again.
Speaker 1: I think they need a playmaking point guard and a
Speaker 1: point guard they can hit big shots, like Malcolm Brogden
Speaker 1: like to me they had Kyrie but but but those
Speaker 1: are those are score first guards. Brock can make plays,
Speaker 1: plays defense, and hits big shots. He doesn't have to
Speaker 1: have the ball in his hands and be the go
Speaker 1: to you know. I mean he feels a great road
Speaker 1: to me, and to me, you know, it's although Marcus smartest,
Speaker 1: kind of hard and soul that team. The reason why
Speaker 1: I think he's expendable is because Tatum around both play defense.
Speaker 1: Normally don't get young stars to play both ways. Both
Speaker 1: these dudes try to lock up on defense too. So
Speaker 1: to me, if you can get a playmaking point guard
Speaker 1: that can knock down big shots and guard his position,
Speaker 1: to me, I think that's what they need, because I
Speaker 1: think they do. I agree young athletic bigs. But again,
Speaker 1: I think with Horford kind of being the o G
Speaker 1: mentoring these young kids, with the Williams kid in the
Speaker 1: in the in the Brown kids from u c l
Speaker 1: A over there, I think there's gonna have some good mentorships.
Speaker 1: So it'll be um, It'll be interesting to see, will
Speaker 1: be interesting to see. I still think the East is
Speaker 1: wide open now. Milwaukee win this year. I still feel
Speaker 1: like there's teams that's right there. Brooklyn is not to ship.
Speaker 1: They just got to be healthy. So I think the
Speaker 1: end of the era of Dynasty's is over. I agree,
Speaker 1: I agree. I think there's a more movement now. Although
Speaker 1: the the last team that could possibly be a dynasty.
Speaker 1: In my opinion is if they can stay together is Brooklyn,
Speaker 1: they can make a dynasty run. I think I think
Speaker 1: they can win with consider dynasty back to back three
Speaker 1: out of four, so I would think that team has
Speaker 1: a chance. And if Dame drops to the Bay, look out.
Speaker 1: Well man, it's been a hell of a season, a
Speaker 1: lot of ups and downs, shortened off season. Um, the
Speaker 1: season is going to be even shorter um after this break.
Speaker 1: Also the Olympics and they're starting on time next year.
Speaker 1: I think as fans and first as certainly as players,
Speaker 1: we have to watch how how these guys get their rest.
Speaker 1: I think in the playoffs this year, like you said,
Speaker 1: it always happens, but it happened un an alarming right
Speaker 1: this year. Uh, two guys getting hurt, especially key players
Speaker 1: getting hurt, and I just think that kind of stems
Speaker 1: stems down to these motherfucker's were playing a lot of
Speaker 1: basketball of late, and it doesn't seem like there's any
Speaker 1: time to slow down soon. So hopefully these guys can
Speaker 1: find some rest and we can get a healthy season
Speaker 1: next year. Man, So appreciate you man for your time,
Speaker 1: like you around here more. I hope you guys enjoyed
Speaker 1: this episode of West Bertie. You can catches every week
Speaker 1: on Showtime Basketball and the I Heart Platform, Black Effects
Speaker 1: and Show Basketball on Twitter. See you how next week