Speaker 1: Welcome to this Week Uncut in the world of twenty
Speaker 1: four NBA news. Chris Hans works time. It's time. This
Speaker 1: ligun cut is underway in the fire. It should be
Speaker 1: a good one. Playoff time is almost here, friends, and
Speaker 1: Mark Stein is here with Chris Haynes. Back with you
Speaker 1: again on another edition of this League Uncut. A very
Speaker 1: eventful play in week already we are getting together. We're
Speaker 1: recording this late on a Thursday night, after Chris Haynes
Speaker 1: had his own cross country playoff travel to get in
Speaker 1: position for the Chicago versus Miami play in game the
Speaker 1: decider Friday night to see who ends up in the
Speaker 1: number eight seed. We obviously have OKAC against Minnesota in
Speaker 1: the West battle for the A seed. My first question,
Speaker 1: mister Haynes, for you is, besides the pleasant trees, about
Speaker 1: how your trip was from far away Sacramento to South Beach.
Speaker 1: So on your last last time you left home you
Speaker 1: got a one on one with Janice. I'm just curious,
Speaker 1: who is Who's next? You're you got heat heat bulls,
Speaker 1: so Jimmy Butler, zach Levine DeMar de Rosen's daughter, Who
Speaker 1: who is the who is the who is the next?
Speaker 1: Who is the next heart to heart convo with Well.
Speaker 1: Sources relate to me that DeMar de Rosen's daughter will
Speaker 1: not travel to Miami. She's going back to school. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so that's the case that counsels out her. You are
Speaker 1: working on it. You are working on it. Though I
Speaker 1: would at least say hello to the child. I was
Speaker 1: at least done that, But stunt, I think, um, first
Speaker 1: of all, this playing game, I'm excited to do it,
Speaker 1: single elimination. Whoever loses is out. So this is going
Speaker 1: to be like, I don't I don't think the playing
Speaker 1: is considered the postseason. No, I mean, yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: it's loosely it is the postseason, but it is. You
Speaker 1: are not in the playoffs. If you make the play
Speaker 1: in you are not a playoff team unless you secure
Speaker 1: the seventh and eighth season. I'm glad you're reminded me.
Speaker 1: I actually did check again with the league office this week,
Speaker 1: and I am still being told that statistics in the
Speaker 1: play in games will continue to float in this nebulous
Speaker 1: zone where they really don't go into the record books.
Speaker 1: They don't get added to your regular season stats, but
Speaker 1: they're also not playoff stats. So you know, Jimmy Butler
Speaker 1: could go for whatever, or Zach Lavine on the Chicago side,
Speaker 1: or you know, we could see some crazy stat line
Speaker 1: in one of these two games, and it still really
Speaker 1: kind of doesn't count. So what you're saying for ten
Speaker 1: years later, there's going to be a player that's going
Speaker 1: to be heralded as the all time play in score,
Speaker 1: which really shit me much because it means your team
Speaker 1: is always between a seventh intention. I don't know that
Speaker 1: it should mean much, but I guess didn't um if
Speaker 1: my memory's right, was it Tatum who had a fifty
Speaker 1: point playing now? Because Boston's always up, somebody had a
Speaker 1: fifty point playing game? Maybe producer Ryan can look that
Speaker 1: up for us, because of course, when when it's crunch time,
Speaker 1: my trash memory doesn't remember somebody had a fifty point
Speaker 1: playing game, and like, but that doesn't count, you know,
Speaker 1: So if somebody scores fifty tomorrow, they're gonna want it
Speaker 1: to count, and it doesn't really go anywhere. It's just weird.
Speaker 1: I know, we're I know we're going way off, But
Speaker 1: is that that in season tournament that they're going to implement,
Speaker 1: is that going to count for regular season? That see
Speaker 1: that see that. Now, man, you you're right, this was
Speaker 1: not But now you got me. Now you got me
Speaker 1: riled up because this is one of my This is
Speaker 1: one This is one of the things that I am
Speaker 1: so down about this in season tournament because it's not
Speaker 1: separate games. They're gonna be regular season games that are
Speaker 1: designated for playing in season tournament standings. So they're gonna
Speaker 1: count double, they're gonna count in the regular season. They're
Speaker 1: gonna count in your regular season stats. I don't you know.
Speaker 1: I guess someone will keep in season tournament stats, but like,
Speaker 1: these are regular season games that are being used for
Speaker 1: two purposes. It's one of the things that I really
Speaker 1: really don't like about this. So yeah, I don't know,
Speaker 1: I don't know where we're gonna see who's going to
Speaker 1: really keep the in season tournament stats. But yeah, they're regular,
Speaker 1: they're regular. The only games that will be extra will
Speaker 1: be when they, you know, go to this final four,
Speaker 1: presumably in Vegas, and then they're gonna have to add
Speaker 1: they're gonna have to add an eighty third game for
Speaker 1: the two teams that make the finals. So it's do
Speaker 1: not get me going on the in season tournament. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I see, we went totally off the rails to like
Speaker 1: we always do. We we make our plan, we've I
Speaker 1: even write it down and then and then we end
Speaker 1: up we don't execute. We do we got to execute.
Speaker 1: We are not winning the execution Championship this season. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but I'm looking forward to tomorrow's play in, which will
Speaker 1: be tonight's play in for technically being m accurate the
Speaker 1: what the loser, the season will be over. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: I'm with you because it's the play in games have
Speaker 1: all been very good. This regular we spend so much
Speaker 1: time talking about the problems this league has with load management,
Speaker 1: and the regular season doesn't have enough stakes, and that's
Speaker 1: why they're that's why they want to do it in
Speaker 1: season tournament because they're looking for ways to try to
Speaker 1: juice the regular season and make it more meaningful. The
Speaker 1: play in tournament has helped hugely. And the playing games
Speaker 1: they've all, they've all been really tight so far. Obviously
Speaker 1: Lakers Wolves was not a classic in terms of the
Speaker 1: actual basketball being played, but I mean these have all
Speaker 1: been you know, close games, and you know, you know,
Speaker 1: on Wednesday night we saw or you know, we've the
Speaker 1: number ten seed had never won a playing game, and
Speaker 1: we saw both Chicago and Oklahoma City get through and
Speaker 1: and and record a win for number ten. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's been good. And I mean you
Speaker 1: you know it's it's you know, it's going to be
Speaker 1: a great scene in Miami because the heat, the heat.
Speaker 1: Everybody thought they were going to beat the Hawks, you
Speaker 1: know that, And and I thought that. Yeah, I thought
Speaker 1: I was here to Atlanta, Stu. I thought I was
Speaker 1: here to Atlanta. I mean, I didn't mind that Atlanta
Speaker 1: pulled up, pulled off the upset. You find myself in
Speaker 1: Miami breaking news? You like Miami? You like being in Miami?
Speaker 1: Is that? Is that? Is that breaking news for anybody? Stu? Well,
Speaker 1: I'm just checking, just making sure. So my Ami, where
Speaker 1: does Miami rank on your list of favorite NBA cities?
Speaker 1: One one one, number one, number one, number two in
Speaker 1: New York. Wow, I like Miami. It's not my number one.
Speaker 1: I mean, look, I I spent a lot of mons.
Speaker 1: I grew up in southern California, So when I get
Speaker 1: to go to La obviously, that's like going home. And
Speaker 1: I really love Toronto, like Toronto is the best of
Speaker 1: I do, you know, I do? But I love Toronto
Speaker 1: in certain portions of the season. And I love Toronto
Speaker 1: when I'm there, I don't love the process of getting
Speaker 1: to Toronto. Well, the twenty sixteen All Star Game in
Speaker 1: Toronto was as cold as it humanly could be, and
Speaker 1: I still absolutely loved it. I mean, for me, Toronto
Speaker 1: has always combined the best of the US and island
Speaker 1: by yourself. I love it. Man, You're on an island
Speaker 1: by yourself. With that Miami that was the worst All
Speaker 1: Star weekend. So okay, so you're happy you're in, Like
Speaker 1: you're not gonna be there long, but you'll you'll. I
Speaker 1: suppose you will make the most of your Friday pregame show,
Speaker 1: meet breakfast, meeting on the patio, breakfast meeting. Actually, I'm
Speaker 1: going to shoot around. I might miss breakfast tomorrow, going
Speaker 1: to shoot around bullshoot around tomorrow, check them out and
Speaker 1: right after so I leave here, and I know I'm
Speaker 1: going way ahead, but Steyn, once I leave Miami here Saturday,
Speaker 1: I'm going straight to Phoenix. I got the first two
Speaker 1: games of that Sun's Clippers series, so that's gonna be.
Speaker 1: That's that's another series. I'm looking forward, right, Well, we
Speaker 1: will go ahead. Let's get back on we will get
Speaker 1: to that not because and look, the reality is there.
Speaker 1: The playoffs are just starting, and we know six of
Speaker 1: the series already. You know, we still are awaiting who's
Speaker 1: going to be the eighth seed in the East, who's
Speaker 1: going to be the eighth seed in the West. The
Speaker 1: matchups that we know Celtics, Hawks, Sixers, Nets, Cavaliers, Nicks.
Speaker 1: Which is the standout matchup in the first round for
Speaker 1: me with Donovan Mitchell, it's the Donovan Mitchell Bowl with
Speaker 1: the team that didn't get him playing the team that
Speaker 1: did trade for Donovan Mitchell. In the West, we have Lakers, Grizzlies,
Speaker 1: we have Kings, Warriors, the Viveka Bowl, the Northern California Championship,
Speaker 1: and then Sons Clippers your series. And it's interesting Draymond Green,
Speaker 1: who again a hearty thank you to Draymond Green for
Speaker 1: an absolutely detailed, insightful, candid, ultra candid convo with us
Speaker 1: that we turned into a two part or. Draymond is
Speaker 1: already on record as saying the Warriors will beat the Kings,
Speaker 1: the Lakers will beat the Grizzlies, and are Round two
Speaker 1: will be will be Lakers against Warriors, which would just
Speaker 1: be monster ratings if if that happens, and your series
Speaker 1: is packed with storylines obviously because Kevin Durant having only
Speaker 1: played eight games as a son, but the Suns are
Speaker 1: a lot of people's favorites. But look, with all this,
Speaker 1: I mean, we're gonna be talking about all these series
Speaker 1: because they're just getting going. I think this week, really,
Speaker 1: you know, it's teams out of the playoffs or teams
Speaker 1: that were just eliminated, where really all the news focus
Speaker 1: has been. You know, we in Portland, Damian Lillard just
Speaker 1: joined Stephen A. Smith and made some comments that have
Speaker 1: a lot of people rebbed up New Orleans losing its
Speaker 1: playing game to number ten Oklahoma City. Obviously, Zion Williamson
Speaker 1: doesn't play. I mean, that's a major story where I
Speaker 1: live in Dallas, the Mavericks are still generating a lot
Speaker 1: of coverage even though their series is completely over. The
Speaker 1: Raptors just went out to Chicago, and so now we
Speaker 1: laser in on the Nick Nurse situation. Will Nick Nurse
Speaker 1: stay in Toronto as the Raptors coach? Is he headed
Speaker 1: to Houston or elsewhere after? As Nick himself volunteered recently
Speaker 1: ten years with the Raptors, five of his five as
Speaker 1: an assistant to Dwayne Casey five as the head coach.
Speaker 1: So we got all these storylines that deal with teams
Speaker 1: that are either out or on the brink. And then
Speaker 1: you know Minnesota Friday Night has to beat Oklahoma City
Speaker 1: just to get the eighth seed and Rudy Gobert suspended
Speaker 1: from the playing game in Los Angeles. The Wolves still
Speaker 1: had an incredible opportunity to beat the Lakers without their
Speaker 1: best to defensive players, and they couldn't do it. So
Speaker 1: there's a zillion different directions we can go, but I
Speaker 1: think we should start with Damian Lillard because let's face it,
Speaker 1: you are the world's foremost damologist. You know him better
Speaker 1: than anybody who follows this league. So let's let's let's
Speaker 1: first take a listen to what he said to stephen A.
Speaker 1: They know how important it is to just you know,
Speaker 1: be on a competitive team on the level where we
Speaker 1: can you know, make a run in the playoffs, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know that just that just has to happen to me.
Speaker 1: I think is that your way of saying the Portland
Speaker 1: Trailblazers on clock, they got to show a level of
Speaker 1: urgency or else, I mean, I ain't go I'm not
Speaker 1: even gonna it ain't a threat. I'm not you know,
Speaker 1: I ain't gonna say I'm putting them on the clock.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, you know, if those things can't be done,
Speaker 1: you know, we can't do something significant like that, then
Speaker 1: you know we won't we won't have a chance to to,
Speaker 1: you know, compete on that level. And then not only
Speaker 1: will I have a decision to make, but I think
Speaker 1: the organization will too, because at that point it's like,
Speaker 1: are you going to go young or are we going
Speaker 1: to get something done. I think we just kind of
Speaker 1: been on the with, you know, fully committing to either one.
Speaker 1: And I just think, you know, we had that down
Speaker 1: where everybody, everybody wants to win, you know, they believe
Speaker 1: that I deserve that opportunity. This has been portrayed, is
Speaker 1: this like Dame has finally issued an ultimatum to the Blazers,
Speaker 1: And that's not the way I heard it. But you know, again,
Speaker 1: you are the Dame expert. Tell me what did you
Speaker 1: make of the comments. I didn't think he said much
Speaker 1: like it wasn't a surprise to me. I didn't think
Speaker 1: he said much of anything that was different from his
Speaker 1: previous stance over the last couple of years, and I
Speaker 1: think people were making this out to be like you said,
Speaker 1: like this is the first time that he's issuing an ultimatum. Well, no,
Speaker 1: the first time he really this is the first time
Speaker 1: he really put the organization to task was two summers ago.
Speaker 1: This was when they lost in the first round to Denver,
Speaker 1: when Portland was when Portland was favored. Excuse me, they
Speaker 1: were the higher seed. I believe what did the higher
Speaker 1: seed over Denver? I believe they were. I believe they
Speaker 1: was fighting a lot of us. Yeah, firing a lot
Speaker 1: of questions at Ryan to look up because I don't
Speaker 1: remember I believe either, But look, I mean they it was.
Speaker 1: But no, no, they weren't. No, they weren't. They weren't.
Speaker 1: They were not a higher seed. But Denver was missing
Speaker 1: Jamal Murray and they were missing my port Jr. And
Speaker 1: so they were. They were a wounded Denver Nuggets squad.
Speaker 1: Portland went into that playoffs healthy, So I believe the
Speaker 1: Portland should have been favorite in the odds and they lost.
Speaker 1: That was the year Dame was really contemplating if he
Speaker 1: was going to stay or think about going elsewhere. So
Speaker 1: that was it was. It was more of a serious
Speaker 1: point then than it is now. Now. This can elevate
Speaker 1: to be in a serious situation depending on how the
Speaker 1: Blazers handle this offseason with the with the the draft
Speaker 1: coming up, free agency, and so I talked to Dame.
Speaker 1: So I talked to Dame a little bit before we
Speaker 1: started this Podcat I told him, look, we're gonna talk
Speaker 1: about the comments you made with Stephen a. Um, give
Speaker 1: me your you know, just give me your take on
Speaker 1: what's going on or what you what you meant to say.
Speaker 1: He said, look, just say this, he said, I want
Speaker 1: to win right now. The Blazers tell me that they
Speaker 1: want to win right now. He said, So for right now,
Speaker 1: I'm going in trusting that we're all on the same
Speaker 1: page and that they're going to do things to improve
Speaker 1: this roster, to put this roster in position to be
Speaker 1: a championship contending team. And he said, now if they don't,
Speaker 1: if things fall short, then he and the team have
Speaker 1: a decision to make from there. But he's let it
Speaker 1: be known it's not a secret to the Blazers because
Speaker 1: he's already talked to Joe Cronin, the general manager of
Speaker 1: the Blazers. He had an exit interview with him a
Speaker 1: couple of days ago. He's already informed him like he
Speaker 1: doesn't want to go down a road of kind of
Speaker 1: being a middle tier team just you know, in no
Speaker 1: man's land, and he doesn't want to be on a
Speaker 1: rebuilding team. So the organization already knows dame stance. They
Speaker 1: know that if they if they aren't able to come
Speaker 1: through with their promises putting together a comparable roster, they
Speaker 1: pretty much know the next step. That next step is
Speaker 1: a step that we haven't seen in Dame's time of
Speaker 1: being a professional basketball player. And I think right now
Speaker 1: everything is cool because there's promises being made, but this
Speaker 1: is a small window to come through on those promises
Speaker 1: in these next couple of months. If that doesn't happen,
Speaker 1: then that's when I think this situation could be elevated,
Speaker 1: and it would be a worse situation, more worse situation
Speaker 1: than it was two years ago when Dane finally came
Speaker 1: out and expressed the desire to have a better team
Speaker 1: around him. Yeah, because look he I mean, the underlying
Speaker 1: thing is he continue he wants it to be there.
Speaker 1: I think that he keeps trying to express that, and
Speaker 1: I'm not sure people really want to hear it. But
Speaker 1: I also understand the reality of the NBA. And I'm
Speaker 1: not saying all twenty nine teams would be in the
Speaker 1: hunt for Dame mean Lillard if he ever did become available,
Speaker 1: but teams there are. You know, certainly there are teams
Speaker 1: around the league who saw this interview with Stephen A
Speaker 1: and they start plotting, is this are opening to try
Speaker 1: to get Damian Lillard. I'm sure you know, I don't
Speaker 1: have tangible proof of it, but I'm just going to
Speaker 1: go out on a limited guess that the Blazers. Maybe
Speaker 1: they're not getting calls today, but they will get calls
Speaker 1: because teams are gonna want to try to steal him away.
Speaker 1: I mean, they're just they will test the Blazers resolve
Speaker 1: no matter what Dame is saying for public consumption. So
Speaker 1: it's interesting, It would be really interesting if we had,
Speaker 1: you know, some sort of accurate pressure meters, like who's
Speaker 1: under more pressure right now? Is it Portland? Is it Dallas?
Speaker 1: For a lot of the same reasons. You know, Luca
Speaker 1: is only in year one of a five year deal.
Speaker 1: But look, the MAVs. The MAVs let the world know
Speaker 1: how much pressure they're feeling when they traded for Kyrie
Speaker 1: Irving in February. That whole thing was to try to
Speaker 1: put a team together that could win now just because
Speaker 1: they want to, you know, diffuse this pressure that they
Speaker 1: are feeling about building a winning team around Luca Dante.
Speaker 1: What's the pressure meter in New Orleans right now? Where
Speaker 1: at least you know, the Pelicans, you know, they lose
Speaker 1: very disappointingly to Okay, see the Pelicans, though, would seemingly
Speaker 1: have the easiest fix. I mean, the Pelicans, their their
Speaker 1: issue is getting Zion on the court. I mean, like,
Speaker 1: if they can get Zion on the court, they that's
Speaker 1: the fix. They've got the supporting cast. I mean, we
Speaker 1: were we were talking were a lot of people thought
Speaker 1: that this was the deepest team in the league when
Speaker 1: in December, when they were when they were climbing towards
Speaker 1: the top of the West End. Look, it's man, this
Speaker 1: Zion situation, like the situations aren't exactly comparable. But I
Speaker 1: found this interesting that just numbers wise, you know, Zion
Speaker 1: has played one hundred and fourteen games in four seasons,
Speaker 1: only one hundred and fourteen. But Joel Embiid because of
Speaker 1: the injuries that cost him two seasons. At the start,
Speaker 1: Joel Embiid had only played ninety four games through four seasons.
Speaker 1: So it just does tell you that Joel Embiid, who
Speaker 1: is now an MVP favorite for the third successive season,
Speaker 1: like Ken Zion, bounce back the way Joel Embiid has.
Speaker 1: Will Zion take the necessary steps this offseason to set
Speaker 1: himself up to bounce back like Joel Embiid did from
Speaker 1: the injuries that tortured him at the start of his career.
Speaker 1: I mean, what like when you look at New Orleans
Speaker 1: kind of how have you been processing the way? And
Speaker 1: that was that was actually that all I promise I
Speaker 1: didn't I didn't know I was going to say processing
Speaker 1: after a Joel Embiid sentence, how are you? What do
Speaker 1: you like? What do what do you see in New Orleans? Well, look,
Speaker 1: you talk about disparity of games misks to games played
Speaker 1: for Zion, and definitely it's alarming. We all knew that.
Speaker 1: We knew that for the last couple of years. I
Speaker 1: think what's making for Pelicans fans, I'll speak to them.
Speaker 1: I think it's making the way this season ended for
Speaker 1: them so frustrating is Zion Williams's last interview he gave
Speaker 1: to the Scrub, basically stating that he is clear, but
Speaker 1: from here on out it's a mental hurdle, and he
Speaker 1: doesn't want to get out there and be second guests
Speaker 1: in and put himself from himself from harm's way, and
Speaker 1: then he feels like he wouldn't be a good enough
Speaker 1: contribution for the team if he's out there a second
Speaker 1: guest himself. Now, I just didn't think I get him,
Speaker 1: first of all, I get him stign let's just talk
Speaker 1: about that. I've always thought that if they were depending
Speaker 1: on Zion to come back for the playoffs, I think
Speaker 1: that's that's a tough ass because he's been out since January,
Speaker 1: and now all of a sudden he steps into playing
Speaker 1: in when the games really matter, when everybody is in
Speaker 1: tip top shape, and he's trying to work himself in
Speaker 1: shape amongst that type of environment. That's gonna be tough.
Speaker 1: So I already thought that was a tall order. But
Speaker 1: I just think his words didn't do him any favors.
Speaker 1: Like I would rather, if you're gonna talk at all,
Speaker 1: I would rather say you're not ready, Like because he
Speaker 1: was asked, well, what can't What can't you do? He said, no,
Speaker 1: I can do everything. I can go out there and
Speaker 1: do everything. But it's a it's a mental thing, which is,
Speaker 1: you know, if you had a serious injury, it takes
Speaker 1: a while. Jamal Murray went through that with Denver where
Speaker 1: he was clear for a minute, but it's still that
Speaker 1: mental hurdle that you have to overcome. But the problem,
Speaker 1: the thing, the difference between Jamal murray situation Zions is
Speaker 1: Zion keeps going through this, this is a cycle. People
Speaker 1: are getting tired of it. And Jamal Murray you're given
Speaker 1: a benefit of the doubt because the first time he's
Speaker 1: going through something like this, And so the Zion, everybody's questioning,
Speaker 1: is he really doing everything necessary on the physical standpoint
Speaker 1: to be ready in tiptop shape, to be able to
Speaker 1: play close to seventy games a year. And I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't know the answer to that. I don't I know. CJ.
Speaker 1: McCullum has some very pointed remarks after that lost saying,
Speaker 1: we need guys to be ready in physical shape, we
Speaker 1: need guys to take their dietary. The nutrition stepped that up.
Speaker 1: You know, he was kind of he was direct, without
Speaker 1: naming it, naming any names. He was pretty direct and
Speaker 1: uh so, at least to your point, Styn when you
Speaker 1: said they're different with the Pelicans. They just got to
Speaker 1: be healthy. They got the talent, just the talent, they're
Speaker 1: they're always dressed in street clothes. Somehow, some way things
Speaker 1: have to change. I mean, I guess we'll see if
Speaker 1: there's a different approach taken this offseason to preparation and
Speaker 1: everything that he's doing off the court on the court,
Speaker 1: because I mean, the talent, the talent is absolutely tantalizing,
Speaker 1: but I mean, one hundred and fourteen games in four years,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's uh, it's rough, and I'm sure
Speaker 1: that there's a lot of frustration probably among I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, I haven't been to New Orleans lately, but
Speaker 1: I would imagine that there's a fair bit of fan
Speaker 1: frustration there, not terribly unlike the city where I live,
Speaker 1: and not terribly unlike Portland, because you know, all of
Speaker 1: these teams have elite talent, your Games, your Lucas, your Kyrie's,
Speaker 1: your Zions, so like when you when you are lucky
Speaker 1: enough to have a player like that, expectations are super
Speaker 1: super high. Before we moved to the MAVs. Let's look
Speaker 1: at the Wolves, because I mean they had it just again,
Speaker 1: an incredible opportunity to beat the I mean, the Lakers
Speaker 1: looked awful in that playing game until they finally got
Speaker 1: it together enough in overtime to win that thing. But
Speaker 1: I mean the Wolves had the Wolves were up fifteen seventeen,
Speaker 1: had every opportunity, even with you know, Anthony Edwards just
Speaker 1: didn't look anything like the Anthony Edwards we've come to expect.
Speaker 1: So even without Gobert, even without McDaniels, I mean, that's
Speaker 1: a game that the Wolves should have won. Now at
Speaker 1: least they go home, They're gonna have go bear back,
Speaker 1: They're not going to have McDaniels. But I mean, the
Speaker 1: thunder have been one of the absolute stories of the season.
Speaker 1: Obviously the best surprise tale in this season's NBA. It's
Speaker 1: got to be Sacramento. Nobody expected them to finish with
Speaker 1: a top three record in the West. Nobody expect you know,
Speaker 1: Mike Brown, as you know, with Chris Haynes as his
Speaker 1: number one hype man, you know, I'm actually starting to
Speaker 1: believe you now, I think he actually does have a
Speaker 1: shot at unanimous coach of the year, such is the
Speaker 1: impact that he's had. But Okase, what they've done as
Speaker 1: an undersized team with no chet Holmgren, what we've seen
Speaker 1: from Shay and Giddy and Dort, both of the Jalen Williams,
Speaker 1: is that the thunder have on the roster. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's been They've been a great story too. And man,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of pressure on Minnesota to win that
Speaker 1: game after everything they pushed into the into the middle
Speaker 1: of the table to trade for Gobert. I mean, a
Speaker 1: first round series against Denver is no picnic, but not
Speaker 1: even making the playoffs would be just a dagger for
Speaker 1: the Wolves. Stein That's what I was going to leave
Speaker 1: with pressure. It's going to be a ton of pressure
Speaker 1: for Minnesota. Let's let's talk about the different levels to this.
Speaker 1: So Minnesota definitely should have had that game. They forgot
Speaker 1: how to score the damn basketball. In the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: They were a shell of themselves. They couldn't run anything.
Speaker 1: They were shooting ill avised, contested shots. They weren't getting
Speaker 1: into the offense, they weren't running. They just forgot how
Speaker 1: to play. Now, part of that was Karl Anthony Towns
Speaker 1: was in foul trouble, so his rhythm was off and
Speaker 1: so he wasn't playing aggressively because he didn't want to
Speaker 1: pick up that last foul that would have disqualified him
Speaker 1: for the rest of the game. But Anthony Edwards, you know,
Speaker 1: he lives for these moments and typically like he shows
Speaker 1: up and he did it, and so that was very disappointed.
Speaker 1: Mike Conley, of all people, offensively came through with big buckets,
Speaker 1: you know, during that game to keep his team in
Speaker 1: there to try to get that game, and they couldn't.
Speaker 1: And so we brought up the Rudy Gobert incident that
Speaker 1: he had with Um with Kyle, and they said, they
Speaker 1: passed everything up. You know, that stuff happens, that happens.
Speaker 1: They passed things up. I have. I have no reason
Speaker 1: to believe that they're not moving on the professionals. They're
Speaker 1: grown ass man. They'll get together. But for Rudy Gobert,
Speaker 1: who this trade has been scrutinized for everything to Minnesota,
Speaker 1: Temples gave up. You look at Kestler over there with
Speaker 1: the Utah Jazz and he's what he produced, I think,
Speaker 1: and Eric Gilder here's another one for Ryan again, I
Speaker 1: think Kestler had more blocks than Rudy this year. I
Speaker 1: think that might have been the case. I will say this,
Speaker 1: Producer Ryan, by the way, has has he did do
Speaker 1: this research? You? You actually already corrected it. But yes,
Speaker 1: Denver was three in Portland with six in that playoff series,
Speaker 1: but the Nuggets were shorthanded, and I actually got it right.
Speaker 1: Jason Tainum did have a fee fifty point playing game
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one against Washington. And that fifty point
Speaker 1: game is just floating somewhere in the ether and isn't
Speaker 1: really recorded anywhere. And so the next time you see Tatum,
Speaker 1: ask him, hey, has anybody ever told you, like, what,
Speaker 1: what do you get credit for that fifty point playing
Speaker 1: game or what? Because I'm gonna go out on a
Speaker 1: limb and guess he does care about that. But back
Speaker 1: to you. Yeah, so no, I've been saying so all
Speaker 1: the scrutiny that the Minnesota was taken for that trade
Speaker 1: and everything that it gave up, and it hasn't panned
Speaker 1: It hasn't panned out. It simply hasn't. Now Rudy puts
Speaker 1: himself in a situation where he was suspended for the
Speaker 1: first play in Now this is pressure. This whole season.
Speaker 1: Think about this for Rudy standpoint and a Timberwools. You
Speaker 1: lose this game, it's not all It's not just about
Speaker 1: losing to the Lakers and putting yourself in this in
Speaker 1: this situation. It's about everything that's transpired to put you
Speaker 1: to this point, from the trade to all the draft
Speaker 1: picks that were giving up to you getting you know,
Speaker 1: to Rudy getting into it with Kyle to now this
Speaker 1: this last game, he has a chance to Timboos have
Speaker 1: a chance. I wouldn't say saved their season, but they
Speaker 1: definitely can avoid a whole lot more of a tense
Speaker 1: public scrutiny if they can avoid, if they can get
Speaker 1: into the playoffs, this is gonna be a huge game.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be pressure. And one thing that one team
Speaker 1: that doesn't have pressure is okay, see they're not supposed
Speaker 1: to be here. They are not supposed to be here.
Speaker 1: They go, they go on the road, pressure free. Minnesota
Speaker 1: has all the pressure. So I want to see if
Speaker 1: Rudy has it in them. I want to see if
Speaker 1: Karl Anthony Towns has to them. I want to see
Speaker 1: if Anthony Edwards has it in them, you know, to
Speaker 1: make to try to. You know, the scrutiny is gonna
Speaker 1: be there, but I'm telling right now Stein, the scrutiny
Speaker 1: ain't will be nothing like it's going to be if
Speaker 1: they lose to okaysee at hold, with everything that has
Speaker 1: transpired to get them to this point, it's going to
Speaker 1: be ugly. And Ryan producer Ryan says, yes, Walker did
Speaker 1: have more blocks than Rudy Gobert this season. Walker actually
Speaker 1: had one hundred and seventy three for Utah. Golbert had
Speaker 1: ninety five. Man, what's the games played? Their producer, Ryan,
Speaker 1: I didn't realize it was that much of a difference,
Speaker 1: But to me, suspending Gobert was the right call. Had
Speaker 1: to do it. If that happened, I mean that happened
Speaker 1: in a game. Let's correct this real quick. Let's correct
Speaker 1: this real quick. Producer Ryan gave us. I think these
Speaker 1: are updated. What's seventy four for Walker? Oh? Those games played? Okay? Sorry? Sorry,
Speaker 1: Walker played seventy four games this season, Rudy played seventy.
Speaker 1: That's still a large disparity blocks. I mean they basically
Speaker 1: played the same number of games and Walker Kessler. That's
Speaker 1: is why Walker Kessler is gonna end up being second
Speaker 1: or third in the Rookie of the Year race. Walker
Speaker 1: Kessler one hundred and seventy three blocks in seventy four games.
Speaker 1: Rudy Gobert ninety five blocks in seventy games. That's that's wow.
Speaker 1: And look, let's be honest, that's heaped more scrutiny and
Speaker 1: pressure on the Wolves for making that trade because the
Speaker 1: Wolves gave up four first round picks to get Gobert
Speaker 1: and Kessler. He got so good so fast this season.
Speaker 1: At the trade deadline, by all accounts, there were only
Speaker 1: three players that the Jazz were not willing to trade,
Speaker 1: Lowry markenin Abaji, the rookie, and Kessler Walker. Kessler quickly
Speaker 1: played himself to that level where the Jazz were not
Speaker 1: going to take any trade calls on him. They were
Speaker 1: listening to trade offers for pretty much the whole roster
Speaker 1: at that point, and of course did trade Malie Beasley
Speaker 1: and Vanderbilt and Conley. So Kessler's rise, it's you know,
Speaker 1: it's added to all the angst here. And you know, again,
Speaker 1: I think it had to be a suspension. It doesn't
Speaker 1: matter how hard Rudy Gobert swung on Kyle Anderson. This
Speaker 1: happened in a game. If it happened during the regular season,
Speaker 1: it certainly would have been a suspension. So you got
Speaker 1: to uphold the same standards in the playing game. You
Speaker 1: don't throw out your team rule book just because there's
Speaker 1: a playing game on the line. But let's hold on, star,
Speaker 1: hold on, ste hold on. Let me come back with
Speaker 1: you on that one. Right, go for it. I agree
Speaker 1: with you. I agree with you he had to be suspended. No, no,
Speaker 1: I agree with you that it was the right decision
Speaker 1: to suspend him. Did he have to be suspended? Let's
Speaker 1: go take go to State for instance. Did Draymond Green situation.
Speaker 1: It didn't happen in the game, but it did get out,
Speaker 1: it was public. That was worse than what Gobert did Trey. Now,
Speaker 1: being that that's that was that happened during camp. There
Speaker 1: were no games, so he wasn't technically suspended. So could
Speaker 1: Minnesota have I know it's a different organization, but could
Speaker 1: they have looked at that and see how that played?
Speaker 1: I think Golden State theough took a lot of criticism
Speaker 1: for not issuing a suspension there and basically it was
Speaker 1: ring night and they didn't want to. They didn't want
Speaker 1: Draymond Green to miss ring Knight. So there was no suspension,
Speaker 1: and I think they took considerable heat for that decision.
Speaker 1: And I mean, to me, I don't see anyway if
Speaker 1: if Gobert had done that during any regular season game,
Speaker 1: I think there would have been at least a one
Speaker 1: game suspension, so to me, And look, you know, I
Speaker 1: would love to know maybe Minnesota players. Maybe I would
Speaker 1: love to know exactly how the players felt. Maybe they
Speaker 1: said they would have said, you know, forget the suspension,
Speaker 1: Let's just let's just go into the play in with
Speaker 1: with as much of a team as the strongest team
Speaker 1: we can. But no, I think I do think they
Speaker 1: had to do it. You had they There had to
Speaker 1: be something. I think Stein when you talk about teams
Speaker 1: taken on too scrutiny, and was there a backlash to
Speaker 1: the Warriors not suspendis Raymond? Yeah? But did it last? Like?
Speaker 1: How significant was it? How bad was it? I'm not
Speaker 1: so much thinking about the fan backlash part of it.
Speaker 1: And no, I did reference it with you know, obviously
Speaker 1: there was external criticism of the Warriors in the Draymond
Speaker 1: Pool situation that they didn't suspend them. But I'm I'm
Speaker 1: I'm thinking more of like just as a team, as
Speaker 1: a franchise, when you have your players, if there's a
Speaker 1: punch thrown in a huddle during a game, I would
Speaker 1: think within the whole team, you're expecting some level of
Speaker 1: discipline within the team. I have to believe that the
Speaker 1: Wolves were expecting them to take some sort of action
Speaker 1: against Rudy Gobert. Now I also thought about this, and
Speaker 1: I don't know, like, is that a situation where, because
Speaker 1: it's in the playoffs, would you put it to some
Speaker 1: kind of team vote and ask the team how do
Speaker 1: they feel about this? But I mean, it looks like,
Speaker 1: you know, the Wolves moved. It looks like the Wolves
Speaker 1: move pretty quick here. I mean, they sent Rudy home
Speaker 1: at halftime, and you know, after the incident with Kyle Anderson,
Speaker 1: and they pretty quickly came out the next day and
Speaker 1: said that he was being suspended for the playing game.
Speaker 1: And then you know, you also have the conspiracy theorists
Speaker 1: who have said Rudy's back was bothering him anyway, he
Speaker 1: wasn't full strength enough to play against the Lakers, and
Speaker 1: they really didn't sacrifice all that much by spending him
Speaker 1: because they knew he wouldn't have been effective had he
Speaker 1: played anyway, So yeah, Astu. The other the other thing is,
Speaker 1: let me ask you this, If Rudy is playing at
Speaker 1: the rudy level that he was in Utah for the Timberwolves,
Speaker 1: do they suspend him. If Rudy Gobert is the Rudy
Speaker 1: Gobert that we've seen in Utah, do they suspend them? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I mean it's a great point. I don't you know,
Speaker 1: I don't know, and it doesn't you know. Was it
Speaker 1: because he needed the extra time anyway to get his
Speaker 1: back right for this game against Oklahoma City? And I
Speaker 1: guess we'll see because Rudy Gobert should be back for
Speaker 1: Friday nights game against Oklahoma City and we'll see how
Speaker 1: effective he is against a very small thunder team. Okay,
Speaker 1: last thing we'll get to before we before I let
Speaker 1: you zero grow in on your preparations for the game
Speaker 1: that will be later tonight by the time this pod
Speaker 1: drops Bulls at Miami for the number eight seed in
Speaker 1: the East. And you know, hey, Miami, Miami's gonna be
Speaker 1: right there in that pressure cooker with all these teams
Speaker 1: we've been talking about, Blazers Pelicans, Mavericks, Raptors, Wolves, the
Speaker 1: Heat are gonna jump right into that category if they
Speaker 1: don't win this Chicago game, because exiting in the play
Speaker 1: in would be a shock. It wasn't that long ago
Speaker 1: that people were looking at the Heat as Hey, the
Speaker 1: Heat are gonna get the seven seed and be a
Speaker 1: super tough first round matchup for Boston. And now we're
Speaker 1: wondering if the Heat are even going to make the
Speaker 1: playoffs after they lost shockingly at home in the seven
Speaker 1: eight game against Atlanta. But look, the Mavericks not in
Speaker 1: the playoffs, but still in the news. The NBA's investigation
Speaker 1: has not concluded yet, so we're gonna find out if
Speaker 1: there's any sort of penalty for the Mavericks for basically
Speaker 1: tanking the last two games. I mean, I look, I
Speaker 1: do think a fine is possible here, because of course,
Speaker 1: Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has already been fined for tanking
Speaker 1: comments that he made in twenty eighteen in the lead
Speaker 1: up to the Mavericks getting the draft rights for Luca
Speaker 1: don chich. I. You know, I don't see how it
Speaker 1: could be more than a fine, because look, the Mavericks
Speaker 1: are basically under investigation because they talked about what they
Speaker 1: were doing, how they were approaching those last two games
Speaker 1: too openly. That's why they are under the microscope. But
Speaker 1: the reality is, the night before Dallas announced that it
Speaker 1: was going to rest Kyrie Irving and several players against Chicago,
Speaker 1: and there was still a mathematical chance for the Mavericks
Speaker 1: to get into the play. And the night before the
Speaker 1: Jazz did the exact same thing at home against Oklahoma
Speaker 1: City rested a slew of eyes. They were still mathematically
Speaker 1: alive for the play. In the Jazz lost, and nobody
Speaker 1: said anything. And the reality is to me, you know,
Speaker 1: the Blazers. The Blazers, now two seasons in a row,
Speaker 1: we've seen Portland after the All Star Break basically just
Speaker 1: shut it down. Now, last season obviously Damian Lillard was
Speaker 1: out after surgery, but this season they shut Damian Lillard down.
Speaker 1: They potentially endangered Damian Lillard's All NBA case because after
Speaker 1: the All Star break, shortly after the All Star break,
Speaker 1: not the day after, but very shortly after the All
Speaker 1: Star break, the Blazers basically said we're out of this
Speaker 1: and we're not going to compete. The last two seasons,
Speaker 1: Portland is six and forty after the break with fourteen
Speaker 1: losses by thirty points or more? So, how is that
Speaker 1: less of a competitive eyesore than what the Mavericks did.
Speaker 1: So it's like, to me, you can't judge this tanking
Speaker 1: is worse than this kind of tanking. So to me,
Speaker 1: I just don't see how the MAVs get anything more
Speaker 1: than a fine here. So once the MAVs move past
Speaker 1: this investigation thing, kind of all the attention goes back
Speaker 1: to can they resign Kyrie Irving? I mean, that is
Speaker 1: the question in Dallas. You know, Chris and I have
Speaker 1: talked about it before. I'm sure we'll keep talking about it.
Speaker 1: Can they resign him? I mean to this point, I
Speaker 1: you know, I do think they are the favorites to
Speaker 1: keep him in free agency because at this point I
Speaker 1: still don't see that external suitor who's going to come
Speaker 1: after Kyrie. What does the Chris Haynes Crystal ball say
Speaker 1: when you just said that right now, you basically wrote
Speaker 1: an article for somebody that will be aggregated right there,
Speaker 1: I think, so I guarantee I'm will find it guarantee. Uh,
Speaker 1: real quick, let me say something about the tanking real quick? Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the Dallas, Y'll probably get fine, like you said, a
Speaker 1: little slap on the wrist. But I just I just
Speaker 1: think just because the Mavericks made a mockery of it,
Speaker 1: and I think that's what the league is frowning up on.
Speaker 1: But the problem is the bigger issue is that there's
Speaker 1: multiple teams doing it and everybody should be gett a
Speaker 1: slap on the wrist. I don't think the Mavericks should
Speaker 1: be singled out at all. I'll just say that now
Speaker 1: when it comes to Kyrie Irving, yes I would. I
Speaker 1: would attend to agree with you as a right now
Speaker 1: we're talking with it's this April thirteenth, April fourteenth, when
Speaker 1: this pot is dropping. Yes, I think you're right and
Speaker 1: the Mavericks being the favorites. But one thing started that
Speaker 1: kind of you know, because I go through, you know,
Speaker 1: cruise on social media, try to see what people are saying,
Speaker 1: and I saw a tweet. I can't remember the tweet saw,
Speaker 1: but I saw a tweet in which it was either
Speaker 1: Nico or Cuban who said they're optimistic. I think it
Speaker 1: was Nico said the optimistic of signing Kyrie, and immediately
Speaker 1: below the tweet or people quote tweeting it. Immediately they
Speaker 1: went to, yeah, we heard this before, we heard this
Speaker 1: before with the Brunson Yeah. No, I mean, look, people
Speaker 1: are not sold. They are not buying a vision here.
Speaker 1: They are not Look the tension that you know, I
Speaker 1: live in Dallas, The tension is tangible. Earlier today, I
Speaker 1: did an hour and a half on a radio show,
Speaker 1: the Benn and Skin Show. And skin Wade is also
Speaker 1: who he's on the MAVs broadcast and also part of
Speaker 1: the team that I work with on the pre and
Speaker 1: postgame show. So I mean with with with Ben and
Speaker 1: Skin on ninety seven point one, the Freak in Dallas,
Speaker 1: we talked about this. We talked a lot of Kyrie
Speaker 1: in in our hour and a half. And I mean,
Speaker 1: because Brunson left for nothing, there is there's a lot
Speaker 1: of nerves, there's a lot of tension. And yeah, nobody
Speaker 1: wants to hear about optimism and confidence. They want to
Speaker 1: hear that there's a deal done because after losing Brunson,
Speaker 1: the MAVs can't lose Kyrie without compensation at you know,
Speaker 1: at the minimum. They have to hash out a sign
Speaker 1: and trade. If a team does emerge, if a suitor
Speaker 1: that we don't see today. If a suitor you surfaces
Speaker 1: and wants to make a free agent run at Kyrie,
Speaker 1: can they at least hash out a sign and trade.
Speaker 1: Because they gave away two very good players and an
Speaker 1: unprotected first round pick in twenty twenty nine to trade
Speaker 1: for Kyrie Irving. So a lot of tension in Dallas,
Speaker 1: a lot of nerves, a lot of jittery anticipation to
Speaker 1: see what happened? You know what happens now in the draft?
Speaker 1: Will the MAVs with an eighty percent chance to keep
Speaker 1: their pick in the top ten and then that means
Speaker 1: they don't have to send it to the Knicks to
Speaker 1: lead the Porzingis trade. Will the picks stay in the
Speaker 1: top ten? I mean the MAVs have a terrible history
Speaker 1: in the lottery. The mass have had sixteen lottery picks
Speaker 1: in franchise history. They have never moved up. For those
Speaker 1: of you who think that maybe there's a shot to
Speaker 1: get Wemby and put Wemby with Luka Dontich and Kyrie Irving,
Speaker 1: the Mavericks have never moved up in the lottery. They've
Speaker 1: moved down seven times out of sixteen. They've ended up
Speaker 1: lower than their projected spot in the lottery, so that
Speaker 1: the lottery is May sixteenth, and there's there's gonna be
Speaker 1: a lot of MAVs fans living on edge until that happens.
Speaker 1: Did you have a problem with Kyrie skipping the media
Speaker 1: portion of Eggs interviews? I would say this like, I
Speaker 1: don't think we were gonna learn anything dramatic, and I
Speaker 1: don't think you look at it and say, because he
Speaker 1: didn't do media that means he's definitely leaving Dallas. But
Speaker 1: let's be clear. On February thirteenth, at Kyrie's introductory press
Speaker 1: conference in Dallas, obviously at that press conference, he got
Speaker 1: questions about the future, and he asked the Dallas media
Speaker 1: please let's table all contract talk and all talk about
Speaker 1: the future, because his words were that line of questioning
Speaker 1: creates quote unwarranted distractions end quote. From February thirteenth until
Speaker 1: the end of the season, almost two months, the Dallas
Speaker 1: media complied with that request. No one asked him another
Speaker 1: contractual question for the rest of the season, not even
Speaker 1: during the last week of the season, when Mark Cuban
Speaker 1: held an impromptu one hour press conference touching on all
Speaker 1: kinds of topics. He spoke at length about Kyrie that night.
Speaker 1: Just three or four nights before, for the last game
Speaker 1: of the season, Cuban spoke at length about how he
Speaker 1: hopes to keep Kyrie and just he's There was so
Speaker 1: much Kyrie talk in that media availability. It would have
Speaker 1: been very natural to ask Kyrie postgame questions. When he
Speaker 1: met with the media after the win over Sacramento, it
Speaker 1: would have been very natural to ask him about Cuban's comments,
Speaker 1: and frankly, I wish I did. I was surprised nobody
Speaker 1: else did, but I didn't do it either, and thought
Speaker 1: that there would be the chance at the end of
Speaker 1: the season to finally bring all this to him, because
Speaker 1: that was basically what he asked for. I was really
Speaker 1: hoping to see reciprocal courtesy. And when the season was
Speaker 1: over and the Mavericks were doing all their exit interviews
Speaker 1: with the media on Sunday afternoon after that last game
Speaker 1: against San Antonio, I think it would have been good
Speaker 1: for Kyrie Irving to meet the media and take the
Speaker 1: questions that he wasn't asked for nearly two months. I
Speaker 1: forgot about that when we were talking about potential topics
Speaker 1: for this for this episode, I forgot Kyrie said that
Speaker 1: he asked that you guys table those contractual questions. And
Speaker 1: I have to give y'all props. I give y'all the
Speaker 1: Dallas media props for for going with that, because y'all
Speaker 1: definitely was not entitled to. But the way it was
Speaker 1: explained to me by you know, people in Kyrie's camp,
Speaker 1: they felt like him speaking would have probably just added
Speaker 1: just more negative commentary and it wouldn't have created anything
Speaker 1: positive at it. Anything that he would have said would
Speaker 1: have been would have been flipped to something negative. So
Speaker 1: that's that's the way it was explained to me why
Speaker 1: he didn't do that. But he did, you know, talk
Speaker 1: with the coaching staff, and he met with management. He
Speaker 1: spoke with people with an organization before he before he left.
Speaker 1: But from from what I was told, that was the
Speaker 1: reason why he didn't. Yeah, Nico, Nico Harrison did say
Speaker 1: Nico Harrison, the MAVs GM did a season ending press
Speaker 1: conference on Tuesday, and he did say that he had
Speaker 1: an exit meeting with Kyrie Irving and you know said
Speaker 1: that was among the reasons fueling his optimism that Dallas
Speaker 1: can keep him. But look like we've been saying for
Speaker 1: this whole pod. There are a lot of teams under
Speaker 1: a lot of pressure, and Dallas is right there at
Speaker 1: the top of the list. I don't know how you separate,
Speaker 1: you know. Is it more than Portland? Is it more
Speaker 1: than New Orleans? Is it more than the Wolves will
Speaker 1: feel if they can't sneak into the playoffs and make
Speaker 1: some kind of run. Is it more than Toronto feels
Speaker 1: right now with all the talk about is Nick Nurse
Speaker 1: going to stay as their coach and what kind of
Speaker 1: roster moves we might see from the Raptors after a
Speaker 1: season filled with trade speculation about almost every marquee name
Speaker 1: on that team. So a lot of teams feel on
Speaker 1: the heat right now. Speaking of another team feeling it,
Speaker 1: Nicolas Patuna, the Los Angeles Clippers just text me Stein,
Speaker 1: He texts me, stay away from me, stay away from us.
Speaker 1: Only East Coast games for you, my brother in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: So for those of you though that thought, remember the
Speaker 1: last couple of games I've done for T and T
Speaker 1: the sideline, the last couple of Clipper games I've done.
Speaker 1: The Clippers have lost every single game. And so Patuma
Speaker 1: always looks at me with a dirty look. He thinks
Speaker 1: I'm the Jinks and so I guess this is his
Speaker 1: way of trying to get me to go to the
Speaker 1: East Coast because he doesn't want any disruption, doesn't want
Speaker 1: me to be a cause. But just like I told you, guys,
Speaker 1: Patuma has another thing coming because I'm anna signed for
Speaker 1: the first two games the Suns Clippers. I'm gonna sign
Speaker 1: for the first two games. So I let us sent
Speaker 1: to him my schedule for the first two games. He responded, Damn,
Speaker 1: that's right, Nick, I'll see you Saturday, Baby, I will
Speaker 1: see you Saturday. Hopefully you can beat the Jins. You
Speaker 1: just ruined his Thursday night and his Friday. But you
Speaker 1: know how I earlier I called you the world's greatest damologist.
Speaker 1: He's like the wembiologist. Like I'm constantly seeing him describing
Speaker 1: wemban Yama. And I know you've written about his scouting
Speaker 1: report on Wemben Yama. So can you ask him that
Speaker 1: when the season is over and he's and his band
Speaker 1: of Chris Haynes is over, can he come on this
Speaker 1: pod and give us a Victor wemban Yama official, you know,
Speaker 1: scouting report from France. I think we need that that's
Speaker 1: done deal. That's a done deal. Consider it done. All right,
Speaker 1: Let's hope, let's hope he's still speaking to you by
Speaker 1: the end of these playoffs. Yeah, they gotta, they gotta.
Speaker 1: They gotta get a win in my presence. First. You
Speaker 1: gotta get a win in my presence. First. The clips
Speaker 1: need a split in Phoenix for the sake of this pod.
Speaker 1: All right, everybody, that does it for the latest edition
Speaker 1: of This League Uncut. Chris and I will be back
Speaker 1: hopefully Monday. He's got a great people. Seriously, he has
Speaker 1: a crazy travel schedule because this is when he's at
Speaker 1: his busiest. He's gonna be covering multiple playoff series on
Speaker 1: the sidelines for TNT. So we're gonna have to get
Speaker 1: a little creative here keeping our pod schedule where it
Speaker 1: needs to be. But we will find a way to
Speaker 1: do it. Don't worry. And please, everybody, please subscribe to
Speaker 1: the pod, Please rate the pod, Please review the pod.
Speaker 1: We love you guys, Thanks for joining us, thanks for listening.
Speaker 1: Back soon with another episode of This League Uncut, Stein Haynes, everybody,
Speaker 1: have a great opening weekend of the playoffs, and that'll
Speaker 1: do it for us. See you next time. This League
Speaker 1: Uncut is an i Heeart radio production. Buscka Loca, Chris
Speaker 1: Hanes and Mark Steyne