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Speaker 1: Two teams that impress us at this embryonic stage of

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Speaker 1: the NBA's seventy eighth season, two teams that also concern us.

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Speaker 1: And should the NBA Draft be expanded into a two

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Speaker 1: night affair United States against the rest of the world

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Speaker 1: in the NBA All Star Game? Is that even sooner

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Speaker 1: in the future than we expected, we get into all

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Speaker 1: that next here on this League uncut.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to this league uncut can rule.

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Speaker 1: A twenty four hour NBA News. This's you, Chris Haines.

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Speaker 1: It's time, Marks time, it's some time. This league uncut

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Speaker 1: is underway and on fire. This should be a good one.

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Speaker 1: Welcome in everyone to another edition of this league uncut.

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Speaker 1: Mark Stein here with Chris Haynes on a somewhat sleepy

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Speaker 1: Thursday night as we record only two games on the schedule. Tonight,

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Speaker 1: Indiana edging Milwaukee Jannas on Tetekunpo fifty four points not

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Speaker 1: enough with Dame Lillard out of the line of Indiana

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Speaker 1: off to a surprising six and three start. As Chris

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Speaker 1: and I record this, Atlanta and Orlando are playing in

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Speaker 1: Mexico City, what has become the league's annual regular season

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Speaker 1: game early in the regular season in Mexico City. I've

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Speaker 1: made a few trips myself to Mexico City for these games,

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Speaker 1: not for this one. Stayed home just to do this podcast,

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Speaker 1: just to make sure that Chris Haynes gets this podcast

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Speaker 1: recorded and he gets a good night's sleep before tomorrow

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Speaker 1: when the in season tournament returns, his beloved in season

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Speaker 1: tournament that he was so geeked up for. I know

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Speaker 1: he's been home studying everybody. These home court the new

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Speaker 1: home court designs we're gonna see tomorrow night. Very exciting, right,

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Speaker 1: Oh okay, Well, people, people couldn't see. People couldn't see

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Speaker 1: the look on your face that I could see when

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Speaker 1: when I.

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Speaker 2: Well, I'm gonna say, I think you're adding more to

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Speaker 2: it to my enthusiasm towards the end season tournament. I'm

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Speaker 2: just of the mindset that I embrace some type of

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Speaker 2: experimental change. So that's what I'm just giving it the

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Speaker 2: benefit of the doubt right now and we'll see how

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Speaker 2: it plays out. But just to say, I'm just I

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Speaker 2: understand there's some people out there who have to might

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Speaker 2: be lead partners, who have to say this is the

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Speaker 2: greatest thing, so excited this is going to do this.

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Speaker 2: We don't know what it's going to do, you know,

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Speaker 2: So I'm not gonna go all that out like that,

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Speaker 2: but I am interested in seeing how this is gonna

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Speaker 2: play out. So yeah, but I think you just add

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Speaker 2: a little bit extra on my enthusiasm for this.

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Speaker 1: Time, just trying to I'm just trying to get you

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Speaker 1: riled up before we really get going here. We're gonna

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Speaker 1: play a different game. We're not gonna spend too much

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Speaker 1: time talking about the N Season Tournament. I think everybody

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Speaker 1: who listens to this podcast knows where I stand on it.

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Speaker 1: You have, you are giving it more of a chance.

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Speaker 1: Let's see what happens. You're right. It is only the

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Speaker 1: second night of ND season Tournament games on Friday night,

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Speaker 1: and yes there are nine games on the schedule. But

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Speaker 1: let's let's do something different.

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Speaker 2: Stein. Let's yeah, before we do something different, hold on,

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Speaker 2: give me a few seconds. Just listen to this.

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Speaker 1: You heard that I did not good.

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Speaker 2: That's that was the plan. Stein. I have changed the

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Speaker 2: batteries in my smoke detector. I finally did it. You

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Speaker 2: hear you will hear no beeps. So I'm sorry all

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Speaker 2: the people who love listened to my smoke detector go

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Speaker 2: off every other minute or so. But I have changed

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Speaker 2: the batteries. And you may ask, well, Chris, how come

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Speaker 2: you didn't do that months ago? Because I mean, you

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Speaker 2: could argue me.

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Speaker 1: I was just going to ask that. I'm glad you

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Speaker 1: anticipated that question.

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Speaker 2: Will have a very good answer for you. It might

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Speaker 2: not suffice, but I have an answer for you. My

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Speaker 2: ceilings are really tall, Starn really tall, and so it

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Speaker 2: is a pain and ask to try to get up

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Speaker 2: there and change that, change that smoke detector. But I

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Speaker 2: got a ladder because I don't have a ladder personally

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Speaker 2: a letter that tall. So I got a ladder next

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Speaker 2: to my next door neighbor allowed me to use this ladder,

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Speaker 2: and so I changed two smoke detectors, one downstairs, one upstairs.

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Speaker 2: So I am fine for the next month or so.

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Speaker 2: So that's all I'm gonna give you, probably the next

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Speaker 2: month or so. Then we'll see what happens from there.

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Speaker 1: What kind of batteries did you use that only last

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Speaker 1: for a month?

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Speaker 2: Triple A batteries. You know what I'm gonna tell you.

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Speaker 2: I asked my wife this time. I'm glad you asked

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Speaker 2: that question. Very great, astutid question. These batteries were called Warriors.

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Speaker 2: Have you heard of these batteries? They called Warriors. I've

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Speaker 2: never seen it before. They're called Warriors battery batteries. I've

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Speaker 2: never seen it before. We had a couple of door

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Speaker 2: seals in there, but it wasn't I didn't have enough.

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Speaker 2: You know, this smoke detective they take. My smoke detect

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Speaker 2: takes four triple A batteries. But the batteries are called Warriors.

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Speaker 2: But they're definitely not living up to be warriors because

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Speaker 2: it don't seem like they're lasting very long.

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Speaker 1: Well, you know what, as you once, as you sometimes

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Speaker 1: say to me when I go off on my tangents,

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Speaker 1: I'm just gonna. I'm not gonna. I'm gonna leave it alone.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna just let those comments.

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Speaker 2: Understand them, understand I'm gonna.

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Speaker 1: I'm just gonna let it go. I'm the least I'm

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Speaker 1: the least handy person in America, so I shouldn't say

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Speaker 1: anything because I'm not.

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Speaker 2: Who changes your smoke detectives.

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Speaker 1: But man, missus Stein might run in here to jump

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Speaker 1: on this pod and shout to the world that she

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Speaker 1: she is the one who does it. She even has

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Speaker 1: some sort of I don't know, some sort of device

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Speaker 1: that helps her reach up that you know, she's she's

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Speaker 1: very prepared.

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Speaker 2: My wife got mad at me, Starn. I have to

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Speaker 2: after admit she got mad at me because she said,

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Speaker 2: because I thought once I changed the smoke detectives that

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Speaker 2: I was going to get some kudos around the house,

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Speaker 2: get some praise, and I did it. It was an

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Speaker 2: exact opposite. She was like, the only reason you're doing

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Speaker 2: it because people are criticizing you on Twitter. That's the

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Speaker 2: only that's that.

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Speaker 1: I was just gonna say, is she aware that this

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Speaker 1: has become a subject on the podcast?

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Speaker 2: I've told her, which I guess I shouldn't have told

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Speaker 2: her because that's why I didn't get any praise when

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Speaker 2: I did change the smoke detective batteries. But you can't win,

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Speaker 2: so people, you know, that's what you need to know

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Speaker 2: when you get married. Winning goes out the door. You know,

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Speaker 2: you just there's just.

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Speaker 1: Ties, surviving advance, surviving advance.

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Speaker 2: Surviving advance. There's only ties and losses. There's no there's

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Speaker 2: not many wins. So if you get a win, cherish it,

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Speaker 2: cherish it. I'm done.

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Speaker 1: Well, we're gonna we're gonna not so gracefully move from

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Speaker 1: our home improvement and home maintenance tales. Two We're gonna

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Speaker 1: try something different early in the season. Two teams that

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Speaker 1: impress us, two teams that concern us. We get to

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Speaker 1: You and I both get to pick one in each category.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna give you first pick in the draft for

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Speaker 1: both categories. So thirty teams on the board. Who is

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Speaker 1: the team we're basically three weeks in. Who are the who?

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Speaker 1: Who is the team that most impresses Sacramento based Chris Haynes.

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Speaker 2: Well, let me go to the opposite side of the country.

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Speaker 2: I'm going over there to Philly. You have to give

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Speaker 2: them props for the season that they've started off with.

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Speaker 2: They are six and one, they're the top is in

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Speaker 2: the standings over there, and you know, everything they they

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Speaker 2: would have to deal with it already, you know, with

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Speaker 2: the James Harden situation, you know, people felt like they

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Speaker 2: didn't as of right now, felt like they didn't get

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Speaker 2: adequate value as far as players now in return for

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Speaker 2: James Harden, they still can try to flip some of

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Speaker 2: those assets that they got for another trade, the first

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Speaker 2: round picks. But Jorlan Beidens playing phenomenally Tyrese Maxie. You

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Speaker 2: kind of knew he was going well. You knew he

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Speaker 2: was on the verge of having a breakout season, whatever

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Speaker 2: that be this season or the next season, depending on

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Speaker 2: if James Harden was still in that roster. But they

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Speaker 2: are clicking, man, they are looking really good. They just

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Speaker 2: took care of the Boston Celtics, who had were the

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Speaker 2: top was the top team in the Eastern Conference. Again,

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Speaker 2: this is all early. It's only seven games in for Philadelphia,

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Speaker 2: but just the way things started with a new coach

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Speaker 2: and Nick Nurse, the way you know, it was just

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Speaker 2: a soap opera over there for the first few weeks

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Speaker 2: of camp and the first you know, first week or

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Speaker 2: so going into the NBA season. So I would have

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Speaker 2: been surprised if you would have told me that they

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Speaker 2: were going to start off as good, considering everything that

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Speaker 2: they would have to go through behind the scenes.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, we're not even three full weeks in if I

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Speaker 1: correct my own math. And let's face it, when the

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Speaker 1: season started, Boston and Milwaukee had just made these splashy trades.

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Speaker 1: The Bucks obviously acquired Damian Lillard. Boston manages to swipe

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Speaker 1: Drew Holliday away from Portland after the Dame deal, and

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Speaker 1: so Milwaukee and Boston make these just league shaking transactions,

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Speaker 1: and there's Philly that has to sit there basically leading

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Speaker 1: the league in drama before a single ball is thrown

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Speaker 1: up for an opening tip. And now they ended up

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Speaker 1: finding a hardened trade, I think, quicker than a lot

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Speaker 1: of people expected once the season started, and they, you know,

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Speaker 1: the season started without them finding a hardened trade, to

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Speaker 1: find one that they were willing to make so quickly

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Speaker 1: after that, and you know, you're already hearing Joe l

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Speaker 1: Embiid say how happy everyone is, how together this group is,

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Speaker 1: and these are obviously all little, thinly veiled shots at

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Speaker 1: the drama that the Sixers have left behind, and Nick

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Speaker 1: Nurse's arrival seems to have energized this group. There are

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Speaker 1: many Sixers fans, vocal Sixers fans who are quite active

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Speaker 1: in my sub stacked chat room, and almost universally, when

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Speaker 1: I hear from Sixers fans who are in that chat room,

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Speaker 1: they're all saying how they have hope again, they like

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Speaker 1: what they're seeing again. Their fandom has been rekindled and

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Speaker 1: revitalized because there was just so much negativity around this

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Speaker 1: team and yes it is. It is super early, and

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Speaker 1: like I've registered complaint already a couple of times. I mean,

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Speaker 1: we the rush to judgment night tonight. In the NBA,

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Speaker 1: it seems to get louder every single year, and it's

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Speaker 1: just such a long season and we can't make declarations.

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Speaker 1: So even this, you know, I'm kind of contradicting myself

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Speaker 1: here because we've chosen this exercise of who impresses us,

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Speaker 1: and especially when we talk about who concerns us, we're

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Speaker 1: rushing to judgment a bit as well. I mean, it's

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Speaker 1: it's difficult to try to exercise some restraint, but iah,

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Speaker 1: Philly's won six in a row. They could easily be

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Speaker 1: seven to zho. They had a shot to win opening

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Speaker 1: night in the game you covered in Milwaukee. It's it's

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Speaker 1: hard not to be impressed by what Philly is doing

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Speaker 1: and how swiftly they've left chaos behind.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know again, yeah it is. You know,

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Speaker 2: it's ironic we're doing a segment like this considering, you

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Speaker 2: know what, they teams only played a handful of games.

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Speaker 2: But you know, just from this standpoint, man, just the

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Speaker 2: way Philey is playing, how well they're playing, you can

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Speaker 2: see that you can see their tangible evidence of these

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Speaker 2: guys getting along on the court, and there seems to

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Speaker 2: be some chemistry. So I don't think it's too early

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Speaker 2: to be able to tell that those guys kind of

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Speaker 2: actually like playing with each other. So that's fine.

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Speaker 1: My nomination. Honestly, I'm tempted to just say to Denver Nuggets,

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Speaker 1: who are eight and one, and Jokic has started the

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Speaker 1: season in just ridiculous form, you know, just he he's

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Speaker 1: started the season in peak forb somehow, and you know,

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Speaker 1: Jamal Murray's got this hamstring issue. I mean, the word

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Speaker 1: is that he might actually miss the rest of the month,

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Speaker 1: and it just hasn't slowed Denver down at all because

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Speaker 1: Jokic is just so damn good. I mean, they've you know,

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Speaker 1: they inflicted Dallas's first loss. They beat Golden State last night.

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Speaker 1: Just you know, whatever early challenges have been thrown at them,

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Speaker 1: they've handled them. And the Nuggets would be a very

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Speaker 1: worthy nominee. But I'm actually gonna go I'm you know again,

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Speaker 1: now I'm violating my own rules, and we'll make this

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Speaker 1: overreaction Thursday, and I'm gonna go with the team. The

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Speaker 1: only team in the NBA that can say it has

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Speaker 1: beaten the Denver Nuggets, and that's Minnesota. And I know

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Speaker 1: you were scoffing at me in your house when the

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Speaker 1: fire alarm was still blinging about my decision to simulate

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Speaker 1: the season with my beloved Stratamatic, the Managerial Strategy Game.

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Speaker 1: And I did a complete simulation of the season, and

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Speaker 1: Stratamatic was ridiculously high on the Wolves, saying Minnesota would

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Speaker 1: win the West, post the most regular season wins in

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Speaker 1: the West, and go all the way to the finals.

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Speaker 1: And maybe people thought that was wild and outlandish and crazy.

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Speaker 1: And look at the way the Stratamatic blessed Timberwolves have

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Speaker 1: started the season wins over Denver, over Boston. Again, very

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Speaker 1: small sample sizes, very early in the season, but the

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Speaker 1: Wolves are tops in the league in defense. Aunt Edwards

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Speaker 1: has been ridiculous. Rudy Gobert looks like he's moving well again.

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Speaker 1: I mean, he looks much more fluid in his movement

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Speaker 1: than we saw last season in his debut season in Minnesota.

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Speaker 1: And so I think, again, if we're going to if

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Speaker 1: we're going to go through this exercise and jump to

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Speaker 1: early conclusions, the Minnesota Timberwolves get my hat tip ahead

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Speaker 1: of Denver, ahead of Golden State in the West, and

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Speaker 1: you already took Philly in the East.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and Chris fsh is one. I think Chris Finnish

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Speaker 2: is an excellent coach. I've always loved him. You know,

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Speaker 2: I was glad when he when he got his opportunity,

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Speaker 2: got a shot at the head coaching gig. And you know,

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Speaker 2: it's like I've gotten to be able to talk a

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Speaker 2: little bit extra and those with him behind the scenes,

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Speaker 2: and you know, just to hear some of his basketball

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Speaker 2: philosophies on both ends of the floor. You know, I

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Speaker 2: was really, I really impressed and just you know he's

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Speaker 2: and it's it's cool like for me style. I don't

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Speaker 2: know about you, but like when when guys first, you know,

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Speaker 2: when they when they get that opportunity. And you would

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Speaker 2: think that players, for the most part, they don't know

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Speaker 2: a lot of these coaches that are out there unless

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Speaker 2: they've been an assistant with them in some other stops.

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Speaker 2: But you know, I remember when when Fence first got

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Speaker 2: the job and I talked to Anthony Edwards to the

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Speaker 2: side for once. It wasn't a story, but we were

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Speaker 2: just talking and he was just telling me like how

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Speaker 2: he was along away with how Finch came up with

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Speaker 2: different sets that would that would free him up, and

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Speaker 2: he was like man like, he was just talking about

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Speaker 2: just how innovative and creative he was and particularly just

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Speaker 2: free and Anthony up. And you know that that that

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Speaker 2: took him by surprise. And so you know that was

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Speaker 2: a few years ago when we had that conversation. So uh,

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Speaker 2: you know, he he has the pizazz like he has

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Speaker 2: the he has the ear of the players. And so

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Speaker 2: I'm I'm just glad to see coaches when you know,

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Speaker 2: when they get that shot and then when they get it,

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Speaker 2: I like seeing how they can prove to the players

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Speaker 2: that they're coaching that they're ready for that task. So,

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Speaker 2: you know, we'll see if this is sustainable. We'll see

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Speaker 2: if the Minnesota timbulls off for real and ship very

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Speaker 2: early on. But definitely, you know, I'm surprised. I'm surprised

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Speaker 2: they've they've gotten off to this such a such.

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Speaker 1: A good Yeah, I mean, it's definitely. I think it's

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Speaker 1: it's probably the most eye catching when we look at

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Speaker 1: the teams that again have posted the best record so far.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it must be said. Five of Minnesota's seven

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Speaker 1: games to start have been at home, but they've won

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Speaker 1: all five. Haven't won a road game yet, but they

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Speaker 1: are five and zero at home. And you know, in

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Speaker 1: the West, in this West, where you know Portland and

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Speaker 1: San Antonio have already proved to be tougher routes than expected.

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Speaker 1: I mean, can't you can't get off to a good

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Speaker 1: enough start in the West. You can't bank enough early

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Speaker 1: wins in the West. Houston. I mean, we saw what

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Speaker 1: happened when Sacramento lost to aeron Fox and the Kings

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Speaker 1: went to Houston for a two game baseball series and

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Speaker 1: the Rockets won both games. So I mean, there's just

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Speaker 1: there is no there There are pretty much. I mean,

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Speaker 1: obviously Memphis is a mess right now with no job

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Speaker 1: and all their injuries, but I mean there are there

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Speaker 1: just are no gimmes in the West. So five and two, Yes,

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Speaker 1: it's early, but it does grab your attention. Let's go

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Speaker 1: to the other side, the other extreme of overreaction. Thursday night,

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Speaker 1: Can you be concerned six seven, eight games in what's

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Speaker 1: the team out there that causes the most legitimate concern

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Speaker 1: in your eyes?

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Speaker 2: There are a number of teams that you could pick

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Speaker 2: for this category right here. So I'm I'm gonna go

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Speaker 2: with this team. There's concerns. I wouldn't say it's dire,

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Speaker 2: but it's concerns because again we're only about six or

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Speaker 2: seven games into the season. But I'm gonna go with

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Speaker 2: the Los Angeles Clipperstein because they're trying to figure this

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Speaker 2: all out and there's a lot of talent over there,

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Speaker 2: but nobody knows if this collection of talent, if they

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Speaker 2: can play together and win at high level. We don't know.

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Speaker 2: There's a bunch of good pieces put together. We don't

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Speaker 2: know if these pieces fit James Harden. So far since

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Speaker 2: he's been a Clipper, the Clippers are zero to two.

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Speaker 2: Can James Harden and Russell Westbrook play together in the

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Speaker 2: backcourt at this stage of their careers? Do they need

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Speaker 2: a Terrence Man in their in that start lineup? Do

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Speaker 2: they need somebody who's just gonna do the dirty work,

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Speaker 2: somebody who doesn't need the ball? Right now, there's a

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Speaker 2: lot of players in the start lineup the way they've

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Speaker 2: been starting as a right now, four of those five

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Speaker 2: players need the ball in their hands. Is that sustainable?

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Speaker 2: So I'm gonna go with I'm gonna go with the

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Speaker 2: Clippers right now because there are a lot of question

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Speaker 2: marks on that team and they have to figure it out.

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Speaker 2: Because also there's just desperation on the side of the Clippers,

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Speaker 2: because they have to do everything within their power to

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Speaker 2: try to win a championship and to go into next

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Speaker 2: season in that New Plus arena, right they they got

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Speaker 2: to go in there with some good will because I

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Speaker 2: mentioned this a few a few you mentioned this about

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Speaker 2: a year ago on our podcast Dying about how the

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Speaker 2: Warriors faced one of their biggest nightmares when they went

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Speaker 2: into Chase Center. But they thought they were going to

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Speaker 2: bring a championship team back, and they thought they were

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Speaker 2: going to bring KD back. Well KD left, they had injuries,

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Speaker 2: Clay Clay Thompson's injury, and you know, I remember going

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Speaker 2: into those first couple of Chase Center games and it

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Speaker 2: just wasn't it wasn't the same. That's not what they

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Speaker 2: had anticipated. So you know, the Clippers. That's why I

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Speaker 2: picked the Clippers for the numerous numerous reasons.

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Speaker 1: Well, look, I gave you first pick, and you you

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Speaker 1: you swipe my choice. I would have also gone with

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Speaker 1: the Clippers first earlier this week, I wrote a whole

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Speaker 1: column about it. The Clippers, to me, have become the

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Speaker 1: most desperate team on the NBA map, with what they've

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Speaker 1: given up to put together, to add James Harden to

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Speaker 1: the Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Russell Westbrook core what they

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Speaker 1: have given up to put this team together, and because

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Speaker 1: they're going into that new arena next season, because we

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Speaker 1: know that Steve Balmer as the owner, is not gonna

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Speaker 1: sign up for a teardown anytime soon. I mean, to me,

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Speaker 1: the Clippers are probably gonna have to bring back at

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Speaker 1: least three of these guys no matter what happens this season. Kawhi, Leonard,

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Speaker 1: Paul George. They possess player options. James Harden cannot extend

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Speaker 1: during the season, so both he and Russell Westbrook are

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Speaker 1: on expiring contracts. So basically, to me, they're gonna have

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Speaker 1: They've they've surrendered so much draft capital first to put

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Speaker 1: the Kawhi and PG tandem in place, and now to

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Speaker 1: bring in Harden. I mean, they they've they've got tons

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Speaker 1: riding on it. Obviously, they didn't have a training camp

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Speaker 1: to work on things and build anything together because they

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Speaker 1: added hard on the fly They're already thin in the

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Speaker 1: front court, and they've lost Mason Plumbley and definitely so

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Speaker 1: they're gonna have to try to manufacture another big man

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Speaker 1: because they're now counting exclusively on Aviza Zubach. And even

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Speaker 1: with Zubach and Plumbley, there were questions about whether the

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Speaker 1: Clippers had enough size, enough rebounding to cope in the

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Speaker 1: West and frankly measure up against the Denver Nuggets and Jokic,

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Speaker 1: So tons of questions about the Clippers. My primary disappointment

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Speaker 1: right now, though, is more disappointment than concern. The Clippers

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Speaker 1: are in Dallas as we speak. On Friday night they

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Speaker 1: play Dallas. It's the mavericks first in season tournament game

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Speaker 1: at home. And I was originally all set to attend

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Speaker 1: that game, and I was really easy to see the

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Speaker 1: Clippers with my own eyes tomorrow night, or I should

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Speaker 1: say tonight by the time this pod drops. But I

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Speaker 1: have since been assigned to some Pelicans work and because

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Speaker 1: of that, I will not be in attendance Friday night

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Speaker 1: at the AAC in Dallas, so I will not get

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Speaker 1: to see the Clippers with my own eyes when they're

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Speaker 1: here in my city. So that is I'm a little bit.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's a it's a double edged thing because,

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Speaker 1: of course, like I said, I'm gonna be I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: have my hands full with the Pelicans and their in

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Speaker 1: season tournament game against the Rockets. But there's only one

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Speaker 1: of me, so I won't get to see the Clippers.

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Speaker 1: But again, now I've rambled on way too long about

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Speaker 1: your selection. I look, I thought about Cleveland.

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Speaker 2: Here.

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Speaker 1: The Calves look great against Golden State, but that's it.

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Speaker 1: I mean, they've you know, they've had tons of injuries

401
00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:55,520
Speaker 1: as well, but they've they've been very up and down. Memphis,

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Speaker 1: of course already mentioned off to a one and seven start,

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00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:03,119
Speaker 1: those Pelicans for four, but you know, so many injuries

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00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:06,320
Speaker 1: for New Orleans already, and it's just the what is

405
00:24:06,359 --> 00:24:10,320
Speaker 1: gonna happen next? Are we ever gonna be healthy? Discussion

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Speaker 1: has to be just smothering that group of players as

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Speaker 1: we speak. But saying all those things, I'm staying in LA.

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Speaker 1: I'm going with the Lakers. I mean, they they're zero

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Speaker 1: and five on the road. They've been outscored their first

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Speaker 1: what is it, They've been out scored by nearly seventy

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Speaker 1: five points in eight first quarters. So far, they're falling

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Speaker 1: way behind. I mean, this is not as bad as

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Speaker 1: last season's two and ten start, but Lebron has already

414
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Speaker 1: had to play tons of minutes. When the Lakers came

415
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Speaker 1: into the season hoping that he would be more of

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Speaker 1: a twenty eight to thirty minute player, that's already gone

417
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Speaker 1: out the window. AD dealing with health issues already, AD

418
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Speaker 1: not embracing the long distance shooting that Darvin Ham was

419
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Speaker 1: hoping for. And Austin Reeves. I still I'm old enough

420
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Speaker 1: to remember Darvin Ham sitting with us at Caesar's Palace

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Speaker 1: in what might be the most eventful pod we've ever done.

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Speaker 1: Certainly it's it's in the it's got to be in

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Speaker 1: the top three at worst. Darvin Ham was so candid

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Speaker 1: and just you know, so good with us, as I mean,

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Speaker 1: you see, sat there with us for an hour. There

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Speaker 1: was there was nothing he didn't say, And among his

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Speaker 1: many headline comments was you know, he says he thinks

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Speaker 1: Austin Reeves will be an All Star. And Austin Reeves

429
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:40,040
Speaker 1: is not off to an All Stars start. So the

430
00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:44,040
Speaker 1: Lakers have a lot of things going on already. I

431
00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,320
Speaker 1: guess the good news is that they because they went

432
00:25:46,359 --> 00:25:50,520
Speaker 1: through two to ten last season that they have experienced

433
00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:55,159
Speaker 1: bouncing back from this. But I think I think a

434
00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:59,000
Speaker 1: lot of eyeballs league wide, to be honest, are already

435
00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:02,919
Speaker 1: on both both LA teams. How the Clippers are going

436
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:06,359
Speaker 1: to build a squad after making their big move, and

437
00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,760
Speaker 1: then with the Lakers, what kind of move can they make?

438
00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:14,720
Speaker 1: You know, they have such limited flexibility to change things

439
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:18,720
Speaker 1: after all their off season moves? Can do the Lakers

440
00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:21,480
Speaker 1: just have to get healthy? And is that going to

441
00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:26,600
Speaker 1: be enough? Or will the Lakers try to seek out

442
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:32,320
Speaker 1: a change because their hopes and aspirations coming into this

443
00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:35,000
Speaker 1: season have already been challenged.

444
00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:38,399
Speaker 2: To put it mildly, yeah, I mean I think you

445
00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:41,760
Speaker 2: definitely still have to see what they look like as whole.

446
00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:45,520
Speaker 2: But even with that, I mean, we're just talking Jared

447
00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:50,440
Speaker 2: Vanderbilt being back, and you know, offensively, he's not going

448
00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:53,480
Speaker 2: to add much to the equation there, And so you

449
00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:58,240
Speaker 2: still have the dilemma of can Austin reason d'ezel Russell

450
00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:03,159
Speaker 2: play together. Austin reeves for him to be himself, to

451
00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:07,600
Speaker 2: be to be as effective as he can, has to

452
00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:10,160
Speaker 2: have the ball in his hands. And then at certain

453
00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:12,720
Speaker 2: point Lebron James, even though he's been deferring over the

454
00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:16,280
Speaker 2: last couple of years of relinquishing ball handling, do these

455
00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:19,280
Speaker 2: to others. He's still somebody who needs that ball in

456
00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:22,199
Speaker 2: the fourth quarter to make plays. And so D'Angelo. You know,

457
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:25,000
Speaker 2: Deangel had a great preseason. He had a really great

458
00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:27,800
Speaker 2: He probably played the best. He probably the best Laker

459
00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:31,359
Speaker 2: in the preseason. And his play thus far as you know,

460
00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:36,760
Speaker 2: it's up and down, But you know it. Do you

461
00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:43,200
Speaker 2: need multiple primary ball handlers when you're playing alongside Lebron James.

462
00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:47,600
Speaker 2: I don't know the answer to that. I know Lebron

463
00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:53,159
Speaker 2: can play with another ball handling guy, but two I

464
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:56,360
Speaker 2: don't know. I don't know, But I know for one

465
00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,560
Speaker 2: thing it's for sure whenever you play with Lebron, even

466
00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:04,520
Speaker 2: if you're just second Darry primary handler or member for

467
00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:08,000
Speaker 2: the third option, you got to be able to just

468
00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:10,919
Speaker 2: catch a shoot. You got to be able to find

469
00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:15,560
Speaker 2: the pockets within the offense so guys can find you.

470
00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:17,919
Speaker 2: You got to be that adaptable. You can't just be

471
00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:21,560
Speaker 2: somebody who needs the ball in their hands to be effective.

472
00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:24,959
Speaker 2: You got to be able to find those seams and

473
00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:28,880
Speaker 2: find those crevices to where you can make an impact

474
00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:31,800
Speaker 2: by just catching and shooting. And that's a skill set

475
00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:35,640
Speaker 2: in its own right there. Because most ball dominant players

476
00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:39,000
Speaker 2: are used to shooting off the dribble. There's a comfort

477
00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:43,040
Speaker 2: level with shooting off the dribble and just catching and

478
00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:47,240
Speaker 2: shooting that is that's not easy to do if you're

479
00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:51,440
Speaker 2: not if you're not used to just being being in

480
00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:54,040
Speaker 2: that role. So it's tough. It's always been tough. But

481
00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:56,400
Speaker 2: they're got to figure it out. And you know what

482
00:28:56,440 --> 00:29:01,160
Speaker 2: the Lakers do. Stein if it's not working, there will

483
00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:04,920
Speaker 2: be some trades. There will be some trades. And uh,

484
00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:07,800
Speaker 2: you know this. It's this one guy played basketball with

485
00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:10,880
Speaker 2: out here in the sacrament of the area. His name

486
00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:14,960
Speaker 2: is Manny, Big Laker fan, Big Laker fan, And every

487
00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:18,000
Speaker 2: time I walk in the gym, he always asked me, Hey,

488
00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:21,520
Speaker 2: is Dame coming to the Lakers? Who the Lakers gonna

489
00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:23,800
Speaker 2: trade for? Who's you know? Who can we get? Who

490
00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:25,720
Speaker 2: can you get? I'm like, hold on, Manny, I said, Mannie,

491
00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:30,160
Speaker 2: can can your team just draft for once? Can y'all

492
00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:33,200
Speaker 2: just draft a guy for once? Can y'all build? He said,

493
00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:35,720
Speaker 2: Oh no, no, no, Lakers, we don't draft. We still

494
00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:40,880
Speaker 2: are the players, he said, we still are the players.

495
00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:43,400
Speaker 2: That's what we do. He said, So who can we get?

496
00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:46,640
Speaker 2: Who can we get? So I bring him up to

497
00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:49,160
Speaker 2: just to say that, you know, you know, the Lakers

498
00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:52,400
Speaker 2: if they're struggling. You know, Lebron James is not gonna

499
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:56,080
Speaker 2: tolerate a losing squad. If they're struggling, they will be

500
00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:57,120
Speaker 2: out the marketing fire.

501
00:29:57,560 --> 00:29:59,600
Speaker 1: Laker fan in sacked. They don't like that.

502
00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:04,000
Speaker 2: I said, can y'all build for once many? Can y'all

503
00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:06,320
Speaker 2: build through the draft? Oh no, no, no, we don't

504
00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:07,880
Speaker 2: do that. We still other players.

505
00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:13,200
Speaker 1: So I should know this, but I've already forgotten. So

506
00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:15,600
Speaker 1: next week, you know, we've mentioned a lot of teams here,

507
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:18,160
Speaker 1: and we've lasered in kind of on the Sixers, the Wolves,

508
00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:21,200
Speaker 1: the Clippers, the Lakers. Who you see in next week?

509
00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:23,880
Speaker 1: Are you seeing any of these teams that we're discussing?

510
00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:26,760
Speaker 1: Who do you got next?

511
00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:32,040
Speaker 2: Clippers? Nuggets in Denver Tuesday? Nice? Cool.

512
00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:34,640
Speaker 1: We'll come back with some good stories, some good tales.

513
00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:37,680
Speaker 2: That's the plan. That is definitely the plan.

514
00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:40,120
Speaker 1: You'll be able to tell us if our concern about

515
00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:43,120
Speaker 1: the Clippers was well placed or premature. But I mean,

516
00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:45,480
Speaker 1: let's face it, James Harden's first two games. They haven't

517
00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:47,600
Speaker 1: cracked a hundred points yet, and they're supposed to be

518
00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:52,280
Speaker 1: an offensive juggernaut. Again, they've had, you know, very limited

519
00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:55,440
Speaker 1: practice time. Harden's joining them on the fly. Harden hasn't

520
00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:59,520
Speaker 1: played full speed basketball since May. But hey, when you

521
00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:01,800
Speaker 1: make a train like that, you're going to be under

522
00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:03,880
Speaker 1: the microscope. You're not going to get much of a

523
00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,640
Speaker 1: grace period from us. No, it all's here in the

524
00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:11,160
Speaker 1: basketball public. I want to shift and before we go,

525
00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:14,240
Speaker 1: I want to talk about a couple league issues. It

526
00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:17,959
Speaker 1: emerged this week. The talk has restarted again. Not a

527
00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:22,080
Speaker 1: new topic, but it sounds more serious, probably than we've

528
00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:25,120
Speaker 1: ever heard it of a lot of teams behind the

529
00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:28,400
Speaker 1: scenes want to turn the draft into a two night

530
00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:32,600
Speaker 1: affair and you know, split it up so first round

531
00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:35,600
Speaker 1: would be like on a Thursday. You know, it's either Wednesday,

532
00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:38,880
Speaker 1: Thursday or Thursday Friday. First round on the first night.

533
00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:42,760
Speaker 1: Second round gets a night to its own. And you know,

534
00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:46,760
Speaker 1: usually I am so I'm such a traditionalist, I'm so

535
00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:50,160
Speaker 1: resistant to change, but I love this one. To me,

536
00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:55,000
Speaker 1: I see no downside. I feel like the draft is

537
00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:59,400
Speaker 1: too long. The second round is too rushed. No better

538
00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:04,320
Speaker 1: illustrate than Jokic, the greatest second round pick in NBA

539
00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:08,760
Speaker 1: history that was announced during a commercial in twenty fourteen,

540
00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:12,600
Speaker 1: because they were rushing through the second round. Teams say

541
00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:17,600
Speaker 1: they want more time to think about their first round picks.

542
00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:20,800
Speaker 1: A second night of the draft probably creates an opportunity

543
00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:25,239
Speaker 1: for potentially more trade action. It certainly is going to

544
00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:29,840
Speaker 1: give the guys who are in the second round more attention.

545
00:32:30,040 --> 00:32:33,960
Speaker 1: Like I said, I cannot find a reason to argue

546
00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:36,760
Speaker 1: against it. But that said, when I put that question

547
00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:39,600
Speaker 1: on my sub stack, I did get a lot more

548
00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:44,440
Speaker 1: resistance from readers than I expected. And you know, I

549
00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:48,480
Speaker 1: hear this chatter. Nobody cares. Nobody cares about the second round.

550
00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:51,000
Speaker 1: We don't need it to go two nights. Nobody's going

551
00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:52,960
Speaker 1: to watch it. I ain't buying it. I do not

552
00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:55,920
Speaker 1: believe when people say nobody's going to watch it. This

553
00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:59,760
Speaker 1: is the NBA in the offseason. I feel like fans

554
00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:03,600
Speaker 1: are getting worked up and fully invested in who's getting

555
00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:06,320
Speaker 1: the two way deals on their roster. So I am

556
00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:10,440
Speaker 1: not buying at all. People who say if the second

557
00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:14,000
Speaker 1: round is moved to a second night, we're not going

558
00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:17,320
Speaker 1: to tune in. No chance people will people I think

559
00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:18,400
Speaker 1: people will eat it up.

560
00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:22,640
Speaker 2: I don't know about that stuff. I don't know, you know,

561
00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:25,280
Speaker 2: I don't know the answer to that, Like is the

562
00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:31,400
Speaker 2: second round must see TV? You know? Or a better question,

563
00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:36,600
Speaker 2: would you put the NBA Draft on the same level

564
00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:39,680
Speaker 2: as the NFL Draft, because you know there are NFL

565
00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:45,560
Speaker 2: draft parties, like there are rituals that people have, Like actually,

566
00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:49,400
Speaker 2: I've been invited to actual NFL draft parties where the

567
00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:52,480
Speaker 2: spread the food like it's a religion to have that.

568
00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:58,479
Speaker 2: I don't. I've never been to a NBA draft party, Like,

569
00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:02,320
Speaker 2: I don't know that it has that level of interest.

570
00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:05,800
Speaker 2: And so with that the second round, like, okay, are

571
00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:10,480
Speaker 2: not to say that people tuned in to watch Adam Silver,

572
00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:13,400
Speaker 2: but you know Adam Silver won't be a part of

573
00:34:13,200 --> 00:34:17,719
Speaker 2: the second round. I don't. I don't know. I don't

574
00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:19,680
Speaker 2: know stein, I don't know what the interest is I get.

575
00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:23,399
Speaker 1: Well, look, I think one kind of criticism or question

576
00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:26,359
Speaker 1: I've seen thrown out is second round you don't need

577
00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:28,759
Speaker 1: a big TV production like we get for the first round.

578
00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:31,640
Speaker 1: But who's to say that the second round would be

579
00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:35,200
Speaker 1: the exact same TV production? Maybe it would be a

580
00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:41,719
Speaker 1: more serious basketball, nerdy kind of you know, very serious

581
00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:46,000
Speaker 1: basketball show as opposed to the draft, the first round

582
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:49,440
Speaker 1: of the draft, where obviously we're you know, the stories

583
00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:52,359
Speaker 1: of the draftees and their families. That gets a lot

584
00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:55,319
Speaker 1: of focus. And you know, there's even a draft, there's

585
00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:59,439
Speaker 1: even a broadcast version that's supposedly marketed for the more

586
00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:03,919
Speaker 1: general role fan who aren't NBA junkies. I just think

587
00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:08,319
Speaker 1: second round picks. People do care about that stuff, and

588
00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:09,880
Speaker 1: you know, I.

589
00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:15,759
Speaker 2: People, Yeah, people do care about it. But you know,

590
00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:17,759
Speaker 2: will the numbers be there? Is it enough?

591
00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:19,600
Speaker 1: Well, let me ask you, I mean, let me ask

592
00:35:19,640 --> 00:35:22,680
Speaker 1: you this because I know you always the draft, the

593
00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:25,960
Speaker 1: draft as long as it is first round, second round.

594
00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:29,160
Speaker 1: I mean, it takes well over four hours to get

595
00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:33,280
Speaker 1: through the whole thing. And then what do I always

596
00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:36,360
Speaker 1: see what happens right after the draft. There's Chris Haynes

597
00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:42,520
Speaker 1: tweeting about all these players who are you know, basically yeah,

598
00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:45,080
Speaker 1: undrafted free agents who they're signing with. I mean, there's

599
00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:47,520
Speaker 1: there's interest in that. And so if you do it,

600
00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:50,560
Speaker 1: if you break it up into two nights, that's happening

601
00:35:50,560 --> 00:35:53,520
Speaker 1: at a much better hour that people can tune in

602
00:35:53,520 --> 00:35:57,240
Speaker 1: instead of happening you know midnight one a m. Eastern time,

603
00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:00,359
Speaker 1: and there's you know, after the second round, there's there's

604
00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:04,399
Speaker 1: a whole there's there's fifty more transactions. And like I said,

605
00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:07,600
Speaker 1: I mean, we know, I mean this is our life.

606
00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:10,680
Speaker 1: People love every transaction there is in the NBA.

607
00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:16,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, but social media track, the social media tracks that

608
00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:21,879
Speaker 2: you see doesn't equate to television interests. And so that's

609
00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:26,640
Speaker 2: that's my only concern. Obviously, if they did extend this draft,

610
00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:31,320
Speaker 2: extend the draft out, what is it good for? For sure,

611
00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:36,440
Speaker 2: the teams, they have more time to make their decisions

612
00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:39,000
Speaker 2: because second round everything is going so fast. You know,

613
00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:42,200
Speaker 2: a lot of times these teams already have agreements with

614
00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:46,280
Speaker 2: undrafted free agentcy even before the draft is over, because

615
00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:49,399
Speaker 2: they know these guys aren't going to slip. I mean,

616
00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:52,440
Speaker 2: these guys aren't going to be drafted. And as well,

617
00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:55,799
Speaker 2: there are players right and just take people behind the

618
00:36:55,840 --> 00:36:58,359
Speaker 2: scenes there are saying, say there's a team that has

619
00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:03,879
Speaker 2: pick number fifty four, and that team might call that

620
00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:07,200
Speaker 2: player's agent and say, hey, we got a chance to

621
00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:10,520
Speaker 2: take you at fifty four. He wants to take you,

622
00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:15,640
Speaker 2: or you know, let you go, or we'll sign you

623
00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:21,320
Speaker 2: as a a undrafted free agent, and so all these things,

624
00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:25,839
Speaker 2: all these conversations are happening rapidly during the draft and

625
00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:28,120
Speaker 2: they're trying to see who's going to fall off the

626
00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:30,480
Speaker 2: ball who's not. And so it gives these teams to

627
00:37:30,520 --> 00:37:33,359
Speaker 2: general managers more time to have these conversations to make

628
00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:38,640
Speaker 2: more of an informed decision, and so it's good for them. Still,

629
00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:40,719
Speaker 2: I just don't know again, social.

630
00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:43,279
Speaker 1: Media and those are the things that I that that's

631
00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:45,560
Speaker 1: the stuff I care about. I'm not proposed or I'm

632
00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:49,759
Speaker 1: not I'm not backing the proposals because I think that

633
00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:52,840
Speaker 1: the broadcast of the second round is going to be

634
00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:58,839
Speaker 1: some revolutionary TV product that draws some monster rating. I mean, look,

635
00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:02,560
Speaker 1: the TV brought cast of the Draft for years has

636
00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:06,600
Speaker 1: just been it's getting worse and worse and worse, and

637
00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:11,920
Speaker 1: it's not watchable. And you hear so many fan complaints

638
00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:18,880
Speaker 1: about the Draft broadcast but saying saying all that, but people,

639
00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:23,480
Speaker 1: it's still Draft Night and people are still incredibly invested

640
00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:27,200
Speaker 1: in it. And I just think because the transaction games

641
00:38:27,239 --> 00:38:29,239
Speaker 1: I like to call it, is such a big deal

642
00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:33,720
Speaker 1: in the NBA that all these machinations that you're talking

643
00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:38,160
Speaker 1: about this, you know, the second round selections, the undrafted

644
00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:40,680
Speaker 1: free agents, and the teams they land on after the

645
00:38:40,719 --> 00:38:45,879
Speaker 1: second round is completed. That could easily carry a night

646
00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:50,120
Speaker 1: onto itself, especially when you know draft the way we're

647
00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:52,960
Speaker 1: set up now, the NBA Draft is kind of like

648
00:38:53,719 --> 00:38:58,080
Speaker 1: the prelude, the appetizer for free agency. And so I

649
00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:03,720
Speaker 1: just think two nights of draft action and potential trades

650
00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:09,640
Speaker 1: is better than one before we move into free agency.

651
00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:13,200
Speaker 1: Not because, like I said, not because it's going to

652
00:39:13,239 --> 00:39:16,799
Speaker 1: become some great TV product. I don't really even care

653
00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:21,239
Speaker 1: about that, And I think, you know, I just think, yeah,

654
00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:23,080
Speaker 1: we got a lot of there's a lot of things

655
00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:25,200
Speaker 1: to fix on the on the TV broadcast, but that

656
00:39:25,239 --> 00:39:28,680
Speaker 1: ain't our problem no more so we can let other

657
00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:31,560
Speaker 1: people worry about that. Another league issue that I wanted

658
00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:34,239
Speaker 1: to bring to your attention because this happened Monday night

659
00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:37,440
Speaker 1: and I thought it was really interesting. In a recent podcast,

660
00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:40,799
Speaker 1: you and I talked about how, yes, this season for

661
00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:43,440
Speaker 1: the All Star Game in Indianapolis, they're going back to

662
00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:46,800
Speaker 1: an East versus West format. But I wrote a whole

663
00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:52,040
Speaker 1: piece almost two weeks ago now about how Deputy Commissioner

664
00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:58,640
Speaker 1: Mark Tatum says that an United States against the rest

665
00:39:58,680 --> 00:40:01,960
Speaker 1: of the World All Star format. Mark Tatum's quote was

666
00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:07,120
Speaker 1: that it's very, very possible down the road, without specifying

667
00:40:07,239 --> 00:40:10,800
Speaker 1: how soon. This Monday night, a week after my piece,

668
00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:14,160
Speaker 1: the NBA announced that the twenty twenty five All Star

669
00:40:14,239 --> 00:40:17,640
Speaker 1: Game will be in the Bay Area. It's in San Francisco,

670
00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:23,200
Speaker 1: making it a nice easy drive for you. And at

671
00:40:23,239 --> 00:40:26,600
Speaker 1: the press conference to announce this, Adam Silver the quote

672
00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:31,480
Speaker 1: from the commissioner quote, people are out there talking about

673
00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:35,760
Speaker 1: concepts about a Ryder Cup type format, maybe thinking about

674
00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:40,319
Speaker 1: US players playing against global players. I just know we're

675
00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:43,680
Speaker 1: looking at all different approaches to All Star and this

676
00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:48,560
Speaker 1: referring to San Francisco is a great market to try

677
00:40:48,640 --> 00:40:51,600
Speaker 1: new things. End quote. And so when I read that,

678
00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:54,319
Speaker 1: when I heard that, I'm like, man, the commission is

679
00:40:54,400 --> 00:40:59,040
Speaker 1: all but saying that USA against the rest of the

680
00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:02,319
Speaker 1: world is gonna have up and don't be surprised if

681
00:41:02,320 --> 00:41:06,239
Speaker 1: it happens a year from now, in twenty twenty five.

682
00:41:06,360 --> 00:41:09,919
Speaker 1: So you know, we the last time we talked about this,

683
00:41:10,120 --> 00:41:12,520
Speaker 1: I mean, you know where I stand. I love the

684
00:41:12,560 --> 00:41:16,520
Speaker 1: international game covering it has been a huge part of

685
00:41:16,560 --> 00:41:20,680
Speaker 1: my life for more than thirty years. But I'm really

686
00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:23,799
Speaker 1: curious that when they announce this, when it is announced,

687
00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:26,480
Speaker 1: whatever year it is, whether it's twenty twenty five or

688
00:41:26,520 --> 00:41:29,880
Speaker 1: somewhere in the future, I'm really curious what the reaction

689
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:36,399
Speaker 1: will be from the NBA's American stars because unless they

690
00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:39,319
Speaker 1: have a roster format that we don't know about that

691
00:41:39,440 --> 00:41:43,160
Speaker 1: expands the rosters, if it's twelve v twelve like it's

692
00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:46,799
Speaker 1: always been, like the All Star Game has been for decades,

693
00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:50,640
Speaker 1: that would be only twelve All Star spots for more

694
00:41:50,680 --> 00:41:54,680
Speaker 1: than three hundred American born players and twelve All Star

695
00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:58,520
Speaker 1: spots for one hundred and twenty five ish international players.

696
00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:02,040
Speaker 1: And so there are going to be some major snubs

697
00:42:02,520 --> 00:42:05,160
Speaker 1: among the American born stars. And I'm just not sure

698
00:42:05,680 --> 00:42:09,719
Speaker 1: how that's gonna go over. I mean, from a watchability perspective,

699
00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:13,360
Speaker 1: a USA versus rest of the world All Star format,

700
00:42:13,480 --> 00:42:17,040
Speaker 1: it's it's it is the most intriguing we haven't seen

701
00:42:17,080 --> 00:42:19,880
Speaker 1: it yet. I think there would be massive interest in that,

702
00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:23,799
Speaker 1: but again, I'm not sure that it's going to be

703
00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:27,040
Speaker 1: a unanimously popular decision.

704
00:42:28,360 --> 00:42:31,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, I just don't know how that could work. And again,

705
00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:36,680
Speaker 2: if if the concepts. If the structure is built where

706
00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:39,680
Speaker 2: it can be a level playing field and cool, But

707
00:42:39,840 --> 00:42:43,120
Speaker 2: I don't see it right now. I mean, think about

708
00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:49,920
Speaker 2: the global team. How many lock of Global All Stars

709
00:42:49,960 --> 00:42:53,080
Speaker 2: are there? You know, let's let's talk about this. Well

710
00:42:53,160 --> 00:42:57,319
Speaker 2: you came out, isn't be he can't be global anymore? Right? Well? That?

711
00:42:57,400 --> 00:42:59,600
Speaker 1: Yeah? I mean that right there? Is he gonna now

712
00:42:59,640 --> 00:43:02,320
Speaker 1: count as he can't if.

713
00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:03,120
Speaker 2: He's playing for the United States?

714
00:43:03,239 --> 00:43:06,120
Speaker 1: Like I just a Re Irving, same thing. Kyrie Irving's

715
00:43:06,120 --> 00:43:10,400
Speaker 1: born in Australia, and when the NBA talks about international players,

716
00:43:10,719 --> 00:43:14,080
Speaker 1: it always includes Kyrie Irving on that list. But Kyrie Irving,

717
00:43:14,360 --> 00:43:17,120
Speaker 1: he's played internationally for the United States. So it's a

718
00:43:17,120 --> 00:43:21,600
Speaker 1: great question. I mean, I think if we really you know, there's.

719
00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:25,080
Speaker 2: About four four global docin.

720
00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:27,879
Speaker 1: I think it's usually like seven you seven or eight,

721
00:43:28,120 --> 00:43:33,040
Speaker 1: you know, six seven, eight guys that you Let's let's

722
00:43:33,080 --> 00:43:35,320
Speaker 1: keep Embiid there for now because he hasn't played for

723
00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:41,760
Speaker 1: the United States yet. So Jokic, Embiid, Luke j Luca,

724
00:43:42,280 --> 00:43:46,560
Speaker 1: that's five. Bonis was all NBA last year. You know,

725
00:43:46,680 --> 00:43:51,120
Speaker 1: Wemby is we we expect Wemby to get there eventually.

726
00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:53,680
Speaker 1: I mean, so that's it there.

727
00:43:54,040 --> 00:43:56,399
Speaker 2: I'm not counting sa bonusonas would have made said, I'm

728
00:43:56,400 --> 00:43:59,719
Speaker 2: not count Sabonus, but that's six because I believe those

729
00:43:59,719 --> 00:44:04,040
Speaker 2: six are locks. And I'm still not counting Embiid. I

730
00:44:04,120 --> 00:44:05,000
Speaker 2: just don't think he can.

731
00:44:05,680 --> 00:44:07,440
Speaker 1: Like I said, let's count him for I mean, we

732
00:44:07,719 --> 00:44:12,480
Speaker 1: left out Yannis. I mean, so we have not had

733
00:44:12,520 --> 00:44:17,560
Speaker 1: an American born MVP since James Harden in twenty eighteen, Yannest.

734
00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:23,239
Speaker 1: But we all get to Janis, Jokic, Embiid have won

735
00:44:23,280 --> 00:44:27,240
Speaker 1: the last five MVPs combined. Luka Doncic is a future MVP.

736
00:44:27,400 --> 00:44:29,960
Speaker 1: He hasn't won it yet, but he's considered right there

737
00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:32,439
Speaker 1: with those guys. So you start with those four and Shay,

738
00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:37,759
Speaker 1: I mean, that is a tremendous fivesome. I tried to

739
00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:39,080
Speaker 1: do this off the top of my head, but I

740
00:44:39,120 --> 00:44:41,200
Speaker 1: had to look it up because, as you know, I'm

741
00:44:41,239 --> 00:44:44,040
Speaker 1: old and washed and I can't remember stuff anymore. So

742
00:44:44,680 --> 00:44:47,279
Speaker 1: in my story, which is like I said, almost two

743
00:44:47,320 --> 00:44:49,839
Speaker 1: weeks ago, now, had the note in here that there

744
00:44:50,239 --> 00:44:55,640
Speaker 1: were fourteen international players on Opening Night rosters who have

745
00:44:55,920 --> 00:44:59,200
Speaker 1: been All Stars. Not all of them are currently All

746
00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:03,600
Speaker 1: Star level, but it's a good group. You've got Jannis

747
00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:09,200
Speaker 1: Luca and Beide, Shay, Rudy Gobert. Al Horford is obviously

748
00:45:09,239 --> 00:45:11,640
Speaker 1: no longer an All Star contender, but he has been

749
00:45:11,840 --> 00:45:15,600
Speaker 1: an All Star. Jokic Lowry Marketing, Porzingis has been an

750
00:45:15,640 --> 00:45:18,840
Speaker 1: All Star. SA Bonus was All NBA last season. Pascal

751
00:45:18,920 --> 00:45:23,600
Speaker 1: Siakam has recently been an All NBA selection. Ben Simmons

752
00:45:23,640 --> 00:45:26,920
Speaker 1: not in the All Star mix anymore. Nikolavucevich has been

753
00:45:26,960 --> 00:45:30,000
Speaker 1: an All Star fairly recently, Andrew Wiggins an All Star

754
00:45:30,040 --> 00:45:33,160
Speaker 1: fairly recently. So you throw Wemby in there with all

755
00:45:33,200 --> 00:45:35,239
Speaker 1: the names we've mentioned, and I think it's you know,

756
00:45:35,320 --> 00:45:40,000
Speaker 1: you can credibly say six, seven, eight, you can get

757
00:45:40,320 --> 00:45:45,040
Speaker 1: you can get to eight of twelve with strong arguments.

758
00:45:45,080 --> 00:45:48,040
Speaker 1: But but yeah, I mean, then then we're we're reaching.

759
00:45:48,719 --> 00:45:51,480
Speaker 1: And that's where I think the American guys are gonna say,

760
00:45:51,480 --> 00:45:55,000
Speaker 1: hold on a second, we are we reaching to get

761
00:45:55,040 --> 00:45:58,120
Speaker 1: to twelve Rest of the World stars, and then there's

762
00:45:58,160 --> 00:46:01,480
Speaker 1: three hundred plus American born players who now have to

763
00:46:01,960 --> 00:46:04,479
Speaker 1: scrap for twelve spots.

764
00:46:05,239 --> 00:46:07,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, that wouldn't be fair. It would not be fair.

765
00:46:09,160 --> 00:46:11,920
Speaker 2: So they got it. I don't know if you can

766
00:46:11,960 --> 00:46:15,359
Speaker 2: have an All Star game and have another game over

767
00:46:15,360 --> 00:46:17,600
Speaker 2: the weekend. You know, maybe Saturday night.

768
00:46:18,040 --> 00:46:19,600
Speaker 1: I don't see that.

769
00:46:22,040 --> 00:46:26,120
Speaker 2: Maybe Saturday night is the US versus the World. I

770
00:46:26,160 --> 00:46:32,239
Speaker 2: don't know. But you can't eliminate twelve all stars, you know.

771
00:46:32,440 --> 00:46:36,160
Speaker 2: You can't do that just and you can't make it

772
00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:41,040
Speaker 2: a reach to add on seven other All Stars for

773
00:46:41,080 --> 00:46:43,120
Speaker 2: the world team if they don't deserve it.

774
00:46:43,440 --> 00:46:46,080
Speaker 1: And you said, the Embiid question will be a great

775
00:46:46,120 --> 00:46:49,239
Speaker 1: one because if Embiid plays for the United States at

776
00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:50,440
Speaker 1: the Paris Olympics, like.

777
00:46:50,400 --> 00:46:54,040
Speaker 2: We will tell you, yeah, Stan, he will be criticized

778
00:46:54,120 --> 00:46:56,520
Speaker 2: if he plays on that world team. Where if the

779
00:46:56,600 --> 00:46:58,839
Speaker 2: NBA tries to make him play for that world team,

780
00:46:58,840 --> 00:47:01,480
Speaker 2: he will be criticized. You can't flip flop. You should be.

781
00:47:01,680 --> 00:47:05,600
Speaker 2: It should be whoever you play in the last Olympics,

782
00:47:06,120 --> 00:47:08,239
Speaker 2: whatever team you played for, whatever side you played for,

783
00:47:08,360 --> 00:47:11,120
Speaker 2: you should that should be a side you represent in

784
00:47:11,200 --> 00:47:14,400
Speaker 2: a supposedly US versus World type format.

785
00:47:14,600 --> 00:47:17,840
Speaker 1: So it will be interesting to see how it's gonna

786
00:47:17,840 --> 00:47:20,840
Speaker 1: happen someday it I think we have to start treating

787
00:47:20,880 --> 00:47:26,319
Speaker 1: that as an inevitability. But how soon, how soon? How

788
00:47:26,400 --> 00:47:31,239
Speaker 1: soon can we come up with twelve All Stars for

789
00:47:31,400 --> 00:47:36,319
Speaker 1: a theoretical Team World where all twelve players on the

790
00:47:36,440 --> 00:47:42,360
Speaker 1: roster are unquestioned All Star selections. Because I totally agree

791
00:47:42,400 --> 00:47:45,160
Speaker 1: with you. We are not. We can argue about certain guys,

792
00:47:45,160 --> 00:47:48,320
Speaker 1: but we're not at twelve. There are not twelve World

793
00:47:48,560 --> 00:47:52,160
Speaker 1: clearcut players who on Team World who should be All

794
00:47:52,160 --> 00:47:53,200
Speaker 1: Stars and Stein.

795
00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:55,440
Speaker 2: But but the thing is, you know, to their to

796
00:47:55,520 --> 00:47:59,360
Speaker 2: their quotes, you know their comments Adam Silver and Tatum.

797
00:48:00,160 --> 00:48:04,160
Speaker 2: Soon you know the world is coming, The world is coming,

798
00:48:04,520 --> 00:48:09,520
Speaker 2: you know. So maybe they're talking about, you know, eventually

799
00:48:09,600 --> 00:48:11,480
Speaker 2: when it does get to that point, it might take

800
00:48:11,520 --> 00:48:14,480
Speaker 2: two years, it might take three years for there to

801
00:48:14,560 --> 00:48:19,480
Speaker 2: be twelve to fifteen Louck World All Stars. And so

802
00:48:19,920 --> 00:48:22,359
Speaker 2: if they're waiting, if they're talking about then, and I'm

803
00:48:22,360 --> 00:48:25,759
Speaker 2: fine with that, But we're not there now. I don't

804
00:48:25,760 --> 00:48:27,080
Speaker 2: know we'll be there next year either.

805
00:48:28,080 --> 00:48:31,360
Speaker 1: Yeah, And like I said, beyond what you or I

806
00:48:31,480 --> 00:48:36,520
Speaker 1: might say, I'm really interested to hear when this question

807
00:48:36,640 --> 00:48:40,040
Speaker 1: gets thrown more at players. And something tells me that

808
00:48:40,120 --> 00:48:43,480
Speaker 1: at this All Star Game in Indianapolis, when we go

809
00:48:43,560 --> 00:48:45,920
Speaker 1: back to an East and West format, this will be

810
00:48:45,960 --> 00:48:49,400
Speaker 1: a question that comes up for the All Star participants,

811
00:48:49,440 --> 00:48:53,160
Speaker 1: and I'm really curious to hear what veteran All Stars

812
00:48:53,200 --> 00:48:58,320
Speaker 1: have to say about a USA against the World format

813
00:48:58,440 --> 00:49:02,200
Speaker 1: and how close are we. I really want to hear

814
00:49:02,239 --> 00:49:05,439
Speaker 1: the player's opinions on that one. All right, I think

815
00:49:05,480 --> 00:49:09,240
Speaker 1: that will do it for this edition of This League Uncut.

816
00:49:09,320 --> 00:49:11,600
Speaker 1: We will be back with you very very soon. We

817
00:49:11,680 --> 00:49:15,120
Speaker 1: got to sort out exactly when we will tape the

818
00:49:15,160 --> 00:49:18,880
Speaker 1: next episode. We'll be working around Chris's schedule as he

819
00:49:18,960 --> 00:49:24,320
Speaker 1: makes his way to Denver for Clippers Nuggets on Tuesday night. Everyone,

820
00:49:24,800 --> 00:49:27,960
Speaker 1: thanks a miil for joining us. As always, please remember

821
00:49:29,120 --> 00:49:34,360
Speaker 1: to rate, review, and subscribe to This League Uncut wherever

822
00:49:34,400 --> 00:49:38,560
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts, Apple, Spotify, any other podcast provider.

823
00:49:38,600 --> 00:49:43,520
Speaker 1: If you haven't already, please do so. Please join us

824
00:49:43,560 --> 00:49:47,600
Speaker 1: soon again, and that'll do it for us. See you

825
00:49:47,680 --> 00:49:57,080
Speaker 1: next time. This League Uncut is and iHeartRadio production. Chris

826
00:49:57,120 --> 00:50:10,399
Speaker 1: Haines and Mark Stein