Speaker 1: Welcome in What's Driving the Great Episode three oh five,
Speaker 1: Fresh off vacation back from New Zealand, I have an
Speaker 1: amazing ability to not be jet lagged at all while
Speaker 1: on vacation, hit the ground running half a world away
Speaker 1: in New Zealand, landed at five am Sunday, New Zealand time.
Speaker 1: It immediately started traveling, traversing, exploring, and then since I've
Speaker 1: been back to the States, I've slept for three hours
Speaker 1: about every twelve hours and have no idea what day
Speaker 1: it is or what's going on. So I'm actually grateful
Speaker 1: of that ability that I don't waste my vacation sleeping
Speaker 1: and jet lag. But it is made today. I don't
Speaker 1: know what day it is, but we're back. I have
Speaker 1: been waiting for the better part of a week to
Speaker 1: discuss this story. We didn't even do it on the
Speaker 1: TV show yesterday, in part because Brew wasn't back yet,
Speaker 1: but also because I wanted to. I'm going to go
Speaker 1: long on this face of the league's stuff. So first,
Speaker 1: Demonse welcome in. Demanse also has some things he wants
Speaker 1: to get off his chest about. I think Jason Tatum
Speaker 1: and Shadora Sanders are both of these correct.
Speaker 2: Yes, both of those are correct, and then things, but
Speaker 2: we're gonna hit on those naturally.
Speaker 1: Or right, We're gonna throughout the flow of the show.
Speaker 1: I will admit this opening will I'm hoping to keep
Speaker 1: this rant under twenty because I, in theory, would like
Speaker 1: to be able to post the entire thing, not just
Speaker 1: to YouTube, but to other social media because I think
Speaker 1: it's I'm gonna sound self aggrandizing. I think it's important
Speaker 1: and it's gonna be a little bit of history and
Speaker 1: a little bit of a course correction from I think
Speaker 1: some people who are playing fast and loose with what
Speaker 1: actually has happened in the past and how we actually
Speaker 1: in the past have treated other NBA superstars, which has
Speaker 1: led to the current angst of this crop of NBA superstars.
Speaker 1: Before we get to any of that, what missed the
Speaker 1: cut The Bengals are franchise tagging T Higgins. I do
Speaker 1: not understand what the Bengals are doing. More on that
Speaker 1: on Thursday NFL Combine reactions. I didn't watch a second
Speaker 1: of it all. Catch up on that this week and
Speaker 1: John Cena turns heel fellas. I should have made this.
Speaker 1: I should have made this note to the producers off
Speaker 1: the air, but we can do it on the air.
Speaker 1: I suppose the WWE doesn't even qualify quite for the
Speaker 1: miss the Cut category. Nothing against our friends at Pro Wrestling,
Speaker 1: but I'm not I don't know enough about any of
Speaker 1: it in order to even have I don't know if
Speaker 1: they I feel naked when it comes to analyzing that.
Speaker 1: So that'll be your first and last wrestling update on
Speaker 1: the What's Right Pod. But where we have to start
Speaker 1: today is with what Lebron James said, what was said
Speaker 1: about what he said, and how we got here. So
Speaker 1: first the level set of what happened. Anthony Edwards was
Speaker 1: asked about being face of the league and he was like,
Speaker 1: I don't really have an interest in it. I just
Speaker 1: want a ball. Lebron was then asked about that as
Speaker 1: the face of the league, and Lebron said, yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't blame him. Why would you want to be when
Speaker 1: all the people who talk about our league And it
Speaker 1: seemed like he was about to say former players, but
Speaker 1: the and media, but instead it was just a catch all,
Speaker 1: just shit on the players. And then as Bomani Jones
Speaker 1: would say, hit dog, gone holler, and then all the
Speaker 1: guys who Lebron was talking about doth protested too much.
Speaker 1: So the first one was stephen A, who did a
Speaker 1: five minute rant in response to Lebron that and I'm
Speaker 1: not I am not exaggerating when i say this. In
Speaker 1: the first ninety seconds of stephen A responding to Lebron
Speaker 1: saying that the biggest voices in the media just go
Speaker 1: after you repeatedly, particularly if you're the face of the league.
Speaker 1: In the first ninety seconds of a response to that,
Speaker 1: stephen A blamed Lebron James for the following the downfall
Speaker 1: of the Slam Dunk contest, the lockout in twenty eleven,
Speaker 1: and the Chris Paul Laker trade being mixed. He put
Speaker 1: it all Lebron's feet. He's like ruin the dunk contests
Speaker 1: because you wouldn't participate, and then said the decision was
Speaker 1: what led to the owners locking the players out and
Speaker 1: changing the collective bargaining agreement, and then threw the CP
Speaker 1: three trade in as kind of a little dessert after
Speaker 1: a delicious entree and didn't really, to my ear, address
Speaker 1: any of what Lebron actually said. And then and I
Speaker 1: couldn't believe this, and let me say this as well,
Speaker 1: I have a really good relationship with steven A. I
Speaker 1: actually texted with him this morning, but he is so
Speaker 1: I don't want people to think that this is there's
Speaker 1: like media beef. But he knows this. We both have
Speaker 1: strong opinions. We disagree. I disagree with a lot of
Speaker 1: what he says. He's a big boy, grown man. He
Speaker 1: understands none of that's personal. And so I'm not I'm
Speaker 1: not trying to start something. That guy's a friend of mine.
Speaker 1: I just think he's out of his mind on some
Speaker 1: of this stuff. And then on his podcast and this
Speaker 1: I won't put on him. And you know, appreciate those
Speaker 1: producers of that podcast because they put us on their
Speaker 1: you know, friendly relationships. But and Demon's ay, this will
Speaker 1: blow your mind again in addressing Lebron James saying that
Speaker 1: if you're the face of the league, you get extra criticism,
Speaker 1: get shit on. When Steven A brought that up on
Speaker 1: his podcast, you know what video played alongside it, like
Speaker 1: the soundless what we call b roll highlights. Hand to god,
Speaker 1: it was Bronni's bad minutes against the Sixers. That's true.
Speaker 1: Go look, go watch so like again, I don't think
Speaker 1: that's stephen A's call, but it it doesn't exactly just
Speaker 1: spell the narrative that, well, yeah, you there might be
Speaker 1: a little a little unfairness here, And so that was
Speaker 1: his part of it. Bill Simmons, who is as loud
Speaker 1: and as respected and as important of an NBA voice
Speaker 1: as there is, who is an unabashed, obvious, diehard Celtic
Speaker 1: fan who has never really been what you'd call a
Speaker 1: Lebron guy, and Lebron's never been a Simmons guy. Simmons
Speaker 1: sent out the following tweets, Celts Cavs is a wonderful
Speaker 1: NBA game between two excellent teams that's included some terrific
Speaker 1: individual performances. This next game will be splendid too. We're
Speaker 1: so lucky to be able to watch great players like
Speaker 1: Luka Ancic, Lebron, James and James Harden battling it out tonight,
Speaker 1: just basically making fun. It's being like, this is ridiculous. Oh,
Speaker 1: everyone's got to be so positive. And then Bill went
Speaker 1: on a long history lesson on his pod this week
Speaker 1: where he was like, this is how it's always been,
Speaker 1: and then explained how we went after guys who either
Speaker 1: hadn't won or until they won, or very specific postseason
Speaker 1: failures in the moment, which is not at all what
Speaker 1: Lebron's talking about. Lebron was talking about the general conversation
Speaker 1: surrounding the league being constantly negative. And you know who
Speaker 1: totally agrees with Lebron that that's a problem, Bill Simmons.
Speaker 1: You know how I know that because on December thirty first,
Speaker 1: Bill Simmons did an NBA pod with the great Kirk
Speaker 1: Goldsbear that is titled The All Positive NBA Show with
Speaker 1: Kurt Goldsberry that he says at the beginning he's doing
Speaker 1: because the conversation surrounding the league has gotten too negative.
Speaker 1: So for some of these guys, even when Lebron says
Speaker 1: something they agree with, because it's Lebron saying it, they
Speaker 1: can't agree with it. And then Wilbond on the greatest
Speaker 1: sports TV show that's ever existed, pardon the interruption, did
Speaker 1: you know, did what he always does, which is whether
Speaker 1: it is while he's on the broadcast, when Lebron happens
Speaker 1: to past Magic Johnson for career assists, or when he's
Speaker 1: addressing Lebron's comments, can't help himself but make it clear,
Speaker 1: no matter how great these guys are. They're not quite
Speaker 1: as great as the guys that happened to be playing
Speaker 1: during my personal heyday covering the league. It's crazy how
Speaker 1: that works out, and we're yet to see what the
Speaker 1: chuckster's going to say, but we'll find out here very soon,
Speaker 1: and my guess is it'll be more of the same.
Speaker 1: So now that I've set the table on what happened,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, and then Lebron responded with tweets. It would
Speaker 1: appear this first tweet as a response to stephen A,
Speaker 1: where I wrote, exactly made my point. But anyways, happy
Speaker 1: this convo has started. It ain't about face of the game,
Speaker 1: and it ain't about one person or one show. It's
Speaker 1: about the culture of basketball. The most beautiful game in
Speaker 1: the world. Our game has never been better. Incredible young
Speaker 1: stars from all over the world and some older ones too,
Speaker 1: laughing emojis. Steph Curry should be all we're talking about today.
Speaker 1: This After you score fifty six, let's discuss how great,
Speaker 1: okay seeing the cav have been this season, won two
Speaker 1: complete different styles and breakdown why and how they have been.
Speaker 1: Of course, if players don't perform, we need to discuss
Speaker 1: that too and break that down even that can be
Speaker 1: discussed in a way, and this is the important piece
Speaker 1: of it. Even that can be discussed in a way
Speaker 1: that's not to bring finality to that player's game, but
Speaker 1: to leave room to see how that player responds, and
Speaker 1: let's watch the journey of that player. This ain't about
Speaker 1: me either. This is where I disagree with Lebron, and
Speaker 1: I'll get to that in a second. This sayin't about
Speaker 1: me either. At this point, I don't really care what's
Speaker 1: said about me. It's always something. This is about the
Speaker 1: impact the negativity is having on our beautiful game and
Speaker 1: our fans. I know I speak for a lot of
Speaker 1: the players, more importantly, a hell of a lot of
Speaker 1: great fans that truly love and celebrate this sport around
Speaker 1: the world. Hashtag mind the game than a cloud emoji,
Speaker 1: a brain emoji, and of course a crown emoji, because
Speaker 1: what would a Lebron tweet be without the crown emoji?
Speaker 1: All right? He then went on with my pal Scott
Speaker 1: van Pelt made a similar point after the Laker game,
Speaker 1: and now everyone's caught up. So to me, the question
Speaker 1: should be, is Lebron right that the coverage of the league,
Speaker 1: particularly for the super duper stars, face of the league
Speaker 1: caliber guys too negative and if he's right, how did
Speaker 1: we get here? So I do think he is correct,
Speaker 1: and I do think I have been a part of
Speaker 1: the problem at times. I'll explain how in a moment,
Speaker 1: and I think so where I disagree with him, where
Speaker 1: he says this isn't about him, it actually is almost
Speaker 1: entirely about him and one other person, because so much
Speaker 1: about how we currently cover the league has to do
Speaker 1: with how we covered Lebron James, because how he was
Speaker 1: covered has impacted how every other superstar, true super duperstar
Speaker 1: is covered. So this is a point I used to
Speaker 1: make about Prime Klay Thompson. The better example right now
Speaker 1: might be like Devin Booker, where I think those guys
Speaker 1: who are in the Jalen Brown Devin Booker tier of
Speaker 1: players like ten to twenty, if you were ranking them,
Speaker 1: might be in the actual sweet spot because they get
Speaker 1: the same MAX contract as the superstar as the super duperstars.
Speaker 1: But it is not a daily legacy referendum. When they
Speaker 1: play great in big spots, they're lauded. When they play
Speaker 1: poorly in big spots, it we usually look to instead
Speaker 1: the best player on their team and why didn't he
Speaker 1: do more? And that's I think what ants comments are
Speaker 1: referring to. While he wants to be this player on
Speaker 1: a team, obviously he sees man heavy is the head
Speaker 1: that wears the crown. And so that the reason I
Speaker 1: say this is about Lebron and one other person is
Speaker 1: the Lebron of it all? Is this? How many times
Speaker 1: have you been watching sports TV and heard a version
Speaker 1: of this? Sometimes by me? That's why I'll say, hand up,
Speaker 1: I'm part of it. Well, after a guy misses a
Speaker 1: big shot, or plays poorly in a big spot, or
Speaker 1: doesn't carry his team far enough, whatever it is, how
Speaker 1: many times have you heard this, Well, if we're Lebron,
Speaker 1: we'd be killing him. Well, if Lebron did that, And
Speaker 1: so the way Lebron was covered set a template to
Speaker 1: where it's how then Durant and Steph and Embiide and
Speaker 1: Giannis and Jokic, those MVP guys, Well, fair's fair did
Speaker 1: it to Lebron? So then we get to this question
Speaker 1: why did we cover Lebron that way? And that then
Speaker 1: gets to the other person in this story. The only
Speaker 1: name in all of NBA history bigger than Lebron's, and
Speaker 1: that's Michael Jordan, because so much of our basketball, and
Speaker 1: at this point it's not just basketball, it's overall sports
Speaker 1: commentary has been twisted is probably too strong of a word,
Speaker 1: but adjusted, tweaked, manicured to serve the legend of Michael Jordan.
Speaker 1: You hell you saw it in some of the reaction
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl and Mahomes getting a loss in
Speaker 1: the biggest game. It's like, oh boy, we all know
Speaker 1: those super Bowl losses count different than divisional round losses.
Speaker 1: That's a Michael Jordan argument. And when you look back
Speaker 1: at how we have covered this league for four years,
Speaker 1: there's only one guy, one guy who at each and
Speaker 1: every turn has benefited from him, and it's Michael. Let's
Speaker 1: go back to how we talk about the nineteen eighties
Speaker 1: as a decade. Who was the face of the league
Speaker 1: in the nineteen eighties, Oh, there wasn't a face. It
Speaker 1: was two guys. We've turned two guys into one person,
Speaker 1: Bird Magic. So why why was it not magic and
Speaker 1: bird or bird and magic separately? Well, in part is
Speaker 1: it because when we turn bird Magic into one person
Speaker 1: and don't give Larry Bird his kind of individual standing. Folks,
Speaker 1: right now, big enough, NBA fans to care about this,
Speaker 1: to be watching this pod to or to be watching
Speaker 1: this clip, probably don't know that Larry Bird and Michael Jordan,
Speaker 1: their teams played in six playoff games against each other,
Speaker 1: and Larry Bird was six and up, not in series
Speaker 1: in games disease, you know bird magic in the eighties.
Speaker 1: What we have totally erased one person's legacy from the
Speaker 1: If you ask die hard NBA fans, give me your
Speaker 1: top twenty five, twenty five players of all time, the
Speaker 1: vast majority are going to have every single guy that
Speaker 1: was the best player on multiple championships with one glaring omission,
Speaker 1: and it will be the same omission Isaiah Thomas. Why
Speaker 1: because part of part he is just he has been
Speaker 1: turned into a bit player. In the story of Michael
Speaker 1: Jordan partially erased a keeam's legend. Well, his championships came,
Speaker 1: you know, when Michael wasn't playing. Even though one of
Speaker 1: those championships came in a year Michael Jordan got MVP votes,
Speaker 1: we've glossed over. When people talk about Shaquille O'Neill, Shaquille O'Neill,
Speaker 1: does anyone have you ever heard someone make this point
Speaker 1: about his greatness at twenty three years old, he out
Speaker 1: played he was the best player on the court in
Speaker 1: a playoff series with Michael Jordan and beat him. No,
Speaker 1: we just pretend it didn't happen. And then the pia
Speaker 1: stay resistants of all that is the guy who was
Speaker 1: his wingman for the whole thing, Scotty. We we act
Speaker 1: like he was a just a a nineties run our
Speaker 1: test and that included in Michael's docs. So why am
Speaker 1: I explaining that in relation to this, Because it's not
Speaker 1: only that the guy that today's face of the league
Speaker 1: or the potential faces of the league have to deal
Speaker 1: with a constant teardown of what they have or haven't accomplished.
Speaker 1: It's that the last the previous guy, the all time
Speaker 1: face of the league, got the exact opposite treatment. And
Speaker 1: it is again, if you really look at it, we did.
Speaker 1: There's so much of how we consume today's NBA that
Speaker 1: is colored by how we have discussed and talked about
Speaker 1: these two players, Michael Jordan and Lebron James. When it
Speaker 1: comes to Michael, we elevate lesser players like Reggie Miller,
Speaker 1: who was a nice player. He was eighteen three and
Speaker 1: three for his career. He made zero first or second
Speaker 1: All Team nbas. That's who he was into a guy
Speaker 1: with almost legendary status. Why he had that great one
Speaker 1: series against Michael. You hear more about Craig Elo who
Speaker 1: Jordan hit the shotover than Sidney Moncrief who beat him
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. Was one of the best defensive players ever.
Speaker 1: Why we talk about the nineties Nicks, who had one
Speaker 1: All Star on their entire team for a decade like
Speaker 1: this legendary opponent. Why to build up the legend of
Speaker 1: the face of the league. Juxtaposed that to how Lebron
Speaker 1: when he was rolling through the East the way Michael
Speaker 1: was in the nineties. We didn't build up the sixty
Speaker 1: win Hawks, or the Paul George Pacers or the DeRozan
Speaker 1: Lowry Raptors into something bigger than they were. No, we
Speaker 1: went the opposite. That's the Yeah, yes, you made eight
Speaker 1: straight finals, but in that conference against those teams. What
Speaker 1: is it again? It's it's not that it's always been
Speaker 1: this way. It's not that it slowly became like this.
Speaker 1: It's that it did a one to eighty. There are
Speaker 1: just certain things that, again in service of one guy
Speaker 1: at the expense of the other. We've just decided, like
Speaker 1: someone in some bible, some sports bible somewhere decided coincidentally,
Speaker 1: right around the time that this guy Lebron was lapping
Speaker 1: the field in every category. Actually, you know what, longevity
Speaker 1: is not a factor in any of this. It's just
Speaker 1: you know what. And when it comes to how great
Speaker 1: a player is, how long he was great, nobody cares
Speaker 1: about that since when that was that was literally never
Speaker 1: a part of any logical sports discussion until again, so
Speaker 1: much of how we talk about today's league has to
Speaker 1: do with these two players. And then we get to
Speaker 1: the media piece of it, because Bill talked about this. Yes,
Speaker 1: Michael was criticized until he won, and then once he won,
Speaker 1: he was deified to a level an athlete in this
Speaker 1: country has never been deified. And so the guys this
Speaker 1: current generation, not this generation, the old guys of this generation, Lebron, Katie,
Speaker 1: those guys who watched that growing up thought, man, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna get that same treatment once I win and I'm
Speaker 1: great and I'm the face of the league, universal praise
Speaker 1: and adoration. And then the guys who gave that to Michael,
Speaker 1: like Wilbond, now say we're not on your payroll. Were
Speaker 1: you on Michaels because that's what he got people. It's
Speaker 1: it's all projection. People. People say to me and Shannon that, uh,
Speaker 1: you guys are They make up in their minds this
Speaker 1: tight relationship with Lebron that we must have while denying
Speaker 1: the reality of the pretend relationship that you're acting like
Speaker 1: that we have with Lebron a moderate shod actually had
Speaker 1: with Michael, my main man, Michael Jordan, the sideline reporter
Speaker 1: for the finals, was his dear friend and golf buddy.
Speaker 1: We we then act like people are being honest arbiters
Speaker 1: of this God love him. Built a huge portion of
Speaker 1: his career on a singular take, which was this guy
Speaker 1: will never be Michael Jordan, and nothing that he can
Speaker 1: do can ever change my mind on it. He could
Speaker 1: never move off that it was. It was the only
Speaker 1: through line other than his Cowboys fandom for his TV career,
Speaker 1: and in Woje, who at a point in time was
Speaker 1: not only a great reporter the best columnist in the
Speaker 1: in basketball media, got iced out by Lebron's camp and
Speaker 1: just eviscerated him for years and years and years. Simmons,
Speaker 1: who crushed Lebron's family during uh back when he was
Speaker 1: doing running diaries about the draft, and then Lebron never
Speaker 1: had a real relationship with him, and then Lebron annihilated Simmons.
Speaker 1: Celtics has always been a begrudging appreciator of what he
Speaker 1: has or hasn't done. And then there's like, there's other
Speaker 1: guys who's so much of their career is tied into Michael,
Speaker 1: whether it's Wilbon or why does Barkley get a pass
Speaker 1: for not winning while he ran into Michael Jordan? All
Speaker 1: of this, so you have a whole medium machine, and
Speaker 1: then folks have the audacity, the absolute audacity to act
Speaker 1: like it's shocking that that it's shocking that Lebron might
Speaker 1: occasionally push back or might say, you guys changed the
Speaker 1: rules mid game and this isn't how you've treated guys previously,
Speaker 1: and so that's what they're talking about, and I think
Speaker 1: it's reasonable. I don't know if there's a fix for it.
Speaker 1: I think maybe the fix for it is for when
Speaker 1: Lebron retires, this whole thing resets, but honestly, maybe not.
Speaker 1: All Right, we've got some breaking news here, Demons. Yeah, uh,
Speaker 1: this sucks. If you want to break it to the audience.
Speaker 1: Then we'll get into it.
Speaker 2: Kyrie. Kyrie tours ACL last night. I thought it was
Speaker 2: a hyper extension, but way.
Speaker 1: Worse, way worse. So a hyper extension can lead to
Speaker 1: a torn ACL. Uh like the when when when the
Speaker 1: hyper extension happens, you can then uh, then the ligaments
Speaker 1: are at risk and he tours a cl So for Kyrie,
Speaker 1: obviously you feel sick for him. I think Kyrie has
Speaker 1: handled the last couple of years about as well as
Speaker 1: any player could have. And I've been so impressed by him,
Speaker 1: and as far as on a dime, remaking his leader
Speaker 1: reputation and maturity reputation and kind of sage wisdom and
Speaker 1: all of that, I've never seen any like it like his.
Speaker 1: Him going from a guy who it's like, well, great player,
Speaker 1: but you're gonna have to deal with a bunch of
Speaker 1: other stuff to a guy where the other stuff is
Speaker 1: a huge part of his greatness. And it seemingly happened
Speaker 1: like on the trade to the Maps, and so you
Speaker 1: give him massive credit. You feel sick for him. I also,
Speaker 1: he's a pending free agent. How this impacts the contract
Speaker 1: he will or won't get. For a guy who turns
Speaker 1: thirty three in a few weeks. Maybe it's craven to
Speaker 1: talk about that immediately, but you think about that, and
Speaker 1: it concerns you. And the other thing you think about
Speaker 1: is this, since they traded Lukadncic, he was playing way
Speaker 1: too many minutes because they didn't have another ball handler
Speaker 1: and this is a and they left themselves with one creator,
Speaker 1: one ball handler. And now I mean the minutes he
Speaker 1: has played since the start of February. Let's go there, right,
Speaker 1: Luca was traded on February first, Okay, so perfect since
Speaker 1: the Luca trade forty two, forty forty two, forty four,
Speaker 1: forty thirty seven, thirty two in a blowout, forty thirty eight,
Speaker 1: thirty eight, and then last night, I it was now
Speaker 1: he was playing big minutes prior to that as well.
Speaker 1: Actually since Luca's injury, he was playing big minutes. But
Speaker 1: Luca was coming back, and Luca would have obviously would
Speaker 1: have been back, you know, well earlier than that.
Speaker 2: And going in on the maps, is this the maps
Speaker 2: topic right now?
Speaker 1: Yeah? We do it right now, like we might as
Speaker 1: well just get to it, uh, the because we have
Speaker 1: the breaking news on it, and so I I don't
Speaker 1: there's a lot of pieces to this Demon's that are
Speaker 1: inextricably tied to the Luca trade.
Speaker 2: Well, and yeah, with them not having the extra ball handler,
Speaker 2: but even the guy that they traded for was hurt
Speaker 2: since he got there, he played in what a half
Speaker 2: of a game, And I think with Nico Collins, with
Speaker 2: Anthony Davis being a known hurt player, that's something that
Speaker 2: you have to take into account, and like you're seeing
Speaker 2: that firsthand, and I just it was it was obviously
Speaker 2: a bad decision. Well, what was more likely to happen
Speaker 2: Anthony Davis getting hurt or Luka donc is just completely
Speaker 2: flaming out and being a entrance to your team.
Speaker 1: Well, so that so there were a million reasons that
Speaker 1: Luca trade made no sense, uh, even if all of
Speaker 1: your skepticism was correct about him. One was you were
Speaker 1: worried about his body, and so you trade for a
Speaker 1: guy who's six years older and Anthony Davis who has
Speaker 1: really worries about his body. Another one was you actually
Speaker 1: already had depth at center. What you didn't have depth
Speaker 1: that was shot creator. You trade a shot creator for
Speaker 1: the best shot creator arguably in basketball, and Luca for
Speaker 1: another big Another reason it was risky. Was your window
Speaker 1: with Luca was a decade? You then go Nico Harrison.
Speaker 1: You said Nico Collins as the receiver for the Texans,
Speaker 1: but I knew who he did? Uh? The You then
Speaker 1: go on TV and say your windows three to four years? Well,
Speaker 1: this year is done, now done, and next year's in jeopardy?
Speaker 1: Like are you and also are you going to re
Speaker 1: sign Kyrie Irving? Do you still have to? If you don't,
Speaker 1: what are you doing? There was a lot of, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of backburner rumors, demons that this could be a
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant destination next year, that Katie get back with Kyrie.
Speaker 1: You have Anthony Davis. From basketball standpoint, it would fit great. Okay, Well,
Speaker 1: now that's massively in question, Like I don't know, you
Speaker 1: tear your acl in March. If you're Kyrie, do you
Speaker 1: just miss all of next year? And shout out to
Speaker 1: Kyrie for shooting those free throws? You know, he obviously
Speaker 1: is as big of a Kobe fan as any active player.
Speaker 1: Kobe famous famously shot his free throws after he tore
Speaker 1: his achilles. You really really hope that Kyrie's career doesn't
Speaker 1: follow that same trajectory as far as Kobe was just
Speaker 1: never the same guy after that torn achilles. But I
Speaker 1: also think Kobe Kobe was thirty four when he tore
Speaker 1: his achilles. Kyrie is thirty two about to be thirty three,
Speaker 1: was Kobe? I'm looking up when so Kobe tore his
Speaker 1: achilles in April of thirteen. Kobe was born in August
Speaker 1: of Yeah, so he was thirty four August seventy eight.
Speaker 1: So I I just will the MAVs make There's so
Speaker 1: many tentacles to this and I'm reacting in real time. Well,
Speaker 1: the MAVs make the play in they're three and a
Speaker 1: half clear of Phoenix. Phoenix would be a at this
Speaker 1: point a more interesting team because of the kdum Booker factor,
Speaker 1: even though that team seems to just be ready for
Speaker 1: the season to end. But now that whoever gets that
Speaker 1: ten seed is dead on arrival, the MAVs have no
Speaker 1: who on the MAVs can create a shot, honest to God,
Speaker 1: Like last night after Kyrie went down, it's Dante exem
Speaker 1: you you know who you also fe I mean Kai Jones.
Speaker 1: Shout out to Kai Jones, by the way, who had
Speaker 1: some real personal demons and issues I shouldn't. Demons is
Speaker 1: too strong. I don't know that he had he had
Speaker 1: a it seemed like he might have had a drug problem,
Speaker 1: you know, and seems to have gotten himself clean and
Speaker 1: is you know, resuming his NBA career. So you root
Speaker 1: for young people like that, Like that was going down
Speaker 1: the wrong track. He ended up playing big minutes yesterday,
Speaker 1: or if they signed him, he goes nine to ten
Speaker 1: from the field. But I mean Klay Thompson signs there
Speaker 1: thinking I can catch and shoot. Well, who's who you're
Speaker 1: catching it from? Now? This isn't I think you know what,
Speaker 1: I think I did a bad job in my initial
Speaker 1: reaction to this.
Speaker 2: This is a just like the Luca eight trade.
Speaker 1: No, the Kyrie injury. I'm just in the last ten
Speaker 1: minutes because this is just an unmitigated disaster of historic proportions.
Speaker 1: And you who can say the injury is just bad luck,
Speaker 1: But that's only if you think that if Kyrie's workload
Speaker 1: was different, if his responsibility was different, if his ability
Speaker 1: to rest games, if need be was different, he still
Speaker 1: would have torn his ACL. I don't think that. And
Speaker 1: the MAVs, who are the defending Western Conference champions, decided
Speaker 1: without the player forcing them or even asking them to
Speaker 1: decided I am going to blow this entire thing up
Speaker 1: and take a risk that's unprecedented in NBA history. And
Speaker 1: within a month of the trade, the piece you traded
Speaker 1: for who was injured when you made the trade got
Speaker 1: hurt again. And the guard in this league that maybe
Speaker 1: at this point honestly has more responsibility to his team
Speaker 1: than any other guard in the league because of how
Speaker 1: the rosters constructed post Luca, you use him in a
Speaker 1: potentially reckless manner and his historically shaky knees get one
Speaker 1: of them gives out on it, and now you're just cooked.
Speaker 1: And you're a team that does not have your own
Speaker 1: draft pick for twenty seven through thirty. So that's the
Speaker 1: other like they MAV's future draft picks. I talked about
Speaker 1: this the other day, so I kind of know it already.
Speaker 1: But here's what it is. Outgoing draft picks. In twenty
Speaker 1: twenty seven, it goes to Charlotte in twenty twenty eight,
Speaker 1: okase can swap with them. In twenty twenty nine, it
Speaker 1: goes to Houston or Phoenix. In twenty thirty. I think
Speaker 1: the Spurs can swap with them, but twenty seven, twenty eight,
Speaker 1: twenty nine, and thirty you do not have your own pick.
Speaker 1: And two of those years, yeah you will have someone's pick.
Speaker 1: But okay, the in twenty seven it just goes to Charlotte.
Speaker 1: In twenty eight, okay, see can swap with you. In
Speaker 1: twenty nine, Houston can swap with you, and thirty the
Speaker 1: Spurs can swap with you. So if you bought them out,
Speaker 1: it doesn't do you any good. I I don't know.
Speaker 1: The only reason demons. I think Nico Harrison survives this
Speaker 1: is because Patrick Dumont, the owner, came out and did
Speaker 1: his own press conference where he was like, two thumbs
Speaker 1: up to the trade. You gotta be a grinder like
Speaker 1: Shaquille O'Neill and Larry Bird were never drank, never party
Speaker 1: and just all ball and and I'm yeah, of course,
Speaker 1: and I am just sick for Kyrie. Man. This sucks
Speaker 1: and it's it's a lot of money. And I know
Speaker 1: nobody cares about the money part of this with pro athletes,
Speaker 1: but Kyrie had cost himself a lot of money the
Speaker 1: previous few years and left money on the table, and
Speaker 1: then because of his own excellent play and the desperation
Speaker 1: of the MAVs post, Luca was in a spot where
Speaker 1: he was going to get that max deal, and now
Speaker 1: I don't know what it means for him. This is devastating.
Speaker 1: Oh god, so oh hold on, So that's interesting. So
Speaker 1: that's probably what he'll do. Well, I don't know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, he has a player option, but I don't
Speaker 1: know that. I so he could pick up the player
Speaker 1: option for forty four million, but I think it's more
Speaker 1: likely he opts out and still gets a new deal.
Speaker 1: I just don't think it'll be a four year max
Speaker 1: like so it's if it were a career ending injury,
Speaker 1: which it's not, then you just opt into your player option.
Speaker 1: I don't think that's what's gonna happen. But I'm just
Speaker 1: devastated for Kyrie. I'm not listening, and I'm devastating for
Speaker 1: MAVs fans. Thirty days and your entire basketball world is
Speaker 1: just you went from having one of the brightest futures
Speaker 1: of any team in the league to its as dark
Speaker 1: as it gets. And all of a sudden, Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: is back on the Pelicans.
Speaker 2: And they're raising the prices in the stadium for Fatigua.
Speaker 1: Well, that's another thing. I saw that story. It's just
Speaker 1: a tone deaf timing of the announcement. I don't understand
Speaker 1: that piece of it at all, but just joining us
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving torn acl that was the fear last night.
Speaker 1: I am amazed by the way quick sidebar. I am
Speaker 1: constantly amazed at how accurate those sports me Edison folks
Speaker 1: on Twitter are by watching the video of something and
Speaker 1: saying what injury the guy suffered. I think those guys
Speaker 1: that I follow on Twitter bat like eight hundred. I
Speaker 1: think four out of five they nail just by watching
Speaker 1: one video. And it's listen, I know nothing about science
Speaker 1: or medicine, but it's always impressive to me. All right,
Speaker 1: So we'll get to the rest of the show here
Speaker 1: in a minute, But first a note from our friends
Speaker 1: at DraftKings. Who's scoring big in the NBA this season?
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Speaker 1: go to the DraftKings sportsbook app and make your pick.
Speaker 1: I don't even remember who we picked before our break,
Speaker 1: but I know we're picking tonight. So I looked at
Speaker 1: these this morning. So there's two, there's one over, one under.
Speaker 1: I like a lot tonight. I'm looking at Karl Anthony
Speaker 1: Towns over twenty two and a half points tonight. So
Speaker 1: you might say, why are you going Karl Anthony Towns
Speaker 1: over twenty two and a half? Well, I don't know
Speaker 1: if you guys remember, but not that long ago, the
Speaker 1: Knicks were playing the Knicks were playing the Nuggets, that's
Speaker 1: what it was, and Karl Anthony Towns was guarding Nikola Jokic,
Speaker 1: and Draymond popped off on Twitter, essentially saying like, that's
Speaker 1: the soft way to play defense. You'll never beat him
Speaker 1: in the playoffs playing him that way, ignoring the fact that,
Speaker 1: of course they beat them in the playoffs last year,
Speaker 1: that Carl Lynon Towns's team did. And I know that
Speaker 1: I know Draymond doesn't think. That's because Rudy Gobert was great.
Speaker 1: So the reason I'm telling that story is I think
Speaker 1: Carl Anthony Town's gonna have a chip on his shoulder tonight.
Speaker 1: I think he's too big for Draymond. I think carlnon
Speaker 1: Down's over twenty two and a half. And I'm gonna
Speaker 1: take Austin Reeves under twenty and a half. Why coming
Speaker 1: off the injury playing a terrible Pels team. I don't
Speaker 1: think he plays big minutes. Because the Lakers have a
Speaker 1: tough stretch coming up, they ease him back in. So
Speaker 1: I'll take carlyon Downs over twenty two and a half,
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Speaker 1: slash b ball. All right, demons, let's go to a
Speaker 1: different lebron story real quick again. We're gonna kind of
Speaker 1: rapid fire through some of the end of this show,
Speaker 1: but go ahead.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so he's one point away from being the first
Speaker 2: player to reach fifty thousand points now that is regular
Speaker 2: in postseason combined, but still obviously really impressive. And he's also,
Speaker 2: despite being his age, playing some of the best basketball
Speaker 2: of his career. Should we keep looking at stats with Lebron?
Speaker 2: What's going on here?
Speaker 1: Okay? So, I don't think it's fair to say he's
Speaker 1: playing some of the best basketball of his career. I
Speaker 1: do think he's playing some of the best basketball of
Speaker 1: his Lakers career. I also think that there is a
Speaker 1: difference between compiling and continued excellence, and that is the
Speaker 1: point that I will make when it comes to Lebron
Speaker 1: getting to fifty thousand career points. So playoffs, regular season combined,
Speaker 1: Lebron's at forty nine nine, which by the way, doesn't
Speaker 1: include any of the points he has scored in the
Speaker 1: play in games or the nd season tournament championship. So
Speaker 1: he's passed fifty thousand already. But that's fine. So he's
Speaker 1: at fifty thousand, Kareem's at forty four thousand and change,
Speaker 1: Karl Malone is at forty one thousand, change, Kobe at
Speaker 1: thirty nine thousand, Michael at thirty eight thousand, and Dirk
Speaker 1: at thirty five thousand. Okay, those are your top six,
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant seventh and thirty five thousand as well. The
Speaker 1: reason I say continued excellence is Kareem when he scored
Speaker 1: his forty four thousandth point was in the midst of
Speaker 1: the worst season of his career, his final season when
Speaker 1: he averaged ten points per game. Karl Malone when he
Speaker 1: scored his forty one thousandth point, which was the end
Speaker 1: was an injury riddled year with the Lakers, the worst
Speaker 1: season of his career, when he averaged thirteen points per game.
Speaker 1: Kobe when he scored the final the thirty nine thousandth
Speaker 1: point of his career, again eleven thousand less than Lebron's
Speaker 1: at he was in the midst of the final year
Speaker 1: of his career when he shot thirty six percent from
Speaker 1: the field and averaged eighteen points per game. Michael when
Speaker 1: he scored his what was his number, sorry he get
Speaker 1: thirty eight thousandth point, He was in his second year
Speaker 1: with the Wizards, averaging twenty points per game, the worst
Speaker 1: year of his career. And Dirk when he scored his
Speaker 1: thirty five thousandth point was in his final year with Dallas,
Speaker 1: shooting thirty six percent when he averaged seven points per game.
Speaker 1: So it's not just that Lebron has been available and
Speaker 1: played this much, it's that he is going to cross
Speaker 1: fifty thousand in a year when he's averaging twenty five,
Speaker 1: eight and nine, when he is one of three players
Speaker 1: in the league in the top twenty five in points, rebounds,
Speaker 1: and assists per game, when he is going to either
Speaker 1: be first or second team All NBA, and where he
Speaker 1: is going to finish fourth, fifth or sixth in the
Speaker 1: MVP race. Probably to be playing at this level this
Speaker 1: deep in your career, that's where the stats have to matter,
Speaker 1: and that's where we can't get numb to it, and
Speaker 1: when you're on a real contender, which gets us to
Speaker 1: our next topic. Go ahead to manz La is now.
Speaker 2: The two seed and Lucas seems to be mentioned pretty
Speaker 2: well with the Lakers. He's starting to pop out, looking
Speaker 2: very comfortable. And now the Lakers are currently plus fifteen
Speaker 2: hundred and tied for fourth to win the finals. They
Speaker 2: do have the third hardest remaining strength to schedule. How's
Speaker 2: it looking over there at LA Do we feel about that?
Speaker 1: I mean, I think they can win the title.
Speaker 2: I think you can get there for sure.
Speaker 1: I think Boston would be a brutal matchup. Yeah, but
Speaker 1: I don't. But Cleveland might be a tough matchup for Boston,
Speaker 1: and I so I think they can. So here's the thing.
Speaker 2: Beat up on the on the Calves, beat up on
Speaker 2: them a little bit before they get there. Yeah, or
Speaker 2: the Calves beat them right exactly.
Speaker 1: The Calves could beat him. What the Here is the
Speaker 1: the perfect scenario for the Lakers, And it's gonna be
Speaker 1: very hard to thread this needle because, as you mentioned,
Speaker 1: third hardest schedule, it's gonna be hard to stay as
Speaker 1: the two. The perfect scenario for the Lakers is to
Speaker 1: stay as the two or the three and have Denver
Speaker 1: drop to the four or the five and have Denver
Speaker 1: Okse both on the other side of the bracket and
Speaker 1: have to play each other in round two and have
Speaker 1: that be ah because I think the Lakers could beat
Speaker 1: one of those teams. I don't think they could beat
Speaker 1: both of those teams. But they have the number one
Speaker 1: defense in the league over the last twenty games, that's
Speaker 1: a quarter of the season. You are getting elite production
Speaker 1: on both ends from Lebron and Luca is slowly turning
Speaker 1: back into Luca that and also, man, I the I'm
Speaker 1: gonna eat some of your follow up questions here to
Speaker 1: Monte because we don't have a ton of time anyone
Speaker 1: still caping for Darvinham? Was dark just a Lebron scapegoat.
Speaker 1: Did Lebron just hire his podcast buddy or did the
Speaker 1: Lakers have a massive problem at the head coach position
Speaker 1: the last few years and they're way better now? And listen,
Speaker 1: I haven't been. I wasn't a big JJ guy. I
Speaker 1: was really worried about his ability to handle the media,
Speaker 1: which is weird from a guy who was in the media.
Speaker 1: But and so I'm not going to act like I
Speaker 1: thought this was a home run higher I didn't. But
Speaker 1: I did think they needed to move on from Ham.
Speaker 1: And I did hear people say Lebron gets his way again,
Speaker 1: gets his podcast buddy as the head coach. Okay, if
Speaker 1: that's the case, does he get credit? I'm just curious.
Speaker 1: I just want to I don't know the rules of
Speaker 1: this stuff. I know that Lebron made them trade all
Speaker 1: their future for Anthony Davis? How did that turn out? Well?
Speaker 1: Lebron making them trade for Anthony Davis got them a
Speaker 1: championship and Luka Doncic does that at least even out
Speaker 1: Lebron making them trade for Russell Westbrook and Lebron made
Speaker 1: them higher. Jj Reddick, well, when he potentially wins Coach
Speaker 1: of the Year this year or at least finishes in
Speaker 1: the top three, does Lebron get to at least take
Speaker 1: a picture with the trophy? I don't know. All right,
Speaker 1: another team with that has skyrocketed on the championship ods
Speaker 1: the Warriors. Let's do them Warriors.
Speaker 2: Jimmy Butler, Man, they're looking good as well. Steph Curry's
Speaker 2: out there, Duncan, but Jimmy Butler might have given him
Speaker 2: a little bit of life of Golden State is currently
Speaker 2: plus fifteen hundred and also time for fourth to win
Speaker 2: the finals. How we feel about them?
Speaker 1: I don't think they can win the West. I do
Speaker 1: think that they now can win a playoff series, but
Speaker 1: we got to see where they fall. So they have
Speaker 1: fought their way out of the play in line for now,
Speaker 1: but it's tenuous. I don't think they're gonna catch Houston.
Speaker 1: So Houston is the five seed and is four games
Speaker 1: up on the Warriors. I do think it is valuable
Speaker 1: for the Warriors to stay the six, but that's six
Speaker 1: line unless yeh. If Denver or the Lakers drop down
Speaker 1: to the four to five, then the six line could
Speaker 1: be valuable. If they don't, then that six line could
Speaker 1: be deadly, man, because you're playing the Lakers or Denver
Speaker 1: and round one, the Warriors, you know, don't have I
Speaker 1: don't think the roster to deal with the Lakers, and
Speaker 1: they've got no one to deal with Joker. Well nobody does.
Speaker 1: And so right now they've got twenty eight losses, The
Speaker 1: Clippers have twenty eight losses, the Kings of twenty eight losses,
Speaker 1: and then the Timbrels are sitting there with twenty nine losses.
Speaker 1: So do I think the Warriors in round one could
Speaker 1: beat Memphis? Yes? Do I think they could beat Houston? Yes?
Speaker 1: Do I think they could beat Okay see the Lakers
Speaker 1: or Denver? I do not, So I don't. I to me,
Speaker 1: there's three teams that can win the West Okay see
Speaker 1: Denver and the Lakers. I do think the Warriors, though,
Speaker 1: gave themselves a puncher's chance, which you are obligated to
Speaker 1: do when you have one of the fifteen greatest players
Speaker 1: ever in Steph Curry and he's still playing at a
Speaker 1: high level. You're obligated. Go ahead.
Speaker 2: Well, do you think Jimmy Butler, being the player that
Speaker 2: he is and how he is in with previous teams,
Speaker 2: that this is just like the honeymoon phase. It's good
Speaker 2: that you know the new car smell. Do you think
Speaker 2: it'll flame out Jimmy Butler potentially gets.
Speaker 1: Oh, I mean listen at some point because everything ends
Speaker 1: poorly with Jimmy. But they don't need to worry about
Speaker 1: that right now. I think they that when they when
Speaker 1: they signed up for it, like Jimmy at the end
Speaker 1: will be bad, But if you get a couple of
Speaker 1: years of playoff Jimmy, it's worth it. That's just who
Speaker 1: he is at this point. So yeah, I don't think
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty seven this looks good. But right now
Speaker 1: you gave yourself a fighting chance. All right. Before we
Speaker 1: get to a little Tatum and Shador, let me tell
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Speaker 1: more updates and recipes. All Right, Demons turn the tables
Speaker 1: a bit. I now ask you a question, which is,
Speaker 1: so you are you want to come to the defense
Speaker 1: of your guide, Jason Tatum. So what's happening with Jason
Speaker 1: Tatum that he needs defending and how do you want
Speaker 1: to defend him?
Speaker 2: Yeah? See, that's what I wasn't trying to put on
Speaker 2: a cape and they'd be like, hey, guys, stop making
Speaker 2: fun of Jason Tatum. But at the same time, like
Speaker 2: I just you know, they blew the game to the
Speaker 2: Calves over the course of three quarters. The other day
Speaker 2: he does the f out of here and everybody jumps
Speaker 2: on that they went up over I think it was
Speaker 2: like twenty five to three against the Calves. It's like
Speaker 2: everybody's killing them, Like play the whole game through. They're
Speaker 2: up twenty five to three in the first quarter. I
Speaker 2: just don't understand it as like why everybody's acting like
Speaker 2: he blew that lead in the last like minute and
Speaker 2: a half the game. It's a long basketball game. People
Speaker 2: are gonna talk mess. I feel like other guys don't
Speaker 2: get killed for that. But it's it's just Tatum people.
Speaker 2: People just love the back of them.
Speaker 1: He here's the thing, And like I can't explain it. Uh,
Speaker 1: But I think people since an inauthenticity with him, and
Speaker 1: it turns some of them off, Like so you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. I just think I think whatever he
Speaker 1: gets the opposite of what Anthony Edwards gets. So Anthony
Speaker 1: Edwards is kind of a goofball on a lot of stuff.
Speaker 1: He's already gotten suspence, He's already at sixteen textas gets
Speaker 1: suspended for it, throws the ball into the crowd, curses
Speaker 1: like a junior high schooler. Seems to be kind of
Speaker 1: reckless off the court, let's say, but he seems so
Speaker 1: incredibly comfortable with exactly who he is. People are drawn
Speaker 1: to that. I think oddly people get the opposite feeling
Speaker 1: from Tatum, like he's always performing, and so I think
Speaker 1: people are more skeptical.
Speaker 2: When he said I out of here, I feel like
Speaker 2: that was probably closer to him than wouldever the other
Speaker 2: answer it. Like, I feel I feel like that was
Speaker 2: him kind of coming out, I don't want to say,
Speaker 2: coming out of his shell. Like it's like Jason Tamy's
Speaker 2: obviously been in the NBA for a while.
Speaker 1: No I get the finals, but uh's and then maybe
Speaker 1: so maybe he gets criticized either way. All right. Now
Speaker 1: you also, so we have questions about Shore Sanders the quarterback.
Speaker 1: Other people seem to have a questions about Sure Sanders
Speaker 1: the leaders personality, those things. You have a different question.
Speaker 2: I think, go ahead, Well it's not really a question,
Speaker 2: but I saw that where is that he was a
Speaker 2: little difficult with the team meetings or whatever and the
Speaker 2: combine He's like, if you don't want to change the culture,
Speaker 2: don't get me. And my thoughts on that are just like, hey, dude,
Speaker 2: wherever you go, please you better change the culture. Make
Speaker 2: sure you do that, because I don't understand why people
Speaker 2: do that, Like I understand, like you know, I don't
Speaker 2: want to make it like I don't have that dog
Speaker 2: in me and like be like why I put those
Speaker 2: types of types of pressures on myself. But at the
Speaker 2: same time, I feel like there's also a better way
Speaker 2: to do that, that way saying it like that, it's
Speaker 2: just what do you talk about, dude?
Speaker 1: Well it also here's the other piece of it. It does,
Speaker 1: but it welcomes the question of did he change the
Speaker 1: culture or did Dion because Dion ain't gonna be there,
Speaker 1: and so like that there is that piece of it.
Speaker 1: I like Shidor the kid. I thought he had some
Speaker 1: crummy tweets about a year and a half ago about
Speaker 1: some teammates.
Speaker 2: I didn't love that his dad, I'm pretty sure right,
Speaker 2: but that was.
Speaker 1: But he's a I think for the most part, he
Speaker 1: has handled fame and wealth far better than most young
Speaker 1: people would. So I give him real credit for that,
Speaker 1: and everyone that's been around him is really impressed by him.
Speaker 1: I just don't know if he's going to be a
Speaker 1: top flight NFL quarterback, and I think he could sl
Speaker 1: come the draft way further than most people think. Uh
Speaker 1: And so like there is that piece. I'm gonna add
Speaker 1: one other thing before we get to the listener questions.
Speaker 1: So almost a decade ago, right around the time that
Speaker 1: I moved to LA and was commuting LA to Houston,
Speaker 1: Demanse started playing for a high level A This isn't
Speaker 1: about what you said last night. Demanse started playing for
Speaker 1: a high level AU basketball team called Basketball University that
Speaker 1: DeMont listened. Demanse went to a six A high school
Speaker 1: in Houston and was team MVP in all district. Is
Speaker 1: a junior for a school with three thousand kids. Demanse
Speaker 1: was a legitimately high Major D one recruitable basketball player
Speaker 1: and was playing on a summer team league team that
Speaker 1: I think it's fair to say, tell me if I'm
Speaker 1: you know, offending you here had seven kids who were
Speaker 1: better than.
Speaker 2: You on that white team. Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's
Speaker 2: that's what they were telling me. I'd be like the
Speaker 2: eighth or ninth option.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, and I think and I think
Speaker 1: it was fair. I mean I think they were. I
Speaker 1: mean it was.
Speaker 2: I mean, they had a couple, might be a couple
Speaker 2: that I might not have agreed with, but for the
Speaker 2: most part sor but like at least.
Speaker 1: The day you walked in, there were seven kids better
Speaker 1: than yes, whatever it was. So the point that I'm
Speaker 1: making is demand was a legit awesome basketball player and
Speaker 1: got with a team that had nothing but legit awesome
Speaker 1: basketball players. And they were all your age except for
Speaker 1: one kid. They were all kids that were going to
Speaker 1: be seniors, except for one kid who was going to
Speaker 1: be a sophomore, who was, to my eye, just so,
Speaker 1: you better than everybody.
Speaker 2: Oh you said it. It's really funny. From the jump.
Speaker 2: I don't know like what got the conversation started. But
Speaker 2: back in that time, like we went back home or something.
Speaker 2: Somebody had asked about practice, and somebody asked about Quentin
Speaker 2: and you just finally said, like, the kid's gonna go
Speaker 2: to the NBA. You're just like, yeah, he's definitely going
Speaker 2: to the NBA. And yes, So there was one kid
Speaker 2: there ruined a part of the story, but that.
Speaker 1: No, it's totally fine because he didn't say the full name,
Speaker 1: who was fifteen years old, who was not the biggest
Speaker 1: kid and did not have the best shot, but was
Speaker 1: just clearly the best. And I was like, oh, that
Speaker 1: kid's a pro. It was like, that kid is a pro.
Speaker 1: And I and I told, I told demonsday after the
Speaker 1: first practice, it's like, that kid's a pro. And then
Speaker 1: I followed him and he was His name's Quinton Grimes
Speaker 1: and coming out of high school he was the number
Speaker 1: eight kid in the nation by Rivals five star. Went
Speaker 1: to Kansas and had one of the weirdest years of
Speaker 1: any player I've ever seen, because I really was invested
Speaker 1: in this kid, because I really liked his dad, Because
Speaker 1: I would the practices were so far away, it's like
Speaker 1: an hour drive to go to the practice, that I
Speaker 1: would just stay. I wasn't really like a helicopter dad
Speaker 1: of this stuff, but I'm not. There's nowhere for me
Speaker 1: to go, so I'd stay and watch Quinton. In his
Speaker 1: first ever college game for Kansas against Michigan State as
Speaker 1: a true freshman, had twenty one and four on fifty
Speaker 1: percent shooting, hit six threes. In his second college game ever,
Speaker 1: he had ten and ten, ten points, ten assists, and
Speaker 1: then just never played well for them again. Had won,
Speaker 1: like I lost law. I think it remained a starter,
Speaker 1: but just was awesome his first two games and then
Speaker 1: I don't know, like I didn't follow it enough to
Speaker 1: be like, did he have falling out with the coach?
Speaker 1: What was it? I don't know, But by game five
Speaker 1: was playing fifteen minutes and then it just never in
Speaker 1: the tournament, you know, was two for ten in the
Speaker 1: first tournament game. It just didn't work and he ended
Speaker 1: up uh transferring to Houston, and by the end of
Speaker 1: his time at Houston he played. So he was supposed
Speaker 1: to be a one and done, no doubt. Kid ended
Speaker 1: up playing three years and being a late first round
Speaker 1: pick and is now played for four NBA teams. The
Speaker 1: Knicks drafted him, they traded him to the Pistons. He
Speaker 1: got traded to the MAVs traded him to the Sixers.
Speaker 1: And the reason I'm telling the story is because I
Speaker 1: was in New Zealand and I saw that the Sixers
Speaker 1: beat the Warriors. It's the only Warriors loss since they
Speaker 1: have Jimmy, And I'm like, how the hell did that happen?
Speaker 1: And I look at the box score and I'm like,
Speaker 1: did Maxi go crazy? And Maxie had five points on
Speaker 1: two of fourteen shooting, and I'm like, well, I know
Speaker 1: Paul George didn't go crazy, So how did they win?
Speaker 1: And Quentin Grimes had forty four points in an.
Speaker 2: NBA man Golden State.
Speaker 1: Against the Warriors, and it made me so happy. And
Speaker 1: I text Demons and I was like, hey, when you
Speaker 1: get a chance, check the Sixers Warriors box score.
Speaker 2: And so because when you texted me that, I was like,
Speaker 2: all right, what's he talking about? And then I went there.
Speaker 2: I was like, oh my god, Like that was a
Speaker 2: It's forty four, man, that's the never that could never
Speaker 2: be taken from me. Like forty four, No, I think anything.
Speaker 1: Game he's gonna get. So here's the other thing he's
Speaker 1: gonna get. Good run with the Sixers. The rest of
Speaker 1: the year. This is the final year of his rookie contract.
Speaker 1: And now he's got a career, like you know what
Speaker 1: I mean, Like now he's been the so like he's
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: What type of downfall kind of helping this. I don't
Speaker 2: want to say downfall, but like, yes, lack of production
Speaker 2: from him, right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so like he uh, the fact that he has
Speaker 1: reef kind you know, he's a reliable three and D guy,
Speaker 1: and those guys in the NBA that now, even if
Speaker 1: you don't do much else, he's gonna you know, they
Speaker 1: make ten million dollars. Like it's just so cool. I'm
Speaker 1: just I couldn't believe it when I and when you
Speaker 1: saw the forty forty four point game against a team
Speaker 1: fighting for playoff position that cares. I just it made
Speaker 1: me happy. All right, Uh, let's do some quick listener
Speaker 1: questions also a reminder like rate subscriber review, do all
Speaker 1: that stuff. I mean, we really covered the gamut today.
Speaker 1: But go ahead, demons, I say, Louis says, greeting from Portugal.
Speaker 1: Appreciate that.
Speaker 2: Go to Max here, Max is, what was your favorite
Speaker 2: thing you did in New Zealand. It's been on my
Speaker 2: bucket list. Forever.
Speaker 1: The South Island and Queenstown in particular is the most
Speaker 1: beautiful place I've ever been in the world. And we
Speaker 1: took this little eight person plaine from Queenstown to the
Speaker 1: Milford Sound, which isn't a sound, it's actually a fjord,
Speaker 1: but doesn't matter, and you fly over these mountains that
Speaker 1: have glaciers on them, even though it's the summer down there,
Speaker 1: those glacier they're glaciers, so they're there forever that it's
Speaker 1: these like reflective ponds that are like a bright turquoise
Speaker 1: color because it's glacier ice, plus like the minerals from
Speaker 1: the mountain, and you're looking at a place that like
Speaker 1: it's like, oh, human beings have never set foot there ever,
Speaker 1: right there's nowhere to land, there's no road, there's no anything,
Speaker 1: you know, you're just looking at it untouched. And then
Speaker 1: you land and you take this boat right around Milford
Speaker 1: Sound and it's just one of the most remarkable places
Speaker 1: in the world, and so there's not a lot to do.
Speaker 1: Like I was also shocked at how many people in
Speaker 1: New Zealand. I'm going to sound like a jerk here,
Speaker 1: how many people in New Zealand watch American Sports TV.
Speaker 1: That's what I'll say. But uh, it was just the
Speaker 1: It was the prettiest place I've ever been.
Speaker 2: What are you laughing about? Yeah, exactly, I know. I
Speaker 2: know you said you wanted to avoid people or avoid
Speaker 2: places where folks say a be.
Speaker 1: At c yet no, no, no, but it was. It was,
Speaker 1: But it was. And to me, I would say one
Speaker 1: other thing on this and then we'll then we gotta
Speaker 1: go because this is ninety minute pot because it's a
Speaker 1: seventeen hour flight. It's doable if you're smart about how
Speaker 1: you do it. So my recommendation for anybody that's on
Speaker 1: one of those flights, stay up for the first four
Speaker 1: hours if you can of the flight, like, watch a
Speaker 1: couple movies, eat, don't go to sleep early in the flight.
Speaker 1: And then what I did both legs was stayed up
Speaker 1: those first four hours, had a couple cocktails. I don't
Speaker 1: I don't know if I'm supposed to say this or not.
Speaker 1: Now that I said I had a couple of cocktails,
Speaker 1: I'll say what I did, had a couple of glasses
Speaker 1: of wine and took one Advill pm uh and then
Speaker 1: just slept for ten hours. So you stay up for
Speaker 1: the first four sleep as long as you can, and
Speaker 1: then you're up for the last two. And we were like, Nick,
Speaker 1: you're flying first class. No I'm not. I'm not. Uh,
Speaker 1: And so the the first class tickets were sticker priced
Speaker 1: thirty thousand dollars a person, So I'm like, I don't
Speaker 1: think anyone actually buys these, like you can then like
Speaker 1: bid on upgrades or whatever. So the but the regular
Speaker 1: tickets were, you know, a couple grand. So it's listen,
Speaker 1: it's not a it's not a cheap trip, but it's
Speaker 1: not it's not like, you know, undoable as long as
Speaker 1: you can do with the flight, And so I thought, you, well, here,
Speaker 1: I don't understand that. So I don't understand the the
Speaker 1: This is the second trip I've been on where when
Speaker 1: I went to buy the plane tickets the listed price
Speaker 1: for first class was thirty thousand dollars and my for
Speaker 1: one ticket round trip. And my reaction to that always
Speaker 1: is like, doesn't everyone who has thirty thousand dollars spend
Speaker 1: on a ticket already on their own? Like I just don't.
Speaker 1: I don't know, Like maybe it's business travelers and companies
Speaker 1: are paying for it, So I don't know what did happen.
Speaker 1: I will say this. I flew quantas is. They then
Speaker 1: let you because shockingly first class uh didn't sell out.
Speaker 1: They then send you an email and like, hey, do
Speaker 1: you want to bid? Send in a blind bid to upgrade,
Speaker 1: and so uh you know what I mean. So I
Speaker 1: did that, didn't get the upgrade on the way back,
Speaker 1: and so the and but so whatever, like it was
Speaker 1: totally worth it.
Speaker 2: And I I you know, I love everyone from the
Speaker 2: pictures I saw.
Speaker 1: Yeah, your mom posted it. All right, great show, great
Speaker 1: job everybody. I'll see you guys on Collins Show in
Speaker 1: about ninety minutes. I will see you guys on First
Speaker 1: Things First in a few hours. Brew is back, Wild
Speaker 1: is back, whole crew back on First Things First, Like,
Speaker 1: great subscribe review, do all that stuff. Talk to you
Speaker 1: guys later. What's right,