Speaker 1: We look back at the two game sevens, both won
Speaker 1: by the road team, to bring a close to Round two.
Speaker 1: We assess who has the best shot to win the championship.
Speaker 1: Now that we are guaranteed to get a sixth new
Speaker 1: champion in the past six seasons, and we will sign
Speaker 1: off with a trademark one of a kind update from
Speaker 1: the world of rec League basketball, as only Chris Haynes
Speaker 1: can deliver all that's next here on a new edition
Speaker 1: of This League Uncut. Welcome to This League Uncut. In
Speaker 1: rule of twenty four hour NBA News. This's you love,
Speaker 1: Chris Haynes.
Speaker 2: It's so time, works.
Speaker 1: Time, It's so time. This League Uncut is underway and
Speaker 1: on fire.
Speaker 3: This should be a good one.
Speaker 1: Hey everyone, welcome in to a new episode This League Uncut.
Speaker 1: Conference Finals edition of This League Uncut. Mark Stein here
Speaker 1: with Chris Haynes. It's Monday evening as we record this.
Speaker 1: There are no games on the NBA schedule on this
Speaker 1: Monday night. As we get ready to officially move into
Speaker 1: the Conference final round, the second round is over. Not
Speaker 1: gonna lie to you. There have been a few hurdles
Speaker 1: to clear for Chris and I today on the Technological
Speaker 1: side to get this episode recorded to the exacting specifications
Speaker 1: of producer Ryan. But finally, I think the conditions we
Speaker 1: hope fingers crossed will allow that to happen. Chris Haynes.
Speaker 1: Great to connect with you. I can actually see you.
Speaker 1: It looks Sonny and inviting there behind you in the
Speaker 1: Atlanta Sky Conference finals. Man, we are down to the
Speaker 1: final four.
Speaker 3: Are I'm ready? But let me just put a small
Speaker 3: disclaimer out there. I don't want to I just don't
Speaker 3: want you going overboard with saying we're done with our
Speaker 3: technical issues here because I am I'm in Atlanta and
Speaker 3: I'm staying with my As of right now, I'm staying
Speaker 3: at the house that we brought from my daughters who
Speaker 3: are going to college. And my daughters should just graduate
Speaker 3: this weekend. But you know how college kids are. You
Speaker 3: give them money to pay bills, and so apparently one
Speaker 3: of the bills that they didn't pay was the Wi
Speaker 3: Fi bills. So there's no Wi Fi in the house.
Speaker 3: And so I am actually on the campus of Clark University.
Speaker 3: Outside I'm near the library. I'm trying to soak up
Speaker 3: some of their Wi Fi to do this pod. And
Speaker 3: the reason I say Stein and Ryan. The reason I
Speaker 3: say it, I'm putting a small disclaimer out there about
Speaker 3: our technical issues, is that I see a campus police
Speaker 3: policeman about seven about sixty yards away from me, walk
Speaker 3: walking this way. So again, school is out, there's nobody
Speaker 3: on campus. That's why I could do it right here
Speaker 3: because it's quiet. So I think, once this policeman gets it,
Speaker 3: comes near me, I'm going to find out if I
Speaker 3: permitted to be here or not. But you know what,
Speaker 3: We're going to record it live live. Whatever he says
Speaker 3: to me or does it say, will have it recorded
Speaker 3: and documented. So he shows about a.
Speaker 1: Year and a half old. Now we're closing in on
Speaker 1: a year and a half. There have been no arrests
Speaker 1: in the history of this league, uncut.
Speaker 3: We want to kiss that way.
Speaker 1: To this point, no arrests. Our record is clean. Let's
Speaker 1: see if we can keep it that way. I mean,
Speaker 1: you were at, as you said, your daughter's graduates this
Speaker 1: weekend at Clark University. Only Chris Haynes of this league
Speaker 1: uncut could run into the world famous Rich Paul at
Speaker 1: his daughter's college graduation.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Can we start there and then we'll work our way
Speaker 1: through these these conference finals matchups.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So I'm at my daughter graduated from Clark, Atlanta, HBCU.
Speaker 1: Proud congratulations, First and foremost.
Speaker 3: I'm proud of her. She did her thing. Name is justice.
Speaker 3: So the graduation was here Saturday, and we all know,
Speaker 3: like for those who graduated high school in twenty twenty,
Speaker 3: most of them did not get to experience a graduation
Speaker 3: because everything was shut down. So my daughter didn't didn't
Speaker 3: have a graduation. So the graduation here Saturday, I was
Speaker 3: very much looking forward to it for many reasons for
Speaker 3: her in that class of twenty twenty is that this
Speaker 3: is going to be the first time being able to graduate. Well,
Speaker 3: there was going to be a small dilemma up ahead
Speaker 3: because the graduation here at Clark is at the football field,
Speaker 3: and there was a thirty percent chance of rain, and
Speaker 3: so I was hoping and praying that the rain would
Speaker 3: just mess up the whole thing, because that just would
Speaker 3: have been fucked up for the whole class having to
Speaker 3: have to go through this again. It sprinkled a little bit,
Speaker 3: you know, we had our ponchos on, but it stopped
Speaker 3: and so the graduation went on. And so to get
Speaker 3: back to Rich Paulston. So after the graduation, a kid
Speaker 3: comes up to me. I say, a kid, you know
Speaker 3: he's in college. You just graduated, so I can graduate.
Speaker 3: You know, I can graduate him on graduating, he said, man,
Speaker 3: you Chris Hanes. Chris Hanes Man, nice to meet you.
Speaker 3: He asked for a picture. I gave a picture. He said, man,
Speaker 3: this is just a cool day. I'm graduating, I get
Speaker 3: to meet you, and I just met Rich Paul. I'm like,
Speaker 3: you just met Rich Paul. I'm like what. So I
Speaker 3: called Rich and he said, yeah, my daughter's graduating too.
Speaker 3: I'm like where, because I thought his daughter graduated from Spelman,
Speaker 3: which is all all women's college connected to Clark. He said, no,
Speaker 3: she graduated from Clark. So I got in touch with Rich.
Speaker 3: He invited He was having a graduation party for his
Speaker 3: daughter that night, so he invited my wife and my
Speaker 3: daughter to the party. So I brought them to the party.
Speaker 3: And you know, me and Rich hung out watch upstairs
Speaker 3: watching the MAVs OKC game, and my wife and my
Speaker 3: daughter they were down their party and getting their party on.
Speaker 3: So it was a cool. It was a cool weekend. Man.
Speaker 3: I'm glad everything worked out for the high school twenty
Speaker 3: twenty class, finally being able to have a real formal graduation.
Speaker 1: Huge congrats first of all again to Justice Haynes. I
Speaker 1: cannot believe your daughter is already through college. I feel
Speaker 1: like she just got there, and you have another daughter
Speaker 1: who's not far away next college graduation. So I don't
Speaker 1: know what we are so damn old. I don't know
Speaker 1: what the hell happened to us.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, it's one of those things Styn where
Speaker 3: I remember I had my daughters. I was twenty and
Speaker 3: twenty one when I had them, and you know, people
Speaker 3: look down on you when you have kids that young,
Speaker 3: and you know, so we had you know, I had to,
Speaker 3: you know, even though it was married, got married young.
Speaker 3: You know, people look down you're having kids that young.
Speaker 3: But I just I just remember, like when I started
Speaker 3: getting becoming thirty seven and thirty eight and forty one.
Speaker 3: Now I started seeing people having kids at thirty seven
Speaker 3: thirty eight, and my kids are leaving going to college
Speaker 3: at that age. I'm like, who's looking dumb? Now? Who's
Speaker 3: who's being looked down upon?
Speaker 1: Now?
Speaker 3: Yes? Me, because now I'm gonna have I'm gonna have
Speaker 3: empty nesters in my early forties. Meanwhile, you're just starting
Speaker 3: and you're damn near forty. So who's looking down upon now?
Speaker 3: I'm playing, y'all, I'm playing. I'm playing my looking.
Speaker 1: First of all, I think you still have two kids
Speaker 1: at home. Second, I do, I do? I do? I
Speaker 1: just we are dreading the empty nester situation over here.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you that right now we have Our oldest
Speaker 1: is already out of the house, and our youngest is
Speaker 1: entering his senior year of high school soon. So we
Speaker 1: are struggling. We want no part of the empty nest scenario.
Speaker 3: So yeah, but yeah, I don't. I don't want to say,
Speaker 3: cause my daughters might be listening. I don't want to
Speaker 3: say I'm desperately looking, desperately looking forward to empty nest
Speaker 3: and ship, if that's a word. But uh, you know,
Speaker 3: it'd be cool to walk around the house the way
Speaker 3: you want to. It would be cool to just get
Speaker 3: up and leave, you know, as a couple, whenever you
Speaker 3: want to, you know what I'm saying, Like, come on, Stan,
Speaker 3: So my daughters, I got.
Speaker 1: When you get dropped off in the parking lot and
Speaker 1: you have to walk home, there's only one person waiting
Speaker 1: at home you get back, instead of three or four.
Speaker 3: Well, that's the down side because at least my kids
Speaker 3: will try to convince the wife to pull over on
Speaker 3: the side to pick me up. Yeah, so there is
Speaker 3: some downside to it. But yeah, I have a thirteen
Speaker 3: year old and a fifteen year old left at the
Speaker 3: house and so be in my mid forties when I'm
Speaker 3: fully an empty nester.
Speaker 1: Were there any Lakers coaching candidates at that party? Nah?
Speaker 3: No Lakers, but nah, yeah. I mean, listen, you know,
Speaker 3: we talked a little bit about the candidates out there.
Speaker 3: What I can say is that, you know, I was
Speaker 3: told that Lebron isn't pushing for any candidate out there.
Speaker 3: He's not pushing for JJ Reddick. This is the Lakers organization.
Speaker 3: They are doing their coaching search, and they're doing the
Speaker 3: due diligence, and they're keeping it in house. When I
Speaker 3: meet in the house, I'm talking about the front office
Speaker 3: and ownership group. So from what I've told, Lebron, James
Speaker 3: isn't spearheading anything. But with that being said, I think
Speaker 3: it's still we're still a little bit of ways away
Speaker 3: from them completing the process. And I have an update.
Speaker 3: The police officer just walked by me. You look, he
Speaker 3: looked over and gave me a head nod and went
Speaker 3: about his business. So I think I'm okay to be here.
Speaker 3: You know, Stein Stein, you know what listen first all
Speaker 3: day it has se let me tell you right now,
Speaker 3: this would have been a disaster of a day in
Speaker 3: black history. If Chris Haynes, an African American, got arrested
Speaker 3: on a on an HBU campus. I'll tell you that
Speaker 3: right now, that that would have been history right there.
Speaker 3: And to make it if I cannot be safe on
Speaker 3: a black college campus, if I myself Chris Haynes gets
Speaker 3: arrested on an HBU campus, HBCU campus, excuse me? So, uh,
Speaker 3: everything's going well so far.
Speaker 1: Let's be honest. I don't think there was any real
Speaker 1: threat of you being arrested, but I do. I did
Speaker 1: wonder if he was gonna say no, you cannot shout
Speaker 1: your podcast here.
Speaker 3: And what I would have done is I would have
Speaker 3: walked around and still try to stay in a vicinity
Speaker 3: of the campus because again I'm using their WiFi. So
Speaker 3: thank you Clark Atlanta. You're helping this pod get through.
Speaker 3: So style, let's get through before we get caltof Let's
Speaker 3: get to the meat.
Speaker 1: And bones, Let's get to the playself, because look, the
Speaker 1: conference finals are set now Minnesota, Dallas, Boston and Indiana
Speaker 1: in the Larry Bird Bowl. And we had two game
Speaker 1: sevens on Sunday night. The road team won both.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I've been writing on my sub stack really all season
Speaker 1: about how home court advantage just keeps dwindling and dwindling
Speaker 1: teams at home. This year the winning percentage was way
Speaker 1: down to like five forty, which is, you know, not
Speaker 1: that high over five hundred, just in the three point era.
Speaker 1: Home court advantage continues to get eaten away at and
Speaker 1: after Sunday, after Indiana, the Pasiis Pacers team we've seen
Speaker 1: since the ABA Days, after the Pacers go to Madison
Speaker 1: Square Garden and win a Game seven, and after the
Speaker 1: Timberwolves go to Denver and win on the Nuggets floor,
Speaker 1: on the defending champions floor for the third time in
Speaker 1: this series. Road teams are now eight and four in
Speaker 1: game sevens over the last four seasons, and that's since
Speaker 1: we got out of the bubble. In the bubble, everything
Speaker 1: was neutral sight. We were both there. There was a
Speaker 1: home team and there was an away team. But really
Speaker 1: they're playing on the same court every single time. So
Speaker 1: since the bubble twenty twenty one, twenty twenty two, twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three, twenty twenty four, road teams are now eight
Speaker 1: and four in the last twelve game sevens, which is
Speaker 1: just ridiculous that we've seen that kind of turnaround. But
Speaker 1: I mean, you tell me that you know that Game
Speaker 1: seven was as wild a roller coaster ride as you
Speaker 1: can have a perfect summation of the series, and you know,
Speaker 1: just tell me what was it like for you watching
Speaker 1: in Atlanta as the defending champs were knocked out earlier
Speaker 1: than I think anyone expected.
Speaker 3: I was surprised Denver being at home having a twenty
Speaker 3: point league championship team. You just think that they know
Speaker 3: how to get it done. But ultimately, if you look
Speaker 3: at the box score of the Denver Nuggets, you will
Speaker 3: see and notice for quite some time, especially you know,
Speaker 3: once it got later in the playoffs, they're playing with
Speaker 3: about five and a half guys. They they just don't
Speaker 3: have the depth to keep up. If you look at Minnesota,
Speaker 3: they got depth, and this team defensively on the perimeter
Speaker 3: and in the interior, they're tough. They are tough. They
Speaker 3: got the sixth Man of the Year recipient coming off
Speaker 3: the bench, being productive, not only doing it scoring the
Speaker 3: scoring column, awesome night, awesome, not only doing in the
Speaker 3: scoring column, but deficively against the Joker as well. That's
Speaker 3: a tough team, Minnesota Hounds. You you see, you saw
Speaker 3: the way when Anthony Edwards got on Jamal Murray, hounding
Speaker 3: on full court like they are. They are tough, man, Mike,
Speaker 3: like the whole like I don't want to leave anybody out,
Speaker 3: that whole Minnesota Timberwooth squad. They're phenomenal. And so the
Speaker 3: way they were able to come back on the road
Speaker 3: take Game seven, that was mighty impressive. But if you're
Speaker 3: the Denver Nuggets, if you're looking at ways to improve
Speaker 3: next season, definitely you have to say that they're going
Speaker 3: to try to show up that bench, no question.
Speaker 1: And look, the Tim Conley Bowl as I've been calling it,
Speaker 1: we call it that because Tim Connley was the architect
Speaker 1: of the Denver Nuggets. He left for the lucrative opportunity
Speaker 1: to take over the Minnesota Timberwolves. He immediately traded a
Speaker 1: Ton for Rudy Gobert. The Nuggets won the championship in
Speaker 1: Connolly's first season after leaving Denver, and not only did
Speaker 1: they surrender a ton of assets to trade for Rudy Gobert,
Speaker 1: but then they signed Nas Red as well. So a
Speaker 1: lot of people were looking at the Wolves like they
Speaker 1: have three centers in today's small ball NBA, what are
Speaker 1: they doing going so jumbo size? And now in year two,
Speaker 1: for Tim Connolly, it is the Timberwolves who take out
Speaker 1: the defending champs. It is the Timberwolves who found a
Speaker 1: way to make important use of Karl, Anthony Towns and
Speaker 1: Rudy Gobert and Nasreed in a critical Game seven in Denver,
Speaker 1: all in support of Anthony Edwards and nobody's laughing at
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Timberwolves anymore. For the first time in twenty years,
Speaker 1: they are back in the conference finals. And I feel
Speaker 1: like we've talked about it on this podcast a ton.
Speaker 1: How the Wolves in the previous thirty four seasons of
Speaker 1: the team's existence, only once in the two thousand and
Speaker 1: four playoffs did the Wolves even win a series. They
Speaker 1: won two rounds in two thousand and four to make
Speaker 1: the conference finals with KG and Sam Cassel and your
Speaker 1: hero Latrell's free Will. That team before this, Wolve's team
Speaker 1: was the only Wolves team that has ever won a playoff.
Speaker 1: They won two rounds and that's it. In thirty four years.
Speaker 1: And now in year thirty five, in Tim Conley's second
Speaker 1: year with Chris Finch, former guest on this show, at
Speaker 1: the All Star weekend in Indianapolis, Chris Finch unable to
Speaker 1: even fully coach his team because Mike Conley, the nicest
Speaker 1: guy in NBA history, ran into him and knocked him
Speaker 1: down and left him with a knee injury so serious
Speaker 1: that it needed surgery. And Chris Finch had to coach
Speaker 1: this whole series behind the bench with Mike and Nori
Speaker 1: standing in his place. And obviously this was a big
Speaker 1: series for Finch going up against the Nuggets. He had
Speaker 1: previously worked on Michael Malone's staff, he had worked with
Speaker 1: Jokic before, and now he wants to coach against this
Speaker 1: team and have the chance to coach Minnesota to a
Speaker 1: victory in the series, and his ability to do so
Speaker 1: was compromised. But the Wolves, they overcame all of that.
Speaker 1: They get it done. They win three times on Denver's court,
Speaker 1: They win a home game by forty zillion points. Just
Speaker 1: a weird series, a crazy series, and it ended up
Speaker 1: being a series for the Ages and a lot of
Speaker 1: people were looking forward to this matchup and the chaos
Speaker 1: that it could provide. And it did, and now Minnesota
Speaker 1: is going to play Dallas in the Western Conference Finals
Speaker 1: because the Mavericks ultimately were able to take out the
Speaker 1: Thunder in six games. The Mavericks did not have Maxi
Speaker 1: Kliba for any of that series. There was a lot
Speaker 1: of concern in Dallas about would they be able to
Speaker 1: win that series without their best front court defender, one
Speaker 1: of the most important members of the Mavericks small ball approach.
Speaker 1: When they want to go small and have success, it's
Speaker 1: often with Kliba at the five. They didn't have that
Speaker 1: option in this series. But the Mavericks ultimately find a
Speaker 1: way and now were going to have Wolves MAVs at
Speaker 1: Edwards against Luka Doncic. They're the two headliners in this series,
Speaker 1: even though there are a lot of stars in this series.
Speaker 1: But let me ask you, Chris Haynes, the Nuggets were
Speaker 1: my favorite to win it all again. Is defending champions?
Speaker 1: Are the Wolves the new title favorites by virtue of
Speaker 1: taking out Denver? Are the Wolves or the Celtics who
Speaker 1: should be regarded as the favorite to win it all.
Speaker 3: From here, the Wolves are the favorites in the West.
Speaker 3: How about that answer star? How about that?
Speaker 1: No, So that's you. That's Chris Haynes of Clark University
Speaker 1: saying that the Boston Celtics are favored to win it all.
Speaker 1: That's really what you're saying.
Speaker 3: I think you still have to give the slide airs
Speaker 3: to Boston, but I don't feel confident in that selection
Speaker 3: at all because the way Minnesota is playing and again defensively, man,
Speaker 3: they they're a torture chamber. And I'm looking forward to
Speaker 3: seeing you mentioned Luca and Anthony Edwards. I'm looking forward
Speaker 3: to seeing Jay McDaniels chase around, whether it's Luca or Kyrie.
Speaker 1: Again, says he's starting on Kyrie. So I guess that.
Speaker 3: Means, okay, I want to see that. That's what I
Speaker 3: want to see. This is elite perimeter offensive scores, and
Speaker 3: these are elite perimeter defensive stars, so I want I
Speaker 3: want to see that. Like I'm I'm looking forward to
Speaker 3: that class. I'm looking forward to the Western Conference finals
Speaker 3: and Stein, let me say this, let me take this
Speaker 3: a whole other area, Brian, you could jump in as well.
Speaker 3: Listen all this talk about how America has lost this
Speaker 3: grip on this great sport we call basketball. Well, let's
Speaker 3: look to see who the final four teams are and
Speaker 3: who they're headlined by. Yes, we still have Luca. We
Speaker 3: still got Luca international player in an Superstar NBA Superstar.
Speaker 3: But we got Anthony Edwards leading away in Minnesota, Indiana,
Speaker 3: we got Tyre's Halliburton and in Boston we got Jason
Speaker 3: Tatum and Jalen Brown. So they haven't They've made loosen
Speaker 3: the grip a little bit, but they haven't given the
Speaker 3: game away. And I think right now, and I think, Star,
Speaker 3: you had a we talked off air at one point.
Speaker 3: I think, see if you have this this nugget handy
Speaker 3: on top of your head, But what is the m
Speaker 3: So I believe Stephen Curry was the last person to
Speaker 3: win MVP and win the championship in that same season.
Speaker 3: Am I correct with that? Star?
Speaker 1: Okay? So here's what happened over the weekend. A picture
Speaker 1: from the past made its way to me and it
Speaker 1: was a great memory. It was a black and white
Speaker 1: picture of me interviewing Stephen Curry at the Warriors old
Speaker 1: practice facility in Oakland, a much younger and slimmer version
Speaker 1: of me nine years ago. It was from the first
Speaker 1: championship of the Stephan Curry era twenty fourteen fifteen, and
Speaker 1: Stephan Curry won the MVP award that season, and then
Speaker 1: it was brought to my attention that you know what,
Speaker 1: that was the last season in the NBA because of
Speaker 1: Denver's loss on Sunday Night, that was the last season
Speaker 1: in the NBA that the MVP of the regular season
Speaker 1: went on to win the championship. Stephan Curry did that
Speaker 1: with the Warriors in twenty fifteen, but starting in twenty sixteen,
Speaker 1: steph won MVP again, but the Warriors, of course, could
Speaker 1: not hold a three to one lead in the finals,
Speaker 1: lost to Cleveland in twenty sixteen. In the finals. Twenty seventeen,
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook was the MVP in Oklahoma City. Obviously no
Speaker 1: title for the Thunder. Twenty eighteen, Houston's James Harden wins
Speaker 1: the MVP. Warriors win the championship twenty nineteen, first of
Speaker 1: two MVPs for Gianna Sante Tokunpo, Nikola Jokicic and Denver
Speaker 1: wins three of the next four MVPs. There's also a
Speaker 1: Joe l embiid MVP in there in Philadelphia, but none
Speaker 1: of those teams win, so not since twenty fifteen has
Speaker 1: a regular season MVP won the championship. But also because
Speaker 1: of that list, when we work through it, you remember
Speaker 1: why that storyline you referenced comes up, because since James
Speaker 1: Harden won the MVP Award in twenty eighteen, there has
Speaker 1: not been an American player who has won the highest
Speaker 1: individual honor in the league. Starting in twenty nineteen, Giannis
Speaker 1: has won two MVPs, and b Is won one, Jokic
Speaker 1: has won three, and Luka Doncic, who has the Mavericks
Speaker 1: in the final four now he's expected to win an
Speaker 1: MVP Award in the near future. He's definitely considered an
Speaker 1: MVP candidate. But you're absolutely right. The other three teams
Speaker 1: in the final four all led by an American star.
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum trying to win his first ring, Tyrese Halliburton
Speaker 1: unexpectedly in the conference finals seeking his first ring, and
Speaker 1: Aunt Edwards undeniably the face of the franchise in Minnesota.
Speaker 1: He's got a good bit of help, as we've been discussing,
Speaker 1: but Anthony Edwards is the clear cut star of that
Speaker 1: team going for his first ring. So yes, a lot
Speaker 1: of newness in this final four. And look the Celtics,
Speaker 1: to me, they would be the favorite, but they don't
Speaker 1: have Christops Porzingis yet. Christops Porzingis has been formally ruled
Speaker 1: out of Game one of the Indiana Series. The signals
Speaker 1: are that we will see him play in this series eventually,
Speaker 1: but it's not clear cut if we will. So it's
Speaker 1: a very valid question do the Wolves deserve title favorite status?
Speaker 1: Having taken out the reigning champions, the defending champions from Denver,
Speaker 1: and a healthier team Mike Conley has. You know, he's
Speaker 1: dealing with a calf injury, but Conley's been able to
Speaker 1: play through it here in the last few games. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I would say I think the Wolves probably do deserve
Speaker 1: favorite status, but I'm sure you would not be alone
Speaker 1: in saying it's the Celtics.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And like I said, I don't feel great about that,
Speaker 3: but I'm going to have to go with the Celtics
Speaker 3: right now. And again, you know, when Chris STAPs return,
Speaker 3: how would he affect their continuity? You know, how long
Speaker 3: would it take him to get back into form? Maybe
Speaker 3: that would be in it could be in advance for
Speaker 3: a team like Minnesota, if Minnesota was to advance, but
Speaker 3: it's going to be you know, the Mavericks, they're a
Speaker 3: formidable opponent, so you know, you want to give them
Speaker 3: some respect and give props to Jason Kidd. What Nico
Speaker 3: did at the trade deadline was phenomenal, picking up Lively
Speaker 3: in the draft like he really should have. You know,
Speaker 3: I didn't. I didn't look to see where he fell
Speaker 3: at as far as Executive of the Year pecking order.
Speaker 3: But you know, I say he was fifth.
Speaker 1: Producer heaed me up on that, but I'm sure he
Speaker 1: was fifth, man. I mean, it was a stacked field
Speaker 1: and Brad Stevens I think was a worthy winner. And
Speaker 1: of course Executive of the Year that's an award that
Speaker 1: is voted on by the executives themselves. The media has
Speaker 1: nothing to do with that voting. I mean, it was
Speaker 1: a very competitive race in the EOI field this year.
Speaker 1: I think Producer Ryan can confirm for us the.
Speaker 4: Order of the top five that is correct, with Brad
Speaker 4: Stevens winning the award, followed by Sam Presty in second,
Speaker 4: Tim Connolly of Minnesota, and third Leon Rose with the
Speaker 4: New York Nison fourth and Nico Harrison with the Mavericks
Speaker 4: coming in fifth.
Speaker 3: That's solid.
Speaker 1: But look what you're saying. There can be no dispute.
Speaker 1: And obviously I live in Dallas and I have to
Speaker 1: put my hand up and say I certainly voiced my
Speaker 1: share of skepticism about how the Kyrie Irving trade would work.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, you were allowed. You were allowed, don allowed.
Speaker 1: You can see it when you look at this team
Speaker 1: how much respect Kyrie has from his teammates. You saw
Speaker 1: the hug that Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving shared after
Speaker 1: they beat Oklahoma City in Game six. These guys love
Speaker 1: playing together. They have formed a very dangerous duo, and
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving has played defense in Dallas and has provided
Speaker 1: leadership in Dallas. Like again, I'll put my hand up
Speaker 1: and say I didn't expect it, and I don't know
Speaker 1: that many people did project him to have the kind
Speaker 1: of impact. Obviously, the back half of last season after
Speaker 1: the trade went as poorly as it possibly could. But
Speaker 1: this season, these guys have been tremendous together and the
Speaker 1: acquisitions at the trade deadline the Mavericks have completely changed
Speaker 1: their identity. I've been around this team in this franchise
Speaker 1: for more than a quarter century, and in all that time,
Speaker 1: the Mavericks have always been known as offense first. They
Speaker 1: had a good defensive team. When they won it All
Speaker 1: in twenty e one, Evan Tyson Chandler gave them a
Speaker 1: rim presence they had never had before. But they were
Speaker 1: still known first and foremost for the offense that flowed
Speaker 1: from Dirk Noavisky. And that's really what this team has
Speaker 1: been known for since I've lived here. But this Dallas
Speaker 1: team plays defense first, and PJ Washington same thing. I'll
Speaker 1: put my hand up and tip my hat to PJ. Washington.
Speaker 1: I did not think he was going to have the
Speaker 1: impact that he's had. I certainly questioned if the Mavericks
Speaker 1: gave up too much to get him, because remember it
Speaker 1: cost Dallas a top two protected pick to add PJ. Washington.
Speaker 1: They had to get They had to make a trade
Speaker 1: with the Thunder to get a first rounder to acquire
Speaker 1: Daniel Gafford. They traded the only first round pick they
Speaker 1: had available to trade to get PJ. Washington. And PJ.
Speaker 1: Washington never played defense in Charlotte like we're seeing now
Speaker 1: in Dallas. But in Dallas, Derek Lively, PJ. Washington, Daniel Gafford,
Speaker 1: and most of all, Kyrie Irving. All these players that
Speaker 1: Nico Harrison has brought in are making a significant impact.
Speaker 1: And Jason Kidd, who I have been consistent in saying
Speaker 1: for years he didn't get the credit he should have
Speaker 1: gotten his first year in Dallas when this team went
Speaker 1: to the Conference finals, and now the Dallas Mavericks are
Speaker 1: in the Conference Finals again. Jason Kidd has been in
Speaker 1: Dallas for three seasons as head coach, two fifty win seasons,
Speaker 1: two trips to the Conference finals, and a franchise that
Speaker 1: has had Dick Mata, John McLeod, Don Nelson, Rick Carlyle
Speaker 1: some really celebrated coaches, and Jason Kidd is the only
Speaker 1: coach on that list to take a team to the
Speaker 1: conference finals twice. So there are a lot of happy
Speaker 1: headlines and positive storylines and good mojo bubbling in Dallas
Speaker 1: as well. And now they're gonna clash with the Wolves,
Speaker 1: who are having probably the best season in franchise history.
Speaker 1: I know you might fight me on that one because
Speaker 1: you're a spree well guy. And that twenty fourteen went
Speaker 1: to the Conference finals with Kevin Garnett and Sam Cassel
Speaker 1: and Spree. But this Wolves team, they led the West
Speaker 1: for one hundred something days in the regular season, They've
Speaker 1: taken out the defending champions, and they have a real
Speaker 1: chance to go to the NBA Finals for the first
Speaker 1: time in franchise history. So epic. This Wolves MAVs series
Speaker 1: is going to be an epic clash and there's a
Speaker 1: lot on the line for two teams that are tantalizingly close.
Speaker 1: A finals birth must feel tantalizingly close for both of
Speaker 1: these teams.
Speaker 3: Now let's get over to the East, because it was
Speaker 3: a game set Well, will you consider it epic? Well,
Speaker 3: I guess, you know, getting it to that point. I
Speaker 3: think it was epic getting it to a game seven.
Speaker 3: But let's let's jump on the Knicks and Pacers because
Speaker 3: that was a very interesting series as well.
Speaker 1: I think I think we owe some love to the Pacers.
Speaker 1: You know, they didn't lose the first two games at
Speaker 1: home like Denver did, but they went into a two
Speaker 1: zero hole. When you lose the first two games of
Speaker 1: a seven game series, history says you're more than likely
Speaker 1: going to lose the series. So incredible props to the
Speaker 1: Pacers to Okay, Games one and two were at Madison
Speaker 1: Square Garden. Fine, but still again to fall behind two
Speaker 1: zero is a daunting deficit. They were able to win
Speaker 1: four out of five against the Knicks, win a game
Speaker 1: seven at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks clearly should have
Speaker 1: flown in Chris Haynes their good luck charm. They were
Speaker 1: four know in the playoffs when Chris Haynes worked the
Speaker 1: sidelines when he was in Atlanta Sunday, he was not
Speaker 1: at Madison Square Gardens Sunday.
Speaker 3: I was not. You saw what happened, yep, I was not.
Speaker 3: I got I gotta you know. I established some really
Speaker 3: cool friends out there, and as far as Nick staffers,
Speaker 3: Knick security workers, and they were texting me during the game, said, bro,
Speaker 3: we needed you. Can you get down here? I said, no,
Speaker 3: I'm sorry, I'm in Atlanta. You're on your own. You know,
Speaker 3: you know you got at some point you gotta take
Speaker 3: the some point you gotta take the training wheels off.
Speaker 3: But it was a that was a really phenomenal game.
Speaker 3: And start I just want to say, man, I am
Speaker 3: let me see here. I am so devoted to this
Speaker 3: podcast that I don't know, I don't know when the
Speaker 3: last time you've been to Atlanta. But Atlanta has a
Speaker 3: lot of trees, A lot of trees, which means a
Speaker 3: lot of mosquitos. So I'm getting bit like hell around here,
Speaker 3: trying to just keep my composer and do this pot.
Speaker 3: So now I'm actually moving, so if you hear me walking,
Speaker 3: I have to leave that area. So I'm gonna go
Speaker 3: try to find another spot whereas less mosquitoes and ants.
Speaker 3: But I'm doing my best to try to be here
Speaker 3: for you guys. So what I was saying was, uh,
Speaker 3: the Pacers to be able to get Game seven in
Speaker 3: New York, because I believe each team to that point,
Speaker 3: every team won at home. But am I right to
Speaker 3: that to that point.
Speaker 1: Team?
Speaker 3: Yeah, So I mean to get that game. And obviously,
Speaker 3: you know, first of all, I want to praise the
Speaker 3: Pacers because the Pacers have been They've been overlooked in
Speaker 3: this series even though they are part they were a
Speaker 3: participant in the series. I don't think enough people were
Speaker 3: talking about them. They showed perseverance to get to call
Speaker 3: call out credit. He really has a hold of that
Speaker 3: of that roster. Tyre's Halliburton being around him for those
Speaker 3: two weeks, I've I've learned how much of a leader
Speaker 3: he truly is from that team being around Miles Turner,
Speaker 3: another great leader on that team. You know, these are
Speaker 3: young guys who are who are trying to pave their way.
Speaker 3: But it was a really that's a really good roster,
Speaker 3: really good squad. TJ McConnell, Oh my goodness, TJ was
Speaker 3: just lights out phenomenal off the bench.
Speaker 1: Whoa I could just throw if I could just throw
Speaker 1: in one thing real quick, and then I'll pitch it
Speaker 1: back to you because I know you want to talk
Speaker 1: about the Knicks. But it's interesting. You know, mid season
Speaker 1: trades rarely lead to championships. There have only been a
Speaker 1: couple instances. There was the Clyde Drexler trade to Houston
Speaker 1: in ninety five. There was Rashid Wallace to Detroit.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: Four that was Marc Gasol to Toronto in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1: But it's not often that in mid season trade leads
Speaker 1: to a championship. But two teams in these conference finals
Speaker 1: made major in season trades, the Mavericks with their moves
Speaker 1: to get PJ. Washington and Daniel Gafford, and the Pacers.
Speaker 1: We don't talk much about the Pascal seasonsco trade. How
Speaker 1: well that move is working out for the Pacers. So
Speaker 1: that's something to keep an eye to see if either
Speaker 1: Dallas or Indiana can get to the finals, and maybe
Speaker 1: we can see another mid season trade lead to a title.
Speaker 1: But please take it back now on the Pacers and Knicks.
Speaker 3: No, just the phenomenal season what they've been able to
Speaker 3: accomplish to this point. You know, many people didn't see
Speaker 3: it coming, but no, there they're definitely a worthy opponent.
Speaker 3: So you know, I you know, good luck in Boston.
Speaker 3: That's what I would say, good luck in Boston. I
Speaker 3: don't you know, obviously, I feel like Boston is the
Speaker 3: far better team. But when you got a team like
Speaker 3: Indiana who runs the ball, I'm talking like I'm in
Speaker 3: a football analyst. But they run the ball, they're quick
Speaker 3: with it. You know, they pick up the pace on
Speaker 3: makes some misses, so that's a change of the change
Speaker 3: of pace. So you know, we'll see, maybe they can
Speaker 3: make things interesting. But there's no doubt guy that the
Speaker 3: Boss himself, that's going to be their favors for sure.
Speaker 3: Now for the next time, Battle of Attrition. Battle of Attrition,
Speaker 3: it was tough watching, you know, bodies just fall down
Speaker 3: and unable to play even you know, you had guys
Speaker 3: get hobbled towards the end of the series, like Josh Hart.
Speaker 3: You know, Jalen Brunson was dealing with his share of injuries.
Speaker 3: Julius Randall couldn't be there. You know, you have to
Speaker 3: remember the knicks. We're playing with one starter and four reserves.
Speaker 3: You know, as good as Josh Hart and Dante are,
Speaker 3: you know, those are reserves, you know, compared to the
Speaker 3: the you know that wasn't the starting unit that that
Speaker 3: TIPS would usually go to. So they fought. They fought.
Speaker 3: Guys stepped up. Dante showed his worth, Josh Hart showed
Speaker 3: his worth and his value. Man Herten Is it hard
Speaker 3: and Stein or Hartenstein? Which which way have we decided? Hartenstein,
Speaker 3: hertenstein Stein?
Speaker 1: You have to say Stein.
Speaker 3: I don't know if I could get that, Sylla brown Heart.
Speaker 3: Let's do it again. Say it again one time, Hearten
Speaker 3: Herten Stein stein Stein.
Speaker 1: Instead of instead of the way I say my name Stein,
Speaker 1: Just to think of an s h before Yeah, stein Stein.
Speaker 3: Okay, let's see if that sticks. He played phenomenally man
Speaker 3: like they tips. One thing I can say about this,
Speaker 3: I know all the all. Tips gets a lot of
Speaker 3: criticism from people saying he overworks his players, he logs
Speaker 3: them too many minutes. But I'm I talked to guys
Speaker 3: in that locker room, man, they're all for Tipsy. They
Speaker 3: got his back. They really support their head coach, and
Speaker 3: Tims are really Tim's a funny dude, man. I know
Speaker 3: a lot of people don't get to see it. I've
Speaker 3: gotten to learn a lot being around Tims this season
Speaker 3: and in this playoff run and just being in those
Speaker 3: meetings where you know they are the coaches, they're a
Speaker 3: lot more looser, you know what I'm talking about Stein
Speaker 3: Like they'll they'll let you have it. And uh, Timms
Speaker 3: is uh a, he's a real cool guy. Man. Always
Speaker 3: showed me respect man. And you know, no matter if
Speaker 3: they were losing, losing big, you know, during the game
Speaker 3: and halftime, you know, you usually go up to the
Speaker 3: losing coach to try to get some few words. He
Speaker 3: was always accommodating. So, uh, class organization by the Knicks,
Speaker 3: strict organization, but class class or class organization, man, they
Speaker 3: treated they treated me well. So uh you know, and
Speaker 3: Jaylen Brust is geting Jayleen Brust, you know he went
Speaker 3: through you know, he got that fractured left left hand
Speaker 3: in in game seven, so that was tough, and that
Speaker 3: was just that was basically the end for the Knicks.
Speaker 3: But you know, remember he got had that foot injury.
Speaker 3: I believe it was game two, and we didn't know
Speaker 3: his status moving forward. I was told after game two
Speaker 3: that he went and got an MRI on that foot,
Speaker 3: and it was relief, just relief they thought it was
Speaker 3: they thought it might have been a tear, but it
Speaker 3: was relief that it wasn't. But it was just a
Speaker 3: matter of pain tolerance from there. So he was not
Speaker 3: one hundred percent with that foot injury, but he's still
Speaker 3: he still played effectively, he still was dominating. And then
Speaker 3: to have to go out like that in game seven,
Speaker 3: it was a battle of attrition and they just they
Speaker 3: lost that war.
Speaker 1: That was ridiculous. I mean, look, by the end of
Speaker 1: game seven on Sunday, of the sixth highest paid Knicks,
Speaker 1: only one was available to play, and that was Josh Hart,
Speaker 1: who was playing through an abdominal strain that he clearly
Speaker 1: shouldn't have been trying to play through. I mean, their whole,
Speaker 1: the whole top end of their rotation some sort of
Speaker 1: injury and so I know, yeah, and he tried any
Speaker 1: game you know, lasted less than five minutes, and yeah,
Speaker 1: it was a sad ending any way, you look at it.
Speaker 1: For the Knicks, who I mean, this has been you know,
Speaker 1: outside of insanity, and that was a very brief interlude.
Speaker 1: I think this was the happiest, most upbeat season at
Speaker 1: your new favorite arena, Madison Square Garden, since the twentieth century.
Speaker 1: I mean, it has been many, many years of suffering
Speaker 1: and negativity and they just went on this magical ride
Speaker 1: in spite of all the injuries. But eventually it just
Speaker 1: they could no longer cope. They were just too banged
Speaker 1: up to deal with a team that plays at the
Speaker 1: pace Indiana does. And we'll see, now can that pace?
Speaker 1: You know, we're gonna see the two best offensive teams
Speaker 1: in the league play in this East Finals. What kinds
Speaker 1: of problem can the Pacers pose for the Celtics. I
Speaker 1: know people will say, oh, Boston's had it so easy
Speaker 1: to get to this point, playing the Heat with no
Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler and all the injuries Miami was dealing with,
Speaker 1: and then playing the Cavaliers when they had to go
Speaker 1: that whole series pretty much without Jared Allen and didn't
Speaker 1: have Donovan Mitchell at the end, so Boston hasn't been tested.
Speaker 1: And I know that's being presented as some sort of
Speaker 1: huge disadvantage that could potentially hurt the Celtics, but look,
Speaker 1: the Celtics are especially now, especially with no Denver in
Speaker 1: the field. The Celtics are playing with win or bust,
Speaker 1: championship or bust expectations, anything less than a title, and
Speaker 1: the Celtics are going to be hugely criticized excoriated for
Speaker 1: whatever happened. So they're not going to apologize one bit.
Speaker 1: They love having it as easy as possible just to
Speaker 1: get to this round because they've had no porzingis and
Speaker 1: they have really no escape from criticism if things don't
Speaker 1: work out, because the only thing missing from this Boston
Speaker 1: run six trips to the conference finals in the past
Speaker 1: eight seasons, the only thing missing is winning at all.
Speaker 1: They have to win it all to hush the skeptics
Speaker 1: and the doubters, and we'll see now if the Celtics can.
Speaker 1: They're playing an Indiana team with very limited playoff experience
Speaker 1: as a group, and so the Celtics will be favored
Speaker 1: to get to the finals, even if they don't have
Speaker 1: Porzingis until the finals. But I mean there is It's
Speaker 1: a tremendous opportunity for Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown and co.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is you know, we all thought, maybe
Speaker 1: not all of us, but I think lots of us
Speaker 1: thought we were gonna get a Celtics Nuggets NBA Finals,
Speaker 1: And now that can't happen. It's wide open. We're gonna
Speaker 1: get that sixth new champion in a span of six seasons.
Speaker 1: I've been writing about this all season, thinking about it
Speaker 1: all season. Are we gonna get yet another championship newcomer?
Speaker 1: And we are six different champions in a six season span.
Speaker 1: That has not happened since the nineteen seventy four to
Speaker 1: seventy five season through seventy nine eighty, right when little
Speaker 1: Mark Stein was becoming an NBA addict. That's the timeframe
Speaker 1: when I really started falling in love with this league.
Speaker 1: And it was right before Larry and Magic came into
Speaker 1: the league and everything changed, and all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: the Lakers and the Celtics dominated, and then the Pistons
Speaker 1: came in, and then the Michael Jordan Bulls. So right
Speaker 1: before that it was just nineteen seventy four to seventy five.
Speaker 1: The Warriors won it all nineteen seventy five seventy six.
Speaker 1: The Celtics got one more title in the Haletchek era
Speaker 1: seventy six seventy seven. It was the Blazers and their
Speaker 1: breakthrough championship with Bill Walton and Doctor Jack seventy seven
Speaker 1: to seventy eight and seventy eight seventy nine we had
Speaker 1: two straight installments of Bullet Sonics. The Bullets won one
Speaker 1: and then the Sonics won one, and then seventy nine
Speaker 1: to eighty, Magic as a rookie leads the Lakers to
Speaker 1: the championship. Of course, Magic playing in that Game six
Speaker 1: decider starting at center, one of the greatest finals performances
Speaker 1: ever with Kareem Abdul Jabbar out injured, and then it
Speaker 1: was again everything changed, with the Lakers Celtics rivalry dominating
Speaker 1: the rest of the eighties. The Sixers did sneak one
Speaker 1: title in there when Moses Malone teamed up with Julius Serving,
Speaker 1: but it was a decade dominated by the Lakers and
Speaker 1: the Celtics, and then again Pistons Bowls and on and
Speaker 1: on and on so we are now back in that
Speaker 1: zone where it's up for grabs, where parody reigns. I
Speaker 1: don't know if it's lasting NFL style parody. I think
Speaker 1: we'll need more time to get firm answers on that.
Speaker 1: But anything can happen from here, and the proof will
Speaker 1: be when the Western Conference Finals begin in Atlanta with
Speaker 1: Chris Haynes on an ALT cast of all things with
Speaker 1: Adam Lefko and Vince Carter. Anything can happen, Anything is possible.
Speaker 3: Yes, everybody alt cast will be will be doing a
Speaker 3: live think of the Manning cast. So every game for
Speaker 3: the Western Conference Finals, we will be on True TV,
Speaker 3: and each game will have a special guest, and I'm
Speaker 3: the booker, so we'll have we'll have some stars on
Speaker 3: each game. We'll have some head coaches on each game.
Speaker 3: So please, if you're looking for an alternative broadcast, turn
Speaker 3: a channel over to True TV. We will still have
Speaker 3: the traditional TNT broadcast with Kevin Harlem, Reggie Miller, and
Speaker 3: I believe stan Van Gundy is joining the crew for
Speaker 3: the Western Conference Finals. We'll still have them over at TNT.
Speaker 3: Before we leave, Stein and Ryan, I have a confession
Speaker 3: and I need I need your input. I have a
Speaker 3: little story to tell. I'm not proud of it. I
Speaker 3: tried to remove myself somewhat, but still I was still
Speaker 3: associated with it, which makes it a little bit ugly.
Speaker 3: So I'm gonna tell you guys a story and for
Speaker 3: our listeners, feel free away in on social media as well.
Speaker 3: This has everything to do with the championship we won
Speaker 3: in the Filipino League last season. So little controversy, little controversy.
Speaker 3: Let me explain what happened. So in this Filipino League,
Speaker 3: you know, everybody pays. It's eighty five hours to play
Speaker 3: in the league, and so they set it up where
Speaker 3: the starters have to play the full twelve minutes, the
Speaker 3: reserves play the full second quarter of twelve minutes. Third
Speaker 3: quarter is half and half, so six minutes each, and
Speaker 3: then fourth quarter open subs. All right, I laid down
Speaker 3: the foundation. We had a player who was given to
Speaker 3: us last minute. He's about eighteen or nineteen years old,
Speaker 3: and he's, oh, I don't want me, No, how can
Speaker 3: I say this? He's no, he's just not that good,
Speaker 3: not good at all, not good all. I mean, you know,
Speaker 3: he hadn't scored well.
Speaker 1: Developing prospect in your system.
Speaker 3: Okay, that's a nice way to put it. So he
Speaker 3: did not score at all the entire season. We played
Speaker 3: eight games. And remember, as a reserve, if you play
Speaker 3: the full second quarter and half of the third, you're
Speaker 3: guaranteed to play eighteen minutes at minimum a game. So
Speaker 3: for eighteen minutes a game for eight games, he failed,
Speaker 3: the score failed, the score sot still developing prospects. Sure,
Speaker 3: whatever you say. Now we get to the pluck we get.
Speaker 3: We made. We made it to the final four, and
Speaker 3: my team had enough and they were like, listen, Chris,
Speaker 3: it's gonna be tough winning with this guy because he
Speaker 3: has to play eighteen minutes and every time he gets
Speaker 3: in the game for that second quarter, that third quarter,
Speaker 3: the team's going to run and it puts us in
Speaker 3: a hole. He can't play, And I'm like, god, this
Speaker 3: saint he paid, Like, there's nothing I can do. You
Speaker 3: know what I'm saying, It's nothing. I can't do anything.
Speaker 3: It was like, Chris, he can't play, and so they're
Speaker 3: coming up with all type of ideas and stuff. I'm like, guys,
Speaker 3: we can't do that. So anyways, a week before the
Speaker 3: Final four, the kid lets us know, hey, I'm going
Speaker 3: on a field trip, a graduation field trip. So he's
Speaker 3: still in high school. It's eighteen. He said, I'm going
Speaker 3: on a graduation field trip, so I won't make the
Speaker 3: last two games, which is on the last day. The
Speaker 3: final four is on last day. You win the first
Speaker 3: one you play in two hours in the championship. Everybody's ecstatic.
Speaker 3: Everybody's ecstatic. He won't be there. Great and everybody's ecstatic.
Speaker 3: So what happens the night before the champ the final four?
Speaker 3: He sends everybody a text saying, hey, my field trip
Speaker 3: was canceled. I will be there. So everybody is back
Speaker 3: to square one and pissed. Stein pissed. So they was like,
Speaker 3: so they're talking amongst themselves and they made it up
Speaker 3: in their mind that they're going to tell him, listen,
Speaker 3: you have to fake it in injury, faking injury, fakeing injury,
Speaker 3: because we've been game playing without you this whole time,
Speaker 3: because you thought you were gonna be at the field
Speaker 3: trip and now you're saying you're com up, like you're
Speaker 3: gonna mess up the chemistry we have. And so my
Speaker 3: wife was on me about Chris, you stay out of that.
Speaker 3: You're a public figure. You can't be involved in that.
Speaker 3: You're showing a bad morale and you know, bad humanity.
Speaker 3: This kid is eighteen years old. You shouldn't be a
Speaker 3: part of that. So I told the guys that listen, guys,
Speaker 3: I'm gonna turn I'm gonna turn my head. I listen.
Speaker 3: I don't want no parts of it. So anyways, the team,
Speaker 3: as you on this podcast, I want no part of it. Anyways,
Speaker 3: they go and talk to him and have a talk
Speaker 3: with him, and he agreed to fake an ankling where
Speaker 3: he didn't play in the first game. We won the
Speaker 3: first game, we made it to the championship, and he
Speaker 3: played minimum. He played very little in the championship game
Speaker 3: because he had an injury, so he was able to
Speaker 3: play very little. We won the championship. So today I
Speaker 3: tell you all this. So today the teams you're usually
Speaker 3: supposed to switch teams up each season, but they're allowing
Speaker 3: us to keep our team because we won the championship.
Speaker 3: But we kept our team except for one player that
Speaker 3: you guys can guess that one player. So we're in
Speaker 3: a group chat with the commissioner of the league. And
Speaker 3: when that player found out that he was the only
Speaker 3: one excluded from this new team. He let loose in
Speaker 3: that chat with the commissioner saying, this is fucked up.
Speaker 3: I'm the only one y'all left off, and I faked
Speaker 3: the injury to help us win the championship last year.
Speaker 2: This is fucked up, and he removed himself of the group.
Speaker 2: So not a commissioner questioning us y'all really did this?
Speaker 4: What what.
Speaker 3: He tainted? Our former teammate tainted our championship. He went
Speaker 3: along with their plan and then just dropped the bomb
Speaker 3: today because he got mad because he was the only
Speaker 3: one left off of our team going into next season.
Speaker 3: So my question is, Ryan is Stein? I know I
Speaker 3: know our team out of pocket, and I know even
Speaker 3: though I didn't contribute to convincing him to sit out
Speaker 3: or the faken injury, I knew what was going on.
Speaker 3: So you know I was complicit. I knew what was
Speaker 3: going on. So should I be mad at the kid
Speaker 3: for just blasting that out, you know, being mad? Or
Speaker 3: just take it on the sind and understand, like you
Speaker 3: know you did wrong.
Speaker 4: Anyway, Stein, I'm gonna jump in on this one here. Okay, Chris,
Speaker 4: have you ever in your life watched a good mob movie.
Speaker 4: I gotta know you cannot leave any loose ends. You
Speaker 4: left a loose end. You could not exclude him from
Speaker 4: the team knowing that he had the inside scoop on
Speaker 4: how you won your first title. That's on you. You
Speaker 4: gotta keep him on the roster and keep him happy.
Speaker 4: Otherwise you're leaving a loose end out there and he's
Speaker 4: going straight to the authority. So no, you can't blame him.
Speaker 4: You gotta blame yourself for leaving that out there hanging.
Speaker 1: Against you. I mean, I'm sure people in your league
Speaker 1: are listening to this pod. What if they revoke your championship?
Speaker 1: What if they take it away?
Speaker 3: You know, what if they if they do, I know,
Speaker 3: we won fair and square. You know at a certain point. Listen,
Speaker 3: I mean it, we were fair and square. Listen, in
Speaker 3: real life style. In real life, they don't You're not
Speaker 3: forced to play. Everybody in real life, the players that's
Speaker 3: supposed to be playing play you earn minutes, so you know,
Speaker 3: if anything teaching them a lesson and how the real
Speaker 3: world is and how real competition is, everybody don't get
Speaker 3: to play. But I get you, I understand. So Ryan,
Speaker 3: Ryan's coming from a mod perspective. Basically, we should have
Speaker 3: murdered the kid, is what you're saying. That's what you're saying. Right.
Speaker 4: What I'm saying is you you you had to keep
Speaker 4: him on the payroll to keep him happy.
Speaker 3: I'm telling you my teammates probably would have killed them
Speaker 3: if we played another season together. It was pretty bad,
Speaker 3: pretty bad. So yes, I'm not proud of it, but
Speaker 3: you know, we got that far, and my teammates were adamant.
Speaker 3: Even though I didn't tell them the faking injury, I
Speaker 3: knew what was going on. So not one, not one
Speaker 3: of my proudest moments. But listen, this is listen. This
Speaker 3: league uncut, This can be this league, NBA league could
Speaker 3: be the Philipino League doesn't matter. This league uncut. And
Speaker 3: I wanted to share with my listeners what's going on.
Speaker 3: And so you can call me out, call me out.
Speaker 3: I understand, I understand, but you know, it's competition, man,
Speaker 3: We're trying to win. Come on the best of play.
Speaker 3: But it's not my league, so gotta buy by the rules.
Speaker 3: So my championship as an asterisk.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because again, you're you came on here and said
Speaker 1: you're the GM, You're the coach, You're everything. And now
Speaker 1: you're like, I wasn't involved, like Lebron.
Speaker 3: Say, hey, man, I don't. I don't get involved with
Speaker 3: that stuff. Man, that's what that's all there. But yeah,
Speaker 3: there you go. I'm sorry everybody. I'll do better. I'm growing,
Speaker 3: I'm learning.
Speaker 4: So now going forward with this new season, he's not
Speaker 4: on the team. So now that problem has been eliminated
Speaker 4: going forward.
Speaker 3: Correct, it has been eliminated. Yes, the commissioner got on
Speaker 3: us about y'all can't be doing that. That's wrong, that's
Speaker 3: not fair, and so you know we're not getting our
Speaker 3: championship or move or anything like that. But I was like, wow,
Speaker 3: he went and just put that out there and just
Speaker 3: blasted it.
Speaker 4: I'm like, man, hey, you know what, you might have
Speaker 4: actually found the perfect solution. I may have to take
Speaker 4: that back. You're going to keep the title, and now
Speaker 4: he's not on the team going forward, But you also
Speaker 4: no longer have to hide a secret because now the
Speaker 4: commissioners about it. So you committed the crime. Everyone knows
Speaker 4: you did, and you're getting away with it again.
Speaker 3: And now you can.
Speaker 1: Defend your title when when someone on the team you
Speaker 1: guys beat in the final here's this podcast. Nobody's going
Speaker 1: to say, hey, wait a minute's.
Speaker 3: No work campion. I mean if I was the other team,
Speaker 3: I wouldn't go about it like that. You gotta you gotta,
Speaker 3: you gotta. I want to beat you. I don't care
Speaker 3: about no you playing your you know, MVP trophies with
Speaker 3: you this time?
Speaker 1: What happened?
Speaker 3: No, I mean they all stacked up at the house.
Speaker 3: They're all two MVPs, two championships and so but no,
Speaker 3: I wouldn't be like that. I think that's a week competitor,
Speaker 3: you know, if you act like that. But no, he's
Speaker 3: not on the team moving forward. But I will say
Speaker 3: this is that you know that rule is tough man,
Speaker 3: if you have if you have a guy that or
Speaker 3: a girl that's not ready to play, and just remember
Speaker 3: they're going to play eighteen minutes minimum. That's a lot
Speaker 3: of time. Eighteen minutes minimum, all of the second quarter,
Speaker 3: which is twelve minutes, and then half of the third.
Speaker 3: So that's eighteen minutes where the other team correct and
Speaker 3: the problem is right. And this is sign this The
Speaker 3: other part is through out there, we always had ten guys.
Speaker 3: It's a full roster with ten guys. Most teams they
Speaker 3: will only show up with like seven guys, so which
Speaker 3: that meant that they can always keep like three of
Speaker 3: their best players on the floor at all times. Meanwhile,
Speaker 3: we had to come in with our five reserves who
Speaker 3: aren't the best, and so they're playing eighteen minutes minimum.
Speaker 3: So that was the problem we had. It's like, man,
Speaker 3: we got a full ten and we got guys that
Speaker 3: just can't play. Meanwhile, these other teams are only showing
Speaker 3: and I don't know, listen, I don't know what they're doing.
Speaker 3: They could be telling because they everybody has a ten
Speaker 3: man roster, but there's like four teams that's showing up
Speaker 3: with seven or eight, So they could be telling their teammates, hey,
Speaker 3: don't show up, you know, let us seven or eight.
Speaker 3: Just that you.
Speaker 1: All I know is that you are the most candid
Speaker 1: GM in basketball history. You are putting it all out there.
Speaker 1: It is all out in the.
Speaker 3: Street, all right. Listen. He put it out the other day,
Speaker 3: So I figured it'll circulate around the league anyways, and
Speaker 3: if anything, this will just help it circulate. Oh well,
Speaker 3: what's done is done. Barry Bombs is the whole run leader.
Speaker 1: That league is a movie, and that is going to
Speaker 1: do it for this edition of this League Uncut. And
Speaker 1: just to make a little correction, I can't remember exactly
Speaker 1: how I said it way back at the beginning of
Speaker 1: this podcast, but there are no NBA games tonight as
Speaker 1: we get ready for the start of the Conference Finals
Speaker 1: Tuesday night with Boston Indiana Game one, but the WNBA
Speaker 1: is in operation on this Monday night, and as we've
Speaker 1: been recording this podcast, I've had the sun Fever game
Speaker 1: on the whole time. It's late in the third quarter now,
Speaker 1: but really scary in the first half, Caitlin Clark a
Speaker 1: very nasty looking ankle twist that initially took her out
Speaker 1: of the game, but she was able to come back
Speaker 1: for this second half and she's able to play on it.
Speaker 1: So a real injury scare in the WNBA tonight, but
Speaker 1: disaster averted. Caitlin Clark is back playing with Indiana in
Speaker 1: this home game against Connecticut and tomorrow night, Tuesday night,
Speaker 1: the Conference Finals do start Boston playing host to Indiana.
Speaker 1: Minnesota plays host to Dallas in Game one of the
Speaker 1: Western Conference Finals on Wednesday night. Look for Chris Haynes
Speaker 1: on the True TV alt cast in the West Finals
Speaker 1: on Wednesday Night with Adam Lefko and Vinsanity, Vince Carter
Speaker 1: and hopefully some of those guests that Chris Haynes is
Speaker 1: lining up. Hopefully one or two of those guests makes
Speaker 1: its way onto this podcast. I'm going to work on
Speaker 1: him on that when we're off air. That will do
Speaker 1: it for this edition, a very lengthy and all over
Speaker 1: the place edition of This League uncut Chris and producer
Speaker 1: Ryan and me will be back together again with you
Speaker 1: very very soon. Thanks everyone for listening, and that'll do
Speaker 1: it for us. See you next time. This League Uncutter
Speaker 1: is an iHeartRadio production Chris Haynes and Mark Stein