WEBVTT - What's Wright - Aaron Rodgers HUGE MISTAKE for Steelers + is Pacers-Thunder already over? 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:10.360 Welcome in episode three thirty eight, What's Right with Nick Right, 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:14.640 and check this out fresh from a trip to Vegas. 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:18.200 This couldn't have come any The timing couldn't have been better, 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:23.160 because while the show is more than solvent, I don't 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:25.200 know that I am anymore. So, you know what, we 0:00:25.239 --> 0:00:28.280 need sponsors, and we got a brand new one. This 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:32.080 episode of What's Right is resented to you by boost 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:37.680 Mobile and Demonte. We have been for three years doing 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:40.400 What Missed the Cut off the top of the show 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:43.440 as a way to kind of get in some quick 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:46.479 hit or stuff that doesn't really deserve a full segment. 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:50.640 But also, I'll be honest, it's always it's been kind 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:55.080 of sponsorship bait, like that's a great segment right off 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:59.480 the top that someone should gobble up. How about this 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:03.360 no longer What Missed the Cut now known as straight 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:09.720 the voicemail. Guess that these people Boost Mobile, Trevor Lawrence, 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:12.679 the producers are such jerks. They want me to say this. 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:16.000 Trevor Lawrence stuns in new photo. I mean, listen, the 0:01:16.040 --> 0:01:19.520 guy does look quite regal. I mean, let's be honest here, 0:01:19.560 --> 0:01:24.080 that guy looks outstanding. Wimby embraces monk culture at the 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:28.560 Shaolin Temple that's actually really cool, and shaved head Wimby 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:33.280 is a little more intimidating. And Adam Sandler offers Derrick 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:38.640 Henry a movie role if he hits two thousand yards. Now. 0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:44.160 This was broker by my friend Dan Patrick, which means 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:48.000 I am going to try to play a similar card. 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:52.080 I'm gonna see if there is some threshold, some something 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:57.080 that I can that Dan doesn't think I can do that. 0:01:57.240 --> 0:02:00.360 Dan will then leverage into Okay, if you do that, 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:03.360 I'll get you in one of the Sandler's movies. I 0:02:03.440 --> 0:02:10.080 think that's possible, so uh, it'd be great. Years ago, 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:14.799 we tried to get demands on the HBO show Showtime 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:18.639 as Young Byron Scott. We were not yet able to leverage. 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:20.960 We weren't able to leverage the show for that. Maybe 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:23.920 I can leverage my relationship with Dan Patrick for something else. 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:28.120 But I am back in New York. I am in 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:33.200 a I go through this once every few years when 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:37.600 I prepare and I plot and I study, and I 0:02:37.680 --> 0:02:41.080 get all ready for a big poker trip and then 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:45.080 I have my absolute guts ripped out by I can't 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:49.760 even say bad luck, just poor play, over zealousness, being 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:52.640 too excited. Where I am now in something of a 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:56.640 poker detox, where I just like the I'm not gonna 0:02:56.960 --> 0:02:59.120 I gotta take a few days away from even watching 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:02.200 the World series. My buddies are out there still final 0:03:02.280 --> 0:03:05.400 tabling stuff. I can't even like really sweat them and 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:09.680 root them on. It's like the feeling one gets right 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:14.520 after in college drinking way too much of a certain liquor, 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:17.200 where like the next time you go out and you 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:20.640 get just a whiff of it, you feel that hungover feeling. Again. 0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:25.200 Imagine that, except imagine if instead of having a terrible headache, 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:28.840 you know, you lost the equivalent of a I don't know, 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:32.160 a mid size semi luxury sedan. All right, deman s 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:36.720 like rate, subscribe, review, everybody check out the show on 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:41.800 all available platforms, and again, if for no other reason, 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:47.480 then you know, in some ways subscriptions funnel down eventually 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:49.640 into money in my pocket, and right now I need it. 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:51.160 Where are we starting, pal? 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:54.880 Yeah, So, after the crazy comeback by the Pacers in 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:58.240 game one, Haliburton hit that crazy shot you know, okase 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:00.120 he came back in game two and was shown in 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:03.440 their showing their stripes. They look dominant. Ye, based on 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:06.200 what you've seen so far. How comfortable were you with 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:08.520 your bet that you placed at the beginning? Okay see 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:09.560 minus one and a half? 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:15.200 Well, I mean here what I will say about that 0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:17.440 bet to put a little pin in Vegas for now? 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:23.119 That bet was a luxury bet when I placed it. 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:28.840 It's a necessity bet now I just can't you can't 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:32.560 have you can't have bet of the year go awry 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:39.800 right after a five day poker bludgeting. Obviously, the bet 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:45.080 didn't look great after Indiana steels game one because then 0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:49.200 for the thunder Haft to win in four, five or six, 0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:52.080 for that bet to win and after you lose game one, 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:58.440 four is literally eliminated and five is potentially eliminated. However, 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:02.159 we now have had ninety six minutes of this series. 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:06.360 The Indiana Pacers have led for two of those minutes. 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:12.080 I do not think there is a single player on 0:05:12.279 --> 0:05:17.200 the Pacers demonte who can say I like how I'm playing. 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:21.600 I don't think there is a single matchup in this 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:25.200 series right now that Rick Carlisle can look at and 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:30.240 be like bang, that's where we take advantage. So even 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:37.360 though it's one one I feel just as confident as 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:42.640 I did before the series that this is a real mismatch. 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:47.880 And again, it is no shame in it for the Pacers. 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:50.120 And if you disagree, we can discuss it in a second. 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:55.520 But it it's no shame in the Pacers that they 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:59.200 have finally found an opponent that is truly out of 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:04.440 their weight classes. This Oklahoma City team is eighty one 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:09.200 and nineteen on the year. No one has been able 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:13.480 to deal with Shay all year long, and Nie Smith 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:16.480 and Nimhard are not gonna be any different in that regard. 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:22.080 And you don't look at anything Oklahoma City has done 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:27.719 thus far and say, oh, well that's not sustainable. Oh well, 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:30.919 that guy's not gonna keep playing like that. If anything, 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:33.800 you look at how Jalen Williams is playing. I think 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:37.440 he's eleven of thirty three for the series. Uh, fact 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:39.880 check me on that, guys, if you would. Jalen Williams 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:41.920 total shooting splits in the series. But I think he's 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:44.640 eleven of thirty three and I think Chet has only 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:48.000 made one to three the entire series. If anything, you 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:51.839 look at that and you say, well, those guys should 0:06:51.880 --> 0:06:56.160 get a little bit better, and will Shay average thirty 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:59.360 four a game in this series. Maybe not thirty four, 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:03.479 but will he average thirty Well, he has all year, 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:13.440 and so I just think that there is there's not 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:20.080 a lot of adjustments Indiana can make aside from try 0:07:20.120 --> 0:07:24.040 to get hot from three and that might be worth 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:28.360 a game, but that I do not think is going 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:31.600 to be worth multiple games, and they need it to 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:36.400 be worth three games. And so we didn't end up 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:42.080 making the series exacta bets, which is, you know, game 0:07:42.120 --> 0:07:44.480 one this way, Game two that way, so on and 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:47.760 so forth. And I'm glad we didn't because I obviously 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:52.840 would have gotten game one wrong. But in that I 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:56.320 thought we would head to Game three with the Thunder 0:07:56.600 --> 0:08:01.040 up to nothing, and then they let their foot off 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:03.360 the gas a bit and the Pacers steal Game three, 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:07.320 and then the Thunder retake control in game four because 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:11.480 the Thunder already lost a game. I now feel like 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:14.880 there will be no foot off the gas in game three, 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:19.200 and the Thunder will be in position to retake home 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:23.920 court advantage in game three, which is what I fully 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:27.800 expect them to do. So before we get to Morche 0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:32.240 and Haliburton stuff, Demonse, you I saw your kind of 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:35.560 you know, yeah reaction. When I was saying that, I 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:38.960 thought there was just there was no spot where the 0:08:39.000 --> 0:08:42.320 Pacers had an edge or you know, nobody's playing that well, 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:43.000 so go ahead. 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:44.920 Yeah, No, they are out match. 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:46.880 I was just saying, like, with the first game, I 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:49.120 feel like they played a pretty poor game. They obviously 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:51.360 I think they had over twenty turnovers and they still 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:53.280 may have to get the win. So I was just saying, 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:55.000 with those stats, I feel like they should be able 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:57.400 to do something. But you say that there's just no 0:08:57.559 --> 0:09:01.000 mismatches that Indiana can exploit. I understand that there is 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:03.480 not a single guy on there that you can just say, 0:09:03.520 --> 0:09:08.240 go get a bucket or no. Yeah, they are outmatched, 0:09:08.280 --> 0:09:10.480 but got And here's the. 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:19.280 Other piece of it. They win the turnovers. Thing isn't fluky. 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:23.160 This is what OKAC does to people. Yeah, and they 0:09:23.200 --> 0:09:26.000 particularly this is one of the reasons. And I thought 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:29.160 this was a mistake. It was mistake, might be too strong, 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:33.679 but I was shocked that OKC changed their starting lineup 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:37.640 before Game one, that when they had been this dominant 0:09:37.640 --> 0:09:40.920 team all year, that they took Hartenstein out of the 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:44.680 starting lineup. But they did that to add another perimeter defender, 0:09:46.160 --> 0:09:49.040 so they could just harass the pacers out on the 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:54.960 you know, on the perimeter, and they they caused nineteen 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:59.120 first half turnovers in Game one. Now what was fluky 0:09:59.160 --> 0:10:03.800 about that was despite causing all those turnovers, they weren't 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:06.600 getting fast break points. They weren't getting as many points 0:10:06.600 --> 0:10:12.240 off turnovers. But it's still dead possessions and there Listen. 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:21.120 It is incredibly difficult too. I know this is going 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:27.760 to sound almost sacrilegious to how basketball is supposed to 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:34.160 be played, but it is incredibly difficult. And history will 0:10:34.200 --> 0:10:39.640 back me up on this. To win a championship, if 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:45.280 your best player is a true pass first point guard 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:50.800 that is not a natural scorer, if you don't either 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:55.199 have to go along with that person the best defense 0:10:55.240 --> 0:11:02.600 in the league or a go to dominant big that 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.400 he can get a lot of his you know, assists to. 0:11:05.880 --> 0:11:09.000 So when you look at the most traditional kind of 0:11:09.480 --> 0:11:14.439 pass first elite point guards in NBA history and you 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:17.040 go and that Listen, I'm not putting Halliburton on the 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:20.880 historical list, but he obviously is a pass first point guard. 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:26.839 Chris Paul ran into this where it's like, Okay, I 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:30.880 I am I'm the best player on the team. Yes, 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:35.000 I can score, but this is not really where my 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:40.560 bread is buttered, so to speak. And then as competition 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:43.960 gets harder and harder, and the other teams more and 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:48.640 more talented, eventually I'm going to play a team that 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:53.720 is going to have enough talent of their own on 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:59.800 the perimeter, particularly defensively or inside defensively to slow down 0:11:59.840 --> 0:12:03.080 the guys. I'm trying to spoon feed these buckets too. 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:09.120 And he never made He didn't make a finals until 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:13.280 he was alongside a dominant scorer and booker, and they 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:15.199 didn't even they you know, when they made the finals, 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:20.960 didn't win. Steve Nash he could score like Haliburton can score, 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:24.360 but he's a career like eighteen point a game guy. 0:12:24.720 --> 0:12:28.319 He's a pass first wizard who never had those dominant 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:33.040 defenses and had a hard ceiling. Some bad luck, some injuries, 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:36.679 some bad suspensions. I get it, though. Of the NBA Finals, 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:40.199 Chauncey did it, and Chauncey's not the caliber of those 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:43.560 two previous players, but that was the best defense in basketball. 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:46.880 Isaiah Thomas did it. But that was the best defense 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:52.720 in basketball, and Isaiah had real, real high end scoring 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:58.360 ability that he kind of tempered on his own. I mean, 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:03.720 John Stockton had Carl Malone as the go to score. 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:08.040 He's a pass first guy, and those teams were championship caliber. 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:10.720 They just ran into the bulls. But you had stockedon, 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:14.439 you had Malone to go alongside alongside him, and people 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:17.520 will be like, well, Magic did it, and you can't 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:20.480 even be like, well he had Kareem because older man 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:24.000 like it the for the last couple championships that was 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:27.320 not the same cream. But Magic's one of the five 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:32.160 greatest players in the history of the league, and as 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:37.040 great as great as Coozy was, Like they didn't win. 0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:40.160 It's a little unfair to Cooozy, but they didn't win 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:44.280 until they got Russell and they had the best defensive 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:47.920 player in the history of the sport. It's just so 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:55.760 hard to win four rounds if your best player can't 0:13:55.800 --> 0:13:59.920 reliably just go get you a bucket. And it's one 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:04.439 of the reasons why I have always been a defender 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:08.559 of Luca, even though people don't like the heliocentric style, 0:14:10.320 --> 0:14:15.560 because guys like like Luca and Lebron, they are at 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:22.119 their core past first players, but they are also dominant scorers. 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:27.720 And so I know I'm kind of stepping a bit 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:32.280 on the Haliburton conversation, but we'll still get to it 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:37.240 because there's something specific about how he's playing. But it's 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:47.240 just it is. If you don't have if you are, 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:49.680 let me rephrase it, let me kind of turn it 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:56.160 a bit. The Pacers are an offensive minded team. There 0:14:56.280 --> 0:15:01.920 is no precedent for a team that is their identity 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:06.720 is their offense to be able to win four straight rounds. 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:13.000 If they don't have anyone on that offense that you 0:15:13.120 --> 0:15:16.160 are not at all surprised. In fact, you kind of 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:20.840 expect them to go for thirty. And so it's a 0:15:21.000 --> 0:15:26.200 very thin needle that's trying to be threaded here, which 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:29.600 is the thunder of the better defense, we have the 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:32.480 better offense. The thunder, by the way, also have far 0:15:32.520 --> 0:15:35.920 and away the best offensive player in the series. It's 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:44.920 a tough spot and that's where I think the that's 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:49.280 the hard ceiling the Pacers have run into. I know, 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:51.240 you want to talk a little Lesga before we get 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:52.000 to the other stuff. 0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:56.080 Oh yeah, Bruce said, SGA is a little too mature 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:57.920 to be the face of the league. 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:01.320 Can we play That's what's going on. 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:06.080 So he was SGA just had such like a measured, 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:11.800 mature response to how every game is a reset. He's like, listen, 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:15.240 we've won by fifty, and then we've lost big, we 0:16:15.320 --> 0:16:17.680 lost at home, and then we won by forty. And 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:22.760 he was just very calm, cool and collected. I don't think. 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:27.800 Here's what I think, because there there's going We already 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:32.560 knew this was coming that in Oklahoma City, Indiana Pacers 0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:39.560 NBA Finals was not going to capture the imagination of America. 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:43.680 So we knew the ratings would not be great and 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:47.120 people and I listen, Adam Silver went on Breakfast Ball 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:50.640 and he was like, if it was Steelers Packers, people 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:54.920 would be celebrating it. Steelers Packers are one hundred year 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:58.160 old brands. Yeah, it was you know what, I like 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:04.320 the league exactly right, And so that is not the 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:10.159 right comp The right comp is if it were the Colts. No, 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:14.720 just say it again, the Colts no, because the cults 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:18.479 even have a sure if I mean, I'll take that, 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:29.399 But Colts Panthers, or if it were Jags Saints, you know, 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:33.760 like it wouldn't it would feel Now it's the NFL 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:38.320 and the NFL doesn't rely on individual star power as 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:41.479 much as the NBA does obviously, so there would be 0:17:41.560 --> 0:17:44.919 some of it, but it wouldn't feel as exciting. Now. 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:48.880 What some folks might say is, yeah, Kansas City might 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:53.800 as well be Oklahoma City in one hundred. That is true, 0:17:54.240 --> 0:18:01.240 That is correct, which is why Oklahoma City can become 0:18:01.960 --> 0:18:09.000 a huge draw, but it needs sustained long term success. 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:17.040 You know, people are just now recognizing who these guys 0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:20.199 are and how good they are. The point Brew was 0:18:20.320 --> 0:18:26.880 either intentionally or unintentionally making is the short The shortcut 0:18:26.920 --> 0:18:32.800 to that is to be controversial or polarizing, and Shay 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:35.960 is not going to be that. Like the shortcut to 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:42.879 notoriety is to have, you know, have people on both 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:45.800 sides of the argument in a way. I'll give you 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:52.600 a different example. So Shae this year, by any objective measure, 0:18:52.640 --> 0:19:01.680 Demonte had a better season than the last Oklahoma City 0:19:01.720 --> 0:19:06.440 Thunder player to win League MVP, Russell Westbrook in twenty seventeen. 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:16.600 But that Thunder team and Russ individually was a wildly 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:23.560 interesting captivating figure for a lot of reasons. One was 0:19:23.920 --> 0:19:28.200 just stylistically, and that's something that is going to somewhat 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:31.560 work against Shay. There is an element and a level 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:37.560 of are you dunking on people's heads that will grab 0:19:37.600 --> 0:19:41.160 an audience in a way great footwork and mid range 0:19:41.240 --> 0:19:45.320 jump shots and playing underneath the rim typically will not. Right. 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:49.280 So there's that piece of it. There was the morality 0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:55.639 play piece of Durant left, he's there, now he's you know, 0:19:57.040 --> 0:20:00.240 basically it felt like a one man show and it 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:02.880 kind of was, you know, there is that piece of it. 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:06.320 There was also this piece of it. A lot of 0:20:06.359 --> 0:20:09.080 people who cover the league was like, he's not that good. 0:20:09.880 --> 0:20:15.160 Triple double, shmippele double, don't care stat batter, empty calories, 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:17.880 and there are other people that were saying, no, he 0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:20.679 does more for his team than any player in the league. 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:26.800 So it didn't matter that it was Oklahoma City. His 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:32.920 style was exciting. There was real emotion to his story 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:38.640 at that time, and there was a real argument about 0:20:39.119 --> 0:20:45.040 how good he is or isn't. So it is in 0:20:45.119 --> 0:20:53.160 a way it this is a weird one because lucas 0:20:53.280 --> 0:20:58.359 with the Lakers now. But if Luca, let's just say 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:01.640 everything about Luca were the same, but he had been 0:21:01.720 --> 0:21:06.639 traded instead of to the Lakers, he was he was 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:11.360 traded to Indiana. Let's just say that was the trade. 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:14.199 Instead of Luca for a d it was Luca for Halliburton, 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:22.040 all right. While Luca wouldn't have the high the aesthetically 0:21:22.080 --> 0:21:26.000 pleasing style of play the way Russ did, people would 0:21:26.080 --> 0:21:32.480 be invested because there is real debate about is he 0:21:32.600 --> 0:21:38.520 a great player, a ballhog, or a legend? Like you 0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:43.080 have opinions all across the spectrum, and man, this team, 0:21:43.160 --> 0:21:46.440 his team gave up on him all like. There's all 0:21:46.560 --> 0:21:51.960 those pieces to it, and so I don't I think 0:21:52.359 --> 0:21:57.560 market size has something to do with it, but there's 0:21:57.800 --> 0:22:04.240 just it's not just that it's Oklahoma City and Indiana. 0:22:04.800 --> 0:22:10.240 The Indiana pieces, they were not taken seriously by anyone 0:22:10.280 --> 0:22:13.280 as a contender all year, so they weren't like really 0:22:13.320 --> 0:22:17.040 in the discussion. And the Oklahoma City piece of it 0:22:17.160 --> 0:22:26.240 is they are not really a debatable team, which is 0:22:26.720 --> 0:22:29.360 the only thing anybody could say about them all year 0:22:29.440 --> 0:22:32.679 is like, Ah might be too young. Nobody was like 0:22:33.119 --> 0:22:37.200 they're not that good, nobody was like Shay's overrated, nobody's 0:22:37.240 --> 0:22:41.280 had any and we've never like hadn't seen them fail 0:22:41.359 --> 0:22:43.120 and come back. So there's just a lot of pieces 0:22:43.160 --> 0:22:51.040 to it and if folks can say that, well, if 0:22:51.080 --> 0:22:55.480 you need something to debate in order to be interested, 0:22:56.040 --> 0:22:58.680 then you don't love basketball, like you're not a die 0:22:58.760 --> 0:23:03.160 hard basketball fan. But those people miss the point because 0:23:03.200 --> 0:23:07.880 here's thing, demanse, whether or not the ratings are good 0:23:08.880 --> 0:23:14.320 has absolutely nothing to do with the die hards. That 0:23:14.560 --> 0:23:18.840 die hards are there for the finals, no matter what 0:23:19.720 --> 0:23:24.879 a rating is generated by our people who typically are 0:23:24.920 --> 0:23:32.440 not watching, watching, and like and for those people, you can't. 0:23:33.080 --> 0:23:36.800 You can't sell a casual and by the way, sports 0:23:36.840 --> 0:23:40.359 League shouldn't try to and there shouldn't be any like 0:23:41.600 --> 0:23:48.520 shame about this. You the people that truly appreciate the 0:23:48.560 --> 0:23:53.560 real artistry of the game, and you know how the 0:23:53.600 --> 0:23:59.719 thunder were built and Haliburton's story, those people are all 0:23:59.760 --> 0:24:07.119 ready the d if when you are trying to for 0:24:07.240 --> 0:24:16.080 your premiere event, trying to draw in the everyone else, 0:24:16.720 --> 0:24:21.160 those people, it's the same way any of us ever 0:24:21.800 --> 0:24:26.520 have been drawn into something that we previously weren't interested in. 0:24:27.640 --> 0:24:32.280 So like the people weren't go ahead, de mindset. 0:24:32.480 --> 0:24:34.480 I was never a big boxing guy, but the Jake 0:24:34.640 --> 0:24:36.880 I never like would watch pay per view, But Jake 0:24:36.920 --> 0:24:39.439 Paul Mke's eyes something came out and I was watching boxing. 0:24:39.840 --> 0:24:44.040 You gotta right, it's a spectacle. But no, there's the 0:24:44.080 --> 0:24:49.000 people that knew nothing about Formula one racing and don't 0:24:49.400 --> 0:24:55.159 and can't understand why this overtake was impressive, or why 0:24:55.200 --> 0:24:57.760 this car is better than that car, or why that 0:24:57.840 --> 0:25:01.040 pit crew is the best. Saw the one show got 0:25:01.040 --> 0:25:05.560 to know the personalities. They're like, oh, I'm interested. And 0:25:05.600 --> 0:25:09.399 by the way, that show on Netflix that Lebron and 0:25:09.480 --> 0:25:11.639 Anthony Davis were in, I forget the name of it, 0:25:13.280 --> 0:25:18.240 Starting five, the one that they're recording this year. Two 0:25:18.320 --> 0:25:23.040 of the five are Shay and Haliburton. So maybe that's 0:25:23.080 --> 0:25:27.160 good to bring in people for you know, future future 0:25:27.240 --> 0:25:29.760 years or whatever it is. But that's just what it is. 0:25:29.840 --> 0:25:32.320 And I don't think there's anything wrong with it, and 0:25:32.359 --> 0:25:38.800 I don't think we have to. I don't love the 0:25:38.960 --> 0:25:43.360 folks who are like patriotizing on NBA Twitter, like, well, 0:25:43.400 --> 0:25:48.560 if you can't appreciate this basketball, then you don't love basketball. 0:25:48.560 --> 0:25:52.520 It's like, no shit, the people who love basketball are 0:25:52.520 --> 0:25:57.800 already watching. It's the people who, you know, they're debating 0:25:57.920 --> 0:26:02.760 between you know, restarting the last season of Love is 0:26:02.840 --> 0:26:07.879 Blind or flipping on the finals and though you're like, 0:26:08.520 --> 0:26:13.199 those people know the storylines, you know, uh, and the 0:26:14.080 --> 0:26:18.159 of Stafford Lebron or whomever, and they're not familiar with 0:26:18.200 --> 0:26:21.480 these folks. Now you and again, now I'm kind of 0:26:21.480 --> 0:26:25.200 like shadowboxing potential other arguments. People be like, well, it's 0:26:25.240 --> 0:26:29.440 the media's job to inform people of these stories, sure, 0:26:30.440 --> 0:26:33.560 but not all stories are as interesting from a story 0:26:33.640 --> 0:26:40.919 perspective as others. And so like, there is there is 0:26:41.080 --> 0:26:48.200 not a lot that is very interesting about the Thunder 0:26:48.440 --> 0:26:54.600 the Pacers outside of the basketball, which is totally fine. 0:26:55.040 --> 0:26:58.479 You're not always going to have that, but that is 0:26:58.600 --> 0:27:02.480 going to make it difficult to bring in people who 0:27:02.520 --> 0:27:07.920 are only passively interested in the basketball. And like, that's 0:27:08.040 --> 0:27:14.000 just a reality of you know, I don't know if 0:27:14.000 --> 0:27:17.600 it's marketing or how this stuff works. And so I 0:27:17.600 --> 0:27:18.680 don't think that is. 0:27:19.600 --> 0:27:23.320 Just saying don't coming, don't come with the casuals because 0:27:23.320 --> 0:27:23.720 it's okay. 0:27:23.720 --> 0:27:28.280 So yeah, I mean that's why they're casual fans, and 0:27:28.480 --> 0:27:31.560 I think that's totally fine. And I think that you know, 0:27:32.520 --> 0:27:39.719 interest ebbs and flows, and sometimes you need you know, 0:27:39.840 --> 0:27:46.439 sometimes you don't know that this is going to be 0:27:46.520 --> 0:27:52.040 an all time classic book. After the first chapter and 0:27:53.280 --> 0:27:56.640 if the Thunder go on the type of run some 0:27:56.720 --> 0:27:59.240 people not me as much, but some people think they 0:27:59.280 --> 0:28:05.280 really could, then this will build and this will be 0:28:05.359 --> 0:28:08.320 like Chapter one, and the people who were locked in 0:28:08.400 --> 0:28:13.040 and dialed to these NBA Finals in four years, when 0:28:13.680 --> 0:28:19.160 Shay and Chet and j Dubb are all household names, 0:28:20.520 --> 0:28:25.720 people will be like I, you know, I remember watching 0:28:25.760 --> 0:28:31.879 them nervously host to Game seven against Nikolai Jokic. That 0:28:31.960 --> 0:28:34.520 could have derailed this whole thing for it even started. 0:28:35.080 --> 0:28:37.920 You can be the hipster for the Thunder if they 0:28:37.960 --> 0:28:40.880 ever go from playing coffee shops to play in arenas. 0:28:40.920 --> 0:28:46.080 But that's that's just how this works. 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