Speaker 1: Welcome to this League Uncut in the rule of twenty
Speaker 1: four hour NBA news miters. You lo, Chris Haynes. It's time,
Speaker 1: Perk Stein, It's so time. This League Uncut is underway
Speaker 1: and on fire. This should be a good.
Speaker 2: One friends, Thanks for joining us for another edition of
Speaker 2: this League Uncut. Mark Stein here with Chris Haynes. It
Speaker 2: is going to be a good one. A special one
Speaker 2: because we have a special guest, the official NBA Draft
Speaker 2: expert of this podcast, because at this point in the
Speaker 2: draft process, we're only talking about one guy, and no
Speaker 2: one knows Victor wembin Yama better than our guest today,
Speaker 2: Nicola Batoum of the La Clippers, is here to educate
Speaker 2: us on his countrymen and do a little dunking on
Speaker 2: Chris Haynes since he told Chris Chris could have been
Speaker 2: the number one draft expert in the media if he
Speaker 2: would have just listened to Monsieur Batoum when he told
Speaker 2: him three four years ago about this kid. Chris did
Speaker 2: not heed the advice, and look what's happened. Now, Look
Speaker 2: what's happening.
Speaker 3: I'm pretty sure I was in good company when we
Speaker 3: heard about Victor three four years ago. I wasn't alone,
Speaker 3: so I don't feel too bad. But definitely Nick Nick
Speaker 3: tried to put me on game years ago. He definitely did.
Speaker 2: How did you know? How did you know instantly that
Speaker 2: this kid was going to captivate us all and get us?
Speaker 2: I mean, there will be fifty eight players instead of
Speaker 2: the usual sixty drafted on June twenty second. But all
Speaker 2: anybody's talking about is the is the French Feenix.
Speaker 4: I mean, he is special. Now. The first time I
Speaker 4: saw that kid he was fourteen years old, was in
Speaker 4: twenty eighteen. I heard about him a little bit, but
Speaker 4: didn't really know him. And you know, when I got like,
Speaker 4: I mean, I like scanning young guys. I used to
Speaker 4: go to different your camp, like watch young guys in
Speaker 4: your play. I like to do that. I mean I
Speaker 4: saw presently it's a seventeen and so Yanni's at sixteen seventeen,
Speaker 4: like all those guys, I saw them like at the
Speaker 4: young age before they get drift. I like scanning do
Speaker 4: stuff like this. But when you when I saw him
Speaker 4: for the first time, like I never seen like something
Speaker 4: like this before. It was only fourteen years old. There
Speaker 4: was like sixteen sixty eleven. I saw told kid at
Speaker 4: that age, but not moving like this, not dribbling like this.
Speaker 4: I was like, maybe it's too early to say something.
Speaker 4: But I start following him, and when he turned like
Speaker 4: fifteen sixteen, I was like, oh God, my biscuit might
Speaker 4: be like different, like literally different to what we've seen before.
Speaker 4: And he is actually.
Speaker 3: Stein next, say the way he described as years ago.
Speaker 3: He was like, Nah, he's the next He's the next
Speaker 3: best thing in the NBA. And I took that as
Speaker 3: meaning like he's the next best kid from France. He
Speaker 3: was like, no, I'm talking about the next best kid
Speaker 3: that's going to come to the NBA. He's going to
Speaker 3: be the face of the NBA. Nick when you were
Speaker 3: when you were looking at him, scouting him and seeing
Speaker 3: how he moved. I remember when I started hearing a
Speaker 3: little bit little things about him, like what did you
Speaker 3: compare him to? Like what who was somebody? Like if
Speaker 3: you're describing him to people that didn't see him, what
Speaker 3: was the best way that you were able to describe
Speaker 3: his game?
Speaker 4: I mean, when I when I start describing like what
Speaker 4: I've seen, like a couple of years ago, people didn't
Speaker 4: believe him as like like the dude okay, the easy
Speaker 4: coop person because he's huge. Was Rudy because the tall
Speaker 4: guy from France, so it's easy to compare him from
Speaker 4: friends because he lost playing. He just was named today
Speaker 4: Defensive Priiod of the Year and the French Dick too.
Speaker 4: He was number one in block and Defensive Period of
Speaker 4: the year as well, so they got MVP too. We
Speaker 4: got everything. But I'm like, okay, the guy. Can you
Speaker 4: imagine Rudy shooting like pausing gis. That's how I described
Speaker 4: him first, Then he had the end those, but now
Speaker 4: he had the end those. Now I was like, okay,
Speaker 4: because can you imagine Rudy as pausingis and shooting size
Speaker 4: and the shooting abilities. It was like running like Yannis.
Speaker 4: But now you can't dribble too. At seven four, people
Speaker 4: was like yeah, right, yeah, come on, Nico. He's not
Speaker 4: too good about real life. I'm like, you see, I
Speaker 4: know it sounds crazy, but it's coming.
Speaker 2: You know, you know him, and really over here, none
Speaker 2: of us really do. He's only been in the States.
Speaker 2: There were the two games in Vegas. He spent some
Speaker 2: time training last summer in Dallas, but he wasn't really
Speaker 2: in public view, So I mean We've just had so
Speaker 2: little access to the person. How do you think he's
Speaker 2: handling all of this attention and all of these expectations,
Speaker 2: because look, I think it's he is the most anticipated
Speaker 2: draft prospect since Lebron And to me, that's enough, Like
Speaker 2: that's just saying that is crazy. But in the last
Speaker 2: few days, I mean the projections for him have gone
Speaker 2: five steps beyond that. How do you think he's going
Speaker 2: to handle that?
Speaker 4: I mean, he is blessed and lucky to have a
Speaker 4: great entourage. I mean I've known his family. I know
Speaker 4: his mom father, his brother, and sister have made them
Speaker 4: a lot of time. His family is great. No agent,
Speaker 4: we have the same agent, the same representatives. I mean
Speaker 4: there great. I know, Like was walking with him and
Speaker 4: the coach, yeah this year. The coach who coached him
Speaker 4: this year was the coach who coached me before I
Speaker 4: got in the NBA. I could program me to being this,
Speaker 4: get me ready to be in the NBA. So I
Speaker 4: know what's going through right now, like on daily basis.
Speaker 4: But he's a smart kid. I mean that's what I'm shocked.
Speaker 4: Like with him, when I met him, and uh and
Speaker 4: me and Tony Parker, we're on the team with Tony
Speaker 4: Parker in France Jodic team and we signed, we played,
Speaker 4: he played for us last year and uh, I mean
Speaker 4: he's been on the pressure, but he knows, I mean,
Speaker 4: he knows who he is and what he can becoming,
Speaker 4: what he has to become, I mean at this point
Speaker 4: and what he has to do, Like the pressure doesn't
Speaker 4: be crazy, but he knows exactly what he has to
Speaker 4: do and how he had to do it. And that's
Speaker 4: what I'm all pre impressed about him so far.
Speaker 3: Nick, covering you, especially your time when I covered you
Speaker 3: with the Portland troubles, it seemed like it was just
Speaker 3: inevitable at some point you would end up with the
Speaker 3: San Antonio Spurs. It just seems like at some point
Speaker 3: you were gonna partner with Tony Parker over there, get
Speaker 3: to play under Pop. And I know at times you
Speaker 3: thought you probably thought the same thing. So what what
Speaker 3: was your mind? Well, what did you think about when
Speaker 3: san Antonio warned the lottery got the number one pick?
Speaker 5: Now you know where Victor's head.
Speaker 4: I mean, it's like the story. The thing about the
Speaker 4: NBA is about all about the storytelling. It's like when
Speaker 4: Dirk was about to retire, of course is going to
Speaker 4: end up in the MAVs. We all know, like the
Speaker 4: best Big York stuff, and like what like man who's
Speaker 4: gonna get him?
Speaker 5: Of course is going to end up with.
Speaker 4: The MAVs and the next twenty years after Dirk no whiskey.
Speaker 4: We all know that. And so when you saw Vic,
Speaker 4: it's like, yeah, it's gonna be Spurs. We all knew
Speaker 4: that last year already when you.
Speaker 5: Said, Dick All you said the lottery is fixed, Nick,
Speaker 5: is that what you allude to it.
Speaker 4: I'm not saying it's fixed. I'm not saying that. But
Speaker 4: the NBA is so crazy about this storytelling stuff like
Speaker 4: the destiny of everything. I mean, everything is destined by
Speaker 4: this league. And he's gonna end up in anyway. So
Speaker 4: and that's a perfect land. I mean I knew I
Speaker 4: saw like the Rocket, the Houston Rockets stuff like the
Speaker 4: reaction when the Rockets went number four. Then some guy
Speaker 4: is mad about it, but uh, I mean that's a
Speaker 4: perfect spot. I mean Tony left. Tony is the great
Speaker 4: greatest French plioval time. He might be, if everything walks
Speaker 4: out with him, be the next best French peroval time.
Speaker 4: So and being walking Tony step after what Tonya has
Speaker 4: done for that frenchise. That's a good challenge for him
Speaker 4: because okay, Tony got six all start four rank that
Speaker 4: is Jersey ups there do better than him beat that.
Speaker 2: Do you think French fans because of Tony, because of
Speaker 2: Boris d l do you think French basketball fans wanted
Speaker 2: him to end up in San Antonio? Is that I'm
Speaker 2: guessing that's probably a popular landing spot, I think, as
Speaker 2: opposed to the Tree or Houston.
Speaker 4: I think so. Yeah. I think I think, like he
Speaker 4: said that last night too, I think France are happy
Speaker 4: because he's going to end up there. I think so.
Speaker 4: I mean, because what Tonya has done there. I mean yeah,
Speaker 4: I mean I think Puppy is happy. I think the
Speaker 4: French eise is hatpy, but I mean it's a perfect
Speaker 4: landing spot for him. Perfect.
Speaker 2: You mentioned Luca, and you know Luca. Luca was the
Speaker 2: euro League MVP before he came to the NBA, and
Speaker 2: there were still skeptics because the EuroLeague it's not on here.
Speaker 2: People don't realize that, yes, that actually is the second
Speaker 2: highest level of basketball in the world. And I think
Speaker 2: teams realize now. We probably should have put more stock
Speaker 2: into what Doncic is doing at Real Madrid as big
Speaker 2: a club as there is outside of it, outside of
Speaker 2: the NBA. The French League is obviously good, but the
Speaker 2: French League is not on that level. Obviously, his team
Speaker 2: only is playing domestically this season. He's not playing in
Speaker 2: the EuroLeague. So how big of a jump is he
Speaker 2: facing going from the league he's in right now to
Speaker 2: playing against the LA Clippers on opening night. Let's just
Speaker 2: throw that out there as a maybe.
Speaker 4: That's what that's what I love about this country. Actually,
Speaker 4: Victor Prenodic last year he did play, and I don't
Speaker 4: think people know that. I mean they just find out
Speaker 4: about him after Vegas, Okay, beat the Jedig team. I
Speaker 4: mean he played great against the Jediic team two times
Speaker 4: in three days. Yes, but the year before he was
Speaker 4: seventeen years old, he didn't dominate the league like Lucas.
Speaker 4: What Luca has done in Jodic is insane. At that age,
Speaker 4: nobody has done that. I prayed Yodic before I got draft,
Speaker 4: getting Narraedy, Marco Berny, like a lot of guys plan Yodick.
Speaker 4: We're no near to be like top twenty players in
Speaker 4: the Jodic. It was Ruca was the MVP and he
Speaker 4: won the damn thing and it was final for MVP.
Speaker 4: It's insane or he's done, but still like he's a god.
Speaker 4: It's about Domino God and Luca was technically his body
Speaker 4: was technically ready to be in the NBA. Viig is
Speaker 4: seventy five. He's still growing. Actually, I think he's still growing.
Speaker 4: I think his body need to ADDPT just because he's
Speaker 4: just he just turned nineteen two months ago and I
Speaker 4: saw him like last week, was seventeen years old. We're
Speaker 4: playing in new league, facing him like big monster guy.
Speaker 4: I practice first and then in games, and I saw
Speaker 4: some stuff from him at seventeen years old and the
Speaker 4: second best team in the league. I was like, Okay, yes,
Speaker 4: people are going to go hid him in the NBA
Speaker 4: in two years. But he mean he's going to be ready.
Speaker 4: I mean my rookie. I mean, I don't compare myself
Speaker 4: to him. But when I my first training camp, when
Speaker 4: I got there, I was nineteen years old, and you
Speaker 4: see that guy I try to get hitch. I'm like, man,
Speaker 4: I've been there two or three years ago already. The
Speaker 4: thing was then tried to body you in practice because
Speaker 4: young I mean in Europe, we've been there two at
Speaker 4: fifteen sixteen years old. So when you came in came
Speaker 4: to the NBA, the yes, I'm stronger than a man.
Speaker 4: We've been through that, so we're not intimidate body. So
Speaker 4: but the thing is the thing with Vic, yes's gonna
Speaker 4: face and bid yr Kish Yannis like Zubash from guys
Speaker 4: like that, like Bam, like big dudes. Yes, it's gonna
Speaker 4: be tough for him to adjust, But tell me one
Speaker 4: nineteen year old kid at seventy five with like we got.
Speaker 4: They all been through that, all of them besides Check,
Speaker 4: but all of them pretty much bent through that. So
Speaker 4: it's gonna have some adjustment physically, that's for sure. But
Speaker 4: when it's gonna be twenty two to twenty three, it
Speaker 4: might be crazy.
Speaker 3: Actually, So Nick, when to hear you say that it's
Speaker 3: going to be a little bit of a learning curve,
Speaker 3: Like you said, it's going to have to adjust and adapt.
Speaker 3: But the way everybody is promoting him and comparing him
Speaker 3: to Lebron James, that hype is very it is very similar.
Speaker 5: But Lebron came in day one, and it is there a.
Speaker 3: Concern that because you're saying right now, you still think,
Speaker 3: you know, it's gonna take a while. You saying when
Speaker 3: he gets twenty two to twenty three, is there concern
Speaker 3: that with all the hype that he's getting in his
Speaker 3: rookie year, he's not really dominating or or showing his
Speaker 3: prowess at that stage. Is there any concern that backlash
Speaker 3: will will come after that?
Speaker 4: I mean, I mean if you listen to people like
Speaker 4: they're gonna wait for him to have MB number like
Speaker 4: thirty three and twelve. Yeah, I like the kid, but
Speaker 4: I don't think it's gonna happen. I hope he will.
Speaker 4: I mean, I hope he's gonna I've read that no numbers,
Speaker 4: but I don't think it's gonna happen next year. I
Speaker 4: need the first year. We don't know, but maybe not.
Speaker 4: But uh, like I say, he's seventh big men guy.
Speaker 4: Lebron was ready. Lebron was like six eight, like two
Speaker 4: forty fifty some dude like man body ready for the NBA,
Speaker 4: Like the man was ready to go for big guys.
Speaker 4: Has always been different. I think for the big men's
Speaker 4: and he's a big guy. But I think when I
Speaker 4: heard like that, he's the best prospect ever I don't
Speaker 4: reayy like that. I think it's it's like a dream,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean, Like we all think like
Speaker 4: to play basketball, we have to be tall. We have
Speaker 4: a tall guy, we play like a small guy. I mean,
Speaker 4: it's just something we've never seen before. So the biggest
Speaker 4: prospect ever maybe, But he's like the fantasy we always
Speaker 4: dreamed of as a basketball player. I think that's what
Speaker 4: it is. It's just the fantasy, the dream guy you
Speaker 4: can create a somewhere. Okay, this is it. It's more
Speaker 4: like this.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because I haven't seen him play a ton, but
Speaker 2: everyone I talked to who has, they always bring up
Speaker 2: the movement that this guy, nobody his size has ever
Speaker 2: moved like he does. Do you do you agree with that?
Speaker 4: Is that?
Speaker 2: Is that the accurate scouting report?
Speaker 4: Yeah? I agree? I mean you can't see the kid
Speaker 4: like bring the boat up and do spin move like
Speaker 4: full speed, even like a sixties guy can struggle to
Speaker 4: do it. So yeah, I mean he yes, some ability
Speaker 4: is like pretty insane for a basketball player before his size.
Speaker 4: It just amplifies.
Speaker 5: So what did what do you do? Nick?
Speaker 3: As far as your role is, you're a mentor of his.
Speaker 3: He's somebody who looks up to What do you do
Speaker 3: as a guy who's going to look after this guy,
Speaker 3: just like Tony Parker is going to do?
Speaker 5: What do you do? What's your role in his life
Speaker 5: moving forward?
Speaker 4: Every time I got a chance to talk to him
Speaker 4: and be around him, I was like, I have nothing
Speaker 4: to say to him. Actually I just tried. I don't.
Speaker 4: I mean, he got it. You know. That's the crazy
Speaker 4: craziest spout about him, is you got it, bro, You're good. No.
Speaker 4: I'm working out in the same gym in France every
Speaker 4: year every summer, and that's the gym where he plays,
Speaker 4: like this year and last summer. So I was working
Speaker 4: out before the practice. I got got the gym before
Speaker 4: the practice. I used to see him like we're walking in,
Speaker 4: you're walking out before the practice, and just by talking
Speaker 4: to him like I'm like, bro, you can go right now.
Speaker 4: He's ready mentally. I mean, he doesn't need advice from us,
Speaker 4: like from any of us, maybe like how to adjust
Speaker 4: to the life in the US instill. He just knows
Speaker 4: exactly what to do and how to operate, doesn't He's
Speaker 4: not like overreact to who he is what he can become.
Speaker 4: I don't think he doesn't. He doesn't care about people
Speaker 4: what said, what people say about it. I don't think
Speaker 4: he cares about that. The best broke there of all time,
Speaker 4: he doesn't care about that. But he knows, he knows,
Speaker 4: he's he's they're waiting for him. He knows that. So
Speaker 4: I can't I can't just say to him when I
Speaker 4: see him, just yeah, keep walking on your game. I mean,
Speaker 4: you have everything to be amazing, so just keep walking.
Speaker 2: You keep referring to him as Vic obviously, I'm sure
Speaker 2: you've caught on. And in the States, we've just invented
Speaker 2: this nickname for him, Wenby, But I'm guessing that nobody
Speaker 2: in France uses that.
Speaker 4: Or I mean, maybe maybe just start doing it that
Speaker 4: you do.
Speaker 2: But but for you, I mean among his French peers
Speaker 2: in the NBA, you guys, that's not his nickname for
Speaker 2: you guys is It's.
Speaker 4: Gonna be a rookie for a year. So it's gonna
Speaker 4: be a rook like everybody's gonna be a rookie. I'm
Speaker 4: gonna start with rook and then we see. But I
Speaker 4: don't think when they current Winby, I don't think it's
Speaker 4: gonna cura like that. Vic vic Or Victor, but Wenby,
Speaker 4: I don't think so.
Speaker 3: You mentioned you share earlier. You guys shared the same
Speaker 3: agent Boona India. I remember talking with Boone probably about
Speaker 3: three years ago, and he told me he was on
Speaker 3: the verge of retiring.
Speaker 5: I don't, I don't. I don't see that. I don't
Speaker 5: see that happened that.
Speaker 4: I told that. I told that to the almost talking
Speaker 4: to that, I say that, I'm like this kid, the
Speaker 4: junct was about we talked about retirement. I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 4: extended carry. I think pubably be the same. I don't
Speaker 4: know if Funk was on the verge of retire. Good call.
Speaker 4: I'm pretty sure around for a couple of years.
Speaker 2: So he's coaching. He's coaching to at least eighty seventy
Speaker 2: to do at least eighty. I mean, I absolutely love
Speaker 2: international basketball, and obviously the last couple of major competitions,
Speaker 2: France has emerged as the number one team in Europe,
Speaker 2: the number one threat to the United States. I was
Speaker 2: in China in twenty nineteen when France beat the and
Speaker 2: I States in the quarterfinals, sent the pop coached US
Speaker 2: to a humbling seventh at the World Cup, the lowest
Speaker 2: finish in program history with NBA players. Obviously, in the Olympics,
Speaker 2: you guys won the first game, the US rebounds and
Speaker 2: wins the gold medal game. What does Victor web Minyama
Speaker 2: do for the French national team and the USA France rivalry.
Speaker 4: I mean he's gonna, I mean, he's gonna had so
Speaker 4: much stuff for US. I mean we still have a
Speaker 4: good team, but that we need fresh young players. We
Speaker 4: have a good one coming out because you see other
Speaker 4: team around, I mean the World Cup for example, in
Speaker 4: the World Cup. At the next Olympics, I think it's
Speaker 4: going to be the two great especially in the Olympics,
Speaker 4: it's gonna be the greatest SIBAS competition of all time.
Speaker 4: If anybody comes, it's going to be insane. I think
Speaker 4: it's going to be insane. But you watch teams like
Speaker 4: Austraia is going to be loaded, Canada is going to
Speaker 4: be loaded. The US and gonna be the US anyway,
Speaker 4: Spain is always the no matter what. Serbia man, we
Speaker 4: got this kid playing Denvers not bad at all. So
Speaker 4: and then all the guys around Grace with Jannis, I
Speaker 4: mean I might be missed some teams, but you know
Speaker 4: what I mean, so when you can have I mean,
Speaker 4: we're good. We're good. We've been a tough four pretty
Speaker 4: much every time in every competition. Now we're the only team.
Speaker 4: We got a medal in the last zero Row Basket
Speaker 4: World Cup and Olympics were the only team we've done that,
Speaker 4: so we know we okay, but we still need new
Speaker 4: guys because the other team got better. And when you
Speaker 4: have a guy like this, I mean, I take it.
Speaker 4: I'm good with.
Speaker 2: It, and I can't resist ask you because I wrote
Speaker 2: about this in September, because, like I said, I absolutely
Speaker 2: love international hoops, which is still now in the United States.
Speaker 2: Like because of the way you're describing the World Cup,
Speaker 2: I'm hoping that this World Cup is one that we
Speaker 2: really get into and pay more attention to it than
Speaker 2: we have in the past as a basketball community. Olympics
Speaker 2: obviously everybody is dialed in for that. But in September
Speaker 2: I wrote a story about how it's France and the
Speaker 2: USA fighting to convince Joel Embiid to commit internationally. Because
Speaker 2: Joel Embiid has said he's not going to play for Cameroon,
Speaker 2: where he was born. He's either going to play for
Speaker 2: the French or the United States. During the season. I
Speaker 2: tried to get Joe to talk about it. He said,
Speaker 2: I'm not touching it till after the season. But I mean,
Speaker 2: you guys, you already have Rudy Gobert, you're adding Victor
Speaker 2: Webbin Yama. Don't tell me you guys are also getting.
Speaker 4: Joel embiid Shita.
Speaker 2: What do you think? What do you think?
Speaker 4: I wish? And to be honest, I don't know, but
Speaker 4: I heard the stories. I know like he wasn't a
Speaker 4: verse between us and us. I know that. I don't
Speaker 4: know if you took I mean, if you took a
Speaker 4: decision or no. To be honest, I have no idea.
Speaker 4: I know it just finished the big season, got the MVP,
Speaker 4: got hurt. I didn't get his nie stuff. So but yes,
Speaker 4: if we had a guy like him in our roster,
Speaker 4: I moved to the punker position. Actually, but.
Speaker 2: And there's room for it all. Coach Kala can handle
Speaker 2: a three headed center rotation. If that's what you end
Speaker 2: up with all those guys.
Speaker 4: All of them, why not put three and you're at
Speaker 4: and you're.
Speaker 2: At the one.
Speaker 5: I'm the one.
Speaker 4: I mean, it's easy and the one. I just bring
Speaker 4: them up and get it inside and do what you
Speaker 4: have to do. I don't care.
Speaker 5: How many more Olympics you got, Nick.
Speaker 4: One, that's it. I got this work up. I gets
Speaker 4: into the Olympics, and you know if I played those two,
Speaker 4: I would have played four Olympics, four work up and
Speaker 4: got five year olds. I'm good. I think I've done
Speaker 4: enough for my country.
Speaker 5: Start you'll cut you well.
Speaker 2: Last summer?
Speaker 4: Is it is it?
Speaker 2: Still?
Speaker 4: Is it?
Speaker 2: Pride?
Speaker 4: Is it?
Speaker 2: Anger? I mean I know how I can well, I
Speaker 2: don't know. I can only imagine how badly you guys
Speaker 2: wanted to win that gold medal game. How did you
Speaker 2: come away from from from that?
Speaker 4: I mean, we knew we just beat this team two
Speaker 4: times in the row twenty nineteen, the opening night and
Speaker 4: uh a, the Olympics, so we knew they were like
Speaker 4: coming for us. And Katie was amazing that game. Katie
Speaker 4: had a big game. But that's a three pound game
Speaker 4: with ten seconds to go. I mean, I know, five
Speaker 4: poon game. I think with that, with that, I think
Speaker 4: we cut it to two or three with two minutes
Speaker 4: to go, So we were right there. We knew we
Speaker 4: could have done it again. But no, they're amazing. No,
Speaker 4: the guy we are player they made play at the end.
Speaker 4: German was good at the end for them. Remember he
Speaker 4: made plays a German only can't do. But they made plays.
Speaker 4: And I mean we were mad, but no, I remember
Speaker 4: in the locker room we were not. Nobody was sad
Speaker 4: or crying, like we were pissed, like and that's what
Speaker 4: I love. But that team because and people ask me, like,
Speaker 4: what's about French basketball, And I'm like, ten years ago,
Speaker 4: we're just happy to be there. Now we passed because
Speaker 4: we lost by five the USA team at the Olympics.
Speaker 4: Go with a game that means this is where we
Speaker 4: are right now. This is where the international basketball is
Speaker 4: right now, Like the dream team stuff is over, like
Speaker 4: taking pictures with them, like were pretty much teammate with
Speaker 4: them now. I mean then was a starting point guard
Speaker 4: and them is I'm pretty close to him because we
Speaker 4: pray to get I'm close to him. So I'm not
Speaker 4: impressed technically impressed by him in a good way, you
Speaker 4: know what I mean. So but now I think when
Speaker 4: we lose against now, now you lose against the USA team,
Speaker 4: you piss because like, damn, maybe we could have done it.
Speaker 4: When you beat them, like okay, we've done it. Just
Speaker 4: move on, to keep on because next time they're going
Speaker 4: to be trying to get at us, and then you
Speaker 4: have to be a ready for them and try to
Speaker 4: beat them again. But this is this is still the
Speaker 4: best team in the world no matter what, no matter
Speaker 4: what they're going to bring, they don't, You're going to
Speaker 4: be the big team. Yeah, they beat team is gonna
Speaker 4: better have the better roaster than anybody else anyway. I mean,
Speaker 4: the Olympics did have Steph Curry or Lebron James or whatever.
Speaker 4: This got KD and JT and damon whatever. So but
Speaker 4: that's the beauty now about the all gam is He's
Speaker 4: not like the USA like he's dropping. He's just the
Speaker 4: world is getting better. We're just getting better. And uh
Speaker 4: there's one day maybe able to be damn every time,
Speaker 4: but maybe and we never know. But this still the
Speaker 4: best team in the world.
Speaker 5: Nathan.
Speaker 3: I would talk about you on on on this podcast
Speaker 3: during the playoffs. It was like a running joke for
Speaker 3: for a few episodes about how you.
Speaker 5: Would blame me for your team Clippers losing.
Speaker 3: When did you When did you start to recognize that
Speaker 3: I might be the black cat?
Speaker 5: When did you start to realize that?
Speaker 4: I think I don't know which game we play. I
Speaker 4: was like, damn, every time I see you were losing
Speaker 4: and win Golden State, go to State, should run Golden States.
Speaker 4: I'm like, yo, you're my guy. But we are all
Speaker 4: in three, So.
Speaker 3: I think I was telling the story about how you know,
Speaker 3: as a as a TNT side reporter, I go behind
Speaker 3: you guys, bitch through.
Speaker 5: A time bouts, and you're just staring at me, like
Speaker 5: bugging me.
Speaker 4: First off, I think we're like fifteen, we are fifteen
Speaker 4: and a halftime, like, ko, why was great? PG was cooking?
Speaker 4: Like up thirteen or fifteen a halftime, I'm like, oh,
Speaker 4: and on this crazy run man, and the fourth like
Speaker 4: we're down fifteen now.
Speaker 3: I was like, I'm like, and I'm trying not to
Speaker 3: laugh because I'm right by your bitch, right by your bitch.
Speaker 5: I'm trying not to laugh.
Speaker 3: I don't want people looking at me think about later
Speaker 3: that y'all lose it, like it's Nick's fault.
Speaker 5: Man.
Speaker 2: But they won the But in the playoffs they won
Speaker 2: the first game with you there, right.
Speaker 4: Yeah, But that's when I knew. When a new were
Speaker 4: on tn T, I texted Mar, I'm like, please don't
Speaker 4: don't be now serious. Go somewhere else. I don't want
Speaker 4: to see you.
Speaker 5: He gave.
Speaker 3: He gave me a hug right after the game where
Speaker 3: they beat the He said, all right, bring it there,
Speaker 3: you're good.
Speaker 2: You should have got the game ball.
Speaker 3: I should have. I should have, I would say, Nick.
Speaker 3: With the Clippers, every everything ended abruptly, how have you
Speaker 3: processed the season and how it ended?
Speaker 4: Stuff? For sure? You know when you come in the
Speaker 4: season with you expectation. We had expectation, we got big goals.
Speaker 4: I mean you see the roster we had, no we
Speaker 4: had Kawhi was back p g over everything. So yes,
Speaker 4: we came in the season with expectations. For sure. We
Speaker 4: made some move that trade deadline, like, okay, you see
Speaker 4: the roster we have, but we can be good and
Speaker 4: we have some good stuff we have, like good games
Speaker 4: that you know when PG went down and we uh
Speaker 4: three weeks before the playoffs, No, that was tough. And
Speaker 4: then Kawhi went out after the second game. We tried,
Speaker 4: I mean, we still try to fight anyway. You know.
Speaker 4: That's beauty with tyoo Is, He's going to get us
Speaker 4: sweeting no matter what who was on the court or
Speaker 4: and Russ was great as well. Ross was really really
Speaker 4: good for us. It's tough. I mean, it's tough when
Speaker 4: you missed the two best players, like because we run
Speaker 4: everything around them, so we try to survive. When the
Speaker 4: Sons were at a good team, they got it. Roting
Speaker 4: book was amazing and KD was KD and uh, you
Speaker 4: know it was a was a tough one because were
Speaker 4: in five. But that's pretty much close game every time.
Speaker 4: When we did wet beside game four, I think, but
Speaker 4: we see it came back at the end. It was
Speaker 4: like a tire game, a close game everything every every time.
Speaker 4: So but we can't do it. So I don't know
Speaker 4: what's gonna happen, But we just hope we'll get those
Speaker 4: two guys back and and well because we know we
Speaker 4: can't do it. No, we can't do it. So so
Speaker 4: we're gonna get take care of what we have to
Speaker 4: take care off and be ready for next season.
Speaker 2: It appears that the Suns and maybe another team or
Speaker 2: two out there are trying to steal your coach. How
Speaker 2: confident are you that the Clippers can hang on to
Speaker 2: tylu No.
Speaker 4: We know how ty Dole is for us. I mean,
Speaker 4: I mean, I mean, I love that coach. He pretty
Speaker 4: much said my career. So that told that last year,
Speaker 4: this dude saved my career. So we need him. I
Speaker 4: mean we don't want him to go anywhere. You know,
Speaker 4: we respect him, we want him, we love him, and
Speaker 4: we wait it hope like that mean that shows you,
Speaker 4: like like I saw some team wanted him and which
Speaker 4: she wanted him. I mean that's show like who he is,
Speaker 4: what type of coach is. He's a good, great, great coach.
Speaker 4: So but that's why I want to keep him because
Speaker 4: I don't need to seem I don't see him in
Speaker 4: Phoenix or Milwaukee. I don't as a creepers.
Speaker 2: I don't want when you say he saved your career,
Speaker 2: what did he do? Like what what specifically did he do?
Speaker 4: You know what happened my last eighteen months because COVID
Speaker 4: happened with the honest. So when Steve Clifford their fire
Speaker 4: to bring like a new coach, new management knew everything.
Speaker 4: So I wasn't in their plan anyway. So yeah, I
Speaker 4: was pretty much out of the leg That's what I
Speaker 4: thought that when I got waived and I signed with
Speaker 4: the Clippers. You know, I signed with them to be honest,
Speaker 4: I didn't have a lot of expectation. I knew they
Speaker 4: told me to come over and I could help them.
Speaker 4: Sometimes my gol was to, Okay, if I can't be
Speaker 4: in rotation some game, that's cool. But this dude put
Speaker 4: me in the starting lineup quite away, and they came
Speaker 4: out of the bubble like after the big loss, but
Speaker 4: in their expectation too, And because ma Chris Morris was out,
Speaker 4: he said, not you're going to start for us, You're
Speaker 4: going to play for us. And he put me in
Speaker 4: a situation like I could have the team because you said, yeah,
Speaker 4: you're gonna play for me. Don't don't. I don't care
Speaker 4: about what happened the last two years out of literally
Speaker 4: literally don't care. Like I know you. I know what
Speaker 4: you can bring to a team full of people that
Speaker 4: we have, and I know it can mix with those
Speaker 4: guys because I know my role. I'm gonna just say
Speaker 4: I'm a glue guy. I'm a guy try to fit
Speaker 4: in with what I have around me. And when you
Speaker 4: play with guys like having my team, it's pretty much
Speaker 4: that's what It's easy for me because my goal is
Speaker 4: to make their life easier. So and it works pretty
Speaker 4: way with him.
Speaker 3: And Nick, you talk about lose saving your career. You
Speaker 3: got a new contract out of it, and Nick, I
Speaker 3: don't know if you know this, but I actually broke
Speaker 3: your your deal, your your contract with the Clippers, and
Speaker 3: I have to I have to admit, but to with
Speaker 3: A source gave me the news.
Speaker 5: It gave me the number. I said, are you sure that?
Speaker 5: Are you sure this is right? Are you sure this
Speaker 5: this number is correct? This numbers it seems the same
Speaker 5: little high, same little high, like are you sure you
Speaker 5: were like that? The person was like, yes, yes, this
Speaker 5: this is the number. When you think about did you
Speaker 5: did you envision that? Did you envision sign and get
Speaker 5: another two year deal? And people could look up your
Speaker 5: number out there, it's public knowledge. But did you did
Speaker 5: you see this happening?
Speaker 4: I got three bigger offer?
Speaker 5: You got bigger? Is that right?
Speaker 4: Three more? Three three offer way begger than this one way?
Speaker 4: Trust me?
Speaker 5: Your wow?
Speaker 4: Well? Okay, well I got added three years thirty five.
Speaker 3: Three years thirty five, Nick, since we're all Nick, since
Speaker 3: we're already devosing the number devoted the teams, Nick, no.
Speaker 5: I tried three thirty five? So what made you? What
Speaker 5: made you go with with this deal? With the Clippers.
Speaker 4: Tyler, I'm like, I'm going nowhere. I'm staying with it. Really,
Speaker 4: I'm sticking with him. I don't want to go anywhere else.
Speaker 4: I don't want to go. I mean, I don't care
Speaker 4: what's happening, if Kawhi Pg's coming back. I mean, I
Speaker 4: just I mean, these dudes like trusted me when I
Speaker 4: wasn't my lowest. So yeah, I'm not. I told that
Speaker 4: I'm not living. At least you kick me out, you
Speaker 4: give me a new contract, a pretty good one. So yeah,
Speaker 4: I'm gonna stay. Of course, I'm staying.
Speaker 2: Before we let our draft expert leave, can I ask
Speaker 2: him a soccer question because I know mister Botoom likes
Speaker 2: his football. Please, I want to ask him at least
Speaker 2: one good, proper footy question before we.
Speaker 4: Let him go.
Speaker 2: So you've had Messi at PSG for the last couple
Speaker 2: of years. I was actually the beginning of the season,
Speaker 2: I was. I was able to see PSG in a
Speaker 2: Champions League game in Israel. All three guys scored. It
Speaker 2: was the first time ever that Messi and Bappe and
Speaker 2: neymar At all scored in the same game. It's gotten
Speaker 2: messy for Messi but are you going to walk away
Speaker 2: from this glad that he was there for a couple
Speaker 2: of years playing for PSG.
Speaker 4: What's the.
Speaker 2: Put your fan cap on and tell me what tell
Speaker 2: me kind of how you how you look at this situation.
Speaker 4: You know to be as an athlete. I can't understand
Speaker 4: that when you spent twenty years in one spot and
Speaker 4: you're pretty much a god for half of those times
Speaker 4: you a god down there, and you changed to a
Speaker 4: new team and you're not the same at thirty four
Speaker 4: years old. I can understand like it might be tough
Speaker 4: to adjust, So I'm not mad about it, because especially
Speaker 4: when's when you want the work up against us in
Speaker 4: the middle of the season, I can't understand that the
Speaker 4: adjustment can be different. So I'm not mad about Messi.
Speaker 4: He tried, he came over. It wasn't supposed to be
Speaker 4: I mean, it was supposed to stay in Barcelona forever. Anyway,
Speaker 4: it was supposed to end up like plays okay on
Speaker 4: that jersey. He came over with us, he played some game,
Speaker 4: he tried. I was happy to see him with that
Speaker 4: the PSC jersey, But I don't know what it's going
Speaker 4: to happen next year with him I saw some crazy
Speaker 4: numbers also for him, like maybe going to another team.
Speaker 4: I was going back to Barcelona. No, I don't know
Speaker 4: what's gonna happen, but I'm not. You can't be mad.
Speaker 4: He's one of the great spirit of all time, so
Speaker 4: to play for us, so I just appreciate it.
Speaker 2: And I just thought of one last thing, and then
Speaker 2: we promised to let you go.
Speaker 5: I got one.
Speaker 2: If I got Victor wen min Yama, can I got
Speaker 2: one last thing?
Speaker 5: Oh okay?
Speaker 2: If Victor wenman Yama can be all the things we
Speaker 2: we are saying, he could be. Well a French athlete
Speaker 2: being that good in the NBA, is that even bigger
Speaker 2: than like what Mbappe is now because it's not you know,
Speaker 2: it's not football, it's not a European sport. For a
Speaker 2: Frenchman to come and conquer the NBA, how huge would
Speaker 2: that be?
Speaker 4: He might be bigger than him bad they actually and
Speaker 4: Babe can become like great can at the Battle door,
Speaker 4: you wont the World Cup already, can go anywhere and
Speaker 4: make all the money wanted. He can do everything because
Speaker 4: it's that great. But if Victor become like whatever, m
Speaker 4: VP's rings whatever, like all of them at the end
Speaker 4: and it become one. I mean, if everybody is online,
Speaker 4: we talk about international players, if everybody is online, because
Speaker 4: the best international player right now ever is a Chemo
Speaker 4: Aduan or Duptin whiskey. They wanted to are the two
Speaker 4: best in the NBA. If he beat those guys in
Speaker 4: twenty years, yes, it'd be the greatest French artet of all time.
Speaker 5: Yes, Nick, where are you at right now? You're in France,
Speaker 5: Sorry that you're in La Okay. I wanted to ask you.
Speaker 3: I saw your your tweet and I wanted to give
Speaker 3: you time to acknowledge acknowledge them. This is a gentleman
Speaker 3: that I saw in Arenas and I would talk to
Speaker 3: him every now and then.
Speaker 5: But I never knew his name.
Speaker 3: But I just obviously you see the afro, you see
Speaker 3: him taking the photographer, So he was always a cool
Speaker 3: face to see. And uh, can you just talk about
Speaker 3: I saw the tweet the brother past. I didn't know
Speaker 3: that I saw your tweet. Can you just I guess
Speaker 3: I give you time just to just to mention him.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I heard the news about Chris. Chris was a
Speaker 4: photograph photograph photograph from France. He's one of those dudes
Speaker 4: who just tried to leave the NBA, the American dream.
Speaker 4: It just came over from France, was passionate about taking
Speaker 4: pictures in the NBA. Just met his trail to the
Speaker 4: NBA ended up being like court sized for so many
Speaker 4: many years in the NBA games. I mean pretty much
Speaker 4: see something Rookie. I've seen him basby been traveling around
Speaker 4: and he just swapped part of the French family because no,
Speaker 4: we have like a little French figgers, got some trainers,
Speaker 4: but we got guys like him as well, like media
Speaker 4: members and him as a photograph taking pictures like yeah,
Speaker 4: I mean, I know the eydelices of his career, but
Speaker 4: he took the picture of Noble Brown Duncan jet terry
Speaker 4: in Boston, like when the Brown played for the Miami
Speaker 4: he got he took the picture like that picture was everywhere.
Speaker 4: I know, I knew it was really very part of
Speaker 4: it because I was the idelight of his work. And
Speaker 4: I know he was married, got a wife now and
Speaker 4: what happened. So I'm just just sad for his wife,
Speaker 4: his family, and I mean every close one just convalescence
Speaker 4: because he was a great guy. You know, I've been around.
Speaker 4: I mean, I talked to him, We have dinner with
Speaker 4: him a couple of times. And I heard when news yesterday.
Speaker 4: I just went into confirmation, like it's not a fake.
Speaker 4: We never know what happened with stuff like that. So
Speaker 4: and Iden's this morning was like he was true. So yeah,
Speaker 4: I mean just said was one of the French guy,
Speaker 4: French family in the NBA. We just also a good guy.
Speaker 3: Gonna miss some familiar brother. Like I said, the Afro
Speaker 3: stood out, but he was a cool dude. So I
Speaker 3: was sad to see that news. So my condolences to
Speaker 3: him and his family as well.
Speaker 2: Yes, sir, well, look, thank you for everything that you
Speaker 2: shared with us today. This was fantastic to get your
Speaker 2: perspective on Victor wembin Yama, since you know you know
Speaker 2: much more about him than we do. And we appreciate your,
Speaker 2: uh your draft expertise, which Chris and I are both
Speaker 2: sorely lacking.
Speaker 4: I mean, he could have against some sum beceieve he
Speaker 4: said to me four years ago, but he nick, you.
Speaker 3: Know how many people come up to me and say,
Speaker 3: this kid is the next great thing coming up?
Speaker 4: How many time I told you that for Luca and
Speaker 4: Vic that's it.
Speaker 3: You did do Luca. I was a little bit Yeah
Speaker 3: you did, Yeah, you did do Luca. I didn't know
Speaker 3: he was gonna come and dominate that one. I knew
Speaker 3: he was gonna be okay. So I hope for too.
Speaker 3: I'll listen to the next one.
Speaker 2: Let me know when you see the next fourteen year old.
Speaker 2: I will not ignore.
Speaker 4: Uh. Beck.
Speaker 3: We appreciate you man for a couple but no, man,
Speaker 3: you know it's always a pleasure. Man. But you know
Speaker 3: I got numb of love for you and the family
Speaker 3: mans to the wife, I said hello, but thank you brother.
Speaker 4: With thank you guys, thank you very much. And that'll
Speaker 4: do it for us. See you next time.
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Speaker 2: Put Christ Haines and Mark Stein