WEBVTT - Nick Wright GOES OFF on Lakers "fake" NBA Bubble title, NFL Hall of Fame BOLD PREDICTIONS 0:00:02.560 --> 0:00:05.400 Welcome in What's Driving the Great Episode three point fifty four. 0:00:05.440 --> 0:00:08.119 In this episode, as always, of What's Driving the Grid 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:12.240 is presented to you by boost Mobile. A ton to 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:17.119 do today. I actually fly out of town right after 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:21.640 First Things First tonight for an event that I can 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:25.800 talk more about when I get back. But it'll be great. 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:29.280 I won't miss any podcasts. We'll be back on the 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:32.159 air on Tuesday with our regular scheduled pod. And today 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:34.360 we have a ton we're gonna get to. I have 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:39.120 to help out my buddy Daryl Morey because he is 0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:45.680 being misaggregated and a bit, and so we will discuss. However, 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:49.440 the comments he did make. The comments, he's not being misquoted, 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:53.600 but they are being slightly misconstrued. We will get to that. Also, 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:57.200 Hall of Fame game tonight, So who are the no 0:00:57.320 --> 0:00:59.760 doubt Hall of famers playing? When you got to keep 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:03.840 in making the NFL Hall of Fame, it's the hardest 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:07.560 Hall of Fame to make, and so it's fewer people 0:01:08.000 --> 0:01:11.160 than you think. And that actually when we do that, 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:13.880 that's one that you guys, if you're watching live on 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:19.240 YouTube and like, rate, subscribe, review on YouTube, Spotify, iTunes, 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:22.760 all that stuff. If you're watching live on YouTube, you 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:25.280 can help along because we'll go team by team and 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:28.679 if you think there is someone that I have overlooked, 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:31.720 and we do this once a year, and there's always 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:34.240 at least one guy who's a no doubter or that 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:37.080 I just like, Forget exists or Forget is still playing 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:40.000 and not retired. So you guys can help us create 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:44.240 our official list. So we're gonna do all of that. 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:46.720 There's some other fun things we're going to do as well. 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:51.120 Demand's a great to see you as always. It looks 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:53.400 like a new hoodie mate possibly or just one I 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:54.440 don't recognize either. 0:01:54.960 --> 0:01:57.360 Great I've worn before, it's just been a while. I 0:01:57.440 --> 0:01:58.080 appreciate it. 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:02.200 Okay, Well, good to see Before we get to the 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:04.840 real news of the day, as always, straight to voicemail, 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:08.120 brought to you by our friends at boost Mobile. The 0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:12.160 NBA wants to expanded European footprint over the next few years. 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:17.720 And I'm not saying that's because they might be dealing with, 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:23.799 you know, a different front of a competitive basketball league 0:02:23.840 --> 0:02:27.080 war and they want to stake out some ground. But 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:30.080 they might be also I'm not gonna get to been 0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:35.120 out of shape over Front Office Sports is Exclusive, which 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:40.240 was what we told you guys on Tuesday about that. 0:02:40.680 --> 0:02:42.840 What I said on TV on Monday and then on 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:48.639 this show on Tuesday about the Maverick Lebron Jokers agents meeting, 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:51.440 that it was not about Lebron playing for the Nuggets, 0:02:51.440 --> 0:02:54.880 it was about the league that Maverick is attempting to 0:02:54.960 --> 0:02:57.440 put together. That's fine, you know what I mean. They 0:02:57.480 --> 0:02:59.800 got some details in it that I didn't not that 0:02:59.880 --> 0:03:02.960 I was not, you know, able to share. So there's 0:03:03.000 --> 0:03:05.760 no issue there. But that is a real thing, and 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:10.480 that is something unequivocally to watch. Also, evidently cam Ward Demanse, 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:13.960 your guy, called the Titans offense very mid. I've also 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:17.679 decided cam Ward's your guy. I just feel like yeah, 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:20.679 I just feel like, yeah, I think he's your guy. 0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:25.120 And evidently Tom Cruise not on a day armists or dating. 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:27.600 I love Tom Cruise, I'm not as familiar with on 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:30.079 a day armis. Uh. Good for them. I wish them 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:33.960 nothing but happiness, all right, Before we get to Darryl 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:37.480 Morey's actual comments, what he actually meant, and for the 0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:42.040 one million time relitigating the bubble, there was a story 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:46.720 yesterday that was in the Sports World demonse that I 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:52.240 don't want to give myself too much credit, but I 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:55.440 think I might be the single best person in the 0:03:55.480 --> 0:04:00.760 world to discuss this topic, and that was Gilbert A 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:10.960 Reenus along with five alleged Israeli gangsters, getting himmed up 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:17.200 by the FEDS for running any illegal Southern California poker game. 0:04:18.000 --> 0:04:21.159 So I am going to be and maybe even take 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:23.520 demons off the screen for this because I want to 0:04:23.560 --> 0:04:28.040 be very careful with what I say here. But I 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:35.920 also feel like I have real insight, some of which 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:40.520 I can share, some of which I can't. And just 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:44.080 people that watch and listen to the pod, you know, 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:47.760 I owe you honesty, and I also try to educate 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:51.800 as best as I can. So I know Gilbert's already 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:56.640 you know, made bail, and I think if you read 0:04:56.680 --> 0:04:59.360 that again, if you didn't read the story, it is 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:03.960 the allegation is very simple that there was a high 0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:08.200 stakes poker game in southern California at a house Gilbert rented. 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:11.200 They took a rake. If people don't know how you 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:15.200 know private games work it, you know a rake is 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:20.080 the house's cut out of every hand, so it is 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:24.400 it is totally legal. If me and everyone involved in 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:27.920 this pod came over to our house in New York 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:32.960 and we played poker for ten dollars a man, or 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:38.080 for ten thousand or a million dollars a man. That's 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:43.279 actually totally legal. There is nothing illegal about playing card 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:47.760 game with friends or associates for any amount of stakes, 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:51.840 as long as you don't take a rake. The moment 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:56.640 the house starts taking a cut, it becomes by literal definition, 0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:04.240 and illegal gambling operation. So that is what they are 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:10.000 attempting in theory, to get Gilbert and these five Israeli 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:12.240 again alleged gangsters for. 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:14.200 All. Right. 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:18.480 Now, the story also probably sounds if you read it 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:22.640 a little more sorted, because it's like they're also were 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:28.360 you know, women at the games who would be waitresses, 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:35.000 plus massuses, and then the allegation heavily implies also sex workers. 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:42.360 So here's why I'm talking about any of this illegal 0:06:43.000 --> 0:06:50.840 private card games with a rake and with potentially some 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:58.679 sex workers involved are a dime a dozen. At any 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:03.360 given night in New York City, there's at least twenty 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:08.479 going on for real money. On any given night in 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:14.520 southern California, there's at least thirty going on for real money, 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:22.520 and they all fit this exact description. Catered food, a 0:07:22.640 --> 0:07:28.040 level of you know, for those who that's their thing, 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:33.480 potential sex work, real money on the table, and the 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:38.400 house taking a big cut. And these are they Also 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:43.520 there are a couple app games that where people are 0:07:43.640 --> 0:07:49.320 raking tens of thousands of dollars a month. Okay, and 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:53.400 this is not new, and this is not news. And 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:56.200 this also and this is where I would be a 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:59.800 little anxious. And I know his latest post made it 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:02.400 seem like he is not where I would be a 0:08:02.440 --> 0:08:06.920 little anxious if I were Gilbert. These are not things 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:12.320 the FEDS tend to care about. Now, occasionally these games 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:18.600 get shut down by the DEA because security or somebody 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:23.720 there is dealing drugs. And occasionally these get shut down 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:30.720 because the sex work component gets raises to the level 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:35.120 where people are worried about exploitation. But as far as 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:44.360 the actual illegal gambling operation, it's not usually something that 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:50.720 the FEDS are interested in. So the fact that they 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:57.360 were leads me to think there is somebody one of 0:08:57.400 --> 0:09:03.040 these other you know, alleged code conspirators, or somebody above 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:05.960 one of them, that they are hoping to get some 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:12.000 information on and so I am here to tell you 0:09:14.160 --> 0:09:24.600 my call it semi educated opinion is Gilbert's path out 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:30.000 of this is going to be an uncomfortable one because 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:34.880 I don't think the Feds really want Gilbert Arenas to 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:39.880 go to jail for allegedly renting a house and part 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:42.880 of where a big card game was playing. I think 0:09:42.920 --> 0:09:46.600 the Feds probably want to know about the other people involved. 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:53.240 That's a tricky spot. And so I saw Gilbert's post today, 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:56.280 I'm glad he's out. I also think Gilbert has done 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:59.600 a really cool job post career of building a new 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:04.040 career and obviously his son who was dealt with some injuries, 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:06.720 you know, and some scary stuff. But as a star 0:10:06.840 --> 0:10:09.120 basketball player, Gilbert seems to have a ton of great 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:15.280 stuff going for him. I I do not think this 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:20.040 story is anywhere close to being over, and I don't 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:23.680 think we can revisit it. They said trial set for September. 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:27.040 Wonder if it ever gets to trial. I don't think 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:34.920 that this is going to be a simple, oh, all right, 0:10:35.040 --> 0:10:39.000 slap on the wrist situation, and so I would be 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:45.520 I'd be. I'm a little nervous talking about it. But again, 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:53.920 there is there's some target from the federal government involved 0:10:53.920 --> 0:11:00.560 in this. And it ain't no Chill Gill for running 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:04.679 a card game allegedly, I promise you that. But they 0:11:04.880 --> 0:11:09.680 clearly think he can help not the spot you want 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:14.200 to be in. So I I will say one other, 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:17.960 one other thing, demanse and then all because this obviously 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:23.280 was going around all of the you know, gambling groups, 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:31.880 you know this story or whatever, and somebody somebody that 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:38.600 you know what, I apologize. I'm not going to tell 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:41.920 this little anecdote. I'm not going to I'll tell I'll 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:45.640 maybe tell you off the air, but it was there 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:48.640 were if you were a if you're a well, put 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:52.520 it like this. If you're a gambler and you read 0:11:52.640 --> 0:11:57.680 the people who got arrested, Gilbert wasn't the only name 0:11:57.760 --> 0:12:01.559 that you were like, oh wow, so they got him? 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:05.880 Like there there was, It was there. So it's I 0:12:06.000 --> 0:12:07.920 just I think there and I also think there's probably 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:11.400 some people other than Gilbert that are a little anxious 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:15.800 right now in that southern California home game scene. All right, now, 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:18.160 let's get to act on more things I'm an expert in, 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:20.720 which is Lebron James Championships go ahead. 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:24.760 Yesterday was the five year anniversary of the first game 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:27.480 in the Bubble, and it's still a huge debate on 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:31.839 its legitimess. Darryl Morris said in quote, everyone I speak 0:12:31.880 --> 0:12:34.560 to around the league privately agrees that it doesn't truly 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:39.080 hold up as a genuine championship. Yes, looking back, how 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:41.439 would you measure the Bubble Championship? 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:45.359 Okay, So first let me help out my pal Daryl, 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:49.520 because I was shocked when I read this quote, because 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:56.720 Darryl has publicly many times talked about how legit he 0:12:56.880 --> 0:13:00.960 finds that championship to be and how hard it was. 0:13:01.600 --> 0:13:05.160 And so when I saw it's one thing for you know, 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:09.400 Legion Hoops or whatever, one of these kind of fake 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:14.960 aggregators to post a quote to another thing for ESPN 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:21.240 their social team to post, you know, end quotes. Everyone 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:23.520 I speak to around the league privately agrees that it 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:26.880 doesn't truly hold up as a genuine championship, with the 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:30.960 source being the Athletic So I'm going to read you. 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:36.280 So I reached out to Daryl, and not surprisingly, he 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:38.480 explained to me what I thought was going to be 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:43.800 the case, which is, while he wasn't misquoted, it is 0:13:43.880 --> 0:13:49.880 being misinterpreted. So I'll read you the full quote and clarify, 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:51.960 and but then I'll also give you my thoughts on 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:55.280 what everybody seems to think. All right, Daryl says, quote, 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:58.040 had the Rockets won the title, I absolutely would have 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:02.280 celebrated it as legit, jitimate, knowing the immense effort and 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:06.959 resilience required. Yet everyone I speak to around the league 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:10.800 privately agrees that it doesn't truly hold up as a 0:14:10.800 --> 0:14:16.800 genuine championship. Pause for a moment. The privately agrees is 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:21.040 what is tripping people up. He is saying everyone he 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:26.760 talks to agrees amongst themselves, Like he is the outlier 0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:31.160 that says this was an amazing accomplishment, but everybody else 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:37.040 says not so much. Where people are saying, and I 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:41.040 actually understand why people are confused. They are reading it 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:47.520 as everyone privately agrees with me. He's saying, everyone privately 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:51.560 agrees with each other, and so just to and again, 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:55.320 Darrel is my pal, But I also you know, he 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:59.000 deserves to have his actual opinion out there correctly. He 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:01.680 then went on say, this lasting legacy the NBA bubble 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:04.480 is that the NBA should be proud of its leadership 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:07.240 at both the beginning and the end of pandemic, even 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:10.040 though the champion will forever be marked by an asterisk. 0:15:10.440 --> 0:15:13.680 And he again is saying there because that's the way 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:19.160 seemingly everyone else feels. And so here is I said 0:15:19.200 --> 0:15:23.000 to you guys a couple months ago that the vast 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:27.600 majority of NBA myths fall into one of two categories. 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:32.720 Not all, but the vast majority. Category one is uplifting 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:37.640 Michael Jordan, and category two is tearing down Lebron James. 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:43.560 And there is no greater example of that than the 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:51.080 revisionist history on the Goddog bubble. So here is the 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:57.840 accurate timeline of the Los Angeles Lakers winning the twenty 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:07.680 twenty NBA Championship. Okay. In twenty eighteen, Lebron James was 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:14.240 universally hailed as by a wide margin, the best player 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:21.160 in the NBA, dragging a Cleveland Cavalier team to the 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:26.080 NBA Finals with a playoff run that had an all 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:32.800 time record eight forty point games, two true buzzer beaters, 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:37.720 two game seven victories, one of which on the road, 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:43.600 and what some consider the single greatest individual performance any 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:46.880 players ever had fifty one to eight and eight in 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:53.280 game one of the twenty eighteen NBA Finals, where with 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:59.400 no other because Kevin Love was not was had gotten 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:02.520 banged up the end of the Celtics series with no 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:09.399 one around him against Steph kd Clay Draymont. That's who 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:14.080 Lebron was in twenty eighteen. In twenty nineteen, he goes 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:17.560 to the Los Angeles Lakers, who were in the midst 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:22.679 of the worst half decade stretch in the history of 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:27.280 their franchise, and is playing a game on Christmas Day 0:17:27.760 --> 0:17:30.600 when they are a top four as drug that team 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:33.640 to a top four seed in the West and suffers 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:37.240 the first major injury of his career. But at that moment, 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:41.760 there was still no argument and no debate over who 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:46.440 the best player in the world was. That offseason, they 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:53.480 acquire Anthony Davis and instantly become the best the best 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:58.400 team in the league. That Lakers team, pre pandemic, pre 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:07.800 bubble prey with ad started the year twenty four and three, 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:13.200 was running rough shot over everyone. Lebron James was the 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:19.919 leading NBA MVP candidate, and they were the favorite to 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:29.040 win the championship pre pandemic. So what we had was 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:34.960 the Lakers had the best record in basketball, The Lakers 0:18:35.000 --> 0:18:38.400 had the best player in basketball. The Lakers had made 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:43.920 the biggest trade an acquisition of any team that offseason 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:47.040 with respect to what the Clippers had done, and they 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:53.040 were the favorites to win the championship. The season then 0:18:53.200 --> 0:19:00.320 shuts down post shutdown, or right before the shutdown. Yeahs 0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:05.480 had you know, really gone on an unbelievable run, And 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:12.800 the NBA MVP debate came down to two guys, Giannis 0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:18.120 or Lebron with hardened kind of lurking because Harden had 0:19:18.200 --> 0:19:21.960 made the Key and Westbrook thing work and that team 0:19:22.080 --> 0:19:27.520 seemed dangerous. And then we get to the bubble, and 0:19:27.560 --> 0:19:33.880 there is no home court which penalized two teams more 0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:38.200 than any which were the two teams that had earned 0:19:38.280 --> 0:19:44.600 home court advantage Lebron's team and Giannie's team, Lebron's team 0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:50.280 which won the West by four games, and Janice's team, 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:56.680 which won the East by four games. And then the 0:19:56.720 --> 0:20:04.480 bubble happens, and the playoff bracket is set, and every 0:20:05.160 --> 0:20:14.400 single potential pitfall or matchup that people are convinced is 0:20:15.040 --> 0:20:22.080 a bad matchup or the toughest possible path hits the Lakers. 0:20:23.119 --> 0:20:27.520 We can now pretend it did not happen, but Dame 0:20:28.280 --> 0:20:33.600 and Portland were the scary team that nobody wanted to 0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:37.479 face in Round one, and the Lakers drew them with 0:20:37.600 --> 0:20:42.360 no home court advantage, and after losing Game one, dispatched 0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:49.480 of them in five. Then the Rockets with the one 0:20:49.600 --> 0:20:53.919 year Harden and Westbrook worked that Rockets team with James 0:20:53.920 --> 0:20:58.200 Harden being third and MVP voting that year and Russ 0:20:58.800 --> 0:21:03.280 the last actual really good season of his career on 0:21:03.400 --> 0:21:08.280 a at least that involved winning It's Round two. The 0:21:08.359 --> 0:21:12.280 Lakers get the Rockets and they lose Game one and 0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:17.600 then dispatch of them in five. And then you get 0:21:17.840 --> 0:21:23.840 the Denver Nuggets with a healthy Jamal Murray, who would 0:21:23.840 --> 0:21:27.760 not lose another playoff series with a healthy Jamal Murray 0:21:28.080 --> 0:21:35.280 four years, and Anthony Davis plays the best basketball of 0:21:35.320 --> 0:21:42.720 his life, Lebron James in a closeout game goes thirty eight, sixteen, 0:21:42.960 --> 0:21:47.600 and ten, and they dispatch of the Nuggets in five. 0:21:49.440 --> 0:21:53.280 And then in the NBA Finals, oh, they get a 0:21:53.320 --> 0:21:58.119 fluke of a team that definitely wouldn't have made the 0:21:58.160 --> 0:22:02.320 finals if not for the Bubble, the Miami Heat, who 0:22:02.400 --> 0:22:06.680 responded by the way to that finals trip by two 0:22:06.800 --> 0:22:11.119 years later making Game seven of the conference finals, and 0:22:11.200 --> 0:22:16.040 the year after that making the NBA Finals again, and 0:22:16.200 --> 0:22:24.440 in those finals, Lebron James plays close to perfect basketball, 0:22:25.080 --> 0:22:30.120 reminding people once again that he's still the best player 0:22:30.119 --> 0:22:35.800 in the world when he averaged thirty twelve and nine 0:22:36.400 --> 0:22:41.800 on fifty nine to forty two splits to finish off 0:22:42.200 --> 0:22:47.760 a playoff run where again the best player in the world, 0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:54.720 Lebron James averaged for the postseason twenty eight eleven and 0:22:54.960 --> 0:23:01.639 nine on fifty six percent from the field. That team 0:23:02.080 --> 0:23:07.240 won the championship. And then how did they defend their 0:23:07.400 --> 0:23:14.280 title when the bubble was done? The next season they 0:23:14.359 --> 0:23:18.359 started twenty one and six. Well they I mean they 0:23:18.400 --> 0:23:24.040 started actually eleven to three, and they had the best 0:23:24.160 --> 0:23:28.240 record in basketball or in the Western Conference was maybe 0:23:28.240 --> 0:23:37.360 the Western Conference or basketball the day Solomon Hill stumbled 0:23:37.400 --> 0:23:43.360 into Lebron's ankle and he got hurt. So before the pandemic, 0:23:43.880 --> 0:23:45.919 they were the best team in the league with the 0:23:45.920 --> 0:23:49.640 best player in the league. During the pandemic, they had 0:23:49.680 --> 0:23:53.280 home their home court advantage they had earned taken from 0:23:53.320 --> 0:23:57.040 them and got what people were calling at the time 0:23:57.520 --> 0:24:02.800 a nightmare path. Damon one Harden and rust In round two, 0:24:03.560 --> 0:24:08.280 Joker and Jamal Murray in round three and dust them 0:24:08.280 --> 0:24:13.600 all in five in the finals. People think, oh, they 0:24:13.640 --> 0:24:18.119 got lucky, they don't have to face Yeah, honest, they 0:24:18.160 --> 0:24:21.159 don't have to face. I think Toronto was actually the 0:24:21.200 --> 0:24:23.600 two seed that year. That would have been no problem, 0:24:24.920 --> 0:24:27.280 and they got this fluke of a team in Miami, 0:24:27.480 --> 0:24:29.280 except for the fact that Miami a couple of years 0:24:29.320 --> 0:24:33.160 later beat Milwaukee again and came within a jump shot 0:24:33.200 --> 0:24:35.440 of going back to the finals, and then the next 0:24:35.520 --> 0:24:40.960 year did go back to the finals and the best 0:24:41.000 --> 0:24:46.439 player in the world played peak basketball, and then the 0:24:46.520 --> 0:24:51.359 next season they start twenty one and six. The idea 0:24:52.840 --> 0:24:57.399 that the wrong champion was crowned, the idea that that 0:24:57.720 --> 0:25:06.400 was an easy or fraud or lesser path win. The 0:25:06.440 --> 0:25:13.320 only basketball, tangible basketball thing that was altered was no 0:25:13.359 --> 0:25:20.000 one had home court, and so the only tangible damage 0:25:20.040 --> 0:25:23.080 that was done to any of the teams were the 0:25:23.160 --> 0:25:27.399 teams that would have had home court throughout, and that 0:25:27.640 --> 0:25:36.800 was the Los Angeles Lakers. And every single person watching 0:25:37.680 --> 0:25:41.760 knows that if the Milwaukee Bucks, who were the one 0:25:41.840 --> 0:25:45.719 seed and had the league MVP, it's like the Lakers, 0:25:45.720 --> 0:25:48.560 who were the one seed and had the second or 0:25:48.640 --> 0:25:51.360 the runner up for League MVP. If the Bucks had 0:25:51.359 --> 0:25:55.119 won that title, there's not a person in the world 0:25:55.200 --> 0:26:01.000 that would be like fake title. If the I don't 0:26:01.000 --> 0:26:03.199 even know if the Warriors made the playoffs that year. 0:26:03.240 --> 0:26:07.840 I don't think they did. Certainly, though, if the Clippers 0:26:08.480 --> 0:26:16.560 with Kawhi and Paul George instead of absolutely mortifyingly folding 0:26:16.600 --> 0:26:20.680 against Denver, had won the title, no one be calling 0:26:20.680 --> 0:26:25.760 it a fake title, because ultimately that discussion is not 0:26:25.960 --> 0:26:31.600 about how real or fake a title is. That discussion 0:26:31.680 --> 0:26:39.199 is about dis either dislike or jealousy of Lebron James. 0:26:40.880 --> 0:26:46.280 And now our chat says seventy nine percent say yes, 0:26:46.320 --> 0:26:50.240 the Bubble title is legit. Our chat probably skews a 0:26:50.280 --> 0:26:57.320 little Lebron and Laker fan heavy, but you cannot say 0:26:58.040 --> 0:27:01.760 that the team with the bat record and the best 0:27:01.760 --> 0:27:08.280 player in the world with a very difficult path, who again, 0:27:09.119 --> 0:27:12.360 the team they beat in the conference finals validated their 0:27:12.440 --> 0:27:16.040 appearance there by winning a championship a couple of years later. 0:27:16.359 --> 0:27:20.160 The team they beat in the NBA Finals validated their 0:27:20.680 --> 0:27:24.320 appearance there by making the finals a couple of years later. 0:27:24.800 --> 0:27:30.160 You cannot argue. And then they validated it themselves by 0:27:30.160 --> 0:27:32.960 being an awesome team the next year before Bron got hurt. 0:27:33.640 --> 0:27:39.000 It's just such horseship and deep down everybody knows it. 0:27:40.320 --> 0:27:44.160 What's up to was like horse crap. It's funny, but yeah, 0:27:44.160 --> 0:27:45.760 I saw it in the rundown last night. You went 0:27:45.800 --> 0:27:49.680 on the RAMT. But I instantly thought, like, how many 0:27:49.720 --> 0:27:52.359 of those people that say that it wasn't legitimate just 0:27:52.400 --> 0:27:55.440 don't like Lebron And it's funny that. 0:27:56.359 --> 0:28:00.960 I mean, that's all it is. You can everybody knows. 0:28:01.000 --> 0:28:07.320 Everybody knows that if the Clippers, who weres everyone's team 0:28:07.600 --> 0:28:11.399 of the flavor of the month that year and Kawhi 0:28:11.800 --> 0:28:15.280 had won the title, no one would be saying it 0:28:15.320 --> 0:28:22.600 doesn't count. And everybody knows if uh Yannis had won 0:28:22.680 --> 0:28:25.760 the title, because those were the next two favorites. It 0:28:25.800 --> 0:28:29.160 was Lakers, Bucks, Clippers were the favorites kind of all year, 0:28:29.680 --> 0:28:32.600 had won the title, no one be saying it didn't count. 0:28:32.680 --> 0:28:34.840 It's just so stupid, just so. 0:28:35.000 --> 0:28:41.960 Incredibly the calm court advantage, but obviously both ways. 0:28:42.400 --> 0:28:45.680 But it goes both ways, but it hurts the team 0:28:45.720 --> 0:28:49.680 that's damaged by it is the top seed. Yeah, like 0:28:49.760 --> 0:28:54.960 that's the and so it just such utter silliness. All right, Uh, 0:28:55.040 --> 0:28:58.720 nothing says summer like long days, clutch plays and firing 0:28:58.760 --> 0:29:01.840 off a few bets on the game, all with DraftKings Sportsbook. 0:29:02.040 --> 0:29:04.000 As the season heats up, so to the bats and 0:29:04.080 --> 0:29:08.000 DraftKings Sportsbook, as you covered live betting, home run props, odds, 0:29:08.000 --> 0:29:10.960 boost and more. 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