Speaker 1: Well, well, well it's playoff time, baby. We got the matchups.
Speaker 1: We're recording this before the playing games, so we don't
Speaker 1: know all the matchups. We do know generally where things
Speaker 1: are gonna fall. Uh, we're gonna talk about that. We're
Speaker 1: gonna talk about the NBA's top ten plays the Week
Speaker 1: with journalist and radio host Justin Spears on today's episode.
Speaker 1: I'm Jack O'Brien.
Speaker 2: And I'm Jabarian from MYUS, and.
Speaker 1: This is Moles and Jack and Jack. We all got
Speaker 1: mad boosts. Yes, dog, sorry, got it? I looka donic kids.
Speaker 3: Ta okay, mb drive me Spinny fatter number eighteen.
Speaker 1: That's Drid sic Jord.
Speaker 3: The Celtics are NBA champions over the double team.
Speaker 4: Be honest, where's.
Speaker 1: Justin? Welcome to the show man. Let's roll, baby, let's roll.
Speaker 1: You are a Tucson in Yes, you got here from Tucson.
Speaker 1: I have my note for Tucson Tusonian. Tusonian.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 1: It don't sound right, Jack, it sounds it's cleaner, even
Speaker 1: though it's adding syllables. It's cleaner. I'm going I'm going
Speaker 1: Timberlake on you make it the very Facebook. It's cleaner anyways,
Speaker 1: you are from Tucson. You are a Lakers fan based
Speaker 1: on your T shirt?
Speaker 5: Yes, sir, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Lakers.
Speaker 5: I'm a diehard Lakers fan. So kind of quick background here.
Speaker 5: My family's originally from Hunting to Beach, California, so I
Speaker 5: come from Orange County. Those are my connections. So I'm
Speaker 5: an LA sports fan. But we moved to Tucson when
Speaker 5: I was two years old, so I claimed Tucson. I
Speaker 5: am a Tucsonan or Tusoni and if you're Jack, and
Speaker 5: I love this city. But yes, I am a diehard
Speaker 5: Lakers fan.
Speaker 1: Well, Orange County Onion originally, but yes, all right, Well
Speaker 1: we're gonna get into a bit of a playoff postseason preview.
Speaker 1: But first we got a little we got a little
Speaker 1: business to take care of because there have been some
Speaker 1: upsets a little closer to your current home. The Suns
Speaker 1: have fired coach Bud former Hawks coach, former Bucks coach
Speaker 1: less success in this stop on his journey, so the
Speaker 1: Suns ended up ten games under five hundred. I just
Speaker 1: wanted to highlight something that. So they fired Frank Vogel
Speaker 1: last year after finishing sixteen games over five hundred. So
Speaker 1: that's where the expectations were heading into this season, was
Speaker 1: that sixteen games over five hundred is unacceptably bad. They
Speaker 1: ended up ten games under five hundred, so twenty six
Speaker 1: games worse than the mark that they viewed as unacceptable.
Speaker 1: So not a great year for the Suns. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't think they were alone necessarily in coming in
Speaker 1: with much higher expectations than what they ended up at
Speaker 1: this year. I think a lot of people were like,
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna be good. They've got Kevin Durant.
Speaker 1: You heard about this guy, Devin Booker, and they were not.
Speaker 1: They were They're pretty midland. What are you guys thoughts?
Speaker 5: So, I think the Phoenix Suns experiment under matt Ishbio
Speaker 5: has been a complete failure. No, I will give him
Speaker 5: some grace here because if you look at the previous
Speaker 5: ownership with Robert Sarver, he was a very frugal man.
Speaker 5: He was a man that did not swing for the fences,
Speaker 5: a man that did not bring these bigger names to Phoenix.
Speaker 5: Did they have some success with Sarver, Sure, but this guy,
Speaker 5: Matt Ishbia comes in and I think, what less than
Speaker 5: a week on the job, he makes the trade for
Speaker 5: Kevin Durant, and so then you're like, okay, who you
Speaker 5: got your superstar? You pair him up with Devin Booker,
Speaker 5: Let's see if they can make magic happen. And then
Speaker 5: he got new owner syndrome. He got a little too crazy,
Speaker 5: and then he decided, well, wait, hold on, if I
Speaker 5: can get Kevin Durant, let me get Bradley Beal and
Speaker 5: let me eat trade for him. Oh wait, he's got
Speaker 5: a no trade clause. It's a big gamble. I don't care.
Speaker 5: He's still Bradley Beal. He's still a bucket. And they
Speaker 5: sold their soul to the devil because they wanted to
Speaker 5: win an NBA Championship, and unfortunately for Phoenix, they gave
Speaker 5: up way too much of their future. Right, they got
Speaker 5: rid of Deandreyden, who was the number one overall pick
Speaker 5: in that trade with Portland. They got rid of Cam Johnson, McHale, Bridges.
Speaker 5: It was like all the pieces that they built up
Speaker 5: to get to the NBA Finals in twenty twenty one,
Speaker 5: they just got rid of them because they wanted the
Speaker 5: splashy names. And on top of that, those splashy names
Speaker 5: when they don't work out, when they have a no
Speaker 5: trade clause. It makes it so difficult, and they made
Speaker 5: their bed. This is what they had to deal with.
Speaker 5: And you know, they tried to make that trade for
Speaker 5: Jimmy Butler, and I remember a lot of people were like,
Speaker 5: but wait, Jimmy Butler's contract, They're going to have to
Speaker 5: give him a ton of money. We'll look how it
Speaker 5: turned out for a team like the Golden State Warriors.
Speaker 5: They're enjoying Jimmy Butler right now. So it's just been
Speaker 5: a colossal disappointment in Phoenix. I feel bad for Devin
Speaker 5: Booker because he's kind of been that franchise player and
Speaker 5: the guy that's been through it all since day one.
Speaker 5: But he definitely deserves better. And I'm not really sure
Speaker 5: what's next for Phoenix. I'm not surprised that they fired
Speaker 5: Mike Budenholm but also at the same time, they're about
Speaker 5: to have their fourth head coach in as many seasons,
Speaker 5: and I know the head coach is usually the scapegoat here,
Speaker 5: but you can't pin all of this on Mike Budenholzer.
Speaker 5: But with that being said, the culture was also really
Speaker 5: bad too. They didn't talk to each other during pregame
Speaker 5: warm ups. It just got off the rails so fast.
Speaker 5: And it's so crazy to think that this is also
Speaker 5: the same team that started off the year eight and one.
Speaker 4: I think they're like.
Speaker 5: One of three teams, They're one of three teams in
Speaker 5: NBA history to start the season eight to one and
Speaker 5: not make the playoffs. So it was just a disappointment,
Speaker 5: a colossal failure, like I said, and I think that
Speaker 5: this will probably go down as the most disappointing season
Speaker 5: in Phoenix Sun's history. And what's also so crazy too,
Speaker 5: and I'll just wrap it up here, is it's not
Speaker 5: like Kevin Durant played bad. Like Kevin Durant still played
Speaker 5: at an all star level and still showed that he's
Speaker 5: still one of the premier players in this league. It's
Speaker 5: just the Phoenix Suns right now. They need to hit
Speaker 5: the reset button. They need to blow this whole thing up.
Speaker 5: And that could also meet trading Devin Booker away.
Speaker 1: Doesn't selling your soul to the devil. Usually like get
Speaker 1: you something good, don't get positive.
Speaker 4: Yeah, usually get a championship.
Speaker 5: Like for instance, I'm a big football guy, right, like
Speaker 5: I look at what the La Rams did, the Kroankey family,
Speaker 5: making all those trades.
Speaker 4: They got a Super Bowl out of the deal. They're
Speaker 4: okay with that.
Speaker 5: Teams do that to sacrifice for that one championship in Phoenix,
Speaker 5: being a desperate franchise that they are, team that's just
Speaker 5: hungry for a championship. Matt Ishbia came in thought, Okay,
Speaker 5: I'm a mover and shaker. I'm going to come in
Speaker 5: and make these deals and we're going to get this
Speaker 5: thing popping. And it completely blew up in their face
Speaker 5: and we'll see if Matt Ishbia can learn from his mistakes.
Speaker 3: It definitely felt like a kid with a credit card situation,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean, where you get your first
Speaker 3: credit card. You know you're trying to be responsible at first,
Speaker 3: you know, you pull off that KD deal that's incredible,
Speaker 3: but then you start going.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, you know, I've got a month, and
Speaker 2: then you max it out on a foolish, foolish field situation.
Speaker 3: And I'm not going to call it a purchase, you know,
Speaker 3: given the ever speaking about athletes, but you know you
Speaker 3: purchased that contract and it didn't quite work out. Just
Speaker 3: quickly before you get off of this jack, I'm interested
Speaker 3: in justin you said it might end up in them
Speaker 3: trading Devin Booker, what's your gut tell you, given you
Speaker 3: know you're here in the state, you're you're talking to
Speaker 3: the fans, you're talking to I'm sure you know you
Speaker 3: people that are surrounding the surrounding new organization, what's your
Speaker 3: gut tell you?
Speaker 5: Well, the Phoenix Suns right now, I feel like are
Speaker 5: in in the fork of the road right here now,
Speaker 5: because what's Kevin Durant going to do well?
Speaker 4: First and foremost, what are they going to do as
Speaker 4: head coach? Who are they hiring?
Speaker 5: I feel like this hire could be very important for
Speaker 5: Phoenix's future because let's say it's a guy that Kevin
Speaker 5: Durant does not want, well, do you trade kd to
Speaker 5: a place like Dallas and pair him up with Kyrie
Speaker 5: Irving and Anthony Davis? Do you maybe send him to
Speaker 5: Dare I say Oklahoma City?
Speaker 4: I would?
Speaker 5: I love the idea with all the picks that they have,
Speaker 5: like the Phoenix Suns saying, you know what, let's hit
Speaker 5: the reset button, Let's get some picks back, Let's get
Speaker 5: a bright future. And Kevin Durant doesn't really have a
Speaker 5: home right when you think about his his NBA tenure, Like,
Speaker 5: which team could really grab on to Kevin Durant. Yeah,
Speaker 5: he won two championships, but he also joined the dynasty
Speaker 5: that was already there with the Splash Brothers and Draymond Green.
Speaker 4: So I think it'd be cool to see Kevin.
Speaker 5: Durant maybe go back to Oklahoma City and be paired
Speaker 5: up with those superstars and what they got going on here.
Speaker 5: And you know, Devin Booker could also get into a
Speaker 5: position now where he's like, Okay, I'm in the prime
Speaker 5: of my career right now, I'm playing at an all
Speaker 5: star level. Do I really want to go through the
Speaker 5: rebuild again? I was already a part of the rebuild
Speaker 5: as an early player.
Speaker 4: I don't want to go through this again.
Speaker 5: Get me to another situation to where I could be
Speaker 5: Devin Booker and we could be contending for championships. So
Speaker 5: I feel like this is probably going to be a
Speaker 5: very important summer for the Phoenix Suns, and it could
Speaker 5: determine are they going to run it back with the
Speaker 5: couple superstars that they have, or are they going to
Speaker 5: blow this whole thing up and start from scratch.
Speaker 4: We'll see.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a it's a bum. I mean, Dallas kind
Speaker 1: of makes sense to me they need to do something.
Speaker 1: And then as far as Oka see and I've also
Speaker 1: heard Houston tossed around as potential KD destinations, I think,
Speaker 1: you know, if OKAC goes out in the second round again,
Speaker 1: like then I feel like you might see them think about, Okay,
Speaker 1: we need like somebody who's just a walking bucket or
Speaker 1: something like that. But uh, you know, if they make
Speaker 1: it to the finals or win the championship, that would
Speaker 1: be a strange move.
Speaker 5: Can I ask you guys this though, What do you
Speaker 5: guys think about just the whole coaching situation around Kevin
Speaker 5: Durant over the last few years, because if you look
Speaker 5: at the trend, he's gotten coaches fired.
Speaker 4: Yeah, what do you guys make of that?
Speaker 5: Because you know, I do think that Kevin Durant is
Speaker 5: an incredible player, but also at the same time, you know,
Speaker 5: there is that narrative that he's kind of chasing off coaches.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I don't know. It feels like he
Speaker 1: has also been given some input into the team that
Speaker 1: gets built around him because he keeps ending up in
Speaker 1: these situations that are I feel like an older model
Speaker 1: of team that's like superstar based and you know, maxed
Speaker 1: out at the top and then like they just don't
Speaker 1: have enough depth to compete. So I kind of blame
Speaker 1: that more than anything heavy to do with the coaches,
Speaker 1: although like I just don't know enough to know, like
Speaker 1: are they asking him before they make those decisions about
Speaker 1: like who to hire and then who to fire? Yeah,
Speaker 1: but I mean I certainly don't think they made smart decisions,
Speaker 1: Like I don't. I don't think it was smart to
Speaker 1: fire bobul after last year. But you know, it's like
Speaker 1: Phoenix has been burning through coaches since before Katie got there,
Speaker 1: So yeah, sure, you.
Speaker 3: Know, just really quickly on that, I will just say
Speaker 3: six or seven years ago, I remember Katie saying that
Speaker 3: he understood why people wouldn't necessarily want to play with
Speaker 3: or alongside Lebron because it's a toxic environment. Regardless of
Speaker 3: whether Phoenix has done you know, like you know, was
Speaker 3: already in this spiral before him. He himself has been
Speaker 3: in four different situations with three or four different situations
Speaker 3: and had a new coach or multiple coaches you know,
Speaker 3: at at each stop. I'm at a certain point I
Speaker 3: do wonder how long the juice will be worth the squeeze.
Speaker 4: Absolutely.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know, but I love Katie, so I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't want to time player legs nothing.
Speaker 3: If you if you were to say, like, hey, if
Speaker 3: the Lakers could foolishly swing for the fences and get him,
Speaker 3: I would foolishly tell you, yeah, go ahead and do
Speaker 3: it in the off season, because yes, but you know it,
Speaker 3: one of.
Speaker 4: The greatest, one of the greatest scorers of all time.
Speaker 1: Man all right, well, uh, New Orleans got rid of
Speaker 1: David Griffin seven years of you know, relative futility. But
Speaker 1: I mean, very pretty recently, everybody was like the futures
Speaker 1: bright for this team. So I mean, it's just a
Speaker 1: bominable season this year due to health reasons and just
Speaker 1: a lot of things not not coming together. So I'm
Speaker 1: not I don't have too much on that one. I
Speaker 1: do just want to keep talking about the Luca trade
Speaker 1: for the rest of my life, so if you can
Speaker 1: move on to that, But anything you guys want to
Speaker 1: talk about with the Pels.
Speaker 3: I get the feeling that Zion is gone this summer.
Speaker 3: I get the feeling that they're gonna go ahead and
Speaker 3: press reset and try to, you know, try to start over.
Speaker 1: I would love to see him in like Miami or
Speaker 1: like one of those places that you know puts an
Speaker 1: emphasis on conditioning and uh, you know health. That could
Speaker 1: be fun, all right. Dallas reportedly held an invite only
Speaker 1: no recording devices allowed press conference with a handful of
Speaker 1: selected journalists. Today. I still am like trying to wrap
Speaker 1: my header around the Luca trade. I mean, I think
Speaker 1: I really need This is just my plea journalists out there.
Speaker 1: I need someone to write a book on this trade,
Speaker 1: like an entire book on the decision and how it
Speaker 1: came about, because like there's been reporting now that you
Speaker 1: know what, when when the trade was first announced, Nico's like,
Speaker 1: it's on me, and people took that to be like
Speaker 1: so it was just like he was the only one
Speaker 1: who knew, because otherwise it doesn't make sense that anybody
Speaker 1: heard that and didn't like throw their body in front
Speaker 1: of it. But now it seems like the whole like
Speaker 1: people in the organization knew for at least an hour
Speaker 1: before it was announced, like they they knew that this
Speaker 1: was happening. There's this there's a book called The Wisdom
Speaker 1: of Crowds that spends like a whole section on the
Speaker 1: Challenger decision. Like the you know NASA Disasters launch and
Speaker 1: like how that because they actually like knew it was
Speaker 1: very possible, Like they knew there was a problem with
Speaker 1: the O rings, which was exactly what caused the explosion,
Speaker 1: And there were people inside the organization being like, what
Speaker 1: are you talking about? We absolutely can't launch today, and
Speaker 1: like they just got overruled, and it's a fascinating read,
Speaker 1: Like I need somebody to do that shoe leather reporting
Speaker 1: on just like what happened here, because I still like that.
Speaker 1: Literally we were before you got on, Justin. We were
Speaker 1: talking about our best guess as to what happened, and
Speaker 1: I was speculating either like a liar liar style birthday
Speaker 1: wish that actually you know, like a child in the
Speaker 1: Los Angeles area, just being like I wish Luca was
Speaker 1: a Laker like on that day and it just like
Speaker 1: came true. Or you know, Jabari has long health that
Speaker 1: but you want to give your theory, well.
Speaker 2: It's it's funny.
Speaker 3: Like when Justin said soldiers sold to the Devil, I
Speaker 3: was like, wait a second, what that? Like I had
Speaker 3: just mentioned this to Jack that I jokingly said that,
Speaker 3: you know doctor Bust, the late great doctor Bush must
Speaker 3: have sold sold his soul to the devil simply because
Speaker 3: of all of the different ways. We have been very
Speaker 3: fortunate since the eighties, and you know from from the
Speaker 3: eighties and on, UH.
Speaker 1: And that would have been worth it. That would have
Speaker 1: been a good purchase, one soul for the type of
Speaker 1: success that the Lakers have had over the past four decades. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's that's a good purchase. I don't put it past
Speaker 1: Matt Ishbia to have sold his soul for UH for
Speaker 1: the This Sun's team.
Speaker 5: But you know, yeah, my conspiracy theory is that Dallas
Speaker 5: has their site set on relocating, getting out of Dallas
Speaker 5: and going to Las Vegas. Yeah, I would love to
Speaker 5: see the NBA back in Las Vegas. I'd love to
Speaker 5: see the NBA, the NBA back in Seattle. I've always
Speaker 5: said those two markets. Put teams there. Get the Pelicans
Speaker 5: out of the freaking Western Conference, get the Grizzlies out
Speaker 5: of the Western Conference. Like and when you talk about
Speaker 5: like those parts of the country, they all are. They
Speaker 5: have they have colleges that are in the SEC. Do
Speaker 5: you know what the East stands for an SEC? Eastern
Speaker 5: It's a southeastern part of the United States. So gets
Speaker 5: get New Orleans, put them in the Eastern Conference. Put
Speaker 5: Minnesota in the Eastern Conference. We need teams in Seattle
Speaker 5: in Las Vegas. And I think my conspiracy theory that
Speaker 5: the Dallas Mavericks are completely tanking everything because they want
Speaker 5: to get.
Speaker 4: To Las Vegas.
Speaker 5: And honestly, I just think that this is one of
Speaker 5: the most dumbest trades I have.
Speaker 4: Ever seen in NBA history.
Speaker 5: And what's so crazy is like the other side of
Speaker 5: this trade is Anthony Davis, like an all time defensive player,
Speaker 5: like an all time great. But it goes to show
Speaker 5: how stupid it is for the Mavericks to make this trade.
Speaker 5: And not only is it stupid for them to trade
Speaker 5: away twenty five year old Luka Doncs, but the fact that, like,
Speaker 5: you didn't even shop him around. You just have this
Speaker 5: backboard deal with the Lakers, with the Lakers of all teams, right,
Speaker 5: It's not like you traded him to like the Knicks
Speaker 5: or some other Ringdom team. You traded him to the Lakers,
Speaker 5: where before that trade man their future looked dark in
Speaker 5: the post Lebron era, and.
Speaker 4: Now we got some good Dodges.
Speaker 1: Yeah, this is a Lakers fan saying this. By the way,
Speaker 1: it's the truth as only a Lakers fan can be
Speaker 1: that that infuriating, like can you believe? How can you believe?
Speaker 1: But like Dallas is so the top media markets in
Speaker 1: the United States, New York's won, LA's two, Chicago's three,
Speaker 1: Dallas Fort Worth is number four, it would be by
Speaker 1: far the biggest media market to not have an NBA team,
Speaker 1: Like the next would be I guess Tampa at number eleven,
Speaker 1: but I mean they can root for the Heat, so
Speaker 1: Seattle's at number thirteen. But yeah, I mean, Dallas is
Speaker 1: a massive media market. It doesn't make sense to not
Speaker 1: have an NBA team there.
Speaker 3: And that's why, to be honest with you, I think
Speaker 3: if the NBA ever approved them moving them to Vegas,
Speaker 3: it would come with an expansion franchise.
Speaker 2: Right back there.
Speaker 3: I don't think, I don't know if any any of
Speaker 3: you it's going to take place. But you know, to
Speaker 3: that point, I don't think they're going to be just
Speaker 3: vacating the Dallas market simply because as you know, you know,
Speaker 3: these owners don't seem they want don't seem to want
Speaker 3: to be there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, let's take a quick break, we'll come back.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about the top ten plays of the year
Speaker 1: and take a look at some matchups and just overall
Speaker 1: predictions any any of these teams that we think are
Speaker 1: going to do better worse than what people are expecting.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back and we're back, and the NBA
Speaker 1: just released I saw it on Twitter, the top ten
Speaker 1: plays of the year, and some of them more than
Speaker 1: one play. At number one, we have an entire sequence
Speaker 1: that you guys aren't gonna love, but I think they
Speaker 1: did a good job. They've got Jaws double three sixties,
Speaker 1: which that was the crazy first thing I was checking for.
Speaker 1: Was like, he hasn't done that in a game since, right,
Speaker 1: It was just that one game where he just decided
Speaker 1: ate up a shot that nobody had ever done.
Speaker 2: Before, situational like greatness.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he could just do.
Speaker 1: It, improvised that and was like, I'm doing that tonight.
Speaker 1: So they have both of those. At number two, they've
Speaker 1: got a couple of like monster dunks on people. So
Speaker 1: they have Jaws double three sixties at one spot, and
Speaker 1: then they have Jokic going full court taking up two
Speaker 1: separate uh so, two full court shots from Jokic. They've
Speaker 1: got Trey's game winner. And then at number one. They
Speaker 1: have the whole final sequence of that Bulls versus Lakers
Speaker 1: game where the Lakers are up by five inbounding the
Speaker 1: ball under the Bulls basket. Yeah, with the ball in
Speaker 1: in the hands of the basketball computer. Greatest decision maker
Speaker 1: of all time. I will say, Brian the editor made
Speaker 1: a really good point. They did miss that Jokic pass
Speaker 1: where it just like passed. He just flicked it over
Speaker 1: his shoulder from the top of the three point line
Speaker 1: and brook Lopez was it just oh maybe, well somebody
Speaker 1: was in between and just was looked ridiculous, Like yeah,
Speaker 1: they were like, I'd say that would be my big omission.
Speaker 1: But overall, a fun look back at the year. Any
Speaker 1: any plays to jump out at you guys or anything
Speaker 1: you think they should have given a spot too.
Speaker 5: Well, I definitely want to double down on that Jokic pass.
Speaker 5: And you know, I have some some buddies who are
Speaker 5: Denver Nuggets fans, and they are pretty much like, yeah,
Speaker 5: Jo Jokic does that, like on a nightly basis. He
Speaker 5: does that all the time. It's just a lot of
Speaker 5: those passes don't get shown. And I'm like, I don't know, man,
Speaker 5: I don't I've never seen a pass like that. Like
Speaker 5: Jokic is, in my opinion, the best passing big man
Speaker 5: of all time. He's definitely carving out a legacy that
Speaker 5: will go down as one of the all time greats.
Speaker 5: But yeah, honestly, that Jokic pass, I'm glad you brought
Speaker 5: that up because that was one of the craziest plays
Speaker 5: I've seen all year.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was a blast. They have a dime from
Speaker 1: one of the players in the Warriors where he saves
Speaker 1: it as as he's running out of bounds and like
Speaker 1: saves it behind his back all the way down the
Speaker 1: court to a streaking teammate who dunks it. That's I think,
Speaker 1: I forget who it is. But they also have right
Speaker 1: up there with the two jaw three sixties, they have
Speaker 1: that Steph kind of spinning between two players and then
Speaker 1: like kind of throwing it in off balance, like falling
Speaker 1: from the wing, and it's just like a weird direction.
Speaker 1: That Again, the analysis that I saw of Steph early
Speaker 1: on where someone said Steph's got a demon that's all
Speaker 1: still still jumps out to me. This is this is
Speaker 1: the podcast where we just give supernatural explanations to NBA success.
Speaker 1: But that Jokic pass just like sometimes when he's as passes,
Speaker 1: like the ball seems to move like slower, like in
Speaker 1: slow motion, but like the players just like can't catch
Speaker 1: up to it, and so it's really strange. So here's
Speaker 1: what we know. We don't know the playans. We know,
Speaker 1: okay season the one seed, and we're feeling pretty good
Speaker 1: about them against any eight seed. The Rockets are number two.
Speaker 1: They are being People are expecting Golden State to win
Speaker 1: their playing game, and I think people are kind of
Speaker 1: penciling in Golden State to beat Houston or that's kind
Speaker 1: of the energy that I'm picking up. That is just
Speaker 1: a bad matchup, and the main thing people are pointing to,
Speaker 1: I think is just Houston's inexperienced in the postseason. I
Speaker 1: feel like, I don't know, the past few postseasons, there's
Speaker 1: been a couple teams who we discounted because for that
Speaker 1: reason because they lacked experience, like Minnesota last year, I
Speaker 1: think Men the year before. I still do think Golden
Speaker 1: State probably beats them in a series if the Warriors
Speaker 1: win in the play in, but I think it's because
Speaker 1: like both Memphis and Minnesota in those series had somebody
Speaker 1: who could get a bucket at the end of the game,
Speaker 1: which you need, and I feel like Houston doesn't have that,
Speaker 1: so that that would probably be the reason that I
Speaker 1: don't see them having a lot of success in the
Speaker 1: postseason at this stage. But I also wouldn't be shocked
Speaker 1: if they just like, you know, one by ten, like
Speaker 1: four times against Golden State, not like a sweep, but
Speaker 1: you know, if you just win by enough and play
Speaker 1: crazy enough defense like they've been known to do, then
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter if you can't get a bucket at
Speaker 1: the in the last second. But what are you guys
Speaker 1: thoughts on Houston's postseason prospects?
Speaker 5: Man very young, and like you said, they're inexperienced. They
Speaker 5: don't have the playoff experience, but they do have a
Speaker 5: really good coach that's also been at this level two
Speaker 5: in Emo Doka. So I think Emo Dooka in his
Speaker 5: second act in the NBA after that whole mess with Boston,
Speaker 5: it's been it's been really fun to watch.
Speaker 4: I really like this Houston Rockets.
Speaker 5: I like the young talent they have, but they kind
Speaker 5: of give me the Oklahoma City vibes from two thousand
Speaker 5: and seven, two thousand and eight, where it's like, they
Speaker 5: got the talent, they have a good coach, but maybe
Speaker 5: just give them another year to let them add some
Speaker 5: more pieces and then they'll be in this position.
Speaker 4: I think they've drafted well.
Speaker 5: I give their front office a ton of credit with
Speaker 5: the young players that they've added. But now you're going
Speaker 5: up against a franchise that has the same coach, the
Speaker 5: same star player, and his and his kind of right
Speaker 5: hand buddy outside of Clay Thompson and Draymond Green, and
Speaker 5: then you add in the ultimate competitor that is Jimmy Butler.
Speaker 5: And Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline, he was kind
Speaker 5: of viewed as a toxic character, right, like, who, who are?
Speaker 5: What team is going to add a player like Jimmy
Speaker 5: Butler for how he treated Miami in the ending stages
Speaker 5: of his career there and then you got to give
Speaker 5: him that crazy contract. Well, ever since the Golden State
Speaker 5: Warriors have added Jimmy Butler, I've had one of the
Speaker 5: better records in the NBA and we are talking about
Speaker 5: them at Jabari. We talked about how the Lakers are
Speaker 5: so damn lucky. I mean, the Lakers are like one
Speaker 5: basket away from playing against the Golden State Warriors in
Speaker 5: this three to six matchup. So I'm counting my Lucky
Speaker 5: Stars as a Lakers guy that they don't got to
Speaker 5: play Golden State in that first round. This is a
Speaker 5: team that is a dynasty, that's probably on the tail
Speaker 5: end of their run, but they've got the championship pedigree,
Speaker 5: and that's why I'm probably gonna go with the Golden
Speaker 5: State in six.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Look, just to echo this, and I mentioned this
Speaker 3: to Jack before the show, Golden State's one team I
Speaker 3: actually didn't want to face, especially in a first round,
Speaker 3: you know matchup. I don't want to see a fresh Steff,
Speaker 3: a fresh and hungry Jimmy and all of those guys
Speaker 3: executing like crazy in a first round, first round matchup.
Speaker 3: I think Houston can make it interesting, but it's tough
Speaker 3: and it sucks because Houston fought, you know, fought all year.
Speaker 3: They earned that, you know that, you know, that second seed,
Speaker 3: and you know, for their troubles, it could very well
Speaker 3: wind up being, you know, a little bit of a
Speaker 3: first round buzz saw.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll see, but you know, who knows if Golden State.
Speaker 1: Golden State has been able to lose the inexplicable games
Speaker 1: that they should have wanted to win.
Speaker 3: You know, if Harrison, if Harrison Barnes doesn't hit that
Speaker 3: game winner with a depleted Spurgers team down the stretch
Speaker 3: of the season, you know, it's a different conversation.
Speaker 1: All right, Lakers, Wolves, you guys, I'm pretty sure I
Speaker 1: know who you're taking. So Minnesota makes it through to
Speaker 1: the second round and then Clippers Nuggets. Clippers are the
Speaker 1: hottest team in the NBA right now. They're fifteen and
Speaker 1: two to finish the season. Something I always talk about
Speaker 1: is like two years ago, you know, Kawhi for one
Speaker 1: playoff game, the best player in the NBA, and then
Speaker 1: he got hurt. And for the past two years, everybody,
Speaker 1: everybody's just been like, yeah, Chhile'll never not be hurt.
Speaker 1: And that's been true for the past couple of years.
Speaker 1: But he's looking strong. Harden is looking good. I don't know,
Speaker 1: I could see the Clippers making making some noise and
Speaker 1: upsetting some Lakers fans along the way. Well we'll see.
Speaker 1: But what are you guys' thoughts on the Nuggets Clippers.
Speaker 5: I do want to give credit where credit is due.
Speaker 5: James Harden has played seventy nine games this season, right
Speaker 5: like James Harden was a guy that wasn't playing nearly
Speaker 5: that many games, and he's he's been around and he's
Speaker 5: been effective as not only a score averaging just under
Speaker 5: twenty three points per game, but I think he's averaging
Speaker 5: like nearly nine a sis per game two. So James Harden,
Speaker 5: like you said, Jackie, he's playing some really good basketball
Speaker 5: right now. I just feel bad for our guy, Lakers legend,
Speaker 5: even because Zubats, because he's got to go up against
Speaker 5: that best of luck brother.
Speaker 4: I think that the Denver Nuggets. I think Clippers don't
Speaker 4: make it interesting.
Speaker 5: They might win a game or two, but I think
Speaker 5: the the Nuggets will figure it out.
Speaker 1: Been so good.
Speaker 2: So you're saying Nuggets in five or six.
Speaker 4: I'll say Nuggets in about five or six.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Okay, I thought I was gonna be the I
Speaker 3: thought I was gonna be the only one because as
Speaker 3: as well as the Clippers have played, and I'm not
Speaker 3: gonna take anything away from them, not even gonna do
Speaker 3: the little brother thing. They have played well, and to
Speaker 3: be honest with you, I don't want to face him
Speaker 3: in the first round either. I still think they don't
Speaker 3: have any answer whatsoever for you and as well as
Speaker 3: as Zubac has been playing, and he has been playing well,
Speaker 3: I think over the course of the series, you know, yeah,
Speaker 3: that damn Terminator is gonna wear him down.
Speaker 1: Okay, the Turk because I have heard Kawhi described as
Speaker 1: a terminator too. Terminator was Terminator versus Terminators Terminator to
Speaker 1: Judgment Day, and that's one of the best movies of
Speaker 1: all time. So I think either way, all we're talking
Speaker 1: about is there's gonna be a great season here, all right.
Speaker 1: Any team in the West that you guys think is
Speaker 1: going to make a deeper run than people are expecting.
Speaker 5: Oh man, deeper run than people are expecting. I mean,
Speaker 5: I would say the Lakers, but I feel like the
Speaker 5: Lakers are expected to represent the West in the NBA Finals.
Speaker 5: I think that this is the year of the Lakers.
Speaker 5: And I know I'm biased, but I look at the
Speaker 5: the addition of Luca, I look at how that's matched
Speaker 5: up with Lebron. I did have some concerns with the
Speaker 5: front court, with guys like like Jackson Hayes and others,
Speaker 5: and that could be a concern later on in the postseason,
Speaker 5: but they've actually performed better than I thought. I'm curious
Speaker 5: to see how ruy Achimora plays in this postseason with
Speaker 5: the front court matchups they got. But yeah, yeah, I'll
Speaker 5: probably say the the Lakers, and probably the Nuggets. Just
Speaker 5: I mean, they're the number four seed, They've won a
Speaker 5: championship before in a seven game series. It's tough to
Speaker 5: bet against Yokid. So I'd say probably the West. I
Speaker 5: go with with Denver or the Lakers.
Speaker 2: Dang, all right, just piggyback.
Speaker 3: You know where I stand on the Lakers. I think
Speaker 3: that they can and probably will make a deep run.
Speaker 3: But if they don't, the wild my wildcard for this
Speaker 3: postseason is still going to be the Golden State Warriors.
Speaker 3: I think if the Warriors, you know, you get that
Speaker 3: seven and they beat Houston, guess I recognize where that
Speaker 3: would line them up next. I think a hot Warriors
Speaker 3: team is the team that I just would personally like
Speaker 3: to avoid.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that makes sense, And out Yeast is basically I mean,
Speaker 1: so on this podcast, we support the League versus Celtics
Speaker 1: is kind of how I think about it. But I
Speaker 1: do think it's probably gonna be the Celtics again coming
Speaker 1: out of the East. Well, what do we think anybody
Speaker 1: able to make me feel better and say that there's
Speaker 1: another team that has a good shot. I mean, I
Speaker 1: guess the Cavs would be the obvious one. Sixty four
Speaker 1: and eighteen, you know, best offensive rating in the in
Speaker 1: the league this year. But do you guys think they
Speaker 1: have legit shot at beating the Celtics. I think they do.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 5: I do think that, you know, we're talking about conspiracy
Speaker 5: theories earlier. I think that this crazy Luca trade is
Speaker 5: just pairing up Lakers versus Celtics, the old classic rivalry
Speaker 5: in the in the NBA Championship. But I think, honestly,
Speaker 5: outside of Boston, the one team that I think could
Speaker 5: really go far and maybe even get to the NBA
Speaker 5: Finals the Milwaukee Bucks at the number five spot. Now,
Speaker 5: I know Dame dealing with with his whole thing, like
Speaker 5: that's that's a tremendous loss, right that, Like, that's that's.
Speaker 4: A big time there.
Speaker 5: But you still got Giannis as one of the top
Speaker 5: big men in basketball right now. I still think that
Speaker 5: the Bucks they have that that championship pedigree. I still
Speaker 5: think they can't go far. I'm curious to see how
Speaker 5: that matchup's gonna go with Indiana and a team that
Speaker 5: I don't think is going to say go far, like
Speaker 5: go to the NBA Finals, but I could see them
Speaker 5: winning a playoff series. About those Detroit Pistons turn things around. Man,
Speaker 5: They're playing against the Knicks, and you know, Tom Thibodeau is,
Speaker 5: you know, solid coach. I love the Knicks and the
Speaker 5: pieces that they have, But the Detroit Pistons have been
Speaker 5: one of my favorite stories in the NBA this season.
Speaker 5: This was a team that was riding one of the worst,
Speaker 5: if not the worst, losing streaks and NBA history. Like
Speaker 5: they were telling fans, hey, if the Pistons win, we're
Speaker 5: giving you free food, and then they proceeded to drop
Speaker 5: twenty eight straight games like that is the ultimate tease.
Speaker 5: But hey, great marketing for whatever food the company that was.
Speaker 5: But the Pistons, they're turnaround. Cade Cunningham, I like this
Speaker 5: team a lot, and I think, honestly, this is kind
Speaker 5: of like a just the beginning stages for them. I
Speaker 5: think over the next couple of years they're going to
Speaker 5: add some pieces and we're going to see the Pistons
Speaker 5: back to being a force in the East.
Speaker 3: I'm right there with you with Detroit. I think they're
Speaker 3: going to be solid. I don't necessarily know that it's
Speaker 3: going to happen this year, but you know, to your point,
Speaker 3: shout out to Cad, Shout out to Jamie Bickerstaff, former
Speaker 3: Coach of the Year. You know, he goes there and
Speaker 3: absolutely turns things around, and then you know, very first year, Jentle.
Speaker 1: Have been back. Look for him if he hadn't. You know,
Speaker 1: the Calves had a huge turnaround after he left there,
Speaker 1: but then he turned it around, So you know, it's
Speaker 1: I guess it's a statement about who was coaching Detroit
Speaker 1: last year.
Speaker 3: So shout out to MONI, shout out legend at the
Speaker 3: Bank Jack to ask your question just directly. The team
Speaker 3: that I hope comes out is the Calves. The team
Speaker 3: I think is going to come out is the Celtics.
Speaker 3: The team I really want to come out deep down
Speaker 3: inside is exactly where where Justin just went.
Speaker 2: I want the Bucks. I want.
Speaker 3: You know, Giannis over the last fifteen to twenty games
Speaker 3: has been absolutely incredible. I don't know if if you
Speaker 3: guys had a chance to watch a lot of Bucks,
Speaker 3: you know action I did. He is truly an offensive
Speaker 3: hub in a way that we haven't seen him before.
Speaker 3: Double digit assists if I'm not mistaken, almost averaging that
Speaker 3: over the last like fifteen or so games, and the
Speaker 3: word on the street is today they may actually be
Speaker 3: back during this series.
Speaker 2: So while I.
Speaker 3: Don't, I don't want them to like just like throw
Speaker 3: everything on him when he gets back. Look if they
Speaker 3: could find a way to get through this first round
Speaker 3: matchup and Dame gets going and Giannis is still playing
Speaker 3: the way that he's you know, dominant on both sides
Speaker 3: of the ball, even though Doc Rivers is their coach,
Speaker 3: I think it's a possibility.
Speaker 1: Even though do we think we're past the era of
Speaker 1: best player? Whoever has the best player, you're gonna just
Speaker 1: inherently you should put your money on that team because
Speaker 1: that that feels like where we're going in a lot
Speaker 1: of these But it also feels like that hasn't always
Speaker 1: been the case in the past few years. Do you
Speaker 1: think that things have changed or you still think that's
Speaker 1: a good rule of thumb for the postseason?
Speaker 5: I think that things have changed, Like I'm not gonna
Speaker 5: bet against Lebron James in a seven game series, right
Speaker 5: or some of these other elite players like Nikola Jokic
Speaker 5: or some of the best but You know, if if
Speaker 5: you look at the past chanceapions, it kind of reminds
Speaker 5: me a little bit of the college basketball model. Right
Speaker 5: Like when John Calipari at Kentucky, he tried to load
Speaker 5: his team with all of these one and dons, and
Speaker 5: he thought that that was the formula to win in
Speaker 5: a championship. Meanwhile, you had Villanova all these other teams
Speaker 5: that prioritized veteran players and mature players and experienced guys
Speaker 5: that you could rely on in the tournament. And they
Speaker 5: were players that were with programs for several years. They
Speaker 5: built up that championship culture brick by brick. You look
Speaker 5: at the Boston Celtics. I mean, how many times have
Speaker 5: they been deep into the playoffs. Heck, they were in
Speaker 5: the NBA Finals and lost to the Golden State Warriors.
Speaker 5: But they didn't going back to our point year with
Speaker 5: the selling are sold to the Devil, they didn't trade
Speaker 5: away all of those pieces. They continue to develop them
Speaker 5: and got them better, and eventually they were able to
Speaker 5: break through and win an NBA championship. The Golden State
Speaker 5: Warriors in their dynasty, yeah, they added Kevin Durant during
Speaker 5: those couple of years, but for the most are all
Speaker 5: of those guys on that team. We're all homegrown players,
Speaker 5: guys that were drafted and selected by the Golden State Warriors.
Speaker 4: So I think there's something.
Speaker 5: To be said about having a culture and developing a
Speaker 5: championship team over time, and I feel like you're starting
Speaker 5: to see that with teams like Oklahoma City and Houston
Speaker 5: and some of these others in the NBA. So it
Speaker 5: definitely helps having a premier superstar player on your team,
Speaker 5: a guy that is one of the faces of the league.
Speaker 5: But I think having that depth and having a good roster,
Speaker 5: you know, having a good rotation, I think that's definitely valuable,
Speaker 5: and we've seen in recent years that that matters.
Speaker 3: And just to add to that, I think it I
Speaker 3: think it's specifically the way the game is played now.
Speaker 2: You know, more more motion, more.
Speaker 3: Ball movement, more body movement, less one on one isolation,
Speaker 3: less like of just like either one on one isolation
Speaker 3: or like two man action. You know, more complex, you know,
Speaker 3: more complex schemes, and all of a sudden, While yes,
Speaker 3: you still want to have the best player in the series,
Speaker 3: I don't know if it's as much of an impact,
Speaker 3: especially if it's relatively close around you know, around those
Speaker 3: play around that player.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, let's uh, let's take a quick break. Well,
Speaker 1: come back and we will do the rapid fire round
Speaker 1: of questioning, the fastest, nastiest segment in basketball podcasting, and
Speaker 1: we'll be right back and we're back in. Justin, justin, Justin,
Speaker 1: I don't know you have all right? Should we just
Speaker 1: scrap this part? Actually? I there's no way, no way
Speaker 1: this guy's ready uh for for this. Uh. This is
Speaker 1: the rapid fire round of questioning. Uh, you've just wandered
Speaker 1: into the shooting gallery. Uh. There there's gonna be bullets
Speaker 1: pinging around, whizzing past your ear and do it.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 1: So you're gonna want to get in an athletic position
Speaker 1: and and just be ready. We're gonna be firing some
Speaker 1: questions at you, uh, and you're just gonna fire them back.
Speaker 1: We're gonna keep this ball moving. We're gonna keep the
Speaker 1: ball fizzing around the perimeter. Do you think you're ready?
Speaker 4: Let's do it.
Speaker 3: I'll just just note if you delay or allow one
Speaker 3: of us to delay in between, we will be rude
Speaker 3: to you. We will because you are getting an EP
Speaker 3: credit on this particular episode.
Speaker 2: So get this together.
Speaker 4: All right, let me lock in you ready, Let's do it.
Speaker 1: Brian, start the clock. My kids are in the next
Speaker 1: room and they think I'm verbally abusing somebody. All right, Uh, Jabari,
Speaker 1: why don't.
Speaker 4: You kick us off?
Speaker 1: All right?
Speaker 3: More dominant player Jokic back in Shacks era or Shack
Speaker 3: in this current era.
Speaker 5: Yokic back in shacks era. Oh, Yokic's game is transcendent.
Speaker 5: It could be in any era at any time. Give
Speaker 5: me Yokic.
Speaker 1: All right. We have a new king of top selling
Speaker 1: NBA jerseys. I want you to guess who it is.
Speaker 1: But Yama incorrect, sir, top five, although he's so he's
Speaker 1: at he's at number six, And that did make me want, like,
Speaker 1: you don't see a lot of Webb Yama jerseys in
Speaker 1: the wild. Yeah, a long name, and you need to like,
Speaker 1: I feel like it only makes sense on a skinny,
Speaker 1: like tall person, you know, like it like I feel
Speaker 1: like it works better? Yeah, yeah, yeah for the full name.
Speaker 1: This one changed mid season. I'll say justin new leader
Speaker 1: mid season, new.
Speaker 4: Leader mid season.
Speaker 1: Let's go with Luca, you got it? And any of
Speaker 1: these So Luca number one, Steph number two, Lebron number three,
Speaker 1: Jason Tate the number four. That one surprised me a
Speaker 1: little bit. I don't see a lot of Jason Taylor.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's just maybe it's just because when you moved
Speaker 1: to Boston, they just give you one of those just yeah.
Speaker 2: It's like at the airport in Hawaii. Yeah, yeah, you
Speaker 2: get at the airport there, you just get a Tatum Jersey.
Speaker 2: Hey put this on.
Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson number five, WEMBM six, Anthony Edwards seven, Jaw
Speaker 1: number eight, Shade number nine, Yokic ten, Yannis eleven, LaMelo
Speaker 1: Ball at number twelve, then KD. Booker thirteen, fourteen, then
Speaker 1: Jalen Brown at fifteen, and any that jump out to you,
Speaker 1: guys's surprising any that you thought would be there that aren't.
Speaker 4: Oh man, well you brought up LaMelo Ball.
Speaker 5: And the first thing I thought of was so last
Speaker 5: summer I was at a basketball camp for kids, and
Speaker 5: I asked all the kids there, like, all right, guys,
Speaker 5: So when I say, mellow, who do you guys think
Speaker 5: I'm talking about? Every single one of them said LaMelo Ball.
Speaker 5: And it made me feel so old because I'm like,
Speaker 5: Carmel Anthony is.
Speaker 1: Not old, right, and he is.
Speaker 4: The real mellow. He is the real mellow.
Speaker 5: As far as you didn't mention Kawhi Leonard, did you? No,
Speaker 5: Kawhi is not interesting because I feel like that would
Speaker 5: be up there, like he's still a big time player, right,
Speaker 5: but maybe he's so boring that nobody wants to buy
Speaker 5: his jersey or it's James Harden or Kyrie Irving.
Speaker 1: I think it's team dependent, Like I bet Kawhi was
Speaker 1: there when he was with the Raptors, but like now,
Speaker 1: I just feel like not a lot of not a
Speaker 1: lot of Clippers jerseys out there, even in the Greater
Speaker 1: Los Angeles area.
Speaker 3: It's because the thirty thousand Clippers fans have already bought
Speaker 3: one prior to now, so then stets.
Speaker 1: Right, it's also another one.
Speaker 5: I'm surprised because US Lakers fans, we love this guy,
Speaker 5: Austin Reeves.
Speaker 1: You thought you thought he'd crack the top fifteen.
Speaker 4: I thought like he'd be.
Speaker 5: One of those sneaky guys that just got up there
Speaker 5: because he's a fan favorite.
Speaker 3: Let them make a deep run with him playing well
Speaker 3: this year, I bet you he'll jump in that time,
Speaker 3: like somewhere in that range of fifteen to twenty. Yeah,
Speaker 3: all right, keeping to going really quickly, Lakers trivia for
Speaker 3: you all time franchise leader in rebounds?
Speaker 2: Who do you think is that leader?
Speaker 5: For the last oh man, it's it's probably somebody obscire
Speaker 5: like George Miken.
Speaker 2: It is not. It is not. I chose this for
Speaker 2: a specific reason.
Speaker 4: Will Chamberlain.
Speaker 2: He is number five because this is Lakers.
Speaker 1: That they got. This is rebounds they got while playing
Speaker 1: for the Wall playing Withers.
Speaker 5: Okay, is it not Pau Gasol, No, it's not Shaquille O'Neill.
Speaker 2: It is not. He is number six.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 4: Not Kareem's number two?
Speaker 5: Two?
Speaker 4: Oh my goodness, lamar odom is it?
Speaker 2: I'm like, I got you.
Speaker 3: It is Elgin Baylor, Elger Baylor eleven, four hundred and six.
Speaker 1: For him to do that as a guard, Yeah, that's wow.
Speaker 1: And I mean, yeah, there's a lot of guards on
Speaker 1: like Kobe is number three. But it's just I think
Speaker 1: it's partially a testament to like who played the most
Speaker 1: games as a Laker? But magic number four.
Speaker 4: A c.
Speaker 1: Green. Speaking of who played the most games shot out,
Speaker 1: I was my guest was gonna be Vern Mickelson, who
Speaker 1: comes in at number seven.
Speaker 2: But that was right on the tip of my toes,
Speaker 2: right off, a little.
Speaker 1: Bit off, all right. And finally you have the ability
Speaker 1: to pick any former Lakers legend to make a run
Speaker 1: with this current squad.
Speaker 4: Who are you taking Kobe Bryant Man?
Speaker 2: Come on now, not gonna take a center? Like it
Speaker 2: doesn't matter that we don't have any any bigs. I
Speaker 2: get it, I get it, But I had to throw
Speaker 2: that out there. It's like, yeah, we need a big.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you do need a big I do worry about
Speaker 5: the hack of shack later on in games. So in
Speaker 5: Shack honestly, uh yeah, Like I said, he's dominant, but
Speaker 5: the free throws is what concerns me. Yeah, Mann, I'm
Speaker 5: gonna go with with Kobe Bryant Man because even in
Speaker 5: games where he's not scoring, he still figures out ways
Speaker 5: to to make when he plays and when you need
Speaker 5: a bucket and clutch time, it's always gonna be Kobe Bryant.
Speaker 4: So I'm biased.
Speaker 1: Actually you know what.
Speaker 4: That's True's go that's not true.
Speaker 5: But also Kobe was also a really good defender too,
Speaker 5: And it's kind of the knock on Luca, especially last
Speaker 5: year in the NBA Finals going up against the Boston Celtics,
Speaker 5: so perimeter defense, all around great player. I would definitely
Speaker 5: go with h with.
Speaker 4: A guy like Kobe.
Speaker 1: We've done just a couple of times now I keep
Speaker 1: I think my pick would be Kareem. I know my
Speaker 1: pick would be Kareem for this particular team because he
Speaker 1: was a good defender.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the thing of it is, like this question and
Speaker 3: Offen skews with age, we are gonna pick either Koreeb
Speaker 3: or Shack or somebody like that. Where to be honest,
Speaker 3: my people would be Magic just because like I don't care,
Speaker 3: I Magic to my guy in the same way that Kobe.
Speaker 2: Is his guy.
Speaker 3: M But I mean, you know, I don't think you
Speaker 3: can go That's the thing about you know, you know,
Speaker 3: picking this with the Lakers, you can't really go wrong.
Speaker 2: Like you're you're you're.
Speaker 3: You're you're picking between like top ten all time guys
Speaker 3: or fifteen or wherever you have them, you know, not
Speaker 3: to offend anybody.
Speaker 5: Well, if we're talking about fit, to think about someone
Speaker 5: like Pau Gasol playing with Luca and Lebron, Like he's
Speaker 5: a seven footer, but he's also an elite passer too,
Speaker 5: So you have the size, you have that length, and
Speaker 5: you pair that up with Luca and Lebron, I.
Speaker 4: Would be disgusting, disgusting.
Speaker 1: I'm so old. I was I was actually gonna pick
Speaker 1: Lou al Cinder and all right, right right, Mama, Lou,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go h there goes that man, all right,
Speaker 1: justin What a pleasure having you on Mild and Jack
Speaker 1: and sometimes your body got Matt Boosti's where can people
Speaker 1: find you? Follow you, hear you, all that good stuff.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so when I'm not talking basketball with you guys
Speaker 5: on this amazing podcast, Thank you guys again for the invite.
Speaker 5: I really do appreciate it. I'm a I'm a diehard
Speaker 5: Lakers fan. I love the NBA, so getting to jump
Speaker 5: on a podcast like this is an absolute honor for me.
Speaker 4: So thank you again. You can check out my work.
Speaker 5: I cover Arizona football for the Arizona Daily Star in
Speaker 5: Tucson dot com.
Speaker 4: I also host a radio.
Speaker 5: Show on ESPN Tucson down here in the Old Pueblo,
Speaker 5: and you can check out the Spears and Ali podcast.
Speaker 5: That's the name of our show, Spears and Ali. We're
Speaker 5: on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, the whole nine. And yeah, man,
Speaker 5: I'm really really thankful that I was able to jump
Speaker 5: on with you guys.
Speaker 4: Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1: ESPN TWOS shout out Ali.
Speaker 5: Also find me on Twitter as well or X I'm
Speaker 5: gonna call it Twitter.
Speaker 1: You can call it Twitter. It's Twitter.
Speaker 4: It'll always be Twitter. But yeah, follow me at justin
Speaker 4: Esport all right.
Speaker 1: You can find me on Twitter, Jack Underscore, Brian on
Speaker 1: Blue Sky at Jack Obie the Number one, Jabari where
Speaker 1: you can have people find you.
Speaker 2: Jabari A.
Speaker 3: Davis on Twitter, Jabari Davis NBA on the Better site
Speaker 3: also known as Blue Sky.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, all right, and that's gonna do it. Another
Speaker 1: one in the books. Swish back next week with more
Speaker 1: NBA actions, some playoff coverage. Can't wait. We will talk
Speaker 1: to you all then bye,