Speaker 1: Welcome to this League Uncut in the rule of twenty
Speaker 1: four hour NBA News. This's you, Chris Hanes. It's time,
Speaker 1: Mark Stein. It's so time. This League Uncut is underway
Speaker 1: and on fire.
Speaker 2: This should be a good one. Everyone. Welcome in to
Speaker 2: a brand new and overdue, brand new edition of this
Speaker 2: League Uncut. Mark Stein here with his old friend Chris Haynes.
Speaker 2: It was not by design, but we got separated for
Speaker 2: a week and change, Chris says, I'm sure you guys
Speaker 2: are all aware by now. He was in Atlanta for
Speaker 2: the whole Western Conference finals doing an alt cast for
Speaker 2: TNT with Adam Lefko and Vince Carter and Bomani Jones
Speaker 2: and man, we don't go this long without talking. But
Speaker 2: we didn't connect really for I don't know, six seven, eight,
Speaker 2: nine days because I was in London. It's a long story.
Speaker 2: I don't even know, Chris Haynes. If you know the
Speaker 2: whole story, I can run you through it if you
Speaker 2: want all of the background. But it's good to be
Speaker 2: with you again, my friend.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I mean, I think you owe it to
Speaker 3: me and you owe it to the listeners to run
Speaker 3: it back.
Speaker 2: So here's what happened. Okay, I have two sons, as
Speaker 2: you know, one is out of high school and one
Speaker 2: is nearing the end of high school. And my younger son,
Speaker 2: like me, a die hard Manchester City fan. So we
Speaker 2: had the opportunity to sneak over to England to see
Speaker 2: the FA Cup Final and All Manchester FA Cup Final.
Speaker 2: The less I say about the actual game will probably
Speaker 2: be the healthier for me to help me get through
Speaker 2: the rest of this podcast. But the point was, Okay,
Speaker 2: this opportunity arises in the midst of the Western Conference
Speaker 2: Finals that feature the team in the city where I live,
Speaker 2: in Dallas, But there was no way I was gonna
Speaker 2: pass up the chance to go to London for a
Speaker 2: few days with my son Aaron see this game. We
Speaker 2: actually got to go to Wembley Stadium two days in
Speaker 2: a row because we saw the All Manchester FA Cup
Speaker 2: Final and the Lead Southampton Championship playoff final to decide
Speaker 2: which of those two teams goes up to the Premier
Speaker 2: League and which has to return to the Championship for
Speaker 2: another whole grueling season in the second division of English soccer.
Speaker 2: So my thinking was, Mavericks Wolves, this thing is going
Speaker 2: at least six, very well could go seven. We're gonna
Speaker 2: sneak to England. We're gonna watch these two soccer games.
Speaker 2: We're gonna have a few more days in London after
Speaker 2: that incredible father and son trip, but we'll be back.
Speaker 2: I'll get back on the night of game five. I'll
Speaker 2: cover Game six in game seven if necessary, in person,
Speaker 2: and I won't miss all that much. And I was
Speaker 2: still here when Game one happened. I did not go
Speaker 2: to Minneapolis, but I covered Game one from home. Dallas
Speaker 2: wins Game one in Minneapolis, land in London, MAVs go
Speaker 2: up two oh, hold on a second, and then the
Speaker 2: MAVs go up three to oh, and I'm just like,
Speaker 2: this is unbelievable. How are the MAVs gonna sweep this thing?
Speaker 2: We actually did look into should we abort the rest
Speaker 2: of the trip and come back. We explored it, and
Speaker 2: then I was like, no, you know what, No, the
Speaker 2: MAVs are up three to zero if they sweep this thing. Okay,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna miss the sweep, but they're gonna be in
Speaker 2: the finals. I'm gonna see the whole finals. We're not changing.
Speaker 2: And it ended up going five, not six. We got
Speaker 2: back in the country just a few hours before Game five.
Speaker 2: Thought I was going to be covering a Game six
Speaker 2: in Dallas. There was no Game six in Dallas. All right.
Speaker 2: Now you have the very long winded and complicated and
Speaker 2: probably TMI explanation why it was so hard to get
Speaker 2: a hold of me for a few days. But I
Speaker 2: know you were busy, man, that Atlanta thing. You looked
Speaker 2: like you had a lot going on. Shooting contest with
Speaker 2: Vince Carter, interviews with Rich Paul, and all kinds of
Speaker 2: NBA luminaries and guests. It looked like you were busy.
Speaker 3: We had fun.
Speaker 2: How was your Western Conference Finals in Atlanta?
Speaker 3: Yeah, we had fun. It was a nice you know,
Speaker 3: change of pace of an assignment for me. I would
Speaker 3: have been that. You know, they moved me from what
Speaker 3: they asked if I wanted to if I was interested
Speaker 3: in doing this atcast for the Western Conference Finals and
Speaker 3: I was on the Eastern Conference Finals, I was going
Speaker 3: to cover that for the for the company, and so yeah,
Speaker 3: I agreed to do it. And then you know, they
Speaker 3: asked if I bring some guests on as well, So
Speaker 3: you know, Dame was my first guess for Game one,
Speaker 3: which Paul was Game two. I had Jordi Fernandez, the
Speaker 3: new NETS coach, for Game three, and I had Desmond
Speaker 3: Bane for Game three as well. Game four. Who did
Speaker 3: I have Game four? Excuse me? I had Jordy Fernande's
Speaker 3: Game four. I had desim Band game three, and then
Speaker 3: I had Nicholas Patun for Game five and that was it.
Speaker 2: That was it.
Speaker 3: STN.
Speaker 2: That's a good run. Did any of those NBA heavyweights
Speaker 2: say they would come on this league? Uncut?
Speaker 3: We've had all them on except now.
Speaker 2: We had Batomb for sure.
Speaker 3: But was on Wetune. We had Dame games come on.
Speaker 2: But Tom came on last year to do the Victor women,
Speaker 2: y'am in a preview. But we have not had Desmond Bane.
Speaker 2: We have not had we have not had Jordi Fernandez.
Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, well Jordi, Yeah, that was probably Jeordie's first,
Speaker 3: you know National TV in the interview right there. So
Speaker 3: you can't count hill.
Speaker 2: We have not had Rich Paul on this podcast. You
Speaker 2: gotta make we got to make that happen.
Speaker 1: Huh.
Speaker 2: Okay, I think I would have remembered if Rich Paul
Speaker 2: was on this podcast.
Speaker 3: Okay, I thought we had Rich and you're right with
Speaker 3: with debt with des I've had DEAs on my pod,
Speaker 3: the pod before this one that I had before, four
Speaker 3: different times.
Speaker 2: So that's I see. I got posting up posted posting
Speaker 2: up with Yes, you don't have a post up game.
Speaker 3: Posting a post up game. Impeccable footwork in the post. Yeah,
Speaker 3: that pod is posted down now. So yeah, but no,
Speaker 3: it was fun. It was fun.
Speaker 2: I had I had a posting up with three point
Speaker 2: gunner Chris Haynes.
Speaker 3: Had a really good time. Man, it was funny staring.
Speaker 3: So you know, all of us, most of us except
Speaker 3: for Bomani, we're all salaried employees. So bo was the
Speaker 3: only one that was getting paid by the game. So
Speaker 3: he was hoping that the series extend, you know, extended.
Speaker 3: And I've been there for two weeks because I got
Speaker 3: there like four days before the cast because my daughter graduated.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the last two pods we did were in Atlanta
Speaker 2: before I left.
Speaker 3: So I've been there for a while, and so I
Speaker 3: was trying to get home as soon as possible before
Speaker 3: the final start. If I get home late, like say,
Speaker 3: this series ends early this week, then I come home.
Speaker 3: I'm home for about a day or two before the finals.
Speaker 3: You married people. You people that's in in long healthy relationships. Y'all,
Speaker 3: y'all know your significant other is not going to tolerate that,
Speaker 3: or at least you're going to hear about just coming
Speaker 3: in and out. You've already been going for two weeks,
Speaker 3: then you come home for a little bit, and then
Speaker 3: you back out. So I was hoping to get back
Speaker 3: kind of early. And plus, my wife's birthday was Saturday,
Speaker 3: which is yesterday, and Stein, we'll get an NBA talk. Stein.
Speaker 3: She pulled a fast one on us this year. She
Speaker 3: pulled a fast one on us. And what I mean
Speaker 3: by that is for her birthday present, which was yesterday.
Speaker 3: For her birthday present, she wanted everybody in the house
Speaker 3: to clean the house. So she assigned cleaning assignments for
Speaker 3: everybody in the house. I had the closet, I had
Speaker 3: to wash the clothes, I had to fold the clothes.
Speaker 3: I had to fix some electrical issues in the house.
Speaker 3: And there's nothing about me that's electric, that's electrical or electrician.
Speaker 3: That's just not me.
Speaker 2: And how many of your four daughters were home?
Speaker 3: Everybody's home, everybody's own, Stein, I would very much rather
Speaker 3: to spend a ton of money on gifts a big
Speaker 3: birthday bash than to be at home cleaning up and
Speaker 3: doing chores. Oh, it was the worst birthday experience ever.
Speaker 3: She pulled a fast woman. Oh, but I'm done. That's
Speaker 3: what I've been doing over these last few weeks. I'm
Speaker 3: pretty sure people want to hear basketball now, Star.
Speaker 2: I think the reason we can get away with that
Speaker 2: off the court extended intro is because if things go
Speaker 2: to plan, this will be just the first of multiple
Speaker 2: preview pods to get you set for the twenty twenty
Speaker 2: four NBA Finals, a matchup that I don't think many
Speaker 2: predicted coming into the season, and even at the start
Speaker 2: of the playoffs to suggest that the Dallas Mavericks would
Speaker 2: come through the gauntlet that is the Western Conference. Not
Speaker 2: a lot of people, I know we're touting the Mavericks
Speaker 2: as finals material, but here we are. It's the Mavericks.
Speaker 2: They have dispatched the fifty one win LA Clippers, the
Speaker 2: fifty seven win Oklahoma City Thunder, the fifty six win
Speaker 2: Minnesota Timberwolves. The Mavericks beat all those teams, didn't need
Speaker 2: to go seven in any of the first three rounds.
Speaker 2: But now they've got to deal with the mighty Boston
Speaker 2: Celtics sixty four and eighteen the team of the regular season.
Speaker 2: The Celtics really did assemble one of the most impressive
Speaker 2: regular season resumes we've ever seen. But as I'm sure
Speaker 2: you guys talked about on that ALT cast, I didn't
Speaker 2: see any of the ALT cast, but I'm guessing this
Speaker 2: had to have come up once twice three times for Boston.
Speaker 2: It's all riding on the finals. How they will be
Speaker 2: judged this season will depend on what happens in this series.
Speaker 2: So look, I think Vegas has the Celtics as pretty
Speaker 2: clear favorites. I think the NBA consensus would have the
Speaker 2: Celtics going into this series's favorites. But I want to
Speaker 2: hear it from Chris Haynes. I picked Mavericks and six
Speaker 2: in an upset. What does the Chris Haynes Crystal ball say,
Speaker 2: who is going to win the twenty twenty three to
Speaker 2: twenty four NBA Championship.
Speaker 3: If you would have asked me this question a week ago,
Speaker 3: a few weeks ago, I'm definitely leaning towards the Boston Seltis.
Speaker 3: It's not even leaning towards I'm picking the Boston Celtics,
Speaker 3: probably picking them in five, six, not seven. But you
Speaker 3: asked me today and my answer is I just don't know,
Speaker 3: Stein I don't know, But that just shows how much
Speaker 3: Dallas has convinced me over this past week. Again, remember,
Speaker 3: look at what, look at what and Kyrie had to
Speaker 3: go up against leading up to getting to the NBA Finals.
Speaker 3: They had to deal with some tough DEFENSI of US
Speaker 3: defensive matchups, Lou Dork, physical guys, somebody who's strong, who's
Speaker 3: not going to just allow you to get to where
Speaker 3: you want. Luca Kai still got with it where they wanted.
Speaker 3: Minnesota Anthony Edwards, Jade mcdaims no problem. And then their
Speaker 3: role players are stepping up, and it's strange. It's weird
Speaker 3: to see Tim hardaway out of the rotation.
Speaker 2: Completely out of the rotation.
Speaker 3: Completely out of it, and yet they still got guys
Speaker 3: coming in stepping up. Darrin Jones Junior is hitting those
Speaker 3: corner threes. PJ. Washington. Then they got the live threat.
Speaker 3: I can't call it, I really can't. I don't want.
Speaker 3: I don't mean this kind of sliver out of answering
Speaker 3: your question. But that's just how impressed I've come away
Speaker 3: with with the Dallas matters of this last week and
Speaker 3: a half.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because that had to be, like you said, a
Speaker 2: new experience for you that you were not. You know,
Speaker 2: first and second round, you're always on the road. You're
Speaker 2: in these arenas, you're having your gourmet burgers, your clandestine
Speaker 2: gourmet burgers at MSG. But in the conference finals you're
Speaker 2: in Atlanta. You didn't go to Minnesota or Dallas even once.
Speaker 2: But you're also watching these games with three colleagues. You know,
Speaker 2: you're probably dialed into the games in some ways. You
Speaker 2: can watch the games more closely, just taking it in
Speaker 2: that way as opposed to being in the arena and
Speaker 2: having reporting duties and worried about where you need to
Speaker 2: be for a live shot or where you've got to
Speaker 2: go to get some intel for your notebook. You could
Speaker 2: really just sit back and watch these games. So sitting
Speaker 2: there with Vince Carter to watch that whole Wolves MAVs series,
Speaker 2: like it sounds like you have a new appreciation for
Speaker 2: these MAVs. Who I have to say, I've been saying it.
Speaker 2: I've been saying it for weeks now, but like what
Speaker 2: the Mavericks have done since the trade deadline to change
Speaker 2: their identity completely, this statement will only hold up if
Speaker 2: they actually go on to win it all. But we've
Speaker 2: never seen a second half surge like this what this
Speaker 2: team has done after making two trades on deadline day.
Speaker 2: The MAVs were only twenty eight and twenty three on
Speaker 2: the morning of the trade deadline, and they make these
Speaker 2: moves and they've transformed themselves into a completely different team
Speaker 2: that to support Luka and Kyrie, who your friend stan
Speaker 2: Van Gundi continues to label the most talented offensive backcourt
Speaker 2: that this game has ever seen. In support of that,
Speaker 2: Dallas now has this elite defense and for much of
Speaker 2: the year they had a bottom ten d and now
Speaker 2: since the deadline, they have an elite defense. And you
Speaker 2: just don't often see in the NBA. You don't see
Speaker 2: it come together this quickly after a trade. It's very rare.
Speaker 2: So take me back to the altcast and like, what
Speaker 2: is Vince Carter telling you when he's watching this team?
Speaker 2: The way the mas are flying around and it's crazy.
Speaker 2: The Wolves won three times in Denver, which was insane,
Speaker 2: and then the Mavericks turn around and they win three
Speaker 2: times in Minneapolis in the space of nine days. Craziness.
Speaker 3: Craziness, Yeah, I mean, it was cool, you know, just
Speaker 3: being able to talk the game with the Hall of famer.
Speaker 3: Who's going to be ducked into the Hall of Fame
Speaker 3: this summer shot off to Vince Carter. Vince will be
Speaker 3: joining us pretty soon at some point too, Styn.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I was going to say, we need that
Speaker 2: we have not had Vince on this show.
Speaker 3: He'll be coming on. So you know, it was really cool.
Speaker 3: I mean, one thing, I think Hilmy, including everybody on
Speaker 3: the panel, and not just everybody on our panel, but
Speaker 3: I think probably the basketball masses of fans, well, you know,
Speaker 3: just frustrated with Karl Anthony Towns is up and down.
Speaker 3: Play just was never consistent. It was it was almost
Speaker 3: as if he didn't understand what was the best way
Speaker 3: to attack, because he kind of went about attacking in
Speaker 3: different ways in different games. And you know, sort of
Speaker 3: like when you're when you're a go to score or
Speaker 3: you're a primary scorer, you know, you have the nuts
Speaker 3: and bolts of how you're able to produce and be
Speaker 3: productive scoring the basketball. It just seemed like he was
Speaker 3: just all over the place and she could never find
Speaker 3: any consistency, and so you know, there was frustration with
Speaker 3: him and his play, which made it tough. It started
Speaker 3: before I finished my thought, before I want to add this,
Speaker 3: I forgot Game two. Also, a guest that I brought
Speaker 3: on an all cast is Grant Williams, and so he
Speaker 3: has some you know, he has his ties to the
Speaker 3: Boston Celtics and has his ties with the Dallas Mavericks.
Speaker 3: He came on and he was he was basically saying
Speaker 3: the Mavericks are going to to win the series and
Speaker 3: get to the championship. He had nothing but glowing remarks
Speaker 3: for the Dallas Mavericks. And you know, he even talked
Speaker 3: a little bit about you know how people say he
Speaker 3: talks too much. He said, well, I'm a competitive That's
Speaker 3: what I do, you know, alluding to the reports out
Speaker 3: there that that kind of him talking all the time
Speaker 3: kind of drove him out of Dallas. And you know,
Speaker 3: but he had nothing but growing remarks but Luca and
Speaker 3: especially Kyrie. He had so many, so many good things
Speaker 3: to say about Kyrie, and he said it was a
Speaker 3: great trade. He was able to go back home, Dallas
Speaker 3: was able to get what they wanted. And he said
Speaker 3: he's pulling for him. It's kind of a tough situation
Speaker 3: for him being that he was on both of those teams,
Speaker 3: and now both of those teams are in the NBA Finals,
Speaker 3: so he was on But Minnesota, I think, you know,
Speaker 3: you can look at it, producer Tim. He's a die
Speaker 3: hard Minnesota Timberwalls fan, so you I think most of
Speaker 3: their fans are looking at it like, hey, we got
Speaker 3: to this point, we should be happy now that it's
Speaker 3: something you can we can build upon. I get all that,
Speaker 3: I understand all that, but I don't necessarily like that
Speaker 3: train of thought, you know, because there's clearly things that
Speaker 3: need to be worked on with that team, and Kat
Speaker 3: has to he has to improve, he has to step
Speaker 3: up and be a force, a consistent force. I like
Speaker 3: the fact that they came together, you know, the report
Speaker 3: that they came together and refused to do a the
Speaker 3: TNT postgame interview with Inside the NBA because Draymond Green
Speaker 3: was critical of Rudy Goberle and Cat. But you got
Speaker 3: to produce him a court at the end of the day.
Speaker 3: That's that's what really mean.
Speaker 2: So because you had Grant Williams on that early in
Speaker 2: the series, again, I couldn't see any of this from
Speaker 2: far away London, I guess it was too soon at
Speaker 2: that point to put the question to him, who would
Speaker 2: he pick in a series Dallas versus Boston or did
Speaker 2: you guys? Did you guys?
Speaker 3: Actually, we couldn't do that. We couldn't do that because
Speaker 3: I think I picked Minnesota. Matter of fact, I did
Speaker 3: pick Minnesota win the series. That's not even going to
Speaker 3: be a question. That's just that's even in my mind
Speaker 3: because I'm still even though Dallas was the first game,
Speaker 3: I'm still like, Okay, then Saul's going to figure this
Speaker 3: thing out. So though, that wasn't even a question in
Speaker 3: my mind. But yeah, yeah, I would have been curious
Speaker 3: the way he was talking so glorially of Dallas. I
Speaker 3: think he would have said, Dallas, well.
Speaker 2: Look, the MAVs really do have so many things going
Speaker 2: for them. Derek Jones Junior has become I mean, he
Speaker 2: was basically the last guy signed, wasn't signed until August fifteenth,
Speaker 2: man on the ross. He's become an incredible defender. Derek Lively.
Speaker 2: Everybody remembers the way the MAVs tanked at the end
Speaker 2: of last season, when it became apparent that the best
Speaker 2: they could do was the playing tournament. Lost the last
Speaker 2: two games, fell into the lottery, made a Draft night
Speaker 2: trade with Oklahoma City. And remember first, you know, the
Speaker 2: MAVs have benefited from a lot of moves that didn't
Speaker 2: come to fruition in recent years, and among them, they
Speaker 2: had very serious talks going into the draft a year ago.
Speaker 2: They wanted Atlanta's Clint Capella. The teams were very deep
Speaker 2: in discussions. The talks ultimately broke down because Atlanta wanted
Speaker 2: to send number fifteen and Capella to Dallas, but they
Speaker 2: wanted not only the number ten pick, they wanted Josh
Speaker 2: Green as well. The MAVs thought that was too much
Speaker 2: to give up for Capella, so the MAVs did a
Speaker 2: deal instead with Oklahoma City, where the Thunder took on
Speaker 2: the contract of Davis Berton's. The teams traded the number
Speaker 2: ten and number twelve pick. Cason Wallace ends up with
Speaker 2: the Thunder, but Derek Lively ends up a Maverick, and
Speaker 2: then at the trade deadline, the Thunder helped the Mavericks. Again,
Speaker 2: it was costly for Dallas. We can't forget that it
Speaker 2: was costly. Dallas had to surrender swap rights to its
Speaker 2: twenty twenty eight first rounder. Oklahoma City now controls the
Speaker 2: mavericks twenty twenty eight first rounder, but that deal gave
Speaker 2: Dallas an extra first round pick in this June's draft.
Speaker 2: Dallas used that to acquire Daniel Gafford from Washington, the
Speaker 2: only other tradable first round pick that the Mavericks had.
Speaker 2: They use that to get PJ. Washington in the Grant
Speaker 2: Williams trade that you've referred to. Grant Williams, Yes, gets
Speaker 2: to go home to Charlotte, but PJ. Washington, who had
Speaker 2: never played in a playoff game, he goes to Dallas
Speaker 2: and is now a cult hero because of the pos
Speaker 2: he struck standing and facing the Clippers bench with his
Speaker 2: arms folded. He's had some major moments in these playoffs.
Speaker 2: So it's Lively, it's Gafford, it's Derek Jones Junior, it's
Speaker 2: PJ Washington. Maxi Kleba was out for almost two full
Speaker 2: rounds after a really hard fall in the clinching game
Speaker 2: of the Clippers series. But now he's back, and so
Speaker 2: the Mavericks have all these defensive minded players who are
Speaker 2: making incredible contributions on that end in support of Luca
Speaker 2: and Kyrie, who their first few months together as teammates.
Speaker 2: Everybody remembers it did not go well only five and
Speaker 2: eleven with both of those guys in uniforms, and sixteen
Speaker 2: eighteen months later, you've got stan Van Gundy and Reggie
Speaker 2: Miller talking about how much offensive damage these two can
Speaker 2: reak as a doubles team. So, yeah, the MAVs have
Speaker 2: tons and tons and tons going for them now. But
Speaker 2: this again, this Boston team, this Boston team has really
Speaker 2: been the team of the season. I know you've spent
Speaker 2: a fair bit of time around them. Jason Tatum's going
Speaker 2: to be texting you when he hears something on this pod.
Speaker 2: He doesn't like talk to me about the Celtics. I've
Speaker 2: gone on and on and on about the MAVs. We
Speaker 2: shouldn't slight them because they they obviously have a lot
Speaker 2: going for them too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Championship of bus that's the only result. Anything else
Speaker 3: will be considered a failure.
Speaker 2: And how's that pressure? What will that pressure do to them?
Speaker 2: Because I guess I can't put all my trust in
Speaker 2: this team yet. Something is holding me back.
Speaker 3: With Jalen Brown a few weeks ago about that, and
Speaker 3: he said for us to still have doubts or for
Speaker 3: people to still be skeptical on if we can win
Speaker 3: the whole thing. He said, that's a valid reaction. He said,
Speaker 3: we haven't done it yet, and the only thing on
Speaker 3: people's minds are how they've come up short or how
Speaker 3: they've lost games, whether it be turnovers, bad shots, selection. So,
Speaker 3: he said he understands that way of thinking when people
Speaker 3: are talking about if the selfish can win the whole
Speaker 3: damn thing. He said, but this is a new team,
Speaker 3: completely different team. He said. He believes they're a better team.
Speaker 3: And he said, so only time will tell. But they
Speaker 3: really do feel like this is it start. They feel
Speaker 3: like this is it. They're well prepared, they're well equipped.
Speaker 3: They've been to the they've been to the mountaintop. They
Speaker 3: haven't got over the hunt, but they've been there. They
Speaker 3: haven't won the whole thing. So they feel like they're
Speaker 3: prime for this opportunity. So that's what they're sayding up
Speaker 3: in the locker room like they already. But I will
Speaker 3: tell you right now, it's going to come. There's more
Speaker 3: pressure on the Boston Celtics than the Dallas matters.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's the thing. How will they actually handle
Speaker 2: that on this stage? Because the Celtics have been under
Speaker 2: the microscope throughout these Eastern Conference playoffs. They went twelve
Speaker 2: and two, but the two times they lost to Miami
Speaker 2: and Indiana. And the Miami loss, I mean, the heat
Speaker 2: shooting that night was from another galaxy. They were so
Speaker 2: scalding hot that night. But you know they also lost
Speaker 2: a game to the Calves, and you know the Calves
Speaker 2: were not at full strength in that series. But the
Speaker 2: way this is gone when the Celtics win, it's the
Speaker 2: East is too easy. The teams they're playing are too
Speaker 2: banged up. They're not being tested and that's going to
Speaker 2: hurt them in the finals, when undoubtedly they will be tested.
Speaker 2: But then on the two occasions that the Celtics lost
Speaker 2: in the playoffs, it unleashes all the criticism. I told
Speaker 2: you so, I told you these guys weren't ready. I
Speaker 2: told you that they're going to falter at the final hurdle.
Speaker 2: And they're getting Porzingis back. I think that's pretty clear.
Speaker 2: So they're going to be pretty close to full strength.
Speaker 2: Porzingis is obviously going to have to work through some rest,
Speaker 2: but we'll see. Well, I mean, they are unlike the Timberwolves.
Speaker 2: The Timberwolves had the best defense in the league all season,
Speaker 2: and I don't think there was any dispute about that statistically,
Speaker 2: but when it came to matching up with the Mavericks,
Speaker 2: the Wolves did not have the kind of options on
Speaker 2: the perimeter that Boston has. The Celtics will be able
Speaker 2: to throw Drew Holliday and Derek White for starters, and
Speaker 2: then Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum will also be I'm
Speaker 2: sure getting turns on Luca and Kyrie, So the Celtics
Speaker 2: would appear to have many more perimeter defensive options to
Speaker 2: counter the two great Dallas guards. I mean it should be.
Speaker 2: I mean this should be. It should be a fantastic finals, honestly.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the Clippers felt that way as well. They felt
Speaker 3: they had a lot of defensive players on the perimeter.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're right to.
Speaker 3: Slow them down. It hasn't happened, so I don't envision
Speaker 3: it happening. I think for the Mavericks, if they are
Speaker 3: to win, it's going to take a collective It's gonna
Speaker 3: take guys stepping up doing what they've been doing to
Speaker 3: get to this point. But I'm very, very excited. I
Speaker 3: don't know how a Celtics MAVs matchup. I don't know.
Speaker 3: You think this is going to be a ratings like Blockbuster.
Speaker 3: How do you think is gonna be?
Speaker 2: I do, but I do, And the reason why is
Speaker 2: I think obviously there is huge interest in the Luca
Speaker 2: and Kyrie duo. I mean, these are two undeniable marquee
Speaker 2: stars and that is obviously one of the advantages the
Speaker 2: MAVs are going to have in the series. With apologies
Speaker 2: to mister Tatum, to mister Brown and the resurgent Kyrie irving,
Speaker 2: Luka Doncic is the best player in this series. He's
Speaker 2: a global superstar, and I think Luca alone is a draw.
Speaker 2: And then the Celtics, as one of the marquee franchises
Speaker 2: in the league from a massive Eastern Conference market chasing
Speaker 2: the elusive eighteenth championship. The Celtics have such a huge
Speaker 2: following that I do think, yes, the ratings because of
Speaker 2: those combining factors are going to be pretty damn strong.
Speaker 3: I'm looking forward to it, but.
Speaker 2: If I have my facts right, it looks like I
Speaker 2: will not be in person in attendance for one or
Speaker 2: two in Boss and you're the same, right, like we
Speaker 2: will both be in person in the flesh picking up
Speaker 2: these finals with Game three in Dallas. You and I
Speaker 2: together again first time? Is that the first time we'll
Speaker 2: be in the same arena since.
Speaker 3: The All Star YEP, Since All Star YEP. I always
Speaker 3: like coming to Dallas, seeing how you control your territory,
Speaker 3: and the territory that is American Airlines Arena. You know
Speaker 3: every cracking cranny in that building, you know where everybody leaves,
Speaker 3: you know where bodies are buried in that place.
Speaker 2: So that's all true. It is all true, except the
Speaker 2: finals is a different beast. I mean there are literally
Speaker 2: literally thousands of reporters in the building. I mean it is,
Speaker 2: It's a whole different ballgame.
Speaker 3: Do you still get those damn near court side seats
Speaker 3: for finals?
Speaker 2: That is a great question. I'm a little bit afraid
Speaker 2: to ask because I have been undoubtedly spoiled from the
Speaker 2: moment the American Airline Center opened. The mavericks first season
Speaker 2: in that building was two thousand and one, two thousand
Speaker 2: and two. I have basically had the same seat for
Speaker 2: twenty two to twenty three years, and in both the
Speaker 2: two thousand and six and twenty eleven finals, the NBA
Speaker 2: allowed me to keep that seat for Mavericks home games
Speaker 2: in the finals, which meant a great deal to me.
Speaker 2: But in both of those finals, I was still working
Speaker 2: for ESPN, So you know, I missed Game three and
Speaker 2: Game four in the Western Conference Finals because of my
Speaker 2: little six day soccer getaway with my son. And my
Speaker 2: sources say that at longtime NBA communications are Tim Frank
Speaker 2: took my seat for those two games. So will I
Speaker 2: Will I be able to reclaim that seat for a
Speaker 2: Game three, four, and six of these NBA Finals. It's
Speaker 2: definitely definitely what I'm thinking about every night when I
Speaker 2: try to put the head down and get a few
Speaker 2: hours of sleep. Am I going to be able to
Speaker 2: hang on to that seat?
Speaker 3: It's up in the air. But I will say, you know,
Speaker 3: you might have been with ESPN before it just kind
Speaker 3: of helped you keep that seat. But since then you've
Speaker 3: become a Hall of Famer, So I think that comes
Speaker 3: with some pretty cool perks, and I think one of
Speaker 3: those perks should be you keeping your courtside seats. So
Speaker 3: hopefully that works out for you.
Speaker 2: You are a beautiful friend, and I hope, I hope
Speaker 2: you prove correct. But I have to say. Brian McIntyre,
Speaker 2: NBA pr Legend He was the one, I think in
Speaker 2: six who decreed that I get to stay there for
Speaker 2: the MAVs home games, and I think it was Tim
Speaker 2: Frank's call in twenty eleven when the MAVs and Heat
Speaker 2: hooked up again. You know, this is new territory for
Speaker 2: the MAVs. The only two times that the MAVs have
Speaker 2: been in the Finals, they opposed Miami. So this is
Speaker 2: this is new ground to take on the storied Celtics.
Speaker 2: We shall see. You'll be a rare turn of events.
Speaker 2: If in Games three and four, like I'm sitting courtside
Speaker 2: and Chris Haynes is farther away from the floor than me,
Speaker 2: that would be an unexpected turn.
Speaker 3: I'll send you a picture from my seat from there'll
Speaker 3: be a picture of the roof of your head. I'm
Speaker 3: pretty sure that'll be my banners point.
Speaker 2: Something tells me you'll end up on the floor somehow.
Speaker 3: After the game.
Speaker 2: No pre game, pregame predayes. I don't want to do
Speaker 2: all of our Mavericks Celtics discussion in this Sunday night
Speaker 2: to publish Monday taping because we hope to have some
Speaker 2: special guests before Thursday night's game one that we can
Speaker 2: continue to preview these finals with So we will come back,
Speaker 2: certainly to MAVs Celtics, which we'll be talking about, let's
Speaker 2: face it, for the next week plus, we'll be talking
Speaker 2: about that series a ton. I do want to take
Speaker 2: it back to Atlanta. So again, I was on the
Speaker 2: other side of the Atlantic and couldn't really keep up
Speaker 2: with you. You will not be surprised to learn that
Speaker 2: the altcast was not available on British television. So when
Speaker 2: you had Rich Paul on any he surprises, any disclosures
Speaker 2: anything interesting there? Did he tell you who the Lakers
Speaker 2: next coach would be? Who's drafting Bronny? Where's Lebron going
Speaker 2: in free agency?
Speaker 3: Yeah, well that's one thing he did touch on. He
Speaker 3: said Lebron is a free agent. And so when he
Speaker 3: said that, Stott, there's a clip, you know, people can
Speaker 3: find a clip of him saying that. He said it
Speaker 3: like in passing, and he just continued on talking as
Speaker 3: if that wasn't news. And so I'm tripping Stein. So
Speaker 3: when he said he said, you know, Lebron's a free agent,
Speaker 3: you know he's going to blah blah blah blah blah.
Speaker 3: So as he continues on talking. You can see I
Speaker 3: look down and I'm on my phone and I'm thinking,
Speaker 3: I'm looking start. I'm like, did I miss Over the
Speaker 3: last few days Lebron said he was opting out and
Speaker 3: becoming a free Like, did I miss that part? So
Speaker 3: I'm googling, like did I miss anything?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 3: I didn't, So I wait till Rich Finch's talking. Then
Speaker 3: I interject say, hey, Rich, hold on, I'm just I
Speaker 3: want to make clarify. I heard you say Lebron's a
Speaker 3: free agent. So are you saying that he's going to
Speaker 3: decline his player option? You know? Rich came back. You know, Chris,
Speaker 3: you know, I don't negotiate on TV. Lebron will make
Speaker 3: a decision when he's ready, blah blah blah. So he
Speaker 3: kind of, you know, seemed like he kind of revealed
Speaker 3: what they plan to do. It's basically, you know, we
Speaker 3: knew he was going to pretty much opt out of
Speaker 3: his contract and become a free agent from everything that
Speaker 3: we all know. The belief is that Lebron James is
Speaker 3: going to be signed on a multi year deal, so
Speaker 3: it's not a but at the same time, becoming a
Speaker 3: free agent does come with scare tactics. Does come with
Speaker 3: some concerns, possibly especially when you got Brownie James out
Speaker 3: there with his draft draft status unknown. Uh uh. You know,
Speaker 3: Rich Paul came and he elaborated on because I did
Speaker 3: an interview with Rich Paul. It was that the day
Speaker 3: of I put a story out of my interview with
Speaker 3: Rich Paul the morning of that same morning, and then
Speaker 3: Rich Paul came on our All Cast that night. But
Speaker 3: in the story, Rich Paul said he will not allow
Speaker 3: Bronnie James to sign a two way contract, and so
Speaker 3: that that part kind of blew up. Aggregators and whatever.
Speaker 3: That kind of blew up, and people started taking it
Speaker 3: taking taking it to mean that Rich Paul won't will
Speaker 3: not allow Bronnie to play in the G League because
Speaker 3: we all knowing two way contracts, you kind of play
Speaker 3: half half your time in the NBA and the other
Speaker 3: half of the G League. And so Rich Paul came
Speaker 3: on our All Cast and elaborated on that, explaining, no,
Speaker 3: he has nothing against Bronnie playing or spending time in
Speaker 3: the G League, but rather his client be drafted, be
Speaker 3: drafted or you know, you can even do a sign
Speaker 3: an undrafted free agent contract, get three or four years
Speaker 3: Gearant team, and that way that a team is invested
Speaker 3: in the player, they're invested in seeing the player improve
Speaker 3: over a year to year basis opposed to a two
Speaker 3: way deal that can be that can be as early
Speaker 3: as a one year deal. Then you cut your tie.
Speaker 3: So that's what he's trying to do. He's trying to
Speaker 3: get an investment from a team in Bronnie James. So
Speaker 3: he touched on that, he touched on, he touched on
Speaker 3: Lebron said, Lebron is going le Bron is not influenced.
Speaker 3: He said, Lebron's not influencing the coaching the coaching process
Speaker 3: of the Lakers, and he said Lebron's not involved when
Speaker 3: it comes to JJ Reddick. Uh. He said, Lebron will
Speaker 3: come to camp with whoever coach the Lakers shoes higher.
Speaker 3: So in a nutshell, those are some of the things
Speaker 3: he talked about on the Doll cast.
Speaker 2: Well, since you mentioned the existence of a clip from
Speaker 2: this exchange with Rich Paul, you know what, let's go
Speaker 2: ahead and take a listen to that clip right now.
Speaker 3: And you know, look, Lebron's a free agent. You have
Speaker 3: to decide, and I got to focus on his business
Speaker 3: and who should be focused on his business and let
Speaker 3: the Lakers hire whoever they want to hire. And he's
Speaker 3: always he's always showed up and played for whatever coach
Speaker 3: is there. Hold Baba is gonna come hold, hold, hold
Speaker 3: on real quick. You said something rich. You said, Lebron's
Speaker 3: a free agent. So I take it Lebron's going to
Speaker 3: decline that player option because you know, doing my business over,
Speaker 3: I don't know what he's gonna do. It's gonna do
Speaker 3: what we do every year. We're gonna we're gonna evaluate
Speaker 3: the situation and we're gonna make the best decision.
Speaker 2: I think when we listen to that, though, we're both
Speaker 2: arriving at the same conclusion. Lebron declining his player option
Speaker 2: to become a free agent sounds like that is the
Speaker 2: likely option, but it's a decline to resign kind of situation.
Speaker 2: We still both expect him to stay with the Lakers.
Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, I'll be surprised if he's not the Lakers
Speaker 3: next season.
Speaker 2: I did catch just as I was getting back into
Speaker 2: the country, you appeared on the Dan Patrick Show, and
Speaker 2: I think you said the same.
Speaker 3: And what I just said that that just now I
Speaker 3: thought to myself, hold on, this is how you got
Speaker 3: yourself in trouble last week.
Speaker 2: That's what you said.
Speaker 3: What was the quote it was? It was privately say
Speaker 3: exact same way. I would be very surprised if JJ
Speaker 3: Reddick is not the Lakers, sayd coach.
Speaker 2: I still you're not alone there, man, you're not.
Speaker 3: I still believe that. I'm not reporting they're hiring them
Speaker 3: tomorrow or anything like that. They're still going through their process.
Speaker 3: I believe that they're meeting with the candidate. Met with
Speaker 3: the candidates face to face last week in La. So yeah,
Speaker 3: but that's that's what I believe to be on the horizon.
Speaker 2: And look, I think again, only the Lakers know their
Speaker 2: precise plan. But around the league, we've been saying it
Speaker 2: almost from the start. If you had to pinpoint a
Speaker 2: favorite for the job, it would almost universally come back
Speaker 2: as JJ Reddick. I do think Pelicans associate head coach
Speaker 2: James Barrego is the other top candidate here. But as
Speaker 2: I reported more than a week ago now, there's been
Speaker 2: chattering coaching circles about what the assistant coaching lineup might
Speaker 2: look like if JJ Reddick indeed gets the job, and
Speaker 2: I don't know that they would be successful in finding
Speaker 2: a way to hire James Barrego away from the Pelicans.
Speaker 2: But I'm sure that if JJ Reddick is indeed the
Speaker 2: Lakers choice to replace Darvin Ham, I'm sure they would
Speaker 2: try to get James Brego on the staff, essentially as
Speaker 2: his offensive coordinator. I wrote about a week ago that
Speaker 2: Sam Cassell, currently a Boston Celtics assistant, also a candidate
Speaker 2: who was interviewed for this Lakers opening. He's another assistant
Speaker 2: who would interest LA if Reddick is indeed the choice.
Speaker 2: Ditto for Jared Dudley, who's a prominent assistant coach with
Speaker 2: the Mavericks. Our friend Dan Woiki of the La Times
Speaker 2: says Scott Brooks, of course, formerly a head coach with
Speaker 2: the Thunder and the Wizards and most recently a member
Speaker 2: of Portland's coaching staff, that Scott Brooks would be another
Speaker 2: name who would interest the Lakers. So it's interesting that
Speaker 2: names for potential assistance to JJ Reddick have already been
Speaker 2: circulating for more than a week now, and as we've
Speaker 2: been talking on this podcast now for really throughout the
Speaker 2: month of May since the Lakers job opened up. You know,
Speaker 2: one of the interesting variables here with JJ Reddick if
Speaker 2: he is indeed the choice. ESBN needs JJ Reddick to
Speaker 2: complete the NBA Finals. This is year one post Jeff
Speaker 2: Van Gundy and Mark Jackson next to the Hall of
Speaker 2: Famer Mike Breen and Doc Rivers was hired to be
Speaker 2: on the A team with Mike Breen and Doris Burke.
Speaker 2: ESBN lost Doc Rivers to the Milwaukee Bucks in late January.
Speaker 2: They promoted JJ Reddick to replace Doc Rivers, and they
Speaker 2: need jj Reddick to complete the finals. It would be
Speaker 2: major egg on ESPN's face to lose another member of
Speaker 2: its A team before the finals are complete, but that
Speaker 2: doesn't mean Look, the Lakers could still hire JJ Reddick
Speaker 2: before the end of the Finals. We saw this in
Speaker 2: twenty eleven. If you remember in twenty eleven, the Golden
Speaker 2: State Warriors hired Mark Jackson during the NBA Finals, Mark
Speaker 2: Jackson it was confirmed and announced that he was the Warriors'
Speaker 2: choice to become their new head coach. That happened about
Speaker 2: halfway through the twenty eleven Finals, in which Dallas defeated Miami,
Speaker 2: and Mark Jackson still went on to announce games four, five,
Speaker 2: and six, even though the world knew he would be
Speaker 2: joining the Warriors after the finals, so I don't think
Speaker 2: the Lakers have to wait until the finals are over.
Speaker 2: But even if they did announce that JJ Reddick was
Speaker 2: the choice, I think we will see. I think it
Speaker 2: is pretty safe to assume that we will see JJ
Speaker 2: Reddick announce these NBA finals from start to finish before
Speaker 2: actually taking that job. If again, he is indeed the choice,
Speaker 2: as so many people around the NBA, not just Chrispy Haynes, expect.
Speaker 3: Thank you Star. Since we're on coaches, let's give a
Speaker 3: shout out to Mike Brown. Got his extension worked out,
Speaker 3: kind of went through a chaotic negotiating period.
Speaker 2: And overdue extension for Mike Brown, the most successful coach
Speaker 2: in King's history not named Rick Adaman. Mike Brown has
Speaker 2: been there two years, They've won ninety games. Go look
Speaker 2: up what's happened between Rick Adelman's tenure and Mike Brown's
Speaker 2: tenure and ask yourself, should he or should he not
Speaker 2: have been extended. He obviously deserved the deal he got.
Speaker 3: For sure. I know there's not a lot out there
Speaker 3: on what happened or what was going on behind the
Speaker 3: scenes to where they negotiations were had and then they
Speaker 3: were stalled and picked back up last minute. You remember,
Speaker 3: so Mike Brown, he was on a four year deal
Speaker 3: and the contract that he was on, it was a
Speaker 3: contract that was less. He was being paid less than
Speaker 3: Luke Walton, the previous coach, So you know there's a
Speaker 3: problem there. But whatever, Mike Brown came in he accepted
Speaker 3: that contract. Now, the fourth year of that contract, the
Speaker 3: fourth year was a mutual option, which means the team
Speaker 3: and the coach has to agree to pick up that
Speaker 3: fourth year option. And so that was part of the contract.
Speaker 3: And so as they were trying to negotiate and get
Speaker 3: things done, it looked like it wasn't going to happen.
Speaker 3: It looked like a deal was not going to transpire.
Speaker 3: I was actually told that Mike Brown himself declined that
Speaker 3: fourth year mutual option. So just by him doing it
Speaker 3: himself meant that the twenty twenty four to twenty five
Speaker 3: season was going to be his last because he declined
Speaker 3: that fourth year option. And so now you have the situation. Okay,
Speaker 3: Now a coach with the pedigree and the success of
Speaker 3: Mike Brown was going to go into a season of
Speaker 3: one year under his belt. That's not the ideal situation
Speaker 3: for a franchise, you know, same with players. You know,
Speaker 3: when you got to star players, not the ideal situation.
Speaker 3: So whatever happened outside of that picked the negotiations back
Speaker 3: up and they got a deal done about three years,
Speaker 3: about three years close to ten million a season, so extension.
Speaker 3: So I'm happy if Mike Brown glad it all worked
Speaker 3: out and he's actually getting compensated for what he has
Speaker 3: done for the city of Sacramento and the King's Organization.
Speaker 2: And it's so amazing to think about what has happened
Speaker 2: in the last year on the coaching carousel. Literally one year.
Speaker 2: You and I are recording this on Sunday night. It
Speaker 2: is June second, one year ago today, Mannie Williams was
Speaker 2: officially named coach of the Detroit Pistons. And remember he
Speaker 2: was ousted in Phoenix. He said no. Mannie Williams said
Speaker 2: no to the Pistons more than once. The Pistons had
Speaker 2: to make multiple runs to ultimately convince him to take
Speaker 2: that job, and the Pistons gave Monnie Williams the six
Speaker 2: year deal worth nearly eighty million. Revolutionary contract change the
Speaker 2: coaching market, completely change the entire salary scale for NBA coaches,
Speaker 2: and since then, I'm going to put Greg Popovich in
Speaker 2: his deal aside, because Greg Popovich he operates on rules
Speaker 2: that are he's on a planet unto himself when it
Speaker 2: comes to coaches. Pop is going to coach the Spurs
Speaker 2: until he decides he no longer wants to. But just
Speaker 2: think about all the things that have happened in the
Speaker 2: league coaching wise, since Mani Williams deal, Eric Spolster in Miami,
Speaker 2: Steve Kerr and Golden State, they get mega deals. Jason
Speaker 2: Kidd in Dallas got a sizeable raise and a two
Speaker 2: year contract extension through twenty twenty six twenty seven, immediately
Speaker 2: after the Mavericks won their first round series against the Clippers,
Speaker 2: because the Lakers would have gone after Jason Kidd if
Speaker 2: there was no extension in place. Then the Suns they
Speaker 2: hire Mike bo Sudenholzer to a five year deal in
Speaker 2: the ten million a season range. And that's after firing
Speaker 2: Frank Vogel. Frank was just one year into his own
Speaker 2: five year deal that was paying about six million annually.
Speaker 2: So the Suns and their new owner Matt Ishpia, He's
Speaker 2: going to be paying coaches with an s sixteen million
Speaker 2: per season for the foreseeable future. Then this week, early
Speaker 2: in the week, ty Lou finally gets his new deal
Speaker 2: with the Clippers, five years, a reported seventy million. Mike
Speaker 2: Brown he finally gets his deal in Sacramento on Friday night,
Speaker 2: and Tom Thibodeau in New York. Everyone I talked to
Speaker 2: says he will be next and that he's getting an
Speaker 2: extension that will likely land in the ten million per
Speaker 2: season range. So you've seen all these huge contracts signed
Speaker 2: by coaches around the league since the Mani Williams deal
Speaker 2: in Detroit. But here we are a year later, it
Speaker 2: is not yet guaranteed that Mani Williams will be back
Speaker 2: next season. Trajan Langdon is the Pistons new president of
Speaker 2: basketball Operations. He officially took charge of the Pistons basketball
Speaker 2: department on Friday. The Pistons immediately parted ways with GM
Speaker 2: Troy Weaver. But now Langdon, I'm told he immediately will
Speaker 2: begin an evaluation phase, and that includes assessing whether Mani
Speaker 2: Williams will continue as coach. And remember again, Mani Williams
Speaker 2: is only he only just completed year one of a
Speaker 2: six year deal worth nearly eighty million, So it's crazy
Speaker 2: that Mani Williams sparked this whole coaching salaries revolution. But
Speaker 2: now we await official word to see if he will
Speaker 2: be back on the sideline with the Pistons next season.
Speaker 3: Stein on another episode, I would like to dive not today,
Speaker 3: but I would like to dive into the reputation of
Speaker 3: head coaches in the modern NBA, because you remember stin
Speaker 3: If you are a head coach eighties, nineties, early two thousand,
Speaker 3: if you got one championship, just one, you were regarded
Speaker 3: very highly in the coaching profession, very highly. You know,
Speaker 3: look at somebody like Rick Carla who got you know,
Speaker 3: got a champion one championship in Dallas. I know he
Speaker 3: was successful tenure with the Indiana Pacers as well, went
Speaker 3: deep into the playoffs. But if you get a championship,
Speaker 3: you're in a rare company and you you you can
Speaker 3: pretty much have job security for an extended time. Now
Speaker 3: we're seeing coaches get a championship fire the next season,
Speaker 3: or a coach that has a championship only get one
Speaker 3: season and there fired Botenholzer, Frank Vogel. It's like a
Speaker 3: championship doesn't mean much anymore when it comes to head
Speaker 3: coaches like I want to one episode, I want to
Speaker 3: kind of break down when did the shift of this happen?
Speaker 3: Or is this is this something that needs to continue
Speaker 3: happening because I think you know, you know, we get
Speaker 3: into it letter, but I just think the shift has changed.
Speaker 2: We've been apart so long, we got so rusty, we
Speaker 2: kind of lost track of the clock and went a
Speaker 2: little bit too long here. So we will we will
Speaker 2: get back into that, and I think you know we did.
Speaker 2: We did touch on some of that with Van Gundy
Speaker 2: when Stan joined us recently, and we talked about how
Speaker 2: the blame factor that coaches have to deal with, you know,
Speaker 2: that's like factored into where salaries have gone now that
Speaker 2: coaches know more than ever that they will be the first, second,
Speaker 2: and third ones to take the blame. I think you
Speaker 2: aptly described it as the scapegoat clause, and we're definitely
Speaker 2: seeing it. All right. That is going to do it
Speaker 2: for this edition of this League uncut. As always, please
Speaker 2: follow the show, rate the show, review the show. We
Speaker 2: would love to get a five star review from you
Speaker 2: if you see fit. That would be wonderful. And like
Speaker 2: I said, Chris and I, we're both going to be
Speaker 2: working the phones trying to bring in a guest or
Speaker 2: two for another special episode or two before Thursday night's
Speaker 2: Game one of the NBA Finals, Dallas at Boston. The
Speaker 2: Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals for the third time,
Speaker 2: seeking championship number two in franchise history. The Boston Celtics
Speaker 2: going for championship number eighteen. Can they finally win one?
Speaker 2: Stunning that since Larry Bird's retirement in nineteen ninety two,
Speaker 2: the Celtics have only one at once at title in
Speaker 2: two thousand and eight. Can they finally get number eighteen?
Speaker 2: Can Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown win one together at last?
Speaker 2: We will continue to preview the Finals all week leading
Speaker 2: up to Thursday's series opener, and it won't be long.
Speaker 2: Like we said before, Haynes and Stein are even in
Speaker 2: the same building for Game three. Everyone, thanks so much
Speaker 2: for listening. We'll be back with you very very soon,
Speaker 2: and that'll do it for us. See you next time.
Speaker 2: This league uncutters an iHeartRadio production
Speaker 1: Chris Hanes and Mark Stein