Speaker 1: On this episode of The Heat Check Trade, We've got
Speaker 1: a trade o g N, and Ob goes to New
Speaker 1: York for r J. Barrett Emmanuel quickly a couple of
Speaker 1: other pieces, but ones that not even ESPN is putting
Speaker 1: on their lower third. So I will not even mention
Speaker 1: AKA Malachie Flynn. I'm sorry, Malackie Flynn. Shout out to you. Also,
Speaker 1: we are off to a hot trade season. What the
Speaker 1: fuck are the Brooklyn Nets doing? We'll talk about that
Speaker 1: the hit me of the week, and we'll also get
Speaker 1: into some news around the league, including an incredible James
Speaker 1: Johnson's story courtesy of you, Donnis Haslam and bam ade
Speaker 1: Bio watch of shit popping right now. I wondered whether
Speaker 1: I could cuss. I don't know where I am right now.
Speaker 1: I am on my own podcast. Yes I can cuss,
Speaker 1: So William Jake, Actually Jake dropped that motherfucking beat that
Speaker 1: should be Rihanna. You're listening to the hottest, the hottest
Speaker 1: podcast out here. I said what I said, it's the
Speaker 1: heat Check Check.
Speaker 2: Who's Jake?
Speaker 1: They say, Jake's Jacob who is editing the podcast today?
Speaker 2: Happy twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1: New changes are afoot hence the reason that Jake is
Speaker 1: going to be editing today's podcast. My producer William has
Speaker 1: to step away for bigger, better opportunities. Please forgive us
Speaker 1: if things are choppy where echoe as we onboard a
Speaker 1: new producer who will be with us shortly, should be
Speaker 1: pretty seamless. I hopefully hope, hope, hope, but I got
Speaker 1: to be transparent whenever possible. Lots though has happened over
Speaker 1: the Christmas break. The first thing that we have to
Speaker 1: talk about is the trade. It finally happened, the big
Speaker 1: news we've been waiting. It's like John Collins, right, is
Speaker 1: John Collins the grim Reaper and og Anobi?
Speaker 2: When will the news come down? When will the knock
Speaker 2: not your mailman? And it will be the og Ananobi trade.
Speaker 2: We finally got it. Toronto Raptors finally pulled the trigger.
Speaker 1: They send him pressures that Chuia Malechi Flynn to the
Speaker 1: New York Knicks for RJ. Barrett, Toronto's own Emmanuel Quickly
Speaker 1: six Man of the Year candidate and a second round pick.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of people mad about this trade. A
Speaker 1: lot of New York Knicks fans that are mad. Emmanuel
Speaker 1: Quickly was beloved. I get that, but he was about
Speaker 1: to try to make thirty million dollars a year and
Speaker 1: he's coming up to the end of his contract, and
Speaker 1: I promise you do not want to pay Emmanuel quickly
Speaker 1: thirty million dollars when there is a finite amount of
Speaker 1: resources to pay players. My initial thought is love it.
Speaker 1: Love it for both sides. Love it most.
Speaker 2: Specifically for the New York Knicks.
Speaker 1: You get a three and D guy who can shoot
Speaker 1: forty percent from the corner.
Speaker 2: You saw this in the Miami.
Speaker 1: Heat Series when both teams went ice cold from deep.
Speaker 1: Everyone starts to pack the paint. The passing lanes are
Speaker 1: more difficult. The driving lanes are more difficult. Why because
Speaker 1: everyone starts to collapse because they don't respect the shooters.
Speaker 1: Now you're gonna be able to give the ball to
Speaker 1: ogn Andobi driving kick out to him, and he's gonna
Speaker 1: get that respect that he needs.
Speaker 2: Also, his defense, even.
Speaker 1: Though he's not playing as good a defense as he
Speaker 1: has in prior years, well at least the numbers say
Speaker 1: that he hasn't. I think that's mostly due to the
Speaker 1: system that he's playing under with Darko, So there's not
Speaker 1: more like there's not that many guys that are three
Speaker 1: and D that could also guard one through five.
Speaker 2: Like they're just not.
Speaker 1: Like, there's not very many lockdown guys that are better
Speaker 1: than Ognanoby seventh to two Wingspam six seven, big body,
Speaker 1: very thick, can play multiple positions offensively and defensively, and
Speaker 1: like I said, lockdown defender. For example, they just played
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Timberwolves in his first game, hadn't even really
Speaker 1: read the playbook, had not gone to any practices, barely
Speaker 1: spoke to Tom Thibodau.
Speaker 2: What's however, And.
Speaker 1: In sixty eight possessions spanning thirteen minutes defending aunt Edwards,
Speaker 1: he held aunt Edwards to four for fourteen, with three
Speaker 1: turnovers and zero assists. And that is a guy aunt
Speaker 1: Edwards that is virtually unstoppable. Fred Katz, he covers the Knicks,
Speaker 1: he said after Ognnoby's first game. Oh, by the way,
Speaker 1: only twenty minutes for ognnob three threes, seventeen points, one steal. Anyway,
Speaker 1: he covers the Knicks. And he said this, you would
Speaker 1: never guess that Annobe hasn't practiced with the team. He
Speaker 1: finished with the Knicks debut with seventeen points on three
Speaker 1: for six shooting from three. The principal reason the Knicks
Speaker 1: brought him in was his defensive presence, But on Monday,
Speaker 1: this Knicks offense changed two. When Ognanobi was asked about
Speaker 1: a trade, he said, when I found out it was
Speaker 1: the Knicks, I was definitely excited. I've always liked the team.
Speaker 1: I grew up a fan of basketball, and I've always
Speaker 1: watched the Knicks. So ognnob now is going to re
Speaker 1: sign with the Knicks. I promise you that he wants
Speaker 1: to be in the area. He loves playing for them.
Speaker 1: He's wanted to go to New York. He may even
Speaker 1: take less money to be in New York. Jake Fisher
Speaker 1: reported that ognob is looking for forty million dollars aav
Speaker 1: but might take less for the Knicks, which is very
Speaker 1: interesting and something that is setting up Domino's potentially to
Speaker 1: fall down the road.
Speaker 2: The Domino that I keep hearing about is a long shot.
Speaker 1: But Joel Embi for the Raptors, they needed this, They
Speaker 1: needed to shake some shit up because they had no
Speaker 1: shot creator, and now they.
Speaker 2: Do in Emmanuel quickly.
Speaker 1: Emmanuel quickly now goes from the sixth man to the
Speaker 1: starting point guard for the team. You now move a
Speaker 1: disgruntle player who's wanted a bigger role for a long time,
Speaker 1: and you replace him with a couple of players who
Speaker 1: I think can.
Speaker 2: Really light it up. RJ.
Speaker 1: Barrett. I'm not a huge fan of I'm a huge
Speaker 1: fan of his game, but maybe he works better on
Speaker 1: this team, even though they don't have any shooters either.
Speaker 1: He's averaging eighteen four and two and that shot creation
Speaker 1: is badly needed for the Raptors. Emmanuel Quickly right now
Speaker 1: off the bench is giving you fifteen to three and
Speaker 1: three and twenty four minutes per game. Both are considered
Speaker 1: to be very high locker room guys. I think the
Speaker 1: team is going to fall in love with and the
Speaker 1: fan base is going to fall in love with IQ immediately.
Speaker 1: They're both very young, young enough to rebuild the team
Speaker 1: around them. And Scottie Barnes and now Barrett comes home
Speaker 1: to Toronto. So it's a natural fit to me for
Speaker 1: a team that's Long Sense, like Long Sense lost its identity.
Speaker 1: Barrett was sad to leave the team that drafted him,
Speaker 1: but he said he was happy to come home.
Speaker 2: He said, I'm really excited to be here.
Speaker 1: I'm thankful, I'm blessed I grew up a Raptors fan
Speaker 1: all my life, so to come here and put the
Speaker 1: jersey on, it's going to be great. I do think though,
Speaker 1: as in aside, Zach Lowe made a good point when
Speaker 1: he said the RJ. Barrett maybe has a toxic asset,
Speaker 1: Maybe he has a toxic contract, And I think that's
Speaker 1: probably a fair description for him. He's not a bad play,
Speaker 1: but he makes a lot of money. And the only
Speaker 1: reason he got that amount of money is because New
Speaker 1: York knew that he was a trade piece. He was
Speaker 1: supposed to be the trade piece to Utah for Donovan
Speaker 1: Mitchell and they ended up getting og Anobi instead, which
Speaker 1: I think is a much better fit. By the way,
Speaker 1: I don't think you have Jalen Brunson and Donovan Mitchell
Speaker 1: as your back court and you move RJ.
Speaker 2: Bear I don't think that works. You needed a wing. Also.
Speaker 1: The problem though, is that og Anobi is on an
Speaker 1: expiring so he's going to be looking for forty million
Speaker 1: dollars a year, and I honestly think OG's going to
Speaker 1: take less to stay with the team. Tom Crean thinks
Speaker 1: that this is going to change the entire outlook of
Speaker 1: the East.
Speaker 2: I don't know about that. I somewhat agree.
Speaker 1: I think og Anobi will absolutely change the complexion of
Speaker 1: the offense and the defense, but change the entire outlook
Speaker 1: of the East that's a long shot. I do think
Speaker 1: he'll flourish in Tibbs's system. I think pressures that you
Speaker 1: helps them. They need some sort of backup big With
Speaker 1: Mitchell Robinson out for the year and then Toronto, IQ
Speaker 1: and Barrett are gonna immediately become starters on a team
Speaker 1: that struggles to score.
Speaker 2: And the Raps, by the way, would have.
Speaker 1: Loved I'm sure to hold on to og and Andobi,
Speaker 1: but he was gonna walk for nothing. So it's a
Speaker 1: good thing that Massia has learned from his mistakes, because
Speaker 1: you don't want to end up in another situation where
Speaker 1: you lose a player for nothing, like you did with
Speaker 1: Fred van Fleet or possibly Pascal Siakam. More on that
Speaker 1: we gotta keep an eye on as well. Moving on
Speaker 1: to a bit of old news is like a week
Speaker 1: old ish, maybe a little longer, but the news of it,
Speaker 1: the decision of it, the thought process of it is
Speaker 1: still sticking in my crawl. I don't know why I
Speaker 1: can't get over it. I don't think other people are
Speaker 1: getting over it either. It's like just a regular season game,
Speaker 1: idiot move, but it showcases the dysfunction that I have
Speaker 1: been hearing about from the Brooklyn Nets for weeks.
Speaker 2: Now nex week's eight weeks.
Speaker 1: All of that to say, what the fuck are the
Speaker 1: Brooklyn Nets doing? What are they doing? This team is
Speaker 1: all kinds of fucked up. I can't understand what their
Speaker 1: philosophy is. I can't understand.
Speaker 2: Why they're doing the things that they do.
Speaker 1: I said the six weeks ago, people didn't believe me,
Speaker 1: and now thankfully they're showing their ass. Thankfully they're showing
Speaker 1: their ass. Last Wednesday, this is what happened. The Nets
Speaker 1: played a Bucks team that has been struggling. It was
Speaker 1: the nets fifth game in seven days. But let's be honest,
Speaker 1: this is a very young team. The Bucks are playing
Speaker 1: their third game in five days, so both teams probably
Speaker 1: gassed right. The Nets, by the way, at home during
Speaker 1: the Christmas break, wanted to sell out the arena, put
Speaker 1: on a show, Yannie Dame, you know the crew, Michel Bridges,
Speaker 1: Nick Claxton, support them Brooklyn Brooklyn right right, like that's
Speaker 1: the vibe.
Speaker 2: No wrong, not this Nets team.
Speaker 1: It's grinch time, baby only Cole and you're fucking stalking
Speaker 1: Why because we want to take the last little shred
Speaker 1: of hope and desire and fun and excitement that you
Speaker 1: have for this dog shit team, and we're going to
Speaker 1: smash it into smithereens. Because why the Nets were like,
Speaker 1: everyone that you want to see, we're not letting you
Speaker 1: see besides Giannis and Dame. So the Nets decide to
Speaker 1: sit Nick Claxton, Spencer, Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney Smith and Cam Johnson.
Speaker 1: None of those dudes were injured at all. But by
Speaker 1: the way, they still have mckail Bridges, right, they still
Speaker 1: have Royce O'Neil, they still have Cam Thomas. Maybe Cam
Speaker 1: Thomas will put up like sixty five right. No, also
Speaker 1: not so fast. Jacques Von decided after the first quarter
Speaker 1: to sit Bridges, Thomas, and O'Neill, and they were down
Speaker 1: by one point. One point, they were not getting blown
Speaker 1: out by thirty was like, okay, let's just send in
Speaker 1: the white flag. No.
Speaker 2: No, it was a competitive game all the way into
Speaker 2: the middle of the third quarter. Fourth quarter comes round,
Speaker 2: the Scrubs get gassed. Shocker. They lose by like a
Speaker 2: million they've trailed by seven and a half time. This
Speaker 2: is outrageous.
Speaker 1: Not only have fans gone ballistic, not only did they
Speaker 1: get eviscerated by the nets in the other NBA media even.
Speaker 2: The other players. The players who got bench were like,
Speaker 2: I don't know what the fuck is going on. Don't
Speaker 2: ask me. I have no clue what is happening.
Speaker 1: Mikel Bridges was asked about why and his thoughts about
Speaker 1: why he played only twelve minutes. Did not like the choice,
Speaker 1: whatever that was, but it's whatever. Definitely was not a fan.
Speaker 1: How does he feel? What do you think that culture's
Speaker 1: like right now? When Michel Bridges is like, didn' like that?
Speaker 1: Whatever that was?
Speaker 2: Yeah, whatever that was. When asked if he needed a rest,
Speaker 2: he said, no, never need a rest.
Speaker 1: This is a dude who just went viral on TikTok
Speaker 1: for eating Chipotle every single day for ten straight years.
Speaker 1: A man of routine started a game every single game
Speaker 1: for the last five years, maybe the more impressive stat
Speaker 1: you've ever seen.
Speaker 2: And guess what, and guess what, and they.
Speaker 1: Were like, fuck you, no shot, fuck your Chipotle and
Speaker 1: your minutes played. Roy O'Neil was also asked about getting benched.
Speaker 1: And he said, who.
Speaker 2: Doesn't want to play out there?
Speaker 1: I feel like if we had the chance, we would
Speaker 1: say we don't want to rest. So let's check in
Speaker 1: on jacque Von. Jacques, why'd you do it? Why would
Speaker 1: you do that? Considering that it was a home game
Speaker 1: that coincided with Christmas break when tons of kids would
Speaker 1: be coming.
Speaker 2: Home to Barclays.
Speaker 1: Jacque Von, are you actually the grinch that stole Christmas?
Speaker 2: And he said, I've got to think short term and
Speaker 2: long term and.
Speaker 1: Make executive decisions for the betterment of the group. It's
Speaker 1: unfortunate tonight that they got to the point where we
Speaker 1: were putting them in harms way by putting them out
Speaker 1: there tonight.
Speaker 2: What the are we going to war?
Speaker 1: Is? This? Is this Vietnam? Like at Barclay Center? Were
Speaker 1: there people in the bamboo with sniper rifles? What is
Speaker 1: happening putting them in harm's way? We are talking basketball,
Speaker 1: We are talking about a game.
Speaker 2: Are you serious?
Speaker 1: I would like Jaqvon to sit there and tell all
Speaker 1: eighteen thousand and ninety nine paying customers who packed the
Speaker 1: arena with the capacity of seventeen thousand, seven and thirty
Speaker 1: two when this is one of the least sold out
Speaker 1: arenas in NBA, one of the least watched teams in
Speaker 1: basketball on TV. But hey, right, don't blame Jacques, blame
Speaker 1: what the Nets call their quote unquote performance team, which
Speaker 1: is tasked with figuring things out like load management. I
Speaker 1: would like to say, as a strong believer in logic
Speaker 1: that this is one of those games where Sean Marks
Speaker 1: calls Jacques Vaughn up and says, we need to get
Speaker 1: some minutes for Noah Clowney what like whoever like these
Speaker 1: randoms on the team then probably need to be traded.
Speaker 1: Let's get some additional playing time for Harry Giles and
Speaker 1: Dayron Sharp and Dennis Smith Junior.
Speaker 2: Maybe it could be a nice.
Speaker 1: Little piece to a contender needing a backup point guard.
Speaker 1: Let's get Trendon Watford and Dereek Whitehead. Can you imagine
Speaker 1: you're ten years old, right? Like you like Michale Bridges
Speaker 1: and Nick Claxton, Right, hell, you even like Cam Thomas
Speaker 1: and his chuckin' and you go there and you're excited.
Speaker 1: It's Joannie versus your team, Jannis versus Nick Clackson. Instead,
Speaker 1: you get a steady dose of Trendon Watford. Do you
Speaker 1: know fucking pissed. I would be as a kid. Are
Speaker 1: you serious? Vaughn's trying to play the good soldier. Sean
Speaker 1: Marks has got his fingers in the mix. He's blaming
Speaker 1: things on the performance team players have no clue. Nobody's
Speaker 1: obviously communicating with them what the story is because they're
Speaker 1: not playing the good soldier either.
Speaker 2: They're saying we're clueless.
Speaker 1: And when when Toll Bridges and Cam Johnson were upset
Speaker 1: over the decision, guess what Jock Vaughan had to say.
Speaker 1: This is where it gets more insane. He says, it's
Speaker 1: just like my kids. That doesn't mean you have to
Speaker 1: agree with me. I understand I have to make a choice.
Speaker 1: That's my position as the head coach. But it's just
Speaker 1: like my kids. Doesn't mean you have to agree with
Speaker 1: my decision.
Speaker 2: Are we serious?
Speaker 1: These grown men make millions of dollars and if they
Speaker 1: don't win and get the playing time that they need,
Speaker 1: that affects their careers. This is not like a kid
Speaker 1: that wants to sleep over at his friend's house. This
Speaker 1: is ridiculous. Thankfully, Damon, Giannison, Middleton, and Lopez all played.
Speaker 1: All Bucks starters played twenty nine or more minutes, even
Speaker 1: on the road, even in their third game in five days.
Speaker 1: Let me say this, If it was the other way around,
Speaker 1: I would have understood it.
Speaker 2: What does Milwaukee care about what Brooklyn fans think?
Speaker 1: But no, they're the ones going out like Kobe Bryant
Speaker 1: and showing out on a random game against a dog
Speaker 1: shit team. The Nets have now lost eight of ten games.
Speaker 1: They are now in danger of what I already saw,
Speaker 1: which is punting on the entire season. They are perilously
Speaker 1: close to losing their entire fan base after the toxicity
Speaker 1: of the last three years. This was supposed to be
Speaker 1: the year where everyone got excited about the rebuilt, scrappy players,
Speaker 1: development fun Kenny Atkinson nets, D'Angelo Russell nets, Jered Allen nets, No, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: Dereek Whitehead Nets, Trendon Watford Nets. No one thinks this
Speaker 1: team was ever gonna compete for a title, but a
Speaker 1: playoff spot right now in the East real possibility, and
Speaker 1: that that was a game you absolutely could beat the
Speaker 1: Bucks in and that would have been a huge success
Speaker 1: even for a franchise that's been a massive disappointment, just
Speaker 1: beating the Bucks over Christmas break Those.
Speaker 2: Are the little wins that would have been very meaningful.
Speaker 1: But no, they're still gonna do bizarre things. Turn the
Speaker 1: offense over to Cam Johnson or camp Thomas excuse me
Speaker 1: when he's a liability, find a way to make mckailbridges
Speaker 1: regress bench their starters when they're not hurt. And now
Speaker 1: they're being investigated by the league to see if they're
Speaker 1: in an in violation of the new NBA Anti tanking
Speaker 1: roles rules, which, by the way, they are, they are
Speaker 1: in violation I.
Speaker 2: Think we all know.
Speaker 1: Is not like the nets even matter if they're tanking
Speaker 1: because they don't even have their own picks.
Speaker 2: So what the fuck are the nets doing?
Speaker 1: I have zero idea, and from the sound of things,
Speaker 1: no one else does either. Can we also get the
Speaker 1: hashtag free Spencer Din Whitty trending, free, Mchelbridge's trending, free,
Speaker 1: Cam Johnson's trending. Please someone fix this now?
Speaker 2: All right, let's move on.
Speaker 1: It's time for the first Heimmie of the week. In
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, we go with the Joker pretty much
Speaker 1: every week. I can go with Joe l Embiid even
Speaker 1: though he's been banged up eleven games away.
Speaker 2: By the way, not being.
Speaker 1: Eligible for a postseason award, which would be terrible, but
Speaker 1: instead the himI Award goes.
Speaker 2: To Jaw Jaw.
Speaker 1: Morrat is back baby like he's never left. He's averaging
Speaker 1: twenty five to five and eight in his last four games,
Speaker 1: not even peak John numbers, but what is.
Speaker 2: The Grizzlies are four and.
Speaker 1: Two in the six games he's played, which is pretty
Speaker 1: much the percentage of winning that everyone expected them to
Speaker 1: be in. Imagine that John Moran is just discovering his
Speaker 1: sea legs. He's only five for twenty nine for three
Speaker 1: this season, and when he starts hitting more threes, his
Speaker 1: numbers are going to inflate, jump up above thirty.
Speaker 2: That's what we expect from Drummran right. He was named
Speaker 2: NBA Player of the Week. That was well deserved.
Speaker 1: He's resurrected a tough season for the grizz given the
Speaker 1: fan base hope we need that, we need that.
Speaker 2: His return coincided with a four.
Speaker 1: Game winning streak and included wins against the Hawks, the
Speaker 1: Pacers two wins against the Pelicans. Those are not terrible
Speaker 1: teams either. Those are legit tough to beat on any
Speaker 1: regular season night type of the games. The entire team
Speaker 1: is now excited, now transformed, which is why Jamarant is
Speaker 1: a star. Not just a star, but probably one of
Speaker 1: the five best players in the NBA star when he's healthy.
Speaker 1: I was on Memphis Radio's U When with my guys
Speaker 1: Jason and John and I stand by though what I
Speaker 1: told him. This is a league that needs Jamran on
Speaker 1: the floor. There's just nobody like him on the league.
Speaker 1: There's just nobody. It's obvious when you see Jaw that
Speaker 1: he is the best show on the hardwood, even when
Speaker 1: he does the obnoxious dance clown and the Pelicans on
Speaker 1: their own floor with their own dance after beating them
Speaker 1: with like two seconds left.
Speaker 2: That's very entertaining. That is peak Jaw.
Speaker 1: So of all the hymmies I've given out this year,
Speaker 1: this one makes me the happiest. Thank God Jamran is back.
Speaker 1: Jamran is the Hemmy of the week. Many more himmies
Speaker 1: for him to come.
Speaker 2: He is I and I am him. Slim with a
Speaker 2: tilted brim, He's him. Lots of little news stories.
Speaker 1: From around the league, so let's get into a few
Speaker 1: things that caught my eye. This is a crazy story
Speaker 1: about Aaron Gordon. He has missed a week's worth of
Speaker 1: games because he got bit by his own dog.
Speaker 2: Man do I know that story better than anyone else.
Speaker 2: I have a twelve pound Pomeranian. She is vicious.
Speaker 1: If I touch the back of her at night, she
Speaker 1: will bite my face. And that is what happened to
Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon as well. But I don't think of Pomeranian.
Speaker 1: I think a very very big dog. Sham's dropped the bomb.
Speaker 2: Boom, This is the bomb. This is the sound of
Speaker 2: the Shawn's bomb.
Speaker 1: He dropped the bomb on Christmas Day when he reported
Speaker 1: that Aaron Gordon has suffered serious injuries to his face
Speaker 1: and hands from a dog attack on Christmas from his
Speaker 1: pit bull, which required him to get twenty one stitches.
Speaker 1: All of that to say, that's post his Christmas Day
Speaker 1: game he played on Christmas.
Speaker 2: And then proceeded to get bitten in the face.
Speaker 1: As someone who's been bitten by their own dog a
Speaker 1: time or two, I feel bad for him. It is
Speaker 1: a sad and traumatic event to ever have your dog
Speaker 1: attack you have any dog attack.
Speaker 2: You, specifically your own.
Speaker 1: His status was indefinite, but he came back in just
Speaker 1: a week. He had this to say about the incident.
Speaker 1: I guess it's a little bit embarrassing, but not too
Speaker 1: embarrassing where I can't talk about it. I don't drink
Speaker 1: a lot during the season. I probably had a little
Speaker 1: too much eggnog. I was kind of rough housing with
Speaker 1: my dog, and I think my dog got a little
Speaker 1: excited and basically just chomped down and gave me a bite,
Speaker 1: and I was wrestling him off me, and then he
Speaker 1: bit my hand. For lack of better words, I was
Speaker 1: messing around with my dog. And when you mess around,
Speaker 1: you find out that's a perfect fuck around and find
Speaker 1: out moment like, it's funny when I do that to
Speaker 1: my dog.
Speaker 2: Who's twelve pounds.
Speaker 1: I think his dog is probably one hundred and twelve pounds.
Speaker 1: You mess with the bull, you get the horns, hype
Speaker 1: up a pit bull or a palm or Chuallamex getting chomped.
Speaker 1: As it turns out, his dad usually takes care of
Speaker 1: his pit when he's on the road. He says, he's
Speaker 1: a good boy, He's a good dog. What a wild injury.
Speaker 1: That's like one of the most wild NBA injuries. It's
Speaker 1: like Najoku and his uh Art was it like a
Speaker 1: some sort of fire pit that he got burned by Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's insane. He only had ten two and zero in
Speaker 1: an not one hundred percent yet, But thankfully, I think
Speaker 1: he's gonna recover fully. He'll learn that some dogs only
Speaker 1: can be hyped up to a certain point before they'll
Speaker 1: tear off your face. Hopefully, the Nuggets are gonna tear
Speaker 1: off everybody else's face because they're the best team in
Speaker 1: the league right now. I think, not just in the West,
Speaker 1: but in the East.
Speaker 2: Get better.
Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon moving on to Scoot. We gotta talk about Scoot.
Speaker 2: God, I love him. My avatar on Twitter is Scoot.
Speaker 2: It's never changing. Scoot with the goggles.
Speaker 1: Everything's changed since he got his his bifocals. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: do a deep dive on Scoot, probably for the Rookie Report,
Speaker 1: but I did want to talk about a quote that
Speaker 1: dropped last night.
Speaker 2: Scoot just a competitor. He said he's still trying to
Speaker 2: get Rookie of the Year.
Speaker 1: That's his goal, that's still up in the air. He
Speaker 1: believes the Rookie of the Year race.
Speaker 2: Is not complete yet.
Speaker 1: Some of you might be laughing because you think, okay, Scoot,
Speaker 1: you believe that you can take on Victor Wembinyama and Chet.
Speaker 2: But get this, check this out this those stats.
Speaker 1: In his last eleven games, Scoot has averaged sixteen three
Speaker 1: and six with one point two stok stocks stalks on
Speaker 1: a shooting split of forty forty three and eighty five
Speaker 1: in thirty minutes a game while running the point for
Speaker 1: one of the youngest teams in the NBA. Pretty much
Speaker 1: the second most effective rookie over the last three weeks
Speaker 1: in the entire NBA.
Speaker 2: If he continues to do that, folks, it might get
Speaker 2: closer than we think. Who knows?
Speaker 1: Probably not, but who knows more on Scoot very very soon.
Speaker 1: Speaking of rookies, Victor one Minyama has had a fascinating
Speaker 1: rookie season. Most people think he's the favorite to win
Speaker 1: Rookie of the Year, but it's very close, very close
Speaker 1: between him and Chet. Some outlets, including bt MGM, have
Speaker 1: Chet with a small razor's edge at minus one twenty
Speaker 1: and Victor minus one ten. Even though they're not going
Speaker 1: to come out and say it outright, there are people
Speaker 1: that think that Victor is somehow disappointing this season, even
Speaker 1: though he's averaging nineteen ten and three with three blocks
Speaker 1: per game, which is absolutely a sird. They point out
Speaker 1: that he's a turnover prone player. He has three point
Speaker 1: three per game in thirty minutes. Who gives a fuck
Speaker 1: about that?
Speaker 2: Not me, it's a San Antonio Spurs.
Speaker 1: They also blame him for getting into foul trouble, even
Speaker 1: though he's skinny and is just trying to defend, and
Speaker 1: that's limiting his restricted time on the court. He's averaging
Speaker 1: under twenty four minutes a game the last two weeks.
Speaker 2: Do I care, No, I do not.
Speaker 1: Most people are pointing out that the Spurs are just
Speaker 1: five and twenty seven, which is got awful for someone
Speaker 1: hailed as the savior in San Antonio. Many memes are
Speaker 1: going around saying, hey, does san Antonio know that they
Speaker 1: already got Victor woman Yama, Which is why I thought
Speaker 1: Joel Embiid's take on Victor was so interesting.
Speaker 2: As someone who missed.
Speaker 1: His first two years as a rookie or two years
Speaker 1: to injury, and who understand what it's like to be
Speaker 1: called savior of a franchise, I think probably Joel Embid
Speaker 1: has a good perspective on what life is like for Victor,
Speaker 1: and Bid told David Aldredge at the athletic this. I'm
Speaker 1: not trying to be too critical. Obviously, he's extremely talented.
Speaker 1: Right now, there's so much hype around him. I think
Speaker 1: he's just trying to live up to that hype, and
Speaker 1: that's what I see. I watch a lot of games,
Speaker 1: and I think, first of all, he has to figure
Speaker 1: out where he wants to play, whether he wants to
Speaker 1: be a guard or a big or whatever. It's not
Speaker 1: necessarily where he wants to be, whether he wants to
Speaker 1: be a guard or a big, it's what he.
Speaker 2: Wants to become.
Speaker 1: Do you want to become KD or do you want
Speaker 1: to become me not KD, or like a version of
Speaker 1: those guys? You want to combine everything? Right now, I
Speaker 1: feel like everything kind of feels a little forced in
Speaker 1: the way that he's playing, which is not bad because
Speaker 1: the only way to get better is to play through
Speaker 1: it and learn. That's the only way. You make a
Speaker 1: lot of mistakes and you learn. I do think it's
Speaker 1: like do you want to be KD or do you
Speaker 1: want to be me? Very good analysis though of vic
Speaker 1: Victor's very young man. He's just trying to figure out,
Speaker 1: and I think the team's trying to figure out what
Speaker 1: they want Victor to be. He's only nineteen and he's
Speaker 1: what is he probably one hundred and ninety pounds soaking
Speaker 1: wet at seven.
Speaker 2: You got to play through your mistakes.
Speaker 1: You gotta figure out whether you're going to gain weight
Speaker 1: like Joel Embiid did, whether you're gonna stay slender like
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant did, are you gonna play on the perimeter?
Speaker 1: And Victor continues to do an incredible job of just
Speaker 1: figuring it out, owning up to his mistakes and press conferences.
Speaker 2: He knows that he's a work in progress.
Speaker 1: A lot of people put kind of unfair expectations on him.
Speaker 1: He knows that he has holes in his game. I'm
Speaker 1: sure that, and more importantly, he knows how many people
Speaker 1: in San Antonio are relying on him. He said this,
Speaker 1: This is probably the worst Victor will ever see. That's
Speaker 1: what he said during Thanksgiving break, And that's one of
Speaker 1: the most confident and self aware statements from the athlete
Speaker 1: that you're going to hear, especially from someone leading the
Speaker 1: league in blocks and nearly twenty a game in limited time.
Speaker 2: As a rookie. He's like very young. I love Joel Embiid.
Speaker 1: He's one of the very few players who, if you
Speaker 1: ask a question, will give you an honest answer.
Speaker 2: Up next. Finally, if you know anything about me, you
Speaker 2: know that I will never ever ever.
Speaker 1: Pass up an opportunity to talk about James Johnson blood Sport,
Speaker 1: that's his nickname. He's voted unanimously as the toughest player
Speaker 1: in the NBA last year. He was signed the day
Speaker 1: after the Pacers got absolutely bullied by the Bucks in
Speaker 1: game Ballgate game ball Ghazi as they call it, by
Speaker 1: the way. The two teams played for the first time
Speaker 1: since then on Monday Night, and the Pacers won by nine.
Speaker 1: Coincidence that they took it to the Bucks with James
Speaker 1: Johnson on the roster, I do not think so anyway.
Speaker 1: Eudonnis Haslam dropped an anecdote this week about what James
Speaker 1: Johnson is like, how tough he is, how we'll call
Speaker 1: it gritty he is, how he's not to be fucked
Speaker 1: with when he was with the Heat and I needed
Speaker 1: to talk about it. Haslam, as you know, is considered
Speaker 1: one of the toughest guys in the league as well,
Speaker 1: somebody that you do not want to piss off. He
Speaker 1: recently said, if he ever runs into Kevin Garnet, it's
Speaker 1: one's on site. He says, I like Tatum, I like Brown,
Speaker 1: but them old motherfucker's KG and Paul.
Speaker 2: I don't fuck with y'all.
Speaker 1: If I see all at the grocery store it's on,
Speaker 1: I don't care what ile. It can be a seven
Speaker 1: to eleven around the cheese dip, all of it's.
Speaker 2: Getting flipped over.
Speaker 1: Whoo, all of it's getting flipped over, the cheese dip,
Speaker 1: the the hot dogs. I don't give a fuck who cares, slurpies,
Speaker 1: all of it. So yeah, Haslam is about as hard
Speaker 1: as a coffin nail pause and even haslm's like, do
Speaker 1: not fuck with James Johnson. You donna said this on
Speaker 1: bam Adebayou's podcast, which I didn't even know that bam
Speaker 1: Adebayou had a podcast. He said, I ain't gonna say
Speaker 1: no names, but somebody on our team called James Johnson
Speaker 1: a bitch, and JJ said, hey, you gotta see me
Speaker 1: after practice, and everybody was like, oh shit.
Speaker 2: Oh boy.
Speaker 1: Bam said that he tried to intervene to keep this
Speaker 1: unnamed player from getting his ass whopped, and James Johnson said, hey,
Speaker 1: why don't you mind your fucking business. So the fight happened,
Speaker 1: and it went pretty much exactly like you thought it would.
Speaker 1: Bam Adebio chimed in, he said, I watched that shit.
Speaker 1: The funniest part about a dog is JJ ended up balling.
Speaker 1: I'm talking about beating this man up. JJ got done
Speaker 1: beating him senseless and then said you are right, you
Speaker 1: are right, and then walked out. This man is crying
Speaker 1: and sniveling, and James John's like, hey, you good.
Speaker 2: No, he's not good. You just beat the shit out.
Speaker 1: Of him, and then they ended up hugging it out later.
Speaker 1: That's what I want to do to some people sometimes.
Speaker 1: I just want to put my kid punching gloves on.
Speaker 1: That's just an inside joke and get him in the
Speaker 1: face and be like, hey, are you good.
Speaker 2: I actually don't want to do that. I'm a lover,
Speaker 2: not a fighter.
Speaker 1: Bam also confirmed one of those urban legends about James
Speaker 1: Johnson when he watched Johnson dislodge a wedgie by kicking
Speaker 1: the ball out of the rim with a roundhouse kick
Speaker 1: and then landing on his feet. Blood Sport, the most
Speaker 1: interesting man in the NBA. Let's get him a liquor
Speaker 1: and the only player in the league. I will never
Speaker 1: pass up an opportunity to talk about it, even when
Speaker 1: the podcast is running long.
Speaker 2: That's all the time that we have for the episode
Speaker 2: of the Heat Check.
Speaker 1: Come back tomorrow for an all new episode. No come
Speaker 1: back Friday, and check out the feed for past episodes
Speaker 1: and many episodes which will drop unexpectedly like your new
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Speaker 1: forget to follow the Heat Check as we go through
Speaker 1: this NBA season. That means download, subscribe. Please tell everyone friends, enemies, neighbors,
Speaker 1: even that guy walking his dog every day at the same.
Speaker 2: Time who never acknowledges your existence. Be like, hey, stop
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Speaker 1: Trista has a podcast and it slaps follow us on
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