Speaker 1: You're tuned into Heat Check with Trystal Quick. On this
Speaker 1: episode of the Heat Check, we talk about how Adam
Speaker 1: Silver is trying to turn the NBA into sucker. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I explain the way it's going to change the
Speaker 1: way the NBA works. Donovan Mitchell inside feature on why
Speaker 1: he doesn't like Rudy Gobert. He finally breaks his silence.
Speaker 1: Good stuff there. Dallas Mavericks, we talk about them a
Speaker 1: little bit. Is again how they have finally admitted that
Speaker 1: it is time to pull the rip chord. That shit
Speaker 1: is not okay and it's not gonna be okay. More
Speaker 1: stuff coming out about that, and that's some really interesting
Speaker 1: news about the Golden State Warriors and how they might
Speaker 1: not be just punting on this season, but maybe the
Speaker 1: entire idea of two timelines as a whole. Lots to
Speaker 1: talk about. Nick. Happy holidays to you guys. Do me
Speaker 1: a favor and drop that generic ass. But so we
Speaker 1: talked last episode about how I'm riveted. I am riveted
Speaker 1: by soccer today. Actually, I spent fifteen maybe longer actually
Speaker 1: probably thirty minutes of my life deciding what EPL team
Speaker 1: I want to follow. I still don't know. It's still
Speaker 1: very tough. There's not enough stars that I like. I
Speaker 1: just am. I got a root for Harry Kane, like
Speaker 1: I can't like. I love Himbope, but he's on PSG.
Speaker 1: I just can't find one that I like. You got
Speaker 1: some issues with Chelsea and their age, and they're starting
Speaker 1: to be on the decline because you know the whole
Speaker 1: Russian oligarch thing. Anyways, I'm in. I'm gonna try to
Speaker 1: find a team. I'm gonna follow said team. I might
Speaker 1: just wait in the wings for Mbope to choose where
Speaker 1: he goes in the EPL and just follow him wherever
Speaker 1: he goes. I follow wherever Memphis Depey goes, I follow.
Speaker 1: I like these swaggy strikers, which is why I don't
Speaker 1: really like Christian polistic much. Anyway. Well, last Yesterday's final,
Speaker 1: well Sunday's final because it's coming out on Tuesday, between
Speaker 1: France and Argentina was like, if every game was like that,
Speaker 1: there might not be another sport on Earth. They might
Speaker 1: have just they might usurp everything if games all were
Speaker 1: like that. Goodness, greatest people people tell me, soccer fans
Speaker 1: tell me this is the greatest soccer game they've ever seen.
Speaker 1: It was incredible, so much drama and star players doing
Speaker 1: star player things and Bope balling out, taking the team,
Speaker 1: throwing the whole entire squad on his back, messy showing
Speaker 1: the world why he's the greatest, playing with the kids
Speaker 1: after the game on hell de Maria, the fading star balling,
Speaker 1: killing them, benching my man, Olivier Jeru for what reason?
Speaker 1: Who knows. If you're an NBA fan, you don't even
Speaker 1: know these names. So I'm just gonna keep going. It
Speaker 1: was fun, though, it was really fun. NBA fans of course,
Speaker 1: they know what this is like, right, They know it's
Speaker 1: Steph and Braun going at it back and forth, Tatum
Speaker 1: and Steph. Right, and you might, and I might emphasize
Speaker 1: might be able to steal a title though without a
Speaker 1: real superstar, but having a guy like Embappe who can
Speaker 1: steal it in a blink of an eye. The things
Speaker 1: that he did on Sunday, I just couldn't even believe it.
Speaker 1: That's what separates though true contenders from pretenders, right. And
Speaker 1: the one thing that Adam Silver's trying to figure out
Speaker 1: is how to replicate some of that excitement. He's known
Speaker 1: as a huge soccer fan right. Adam Silver in particular
Speaker 1: loves the EPL and we talked about this before on
Speaker 1: the podcast. But Adam Silver is dying to add elements
Speaker 1: of European soccer into the NBA. Why because the NBA
Speaker 1: loves money and nothing makes more money than a bunch
Speaker 1: of random tournaments involved in soccer. Just as past October,
Speaker 1: Silver let it known that he had actually considered relegation
Speaker 1: relegation to eliminate tanking, which I would personally love. I
Speaker 1: don't know that it would work, but it would be funny, right, Like,
Speaker 1: could you imagine the LA Lakers being relegated? I just
Speaker 1: love that so much. I would love that so much.
Speaker 1: I would love to see G League Ignite take the
Speaker 1: Lakers spot in the Western Conference. He's also though, Adam
Speaker 1: Silver is on records saying that he's very jealous of
Speaker 1: the Champions League, the European soccer tournament that pits the
Speaker 1: top finishers in respect of European domestic leagues in months
Speaker 1: long competition to see what team is best. This is
Speaker 1: what Silver said to the BBC, which is a very
Speaker 1: funny place for him to do an interview. The Champions
Speaker 1: League is a fantastic concept, one we're always looking at.
Speaker 1: There's so much that happens in European soccer that I'm
Speaker 1: jealous of. What would he be jealous of? You think
Speaker 1: in terms of the Champions League, probably the one point
Speaker 1: five billion dollars that CBS paid to broadcast the Champions
Speaker 1: League just here in America alone, let alone the rest
Speaker 1: of the world. That's just icing. On top of the
Speaker 1: other regional broadcast rights, the other rights that go for
Speaker 1: the NBA as a whole, it's just a ching, ching, ching, ching,
Speaker 1: money making machine. It's a one way river into Adam
Speaker 1: Silver's pocket. That's a Yellowstone quote. Silver just gave an
Speaker 1: interview in twenty eighteen where he noted, as head of
Speaker 1: the NBA Entertainment before he became Commissioner, that he intently
Speaker 1: studied the EPO's relationship with gambling companies and this deeply
Speaker 1: informed the way that he and the league have navigated
Speaker 1: the boom in sports betting in the US, and not
Speaker 1: just like straight up gambling, but in licensing data and
Speaker 1: video to gambling companies, which means what gambling companies are
Speaker 1: going to be the premier broadcaster of NBA NBA games
Speaker 1: Just wait, NBA way ahead of other leagues in relation
Speaker 1: to Silver's love of soccer. Right, so, the biggest change
Speaker 1: that Silver is going to make is the in season tournament.
Speaker 1: We've talked about that before, he's been on record. It
Speaker 1: seems very destined to happen in the next year or two.
Speaker 1: And less than three weeks ago, it was announced that
Speaker 1: the NBA is planning the twenty twenty three twenty twenty
Speaker 1: four regular season that includes that regular season attorney, so
Speaker 1: it's an eighty game regular season and then two flex
Speaker 1: games to fill the gaps for the tournament winners. I'm confused,
Speaker 1: Silver said, It's something I remain excited about. It will
Speaker 1: create more meaningful games, games of consequence during an otherwise
Speaker 1: long regular season, and I think fans might enjoy something
Speaker 1: else significant to play for as an aside, All NBA
Speaker 1: teams had to give the NBA Front officer available home
Speaker 1: dates for next year, so the schedule is already being
Speaker 1: worked out right now as we speak. Those home dates include, Okay,
Speaker 1: what day is Lady Gaga coming to perform at the
Speaker 1: Motor Center, What day is Sting coming to the Madison
Speaker 1: Square Garden, what openings do you guys have, and the
Speaker 1: latest on the nd season tournament is that the first
Speaker 1: round play will begin early in the season, with the
Speaker 1: final eight facing off at a quarter final in December,
Speaker 1: which would be right now. No prizes yet determined, but
Speaker 1: the idea of an extra first round pick has been
Speaker 1: floated out to the winner, which would be amazing. Could
Speaker 1: you imagine could you imagine a team that has no
Speaker 1: I mean back to the Lakers, team that has no
Speaker 1: first round picks could kind of need a first round pick.
Speaker 1: Don't know what to think about the Ncason Tournament because
Speaker 1: I don't know if people are gonna care. I don't
Speaker 1: know if the money of it and the pageantry of
Speaker 1: it is gonna get fans to really be excited. But
Speaker 1: you know, the NBA is a marketing machine. They'll find
Speaker 1: a way to hype it up. They'll find ways to
Speaker 1: get first take to talk about it, They'll find ways
Speaker 1: to get Adam Silver to make it feel like an event.
Speaker 1: But Adam Silver's love of soccer will continue to impact
Speaker 1: the NBA and the World Cup. I think just underscored
Speaker 1: how much these two sports could possibly maybe have in common.
Speaker 1: Look Out for a Champions League type situation as well.
Speaker 1: That could be something on the forefront also, Donovan Mitchell,
Speaker 1: Rudy Gobert. That's the stuff that NBAT lovers can't get
Speaker 1: enough of. So why did and does Donovan Mitchell hate
Speaker 1: Rudy Gobert so much? Let's face it, Rudy Gobert is
Speaker 1: a lightning rod. Rudy Gobert has been a lightning rod
Speaker 1: for hate since he put his mouth on all those
Speaker 1: microphones with COVID and shut the league down. Like we
Speaker 1: know that, we know that that is something that got
Speaker 1: Rudy Gobert to be the front and center poster boy
Speaker 1: for COVID hate. It continues, though, it continues, which we'll
Speaker 1: get into in a second. But Donovan Mitchell didn't really
Speaker 1: like Rudy or fuck with Rudy before everyone else did.
Speaker 1: When asked recently whether Donovan Mitchell thinks his numbers should
Speaker 1: be retired, Donovan Mitchell actually said no because he hadn't
Speaker 1: accomplished enough in the time that he was with the
Speaker 1: Utah Jazz in order for him to feel like his
Speaker 1: jersey should be retired. I think that's true because Mark Spears,
Speaker 1: who's been on a heater by the way as of late,
Speaker 1: was like, well you did you guys accomplished a lot,
Speaker 1: and Donald Mitchell was like, well, really did we? Well?
Speaker 1: We accomplished like we gave up a bunch of three
Speaker 1: one leads. We didn't really win anything of note. We
Speaker 1: didn't even go to the Western Conference finals. We got
Speaker 1: booted to inferior teams like Denver and Dallas. And they
Speaker 1: asked them, well, okay, well why didn't you And Rudy like,
Speaker 1: if you don't think the basketball worked and you don't
Speaker 1: think you accomplished enough on the basketball floor, why do
Speaker 1: you think that was? Is it your relationship with Rudy Gobert?
Speaker 1: And he was like, well, honestly, the basketball between me
Speaker 1: and Rudy just didn't work. We live in a world
Speaker 1: where it has to be just so negative, really negative.
Speaker 1: Basketball just didn't work. We didn't see eye to eye.
Speaker 1: We wanted to both win, but we wanted to do
Speaker 1: it in two different ways. It didn't work. Pause, if
Speaker 1: you're a fan of the Minnesota Timberwolves right now and
Speaker 1: or your aunt Edwards, you gotta think to yourself, rot Row,
Speaker 1: because if Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert couldn't work together
Speaker 1: and they had two completely different visions about what it
Speaker 1: would take to win, let me just say this. Donovan
Speaker 1: Mitchell and Aunt Edwards probably have closer ideas about what
Speaker 1: it's gonna take to win games. Then say I don't
Speaker 1: know Aunt Edwards and Rudy Gobert do. That is very
Speaker 1: very concerning. It on paper should work beautifully and it
Speaker 1: has not unpaused as far as him and I go
Speaker 1: as people. Donovan Mitchell later said, I don't hate him.
Speaker 1: He doesn't hate me. I wouldn't say we're the best
Speaker 1: of friends, but we're not at that point where it's
Speaker 1: like I can't stand him. Also pause, I've been in
Speaker 1: situations where I say I don't hate this person, they
Speaker 1: don't hate me. Are we friends? Are we close? Are
Speaker 1: we buddies? No? As soon as you have to say
Speaker 1: we're not friends either, you're you're nothing. At the very least,
Speaker 1: you're not dapping each other up. If you see each
Speaker 1: other at the bar, you're like, oh, yeah, there's Rudy.
Speaker 1: Let's go this way. You don't like each other whatsoever.
Speaker 1: Let's be honest, like there was no good feelings about it.
Speaker 1: When you publicly say I don't hate someone, there's more
Speaker 1: than just neutral feelings about it. You just don't want
Speaker 1: to spend the energy explaining and then creating a beef,
Speaker 1: and then people asking Rudy about why and whether he
Speaker 1: dislikes you as much as you dislike him. So that's bullshit,
Speaker 1: Donovan continued. I wished him the best. There's no hatred,
Speaker 1: there's no ill will towards any of that. Basketball just
Speaker 1: didn't work out. It happens. Our relationship just happened to
Speaker 1: be a little more out there than everybody else's. But honestly,
Speaker 1: it really started with COVID. He's like, listen, I don't
Speaker 1: dislike him. I don't hate him. Everybody thinks that we did,
Speaker 1: because you know, there was all this publicity about how
Speaker 1: I never gave him any passes and over lobbed in
Speaker 1: the ball, sit together in the lunch room, I unfollowed
Speaker 1: him on Instagram. All that stuff's kind of bullshit. But
Speaker 1: really it happened and started with COVID. I disliked him.
Speaker 1: I just liked him when he rubbed his fucking face
Speaker 1: on the microphones and shut our league down and almost
Speaker 1: gave me COVID when I thought I could still die
Speaker 1: from COVID, and we had to sit in a fucking
Speaker 1: locker room for twelve hours together and nobody could stay
Speaker 1: in a hotel because all hotels were afraid of anyone
Speaker 1: having COVID near their people, and we had to just
Speaker 1: basically be on lockdown in Oklahoma City. So yeah, fuck
Speaker 1: that guy. Then that was when it all started, the
Speaker 1: fact that he said, yeah, really, it started with COVID
Speaker 1: tells you everything you need to do. People forget that
Speaker 1: the world was so pissed at Rudigobert that his PR
Speaker 1: team somehow convinced ESPN to do a complete documentary on
Speaker 1: Rudy Goobert this offseason during the pandemic. I guess it
Speaker 1: ran that we've had. The only central theme was that
Speaker 1: Rudy Gobert wasn't as bad as you think he is.
Speaker 1: Like that was the entire concept of the documentary, And
Speaker 1: that was a lie, obviously, because Rudy Gobert, Truthfully, I
Speaker 1: don't know if you've seen it, Rudy Gobert continues to
Speaker 1: be exactly the asshole that we thought he was, because
Speaker 1: just last week, Rudy Gobert liked a tweet from Elon
Speaker 1: Musk VI said Elon Musk's preferred pronouns are prosecute fauci.
Speaker 1: Are you fucking serious? Are you kidding me? Could you
Speaker 1: put together homophobia, transphobia, and anti vax all in one
Speaker 1: fifteen word tweet? Are you serious? Who comes after people
Speaker 1: for their preferred pronouns and also says they want to
Speaker 1: prosecute Fauci? And if you're an NBA player, you should
Speaker 1: know these tweets that you like are public. They are
Speaker 1: all public. And then you throw in the fact that
Speaker 1: Rudy Gobert, his teammate, lost seven members of his family,
Speaker 1: which is almost inconceivable. Karl Anthony Towns lost seven family
Speaker 1: members to COVID, including his mom who was not old whatsoever,
Speaker 1: and he decides to like a tweet that says to
Speaker 1: prosecute Fauci for what shutting our league down, shutting our
Speaker 1: world down at a time where I don't know something
Speaker 1: that has happened once in every three hundred years. He's
Speaker 1: telling people to be careful and wear masks and maybe
Speaker 1: stay inside, like you like that tweet, Rudy, when you
Speaker 1: gave the world COVID? Are you serious? Along with my
Speaker 1: desired pronouns? I wonder this and I'd like you guys
Speaker 1: to give me your thoughts too. Is Rudy Gobert the
Speaker 1: most unlikable player in the NBA. I think he is.
Speaker 1: He is to me. I there is no one that
Speaker 1: gets a more visceral reaction just by his name alone
Speaker 1: than Rudie Gobert. If there's something redeeming to him, someone
Speaker 1: tell me, but I can't see it.