Speaker 1: This life was all I ever wanted. I'm not leaving,
Speaker 1: not yet. I was hoping you can say that you
Speaker 1: gotta hit the streets make some money. Maybe like us,
Speaker 1: let's destroyed, maybe like kept by. All up, Get Showtime
Speaker 1: free at showtime dot com. My brother Jack got back
Speaker 1: All Smoke just getting started, Baby, just getting started. Welcome
Speaker 1: back to a special quarantine edition of All the Smoke.
Speaker 1: I'm coming to you from Los Angeles. Jack's coming to
Speaker 1: you from the A t L. We got a special
Speaker 1: guest today, Man Um last name, one of the one
Speaker 1: of the greatest assist men of all time, former Golden
Speaker 1: State Warrior head coach Um and now to me, one
Speaker 1: of the best basketball and listing minds Um in the game.
Speaker 1: That's new name the Mind. Him and uh Jeff Van
Speaker 1: Gundy's chemistry is ship similar to me and Jack's. I
Speaker 1: love watching them do so. Man special welcome and special
Speaker 1: thanks to Mark Jackson. I just get your new nickname,
Speaker 1: O g the Mind. I just give you a new nickname,
Speaker 1: The Mind. I did hear that. I appreciate that. I
Speaker 1: like that. How are you staying busy? Obviously is your
Speaker 1: family safe? And how are you staying busy during this time. Yeah,
Speaker 1: thanks for asking and create the same goals for you
Speaker 1: guys and your families. But just a lot of quality
Speaker 1: time just hanging at the house, spending time watching shows
Speaker 1: and beating them in spades, but just just enjoying the
Speaker 1: time that we have as a family to be together.
Speaker 1: It's a tough time for everybody, but just too shell pass.
Speaker 1: Absolutely we uh you know, Jack and I spoke on
Speaker 1: this too. You know, we're just enjoying the downtime being
Speaker 1: around our loved ones. Because even though obviously we played,
Speaker 1: we all played long careers. We're all still in this
Speaker 1: next kind of analysts broadcasting business that we're traveling across
Speaker 1: the country all the time. So it's it's good to
Speaker 1: kind of sit down. Uh. It's an unfortunate situation and
Speaker 1: reason why, but just the fact to be able to
Speaker 1: sit down and spend time with our family has been
Speaker 1: amazing for me as well. Well, you think about it,
Speaker 1: we go our whole careers waiting for the opportunity to
Speaker 1: one day retire finished playing, and we think we're gonna
Speaker 1: settle down, and all of a sudden, I'm running all
Speaker 1: around the country being an analysts, and you guys now
Speaker 1: with a big time TV show and doing a heck
Speaker 1: of a job. But you're all over the place, So
Speaker 1: this is a good time to spend around the family
Speaker 1: and just you know, enjoy the kids. Absolutely talk to
Speaker 1: us a little bit. Uh. The difference between being an
Speaker 1: analyst now um and being a head coach in the NBA, Well,
Speaker 1: the big difference is the competitive edge. As an analyst,
Speaker 1: I'm winning every single night. When lose a draw, I'm
Speaker 1: not mad. I don't have to worry about making adjustments
Speaker 1: anything like that. As a coach, you're you're always thinking,
Speaker 1: even even when you're winning, you're thinking, how can we
Speaker 1: get better? What did we do that maybe one tonight's game,
Speaker 1: but won't win a game against you know, the Clippers
Speaker 1: are the Lakers, are the Bucks. So you're constantly thinking
Speaker 1: about getting better. So I don't have that competitive edge
Speaker 1: leaving the arena that I used to as a playoff
Speaker 1: as a coach, uh, And that's refreshing, but also out
Speaker 1: of the game that I truly missed some nights. You
Speaker 1: know you might not. We all make mistakes and we
Speaker 1: all don't have our best days on TV. But some
Speaker 1: nights do you feel like hard on yourself? But you
Speaker 1: don't have your best nights calling the game. No, because
Speaker 1: I always think, you know, I'm fortunate enough, as you
Speaker 1: guys can attest to, I'm playing with greatness, so and
Speaker 1: I'm slaying beside Jeff Van Gundy and Mike Breen. They
Speaker 1: do a tremendous job of carrying the load of making
Speaker 1: sure we pick each other up. So we're a total team.
Speaker 1: So night in the night out, we always think we
Speaker 1: could have done something better, but we truly enjoyed one
Speaker 1: another and how we pick each other up. Yeah, we
Speaker 1: enjoyed that too. You recently just mentioned, uh that you
Speaker 1: kind of missed that competitive edge a little bit from coaching.
Speaker 1: Is we kind of on the outside, This is us speaking.
Speaker 1: We kind of feel like you've been blackballed from coaching. Um,
Speaker 1: you don't. You don't have to use that word. Like
Speaker 1: I said, that's how Jack and I feel. What are
Speaker 1: your thoughts because to me, like I said in the opening,
Speaker 1: you're one of the best basketball minds I've heard. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, you were a floor leader since you can
Speaker 1: remember a point guard general, you have so much to
Speaker 1: give to the game. But I just don't feel like
Speaker 1: you'd be given a fair shake. Um, as far as
Speaker 1: being the NBA head coach, well, I appreciate the love
Speaker 1: that you guys have expressed. Uh either I watched it,
Speaker 1: heard it, or heard about it, So I don't take
Speaker 1: it for granted, and I truly appreciate it. Um. With
Speaker 1: that being said, I'm a guy with tremendous faith. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna slip my wrist if I never coach again,
Speaker 1: because I believe what the Bible says as fall is
Speaker 1: if you do what you're supposed to do, it's a
Speaker 1: promise from God that I will not withhold any good
Speaker 1: thing from you. So if I'm not coaching, that means
Speaker 1: it's not good as long as I'm doing what I'm
Speaker 1: supposed to do. I truly believe that today will come
Speaker 1: when I have the opportunity to, you know, to walk
Speaker 1: the sidelines again and lead a basketball team for three
Speaker 1: years in Golden State at the time of my life,
Speaker 1: impacting players, developing relationships, and changing the culture. And I
Speaker 1: truly was blessed to do that and I look forward
Speaker 1: to the opportunity to do it again. I don't believe
Speaker 1: that no man can blackfall me. That door will open
Speaker 1: up and the opportunity will present itself. I'll be locked
Speaker 1: and loaded and fully prepared to finish the task. That's
Speaker 1: a fashion. That's a fashion for me to hear man,
Speaker 1: because you know, you know, like Matt said, we've been
Speaker 1: to guys have been fighting for you all this time.
Speaker 1: And and to hear I appiece you wire with it
Speaker 1: and to and to understand I'm big in faith, to
Speaker 1: to understand, you know, my faith controls everything. To hear
Speaker 1: you say it like that, you know, I'm kind of
Speaker 1: calm do with how things are going now. I just
Speaker 1: look at it like he's been too good to me.
Speaker 1: At the end of the day, I got fired, and
Speaker 1: twenty four hours later I was signed to go back
Speaker 1: to ESPN and call the NBA Finals. So it wasn't
Speaker 1: like I had the opportunity to sit back and say, man,
Speaker 1: what is going on, How I'm gonna pay this bill,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna do that, or what I'm gonna do now.
Speaker 1: Before I even was fired, I had another opportunity to
Speaker 1: go back to to what I was once doing and
Speaker 1: be with friends that I have for life. That's amazing.
Speaker 1: You touched on um changing culture and Golden State. You know,
Speaker 1: Jack and I played on the We Believe team that
Speaker 1: made a cute a cool run there, and then they
Speaker 1: kind of went back to being bad again. And you
Speaker 1: came along and completely changed the mindset, the culture, the focus.
Speaker 1: And I've seen it coming up because I was with
Speaker 1: I was with the Clippers, so it was almost kind
Speaker 1: of like, we're a little bit of a big brother
Speaker 1: to you guys. But we would see every time we
Speaker 1: played you guys like these young motherfucker's are gonna be
Speaker 1: good man. They played hard, they lay together, they have fun,
Speaker 1: they got some young dogs. And I remember when Draymond
Speaker 1: because Chris was the top point guard at the time,
Speaker 1: and I remember something Draymond said something like, I'm taking uh,
Speaker 1: Steph Curry every day, you know, ten out of ten
Speaker 1: to whatever. He said, like, Steph Curry is my God.
Speaker 1: Will give a funk what nobody thinks. And I think
Speaker 1: that that kind of attitude is something you kind of
Speaker 1: put on that culture, and we give you a lot
Speaker 1: of respect for getting that thing start. I know Steph
Speaker 1: gives you a lot of respect for that as well too.
Speaker 1: You win in this league with talent, and I was
Speaker 1: fortunate enough to acquire some incredible talent and continue to
Speaker 1: improve it with the great organization and great decisions. With
Speaker 1: that being said, just like you said, we was your
Speaker 1: little brothers. We were not ready yet to beat you guys.
Speaker 1: To me, uh, it takes a process. And you know
Speaker 1: we went three years only beating the Memphis Grizzlies two
Speaker 1: or three times in three years because they were more physical,
Speaker 1: they were more experienced, they were more polished, and they
Speaker 1: were pros. So it's a process. And what we see
Speaker 1: today you can point the finger back to to you know,
Speaker 1: six seven years ago where they were in the jim grinding.
Speaker 1: One thing about those guys, they were true professionals. Every
Speaker 1: one of the guys I coached, they were they bought
Speaker 1: in from day one. And the culture change. You can say, well,
Speaker 1: my staff and I played a key role, but you
Speaker 1: have to have willing basketball players that want to do
Speaker 1: to work, work to tell off, compete and continue to
Speaker 1: get better. And I was blessed in that area. No,
Speaker 1: it was beautiful to see because like I said, you
Speaker 1: you laid the foundation, the guys continue to work and
Speaker 1: then you know, Steve Kerr comes in and I got
Speaker 1: a chance to play on one of those teams. But
Speaker 1: just to see the energy, the attitude and like you said,
Speaker 1: those guys are leaders without you know, no juice aspect anyone.
Speaker 1: Those guys can play without a coach. You know, that's
Speaker 1: how on point they are, how how much they held
Speaker 1: each other accountable, you know, how just they were about
Speaker 1: it was. And it was really cool to see and
Speaker 1: be a part of that and say and saying that
Speaker 1: that's not taking anything away from Steve Kerr, who's outstanding individual,
Speaker 1: right and and an incredible basketball mine and an incredible coach.
Speaker 1: You can say I did a good job and Steve
Speaker 1: Kerr did a great job both of those things and
Speaker 1: can't go inside with one another. So I give a
Speaker 1: lot of credit the the one puny go ahead, No,
Speaker 1: I say, that's the one person in the world like
Speaker 1: people can say. You can say I can coach, and
Speaker 1: somebody else said I can coach. Somebody else could say
Speaker 1: I can't coach. The one person be on a shadow
Speaker 1: of a doubt that can tell you whether somebody can
Speaker 1: coach is the person that took the job after them
Speaker 1: because they understand how what they had to teach what
Speaker 1: they had. Then still well, when you say to the guy, okay,
Speaker 1: let's run the floppy action and they don't have a clue.
Speaker 1: You know, some guys that come from certain coming wrong
Speaker 1: and the practice. You said, Okay, we're gonna blitz the
Speaker 1: pick and roll, and they said, huh, they don't know
Speaker 1: what they're doing. But when you got the right terminology
Speaker 1: to work, the right work habits and and and you
Speaker 1: can tell who was taught and who wasn't. So I
Speaker 1: give I give Steve Kerr a lot of credit. He's
Speaker 1: been nothing but fantastic to me. You don't know the
Speaker 1: floppy offense you behind, you lost, yall, man, y'all start
Speaker 1: to exactly we're seeing those guys though, Yeah, exactly, No, No,
Speaker 1: I hope, I hope he didn't come across. It's take
Speaker 1: another from cry. Think he's great what he's doing. But
Speaker 1: I think I was just speaking more to the intelligence
Speaker 1: of the players, like he said. It's just it was
Speaker 1: such a fine two machine there, and Steve picked and
Speaker 1: shows where he needed to, you know, put his influence
Speaker 1: on his in massaged and let those guys go out
Speaker 1: there and be great. And and they were one of
Speaker 1: the one of the best best teams of all time,
Speaker 1: you know, one of the historical run of dynasty, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. So it was fun to be
Speaker 1: able to watch and see, like I said, seeing them
Speaker 1: when I was a Clipper, kind of seeing them as
Speaker 1: youngsters going through the you know, the hard knocks of
Speaker 1: what the NBA is about, but seeing what they were
Speaker 1: about and knowing they were going to be good. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: Let's take it back to the early eighties in New
Speaker 1: York and what basketball is like and how much talent
Speaker 1: came out of that area. Incredible talent, incredible, incredible talent.
Speaker 1: I think about my senior year in high school seems
Speaker 1: like yesterday, but his ninety three and I was fortunate
Speaker 1: enough to win a state championship, But that that year
Speaker 1: was I'm not saying that. Historians say it was the
Speaker 1: greatest uh point guard class in the history of New
Speaker 1: York City. Pearl Washington a great college high school player
Speaker 1: and went to Syracuse University and impacted the Big East
Speaker 1: from day one. Was a point guard in a senior class.
Speaker 1: Guy by the name you may know him, Kenny Smith,
Speaker 1: was at Archbishop Malloyd went on in North Carolina and
Speaker 1: obviously in the league. The best player as a freshman
Speaker 1: was a guy by the name of Kenny Hutchinson, who
Speaker 1: was a six six point guard who started as a
Speaker 1: freshman and won a city championship in the public school
Speaker 1: and then went on to play at Arkansas. So four
Speaker 1: of us, who was the four key guys as far
Speaker 1: as point guards, uh in New York City, and right
Speaker 1: behind us was Roder Strickland. And I mean we were
Speaker 1: loaded with talented, talented players, but it was it was
Speaker 1: a fantastic time. And we see each other, you know,
Speaker 1: during the season, but more importantly in the summer playing
Speaker 1: pick up ball and playing a U ball and all
Speaker 1: those things. Uh, just just the battles were legendary, absolutely legendary.
Speaker 1: So you go to high school New York, go to St. John's,
Speaker 1: and then you're drafted by the New York Knicks. Tell
Speaker 1: me what that experience was like. Well, I'm the only
Speaker 1: guy that can be claimed by both boroughs Brooklyn and Queens.
Speaker 1: I was born in Brooklyn. It's crazy, but it's true.
Speaker 1: I was born in Brooklyn, lived there the first seven
Speaker 1: years of my life, moved to Queens and then living
Speaker 1: in Queens, I went to high school an hour and
Speaker 1: a half away when I went to when I went
Speaker 1: in Brooklyn, living in Queens. So and then the opportunity
Speaker 1: to play college basketball in New York City was fantastic.
Speaker 1: I went and visited different schools, but the opportunity to
Speaker 1: play for a guy who sat in front of my
Speaker 1: mother and father and said, your son will leave this
Speaker 1: university a better man or a man. And he kept
Speaker 1: his promise. And that's Hall of Fame coach Lukan a second,
Speaker 1: And it's funny to me. You guys can relate to this.
Speaker 1: It's funny to me. I say to my kids. I
Speaker 1: got three boys and a girl. But I said to
Speaker 1: my three boys who played, I want to still playing
Speaker 1: high school on the other ones finished, but I talked
Speaker 1: to them about value and the relationship with the high
Speaker 1: school coach. I got. One high school coach used to
Speaker 1: coaching two of my sons. Does not speak to me,
Speaker 1: does not speak to my sons. And I tell you,
Speaker 1: I sit at the games and say nothing. To this day,
Speaker 1: calling my nineties something year old college coach and calling
Speaker 1: my seventy year old high school coach is at the
Speaker 1: top of my list. We still call each other. I
Speaker 1: don't call them by their first name, I don't call
Speaker 1: them by their last name. I'm fifty five years old
Speaker 1: and I still call him coach and love them to death.
Speaker 1: Those are the type of relationships you're supposed to have
Speaker 1: if you're truly impacting folks. Right, that's amazing. Let's shift
Speaker 1: to the NBA right now, Um, it was really starting
Speaker 1: to shape up. We try to explain to people like
Speaker 1: Marches that time, you know, the head coach and the
Speaker 1: former player, that you're really starting to see basketball. You're
Speaker 1: starting to see chemistry coming together. You know, you're establishing
Speaker 1: your lineups going into the playoffs. We're seeing some great basketball.
Speaker 1: What were your thoughts on where we stand with Lebron
Speaker 1: and the Acres leading the weston and Janice's team leading
Speaker 1: the East. Well, it was an exciting time and you
Speaker 1: guys know as former players, uh, this is when you
Speaker 1: really begin to get up and you can truly see
Speaker 1: Lebron James gearing up. We had a Friday Sunday that
Speaker 1: we had a Friday Sunday game on ESPN and ABC
Speaker 1: where the Lakers played the Bucks on Friday and then
Speaker 1: Sunday they played the Clippers. And we we thought we
Speaker 1: thought going into it, it was really gonna tell a lot,
Speaker 1: not just about the teams, but also about Lebron James
Speaker 1: and Quiet Leonard and and and and and the Greek freak.
Speaker 1: Uh you could see and the Friday night Lebron had
Speaker 1: a chip to him, He had an edge to him.
Speaker 1: And what I love is from the jump as as
Speaker 1: as former players, I'm looking, Okay, what's the matchup gonna be?
Speaker 1: Are we gonna? Are we gonna dodge and duck? Are
Speaker 1: we're gonna basically sent a message say I got him,
Speaker 1: and from the opening tip Lebron, James got it Janice,
Speaker 1: and then on Sunday, from the opening tip got it
Speaker 1: quielin it and proved that he is still the best
Speaker 1: player in the world. It was It was great to
Speaker 1: see and I thought it was it was a time
Speaker 1: we're gonna turn the corner and began to get the
Speaker 1: pecking on as far as playoffs concerned, and uh read
Speaker 1: this thing up to see when playoffs did start, who
Speaker 1: was gonna win it all? Oh? It was. It was
Speaker 1: definitely an exciting time and I love to see he
Speaker 1: like he really made the honest is night tough. Like
Speaker 1: it was refreshing to see because I remember at the
Speaker 1: very beginning of the season, I think Jack, me and
Speaker 1: you were doing some ESPN stuff together and it was
Speaker 1: so mad that he didn't go I got a guard
Speaker 1: Kauai like the first game of the season whatever it was,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, this is not this is this is
Speaker 1: this is a marathon. This is a sprint. He knows
Speaker 1: when it's gonna be time to turn up and really
Speaker 1: lock in. And you've always seen him turn his offensive
Speaker 1: game up at this point of the season. But to
Speaker 1: see him, you know, dig down and turn up on
Speaker 1: that defensive end, you know, I remember a d at
Speaker 1: the begin of the season said, you know he wants
Speaker 1: he and Lebron to be on the All defensive team.
Speaker 1: Now over the stretch of the season, that maybe a lot,
Speaker 1: but I love to see he could still definitely lock
Speaker 1: up in one of the best players in the world
Speaker 1: in your honest that that made me. That made that
Speaker 1: made me feel good to see that too. Man. You
Speaker 1: always see Yanna just back people down and put him
Speaker 1: in the basket. He could not back down. And and
Speaker 1: and just to see like like like like Mark said,
Speaker 1: just to see Broun take that challenge and back to
Speaker 1: back nights, I think that's big. And that was that
Speaker 1: was scary for the league. That was real scary and
Speaker 1: what it really inspires your team because we found no question.
Speaker 1: If you put a superstar on my team and as
Speaker 1: a superstar at the same position on the other team,
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden you don't want to match up.
Speaker 1: We might not say nothing, but we're sitting there same
Speaker 1: man's no this dude don't want He don't he don't
Speaker 1: want that. Yeah, don't he don't want. But if he
Speaker 1: took the challenge, and basically you could tell you can
Speaker 1: see the chip go on the shoulder everybody else in
Speaker 1: purple and gold because their leader took the challenge. Man,
Speaker 1: I got the man. Come on, man, that's how Kobe
Speaker 1: was to love it. I love seeing it. I was
Speaker 1: excited to see, you know, because everyone's talking. I like
Speaker 1: the Bucks, and I like the Easts, some teams in
Speaker 1: the East, But I honestly think it's gonna be the
Speaker 1: champion is going to come out of l A, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. So it's to me, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a beautiful thing if it happens, either the Clippers
Speaker 1: get their first one or Lebron gets this one, uh
Speaker 1: you know, sment and and and doing it in Kobe's honor.
Speaker 1: So I think it's excited and I really hope we
Speaker 1: get a chance to play out this season. Well, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of fun and there's great basketball being played,
Speaker 1: so I look forward to it. We're getting back to normal,
Speaker 1: right So what are your thoughts about As Jack and
Speaker 1: I spoke about it yesterday, I think some people say
Speaker 1: let's just go right to the playoffs. We knew as
Speaker 1: former players we need to restart our engines. We need
Speaker 1: at least seven to ten games to really get back going,
Speaker 1: you know, Bill, pick up that rhythm, pick up that
Speaker 1: team chemistry. And then and then going into the playoffs,
Speaker 1: what are your thoughts one on that? And then should
Speaker 1: we still try to be going seven games series? Should
Speaker 1: we shorten them three out of five in the final
Speaker 1: seven games? With your thoughts on all that, I'm so
Speaker 1: nicey justested yesterday in the interview, I was doing a
Speaker 1: single game elimination, which is absurd to me, That makes
Speaker 1: no sense. And then I think it's important again, as
Speaker 1: former players and as a former coach, it's important that
Speaker 1: we don't go right back to playing basketball, because I
Speaker 1: don't care what these players are doing around the world
Speaker 1: right now. Nothing, Nothing is the same as getting in
Speaker 1: the gym playing five on five. Nothing you do. They
Speaker 1: can think they can be on all those machines all
Speaker 1: day long, is nothing like getting in the gym. So
Speaker 1: we're gonna need not just those seven or ten games,
Speaker 1: but we're gonna need seven or ten days of practicing
Speaker 1: and getting in the gym, because guys aren't gonna be
Speaker 1: in rhythm, and you're putting guys at risk of also
Speaker 1: picking up injuries. But I like the idea of shortening
Speaker 1: the earlier series, going back to the best out of
Speaker 1: five or something like that, to make sure that we
Speaker 1: were able to get all these series in. But I
Speaker 1: like the idea of playing real basketball and and and
Speaker 1: and having the playoffs play out once we get back
Speaker 1: to it. All right, we won't keep you too long,
Speaker 1: Like I said, we want to have you in studio
Speaker 1: and really just get down to business. But last thing
Speaker 1: we'll leave you with is the state of the Knicks. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, someone being from there and knowing how much
Speaker 1: the fans love the team, appreciate the team, and kind
Speaker 1: of just the rut they're stuck in. What would be
Speaker 1: your suggestion or our thoughts or any kind of ideas
Speaker 1: you you can think of to help get that team
Speaker 1: over the hump, Because I think basketball is better when
Speaker 1: all of our major cities are relevant in the game,
Speaker 1: especially the Knicks. Man especially, we all like planning to guard.
Speaker 1: And that's all I pay one. I pay the places
Speaker 1: to play. When the Knicks not going right, it kind
Speaker 1: of takes a little at the league. Man. It's great
Speaker 1: for basketball when the Knicks are good, There's no question
Speaker 1: about that. When they're competing and relevant any major city,
Speaker 1: but but especially in New York. I think they did
Speaker 1: the right thing and and and change, making a change.
Speaker 1: You get a guy like Leon Rose who's a basketball life,
Speaker 1: knows what he's doing. It's about getting uh and making
Speaker 1: the profit decisions by acquiring talent and assets. And I
Speaker 1: think they're headed in the right direction. Now they have
Speaker 1: to make continue to make the proper decisions. But there's
Speaker 1: no question about it. Basketball is at its best when
Speaker 1: the Knicks are relevant, and it's good for business overall. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: Last question, who who do you who do you see
Speaker 1: in the finals? See hoping that everything plays out him
Speaker 1: and we're gonna get back to basketball. You know, about
Speaker 1: about a month ago, Jeff Van Gundy said to me
Speaker 1: nobody in the East could beat the Bucks, And then
Speaker 1: about two weeks after that he apologized and said he
Speaker 1: was wrong that they can be beaten. I think the
Speaker 1: Celtics are talented and deep enough to beat him. Uh.
Speaker 1: I think the Bucks are clearly the favorite in the East.
Speaker 1: But I think you you can't underestimate what Rudy tom
Speaker 1: Jonovis once said, the heart of a champion in the
Speaker 1: Toronto Raptors. There's a reason why they continue to get
Speaker 1: it done even without Quiet Lennon. That's a dangerous basketball team.
Speaker 1: So the East will be be very exciting and the West.
Speaker 1: To me, I think it's it's about matchups. I think
Speaker 1: that the Lakers and the Clippers are clearly the favorites.
Speaker 1: I don't I don't like the fact that the Houston
Speaker 1: Rockets don't have a big man and that they don't
Speaker 1: uh not a defensive jaggernaut juggernaut, But I do think
Speaker 1: that they can beat other teams, not name the Clippers.
Speaker 1: The Clippers can impose their will against them defensively and
Speaker 1: match up against them where they put a stop to it.
Speaker 1: Somebody else might think, what, we can outscore them, and
Speaker 1: that's when the Houston Rockets are dangerous. So I think
Speaker 1: it's gonna be exciting, But ultimately I think it comes
Speaker 1: down to the Lakers and Clippers. The way that it
Speaker 1: was ending a couple of weeks ago, the Lakers were
Speaker 1: the better basketball team. But I like the Clippers having
Speaker 1: three guys that they can give the ball to and
Speaker 1: trust that those guys make a play. Whether it's Kwie
Speaker 1: let It, Paul George or Lou Williams, they can get
Speaker 1: you a basket or get you a good look. If
Speaker 1: as the Lakers defensively, I can say, okay, Anthony Davids shooter,
Speaker 1: turnaround jump shot over me, it would contested hand all.
Speaker 1: Lebron James shoot a contested three. I don't know if
Speaker 1: they have, uh, overall, more guys than than one, and
Speaker 1: Lebron James that can think, get a hoop and make
Speaker 1: a play on his terms. So that would be the concern.
Speaker 1: I said, like the beginning season, excuse me, man I
Speaker 1: said the same thing in the beginning the season about
Speaker 1: about Toronto. I felt like without Kawai still had enough experience,
Speaker 1: championship experience to get out the East and now. And
Speaker 1: I even said I even had Miami high because I
Speaker 1: knew with Jimmy, I knew Jimmy would go there and
Speaker 1: get this team to playing hard, playing with some fireplan,
Speaker 1: with some passion, and it's starting to work. But I didn't.
Speaker 1: I wasn't confident in Milwaukee this year. I mean, they're
Speaker 1: having a great regular season, but I wasn't confident in
Speaker 1: them going down the stretch. I don't think they could
Speaker 1: put it off. And I already told him Lebron bringing
Speaker 1: the championship on. I really like, I really like to me,
Speaker 1: it's just disappointed. You think year after year with all
Speaker 1: the talent Philly has that you know it's time that
Speaker 1: that process paid off. You know, they were my early
Speaker 1: pre my early season picks. Who are they? Know, matt Man,
Speaker 1: who are they? What are what are they? What is
Speaker 1: the identity? They don't have an identity. They don't have
Speaker 1: a true leader, whether that's Ben simm Is not being
Speaker 1: vocal enough or Joe and b not really embracing because
Speaker 1: sometimes we all know the best players not necessarily always
Speaker 1: the leader, and just how it is, and you can't
Speaker 1: force it. It is what it is, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean? So if it just I don't know what
Speaker 1: their identity is to answer your question, but I really
Speaker 1: like Boston in the way they're playing, in their chemistry
Speaker 1: with Kimba, and they have two young stars that, you know,
Speaker 1: the the leaps that they didn't get a chance to
Speaker 1: take with Kyrie, they've taken this year again and they've
Speaker 1: shown their progress. And you've got two guys that can
Speaker 1: get you twenty five every night easily, but sometimes you know,
Speaker 1: thirty thirty five, you know what I mean. So I
Speaker 1: really like Boston and what they're doing. And then I
Speaker 1: love Marcus Smart, ultimate glue guy. Um So it's gonna
Speaker 1: be interesting East. And you know, like I said, scary
Speaker 1: Houston could beat anybody. They just can. But can they
Speaker 1: consistent in a seven game series? Is it gonna work
Speaker 1: with the size? And we're small ball guys. We love
Speaker 1: small ball. We just also know how hard it is
Speaker 1: the further you get in the playoffs, you know. So
Speaker 1: it's gonna be fun, and I hope we get a
Speaker 1: chance to see it, man, I hope we get a
Speaker 1: chance to see it. Oh, you make a good point
Speaker 1: about Philadelphia. It is a shame that we don't mention
Speaker 1: them right away, because talent wise, they're good enough not
Speaker 1: just to win the East, but they can maxiate anybody
Speaker 1: and win it. But something's not clicking with them. Hopefully
Speaker 1: they get it right because they have the talent. You
Speaker 1: don't want the worst thing to do as as players
Speaker 1: is to look back years later and say what you
Speaker 1: could have done? Oh yeah, sir, Yeah sir, that's what
Speaker 1: That's what we're doing now. Man, that's what we're doing now.
Speaker 1: But man, hey, thank you for your time. Mark. We appreciate.
Speaker 1: We pray for you and your family's safety. And like
Speaker 1: I said, once all this clears up, we got to
Speaker 1: get you in studio. Man, I look forward to before
Speaker 1: before we get our o G. Remember the conversation we
Speaker 1: had was at our want to put breakfast spot. I
Speaker 1: told you, if you ever get a coaching job, which
Speaker 1: I think is gonna happen, and you need your boy
Speaker 1: to come and straighten some guys out, they save me
Speaker 1: a spot on that roster. I know. That's the truth
Speaker 1: I got both of y'all. Man, I appreciate you say
Speaker 1: roster coaching staff, Jack, you said roster, Yeah, coaches stad
Speaker 1: let's get theack to the coaching staff is not taking
Speaker 1: up no motherfucking roster spot. You're doing everything great. You're
Speaker 1: off the charts. Love and appreciate You'll appreciate, thank you.
Speaker 1: Spending some time with this man. God bless you and
Speaker 1: your family. Man. Thank you. Hey that's a rap uh
Speaker 1: special Quarantine edition with Mark Jackson, my brother Jack. Good work,
Speaker 1: good work. Um this episode. You can find a Showtime
Speaker 1: Basketball YouTube are all platforms streaming podcasts. Oh love, This
Speaker 1: life was all I ever wanted. I'm not leaving, not yet.
Speaker 1: I was hoping you say that you gotta hit the streets,
Speaker 1: make some money. Paple like us les destroy people like him.
Speaker 1: Buckle up, get Showtime free at showtime dot com