Speaker 1: Welcome to Bullyball, presented by DraftKings. I'm Rachel Nichols.
Speaker 2: That, of course is DeMarcus Cousins live from Taiwan, my friend.
Speaker 2: A couple quick questions. First of all, have you found out.
Speaker 1: What a beer leopard is? Because that's very important to
Speaker 1: our audience. And also I need to here. Okay, all right,
Speaker 1: so nothing there. We've got no update, no update yet.
Speaker 3: No.
Speaker 2: Man, you had one job, seriously, okay, belle of jobs,
Speaker 2: but fine playing.
Speaker 1: You're busy. You're not only busy playing. You did this
Speaker 1: amazing event where you went.
Speaker 2: To a place that serves like that bubble tea that's
Speaker 2: so popular and you dressed up in the full uniform
Speaker 2: and served one hundred cups of bubble tea to fans.
Speaker 1: What was that like?
Speaker 4: And it was cool? You know, I'm just doing my
Speaker 4: job serving the people. Cool little event. You know, I
Speaker 4: got to learn. I'm learning a little bit about their
Speaker 4: culture and things that they like to do out here.
Speaker 4: And you know, bubble tea is a big thing out here.
Speaker 4: So I learned how to make you know a certain type.
Speaker 4: And you know, we created my own flavor of bubble team.
Speaker 4: Like you said, we gave out hundreds of cups of it.
Speaker 4: The fans came out, they enjoyed it, incredible event, so
Speaker 4: it was a lot of fun.
Speaker 3: And you know, I actually enjoyed the tea, so it
Speaker 3: was a cool thing.
Speaker 2: I saw some big crowds for the event. You know,
Speaker 2: it just feels like the fans there are so they
Speaker 2: just love basketball so much.
Speaker 4: They're deeply in love with the game. So that's a
Speaker 4: cool thing to see. And it's been a great experience.
Speaker 4: I've enjoyed my time and the people here are wonderful.
Speaker 4: They're great, and like I said, they love the game
Speaker 4: of basketball. So it's been dope.
Speaker 1: I like it. I like it.
Speaker 2: Still a beer leopard. We need to know what a
Speaker 2: beer leopard is. Don't let me down.
Speaker 1: Before you leave. That just what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: Figure it out.
Speaker 2: I know what a clipper is, by the way, some
Speaker 2: people don't. A clipper is like a kind of ship.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: So they were the San Diego Clippers. They are now
Speaker 2: the LA Clippers, and I got to tell you this
Speaker 2: last couple months, it has been insane watching them play.
Speaker 2: Since December one, they are twenty two and four Kawhi
Speaker 2: over this stretch twenty five six and four.
Speaker 1: Listen to this.
Speaker 2: Fifty to fifty ninety two shooting splits.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's ridiculous.
Speaker 2: Paul George over the same stretch twenty three to five
Speaker 2: and three for his stats. They've had the best record
Speaker 2: in the NBA for nearly two months. They have an
Speaker 2: exceptional coach. They have four guys with thirty two All
Speaker 2: Star appearances between them. That's absolutely insane.
Speaker 1: The best player is a.
Speaker 2: Formal former Finals MVP, so he's got that experience. I mean,
Speaker 2: is it arguable that the LA Clippers are the best
Speaker 2: team in the NBA right now?
Speaker 4: That's that's not a bad statement, and it's not a
Speaker 4: crazy statement. On paper, they probably are the most talented
Speaker 4: team in the NBA, and I don't think the talent
Speaker 4: was ever in question. When this team came together and
Speaker 4: they made the trade for James, we all knew the
Speaker 4: talent was incredible. It was off the charts. Their issue
Speaker 4: was figuring out how to make the talent. Mesh and
Speaker 4: I spoke on it before in the past. I thought
Speaker 4: t Lou was the perfect guy for the job, and
Speaker 4: he's proven me right. He's figured out a way to
Speaker 4: make this thing work. And the scary part about it.
Speaker 4: As good as they are right now at this point
Speaker 4: in the season, they're only going to continue to get better.
Speaker 4: And that's the scary part about all of this. So
Speaker 4: they're the real deal. They're you know, they're clicking on
Speaker 4: all cylinders, and like I said, they're only going to
Speaker 4: continue to get better.
Speaker 3: So I'm excited to see this team continue to grow.
Speaker 2: That game that they played against Boston a few days
Speaker 2: ago was such a jolting sort of wake up to
Speaker 2: just how good this team has gotten. I mean, they
Speaker 2: treated this like a playoff game, in part because Boston
Speaker 2: when they when the Clippers did not have Kawhi Leonard,
Speaker 2: Boston came into LA and really kind of embarrassed them
Speaker 2: a little bit. So they wanted to come back and
Speaker 2: do the same thing on the Celtics' home court. But
Speaker 2: also Tyler was very open before that game. He said,
Speaker 2: we see this as a measuring stick game. He acknowledged
Speaker 2: that the Celtics at the best record in the league
Speaker 2: and just that they work on all cylinders. They played defense,
Speaker 2: very strong, obviously huge offensive talent. So they said, this
Speaker 2: is the team on foreign soil where we want to
Speaker 2: measure up and see where we are and Oh my lord.
Speaker 2: I mean, they came out on.
Speaker 1: Such a mission. It was crazy.
Speaker 2: Paul George played injured on the second night of back
Speaker 2: to back, So in a little bit we're.
Speaker 1: Going to talk about guys playing and resting.
Speaker 2: I just want to point out that Paul George played
Speaker 2: through an injury on the second night of it back
Speaker 2: to back when he certainly didn't have to. And the
Speaker 2: third quarter of that game, the Clippers, they wheeled off
Speaker 2: a twenty one to zero run.
Speaker 1: Again.
Speaker 2: And the team that I would have said was the
Speaker 2: best team in the NBA right now, the Celtics. It
Speaker 2: has been crazy, and their defense has been a huge
Speaker 2: part of it too. I mean when you see them,
Speaker 2: the question was, as you point out, like could they
Speaker 2: all play together? It seems like that's solved, right, I
Speaker 2: mean that there isn't another obstacle for them besides health,
Speaker 2: I guess.
Speaker 3: I mean, health is a big thing.
Speaker 4: It's something that's been you know, something that's bit them
Speaker 4: in the ass in the past. But you know, as
Speaker 4: long as this team remains healthy, like I said, they're
Speaker 4: only going to continue to get better and better. The
Speaker 4: chemistry is only going to continue to grow. This is
Speaker 4: a scary team. And you know, once we get to
Speaker 4: this playoff run, you have these options on the floor
Speaker 4: in a seven game series. It's just it's hard for
Speaker 4: me to even put a thought in my mind that
Speaker 4: a team could actually come in and beat these guys
Speaker 4: in the seven game series. Super talented team. The bench
Speaker 4: is one of the best in the league. I mean
Speaker 4: when it comes to just comparing talent for talent in
Speaker 4: this league, I mean, I see a one, A, one
Speaker 4: B and that's the Clippers in the Celtics right now,
Speaker 4: I don't I don't see anything really close to it.
Speaker 4: So this this is this is a scary team, and
Speaker 4: I'm excited to see what they do moving forward.
Speaker 2: And look, we'll see in the spring, right I mean,
Speaker 2: Denver's playing great, by the way, but they still to
Speaker 2: me have another level they can ratchet up to for
Speaker 2: the playoffs. We've obviously seen the Lakers do that once
Speaker 2: they get to the playoffs, if they get into the playoffs.
Speaker 2: But I just think that the key is right now.
Speaker 2: The team that's playing the best right now it's the
Speaker 2: LA Clippers. And that is a crazy thing to be saying,
Speaker 2: considering all the tumult that.
Speaker 1: They got us here.
Speaker 2: But I will say, I asked producer Nate to get
Speaker 2: a clip of me saying the trade would work out
Speaker 2: when everybody else thought this guy was falling a week.
Speaker 1: After the Heart deal.
Speaker 2: I think we probably agree, right, he's going to be
Speaker 2: bought in at the beginning at least, right. He wanted
Speaker 2: this trade. He worked for it all summer, talked about
Speaker 2: it a lot. They've all said the right things to
Speaker 2: each other. TYLERU had a long talk with him before
Speaker 2: he even landed in LA. And you know, PG and him,
Speaker 2: we're talking, you know, all the way through really the
Speaker 2: off season, in the beginning of the season. He and
Speaker 2: Russ have a much better relationship than I think people
Speaker 2: think that they do. You know, as James said, they
Speaker 2: go back to the boys and Girls club in LA.
Speaker 2: This goes a lot deeper with them between what happened
Speaker 2: in a year on the Houston Rockets. So all of
Speaker 2: that to me tells me they're going to start out
Speaker 2: in good, good order. And by the way, James looks
Speaker 2: like he's in great shape right now, and they're all
Speaker 2: saying and thinking the right things.
Speaker 1: Let's move on.
Speaker 2: Talk about the scoring surge in the NBA. Two seventy
Speaker 2: point games two in the last week, Luca's scoring seventy
Speaker 2: three and I want to read this, he is only
Speaker 2: behind Wilt Chamberlain who did it twice, and Kobe for
Speaker 2: the most points ever. So for the most points ever,
Speaker 2: there's only three people on the list, and Luka Doncic
Speaker 2: is one of them, and that's insane. I also saw
Speaker 2: a stat pointing out that over the NBA's first seventy
Speaker 2: five years as a league, only six players total had
Speaker 2: scored seventy or more so, six players in seventy five years. Well,
Speaker 2: in just the last year or so, there have been
Speaker 2: four more who have done it, Donovan Mitchell, Damian Lillard,
Speaker 2: Joel Embiid and now Luca. So six players in seventy
Speaker 2: five years, four players in just over a year. I mean,
Speaker 2: that is as stark as I think you can get.
Speaker 2: Is seventy the new fifty boogie? I mean, and do
Speaker 2: you see this as a problem or hey, fans love
Speaker 2: this and that's what the NBA is now.
Speaker 3: I don't.
Speaker 4: I don't want to say it's a problem, but I
Speaker 4: think this is exactly what the NBA wants.
Speaker 3: You know this.
Speaker 4: It was a quote from Luca early in his career
Speaker 4: where you know he said when he was comparing the
Speaker 4: NBA to the euro League game, he said it was
Speaker 4: a lot easier to score in the NBA than it
Speaker 4: is in overseas. And I think, you know what we're
Speaker 4: seeing and the results of what we've seen in the
Speaker 4: past week, it's obvious that statement is very true.
Speaker 3: That's a fact.
Speaker 4: And in today's game, I hate to say it, defense
Speaker 4: just isn't a priority the way it was in the past.
Speaker 4: You know, me coming up playing the game of basketball,
Speaker 4: learning the foundations of the game, defense was what won game.
Speaker 4: Defense is what won championships. You fast forward to today's game,
Speaker 4: offense wins championships, and that's just what it is. On
Speaker 4: top of that, you have to give credit to the
Speaker 4: talent that's in the league. It's way more talent in
Speaker 4: the league than it's ever been before in the game.
Speaker 2: So I feel like people miss that so much, Like
Speaker 2: that is the defensive rules.
Speaker 1: I get it.
Speaker 2: Look, I covered the league in the nineties, hand checking
Speaker 2: the whole thing and why the league wanted to get
Speaker 2: away from it. But Boogie, you're so right, like people
Speaker 2: do not bring up the quality of players in the
Speaker 2: league and the fact that we are now truly going
Speaker 2: from an international pool from what it used to be,
Speaker 2: which was like basically a US pool with like a
Speaker 2: few scattered international players.
Speaker 4: Thank you for saying that, no problem, But I mean
Speaker 4: you just got to call the spade to spae.
Speaker 3: The talent in the league.
Speaker 4: The scoring abilities of the guys in the league of
Speaker 4: today's game is through the roof, and it's been evident
Speaker 4: over this past week. So I think it's a combination
Speaker 4: of a lot of things. But the biggest thing that
Speaker 4: stands out to me is so much talent in this league.
Speaker 4: I think we're going to continue to see nice like this,
Speaker 4: and I mean, honestly, I think we'll see even bigger
Speaker 4: performances coming up, possibly this season, So you know, I'm
Speaker 4: excited to see what happens.
Speaker 2: Look, I mean, the players are better. It's just a fact,
Speaker 2: and that's you know. The people who walked both ways
Speaker 2: to school might argue with that. Obviously there's a few exceptions,
Speaker 2: but overall, as a group, I do not think that
Speaker 2: there is any argument legitimately to be had. And by
Speaker 2: the way, this style of play in the NBA, it's
Speaker 2: not just that the defense style is different, the offensive
Speaker 2: style is so different. You now have five guys on
Speaker 2: the floor who can shoot threes. In a lot of
Speaker 2: cases when these teams go small, I mean, it's it's
Speaker 2: just a whole different level of firepower with the way
Speaker 2: the game is played today. Also, so I don't know,
Speaker 2: do you think we're getting to one hundred point game
Speaker 2: from someone? Do you think we'll get to a two
Speaker 2: hundred point game for a team?
Speaker 4: You know, KG spoke on this, KG and Paul spoke
Speaker 4: on this, and you know, I thought that was an
Speaker 4: interesting topic. But if I had to choose between, you know,
Speaker 4: a guy scoring one hundred or a team getting the
Speaker 4: two hundred, I think I'll go with a guy scoring
Speaker 4: one hundred. And I think the best option of us
Speaker 4: seeing that it's either going to be a Luka Doncic
Speaker 4: or a Joe LMB. I think those two guys are
Speaker 4: the two best scorers in the game as of right now.
Speaker 4: And you know, Luca just had a seventy point performance
Speaker 4: the other night, And I mean, the way this heats up,
Speaker 4: the way he you know, gets rolling in games, it's
Speaker 4: it's not too far off to say this guy can
Speaker 4: score one hundred plus in the game coming soon. So
Speaker 4: I think that's a very possible thing, and you know,
Speaker 4: I really want to see it happen, so I hope.
Speaker 3: It does happen.
Speaker 1: How soon until we get there.
Speaker 4: I think this season, I mean, the way it's going,
Speaker 4: I think it could possibly happen this season.
Speaker 3: I truly believe that.
Speaker 4: And I mean we kind of saw the headlines when
Speaker 4: it came to Minnesota and the whole called Anthony Town situation,
Speaker 4: where you know, he was he was gunning for, you know,
Speaker 4: a sixty seventy point game, So what's stopping the next
Speaker 4: guy for having the same goal? In mind, this is
Speaker 4: an offensive driven league right now, and I can see
Speaker 4: that happening very soon.
Speaker 3: I really can well.
Speaker 2: I think Joelle Andbiid and Luca are definitely the best candidates.
Speaker 1: We'll have to see if it's quite this soon.
Speaker 2: A team going over two hundred points in a game
Speaker 2: to me does not seem that far given some of
Speaker 2: the scores. It would have to be an overtime game, obviously,
Speaker 2: but I certainly think that could happen soon as well.
Speaker 1: Of course, for Joel Embiid to.
Speaker 2: Be involved in something like that, he has to be
Speaker 2: on the court, and recently, I don't know if you
Speaker 2: heard all the way in time on Boogie. But there
Speaker 2: is a bit of a kerfuffle on Saturday Night about
Speaker 2: the fact that Joel Embiid just minutes before tip off,
Speaker 2: right when they did the lineup announcements, then the announcement
Speaker 2: came that he wasn't going to play in Denver against
Speaker 2: Nikola Jokic, fanning the flames of this sort of you
Speaker 2: know theory that's very popular on the old internets that
Speaker 2: he is scared in some way to face Jokic in Denver,
Speaker 2: which I don't think he is scared. I do think
Speaker 2: he has not faced Jokic in Denver for five years,
Speaker 2: which is pretty interesting. And just the fact that, you know,
Speaker 2: Michael Malone said after the game, he said, I'm not
Speaker 2: doubting the injury, and by the way, I personally am
Speaker 2: not doubting it either. He actually has a sore neee
Speaker 2: that's been documented and her earlier in the week. But
Speaker 2: the fact that they didn't know until right up until
Speaker 2: game time for an ABC Saturday Night game, I don't know, man,
Speaker 2: what do you what do you think of this whole thing?
Speaker 3: Something special? You know, I wouldn't.
Speaker 4: I don't have the confidence to sit here and say
Speaker 4: that you know Joe l Embiid is afraid of Jokic
Speaker 4: when it comes to talking the best bigs in the game,
Speaker 4: regardless of who outplays who on any given night, those
Speaker 4: two names are coming up first Jokic and then beat automatically.
Speaker 4: So when it comes to the matchup, I think they've
Speaker 4: both had, you know, games where they've out played one another.
Speaker 3: That's that's just how this game goes. Some nights are
Speaker 3: better than others.
Speaker 4: But I think at this point, the big fella owes
Speaker 4: the fans, he owes the game.
Speaker 3: Shit, I want to see it.
Speaker 4: Just go to dinner and compete, like, I mean, even
Speaker 4: if if it's for two quarters, big fellas, get out
Speaker 4: there and compete. That's all we're asking for. I don't
Speaker 4: think he's afraid, like, I don't think that's the case
Speaker 4: at all. But it's definitely a fishy situation as to
Speaker 4: why the past five years you haven't played in Denver.
Speaker 3: Big fella, Like, we need to see this show happen.
Speaker 3: It needs to happen.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I mean, it's just the way it all
Speaker 2: happened to me. Again, I'm fully on board with the
Speaker 2: fact that he could have been too wonky to injured
Speaker 2: to play in some way. I'm not sitting here doubting that.
Speaker 2: What I am saying is that they had to.
Speaker 1: He wasn't even on the injury report.
Speaker 2: I mean, they have to sort of treat this process
Speaker 2: with a little bit more respect because you do have,
Speaker 2: as Michael Malone pointed out, a team on the other
Speaker 2: side that's prepping for the game. You have fans who
Speaker 2: are excited about a matchup, not only buying tickets but
Speaker 2: on TV as well, and you just deserve to know
Speaker 2: it's a different thing than what you're going to expect.
Speaker 2: So I wouldn't be surprised if the league finds the Sixers.
Speaker 2: I bet they will make the point as well that
Speaker 2: no one doubting that Joelle is injured, but that the
Speaker 2: way that they did it was a problem because they
Speaker 2: do have all these rules to prevent something like this
Speaker 2: from happening. And look, one of those rules is to
Speaker 2: incentivize players to have this not happen. You know, I
Speaker 2: mentioned Paul George playing through an injury groin injury against Boston.
Speaker 2: The league would like to see more of that, so
Speaker 2: they have put a sixty five game minimum on all
Speaker 2: postseason awards and a.
Speaker 1: Lot of fans like this. I'm in the minority.
Speaker 2: I think it's kind of ridiculous, and I can go
Speaker 2: into all the reasons why, but it's funny whenever I
Speaker 2: come out and say that I totally get trying to
Speaker 2: get rid of load management and that it is a problem.
Speaker 2: I'm just not sure this was the place to try
Speaker 2: to do it. What do you think about the fact
Speaker 2: that embiid now he can only miss six more games
Speaker 2: in the entire second half of the season, otherwise he's
Speaker 2: just not going to make it onto even the ballot.
Speaker 4: I think it's complete bullshit, And I also think it's
Speaker 4: a shift of blaying when this is something that was created,
Speaker 4: you know, by the league. You know, I spoke on
Speaker 4: it last week when I brought up the analytics and
Speaker 4: how these nerves are fucking up the game, and I
Speaker 4: stand on that statement. The reason is the analytics are
Speaker 4: the reason this low management shit came into the game.
Speaker 4: They brought load management in it because they thought the
Speaker 4: analytics showed that it would help prevent injury from guys
Speaker 4: in the league. Well, now you know that rules manipulated,
Speaker 4: it was taken advantage of, and now they're trying to
Speaker 4: put a band aid over something over a wound that
Speaker 4: the lead created.
Speaker 3: So now it's where.
Speaker 4: The players are being punished for missing games or a
Speaker 4: certain amount of games, when this shouldn't have never been
Speaker 4: in the place it should have been. It should have
Speaker 4: never been put in the place in the first place,
Speaker 4: and when it comes to it is now overlooked as
Speaker 4: to you know, this is an eighty two game season.
Speaker 4: It's gonna be games missed. You know, it's going to
Speaker 4: be ankle rolls, it's going to be knee tweaks, it's
Speaker 4: going to be spraying fingers, spraying risks, things of that nature.
Speaker 4: This is a competitive sport. This is all part of
Speaker 4: the game. So the fact that you know, it's now
Speaker 4: put on the players to now miss only a certain
Speaker 4: amount or you miss out on you know, money, bonuses, rewards,
Speaker 4: and it then affects legacy, I think it's complete bullshit.
Speaker 4: It takes away the integrity of the game. It takes
Speaker 4: away the foundation of the game, it takes away that
Speaker 4: the competitive nature of the game. And we're at the
Speaker 4: point now to you know, embiads having a historical season
Speaker 4: and if he misses what six more.
Speaker 1: Games, six more games, you.
Speaker 4: Basically have to wipe it away, and I think that's
Speaker 4: completely unfair to the player. Regardless if he plays fifty
Speaker 4: eight or sixty five, I'm picking him beat as MVP
Speaker 4: because he's having that great of a season.
Speaker 1: So I think that's interesting. That's interesting because one of
Speaker 1: the big arguments for this rule is.
Speaker 2: That if a guy misses sixty five in more than
Speaker 2: sixty five games, he shouldn't he shouldn't even be considered
Speaker 2: for MVP. You know, availability is the best ability, and
Speaker 2: that whole argument. I would say that whether he is
Speaker 2: considered for MVP is kind of an individual decision. Every voter,
Speaker 2: every person out there who has an opinion on this
Speaker 2: has to calculate, would you rather have Joel Embiid with
Speaker 2: the way he is playing this season for sixty two games,
Speaker 2: or would you rather have your next most sort of
Speaker 2: qualified candidate for seventy four games or whatever that guy
Speaker 2: has played, And you have to make that judgment, And
Speaker 2: by the way, if you take it to its extreme,
Speaker 2: sometimes the answer will be I would rather have the
Speaker 2: best player for sixty games or even fifty five games,
Speaker 2: then someone else, like say a bench player or someone
Speaker 2: for eighty two games, and then it's just a matter
Speaker 2: of like how you make that discussion go and like
Speaker 2: how close you get before you say, Okay, I still
Speaker 2: want the guy with more games. But that is a
Speaker 2: factor in MVP, and to take that off the table
Speaker 2: is silly. To take the idea that he's not even
Speaker 2: going to be allowed to be on the ballot. If
Speaker 2: people want to penalize him for missing a bunch of games,
Speaker 2: let them do that. Give the opportunity for voters to
Speaker 2: do that. Don't just wipe away, as you say, the
Speaker 2: fact that he was even there this season and the
Speaker 2: way that he was and the you know we talked
Speaker 2: about in the conversation. Let him be in the conversation
Speaker 2: at least. And the fact that All NBA is included
Speaker 2: in this is a little bit more of a mind
Speaker 2: blow because you have fifteen players named to All NBA teams.
Speaker 2: So now it's the conversation of would you rather have
Speaker 2: Joel Embiid for let's say sixty two games than the
Speaker 2: fifteenth guy on the you know, on the All NBA
Speaker 2: team for however many games he played, And that answer
Speaker 2: could be Joel Embiid like very possibly. And those are as,
Speaker 2: you say, tied into bonuses, which now you're messing with
Speaker 2: guys money. And I think it's not just the league
Speaker 2: in general that has to take responsibility.
Speaker 1: I think the team owners need to.
Speaker 2: Take responsibility because, as you point out, all of this
Speaker 2: is not only approved of, but in some cases recommended
Speaker 2: by the team with the overall goal of preserving their
Speaker 2: players until they get to the spring. Because not only
Speaker 2: do the fans like playoff runs, the owners like playoff runs.
Speaker 2: It's a lot of extra money if you're in the playoffs,
Speaker 2: and so there is this attitude of, well, the league
Speaker 2: needs to police it because we're losing ground on the
Speaker 2: TV contract if we can't get our guys to play
Speaker 2: in big games. But then when I go home to
Speaker 2: my own team, I'm going to let the coach and
Speaker 2: the training staff and everyone else do whatever they want
Speaker 2: to to try to preserve the playoffs.
Speaker 1: You got to clean up your own house. If you're
Speaker 1: an owner the league, they're not the only grown ups
Speaker 1: in the room here.
Speaker 2: I mean, I just I think if team owners wanted
Speaker 2: to make it a priority for the stars to show
Speaker 2: up on the biggest nights, I think that has to
Speaker 2: start at home. They have to make the point to
Speaker 2: the training staff, to the general manager to the coach.
Speaker 2: I want these guys in the lineup. I am paying them.
Speaker 2: It is important to me. And if they can't stay
Speaker 2: in the lineup for long enough, I'm going to consider
Speaker 2: wanting to get rid of them. And if all of
Speaker 2: the owners did that, that's where this problem would change.
Speaker 2: To me. I just think penalizing the players is crazy,
Speaker 2: and to mess with even letting them have the chance
Speaker 2: to be in the discussion.
Speaker 1: I do not like it.
Speaker 2: I will repeat, I do not like green eggs and
Speaker 2: ham and I do not like this role Therey God.
Speaker 1: These are my thoughts.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about the Knicks, because they are ripping it
Speaker 2: fourteen and six, fourteen and six in their last twenty
Speaker 2: games twelve and two with og An Andobis, so I
Speaker 2: think we can say that was a good trade. I
Speaker 2: actually think it was good for both teams, but very
Speaker 2: good for the Knicks. Julius Randall twenty four, nine and
Speaker 2: five on the season. But news did come out just
Speaker 2: this morning over here Boogie that that shoulder dislocation he
Speaker 2: had is going to keep him out for a few weeks.
Speaker 2: Is kind of how they're describing it. And look, it's
Speaker 2: better than they thought. They feared before the MRI. It
Speaker 2: could be months. It is not months, it is a
Speaker 2: few weeks, but that is still a factor. And they
Speaker 2: are coming up on the trade deadline, and the question
Speaker 2: always was do they have another shoot that's going to
Speaker 2: drop here this season? And now you're looking you're fourth
Speaker 2: in the East. You're not gonna have Julius Randall for
Speaker 2: a while, and the Calves who are at fifth or
Speaker 2: breathing down your neck and on a roll themselves. So
Speaker 2: I don't know, do you think if you're in the
Speaker 2: Knicks front office, would you be affected by this at
Speaker 2: the trade deadline?
Speaker 1: Would you say, Okay, now we really need someone.
Speaker 4: I do think it's I think I think it's a
Speaker 4: concern for this next tame. You just you can't just
Speaker 4: go to the bench and think you can substitute twenty
Speaker 4: four nine five. They definitely have a situation on their
Speaker 4: hands these couple of weeks, a few weeks of him
Speaker 4: being out can change their standings and this team drastically.
Speaker 4: So I think this is I think this is a
Speaker 4: point in time where they have to move with some
Speaker 4: urgency and make a really big move, and not necessarily
Speaker 4: a big move, but a move that can fit this
Speaker 4: void for these few weeks, and I think scoring for
Speaker 4: man would you know, be the right type situation to
Speaker 4: put a band aid over this for the time being.
Speaker 4: I could see a guy like a Marcus Morris coming
Speaker 4: in and kind of building that boy. And you know,
Speaker 4: obviously they want to get off a foreigner that's been
Speaker 4: well noted for years, and you know, I could see that,
Speaker 4: you know, being a trade piece to make that happen.
Speaker 1: It doesn't have to be some huge move, right, No.
Speaker 4: It doesn't have to be a huge move, but it
Speaker 4: has to be a great move if that makes sense. So,
Speaker 4: and it's also a guy that can still fit the
Speaker 4: mold for when he does return. You then add to
Speaker 4: that bench to you know, increase the firepower with moving
Speaker 4: forward throughout the season. So, like I said, I can
Speaker 4: see a guy like a Marcus Morris coming in. He's
Speaker 4: been a well known score throughout his career. Hopefully you
Speaker 4: get somewhere between sixteen to seventeen, possibly eighteen points a game. So,
Speaker 4: like I said, feel that void until you can get
Speaker 4: that twenty four, nine and five back. So I think
Speaker 4: it's definitely where the Knicks need to move with some
Speaker 4: urgency and make something happen to feel this void.
Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, and I just could seamlessly fit in.
Speaker 1: And then, as you say, both of their bench.
Speaker 2: When Randall comes back, I like this, we had to
Speaker 2: put you in the Knicks front office.
Speaker 1: I would be fine with that as long as you
Speaker 1: still do the pod with me.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about one of the best all time matchups
Speaker 2: in the NBA, in all of history, as far as
Speaker 2: I am concerned, and I am saying, you know, of
Speaker 2: course we still have the revered Magic and Bird and
Speaker 2: Jordan against I don't know the entire Pistons team or
Speaker 2: whatever it is, but Lebron and Staph for my money,
Speaker 2: goes right up there with them. I think that they
Speaker 2: have had just an incredible rivalry. The fact that this
Speaker 2: is spanned so long, I think it's like nearly one
Speaker 2: hundred games.
Speaker 1: They've played against each other.
Speaker 2: That's such a big chunk of those games come in
Speaker 2: the NBA Finals is insane. And they took a time
Speaker 2: machine back over the weekend in that double overtime game.
Speaker 2: It was so much fun to watch those two guys
Speaker 2: doing what they do best, and it was just a
Speaker 2: thrill to get to see it again. And who knows
Speaker 2: how many of those kinds of games where it just
Speaker 2: goes down to literally the last point in double overtime.
Speaker 1: We'll see it again from the two of them.
Speaker 2: So I just it felt very special, and it also
Speaker 2: just kind of underscored Lebron particularly we talk about all season.
Speaker 2: I can't believe he's playing like this. I can't believe
Speaker 2: he's playing in year twenty one. But you look at
Speaker 2: the stats for a year twenty one player, and look,
Speaker 2: there haven't been a ton of them.
Speaker 1: But there's been some.
Speaker 2: And you look at the stats for what everyone does
Speaker 2: in their year twenty one, it's crazy boogie. Lebron is
Speaker 2: averaging twenty five points in his year twenty one season.
Speaker 2: The next person on the list is Vince Carter, who
Speaker 2: the same year averaged seven and a half. So Lebron
Speaker 2: first on the list. Second on the list is Vince
Speaker 2: at seven and a half, then Dirk, next, Robert Parrish,
Speaker 2: and it goes on from there. But they're all under
Speaker 2: under seven and a half. I mean, it's that's nuts, right,
Speaker 2: I mean, how can you How impressed are you and
Speaker 2: sort of how do you feel he's mainly doing this
Speaker 2: at this age?
Speaker 4: I mean, I think this is just I think we're
Speaker 4: blessed to even be able to say we're witnessing this
Speaker 4: at this point in this guy's career. I don't think
Speaker 4: it'll ever be done again. It's noted that this he's
Speaker 4: been a freaking nature since he's stepped foot into this league,
Speaker 4: and he's continuing to be a freaking nature. Obviously one
Speaker 4: of the goats of this game, great representation of this league.
Speaker 4: I mean, the list goes on on what this guy
Speaker 4: has done for this league and just his game in general.
Speaker 4: But I can tell you right now, I may struggle
Speaker 4: at this age the average twenty five game.
Speaker 5: Right, you're thirty three nine, Yes, Lebron is you know Lebron.
Speaker 4: To try to give him his flowers, you'll be you know,
Speaker 4: playing seeds forever. So this guy is incredible. He's going
Speaker 4: to continue to be incredible. He'll go out when he's
Speaker 4: ready to go out. And one thing that you know
Speaker 4: most athletes preaches, you know, when it's time for me
Speaker 4: to hang it up, I kind of want to go
Speaker 4: out on my own. Note right, it doesn't usually work
Speaker 4: out that way, but we're gonna literally watch this guy
Speaker 4: go out his way and on top of his game
Speaker 4: whenever he decides to do that, and you know, he
Speaker 4: he's an incredible player. I mean, it's not much more
Speaker 4: you can say about it. It's fucking Lebron James.
Speaker 1: That is exactly it.
Speaker 2: And the physical stuff, as you mentioned, you know, look,
Speaker 2: I was at his first NBA game, like he was
Speaker 2: ridiculous then, So your point is completely there that this
Speaker 2: has been going on the whole time is just reaching
Speaker 2: its incredible conclusion period in this amazing way. But I
Speaker 2: don't think we talk about the mental part of it enough.
Speaker 2: You know, we know because we can see it with
Speaker 2: our eyes, that not everyone is as elite physically as
Speaker 2: some of the best players. Not everyone is as elite
Speaker 2: talent wise in terms of being able to do the
Speaker 2: range of things, or has the same speed, or has
Speaker 2: the same you know, shooting style or any of those things.
Speaker 1: I don't think we.
Speaker 2: Talk enough about the fact that there is another tier
Speaker 2: you can reach mentally that not everyone is at, and
Speaker 2: the discipline it has taken for Lebron to get to
Speaker 2: this point, the leadership that has taken to get to
Speaker 2: this point, sort of the way he is able to
Speaker 2: see the game. I just I think we kind of
Speaker 2: assume anyone could do that if they wanted to just
Speaker 2: work hard enough, and I don't think that's true. I
Speaker 2: think it's like the physical side of it. I think
Speaker 2: that having that package of mental sort of superiority in
Speaker 2: terms of the game of basket ball, it's just not
Speaker 2: available to everyone, and he has it, and he has
Speaker 2: a near photographic memory. He can see plays that were,
Speaker 2: you know, fifteen years ago at this point, and what
Speaker 2: guys are doing now, and the difference in all of
Speaker 2: those things and what coaches have done in the past
Speaker 2: against him. I just think in the end, when we're
Speaker 2: talking about everything that he did, I think that that
Speaker 2: side I hope is appreciated more because it is a
Speaker 2: huge part of why he's so successful. And you know,
Speaker 2: we saw it again in that game against the worst
Speaker 2: that was just out of control. The Lakers as a team,
Speaker 2: though also played really well in that game. The Angelo
Speaker 2: Russell this has become such an interesting topic here in
Speaker 2: LA Just for the month of January book, he is
Speaker 2: twenty four averaging twenty four points, six assists, and his
Speaker 2: shooting percentage from three is fifty percent. So he was
Speaker 2: a huge part of any trade package that people were
Speaker 2: discussing that the Lakers could give away Brad this February
Speaker 2: eighth deadline in order to get in some more talent,
Speaker 2: some more defense. He does not provide them that defensive
Speaker 2: end that I think this team definitely needs.
Speaker 1: But he's playing.
Speaker 2: Really well and he's your own player and you don't
Speaker 2: have to give anything up for him.
Speaker 1: So the question is do you trust.
Speaker 2: Him to keep at this level or something close to
Speaker 2: it through the end of the playoffs whenever that is,
Speaker 2: or do you think, hey, sell, hi, baby, let's get
Speaker 2: someone else in the league interested in the possibility of him.
Speaker 2: And you're taking the chance that if you do that,
Speaker 2: you will a have given up some of your assets
Speaker 2: and be that the person who comes in will be
Speaker 2: a better fit on this team than D'angela Russell.
Speaker 1: So it's a tough question. Where are you on this?
Speaker 4: I think they absolutely are looking to trade D'Angelo Russell
Speaker 4: Sell Hi.
Speaker 3: It sucks to say.
Speaker 4: But at the same time, the way D'Angelo Russell is
Speaker 4: going about this, I think he's handled the correct way.
Speaker 3: You know, it's pre s through out the league.
Speaker 4: You know, when you go out and perform, when you
Speaker 4: go out and play on a nightly basis, you're not
Speaker 4: just playing for the team that's on your chest, you're
Speaker 4: still performing for every other team in the league. And
Speaker 4: that's exactly what he's doing. He's going to keep his
Speaker 4: value high, he's going to keep teams watching and it's
Speaker 4: all and he's going to keep interest high for himself.
Speaker 4: So the Lakers won't be this guy's last stop. And
Speaker 4: that's just the facts behind it. With the way he's playing,
Speaker 4: there's going to be teams lined up to try to
Speaker 4: add him to their team. So, like I said, I
Speaker 4: think he's handling it the correct way. But you know,
Speaker 4: I hate to say he's absolutely out the door, and
Speaker 4: it's there's smoke, there's fire, like I mean, it's it's
Speaker 4: the rumors are circulating crazy right now and his name
Speaker 4: is popping up NonStop. So you know, uh, Dejhontey Mary
Speaker 4: is attached to this, attached to his team. His name's
Speaker 4: attached to it. You got the likes of the mar
Speaker 4: de Roz, you have the likes of Alice Caruso and
Speaker 4: so on and so forth. But I've seen some of
Speaker 4: the radar names as well, like Donovan Mitchell's and things
Speaker 4: of that nature. So he's definitely a you know, he's
Speaker 4: a good trade piece to make any of those type
Speaker 4: of moves happen. And like I said, the way he's performing,
Speaker 4: he's going to make it that much easier for this
Speaker 4: team to make a move.
Speaker 1: But the opposite of what he wants.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it sucks because I'm a fan of d Angelo Russell. Like,
Speaker 4: he's had a lot of ups and down in his career,
Speaker 4: but at the end of the day, he still goes
Speaker 4: out and he's a professional.
Speaker 3: He plays the correct way, and he.
Speaker 4: Continues to perform at a high level regardless of you know,
Speaker 4: the things that are happening around him.
Speaker 3: So with that being said, yes, he's out the door.
Speaker 2: He does want to say I don't know how many
Speaker 2: conversations he's had with management about that and sort of
Speaker 2: his contract situation beyond this, But I don't know. I
Speaker 2: appreciate that he's made it harder for them to deal him.
Speaker 2: I mean, it is now a high risk proposition either way, right,
Speaker 2: it used to be like, eh, d' angel Russell not
Speaker 2: playing well for the Lakers this year, obviously trading him
Speaker 2: is no, you know, it's it's not going to bring
Speaker 2: us lower. The whole point is we're trying to trade
Speaker 2: for someone better, and he can be included in that package.
Speaker 2: Now you really have to ask, will do Jontay Murray
Speaker 2: be a better fit on the roster and whatever you
Speaker 2: have to give up, then D'Angelo Russell, I mean de
Speaker 2: Jonta Murray is much better defensively, but offensively, at least
Speaker 2: in Atlanta, he has not been what his old numbers were,
Speaker 2: and you have to look at what you're not getting
Speaker 2: because you gave up those that pick.
Speaker 1: Or whatever it is. I think it's a hard question.
Speaker 2: But I also know that the you know, dangel Russell
Speaker 2: is really streaky and that in a month he could
Speaker 2: be playing back to the level he was for the
Speaker 2: first trunk of the season, and then you'll feel stupid
Speaker 2: not of trading him.
Speaker 1: So it's it's I like that D'angela Russell has made
Speaker 1: this interesting.
Speaker 2: I am very interested to watch what happens over these
Speaker 2: next couple of weeks because we are close.
Speaker 1: We are very close.
Speaker 2: Let's get to I'll take that bet presented by DraftKings Boogie.
Speaker 1: This is an interesting bet. DraftKings has.
Speaker 2: I love this because you go through their site and
Speaker 2: there's always something good. Here's something good. Will a first
Speaker 2: time champion be crowned? This season, and they're giving you
Speaker 2: very good odds on saying yes. It's plus three hundred
Speaker 2: to say us, minus four hundred to say no, so
Speaker 2: not even really worth betting on.
Speaker 1: And I want to know, are.
Speaker 2: You going to take the bet that a first time
Speaker 2: team for those odds will make the chance we'll make
Speaker 2: the finals and win it. I want to give you
Speaker 2: the contenders here, the Clippers, the Timberwolves, and the Suns.
Speaker 2: Obviously they're not in position to do that yet, but
Speaker 2: they could be by the end of the playoffs. Do
Speaker 2: you think one of those three teams this year can
Speaker 2: be the first time champion for their franchise?
Speaker 3: I actually, I absolutely do.
Speaker 4: With the way the Clippers have been playing lately, they're
Speaker 4: obviously going to continue to get better, so I think
Speaker 4: their odds will only increase. And when it comes to
Speaker 4: the science, you have the likes of Kevin Durant, you
Speaker 4: had a likes of Devin Booker and also Bradley Build.
Speaker 4: You have a chance any on any given night to
Speaker 4: be the best team in the league. So I do
Speaker 4: think there's a chance that will be a first time
Speaker 4: you know, first time champion crown this season. And but
Speaker 4: my gut is leaning towards this Clippers team, and we
Speaker 4: spoke on it earlier. It's just outside of the Boston Celtics.
Speaker 4: It's not a team in the league with as much
Speaker 4: talent as this Clippers team. They are coming together at
Speaker 4: the right time there are they are going to continue
Speaker 4: to get better. I think they have the perfect coach
Speaker 4: in t lou to coach his team to a finals
Speaker 4: run and so forth. So I think it's a great
Speaker 4: chance the Clippers can make this happen. So I'm excited
Speaker 4: to see that happen.
Speaker 2: But you Cousins is taking the bet. We'll see if
Speaker 2: all of you out there are taking the bet. It's
Speaker 2: an interesting bet.
Speaker 1: I like it.
Speaker 2: Speaking of the Suns, Kevin Durant is returning to Brooklyn
Speaker 2: on Wednesday, and this has become part of our Doom
Speaker 2: scroll where we check everything so you don't have to
Speaker 2: bring you the social stories of the week.
Speaker 1: This one happened on Twitter.
Speaker 2: Someone put a poll up on Twitter of asking whether
Speaker 2: the Nets should have a tribute video for KD. Tribute
Speaker 2: videos have been happening a lot around the league. Some
Speaker 2: say too much, but certainly a different step than putting
Speaker 2: the number of the Raptors or anything. And Kevin Durant
Speaker 2: himself answered the poll and he said, the night will
Speaker 2: be better without it, please don't So how do you
Speaker 2: feel about this idea in the first place? And the
Speaker 2: kat himself said, I answered the guy and said no, no, no, no,
Speaker 2: not interested.
Speaker 4: So you respect the guy's wishes. Man, I agree with
Speaker 4: KD that whole Brooklyn situation. I just don't think it
Speaker 4: was enough you know, history between you know, Katie and
Speaker 4: this organization to even really make this topic. It wasn't
Speaker 4: enough good and it necessarily wasn't enough bad for it
Speaker 4: to even be a situation.
Speaker 3: It just didn't work out.
Speaker 4: It was a lot of moving pieces that just didn't
Speaker 4: metch from the top to bottom. It was different personnel,
Speaker 4: It's just a lot the situation didn't work. You know,
Speaker 4: both situations are moved on. I think everybody got into
Speaker 4: a better situation moving forward. So just leave it at that.
Speaker 4: You know, respect Katie for what he is and what
Speaker 4: he did. Let's just go play ball. I think the
Speaker 4: night will be better. Like I said, just respect the
Speaker 4: god's wishes and let's just go play ball.
Speaker 2: I mean, for me, when you look at the biggest
Speaker 2: what ifs of this era, of basketball. The biggest one
Speaker 2: to me is what if Kady had picked the next
Speaker 2: in free agency instead of the Nets.
Speaker 1: I just keep imagining.
Speaker 2: I cannot let go about what a perfect fit that
Speaker 2: would have been being with that organization instead having him
Speaker 2: play in the garden night after night, and the excitement
Speaker 2: that would have brought. And if he just brought that
Speaker 2: team a playoff round win, much less a conference finals
Speaker 2: appearance or a finals appearance or oh my god, a championship.
Speaker 2: I mean, he would be a god in that city,
Speaker 2: and by the way, as a transitive property around the
Speaker 2: league because Knicks fans make up a huge percentage of
Speaker 2: fans in this league, disproportionate even to their market size.
Speaker 2: And I just think this idea that he would have quote,
Speaker 2: you know, followed up the Golden State years, and some
Speaker 2: people felt he had to redeem himself. I am not
Speaker 2: among them, but some people felt that he had to
Speaker 2: to take a next team where he was the unquestionable
Speaker 2: star solo and have the right supporting cast around him
Speaker 2: and bring them, you know, playoff success. I think he
Speaker 2: would still be there today and I think it would
Speaker 2: have been a huge thing.
Speaker 1: So to me, the Brooklyn experiment was never a great
Speaker 1: idea to begin with. And I completely agree with you
Speaker 1: and Kevin Durant. No tribute video.
Speaker 2: It's a good internet question, it's not good in real life.
Speaker 2: We say no, no, Let's just move on, baby. Another
Speaker 2: great week of basketball coming up. We will be here
Speaker 2: next week to talk to you all about it. You
Speaker 2: can catch all episodes of Bullyball on the DraftKings Network.
Speaker 1: We're very excited about that.
Speaker 2: Of course, you can also get it on the All
Speaker 2: the Smoke Productions YouTube channel or wherever you get your podcasts, Apple, Google, Spotify,
Speaker 2: all the things. We are on all the things, So
Speaker 2: please download us, rate review us, give us those five stars,
Speaker 2: and until next week. We'll see you back next Monday.
Speaker 2: We'll have to find out everyone. We're going to hold
Speaker 2: you in suspense. Did Boogie Cousins find out what a
Speaker 2: beer leopard is?
Speaker 1: Come Ball's in your court book?
Speaker 3: I got you, I got you,