Speaker 1: Welcome to All the Smoke, a production of The Black
Speaker 1: Effect and our Heart Radio and partnership with Showtime. They
Speaker 1: do have to start off Paul with a bit of
Speaker 1: an apology. I am sorry. I want to say, I
Speaker 1: am sorry. My therapist told me to do this. It's
Speaker 1: good to apologize to people when you've wronged them. I am.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you know this A die hard
Speaker 1: New York Knickabocker fans die hard since I'm not one
Speaker 1: of these, you know, New Vaux Reach fans. I've been,
Speaker 1: you know, riding with the Orangine Blue for quite some time.
Speaker 1: I have cursed you out in my mind for a
Speaker 1: very long time. I've said some very mean things about
Speaker 1: you mentally, all out of love, all out of respect
Speaker 1: as you broke my heart. But I just feel now
Speaker 1: that we're working together the truth of the Nose, I
Speaker 1: should apologize to you for all the mean and disparaging
Speaker 1: things I've said about you over the years. Internally, you
Speaker 1: know what. I like to apologize to you. Thank you
Speaker 1: for all the things that I've been able to crush.
Speaker 1: The knicks you have I can't even debate, yes, so
Speaker 1: I apologize. No, it's all good. Thank you. For doing that.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that on behalf of all Knicks fans, We're
Speaker 1: glad that you are retired. Hello everyone, welcome to a
Speaker 1: very special edition of What's Burning here on the Showtime
Speaker 1: Basketball YouTube channel. I'm Marry Alwani And how about this,
Speaker 1: my friends, you talk about a special edition of the show.
Speaker 1: Very special guest, the one and only Paul Pierce the
Speaker 1: Truth in the house. We're replacing the guys for this
Speaker 1: week only. I say this week only Paul because I
Speaker 1: feel like this is going to be the most watched
Speaker 1: episode and then it's gonna get awkward take over the show.
Speaker 1: They call you the Truth, they call me the Nose.
Speaker 1: This is the first episode of The Truth and the Nose.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you know this. I have a
Speaker 1: very big nose, uh. And when I was young, everyone
Speaker 1: used to make fun of me, and I thought, Hey,
Speaker 1: why don't I disarm people if I start to call
Speaker 1: myself the nose. Hell, Wannie knows. I knows everything. I'm
Speaker 1: able to sniff out the news. Hence the nose. Remember
Speaker 1: back in the day, Bo knows, Remember that campaign Helwani knows?
Speaker 1: But no s E. You get it. The Truth and
Speaker 1: the nose right here. Showtime Basketball. This is gonna be
Speaker 1: a fun show. I appreciate you doing this. We have
Speaker 1: a lot to talk about busy week ahead in the
Speaker 1: National Basketball Association, but I do have to start off,
Speaker 1: Paul with a bit of an apology. I am sorry.
Speaker 1: I want to say, I am sorry. My therapist told
Speaker 1: me to do this. It's good to apologize to people
Speaker 1: when you've wronged them. I am. I don't know if
Speaker 1: you know this a die hard New York KNICKO backer
Speaker 1: fan die hard since I'm not one of these, you know,
Speaker 1: New Veau Reach fans. I've been, you know, riding with
Speaker 1: the Origin Blue for quite some time. I have cursed
Speaker 1: you out in my mind for a very long time.
Speaker 1: I've said some very mean things about you mentally, all
Speaker 1: out of love, all out of respect as you broke
Speaker 1: my heart. But I just feel now that we're working together,
Speaker 1: the truth of the knows I should apologize to you
Speaker 1: for all the mean and disparaging things I've said about
Speaker 1: you over the years. Internally, you know what. I like
Speaker 1: to apologize to you. Thank you for all the things
Speaker 1: that I've been able to cush. The knicks you have
Speaker 1: I can't even yes so I apologize. No, it's all good.
Speaker 1: Thank you for doing that. I appreciate that. On behalf
Speaker 1: of all Knicks fans, We're we're glad that you are tired.
Speaker 1: All right, A lot to talk about. Let's stick with
Speaker 1: the Celtics, Let's stick with your squad. They have a
Speaker 1: busy week ahead West coast trip, playing the Lakers, playing
Speaker 1: the Clippers, of course, playing the Sons, who have had
Speaker 1: an incredible start to the year. The beginning portion of
Speaker 1: their season did not go well, right, then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden we get this player's only meeting and then
Speaker 1: they turn things around. What's been the difference? I mean,
Speaker 1: I think it's always good to air out your differences.
Speaker 1: You know, That's why you don't because when you get
Speaker 1: into a locker room and everybody's talking behind each other back,
Speaker 1: it just creates, you know, animosity between each other's. I
Speaker 1: think they aired it out, came together. And then also
Speaker 1: the emergence of Dennis Schroder. You know, since he's been
Speaker 1: in the starting line of lately when Jane and Brown
Speaker 1: went down, he'd been putting up some good numbers, and
Speaker 1: so I think that emerges of him. Uh. And the
Speaker 1: only thing is if they can stay healthy. I think
Speaker 1: they're better than what their record says because they haven't
Speaker 1: played well at home and they've been solid on the road,
Speaker 1: and so they can somehow get healthy, get do the protocols,
Speaker 1: get you know, Jalen Janden Brown, you know, back healthy.
Speaker 1: He's in and out of the lineup. If Jason Tatum
Speaker 1: to start finding some consistency, they're gonna be a better
Speaker 1: a lot better than the record is showing right now.
Speaker 1: How do you feel about the job that the new
Speaker 1: head coaching Mayoka has been doing. And that's the other thing,
Speaker 1: because it takes time. You know, you got a whole
Speaker 1: new coach, a whole new system, You've got some new players,
Speaker 1: new roles, and so it takes time to develop that.
Speaker 1: You usually know what the team is all about it
Speaker 1: who they are within the first games, I'd like to
Speaker 1: say every year. And so we're starting to find out
Speaker 1: who the Celtics really are. And I like what he's
Speaker 1: been doing. Players only meetings. We hear about these all
Speaker 1: the time. How many times have you been a part
Speaker 1: of a players only meeting? Well, if you're having players
Speaker 1: only meetings, that means you're probably not that good. No,
Speaker 1: They weren't you know what I'm saying. Usually a players
Speaker 1: only meeting is like, oh, we're not that good. We're
Speaker 1: losing games, and you know, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.
Speaker 1: But on the most part that that's usually in a
Speaker 1: bad locker room to where you know you're better than
Speaker 1: what you are. We're trying to figure it out. But
Speaker 1: in the set this case, they figured it out, man,
Speaker 1: and so they turned it around. Hopefully they can be
Speaker 1: more consistent and keep it going. Can you take us inside?
Speaker 1: Oh man, look, ye I didn't heard some ship in
Speaker 1: the players You know I didn't. You know, I didn't
Speaker 1: heard guys call out guys like, man, you're going out
Speaker 1: too much. You've got girls here and you need to
Speaker 1: settle down, get the practice early, to get some shots up.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just a straight up clear air moment,
Speaker 1: like when stuff is going bad, it's like airing out
Speaker 1: everybody dirty laundry. So you've got guys in the room,
Speaker 1: we're going to tape roll coaches they're not allowed, and
Speaker 1: it's like, hey, you need to get more serious about this.
Speaker 1: You're partying too much or this you're doing this too much.
Speaker 1: Because every little thing gets gets picked out when we're losing,
Speaker 1: and so it's just like we're gonna come together and focus.
Speaker 1: We gotta cut all this other stuff out. And so
Speaker 1: you know that's what players, aren't you? Or if a
Speaker 1: star ain't playing up to his capability, he's gonna get
Speaker 1: called out. You know, if you got a strong enough
Speaker 1: voice in the locker room. It's about everybody understanding they
Speaker 1: roll at the time and playing and being the star
Speaker 1: on your row. And so that all gets called out
Speaker 1: in the players meeting and either goes one way or
Speaker 1: the other. And see that you're gonna accept it. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be an argument in a fight. Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: those are the things that can happen. I haven't seen
Speaker 1: a couple of square up in the in the real Yeah,
Speaker 1: punches throne, square it up, punch is thrown? Who is it? KG? No,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't. Ain't nobody call it. Everybody's scared the call
Speaker 1: that probably called him out before? Why did you call
Speaker 1: him out? No? I mean it was in the game.
Speaker 1: You know we can get to that story. But face
Speaker 1: to face, you know that boys, we are boys. What
Speaker 1: do you call you out for? Man? Probably something on that.
Speaker 1: This is why they call me to know by the way.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's what it's all about. Brothers calling out
Speaker 1: brothers so you can get it right. And that's what
Speaker 1: we always did. We always got it right. Now, like
Speaker 1: you said, it could get incredibly awkward afterwards and it
Speaker 1: can almost break up the team. It seems like for
Speaker 1: the Celtics it brought them together. But like, literally minutes
Speaker 1: later you have market Smart calling out Tatum and Brown publicly.
Speaker 1: Remember he said they have to pass more, they have
Speaker 1: to distribute more. Did you like the fact that he
Speaker 1: did that. I don't like the fact he did it
Speaker 1: in the media because that's something that doesn't have to
Speaker 1: be in the media. But on the other hand, it
Speaker 1: seemed like it worked because if we brothers, that's something
Speaker 1: we can go to the locker room for, you know,
Speaker 1: and we could be like, hey, you need to pass
Speaker 1: the ball more, and you gotta do it in front
Speaker 1: of everybody though, let them know. And so now you're
Speaker 1: making the star accountable because for most part stars, people
Speaker 1: don't talk to your superstar like that because that's the
Speaker 1: easiest way to get traded. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: When the when the player talk to me like that,
Speaker 1: I like, hey, man, keep him out of here. We
Speaker 1: could trade him. You know. You know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: You don't talk to but at some point it wakes
Speaker 1: him up, and it's like, you know what, if he's
Speaker 1: a real star, he gonna be like, all right, that
Speaker 1: was real. That was real. I'm gonna do something to
Speaker 1: help change that. Now if I do this and we
Speaker 1: start winning, okay, But I'm open to hear any kind
Speaker 1: of criticism. And it's hard to really like, go at
Speaker 1: your superstar like that because you could be the one
Speaker 1: out of there too. Did you agree with him? I'm
Speaker 1: not sure what I what I agree with, but they
Speaker 1: need to pass. But his role on the on the
Speaker 1: team is the score. But I understand that if he
Speaker 1: got a high usage, he got to be better and
Speaker 1: more responsible with the ball. So like, if his shots
Speaker 1: not going, okay, maybe it's time to find other guys
Speaker 1: see if I can get them going. You know, So
Speaker 1: I'm talking you know I'm talking about and so, yeah,
Speaker 1: he do need to pass more because he got a
Speaker 1: lot of responsibility of the ball is in his hands
Speaker 1: more because every night you're not gonna be on fire,
Speaker 1: and so in that aspect, yeah, you gotta pass them more.
Speaker 1: So you know, it's interesting speaking of trades. This week
Speaker 1: in the Boston papers, Uh, there have been several people
Speaker 1: who have been calling for Marcus Smart to be traded
Speaker 1: because basically, over the past hundred games for the Celtics,
Speaker 1: dating back to last week, their fifty and fifty, they
Speaker 1: are a true five hundred team. I'm not saying this
Speaker 1: as a Knixt lover, but it's like it's pretty much
Speaker 1: been them on a hamster wheel treading five hundred. Do
Speaker 1: you think it is time to blow this thing up?
Speaker 1: And then how awkward would it be if that's the
Speaker 1: dude who gets traded, the one who called out the star. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know what I think. When you're in a in
Speaker 1: a position like that, it can go two ways. It
Speaker 1: can go downhill or he can continue to climb. I
Speaker 1: think you add to the talent. They got talent in
Speaker 1: there and Marcus Smart. If you ask anybody in the league,
Speaker 1: if you did a survey about Marcus Smart and you
Speaker 1: ask every superstar coach, every team would love to play
Speaker 1: with a guy like Marcus Smart. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: He's hard, nos, he's a defender, he's accepted role, and
Speaker 1: he's a leader Like these are the type of guys
Speaker 1: you can win with. These are the type of glue
Speaker 1: guys you need on a championship team. He plays championship
Speaker 1: basketball the way he dives on the floor, the way
Speaker 1: he guards the best player on every team, the way
Speaker 1: he can knock down three, he's the way he's vocal.
Speaker 1: So if you want to trade Marcus Smart, he could
Speaker 1: be the glue for another team. But you need guys
Speaker 1: like him to win the championship. I want to ask you,
Speaker 1: obviously the famed Celtics Lakers rivalry in a second. You
Speaker 1: played against him twice in the finals year a callie guy.
Speaker 1: But first, you know, the Lakers are going through their
Speaker 1: their own set of issues as well, some people recently
Speaker 1: calling for the firing of Frank Vogel, or at least
Speaker 1: saying they expect him to be fired very soon. How
Speaker 1: do you feel about that not that long ago? Hey,
Speaker 1: that's hey, everybody got a short term memory, uh, in
Speaker 1: the league and in front offices, But like, how do
Speaker 1: you fire a coach that just won a championship a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago? Is I don't know, But at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, when you got a squad
Speaker 1: like that with a Lebron or Westbrook. It's more than
Speaker 1: the exs and those because I think the talent would
Speaker 1: take care of itself when you got the type of personality.
Speaker 1: It's about managing the team. You know, at some point,
Speaker 1: like when me, KG and Ray was together, it wasn't
Speaker 1: about the excess, no we knew how to play. It
Speaker 1: was about how do you manage all these personalities so
Speaker 1: they can come together? And I think, I don't know
Speaker 1: a vocal is the guy that can manage these type
Speaker 1: of personalities. You know, he's he's a good coach, a
Speaker 1: really good coach, I believe you know. I've been around
Speaker 1: Frank in my time. He was a coach for the
Speaker 1: Celtics back in the day. And so somebody's got to
Speaker 1: take the fall at the end of the day. And
Speaker 1: we all noticed. And when you got this much talented,
Speaker 1: a payroll that's two hundred million, it's like, you're not
Speaker 1: trading Lebron. You can't trade Westbrook. You're not getting rid
Speaker 1: of Anthony Davis. So who's gonna take the fall? Everybody
Speaker 1: has a fall guy, and it looks like he might
Speaker 1: be the guy. It may also be the fact, like
Speaker 1: Lebron is just getting older, right, Like, we can't expect
Speaker 1: the same out of him all the time. It might
Speaker 1: be that we need to kind of curb our expectations. Right,
Speaker 1: He's an enigma and all of this, like, he could
Speaker 1: still put up the good numbers that the guy who
Speaker 1: needs to step up as Anthony Davis. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: the youngest guy. He's one of the most talented players
Speaker 1: in the league. And yes, Lebron will give you greatness
Speaker 1: in in shorter periods of time. Now, he is hard
Speaker 1: for him to sustain that for eighty two games season.
Speaker 1: As you get older, Well, he be rejuvenated when he
Speaker 1: gets to the playoffs. Absolutely, he's saving it for the moment.
Speaker 1: But they need to get to the regular season because
Speaker 1: they're older. And if they can get to the regular
Speaker 1: season healthy and get into the playoffs, then the Lakers
Speaker 1: are gonna be dangerous. I do believe this will be
Speaker 1: the last time that the Celtics play the Lakers at
Speaker 1: the Staples Center before they changed the name to the
Speaker 1: Crypto dot Com Arena, which is very strange to say.
Speaker 1: I don't know if that's ever gonna sticks you, uh,
Speaker 1: could you tell me as a fan? I'm putting on
Speaker 1: the spot here and the fan as a fan, favorite
Speaker 1: Celtics Lakers game as a fan one that you weren't
Speaker 1: involved in, And then I want to ask you about
Speaker 1: one that you were involved in. My favorite because you
Speaker 1: were rooting for the Lakers back in the day, right,
Speaker 1: I was rooting for the Lakers. So my favorite that
Speaker 1: I wasn't involved. Jeez, that's a tough one. Well, it
Speaker 1: had to be something to do with the Lakers winning
Speaker 1: probably the as a Laker fan. My favorite Celtic lavorite
Speaker 1: Celtic Laker favorite moment as a as a Laker fan,
Speaker 1: that's right, that's right, when Magic hit the hook shot
Speaker 1: in the garden for the wind. Now as a player
Speaker 1: in my favorite Celtic Laker moment is when we whipped
Speaker 1: that ask by forty something in the Championship Game six.
Speaker 1: How weird was that? As a as a Laker fan
Speaker 1: to the because you probably grew up hating these guys?
Speaker 1: Was that strange at first? Did your boys make fun
Speaker 1: of you? Did they even support you when you were playing?
Speaker 1: This is when I found out who my true friends was.
Speaker 1: You know what looks? So I invite one of my
Speaker 1: boys to the game, Staples, this is my boy, This
Speaker 1: is how you find out who really with you? He
Speaker 1: grew up a Laker fan too. But when I put
Speaker 1: him in like the I think I had him in
Speaker 1: the first or second row, he wore a Laker jersey
Speaker 1: and I was, damn, my guy, you tickets? How you
Speaker 1: come here? And you know what? Let me let me
Speaker 1: put a little note right here and never invite him again.
Speaker 1: And did you know that that strange our relationship? Who's
Speaker 1: he wearing? Do you remember who's jersey? I think he
Speaker 1: wasna throw throwback magic jersey, I mean Dale, though I
Speaker 1: gave you two tickets. Come on, man, what you're doing?
Speaker 1: We're a white t shirt of song that is true
Speaker 1: or one of those like hapsy ones. You know, was
Speaker 1: it weird for you early on, like those first couple
Speaker 1: of games as a rookie second year? Like did it
Speaker 1: take you some time to reprogram your brain into hating
Speaker 1: the Lakers and now you're, you know, a green and
Speaker 1: white guy. No, it didn't really take me no time
Speaker 1: because like now I'm drafted, they're paying me. Sure, I'm
Speaker 1: part of this culture. I'm part of this history now.
Speaker 1: So it was like right away, all right, listen, i'mppost
Speaker 1: to hate. This is the Lakers. Now I'm over here, right,
Speaker 1: you're born into that. You know what I'm saying. Once
Speaker 1: you put on that cethic green you hate the Lakers,
Speaker 1: I'll put you on the spot. Both teams tied at
Speaker 1: seventeen championships. Who wins the title first? It looks like, Wow,
Speaker 1: that's tough because the Lakers got an opportunity. But I
Speaker 1: think they too. Oh, I think they too. Oh hopefully
Speaker 1: I think celthis gonna win another championship before the Lakers.
Speaker 1: I wanted to put some money on that. Yeah, how
Speaker 1: much we could get some DraftKings odds on that next time? Okay,
Speaker 1: all right, there you have it, Draft Kings. Let us
Speaker 1: know what the odds are, the odds. Yes, So there
Speaker 1: you have it. So big week for the Celtics going
Speaker 1: up against the Lakers, the Clippers, the Suns as well.
Speaker 1: Let's switch things over to the East. Now, let's talk
Speaker 1: about the Miami Heat. Miami Heat, I'm still not sure
Speaker 1: where they are right now, because are they the bucks
Speaker 1: Nets territory? Are they in like the Hawks Bulls territory?
Speaker 1: The Bucks Nets territory went healthy? Okay when healthy asterisk
Speaker 1: because their guy Batman of Bio who has had an
Speaker 1: incredible season, just went under the knife surgery on his
Speaker 1: thumb out and definitely that's a massive blow. That's a
Speaker 1: massive blow. But if he's not out for the year,
Speaker 1: because he's the one guy that you can put on Janice,
Speaker 1: you know, because if we're talking about going deep in
Speaker 1: the playoffs and you got to play the Bucks, you
Speaker 1: need them type of bodies on there. So that's a
Speaker 1: massive blow for the regular season. But this team got
Speaker 1: enough depth to get them through the regular season until
Speaker 1: Bam gets back. But they're definitely in the upper echelon
Speaker 1: of teams in the Eastern Conference that you're gonna have
Speaker 1: to see late in the playoffs. Well, they got great coaching.
Speaker 1: For one, they got a leader in Jimmy Butler. They
Speaker 1: got a leader in Kyle Laurie who's been there. He's
Speaker 1: been to the mountain top. And then you know they're
Speaker 1: young talent. Duncan Robinson, Tyler here are having really good
Speaker 1: seasons and so you know, they know they've been to
Speaker 1: the finals two so they got that experience. If they
Speaker 1: can keep Jimmy Butler healthy, Scott's a limit for this
Speaker 1: team because when you look at top the bottom coaching
Speaker 1: to their depth, they're they're one of the best teams
Speaker 1: in the league. You have an injury like that, a
Speaker 1: thumb injury, a finger injury, that cane that long. No,
Speaker 1: I haven't had any long term injuries. I'll fractured the
Speaker 1: bone in my hand. Uh actual, the bone in my foot.
Speaker 1: But you know I was built different. You know I
Speaker 1: was back after a week. Yeah, I was like, man,
Speaker 1: they had to sit me down. No no surgeries, no
Speaker 1: major surgeries. No, no, in my whole life. But see,
Speaker 1: that's that's the key to having longevity in this league.
Speaker 1: You gotta be good and you have to be lucky, no,
Speaker 1: straight up, because they don't matter how talented you are,
Speaker 1: they don't matter how athletic you are to have longevity
Speaker 1: in this league. For me to play nineteen years, I
Speaker 1: was not only good, I was lucky and not having
Speaker 1: to go under the night. But you have a situation
Speaker 1: where Bam is going to be out now, you can't
Speaker 1: still keep them in that bucks Nets territory for now,
Speaker 1: right like now we're gonna find out just how deep
Speaker 1: we're gonna see. Uh I mean yeah, I mean they're
Speaker 1: not in that category without Bam. Absolutely, he's all star.
Speaker 1: He's one of the best defenders. Know, when you lose
Speaker 1: an All Star caliber player like that, you're not in
Speaker 1: that quarter. You're a tear below. Now now you're in
Speaker 1: the Atlanta Hawks Celtics. You know that bulls. No bulls
Speaker 1: is up there, Bulls with the put bulls with nets
Speaker 1: and bucks. Really, yes, I do over the heat went healthy.
Speaker 1: They're right there in the same thing. Four teams is
Speaker 1: in the same category nets, bucks, heat, bulls. Interesting, No
Speaker 1: Sixers you mentioned Sixers. Yeah, man, they're missing something. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I know who they're missing. Some kid who's from Australia, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, so let's talk about the Sixers. What a
Speaker 1: great transition. Truth in the nose. We're just flowing here.
Speaker 1: This is like a two man We've all right, Sixers Warriors,
Speaker 1: Saturday Night, Curry versus Curry, both both guys, Steph Seth
Speaker 1: having tremendous seasons in their own right. You know, Seth
Speaker 1: really coming out of the shadows. No, you don't agree.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know it's a good story for the
Speaker 1: family story, but you know, you got one on one
Speaker 1: level and another brother or another level. It's great, it's
Speaker 1: great for just the brother versus brother, but it's it's
Speaker 1: really a no, it's not really a great matchup. Oh
Speaker 1: but I mean like, for the longest time, we thought,
Speaker 1: you know, Seth was gonna be like the Charlie Murphy
Speaker 1: to uh two steps Addie Murphy. Like he wasn't quite
Speaker 1: you know. Still he's coming into his own. No, he's not.
Speaker 1: I'm not taking nothing away from steps Step. I'm not.
Speaker 1: He's he's made a name for himself in the league
Speaker 1: because when he first came in, it didn't even look
Speaker 1: like he was gonna be at in the league. And
Speaker 1: so he was one ft in one and foot out.
Speaker 1: It was a lot of people that like, he's too slow,
Speaker 1: he can't you know, he can't even get it shot off.
Speaker 1: He's you know when you look at his brother. But
Speaker 1: he's made himself into a player, and I think a
Speaker 1: lot of that had to do with his seeing his
Speaker 1: brother that elevated his game, working out with him in
Speaker 1: the summer, being around him, seeing his how he does things,
Speaker 1: and that elevated his play because coming out, Seth Curry
Speaker 1: wasn't even the best player on this duke team. You know,
Speaker 1: it was like Austin Rivers because I watched them, and
Speaker 1: and now he's made a name for himself to where
Speaker 1: he's a a primetime role player in this league. Okay,
Speaker 1: maybe like the nastists and into the compos to the
Speaker 1: Stuff's be honest, you know what I mean, like a
Speaker 1: guy who's just there because it's the same as brother,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm talking about. He's not that guy anymore. Right,
Speaker 1: with all due respect of the Nassis. I mean we
Speaker 1: all know he's on the team just because No, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's on the team. Yeah, come on, respect um your
Speaker 1: boys with the Nassis. No, I'm not I don't want
Speaker 1: to be enemies with them. No, I'm just telling it
Speaker 1: like it is over here. So Okay, Seth is playing great.
Speaker 1: Steph is playing great. The Warriors are playing great. Had
Speaker 1: a big win on Friday over the Suns to snap
Speaker 1: their winning street. Did you see this out of the Warriors, Like,
Speaker 1: did you think maybe we should have Maybe you know,
Speaker 1: they showed the signs at the end of last season,
Speaker 1: but did you think that they would turn into one
Speaker 1: of the powerhouses of the league. I did not see
Speaker 1: this from the Warriors. No, I did not, because when
Speaker 1: you look at last year, they got put out the
Speaker 1: put in Game by the Memphis Grizzlies, and so I'm like,
Speaker 1: how is this a championship caliber team? And they didn't
Speaker 1: even make the playoffs last year and this is relatively
Speaker 1: the same team. But credit the Warriors, they developed their
Speaker 1: young guys. You know, Loony. You look what he's been doing, Draymond.
Speaker 1: He seems like he's re energized. And then Steph is
Speaker 1: playing at the m v P level, which he was
Speaker 1: doing last year, but he's a lot healthier this year.
Speaker 1: And then the fact that they don't even have Clay
Speaker 1: Thompson and Wiseman and they're the best team record wise
Speaker 1: in the league. This is scary. I didn't see this coming.
Speaker 1: But then when you think back, you like the combination
Speaker 1: of Steph, Draymond, and Clay Thompson, that Big three before
Speaker 1: Durant one a lot of games, they won a championship,
Speaker 1: and so if you get them back together, you have
Speaker 1: to wonder their window it's probably still open for a
Speaker 1: few more years. I'm a little shocked you to mention
Speaker 1: Mapel Jordan's my guy, Andrew Wiggins. Yeah, those guys are
Speaker 1: playing great. They know they've done a great job. Better
Speaker 1: than Harrison Burnes. They're better with Mapel Jordan than they
Speaker 1: were with Harrison Barnes back in the day predirect, how
Speaker 1: about that? Yet to see that we have yet Harrison
Speaker 1: Barnes won the championship. So put some the Harrison Barnes
Speaker 1: name first. All right, fair enough, How do you think
Speaker 1: it's gonna go with Clay coming back? I mean, I
Speaker 1: can't see anyway where it ruins the chemistry, where it
Speaker 1: ruins things, right, I mean, he's just such a great
Speaker 1: team guy. You know what I thought. I've been watching
Speaker 1: the Wars? Do you bring Clay off the bench early on?
Speaker 1: I'm saying, though, look at the chemistry right now, that
Speaker 1: could be another weapon off the bench. And plus you
Speaker 1: know with the injuries he's had, you know, Achilles, do
Speaker 1: you bring him off the bench or do you insert
Speaker 1: him in that starting lineup? Because the chemistry is there.
Speaker 1: They whooping teams are average of fifteen every night without Clay,
Speaker 1: so now he could bring that spark off the bench.
Speaker 1: I think it was me I may bring him off
Speaker 1: the bench at first, get him in shape. See how
Speaker 1: the chemistry is great right now? Nobody saw it coming,
Speaker 1: So keep it how it is, and then you add
Speaker 1: a piece and you bring Wiseman off the bench. I
Speaker 1: don't know, It's just a thought, right well, there are
Speaker 1: some guys who I think would not agree to that
Speaker 1: because of their ego. Clay doesn't. I don't know him personally,
Speaker 1: like he doesn't seem like the kind of GUYDA mind
Speaker 1: you think he would be down with that? I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean, like I said, he's coming off two major ends,
Speaker 1: he hasn't played and how many years a couple of
Speaker 1: years now, So I don't think he would mind just
Speaker 1: warming up to that just to see how I go.
Speaker 1: But how can you say something to what they've been
Speaker 1: doing right now? It's like say, say this happens, you
Speaker 1: throw play out there into the fire and to start
Speaker 1: line up. Then they go like six and four in
Speaker 1: the next ten. Then what are you thinking, Like, dang,
Speaker 1: we screwed this up. Maybe it'll turn around, but what
Speaker 1: they got going is something good. I'll say, he's him
Speaker 1: in there and if he if they still winning and
Speaker 1: playing well, then that maybe his new role. By the way,
Speaker 1: you gave us just your your top four in the
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference, where do you put Golden State the number one?
Speaker 1: Right now? For that Golden State is helaked right now?
Speaker 1: They got the number one offense, Number one defense. I
Speaker 1: mean put him above Phoenix. Yeah yeah, right now they're
Speaker 1: above the statistic don't lie there, rated in all different
Speaker 1: categories a little bit better than Phoenix. Now Phoenix is
Speaker 1: in there also my other teams. I like to say
Speaker 1: it gets tough after after those two. I think Utah
Speaker 1: Jazz is just a step under them. I think the
Speaker 1: Lakers weren't healthy are are right there because they haven't
Speaker 1: had a lot of games where everybody was healthy, and
Speaker 1: so after that, it's a crapshoot, man. I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't know who the Clippers are or if even if
Speaker 1: they're gonna get Kauai back Denver. They lost Michael Porter Jr.
Speaker 1: A guy they just signed for a long term who
Speaker 1: was supposed to be, you know, up and coming superstar.
Speaker 1: And so Dallas that's just a one man show. Porzingis
Speaker 1: he's having a great year this year, but we don't
Speaker 1: know he's up and down to many years. So you know,
Speaker 1: right now, let's go to stay Phoenix. We're gonna talk
Speaker 1: specifically about Joel Embiid in a moment, but I do
Speaker 1: want to ask you, like, who are the Philadelphia seventy
Speaker 1: six is? Right now? In your opinion, they lost some
Speaker 1: bead for a bit. He's working way back after the
Speaker 1: COVID stuff. Obviously, no Ben Simmons. Who are these guys? Like,
Speaker 1: where are they where? They are a team that if
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons comes back, or if they make the right move,
Speaker 1: that can be a contender because in my eyes and
Speaker 1: beat as an m v P caliber player, in order
Speaker 1: to win a championship, you have to have an m
Speaker 1: v P caliber player, and so right now we just
Speaker 1: don't know who they are. They got a bunch of
Speaker 1: talented guys. Tobias Harry, Seth Curry is having a great year.
Speaker 1: Max He's, He's he's probably one of the most improved
Speaker 1: players in the league. And so, but without a second
Speaker 1: superstar in the Eastern Conference, they're just not at the
Speaker 1: level of these other teams unless they can find a
Speaker 1: way to implement Ben Simmons, which I think they're not
Speaker 1: gonna do. That relationship is broken, no chance, no chance,
Speaker 1: no chance again. He'll never play for them again. And
Speaker 1: so that's a team that's the middle of a pack,
Speaker 1: team that is a player away, I believe. So it's
Speaker 1: interesting because early on they were playing well without them.
Speaker 1: Then they lose them be and clearly you lose em
Speaker 1: B that's a big deal. But I feel like now
Speaker 1: people are realizing, all right, you need a guy there, right,
Speaker 1: maybe the second guy to take the pressure off because MB.
Speaker 1: When you have a second superstar, then you don't put
Speaker 1: the pressure on this guy to performed great every night,
Speaker 1: which he is capable of doing because your role players
Speaker 1: they're gonna be fifty fifty. But when you have another
Speaker 1: great player who's consistent with you, it takes you to
Speaker 1: the next level of the standings in an Eastern conference,
Speaker 1: as far as contending if you could put your GM
Speaker 1: had on for a second, the ultimate deal for the
Speaker 1: six Ers to make right now? You talk to dal More,
Speaker 1: you talked to Elton Brand, you know, because it's a
Speaker 1: weird one. They don't have a lot of leverage because
Speaker 1: everyone knows that the relationship is done. This is handled,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's been handled pretty poorly. Right. You don't
Speaker 1: want to let the world know that we don't want
Speaker 1: this guy back, right, so everyone's gonna try to fleece you.
Speaker 1: But if you can pull off the ultimate deal right now,
Speaker 1: I think there's only one deal out there. I really
Speaker 1: true believe if the seventies. Sixers are serious about contending.
Speaker 1: They got to try to find a way to get
Speaker 1: Damian Lillard out of Portlands. I truly believe that Damon Lillard.
Speaker 1: If you watch the Portland Trail Blazers, they're going in
Speaker 1: a whole other direction. They've been in the playoffs every year.
Speaker 1: He's been carrying on their back. But I just think
Speaker 1: it's time for a change of scenery for him. I
Speaker 1: think he needs an opportunity somewhere else to have a
Speaker 1: chance at a championship because it's not happening in Portlands.
Speaker 1: That that relationship in Philly that's done. So if they
Speaker 1: swapped these two superstar Yeah, Damon is a little older,
Speaker 1: but it gives them a window now, and for most
Speaker 1: championship windows, the window is only open like for most
Speaker 1: three or four years. I think he has a three
Speaker 1: week four year period if he was on the Sixers. Now,
Speaker 1: since the Blazers are going in a whole different direction,
Speaker 1: you get a young talent moving forward because clearly the
Speaker 1: team as constructed, it's not gonna work as far as
Speaker 1: winning the championship. So now you get a young talent
Speaker 1: there who you can build around and get the fans
Speaker 1: excited for the near future about all so who say
Speaker 1: that actually c J McCom would be the better you know,
Speaker 1: sidekick tempt as as opposed to Damian Lillard. What do
Speaker 1: you say to those people who are these people? How
Speaker 1: do you that the game that the game that their
Speaker 1: games mesh better than if it's Lillard? N M, I
Speaker 1: got a closer and Lillard who's been deep in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: who has Ice cove Vanes, who's one of the seventy
Speaker 1: greatest players, And you're telling me c J match is
Speaker 1: better with and b No, if you're serious about a championship,
Speaker 1: you need a Damian Lillard. Okay, period, There's nothing against
Speaker 1: c J. He's just a tier below literally maybe a
Speaker 1: couple of tiers. Well, we're gonna talk about the Blazers
Speaker 1: in a bit because they've been going through a lot
Speaker 1: as well. They just let go of Neel Littleha. They
Speaker 1: made it to the playoffs eighth straight years. But there's
Speaker 1: a lot going on over there. Let's stick with the
Speaker 1: Sixers for a bit because before they get to the Warriors,
Speaker 1: they go up against the aforementioned Utah Jazz. We need
Speaker 1: to talk about who's on the radar this week. Presented
Speaker 1: by DraftKings. You got the Sixers and the Jazz on Thursday,
Speaker 1: So before the Sixers play the Warriors on Saturday night,
Speaker 1: they got to go through the Jazz on Thursday, and
Speaker 1: we got a battle of the big man in old
Speaker 1: school battle of the big Man. You got Rudy Gobert,
Speaker 1: who right now is a two to one favorite according
Speaker 1: to Draft Kings to win Defensive Player of the Year,
Speaker 1: and you got Joel Embiide and eighteen to one favorite
Speaker 1: to win the defensive Player of the Year according to
Speaker 1: Draft Kings. I would imagine you're gonna take Rudy, but
Speaker 1: although it's worth taking a flyer on Joel here at
Speaker 1: eighteen to one, No, I'm not giving that to Joe.
Speaker 1: He got so many other responsible You know what this
Speaker 1: reminds me of. This is like the modern day, like
Speaker 1: a chema La Juan versus the kimba matambo. This is
Speaker 1: what that looks like. You know, both tembo, you know
Speaker 1: motambo being Gobert, who's a great defensive player, gave you
Speaker 1: this on night and night out basis two times. I
Speaker 1: think he was a three time defensive player of the year.
Speaker 1: Uh maybe uh Motambo and then and be the modern
Speaker 1: day of Lajoi, who's capable of being a huge impact
Speaker 1: on the defensive end, but his offenses all world And
Speaker 1: so this is a great matchup because one guy is
Speaker 1: just the ultimately defending the other guy. He's probably the
Speaker 1: best offensive big man in the league scoring wise. Does
Speaker 1: go Bert get the respect that he deserves in the
Speaker 1: league at this point? He should not know. He don't
Speaker 1: get the respect because his game is not that sexy.
Speaker 1: I mean, he goes, you know, he just go out there.
Speaker 1: He blocked shots, you know, he rim run and get dunks,
Speaker 1: you know, And so it's not appreciated because the modern
Speaker 1: day big man shoot threes, they dunking on you, more
Speaker 1: versatility to that game, and he's just more of a throwback.
Speaker 1: He is a throwback. But I feel like things the
Speaker 1: tides may be changing a little bit. Look at what
Speaker 1: the Calves are doing right now with Jared Allen and
Speaker 1: Nevin Mobley. I feel like the big man might be
Speaker 1: coming back. Like the Rudy Gobert type of big man
Speaker 1: is kind of in vogue again. Am I crazy? Come on?
Speaker 1: Look what the Caves have been doing. I know the
Speaker 1: Cats aren't the Jazz, but you know, those dudes aren't
Speaker 1: shooting threes. Neither is Gobert. Listen, if your big man
Speaker 1: ain't shooting threes these days, you can't win a championship. Really,
Speaker 1: So the Jazz aren't winning the championship as currently constructed,
Speaker 1: not as currently constructing. What do they missaying? I think
Speaker 1: they need a second superstar. Now Gobert is a different
Speaker 1: type of superstar. You just said he doesn't get the
Speaker 1: respect that he doesn't because he's not a superstar. No,
Speaker 1: I mean he's a defensive star. He's not a superstar.
Speaker 1: That's franchise changing time start. They need another player they
Speaker 1: can rely on, consistent all star, m VP level player.
Speaker 1: You know, as constructed, that team can't win a championship.
Speaker 1: And now Donovan Mitchell has been great. They got tremendous
Speaker 1: dev Jordan Class, Clarkston conn Lee, they got depth, but
Speaker 1: that team can't win the championship as constructed. How weird
Speaker 1: is the situation with with the Sixers and Ben Simmons
Speaker 1: where you have his situation, you have John Wall situation
Speaker 1: where he's not playing. Kimba just got really he can't
Speaker 1: even get like all these point guards not playing. It's weird, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's weird. It's weird. The league is in a whole
Speaker 1: different place right now. There has to be a place
Speaker 1: for John Wall somewhere, you know, to just say he's
Speaker 1: on the team and can't play him. And then you
Speaker 1: got Kimba Walker who looks like he's unplayable according to tips,
Speaker 1: Blake Griffin is unplayable. Like unplayable. I mean these guys
Speaker 1: have These are high i Q players and they find
Speaker 1: ways to help you win games for So for me
Speaker 1: to look at this and to say they're unplayable, it's
Speaker 1: mind boggling. Because to win in this league, you gotta
Speaker 1: have talent, but you gotta have high i Q. All
Speaker 1: the top teams. When you look at the top high
Speaker 1: i Q players, sons look at that high i Q team,
Speaker 1: go to stay high i Q team. And the players
Speaker 1: we mentioned Wall, Kimba, Blake Griffith, although they may not
Speaker 1: be what they used to be, their high i Q
Speaker 1: and you can use them on a championship team. Who, ultimately,
Speaker 1: in your opinion, is to blame for what happened between
Speaker 1: the Simmons situation with with the six years management with
Speaker 1: Doc Rivers, Like, ultimately, who is to blame for There's
Speaker 1: no one to blame. No, No, why is there? This
Speaker 1: is like some little kid arguing argument, Like if I
Speaker 1: say something about my kid and I criticize him, I
Speaker 1: want him to get better. Obviously he didn't take the
Speaker 1: words that Doc and and Be said about him. Okay,
Speaker 1: let's get better. Then they take stuff too personal to this,
Speaker 1: let's just get to blame all this. He took it
Speaker 1: too personally. I think he took it personal. And it's
Speaker 1: like everybody's feelings iss hurt coming. Everybody feelings is hurt. Man.
Speaker 1: Look if coach tell me I need to get better,
Speaker 1: all right, Dan, that's not a knock on me. He's
Speaker 1: telling me I need to get better, all right, And
Speaker 1: I'm gonna going to this summer and get better. And
Speaker 1: I showed him. If they don't like the way I
Speaker 1: got better, than trade me. But I'm not gonna just
Speaker 1: sit out if the Trailblazers don't want to get rid
Speaker 1: of the Lord? Is there another guy out there for
Speaker 1: embiid to realize his potential in this current you know
Speaker 1: window that he has right now because he is playing
Speaker 1: great when he's healthy and it looks like he's getting
Speaker 1: back on track. Is there anyone else out there that
Speaker 1: you think could help him. Yeah, I mean there's a
Speaker 1: lot of players that can help them, but you've got
Speaker 1: to be realistic of who's available. Where is that this
Speaker 1: chrono star rat that John needs to get out? I
Speaker 1: mean John wall is good, but he's not at the
Speaker 1: same level. You know when we talk about Lillard. You
Speaker 1: need that that guard or that wingman that can take
Speaker 1: you to the next level. And who who could that be?
Speaker 1: Right now? There's none available. Of course, you could say
Speaker 1: if they added Zach Levine, if they added them in book,
Speaker 1: and those guys aren't available though, so you have to
Speaker 1: be realistic of like, what guys can we bring in
Speaker 1: here that can help get the sixers and then met
Speaker 1: over the top. And there's not one guy out there
Speaker 1: realistically that's available. All right, So thank you very much
Speaker 1: to DraftKings for those odds. Now, let's secure the bag.
Speaker 1: Are good friends over at money Lying. I've been looking
Speaker 1: forward to this segment the whole day. Yeah, well, I'm
Speaker 1: not about to carry the bag. I mean, I don't
Speaker 1: make any money, but I do like talking about the
Speaker 1: New York Knicks. The New York knickabaka is the Orange
Speaker 1: and Blue. Uh, it's been a weird season, to say
Speaker 1: the least. They pay all this money to Julius Randall guaranteed.
Speaker 1: I mean you talk about fifties six million guaranteed in
Speaker 1: that three year deal. You've got Kemba Walker with the
Speaker 1: two year deal, You've got Evan Fournier with his big contract,
Speaker 1: You've got Derreck Rose with his big contract. And they're
Speaker 1: kind of hovering around five hundred. Uh. Kemba has been
Speaker 1: relegated to the bench, not not to the bench in
Speaker 1: terms of like six man, seventh man, not playing d
Speaker 1: NP city. What do you make of the state of
Speaker 1: the New York Knicks right now based on their contract situation,
Speaker 1: based on their players. You gotta get credit the tips
Speaker 1: though he's done a remarkable job. Now, maybe they haven't
Speaker 1: made the smartest decisions as far as signing players, but
Speaker 1: I do believe Julius Randall All Star most implue player.
Speaker 1: Good great deal. Good deal when you based it upon
Speaker 1: what's guys have been paid around given a bit of
Speaker 1: a hometown discount as well. Yeah, and so no problem there.
Speaker 1: He hasn't. He hasn't like disappointed you because some people
Speaker 1: are saying teams are figuring him out. I mean he's
Speaker 1: still consistently twenty and ten consistent. I'll take that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: But when you look at Walker's contract, now you're saying
Speaker 1: he's making nine million a year roughly guarantee it's like
Speaker 1: to not be playing. I'm not sure what they think
Speaker 1: about that now. The one thing that's positive is what
Speaker 1: he brings for that nine million. Great character, great leadership,
Speaker 1: great locker room guy. And now you ask yourself, is
Speaker 1: that worth nine million? So some teams that is so
Speaker 1: the next they can't afford that they need production with
Speaker 1: that nine million, and so I'm not sure how much
Speaker 1: that's not really a good bargain for them. They need
Speaker 1: players out there. So what are you making the decision to,
Speaker 1: you know, relegate him DMP City. You don't move up
Speaker 1: Derrick Rows into at the starting lineup, who I think
Speaker 1: has been a great investment for them. I think I
Speaker 1: think he's worth every penny that he's been getting. He
Speaker 1: plays really well with tips. Of course, you keep Rose
Speaker 1: and Emmanuel quickly on the bench. They have great chemistry.
Speaker 1: That second unit is doing great things. You move Alec
Speaker 1: Burk's who doesn't have a history of playing point guard,
Speaker 1: to the starting lineup. Do you like that decision, or
Speaker 1: should they have broke up Rosen quickly and just put
Speaker 1: Rose in the starting lineup. Like when you say these names,
Speaker 1: it sounds good, right, But this league is all about
Speaker 1: the analytics. And so when you look at the analytics
Speaker 1: of having there's a reason Burke, who's not a point guard,
Speaker 1: it's thrown into the point guard situation because of the analytics.
Speaker 1: And with him in the lineup, there are better a
Speaker 1: lot better defensive team. He has some scoring, some versatilities,
Speaker 1: some versatility to when they're going to pick a role.
Speaker 1: He's big enough to switch on the bigger guys. That's
Speaker 1: it's about that. It's about the analytics. Now, when you
Speaker 1: look at it on paper as a fan, you're like, dang,
Speaker 1: if they said Kimba shouldn't there, Rose should be, shouldn't
Speaker 1: he be starting point guard? But the analytics don't say
Speaker 1: that he's better coming off the bench. And so we've
Speaker 1: become an analytical league. Now. It doesn't matter what's your
Speaker 1: name is, how have you done in the past. When
Speaker 1: we look at these numbers, this doesn't work. And that's
Speaker 1: why we see guys like Kimba not even playing, Guys
Speaker 1: like Blake Griffin not even playing. And that's what it
Speaker 1: is today. The two guys who I want to see
Speaker 1: step up Mitchell Robinson and r J. Barrett. Mitchell's progression
Speaker 1: and his evolution, his improvement has been a little slow.
Speaker 1: He gets injured a lot this year not so much.
Speaker 1: He makes some questionable decisions on defense. He is so
Speaker 1: long and good in the pain, but he's just I
Speaker 1: don't know, there's something very raw about him. Have you
Speaker 1: had a chance to watch him? And do you feel
Speaker 1: like they need to upgrade? You know, obviously they're gonna
Speaker 1: do something with Kemba, but which position do they need?
Speaker 1: Maybe they need that other superstar as well, maybe a
Speaker 1: guy named Damian Lillard. How about Kemba versus Damian Lillard.
Speaker 1: That's the deal right there. No nobody's training. I love
Speaker 1: it though. The Nicks just need to grow for with them.
Speaker 1: Man got a solid foundation, you know, uh, they got leadership.
Speaker 1: They just need to grow with from within. I mean
Speaker 1: r J. Barrett is a young talent. They need to
Speaker 1: try to find more young talent. You know, they're not
Speaker 1: a championship team anytime soon, so they just gotta continue
Speaker 1: to grow from within, you know, maybe through trade or
Speaker 1: draft picks. But you know the good thing about it,
Speaker 1: they're more exciting to watch. And that's all New York
Speaker 1: fans ever. Won is just getting an exciting team to watch.
Speaker 1: There are reports recently which state that the only team
Speaker 1: Damian would leave the Blazers for are the Knicks. I
Speaker 1: just don't know if the Knicks have anything to offer
Speaker 1: the Blazers right now. No, not right now, And I
Speaker 1: mean it has to be a package revolved around their
Speaker 1: young guys, all J. Barrett, probably r J, probably Mitchell Robinson, Robinson. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so if the Blazers are willing to take that may
Speaker 1: I mean, he's getting a lot of money now he
Speaker 1: has to trade, right man. He had a great Olympics. Olympics.
Speaker 1: When you when you do the US a team like that,
Speaker 1: I didn't seen a couple of players get the bag
Speaker 1: from great Olympics, and so I can't knock him. But
Speaker 1: we know Eving for you who he was before that
Speaker 1: spoken as a true Celtics fan right here, all right,
Speaker 1: coming up, Also, we've got to give a shout out
Speaker 1: to Matt and Stephen Jackson. They are the guys who
Speaker 1: usually yes, jack thank you, yes, respect Um. I would
Speaker 1: say my guys, but I've never met Matt and I've
Speaker 1: only met Stephen once, but he seems like a lovely individual.
Speaker 1: They do this show. I don't know if you heard,
Speaker 1: it's called All the Smoke, All the Smoke. Yeah, have
Speaker 1: you been on it? Yeah? I've been on All the Smokes.
Speaker 1: The hottest show out Barne, regardless of sport, regardless of
Speaker 1: YouTube channel, regardless, All the Smoke. And our friend, our
Speaker 1: mutual friend, Jalen Rose, the big man from Detroit, is
Speaker 1: actually their their next guest. New episode draw this Thursday,
Speaker 1: December nine. Here's a teaser from that episode. How did
Speaker 1: that commercial come about? So no question? Shout to his
Speaker 1: lovely wife Vanessa and prayers to the family. I saw them, um, yeah,
Speaker 1: at the Palms Hotel. I used to go there. I
Speaker 1: used to play craft Dash like the Gumbo there and
Speaker 1: we Lucy used to own the Kings or whatever. I
Speaker 1: used to be there a lot. And I think it
Speaker 1: was date night for him and the wife. And I
Speaker 1: saw them at the Telly. I mean I saw him
Speaker 1: at the restaurant, and of course I was gonna go
Speaker 1: over there and say what up? Because I used to
Speaker 1: always going there, Like they just lost the dish. I
Speaker 1: used to like, and I was like, damn, they go cold,
Speaker 1: go say what to him? And I looked down at
Speaker 1: the table and they had a few martinis on the table.
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, yeah, I'm getting it in. Okay, good,
Speaker 1: you know, congratulations whatever whatever, And that image always stuck
Speaker 1: with me, and I was like, all right. And so
Speaker 1: when the idea was pitched to me initially about doing
Speaker 1: a pie that Jane and versus everybody like like a
Speaker 1: spin about like being in the media and being a
Speaker 1: single dad and all of that was pitched to me.
Speaker 1: One of the things we thought about was doing something
Speaker 1: that related to the eighty one point game. And we
Speaker 1: were talking more and more about it, and I was like,
Speaker 1: let's let's pretend he like something about eighty one Martinez.
Speaker 1: That's that. That's because because to me it was just
Speaker 1: two of them, and they probably had like four or
Speaker 1: five glasses, it looked like ten or left. Right, So
Speaker 1: that image always stuck with me because I never saw
Speaker 1: him have fun. Right, I never saw him have fun.
Speaker 1: I didn't, you know, I didn't. I didn't until you
Speaker 1: called me and I went out with him and Kobe.
Speaker 1: I brought him out and what was its me and
Speaker 1: get it in up like Jack Jack, what we're doing,
Speaker 1: Like do whatever? Cole want to go out? Cold, want
Speaker 1: to go out? I would always go to my room
Speaker 1: and the smoke Milwaukee bro, Let's do something. And so literally, um,
Speaker 1: we asked him to be on NBA Countdown that morning.
Speaker 1: I think he had to arrive at like ten or eleven,
Speaker 1: and so we kind of wrote up the treatment and
Speaker 1: kind of sent them the idea of how I wanted
Speaker 1: to shoot the pilot. And he loved it. And the
Speaker 1: thing is that I love so much about it is
Speaker 1: I gave that away. If you look at it, it
Speaker 1: has no logos on it, It has no advertisement, Like
Speaker 1: I paid for that. I shot it. I put it out.
Speaker 1: My name not even on it. Like people see it
Speaker 1: and try to clown me. Not that is mine, that
Speaker 1: I produced it. You see what I'm saying. I did
Speaker 1: that for him because like I'm such a fan of his.
Speaker 1: And he took that and met a guy that worked
Speaker 1: on my show Jalen and Your Kobe, and he hired
Speaker 1: him and that became a production partner that he used
Speaker 1: become a war winning producers. Appreciate that he hired him
Speaker 1: to work force production. I love the backstory because I
Speaker 1: never had like, I was like, damn, they came with
Speaker 1: Jayden of that idea or that was cold, like I
Speaker 1: didn't know whose idea it was, but it was super creative.
Speaker 1: It was dope, all right. So Jalen Rose upcoming guests
Speaker 1: on All the Smoke, looking forward to that very much. Okay,
Speaker 1: we need to talk about the Portland Trailblazers. A little
Speaker 1: status check, if you will, on the Blazers. So they
Speaker 1: just fired Neil o'sha. Obviously they were a great, like
Speaker 1: a model franchise in terms of consistency. They would make
Speaker 1: the playoffs eight straight years, longest streak in the in
Speaker 1: the game. They made the Western Finals not that long ago,
Speaker 1: two years ago. But it seems as though, you know,
Speaker 1: they're at a crossroads right now. They fire him after
Speaker 1: this internal investigation. Uh you you fire your head coach
Speaker 1: at the end of the last season, Terry Stotts, You
Speaker 1: bring in Chauncey Billups. Currently Jamian Lillard is injured. What
Speaker 1: is the issue right now? I mean that question is, man,
Speaker 1: I think the best move going forward is for them
Speaker 1: to look to try to rebuild, rebuild it, blow it up.
Speaker 1: I mean, clearly, Damon Lillard. He's getting older, his window
Speaker 1: is closing. So if you can find him a happy place,
Speaker 1: Chauncey and up and coming coach. Uh. You know he
Speaker 1: has great character. I've been on Chauncey pretty much my
Speaker 1: whole life, and I knew what he would become a
Speaker 1: head coach. But I just think with the situations around
Speaker 1: the whole, surrounding the whole Blazers franchise, I think it's
Speaker 1: time to blow it up truthfully, give Chauncey a fresh start,
Speaker 1: some young players that he can develop. Guys who have
Speaker 1: been in this system too long see that it's not working.
Speaker 1: There on a treadmill running in place, and I think
Speaker 1: it it'll just be a better environment, a better environment
Speaker 1: for everyone, just to clear clear the air, clean it
Speaker 1: all up and start ash. I think that's the best
Speaker 1: move going forward because obviously things aren't working up their
Speaker 1: important Did you agree initially with the move to fire
Speaker 1: Terry starts Man Listen? Coaches longevity, Like I said, somebody
Speaker 1: has to get the blame where you're in a position
Speaker 1: and you're not getting over the top, and it's usually
Speaker 1: gonna be your franchise superstar or the coach. And so
Speaker 1: they made a choice. Damon Lennard meant too much to
Speaker 1: this team, to this community, stops in his own right.
Speaker 1: Has been a great coach. But I've seen great coaches
Speaker 1: get fired. We we saw George carl win coach of
Speaker 1: the Year and got fired the next year. And so,
Speaker 1: but when the team isn't meeting expectations from a from
Speaker 1: the franchise point of view, it's time to move on.
Speaker 1: Chauncey recently called out the team for not giving enough effort.
Speaker 1: Man got blown out at home. They're they're a great
Speaker 1: team at home, They're a horrible team on the road.
Speaker 1: It's like jacklin Hyde. But have from what you've seen,
Speaker 1: are they not playing, you know, up to their potential?
Speaker 1: Are they not giving him maximum effort? I think it's
Speaker 1: inconsistent effort. But you gotta understand it's easier to play
Speaker 1: at home. This is where you play every night. This
Speaker 1: is where you practice. Uh, this is where you're comfortable. Uh.
Speaker 1: The road is a different situation. You know, you you
Speaker 1: only there once or twice a year. You're traveling, you're
Speaker 1: in different hotels, you don't get the same type of
Speaker 1: comfort you do at home. And so I don't think
Speaker 1: it's about effort because I've been on teams that were
Speaker 1: great at home bad on the road, and so you know,
Speaker 1: it's just role players play better at home than they
Speaker 1: do on the road. And check the statistics. It says
Speaker 1: it says that. But they could be a little more consistent, uh,
Speaker 1: if they want more in the role, but that's just
Speaker 1: who they are right now. No consistency either way. Do
Speaker 1: you think Lillard gets traded before the deadline? I don't
Speaker 1: think Lillard gets traded before the deadline because a player
Speaker 1: of that caliber, it's hard to trade man season. You know,
Speaker 1: he would have to demand a trade. I think this
Speaker 1: is something that's gonna happen in the off season and
Speaker 1: so but if it does, it'll be very surprising. But
Speaker 1: I think they are in definite need of a shake up.
Speaker 1: So it's interesting because you said the best candidate to
Speaker 1: play alongside Dwell and Beat if you trade Ben Simmons
Speaker 1: would be Damian Lillard. But if you say he doesn't
Speaker 1: get traded this season, only in the off season, that
Speaker 1: means the Sixers are going the full season without Simmons
Speaker 1: and not rectifying. That's a mess to tie these two
Speaker 1: together that we just spoke about that if you. If
Speaker 1: you notice the Sixers also said they're not trading Ben
Speaker 1: Simmons until the season is over. Awesome, So that's why
Speaker 1: I don't think nothing gets done. Okay, so you think
Speaker 1: ultimately he ends up there. I want him to for
Speaker 1: selfish reasons. I want to see Damon Litter have an
Speaker 1: opportunity to play with another great player, to have an
Speaker 1: opportunity to win the championship. And what about c J McCollum.
Speaker 1: Does he stay in this rebuilder? Of course, if you
Speaker 1: trade Damon, then you gotta find a home for CJ. Right, maybe, uh,
Speaker 1: Boston Celtics. Who know? Interesting? Um? Could you again putting
Speaker 1: you on the spot here as I like to do,
Speaker 1: But is there an executive out there that you think
Speaker 1: would be good for this team? They're they're going through
Speaker 1: the search right now. Is there a name out there,
Speaker 1: young guy, someone that you know, A bright mind in
Speaker 1: the game, man, a bright mind and together than you,
Speaker 1: of course, because I would be a good one to
Speaker 1: you want to throw your name in the hat? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean that would be the end of the truth
Speaker 1: in the nose. It would be pretty short lived, man,
Speaker 1: Some young bright minds out there. I mean, I would
Speaker 1: have to first, start thinking about like some former players
Speaker 1: who understand the game, Uh, maybe understand the business. Talk
Speaker 1: to Scott Perry from the next Scott Perry. I mean,
Speaker 1: Scott has been good. You know, he's slid, got great character,
Speaker 1: well known throughout league circles. Can I throw one out
Speaker 1: there for you, the wild card? About this wild card
Speaker 1: I got, you know very well former Blazer turned into
Speaker 1: one of the brightest minds in the history of the game.
Speaker 1: From executive level. You with me here Number forty four,
Speaker 1: Danny ain't Danny. I don't think that. I don't think
Speaker 1: Danny is once. He doesn't. I don't think I think
Speaker 1: Danny's retired. He's enjoying this. I know he's not old,
Speaker 1: but he's he's enjoying his life right now, man, I
Speaker 1: think right now off the start, they should hire put
Speaker 1: Chauncey in that role. Yeah, that doesn't work well, but
Speaker 1: historically it's been done many times, many times. His plane. Well,
Speaker 1: you understand, Chauncey got interviewed for GM positions before he
Speaker 1: got into coach positions, and so I think a dual
Speaker 1: role for him. Uh. He understands the game, he understands
Speaker 1: I think how to mix the right pieces together, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I think that would be a great role
Speaker 1: for Chauncey because the coach always know what they need
Speaker 1: and what they want, you know, and then you hire
Speaker 1: a numbers guy who can, you know, do the numbers stuff.
Speaker 1: But a coach knows the needs of the team and
Speaker 1: the once more so than the GM. You just need
Speaker 1: a guy who can just understand the numbers and working
Speaker 1: a certain type of trades out. All right, So we
Speaker 1: shall see how that whole situation plays out. This has
Speaker 1: been fun, my friend. This has been a lot. Have
Speaker 1: you had a lot of fun today? I have had
Speaker 1: a lot of fun, had a good conversation. Yeah, you
Speaker 1: enjoyed it and flowing, you know, proving to the world
Speaker 1: that a Nick and a Celtic can come together. I mean,
Speaker 1: of course I didn't play. I mean, I didn't play
Speaker 1: for the team, but I'm sort of like thirty years.
Speaker 1: That's what I hate about fans hate me. I thought you,
Speaker 1: I thought we actually broke some tears. I can't say
Speaker 1: the royal we now, you can't say WoT in the
Speaker 1: locker room. I mean, you wasn't with them shooting in
Speaker 1: the gym. I was there rooting them on praying on
Speaker 1: their behalf. When Patrick breaks his wrist, I'm praying to
Speaker 1: the gods first bed recovery. Wow. Okay, see typical Celtics
Speaker 1: hater fan right over here. You guys need to get that.
Speaker 1: How come it can't be truth? I'm sitting right here. Yeah, true,
Speaker 1: I'm sitting right here. Truth. It's true. When you cheer
Speaker 1: on a team for thirty years, can't Spike say well
Speaker 1: you hate the truth? Yeah? Literallytily, What about the work
Speaker 1: that we're doing here at showtime boxing basketball? You're doing
Speaker 1: some boxing work as well. Boxing and basketball culture go
Speaker 1: hand in hand because when you watch the fights over
Speaker 1: the years, you're seeing all the hoopers in the stands,
Speaker 1: and they're nice suits and they're nice pretty women and
Speaker 1: go hand in hand. Or in the locker room you
Speaker 1: might have been in plenty of locker rooms or Pacia Mayweather.
Speaker 1: Boxing and NBA culture go hand in hand. You've been
Speaker 1: to a lot of fights over the years. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: that's when you've been to live biggest ones, live fight
Speaker 1: I've been to. I gotta say the fight between Mayweather
Speaker 1: and Canelo Alvarez favorite fights. It's one of my favorite
Speaker 1: fights I've been to live. Also, the Tarver, Roy Jones
Speaker 1: back in the day. Oh, man, I'd have been some
Speaker 1: spectacular fights. But those two jumped to my mind. Who
Speaker 1: introduced you to boxing? Like had you become a fan? Man?
Speaker 1: Just family and friends. Growing up it was we was
Speaker 1: a boxing. We always tuned it in. Uh all the
Speaker 1: way back to Sugar Ray, Mike Tyson. I've always been
Speaker 1: excited about boxing, man, It's just always been part of
Speaker 1: the culture. Best fighter in uh in the NBA, who
Speaker 1: could be the best boxer because you the Ron Williams
Speaker 1: going over right? Yeah, I'm going to that be there.
Speaker 1: You gonna be there too. Has boxer in the NBA
Speaker 1: right now who nobody would probably want to put hands with.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say, uh damn, just straight up hands. Oh,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say at the wing, Oh that's a good one.
Speaker 1: I'll throw one out. James Johnson. James Johnson, I'm like
Speaker 1: a seven time kickboxing His parents are kicking at seen it? Yeah,
Speaker 1: they talk about it. Where nobody got no foot I
Speaker 1: don't see what you call show us the footage or
Speaker 1: we don't believe you anymore. I heard, I heard. But
Speaker 1: like if you talk about if you look on the
Speaker 1: court and you look at that the persona of the
Speaker 1: NBA players, and you'd be like, man, I've been here
Speaker 1: and knock some foods out. Yeah, I gotta say, man,
Speaker 1: you're honest. Brother looked pretty intimidated. Yeah, oh wait. Now
Speaker 1: the dude I just waterboy for the bucks. Look when
Speaker 1: there was in the playoffs, when he was standing by brothers,
Speaker 1: saw I looked like they wanted to get down with somebody.
Speaker 1: I forget who it was. Okay, I'll give you a
Speaker 1: great tag team boxing matches. Doesn't happen onto the Kopa
Speaker 1: brothers against the Yok brothers. Those dudes, they don't want
Speaker 1: no smoker. Now, who's there the Yoker brothers. I want
Speaker 1: no smoke with the Greeks. What are you talking about?
Speaker 1: Have you seen those guys? Yeah, got tattoos for days.
Speaker 1: They're scary. Listen, just like sitting there in the front
Speaker 1: root the tattoo. You can put a thousand tattoos all
Speaker 1: you look scary? Man? You don't think those dude look scary? Man?
Speaker 1: About the look when I look at the scoopfol brothers,
Speaker 1: Nay looks scary. I don't know about that. I'll take
Speaker 1: the Yoka brothers any day. Brothers. If you're out there,
Speaker 1: I'll love here. I don't know about this guy, um,
Speaker 1: but we'll see, we'll see. I'm looking forward to that.
Speaker 1: Darren Williams against Frank Or you're going you gotta go
Speaker 1: with you brother, we played together. I'm going with That's right,
Speaker 1: all right? So that goes down December eight in Tampa.
Speaker 1: We're at a time. This has been fun. Any final thoughts,
Speaker 1: anything you want to say in conclusion, final thoughts, This
Speaker 1: has probably been the most fun you've ever had in
Speaker 1: your career right here. If you haven't checked out the
Speaker 1: KG doc. Checked that out Russell Westbrook Westbrook, that doc
Speaker 1: is pretty dope. And so uh you know, maybe I
Speaker 1: have one coming soon to Oh really can I executive
Speaker 1: produce it? Well, we'll see, all right. This has been
Speaker 1: the first ever edition of The Truth in the Nose
Speaker 1: a K. What's Burning. It's available every week, not the
Speaker 1: Truth in the Nose for now, but What's Burning is
Speaker 1: available every week right here on the Showtime Basketball YouTube channel,
Speaker 1: on Twitter and Instagram and TikTok. By the way, are
Speaker 1: you on TikTok? Are your kids? Are you let them
Speaker 1: do it? The dancing and all that? I mean, the kids,
Speaker 1: but you're not there. You are on Twitter and Instagram.
Speaker 1: On Twitter, I just started following you. Could I get
Speaker 1: a follow back? Alright? Come you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: All right, come on left me hanging Twitter on Instagram.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna block him now. Uh and TikTok check out
Speaker 1: show Basketball. Thank you so much to Matt and Stephen Jackson.
Speaker 1: Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson's the O G s of
Speaker 1: this channel for letting us sit in this week. They'll
Speaker 1: be back very soon. For now, though, we're at a
Speaker 1: time for Paul Piers The Truth. I'm Aria Hawani the Nose.
Speaker 1: Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. This is
Speaker 1: all a Smoke, a production of The Black Effect and
Speaker 1: Our Heart Radio in partnership with Showtime