Speaker 1: Well, well, well, we are officially a week away from
Speaker 1: the start of the twenty twenty four to twenty twenty
Speaker 1: five NBA season, and we are in the thick of
Speaker 1: the WNBA Finals. Some of us simply hoping our teams
Speaker 1: can stay healthy and available until opening day. But we've
Speaker 1: got news and notes from around the league, expectations to discuss,
Speaker 1: and also we have a very special guest up top
Speaker 1: for a brief segment on the WNBA because that's all
Speaker 1: we can think about and talk about right now, Christina Williams.
Speaker 1: On today's episode, I'm Jack O'Brien and.
Speaker 2: I'm producer Jabbari in for Miles, and.
Speaker 1: This is Miles Sometimes story got MGS.
Speaker 2: Dog story, got it?
Speaker 3: Luca Dog hitch t o kay start a MB driving
Speaker 3: Spiny Taylor Number eighteen that's been secured the Celtics or.
Speaker 2: NBA Champions over the double team.
Speaker 1: Short time. Christina, thank you so much for taking time
Speaker 1: away from the finals. I know this is a probably
Speaker 1: a very hectic period for you, but you are an
Speaker 1: award winning w NBA reporter, host of In case you
Speaker 1: missed it with Christina Williams for iHeart. Is that the
Speaker 1: name of a network? Yeah? Okay, iHeart I've heard of them,
Speaker 1: but everybody should go check out her latest episode with
Speaker 1: the legend Sue Bird.
Speaker 2: Birds.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but first w NBA Finals tied one one, absolute classic,
Speaker 1: all time classic Game one Court Williams four point play.
Speaker 1: We were racking our brain before just has there been
Speaker 1: a more dramatic four point play in the history of basketball?
Speaker 4: I can't really think of a more dramatic play, and
Speaker 4: that I couldn't think of one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Fortney Williams.
Speaker 4: Is a dog though she's been playing super clutch for
Speaker 4: the Minnesota Links in the playoffs so far. You mentioned
Speaker 4: that four point play in Game one of the WNBA
Speaker 4: Finals between the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Links.
Speaker 4: She's really that engine that's been keeping that team, you know,
Speaker 4: full steam in this series against the number one Liberty team.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just NonStop. Just it feels. Yeah, the type of
Speaker 1: player you hate to go against because you love to
Speaker 1: have on your team, but you hate to go against
Speaker 1: because you're like, oh, she's she's sprinting again. Fact fast now.
Speaker 4: I was gonna say, she's one of the best mid
Speaker 4: range players of the w NBA right now, and she's
Speaker 4: added that outside three point shot yet Williams, she's she's
Speaker 4: a three level score. She's definitely deadly on the court,
Speaker 4: for sure.
Speaker 2: I'm not mistaken. Wasn't that like a fifteen point game?
Speaker 2: At one point in like eighteen it was an.
Speaker 1: Eighteen point game, eighteen point game.
Speaker 4: I was at Barclays Center, and I literally looked down
Speaker 4: and I was like, oh, it's almost time to go,
Speaker 4: like and then I look up and it's like a
Speaker 4: three point game. And then Courtney Williams hits the shot,
Speaker 4: and it was like, Oh, we're gonna be here for
Speaker 4: a little bit longer, like let's get comfortable. And yeah,
Speaker 4: the game went into overtime, and we know how the
Speaker 4: story went with Stewie missing that free throw and the
Speaker 4: lay up to to lose Game one at home and
Speaker 4: Link stole one.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I was super surprised. Yeah, I think a
Speaker 1: lot of people were just putting it in its proper
Speaker 1: context of greatest four point play ever. The answer that
Speaker 1: you get for the greatest four point play in NBA
Speaker 1: history is the LJ. Larry Johnson Knick's Eastern Conference Finals.
Speaker 1: I just rewatched that play in the context of the
Speaker 1: Courtney Williams one, and I regret to inform Knicks fans
Speaker 1: that he like barely gets hit like it's I mean,
Speaker 1: he sells it. Cordan Williams got mugged like it was
Speaker 1: like how did she even get the ball to the rim?
Speaker 1: Like the way she got hit, and also just you know,
Speaker 1: it was the finals. It wasn't the Eastern Conference Finals.
Speaker 4: So yeah, and to that point, like Sabrina Yanescu, I mean, yeah,
Speaker 4: you have to look at that and live with that
Speaker 4: in game one, but she came back.
Speaker 2: What a game to come back in Game.
Speaker 1: Two for the New York Liberty.
Speaker 4: Offensively and defensively, she's definitely stepped it up. I think
Speaker 4: in game two we saw a better New York Liberty team,
Speaker 4: and then they found ways to climb out of that
Speaker 4: and extend the lead. They had a really good start
Speaker 4: at one point for the Stewart had a record setting
Speaker 4: seven steals in Game two, and so the Liberty just
Speaker 4: really put all the Jets be Niguline Hailton, a player
Speaker 4: that's been struggling with injuries all season, just had a
Speaker 4: surgery before the Olympic break. It is kind of getting
Speaker 4: back to her old self. She's known as a good
Speaker 4: defensive player, but then she had twenty points in.
Speaker 1: That game two for the Liberty.
Speaker 4: So I think that this is the team that's turning
Speaker 4: the page and it could get scary for Minnesota.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so one thing, let's just go big picture here
Speaker 1: for a second, about like where we're at with the WNBA.
Speaker 1: Something we talk about, you know, on our NBA show
Speaker 1: is like the the idea that the league is progressive,
Speaker 1: where like the players are building their games on top
Speaker 1: of other like past players games, and so you can
Speaker 1: actually see the difference, like if you look ten fifteen
Speaker 1: years ago, you can actually see a difference between the
Speaker 1: level of play. Even you know, as much as I
Speaker 1: love Jordan or you know, young Lebron, even looking at
Speaker 1: like young Lebron Heatles Era, like the level of play
Speaker 1: back then just feels it feels different, Like the players
Speaker 1: just seem more uniformly skilled. The shot making is better,
Speaker 1: The defense is like more comprehensively like better, the offense
Speaker 1: is like more complex and beautiful. I'm just curious to
Speaker 1: hear your thoughts on that as it relates to the WNBA.
Speaker 1: Do you see that like progressiveness as compared to like
Speaker 1: ten fifteen years ago or because you know, there are
Speaker 1: definitely sports where that isn't the case. Like I feel
Speaker 1: like baseball, you look twenty years ago and people kind
Speaker 1: of look about the same football it's like a little different.
Speaker 1: But the NBA, I've always felt like it's very clear
Speaker 1: that like people are just adding new flourishes, like they're
Speaker 1: building art on top of other people's art. You know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a good question.
Speaker 4: I mean, obviously, the WNBA is only twenty eight years old,
Speaker 4: and so when we talk about looking back in just
Speaker 4: seeing how far the game has come, I think that, yeah,
Speaker 4: I think that the talent has always been there. When
Speaker 4: you look ten fifteen years ago, you had players like
Speaker 4: Diana Surrozzi, who's still an at WNBA player, wasn't officially
Speaker 4: retired yet, the Superds, the Candice Parkers who was MVPM
Speaker 4: Rookie of the Year her rookie year, Maya Moore who
Speaker 4: recently retired as well. So you see that the talent
Speaker 4: level and skill level has always been there. I think
Speaker 4: that the difference that we see now is this is
Speaker 4: a big woman's league. I want to say, Asian Wilson,
Speaker 4: a piece of Colie of Brianna Stewart. The top three
Speaker 4: players in the w NBA right now, so you see
Speaker 4: a lot of the bigs get love but then credits
Speaker 4: the players like Kitlin Clark and Sabritan and Escup who's
Speaker 4: representing for the guard play in the W NBA right now,
Speaker 4: I think that what we see is a faster pace game.
Speaker 1: We see more.
Speaker 4: Versatile bigs in the W kind of mirroring what you
Speaker 4: see in the NBA, like that positionless basketball so to speak,
Speaker 4: started to happening. The pace, the pace is more fast,
Speaker 4: but I think the athleticism and skill is kind of
Speaker 4: neck and neck.
Speaker 1: I mean, we love Katelyn Clark.
Speaker 4: For her logo threes, you love Sabrita for how she
Speaker 4: can facilitate an offense. I think that when you look
Speaker 4: at legends like Courtney van Dersuit, who's still active on
Speaker 4: the New York Liberty, one of the best passes of
Speaker 4: the game, Chelsea Gray who's on the Aces, they call
Speaker 4: her the point God. So we see those flashes of
Speaker 4: style and in the play and the skills of the
Speaker 4: players of the W. So yeah, I think that, you know,
Speaker 4: we're seeing the game progress and transform right before before
Speaker 4: our eyes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, It's it's kind of a beautiful thing to watch
Speaker 1: across both leagues. Is there anyone coming up and either
Speaker 1: out of college or you know, young players. Obviously you
Speaker 1: mentioned Caitlyn, but any any players that you're excited about,
Speaker 1: maybe any that are like flying under the radar right now.
Speaker 4: I wouldn't say any place flying under the raid. I
Speaker 4: mean the college basketball. You can look at last season
Speaker 4: with the ratings from South Carolina and Iowa and Caitlyn
Speaker 4: Clark went up against them, or the LSU team, the
Speaker 4: Yukon team with Page Beckers, I would say the exciting
Speaker 4: players are Page Beckers out of Yukon.
Speaker 1: She four went on other.
Speaker 4: Season to go play at Yukon for one more season
Speaker 4: to try to win a Nashville championship under Gino r Emo.
Speaker 4: She's projected to be the number one pick next year
Speaker 4: in the WBA draft. Juju Watkins out of UFC. Everyone's
Speaker 4: calling her Michael Jordan of a w NBA. So I
Speaker 4: think she's going to be super exciting to watch. I mean,
Speaker 4: just as a freshman, just seeing how she was able
Speaker 4: to get Uscson that final four, I think that you know,
Speaker 4: they're gonna just continue to build on that momentum next season.
Speaker 4: So those are some players you can keep an eye
Speaker 4: out for women's college basketball and going into.
Speaker 1: The w Yeah, Juju watchin. I'm pretty excited about her season.
Speaker 1: Here in southern California, people, people are pretty psyched, you know.
Speaker 2: Admittedly, Christina, this is you know, this season, I watched
Speaker 2: the most w NBA basketball that I've ever watched, you know,
Speaker 2: And as a casual, I will call myself as a casual,
Speaker 2: but someone that is very much interested in the league
Speaker 2: and very much appreciative of the game that it is.
Speaker 2: I'm wondering how you feel, you know, about it, about
Speaker 2: the future, about the present looking so bright, and about
Speaker 2: the you know, more of the mainstream audience jumping into
Speaker 2: the mix.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, obviously, as someone who's been covering the
Speaker 4: league for over seven years, we welcome new fans, new
Speaker 4: new eyes.
Speaker 1: To the game.
Speaker 4: I think that I love where the game is growing
Speaker 4: in terms of just the conversations that we see. I
Speaker 4: think that the more visibility, the more that these athletes
Speaker 4: are more normalized in regular day to day sports conversations.
Speaker 4: We see women's basketball being featured on the a blocks
Speaker 4: of shows like First Take and things like that. I
Speaker 4: think good or bad, I think that you know, you
Speaker 4: have to welcome in different types of coverage, but also
Speaker 4: when it comes to the league and the progress of
Speaker 4: the league, there's lots to look forward to. Next year,
Speaker 4: we're going to have the Golden State Balkyries expansion team happening.
Speaker 4: Then you have expanded in Canada and Portland and a
Speaker 4: few more teams coming by twenty twenty eight. And so
Speaker 4: this season there'll be an expansion draft in December. We're
Speaker 4: teams now can retain up to six players and then
Speaker 4: everyone else's kind of fear game. So the league is
Speaker 4: going to look different than twenty twenty five, twenty twenty six,
Speaker 4: the league as we know it, maybe some super teams form.
Speaker 4: We welcome in rivalries when it comes to storytelling. I
Speaker 4: think that is just a fun and exciting times. In November,
Speaker 4: the players don't have an option to opt out of
Speaker 4: their current collective bargaining agreement, So how does that fall
Speaker 4: in the mix. When it turns when we talk about
Speaker 4: the new media rights deal, you know what I mean,
Speaker 4: and players getting paid more money, and so I think
Speaker 4: that the priority for also a lot of teams has
Speaker 4: switched over. So when it comes to free agency next February,
Speaker 4: a lot of players are going to prioritize the teams.
Speaker 4: That's spending money on facilities, simple things like locker rooms
Speaker 4: that men's basketball players and athletes have in other sports.
Speaker 4: And so now you see owners really stepping it up
Speaker 4: when it comes to investment to make these teams a
Speaker 4: landing destination for free agents so that their teams can compete.
Speaker 4: We have the charge of flights right now, so that's
Speaker 4: no longer something that you that will entice.
Speaker 1: The playing field is leveled when it comes to that.
Speaker 4: But I think all the extras is now going to
Speaker 4: make the league better.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, we know you've got to get back
Speaker 1: to it. We really appreciate you coming on taking a
Speaker 1: banktime out of your schedule to talk to us about
Speaker 1: the WNBA. Where can people find you hear you all
Speaker 1: that good stuff?
Speaker 4: Yeah, every week, new episodes of In Case You missed
Speaker 4: It with Christina Williams drops on Ihearts Women's Sports Audio Network.
Speaker 4: You can follow those across socials that I see Why
Speaker 4: am I with kW but also follow me at Christina
Speaker 4: on Twitter. That's with a KH not at ch. But yeah,
Speaker 4: thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks for doing it, Thank you. Enjoy the finals.
Speaker 1: Thank you we're gonna take a quick break. We're gonna
Speaker 1: come back. We're going to talk NBA basketball, and we'll
Speaker 1: be right back. And we're back. W and BA was
Speaker 1: what we talked about before, and now we're talking about
Speaker 1: the ABA, which is what we don't really talk about
Speaker 1: on this podcast frequently. So I have this team that
Speaker 1: I follow called the Philadelphia seventies Acers, and I got
Speaker 1: a text from super producer Jabbari last night that let
Speaker 1: me let me just read it direct. I don't know
Speaker 1: if you correctly. I don't know if you can read
Speaker 1: that expletive, man, Jack. I am sorry. Yeah, So I
Speaker 1: thought that somebody had died, but it was just it's
Speaker 1: a thing that I expect at this time of year.
Speaker 1: An injury to one of the better players on the
Speaker 1: seventy six ers, Paul George hyper extentedives left knee while
Speaker 1: depending on the perimeter Monday, but he said he wasn't
Speaker 1: too concerned about it. So I'm not too concerned about it. Uh.
Speaker 1: And I appreciate your sympathies, Jabari. You did scare me
Speaker 1: to death.
Speaker 2: Admittedly, I have to be better. I have to be
Speaker 2: a better friend off. I have to be a better friend.
Speaker 2: I have to be a better producer. I recognize that,
Speaker 2: just sending like, oh my goodness, Neil type the accidents
Speaker 2: probably aren't they Hell no, Jack, probably not the healthiest,
Speaker 2: but you know what happens Jack in the moment, I'm like, no, Jack,
Speaker 2: it's just that, it's just that. But yes, no, like
Speaker 2: like you said, he says he's not too concerned about it. Uh,
Speaker 2: there was an MRI. You know, it showed. It showed
Speaker 2: that there was a bone bruise and there's no structural
Speaker 2: damage and he's, you know, set to be reevaluated and
Speaker 2: this is the interesting part in approximately one week. So
Speaker 2: maybe he won't be there for the beginning of the season,
Speaker 2: but at least it sounds like it's not going to
Speaker 2: be a catastrophican.
Speaker 1: We're good, We're good. You just get healthy, Paul George
Speaker 1: And speaking of we're good, you just get healthy. Joel
Speaker 1: Embiid has gone on the record and said, if I
Speaker 1: had to guess, I would probably never play back to
Speaker 1: backs again in my career. So that's that's fine with me.
Speaker 1: I mean that I remember when his first year playing,
Speaker 1: after he's coming off the foot injuries. That was one
Speaker 1: of the rules that was in place. I think it
Speaker 1: was like a twenty minute pitch count and no back
Speaker 1: to backs, and he did some damage. They were pretty
Speaker 1: good that year. President of Basketball Operations Darryl Morey softened
Speaker 1: it a bit when asked about it by describing it
Speaker 1: as probably not playing many, if any back to backs,
Speaker 1: but I'm sure there's like something. Yeah, you can't say. No,
Speaker 1: I'm not going to rule all back to backs out,
Speaker 1: But I don't know what are our expectations for Philly
Speaker 1: in the event that they're able to somehow maintain their
Speaker 1: health over the course of the year and can be
Speaker 1: relatively healthy come playoff time. Jabari as it you are
Speaker 1: someone who's opinion on basketball I respect. Do you think, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm a full I'm a fool foolish man. I have
Speaker 1: bad taste in basketball minds. No, that's not true. You
Speaker 1: know a lot of basketball. You watch a lot of basketball.
Speaker 1: Is there something inherent to Joe l Embiid's game that
Speaker 1: is limiting his playoff effectiveness because he's had great games
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. He's had some good Round one games,
Speaker 1: hit that one game winning three falling out of bounds,
Speaker 1: those amazing that capped off a really great game. For
Speaker 1: him and then like promptly like got a concussion or
Speaker 1: like broke his face or you know, and then they're
Speaker 1: the more standard like lower body injuries. Do you think
Speaker 1: there's something inherent to his game? Do you think it's
Speaker 1: just been a string of bad luck? Where what are
Speaker 1: your thoughts?
Speaker 2: I mean, several things could be true. Yes, there's been
Speaker 2: some bad luck. And to quote the great twenty first
Speaker 2: century philosopher Jack O'Brien, usually we get to the end
Speaker 2: of the season and he's got like a broken face
Speaker 2: or something of that nature. Look, he's a big guy,
Speaker 2: you know, he plays inside and out. While he's not
Speaker 2: necessarily a high flyer, you know, he puts his body
Speaker 2: on folks, and folks will in turn do the same.
Speaker 2: So there's going to be that you'll wear and tear
Speaker 2: over the course of the season. I think ultimately this
Speaker 2: is just a matter of this is finally them saying, hey, look,
Speaker 2: I don't care what it takes. We need to get
Speaker 2: this guy healthy or have him at least relatively healthy
Speaker 2: at the end of the year one of these years.
Speaker 2: And if this is what it takes, quite frankly, I've
Speaker 2: come full circle on this. I used to be you know,
Speaker 2: like against it as even a concept, But the reality
Speaker 2: is I love seeing the best players play in the
Speaker 2: biggest moments. And if we can finally get a playoff
Speaker 2: run with a healthy Joel Embiid a relatively or healthy
Speaker 2: Paul George, I think Philly still has a fantastic chance. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean you asked the question in the doc is
Speaker 1: this the most talented roster Embiid has played with? And
Speaker 1: it would be good podcasting if I said yes, But
Speaker 1: I am a bad podcaster, so I'm gonna say it's
Speaker 1: not as good as the Jimmy Butler team. That segment
Speaker 1: of a season I think was a little bit scarier
Speaker 1: just because peak Jimmy Butler I think was underrated at
Speaker 1: that point. Yeah, and yeah, I mean I don't know,
Speaker 1: they had shooting, they had kind of a more complete team.
Speaker 1: We'll see that this this could be, this could be
Speaker 1: the most talented roster. It's up there. But they got
Speaker 1: to show me something. They can't just come in thinking
Speaker 1: like they're super team, because oh yeah, I mean I
Speaker 1: don't think that works there.
Speaker 2: I mean, look like, this isn't like a no brainer
Speaker 2: where you see it and go like, oh okay, Yeah,
Speaker 2: they're you know, mark them into the finals like we
Speaker 2: did with Golden State for what twenty fifteen, sixteen, seventeen,
Speaker 2: you know, and so far beyond. But I think it
Speaker 2: at least it's at least the reason why I post
Speaker 2: the question because I think it's at least in the conversation. Yes,
Speaker 2: you know, Prime, I would take Prime Jimmy over current PG.
Speaker 2: I absolutely would. But I also think Todd Maxi is
Speaker 2: better than anybody else that was on that team. So
Speaker 2: and they guess that is including the Ben of it all.
Speaker 1: Wait, Ben Simo, Yeah, you think he's better than Simo.
Speaker 2: I do. And you know we're gonna talk about being
Speaker 2: you know, so this is not just going to be
Speaker 2: a rain on his parade deal. But if I'm being honest,
Speaker 2: I would also take you know, the six foot two,
Speaker 2: six foot three time actually over that six foot eight
Speaker 2: basketball whiz that you know, impressed so many folks for
Speaker 2: a few.
Speaker 1: Years he did it, but it was before he became
Speaker 1: afraid of shooting free throws and it affected how like
Speaker 1: how aggressive he was being. All Right, big Twitter news,
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's big real news, but there
Speaker 1: was a showdown between the Knicks and the Timberwolves post trade,
Speaker 1: Dante DiVincenzo said to Tibbs during the game, we don't
Speaker 1: quite know, right, No, no, we do now.
Speaker 2: Initially we were so thirsty for it. When that first
Speaker 2: outlet said that it was thanks for the trade, TIBs,
Speaker 2: thanks for the trade, we were all just like, oh absolutely,
Speaker 2: oh yeah, like like pigs and slop. But no, that's
Speaker 2: not that's not what he said.
Speaker 1: It was a little bit more like straightforward confrontational though, right.
Speaker 1: He said, I can't finish, right, TIBs, I can't finish right.
Speaker 1: See what happens when they leave you in charge. The
Speaker 1: main thrust of the negativity is still intact with the
Speaker 1: This is what happens when they leave you in charge,
Speaker 1: your dodo, I think, is what he said after that,
Speaker 1: if I'm not mistaken. And then what happened with coach Brunson.
Speaker 2: It looked like they It actually looked like Brunson was
Speaker 2: kind of like just going over to feel it out
Speaker 2: after the game. And you know that they must have
Speaker 2: exchanged some words, because it it appeared as though others
Speaker 2: had to step in between the two. Look quite frankly,
Speaker 2: nothing was going to take place. And and and it's
Speaker 2: funny enough. You know, Jalen Brunson was the one that
Speaker 2: was between his dad and Dante at the end. But
Speaker 2: I'm here for it if there's any way that we
Speaker 2: can develop more rivalries and more actual teams disliking or
Speaker 2: having a distaste for one another. So, while I don't
Speaker 2: necessarily anticipate a finals matchup, I don't say it's impossible.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that can be. It's not impossible. That could be
Speaker 1: a lot of fun. I don't know of too many
Speaker 1: players who have taken a trade.
Speaker 2: I get.
Speaker 1: I guess Jimmy Butler, like, you know, some people just
Speaker 1: need to get themselves there, and so they're gonna be
Speaker 1: like and that this one's obviously fresh. Ye. Jimmy Butler
Speaker 1: was like, you you took Tobias Harris over me, and
Speaker 1: Sea were like, no, I don't think that's how it happened, Okay.
Speaker 2: But that's how it shook out.
Speaker 1: You said you didn't want to play on our team.
Speaker 1: I think is how it shook out. But anyways, uh, yeah,
Speaker 1: he seems big mad. It'll be it'll be interesting to see.
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe he's uh, maybe he plays a little bit
Speaker 1: better when he's angry. White man can't jump style. You
Speaker 1: what's going on with the Kings. You're you're sensing something.
Speaker 1: You you gave me the windhorse. Uh kind of big
Speaker 1: speech that like says something but doesn't say something. We're like, now,
Speaker 1: think about this, So give me your give me your pitch.
Speaker 1: What's your conspiracy theory here?
Speaker 2: So a couple of things, you know, stood out to me.
Speaker 2: For one, dearon Fox bypassing what would be a three
Speaker 2: year upwards of one hundred and sixty five million dollar
Speaker 2: extension by betting on himself. That's that's neither here nor there.
Speaker 1: Even though that is significant, that is significant. I would
Speaker 1: take that much money, I think personally.
Speaker 2: But what if it could be a four year, two
Speaker 2: hundred and twenty nine million dollar contract or even a
Speaker 2: super max five year three hundred and forty five would
Speaker 2: you then take that risk?
Speaker 1: No? I would not. I'm a coward. You'd take the
Speaker 1: three three, take the three and sit out most of
Speaker 1: the season a fair enough. Well no.
Speaker 2: But the things that really stood out is, you know,
Speaker 2: we all look, we know Sacramento they you know, won
Speaker 2: the Damar War or you know wars or whatever. They
Speaker 2: were able to bring a man over the offseason, but
Speaker 2: they made a move on Monday, essentially just clearing out
Speaker 2: a roster space. You know, they sent Jaylen McDaniels in
Speaker 2: a second round pick as well as cast considerations to
Speaker 2: San Antonio for what is going to come out as
Speaker 2: a twenty twenty five second round pick via Chicago. In
Speaker 2: that deal, it opens up flexibility and it makes me wonder,
Speaker 2: is this is this a signal for another move down
Speaker 2: the line?
Speaker 1: Yeah? So what do they need to address? Do you
Speaker 1: think because they got point guard, do they need more shooting?
Speaker 1: Where are we at?
Speaker 3: So?
Speaker 2: I mean, you can there's not a team out there
Speaker 2: that couldn't use more shooting if we're being honest, And
Speaker 2: you know, you look at a guy like whether it's
Speaker 2: you know, whether it's an interchangeable guy like forward like
Speaker 2: Who's or like a Cam Johnson or a Dorian Phinney Smith,
Speaker 2: And while all of those guys bring different things to
Speaker 2: the table, I think you get the most bang for
Speaker 2: your buck out of a guy like Cam Johnson. Admittedly
Speaker 2: I want my Lakers to go ahead and be and
Speaker 2: be in pursuit of him, but ultimately I do not
Speaker 2: think that's going to take place. If I'm the Kings,
Speaker 2: I probably am looking to bring a guy like that
Speaker 2: in mm hmm.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And if I'm the Sixers, I would also be
Speaker 1: looking to bring a guy like that in I love
Speaker 1: Cam Johnson.
Speaker 2: You wouldn't be upset about it.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be ang I'd say, okay, we'll take you,
Speaker 1: Cam Johnson. Why you come over here in Kilda, come
Speaker 1: join the mix. And then Lonzo Ball set to return
Speaker 1: to action tomorrow versus the Timberwolves after there were questions
Speaker 1: about whether he would ever make it back. Hasn't played
Speaker 1: a game since twenty one, twenty two, but still just
Speaker 1: twenty six years old. So we'll be good to see
Speaker 1: him back out there for sure, because he's he's a
Speaker 1: lot of fun to watch and everybody plays better when
Speaker 1: he's out there, so it's it's going to be interesting.
Speaker 2: He's a glue guy, like this is the thing, you know,
Speaker 2: when the Lakers picked him, and they picked him specifically
Speaker 2: over guys like the Iarn Fox and several other players
Speaker 2: that have obviously had you know, better careers or you know,
Speaker 2: you know, had more success in their careers to this stage,
Speaker 2: you know, a lot was made. But I think, well,
Speaker 2: I think as the basketball loving audience, we kind of
Speaker 2: overcorrected because like it went from Okay, it might not
Speaker 2: have been the best pick too, oh god, it's the
Speaker 2: worst pick. And then suddenly, over the next couple of years,
Speaker 2: Lonzo showed like, no, he actually has a very unique
Speaker 2: but of very effective, you know, NBA skill set for
Speaker 2: a guy that has been injured. You know, as many
Speaker 2: times as he's been you you alluded to it. I honestly,
Speaker 2: I didn't say it out loud. I didn't think we
Speaker 2: would see him again. I thought once they said he
Speaker 2: had like that third surgery and still was not comfortable
Speaker 2: on that leg, I figured, Okay, well that sucks, Like
Speaker 2: you know, it's just going to be one of those
Speaker 2: cautionnary tales. But I'm very hopeful for him, and as
Speaker 2: everything is centered around the Lakers, I'm hopeful that the
Speaker 2: Lakers could find a way to bring him in. Man,
Speaker 2: you're going to notice the trend here.
Speaker 1: So you took him second, We took Markel Faults first
Speaker 1: in Philly, and I still stand by that call. Did
Speaker 1: we trade away to avoid picking Jason Tatum? We did,
Speaker 1: and again I stand by that decision. I think history
Speaker 1: will say that that was the right move. Jason Tatum
Speaker 1: Number three, dream Fox number five, marketing number seven, Donovan
Speaker 1: Mitchell number thirteen, Bam out of bio.
Speaker 2: Everyone, every single where.
Speaker 1: Alan, come on, man, I don't I don't love it anyways,
Speaker 1: welcome back. Yeah yeah, but Alonzo at least could have
Speaker 1: been a real difference maker if he had been able
Speaker 1: to stay healthy. All right, let's uh, let's take a
Speaker 1: quick break to weep quietly, and then we'll come back
Speaker 1: and we'll play a little game called better than fifty
Speaker 1: percent chance or worse than fifty percent chance. And we're
Speaker 1: back and Zach three, huh. We got to get to
Speaker 1: the rapid fire around a questioning for each other. Just
Speaker 1: just a shootout, go back and forth, all right, better
Speaker 1: than fifty chance, less than fifty percent chance, more likely
Speaker 1: than not, or not likely than more. No, whatever, just
Speaker 1: is it? You named it correctly? A job. Jamar Wemby
Speaker 1: is a first time All Star. Just to reiterate, he
Speaker 1: went four twenty one point four points, ten point six boards,
Speaker 1: three point nine as siss, three point six blocks on
Speaker 1: forty six point five percent shooting from the floor, thirty
Speaker 1: two and a half from three eighty percent from the
Speaker 1: free throw line. Like that's he should have been an
Speaker 1: All Star.
Speaker 2: That's already incredible.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's already an All Star. A rookie, that's a rookie.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, So I'm going over fifty on this one.
Speaker 2: You can book this one. This is this will take place.
Speaker 1: Check also makes the All Star League. Check put up
Speaker 1: fifteen seven two point three blocks on much better shooting
Speaker 1: percentage is for fifty three percent from the floor, thirty
Speaker 1: seven from three to seventy nine from the stripe. Definitely
Speaker 1: had to take fewer shots, could be a little bit
Speaker 1: more selective than Wemby, But I don't know that he
Speaker 1: gets there this time. I'd put this like in the forties.
Speaker 1: I put it like at a good three point shooters percentage.
Speaker 2: I hear you on that. But the only reason why
Speaker 2: I would say there's a possibility is because oftentimes, if
Speaker 2: you have the best seam in the league or the
Speaker 2: best record in the league, they're going to make sure
Speaker 2: you get at least two All Stars to shake a point.
Speaker 2: So Shay is a given. I mean, who knows if
Speaker 2: Jay Dubb takes another leap and he steps into that
Speaker 2: secondary role. But if I'm having to bet, I think
Speaker 2: I still I'm taking it. I think I'm still taking
Speaker 2: it over fifty percent because I think they are going
Speaker 2: to be good. I think they are going to have
Speaker 2: a great record, and I think he's going to know
Speaker 2: even if it's a slight improvement, I think it's going
Speaker 2: to continue to improve on the numbers that you put.
Speaker 1: Up, all right, better than fifty percent chance, worse than
Speaker 1: fifty percent chance. This is the year where Mark el
Speaker 1: Foltz makes people recognize the seventy six ers were right
Speaker 1: to take him over Jason Tatum.
Speaker 2: I'm I'm going to check something in real time because
Speaker 2: I'm pretty in the league. I don't think he's on
Speaker 2: a roster right now. Markl faults Mark el Fults. It
Speaker 2: says who last played in Orlando is not currently on
Speaker 2: a roster. So I'm gonna say I'm gonna take the
Speaker 2: under on that one. Even though I would like like in.
Speaker 1: The forties, I'd like to be in the thirties, all right.
Speaker 1: Kid Cunningham plays himself into an All Star spot with
Speaker 1: new leadership supporting cast around him. He's played in just
Speaker 1: seventy four games of the last two seasons, but, and
Speaker 1: this is important, he has looked really good in three
Speaker 1: of his four preseason games. Three of his four preseason games. Jabari,
Speaker 1: what are you doing?
Speaker 2: When I put that note in there? I was smiling,
Speaker 2: s I typed, D look, so here here's the quiet part.
Speaker 2: I haven't been able to discuss it over his last
Speaker 2: two years. I am a Kaid Cunningham fan. I'm a
Speaker 2: Kide Cunningham fan. I think he is the goods. I
Speaker 2: think he has that type of game. But the trouble is,
Speaker 2: I don't know if I believe in Detroit enough, even
Speaker 2: though I recognize new coaching staff, you know, like all together,
Speaker 2: you know, shout out to Jami Bickerstaff, you know, new
Speaker 2: roster surrounding him altogether. So do I think he's going
Speaker 2: to play well enough to be in the conversation ensured?
Speaker 2: He's going to absolutely get there? You know, possibly not
Speaker 2: because it's a it's a season flux.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So, I mean we said he played seventy four
Speaker 1: games of the last two seasons. He played sixty two
Speaker 1: last year. Yeah, so he he got his games then,
Speaker 1: granted it was a historically bad team, but he put
Speaker 1: up twenty two points, shot forty five, thirty five from three.
Speaker 1: You know, he seven point five assists. I don't know, man,
Speaker 1: that doesn't seem wildly unlikely. I can see him doing it.
Speaker 1: What do we think? We think the new look, new culture.
Speaker 1: We think Detroit culture, Piston's culture Israel.
Speaker 2: I think he at least have to try. You know,
Speaker 2: it was reported it JB. Bigger Staff. He plans to
Speaker 2: create a new culture. You know, he's like kind of
Speaker 2: wanting the more professional approach. It seems. Who knows how
Speaker 2: those athletes will respond to it. But I think if
Speaker 2: you're him, you at least have to make the effort
Speaker 2: because the way things have been going there the last
Speaker 2: few years, and this is you know, not necessarily just
Speaker 2: on the you know, the previous coach uh you know,
Speaker 2: shout out to you know, shout out to money.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: I hope he is enjoying his riches in fullness, but
Speaker 2: the reality is this, you know, this this organization has
Speaker 2: been spiraling. Maybe this isn't you know, step in the
Speaker 2: right direction. It would be awesome if they could you know,
Speaker 2: turn it around and win thirty plus games and kind
Speaker 2: of re establish things there.
Speaker 1: He would love to see it.
Speaker 2: I would.
Speaker 1: We've got a couple of people that were saying, this
Speaker 1: is their prove it year, Okay. Ben Simmons fifty chance
Speaker 1: greater than fifty chance that he is on a roster
Speaker 1: next year.
Speaker 2: I think it's a greater than fifty percent chance he's
Speaker 2: on a roster. I don't know how many games he's
Speaker 2: going to be playing. And this, this is I swear
Speaker 2: to you. I mentioned it earlier. I'm not trying to
Speaker 2: file on him. I want Ben Simmons to be, you know,
Speaker 2: to play well and to at least just be in
Speaker 2: the mix. But I can't trust that, you know, given
Speaker 2: what we've seen over the last few years, I can't
Speaker 2: take that bet. It's like the old school Survivor commercials.
Speaker 2: I can't take that right.
Speaker 1: Jack Yeah, and then Jaw, which we are intentionally putting
Speaker 1: him in the same category as Ben Simmons to give
Speaker 1: him a bulletin board material, Ja moran, is he gonna
Speaker 1: do it?
Speaker 2: So this is the thing. I don't know if you
Speaker 2: saw this, like I don't remember, I don't even remember
Speaker 2: the outlet, but shout out to them. They put you know,
Speaker 2: a recent conversation was centered around breakout, like you know,
Speaker 2: like you know, like you guys that are gonna break out,
Speaker 2: and they had Jaw on the graphic and Jaw actually
Speaker 2: responded to it and said like, hey, you know, respectfully,
Speaker 2: I shouldn't be on this, while he should not have
Speaker 2: been on that. I do think this is a proven
Speaker 2: year for him. We can be honest. He's been hurt.
Speaker 2: He's also had other reasons why he's been getting out
Speaker 2: of the lineup. This is year six for him. I
Speaker 2: honestly think this Grizzlies team is probably the probably the
Speaker 2: best that he's been on. We once everybody, you know,
Speaker 2: falls into their role, so I would like to see them.
Speaker 2: I would like to see what they look like this year.
Speaker 2: I want to see him dunking all over everybody again,
Speaker 2: and I want to see that, you know, I want
Speaker 2: to see what they do, you know, as a unit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, if he stays healthy, I think there's a really
Speaker 1: good chance that we have some amazing jaw moments and
Speaker 1: that the Grizzlies making noise. It's just, you know, he's
Speaker 1: a small body who is jumping at heights that we've
Speaker 1: never seen an MP player jump, So it'll be interesting.
Speaker 1: Edie has looked good in the preseason. Oh yeah, So
Speaker 1: I'm excited. I'm excited for this team. I'm gonna I'm
Speaker 1: gonna be watching some league pass Grizzlies games for sure.
Speaker 2: You know what, let me ask you that, who are
Speaker 2: some of your league pass team because they're one of
Speaker 2: mine as well.
Speaker 1: So you got your Memphis, you got your Wemby. Obviously,
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think. I want to see Orlando this year.
Speaker 1: I want to see how that all looks. The Knicks
Speaker 1: are gonna be on all the time, so I don't
Speaker 1: have to put them in there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, seems like, okay, so you'll be on all the
Speaker 2: time as well, you know, so we'll Denver.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I don't know, those will probably be my teams.
Speaker 1: Who else? Who am I missing? Houston is going to
Speaker 1: be interesting.
Speaker 2: There you go. Houston is the one for me because again,
Speaker 2: I like their top line talent, I like the guys
Speaker 2: they have, like in support, I'm still questioning. Okay, so
Speaker 2: they got a bunch of younger guys and then they
Speaker 2: got you know, some actual vets that have had you know,
Speaker 2: you know, deep runs and I have a ton of experience. Well, yes,
Speaker 2: it's good to have a mix which what's going to
Speaker 2: be the direction of the team. So like that's kind
Speaker 2: of what I'm looking you know, who's taking over, you
Speaker 2: know for the bulk of it. Is it going to
Speaker 2: be a Shane Goon lead offense. Is it going to
Speaker 2: be a Jalen Green lead offense? Are we going to
Speaker 2: see more fragman, you know what I mean? Like there's
Speaker 2: all types of questions there, so I'm intrigued.
Speaker 1: I'm also going to be checking for the box because
Speaker 1: that's just could go either direction. But I want to
Speaker 1: see it succeed. I love Dame, I love Yiannis. That
Speaker 1: was really fun when they won the title.
Speaker 2: Mm hmm.
Speaker 1: And also Phoenix, I'm curious to see how that looks.
Speaker 1: I don't feel like they changed enough pieces for it
Speaker 1: to like suddenly be night and day from where they
Speaker 1: were last year. But we'll see.
Speaker 2: Let me throw let me throw this out there about Phoenix.
Speaker 2: That's an excellent point people. You said I was going
Speaker 2: overboard a couple of years back when I said Clayton
Speaker 2: needed to come off the bench. When you know when
Speaker 2: you came back healthy for Golden State. If Phoenix is
Speaker 2: going to be serious, I think they need to balance
Speaker 2: things out by having Brad Buel come off the bench
Speaker 2: and manned that second unit. For one, you would you
Speaker 2: would immediately put him in six mant of year conversations.
Speaker 2: It would kind of balance things a little bit more
Speaker 2: for them. I say all that to say this is
Speaker 2: what they should do, but I highly doubt they do.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't. I don't think he like just it
Speaker 1: doesn't feel like it. It would make sense, like given
Speaker 1: who he is, right like, I feel like, you know,
Speaker 1: like he doesn't feel like the guy who's like going
Speaker 1: to lead that team and just be like yeah, now
Speaker 1: I'm I'm a role player. He's not going to do
Speaker 1: what Devin Booker did for the Olympics team, you know.
Speaker 2: Or you know what, like say what lamar Odin did
Speaker 2: when Phil Jackson decided like hey, yeah, like I can
Speaker 2: actually utili.
Speaker 1: This could be a weapon.
Speaker 2: Yes, could be a weapon, but yeah.
Speaker 1: I would I would like to see it, but let's
Speaker 1: let's try it out. Speaking of Clay, there was a
Speaker 1: great little graphic where somebody did a split screen of
Speaker 1: Tim Hardaway Junior and Clay and said you killed the
Speaker 1: man on the Tim Hardaway Junior side, but not the
Speaker 1: idea on the Clay side. Uh. And that was messed up.
Speaker 2: Disrespectful and you know what respect And I'm sure Tim
Speaker 2: Hardaway Junior fans would be like or you know, his
Speaker 2: family would be like, what do you mean disrespectful? But
Speaker 2: y'all know that y'all know exactly what I mean.
Speaker 1: You know, Yeah, no, diss not That's not what Dallas
Speaker 1: fans are looking for. Also, man, man, I might be
Speaker 1: having to watch some of these Golden State Warriors. Fam
Speaker 1: Have you seen this guy Steph Curry? Like I can
Speaker 1: shoot the rock, you can shoot the dang rock.
Speaker 2: I think he's got a future.
Speaker 1: All Right, we're going to do one rapid fire because
Speaker 1: it's just the two of the two of us. We're
Speaker 1: playing pickup hoops. We did presidents a couple of times.
Speaker 1: Last week, we did actors. This year it's musicians. We
Speaker 1: just got the first pick and took my favorite rapper,
Speaker 1: Alan Iverson in his prime. Unfortunately, we immediately instituted a
Speaker 1: rule that says nobody else is allowed to draft anybody
Speaker 1: who has ever played professional basketball. And you are on
Speaker 1: the clock, who are you taking next? It can be
Speaker 1: any musician.
Speaker 2: That is a very convenient rule.
Speaker 1: It works out well for me.
Speaker 2: I'm going to steal the pre show answer because Brian.
Speaker 2: I think it was Brian that brought it up. You
Speaker 2: are absolutely right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, this would have worked for actor to give me
Speaker 1: the late great Prince Prince shoot it, yeah, Charlie Murphy era,
Speaker 1: and we got Prince.
Speaker 2: Is gonna cross Ai up like Ai cross Jordan up
Speaker 2: at the free.
Speaker 1: Thom Now, I just changed the rules back and I
Speaker 1: got Shaq, who got my second favorite rapper Shack?
Speaker 2: All right? All right? Prime Kareem Abdul Jabbar, all right.
Speaker 1: I like Shaq and Iverson together. I feel like they
Speaker 1: would have been pretty good. But yeah, no, Prince Prince
Speaker 1: was supposed to be pretty good too, So I think
Speaker 1: I won that one. Uh that is gonna do it
Speaker 1: for us this week? It's almost time. What's got you
Speaker 1: most excited? If you had to name one player, what's
Speaker 1: the player that's got you most excited right now?
Speaker 2: It's Wimby. And I know that's cliche and left that
Speaker 2: was the answer going in the last season.
Speaker 1: Because it's the correct answer.
Speaker 2: That's the answer. And believe me, I'm We're a lot
Speaker 2: of things. But second year Winby and seeing if the
Speaker 2: trajectory continues along the line that I think is going
Speaker 2: to By the way, remember you asked me this last
Speaker 2: year how long it would take for him to be
Speaker 2: the best player in the league, And I said twenty
Speaker 2: twenty six, and then I came back and I amended
Speaker 2: that and said twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, here we are, twenty twenty five. Do you
Speaker 1: think it's gonna be the second half of the season.
Speaker 2: Second half of this season, if you know, if he continues,
Speaker 2: I think he's not going to be universally called the
Speaker 2: best player in the league. But we're we're gonna look
Speaker 2: back and say, like, man, he was, he was already there.
Speaker 2: He was there, he was already there.
Speaker 1: All right, that's gonna do it? Jabari, where can people
Speaker 1: find you?
Speaker 2: At? Jabari A. Davis on Twitter? What about you?
Speaker 1: You can find me on Twitter at Jack Underscore O'Brien,
Speaker 1: and you can follow us by searching the hashtag mad
Speaker 1: Boosties That's B S t i e s for show
Speaker 1: links and updates, and be sure to join the conversation
Speaker 1: on air discord, which you can also find the link
Speaker 1: for wing search mad b W O S t i
Speaker 1: e S. That's gonna do it again. Another one in
Speaker 1: the books, Swish Way Downtown, Nothing but Ned