Speaker 1: Welcome in. We'll drive you the great episode three point
Speaker 1: thirty after one of the most consequential nights in recent
Speaker 1: NBA history, when you combine the draft lottery going the
Speaker 1: way it did, the impact that is going to have
Speaker 1: on not only the future of three super relevant teams
Speaker 1: with respect to the Hornets and the Wizards, who are
Speaker 1: bummed today, but in the MAVs, the Sixers, and of
Speaker 1: course the San Antonio Spurs, and then also what appears
Speaker 1: to be something of a devastating injury for Jason Tatum
Speaker 1: and the fact that the New York Knicks We're gonna
Speaker 1: win that game even if Tatum didn't get hurt, and
Speaker 1: what that meant for the Celtics long term. This is
Speaker 1: a night Windy said it right after the first game
Speaker 1: that the is gonna have reverberations for honestly for years
Speaker 1: to come, and before we get to any of that,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure I'll expand on this more later and
Speaker 1: before i even bring in Demnsey. And this is something
Speaker 1: where I'm probably gonna hurt some people's feelings, and I
Speaker 1: Am probably gonna hurt some coworkers feelings, and I don't care.
Speaker 1: There are some times we get real, in live action,
Speaker 1: in the moment, impromptu IQ tests for the general public,
Speaker 1: and one of them is this, do you think the
Speaker 1: NBA Draft lottery is rigged? Because if you think it is,
Speaker 1: you're kind of dumb. Now you might be like, I'm
Speaker 1: not dumb. Explain the odds of these things. And the
Speaker 1: answer to that question is go to your local community college.
Speaker 1: You can probably get courses for seventy dollars a credit
Speaker 1: hour and take in introduction to probability and statistics. And
Speaker 1: what you'll learn is the thing about things that have
Speaker 1: a one point eight percent chance of occurring, is they
Speaker 1: occur one point eight percent of the time. And when
Speaker 1: you have a bunch of teams, all of whom have
Speaker 1: a like So here is the simplest way to explain it.
Speaker 1: And I knew it. I'm not gonna name names, but
Speaker 1: I knew there would be people working on this show.
Speaker 1: Might be one person co hosting the show I'm going
Speaker 1: to bring in a bit who's like, well, obviously it
Speaker 1: might be rigged. I know that I'm a jerk for
Speaker 1: calling you guys dumb, and I'm not saying you're dumb.
Speaker 1: Maybe I did just say that you're just dumber than
Speaker 1: you think you are. So here is like the most
Speaker 1: simple way to look at it from a probability perspective.
Speaker 1: What are the odds of any one person winning the
Speaker 1: power ball? Like is it like one point four billion
Speaker 1: to one, not one point eight percent, but like point
Speaker 1: zero zero one hundred times one percent that someone's going
Speaker 1: to win it? But someone always wins it. So how
Speaker 1: does that happen? You had one in a billion you
Speaker 1: had there are more people, there's not a billion people
Speaker 1: in the United States, yet every week someone hits a
Speaker 1: billion to one shot. That's how That's how probability and
Speaker 1: statistics work. Also, the idea that the firm Ernst and
Speaker 1: Young is gonna be like listen, been around for about
Speaker 1: one hundred years. We have a super profitable business. We
Speaker 1: also have a side business where we rig the NBA
Speaker 1: Draft lottery for reasons that aren't totally clear. Like the
Speaker 1: latest conspiracy is if you trade with the Lakers, you
Speaker 1: get the number one pick. But that of course is
Speaker 1: idiotic because Anthony Davis. Because like they traded Davis, they
Speaker 1: got Zion. The NBA didn't want Zion to go to
Speaker 1: New Orleans. It was a disaster for everyone. The moment
Speaker 1: it happened. Well, the the NBA called in is sent in, listen,
Speaker 1: trade Luca to the to the Lakers and we'll get
Speaker 1: you Cooper Flag. And the part of that story that
Speaker 1: folks are ignoring is the Dallas Mavericks were won a
Speaker 1: play in game, tried to make the playoffs, and we're
Speaker 1: playing the Memphis Grizzlies in a game that if they won,
Speaker 1: they don't even have any ping pong balls. That was
Speaker 1: so neat, Like how how big does the conspiracy go? Boys?
Speaker 1: People are just And there's five teams that if they
Speaker 1: would have won it, we would have said. If the
Speaker 1: Spurs won it, we would have said rigged, duh, Wimby
Speaker 1: and Flag. If the Sixers won it, we'd have said rigged.
Speaker 1: Oh you gotta you're you gotta get him be a lifeline.
Speaker 1: There's like more teams that you would have called it
Speaker 1: rigged than.
Speaker 2: Not would have made people call it the most rigged though,
Speaker 2: like that that's the that's the team that.
Speaker 1: But every whoa right. But people did the same ship
Speaker 1: with Wimby. Oh of course, the like the Spurs, they
Speaker 1: right from Duncan into Wimby. People reverse engineer these conspiracies
Speaker 1: here's the problem with the conspiracy. The draft lottery is now. Listen,
Speaker 1: all conspiracies are not created equal that. Do I think
Speaker 1: forty years ago, when the process was the commissioner picking
Speaker 1: his hand into a globe and grabbing an envelope, do
Speaker 1: I think that maybe, oh, or freezing one of those envelopes.
Speaker 1: That's not idiotic because that's easy to execute and one
Speaker 1: person has to be involved. Any conspiracy where it's like, well,
Speaker 1: we need a whole lot of the executives and lawyers
Speaker 1: at Ernst and Young to be in on it. We
Speaker 1: need the league owners to be fine with it. The
Speaker 1: Wizard's owners like, God damn it. This conspiracies never works
Speaker 1: for me, but I'll keep playing along. We need the
Speaker 1: reporters to be in on it. It's so dumb. And
Speaker 1: the reason I'm leading the show with it is because
Speaker 1: you're I'm just telling you right now. Sometimes it's hard
Speaker 1: to tell, like who's smart and who's not. As far
Speaker 1: as people who have public platforms and talk about things
Speaker 1: for a living. If one of your favorite personalities today
Speaker 1: is like hah hah, wink wink, that was gonna happen,
Speaker 1: they're just not that they're not as bright as they
Speaker 1: think they are, just dock their IQ points. It's it's
Speaker 1: like if you saw them, you know, fall off a
Speaker 1: twenty foot ledge onto their head, like moving forward to
Speaker 1: be like, oh, probably not as smart as they once were.
Speaker 1: You now know it. So I'm sorry. And like I said,
Speaker 1: I know I'm hurting some people's feelings today and I
Speaker 1: know that, but it's just idiotic. Now before we get
Speaker 1: to the show, because I did want to start with that,
Speaker 1: because today is a tough day for Demandacaus Demonde's a
Speaker 1: Celtics fan and that's his team, and that was devastating.
Speaker 1: I have one other note which will shock you, pal,
Speaker 1: and I think really make you happy. So one of
Speaker 1: our neighbors is Michelle Roberts, who you don't know who
Speaker 1: that is, but she for years ran the NBA Players Association.
Speaker 1: She was the woman in charge of the NBA Players Union.
Speaker 1: She's the lady who famously during the lockout, Patrick Beverly
Speaker 1: barked at and then all the other players had to
Speaker 1: tell him sit down and shut up, be respectful. Very famous,
Speaker 1: successful lawyer for a long time, ran the NBA Players Association.
Speaker 1: Now retired day before yesterday. Your mom and I are
Speaker 1: out front cleaning up our front porch, and she came
Speaker 1: by and she and I have talked a few times.
Speaker 1: She had never met your mom, and she says to
Speaker 1: your mom, she was like, I have to tell you something.
Speaker 1: I love your son on the podcast. Oh what you
Speaker 1: swear to God? She was like, he's so funny, he's
Speaker 1: quick witted, he's he is. And I was. I was stunned.
Speaker 1: Not that she liked you, but I would. Whenever someone
Speaker 1: important watches the pod, I'm always a little taken aback
Speaker 1: because it's not like the TV show that you could
Speaker 1: just have it on. You have to like opt into it.
Speaker 1: So I find it very touching. But she would, I mean,
Speaker 1: she spent I don't know three to five minutes talking
Speaker 1: to your mom about you on the podcast. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: that is awesome.
Speaker 2: It certainly shocks me.
Speaker 1: You being the league guy. She goes up, She's like, oh, no, listen, no,
Speaker 1: But that was that was I mean, it was great.
Speaker 1: That made me very happy. All right, Now to the
Speaker 1: news of the day. Here's well, here's what missed the cut.
Speaker 1: We'll do in the NFL schedule release stuff on Thursday. Uh,
Speaker 1: Philadelphia is gonna open the season against Dallas. The Bears. See,
Speaker 1: Chicago got Super Bowl bets increased after the pope was
Speaker 1: selected because he's a Chicago guy. I thought the Knicks
Speaker 1: would have gotten championship bets increased because he's a Nova
Speaker 1: guy and they're the Nova Knicks. And Michael Jordan's gonna
Speaker 1: join NBC as a contributor. Listen, you know, I NBC's
Speaker 1: a different network, but fair is fair. I got to
Speaker 1: give credit where it's due. I mean, if they're gonna
Speaker 1: use him the way he should be used, that is
Speaker 1: going to be an unbelievable addition. And by that, I
Speaker 1: mean he should be their gambling expert. All right, demanse
Speaker 1: like rate subscriber view to the pod. Let's get to
Speaker 1: the news of the night, which, after we tried to
Speaker 1: be a little lighthearted to start, the news of the
Speaker 1: night is serious and unfortunate and a lot of tentacles.
Speaker 1: So let's get to it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so we'll get to the game later. But obviously
Speaker 2: the Nicks went up three one on the Celtics, but
Speaker 2: unfortunately Tatum most likely has like a season ending injury. Yeah,
Speaker 2: your thoughts on the Celtics circumstances right now?
Speaker 1: Okay, so it's pretty clearly. And by the way, to
Speaker 1: the producers, even the ones I might have unintentionally just
Speaker 1: called dumb, please help me out here today. And if
Speaker 1: there is breaking news during the pod on Tatum, let
Speaker 1: us know everyone is speculating Achilles, and I understand that.
Speaker 1: Here's the thing, and throw Demans back on the screen
Speaker 1: because demanse like, fourteen months ago, fifteen months ago, you
Speaker 1: tore your achilles. Yep, I'm holding out hope, maybe it's naive,
Speaker 1: hope that that wasn't an achilles, just because and you
Speaker 1: can speak to it from your experience. I've never seen
Speaker 1: an achilles injury that had that much seemingly excruciating pain
Speaker 1: associated with it. Liked the way he stepped and fell.
Speaker 1: Everyone thinks achilles. But when you tour yours playing basketball
Speaker 1: similar way, planting and trying to explode, Like I talked
Speaker 1: to you thirty minutes later, and you like, was it
Speaker 1: was it excruciating pain? It wasn't.
Speaker 2: It wasn't like you're breaking I could feel like breaking
Speaker 2: a finger or something or breaking something. It was just
Speaker 2: really uncomfortable and it felt like kind of like the
Speaker 2: bottom of my foot wasn't hitting the floor.
Speaker 1: Right. But and so I don't know, so I listen,
Speaker 1: here's the deal that his reaction, if it was a
Speaker 1: visceral reaction to pain, then I would be holding out
Speaker 1: hope it's not an achilles. Now it's obviously a serious injury.
Speaker 1: The other possibility is his visceral reaction was to emotional
Speaker 1: devastation because he knew, he knew he tore his did
Speaker 1: something terrible and what it meant for this year and
Speaker 1: for moving forward, and it was just overwhelming for him,
Speaker 1: Which that's you know, so that and so here's the deal,
Speaker 1: and this is this is the cruelty of sports. And
Speaker 1: I I try not to complain too much about how
Speaker 1: I'm perceived or discussed or anything, but I will say
Speaker 1: one thing that I really don't like, just because I think,
Speaker 1: and maybe it's my own fault, but I think it's
Speaker 1: like almost an indictment on me as a person, not
Speaker 1: as a personality, is when people act as if because
Speaker 1: I have been on the highest level of basketball terms,
Speaker 1: you know, a Tatum skeptic at times as far as
Speaker 1: like he'll you know, be the best player in the
Speaker 1: league or you know, his place in the NBA hierarchy,
Speaker 1: as if that means that there is some joy or
Speaker 1: gratification or anything in a guy suffering that type of injury, Like,
Speaker 1: that's so obvious, I would hope, obviously untrue or obviously
Speaker 1: not what anyone would think. But set that aside, because
Speaker 1: I don't think most people think that. I think most
Speaker 1: people understand that your analysis of someone as a player,
Speaker 1: whether or not you're picking the team, is totally separate
Speaker 1: from them suffering a devastating injury. For Jason Tatum individually,
Speaker 1: a guy who has been almost historically durable, and by
Speaker 1: not his historically is the wrong term, but in the
Speaker 1: modern context, he has played eighty seventy nine, sixty six
Speaker 1: COVID year, sixty four post COVID year, so those are
Speaker 1: both shortened seasons seventy six, seventy four, seventy four, seventy two,
Speaker 1: and then in the playoffs nineteen ninety, seventeen five, twenty
Speaker 1: four to twenty nineteen eight. Like, he's never suffered a
Speaker 1: major injury to knock him out for you know, months
Speaker 1: at a time. He now potentially is looking at one
Speaker 1: of the worst injuries a basketball player can suffer, and
Speaker 1: there are a lot it we don't know. Again, that's
Speaker 1: assuming it's an achilles. Assuming if it's not an achilles,
Speaker 1: then it's some different type of really rough ankle injury.
Speaker 1: But you obviously hope Jason Tatum gets back to the
Speaker 1: level he was at. Kevin Durant did I know people
Speaker 1: will bring up Clay Thompson. Clay's thing is very unique
Speaker 1: because Clay blew out his knee and then when he
Speaker 1: was almost recovered from that, then popped his achilles, and
Speaker 1: so that was like the double whammy of it. And
Speaker 1: so you don't the sober analysis of this for Tatum
Speaker 1: individually is you hope he can get back to the
Speaker 1: level he was at this year. You have to acknowledge
Speaker 1: that that is an unknown and that the other piece
Speaker 1: of it that is the extra Yesterday was a really
Speaker 1: really bad day for the sports gods and those of
Speaker 1: us that want to believe in them, because the Mavericks
Speaker 1: did not deserve to win the lottery, and of all
Speaker 1: the moments, for Jason Tatum to suffer that injury, for
Speaker 1: it to happen in what was looking like one of
Speaker 1: the three or four best games of his career is
Speaker 1: just cruelty beyond belief in the sports context. And here's
Speaker 1: where it gets even tougher. And this is the part
Speaker 1: that different people can have different opinions on this, and
Speaker 1: I respect them legitimately. Some people might say discussing what
Speaker 1: this means for the Celtics in this moment is poor form.
Speaker 1: I think it's my job. I think that that it is.
Speaker 1: You know, it comes with the territory here. What it
Speaker 1: means for the Celtics is last night was the last
Speaker 1: time we see the Celtics in that form, And it
Speaker 1: is overwhelmingly likely that, let this is Al Horford's last year,
Speaker 1: so he's gone. It is to me overwhelmingly likely if
Speaker 1: we assume that Jason Tatum is out for next year,
Speaker 1: that last night was his last game with Kristaps Porzingis.
Speaker 1: And it has to be considered on the board that
Speaker 1: last night could have been the last game of Jason
Speaker 1: and Jalen together. Because there has been a lot of
Speaker 1: discussion and a lot of rumor mill stuff that with
Speaker 1: this new ownership group, that bar even if the Celtics
Speaker 1: won the championship this year, but certainly if they didn't
Speaker 1: and now they won't, that they were going to make
Speaker 1: some sick, significant moves, you know, to lower the financial
Speaker 1: burden and so Chris STAPs was the number one guy
Speaker 1: people were talking about potentially being on the move. But
Speaker 1: I don't know if Chris STAPs what real like, we
Speaker 1: are you gonna give for him right now? Correct? That's
Speaker 1: the problem. That's the problem is Chris STAPs has this
Speaker 1: really weird illness that has been months and months that
Speaker 1: I think casts a shadow over whatever value he has,
Speaker 1: and so it can. It is unbelievable the speed at
Speaker 1: which windows can slam shuts the wrong word, but can change.
Speaker 1: And a week ago, a week could go. We all
Speaker 1: thought the Celtics were about to cruise through round two
Speaker 1: and be in really good position to go back to back,
Speaker 1: and we were discussing Jason Tatum before he turns twenty eight,
Speaker 1: has two rings. If he pulls off a finals, MVP,
Speaker 1: four straight, first team All NBAS, all of this, what
Speaker 1: does that mean for him in the historical context? And
Speaker 1: now you look at it like everything is in flux
Speaker 1: and nothing is guaranteed, and it is. There are very
Speaker 1: few injuries in recent sports history that feel quite like
Speaker 1: this one in that when Durant tore his achilles, you
Speaker 1: felt terribly for Kevin Durant, but the mitigating circumstances surrounding
Speaker 1: that were as far as for the Warriors, it appeared
Speaker 1: that that was coming to an end that era, and
Speaker 1: for Durant because he had missed almost a month with
Speaker 1: a calf injury, you kind of had in the back
Speaker 1: of your mind the concern that that could happen going
Speaker 1: into that game. None of that applied to Tatum here,
Speaker 1: and so it is the next time. I if we
Speaker 1: assume that he's out for next year, the what the
Speaker 1: Celtics look like the next time Jason Tatum's on the court.
Speaker 1: It's just going to be so drastically different. And I
Speaker 1: I just I the only thing, like I can't say
Speaker 1: the only thing, but and maybe the if any of
Speaker 1: the producers want to type in something they're thinking of
Speaker 1: as a comp as far as like a snap, oh
Speaker 1: my god. It kind of reminds me of RG three
Speaker 1: in the playoff game in Washington, when you have this
Speaker 1: rookie of the year. Now, obviously Tatum's a much older player.
Speaker 1: D Rose is a good one. D Rose is probably
Speaker 1: the right example. D Rose is the right example where
Speaker 1: you have this guy, you feel like you have the
Speaker 1: championship window and then he hurts his knee now, but
Speaker 1: he was already banged up before that. I feel like, no,
Speaker 1: maybe I'm wrong. Uh, But and then it's like, oh wait,
Speaker 1: this playoff runs over, and so is the next one,
Speaker 1: and so listen, I'm hoping we get good news. And
Speaker 1: I'm oddly, you know, hoping that this is gonna sound
Speaker 1: I almost want to say this because this could be
Speaker 1: clipped out of context so terribly. I'm I'm kind of
Speaker 1: hoping that they that his reaction was physical pain rather
Speaker 1: than emotional pain, because that, to me, would be evidents
Speaker 1: that it's not an achilles. And I listen, I'm obviously
Speaker 1: no doctor whatever. Well, so that's the other reason that
Speaker 1: I'm holding out a little hope that it's Achilles injuries. Right,
Speaker 1: it's very diagnosable, right, they always do the MRI to
Speaker 1: double check, But every time someone suffers an achilles, it's
Speaker 1: like they did, I forget what it's called. I think
Speaker 1: it's basically they just put their hand on the back
Speaker 1: of your calf, yeah, and they and they check. So
Speaker 1: the fact that it's not out maybe is a positive.
Speaker 1: I don't know. And maybe I'm painting a little too
Speaker 1: bleak of a picture, but that was a the reverberations
Speaker 1: that has across the league, Like if I'm now let
Speaker 1: me add something to it? Does this This is gonna
Speaker 1: sound a little too black and white's the wrong word,
Speaker 1: but it's like harsh reality. But when I say the reverberations,
Speaker 1: if you're the Milwaukee Bucks right now, do you now
Speaker 1: feel like maybe we give it one more year with Giannis?
Speaker 1: If the Celtics are just eliminated, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: Like again, I'm sorry to be doing this to Boston fans,
Speaker 1: and I'm talking to a Boston fan, but like, I
Speaker 1: think those are the kind like if the Celtics are
Speaker 1: just eliminated, and you're like, it turns out the Calves
Speaker 1: are frauds, Like hold on a second here, Like what
Speaker 1: does that mean? I if you are dare I say
Speaker 1: it Lebron James and you're like, yeah, I'm just gonna
Speaker 1: finish my career with the Lake. But then you're like,
Speaker 1: hold on a second. If the Calves are about to
Speaker 1: get clocked in round two and they clearly do need
Speaker 1: to add something, and I could start where I finished
Speaker 1: and in a east where Giannis might be traded the
Speaker 1: Celtics are eliminated, you know what I mean, like me
Speaker 1: and me, the Pacers and the Knicks, right, I can
Speaker 1: give that a look, you know what, Like there's the
Speaker 1: draft lottery sending Cooper flag to the West, giving the
Speaker 1: Spurs either the second pick or the Amo to potentially
Speaker 1: get wimby. And if they don't get wimby, everyone thinking
Speaker 1: Houston's gonna get wimby. If the Celtics are knocked out
Speaker 1: of contention for a year, are nine of the ten
Speaker 1: best teams in the league in the Western Conference? Like
Speaker 1: if Tatum's not playing next year and you were to
Speaker 1: talk about the fifteen best players in the NBA, does
Speaker 1: the East have three Brunson, Mitchell, Halliburton and everyone else
Speaker 1: is in the West? If Giannis is gone and Tatum's
Speaker 1: out for the year, like this is insanely impactful to
Speaker 1: that team. Because while everyone understood all year the West
Speaker 1: was better, I think most a lot of people thought, well,
Speaker 1: the West has five of the seven best teams, but
Speaker 1: the very best teams Boston, they're defending champs and even
Speaker 1: though they have the regular season, So it is just
Speaker 1: such a such an impactful injury. And I think the
Speaker 1: lack of news is positive from an achilles standpoint, But
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't know, all right, demon's before we
Speaker 1: get to the actual game. Is there anything you want
Speaker 1: to add, anything else you want to say?
Speaker 2: If it's a long injury, I hope that he uses
Speaker 2: the time to just kind of decompress it. And I
Speaker 2: feel like the media has probably been in his head
Speaker 2: for a while. Be a time to reanalyze, take a
Speaker 2: step back.
Speaker 1: But yeah, it's unfortunate, Like I will say that on
Speaker 1: the media front. Again, there's no there's not real silver
Speaker 1: linings here, but I'm grasping a bit. He will be
Speaker 1: more than a sympathetic figure. He will be he I
Speaker 1: think a lot of people feel like he has been
Speaker 1: and I'm sure people some people blame, you know, say
Speaker 1: I'm part of it. I'm always I always try to
Speaker 1: be self aware of it, even if I think, what
Speaker 1: is what has caught of me or whatever? It's unfair?
Speaker 1: Yeah right, yeah, so I no, so I get it.
Speaker 1: He will be considered a little off limits, right, like
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, and that maybe there will
Speaker 1: be a bit of a what I interrupted myself, but
Speaker 1: but a lot I know a lot of people have
Speaker 1: thought he has been over criticized given his level of play,
Speaker 1: given the team success, but then the not playing his
Speaker 1: best dur in the finals, then the Olympics piece of it.
Speaker 1: People thought he didn't get enough credit for having such
Speaker 1: a dominant right individual regular season, and so maybe that's
Speaker 1: a small silver lining that he'll be a guy everyone's
Speaker 1: rooting for. I don't know, but this is this tough,
Speaker 1: all right. So now let's go to the actual game.
Speaker 2: You were saying that even if Tatum was in the game,
Speaker 2: it looks like the Knicks were gonna take that one.
Speaker 2: You care to explain on that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I I understand it, but I think that again,
Speaker 1: if we're going to try to be give honest, sober analysis,
Speaker 1: the Tatum injury was the most important thing that happened
Speaker 1: in that game. For a long term perspective and for
Speaker 1: the you know, all the reasons I gave over the
Speaker 1: last twenty minutes, the Tatum injury, in my opinion, pretty
Speaker 1: clearly did not have an impact on who was gonna
Speaker 1: win that game. I can't prove it to you.
Speaker 2: No, it had the same exact flow as the other
Speaker 2: twenty point comebacks that the Knicks had.
Speaker 1: It was the except those other twenty point comebacks. The
Speaker 1: Knicks never got a big lead. Yeah, this big lead
Speaker 1: the series, right Tatum? When Jason Tatum got hurt, there
Speaker 1: was three h four left and and the Knicks were
Speaker 1: up nine points. So listen, maybe Boston and Tatum was
Speaker 1: playing so great. I'm not gonna act like it's impossible
Speaker 1: that Tatum, you know, carries them back. But I think
Speaker 1: that the Knicks in that moment, I don't know what
Speaker 1: the live betting line would have been, but minus at
Speaker 1: least minus two thousand, like they three minutes left, down
Speaker 1: nine when Jalen Brunson has been the most clutch player
Speaker 1: in the league this year, and you know the Knicks
Speaker 1: have at that point to get up one thirteen to
Speaker 1: one oh four, they're on a I'm trying to find it.
Speaker 1: I mean the exact run they were on to get
Speaker 1: up one thirteen to one oh four, they were on
Speaker 1: a twenty one? Is that right? That's that's not right.
Speaker 1: But whatever they had, they had taken control of the game.
Speaker 1: Is the point that I'm making. And so I and
Speaker 1: I think, and this is this is where the Knicks
Speaker 1: have to be given credit. And this is where the
Speaker 1: stuff I've been arguing with Wilds about all series, I
Speaker 1: think came into fruition. So much of the series analysis
Speaker 1: when the Knicks were up to oh and certainly after
Speaker 1: Game three, was the Celtics haven't played well. The Celtics
Speaker 1: are missing shots. And what to me that ignored was
Speaker 1: a couple of facts. One is, the Knicks had not
Speaker 1: played well offensively, and the Celtics not playing well offensively
Speaker 1: was attributed just to missing shots, and the Knicks not
Speaker 1: playing well offensively was attributed to the Celtics great defense.
Speaker 1: Both of those had a shred of truth to them,
Speaker 1: but were not entirely true. The other piece of it
Speaker 1: that I thought was kind of miss represented in the
Speaker 1: discussion of the game was while the Celtics shoot weigh
Speaker 1: more threes than the Knicks, they are not a better
Speaker 1: from a percentage three point shooting team than the Knicks.
Speaker 1: The Celtics this year shot thirty six point eight percent
Speaker 1: from three. The Knicks this year shot thirty six point
Speaker 1: nine percent from three. The Celtics were the number two offense,
Speaker 1: the Knicks were the number five offense. And the Knicks
Speaker 1: had not played offensively well in this series. And so
Speaker 1: when the going into last night's game, the Celtics in
Speaker 1: the series were shooting thirty two percent from three. The
Speaker 1: Knicks were shooting thirty three percent from three, and so
Speaker 1: both teams were down four or five points off their
Speaker 1: season three point percentage. Both team star players Tatum and
Speaker 1: Brunson going into last night had not yet had that
Speaker 1: awesome game, that explosion game, and so much of analysis was, well,
Speaker 1: what's gonna happen when Tatum has this huge game? And
Speaker 1: my response to it was, I don't know, but what's
Speaker 1: gonna happen when Brunton has his huge game? And then
Speaker 1: they happened simultaneously, and the Knicks had control of that game.
Speaker 1: And now in the series, the Knicks are shooting thirty
Speaker 1: three point nine percent from three and the Celtics are
Speaker 1: shooting thirty three point five percent from three, So almost
Speaker 1: identical for two teams that shot almost identical for the
Speaker 1: regular season. And the Knicks top six guys are all
Speaker 1: healthy prior to the Tatum injury, I'm saying, and the
Speaker 1: Celtics top six guys, you're missing Christaps essentially, like he
Speaker 1: can barely play, and when he plays, he hasn't been effective.
Speaker 1: And I thought the Knicks last night, for people that
Speaker 1: hadn't watched them throughout the year and I understand all
Speaker 1: year long they couldn't beat the best teams, There's no
Speaker 1: doubt about that, but they were They weren't last year's
Speaker 1: Knicks that were just gonna try to grind you down
Speaker 1: when they they were an explosive offense, and Knights when
Speaker 1: Michale Bridges and Ognnobi are scoring, that team's got four
Speaker 1: legitimate scoring threats. And Brunton was awesome. Towns I thought
Speaker 1: was really good. I mean, Towns was eleven of twelve
Speaker 1: from two and Bridges in the second half seemingly could
Speaker 1: not miss a mid range and the Knicks just looked
Speaker 1: freaking awesome. And so the the Tatum injury casts a
Speaker 1: pale pal Paul Castle, Paul, What's casts a pale over
Speaker 1: the game? I think, is what I'm trying to say.
Speaker 1: How about this? Did you say shadow works? Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: what I was. I should have just said shadow. I
Speaker 1: can pronounce that word, spell it too. The Tatum injury
Speaker 1: casts a shadow over the game. But in my opinion,
Speaker 1: the one of the underrated stories of the Celtics blowing
Speaker 1: the Knicks out in Game three was Peyton Pritchard playing
Speaker 1: an a triple plus game, And is that I know, listen,
Speaker 1: pay for six Man of the Year is good player,
Speaker 1: but twenty three points on like eighty percent from the
Speaker 1: field or whatever he was is probably not gonna happen
Speaker 1: too many times. And the underrated story to me of
Speaker 1: this series that you saw last night was the Celtics.
Speaker 1: Two old guys have looked a little old. Yeah in
Speaker 1: Alan Drew like they you know what I mean, they
Speaker 1: have they just and last night they were both non factors.
Speaker 1: You add to that that Jalen Brown little inefficient and
Speaker 1: as you you know, as usual loose with the ball,
Speaker 1: and you have a game that, after being down big,
Speaker 1: the Knicks find themselves up nine with three minutes left.
Speaker 1: And so I think the Knicks deserve massive, massive credit
Speaker 1: for what they did. And I want to add one
Speaker 1: thing before we get to Brunson, and I can't. So
Speaker 1: after they went up two, Zho, I came on here
Speaker 1: and I said, the Knicks are going to the finals.
Speaker 1: I now believe the Knicks have a really good chance
Speaker 1: of winning the championship. Demonse, Yeah, I do.
Speaker 2: Well, I show they can get past the Celtics, and
Speaker 2: then I certainly think they can get past the Pacers.
Speaker 1: All right, Listen, the Pacers beat them last year in
Speaker 1: seven in a game where in that game seven, the
Speaker 1: Knicks had four guys out with injury. I I would
Speaker 1: certainly pick the Knicks over the Timberwolves. I we'll get
Speaker 1: to that series later. The Timberwolves, We'll get to that
Speaker 1: series later. I will certainly pick the Knicks over the Timberwolves.
Speaker 1: And I want to see what type of condition the
Speaker 1: Thunder or Nuggets are after their series, because the Thunder
Speaker 1: have the depth that if somebody gets banged up other
Speaker 1: than Shay, they can keep it rolling. The Nuggets do not.
Speaker 1: And the Nuggets having you know, these seven game wars
Speaker 1: potentially in round one and two if they get through it,
Speaker 1: and then they have that just pain in the ass
Speaker 1: Timbrelves team waiting for him who beat them last year,
Speaker 1: that wouldn't be a quick series. You just wonder because
Speaker 1: you're already seeing Joker leak a little bit of oil.
Speaker 1: And so I the Knicks could win the championship. Oh,
Speaker 1: by the way, one last next thing for where you
Speaker 1: get to Brunson. So I'm watching the game last night,
Speaker 1: so let me give a little So I play in
Speaker 1: a relatively speaking, low stakes poker game that uh Hank
Speaker 1: Azaria and uh name drop. Apologies, but the guy who
Speaker 1: does the voices for two thirds of the Simpsons characters,
Speaker 1: great comedian actor all that. I got hooked up with
Speaker 1: him through Brian Koppleman, another name drop, the guy who
Speaker 1: created Billions and Rounders. And the reason I got hooked
Speaker 1: up with any of these guys is because Koppleman is
Speaker 1: buddies with Bamani and Koppleman's a huge Jordan fan. And
Speaker 1: Koppleman hit up Bamani one night and was like, invite
Speaker 1: Nick to dinner. I want to argue with him about
Speaker 1: Lebron versus Jordan. And we did, and we became buddies,
Speaker 1: and he got me in their poker crew and they're
Speaker 1: great guys, like really cool, great guys. And it's a
Speaker 1: great poker game because again it's low stakes, so it's
Speaker 1: not like high stress. You don't have to worry about
Speaker 1: getting cheated. It's not there's none of the a lot
Speaker 1: of the New York City home poker games. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of a lot of it's also a lot of
Speaker 1: sketchy elements, like people go to the games not necessarily
Speaker 1: for the poker, for the things around. Yes, and so
Speaker 1: this is so this is better. So there's a guy
Speaker 1: at the game who's I don't I don't want to
Speaker 1: age him, but you know, I think probably late fifties,
Speaker 1: maybe early sixties, I'm not sure, but like cool looking,
Speaker 1: like wears like cool sunglasses and kind of wears his
Speaker 1: hair cool and just kind of One time flippantly talked
Speaker 1: about how he had just come back from London. I
Speaker 1: was like, oh, why were you in London? And and
Speaker 1: again I don't want to give this too much of
Speaker 1: this guy's info because there's four huge soccer clubs in London,
Speaker 1: maybe more. And he's like, oh, I have a box,
Speaker 1: a luxury box at one of the most famous soccer teams.
Speaker 1: So I go every weekend they have a game, fly
Speaker 1: to London for the game, and fly back because I
Speaker 1: have a box at the game. Damn, congrats on all
Speaker 1: your success. And he was and he was like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: you ever want to come? He was like, if you
Speaker 1: and your wife want to do a weekend in London, like, come,
Speaker 1: we'll go to the game. I'm like, I'm like, I
Speaker 1: don't know if that's a real invite or not, but yes,
Speaker 1: I'll do it. Never been to London. So I'm watching
Speaker 1: the game last night and on the sideline next to
Speaker 1: Tibbs is my pal another name drops. Sorry, I sound
Speaker 1: like an asshole, Gary Veey, Gary Vee with his two
Speaker 1: boys in the best seats in the house and the
Speaker 1: only seats better than Gary Vees once seet over, it's
Speaker 1: my buddy from the Card Game. So I text another
Speaker 1: one of my buddies from the Card Game like, Hey,
Speaker 1: is that such and such. He's like, yeah, those are
Speaker 1: his season tickets. Like his season tickets. He's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: best seats at the house house in MSG. He'll take
Speaker 1: you whenever you want. I'm like, okay, I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: ask him to take me during the Knicks run to
Speaker 1: the finals. But I and and then he was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: he gives his pair of tickets to my son and
Speaker 1: one of his friends once a year. I'm like, this
Speaker 1: guy might be the greatest guy. Why am I? Hey?
Speaker 1: Why am I friends with Kevin Wilds and not? This
Speaker 1: guy is unbelievable. I couldn't believe. It was truly unbelievable.
Speaker 1: All right, yeah, it was great. Ask the Brunton question.
Speaker 2: So Brunson almost shot forty last night. Do you think well,
Speaker 2: he's the best Knicks player since who Mellow? Are we
Speaker 2: putting him above Mellow because Mellow is just.
Speaker 1: So he is not yet above Mellow.
Speaker 2: In like, Daniel, what in the other room he's Oh,
Speaker 2: now he's not better than Mellow.
Speaker 1: Well, so let me finish the thought, Daniel, I guess, Daniel, Well,
Speaker 1: I get yeah, I was yeah, uh, he's not above Mellow.
Speaker 1: In my if I did a play my player pyramid,
Speaker 1: like all time, if if Jalen Brunson retires today, is
Speaker 1: he one of the forty five greatest players ever? Like
Speaker 1: Carmelo is obviously not right, Like we all agree on
Speaker 1: that that he has not yet had a better career
Speaker 1: than Carmelo Anthony. But if the question is was he
Speaker 1: a better ni the answer to that is yes, yeah
Speaker 1: he is. Yeah, so that's why, Yeah, that's that. That's
Speaker 1: what I was. I I had to build the whole bridge, Dan,
Speaker 1: I think they're now agreeing with me. I I think
Speaker 1: that he's pretty clearly the best Knick since Patrick Ewing,
Speaker 1: the best not the best player to play for the Knicks,
Speaker 1: but the best Nick since Patrick Ewing.
Speaker 2: And if you win the finals this year, like if
Speaker 2: you were to win the finals this year.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, probably not yet, but he would be a
Speaker 1: favorite to have one if they win.
Speaker 2: I guess if they win the title and he's the lead.
Speaker 1: Guy ship and he's the lead guy, So like what
Speaker 1: lead guys on a champion? Do I have mellow ahead
Speaker 1: of so Chauncey? Yeah, I mean I the is that
Speaker 1: the only one? So? Well, Tatum, I have a mellow
Speaker 1: right now? You know what I mean. But again though,
Speaker 1: that's kind of let me not do the guys who
Speaker 1: are still playing, because they're still kind of you know,
Speaker 1: well they're still writing their stories so to speak. But no,
Speaker 1: so let no, I'll include them. So let's just oh,
Speaker 1: this will be fun? Can I Can I do it again? Demonse?
Speaker 1: Remember one who did this five years ago? Was it
Speaker 1: fifty or old the top fifty? I think I did?
Speaker 1: Did I? I think I did? League MVPs League v
Speaker 1: But let's just yeah, let's just see if I can
Speaker 1: do it. Just go backwards for Champions twenty four Tatum
Speaker 1: and then again. So the question is this question? Is
Speaker 1: this uh all right? Because if Brunton wins the title,
Speaker 1: does he jump mellow in the all time hierarchy? And
Speaker 1: my answer is not yet. But then the question is
Speaker 1: lead guy on a champion? Which of these guys do
Speaker 1: I have mellow ahead of? So now I'll just try
Speaker 1: to go backwards in history and do lead guys on
Speaker 1: champions twenty four Tatum Melos ahead of him, twenty three,
Speaker 1: Joker No. Twenty two, Steph No. Twenty one, Yannis No.
Speaker 1: Twenty Bronz nineteen Kawhi No. It's close though, because Kawhi's
Speaker 1: weird career eighteen seventeen Steph kt kt Steph No. No.
Speaker 1: Sixteen bron fifteen, Steph No. No. Fourteen Again Kawhi Duncan.
Speaker 1: Kawhi wasn't the best player on the team. I should
Speaker 1: have just said Duncan but No. Thirteen twelve, Bron No. Eleven,
Speaker 1: Dirk No. Ten to nine, Kobe No. Eight, Garnet No.
Speaker 1: If you think Pierce my answers, yes, I do have
Speaker 1: mellow above Pierce. Sorry, Paul, so that's too maybe, but
Speaker 1: I think Garnett was the best player on that team.
Speaker 1: Seven Duncan No. Six, Wage Shack No. Five, Duncan No. Four,
Speaker 1: Chauncey Yes, so we're three uh three Duncan No. Two
Speaker 1: to one zero Again those are the years uh Shack No.
Speaker 1: Ninety nine, Duncan No. Ninety eight, ninety seven, ninety six,
Speaker 1: Jordan No. Ninety five, ninety four, Akeem No. Ninety three,
Speaker 1: ninety two, ninety one, Jordan No. Ninety eighty nine, Isaiah No.
Speaker 1: Eighty eight, eighty seven, Uh Magic's slash Kareem No. Uh
Speaker 1: eighty six, Bird No. Eighty five, Magic Slash Careem No.
Speaker 1: Eighty four, Hold on a second here eighty four, Oh
Speaker 1: eighty four Magic Kaream Wait eighty five was magic kaream
Speaker 1: eighty four Celtics Bird No. Eighty three, Lakers Right eighty
Speaker 1: three Lakers eighty two six ers and seventy six ers
Speaker 1: Moses Uh Doctor j No. Eighty one, Celtics No. Eighty
Speaker 1: Lakers No. And then you get to seventy nine eighty
Speaker 1: and you get to the weird ABA NBA Merger stuff,
Speaker 1: and you have the Wizard. So you'd in the last
Speaker 1: forty five years, I would. The only guys I had
Speaker 1: were Tatum, Pierson Chauncey. So I know my answer is no,
Speaker 1: he wouldn't yet be above mellow, but he would be root.
Speaker 1: But he's already a better nick and the real like
Speaker 1: if here's another question, No, he wouldn't even with a championship.
Speaker 1: He's not above viewing either yet. But I mean the
Speaker 1: he now is is jailing. Here's another question. God, we're
Speaker 1: doing an hour on this game. I gotta get better
Speaker 1: at this stuff. Here's a better question. Maybe is Jalen
Speaker 1: Brunson now on the mount Rushmore of Knicks read Fraser
Speaker 1: Ewing are three locks. I think Brunson's four. Willis Reid's
Speaker 1: got finals MVPs. One of the greatest players ever, Walt Fraser.
Speaker 1: And again for the kids out there in the Demons,
Speaker 1: you've heard of the Willis Reid game. The game Willis
Speaker 1: Reid was injured and he came out on one leg,
Speaker 1: hit two jumpers, crowd exploded. Thing about that game is
Speaker 1: those are the only two shots he made all game.
Speaker 1: He was too injured to play. The reason the Knicks
Speaker 1: won that game seven of those finals was because Walt
Speaker 1: Fraser had thirty six points and nineteen assists thirty six
Speaker 1: and nineteen and a game seven of the finals to
Speaker 1: win the championship. So Reid and Fraser are on there.
Speaker 1: Ewing is on there. I think Brunson's now on there.
Speaker 2: He's got to win the title or something to get there.
Speaker 1: Well, the problem is. But here's the thing, Demons, only
Speaker 1: Reid and Fraser have won the title. Yeah, like the guy.
Speaker 1: The guy he's competing with is Bernard King. But Bernard King,
Speaker 1: who was I think fiftieth on her fifty Greatest Players
Speaker 1: of the Last fifty years list, had a shortened career
Speaker 1: due to injury, and like the and so yeah, that's
Speaker 1: where I've got it. Okay, I was supposed to get
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Speaker 1: All right, demanse, let's get to the other game from
Speaker 1: last night if we can. We still have a lot
Speaker 1: to do. This is going a long time, but such
Speaker 1: as life, go ahead.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Minnesota's won the third straight with Steph on the
Speaker 2: sideline Julius and and coming off thirty point games. But
Speaker 2: with seeing how this series has gone, you feel a
Speaker 2: little out of line and saying that Minnesota would have
Speaker 2: beat them even if they had Steph Curry out there.
Speaker 1: So here's the deal. I have been as unimpressed with
Speaker 1: a team that's up three to one in a series
Speaker 1: as one can be. So here's what I can't figure out, demonsee.
Speaker 1: Did the Timberwolves see Steph was out and just feel
Speaker 1: like we're not gonna lose and because of that they
Speaker 1: are not playing their best basketball? Or did they? Did
Speaker 1: they essentially or were they a specifically bad matchup for
Speaker 1: the Lakers, Plus the Lakers making some very odd lineup
Speaker 1: decisions and guys running out of gas and all that
Speaker 1: and because of that, we o me. I overestimated them,
Speaker 1: because I thought that the Timberwolves were going to run
Speaker 1: rough shot over the Warriors. And I would love to
Speaker 1: sit here and be like, ah, this series would be
Speaker 1: the same as Steph Curry was playing. It sure don't
Speaker 1: feel like that. It feels like Minnesota has gotten an
Speaker 1: absolute gift from the fact that they are able to play.
Speaker 1: I think Minnesota, I know there's gonna sound idiotic. I
Speaker 1: think Minnesota has played mediocre or worse Demonsey in five
Speaker 1: straight games. The close out game against the Lakers, I
Speaker 1: didn't think they played that well. And I don't think
Speaker 1: they've played great in any game this series, and they
Speaker 1: find themselves up three to one. Now where credit is
Speaker 1: due is Julius Randall. This entire postseason is rewriting what
Speaker 1: playoff Julius means. And Anthony Edwards after a couple shaky performances,
Speaker 1: you know it is getting back to being you know,
Speaker 1: unequivocally Anthony Edwards. But their role players have been disappointing.
Speaker 1: The fact that they are their defense is letting a
Speaker 1: Warriors team without Steph Curry stick around in these games. Now,
Speaker 1: last night, I give him credit because last night they
Speaker 1: slammed the door. I know. They ended up winning only
Speaker 1: by seven, and the Warriors almost had another historic back
Speaker 1: door cover like if you didn't stay the Warriors back
Speaker 1: door cover in Game three, which was truly financially devastating
Speaker 1: for me. After taking a break from betting the NBA playoffs,
Speaker 1: I got back on the horse four Game three, laid
Speaker 1: five and a half with Minnesota, only to see Draymond
Speaker 1: Green reportedly allegedly possibly say to his teammates spreads five
Speaker 1: and a half, and then they took a totally meaningless
Speaker 1: three and then didn't foul and just crushed me. Last night,
Speaker 1: though they were up twenty midway through the fourth, so
Speaker 1: after you know, not being overwhelming early because it was
Speaker 1: what they were forget overwhelming, they were down two at halftime.
Speaker 1: They blitzed the Warriors in the third quarter to go
Speaker 1: up twenty going into the fourth, and then held that
Speaker 1: lead until, of course the very end. When I say devastating,
Speaker 1: if you weren't watching the end of this game, the
Speaker 1: Timberwolves demanse are up eight with thirty seconds left. Again
Speaker 1: they're five point favorites. They then foul the lacrosse kid.
Speaker 1: He makes both free throws. I'm sorry they weren't up eight.
Speaker 1: They were up Wait, oh no, I this is so
Speaker 1: much worse than I was making it sound. Let me
Speaker 1: rephrase it. Timberwlves are five point favorites. They are up
Speaker 1: twelve with thirty seconds left twelve. They then foul the
Speaker 1: lacrosse kid makes both free throws. They then throw the
Speaker 1: inbounds away. Guie Santos makes a three. There's now five
Speaker 1: seconds left. They're up seven. They then throw the inbounds
Speaker 1: pass away again and Quentin Post shoots a three. He
Speaker 1: misses it, but that would have been up twelve thirty
Speaker 1: seconds left. The team just basically dribbling it out to
Speaker 1: not covering a five point spread. Now, I didn't bet
Speaker 1: last night's game, so I couldn't even take advantage of that.
Speaker 1: But whatever set that aside. I have been unimpressed by
Speaker 1: Minnesota and they better get up their level of play
Speaker 1: so dramatically for the next round. Uh. And then I
Speaker 1: know you have a Jimmy what's going on with that man?
Speaker 2: It's going on with Jimmy Butler?
Speaker 1: Does he not know why they said do it every night?
Speaker 1: He can't do it every night? And even peak playoff
Speaker 1: Jimmy wouldn't do it every night. So that's the So listen,
Speaker 1: that's the misnomer about playoff Jimmy that I don't think
Speaker 1: people quite remember. So playoff Jimmy even like in the Bubble, Okay,
Speaker 1: he he had these he would have these huge games,
Speaker 1: like en route to the championship. I know it's he's
Speaker 1: not just a scorer. But I'm just gonna read you
Speaker 1: the year, not the year they made the finals. In
Speaker 1: the Bubble. Here were his points twenty eight, eighteen, twenty seven, six,
Speaker 1: forty thirteen, thirty, seventeen, seventeen, twenty fourteen, seventeen, twenty four, seventeen,
Speaker 1: twenty two, and then in the finals twenty three, twenty five, forty,
Speaker 1: twenty two, thirty five, twelve, and then two years ago
Speaker 1: when they made the finals U well, or even take
Speaker 1: that series against Boston that they lost in seven, here
Speaker 1: were his points forty one, twenty nine, eight, six, thirteen,
Speaker 1: forty seven, thirty five. In the finals, he had the
Speaker 1: fifty six point game, in the forty two point game.
Speaker 1: He was unbelievable. But they I'm sorry that wasn't the finals.
Speaker 1: That's the first round. The next year, I because he
Speaker 1: made the finals that year. He had that unbelievable first
Speaker 1: round against Milwaukee where he scored thirty five, twenty five,
Speaker 1: thirty fifty six and forty two. The rest of the
Speaker 1: playoff run when they made the finals, he scored thirty one.
Speaker 1: He scored thirty once. So he has these fluctuations, and
Speaker 1: he's banged up, and he's older. And so the sneaky
Speaker 1: thing for the Golden State that I think is relevant
Speaker 1: for them is what version are you getting of Draymond
Speaker 1: next year? I think that's a fair question to ask,
Speaker 1: all right, and we'll do more of a warrior's autopsy
Speaker 1: when their season finally ends. I do want to do
Speaker 1: the Draymond thing, uh briefly, so go ahead.
Speaker 2: After Game two, Draymond had a bone to pick with
Speaker 2: the refs in the media, saying that the agendas try
Speaker 2: to keep making me look like an angry black man
Speaker 2: is crazy. I'm sick of it. It's ridiculous.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So I was incredibly bothered by this quote, and
Speaker 1: my rationale, I think is very straightforward, which is I
Speaker 1: think a huge problem with America in general is what
Speaker 1: Draymond is describing. So let me explain. I think that
Speaker 1: black people men and women feeling like they aren't able
Speaker 1: to be as expressive, or as emotive or as passionate
Speaker 1: as their white counterparts is a real double standard that
Speaker 1: exists and has a real day to day impact on
Speaker 1: how black people the extra kind of onus on black
Speaker 1: people and how they carry themselves through the world, and
Speaker 1: something that white folks such as myself don't really worry about.
Speaker 1: I think that's a real thing and a real problem,
Speaker 1: and I have real empathy for kind of the added
Speaker 1: extra stuff that black men and women in particular have
Speaker 1: to kind of think about in how they act in
Speaker 1: you know, majority white spaces and stuff like that. And
Speaker 1: if people hear this and like, ah, keep your woke
Speaker 1: bullshit to yourself, this podcast probably ain't for you if
Speaker 1: you can't handle these five minutes here. So I think
Speaker 1: that's a real thing. And because I think that's a
Speaker 1: real thing, I think Draymond Green acting like that is
Speaker 1: what's happening to him with his technical and flagrant fouls
Speaker 1: is some of the most disingenuous bullshit from a recent
Speaker 1: NBA player, And I think the way it undercuts valid,
Speaker 1: legitimate claims as if the NBA is not as if
Speaker 1: there aren't a lot of black men to begin with
Speaker 1: in the NBA. There's not a lot of guys that
Speaker 1: are passionate in the NBA. And for Draymond to act
Speaker 1: like he gets unfairly persecuted, when to my eye, it's
Speaker 1: the exact opposite. Draymond gets away with more explosions and
Speaker 1: eruptions at refs than any other player I can remember.
Speaker 1: And while guys like Rashid Wallace the refs had a
Speaker 1: crazy short temper with essentially they were waiting to give
Speaker 1: him a flat technical, Draymond, once he gets his first technical,
Speaker 1: is basically allowed to do anything other than dump the
Speaker 1: gatorade on the ref's head. And he's not gonna throw
Speaker 1: him out. Go ahead, Demonse.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I see Draymond get face to face, like
Speaker 2: nose to nose with revs more than anybody. Yeah, dude,
Speaker 2: he just acts like the way he hits people. You
Speaker 2: would think Rudy Gobert hits people because he's not as coordinated,
Speaker 2: but like he acts like he has no control over
Speaker 2: his limbs and it's just so like it's so might.
Speaker 1: Here's the thing. After Game four against Houston, I came
Speaker 1: on here and on the TV show and I said,
Speaker 1: put that game on Draymond's basketball tombstone. He got a flagrant,
Speaker 1: he got a technical, he got the game winning stop.
Speaker 1: He was jawing, he was gesticulating, he was hitting people
Speaker 1: in the face. Held he won them that game against Houston,
Speaker 1: because that's who he is. That's how he's got to play,
Speaker 1: got it. That's he got the absolute most. He for
Speaker 1: a player that's not that great athletically compared to his peers,
Speaker 1: shoots like he's wearing a bat with heavy textbooks in it,
Speaker 1: and was a second round pick and is not that tall.
Speaker 1: He reached the absolute peak of what he ever could
Speaker 1: have been in this league. And he had to do
Speaker 1: it this way, and I respect that. But after Game
Speaker 1: seven against Houston, he came out and said, I was
Speaker 1: embarrassed about how I was acting. I needed to be better.
Speaker 1: And then against Game two, it's a conspiracy against him,
Speaker 1: and you are invoking real, true, damaging stereotypes as a shield.
Speaker 1: I thought was embarrassing. All Right, we need to get
Speaker 1: to the other series and we need to get to
Speaker 1: the draft lottery. But first, guys, I'm going to these
Speaker 1: Knicks playoff games. I just am and I went on Saturday,
Speaker 1: I went to Game two against a T's right, and
Speaker 1: that's why I want to give the sponsor of today's show,
Speaker 1: seat Geek a huge shout out. With over twenty eight
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Speaker 1: what I do. I'm just gonna tell you guys.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll tell you guys. Sea Gek won't seek Ek
Speaker 1: will probably like it. I don't know. If I like it,
Speaker 1: I might end up ruining my own market. But here's
Speaker 1: what I do. If there's a game I know I
Speaker 1: want to go to and it is a crazy hot ticket,
Speaker 1: I open up seat geek in the morning and I
Speaker 1: scan the marketplace. This is what I did Saturday. I
Speaker 1: was with de with my buddy josh Uh. He was
Speaker 1: with me for the last hour, and I scan the marketplace,
Speaker 1: and I kind of figure out the market for the tickets. Obviously,
Speaker 1: seat geek tells you if it's a good deal or not,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, okay, there's like four sets of tickets
Speaker 1: that are seats I would like that. I you know,
Speaker 1: that seem good. And I'm monitor and as we get
Speaker 1: closer and closer to the event, I see if one
Speaker 1: of these people is like ah Man getting close to tip.
Speaker 1: I don't know if these things if someone's gonna buy them.
Speaker 1: And then I'm hanging out outside the arena as as
Speaker 1: an MSG on Saturday, and then I see one of
Speaker 1: those seats go from a good deal to a great
Speaker 1: deal on the seat geek scale of one to ten,
Speaker 1: the biggest, brightest, greenest, dot bang buy it. I bought
Speaker 1: my ticket fourteen minutes before tip for Game three of
Speaker 1: this series. I was in my seat at the National Anthem.
Speaker 1: It was that easy. And every ticket is backed by
Speaker 1: their buyer guarantee. You know, bet red means bad deals,
Speaker 1: bright green mean good deals. So here's here's how you know.
Speaker 1: I kind of gave you guys my secrets, so I
Speaker 1: tried to come through for you guys. You guys now,
Speaker 1: also I'll try to come through from you guys again
Speaker 1: and this will actually help me. Please, you can use
Speaker 1: code write ten for ten percent off your next set
Speaker 1: of tickets again, write ten at seat geek for your
Speaker 1: next set of tickets. I'm gonna tell you guys something else.
Speaker 1: I don't know if I can if you can see
Speaker 1: it on here. Uh but I I'm trying to go
Speaker 1: to my history on seat geek. No oh no, this
Speaker 1: is for here we go. This is for Nicks. Uh,
Speaker 1: this is for Nick Celtics Game three or Game five?
Speaker 1: What would this be? I'm wrong about all of this. Sorry,
Speaker 1: Celtics Knicks. Game six is what I'm looking at. Game
Speaker 1: three is what I bought. I used my own promo
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Speaker 1: the link in the description of the pod, download the app,
Speaker 1: and have the code automatically out into your account so
Speaker 1: you can use it later. Thank you to our friends
Speaker 1: at seat Geek. All right, demons, let's go to Nuggets
Speaker 1: Thunder and then do the draft lottery and then we
Speaker 1: got to go because it is a long show and
Speaker 1: you have to have to work.
Speaker 2: So May six, you came on, you gave Yokicic's flowers,
Speaker 2: put him in that Lebron s category, and since then
Speaker 2: he's averaged twenty one twelve and five on thirty three percent,
Speaker 2: shooting in eighteen percent from three. So should we unveil
Speaker 2: a new category of takes for you called the jinx?
Speaker 2: And also what's on the line for Joker this postseason?
Speaker 1: Well, so a few things. I didn't quite put Joker
Speaker 1: in the Lebron I didn't put him in Lebron tier.
Speaker 1: What I said is the gap between him and the
Speaker 1: second best player is a Lebron sized gap. And maybe
Speaker 1: that was a touchover stated, but I stand by most
Speaker 1: of it. What these playoffs have been a reminder that
Speaker 1: whomever your favorite player in NBA history is, unless their
Speaker 1: name is Lebron James or Michael Jordan, their absolute apex
Speaker 1: prime is littered with playoff series where they weren't at
Speaker 1: their best. Jordan ninety to ninety eight never had a
Speaker 1: bad series, Lebron twelve to twenty twenty never had a
Speaker 1: bad series. Those are the only guys that that applies to.
Speaker 1: So it is not an indictment on Joker, and it's
Speaker 1: not that he's been bad this series, but that he's
Speaker 1: not white playing up to his standards. It is a
Speaker 1: bummer because what's on the line for him is immortality,
Speaker 1: because this championship is wide open and Game four was
Speaker 1: there for the taking after scoring eight points in the
Speaker 1: first quarter, they were up six late in the third.
Speaker 1: And if he could despite the fact that he wasn't
Speaker 1: playing great, and if he could have just activated a
Speaker 1: bit in the fourth quarter and they go up three
Speaker 1: to one, they are in great position to potentially win
Speaker 1: the championship. They're up three to one on OKC Minnesota.
Speaker 1: You can get revenge on them, and then you're staring
Speaker 1: at the Knicks. I believe in the finals. So he's
Speaker 1: not because listen, Shay has not been unbelievable. Luca is
Speaker 1: already out, Giannis is out. Nobody's going to dethrone him
Speaker 1: this postseason. Is the best player in the league. But
Speaker 1: he has a chance to get real immortal status, and
Speaker 1: that Game four was a missed opportunity, but he can
Speaker 1: recapture it. And remember I said for the Nuggets. Now,
Speaker 1: they almost overachieved this goal, but I said the goal
Speaker 1: just keep shortening the series. You won game one, so
Speaker 1: then even if you lose Game two, it's now instead
Speaker 1: of a best of seven, it's the best of five.
Speaker 1: They won game three, so now even though they lost
Speaker 1: game four, instead of a best of five, it's a
Speaker 1: best of three. Go win tonight. And that way, if
Speaker 1: you lose game six, instead of a best of three,
Speaker 1: it's a best of one. Keep shortening the series on
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City, which has issues of its own. Shay's been
Speaker 1: good ish, but not great. Jalen and Chet have had
Speaker 1: real problems, and so that to me is what needs
Speaker 1: to happen. I don't know. I don't really have demonte
Speaker 1: a strong lean for tonight. My only lean is, whoever
Speaker 1: wins Tonight's gonna lose Game six. I think this thing
Speaker 1: is going seven, okay, and I am super excited to
Speaker 1: see that. All Right, we did the lottery stuff off
Speaker 1: the top of the show. Here's what I do want
Speaker 1: to say, lottery wise, the most Dallas is going to
Speaker 1: take Cooper flag. And if you want to hear about conspiracies,
Speaker 1: and you know, does the idea does this vindicate Nico.
Speaker 1: Nico's plan was not to trade Luca and then get
Speaker 1: the number one pick. Nico's plan was to trade Luca
Speaker 1: and contend for a championship this year, So it doesn't
Speaker 1: vindicate Niko. Was it it might give go ahead? Was
Speaker 1: that his goal this year? He said that, Okay, he
Speaker 1: said it said our championship windows two to three years
Speaker 1: and it was including this year. But then Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: got hurt. He was saying, like, you know, Ad got
Speaker 1: hurt and Kyrie got hurt, but go ahead.
Speaker 2: They're gonna kill me for years to come. Like I
Speaker 2: was just taking that as you know, trust the process.
Speaker 2: It's gonna we're gonna get there, is what it seemed
Speaker 2: like to me. But if he said that, well, I
Speaker 2: think I think that.
Speaker 1: His initial press conference before a d came back and
Speaker 1: got hurt again and before Kyrie blew out his knee,
Speaker 1: was we think we can contend for a championship this
Speaker 1: season and then obviously that all changed. But so this
Speaker 1: was not his plan. But the again, they got very
Speaker 1: lucky in the lottery. It happens, it does.
Speaker 2: Stories is the most spot somebody's ever jumped the conspiracy.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's the most spots somebody's ever jumped,
Speaker 1: but I don't think it's the most. I think it is.
Speaker 2: It's the most ever.
Speaker 1: Hold on a second.
Speaker 2: So very coincidental.
Speaker 1: And what is the what did the Magic jump when
Speaker 1: they got Penny the year after they got Shack? The Now,
Speaker 1: I gotta look this up. I mean, you guys are
Speaker 1: telling me so I believe you. But Penny was in
Speaker 1: the ninety three draft. So nineteen ninety two NBA standings Wiki.
Speaker 1: Let me just check the NBA standings for nineteen ninety two.
Speaker 1: I'm doing this on the fly. I apologize, bah blah
Speaker 1: blah blah blah. I don't care about the coaching changes.
Speaker 1: The Orlando Magic won twenty one games that year. See
Speaker 1: you guys, you guys. This is why I need to
Speaker 1: just trust myself, the Orlando Magic. Wait that's not right. Then,
Speaker 1: hold on a second. Maybe I don't need to just
Speaker 1: trust myself. Hold on a second. That would make sense.
Speaker 1: I thought the Magic it was a huge shocker. When oh,
Speaker 1: I have the year, I'm looking at the wrong year.
Speaker 1: That's the problem. Let me look at that, the top
Speaker 1: draft pick Shack. Okay, that's correct. The Magic that year
Speaker 1: won forty one games. They of all the teams that
Speaker 1: missed the playoffs. Yeah, they had the worst lottery odds.
Speaker 1: I knew I was right, So maybe they didn't jump
Speaker 1: as many spots because how many teams were in the league.
Speaker 1: Then I gotta look. But the Orlando Magic, they got
Speaker 1: shack by winning the lottery. And then the very next
Speaker 1: year they had the worst lottery odds and they got
Speaker 1: they won the lottery again, I knew I was right
Speaker 1: about that. You guys, how many teams are in the league? Now,
Speaker 1: you guys are really gonna bother me on this. In
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety three, there were seven teams in the Atlantic.
Speaker 1: There were seven teams in the Central so were at fourteen? Yeah,
Speaker 1: there were twenty eight teams in the league, So they
Speaker 1: went the Orlando Magic. It was a twelve team lottery
Speaker 1: because the Toronto Raptors and the what you McCall, it's
Speaker 1: the Vancouver Grizzlies didn't exist yet. It's twenty eight teams
Speaker 1: in the league. The Orlando Magic. That year, there are
Speaker 1: twelve teams in the lottery and they ended up with
Speaker 1: the Were there twenty seven teams in the league? What's
Speaker 1: the other team? I'm forgetting? Then? What team was added
Speaker 1: that didn't exist before? What do I have wrong here?
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter teams they went from the So who's
Speaker 1: the other team. Now, I'm gonna be really bothered. Who's
Speaker 1: the team that didn't exist in ninety three other than
Speaker 1: the Raptors and the Timberwolves. Because I'm looking at this
Speaker 1: and it says there's twenty seven teams. Oh, New Orleans
Speaker 1: added a team because there was twenty nine for a
Speaker 1: long time. So that's what it was. So those twenty
Speaker 1: seven teams. My point remains, not only have we seen
Speaker 1: a team jump ten spots, we have seen a team
Speaker 1: go from the worst lottery odds to winning it. It
Speaker 1: was rigged for Orlando, big deal with Disney. They wanted
Speaker 1: to everyone's so dumb. I remember these things. See this
Speaker 1: is the problem with working with the youth of America.
Speaker 1: They weren't around for the ninety three draft lottery. I
Speaker 1: was it's a big deal. No you weren't. It was like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, they're gonna pair up Shack with Chris Webber.
Speaker 1: And then they're like, no, we're gonna trade Chris Webber
Speaker 1: for Penny Hardaway. The story is, is san Antonio gonna
Speaker 1: trade the pick to get whim to get Yannest. That's
Speaker 1: the story, and the I don't know what the answer
Speaker 1: that is, and I wish we had more time on it,
Speaker 1: but it's almost noon. I just I spent bad job
Speaker 1: by me. I spent about five minutes recounting all of
Speaker 1: the best players on a championship team by memory instead
Speaker 1: of just looking it up. And then I forgot about
Speaker 1: NBA expansion. But that was really your guys fault, because
Speaker 1: you guys tried to convince me that this was the
Speaker 1: most shocking thing that happened in the lottery history when
Speaker 1: it obviously wasn't. When obviously it was the Orlando Magic
Speaker 1: going from the worst lottery odds to winning the lottery.
Speaker 1: And again, that's the thing with things that are one
Speaker 1: in one hundred, they they come in sometimes. And the
Speaker 1: other thing with the NBA lottery again, if I must
Speaker 1: remind you, guys, is Daniel's now texting the Mavericks jumped
Speaker 1: ten spots, highest highest rise in draft lottery history. That's
Speaker 1: from Sports Center, Guys. I'm just here to tell you
Speaker 1: just because someone who probably went to this, you know,
Speaker 1: same high school class as Daniel tweeted something for ESPN's
Speaker 1: Twitter account doesn't mean it we gotta fact check this stuff. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm blaming I'm blaming the youth of America.
Speaker 2: On this.
Speaker 1: I'm blaming now. Technically I guess did they so did
Speaker 1: the MAVs have the eleventh best or eleventh worst lottery odds?
Speaker 1: And then they jumped from eleven to one, so it's
Speaker 1: tied for the highest rise. Whatever. I gotta go to
Speaker 1: work like great subscribe review deman'say, sorry about your team.
Speaker 1: Sorry listeners, we'll get your questions tomorrow. It's almost noon,
Speaker 1: only one hour. First things first today Matt Ford texting.
Speaker 1: So you're saying it was rigged. My work here today
Speaker 1: is a disaster. Love you guys, Thanks Blue Dog, Thanks Volume,
Speaker 1: Thanks DraftKings, thanks Seek Geeks. See you guys. What's right