1
00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:10,560
Speaker 1: Welcome to No Dunk's here on the Athletic Podcast Network,

2
00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:14,480
Speaker 1: and we are a few lucky guys today. I don't

3
00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:16,599
Speaker 1: know how it happened. It took some persistence, but we

4
00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:19,280
Speaker 1: have got an incredible guest coming up. First, let me

5
00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:21,159
Speaker 1: intro that the few lucky guys we got here. The

6
00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:22,600
Speaker 1: man in the middle, it's Tray Kirby.

7
00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:24,079
Speaker 2: Hey hey o.

8
00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:27,200
Speaker 1: And the man always making the magic happen, it's super

9
00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:31,800
Speaker 1: producer j D. And now I got to introduce myself.

10
00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:35,360
Speaker 1: I'm tast Melos. But now the more important part, Hanif

11
00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:37,840
Speaker 1: Abduroki is with us. He is an author, he's a poet,

12
00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:40,760
Speaker 1: he has a lot of things. He's an essayist, he

13
00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:46,960
Speaker 1: is a true basketball enthusiast, and he's busy celebrating. There's

14
00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:49,400
Speaker 1: always this year an incredible book. So we have to

15
00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:51,920
Speaker 1: thank him for taking the time to join us. And

16
00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:54,320
Speaker 1: if just want to thank you straight up first and

17
00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:56,360
Speaker 1: foremost for coming on now.

18
00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:58,560
Speaker 3: Thank you of the many things I am, I'm also

19
00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:01,360
Speaker 3: a fan of the pod, like career in the YouTube

20
00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,320
Speaker 3: commenting that level fan of the pod. So thank you

21
00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:05,000
Speaker 3: for having me.

22
00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:07,800
Speaker 1: Oh man, I appreciate it. This book is incredible it's

23
00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:12,200
Speaker 1: about basketball, but it is about way more than basketball.

24
00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:17,160
Speaker 1: It gets extremely personal. Use the word pompadour at one point.

25
00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:20,759
Speaker 1: What a word. That is an incredible word. I mean,

26
00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:23,040
Speaker 1: we'll start with the basketball part before we get to

27
00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:27,000
Speaker 1: the personal part of it, because it starts with you

28
00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:29,600
Speaker 1: growing up in Ohio and Columbus, Ohio the same time

29
00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:33,160
Speaker 1: as Lebron grew up, as are almost the same age.

30
00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,679
Speaker 1: And you talk about going to Akron and watching a

31
00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:39,160
Speaker 1: couple of those games, having to partake in what was

32
00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:42,000
Speaker 1: going on in the Lebron fandom. But I just want

33
00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:46,400
Speaker 1: to know from there you became a die hard Minnesota

34
00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:50,160
Speaker 1: Timberwolves fan instead? How How how did that happen?

35
00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,440
Speaker 3: I was a Wolves fan, I loved KG, I loved

36
00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:55,680
Speaker 3: Kevin Garnett, and so I became a Wolves fan the

37
00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:57,760
Speaker 3: minute he came to the league. It was one of

38
00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,000
Speaker 3: those things where you knowhigh school payers weren't coming to

39
00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:03,640
Speaker 3: league with much frequency back then, and I thought, Wow,

40
00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,800
Speaker 3: this new team, relatively new team, has a young star

41
00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:10,640
Speaker 3: player right out of high school. It seemed like the

42
00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:13,280
Speaker 3: stars were the line and the Timberwolves were going to

43
00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:17,720
Speaker 3: be dominant for decades, I think. But I thought they

44
00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:20,239
Speaker 3: have this, they have this young superstar, They're going to

45
00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:24,480
Speaker 3: be dominant for much of my childhood and that that

46
00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:27,600
Speaker 3: clearly didn't happen. But the KG years were good.

47
00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:29,640
Speaker 2: The years were fun.

48
00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:32,120
Speaker 4: What was it like seeing Lebron play in high school

49
00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:34,360
Speaker 4: being in the arena for his games when he's you know,

50
00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:35,840
Speaker 4: a youngster still.

51
00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:39,960
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, the cool thing for me is there

52
00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:43,280
Speaker 3: was a stretch of time between you know, when Akron

53
00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:46,080
Speaker 3: sat Den Sat Mary was big and he was big,

54
00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:48,000
Speaker 3: but they were still having the games in the in

55
00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:51,280
Speaker 3: the gym in the high school. That was really impressive

56
00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:53,359
Speaker 3: to me because you're just kind of clogged in this space,

57
00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:55,880
Speaker 3: you know, kind of people crawling on the floor trying

58
00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:58,280
Speaker 3: to get a peek. That kind of intensity was really

59
00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:01,959
Speaker 3: exciting to me. And it mostly said that whole team

60
00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,640
Speaker 3: was good. That accurate Saint Vincentint Mary team was full

61
00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:08,320
Speaker 3: of extremely good players. Ramial Travis went D one, Drew

62
00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:12,280
Speaker 3: Joyce played D one, Sean Cotton played D one football

63
00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:15,080
Speaker 3: for a minute, and so that whole squad was good.

64
00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:19,000
Speaker 3: And to kind of be packed in a tight gym

65
00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:23,919
Speaker 3: and seeing Lebron play, as I say, in high school sophomore,

66
00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:25,959
Speaker 3: it was so evident that he was operating on a

67
00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:28,560
Speaker 3: different level than everybody else, the speed with which he

68
00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,400
Speaker 3: processed and played the game. Not to mention the obvious

69
00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:35,080
Speaker 3: size and athletic ability, but really I think the processing

70
00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,000
Speaker 3: of the game and the passing for me when I

71
00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:41,200
Speaker 3: was watching him was like this is he's maybe like

72
00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:43,520
Speaker 3: ten ten years ahead of everybody else.

73
00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:46,920
Speaker 1: Yeah. I loved reading you talking about the rivalry between

74
00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:50,400
Speaker 1: your school and his school and how the all came about,

75
00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:53,960
Speaker 1: I mean the Hummer and how it was there from

76
00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:57,080
Speaker 1: Afar it was. It was wild watching it, and how

77
00:03:57,120 --> 00:04:01,680
Speaker 1: he grew into what he is even Cleveland. You talked

78
00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:05,080
Speaker 1: about how you still adored those twenty ten Calves. I

79
00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:09,240
Speaker 1: love this part. You mentioned their twenty six game losing streak.

80
00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:12,280
Speaker 1: Why did you like that team after he left?

81
00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:16,360
Speaker 3: Oh? What a bunch of kind of like lovable. You know,

82
00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:18,640
Speaker 3: they were just some guys. I mean the roster. That

83
00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:22,359
Speaker 3: roster was I and I say this lovingly, you know,

84
00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:24,520
Speaker 3: maybe one of the worst rosters in my lifetime of

85
00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:27,039
Speaker 3: the NBA places. I know the Pistons had a more

86
00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:29,440
Speaker 3: intense losing streak last year, but that roster had some

87
00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:32,640
Speaker 3: you know, Cade Cunningham is a is an NBA player

88
00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:35,479
Speaker 3: and Jade and Ivy's figuring it out and Jalen Duran's

89
00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:38,200
Speaker 3: definitely an NBA player. That Calves team was really just

90
00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,160
Speaker 3: some guys like Baron Davis was there for a little

91
00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:43,960
Speaker 3: bit and it wasn't. I loved Booby Gibson for what

92
00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:47,320
Speaker 3: was worth. Yeah, he had a quick moment and then

93
00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:49,520
Speaker 3: a very not that moll he had a moment, and

94
00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:54,080
Speaker 3: then definitively never had a moment, And I loved, you know,

95
00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:57,839
Speaker 3: I love those guys. That team was awful to watch.

96
00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:00,680
Speaker 3: But what was interesting about that team was that there

97
00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:03,000
Speaker 3: was a point in the season where they were clearly

98
00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:06,120
Speaker 3: tanking but trying to do the dance where they put

99
00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:07,960
Speaker 3: on a front like they're not really tanking. You know,

100
00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:10,320
Speaker 3: teams do that type thing where it's like we're tanking,

101
00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:12,560
Speaker 3: but we're trying a little bit hard. And then there

102
00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:14,400
Speaker 3: was a point in that Cavalier season where they just

103
00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,520
Speaker 3: they stripped away to the side. They're like, we're trying to lose,

104
00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:19,480
Speaker 3: like we can't even if we were trying to win,

105
00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:21,599
Speaker 3: we could not win, and so there's no real point

106
00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:23,880
Speaker 3: in going out there and acting like we're trying to

107
00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:24,600
Speaker 3: win games.

108
00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:26,320
Speaker 1: That was a squad.

109
00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:27,120
Speaker 3: I think you said it.

110
00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:29,920
Speaker 1: You put a little nicer right now than you did

111
00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,320
Speaker 1: in your book. I'll just read the quote because it

112
00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:36,080
Speaker 1: was awesome and because I felt a little connected to

113
00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:38,560
Speaker 1: that watching the Toronto Raptors up close and bad Team.

114
00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:41,159
Speaker 1: I liked it too. Here's the quote, that band of

115
00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:44,640
Speaker 1: misfits who felt like they were made just for me. Oh,

116
00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:46,880
Speaker 1: the delightful mess of it all. A team full of

117
00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:49,040
Speaker 1: people who are floating along, attempting to figure out their

118
00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:51,320
Speaker 1: role on this impossible team that was mostly just trying

119
00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:53,520
Speaker 1: to hold serve, trying to stay in place for as

120
00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:57,240
Speaker 1: long as they could until another miracle or a band

121
00:05:57,279 --> 00:05:59,920
Speaker 1: of misfits. Yeah, but they're just trying to make their way, right,

122
00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,920
Speaker 1: they were just trying to figure it out. I liked

123
00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,200
Speaker 1: all that. You mentioned the twenty six game losing streaks

124
00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:07,000
Speaker 1: that they went through.

125
00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:11,240
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, that alonzo Gee was on that team. JJ Hickson.

126
00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:14,880
Speaker 3: That was just a weird bunch of dudes. Yeah, there

127
00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:17,360
Speaker 3: was like a I'm almost I don't know because I

128
00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:18,560
Speaker 3: have the roster in front of you, but I'm not

129
00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,279
Speaker 3: even sure Ramone Sessions is on that team because it

130
00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:24,039
Speaker 3: feels like Ramote Sessions is one of those NBA players

131
00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:26,160
Speaker 3: who's always on every team. Yes, and it feels like

132
00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:28,479
Speaker 3: they are just like a million versions of Ramone Sessions

133
00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:29,520
Speaker 3: and he's always on a roster.

134
00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:32,880
Speaker 4: Hey Man thirteen points a game, five assistant game for

135
00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:35,600
Speaker 4: Ramon Sessions in the twenty ten to eleven season. I

136
00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:37,320
Speaker 4: don't know why it is those kind of teams just

137
00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:39,760
Speaker 4: stick with you. Like for me, it was when Michael

138
00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,279
Speaker 4: Jordan retired from the Bulls. They became the worst team

139
00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:45,640
Speaker 4: in the league basically instantly, and I'll always remember Cornell

140
00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:50,280
Speaker 4: David and Dragon Tarlac. I'm sure, hanif as a Timberwolves

141
00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:52,960
Speaker 4: fantast you've had some bad moments as a Raptors fan,

142
00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:55,600
Speaker 4: why do these teams when you know you're not gonna win,

143
00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:58,280
Speaker 4: you know you're not an actual competitive team in the NBA?

144
00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:01,680
Speaker 4: Why do those teams like sure our imagination and stick

145
00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:04,560
Speaker 4: with us so long, even if we've seen much better

146
00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:06,760
Speaker 4: basketball on the court in previous times?

147
00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:09,320
Speaker 3: There's not I mean, as a Timberwls fan, I feel

148
00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:11,800
Speaker 3: like I can speak deeply to this. There's there's something

149
00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:15,640
Speaker 3: kind of there's something kind of fantastic about watching a

150
00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:17,800
Speaker 3: team that is barely an NBA team. The Timberls had

151
00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:20,640
Speaker 3: that team that won like fifteen sixteen games, Like I

152
00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:24,119
Speaker 3: let the Alexi SD and you know that that level

153
00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:26,680
Speaker 3: spuot and you know Luke Riddan Owers maybe the point

154
00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:30,240
Speaker 3: guard on that team, and you know that team was atrocious,

155
00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:33,680
Speaker 3: but at the same time they were kind of goofy.

156
00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:35,600
Speaker 3: It was like a little it was like a cartoon team.

157
00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:39,400
Speaker 3: And that also I remember that team well because I

158
00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:41,640
Speaker 3: remember the next season. They didn't really make any changes

159
00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:44,160
Speaker 3: in the offseason, not not any significant ones. And at

160
00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:45,920
Speaker 3: the start of that next season, I still told myself,

161
00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:47,440
Speaker 3: this is a year. You know, this is the year

162
00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:51,320
Speaker 3: the tim roles because and what I love about sports fandom,

163
00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:54,280
Speaker 3: as specifically basketball fantom for me, is that it's a

164
00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:56,640
Speaker 3: safe space to lie to ourselves if we even if

165
00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,640
Speaker 3: we know better. It's a safe space to say this

166
00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:02,080
Speaker 3: team and that one seventeen games last year can surely

167
00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:03,760
Speaker 3: make a playoff run this year, even though they've made

168
00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:05,360
Speaker 3: no significant changes whatsoever.

169
00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:06,600
Speaker 2: It's actually crazy.

170
00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:11,080
Speaker 4: I looked up the twenty nine to ten Minnesota Timberwolves.

171
00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:12,840
Speaker 4: Ramon's sessions is on that team as well.

172
00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:14,560
Speaker 2: It really is on every team.

173
00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:17,600
Speaker 1: I jump it back just to two thousand and three,

174
00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:19,800
Speaker 1: because I just need to hear from somebody who was there.

175
00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,320
Speaker 1: You were in Columbus, Ohio as the Cavs were doing

176
00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:25,360
Speaker 1: that tanking thing, and they got it and it made

177
00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:27,200
Speaker 1: it happen in two thousand and three. What was it

178
00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:31,000
Speaker 1: like for that entire state to know that Lebron was

179
00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:32,319
Speaker 1: coming to that team?

180
00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:34,840
Speaker 3: The draft lottery felt inevitable, you know. I think what

181
00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:37,600
Speaker 3: I love about draft lotteries is that it may feel

182
00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:41,559
Speaker 3: so improbable, you know. I that one felt inevitable. I

183
00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:44,679
Speaker 3: know the exact so this day, I remember the exact

184
00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:46,959
Speaker 3: odds that Cavs had to win that battery. It's twenty

185
00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,960
Speaker 3: two point five percent. And I remember it because my

186
00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:52,720
Speaker 3: friends were like writing that on their hands before going

187
00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:56,320
Speaker 3: in the bar, as like a good luck gesture. And

188
00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:01,040
Speaker 3: it just seemed like destiny, you know I. And yet

189
00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:04,040
Speaker 3: even though it was destiny, people were still so anxious,

190
00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:05,640
Speaker 3: you know, I read about it in the book. Even

191
00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:07,480
Speaker 3: when like the Grizzlies got that second pick, and so

192
00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:10,520
Speaker 3: it was literally inevitable that the Calves had the first pick.

193
00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:14,200
Speaker 3: People didn't breathe until they saw the Calves logo come

194
00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:16,720
Speaker 3: out of that number one pick envelope. And that is

195
00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:19,960
Speaker 3: something that losing does to us, or you know, something

196
00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:23,199
Speaker 3: that bad luck in sports does to us. It convinces

197
00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:25,680
Speaker 3: us that we perhaps don't deserve to witness something great.

198
00:09:25,679 --> 00:09:27,880
Speaker 3: I mean last year, not to keep returning to the

199
00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:30,560
Speaker 3: Timberls of very literally. You know, there was maybe like

200
00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:33,000
Speaker 3: thirty seconds left in that game seven against the Millions,

201
00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:34,240
Speaker 3: and I was still sweating on my couch. I was

202
00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:37,120
Speaker 3: still texting my friends, like, you know, might not make it.

203
00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:40,040
Speaker 3: So two thousand and three had that air about it

204
00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:43,640
Speaker 3: where it both seemed inevitable, but to people who loved

205
00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:46,520
Speaker 3: the Calves and who have been through a lot of

206
00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:50,360
Speaker 3: down years, it seemed also improbable.

207
00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:54,560
Speaker 1: A lot of timberl seasons have seemed improbable, but this

208
00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:57,800
Speaker 1: year it finally happened where they they made conference finals.

209
00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:02,920
Speaker 1: It's there, It's it's official, and you wrote about it

210
00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:04,880
Speaker 1: in the spring, and then you made a great video

211
00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:08,280
Speaker 1: as they went into their postseason. Just in general, how

212
00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:12,480
Speaker 1: has that been being a Timberwold fan? This season it.

213
00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:14,720
Speaker 3: Was, you know, this is a I think this is

214
00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:16,400
Speaker 3: the best Timberld. This past season was the best and

215
00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:19,040
Speaker 3: Roles season of my life. And I'm counting the previous

216
00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:22,720
Speaker 3: Western Conference Finals season that was just twenty years prior,

217
00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:25,320
Speaker 3: so much of it seemed miraculous. The fact that they

218
00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:28,360
Speaker 3: got they won that Game seven on the same exact day,

219
00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:31,600
Speaker 3: twenty years of the day that the last Timberls team

220
00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:35,199
Speaker 3: beat the Kings in the Game seven, it just felt miraculous.

221
00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:37,920
Speaker 3: And I love this team. I loved, you know, I've

222
00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:39,959
Speaker 3: loved this team for a long time with very little

223
00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:43,920
Speaker 3: reward for that affection, and to get this specific team,

224
00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:46,280
Speaker 3: you know, I'm a big I like Anthony Edwards. I've

225
00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:48,640
Speaker 3: always really loved Karl Anthony Towns, and I feel like

226
00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:52,520
Speaker 3: he maybe doesn't get he doesn't get the credit deserves.

227
00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:54,199
Speaker 3: I think for kind of having a season last year

228
00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:57,760
Speaker 3: that was very good and also very deferential he deferred

229
00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:01,440
Speaker 3: to he just became a different player, you know, and

230
00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:03,679
Speaker 3: I think at this stage in his career that was challenging.

231
00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:06,080
Speaker 3: I love Jade McDaniels. I just love this team, and

232
00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:08,840
Speaker 3: I am at a stage now where we're going into

233
00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:12,640
Speaker 3: the season after they've had success. In my anxiety, quite frankly,

234
00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:15,000
Speaker 3: is at an all time high because it just doesn't

235
00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:19,600
Speaker 3: seem the season after the great season is always a

236
00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:21,480
Speaker 3: bit of a letdown. You know that the last time

237
00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:23,160
Speaker 3: Tom Roswady the West Conference finals, there was a real

238
00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:26,079
Speaker 3: letdown that following season. It feels like they're prime to

239
00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:29,679
Speaker 3: a letdown, particularly because the Western Conference got better. I

240
00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:32,120
Speaker 3: mean the Thunder the Thunder a terrifying to me, Like

241
00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:34,880
Speaker 3: the Thunder the Thunder were scary last year, and what

242
00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:36,400
Speaker 3: they did in the off season, It's like, I just

243
00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:39,480
Speaker 3: don't know, and so I'm a little anxious. I'm a

244
00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:42,400
Speaker 3: little on edge about, you know, the point guard situation

245
00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:45,079
Speaker 3: wars me. Mike Conley, who I love deeply, is kind

246
00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:48,439
Speaker 3: of like an Honorario Highland, but he's also like almost

247
00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:49,760
Speaker 3: as old as me, you know, so.

248
00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:55,079
Speaker 1: Expectations are high. They are high coming out of that

249
00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:58,840
Speaker 1: season is like, yeah, conference finals good, but this city

250
00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:02,360
Speaker 1: deserves a lot more than that. It just he's taking

251
00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:05,439
Speaker 1: it up a notch. And that's when you go from, oh,

252
00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:07,199
Speaker 1: if we make the playoffs, it'll be great as a

253
00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:10,040
Speaker 1: fan too, Oh my goodness, this is it he's calling for.

254
00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:11,319
Speaker 1: He's calling for the finals.

255
00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:13,679
Speaker 3: The stakes are especially high because it feels like this

256
00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:16,360
Speaker 3: is the last year for this construction of this team,

257
00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:18,160
Speaker 3: because once you get to the end of this season,

258
00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:20,480
Speaker 3: there's some real salary stuff that just is not going

259
00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:23,640
Speaker 3: to mesh. So it feels like this is the run.

260
00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:25,880
Speaker 3: After this, I think they're gonna have to answer some

261
00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:28,240
Speaker 3: big questions about who they can afford to keep and

262
00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:32,080
Speaker 3: who they got to let walk. And you know, I

263
00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:35,320
Speaker 3: don't know. I think the go Bear Towns thing was

264
00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:39,160
Speaker 3: great last year, at least in the regular season. I

265
00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:41,360
Speaker 3: think we got one more year that and then one

266
00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:43,400
Speaker 3: of those two guys is not going to be there. Now.

267
00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:44,160
Speaker 2: You're probably right.

268
00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:47,360
Speaker 4: You mentioned that Kat kind of doesn't get the credit

269
00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:49,760
Speaker 4: he deserves. I'm totally with you, Like, I don't think

270
00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:54,440
Speaker 4: that the Timberwolves win the Nuggets series last year without

271
00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:57,880
Speaker 4: Town's playing Yogis the way he did defensively definitely, Well,

272
00:12:57,920 --> 00:12:59,440
Speaker 4: maybe they still beat the Suns, but he did a

273
00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:02,360
Speaker 4: pretty solid job on Kevin Durant in Round one. But then,

274
00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:07,080
Speaker 4: you know, doesn't necessarily look great against the Dallas Mavericks. Obviously,

275
00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:10,600
Speaker 4: Gobert had his struggles against the Mavericks as well. These

276
00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:13,200
Speaker 4: are two like the most polarizing guys in the NBA.

277
00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:15,679
Speaker 4: I feel like, do you feel protective of them as

278
00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:16,640
Speaker 4: a Timberwolves fan.

279
00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:25,320
Speaker 3: I feel protective of Cat go bear like fair grow tricky.

280
00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:31,080
Speaker 3: You know, it's funny because there's that whole like that thing,

281
00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:32,959
Speaker 3: there's that meme of or not a meme mister maul

282
00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:36,880
Speaker 3: Mary telling the story of Gobert guarding Yolkic where it's like,

283
00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:38,440
Speaker 3: you know, I got him and Yelkic says brother I

284
00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:40,560
Speaker 3: have forty seven or whatever. I laughed at that for

285
00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:42,959
Speaker 3: so many years until I saw it happening in real life.

286
00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:46,000
Speaker 3: You know, I was like, this is so it was

287
00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:48,079
Speaker 3: like that scene or remember the Titans Wheredanzel's like, it's

288
00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:50,600
Speaker 3: not so funny anymore, is it? You know very much?

289
00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:52,599
Speaker 3: You know, I was like, oh, this is such a

290
00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:54,679
Speaker 3: funny story. He can't guard Yolkic at all. And then

291
00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:56,640
Speaker 3: when it was happening, when he was in a Timberwols jersey,

292
00:13:56,960 --> 00:13:59,200
Speaker 3: I was like, this isn't this isn't so funny. After all.

293
00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:04,560
Speaker 3: I appreciate Gobert. I appreciate ridy gobert strains, I really do,

294
00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:07,640
Speaker 3: and I think he has held to a somewhat unfair

295
00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:10,360
Speaker 3: standard due to the decoration he's achieved as a as

296
00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:13,000
Speaker 3: a multiple time Defense Player of the Year. I also

297
00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:17,600
Speaker 3: think he is sometimes challenging for me to watch.

298
00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:22,560
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, but you've nailed it.

299
00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:24,840
Speaker 3: It's that is I think that's also fandom. I mean,

300
00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:28,120
Speaker 3: like he is. Cat is also sometimes challenging for me

301
00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:30,720
Speaker 3: to watch Anthony Edwards is sometimes, you know, when I'm

302
00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:34,200
Speaker 3: watching Anthony Edwards jack up like contested fadeaways when five

303
00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,080
Speaker 3: of them have not fault. All the players that we

304
00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:40,160
Speaker 3: love are also challenging to watch. I feel like, you know, Trey,

305
00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:42,040
Speaker 3: I know you're a Bulls fan. It can't be it

306
00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:44,000
Speaker 3: can't be thrilling watching zach ly vie in all the time.

307
00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:46,320
Speaker 3: And I love Zachlyvie, but it cannot be thrilling watching

308
00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:47,400
Speaker 3: zactly In all the time.

309
00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:49,560
Speaker 2: How dare you say that?

310
00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:51,800
Speaker 4: Because I'm very excited for him to come back, But

311
00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:54,360
Speaker 4: I'm drunding cheering for Josh Giddy this year. You know,

312
00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:56,840
Speaker 4: it's like you you spend the first three or four

313
00:14:56,880 --> 00:15:00,240
Speaker 4: seasons of a guy's career with a distaste for their game,

314
00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:01,760
Speaker 4: and then suddenly they're on your team and I'm like,

315
00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:04,080
Speaker 4: oh man, but did you see Giddy dishing the ball

316
00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:06,640
Speaker 4: in the Olympics. Maybe he'll be solid this year. I

317
00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:09,440
Speaker 4: always wonder what it's like for Timberwolves fans because people

318
00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:12,000
Speaker 4: are taking shots at cat. People are always taking shots

319
00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:14,240
Speaker 4: at Go Bear and then off the bench. They have

320
00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:16,640
Speaker 4: like the most widely beloved big guy in the NBA

321
00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:20,440
Speaker 4: and nas Reid. We got tattoos showing up on everybody.

322
00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:23,800
Speaker 4: They did the awesome towel promo last year with the

323
00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:26,680
Speaker 4: nos retowels. I know they've got a bobblehead this year, honey,

324
00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:29,720
Speaker 4: did you join the crew? Did you get a nos

325
00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:31,280
Speaker 4: red tattoo? After this season?

326
00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:34,120
Speaker 3: They didn't get a nas re tattoo. However, I did

327
00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:36,160
Speaker 3: just have a book tour stop at Minneapolis. I had

328
00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:39,080
Speaker 3: a I did like a which had been long delayed.

329
00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:40,880
Speaker 3: We are trying to this is I'm on the fall

330
00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:43,440
Speaker 3: leg of my book tour, which it's wild, I guess

331
00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:45,320
Speaker 3: as a writer to have two separate legs of a

332
00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,120
Speaker 3: book tour, but I guess that's my life now. And

333
00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:50,320
Speaker 3: we tried to set up a Minneapolis toward stop in

334
00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:52,640
Speaker 3: the spring that would coincide with the Timberlves playoff game,

335
00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:55,080
Speaker 3: but it just didn't work. And I also was kind

336
00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:56,480
Speaker 3: of like, I don't really know what the plaids are

337
00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:57,760
Speaker 3: going to be in the playoffs. You know, this was

338
00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:00,320
Speaker 3: before the playoffs started and so we didn't know what

339
00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:02,240
Speaker 3: see they were going to be. We didn't know, you know.

340
00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:03,520
Speaker 3: So I was like, let's do it in the fall,

341
00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:07,000
Speaker 3: and I did this tour stop and I can't there

342
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,240
Speaker 3: were maybe like three hundred or so people who came

343
00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:12,760
Speaker 3: out to the event, and afterwards, I have to say

344
00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:15,600
Speaker 3: in the signing line, I got at least fifty nasri

345
00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:19,000
Speaker 3: related things people just handed me, like stickers and buttons

346
00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:22,640
Speaker 3: and drawings, and so he's really Gavinia. I like nas Reid.

347
00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:30,160
Speaker 3: I think that he is a perfect bench player who

348
00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:34,560
Speaker 3: should certainly not start, and I think a timbrelves utilize

349
00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:37,600
Speaker 3: him so intelligently in that way. There have been opportunities

350
00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:39,480
Speaker 3: like where he could get more minutes, and I think

351
00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:42,040
Speaker 3: he is so good on that second unit. I'm excited

352
00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:44,800
Speaker 3: for that second unit this year. I don't know how

353
00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:47,520
Speaker 3: sold I am on Rob Dillingham yet, but I would

354
00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:51,320
Speaker 3: like to be more sold on Rob Dillingham. I think

355
00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:55,280
Speaker 3: that nas Reed and I love Nikaile Alexander Walker. I

356
00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:58,720
Speaker 3: really do like. I think he's he's a phenomenal player

357
00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:01,760
Speaker 3: who was brutally MISCA asked his first kind of stretch

358
00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:04,199
Speaker 3: of NBA seasons when really He's just kind of like

359
00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:06,600
Speaker 3: a prototypical three m B guy who gets you seven

360
00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:09,320
Speaker 3: eight points a game and make life hard for an

361
00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:12,440
Speaker 3: opposing offensive player. And I just love the effort he

362
00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:14,639
Speaker 3: puts in. So I I'm maybe more excited about the

363
00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:16,720
Speaker 3: bench unit than I am about the starters this year.

364
00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:19,359
Speaker 3: Ten roles. We'll see how that. We'll see how that goes.

365
00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:23,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, because Nikhil Alexander Walker can score. I I love

366
00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:26,040
Speaker 1: this line. You just reminded me of it when you're

367
00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:28,399
Speaker 1: talking about Nikle Alexander Walker, because I think that guy's

368
00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:30,080
Speaker 1: got game, He's got the touch. He wrote this. The

369
00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:33,440
Speaker 1: floater the most romantic shot in the game. Win done right,

370
00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:36,200
Speaker 1: Nikail Alexanda Walker, you can do that sometimes he can

371
00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:38,320
Speaker 1: pull it off. And I can understand why you wouldn't

372
00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:44,800
Speaker 1: adore Rudy Gobert for the same reason because it's no floaters, zero,

373
00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:46,760
Speaker 1: no floaters. That ain't happening.

374
00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:49,119
Speaker 3: He did hit that, I'm probable fade away in the

375
00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:54,600
Speaker 3: Nuggets series.

376
00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:56,200
Speaker 1: Of the season. That was that was bonkers. Yeah, even

377
00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:59,000
Speaker 1: that doesn't get enough credit, which is I don't know

378
00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:01,280
Speaker 1: if you give credit for something which never should have

379
00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:04,360
Speaker 1: happened in it, you just have this like a but

380
00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:06,760
Speaker 1: but that was wild that he was able to hit

381
00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:11,520
Speaker 1: that shot. Listen this book. It gets so deep and personal.

382
00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:16,040
Speaker 1: You get into prayer and sometimes how you weren't into

383
00:18:16,119 --> 00:18:18,399
Speaker 1: praying at times, or you were you were doing it,

384
00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:21,159
Speaker 1: but you know you were half hardly doing it at times.

385
00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:25,280
Speaker 1: And I love this quote from it. You wrote, with

386
00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:28,440
Speaker 1: enough repetition, anything can become a religion. It doesn't matter

387
00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:30,919
Speaker 1: if it works or not. It simply matters that a

388
00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:35,119
Speaker 1: person returns one basketball thing I pray for and you

389
00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:37,760
Speaker 1: pray for as well. It feels like knife better nicknames.

390
00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:41,000
Speaker 1: We need better nicknames, Yeah, because you wrote about it.

391
00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:44,160
Speaker 1: You wrote about like how they have there were done.

392
00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:48,000
Speaker 1: We're almost past the era like Magic Johnson, as you

393
00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:50,000
Speaker 1: wrote there might be some fools who don't even know

394
00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:53,280
Speaker 1: Magic's name. Ain't Magic? And you talked about Penny Hardaway.

395
00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:55,840
Speaker 1: You wrote with the glove, the worm, the admiral, Where

396
00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:58,479
Speaker 1: are we? Do you think it'll come back one day? Hanif?

397
00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:00,760
Speaker 4: No?

398
00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:03,040
Speaker 3: And I wonder some of if some of this is

399
00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:08,399
Speaker 3: just because of how hyper focused on branding the individual

400
00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:11,840
Speaker 3: as a individual and not kind of a player. I

401
00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:13,680
Speaker 3: don't know how to word this well. Penny was being

402
00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:16,760
Speaker 3: branded as like a superhuman thing. Magic was like a

403
00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:20,280
Speaker 3: superhuman guy with the nickname comes along with that, you know.

404
00:19:20,359 --> 00:19:22,399
Speaker 3: Now there's kind of like an everyman brand name. I

405
00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,639
Speaker 3: would love more nicknames, I think, you know, I know,

406
00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:28,440
Speaker 3: Tazio Raptors. I think Scotty Barnes is due for a

407
00:19:29,359 --> 00:19:31,560
Speaker 3: good He's like built for a nickname. You know, Scotty

408
00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:34,720
Speaker 3: Barnes is he's a player. I look at players, and

409
00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:36,840
Speaker 3: I think we can have an all nickname team if

410
00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:41,240
Speaker 3: guys would just embrace, you know. And sometimes now the

411
00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:43,879
Speaker 3: nicknames are good but too long. Like I think the

412
00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:48,320
Speaker 3: Stifled Tower is creative, but you can't really that doesn't

413
00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:52,119
Speaker 3: roll off the tongue during a broadcast. And it's not

414
00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:54,560
Speaker 3: something that can be subbed in for a first name,

415
00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:57,240
Speaker 3: which I think is where nicknames really, you know, the

416
00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:00,159
Speaker 3: greatest nicknames of the seventies, eighties, nineties to me, or

417
00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:01,800
Speaker 3: either something that can be subbed in for a first

418
00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:05,520
Speaker 3: name or something that's like the like the Admiral, the Dream,

419
00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:07,200
Speaker 3: et cetera.

420
00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:09,159
Speaker 1: Totally with you.

421
00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:12,439
Speaker 3: We're really at a. We're really at a. It's I

422
00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:14,120
Speaker 3: just don't I don't think that era is coming back,

423
00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:18,720
Speaker 3: mostly because I also think that players don't have a

424
00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:22,440
Speaker 3: they're not embracing the alter ego as much as as

425
00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:23,399
Speaker 3: some of the guys used to.

426
00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:25,439
Speaker 2: It's yeah, it's all about transparency.

427
00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:27,520
Speaker 4: They want to give you their authentic self, so you

428
00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,159
Speaker 4: don't necessarily that's the branding of it, rather than like

429
00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:32,320
Speaker 4: building the mystery of it. You would put the stifle

430
00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:35,240
Speaker 4: tower on a poster maybe, but not as a nickname.

431
00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:37,560
Speaker 4: And I'm feel like you're right, honey, if it's getting worse.

432
00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:39,840
Speaker 4: It used to be like you know, t MAC at

433
00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:43,280
Speaker 4: least that was a second syllable or a syllable of

434
00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:46,360
Speaker 4: the last name. Now it would just be tm KD right,

435
00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:48,760
Speaker 4: like everybody is just initials now, so you can make

436
00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:51,720
Speaker 4: it into a logo on your shoe.

437
00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:53,200
Speaker 3: If only we had like.

438
00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:58,080
Speaker 4: You know, like genius authors, straight up wordsmith's you come up.

439
00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:00,600
Speaker 3: With some of these things. I have to be honest,

440
00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:03,240
Speaker 3: the last thing I want from NBA players is transparency.

441
00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,879
Speaker 3: I don't want to know. I want zero transparency of

442
00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:11,840
Speaker 3: the you know, I just make it. I would love

443
00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:15,040
Speaker 3: for NBA players to become once again mysterious and you know,

444
00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:18,280
Speaker 3: shrouded in some level of mystery. I felt like you

445
00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,200
Speaker 3: know when I was coming up, I got to watch

446
00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:23,919
Speaker 3: guys who I knew very little about, and I was

447
00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:25,000
Speaker 3: very satisfied.

448
00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:27,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, it's strange.

449
00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:29,480
Speaker 4: Like I feel like you would read in like Sports

450
00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:32,440
Speaker 4: Illustrated for kids, Jerry Stackhouse had his first ever dunk

451
00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:34,439
Speaker 4: when he was in sixth grade, and you're like, that

452
00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:37,120
Speaker 4: seems unbelievable to me that somebody could be big enough

453
00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:39,280
Speaker 4: and strong enough to actually be able to pull that off.

454
00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:42,160
Speaker 4: And then now you're like, well, I've seen LaMelo ball.

455
00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:44,240
Speaker 4: I saw his very first dunk in the game, and

456
00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:46,840
Speaker 4: it kind of changes the way you view a player

457
00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:49,000
Speaker 4: if you've seen them come up from when they're thirteen

458
00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:52,880
Speaker 4: or fourteen years old. There's just not necessarily the mystery

459
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:57,159
Speaker 4: nature of it, and that's true, the mythological backstory you

460
00:21:57,200 --> 00:21:59,040
Speaker 4: don't get quite the same, which you know, maybe is

461
00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:01,800
Speaker 4: old reason why a dude like Victor Wembanyama was so

462
00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:05,439
Speaker 4: hyped coming into the league. Not only is he shaped

463
00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:08,439
Speaker 4: the way he is and blessed the way he is

464
00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:11,399
Speaker 4: with skills, but also we don't know anything about him

465
00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:13,720
Speaker 4: except for some reason. There's a photo of him wearing

466
00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:15,720
Speaker 4: a Tony Parker jersey when he's ten years old and

467
00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:17,800
Speaker 4: then he ends up beat on the spurs. Those sort

468
00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:20,520
Speaker 4: of things just aren't part of the media landscape.

469
00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:21,320
Speaker 3: I don't think these things.

470
00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:26,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, the mythological part has gone. But these nicknames happened

471
00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:28,840
Speaker 1: so long ago, like the glove, the worm. You can

472
00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:32,480
Speaker 1: literally repeat nicknames now and back. Yeah, and I don't

473
00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:35,320
Speaker 1: think anyone would bad and I maybe we would talk

474
00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:37,879
Speaker 1: about it, but you know, we're way older than the

475
00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:41,840
Speaker 1: average fan, and so why not. We can't remember things

476
00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:44,760
Speaker 1: that are from thirty years ago, like other than us

477
00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:47,080
Speaker 1: who lived them as a kid. Just bring them back.

478
00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:50,240
Speaker 1: Somebody should be the worm, and it was was Rodman?

479
00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:52,800
Speaker 1: I mean, was he that good as a worm? I know,

480
00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:55,159
Speaker 1: he's a rebound machine. Like the worm is just a

481
00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:57,879
Speaker 1: really good nickname, but it does it suit Dennis Rodman.

482
00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:00,440
Speaker 1: I don't think of Rodman whenever I hear the worm.

483
00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:01,560
Speaker 1: I mean I thick of the hair.

484
00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:03,520
Speaker 3: Yeah.

485
00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:06,520
Speaker 1: So, but still is good. It's really literally better than

486
00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:07,679
Speaker 1: what we got today.

487
00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:10,800
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, we're really and we're also kind of

488
00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:12,240
Speaker 3: in an air and not now. I feel like I'm

489
00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:14,639
Speaker 3: a good like an old man shaking a fistical cloud.

490
00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:17,080
Speaker 3: But I do miss that kind of I mean in

491
00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:18,880
Speaker 3: the book, I write about hearing about the Fab five

492
00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:21,639
Speaker 3: before I saw them, and that was so cool to me.

493
00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:23,080
Speaker 3: That was so cool to be a kid on a

494
00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:25,679
Speaker 3: basketball court, watching a pickup game and hearing that older

495
00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:29,320
Speaker 3: peers talk about this team out of Michigan, you know,

496
00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:32,080
Speaker 3: and then finally seeing them and getting the basket in

497
00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:34,359
Speaker 3: that mythology and I get that that's not where we

498
00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:37,000
Speaker 3: are today. When Minyama was Victor Wamama was kind of

499
00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:39,960
Speaker 3: like that for sure, ye, But I don't think we're

500
00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:42,240
Speaker 3: gonna get that frequently. And I'm okay with that. But

501
00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:44,919
Speaker 3: I do think that when you kind of pull the

502
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,160
Speaker 3: pin out of the mythology machine, the word of mouth

503
00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:52,040
Speaker 3: mythology machine specifically, you also lose access to nicknames and

504
00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:54,880
Speaker 3: kind of more playful world building like that.

505
00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:58,960
Speaker 1: I'm i gotta, I gotta go to this question here.

506
00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,440
Speaker 1: This may not be, but I need to know, since

507
00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:06,320
Speaker 1: you wrote this book and there is a lot of

508
00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:09,240
Speaker 1: you growing up in the state of Ohio, has Lebron

509
00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:11,760
Speaker 1: reached out just to say, hey, this was a good book,

510
00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:13,840
Speaker 1: Just just curious and if you don't want answer that,

511
00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,560
Speaker 1: that's totally fine, because I've I've totally been hostiged with

512
00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:17,040
Speaker 1: this one.

513
00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:19,639
Speaker 3: He has it. We've actually never we've never spoken. He've

514
00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:20,879
Speaker 3: never been an age of at orbit. I know he

515
00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:25,399
Speaker 3: has the book. I got it, or at least I

516
00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:27,040
Speaker 3: believe that he has the book. I got it to

517
00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:31,679
Speaker 3: him through Rich Paul, which is very kind. But I

518
00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:33,359
Speaker 3: don't know if he's read it. If I were him,

519
00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:34,720
Speaker 3: I don't know if i'd want to read it. I

520
00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:38,200
Speaker 3: don't know how he is about reading about himself. I am.

521
00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:41,120
Speaker 3: I'm not that interested in reading about myself, and I'm

522
00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:44,199
Speaker 3: not even a fraction of you know, I don't have

523
00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:46,439
Speaker 3: a fraction of the notoriety of lebron has, so I

524
00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:48,640
Speaker 3: don't know if reading about himself would be even though

525
00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:50,520
Speaker 3: the book does encompass a lot and he is a

526
00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,200
Speaker 3: fraction of that. I don't know if reading about himself

527
00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:55,240
Speaker 3: would be a comfortable or joyful thing for him. But

528
00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:59,080
Speaker 3: fair I know he has it. I hope he gets

529
00:24:59,080 --> 00:24:59,840
Speaker 3: to it a little bit.

530
00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:02,240
Speaker 2: I think he'll at least check out the first page.

531
00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:02,720
Speaker 1: I'm sure.

532
00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:05,440
Speaker 3: Yeah, Yeah, I hope he carries it in the arena

533
00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:08,240
Speaker 3: if nothing else, I hope he carries it into Staples Center.

534
00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:10,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, because it's got a beautiful cover. Even then Danielle,

535
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:13,040
Speaker 1: my wife, walked by it and said, whoa, I love

536
00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:14,679
Speaker 1: the cover of that book. So you got me some

537
00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:17,240
Speaker 1: brownie points or you're your editing team that made this

538
00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:17,760
Speaker 1: for you.

539
00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:18,919
Speaker 3: It is.

540
00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:21,520
Speaker 1: It's a beautiful cover. So Lebron's got to carry it.

541
00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:23,480
Speaker 2: Well, Lebron will carry it at some point.

542
00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:25,760
Speaker 4: But I mean, you've had a ton of success with

543
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,639
Speaker 4: this book and with your prior books and other works

544
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:32,640
Speaker 4: that you've put out. What do you consider like an accomplishment?

545
00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:35,480
Speaker 4: You're proud of stuff because you've got literally a MacArthur

546
00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:38,560
Speaker 4: Genius Grant. Amazing, You've got a mural in your hometown,

547
00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:41,360
Speaker 4: and you've been on Barack Obama's reading list twice. Like,

548
00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:43,720
Speaker 4: if you're bragging on yourself what you say you don't

549
00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:45,199
Speaker 4: want to do but we're making you do it?

550
00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:46,720
Speaker 2: Now, what would you lead with?

551
00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:51,560
Speaker 1: You know?

552
00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:54,199
Speaker 3: What's funny is like a writer's achievements are are so

553
00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:56,359
Speaker 3: hard to translate to the Like if I told people

554
00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:58,320
Speaker 3: I have a MacArthur Genius Grant, they'd be like, cool,

555
00:25:58,359 --> 00:25:59,320
Speaker 3: what is what does that mean?

556
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:00,800
Speaker 1: I had to look it up.

557
00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:03,840
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's like the word genius is in the title,

558
00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:06,600
Speaker 3: but actually, what does that mean because I watched you

559
00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:09,120
Speaker 3: at the grocery store count on your fingers to do math.

560
00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:14,040
Speaker 3: So you know, I think I think I would just

561
00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:17,000
Speaker 3: lead with the fact that I've written I guess six

562
00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:18,760
Speaker 3: now six books. You know. I think when I say,

563
00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:21,480
Speaker 3: when I quantify the number of books to say I've

564
00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:26,280
Speaker 3: written six books in ten years or so less than

565
00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:30,320
Speaker 3: ten years, six books in eight years, I think that

566
00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:32,920
Speaker 3: will give people, that will allow people say wow, because

567
00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:35,760
Speaker 3: if I start listing the like accolades, people don't really

568
00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:37,919
Speaker 3: know what the National Book Awards are. They know what

569
00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:39,720
Speaker 3: they sound like. They are what they sound like, you know,

570
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:43,359
Speaker 3: and MacArthur genius Grant is what it sounds like. But

571
00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:46,439
Speaker 3: I will say in terms of just the the elders

572
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,240
Speaker 3: in my life, specifically like older black people in my life,

573
00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:51,760
Speaker 3: the Barack Obama's reading this thing is the thing They're

574
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:54,600
Speaker 3: all They're all very excited about that. And you know,

575
00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:58,359
Speaker 3: there's like a group of old ladies that I gossip

576
00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:02,080
Speaker 3: with in my neighborhood and they like printed that out

577
00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:03,639
Speaker 3: and cut it out and put it on their walls.

578
00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,440
Speaker 3: So I think it depends on what depends on the audience.

579
00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:10,359
Speaker 3: But truly and truly writer accomplishments aren't, like, you know,

580
00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:13,480
Speaker 3: there is no real NBA Championship version. That's a one

581
00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:16,200
Speaker 3: to one, easy to explain thing, because I often think

582
00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:19,760
Speaker 3: about this my actual official bio, my bio that I

583
00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:22,439
Speaker 3: use for introductions and things like that, or it's just

584
00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:24,280
Speaker 3: Hinney from Dirky as a writer from the East side

585
00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:27,200
Speaker 3: of Columbus, Ohio. Because when you start to list the accomplishments,

586
00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:29,639
Speaker 3: so many people who are not tapped into the world

587
00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:32,000
Speaker 3: of art making or writing. They don't know what a

588
00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:35,000
Speaker 3: MacArthur Genius Grant is or a Wyndham Campbell Prize or

589
00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:38,919
Speaker 3: a National book or whatever. They're just kind of like,

590
00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:41,400
Speaker 3: it's just a guy. So I think I think I'm

591
00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:44,040
Speaker 3: trying to lean into the being just a guy who

592
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:46,240
Speaker 3: so happened to have written some books.

593
00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:50,320
Speaker 1: Every now and then, on that note, this past year,

594
00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:53,760
Speaker 1: almost as you said, you're going through two book tours

595
00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:59,000
Speaker 1: this year. Just as a personal memory for yourself, what

596
00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:01,959
Speaker 1: has been the best part of this tour specifically? Has

597
00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:03,719
Speaker 1: there been anything that stands out to you?

598
00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:07,080
Speaker 3: It's been special, you know, like one and I will say,

599
00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:08,600
Speaker 3: I guess one thing that I would lead with as

600
00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:11,680
Speaker 3: my biggest accomplishment is that I have been a Timberwols

601
00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:14,200
Speaker 3: fan since nineteen ninety seid to be a Timberwls fans

602
00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:19,360
Speaker 3: is like nineteen ninety five and still be alive and healthy. Yeah,

603
00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:23,080
Speaker 3: never gave up, Never gave up. I never gave up

604
00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:25,280
Speaker 3: with the timber Rowles. That's that is perhaps bigger to

605
00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:26,359
Speaker 3: me than the MacArthur Grant.

606
00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:30,199
Speaker 1: Yeah, when he was introduced at that when Kevin Garnett

607
00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:32,399
Speaker 1: was introduced in nineteen ninety five in the Sky to Them,

608
00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:35,520
Speaker 1: when I was basically becoming a Toronto for Raptors fan,

609
00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:38,960
Speaker 1: I thought, Okay, this guy is really good. This guy

610
00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:42,040
Speaker 1: is going to be good, but he's not going to

611
00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:46,040
Speaker 1: be the best of anybody. And he was and got

612
00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:48,360
Speaker 1: you in a book tour.

613
00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:51,560
Speaker 3: You know, this book tour has been special because you know,

614
00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:54,880
Speaker 3: I haven't done it in person tour since twenty nineteen,

615
00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:57,880
Speaker 3: and I set out on this book tour kind of thinking, well,

616
00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:00,200
Speaker 3: you know a few people come to these shows in

617
00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:04,160
Speaker 3: that school. But it's been not only the size of

618
00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:06,520
Speaker 3: the audiences, which has been wonderful, Like I sold out

619
00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:10,720
Speaker 3: two shows back to back in New York, and a

620
00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:12,840
Speaker 3: lot of this that's thrilling to me is not just

621
00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:15,520
Speaker 3: that I get to pat myself on the back and say, like,

622
00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:17,480
Speaker 3: four hundred people came to this thing, or five hundred

623
00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:19,959
Speaker 3: people came this thing, but it's at for me. Writing

624
00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:22,480
Speaker 3: is something that I did always to feel a little

625
00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:25,160
Speaker 3: bit more connected to people. I'm the youngest of four.

626
00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:28,760
Speaker 3: I grew up a lot of time on my own,

627
00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:30,960
Speaker 3: not because my household was neglect cobole, but just because

628
00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:32,760
Speaker 3: when you're young before everyone has their own thing and

629
00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:36,400
Speaker 3: you're kind of left behind. And I spent a lot

630
00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:39,280
Speaker 3: of my time alone in my twenties with my own excitements,

631
00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:42,040
Speaker 3: thinking that they were no one else's excitements. And so

632
00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:43,400
Speaker 3: I think a big part of the reason why I

633
00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:46,360
Speaker 3: began writing was to try and connect my excitements to

634
00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:48,920
Speaker 3: the excitements of others. And the best part about a

635
00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:50,760
Speaker 3: book tour is that I get to stand in the

636
00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:53,440
Speaker 3: signing line, even if it's a very long signing line,

637
00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:57,760
Speaker 3: and talk to people about music or their favorite basketball teams.

638
00:29:57,760 --> 00:29:59,680
Speaker 3: This book tour especially has been excited because this is

639
00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:01,320
Speaker 3: a first book of mine that's like this, and so

640
00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,280
Speaker 3: I've gotten to hear stories from basketball fans of the

641
00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:07,440
Speaker 3: first games they went to, and you know, I've gotten

642
00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:11,600
Speaker 3: to kind of share stories about players that I love

643
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:14,920
Speaker 3: and that that we all love, you know, and getting

644
00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:18,240
Speaker 3: to tour that kind of I'm excited about the Fall

645
00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:20,680
Speaker 3: Tour because it runs it'll run up right through the

646
00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:23,320
Speaker 3: start of the NBA season, and so that will be exciting.

647
00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:25,960
Speaker 3: And but really the stretch of tour that's been most

648
00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:29,120
Speaker 3: exciting is just seeing how in this year with this book,

649
00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:32,440
Speaker 3: seeing how it's been embraced by NBA folks. Because truthfully,

650
00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:34,720
Speaker 3: when this book came out and we made this book,

651
00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:37,239
Speaker 3: I was like, I don't think any basketball people are

652
00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:39,640
Speaker 3: gonna really rock with this. I just thought, you know,

653
00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:42,800
Speaker 3: it's not only about basketball that goes to all these

654
00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:45,320
Speaker 3: other places. But we've been really lucky, and I've been

655
00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:48,440
Speaker 3: really lucky in that, you know, it's been embraced by

656
00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:51,880
Speaker 3: like like y'all, and it's been embraced by you know,

657
00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:55,320
Speaker 3: the NBA on TNT had me do that playoff video

658
00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:57,120
Speaker 3: and they like came to Columbus to film it, which

659
00:30:57,120 --> 00:30:59,160
Speaker 3: was really special to me. You know, to have the

660
00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:02,960
Speaker 3: NBA on TNT he traveled to Columbus and film a

661
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:06,719
Speaker 3: playoff commercial, which is unreal and too so you know,

662
00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:08,920
Speaker 3: to basketball is such a big part of my life.

663
00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:11,760
Speaker 3: It's it's a massive part of my life. I think

664
00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:13,280
Speaker 3: that people knew me as a music writer for a

665
00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:15,320
Speaker 3: very long time, or like a pop culture writer, and

666
00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:17,480
Speaker 3: I am that as well. But basketball is such a

667
00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:19,120
Speaker 3: massive part of my life. And to have this book

668
00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:22,400
Speaker 3: come out and be embraced by you know, basket, the

669
00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:24,960
Speaker 3: basketball world that I followed him and connected to for

670
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:26,560
Speaker 3: a long time, it's been the best part of the year.

671
00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:29,239
Speaker 4: What's it like getting to be a part of Like

672
00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:32,000
Speaker 4: those pregame hype videos you did one for the Timberwolves

673
00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:34,400
Speaker 4: going into the playoffs, you did the via NBA on

674
00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:36,400
Speaker 4: TNT as well, and then I just saw you were

675
00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:39,440
Speaker 4: at a Columbus Crew like going kool aid man breaking

676
00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:42,560
Speaker 4: through the wall before I don't know, exploding something there.

677
00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:43,800
Speaker 4: That one looked crazy man.

678
00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:47,959
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's uh, that is the crew thing was very

679
00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:50,760
Speaker 3: much not my That's not the mode I'm usually operating.

680
00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:51,880
Speaker 3: When they asked me to do that, I was like,

681
00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:53,760
Speaker 3: you guys, I don't I don't know if I'm the

682
00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:55,920
Speaker 3: guy to break through a wall and and Debt made

683
00:31:56,320 --> 00:32:00,040
Speaker 3: a fake bomb, but that was cool. I mean, the

684
00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:03,800
Speaker 3: you know, the crew is my longest running team. You know,

685
00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:05,440
Speaker 3: I'm a Timberwolves fan, of course, but I've loved the

686
00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:08,240
Speaker 3: crew since I came to Columbus, and it's been interesting.

687
00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:11,160
Speaker 3: You know, I'm not every time I get asked to

688
00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:13,480
Speaker 3: do one of those things, it feels like this is

689
00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:16,320
Speaker 3: gonna go horribly wrong. Like I remember when NBA on

690
00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:18,040
Speaker 3: tn T asked me to write. They asked me to

691
00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:21,960
Speaker 3: write a whole kind of long form prose poetic thing,

692
00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:24,040
Speaker 3: and I wrote it and they were like, ah, this

693
00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:26,040
Speaker 3: is you can get weirder, it can get more image heavy.

694
00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:28,440
Speaker 3: And I remember thinking, oh God, everyone's gonna hate this.

695
00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:32,200
Speaker 3: So I think my brain is still very much tuned

696
00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:34,760
Speaker 3: to and the Timberwolves thing was really special. I mean,

697
00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:38,520
Speaker 3: I came off the road, I was on tour, and

698
00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:39,959
Speaker 3: they kind of asked me a very in a very

699
00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:42,840
Speaker 3: last minute way, and I was like, I will have

700
00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:45,960
Speaker 3: to fly I'll have to come off the road, fly

701
00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:49,760
Speaker 3: to Minneapolis on a Sunday morning, fly out of Minneapolis

702
00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:53,080
Speaker 3: Sunday afternoon, and do a show that night in like

703
00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:54,680
Speaker 3: I don't know it was. It was somewhere on the

704
00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:58,240
Speaker 3: East coast, and I remember thinking it's worth it doesn't matter,

705
00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:00,880
Speaker 3: it's worth it. If I'm half awake fighting through this

706
00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:03,000
Speaker 3: show at the end of the night, it's worth it

707
00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:08,200
Speaker 3: because who knows, Particularly with the Timberwolves. My whole thing

708
00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:10,440
Speaker 3: was like, who knows, they might never make the playoffs again.

709
00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:12,880
Speaker 3: I don't think that's true, but they might never. You

710
00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:16,640
Speaker 3: have to like treat that, yeah, card basis I remember

711
00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:19,080
Speaker 3: and I know that y'all certainly remember this test, especially

712
00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:21,480
Speaker 3: that year, that one year the Raptors had that one

713
00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:25,080
Speaker 3: championship year, it felt like that was so that was

714
00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:28,840
Speaker 3: one of the most destiny driven years I think I

715
00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:31,600
Speaker 3: can remember, where it just felt like the Raptors are

716
00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:34,080
Speaker 3: destined to win the title and then it may never

717
00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:36,080
Speaker 3: happen again, Like straight up like if I were a

718
00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:39,640
Speaker 3: Raptors fan, I would have mortgaged my entire home in

719
00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:42,320
Speaker 3: life savings to go to every finals game that year

720
00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:44,720
Speaker 3: because it seemed like it was going to happen and

721
00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:46,440
Speaker 3: then it might never happen again. And so that was

722
00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:49,000
Speaker 3: my protect of the timber Wolves, where it's like, whatever

723
00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:50,840
Speaker 3: I'm asked to do, I'll do it because what if

724
00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:52,640
Speaker 3: they never get this far again. So it's it's been

725
00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:57,160
Speaker 3: special and I just think that the response from basketball

726
00:33:57,160 --> 00:33:59,880
Speaker 3: Folks has been really cool, and it's made me feel

727
00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:05,600
Speaker 3: like my kind of fandom, which is deeply anxious, but

728
00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:09,440
Speaker 3: also steeped in this kind of interest in the beauty

729
00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:13,960
Speaker 3: and the real heart of sports, loving sports and dedication

730
00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:16,320
Speaker 3: and devotion. There's room for that, that kind of fandom,

731
00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:18,239
Speaker 3: and it's something we all share, and so I feel

732
00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:19,560
Speaker 3: really accepted in that way.

733
00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:22,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, you speaking of the beauty of it all. You

734
00:34:22,160 --> 00:34:25,080
Speaker 1: get into the beauty of playing on the Blacktop, plan

735
00:34:25,640 --> 00:34:28,000
Speaker 1: on payment, and that that part is so beautiful to

736
00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:30,359
Speaker 1: me as as part of the book. But there's so

737
00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:32,680
Speaker 1: many parts in this book. I could literally I could

738
00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:34,680
Speaker 1: just read it here if you want to, if you

739
00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:36,719
Speaker 1: want to, just listen to me reading the book. It

740
00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:39,719
Speaker 1: was super It was super fun reading this book. I

741
00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:42,239
Speaker 1: want to ask a simple question, because you have been

742
00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:46,320
Speaker 1: a Timberwolves fan for so long, your thoughts on Anthony Edwards,

743
00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:51,640
Speaker 1: just in general period? How do you feel about him?

744
00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:54,759
Speaker 3: I like Anthony Edwards. Let me say that first, because

745
00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:58,920
Speaker 3: I don't want Timberlves fans I am. I am perhaps

746
00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:01,919
Speaker 3: not as rapture in love with Anthony Edwards as most

747
00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:04,719
Speaker 3: timber Wolves fans are. I like him so much. I

748
00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:08,440
Speaker 3: think there's real space for him to grow as a player,

749
00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:11,400
Speaker 3: and I think he's working, Like you really tell he's working.

750
00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:17,440
Speaker 3: I struggle sometimes with the shot selection, and there are

751
00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:19,319
Speaker 3: times where it seems like he would like to take

752
00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:23,160
Speaker 3: over the game where he's not yet equipped to do that,

753
00:35:23,719 --> 00:35:28,040
Speaker 3: a lot of contested fadeaways at points, but also to

754
00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:30,880
Speaker 3: watch his game grow has been impressive, and I can

755
00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:35,520
Speaker 3: tell he's working. I think that sometimes he's a little

756
00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:39,719
Speaker 3: talkative in ways that are sometimes funny, but then the

757
00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:42,440
Speaker 3: thing happens where he realizes that people are enjoying him

758
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:44,560
Speaker 3: being talkative, and then the talking gets a little bit

759
00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:51,160
Speaker 3: more grading For me, man, I I truly want I'm

760
00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:53,440
Speaker 3: one of those people who I I would love to

761
00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:55,520
Speaker 3: hear no more takes in the NBA in the nineties,

762
00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:57,279
Speaker 3: Just no, I would I would love it if I

763
00:35:57,280 --> 00:35:59,200
Speaker 3: could just stop everyone from talking about the NBA in

764
00:35:59,239 --> 00:36:03,200
Speaker 3: the nineties. I would of like, let's just let that rest.

765
00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:04,960
Speaker 3: And so Anthony Edwards being like, I didn't watch it,

766
00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:06,439
Speaker 3: so I don't really know anything about it, and here's

767
00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:12,000
Speaker 3: an opinion asking how man, come on, It's just just yeah,

768
00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:14,960
Speaker 3: I have no idea what I'm talking about. However, I'm

769
00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:18,839
Speaker 3: going to talk let me so that was that was rough.

770
00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:22,640
Speaker 3: I do think he's I love the fact that the

771
00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:27,160
Speaker 3: Timberwlves have a star that is getting attention. The Timbrowles

772
00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:29,440
Speaker 3: in my lifetime have only had one other star that

773
00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:32,560
Speaker 3: has gotten national attention KG And I think for a

774
00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:36,080
Speaker 3: lot of years, even great players who played in Minnesota

775
00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:39,160
Speaker 3: seemed they were treated as though they were just kind

776
00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:42,960
Speaker 3: of empty stat guys. I mean Kevin Love specifically, which

777
00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:46,440
Speaker 3: I mean, Look, I know that the idea of the

778
00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:50,239
Speaker 3: empty status is controversial. I watched those Kevin Love seasons. Yeah,

779
00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:52,880
Speaker 3: I mean he was maybe you know, the stats were

780
00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:59,680
Speaker 3: not they were not fulfilling. But it's cool to have

781
00:36:59,719 --> 00:37:03,280
Speaker 3: a star player who is magnetic and drawing the attention

782
00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:04,880
Speaker 3: of the league. And I think that's just good for

783
00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:12,960
Speaker 3: the city and I would love I would love for

784
00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:15,439
Speaker 3: him to be there for a long time. That's really

785
00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:17,200
Speaker 3: what my hope for Anthony Adverts is. I would love

786
00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:19,040
Speaker 3: for him to the city's embrace him. And these really

787
00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:21,080
Speaker 3: done a good jobs in embracing the city. And I

788
00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:24,560
Speaker 3: would love it if the Minnesota Timberwls could be a

789
00:37:24,600 --> 00:37:27,280
Speaker 3: place that is not viewed as a team that people

790
00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:31,960
Speaker 3: come to to ascend and then leave. And I don't

791
00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:33,360
Speaker 3: mean that just for the Timberls. I mean that for

792
00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:35,520
Speaker 3: you know. The reason I love even though I wish

793
00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:37,400
Speaker 3: they were I wish they were not in the Western

794
00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:40,160
Speaker 3: Conference and specifically not in the same division. The reason

795
00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:42,160
Speaker 3: I love Oklahoma City and what Oklahoma City has been

796
00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:43,680
Speaker 3: able to build is because they're kind of setting a

797
00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:46,720
Speaker 3: precedent where it's like, you come here to build something.

798
00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:48,720
Speaker 3: You don't come here to be a star and then

799
00:37:49,239 --> 00:37:53,320
Speaker 3: be courted to go somewhere else. Oklahoma City is building

800
00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:56,439
Speaker 3: something that feels to me like it's really sustainable and

801
00:37:56,840 --> 00:38:00,319
Speaker 3: a blueprint for what a quote unquote small market team do.

802
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:02,640
Speaker 3: Now do I wish that the Timberwles didn't have to

803
00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:05,719
Speaker 3: play Oklahoma City with frequency and do I wish that

804
00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:08,319
Speaker 3: Oklahoma City wasn't inevitably going to be a roadblock for

805
00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:11,000
Speaker 3: them in the playoffs, of course, But I love what

806
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:12,040
Speaker 3: Oklahoma City is doing.

807
00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:16,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, we got to hope that for Minnesota in general,

808
00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:19,960
Speaker 1: to be one of those teams that isn't a yeah,

809
00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:24,400
Speaker 1: we'll try and get you like, it's more about the destination,

810
00:38:24,520 --> 00:38:28,120
Speaker 1: as you said, Yeah, and that would be phenomenal for

811
00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:31,000
Speaker 1: Anthony Edwards as he develops it, and he's so he's

812
00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:34,080
Speaker 1: so young, he's only twenty three. When you look at it,

813
00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:36,239
Speaker 1: it's kind of surprising because he does get a lot

814
00:38:36,239 --> 00:38:41,120
Speaker 1: of talk time, and everybody's talking now in the NBA,

815
00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:44,239
Speaker 1: it's it's it's a change world. We all got podcasts

816
00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:49,080
Speaker 1: and we can talk past any time. But yeah, it

817
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:51,280
Speaker 1: was getting a little deep sometimes even in the Olympics

818
00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:54,440
Speaker 1: talks there was Yeah.

819
00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:55,440
Speaker 4: Well, we see a lot of Anthony Edwards can be

820
00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:58,520
Speaker 4: and like, the aesthetics of his game are so similar

821
00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:01,120
Speaker 4: to Michael Jordan. It's so hantilizing to see a guy

822
00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:03,960
Speaker 4: play above the rim and get any shot he wants.

823
00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:06,799
Speaker 4: And at this point you just assume that because we've

824
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:09,040
Speaker 4: seen Edwards do it, Like you assume he shoots seventy

825
00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:11,600
Speaker 4: five percent from the field because he's awesome and every

826
00:39:11,600 --> 00:39:14,000
Speaker 4: one of his makes looks super cool. Yeah, he's got

827
00:39:14,239 --> 00:39:18,799
Speaker 4: some steps to make efficiency wise, shot selection wise till

828
00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:21,320
Speaker 4: he's actually at the level that everybody's putting them at.

829
00:39:21,560 --> 00:39:24,239
Speaker 4: But uh man, having him on your team, having a

830
00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:27,080
Speaker 4: guy like that being able to root for it really

831
00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:28,839
Speaker 4: puts a wind in your sales. Like the Bulls haven't

832
00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:32,200
Speaker 4: had that really since Derek Rose having that superstar that

833
00:39:32,320 --> 00:39:35,680
Speaker 4: people are interested in seeing. But you're right hen if

834
00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:38,080
Speaker 4: he goes, he's like right on the edge. I was

835
00:39:38,120 --> 00:39:40,319
Speaker 4: like when he was shooting bank shots all the time

836
00:39:40,400 --> 00:39:42,320
Speaker 4: last year, I was like, oh, this is pretty cool.

837
00:39:42,560 --> 00:39:44,720
Speaker 4: Then everybody noticed he was shooting bank shots, so suddenly

838
00:39:44,719 --> 00:39:46,680
Speaker 4: he was shooting them from three point range and then

839
00:39:46,719 --> 00:39:50,640
Speaker 4: he completely submarine What the super the Shooting Stars competition

840
00:39:50,719 --> 00:39:54,640
Speaker 4: or whatever it was at All Star Weekend, it was like, okay, man,

841
00:39:54,640 --> 00:39:57,239
Speaker 4: we still got to take things a little bit seriously.

842
00:39:58,280 --> 00:39:59,280
Speaker 2: The dude is so young.

843
00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:03,160
Speaker 1: He is stupid young. It is remarkable.

844
00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:08,600
Speaker 3: I'm excited about Can I throw that back at you test?

845
00:40:08,840 --> 00:40:10,279
Speaker 3: How do you feel about it? Are you excited about

846
00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:14,040
Speaker 3: Scotty Barnes? And I asked this because like, I love

847
00:40:14,080 --> 00:40:17,200
Speaker 3: Scottie Barnes, and it feels like last year was a

848
00:40:17,320 --> 00:40:20,279
Speaker 3: year where people became firmly more divided on him than

849
00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:22,440
Speaker 3: they were But I love Scottie Barnes. I don't really

850
00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:23,759
Speaker 3: know what a ceiling is, like, it's hard for me

851
00:40:23,840 --> 00:40:25,839
Speaker 3: to map out. But how do you feel like as

852
00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:28,560
Speaker 3: a fan, Like, where are you coming down on Scottie Barnes?

853
00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:31,600
Speaker 1: I love Scottie Barnes because I think he knows that

854
00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:35,120
Speaker 1: he is not a takeover offense number one guy. I

855
00:40:35,120 --> 00:40:37,960
Speaker 1: think he's comfortable knowing that. He knows that there's got

856
00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:42,160
Speaker 1: to be some different talents on his team to really excel,

857
00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:45,120
Speaker 1: and he is so open to passing it to all

858
00:40:45,160 --> 00:40:50,520
Speaker 1: them and making it happen. And that's why he's his

859
00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:54,239
Speaker 1: mind is there. The mind is is this perfect? I think,

860
00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:58,319
Speaker 1: But at times he's he's he's definitely growing at this

861
00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:01,480
Speaker 1: at this point of his career where there are sometimes

862
00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:04,200
Speaker 1: where he's like kind of kind of gets a little

863
00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:08,880
Speaker 1: fussy and walks off the court when he shouldn't be

864
00:41:08,920 --> 00:41:11,359
Speaker 1: walking off the court or takes too many shots when

865
00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:14,320
Speaker 1: he shouldn't be. But as a player, he's a different

866
00:41:14,440 --> 00:41:17,560
Speaker 1: kind of player than Anthony Edwards obviously, Like he's just

867
00:41:17,719 --> 00:41:21,680
Speaker 1: he can't be that one and one a whenever you

868
00:41:21,719 --> 00:41:23,400
Speaker 1: need him to be. But I think he kind of

869
00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:27,440
Speaker 1: knows that, and I think he is he's willing to

870
00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:29,759
Speaker 1: make some sacrifices for himself. Like that's why I think

871
00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:35,320
Speaker 1: Anthony Edwards I said he He's created some high expectations

872
00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:38,480
Speaker 1: for Timberwolves fans this coming season because He's basically said,

873
00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:41,320
Speaker 1: conference finals, cool, but we want to win the title.

874
00:41:41,640 --> 00:41:44,120
Speaker 1: And that's okay because he's willing to work at it.

875
00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:46,360
Speaker 1: He's willing to be this guy who used to be,

876
00:41:47,239 --> 00:41:50,120
Speaker 1: as you said, Trey shooting bank shots whenever he wanted.

877
00:41:50,200 --> 00:41:53,760
Speaker 1: But then it comes playoff time, Mike Conley can shoot

878
00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:56,400
Speaker 1: and he can pass it to him. He trusts Nikhil,

879
00:41:56,440 --> 00:41:59,560
Speaker 1: Alexander Ar, he trusts all these guys. Scottie Barnes definitely

880
00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:03,640
Speaker 1: has that trust within him. That being said, he needs

881
00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:09,280
Speaker 1: somebody like Emmanuel Quickly. Manual Quickly is a very good score.

882
00:42:09,320 --> 00:42:12,920
Speaker 1: So I have high expectations. There's very low expectations in Toronto.

883
00:42:13,600 --> 00:42:17,080
Speaker 1: There's literally expectations of them making the play in tournament

884
00:42:17,120 --> 00:42:21,319
Speaker 1: and then that would excel exceed everything. Just making the

885
00:42:21,320 --> 00:42:23,520
Speaker 1: play internment when they're making a play, Yeah, just making

886
00:42:23,520 --> 00:42:26,360
Speaker 1: the play. And they gave Scotty Barnes a maximum contract,

887
00:42:26,880 --> 00:42:28,960
Speaker 1: which is how obviously happening in the NBA a lot

888
00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:32,600
Speaker 1: these days. But to give a guy a maximum contract

889
00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:34,200
Speaker 1: and just hope for a play internment, that ain't much.

890
00:42:34,200 --> 00:42:37,040
Speaker 1: But Emmanuel Quickly and our Ja Barrett, I start with

891
00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:38,680
Speaker 1: Quickly because I think he's got a lot of talent,

892
00:42:38,719 --> 00:42:40,560
Speaker 1: and he came in mid season and it all didn't

893
00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:43,960
Speaker 1: work out, but they gave quickly a lot of money

894
00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:46,680
Speaker 1: and so it kind of has to happen at the

895
00:42:46,719 --> 00:42:50,080
Speaker 1: same time for Barnes and quickly for them to really excel.

896
00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:53,880
Speaker 1: But he's he's a great he's a great guy to

897
00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:56,840
Speaker 1: start an offense, but not finishing offense at times. For

898
00:42:56,880 --> 00:42:59,600
Speaker 1: Scottie Barnes, he can be a number two at times.

899
00:42:59,600 --> 00:43:01,920
Speaker 1: So I the dude because I think he knows that

900
00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:05,400
Speaker 1: again he's not going to score thirty five in in

901
00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:05,879
Speaker 1: this game.

902
00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:09,920
Speaker 3: And I the Raptors. I have a I have a

903
00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:12,520
Speaker 3: funb little Raptor story, which is that last year. So

904
00:43:12,960 --> 00:43:16,759
Speaker 3: now that the Timberwolves are had the season they had,

905
00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:18,960
Speaker 3: you know, now it's like stoop Dog's front row and

906
00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:21,719
Speaker 3: all this, but for for going into last season. And

907
00:43:21,760 --> 00:43:23,320
Speaker 3: I'm not saying this is too mount Horne, this is

908
00:43:23,320 --> 00:43:26,759
Speaker 3: actually a not a good thing. I would say that

909
00:43:27,120 --> 00:43:29,759
Speaker 3: me the two most notable visible Timberwls fans were like

910
00:43:29,800 --> 00:43:34,040
Speaker 3: me and Craig Kilbourne. And you don't want that. There's

911
00:43:34,120 --> 00:43:37,640
Speaker 3: there's like there's like there's no world where like a

912
00:43:37,680 --> 00:43:40,640
Speaker 3: writer guy should be one of your most notable fans.

913
00:43:40,920 --> 00:43:42,000
Speaker 1: But I was.

914
00:43:42,040 --> 00:43:43,960
Speaker 3: I went to the opening game last year. I tried

915
00:43:43,960 --> 00:43:45,879
Speaker 3: I go to multiple Timberls games the year, and they played.

916
00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:48,560
Speaker 3: They opened in Toronto last year, so that's not far

917
00:43:48,600 --> 00:43:51,239
Speaker 3: from Columbus. I went to the game. They lost, and

918
00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:53,600
Speaker 3: they played horribly. I mean, the Timberwlves just like looked

919
00:43:53,640 --> 00:43:57,000
Speaker 3: atrocious and they lost to a Raptors team that, you know,

920
00:43:57,360 --> 00:43:59,479
Speaker 3: they should have maybe one. And as I was walking

921
00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:02,680
Speaker 3: out of the state, a cluster of Raptors fans recognized

922
00:44:02,680 --> 00:44:06,719
Speaker 3: me and started heckling me, like individually, They're like, oh,

923
00:44:06,760 --> 00:44:09,359
Speaker 3: it's you know, so I was. It was like, oh, man,

924
00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:12,799
Speaker 3: this is ah I've made it. Perhaps I'm so I'm

925
00:44:12,840 --> 00:44:17,160
Speaker 3: so uh yeah, I'm so recognizable that that I can

926
00:44:17,200 --> 00:44:22,200
Speaker 3: get heckled at Timberwolves games. Thankfully, thankfully things worked out better.

927
00:44:22,239 --> 00:44:24,480
Speaker 3: But after that, after that Toronto loss, I was like, oh, no,

928
00:44:24,520 --> 00:44:25,760
Speaker 3: it's gonna be another bad season.

929
00:44:26,280 --> 00:44:30,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a great story because I don't think Raptors

930
00:44:30,200 --> 00:44:32,399
Speaker 1: fans really get the chance to heckle a lot.

931
00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:37,359
Speaker 3: They were feeling great, they were feeling yeah, they were like, man,

932
00:44:37,400 --> 00:44:39,520
Speaker 3: this is our year. You know, they still had Siaka

933
00:44:39,520 --> 00:44:42,840
Speaker 3: at the time. I thought, oh boy, but you know

934
00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:45,560
Speaker 3: the Raptors. I know both of you are fans teams

935
00:44:45,560 --> 00:44:47,440
Speaker 3: in the Eastern Conference. I think the East is so

936
00:44:49,480 --> 00:44:52,960
Speaker 3: subpar at the moment, very top heavy, like like anything

937
00:44:52,960 --> 00:44:55,520
Speaker 3: and literally anything can happened, like the Bulls could. The

938
00:44:55,520 --> 00:44:57,960
Speaker 3: Bulls could win like thirty five games and make the playing.

939
00:44:58,040 --> 00:44:58,719
Speaker 3: You know, doesn't it.

940
00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:00,719
Speaker 2: I mean that does happen a almost every year.

941
00:45:00,840 --> 00:45:02,799
Speaker 4: The Bulls went thirty five and make the play and

942
00:45:02,800 --> 00:45:05,080
Speaker 4: I'd be a great season this year. I'm jealous of

943
00:45:05,080 --> 00:45:07,600
Speaker 4: you guys. Hanif's talking about Anthony Edwards, one of the

944
00:45:07,600 --> 00:45:09,080
Speaker 4: biggest stars in the league. You've at least got a

945
00:45:09,160 --> 00:45:11,680
Speaker 4: Rookie of the Year recently in Scottie Barnes. I'm getting

946
00:45:11,719 --> 00:45:14,720
Speaker 4: hyped about Mantas buzzellis the fourteenth pick and what people

947
00:45:14,719 --> 00:45:16,520
Speaker 4: have said is the worst draft in twenty years, and

948
00:45:16,560 --> 00:45:18,239
Speaker 4: I can't wait to see this guy on the court.

949
00:45:18,880 --> 00:45:22,239
Speaker 3: Different this year got Kobe White. I love Kobe. That's right.

950
00:45:22,280 --> 00:45:24,800
Speaker 2: He had a great year last year. Yeah right, this

951
00:45:24,920 --> 00:45:26,000
Speaker 2: is the one most improved.

952
00:45:26,320 --> 00:45:29,040
Speaker 1: I love this optimism about the Eastern Conference because it

953
00:45:29,080 --> 00:45:33,120
Speaker 1: is totally true. There was those mid range teams. We

954
00:45:33,160 --> 00:45:35,879
Speaker 1: live in Atlanta, they are one of those teams where

955
00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:39,440
Speaker 1: the expectations are not high at all. They are expected

956
00:45:39,480 --> 00:45:42,080
Speaker 1: to be a mediocre team. But and if you're totally right,

957
00:45:42,239 --> 00:45:44,160
Speaker 1: there's going to be one of those teams in the

958
00:45:44,160 --> 00:45:47,440
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference that that excels this season, does something that

959
00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:48,200
Speaker 1: you don't expect.

960
00:45:48,880 --> 00:45:50,760
Speaker 3: I think it'll be Orlando. I mean, I know Orlando

961
00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:52,759
Speaker 3: had a good season. I mean I think Orlando's going

962
00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:54,600
Speaker 3: to be like a top four team this year. And

963
00:45:54,640 --> 00:45:56,520
Speaker 3: I think they're going to be this because I don't

964
00:45:56,560 --> 00:45:56,879
Speaker 3: I don't.

965
00:45:57,920 --> 00:45:58,120
Speaker 1: I know.

966
00:45:58,160 --> 00:45:59,680
Speaker 3: I'm in Ohio, so I feel like I should whisper

967
00:45:59,680 --> 00:46:01,400
Speaker 3: this back. I just don't believe in the Cabs anymore.

968
00:46:01,440 --> 00:46:04,560
Speaker 3: I just don't understand the math. The Garland Mitchell thing

969
00:46:04,640 --> 00:46:07,000
Speaker 3: just doesn't work. And they keep kind of saying, well,

970
00:46:07,040 --> 00:46:09,319
Speaker 3: it's going to work this time, and it just doesn't work.

971
00:46:09,360 --> 00:46:14,240
Speaker 3: And I'm stopped. I'm starting to believe less in Evan Mobley,

972
00:46:14,280 --> 00:46:16,480
Speaker 3: like really starting to believe less in Evan Mobley. Just

973
00:46:16,520 --> 00:46:18,799
Speaker 3: like day by day, this is the year.

974
00:46:18,840 --> 00:46:22,399
Speaker 1: This is the year, man. I do think that it's

975
00:46:22,440 --> 00:46:24,799
Speaker 1: totally true. When you look at it. They've got two

976
00:46:24,840 --> 00:46:27,320
Speaker 1: point guards in Mitchell and Garland, and essentially two centers

977
00:46:27,320 --> 00:46:31,000
Speaker 1: and Alan and Mobley, so it is a little bit convoluted.

978
00:46:31,239 --> 00:46:34,440
Speaker 1: But Kenny Atkinson, their new head coach, is talking up

979
00:46:35,040 --> 00:46:38,160
Speaker 1: Evan Mobley big time and I and I feel like,

980
00:46:38,280 --> 00:46:40,920
Speaker 1: you know, there was that vision last year in the

981
00:46:40,920 --> 00:46:43,400
Speaker 1: playoffs where you saw him operate in a different way

982
00:46:43,760 --> 00:46:46,280
Speaker 1: without Jared Allen, and they may have to make changes,

983
00:46:46,320 --> 00:46:49,080
Speaker 1: but Kenny Atkinson is just saying, we are going through

984
00:46:49,120 --> 00:46:51,480
Speaker 1: Evan Mobley, and so I think we're we're going to

985
00:46:51,520 --> 00:46:54,040
Speaker 1: see a different team. I think we'll be We'll be

986
00:46:54,040 --> 00:46:56,680
Speaker 1: interviewing you perhaps in a year talking about Evan Mobley,

987
00:46:56,880 --> 00:46:57,480
Speaker 1: being going.

988
00:46:57,320 --> 00:46:59,280
Speaker 3: About Evan Mowley finally becoming Chris Boss.

989
00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:01,040
Speaker 1: That's the hopes.

990
00:47:01,239 --> 00:47:04,600
Speaker 4: Look, the Calves and the Timberwolves are at least in

991
00:47:04,640 --> 00:47:07,479
Speaker 4: the top part of each of their respective conferences. It's

992
00:47:07,600 --> 00:47:10,279
Speaker 4: unlikely they both make it to the NBA Finals. But

993
00:47:10,280 --> 00:47:12,800
Speaker 4: if they did, who are you pulling for, Honey, Well.

994
00:47:12,640 --> 00:47:16,120
Speaker 3: The Timberwolves without question, easily the Timberwolves. Yeah, I mean

995
00:47:16,160 --> 00:47:20,640
Speaker 3: I don't think I as a you know, every year

996
00:47:20,680 --> 00:47:22,080
Speaker 3: I say the Timbrowls are going to go eighty too

997
00:47:22,080 --> 00:47:25,640
Speaker 3: and zero and it never happens. Surprisingly, But I do

998
00:47:25,680 --> 00:47:28,680
Speaker 3: think that if I think the Calves will certainly not

999
00:47:28,800 --> 00:47:31,839
Speaker 3: make the finals because I just think the Celtics are

1000
00:47:31,840 --> 00:47:34,319
Speaker 3: going to be too hard to get through, and if

1001
00:47:34,320 --> 00:47:36,640
Speaker 3: the Celtics don't get you, Sixers will. But I think

1002
00:47:36,680 --> 00:47:38,760
Speaker 3: there's a path for the Timberwolves to make the finals.

1003
00:47:39,360 --> 00:47:41,080
Speaker 3: The thunder are going to be so hard to beat.

1004
00:47:42,840 --> 00:47:46,480
Speaker 3: But you know, I think that's a two persons. I

1005
00:47:46,520 --> 00:47:49,399
Speaker 3: think the Nuggets are the Nuggets still, but it does

1006
00:47:49,440 --> 00:47:52,080
Speaker 3: really feel to me like that's a three team race

1007
00:47:52,120 --> 00:47:54,920
Speaker 3: to the finals in the West. It's Nuggets, Timberwolves, Thunder

1008
00:47:56,360 --> 00:47:58,839
Speaker 3: all in the same Division two. And I don't really

1009
00:47:58,920 --> 00:48:02,160
Speaker 3: know what the playoffs look like and how that shakes

1010
00:48:02,160 --> 00:48:04,640
Speaker 3: out because it all depends on health. You know, if

1011
00:48:04,719 --> 00:48:08,880
Speaker 3: Jamal Murray is not one hundred percent, then the Nuggets

1012
00:48:08,880 --> 00:48:12,840
Speaker 3: season can go a little south. And I guess we

1013
00:48:12,880 --> 00:48:16,360
Speaker 3: don't know how well the new additions to the Thunder

1014
00:48:16,360 --> 00:48:19,080
Speaker 3: will fit, but it just seems like they're perfect fits.

1015
00:48:19,120 --> 00:48:21,120
Speaker 3: Like I say, harden See's like a perfect fit for

1016
00:48:21,160 --> 00:48:25,239
Speaker 3: that team and they're gonna get a million rebounds. But

1017
00:48:25,840 --> 00:48:28,200
Speaker 3: I do think that the Timberwls have a path to

1018
00:48:28,239 --> 00:48:34,400
Speaker 3: the finals. I'm not excluding the Mavericks intentionally, but I

1019
00:48:34,440 --> 00:48:39,080
Speaker 3: do think like I just I don't know. I don't.

1020
00:48:39,120 --> 00:48:41,200
Speaker 3: I don't believe even though the Mavericks like obviously swept

1021
00:48:41,239 --> 00:48:44,560
Speaker 3: the Timbrels, swept a very exhausted Timberwolves team right in

1022
00:48:44,880 --> 00:48:47,520
Speaker 3: the finals West Combs Finals last year, I don't know

1023
00:48:47,520 --> 00:48:50,160
Speaker 3: if they got that in them. Again. I just then again,

1024
00:48:50,360 --> 00:48:53,400
Speaker 3: I also am someone who notoriously looks at the Mavericks

1025
00:48:53,440 --> 00:48:55,080
Speaker 3: year after year and says, man, I just don't know

1026
00:48:55,080 --> 00:48:56,440
Speaker 3: if I believe in these guys. I think they have

1027
00:48:56,480 --> 00:48:58,960
Speaker 3: an incredible scene, and then they have an incredible season.

1028
00:48:59,160 --> 00:49:03,960
Speaker 1: So that team getting Klay Thompson most likely as they're

1029
00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:07,359
Speaker 1: starting small forward, so it is a different team defensively,

1030
00:49:07,400 --> 00:49:09,200
Speaker 1: that's for sure. I just want to go back to

1031
00:49:09,480 --> 00:49:12,280
Speaker 1: Trey mentioned Matas Buzzellis, who played for the G League

1032
00:49:12,280 --> 00:49:14,760
Speaker 1: gig Night Let's Go, and we saw him down playing

1033
00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:17,560
Speaker 1: the College Park Skyhawks. We watched the live game and

1034
00:49:17,640 --> 00:49:20,880
Speaker 1: we actually ran into you at that arena when Scoot

1035
00:49:20,920 --> 00:49:24,960
Speaker 1: Henderson was here and you wrote about him, and I

1036
00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:27,960
Speaker 1: went back and read it because I've sort of gone

1037
00:49:28,080 --> 00:49:30,680
Speaker 1: both ways with him, because he looked incredible when we

1038
00:49:30,680 --> 00:49:33,840
Speaker 1: were watching it. He rattled that rim so hard it

1039
00:49:33,960 --> 00:49:36,960
Speaker 1: was shaking the entire arena, it felt like. And then

1040
00:49:37,000 --> 00:49:39,760
Speaker 1: he goes to Portland and it obviously did not go well.

1041
00:49:39,920 --> 00:49:42,200
Speaker 1: But after reading your piece again, I thought, all right,

1042
00:49:42,280 --> 00:49:45,640
Speaker 1: Scoots back, like what happened in that first year for you,

1043
00:49:46,080 --> 00:49:49,600
Speaker 1: and it was a just that moving into the NBA,

1044
00:49:49,960 --> 00:49:53,200
Speaker 1: that type of thing and going into the starting role.

1045
00:49:53,239 --> 00:49:55,799
Speaker 1: It was just seemed like an od situation there.

1046
00:49:56,600 --> 00:49:59,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, writing that piece I wrote, you know,

1047
00:49:59,680 --> 00:50:02,120
Speaker 3: for those I wrote a pretty extensive profile and Scoot

1048
00:50:02,160 --> 00:50:05,480
Speaker 3: Henderson leading up to the draft, and I spent a

1049
00:50:05,480 --> 00:50:07,200
Speaker 3: lot of time with him, and I watched his workouts

1050
00:50:07,239 --> 00:50:10,280
Speaker 3: and I watched him play multiple games, and I interviewed

1051
00:50:10,320 --> 00:50:12,600
Speaker 3: him multiple times, and he was so easy to believe

1052
00:50:12,640 --> 00:50:15,479
Speaker 3: in him because of his depth of belief in his self.

1053
00:50:15,920 --> 00:50:19,800
Speaker 3: And I was watching these workouts and he works so hard.

1054
00:50:19,840 --> 00:50:23,680
Speaker 3: I mean, he really does work really hard. And so

1055
00:50:23,840 --> 00:50:26,719
Speaker 3: much of the talk was the shot. If the shot

1056
00:50:26,760 --> 00:50:29,080
Speaker 3: comes around, he'll be really dangerous, and he doesn't maybe

1057
00:50:29,120 --> 00:50:31,359
Speaker 3: need a shot to come around right away. But I

1058
00:50:31,400 --> 00:50:37,840
Speaker 3: do think maybe as a rookie guard in his framework

1059
00:50:37,840 --> 00:50:43,560
Speaker 3: of play where it's heavy attacking the rim, not like

1060
00:50:43,719 --> 00:50:47,799
Speaker 3: very quick, but not always decisive, with the ball. A

1061
00:50:47,840 --> 00:50:50,520
Speaker 3: shot would be helpful, and I think not even having

1062
00:50:50,640 --> 00:50:53,800
Speaker 3: kind of a consistent mid range shot really impacted him.

1063
00:50:54,400 --> 00:50:57,080
Speaker 3: It impacted the way he was defended, it impacted his

1064
00:50:57,840 --> 00:51:02,440
Speaker 3: and also a lot of his indecisiveness as a passer

1065
00:51:02,960 --> 00:51:06,279
Speaker 3: kind of showed up in rim attacks where he would

1066
00:51:06,320 --> 00:51:08,960
Speaker 3: kind of get to the rimit points and then not

1067
00:51:09,080 --> 00:51:12,440
Speaker 3: seem to know what to do upon his arrival. And

1068
00:51:12,640 --> 00:51:14,359
Speaker 3: he did have some injury stuff too. To be clear,

1069
00:51:14,800 --> 00:51:16,600
Speaker 3: I also am not sure if Portland is the most

1070
00:51:16,680 --> 00:51:20,280
Speaker 3: conducive place to his development as an NBA point guard,

1071
00:51:20,920 --> 00:51:24,520
Speaker 3: and some of that is because there aren't enough shooters there.

1072
00:51:27,080 --> 00:51:30,440
Speaker 3: Ayton can kind of clog up the lane a little bit,

1073
00:51:30,800 --> 00:51:33,759
Speaker 3: to clog up some driving lanes a little bit. And

1074
00:51:34,080 --> 00:51:35,839
Speaker 3: this isn't say that he needs to go somewhere else.

1075
00:51:35,880 --> 00:51:37,880
Speaker 3: I think that Portland just maybe has to learn to

1076
00:51:37,920 --> 00:51:40,880
Speaker 3: cater to what he does, and I think it's going

1077
00:51:40,920 --> 00:51:42,640
Speaker 3: to be a slow process. I thought that he would

1078
00:51:42,680 --> 00:51:45,880
Speaker 3: be more equipped than he looked, but I also am

1079
00:51:46,000 --> 00:51:48,840
Speaker 3: very aware that it's hard for guards. It's hard for

1080
00:51:48,880 --> 00:51:53,359
Speaker 3: guards to come into the NBA and be impactful, and

1081
00:51:53,480 --> 00:51:55,040
Speaker 3: I don't know what it's going to take for him,

1082
00:51:55,200 --> 00:51:59,080
Speaker 3: But I think Portland is I was surprised with the draft.

1083
00:51:59,160 --> 00:52:03,319
Speaker 3: Maybe I think I maybe not would not have gone

1084
00:52:03,320 --> 00:52:05,360
Speaker 3: in that direction if I were Portland. But I like

1085
00:52:05,440 --> 00:52:07,440
Speaker 3: the idea of maybe getting him some lob threats, getting

1086
00:52:07,480 --> 00:52:11,640
Speaker 3: him some more size. But I do worry about the

1087
00:52:11,680 --> 00:52:14,760
Speaker 3: clogging of the lane because his most direct comparison is Westbrook.

1088
00:52:15,160 --> 00:52:16,360
Speaker 3: You know, people are kind of like, he's kind of

1089
00:52:16,400 --> 00:52:19,560
Speaker 3: like Westbrook. But if you remember those early okay thunder teams,

1090
00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:23,720
Speaker 3: Okay see thunder teams with Westbrook, the Brant at Bacha Harden,

1091
00:52:24,320 --> 00:52:26,759
Speaker 3: Westbrook had a lot of room to operate, a lot

1092
00:52:26,800 --> 00:52:28,520
Speaker 3: of space to operate in the lane, and then Paint

1093
00:52:28,760 --> 00:52:30,800
Speaker 3: and Scoots just doesn't have that right now in Portland,

1094
00:52:30,800 --> 00:52:34,600
Speaker 3: And so I worry about his development. I still he

1095
00:52:34,719 --> 00:52:36,719
Speaker 3: just works so hard at it though, Like I think

1096
00:52:36,760 --> 00:52:39,160
Speaker 3: he's going to be a different player in year two.

1097
00:52:39,400 --> 00:52:41,279
Speaker 1: Yeah, And Portland changed it up with the roster of

1098
00:52:41,360 --> 00:52:45,719
Speaker 1: this coming season by trading Malcolm Brogden. So he's going

1099
00:52:45,760 --> 00:52:50,160
Speaker 1: to be the starting point guard alongside Anthony Simons who

1100
00:52:50,160 --> 00:52:54,280
Speaker 1: can score, Jeremy Grant who can be there. Danny Avdia

1101
00:52:54,560 --> 00:52:56,239
Speaker 1: is big now with Portland, so it's going to be

1102
00:52:56,280 --> 00:52:58,400
Speaker 1: a different team playing for a guy and Chauncey Phillips

1103
00:52:58,440 --> 00:53:01,400
Speaker 1: who took a long time to get good as a

1104
00:53:01,440 --> 00:53:05,239
Speaker 1: point guard, right, So hopefully that happens for Scoot here

1105
00:53:05,239 --> 00:53:05,879
Speaker 1: in year two.

1106
00:53:06,560 --> 00:53:09,400
Speaker 3: It's a hard position. It's a it's a massively hard position.

1107
00:53:10,040 --> 00:53:11,879
Speaker 3: I'm not I mean, we know all the positions are hard,

1108
00:53:11,880 --> 00:53:14,160
Speaker 3: but I'm saying, when you're a young point guard, it's

1109
00:53:14,160 --> 00:53:17,279
Speaker 3: gonna take a minute, you know, And even if you

1110
00:53:17,400 --> 00:53:21,160
Speaker 3: think you've gotten to a place, not everyone's gonna be

1111
00:53:21,160 --> 00:53:23,320
Speaker 3: Tyrese Haliburton, you know what I mean, Like, not everyone

1112
00:53:23,520 --> 00:53:26,040
Speaker 3: in Tyre's Halliburton. It has to be said, was so

1113
00:53:26,239 --> 00:53:28,239
Speaker 3: league ready when he came into the league because of

1114
00:53:28,280 --> 00:53:31,960
Speaker 3: how much he played in college and his size and

1115
00:53:31,960 --> 00:53:35,960
Speaker 3: his passing ability. But not everyone. Most point guards who

1116
00:53:35,960 --> 00:53:39,280
Speaker 3: come into the league have a real hard growing curve

1117
00:53:40,600 --> 00:53:44,080
Speaker 3: and it's tough position. It's a tough position. And I

1118
00:53:44,160 --> 00:53:47,640
Speaker 3: really think once Scoot develops just consistent, I don't even

1119
00:53:47,640 --> 00:53:49,239
Speaker 3: think it needs to be a consistent three point shot.

1120
00:53:49,400 --> 00:53:51,440
Speaker 3: A consistent mid range shot would really open up a

1121
00:53:51,440 --> 00:53:54,879
Speaker 3: lot for him, like Westbrook did. Like Westbrook did.

1122
00:53:54,960 --> 00:53:57,719
Speaker 1: Yeah, I appreciate the optimism around Scoot I feel like

1123
00:53:57,760 --> 00:54:00,439
Speaker 1: I can walk away from this interview with some some

1124
00:54:00,760 --> 00:54:05,120
Speaker 1: sincere optimism for Scoot, for the Eastern Conference Mrs Middle

1125
00:54:05,120 --> 00:54:07,520
Speaker 1: of the Road teams as well. I think they'll be

1126
00:54:08,200 --> 00:54:11,320
Speaker 1: be some good stuff there this year. I believe, I believe.

1127
00:54:11,760 --> 00:54:15,239
Speaker 1: I wanted to thank you Anief for coming on, really

1128
00:54:15,239 --> 00:54:17,840
Speaker 1: really really really appreciate for taking the time out, because

1129
00:54:17,880 --> 00:54:21,560
Speaker 1: I know there's always This year has been very very

1130
00:54:21,560 --> 00:54:24,520
Speaker 1: busy for you, and we appreciate you coming on.

1131
00:54:25,400 --> 00:54:26,960
Speaker 3: And this is a real joy. I'm such a fan

1132
00:54:27,000 --> 00:54:29,000
Speaker 3: of the show, have been for so long, you know,

1133
00:54:29,080 --> 00:54:32,080
Speaker 3: have been since the starter's day, so this means a lot.

1134
00:54:32,120 --> 00:54:33,200
Speaker 3: I really appreciate y'all.

1135
00:54:33,400 --> 00:54:35,759
Speaker 4: Oh, thank you, Henny. We appreciate it, yeah, big time.

1136
00:54:36,120 --> 00:54:38,040
Speaker 4: But I did see there's no Atlanta stop on the

1137
00:54:38,080 --> 00:54:39,400
Speaker 4: tour yet.

1138
00:54:39,800 --> 00:54:41,480
Speaker 3: Not yet, not yet. I'm going to do something in

1139
00:54:41,520 --> 00:54:44,480
Speaker 3: Atlanta and the spring that I'm going to try to

1140
00:54:44,520 --> 00:54:47,279
Speaker 3: align with the Hawks game. It's one of those things

1141
00:54:47,320 --> 00:54:50,879
Speaker 3: where I like, I enjoy watching the Hawks, I really do.

1142
00:54:50,960 --> 00:54:54,520
Speaker 3: I don't know. I know that the optimist. I have

1143
00:54:54,520 --> 00:54:56,280
Speaker 3: friends who are Hawks frands, and I know the optimism

1144
00:54:56,360 --> 00:54:59,080
Speaker 3: is pretty low in Atlanta right now, and I actually

1145
00:54:59,080 --> 00:55:01,120
Speaker 3: am surprised to trey you and survived the off season

1146
00:55:01,200 --> 00:55:03,239
Speaker 3: in Atlanta. Man. I love watching the Hawks and just

1147
00:55:03,320 --> 00:55:06,040
Speaker 3: kind of like they're one of those teams where it's

1148
00:55:06,080 --> 00:55:08,239
Speaker 3: like you got one guy, one great guy who's fun

1149
00:55:08,280 --> 00:55:09,600
Speaker 3: to watch the rest of the teams kind of like

1150
00:55:09,680 --> 00:55:13,319
Speaker 3: some guys and they just they just roll the ball

1151
00:55:13,360 --> 00:55:16,800
Speaker 3: out and let them play. And I love at Spring. Yeah,

1152
00:55:17,120 --> 00:55:19,759
Speaker 3: that's honestly, that's my favorite kind of team construction, is

1153
00:55:20,560 --> 00:55:22,719
Speaker 3: a guy and then some guys. I think that's like

1154
00:55:22,800 --> 00:55:25,440
Speaker 3: a I love that team. That's my favorite type of

1155
00:55:25,520 --> 00:55:29,440
Speaker 3: NBA team, probably not to root for individually, but to watch. Gosh,

1156
00:55:29,520 --> 00:55:32,640
Speaker 3: I love like a you know, the Spurs are kind

1157
00:55:32,680 --> 00:55:35,239
Speaker 3: of that last year, like the guy and some guys. Yeah.

1158
00:55:35,480 --> 00:55:37,720
Speaker 4: Love I ever send two thousand and one Derek Rose

1159
00:55:37,960 --> 00:55:40,359
Speaker 4: when he won the MVP, Like literally, just get one

1160
00:55:40,400 --> 00:55:42,719
Speaker 4: awesome guy on offense. Everybody else WI played defense as

1161
00:55:42,719 --> 00:55:44,080
Speaker 4: hard as they can and we can see what you're

1162
00:55:44,120 --> 00:55:48,200
Speaker 4: gonna do. Makes for good highlight packages and competitive games

1163
00:55:48,239 --> 00:55:51,080
Speaker 4: because they might not always be blowouts for sure.

1164
00:55:51,520 --> 00:55:51,959
Speaker 3: For sure.

1165
00:55:52,080 --> 00:55:54,439
Speaker 1: Oh, I appreciate your time, honey. There's always this year

1166
00:55:54,520 --> 00:55:57,239
Speaker 1: an incredible, incredible read, So thank you so much. Going

1167
00:55:57,280 --> 00:55:59,040
Speaker 1: into year two. I guess of a book tour. You're

1168
00:55:59,080 --> 00:56:02,400
Speaker 1: saying spring next year. You're a busy man, busy busy man.

1169
00:56:02,480 --> 00:56:04,480
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm never gonna stop touring. I'll be like the

1170
00:56:04,480 --> 00:56:08,160
Speaker 3: Grateful Dead or whatever. We'll trail. Come see.

1171
00:56:08,280 --> 00:56:10,239
Speaker 1: I'll be there because he loves the grateful day. No,

1172
00:56:11,000 --> 00:56:12,959
Speaker 1: can't wait, Atlanta. You gotta make it happen.

1173
00:56:13,080 --> 00:56:15,120
Speaker 2: That's right, see you down at the Highlight Factory.

1174
00:56:15,400 --> 00:56:16,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll be there. All right.

1175
00:56:16,520 --> 00:56:19,160
Speaker 3: Thank you, Nief and thanks you all. Appreciate you.

1176
00:56:19,360 --> 00:56:22,359
Speaker 1: Fitting that we ended talking about Russell Westbrook a little

1177
00:56:22,360 --> 00:56:25,960
Speaker 1: bit there, because on Thursday's show, our next show, I'm

1178
00:56:26,000 --> 00:56:29,480
Speaker 1: gonna have a what if this happened in Russell Westbrook's

1179
00:56:29,520 --> 00:56:32,360
Speaker 1: career to sort of go through his career, because that

1180
00:56:32,480 --> 00:56:34,360
Speaker 1: career has not talked about enough, so I want to

1181
00:56:34,360 --> 00:56:37,480
Speaker 1: get into it. What if this happened with Russell Westbrook?

1182
00:56:37,840 --> 00:56:41,200
Speaker 1: Multiple times? Thanks a lot to any abduer Key for

1183
00:56:41,280 --> 00:56:49,759
Speaker 1: coming on. He was awesome. But for now you heard

1184
00:56:49,800 --> 00:56:50,160
Speaker 1: it here.

1185
00:56:50,080 --> 00:56:53,520
Speaker 2: First, have a great time, turn up. Love you guys awesome.

1186
00:56:54,680 --> 00:56:58,040
Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us. And remember this book is in stores.

1187
00:56:58,080 --> 00:57:04,000
Speaker 1: Go buy it