Speaker 1: Good mornings, sweet world, and welcome to the No Dunk's
Speaker 1: podcast on the Athletic Network. It's Monday, July thirteenth. Thumb
Speaker 1: j skeets and joining us thanks to the power of
Speaker 1: zoom Tass Melis.
Speaker 2: Hey everybody, Hey, what's up?
Speaker 1: Tassy? We got the international man of mystery taking it
Speaker 1: to the Max le Ellis friends, but not least making
Speaker 1: the magic happen today is jd Hello, There he is
Speaker 1: and here we are once again. No Trey Kirby or
Speaker 1: it is. He's still stuck in a yurt, can't find
Speaker 1: his way out. It's deceiving right, It's a weird circle,
Speaker 1: that's exactly. He just wandering around, no corners to exactly.
Speaker 1: But we will hear from Trey a little bit later
Speaker 1: this week. He plans on joining us for a beach
Speaker 1: step in on Wednesday. Guys, email us your questions and
Speaker 1: comments for that beach step in. Email them into No
Speaker 1: Dunks at the Athletic dot com, or you can hit
Speaker 1: us up on Twitter at No dunk Sinc. Hashtag No Dunks.
Speaker 1: Follow us on social media Twitter and Instagram at No
Speaker 1: dunk Sinc. Leley another fantastic job. We posted it on
Speaker 1: the Weekend You're Poppin' Packs podcast with James Worthy last week. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I loved it.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Anytime we get a story about Vattie Debach rolling his
Speaker 1: own cigarettes, I'm in. I always love it. Man. James
Speaker 1: Worthy's got an incredible memory too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, it was on fire. Oh it was yeah,
Speaker 3: one of my mosten joga ones because really took him
Speaker 3: back to those days and he remembered as if it
Speaker 3: was like yesterday.
Speaker 1: Sorry, I mean, would you would like give him a
Speaker 1: hint and then he would be like, oh yeah, Fresno State,
Speaker 1: California eighty five. I had twenty nine he had. You know,
Speaker 1: it was pretty Impressiveyeah, So listen to that podcast from
Speaker 1: the Weekend with James Worthy. It really is enjoyable. Listen.
Speaker 1: And then you've got another another Hall of Famer. You're
Speaker 1: saying locked in for tomorrow? Is that correct?
Speaker 3: You can lock it in there, JDA Dominique Wilkins Hall
Speaker 3: of Famer. He's even got a statue why to be
Speaker 3: joining me tomorrow on throwback turn Back Tuesday. I think
Speaker 3: we're calling it.
Speaker 1: Like that.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know the idea of this is to
Speaker 3: do it on a throwback Thursday. But if these guests
Speaker 3: say they're in. I'm like, do it as soon as
Speaker 3: you can, so don't give them a chance to flake
Speaker 3: or to ghost me. So Nik on Tuesday might try
Speaker 3: to get another one later in the week.
Speaker 1: Why not? Yeah? Okay, the Human Highlight film on Tuesday.
Speaker 1: So you have really two ways to listen slash watch it.
Speaker 1: You can join you live on Instagram. Make sure you
Speaker 1: follow us and we and we tweeted out as well,
Speaker 1: So make sure you follow us on social media. You'll
Speaker 1: see legal and live with Nick or not you can't
Speaker 1: do that, you can catch the podcast lead on the weekend.
Speaker 1: We drop it as a little bonus. So there you go.
Speaker 1: That's fantastic. So you got Nik for tomorrow, who give
Speaker 1: us a hand? Two? You got lined up for the
Speaker 1: rest of you. Are you trying?
Speaker 3: Well, let's see, I don't. I really don't like to
Speaker 3: say until I've got some sort of like let's let's
Speaker 3: work out a time. Let me just say I'm I'm
Speaker 3: emailing and contacting people and I'm optimistic I'm up.
Speaker 1: To Okay, it's player that has email capabilities.
Speaker 2: Yeah, are you emailing with the athlete himself or with
Speaker 2: a rep?
Speaker 3: Some? Well some that's the thing. Sometimes it's me directly
Speaker 3: with the person and other times it's through a rep.
Speaker 3: So but but if I get this other player, he's
Speaker 3: also a Hall of Famer. Okay, but yeah, we would
Speaker 3: just We're just we would just calm the farm on
Speaker 3: that one ferment. Okay.
Speaker 1: I got one more question before we move on here,
Speaker 1: because I was, as I said, I listened to the
Speaker 1: podcast with James Worthy on Saturday that we posted a
Speaker 1: lot of those cards. Okay, there wasn't a lot of duds.
Speaker 1: I noticed in that pack of cards. I think you
Speaker 1: were working with the ninety one ninety two hoops and
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, this is interesting. Every card is
Speaker 1: a pretty somewhat big name that James will probably know,
Speaker 1: maybe have a story about. Are you planting these damn packs?
Speaker 3: Well, I say it's not. It's not the entire pack.
Speaker 3: I get a pack and then look, if I've got
Speaker 3: a UA Black been there, I'm like, I don't know
Speaker 3: if there's too much to go with you a blab,
Speaker 3: I just jeans really doesn't have an awesome It's true,
Speaker 3: It's true that I don't. But I like in basketball
Speaker 3: you have subs on the bench. All I do is
Speaker 3: maybe I just want to sub in this guy and
Speaker 3: stubb out that guy.
Speaker 1: Man, this is worse than finding out Magic Johnson doesn't
Speaker 1: tweet everything. Everything is big.
Speaker 3: Well, it's it's not fake. I mean, they're real stories.
Speaker 3: It's just you know, I just realized, like I was
Speaker 3: talking to I can't. I think it's maybe Xavi McDaniel
Speaker 3: and Donald Hodge came up and I'm like, yeah, we
Speaker 3: don't need Donald Hodge. We don't need Donald Hodge. Let's
Speaker 3: let's find Lee.
Speaker 1: The series isn't called pop and packs removing crappy cards
Speaker 1: putting in better ones from another pack. I popped a
Speaker 1: couple hours earlier.
Speaker 2: I'll be talking about the twelve best players. I know,
Speaker 2: let's go.
Speaker 1: Well, maybe you're making hey, maybe you're making the right decision.
Speaker 3: You're right, it's story times. Story time is what it is.
Speaker 3: It's just sold as popping packs. You know what I'm saying,
Speaker 3: right right, right right?
Speaker 1: Did you did you plant packs for like Cabby and Hallani,
Speaker 1: Ariel Hawani and stuff like that?
Speaker 3: Definitely not Ariel Hawani, No, because we opened two packs
Speaker 3: with you know, yeah, Kabby.
Speaker 1: No, Well because Cabby. The reason I asked is I
Speaker 1: was like, these were easy like Cabby was killing it
Speaker 1: on the hills, he was getting everybody, but I was like,
Speaker 1: he didn't really get a hard player, Like he didn't
Speaker 1: get a nil an remember.
Speaker 3: Yeah, But the thing is as well, I give them
Speaker 3: fairly obvious hints like you know, hey, this guy is
Speaker 3: the current coach of such and such or whatever. I mean,
Speaker 3: you know, I don't. I don't make the hints as
Speaker 3: hard as I do for you guys, because you know
Speaker 3: you tend to you know, we have a bit more time,
Speaker 3: we have a bit more fun with him and these ones.
Speaker 3: I like, I want to get to the player, and
Speaker 3: then I want to get to the story, you know
Speaker 3: what I'm saying. So it's not in the unmasking of
Speaker 3: the player. It's more like, hopefully it's going to jog
Speaker 3: their memory for a great story.
Speaker 1: Okay, fair, Yeah, we are hints. Sorry they have email capabilities.
Speaker 1: Were like, I don't know, I don't know.
Speaker 2: We have a pop and Pack bonus podcast. We just
Speaker 2: talked about popping packs right now for five minutes. Should
Speaker 2: we just release this as behind the scenes of Pop
Speaker 2: Papa Pop so packing the packs, the pack packs.
Speaker 1: This is the this is the stale gum that you
Speaker 1: find in the popin pack. That's what this was right now.
Speaker 1: That will cut the top of your mouth if you
Speaker 1: try eating it twenty years later. All right, so go
Speaker 1: check that out. I can't wait for Nick. And you
Speaker 1: know we're on Facebook at facebook dot com slash no
Speaker 1: Dunk's ink. Well, I guess it's official. We're now on Facebook.
Speaker 1: And some big news here in the Athletic NBA universe.
Speaker 1: There's a new podcast feed, a new show. It's called
Speaker 1: The Athletic NBA Show that's wisely named just to the point.
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Speaker 1: All right, today, guys playing a little Is this news?
Speaker 1: First one ESPN Lakers Lebron James to go without social
Speaker 1: justice message on jersey tasks? Is this news?
Speaker 2: This is newsworthy? And I'm a guy who thinks these
Speaker 2: the phrases on players jerseys is largely symbolic. But I
Speaker 2: just don't see why Lebron wouldn't do it. Why the
Speaker 2: heck not? What harm can come from it? I think
Speaker 2: only good can come from it. And so even though
Speaker 2: as I said, they're sort of symbolic, I don't think
Speaker 2: they're going to change anything. I think Lebron is doing
Speaker 2: so much more off the floor with getting people to
Speaker 2: vote with more than a vote initiative with his Ohio
Speaker 2: school getting kids to college. Even what the NBPA is
Speaker 2: doing with investigating and researching police departments around the country.
Speaker 2: That's the kind of stuff that's going to change the
Speaker 2: black community. And so a phrase on a jersey I
Speaker 2: don't really think is going to change anything really, except
Speaker 2: if Lebron has it on his jersey. We're talking about
Speaker 2: the biggest player in the NBA here as well, I mean,
Speaker 2: the most famous player in the NBA. I think let's
Speaker 2: say he has it on his jersey in the middle
Speaker 2: of a playoff game and a father and on her
Speaker 2: watching the game, and a kid says, Dad, what does
Speaker 2: what does equality mean? Why does he have that on
Speaker 2: his jersey? And so that sparks the conversation between the
Speaker 2: father and the son, and maybe that leads to the
Speaker 2: father doing a little bit more with his son in
Speaker 2: regards to, you know, educating him or or or that
Speaker 2: like that. If that were the one thing that were
Speaker 2: to come out of Lebron wearing a message on his jersey,
Speaker 2: I think it would be worth it. And maybe this
Speaker 2: is a new audience that sees into the playoffs and
Speaker 2: maybe they don't follow what Lebron does and every moment
Speaker 2: of every second on you know, in a social media world,
Speaker 2: or you know, in his life, as he is definitely
Speaker 2: more than an athlete. I mentioned those initiatives he has,
Speaker 2: but I just don't see the harm in putting a
Speaker 2: phrase on a jersey. I just I just don't see
Speaker 2: why not.
Speaker 1: I actually disagree with this. I think this is Lebron
Speaker 1: playing chess here and not checkers because and I tweeted
Speaker 1: this out intentional or not, and I guess I'm assuming
Speaker 1: it is intentional because it's Lebron. This decision, in a
Speaker 1: weird way, task actually brings more inten two all of
Speaker 1: this to the Black Lives Matter movement. I really truly
Speaker 1: believe that if Lebron does just go with the quality
Speaker 1: on the back of his jersey, I hear what you're saying.
Speaker 1: I like that scenario you're talking about, the son and
Speaker 1: the father. That's true, that could happen, but just as
Speaker 1: equally true as hey dad, Why doesn't Lebron? You know,
Speaker 1: why does everybody else have it? I guess my point
Speaker 1: is there's so many players like I think it's something
Speaker 1: like nearly three hundred of the three hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: eligible players are going to have, you know, a social
Speaker 1: justice message that they were They were given a list
Speaker 1: that they could pick from. We know that it's about
Speaker 1: thirty and Lebron saying I don't want to pick one
Speaker 1: of those. It sounds like he had other things in
Speaker 1: mind that he wished he could have put on and
Speaker 1: when he couldn't, and he didn't like being not consulted
Speaker 1: about it, He's like, you know what, I'm just not
Speaker 1: going to do it. I actually think that brings more attention,
Speaker 1: do you know what I'm saying?
Speaker 2: Though I know you're saying I saw you tweet that,
Speaker 2: and I definitely think right now these last two days
Speaker 2: for sure, because it's now newsworthy and so. But at
Speaker 2: the same time, I don't think we're gonna see those
Speaker 2: phrases on players jerseys all the time. Like if you
Speaker 2: think about a game, you see the name on a
Speaker 2: black of players jerseys, like I don't know, six seven,
Speaker 2: eight times a game, you just don't see it all
Speaker 2: that much. And so I don't think you're gonna even
Speaker 2: have a scenario where you see Lebron running up the
Speaker 2: floor and you just see his back like and a
Speaker 2: kid goes, hey, what's that? I mean? I think. I think,
Speaker 2: because he is the biggest player in the game, if
Speaker 2: he put out an Instagram post with his jersey and
Speaker 2: that would spark more conversation, I think than not. And
Speaker 2: I hear what you're saying for the last couple of days,
Speaker 2: but yeah, three hundred or three hundred fifty people are
Speaker 2: doing it for at least four games. I think we
Speaker 2: have to mention that they don't have to go forward
Speaker 2: with it after those four games. It's this weird thing
Speaker 2: where it's just four games. But I hear what you're saying,
Speaker 2: but I think I really think the floor is more
Speaker 2: important because like it's I know we're talking about the
Speaker 2: jerseys a ton, but you just don't see the back
Speaker 2: of jerseys all that. I don't think it's going to
Speaker 2: be a big deal. I think the floor is a
Speaker 2: little bit more important. But I hear what you're saying.
Speaker 3: For now, what do you think, Lee, I'm a little surprised,
Speaker 3: and to be honest, a little disappointed that Lebron isn't
Speaker 3: going to put a name or some sort of phrase
Speaker 3: on his jersey because to me, you know, he says
Speaker 3: he wasn't consulted, But as far as I understood it.
Speaker 3: Then the National Basketball Players Association worked in close contact
Speaker 3: with the NBA on these messages, so I can't believe
Speaker 3: that he wasn't in any way spoken to about what
Speaker 3: the messages were. Chris Paul is the president, that's one
Speaker 3: of his closest friends. I can't imagine Chris Paul didn't say, Hey, Bron,
Speaker 3: what do you think of this? You know that to
Speaker 3: me sounds a little bit strange. And I just feel
Speaker 3: that this is Lebron James. He goes further than just
Speaker 3: the basketball world and even further than just the sports world.
Speaker 3: He is an international celebrity and an icon, and he's
Speaker 3: revered around the world, and I feel this is the
Speaker 3: best chance for him to really just demonstrate how influential
Speaker 3: he is. And I think of those messages. If the
Speaker 3: one wasn't one that he liked, then I'm sure at
Speaker 3: someone of his power and his ability would have been
Speaker 3: able to then get the message that he wanted on
Speaker 3: his jersey. I mean, he again, he's Lebron James. You
Speaker 3: make special conditions for people like him because he has
Speaker 3: the ability to reach so many people and affect so
Speaker 3: many lives. So I would like him to change his
Speaker 3: mind and to put a message on the back, and
Speaker 3: perhaps he will, perhaps he won't. I'm not sure he'd
Speaker 3: he probably I guess has decided at this point that
Speaker 3: he's not going to. But I would have liked to
Speaker 3: have seen him Black lives matter, equality, anything. I can't breathe.
Speaker 1: I mean, but Lebron's saying, like Task was saying at
Speaker 1: the start of this, He's like, this means nothing. Let's
Speaker 1: be honest. Yeah, but I know all Lebron is like,
Speaker 1: my track record speaks for itself.
Speaker 3: I agree with that.
Speaker 1: And Task took us through all the things that he's done.
Speaker 1: You can't tell me. In fact, I would go to
Speaker 1: say that he's been the most vocal athlete right over
Speaker 1: the last decade plus on the matters of race, an injustice,
Speaker 1: and education in minority communities. Like I can't think of
Speaker 1: another athlete that you would he'd be at that least
Speaker 1: at the top of the list.
Speaker 3: Okay, So what does putting a message on his jersey
Speaker 3: detract from? Like? What?
Speaker 2: What? What?
Speaker 3: What's the what's the downside to him putting a message
Speaker 3: on his jersey?
Speaker 2: There?
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's no downside. But again, I actually think he's
Speaker 1: bringing more attention to this we have it as our
Speaker 1: first topic but everywhere.
Speaker 3: But I disagree that he's bringing more more like those
Speaker 3: two much.
Speaker 2: I think you're right scause he has bring more attention
Speaker 2: to it now with those two months, he probably has
Speaker 2: something else planned. You're right, he's calculated. He definitely has
Speaker 2: something else planned in terms of social justice. I imagine
Speaker 2: right like for or he's like, he's already doing it,
Speaker 2: so I would think, but when they're in Orlando, I'm
Speaker 2: sure they're going to be doing he is going to
Speaker 2: be leading something. But I agree it doesn't really detract
Speaker 2: from anything just to have it on his jersey. But
Speaker 2: it just sounds like to me, he wants to be
Speaker 2: different in this instance and he just wants to stand
Speaker 2: out by not putting it on his jersey.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we we should say he said quote no
Speaker 1: disrespect to the list that was handed out to all
Speaker 1: the players. Okay, I commend anyone that decides to put
Speaker 1: something on the back of their jersey. It's just something
Speaker 1: that didn't really seriously resonate with my mission, with my goal,
Speaker 1: because you know, you see the headline and people start going, oh, well,
Speaker 1: Lebron's too good for this, blah blah, blah, but he
Speaker 1: is just like, this is my personal opinion and I
Speaker 1: didn't want to, but kudos to anybody else that did so.
Speaker 1: And like I said, there's a lot of players that
Speaker 1: are I think there's something like around twenty now that
Speaker 1: are electing just to go with their names instead. And
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis we learned as another one of those players,
Speaker 1: and of course his Lakers teammate, he's just gone with
Speaker 1: Davis as well.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, well again, I think though you know, two
Speaker 3: of the biggest names, these guys are likely going to
Speaker 3: be playing into the finals, they're going to be on
Speaker 3: the court the most throughout this entire restart. Personally, I'm disappointed.
Speaker 3: I would have rather them have a message on there.
Speaker 3: But again, we'll see how things play out and what
Speaker 3: else Lebron perhaps has in mind for how he's going
Speaker 3: to would dress this situation throughout the playoffs. Maybe you're right,
Speaker 3: maybe maybe he's decided he's going to have some different
Speaker 3: way of showcasing it. But I just feel with the
Speaker 3: games being back there, this is a fantastic opportunity for him,
Speaker 3: the most most recognizable player in the game, you know,
Speaker 3: to get a message out there. But again, I'm not
Speaker 3: not doubting him at all. I think that he's going
Speaker 3: to have something. It's just I'm very surprised anyway. I'm
Speaker 3: very surprised. I think on our show, you know, whenever
Speaker 3: it was a week or two ago, who knows everything
Speaker 3: blends into a single day. I said, I'd be shocked
Speaker 3: if anyone didn't have it. When you have someone like
Speaker 3: Lebron who's the leader of the NBA, He's going to
Speaker 3: have a message and everyone will sort of follow suit.
Speaker 3: So I'm definitely shocked by that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but he will have something planned. It is Lebron James,
Speaker 2: and like you said, he it's probably the most out
Speaker 2: spoking NBA player the last decade. He will have something planned.
Speaker 2: And I just I just don't think. I don't understand
Speaker 2: why those things have to be exclusive? Why not do both?
Speaker 2: I just I just don't get it.
Speaker 1: I mean, we heard Mike Scott and Jail and Brown
Speaker 1: both say they were a little disappointed with the options
Speaker 1: and that they couldn't pick their own message and that
Speaker 1: it did feel a little corporate y. Maybe Lebron feels
Speaker 1: that way too, I think, And you can't quote me
Speaker 1: on this because I was watching an MLS soccer game
Speaker 1: on Friday night at Lanta. United came back and I
Speaker 1: think they've had the option. And again please don't quote
Speaker 1: me on this, but on their jerseys there's almost like
Speaker 1: a spot. There's like a white bar, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean, like a rectangle where they could put their
Speaker 1: own message on there. I think now that could have
Speaker 1: been printed on there. I thought that was pretty cool.
Speaker 1: It would have been a really neat thing. I think
Speaker 1: the NBA could have done too, if they obviously wanted
Speaker 1: to possibly open up a can of worms. And I
Speaker 1: guess that's why they didn't, but it would have been
Speaker 1: neat if you actually could have legit, you know, written
Speaker 1: whatever you wanted to, whatever message you would like to
Speaker 1: get across on your jersey in a particular spot. But
Speaker 1: maybe now that I say that, I don't know if
Speaker 1: the MLS did that. I saw it though, and it looked.
Speaker 3: Hand written, so maybe it was just But in that sense,
Speaker 3: like open up the can of worms, those are the
Speaker 3: sort of uncomfortab conversations I think we need.
Speaker 1: To have fair.
Speaker 3: You know, if someone's if someone's got a message they
Speaker 3: want to write, let them write it and then and
Speaker 3: then we can talk about it.
Speaker 1: You know, the NBA players already do a lot of
Speaker 1: this stuff. They rid a lot of the stuff on
Speaker 1: their shoes. Yeah, it's obviously tiny on your shoes. Unless
Speaker 1: there's a close up on Getty images and it gets
Speaker 1: tweeted out, you're not really good.
Speaker 3: Well, there's always yeah, someone always takes a photo. They
Speaker 3: always make sure a photo gets taken. But but that
Speaker 3: that's where I that's where I think we need to be,
Speaker 3: at that point where it's like, oh my god, did
Speaker 3: you see what that person wrote? Like, let's let's talk
Speaker 3: about it. I mean, it's maybe not always going to be,
Speaker 3: you know, nice, but at least that's where we need
Speaker 3: to go, I think, to really change the way side
Speaker 3: is at the moment and bring awareness to every issue.
Speaker 1: Right our next headlines sticking with the Lakers NBA dot
Speaker 1: Com Lakers God for Jehan Rondo out's six to eight
Speaker 1: weeks with a fractured thumb. Lee Rondo out, We know
Speaker 1: you love Rondo is.
Speaker 3: Well, it's it's a blow to the Lakers, of course
Speaker 3: because Avery Bradley another Garden you know, slightly different position,
Speaker 3: doesn't really play the point guard. He's also out, so
Speaker 3: they're backcourt depth is certainly going to take a little
Speaker 3: bit of a hit here. Rondo's an interesting one though,
Speaker 3: because the Lakers were clearly looking to try to get
Speaker 3: some support for that point guard reserve spot. They tried
Speaker 3: to sign Darren Collison earlier in the season didn't really
Speaker 3: work out. So I don't think they have complete faith
Speaker 3: in Rondo, But the fact that he's not going to
Speaker 3: be there for the most of this resumption is going
Speaker 3: to hurt them a little bit. But when you have
Speaker 3: someone like Lebron who can kind of play point guard,
Speaker 3: we've known he's done that in the playoffs in the past,
Speaker 3: you've got a fairly good backup option there. But and
Speaker 3: Caruso obviously is going to be more minutes for him
Speaker 3: as well. But I think that's the thing. When you
Speaker 3: are now two players down, it just means these extra
Speaker 3: these guys are gonna have to play extra minutes, and
Speaker 3: that could potentially lead to some more injuries. So it's
Speaker 3: a blow to Lakers. They're going to miss him for sure,
Speaker 3: just to have another body out there. But in terms
Speaker 3: of whether or not they can still win the championship,
Speaker 3: I don't think that really changes. I think they're still
Speaker 3: at their best They're still clearly one of the favorite
Speaker 3: out of the Lake because the Celtics and they, excuse me,
Speaker 3: the Lakers, Bucks and the Clippers, but it's going to
Speaker 3: be a bit of a blow to them for sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think this is really all that newsworthy,
Speaker 2: and it's unfortunate and Ragnrondo would eat minutes. As Lee
Speaker 2: was saying, it would be nice if this happened for
Speaker 2: the Lakers before they got to Orlando and they could
Speaker 2: just potentially find another body if ifs Rondo was out
Speaker 2: for if they knew he was out for a long
Speaker 2: period of time, but at the same time, he could
Speaker 2: be back for the second round of the playoffs. I
Speaker 2: think I have a problem finishing off if it's the
Speaker 2: Memphis Grizzlies or the Portland Trailblazers without ragrohn Rondo, No, sir.
Speaker 2: Even if it's the conference finals, they should have If
Speaker 2: it's eight weeks, the length of the longest that Gienrondo
Speaker 2: could be out six to eight weeks here he would
Speaker 2: be back for the Conference Finals against the Clippers. Yeah,
Speaker 2: we're penciling in the Clippers and Lakers right now. I
Speaker 2: don't think it's an issue Lebron is their point guard,
Speaker 2: and Kntavious Caldwell, Pope Stands, is going to stand out
Speaker 2: there in place of Avery Bradley, and Danny Green is
Speaker 2: gonna start beside him, and Alex Scruso and Quinn Cook
Speaker 2: can come off the bench. And as Lee said, they
Speaker 2: were looking for Darren Collison to have a guy who
Speaker 2: can who can shoot. I mean that's the primary focus
Speaker 2: I think for their backup point guard. Uh And and
Speaker 2: that's why Rondo probably wouldn't have got a ton of minutes,
Speaker 2: you know, down in crunch time because playing alongside Lebron
Speaker 2: and ad we've seen what Lebron needs shooters around him,
Speaker 2: and and Rondo, Yeah, you look at the percentages. Sometimes
Speaker 2: they're good, but yeah he's not. And Alex Cruso is
Speaker 2: gonna step up. I mean that's I don't think it's
Speaker 2: really really much of a worry. I think Avid Bradley's
Speaker 2: a bigger one because they don't really have anybody to
Speaker 2: guard little guards. Avery Bradley would be that guy if
Speaker 2: there's a quick little water bug out there that they
Speaker 2: have to guard. But I don't know, I'm not that
Speaker 2: gonna cern you concern Skates Well, I know.
Speaker 1: I'll add this. I saw Kevin Pelton write this, see
Speaker 1: crunch the numbers per cleaning the glass. And there's a
Speaker 1: theory that maybe Rondo's injury could actually help the Lakers
Speaker 1: play more effective lineups because the Lakers were minus six
Speaker 1: point eight net rating with Rondo on the court. That's
Speaker 1: the worst of any player who has seen more than
Speaker 1: four hundred minutes this season. That said, playoff Rondo, guys,
Speaker 1: was a real thing.
Speaker 3: When when let's go back in time to when that was.
Speaker 1: Well twenty eighteen with the Pelicans, we still had playoff
Speaker 1: Rondo come on double twelve point two assists per gamely
Speaker 1: in that But his assists of the first round, I
Speaker 1: mean he was good.
Speaker 3: Okay, yes he did it was better than Rondo.
Speaker 2: No.
Speaker 3: Look, he played well against the Blazer There's no question
Speaker 3: that he was instrumental in that series upset of the Blazers.
Speaker 3: But the assist, the assist numbers they like are always
Speaker 3: Rondo's assists are always about himself. They're not about helping
Speaker 3: his team out. He's always stuffing his own stats. That's
Speaker 3: there's no question about that. He's done that for his
Speaker 3: entire career.
Speaker 2: But I heard Rondo was actually asking the league to
Speaker 2: get playoff Rondo on the back of.
Speaker 1: His right, right, they should because it's real, but also
Speaker 1: want to you want to deny it, Oh you can,
Speaker 1: but it's legit real. He plays better.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, there's no question he tries harder in the playoffs.
Speaker 3: That that's that's undeniable. But you know, and that upset again, Yeah,
Speaker 3: good against the Blazers, But then what happened in the
Speaker 3: next round? Where was where was playoff Rundo in the
Speaker 3: next round?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Sure, sure, you know.
Speaker 3: That's that's my point is like, uh, you know, the
Speaker 3: ten years ago or whenever it was for the Celtics
Speaker 3: and he had those incredible games against Lebron, he was great.
Speaker 3: But the playoff Rondo myth has carried on significantly longer
Speaker 3: than it ever actually lasted. It wasn't It wasn't as
Speaker 3: though like Rondo was the you know, close to winning
Speaker 3: MVP of the Finals or anything like that. I mean,
Speaker 3: he had some good games, no doubt about it, but
Speaker 3: he's kind of carried that reputation. He's he's he's dined
Speaker 3: out on that for a long year.
Speaker 1: So let me ask you this. In a in a
Speaker 1: close series, we're into Game six and seven, it sounds
Speaker 1: like maybe both of you that you would trust Alex
Speaker 1: Caruso over playoff Rondo, you know obviously, you know, you know,
Speaker 1: in a you know, must win or a huge quarter,
Speaker 1: a huge moment in a game, that's who you would
Speaker 1: side with after what you assume is like a wash
Speaker 1: Toronto at this point in his career.
Speaker 2: Yes, well, I think the pecking arder is probably Caruso
Speaker 2: wouldn't even be starting though, like if if you're talking
Speaker 2: about like late third quarter minutes, yeah, I mean I
Speaker 2: probably wouldn't have either of them on the court when
Speaker 2: you're talking about the end of the fourth quarter. But yeah,
Speaker 2: it'd probably pick Out is going to play more defense
Speaker 2: out there.
Speaker 1: Who are the Lakers five? Then let's say in a
Speaker 1: crunch time.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, yeah, Lebron ad and then Danny Green is
Speaker 2: definitely out there, and it's probably Conavious calledwell Pope at
Speaker 2: that other guard spot because he's probably playing defense better
Speaker 2: than anybody or talks Caruso, and then it depends on
Speaker 2: who who's the big guy. If you want Kuzma out there,
Speaker 2: if you're going with a Dwight.
Speaker 3: Yeah that I mean that's again, if they need a basket.
Speaker 3: Then I don't think Rondo's on the court because Lebron
Speaker 3: sort of can just take over the point guard and
Speaker 3: he needs a Kuzma or a Caruso or whoever's out
Speaker 3: there because he knows he impossible to him. They can shoot.
Speaker 3: And that's one thing Rondo's never been able to address
Speaker 3: in his career, the fact that he can be a
Speaker 3: spot up shooter because he can't shoot and he won't shoot.
Speaker 3: And again that's why he gets all these gaudy numbers
Speaker 3: of assists, because he often passes up a shot that
Speaker 3: he should take to try to get an assist.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they have enough goats, listen.
Speaker 3: I will admit in that that series against the Blazers,
Speaker 3: he was excellent, no question. Defensively is great, and he
Speaker 3: has had his moments undeniably so. But I also think
Speaker 3: he gets a pass so many times, for like when
Speaker 3: he's out on the corners, like you've got to shoot
Speaker 3: that man, you're open to shooter, and he won't. He'll
Speaker 3: drive in and he'll try to, you know, get the
Speaker 3: easy cheap assist to somebody else because and and sometimes
Speaker 3: it works. But he also has an enormous amount of turnovers.
Speaker 3: And bad plays and bad passes in that situation for overpassing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Lakers have enough to depth. And he was
Speaker 2: good on those Pelicans teams because Drew Holliday could come
Speaker 2: off the ball a little bit and not have to
Speaker 2: bring it up every time and play defense, play his
Speaker 2: ass off on defense to stop Damian Lillard and c
Speaker 2: J mccoum. They did a great job for four games.
Speaker 2: It was kind of an anomaly. It was just a
Speaker 2: terrible matchup. But then Rondo in that second round, it
Speaker 2: was too much Rondo, and the shooting stopped, you know,
Speaker 2: the good shooting stop. The actual attempts were still there,
Speaker 2: and then yeah, the things sort of fell apart. It's
Speaker 2: it's weird to say the Lakers have enough depth after
Speaker 2: they lost Avery Bradley, But because Lebron is their point guard,
Speaker 2: they're fine. You know, he really is their point guard,
Speaker 2: and they have enough guys. They were good with KCP
Speaker 2: and their starting lineup, and Danny Green's gonna be out
Speaker 2: there firing, and he's won a lot of ships, just
Speaker 2: like you know, Jon Rondo has won a ship himself.
Speaker 2: So I think they'll be fine.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And look, the Lakers are very likely gonna be
Speaker 1: still the number one seed in the Western Conference. I
Speaker 1: think I saw the Clippers would have to go eight
Speaker 1: to no and then the Lakers would still only have
Speaker 1: to win three games to hold the spot. How far
Speaker 1: they up are? They are up on the Clippers if
Speaker 1: that even matters. I mean the obviously no home cred advantage,
Speaker 1: so who really cares? But they're going to be the
Speaker 1: one seed, very very very likely in the Western Conference.
Speaker 1: All right, we'll cheer from you guys on all these
Speaker 1: By the way, let us know on Twitter hashtag no
Speaker 1: dunk's that no dunk sinc Are any of these news?
Speaker 1: Next one, here one's interesting from Silver Screen and Roll
Speaker 1: Great Lakers Blog, DeMarcus Cousins says, anyone who doesn't pick
Speaker 1: Lebron James over Yannis is a hater for MVP. You
Speaker 1: are a task Lee. Let's start with you, Lee. What
Speaker 1: do you think is this news? No?
Speaker 3: This is this is a ridiculous statement from DeMarcus Cousins,
Speaker 3: because as great as Lebron has been, look at what
Speaker 3: Jannis has done for the Milwaukee Bucks. Best record in
Speaker 3: the league, best defense in the league. Jannis might win
Speaker 3: MVP and Defensive Player of the Year this season, he's
Speaker 3: been incredible on both ends of the floor, doing everything
Speaker 3: for the Bucks. You know, like if if you were
Speaker 3: to sort of if the Bucks were, you know, struggling along,
Speaker 3: and you Nas was only putting up numbers on one
Speaker 3: end of the floor, perhaps there's an argument there, but
Speaker 3: he's doing absolutely everything for his team to have them
Speaker 3: in the position they're in. And again, we've talked about
Speaker 3: Lebron a lot this season. He's had a resurgence season
Speaker 3: after last year where he just he looked like it
Speaker 3: all finally caught up with him a little bit. And
Speaker 3: I question coming into the season if he was ever
Speaker 3: going to sort of be able to find the superstar
Speaker 3: Lebron again. He got there, he became a brilliant player again.
Speaker 3: But this season's MVP for me, while it's not going
Speaker 3: to be unanimous, I think it's very very hard to
Speaker 3: see how Yannis won't win because he's been so dominant
Speaker 3: for the best team in the league at both ends
Speaker 3: of the floor.
Speaker 1: Sounds like you're a heater, you are a what do
Speaker 1: you think to ask this news?
Speaker 2: No, DeMarcus Cousins is pining for his teammate here. There
Speaker 2: were teammates this year it's weird to think that DeMarcus
Speaker 2: Cousins was on the Lakers bench, But I think he's
Speaker 2: just sort of focused on this old guy is incredible.
Speaker 2: You know. He sounds like he's really impressed with how
Speaker 2: a thirty five year old Lebron works his ass off
Speaker 2: at the age that he is. And the quote extends
Speaker 2: to he's doing this with gray hair and a gray beard.
Speaker 2: That's what it sounds like he's really impressed with, Like, Yeah,
Speaker 2: I've never worked that hard in my life. I'm just
Speaker 2: just guessing, and Lebron is doing it in his mid thirties,
Speaker 2: and so I think, yeah, it's just like, you know,
Speaker 2: it's a little confirmation bias or it's a little like
Speaker 2: prisoner of the Lakers moment. He's around Lebron seeing it
Speaker 2: every day, so he's taken him.
Speaker 3: I mean, that's does DeMarcus get a ring if the
Speaker 3: Lakers win the championship, even if he gets signed by another.
Speaker 2: Team and he never played a game with Yeah.
Speaker 3: But he got paid, he got paid. He was on
Speaker 3: the rust up.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, you're not wrong. Shit, a bit of this too.
Speaker 1: This is sort of a little bit of recency bias,
Speaker 1: a weird Recncy bias because we haven't had basketball in
Speaker 1: four months. But remember Lebron was killing it before the shutdown,
Speaker 1: Right before COVID shut the season down. He was averaging
Speaker 1: like thirty nine and eight and his true shooting percentage
Speaker 1: was hilarious. And the Lakers rolling in the final ten
Speaker 1: games before they shutdown. And then Gianna's flip side of
Speaker 1: that was little banged up out of the line up
Speaker 1: there near the end of it, and the Bucks were
Speaker 1: starting to struggle and losing some games and stuff like that,
Speaker 1: and that's where the narrative was, like, Wow, Ken Lebron, Yeah,
Speaker 1: Kenny actually pull this off. And so many people's, like
Speaker 1: a lot of us include is saying no, no, joannest
Speaker 1: is just too far out in front, it won't really matter.
Speaker 1: But could the Lakers have snatched the number one seed overall?
Speaker 1: Could Lebron continued on this toward pace? Could they just
Speaker 1: kept racking up w's, especially if Jannis was hurt a
Speaker 1: little bit? Yeah, I'm with you, guys. I guess we
Speaker 1: all are haters. I think Gianness is rightfully going to
Speaker 1: win this thing. But Tess, I think has a point there.
Speaker 1: It's it's cousin seeing this up close and personal, going
Speaker 1: my god, like I shouldn't be able to do this
Speaker 1: at this age. And again, what was a bit of
Speaker 1: a bounce back season, especially from injury and Lakers playing.
Speaker 2: Well, So of course he's gonna go.
Speaker 1: To bat for his guy. Yeah, he said this on
Speaker 1: Jail and Jacobi. I think Cousins was saying this.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I hate being on Twitter and seeing the question,
Speaker 2: is Lebron having best year seventeen in NBA history? You
Speaker 2: know you mentioned Kevin Pelton a little earlier, a man
Speaker 2: John Schumann. Maybe they can do that research. I just
Speaker 2: I can't even fathom trying to do that research, trying
Speaker 2: to understand it. But I'm gonna say this is the
Speaker 2: best year seventeen of a player we've ever seen.
Speaker 1: Probably, I mean, who would be Carl Malone maybe seventeen,
Speaker 1: But I think Kareem was MVP somewhere when he was like,
Speaker 1: yeah something that sounds right, But.
Speaker 2: That's pretty good. Lebron leading the league and assists are
Speaker 2: those just gaudy assists now?
Speaker 3: But see but they're not. They're not because because cheap
Speaker 3: they're cheap. True, No, but throughout his career I'm going
Speaker 3: to guess without looking he averages about seven between seven
Speaker 3: and night per game for his career.
Speaker 2: Oh, for his career. Yeah, yeah, he's averaging ten and
Speaker 2: a half this year, seven and a half for his career.
Speaker 3: Right, So yeah, Rod on the spot there. I mean,
Speaker 3: throughout his career he's been very, very unselfish Lebron and
Speaker 3: you know, yeah, but he's been selfishly unselfish, is my point.
Speaker 1: With he has there's no look, We've talked about this
Speaker 1: for a decades, I know. I mean, Rondo will exactly
Speaker 1: pass out of open lay up to the guy at he.
Speaker 3: Went through that ridiculous phase of getting you know, double
Speaker 3: digit assists in a row, and he was going out
Speaker 3: in blowouts like just to just to pad the numbers.
Speaker 3: I mean that that just drove me crazy. Everyone pads
Speaker 3: their numbers, I know that. But anyway, the thing is
Speaker 3: with Lebron, we know he's a willing passer. Ever since
Speaker 3: day one, he's been a great passer. And the fact
Speaker 3: now he's like, I don't want to be the guy
Speaker 3: has to go out there and score all the points.
Speaker 3: Even though what's the averaging on the season twenty five
Speaker 3: a game still anyway, I mean, not too far off
Speaker 3: his normal career averages. But yeah, no, these are this
Speaker 3: is Lebron just showing just how versatile he is and how.
Speaker 2: Great he is.
Speaker 3: I mean, he's a great, great player. If you didn't know, Tommy.
Speaker 2: Kevin Felton, and John Schumann, I did the research. Lebron's
Speaker 2: year seventeen better than Kareem's of twenty three points per game,
Speaker 2: six boards. I mean, still obviously incredible stuff from Kareem
Speaker 2: in year seventeen, and he was the final year he
Speaker 2: was MVP, was a year eleven of his career. He's
Speaker 2: thirty two years old. Oh real, though he's not gonna
Speaker 2: he's not gonna finals MVP at thirty four. He's thirty seven.
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, nice, Yeah, you are the go call you
Speaker 1: John Mellis. Now you're part of the Johns.
Speaker 2: Give me a jack, Yeah yeah.
Speaker 1: Because we're calling Kevin Pelton John Pelton now.
Speaker 2: Right right, Yeah, of course, yeah, you can call me Yannismellics.
Speaker 2: That's that's a John Giannis is actually John.
Speaker 1: That's good. That's good. That's good. All right. Our next
Speaker 1: one here from ESPN. Back to ESPN, Andre Robertson back
Speaker 1: on the floor with the thunder after long layoff, dude
Speaker 1: to injury. Remember that name Lee. Is this news, Well, it's.
Speaker 3: Good news for Andro Robinson if he can just get
Speaker 3: out there and play again, because I think it's been
Speaker 3: nearly over two years since he actually played in the NBA.
Speaker 3: He kept coming back and then he had setbacks and
Speaker 3: he just wasn't looked like he's going to be able
Speaker 3: to play. And now for this resumption, will he be
Speaker 3: able to play? I mean he might get some sort
Speaker 3: of mop up minutes. I can't see him making any
Speaker 3: significant real impact on the Thundered simply because he just
Speaker 3: hasn't played for so long. So this is more about
Speaker 3: just whether or not he can sort of get back
Speaker 3: on the court at all. We know he's a defensive player.
Speaker 3: He's not a very good offensive player as far as
Speaker 3: shooting or even creating for anybody, but he's out there
Speaker 3: and he gives them another presence defensively. So if he
Speaker 3: can play at all and make some meaningful contribution to
Speaker 3: the thunder and then that will be a great story
Speaker 3: for him. But I would say for what we're going
Speaker 3: to see from him for this season, it's going to
Speaker 3: be not more than sort of probably token minutes just
Speaker 3: to get back out on the floor.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's suffered a ruptured pateller tendon back in January
Speaker 1: of two thousand and eighteen and then had all multiple
Speaker 1: setbacks like you said, Lee, and challenges in his recovery.
Speaker 1: So it's been two and a half years since he's
Speaker 1: played in an actual game here, Tess, news at all?
Speaker 1: Are you like Lee thinking? You know, good good news
Speaker 1: for him trying to stick around in the league, because
Speaker 1: I think he's an unstricted free agent too, unrestricted free agent,
Speaker 1: So is it just nothing more than that though in
Speaker 1: terms of helping the thunders chances of moving.
Speaker 2: On, well, yeah, it's good for Robertson because I think
Speaker 2: he if he even gets spot up minutes, it's good
Speaker 2: just to get another contract next year. That that's probably
Speaker 2: what the on court goal for him is this postseason.
Speaker 2: But I think it could be good for the Thunder
Speaker 2: in that he could help lou Dort Logan's Dort, just
Speaker 2: just because it's so fun saying his name. The Canadian
Speaker 2: Haitian is OKCS small forward now and he's basically taken
Speaker 2: Andre Robertson's job as a you know, a defensive guy. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and you know, Robertson had his had his like moment
Speaker 2: in the Sun as a three and D type guy,
Speaker 2: you know, the shots sort of went away and and
Speaker 2: Dort hopefully will be that guy. But he's their hustle guy.
Speaker 2: And maybe Robertson can be a bit of a guide
Speaker 2: in the court because it's not the same, you know,
Speaker 2: being a voice off the floor. So I think hopefully
Speaker 2: that would be the en court significance, be a be
Speaker 2: a practice player, and yeah, earn another contract in the league.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Royce Young pointed it out in his article about this. Robertson,
Speaker 1: you forget, was like a staple starter for the Thunder,
Speaker 1: like a good Thunder team, and he did establish himself
Speaker 1: as one of the better defenders in the league. He
Speaker 1: was growing there was growing buzz about being a Defensive
Speaker 1: Player of the Year prior to that injury. A bit
Speaker 1: of a long shot thing of him winning it, but
Speaker 1: you know, on all NBA teams and stuff like that in.
Speaker 3: The mix, that's definitely where he made his money on
Speaker 3: the defensive end. Yeah, and he was trying to reprove
Speaker 3: to become a bit of a Bruce Bowen, you know,
Speaker 3: corner three man as well. Yeah, but yeah, really really
Speaker 3: crazy to see those so many setbacks that he had too,
Speaker 3: I mean, just just crazy. Usually a guy, you know,
Speaker 3: if they have one, then they come back, but he
Speaker 3: had more than one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's almost it's almost shocking that it doesn't happen
Speaker 1: more often because there was real complications with like infection
Speaker 1: and stuff like that, and things going wrong in the
Speaker 1: surgery itself, you know, and then how he bounced back
Speaker 1: and stuff like that. So yeah, wishing him the best
Speaker 1: and I'd be nice to see him out there, even
Speaker 1: if they are a spot minutes or garbage minutes, whatever
Speaker 1: you want to call them. All Right, more headlines still
Speaker 1: to discuss and debt, but before we do, a quick
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Speaker 1: You know it'd be in sweat season.
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Speaker 2: It's funny. Actually, I saw Trekkerby socially distanced of course,
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Speaker 2: he was commenting on me showering, and he's like, is
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Speaker 2: she said it's not working today as I stuck and
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Speaker 1: real key. All right, let's get with the headlines here
Speaker 1: next one New York Post. This is interesting, This is interesting. Indeed,
Speaker 1: ESPN suspends Adrian Wolfhanarowski without pay for JD. You want
Speaker 1: to do some work here. Sure. Cue email to Missouri senator,
Speaker 1: Yes woes suspended for dropping an F bomb woj bomb
Speaker 1: with the F bomb to the Missouri senator who wants
Speaker 1: to get us started tasks have a crack at it
Speaker 1: is this news.
Speaker 2: Well, let's take a step back to see what Adrian
Speaker 2: woljen Rowski was saying. FU two because the senator, this
Speaker 2: elected official senator of Missouri rights to the NBA a
Speaker 2: private business and tells them, Hey, you know what, on
Speaker 2: the back of your players jerseys during this this thing
Speaker 2: you got going on in Orlando, maybe you should have
Speaker 2: some some you know, messages for the troops or for
Speaker 2: the police. What you guys are? What are you anti American?
Speaker 2: You don't care about the troops, you don't care about
Speaker 2: the police. It's very Colin Kaepernick esque. It's it's spinning
Speaker 2: it for whatever purpose that this Missouri senator has into
Speaker 2: taking away from the topic at hand. The subject at
Speaker 2: hand is black men and women being murdered by and
Speaker 2: all of a sudden, he's accusing the NBA of being
Speaker 2: anti American and anti civil rights. He brings up China
Speaker 2: and their relationship with China in this letter, and I
Speaker 2: just find it a bunch of WHOI and so Yes,
Speaker 2: Adrian wojan Rowski dropped two words, and he could have
Speaker 2: said it a little bit more eloquently.
Speaker 1: A bunch of email. That's a bunch of whoy, Sir, sir.
Speaker 2: There's a lot bigger things to be worried about than
Speaker 2: what the NBA is doing down in Orlando. Has anybody
Speaker 2: spoken up about what the hell is going on in
Speaker 2: Afghanistan with the Russians putting bounties on the heads of
Speaker 2: American soldiers or this freaking pandemic happening. I just unfortunately
Speaker 2: Woji is suspended, but he'll get his job back right quick.
Speaker 2: And I wish he didn't have his pay redacted. I'm
Speaker 2: sure he's I'm sure he's compensated fine, and he'll be
Speaker 2: He'll be okay, But it is strange. I just think
Speaker 2: it's strange that part of the report is that he
Speaker 2: isn't being paid for this week or two, that he
Speaker 2: is being suspended. I don't know, he's woch and don't
Speaker 2: I just find the whole thing crappy. What was the
Speaker 2: point of this letter? And then and then also publicizing
Speaker 2: Woja's email out there because the Senator Holly went and
Speaker 2: tweeted Adrian Woze Rescue's email the exact email screenshot of
Speaker 2: the whole thing, which is against Senate rules. I do
Speaker 2: believe some people were saying, I have no idea, but
Speaker 2: not cool either. Not cool?
Speaker 1: What do you think, Lee?
Speaker 3: Yeah, No, he's a clown, that senator just looking again,
Speaker 3: as Tas was saying, to try to distract the message.
Speaker 3: I mean, he's upset about the NBA not putting free
Speaker 3: Hong Kong on the jerseys, but he's okay with the
Speaker 3: president who's making trade rules based on what benefits him.
Speaker 3: I mean, the president's in the pocket of the Chinese government,
Speaker 3: no doubt about it, and the Russians, but he's fine
Speaker 3: with that. That's not anti American. This apparently is what
Speaker 3: upset to him, and this is what gets gets his
Speaker 3: moral compass going. So yeah, these sorts of things right
Speaker 3: now are just crazy because he wanted the attention, he
Speaker 3: got what he wanted. But Woes was completely right and
Speaker 3: justified in what he said to him, Like, wh why
Speaker 3: is he sending it to wolfh What does he care?
Speaker 3: So I just think this senator's got a very strange
Speaker 3: moral compass of what he finds to be pro American.
Speaker 3: What he finds to be anti American stand up to
Speaker 3: the president who we know made tariff laws, made his
Speaker 3: own daughter's companies exempt from tarifflaws with China. Is that
Speaker 3: not something of a concern. I don't think so apparently
Speaker 3: according to him.
Speaker 2: So, yeah, the senator is mad they don't have an
Speaker 2: NBA team.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and he's also.
Speaker 2: Makes it also a little crazy.
Speaker 3: He's also in the pocket of the NRA as well,
Speaker 3: like that they bribe him and he more than happily
Speaker 3: accepts those blood money bribes. So he's got a few
Speaker 3: other things he needs to worry about first.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what I love about this story as well. I
Speaker 1: was telling someone to craft at eight fifty seven ams
Speaker 1: something about that. It brings a smile to my face.
Speaker 1: But it is interesting. I think I saw a couple
Speaker 1: of people tweet this. If Woes doesn't send that email
Speaker 1: from his official ESPN dot com email address, is this
Speaker 1: an issue at all? I mean, you are allowed to
Speaker 1: disagree with senators, Yeah, correct, I mean, but because maybe
Speaker 1: he's using a company email, is obviously a face of
Speaker 1: that of that company. And yeah, I think the other
Speaker 1: interesting part this is from Jim Miller, who basically wrote
Speaker 1: the book. On ESPN, he said, make no mistake, Woe's
Speaker 1: news being leaked is a further attempt to punish him
Speaker 1: here and totally agenda driven, and that he wrote that
Speaker 1: wol deserves way better, his point being with previous incidents,
Speaker 1: you know, it doesn't need to be so public or
Speaker 1: at least the suspension. You know, it doesn't need to
Speaker 1: be out there, that it's one or two weeks and
Speaker 1: like Test said, no pay and all that, like this
Speaker 1: has happened before where that's internal. But why is this
Speaker 1: out there? Why is why is this news being shared?
Speaker 1: And is that just again another way to sort of
Speaker 1: punish him some That could be true for all I know,
Speaker 1: But I agree with a lot what you guys were
Speaker 1: saying there. JD. I wanted to chime in on this
Speaker 1: one at all.
Speaker 4: I just like to say, you to that senator.
Speaker 1: Fascinating stuff, fascinating stuff Woes and then you got free
Speaker 1: Woes like you know, trending on the player. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: definitely this is not gonna hurt Woes's brand by any meanings.
Speaker 1: I think that's fair fair to say.
Speaker 2: So who's suspended tomorrow? JD is suspended tomorrow.
Speaker 1: It sucks awesome. He's pumped, legit pumped, all right. A
Speaker 1: couple more here associated Press home to three Pistons titles.
Speaker 1: The Palace of Auburn Hills demolished. Lee, You remember the Palace?
Speaker 1: Well is this dude?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Well, their first two years in the Palace they
Speaker 3: won championships, which is an incredible way to break in
Speaker 3: a new arena. And then they picked up another one
Speaker 3: in two thousand and four with the Pistons. So in
Speaker 3: what at about thirty years they picked up three championships.
Speaker 3: That's a pretty good return for the NBA. And I
Speaker 3: were in the finals again in I Fox that was
Speaker 3: a pretty successful arena, but it was just in the
Speaker 3: wrong spot apparently. Yeah, I've never been there. I don't
Speaker 3: know if your buddy Grish has been that big Pistons fan.
Speaker 1: I was sending texts back and forth with Gresh about
Speaker 1: come on, give me some, you know, palace stories. He
Speaker 1: had obviously been there. You know. The whole thing with
Speaker 1: it is, Yeah, it was out of Detroit. It was
Speaker 1: like thirty miles I think it is northwest of the city.
Speaker 1: And I asked Grisch, I was like, you know, you know,
Speaker 1: we always hear how big a deal that was. He
Speaker 1: was like, it wasn't a big deal. Everybody lived in
Speaker 1: the suburbs, you know, everybody lived outside of Detroit for
Speaker 1: the most part, so it wasn't really that big a deal.
Speaker 1: Of course, they've now moved back to the city in
Speaker 1: their new arena, into the Pizza Box. But test, you
Speaker 1: have been right. Didn't you go for a playoff series
Speaker 1: or might crazy?
Speaker 2: I know you're I wish I did. I wish. It's funny.
Speaker 2: It's funny because I wish I did, but I also
Speaker 2: wish I did. In two thousand and two, I was
Speaker 2: working that weekend. I was working not a sport check,
Speaker 2: had my shift selling shoes. So I said to my
Speaker 2: friends who were going down for a playoff game Wraps
Speaker 2: Pistons Game one, I said, nah, gotta work, man, dedicated
Speaker 2: to the craft. I'm loyal, loyal to my sports check bosses.
Speaker 2: And they went down to It's a quick drive from Toronto,
Speaker 2: but they saw the Raptors get demolished like Auburn Hills
Speaker 2: was just demolished. They lost eighty five to sixty three.
Speaker 2: So I'm not too upset that I missed that ugly
Speaker 2: ass game and it was a Sunday night. It was
Speaker 2: a weird eight thirty Sunday night. Tip you'd probably go
Speaker 2: have some fun, I guess afterwards. But noah, I'd never been.
Speaker 2: And I was just speaking of the demolishing. Did you
Speaker 2: see the video of it coming down? It always amazes
Speaker 2: me that it came down so fast.
Speaker 1: It's so quick. Yeah, it's not even.
Speaker 2: Done in chunks, right, it was just done in one swoop.
Speaker 2: It's down in three seconds. That's it. Thirty years memories,
Speaker 2: bye bye.
Speaker 3: Yeah, great name, I will say, the palace like that.
Speaker 3: That's a great name to have for your harm arene.
Speaker 3: A little bit better than better than you know, Scotia
Speaker 3: Bank Arena.
Speaker 4: That.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was. I was asking Chrish, like any favorite
Speaker 1: memories or whatever he did say, and he's right, I
Speaker 1: remember this at at the time, like you were saying,
Speaker 1: late eighties, Lee, it was one of the first modern arenas.
Speaker 1: Like it was because they were playing in the Silk
Speaker 1: Honniac Silver Dome, Yeah, which is obviously cavernous. It was
Speaker 1: like the it was like the Raptors playing in the
Speaker 1: SkyDome when they started, so then they hit their own
Speaker 1: sort of arena there, and yeah, it was pretty state
Speaker 1: of the art at the time, obviously aged as it
Speaker 1: went on, but he said he saw some great concerts there.
Speaker 1: First concert he ever saw JD like this, I think
Speaker 1: Page and Plant he saw, yeah at the Palace, saw
Speaker 1: Rage against the Machine there and Bush X.
Speaker 4: Yeah they would have been right, it was Troit So yeah.
Speaker 1: Because there was two bands, one Canadian and one American. Right,
Speaker 1: that's called Bush and one was forced to then go bush.
Speaker 4: X that yeah, which English? The English there was a
Speaker 4: Canadian band called Bush and so the English the actual
Speaker 4: famous band, Oh, Bush had to be called bush X
Speaker 4: in Canada only.
Speaker 1: Oh, that's what it was.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so they would have been playing as Bush unless
Speaker 4: he was seeing the original Canadian Bush, which I doubt
Speaker 4: very much they were playing there.
Speaker 1: But yeah, yeah, Okay, that's very confusing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it really is.
Speaker 1: He saw some great concerts there. I guess there's a
Speaker 1: new new mixed use development project planned for the site
Speaker 1: up there. Who knows what they're gonna do. Sure it'll
Speaker 1: be condos. It's always condos. Final one And I'm only
Speaker 1: asking this to uh to troll task. Here s n
Speaker 1: y Nick's interview Mike Woodson, with head coaching decision expected
Speaker 1: by July thirty. First task, is this news?
Speaker 2: In the words of Adrian Wojanowski, you skeets.
Speaker 1: I don't want to talk about two people suspended.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't want to talk about I said weeks ago,
Speaker 2: no more Knicks talk until they pick a coach.
Speaker 4: We've talked about picking or interviewing and deciding about every
Speaker 4: single coach.
Speaker 2: I'm done, done until it happens.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, that's why I asked you, because you did
Speaker 1: say that. I remember, But it's commonly end of July.
Speaker 1: I mean, I wonder when they'll time this. This is
Speaker 1: fascinating a little bit. It's like, we know the season
Speaker 1: is going to start on the thirtieth, do the Knicks,
Speaker 1: like I don't know, for whatever reason, like try and
Speaker 1: bury the news like a day before, a day after
Speaker 1: the season starts. Like why would you do that? I
Speaker 1: guess that's another question. But what do you think is
Speaker 1: this news? Mike Woodson second.
Speaker 3: Well Woodson, Yeah, he was the coach they have the
Speaker 3: Knicks a few years ago, wasn't he. I think after
Speaker 3: d'An TONI I think.
Speaker 1: In the good years when they made Whatson is the
Speaker 1: last k Next coach to win a playoff series?
Speaker 3: Yeah. I actually think Woodson has you know, has done
Speaker 3: a fine job there when he was there, considering the
Speaker 3: circumstances in New York. So I wish him all the best.
Speaker 3: I would love to see him back in the league
Speaker 3: because I think he deserves a shot. I don't, you know,
Speaker 3: I don't know the New York market is the right
Speaker 3: one for him. But we'll see. I mean, it's not,
Speaker 3: it's not. It's not an inviting job right now. To me,
Speaker 3: if you ask me that next position, I think it's
Speaker 3: whoever takes it's going to be tough for them. Think
Speaker 3: I think they need some big changes there first.
Speaker 1: What's fascinating about this as I read that, I guess
Speaker 1: David Fizdale, who was the next coach, he wanted Mike
Speaker 1: Woodson on his staff in New York, but New York
Speaker 1: management or the higher ups whoever, maybe it was Dawn,
Speaker 1: didn't want that, which is interesting. I just actually don't
Speaker 1: think with Leon Rose, you know, being in the new
Speaker 1: position of power there and all the guys they brought in,
Speaker 1: I don't see them picking like a a coach that
Speaker 1: was already there, you know, not all that long ago
Speaker 1: as their first reel. Like we're moving into the future
Speaker 1: with the Knicks here, I just I don't know. I'm
Speaker 1: doubtful task that it actually is him. I know you
Speaker 1: don't want to talk about this, but I don't. It's
Speaker 1: good he's got a second interview, and I do think
Speaker 1: he is somewhat of a talent coach and he had
Speaker 1: a great record with the Knicks and again, basically the
Speaker 1: last coach to do that. You can say that, but
Speaker 1: just be a weird pick to me. I think more
Speaker 1: than anything, it's like, hey, we're the new guys here.
Speaker 1: We're picking a guy from you know whatever, seven years.
Speaker 2: Ago, right, weird. I think what they're going to time
Speaker 2: the decision with is when steven A. Smith is on vacation,
Speaker 2: and so they're going to make that decision and force
Speaker 2: stephen A. Smith to get on video camera from wherever
Speaker 2: he is, He's in Cabo or something, and be pissed
Speaker 2: off at a camera. And I think that will make
Speaker 2: some some good social media, some good video. That's that's
Speaker 2: all I really care about with this decision, is what
Speaker 2: steven A is going to how he's going to respond reaction.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that will be good regardless for sure. All right,
Speaker 1: let's call it there. With the headlines coming up tomorrow,
Speaker 1: we're gonna be joined by Big wa Was from that
Speaker 1: Athletic NBA show. He's gonna come on the show. We're
Speaker 1: gonna have some fun questions for him, some silly ones,
Speaker 1: some serious ones about this NBA bubble. We'll talk to
Speaker 1: him about the new podcast feed the Athletic NBA Show
Speaker 1: as I talked about off the top of this show.
Speaker 1: Go and subscribe to that bad boy told you. We're
Speaker 1: gonna hit the beach at some point this week, probably
Speaker 1: on Wednesday. TK should be back to join us if
Speaker 1: he gets out of that yurt, So get your questions
Speaker 1: in No Dunks at the Athletic dot com or tweet
Speaker 1: him in at No Dunks Inc. Clipper Bros. You heard
Speaker 1: it here first. Have a great time, turn up, Love
Speaker 1: you guys awesome.
Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us, and remember look out for packing
Speaker 2: packs with Lee Ellis and Dominique Wilkins coming to your
Speaker 2: Instagram feed.
Speaker 1: It braks the day people.
Speaker 4: You kind of stay every day, Danie, happy every.
Speaker 1: It's been so long.
Speaker 2: That you're the one I've waiting for.
Speaker 1: It's happened already. It's going to be gripping