Speaker 1: Welcome to This League Uncut in the world of twenty
Speaker 1: four hour NBA news. Just do you lose? Chris Hanes,
Speaker 1: Di's go Time, Mark Stein, Di's show Time, Bucker Loka,
Speaker 1: Chris Hanes and Mark Stein. This League Uncut just underway
Speaker 1: and then fire. This should be a good one. Thank
Speaker 1: you Tim kits Roe, legendary voice of NBA jam who
Speaker 1: is graced our little pod, our new little pod with
Speaker 1: some amazing intros. Some drops will be throwing in here.
Speaker 1: Mark Stein here with his pal Chris Haynes. Mister Haynes.
Speaker 1: It was just a week ago that not only this
Speaker 1: show debuted, This League Uncut, not only a week ago
Speaker 1: was the first episode. I'm pretty sure a week ago
Speaker 1: you and I were at the end of that episode.
Speaker 1: We were talking and kind we were trying to will
Speaker 1: it into existence. Are we gonna get a curveball? Are
Speaker 1: we gonna get a surprise? Are we going to get
Speaker 1: something that we haven't even talked about? But it's gonna
Speaker 1: make this trade deadline memorable. Yesterday Sunday, what I thought
Speaker 1: was going to be the last stretch of the last
Speaker 1: dose of calm before the madness, before locking myself in
Speaker 1: the trade deadline Dungeon. Of course, the Dallas Mavericks, the
Speaker 1: team in my city, strikes a Sunday afternoon trade to
Speaker 1: acquire Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets. I guess we
Speaker 1: have our seismic surprise this league. There you go, I
Speaker 1: did this league. I didn't. I mean we talked. We
Speaker 1: talked the morning Sunday morning. Yes, and you know what
Speaker 1: the people need to know. You told me a stein,
Speaker 1: you said this could happen today. I'm like this young fellow,
Speaker 1: Chris Haynes, what is he talking. There's no way this
Speaker 1: trades happened on a Sunday. I at least have till Monday. No,
Speaker 1: I do not. Chris says was correct, and I was not.
Speaker 1: And Sunday lunchtime you were right boom. So I gotta
Speaker 1: call at five in the morning my time. I'm here
Speaker 1: on the West Coast. I gotta call five in the morning.
Speaker 1: That should I marks GM of the Nets and Joe Side,
Speaker 1: the owner of the Nets, were going to huddle up
Speaker 1: at some point in the morning. So I got to
Speaker 1: call around five and they and I guess they were
Speaker 1: going to huddle up in the next two to three
Speaker 1: hours at that time, and they were gonna go through
Speaker 1: all their all the offers that they had. And so
Speaker 1: at that point, that's when I knew, Okay, this thing
Speaker 1: can go down today or at the latest tomorrow, just
Speaker 1: the way that this individual explained the plan of attack
Speaker 1: for that day. And so I remember I talked to you.
Speaker 1: We talked, Yeah, we talked that morning. I think we
Speaker 1: talked a couple of hours. It had to been the
Speaker 1: morning time. Yeah, you weren't. I should I should have
Speaker 1: just locked myself in my house, but no, I tempted fate.
Speaker 1: I said, this is my last chance to escape before
Speaker 1: these next four days of NonStop no sleep. So what
Speaker 1: were you doing? Star? Do I have to reveal that?
Speaker 1: I will? I will reveal. It doesn't made me look
Speaker 1: very smarter. Good, So you know, you know I'm a
Speaker 1: tennis addict. I mean addict. Tennis was my first sporting love.
Speaker 1: I wanted to be a pro tennis player. Never even
Speaker 1: got within a bazillion miles of being anywhere close. But
Speaker 1: I started playing very late. I didn't really start playing
Speaker 1: until I was thirteen, but by fourteen I was an addict,
Speaker 1: and I realized it really cemented my decision to be
Speaker 1: a sportswriter because I thought I can make the tour
Speaker 1: as a writer. I can be and in those days,
Speaker 1: you know, this is the days of John McEnroe and
Speaker 1: Jimmy Connors, and you know, tennis was huge back then.
Speaker 1: I said, I can make it as a I'm gonna
Speaker 1: make it as a writer. I'm gonna travel the circuit,
Speaker 1: I mean tennis. So we have a pro tennis tournament
Speaker 1: that started Sunday in Dallas and it runs through the
Speaker 1: whole trade deadline week and I don't get to go
Speaker 1: to any of it. Pro tennis in my city up.
Speaker 1: An ATP Tour event last year was the first time
Speaker 1: since the late eighty So I said, you know what,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna sneak to tennis and just watch, just watch
Speaker 1: a smidge of tennis before. And I'm an idiot. I
Speaker 1: should have listened to Haynes. Haynes told me the trade
Speaker 1: was gonna happen Sunday, and I didn't believe you. You
Speaker 1: would have still went, But the trade happened. But Stein
Speaker 1: we gave, We gave everybody a little bit of a teaser.
Speaker 1: Was it our first episode about how this could possibly
Speaker 1: go down? I think it was like, yeah, I think
Speaker 1: you're right. Yeah, no, you said, I think it was
Speaker 1: also the first episode. It was the first or the second,
Speaker 1: and you said, we've got to keep our eye on
Speaker 1: this Kyrie Irving situation. Yeah, and this was obviously the
Speaker 1: last step requesting the trade in. We're here now, go
Speaker 1: ahead and Stein, go ahead and break down what the
Speaker 1: Dallas maver got, and then I can I can talk
Speaker 1: about um. Somebody offers, well, look, I have to say
Speaker 1: I Look, I knew the Mavericks would be interested. You know,
Speaker 1: they flirted with it in the summertime. And the reason
Speaker 1: that the Mavericks came up immediately is because you know,
Speaker 1: the Mavericks trade assets get dissed all the time, but
Speaker 1: what the Mavericks do have. Nico Harrison, the former Nike executive,
Speaker 1: very closely with both Kyrie and Shatilia Riley Irving, kyrie
Speaker 1: stepmother and agent, so he knows them very very well.
Speaker 1: Jason Kidd was one of young Kyrie's favorite players because Kyrie,
Speaker 1: as he's told us many times, grew up a Nets fan.
Speaker 1: I just found out the other day that in twenty eighteen,
Speaker 1: when Kidd got inducted to the Hall of Fame, when
Speaker 1: Kyrie found out. You know. He basically reached out to
Speaker 1: their mutual friend Robin Pound, the former trainer of the Sons,
Speaker 1: and Kyrie said, I have to be in Springfield you
Speaker 1: get inducted. So he and Kid are close. So the
Speaker 1: MAVs do have that infrastructure in their favor. But I
Speaker 1: didn't think the MAVs would be able to put the
Speaker 1: best deal on the table. I reported, I want to
Speaker 1: say Friday or Saturday that the Nets we're always going
Speaker 1: to go after din Witty and Dorian Phinney Smith. When
Speaker 1: you look at the MAVs players, they're three most coveted
Speaker 1: players around the league not named Luca. Would have been
Speaker 1: Dorian Finney Smith number one. And then I think a
Speaker 1: toss up between din Witty and Josh Green because Josh
Speaker 1: Green is really improving and I think I think teams
Speaker 1: like him. But the Nets no din Witty. Din Witty
Speaker 1: has shot at the ball in Dallas. He's in Dallas.
Speaker 1: He's become a forty percent shooter from three point range.
Speaker 1: He never shot the three like that in his other stops.
Speaker 1: So the Nets get back din Witty, a guy they
Speaker 1: know very well, Dorian Finney Swift Smith a three and
Speaker 1: d Wing who Kevin Durant likes. They also get a
Speaker 1: future first. But I didn't think that. I knew that
Speaker 1: was the best the MAVs could do. I really thought
Speaker 1: this was going to be a Laker's three way with
Speaker 1: Sam Antonio. The Nets get the picks, Jaka Purdle, the
Speaker 1: picks go to San Antonio, the Nets get other stuff.
Speaker 1: I didn't think the MAVs would win this race, and
Speaker 1: it happened. It happened fast. I feel it, you're feeling
Speaker 1: all the other blanks. Yeah, okay, I thought, you know,
Speaker 1: I think we talked about this before. I thought Phoenix
Speaker 1: had probably the best package. So what I gathered from,
Speaker 1: you know, the offers that they received from the Lakers
Speaker 1: and from the Phoenix Suns, they felt like the Davers Mavericks,
Speaker 1: you know, they value of course, they value picks, but
Speaker 1: they value more importantly to have good complimentary players to
Speaker 1: help KD because they still want to make a run.
Speaker 1: They still have championship aspirations. But with that being says I,
Speaker 1: so I was able to gather the intail of what
Speaker 1: the Lakers offered and what the Dallas excuse me, the
Speaker 1: Phoenix Suns offered. So the Lakers, they did. Indeed, as
Speaker 1: you would know, they did d include those two first
Speaker 1: round picks. There was I think there was like some
Speaker 1: pause on people that felt like Robert only Rob Polinka,
Speaker 1: that is, would only offer, you know, include one, you know,
Speaker 1: one of those picks. But he did include both. So
Speaker 1: the Lakers went all in. They went all in to
Speaker 1: try to get Kyrie Irvin and it didn't work. The
Speaker 1: Phoenix Suns. Now, this is probably the probably probably the
Speaker 1: more juicy tip bit. I was told the Sons included
Speaker 1: Chris Paul, Jay Crowder, and some unspecified picks that they
Speaker 1: couldn't get an agreement on, and ultimately they turned that down.
Speaker 1: And I will say this, Stein, I'm very sensitive to
Speaker 1: you know, what players go through during this time, this
Speaker 1: period trade and trade deadline and hearing your name and
Speaker 1: all that stuff, and so you know, in reporting what
Speaker 1: offered were turned down, I reached out to Chris Paul.
Speaker 1: And before I reported that, I reached out to Chris
Speaker 1: Paul first. I wanted to get his not that I
Speaker 1: needed to, but you know, I have a pretty good
Speaker 1: relationship with him, and the trade has done, like the
Speaker 1: big trade is done, so you don't necessarily need to
Speaker 1: know who was who was offered. But I knew it
Speaker 1: was going to get out if I did it, So
Speaker 1: I reached out to Chris Paul. I told him what
Speaker 1: I had and he you know, he thanked me before
Speaker 1: coming to him and being up front with him, and
Speaker 1: he said, Chris, you gotta do what you gotta do.
Speaker 1: I respect the fact that you haven't handled it this way.
Speaker 1: Do what you gotta do. Go ahead. And so that's
Speaker 1: what led me to reporting the extra details on what
Speaker 1: was offered to the Brooklyn Mets. Yeah, and see when
Speaker 1: you reported that Sunday night, see that seat because the
Speaker 1: way it had been built to he is Brooklyn picked
Speaker 1: the Mavericks offer because the Mavericks offered the two best
Speaker 1: win now players in the deal perspective, I think you're
Speaker 1: right they were willing to trade both picks. From what
Speaker 1: I've heard, though, the Nets asked so much more from
Speaker 1: the Lakers than they did the other teams, multiple pick swaps.
Speaker 1: On top of that, they wanted Austin Reeves, they wanted
Speaker 1: Max Christie. I was also the Tulton Knight. They just
Speaker 1: got Ruey hatch m last night. Sorry, I was just
Speaker 1: told Sunday night they just got Ruey had Cha Murrow,
Speaker 1: So you can't you can't aggregate Ruy had Cha Murrow
Speaker 1: with other players. But the Nets would have wanted Rudy
Speaker 1: if if he could have been aggregating the deal. So,
Speaker 1: as one source put it to me, Eat, one of
Speaker 1: the presumed objectives for Joe Si the Nets owner in
Speaker 1: this trade, was don't send Kyrie where he wants to go,
Speaker 1: don't send him to La. And when you when you
Speaker 1: start hearing all the stuff that they were asking from
Speaker 1: for them, that they were asking for from the Lakers,
Speaker 1: it does certainly support the notion that they did not
Speaker 1: want this deal to end up with Kyrie going the Lakers.
Speaker 1: But what the stuff you reported about the Suns is
Speaker 1: fascinating because is Din Witty, Dorian Phinney Smith and a
Speaker 1: first a better win now package than Chris Paul, Jay
Speaker 1: Crowder and draft capital. I mean that is that's a
Speaker 1: really strong offer from Phoenix. So it's interest very interesting
Speaker 1: to me that the Nets chose the Dallas offer over
Speaker 1: the Phoenix offer. I have to believe that they did.
Speaker 1: Now this is this is this is this is tea
Speaker 1: leaves reading. On my part, I'm not reporting this because
Speaker 1: I do not know how the nets arrived at that
Speaker 1: ultimate decision. But I have to think they thought Kevin
Speaker 1: Durant would like the din witty Phinney Smith combo better
Speaker 1: than the Chris Paul J. Crowder combo. But again, that
Speaker 1: doesn't that surprise you a little bit? It definitely does
Speaker 1: surprise me. But I mean, I think that's a safe assumption.
Speaker 1: If you're gonna make that move, you you have to
Speaker 1: run that by KD to get his stample of approval.
Speaker 1: I think you would have to, especially at this stage
Speaker 1: right now, where KD has been left bare with no
Speaker 1: other all stars, I should say, on the roster. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I was surprised because going in I thought Phoenix. So
Speaker 1: it was it was funny. So this morning waking up
Speaker 1: receiving a five IM phone call kind of giving me
Speaker 1: a heads up on what's going on, I was under
Speaker 1: the impression that Phoenix, like this was Phoenix's to lose.
Speaker 1: And then a few hours later, talking with a few people,
Speaker 1: I was told Dallas is in the driver's seat and
Speaker 1: I was like wow, like that just shocked him, Like
Speaker 1: what what is Cuban? What is Nico doing? Like how
Speaker 1: can they get like how can they be the driver's seat?
Speaker 1: What is Phens doing because at the time I was thinking, man,
Speaker 1: Phoenix must be it must be playing like what's going on?
Speaker 1: They're not including everybody. They're not doing you know, because
Speaker 1: I was I was hearing Phoenix, Phenix, Phenix, and I
Speaker 1: didn't know what changed. And so you know, again, from
Speaker 1: what I understand, the Nets felt like these two pieces
Speaker 1: were better suited to keep the Nets afloat for championship pursuit.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I think that's still going to be ongoing
Speaker 1: debate if if they're better with din Witty and Phinney
Speaker 1: over Chris Paul and Jay Crowder. So that's well, They're
Speaker 1: one thing now. One thing I can add to this
Speaker 1: that I've since learned. You know, I wrote all I
Speaker 1: wrote like two thousand words on my sub stack about
Speaker 1: this trade, but I didn't know this when I wrote
Speaker 1: that Sunday night. I have since been told that don't
Speaker 1: the Nets have not ruled out sending din Witty somewhere
Speaker 1: else in a in a subsequent trade or look, these teams,
Speaker 1: the Mavericks and the Nets haven't announced their trade yet.
Speaker 1: They haven't formally done it, so that the trade can
Speaker 1: still expand if they find something else that they want
Speaker 1: to do. So that might be the element where the
Speaker 1: Nets thought, if we get Spencer din Witty, who's making
Speaker 1: in the eighteen million dollar range and having you know,
Speaker 1: again since he became a maverick, didn't he's played the
Speaker 1: best ball of his life, maybe the Nets think it's
Speaker 1: easier to move din Witty for something else to fill
Speaker 1: another need than move you know. Obviously Chris Paul would
Speaker 1: have been harder to move on. But yeah, I mean that,
Speaker 1: like I they're gonna when there's finally press conferences here,
Speaker 1: that's certainly gonna be after what you reported. I can't
Speaker 1: wait to hear what Sean Marks has to say. You
Speaker 1: were offered Chris Paul and you didn't take it. Yeah, obviously,
Speaker 1: you know he wouldn't. He wouldn't respond to that him.
Speaker 1: I think, no, I mean he might have to. He's
Speaker 1: got to say. I mean, they're gonna ask him. He's
Speaker 1: got to say something. May I guess he could go
Speaker 1: no comment, but yeah, yeah, I would. I'd be very
Speaker 1: surprised if he commented on any other teams. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: you're right, he'll just say these you know, we went
Speaker 1: with the guys we like best or whatever. But I mean,
Speaker 1: that's that's but but look at look at what happened.
Speaker 1: Kyrie requests the trade, and then just the last couple
Speaker 1: of days and then you know, I was told that
Speaker 1: the Nets were going to sit them out until they
Speaker 1: found a deal. So we knew like this was over.
Speaker 1: And I mean they were applying applying pressure Kyrie and
Speaker 1: in his camp, you know, word got out, and you know,
Speaker 1: I was told the same thing that if they didn't
Speaker 1: trade them pass the deadline, they were seriously considering sitting
Speaker 1: out the rest of the season. So they were really
Speaker 1: trying to apply as much pressure as possible to get out.
Speaker 1: And I was told from Kyrie's camp as well that
Speaker 1: he's ecstatic about this move. He's looking very looking forward
Speaker 1: to partner up with Luca Donkis. Now that's what we
Speaker 1: have to look at. You know, you're gonna have a
Speaker 1: front row seat to that starting sign. I'm jealous. I'm
Speaker 1: always jealous. Man. You got the best seats, probably with
Speaker 1: some of the best seats that we have in all
Speaker 1: the other twenty nine NBA arenas. Man, that is a
Speaker 1: great seat to watch some great basketball knock on hardwood.
Speaker 1: Somehow we have retained just to show you how how
Speaker 1: spoiled I used to be in the old old days
Speaker 1: when we sat like on the table on the part.
Speaker 1: You know, when we first got those seats, when when
Speaker 1: you know the MAVs Arena opened, it was it two
Speaker 1: O one o two somewhere in there. At first, those
Speaker 1: seats were a little farther away than we were used
Speaker 1: to in Reunion Arena. I sat on the on the table,
Speaker 1: I was on the floor. I could reach out and
Speaker 1: touch the game. So going from Reunion Arena to the AC,
Speaker 1: I was like, man, this is you know, I'm a
Speaker 1: little I'm a little spoiled. This isn't close enough. But
Speaker 1: compared to where we are now in twenty twenty three,
Speaker 1: you're right, the MAVs seat is about as good as
Speaker 1: it gets. Knock on hardwood, We're still pretty close. And
Speaker 1: you're right. I mean, look, I have a lot of
Speaker 1: skepticism about that yourself. Stet the MAVs. The MAVs made
Speaker 1: this look they lost Jalen Brunson without compensation, and that
Speaker 1: was an absolute hammer blow. I think Brunson should have
Speaker 1: been an All Star in the East. I mean, there's
Speaker 1: no room for James Harden and Jimmy Butler, so I
Speaker 1: guess there's no room for Jalen Brunson, But I mean
Speaker 1: he had a very strong case. The guy just gets
Speaker 1: better every single year. He was great. He knew how
Speaker 1: to play well with Luca, which made him even more valuable.
Speaker 1: It's been a rough season without Brunson. So look, the
Speaker 1: MAVs have paid a very hefty price here after not
Speaker 1: resigning Brunson and losing them without compensation. They have paid
Speaker 1: a very hefty price for Kyrie Irving, who is essentially,
Speaker 1: potentially will say to be more polite here a rental.
Speaker 1: We'll see how the Mavericks have not promised. Based on
Speaker 1: everything I'm told, the Mavericks have not promised Kyrie a
Speaker 1: new deal. They're gonna see how it goes. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of skepticism about how two ball dominant players Luca
Speaker 1: don Chich and Kyrie Irving can co exist, and so
Speaker 1: everybody wants to see it first before they commit. But
Speaker 1: if this doesn't work out and Kyrie becomes a free
Speaker 1: agent and leaves, the MAVs just lost Din Wittie, Dorian
Speaker 1: Phinney Smith and a future and unprotected future. First in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty nine, for cap space, the Mavericks history with
Speaker 1: cap space is awful. They have never hit the home
Speaker 1: run with cap space. All of the MAVs big moves,
Speaker 1: their successful splashes were always trades, always, so having a
Speaker 1: boatload of cap if Kyrie leaves and having a boatload
Speaker 1: of cap space, the MAVs can tell you a better
Speaker 1: than anybody that that guarantees nothing. So there are a
Speaker 1: lot of question marks. I mean again Kid and Miko.
Speaker 1: Infrastructure wise, the MAVs are probably best positioned to take
Speaker 1: him in. I mean the Lakers with Lebron or obviously
Speaker 1: you know Lebron and Kyrie wanted to get back together,
Speaker 1: so obviously the Lakers, you would think Lebron could have
Speaker 1: managed that. But infrastructure wise, with Kid and Nico, the
Speaker 1: map should be is well positioned to take Kyrie in
Speaker 1: in the middle of the season as any team. But
Speaker 1: what is that really How much insulation and protection does
Speaker 1: that really give you after these last four years of
Speaker 1: roller coaster in Brooklyn? Yeah, I mean, and that's what
Speaker 1: I'm man. Look, I am very much intrigued with how
Speaker 1: that partnership is going to work with two ball dominant players.
Speaker 1: I think for the most part, when you team up
Speaker 1: to challenged players like that, they tend to figure it out.
Speaker 1: And so I you know, Kyrie played with Lebron, you
Speaker 1: know Broun's ball dominant. He was able to figure it out.
Speaker 1: And I think he wants this. He understands this is
Speaker 1: Lucas team. I think he's gonna come out. I think
Speaker 1: he's gonna do well. I really do. I think he's
Speaker 1: gonna do well. I mean, I don't know how well
Speaker 1: that's going to translate into team success or how deep
Speaker 1: they go, but I think I think he's gonna do
Speaker 1: better than what people probably initially expect. The other element
Speaker 1: about this is I'm hearing Dallas is not done. S
Speaker 1: this is this is your team. I'm hearing they're not done.
Speaker 1: You know, I agree. I reported Saturday that the Clippers
Speaker 1: have been eyeing Christian Would. I think Christian Would and
Speaker 1: D'Angelo Russell. I mean, look, the Clippers are looking at
Speaker 1: a lot of guys, and the Clippers made a run
Speaker 1: at Kyrie. Let's not forget that. So the Clippers, we
Speaker 1: know they want to improve. They want to bolster the
Speaker 1: front court and the backcourt. So you can pretty much
Speaker 1: expect that the Clippers are going to do something between
Speaker 1: now and Thursday. I you know again, they're they're looking
Speaker 1: at Christian Wood. It would not surprise me if would
Speaker 1: ended up being traded to the Clippers, because he's extension
Speaker 1: eligible with the MAVs and they weren't making much progress
Speaker 1: on extension talks before this Kyrie trade, So um, that
Speaker 1: would not surprise me. Um. From what I'm told, the
Speaker 1: Clippers have been looking hard at D'Angelo Russell. I think
Speaker 1: they think they have interest in nas Read as well.
Speaker 1: But all the signals from Minnesota have been that that
Speaker 1: naz Reid is not going to be moved. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, the MAVs are not done. The nets are
Speaker 1: the nets aren't very much not done. As I said,
Speaker 1: you know, they could. They have not ruled out trading
Speaker 1: din Witty for something else, and you know you said it.
Speaker 1: I mean, the two things we don't know is, you know,
Speaker 1: Lebron tweeted a cryptic tweet like he always does, but
Speaker 1: we can't be sure what that actually. We do not
Speaker 1: know for sure what Durant and Lebron are thinking here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and those those are two major major dominos. Is Lebron
Speaker 1: pissed or is he understanding that we just the Lakers
Speaker 1: could not come up with a package like the Nets
Speaker 1: just kept out asking for so much there was no
Speaker 1: way to do it. Do a deal with Lebron, accept
Speaker 1: that you go ahead, here here, here it is. I
Speaker 1: think when it comes to that tweet, Brook, that that
Speaker 1: tweet is very much tied to the Mavericks getting Kyrie
Speaker 1: and the fact that you know, you know, we reported
Speaker 1: that they did offer those two first round picks before
Speaker 1: Lebron understands that they offered what they could, they offered
Speaker 1: what they could within reason. Well, that's good news for
Speaker 1: the Lakers if that's the case, because yeah, yeah, I
Speaker 1: think that's what he means by what do he say?
Speaker 1: Is it me? Maybe? Maybe maybe it maybe it's maybe
Speaker 1: it's me, And so I think, um, you know, it's
Speaker 1: just I guess he feels unlucky. I don't know, I
Speaker 1: don't know, but yeah, I think with um Rob Lincoln
Speaker 1: didn't hold back. He didn't hold back. You know, we
Speaker 1: just didn't know if he was gonna, um include those
Speaker 1: two first round picks he did. Nets didn't go that
Speaker 1: route and if you you know from your reporting, the
Speaker 1: Nets were not going to go that route out of
Speaker 1: spite if they could, if they could avoid it. You know,
Speaker 1: if the Lakers had the best offer, I think they
Speaker 1: would have done it. But yeah, I mean, look, I mean,
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving caused a lot of disruption in Brooklyn, and
Speaker 1: that's why they're skepticism in Dallas. This has nothing to
Speaker 1: do with basketball. Kyrie Irving is still an absolute wizard.
Speaker 1: The guy is flirting with fifty forty ninety and for
Speaker 1: the last thirty thirty five games, he's been fantastic. And
Speaker 1: this has been, you know, the best run the Nets
Speaker 1: have really had with the two of them. And Durant's
Speaker 1: missed a bunch of it with an injury. Um, but
Speaker 1: Kyrie was a Net for about two hundred and eighty games,
Speaker 1: and he missed almost as many as he played. That's
Speaker 1: the issue. And so nobody knows you know, what you're
Speaker 1: gonna get exactly. But what we know what we're going
Speaker 1: to get still transition. What we know we're going to get.
Speaker 1: Lebron is going to break Kareem's record this week thirty
Speaker 1: six points short. He has old he's planned against OKAYCD Tuesday.
Speaker 1: He has the Bucks Thursday. I actually had that game
Speaker 1: the Bucks Thursday, Lakers Bucks Thursday, thirty six is your guest.
Speaker 1: So now I'm rooting. I'm rooting him for him now
Speaker 1: to score thirty four against the Thunder because I want you,
Speaker 1: I want you to get that that postgame interview when
Speaker 1: he breaks it. No, and honestly, in all seriousness, like
Speaker 1: I don't want to go on a full on rant here,
Speaker 1: but I'm actually I mean, you know, I am a nostalgist.
Speaker 1: I'm his story, and I love anything that takes us
Speaker 1: back to the eighties. I remember being fifteen years old
Speaker 1: when Kareem broke Wilts record. I remember watching the game.
Speaker 1: I can remember chick her and on the call swaying
Speaker 1: left shoots. I mean, I can see it. I can remember,
Speaker 1: though the game was played in Vegas instead of you know,
Speaker 1: against Utah over Mark eating the sky hook, and this
Speaker 1: is such a huge, huge achievement for Lebron. I hate
Speaker 1: that it's happening now. I mean, I wish this was
Speaker 1: happening after the All Star Game two weeks from now,
Speaker 1: because the way this is not nineteen eighty four anymore.
Speaker 1: The way that the the way that this league, the
Speaker 1: way that this league has evolved, trade season dominates everything,
Speaker 1: and I know, like we're barely getting to this record
Speaker 1: at the end of this pod, We've we have not
Speaker 1: even talked about it yet on any of our shows.
Speaker 1: I've barely written a word about it. And it sucks
Speaker 1: because this is, this is this is really just a
Speaker 1: crazy record. I mean, this is it's been forty almost
Speaker 1: it's been thirty nine years since since since this was
Speaker 1: since since Kareem broke the record, and we might never
Speaker 1: see it broken with what I mean, what about the
Speaker 1: other what do you think the other day when le
Speaker 1: Bronson I'm playing a few more years so that he's
Speaker 1: gone past forty. Yeah, he's going up. Man, it's gonna
Speaker 1: pile up. I think I honestly think he's breaking it Tuesday. Okay, see,
Speaker 1: let's do the reverse jinks. Let's guarantee that he's okay.
Speaker 1: I don't see anybody stopping that man from getting thirty six,
Speaker 1: thirty seven whatever he needs to break that record. Man,
Speaker 1: lou Dorc can't hold him under thirty five. I don't
Speaker 1: see it. I don't see it, but I will ask this.
Speaker 1: You know, I think time is running out shortly, but
Speaker 1: I do want to ask this. I think I asked
Speaker 1: you off the off the um when we're just talking
Speaker 1: on the phone, stock is it better to break a
Speaker 1: record like that to have your moment? Is it better
Speaker 1: to have it in the fourth quarter when the game
Speaker 1: is in the balance, or is it better to have
Speaker 1: the record early in the game. And I'm just assuming,
Speaker 1: you know, he'll if he doesn't get the record Tuesday,
Speaker 1: he's gonna come so close to where it's gonna be.
Speaker 1: He'll need probably six of four or six points on
Speaker 1: Thursday to what's better? What's better for the moment? I
Speaker 1: don't know's I mean, that's a I really haven't thought
Speaker 1: of it like that. Um. Like I said, my own
Speaker 1: kind of myself is just myselfish rooting interest for you
Speaker 1: that you get that post game, that you get to
Speaker 1: be the one to ask him about it because it
Speaker 1: is Look, and you know, everybody's turning this into does
Speaker 1: this make him the Goat? And I just you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: there's there's just there's always gonna be people no matter
Speaker 1: what Lebron does for the rest of the there's always
Speaker 1: gonna be a lot of people who say it's Jordan
Speaker 1: and there's nothing you can do to convince them. But Lebron,
Speaker 1: to me is the longevity goat. And I think that's
Speaker 1: a big deal. I don't think we talked about that
Speaker 1: last week a little bit. I think that's a huge deal.
Speaker 1: Like to Kareem played pat to forty two and Lebron
Speaker 1: sounds like he's gonna play to forty. We know he
Speaker 1: wants to play with Brownie. I mean, he plays to forty,
Speaker 1: he's probably gonna take the scoring. His total will end
Speaker 1: up in the forty thousands. Yeah. His contract, I think
Speaker 1: is his current contract, So he has one more guaranteed
Speaker 1: year with the Lakers and then he can become a
Speaker 1: free agent same June twenty four, same month that let
Speaker 1: Brownie becomes draft eligible. Um, I mean if he and
Speaker 1: that's if he plays with his son. I mean here,
Speaker 1: he's already playing again. He's already playing the sons of
Speaker 1: guys he played against. To play with his son in
Speaker 1: the NBA would just be absolutely ridiculous. So, I mean,
Speaker 1: he is the longevity goat. Maybe that's not enough for him.
Speaker 1: I think it's a pretty damn impressive honor. And I
Speaker 1: you know, like I said, I just trade season is
Speaker 1: all encompassing, and I look, I'm as guilty as anybody.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm the month of January every story I
Speaker 1: wrote was about trades. M but that's just we're so
Speaker 1: we can't think about anything else. But and that's the
Speaker 1: thing is like right now with the Lakers, were they
Speaker 1: gonna get Kyrie? And what happens now that they didn't
Speaker 1: get Kyrie. That's that's the story with the Lakers, and
Speaker 1: it just kind of bums me out. Yeah, well, STI,
Speaker 1: we gotta get out of here. We're coming back at
Speaker 1: some point this week. Man. We got to figure out
Speaker 1: where before they didn't talk about to talk about all
Speaker 1: the other trades. Yeah, well, free agency and that'll do
Speaker 1: it for us, See you next time. This League Uncut
Speaker 1: is an iHeartRadio production.