Speaker 1: You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox
Speaker 1: Sports Radio.
Speaker 2: Thunder up to sixty six wins and Luca and the
Speaker 2: Lakers steal the headlines last night as he goes for
Speaker 2: forty five. And it's one of those nights where you're
Speaker 2: not quite sure emotionally how locked in you can be.
Speaker 2: If you're Luca, You're going back. Are you sad? Are
Speaker 2: you angry? Are you excited? The wave of emotions here.
Speaker 2: In fact, Luca was asked about that last night after
Speaker 2: the game.
Speaker 3: It was a little bit of both, you know, happy
Speaker 3: and angry. But you know, it's nice to see some
Speaker 3: familiar faces here. You know, I spent a lot of
Speaker 3: times with them, Like you said, you know, it was
Speaker 3: a lot of emotions. When I woke up, I was
Speaker 3: tired and I didn't sleep much. I'm excited about this game,
Speaker 3: and you know, I really fichet the fence the way
Speaker 3: they reacted it to me.
Speaker 2: And I thought they were going to give him a
Speaker 2: standing ovation. I thought they'd cheer him every time he
Speaker 2: got the ball. It was a home game of sorts
Speaker 2: for Luke on the road, and the fans made sure
Speaker 2: that he was welcomed. He felt that way and it's
Speaker 2: not the same, but it's compartmentalizing. When Brett Farbe's father
Speaker 2: died and then Farv went out and had that unbelievable
Speaker 2: Nunday night game, I think against the Raiders, and he
Speaker 2: just needed to have that escape from what happened with
Speaker 2: his father. Well, Luca is not exactly escaping. He's walking
Speaker 2: right into this. He's walking right into where it started.
Speaker 2: And then he was not so politely asked to leave.
Speaker 2: And the fact that the GM Nico Harrison is in
Speaker 2: the building, fans are chanting fire Nico, and the over
Speaker 2: under was thirty and a half points for Luca and
Speaker 2: he blew by that in the first half. He had
Speaker 2: thirty one and a halftime. But it was great to
Speaker 2: see that. And you can't forget about the Lakers are
Speaker 2: trying to get the number three seats, so you've got
Speaker 2: to make sure you win the game. Don't get caught
Speaker 2: up in the emotion of it. Make sure you win
Speaker 2: the game. But he drops forty five, they win by fifteen,
Speaker 2: and you know this is what's going to be. I
Speaker 2: guess ask of Luca the rest of his career being
Speaker 2: a leader, being mature, because you know Lebron's got how
Speaker 2: many more years left? Then it's Luca's team. And what
Speaker 2: you want to see is that maturity that I can
Speaker 2: be a leader. We know he can be a great player,
Speaker 2: it's now what are you going to be? Great players
Speaker 2: are always adding to their games, whether it's something that
Speaker 2: is tangible or something that you know, maybe not so
Speaker 2: much in being a leader, a leader on the court
Speaker 2: off the court. And yes, do I have I said
Speaker 2: things about his passion getting caught up in little things. Yes,
Speaker 2: and maybe that's something that he needs to have. There's
Speaker 2: certain players that like to have. It's almost like there's
Speaker 2: a pebble in your shoe. You're never quite comfortable and
Speaker 2: jawing with officials, jawing with fans. I hope he grows
Speaker 2: out of that. He might not, But to be able
Speaker 2: to put up these kind of numbers and remind us
Speaker 2: too of just how great he can be in a
Speaker 2: big moment was pretty impressive last night. All right, seton
Speaker 2: poll question today eight seven seven three DP show operators
Speaker 2: sitting by taking your phone calls, and we'll get to
Speaker 2: those coming up. So what do you have for a
Speaker 2: pole question?
Speaker 4: Here's one from Paul. If you gave Mark Cuban A
Speaker 4: Mulligan dot dot H. I'm assuming this is Mavericks related
Speaker 4: and perhaps selling his a big chunk of a team.
Speaker 4: Do you think he would still do that?
Speaker 2: I don't know how much money he made. I don't know.
Speaker 2: I don't know what he wants to do. So he
Speaker 2: has a couple of billion now, I think he owned
Speaker 2: twenty seven percent of the maps. Would he have kept
Speaker 2: the team and become and not sold it so he
Speaker 2: doesn't get rid of Luka Dantis?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2: It feels like he wants to divest himself from being
Speaker 2: an owner. He was the face of the Dallas Mavericks.
Speaker 2: He was there in his jeans, in his Dallas jersey
Speaker 2: and T shirt and he's on the bench. Feels like
Speaker 2: he's got bigger plans like politics, But then you know
Speaker 2: they're trying to get gambling. They're trying to do a
Speaker 2: whole like neighborhood there. It feels like with the arena,
Speaker 2: the basketball team, the new ownership there coming in from Vegas.
Speaker 2: But would he if he could do it again? Yeah,
Speaker 2: I don't know, unless we had him on to be
Speaker 2: able to be fair to him to ask that. I like,
Speaker 2: I don't even know if I could wager a guest
Speaker 2: to say, of course he would, because I don't know.
Speaker 2: It seems like and we had Tim mcmahonnon who was
Speaker 2: there for ESPN. He's written a book on Luca and
Speaker 2: he said there's no way that Marek Cuban would ever
Speaker 2: have allowed this, and I understand that I agree with that.
Speaker 2: But and he didn't have a say in this either,
Speaker 2: which it's strange, but you know, he owns twenty seven
Speaker 2: percent of the team, I think, and they didn't run
Speaker 2: this by him, and this might have been ownership saying, hey,
Speaker 2: we're the ones in charge here, not our GM, not
Speaker 2: our coach, not our former owner. We're in charge. We're
Speaker 2: the ones that have to write a check for three
Speaker 2: hundred and forty five million dollars, and you know what,
Speaker 2: we're not comfortable doing that. Cuban man, that's hard to say.
Speaker 2: That's a hell of an investment from that guy.
Speaker 4: Though he bought the team for like two one hundred
Speaker 4: and eighty five million dollars something like that, Yeah, and
Speaker 4: then sold it for like three three point five Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, good business man he's had. His resume is spotty
Speaker 2: in some of the decisions that he's made, but this
Speaker 2: is a now. He was all in on Luca to
Speaker 2: begin with, and that's why they traded for him. But
Speaker 2: some other moves that he's made haven't gone so elegantly.
Speaker 4: Yes, seton, Yeah, I think that was an interesting point
Speaker 4: from yesterday we were talking about that. I mean, he
Speaker 4: had a ton of bad moves during his tenure too,
Speaker 4: just maybe not quite this bad well though, I mean
Speaker 4: some of them were really terrible.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, yeah, Pauli.
Speaker 6: Mark Cuban made an estimated three point five billion off
Speaker 6: the sale. He still retains a twenty seven percent stake.
Speaker 6: Dallas Morning News had an article last week where Mark
Speaker 6: said he expected to continue to run basketball when he
Speaker 6: sold the mask, but the NBA would not let that
Speaker 6: be put in the contract. That's where the mulligan comes in.
Speaker 6: He could have gotten the money and maybe still run basketball,
Speaker 6: but they wouldn't allow it. I wonder if that was
Speaker 6: his image, Like you said, that was a big part
Speaker 6: of his image.
Speaker 2: Well, I think if he could have maintained control over
Speaker 2: the basketball operations, still made his money ensure he would
Speaker 2: want that. That's what he did want. But now they've
Speaker 2: taken away his baby, and then somebody else is raising it,
Speaker 2: and all of a sudden you make this move one
Speaker 2: of the biggest moves in NBA history. And there have
Speaker 2: been times when you know, guys have been moved. You
Speaker 2: know he saw this, lou Al Sindor when he was traded,
Speaker 2: Wilt when he was traded. So we've had these moments here,
Speaker 2: but that's still it's still shocking when you trade somebody
Speaker 2: who is that young. What other poll questions do we have.
Speaker 4: Let's see what else we've got here. We've got two
Speaker 4: from the too dub. How closely do you follow the
Speaker 4: first round of the Masters? Okay, follow it a little bit, Yeah,
Speaker 4: a little bit. See who gets out hot.
Speaker 2: Well, the odds are and if you look history shows
Speaker 2: that you've got to be around the top fifteen. That
Speaker 2: you don't see too many come from behind wins, at
Speaker 2: least some of the analysts that talked about that after
Speaker 2: the first day. Look in the top fifteen, you'll probably
Speaker 2: find your winner in the top fifteen the odds to win.
Speaker 2: Scotty Scheffler, then it's Rory McElroy. Then you go to
Speaker 2: John Rahm, Colin Moore, Kawa, Xander Schoffley, Bryson, de Shambeau
Speaker 2: and Ludwig Oberg. But this is all about Rory because
Speaker 2: he's played well this year. He needs the masters for
Speaker 2: the career Grand Slam. Scheffler hasn't played great, but he's
Speaker 2: the odds on favorite. And then you got John Rahm.
Speaker 2: Can you dial it up? You know, can you dial
Speaker 2: up that tension that you need to play Augusta? You
Speaker 2: know that feeling when you're playing Augusta as opposed to
Speaker 2: playing on the Live Tour where you're listening to music
Speaker 2: and you're wearing shorts and really not playing for anything.
Speaker 2: Now you're playing for everything. But this is an opportunity
Speaker 2: for John Ram and Bryson de Shamba. Those are the
Speaker 2: two favorites from the Live tour, along with Colin Moorekowa,
Speaker 2: who a lot of people like. He played great this year.
Speaker 2: But weather condition should be great today and I think
Speaker 2: there's rain in the forecast. At some point. There was
Speaker 2: another story that I saw and I don't know if
Speaker 2: it's a thing or not, and that is TJ. Watt
Speaker 2: had a social media post and he posted an image
Speaker 2: of himself giving the peace sign from his Instagram story,
Speaker 2: no caption, and then all of a sudden fans are wondering,
Speaker 2: does he want to be traded? I don't know if
Speaker 2: that's a piece out sign, But you know, he's entering
Speaker 2: the final year of a four year deal, he's thirty
Speaker 2: years of age. He's probably looking at Max Crosby and
Speaker 2: Miles Garrett's deals and maybe he's looking to cash in.
Speaker 2: I guess that's what I can read into this. Once again,
Speaker 2: I don't know if it's a thing or not. Here
Speaker 2: you are the Steelers, you're waiting for Aaron Rodgers. You're
Speaker 2: gonna I think shoudoor Sanders today. And now you have
Speaker 2: your best defensive player, your best player who just gives
Speaker 2: a peace sign. Should we read anything into that? As
Speaker 2: we head towards the draft, a couple of defensive players
Speaker 2: getting bigger deals than his. Does he want a new
Speaker 2: deal now? Is that what he's saying? Or is he
Speaker 2: saying peace out? I want to be out of here,
Speaker 2: which would surprise me because he's the face of the
Speaker 2: Pittsburgh Steelers right now. Yeah, it's possible.
Speaker 4: He's a huge point break fan and he's asking for
Speaker 4: two utah, oh give me two?
Speaker 2: Okay, all right, I didn't factor that in.
Speaker 4: Might be that might be the poll question, what else
Speaker 4: could TJ.
Speaker 2: Watt be signaling here?
Speaker 4: If not I want to trade?
Speaker 2: Okay, thirty years of age, but tied straighthand for the
Speaker 2: most saxon a single season twenty two and a half.
Speaker 2: I mean it's the final year of his contract, so
Speaker 2: you should be able to cash in one more time here, Yeah, pony.
Speaker 6: Yes, one more year in his contract. This year TJ.
Speaker 6: Watt will make just under thirty million dollars.
Speaker 2: Okay, but I could see.
Speaker 6: Wanting a yeah, obvious, wanting a contract now because entering
Speaker 6: thirty two, you're not going to get the monster contract.
Speaker 7: I don't think even if even if the production is there. Okay,
Speaker 7: so is he asking out do you trade TJ.
Speaker 2: Watt? And uh? Once again, I don't know if it's
Speaker 2: a thing or not, but it felt like people were
Speaker 2: making it into a thing. And granted, it's the Steelers
Speaker 2: and you don't know what they're doing. You don't know,
Speaker 2: you know, are they going to draft a quarterback at
Speaker 2: twenty one? Is Roger's going to go there? And now
Speaker 2: you have this. If you're Mike Tomlin, you're like, come on,
Speaker 2: I need something positive to happen here. Yeah, Paul, maybe
Speaker 2: he put up two fingers. Last year we had two quarterbacks.
Speaker 2: Right now we basically have zero. I'm going deep dive, okay, okay, yeah,
Speaker 2: but you know it's all about timing that Miles Garrett
Speaker 2: was up and Max Crosby was up and they got
Speaker 2: bigger deals. Okay, if you're TJ. Watt, just play this
Speaker 2: year and then sign your contract extension. Yes, Tom, Let's give.
Speaker 6: Aaron Rodgers two more days or two more weeks at
Speaker 6: deciding what he's doing, and then we've got to move
Speaker 6: on because this is getting embarrassing.
Speaker 2: I see what you're doing. Okay, yeah, I don't know
Speaker 2: if there's something there or not, but it just felt
Speaker 2: like it's the NFL. It's the Steelers heading into the draft.
Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers should or Sanders going to be there today.
Speaker 2: Wait a minute, what's TJ watsaying? Just put up a
Speaker 2: peace sign. Maybe it's nothing, or maybe it's something.
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Speaker 2: Joe Varden covering the NBA for the Athletic He was
Speaker 2: at the Lakers MAVs game last night, joining us from Dallas.
Speaker 2: How would you describe the atmosphere Joe, Well.
Speaker 11: I've been to a few reunion games, including Klay Thompson's
Speaker 11: as a member of the Mavericks at Golden State this year,
Speaker 11: and I've never seen anything like this. There really wasn't
Speaker 11: a boo to be heard, and the Lakers always get
Speaker 11: booed on the road, but every time that Luca had
Speaker 11: the ball, there was a roar. Every time he scored,
Speaker 11: it was louder now. At the same time, there was
Speaker 11: an incredible sense of negativity and frustration and anger in
Speaker 11: the form of when either team was at the foul line,
Speaker 11: fans are channing fire Nico for general manager Nico Harrison,
Speaker 11: who made this trade. So yeah, I mean, you know,
Speaker 11: Lebron's talking about this afterwards. I mean, if you think
Speaker 11: about all the reunion games that he's been a part
Speaker 11: of and how emotional they were for different reasons, he
Speaker 11: was saying that it was a cool moment that he'll
Speaker 11: remember for the rest of his life.
Speaker 2: What kind of message do you think Luca wanted to
Speaker 2: send last night?
Speaker 11: You know, I think that Luca is an introspective, sensitive
Speaker 11: young man and I mean that in the best way,
Speaker 11: and I don't think he was looking to send a message.
Speaker 11: I think he was hoping to get through it. And
Speaker 11: you know, he even said postgame that when he's he's
Speaker 11: sitting there alone on the bench, you know, they've already
Speaker 11: announced the other four Lakers starters, and he's sitting there
Speaker 11: by himself, and there's twenty thousand people on top of him,
Speaker 11: all kind of looking at him. And yes, they are
Speaker 11: looking at the video tribute that was playing before his
Speaker 11: name was called, but I really felt like it was one.
Speaker 11: It was like the you know, a case of a
Speaker 11: singular man in the arena and he's sitting there and
Speaker 11: he's become he's overcome with emotion and he has to
Speaker 11: wipe his face before he can even get up. And
Speaker 11: as he walks through the Lakers after his name is called,
Speaker 11: I mean, mark Eith Morris has to like grab him
Speaker 11: and like lebron hugged him the way he'd hugged Bronni
Speaker 11: after a tough high school game or something like.
Speaker 5: It was.
Speaker 11: It was really incredible to see the genuine emotion that's
Speaker 11: coming out of everybody. So you know, Luca has all
Speaker 11: that and then he goes out and scores fourteen in
Speaker 11: the first quarter, and I think he felt a rhythm
Speaker 11: and a familiarity with the arena. I think the retribution
Speaker 11: and the payback probably comes in the future years, you know,
Speaker 11: when he's now through this part. And that's assuming that
Speaker 11: Nico and Jason Kidd and those guys are there in
Speaker 11: the building, you know, in future years for those games.
Speaker 11: But I think that's when Luca will be over the
Speaker 11: emotional part and he does have a vindictive side for sure.
Speaker 11: I think that's a great observation on your part, But
Speaker 11: I just think he was ready to use that part
Speaker 11: of himself.
Speaker 5: Yet.
Speaker 2: Was Nico Harrison made available to the media.
Speaker 11: No, No, tho, those days are largely over. You know,
Speaker 11: guys make trades all the time, and you know, maybe
Speaker 11: they don't even speak, you know, very short press conferences
Speaker 11: when coaches are fired a week before the playoffs. So
Speaker 11: that's a long way to say. No, he didn't address
Speaker 11: it yesterday. He was in the building, standing there in
Speaker 11: the tunnel listening to that.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 11: I also want to bring up this point, if it's
Speaker 11: okay about all of this. You know, there was another
Speaker 11: superstar last night who had a reunion game, and that's
Speaker 11: Anthony Davis. He's a ten time All Star, however many
Speaker 11: gold medals, NBA Champion in any other case, last night
Speaker 11: is about him and playing the Lakers and playing Lebron.
Speaker 11: But of course he's over because of the whole Lucas situation.
Speaker 11: But every night that he's in the arena and he
Speaker 11: listens to his home crowd chant fire Nico, he knows
Speaker 11: it's not directed at him, but he also knows that
Speaker 11: the trade that brought him to town is why these
Speaker 11: fans want him gone. And as a player of his caliber,
Speaker 11: to just feel how upset everyone is. Essentially that he's
Speaker 11: in the building, that's tough on him. And I think
Speaker 11: you could see that wearing on him last night too.
Speaker 2: If you gave Mark Cuban a mulligan, does he sell
Speaker 2: the majority of his interest ownership stake in this? And
Speaker 2: because I think he still wanted to run the basketball
Speaker 2: portion of this and maintain twenty seven percent. But if
Speaker 2: you ask him, what do you think he would say?
Speaker 11: That's a tough question, Dan, just because like, even you
Speaker 11: don't move in that kind of money. But I I
Speaker 11: don't I don't understand what billions means and so yeah,
Speaker 11: I mean, I I think that he he achieved the
Speaker 11: financial goal that he had set out to achieve, and
Speaker 11: and obviously he wanted some kind of freedom in that
Speaker 11: in that way, uh in shape. But but yeah, like
Speaker 11: if if, if he has to decide between that and
Speaker 11: then you know, retaining control of this franchise that he
Speaker 11: built really and built it into what it was. Yeah,
Speaker 11: I mean I see the point. I I I think
Speaker 11: I'm gonna say he still does it because there there
Speaker 11: was a reason why he made the sale. And you
Speaker 11: have to know, you know, even if when you when
Speaker 11: listen when when the New York Times bought the Athletic
Speaker 11: for for a year plus two years that the two
Speaker 11: founders were still around and and advising and doing this
Speaker 11: and that. But eventually, you know, ownership takes over and
Speaker 11: there's a new plan. And that's that's how it is
Speaker 11: with any big sale like that. So I think Mark
Speaker 11: had to know it, and you have to be able
Speaker 11: to live with those consequences, including the trading of the
Speaker 11: franchise player that you that you maneuvered to get and nurture.
Speaker 2: Talking to Joe Varden, he covers the NBA for the Athletic,
Speaker 2: He was at the game last night in Dallas. How
Speaker 2: threatening are the Lakers?
Speaker 11: Yeah, I like them because you're you're talking about Lebron
Speaker 11: somehow playing at a A plus level, one of the
Speaker 11: best players in the league. Lucas certainly is one of
Speaker 11: the best players in the league. And they play so
Speaker 11: well together, like I kind of knew they would, and
Speaker 11: I actually I think there is some writing somewhere that
Speaker 11: backs that up. So this isn't hindsight. They're playing great
Speaker 11: and then you know, you trade away Anthony Davis, so
Speaker 11: you say they got smaller. But also like Jared Vanderbilt
Speaker 11: is finally healthy and he's super long, and Ruy Hashimura
Speaker 11: is is healthy and he's super long. So you're playing
Speaker 11: those two and Lebron is playing a traditional four, uh
Speaker 11: sometimes a small five. You know, Jackson Hayes has been okay,
Speaker 11: and then you have Austin Reeves who is really blossomed
Speaker 11: into the scorer and the playmaker or that they need.
Speaker 11: So you know, we always talk about experience, and that
Speaker 11: is the one bugaboo that's that that Oklahoma City has.
Speaker 11: They've only won one playoff series, you know, for as
Speaker 11: great as they've been the last two regular seasons and
Speaker 11: if experience matters, you obviously have Lebron. We don't need
Speaker 11: to go over his credentials.
Speaker 2: And then you have the.
Speaker 11: Key representative for the Western Conference in last year's finals
Speaker 11: and Lucas. So yeah, I mean they're I mean that
Speaker 11: they're a tough out for sure.
Speaker 2: How threatening are the Warriors?
Speaker 11: I mean, I hate to be a prisoner of the moment,
Speaker 11: but last night's stunk. You know, they've been tremendous since
Speaker 11: they acquired Jimmy. The trade did exactly what the organization
Speaker 11: wanted to do. It gave Steph some breathing room, It
Speaker 11: injected some life in there. And now you're talking about
Speaker 11: them like, you know, flashing their finals and championship credentials.
Speaker 11: And then they go and they lose to San Antonio
Speaker 11: last night on a buzzer beater. And now if the
Speaker 11: playoffs were today, they wouldn't be in them. They'd have
Speaker 11: to play their way in via the play in. So
Speaker 11: I you know, when when Boston got to the finals
Speaker 11: with e May a couple of years ago, at in February,
Speaker 11: they were in seventh place and they they rocketed up.
Speaker 11: So so I don't want to say that that isn't possible,
Speaker 11: But I'm always going to pump the brakes on a
Speaker 11: team that's been between sixth place and eighth or ninth
Speaker 11: for most of the year.
Speaker 2: Who's your MVP?
Speaker 11: My MVP is Shay Gilgess, Alexander, and I understand the
Speaker 11: year that Nicola is having. You could certainly make the
Speaker 11: case arguably that statistically he's better this year than he
Speaker 11: has been in years where he's won it. Shay is
Speaker 11: the best player on the best team and has certainly
Speaker 11: built his case in any number of ways. And then,
Speaker 11: on top of that, in a year where ownership decides
Speaker 11: that this that the performance of the team is so
Speaker 11: objectionable that you have to fire the coach a week
Speaker 11: before the season's over, the MVP is not on your team.
Speaker 2: But I think most analysts will say the best player
Speaker 2: on the planet is Nicola Jokic.
Speaker 11: Yeah, I would say that, And I mean, I don't
Speaker 11: know how many times I voted. This is my eleventh
Speaker 11: season doing this on on this kind of stage, so
Speaker 11: I've had a lot of votes. I admit that I,
Speaker 11: along with most of my colleague struggle is to what
Speaker 11: the what valuable means? Are we talking about the best player.
Speaker 11: Are we talking about the team? Who is who are
Speaker 11: the player who's the most important?
Speaker 5: You know?
Speaker 11: I think it comes and goes. There was a year
Speaker 11: where we voted for us because he averaged a triple double.
Speaker 11: There were years where Lebron didn't get it when he
Speaker 11: was obviously the best player in the league. So I
Speaker 11: think it's probably gonna go that way. I don't think
Speaker 11: it'll be unanimous. Nicole is a tremendous player, but I
Speaker 11: just I think there. I think when you consider where
Speaker 11: the Nuggets are right now and the everything they're going through,
Speaker 11: and then where the thunder are and why, I think
Speaker 11: I think that's that's the that's the decider for me.
Speaker 2: And I wonder about this with Joker moving forward, who's
Speaker 2: going to be the coach and what's going to be
Speaker 2: the philosophy. He's thirty years of age, He's got a
Speaker 2: couple of years left on this deal. But and we
Speaker 2: had somebody on yesterday who said that he thinks he's
Speaker 2: a loyal He's like Dirk Novinsky, like he's loyal to
Speaker 2: the franchise. But I wonder, can you see a scenario
Speaker 2: where Joker says, hey, I want out?
Speaker 11: Well, I mean the way the last several years have
Speaker 11: gone in the league. The short answer is, of course,
Speaker 11: did a little reporting on this last night, not talking
Speaker 11: to Nicola. He would be a hard guy to get
Speaker 11: to get a hold up on the phone. But people
Speaker 11: who you know, who are around that team and and
Speaker 11: sort of trade in the in the business of knowing
Speaker 11: these things, suggests that that Nicola is not looking to
Speaker 11: get out, and that isn't reacting to the firing of
Speaker 11: the only coach he's played for as a kind of
Speaker 11: a how dare you think? You know, I think that
Speaker 11: there was some frustration on his part too about the
Speaker 11: direction of the team, And so yeah, I do view
Speaker 11: Nicolea as a player who does or could anyway stay
Speaker 11: in Denver for his entire career. I mean, I think
Speaker 11: if if they get into a situation where it's clear
Speaker 11: that they are going to regress and be in the
Speaker 11: lottery for a while, I mean, that's not something anybody
Speaker 11: wants to do. But you know, he Nicolea is very
Speaker 11: set in his life and what matters to him. You know,
Speaker 11: he enjoys going back to Serbia in the summers. You know,
Speaker 11: not that Denver is a tiny market or whatever you
Speaker 11: want to say about it like it's not. But we
Speaker 11: could also easily say Nicole is not like lusting for
Speaker 11: New York or LA or Miami or anything like that.
Speaker 11: So I you know, I've always said that Lebron will
Speaker 11: end his career in Los Angeles, and I'm going to
Speaker 11: be in the boat of Nicole is not looking to
Speaker 11: push his way out of Denver in the near future.
Speaker 2: Great stuff, Thank you, Joe. Great to talk to you again.
Speaker 11: Great to see you. Thanks Dan.
Speaker 2: That's Joe Varden, who covers the NBA for The Athletic.
Speaker 1: Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan
Speaker 1: Patrick Show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific
Speaker 1: on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio WAP.
Speaker 2: Dwight Howard He'll be inducted into the Basketball Hall of
Speaker 2: Fame coming up in September. Former NBA champ, three time
Speaker 2: Defensive Player of the Year, five time All NBA First
Speaker 2: Team Dwight, how are you doing?
Speaker 5: Man and bless man?
Speaker 10: I'm so happy and thankful to be back on your
Speaker 10: show again. He ever did it show in a while.
Speaker 10: I think the last time I did it so I
Speaker 10: was actually Orlando. I was driving in my car. He
Speaker 10: was like, hey, he turned down music a little bit
Speaker 10: so we can hear you.
Speaker 2: What was your reaction when you got the call for
Speaker 2: the Hall of Fame?
Speaker 5: Man, I cried so hard.
Speaker 10: It was just like the first day as soon as
Speaker 10: he got as I got the call, seeing the name
Speaker 10: the Nation Basketball Hall of Fame calling my phone, you know,
Speaker 10: seeing that and then hearing them actually say you have
Speaker 10: made it in to one out of four hundred and
Speaker 10: fifty six people who have been in the.
Speaker 5: Hall of Fame for basketball.
Speaker 10: I just every memory of basketball that started, my youngest memory,
Speaker 10: shooting on my first basketball go watching my magic justin tapes,
Speaker 10: and then just the tears start flowing, and man, there's
Speaker 10: just this an incredible journey with a lot of ups
Speaker 10: and downs, but to make it to basketball heaven is
Speaker 10: for me.
Speaker 5: It's everything.
Speaker 2: What would you be like, what kind of player if
Speaker 2: you were coming into the NBA now, given the way
Speaker 2: the NBA.
Speaker 5: Is, Oh, man, what kind of player would I be? Well?
Speaker 10: I feel like my time in Orlando I was very
Speaker 10: unstoppable with office and then the sound that I played.
Speaker 10: I believe that if I was playing now, I would
Speaker 10: still be a dominant player, top five center.
Speaker 5: I believe in the league if I was playing right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the game has changed so much with the perimeter.
Speaker 2: And I knew you grew up idolizing magic, but maybe
Speaker 2: you would have geared your game to be more perimeter based.
Speaker 2: I mean, we got seven footers playing on the perimeter
Speaker 2: all that.
Speaker 5: Look, that's true.
Speaker 10: Actually, when I started playing basketball, I didn't play center.
Speaker 10: I didn't play center actually until I got to the NBA.
Speaker 10: Uh So, when I got to the NBA, that's when
Speaker 10: my positions hanged. Then back then, there were no stretch fards,
Speaker 10: there were no stress no stress fives.
Speaker 5: It was only dirt and the whiskey.
Speaker 10: And the next person close to him that was shooting
Speaker 10: that much was Sem Duncan, and he was shooting more
Speaker 10: so off the glass shots and free.
Speaker 5: Throw line and air shots.
Speaker 10: And I remember the last conversation I had with Kobe
Speaker 10: before we joined team. Uh it was what he wanted
Speaker 10: me to work on, was those free throw line and
Speaker 10: then jump shots and stuff like that. But today's game,
Speaker 10: well today's game, and when I was coming up in
Speaker 10: the game, that shot was taken out. Uh So, now
Speaker 10: I would be a perimeter bass player, and that'll be
Speaker 10: a lot of fun. I'd get to show people my
Speaker 10: other skills and the skills that I've had growing up,
Speaker 10: and I go back to just being.
Speaker 5: A kid again.
Speaker 2: How tough was Kobe on you?
Speaker 5: I would say he was that tough on me? What?
Speaker 5: What like? People would assume because I was a hard worker,
Speaker 5: you know, it wasn't. I wasn't somebody that he had
Speaker 5: to worry.
Speaker 10: About getting in the gym, working hard in the games
Speaker 10: and stuff like that. I just think we just at
Speaker 10: the time, we was in two different places in life
Speaker 10: and we didn't see how to eye.
Speaker 5: We didn't give each other a chance to see how
Speaker 5: to But are you living?
Speaker 2: You learn if I gave you a mulligan on getting
Speaker 2: out of Orlando, would you have still left Orlando and
Speaker 2: gone to the Lakers? Uh?
Speaker 10: My intentions was not to go to the Lakers after Orlando.
Speaker 10: I now do it what I know now. Leaving Orlando
Speaker 10: taught me many lessons in life that I needed, and
Speaker 10: I feel like if I would have stayed in Orlando,
Speaker 10: maybe I wouldn't have learned those same lessons.
Speaker 5: And it's just how you look at it, you know.
Speaker 10: I hate the fact that I did have to leave Orlando,
Speaker 10: that was my first home. But I believe that everything
Speaker 10: happens I was exactly supposed to happen.
Speaker 5: And I can't question fate.
Speaker 10: The only thing I'm glad about is that it led
Speaker 10: me to the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2: Most physical player you ever played against?
Speaker 5: Was who? Most physical player of it?
Speaker 10: From Minnesota? You father was the strongest player that I
Speaker 10: could say. I played this really okay, the most out
Speaker 10: more than anybody else.
Speaker 2: What was your welcome to the NBA moment?
Speaker 5: Welcome to the NBA moment? Oh, Kobe Bryant duncan on me.
Speaker 2: Well, you're not alone in that category there, Dwight.
Speaker 10: Well, that was It was a funny one because I
Speaker 10: remember actually Brian Grant, he actually after that play he said,
Speaker 10: welcome to the league. I'm telling And I couldn't wait
Speaker 10: to dunk on him back or block his side or something.
Speaker 10: So we played against him in Atlanta Hawks. I took
Speaker 10: it personally to just try to destroy him.
Speaker 2: Did Kobe say anything to you when he dunked on you?
Speaker 10: Uh? He just said in an interview that he baptized
Speaker 10: me and he woke me up in actuality he did.
Speaker 10: That was so embarrassed, and I was like, I gotta
Speaker 10: block everybody's dunk.
Speaker 5: I put it.
Speaker 10: Everybody to the ground, and I'm gonna go get me
Speaker 10: a defensive Player of the Year.
Speaker 5: So it did wake me up. He baptized.
Speaker 2: He had forty one in that game.
Speaker 10: Jesus Spice, we must have had the thirty eight thirty eight,
Speaker 10: thirty nine.
Speaker 2: Mescribe who is the best player you faced?
Speaker 5: The best player that our face?
Speaker 2: Ooh we.
Speaker 5: Best player that our face? Oh my goodness?
Speaker 10: Uh skill wise or do you mean like overall overall?
Speaker 2: Just best player? Like that guy is he's different?
Speaker 5: Oh? Man? Uh? Well, obviously covid Kobe.
Speaker 10: Did a shot in the finals and I'll never forget
Speaker 10: the shot. He was driving to the basket and he
Speaker 10: went up and I put my hands up to try
Speaker 10: to block the shot, and he took the ball between
Speaker 10: my arms and then brought it back, came back up
Speaker 10: and then shot the shock.
Speaker 5: It was. It was incredible.
Speaker 10: After that moment, I was like this, that's the coldest
Speaker 10: player that ever played me.
Speaker 2: You think you and Shaq will ever be friends?
Speaker 5: Yes? We Actually I saw him in Orlando.
Speaker 10: Actually after I was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 10: I was out at a restaurant eating with my family
Speaker 10: and my friends, and the owner said that Shaq was
Speaker 10: actually at the restaurant, and I said, I'm going to
Speaker 10: go talk to him, and everybody was like what I said, Yes,
Speaker 10: I'm gonna.
Speaker 5: Go talk to him.
Speaker 10: I got up, went over to where he was at,
Speaker 10: shook his hand. After we have a minute the loan
Speaker 10: and we had a real good conversation and I was
Speaker 10: very happy about it. We express some things, and yeah,
Speaker 10: the next time you see both of us together, we'll
Speaker 10: talk about the stuff that we had a sit down about.
Speaker 10: But it was a really good talk and I'm glad
Speaker 10: that the universe everything worked out perfectly for us to
Speaker 10: be in Orlando at the same place at the same time.
Speaker 5: I'm a conversation.
Speaker 2: But when did it go south or sideways between you two?
Speaker 10: I have no clue. I really believe that it was
Speaker 10: outside noise and people. He say, she says stuff like that,
Speaker 10: and then now I make both of us irritated. So
Speaker 10: when I hear something on TV that he says, I'm
Speaker 10: pissed off about it and I'm responded to him and
Speaker 10: vice versa. And to be honest, I'm just just like, man,
Speaker 10: we're too old for this. You know, we have children,
Speaker 10: we have people who look up to us, and you know,
Speaker 10: we both need a lot to a lot of people
Speaker 10: in this world. We both does some amazing things, and
Speaker 10: you know we don't need this. I don't. I don't
Speaker 10: like it. I grew up watching Sack. I respect him
Speaker 10: as a player and a man in a businessman that
Speaker 10: he is. When his father passed away years back, it's
Speaker 10: one of the first people to reach out because I
Speaker 10: knew how much that, you.
Speaker 5: Know, losing his father. You know, it was hurting him. Man.
Speaker 10: I really as a as a young man, you know,
Speaker 10: looking up to smiling.
Speaker 5: Like you know, shagers, like my big brother. So we
Speaker 5: just had to miss some seton.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought it was. You were both in Orlando,
Speaker 2: both had Superman nickname. You end up following in his
Speaker 2: footsteps to the Lakers. So it's maybe he was thinking
Speaker 2: you were following in his footsteps, trying to be like Shaq,
Speaker 2: and for some reason he had a problem with that.
Speaker 2: That's all I how I viewed it.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well I wouldn't.
Speaker 10: So my thing is this, also, if someone is trying
Speaker 10: to follow in my foot steps, that means to me
Speaker 10: that first that's an honor, that's a humbling and that
Speaker 10: means that I've done such a great job with my
Speaker 10: life and my career that somebody wants to follow in
Speaker 10: those footsteps. So I don't see anything wrong with that. No, now,
Speaker 10: I did not do that. It's just everything seemed to
Speaker 10: pan out like it was a mirror image of Shaq's
Speaker 10: life and career. We're both tall, we're both funny, we're
Speaker 10: both comedians, like to have fun, dance, we both tunked
Speaker 10: the ball a lot. With both dominant centers. I understand
Speaker 10: that we both say we're superman, So I get it.
Speaker 10: If I am following his footsteps, I should.
Speaker 5: I would love that. You know, Shack has saved a
Speaker 5: way for so many big men.
Speaker 10: He's done an amazing job, So you know that's amazing
Speaker 10: to follow in the footsteps were one of the greatest,
Speaker 10: most dominant big men to ever play.
Speaker 2: Who's gonna present you at the Hall of Fame?
Speaker 5: Ah?
Speaker 10: Well, I would love Kevin Gardinett h Keem, Elijah One,
Speaker 10: and Shaquille O'Neill to walk me in. If it's not Shaquille,
Speaker 10: if he can't do it, Mark Jackson.
Speaker 2: Wait, have you reached out to these guys? Are you
Speaker 2: reaching out to them now?
Speaker 5: Yes?
Speaker 10: Yes, I have to reach back out to Mark Jackson.
Speaker 10: Mark Jackson's story about him. I met him in high
Speaker 10: school at the Top one hundred camp and I asked
Speaker 10: him could he meet me every morning at around six
Speaker 10: point thirty to work out before a camp started.
Speaker 5: And he thought I was playing around and I wasn't
Speaker 5: going to show up.
Speaker 10: I told him I was serious about being the number
Speaker 10: one pick and the best player in the Nations.
Speaker 5: I was there every morning. He was there every morning.
Speaker 10: That helped me get better, and I remember that they
Speaker 10: really helped shape the mold before the NBA. So you know,
Speaker 10: I would love for him to, you know, walk me in,
Speaker 10: but I don't. I said, I think it's players who
Speaker 10: have made it into the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, I mean it sounds like you got a
Speaker 2: posse there, not just one person, Dwight so Shack, Kevin Garnett, Cheam,
Speaker 2: Elijah Well, you got to pick one. I don't know.
Speaker 2: Can you have three?
Speaker 5: I think you can have two?
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 10: My favorite player all time is what Chamberins, So if
Speaker 10: he could do it, I would love what Chaman would
Speaker 10: be there.
Speaker 5: That's my favorite player.
Speaker 2: Uh So, yeah, well that's not gonna happen. So I
Speaker 2: think it would be awesome. I mean, if Will Chamberlain
Speaker 2: walks you in, hey, that'll be a pretty great moment.
Speaker 2: He's been dead for a long time. Dwight, I think
Speaker 2: sha Shack walking you in would be awesome. That would
Speaker 2: be pretty special to see you two walk in together.
Speaker 2: Hopefully you would.
Speaker 10: It would it would be very special, not only because
Speaker 10: of all the noise that overall years. People would love that.
Speaker 10: But one thing we both say is people would love
Speaker 10: to see us fight, and we're not fighting, we don't
Speaker 10: need to fight. But the moment that people would really
Speaker 10: love to see is I think that moment right there,
Speaker 10: and it shows that we have mature in a lot
Speaker 10: of different ways. We're able to squash whatever beef people
Speaker 10: to say we're having. And you know, he's inducted me
Speaker 10: into that level, that that space that he's always pushed
Speaker 10: me at every single time he's been uh, you know
Speaker 10: the shows that T and T stuff like that.
Speaker 5: So just to see him do that, I think it'd
Speaker 5: be really awesome.
Speaker 2: And this I'm gonna script this for you. You and
Speaker 2: Shoq walk in and then you open up your jackets
Speaker 2: and you got Superman T shirts.
Speaker 5: On Ah, that would be hilarious.
Speaker 2: All right, we just got to get Shock on board.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 2: That's it. We we get we got a little bit
Speaker 2: of time. You got a couple of I think we
Speaker 2: got some time.
Speaker 5: I will start working on sending us a more message
Speaker 5: and see if.
Speaker 2: The work well. More importantly, congratulations on all of this,
Speaker 2: and thanks for joining.
Speaker 5: Us, Thanks for having me man. I don't know if
Speaker 5: you know I'll be joining the Big Three this year.
Speaker 5: Play some Big.
Speaker 10: Three basketball with ice Cube and if you have any
Speaker 10: players that's interested in playing. And I have my whole
Speaker 10: professional league in Asia. It's called the Asian Tournament. We're
Speaker 10: having a draft April eleventh and April twelve this month
Speaker 10: coming up. We have twelve teams in our league and
Speaker 10: we want to expand it and get more guys in
Speaker 10: America and the States opportunities to play in a national ball.
Speaker 10: Get an awesome job for me my career, and I
Speaker 10: can do an amazing job of the guys I love
Speaker 10: to give him that opportunity.
Speaker 2: Can cbe play anymore? I mean, he messed around and
Speaker 2: got a triple double Dwight, which I don't know if
Speaker 2: he really did. Dwight, he kept his own stats in
Speaker 2: a pickup game.
Speaker 1: You are, let me fet so good?
Speaker 2: Can Cube still? Can Cube play?
Speaker 5: He can still play?
Speaker 2: That's why he had it the four point four point shot.
Speaker 2: Oh man, uh, good luck with all of this, and again,
Speaker 2: rats and thanks for joining.
Speaker 5: Us, thanks for having man. I have an awesome day.
Speaker 2: That's Dwight Howard going to be inducted into the Basketball
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame.