Noah Eagle on Broadcasting, Clippers, Kawhi and more

in LA. You see him on NBC four on NBC on the Peacock of course with Big Ten Saturday night, and I love it. It's the young goat, Noah Eagle here on Clippers Talk. Noah, my friend, how are we doing?

But it made me remember my first year doing the job, and I was fresh out of college and I was trying to just get to know everybody before I got there, and so your number was passed along and I reached out to you and I called you and we talked for like five minutes and I was like, hey, man, you know really looking forward to me. You're like yeah, yeah, yeah so am I so my like great, and so I was like, well that was kind of short. I

don't really that was odd. And then literally the next time I saw you, I think it was a media day. You're like, yeah, that was my bad man. I was. I was at a bar, I couldn't really talk, and I was like, oh, dude, that's cool, that's cool. And from that moment on, I was like, Oh, this guy's great, this guy's awesome. Because I just remember sitting next to you at media day and I think you made a couple of jokes. I'm like, oh, this is gonna go

really really well. But I remember that first phone conversation. I'm like, who is this dude? This Adam Austlin. What's his deal? Yeah?

But then I was listening to, of course, just a bunch of Clippers podcast Brian Seeman. He was on the lob of the Jam the podcast. I was listening to Clips Forum, I was listening to Lockdown Clippers. I just absorb as much Clippers content as possible.

give me some storylines for the Clippers. So I'm talking about Kawhi and then he's like, okay, enough, let's get to the Lakers' Fred, we got more to talk about here. Terrence man Zubos Extensions, Jeff van Gundhi into a dome and he said this, I go into a dome and he's like, already been there, don't care. What how do you dismiss the eighth Wonder of the world like that?

I want to reflect a little bit because there was the call of the summer, a call to live on for ages and it happened in the Golden Medal game between France while in France and Team USA, and it was the Golden Dagger call with Steph Curry going off for Team USA. We're on the call which Wayne Wade talk about the experience in France and calling one of the most prestigious moments in international sportes.

on his side and calling the game. I think about do you remember the game that he had against the Clippers where he had I think fifty at Staples.

I'm from the logo two game. So I had had all those experiences and I kind of knew how to call a Steph game, but I never actually got to do it where I really got to do it, if that makes sense. And so I was just excited that I actually got to be excited for him for once, because it is brutal when you're the opponent and he just does that to you. And so everything that everybody in that arena that was French, which was a large portion of it, was feeling I had felt before, so

I kind of knew that end of it. But the jubilation that came from what he did was incredible. And that was really the case for the entire Olympics because I did a number of non US games as well. I did the US men and women, I did non US men and women's games. And the one thing that really stood out to me is it was the only time so far in my career that everybody back home

that was watching and I mean just about everybody. Maybe not you because I know you declared something about the French team with Nico, but basically ninety nine percent of the people watching here in America where we're broadcasting, we're rooting for one side, which is you never get that even now in the modern NBA, if you're calling for a team because it's basically national and there's league pass,

and same with radio and Sirius XM. You get fans of all different teams tuning in to your games, and so you never have a basically one hundred percent approval rating on anything, and so it was just fascinating that the way I call these games, like the Serbia game that was the semi final with the us Men where they're down seventeen to the third quarter, there was this moment where I'm like, oh, I'm gonna be hated forever.

Dwayne and I are literally going to be hated figures because we called this failure of US basketball and Dwayne already got third place and a bronze medal in two thousand and four. He's gonna be like the scapegoat of USA basketball forever. And I'm gonna be the guy who had to call Serbia upsetting them with Jokic and everyone's

gonna hate us. And then they win that game and it completely flips and everyone's like, these guys are awesome because we're we were all excited and everyone was excited together. So yeah, it was really cool. It was some of the most fun I had. I will say that the other thing that people asked me was did you have any of those calls ready to go? You know me, you worked with me for four years. I don't come up with anything ahead of time. It's whatever is in

the moment is what comes out. But I will say that all four of those years of doing the Clipper games prepared me for every one of those moments, because I felt like I'd seen everything with the Clippers, and I really had seen just about everything with the Clippers. And think about some of the games that we got to do in those four years. I mean the thirty one point, the thirty five point comeback. I'm thinking of

the other one. The one point comeback was right before I got there, thirty five point comeback against the Wizards, the twenty five point comeback in Game six, So I knew crazy comebacks. I'd seen those, and then just tense moments, tense games, down to the wire games. I had seen those blowout games. I had seen those unsung hero games, Terrence Man coming out of nowhere. I had seen those. So I kind of knew what to expect and what

to feel in each of those moments. And I don't think I would have done it as well as I did if I hadn't had those four years.

there are a couple things that really stood out. The first one was how much of a team player he was. And you know how much that means to me. I mean, that's MYMO to me, this is it's a group. It's a team. I mean what we see on the court as a team and we are all a team as well. So to me, everybody plays a vital role in what eventually is hopefully a successful broadcast, and I think Dwayne he showed up and he just felt that immediately. He

knew that immediately. You know, the first week we're there, everybody just assumed you're in Paris, but that first week was in Lele, which was two and a half hour drive from Paris. The way that I would describe it, and I had described it to people, is it's basically like someone said, Hey, you're gonna go call these games in Paris, or excuse me, you're gonna go call these games in New York. And so in your head, you're like, New York City, this is gonna be amazing. And then

you land and it's Buffalo. It's like, oh, that's quite the same. Like it's a little different. Wings are good, but not New York City. You know, I was kind of expecting that. So I we get to lil and I just figured Dwayne. I'm like, there's no way Dwayne's staying in this crappy hotel that we're in. And he was right across the hall from me the entire time, and so that right off the rip, I was like, Okay, he's in on this. He's he's down to do this

the right way, and from that point on. Yeah, we developed a great friendship chemistry, go out to dinners, talk things through, learn about each other, not just on the air, but off the air, and I think it really it definitely showcased itself down the stretch. And then my favorite part of all of it was the step shot over the double team where he gave the Nui Nui as we call it, the Golden dagger shot. If you go and look at the video in the background, you can see.

So the China. Robinson did the women's games with me, and she actually just came to that game. It's the only one she came, the only men's game she came to. And she was sitting and actually listening to Dwayne and I while watching the game live and which I'm like, the China at halftime, like, the China are you what are you listening to music? She's like, no, I'm listening to broadcast. That was funny what you said. And I'm like, isn't this a delay? She goes, oh, yeah, it's like

two minutes behind. I'm like, that can't be good. I can't be an enjoyable experience. She's like, it's great, what are you talking about? So if you watch. She's got earphones in, but she is literally jumping up and down after Steph makes the shot and almost like clapping. And Dwayne jumped on my back and I'm basically giving him a piggyback ride as I'm calling the shot good and he was losing it. Our entire area was losing it. There was an on site producer who just looks completely stunned,

David Gibson, completely stunned. My stats guy Tyler is I think beside himself, and if you just look at the reactions of everybody, I think that was that told pretty much the story any better than I could have with the words. So yeah, he was great, and I think I don't know if he's going to do it long term. He'll have plenty of options to do so if he wants to, But if he does, I think he has a chance to be one of the best ones doing it.

she was like yeah. He goes, oh, all right, that's cool. You know, it just kind of moved on, which is him in a nutshell. But he saw me there and yeah, we had we had a nice little chat. We got to I congratulated him about the extension. Then he goes, no, no, no, no, congrats to you. I'm like, well, congrats to both of us then and he goes, yeah, I like that. I like that. So it was good to see him. Jason Powell and pretty much all that the Clippers peeps were

out there, which was cool. And I definitely had a lot of time with Eric Spolstrow, which I guess you can put two and two together. With Dwayne, he was very happy to come hang with us before games. Grant Hill, Steve Kerr a little bit. But for the most part, you know, we were doing our thing, they were doing theirs. The players would come, all of them would come say hello to Dwayne, and then a lot would you know, just come and either dap me up or tap me.

So Steph was one of those early in the tournament. But for the most part, No, it was no different than anything else. I'd just kind of go and do my thing. I'd do my job and let the rest kind of handle itself.

in Paris. So there were thirty thousand people in there, and it was full for the France. It was France's first game, obviously full an hour before tip one hour before tip literally not a seed empty, and one hour before when they let the players on. And Victor web

it's a little different. That's a little different. But Victor Webbanyama first player out an hour before tip off and he literally just palms like the ball like this basically, you know, with two fingers, essentially picks up the basketball, flings it from half court, nothing but net and the place. I've almost never heard a building louder than when that happened.

And that was the first thing we did. We weren't even on yet, and Dwayne looked at me and he was like, is this normal, Like, oh no, no, it is not. It is very abnormal. So we had that game and then we had a great game Canada and Greece. That was our first day. Now, the Greek names were adventurous, to say the least. Jannistetakumbo was probably the easiest traditional unquote Greek name, even though that's not Greek by nature. But we had a guy totally Apolis. There was harrin Popolis.

There was Kostas Papa Nicolau, which Pizza might remember from the NBA lore. There was your ghost Papa Yanis, who I said was Giannis's father, Papa Yannis. So there were a lot of things there. But anyway, we didn't have a single day off from that point on. The one day off we had was when we traveled from Lill to Paris, and then we had that NBA party that Snoop Dogg came out and performed at, which was awesome.

So I was all in on that, But no I was hoping to get to beach volleyball or swimming or gymnastics. Didn't happen.

the wrong button here. People boughts asking about Jeff van Gundy at the with his Olympic work that he's been doing for years now.

was I think in scouting more than anything. And my stats guy is a guy by the name of Tyler Freed, whose father is Dave Freed, who's Mike Breens stats guy, and so he worked with Jeff for years, and Jeff and the Freed family are very close, and so Tyler texted Jeff and it was like, hey, are you here? He goes, I am, He goes, we don't see you. He goes, you won't like that. That was how he was operating. He was so stealth that we.

So I didn't really get to see him very much specifically, but I heard about the urban legend that was Jeff ben Gundi, tem USA employee.

from TNC. I'm not saying there's some infighting or a civil war going on right now, but those have to be interesting conversations.

That's you know that the NBA and basketball are my main passions, and so when there's an opportunity to be more involved within that, you always want to jump at it. So we'll see what that looks like. We'll see what it looks like for me, what it looks like for him. But we would love double bird action in some way, shape or form, and we know that people seem to respond to that, so we'll see what it looks like.

eight nine years old, whatever it might have been. I mean, there's photo of me pre puberty with Lawrence and a basketball, and I showed it to him and he's like, God, I look better with a beard. I go, you do. Yeah, I'm not going to argue that. But because of that, it really just allowed people to form their opinion of me solely on me. When I get back to New York.

People had known me from childhood all the way through, and so I think it took a couple of games for them to separate what they had known their whole life into what I am now. But after that it was just off and running and it was great. But yeah,

working with different people. You know, I have known Sarah Coustack since I was probably fifteen fifteen years old, and so for her, I think it tripped her out initially, like, Okay, we're working together, fully, fully working together, you know it had worked in different capacities before, but she loved it. By the end of it, we had a great time.

Richard Jefferson I knew when he was playing with the nets, and at that time when he first got drafted there, I was probably six or seven years old, and so for him, he knew me when I was seven years old, and now we're working together so similarly, and he, you know, wanted to test see where I'm at, see if I could hang and do all that stuff, and we hit

it off. So it was it was a blast. Our producer, Frank de Grace is amazing and someone that I've known and he's been working with them for twenty five years basically now, so most of my life. So it was just a different vibe than it was in LA But it was amazing once you got off and running, and once we found a rhythm and once we kind of understood each other, and I just got accepted like I was part of the team very very quickly, which was always kind of what you want to see and how

you wanted to go. So we'll see how it goes this year, hopefully a couple more games added to that slate. I did twelve last year, and we'll see where it ends up when we shake out the schedule.

I know you have Michigan visiting Washington a rematch of the National Championship game. I know both teams are very different now, but you talk about basketball being your first love, how much of an adjustment. Is it calling these games for football. I know it's not new to you, You've done it over the years already, but now it's a weekly thing for you on Saturday nights.

He goes, what do you do? Fantasy basketball? I go that that's insulting com from it, dude. I was like, come on, man, it's very much reality. This right here is more real than you'll ever be. And he was like, Okay, buy this. I'm like, I'm not buying it. So anyway, I would say that's the first difference is I'm not worrying as much about where the next assignment is, which will change when basketball starts, it still gets tough. For

I'm doing college again with NBC. I'm doing the net stuff again, so it's still fitting the pieces, but not quite at the level it was a couple of years ago. But the adjustment has been great. You know, I have a really great partner in Todd Blackledge, who's been doing

this for a long time at an elite level. And you know, when you work with elite people like yourself and like big brother Jake and many others, it makes your job easier because everybody gets to pull their weight, and Todd almost pulls our weight collectively in some respects, and make sure that we're always heading in the right direction. Same with Catherine Tappan on the sideline and our entire production crew. And so I just kind of do my work, make sure I'm prepared, make sure I'm ready to go,

ready to have some fun. I bring a lot of positive energy, a lot of just period energy. And you know how I am, I byoe. It's always byoe with me. There's no caffeine for me. I'm not a five hour energy guy like some others who dug that stuff. I couldn't. I don't know who I'm not a protein shape guy either mid game. I can't have that effect the vocal court.

How proud are you of Carlo and taking that torch from you on the radio side for the Clippers.

I also sound like the kid on Live Tell. Apparently I've never been on live television. Apparently I told him to change his hair. I must have been under the influence in some way, shape or form when that happened. But not Carlo is sensational, and not just on air, but off air, and I think you know how much that means to me. I talked about it with Dwayne and how he interacted. But if you watch him interact, he comes from an outstanding family. I've met his family

and how he was raised. You could tell that he was going to fit right in wherever he ended up. And so I thought it was great that the Clippers was that destination. And it's a guy who got to be really familiar with la I have known him since he was going into his freshman year of college, and you knew early with him that he was going to be a star because you could tell one the work ethic was off the charts, which is vital to success

in this particular field especially. You've got to be willing to grind and you've got to be willing to go the extra mile, and he always was from freshman year all the way through. It was never something you had to remind him. It was instinctive, and so that goes a long way. The second thing was his comfortability, not just in terms of his broadcasting, but his comfortability interacting, and I think that goes a long way as well. I think that is really important to determine your future success.

And then the third one was how are you as a teammate? And you could tell early that he was a great teammate. And then when I got to do some USC games, I got to see him interacting with the guys who were a year younger than or two years younger than him, who now we're looking up to him and the way that he was going back and forth and helping them along and not selfish about how he was going about his business. You go, Okay, this kid's got an understanding of how it's supposed to go.

And in terms of the on air performance, I think if you listen to his first game last year all the way through his last one, there's a major leap. I mean, I told him the same thing happened when I did it, and it's true with anybody if you start at a certain level, and his level was more than good enough when he first got there to be on the air and to have that job. But you're

only going to keep getting better at that point. And so the strides he took from the beginning to end of year one were sensational, and I expect now he's only going to keep building because he's motivated. He's self motivated, and he does seek out opinions from a variety of sources, and he does listen. He doesn't just poo poo it and say, well, I know what I'm doing. He really wants it. He wants to be coached at the highest level,

and I think takes all of that to heart. So I'm looking forward to what year two has for him. I thought you guys were great together. I loved always tuning into your pregame chats or post game or even sometimes in the middle of games during a timeout. It was it was a lot of fun. But you guys sounded great. He sounded great, and I'm pumped because the Clippers are in really good hands now. I could never do the TikTok stuff that both of you guys are doing.

That's not my forte. But I've been thoroughly impressed with what he's built and I know that that's only going to continue taking off as well.

like no, no, you're gonna want the photo. Rob And for anybody who's watching or listening is the usher of the section in which the Clippers radio would inhabit, and he was the king of angles. He is a great angle photographer, but he's also he's so friendly that he doesn't want anyone to be left out. Even people that weren't asking would get opportunities. So I can't even imagine, considering Carlo already had suitors the level that it reached when Robin got involved.

tertiary when you were walking those halls. And I love that building and I love a lot of the people that do work there, whether it's Ab or Vincent and Robin or many others. You know Bernard in the media room. All those people were great and treated me great. But there were the occasions where we kind of got laughed at or scoffed, or we were trying to do something and got rejected, whatever it might be. It's just not going to be the case anymore. And I think that

you can't undersell the importance of that. I also think you can undervalue the importance of having your facility basically attached and having everything in one place that is massive as well, the ease of having everybody under one roof, as opposed to some downtown, some imply a vista, some elsewhere, some at home. That's a game changer. It builds camaraderie within an organization. And then on top of that. I haven't been able to see it yet. I haven't gone,

but I've seen the renderings. Chris Wallace just delivered a great presentation at the NBA meetings a couple of weeks ago where he showcased everything. I've talked to Carlo, I've talked to Christina, I've talked to others who have been there and have really gotten a sense of it. It sounds like a spaceship. Basically, that is a basketball mecha, and that's what they wanted it to be. I love

the Jersey touch with all the high schools. Love the abundance of bathrooms because you know me, I was willing to shove a nine year old out of the way to make sure I could make it to the bathroom in time and get back before I to be on again.

period to figure some of that out. And I just know, because I know how the Clippers are looked at and perceived and talked about, that people are not going to give it that that if it was other organizations, maybe you would. So I do ask everybody give it time so that they can truly get everything figured out. But if a year in they still have issues, that's I think that this place is going to be pristine. I think that it's going to be the premiere spot for

basketball in the country, and we've already seen that. There's a lot of faith in that because the Olympic basketball competition in twenty twenty eight is going to be played there, and probably deservedly so. So I give Steve a ton of credit. I gave him another and I've said this a lot. I give him a ton of credit as well for privately funding the whole thing and not asking for any public dollars because he's got more than enough.

And I hope to see it this season. If not this season, then I certainly hope to see it next season.

a completely different experience. It'll take time getting used to, but it's a good feeling and kind of that security blanket for Clippers fans now knowing that they have a home base, as Kawhi put it at media Day.

they want. And then I think two years later they signed Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, DeAndre Jordan trade for hard and et cetera. And obviously it didn't work out the way that they hoped it would because of injuries and vaccines and many other factors, but it did ring true and a lot of that was a direct result of the Pristine facility, and that facility is right near Barkley Center and easy access and all of that. That does

make a huge difference. And it was their home instead of sharing it to your point with the Devils like they did for years in New Jersey or being.

could be to come with this team? We just had media day yesterday, But I want to start with Paul George leaving because that was the initial shoot to drop the big news and then he made a couple of comments calling them the B team in LA, saying they got stabbed in the back. His dad mentioned that he kind of signed off on it. I know he has a podcast. I know how that is. You can put your foot in your mouth sometimes you can talk too much. There isn't edit butter edit button. I would have edited

that out. I not been live here. But how do you feel about Paul George at this point? What was your impression of him? Covering him for four years as a clipper.

I think that people forget in all forms of business that it is just at the and the way I saw it with the Clippers and Paul, they saw him in one area and he had publicly said that he was number two to number one who wears number two, and he had made that pretty clear publicly again, and then he wanted to go back and say, but I should still be paid like the guy who wears number two. And I think the Clippers finally said, look, we're gonna

pay you. Well, We're gonna pay you handsomely. You've said you wanted to retire with this organization, you said you wanted to you owe us a championship. You've said all of these things. You've handled yourself very well. You were the driving force to getting us to our first conference final, and we do appreciate that, but we also want to make sure that the team's competitive, competitive enough to do it.

And I look at what Jalen Brunson has done in New York and saying I'll take slightly less so we can try to be as competitive as possible. And we see that every now and then across sports, but more than the other side. You see guys maximizing what they can make. And I can't blame a person for maximizing what they can make. It's a very finite period of your life that you're going to have this ability to go out there and make millions and millions of dollars.

And Philadelphia was willing to pay him, what two hundred and twenty million over four years? How can he turn that down? And realistically, it didn't seem like the Clippers blamed him either. It didn't seem like there was ill will from the organization saying how dare you turn your back on us? Or they said we understand it's a business. And so that's what I go back to. But I do think that even when you get your money and you get it from somewhere else, there is this feeling of, well,

that was wrong. They wronged me, because there's a motion that comes with this that's natural for any human being to feel. So I don't blame Paul for how he's handled himself, but he's going to have to go and prove it now on the court. I mean, that's been the case with him for years. Is it's time to prove it on the court. And the reality was last

postseason was not kind for him. It was not a great series for Paul George, not quite what it was in twenty twenty one when he looked like he was that guy, a guy that could lead a team through a playoff run. He's playing now with two awesome, awesome players. Now all three of those guys are going to have

to stay healthy. The Eastern Conference got a little more interesting in New York City, and the Boston Celtics are running back what was a juggernaut of a team, so they're going to have real competition, not to mention Milwaukee and Indiana and many of these other teams. I mean, I could go deep into both conferences. I'd say the West is a little bit more of a bloodbath, but

that's for a deeper discussion. All this to say, I actually think that both sides kind of handled it the way I expected them to both handle this, And that's really where I'm getting at. And now the Clippers get to turn the page. And look, if you're a Clipper fan, you're saying, oh, this is not great that we don't

have them. I would argue to think a little bit into the future here about what that contract would look and feel like in three years when he's going to be thirty seven years old and making What would it be sixty million dollars at that time. That's a lot of money for a guy who has dealt with a lot of injuries over the course of his career and is going to be making that much at thirty seven. So I just look at it as business and I'm happy for him that he got what he thought he deserved.

help them win a couple games. And their viewpoint is, well, if Kawhi is healthy, which obviously is a big if, and they're going to do things, I would say a little bit differently to try to ensure that this year into the playoffs. But if they had Kawhi and it was Kawhi and James, they feel like they could have won that series, especially now with these new additions that are younger, athletic and defensive, and that's it did feel like that's where they needed to get a little tougher, right.

They got pushed around a little bit in that Dallas series. But I think a lot of people undervalue what Norm pala is capable of. I mean, this is a guy that he's more than capable of being a twenty point per game scorer. And in that series two years ago against Phoenix, when they didn't have Kawhi or Paul, Norm had a couple of massive games. So he had forty plus in a playoff game. That's not simple to do. I don't care who you are, we know that Terrence

Man is a perfect role piece of Zubots. I still think gets undervalued around the NBA. And finally, even though it seems like now you quote unquote got paid, he still seems underpaid compared to a lot of guys around the NBA. So you still have this nucleus that you had built. I got to call him Minnesota game last year, so I got to see Cam Christy. I actually am a big fan of his, and I think that he has a chance, with the right development and with the

right time, to be a legitimate NBA player. So you've got these guys that were already in your orbit, and then you add a Mobamba who look isn't necessarily what people anticipated he would be given the recruit He was a one and done guy, had a number one song

on the chart about him, all that stuff. But he's still a serviceable piece, and he's going to be battling now with Kai Jones, and people forget about the Kai Jones thing, and Kai wasn't necessarily a similar both Texas guys, right, both guys who came out after a year and both projected to be something great. He wasn't that in Charlotte. But he's also younger than people think he is, and he's also uber athletic, and he's also an element that they haven't had in a long time since basically the

Lob City days at that position. So I'm fascinated to see what Tilu can do with him. You bring back Nico, who we know just the vibe that he can bring and how that permeates through the rest of the team. So to me, they went in the right direction in how they wanted to build it out. They didn't overspend, they didn't overreact. They said, Okay, let's see what we have and if nothing else, we can reassess when the time is right.

And he spoke a little bit at media day yesterday, and we had Lawrence Frank and coach Lou's talking about it last week. But his knee still has some swelling. It's almost gone. And it sounds like from Shan Sharani on the report he had that Kawhi had a procedure back in May. Just where are you and you're thinking about Kawhi? And maybe I don't know how they could try to manage this and just get the most out of him now at the age of thirty three, and hopefully have him available for the playoffs.

divulge the dark aspects of this. Now it feels like they're saying, Okay, you know what, people I think have right through that. Let's go the opposite way, and we're going to reveal maybe some of the stuff that we never would have in the past. And it's actually probably better than what they've said, because from what I've heard, he's on a better track than what it seemed like it was when Lawrence revealed all that stuff. From what I've heard, at least, and again Kawhi goes about at

Kawhi's way. So I can only tell you from this game of telephone, But from what I'm hearing is he's pretty far along and he feels pretty good that he can get back there come opening day, and even if it's not opening day, that opening week, two weeks of the season, he should be good to go. The biggest key is to your point, now, once he is back, how do you manage that? Is it a minutes thing, is it a games thing? Is it a combination of

the two? Which it likely will be. But I think that the first part of this is people have to stop giving a negative connotation to Kawhi. Leonard and load management think that they have to understand that his situation and circumstance is incredibly unique. Given what he has to deal with every single day with a degenerative knee. It's not something that is just a one time injury that he's managing the rest of his career. This is a multitude.

It's an amalgamation of things that have come together now and he has to really manage it. And he's talked about it at great length that this isn't just about his playing career. This is about his post playing career as well. And I mean, I've been around enough of these guys, whether it's Doc Rivers or Sam Cassel or Tlu who played a long time in the NBA, and they look like their question marks when they're walking around, like literally the shape not questionable to play, but they're shaped.

And Doc is hunched over and he would tell you it's from the wear and tear on his body. And there was no load management at the time. So I do think there's something to that, and a lot of these guys are starting to understand that there's two parts of it. The careers are lasting longer, which is a good thing given that the salaries are going up and

you can maximize your spending. So Jeff Green can play for two decades, or Andre Gadala can play for two decades, or now Steph Curry or Lebron James or stars Kevin Durant who tours Achilles and is literally still playing at an incredibly high level. We can do that now, So there is something to managing that, so you can extend as long as you possibly can. And then there's the post playing side of it as well. So I do think that for Kawhi, they're gonna have to be extra cautious.

I think that James looks like he's in great shape, which generally happens when he's back in a place for a second go around. He comes back ready to go and the rest of the team is going to have to pick it up. And Norman Powell has been very clear that he believes he should be starting. Now's the time to prove it. Bro. If you think that you're ready for that, if you think that you're capable of being an All Star, which he's talked about in the past, this is your time.

but they're still going to be exceptionally good. And they believe Christian Brown is ready to take the step. Peyton Watson's ready to take the step. They still have Jokis the best player in the world, which he proved I would at the Olympics. Again, Yeah, you've got who was a three era Minnesota and they just traded away cat but and I'm curious what they do with Julius Randall. But Dante DiVincenzo was a massive addition for them. Anthony Edwards is ready in his mind to be the face

of the league. McDaniels proved how valuable of a player he was. Rudy Gobert another defensive Player of the Year, probably should have been second place, but that's okay. He wins his fourth So they're gonna be back, right The Clippers believe that they're going to be back. Dallas made the finals last year. Now I'm curious how the Klay Thompson experiment works for them, But they believe they're going to be back even with slight changes to their roster.

And then you just look down Phoenix. Why shouldn't they think with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker alone, And then if Beal looks any bit like the Beal of old, why wouldn't they believe that they're going to be ready to go. Tyas Jones is a great addition for them. And then there's teams that missed the playoffs like Memphis. To me, is the scariest team in the NBA right now because nobody he remembers how good John Moran actually is.

Because of the last two seasons two years ago with all of his off the court stuff last year with the suspension leading right into the injury, that dude is, at his peak one of the most fun and difficult players to deal with in the NBA. Now you pair that with Marcus Smart, which we really didn't get to see, Desmond Bain, Jaron Jaction Junior, and I did a ton of Purdue last year. I can tell you this much. Zach Edy is a seven foot four of Vitza Zubots. All right, so put a Vita Zubots and add four

inches to him. That's what zach Edy is capable. Now he's gonna have to work defensively to get there. As a rim protector, that's the one area. But offensively, his hands are ridiculous. Nobody understands how impressive he is catching the basketball. His finishing touch is off the charts, his footwork is elite, and so he's zoo. So imagine that. Now that's starting five with a bench with Gigi Jackson, who was awesome last year, et cetera, and many others.

I mean, that's a team that's scary. Sacramento Lisdamar DeRozan, that's a team that's scary. The Lakers still have Lebron, who just proved at the Olympics that he's got a lot left. So that's a team that's scary. I just you go through. I mean Golden State, Golden State could be a completely under the radar team that's still scary. So it's so hard to predict now that what to answer the actual question on the ceiling of the Clippers. I still think that they're capable of winning a lot

if those guys can play. I still think they're capable of being a playoff team, not a play in team, But I wouldn't know what to say once they get into the tournament because I think at that point all bets are off. This year in the Western Conference, yeah.

I don't think anybody did. And he's built himself into that. He deserves a lot of credit. Ja Dubb and j will I hate that as a broadcaster, sucks, but Jalen Williams from Santa Clara is a stud. Lou Dort is an elite defender. Alex Caruso now elite defender. He is the prototypical championship level role player. You get another year of muscle on Chet Holmgren and then our favorite man, Isaiah Harten. Talk about a perfect fit. Talk about a guy who has really finally put himself on the map.

We knew it the second we saw it. I will never forget. We go to training camp that year, so this would have been twenty one to twenty two season, the year after the conference finals, and we go to training camp in San Diego because it was still kind of the back half back end of COVID, so we weren't doing Hawaii and Kawhi got us at San Diego State. So we go and I was sitting next to Brian and Lawrence Frank and it was if you remember, I

know you remember, But for those listening. Remember it was between Harry Giles and Isaiah Hartenstein for the final roster spot. Only one of them was going to get it, and it was literally a duel, and going in everyone thought Giles was going to be the guy. Everyone said, well, this was the number one recruit in the country, won and done. If it wasn't for injuries, he's gonna find it with this team. And day one, Brian and I looked at each other and were like, Oh, this is over.

This guy's got it. And so we started talking to Lawrence where like, this guy's really good. He goes, yeah, we want to keep that a secret for as long as we can, and obviously they could keep it only so long. And I remember seeing Isaiah right after that season ended. I'm like, you're coming back, right, and he's like, I want to. I want to be back. I'm willing to take slightly less. I'm here to do it. He

had to take that deal with New York. You know, he wasn't gonna get that money necessarily from the Clippers, and you just never know with your career what happens. But I'm so happy for him with the contract he got. However, that is brutal for the rest of the Western Conference, because that combination of what they've got in Oklahoma City has a chance to be insane. And I think the same could be said about Memphis, and I really think that they match up. Those two teams match up exceptionally

well with one another. So it's gonna be fun to see some of those duels. That's all I'll say.

least in my opinion. So yes, I think Oklahoma City going into the season is probably still looked at as the likely number one seed. That's why you gotta go play the games. You got eighty two. Let's see what you.

PG in the fold, they should be very good. They should be competing in there. Orlando got better with Kntavious Caldwell Pope, they should be fun. Cleveland still should be very good with Donovan Mitchell and company. You've got Indiana who went to the conference finals last year, that I think is good. But I think it's probably a slight

tier below those teams we just mentioned. So outside of those those teams, you've got Atlanta, who I have very little faith in being a playoff team this year, Detroit very little faith in being a playoff team this year, Miami, who tends to be good, right, but we don't. It's just an known. It feels like it's just every year you have no idea which version of them you're going to get, and you know Spoe is going to coach

the hell out of them. You just don't know. Milwaukee, we know is going to be in contention at minimum, but it does sound like they've got some stuff to figure out coming out of Bucks camp right now. Yeah, I would say, and then what Washington, Toronto, Charlotte and my good old Brooklyn Nets. I mean, do you believe in any of those teams?

I had seen enough of Noah Eagle already halfway through his first year calling games with the Clippers, where I said, no, Moss, I'm good. I know this guy is him. This is the one, and you've only proven that more and more over the years. And I couldn't be prouder to have worked with you. I knew him when Noah Eagle working with the Clippers for four seasons, and now I can't wait to see what happens here in the future. And

I'm watching every big ten Saturday night. Now, I do love the broadcast because NB I've been saying this for years. First of all, you know I have hardcore nostalgia for the nineties basketball and NBC and John Tesh and round Ball Rock and blah blah blah blah blah basketball and all these things. But they have the best production. You guys have the best cameras. I'm a stickler, I'm a video file type guy or whatever it's called. I want to see my s and four K. I know what,

I'm watching a game on NBC. It's gonna look pristine.

doing this and staying long. And I should mention this episode was basically sponsored by the New York Mets, because if they hadn't won that game and Noah was sweating it out here, I don't know if he would have been able to come on with me. So thanks for handling your business there, Mets.