Let's move on to the drama. In the latest episode, as.
The NBA turns Nets edition, we have a new coach in Brooklyn and his name is not Ema Udoka.
I'm surprised. I'm surprised. Uh gheesh. I'm conflicted. I think.
So. On one hand, I think it's like time is a flat circle because Jacques Vaughan was probably should have gotten the job.
When Steve Nash did.
We saw him in the bubble do a great job. They beat the Bucks as like twenty nine and a half point dogs, like one of the largest upsets in NBA history from a betting perspective, And so to him, I'm I'm happy for him. For Emai Udoka what he did. I think he would have been a really good coach. I think he would have been a really good fit. And he brings defensive mindedness to a team that you
know they needed. And when Steve Nash was fired and immediately Sham's reported that he was not just the candidate, he was the only candidate as the replacement, It's kind of seemed like a done deal and it kind of felt like justice, you know, I like ime.
I want him to succeed. I want him to have another shot.
And to me, I was like, all right, he serves his little stinky suspension and then he goes back to our regular schedule programming, which is him in the front of a bench doing what he does win.
And then it wasn't After a week of silence, they said.
He was supposed to be on the road trip to DC, he was going to be on a private plane, and then the Kyrie thing happened, and we had radio silence. You had Adam Silver, you had all these news reports being like people are mad that the Nets are considering emy Udoka, women are mad, everyone's mad, and it's like, yeah, and Kyrie's being dropped by Nike. There's a million things he has to do to get back onto the court.
They're not winning games. And then you're like, all right, well we're not a contender, so why even deal with this bullshit?
All right? And now you got.
The new coach brought in and they're like, yeah, I wish you just maybe just make jacque Von the full time head coach. He has guided the Nets through many tumultuous times and I think he will get his chance and it's a good thing. My guy, Jake Fisher friend of Show wrote a detailed article on the hiring, and
this is what I said. Jacques Vaughan was someone that a lot of people in the organization and a lot of people on the coaching side believe should have gotten a chance at this job after the bubble in twenty twenty, before they hired Steve Nash to begin with. Yes, So on one hand, it was in a shock. On the other, you know, Poory Mayudoka. Honestly, he'll get another shot. Maybe he'll coach in Chicago or something. They're gonna fire Billy Donovan,
or maybe I'll get a cook. At one point he was on the Philadelphia seventy six ers bench, and guess whose butt is hot right now, Doc Rivers, So maybe he'll coach the Philadelphia seventy six ers. Fisher notes that Udoku's hier was a foregone conclusion and that Vaughn was fine with that. In fact, when they started on their recent road trip, he had no clue that he would
even be a possibility to get the job. But then they started winning, and their defense started picking up four games in a row that the net held opponents under one hundred points. Even the Knicks, who are scoring one hundred and fifteen one hundred and eighteen loud voices. Some rumors claim Adam Silver was one of them, warning against hiring email the cancerous, poisonous, per potential coach to women.
It's a fucking.
Strange, strange beat, but that's where we're at. Vaughan had a great answer when he was asked if he felt like he was a second choice. He said, well, I guess I was the right in candidate in the minds of the elections right now.
But I'm okay with that.
I said to my wife I might not have been her first choice either, and we've been together twenty years.
Yeah, I love him. I love him. Also, his beard is so gray.
From twenty twenty to now, he looked like he was my age, and now he looks like he's my mom's age.
So God bless him.
He deserves some sort of level of job security, some boost and pay.
Hope they're giving him more money.
Even Jake Fisher, who's well connected as anyone, says exactly why Vaughn got the job and not Udoka is still quote unquote murky man.
We're gonna be hearing about this one for a long time.
I am sure a couple of things I think are worth highlighting on this. I think Vaughan should have gotten the job after taking the team to the bubble. He's beloved across the NBA. That's what Fisher said, and I think that's true. He's widely hailed as a brilliant communicator. He's about as genuine as they come, in which plenty of dogs have eaten other dogs. Right. He continues to stay alive. Staying alive in this business very important. Great dude. I think he's gonna get a fair shake. I don't
think this is a rented seat. I think he if he continues to have this team locked in and playing well.
Unlessen Katie's endorsement is very meaningful.
He said more about Vaughan last night after the win against the next, blowout win against the next, more than he's ever said about Steve Nash, who he considered his Yoda. Right, So he's never said, yeah, he's got us all clicking, he's got us bought into his schemes. Have you ever heard Katie say that about Steve Nash? Not a fucking word. Uh. Second, I feel for Imai Doka. This is this is not good. I think he got hammered by his team, and this
time he's just sitting at home. He's the coach in waiting, and now he's not. He doesn't even know what's happening. He's literally just sitting there. And then the tides are changing before his very eyes. The sand is just slipping through the cracks of his fingers, the whispers of the due diligence was not fast enough on the net side. I don't even know what that means. We're gonna just move on. Hopefully things will quiet down in Brooklyn. Maybe not,
Maybe Kyrie will just be released. Kyrie has been released by Nike. Now Phil Knight.
Saying things about that. Maybe we'll talk about that more in detail. But can they win a chip with Katie in this supporting cast. I don't think it.
I don't think so. I don't think so. But I'm very curious to see how Von manages this team. And remember, they got thirty five million dollars in cap space after this offseason Starts can't have a show apparently without a Kyrie Irving update. This time it's about his standing connection with Nike. Following the passing of Kobe, people are been migrating over to Kyrie's shoes, and he makes phenomenal basketball shoes.
I think, and I've said this long before, Kyrie top three basketball shoe in history, just really good shoe outside of the Kyrie six, Kyrie Irving shoes elite. That bridge now is burned. Kyrie's shoes are now all out with the window. Anti Semitism controversy swirling around Kyrie has caused Philly Phil my uncle. He's not really my uncle, but you know, we went to the same school Oregon go Ducks quack quack.
But Uncle Phil has cut ties with Kyrie.
Not just Nike, mind you, but the Godfather himself is weighing in on it, being like, yeah, I blessed it.
He's fucking out. We're done, see you later. I'm good.
Nike suspended the deal with Kyrie, and Phil said this on CNBC, Kyrie stepped over the line. I doubt that we would go back, but I don't know for sure.
Then he says this, I was good with it. I was good with the move.
He stepped over the line, and I was good with it. I don't know for sure. Is a very interesting piece because I do know for sure. I think it's hard for Nike to pick up that relationship again, unless Kyrie says, listen, I thought I was thought I was being really smart, and I was being really dumb, and I was just trying to explore my heritage and that caused me to downgrade other people's heritage.
And you know what, that was foul of me. And I'm just not gonna say anything anymore. I'm just gonna hoop and I'm gonna sell shoes. I don't even think that gets it done, because the more Kyrie gets backed.
Into a corner, the more stubborn and absolutely just very vocal that he gets.
It's a shame. It's a shame.
Those Kyrie basketball shoes are fire. I've got a pair in the crip. You're gonna continue to wear those though,