You're tuned into Heat Check with Tristal Quick. On this episode of the Heat Check, Traymond Green gets suspended the entire NBA world seems to have lost its damn mind and will break down the Kings, Warriors and all the drama and detail, touch on some of the other series that, let's be honest, are a lot less interesting, and then look at the annual NBA players poll hosted by you got It, The Athletic. A lot of shit is popping. My man, Nick, do me a favor and drop that
generic ass beat that should be Rihanna. It looks like I lucked out. Yes, I found this series that is the most important of the first round Warriors Kings. Who would have thought probably would have been the same if the Warriors played the Pelicans, probably would have been this same aim if the Warriors played the Clippers or the Lakers. All the drama, all the pundits everybody would be talking about, has nothing to do with the Kings, right, has nothing
to do with the Kings, all the Warriors. Let's start with Draymond Green. We know what a time it is with Draymond Green, don't we like? From the punch the start of the season to the stomp that is dominating the news. Now, Draymond Green moves the needle. He moves the needle. I personally like Draymond Green. I'm just gonna say that. I am a Draymond Green fan. My folks, my brothers at thirteen twenty ESPN burn me up for this. The Chatty House burns me up for this. I like Draymond.
I think he's really good. I think he's a player you want on your team. I think he's a winning player. I think he's one of the best centers of our generation. He has basically put seven foot slow feet guys out of business, out of the business, made them retire, made guys like Dwight Howard ceased to exist in this league. But he's his own worst enemy, is he? He really is. That passion that he has, the passion that's the core the four championships that the Warriors have had, is the
same passion that gets him in trouble. It's the same passion that gets him suspended for Game three of the first round of the NBA Playoffs when they're on the precipice of losing their entire franchise as we know it. Some people believe he's now of control player in these moments. I do not personally think that he's unhinged. I believe he gets carried away. I believe that he is calculated and methodical with his tomfoolery, and I just don't think
he understands the ramifications of those actions at all. What happens next is not anticipated for Draymond Green, and what it does is it leaves chaos in his wake. Jordan Poole gets kioed. What happens. The team is in disarray for the beginning of the season, you got weekly kerfuffles with opposing players on opposing teams. You've become the only player now in NBA history to be ejected from one,
not one, but two playoff games. And now the league has officially suspended Draymond Green for Game three at Chase, which is now two suspensions in Draymond Green's career in the playoffs. Imagine that. Imagine that, Dubbs fans, dub Nation, you're down two oh and you need your heart and soul down too oh for the first time in the Steve Kerr era, down two oh in the for the first time in Steph Curry's career and your guy, the number one facilitator outside of Steph that you need running
the offense. Running the defense will not be not only on the court in the actual building itself, the beating heart of that offense, the hub which the entire Dubs offense runs through, will be on the couch as the dynasty fights for its life, its last dying breath, hoping and wishing along the way that they could just have Draymond Green on the court. We're not going to get into the actions. It looked like a stomp to me.
Depending on your fandom, you've already decided who is to blame our Dubs fans, we believe Sabona should have been suspended. We believe suspension should have come down all around. Adam Silver being in attendance probably didn't help, right, Like, we know that played some sort of role. You can see photos of him. He did not look amused. Coaches did not look amused when Draymond Green crushed Sabonis's sternum and then walked to the middle of the court, jumped on
the bench and said, who likes me? Now? What do you think? P's his hand to his ear like he just ddt somebody. Dog. That's not good. That's not good for your reputation and whether you're gonna get suspended as soon as you get teed up, as soon as you get a flagrant, you need to sit down and pretend like you didn't mean it. That pretty much sums it up. Man. It wasn't the stomp, It was just the reaction afterwards.
Your chest is stumping, Domas is writhing on the ground like you just got shot in the chest, and you're like, hell, yeah, who likes me? Now that's right, bitch, I'll stomp on your center. Hell y'all do it again in front of the commissioner. What take that? What? And then the funniest part was like when he heard Sibonis was having X rays on his ribs and lungs and all that he was diagnosed so bonis with a chest contusion, Draymond was like, actually,
I'm too having my ankle examined an X rayed. Something that I believe happened with Domanta Sabonis tugging on my ankle while I was operating at full speed, full speed. I was running at top motion in a full sprint in your center, pulled my ankle down and left me to die? What else was I supposed to do? Joe Dumars, who's the EVP of basketball operations, actually a mentor of Draymond Greens. Uh, he was the one to make the final decision and he said, yeah you got stick go.
I'm sorry. And the aftermath has been immense. The ements. The Draymon Defense Committee is in full force right now. They do not believe that Draymond has done anything wrong. In fact, there are people who believe, like I said, Sabonis is the one who precipitated and was the catalyst for all of the tom foolery. We got the local radio station in the Bay going crazy, going straight loco.
They're defending him to the death, even though alternate camera angles clearly showed dre winding up for the death stomp, and they defend it. When video from a month ago shows Draymond getting tangled up and kicking Herb Jones in the head, they're like, oh, well that was different. That was that was so much different. Though you see also
other videos where Draymond Green's pulling other men's ankles. They defend it, even though Domas has it's been come out that he's questionable for Game three because he has a chess contusion. I don't know, because he got stomped by a two hundred and sixty pounds man. It's insane. It really is insane, and I think I think it's really sad. Actually, I think it's uh. Truthfully, between me and you and
the lamp Post, I think it's pathetic. I think that the Warriors media and our fan base is going through it right now. We know that the end times are near. We've never been up against a wall like this during the Steph career era in our lives. Not once. In the beginning, it was all cute. Oh, kings are adorable. Oh there are little brothers ninety miles away. Oh yeah, they get to they get to fight Big Bro. They get to warm up. Big Bro will take it easy
on them, and then they knock Big Bro in the mouth. Pow, knock Big Bro in them out. They get pow and it's like listen here, little pip squeak, you're playing dirty. And now it's like, oh yeah, By the way, the Warriors were minus two seventy five, which, if you're not a better that's about as crazy of odds for a six seed to beat a three seed i've ever seen.
Basically what that means is you have to pay two hundred and seventy five dollars just to get one hundred dollars back on betting the Warriors to beat the Kings. The Kings were third in the West and the Warriors six in the West, and yet the Kings are underdogs, big underdogs in this series. And now that they're down the Warriors two zero, it's like, oh, well, you knew nothing's nothing's new. You know, the Kings were gonna always always win at home. They were always gonna hold serve up.
That was not the script, folks. That was not what you told me was gonna happen. You told me it was gonna be a sweep. You told me, we want the Kings. We want the Kings because we want a short series. We want to move on and get some rest. They were like, Oh, who's gonna stop staph Curry, Who's gonna stop staff Curry? Who's Malik Monk He's gonna get shut down, he's getting locked up. Kaminga's gonna lock him up, click clack. And for for Kings fans, Kings fans don't
want Draymond Green to be suspended. Why would they want that? Now, Warriors fans are just gonna be like, well, the only reason you beat us is because Draymond Green was suspended in Game three. Nobody wants that shit. Nobody wants that. And even Dumars came out and said this on ESPN a little bit ago. Here's what it came down to.
Excessive and over the top actions. Conduct detrimental. Conduct detrimental, by the way, means the histrionics out on the court, the stone cold Steve Austin moves the rock, the Undertaker bomb. It was like if I swear to God, you could hear the like the broken glass Dunna. It was like that. It was I swear to God in the building. I was in the building. It was like that. I thought someone was gonna come out and be like, how you like him?
Now?
You know it's That's That's what conduct detrimental means, and then repeat offender that you already know what time it is. That's what separates someone who doesn't get suspended and someone who does. Someone who does that a lot, and someone who doesn't. Past actions. People don't want to hear that, right like they do not want to hear that you do not want to hear that somebody else who stomped on another man's chest would have been just fine for it.
I tweeted that Game three was the most important game in Golden State in their history, and I was only like a quarter joking. This is a very important game if if our Dubs have a chance of winning this series, and ninety two percent of teams up to zero in the playoffs close out their opponents, so the odds are ready or not in our dubs favor, they have to win Game three or now. I don't think anybody's ever
won when they've gone down three to zero. So if our Dubs lose this game, most likely we are going home in Round one, only the fifth such defending champion in NBA history to flame out in the first round. In the next season, and then we enter this offseason where Clay wants a MAX extension, Draymond says he wants to get paid. He's got to finish his contract out.
But you can't extend them both. And right now, as it stands, the Warriors are paying five hundred million dollars in payroll for one of the oldest teams in the league that look like they need to be put out to pasture dynasty over fam rebuild full on. I don't even know what you do. I don't even know how you build around that team. Is it kaminga? You're building around kaminga? Okay, all right? Did you see him get cooked like seventeen times in a row in the four
minutes he was out there in game two? Anyway, we move on, kingson Forest say it ain't so all this because Draymond Green can't keep his hands feet to himself. The media is they are. I am now inside it to a point where I haven't had a dog in the fight really for a long time. And now that I I'm like an honorary member of the Beam team, I am seeing it from a whole new lens. It's crazy.
The world simply cannot comprehend how the Sacramento Kings are able to beat the Warriors two oh without Shenanigan's being at play. There are so many legitimate and explainable reasons why the Kings are just smothering the Warriors in this series. There's smart reasons, there's nerdy reasons. They're explainable reasons in the matchups. You're looking at it, you watch film. This stuff is not shocking, right, there are people breaking this down. If you wanted to know why it's happening, why it's
something probably likely to continue, you can find that. But then, but then there's this alternate universe, and that's what I want to talk about really quick. This alternate universe that cannot comprehend that Steph Curry could lose, cannot comprehend the concept that the Warriors would be beat by a team
that has not made the playoffs in seventeen years. This is a dynasty collapsing at the hands of a team that when you google the name, one of the first things that you see, like people also search for, is do the Sacramento Kinks still reside in Sacramento? And the dynasty could come crumbling down to a team that finish twenty sixth and Team Defense locking them the fuck up. Only Shenanigans to those people can explain this. Ignore these people.
They are their brains are mush, they have broken brains. They're clearly they are clearly self destructing live in front of us. No shade to JJ Reddick. He is one of those those people who are literally destructing. Just his brain is turning into liquid as we speak. Here's what is happening that has not been mentioned. It's actually really interesting because it highlights, highlights just how much the man
Mike Brown is. Joe Vire. I think Joe Vire, by the way, is one of the smartest guys on Twitter breaking down basketball. Find him. I think it's golden state of mind. Pretty sure that's what it is. Find him on Twitter. He's elite anyway, He's breaking down why Mike Brown is able to do this to the Warriors. And there is a reason Dante DiVincenzo sat out the fourth
quarter of Game two. There is a reason that Jonathan Kaminga played four minutes and was a negative ten on the court and did not see the court for the rest of the game. And there is a reason that Mike Brown turned Jordan Poole into the most expensive cheerleader in the NBA, considering that he did not see a minute in the fourth quarter either. What are those reasons? Mike Brown knows how to exploit those men, He knows their weaknesses, and not only does he exploit them, he
did it all night long. All of that is Mike Brown. If you don't remember, Mike Brown was in charge of the Warriors defense when he was coaching for Golden State for like seven years, most importantly running the defense last year, because there wasn't a lot of changes from last year to this year. So Vira is breaking down what's actually happening in this article. Here it is Brown's intimate knowledge
of the Warriors offense. Where it starts, it's the middleman, and where it ends is putting a wrench in Kerr and his squad. Pause, you fucking think big wrench. Brown knows all too well that the Warriors hubs or where the offense starts. His offense itself counts on a full crumb such as Demna Sabonis to initiate action and fuel
the offense to its highest gear. The Warriors do the same with someone like Draymond Green, who typically has all the vision he needs to whip passes to shooters and cutters off the ball because of his nature as a
non shooting threat on point. That is why Draymond Green's absence is very huge for Game three because now you've got to make the fulk crum Kevon Looney, and let's be honest, Kevon Looney does not have the same basketball IQ as Draymond Green, Kevon Looney not the same passer as Draymond Green, not the same quick decision maker as
Draymond Green, and Mike Brown understands this vra continues. What Brown knows, however, is that the best way to defend Green or Kevon Looney or any hubs stay in the low post, high post or at the top of the arc is to crowd their space. Putting ball pressure on the passing hub not only limits their vision, it bleeds the clock, forces a hub to become a shot creator,
and increases the chance chances of forcing a mistake. This is exactly what the Kings did in the second half, especially in Game two, constant ball pressure, swarming Curry with multiple guards that were fast enough or strong enough to fight through screens collapsing on him. Daveon just muscles through screens and Fox darts around him as if like and Curry can't really get enough separation. And what's the end result of that. Curry either has to take a really bad shot or he has to get it to the
folk crum. Curry was zero for five in from three in the fourth quarter and really couldn't get open at all, and the miracle wasn't that Steph was three for thirteen for three in game two. The miracle is that he's made any shots at all. He is that good. He was nine for twenty seven in this series, and a lot of those makes were circus shots. And Mike Brown knows exactly how to contain Steph Curry because he practiced this when he was running the defense only with Gary Payton.
The second hounding Curry. The article and a few others by people who actually know what's going on, and it's not speculation, right, there's ample video evidence. There's threads is a drop in the bucket, though, compared to this raucous noise of people trying to grapple with the fact that, let's be honest, our does might be cooked like they might. It's local ninety five to seven in the game this morning, for example, Morning Roast. They're just losing their minds. They're
losing their minds. After Game two, they're screaming at each other so much crosstalk you can't even hear who's who, You can't even understand a goddamn word. Badass radio, horrible radio. One side saying pulls the problem, another shouting that it's Clay blaming the refs, one person being like, why can't you blame Steph Curry? No one giving any credit to the Kings or Mike Brown, no one daring to say, maybe we're just not as athletic or deep as them.
The desperation is also national. It is also spread like wildfire to ESPN. On ESPN, JJ Reddick went on a rant which I must play because it is outrageous and immediately makes me question pretty much every word that's coming out of his mouth from now on. Let's play it.
They have allowed too much. I have no problem with physical play in the playoffs, but if Steph Curry is not allowed to move off the ball, if you're preventing players from running down the court and you're allowing that to happen. There's a play late in Game two where Kevon Looney is right underneath the rim ready for a rebound. Sibonus crashes in pushes him in the back.
They don't call the foul.
That's a foul. The referees have dictated too much in the King's favor in this series. I really believe that. And I don't know if it's the home crowd or whatever. I rarely complain about the referees. In fact, I don't even know if I've ever complained about the referees. I think they're great. But if they're gonna come back in this series, they've got to call the game the way the game is supposed to be called. I really believe.
And then, oh my, oh my bullshit. Hold up, let me repeat. If they're gonna come back in this series, the Warriors, they need to call the game the way the game is supposed to be called. I thought the playoffs were more physical. I thought the reason that the Kings were gonna get absolutely obliterated was because the Warriors were gonna outphysical the little baby Kings. They don't know how to handle all the pressure. How the half court changes everything, how much more intense it is, how the
refs let the boys play. And now we're saying it's too physical. Cool w w hell no, miss me with that shit, miss me with that? Why are you rooting for the Warriors to come back? That's what it sounds like if they're gonna come back in this series? Is it because everyone in your building forecasted the Warriors to win in five except for the lone exception of Kendrick Perkins, and you've just been straight playing captain for the Warriors
so long you can't even fathom. But they're being outworked, outplayed out coached because they are, let me say it again, outworked, outplayed out coached. This really is some bullshit. Here we go. I had to see this tweet from Fox Sports legend Colin Coward, and I still don't really know. It's so bad that I don't really know if he's controlling and it's like an hour dub sort of situation, but I think he's being serious, and if he is, we got
a pause. Here's what he said. The league has always given the Kings the whistle, frustrating for those of us who just want a fair game. Hashtag weak tea. It's something I would write for our dubs. It's honestly something that I would write when I was going into the mindset of a whiny, entitled, delusional Warriors fan. What are
we doing here? What is happening here? I've never gotten to the This is kind of like the Caitlin Clark Angel Rey situation, where you're like, this whole thing is fucking crazy, but also kind of dope that national media is talking about the Kings for three straight segments. Folks on NBA Twitter and national media really saying that the Kings are so good that the NBA is conspiring with the refs to help them beat and dismantle the defending champs.
Think about that for a second, and why would they do that? Like, the Kings are just this historic franchise that everyone wants to see go to the finals. The Kings, the Sacramento Kings that almost were moved for no reason to Seattle and to Anaheim. They're the ones getting preferential treatment. This is bonkers. This is the same franchise the league spent like fifteen years trying to fold up like a lawn chair. The Sacramento Monarchs closed up, packed up like
a suitcase. The NBA did everything possible the strip Sacramento of the Kings. And now no, they're the golden child once we built Golden one. They're the golden child. They're the ones getting the preferential treatment. Get all the way fucking out of here. At least we have evidence, concrete facts that we can look at. It's called the two minute report, last two minute report. And looking at the
last two minute report, let's just check the notes. It appears that the Kings were hurt the second mode out of any team this year by bad calls. The only team above them, not shockingly, is the Denver Nuggets, the team that the NBA cares the least about. How do you know, because it doesn't matter if they're playing the Timberwolves, the Lakers, they always put them in the worst time slot at night. Shocking, I know that the Sacramento Kings, the darling of the NBA, would get the second worst
whistle in the entire league. That's what I'm gonna start calling them. The Sacramento Kings, the NBA darlings, historically the darlings of the NBA. These are the same Kings that the league decided to give every call to so that they could eliminate the single biggest cash cow the NBA has ever had in the last decade. They want the Kings to dismantle Steph Curry, make him go night night. This is a team that can't even have its fans use cow bells in the Chase Center because cow bells,
shockingly surprisingly somehow are just banned from Chase. There's just not something that you can bring in to cheer with the one thing that the Sacramento Kings fan base is known for using. Nope, that's banned here at Chase Kevin Herder wing for the Sacramento Kings. You probably don't know who he is because most casual fans just don't follow the Kings. But here we are. He said when he went from the Atlanta Hawks to Sacramento that the whistles
really changed. Did they get better? Kevin Herder, please tell me what happened even.
Without those two plays? Is it palpable to you the difference in how Kings games are called versus games in the past. Is that something you can feel or is it just really the big plays?
I hurd sway to say this, but yes, honestly, that is something within the first six games been noticeable. I won't say which teammates, but a couple of teammates that have been here said things are different here in Sack. We don't get many calls. You're gonna realize every game things are different, And honestly, it is. It is something I've I've felt so far. I think there's maybe one game.
I think it was the Charlotte game. I think we got a good whistle, and other than that, I think it hasn't gotten our favorite a lot.
I mean, what are we talking about. All of this, though, has spun dub Nation into cry baby mote. Zach Lowe reported today there's anger within the Warriors organization towards the league. There is a sense in the organization that Sa Bonus is shoving people on offensive rebounds and playing with his elbows out and here's where it gets good, and using the ball as a weapon on offense, straight out of the John Moran playbook. This is hilarious. This is like
like the ball is a weapon. Is the most twenty twenty three thing of the Absolutely nobody swings their elbows more than Draymond Green, God Bob, Let's be hon his ear. Add this to the winding over the ejection, how they think staph is getting fouled every possession by every single King's guards. The Kings need karma for kicking out E forty. You've got a meltdown on your hands. What we have right now is the end of times. This is the
Swan Song. And now we're facing a Game three with all the drama that you could possibly want, with the Warriors having a built in excuse not just to lose the game, but the series as well. And my guy Kenny, Kenny Carraway, who Warriors fans are calling Kenny carried away of Dilo and Casey says he does not want Draymond to be suspended because he wants the Kings to beat the Warriors with no excuses. But now they have one. How much dub nation falls back on it remains to
be seized. Believe it or not. There are other series going on, and since the last episode, we've gotten some up to state updates to get to out in Boston. It's done. I mean it's been done. I told you that's that right.
It just is.
It's over. It's done. Trey Young was shut down again. He hasn't his expected point total, which is a player prop number in seven consecutive playoff games. Hawks are good in the first quarter, but we knew what time it was. The Celtics were gonna shut these boys down. They put the hammer down and now the series is halfway done. It's gonna be a sweep. It's done. That's just what it is. Atlanta has no answers. They are grasping at straws.
This series is complete. Derek White ran through Atlanta's tissue paper defense. He put up twenty six in Game two after putting up twenty two in Game one. Tatum went twenty nine and six. Brown had eighteen three steals. Listen, that's enough. That's enough to put the Hawks asleep. How bad though, is the question? How bad though? Has Trey
Young been? Wow? Zach Clow said this, Trey Young is doing nothing off ball as usual when Dejane Murray has the ball, and of course he's being hunted mercilessly on defense in every possible way. Wherever Trey is find him, he has got one effort in him and after that it just devolves into someone on Boston getting an open shot. Hole. Shit, thank you, thank you, Zach Low. Let these boys know Trey Young's not good. Um, not a lot of negative
to say about the Celtics. They're really good. It's gonna be an incredible matchup between them and the Sixers because the Sixers series is pretty much over as well. Speaking of the Sixers, the Nets played a really good game too, still lost pretty handily. Maybe they steal one at home. I don't see it. I don't see any chance for the Brooklyn Nets to win this series. I don't think anybody does either, and b does he gets hurt and
there was one oh shit moment. They're all kind of always is with Joel, right, But barring that, this is this is in early summer for the Nets, it's Celtics versus Sixers, and that's what time it is. Heat in the Bucks though, moving on towards that series, they are locked in a tight one. It depends on who overcomes their injuries quicker. So actually, the Heat and the Bucks haven't played Game two yet. Giannice is banged up, as we know, Tyler Hero out for the season. Milwaukee probably
a better team than Miami. But here's the deal. How healthy is Yiannis? Is he going to play Game two? We'll have to see, We'll have to see. I'm favoring Milwaukee. Gonna be a really interesting series. No real update there though, because the last time we talked, there's been no game since Wolves and the Nuggets. Jokic's actually got a lingering injury, but I don't think it matters much. Go Bear's a negative twenty every game. I don't think it's gonna matter.
You put a fork in the Wolves. They are done. Memphis versus Lakers, Game two, is tonight. It's all gonna depend on whether Jaw plays tonight. He has a bruised hand. We already know what time it is. There will Jaw risk for their injury by playing a lot to be seen. So no roll update on that either Sons and Clippers became a series last night. There looked like there was some panic. Kawhi was ballin already stole game one in Phoenix. You go up two oh or you're down oh two
going to LA and you're the Phoenix Suns. That is not a good situation for you. But Scott Foster, Scott Foster finally gave Chris Paul a game. Fourteen consecutive games that Scott Foster has officiated that Chris Paul has lost. This is one fIF fifteen now. Russell Westbrook also played really well. I think that's deservedly noted. After going three for nineteen, Russell Westbrook put up nearly thirty. So congratulations to russ. I think the series goes seven. I think
the series goes seven. Kawhi is really good. Get thirty one in game two, thirty eight in game one. I think he single handedly keeps the Clippers in it. The Suns are in trouble though. Let's be honest, they are really a flawed team. They need some depth. Their life is gonna come at them fast if they get past the Clippers. It is listen, man, I'm just gonna say this. The Kings might be the best team in the West. That's just fact in terms of depth, in terms of speed,
in terms of athleticism. Get on the bandwagon wagon while you can. Let's move forward out east. Calves. Beat the shit out of the Knicks. Game two, beat the shit out of them. As good as the Knicks looked in game one, they looked so bad in Game two. Julius Randall looked boo. Darius Garland came out, he bawled. They took a page from the King's notebook. They smothered Brunson mostly with Karris Lavert. They made him work hard and
it paid dividends. This is what Darius Garland said, Listen, It's very important for us to have Jalen Brunson play both sides of the floor, not just to have him sit in the corner, just to put him in a couple of actions so to see if he can move on his feet on the defensive end, because he's gonna have to work really hard on the offensive end against US. Yeah, I mean Jalen Brunson's achilles heel is his defense right now because of his size, and Karris Lavert is six
to six, so that's a tough matchup for him. He went off for twenty four against Brunson, who only had twenty on five for seventeen shooting. So it's gonna be really fun series. I think it's gonna be a really really fun series. That was my laptop. I'm sorry. Let's move forward outside of these first round matchups to something I think that's a little bit more evergreen, a little
bit more of an overview. But it's one of my favorite things that the Athletic does every single year, which is the twenty twenty three anonymous NBA Player Poll, And god damn am I loving it. They pull So this is what they do. They pull one hundred and two NBA players and they ask them the questions that we all want to know, right Who who you do not want to fight? Who is the most overrated player in the league. The big question, of course, is the MVP.
Half of the players they usually get it wrong. Half of the players this time said it's Joel Embiid. I think that's good for him. I'm guessing he'll finally get that coveted MVP. He wants it. I'm not sure you, NICOLEA. Jokic really does. I'm not sure the media particularly wants to give Jokic three of them in a row. And one player summed it up best definitely Embid because they're winning games. They're one of the best teams in the East. I think he kind of should have won it last year.
But I mean, Jokic is also having a phenomenal season. But I think this year Embiid is the leading scorer. They're about even. Really, they're really in a dead heat. It's kind of like the choice whatever you like best uh in the poll for best defender, this was a good one. It was a runaway. And I can say one hundred percent. These NBA players they know ball. They are they know ball. They one hundred percent right. Twenty
nine percent of the NBA players picked Drew Holiday. Hell yeah, I think he's the best defender in the league and Lou Dort coming in second with eleven percent. Players love the versatility that brings on defense, especially since he can and has guarded one through five. I am unabashed Drew stan It's great to see him getting the respect from his peers because goddamn the media won't give it to him. He needs Defensive Player of the Year. He does, he
needs to win one. Drew also won most Underrated Player with seventeen and a half percent as well, second place with Shae Gell just Alexander love to see it. Both those boys are phenomenal on both sides of the court. Here's here's an interesting question, pick one player in the league to build a roster around. If you were to do that, who would you choose. NBA players overwhelmingly responded with one, dude, who is it? It's be honest, It's fucking yo, honest, not a shock. But here's the thing.
It was like overwhelming fifty two point four percent, with a distant second being Jokic at eight point seven percent. That's the best compliment you can get. That means he's the best player in the league. That means that he's the only guy that you want to start a franchise around. Probably the funniest one, though, the funniest topic on this list that the athletic does is most Overrated player.
Uh.
The most overrated player, of course is Stray Young. Yeah, I mean it is ah. He is by a fucking mile to thirty one point five percent of NBA player players poll, Trey Young is the most overrated player in the NBA. Number two was Julius Randall and number three was Pascal Siakam. They were both tied for second place at seven point four percent. I just did a TikTok explaining that Trey Young is sort of overrated, and people were very mad. Trey Young's stance came out of the woodwork.
But listen, people who are listening to this poll, people who are reading it, they know they destroyed the comment section. No question, Trey Young probably one of the most overrated players in the league in recent memory, not just right now, but in recent memory. Hate to see that, Hate to see people bringing facts to the equation when the stands come out to play for shits and giggles. Though, I thought,
what this was also interesting is the goat question. Obviously MJ was gonna win it, but what's interesting is that the like the distance between Mike and Braun is closing. At one point it was huge, and now it's fifty eight to thirty three. Hmm, I think if Braun wins another one, the gap gets even closer. Other fun polls, Who would you like to least like to fight? James Johnson, thirteen year old journeyman. He's played for eleven teams. I did TikTok on him, check that out. But listen, he's
he's a tough man. He is apparently twenty to zero in kickboxing. Apparently all of his siblings he has eight and both of his parents all have black belts in karate. And that's nuts. That's like, that's just that's it. That's the end. Yeah, of course I don't want to fight that guy. Steven Adams probably a close second. What Arena has the worst fans? I was surprised by this one. Hornet's won with fifteen point two percent, So I'm not sure. Is it like just the least interested fans. Is it
the worst fans if you play for the team. Is it the worst fans for an opposing team? I don't understand it, but I never have considered their fan base to be like particular bad. I've just never really thought of them at all. Maybe that's why they're the worst. I've never once thought what is it like at a Charlotte Hornets game? Never one time until right now. Now, I'm like, what is it like? I kind of want to know. Now. Detroit was second at eleven percent. That's disrespectful.
I love watching games in Detroit. I saw the Warriors play the Pistons earlier this year. It was a great vibe, the arena with the best fans. This one's gonna be funny for you. Boston, Boston, I don't know about that, chief, No, no, no, no, no. So eighteen here's where it's funny. Eighteen percent of the NBA players picked Boston, which is, like, I guess, a pretty big coincidence given the NBA. Seventeen percent of the NBA is white. So where those one percent come from?
Where that one percent gap come from? Uh? I don't know if this poll was made up exclusively of NBA players who played or played in Boston, but Sacramento was second at twelve point one percent, which makes more sense. Golden One is a great arena. The coach, there's another interesting category. The coach you'd least like to play for. We have a runaway winner, folks. Think about it. Think about it, think about it, think about it. Don't you think too hard? Don't you think too hard? It's Thibodeau.
It is. You knew it was Thibodau, didn't you. You mean to tell me that it's not appealing for your coach to make you run wind sprints the day after an overtime loss. You mean to tell me you don't want to do that, that's exam You mean to tell me that's not like a fun coach to play for. Ah. I remember meeting him and I'm like, yeah, I've never met a coach where I can like look at a player and say, TIB's guy or no, TIBs guy, Like there's no other coach in the leaguehe You're like, Spolstro
would never let that guy play for him. Uh. Steven Silas, who has gone and fired. He made the list at fourteen and a half percent, which I think probably reflects how many trades Houston has made in the last three years. Like I think half the league has played for Steven Silas. Finally, current coaches the NBA players would most want to play for? The runaway answer here still pretty surprising. Actually, Greg Popovic, what nearly a quarter of the league would want to
play for? Greg Popovic it must be like a like a like a legacy thing, like oh yeah, I played for Pop, Like oh yeah, I played with Jordan kind of a thing. It seems a little weird until you dig into his background. You read stories about how he changes players' lives. If you look at Demarta Rosen, Demarta Rosen has wildly high praise for Greg Popovich, one of the true OG player coaches, and he tears up nearly every time he talks about what Pop means to him.
He's a god. Greg Popovich is a god. Even at his old age. Most players want to play for him, which is crazy amazing. Steve Kerr was second at thirteen point seven, which I think also makes some sense as well. Well, what's it that's all the time that we have for this episode of the Heat Check. Check back Monday. I don't even know what day it is for an all new episodes, we break down the playoffs. Do not forget to check the feed for past episodes and for bonus
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