You're you're listening to the Hottest, the Hottest podcast out here. I said what I said, it's the heat Chat, The Heat Chat.
Have you ever.
Known a couple maybe they got married a little too early, you know, right out of college, and you kind of knew when they were together, like, I'm not sure how.
Long this is gonna last.
And you start finding out hearing whispers right that they're on the verge of divorce and maybe even one of them moved out. You're like, oh, yeah, Cheryl's living with her sister right now. Oh yeah, what's John doing? I think eating a lot of potato chips, just kind of just kind of hanging out, building this fantasy team on the waiver wire. He seems okay, but he doesn't look okay, and then so it's like done right, He's just like done.
And then, for some reason, some unforeseen circumstance, they get back together and they declare on social media, everything's fine. They've got they're holding hands, they're making posts. They're kissy, kissy. But when you look and you zoom in, because I'm a zoom in girl, like you take the photo, you screen capet. This is what you do screen capet and then you zoom right in, zoom into their eyes, see what's going on back there, the eyes of the windows
to the soul. And you look and you're like, Cheryl's still hurting, she's not happy. John looks like he's ready to cry.
This is bad. He's gray, he's gained ten pounds.
This is not gonna work out.
That's Katie and Nash right now. That's who that is.
Here's what Nash said when literally everyone was like, hey, uh, how are you dealing with the aftermath of a star player, the one that considered you his Yoda not only asking out to not be with you anymore, but the only way that he would stay is if you were fired, like actually fired.
You had to go in order for him to be happy. He said, We're good. Yeah, there's nothing's changed. Yeah. I have a long history with Kevin. I love the guy. Families have issues. We had a moment, and it's behind us. That's what happens.
It's a common situation in the league. Pause is it is that a common situation in the league is I don't recall many instances of this occurring in this manner. I can't remember remember another player saying he would only stay the duration of his brand new contract if his head coach was fired, not only his head coach was fired, but his GM was fired. Which do not make any mistake about it. Is what Kevin Durant said to Josie when they had a meeting in Paris or London or
wherever that meeting occurred. Nash must go, Sean Marks must go. These dudes are chaos, and I'm not trying to have all that. Of course, though the unforeseen circumstances take place, Trader Danny does Trader Danny things. He quote unquote fleeces the Minnesota Timberwolves in the deal for Rudy Gobert, making it impossible to get back anything reasonable because no team is going to give you what Rudy Gobert commanded.
And that's for Kevin Durant. These are crazy price.
So if Rudy Gobert gets five first round picks, what's Kevin get ten?
We're not giving you.
We don't even think the CBA allows ten first round picks. So it blew up the trade market, and then it made Katie impossible to trade, so they had to make.
The best things.
So, like these divorces, it's always money it's always money. So Cheryl and John they reunite, and now we get to see their asses on Twitter and social media trying to tell us and convince us that everything is fine. Durant said he wanted out because of a quote uncertainty around last year's team and all the drama surrounding Kyrie Irving and James Harden caused the situation where we were
quote all hurt. What he didn't point out, though, much more important to me, is that the fact that Steve Nash played them, I don't know, forty five to forty eight minutes per game, just draining his batteries to the brink, to the point where in Game seven of the Milwaukee Bucks series he an airball in overtime.
You never seen that.
Have you ever seen a wide open three airball by Kevin Durant in a clutch moment?
Not me, he was absolutely gassed.
Or the fact that Steve Nash had trouble figuring out what his lineups really were, who was on this roster, basically getting out coached multiple times in his very short career.
He's basically, let's be honest, he's a Stepford coach. He says, all a little Teddy Ruckspin doll.
You just pull the string and all the right little things come out of I'm okay.
I love Kevin.
It gets like, no, are you a human being, because there's no chance that a real human being would feel like everything's fine. He's just programmed. He's just programmed with like little sound bites. We're not trading James Harden. We're committed to James. It's like, dude, you're a liar. You're lying to everyone. You're really good at it. Of course he's gonna say everything's all right.
Moving forward.
Ben Simmons Steve Nash very high on him as well. He's coming into the camp in the best shape of his career, proclaiming he is happy to play the what the center position? Yeah, Ben Simmons is gonna play center for the Brooklyn Nets.
One.
I told the world he wasn't a point guard. He's so far from a point guard. He's actually a center, folks, Like, that's how much of a point guard He's not, Like, you don't just go ahead and play center or point guard. That's not where we're at. And even in position in this basketball that's not where we're at right now. And of course right now, Ben Simmons is being told by Teddy Rucksbin aka Steve.
Nash, Hey, you don't have to shoot at all.
You don't have to shoot not only do you have to shoot any threes, you don't have to shoot any jump shots at all, not one.
Just be you just lean in to the things you do. Well, We're fine. And you know who else said that. Brett Brown said that right before he was fired.
Brett Brown said that for Philadelphia seventy six ers, and those chickens came home to roost.
Nash said on media, he does not meety day.
He does not give a flying fuck if Ben Simmons ever shoots a jumper, because.
Why Ben Simmons' versatility is so unique. That's what makes Ben great. I don't care if he ever shoots a jump shot.
He's welcome to, but that's not what makes him special, and that's not what we need. He's a great compliment to our team. Are you serious, Steve Nash? He's got to shoot jump shots. We've got fives like Brook Lopez out here shooting threes. Yanna shoots threes. You're telling me he's not gonna shoot one jump shot if he's playing.
The four or the five.
Okay, you can get away with not shooting many jumpers, I guess, But Nash says he could still also play the point guard position. Also, Kyrie quickly said he willingly gave up over one hundred million dollars to not be vaccinated. So congratulations to him or whatever that means in terms.
Of whatever.
Ethos that he's living by. I'm happy for Kyrie that he stood by his guns. Also, TJ. Warren will not be out, will not be back until at least November.
I don't know which franchise is the most dysfunctional. I can't tell it. Is it Phoenix? Is it Boston?
If you want to say Brooklyn's Number one, wouldn't blame you. I mean their former owner was a part of the fucking kremlin. I don't know. I won't argue with anyone dealer's choice. Choose whoever you want.
They all have their own little, unique.
Special wrinkles that make them some variation of completely dysfunctional. Lots of shit popping out in Lakerland.
Number one, Number one, just the first one on the list.
Lebron James is investing in professional pickleball leagues.
Cool? If I have to if I have to start.
Betting on pickleball or thinking about a new sport because it comes to this like boiling point, where the world somehow gives a shit about something we didn't care about a decade ago.
I don't.
I think that's it for me. I think I'm hanging up my shoes. I think I'm hanging up my microphone. I think that's it. Patrick Beverly is saying that he's as good as of a three point shooter as Steph Curry. Let me say that again. Patrick Beverly is claiming he's as good of a catch and shoot three point shooter as Steph Curry. Check the stats, he says, and Kendrick Nunn seems to become the spokesperson for the entire team. I joke, I will continue to say until it becomes
until Kendrick Dunn gets healthiest. You can't really judge this Slaker team until Kendrick Nunn is fully healthy. It's been twelve months, we still haven't seen it. Until he's fully integrated back in.
The lineup, we don't know what they could be. Who knows.
Maybe they're a contender. And right now, though there's two stories, I want to highlight. Because the propaganda machine is fully humming in Lakerland. One ad is trying to pitch us that he's gonna play eighty two games this year. They call him a paper skin and bones of glass.
They call him a disney, they call him street clothes.
Anthony Davis, eighty two games for someone who has a reputation of not playing any games is rich. Here's where I remind you that the last time Anthony Davis played anywhere close to eighty two games was his last year for the New Orleans Pelicans twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen.
It's been five years.
That's four major five major surgeries and injuries ago.
This is what he said.
I'm so excited. I've got goosebumps just thinking about this year. Me too, Ad, I can't wait to watch this Doves or fire, I can't wait. I'm looking forward to a healthy year and doing what I know we can do. I went into this summer focusing on strengthening my body.
Pause.
Remember in the offseason when he hadn't touched a basketball for like three and a half months, and then he got bullied by the internet to touch a basketball. Also, every summer when you're as injury prone as you are, should be focusing on strengthening your body. So this is a new one for him. I have to be on the court and be at my best to put us in position to be our best. I'm ready to do that just now. Huh, just after you missed the playoffs, he says. He says, I'm ready to do it now.
I'm glad that, finally, five years later, you're committed to being healthy. I want him to be healthy. I really do, because I want to be able to say that the Lakers aren't good even when Anthony Davis is fully healthy.
That's all I want. I want to be able to say, point blank period. I have the data.
Ad played sixty five games, bron played seventy five games, Russ was traded for who, I don't care, Buddy healed, and this team was still an eight seed.
I still want to be able to do that because everybody's like.
Oh, we can't really can't really judge him, can't really fully know what Rob.
Plink was envisioning. Because injuries unforeseen. They're not unforeseen.
They happen every year with street clothes. Anthony Davis, Now I know why it Clutch sports hates me. I'm always saying he's hurt.
It is what it is. He is a lot of people. This is what Ad says.
He says the reason he played so poorly because I remember he couldn't shoot last year either when he was healthy. He was a bad jump shooter. So there's now a new reason that he was shooting poorly. This is what he has to say. A lot of people don't know this, but since January, I was battling a wrist injury. It
was tough for me to shoot how I wanted to shoot. So, on top of all of the other injuries ankles, knees, lower extremity issues, we now have a wrist issue to start thinking about as a possible re injury as well. Is that what you're saying, Ad and Matt stopped you from shooting, which is probably one of the things that makes you very unique as a big man. Thanks for
disclosing that eight months later. Appreciate that. Of course, He says that injury is now fixed and Ad is looking forward to being the lakers.
Number one option. They said this last year. I have this in my notes from last year.
AD's willing to take the ball bull by the Horns. AD's ready be the number one option. Lebron James is saying, take the reins, take the rains. Don't call me a cynic, but I'll believe it when I see it. I believe it when I see it. Second Laker story really quickly relates with Russell Westbrook. Very strange offseason with Russ. He fires Thad Bouchet, his agent because Thad says, listen, you got to be able to do whatever you need to do, and Russ wants out and he's telling them, listen, you
should just stay the course. You can't be switching teams and getting buyouts and taking the minimum because at that point you're now a minimum player. Right, everyone thinks he's getting traded. We're speculating all the places that Russell Westbrook could end up.
Is it Indiana to take a buyout, which would have been hilarious.
Is it going to be a place like Oklahoma City where old stars come to be rejuvenated for multiple multiple picks.
But no one has had.
The career and their skills besmirched more in the last year than Russell Westbrook, by the way, an MVP, and you could never hold it against him. If people if he was salty when people basically said, hey, how do you feel about everyone thinking you're trash?
But this is what he did.
He has been doing what Robert Sarro should do, which is looking inward and fixing himself after Russell Westbrook has been, I would say, very difficult to deal with from a media perspective.
This is what he had to say.
When they asked him a very disrespectful but also relevant question.
Yeah, Russ, you said you've bought it, your buying into the Lakers. Do you think the Lakers are buying into you? Do you think the Lakers?
Once you hear when you look at Russell Westbrook's eyes when he's looking at that media member, he's about to rip his head off, and then he realizes, Russ, everything you do right now is going to be evaluated and scrutinize. Chill the fuck out, don't kill him, go back into personal development mode.
I mean, whether that they want me here or not, it doesn't really matter. Honestly. My job is to be a professional, show up to work like I've always done thus far, do my job the best way I know how to, and that's it. I Mean, we all have jobs that sometimes people at our jobs don't like us, so don't want us there, as you guys probably can attest to in any other job across the world. And as a professional and as a working man, I have to do my job and do it the best way I know how.
Pr class what that? I can't believe that. I saw that and I was like, that's Russell Westbrook. Classy move. He's now said he's willing to come off the bench. He's willing to do whatever Darwnham wants from him. He's saying, I don't care whether you want me here or not. I'm making my forty something million dollars and you guys will like that and take it. And considering how he's been depicted I think as a very salty, sort of sharp, prickly human, think that's pretty awesome.
Whether things work out with him or l in La it gets not.
They're already Rob Plink is already saying he's willing to We didn't even talk about the fact that that Lebron James basically forced the Lakers to trade those first round picks in order to sign his extension. It was a tit for tat move. If you don't get rid of those two first round picks. I'm not signing with you. And Rob Plink came out during media day and said, listen, we're getting rid of it.
We're trading those picks. We're trading them. Why why are we trading them now? Why are we committed?
Because Lebron is committed to us and we owe that to him. So if those picks aren't getting Russell Westbrook out the door for some sort of peace, I don't know what that is.
I don't know what it is.
But we'll have to see if he's happy living in the end of the bench making forty million dollars and they keep those two first round picks and they go out and get Kyrie Irving in free agency. I tell you what, as much as I hate the Lakers, they could get good real fast. They're just not gonna be good now. Somebody tried to say, oh, if the Lakers are fully healthy, are they a five seed.
No, they're not. They are a bad team.
And I hope that Anthony Davis is healthy enough for us to find out.
That's all the time that we offer the heat check.
We will be back Monday with a new episode for those who have missed it. We have three interviews with Jerry West, all different, all interesting. I love the last one where he was basically Rainman just giving me player names, and I just give him player names and he just gives me a full evaluation and breakdown. We also have an interview with Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, which was very rare, very special.
He doesn't do those a lot, so check that out.
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We will see you next week, sir,