Trysta was Right About Ainge & Stevens, LeBron Leaves Early, & DAME TIME

On this episode of this League. Bitches just got closed out. A lot of them, a lot of them. We talk about them all. Few teams are now going fishing, going golf and going to the Hampton's, going to the bayou, wherever the fuck they're going.

They're going somewhere.

We break down what went wrong or what went right and give a slight preview of what's to come. We also talk about more those teams out west still slugging it out. I mean, the East is fucking weak. The fact that it was just gentlemen sweeps and sweeps gross. So Marty, do me a favor and drop that Mickey mouse beat.

Take care. You'll be waiting for.

The plan of a ghost the glean and I go.

Let me go.

When we reach the top, we cap going.

West.

Dearly beloved, we gather here today on this solemn occasion to more in the end of Trader Danny, the GM who only ever wanted to fleece you and grew so widely despised that teams and players reportedly took less valuable deals just to screw him over. The man who refused to make the hard choices to fix a ship. Everyone and their mother knew was sinking, and the man who, rather than do what is necessary to help his struggling coach, chose to be clever, too cute, and took the organization

Organization had been fucking dismantled.

Woj bombs, Sham's bombs, Haines bobs, blew.

It up from the fucking top down.

Yeah, it was a crazy, crazy blast, crazy way to start the day. It happened at what like yeah, yeah, yeah, like right after I.

Got in yet actually like twelve hours, twelve hours after you got swept, right, Yeah, it had all just just blown.

The fuck up.

Yeah, because sounds like you're started at ten, Yeah, yeah, right after them.

Yeah, that just tells you it was a long time coming, a long time in motion for a while.

Let's just take a pause. Pause.

What did I fucking say. I've been saying this all year. I fucking knew it.

I fucking knew it.

I am the oracle of the NBA regarding the Boston Celtics.

I predicted this pretty much this to a tee.

Anything that you could predict, because there is something that you would not have ever been able to predict in any circumstance.

I have the receipts.

Marty, play the clip. Here's what I think happens. I think ownership gets a little tired of Danny Ainge. They say, hmm, let's start fresh. Let's find someone who can make some moves, that doesn't have a reputation for being toxic and a thief, and we can actually make trades to help this team during the season. But the world was like, Trista your cedecle, you hate the Celtics. Things aren't even that bad. We're an actual good organization. We could go to the Eastern

Rad is our guy. Getting rid of Danny Ainge will never happen.

Do you remember that getting rid of Danny Ainge will never happen?

The world told me that, Marty, didn't they. Yeah, you said that.

I be sure I probably disagreed with you when you said it. Yeah.

That was March twenty second, three days before the trade deadline. Three days later, on March twenty fifth, at the trade deadline, apparently Danny Ainge informed ownership.

He was stepping down at the end of the year. Hmm.

In an alternative universe, here's what I think could have happened. Danny wasn't able to get Vucevich, Harrison, Barnes, Harrison Barnes, Harrison Barnes, Aaron Gordon, and instead they got the great French Hope, fucking Evan Fournier, which I knew and you knew and the whole world knew was not a great option for the tpe ugh ugh.

And they were like, your time is up. Your time is up.

And as an aside, as a quick decide for people who don't know how these things go, this is how it goes.

When you come to the end of the road.

With an organization and you're as high up and as esteemed as Danny Ainge, because he is esteemed has a long reputation, the organization says, here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna say you've been thinking about this for a long time.

You're gonna say something in.

Your past led you to think about maybe retirement. That for Danny Ainge was his twenty nineteen heart attack. And that is exactly what Danny Ainge said in twenty nineteen, I had a heart attack, and all of a sudden, I started thinking about what I wanted to do with my life.

And we were so good that.

I just didn't want to do it. Now now things are calling and you have this. What it will be is like a two and a half month long negotiation between the Celtics and Danny Ainge in terms of what the messaging is gonna be. And now the messaging is firm and Danny Ainge is fucking out brutal. And then I don't know this for a fact, but Brad Stevens basically was quote unquote tired of coaching since the bubble. He was exhausted, young guy, exhausted from coaching basketball.

And he's like, I'm burnt the fuck out.

And then I do kind of buy that a little bit. Did do you a little bit? I mean, with the bubble and then going straight from that right into the seventy two game season, It's it's been a lot, you know, if there was already you know, stuff on his mind.

Long off season. Now though, isn't it out the first round? You had some time.

And then instead of Brad just stepping down, somehow Brad got a promotion. He was tired of and ineffective, we'll say at leading troops, inspiring troops.

I said, you can't motivate.

You can't motivate a fucking can't have pinkt let alone superstars like Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

And it's like instead.

Of you being like, well, maybe you need to figure your own self out and go take a mental health year, sit with some teams, get your head right, they were like, no, no, leave the.

Entire mission, Brad Stevens.

What what We love what you're doing? Just we're gonna give you more power, more money, and more responsibility.

Are you fucking kidding me?

That certainly was the most surprising part about all this, that Stevens with a that like, I mean, I don't think we had like a huge inkling that he would be gone, but we certainly didn't think he would stay on.

I thought he would be gone.

Okay, but like him becoming the president of the team, I don't think anyone had that mine.

You were so right.

Even I could not have forecasted that fucking banana move, that fucking bananas move.

Yeah, but you know.

Who else couldn't forecast it? Dropping breaking news?

Right? Before this recording, Other front office members inside of the Boston Celtics organization also didn't foresee it.

Why In late breaking news, apparently at least one.

Major Celtics executive lobbied to fire Brad Stevens mid season, and opposing exec told SNY that he wanted to fire Stevens immediately, but Danny Ainge was among those who lobbied to keep him. The exec further noted a lot of us thought that Age and or Stevens maybe let go, but I certainly did.

Not see Brad moving upstairs.

Wow, to go from that close to being fired to being the head of the organization, not just a new.

Job of the top job, I mean highly coveted.

Job, highly coveted job GM of the Boston Celtics organization.

Plenty of names that would have taken that well.

I would say that's one of the more highly coveted jobs in the entire league.

In probably all of sports thirteen and thirteen after the trade deadline, has anyone failed upwards faster than Brad Stevens.

That s.

How do you go from almost being fired and being promoted, not just promoted, push to the.

Top, top, tippy top, best job in sports.

He basically said, Steve Nash, hold my fucking beer, Okay, let's bring it. I can't believe this. This is a disaster. This is maybe worse. This is worse than even I, who doomsday on the Boston Celtics all year long. I think episode two was when I was like, things are bad there, Like, things are.

Really bad there. I remember that, Yeah, like.

Wow, like I kept I think we've talked about this being a disaster for like ten shows, and you know what, rightfully fucking so rightfully so they dismantled the organization twelve hours after they got swept man. And then a little nugget of new news was the NBA gms after the fact say that Boston will look to trade their most coveted and tradeable asset, Marcus Smart in the off season. I don't need to show receipts to know that. I've

The world knows.

I've been saying that all season. But Trista, he's the heart and soul of this team. Listen, folks, let me make this clear, very very clear. There is no heart and soul of the Boston Celtics organization. This team is dead. This organization is a shell. There is no soul, there is no heart, there is no life. It's Jason Tatum and that's it. You literally just upended your entire franchise and are having a fire sale for Marcus Smart, for Kimball Walker, who knows who else, who knows who else?

Come preseason's that's the way it will be.

Everything must go, everything, especially Marcus Smart.

You know, you know, if.

Brad Stevens is the one leading this team and leading this franchise into the direction that they're gonna go. He watched, he had a front row seat watching Marcus Mart go three for nineteen from three in the last two games.

He knows what Marcus Smart is capable of. He knows what his upside is.

That is funny. That was the final impression. That is kind of funny.

That man's gone. That man is gone. If they can get anything for him, he is gone. And people are even saying now that they might not even be able to get.

A first round for him. What do you do then?

Yeah, I mean you're not getting the great first round like you're not getting.

You're getting like a late first round from Marcus Smart and then everyone's made lottery lottery. Yeah, so Bronal and the other high value asset guy, every delusional ass Boston fan thinks that they can get a boat low for glue guy, Kimba Walker. New news came out all that it's all dropped all at once, by the way. New news came out that GMS believe that Kemba Walker is considered a negative asset.

Yeah, I mean I saw that too going around Twitter and like, I mean, duh wait wait yeah, yeah, one of the worst contracts in the league.

This is Kevin Love and Kemba Walker. Those are the two worst contracts.

In the NBA right now, breaking John Wall bad contracts like.

I don't like gonna have to send picks in order for another team to take Kimba Walker, which tough, very tough.

Look yikes.

Also another bit of news that dropped all at the same time, the Great French hope Evan Fournier, the guy used your tpe for He is requesting upwards twenty to twenty.

Five million a year. They are not resigning Evan Fournier and if they do, they are fucking idiots. They're idiots.

So to recap, just to recap for folks who that was a lot of information for all at once.

Smart.

Smart is probably getting traded. Fournier probably isn't resigning. You're gonna have to be offloading picks in order for another team to take Kimball Walker because his contract is inedible to even the worst most trash franchises like the Houston Rockets. It's pretty much pretty much what everything I've been saying all year, everything I know.

Can you just give it to me, Marty, Just say, Tristy, you were right.

Just it. I mean, you were right about these two things.

Yes, I was right about the about we'll call it the bird's eye.

View of the league. I've been right about the bird's eye view what I've been wrong about. But later about the Celtics. Yes, but Celtics fans just don't want to listen. And you know what, all I really have ever wanted was to hear that, Marty. No caveats though, I just wanted with this news, Trista. All your long, people were telling you you were delusional and you were right. Yep, just show me or belly, let me put my boot on your neck.

I won't push hard.

All I want to do is just the vindication that I was right, because that's all I care about. It's all I care, all right, So of course we're going to be speculating the offseason about who's going to take Brad Stevens's job. So Stevens is going to be interviewing probably internal candidates.

I had to guess.

I guess that Laran Nage is probably going to be the one.

That comes on.

He'll probably be the first one they talked to. For sure. I kind of liked the idea of Atkinson a little bit and say, yeah, and I could just see him in Celtics screen and Becky Hammond would be interesting. Yeah, for sure.

I mean Boston is not the most open to new ideas. They did have They did have a female assistant who's now coaching the women's team at Duke. The other choice is oh boy, Lloyd Pierce being on this list at six to one, he was pretty much disliked by.

I mean, he's terrible. He was terrible, Like, we see how good this Hawk's team could be. I know you left, but no.

For sure, Yeah, no, they I mean they they did not enjoy him.

No one liked him.

It was like the guy that everyone calls sergeant Nate McMillan is more liked by this organization and these teams, these teammates then than Lloyd Pierce. I mean that just tells you everything you need to know. Also, Jeff Van Gundy, Jeffan Gundy, Jeff.

And Gundy, Jeff and Gundy.

Yeah, no, that's.

That's just absurd. The fact he's on that list is ludacris. Yeah, let's just break down Jaylen Ornega for a second. Forty something year old X's and o's guy coaches son inspirational speaker been tabbed for coaching superstardom since he played like D three and coached overseas. He coached, He coached the Ireland team. So TD Garden's like nothing to him. The TD Garden vibes is nothing.

It's like, what, well, he really coached the Irish national team. That is funny.

He's like, I mean you think TD Garden's bad, Like come to Ireland, no disrespect?

What a wild shout out, uh D'Antoni.

I mean, if you were happy, if you were excited as a Celtics fan watching one forty three, one thirty seven losses. Then d'antoni's a guy for you, Like D'Antoni is that guy?

Just no defense? Uh, just all offense?

So so many things breaking down. I cannot wait to watch the rest of the chips fall. I will be watching closely because bad moves will it will ensue.

I promise that the.

Streets come on.

Let's go.

Man.

Is it hard to like Lebron? Sometimes the world thinks I'm a Lebron hater, But god, damn fuck, dude, how are you gonna leave the game down thirty two with five forty two loss He.

Had to get treatment trista ankle injuries to get treated. Yeah, he would have gotten the same treatment. If they were up thirty, we would have gotten this. He would have gotten the same. But more to the point, he would have gotten the same treatment. If they were tied.

He would have.

Gotten the same treatment. If they were tied.

He needed that treatment at seven, at whatever it was, nine eighty two, whatever the fuck? No. From opening tip, we knew, we knew, right, we knew as soon as Ad.

Was ruled out it was gonna be a mollywop.

Well, then you could tell watching the game of Lebron came out, and so like I've kind of noticed Lebron. He has like several tiers that he goes through like throughout a game where and he like he like saves up to use like that god teer yep. And it looked like from the opening tip he just knew like no, God know what. Well, it looked like he tried to go that like full game and he did in the first like five six minutes, and I was like, this is good, Like he's not gonna be able to do this.

Like that's what happens when you're thirty six, not twenty six.

He could go full god mode for an entire game when he was age twenty six, but not now.

I mean he's still great, he's still managed it great. But it just without AD, they're they're just bad. They're just a bad team without AD.

They are a bad team without a d I talk to a PT guy because, like I said, I'm doing this ankle treatment, so every every time I go in, I ask him about athletes injuries and he was like, I promise you this. Lebron knows this team is going nowhere without AD so.

They have given up.

They have decided they are done for the year. They are no more. Uh, the weirdest thing. And I don't I think you had an issue with it or you thought it was weird that I asked this question in the group chat. But Chris Paul playing with one arm up thirty somehow playing in the game.

Why was he still out there?

It was early third player. You don't pull players early third tea.

When they you do when you're up thirty, and Chris Paul has been battling an injury.

An injury, that's that's what you do.

It didn't cross my mind, really it did. I mean, he he could have been out of the game. I just think, I mean, it was very early third quarter.

Don't care up thirty super concerning for not just this series, but for the rest.

Of the playoffs. I would say, I know.

You want the Nuggets and probably not the Blazers, but I mean, he just does doesn't.

Look right CP. Yeah, I mean he was starting to he hit a three before that. I mean, he he hasn't had an MRI. Everyone's saying he's gonna play tonight, So I'm not completely discouraged, but it is. I mean, it's clearly going to be a thing that lingers and effects and moving forward. So it's all about you know, how managed, how can manage it?

How do you manage it?

And then in terms of AD, you can pretty much listen to every episode post AD going down for that first injury to know, like I knew he was fucked.

This dude gets injured all the time, all the time.

Yeah, you want to know how psycho of a fan I am. I'm still like, oh, by no means am I like comfortable?

Because AD is sending like gang signs to the fans and the back being.

Like six, I'm cut back for six and it's like, no, you're not.

Yeah.

What was funny was the article I read about that It said, uh, like AD I in game six return and then like the first thing like said that that he had motioned six or whatever, and then everything after that like none of it was encouraging. Yes, it was like that your headline.

Is a Lebron's like, don't rush it. That's how you knew.

Lebron was like we're done for the year, We're shutting it down. Don't rush it, don't rush it. It's like you're done. You're done, because if you don't rush Ad back from this groin strain, you lose, You go home end of the season.

It's a rap. It's a rap, and that's fine.

Like I get that you don't want to play around with injuries for the long term because Ads so young. But boy boy, even Snoop knows this team is getting fucking cooked.

He went in on ig.

People hate me when I say the word soft, but soft is a word that.

People throw around, and Snoop through the fuck around, he said. He sounds like me. Never thought I'd say it.

But we sorry, True, and the Clipper's better than us, True, Frank vowel, we can't coach. True, And why the fuck is Montrez Harrell ain't getting no run?

True? Fuck, this is heartbreaking. A d is hurt more than Mary J. Blige records. True, we saw true, And don't call my phone. I'm going down. I mean, yes, Ad is always fucking hurt. Always. What a brutal loss for the Lakers.

Things you hate to see as a Portland trail Blazers and a Sun fan.

It's just awful. I mean they're fans, truly. I mean, I said in the last pot. But they really have been through so much and they're deserving of all good things. So yeah, thowsome prayers for Lakers fans.

Thought some prayers. Can't say I saw a fucking second of that game. I only saw it on on social media because Marty Dame time.

Oh yeah, we the collective.

We in all of the NBA on Twitter, just every fan on earth except for you, Marty experience.

Did you watch a game after the CP injury. I was just like, okay, can't focus on that, And it was like it was like nearing the end of the fourth quarter in the Blazers game. So I did switch over to like take my mind off of it. So I saw the good parts.

We experienced something historic. Even Kevin Durant was at a loss for words. He changed, He tried to tweet like four different times. Even said I concocted four different tweets. We experienced with Katie called himself god mode.

Trailblazers went down twenty two early.

I have to tell you that was not the kind of effort you saw me. I was tweaking before the game, tweaking. I watched that video back and I was like, man, I was on one on one, then Dame Dalla put the team on his fucking back and somehow, some way, we're only down three at halftime. And like, truthfully, I think the take home message is that the Nuggets don't respect the history of the game. They really just don't care about basketball, because if they did, they'd allow the

If we won that game going down twenty two the.

Preordained Damian Lillard's speech that he gave to all the team members that was written about by the Athletic and Jason Quick. And then to come out go down twenty two, grit and grind, fucking go god mode and win Game five on the road.

I mean, that's a thirty for thirty. They stole a thirty for thirty for months.

Yeah. It really isn't saying that he gave us all of that and it was a loss. It really isn't.

Just that's just very disrespectful to the game.

Is I mean, that's the most heroic performance and a loss maybe ever.

Yeah.

Wait, I'm trying to la I honestly, I'm just now thinking of that that would actually be kind of fun to think about. But it's up there. It's an it. That's that's top three, top five.

Top three, top five. Like that was more impressive than the Reggie Miller. Like, how many ever threes he hit in the last like twenty seconds?

Sure, yeah, yeah, yeah, because Dame hit three threes. He hit three straight threes, three straight threes.

And that like rainbow.

Damian Lillard fifty five points, ten assists, the best in postseason history, twelve for seventeen from three, all time record for made threes, game tying threes in the final seconds and in regulation and in overtime he had three three pointers.

The rest of the team fucking.

Trash well for years. Twelve was just the all time record. Yes, yeah, not just playoffs.

CJ terrible game, eighteen points seven for twenty two. Just a bad mistake going out of bounds. That is unacceptable. Yeah, Blazers also not helped by the refs a couple of like Nurkic had three moving screens, three illegal screens.

Listen, you could call that every fucking time. Why are you doing that? He's not even tilting his hips that much.

Yeah, they have been calling that a lot more this year. Than past years though.

Yeah, I mean David leaves to do that shit all day time, Like, fuck, these guys, this is just rude.

You can't even call that.

Once every three plays. Probably, Yeah, I was optimistic.

I was exuberant. I had frenetic injury like energy.

It was something maybe I've never felt in the history of being a Blazer fan, which was like I could picture the finals in my mind, like I could picture it.

I could see it.

You know, us playing the nets like one forty seven, one thirty eight's you know, like who knows.

Nobody plays defense. It's just all offense.

Like I was excited and the balloon popped, of course, and then I was like, you know what, Hope is a useless for emotion in sports, useless, completely useless, And it's like being scarred by a relationship where you're like, I don't want to love again, I never want to love again.

I'm never gonna have hope in a game.

Just like we came out with all of that, and then we just just trailed off, and like Damian Lillard, right, is just I was so excited for my team, for my city, and then all of a sudden, like I'm simultaneously so so sad for Dame, like Roco Roco, Robert Covington, and that not only that miss bunny at the end of the game in regulation, also the missed fucking rim check dunk on the back of it. What do you even call a dunk like that that goes off the room? Is it still a rimcheck?

I don't even know, But like, how do you try to throw a hammer in that situation? Get the fucking points? Just get the points.

Why are you trying to make a statement right now?

Jason Richardson lost the Sons a game a million years ago, and wasn't it nearly this big a game? Because of that? And I've hated him forever because of it. Get the goddamn points, Like.

I mean, these guys, these dummies are not doing my god, any fucking favors. Like these dummies, my God, Damian Lillard, I was like full, I was like a full religious zealot running around, running around preaching for Dame.

And like Denver just fuck us, fucked us over out of history. So I am a Dame believer. I think you will.

Never trade CJ, even though, like I think the calls to trade CJ were so great.

Then, like after that. I don't think that's gonna happen because.

CJ historically has cooked Denver cook them. What do you think, what do you think, just like get rid.

Of them, get rid of CJ. I don't know. I mean I don't think Dame would be super happy about that. He's a big loyalty guy. So I think you I think if you're Portland, you have to you're basically at will to Dame Liland. So whatever Dame says, it's kind of his call.

I mean, we better fucking win game six. We better win it.

Yeah, Like if we lose, CJ was like, I hate to see that Dame's performance was wasted, Like you fucking stepped out of bouce.

I mean you played fifty minutes and scored eighteen points. Like, yeah, I expect Portland to win, though I do.

I do too. I am a Dame believer, but if we.

So, in my mind, I think to myself this, what are like what a religious zelots say.

When something bad happens, Well, they say.

They say it's all for a greater purpose, right, Yeah, the greater purpose is that we will win Game six, and we will win Game seven in a more historic fashion than the entire series, this run to the finals, maybe a title that we win. We won't win, but that's the that's the religious Zela in me where I'm like, yeah, like this is just a bump in the road to our title contention, you know, our title road, sure, or or.

Like since I'm not religious, nothing fucking matters.

And it was just an amazing performance that will go down in the history of allmosts.

Fuck, we better win tonight, all.

Right, Sixers Wizards, I mean that's kind of what we thought it was gonna happen.

The Wizards are not that great. The Sixers can do whatever.

They want with just Ben Simmons, Matist Saibel and the rest of the gang.

They don't need mbeat.

That's starting lineup last night was weird, like like who was the five? Like I don't even know, Like.

They had Dwight Howard on there for a little bit. They had Tobias he didn't I didn't start though.

Yeah, Like it was weird.

Yeah, they went small, which is what I think they might do against the Hawks. I would they could be the Wizards. Like even if the Wizards lost or won last game, I think they could have still won the series with m b for sure.

So this MBAT injury is no fucking joke.

Again, talking to the pets, they said, meniscus, tear, rot row, this is in his healthy knee for one two it's a full tier in the lateral and it's gonna be hampering him regardless if you can play or not. This would normally be a one month long injury, sitting out partial tears, they said, like even still, it would be a one month long recovery, or you would snip it out. So I think what they will do is avoid playing him as long as they possibly can.

As long as they can.

Bottom line, Sixers are good and that's really all I have to say. Ben Simmons also very aggressive, triple double scorer, Sixers win, do it every single time.

Embidless Sixers versus would be really fun.

So yeah, I was just saying this last night. I was like, the Sixers are more fun without EMBIID.

I'm not saying.

What I mean by that is like there's more parody with the other teams, Like it's not a curb stock.

No, it's gonna be much more. Yeah, it's gonna be a.

Much more entertaining series. That's all I mean.

I don't.

Like I would for sure rather have embiid if I was a Sixers fan or the Sixers organization.

But like as a fan, it's much more fun.

Yeah, No, And they won't have to guess who they're going to throw out to defend Trey.

Young correct, correct exactly.

Games that won't be a coaching decision exactly.

And then Hawks versus Nicks they need a star. Knicks need a star. They have no star.

Probably Julius Randall is not going to get his contract this summer anymore.

They're gonna wait.

Like eight gms have said gone on record about this, and like seven of them have said that they would wait to give him the contract, let him see how that goes for one more year that he's not a MAX player. So many narratives now coming back to haunt Juliusandall, Like you said, Pelicans Randall, Lakers Randall. So he did not play well, Hawks played solid defense on him. Apparently

Yeah, he and Hunter kind of tag team.

Yeah. Yeah, for sure, Nicks had no answer for Trey none, which I thought was very surprising given this was the top five defense all year. Frank Melakina could have been the lynchpin to this Yes or no going seven Frank, filthy Frank like get him out of the leak, get him out of the fucking league.

And also brilliant coaching decision coaching moves from Nate McMillan. I stand up, I put my hand up. I was wrong.

I said Nate McMillan wouldn't get out the first round. I would be crowing running around the streets.

I was wrong. He he was good, He was good, but he it has.

Been twenty years, so like if you were a statistical person that was a betting person, like if you hadn't been out of the first round in twenty years, like you could probably bet that he wouldn't this time. But he also said we needed to make sure that we closed it out in MSG because we didn't want to give the Sixers rest, which I thought was shrewd, very shrewd.

So yeah, he's been taking care of business again. Wrong on Nate McMillan, Hawks get Sixers.

We will preview that on Monday show.

Utah is for real, Yes they are, They look real.

They do.

I don't think they get out of the West still because it's Utah. That's only why that would not be a shocker if they did not get out. Now you got Mike Conley who has a hamstring injury. They're saying that is he's saying no big deal, just a little tweak, But I think it's a big deal.

Spider's ankles still sore.

Jazz hit seventeen or more threes in the last four games.

That's a lot of threes. That's a shitlow of shooting.

I mean, they led the league. They led the league. To their credit, they.

Led the league in the threes.

Do you think that continues against the team that can actually defend the perimeter.

I mean we beat him three times. The Suns beat him three times in the regular season. I like the matchup a little bit again like we Sons still have business to do, so not getting ahead at all. But yeah, they have looked the best in the West. I would say, granted they were playing the eight seed, so they should should Yeah.

They're like the sixers, and that they have the glipath and they should have the gldpath because they were the number number one seed. Man, you would be feeling really good, wouldn't you if you were the one seed right now?

I would have liked to see how they played the Lakers and how the Suns played the Grizzlies, like how it would have worked?

Like the Yeah, every time Quinn Snyder has led a team to the second round, he's lost his starting point guard in the process. Twenty seventeen, George Hill didn't play as the Jazz got swept by the Warriors. Twenty eighteen, Ricky Rubio was out for Utah's loss to the Rockets. And now who knows with Mike Conley playing the winner of mav Clippers, which will probably be MAVs.

I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know.

Yeah, I don't.

We'll talk about the Grizzlies in the offseason. But man, was that a fun team to get into the playoffs?

Oh yeah, I'm happy for them. I'm happy for Jaw. He has arrived. He's finally gonna be seen.

I think that the best thing about the Memphis Grizzlies getting into the playoffs was that the NBA will respect them. In terms of nationally televised games. They were the least nationally televised team.

In the league.

Yet, Na, he's the man.

He's the man. He is the man.

Is he already on Grizzlies Mount Rushmore?

I think so? I think so. Yeah, Like in the middle of.

It, Conley gaol Zebo.

In direct correct love me some Zebra.

He averaged thirty in this series, most by any Grizzly ever.

It's he has been him and Trey and Dame have been it like Musty TV.

Yeah.

Rudy Gobert last night twenty three points, fifteen rebounds, three blocks, ten for thirteen. Gobert is the second player in NBA history to average at least fifteen points per game and ten rebounds while shooting seventy five percent or better from the field in the best of seven playoff series.

Pretty sure Eighten is on track to do that as well.

Weirdly, uh yeah, Ayton Is.

Ayton has been tremendous this series, and I think he's going to continue to be really good. Donovan Mitchell last night thirty points, six rebounds, ten assists. Mitchell is the first player in Utah Jazz history to record at least thirty points, five rebounds, and ten assists in a playoff game. He's also the first player in franchise postseason history to record a thirty point game while playing less than thirty minutes.

Wow.

So yeah, Utah Jazz Sun's Western Conference Finals.

That's that's it right there.

If the Blazers lose tonight, which you'll know by by the time this episode comes out, yeah tomorrow or Friday, when this episode is out, I'm rooting for the Suns the whole way out.

Thank you, thank you, justin I'm.

Rooting for the Suns the whole way out.

I just thank you first off, just want to just just want to thank you for that. As far as the Jazz go, doesn't it just seem weird, Like I just can't picture Rudy Gobert holding the Larry Brian Trophy or Donovan Mitchell at all? Yeah, at all. I'm overcoming the hospital.

I don't RENI impossibly, he said. I was being a lot to go.

But I have to become me a stoppable and why would I not got a lot to do to wear topical.

Don't call me.

I ain't calling you. I do not watch the clean You just id to want to watch my movies.

I can take you just on that.

Now we're gonna clean up just a little around the league clean up.

A lot of talk recently about the dislike between Jay Crowder and Lebron James. The best that might be the best matchup going in the playoffs.

That was the rivalry that's been bubbling.

I didn't even realize was bubbling, and now it's like fully boiling.

Yeah, he clearly annoys him.

Clearly they don't like each other, and so I was doing a little digging. One of the things that I like about Jay Crowder is one he's a fucking dog and two he's loyal, loyal to his guys. This goes back to one the time that Jay and and Isaiah Thomas were both Celtics playing against Lebron James for all those playoff runs where Lebron went to like a million straight finals, and two when Jay Crowder and Isaiah Thomas were shipped to Cleveland for Kyrie Irving and then all of a sudden, Lebron James.

Discarded that was pretty much the end of Isaiah Thomas.

Yeah, he discarded Isaiah for Larry Nance Junior and Jordan Clarkson to the Lakers and then quickly discarded Jay Crowder to Utah. And Jay Crowder told a couple of reporters could not wait to get.

The fuck out of Cleveland.

Hated it there, hated the culture, hated playing with Lebron, don't like Lebron, and hate what he did to my guy it.

Yeah, I mean that was the worst stretch of his career. I think if you go, look, don't have numbers in front of me, but I would. I would be surprised if that will Choffel. He looked.

And he was not well liked with the organization. They weren't taking care of him. He wasn't a good cultural fit. And you're talking about Crowder, the glue guy, like the guy that you put on the opposing team's best defender to like get him, get him mad. And now what we're seeing is like Lebron James just wanting to give Jay crowd to the business every single time down.

It's like so fun to watch love that, love that. How hot is this rivalry?

You may ask? I clipped a second, a seven second wordless interaction between Jake Crowder and Lebron James, and it got over five hundred thousand views on TikTok and thirty like thirty thousand likes on In twenty four hours. That's that's how spicy that rivalry is. So I cannot wait for tonight's game. All right, more drama between Nike and

And she told Nike.

I want to sell these shoes in honor of Gigi, and I want all proceeds to go to the Mama Sita Foundation. And then all of a sudden the relationship ended. For whatever reason, I think she believed that she wasn't gonna get enough from Nike to honor her husband, or she didn't think that they were honoring him the right way, or something about how many Nikes they were producing. There's a lot of scuttle butt about why. So then she

Like this is dirty? She said, I don't even have a pair myself. This is what she said on Instagram.

The Mamba Seat is shoe is not approved for sale and all proceeds were supposed to go to the Mamba Seat to Sports Foundation. Nike has not sent any of these pairs to me or my girls.

I do not know how someone.

Else has their hands on shoes that I personally designed for Gigi myself and sent the designs to Nike in honor of my daughter, and we don't have any I hope these shoes never get sold. They've been sold, they are not on flight Club anymore. Someone's got them on her feet. So holy fuck is that bad. I have no idea what's gonna happen with that moving forward.

That's a tough story. I mean, what a what an awful look for Nike. I'm shit.

Wait twenty twenty one has not been kind to Nike. Yeah, yuck, fuck'm fuck them.

In shocking news.

Eric Pinkes of Bleacher Report dropped the bomb show and he said, this is the moves Marty, we are Are you ready?

This is the news.

He dropped the bomb show when he said conclusively, not speculatively, that Chris Paul intends to decline his forty four point four million dollar option with the Suns.

Things I did not see coming. That was one.

Yeah, we're focused on the Lakers in Game six.

Let me say this, the Chris Paul saga fascinating. Fascinating because even with the shoulder injury, I don't think Chris Paul's value is any higher than it is right this moment.

I mean, he's going to continue playing so and like he has until the end of this. I mean, if he just I don't know, God forbid, keeps getting hurt, it might go down a little bit. But right now, yeah, I mean he's still worth that much money for sure.

I think absolutely he is worth because you take the forty four he declines that, and he says he wants more than one hundred million dollars over the course of the next three years, which is just over thirty three in change, right, he's getting forty four and a half. So is he worth twenty seven a year for the next two years after that first year?

Yeah, kind of maybe.

So I think that puts the Sons in a tricky position because it's like, well, you have to make that decision. Yeah, your name now, and if you don't win the title this year, I think you say, yay.

Oh yeah, no, no, no, no, you bring him back. That The same people that like are amongst like Sons Twitter, the same people that are of the opinion that we should decline the option or not try to resign them, are the same people that didn't want to trade Uber and Rubio for him, Like they're just scared. Don't understand, Like you have to make moves like this, you have to eat money sometimes it's a no brainer to me. So, like, it really doesn't affect how I view this team that much right now.

I think you know this about Chris Paul. He's a very smart, very shrewd businessman who understands the power and the nature of leverage. He was then MBPA president for many years, so he understands how negotiations works very well. And I think he's gonna get his money from the Suns, and I think he deserves that money from the Suns.

And fuck it, Like, even if he ends.

Up getting hurt, I still think he can turn And the cell to me is like, I think I can turn DeAndre Ayton into a top three center in the league, and I think I turned Devin Booker into a top three shooting guard in the league regardless.

Yeah, like his presence even if he's not like fully there ineffective. Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah, Actually I didn't quite think of that. I mean, it just is kind of funny that three years. It's like that's that third year is like right at the point where you're just not gonna want to do it. But I mean that's why that's what happens with all these mega deals. Now though, like you you take it like you know, it might hurt, like in the last year or the last two years, but it's worth it.

You're willing to sacrifice the future, yeah, for the right now. And Chris Paul is the right guy for right now.

And he just squeezed extra.

Fifty six million dollars out of the Suns because I guarantee you they're paying it.

That's all the time that I have for This League podcast.

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Thank you for listening. Tune in Monday afternoon.

For the next episode of This League.

So I figure a column holiday fall. It's sound to risk it all. Say hello to the big dog, say goodbye to all the falls.

Keep it on hunted, keep it on hont and keep.

It a down certain people, so that we don't a love no no no po po no no no po po.

You slow pole all black stay whoa.

Come the best?

I'm the best case clothes rockcamt Rock.

I ain't no joke.

I mean that. Give me that you mean he give me that, give.

Me that, give me that. I want this and now what you mean I can't have at stang you.

Laine Lois, Lena start stirred on him, sang you Lane, Penny Lander skirt stirred on him.

Big big, big big dog, big doll big.

Dog walk in, big dog walk here with the dog. I'm a risk it all. I'm a risk it all. I'm a whisk it all.

A lie big big, big big dog, way doll, big dog walk in, big dog walk in with the dog.

I'm ana risk it all. I'm a risk it all. I'm ana whisk it all. Ooh, you got a risk it just to get a biscuit?

Biscuit?

How many licks does it take the liquor?

She wanted a liquor trapper, but she are ready to lickt the rapper. Oh mine, oh mine, so fly Fly said mafia, I stay fly, I stay fly quality.

I have to get by.

I want it all out a piece of the pie. Everybody eats everybody and we keep all of the receipts.

Swing good and we live in good. We'd have made it up about the hood.

Give me that, give me that you mean a give me that, give me that, give me that.

You that I want this and now what you mean I can't have that?

Stand a lane Lois Lana starts stirred on him, sang your lame penny.

Lana skirt skirred on him.

Big big, big big dog, big dog, big dog walk in, big dog, walk in with the dog.

I'm a risk it all. I'm a risk it all.

I'm a whisk it all all. Line line, big, big, big big dog, way dog, big dog walk in, big dog, walkay with the dog.

Hall.

I'm a muscu it all. I'm a riscuit all. I'm a biscuit off

Mm hmm