We Must Protect the Beleaguered Front Office Executives!

now what the question is now what? And then thirdly we delve into an investigation that almost that revealed what we almost saw, which was the NBA Finals completely shutting down to me a favored rock and dropped out fucking lead. So we talked recently about the dysfunction of the Blazers organization that led to an investigation into workplace misconduct by one neil o'she who it still has a job and the investigation is still ongoing. There has been some recent

developments about this well. First and foremost, Trailblazer's president and CEO Chris McGowan, in the midst of all this, recently resigned from his position his post. He had been there ten plus years. He had been there the exact same amount of time as neil o'she huge surprise. By all accounts, everybody loved him. He was given a ton of power from Paul Allen, and then when Paul Allen passed away,

rip Paul Allen, Jody Allen, his sister. He was set to take on a bigger, more important role within the organization. And apparently now he said, hey, my resignation has nothing to do with the Olshane investigation whatsoever. Sure, sure, Okay McGowan was in the last year of his contract. Since he started the same year as Olshay, people are one hundred percent going to think that the two things are related. Even if they're not. He might move on to greener pastures.

Who knows. Maybe there were some things that were going on with this role that had nothing to do with Neil o'sha being kind of an asshole and putting a negative stain onto his reputation. He's like, I gotta go.

But maybe maybe had nothing to do with that. Maybe Apparently, though, this investigation into the Blazer's workplace environment, along with the Robert Sarver investigation, I'm sure, has a whole lot of NBA front office execs scared, running scared, making moves like little rats in the corners, shifting around, scurrying around like when you turn the lights on your How scared you may ask, Well, apparently there is a new push to expedite the creation of an NBA can't make this stuff

up an NBA Front office employees union because they are worried that teams are going to start using such allegations like hostile workplace environments and ramp at sexism and racism as being four cause terminations where those contracts will immediately be avoided in those gms will get no money. Really, huh,

you don't say. According to ESPN, NBA general managers are working to finalize the formation of a professional association that would collectively support executives with access to legal defense funds because they don't have enough money themselves, lawyer referrals, and public relations professionals to help basically prevent any blowback to stain their own reputations for possible shitty things that they've done. Why now, you may ask, COVID Mostly COVID because revenue

is way down. There are NBA executives who are afraid that Portland is creating a precedent a blueprint to invoke firing four cause to avoid payment on big money contracts. Imagine, if you will, if Sacramento could find some way to fire Luke Walton for cause where they wouldn't have to pay him out his contract, how fast do you think he would have been fired? How fast do you think some sexual investigation would have been going on into him? Which I mean, I think that already happened, by the way,

I think that happened. I google it. I think it happened again. The question is why will these same NBA executives point out that over the nine years in Portland, the NBA has received quote no calls to the league office or tips to its hotline alleging workplace complaints against oshe huh. Nor has the Blazer's HR department received any complaints until recent quote unquote recent weeks. Excuse me, excuse me.

This all leads me to a point about something I've been thinking about since this story came out last week. Can we talk about the elephant in the room here, because it's been weighing on my mind and I feel I need, as a voice of reason to come out and say some things. Can you just come with me to this place. Imagine that you yourself have been working within the NBA front office ranks. Maybe you went to like Wichita State, trying to get your feet wet, and you

find yourself in with the Portland Trailblazers. You're maybe like

a a scout, right, your little assistant scout. You're just starting out, You're just a baby in the game, and you discover that in your early goings that the workplace environment is how we say, unsavory, less than ideal, not quite toxic, but not clean water, not quite flint water, but definitely not like Portland or New York water, like DC water, Like it tastes like shit, but you and you know there's something wrong with it, but you can't exactly point out why. Who exactly do you complain to?

Like you go to the anonymous NBA tip line, like be serious, like ringing ring ring. Uh yeah, yeah, yeah, this is trusted Creek. I'd like to speak with Adam Silver. Who are you? Yeah, yeah, I'm an NBA assistant scout for Portland Trail Basers. I've been here for sixty days. I'd like to report to some malfeasans like click excuse me, I'd like to report my GM for saying some mean things to me When I told them that Jonathan Kaminga had a nasty left hand, he called me a fucking idiot. Who, Like,

who do you think these people have access to? Like, oh, we haven't heard any complaints against Neil O'Shea in the nine years that he's been there. Like, who are these people these cogs in the wheel supposed to be going and complaining too? Right? Like do you think that these people have access to those that are in power? Like? Who are these people you're supposed to hit up? It's not the GM. Hey, Neil, just want to let you know. I'd like to put a little piece of paper into

the tip box. I think you were mean to me last Tuesday when I brought my tuna fish sandwich in and you said my breathsteaks, Like what are we talking about here? Like these people are just cogs in the wheel. They're easily replaceable, expendable, a normal everyday bolt. You could pick up the ACE hardware. You're what's special? Just fucking there's a million of you waiting in line, just salivating over the chance to work for an NBA team. No,

so you just put up with some shits. You're not gonna complain You're gonna put up with some shit until you don't have to anymore. Everyone, though, starts out as a bolt, everyone just an every day bolt, turning into Eric Spolstra, Like Eric Spolstra was the video coord that one gotta good, that one gotta going the Eric Spostra was a video coordinator at one point in time. Do you think people thought he was gonna be one of

the most highly respected NBA coaches in modern memory. No, So there is no incentive if you're an everyday little bolt to be truthful about these things. There's no way to be honest about these types of things in an environment which has no protections for whistle blow like it is, does not behoove you to say a peep. This is why not a few, but apparently dozens of employees came out all at the same time, just mysteriously. When Robert Sarva came under investigation, it was like a waterfall came

down of complaints. Because once enough people are there, then you feel brave. Bravery is not easy when you're the only ones saying anything like they talk about Uh, trailblazers are the ones with the arrows in their fucking backs, like you don't want to be those people, you know what I'm saying, Like, that's why the old shat probe took all of twenty four hours to escalate into a full scale investigation, because you talk to a couple people and you're like, oh shit, yep, so here's the thing.

I am sure there's more than a few toxic environments in the NBA. I'm sure how long did Donald Sterling exist before? I mean, how you think that was just new new news like this? He just woke up one day and was like, I am gonna start being a slumlord. I'm gonna start dropping the end bob to my side piece. Like no, no, this had been going on, right, Like we needed video evidence for this thing to become a full scale gotta get this guy out of here twenty

twenty one. It is a different world, boy, And the NBA is full of machismo, right, and vulnerability is lucked down upon. There is a ton of competition. You have to put up with so much shit just to be in that place. Like think about you know Gerson rosis in Minnesota, Like so many of these front office employees were athletes themselves, and they were like running suicides until

they threw up. They're like, oh, well, I was put in to like one hundred and one degree like tool shed when I missed three free throws at the end of the game against you know, Portland State. But like I can put up with someone calling my breath smell like hot pickled pigs feet, Like what's that? You know? At least I didn't at least I didn't have to like sit into a like a sauna. These guys played for guys like Bobby Knight, like neil o'sha is nothing.

Neil O'Shane is a dream. My college coach was way worse than that, Like what do you mean toxic work environment? Like what do you mean, oh, just because no one's complained, nothing's going on, Like and on top of that, like, let's talk about this union we got it to I mean, are you serious? Like they don't need a union. Do you know who needs a union? Walmart workers need a union.

Unions protect employees from predatory instincts of their employers who tried it always take advantage of underprivileged, underserved, voiceless workers who make like seven dollars an hour, people who do not get paid enough, people who have to work under extreme working conditions. People cannot lobby to protect themselves. Right, They need a union because they will be fired as soon as they try to speak up from themselves. They are the voiceless. They need a union. You know who

doesn't need a union? People with ten year long contracts. We will make millions of dollars who normally when fired right off into the sunset with a fat fucking check. Those people, they don't need a unionized like they now. These fuckers are working over time to keep doing everything that they can to keep those parachutes, those golden, golden

parachutes intact. Because that's how it's always been. It doesn't fucking matter if you berate your secretary or tell her she looks good in that tight ass skirt or called John from Accounting an incombinent piece of shit, like no, if you get fired, you get paid. That's the way it goes. NBA front office execs, they don't need a fucking union like they don't. The funny thing, though, is that this is all coming up after they looked into

neil o'shay. Because neil o'sha had tenure, lifetime tenure. Jody Allen was never gonna fire in Neil o'she and by the way, Neil o'sha is terrible at his job period, Like that is not a debate. He's not good and he's been in the good graces of an owner and the owner's now sister who's largely completely hands off, and it's gonna take an investigation like this for him to lose his job. And now everyone's like, oh fuck. If Neil Snake Tongue O Shay can get fired, all of

us can be fired. And if he doesn't get any money, none of us are getting money. Come on, now, come on now, so let's form a union to get defense funds to protect us so that no matter how egregious our behavior is, in order for us to get out, in order for you to show us the door, you need to pay us our fucking gwop. Like that's the

deal that shit is. It is ridiculous. The lengths that millionaires will go to make sure to protect themselves and they're fucking millionaire friends to make sure they all stay paid. It never ceases to amaze me. Man, Like they are out, I mean, the things that they will do, the excuses that they will make, like they're like, oh, well, these owners you know, we gotta basically say, hey, these owners, they're the real bad guys, like we are the little guys.

They are the big. Get the fuck out here a union for allegedly shitty and incompetent employees, most of them that are mediocre at their job, to stay paid no matter what they do. Get the fuck out of here. Fuck your union, Fuck your couch like I'm gonna put my little feet all over your couch and put my mud all over if are you serious? I cannot wait to see how this sends. I can wait, Mi am on the edge of my seat. I tell you what.

If GM's actually fuck around and successfully form a union to absolve them from what we're finally seeing as a baby semblance of accountability. Only when there's video evidence and a mountain of employee complaints and you still stay paid and protected, Holy shit, are we in for a hell of a ride only We'll talk about this last week, But you know who has been broke for a long ass time in Sacramento. They have been a broke ass, poverty ass franchise for a very long time, and they

needed fixing. So last week I was on ESPN Sacramento with Damien Barley Barling and Kenny Carway to talk about the Kings fun conversation. They basically knew exactly what I knew, which is this guy Luke Walton, he's gotta go, He's gotta go. They follow the Kings like a religion. When a nice little banter, you know, if you're in Sacramento, I mean, what else do you talk about? Truthfully, no shade to Damien and Kenny, but like it's that's it, right,

there's anything else going on there? I don't know. So we said, no way, Luke Walton is the King's coach tomorrow, right, Like I knew they were losing games. We talked about and I'm like, yo, he's gotta go. Right, So this is what I tweeted. Went on ESPN Sacramento Today with the host Damien Barling and I Am k Diddy and said the exact same thing. No reason that the King should be getting their doors blown off tonight with the

talent that they have. And let me tell you, I have never seen someone come after me for such an innocuous and completely factual take Like that wasn't even a hot take. That was a nice statement about the Kings having good pieces and not needing to lose and not needing to lose in this fashion, and their coach was

culpable of that fact, right, culpable. I won't give his handle out, but I think it might have been Luke Walton's burner like truthfully, the way that he was speaking, he tweeted this with all due respect, your opinion is the complete opposite of every reporter that covers this team on a day to day basis, and almost all national NBA reporters. Okay, Luke, like Okay Luke that it was Luke right. An insane thing to say, considering that both Damien and Kenny one hundred percent agreed with me that

Luke Walton needed to go. Luke Wald's need to go for years, which is that they have too much talent to be fucking around blowing huge leads, looking completely inconsistent, sometimes great, sometimes not great, and not even sniffing the

playoffs pretty much every year. And then I responded to him, which is just the fact that this is a segment now, which is what that Luke Walton isn't to blame for the four guard lineup that allows posing centers to feast that Davion Tyres Gylliburton, Buddy Heal, Harrison and Fox are just scrubs that they are the ones to blame. I listen and read. I mean if you think I'm not listening and reading, uh, it's time to clean house. And

then he doubled down and he will actually me. He was like, well, actually they play a three guard lineup, not a four guard None of the players you noted are an All Star. Pause. Yeah, nobody that plays on the Kings, no matter how good they are, is gonna be an All Star. Like but fucking Boogie Cousins, one of the most dominant big men in NBA history, barely made the All Star Game and they shipped him the fuck out And many of them have struggled offensive late

to start the season. No shit, they're all four guards playing on the court at the same time. Like, what do you think they're gonna all be able to get their shot off? There's no mismatches? Are you serious? It's like you no shit? Anyway, this team has only projected to be the tenth or eleventh and the standings, what have you been reading that? This is a indicating that this was a playoff roster pause. Calves were also indicated to be an eleven seed and see what they're doing.

He even denied the fact to me that Harrison Barnes was a two guard when I set him an article screenshot that headline said, Harrison Barnes struggles to adapt to play two in the NBA. Like, what are we talking about? People? What are we saying? People will just go to any lengths to make a woman sound wrong on the internet. They really will. Anyway, My points stands. Luke Walton was a trash coach, and I predicted if he lost two

more games, he would be fired. And guess what, Luke Walton here on a Monday, and on a Tuesday his asses fired. I said, watch your butt, Luke, and his butt is now sitting on a couch. His butt is now chilling at the crib. His butt is now probably headed to the Lakers bench, to the Warriors bench to sit there. Because he came there and he was okay there. That's not to say that he was unpopular with the team. He wasn't. Tyrese Haliburton had very nice things to say

about Luke all accounts a decent guy. I just don't think he's a very good coach. That's what he said, he said very nice, flowery things, but Alvin Gentry. Alvin Gentry has been named the semi interim head coach. In a WOJE reporting, Wolj bomb Gentry. This is what he said. Gentry is already under contract through the two twenty three season. He gets a raise, why, I don't know, to take the interim job and agreement on some benchmarks of success the rest of the season with the team to try

and keep the job longer. John Hollinger wrote this about Alvin Gentry. Alvin Gentry is you can tell in my tone, I don't believe this at all. He is one of the most beloved people in the league. He's worked for darn near every team in the league. He's a retread. Obviously, that means he's a retread, and you'll have trouble finding

many people with anything bad to say about him. He's also pretty much seen everything this league has to He worked for Donald Sterling's Clippers, so nothing that happens in Sacramento is likely to face him. What you're trying to say there is that he has been so unsuccessful that he's bounced around like a journeyman, and that he's worked for dysfunctional teams that largely stayed dysfunctional in his tenure

on those teams. He is one of those people, those little bolts that doesn't speak about the shit that's going on. That's him. And he got a head coaching gig and he failed at that head coaching gig multiple times. Uh so, Yeah, he got into a fight with the GM of the New Orleans Pelicans recently because the Pelicans GM clowned him for giving him all the answers to the test and his ass still not knowing how to solve the problem. And this guy is the interim head coach with a

new fucking race. These guys, more things changed, more things to stay the same. You're in. Fox himself does not expect the Kings to have a big overhaul due to the change from Luke Walton Viele Gentry and that is a shame, I tell you what. And he emphasized finishing plays and getting out to good starts. So what happened

folks first game? In their first game under Gentry against the Sixers, the Kings were three and a half point favorites against the Sixers without Tobias Harris, no mb'd of course, no Ben Simmons. No, Danny Green and I hammered the Kings. I knew dead cats. They don't bounce that high. No, they don't. The Kings led by nine early in the fourth quarter, but guess what, folks, they were outscored twenty five to eight over the final nine minutes forty five seconds.

So yes, nothing changed. Nothing. That's exactly what the Kings have been doing. This is what I'm saying. I don't know why they get these big leads and then they give them up. But I don't know. It can't just be the player's fault for that. These are professional athletes. So gentry got its first chance to talk about what's going wrong with the Kings. That's what he said. Uh quote bottom line, you have to step up and make shots. Pause pause. He's already put in the blame on the players,

isn't he. We got some good looks at it, and we didn't make them. That's where we've struggled. We played a team that had a lot of their starters missing, and we didn't get the job done. Oh my god, Once again, Tristan Thompson, the voice of reason. Let's see what he has to say.

better every year for this, for this team and this franchise. And he gets hit and Diye has a bus to die. But no one, you know, no one gets a hard foul or makes someone feel them, you know what I'm saying, Like that's the little things like can't be nice in this league. Can't be nice nice teams always always finished last, or or get excited about the lottery balls. So all these all these guys here that on this roster, they don't want to lose, They don't want to lose, they

want to win. But we all got to look in the mirror and get one percent better. Everyone, everyone, everyone that steps in this building to work has to look and see how can they get better because right now it's it's it's not a good feeling. We're not where we want to be. So it takes everyone. Everyone's got to be better, and everyone's gotta be realed themselves, be rolled themselves, and we gotta be real with each other. Might not like it, but you're gonna respect me at the end of the day.

I think I can trash Canada now that I'm not owned by Penn National Gaming that's now owning the score. Yeah, the Canadians are soft, Like, you can't have the Canadian be the toughest one on your fucking roster. You know what, I'm saying, so Kings fans, but buck up, Yeah, Kings fans, buckle up. Alvin Gentry is not the answer. Who is I mean, you got Doug Christi there. Why isn't he

giving a given an opportunity. People are already speculating that Deeron Fox's role is now going to be diminished because he was the centerpiece of Luke Walton's offense. Boy, that doesn't sound great. All I can say is that if you have Daron Fox, one of the fastest, if not the fastest guy in the league. You have Halliburton, you have Buddy Heeled, one of the best shooters in the league. You have Harrison Barnes probably one of the best too two way players in the league. And Rashawn Holmes one

of the rollers in the league. Gave you on Mitchell clamps off the bench, and you can't win games. You got problems. You got problems on the offense, you got problems on the defense, and that largely stems from the front office and the coaching staff. You need to figure out a way to make that talented lineup win some fucking games. And oh, by the way, for those still simping for Luke, Walton. I get it, I get it.

You've got a low bar for things in Luke Walton's burner, including for Luke Walton's burner, not Walton one two, three for five, who definitely wasn't Luke Walton simping for him in his Twitter mentions. Uh, I've got some good news for you. Luke Walton's forty winning percentage, which you might think is trash because it is his winning percentage is the head coach of the Kings. That is the second

best record in franchise history. That's heartbreaking. Eighteen head coach, eighteen head coaches in franchise history, and he is the second winningest head coach in Sacramento lore. This is the only head coach on earth that couldn't get a five hundred record out of Lebron James and he has the second best record at forty three percent. Buckle up, Kings fans, this is gonna be a hell of a rod. This weak.

crazy good reporting. Obviously someone at the Rolling Stones is very close with someone within the NBA because they're spilling all the tea to only the Rolling Stones. It's like when TMZ became like a legitimate news source, Like I don't know what's going on. I don't know, and it's like hidden behind a paywall, very shady. I am like

baffled by this. I'm also like imagining now a world where maxim is doing like the disctconstruction of like Lebron and Isaiah Stewart, like looking at Lebron's angle of his elbow and like, will Isaiah Stewart make it in this league? Anyway? Turns out that the league, according to the Rolling Stone, nearly had a full blown NBA COVID crisis on its hands that came very close to ruining the centerpiece of

the NBA season. So the fascinating story of COVID and how it nearly destroyed the twenty twenty one NBA Final and now we are just now learning about it. So it goes back to the summer of fourth of July when multiple sources. According to multiple sources, no one on the Bucks organization knew whether Yanis or not was vaccinated. So that's problematic considering at that point if you remember that Wisconsin was a hot spot for the Delta variant,

like it was sweeping Milwaukee record cases. People couldn't travel in and out, but the world did not know within the Bucks organization whether Yannis had decided to get the vaccine or not. Right row, an anonymous Bucks exec told Rolling Stone this we were very concerned that Jannis wasn't vaccinated and that with all of his exposure from all of these different people, the new face of the NBA

might get infected. Uh. That's not good, or at least contact traced by the NBA and be forced to quarantine, potentially altering the course of sports history. The biggest thing was just make sure Yannis tests negative. Wink wink wink. Uh. The wild thing is that this no team were more fanatical about COVID protocols than the Bucks during the regular season.

The Bucks hadn't allowed family to join players on the road during the first round of the playoffs because they were sticking to the mantra stay locked in, Bud, keep your job, Budenholzer, keep your job, stay locked in. Uh what was it, uh, Jeff Goldblum where he said, uh,

Jurassic Park. Nature finds its way. That's right, so do idiots, friends, cousins, girlfriends that have to just hang on like little leeches in the glow of famous NBA players Like got a roll, Listen, I get it, Like if I had a best friend that was the number one fate, I'd be sticking around too. So the finals apparently were a different animal for the Bucks, and it was Budenholtzer who opened floodgates. Of course, he said, we're bringing in our families. Three people. What of course

we're bringing in our families. That's what he told the team. It's the finals, Yeah, I mean, Bud like, of course, Covid loves the NBA Finals. Covid is gonna take a vacation during that particular part of the NBA playoffs because COVID couldn't possibly ruin the finals when they they're known

NBA fan COVID. COVID nineteen loves the NBA. They take the NBA Finals off, of course, to watch the action, right Like, they would never come after you because they're too busy watching the NBA Finals versus infecting the NBA Finals. Do you remember when Isis took time off of terrorizing fools in order so that they could watch the World Cup?

Like they stopped with the drone strikes and the rocket launchers and the little baby child soldiers with bombs on their chest so that they could live troll Lionel Messi, Right like, that was what they thought would happen with COVID taking time off to watch sports. That's why sports unite us, because terrorists and pandemics don't affect us during those times. It's like the Olympics when we all come together. Peace treaty, COVID treaty. No, are you fucking kidding me?

Like no, Rolling Stones's investigation revealed for the first time that over a dozen people a dozen people associated with the Bucks and the Suns tested positive for COVID during the finals. Yikes. According to the league sources and four team official officials with knowledge of the situation, six vaccinated staffers, including coaching and medical staffers from the Bucks, family members and people in both franchise, entourage's hangers on, and one

player Janis's brother uh and teammates Thanasis Onto Zakoumpo. Let me just say this, You don't think Janis was a close contact to his fucking brother who got COVID in the middle of the finals. Come on, bro, literally bro, Come on, bro. The funniest thing about the whole debacle was the two officials say that Milwaukee official responsible for keeping the team COVID free tested positive for COVID. Rule number one a fight club. Don't talk about fight club

rule number one of being the COVID zar. Do not get COVID. Are you kidding? That's the entire rule for you, Like, don't get COVID, don't let anybody else get COVID. That's it. You get paid if you can keep those two things from happening. Even now, the Bucks are protecting gy honest about this whole situation, basically saying Yannis was protecting himself. Yannes quote unquote, the MVP doesn't even like to go

to Team Dinners. He doesn't even like his brother really No, They didn't say that he'd received private attention from the team's medical staff, avoiding further close content. What the effect did he returned another negative test? Only is brother and six staffers tested positive within the NBA Finals. That are sanctum? I mean, come on now, keyword? Is only only only six staffers and his brother? What if Yannis actually got COVID? Like what if is it possible that Jannis actually had

COVID versus hyper extending his knee? Yes, just fall down real quick on that knee, real quick and just miss some games. Like I don't mean, you don't mean to tell me it's impossible to believe that the face of the NBA might have gotten COVID and that we never really saw any negative tests, Like he wasn't a close contact to his brother who got COVID, Like an unvaccinated Yannis wasn't a close contact to his brother who's on

the team. Like truthfully, all the unvaccinated players on the Bucks should have been quarantining, including Yannis, Like it could you imagine NBA Finals with like Pat Connaton, DJ Wilson, DJ Augustine uh like diaquite Virginia legend against DeAndre Aton, Devin Booker's Chris Paul, like the NBA would lose their shit ratings, plummeting money, not there, deer Park nonexistence. I mean, COVID has been a motherfucker, but if it would have derailed the finals, yikes, I mean we thought, I thought

COVID took vacation during the final. It's like it could have been the worst most dramatic plot twist in sports history. We were one NASAs sneeze on a bus or a whistleblower away from making this the nightmare scenario come true for the NBA sons and four baby that I would have been right. That's all the time that we have for the Heat Check bet be back early, Squirrely Friday

morning for our Thanksgiving episode. PS. Just to give you a little taste of Kevin Dourana's Ashley, we'll talk about that. Do not forget to follow us on social ad the heat Checking at Tristan Criek on TikTok. We'll see you a Friday morning.