Episode 43: Lakers/Celtics, Injuries, AD's Return And More

Friday morning. Yeah, stay to the Lakers now all new branded and we got fans back. We got people in the building. So um, new brand new fans a d coming back. This is a a good week. Things are going up. Yeah, exactly, they got we got to uh, we've got to have fans in the building to watch the Lakers get Humilia at It by Jalen Brown last night. Um, so uh, you and I both watched the game last

night there. It was interesting in the sense that you know, it was the classic archetype of a basketball team that gives the Lakers problems that the big range e Wings, because the Lakers kind of forego dies and athleticism on the perimeter and favor of quickness and effort and guards that are like kind of dirty work, blue collar type of guards, usually kind of averaging around like six four

or six five type of size frame. And so you know, a lot of what Jalen Brown did last night, in my opinion, was more kind of head esteem getting to the rim kind of thing, which is easier to shut off just by getting back in transition and building a wall. So some of that I thought was effort in focus.

But there were a handful of plays where he got into the into that mid range area and shot little push shots and floaters and scoop shots that you know, shorter offensive players can't necessarily get off against the Laker defense, and it is a good example all of where where you can find some holes in that defense. Having a lebron and Anthony Davis really helps that. Uh that said, you would you would assume that in a playoff series they kind of put them on different players so they

can roam around and save energy anyway. So it still is something to keep an eye on. But what did you think about the Laker defense in their attempt to stop Tatum and Brown? Yeah, Like last night I thought was a night for Drummond basically, like I know he was out, but I thought that would have been a perfect matchup for him. Uh with Boston, they run up, They run a lot of places to get their guys mid range pull ups. I think we talked about that a lot. Jalen Brown hit a bunch in the beginning.

He had like three that rolled in. Tatum also looked for that shot. Kemba looked for that shot, and we had Marcosol dropping back because Mark can't switch onto those wings um and then on the other on the other end that we weren't attacking them either, so they were just attacking us getting to the rim. We had no rim protection. Really, Marcosol was the only one back there, and they just kept hitting their shots. And you gotta give Jalen Brown what nine for ten in the first half.

I mean, like you said, he got to the rim a few times, but I thought a lot of them were the mid range kind of pull up variety. Kemba hit some tough pull up threes even when we switched on him, and then Tatum had like a slow start I think in the first half, and then he got it going, So I got a credit to them. They had everything going. I think they shot like fift like the whole game, I think until that fourth quarter kind of melt down. But yeah, I think the whole game

they pretty much dominated. Jalen Brown had like forty on like twenty shots or some ridiculous efficiency number last night, So yeah, I thought they played well. I thought last night, again with a perfect time for Drummond, I would like them to switch a lot more. I think Boston the team got to switch against, but we just couldn't do that,

wouldn't have the personnel for it last night. Yeah, I agree switching is a little bit better in the sense that for that specific team, just because of the fact that, you know, I talked about this a lot before the season in my Eastern Conference preview that I did with Tommy. But like, the biggest concern that I had for the Celtics moving forward is they were kind of going through a transition period. You know, UH had been offloading a lot of the playmaking and decision making to Kemba Walker

and to Gordon Hayward. And then basically what happened was is Gordon got UH signed by Charlotte, and Kemba had some knee issues to start the year, and I actually predicted them to struggle this year, just because Tatum and Brown are kind of always attacking in isolation, kind of tunnel vision type of guys, and that that kind of thing doesn't necessarily work unless you have someone that can

help you make decisions alongside them. And so predictably, they struggled a lot this year, and then even when Kemba came back, he wasn't really himself, But I expected them to kind of go on a late season run when Kemba kind of got his legs back underneath them, and

when Marcus Smart got his legs back underneath them. I think they're every bit as good as as Milwaukee or some of the other teams at the top of these not as good as Philly and Brooklyn, but I think they're every bit as good as Miami or or or Milwaukee or some of those more flawed teams. Um, and there their team that's gonna be a pain in the butt to knock out in the playoff series, and good challenge. I expected them to beat the Lakers last night, um

under the circumstances, But you're right. I mean, with with Marcusol, like the with the with Marcusol is the only guy around the rim, it was just driving lens all day long. They uh and Marcusol. You know, he's a good positional defender, but it only works when all of the other guys are kind of on a string and if you can continue to run head up into him. He just doesn't have the athleticism anymore to to really protect the rim.

And so I thought I thought they did uh uh, you know, I thought that it was kind of easy, easy stuff around the rim for Boston to take advantage of um as far as like you know, and it's it's it's funny to just really quickly like the the you you saw a lot last night too of Montrese Harrold's weaknesses around the rim in the sense that he just doesn't he just doesn't bother guys down there when he's in any sort of like drop coverage around there.

And I think with a team like Boston, what you have to do is really make them feel like they're playing in a crowd and make them kick out the shooters and make them live outside. I think is a better option in that particular matchup. Yeah, I thought they missed Keith last night too, And we kind of started small, right. We had shrewder K c P West and Kuzma as our front line along with Marc Gasol, and that they

really picked on that. Jayson Tatum got switches with Shrewder and they had a trap double Jaylen Brown as well, and then Tres He's just not equipped to take I mean, Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum are two of the top like what eight six wings in the league, Like they're all star Wings, star level Wings, so that's not really a matchup for him to play against as well. So

I thought they really took advantage of that. And again on the other side, like Shooter does not look right, like I don't know what I think his foot still bothering or I think Vogo talked about that as well. So we just didn't have him a hundred percent. He wasn't able to defend at the level that he would usually be able to and our side just wasn't there. And they got to the room. J Len Brown got comfortable early. You could tell once the first few jumpers

got down. He just had it going. You couldn't stop him. And then Tatum started hitting step back threes, Marcus spark pull up threes. They get like three pull up threes as well. Um, I want to ask you if they're like bench, I mean their third string is just not or their second and third string is just not good. In my opinion, like I feel like that's where they're gonna have trouble beating a team like Milwaukee, because like they have a really good top six, and then from there,

I feel like it really craters. Um. They go from like Marcus Bart to the rookie that they play forgot his name the kid? Yeah, yeah, pin picture. They go to him and he had a good like he had he had a few shots. But I feel like from there that's when they kind of get hurt with their talent level. They have like Nie Smith that's in the rotation as well, So I think that's where their struggle.

They have a really good top six, I mean Smart, Tatum Brown, UH can't compete with anyone including UH, including Philly in my opinion, I mean, they swept Billy last year. Even I know Ben Simons gonna play, but I mean still like that's that's something that happened. So so they're gonna be a tough out for sure. Yeah, you know they there. If you listen to anybody who watches the Celtics a lot, your your stereotypical Boston fans. The bench is what what they've complained about the most this year.

They trust their starting Yeah, you know been when Kemba was struggling. They talk a lot about how uh they counted on it on him to eventually be able to contribute, and he's he's kind of slid down into a lesser role. I thought he had it going pretty good last night and he only took like I think he only took like twelve shots or something like that. So it's not like he's super aggressive anymore. Um. But their bench has been super inconsistent, always has been. That's been their weakness.

The thing that I always say is that, though, is that the bench is much less important in the playoffs. I mean, they think about the Clippers last year. People were obsessed with their bench and and what they did, and then literally they in the playoffs, they just, uh, the bench was meaningless and if anything was was their weak point just because of the fact that a team shrink their rotation and all of a sudden, your bench lineups aren't going against bench lineups are gonna be going

against starters more often and and they're just gonna get beat. Um. But Yeah, Like I think I thought it was an interesting test for them, just because it goes to show you. It's it's an example of how they're gonna have to be the Clippers, which is you. You you have to make them feel like they're playing in a crowd, you know, like Jalen Brown was too comfortable yesterday. Jalen Brown is a decent ball handler. He had that behind the back dribble going like crazy last night in the second half

he had too unbelievably nasty behind the back dribbles. But he's not like a really really high level ball handler. If you make him feel like he's playing in traffic, he's gonna be sloppy, he's gonna make mistakes, You're gonna get steals, you're gonna be able to to turn them over. And the same goes for Tatum, who's generally considered, like as far as wings go, an average to below average ball handlers. So bottom line, like, I thought it was

a good challenge for them. I expected them to get beat. But at the same time, like if they if they have the eighties and the Lebrons to kind of add a little bit more of a switching element, a little bit more athleticism around the rim. It makes them significantly better and ma more capable of making them play in a crowd and making them struggle. I wouldn't worry about that matchup. Boston's not coming out of the East anyway,

but I wouldn't worry about them in that matchup. I just think it's an interesting like they're the Clippers of the East, and it's an interesting just challenge for them to kind of figure out, because that's what it's gonna be. Like, There's gonna be a lot of Paul George coming off screens and and and Alex Caruzo is not gonna be

able to bother him as much. And I think West is really the only one of the smaller guards that can really give some of those guys some trouble, particularly Kauai, just because he tries to play so much with strength. But it's just an interesting matchup for them. But I wanted to transition to the injuries, so just so obviously last night, Marc Gasol basically breaks his pinky on his left hand. Uh. Andre Drummond gets his foot stomped on.

Uh Uh. Dennistrator has a foot infection, which I'm wondering what that is. It could be a number of different things. Uh, my guess is that it might be something like along the lines of an ingrown ton ail kind of deal. A basketball players deal with that a lot, where like your toe just like so many times gets rammed into the front of your shoe that that area just kind of like swells up, and then when if there's any sort of break in the skin, it just can get

infected um and that can be super painful. And then obviously a d is gonna be dealing with minutes restrictions when he comes back at some point in the next few days. And then Lebron appears to still be a couple of weeks out. So just what is your overall like outlook on the Lakers in their health and what

it means for them moving forward. Yeah, so I feel like, again, I feel like they're playing with house money right now because they went went four and three on the road trip, right, Like, like, if you do that, you can kind of go through these games. I mean, Boston wasn't really winnable. These next two against Utah are probably not very winnable, right, and like if you can split these great and then you

have it. I think you have two games against Dallas as well coming up, So if you can just get a split in any of that, I think they're fine. Their injuries that are starting to pile up, it is kind of crazy, um, everyone who coming. Drummond's been here like three weeks and he's already had two injuries is just pretty insane. Markie Morris is out. I don't know, I forgot what he's out for, um, but yeah, he's

also out. He was a big part of why they're four and three on that road trip, Like, he was a big part of their offense, be able to give it to him, scoring the post and things like that. So like it's tough. I feel like I feel like when Adi gets back though, it'll really put everyone in the correct role, like no matter who was there, I guess because he can play the five, play the four, even when the minutes of restriction, it gives like a it gives a clarity to the offense where the ball

should go. Um and just give them some more structured you could tell last night even like there's just no structure, especially because the team like Boston, who has the capability to be a good defensive team, they really took them out of their their place. KCP really struggled. I think the four starters not including Gasoul were like three for nineteen in the first half, and that's just because of the shot selection they were taking. It was awful shots.

Kuzma shooter, all taking contested three pointers trying to get those to go. So that, like the injuries, that's part of the season. But again, you have like a month to get healthy here. I feel like these are all pretty minor, right. I think the market Saul one is like a week for his pinky um the drum, and one I think the toe is just pain management. He said he got stepped on again. Markis Morris doesn't seem

like he'll be out too long. And then a d obviously it should be back by Monday or something like that. So they're not huge injuries, but they do pile up on a team was already shorthanded already, you know, playing all these games in a short amount of time. I think they played like I think the broadcast said they played thirty five games in like sixty days, which is just insane for the schedule that's going on. So like that's where they I am with the injuries. How about

you what do you what do you feel about? Yeah, none of them are major, which is significant in the sense that like a d and in his shoot around stuff that I see, he looks more or less like he used to. I mean, I expect him to have a slow start as he kind of gets to see legs in basketball shape kind of thing. And then Lebron

same exactly the same exact type of vibe. But the bottom line is, like any you can attribute a lot of these injuries to wear and tear, right, like a lot of I mean, some of them are just bad luck, like the drumm and getting his tonnailed ripped off, that's bad luck. Marcosol breaking his pinky, that's bad luck. Like Lebron ankle injury, that's bad luck. Some of the stuff that was wear and tear. Anthony Davis, that's wear and

tearor injury like Dennis Shrewder. I know we don't really know the details, but I would he's been kind of banged up lately. I would imagine that that's probably wear and tear. You know, you can tribute it to that. So the question then becomes like in a playoff series, when the schedule gets stretched out, you're never playing it back to back. Anytime you travel, usually they give you a second day off in that travel day. Uh, it's

going to be more of a traditional playoff schedule. You're never in any city for more than three or four days at a time. You're always you're getting to go back home. And then just just in general, it's a much more manageable basketball schedule. And so as long as as long as everybody gets healthy by then, I have I generally believe that they're going to be able to, you know, uh like kind of do a better job of just maintaining and avoiding the wear and tear type

of injuries that can cause them problems moving forward. But it's just that this is where their depth is an advantage. Like, the truth of the matter is is the Lakers have never really been this season. They've never really been a rim protection team. Last year they were in the playoffs, are going to be but this year, because of Drummond not being here for the most part, you know, Marcosol basically being their only center because Anthony Davis has been out,

they've been thriving defending without that size. So I they should be able to do a better job than they did last night. I just thought it wasn't their best defensive effort. I thought they let Jalen get too comfortable and then he just started taking off on them. But theoretically, uh, they they their depth is an advantage here. They should be able to Like Mark Keith is out, you don't even really notice in the rotation because there's just so

many guys that can play. You know, the Drummond's out, you don't even notice because there's so many guys that can play. So their depth is an asset. You take their they should take their Like Dennis should not have played last night. That's kind of my opinion on it. Like he's got a foot infection. What's he doing out there? You know what I mean? Right? Yeah, some someone told me, like I think I was critical of Dennis, and they

said he has an injury. I was like, well, I mean, if you're playing, I'm gonna treat you as if you're playing, you know what I mean. Like, I understand people are hurt, but like, if we're gonna play, I expect a certain standard of play, like or just sit out. I'd rather him sit out than look how we did last night, at least like he looked really slow. He couldn't get by Tristan Thompson on switches. Boston was switching a lot, and he just could not get by him. So I'd

rather those guys just take out and rest. And you can never be too careful. I mean, we saw what happened with Jamal Murray recently, right I'm drewing Murray just like towards his a c L that, which is really sad, but yeah, you could see what could happen if you rush back. So I would like those guys to kind

of sit out now. People say that injury isn't really connected to anything, but like I feel like some kind of wear and tear or over compensation of his I think he had his right knee hurting and then he tore his left knee a c L or you know. I'm not a doctor, but I feel like those two things are kind of connected. So you want people to sit out and wait until they're good enough to come back,

so right now they can fight through it. In Dallas, I think, I mean, Luca just hit a ridiculous shot I think recently to give Dallas a win, but they're not waiting at an incredible pace right now. I think the three games back, Um, Denver, I think you're expecting them to fall a little bit. So I feel like the Lakers are pretty pretty much gonna be locked into that five seed in my opinion. Like, I don't think Portland's catching them. I don't think Dallas is catching them.

Denver might fall, but I think the top three is pretty clearly gonna be Utah, Clippers and Phoenix. On this something miraculous happened. So I don't think they have to worry about standings anymore. I'm tired of standing watching. It is not fun, Like it is not fun to have to root against all these West teams every night. Um. But yeah, so I don't want to do that anymore. But yeah, Like I think they'll be fine. I don't

think the injuries, uh will stop anything like that. And they're all minors, so all these guys can get back in time and be ready for the playoffs. Their schedule two gets like ridiculous, a crowded here. Over the next month, there's like, if I remember correctly, there's like four stretches of back to backs in their next like twelve games. So it's like even if Lebron came back in a week you're still looking at uh like a d on a minutes restriction. Lebron will probably be on some kind

of minutes restriction. They probably will take a bunch of these games off and back to back. So it's not like they're really cute up to go on some crazy run in the standings anyway, because they're dealing with the simple fact that they that the schedule is working against them. So, you know, I agree with you, like Portland, Portland's not good enough to to let them drop back past number six in my opinion, And and the Lakers always have

that extra gear they can get to playing guys. If it push comes to shove and it's like we're one game back of of getting to lock down this particular seed, they can go on a run in the last couple of weeks of the season. My guess is they will anyway, just for the simple fact of trying to build some sort of rhythm and consistency going into the playoffs. But I think they're I think they're in good shape. I mean, we, uh, what were the things that we really were looking forward

during this run. We wanted to see if they could still defend. We wanted to see if they could rediscover their jump shooting. We wanted to see, you know, if there was any other uh guys that could kind of find their sea legs in the middle of the season. Guess what, Dennis, even though he struggled, as you know, the guy who was receiving the vast majority of the defensive attention, he succeeded in the sense that he did so in a way that allowed the Lakers to win games.

They won six of these games. That's awesome. They he defended extremely well. He did show against specific matchups that he can still attack the rim against centers and do the things that the Lakers will need him to do in a playoff series. Kyle Kuzman had a few moments, which is impressive because he has been dealing with some nagging stuff with his calf. Mark Kith Morris is legitimately better than he was last year. He's a better basketball

player than he was last year. He's more thin, he's more mobile, He's got a lot more of an in between game. Last year he was kind of more of just a spot up shooter. He's a guy you can throw down to on the block and he can make plays. Alex Cruso's jump shot is like a revelation that's a huge deal. And and and there's and then and then Ben McLamore, even though he's been dealing with the lack of shot quality, is still an incredible option for the Lakers.

So they're they're in a really good shape. And and you know, the most important thing to keep in mind is the Lakers have fallback lineups they can go to if things don't work, Like if Lebron and n A D come back and the drum and fit just isn't really there and and you know, for whatever reason, like the shooter is not vibein with Lebron and a D. They all always hint can go to a lineup that consists of A D at the five, Lebron at the four, and KCP and Alex Crusoe and you know, Wesley Nazis

or something, and they'll have chemistry that they've built up over a year and a half. And so they have like backup lineups so they can go to. I I would say that this stretch without Lebron and a D has been revealing in a good way. And as long as Lebron and a D are healthy, I would be just as optimistic as I was before the season. Yeah, and I feel like this, uh, if there's any silver lining to the Drummond injury, it kind of got Marcus Salt going as well. You could tell it like lit

a fire under him. Um. I always call him a release valve, like when shooter has nowhere to go. He got a kick to him and he was taking the threes. I think he had like five threes last night or something, and he was aggressive. Um, he was even rolling to the ram shooting that little mid range shot. I want him to shoot more like. I don't think he ever shoots enough. Um, he'll never be that kind of like, uh selfish kind of player. Will he'll shoot like crazy. But I just he just needs to on this team

for right now. And I love that he's aggressive. He's in a rhythm. You a tell, Um, it sucks that he broke his pinky or dislocated or however, however painful that must have felt. But how he it's great that he's kind of he's kind of gotten going and hopefully this doesn't kill his rhythm because he was willing playing well. Um he was. He was playing okay defensively, Again, that's not a game for him. To be playing out there and switching. But it's just good to see him in

a rhythm offensively. Looked like the old Marcusol. You know, he gets to the rim, he finishes at the basket, he's taking his little midrange. I think the Lakers first points last night was a post up to him and he hit like a fade away jumper. Um. I think that got them going. And again he just kept pulling from three because they left him open. That's exactly what

they did in the playoffs as well. If you talked to any um Toronto Raptors fan, they'll tell you that Marcusol kind of got played off the floor against Boston because he wouldn't shoot, he wouldn't take that three, and they would play off him. And they did the same

thing last night. Now you can see his defensive problems as well, but he's gonna need to take that shot, especially even when a d gets back, Like I need him pulling from there because he's too good a shooter to pass these up and try to find guys in back cuts when the centers already in the paint, like

it's really tough to kind of create from there. He had a couple of wild passes last night, but he was pretty much the point guard because Shrewder couldn't do anything yesterday, so he was the one orchestrating getting guys around screen. So if there's only Super lining to uh Drummond's toe being uh have pulled off or whatever you wanna call it, I think it's Marcus All getting going and including all those guys you listed. I thought Alec

Cruso was really good last night. He was probably the best player other than th Ht in the fourth quarter. But I thought Crusoe was awesome. I thought him he kind of changed the game. The game was getting out of hand and he brought it back close again, and then the Celtics went on another run before the half. But those two guys I think really had to go in last night, and then all those other dudes really

played well during the road trip. Um, So yeah, that's I mean, all these guys seemed to be going at the right time, right, the team seems to be rolling at the right time, and then when the stars get back you can kind of get a full picture. But right now you're just trying to see guys play well. On the scoreboard. To me, isn't really important in these

next few games, Utah is destroying teams. Utah we played them twice and then Dallas again twice, So if you can just split any of those games, I think that's a win. But yeah, Boston was m be a tough one yesterday. Yeah, I don't think Marcus All is gonna sit out that long. It's his non shooting hand, it's

his pinky um. You know, generally speaking, when it comes to him throwing his passes, his like a little bounced passes on backdoors and his lobs over the top, he generally uses his right hand and he palms the ball a lot of the time, and so I don't necessarily think it's going to impact him all that much. Um. Also, I think, like as Drummond's dealing with his toe thing, that I think he's gonna want to play. Like, my guess is he's gonna be lobbying with the training staff

to play. Um. A big part of it's gonna be pain. I mean, if it's just so incredibly painful, then yeah, it might be a problem. But but we'll see. UM. But yeah, I mean you're right, like they're going into a ridiculously tough stretch of their schedule. If they get like one or two of these, that's nice. And guess what, like Anthony Davis playing fifteen minutes in a game isn't going to be enough to really swing the tide of these games in my opinion. And it's not like they're

gonna be playing him in crunch time anyway. Generally speaking, when coaches have players on on minutes restrictions, they don't play him in crunch time specifically because they don't want them to play in the most intense basketball to start. Like I think it would be if he started playing in their next game, I think he'd probably be another week or two before they start playing him in crunch time. Um,

but yeah, I think I think. I think, like you said, they're in they're in good shape, and Brown and a d should be really easy plug ins because no one really got too far outside of their role. Like all of them did a little bit more than they used to, but it was a lot of shrewder, it was a lot of Kuzma. And guess what, those guys are going to still be relatively aggressive when Lebron and they d come back anyway, So I think I think it's an

easy natural fit. Did you have any other Laker stuff that you wanted to touch on before we move into some of the league wide stuff. Uh, not really. I think that was pretty good. I think a lot of people think last night you can just top up to the starters just played awful. I mean they were three for nineteen the first half. I don't know what you can do with then. Jay Len Brown just had a pretty awesome night. So I think I think that pretty

much covers the Lakers week. I guess they played was they beat Charlotte, And I think I don't know if we talk since then, but yeah, I think that was it. Well, they had a big Brooklyn one, right, but we talked. We talked about that one in the Monday. Yeah. Yeah,

I think I think that was it. Yeah. Yeah, And and uh one of the other things I was thinking about is what I think would be fun to try and we can you and I can talk about this a little bit more off the air, but um, I was thinking about last night for you know, I don't think we'd relea sit as a podcast, but it'd be fun to do. You know, how you have access to that spaces that's on your Twitter, y, it'd be fun to do one of those just during a game and

just happen where we just talked through the game. I think that'd be fun to try it and at least give it a shot. Really stupid. We could never do it again, but it's worth they be talking about anyway. So I recorded so they wouldn't have no one would Yeah, we can totally butcher and it would be Yeah. So I wanted to touch on a few um league wide things. The first thing I was gonna talk about was this markets all dredge thing, and I was curious to see

what you thought. So the the alert came across my phone and Sham's. You know, I like Sham's He's my guy, have his tweet notifications on It's It's fine, but he did something that was pretty messed up yesterday. He uh quote, he didn't quote tweet. He just tweeted out news that had already been broken literally by the Marcus Aldridge himself

provided no context. And my first thought that came My first thought that came to my mind when I saw shams tweet when it came across my phone was like, I wonder if it was kind of like a Carmelo Anthony with the Houston rockets thing where like like he started playing there had some big offensive games, but then clearly Darryl Morey like sat down with him and was like, hey, we're gonna stop playing you. And then and then he was just like, well, I'm I'm leaving the team, you know.

I was one that was that was where my wine my mind went first was like, I wonder if like he's been so bad defensively in his first few games that like the staff or the front office basically was like we're done with you. Uh, and maybe that was why. And then imediately after it comes the hard stuff and which is really sad. It's it's sad because my guess is he picked Brooklyn because he wanted to win the title, and uh, it's it's it's a shame that he's not

going to get his chance. Um. But it's the actual condition itself that's really interesting to me. And the reason why is because I personally have dealt with this on a couple of occasions. It's been a while, um, but

there were a couple of occasions. Once at a Pima practice, which was the first junior college that I played at, and then there was a time in Charlotte more recently in like two thousand and seventeen, where I was playing and all of a sudden, like my heartbeat shifted and it went from you know, like usually when I'm playing hard, it will beat it about a hundred and seventy beats

per minute. It's like my I'm really playing hard type of heart rate, which is pretty typical, um, but it's like it's a strong heartbeat that just happens to be going fast. Well, there were these in these random occasions, all of a sudden, like it was like a lumpy like there was like a distinct lumpiness to the heart rate. It was inconsistent. It would go super fast and then it would like skip a beat. It was doing all

this really funky stuff. And at one point, I remember I was just playing pick up in Charlotte when it happened. But I like sat on the floor in between games, and I remember just sitting thinking to myself like I'm gonna like drop dead here any second. Like I remember sitting there, I was literally thinking because it was I mean, like I could tell that my my my body was was weird. I was almost in like a little bit of shock. And I remember just sitting on the floor

like any minute now, like it's gonna happen. But I was in like so much shock that I like, I like stayed. I stayed for like one more game and it still felt weird. And I went home and I was sitting on the couch and my my hearpie was still going crazy. So I've been like twenty five minutes and like I was completely cooled down in my hearpeet was going like a hundred and thirty beats per minute, just like pounding, and it was super weird. And then all of a sudden, like almost like a reset, like

like a click, my heart reaches. Heart rate just restored to normal. And I was super freaked out about it, and so I talked to my doctor and remember he said to me, he goes like, he's like almost every patient that I have, at some point in their life brings up something along these lines, whether it's associated with working out, or it's, uh, you know, you're just sleeping and you feel like your heart rates a little lumpy or whatever it is. And he goes, he was like, basically,

your heart has a built in defibrillator. It's an electrical system that's in your heart that's already there, and basically it takes a while for your body to become aware of the fact that that your heart is out of rhythm. But when it is, when it finally identifies that, it just shocks it with like its own little personal defibrillator

and resets the heart rate. And he's like, so, what will happen is you'll have like some sort of lumpy thing going on and then uh and then uh, it'll it'll eventually reset and it's weird when it happens, and it can be scary. He's like, but don't be scared. He's like, if you went to a cardiologist, I'd be concerned, because he was like, the one thing that's actually concerning with cardiac stuff is fatigue, like if you just can't get your energy up, like if you just go to

exercise and there's just nothing there. That's usually has to do with a problem with your circulation and the fact that you're just not getting enough oxygen to your muscles. And so what's funny about that is he said in his tweet, his little message, he said, I'm fine now. So I wonder if the doctor's told him, like, hey, this is normal, You're fine. We ran any KG, everything looks fine, and he just doesn't want to do it,

and which is his decision. He's a grown man and I get that, and I can relate to how scary that moment was. But I'm curious to see if he's actually healthy and he's just spooked, or if the doctors looked at him and said, like, your high risk for X y Z. You know what I mean. What was your takeaway from that whole thing? Yeah, it's kind of crazy. I mean I don't think I've ever had any regular heartbeat. That sounds like just just looking at that, that sounds

very pain full, you know. I mean just the word of irregular heartbeat. You never want to have an irregular or anything, let alone a heartbeat. So I thought that

was kind of scary. I think my favorite thing about the SHAMS like part of this is like go to any shams tweet, right, and then my favorite thing is someone replying with like the press release that comes out like a minute before his tweet, right, So like he'll he'll like say this person signed on a two way or whatever, and someone will just reply with the press release from the actual team. So I think that that's

kind of funny. But shams. His shams is not in chamses in the business of scoops, right, That's his business is being first. That's what he's paid for. And I mean he's also a really good reporter and all that, but he's paid to be first. That's what he's paid for. So, I mean it's not surprising when this is kind of the out The outlook of that is that you get a guy who's trying to be first and everything. So, um, he didn't lie. He said Alge was retiring, which is

a fact. He just didn't give the context of it. So that's part of the Chances part. Yeah, the Algres part. It's sad. You want to see players go out on their own terms, right, You want to see players decide when they leave. You don't want to see them like have to leave because of a health condition in or and all. Just you know, he played a great career fifteen years. Um. I think it's funny you had the Carmelo kind of comparison because I think those two are

really similar. Um, their their leagues are kind of their games are kind of outdated today, right, two guys want to shoot fade away mid range jumpers when that shot is pretty much being taken out of the league, especially when you're not a superstar like all Drogen Carmelo are right now, But they still take that kind of shot and it can drive their teams crazy. And he was on a winning team. I don't think he would have left if it wasn't something that he was really traumatized by.

Obviously he was. Um, So, I guess my question to you is that, like, how what kind of pain is that? Is that like a chest Do you feel like a chest pain with that or is it just you could you you knew right away it was your heart or like my chuestion? What kind of pain is that? Is my question because I get chest pains all the time, but I like I don't I don't associate that with like a regular heartbeat. I just associate that would like fatigue or um, you know, things happened in your body

and you just get tired or whatever. So, like my question is, like, what kind of pain is as like really painful where you can't sit kind of thing, or is it just like you just feel yourself in a rush even though you're not doing anything. Your your your body has like a high amount of energy, your stamina

what does that pain feel? Like, It's not a pain, to be honest, And and I don't think he he didn't say it was painful in his thing, like it's you just know something's wrong, Like you feel your heart beat like going crazy, and like like I would like feel my pulse and my pulse would just be outrageously fast and then and uh, and I just remember like being unsettled just because you know something's wrong, Like you just you just know something's wrong, and uh, and like

like it's it's I can just I relate to that feeling because like in those situations, for in college, it was at a practice and then the other time it was pick up, but like the game had no stakes, so I would I could kind of like I could kind of like float around in the sense that like I knew something was up and it didn't matter if I didn't get back on defense once because I was just kind of like feeling out what was going on

with my body. But like I feel bad for LaMarcus because he's in like this nationally televised huge game where the Lakers are kind of taking it to him, Drummonds pounding it down his throat and literally like he's getting slandered on Twitter. Meanwhile, in his head, he's completely preoccupied by the fact that his heart is acting up. And so I can see how that would have been kind

of a jarring experience. And and that's the other thing too, is like, you know, at the time, I didn't have a wife or or really a family, so like other than my you know, my immediate family that I grew up in, and so like it just was I can imagine he just had a fear like what if I don't get to go home to my kids, you know, Like it's just it's sketchy. But I'm I'm happy for

him that he's retiring. I wouldn't be completely shocked if he came back at some point, because I think he's still I said before that I thought he was the best buyout guy that was available, and I was like upset that the Lakers didn't get him. And the truth of the matter is that he like he's got good

basketball remaining. And if his heart is clean, if there's a good clean bill of health, if they do e kgs and and uh and look at his heart and it appears to be in good health, my guess is the fear will fade at some point, And if the fear fades, then I could see him coming back next year and playing basketball again, because but I would just be interested. Like I said, I don't have any intel on this. My heart thing that I experienced could be

completely different than what LaMarcus experienced. But I do wonder if I do wonder what happened in that meeting, and if it was one of those things where the doctors like, oh, you're fine, like this happens to people and then you're and then you just calm down and you're good, or or if it was if it was a little bit of an issue. And the other thing too, is it is contact related. So he claims that he got bumped, and when he when he got bumped is when it happened.

Well that the it happened the same way to me, Like I did like a really aggressive drive to the basket and dude kind of like knocked me down and that's when it started. And like if you think of your heart as like this muscle that's kind of like going in rhythm, and if there's a bump that knocks it out of rhythm and then suddenly it's just kind of going at a different pace. It requires a full reset for it to kind of get back into into gear.

But like, dude, it's not like your heart's not beating, because if it's stopped beating, you die, Like your your heart's just your heart's just out of rhythm. And and and that's the thing. Like la Marcus was still playing an NBA basketball game, so it's not like his his heart was completely not functioning, you know. Like it anyway, it's super interesting And I'm not a doctor. I just

think this stuff is super fascinating. And I just remembered when he said when I read his thing, I was like, dude, I know exactly how you felt in that moment. And I did think that's interesting. But the only thing is he's like thirty five, right, so I'm guessing you were a lot younger when that when that happens so or something like that. Yeah, And also he's probably more at

peace with his career his life, you know. I mean, I don't think retiring is easy for any player, right, That's that's like a huge decision, that's to put away what you've been doing for the last forget NBA twenty what since he was fifteen, probably was playing basketball. So um, yeah, that's a tough decision. I don't think he would get to retirement without you know, weighing all the options there. He's also giving up a good sum of money as well that he already gave up like seven million to

get go to Brooklyn from San Antonio. Right, that wasn't an easy I think gave back like six million or something like that. Whatever it was um to be bought out and go to Brooklyn. So it's a big decision for him to stop playing and and to retire. So I feel like that's a big decision. Maybe he comes back next year, you never know, but he seems at peace with it. So I'm happy for him, and uh, I hope his careers, remember, because he's one of the old old school dudes that uh isn't really uh played

like the modern game is now. It's kind of again like the Carmelo Anthony comparison. I like that one. So yeah, I hope he's I hope he's fine. But if he wants to come back next year, that'd be that'd be great. I think he'll be welcome. He will have a lot of suitors. Um, But yeah, that's it's it's interesting. You're right, like, it's a really scary thing, especially but when you put it that way, I guess because you make a sound

at least a lot more calm. But I feel like in that moment it was probably a little bit more, a little bit more shaky, a little bit more nervous. But yeah, hopefully he uh he, he feels better about it, and maybe maybe he can come back. Who knows. Yeah,

I'm not saying he should come back. I'm just saying like, like, if if his doctors told him what he told me, then there's a chance that like the fear will fade, because I would imagine like in the immediate future it's still like a little sketchy and like he's still a little scared. Um. So let's move on to this MVP stuff. So basically, you know, uh, Tim Bontemps does the straw pole,

he does it twice a year. He doesn't you know a third of the way through the season that he does it two thirds of the way through the season, pulls actual voters. They do an actual m VP vote gives you a really good idea of what the you know, the kind of the status of that debate is and I think I think we all expected Yogis to be the favorite. He's definitely more of a favorite than he thought. But I happen to be one of the people who thinks that Embia deserves it. And the reason why I

think can Be deserves it is really simple. I just think that I would rather punish or not punish, but I would rather error on the side of rewarding a guy who's in a top seed, and the Sixers are going to be most likely the top seed in the East when it's all said and done, and you know, as great as has been and he's been amazing, I don't you know. I I look back at the Westbrook

MVP as a mistake. And so basically wind to Horse gets into debate with with bon Temps and they get arguing and there's some cursing and there's some other stuff, but basically win to Horse was saying like, I don't understand why Embad who basically missed a handful of games before and then missed six games with a with a knee issue or whatever it was, that I don't understand why he's disqualified, just like outright disqualified even though he's been on a better team. Than every bit as good

offensively and Arguabli even better, significantly better defensively. Um and so my I I guess like my question to you is off the bat is, do you think it's just over and the m v P do you think and bead has a chance? How much should we weigh injuries in this debate? Yeah? So this is kind of a strange season. And I think like they were talking about the previous kind of winners, right, and I ever stand in all those dudes who won while missing a bunch

of games. But this year, with the amount of players that rests that take out right, Like the whole league is starting to do resting. I'm trying to take care of the players, trying not to make them play every game. Um, the schedules really compacted. I feel like at least this year, the amount of games miss shouldn't be as big of a like criteria that would take you out. Especially this is like Lebron probably he missed too many games, Like

that's that's not gonna happen. Lebron is not doing an m v P. But Yo Kitchen and beat, I feel like I think Yokich has missed one like three games or something like that. I don't think he's missed very many and beads missed ten already. Actually, oh, maybe he's not missed any Okay, so in beads missed and beads missed ten, he's gonna miss a few more. I'm guessing going down, going down the line here. I just I feel like that shouldn't be taken too much into account.

Like maybe if you want to give Yokich like the if there, if it's a tie, give it to Yo Kitchen that kind of way, but I wouldn't really look at it from that way. I feel like it beats still right there. I feel like those two Denver is only three games back of the Sixers, Like, so I know the Sixers have the one seed I guess technically in the East, but I mean Denver is only three games back, and plus yr Kich is gonna play without

Murray and all that. So I feel like if he can get a few wins here, he would probably be my he's still my lead m VP. But and he's not out of it at all for me, Like I know what they're arguing about, Like when I think Wendy is saying that the game's missed is probably too much for embeid, right, I think that was his argument. But I wouldn't take it into this type of season where everybody's resting guys, everybody's trying to take care of the

legs for the playoffs. Um, this isn't that kind of way. So, UM, I feel like that's that would be my take on it. How about you. Yeah, So there are a couple of things that I think are interesting to this, Like, you're right, then, gets theoretically are not um that far behind in the standings. But my thing is, you know, if the if the Nuggets end up with the let's call it the eighth best record in basketball, and the Sixers end up with the third best record in basketball, why shouldn't we count

that regardless of the gap. You know, the goal isn't to finish close to the top, It's to finish at the top. You know, Like it's a there's a that would be like the akins of saying that you know, just because you lost the basketball game by one point, you deserve like a bigger participation trophy and and for the record, like if you know, if Yoki finishes, you know, third in the standings, I feel like it's a little bit more of a of a you know, clean cut

finish because he is so available. But my thing is availability is just one small part of the story. And you know, this the huge thing with Yoki's case that gets pounded pounded down everybody is this idea that he's having this historic offensive season. And to me, if there's one year to maybe not weigh that so much, it's this year because this year defenses are struggling at a historic level. This year. Uh uh, this year you're seeing

like outlier offensive production from everybody. You know, like like the big Yokich thing is like always averaging eleven and eight or whatever it is, and it's like, that's awesome. But Zach Levine has giving me twenty eight you know, like you know, just pick pick pick a star on a team. They're giving you twenty five plus and they're doing it pretty efficiently. That's just kind of the nature

of the way basketball. This year is this year because there's a ton of inconsistency in lineups, which has caused defensive problems, and there's a lack of practice time and there's there were shorter training camps and all of these different things that are leading into that. So that's not to say that yokich isn't still incredibly impressive offensively. I just think you when you're doing these sorts of things,

you have to weigh all of the cases. And to me, a big thing that's in Yoki's favor is his playmaking and his availability. But but his scoring is right about where embiad is, and if I look at him beat his edge is his team is better and he's significantly better defensively. So to me, the cases are a little bit closer when you actually start to weigh them against

each other. And if embiid plays the majority of the rest of the game, and if they convincingly get the one seed, and if Yokis finishes in the you know, the fourth or the fifth seed, my guess is they'll finish fifth or sixth because they do have a little bit of a talent disadvantage now in some of these games coming up. Um, but I think that embead should should have a chance. And unfortunately, with the way that this works, as you saw with a straw poll, everybody

seemingly has already kind of turned in their award. It's hard turning their ballot for young Ki. So it's it's hard to imagine him getting to turn it around quickly enough, you know what I mean. Yeah, he said, Levine also gives you twenty eight, but that's a different kind of twenty eight, right, I mean, Yoki is winning at an incredibly higher rate than Levine is, and all the all of Denver's often goes through Yokis, right, Like, I mean, it's not just like one play, every single thing runs

through him. I mean it was it was still Murray and Yoki, but it was pretty much a Yoki style offense. That he's running point guard and he's playmaking the whole time, I think, and Beat is more going to the post. His playmaking is not as much of a factor for Philly, and I think exactly a team's double team him and he can't create the same kind of way. And like, he definitely anchors their defense, no doubt, But he has another defensive Player of the Year candidate rennext to him, right,

Ben Simmons might win Defensive Player of the Year. So I know Joe b has been great defensively, but I mean Ben Simmons is right right there next to him, Yoki. Obviously, his defense isn't a you know, positive for him, But I feel like those two are right there though, Like I think the game's missed uh Like, I think Yoki has an advantage on that obviously, But I don't think it's a huge kind of waving thing that should decide the m v P race. I think you should see

who's you know, whose team played better. I think Yokich has Murray out and if he wins still with this, I don't know how you can't give it to him. The narrative is obviously has already taken over Yoki m VP. You could see everywhere in the d and all that is already casting him as NAMVP. But e beat is right there for sure. At ten games is nothing to me in a season where everybody's resting, everybody's getting letting people stay out, not play back to bags um, etcetera, etcetera.

So I don't think it's a huge deal. But I think if it's a tie, then yeah, tie goes to the guy who played the more games. I think that's just how how it will go. That's fair for this season. I don't have a problem with him getting the award, to be clear, I just as I consistently have complained about over the years. I just hate this it's over type of attitude. That's that's always that's always been an

issue for me. One last thing with the thing before we move on to he speaking of narratives, he kind of took on this narrative this year that he was kind of doing it by himself. Yeah, And and that was because Murray got off to a slow start, which had a lot to do with the bubble, and then historically he's gotten off to a slow start in these seasons. I'm not sure why. There's there's no real point getting

into why. Um, but the truth of the matter is for the last half of the season, Uh, Murray's actually been better than he was in the bubble, like literally unbelievably just every bit as good as as as Yoki. That's how good offensively he was. Basically was like a fifty five forty ninety five type of guy here over the over the last half of the season, averaging like

twenty nine points a game. I don't know the exact numbers, I have to look it up, but he's been Jamal Murray has been incredible here the last half of the season. And if you look at the Denver Nuggets, and the standings. In the first half of the season, when Jamal Murray was struggling, they were roughly a five hundred team. And then when Jamal Murray got it going, suddenly they started to crawl up the standings and get into the into

the uh, the mix of things. And so the point is is the way that the Yoki story needs to be told, because the way you'll always see is like Lebron has Anthony Davis, even though Anthony David has been outmost of the r E Bead had Ben Simmons or whatever it is that you're you're painting the you know, James harden At, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Well, the reality is is no one out here is playing without star help. I mean, if anybody, it's Dame. And even

c J is really really good. And before his injury here c J was every bit as good as name, if if not better. So the point is is that, like everyone is, that there's such a depth of talent in the league right now that to me, that supporting cast argument gets a little fuzzy. Uh And and and that narrative with Yokich kind of just kind of took

on a mind of its own. The truth of the matter is is Yokich is also on a very good team, and Yokich is very good team hasn't been as successful as some of the other really good teams even with him being more available, and so to me, it just shouldn't be as big of a gap as it is. Doesn't mean he can't get the award, doesn't mean he won't deserve it if he gets it, but I think it should be a little bit closer and a little bit more competitive. Yeah, and he can be. It's all contextual, right,

this is not black and white at all. You can also say Yo plays in the West, right, and and Philly plays in the East, and they play a lot of more tougher opponents, right, the US is a dog fight. Well, um, the East is gonna have some five team make a five seed. I mean, it's just that you can even go with that as well. There's a lot of things to go with that. But again, like the the argument that Windy and Bontamps were having about like, oh is

this right criteria? I mean again, it's all contextual. Like you think the rest of Westbrook um m VP was a mistake, right, I mean I feel like it was the first time we saw someone, you know, average trouble double. Like, I think that was a big deal. Plus the story, right m VPS about the story about the narrative. Kevin Durant left, Westbrook had this awesome season, Like, I think it was fine for him to win it that year. I I don't remember who the other m v P

kind of cases, it was quite okay. Yeah, So I mean, like, I think it was fine. Like, I mean, the average triple double. That was something we haven't seen right now. It's just ordinary Westbrook. Westbrook does that everywhere, even if he's not winning. So but yeah, I think I think it was fine. And then the story, obviously with Katie leaving, it really pushed up that narrative. I think he won the MVP as the four seed that year, I remember correctly, and then they got out of the first they got

out on the first round or something like that. They lost to Houston. I think it was. I think they were the five I've seen. I don't I don't remember, but they were. They were roughly in the same position of the standings as Yeah, exactly so, but I think that was understanding. Every year has its own kind of story. Every year has its own kind of narrative thing that goes into the m v p UM And I just don't think the game's miss should be that big a

deal in the season. Again that we talked about that everybody's kind of uh not really priority prioritizing the regular season, right, This is a playoff This is a get ready for the playoffs type of season. And you could tell teams like Utah they're blowing through teams because they obviously cared about the regulaty. They obviously went through it with a mindset that we're gonna try every try hard, every single night.

You see these other teams, especially the ones that were late in the bubble kind of thing, really starts slow and really worked themselves through this season and start to pick it up now. So I don't mind the miss games thing. It could be a part of it. It It doesn't need to be the whole conversation. I think we both kind of agree on that. Yeah, for sure that we do. And and I mean the end at the end of the day is gonna end up winning and

it'll be fine. It's just I'm just you know, com anding about the process um so real quickly before we get you guys out of here. I wanted to get your opinion on this Steph Curry thing because I so basically, Uh, Steph recently lit up a couple of bad defenses. He lit up the Rockets in the Thunder who are bottom half defenses, and then he lit up the Nuggets, who are a below average to average defense on any given

night depending on when you catch him right now. There I think sixteenth or seventeen the defensive rating in the league if if I remember correctly, Um, but I mean step has been dominant all season, and if if you go back to what I said in my Western Conference preview podcast, which is in this same feed, I said before the season that Steph season was going to go one of two ways. That he was either going to be like two thousand eighteen Lebron or like two thousand

nineteen Lebron. Uh. You know, a team a season where he is dominant and they don't really have any real chance to win, or a season where he gets hurt and he's really good when he plays, but you know it ends up and cost them a playoff run. And I was right because he's been healthy for the most part, and in his healthiness he's been extremely dominant individually and

the team is not very good now. The difference in the standings between that team and the UH the two thousand eighteen Calves is that the two eighteen Calves played

in a week at Eastern Conference. They were able to go on some crazy wind streaks and wind streaks playing against a week Eastern Conference schedule, and Lebron was able to parlay that into a finals run based on the fact that they He played some inferior opponents in the in the in the in the playoffs, but he never really had any real chance of winning the title that year. I mean, even if Houston had gotten through a full

strength I think they would have gotten beat. But the debate has become what version of Steph is the best version of Steph, whether it's two thousand sixteen staff or two thousand one Staff. And I think this is an interesting debate regardless of any you know, private machinations going on with this fan base, because I actually think it's really fascinating to talk about when you know, a physical prime matches up with a mental prime, when you start to see the game at an extremely high level, but

you still have something in the tank athletically. I've always thought that's super fascinating. It's why I think two thousand eighteen Lebron was the better version of Lebron than two thousand thirteen Lebron because he was most of the same athlete that he was, and he was this incredible basketball savant just with his brain and what he was able to do the game. So I think Steph in the version is the best version of Steph. Now, most Warriors fans that you talked to would tell you that it's

two thousand sixteen stuff. And the reason is is because they set up some rules. They set up some rules for how we evaluate basketball players, and these rules were basically Steph's winning. So Steph is the best because Steph fans think Steph is the best player in the world. Now I disagree. You can make a case I would disagree with you, but that's their case. Their cases. Mainly we won and because we on step is the best. Now all of us critical thinking, you know, honest, people

could have been like, like, there's some context. They're like the guy you were trying to pass, he had passed him by adding the dude who's also everything as good as you guys. Yeah, like there's some obvious context there. But the problem is that Steff is now not winning, you know, even with as amazing as he is, He's a fringe playoff guy. Like if the season ended today,

the Warriors would be out of the playoffs. So they're having kind of a reckoning with their own rules that they set up, you know, And so it makes more sense for them to push this narrative that Steph used to be better and that this is some different phase of his career because it's how they can rationalize the difference between the two outcomes, when the reality is is basketball is a team sport and the only reason the Warriors are struggling right now is because their team is worse,

which is basically just a product of injuries, which is just really bad luck, and it doesn't have anything to

do with Steph. In my opinion, if this version of Steph was swapped for the two thousand sixteen version of Steph and played that NBA Finals, even with the same knee issues, he would have won that series because he has such a better command of the game now, He sees the floor so much better, he has such a better feel for the moment when to be aggressive when not to be aggressive, how to better take care of

the basketball. Steph just is better now. And I think it's just been really funny to watch that fan base kind of like reckon with their own, you know, kind of bad logic that they used for so long, and and to see how they kind of put they kind of tied themselves into this into this not yeah, they're they're reckoning with mortality, right, That's basically what's happening here, Like after you win so much and then you're reckoning with like, hey, it's not that easy, right, you don't

just win sixty games every year. The Warriors reminded me so much of the Lakers after their three pt where it was just Kobe, right and then it was Kobe and like oh five oh six, and Kobe was averaging thirty five at night, he was having like thirty five and like eight assists. But they were a fringe play off team similar to the Warriors right now. They were finishing at five hundred. Kobe was never going to touch an m v P in those years, but he was just going off. And Steph is kind of in that

mode to me right now. It's where like he's mastered the game. At a level where his teammates just can't catch up. I mean, his teammates just aren't at that level right now. It's kind of where Kobe was after the three P and obviously Kobe wasn't. Uh, Kobe was

better during that time. Just because Kobe was winning titles during the three P doesn't mean he was better than where he was in his later career when he turned Like, I know, STEP's thirty three, but Steph also came into the league later, right, So I'm kind of using that progression as well. So when Kobe was like thirty three step when Steff is thirty three, Kobe was like thirty or something, some kind of comparison when they got into

the league. Steve step state a lot. Steff went to college obviously, so he just looks like he has a master of the game. He's averaging thirty and night on two from three. It's absolutely ridiculous. Um And Yeah, like that comparison just keeps going to me. Like James Wiseman reminds me of Andrew buying him when the Lakers Japan. Andrew buying him at like two thousand seven. Draymond reminds me of like Lamar Odom who like stayed over. Um

Shack left, He's like Kevin Durant. I'm kind of I'm not saying Kevin Duran is Shack, but you know, Kevin Duran has a dominant player, similar like when Shag left, and now Steph is kind of trying to carry that. Clay Thompson is like Clay Tops a lot better. But he reminds me of like that Derek Fisher, like, hey, we want titles together, Like, we gotta keep fighting this and I think they'll eventually come back. But again, they're

fighting mortality right now. It's just like when the Lakers, you know, went through their terrible stretch and then now we're getting used to winning and getting you know back. It's just a circle of it. And now I think steps better right now, Like in my opinion, his athleticism isn't there, but he's still finishing at the rim um. His layout package is still just insane. He gets to the basket um and no one can guard him. I mean, the defense is only guarding him. And let's be honest,

there's Andrew Wiggins on the floor. Um Juantiscanna answer is a nice player, but they're not guarding him. They're doubly tripling Step and he's still averaging thirty shitting for two percent from three on all the whole defense gear to him. So I think he's better now. I think it's a disservice that the Warriors just decided to punt this season

is as well. I know Clay to Upson's injury like really impacted that, but I mean still it's it's really sucks that we're gonna get I mean, STEP's probably gonna go into play in tournament. They're probably gonna be out in the first round. So but no, I think he's better now. And if that's the debate, I think he's better now. But I mean, you have a unitis MVP season. It's kind of hard to top that with your fans.

But yeah, I think I think he's definitely. Uh, he's mastered the game to a level you could just tell he's comfortable. There's no defense that bothers him. He knows every coverage, every zone, how to play every screen, and he defended how they're how they're chasing him. He knows how to get him off him. That's that's how I see it. There's you know, first of all, like I don't necessarily think he's lost a step even really athletically. I think he looks more or less the same from

a quickness. Same point, you know, you make a good point, like, Okay, how do you rationalize the fact that he wanted unamous m VP? Well, the same way I rationalized the fact that Lebron won back to back m vps and back to back finals MVPs. And I don't think he was as good as two thousand and eighteen Lebron. It's all

about circumstance. The two thousand and sixteen Warriors were very good, you know, even though Clay wasn't quite what Clay was later on, Draymond was apt reolutely at his peak because he was every bit as good as he was defensively, but he was actually a decent offensive player that year, Like he shot the three really well. He you know, was capable of these playoffs, you know, the scoring outbursts.

And then their bench was incredible, like the Warriors bench in two thousands sixteen with le Andrew Barboza and uh uh, Sean Livingston and Andre Guadalad. They were literally unbelievably good. And so the funny part is, like, you know, as as we look as we look back, it's it's circumstance.

Like the reason why Lebron won back to back m vps and made it to the UH to the finals and won twice was because Kobe had kind of fallen off a little bit, not necessarily, but his team had, and Dirk lost Tyson Chandler and his team kind of

fell apart. Derrick Rose tore up his knee. Kevin Durant was still too young, like all like kind of the Red Sea just kind of parted there at the same time that Lebron was peaking, you know, and so he kind of just slotted in there as this like like not default, but just he was way better than every buddy, Like he was on a tier and then there was like nobody on the next tier, and then the rest of everybody was like on tier three. Well you fast forward,

it's not like Lebron's declined. It's just Kevin Durank got a hell of a lot better. Steph Curry got a hell of a lot better. James Harden, Kawhi, Leonard Yea, all these guys are now like climbing climbing climbing because the league is just so good that gets what in two thousand eighteen, even though he's every bit as good as he was, if not better than he was in two thousand thirteen, his team isn't as good as he had when he was playing with Ray Allen and Dwayne

Wade and Chris Bosh and all those guys. He's playing with Kevin Love and then a bunch of role players, and the rest of the league is completely you know, like like you know, retooled into all of these really really competitive basketball teams and a bunch of these alpha dog superstars are peaking, and so you know, these more often than not, it's the circumstances. Like, you know, I'm a huge Lebron fan. I think he's the best player in the world. But you want to know why he

won the title last year. He won the title last year because he was playing with one of the best defenses ever and Anthony Davis in the playoff run ascended to being one of the top three or four players in the world. Like that's part of the story. And you you never want to you never want to go too far. You never want to make it so that you know, winning doesn't matter because that's too far. But

winning is only part of the story. There's a larger story to all of these players experiences and usually in their career, if they are a winner, they will win. Usually so at some point in their career you'll see where the things broke right and their impact on winning was enough to put a team over the top. It's not perfect. There are players who were on the short end of the stick there. But for the most part, winning is the best indicator, but there are other indicators

of what a player does to impact winning. Chris Paul is a fantastic example that dude flat out impacts winning. But the stuff just hasn't broken right. And when you look at it, he's historically played with Blake Griffin, who's a bad playoff player, like just a bad playoff player who in addition to that has struggled with health. And then he played with James Harden, who might be the worst playoff player relative to his regular season success ever.

And then he played with guil Just Alexander and so like there, the Chris Paul's story is more complicated than hasn't won a championship And I just this is just a downside of the way basketball this course has changed. But I I do think that that that that is it is important to tell the whole story of what it takes to win a championship. And it's not just

my alpha dog is better than your alpha dog. It's there's so many other things that go into it, right, And there's no one who watches Chris Paul, at least for me, Like, I don't know how you watch to watch Chris Paul and think like he's the reason his teams aren't winning. Like even in the playoffs, he's a killer playoff performer. You have just like twenty five and ten in the playoffs. He's just ridiculous. So that's part

of the story as well. And winning is hard. I mean, unless you have Lebron or Curry or you know, one of those all time greats on your team, you're not like winning. I mean, look at the titles in the last decade. Lebron has been to what ten straight finals. I mean that's not an accident. That's because he's one of the greatest of all times. It's not by you know, it's not by coincidence that teams win titles. Kauai is one of you. I think his game kind of translates

as well pretty well to the playoffs. But you look at that, if you don't have like one of the all time or a couple of superstars, probably not gonna win. I mean, it's just how it works in today's league. And I like the Chris Paul analogy. He's one of my favorite players ever. I think he's the second best point guard ever, um, and and all that kind of stuff.

But again, like his team just aren't good enough. And if you watch him and you watch the context of his game, you're not gonna say he's the reason or give him rings culture or anything like that. So um, yeah, I agree. I think winning is all part of the context of it. And I don't know how you watch Steff this year and just not be still amazed at what he can do no matter what his team is doing.

I mean, he's if you look at his cast two characters there, I mean, he's the only one really being able to do anything so and still averaging thirty and you know, be able to be this efficient, this good um and still at this m v P level, which I'm not even sure the Warriors knew step was still going to be at this level. I mean he was coming off an injury I think to his hand or something like that. So, and he's had like a tailbone injury recently, but he's he's been great, and he's obviously

still at that top level. And I think the Warriors will kind of conduct their off season that way. I think they'll be able to build around him a little better than than last year. And they know what they have in all their players. So yeah, I mean the Steph conversation is is funny. I I think you kind of agree with that he's probably the second best player in the game. I mean, I get I get framed as a staff hitter. It's the most ridiculous. Yeah, I

think that's all. Like again, I think we talked about this. When you get to the top five, you're splitting hairs. Really, I mean, you're going to Lebron's, deaph Katie, all those dudes impact waiting at such a high level. I mean, you can kind of split hairs on the top three. But um, going with that saying Steff is in that conversation,

there's no disc to him. I mean, it's just he's one of the best in the whole game, and no matter what his cast is, he's going to impact winning at a at a super high level, so that I don't know, I don't think. I don't think that debate really wins anything. The Warrior fans obviously wants Steff to get a Foules m VP at some point, I'm sure, um so I feel like that's that's part of it.

But yeah, that that's where I either debate is I think I think he'll win one if the team is right, but I don't know if they'll be able to build the talent with them, so we'll see they're they're in good shape. I mean what, your fans got way too attached to the season in a way that they shouldn't have. They should have just understood what it was from the beginning. I mean, like even even like your fans got two attached last year. And don't get me wrong, like I

I'm with you. I think they would have made a deep playoff run had they been healthy. Um, but I mean they just they were How many times do you know where a bunch of young players can go win a championship which doesn't happen very often, and like Lebron can only do so much to to overcome that specific disadvantage.

But the truth is they have two extremely good assets and James Wiseman, and in this draft pick that they have next year, they have Clay Thompson coming back, and they have the second best player in the world under contract who's still playing really, really well. So they're going to have a much better chance next year and they just need to relax. Um. But I my my phone is blowing up with some work stuff that I gotta deal with, So I've got to to cut it off

at this point. But does there any thing else you wanted to add quickly before we get out of here. I think that's it. Uh. I think the only thing we didn't really touch on is that Jamal Murray got hurt. I think that kind of really changes this whole, uh, this whole playoff picture. We don't have to really go

along on it. But that's really sad that he got kind of hurt because I think we both of us really like Denver write their new team with Aaron Gordon kind of putting everyone in the correct role and kind of sucks. And people are saying that a c L tear probably keeps them out until a lot of next season as well, so probably impactual, decent chunk. Yeah, that's that's just really tough and it's sad. So hopefully he gets rested up, but it's still Denver is a tough team.

I don't think they're gonna be an easy out, but obviously without Murray it it's gonna be really tough for them to really make a lot of noise. So I guess that's the only thing is that's that's really sad to see around the league that he got hurt and that's why we're seeing Lebron and Adi take their time, Like that's that's why you don't want freak injuries like this, especially in this kind of compact. I think Denver played like six games and nine days or something something like that,

So I yeah, that's that's the only thing. But yeah, that's pretty much it pretty much. Probably some of it's bad luck, like like Murray missed some time before that, Like it's not he wasn't actually one of the guys who've been playing all that much. It's just dude, like like people get a little bit over attached. Like don't get me wrong, the schedule has been really hard and it's been tough, but like a lot of people are too critical of Adam Silver, too critical of the understanding

the situation. The players did agree to this. Guess what you can rest if you need to rest, and uh, statistics show that injuries are more or less what they've been in the last five years, and actually lower than they were last year. It's just perception is different from reality. We we panic anytime we see anything. It's no different than like, you know, one person dies from a blood clot from the vaccine, even though seven million people got the shot and we don't even know if the blood

clot is what caused it. But you know, the perception is is it just causes that. That's just how it works. And you know, but at the end of the day, like it sucks because I actually thought the Nuggets were the second best team in the West behind the Lakers. I thought they were going I thought they were going to beat the Clippers like they were just if they saw the Clippers in the first or second round, like it was going to be the bet of the century in my opinion, and and and they and they lost

that chance, which is which is really unfortunate. But um, anyway, yeah, so I'm gonna put the podcast version of this up shortly. Roche thank you as always, and we'll talk about maybe doing a locker room sometime next week. Yep, let's do it. Hi buddy, have a good weekend. I'll talk to you later. See everybody,