A quick wick wit Evan Win.
I'll show you're gonna bruing inad be except with sim Sweet pursuing in dollold out shaw shank through the sewer. Kid, Now what chilling at day Eagle? Yeah, we're doing in three your clod on the dot. Got a habit for my house, a goat status. How it's starting to get crabbit shows that up multiplied like a rabbit tuned in so out, crank it up, beat the habit.
I'm hang out with my friend, rocked in on the lady, Kat, Christine, all up the lady.
All up on my radio. Indeed, Hello and welcome everybody.
It's the world famous Ben and Skin Show, Ben Rogers, Jeff skin Wade known him since nineteen eighty two. Christina k Ray corn Bread a little Baby corn Bread Ray, Kevin k T Turner, Pride and Enjoyva Only Texas.
Skin.
I noticed you're wearing a suit. You're fired up because tonight you will be broadcasting at the AAC for the Laker Return of Laker Luca. I'm almost as excited about that as the fact that Corey Seger has had another home run in this Ranger game been six to one Rangers two bombs for Corey Seeger. Yep, these bats are back. Yeah, Cory Seger, I guess we do know hold on Presidy, Can I hear that again? Well the paraphrase, Corey Seeger, I guess we do know the power phrase. So Luca
is back. This is an emotional night for all of DFW. It's the biggest story in town, one of the biggest stories on planet Earth. Nobody can understand how we the Mavericks traded a twenty five year old global icon and it's just not done. It's as you just don't see it happen ever, like maybe a guy demands a trade to go somewhere, maybe, but to be traded, to be blindsided. And look, it hasn't gone well for the Mavericks, and for a lot of different reasons. Almost everyone in their
organization has been hurt. I mean everybody. It's the walking wounded. Guys have been banged up and hurt. I got injured doing a game.
God, there's so.
Many roster problems, like there was a question of the mapsn't even have enough bodies to suit up for a game. Good news Ben, not for tonight, but for the Toronto game. We got Brandon Williams back. Great back from Friday and Sunday against the grizz things. I never imagine a millionaires. I'd be so excited to get a two way player back.
He's that's great.
Oh, by the way, do you know who's questionable for tonight's game? Dante Xum.
Yep, look out dude. That means he might be back in time for the play in. That'd be huge.
Great.
Look, these are tough times. These are tough times, and uh, emotions are going to be high. This is the weirdest sporting event maybe ever, because there will be more Luca fans in the house than Maverick fans.
Do you remember, like.
Usually these these are go bad the return you know of someone you usually it's man. Do you remember when the Rangers had a rod Well when he went to Seattle for the first time and Seattle would printed out like money and they're like throwing fake money on the field and stuff because he signed for two hundred and fifty two million dollars.
Yeah, Like that's what.
It's never like this where I think everyone in the arena wants the other team to win. I think a good portion of them. What I mean, I want the MAVs to win. But I think a lot of people there are going to be pulling for the Lakers tonight, and that drives me nuts. But it's what it is that'll be the that'll be the real interesting thing is how noticeable it is. That's what I'm so I guess anticipatory about more than anything, because look, everyone didn't cancel their season tickets.
That didn't happen.
Okay, there's a lot of people, and I see him at games all the time that are still season ticket holders, and those people are probably going to be rooting for the Mavericks and Luca at the same time I will. And then there's gonna be keep in mind, even before Luca, the Lakers always traveled really, really well. Anyways, we always
make jokes about look at all these Kobe jerseys. And then on top of that, there's gonna be people that are no longer Maverick fans, but they're only Luca fans, and they went out of their way to come to this game to show it. And so when the Mavericks make a bucket, there's gonna be noise. There's gonna be your normal home crowd noise. However, when Luca makes a bucket, there's gonna be probably more noise than anything, and then there's gonna be Laker noise whenever Austin Reeves makes a bucket.
So it's gonna be the strangest crowd reaction in a home game that really anyone has ever seen.
There's really nothing like this to even compare it to. I need, I need an offseason.
I just can't get to the off season fast enough to really process emotionally how I feel about all this, to be honest with you, Yeah, like I don't even know how I feel about being a mass fan moving forward into the future. I love this team. It's always been my team. But I'm gutted by this. I mean it is I don't even on. My brain is having
a hard time processing it. And it would have been so much easier to process if they had been healthy, because what we saw in the one half before Anthony Davis got hurt, what we saw in that one half was like, Okay, they could be going to the finals again this year.
That's how good they look. They looked like they could beat anybody.
But it's an incomplete work because we didn't even get to see that, right.
So it does nothing for you. That tonight might be Clinch night. Clinch that ass clinch What a plan? I mean, yeah, because there's three up with three to play on and Phoenix plays Oklahoma City. So if the MAVs win tonight, if the Maths whin, they're in. Because the magic number with two is Phoenix and Phoenix got drummed last night.
Yeah, so it's two they win. Yeah, they're in. They're in. The place is Clinch Night. Anything happens on Clinch Night.
You always say that, I don't there's not a lot of hope there because there's no like getting in. All I want is the best bet draft pick possible. Well, I want to get better and contend or can And they're in the middle.
You know.
Now, if they were to upset Oklahoma City, that'd be insane. If they get into the play in and advance and then to upset Oklahoma City.
It's like, oh my god. Okay, this has been a magical ride.
But I think that's just a series of other guillotines waiting for them right now. I mean, it would be very difficult to beat Oklahoma City unless Oklahoma City had similar injuries.
Me a crack at doing something that's never been done before.
I mean, shot, yeah, I think the likelihood of having a pick that's higher than twelve is so minuscule. I'd rather just see what you can do. And dude, I mean, look, you're not going to beat the best team in basketball without Kyrie Irving probably it seems very unlikely. But they will have a good portion of the rest of their team healthy. And so if they did get Dante XM back and then they had Spencer and Dante and Brandon Williams, well,
then it can be a more competitive thing. And then Oklahoma City has to do with Anthony Davis and Gafford and live Here's the thing I'm also very excited about tonight. This will be the first game where you have your full front line without minute restrictions. Now, because of the way they play in general, it's not like some guys gonna go out there and have thirty eight minute game. Like I still think I doubt Ad plays more than
thirty two minutes or whatever. But this is a this is a battle of teams that play way differently, and so the you know, Luca's gonna have to be great for them to go in there and do what they want to do, and Lebron and Austin reeves, those three guys are gonna have to be great because the Mavericks should be able to play baller defense.
And those guys are gonna be amped up for this.
It's the most anticipated regular season basketball game in the NBA in a decade. Yeah, and I wonder how j Kid approaches the game. You know, we'll get into this later, but it certainly if you read Mark Stein, it certainly feels like Lucas Campus does not think this was all Nico the trade. They certainly think j Kid is culpable as well. That would be his prerogatives as the coach.
But like, how much of Luca's angst is directed towards j Kid because he'll be able to see him the whole night, right, And then how does Jake Kidd approach it? Does anybody in the Mavericks organization care how it goes other than just winning? Like in other words, you have everybody knows Luca's game exceedingly well. He's played his whole career here until recently. So they've seen some teams try to blitz Luca and get the ball out of his hands.
This happens with a lot of superstars. They've seen some teams go no, we're just gonna play you straight up. And if you know, so, which way will they choose to go? And like they do they care if Luca has a pedestrian game statistically versus like the owner does you know the governor? Does he would he much rather Luca had a pedestrian game or does it hurt more if he goes for sixty against him? You know, I
don't know, that's super interesting. I haven't even thought about whether or not Patrick Dumont will be in the house else does he want to be in the house for this? Like you know, Nico's changed where he is in the arena. Yeah, I think he's going to be in the tunnel where he's been Yeah, I mean I I would be surprised
if he if he moved. Maybe I don't know. Maybe there's maybe the NBA wants for security reasons for them to not have those And that's how volatile the thing has been that that would even be a consideration.
And it could be too that.
You know, I don't know how those guys feel. They may be like I don't want to be a distraction, so I don't want to be here. But man Nico was in the building in La and it wasn't no thing. You know, he was down there on the court. So the other side of the ball, when when the Mavericks have the ball, clearly they're going to want to attack Luca, right, So who does that?
What's the matchup that works best for that? You, Kyrie?
Right now?
Yeah, they don't really have that. I mean, Luca's probably going to be covering Clay most of the night. I could see a couple of times where he's covering So the problem, well, no, because then you could you could put Austin Reeves on vincer Dinwiddie, and then you could put Luke on Clay. It's but then they go even smaller with Vincent. That's gonna it's that's part of the fun of the intrigue of the matchup. The Mavericks are way bigger and stronger and the Lakers are more perimeter.
You know what really speaks to how big this is. It's like growing up as a kid, you would say, oh, one of the bulls come into town. Okay, you try to get you know, tickets for you know, Michael Jordan, when you said lebron a minute ago, or one of you said Lebron a minute ago.
I went, oh, yeah, he's on the Like.
Dude, this is like like maybe last five, six, seven times Lebron will ever play here in town.
Yeah, And I ain't thinking about him for a second. What are you talking about?
Dude?
He's having his best year ever and he's got like zero percent body fat. How I play for another decade? It is interesting depending on what role he wants to take. You know, he could he could play longer, Like would he ever be cool with coming off the bench?
Now?
He's not close to that now, but I think in two years if he wanted to play fifteen minutes and now off the bench, I would love that on my team. Now, you can't pay that fifty million dollars a year whatever, but it's certainly in play if that's what.
He wants to do with his life.
I'm I'm struggling with this in so many ways, and I feel bad for every Mavericks employee because not every Mavericks employee made this trade, and so they're like, even you guys as broadcasters are are put in a tough spot.
But like, I see a lot of the stuff that's out there like saying thank you Luca and Slovenian and things like that, and there's gonna be montage videos and appreciation and it's like the people that made those videos, man, God bless him for making those and but Party of You is like you.
Didn't have to trade him. Why are we doing this montage? Like he still could be you know what I mean. But it's like it's it's complicated because it's not their fault.
They're just I know, But that's like getting caught up in something that's never gonna change and is in the past.
Like that, doesn't you know at some point you got to move on with your life. Just not there yet.
I can't take me a while. I get I need an off season. I need this season to be over with and just move forward. Unless they go on a huge run and beat Oakhomas and.
Then back then, I mean, that's probably not gonna happen.
It'll be this offseason, all right. What are we gonna do next? I got something I want to tell you guys. How I knew today was not gonna go well for the Mavericks, And I'll tell you what that is next