Well, well, well we are back. The playoffs are the best they've ever been. In my opinion, I am still coming in off the high of a Celtics loss. I answered the question what feels better six Ers win or Celtic's loss.
Yes, Celtics loss.
For me, because yeah, I felt real good after that. It's been an amazing playoffs. Lebron, a d Jimmy Butler. We're gonna talk about it all on this week's episode, featuring a first timer from fan duel Ken Rudolph. On today's episode, I am Jack O'Brien and I'm Jabari and for Miles, and this is Miles.
Davis, lebron and be driving Spinny Curry a three.
Steph Curry from don Tell again be honest with the terror look out.
Shut time you go.
Ken, thank you so much for joining us FanDuel analysts former Sacramento based radio hosts. What's going on?
Everything?
Everything?
Thanks going on?
Yes it is.
My squad's got a good game five, So that's all I'm focused.
Well that in the Derby.
The Kentucky Derby's coming up too, so that's part of my job for FanDuel TV. But that and of course getting ready for this game five, messing with the Warriors and the Kings.
I'm gready.
Do you go to the Kentucky Derby?
No?
Not this year. I've done this so many times.
I opted out.
You're over. It's pretty great about that.
I opted back to stay in the studios in Los Angeles, California, and my colleagues they all hit the road near in Kentucky right now, getting ready for everything.
Oh man, little blast. Well, it has to be an exciting time to be a Kings fan, just overall feelings. I mean, also maybe a pessimistic time. I don't know, how are you feeling ahead of Game five, which is happening tonight as we're recording this, so listeners will know what happened in Game five? We do not, but you know, obviously dearon Fox with a broken finger, bummer, but he's going to play. He's gonna gut through it. How are you feeling?
Not good?
All right? Uh?
Because look, everybody in Sacramento has deep insecurities, and I think that you can see that in the social media activity from every single fan, every single analyst, anybody who's got anything to do with this team. We know that we've never won anything, and in order for people to respect us, we have to win something.
So it starts here.
So we needed to take the three one lead. We had to do that.
We needed to sweep this team. To be honest with you, if we really wanted it to be a factor, we needed to sweep this team. And now that we have not, we are in trouble. And then we got our point guard with his tip of his left finger like, come on, man, like, are you serious?
Sports gods?
Really y'all want to do this to us right now?
Come on, man, now, it sounds like you're mad at the sports gods, as opposed to Stephen A. Smith, who seems to get mad at the players who get injured.
It seems to be his approach where he's just like, Kawhi is a disgrace. Ad ad La will never forgive him if he gets injured in this playoff.
He's kind of got a point about some of that, in the sense that these are these especially those two players you talk about ad and Kawhi. Man I love Kawhi because he's just so under the radar, but these are two marquee players who, with all due respect, you can't count.
On when you need them.
Like what is that.
Like, so I get what he's saying, but it's pretty tough to put it back the onus back on the player, like they don't have.
The heart, they don't have crime.
Just well, stuff's just not working out for them. It's tough. That's exactly where I would even go with this. It's like, yeah, it's one thing to point out the fact that they're not available. It's a whole other thing to say like, oh, you piece of junk, you know, or make it sound like that, Yeah.
That's not cool at all, because we know whys got heart and we know he's got that dog in him, as they say, we know that, dude, Yeah it's around. So if he can't go, man, there must be something really going on. But then again, we got the problem of dealing with the legacy of Kobe, and so we saw a guy like Kobe play through whatever, right and you know what I'm saying, it didn't matter what was happening with Kobe. He's like, oh no, I'm playing, this
is happening right now. I'm like, so we're trying to measure all these other great players up to that, and that's impossible.
There's no way that anytime we are trying to compare. You know, anybody that's all time at something, if you know, and he would have been all time, you know, not just on the court, but at specifically playing through pain. It's going to be difficult to compare. It really is.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, But I feel like Darreon Fox is he's a really special He's really really special, and people don't understand what it feels like for these young players at the age of twenty one twenty two to be quote unquote handed the keys to a franchise and then have the confidence to look in the mirror and look at that owner's face and be like, I got you,
let's go, and then to take you there. Man, Can you imagine what that's like as a young person, the confidence that's like Darren Fox took those keys from the VEC round of Dvans and I got you, boss, let's go. And then four or five years later, here we are and he had to make a lot of improvements. I have to say one personal thing about the Aaron Fox that.
I really really like.
Two seasons ago on social media, we were talking myself my friends in Sacramento who do radio with the Kings, and I was saying look, I just need one thing from my point guard. I need my point guard to make his free throws in the fourth quarter.
That would be great. That was my tweet.
The Aaron Fox came through and liked that tweet, and I was like, that dude right there knows exactly what's supposed to happen. He knows exactly what his responsibility is. He didn't shy away from that. He didn't send some comment to me. He just liked that tweet. I think he just kind of recorded the fact that he needed to do that. I wasn't being personal. I wasn't talking about his mama. I wasn't talking about his family. I wasn't talk about nothing but him making free throws in
the fourth quarter as the point guard. That was it, And I was like, you know what, Okay, he knows what's happening. He knows what he needs to do.
Yeah, all right. Well, before we get to the Western Conference, the Eastern Conference has been entertaining unpredictable this week. Let's check in Keap Bucks. Giannis has missed a couple games, missed Game two and Milwaukee was able to win it, but then up to one. Jimmy Butler comes through in Game four, puts up twenty four in the first half.
This game, Yannis is back, and I'm gonna say this is maybe the best individual performance in a playoff game I've seen since either Yiannis against the Suns in the finals, or maybe even Lebron against the Celtics that one year where he just came in, like completely locked in, came into Boston and just twenty twelve kind of assassinated them. But I don't know, it was really like a singular experience watching him in that fourth quarter where the Bucks
knew what was happening, He knew what was happening. He was the only person he just fully put his team on his back. And there's something that like did you see the postgame interview where the sideline reporter was like, why, how do you make it look so easy? And he was like, it's not easy. Yeah, he doesn't make it
look easy. He makes it look hard. And that's what's like crazy is he always looks like I don't know, it reminds me of how im fast and furious when Vin Diesel like appears to just be like driving harder than the other person, Like he's just like.
Flexing, like holding the wheel and then he.
Just like presses the like like it's like the harder you press the pedal, the faster the car goes. But like that's what Jimmy Butler actually feels like. It feels like he is playing like he's just decided, like, all right, I have twenty extra percent to give and I'm going to try that much harder to make it go in. And he looks like he's using every last cell of energy in his body. But it's just never been as effective as it was in a game that Like, I
don't think anybody thought they were gonna win. They were, they were down, and then suddenly they were up one.
So look, I'm gonna be completely honest with you. When I heard that quote, I thought, well, how the heck is that possible? Like not, you know, not that it you know, not that he makes it like the impossible happen, But it very much looks like he's working and grinding for each one like he's basketball Tupac. Remember how Tupac like in every lyric, it's just like.
Felt intent.
You felt like Pa could just be coming on the on the track with a regular thing, but it just felt a little different. That's how it feels for Jimmy with me when I'm watching him, especially in the postseason.
Yeah, probably looks that way because he's doing it by himself.
Yeah Yeah, it looks hard for sure. Man.
So we were looking at the history of three to one comebacks in NBA playoffs. There hasn't been any since the Bubble. I don't think where the Nuggets did it twice, but it's pretty rare. And yet I feel like we're about to get a three to one comeback. As much as I wish it was the Hawks, It's probably not gonna be the Hawks, but I could really see Milwaukee
coming back from this. This reminds me of last season's heat Celtic's Eastern Conference Finals, where it felt like Jimmy Butler was the only person who could like really do anything in that and like he only had a finite amount of energy and intensity to give and he just like kind of saved it all for the very end of Game seven, and it just like wasn't enough. It
was like two inches short of being enough. I just wonder if he's gonna have another game like that in him, And if he doesn't, then how do they beat Milwaukee? And again, they might have already and did the series by the time people are listening to this. But I just I don't feel like it's wild. They are up three to one and twelve point underdogs tonight.
That's unheard of.
Yeah, that's the Heat series.
No big deal.
Just one of the best performances I've ever seen from an individual player in the history of the NBA Knicks Cavs. Again, I have no idea what's going to happen in this series. What we did. We've delayed the recording this week and the day that we chose to record on has four playoff games that are all close out games except for except for the Kings series. So three three of the four close that games. So basketball gods, Well.
Let me let me ask this. You know, to the point that you've been making, Jack, if we were to pick a series that we could see the team coming back from three to one, I hear you when you say it's probably not going to be the Subjects. But you know, as as funny as it seems, they being the Hawks, you know they're the one team that has at least started to reverse course. You know they're down three to two. But Ken, I'm interested in your opinion.
Do you think any of the other three one series that the team that's behind has a chance.
Well, I mean, obviously in Milwaukee, they definitely have a chance to turn that around. That's the only twelve yeah, else WHENNA be, Milwaukee's the only thing. Milwaukee's the only team. I feel like they can turn that around because of the just the way that team plays, and of course
the presidence of Joanna. If he's ready to go and get the things going in his direction, meaning he's dominating down there low, he's athletic and moving around, I think Minnesota can turn I mean, Milwaukee's use me could turn that thing around entirely because they've got that championship DNA. Everybody else I really don't know. And I gotta be honest with you. I do not pay attention to anybody
else except the Sacramento King. I'm the opposite of the national media, So the national media pays attention to everybody plus the King. I pay attention to the King and nobody else. I don't care about nobody diding fifty points in the playoffs if your team doesn't win the championship.
So it's Ring or Bust or Sacramento or bust got it?
Yeah, right, like Jimmy Buckets can get fifty poet team while he wants to when they're gonna win a championship in Miami with him, what are they gonna have?
So I'm was like, oh, man.
Out right this year, but we'll no, Well, they got their second best score is as a broken hands. So yeah, Nick's Calves. I mean, my friends who are Cavs fans think that this might be the one that's coming back from three to one. I don't think that necessarily, but we'll see. Uh. Yeah, it seemed more evenly matched heading in than it has looked to this point.
And that's the thing, you know, coming in, you know, we we went back and forth about this, uh you're heading into the postseason, Like specifically, we thought the Calves would fare well. Not that not that we were discounting the Clippers, but given the fact that the Calves had all of those, you know, the offensive weapons, we thought, you know, in a series in particular, that might make
a difference. But we just haven't seen that. And even though the Knicks they haven't gotten great performances out of you know, out of Julius Randall, they haven't even gotten great stuff out of IQ. If I'm not mistaken, he's actually out for Game five. They have still found a way to you know, grit and grind it, I guess. And that's really a testament to Tom Thibodeau and the defense that he has those guys playing.
And I mean, oh, le Brunson is you know, he's been good all season, but like now we're looking at where the Knicks are versus where the MAVs are without him, Like and I just feel like he's got that game manager and that dog in him, both things, but like game manager to the degree that like, you know, not not an insult, but more of a Tom Brady type game manager, where like game manager and really like an effective player who might end up being something absolutely special.
He just gets wins. Yeah, I would take him on the Sixers. You would I would take him.
You know, I know it's crazy, but I would take Jalen Brunson.
Knicks fans, you heard it here, if you want to get the talk started, we would take him with the Sixers. Speaking of the Sixers, this is my team. I do pay attention to other teams because I can't. I can't put all my eggs in this basket ken. It's it's too painful. This is as pessimistic as I've ever been heading into the second round with since I became a
Sixers fan. And they've never made it out of the second round in my you know, in modern history, and none of those have been a surprise, and yet this is as pessimistic as I've ever been. I also think this is as pessimistic as I've ever seen a fan base coming out of a sweep.
The only team that swept, the only team that.
Swept, and every Sixers fan I talked to is like, we're screwed, man, this is terrible, Like the Celtics are gonna kill us. And also when I say that to people who aren't Sixers fans, they're like, yeah, man, you guys, the Celtics are going to kill you. And I will just say it. All of that being said, I've never wanted them to defeat a team as much as I
want them to beat the Celtics. The last time I can remember something like that is the year that the Red Sox went down three to zero to the Yankees, and they had just gotten beat by the Yankees over and over and over again. And you know, as a Red Sox fan, we were just like it's it's over,
it's not happening. But there was just like the sheer amount of like belief and want and like desire from the fan base just like kind of carried that fan like that's the only thing I'm having to resort to, like cross sports magical thinking here, but like that, that is what it feels like. And when you listen to like Bill Simmons talking about Embiid getting hurt on his podcast with just an audible like beaming grin on his face and like he had Heralabos vulgaris like the guy
who is like a professional gambler. He was like, well, the Sixers aren't a serious team. Like just every six every Celtics fan you hear from, is so dismissive the Sixers. He gave him the logan, Roy that you're not serious people, Like he was like, the Sixers aren't a serious team, Like they're not. I think the thing that is painful is that I agree with him, but I really would love, would love for them to give the Celtics a serious and his Torchard, Yeah, it is painful.
Well, kN Ken, you just you just alluded to something. Jack and I were discussing in the pre show, what is it about Doc that because you said you try, you sure out said it's their coach. To this point, he's done pretty good, you know, pretty well this season this season. Yes, man, I don't know what it is about Doc.
I don't know why he can't get over the hump, and I think a lot of it might be for some reason he's still in his mind. Like if you listen to him talk, he still references Boss. Yes, he's still references There wasn't hurt. We would have won. Like, Bro, if you can't get your team to push through without your big man, that that closed things up in the middle there. If you can't find a way to get that team to push on through, then I don't know
why you're still referencing that series. And then you know just the history that he has. I don't know if to be honest with you, I'm obviously not a coach, but we've all watched enough basketball to be able to build these things around. I feel like I don't know if he makes Ajustice yeah right, like if things aren't
working for his team. I haven't seen a situation where Doc Rivers went into the locker room and made an adjustment that made a difference he needed the second half of the game or the second half of the series, and he has to be able to do that. He's been a coach for thirty years, so he must be incredible at something. I just don't know if that is the thing that he does well.
When we were looking up all the teams that came back from three to one down, I will just say, as the person whose team currently has Doc Rivers as a coach, was not promising to see how many of the teams that were the victims of people coming back
from through one down. We're coached by him, and I think that is the That is the rap that you hear is that he doesn't make adjustments, so you know they can get three wins, but then the other team figures something out and he doesn't in turn figure something out on top of that, and so you have situations like with the Clippers twice or with Orlando or yeah,
it almost happened. The year that he won with the Celtics, they had a really rocky road through the playoffs, like they almost didn't they like go to the game seven and round one, like against Chicago. I feel like like Chicago was giving them.
During that run.
Yeah, and they were dominant, like they should have been dominant. But anyways, even in round one, even in the series that they swept against the Nets, they looked incredibly Embiid looked bad in every game that he played in because they kept sending a double team and they didn't try anything different. Every time they sent a team at him, they didn't try anything different, and it was just he looked exactly the same every game, which was a little
bit confused. I mean, he had like a game where it was just, yeah, it's it's not confidence inspiring, gives me nice resentment which will fuel me to uh root really hard. And round two when they face the Celtics, I guess.
Jack, I'm going to stick with this. I still say that Embiid he knows how to pass out of the double team. They've got plans for, you know, like how to counter that. They were just holding back because they knew the think we got this. You know, we're up two, oh, we're up three to oh, we got this series. We want to hold you know, hold this back to stun or surprise the Celtics with it, you know, as a strategy I'll go out on a limit, say it for you. If Embeid is healthy enough to play, you guys are
going to win that series. The Celtics are going down next round.
You don't put like ten thousand dollars on it.
I won't put ten thousand, but I'll put ten dollars.
All right, I'll put ten dollars with you.
If you measure those by the way that Nicole a joke, it's jumped. Those are ten sacks. When do we get to the hater segment?
All right, we're about to, We're about to get there.
We'll be We're going to take a quick break.
We'll come back and we'll hit on some of the Western Conference matchups and we're back and all right, you asked Ken, when when do we get to the hater section? During the break? This is the hater section? What are
your thoughts on Joel Embiid? He's your m v P. You were saying during the break, just elaborate on Now you're saying you're not a fan, never have been, and even you don't get it, which I feel like he's pretty easy to underst stand the appeal of a seven foot two person with feathery touch, bo what your your thoughts. Your thoughts are that he's fools.
Gold, Okay, he's not. He's obviously got game right, there's no doubt about that. You don't even get to this level of you don't have games. But for what he's supposed to be, which is the franchise player, right league MVP, the big man that goos to carry you through the playoffs, right, I don't see him doing that enough. I don't see
him dominating in the playoffs. I know I'm gonna sound like Shack on TND three man as what's going maybe, But he's supposed to do that, man Joel MB when we get to the playoffs, he's supposed to dominate everything that's happening inside there. He shoots way too many jump shots, and he doesn't just take everything on his back in the fourth quarter and say I'm going to the hole, foul me. I'm gonna make you foul me. Fucking get these shots. He will bail them out with a jump
shot and then he's hurt all the time. So I'm not quite sure what's happening with the modern day player. I don't know how many games the chem Olaju want missed, but I don't think he knows anything in those two year run for the Rocket. And the point is is your big man has to be durable, he has to be dominant, he has to be a force in the playoffs. And I don't see that with Joel indeed at all.
I'm sorry, all right.
And now Nikola Jokic.
Like he's different though, because his game has never been anything about anything other than finetse. There's nothing physical about Jokic at all, and he doesn't pretend to be a physical player.
Defense very little uh physical.
About that exactly. So I don't expect him all of a sudden in the playoffs to be this dude that's going to bully you down low. He's just gonna fineesh you all the way through and then get his teammates into the game. So asking him to be something other than what he is in the regular season, or asking him to be a different version of what he is in the regular season when he comes to the playoffs
not fair at all. But for Embeed, there are times during the regular season where he is a brute force down low, he is physical, and then he gets away from it and he goes back to then he gets away from it again, and I'm like, why do you keep doing that? And why does Stot let him do that? Yeah, Doc should be like get down there and sit in the paint and don't move till I tell you to come out of there, or yeah after three seconds one of those two. And you know, I feel like he
just needs to do a lot more. And it's the process is just the end, yeah, Gi at the end.
This is supposed to be the end result, all right. On the Nuggets right now they are into the second round where they will be facing the Suns. I do just want to, you know, say a fond farewell to Anthony Edwards who was doing on both ends to avoid
the sweeping Game four. And his defense has been on some like I've never seen that, like with anticipation with the blocks, like that block Jamari that you linked off to where where he like comes down the dude jumps into him and like he jumps before the ball handler jumped to like put up the shot and blocks it on the way down. Like it's just the craziest, this
is the wildest thing. But he like there's something he's doing defensively, like this season, increasingly at the end of the season, wasn't enough for them to salvage their season, but with like anticipation steals in blocks, like he was doing some things at times where I was like, I've never really seen somebody look that dominant defensively, just in terms of like anticipation and like just stealing, like intercepting
things like it was pretty cool. I'm still super excited about where he's going.
Off this steel Edward's trying to get back head because I.
Want to rejection from Anthony Edwards.
Now Edward's running to break euros and finishes a sensational two way highlight.
Well, yeah, at his age in particular, you know year three, you know you look at you look at swingman or you know, shooting guards in particular, the true greats that he is a you know, whether you feel it's fair or foul, has been compared to generally. Year three is that turner. Is that year where it's like, oh, you know, that was the case kind of with the way the case with Kobe, the case with you know, the other guys.
And I only mentioned him because they've been mentioned before, not to put that pressure on him, but no, you're exactly right. You know, he's obviously showed promise in those first couple of years, but this year it definitely felt like he kind of turned it on. And I actually, I'll turn that to Ken. We made a lot, and by we I mean the general conversation. We made a lot about what they gave up for Gobert and them
really going for it. And I recognize that offensively, it may it may still be a little bit clunky, and they probably need to figure out, you know, what to do moving forward. But on the defensive end, I think having a guy like Gobert back there for the first time, I think that can only help a young guard or a young you know, wing that is in particular trying to, you know, elevate on the defensive end. I know that you didn't pay attention to anybody else, but what did you see from that situation.
Well, it's the thing about Minnesota is they were absolutely a problem for the king, and Anthony Edwards was a king Heller. We could not stop that dude. And I remember getting into like a debate or an argument every conversation I have with my friends in Sacramento, specifically my old radio partner Damian Barling, who still works in Sacramento. ESPN thirteen twenty. Every time we talk about basketball, we argue, and so he's like, yeah, man, Anthony Edwards is the
future in Minnesota. I'm like, Manna, man, can't kill the dude did we were talking about and then I started watching him. Then this year, man, that dude put it on the kings and we could not stop him. If he's the Western Conference Jimmy.
Butler, right, he feels like, yeah, tool strength.
Right, yeah, and that will that that I hate this stupid phrase, but that dog that that makes little things like you just mentioned, making things happen in the passing lane, making things happen, anticipating other players and getting blocks and steels and all these things, getting this body in the way and then knocking down the key shot. Like there's
something about that, dude. But as far as their defense is concerned, I think that it's going to just absolutely be improved because they have the bodies now, right, They've got that week stot shot blocking aspect and go who sits on the other side to do all that now when they're both on the flour together, and so that's what you want. You want that they call it a lurker. The go bear is just gonna lurk over there on the weeks SID and then come over and handle that business.
I think it's gonna work out great. It's hard to kind of have all those pieces come together when you switch your whole style. You talked about giving us some offensive pieces in order to get that defensive stability. It takes a minute for that stuff to kind of gel together. I don't care about them losing that first series four games to one. I think that team's gonna be for real next year. I think they're gonna be a problem for all of us.
How it develops.
And I feel like maybe that was one of the less watched of the series, just because I think people had a sense that the Nuggets were gonna win it. But if if you missed it his last four games of the postseason, Anthony Edwards last four games were twenty nine points, thirty four points, thirty six.
And forty one.
So, yeah, Bed, he was doing some crazy stuff. Lakers grizz Warriors, Kings. They both both have games tonight that are going to severely swing how anybody feels about the Jabbari. You're confident in the Lakers closing it out. Yeah, tonight. Last night for the listener.
Yeah, it's one of those situations where this team has given me no reason whatsoever to be confident in them. Over the course of the year. You start out two and ten, you find a way to turn it around, that's great, but it was a grind. It has been a grind, not just for the players but for you fans of the team. But that said, for whatever reason, I do believe, and you know you have definitely swayed me a bit. I'm a little bit more pessimistic as a fan than I normally am, but I'm pushing away
the Philly angst. I say the Lakers finish it off tonight, I'm actually more intrigued, and honestly, even if it doesn't happen, they're up three to two coming back home. But I'm more intrigued, admittedly by the two to two series. You know, the main reason why we brought Ken on near today. Do either of you still feel confident in the Kings coming out of this series?
Confident?
No. I think there's a scenario where this is the worst it looks for the Kings is to to coming off the two Warriors wins with Fox's broken finger, and then they just find a way to gut it and like keep the pace high, and Mike Brown continues to out coach Steve Kerr like at home and just like I think there's a world where like they've both been really good at home teams and the Warriors have been terrible on the road and have not been able to
do it on the road, including in this series. And I don't know, I could definitely see it feels like the popular opinion has swung to this is the Warriors series because the popular opinion wanted to be that heading into this series, right, Like Klay Townsend was like, when we're healthy, I don't see anyone beating us, and everyone was like, yep, Clay spoke, that's that's our pick now in Vegas and everything because like, I don't know, man, Like, yeah,
the Kings looked really good and the Warriors were wildly frustrating all season, and every time you guys thought they were putting it together, they weren't. They turned around and did something inexplicable, usually on the road. So you know, the Kings still have home court advantage. I'm fifty to fifty on this one, but if I had to pick a team, I'd probably pick the Kings.
I'm a kingsman, and I wouldn't even pick the Kings.
In Best two or three. You're not you don't feel good.
About oh way? Like, look, we were all grown man, and we've all been watching basketball since we were kids, and we could probably remember a certain series and when we became like intuitively aware of how things work with momentum and champions and how you just can't get past it. The first time I realized that there were sometimes things you just can't control was when Jordan and the Bulls faced Magic in the Lakers in the early ninety I love magics. I love magic, and at that time I
hated Michael George. But when I watched them, I remember how the Lakers got away with Game number one. Sam parked into the three pointer or something like that, and they got away with a victory.
There bloody devots hit a lay up and then ran around with his finger over his mouth. Yeah, I was. I was a huge Jordan fan, and that was burnt my memory.
I was like no, But then after that it was a rapah And you could tell. When you got the Game three of that church, You're like, man, y'all, are y'all can't do nothing with the Bulls. And it's same thing when I remember in ninety three when the Suns played the bull and Barkley is playing his absolute brain out. I mean, he's just crazy every night. I'm just like, man, y'all can't beat the Bulls, dude. It's just one of the things you realized when you watch. You're like, now
you just can't. You can't beat them. And so I have that feeling with the Kings and Warriors. I'm like, man, they got championship, DNA. We had them on the rope. You got to knock the champ out when you got to you gotta pan on the ropes. And we missed our opportunity. And now it's even and we're.
Prob can we get a full on prediction?
Well, I think it's one of those things where it's reason why we all have such anxiety and we hate the god's sports right because if the Aaron Fox doesn't have the issue with his fingertip, Kings fans are feeling supremely comfortable. But the fact he's got the issue with the fingertips, and it may be because of Draymond green Man, come on, unload the bus. Everybody fighting the parking lot. That's the only chance that we got to get anything.
Everybody unloaded the bus and fight in the parking lot because man, we can't win on the court because they got away with their tricks and they got us. They just had to get the one or two games with their tricks and they got us, and now they got us what they wanted.
It is wild how effective Draymond Green continues to be. If I was an NBA player, I would do nothing but study Draymond Green like game tape, because it feels like it's just things you can learn to do that like he just there's like a magic to it. And even I don't know, man's it really is crazy. He's so effective.
So this is the funniest thing about Draymond Green, and I'm so glad that you brought that up. With all the antics and everything, you know, you know, people are going to have their opinions about him, but you're not gonna find You're not going to find very many smarter players out there. He knows the angles to take, he knows how to position himself, he knows what he can get away with. He knows where where the refs are are positioned, so that he can do certain things that
are advantageous for himself and ultimately his team. But no, you're like, that's a great point. Like if I'm look, I don't care what level I'm at, but especially if I'm a guy that's struggling or trying to stay in the league, you know, that's the game tape that I would definitely be watching because yeah, yeah, it's a.
Winning You guys, we all, like I said, we all grew up watching basketball. We also grew up playing basketball. Look, I'm not a very big guy at all, so it wasn't an option. I'm not quick. But here's a number one reason why I stopped messing around with pickup games because every five minute, somebody wants to do what they want to fight.
Oh yeah.
Right, you know that, don't you know?
I'm not messing out there, no one. I'm like, man, this is my money maker. I'm not trying to have you mess with my money maker right now. So no elbows and punch me in the mouth. I'm out. But the NBA and all these dudes that had to play through all that toughness, you have to get to play some suffers at punts. Then you get to AAU you got to be tough on the court. High school, college, you have to be tough. Then you get to the NBA, that one dude dominate you in every aspect on the court.
I'm like, what, how is this still happening in the NBA.
Let's take a quick break. We'll come back and we will do the fastest segment of podcasting rapid fire.
Uh uh.
We will be right back and we're back, and I guess the one series we haven't really talked about is Suns closing out the Clippers. They will be facing the Nuggets. That's gonna be a great series. I feel like Booker is the story of that first round series. I like on the Sun side, the Clipper side was obviously a mess, but you know, it's injury stuff that I don't feel like is as fun to discuss as just how good
Devin Booker is. They seemed like they are starting to put some things together on the Sun side, which makes me excited about that series because I thought I thought the Nuggets kind of had it wrapped up if they looked as bad as they did in like Game one.
Yeah, from the Sun side of things, I won't lie. After Game one, I said, oh, well, maybe they're you know, maybe maybe I jumped the gun. Maybe they're not. But the rest of that series felt like a remember when Roy Jones came out with the rap album y'all must have forgot. I don't know if y'all remember, but I just love that song, and I you know, it might still get it, might still get bumped right now. In fact, Brian put this, put that track underneath what I'm saying
right now. It felt like a y'all must have forgot series because so many of us, so many of us were guilty of this. We're like, hey, they got kat now, so kt is the guy. And Devin Booker while Katie is still fantastic and you want and you you want him on that wall, you need him on that wall. Devin Booker still the guy. Devin Booker is the best player on the Suns.
And so many references in a row, that's all.
I'm here, a few good men.
So Roy Jones reference to his rap album that is not like about people overreaching, but it's just like that's.
A good song. You know what, Jack, Just wait next time I've got a demolition Man reference. I'm gonna work it in there somehow.
Yeah, that's good stuff.
Remember when Dennis Robmin was in that Van Damn movie, Well, his character once said something that I think it out all the time called double double team, something that no one ever did to Dennis Robins.
Yeah, I love me some Deennis Rovin. I mean, think about it, if you want to win, if you were coaching one and win, You're like, I need that dude. If I can just find a way to control that dude. Oh and then Bill Jackson realized I can't control them. Let him do whatever he wants.
Just harness it.
Just some other things.
While watching Fox News, it would seem he did.
He did, he and his posse.
But with the with the Sun man, I mean, like, you know, KD is gonna be the difference maker. Even though Devin Booker is definitely trying to assert himself as the man, they're not gonna win and let KD, you know, comes through and he will have to steal the degal on a couple of those games.
Ken, I'll put you like this not to push back, but to push back a little bit. I saw Devin Booker take a team to the finals.
You also saw Devin Booker get swept after going up.
I recognize that. And I'm saying it like that on purpose because Suns fans will get, you know, like a little upset about it. I saw Devin Booker take a team to the finals. KD has won some titles, yes, but.
He's never led a team.
You don't think, yeah, he led that Warriors team, right, I mean that.
It doesn't you can't say that.
Which is the reason why I said it like that, not not to you take the conversation into a terrible place because you know there's enough of that on NBA Twitter.
Uh.
And you know, bus driver versus non bus driver.
But you won the finals MVP one year twice twice. Yeah, I don't know. It does feel like he is like I've heard, you know, certain commentators be like they don't know who's driving the bus, and like Katie's just kind of like it's kind of like the new guy at the bachelor party. You know what I'm saying, Uh, this is you'll never guess who I'm.
Doing, Bill Simmons.
You know, the new guy at the bachelor party doesn't really know like which which group he like fits him with, doesn't know his role. That's kind of how Katie is, Like I think he also might just be letting Devin Booker be the man, like understanding that he needs to let Devin Booker be Alpha and he can just be the greatest complimentary score of all time because he wants another ring.
But if he does that, does he get any credit? You know, we don't. Players don't get credit for kind of taking the backseat sometimes and doing the other things.
I think he's given up on that narrative stuff, hopefully for his insanity.
You just hit it on the head like he knows, you know, what it is, is what it is. And ultimately, and here's the thing, they may not get credit in the moment. They may not get credit on you know, the bird app you we're on Twitter talking trash whatever, and you know, but ultimately, when we look back at it,
we're gonna say KD was a champion. Like so like what I was saying earlier was a little bit tongue in cheek, We're not gonna, you know, like, at least me, I'm not going to say, oh, well he only did this or early did No. KD is one of the all time greats, and he's you know, the two or three time champion. Is how the story's gonna.
Be conception is everything. I was watching a clip about Kobe Bryant was talking about the deception of his legacy oppositely, and he was talking about how when he had those three rings with Shack and then Shaq got the fourth ring in Miami. He's like, I absolutely has to get the next two rings or people are going to say the narrative about my career is I couldn't win without Check. He's like people say about Michael he couldn't win without Scotty, right.
He's like, Okay, well, I have to find a way to win without Shack. He's like, I couldn't accept that as the narrative of my career. Kevin Durant has to do the same thing. He has to say, I can't accept the narrative of my career is that I'm a complimentary player that I've never let anything. He has to accept that that's how it's going to be unless he changes it, and he doesn't seem to be willing to change it.
I think ultimately he doesn't care.
Yeah, I was gonna say, I think ultimately at the end of things, yes, that might bother him right here in the moment, or if he sees it on the timeline, right. I think it's good.
It does bother him because he is one of my favorite just petty people like on Twitter, like I just love like some of the things he responds to and gets mad about. I'm just like, God, bless you, sir. You must have the worst digestion in the world if you pay attention to every negative thing people say say about you.
But feel like the thing with Kobe and like Barkley, I think they totally underscore the fact that, man, you've got to be aware of your legacy. Toby was aware of it, and Kobe said, I'm changing this storyline to that one. I'm no longer here. You know that I'm a champion. Barkley never put the investment, Like Jordan always said, Dude, you didn't put the investment. He didn't invest the time into changing the narrative of being a champion. Yeah, you
just played basketball and I have a difference. And Barker's got to hear it every night, chet every night, every night.
All right, rapid fire, let me stretch fast, fastest segment of podcasting. We're just looking for your immediate thought. We're just going to try and keep this one moving. No hesies on this one, Jabari, you want to take first? You want me to take first?
Now you go first?
You all right, deal this choice? Okay?
Ken? First question, rapid fire. Is there a single NBA player you would take right now over the chance of taking Quemba Yama with the first pick the summer?
Yeah?
I think Aaron Bock all.
Day, all right, all right.
He said it for folks. He said it with a straight face. He's looking at me, mean mugging right now at the fact that at the fact that I'm saying stop it. But alight, if that's where we're going, I'm not.
Mad at it's a generational player, okay, all right, Hey.
They say a lot of things.
Ben Simmons was a generational player. Oh yes, in fact, did I say no?
I was just saying, well, but in fairness, I was a Ben Simmons guy. So I can't, like, I can't, you know, walk away sideways now simply because he's down a little bit. He's still coming back. He's still going to have that fantastic career. Just you know, I do that, all right, all right, but you know what, we've messed up because this is the fastest segment in podcasting, and you know we've been daily deadly, So keeping it going.
Second question, what is your favorite NBA city to visit and what's your must have meal in that town?
Wow, NBA city to visit? I had to say it, it's Los Angeles. There you go, unfortunately, just because LA does everything. Now the meal that I would have if I'm in LA, it's street tacos. Baby, Yes, I'm all about tacos.
Yes, let me get it right outside of I was gonna say Staples, but yeah, we're still gonna call it right outside of Staples. Let me get a you know, a street taco, one of those Sonorian dogs, bacon wrap hot dogs. We are good to go.
What are those? They're not Sonorian hot dogs?
Well, in here in Arizona, they're called Sognoran dogs because they were they originated here, according to Arizona's.
Okay, all right, is Jalen Ros's hair too good to be true?
Yes? Okay, everything about that brother is like too good to be true. It's career and he's still on television. All that stuff is.
Too good to be true. I got you, all right, Keeping it going. You can go back and attend any game in NBA history. Which game are you choosing? Outside of Game four two thousand and two, right, come.
Out there with a boodoo doll. I would have to say, Wow, I'm gonna go. Believe it or not. Game seven Lakers and Celtics, the year that Kobe and Ron archest beats of Celtic twenty ten. I would have loved to have been at that because Kobe was pulling down rebounds, doing all this different stuff. That would have been a really intense game, and you knew Kobe needed to have it that night.
I feel like that that game took two years off of my life and then gave me a year after the FED. So I'm right there with you. By the way, Jack, that was another series that Doc lost the three. He was up three to two in that series and then lost.
But I'm sorry, Ke going yeah, all right, finally Jack or Jabari?
What Jabari he's talking about? Although Jack, I gotta give it to you, man, You're pretty awesome. Hey, I like thank you so much, controlled and everything. I like that very much. Thank We go back from radio radio like five six years ago.
Personally I would have gone with Jack, but I appreciate it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know what I would have too, Ken, So thanks very much. All right, that is this week's episode of Matt Boosties Kem. Where can people find you? Follow you all that good stuff.
I'm on the every single morning Monday through Friday on FanDuel TV. For fandel TV is a brand new sports betting network that was just rebranded from the old TVG network. TVD did only horse racing all day long, so now we're FanDuel TV. We do ever hang, ever, ever hang So I get to start in the morning, I bet horse racing, and I transition into setting the lines for basketball and transition into setting lines for baseball football. We
have football shows with Kay Adams from NFL Network. We have basketball shows with Michelle Beetle and Shams and Eddie Gonzalez and Chandler Carsons. They're all part of the crew. I'll running back so it with all these original programs, and I'm on every single morning Monday through Friday, one o'clock twelve o'clock, just getting started on FanDuel TV. I just happened to be part of the rebranding and getting everything going to this new general, this new direction to sports betty.
Nice man, I'll even give you a cat Williams reference in his.
Answer, I don't Williams. That's my dude. Every day, I sink.
Ever love it all right, Jabari, where can people find you?
I'm simple, Jabari Davis NBA or you know Mad Boosties. You know, hassling people trying to get you and get you to interact. Make sure you guys follow us on Twitter at mad Boosties.
Yeah, yeah, what about you can find me on Twitter? Jack Underscore O Brian. That's gonna do it for us this week.
We'll be back.
We'll know more next week. I will, you know, be wearing all black and just and I make up like an Emo kid. If the if the Sixers or you know, down three to Oho or down two to oh to the Celtic, We'll see all right, Thanks guys, bye, go Sixers, Go Lakers.
That's right, Go they go. Thanks, K A N G. S GZ. Excuse me, yep, h mm hmmm
Mm hmmmmmm