MJGMB #70: Life After Marcus with Josh Gondelman

Well, well, well, gotta start off the show with the three Wells. Then you know it's time for our annual off season boost these team breakdowns.

Uh and you know what is that what we're doing?

I mean, okay, yeah, we guys, we're focusing on two teams that we never talk about on this podcast.

Well, at the very.

Least, we're gonna focus on one team with a fan of the team, and I think we can put that in a.

Breakdown column because we do want to.

Talk about the state of the bottoms with comedian, writer and EP Josh Gondleman.

On today's episode. I'm filed Ray and.

I'm Jack O'Brien and this is.

One days.

Driving spinning.

Curry, a three corner stop curry from downtown again. Be honest, look out, shoot time what you go?

Yes, all right, Gondleman, the God is joining US Celtics fan from the Massachusetts Boston, Massachusetts. There from the Boston area, Connecticut, Yeah, Providence. Yeah, I'm from Bangor, Maine, but shut up, bang Yo. I'll play hockey there a few times. But anyway, Yeah, Josh, thanks so much for joining us. Man, like Jack and are huge fans of yours, but like We've never reached out until we started in the basketball podcast.

So it's really great to have you on.

Man, thank you so much for having me. I'm really psyched to do it. I was so thrilled to be asked.

I love to.

I'm psyched to talk with you guys, and I love to talk to generally, so like, let's yeah, I love to and I'm I feel like it always gets contentious because I'm from the Boston area, so people automatically are like, I'm predisposed to hate whatever I have to say, so I'm like always kind of have like, right, my my guard up.

Yeah, just a Celtics Josh, Yeah, I was. I was a fan of yours. I was rooting for you.

We were all rooting for you.

We thought you were a Knicks fan for some reason. Yeah, in New.

York, I hung this up in your honor, you know what I mean, Like New York Knicks Jersey. So you know, now I have to put this one up just to kind of bring it back.

That hurts. No, no, no, my bad, my bad, It's all wo I love it.

I mean I grew up probably like eight nine miles out of Boston and grew up a Celtics fan in kind of the Twilight of Larry, Like I knew that Larry Bird was great, but not from any evidence of watching him play basketball during my lifetime, right because because I was born just early enough to watch the like backbrace years and just late enough to fully miss the excellence. And they weren't like YouTube compilations you go into. You just said to like listen to old men.

Tell you about how good he used to be, right, or there's like weird VHS tapes that like had your team's just because I'm kind of the same way with like the Showtime Lakers, Like I was born in eighty four, so my life basketball consciousness doesn't really fully developed TI about nineteen ninety and that's yeah, born thing. And I was like, and I was like, man, Larry, I'm like, how come Larry Bird not playing again in this game?

That was the question I always asked myself as a kid. I'm like, isn't he good? I thought he was on the Dream Team. But yeah, totally, I totally feel that.

And you get those those vhs.

Those are so great, the high VHS is and you man similar to like best of Phil Hartman snl hs.

Right, Yeah, right, best of Michael Jordans.

Yeah, two Tom Petty songs for some reason, for real, for real, I had so I had so many Michael Jordan's just highlight tapes. And then dazzling dunks and basketball bloopers was another one of my favorites.

Yeah, we're huge.

Yeah, VHS bloopers were like the family friendly faces of Death.

Yeah, truly where it's like because I remember like there was one like I loved bloopers.

Like I think maybe that's like your first entry point where you've like on a ven diagram. You're like, you like sports and comedy, therefore you love bloopers totally.

Someone just front rim of dunk and fall on the back.

Yeah, you're like laughing, You're like, no, he actually he had a lot of herniated discs.

I'm like, I'm how Larry Bird got hurt?

Yeah yeah right, So tell us like a little bit, what's your evolution? So you said you kind of missed the Larry the peak Larry years, and then from there were you in and out of basketball you were just always focused on that.

I was mostly pretty in I was like a kind of across the board New England sports fan, and I think as as I've grown up, it's like mostly Celtics. Now, I like check in on the Red Sox, but it's I'm not I don't pay for the baseball one whatever.

It is identical baseball games a year, but.

You are required once you pay for it, you are required to watch every game.

Yeah, every single.

Is my personality where I'm like, if I'm not watching, not extracting the maximum value, I have like a real capitalist attitude towards my gott to get them all in.

It's so I'll check in with that.

My my dad and my sister a big Bruins fans too, so I like keep current on that. But the Patriots, like NFL stuff has kind of fallen away as it is clear that it's more of a moral hazard.

Yeah.

Yeah, it was like the teams were pretty bad through my youth, I mean basically across the board. But the Celtics were pretty bad and then started ticked up a little bit. Had some playoff runs in the early aughts when I was in high school. That was pretty fun. Uh, the Paul Pierce Antoine Walker years.

Yeah, that was my dad. My dad was a coach of those teams. Wait, Jim, Jim O'Brien, Oh yeah, oh yeah, of.

Course those are some fun years.

Of course we have the same.

How can I I've forgotten I know it had something to do with you, Jack.

In high school, I did.

I played basketball until I played JV sophomore year and that was even that was like a mercy non cut by the coach and got more into like high school theater. But this is like exactly my vibe in high school. I was in Fiddler on the Roof in junior my junior year in high school, and I think it was Celtics either Celtics six ers or Celtics nets in the playoffs, and people didn't have smartphones, so that people in the intermission couldn't find out the score. But I could because

This day, I'm trying.

You have a convention, right, yeah?

Yeah, And and I played, so I played I married one of the daughters whatever they one of the characters comes into my like tailor shop and it's like, do you have my.

Vest mussel the tailor and I went, I was supposed to just be like uh huh and then give it to them big huh and you know, but instead I went, I like kind of cheated up to the audience and went the shamrock green One and Wow.

And my dad was an audience like, nice to see what I was doing.

Nice son killing it up there killing it up.

He's doing he's like sports center and green One.

Yeah. Wow.

That was a wordsmith at a young age.

They beat the Sixers Detroit and then lost to the nets.

They could not get past the nets.

It might have been it wasn't a se is when though I don't think it was.

It was definitely nets are sixers.

But yeah, green One, Yeah, allow yourself, just a real torp.

What's what's it like being in New York? You know, like because I know you know New York Boston sports they say, no, it is that one building actually over a hundred hundreds.

On the top. Yeah, you see these things.

Just everything's open late now it's I've always grown up.

Red Sox Yankees is a rivalry that people care about a lot in Boston, and then in some parts of New York they care, but not everywhere.

Yeah yeah, But do you find yourself like, because I feel like Nick's culture is I'm born and raised in Los Angeles, but always had like one toe in New York, like my whole life.

Whether that's because of hip hop.

Because of the midst of hip hop, really that's all that was like the entryway to meeting Like I love New York and.

Cheese, hip hop chop cheese.

Obviously the stairways exactly, you know, smoking law and optimos, but like the whole thing, Like, I just feel like that Nick's fan culture is really intoxicating. And I imagine someone who works in New York with New Yorkers and things like that, does any did any of that rub off on you? You kind of like you sort of see that, You're like, that's fine for you, But I'm.

No, I enjoy it like as an ambiance, right, like I enjoy when the Knicks are good.

It's like fun that people are in a good mood.

It's also there's no I don't think there's any fan base in sports that that rings more out of less than the next Like people were like.

This is our year.

Yea, It's like yeah, five seed and that's baby, and it's so it's like really fun just because the Knicks fans. It's such a New York thing, where like any Knicks thing is the greatest thing going, even if it's kind of middle of the road, or even if.

It's like still emerging or on the decline.

And they'll and New Yorkers like I will say this at this point because it makes sense for context.

But and it's a show that no longer exists.

But I worked for Jesus and Marrow for their their run on Showtime, and they're such big Knicks fans and whenever they would be they beat the Celtics game one of last season and they were just like talking cash and I was like, come on, I was like, this is this is like the high point of your season though, and they want a playoff series and you know they it's they're they're they're a fun team.

But it is a fun on Beyonce, just in the city.

Where people are like the Knicks, baby, we're back. What does back mean to you?

Just in the in the playoffs.

I remember that series against Atlanta like two years ago, all the side talk videos that were coming out of outside MSG were I've never you thought they won the chip the way that entered's like Spider Man was out there break dancing with Hennessy and I was like this is great, like yeah, I.

Love it so much fun. And then they just got uh they lost.

In the first round people, and then they immediately they go Nicks fans go zero to sixty and then they go sixty to negative sixty immediately.

Yeah, they're just like yeah.

Like Julius, if Julius Randall.

Misses another three pointer, I'll kill myself on Instagram.

Line to say take it in, God, make it in.

You're like right, really take me now. Yeah, I'm ready. I'm ready to beat Yamah.

I'm ready to see you.

I thought I was ready when Patrick Ewing left, but now I'm really ready.

I'm really ready.

Brunton is probably the player I'm most jealous, so, like, I just I feel like I have just an unwavering confidence that he's gonna like do something great for that team. For some reason, he just like is so such a winning player. Wherever he goes, he just like finds a way, And I don't know, I feel like they get the right piece around him that I know people are gonna say, like Embiid and I am now a Philly fan.

Josh uh and he yeah, well we'll get to it.

But yeah, I feel I feel like they have a chance at a title in the next ten years because of brunsome for some reason.

I think that, like it's it's weird to feel like he's the first, like he's the cornerstone because you need like buds in plus guy better than Brunson. But it's also like that guy is so important too, right, Like if it was if it was Jalen Brunson and joe El Embiid on the Sixers instead of James Harden, You're like, oh, maybe they get that done. You know, maybe they maybe

So I'm all in on.

The Liberty this summer. That's my whole thing. But it but I do like appreciate the Knicks. It doesn't feel I don't mean this in an insulting way to Nick Dans. It doesn't feel like a rivalry because the Celtics and Knicks are like never peaking at the same.

Time the same time.

Yeah, we're like Philly Boston is much more of a rivalry or La Boston is like the historic one tile right right obviously are you Are you.

Rocking like the Rebecca Lobul throwback like at the Liberty Games.

Yeah, I.

Like I haven't pulled the trigger on merch yet, but it is. I think it's next time I go to Barclays. I think it's happening.

Yeah, in a throwback though, too, Like, let be so good I'm about this, like I'm not just rocking, like I'm I didn't just pop the tags off this thing.

I've been here.

Yeah, I'm gonna try to find one.

So briefly, just like your thoughts on the Celtics off season, smart is gone good.

Yeah, Oh I feel so bad.

It's I was in Oklahoma City touring for stand up because the trade came in really late and I had finished my show and I had a drink with a friend and went back to the hotel and saw that they trade.

Him, and I was just like alone in Oklahoma.

Like, who's up that I can text because I'm bad place.

Just down the street be like you got a good one? Yeah?

Yeah, shouting into Tennessee. Yeah, I feel bad.

I don't think it's a good I don't think it's a good off season. I think Grant Williams was like an he he was finding his way mostly out of the rotation. It's like it seemed like he and Joe Missoula didn't see how to eye on some.

They're going big Missoula. I feel like they're like, all right, these are the two guys who Joe didn't like. I thought they were gonna maybe go in the opposite direction and be like, all right, we got to find a new coach. But they are tripling down. I would seem like on thee because the.

Double down was they gave him that long contract right around All Star break.

Yeah, and it was like a four year extension or something, and took away the interim coaching title. I I don't for me the jerry is still out on him as a coach. But I don't love this like personnel philosophy, which seems to be driven by like what he's looking for. I've heard smarter people than I have said that. And uh and so I'm a little I'm nervous because I loved Marcus Smart, huge Marcus Smart fan like Grant Williams a ton and and I'm a I'm a christebs porzingis skeptic.

I feel like you don't think he exists.

Yes, I don't think he exists. I'm a skeptic.

People.

I feel like.

I've seen grainy video of Chris steps Perzingis. That was just a guy in a Kris steps Porzingis costume.

Yeah, exactly, exactly.

Walking with those in the background.

It's not actually waving in the way.

Come on, this is the soundstage people, That's just that's just Mike Muscala.

I know you said the jury is still out on Joe Mizula as a coach.

What about Joe Mosula as a comedian? Oh what do you think as a guy? Yeah, what's what's your take on?

Because like whenever we're we scratched our heads those first couple of press conferences were like is he messing with.

Us or funny?

He's like, he seems like.

A fascinating guy.

He just like the first I don't know if this made it like made it out of containment of like Celtic Twitter, but people straight up were calling him Bazooka Joe for the first half of the season because he just had gum in his mouth and was chewing it like with John Wick intensity for like the first half of the season, and someone must have been like, man, you can't do that anymore.

People. Your eyes are like bugging out.

People think you're keeping up or something right right right, And he like got a was a jiu jitsu coach like that, he that came to some of the games and they did like five segments on him during some.

Playoff and oh, that's Joe Missoula's jiu jitsu coaches. Why do we know this?

Right?

So he just feels like kind of an eccentric guy who is like so even weirdly even keeled in press conferences. Yeah, very I'm like riveted by the Joe Missoula the person experience.

He took that big swing with the only royal family He's ever heard of is Jesus married Joseph?

Yeah, that was a huge swing, Like, are not a good bit?

It's like ever, no one's ever called them the Royal family.

No, it doesn't make sense.

It just like doesn't track.

Yeah, oh man, but what a swing. He was like, get ready, get ready, folks.

That it was chamber, but the confidence is what really threw us.

We're like, no, that that's a joke or that's he's deeply serious Christian like because it's like that.

That doesn't mean anything.

Right right right?

Yeah?

I did love that the whole team was so disrespectful to the Royal family.

Yeah.

I think there was some other comments like oh I didn't know they were there, like nagging the whole royal which I conserves it.

Oh were they? Did they know all the rules of our handgame?

Between Smart and Grant Williams? Though, who you think you're gonna be missing more Smart?

For sure?

I think what a cool question for you know, I just like, hey, Grant Williams confidence though against the heat.

I meant that was almost superhero life, shid.

I just you know to this season where he just like talking about big swings. He was so getting Jimmy Butler's face, which is so funny and so inadvisable.

And then the like.

Maybe the goofiest loss of the season was he had to hit one free throw to win a game against the Calves, and he looked at Donovan Mitchell and was like, I'm gonna make these both, and then he missed both and they lost it over time. He looked in the eyes and like said it to him and then just missed so much one they still would have won, and he would have gone like, all right, we still got the double.

Oh my god.

Then had to do ray after I don't care, got to make both, like two, I don't break them, break them, miles y, I'm not.

Gonna break them.

I said I was gonna miss both.

He misunderstood me.

Watch me miss both?

Yea, oh man, all right, I'm assuming Jalen Brown like they figured that out the everybody.

Yeah, all the rumors are like, it's just down to like a couple of details here and there.

Yeah, but it's and.

I think it's it's tough for someone to walk like he would have to not want to be there so badly that he would turn down more money than anyone else could possibly give him, and and everyone knows you just you take the contract and then you're like, oh, actually I also don't want it.

Also, I don't want to be here. Yeah, you guys that.

When I signed it, I would like three hundred million dollars.

Yeah, yeah, you know, here's what I like.

It's pretty normal though, right to get that max and then be like, yeah, now get me out of here.

It's becoming normal.

Yeah.

I don't want to do the old guy thing of like what if what is a contract between a rich old man and a young person of color?

Mean?

These days?

Yeah, exactly, I find that many. Yeah, you're going to give me that time, right.

Yeah, I'd as much as I like him and would like him, do you want.

To become It's just it's just becoming part and parcel of the business, you know, more than anything.

You owe me. Yeah, all right, let's take a quick break. We'll come back.

Well, I will try and push past the Sixers news as much as I possibly can, and we'll talk about other teams. We'll be right back, and we're back and Joel and Bea says it's focused on warning. A title in Philly or else directly mentioned the idea of playing somewhere else. You know, Celtics fans already asking could we get him?

Yeah, that's that's come up in a group chat.

Alright, weird.

Oh yeah, Celtics Reddit was the second happened. I went to look at Celtics Reddit.

I call Jack. I'm like, they're rubbing their mits over there. They're like, yeah, this this could work, this could work.

And Jason and Tatum seemed to get along. It's like all these.

Like they work out in the off season together that I saw that being pointed to.

It does It does have the same feel as like when Durant couldn't get past Golden State and then like that was the team that had given him the most trouble to that point in his career and then he just went when he left, he went to that team.

That that would make a sort of sense to me.

I would have to quit this show and watching the NBA just for for like a five seasons, and then I'd come back to come back.

Okay.

Joel Embiid as a Celtic like not not saying there's any likelihood of this happening.

He would just be so villainous to the rest.

Of the league.

Yeah, he already likes to be a villain and and like just playing for the Celtics.

People are like, it would really be Wow, what a big three if embiid with the two wings like that would that would be hard to stop?

I think, yeah, I mean I see why you would be thinking of it as a fan, because that's that looks that looks like a little bit all right.

Yeah, that would be And I'm normally like I didn't when when the Durant rumors are happening, I was like, I don't want to hear about this. This isn't It just felt like wrong, and that that Nets team, that Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Kevin Durant Nets team just felt so cursed.

But really any part.

Now there seems to be something with the like teams that are like artificially put together as like a big three where they just like don't catch the same breaks as teams that are like built through the draft do or so something, because like that that just seems to be who's winning of late. It's like the team the drafts the great player like finds the finds, Yannis finds, Jokic finds you know, Steph Curry.

Yeah, So I mean You're like, mercenary squad would have to be so deep for it to work, like you see it work in other sports, and you're like, oh, this is a bunch of mercenaries.

Yeah, but yeah, it's a little bit hard of a basketball for sure.

Yeah. And I don't like that.

I feel like there's been so much like salary cap talk with the new CBA this this off season, and.

I hate that.

I get I don't care about it, especially because it's like you can trade for a guy and go way over, but you can't sign a guy and go it. And it's like, oh, but then the owner would have to pay all this money, And I'm like, pay the money.

Yeah, don't care. What is money to him?

Yeah, don't make me feel bad. I don't.

I'll never feel bad for someone who owns a professional sports team having to pay forty million dollars in tax to the other rich guys in the.

Weekue, right, right, right.

It is funny like how sports fans immediately act like it's their money, you know.

Like, oh, we can't do that, not for that, not for that, not for that. Well do you want to win?

Because if the people in the front office doing they don't care then, like I said, they'll figure it out financially, but yeah.

If it was my because it's also like it doesn't go the other way where they're never like because I'm like, oh I can't.

If I were like they can't spend this money, they'll go into the tax.

But it's never like I never have to think about what a reasonable amount is from my point of view, because if I had to pay whatever Robert Williams the third salary, you'd get paid like a babysitter hourly.

About one hour, or you a pizza.

Right, Oh, can I get a cell phone at least pre pre pay phone.

Yeah, it's a mid mobile. The hourly rate is only for playing time. Unfortunately it's not for my game.

But I could only work for forty eight minutes by that logic. Yeah, but I will drop them off at home after the game.

So it sounds like you get played for every six or every five full quarters. Right, Well, we figured it out. We figured it out, yea.

But yeah, that that is I think ultimately the thing that makes the conversations like the people who are like I'm a wizard with a trade machine, and like I you know, I know all these details about like what we can afford it just ultimately at the end is like or they could pay more where they could just like not play it by those rules and pay more money than you're assuming they want to pay. And yeah, then we're just talking about like a billionaire's appetite for risk, which that meends.

That's my I would say, almost across the board, is my note, Just pay the money, like I don't care.

I don't care, Like, well it's eighty million, I don't care.

Right, Yeah, are you kidding? I mean that kind? Yeah, I don't up don't care.

Okay, I'm sorry, I don't I can't even conceive a million dollars, right, you know what I mean?

So what yeah, fine, six, okay, sure, Like no, one's not gonna lie.

Aye, all the same, all the same meaninglessness to me. And it's all and if it were coming out of like you know, the stadium, stuff is worse where because it comes out in taxes. But like we're not Kevin Durant's are getting paid out of the taxes of the people of friends.

Kids aren't losing school lunches.

And Tucson or like in somewhere to stay in your side because because of KD right exactly.

Going to the Sorry, we're going from an old Beta Max cassette about the Soviet Union.

That's our CIVIX classes.

Yeah, because we had to.

We had to create a big three over here for the because we can't.

We got to get rid of eight and once we do, we'll turn the A C on here in this school.

Okay, that's the deal. There's so many potholes. Every time you go over a pothole, you're just like Bradley B.

What about Harden? Do you want to do? You want to talk about Jimmy hard and Jackie how.

James James Hardens.

Yeah, he seems like he might be coming back because I think the seventy six ers value him as a superstar and that seems to be deemed unrealistic by other teams in the league.

Who's that talking?

Yeah, I don't think they're going to find what they're looking for. And it seems like after the White Party that we were all at together and bed Maxy, Harden and I, it does seem like everyone's cool enough to at least like play on.

The same team.

That being said, these are never James Harden's like huge leap forward seasons. The ones after he's like asked out. You know, it's usually the season where he like comes out of shape. So that that's just I'm just trying to.

Read the tea leaves here. I don't really care at this point, like I've I don't know, am I a Sixers fan?

You know?

The depends on what the definition of is is. I'm does it bring me joy?

I don't know. Does it certainly know something to me on a very potent cellular level.

Does it by a lot of my mental energy?

Of sure? Yeah, of course it does.

Was there talk of him wanting to reunite with Russ at the Clippers too? Like that's like a I know that's something that I was heard at all.

He's got a lot of Once he was open to a lot of possibilities and it seemed like the Sixers weren't one of them, and now it seems like it might be. So anyways, Uh, summer League is what's keeping me happy just watching you know, Jabari Smith Junior, Cante George whose name I didn't really know heading into the Summer League.

So Danny Ainge apparently good at this.

Uh drafted George who put up thirty three points ten assists, in one game.

That's just gonna be a name we have to know now, can't he George? He looks good.

The Jazz look like they're like rounding into being way better than anyone could have expected at this point.

Yeah.

Yeah, that is a twist.

That really is.

How how did they do this? It's bizarre.

But the thing is, I think they were like kind of good last year and it's I don't know, maybe they'll be a lot better, Like they have some good young players, but it might just.

Be like remember that season that was nice, right, Yeah, we really put the pressure on that year.

Yeah, they really faded at the end, right, They were just kind of they they packed it up early.

And then Cam Whitmore is I mean, I don't expect anything from the Jazz, but you know, nobody did last year. We'll see Cam Whitmore is the other one that jumped out rockets, you know.

Yeah.

This is like a genre of player where it's like based on interviews or like some character thing that they perceived like a player slides and it's.

A huge mistake.

I feel like every time, like the Paul Pierce getting to the Celtics, Paul George getting to the Pacers, were both examples like people have talked about like Baine went too late, Max, he went too late. I feel like Kentucky Wildcat perimeter players always go too late. But Cam Whitmore drafted twentieth Like that was the story on draft night, was like why did nobody take him? Like he seemed good Summer League, he was balling.

I think he won. Like MVP of the Summer League put up twenty six points, had eight steals in one game. That's that's so many fields, that's so many steels.

Wow, wow, eight single digits.

Okay, yeah, I mean it's yeah, triple double with steels, but whatever, pretty cool.

Those are like my favorite stat lines too.

Yeah, so it starts like approaching ten blocks and I'm just like, oh from.

What Yeah, so strange.

So I don't know those are now on the rookie radar.

I feel like people that I'm going to be league passing right on a regular basis. Utah, be league passing, Utah.

I mean, why not?

You know, it's fun to look at fun to fun to keep an eye on that evolution if there is an evolution, yeah, but I think there is.

I'm heavy on the West Coast teams for League pass because that's when I when it's not Celtics. For me, it's like late at night, my wife has gone to sleep and I'm watching game like the last games that are just on. So it's whoever's playing late on the West Coast, which is I mean, obviously it has not quite the coast, but I like that. So I see an inordinate amount, Like I imagine I'm gonna be watching a lot of Scoot this year.

Yeah, Scoots Scoots in there. I feel like, do you feel like you're going to watch a lot of Spurs games? Like I feel like anytime he's playing, I'm gonna want to watch for Wemby.

Yeah, why of course?

I mean, yeah, we don't.

We got this.

We had the privilege of seeing his very first game, which wasn't the best, when he had at Summer League. But even then I was like I just found myself barely saying anything, just looking at him, being like, wow.

He's so big. Yeah.

Buildings of New York, I'm not sure, oh wow, full wema.

Wow the building must be seven feet five Wow. They say it's only seven to three. That's like when a building doesn't have a thirteenth floor, but really it does.

Yeah.

Okay, well, how about this, Let's take a quick break and we'll come right back to get maybe some bold predictions from our guest before we enter the rapid fur round of questioning.

We'll take a break, right yeah, oh Josh.

And we are back, and you know, since we got a season coming up, we will like to have our guests, you know, put their foot down and really make a bold make some bold predictions that we can revisit at the end of the season.

Just based on what little information we have.

Uh and I think you know, Josh Gondolman, we would love to hear some of your boldest predictions.

We're talking like like go for it. We're talking big swings like we were just talking about.

Okay, So first up, broadly, what is your absolute boldest prediction for the upcoming NBA season?

Oh?

Okay, boldest prediction is the two part bold prediction. Okay, Luca MVP, but the MAVs are like in the play in.

Oh wow, Okay, yeah, okay, I have to put it on his back. Okay.

Now, next one, which team or teams will have the biggest increase in wins over last year?

Go bold?

Oh biggest increase you know I'm gonna say I I like, haven't looked at the numbers, which makes this bold because it's stupid.

But I think Pacers.

Okay, I think that's Yeahcers look interesting.

Yeah, I feel like I don't know. Even though Metherin was not looking great in the Summer League, I think I think they're going to be great.

And he didn't close strong last year, but I feel like I feel like he's a player. He'll figure it out. And yeah, thirty five wins last year. M M, well year, Yeah, the Pacers double. I talked to my U, one of my two Pacers fan friends this weekend, and he's like, too hype coming out of Summer League.

Yeah, yeah, I'm a home Grin fan. I'm very excited.

Yeah me too.

Yeah, highlight based. I only watched the highlights of him. Watch the full game.

You're any merchant?

He do's?

His highlights are so fun too. Yeah, he's just doing silly stuff.

My favorite thing about Summer League is like really like the Summer League Championship is.

Like who's worst players are the best worst player? Right?

Yeah? Find out tonight from.

Josh which rookies or rookie do you think has the best chance at beating Wemby to the Rookie of the Year.

Oh, I think if I think Dame's gonna get traded and Scoot is going to put up like wild numbers there.

Okay, I mean I'm going Scoot.

Yeah, yeah, I like that.

Also, which offseason move or moves will actually have the greatest impact.

What's a trade? Everyone's just like, you don't realize this is that's enriched uranium right there.

I think Grant Williams is going to get Dallas up into the play in tournaments.

Okay, superducer Jabbari is big on Dallas's off season.

I was not, but I think their off season was better than their season.

Yeah, which is always what you want.

Yeah, you want to peek.

Well, no one's playing game.

Wait you see what they did off the court.

Should we roll right into rapid fire?

Yeah, Josh podcasting, Yeah, you've wandered into the shooting gall alley shooting out.

Yeah you did it? Yeah, did it again?

Crossfire?

There we go, crossfire, Hurricane.

Josh.

Now this is the fastest segment. Now we're going to ask you a question. You're going to just respond react just chest past from that. Yeah, exactly, don't cloviate, don't expand on your answers and Jack and I start talking, just cut us off, be rude.

Don't even take it out of the holster. And if you shoot yourself on the foot, just don't react.

If you check your teeth, yeah, just beare down, just be like you know, be like plexical and g it out.

Okay.

Now here we go into the club after and you might say, yeah, having something.

To did he like start crying like I would have? Or what what did he do?

Does anybody we have like the do we have the oral history of that evening? But I am curious, and this is a test Josh. You're supposed to keep us moving here.

Yeah, yeah, this is you have it go wrong sport. We're talking about the wrong sport.

Okay, yeah, really let us wander off.

Yeah I know, I know, but here we go, Josh.

Question.

Oh actually, uh, allow me to actually back up a second, right start.

The claw brands not even here, Miles.

Well, he's here in spirit. Oh that's all that matters. You want to go first, ruggle first?

Why don't you go first? Okay, So I don't even know where I am.

All right, I get it, I get it. Joe Biden.

We're all in there, all right, So Josh, we're asking each guest which young bombs will have a breakout season in twenty three twenty four. My guys, we've been tossing around our Tyrese, maxey Al Shangoon, Austin Reeves, Kate Cunningham, who's throwing in the mix.

Looking like you just came down off the mountain, you know, he is looking rough. Jack, This is for you.

I think it's gonna be ty Max. I think it's I think it's the year of Maxie.

What I'd like to hear.

Yeah, we like the year of max. We'd like to Yeah, give show Tyre. So isn't that your kids favorite player?

Yeah?

He loves it.

The only player he knows in any sport. And so if you know baseball is on, he's like, where's Maxie? So yeah, we're working on some things with him.

He learned about all sports from Bo Jackson and Dean Sanders.

He's like, well you should play both of them. Yeah, this is ridiculous years ago.

Yeah, what's the problem.

Yeah, all right, Josh, I.

Have a magic wand you can have any players skill set for a day. Who are you choosing what's giel set or you are you picking from them?

I want I want that Aaron Gordon prime dunk contest dunk ability.

Is this the second Aaron Gordon we've gotten?

I think so it.

Was?

Yeah, Aaron Gordon's perimeter defense defense.

Yeah yeah, they said, just like the gritty perimeter defense and fundamentals.

I just want to for one day to guard across five positions.

In the NBA? What what?

What kind of dunk would you be doing? What are you trying? When you got that kind of list?

I would want to jump. I would want to do one of those jumping over a guy or jumping over a thing.

Yeah?

Yeah, wasn't that a birthday cake one?

Or was that his opponent? I feel like there was one in that dunk? It was him and Zach Lavine, right yeah, and like one of them blew out a birthday cake and it was a cupcake, right yeah? Erald with a candle Yeah oh that was yeah, never ignore me.

Yeah when he blew the candle up.

Where are we at, Josh, Josh, you gotta keep this segment going, you know, let me get up.

There, as my producing skills are rusty. I've been on Star.

Yeah.

Oh here we go, who do you pick in their ultimate peak, Prime Shack or prime Hockey. Oh?

I esthetically I prefer prime Hakeem to watch.

Mm hmm.

That's all. Okay, rapid fire, that's my whole answer.

But why is that?

Is this a trick?

No asking? Just like I've never heard of this player? I like Shack. I'm a Lakers fan. I only know Laker players, So I was like, who's this guy?

I think Shaq was so exciting and dynamic and dominant, but like Hakim played with the level of there was like so much finast to his game and played great defense, which I always give extra points for.

This guy sounds almost made up, Josh, And I'm gonna I'm gonna go ahead, And you made.

Up this guy.

I didn't make it what you said him to me? I don't know.

You gotta keep this segment going, Jos, This ship your miles.

Next question, you can take two players from all of history you create your Mad Boosti's Edition NBA Jam team.

Which two players are you taking?

Oh?

Okay, I'm going from the world of NBA Jam to start. I feel like NBA Jam Sean Kemp is unstoppable and so he's on this team. I'm just keeping him in that world. And then I think it's Steph Curry and Sean Camp.

I think he's Curry, that Curry and a big like a Curry and somebody who could just like chuck you across the court like that. That seemed to be such a great skill that you really needed in there.

I was gonna go with Jeff Horn and Grimace from mcdamm.

Similar. You're thinking the same same thought, Yeah, exactly exactly.

The Grimace is like he's got touch around the basket.

You think so prizing, surprising.

Yeah, they don't run a lot of plays for the Grimace, but he's got that.

They need they need to.

Yeah, they're not seeing what I'm seeing. I guess Okay, how about this you can again? Now you have superpowers, you got a time machine, you got all that Bill and Ted's phone booth. You can place any former Celtics great on next year's roster.

Who are you adding to the mix?

So they need they need like toughness and grit and defense and Mark Smart.

Who which I think they called Bill Russell two point out. Yeah, but I mean I gotta go Bill Russell, Bill Russell team. There's no to them on the defensive end. But yeah, you know what Marcus Smart, Bill Russell number two?

Okay, good, good, good the rank.

He's always been number two behind them. And finally Jack, which is me or Miles that other guy over there.

M h, I have to pick one of the two of you, and I don't. There's no parameters.

The question is Jack or Miles.

Just come John, I said, Josh, don't try and establish dude.

If I have to pick Jack A Miles, I'll kill myself.

Josh Gondleman, Well, pleasure, We'll take that. We'll take that.

Josh, thank you so much for joining us on. Miles and Jack got mad boosties. Where can people you know find you and and check out your stand.

Up all that?

Yeah, I'm across the board on social media at at Josh Gondleman. I've got a newsletter called That's Marvelous.

It's Josh Gondleman dot substack dot com, and I do all my tour datesa and that's them all there. Josh Gondolman dot com is my regular website. It's just my name everywhere, and uh yeah, thank you so much for having me. This was such a blast.

I had a great time great to have you.

Uh and yeah.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter and follow our hashtag hashtag mad Boosti's b double o st I e s.

I'm at miles of grade g R A Y.

I'm mad Jack underscore O'Brien on Twitter only exactly threads. I thought you said you were dippings Jack underscore. Oh underscore, Brian on threat.

Oh yeah, I'm not on threads yet. Is it good over there?

Oh dude, it's so tight, so good, it's so good. Sounds so bad, it's so good.

Fred's bro. No, it's it's weird.

It's like it's like being on Twitter, but it's controlled by like who you followed on Facebook twenty years ago.

It's very strange.

It's just wait, it's sort of like it's one of those things. It's like you got like you you got to a party, but you got there too early. Oh yeah, and you're like with all the early party people.

I liked that showed up college dance that I'd been set up on a blind date with, and we were the first two people at the dance, and then they left for an hour so that we wouldn't be the first people twice.

So I know this pain.

Yeah.

Yeah, in a way, you're kind of like, I mean it's cool, let's crowded, you know, it's like, yeah, it's less hot.

I really like to explore this space in my body.

You need a lot of room, a room and people not to mind getting flecked with sweat because it's going off and only.

The one man circle pit.

All right, Well that's gonna do it for us this week.

Make sure you tune in next week because you know we're going to be back with even more madder, boostier content than ever before.

Talk So bye bye,