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Vincent Goodwill, yahoo's Sports NBA writer, host of the Good Word podcast on y'ah whose sports Ball Don't Live Channel Serious XMNBA host, What the heck happened in Denver yesterday? Vincent?
Before we began, that was the greatest song ever written that you were playing coming out there on the bump. Stevie Wonder's as just put me in a really, really good mood. What happened yesterday? Those that the NBA is very unpredictable, like you've seen more championship coaches fired in the short span than anybody, but this one is particularly
I guess you could say bizarre. You were hearing over the past couple of months that Michael Malone was probably not going to be there after this year bearing something miraculous happening, bearing another championship run, and then after the
y'all start break, it just seemed to accelerate. Like the way that the team had performed the losses had, you know, the defense, and honestly, some of the things that he said in the postgame press conference is kind of alluded to man, maybe he lost his voice with the team
to some degree, and maybe that did happen. The total house cleaning was more shocking to me than Michael Malone, and even the timing of it, because now you don't have a chief basketball executive, you don't have a head coach, and you're walking into arguably maybe the playing tournament, depending on how these next few games shake out. Like, it's a lot of questions for what we consider to be one of the model franchises in the NBA, and we
don't have a lot of answers as yet. I don't know if we're going to get the answers as clear beyond what we've been saying and writing over the past.
They or so any chance Joker wasn't involved in this.
I don't think he ordered the colde Red. I don't think he did the Colonel Jessup ordered the Code red and all that type of stuff. No, I think in the NBA, and you know this, like I know this, sometimes the star player is alerted and they have the opportunity to say, Hey, that's not happening. I'm going to the wall for my guy or whatever. That doesn't seem like Nicola Jokic and his type of personality, he's more or less the type that it seems like to me
from a distance. I don't know him, well, I don't know many people who do. That's more or less like, Okay, that's what you want to do. Okay, fine, Like he's not going to step in front and obscure what an organization wants to do. And besides, he doesn't want to pick his head coach anyway. He just wants, I'm sure to be in a stable situation right now that looks like nothing but stable. Even though from what I understand Dan,
the players do like David Adams. They do, they do have They have reacted positively to him throughout the season since he's been there.
Do you make this move because you think it's going to give your team a little bit of a bump going into the I just I don't know how that works where you go, hey, look what we did. Now go out and try to win.
Yeah, I there's a reason this is I'm presidented because it doesn't hurt, like there's a reason why. You know, the Miami Heat and you know some of the other model franchises they ride these waters out. But some coaches have different personalities too, and some coaches almost like from a certain tree of coaches. Almost they run very, very hot, and Michael Malone ran very hot. And one of the concerns that I knew from the front office and from people in the note was that, hey, is he holding
the top guys accountable? Is he playing those top guys too many minutes? Almost tipsy in right, like Jamal Murray who has an ACL playing the career high minutes, nicolea Jokic career high minutes. The numbers look great, but you run the risk dan of that team wearing down throughout the course of a playoff run. Remember they wore down in the last two games of that playoff run against the Minnesota Timbulls. They had nothing left. Jamal Murray, his
legs were white. Nikola Jokic looked wiped out. And if you're responding by playing those guys career hot minutes, ain't no joke. That's going to happen when you change the coach or when the coach is still there. It's almost like this is going to be another tired run if there is some type of runs. But it's really really bizarre that it happened with three games left in the season. Not bizarre that they fired Yeah.
The problem I had with this team they win the title, I wanted to know they were going to lose bench players. I just don't think they restocked. And I called it malpractice because I said, this team won't win another title with Joker. You have the best player in the game, and I just don't think that you gave him. You know, that's why they're playing these minutes, because maybe Michael Malone didn't have confidence in that bench, and that leads us
to this. Joker had a wonderful year. Murray is hurt. You're limping literally into the postseason. You don't have a coach, and you don't have a GM other than that. How was your season, Nuggets?
How's the play? Missus? Lincoln Like, that's what this sounds like. But I understand this from this standpoint. They signed Michael Porter Junior, the third star, to a max contract under the old paradigm, under the old CBA, where you didn't have punitive luxury tax penalties and fewer mechanisms that you could actually improve your team. Most teams don't have three max salary guys, including a big time max salary guy
in Yokish. No matter how good you are, it is really hard in the financial reality of today's NBA to have three max guys and to build a team around you have to hit on all of your draft picks. You have to have value signings, and they've done that. Actually, like Christian Brown is one of those guys who's the most improved player. Candidate like Calvin Booth actually restocked to
some degree with value young players. Michael Malone didn't trust them, and subsequently, because you didn't trust them, you play your veterans more and you don't have any other resources.
Luca last night getting tossed. Last five years, he leads the NBA in technicals with seventy three. I mean, you're not Draymond Green, You're not Rashid Wallace. Why does he.
Why is he not Raceived Wallace? Why is he not Draymond Hungreen?
Well, because sure he's one of the best players in the game, he shouldn't be Draymond Green and shouldn't be Rashid Wallace. Why is he?
I mean, look, he's a child prodigy. Like I read his book not Shame with Pluck with my mantimic man the wonder Boy, But everything with him strikes out to me like a child prodigy and those child prodigies, they act out a lot. They act out at people around them, they act out at fans. Luka Doncic is a is a chirper. He has ways that he goes about it.
I don't think people love it and like it. Oh no, That's one of the reasons that the Dallas not because they had a litany of reasons why they traded him. I don't know if I would have done it. They had a litany of reasons, and was one of them getting distracted And you don't remember the plays in the NBA Finals. He picked up his fifth file in the fourth quarter of Game three and a play he shouldn't have. He ordered the team to challenge it. It was a
bad play. It was a bad challenge, and then a few minutes later he files out like it's these impulses in the moment. Now, granted, Dan, he was talking to a fan in that moment, but he had already drawn one technical file with that same official, thus eliminating benefit of the doubt. I feel like that's the theme in the NBA for the past couple of weeks with John Morant and now Luka Doncics. Some people don't have benefit of the doubt when you're when you've eliminated a lack
of a good phrase. Goodwill?
Uh?
Speaking of which, Vincent Goodwill? Ya who's sports? NBA writer? Jos's got a new celebration now he tosses the grenade.
Hey, look, man, look if he wants to go full rebel, look he's clearly going full rebel, full villain. And I find it hilarious Dan that the NBA they didn't suspend him, they didn't find him immediately. They told him, Hey, man, just don't do it again. And you want to know why they did that, Dan, Because they don't want to hurt him. They need him as a young face of the future. They just wanted him to stay on the floor a little bit longer, to get people used to
seeing him again without associating him with the nonsense. And what is the first thing that he does. Twelve hours after receiving a warning, he goes out and besidold National TV. You're daring the league. You're daring Adam Silver, the most player progressive commissioner in the history of professional American sports. You're spinning on him. Okay, fine, go ahead, find you seventy five thousand dollars and people are still pissed off about that they didn't suspend them, Like, we have to
be honest about this stuff. If he's gonna go full villain, go full villain, but then don't complain and say that everybody's against you.
This is ridiculous.
As long as he's not driving with one of his buds he's and he's actually got a live grenade, then I'm okay with this. But you're right now, all of a sudden, it's everybody's against Jaw. He didn't realize he created all of this. I don't think people he was a great feel good story, came out of nowhere, and all of a sudden you watch him and you go, damn, this is I mean, he should be one of those guys that we talk about with all of the greades of the game, and we don't. And I hope that
there's somebody who can. They don't have that veteran leadership there. You just fired your coach. I don't know what role he played in that, but you know, you see these guys that they're in the embryonic stages of greatness Zion, and I just don't know. You got a lot of money. You're not you don't need to work for it anymore. And I just wonder if you know that's to the detriment of a lot of these younger players getting fifty million dollars by the time you're twenty five.
It's it's a lot of pressure, it's a lot of expectation. I will say this for Job, I don't think from my reporting for my gathering, he had anything to do with the firing of Taylor Jenkins. Like so I won't put any I won't put that on him, just like I won't put Michael Malone on the Kola Jokic. I will say this man for the NBA, they want their next generation of young players and man Zion Victor Jock
to take the mantle from the old guys. This is the league that depends heavier on stars, So you're going to give star treatment to stars. The model is there. Deth is going to play for twenty years, Lebron's gonna play for twenty years, Kevin Durrant's going to play for twenty years. They got all the money, all the fame. All they have to do is just hey, don't play with guns on Instagram, don't use laser pointers against the Indiana Pacers traveling party and a loading dock. Don't do
dumb stuff. It's not that difficult. Nobody's asking you to be a model citizen. They're just saying, hey, go play basketball. Be enter handing, be electrifying. Just don't make it hard for yourself. Don't be job versus job. This ain't job versus the NBA. You want them to succeed. You want to succeed.
Oh man, what kind of reception will the Mavericks give Luca tonight? What kind of reception should they give him?
What type of reception will the Mavericks fans give the Mavericks tonight. This is going to be a wrong game in Dallas, That's what y'all this is going to be. It's gonna be a lot of Laker purple and gold in this building. I think he's going to, of course get the standing ovations. I'm sure there's going to be a tribute video, you know, given to them by the franchise.
And if like he made five NBA first teams in his first six years, carry them to the NBA Finals in the Western Conference Finals, I think his relationship with the city of Dallas is stolid his relationship with the Dallas Mavericks is a different thing. So I am far more curious how the fans are going to react to the home team looking at the other side and seeing
Anthony Davis and seeing Kyrie Irving. Like, I think it's going to be an electric, sometimes angry atmosphere because they're going to be treated to all the things they missed that Have you ever ran into an ex girlfriend and she looks finer than when she was with you? Have you ever seen that before?
Yeah? The revenge body, Yeah.
The revenge body. You know, Hey, some sometimes guys have revenge bodies. I mean, maybe not Luca, but you know, some people haven't venge bodies.
I'm going to leave you with this. Are we giving the Oklahoma City Thunder enough credit for one of the greatest regular seasons of all time? They have? They have fifty one games where they won by at least ten points at least ten That's the all time record. Previous record was the nineteen seventy one seventy two Lakers, who
won thirty three in a row. Golden State in twenty sixteen twenty seventeen Milwaukee Bucks with Kareem and Oscar seventy seventy one balls with Mike in ninety five and ninety six. Are we giving Okay, I know we're waiting for Well, let's see what happens to the postseason. Uh, that's it, right, yeah?
I mean, for one, double digit wins is a proxy of the three point shot in the importance of it. Like when you talk about Kareings teams and the Lakers teams of the early seventies, they were doing that without the three point shots. So there's a little more I guess you could say equity that you can put into that being translatable to the playoffs. But we're trying to see if this franchise, that this team can finally get
over the hump. And if you look at how they play against the Lakers the last their last two games, you could say, man, wet, we got some doubts here, like what does this team look like without shape gilgis Alexander performing like the MVP? Do you have a second guy that can take advantage of his matchup and create his own shot and make his own shot. I don't know if they're going to run through the Western Conference
playoffs like they ran through the regular season. I wouldn't say I'd be surprised that they get to the finals, but I think there's a lot more competition in this blood back of a Western conference to get to the finals that I'll be impressed if they do so, more impressed than the winning by double digits and the highest net rating in NBA history and all other type of stuff, like they have to prove PUVID right now and the thing is done. Nobody's afraid of them.
Great to talk to. You have fun tonight in Dallas, more Stevie Wonderdan Okay, can't go wrong at you mentioned Goodwill y'all, who's sports NBA writer.
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That's Covino and Rich. Scott Van Pelt anchors ESPN's midnight Sports Center. He's got his own podcast. He does Monday Night Countdown. He's on the road. He'll be calling the Master's Par three contest today. That'll be noon to four Eastern, and then live coverage first and second round of the Masters, a tradition unlike any other. But before we get to that, Scotty we're both nominated our show. You as a host, we're oh for five, you're oh for eight, So outstanding studio Host, oh for eight.
Yeah, that's a lot.
That's a lot of times to sit there until the very end, and it's a long evening, there's no food, the bitterness builds, and then they say Ernie Johnson or Mike Turrico. And there have been years where Ernie's not nominated, and then Mike wins, and then there's years when Mice not nominated and then Ernie wins. And this year, Dan they're both nominated. So we're going to just do the math and just put that nine in the right hand column.
Pal Well, when I was nominated for a studio host, Bob Costas was always there.
That was a tough one. I got nominated against him a couple of times early on.
I didn't.
I just looked at that sort of being like Abilene Christian against Texas. You know, I was probably getting thirty eight and a half on that board.
Well, I always viewed ever I was Patrick Ewing in the Jordan era. I just I wasn't going to win. I was proud of myself and I would try to put up a good fight, but I would. I knew I was going to lose. I just didn't know in how many games.
Here's the win for me. I'm out Augusta National.
I'm going to have lunch with it that there's a member here that I've become friendly with.
And we seem to eat lunch on the.
Day that the nominations come out, and it's become kind of this running joke. He's like, you know you get the do you get the notification? And yesterday I said, you know what I did, And so I'm going to look at it as a win because I ate a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich at Augusta National on a perfectly sunny day at the Masters, Ernie Johnson didn't do that.
Mike or Rico might have.
Actually you share somewhere, but hey, listen, I mean it's it's listen.
We could joke.
And of course, I know you guys want to win, and you should. I hope you do someday because your show has been awesome for a long time. Of course you want to hear your name, but you make the cut. You make the cut. There's a hell of a lot of people to do what we do, so you do have to give yourself a little grace and say that's pretty cool, nice to see your name.
And then you go to New York and then you lose.
Yeah, but I say this to the dan Ms and they haven't won before, but I say it. You just want to be relevant, you want to be nominated, you want to stay in the game, that's all. And we're a little show. We have twelve employees, including me, so you're going against big boys here. But that's why I said, you know what, one of these days, one of these days that before I retire, and I don't want to
get a posthumous sports Emmy Scott. So you know, if you want to accept it for me, but I I'd rather not get one where they go, oh, we feel sorry for him.
He had a good run, and then you get a lifetime achievement.
I don't want that either. I don't want that.
No lifetime, all right, So okay, Akada me take notes, no lifetime.
Yeah, we're gonna break down Scott's chances, all right, Paulie.
Yeah, we're talking to Vegas.
Scotty.
You're well deserving this, of course, needless to say. But you're up against Tarico Kate Scott of CBS, Ernie Johnson and Scott Hanson Scott Hansen's The Wild Car.
New Guy, Little Quad Box, Youre Wiki Hour, Yeah, Fresh Space.
Scott is entering though the Paul Newman Color Money episode, though where we've overlooked him.
This is his turn.
Paul can I, if I may interject years ago, Uh, the COVID year, I believe you had me as a lock because of the work we did on Yes, Uh, that was the one year I got real bitter. There was Yeah, we created content out of nothing, no one else, no one else was doing television, and we still didn't win. And if that wasn't enough, I just that was the one year I think I got better. I was like, well, the hell with it. There's just it's nothing I could do so Color of Money Maybe I don't know.
I don't know.
Scott, we were doing our show every day during COVID.
Just let you thanks.
Yeah, you were you nominated, probably so we lost.
Yeah, did Paul say you were a lock? Because Paul went on your show and.
No, No.
The only time I ever felt angry was when I had a guy who voted and he said, saw your tape, You're going to win. This thing and I go. So I'm there with my wife and god, dang, I I wanted to go Larry Bird where I get up and just put the finger up. I just won, and they get and the winner is and I went to get up. My wife grabs my arm as I get ready to get up, and they go and the winner is Bob Costas. And then I thought, well, I'm almost up. Do I stand and give him it? Because I was kind of
caught in between. That's the only one where I go, You've got to be kidding me, you know.
Yeah, I mean it's you.
We we occupy a tricky's plate, tricky space where you kind of what you're saying is you feel like you deserve to win as well.
That's true. I did. I did, and I feel like we deserve to win this year.
Good, I do say it.
Speaking into new existence, I mean there's nights I'm driving home, I'm like, what other idiots out there doing this by themselves every night at midnight?
Like no one who else is doing this?
But then you're like, you know what, you're doing that because these guys have elevated beyond the need to do that. You're you're just some grinder out there. Keep your head down, keep boarding.
H it's Scott. For fifteen years I was working second shift.
It's again this I relate to you. I know this, I know this. I'm not saying.
I'm not saying my pain's worse than your pain. Dan this We're not doing pain comparison here. Okay, this is interesting, by the way, to just us. No one else bitching about not winning an Emmy.
You know that it's weird. We're talking to the Sports Emmy nominated Scott Van Pelt, who was no chance to winning. The number of people who have called in to complain about Brian Harmon taking forever to hit his shot. Okay, what are you know? Baseball's had a pitch clock forever and then they finally go, oh we got a pitch clock. Let you use it. Golf, you know they can put you on the clock, but you know, do we need a shot clock?
I think I was part of the TGL launched this year, which for those that didn't see the Tomorrow Golf League, Tiger and Rory behind it. It's Sofi Center in Palm Beach Gardens indoor sort of just an enormous simulator.
Was really I thought It was a cool thing. It was fun.
They have a clock, you see it, and the one person that got a violation, I believe there was only one and it was Tiger, Which that's how you know it's real. They're gonna call a violation on him, then it's a real thing. But what you're dealing with is a big, giant clock that you can see that's right there, and when it goes off, there's really nothing to do but say, well, that's a penalty. In golf, it's outdoors.
Do you have a rules official with each group? It's a bit vague, and Harmon is a good dude who I don't know if you've had him on the show, but he's like he's a he's a Georgia guy. He's a huge sports fan, and he knows that it takes too long and he doesn't want to take that long. It's just he's kind of got these ticks that he
is pre shot that he's working through. But the bottom line is, yeah, golf would benefit greatly if there was sort of a clock that we knew when it started and when it hit zero, you get a warning and then you get a penalty. Because the game, the game does take a long time to get moving.
Is there an innovation on the live tour that you could see the PGA Tour eventually adopting.
Taking money from the Saudi front that taking the money, taking the forbidden money.
They said, no, you can't take that money. Wait how much? That's the one.
Yeah, But I mean in terms of just sort of like the shorts and the rock and roll and whatever else not, this not necessarily and that feels hopefully like we're I felt like the roads were gonna we're divergent, and now it feels like they're gonna intersect at some point because you just the game benefits when Ram and Deshambeau and Koepka, et cetera. Are playing with all the other guys on the PGA tour. You know, we see
it this week, which is good. But that's that's the one in the innovation is just figure it out and let's let's get back together.
But they have graphics now, they have too many graphics on the screen.
It's kind of like PTI, but it's a PTI times a billion, right, Like there's the graphic presentation. I get what they're going for, but I'm with you. I think there's there's probably a sweet spot in the middle where it don't need to be that many, but maybe maybe more than when you typically have. I mean, I've done golf for thirty something years.
It's not that long.
Whatever it is, so there's only so much you can do with it, right, It's it's gonna take a while. You could show the wind direction, you could show the slope on the green, but I don't know, I don't know what.
I don't know.
If there's a first down line right like we got in football, people want shot tracer. If they don't see which direction is, I give up? Where's the where's the arrow? On the freaking screen?
Historically? How good is Scottie Scheffler.
Already on the short list because of what he's demonstrated here, that that and his ability to stack monster tournaments.
Does he want to be a superstar? Does he? Or maybe not a superstar? Does he want to be a star?
No?
No, that and that's his That's his secret, sauce Dand I think is that he has maintained a similar humility to before everyone knew his name, and he keeps focusing on doing the same stuff. He's a He's a simple simple sounds like a knock. It's not it's a compliment. He's maintained a simple approach. He's really good at what he's really good at, and that's pretty much everything, and he has no desire to go to seek it, you know.
Now.
I do think that the one thing you got to learn to live with. And I feel like you've seen him get a little bit more prickly with the media this year. I think he just doesn't suffer the nonsense well. And you got to just somehow trick yourself the way Tiger did that. I'm going to be asked a lot of the same stuff, a lot of it's probably going to feel mundane and dumb.
And I've answered this before, but.
You kind of have to just sort of do it again like you haven't done it before.
That'll be the That'll be the interesting thing.
Just learning to live with the day to day requests that come of that guy when you're that guy, when he's looking around, going this isn't that big a deal, you know, But that's that's that's really his secret, sauce. I truly believe that is that he is a superstar without with none of the trappings.
But okay, you're talking about answering the questions over and over. You got Colin more Cowell who says, you know, it's not our obligation to talk to the media. Rory just echoed the same sentence, like, ware, where's this coming from that these guys don't feel I don't want to say indebted, but in partnership with the media covering their sport.
I think Colin explained what happened at bay Hill where he came out and was ready for the questions or ready for the media person to be there, and no one was there, and then he went and signed for the folks that were there, autographs and there, and then by the time the person got there, he's like, look, I was here and I'm done. And I think there's a fine line. I thought a lot about this when it came to Rory last year. I said it, I believe you did as well about about Pinehurst and I
Greg talked after it completely imploded here at Augusta. You remember it, standing in the trees at night down there, and he answered the questions and he smiled and he said the sun will come up tomorrow essentially, And I think I wanted to know in that moment.
What happened.
But then there's a human part of me where I think there's a little grace to be extended here. Like it, You know, if it were the NBA Finals, which you covered so well for so many years, there's that little grace period where they're in the locker room before they're going to come out, and sometimes you gotta wait for Lebron or Michael back in the day for a while.
But if there was that cooling off period where we waited and it wasn't just you've got to go right on NBC and tell us you missed a two foot Putton and you lost the US hoop, And how do you feel like.
You know what I'm saying.
I feel like if there were a little bit of grace, a little bit of a buffer zone which exists in the other sports, that might be beneficial.
Does that make sense at all to you?
You Well, Calvin Sampson waited an hour before he met with the media, I think after losing the national title gap.
And that's based on what happened to his team on Monday night. That feels entirely reasonable to me, because if he were asked to speak walking off the floor, I can't imagine what he could have even uttered. I don't know how you could have gotten a word out after what happened, you know what I'm saying. And I look, we you and I are on the same lane here on the other side of the rope where I'm interested in that human emotion.
That's why I enjoy the show I get to do.
I get to talk to these people in the moments after high achievement, and you get to try to get the the feelings out of them. But I'm talking the winners, you know what I mean.
I don't.
I don't have the person that just lost in gutting fashion on the show, and like, how are you right now?
You have to have that hushed, hushed tone and you.
Got to take that very effective well, I mean, hey, how's it going? You do what you know? I mean? But I really do.
I've thought a lot about this, particularly with Rory, because I think he is often as good as anyone in this sport and giving you the good stuff, And so how do we find the room to give them a little bit of time to allow them to decompress and if they want to go out and slam the truck and say I got nothing for you, we'll catch up down the road. That I mean, that's where I think it's fair to say, you know, if we gave you the space, it wouldn't it wasn't unreasonable to ask where you were.
Who's got more scar tissue? Rory with what happened at Augusta or Jordan's Speith what happened at the twelfth when he lost to Danny Willett that year.
It's different because what Speed has here is the knowledge that he gets to come back until he no longer wishes to because he's won. And what Rory has is the weight of knowing that this wreck, this represents the Holy Grail, this represents the conclusion of the Slam.
So I think there's I think there's more weight on the shoulders of Rory.
I don't think he's I don't think he's got the same Like when you get to twelve in your speed, I don't know how you ever forget what happened in that moment and you could say, well, Rory had the same thing happened on ten wasn't as gory, you know what I mean.
But that's an interesting one.
I just think for Speed, like he's he's unencumbered here of thinking, well, I got to I got to figure out how to win because I want to come back forever. You know, Greg Norman, Dan was gonna win here, had many chances, and then the sand in the hourglass runs out, and that's it. You don't get to come back anymore. And that's the thing about this place is the people that have had their moments have been so close. It's the kind of place you want to come back to forever.
So I think the weight on Rory's shoulders is clearly heavier. I think the damage that was done on twelve. Only Jordan knows that.
Great to talk to you, this is the year we celebrate together. Yeah it's not me. It's come on.
If it's not me, I want to I want it to be you. But really, what I mean is I wanted to be last year. Last year. I mean, you'd probably have to go just tell me to shut up. But Tracy Wilson and I were talking because we were both in the same boat.
I think she was over.
Nine or O for eight, and We're like, I wanted to be you, and then she won and I'm.
Like, oh, that's awesome.
It's Tracy.
And then in my brain I'm like, there's no way we're both going to win, and shit, just did.
So.
I really wanted to.
Be me Dan, not you, Scott Van Pelt. Thank you, Scottie Well.
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Make way for Tim McMahon ESPN NBA Reporter and you can see his or listen to his podcast on The Hoop Collective, the band McMahon in the book The Wonder Boy, Luka Doncik and the Curse of Greatness. Good to see you again, Tim. What kind of reaction do you think Luca gets tonight?
Howdy Dan, It is going to be a surreal night here in Dallas. And look, this is a heartbroken fan base to this day, certainly a lot of anger outrage in the wake of the trade that is starting to kind of turn into apathy. There will be nothing apathetic about the recept that Luca receives. And I this is going to be a fan base that felt the trade, by this trade, that is celebrating six and a half years of spectacular brilliance and mourning that it wasn't.
Much much much longer than that.
And then you know, the Mavericks as an organization, they're in this awkward.
Spot, right. They dumped this dude.
He didn't want out. He was closing on a house, his American forever home in Dallas, lost his earnest money, not that he can't afford it, but you know, this guy was locked in long term to Dallas, couldn't wait to sign the super Max contract. They dumped them in the middle of the night. They pretty much publicly shamed him on the way out. And now they've got to show some appreciation you like these Oh, these are these are classes should should soothe any hard feelings. These are
the shirts on the seats tonight. I don't know how to pronounce that last word. There's you know, versyv. I don't know havala sah to say verse whatever. Thanks for everything in Slovenian should certainly soothe any hard feelings.
It will be.
I don't know how you say appreciated, pale and Slovenian. You know there will be a tribute video play, but like, let's just call it like we see it. This is going to be extraordinarily awkward because the only way that the matters could attempt to justify trading a generational talent as he approaches his prime was to dump on him, was to cite the conditioning concerns, the culture concerns, you know, all those sort of things which mass fans didn't want
to hear. You know, Lucas certainly felt a certain way about it. And then you know, Luca last night said he doesn't know how he's going to react. He's going to be emotional. He's used to be in the enemy and arenas. He's used to kind of thriving off of that energy as we saw last night. He's used to kind of going back and forth with fans on the road. He's not used to an entire arena wrapping rotor you know, wrapping their arms around him and you know, kind of
loving them up. And it'll be very interesting to see how he handles that.
If Mark Cuban was still the majority owner, does this deal happen?
Hell no, no, zero point zero percent chance. Cuban tried to talk Nico Harrison out of it, but Cuban got a i mean at five minute heads up, and there's this, you know, the equivalent of a handshake agreement on the deal. By the time Cuban got a heads up on it, but no when when Cuban lost Juice that made this
trade a remote possibility. And look, man Mark Cuban as the essentially as the general manager of the Mavericks for you know, twenty some odd years, had plenty of personal missteps going When we can go back to Steve Nash, the Porzingis trade ended up being a dud in Dallas. They completely bungled the brunts and situation. You know, I could go on and on. One thing he got right was that Luka Doncic was the guy to take the
torch from Dirk. Luka Doncic was the guy to build around and Cuban's strategy with Luca, you know, to just put a blunt, he was to kiss his butt and make sure he did everything possible to ensure that Luca was happy in Dalla's long term. And I think that's a reasonable strategy with this level of superstar. Luca's not the only superstar on League who gets his butt kissed on a regular basis. But they went from kissing his butt for six years to stabbing him in the back
in year seven rush off of Finals appearance. There's no way that happens if Cuban's still in charge.
You know, you speak about kind of enabling and kissing Luca's butt. You write the book The Wonder Boy The Curse of Greatness. We had Vincent Goodwill from Yahoo's Sports on last hour and he said, because I was asking about this behavior that Luca has, that he has seventy three technicals in the last five years, most of anybody in the NBA. And Vincent said, you know, he's been enabled his entire life, probably hasn't been told no and is used to getting his way. You were around him
writing this book. Can you see any kind of relationship between how he's brought up and how he acts on the court.
I mean, listen, a lot of superstars around the NBA are enabled, and Lucas flaws are as obvious as his talent. There's two main flaws. The conditioning concerns, which honestly is as much about diet as it is conditioning. You know, does the guy enjoy a post game Bruski or two skis? Yes, you know, his his postgame routine and sometimes a summer routine are way too similar to mine, which you can get away with as a sports writer, you can you know,
and but you know what's crazy. I say, I was about to say, you can't get away with it as an NBA superstar, but he he's a five time first team All NBA selection who hasn't had his prime. You know, he's been to the finals. He took another completely different supporting cast of the conference finals. And that's part of it. Is like you could tell them, hey, LOOKI you got to change your approach. Lookie, you got to lay off the rests, you know, like the petulance is not helping you.
But it's hard to say, dude, you've got to really change your ways when this dude was a legitimate MVP candidate before he could legally buy one of those beers in America. I mean, at the age of twenty, he was putting up historically dominant numbers his rookie year.
He arrived and it.
Was like he was an instant star and the ascension was quick, and it's hard to say, hey, what you're doing is not working when yeah, it was, I mean, it was it perfect. You know, could could he have been better? You could argue that, but it's hard to say his way didn't work when his accomplishments at the age of now twenty six stack up with the very best who have ever played in the league.
Jim MCMAHONYESPNNBA reporter covering Luca's return to Dallas, the Lakers and the Man of seven thirty Eastern on the mother Ship, Mike Green, Doris Burke, Richard Jefferson will have the called in Tim's book, The Wonder Boy, Luca and the Curse of Greatness, now available online wherever books are. So we were shocked with Luca. We were shocked with what happened
in Denver. Both are hard to explain. But with Denver at the end of the season, tell me what the logic is to do this right now, to fire your coach and GM.
Yeah, and let's just be straight. Your shocked Luca was traded, period. Yeah, you're shocked that Malone was fired now, yes, with a few games left in the regular season. Like everybody, it was not a secret that there had been more than a cold war, like just you know, pretty much warfare between Michael Malone and Cavin Booth, and the anticipation was
it's gonna be one or the other this summer. Well, Josh Cronkey, you know the face of the Nuggets ownership group basis on now, it's gonna be both of them now.
And what I was told is his explanation internally, you know, as he's meeting with people in the Nuggets organization, was Hey, this was an unsustainable situation and it felt like, you know, the plane was crashing and the co pilots were so busy bickering at each other and making it about themselves, talking about Michael Malone and Calvin Booth that he just needed to, you know, get them both out of the equation.
Now.
Just looking at it from my perspective, with Michael Malone, he's the most successful coaching Nuggets history, wins record, both regular season playoffs a title two years ago.
I would have thought that would.
Have earned him the right to have one last crack at a playoff run to try to save his job, but Josh Croncky decided, no, we need to get these guys out of the mix right now, and in his mind, that's the only way they were going to have a chance to salvage this season and put together a playoff run.
Do you think Luca ends his career in Denver? Luca in Denver? I mean joke. Yeah, sorry, I mean to shock you. Listen, I've been shocked by Luca transactions before Joker. Do you think Joker ends his career in Denver?
You know? So one thing I always try to be careful about is putting words in somebody's mouth or speaking on something that I haven't spoken directly to a person about. So with that clarification, what I would say is everything about Joker is indicated that he's kind of cut from that dirt cloth, you know, that that extreme loyalty. You know, like Dirky does have a championship, so it's not like he maybe will have to chase a ring somewhere else
down the stretch of his career. So my guess would be that, yes, he is a Denver nugget from start to finish his career. But I mean, if that situation melts down in Denver and he looks around and it's you know, and he's playing on a mediocre team, I don't know, and you know what, maybe maybe he just says, to hell with it. I'm gonna go ride some ride my horses in Serbia.
I'll give you ok c or the field in the West.
I still take Oklahoma City and Look, man, the thunder are going to set the NBA record for the best point differential in a season. That's not nothing. Have they done it? Have they made a deep playoff run? Obviously not. But this is a team that gave the Mavericks a
hell of a series last year. The cumutive score in that series was even, by the way dead even so, gave the Mavericks the best fight in the Western Conference, and then got significantly better bringing in Isaiah Hartenstein, bringing in Alix Caruso, two veteran role players Crusoe with championship experience that fit perfectly, and then internally, all their young guys got better, including the guy who's probably going to be the MVP of the league this year, Shay Gilders Alexander, who,
by the way, was spectacular in the playoffs last year. Yeah, this dude is significantly better than it was last year's the as the MVP runner up, Jalen Williams first All Star appearents, you know, learn from a disappointing playoff run. So yes, I would take OKAC against the field in the Western Conference. Having said that, literally, from the one to eight series on, they're going to be facing quality competition. They're going to be in a fight every single playoff.
Series, and that loss by Minnesota last night was mind boggling and costly. How do you I, I know they're a dangerous team, but they're dangerous to themselves as well. Tim no doubt, I don't understand that you blow a lead that big.
Well, and the Timberwolve's biggest flaw by a country mile is they stink at closing games. They're a good comeback team, but protecting the.
Lead, they're awful.
And I think a big part of that is you have a young, ascending star and Anthony Edwards who is very much still learning on the job. A brilliant talent, a guy who you love to have is the foundation piece of your franchise, but twenty three years old, and you know he's not He's not like a Luca or a Lebron or a Joker in the sense of like just has this unbelievable natural feel. You know those guys who like Jimmy Hendricks, they pick up a guitar and they just feel it, they just know how to play it.
Or Anthony Edwards is learning how to read sheet music. And sometimes it's like I don't want to see that crap. And you know his tendency is to lean into hero ball down the stretch games, and a lot of times that lows up in his face, in the timberwolve's face, and that's why there might be a seven seed or an eight seed instead of a two or three.
Good to talk to you always, great good luck with the book. Thanks for joining us, Tim, appreciate you having me. That's Tim McMahon.