EPISODE 18: March in #thisleague is also madness

He had a bigger name on the other line. So that means Stein goes back to the end of the queue, as we would say in England, and uh, he had to take are you at Liberty to share with us who you were speaking to? Think it would be okay because the story would be out in the morning already, so the news would have already dropped. But I had reached out to Jalen Brunson, who's having an incredible year

with the New York Knicks. They're doing really good things out there at fifth seed in Eastern Conference standards and Jayalen playing playing at the All star level. But I reached out to him earlier in the day about you know, giving me some time, can he call me at some point in the next few days. And I didn't hear nothing anything Stein And so he actually texts me at halftime of the Knicks Magic game, and so like he was like, hey, Chris, my bad. I'm just seeing your text. Hey,

what'll we call you after the game. We're a halftime right now. I'm like halftime, I said, bro Kiah hit me upat there. I said, get back in the game. Man, don't worry about this. He said, no, I'm not playing tonight, so it's all good. He said, So I'll call you. I'll call you after the game. And so he ended up calling in my bad styne because usually year the one that always has something to do right before we go on and hold us up. So this time it

was mine. I wish it was because of NBA All Stars or near all stars calling me for interviews, but that's usually it's usually because I messed up somehow, not because I have not because I have a Yeah, I couldn't tell I understand, I understand, but I couldn't tell Jayleen. Hey, you know what, man, let's do it tomorrow. I'm wait after the pod. So now so it's we'll have a story. It'll be it's on Bleacher Report as a right now, y'all can check it out. Yeah, it'll be interesting to

see if that story. Does that story come out before this pod, we'll see. It'll be a race. Well, we'll see. We'll see which comes out first. But put me down as jealous, like everyone in Dallas, I missed Jayto he has he has some Dallas comments, so yeah, yeah, peep it out. Yeah, no, I mean he is. He has definitely missed. He was just great to watch and great to cover. The guy gets better every single year and

just an absolute pro. So it's been you know, I thought he was stepping in, really stepping into a pressure cooker situation where you know, all the microscope was going to be on him, and he is just zoomed past all expectations yet again for a former second round pick. Just one of the season's better stories. The Knicks and

Jalen Brunson two of the season's better story. So, as we are recording this on a Wednesday night, very important game taking place as we speak, the Clippers playing their first game since Paul George went down with that really really hard to watch knee injury. Thankfully, it appears to be one of those knee sprains that just looks stomach turning when you factor in the injury history that Paul George already has from the Team USA disaster from almost

a decade ago. Now, just just terrible to see that, and then you know, thankfully, it looks like it's not as severe as it looked, but there's still a great deal of uncertainty. The Clippers have basically said that Paul George is essentially out for the rest of the regular season. It's going to be two to three weeks before he's reevaluated. That's realistically going to consume the rest of the regular season.

So a Clipper team that had won five of six and was starting to trend in the right direction is now most likely going to have to survive the rest of the regular season at least and see if they can preserve their top six status without Paul George. I tweeted the stat earlier on Wednesday night. They are twenty four and fourteen with both of their stars in uniform four and two, with Kauai only entering this Wednesday night

game with Okase. You'll know the result by the time this drops in the morning, eight and ten with PG only two and nine with both fout. We've got injury news with the Lakers as well. But I know the Clippers are a team you are around a lot. I know you know PG pretty well. I mean, I've had trouble figuring out what I mean. We've been waiting. I mean, we've been waiting for years. Are they ever gonna have their whole team? And yet again we're saying they're not.

And I mean, the thing is that it seemed like this type of situation is going around the league a lot. You know, there's a lot of teams, Lakers right there, Phoenix, Suns right there as well, dealing with injuries and New Orleans, Dallas,

New Orleans guys. It's happened a lot, and it's unfortunate because for the Clippers, from their perspective, been waiting for a while, and they get it, got out, the guys back, and Tylu finally has the pieces where he can try to mix and match and try to assemble the right type of rotation and start line up together. And they're kind of like they're rolling a little bit going into the postseason, which is the right time to be rolling.

And then this happens Stein. Were you there in Vegas that year Paul George had that catastrophe moment and listen, I feel I still feel guilty about how this went down because that was in the midst of I got to cover three straight Team USA runs for ESPN, the twenty twelve Olympics in London, twenty fourteen Worlds in Spain, and the twenty sixteen Olympics in Rio, and I always say those are probably the three best assignments of my career.

Brazil was tough. Brazil. The workload was crazy because I was doing writing and TV the first time I really had to do well. I mean I really had to do both at at at a heavy level. And the security issues in Brazil. I was really looking forward to go into Brazil because it's a country i'd never been. And I know, you beat me there, you went there, you went there with the Yeah, I was really looking

forward to going. And because of the security situation and the workload and just the way, like I really, I saw very little of Brazil. They didn't want us going anywhere but but London. You know how much I love England, so to be to basically have my own apartment in London for a month was off the charts. And then honestly, twenty fourteen, I was with Team USA for thirty five days,

most of it in Spain and just incredible assignment. So in advance of that, I actually said I better take a between free agency and that I'm like, I better take a break. And so Ramona and Windy covered that game, and that was such a scary situation with Paul George. I think Ramona was doing like live hits from the

hospital before the sun came up. I mean it was like they I felt so bad that, you know, they stepped in for me thinking, oh, it's just the Team USA scrimmage, and they ended up working round the clock because I mean, not Paul George. I mean, we don't. We don't need to go back because everybody who saw

it remembers how ghastly it was. And knock on Wood, thank god that he bounced back from that and got past it and has had the career he's had, because man, that was just seeing it on TV was bad enough. I can't even imagine being there and trying to cover that. That was my I want to say that that matter of fact, that was my first year of covering Team USA that summer before they went off to I believe.

I believe they were going off to play a couple of exhibitions in Chicago or New York or something like that, and that I was there and I've seen a bunch of gruesome I can't say a bunch, but a few gruesome leg injuries, but that was the only one that I've seen in person actually being off that was tough. Um. But yes, definitely you see in the replay of of his latest injury, it definitely, you know, jobs your mind

back to to that that point. But thankfully it's nothing seriously, And I was able to talk to some members of the Clippers before we got on and they think that he'll be back for the playoffs. Oh really, they yeah, they think he has a chance to be back for

the playoffs. They're they're optimistic, I should say, And that would be amazing, because again, it just it would that's those injuries though, like and look like believe me, I'm no doctor, but I but I had, like you do, see those nie brains that sometimes they just look so bad and then knock on wood, they turn out to be not as severe as they look in the momentum, not a whole lot of injuries that that we seem

able to say that. But but you know, let's hope, man, I mean, I you know, I don't know where the Clippers are gonna end up. I mean, I think Kauai's off to a seven for seven start from the field and this game that's gone on while we're on, So they're still going to be quite formidable if Kawhi can play these last nine games and they you know, they have a deep team, one of the deepest really, so they should still be able to get into the playoffs. But yeah, think this this. You know, I still keep

saying it about the West. You know this, the injuries are not everything. The West should not be as mid if I can use that word again as it's been, like, the record shouldn't be this average, in this mediocre. But I mean the injuries, I mean, really, Sacramento's success has been fueled in a lot by the fact that they've

mostly avoided it. You know, They've they've lost Kevin Hurder here recently, really in their in their top rotation, they haven't had to deal with They've they've largely stayed healthy and just everywhere else you look, you know, Phoenix might have to go into the playoffs with Durant playing maybe less than five games. The Lakers, Lebron and a d have both missed significant time. Dallas cannot get Luca and Kyrie Irving on the court together. New Orleans hasn't seen

Zion Williamson since January second. Just on and on and on, And you don't think an argument can be made that the reason the wins are down in the Western Conference is due primarily to injuries. It's undoubtedly a factor, but I still say that the clump of teams in the five hundred range is still abnormal. And look, something else we always see we not always something else. We also see frequently in the NBA are teams that lose a key player and still find a way to put wins together.

So I just I cannot believe that when you look at the standings that again, from from four through you know, I think the Blazers have pretty much removed them you know, they're they're removing themselves from this conversation. So from four to twelve that you know, we still have that it's still still so compact. It's to me, it's just it's not all injuries. Injuries one hundred percent are a significant factor.

But it ain't all injuries, I understand. But those teams that you're talking about that at five hundred, Pelicans significant injuries, Lakers, significant injuries, Dallas Mavericks, they've dealt with their their share. Minnesota yes, significant injuries, Golden State yes, significant injuries, Clippers yes, Phoenix yes. Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Chris paul Is. Sometimes Sacramento is the only team like you mentioned, so nobody can rise above it. I mean, remember last year, here's

a classic example. Last year Memphis went twenty and five without job. That's what I'm saying, Like, you know what, shouldn't we have seen one or two of these teams. You know, Phoenix got themselves in a big hole with the way they were playing before, you know, long before the Durant trade. So again, I den Booker was out, no question Bookers, I mean, Bookers missed a zillion games. I mean, I just think, I just I just think

it's this is such an anomaly. It just is so strange that everybody is in this clump together that because I think that's that's a question that's kind of gone on all season. Will we see this again? Is this the new normal? I do not think this is the new normal, Like this is this is just so abnormal.

Oh here's another one. Okay, Golden State. No question, they've had injuries, stepsmissed twenty six games, but that doesn't account for you know, what are they what are they on the road nine and twenty nine now and they were seven and twenty nine before winning the last two. I mean the Warriors, the Warriors trade the Warriors playoff hallmark has been the fact that they've won an NBA record, They've won a road game in a league record twenty

seven consecutive series. Like they're they've they've always been great on the road, and this year, going into the Dallas game the other night, they were twenty eighth in the league in defense in road games and tied for third in defense in home games. So again, it's not all injuries. There's some there's some suspect play in the mix as well for somebody. I mean, because look, I look at the Lakers now they're I mean, they're they're winning games

without Lebron. I mean they've now that they've made all these moves since the deadline. I mean that's saying you can. You're supposed to be able to weather one injury absence for a little bit of time when you're a good team. But hey, it's just one man's theory. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe maybe it's all injuries and I'm just a doomsayer.

Now you're supposed to. But if you look at the the teams that are thriving in the Western Conference, they've relatively been healthy all year long and right now and right now, nobody's really nobody's thriving in the West. I mean Memphis, given everything they've gone through with the Josh suspension and now getting him back, I mean, they've they've actually been They had a terrible, a terrible wobble early, you know, before the All Star break, but they've they've

they've really been good here lately. And they've it's not just Job. I mean they've they've lost Brandon Clark for the year and they have no Steven Adams, so they they've the Grizzlies have actually shown a lot of toughness here and very quietly have a thirty one and five record at home. So I mean, what about the Lakers. There were multiple reports, including from one Sea Haynes of Turner Sports about there's there's some hope in Laker Land that Lebron might come back for the last few games

of the season. And to be very clear, those reports followed an official bulletin from the Lakers about how Lebron has been cleared for more on court activity. Lebron, though, followed that up with his own update. There wasn't an evaluation today and there hasn't been any target for my return. I'm just working around the clock every day, three times a day, to give myself the best chance of coming back full strength whenever that is God bless y'all sources.

I speak for myself. So there it is from NA shuts, not at you. That was just everybody else, everybody else. Yeah, I don't like I said. I don't know why he was so mad because the initial bulletin, again came direct from the Lakers. The Lakers told their beat writers before that Lebron tweet Lebron James has begun on court activity and gradual basketball movement progression. There is no specific timeline for his return. Further updates will be provided as appropriate.

So I guess he probably didn't love the He wants to play in the last few games. But man, is that I mean, but then he had let me see, he said there wasn't an evaluation today and there hasn't been a target date for my return. Who who reported or said anything about an evaluation. I'm assuming he's talking about what the Lakers put out and probably assumed that everyone was reporting that an evaluation took place, which led to the Lakers releasing their update. I don't know. I

don't know King James is controlling the message. He's letting it be known. You're going to hear it first and foremost from him and f y'all sources. That's what he's saying. Look, I mean, I would I don't think it seems like a grand leap to assume that he would want to play in the last couple of games. He surely doesn't want to just have to come back in the playoffs with no semblance of Rampa. But I mean, look, the Pelicans won't go away, the Jazz won't go away. I mean,

the Lakers still have to secure a playing spot. I don't think they're going to move up into the top six without Lebron, even if he is able to come back for one of those last couple But Lakers play April fifth against the Clippers. That's at Staples. Then obviously at Staples. Yeah, I'm gonna call it Staples. It's at Staples. And then then they got home games to finish the season on the seventh and the ninth. So the Lakers

last three games are in LA. I think whether or not, no matter what was said and tweeted today, I think we're all kind of going to be looking at that to see if, if, if Lebron is able to make a comeback. By then, Braun said, I speak for myself. That's how he entered it. I started texting, like, what's what's you're talking about? Broun, What's what's on your mind? I started text him. I'm like, Naali Belone, I say that for down the road. Um, will you see the

Lakers anytime soon? I scheduled to see them anytime soon right now. My next game is Golden State Golden State in New Orleans in San Francisco this coming up Tuesday. Nice, So I expect we'll get some Zion Williamson details from you. Perhaps. Oh that's another thing, right, that's man? It do you if you had if you were if you, I what did your gut tell you, Stein? Does your gut tell you Stein that Zion is out for the rest of

the season? I mean, yes, if I was forced to make a choice, I can't like because again, that too is it's the same thing as like the ramp up, you know, I mean, what kind of ramp up is he gonna be able to have? If you know, I think same thing. They said they were going to evaluate him in two more weeks, so he's he's only going to have a couple more a couple of games before the end of the regular season to just run out there.

But you know, the Pelicant, you know, Willie Green and the Pelicans have been adamant that no decision has been made yet and the door is still open for him to potentially to return at the end of the season. But it's just been so long since we've seen him that and you think about what what details are ramp up?

You know, you have to you definitely have to take into consideration Zion's injury history and is a ramp up at the later part of the season when you're talking about the end of the regular season when games matter, or even potentially a play in does that make sense, And teams aren't even practicing at this point. They're not they're not they're not practicing. These are high stakes games

where they're going at it hard. Can you put Zion into a playing game, can't you know, for his first couple of games, if he if he, if he's able to come back at that time, it's it's just not a good like if this was anybody else, Yeah, like Lebron is going to go through it, But Zion hasn't played in a minute, and his history, his injury history, tells you that you gotta be cautious with the guy, and you gotta take all precautions. And so I don't see them. I can't see it. I don't know. I

don't have any intil I just can't see it. And so I kind of agree with you with it. But that's why it's a good thing that we'll be putting you on the on the this League uncut private jet and having you attend that game, attend your first game back after the NCAA's is a Pelicans game, so we can dispatch you to get some answers. I was definitely asked for some answers. I don't I don't know if I'll get them, but I'll ask kind of some unfair

pressure on put I'll ask not the first time. You know what people always ask me, like what do you miss about not being at ESPN? And I'm all always going to give the same, the same two answers. I loved ESPN Radio, even though I have a face for radio and a voice for print. As one tweeter once told me, I loved radio is one of my favorite Radio is probably tied with writing is my favorite medium.

I absolutely loved working for ESPN Radio. But the other thing is ESPN had an armada of research studs, just stupendous research people who would just give me nugget after nugget after nugget. I mean helped me. So you know, to have to have the might of ESPN stats and info to back me up assembling the power rankings for fifteen years. And this week, one of my former colleagues from ESPN Research, Micah Adams, who is now a managing editor at The Sporting News, but he was he was

an ace researcher for ESPN. We worked together. He had an incredible stat this week. Did you realize that Lebron and KD. Now, Katie's been on multiple teams in this stretch. But Wednesday night, when the Lakers beat the Suns, it was the seventeenth straight game between Lebron's team and Kd's team that they did not play. Wow, they have not played each other in nearly fifteen hundred and fifty days. Those gems courtesy of Mica Adams. Fifteen hundred days. It's

similar to KD hasn't played in Golden State since he's left. Yeah, it's we need to get these guys back on the court, all of them, Katie, Lebron, Zion, Kyrie, who else? All these Who am I leaving out in the West. I'm sure I'm leaving people out all right. Style. You mentioned what you miss about ESPN? What do you not? This was? That was that on the list? Go ahead, don't you brought it up? Go ahead, don't open the door if you ain't prepared to walk down that. I did not.

I did not think I was opening the door to that question. That has to be a whole pod in its own, like that's that's like a summertime That's like a summertime pod when we when we're not in the middle. That's like in August when we're you know, free agencies over. We're not in the middle of the season, like we can't everybody. We might need, we might need hours for that one. I tried everybody. Well, I mean, I figured you would want to I mean much more newsy than that.

I figured you would want to talk about the game I was at last night with uh, you know, Dallas and Golden State and the Mavericks are again going to lodge a protest. The Mavericks are the last team to lodge a protest in the NBA. In the nineteen twenty season, they protested a loss to Atlanta. They lost. Mark Cuban was subsequently fined five hundred thousand dollars, which I had forgotten about. Did you were you? Did you see what

happened in Dallas? Because I don't know if it was any I don't know if it was any I hope it was clear watching on TV, because I'm gonna tell you I was. I had moved in the second half from my usual press row spot. I had moved into the stands to speak with someone, and so being in the stands when all that was going on, it was super confusing to try to figure out what happened. So no,

I mean that I've seen on TV. Just like everybody else, you have a different, more grander perspective, So tell us talk, talk us through that. Well, look, they're not going to win the protest, but there are you know, I think, and I think deep down they know they're not going to win the protests because NBA protests are not one. I mean again, I think Matt Williams from ESPN Research, to name check ESPN Research again, I think he assembled a piece this week that lists there's only like five

or six successful protests in NBA history. The last successful one was in two thousand and seven eight, but before that, there wasn't a successful protest since nineteen eighty two. It's really hard to win these. And look, I do think the Mavericks have some elements of a case in their favor. There's audio of Jason Kidd telling one of the officials, you told us it was our ball. The MAVs thought it was their ball. And for all the confusion about where the MAVs were on the court and all the

criticism they're getting about they were out of position. They lost track of where the game was. They didn't know which end they were supposed to be on. One of

the three refs, Michael Smith, he was also confused. He was down where the Mavericks were, so there was sufficient chaos on the floor that what should have happened One of the other two refs should have realized that the Mavericks and one of his colleagues were completely discombobulated by what was happening over whose ball it was, which end the ball was being inbounded from. There should have been a stoppage of play to get everybody in order and

restore order to the situation. Instead, they decided to hand the ball to the Warriors to inbound the ball with no Mavericks in the vicinity, and Jordan Poole got to pass to Cavan Looney for an uncontested five on nil layup. But the other reality is there was more than thirteen minutes left in the game when this happened, and the league is inevitable is inevitably going to say that those two points, no matter how errant they may have been, did not change the outcome of the game, and that

the Mavericks had enough time to come back. So ultimately, I don't foresee this protest succeeding. Because remember the way NBA protests work. If the NBA were to grant this protest and say that the Mavericks protest is successful, the Warriors would have to be flown back to Dallas to replay the game from that point. So at some point here before the end of the season, the Warriors would have to play the Mavericks the last one fifty plus of the third quarter and the whole fourth quarter all

over again. That ain't happening. It's just not happening. The Warriors are. The Warriors ain't coming back to Dallas. Although it's it is crazy when you think that that game would get quite a bit of attention if it if it did happen, but it's it's sure, it's not that's that's not happening from that Yeah, replaying a game or restarting the game at that point, flying all that, you know. That just the question I have if if the Mavericks would have lost by four, six, eight ten on a

mass foul on the protest, I don't think so. And the reason I say that is because Mark Cuban. It's like during the game and after in the in the in the at one at the first stoppage. After this chaos, Mark Cuban went all the way to the ESPN broadcast team, which was near where I was sitting at that point, to try to find out what they knew, and he told Jeff Van Gundi, who was calling the game with Dave Pass, he said, if we lose by two, we're protesting.

But yeah, I think if it was more, If it was more, then they really wouldn't have had a case. But it you know, Reggie Bullock makes a late three to cut it, you know, a meaningless three that cuts into two at the buzzer, and now for the for the yeah, for the for the fee of ten thousand dollars, the MAVs are going to lodge this protest and this thing will be in the news until at least next week.

And because that's how long it's gonna you know, teams can take five six days to basically make their case, or it takes at least five six days for a case like this to be resolved, and you know it's gonna go, Yeah, it's it's it's most likely going to go into next week. And so it just keeps a spotlight on, you know, yet another example of team dismay with refereeing this year, which is certain by no means. You know, this is not the only time it's happened.

I think we all remember Fred van Vleet in Toronto just absolutely going off on Ben Taylor. Recently, we saw Monty Williams, you know, pounding the table in frustration at his postgame press conference after the Sun's lost to the Lakers forty six to twenty free throw disparity, and Monty basically went up, you know, went off on the officiating and and and that was that was the totality of the press conference. That's not not something we often see

from him. So there's a lot of I mean, there's a lot of a lot of tension going around these days. And I think the tight standings is a factor too. That just it's so bunched up for everybody in every single game matters right now, which is that's something the NBA obviously does want, and that's something that's one reason why they love the plane is because it keeps so many teams in that hunt for a top ten spot and you get the kind of late season standings watching

that we used to not get in the NBA. The foul talent complaint is always a little it could be comical because sometimes the reason I say that, and this has to do with money Williams and this complaint. But a lot of times you'll see coaches complaining about the disparity and foul calls free throw you know, players get into the free throw line, and the simple solution would be to actually get to the paint, you know, be physical,

get into the basket. You know, you'll see a lot of coaches, you know, if there's a huge foul to spare there, they'll complain about it. But if you look at it, that team might have just shot nothing but jump shots where you're not getting all those fouls compared to a team like say Milwaukee, team like the Lakers, where you got Jannis or you got Lebron. That's gonna always put pressure on the defense. Get into the basket, posting up, you know, just attacking and you got to

foul a big guy like that. Opposed to being a jump shooting team, you're not going to get that call. And so I get why, So I get why coaches do that. They want to a lot of times when they're complaining publicly like that, and they're gonna take that fine.

They're trying to set it up for the next game, trying to get in the referees head and and it would be a different referee cru but these referee CRUs they study the previous games on what was the narrative or what was talked about in that game, and they want to change it because they don't want to be part of that narrative or that storyline. So it does

have a mental approach to it. But you know, a lot of a lot of it a lot, you know, nine times out of ten, you know, it's it's really you can really look at a number of jump shots the team and shooting and you can kind of tell, Okay, why such and such team is getting to a line a little bit more in that game. But you know, it's cool. That's that's that's the play. That's how that's how coaches, that's how they that's how they do that play those mind games. That's that's always been the case.

You travel more than I do because of the nature of your job being a sideline reporter for Turner, and you're just you are just on the road much more than me. I mean, obviously I live in Dallas, so I just from where I live, I hear plenty of of of reviews of the officiating. Let's politely say, I mean it feels league wide though that like frustrations. There's a lot of tension right now between players, teams and the rests. I mean, are you are you feeling it?

Are you sensing it when you're out there? Yeah? There is. I had a conversation, man, I wish I could say his player's name. I had a conversation with a star player and he was talking about, um, this certain ref just how disrespectful um this ref? Well, actually it was this. It was the it was the ref crew of that whatever the game that was. And he was just basically saying,

you know, just how they're not held accountable. You know how they'll they'll say something that's disrespectful, and you know, they'll respond back saying, hey, I'm a man, you can't talk to me about that, or they'll cuts back at them, and then they get the text and they're the ones that have to live with public scorn of being reprimanded and they feel like the officials get off. But I let me say, man, there's a there's a ton of

officials that I love out there. You know, ten officials that I consider to be really good friends, and it's a thankless job. And I do think the overwhelming majority they're trying to get it right. This is a really hard sport to officiate. But yeah, that accountability thing, I mean that I think the public wants to see more of what of how they're judged and you know, what happens when there's disciplined, and the league has always been

fiercely protective of that. They don't want us to know when referees get disciplined or what kind of discipline they face, And so I think, yeah, I mean I think players too are that kind of complaints has been more frequent this season. Why is that? I don't know. Yeah, I really don't know, Like I don't know why why it seemed like it's resta boiling point this year. I couldn't call you got it? You know, And I this is

such a complex subject. It's I probably shouldn't even have tried to throw it in here at the end, because that's things like this is my thirtieth season, Like there's been complaining about the referees for all thirty of those seasons. Like if it was I guess I haven't heard what the fixes. Who's gonna train, Like, who's gonna If it was easy to fix, somebody would have done it by now.

It's just it's just not that easy to repair. And you know, I'm sure, I'm sure if if refs could speak freely, I'm sure several would say, well, you don't know what the stuff they say to us. So, m okay, so I don't know. Since we're on the we're on referees. Let me see. The day passed already. Damn the day pass So there is a let me see my guy. But James Williams, referee number sixty, veteran ref, really one

of the best rests we have in the league. I was supposed to put this out a week ago and I'm looking back at it and I'm like, damn, I missed it. So he started a it looked like it's a website called ref Masters, and it's a it's a site that's supposed to help fans understand what refs are looking at like at certain points of the game, is trying to it's a it's a site to try to educate fans on what to look for, why certain calls are being made. H So this is This is all

started by James, my brother James William. So y'all go to Instagram at ref Masters and check him out. He gives let me say, he did a Q and A on March eleventh that I missed, So sorry James this We're already in mark March twenty three. But go to that site. Check him out. He's doing really good things, trying to educate the fans on official interesting stun. I got a question, and of course I'm coming from leftfield.

I promise you I'm going somewhere with this. But who is the next player Portland Trail Blazers player that you think will have his jersey retired by the Blazers? Man, I do not know the Blazers as inside and out as you, and I'm guessing you're not asking me. You're not asking this about Dame, who's certainly years away from retirement at this point. So obviously, no, I thought you.

I thought you would say Dame. This isn't because he's probablyological, Yeah, I mean da, I mean Dame's a layup that you know, I guess from the era previous. I mean, would Brandon Roy be a contender because you know, obviously injury, tortured, but he had some some really high highs as a Blazer. I don't know. You know again, I'm saying that totally as a guess. I don't have a super I don't have my finger on the pulse of the Blazer like you do. I'm guessing. So I bring this up for

a reason. But the only and no disrespect to I'm not talking about Brandon Roy, not talking about la Marcus Aldreds. I'm actually going I'm actually going to Era before that and LaMarcus what has a case based off of how the Portland Troublers that have done things in the past. When it comes to retiring jerseys, Portland is not like the Lakers or the Celtics. Lakers and Celtics have Hall

of Famers. It is no disrespect to these players, but most of the players jerseys that's retired by the Blazers, these players were on that seventy seventeam that won the NBA championship. It's the Portland Troublers only championship, and so there's not a lot of you know, you gotten trying to think the Hall of famers on that that's retiring for the Blazers. Clyde Drexler, Bill Walton, I think that is it. Do you have a listen front doctor Jack,

doctor Jack Wickcamp. But but yeah, like, look like you're saying, I didn't even I didn't even realize this. Lloyd Neil's number thirty six is retired by the Portland Trailblazers. Member of that team, Bob Gross a more well known member of that team, but his number thirty also retired. And Bob Gross only average nine point two points a game, but obviously his role on that championship team makes him a Blazer's legend. But yes, I see your point here.

So when I stopped so when I started covering the league, I'm just being honest. I'm twenty eight at the time, twenty seven or whatever. I'm looking up at the Raptors and I don't I'm like, who are these guys like that? That's just it's just it's just different. It's not like I said, it's not Lakers, it's not the self things. They do things differently, but based off of how they've done things in the past. I'm sharing a story here. So I was very close with Jerome Kersey and I've

never shared the story before. But I was very close with Jerome Kersey and he kind of took me in, like him and Michael Holton who steered there with the Blazers, and Antonio Harvey used to be the radio guy with the Blazers. Those guys like really took me under my wing to try to show me the ropes on just you know, how to navigate road life with a family and everything, and just telling me all the stories back back in the day playing in the eighties and nineties, man,

and they're just encyclopedia, man. So I just loved being around him. But Jerome told me that the Blazers had let him know that they had intentions of retiring his jersey, and I said, man, I remember telling him back back in the day, So this is I think he probably told me this as early as twenty eleven. And at that time, Jerome worked as an ambassador for the team. So it's one of those roles where you go out in the community represent the you know, represent the team.

So he did he did that, fourth he did that for a good amount of years, and so he was always looking forward to having his jersey lifted up there in the Raptors. And again, no disrespect to you know a lot of those players. But he's looking at some of those players up there, a lot of than what on Jerome Kurtsey's level, and people you gotta look up. Jerome k Kirsty was a dog. He's a dog. Played

with Drexler and Porter. He you know, he didn't get to stand out um like other players did on other teams, but he was a dog. He was probably the heart a lot of people were calling from the heart and soul of those Portland Trail Blazer teams that went to the finals and battled against Michael Jordan's So two Thy fourteen happens. Twenty fourteen comes around, and this is we're right, We're right. We're about to get right into the twenty fourteen two Thy fifteen season. And Jerome calls me and

tells me, hey, the Blazers are signing Steve Blake. And I'm like, okay, cool, you know, Steve Blake is coming back. He's a fan favorite in Portland. And I'm like, okay, that's quest a nice pick up, nice backup to dame. He was like, he's they're giving him number twenty five. And again I'm not, you know, it's still not registering to me like, he was like, that's my number, man. I was like, oh, he was like, they still ain't put me like he was hurt. He was hurt. This

is twenty fourteen, two fifteen season. He was hurt that they gave Blake his number number twenty five and basically saying that there's no plans to no immediate plans to retire his jersey. So that was in the fall of two thousand and fourth team. Jerome passed due to a blood clot about five months later and never got to see it. Now, I don't know. The Blazers have changed, change regimes in the front office and the business side

since then. I never knew who it was that promised Jerome that it was in the plans to retire his jersey. But I've always felt that him being one of the guys that was a heart and soul of that team in the nineties with Terry Porter and Clyde Director, which those two both have their numbers up there, I felt

like it was deserving. I felt like he I felt like he was deserving to have his number up there, especially if he was told so, and especially if you look at the guys that are up there right now, and so that that was a very I've never I never talked about that. I've never shared that story about you know, when Steve Blake came around, and how Jerome felt when they gave him his number. Um, I wish I wish they would. I wish he would have got a chance to see it, and not just see it,

because they still haven't done it. So you know, I would like to see the Blazers do that. I would like to one thing about Jerome. That guy don't lie. He gonna keep it straight up. So I believe him when he told me somebody high, a high ranking official with the Blazers told him they planned to to retire his jersey. So I hope they do that for his family, for his kids, even though he can't see it, you know, I you know, I want them to. I want them to do right by them. I think I think he

deserves it consider the campaign started. That was a beautiful tribute. I got to actually cover him, not in his Blazer days, and you know you said it. I mean, he was an integral part of those two Blazer teams that went to the finals and had to deal with with Michael. Um. I got to cover him, not only in San Antonio when he was part of a championship team when the Spurs won their first title, but when my last year in LA as a beat writer, he was on the Lakers.

It was the Shack and Kobe year. And man, Del I can still hear you know, Del Harris has a very very you know, the twang of Dell's voice is if you've covered him, it's very noticeable. And I can I can still hear Dell talking about JK. I mean, I can still, I can just hear it. Um. He was a beloved guy on that Laker team and someone

that Del Harris really really leaned on. Um just just a solid vet late late in his career, that kind of you know, kind of like a you know, nobody's really like Udonis has them in terms of his oneness with the heat. But you know, you always you want guy you know, you want a Haslem or an Igodala on your team. You want those you know, those vets. Jared Dudley was, you know, he filled that role on the Lakers title team in the bubble, like you you need those guys who've been around and seen it all.

And so that's that's the that's the Jerome Kersey that I got to cover late in his career with both the Lakers and the Spurs, so I was not as close to him as you. But let's consider this the start of the campaign. No doubt, man number of If you're wrong, rest in peace, brother. All Right, everyone that

does it for another edition of this league uncut. Chris and I will be back Monday, which is right in the midst of a stretch of great importance in terms of the regular season, in terms of the MVP race, a stretch that people have really been looking forward to. Saturday, Nicola, Yokich and Denver supposed to face Janis until the Koompa Milwaukee. Monday is supposed to be Denver Philly, which means Yoki versus MB and Bead's been dealing with a calf issue

this week. Hopefully he is passed it and able to give it a full go on Monday, and then shortly after that Philly plays Milwaukee. So we've got three interesting head to head matchups in this MVP race. Shirley, we'll be getting into that next week and whatever chaos awaits us this weekend, everybody have a great weekend, and please, please please rate, review, subscribe Chris and I'll be back with you very very soon, and that'll do it for us.

See you next time. This league uncut is and iHeartRadio production, Christine and Mark Steyne. It didn't matter.