Welcome to this League Uncut in the rule of twenty four hour NBA News. This's you love, Chris Haynes. It's so time, work Stein, It's so time. This League Uncut is underway and on fire. This should be a good one.
This is a very good day for our humble little podcast, Mark Stein here with Chris Haynes, this League Uncut, and we have a special guest, a former All Star, a beloved teammate wherever he's been, and a veteran the most important part, Chris Haynes, a veteran of my all lefty team. Yet another left hander makes his way onto the pot. Except the word on the streets, the streets say that our guest is actually a natural righty. I hope you can clear this up because I've always looked at him
as lefty. But he's got that righty floater that does lend credence to what the streets are saying. So we're going to straighten that out as well. Let's do it now with the one and only Mike Conley Junior from the Minnesota Timberwolves. Mister Conley, it is great to see you, great to have you.
On with us.
Hey, Hey, thank you guys, appreciate you'all having me today.
First things first, let's start with, I guess the obvious, the natural question for any Minnesota Timberwolf at this point, how are you guys coping so far life without Cat?
Oh Man, It's definitely definitely tough. You know, we were playing at such a high level and just had a really good rhythm with all our guys healthy and playing together. And to lose a guy like that, you know, it just you feel bad for him all the work he's put in this season to improve himself, and but you also feel back for your team because you want to have every you know, everybody healthy going down the stretch, and we're just you know, trying to make make do
what we what we can. You know, right now, nobody individually can can do what Kat can do, so we kind of do it, you know, together as a unit. And I think the last few nights we've had, you know, some some positives in that direction, Mike.
As you go through this this stretch of the season where guys are trying to get ready for the playoffs, and obviously you would like to have Cat. I don't know if you've seen the report, but I reported it here. And I also reported on T and T about how the Denver Nuggets skip their White House meeting because they they had a white House meeting scheduled today before seeing you guys, and now they're bypassing that because that game against you guys, I believe on March nineteenth is is
so important. That's something they didn't they didn't anticipate when they rescheduled that meeting. So when you hear that, and when you hear teams taking you seriously, like, what what came to mind when you when you heard about that?
Yeah, I think just that you know that, you know, teams look at the schedule and they know when they play the Timberwolves now, and and especially if you're up you know that one through four or five seed, you got so much competition right there that you know, you're always kind of keeping an eye open on who you got and what's coming up and what those games might mean.
And obviously it's gonna mean a lot for them, so it's gonna mean a lot for us, and uh we're excited to, uh, you know, take on that challenge when that you know that day happens and we get there. But I'm sure that you know they're coaching, their players made the decision it's best for them to get ready to play a big game.
Mike, you're obviously one of the leaders of this team and you've seen it all at this point in your NBA career, so you know how this stuff works. And as good as you guys have been during the regular season, people want to see what the Wolves can do in the playoffs and it probably won't be until the postseason until you guys can kind of get your full appreciation and rescispect. How much do you guys as a group
talk about that or acknowledge it in any way? How how real is that for the guys in that locker room.
You know, we don't talk too much too much about it, man, but honestly, uh, I think it's kind of you know, what's understood and need to be explained situation for us. For Hey, we've where a team that is done well so far, you know, early in the season, the latter part of the season. Can we do it in the playoffs? Can we win when it matters? Can we stay healthy
when it matters? Like all them things are gonna you know, dictate people's outlooks on who we are and our legacies are as players and so you know, winning, winning, Trump's everything and hopefully we we uh, you know, we've we've built up enough this year, gone through a lot you know, ups and down, so where we're you know, we're all around in the shape at the right point and and uh be able to answer a lot of people's questions.
Mike, you you've obviously you've you've got young talent that you're around it with and you know, no other emerging young star than Anthony Edwards. So Chris Hines, assistant coach with the timber Wills, told me about just your approach in mentoring Anthony Edwards, and he told me that, you know, you're a player who's had, you know, stages of your career where you were an All Star, you know, a franchise player, and now you're you know, you're you're a starter.
But with what they with the mentorship type of role. And he said, you've been very instrumental in teaching Anthony Edwards how to slow his game down, how to how to think the game. What what obligation do you feel in the success of Anthony Edwards. What do you think you owe it to not only yourself but what do you think you owe it to the next generation and particularly Anthony Edwards.
Well, I think a big reason why I was brought in was was also to help that development of of of and and you know he's for you know, so far our relationship has been you know that of like a you know, a brotherhood almost in the sense like
a little brother big brother situation. And trying to, you know, do whatever I can, whether it's on or off the court, to help him be the best player you can be, learn the game at a different speed, like how to make plays and different decisions that he can make in certain tight tight windows or whatnot. So you know, he's willing to learn, he's willing to listen. And yeah, obviously I think that's it's part of my role as a point guard in any any capacity to help my teammates,
help anybody who needs it. So hopefully I'm doing my job and he continues to grow and grow as the year goes on and his career goes on.
And Mike, real quick follow up. When you're talking about slowing the game down. I got a feel for what you're talking about, but can you elaborate on that, like when you're when you're talking to Anthony ver was about having a game slow down?
For what are you saying exactly?
Yeah, you know, it's different ways to look at I mean, like for for slowing the game down for me. For him in particular, was you know, not don't get sped up. I think he's a guy that, you know, if he takes his time getting he can get to whatever spot on the court he wants to. And and you know, whether that's reading a double team situation where guys, you know, teams are sending two people at you, and what reads
to make you know, following that decision. And you know, some people just go out there and hoop and they get away with it sometimes, but sometimes you have to prep forward. You have to prepare for different coverages, prepare for different things so that you know the game can slow down and it you can already be knowing what two options you're going to have before the play starts. And he's just developing that side of the game. I think for the majority of his life he's he's you know,
he's still probably always been better than everybody. So he's just, uh, you just go out there and hoop. So we're trying to give him that that that Mike Kindley side of the the the basketball game, and the side that I think you can take him to another level.
Really, I guess the only thing slowing him down these days is getting out there for the opening tip. I don't know what's going on there, but that seems to be the only missing piece for him.
I can't explain. I can't explain that one. We're looking for him, we're drawing, drawing up the plays and all kind of stuff, and you never know what he's doing. So we just we just hope he's gonna be there on time.
You obviously were an in season arrival last season, so you weren't there the whole ride. But from your perspective, what is the big difference between this season's team and last season's team? Why has this group been so much more successful?
Honestly, I think a lot of it has to do with just the time, you know, time frame of summertime. So now we've had a little bit more time to prepare for a season together as a healthy unit. I think the year before, they you know, Cat missing so many games and many guys out the line up, the trade like, it's a lot of different things that went down to disrupt the you know, they could disrupt the team, but you know, we we held together. Fast forward to
this season. I think guys, uh, you know, took it upon themselves to to come to the season in great shape from you know, their their overseas UH teams and and all of us just you know, just just locked in on a season that we're going to be you know,
we're gonna be different and defensively. It's it's probably been the number one thing that everybody sees is you know, how far and away better we are now that Rudy's you know, doing what he does at the highest level and guys are kind of building around him, and and I think that's allowed us to have i mean closer, closer games and have tighter you know finishes where we can you know, give ourselves a chance to win a lot of those. And so far we've done a good job.
I mean, you obviously played with Rudy in Utah as well as here with the Wolves, so you probably know him as well as anybody behind closed doors.
How mad was he about the All Star snub?
And I know you've personally had to go through that where there were years you probably felt like you were an All Star and didn't get that call and then you finally got that. How how mad is he that he was not recognized? I think he should have been an All Star. I mean, he was in my you know, not that mine. You know, mine is just hypothetical, is just one reporter's opinion. But when I scribbled out my seven West reserves.
He was on there. Yeah, you know, I think he was upset. And I know, you know, all of us were, you know, on our team. We all felt that he was a guy that, you know, we wouldn't be in the situation that we in without him. You know, we felt that he was, you know, one of those one of those pieces. And uh, but he's he's also a guy that you know, once that something like that happens,
it makes him better. It makes them, you know, more locked in and keyed in on, you know, what we're doing as a team and and our goals as a team, which he's always worried about. So I think it's gonna do nothing but make him better. Right now, he's been doing great, and uh, just hoping he's gonna continue to do what he does.
Mike, You've played in over thirty four thousand minutes played in over a thousand games. And you know this has been talked about, you know here and there no technicals throughout your career, and you know I'm gonna bring that up. I want you, I want you to. Can you give us a master class and tell me, like what what is the key? Because I I'm somebody who you know in just in life my wife had contested that. Well I'll go off, you know, I lose it, So like,
can you give a master class? Like, can you give us a little glimpse on how you're able to keep composer? And then secondly, Mike you talked about you know you're trying to instill a little bit of Mike Conley into Anthony Edwards. Well he has he is tied well, he is tied for fourth in technicals this season with twelve.
I'm not doing my job, brought I'll tell you, I'm not doing my job.
But no, how do you do it? How do you do it? Like have you ever been close to getting to tech? Like what is your mindset? Take us inside your mindset? Because basketball, in any professional sports competitive man, your emotions get into it. How have you kept your composure throughout.
You know Honestly, I don't really know. I think it's just something that has come from my parents, the way I was raised. And like I, you know, I get mad enough to want to fight, but I never was like a fighter. I never, you know, try to swing on people and just have a you know, knee jerk reactions to things. I was always, you know, kind of a thinker. Let me think about the situation, like how to get through it, how to get past it, like
were they wrong? Were they right? Was I tripping? Like, you know, just trying to gauge it all at the same time. And and I guess I've become good at it. And uh, now, you know, now I don't even think I'll maybe I'll get close this year.
You can't get one. Now you've come this far. You cannot get one.
Now we've gotten pretty close. We've got pretty close this year, and I'm a little a little scared it might happen soon if we keep going.
I actually need to do some research.
I gotta I gotta find like a historian who can look this up. What are what is the most minutes in most games in NBA history without getting a tech I mean, you've got to be in the run.
I don't even know how to put that.
I mean, I would think so honestly, I don't know.
At this point, like you surely you want to you want to retire without any don't you?
At this point?
At this at this point, I feel like I can use it to my advantage. Now I can like talk to the ref a little bit more higher levels of volume and like aggression because they're afraid to get me a tech you know, if they.
Don't, they don't want to be the ones that don't want to be the ones.
So see that surprises me.
I would think there would be a ref out there, who hey, I'm going to give.
There's a few out there. There's a few out there. If I had the guests, I go, I cause name on the spot. There is a couple of refs that I would think would be about that business if if it got to that point.
I think that maybe maybe, but I think that it would have to be like they wouldn't know who it was they were calling the tech on and they turn around and be like, oh damn, I bat. You know, it would be one of those situations.
Do you think most refs know you have zero career tech.
I honestly do I think, because that's like the one thing they say to me is they like appreciate you know me, you know, just to got so much respect for you know, one another and whatever, and I'm like, thank you, Like man, keep going, keep being the you know, the guy you are. So I feel like they kind of have you know, fallen into that that vibe I'm just nice guy or so.
Okay now with you being the two things. Mike.
So, in twenty fourteen, you actually did receive a TECH, but it was it was rescinded. It was against Sacramento, but it was rescinded the very next day. Do you remember what did you do to get that tech? And how did you feel?
Yeah? I remember it was something happened. Uh, I might have shot a layup or got fouled or didn't get fouled, whatever, the ball bounced out of bounds or something. I said, like, you know, come on man, like like slapped my hand. I literally that's all I said. It was like, come on, man, slap my hands to get it like that, and kind of turned around and started to walk up to the free throw line and I heard a whistle and I heard a tech like a Tech was being called, and
I still didn't know who they was calling it. I thought it was calling somebody else, like somebody else did something z Bo Tony all these other guys that do that all the time. So and then I realized it was pointing at me, and I was like, ain't no way, I gotta tell you, it's got to be the wrong person. So they called in and they got to rescind it, and you know, it never happened.
We're college in high school the same no.
Text, Yeah yeah, college, high school never got close either one of those. So I don't know, Man, what a gentleman I guess?
Man, hold on, I want to get before we move on. I wanted to get a little deeper here. Can you cuss out a ref right now and get away with it?
Are there? Are there certain things you can get away with it now that refs know the situation?
See now I can. I can cuss, but not at them, you know what I mean? Like I think like I'm like just like talking to him, and I might roll in a few of those words in there. It's a little different than like me like running at them and start calling them names and stuff like I'm not I'm not doing that.
Yeah, I get that, because you know, doing doing sidelines for T and T. I've read across across Draymond, like when Draymond picks up that first tech, Oh, he goes off even more after that first tech, no, knowing that the officials don't want to you know, they're gonna give them leeway, they don't want to give that second Yeah. So I was just curious, like you could get I was curious things you could get away with right now.
Yeah, that's yeah. I can't get away with probably that level of uh, but you know, yeah, I don't know. I tried my best to utilize it to our advantage a little bit.
You recently came to terms with the Wolves on a new contract extension. Congratulations, So obviously you know where your home is going to be for the next two seasons beyond this one, as you understand it. How close were you to ending up with the Lakers at the trade deadline rather than the Wolves. What did they tell you behind the scenes that maybe we didn't know on the public side.
Of the fence. I honestly don't know how close that was. I kind of had no idea anything kind of like that was going down. To that that morning of the day we got traded. But I think as it became more and more serious, I think it was never I was never really going to be a part of that deal to La or is going to have to be a three team deal, And obviously it ended up being that, and each you know, team got who they wanted, uh for that, you know, for that trade, and kind of
moved on from there. But like from my perspective, I didn't know too much. I thought I had heard like Clippers stuff, and obviously Lakers were in there a little bit, but Minnesota was kind of like the the dark horse that it was a far shot, it probably wouldn't happen, and it ended up being the one that did.
When you first heard Minnesota before you got on the plane and actually switched teams, what did you think about the fit?
Honestly, I thought it was it reminded me a lot of our Utah teams. Was you know, you shuffled a couple of different pieces around and and we've got you know, these young long defenders and Anthony Edwards and cat like this. It just seemed like it was like a team that was ready to kind of take a take a you know, a turn and you really kind of hit the momentum swing and I, you know, I wanted to be a
part of that. Obviously, resigning now kind of getting a whole year to get accustomed to the guys and understand my role and what I'm gonna do to provide what I do for the team. And it's just, you know, we fell in love with it and hopefully we continue to build something here and give ourselves a good run in ith.
Mike, I want to ask you about your thoughts on and D It seems like there is a for point guards coming up into this league. It seems like they
have to be scoring point guards nowadays. And I look at you as a hybrid, but I look at you as an old school point guard as well when you're when you're talking to younger players who are going to be point guards in this in college or even to the league, Like, is there a certain way that you feel like point guards now they have to play or do you feel like there is a Mike Conley type player that can steal make his way to the league and still get looked at like how you got looked at,
you know, back in your high school and college days.
Well, but yeah, I think you could have a little bit of both there where you know, you got you're gonna have guys that play a different style of basketball. I play different style of basketball, you know, move a little bit differently and not above the rim. Like my game is predicated on different things as I can provide or whatnot. And that's just me particularly, get the next guy could be you know, their particular skill set at six three or six fours and help them become who
they they become a little bit a little bit easier. So, you know, the point guard position is I think it will always kind of be a leadership position and be able to understand the game and a high IQ level and understanding you know, balance and all that. But uh, the modern point guard needs to be able to score.
They need to be able to find them scores. And like it's a lot of that, a lot of that's happening now and and so it would be you know, perfect point guard to me would be able to do obviously a little bit of all that and at a very elite level. And you know, this league is just trending in that you know, scoring point guard. Uh, you know air So you.
Say it have to be so you know, because you know, in the eighties and nineties, maybe even some of the early two thousands you had past first point guard, they were they were not scored. So you believe point guards nowadays they do have to be somewhat of a dynamic score to be able to.
Make in this league.
Yeah, uh, somewhat. You don't have to you know, be Dame or a jar or anybody like that, but you have. But you you know, you have to be able to be official. You have to be able to score. You have to be able to you know, score in different ways and and depending on your roles. So I think it'll be tough to crack a lot of rosters if you can only you know, passed the ball and that's and that's it, because you know, defenses can kind of
key in on that nowadays and take advantage. So yeah, I think that's kind of where we're at with that, Mike.
If I could, I want to go back to the subject of All Star. When you got your All Star nod and now years later when you reflect on it, how big a deal is it if you didn't have that on your resume, how much would that bother you at this later stage of your career.
Oh man, honestly, I think it. It would bother me, bother me. I think it was something at the time I was super grateful for and thankful for. But when you're in the moment, you just think, like, finally I did it. But I never thought about what it You know, what I'd feel if I hadn't made it yet, And you know, it'd be a bummer obviously, because there's a lot of years that put in a lot of really good work and you know a lot of positive things happening.
Didn't get that chance and always kind of got up to the twelve hour, but never you know, got that call, and so yeah, I can imagine you know, where where I be, you know, think about that every night I went to bed, you know, knowing that I never had that opportunity.
Mike, we think about not having an opportunity. When I first came in the league, I was covering the Portland Trail Blazers. That was my first four years in the league covering the Blazers, and I got Greg Golden's last year there and he didn't play that year, and so I didn't get to build a relationship with him until later on, like when he went to play for Miami
and I was able to develop a relationship. But uh, Mike, that was truly like you know, when you talk about players who had such of a has such of a talent, had such of a bright future, but it was all derailed due to injuries due to their body lacking. Like, when you think of Greg Golden, you got to you got to play with him. You guys are really good friends. When you think of Greg Golden, you know what comes to mind, you know, because obviously you know it's unfortunate
at the time we live in. You know, people label players bus based off of injuries, when bus really should mean like, okay, you didn't make it. You didn't play to a standard when you were healthy, you know, not due to an injury or whatever.
But when you think of Greg, god, like.
What could have been, Mike, what do you think what could have been if his body cooperated?
Yeah? Man, he's truthfully a special player, and I think a lot of people knew that, and I think that's why there was so much expectation for him. But and people also know that, you know, the reason why he is out the league was because the injury stuff, not because you can't play the game of basketball or not dominate when he was in the games, which I think he was having some good years when he did get on the court. So you know, it's tough. And you know,
actually saw him last week we played in Indie. But he's a guy that you know, we grew up together.
We we've been around each other forever and he's been along you know, we've been along each other's careers every step of the way, and even to this day as he's coaching and I'm still playing, you know, we're checking in and seeing how we're doing, and you know, so it's it's, uh, it's I just wish he could have had the opportunities that I that I've had to play this long, and you know, he would have done so
much more with it obviously with this talent. But yeah, man, I just wish you would have had that same, that same uh, you know, career.
When you guys were in college, Mike, Ohio State, what were some of the things you guys were talking about, because obviously you guys knew you were going to play at the next level, Like, what were some of the the conversation you were guys that would have about just your dreams and aspirations in the next leak, in the next phase of your careers.
Man, honestly, we were we were so different, Like we were talking about probably anything other than the basketball, honestly, like anything other then you know, what we're going to be doing for our respective teams and what city we're going to be playing in. Like, man, we're thinking about video games and the next thing, and you know, it's that time of your life. Everything is just kind of
going by so fast. And yeah, I mean it's we were always pure coming into this thing, just like just a green you know, just having a green approach to everything, and it just kind of everything happens fast, and we just, you know, never really had an opportunity to sit down and think about our journey and where we're going to be headed to and how much we're going to do with it.
I don't want to make you look too far into the future because I know you're still playing and you have years left now on your contract. So but the minute you mentioned coaching with Greg that immediately made me wonder, is coaching something that you think would interest you five to ten years down the road, Because given the leadership roles you've had as a player, that moved to coaching.
Would Yeah. I've always said I kind of didn't want to coach. But the older I've gotten, the the more I'm like, Man, it's it's basically what I would be really good at because I can still you know, imprint my knowledge on guys and players and you know, put them in best situations to succeed. And but you know, you said, I hope it's a little bit down the road.
I got to work on, you know, practicing be a coach for my little you know, son's basketball team or something like that first kind to get an idea of what it's like, and and then you know, who knows, you know, maybe I'll maybe I'll get there one day.
Mike, is required from time to time that you pick up a technical for your team as a coach to ignite something.
Can you do that?
Yeah, you will get a tech as a coach.
Yeah, that's that would be the deal. Yeah, I know that, And that might be the and why I'm a little reluctant to say yes about coaching. Take that technical street.
So, Mike, when you think of what you guys have left, obviously you want to bring cat into the fold. And and I'm being honest, Like, when I think about teams as ready to take that step into being championship contended teams, most of the times those teams have to go through the hurdles of postseason pitfalls and learn from that and
move on. I mean, there have been a few teams that just bypass that went all the way, But for the Temples, are you guys in a situation where you feel like, you know, this is you know, we've been number one in the Western Conference for a long time. Not right now, but we've been up there for a
long time. Is this a situation where it's like, man, we won a championship this year, or do you feel like this is all part of the process that we need to go, you know, just we're still playing and figuring things out.
Like, yeah, I think it's you know, you know, we're we're just a team of you know, I mean, I don't even know how we how would I describe it? I don't know, man, Honestly, you know, we're just you know, a group of guys that are you know, we understand that first seed, second seed, third seed, like it matters in the playoffs, it matters who your matchups are against. We understand we have to have, you know, postseason success,
you know, to be taken serious. We understand that you know it post these success is super hard and not given every year that you're gonna you know, be in the first round and get out of the first round or make the playoffs. And you say, yes, we do want to build as a year ago as years go on, but not all of us have a lot of time to you know, build it all the way up and
see how we go in five or six years. So there is a sense of like urgency that is there that you know, it's kind of my urgency is kind of Rudy's urgency, the older guys urgency if like, hey we can, why don't we just win it now? You know, why don't we just try now? And that's been our
cold anyway. And we don't want to have to wait another two or three years just because the guide says we should wait two or three more years until you know, you get taken serious as a contender, contended for a championship. So we'll just see how, you know, things shape out. Obviously we're gonna be ready to go.
Yeah, you know, your radio guy Alan Horton keeps this running Tallly of this amazing stat that this season, the Wolves have led the West for almost one hundred days, and in the previous thirty four seasons of the franchise, the Wolves only led the West for ten days total
in that whole time. And we sat down, Chris and I we did a podcast with your coach, Chris Finch at All Star weekend in Indianapolis, and I had to be that annoying guy who pointed out that the Wolves as a franchise haven't won a playoff series in two twenty years. They've only won two playoff rounds in their whole existence. So everybody's going to bring that stuff up, you know, Chris says that kind of your guys approaches that past history doesn't really apply to us. This is
a new team, a new group. But how do you tune that out when annoying reporters.
Like me are just going to keep it right? You know, it's it's it's okay, man. We tune out a lot. We've learned how to you know, tune out you know any you know, writers, comments, opinions you know about our our squad, about the direction. Now serious are and serious we truthfully are, And what you know the difference between our teams of last year, this year or two years before. You know, it's all it's all comes in, it comes and goes, and I think a lot of us are
handling really well. I think we're handling honestly. The best thing I think we're handling is is the you know, there's the jump and success from being you know, with games are used to be seen as from Minnesota as opposed to what we're doing now. Is has caused a lot of you know, positive attention around our team and in the cities, the people and you can just tell every time we walk in the story like that, people yell like number one in the West like stuff like that,
like because it's all new and it's exciting. But we've done a good job of not you know, letting that affect how we approach today and how we approach you know, getting better as a team, which we're gonna need, you know, to have that kind of mentality to sustain any kind of you know, level of play that we've built.
That's done.
I gotta I gotta ask Mike this one more time because I think everybody is intrigued still with the guys lack of I mean, excuse him, not lack the guy's abundance of composure.
I should say, Mike, I want you to dice.
Why are you trying to You're trying to go to him into gett in the next game.
I gotta I gotta ask about that. I want him to di st this play.
And I want you to take me inside your head, like, because most people in this situation now I'm about to bring up, they will react.
And you did it.
The play and I'm talking about is the game against the Brooklyn Nets not too long ago. We're down the stretch, down the stretch of the game. You guys are up up big already, and you shot at three with twenty something seconds. Dennis Struder comes over and pushes you, gets mad that you shot it instead of letting the ball a set and getting I believe a shot clock violation at that time.
And I looked at you.
Most players immediately once they're get pushed, most people were like, just just push back, like it's a reaction. You push back. Can you take me inside? Like, how do even in that instance, how do you just keep your composent And don't get me wrong, it ain't no pump.
I'm not saying, yeah, I'm not saying that.
I'm saying like, you know what I mean, like you you're level headed, like so in that situation, how do you still keep your comment?
It happened so fast. Honestly, I don't think I had even real time to react to too much. I just, you know, one, I was like, that's I think that's a foul. Like I'm thinking, like that's an a one, like something I don't even know. I really want that's my promise with here's a foul. But I don't think that, you know, at the time, I honestly like I didn't know what to do with the ball, and man, people everybody's kind of playing hot potato with like you shoot it,
you shoot it, I don't want it. I was like, man, I'll just shoot it from wherever I'm at, just because I know we got like twenty six twenty five seconds left and just get the shot off. I don't really care about make or missing it. But you know, that happened, and I was just like, man, uh, you know, you know, just just crazy. I wouldn't. I wasn't prepared for it, which is probably why I didn't react as uh as quickly as you know some other people may.
Being a veteran in that situation, you know, there's they have all these unwritten rules of you know, when do you shoot it? Do you let the ball go out? Like where do you stay? I believe, you know, I played college ball. I didn't play in the NBA, but I believe, Man, the game is over when the game is over. But I know most people in the NBA don't take on that type of mindset. What is your mindset in that type of situation in the closing.
Of a game.
Yeah, I think as far as you know, I've always viewed it as I've played until like that last you know, twenty four seconds basically, you know when that if you have the ball, you know, under the shot clock, you know, the shot clocks off, stuff like that, we held the ball, if there was like a two three second difference in that you kind of held the ball and you know,
dropped it and went the other way. But anything kind of like before that time, I think it was just always you just played and and they finished out the game, and uh it went from there. So it's it's it's it's you know, I don't know if it's a trendy thing, right, now that people are getting upset about it, but it has been coming up a lot lately, and uh, just I am not so used to kind of seeing that haven't played the last sixteen seventeen years, Chris.
I've got like seven or eight more questions for this man, but we gotta let him go unfortunately too long, but I'm gonna try to sneak. I'm gonna try to sneak in one or two more and then we're gonna let him go. As I mentioned off the top, you know you have appeared more than once on the annual all lefty team that I assemble. But I think you are a natural righty if I have the story correct. So just in your words, explain your left handedness right handedness?
Maybe you're amphibious.
Is amphibious?
Jacks likes to say it like that.
You would please explain for us how you see yourself.
I am a right handed person by nature. I played basketball left handed, which allows me to truthfully kind of be amidextrous in basketball. But if you give me a pencil, it's right with my left hand, I'll you know I have no chance compared to the right. So it's it's unique because you know you talk about the right hand floater and all the right handed shots I shoot. You know, obviously it's my dominant hand, so a lot of things I do with my left hand is like people shooting
with their off hands. So you know, I should get more credit for when I make a lefty three, then I do a right handed floater because I'm flying blind on left side.
How old were you when this became the case, when you became a left hand.
Dominant Honestly, I've always been. It started probably when I was four or five, when I would try to, you know, shoot a ball and a big goal, I would like hoist it from my left side of my bodies for whatever reason, and I kind of stuck with me and and but then as I got older, I knew that I was because I could take like five days off of basketball and come back and shoot two shots left handed and just airball and they shoot it too strong, and then get it in my right hand and it
just feels so natural, like as if I haven't missed the day at work. And I was like, I think I might be like truthfully right handed in basketball. I've just I got to learn this left side now that I've done it for so long, so I just didn't give up on it and have done decent with it.
Sorry, sign Mike Conley.
He is as a left hander, and I've I'm gonna go out on a limb and say he takes more shots with his left hand than his right hand over the.
Course of an NBA season.
Bold, bold statement from me some high level analytics there. All right, sir, well, we know you got you got. You got two games coming up against your old team in Utah. You still have three games left in the regular season with the defending champions from Denver, so a lot still to do here in the regular season. Wishing you and the Wolves success and good luck in the playoffs.
And thanks him ill for doing Thank you, Thank you guys so much.
All right, there he goes everyone, Mike Conley from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
That will do it for.
This edition of this league uncut. As always, remember please follow us, rate the show, review the show. We'd love to get a five star rating from you. Apple Podcasts, Spotify podcast, wherever you get your pods.
Haynes Stein. We'll be back together again very very soon. Thanks everybody for listening, and that'll do it for us.
See you next time.
This league, uncut is and iHeartRadio production Chris Haynes and Mark Stein.
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