On today's episode, Jason starts off by diving into the Thunder's win over the Lakers on Tuesday night, highlighted by Luka Doncic getting a controversial ejection after taunting a fan. Jason tries to make sense of what may be the most surprising firing in NBA history after the Nuggets fired Michael Malone on Tuesday. Could Malone be headed to New York this offseason if Thibodeau falls short in the playoffs yet again?!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
What is up? Straight Fire? Bam, It's me Jason McIntyre.
Straight Fire for Wednesday, April the ninth. I'm losing track
of what day it is, Folks, getting a little worn down.
It's only the middle of the week. Between the travel
over the weekend, upcoming spring break, hosting the Herd, doing
the podcast. It is getting tiring for your boy, That's okay.
(00:34):
The good news is there's tons and I mean freaking
tons of content. Today we will address the stunning firing
of Michael malone of the Denver Nuggets. S guy wins
a title less than two years ago and he gets
run along with the GM. I did think all the
Yokic Where's Yokic gonna land the Lakers? Like? I thought
(00:54):
all that stuff was total nonsense. I will not address
any of it. There's no way on earth the Jokic
is leaving. Why would they trade him? That's lunacy. Stop
you think Jokic is going to ask out of Denver?
Get real? Get a clue? Obviously. The Knick Celtics thriller
from last Night at the Garden another brutal loss for
the Knicks, who cannot absolutely cannot beat the elite teams.
(01:18):
And yes, the Celtics had it. Looks like everybody. Yeah,
I think all their guys played. Jason Tatum had a
big time clutch through with two seconds left. I don't
know why the Knicks didn't fell Tatum finishes with thirty two,
Porzingis at thirty four. I just devastating loss for the
next Jayalen Brown was back. They look good. Kat had
a great game. Brunson had a good game and just
lost another close one to the Celtics. It's not a
(01:41):
great matchup. I don't know what to say, Like the
Celtics really really wanted that game. Tatum played forty eight
of fifty three minutes. That's insane. Tibbs didn't even play
his guys that long, except for Josh Hart, who played
until he fouled out, because you know, as Josh Hard,
he's indefatigable. And then, of course I think I got
a start with OKAC one thirty six Lakers one twenty.
(02:05):
So I saw the note yesterday early from the Lakers
beat writer Dave mcmanhamon that a lot of the Lakers
were listed as questionable are out ruy Hachimorro is not
going to play blah blah blah, And I was like, oh,
that makes sense. The Lakers have it back to back
with Dallas, you might as well rest some of your horses,
right you already got the winning okasee, just get out
(02:26):
of dodge and JJ Reddick said no, I'm gonna play
my guys. And it was a hell of a game
until they were about eight minutes left. The Lakers fought
tooth and nail, which is actually stunning. Usually if you
treated this these two games like it was the first
two games of a playoff series. Lakers come in and
just shock Okac with three point shooting on Sunday, right
(02:47):
then obviously you bet the bounce back. I didn't bet
this game, but I thought, okay, okay, see is definitely
faux show gonna show up. They're not going to roll
over and get destroyed. Well, the Lakers fought hard. Luka
Doncic once again is unguardable against his team. They have
no answer for Luca. Austin Reeves was having a great game.
(03:10):
He kind of wore down there in the fourth quarter.
Lebron was having a very good game. Lakers were playing
great and I got to get the exact timing right.
I wrote it down here. So the Lakers are up
one oh eight to one oh seven, with seven point
forty left. Luca drives in the lane. He puts Hart
and Stein in a blender heart and See's got his
hands all over him. He's like grabbing him up like
(03:30):
a seventh grader and spin the bottle and Luca scores,
you know, beautiful little tear drop bounces in and then
Luca turns to the crowd and points at this fan
and says something. It just so happened that Luca, who
already had a technical, was talking to the fan, and
the referee was between Luca and the fan. Luca was
doing it from like, I don't know, maybe somewhere between
(03:51):
the elbow and the logo, and he turns to point
at the guy and says something, and then the ref
who happened to be right in the line, blows the whistle,
thical you're out, okay, and Luca loses his mind. Lebron
on the court is like, what are you talking about?
He's talking to that fan and apparently this fan I
(04:11):
have his name here somewhere. He is like one of
these super fans from OKC, and.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
It was.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
I don't know, very clear that Luca and this guy
have had an ongoing dialogue throughout the season, and anytime
he goes there, whether it's he's with Dallas or the Lakers,
he's always always talking to this guy. Because this guy's relentless.
He's like the second row guy. He's got all these tattoos.
(04:40):
He's like one of these super fans. Right. So the
referee jects Luca, and afterward the referee was asked, why
was Luca assessed his first technical foul by jt Or?
And he goes directed profanit at the official. Why was
Luca assessed his second technical by jt Or? The same
guy tied him up twice. He looked directly at an
(05:01):
official and used vulgar language. The fan was directly behind
the ref. You could call it unlucky. You could say
this guy had it out for Luca. He was trying
to prove a point. You could get a little more
sinister if you want, and say, listen, the league couldn't
have the Lakers sweeping Oka. See here, that's that's that's
a bridge too far, but it's fun to say. And
(05:23):
then here's the worst part. So Luca gets tossed and
then within the next like minute, Alex Caruso drives and
Jared Vanderbilt swats his shot into like Austin, Texas. Okay,
and Vando is like, you know, still right up on
Caruso and kind of mean mugs him, doesn't say anything,
and he gets a technical foul for stepping towards and
(05:47):
verbally taunting a player while the ball was dead. Again,
Vando did not say anything. The cameras right on him,
his lips don't move, He's just like growling, and he
got a technical and the Lakers melted down after that.
Okac twin d nine to twelve run and that was that.
But Folks, is jt or fellow. He better not yet
any Laker playoff games. Nobody wants to see this clown.
(06:09):
We're not here to see you, We're here to see
the stars. Okay. Now the loss is significant for the Lakers.
Houston has officially clinched the number two seed. The Lakers,
the best they can do is three. They need to
go two and one over the final three games to
lock it in, and they have I think the tiebreaker
over all the other teams that are chasing them, including
(06:29):
the Warriors thanks to the Anthony Davis run. And I
just I come away from this game, folks, there is
no doubt in my mind that the Lakers are beating
the Thunder in a series. And it's not because of
a regular season game. It's simply because the Lakers have
the two best players on the floor. Yes, I know
Sga went for forty two. Y had a we had
a good game. Let me see. Yeah, he got to
the foul line eleven times too, so after getting the
(06:51):
foul line zero times, he bounced back. Listen. Sga is
a great player. He's a phenomenal talent. He's a top
five player in the league. This year. He's right there
neck and neck for the MVP. I'm not taking anything
away from him. That being said, the Lakers are not
afraid of him. I thought Vanderbilt did a solid job.
And I know that sounds tough to stomach when you
say did the guy had forty two in the moments
(07:12):
in the second half where it was closed. I thought
Vando did a good job. Yes, obviously the Lakers are
gonna need to rotate guys like Goodwin, who's twitchy Van Doh.
You know I suppose Austin Reeves is going to get
that assignment. I think Dorian Finney Smith's length will give
him problems. I noticed they put Dorian Finny Smith on
Steph Curry last week. The Lakers have options and in
(07:34):
a pinch, listen, yeah, they're gonna attack. SGA's gonna call
for Luca on the on the screens and they're gonna attack.
Lakers did a good job clogging the lane today. The
Thunder made their threes eighteen to thirty seven. Lakers were
eighteen to forty. But ultimately it was the ejection for
Luka Doncis that ruined the game. And I can't blame Luca.
I know he's a fiery competitor. I'm almost certain this
(07:56):
technical will be rescinded and Luca's not going to have
you know, this one on the books for him. I
thought it was just kind of incomprehensible that in a
close scrape game between two teams you would eject a
superstar player like that for thinking that it possibly was
at you. It is, it's just disrespectful. I mean, I
(08:21):
still can't believe it. Yeah, here's Jared Vanderbilt. He said
that when Luca picked up his first technical foul. Jt
Or said he would talk to anybody on the Lakers
except Luca, and Vanderbilt believes that the text Luca received
were personal. Now, I don't know jt Or at all.
I would assume we're going to have Laker fans overnight
diving deep into the Luka Doncich hate and this is
(08:45):
not going anywhere anytime soon. This Laker team is a
major problem. They are cresting right now as we head
into the playoffs. They do have a big one tonight
against Dallas. It's a back to back. Lebron played thirty
five minutes, Luca played thirty one due to the ejection.
Austin reeves they're gonna need somebody or somebody's on the
bench to step up against the MAVs because obviously you
(09:06):
don't want to lose this game. Although the final two
are Houston, which could be resting guys since Sarah locked
into the two, and then Portland, which has been frisky
here the last two months. Nobody's noticed because they're one
of the worst teams in the league. But those will
not be easy. You want to get this one so
you can split one of the last two and lock
up that three seed. Now, who's going to be the
sixth seed? Is interesting because the Warriors beat the Suns,
(09:29):
still know Kevin Durant and Denver is dealing with a
fired coach who I'll get to second a second.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
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listen live.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
But I did want to address you guys know I
was born in New York. I'm a Knicks fan follow
the team closely. The Knicks had a bad loss man
and my hot take is I would not be surprised
if if they lose in the second round to the
Boston Celtics, which I'm sorry to say, they're gonna be
(10:10):
heavy underdogs. I would not be shocked if they ran
Thibodeau out of town and they went after Michael Malone
of the Denver Nuggets. Michael Malone is on the market
after he was fired. Again. I'll get to that shortly,
But for whatever reason, Thibodeau and the Knicks this year
are owen nine oh and nine against the Celtics Cabs
(10:30):
in thunder oh and nine like that, is he just
came win the big game. I mean they let they
let Tatum cross up and step back into it a
three with two seconds left. Why don't you foul them?
Why do would when you're up by three? It makes
sense to foul that smart basketball TIBs. I don't know.
(10:51):
I have no idea what he was thinking. And I
just I don't feel optimistic against the Celtics in the
second round. Now, if the Knicks were playing the Calves,
they might have a chance, but they're not. They're not.
Calves have the number one seed locked up. I love
how this Knicks team is built. I thought they were
built to hang with the Celtics. I just I'm not
(11:12):
seeing it. In every big spot against Boston they come
up short. It is they just you know, the Knicks
are really good on the wings with Og and Bridges.
The Celtics are better with Tatum and Brown. You know,
the Knicks have a great from big stretch four, stretch five,
whatever you want to call towns. Well, the Celtics have
(11:33):
one who's sadly just as good in Porzingis, who, by
the way, hit eight threes. Eight threes for Porzingis Carling
Antony Town's one of three from deep. So like, I
just don't know that the Knicks can take down the Celtics,
And I think Michael Malone. Now you can't call him Mike.
He gets very upset if you call him Mike Malone.
But could he come in and chain the fortunes to
(11:54):
the next I don't know. He likes to play veterans.
He doesn't like to play young guys. The Knicks don't
really have any young guy. They've got a bunch of veterans.
That would be very interesting if Malone takes the Nick's job.
By the way, I'm looking at the season series. Celtics
win by two. Last night, they won by thirteen. In
February they won by twenty seven Super Bowl weekend, and
(12:15):
back in October they won by twenty three. So yeah,
the Knicks are not total. I thought early in the season, okay,
we got to work out the Kings by the end
of the season and listen, this was their best effort
against Boston, no doubt, But Nicks have some work to
do in the playoffs. Faux shizzle. I got to talk
about this Michael Malone stuff. Man, this is crazy. So
(12:39):
Michael Malone, we know, is a fiery combative coach. I
love his personality. I do as an outsider, what I
want to deal with that crap every day? Hell no,
I can only imagine how he wears teams down. It's
specifically his own team. And there's a video from after
the Pacers loss where Malone just goes off and it's like,
(13:02):
you know, these guys don't want to listen for shit.
You try to get him to watch film. Nobody wants
to watch film. None of my guys want to watch film.
He just went off on his players. And is he wrong?
I don't do they? I don't know. Now who's he
talking about? Is more specific? Now here are the things
we know. As soon as the firing became true, every
single reporter was like, well, we know there was acrimony
(13:22):
between Michael Malone and the GM Calvin Booth, who also
got fired. And I'm like, okay, every reporter saying it,
why didn't you say there's beef like a month two
month through month? Where were your earlier reports? Or are
you guys just all piggybacking and guessing? And somebody sent
me would you believe it? Zach Lowe back in October
(13:45):
had an interesting take that there were issues between the
front office and the head coach not seeing eye to eye. Now,
this was in September. Okay Low ended up getting unceremoniously
fired by ESPN like three weeks later. Meanwhile, he's so
good at his job covering the NBA that he was
dropping hints like this back in September. Now. Ramona Shelburne
(14:10):
followed up with an article in November, What are September November,
guys football months? Do you think anybody's really paying attention
to the inner workings of the NBA. I love the NBA,
and it is football season, college and pro. Yeah, I'll
go to Laker games. I'll watch Laker games, but I'm
not checking out what's happening inside the Denver Nuggets in September,
that's for sure. And Ramona Shelburn's article was excellent talking
(14:35):
about how essentially Michael Malone doesn't want to play young guys,
he doesn't trust them. They had two really talented young
guys on their roster that they've been that the GM
loves right, Peyton Watson, who played out here at UCLA,
and Julian Strawther, a Gonzaga guy. Both of them are
(14:55):
dripping with talent. Malone doesn't trust them. They played almost
I don't even know if they played at all in
the postseason last year, but it was if they did,
it was very minimal. And the reason he doesn't trust
them is, you know, they don't lock in on defense.
They don't. They're just not high IQ players because they're
(15:15):
like twenty one years old, twenty two, twenty three. He
wants veterans, so that's why when Yoki said, oh, at me,
Russell Westbrook, Malone's like, hell yeah, that's a veteran who
goes hard all the time. And know he's he's a veteran,
he's been in playoff battles. I trust him. So then
the problem became, well, Malone is driving his veterans into
the ground. Jokich is played. Let me see here. Yokich
(15:38):
has played the most minutes per game in his career
this year. Jamal Murray has played the most minutes per
game in his career. This year. Jokich has the second
highest usage rate of his career. The highest was when
Jamal Murray was out for the entire season. They're having
oh Yo Kich is having a phenomenal season. But Malone
just like Thibodeau in New York just wants to ride
(16:01):
his guys. Well, what does Calvin Booth the GM say, Dude,
I've got these young guys, you got to play them.
Calvin Booth liked what he saw from Zeke Naj. I
don't know if you guys remember he had a couple
of coffee at Arizona with the Wildcats, and then he
got overdrafted because he's a measurables and all that fun stuff.
And he had one good season off the bench for
Denver and then the GM gave him a thirty two
(16:24):
million dollar extension. Zeke Naj, mister thirty two million dollar
extension played fourteen minutes in the playoffs last year. Two
rounds he played fourteen minutes. That shows you there's a disconnect.
The GM likes Zeke Naj, likes Julian Strauther, likes Peyton Watson,
thinks they can add something. Christian Brown is the other one,
(16:46):
but he's broken through and Malone plays him, and then
Malone says, I just want the veterans. I don't want
these young guys. Well, that doesn't work, not when Aaron
Gordon's injured, not when Michael Porter Junior's not playing.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
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listen live.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
It's just a weird thing. And you know, there is
a bit of a parallel here. I'm sure you guys
remember the Warriors dynasty. They were looking good, running hot,
and then they lucked into when Curry was injured that season.
One of the top five, I think it was two
or three in the draft, one of the top five picks,
and they settled on James Wiseman. Now that draft was
(17:35):
a bit of a poop show. I'm going to rattle
off some of the other guys who went high. Patrick
Williams four of the Bulls, he's done nothing, Isaacaccorro five
to Cleveland. He's just a wing. Okongwu, who I liked
a lot, went to Atlanta. He plays and puts up numbers,
but they're not winning anything. Killy and Hayes. Please don't
mention him to any Pistons fan. Obi Toppin, who was
(17:56):
good with the Knicks down solid with the Pacers. Rotational guy,
Denny IV who's on his second team. Wing Jalen Smith Boston, Phoenix,
a Devin Vassel shooter in San Antonio. Now, the one
guy that nobody would have had was Tyrese Halliburton, who
went twelve to the Kings, ended up getting traded for Sabonis, Yes,
(18:18):
Sibonis to the Pacers. So ultimately that James Wiseman pick
to Golden State. The next year they got Jonathan Kuming
I believe. And that's when there was the whole quote
unquote two timelines. We've got Draymond Currie and Clay who
are aging. We've got Wiseman and Kuminga who have next
(18:39):
They're going to be so good. That was that was
the thought, how do we merge those two timelines? And
wouldn't you know what, it didn't work, and Bob Myers said,
I I would rather quit walk away than be the
guy who dumps Clay Thompson, And so Bob Myers leaves
he and up going to ESPN. I believe. I think
(19:02):
he's an ESPN guy. And we're talking about a guy
who would rather quit than trade Klay Thompson, which is
kind of sort of where Calvin Booth is right now
in Denver. What the hell do I do Jamal Murray's hurt.
We've got these young guys who I like, but the
coach doesn't want to play them. Steve Kerr, I don't think,
(19:24):
was totally anti Weiseman, but he's like, dude, we got
to win games. We got Steph Curry, well you got Yokit.
You got to win games, and it's very difficult to do.
I don't want to say that balance is impossible, but
it's very clear that it is super difficult in the NBA.
You guys know, Lebron don't like young guys. You don't
want to play with the with the young pups. He
knows you can't win being young in this league. And
(19:45):
my guess is that that Game seven loss to Minnesota
where they were at home and they were up twenty
in the second half and they blew it, that was
the beginning of the end. And this season has just
not gone the way they wanted. When your fifth highest
played player is basically your coach doesn't want to play him,
you know there's a major disconnect. I saw it being
called the most stunning firing in NBA history, and I mean,
(20:08):
I would listen to other candidates, but again, the playoffs
start in like ten days. The Nuggets were fourth in
the West when this happened. They won a title less
than two years ago. He'd been there ten years. I mean,
that is just stunning on so many levels that Yeah,
I'm not surprised that it's being considered one of the
most stunning firings ever. I don't know what this means
(20:29):
for the Nuggets going forward. I do know this, You
sure as you sure as hell can bank that they're
going to play these young guys here in the coming
week ahead of the playoffs and probably in the playoffs too.
They've got to assess everything. Now, is that a good job?
I think at some point you've got to look and say, listen, man,
did they have to lose Bruce Brown off the bench?
(20:51):
Did they have to lose KCP Jeff Green? Was all
that because the owner didn't want to play the luxury
tax And yeah, I had to move off those guys
to pay Michael Porter junior. Well that removed the depth
that Michael Malone had on his bench. And next thing
you know, he doesn't want to play the young guys
and he's riding five dudes and it's like, oh, well,
(21:11):
that's not it bad. He's riding his five best players
all the time they're getting run into the ground. He
actually came out and said, I don't even know if
Jamal Murray is going to be able to play for
us this season in the playoffs, which is huge. All
of a sudden, now it's like, oh, I'm not afraid
to face the Nuggets. Jamal Murray ain't gonna play. Are
you kidding me?
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Wow?
Speaker 2 (21:31):
So NBA is just getting absolutely bonkers. Let me see
who the Nuggets play. So Lakers MAVs tonight is spicy.
The oh Nuggets at Kings. Kings are currently in the
play in. Let's see here Sacramento. So the play and
(21:52):
looks like it will be Dallas and Sacramento. Yeah, it'll
be Dallas and Sacramento for the for the nine for
the eight, I'm sorry, nine to ten is Sacramento Dallas.
The winner of that will play the loser of Timberwolves.
Somebody I saw this. I wasn't watching this game because
(22:13):
the NBA was crazy last night. Minnesota gave up a
thirty four to three run to the Milwaukee Bucks and lost.
That's a damaging blow. Really pushes the Timberwolves back even further.
I mean listen. The Lakers could be three, they could
be they could be six or seven. It's crazy. We
need to find out. The Clippers are getting hot at
(22:35):
the right time. I don't think anybody's afraid of the Grizzlies,
but man so the Rockets. If they they could end
up facing Minnesota or Golden State in the first round,
that's crazy. They could face the Clippers. I think Clippers
probably win that series. NBA is getting really, really good folks,
really good.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Now.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
I'm hoping we could get an NFL guest tomorrow because
there's so much Shadour Sam stuff floating around. It's crazy.
Like the Browns are kicking the tires on five quarterbacks.
They I guess you have thirty official visits you can use.
The Browns have done, have done five. They're taking a quarterback.
The question is do they do it at two? Do
(23:14):
they do it at thirty three? Do they package picks
to get back in later in the first round? That
seems to be popular with frequent guests of the Pod TA.
I mean, it's all it's all in play, and I'm
just so thankful and lucky as hell to have this job.
You guys know, I hoop Although I haven't hooped in
like five weeks because of the injury. And so many
guys are like, dude, you're living the dream. You got
(23:35):
the best job, and sometimes you don't think about that,
and then when you actually take the time to think,
you're like, man, I'm lucky as shit. Oh my gosh,
I gotta talk about Luka Doncic getting ejected. That's fun.
I'm fortunate. All right, Let's have fun tomorrow. Talk to
you then.
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
What is up? Straight Fire? Bam, It's me Jason McIntyre.
Straight Fire for Wednesday, April the ninth. I'm losing track
of what day it is, Folks, getting a little worn down.
It's only the middle of the week. Between the travel
over the weekend, upcoming spring break, hosting the Herd, doing
the podcast. It is getting tiring for your boy, That's okay.
(00:34):
The good news is there's tons and I mean freaking
tons of content. Today we will address the stunning firing
of Michael malone of the Denver Nuggets. S guy wins
a title less than two years ago and he gets
run along with the GM. I did think all the
Yokic Where's Yokic gonna land the Lakers? Like? I thought
(00:54):
all that stuff was total nonsense. I will not address
any of it. There's no way on earth the Jokic
is leaving. Why would they trade him? That's lunacy. Stop
you think Jokic is going to ask out of Denver?
Get real? Get a clue? Obviously. The Knick Celtics thriller
from last Night at the Garden another brutal loss for
the Knicks, who cannot absolutely cannot beat the elite teams.
(01:18):
And yes, the Celtics had it. Looks like everybody. Yeah,
I think all their guys played. Jason Tatum had a
big time clutch through with two seconds left. I don't
know why the Knicks didn't fell Tatum finishes with thirty two,
Porzingis at thirty four. I just devastating loss for the
next Jayalen Brown was back. They look good. Kat had
a great game. Brunson had a good game and just
lost another close one to the Celtics. It's not a
(01:41):
great matchup. I don't know what to say, Like the
Celtics really really wanted that game. Tatum played forty eight
of fifty three minutes. That's insane. Tibbs didn't even play
his guys that long, except for Josh Hart, who played
until he fouled out, because you know, as Josh Hard,
he's indefatigable. And then, of course I think I got
a start with OKAC one thirty six Lakers one twenty.
(02:05):
So I saw the note yesterday early from the Lakers
beat writer Dave mcmanhamon that a lot of the Lakers
were listed as questionable are out ruy Hachimorro is not
going to play blah blah blah, And I was like, oh,
that makes sense. The Lakers have it back to back
with Dallas, you might as well rest some of your horses,
right you already got the winning okasee, just get out
(02:26):
of dodge and JJ Reddick said no, I'm gonna play
my guys. And it was a hell of a game
until they were about eight minutes left. The Lakers fought
tooth and nail, which is actually stunning. Usually if you
treated this these two games like it was the first
two games of a playoff series. Lakers come in and
just shock Okac with three point shooting on Sunday, right
(02:47):
then obviously you bet the bounce back. I didn't bet
this game, but I thought, okay, okay, see is definitely
faux show gonna show up. They're not going to roll
over and get destroyed. Well, the Lakers fought hard. Luka
Doncic once again is unguardable against his team. They have
no answer for Luca. Austin Reeves was having a great game.
(03:10):
He kind of wore down there in the fourth quarter.
Lebron was having a very good game. Lakers were playing
great and I got to get the exact timing right.
I wrote it down here. So the Lakers are up
one oh eight to one oh seven, with seven point
forty left. Luca drives in the lane. He puts Hart
and Stein in a blender heart and See's got his
hands all over him. He's like grabbing him up like
(03:30):
a seventh grader and spin the bottle and Luca scores,
you know, beautiful little tear drop bounces in and then
Luca turns to the crowd and points at this fan
and says something. It just so happened that Luca, who
already had a technical, was talking to the fan, and
the referee was between Luca and the fan. Luca was
doing it from like, I don't know, maybe somewhere between
(03:51):
the elbow and the logo, and he turns to point
at the guy and says something, and then the ref
who happened to be right in the line, blows the whistle,
thical you're out, okay, and Luca loses his mind. Lebron
on the court is like, what are you talking about?
He's talking to that fan and apparently this fan I
(04:11):
have his name here somewhere. He is like one of
these super fans from OKC, and.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
It was.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
I don't know, very clear that Luca and this guy
have had an ongoing dialogue throughout the season, and anytime
he goes there, whether it's he's with Dallas or the Lakers,
he's always always talking to this guy. Because this guy's relentless.
He's like the second row guy. He's got all these tattoos.
(04:40):
He's like one of these super fans. Right. So the
referee jects Luca, and afterward the referee was asked, why
was Luca assessed his first technical foul by jt Or?
And he goes directed profanit at the official. Why was
Luca assessed his second technical by jt Or? The same
guy tied him up twice. He looked directly at an
(05:01):
official and used vulgar language. The fan was directly behind
the ref. You could call it unlucky. You could say
this guy had it out for Luca. He was trying
to prove a point. You could get a little more
sinister if you want, and say, listen, the league couldn't
have the Lakers sweeping Oka. See here, that's that's that's
a bridge too far, but it's fun to say. And
(05:23):
then here's the worst part. So Luca gets tossed and
then within the next like minute, Alex Caruso drives and
Jared Vanderbilt swats his shot into like Austin, Texas. Okay,
and Vando is like, you know, still right up on
Caruso and kind of mean mugs him, doesn't say anything,
and he gets a technical foul for stepping towards and
(05:47):
verbally taunting a player while the ball was dead. Again,
Vando did not say anything. The cameras right on him,
his lips don't move, He's just like growling, and he
got a technical and the Lakers melted down after that.
Okac twin d nine to twelve run and that was that.
But Folks, is jt or fellow. He better not yet
any Laker playoff games. Nobody wants to see this clown.
(06:09):
We're not here to see you, We're here to see
the stars. Okay. Now the loss is significant for the Lakers.
Houston has officially clinched the number two seed. The Lakers,
the best they can do is three. They need to
go two and one over the final three games to
lock it in, and they have I think the tiebreaker
over all the other teams that are chasing them, including
(06:29):
the Warriors thanks to the Anthony Davis run. And I
just I come away from this game, folks, there is
no doubt in my mind that the Lakers are beating
the Thunder in a series. And it's not because of
a regular season game. It's simply because the Lakers have
the two best players on the floor. Yes, I know
Sga went for forty two. Y had a we had
a good game. Let me see. Yeah, he got to
the foul line eleven times too, so after getting the
(06:51):
foul line zero times, he bounced back. Listen. Sga is
a great player. He's a phenomenal talent. He's a top
five player in the league. This year. He's right there
neck and neck for the MVP. I'm not taking anything
away from him. That being said, the Lakers are not
afraid of him. I thought Vanderbilt did a solid job.
And I know that sounds tough to stomach when you
say did the guy had forty two in the moments
(07:12):
in the second half where it was closed. I thought
Vando did a good job. Yes, obviously the Lakers are
gonna need to rotate guys like Goodwin, who's twitchy Van Doh.
You know I suppose Austin Reeves is going to get
that assignment. I think Dorian Finney Smith's length will give
him problems. I noticed they put Dorian Finny Smith on
Steph Curry last week. The Lakers have options and in
(07:34):
a pinch, listen, yeah, they're gonna attack. SGA's gonna call
for Luca on the on the screens and they're gonna attack.
Lakers did a good job clogging the lane today. The
Thunder made their threes eighteen to thirty seven. Lakers were
eighteen to forty. But ultimately it was the ejection for
Luka Doncis that ruined the game. And I can't blame Luca.
I know he's a fiery competitor. I'm almost certain this
(07:56):
technical will be rescinded and Luca's not going to have
you know, this one on the books for him. I
thought it was just kind of incomprehensible that in a
close scrape game between two teams you would eject a
superstar player like that for thinking that it possibly was
at you. It is, it's just disrespectful. I mean, I
(08:21):
still can't believe it. Yeah, here's Jared Vanderbilt. He said
that when Luca picked up his first technical foul. Jt
Or said he would talk to anybody on the Lakers
except Luca, and Vanderbilt believes that the text Luca received
were personal. Now, I don't know jt Or at all.
I would assume we're going to have Laker fans overnight
diving deep into the Luka Doncich hate and this is
(08:45):
not going anywhere anytime soon. This Laker team is a
major problem. They are cresting right now as we head
into the playoffs. They do have a big one tonight
against Dallas. It's a back to back. Lebron played thirty
five minutes, Luca played thirty one due to the ejection.
Austin reeves they're gonna need somebody or somebody's on the
bench to step up against the MAVs because obviously you
(09:06):
don't want to lose this game. Although the final two
are Houston, which could be resting guys since Sarah locked
into the two, and then Portland, which has been frisky
here the last two months. Nobody's noticed because they're one
of the worst teams in the league. But those will
not be easy. You want to get this one so
you can split one of the last two and lock
up that three seed. Now, who's going to be the
sixth seed? Is interesting because the Warriors beat the Suns,
(09:29):
still know Kevin Durant and Denver is dealing with a
fired coach who I'll get to second a second.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
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Speaker 2 (09:48):
But I did want to address you guys know I
was born in New York. I'm a Knicks fan follow
the team closely. The Knicks had a bad loss man
and my hot take is I would not be surprised
if if they lose in the second round to the
Boston Celtics, which I'm sorry to say, they're gonna be
(10:10):
heavy underdogs. I would not be shocked if they ran
Thibodeau out of town and they went after Michael Malone
of the Denver Nuggets. Michael Malone is on the market
after he was fired. Again. I'll get to that shortly,
But for whatever reason, Thibodeau and the Knicks this year
are owen nine oh and nine against the Celtics Cabs
(10:30):
in thunder oh and nine like that, is he just
came win the big game. I mean they let they
let Tatum cross up and step back into it a
three with two seconds left. Why don't you foul them?
Why do would when you're up by three? It makes
sense to foul that smart basketball TIBs. I don't know.
(10:51):
I have no idea what he was thinking. And I
just I don't feel optimistic against the Celtics in the
second round. Now, if the Knicks were playing the Calves,
they might have a chance, but they're not. They're not.
Calves have the number one seed locked up. I love
how this Knicks team is built. I thought they were
built to hang with the Celtics. I just I'm not
(11:12):
seeing it. In every big spot against Boston they come
up short. It is they just you know, the Knicks
are really good on the wings with Og and Bridges.
The Celtics are better with Tatum and Brown. You know,
the Knicks have a great from big stretch four, stretch five,
whatever you want to call towns. Well, the Celtics have
(11:33):
one who's sadly just as good in Porzingis, who, by
the way, hit eight threes. Eight threes for Porzingis Carling
Antony Town's one of three from deep. So like, I
just don't know that the Knicks can take down the Celtics,
And I think Michael Malone. Now you can't call him Mike.
He gets very upset if you call him Mike Malone.
But could he come in and chain the fortunes to
(11:54):
the next I don't know. He likes to play veterans.
He doesn't like to play young guys. The Knicks don't
really have any young guy. They've got a bunch of veterans.
That would be very interesting if Malone takes the Nick's job.
By the way, I'm looking at the season series. Celtics
win by two. Last night, they won by thirteen. In
February they won by twenty seven Super Bowl weekend, and
(12:15):
back in October they won by twenty three. So yeah,
the Knicks are not total. I thought early in the season, okay,
we got to work out the Kings by the end
of the season and listen, this was their best effort
against Boston, no doubt, But Nicks have some work to
do in the playoffs. Faux shizzle. I got to talk
about this Michael Malone stuff. Man, this is crazy. So
(12:39):
Michael Malone, we know, is a fiery combative coach. I
love his personality. I do as an outsider, what I
want to deal with that crap every day? Hell no,
I can only imagine how he wears teams down. It's
specifically his own team. And there's a video from after
the Pacers loss where Malone just goes off and it's like,
(13:02):
you know, these guys don't want to listen for shit.
You try to get him to watch film. Nobody wants
to watch film. None of my guys want to watch film.
He just went off on his players. And is he wrong?
I don't do they? I don't know. Now who's he
talking about? Is more specific? Now here are the things
we know. As soon as the firing became true, every
single reporter was like, well, we know there was acrimony
(13:22):
between Michael Malone and the GM Calvin Booth, who also
got fired. And I'm like, okay, every reporter saying it,
why didn't you say there's beef like a month two
month through month? Where were your earlier reports? Or are
you guys just all piggybacking and guessing? And somebody sent
me would you believe it? Zach Lowe back in October
(13:45):
had an interesting take that there were issues between the
front office and the head coach not seeing eye to eye. Now,
this was in September. Okay Low ended up getting unceremoniously
fired by ESPN like three weeks later. Meanwhile, he's so
good at his job covering the NBA that he was
dropping hints like this back in September. Now. Ramona Shelburne
(14:10):
followed up with an article in November, What are September November,
guys football months? Do you think anybody's really paying attention
to the inner workings of the NBA. I love the NBA,
and it is football season, college and pro. Yeah, I'll
go to Laker games. I'll watch Laker games, but I'm
not checking out what's happening inside the Denver Nuggets in September,
that's for sure. And Ramona Shelburn's article was excellent talking
(14:35):
about how essentially Michael Malone doesn't want to play young guys,
he doesn't trust them. They had two really talented young
guys on their roster that they've been that the GM
loves right, Peyton Watson, who played out here at UCLA,
and Julian Strawther, a Gonzaga guy. Both of them are
(14:55):
dripping with talent. Malone doesn't trust them. They played almost
I don't even know if they played at all in
the postseason last year, but it was if they did,
it was very minimal. And the reason he doesn't trust
them is, you know, they don't lock in on defense.
They don't. They're just not high IQ players because they're
(15:15):
like twenty one years old, twenty two, twenty three. He
wants veterans, so that's why when Yoki said, oh, at me,
Russell Westbrook, Malone's like, hell yeah, that's a veteran who
goes hard all the time. And know he's he's a veteran,
he's been in playoff battles. I trust him. So then
the problem became, well, Malone is driving his veterans into
the ground. Jokich is played. Let me see here. Yokich
(15:38):
has played the most minutes per game in his career
this year. Jamal Murray has played the most minutes per
game in his career. This year. Jokich has the second
highest usage rate of his career. The highest was when
Jamal Murray was out for the entire season. They're having
oh Yo Kich is having a phenomenal season. But Malone
just like Thibodeau in New York just wants to ride
(16:01):
his guys. Well, what does Calvin Booth the GM say, Dude,
I've got these young guys, you got to play them.
Calvin Booth liked what he saw from Zeke Naj. I
don't know if you guys remember he had a couple
of coffee at Arizona with the Wildcats, and then he
got overdrafted because he's a measurables and all that fun stuff.
And he had one good season off the bench for
Denver and then the GM gave him a thirty two
(16:24):
million dollar extension. Zeke Naj, mister thirty two million dollar
extension played fourteen minutes in the playoffs last year. Two
rounds he played fourteen minutes. That shows you there's a disconnect.
The GM likes Zeke Naj, likes Julian Strauther, likes Peyton Watson,
thinks they can add something. Christian Brown is the other one,
(16:46):
but he's broken through and Malone plays him, and then
Malone says, I just want the veterans. I don't want
these young guys. Well, that doesn't work, not when Aaron
Gordon's injured, not when Michael Porter Junior's not playing.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Defense Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
It's just a weird thing. And you know, there is
a bit of a parallel here. I'm sure you guys
remember the Warriors dynasty. They were looking good, running hot,
and then they lucked into when Curry was injured that season.
One of the top five, I think it was two
or three in the draft, one of the top five picks,
and they settled on James Wiseman. Now that draft was
(17:35):
a bit of a poop show. I'm going to rattle
off some of the other guys who went high. Patrick
Williams four of the Bulls, he's done nothing, Isaacaccorro five
to Cleveland. He's just a wing. Okongwu, who I liked
a lot, went to Atlanta. He plays and puts up numbers,
but they're not winning anything. Killy and Hayes. Please don't
mention him to any Pistons fan. Obi Toppin, who was
(17:56):
good with the Knicks down solid with the Pacers. Rotational guy,
Denny IV who's on his second team. Wing Jalen Smith Boston, Phoenix,
a Devin Vassel shooter in San Antonio. Now, the one
guy that nobody would have had was Tyrese Halliburton, who
went twelve to the Kings, ended up getting traded for Sabonis, Yes,
(18:18):
Sibonis to the Pacers. So ultimately that James Wiseman pick
to Golden State. The next year they got Jonathan Kuming
I believe. And that's when there was the whole quote
unquote two timelines. We've got Draymond Currie and Clay who
are aging. We've got Wiseman and Kuminga who have next
(18:39):
They're going to be so good. That was that was
the thought, how do we merge those two timelines? And
wouldn't you know what, it didn't work, and Bob Myers said,
I I would rather quit walk away than be the
guy who dumps Clay Thompson, And so Bob Myers leaves
he and up going to ESPN. I believe. I think
(19:02):
he's an ESPN guy. And we're talking about a guy
who would rather quit than trade Klay Thompson, which is
kind of sort of where Calvin Booth is right now
in Denver. What the hell do I do Jamal Murray's hurt.
We've got these young guys who I like, but the
coach doesn't want to play them. Steve Kerr, I don't think,
(19:24):
was totally anti Weiseman, but he's like, dude, we got
to win games. We got Steph Curry, well you got Yokit.
You got to win games, and it's very difficult to do.
I don't want to say that balance is impossible, but
it's very clear that it is super difficult in the NBA.
You guys know, Lebron don't like young guys. You don't
want to play with the with the young pups. He
knows you can't win being young in this league. And
(19:45):
my guess is that that Game seven loss to Minnesota
where they were at home and they were up twenty
in the second half and they blew it, that was
the beginning of the end. And this season has just
not gone the way they wanted. When your fifth highest
played player is basically your coach doesn't want to play him,
you know there's a major disconnect. I saw it being
called the most stunning firing in NBA history, and I mean,
(20:08):
I would listen to other candidates, but again, the playoffs
start in like ten days. The Nuggets were fourth in
the West when this happened. They won a title less
than two years ago. He'd been there ten years. I mean,
that is just stunning on so many levels that Yeah,
I'm not surprised that it's being considered one of the
most stunning firings ever. I don't know what this means
(20:29):
for the Nuggets going forward. I do know this, You
sure as you sure as hell can bank that they're
going to play these young guys here in the coming
week ahead of the playoffs and probably in the playoffs too.
They've got to assess everything. Now, is that a good job?
I think at some point you've got to look and say, listen, man,
did they have to lose Bruce Brown off the bench?
(20:51):
Did they have to lose KCP Jeff Green? Was all
that because the owner didn't want to play the luxury
tax And yeah, I had to move off those guys
to pay Michael Porter junior. Well that removed the depth
that Michael Malone had on his bench. And next thing
you know, he doesn't want to play the young guys
and he's riding five dudes and it's like, oh, well,
(21:11):
that's not it bad. He's riding his five best players
all the time they're getting run into the ground. He
actually came out and said, I don't even know if
Jamal Murray is going to be able to play for
us this season in the playoffs, which is huge. All
of a sudden, now it's like, oh, I'm not afraid
to face the Nuggets. Jamal Murray ain't gonna play. Are
you kidding me?
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Wow?
Speaker 2 (21:31):
So NBA is just getting absolutely bonkers. Let me see
who the Nuggets play. So Lakers MAVs tonight is spicy.
The oh Nuggets at Kings. Kings are currently in the
play in. Let's see here Sacramento. So the play and
(21:52):
looks like it will be Dallas and Sacramento. Yeah, it'll
be Dallas and Sacramento for the for the nine for
the eight, I'm sorry, nine to ten is Sacramento Dallas.
The winner of that will play the loser of Timberwolves.
Somebody I saw this. I wasn't watching this game because
(22:13):
the NBA was crazy last night. Minnesota gave up a
thirty four to three run to the Milwaukee Bucks and lost.
That's a damaging blow. Really pushes the Timberwolves back even further.
I mean listen. The Lakers could be three, they could
be they could be six or seven. It's crazy. We
need to find out. The Clippers are getting hot at
(22:35):
the right time. I don't think anybody's afraid of the Grizzlies,
but man so the Rockets. If they they could end
up facing Minnesota or Golden State in the first round,
that's crazy. They could face the Clippers. I think Clippers
probably win that series. NBA is getting really, really good folks,
really good.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Now.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
I'm hoping we could get an NFL guest tomorrow because
there's so much Shadour Sam stuff floating around. It's crazy.
Like the Browns are kicking the tires on five quarterbacks.
They I guess you have thirty official visits you can use.
The Browns have done, have done five. They're taking a quarterback.
The question is do they do it at two? Do
(23:14):
they do it at thirty three? Do they package picks
to get back in later in the first round? That
seems to be popular with frequent guests of the Pod TA.
I mean, it's all it's all in play, and I'm
just so thankful and lucky as hell to have this job.
You guys know, I hoop Although I haven't hooped in
like five weeks because of the injury. And so many
guys are like, dude, you're living the dream. You got
(23:35):
the best job, and sometimes you don't think about that,
and then when you actually take the time to think,
you're like, man, I'm lucky as shit. Oh my gosh,
I gotta talk about Luka Doncic getting ejected. That's fun.
I'm fortunate. All right, Let's have fun tomorrow. Talk to
you then.
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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