April 21, 2025 • 31 mins
Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington react to the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Has your opinion changed on the Lakers after their home Game 1 loss? Are the Thunder unbeatable after their beatdown in Game 1? Plus, the guys explain why Nico Harrison needs to keep his mouth shut!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Odd Couple podcasts.
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
You're listening to the best of the Odd Couple.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
There was a big moment Saturday in Los Angeles, pending
on how your perspective.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
Well, I mean, it was Luca's first game with right
in the Lakers playoff game. I mean, and it didn't
go quite as well as people thought it was gonna go.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
And uh, you're a Timberwolves fan, yes.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
I mean where just the Lakers got rolled. I mean,
they really got rolled. Nobody can deny it. You can't
sugarcoat it. The Lakers said it, everybody watching said it.
No energy, people wide open taking shots, just not the
stuff like you know, you can sit around and go
wall and they're not gonna shoot like that.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Well, they're gonna have a better shot at shooting. You
know this.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
In the NBA, you don't get clean looks, right, that's
the whole point of the league. That you gotta make
shots with people in your face and hands up and
all that. You got these guys who are trained professionals,
and you're gonna get to let them get open looks.
Good luck, good luck going forward? Where you where are
you on the Lakers? After that game?
Speaker 1 (01:26):
You remember Movie Friday when Debo rolled up on Red
and snatched his bike and his chain and all that,
and he said, my mama gave me that chain. Later
when he got it back, Debo rolled up on the
blog and by Deebo, I mean the Minnesota Timberwolves who
realized everybody wants the Lakers to win. Everybody's picking the Lakers.
The Laker's supposed to get to I heard Robin Kelvin
talking about is it a failure if the Lakers don't
(01:46):
make it to the finals? They heard that, And remember
this is the same team that got beat down by
Luca last year, so that's also on their back of
their brain.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Luca took advantage of us.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Luca gave us the business last year in the postseason,
and they came in to Lakers at home. The Lakers
had a week off. Rumors are out there, Reports are
out there that they weren't scrimmaging enough and that jj
Reddick Jenna wishes they would have scrimmaged more. And they
forgot the physicality that are about to come in town
with the Timberwolves and Edwards. That's why people love him.
He's not even have the greatest game, but he brought
(02:19):
that attitude. He's taking it to Luca. He's doing the
ant Man, the Spider Man in his face. He's face
guarding Lebron like he was a defensive back going in
the NFL draft.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
I mean they brought the energy.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Julius Randall began on the glass, go bare, and so
many other other bench players or their role players that
you often kind of ignore, but they actually played well.
I mean Jay McDaniel's going ballistic out there like he
was Steph Curry, but also playing great defense. The Lakers
got pumped. The Lakers forgot what it took to win.
They just thought, Hey, where the Lakers. We got Luca
and Lebron and and Luca. This is my issue Rob
(02:55):
Luca's points And this is the first time I've ever
said this, but I'm using a you Oh, we're for gazy.
They were for games. Luca's points were for game. What
I mean by that is Luca can wake up and
put thirty right, that's just matural yep. I don't care
just simply about that. What I need from you is
(03:16):
to also find other ways to win. Can I get
you diving on the floor. Can I get you filing
a timber with hard and looking at your team and
say let's go.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
He's a hard five.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
That's a big boy file one of them, follow An
Edwards and look at your team and say let's go.
Snap out of it like it's no longer. The expectations
are different now that you're with the Lakers. You're also
playing with Lebron Allston reasons playing well, and all eyes
are on you. So I need you to wake the
team up. It isn't just always with scoring. There's other
ways to do that. Like I said, it's giving that
for this diving on the floor, it's cussing the teammate out,
(03:50):
it's drawing a charge. And I need you as the
leader also Lebron too. I'm not excusing him, but to me,
that's what's this one is not just points. And I
think Luca is going too slowly as he continues to become,
you know, a pro and veteran in the leader realize
you can affect games more than just your points or
more than just your stat line. And I think Ed
Edwards was a great example of that. Like you mentioned,
(04:12):
he'd had the greatest scoring out of his life. But
what he also had was energy effort on the defensive end,
talking smack to the crowd, getting his teammates into it,
drawing files, drawing charges, getting in Luca's face, getting in
Lebron's face. That stuff energizes your team, man, And so
I love seeing that from him.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
And I think the Lakers got a little wake up call.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Just because your shirt says Lakers, just because you have
arguably the best offensive player in the league and one
of the greatest players of all the league time in
the league, that does not mean just a guarantee win
at all.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
In fact, no, and I think you're right, And anybody
could say, oh, we don't pay attention to all that stuff.
It was all about forget about the Lakers beating the Timberwolves,
about going to the finals, Yes right, everybody in Oh yeah,
Laker Luca, all you need is lo Lukah and Lebron, Man,
you go on to the finals?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Are you kidding?
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Me.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
It's the playoffs. This is the player.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Everybody has to show up, even your eighth nineteenth man,
because if I give Lukey and Lebron sixty points, you
still gotta get about another fifty.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
You know, you still got to lock another team up.
Where is this coming from?
Speaker 1 (05:16):
In Minnesota, they had a great game plan, like they
did against Denver last year. Remember, and again it ended
up being a really good series. But they had a
good game plan, and they can't. I told I was
telling Brandon here, He's like, oh, I said, man, it's
the energy of Minnesota that would worry me if I
were a Laker fan.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
The energy.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
It's not that they're necessarily the Lakers are still very skilled,
but certain teams play no hos bar from zero minutes
to forty eight minutes. I'm going hard. I'm gonna play hey,
and if you win, you win. I'll shake your hand.
But you don't have to worry about effort. And Lakers
came out a little lethargic second and third quarter and
gave up seventy three points between the second and third quarter.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Right because they were up what is it eight? Yep,
And they were up eight after the first quarter. So
you had to feel like, okay, you know what I.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Mean another day, well, Crypto.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
And then you got these younger guys on Minnesota and
you talked about it. The physicality of it is a difference,
and you better be ready for that for game two
and understand that it's no joke. Like like, Minnesota's already
accomplished what they wanted, what was their dream to split
in La.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
They already got that they could go for the juggular.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Let's just go all out, and you know, and is
he ain't the type of guy that's going to just
be like happy, Oh, we at least we tried.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
He's like, why not us? Why can't we win? Exactly?
Speaker 1 (06:34):
You know, And now finding out from the Lakers, I'm saying,
all right, again, McDaniels ain't going I think it was
eleven or thirteen or something crazy.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
One, that's what it was. Yeah, he's not doing that again.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Lebron is not going to be that only giving me
nineteen points and just not really only five. More importantly
for Lebron, it be differently gave you nineteen and fifteen
a sists. Lebron can't give me nineteen points and three assists.
That is absolutely illegal. That cannot happen at all. So
to me, Lebron's gonna have to wake up. Lebron is
gonna have to he owes the team one with that
(07:07):
for performance for sure.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
And so again I look at.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
This team and I say that was the wake up
call that just because you have purple and gold jersey,
just because you have King James and you have Luca,
the Minnesota Timberwolves are not going to fold. And now
JJ Reddick, let's see how you respond. What do you
cook up? Lebron? I know you can't get you, you
know every night at this age, but you had a
(07:29):
night off in meeting even though you were playing. You
might as well count it as a night off. You
got to show up. And again, Luca, I need a
little bit more in the tangibles, more so than just
simply scoring.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
And if you're in Minnesota, you can't tell me you're
not sky high. You didn't just squeak out a win
or got loved. You smacked them up and everybody took notice.
And don't forget this was a team that upset Denver
last year. I know it's not exactly the same team,
but they've been through some wars. You remember that they
won the first two games, if I remember correctly, and
(08:01):
then they wind up and they wind up going home
and losing two out of three, and it looked like
and then it was three to three, and then they
beat Denver in Denver to win this series. So this
is a team led by Aunt that has been through that,
and there's no way they don't feel confident or feel
good about where they are.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
And remember too, Minnesota has been playing really good basketball
at the end of the season because for a while
two thirds of the season they were underachieving. You're disappointed
in what they were doing. You thought they'd be better,
and then they fill, off of a sudden, they found
their way and the last stretch of the game them
will totally exclude Oklahoma City Thune, we know that, but
(08:40):
also the Clippers, uh Anyana Pacers. They've been a handful
of teams who all of a sudden were playing some
really good basketball the last, you know, stretch of the season,
and they are one of those teams for sure. But yeah,
if you're Lakers, all right, wake up call, get smacked
up at home. Aunt talking smack. I mean, there's some
videos of him going crazy in the crowd. I won't
(09:01):
say what he said. I'll say one portion talking smack
with the Laker fans. He goes, man, I'm worth two
hundred million. I'm worth two hundred million, and Rudy Gobert
goes to him, no, no, no, three, you're three. And then
he goes, oh, I'm worth three hundred million. And then
he goes, my main reason is larger than yeah, And
he just said that to the crowd, and I was like,
and everybody and the people, the fans were like, I'm
(09:22):
a Laker fan.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
I can't lie.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
I like this guy like because he's just talking smack
and he's into it. And it was funny to see
even Laker fans like, all right, I kind of like
this guy, like, oh, he's into it.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
Eight seven, seven ninety nine on Fox eight seven seven
nine nine six sixty three sixty nine. A lot of
people it was all Laker heavy before Game one. Forget
about Minnesota. It was about going to the championship. And
I'm not saying one game one home loss derails everything,
but I just wonder if people don't feel as good
(09:55):
when you see some of the issues that you know,
you were talking about defensively and letting all these open
shots and different things that need to be cleaned up.
Otherwise you'll wind up being going home sooner than later.
And that would be a that would be a big shot.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
I think the Lakers are fine, but I think they
needed that get punching them out Deebo Snatcher chain in
your own house moment. It's like, oh yeah, this ain't
gonna be easy. Just because my name is Lebron, just
because my name is Luca and we we wear Laker jerseys.
You gotta bring it, you gotta play. And I think
that was the reminder they needed.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Odd Couple
with Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington weekdays at seven pm Eastern,
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Speaker 4 (10:37):
Our number three already unbelievable on a Magic City Monday,
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(11:02):
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Speaker 3 (11:21):
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Speaker 4 (11:23):
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Speaker 3 (11:33):
We get off the air.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Don't forget uh last calls coming up as well in
case you missed out on some of the other topics
we're talking about, and a couple of things.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
That's going around.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
Six four to Cleveland. The Knicks are losing to Detroit
sixty two fifty.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Three, So weird call. They're looking at this relat seven
minutes to go? What is its deal? On a fast break?
Speaker 1 (12:00):
K throws an alley to a sure Thompson and he
gets figus undercut and he just tips it in in
the air. But they're like reviewing if the file ever?
Is it a clear path file? Is it a you'll
see it? I guess because technically he was ahead of
the player, Like this is a weird like it's usually
just a given, Like okay, he got filed. He made
the basket, but they're saying, was it a clear path?
Even though he already jumped this. It's a weird call.
(12:22):
You know, us watching the TV with no volumes, I
don't understand what. I don't know what the what they're
looking at, like okay, boom file layup and one, what's
the big deal?
Speaker 3 (12:30):
A good game there though.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Yeah, we got some some NBA action, got the the
Clippers coming up little later, Nuggets as well.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Yeah, so a lot of action on this Monday night.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
NBA playoffs or underway, and probably of we talked about
with Eddie Howse. Yeah, all the games that we got
to see over the weekend. I mean it was hard
not to look at that OKC score, see that they
won by what fifty one look real and not say
(13:02):
oh my goodness, like like like, okay, we've been talking
about them, people been discounting them, picking everybody but their
uncle to get to the NBA Finals and not them
because a while the two Eddie House brought it up
earlier as well. Defensively across the board, they've been all year,
all year. This is not new hat, this is not new.
(13:24):
This is this is real, Like like stop saying it
ain't real it's real. And they didn't play around with Memphis?
Did they Did they play around with Memphis?
Speaker 3 (13:41):
No?
Speaker 2 (13:42):
They did not.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
I mean I looked at the score was confused and
at the first quarter, so I was like, wait, what
am I looking at?
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Like? Is this real?
Speaker 4 (13:49):
And that is a statement game? I don't get anybody says, right,
that's a statement game. Hello, look at us. We're loud,
we're proud, We're not playing around.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
We are are that good? We are that good? I think, Uh,
what'd you come away with? Because I was in I think.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Sometimes things are so obvious to sitting in your face
and you still go, nah, that can't be it. Okay,
see all year long, and it started last year when
they were good and we were like, oh, there, too
young to to this, chat it and healthy, blah blah blah.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
They'll be this, they'll be that.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
And they got knocked out of the playoffs and then
that could have been their bumps and bruises and lumps
that all they needed.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
We went through it. We got it.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
We have an MVP candidate probably gonna be MVP three
years in a row of averaging thirty plus.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Only person to do that.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
In shoot fifty percent Michael Jordan has some great company
to be in, and so all of a sudden it's
kind of like, well, you guys tell me defense wins championships.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Okay check.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
You guys tell me you got to have one of
the best players on your team usually to win. Okay check.
You got an MVP Kennate likely MVP. You know, we're energetic.
You tell me you gotta have a bench, you gotta
be able to play you know, eight, nine, ten deep?
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Okay check?
Speaker 1 (15:07):
And I think that is and you got to an
end a potential soon to be defensive player in the
year and check homegram who will be a defensive player
of the year at some point? He plays that great
And you I'm just sitting or thinking to all of it,
including myself. Is it just that obviously we're just trying
to find something else?
Speaker 3 (15:24):
That's why I think we are. I mean, I just
don't like him.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
They don't have enough many you know names we know
or this, They don't have superstars SGA. That's it. Is
it just because they were judging them because it's Oklahoma City.
It's not Chicago, New York, LA.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
And it's not Oklahoma City with hardened West Westbrook that
that one we could buy into it.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Man to the finals, you go, oh, man, look at it.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
When we knew that were young, and if there's not
a foul in that, what was the game too or
whatever at the end of rant got fouled wasn't called.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Uh, maybe it's a difference.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Maybe maybe we didn't think we all or if Harden
sticks around because we thought maybe.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
Right, but but it didn't happen. But we were more
apt to see that and look at it because you
knew Kevin Durant was already like gonna be one of
those players and then the other two guys. Harden was
fantastic off the bench, if you remember, not in the final,
the finals, but the rest of the way he was.
And that's where the whole hard in the playoffs becomes
like because because he was tremendous like he was leading
(16:22):
up to the final, Man was this dude exactly, That's exactly.
I remember, like one of my wife is he on
the bench because he was man off.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
The right years.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
But but now you know, I think there comes a
point where you have to just be like stop, stop
looking for excuses not to like okay c or not
to buy in and I'm not saying they won the
NBA Finals by beating Memphis by fifty one.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
I thought what we were saying, but why can't it be? Okay?
Speaker 4 (16:57):
See why they've They've done nothing for us to believe
that it can't be. Why can't O k C come
out of the West you beginve me to I want
somebody tell me what other than just saying, oh, well,
they don't have enough experience? Other than that, what do
you have when you look at it affrontively? It's not
an issue. Offensively is not an issue.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
What is it?
Speaker 1 (17:17):
It's the big coach word issue. Nope's have a really
good coach. It's the E word experience. The only thing
why I will knock what we typically say. Typically we
say you got to go through the bumps to bruises,
you gotta go through your lumps. And I agree with that.
Here's the difference, Rob. The difference is when you let's
go back to the eighties Celtics. They had to get
(17:40):
through the doctor JS the seventy six ers. We don't
talk about those seventy six ers teams enough. In the eighties,
Celtics had to beat them up, they had to get
roughed up both. They went back and forth, then they
started to become the team in the East. Then the
Pistons had to beat up and finally beat the Celtics
after taking their lumps, their bruises, barns, sails up ball.
We had to go through all that. Then the Chicago
Bulls had to get through the Pistons. Well, the difference,
(18:03):
I think why okay See is probably saying, hello, who
do we have to get through? This isn't twenty fifteen, sixteen, seventeen,
eighteen nineteen Warriors.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
You get what I mean. There's no team that they
have to get through. Denver is not the Denver of old.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
The Lakers aren't walking around with Ad and Lebron in
the bubble. So I think one thing we keep saying,
I'm including myself is all. But they gotta go through
the bumps and bruises. They gotta get their lumps. But
okay See is saying from who. Their margin of victory
throughout the season was like I think ten points or something.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
They were they were destroying people.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
They won sixty eight games and rob when you start
to look at the teams historically have won sixty eight
games or more, well, it bowls well for them. You
go all the way back to the seventy two to
seventy three Celtics. They lost in the Eastern Conferce Finals,
but at least they made it to Eastern Converce Finals.
But after that, sixty six, sixty seven, seventy sixty won
the finals, ninety six to ninety seven Bulls, we know
(18:58):
what they did, won the finals. By the ninety ninety
six Bulls won seventy two games, won the finals. Seventy
one seventy two Lakers won the finals. And the only
one is Golden State Warriors. And they got to the
finals and lost in seven games up three to one,
and right had a major chokeren so they should have
won the finals. So on paper, everything says great defense
won sixty eight games. Historically, that means typically you go
(19:20):
to the finals and win it. Got an MVP candidate,
blew everybody out all season long. There is no Bohemoth
in the Western Conference. We got to get through. There's
no Old Warriors team, no Denver, no you know, Kobe Shaq, Lakers.
Why can't it be us? And I think that's how
they feel and justifiably so.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
It is amazing when you think about OKC and the
journey that they've been on, because it has been almost
from the word go and they just haven't let up.
At one point, people thought that they might get to
that plateau, will win seventy two or game like they
(19:59):
were really he had a shot at making that happen,
and it didn't happen. But they are one of the
best teams we've seen in a while, without a doubt.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
And again that's why if you're them, you're sitting here
thinking what are they? You know, I think they're quiet, like,
all right, that's cool, And they've been a collective the
whole season. SGA wins the game forty some points and
they go to do the interview. He's got all of
his teammates there. They're barking their dogs, they're all excited.
They've just been a great group. And I think this
is what's good for the league, you know what I mean.
(20:28):
You got a budding star in Jalen Williams, got a
superstar in Sga. Chet looks like he's gonna be a
really really good player in his league for the next
seven eight years long as he stays healthy. They got
a bunch of guys on their bench, and I think
that's good man. And again I think it's good for
the league. That's why I was saying, when we had
the conversation last week, how do we feel about the
state of the NBA heading into the postseason? I was saying,
(20:48):
if you get these young member, I said this, you
get these young stars to show up, and Edwards showed up,
looked great. Okay, see, they did exactly what they were
supposed to do. And also you get a good mixture
of Steph having a great game and doing things like
this is kind of what you want, whereas a battle,
you know, fighting between the old garden and changing of
the garden. These young guys and okase you're saying, uh,
(21:10):
I know there were some literal college teams in March
Madness that were older than us.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
Literally don't sleep on us. And I think, get out of.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Your pajamas, get out the bed, lift off the eyemass thing,
and let's go, is what they're saying. Sorry, No, it's
it's hard to gotta respond. You can't get you can't
beat getting your ankles messed up.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
And I know it's a seven game series and we're
not crowning anybody after one.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
Game, and they can lose a game, and they can
lose the next game. But but but the idea is
just that you said it. From from wired to wired.
They've just been this good. They've been this good.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
When you talk about them, just be honest like they
they haven't been bad. They've been good, very good. And
when somebody talks about defensively, that defense is what that's
effort you have to put into that offense. To a
right offense, shots can come and fall, and sometimes they
don't fall in your favor. All kinds of stuff can happen,
(22:08):
but you have to roll your sleeves up and really
want to play defensively, and for a first game where
all this stuff and all this talk about, okay, see,
I was overly impressed to put that kind of win
in the books.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
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Speaker 1 (22:35):
So Nico Harrison, who has been obviously in the news
for quite some time with all of this Luca and
the trade and keeps having to answer questions in an
exit interview basically in the season for the MAVs, he
had something to say when I asked about Luca.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Let's listen, I didn't.
Speaker 5 (22:52):
Know that Luca was important to the to the fan base.
I didn't quite know it to what level. But really
the way we looked at it is, you know, if
you're putting on the if you're putting the team on
the floor, that's Kyrie, Clay PJ, Anthony Davis and Lively.
We feel that's a championship caliber team and we would
(23:13):
have been winning at a high level and that would
acquieted some of the outrage. Uh And so unfortunately we
weren't able to do that, so it just continued to
you know, go on and on.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
There comes a time when you should just just stop,
do you know what I mean? Like seriously, like just
stop with the just just you gotta stop. Like like
I get I get part of what he's saying, and
not that that Luca's been the five time first Team
All NBA. Okay five times, so let's not act like, uh,
(23:45):
he wasn't a great players, the international star and all that.
But what I will say it has taken on a
life of its own. And that happened sometimes in depth,
like somebody was like like popular, right, and then all
of a sudden he goes like to the stratosphere.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
If you would think Nsey Hustle was the greatest rapper
of all time. He was phenomenal, had a you know,
he was a great human. But like the death added
to it as far as you know, the popularity. I
remember covering it and people were like, I didn't know
him until.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
This right now, and now all of a sudden, do
you understand what I'm saying? So and I'm not saying
like nobody knew Luca he wasn't a good player or whatever,
but it it it was so and I said this
to you earlier, so shocking, like so shocking of a trade.
It was so shocking when the news came out that
(24:36):
most people, what did they do? They didn't even believe
the reports they had that day. Sham's account has been hacked.
There's no way that this happen. It's an April fool's joke.
What are you talking?
Speaker 3 (24:50):
You know what I mean? Like that, That's what it
was like, because nobody had ever.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
Seen that, not a not a player twenty five years
old who would accomplished all these things being traded? Yeah, right,
And so that's what I think heighten this whole thing.
Not that they weren't all into Luca, because they were,
but this has pushed him over the top. It's not
like Luca won a championship or or took it at
(25:16):
three straight championships and you know, and then you'll be like,
what you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (25:21):
I think the issue I still it was still flabbergasting
for a couple of reasons. One, there was no First
of all, he's twenty five. That's the main part. He
wasn't thirty one, thirty two where we've seen twenty five
is so and that's why it's shocking in his trade
because how young he is. Secondly, it's because there was
no inkling, like he hasn't whispered about I wouldn't mind
playing somewhere. He hasn't talked about I don't really like
(25:43):
being here and this and that, and so it made
all of us kind of like, whoa wait, where did
that come from? He's closing on the house. So that's
what made it strange was it was absolutely out the blue.
And again we'll always be feeling like maybe he could
have got some more. But I go back to Nico
in this, if you felt for whatever reasons you had
to make this trade, which again I don't agree with,
But if that's what you felt like you had to do,
(26:04):
then fine. But at a certain point you don't have
to keep answering questions about it, like move on, because
now it continues to make you look incompetent. And I'm
not saying that he is, although that move would make
you think that he is. But just say, oh, I
didn't know that the fans loved him like that?
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Excuse me?
Speaker 1 (26:22):
That is kind of part of your job is to
be well informed and well in tune with your team,
your organization, your connection to the community. To note, well,
I ain't know they was. That's like trading twenty five
year old Kobe Bryant. I mean, like, well, I ain't
know they was gonna be that man. I traded Kobe?
Speaker 3 (26:37):
Like what? I agree?
Speaker 1 (26:40):
So just do you not have to say you it's
okay to not say anything. Hey man, listen, the fans
have a right. We know they're mad. We're gonna earn
their trust back. We're gonna win and they'll be happy.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
I believe it was. We get it.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
He was a five time off Scot Fek. This guy
is an international star. We made a a unorthodox moved
that you just don't see that often, you know what
I mean. And we did what we thought was going
to be great for us. That's what we did and
it and it wind up the reaction from the fans.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
I get it. When you trade such a talent and
just leave it at that.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
You can't sell me alloud. Oh, I ain't know they
was gonna be that mad Rob. You just literally can't
say that, like you cannot say that because that just
he's Luca.
Speaker 4 (27:26):
That's why I said, sometimes you're better off not saying anything.
And I guess no, I get it, you have to
make a comment, but but that's not the right comment.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
You traded yo, kics.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Well, shoot, I ain't know they was gonna be that
man you traded sga Oh, I ain't know they was
gonna be that man.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Like it.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
This is why it just keeps getting worse. So at
some point it's okay to say, look, you know, we
have to move on. And I know this is a
sensitive subject. I know people are said, but we have
we made a decision. We're gonna stick by it. We
have to move on and we believe things will work
out when our guys are healthy. You know, when we
get a D healthy, I mean obviously playing, but we
get a the healthy, we get Kyrie back, just sa
(28:02):
bounce back next year.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
This isn't our full game plan. We can't be judged here.
There's no way you can say that out loud, right,
But but you know what I mean, like like like
the idea that you could put that out there and
think people aren't going to push back on you, or
people aren't gonna look at you and.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Go what even even people who may have supported you
would be like.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
But but there was a question though, I did want
to ask you real quick. U. A reporter asked him
why should why should you be fired?
Speaker 3 (28:30):
Or something? Or how? What was it?
Speaker 4 (28:33):
Why shouldn't you Why shouldn't you be fired? Is what
they said, And I don't know if it was. The
question should have been more like after making that trade
and the reaction that you've gotten from the fan base
and whatever, like what to me, the question would be,
(28:56):
do you expect to keep your job?
Speaker 3 (28:59):
Is your job? I'm safe? Is? Yeah? You got it? Yeah? Okay,
here it is? Why shouldn't you be fired?
Speaker 1 (29:06):
One?
Speaker 5 (29:06):
I think I've done a really good job here and
I don't think I can be judged by the injuries
this year. You have to judge from totality from beginning
to end. And so I think I have a really
good working relationship with Patrick. I think you had in Rick.
The leadership that we have is really elite. And you'll
see next year when our team comes back, we're going
to be competing for a championship.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
I get what you're Sayingbody the question, with a move
like this, does it warrant being fired?
Speaker 3 (29:35):
See?
Speaker 4 (29:36):
But I think it's more about because he didn't make
the move by itself. So my point is my point
would be from from the uh, the ownership, you know
what I mean, Like you made this trade, Uh, the
reaction has been really bad. Have you been given a
guarantee by ownership that you won't be fired or that
(29:59):
you're secure?
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Do you see what I'm saying. Do you feel like your.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Your job security is secure here after this trade or
something of that ilk I think would be more, But
you have to bring into it ownership. It can't be
just him because you can't make a trade, because you
can't just make a trade by yourself.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
I totally agree, you see what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
We all have let the ownership off the hook some
because you're not trading Luca, and and you need to
have these conversations, and we keep talking about Nico, and
you and I have talked about it.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
Well, I'm keeping it.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Trading Luca without ownership going who were doing what we're doing?
Speaker 3 (30:39):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Approval or coming to him. Hey man, we're not paying
this three fifty for him. You want to get what
make some calls make a deal because that you're not
not him.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
And that's the only point that I think is as
unrealistic is that people think he woke up one day
and just decided to trade Luca, like like, oh, he
did it, And ownership said, oh what happened? We didn't
even what you traded. I didn't even know till I
saw the shaands support.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Come on, man, you already know that they knew.
Thanks for listening to the best of the Odd Couple podcasts.
Be sure to check us out live every weekday from
four to seven pm Pacific seven to ten pm Eastern
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
You're listening to the best of the Odd Couple.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
There was a big moment Saturday in Los Angeles, pending
on how your perspective.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
Well, I mean, it was Luca's first game with right
in the Lakers playoff game. I mean, and it didn't
go quite as well as people thought it was gonna go.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
And uh, you're a Timberwolves fan, yes.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
I mean where just the Lakers got rolled. I mean,
they really got rolled. Nobody can deny it. You can't
sugarcoat it. The Lakers said it, everybody watching said it.
No energy, people wide open taking shots, just not the
stuff like you know, you can sit around and go
wall and they're not gonna shoot like that.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Well, they're gonna have a better shot at shooting. You
know this.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
In the NBA, you don't get clean looks, right, that's
the whole point of the league. That you gotta make
shots with people in your face and hands up and
all that. You got these guys who are trained professionals,
and you're gonna get to let them get open looks.
Good luck, good luck going forward? Where you where are
you on the Lakers? After that game?
Speaker 1 (01:26):
You remember Movie Friday when Debo rolled up on Red
and snatched his bike and his chain and all that,
and he said, my mama gave me that chain. Later
when he got it back, Debo rolled up on the
blog and by Deebo, I mean the Minnesota Timberwolves who
realized everybody wants the Lakers to win. Everybody's picking the Lakers.
The Laker's supposed to get to I heard Robin Kelvin
talking about is it a failure if the Lakers don't
(01:46):
make it to the finals? They heard that, And remember
this is the same team that got beat down by
Luca last year, so that's also on their back of
their brain.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Luca took advantage of us.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Luca gave us the business last year in the postseason,
and they came in to Lakers at home. The Lakers
had a week off. Rumors are out there, Reports are
out there that they weren't scrimmaging enough and that jj
Reddick Jenna wishes they would have scrimmaged more. And they
forgot the physicality that are about to come in town
with the Timberwolves and Edwards. That's why people love him.
He's not even have the greatest game, but he brought
(02:19):
that attitude. He's taking it to Luca. He's doing the
ant Man, the Spider Man in his face. He's face
guarding Lebron like he was a defensive back going in
the NFL draft.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
I mean they brought the energy.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Julius Randall began on the glass, go bare, and so
many other other bench players or their role players that
you often kind of ignore, but they actually played well.
I mean Jay McDaniel's going ballistic out there like he
was Steph Curry, but also playing great defense. The Lakers
got pumped. The Lakers forgot what it took to win.
They just thought, Hey, where the Lakers. We got Luca
and Lebron and and Luca. This is my issue Rob
(02:55):
Luca's points And this is the first time I've ever
said this, but I'm using a you Oh, we're for gazy.
They were for games. Luca's points were for game. What
I mean by that is Luca can wake up and
put thirty right, that's just matural yep. I don't care
just simply about that. What I need from you is
(03:16):
to also find other ways to win. Can I get
you diving on the floor. Can I get you filing
a timber with hard and looking at your team and
say let's go.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
He's a hard five.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
That's a big boy file one of them, follow An
Edwards and look at your team and say let's go.
Snap out of it like it's no longer. The expectations
are different now that you're with the Lakers. You're also
playing with Lebron Allston reasons playing well, and all eyes
are on you. So I need you to wake the
team up. It isn't just always with scoring. There's other
ways to do that. Like I said, it's giving that
for this diving on the floor, it's cussing the teammate out,
(03:50):
it's drawing a charge. And I need you as the
leader also Lebron too. I'm not excusing him, but to me,
that's what's this one is not just points. And I
think Luca is going too slowly as he continues to become,
you know, a pro and veteran in the leader realize
you can affect games more than just your points or
more than just your stat line. And I think Ed
Edwards was a great example of that. Like you mentioned,
(04:12):
he'd had the greatest scoring out of his life. But
what he also had was energy effort on the defensive end,
talking smack to the crowd, getting his teammates into it,
drawing files, drawing charges, getting in Luca's face, getting in
Lebron's face. That stuff energizes your team, man, And so
I love seeing that from him.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
And I think the Lakers got a little wake up call.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Just because your shirt says Lakers, just because you have
arguably the best offensive player in the league and one
of the greatest players of all the league time in
the league, that does not mean just a guarantee win
at all.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
In fact, no, and I think you're right, And anybody
could say, oh, we don't pay attention to all that stuff.
It was all about forget about the Lakers beating the Timberwolves,
about going to the finals, Yes right, everybody in Oh yeah,
Laker Luca, all you need is lo Lukah and Lebron, Man,
you go on to the finals?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Are you kidding?
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Me.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
It's the playoffs. This is the player.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Everybody has to show up, even your eighth nineteenth man,
because if I give Lukey and Lebron sixty points, you
still gotta get about another fifty.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
You know, you still got to lock another team up.
Where is this coming from?
Speaker 1 (05:16):
In Minnesota, they had a great game plan, like they
did against Denver last year. Remember, and again it ended
up being a really good series. But they had a
good game plan, and they can't. I told I was
telling Brandon here, He's like, oh, I said, man, it's
the energy of Minnesota that would worry me if I
were a Laker fan.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
The energy.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
It's not that they're necessarily the Lakers are still very skilled,
but certain teams play no hos bar from zero minutes
to forty eight minutes. I'm going hard. I'm gonna play hey,
and if you win, you win. I'll shake your hand.
But you don't have to worry about effort. And Lakers
came out a little lethargic second and third quarter and
gave up seventy three points between the second and third quarter.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Right because they were up what is it eight? Yep,
And they were up eight after the first quarter. So
you had to feel like, okay, you know what I.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Mean another day, well, Crypto.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
And then you got these younger guys on Minnesota and
you talked about it. The physicality of it is a difference,
and you better be ready for that for game two
and understand that it's no joke. Like like, Minnesota's already
accomplished what they wanted, what was their dream to split
in La.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
They already got that they could go for the juggular.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Let's just go all out, and you know, and is
he ain't the type of guy that's going to just
be like happy, Oh, we at least we tried.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
He's like, why not us? Why can't we win? Exactly?
Speaker 1 (06:34):
You know, And now finding out from the Lakers, I'm saying,
all right, again, McDaniels ain't going I think it was
eleven or thirteen or something crazy.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
One, that's what it was. Yeah, he's not doing that again.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Lebron is not going to be that only giving me
nineteen points and just not really only five. More importantly
for Lebron, it be differently gave you nineteen and fifteen
a sists. Lebron can't give me nineteen points and three assists.
That is absolutely illegal. That cannot happen at all. So
to me, Lebron's gonna have to wake up. Lebron is
gonna have to he owes the team one with that
(07:07):
for performance for sure.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
And so again I look at.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
This team and I say that was the wake up
call that just because you have purple and gold jersey,
just because you have King James and you have Luca,
the Minnesota Timberwolves are not going to fold. And now
JJ Reddick, let's see how you respond. What do you
cook up? Lebron? I know you can't get you, you
know every night at this age, but you had a
(07:29):
night off in meeting even though you were playing. You
might as well count it as a night off. You
got to show up. And again, Luca, I need a
little bit more in the tangibles, more so than just
simply scoring.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
And if you're in Minnesota, you can't tell me you're
not sky high. You didn't just squeak out a win
or got loved. You smacked them up and everybody took notice.
And don't forget this was a team that upset Denver
last year. I know it's not exactly the same team,
but they've been through some wars. You remember that they
won the first two games, if I remember correctly, and
(08:01):
then they wind up and they wind up going home
and losing two out of three, and it looked like
and then it was three to three, and then they
beat Denver in Denver to win this series. So this
is a team led by Aunt that has been through that,
and there's no way they don't feel confident or feel
good about where they are.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
And remember too, Minnesota has been playing really good basketball
at the end of the season because for a while
two thirds of the season they were underachieving. You're disappointed
in what they were doing. You thought they'd be better,
and then they fill, off of a sudden, they found
their way and the last stretch of the game them
will totally exclude Oklahoma City Thune, we know that, but
(08:40):
also the Clippers, uh Anyana Pacers. They've been a handful
of teams who all of a sudden were playing some
really good basketball the last, you know, stretch of the season,
and they are one of those teams for sure. But yeah,
if you're Lakers, all right, wake up call, get smacked
up at home. Aunt talking smack. I mean, there's some
videos of him going crazy in the crowd. I won't
(09:01):
say what he said. I'll say one portion talking smack
with the Laker fans. He goes, man, I'm worth two
hundred million. I'm worth two hundred million, and Rudy Gobert
goes to him, no, no, no, three, you're three. And then
he goes, oh, I'm worth three hundred million. And then
he goes, my main reason is larger than yeah, And
he just said that to the crowd, and I was like,
and everybody and the people, the fans were like, I'm
(09:22):
a Laker fan.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
I can't lie.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
I like this guy like because he's just talking smack
and he's into it. And it was funny to see
even Laker fans like, all right, I kind of like
this guy, like, oh, he's into it.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
Eight seven, seven ninety nine on Fox eight seven seven
nine nine six sixty three sixty nine. A lot of
people it was all Laker heavy before Game one. Forget
about Minnesota. It was about going to the championship. And
I'm not saying one game one home loss derails everything,
but I just wonder if people don't feel as good
(09:55):
when you see some of the issues that you know,
you were talking about defensively and letting all these open
shots and different things that need to be cleaned up.
Otherwise you'll wind up being going home sooner than later.
And that would be a that would be a big shot.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
I think the Lakers are fine, but I think they
needed that get punching them out Deebo Snatcher chain in
your own house moment. It's like, oh yeah, this ain't
gonna be easy. Just because my name is Lebron, just
because my name is Luca and we we wear Laker jerseys.
You gotta bring it, you gotta play. And I think
that was the reminder they needed.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Odd Couple
with Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington weekdays at seven pm Eastern,
four pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Our number three already unbelievable on a Magic City Monday,
Rob Parker, Kelvin Washington. Expro Express Employment Professionals can provide
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(11:02):
Visit expresspros dot com. That's expresspros dot com, and don't
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If you missed any of today's show, be sure to
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Speaker 3 (11:21):
We're worth it. That's right again.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
Just search Odd Couple wherever you get your podcasts, and
you'll find today's show and the best of version posted
right after.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
We get off the air.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Don't forget uh last calls coming up as well in
case you missed out on some of the other topics
we're talking about, and a couple of things.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
That's going around.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
Six four to Cleveland. The Knicks are losing to Detroit
sixty two fifty.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Three, So weird call. They're looking at this relat seven
minutes to go? What is its deal? On a fast break?
Speaker 1 (12:00):
K throws an alley to a sure Thompson and he
gets figus undercut and he just tips it in in
the air. But they're like reviewing if the file ever?
Is it a clear path file? Is it a you'll
see it? I guess because technically he was ahead of
the player, Like this is a weird like it's usually
just a given, Like okay, he got filed. He made
the basket, but they're saying, was it a clear path?
Even though he already jumped this. It's a weird call.
(12:22):
You know, us watching the TV with no volumes, I
don't understand what. I don't know what the what they're
looking at, like okay, boom file layup and one, what's
the big deal?
Speaker 3 (12:30):
A good game there though.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Yeah, we got some some NBA action, got the the
Clippers coming up little later, Nuggets as well.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Yeah, so a lot of action on this Monday night.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
NBA playoffs or underway, and probably of we talked about
with Eddie Howse. Yeah, all the games that we got
to see over the weekend. I mean it was hard
not to look at that OKC score, see that they
won by what fifty one look real and not say
(13:02):
oh my goodness, like like like, okay, we've been talking
about them, people been discounting them, picking everybody but their
uncle to get to the NBA Finals and not them
because a while the two Eddie House brought it up
earlier as well. Defensively across the board, they've been all year,
all year. This is not new hat, this is not new.
(13:24):
This is this is real, Like like stop saying it
ain't real it's real. And they didn't play around with Memphis?
Did they Did they play around with Memphis?
Speaker 3 (13:41):
No?
Speaker 2 (13:42):
They did not.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
I mean I looked at the score was confused and
at the first quarter, so I was like, wait, what
am I looking at?
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Like? Is this real?
Speaker 4 (13:49):
And that is a statement game? I don't get anybody says, right,
that's a statement game. Hello, look at us. We're loud,
we're proud, We're not playing around.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
We are are that good? We are that good? I think, Uh,
what'd you come away with? Because I was in I think.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Sometimes things are so obvious to sitting in your face
and you still go, nah, that can't be it. Okay,
see all year long, and it started last year when
they were good and we were like, oh, there, too
young to to this, chat it and healthy, blah blah blah.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
They'll be this, they'll be that.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
And they got knocked out of the playoffs and then
that could have been their bumps and bruises and lumps
that all they needed.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
We went through it. We got it.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
We have an MVP candidate probably gonna be MVP three
years in a row of averaging thirty plus.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Only person to do that.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
In shoot fifty percent Michael Jordan has some great company
to be in, and so all of a sudden it's
kind of like, well, you guys tell me defense wins championships.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Okay check.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
You guys tell me you got to have one of
the best players on your team usually to win. Okay check.
You got an MVP Kennate likely MVP. You know, we're energetic.
You tell me you gotta have a bench, you gotta
be able to play you know, eight, nine, ten deep?
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Okay check?
Speaker 1 (15:07):
And I think that is and you got to an
end a potential soon to be defensive player in the
year and check homegram who will be a defensive player
of the year at some point? He plays that great
And you I'm just sitting or thinking to all of it,
including myself. Is it just that obviously we're just trying
to find something else?
Speaker 3 (15:24):
That's why I think we are. I mean, I just
don't like him.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
They don't have enough many you know names we know
or this, They don't have superstars SGA. That's it. Is
it just because they were judging them because it's Oklahoma City.
It's not Chicago, New York, LA.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
And it's not Oklahoma City with hardened West Westbrook that
that one we could buy into it.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Man to the finals, you go, oh, man, look at it.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
When we knew that were young, and if there's not
a foul in that, what was the game too or
whatever at the end of rant got fouled wasn't called.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Uh, maybe it's a difference.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Maybe maybe we didn't think we all or if Harden
sticks around because we thought maybe.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
Right, but but it didn't happen. But we were more
apt to see that and look at it because you
knew Kevin Durant was already like gonna be one of
those players and then the other two guys. Harden was
fantastic off the bench, if you remember, not in the final,
the finals, but the rest of the way he was.
And that's where the whole hard in the playoffs becomes
like because because he was tremendous like he was leading
(16:22):
up to the final, Man was this dude exactly, That's exactly.
I remember, like one of my wife is he on
the bench because he was man off.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
The right years.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
But but now you know, I think there comes a
point where you have to just be like stop, stop
looking for excuses not to like okay c or not
to buy in and I'm not saying they won the
NBA Finals by beating Memphis by fifty one.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
I thought what we were saying, but why can't it be? Okay?
Speaker 4 (16:57):
See why they've They've done nothing for us to believe
that it can't be. Why can't O k C come
out of the West you beginve me to I want
somebody tell me what other than just saying, oh, well,
they don't have enough experience? Other than that, what do
you have when you look at it affrontively? It's not
an issue. Offensively is not an issue.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
What is it?
Speaker 1 (17:17):
It's the big coach word issue. Nope's have a really
good coach. It's the E word experience. The only thing
why I will knock what we typically say. Typically we
say you got to go through the bumps to bruises,
you gotta go through your lumps. And I agree with that.
Here's the difference, Rob. The difference is when you let's
go back to the eighties Celtics. They had to get
(17:40):
through the doctor JS the seventy six ers. We don't
talk about those seventy six ers teams enough. In the eighties,
Celtics had to beat them up, they had to get
roughed up both. They went back and forth, then they
started to become the team in the East. Then the
Pistons had to beat up and finally beat the Celtics
after taking their lumps, their bruises, barns, sails up ball.
We had to go through all that. Then the Chicago
Bulls had to get through the Pistons. Well, the difference,
(18:03):
I think why okay See is probably saying, hello, who
do we have to get through? This isn't twenty fifteen, sixteen, seventeen,
eighteen nineteen Warriors.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
You get what I mean. There's no team that they
have to get through. Denver is not the Denver of old.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
The Lakers aren't walking around with Ad and Lebron in
the bubble. So I think one thing we keep saying,
I'm including myself is all. But they gotta go through
the bumps and bruises. They gotta get their lumps. But
okay See is saying from who. Their margin of victory
throughout the season was like I think ten points or something.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
They were they were destroying people.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
They won sixty eight games and rob when you start
to look at the teams historically have won sixty eight
games or more, well, it bowls well for them. You
go all the way back to the seventy two to
seventy three Celtics. They lost in the Eastern Conferce Finals,
but at least they made it to Eastern Converce Finals.
But after that, sixty six, sixty seven, seventy sixty won
the finals, ninety six to ninety seven Bulls, we know
(18:58):
what they did, won the finals. By the ninety ninety
six Bulls won seventy two games, won the finals. Seventy
one seventy two Lakers won the finals. And the only
one is Golden State Warriors. And they got to the
finals and lost in seven games up three to one,
and right had a major chokeren so they should have
won the finals. So on paper, everything says great defense
won sixty eight games. Historically, that means typically you go
(19:20):
to the finals and win it. Got an MVP candidate,
blew everybody out all season long. There is no Bohemoth
in the Western Conference. We got to get through. There's
no Old Warriors team, no Denver, no you know, Kobe Shaq, Lakers.
Why can't it be us? And I think that's how
they feel and justifiably so.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
It is amazing when you think about OKC and the
journey that they've been on, because it has been almost
from the word go and they just haven't let up.
At one point, people thought that they might get to
that plateau, will win seventy two or game like they
(19:59):
were really he had a shot at making that happen,
and it didn't happen. But they are one of the
best teams we've seen in a while, without a doubt.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
And again that's why if you're them, you're sitting here
thinking what are they? You know, I think they're quiet, like,
all right, that's cool, And they've been a collective the
whole season. SGA wins the game forty some points and
they go to do the interview. He's got all of
his teammates there. They're barking their dogs, they're all excited.
They've just been a great group. And I think this
is what's good for the league, you know what I mean.
(20:28):
You got a budding star in Jalen Williams, got a
superstar in Sga. Chet looks like he's gonna be a
really really good player in his league for the next
seven eight years long as he stays healthy. They got
a bunch of guys on their bench, and I think
that's good man. And again I think it's good for
the league. That's why I was saying, when we had
the conversation last week, how do we feel about the
state of the NBA heading into the postseason? I was saying,
(20:48):
if you get these young member, I said this, you
get these young stars to show up, and Edwards showed up,
looked great. Okay, see, they did exactly what they were
supposed to do. And also you get a good mixture
of Steph having a great game and doing things like
this is kind of what you want, whereas a battle,
you know, fighting between the old garden and changing of
the garden. These young guys and okase you're saying, uh,
(21:10):
I know there were some literal college teams in March
Madness that were older than us.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
Literally don't sleep on us. And I think, get out of.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Your pajamas, get out the bed, lift off the eyemass thing,
and let's go, is what they're saying. Sorry, No, it's
it's hard to gotta respond. You can't get you can't
beat getting your ankles messed up.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
And I know it's a seven game series and we're
not crowning anybody after one.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
Game, and they can lose a game, and they can
lose the next game. But but but the idea is
just that you said it. From from wired to wired.
They've just been this good. They've been this good.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
When you talk about them, just be honest like they
they haven't been bad. They've been good, very good. And
when somebody talks about defensively, that defense is what that's
effort you have to put into that offense. To a
right offense, shots can come and fall, and sometimes they
don't fall in your favor. All kinds of stuff can happen,
(22:08):
but you have to roll your sleeves up and really
want to play defensively, and for a first game where
all this stuff and all this talk about, okay, see,
I was overly impressed to put that kind of win
in the books.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
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 1 (22:35):
So Nico Harrison, who has been obviously in the news
for quite some time with all of this Luca and
the trade and keeps having to answer questions in an
exit interview basically in the season for the MAVs, he
had something to say when I asked about Luca.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Let's listen, I didn't.
Speaker 5 (22:52):
Know that Luca was important to the to the fan base.
I didn't quite know it to what level. But really
the way we looked at it is, you know, if
you're putting on the if you're putting the team on
the floor, that's Kyrie, Clay PJ, Anthony Davis and Lively.
We feel that's a championship caliber team and we would
(23:13):
have been winning at a high level and that would
acquieted some of the outrage. Uh And so unfortunately we
weren't able to do that, so it just continued to
you know, go on and on.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
There comes a time when you should just just stop,
do you know what I mean? Like seriously, like just
stop with the just just you gotta stop. Like like
I get I get part of what he's saying, and
not that that Luca's been the five time first Team
All NBA. Okay five times, so let's not act like, uh,
(23:45):
he wasn't a great players, the international star and all that.
But what I will say it has taken on a
life of its own. And that happened sometimes in depth,
like somebody was like like popular, right, and then all
of a sudden he goes like to the stratosphere.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
If you would think Nsey Hustle was the greatest rapper
of all time. He was phenomenal, had a you know,
he was a great human. But like the death added
to it as far as you know, the popularity. I
remember covering it and people were like, I didn't know
him until.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
This right now, and now all of a sudden, do
you understand what I'm saying? So and I'm not saying
like nobody knew Luca he wasn't a good player or whatever,
but it it it was so and I said this
to you earlier, so shocking, like so shocking of a trade.
It was so shocking when the news came out that
(24:36):
most people, what did they do? They didn't even believe
the reports they had that day. Sham's account has been hacked.
There's no way that this happen. It's an April fool's joke.
What are you talking?
Speaker 3 (24:50):
You know what I mean? Like that, That's what it
was like, because nobody had ever.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
Seen that, not a not a player twenty five years
old who would accomplished all these things being traded? Yeah, right,
And so that's what I think heighten this whole thing.
Not that they weren't all into Luca, because they were,
but this has pushed him over the top. It's not
like Luca won a championship or or took it at
(25:16):
three straight championships and you know, and then you'll be like,
what you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (25:21):
I think the issue I still it was still flabbergasting
for a couple of reasons. One, there was no First
of all, he's twenty five. That's the main part. He
wasn't thirty one, thirty two where we've seen twenty five
is so and that's why it's shocking in his trade
because how young he is. Secondly, it's because there was
no inkling, like he hasn't whispered about I wouldn't mind
playing somewhere. He hasn't talked about I don't really like
(25:43):
being here and this and that, and so it made
all of us kind of like, whoa wait, where did
that come from? He's closing on the house. So that's
what made it strange was it was absolutely out the blue.
And again we'll always be feeling like maybe he could
have got some more. But I go back to Nico
in this, if you felt for whatever reasons you had
to make this trade, which again I don't agree with,
But if that's what you felt like you had to do,
(26:04):
then fine. But at a certain point you don't have
to keep answering questions about it, like move on, because
now it continues to make you look incompetent. And I'm
not saying that he is, although that move would make
you think that he is. But just say, oh, I
didn't know that the fans loved him like that?
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Excuse me?
Speaker 1 (26:22):
That is kind of part of your job is to
be well informed and well in tune with your team,
your organization, your connection to the community. To note, well,
I ain't know they was. That's like trading twenty five
year old Kobe Bryant. I mean, like, well, I ain't
know they was gonna be that man. I traded Kobe?
Speaker 3 (26:37):
Like what? I agree?
Speaker 1 (26:40):
So just do you not have to say you it's
okay to not say anything. Hey man, listen, the fans
have a right. We know they're mad. We're gonna earn
their trust back. We're gonna win and they'll be happy.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
I believe it was. We get it.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
He was a five time off Scot Fek. This guy
is an international star. We made a a unorthodox moved
that you just don't see that often, you know what
I mean. And we did what we thought was going
to be great for us. That's what we did and
it and it wind up the reaction from the fans.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
I get it. When you trade such a talent and
just leave it at that.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
You can't sell me alloud. Oh, I ain't know they
was gonna be that mad Rob. You just literally can't
say that, like you cannot say that because that just
he's Luca.
Speaker 4 (27:26):
That's why I said, sometimes you're better off not saying anything.
And I guess no, I get it, you have to
make a comment, but but that's not the right comment.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
You traded yo, kics.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Well, shoot, I ain't know they was gonna be that
man you traded sga Oh, I ain't know they was
gonna be that man.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Like it.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
This is why it just keeps getting worse. So at
some point it's okay to say, look, you know, we
have to move on. And I know this is a
sensitive subject. I know people are said, but we have
we made a decision. We're gonna stick by it. We
have to move on and we believe things will work
out when our guys are healthy. You know, when we
get a D healthy, I mean obviously playing, but we
get a the healthy, we get Kyrie back, just sa
(28:02):
bounce back next year.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
This isn't our full game plan. We can't be judged here.
There's no way you can say that out loud, right,
But but you know what I mean, like like like
the idea that you could put that out there and
think people aren't going to push back on you, or
people aren't gonna look at you and.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Go what even even people who may have supported you
would be like.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
But but there was a question though, I did want
to ask you real quick. U. A reporter asked him
why should why should you be fired?
Speaker 3 (28:30):
Or something? Or how? What was it?
Speaker 4 (28:33):
Why shouldn't you Why shouldn't you be fired? Is what
they said, And I don't know if it was. The
question should have been more like after making that trade
and the reaction that you've gotten from the fan base
and whatever, like what to me, the question would be,
(28:56):
do you expect to keep your job?
Speaker 3 (28:59):
Is your job? I'm safe? Is? Yeah? You got it? Yeah? Okay,
here it is? Why shouldn't you be fired?
Speaker 1 (29:06):
One?
Speaker 5 (29:06):
I think I've done a really good job here and
I don't think I can be judged by the injuries
this year. You have to judge from totality from beginning
to end. And so I think I have a really
good working relationship with Patrick. I think you had in Rick.
The leadership that we have is really elite. And you'll
see next year when our team comes back, we're going
to be competing for a championship.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
I get what you're Sayingbody the question, with a move
like this, does it warrant being fired?
Speaker 3 (29:35):
See?
Speaker 4 (29:36):
But I think it's more about because he didn't make
the move by itself. So my point is my point
would be from from the uh, the ownership, you know
what I mean, Like you made this trade, Uh, the
reaction has been really bad. Have you been given a
guarantee by ownership that you won't be fired or that
(29:59):
you're secure?
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Do you see what I'm saying. Do you feel like your.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Your job security is secure here after this trade or
something of that ilk I think would be more, But
you have to bring into it ownership. It can't be
just him because you can't make a trade, because you
can't just make a trade by yourself.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
I totally agree, you see what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
We all have let the ownership off the hook some
because you're not trading Luca, and and you need to
have these conversations, and we keep talking about Nico, and
you and I have talked about it.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
Well, I'm keeping it.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Trading Luca without ownership going who were doing what we're doing?
Speaker 3 (30:39):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Approval or coming to him. Hey man, we're not paying
this three fifty for him. You want to get what
make some calls make a deal because that you're not
not him.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
And that's the only point that I think is as
unrealistic is that people think he woke up one day
and just decided to trade Luca, like like, oh, he
did it, And ownership said, oh what happened? We didn't
even what you traded. I didn't even know till I
saw the shaands support.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Come on, man, you already know that they knew.
Hosts And Creators
kelvin washington
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