April 10, 2025 • 73 mins
Nick Wright breaks down Luka Doncic’s emotional return to Dallas and the Los Angeles Lakers statement win vs the Mavericks. Can anyone stop Luka, LeBron James, and the Lakers in a playoff series? Next, Nick reacts to Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors' "terrible loss" to the San Antonio Spurs and explains how it will impact their playoff seeding. Then, Nick weighs in on the Denver Nuggets cleaning house and what it means for Nikola Jokic’s future. Later, Nick makes his final predictions for the NBA playoff push. Finally, as always, Nick and Damonza answer your questions.
0:00 - Intro/Missed the Cut
4:02 – Luka’s revenge in Dallas
28:17 – Western Conference playoff possibilities
44:22 – Nuggets SHOCKING HC & GM firings
51:40 – Nick’s NBA player picks
53:24 – Reaction to Ja Morant’s grenade celebration
1:08:15 – Nick and Damonza answer listener questions
#Volume #Herd
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome in, What Drive with Think Right? Episode three point eighteen.
What a sports week man, What a night last night?
You know it's a big game with real emotions attached
when if you're watching the game, you didn't find out
(00:22):
until after the game was over with the postgame hugs. Wait.
Patrick Mahomes was courtside the entire time, and they didn't
show him once because they had to show the crowd,
and they had to show Luca, and they had to
show the Lakers and they celebrating Luca. They had to
show Nico Harrison with his Mama mentality, hiding in the tunnel,
(00:43):
surrounded by security in his own home stadium. They had
to show Mark Cuban. What a night? And then it
got even crazier after that. Oh my Warriors lose to
Devin Castle, Draymond's defensive Player of the Year. Push takes
a big hit if people are watching play in picture,
(01:05):
messed up play off picture, weird. All that plus our
NFC over unders plus in what missed the cut? Demons,
Welcome in. And I don't know if you are even
that aware. Do you know I'm aware what starts today?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I'm aware?
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Yeah, what starts today? My friend It's the Master's awful,
glorious sports on the pine straw and the patrons and
the dollar fifty egg salad sandwiches. I'm telling you right now.
You know, every once in a while, the sports gods
(01:49):
frown upon me because and I have to keep my
voice down on this because your mom, I think, is
twenty feet that way. But I'm in a bit of
a pickle, my friend. Here's the deal. Sunday, final day
(02:10):
of the NBA season, Clippers Warriors likely decides who the
Lakers Round one matchup is going to be. Who's in
the play in It is also Sunday at the Masters,
one of my favorite sports days of the year. It
is also my anniversary.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Yeah I was, Yeah, I was just the boy. Oh
boy you are.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
We have found ourselves boxed in a bit, however that
we will deal with that when we get to that.
In the meantime, I'll tell you right now the best
app in sports, the Masters app open loaded on the phone,
watching holes four, five, and six, keeping updated. One of
(03:00):
my favorite just just an unbelievable weekend that got started
on a Wednesday night with some unbelievable basketball. The other
thing they missed the cut Aaron Rodgers did not make
his big announcement in Pat McAfee's thing Shoudroorg Sanders visiting
Pittsburgh and Lebron's getting a Barbie. I don't totally get it.
He seems excited about it, seems dope. Whatever. Now, please like, rate, subscribe, review,
(03:22):
watch his live on YouTube, listen to the podcast feed.
This is what you should do right now. If you're
listening to this on audio, make sure you unsubscribe to
The low Post because that's gone. Subscribe to Zach's newpod,
The Zach Lowe Show, because I don't think he got
to carry over his subscribers. So subscribe to Zach Lowe's
(03:45):
new show. That's a different network, that's a different company.
But it's so great to have Zach low back for
the playoff push. And while you're doing that, go ahead
and subscribe to this show even if you watch it
on YouTube now demand's let's get to last night.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Yeah, very emotional game last night. It was Luca's first
time returning to Dallas since being traded. Originally, the fans
would super hyped to see him. Really, it seems like
a lot of fans are wearing the thank you for
everything in Slovenian shirts.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
They're cheering for him.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
I basically after every bucket, you know, they still got
the love for Luca. And then he torched them score
forty five points. What did you think of this whole game,
this whole situation.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Right, I was amazed by what Luca did. And one
of my go to beliefs in sports is a very
simple phrase, but it explains a lot, and that is
(04:47):
legendary players do legendary things. And Luca watching what I
thought was almost a too well produced pregame video, I
thought that was almost too well done because it really
(05:15):
hit home, if it hadn't already, how outrageous the trade was,
and how blind sighted Luca was by it, and how
great he was. I was wondering how they would approach it,
how they would approach this video. Would they include the
(05:37):
step back three over Rudy Gobert in the conference finals
to give them a a stranglehold on making their first
NBA finals since Dirk was there, since their championship in
eleven And the answer was, yeah, we're gonna do a
real tribute to Luca. As if this franchise didn't spend
the last six weeks calling him and out of shape
(05:59):
alcoholic that we couldn't trust with three hundred and fifty
million dollars. They did, and it really affected Luca. He's crying.
He so again. Up for those of us, I know,
I'm sure there's some people listening or watching that cry
(06:19):
all the time, and there's some people listening or watching
who never cry. I think most of us are probably in,
you know, the middle part of that bell curve where
we're not never ever criers, but we are incredibly rare criers.
Think back to the last time something affected you so
(06:40):
much that you were brought to tears in public, and
then think would you have been at your best professionally
ninety seconds later? I wouldn't have been.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
He was.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
He lit them on on fire from start to finish,
while dealing with the unbelievable and indescribable emotion that honestly,
almost no athlete in modern sports history has had to
deal with quite that. A guy that good, that young
(07:23):
in that sport, who didn't want to be traded, who
thought I'm going to be here forever, who gets the
rug pulled out from under him in the middle of
the night, and then has to deal with learning secondhand that, Oh,
(07:45):
evidently a lot of these people that I worked for
didn't believe in me, didn't like me, didn't trust me,
are totally fine with trashing me a nightonymously or on
the record, dealing with all of that. And then he
(08:08):
scores forty five, is the best player on the court,
thirty one in the first half, channels it all into
his individual greatness. That is as legendary as it as
you will ever see. And I saw the stat and
(08:29):
it's a great one that Luca becomes the first player
you'll like this demonse, the first player in more than
fifty years to score forty five plus points for a
team and then forty five plus points against that team
(08:52):
in the same season. And I'll tell you who the
guy was who did it before. But think about what
the needle you have to thread for that to happen.
You have to be good enough to where you have
multiple forty five point games. You also have to be
traded during the year. The last guy that did that,
(09:16):
the only guy to do that was Wilt. But Wilt
was a bit of a no mad's too strong, but
he moved around. He also was similarly to Luca, I
think unfairly maligned or not fully appreciated for how great
(09:40):
he truly was. But Wilt didn't get traded against his will.
Wilt didn't get blindsided by it. And for Luca to
be able to do that, and for the Lakers to
(10:05):
embrace him the way they have Lebron is you know,
cheering on the crowd when they're chanting Luca. Luca the
embrace with his teammates right after the introductions, everybody kind
of taking a step back and saying, this is Luca's moment.
(10:26):
If you're a vibes reader, the Lakers vibes are absolutely
off the charts right now. And you now can tick
tick tick your way through the Western Conference potential playoff teams,
and you are going to find that nobody has an
(10:50):
answer to this question, what defense can deal with that, dude?
And the answer is none of them. The Thunder with
their ten awesome wing defenders, Nope. The MAVs with all
(11:14):
of their sinners healthy in that size, Nope, Nobody when
he is dialed. The only player in the league who
has a similar offensive impact is Nikali Jokic, and Jokich's
(11:37):
second best player is dealing with a hamstring, and we
don't know if he's gonna come back, And Luca's second
best player is Lebron freaking James, And so I said
it last night, I will say it again. The Celtics
(12:01):
can beat the Lakers. I don't know that they will.
They can. I don't think anyone else can beat this
team as presently constituted four times in seven games, because
Luca going forty five, eight and six is not like,
(12:24):
oh man, when's he gonna do that again? Probably three
or four times in the playoffs. He already. And I'm
gonna risk messing up the internet here and I apologize,
but I'm gonna look this up on the fly because
this is one of my favorite stats, which is Luca,
who's again has not played seven full seasons fine players.
(12:52):
I have to find the fine totals from all games,
most games of combined seasons. There it is career four
thirty point playoff games NBA history, and the top of
the list is what you would expect. But what's going
to shock you is where Luca already is on it.
(13:15):
So top of the list, Jordan, Lebron, Jerry West, those
are the only people with even twenty of them. Okay,
next highest is Elgind Baylor, and Kevin Durant with fourteen,
So again, fourteen is fourth most in NBA history. Wilt
(13:36):
had thirteen, Kobe had thirteen, Shack had twelve. Kareem, who
played for twenty plus years and was the all timing scorer,
had nine. Luca's got eight. Luca has more career forty
point playoff games already than he is, the same number
(13:59):
as Steph. He has more than Dirk, he has more
than Bird, he has more than Berkley. He is more
than Kawhi, he is more than Joker, he has more
than Magic. He The only players in league history with
more than him are Kareem, Iverson, Harden, dream Shaq, Kobe,
(14:19):
Will Durant, Elgin, West Bron, Jordan. That's it. So Luca
dropping forty on your head like he did last night,
That's gonna happen a few times in the playoffs Lebron
thanks to Luca being there, being able to do exactly
what he did last night, which is I'm gonna go
(14:44):
at about half speed for three quarters and then I'm
gonna be the best player on the damn planet in
the fourth quarter on both ends of the court. That's
gonna be available to the Laker And what's going to
determine do the Lakers look like the best team in
(15:07):
the league or do they look like a team that
is slightly vulnerable. Is going to be do Dorian Finney, Smith,
Gabe Vincent Ruy, Hatchamora hit the wide open, spoon fed
(15:29):
threes that Luca is going to deliver to them, because
that's what they're going to live on. So the Lakers
are the most dangerous team in the NBA because of
that guy. And I think Demands might think I'm overstating
(15:50):
this a bit, and so I'm I'm I'm open to
the discussion on it before we get to the Anthony
Davis side of it, But go ahead.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Yeah, I mean, I think the Celtics are the most
dangerous team in the league, and then the Lakers fall
like shortly after that. I mean, we just obviously have
the death and we definitely have the defenders.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Said deal with Luka Doncic.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
I mean, obviously you're not gonna hold Luca at twenty fifteen,
fifteen whatever.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
But you know, so here is the.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Thing about that. So this, listen, the Celtics are unbelievable, unbelievable,
and the argument is a pretty clean one, which is
the Celtics played Luca in the finals last year and
they won. My counterpoint to that would be a relatively
(16:41):
simple one. Luca in those finals was twenty nine nine
and six, despite in those finals not being able to
hit threes twenty four percent from three after forty three
percent the previous line the round. The number that to
(17:03):
me is the most noteworthy on that Lucas stat line
is not the twenty nine points, but it's the only
five and a half assists a game, and that was
a symptom of not shooters. Well he had the shooters,
they just didn't hit shots. And so what happened in
(17:26):
those finals is Kyrie eight of twenty nine from three. PJ.
Washington six of twenty two from three. Derek Jones Junior
is again you can't really rely on him big time
for threes three of twelve from three. The team as
a whole thirty one percent from three. So I don't
(17:49):
know that we saw the Celtics cut Luca's water off.
What they did was and with their great defenders, make
the role player really struggle. But Kyrie in those finals
was nineteen three and five, and as I mentioned, twenty
(18:13):
seven percent from three. Lebron ain't doing that if you
guys match up and so again, I am not acting
like the Lakers deserve to be some big favorite. I
am not acting like the Celtics are not a deserving champion.
What I am saying is Luca gave you a little
glimpse last night of what playoff Luca looks like. And that,
(18:37):
alongside what appears to be for one of the only
times in his Lakers tenure, fingers crossed, two games left
a Lebron James that is going to be rested and
healthy going into the playoffs. Look Out, Now, Lebron was
(18:59):
healthy going into the twenty twenty playoffs they won the title.
Lebron was healthy going into the twenty three playoffs they
made it the conference finals.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
All right, we're saying he's healthy. Now, we'll hear nothing
about a groin later. You know things, well.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
I mean if he again, if he right, No, he
is healthy now. Now, guys can get hurtous, obviously, but
I'm but no, you're right that if he doesn't suffer
an injury and then you know what I mean, plays poorly,
you can't put it on injury. But that's The thing
is this, It simply doesn't happen. So like we have
(19:37):
twenty years of evidence that healthy Lebron doesn't play poorly
in the playoffs. All right, let's go to the other
side of this game.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
For a moment.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Yeah, I saw on the other side of it Anthony
Davis was playing his ex team as well. That doesn't
really seem to be making noise.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Well, so here's why I think, because it wasn't in
LA I think because nobody felt like I don't think
anybody felt like the Lakers betrayed Ad because it's just
a trade you have to make. I also think this
(20:14):
last night was a great example of why AD is
such a frustrating great player. And last night was also
a good example of the gap between all time great
and legend because Anthony Davis in that game, with the
(20:40):
Lakers not having a real sinner and him fully healthy,
you would have liked to see him be like, listen,
one way or another, I'm getting my thirty or at
least twenty five and putting my imprint on the game. Instead. Listen,
(21:03):
he was good defensively, and he had thirteen points. And
it's why AD is again as great as he is
a frustrating guy at times because he doesn't seem to
always have that extra gear that you would want and
(21:27):
the right He is not a guy that you can
just say, oh, the moment calls for it. Therefore, he's
going to be brilliant, at least on the offensive end. Now. Defensively,
everybody still brings up the Lakers free throw edge over
(21:48):
the last few years and all of these things. That's
an Anthony Davis stat not because he's drawing so many fouls,
but because he is and has been, and it's criminal.
This guy's gonna go his whole career without winning a
Defensive Player of the Year. But he has been the
(22:08):
best rim protector in the league for a half decade
plus now, and he can protect the rim without fouling,
which is what led to those free throw discrepancies. And
he was able to do a lot of that last night.
But thirteen points in that moment is just a bummer,
all right, But one other thing, Let's do one other
(22:31):
thing on Luca.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Luca's ejection on Tuesday. What are your what are your thoughts?
How do you feel about that?
Speaker 1 (22:37):
What are your thoughts on it?
Speaker 3 (22:40):
My thoughts on it are I do think that I
watched the show a little bit yesterday and something resonated
with me. I do think that Luka Doncic is he
needs to be available throughout games, and I think that
he should stop taking himself out with with the whole
winding and complaining about the call. I am not on
the ref side in that instant in that instance, but
(23:01):
I would like to see Luca stop yelling at the
refs and just get back on defense.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Occasionally it's like, come.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
On, man, Okay, that's a fair critique. It's also never
gonna happen, and so it's just like it's just he
has to play aggrieved. It also was such an outrageous
(23:29):
ejection and so easily fixable when you realized what had
happened that I Bruin Wilde's got mad at me, but
I said that I don't think that jt Or, the
ref who did it, should be refing playoff games if
that's the type of ref he is. I then read
(23:51):
this morning, jt Or, in his thirteen year career, has
refed a grand total of one playoff game. So it
looks like the league maybe already recognized that. But he
made it was let's say it again.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
He made it personal, and he made it personal.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
From the very beginning. When you tell Jared vander both
texts he gave Luca were totally unreasonable. One Luca's running
up court arguing not on his behalf, but on Vanderbilt's
behalf because Vanderbilt got hit in the face. He's not
in the ref's face, he's fifteen feet from him. Gives
him a tech, then tells Vanderbilt, I'll talk to anyone
(24:30):
but Luca. And the next one. Here's why I found
it so outrageous. It was not a reasonable misunderstanding because
Luca didn't get there was There was no potential foul
on the play. It's Luca had made the shot, Luke,
(24:51):
So the context of it is really important. Luca had
just come in from off the bench, so it's not
like he and the ref had been going back and forth,
you know, over the last few minutes. He had just
come back in the game. There was no contact whatsoever
(25:12):
on the shot. So it wasn't one of those I
made the shot, but I should have gotten an and
one bleep you for not giving it to me, which
you do see all the time.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Or maybe it was like few I hit the shot
like that's what the ref perceived it as, like he's
talking he's talking trash after he hits the shot, like
fu ref.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Basically, yeah, you better be damn certain who he's talking
to and what he's saying. If it's the fourth quarter
of a huge game and a guy already has one
technical and part of being in a fit in very
(25:52):
very kind of simple terms mixed metaphors a bit being
in a fit kind of like being a cop. We
give you a ton of power and we trust that
even if you have pulled me over a dozen times
(26:15):
before and each time I've said f you hate you,
bleep you, that when you walk to my car on
the thirteenth time, you are going to act with the
professionalism and demeanor of someone who's first meeting me. And
(26:40):
you might be like, that's unreasonable. That's the job. That
is the job. And you, when you have a disproportionate
power over another person, because you are the enforcer of
the rules, you have an obligation to leave your baggage
(27:04):
court side, and not everybody can do it. And so
if you were going.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
To go ahead, like how after Draymond gets a technical
and at how much leeway.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
He gets the opposite.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Yeah, like it takes a lot for him to get
that second technical and it was like a.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
No, and so it was. But whatever, I mean, the
Lakers got the worst case scenario would have been. And
I actually think for the Thunder, here's the part of
that ejection that sucks for the Thunder. The Thunder don't
feel great about that win. Now the the the and
(27:45):
the Thunder could have won that game. I don't know.
I don't think they were going to because you were
just about to get rested Luca down the stretch. But maybe.
But now the Thunder, like, man, they beat us in
our building. Bad. We then emptied the clip on him
in the first half. They clawed back, they're up one
(28:07):
and then Luca gets thrown out like so it was
just bad all around. All right, Let's go to the
rest of the Western Gonbertz playoffs.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
Oh yeah, so next time we have our next episode,
the regular season will be wrapped up and the top
seeds all the way down to the plane will be decided.
The funny little wrinkle is the Warriors just blew that
game to the Spurs last night. So are we potentially
looking at Lakers in Golden State playing in the first round.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
So I know this. The standings make it seem like
that because of last night is less likely. In reality,
because of last night, it's more likely. I'll explain that
in a moment, But first, let me talk about that
Warriors game. That's a terrible loss, and it had a
(28:55):
lot of the a lot of the warning signs of
bad Warriors losses from the past, most notably horrific turnovers
down the stretch. So if you weren't watching that game,
(29:16):
I want to just give you the play by pardon me,
the play by play of the last few minutes because
the war Let me actually back up a little bit more.
The Warriors were up big, up double digits early. The
Spurs then have a monster second quarter to take a
(29:40):
lead going into halftime, but that doesn't matter because the
Warriors beat the Spurs in the third quarter thirty seven
to twenty one, and they go into the final period
up a dozen. So it's a game you've got to have.
You're up a dozen on a Spurs team that you
(30:03):
know does not necessarily want to win, and despite that,
they find themselves in a dog fight tie game after
a castle three with five minutes remaining. And then this
is where you get to, in my opinion, the concern
(30:26):
points for the Warriors. Okay, so I'm pulling up the
play by play here. Once we get to all right,
two and a half minutes left, Spurs turn the ball over.
Warriors up one, Draymond Green bad pass turnover. They then
(30:49):
exchange buckets. Minute left Draymond Green, bad pass turnover, thirty
seconds left Steph Curry bad pass turnover. Sandwiched in the
middle of that, after a really good Draymond Green defensive
play and transition, Keldon Johnson goes right at Draymond, gets
(31:13):
a layup. Keldon Johnson then goes right at Draymond and
gets another layup for a guy who's doing a full
blown media blitz about how he's defensive Player of the Year.
That was a rough sequence, and all of a sudden,
they're down two, and then the Spurs screw up. The
(31:37):
Spurs are up too with five seconds left, and Harrison
Barnes panics and basically hugs Draymond. They've gotten the ball
out of Steph's hands. He fouls Draymond as if he
thought they had a foul to give. They didn't. You're
up to five seconds off, Draymond has the ball, you
(31:58):
foul him. He makes both. Credit Den for that. I
thought he was gonna miss one. He makes both, and
now you're staring at overtime. And then Harrison Barnes, former
Warrior champion, bangs home the three, and all of a sudden,
the Warriors now and now we can show the Western
(32:18):
Conference standings. Here's where we're at. The Lakers are forty
nine and thirty one with games against Houston and Portland remaining.
Win one and they lock in the three seed. So
the Lakers are going to be the three seed. Maybe
they beat Houston. If they don't beat Houston, they will
beat Portland in game eighty two that Portland doesn't want,
(32:41):
so they're locked. We now have very tricky setups. Denver
and the Clippers both forty eight and thirty two. Memphis
has three games left their forty seven and thirty two,
the Warriors forty seven and thirty three, and Minnesota forty
six and thirty three. So here's what the nut nut
(33:04):
of this really is. On the Warriors side of things,
Let's assume they're beating Portland. That gets them to forty
eight wins. If they beat the Clippers, I would then
(33:25):
expect the Warriors to end up the sixth seed and
playing the Lakers in Round one. The schedules for the
following teams are for the teams are as follows. Denver
has Memphis and then Houston. The Clippers have Sacramento and
(33:45):
then the Warriors. Memphis has Minnesota, then Denver, then Dallas,
Golden State, Portland and the Clippers and Minnesota at Memphis
and then Brooklyn in Utah. So Minnesota right now is
the eight, but they have two auto wins to end
(34:07):
the year. So if Minnesota wins tonight at Memphis, they
are going to finish forty nine and thirty three. It
is very, very difficult to handicap exactly what's going to happen.
What you can handicap is this, Denver has one super
(34:31):
meaningful game left against Memphis, the game at Houston. I
just wonder if Houston's gonna be sitting guys. My guess
is they will. The Clippers have won super meaningful game
left at the Warriors memph Memphis has two super meaningful
(34:54):
games left home for Minnesota at Denver and then obviously
the game that will likely determine, not likely definitively will
determine a huge amount in the Western Conference. Is Clippers
Warriors game eighty two, three point thirty Sunday afternoon, probably
(35:18):
on ABC. The loser of that game probably goes to
the play in. The winner of that game is going
to be either the I think well not is going
to be the four to the five or the six.
(35:40):
Here is the part that might surprise the audience. If
I'm the Lakers, I would rather play right now Golden
State then play the Clippers. I think that the Clippers,
(36:00):
with Kawhi having a week off between the playoffs because
of the play in and them playing so well right
now and Zubots being a real force when the Lakers
don't have a center, I think that is a tougher
(36:21):
matchup than a Golden State team that reminded you last night. Yeah,
we can beat anybody, but we can lose to anybody
in big spots, and so I it's almost impossible to
handicap how it's going to fall exactly. I know that
(36:46):
Minnesota right now is sick because Minnesota, if they didn't
blow that twenty six point lead to the Bucks night
before last, they're sitting there at forty seven and thirty
two with games against Brooklyn and Utah remaining, and they
are in great shape to get up to the four
(37:07):
five line. I'll tell you something else. The Warriors being
in the play in is devastating for them. You can
be like, oh, well, you know, as long as you
win your play in game, you get Houston, Houston fully rested.
(37:28):
That defense is not go ahead.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
Demanse, young and energetic.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
Yeah, that's not gonna be fun.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
You lose your play in game and all of a
sudden you find you find yourself in a one and done.
You'd win it, I would imagine, But now you're going
to Oklahoma City. And this is also where I remind
you the Warriors history in the play in is not great.
(38:05):
The Warriors in twenty twenty one lost two play in
games and missed the playoffs. And the Warriors last year
again in things that we just memory hole, we just
(38:28):
vacillate between the Warriors, are you know Steph is in
the goat conversation and disregarding the fact that last year
the Warriors in the play in lost to Sacramento. The
season was just over, lost to the Kings in a
one and done season over good night, good luck. So
(38:51):
the Warriors historically have played three play in games. Lebron
hit the three rim three over steph to beat him
in their first. The young upstart Grizzlies back when the
Grizzlies were fun beat them in the second one in
(39:12):
Golden State to knock them out of the playoffs. And
last year the Sacramento Kings beat them to knock him
out of the playoffs. And so again, like since Durant left,
the Warriors seasons have gone, missed the playoffs, missed the playoffs,
(39:37):
won the damn title, lost in round two to Lebron,
missed the playoffs, and now this year, if you froze
the standings right now, they're in the play in again.
And by the way, there is no team in the
league that wishes you could freeze the standings right now,
(40:01):
like the Lakers where they get Memphis in round one,
which is the dream. Denver and the Clippers and the
Thunder are all on the other side of the bracket,
and the Warriors have to play play in games. That
is the dream bracket. It almost It's not gonna stay
(40:25):
like this though, because these too many of these teams
play each other. But that is the standings as we
sit here today. By the way, for people watching live,
couple things. One is we appreciate you. Second is please like, rate, subscribe, review,
(40:46):
do all those things. It really does help us, and it,
you know, leads to us, you know, being doing more
of the kind of surprise shows or instant reaction shows.
They asked me yesterday, Paul texts me, He's like, hey,
you want to do a snap reaction right after the
game quick? And I was like, you know, I would,
(41:08):
but tonight was a bottle of wine night while I'm
watching the NBA, and I just don't. I just don't
think it's a good idea. But also, people watching live,
you can throw questions in the chat and we'll get
to him, get to him later. So there was gosh
darn it, oh there was something. Oh Edwin. Edwin in
(41:29):
the chat says, don't sleep on playoff Jimmy. So again,
this is where the producers are gonna get mad at me,
because this is where I do open up a bunch
of basketball reference pages and it might mess up my
internet a touch. Here is my only pushback. Anybody that's
watched the TV show over the last few years has
(41:50):
known no one has prayed at the altar of playoff
Jimmy more than me that I've said he's a different guy.
When they made the fine against the Nuggets, I did
a whole thing about how if he wins the title,
his resume versus James Harden's resume is one of the
(42:12):
more fun NBA Roars Shark tests of all time, all
of it. But I do think there is reasonable reason
for concern that the playoff Jimmy we are used to
might not be around this year. So here's what I mean.
(42:36):
In twenty twenty two, Jimmy Butler was twenty one six
and six in the regular season and then bumped that
in the playoffs to twenty seven, seven and five. So
he was a twenty two point a game guy who
(42:59):
bumped it up to twenty seven in the playoffs. The
next year, in the regular season he was twenty three
a game and an All NBA second teamer, and then
in the playoffs he bumped it to twenty seven a game.
Here's the point I'm making. Historically, playoff Jimmy means bump
(43:24):
my scoring average by about four points. This year, he's
a seventeen point a game guy, and he's with the
Warriors forty six percent from the field and twenty eight
percent from three. So even if you get the playoff,
(43:44):
Jimmy bump, he does not appear to be quite the
player he was when he would What Jimmy would do
is go from being a B plus guy to an
A guy. What if now that means he goes from
a B B B minus guy to a B plus guy.
(44:06):
That's a concern. So that that's my only pushback on that.
All right, let's get to the other big news of
the week before we do our NFL over unders for
the NFC go ahead.
Speaker 3 (44:20):
So right after our show on Tuesday, Denver they fired
their head coach, Mike or Michael Malone and Calvin Booth,
which is just really weird. They're they're in the playoffs.
It's a funny time. And then last night they got
the win. They took care of business against the Kings,
and Jokic had this to say post game. People said,
we are vulnerable, but I think the Beast is always
(44:40):
the strongest of the most dangerous when they are vulnerable.
So maybe Josh Kronk woke up the beast.
Speaker 1 (44:48):
Josh Crony, the owner of the team.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
But yeah, that's that's what's going on. In Denver right.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
Now, So listen. I I don't think it's a good
sign when you fire your coach.
Speaker 4 (45:03):
Now.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
It Also there's other reporting shocker that the GM and
some players were frustrated that Michael Malone kept playing Russell
Westbrook in big spots like man in a Tough Spot.
But I've seen that movie before. Because they won last night,
(45:30):
people I think are trying to convince themselves, oh, well,
maybe this was what the team needed. I don't buy
that at all. I'm not saying this was a disaster.
I'm not saying it's crazy to fire Michael Malone. What
I am saying is that they have and last night,
(45:51):
Daniel points out, is the first game since December fifth
that Westbrook played fewer than twenty minutes. Got it. But
what the Nuggets need, obviously is Jamal Murray to come
back from his injury. But what the Nuggets also need
that Jamal Murray coming back from his injury is not
(46:13):
going to have an impact on is to have a
passable defense, and they don't. So as great as Joe,
I watched that game last night because I had a
nice little Lakers Thunder Clippers Kings five and a half
(46:36):
to one parlay and the Lakers won. That is all
money line. The Clippers won against the Rockets backups the
thunder one despite playing their own backups because the Suns
have quit. And then I was like, all right, we'll
see how the Nuggets react to the firing. And the
Nuggets did react well to the firing, but they still
(46:58):
just can't guard anybody, and so I don't I don't
think I think they're scary because they have the best
player in the world. I don't think they're dangerous when
it comes to a deep playoff run. As far as Deman'
say what it means for Joker, they don't have a
(47:23):
ton of flexibility they can try to trade for Durant.
I think the only way that would happen would be
if Durant demanded to go there. Because they're not going
to have the best package they could go ahead.
Speaker 3 (47:37):
Yeah, I don't know what Jamal Murray's like contract situation is. Well,
shouldn't they just try and shop him get some assets
for Jamal Murray if that's possible.
Speaker 1 (47:45):
I don't know if his I mean, the contract situation
is a MAX deal that has not gone into effect yet, right,
And I think that they probably feel like the Jokich
Murray combo they want to keep together. It's Michael Porter
Junior that they would betray him and listen, I am
(48:07):
pretty confident that if they wanted to, they could get
Paul George. But that contract seems to be underwater. Yeah. Well,
but they just don't have a ton of flexibility. Like Daniels,
a resident Nuggets fan, hates the idea of Paul George.
I would call New Orleans over the summer about zion
(48:34):
I still you're It feels to me we have these
two multi time MVP, one time champion, one playoff appearance,
generational international superstar, top twenty all time guys, and Giannis
and Jokic and they've now both dealt with the coach firings.
(49:00):
The Nuggets are yet to make the panic trade. But
you do it because you don't want the guy to
ask out, and Jokic doesn't seem like he would ask out,
but it would be reasonable.
Speaker 3 (49:15):
Well from that, well, he said on the firing, he
knew a little bit before everybody, and he told me
we made a decision, so it was not a discussion.
It was a decision, and they told me why, so
I listened and I accepted it. So it's not like
them firing Michael Malone would have determined like it didn't
(49:36):
seem like he was tired of Michael Malone.
Speaker 1 (49:38):
So well, So listen, I don't I I think that
Jokic probably if he desperately wanted them to keep Malone,
think that kept him for the rest of the year.
But I don't blame Listen, he was there for ten years.
If they thought the message was stale or whatever, it's fine.
I have no issue with that piece of it. My
point is whether or not Jokic feels like this is
(50:00):
the best place for they're gonna give me the best
chance to win a championship, and whether or not the
cronkeys thriftiness in not keeping KCP costs us a chance
at winning this championship. Uh yeah, I mean death asks
in the chat, do you think the Nuggets fired him
alone because they were worried they might go on a
(50:21):
run which would make firing him harder. Later listen, the
owners said something along the lines of, sometimes you know
there's real issues and wins cover up those issues. I
I think that's silly, Like, what are we saying here
that the Nuggets were like worried they were gonna win
the championship and therefore not be able to fire the coach.
(50:43):
If they win the championship, you don't want to fire
the coach. They're saying they were worried that they were
gonna win a couple of rounds in the playoffs and
then not be able to fire the coach. Sure you can't.
The damn four seeding fired him three days for the
play three answer for the playoffs, Like, so, I don't
really buy that rationale. I do think that this is
a very interesting summer for Joker, and just is what
(51:07):
it is. It's a really interesting summer for Joker before
we get to the Jos stuff, and we might we
might do the NFC stuff next week. I know that
we said we're gonna do it today, but we might
have to do the NFC stuff next week, which kind
of might make more sense because next week during the
play INDs, there's not gonna be as much action to discuss.
(51:30):
But speaking of action, who's scoring big in the NBA
this season? You are with all the new ways to
get in on the action at DraftKings sportsbook and official
sports betting partner of the NBA. For Monster slams, dish
in the rock to cleaning the glass. Get behind your
favorite players and the prop bets you can make on DraftKings,
the home of NBA player props. Ready to play your
(51:52):
first bet? Try betting on something simple like picking how
many points your favorite player will have. Go to the
DraftKings sportsbook app and make your pick. Tuesday went one
on one, Tatum hit the over. Jimmy Butler, however, went under.
I was man. That's a frustrating one, but doesn't matter.
We move forward today. Caid Cunningham, how about over twenty
(52:16):
five and a half points? Josh hard Og and Anobi
Mitchell Robinson not expected to play, Cad. You know there's
a potential first round playoff matchup. Cad also trying to
push for maybe second team All NBA and then Tyrese
Haliburton over seventeen and a half points. Calves arresting some
(52:37):
people and Halliburton's been a twenty point per game guy
at home. Lines and odds subject to change, as always.
First time, here's something special just for you new DraftKings customers,
some of you guys watching right now. Bet five dollars,
get one hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets instantly.
Here's what you do. Take it to the rack with
(52:58):
DraftKings Sportsbook ever point counts. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app.
Use code right. That's code right for new customers to
get one hundred fifty dollars in bonus bets when you
bet just five bucks only on DraftKings. The Crown is yours.
Gambling problem call one eight hundred gambler in New York
(53:20):
call eight seven seven eight hope in why, or text
hope in why, which is four six seven three six nine.
In Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling call eight
eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or
visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of
(53:42):
Boothill Casino and Resort in Kansas twenty one plus age
in eligibility varies by jurisdiction void in Ontario. Bonus bets
expire one hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance. For
additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dk G dot
(54:02):
co slash b ball. Before we get to the listener
questions demands, let's talk about this job Morant.
Speaker 3 (54:12):
So obviously John Morants had the problems with the gun
celebrations in the league find him. I think it was
like seventy five thousand or something like that. So he
he debuted a new celebration and it's a it's a
grenade tossed into the crowd.
Speaker 2 (54:25):
How do we feel about that? Do we think the
league should deal with that?
Speaker 1 (54:30):
How do you feel about it?
Speaker 2 (54:32):
I hate feeling the way that I feel about it, honestly,
But uh, what do you mean?
Speaker 3 (54:39):
I just don't I don't like being exactly Yeah, I
don't like being a killer of fun and and all
that stuff. But it's just job Morant specifically and his history,
and it's like, uh, and like they're finding him. He's like,
all right, so now I'll throw a grenade. It's like, dude,
why are you being such a child.
Speaker 2 (54:54):
Dude. It's like, come on, dude, It's like, all right,
maybe I can get away with this like.
Speaker 1 (54:58):
A So so we feel almost the exact same way.
I think it's a sign of your own maturity that
you are not playing the false equivalence game other people
are doing. Hey, here's a compilation of folks doing gun celebrations.
Why is it different for joh I don't know. Man,
(55:21):
Let's pretend this happened, okay, because you know guys like
doing the ice in the vein this thing, well, that
is an illusion for being honest to shooting heroin.
Speaker 2 (55:34):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (55:35):
I don't know if everybody knows that, but like you
tap the vein. Okay, So let's say you have a
bunch of players that do that. But then old birdman
Chris Anderson. People remember him, Maybe they do, maybe they don't.
He got kicked out of the league for a year
because he was doing heroin. He was doing hard drugs.
(55:58):
I think it was heroin. I don't no, he had
the heroin tats. But the regardless if he you might
you gave me a funny like heroin tats. The weird
thing there's like.
Speaker 2 (56:14):
I knew Bourban was coming up as soon as this
whole thing. I knew Bourban was coming out.
Speaker 1 (56:18):
I didn't even know you knew who he was. He
was before your era.
Speaker 3 (56:23):
Yeah, I mean, I probably I knew he played for
the Nuggets. I feel like I've seen him with the Nuggets,
I mean.
Speaker 1 (56:30):
As well with Lebron. But okay, regardless, So if the
only guy in the league who's been suspended for hardcore
drugs comes out and starts doing this celebration all the time,
and the league is like a man chill. So then
he comes out and does a new one where he
(56:52):
ties off the vein and does like a fake injection.
We're like, oh, what's the problem, I'm getting vaccinated? What
guys like something? Not everything is the same for everyone.
Speaker 2 (57:09):
And you made your bed with that man.
Speaker 1 (57:13):
So here's so this is where So I think the
reason Demons said I hate feeling the way I feel
about this is because objectively, the video of Job doing
this is hilarious. We can all acknowledge that Ja that
(57:35):
the fact of the matter, that the timeline being this,
Jah does the gun celebration, the league says, don't do that.
He then does it three more times, so the league
finds him. He then hears Gilbert Renus and say he
(58:06):
should pretend to throw a grenade. Gilbertorenus, who by the way,
once brought a gun into a locker room, got in trouble,
but not huge trouble. And when he came back from
his suspension in the intros, did the Yosemite sam guns
(58:29):
in the air, and that is what got him in
huge trouble. That guy says, pretend to throw a grenade
and he does it. That's the timeline. But here's the
more important timeline. And by the way, Birdman did test
positive for drug use, but we don't know what drugs
(58:49):
it was. I guess in my head. I just always
thought it was heroin, but it could have been anything.
Don't sue us, Birdman, I also love him. Uh So
here's the timeline. Jahn Morant. He is the only NBA
player who has gotten in trouble for showing up on
(59:11):
Instagram live in a club with a gun. He is
the only NBA player who has gotten in trouble in
the NBA for showing up on a different Instagram live
in a car with what appeared to be a gun.
(59:33):
He is the only NBA player who, in the last
few years has had to go to court because a
high schooler who lives on his block says, we got
into a fight and he came out of his house
with a gun. He is the only NBA player who
(01:00:00):
got into it with another team and then after the
game got in a fringe car and that team says,
from that car pointed at our bus was a red
laser site, the likes of which are typically attached to
(01:00:21):
a gun, so yes, he might be the only NBA
player that Adam Silver says, let's tamp down on the
munition's related celebrations, even if we all think it would
(01:00:47):
be kind of hilarious in the moment. If in tonight's
game against Minnesota, Jah hits a three and then all
of a sudden d Desmond Bane is like on a
knee holding what looks to be an artillery shell and
he's loading it. We all like doing this if all
(01:01:13):
of a sudden he like road Runner in Coyote, dunks
on somebody and then runs the other end of the
court and does the old TNT cabo. Yes, I get it,
but here's the other piece of it. And this is
why I was again, sorry to be corny and sorry
(01:01:34):
to be the old man, but proud of Demandse as
a father and Demanse's jaw's ah, you're a few months
older than him. Proud of your answer because everyone just
knows in their gut this shit could end really badly.
(01:02:00):
And it's not because we think John Morant is all
of a sudden going to actually have a great aid.
We don't think that, but we do know that if
you are acting a.
Speaker 4 (01:02:16):
Fool, get called out for acting a fool, get consequenced
for acting a fool, and then increase the acting of fullness.
Speaker 1 (01:02:32):
That very often you end up fucking up. That's what
it is. And it would appear to me that job
every once in a while, and anybody that used to
(01:02:57):
go or you know, if you're in your too, if
you still go out to clubs. And I was actually
just in a club in Memphis the night after the
Lakers game, so that I'm forty years old, I was
the old guy in the club. What a bummer. But uh,
the but think back to your heyday college days, post
(01:03:22):
college twenties. You can always tell if a guy in
there is acting a certain way to impress the women there,
or if he is acting a certain way to impress
(01:03:43):
his buddies. And those are two very different types of guys,
and those are two very different risk profiles. The guy
that actually wants to impress women or pick up a
(01:04:04):
girl one of the safest guys to be around. It's like, na,
like he's gonna, you know, he's gonna tamp down on situations.
He's gonna you know, all that. He's that's why he's out.
He's out there trying to meet a girl. The guy
who said he went out to go pick up a girl,
(01:04:27):
but is actually going out to try to be the
biggest baller in the room or to try to impress
his buddies. That guy you gotta be careful about, because
that guy will escalate situations and that guy will the
(01:04:47):
ego and the testosterone and all is dangerous. And I,
by the way, for a lot of us, probably both
people on this show right now, at various points, we've
been both of those guys depending on like for real,
(01:05:08):
like they're the I'm not trying to speak for you,
but I but I mean, I think I can. At
both points, we have been the man, I'm trying to
have a good time. I'm trying to meet somebody. And
we've been the man I'm a you know, excuse me,
excuse me, excuse me, stepped on my shoe. The and
(01:05:36):
so I the reason I tell that anecdote is it
feels to me like Jos's doing this stuff to impress
his buddies. They ain't gonna tell me what to do.
I'm gonna show and that that is you're in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (01:06:00):
You're you're in the NBA.
Speaker 1 (01:06:03):
That's the thing. Guess what, man, your buddies are impressed.
You pay for everything, you go everywhere you want, You
have access to everything you want have access to. You
have your own shoe and your own commercials, and for
all intent and purposes, your own city. And so it
(01:06:23):
does worry me. I'm not I'm not trying to be
a scold. It does actually worry me. And so that's
that's why as objectively now, speaking of celebrations that I
wish had happened, I was talking with Wild about this yesterday.
(01:06:49):
How great would it have been if after Luca's first
three he had done like cracked a beer and then
chugged it.
Speaker 2 (01:07:01):
Yeah, hell, and like.
Speaker 1 (01:07:02):
After his second three, like pantomimes hitting a.
Speaker 5 (01:07:06):
Hookah, like lighting it hell, Like a whole thing where
if Luca's entire celebrations were related to you guys called
me a fat alcoholic and he was just throughout the
night like pretending to shotgun beers, did a stand like Austin.
Speaker 1 (01:07:24):
Reeves come over, they help him do a fake keg stand.
He just leans into the whole thing. Now, Luca's too
mature for that, I guess, But that would have been
the dream for Luca to be like you guys say
I'm an alcoholic. And also the other thing that definitely
should have happened is at that press conference, he should
(01:07:46):
have been drinking the exact type of beer that Michael
Finley took out of his hand after the conference finals
last year. He he, I wish he would have leaned
into that more. Now, the Gatorade ad. You saw the
Gatorade ad.
Speaker 2 (01:08:02):
Gatorade ad.
Speaker 1 (01:08:03):
This is a little fifteen second Gatorade commercial. Luca is
sitting there dribbling the basketball and then gets up and
walks away. But the way they have positioned the Gatorade
towel around his shoulders, it looks like it spells out
Trader and it's wow, it's awesome. But Luca took the
(01:08:29):
high road.
Speaker 2 (01:08:30):
Yeah, he Dido. He's like still really really hurt about it.
Speaker 1 (01:08:34):
I don't think he's really hurt. Did you hear him
after the game when he said when he said I
get to sleep in my own bed. Yeah, he's like,
I can sleep in my bed, like he No, he
is really hurt, and I it's why what he did
last night was so impressive. All right, let's do a
(01:08:55):
few listener questions.
Speaker 3 (01:08:58):
Noah asked Nick do you think that lay because we'll
be better right now if Mark Williams. If the Mark
Williams train I went through, I jesus good, yes.
Speaker 1 (01:09:07):
You okay, buddy, Sorry turned Demondi's mic off for a bit.
These guys choking. I Mark Williams has been awesome since
the trade didn't go through. Really, what that question is,
do I think Mark Williams would add more value to
them this season than Dalton Connect because that was the
(01:09:30):
player in the trade, And the answer that's probably yes.
But saving those first round picks for a bigger move
might be better for them long term. But we'll see.
And we'll also again, Mark Williams never played playoff basketball,
neither's Dalton Connect. They're telling me there was a ton
of Orlando Magic talk in the chat, so they wanted
(01:09:52):
me to say something about the Magic. Great job by
the Magic last night beating the backup Celtics, And I
say that sincere I and in what maybe is a
playoff preview, except it won't be backup Celtics. Here's what
I'll tell you. The Magic offense is terrible, but the
defense is just enough of a pain in the ass
(01:10:15):
that if you're Boston you would prefer prefer Orlando lose
their first playing game, so you get Atlanta or the
Bulls or the Heat in that round one matchup?
Speaker 2 (01:10:32):
Uh what else, dude, Andrew says.
Speaker 3 (01:10:35):
Everyone says Luca needs to play mad, But do you
think it's not solely anger but also other emotions he
can use his fuel?
Speaker 1 (01:10:42):
Maybe? I don't know. You probably have to ask a psychologist.
I ain't anger does it for him?
Speaker 2 (01:10:47):
Though?
Speaker 1 (01:10:48):
I think he and that's why the ejection made me
so mad. And this is we'll leave it on this
the If you need to channel your anger and your
vitriol at somebody, you you have. The safest bet in
(01:11:14):
the arena is find an annoying, famous heckler and do
it to him. I channeled another player. I can get
in trouble. I channeled another coach. I can get in trouble.
Channel it at the ref, I can get in trouble,
channel it at my teammates. Those is off. The absolute
not high of what you should go after is, Oh,
(01:11:37):
this clown who talks about the game within the game
and heckled me during the playoffs last year. He and
I are going to go back and forth and he
got thrown out for it all right, Eric, question for you.
Speaker 2 (01:11:51):
I know.
Speaker 1 (01:11:53):
Before we go, Eric has a question for you. Eric,
I want to ask it.
Speaker 2 (01:11:57):
I want to ask you.
Speaker 1 (01:12:00):
Celtics are in the finals. It's Game seven, Western Conference Finals,
thunder Lakers. Who you would rather play the thunder?
Speaker 2 (01:12:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:12:14):
Yeah, I think that's And by the way, Eric, thank
you for that. I'm gonna put Wilde to that same
question today on the TV show. Speaking of the TV show,
I gotta go. Great job everybody. We should will have
the regular schedule next week, but also we will have
if the Warriors are in the play in we'll probably
(01:12:36):
do a you know, reaction pot of those games. Other
than that, we might do some play in reaction stuff.
I've got an anniversary this weekend, We've got TV. We
got a lot going on. But we will see you
guys at the latest Tuesday at ten thirty am Eastern
back here, if not earlier. Great job. Demand's a great job.
(01:12:57):
Everyone at Blue Duck. Great job. Everyone at Volume Drafts
appreciate you guys.
Speaker 2 (01:13:01):
What's right
Welcome in, What Drive with Think Right? Episode three point eighteen.
What a sports week man, What a night last night?
You know it's a big game with real emotions attached
when if you're watching the game, you didn't find out
(00:22):
until after the game was over with the postgame hugs. Wait.
Patrick Mahomes was courtside the entire time, and they didn't
show him once because they had to show the crowd,
and they had to show Luca, and they had to
show the Lakers and they celebrating Luca. They had to
show Nico Harrison with his Mama mentality, hiding in the tunnel,
(00:43):
surrounded by security in his own home stadium. They had
to show Mark Cuban. What a night? And then it
got even crazier after that. Oh my Warriors lose to
Devin Castle, Draymond's defensive Player of the Year. Push takes
a big hit if people are watching play in picture,
(01:05):
messed up play off picture, weird. All that plus our
NFC over unders plus in what missed the cut? Demons,
Welcome in. And I don't know if you are even
that aware. Do you know I'm aware what starts today?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I'm aware?
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Yeah, what starts today? My friend It's the Master's awful,
glorious sports on the pine straw and the patrons and
the dollar fifty egg salad sandwiches. I'm telling you right now.
You know, every once in a while, the sports gods
(01:49):
frown upon me because and I have to keep my
voice down on this because your mom, I think, is
twenty feet that way. But I'm in a bit of
a pickle, my friend. Here's the deal. Sunday, final day
(02:10):
of the NBA season, Clippers Warriors likely decides who the
Lakers Round one matchup is going to be. Who's in
the play in It is also Sunday at the Masters,
one of my favorite sports days of the year. It
is also my anniversary.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
Yeah I was, Yeah, I was just the boy. Oh
boy you are.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
We have found ourselves boxed in a bit, however that
we will deal with that when we get to that.
In the meantime, I'll tell you right now the best
app in sports, the Masters app open loaded on the phone,
watching holes four, five, and six, keeping updated. One of
(03:00):
my favorite just just an unbelievable weekend that got started
on a Wednesday night with some unbelievable basketball. The other
thing they missed the cut Aaron Rodgers did not make
his big announcement in Pat McAfee's thing Shoudroorg Sanders visiting
Pittsburgh and Lebron's getting a Barbie. I don't totally get it.
He seems excited about it, seems dope. Whatever. Now, please like, rate, subscribe, review,
(03:22):
watch his live on YouTube, listen to the podcast feed.
This is what you should do right now. If you're
listening to this on audio, make sure you unsubscribe to
The low Post because that's gone. Subscribe to Zach's newpod,
The Zach Lowe Show, because I don't think he got
to carry over his subscribers. So subscribe to Zach Lowe's
(03:45):
new show. That's a different network, that's a different company.
But it's so great to have Zach low back for
the playoff push. And while you're doing that, go ahead
and subscribe to this show even if you watch it
on YouTube now demand's let's get to last night.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Yeah, very emotional game last night. It was Luca's first
time returning to Dallas since being traded. Originally, the fans
would super hyped to see him. Really, it seems like
a lot of fans are wearing the thank you for
everything in Slovenian shirts.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
They're cheering for him.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
I basically after every bucket, you know, they still got
the love for Luca. And then he torched them score
forty five points. What did you think of this whole game,
this whole situation.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Right, I was amazed by what Luca did. And one
of my go to beliefs in sports is a very
simple phrase, but it explains a lot, and that is
(04:47):
legendary players do legendary things. And Luca watching what I
thought was almost a too well produced pregame video, I
thought that was almost too well done because it really
(05:15):
hit home, if it hadn't already, how outrageous the trade was,
and how blind sighted Luca was by it, and how
great he was. I was wondering how they would approach it,
how they would approach this video. Would they include the
(05:37):
step back three over Rudy Gobert in the conference finals
to give them a a stranglehold on making their first
NBA finals since Dirk was there, since their championship in
eleven And the answer was, yeah, we're gonna do a
real tribute to Luca. As if this franchise didn't spend
the last six weeks calling him and out of shape
(05:59):
alcoholic that we couldn't trust with three hundred and fifty
million dollars. They did, and it really affected Luca. He's crying.
He so again. Up for those of us, I know,
I'm sure there's some people listening or watching that cry
(06:19):
all the time, and there's some people listening or watching
who never cry. I think most of us are probably in,
you know, the middle part of that bell curve where
we're not never ever criers, but we are incredibly rare criers.
Think back to the last time something affected you so
(06:40):
much that you were brought to tears in public, and
then think would you have been at your best professionally
ninety seconds later? I wouldn't have been.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
He was.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
He lit them on on fire from start to finish,
while dealing with the unbelievable and indescribable emotion that honestly,
almost no athlete in modern sports history has had to
deal with quite that. A guy that good, that young
(07:23):
in that sport, who didn't want to be traded, who
thought I'm going to be here forever, who gets the
rug pulled out from under him in the middle of
the night, and then has to deal with learning secondhand that, Oh,
(07:45):
evidently a lot of these people that I worked for
didn't believe in me, didn't like me, didn't trust me,
are totally fine with trashing me a nightonymously or on
the record, dealing with all of that. And then he
(08:08):
scores forty five, is the best player on the court,
thirty one in the first half, channels it all into
his individual greatness. That is as legendary as it as
you will ever see. And I saw the stat and
(08:29):
it's a great one that Luca becomes the first player
you'll like this demonse, the first player in more than
fifty years to score forty five plus points for a
team and then forty five plus points against that team
(08:52):
in the same season. And I'll tell you who the
guy was who did it before. But think about what
the needle you have to thread for that to happen.
You have to be good enough to where you have
multiple forty five point games. You also have to be
traded during the year. The last guy that did that,
(09:16):
the only guy to do that was Wilt. But Wilt
was a bit of a no mad's too strong, but
he moved around. He also was similarly to Luca, I
think unfairly maligned or not fully appreciated for how great
(09:40):
he truly was. But Wilt didn't get traded against his will.
Wilt didn't get blindsided by it. And for Luca to
be able to do that, and for the Lakers to
(10:05):
embrace him the way they have Lebron is you know,
cheering on the crowd when they're chanting Luca. Luca the
embrace with his teammates right after the introductions, everybody kind
of taking a step back and saying, this is Luca's moment.
(10:26):
If you're a vibes reader, the Lakers vibes are absolutely
off the charts right now. And you now can tick
tick tick your way through the Western Conference potential playoff teams,
and you are going to find that nobody has an
(10:50):
answer to this question, what defense can deal with that, dude?
And the answer is none of them. The Thunder with
their ten awesome wing defenders, Nope. The MAVs with all
(11:14):
of their sinners healthy in that size, Nope, Nobody when
he is dialed. The only player in the league who
has a similar offensive impact is Nikali Jokic, and Jokich's
(11:37):
second best player is dealing with a hamstring, and we
don't know if he's gonna come back, And Luca's second
best player is Lebron freaking James, And so I said
it last night, I will say it again. The Celtics
(12:01):
can beat the Lakers. I don't know that they will.
They can. I don't think anyone else can beat this
team as presently constituted four times in seven games, because
Luca going forty five, eight and six is not like,
(12:24):
oh man, when's he gonna do that again? Probably three
or four times in the playoffs. He already. And I'm
gonna risk messing up the internet here and I apologize,
but I'm gonna look this up on the fly because
this is one of my favorite stats, which is Luca,
who's again has not played seven full seasons fine players.
(12:52):
I have to find the fine totals from all games,
most games of combined seasons. There it is career four
thirty point playoff games NBA history, and the top of
the list is what you would expect. But what's going
to shock you is where Luca already is on it.
(13:15):
So top of the list, Jordan, Lebron, Jerry West, those
are the only people with even twenty of them. Okay,
next highest is Elgind Baylor, and Kevin Durant with fourteen,
So again, fourteen is fourth most in NBA history. Wilt
(13:36):
had thirteen, Kobe had thirteen, Shack had twelve. Kareem, who
played for twenty plus years and was the all timing scorer,
had nine. Luca's got eight. Luca has more career forty
point playoff games already than he is, the same number
(13:59):
as Steph. He has more than Dirk, he has more
than Bird, he has more than Berkley. He is more
than Kawhi, he is more than Joker, he has more
than Magic. He The only players in league history with
more than him are Kareem, Iverson, Harden, dream Shaq, Kobe,
(14:19):
Will Durant, Elgin, West Bron, Jordan. That's it. So Luca
dropping forty on your head like he did last night,
That's gonna happen a few times in the playoffs Lebron
thanks to Luca being there, being able to do exactly
what he did last night, which is I'm gonna go
(14:44):
at about half speed for three quarters and then I'm
gonna be the best player on the damn planet in
the fourth quarter on both ends of the court. That's
gonna be available to the Laker And what's going to
determine do the Lakers look like the best team in
(15:07):
the league or do they look like a team that
is slightly vulnerable. Is going to be do Dorian Finney, Smith,
Gabe Vincent Ruy, Hatchamora hit the wide open, spoon fed
(15:29):
threes that Luca is going to deliver to them, because
that's what they're going to live on. So the Lakers
are the most dangerous team in the NBA because of
that guy. And I think Demands might think I'm overstating
(15:50):
this a bit, and so I'm I'm I'm open to
the discussion on it before we get to the Anthony
Davis side of it, But go ahead.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Yeah, I mean, I think the Celtics are the most
dangerous team in the league, and then the Lakers fall
like shortly after that. I mean, we just obviously have
the death and we definitely have the defenders.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Said deal with Luka Doncic.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
I mean, obviously you're not gonna hold Luca at twenty fifteen,
fifteen whatever.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
But you know, so here is the.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Thing about that. So this, listen, the Celtics are unbelievable, unbelievable,
and the argument is a pretty clean one, which is
the Celtics played Luca in the finals last year and
they won. My counterpoint to that would be a relatively
(16:41):
simple one. Luca in those finals was twenty nine nine
and six, despite in those finals not being able to
hit threes twenty four percent from three after forty three
percent the previous line the round. The number that to
(17:03):
me is the most noteworthy on that Lucas stat line
is not the twenty nine points, but it's the only
five and a half assists a game, and that was
a symptom of not shooters. Well he had the shooters,
they just didn't hit shots. And so what happened in
(17:26):
those finals is Kyrie eight of twenty nine from three. PJ.
Washington six of twenty two from three. Derek Jones Junior
is again you can't really rely on him big time
for threes three of twelve from three. The team as
a whole thirty one percent from three. So I don't
(17:49):
know that we saw the Celtics cut Luca's water off.
What they did was and with their great defenders, make
the role player really struggle. But Kyrie in those finals
was nineteen three and five, and as I mentioned, twenty
(18:13):
seven percent from three. Lebron ain't doing that if you
guys match up and so again, I am not acting
like the Lakers deserve to be some big favorite. I
am not acting like the Celtics are not a deserving champion.
What I am saying is Luca gave you a little
glimpse last night of what playoff Luca looks like. And that,
(18:37):
alongside what appears to be for one of the only
times in his Lakers tenure, fingers crossed, two games left
a Lebron James that is going to be rested and
healthy going into the playoffs. Look Out, Now, Lebron was
(18:59):
healthy going into the twenty twenty playoffs they won the title.
Lebron was healthy going into the twenty three playoffs they
made it the conference finals.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
All right, we're saying he's healthy. Now, we'll hear nothing
about a groin later. You know things, well.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
I mean if he again, if he right, No, he
is healthy now. Now, guys can get hurtous, obviously, but
I'm but no, you're right that if he doesn't suffer
an injury and then you know what I mean, plays poorly,
you can't put it on injury. But that's The thing
is this, It simply doesn't happen. So like we have
(19:37):
twenty years of evidence that healthy Lebron doesn't play poorly
in the playoffs. All right, let's go to the other
side of this game.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
For a moment.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Yeah, I saw on the other side of it Anthony
Davis was playing his ex team as well. That doesn't
really seem to be making noise.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Well, so here's why I think, because it wasn't in
LA I think because nobody felt like I don't think
anybody felt like the Lakers betrayed Ad because it's just
a trade you have to make. I also think this
(20:14):
last night was a great example of why AD is
such a frustrating great player. And last night was also
a good example of the gap between all time great
and legend because Anthony Davis in that game, with the
(20:40):
Lakers not having a real sinner and him fully healthy,
you would have liked to see him be like, listen,
one way or another, I'm getting my thirty or at
least twenty five and putting my imprint on the game. Instead. Listen,
(21:03):
he was good defensively, and he had thirteen points. And
it's why AD is again as great as he is
a frustrating guy at times because he doesn't seem to
always have that extra gear that you would want and
(21:27):
the right He is not a guy that you can
just say, oh, the moment calls for it. Therefore, he's
going to be brilliant, at least on the offensive end. Now. Defensively,
everybody still brings up the Lakers free throw edge over
(21:48):
the last few years and all of these things. That's
an Anthony Davis stat not because he's drawing so many fouls,
but because he is and has been, and it's criminal.
This guy's gonna go his whole career without winning a
Defensive Player of the Year. But he has been the
(22:08):
best rim protector in the league for a half decade
plus now, and he can protect the rim without fouling,
which is what led to those free throw discrepancies. And
he was able to do a lot of that last night.
But thirteen points in that moment is just a bummer,
all right, But one other thing, Let's do one other
(22:31):
thing on Luca.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Luca's ejection on Tuesday. What are your what are your thoughts?
How do you feel about that?
Speaker 1 (22:37):
What are your thoughts on it?
Speaker 3 (22:40):
My thoughts on it are I do think that I
watched the show a little bit yesterday and something resonated
with me. I do think that Luka Doncic is he
needs to be available throughout games, and I think that
he should stop taking himself out with with the whole
winding and complaining about the call. I am not on
the ref side in that instant in that instance, but
(23:01):
I would like to see Luca stop yelling at the
refs and just get back on defense.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
Occasionally it's like, come.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
On, man, Okay, that's a fair critique. It's also never
gonna happen, and so it's just like it's just he
has to play aggrieved. It also was such an outrageous
(23:29):
ejection and so easily fixable when you realized what had
happened that I Bruin Wilde's got mad at me, but
I said that I don't think that jt Or, the
ref who did it, should be refing playoff games if
that's the type of ref he is. I then read
(23:51):
this morning, jt Or, in his thirteen year career, has
refed a grand total of one playoff game. So it
looks like the league maybe already recognized that. But he
made it was let's say it again.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
He made it personal, and he made it personal.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
From the very beginning. When you tell Jared vander both
texts he gave Luca were totally unreasonable. One Luca's running
up court arguing not on his behalf, but on Vanderbilt's
behalf because Vanderbilt got hit in the face. He's not
in the ref's face, he's fifteen feet from him. Gives
him a tech, then tells Vanderbilt, I'll talk to anyone
(24:30):
but Luca. And the next one. Here's why I found
it so outrageous. It was not a reasonable misunderstanding because
Luca didn't get there was There was no potential foul
on the play. It's Luca had made the shot, Luke,
(24:51):
So the context of it is really important. Luca had
just come in from off the bench, so it's not
like he and the ref had been going back and forth,
you know, over the last few minutes. He had just
come back in the game. There was no contact whatsoever
(25:12):
on the shot. So it wasn't one of those I
made the shot, but I should have gotten an and
one bleep you for not giving it to me, which
you do see all the time.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Or maybe it was like few I hit the shot
like that's what the ref perceived it as, like he's
talking he's talking trash after he hits the shot, like
fu ref.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Basically, yeah, you better be damn certain who he's talking
to and what he's saying. If it's the fourth quarter
of a huge game and a guy already has one
technical and part of being in a fit in very
(25:52):
very kind of simple terms mixed metaphors a bit being
in a fit kind of like being a cop. We
give you a ton of power and we trust that
even if you have pulled me over a dozen times
(26:15):
before and each time I've said f you hate you,
bleep you, that when you walk to my car on
the thirteenth time, you are going to act with the
professionalism and demeanor of someone who's first meeting me. And
(26:40):
you might be like, that's unreasonable. That's the job. That
is the job. And you, when you have a disproportionate
power over another person, because you are the enforcer of
the rules, you have an obligation to leave your baggage
(27:04):
court side, and not everybody can do it. And so
if you were going.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
To go ahead, like how after Draymond gets a technical
and at how much leeway.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
He gets the opposite.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Yeah, like it takes a lot for him to get
that second technical and it was like a.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
No, and so it was. But whatever, I mean, the
Lakers got the worst case scenario would have been. And
I actually think for the Thunder, here's the part of
that ejection that sucks for the Thunder. The Thunder don't
feel great about that win. Now the the the and
(27:45):
the Thunder could have won that game. I don't know.
I don't think they were going to because you were
just about to get rested Luca down the stretch. But maybe.
But now the Thunder, like, man, they beat us in
our building. Bad. We then emptied the clip on him
in the first half. They clawed back, they're up one
(28:07):
and then Luca gets thrown out like so it was
just bad all around. All right, Let's go to the
rest of the Western Gonbertz playoffs.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
Oh yeah, so next time we have our next episode,
the regular season will be wrapped up and the top
seeds all the way down to the plane will be decided.
The funny little wrinkle is the Warriors just blew that
game to the Spurs last night. So are we potentially
looking at Lakers in Golden State playing in the first round.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
So I know this. The standings make it seem like
that because of last night is less likely. In reality,
because of last night, it's more likely. I'll explain that
in a moment, But first, let me talk about that
Warriors game. That's a terrible loss, and it had a
(28:55):
lot of the a lot of the warning signs of
bad Warriors losses from the past, most notably horrific turnovers
down the stretch. So if you weren't watching that game,
(29:16):
I want to just give you the play by pardon me,
the play by play of the last few minutes because
the war Let me actually back up a little bit more.
The Warriors were up big, up double digits early. The
Spurs then have a monster second quarter to take a
(29:40):
lead going into halftime, but that doesn't matter because the
Warriors beat the Spurs in the third quarter thirty seven
to twenty one, and they go into the final period
up a dozen. So it's a game you've got to have.
You're up a dozen on a Spurs team that you
(30:03):
know does not necessarily want to win, and despite that,
they find themselves in a dog fight tie game after
a castle three with five minutes remaining. And then this
is where you get to, in my opinion, the concern
(30:26):
points for the Warriors. Okay, so I'm pulling up the
play by play here. Once we get to all right,
two and a half minutes left, Spurs turn the ball over.
Warriors up one, Draymond Green bad pass turnover. They then
(30:49):
exchange buckets. Minute left Draymond Green, bad pass turnover, thirty
seconds left Steph Curry bad pass turnover. Sandwiched in the
middle of that, after a really good Draymond Green defensive
play and transition, Keldon Johnson goes right at Draymond, gets
(31:13):
a layup. Keldon Johnson then goes right at Draymond and
gets another layup for a guy who's doing a full
blown media blitz about how he's defensive Player of the Year.
That was a rough sequence, and all of a sudden,
they're down two, and then the Spurs screw up. The
(31:37):
Spurs are up too with five seconds left, and Harrison
Barnes panics and basically hugs Draymond. They've gotten the ball
out of Steph's hands. He fouls Draymond as if he
thought they had a foul to give. They didn't. You're
up to five seconds off, Draymond has the ball, you
(31:58):
foul him. He makes both. Credit Den for that. I
thought he was gonna miss one. He makes both, and
now you're staring at overtime. And then Harrison Barnes, former
Warrior champion, bangs home the three, and all of a sudden,
the Warriors now and now we can show the Western
(32:18):
Conference standings. Here's where we're at. The Lakers are forty
nine and thirty one with games against Houston and Portland remaining.
Win one and they lock in the three seed. So
the Lakers are going to be the three seed. Maybe
they beat Houston. If they don't beat Houston, they will
beat Portland in game eighty two that Portland doesn't want,
(32:41):
so they're locked. We now have very tricky setups. Denver
and the Clippers both forty eight and thirty two. Memphis
has three games left their forty seven and thirty two,
the Warriors forty seven and thirty three, and Minnesota forty
six and thirty three. So here's what the nut nut
(33:04):
of this really is. On the Warriors side of things,
Let's assume they're beating Portland. That gets them to forty
eight wins. If they beat the Clippers, I would then
(33:25):
expect the Warriors to end up the sixth seed and
playing the Lakers in Round one. The schedules for the
following teams are for the teams are as follows. Denver
has Memphis and then Houston. The Clippers have Sacramento and
(33:45):
then the Warriors. Memphis has Minnesota, then Denver, then Dallas,
Golden State, Portland and the Clippers and Minnesota at Memphis
and then Brooklyn in Utah. So Minnesota right now is
the eight, but they have two auto wins to end
(34:07):
the year. So if Minnesota wins tonight at Memphis, they
are going to finish forty nine and thirty three. It
is very, very difficult to handicap exactly what's going to happen.
What you can handicap is this, Denver has one super
(34:31):
meaningful game left against Memphis, the game at Houston. I
just wonder if Houston's gonna be sitting guys. My guess
is they will. The Clippers have won super meaningful game
left at the Warriors memph Memphis has two super meaningful
(34:54):
games left home for Minnesota at Denver and then obviously
the game that will likely determine, not likely definitively will
determine a huge amount in the Western Conference. Is Clippers
Warriors game eighty two, three point thirty Sunday afternoon, probably
(35:18):
on ABC. The loser of that game probably goes to
the play in. The winner of that game is going
to be either the I think well not is going
to be the four to the five or the six.
(35:40):
Here is the part that might surprise the audience. If
I'm the Lakers, I would rather play right now Golden
State then play the Clippers. I think that the Clippers,
(36:00):
with Kawhi having a week off between the playoffs because
of the play in and them playing so well right
now and Zubots being a real force when the Lakers
don't have a center, I think that is a tougher
(36:21):
matchup than a Golden State team that reminded you last night. Yeah,
we can beat anybody, but we can lose to anybody
in big spots, and so I it's almost impossible to
handicap how it's going to fall exactly. I know that
(36:46):
Minnesota right now is sick because Minnesota, if they didn't
blow that twenty six point lead to the Bucks night
before last, they're sitting there at forty seven and thirty
two with games against Brooklyn and Utah remaining, and they
are in great shape to get up to the four
(37:07):
five line. I'll tell you something else. The Warriors being
in the play in is devastating for them. You can
be like, oh, well, you know, as long as you
win your play in game, you get Houston, Houston fully rested.
(37:28):
That defense is not go ahead.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
Demanse, young and energetic.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
Yeah, that's not gonna be fun.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
You lose your play in game and all of a
sudden you find you find yourself in a one and done.
You'd win it, I would imagine, But now you're going
to Oklahoma City. And this is also where I remind
you the Warriors history in the play in is not great.
(38:05):
The Warriors in twenty twenty one lost two play in
games and missed the playoffs. And the Warriors last year
again in things that we just memory hole, we just
(38:28):
vacillate between the Warriors, are you know Steph is in
the goat conversation and disregarding the fact that last year
the Warriors in the play in lost to Sacramento. The
season was just over, lost to the Kings in a
one and done season over good night, good luck. So
(38:51):
the Warriors historically have played three play in games. Lebron
hit the three rim three over steph to beat him
in their first. The young upstart Grizzlies back when the
Grizzlies were fun beat them in the second one in
(39:12):
Golden State to knock them out of the playoffs. And
last year the Sacramento Kings beat them to knock him
out of the playoffs. And so again, like since Durant left,
the Warriors seasons have gone, missed the playoffs, missed the playoffs,
(39:37):
won the damn title, lost in round two to Lebron,
missed the playoffs, and now this year, if you froze
the standings right now, they're in the play in again.
And by the way, there is no team in the
league that wishes you could freeze the standings right now,
(40:01):
like the Lakers where they get Memphis in round one,
which is the dream. Denver and the Clippers and the
Thunder are all on the other side of the bracket,
and the Warriors have to play play in games. That
is the dream bracket. It almost It's not gonna stay
(40:25):
like this though, because these too many of these teams
play each other. But that is the standings as we
sit here today. By the way, for people watching live,
couple things. One is we appreciate you. Second is please like, rate, subscribe, review,
(40:46):
do all those things. It really does help us, and it,
you know, leads to us, you know, being doing more
of the kind of surprise shows or instant reaction shows.
They asked me yesterday, Paul texts me, He's like, hey,
you want to do a snap reaction right after the
game quick? And I was like, you know, I would,
(41:08):
but tonight was a bottle of wine night while I'm
watching the NBA, and I just don't. I just don't
think it's a good idea. But also, people watching live,
you can throw questions in the chat and we'll get
to him, get to him later. So there was gosh
darn it, oh there was something. Oh Edwin. Edwin in
(41:29):
the chat says, don't sleep on playoff Jimmy. So again,
this is where the producers are gonna get mad at me,
because this is where I do open up a bunch
of basketball reference pages and it might mess up my
internet a touch. Here is my only pushback. Anybody that's
watched the TV show over the last few years has
(41:50):
known no one has prayed at the altar of playoff
Jimmy more than me that I've said he's a different guy.
When they made the fine against the Nuggets, I did
a whole thing about how if he wins the title,
his resume versus James Harden's resume is one of the
(42:12):
more fun NBA Roars Shark tests of all time, all
of it. But I do think there is reasonable reason
for concern that the playoff Jimmy we are used to
might not be around this year. So here's what I mean.
(42:36):
In twenty twenty two, Jimmy Butler was twenty one six
and six in the regular season and then bumped that
in the playoffs to twenty seven, seven and five. So
he was a twenty two point a game guy who
(42:59):
bumped it up to twenty seven in the playoffs. The
next year, in the regular season he was twenty three
a game and an All NBA second teamer, and then
in the playoffs he bumped it to twenty seven a game.
Here's the point I'm making. Historically, playoff Jimmy means bump
(43:24):
my scoring average by about four points. This year, he's
a seventeen point a game guy, and he's with the
Warriors forty six percent from the field and twenty eight
percent from three. So even if you get the playoff,
(43:44):
Jimmy bump, he does not appear to be quite the
player he was when he would What Jimmy would do
is go from being a B plus guy to an
A guy. What if now that means he goes from
a B B B minus guy to a B plus guy.
(44:06):
That's a concern. So that that's my only pushback on that.
All right, let's get to the other big news of
the week before we do our NFL over unders for
the NFC go ahead.
Speaker 3 (44:20):
So right after our show on Tuesday, Denver they fired
their head coach, Mike or Michael Malone and Calvin Booth,
which is just really weird. They're they're in the playoffs.
It's a funny time. And then last night they got
the win. They took care of business against the Kings,
and Jokic had this to say post game. People said,
we are vulnerable, but I think the Beast is always
(44:40):
the strongest of the most dangerous when they are vulnerable.
So maybe Josh Kronk woke up the beast.
Speaker 1 (44:48):
Josh Crony, the owner of the team.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
But yeah, that's that's what's going on. In Denver right.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
Now, So listen. I I don't think it's a good
sign when you fire your coach.
Speaker 4 (45:03):
Now.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
It Also there's other reporting shocker that the GM and
some players were frustrated that Michael Malone kept playing Russell
Westbrook in big spots like man in a Tough Spot.
But I've seen that movie before. Because they won last night,
(45:30):
people I think are trying to convince themselves, oh, well,
maybe this was what the team needed. I don't buy
that at all. I'm not saying this was a disaster.
I'm not saying it's crazy to fire Michael Malone. What
I am saying is that they have and last night,
(45:51):
Daniel points out, is the first game since December fifth
that Westbrook played fewer than twenty minutes. Got it. But
what the Nuggets need, obviously is Jamal Murray to come
back from his injury. But what the Nuggets also need
that Jamal Murray coming back from his injury is not
(46:13):
going to have an impact on is to have a
passable defense, and they don't. So as great as Joe,
I watched that game last night because I had a
nice little Lakers Thunder Clippers Kings five and a half
(46:36):
to one parlay and the Lakers won. That is all
money line. The Clippers won against the Rockets backups the
thunder one despite playing their own backups because the Suns
have quit. And then I was like, all right, we'll
see how the Nuggets react to the firing. And the
Nuggets did react well to the firing, but they still
(46:58):
just can't guard anybody, and so I don't I don't
think I think they're scary because they have the best
player in the world. I don't think they're dangerous when
it comes to a deep playoff run. As far as Deman'
say what it means for Joker, they don't have a
(47:23):
ton of flexibility they can try to trade for Durant.
I think the only way that would happen would be
if Durant demanded to go there. Because they're not going
to have the best package they could go ahead.
Speaker 3 (47:37):
Yeah, I don't know what Jamal Murray's like contract situation is. Well,
shouldn't they just try and shop him get some assets
for Jamal Murray if that's possible.
Speaker 1 (47:45):
I don't know if his I mean, the contract situation
is a MAX deal that has not gone into effect yet, right,
And I think that they probably feel like the Jokich
Murray combo they want to keep together. It's Michael Porter
Junior that they would betray him and listen, I am
(48:07):
pretty confident that if they wanted to, they could get
Paul George. But that contract seems to be underwater. Yeah. Well,
but they just don't have a ton of flexibility. Like Daniels,
a resident Nuggets fan, hates the idea of Paul George.
I would call New Orleans over the summer about zion
(48:34):
I still you're It feels to me we have these
two multi time MVP, one time champion, one playoff appearance,
generational international superstar, top twenty all time guys, and Giannis
and Jokic and they've now both dealt with the coach firings.
(49:00):
The Nuggets are yet to make the panic trade. But
you do it because you don't want the guy to
ask out, and Jokic doesn't seem like he would ask out,
but it would be reasonable.
Speaker 3 (49:15):
Well from that, well, he said on the firing, he
knew a little bit before everybody, and he told me
we made a decision, so it was not a discussion.
It was a decision, and they told me why, so
I listened and I accepted it. So it's not like
them firing Michael Malone would have determined like it didn't
(49:36):
seem like he was tired of Michael Malone.
Speaker 1 (49:38):
So well, So listen, I don't I I think that
Jokic probably if he desperately wanted them to keep Malone,
think that kept him for the rest of the year.
But I don't blame Listen, he was there for ten years.
If they thought the message was stale or whatever, it's fine.
I have no issue with that piece of it. My
point is whether or not Jokic feels like this is
(50:00):
the best place for they're gonna give me the best
chance to win a championship, and whether or not the
cronkeys thriftiness in not keeping KCP costs us a chance
at winning this championship. Uh yeah, I mean death asks
in the chat, do you think the Nuggets fired him
alone because they were worried they might go on a
(50:21):
run which would make firing him harder. Later listen, the
owners said something along the lines of, sometimes you know
there's real issues and wins cover up those issues. I
I think that's silly, Like, what are we saying here
that the Nuggets were like worried they were gonna win
the championship and therefore not be able to fire the coach.
(50:43):
If they win the championship, you don't want to fire
the coach. They're saying they were worried that they were
gonna win a couple of rounds in the playoffs and
then not be able to fire the coach. Sure you can't.
The damn four seeding fired him three days for the
play three answer for the playoffs, Like, so, I don't
really buy that rationale. I do think that this is
a very interesting summer for Joker, and just is what
(51:07):
it is. It's a really interesting summer for Joker before
we get to the Jos stuff, and we might we
might do the NFC stuff next week. I know that
we said we're gonna do it today, but we might
have to do the NFC stuff next week, which kind
of might make more sense because next week during the
play INDs, there's not gonna be as much action to discuss.
(51:30):
But speaking of action, who's scoring big in the NBA
this season? You are with all the new ways to
get in on the action at DraftKings sportsbook and official
sports betting partner of the NBA. For Monster slams, dish
in the rock to cleaning the glass. Get behind your
favorite players and the prop bets you can make on DraftKings,
the home of NBA player props. Ready to play your
(51:52):
first bet? Try betting on something simple like picking how
many points your favorite player will have. Go to the
DraftKings sportsbook app and make your pick. Tuesday went one
on one, Tatum hit the over. Jimmy Butler, however, went under.
I was man. That's a frustrating one, but doesn't matter.
We move forward today. Caid Cunningham, how about over twenty
(52:16):
five and a half points? Josh hard Og and Anobi
Mitchell Robinson not expected to play, Cad. You know there's
a potential first round playoff matchup. Cad also trying to
push for maybe second team All NBA and then Tyrese
Haliburton over seventeen and a half points. Calves arresting some
(52:37):
people and Halliburton's been a twenty point per game guy
at home. Lines and odds subject to change, as always.
First time, here's something special just for you new DraftKings customers,
some of you guys watching right now. Bet five dollars,
get one hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets instantly.
Here's what you do. Take it to the rack with
(52:58):
DraftKings Sportsbook ever point counts. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app.
Use code right. That's code right for new customers to
get one hundred fifty dollars in bonus bets when you
bet just five bucks only on DraftKings. The Crown is yours.
Gambling problem call one eight hundred gambler in New York
(53:20):
call eight seven seven eight hope in why, or text
hope in why, which is four six seven three six nine.
In Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling call eight
eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or
visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of
(53:42):
Boothill Casino and Resort in Kansas twenty one plus age
in eligibility varies by jurisdiction void in Ontario. Bonus bets
expire one hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance. For
additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dk G dot
(54:02):
co slash b ball. Before we get to the listener
questions demands, let's talk about this job Morant.
Speaker 3 (54:12):
So obviously John Morants had the problems with the gun
celebrations in the league find him. I think it was
like seventy five thousand or something like that. So he
he debuted a new celebration and it's a it's a
grenade tossed into the crowd.
Speaker 2 (54:25):
How do we feel about that? Do we think the
league should deal with that?
Speaker 1 (54:30):
How do you feel about it?
Speaker 2 (54:32):
I hate feeling the way that I feel about it, honestly,
But uh, what do you mean?
Speaker 3 (54:39):
I just don't I don't like being exactly Yeah, I
don't like being a killer of fun and and all
that stuff. But it's just job Morant specifically and his history,
and it's like, uh, and like they're finding him. He's like,
all right, so now I'll throw a grenade. It's like, dude,
why are you being such a child.
Speaker 2 (54:54):
Dude. It's like, come on, dude, It's like, all right,
maybe I can get away with this like.
Speaker 1 (54:58):
A So so we feel almost the exact same way.
I think it's a sign of your own maturity that
you are not playing the false equivalence game other people
are doing. Hey, here's a compilation of folks doing gun celebrations.
Why is it different for joh I don't know. Man,
(55:21):
Let's pretend this happened, okay, because you know guys like
doing the ice in the vein this thing, well, that
is an illusion for being honest to shooting heroin.
Speaker 2 (55:34):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (55:35):
I don't know if everybody knows that, but like you
tap the vein. Okay, So let's say you have a
bunch of players that do that. But then old birdman
Chris Anderson. People remember him, Maybe they do, maybe they don't.
He got kicked out of the league for a year
because he was doing heroin. He was doing hard drugs.
(55:58):
I think it was heroin. I don't no, he had
the heroin tats. But the regardless if he you might
you gave me a funny like heroin tats. The weird
thing there's like.
Speaker 2 (56:14):
I knew Bourban was coming up as soon as this
whole thing. I knew Bourban was coming out.
Speaker 1 (56:18):
I didn't even know you knew who he was. He
was before your era.
Speaker 3 (56:23):
Yeah, I mean, I probably I knew he played for
the Nuggets. I feel like I've seen him with the Nuggets,
I mean.
Speaker 1 (56:30):
As well with Lebron. But okay, regardless, So if the
only guy in the league who's been suspended for hardcore
drugs comes out and starts doing this celebration all the time,
and the league is like a man chill. So then
he comes out and does a new one where he
(56:52):
ties off the vein and does like a fake injection.
We're like, oh, what's the problem, I'm getting vaccinated? What
guys like something? Not everything is the same for everyone.
Speaker 2 (57:09):
And you made your bed with that man.
Speaker 1 (57:13):
So here's so this is where So I think the
reason Demons said I hate feeling the way I feel
about this is because objectively, the video of Job doing
this is hilarious. We can all acknowledge that Ja that
(57:35):
the fact of the matter, that the timeline being this,
Jah does the gun celebration, the league says, don't do that.
He then does it three more times, so the league
finds him. He then hears Gilbert Renus and say he
(58:06):
should pretend to throw a grenade. Gilbertorenus, who by the way,
once brought a gun into a locker room, got in trouble,
but not huge trouble. And when he came back from
his suspension in the intros, did the Yosemite sam guns
(58:29):
in the air, and that is what got him in
huge trouble. That guy says, pretend to throw a grenade
and he does it. That's the timeline. But here's the
more important timeline. And by the way, Birdman did test
positive for drug use, but we don't know what drugs
(58:49):
it was. I guess in my head. I just always
thought it was heroin, but it could have been anything.
Don't sue us, Birdman, I also love him. Uh So
here's the timeline. Jahn Morant. He is the only NBA
player who has gotten in trouble for showing up on
(59:11):
Instagram live in a club with a gun. He is
the only NBA player who has gotten in trouble in
the NBA for showing up on a different Instagram live
in a car with what appeared to be a gun.
(59:33):
He is the only NBA player who, in the last
few years has had to go to court because a
high schooler who lives on his block says, we got
into a fight and he came out of his house
with a gun. He is the only NBA player who
(01:00:00):
got into it with another team and then after the
game got in a fringe car and that team says,
from that car pointed at our bus was a red
laser site, the likes of which are typically attached to
(01:00:21):
a gun, so yes, he might be the only NBA
player that Adam Silver says, let's tamp down on the
munition's related celebrations, even if we all think it would
(01:00:47):
be kind of hilarious in the moment. If in tonight's
game against Minnesota, Jah hits a three and then all
of a sudden d Desmond Bane is like on a
knee holding what looks to be an artillery shell and
he's loading it. We all like doing this if all
(01:01:13):
of a sudden he like road Runner in Coyote, dunks
on somebody and then runs the other end of the
court and does the old TNT cabo. Yes, I get it,
but here's the other piece of it. And this is
why I was again, sorry to be corny and sorry
(01:01:34):
to be the old man, but proud of Demandse as
a father and Demanse's jaw's ah, you're a few months
older than him. Proud of your answer because everyone just
knows in their gut this shit could end really badly.
(01:02:00):
And it's not because we think John Morant is all
of a sudden going to actually have a great aid.
We don't think that, but we do know that if
you are acting a.
Speaker 4 (01:02:16):
Fool, get called out for acting a fool, get consequenced
for acting a fool, and then increase the acting of fullness.
Speaker 1 (01:02:32):
That very often you end up fucking up. That's what
it is. And it would appear to me that job
every once in a while, and anybody that used to
(01:02:57):
go or you know, if you're in your too, if
you still go out to clubs. And I was actually
just in a club in Memphis the night after the
Lakers game, so that I'm forty years old, I was
the old guy in the club. What a bummer. But uh,
the but think back to your heyday college days, post
(01:03:22):
college twenties. You can always tell if a guy in
there is acting a certain way to impress the women there,
or if he is acting a certain way to impress
(01:03:43):
his buddies. And those are two very different types of guys,
and those are two very different risk profiles. The guy
that actually wants to impress women or pick up a
(01:04:04):
girl one of the safest guys to be around. It's like, na,
like he's gonna, you know, he's gonna tamp down on situations.
He's gonna you know, all that. He's that's why he's out.
He's out there trying to meet a girl. The guy
who said he went out to go pick up a girl,
(01:04:27):
but is actually going out to try to be the
biggest baller in the room or to try to impress
his buddies. That guy you gotta be careful about, because
that guy will escalate situations and that guy will the
(01:04:47):
ego and the testosterone and all is dangerous. And I,
by the way, for a lot of us, probably both
people on this show right now, at various points, we've
been both of those guys depending on like for real,
(01:05:08):
like they're the I'm not trying to speak for you,
but I but I mean, I think I can. At
both points, we have been the man, I'm trying to
have a good time. I'm trying to meet somebody. And
we've been the man I'm a you know, excuse me,
excuse me, excuse me, stepped on my shoe. The and
(01:05:36):
so I the reason I tell that anecdote is it
feels to me like Jos's doing this stuff to impress
his buddies. They ain't gonna tell me what to do.
I'm gonna show and that that is you're in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (01:06:00):
You're you're in the NBA.
Speaker 1 (01:06:03):
That's the thing. Guess what, man, your buddies are impressed.
You pay for everything, you go everywhere you want, You
have access to everything you want have access to. You
have your own shoe and your own commercials, and for
all intent and purposes, your own city. And so it
(01:06:23):
does worry me. I'm not I'm not trying to be
a scold. It does actually worry me. And so that's
that's why as objectively now, speaking of celebrations that I
wish had happened, I was talking with Wild about this yesterday.
(01:06:49):
How great would it have been if after Luca's first
three he had done like cracked a beer and then
chugged it.
Speaker 2 (01:07:01):
Yeah, hell, and like.
Speaker 1 (01:07:02):
After his second three, like pantomimes hitting a.
Speaker 5 (01:07:06):
Hookah, like lighting it hell, Like a whole thing where
if Luca's entire celebrations were related to you guys called
me a fat alcoholic and he was just throughout the
night like pretending to shotgun beers, did a stand like Austin.
Speaker 1 (01:07:24):
Reeves come over, they help him do a fake keg stand.
He just leans into the whole thing. Now, Luca's too
mature for that, I guess, But that would have been
the dream for Luca to be like you guys say
I'm an alcoholic. And also the other thing that definitely
should have happened is at that press conference, he should
(01:07:46):
have been drinking the exact type of beer that Michael
Finley took out of his hand after the conference finals
last year. He he, I wish he would have leaned
into that more. Now, the Gatorade ad. You saw the
Gatorade ad.
Speaker 2 (01:08:02):
Gatorade ad.
Speaker 1 (01:08:03):
This is a little fifteen second Gatorade commercial. Luca is
sitting there dribbling the basketball and then gets up and
walks away. But the way they have positioned the Gatorade
towel around his shoulders, it looks like it spells out
Trader and it's wow, it's awesome. But Luca took the
(01:08:29):
high road.
Speaker 2 (01:08:30):
Yeah, he Dido. He's like still really really hurt about it.
Speaker 1 (01:08:34):
I don't think he's really hurt. Did you hear him
after the game when he said when he said I
get to sleep in my own bed. Yeah, he's like,
I can sleep in my bed, like he No, he
is really hurt, and I it's why what he did
last night was so impressive. All right, let's do a
(01:08:55):
few listener questions.
Speaker 3 (01:08:58):
Noah asked Nick do you think that lay because we'll
be better right now if Mark Williams. If the Mark
Williams train I went through, I jesus good, yes.
Speaker 1 (01:09:07):
You okay, buddy, Sorry turned Demondi's mic off for a bit.
These guys choking. I Mark Williams has been awesome since
the trade didn't go through. Really, what that question is,
do I think Mark Williams would add more value to
them this season than Dalton Connect because that was the
(01:09:30):
player in the trade, And the answer that's probably yes.
But saving those first round picks for a bigger move
might be better for them long term. But we'll see.
And we'll also again, Mark Williams never played playoff basketball,
neither's Dalton Connect. They're telling me there was a ton
of Orlando Magic talk in the chat, so they wanted
(01:09:52):
me to say something about the Magic. Great job by
the Magic last night beating the backup Celtics, And I
say that sincere I and in what maybe is a
playoff preview, except it won't be backup Celtics. Here's what
I'll tell you. The Magic offense is terrible, but the
defense is just enough of a pain in the ass
(01:10:15):
that if you're Boston you would prefer prefer Orlando lose
their first playing game, so you get Atlanta or the
Bulls or the Heat in that round one matchup?
Speaker 2 (01:10:32):
Uh what else, dude, Andrew says.
Speaker 3 (01:10:35):
Everyone says Luca needs to play mad, But do you
think it's not solely anger but also other emotions he
can use his fuel?
Speaker 1 (01:10:42):
Maybe? I don't know. You probably have to ask a psychologist.
I ain't anger does it for him?
Speaker 2 (01:10:47):
Though?
Speaker 1 (01:10:48):
I think he and that's why the ejection made me
so mad. And this is we'll leave it on this
the If you need to channel your anger and your
vitriol at somebody, you you have. The safest bet in
(01:11:14):
the arena is find an annoying, famous heckler and do
it to him. I channeled another player. I can get
in trouble. I channeled another coach. I can get in trouble.
Channel it at the ref, I can get in trouble,
channel it at my teammates. Those is off. The absolute
not high of what you should go after is, Oh,
(01:11:37):
this clown who talks about the game within the game
and heckled me during the playoffs last year. He and
I are going to go back and forth and he
got thrown out for it all right, Eric, question for you.
Speaker 2 (01:11:51):
I know.
Speaker 1 (01:11:53):
Before we go, Eric has a question for you. Eric,
I want to ask it.
Speaker 2 (01:11:57):
I want to ask you.
Speaker 1 (01:12:00):
Celtics are in the finals. It's Game seven, Western Conference Finals,
thunder Lakers. Who you would rather play the thunder?
Speaker 2 (01:12:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:12:14):
Yeah, I think that's And by the way, Eric, thank
you for that. I'm gonna put Wilde to that same
question today on the TV show. Speaking of the TV show,
I gotta go. Great job everybody. We should will have
the regular schedule next week, but also we will have
if the Warriors are in the play in we'll probably
(01:12:36):
do a you know, reaction pot of those games. Other
than that, we might do some play in reaction stuff.
I've got an anniversary this weekend, We've got TV. We
got a lot going on. But we will see you
guys at the latest Tuesday at ten thirty am Eastern
back here, if not earlier. Great job. Demand's a great job.
(01:12:57):
Everyone at Blue Duck. Great job. Everyone at Volume Drafts
appreciate you guys.
Speaker 2 (01:13:01):
What's right
Popular Podcasts
40s and Free Agents: NFL Draft Season
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.