Magic Finally Retire Shaq's No. 32, Latest NBA MVP Straw Poll & Which Teams Deserve More Love?

Summary

Podcast Title: No Dunks
Host/Authors: The Athletic’s Skeets, Tas, Trey, and JD
Episode: Magic Finally Retire Shaq's No. 32, Latest NBA MVP Straw Poll & Which Teams Deserve More Love?
Release Date: February 14, 2024

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Introduction and Episode Overview

In this Valentine’s Day special episode of No Dunks, hosts J.E. Skeets, Tas Melis, Trey Kirby, and JD delve into a lively discussion covering recent NBA games, the Orlando Magic’s historic retirement of Shaquille O'Neal's No. 32 jersey, the latest NBA MVP straw poll, and a themed segment celebrating the day of love with unique NBA twists.

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Game Recaps

OKC Thunder vs. Orlando Magic

The episode kicks off with a detailed analysis of the OKC Thunder's impressive 127-113 victory over the Orlando Magic on TNT. Hosting players like Jalen Williams (33 points) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (32 points, 5 assists) showcased their ability to take control in crucial moments.

• Trey Kirby highlights the Thunder's clutch performance, stating, “They are absolutely playing for Digno the way they should be playing. So it was a fun game. Loved it.” ([01:21])
• J.E. Skeets emphasizes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's dominance in the third quarter: “SGA had 32 and five and they took turns with the takeover… 13 points during a five-minute stretch.” ([02:56])
• Tas Melis praises the Thunder's young roster, noting, “They are pretty lucky to have two absolute nails, crunch time scorers. They have like the three best clutch players in the league.” ([03:34])

Suns vs. Kings

The Suns overcame the Kings 130-125 despite a stellar triple-double from Domantas Sabonis (35 points) and vigorous performances from Devin Booker (40 points) and De’Aaron Fox.

• Tas Melis critiques the Kings' late-game turnovers and the Suns' role player performances: “Royce O'Neal was incredible… Grayson Allen had 19 points and Eric Gordon had 23 points.” ([16:18])

Miami Heat vs. Milwaukee Bucks

In a surprising turn, the Miami Heat routed the Bucks 123-97, with Nikola Jovic (24 points) and Bam Adebayo securing a triple-double. The Heat's effective screen plays and high assist rate (34 assists on 45 shots) were pivotal.

• Tas Melis analyzes Doc Rivers' coaching, saying, “The Heat runs screen after screen… they just know how to pick them apart.” ([22:45])
• Trey Kirby expresses concern over Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard's performances: “If Lillard isn't playing like a superstar, this is not the team that people were expecting.” ([25:06])

Other Recent Games

Additional highlights include:

• Boston Celtics defeating the Brooklyn Nets 118-110, with Jayson Tatum scoring 41 points.
• Minnesota Timberwolves overcoming the Portland Trail Blazers 121-109, anchored by Anthony Edwards’s 41 points.
• Los Angeles Lakers edging out the Detroit Pistons 125-111, led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

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Shaquille O'Neal’s Jersey Retirement

A significant portion of the episode honors Shaquille O'Neal’s legacy as the Orlando Magic retire his No. 32 jersey, marking the first year the franchise celebrates a player’s number and Shaq becoming only the second player in NBA history to have his jersey retired by three different teams.

• Trey Kirby reflects on Shaq's heartfelt speech: “He said to the DeVos family, I'll come work here anytime. I'll retire from TNT, no problem.” ([09:31])
• Tas Melis critiques the jersey's presentation: “That's the stupidest thing I've ever seen. That's not the number font that he had when he was a Magic player.” ([10:30])
• The hosts share laughs over Shaq’s humorous anecdotes and endorsements, emphasizing his enduring personality and impact off the court.

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NBA MVP Straw Poll Analysis

The discussion shifts to ESPN's latest NBA MVP straw poll, where Nikola Jokić leads, followed by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Notably absent is Joel Embiid due to his knee surgery.

• Tas Melis argues, “Jason Tatum is way too low. I think he should be at least in the top five.” ([29:56])
• J.E. Skeets adds, “He's having his most efficient shooting season of his career… But I will say the names above him are having incredible years too… it's tough.” ([31:35])
• Trey Kirby remains skeptical about Tatum’s placement, suggesting he may be consistently overlooked despite leading one of the best teams: “He was fourth in MVP voting last year. He’ll probably be there again.” ([32:02])
• The hosts discuss the historical significance of Jokić potentially securing his third MVP, placing him among NBA legends like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson.

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Valentine’s Day Special Segment

In celebration of Valentine's Day, the hosts engage in a themed segment featuring questions about teams deserving more love, favorite role players, candy heart messages to NBA players, and creative Valentine's Day poems.

Which Team Deserves More Love?

• Tas Melis champions the New Orleans Pelicans for their solid performance despite injuries: “They are 13th in offense and seventh in defense with some really solid wins this season.” ([35:19])

Favorite NBA Role Players

• Trey Kirby highlights Justice Winslow for his versatility and potential return: “He can defend everybody one through five and I'm buying it, he'll make a return to the NBA.” ([42:06])
• Tas Melis picks Andre Drummond for his humorous and effective play: “A career high in points this season. It's rare to see a big guy be a bench bucket.” ([44:35])
• J.E. Skeets selects Malik Monk for his highlight-reel performances and clutch plays: “He can hit you a game winner… he’s always in the top 10 highlights of the night.” ([45:18])

Candy Heart Messages to NBA Players

• Tas Melis sends “Sweet Pea” to Paolo Banchero, praising his athleticism and playmaking: “He's sweet to watch and willing to take the big shots.” ([48:40])
• J.E. Skeets opts for “Chin Up” for Kawhi Leonard, supporting him through his injury: “Chin up. Kawhi is missing games for being hurt.” ([51:53])

Finish the Valentine's Day Poem

• Tas Melis creatively completes, “Roses are red, violets are blue. The Bulls will be back if they win another two.” ([53:05])
• J.E. Skeets crafts a fun, superstar-focused line: “Roses are red, violets are blue. If Jaylen Brown can join the dunk contest, then so can you.” ([54:05])

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Closing Remarks and Upcoming Shows

As the episode wraps up, the hosts tease their upcoming content, including live shows from Indianapolis, reactions to All-Star weekend events, and more. They encourage listeners to subscribe, like, and leave five-star reviews to support the podcast.

• J.E. Skeets concludes: “We got a weird schedule coming up here. Lots of content. Make sure you subscribe, hit the like button, leave your boys a five star rating and review until tomorrow.” ([58:49])

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Notable Quotes

• J.E. Skeets ([00:20]): “Happy Valentine's Day, you love birds.”
• Trey Kirby ([01:21]): “They are absolutely playing for Digno the way they should be playing.”
• Tas Melis ([29:56]): “Jason Tatum is way too low. I think he should be at least in the top five.”
• J.E. Skeets ([32:47]): “If Jokic wins, he joins a very short list.”
• Trey Kirby ([50:19]): “I'm going old school because, yes, Gumpo is just an old soul.”

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Conclusion

This episode of No Dunks offers a comprehensive and engaging dive into recent NBA developments, honoring legendary players, analyzing current standings and performances, and adding a unique Valentine’s Day twist with heartfelt and humorous segments. Whether you're a die-hard fan or a casual observer, Skeets, Tas, Trey, and JD deliver insightful commentary and entertaining discussions that capture the essence of today's NBA landscape.

Transcript

[Trey Kirby]

Just to let you know, I love you.

[J.E. Skeets]

Good morning, sweet world, and welcome to the no Dunks podcast on the Athletic Network. It's Wednesday, February 14, 2024. Happy Valentine's Day, you love birds. I'm Je Skee here in the classic factory and alongside me, as always, Tasmelis.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, podcast listeners, I love you.

[J.E. Skeets]

Next to him, it's the bearded one, Natasha Hot boy Trey Kirby. Hey, yo. Hey, yo. And last but not least, making the magic happen, super producer JD Hello. There he is. And here we are. Coming up a little bit later, some NBA themed Valentine's Day questions for the guys and everyone joining us live right now on YouTube. Smash that like button and subscribe. Podcast listeners, if you love us, you will leave us a five star rating and review. But we start with some recapping of last night's games. We'll jump around here a little bit, but let's start with the first game on tnt. It was Jalen Williams, it was Shay Gildas Alexander, and it was the Thunder beating the magic 127, 113. We had this one on playback last night. Close for a while and then OKC pulled away. But what do you think?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, it was a smash draw by OKC late, but I don't know if it's just Valentine's Day, but I love watching these two teams. There's some love in the air. There's just some great play from both of them. Shay Gilxander gets Jalen Suggs on his back. Oh, the beautiful turnaround. Franz Wagner did the same thing, a beautiful turnaround. But once he did that in the post and he shook Chet Holmgren real bad, but he was still a little worried, oh, Chet's gonna block my snot. Because they have so many good players on okc. As they said at the beginning of the the broadcast, all their guys are 25 or younger in their starting lineup. They're super, super duper young. So I just can't wait to see this team go into the playoffs. As we were watching on playback, somebody said when Jalen Williams hit a three, that guy, that guy should be in the three point contest. He's shooting 45% from three. And I said, whoa, but he doesn't shoot that many. I had to go there. The thing is about okc, nobody actually, I should say, shoots a lot of threes. Nobody shoots five threes or more on that team. They're a great team. I mean, they just bring it down. Even your Isaiah Joe's don't shoot five threes. And Jalen Williams Just shoots threes. They're just so, so into the identity and who they are. They are absolutely playing for Digno the way they should be playing. So it was a fun game. Loved it. Orlando just needs a guard. Just needs a. Even after the game when they retired Shaqs jersey, Paulo Buncher was asked about Shaq's jersey being retired. He said, yeah, we didn't win. You know, that was part of his answer. He was just mad. I mean they have a great identity I think in a way. But yeah, he needs some help. He's good but he needs help.

[J.E. Skeets]

Jalen Williams scored 33 points and SGA had 32 and five and they took turns with the takeover. SGA third quarter, he went nuts. 13 points. 13 points during a five minute stretch of that third and he had, you know, later on he's telling Magic fans to go home after he hit a very tough baseline shot with like two and a half to go.

[Tass Melis]

They're already there, man.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah, Shaq dropped a great line. I can't go home. I sold my home. That was very, very funny. Sold my house. And then J Dub took over in the fourth quarter and that's what this guy does. He's done this time and time again this season. Just multiple times. Taking over in the fourth where he's sort of quiet for a good chunk of the game and then explode. I think he had 10 straight there to start that cue.

[Tass Melis]

Yeah, they are pretty lucky to have two absolute nails, crunch time scorers. We've seen Chet Holmgren hit a lot of shots in the clutch as well. But both Shai and Jalen Williams back to back 30 point games. They have like the three best clutch players in the league. You can just tell they're a little further along in their rebuild than the Magic are. Because the Magic have a couple of guys who are pretty good in Paolo and Franz and then question marks elsewhere. And it just kind of showed last night that the talent level for OKC is a notch ahead of Orlando. So a great season so far from Orlando. They're just trying to get to OKC's level because they've got their core, they're ready and they're just adding pieces to it. We'll see whatever happens when Gordon Hayward gets up to speed what he looks like with this team. But they're going to be tough to beat. That's why you hear everybody saying can they win the Western Conference? That's a great question.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah, I mean they're right there. Can't wait for them, whoever they play in A postseason, see how far they can go. I actually, maybe it was. Well, obviously it was because Shaq's number was retired last night. But it was tough not to see some similarities between this OKC Thunder team and then the young Shaq Penny led Magic teams. Not how they play, not like Shay or J Dub is like Shaq, but just like they're. They're a team that a lot of people I think probably young fans are like starting to fall in love with because of how they play and the young talent and swagger they have. And that was sort of like, you know what that Orlando Magic team was back in the 90s. And then it didn't take long, led by Shaq, to obviously go to a finals. At least you know, where they came up a little bit short.

[Tass Melis]

But that's part of the question. I think even that Orlando Magic team, they lost their first playoff series. They lost in the first round. You also hear OKC compared to the Kevin Durant Thunder team that went to the finals in 2012. They lost the first round series the first time they went to the playoffs. Next year they went to the conference finals. Then they finally made it to the finals. You got to go through it a little bit in the playoffs. So the question for me is, does the play in tournament count? The Thunder made it last year. Do you even remember what happened with them?

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah. Does it count?

[Tass Melis]

I don't know. Nobody remembers.

[J.E. Skeets]

I don't think it counts in a sense.

[Trey Kirby]

They lost.

[Tass Melis]

Well, they didn't make the playoffs, so they beat the Pelicans without zion in the first one. Shea had 32, Josh Giddey had 31, 10 and 9, and Lou Dort had 27. Maybe a lucky win when you really look at it. Then they lost their second game to the Timberwolves by 25, shot 36% with 17 turnovers. Looked like a young team in that one. But those are two high leverage games. Does it count as losing a first round series? Is that the same?

[Trey Kirby]

I don't know. Shay already lost a first round series with the Clippers, right? I mean, he was in the.

[Tass Melis]

He lost. Thunder, Clippers. Well, when it was Chris Paul.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, yeah, the Chris Paul times. So maybe he's got some experience, but. No, I don't, I don't. Doesn't. To me, it doesn't mean anything.

[J.E. Skeets]

Well, hold on, hold on. It's a positive to have big games, big moments where you either overcome them or come up short and maybe learn something from it. Be it in his Clippers days, Thunder days with Chris Paul. Where now it's a completely different team, of course, and then those play in win and loss. But an actual series is, I think, where you're taking on the same team. Obviously, you know, coming back from a bad loss or something like that, playing the same team again, like that's, that's a little different to me.

[Trey Kirby]

But.

[J.E. Skeets]

But you're right, Trey. Like those teams you listed back to either the Magic days or whatever team you want to pick, you usually have to take your lumps. That's how it just usually goes. Yeah, but every once in a while there's a special team that sort of like skyrockets to, you know, a conference finals or a finals or hell, even a win. But I don't think people would be betting right now that OKC is going to win a championship this year. If I gave you a three year window, you'd probably be like, okay, I'll take that bet. I like their chances. Right, right.

[Trey Kirby]

It comes down to will they win a first round playoff, playoff series, Just having been through two for Shade, does that actually help them out while everybody else wasn't around for that? I guess. I mean, we shall see. I think when you look at the Western Conference standings, you can literally look at all the eight teams. It's going to be ten minus two when they get there. All eight teams. And you would be shocked when one team loses. I mean, all eight can go to the second round, right? All eight can go to the second round. Literally all eight.

[J.E. Skeets]

Because you're saying it could be a Kings, it could be a Warriors, it could be a Lakers, it could be.

[Trey Kirby]

Clippers Pelicans, beyond the Clippers, Thunder, Nuggets and Timberwolves tier there. Okay. They're the top four. You'd be surprised by one of them losing, I assume.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah, but I think it's more likely that one of them will.

[Tass Melis]

It is crazy because outside of, I mean, the Clippers and the Nuggets, those are experienced teams, the Nuggets especially, they won the championship together last year. The Clippers, all of their guys have gone through the postseason quite a few times at this point. But then it's Minnesota and it's okc and it's quite likely they run into like the Lakers and the warriors, two of the most veteran teams out there. You know, people are going to be picking the Lakers, whoever they match up with in the first round of the playoffs, if they make it to the playoffs. So yeah, it's a, it's going to be all about matchups, especially in the Western Conference. It feels like. But OKC plays with such confidence, and I love Jalen Williams. In the post game interview afterwards, Dennis Scott asked him basically this question. What do you say to people who think a team this young can't go through the playoffs? Guess we'll see.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah. That was baller. How you answer that?

[Tass Melis]

That was baller.

[J.E. Skeets]

That's how you answer that for sure. Well, after the game, the Magic did retire Shaquille O' Neal's number 32 jersey, the first in franchise history. Shaq becoming just the second player in NBA history to have his jersey retired by three different franchises he played for, joining hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain. There's the whole Pistol Pete Maravich, you know, has. Does have his Jersey retired by three franchises. Didn't play for all three, but yeah, O' Neill's number 34, retired by the Lakers in 2013. Then his number 32, retired by the Heat in 2016. And finally here, Tass Shaq's number 32 goes up to the Orlando rafters. Did you watch any of the post game celebration? That's how they did this.

[Trey Kirby]

They went post game.

[J.E. Skeets]

It was like an hour long. Plus, I mean, I watched a lot of it, so. Good idea not to do it at halftime, I guess, but any takeaways or thoughts on Shaq's jersey being retired there?

[Trey Kirby]

I went back. I thought back to when he was on TNT and he was asked about, and he said, you know, when I got put in the ring of honor, I thought I was getting my jersey retired. And he seemed a little. A little upset by that. He also said I was Victor Wambanyama before Victor Wembanyama, which I thought was okay. He was. He was.

[Tass Melis]

And accurate.

[Trey Kirby]

Damn athletic and damn good and what he became. I just like the way he ended his speech. He said to the DeVos family, I'll come work here anytime. I'll retire from TNT, no problem. Just. Just give me a call. I'll come back home. Hilarious way to end it. And a beautiful chair. If you're watching on YouTube, we've got a chair for you.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah, quite the throne for Mr. Shaquille O' Neal there.

[Tass Melis]

I'd love to see Ben McLemore jump over that.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yes, yes, that's true. My one, my only complaint with this retiring of his jersey number. See what they got there. Number 32, like the one that actually went to the rafters. What's going on with the font?

[Tass Melis]

That's crazy, man.

[J.E. Skeets]

That's the stupidest thing I've ever seen. That's not the number font that he had when he was a Magic player. And JD show the next photo there where there's a bunch of Shaqs. Like, that's the one you think of that, like, sort of more. How would you describe that almost, you.

[Tass Melis]

Know, the Jersey shack war.

[J.E. Skeets]

Well, yeah, but that too. Like, that. Not the one they put up there. Weird decision.

[Tass Melis]

Very weird. Especially considering everything else was, like, branded shack wise. When he played in the 90s, the floor was the same. His Jeff Hamilton jacket was the same. And then they put the current look up there. That was very strange to me. Like, the Hawks have had a lot of different looks over the years. They just put up whatever jersey that player happened to wear.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tass Melis]

Pistol Pete included.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah, that's a good point.

[Tass Melis]

But Shaq seemed to be very appreciative. He said, I knew I was going to get my jersey retired by lsu. I knew it was going to happen with the Lakers. I didn't really think it would happen with the Magic because he only played four seasons there. Josh Robbins reported for the Athletic that the Magic were waiting. They wanted their first player whose jersey was retired to be somebody who had won a championship. It obviously has not happened yet, and. And it's the 35th anniversary of the team. Then Shaq also said, I thought I would be number two. Thought Nick Anderson would be the guy, you know, kind of the original Mr. Magic there. But it was really cool seeing him bring back all the people he played with. Say something about him. At one point he said that his former coach, Bob Hill, looks like Bob Barker.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yep.

[Tass Melis]

I'm not into elderly men, but God damn, you look beautiful. Shaq was in his bag. I thought he was pretty funny on the broadcast.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, kill him.

[Tass Melis]

At one point, he mentioned watching Chris Webber be drafted. He said, I was eating some Papa John's and drinking some Pepsi. It's like Garth Algar in Wayne's World. It was great, man. He referenced blue chips.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yep.

[Tass Melis]

That was awesome.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah, it was cool. Like, Penny was there, obviously. 3D, Nick Anderson, like you said. That was neat that Shaq brought them all up. He literally brought up, like, every former Orlando Magic player to, like, stand beside him and take a photo. Even Jeff Turner was standing there. Who I, of course, told this story before. I once was at basketball camp and Jeff Turner was there. I don't think he missed a shot the entire week.

[Tass Melis]

That's why they call him JTMF Money.

[J.E. Skeets]

That's right, man. He never missed because he was up in Canada for one week in southern Ontario putting on a clinic for kids like me back in the day.

[Trey Kirby]

I had to look that up, who he was referring to there because he said, GT MF money. And MF stands exist exactly what you think it stands for. He was good. I'm glad they just settled their beef because Shaq left for LA in part because they didn't offer him enough money in. In 1996. So they had. They had beef. And it just shows. Beefs are settled. I mean, we're Raps fans here. Vince left didn't go that well. And there, there was some booing when he came back. But all that is under the rug. So that'll happen. It'll happen. I am surprised. Just like Charles said. Charles Barkley said this on TNT here in the Kia Center. Shaq or Charles said, oh, you're getting a Kia? Shaq said, no, come on. Charles said, yeah, talk to my man person. He'll get you a Telluride. And Shaq said, quote, I had to listen to this so many times. Big dogs don't drive Kias. You see that EV9 that was advertised in the Super Bowl? Things are changing with Kias. They got nice stuff. There's four EV9 models. It can go up for the big dogs, it can go down for people who can afford it. There's lots of good models out there. Kia's changing. Big dogs don't drive Kia. Not an ad.

[Tass Melis]

Big dogs don't drive Kia. That's awesome.

[J.E. Skeets]

Oh, yeah. Brian Hill speech. He was saying, like, all I do is have Icy Hots after playing tennis. All of my cars are insured by the General. He was dropping, like, all of all of the Shack endorsements.

[Trey Kirby]

It's just like a little line after a little line after a little line.

[J.E. Skeets]

It's so funny. Like any other person. It's like, what a fucking sellout. Like, this guy. Give it a break. But for whatever reason, Shaq, we like, we love it. We applaud it. It's like, yep, he endorses everything. I mean, he's a billionaire at this point because he does. Doesn't just endorse it. He usually has a part of the company.

[Tass Melis]

It's so crazy how much Shaq has endorsed that. During the broadcast, somebody said, or I guess it was Stan Van Gundy mentioned that we're not going to really count Pistol Pete tonight because the Pelicans retired his number. He didn't actually play for the Pelicans. Blah, blah, blah. And Shaq responds, good point. Dot com. But he said there was so much stuff that task looked up. Goodpoint.com. and he's like, wait a second here. This might be Shaq doing some promo work here, trying to find developers. And you can't deny it. It might be.

[J.E. Skeets]

We're also. We need to make sure that saying sticks. We got to give that a chance. Good point. Dot com. When you agree with something somebody says, I love it.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. And he actually took the podium before the game and he did a little. Did a little answering questions and he said, listen, on the floor I want to be remembered for being one of the most dominant players in the league, but off the floor, I just want to be remembered for being a nice guy. That's it. Nothing else matters. So, yeah, he's also great on the mic. I mean, just the one lines. We'll remember him for that. He was just killer on the mic there.

[J.E. Skeets]

A lot of the broadcasts he has been like the third guy calling games. Like he's done this before. Right. They're not that great usually, but last night, because probably this, he had. He was energetic and he was funny and it was like he was actually adding some fun to the broadcast.

[Tass Melis]

So I enjoyed it.

[J.E. Skeets]

Good stuff there. All right, well, let's move on here. That's enough. On Shaq getting his jersey retired. The Suns outlasted the Kings despite a monster triple double from Sabonis, despite Deer and Fox scoring 40. And in the end, it was sort of Booker hitting shots down the stretch that he sort of beat them in the final two and a half minutes. We're being honest, just Booker creating space and just getting to his spot, knocking them down. But fun game. 130, 125.

[Tass Melis]

Fun game, but you don't want to get into a shooting match with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker because they will win those more often than not. You mentioned huge games from the. From the Kings stars 40 for Fox. Sabonis had 35, 18 and 12. He's leading the league in triple doubles right now. Just waiting for a call about the injury replacement for Kawhi Leonard. Malik Monk added 22 points and they still lost. That seems crazy to me. Two things stuck out back to back turnovers with two minutes left for the Kings. That was bad. And then they also sent the Suns to the free throw line nine times in the fourth quarter. You can't give up possessions. You can't give up easy points in a game this tight. That's why the Kings have kind of struggled in the clutch this year compared to how they were last year. And then most importantly, their Suns role players were a lot better last night. Royce o' Neal was incredible for a nine point game. He had a couple of threes, but he also had four, five assists and four steals. They were using them in the short roll and the passing was pretty nice. Grayson Allen had 19 points and Eric Gordon had 23 points. You can tell it's early in Royce O' Neill's tenure because he threw an alley oop to Eric Gordon. Whoops. That was crazy.

[J.E. Skeets]

Ron Gordon.

[Tass Melis]

Gordon went up and got it. That was awesome though. He looked good. I thought Royce o' Neill and just getting those role player performances were the difference.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, him playing a huge role in that fourth quarter was a little surprising because Frank Vogel said before the game, we're going to play him about 15 minutes. He ended up playing 30. He played a ton and he was, you know, besides their big three, plus Grayson Allen, obviously Beal went out of this game. We'll talk about that in a second. But he was just a huge part of their rotation and I just wonder if he ends games now. This was, this was a guy. We thought, okay, he'll be in the rotation, but he played alongside Grayson Allen in the end there and Nurkic was coming in and out. So I just wonder if this guy and his scrappiness is going to be huge for them because he really was a guy. Also getting emotion out of Kevin Durant too. He was just. He's just glue for this team and an identity for this team in that fourth quarter crunch time minutes. This. He just. It looks like he could help their identity a little bit because I think they're lacking that a little bit. I know, I know Book is a tough dude, but I think, I think, think they're. They're just missing something from that in the rotation. But he was awesome, obviously. Nine points, four boards, five assists. What? And four steals. That was. That's a great Royce o' Neill game.

[Tass Melis]

Flirting with a five by five.

[Trey Kirby]

Flirting with it. That is frigging unbelievable. Yeah, big steals, big plays. Just scrapping out there in. In the fourth quarter where he played a ton beside Grayson Allen, who's obviously, you know, besides the big Three, Grayson Allen and him. Grayson Allen, he's a lock. He threw up a grenade, as Harlan said. Grayson Allen with a grenade because he just chucked one in. Grenade. Sin Allen. It's not a bad nickname if, you know, he starts chucking threes. But the Bradley Beal injury is concerning as fricking always. And he's going to be out again tonight because he's missed so much time this season. Now hamstring and then he misses tonight's game. I thought coming into the season all that injury worry was just, it was overrated. And doing the math, it's like the last two years. Yeah, he's missed time but the two years before that he played through most of it and those were really short schedules. Even though it looks like he didn't play 70 games. Those are just short schedules. But there's some worry there. I think you have a broken face now, a hamstring injury, the back again this season. Worries there for Phoenix.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yep. But they obviously got the victory. And one more game. Like you said here before the All Star break. We have 26 of the 30 teams playing tonight, the Wednesday night and then obviously the final night before the All Star break. I guess there's three games on, on Thursday night. Moving on. Jovic, not Jokic. Jovic scores a career high 24. Bam. Gets a triple double as the Heat beat the Bucks 123 to 97. Duncan Robinson was great in this game, but yeah, Jovic was the real standout star. Probably like the, the most shocking win from the Miami Heat this season. Maybe the most impressive when you consider like the guys they were missing to go in and beat Milwaukee. But what'd you think of this one, Tess?

[Trey Kirby]

Woof. It was hard to watch the Milwaukee Bucks after beating the Denver Nuggets the way they did come out and just lay one.

[J.E. Skeets]

They came up 40 in the first quarter.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. They are in a back to back so maybe they should be tired. But you shouldn't allow 40 in the first quarter. Number one and number two. I just didn't think they were distributing the ball like they should be. They just weren't moving it around. So it's hard to really decipher what's going on with this Doc Rivers scenario. It just feels like maybe he hasn't gotten through to them yet. Maybe he doesn't know everybody's names. As he said. I don't know some of my young guys names which I find hard to believe because I thought he was part of that whole thing in the in season tournament where he talked to Adrian Griffin. You should know the young guys names.

[Tass Melis]

But he's also on a broadcast.

[Trey Kirby]

He was also on a broadcast where.

[J.E. Skeets]

It'S his job to know the young guy's names.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. Anyway, maybe it was a joke. Nah, I didn't like it. But anyway, maybe this All Star break where they do get some time off and they do get some more practices allows them to develop some things and believe in each Other, but I just can't buy that this back to back is a reason that they should fall flat the way they did and allow 123 points to open three point shooters. But also on the offensive end, again, they didn't seem to be playing all together like they should be.

[Tass Melis]

Yeah, I mean, it's the third game in four nights for the Bucks. They just blew out two teams prior to this and the defense in those two games was pretty solid. They held the Hornets to 84 points. They don't got a lot of scores right now, but they held the Nuggets to 95 and beat them so bad that they held out two of their starters in the second half of the game. So I'll give them a little bit of a break. But this was one of their poorest defensive performances. I thought since Doc Rivers has taken over. They just couldn't keep up with the screening action that the Heat were doing. That's somewhere that the Bucs struggle. Something Doc Rivers said needed to change when he came in was navigating screens and the Heat just runs screen after screen after screen for their shooters. Dribble, handoffs, pick and rolls. It led to Miami getting up 43 pointers. They only averaged 33, which is 18th in the league. They hit 19 of them. Ye because they were pretty open looks. The Bucks were just having trouble communicating on the switches. 34 assists on 45 makes for Miami. They just play really, really well against the Bucks just because I think they know how to pick them apart is what it turns out to be. But it's going to be bad if Nikola Jovic is good.

[J.E. Skeets]

Oh my God. We got a.

[Tass Melis]

We got a great Nikola Jokic. We've got a Nikola Jovic on his way up. And apparently a guy in the draft next season is going to be Nikola. Topic T O P I C It'd be like in an English speaking nation if there was like a Nick James, a Nick Jones and a Nick Johnson and they were all great players. It's gonna get confusing.

[J.E. Skeets]

So you're almost fearful that Jovic is going to be something and he might be because like we were saying, like when all the injuries happened, some of those guys, it was like, okay, maybe this is Caleb Martin's time to sort of get going. And like he had a really quiet night. It was Jovic going for 24, seven, three assists. He hit five threes. I mean, he had four guys hit all their threes. You said they hit 19. Yeah, it was Duncan Robinson on fire. Hero did his thing, hitting three Jovic hit five and then Kevin Love, I mean, a day before Valentine's Day, we should have seen it coming. Kevin Love hits five threes as well, but yeah, this guy's good too. And he will be because he's on the Miami Heat.

[Trey Kirby]

Exactly.

[J.E. Skeets]

Incredible.

[Tass Melis]

He's gonna average 25 a game for the next week.

[J.E. Skeets]

Watch, watch, it'll happen. I mean, Hawkes Jr. Was really good off the bench too, but this was a ass kicking here. And Bam had this triple double. A lot of that, you know, starts. The action starts with Bam and all the, the screening and stuff like that, the playmaking. He shows as a big guy.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, Nikola Jovic is a guy that they said, no, we're not including in trades. And we all wondered why not.

[Tass Melis]

Go, go. They put him in all the trades. They, they weren't putting Hawkes in trades. Yeah, really was the guy on offer, but he wasn't playing like this.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, I thought it was going back to last year that, that he wasn't involved in all the trades. But anyway, I could be wrong. He had time to just lace up every basketball. He just. We were able to look at the laces the way he was open. Same with Kevin Love in this one. And yeah, they go go back to last season in the way they were getting open looks against this Milwaukee Bucks team in the first round when they beat them, it looked, it looked freaking similar. So that is the scary part. They did. It was three games and five nights. They had two days off before the, the back to back. That's. And I know, and I know that the Doc Rivers thing is maybe something to chew on here as we go into the break, but you also got Giannis and Damian Lillard going to play in the All Star Game. You don't got a lot of time and a lot of practices. I doubt they're going to get a lot of practices. And I think that's the. Obviously this team is good, but they're not the 2 seed anymore and they're ain't going to finish there. Unfortunately. It's scary times there for the Bucs.

[Tass Melis]

Lillard is in a major slump right now. 16 points on 14 shots last night, five assists to three turnovers. In his last 20 games a quarter of the season, he's averaged averaging 23 a game, which isn't a lot for Damian Lillard. And he's shooting 40% from the field and 30% from three. For as much as we talk about the two man game with Giannis and Dame, as much as we talk about the Bucs depth and their defense. If Lillard isn't playing like a superstar, this is not the team that people were expecting.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah, it's a good point because with like Damian Lillard of old, it would be like three amazing games, and then there's maybe one where you can't hit a shot. Right. So it's a bad game, but it almost feel like. It feels flipped to me this year where it's like maybe one out of every four games is the big Damian Lillard game. And I know maybe the stats don't back that up, but it feels like that where he doesn't have, like those monster games in a row. It's. He's struggling to string them together, so something to watch and. Yeah, like, I mean, they need Damian. They need the sort of Blazers, Damian Lillard, probably to win a championship or at least through some of the series when they get a little tougher, if they advance, they just need to avoid the Miami Heat at all costs. Wherever the Heat are, Milwaukee, you got to dodge the man. You know, don't be too proud. Don't. Just don't play them and try and avoid them if you can.

[Tass Melis]

Don't the Celtics feel the same way?

[J.E. Skeets]

Yes, but not, I guess they've beaten them this year, right? In the regular season. I think they've taken care of them regular season. Well, I know it's different. It's a different piece.

[Trey Kirby]

It's up to Dave Yeager, who is the guy that Doc Rivers brought over as his offensive coordinator from last year with the Philadelphia 76ers, who just ran Harden and beat Harden and beat Harden and beat to do that in the second half. I think to get Lillard going a little bit, he just needs to feel a little bit like his Portland self, where he had the ball in his hands at all times. That's the only mistake I can see why. Why Lillard would be having an off season. He just. The numbers aren't there, so. And the fact that Middleton is hurt probably just elevates Lillard to more ball handling and just more pick and roll going with Giannis.

[J.E. Skeets]

Three other games last night, just chucking them at you here. Tatum scored 41. Celtics beat the Nets 118, 110 for their fifth straight win. He had 31 at the half, and then he turned into a playmaker in the second half. Anthony Edwards, he had 41 as the Wolves won their first of two against the Blazers. 121, 109. And then LeBron and Adam led the Lakers past the Pistons 125111 for their fifth victory in six games. Any thoughts, TK on those three? There some big scoring performances from some stars in the league.

[Tass Melis]

One of the best things going in the NBA right now is Anthony Edwards going for a blowout bank shot. They smacked the Clippers. He banked in a 3 from the left wing on purpose. He was like 1 for 10 from 3 and shot a banked in shot from 3 and then started pointing at his teammates on the bench and completely intentional. Last night, another blowout win for the Timberwolves. 41 points, and his last shot was a lefty floater bank. And then he runs up the court looking at his left hand. He's just messing around. They said on the Timberwolves broadcast. He's just trying stuff out there. That's what Larry Bird does. That's what Kobe Bryant did.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Tass Melis]

Pretty special.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. And other guys are using the glass for the pass. As you. You wrote about the Tyrese Halliburton.

[J.E. Skeets]

Sure, sure.

[Trey Kirby]

He's copying everybody. Just passed to himself. That was it.

[J.E. Skeets]

Chuck it off the glass, man.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, that was. He wasn't in the lane. He was pretty deep for passing to himself. Yeah. You use that glass. It is great to see the Wolves, I think. I know this is just the Blazers, but they do look a little bit better since the Monte Morris trade. And they had that film session where they're trying to talk to each other and say, let's move that freaking ball in the fourth quarter. And they look a little different. They look more like a team. Even though they were at top the standings, they struggled in the fourth quarter. So they. They do look like a team that would be surprising if they lost a first round series. That Western Conference. It's rough. It's gonna be. It's gonna be fun.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah. Good game from the bench, guys. For the Wolves last night. Nikhil Alexander Walker, awesome. Six of seven. He hit five threes, so he had 18 points. Nas Reed, drop your Nas reads in the chat. He had 10 points, couple boards, a couple defensive, you know, two blocks of steel. And then Kyle Anderson in about 22 minutes doing Kyle Anderson things with eight and eight. Eight being assist there to go along with the point. So good stuff from them. Well, let's pivot to some of those superstars and go into the latest MVP straw poll from Timmy Bontemps at espn. Yeah. Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic. Not Jovic. Jokic leads the way in ESPN's latest NBA MVP straw poll. He tops Jokic, does the likes of SGA and Giannis. Joel Embiid was long considered a top candidate for the MVP award, but he remained sidelined after undergoing knee surgery. So no votes for Embiid this time around. Does anything surprise you guys about the latest straw poll from ESPN when it comes to NBA mvp?

[Tass Melis]

To me, the biggest takeaway is that Jason Tatum is way too low. I6 is way too low for Jason Tatum. 27, 8 and 5. That's like MVP numbers prior to the 2000s. He's got good efficiency. He plays good defense. He's been on the best team in the league team in the league for the entire season. But the Celtics are such a good team that Tatum doesn't really get a lot of the credit for it despite having a great season. And he has no narrative right now. And you got to have a narrative because I think that's why Kawhi Leonard is in the top five. That's why Jalen Brunson made it to number seven and that's why Donovan Mitchell made it to number eight after none of them were in the top ten during the first draw poll. They had major leaps during the second. I don't know, third of the season, whatever you want to call it. But the Celtics have been there the entire time with kind of the similar core that they've had since Tatum got there. So it just doesn't feel so new. I personally think he should be at least in the top five, just on the best player, on the best team case.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah, no, it's true. And he's having his most efficient shooting season of his career. He's averaging a career high assists. Tatum is at 4.7. You're right, the Celtics are 42 and 12. But it's definitely the narrative part where people are like, you've been like on the MVP list for a couple years now and obviously haven't got the big one and your stats are similar and you're on a stacked team, like a really good team. And that's why he's being overlooked. But then he goes and has 41 and 14 last night. And so, yeah, God, yeah, he probably should be higher. But I mean, I will say the names above him are having incredible years too. Like you can make a case that Luka should be higher with the numbers that guy puts up and is actually the leading scorer now after Embiid went down. So it's tough. But do you have thoughts on this?

[Trey Kirby]

Well, yeah, it just seemed like Tatum is going to get back to that same spot. He was fourth in MVP voting last year. He'll probably be there again. I just don't see him in the top three. But it's like an annual thing now with Jason Tatum, where his fourth is the highest that he was last year. This team is by far and away the best, best team in the NBA. So it just doesn't. It just doesn't seem like he's gonna win one when it comes to voting.

[J.E. Skeets]

Well, this is an interesting note. The leader in the second straw poll, so Embiid in 2022 and Jokic last year, they have been surpassed by the second place finisher in official award voting for the past two seasons. So if you're an SGA fan and you want him to win mvp, maybe that bodes well for you with him sitting right now in second behind Jokic. But, man, if Jokic wins, what, his third MVP trophy, he joins a very short list. I mean, eight players in NBA history with three MVPs or more. You know, some of these guys like Kareem with six and Bill Russell and Jordan with five, Wilton LeBron with four, and then a bunch of other guys, Moses Malone, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird with three, Jokic would be there, and that would be, what, three and four years, too?

[Tass Melis]

Yes.

[J.E. Skeets]

The list is even shorter for guys that have done that.

[Tass Melis]

And, I mean, you could argue he just bowed out of the race last year. I know there's a reason he was leading at the second straw poll. They locked in their number one seed, and then he didn't want to be a part of the MVP conversation. Now, it's not a rivalry. It's not between him and Embiid this time, so maybe he plays it out. Also, the Nuggets aren't going to be locked into the one seed because the standings are so bunched together. So perhaps it's more important for Jokic to be playing late into the season. I'm also shocked one person left. Shay Gil. Just Alexander out of the top five.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah. What the hell?

[Tass Melis]

Come on. That's a crazy one.

[J.E. Skeets]

Oversight. Yeah, I mean, sure, if you don't want to have them first, second, maybe even third, leaving them off the top five. I believe Bontemps does this like an actual official MVP vote where he like, hey, Tas, who do you have one through five? Give me your top five. So, yeah, that's weird.

[Trey Kirby]

This is going to be a fun Nikola topic. As you said, he's Nikola Topich coming next year. But it's spelled T O P I C with the. With the accent on the seat. So every year. Yeah, Jokic is part of the topics, for sure. Yeah, he was until Embiid went out. He. You know, he was second in the straw poll. It'll change. It'll change from. From blow to blow. Do you want to put in a guy that hasn't won yet? Is. Is. I think what's going to be the. The biggest blow to Jokic.

[J.E. Skeets]

Right. So an sga. Potential Tatum.

[Trey Kirby]

Potential Tatum.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Or a Luca.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah. All right, good point.

[Trey Kirby]

Or Kawhi. I mean, I love how Kawhi was not rated in these struffles at all, and now he is because he's freaking Kawhi Leonard, and he could be part of the best team in the Western Conference. That's not. That's not far off to see him part of that. I know the like, just looking at the schedules. Milwaukee Bucks schedule is rough in the second half. I don't know if they're going to end a third, but the Clippers, they could end one. And Kawhi could be the mvp. His first mvp.

[J.E. Skeets]

All right, we gotta take a break, but when we come back, it's Valentine's Day, so we got some lovely questions for the guys. Don't go anywhere. Happy Valentine's Day to everybody. Hopefully you got your flowers and your chocolate and all that good stuff. Maybe your Valentine's Day cards. I got some questions for you guys. NBA themed Valentine's Day edition. Oh, love is in the air. Derrick Rose, Josh Hart, Kevin Love.

[Tass Melis]

Denzel Valentine.

[J.E. Skeets]

Thank you.

[Tass Melis]

Isaiah Hartenstein.

[J.E. Skeets]

Love it. So here we go. First one. Which team deserves more love on this Valentine's Day? Maybe a team we do not talk about enough. Great lower thirds. JD Love. The touch, the flair. TK get us started. Which team deserves more love?

[Tass Melis]

I think it's the New Orleans Pelicans.

[J.E. Skeets]

Okay.

[Tass Melis]

Because I was looking at some teams who have the best record since December 1st. I sorted it by net rating, and then I looked at all the teams in the top 10. Cleveland Cavaliers, they're a candidate here, I think, for a team that needs more love. But we've given them love. Boston Celtics, we talk about them. Thunder, we talk about them. Clippers, we talk about. And Timberwolves, I hear your beef. Timberwolf fans. But we do love us some Anthony Edwards. We talk about him quite a bit. New York Knicks, their seventh. Talk about them all the time. The Bucks have dominated the conversation. 76ers. Not as much anymore since Embiid went down, but we'll see. And the Suns, we talk about them quite a bit. Pelicans, though. Sixth best net rating since Dec. 1, Jonas Valanchunas has missed zero games. Brandon Ingram has missed four games. And those are the only healthy guys, really for the Pelicans this year. Herb Jones has missed five, Zions missed 11, C.J. mcCollum has missed 14. That's their starting lineup, and somehow they're still 13th in offense and seventh in defense with some really solid wins this season. They beat the Knicks, they beat the Thunder and OKC. They beat Denver. They beat the Clippers in LA twice, beat the 76ers, beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minnesota and in New Orleans, beat the Cavs in Cleveland. They beat the Kings four times. They beat the Mavs twice, beat the warriors in Golden State. That's a bunch of really good wins. And it just feels like they're kind of cruising along. Who knows if anybody will take them in a playoff series. It'll depend on who they play against. But it's like we've had a good Brandon Ingram season. We've had a good Zion season. It doesn't feel like either of them are completely dominating. They're just a really deep team that is having some success here in the regular season.

[J.E. Skeets]

It's a good one.

[Trey Kirby]

It's totally the one that nobody talks about. It's the best team that nobody talks about. Absolutely. When you look at the standings, them being 10 games above.500, if you look across the board, they are talked about. I think part of the problem is that the Western Conference is just so damn good with the Wolves, Thunder, Clippers, Nuggets, Suns above them. All those five teams are talked about a decent amount. And then right below them, the Mavs, the Kings, who probably deserve a little bit more love. Lakers, warriors, big, big markets. So the Pelicans are hurt again, just that they should be better or should be more talked about and that they are a tinier market. But you bring up Zion and the guys that aren't injured this season, Zion being one of them. I think that's the most important thing because last year they don't go into the playoffs because of injuries. The year before that, they took the Suns to six games in a great series, but didn't win it because they were injured because Zion wasn't playing. This season. I have said Zion Williamson does not look like the superstar we all, you know, we all yearn for. We all juiced for. I'm so excited to watch this guy. But it's a good thing. It's a good thing he's playing and will be in a postseason because he just needs to be in A postseason. So the fact that they're healthy, maybe it doesn't get the headlines, maybe it doesn't get the national media love. But yeah, they're just so damn good. And. And I frankly, all these teams, all those teams I mentioned, the top 10, including the Pelicans, if they're all healthy, I would be surprised for them to lose a playoff series. Zion hasn't been in the playoffs yet, but we saw what they did to the Phoenix Suns. Yeah, if he was there, they probably win that series and it's a whole different thing. So it's a good thing. Even though it isn't as sexy.

[J.E. Skeets]

It's a good pick. I feel like what happened with them? Well, it's two things. Zion's just going about his business. He's playing, but there's no like, oh my God, did you see what Zion did last night? There just isn't because he's like gone for 45 or 50 or dunked on somebody. So it's been quiet in like the highlights sort of department. And that gets your casuals going and buzzing and talking about the team. So that's sort of non existent. That's okay. Brandon Ingram, he's. I don't know, he always feels like one of the most overlooked stars in this league. Terribly underrated in my opinion. And then what happened was that. Damn. In season tournament, I'm convinced when they botched it and you know, looked bad at the wrong time, when there was a bunch of eyeballs on them, the rest of the league, the NBA media was like, okay, we're done with you. We'll see him maybe come April if you're around. I feel like that happened with them because, yeah, they've been all these good teams. They play some really competitive games, you know, when they're healthy and you got Herb Jones doing his thing and Alvarado and like, they're scrappy bunch. But that's my answer as well. For a team that deserves more love, I think the Wolves, I would include a little bit too. They are leading the Western Conference. We were wondering, can this even work with these two guys, Cat and Rudy? I mean, Karl Anthony Towns. 22 and a half points per game, eight and a half boards, three assists, 52, 44, 88 shooting splits for this big guy. In playing over 50 games, barely a peep about Karl Anthony Towns because Anthony Edwards has blossomed into a star. Rudy's doing his thing, has that team playing the number one defense along with McDaniels, all these other guys contributing, but he just like Gets overlooked now too. And probably for. For the best when it comes to the wolves, really, it probably is for their, you know, chances to actually make some noise in a playoff series. But they, they do get overlooked.

[Trey Kirby]

They've got the identity of being the best defense in the league, but they are lacking a little bit overall on the offensive end. But I do think they're trying to overcome that with the fact that they're trying to share the ball a lot more in the fourth quarter. And I think Anthony Edwards and Carlton Towns maybe have been a little bit guilty of being the offense in the fourth quarter. So they're trying to get over that. They have that. They have that negative, I suppose, but every team has a negative.

[J.E. Skeets]

But like when I like, I'm not saying that I would be picking them to win the title, but if you actually step back and go look at the recipe for their team, why aren't they in the conversation that they could go very far and maybe challenge for a championship? They have the best defense. That usually helps. Then you have two guys, a perimeter guy and a big guy who can take over games. Obviously Anthony Edwards can and Cat has shown that he has before as well. They got like a vetting Conley, like they have pieces like that. It's like it all makes sense that this should team should be like poised to, to make a good run. But it feels like nobody would like be picking them in maybe a first round series, let alone a second round series against some of these other teams.

[Tass Melis]

I mean, there are go bear question marks come playoff times. There are Karl Anthony Towns question marks come playoff times based on their careers up to this point. And then I think there's a big question mark of what their offense actually looks like once they get to the postseason because they do have the best defense in the league. But it seems to be more so these days that having a good offense is what actually wins come playoff time. They're 17th right now and in the fourth quarter they can look bad and it can just look like Anthony Edwards, please save us. He often does and it looks incredible, but he takes a lot of really tough shots. He sometimes has blinders on. I think there's just question marks for this team that need to be answered when it really, really matters.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yep. All right, next question here. Tass, you get us started. Who is your NBA role player, Valentine?

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, I'm going deep, baby. I'm going to with Justice Winslow.

[J.E. Skeets]

Holy crap.

[Trey Kirby]

Who doesn't play in the NBA? He was just signed to a 10 way, a 10 day not a 10 way. I don't think it's 10 way with justice. Anyway, 10 day we'll have the Toronto Raptors and he's out there playing for the Raptors 905 team. You going into the corner, swatting shots, doing a bunch of Swiss army things that Justice Winslow is known for assisting rebound. He's 27 years old and hasn't played in the NBA for a full year mainly because he was injured. But he was a number 10 pick way back when for the Miami Heat and they said a lot of times we are not trading this guy. We drafted him so high. He looks really good. He can defend everybody one through five and I'm buying it. I'm buying that he'll make a return to the NBA. He did the Heat thing, obviously. He did a little clipper thing, did the Blazers thing and then had to have surgery so he was out. So he will be back again. 27 years old. He looks perfect for the NBA. He's also just had a lot of off court issues. Jason Stark wrote about it. Jason Quick. Jason Stark. Jason Quick wrote about it. Not Jason Stark. I love Jason Stark. On the athletic justice. Yeah, he writes about a lot of. A lot of issues everywhere in baseball for sure. Jason Quick wrote about everything off the court that had Justice Winslow struggling a little bit. And it's, it's a great article how he found a way with Eric Spoelstra and the things he did with your. Your buddy Leonard. Yeah. Laird. No, Laird Hamilton. I threw. I threw Leonard in there. Laird.

[Tass Melis]

Justice Winslow worked out with Laird Hamilton?

[Trey Kirby]

Yes.

[J.E. Skeets]

Oh, let me guess. Was he running on the bottom of an ocean floor holding a rock? I bet your ass he was.

[Trey Kirby]

Dumbbells. But yeah, basically same stuff. Yeah, I call him Leonard for some reason. Anyway, his name is Laird. Laird. It's a great article about the struggles that he had and I think he has fought to overcome them the last couple years. He'll be back, baby.

[J.E. Skeets]

Okay. Wow. That is a deep cut NBA role player Valentine. But Cass loves himself.

[Trey Kirby]

Justice Winslow, he is a great role player. He was great on the basketball Jones when we had him on or I guess he was the starters technically when we had him on in summer league he was there being the judge.

[J.E. Skeets]

I was waiting for you.

[Trey Kirby]

He was great. It was a long time. That was a long time ago. But he's had some great ups. We'll get back there.

[J.E. Skeets]

Do you have an NBA role player?

[Trey Kirby]

Yes.

[Tass Melis]

My homer pick is Andre Drummond. Okay, favorite bowl to watch. Just a hilarious guy. The gentleman is what we've been calling him in the group chats. My new homer pick. Watch the Hawks a lot. Jalen Johnson is the guy, but my out of the box pick. Kind of odd because we were just talking about how we never show this team enough. Love. Nas Reed. I like Nas Reed, man. A career high in points this season. He's shooting 41% from three, which is a career high. And it's just rare to see a big guy be a bench bucket. So I love when that happens. Like, I don't know, Greg Monroe, that was a guy who would come in and just give you buckets off the bench. There's, for whatever reason a Nas Reed argument going on here in the stream team prior to this, talking about is he good or is he not good? He's fun to watch, man.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah, it's your valentine. Yeah, it's your pick. That's what I like about this one. I'm going to go with Malik Monk as my NBA role player Valentine, obviously in the running again for sixth man of the year. I think he finished fourth maybe in the voting last year. He'll probably be top five again. Top three, maybe win it. It's cooled off a little bit, but gives you 15 and 5 in very limited minutes. And what I love about him is like, he can hit you a game winner, which he's done over the last couple years. And he can also give you like a huge poster dunk. Like this guy is like always in the top 10 highlights of the night. You always get like a Malik Monk throwdown. So I love that, Love how he plays. And just a weird stat I saw from NBA University on Twitter last night. Malik Monk leads the entire NBA in assists per game on half court drives. More than Luka, more than. More than Halliburton, more than SGA. Monk leads that category. He only averages 25 minutes per game and he's 23rd in drives per game. But you know, guys knock down shots when Monk is passing it to him. So I thought that was a fun step. But I love watching him play on the Kinks.

[Tass Melis]

He had a nice run last night. I thought, yeah, highlight factory.

[J.E. Skeets]

He's exactly. He is. He's a highlight factory for sure. All right.

[Tass Melis]

Took over in the second quarter and I saw that they were saying, if you're a big fan of Malik Monk, you're part of the monastery.

[J.E. Skeets]

I like that.

[Trey Kirby]

That's good.

[J.E. Skeets]

He's got a great name. Underrated name.

[Tass Melis]

Malik Monk. Definite.

[J.E. Skeets]

Both. Both sound cool together. Okay, well, next question. TK get us started. What Candy heart message Would you like to send to an NBA player? We're talking sweethearts.

[Tass Melis]

Talking sweethearts.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah. Little messages on those, I don't know, chalky, like candies.

[Tass Melis]

Yeah. Not a great candy.

[J.E. Skeets]

I hate those.

[Tass Melis]

I was googling.

[J.E. Skeets]

I was.

[Tass Melis]

The messages.

[Trey Kirby]

I like them. Oh, sugar. Sugar pills.

[Tass Melis]

Oh, man, I haven't eaten one in a long time. I've graduated to high class. Class candies.

[J.E. Skeets]

Oh, like what. What would be.

[Tass Melis]

Do not M and M's.

[J.E. Skeets]

Oh, okay. That's some.

[Tass Melis]

What would be my number one? I don't know. I just finished all of my peppermint bark from Christmas this last week. Tragedy, man. I had to switch to the chocolate passport.

[J.E. Skeets]

Have you got your Girl Scout cookies in yet?

[Tass Melis]

Hell, yeah.

[J.E. Skeets]

I just ordered.

[Tass Melis]

Oh, my goodness. I got so many at my house.

[J.E. Skeets]

Oh, yeah.

[Tass Melis]

Shout out to the Lemon ups.

[J.E. Skeets]

You like the Lemon ups?

[Tass Melis]

I do, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Lemon Ups were a good recent addition to the lineup. Much better than Toffee Tassel. I was disappointed. No offense.

[J.E. Skeets]

I'm a big fan of. Are they adventurefuls?

[Tass Melis]

Yeah, that's a new game.

[Trey Kirby]

Those one look good.

[J.E. Skeets]

I like those.

[Trey Kirby]

I like it. I like just the how they look, period. Yeah, I like the. The perimeter to the inside. They. They play an outside inside game. It's just good. Those are good. They're not arriving fast enough. I've made two orders.

[J.E. Skeets]

Oh, I just made my order.

[Tass Melis]

Some of yours are at my house.

[Trey Kirby]

Oh, okay.

[Tass Melis]

Yeah.

[J.E. Skeets]

Did you pick delivery in person or mailed?

[Trey Kirby]

Mailed. Oh.

[J.E. Skeets]

What? The whole point is the Girl Scout is supposed to learn the valuable lesson. Yeah, yeah. I'm just kidding. That's what it says on the website.

[Trey Kirby]

I looked at that. I'm like, who can I find somebody for them to deliver to? Because our buddy Grish sent another message and said. Just. Just following up here. Order your stuff.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah, they're not hitting. They're not hitting their quota right now.

[Trey Kirby]

She's short.

[J.E. Skeets]

They're. They're not going to be sleeping over at the aquarium if. If they don't sell these boxes of cookies.

[Trey Kirby]

So buy some aquarium. Sleepover.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah. Sleep with the fishes like a mobster. Okay, the question. What key?

[Tass Melis]

Yes, yes, yes, yes. I googled these to remember what they say. And one that I had forgotten. I was gonna send a candy heart message to this player no matter what. But then I saw one that said Sweet Pea. You'll hear that very much so. I'm sending that to Paolo Bonchero.

[J.E. Skeets]

Okay.

[Tass Melis]

I think that could be a nice nickname for him. Sweet Pea. Drop the pea. Just go to straight up P, like, spicy P. Because this guy is sweet to watch. He is my highest league pass riser this season. I just love the way Paolo plays. He's humongous, and he's still a great athlete. You're hearing him get compared to LeBron James right now. His, like, his combination of size and skill, you know, I think his jump shot has come along a little bit. Still a ways to go. His playmaking is there, and he's willing to take the big shots. He had to do that kind of on his own for a stretch while Franz Wagner was out. It was good. It was bad at some points. It was clunky. But he's a fun, bully ball kind of guy to watch. So that's my sweet pea.

[J.E. Skeets]

Sweet pea.

[Trey Kirby]

I like it sweet. He's sweet. That's good.

[J.E. Skeets]

What do you say?

[Trey Kirby]

He's butter out there, man. Last night. Yeah, he just. For a big man to have that turnaround shot, that's just so smooth.

[J.E. Skeets]

That was his first nationally televised game, was it not? Yeah. Last night's game against the Thunder.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. The old Magic haven't been nationally televised recently.

[J.E. Skeets]

I don't think they've been on in, like, 10 years, they said.

[Tass Melis]

Yeah, a long time.

[J.E. Skeets]

It's been a while. Where are you going? Or what are you sending to a player?

[Trey Kirby]

I, too, had to look this up and think about, what do these things have on them?

[J.E. Skeets]

There's like, they have, like, a million of them sayings. Yes, right?

[Tass Melis]

Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

And I don't know, do they sell them all or. That's just like, an Internet thing.

[J.E. Skeets]

It's tough to tell. Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah. Anyway.

[J.E. Skeets]

Anyway, you can print whatever you want.

[Trey Kirby]

You can print. Yeah, that's true. I printed wink, wink on mine.

[Tass Melis]

Okay.

[Trey Kirby]

I'm going old school because, yes, Gumpo is just an old soul. He still winks. And I think NBA players, they don't wink enough. So he's getting them. We can have more winks. You know, everybody's looking at the. The celebrations and stuff. Just a quick one.

[J.E. Skeets]

What about towel slaps?

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, exactly.

[J.E. Skeets]

To the asses of refs.

[Trey Kirby]

He whipped a towel on a referee's ass.

[Tass Melis]

He might have winked at him right then.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, exactly.

[J.E. Skeets]

Okay, I. I went with, like, I guess in 2022, according to the website I saw, like, you guys, they had words of encouragement that you could put on these candy hearts. Chin up. Don't quit. You got this. I'm sending that pack of words of encouragement candy hearts to. To Kawhi Leonard because we just learned that this guy's gonna miss tonight's game. He's not gonna be playing against the warriors because he's got an adductor strain left. Adductor strain. Everybody's like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Where'd this come from? Because this guy's been healthy all season. He missed, like, what, four games there, you know, at the end of 2023, it was a hip contusion. Otherwise, he's been healthy, he's been dominant. He's got the Clippers into the top of the West. He's in the MVP conversation, I guess. Dark horse MVP conversation. And then he suddenly has this unexpectedly. Now I'm hoping this is just a. Hey, extend your All Star break. Hey, hey. Kawhi maybe even said, I don't really want to play in the All Star game. Oh, geez. Now we got to replace them. We'll wait to see if we have to do that. Maybe it'll be a Sabonus or something like that. It's possible, but hopefully it's nothing actually serious when it comes to Kawhi. And this left a doctor strain, but chin up.

[Tass Melis]

Chin up. Yeah, I like that. Kawaii is missing games for being hurt.

[J.E. Skeets]

Right.

[Tass Melis]

The only times he's missed games this season is because he was legitimately hurt.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah, right, right, right.

[Trey Kirby]

This is true.

[J.E. Skeets]

Unless you believe my conspiracy that he just doesn't want to play even that.

[Tass Melis]

Fair enough, man. Like, fair enough.

[Trey Kirby]

Him against Golden State would be nice to see him. But he hopefully will be back for the first game after the All Star break where they play the Oklahoma City Thunder. That's a matchup. And surprising that the NBA scheduled it so well. First night back from the Clippers and Thunder together to the top teams in the Western Conference. Difference.

[J.E. Skeets]

Good stuff.

[Trey Kirby]

They got lucky. They got lucky.

[J.E. Skeets]

Do you think he'll be playing in that one? You think he's just getting a longer All Star break?

[Trey Kirby]

I haven't checked out the groin in the adductor, but I assume it doesn't sound like a long injury. I don't know. Will he be playing Sunday in the All Star Game?

[J.E. Skeets]

I don't know. My gut says no. Probably not, if I'm being honest.

[Trey Kirby]

Then he's playing against okc.

[J.E. Skeets]

Yeah, probably. All right, final one here. Finish the Valentine's Day poem. It's a classic. Roses are red, violets are blue.

[Tass Melis]

The Bulls will be back if they win another two.

[J.E. Skeets]

Oh, wow. Does that mean they're two games below.500?

[Tass Melis]

Oh, 26 and 28 right now. I was going back and checking the stats. They were technically, 500 on October 30th. Early in the season. They haven't been over 500 since the end of the 2022 season. 20 and 14 since December 1st. That's the 10th best record in the league. 13th best net rating. They're fine right now. They play at the Cavs tonight. Unfortunately, Donovan Miller Mitchell is a complete Bulls killer, so not too optimistic about that one. Then they got the all star break. Then they have the Celtics in Chicago at Pelicans, home for the Pistons, Cavs and Bucs.

[J.E. Skeets]

Oh, wow.

[Tass Melis]

I don't know. It's not easy. It's not easy to be back, but we will see. People keep asking me, are the Bulls back? They've strung together some wins. Not quite yet. Another two.

[J.E. Skeets]

They're close.

[Tass Melis]

Yeah.

[J.E. Skeets]

What are you.

[Trey Kirby]

I'm talking trash. I went individual with my poem. Roses are red, violets are blue. I get buckets, but do you. That's it.

[J.E. Skeets]

Put it on a shirt with the N. One guy that sounds like an valentine shirt with the faceless and one man test is in a new shirt.

[Tass Melis]

And a box of chocolates out. Oh, that's good.

[J.E. Skeets]

My poem is like. It's definitely directed at the young high flyers in this league because I went, roses are red, violets are blue. If Jaylen Brown can join the dunk contest, then so can you. All right, so all you young legs out there, you know these rookies, these second year, third year guys that aren't injured, where are you? Jaylen Brown, he's going in it. He's going to try and put on a show against McClung and one of the other toppins and the other guy. I'm already forgetting the fourth dunkerquez. Hawkes. Okay, that wasn't a Hawkes. Let me make that very clear because he's going. It's so. Yeah. All right, well, finish the poems. Let's hear your best poems. Roses are red, violets are blue. And then where you're going from there. Tass time for tweet of the Night.

[Trey Kirby]

Tweet of the Night. Wow.

[J.E. Skeets]

Twit.

[Trey Kirby]

Ah, thank you to the no Dunks fan. Coy.

[Tass Melis]

Coy.

[Trey Kirby]

Coyote Jester. I see the word coyote sometimes and I just want to say coyote. Why? I don't know. Coyote Jester. Because you made tweet of the Night very, very, very simple. Because we talked about. We talked about the Super Bowl. SpongeBob had a telecast where there was two animated SpongeBob characters alongside Noah, Eagle and our man Nate Brolson calling the game. We talked about it. We talked about us being animated characters way back in the old days. So Coyote Jester tweeted, if Nicole Nickelodeon doesn't NBA All Star Game broadcast no dunks should host it. So each guy got an animation.

[J.E. Skeets]

Okay.

[Trey Kirby]

JD Is rady.

[J.E. Skeets]

Stingray.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, the Stingray. He's got pickleball, racket and ball. Nice touch.

[J.E. Skeets]

It's. That's good.

[Tass Melis]

It's great.

[Trey Kirby]

It's nice to see his name Trey became Fish Taco, Trout Kirby instead of Taco Trey.

[Tass Melis]

Kirby Fish Taco, complete with Bowles Carhartt hat.

[J.E. Skeets]

I mean the illustration's amazing. Fish, taco, Trout, Kirby. Maybe a stretch, but all right.

[Trey Kirby]

I assume that's like Grateful Dead fish. Like the skull and.

[Tass Melis]

Yeah, yeah. The tie dye shirt.

[Trey Kirby]

The fish bones. I just love every part of it.

[J.E. Skeets]

Oh my God.

[Trey Kirby]

Tasmos was renamed Tas Mollusk.

[J.E. Skeets]

I think you're just the funniest man.

[Trey Kirby]

It is cool. I love being in a shell. It feels good just like I'm flying around the water.

[Tass Melis]

Mollusk man. Mollusk is a great name for a sea creature.

[J.E. Skeets]

It's like such a good, like, it's like as if you had gone to like a carnival and you have those people like to do the caricatures of tasks and they like, they, you know, like they go crazy on whatever features. Like that's a good funny version caricature of tas, I think. Yeah.

[Trey Kirby]

And last in the water, it's JE Reef.

[J.E. Skeets]

I'm a reef. That's it.

[Trey Kirby]

I like the variety.

[J.E. Skeets]

I mean, I love my little Luna there in the reef.

[Tass Melis]

The coral. This man is coral.

[Trey Kirby]

Got a hat on the top of the coral backwards.

[J.E. Skeets]

I'm glad I wore my hat today.

[Trey Kirby]

A little maple leaf on it. Yeah, just like great variety from Coyote Jester. We got a stingray, a good old fish, a mollusk, a nice coral reef.

[Tass Melis]

That is variety.

[Trey Kirby]

Yeah, that's well done. Very well done. Coyote Jester. They're awesome.

[J.E. Skeets]

I did see and Coyote Jester did respond to this person, but they said JE Squids was right there. And Coyote's like, yeah, I guess I could have gone that angle as well. So the JE Reef. I like both and it's all in the drawing.

[Tass Melis]

Squids.

[J.E. Skeets]

Awesome, awesome. Tweet of the night. Let's call it there. That was a wild show. It felt like we. We are back Tomorrow morning at 10am Eastern before we head to Indianapolis. That's right. We got a weird schedule coming up here. Show tomorrow morning, then we obviously get on a plane, go to Indy. Friday night we have our live show. Hoping to turn that into a show on maybe YouTube, at least podcast. And then Saturday night, the plan is after the All Star Night, Saturday night festivities to do a podcast, sort of reacting to the dunk contests and the Stefan Sabrina shootout and the three point shootout, all that stuff. So that's sort of what we're looking at here over the coming days and the weekend. So lots of content. Make sure you subscribe, hit the like button, leave your boys a five star rating and review until tomorrow. Clipper Bros. You heard it here first.

[Tass Melis]

Have a great time.

[J.E. Skeets]

Turn up.

[Tass Melis]

Love you guys. Awesome.

[Trey Kirby]

Thanks for joining us. And remember, it's Valentine's Day. We want to thank you for all the love.

[J.E. Skeets]

Love you.

[Tass Melis]

Breaks the day.