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This is an iHeart podcast.
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Guaranteed Human.
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What a matchup we got y'.
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All.
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This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rockin and the crowd lit. Chance echo drum beatin Everybody showing that school pride. Game like this, yeah, it calls for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah, crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there. Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that, we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere and in.
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Ice cold Coca Cola.
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That's a winning combo no matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going. So let me get this straight. Your company has data here, there and everywhere, but your AI can't use the data because it's here, there and everywhere? Seems like something's missing. Every business has unique data. IBM helps your AI access your data wherever it lives. To change how you do business. Let's create smarter business IBM, What do you do when things get tough? You don't give up. You stand your ground. If you've been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer and have tried hormone therapy, ask your doctor about Lutetium Lu177 bifatide tetrexitan. Pluvicto is not chemotherapy. It's a different treatment that targets PSMA positive cells. Pluvicto can be used before chemotherapy for some people. Pluvicto is a prescription treatment used to treat adults with prostate specific Membrane Antigen positive Metastatic Castration resistant prostate cancer or PS positive MCRPC who have already been treated with hormone therapy and are considered appropriate to delay chemotherapy. Bluvicto involves contact with radioactivity which may increase the risk for cancer and cause fetal harm. Drink plenty of fluids, urinate often, use contraception and talk to your doctor about ways to reduce the risk of exposing others to radiation. During and after treatment, Pluvicto can cause low levels of blood cell counts, kidney problems and infertility. Tell your doctor if you have weakness, pale skin, shortness of breath, bleeding or bruising, more easily an infection, or changes in urination. Side effects include decreased decreased blood cell counts, tiredness, dry mouth, nausea, appetite loss, joint or back pain and constipation. Ask your doctor about Pluvicto because every day without cancer progression is a victory. Visit pluvicto.com to learn more. This is Matt Rogers from Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.
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This is Bowen Yang from Lost Culturist.
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With Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. Hey Bowen. It's gift season. Ugh.
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Stressing me out.
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Why are the people I love so hard to shop for? Probably because they only make boring gift guides that are totally uninspired. Except for the guide we made in partnership with Marshall's, where premium gifts meet incredible value. It's giving gifts with categories like Best Gifts for the mom whose idea of a sensible walking shoe is a stiletto.
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Or Best gifts for me that were so thoughtful I really shouldn't have.
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Check out the guide on marshalls.com and gift the good stuff at Marshalls. Good morning sweet world, and welcome to the no Dunks podcast presented by FanDuel. It's Wednesday, December 17, 2025. I'm Jay Skeets here in the classic factory and alongside me, as always, Tasmelis.
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Basketball lovers, podcast listeners. This is for you.
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Next to him, it's my top shot, hot boy Trey Kirby Ayo. Hey yo. And over yonder, making the magic happen, super producer JD Hello. There he is. Here we are. Hello to everybody on YouTube. Hit the like button. Subscribe podcast listeners, five star ratings and reviews. On today's show, we're gonna throw some thumbs in the up down report and maybe Jalen Brunson's bum bum in the up down report. Yeah, we'll get to you and what Hart was up to with Brunson there. I immediately thought of you and your wife. Me too. Right?
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B
Yep.
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A
In the up down report we got some Raptors involved in some trade rumors. We've got some owners responding to fans emails. And there's a more info, I guess on the shocking Chris Paul Clippers divorce from a while back. But first, Trey already did it. Salute to the Cup. Last night's NBA cup final was a blast. We had a 15 to 3 run to start the fourth quarter which powered the Knicks to the 124113 victory over the spurs to secure the third annual NBA Cup. Let's get into this game. Your big takeaways. We'll talk about the NBA cup in general a little bit later in the show. What works, what doesn't, what we should switch up but the game and the Knicks winning the cup. What do you think?
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B
Well, you mentioned that 153 run in the fourth quarter was all produced by the Knicks bench. It obviously starts with Jalen Brunson and the effort he was showing on both ends. He was getting in the way on the defense end. He was diving out of bounds, so it starts with him. But in the fourth quarter, surprisingly those guys off the bench, starting with Mitchell Robinson, who was the perfect matchup for Victor Weminyama coming off the bench. That just worked out extremely well. That guy grabbed 10 offensive rebounds. It's funny when you look at the box score. This guy played, what, 18 minutes. He grabbed five defensive, but 10 offensive boards in those 18 minutes. He matched him perfectly. And yeah, literally blow for blow, you say that Mitchie had a more impactful game. As good as Wemby is, he was setting up Josh Hart for those. Not Josh Hart, excuse me, Jordan Clarkson for those big threes in the fourth quarter. Monstrous. And I thought those big, big splash threes from Jordan Clarkson coming off the bench were big. His defense, though, really, really important. He's guarding the ball handler and a pick and roll. He's able to recover and steal a pass inside and then block a shot. In that fourth quarter, when they're able to go on that run, who knew that was happening? That kept like 26 minutes off the bench. Assigning in the off season, we didn't talk about at all because we just thought, okay, he's coming to join the bench. Malcolm Brogdon's going to be there. Deuce McBride's going to be there. Malcolm Brogdon's retired. Judith McBride's hurt. This guy comes off and plays extremely well. And then the other guy, Tyler Kolek, who you didn't like when we said people were saying, he looks like Steve Nash out there, man, the guy just balling out there, getting in Wemby's way when he had to. That bump was really key to see Wemby come down the floor and him participating. As I said, The Mitchell Robinson vs. Wemby matchup was really important. They got to match up so perfectly, and Wemby coming off the bench, got to play 25 minutes. And that obviously works out well. I know we didn't really think about it that way when we saw them beat okc, but he didn't get to play a ton of minutes, and he obviously didn't have all with him in this game, even though he was jumping off the starters. But after the game, as he mentioned, he did lose his grandmother earlier in the day, so maybe he wasn't there totally, you know, giving every single second of every single minute he was trying out there, but he was a little, a little obviously overcoming everything he was overcoming. So we just saw a very, very deep Knicks team. Something I don't think we would always say about this team, but this team led by Brunson, it trickles down, man.
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C
We definitely didn't say it last year. And that was one of the big changes for the Knicks was bringing in Mike Brown for Tom Thibodeau because he's going to juice the offense a little bit and a little bit of a mandate. It felt like from the Knicks to use your bench more. So to get these kind of performances from Clarkson. Hitting the big shots, had a nice layup as well. Was actually helping on the glass. Tyler Kolek, the cup riser, he just.
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Made play after play after play.
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It was an extra pass. Sometimes it's helping on the glass. He had that tip out on the OG Anunoby. Three pointer from the left wing. Couple of saves under the basket. Took some charges. I was racking my brain all last night. Who does this guy actually remind me of? It ain't Steve Nash. Steve Nash never raised a cup.
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B
How dare you.
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C
But I was also like, I can't just think of a white guy.
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Can't do it right.
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Be better not to.
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So with anybody. But I woke up in the morning and I had the answer.
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A
Derek Fisher, okay?
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C
When he gets inside, he's not trying to score, okay? He's trying to make a pass to the outside. He's given it on the defensive end. He's not your main ball handler. Even though he is a point guard. He plays off the ball. Fisher is a better outside shooter, but Kolik had it going last night, but task nailed it. Offensive rebounding really won the game last night for the Knicks. 21 offensive rebounds, 32 second chance points at one point. Iron Eagle is joking with Stan Van Gundy. You come to the arena and you want to see offensive rebounding. And Stan was.
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A
Yes, me too.
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Stan.
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I thought about us sharing rebound highlights. Sometimes on the show, sometimes on social media. I was like, oh, maybe Stan follows us.
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C
They're killers. The two passes out to Clarkson were major momentum plays for the Knicks. You mentioned Mitchell Robinson, 10 and 18 minutes. I wonder how many of those came on the same possession. There was one in the first half where he had like four just going at Victor. This to me was reminiscent of when the Knicks beat the CAVS in the first round of the playoffs. In the 2023 playoffs. It was like an early go through for the Cavs. At that point they looked a little bit inexperienced and the Knicks looked like they could out tough the Cavs back then. I thought that's exactly what happened last night. Towns didn't play like a great game, but I thought he played tough. I thought he played pretty smart. He played physically for sure. So between him and Robinson beating it up on the glass, they just look like the veteran team out there doing what it takes to win.
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A
Yeah. Just to add to that, you guys are giving love, and rightfully so, to the Knicks bench who like changed the game in the fourth quarter. Especially when you look at the first three quarters, it was the spurs bench having the edge 37 to 15 for the backups for the spurs up until that fourth quarter. And then it flips to the Knicks 18, 8. But OG Anunoby kept the Knicks sort of in the game in the first half especially. He had 20 points right at the break, had that crazy basket where it's like he got blocked by Cornet. But then OG Just continued to power through it and almost like slap tipped it in and that went down. So he was huge. And then in the third quarter, I thought when the Knicks were in danger of maybe being run out of the gym by the young Spurs, I thought, Kat, midway through that third quarter, he kept him attached to just enough. And that was even when Wemby did have his best part of the game, right? Because he had that good quarter where he had a couple alley oop finishes, hit a couple threes, had that jumper over Mitchell Robinson. It's like, oh, okay, here we go. Maybe the spurs are going to run away with this, but because of OG in the first, because of Cat there in the third, and then a lot of Brunson the captain, you could get then to wow Jordan Clarkson, Tyler Kolek, and then Mitchell Robinson, who had. He had four offensive rebounds to start the fourth quarter, and two, like you said, resulted in Clarkson threes that got them the lead and then they never relinquished it. So everybody contributed. Now the cue will be, can these reserves, like these three guys, can they help the Knicks obviously win a bunch of playoff series? And JD I think you got a Google Doc up on our, on our monitor here. Can they help them in an actual run to the championship? It's one thing to do it in Vegas in a couple elimination games. Played great. Now they're going to have to do it a lot more times in the playoffs.
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B
What was Brunson's catchphrase that he said post game in the, in the interview, he said that this is the phrase that we're going to go by. You said, can they get there, you know, through the regulation, through the playoffs? He said the catchphrase that we're going to go by. Damn, what is it? He literally said it.
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A
I mean, he showed a lot of love to those guys.
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B
Yeah, that's what he said. First thing he Said, oh, yeah, yeah. He said. Can I say this before I answer your question, Taylor? And he literally just said, the four guys, including OG plus the three guys that we mentioned, that will take them there. Because, as I said, he leads the way with his heart, with his tenacity, he leads the way. I do wonder Mitchell Robinson coming off the bench. I thought coming into this season, Mike Brown was going to be there for these reasons. Play the bench more, no doubt. Get Brunson off the ball a little bit more. That has happened. And I thought Mitchell Robinson would be starting with Karl Anthony Towers. Totally wrong about that. Mitchell Robinson coming off the bench, first of all, he's always been a guy who does get injured. This preserves his body a little bit more. But also when you have og, let's start with him, plus Mikel Bridges, plus Josh Hart, giving all that heart in the offensive and that starting lineup, I should say then you don't need every single minute of Mitchell Robinson being able to take some of the weight off of Karl Anthony Towne's shoulders. And that's why I thought he'd be starting more. I thought we'd see more Gershon, Yabu Selli, who's just sitting out there, just hanging out off the bench because they're so deep right now with Cat playing extremely harsh. I mean, Cat got in Wembanyama's way when he had to, and he went to the bench because he was banged up and holding his lower leg because of it. But the depth is showing through. And here we are going into this part of the season where the Knicks are skyrocketing in the Eastern Conference standings. It seems like that's going to be their spot, and we'll see how they can do this going into the playoffs. But it feels like these guys are ready. Whatever Jalen Brunson's catchphrase is, whatever it is, it's there to get them, to keep them going.
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A
I didn't write it down, but I missed this catchphrase.
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C
Found a way to win. Is that what he said? I don't know. That's a suggestion from Patches Aloha.
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B
It might be Patches Aloha, but it's basically the. The. The point of. Of what it is, is we're just going to keep fighting. We're just going to keep fighting through, like OG Anunoby fighting through a block shot and able to put it into the net afterward. They are just a resilient bunch. That's who they are.
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C
OG had such a good game. The 20 points in the first half Was big time. They were talking about how he tried to model his game after Kawhi. From playing with him for a little bit. And also some Jimmy Butler. I was like, I don't really see that, but he looked a lot like Jimmy Butler. I thought last night that three pointer in the corner was crazy. Two jab steps and then just shot it over Wemby. Yeah, Money, that was Great. Finished with 28 points, nine rebounds, three assists. And I thought his defense was huge on Fox in the fourth quarter. Fox was having a good game through three quarters. Didn't make a field goal in the fourth. Completely taken out of the game by the size and the strength of og.
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A
What did you think of Wembanyama? Obviously playing with a heavy heart after the passing of his grandmother earlier in the day. But your thoughts on him coming off the bench and. And struggling a little bit with his shot?
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C
He was only good in the third quarter and I thought he was totally pressing in the fourth quarter. Trying to make back any sort of the deficit on the entire shot is like he's trying to hit home runs with all of his three point attempts I took, I think he took three threes in the fourth quarter. One shot inside the arc. The physicality, I thought, bothered him and in general, he's still working his way back into the rhythm. Only playing in his second game here, but he can't really get by guys right now with his dribble. It's a. A high dribble because he's 7 foot 5, so they have a chance at him. He's not able to push guys around. Especially a Mitchell Robinson who's a tree trunk and, you know, has the physicality advantage on Wemby, but I thought he was okay, but it wasn't. I thought the spurs blew the lead when Wemby was sitting regardless, but he was still a minus 18 on the night. And it kind of felt like it. Like it didn't. Other than that third quarter where he had like four baskets in pretty quick succession, he didn't put his stamp on the game all that much.
- [15:34]
A
Yeah, and to add to that, I don't think he played very poised on the defensive end too, because he was trying, like he was trying to block absolutely everything. And a lot of times it was resulting in Mitchell Robinson offensive rebounds because, like, Wemby's like sort of like scrambling all over the place again. He's playing in this game under unfortunate circumstances with the passing of his grandmother, but he seemed like hectic to me. And some of those Mitchell Robinson rebounds Were because of that, because he was just like probably going for a block. He had no right to even try and attempt and then is completely out of position and abundant Knicks guys can grab the offensive rebound.
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B
Yeah, the defense on Victor Wembanyama is going to be very interesting here because we saw it in okc. It was Caruso, Jalen Williams, smaller guys, scrappy, slap it around. And then Mitchell Robinson comes in, a monster of a man, also very, very strong to take away space. So it worked out perfectly. And as I mentioned, I think we're going to see some Chet holmgren on that 23rd and 25th games of December where OKC gets to play him twice just to see if a taller player will match him up because we didn't see him in the mid range operate where he was great against okc. And so we'll see if he can do it. Obviously working and playing with different circumstances in this particular game. But he is, he is strong and you can see it in that body. Those muscles have become way more defined and bigger. And so he's going to have bang with whether it's scrappy players like Caruso and Jalen Williams or big guys like he had to against Mitch and Mitchell Robinson. Now a couple of those reverse alley oops that he tried to throw down and he somehow missed them he made up for with other ones. But a lot of it, a lot of his work was at the rim or in three point land and not in the in the mid range like he showed against okc. So he's got way more in his bag. And it just so happens here in an NBA cup final, he only plays 25 minutes. It works out for the Knicks like in hopefully as years go on, he ain't playing 25 minutes, he's playing 35 because he's that good. Did you know Tide has been upgraded to provide an even better clean in cold water?
- [17:33]
A
Tide is specifically designed to fight any stain you throw at it. Even in cold butter.
- [17:39]
B
Yep.
- [17:40]
A
Chocolate ice cream. Sure thing. Barbecue sauce. Tide's got you covered. You don't need to use warm water.
- [17:47]
B
Additionally, Tide pods let you confidently fight.
- [17:50]
A
Tough stains with new coldzyme technology. Just remember, if it's gotta be clean, it's gotta be Tide. What a matchup we got y'. All. This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rockin and the crowd is lit. Chance echo drum beat everybody showing that school pride. Game like this. Yeah. It calls for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah, crisp and refreshing. That's a game Changer right there. Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that, we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere. And in ice cold Coca Cola, that's a winning combo, no matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going. So you're telling me that the AI that's meant to make everyone's job easier to manage just adds more to manage? On top of the thousands of apps the IT department already manages? Funny how that works. Any business can add AI. IBM helps you scale and manage AI to change how you do business. Let's create Smile to Business IBM. This is Matt Rogers from Los Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. This is Bowen Yang from Los Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. Hey, Bowen. It's gift season. Ugh. Stressing me out. Why are all the people I love so hard to shop for like me? Exactly. Exactly, honey.
- [19:29]
B
I'm easy.
- [19:30]
C
But you're right.
- [19:30]
A
Holiday gifting is stressful.
- [19:32]
C
And all the gift guides out there are boring and uninspired.
- [19:34]
A
Wait, what about the guide we made.
- [19:36]
C
In partnership with Marshalls where premium gifts mean incredible value?
- [19:40]
A
It's Giving Gifts. A series of guides filled with premium gifts at great value for everyone on your list.
- [19:46]
C
Yeah, because if I see one more for the dad who likes golf list, I'm out, right?
- [19:50]
A
How about something for the people who actually surprise you with categories?
- [19:55]
C
Like best gifts for the mom whose idea of a sensible walking shoe is a stiletto.
- [19:58]
B
Psst.
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C
She wants a pair of stilettos.
- [20:00]
A
Or best gifts for me that were so thoughtful I really shouldn't have Dying to see what those are. And you won't believe their prices.
- [20:07]
C
Just wait till you see what else is in there.
- [20:09]
A
It's basically a one stop shop for everyone. You know, I started bookmarking half the list for myself.
- [20:13]
B
Honestly, this is the guide for the.
- [20:15]
C
2025 holiday gifting season.
- [20:18]
A
Check out the guide on marshalls.com it's giving gifts Gift the good stuff at Marshalls. Any other takeaways from either of these teams and particular players? We'll get to random notes in a second.
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C
But Jalen Brunson got the MVP. Went for 33 points, three rebounds, six assists per game in cup play. Shot 53 from the field, 46 from three. Only 66 at the line. I think he even missed some last night. He had a fast break layup where he actually looked fast. Yeah, that's like the first time he sprinted in the NBA, like Dwayne Wade couldn't believe it. Yeah, I thought that was pretty funny. Like Stan Van Gogh. That was Jalen Brunson running that.
- [20:56]
B
So then they replay it for us. And because it's a slow mo replay it doesn't look. Turn it up. Yeah, yeah.
- [21:03]
C
But I thought that was pretty funny. I think he's deserved MVP. If it was a 1 gamer, definitely OG would have been the guy last night. But Brunson was pretty solid as well. You know, he had a big bucket getting around Fox for a layup. Had the lucky Bankton shot from the top of like basically the free throw line. He was really good. He's the leader of their team and he was playing it pretty cool at the celebrations. Yeah, I thought he was like, yeah, this is nice, but this doesn't mean nearly as much as winning an actual championship. But still, I also liked the story Dwyane Wade told about Jordan Clarkson. That when Jordan Clarkson works out in the summer, he just shows up, goes from the car straight into working out.
- [21:45]
A
Yeah, that was funny.
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C
That was hilarious.
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A
To replicate the idea of like, I'm just thrown into the game, I guess. Let's go.
- [21:50]
C
Yeah, that's a great excuse if you don't want to show up early for your workout to get some stretching in. Yeah, this is how I do it in the game. So I just got to walk in off the street.
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B
An absolute baller. Yeah. I think I believe this is correct, that he's seventh all time in scoring off the bench. He would be way up higher if Utah didn't have any other alternatives. His last couple years in Utah, they had to start him. You know, he would be playing that role, but he's coming for it. Yeah. And he just jumps onto the court. Yeah. You could see Jalen Brunson as far as him accepting everything, you know, trying to. Here's. Here's the trophy cat. You take it kind of thing and trying to play it cool. There was one vote for OG Anunoby amongst the media to get NBA cup mvp. Everybody else.
- [22:35]
C
Yeah, yeah. He deserves one vote.
- [22:37]
A
A Hubie Brown, like vote. Yeah, exactly right.
- [22:40]
B
Steve McGee, I believe his name is. And the fan. The fan vote. Hilarious. Wemby. Wemby. Wemby. There's five fan votes. I don't know how they like five. Good one through five, I guess. Anyways, three go to Wemby and two go to Brunson. Pretty funny. Okay, thanks for. Thank you, fans.
- [22:58]
A
Thanks, fans, for getting it wrong.
- [23:01]
C
Dylan Harper Shot the ball really well, five of seven from three. But unfortunately for him, these stats don't count. So he's still shooting 26% from three.
- [23:09]
A
Yeah. How many times is Stan Van Gundy bring that up?
- [23:11]
C
He only made 10 going into last night.
- [23:13]
A
He said it, like, every time he hit a three, he's like, okay, we got it. We got it. He doesn't usually hit threes. He's hitting them right now, but thank you, Stan.
- [23:19]
B
Yeah, I hate those accumulative stats and knowing about them, usually that's an Eric Reed, Miami Heat broadcaster thing.
- [23:25]
C
This man's got 742 shots taken.
- [23:28]
B
But in this case, Dylan Harper had only. What was it? Taken or made ten threes. Made ten threes. And he had five in this game.
- [23:34]
A
No, it's crazy.
- [23:35]
C
He was feeling it.
- [23:36]
B
That was pretty good, Stan. Van. That came through, man. That was important. He didn't have to mention it five times.
- [23:40]
A
But, you know, it's unfortunate for Mitchell Robinson, too, who during the season, right now has a 28%. 28% offensive rebounding rate, which means he rebounds 28% of the Knicks misses when he's on the floor. That is an insane number. The record is 21.8. But these 10 last night, not going to count.
- [23:59]
C
Nope, they don't.
- [24:00]
A
Do not count. But I'll say about him, when he has, like, an impact on the game like this and he's vacuuming up offensive rebounds and being great at playing Wemby, why aren't you just hacking him at this point? Not that I want to see extra free throws. Not that I even love the strategy, but, I mean, why not? The guy cannot hit a free throw this year. He's shooting like 20% at the free throw line, 22%, I guess, at the free throw line. I think you should almost automatically be doing it. When he's having a positive impact on the game, make him go there and try. Because he's, like, not even, like, hitting enough to, like, warrant, you know, the point per possession or whatever. Like, you got to make him see if he can hit some.
- [24:40]
B
Yeah, like we saw in the semifinal. Yeah, like you see a lot. Yeah, that's definitely a good point. It was strange.
- [24:46]
A
Even if it's ugly, obviously, for us at home watching it.
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B
But it ain't pretty.
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A
You know, you get them off the floor. Maybe because he was great. As we've gone through, I think the.
- [24:54]
C
Bench is best for him. That way he can just come in, play his 20ish minutes and go crazy the entire time rather than Having to pace himself for 30 minutes or whatever it would be. If he's a starter, I think it's fair. Castle was also pretty solid last night. Didn't have a great shooting night, but Dwayne Wade says 3 for 10 from the field's not a bad shooting night. Not if you're a scorer. Respect to that. But 12 assists for Castle. Only two turnovers. Unfortunately for him, both of his turnovers were in the last six minutes of the game when the spurs were trying to make a comeback.
- [25:22]
B
And he had that brutal one where.
- [25:23]
C
He'S just trying to, like, lob it up to Wembanyama. Looked like an inbounds to Cat, though.
- [25:27]
A
Yeah, yeah, he.
- [25:29]
C
I don't think the Knicks scored on that possession, but still, it was like, oof. Kind of deflating.
- [25:33]
B
Yeah, the guy was awesome, you know, throughout the game, and you could see it. And you brought up after the semifinal Trey, when we started talking about the draft class from 2024 and how he won rookie of the Year and how you kind of underestimated him. And if we were to redo the draft, Stefan Castle could easily go number one in that draft because he's freaking awesome the way he's able to bring and start up a possession and make sure everybody gets the ball. Like, he's become this passing guy, but at the same time, Darren Fox can be that guy on this team. At the same time, Dylan Harper can be the guy on this team. So I loved watching Sfon Castle yesterday, fighting over screens defensively, elite defense on.
- [26:11]
A
Brunson, like you said, and refusing to switch, you know, small on small screens. He's like. He played his ass off, I thought not having a greatest shooting night, a couple bad turnovers late. But yeah, I can't say the guy didn't try to win this game.
- [26:24]
B
Everyone was.
- [26:24]
A
And like, they. You saw it with the Knicks bench when they won the thing. Like, those guys at the end of the bench were like, oh, my God, yeah, like they won a championship. Yeah. Brunson a little more stoic, a little more going over, shaking hands with everybody on the other team. Of course, that's your captain. But happy for those guys that just won half a million dollars that some of them didn't even play.
- [26:41]
C
I think it's like a 23% raise for Tyler Kolek is what I saw.
- [26:47]
A
And he could triple a great game.
- [26:48]
C
He was awes.
- [26:49]
A
5 and 5. And he had probably the assist to OG in the corner. That was the one that sealed it. It was a hell of a play. But let's keep getting into some random things from this game. Let's hit the random notes here. JD Random. Yeah. I wanted to pivot to that because I brought up the Kolik pass, which was nice. But how about the Karl Anthony Towns pass in the first half where he's trapped on the sidelines and, like, they've got him. He has nowhere to go, and he throws, like, an underhand sort of swing to og, who's on the other side of the net. Just an incredible dime task from Kat here as we show everybody on YouTube.
- [27:32]
B
It's art, it's cinema in that camera. Spot the angle of that camera where you see it coming at the camera. I mean, come on. That's gorgeous stuff. Yeah.
- [27:41]
C
Great call from Eagle. That was a spicy dish. I had to rewind that one. I'm like, what happened?
- [27:47]
B
Yeah.
- [27:47]
C
Because it looked like he was totally trapped. Had Wemby all over him. Then let's find him. The under the armpit pass around Wemby was pretty impressive. In general, the Knicks weren't that scared of Wemby. Yeah, like, they were going at him. He did block some shots, but obviously they got busy on the offensive glass as well, and they played with respect for him, but not fear for him.
- [28:07]
A
Yeah, There was only a handful of times that I can remember Kolik, short arm one. Yeah, yeah. And there was maybe one other one that I was like, oh, yeah. Wemby, I think, obviously changed that shot because they knew he was lurking. But you're right, it was a great game from all the Knicks. Like, there really wasn't anybody on the Knicks that had a bad game. Like, I mean, Bridges, we didn't bring up. He obviously sort of gets bench for Kolik, who's, like, just on a heater, and you got to keep him out there. But, yeah, that's. He just had a quiet game. It wasn't even bad, I would say. It's not like Bridges was tanking him.
- [28:34]
B
Or anything like that. No, no, not at all. Yeah, that was to be able to make that pass around Wemby. If I was on the call, I'd be forcing it. And I'd say, what a French dish. What kind of a French dish was that? Just because Wemby's got the body right there. But just a great dish. But just a great dish.
- [28:54]
A
This we don't have anything for. But once again, this must be the second or third time this season, Luke Cornett catching himself on the in arena big screens, on the Jumbotron, whatever you want to call it. I love when he sees that he's on it and just does like a dumb face. Makes me laugh every time. Professional players excited that he's on the big screen.
- [29:14]
B
Did you see the outfit that he walked in to the NBA Cup?
- [29:17]
A
I mean. Yeah, he's sort of looking like me here a little bit.
- [29:20]
B
This is a hoodie.
- [29:21]
A
Just a hoodie. Jeans.
- [29:23]
B
Runners.
- [29:24]
C
He played great.
- [29:25]
A
He did play great.
- [29:26]
C
If it wasn't for Mitchell Robinson, we would be talking about Luke Cornett's offensive rebounding. Yeah, he was all over the glass.
- [29:32]
A
He was.
- [29:32]
B
He was.
- [29:34]
A
We respect the cup here, but I was wondering last night, does Dwayne Wade respect the Cup? And I asked that because we had Stan Van Gundy and Eagle. They were wearing the NBA cup pins, but Dwayne Wade was not.
- [29:49]
C
Huh.
- [29:49]
A
Yeah. You know, I was a little upset.
- [29:52]
C
I think the thing is that Dwayne Wade respects his shirt more than he respects the cup.
- [29:56]
A
I believe that is the case, too.
- [29:59]
B
Yeah.
- [29:59]
C
Because you could. You could leave a hole for sure in that knit he's wearing.
- [30:03]
A
Yeah, right. Then the other guys had their lapel there with their suits.
- [30:06]
B
Yeah, yeah, he's lapel free.
- [30:08]
A
Okay.
- [30:08]
B
So where are you going to put it?
- [30:09]
A
I'm glad you say that because on the broadcast, Dwayne Wade seems to respect the Cup. Very into it, but didn't respect the cup pin, I guess.
- [30:16]
B
Yeah. And he was. He was preaching the importance of winning a game that has, you know, all these stakes and that how it can help you later on in the season. So he did. But he also appreciates attire.
- [30:30]
A
More than the cup, maybe.
- [30:31]
B
Yeah.
- [30:33]
A
What'd you think of the Stan Crush graphics that we got at the start of the second half? And it was all about Castle, who we just showed some love to. I thought this was great. They had funny music going with this while we were seeing Castle highlights and Stan Van explaining his Crush.
- [30:48]
C
Yeah, this is like a peak Turner era sort of something. Right? We're coming up with a quick Photoshop because something funny was said during the broadcast. So they had a Castle train. Right. And I think Dwyane Wade wanted to hop on the OG train. Yeah, that one left the station a long time ago.
- [31:04]
A
Yeah.
- [31:05]
C
But you can hop on Castle.
- [31:06]
A
Sure, sure, sure.
- [31:07]
B
Yeah. He calls him Steph Castle every single time, though. Don't want to hear that.
- [31:10]
A
You don't like that.
- [31:11]
B
His name's Stefan and we have a Steph. It just doesn't flow.
- [31:15]
A
Yeah, I'm sort of with you. Doesn't sound as good.
- [31:18]
B
No, it doesn't.
- [31:18]
A
Castle.
- [31:19]
B
Yeah.
- [31:19]
A
I don't know why. And then finally we alluded to it right off the top, but in the celebrations for the Knicks, we had Josh Hart sticking his thumb.
- [31:28]
C
Let's see that thumb in the butt.
- [31:29]
A
Up Brunson's butt. And there it is.
- [31:33]
C
You guys are funny, man.
- [31:36]
A
Turning around, staring right at him.
- [31:38]
B
Well, at first he looks to the side of Josh Hart because he. He doesn't know if it's his thumb.
- [31:44]
A
No, he doesn't know who the hell's doing it.
- [31:45]
B
But then he's like, oh, yeah, it's his thumb.
- [31:47]
A
He knew who did it.
- [31:47]
B
Well, he thought it could have been. He could have been somebody who jumped in, gave him the thumb and then ran off. He kind of looks like. It looks like colic for a second. Was that your or. No, it's not colic, it's deuce. Are you Deuce. You give me the deuce goose.
- [32:00]
C
Give me the. The deuce goose. Yep, very good. And then they're like, you know, of course talking trash to each other during their post game interviews with the prime crew up there. That's love, man. Putting your thumb in somebody else's butt just as a joke. You can't do it unless you are very close to the person.
- [32:18]
B
Yeah.
- [32:19]
C
Like, I mean, we've been working together for 20 years and I would still feel uncomfortable your guys butts.
- [32:25]
A
Thank you.
- [32:26]
B
But how would you, how would you feel if you got the thumb in the butt?
- [32:29]
C
I would welcome it.
- [32:30]
B
Yeah.
- [32:30]
A
Okay.
- [32:30]
B
You wouldn't feel uncomfort.
- [32:32]
A
He's also used to it a lot more. He gets drive by thumbs up the butt all the time from his wife.
- [32:36]
B
Right.
- [32:37]
C
I would say almost every day.
- [32:38]
A
Yeah. See?
- [32:39]
B
Okay.
- [32:39]
A
Wow.
- [32:40]
C
When I'm at the sink, mostly when I'm at the sink, I should never turn my back.
- [32:45]
A
Fair enough. Josh Hart was having fun with this on social media too. Basically saying caught in 4K. And he said it was AI. He's alluding or he's saying it's not even a real clip. So he's having fun with it. Yeah, those guys are buds. They're butt buds and celebrating the. The trophy there. And I think Cat had Shalamet on FaceTime.
- [33:10]
C
Yes. He got on FaceTime with Timmy Chalamet, got on FaceTime with Ben Stiller, got on FaceTime with his family. Posted it all to Instagram. This guy was celebrating the cup like it was a championship. He was very happy to be holding the trophy. It's like he was holding it, holding it, holding it. They gave it to Brunson for a second they took the like team photo and it's like gives it back to cat and cat carried it off. Yeah, had it with him all night. He had the cup going up on a Tuesday. James Edwards says that the Knicks are going to hang a banner for the cup.
- [33:37]
A
I guess the other teams have, right? Lakers and Bucks have put up a cup banner. So yeah, I'm. I'm not shocked by that.
- [33:44]
B
I guess Mike Brown almost didn't announce it post game when he gave his interview with Taylor Rooks but he basically said it feels like we're in msg. It feels so good we're going to hang a banner. Essentially said it like so yeah they're hanging it.
- [33:57]
A
There was a pro Knicks crowd there in attendance, a lot of Knicks fans. He was the trek or at least went to that game.
- [34:03]
B
You don't really see a coach come back come out of the and do an interview like that and basically say like, like super excited. Like super duper excited. Like let's go like post game like.
- [34:15]
A
That he was fired.
- [34:16]
B
That's fire New York in here.
- [34:18]
A
Do coaches get the 500000 too?
- [34:22]
C
They must get some kind of bonus players. Yeah, they are being forced to work overtime.
- [34:26]
A
Confirm. By the way, that question I had the other day about like is it like an accumulative thing every round you keep adding to it.
- [34:32]
B
It.
- [34:32]
A
No, no it is not. It's only $531,000 for the winning players at least. Congrats to the Knicks and a cool 200k or whatever it was for the Spurs. Llamas will be bought. Johnson.
- [34:47]
C
Did the Knicks celebrate in the champagne room? I know that was a thing like the Lakers didn't year one so the Bucks followed suit and didn't.
- [34:56]
A
I don't.
- [34:56]
C
I couldn't find any third thing about it. Yeah, I was doing a Nick's Champagne searches all over the place like seeing if I could find something but I don't know. They should have at least gone to New York, New York to do their celebration.
- [35:12]
A
We're going across the street.
- [35:14]
B
That's a great idea. Yeah.
- [35:15]
A
I don't know because we last year when we were in Vegas for the cup we knew the person that set up the champagne room and they were terribly disappointed that it wasn't even used.
- [35:25]
B
Oh yeah.
- [35:26]
A
Because Milwaukee refused to go in. Remember that?
- [35:28]
B
Yeah, that's right.
- [35:30]
A
Felt so bad from all that work these people put into it. No, no, we're not touching it.
- [35:35]
C
Yeah.
- [35:35]
A
And in retrospect they should have.
- [35:37]
C
They should have.
- [35:37]
A
They Got bounced in the first round.
- [35:38]
C
It's not the champagne that's the curse. I also liked. We heard a lot about it. Dirk Nowitzki teaching og Anunoby how to shoot and about the finger position. It's all about the railroad is what Dirk said.
- [35:50]
B
I was like, calls it a railroad.
- [35:51]
C
Yeah, that in my pocket.
- [35:52]
A
That was cool. I like that. They brought the ball out and handed it to dir and then had Taylor hold the mic for him to explain it. That was good.
- [36:00]
B
Yeah. Let your, your finger, your pointer finger and your middle finger be the last two to touch it. That way it can't go right or go left. It has to either f miss short or long from Dirk.
- [36:11]
A
It was pretty cool last night for sure. Hitting five threes. There anything else on this game? But we'll again, we'll talk a little bit more about the cup in general when we get to the up down report.
- [36:22]
B
But yeah, I mean, Josh Hart, obviously the thumb, he was doing what he wanted. I thought the huge three with three minutes left. He hadn't hit a three all game. He kind of called. Called his own number up. 5. Three minutes left in the fourth quarter here and, and lined it up. So he must feel great. Brunson obviously thanked everybody post game in that interview. That's the first thing he said. And he said, without them, we don't win. He. He believed himself. You know, he stopped. He stopped. He stopped himself. And we talked about earlier, is cursing cool in sports now? Like, is our, our media companies cool with it? And I do think we're at a point, even though he kind of stopped himself mid that. It is totally cool. It's totally fine now. Things have changed. He can say shit if he wanted to. Yeah. And I probably totally can.
- [37:11]
C
On Prime.
- [37:12]
B
On Prime.
- [37:12]
C
Yeah.
- [37:13]
B
Yeah, you would think so.
- [37:14]
C
Over the air.
- [37:15]
A
Yeah.
- [37:16]
B
And I did write down, and it's.
- [37:17]
A
After 10pm you can say whatever you want.
- [37:18]
C
Definitely. Locally, though, is it local rules?
- [37:22]
B
Yeah, good point. I did write down from Brad Brunson speech, we're gonna find a way. So that's probably they're saying going forward, we're gonna find a way.
- [37:30]
A
Okay.
- [37:30]
B
Because that's who they are.
- [37:31]
A
That's not gonna stick.
- [37:32]
C
I don't know.
- [37:33]
A
That doesn't hit.
- [37:34]
B
Maybe not. I mean, for Brunson, it feels like he'll say that to his team. Will it be fun out here in the, in the media world? Little Knicks fans jump on it. Probably, actually. Okay.
- [37:44]
A
Find a way. Okay.
- [37:45]
B
We're gonna find a way. You want just find a way. Yeah. Either way. Sure.
- [37:48]
A
Workshop that.
- [37:49]
B
We'll workshop that. Landry Shamit's outfit, I was cool with it. He just wore baggy pants, you notice. Just regular baggy pants.
- [37:57]
C
He had a big old pair of jeans on. I think he had only the right side of his shirt tucked in.
- [38:02]
B
It was a Wayne Gretzky tuck.
- [38:04]
A
Nice.
- [38:05]
B
And I have to comment on your attire right now because you, you said.
- [38:11]
C
My Knicks themed gear.
- [38:13]
A
My orange shirt.
- [38:13]
B
Yeah, exactly.
- [38:14]
C
A Ralph tuck.
- [38:15]
A
Now is that a mock turtleneck?
- [38:16]
C
Oh, that's a mock. A mock baby.
- [38:17]
A
Okay. That's what you consider.
- [38:20]
B
Nearly orange.
- [38:22]
C
Yeah, that's like a rusty boy. That's a rusty mince.
- [38:26]
B
Gotta, gotta throw that rusty.
- [38:29]
C
That's a deep pole. That one's for you, Matt. I know you're gonna love that. I also liked Richard Jefferson was on hand wearing a little tiny hat and glasses.
- [38:37]
B
Yeah. I was like, who is that guy?
- [38:38]
C
I know you never see it with anything on his head, hair or anything.
- [38:42]
B
Tiny ski hat like curled right up to the top of his head. Are you an artist? Are you going to paint? Like, he did not look like Richard Jefferson at all. And he had the gray beard, beard, hair stubble coming up as well. So it was interesting to see him. Just a couple quick notes here. I hate it. I was happened to be on Twitter slash X on the search tab and the today's news as it's titled. The one top headline was Knicks and 52 Year Drought with NBA Cup Final Win. A 52 Year Drought. Yeah, they've been trying for this NBA cup for 50 years. So basically to replicate. Yeah, they won a freaking title which they haven't done in 52 years. But then you know, you get that little small text that says quote, a summary of posts on X and may evolve over time. Grok can make mistakes, verify its outputs. So yeah, whatever. That was just hard to read. Anyway, I will also just. Dylan Harper, we love shooting him. He also has that left foot torqued when he, he lets it rip. You know, he's got that unique. He's got that unique footwork where it's just turned in just a touch before he lets it go. That's all. That's all. I just love Dylan Harper, man. He's just a cool player to watch.
- [39:54]
A
All right, let's take a break and when we come back, we'll get into more cup talk in the up down report. The NBA is awesome. You know this, I know this. The buckets, the buzzer beaters, all of it. And fanduels putting you in control. Right from tip off. Because today, Wednesday, you get to choose your reward. It's like those choose your own adventure books when we were young. But for betting, you have options. Take your shot with a profit boost. You can play it cool with a no sweat bet or get a little backup with a bet back token. It's all about finding what fits your game, the way you like to play and the way you hopefully like to win. Me, I'm a go big or go home type of dude. I'm almost always and this is probably not the right way to do it, but I'm always chasing that big parlay. Maybe you're more of a careful strategist who plays it smart with the no sweat bet. If you are, I think that is good thinking. But I'm a parlay man. No matter how you play, FanDuel is giving you the power to choose your reward and your own game this NBA season. So make your pick, get in the game and play it your way. Shouts to FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Okay, J.D. let's do it, man. Let's get into the up down report. The up down report. Got a couple for you. Throw some thumbs on these. Up or down? The first one. The Raptors have a 16 and 11 record. They're third in the east and are rumored to be a buyer at the trade deadline. NBA insider Jake Fisher, who has a hell of a mustache going on right now, he reported that the Raptors are in the market for an upgrade to their frontcourt and that Demontes Sabonis and Anthony Davis are two players to keep an eye on. Tass, I want to start with you. You got your Raptors hoodie on here. Up or down on the Raptors showing interest in AD and or Sabonis.
- [41:59]
B
I don't like the trade for either guy. I'm going down. As far as Anthony Davis goes, does this make them a championship team right here, right now? Anthony Davis, as much as I've supported him, he is about a half a season type of player. Right now he's playing this half a season. This year he's only played half a season. Last year he only played half a season and three of the years before that he had played half seasons. We're talking four of the last five years, plus this one half a season gonna go give up a lot of your depth for a guy who's owed a good amount both this year and next year and the year after that, at 58 and 62, you trade away your depth, you're swinging for it you're gonna be a championship team. You're gonna be. He's gonna be 33 before the playoffs. I just see this as an extension of the moods that they made over the last couple years. We're trading for Brandon Ingram. We're trading both OG Pascal out of here for Emanuel quickly. It just feels like like ain't going that high with Anthony Davis as their guy. And I feel the same way about Demonte Sabonis. As good as he is money owed to him also pretty big the next two years. I feel like it's a lateral move. A lot to pay in guys that they have in depth that they have. I'd rather see them go for somebody smaller like Daniel Gafford has been rumored to be wanted by the Toronto Raptors. Great report from Josh Lenberg of TSN to help back up Jakob Hurdle costs less. It doesn't really cripple you like these other two guys would. When you've got a team that's just. It's not excelling right now as even though they are third in the Eastern Conference, this isn't a team, a championship team. And I just don't think those. Those two guys really take them over the top. So I can't do it.
- [43:36]
A
I wouldn't do it even hypothetically. And I don't think this would happen. But even if you could turn Purdle and RJ Barrett and some sort of draft capital for Anthony Davis, like that's not a lot. I think you would agree.
- [43:49]
B
I hear you.
- [43:50]
A
I get your half man half a season, which would be hilarious to have a guy in the Toronto name that. But that's not a ton.
- [43:57]
B
That's not. I don't see why the Mavs would do that unless you're giving up. Yeah. A ton of pace.
- [44:02]
A
Yeah, I agree with that. Also, the weird part is Anthony Davis doesn't really want to play five. So then he's your only center on the team. If he were to come in that sort of deal because Pearl would go out. So maybe there's complications there. Okay, so you're not. Not loving these ideas. You think the Raptors will just go a tier or two down?
- [44:17]
B
Yeah.
- [44:18]
A
For a center that'll be much more.
- [44:19]
B
Affordable and see what they have here internally. They did give a monster extension to Yaka Pertle. I assume they knew that he wasn't injured, but it sure feels like he's injured now. If you're saying, hey, we're going to give you this injured guy plus RJ Barrett to see what we can Do. It all depends what's going the other way, but I don't see it right here, right now.
- [44:39]
A
What do you think, T.K.
- [44:40]
C
Yeah, I mean, if the Mavericks are going to do Portal for Davis, you definitely do that. If I have a aging center on a big contract who's hurt a lot, I would rather have Anthony Davis than Jakob Pertle, but I don't think the Mavericks would do that. And, you know, signs are pointing towards the Mavs hanging on to Anthony Davis because whatever's coming back isn't going to be all that exciting. So I'm with tasks. I think this is more likely going to be like a smaller move for a center who comes off the bench. Maybe starts when Portal is struggling. Mostly because the Raptors don't have any contracts between purdle making 19 and a half million and ochaya baji making 6 million.
- [45:19]
A
Yeah.
- [45:20]
C
Davis makes 54, Sabonis makes 42. So it's kind of hard to add up to their contract numbers because of the matching rules here, which means RJ Barrett basically has to be in the deal. He's 27 and a half million dollars. So you're trading a bunch of guys for one center. It just doesn't make a whole bunch of sense. So more than likely they will do something to get themselves underneath the luxury tax. It makes them like 11 million dol as a franchise.
- [45:44]
B
Yeah. And you got to think about it from the Mavs perspective. The ownership obviously trade Luka Doncic. They try and make up for it by firing Nico Harrison. You're going to turn the guy that you traded Luca for and Anthony Davis into Jakob Poe, who is nowhere close to being an all Star. And RJ Barrett, obviously a solid guy. The reps need him back healthy. But at the same time, you really dug yourself a big hole. You're trying to dig yourself out of it by firing Nico Harris. And the guy that we turned Luca into is going to be turned into Jakob Hurdle again, who's having trouble staying on the floor and looking like himself even when he is on the floor. That's a monster contract himself. But you're going to have to trade Monsters away to get Davis or Demonte Saboto. So it's hard. I think it's hard on both sides. Like, what are the Kings getting back on there? And they want. I know that there aren't huge packages for Demontos, but they also want somebody solid that they can play.
- [46:42]
A
Yeah, I mean, I think they of any team would be like getting off a Sabonis because they are looking to blow this up and are more likely to be interested in RJ Barrett a pick whatever other contracts to make it worth I don't want the Raptors really to make a move for Sabonis, especially if it's going to be Purdl and Sabonis. What you're going with and playing paying a lot of money for those two centers. I'm not into that. Also the reporting is that the Raptors, like a lot of teams are just waiting to see the whole Giannis of the and what happens with him in Milwaukee and if they could be aggressive to try and make a deal for him, whether they should do that. Because the Raptors are one of like seven teams that do have control of all their first round picks. So they could be aggressive big game hunting for a star if they wanted to. But then you get into the question like what's, what's even yawning adding Giannis to the Raptors if a lot of talent does have to go out to make it happen because of contract. I mean what are the Raptors with Giannis and a depleted rush? They just sort of not Are they not the Bucks?
- [47:39]
C
Kind of like the Bucks potentially.
- [47:41]
B
Yeah. I can't wait to see what the Kings do if they do want to blow it up because it sure feels like they just keep adding players to be a even below mediocre team. I mean there's going to be a lot of players dealt and maybe they can't get anything back for a lot of them because there's so many players people are supporting demartin Rosen, get him to a winner. Get it. I get it. There's going to be trades. It's going to be more exciting than the off season. Heard the free agency was going to be great. That didn't happen. But trade season should be.
- [48:08]
C
Yeah, trade deadline is more important than free agency now.
- [48:11]
B
It's more. It's new. It's new age.
- [48:13]
A
Next one here. A Golden State warriors fan found owner Joe lacob's email address online and expressed his disappointment after Sunday's loss and Lacop responded. He said, quote you can't be as frustrated as me. I'm working on it. It's complicated style of play coaches desires regarding players league trends. Jimmy is not the problem. End quote TK you gotta start it. Are you up or down? On warriors owner Joe Lacob responding to a frustrated fan's email I don't know.
- [48:43]
C
Which way to put my thumb. If I'm the fan. This is thumbs up. I just randomly found Joe lacob's email on the Internet blasted him an email and he writes back two minutes later. That's a thumbs up right there. Good outreach from the owner of the Golden State Warriors.
- [48:58]
A
But what about what he said?
- [49:01]
C
That's where I'm like it's a little trending towards the down thumb there. The coaches desires regarding players. That's pretty interesting because we know lacob has been a big Jonathan Kaminga backer. Steve Kerr obviously not a Jonathan Kaminga backer. And it's been like a push and pull for the entire five years the Kaminga's been on the warriors and now it seems to be building to a head as we get closer and closer to the trade deadline and to Kaminga actually being eligible to be traded. Feels like there's a little bit of tension there though. Steve Kerr popped the balloon and basically is like, I just love that our co that our owner has passion. He wants to win. I think that is true. The other thing I think that was interesting him mentioning the league trends because you look at this warriors team and it's like this is a team that was built to be good in 2016. They're a small ball team in a big man's world. The game has changed in the past three seasons. Basically. They're also an old team in a young man's game. They don't have the size to compete with a team like the Nuggets or the Rockets. The spurs, even the Thunder play two bigs a lot of the time.
- [50:06]
A
Maybe.
- [50:07]
C
Exactly. Golden State 25th in defensive rebound rate. Like there's nobody on the team. That's really going to help that. There also things that are advantageous to teams right now are playing a lot of young guys. All of the best teams in the league have great depth of younger guys and the warriors don't have that either. Their young guys are okay and there's not even that many of them that are in the rotation right now. So I don't know. Frustrated fan makes sense to me. I would be frustrated too if I had seen the way the warriors went down.
- [50:35]
A
Yeah, especially those last two Curry games. This guy comes back and scored like 80 combined points over the two games and they both come in losses.
- [50:42]
B
So I get what the fan is saying. Yeah, what are we going to do with Steph? He can't score 65 a game and we're not going to win. So I get that frustration. I also get Joe Lakob replying. I get that. That's fun. It is. It's courageous. It's a mark Cuban type of move. It's. It's fun to see your owner like that.
- [51:01]
A
Should he have said, though, at the bottom of his email, don't put this to Reddit?
- [51:04]
B
Yeah, don't put this anywhere. Yeah, things have changed.
- [51:07]
A
Keep this private.
- [51:08]
B
Yeah, things have changed as far as basketball goes. More athletes and more depth. Things have changed. The way we feel about emails, you just can't send them anymore. You gotta be concerned, right? And that's what Steve Kerr said in his press conference. He said, think about if every single one of our emails was posted. I mean, it sucks. It does suck. But at the same time, you've got an owner who's trying to put it out there for you. I projected myself and I said, I love emailing people back from no dunks. It's great. I'm also not a billionaire and no one cares what I have to say. No one's even going to publicize that. That's why it stinks in that retrospect. But yeah, the trend of the league is totally true. And that seems to be what Lakeb was speaking about when they made the trade for Jimmy Butler last year. Year, they were too small. We saw it against the Wolves. They're too small. They're getting older now. So it's totally exact opposite of what the league is going for now. They're always a strength in numbers team. Like, they always had depth and they still do, but they got to get bigger and they got to get younger and that's a problem, I think. Also Steve Kerr saying in his press conference, he said he will keep the five man group of Steph, Moses Moody, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green and Quentin Post as the established starting lineup for the foreseeable future. Future. I mean, that's not all that appetizing for warriors fans. Qp, he ain't a modern day player. Quinn Post is just not a modern day player. Yeah, he can, he can shoot a three and he can kind of be in the way, but that ain't him. So struggling, you know, besides Steph, Jimmy and Draymond, they need athleticism. Moses Moody hasn't been that awesome guy. So those are the two guys that they're saying we're going with. It's kind of similar to what they did last year with Josh, Jonathan Kaminga. Right. Like he's, he's going to the bench. Okay. Now he's starter. He's. He is the absolute starter and it didn't work out. So, yeah, they're going through it. They are going through it.
- [52:58]
A
Sure feels I know they are like handcuffed a little bit here, but a team that's going to make some sort of move when you can trade Jonathan Kamingo, which is not until January 15.
- [53:09]
C
Not December 15, another month and it's like now his contract is big and he doesn't play.
- [53:14]
A
Yeah. So, yeah, they may have also not missed the timing with that one.
- [53:17]
B
Yeah, for sure.
- [53:18]
C
They botched that situation for sure because they hold on, held onto him too long. Long NBA teams in general like hold on to their prospects because they don't want to see him blow up. They don't want to shake Gil. Just Alexander situation. Sometimes you got to cut the cord.
- [53:29]
B
Yeah. It happened in Toronto with our messiah Giri, and it looks like it's happening here with Gold State because he's got to play to trade him. And so that's why this is funny to hear him say this is our starting lineup. But it's going to change this, this established starting lineup for the foreseeable future. It can't be for the foreseeable future. You got Kaminga sitting there until we.
- [53:50]
A
Make trades is maybe what he meant.
- [53:52]
B
Yeah, but who wants Kaminga if he's not? I guess if you have hope, even if he isn't playing, you could have hope.
- [53:59]
A
Next one here. According to multiple league sources, by way of the excellent reporting from Tim Bontabs and Joe Vardon, the NBA is not under contract with the T Mobile arena to host the NBA cup championship next year and is underwhelmed by on the ground, enthusiastic for the event in Vegas. So the question here, TK up or down? NBA moving the cup final out of Vegas. We know the semifinals are not going to be there next year, but what do you think about the idea of like moving the cup final? I guess Adam Silver said something about we might play at some storied college arenas. Yeah, arenas, locations. What do you think, up or down?
- [54:36]
C
I would say like 75% up. I actually thought it was a pretty good environment last night, spurs versus Knicks. And I thought spurs versus Thunder was pretty hype as well. But it's not the same as playing in your local arenas, which is why they're doing it for the semifinals. I think it would be worth trying the half and half approach next season. Play the semis on site at the wherever, OKC or New York, whatever it might have been. And then playing in Vegas again. But you don't have to be tied to Vegas. I saw Chris Mannix reporting that the NBA is kind of concerned. Learned that nobody goes to Vegas anymore. Just in general because they are very greedy there. But think about all of the other sports that change every year. I'm not comparing the NBA cup to these, but like the super bowl moves every year, Final Four moves every year, Golf majors move every single year. Today on the Hoop Collective, Tim Bontem said he thinks that it won't be in Vegas next season. So that's kind of interesting. And I mean going to a place where there are basketball fans I don't think is stupid.
- [55:34]
B
I wonder if this has any tie to what Adam Silver also said that we're going to decide on expansion this coming year and Las Vegas along with Seattle could be those two teams. So it feels like they're getting a team. It would be odd to bring the NBA cup there every year if there's a team there. So that's part of it. This was a perfect environment. I agree. It was a fun environment. As far as like an Eastern coast team to have the New York Knicks fans there. It's the biggest freaking city in the country, so it helped. And you know, San Antonio ain't super close, but the Wemby effect we saw who was voted for NBA Cup MVP by fans, it was Victor Weimanyama, even though his team didn't come close to winning. Really. So there's that part. Yeah. Who gets the home game is. Is the interesting part. If they don't do it in the college barn, which would be fun, like to switch it up every single year. It does make sense. And every city gets this new event to get up for.
- [56:33]
A
Yeah.
- [56:33]
B
And it's a one time event.
- [56:35]
A
You show it on the weekend because you only have the one game now. So you don't need to worry about the weekend semifinals and then a Tuesday night game.
- [56:41]
B
Yeah.
- [56:41]
A
You make it Saturday night or whatever.
- [56:43]
B
You change it up. One of these college places that whether it's a North Carolina Duke or a Kentucky like they've played at, or it can be an Indiana Hoosier for a day, you know, that kind of thing. I think it makes sense.
- [56:54]
A
Yeah. The point is it could be anywhere. It can be like a Super Bowl. Obviously it's not to that extent, but. But like a Wrestlemania or something. I think there's something there because then you might get. If the cup continues to gain traction, like basketball Die Hards fans like, oh, where are we going this year? Oh, we were in. Whatever we were in for Duke that game. Okay. Now we're going here. And maybe that means international too. Right. There's that possibility of taking it global. You're Asking a lot, travel wise for the players.
- [57:22]
B
Yeah.
- [57:22]
A
But, you know, will people be over there in Europe or you could see it going to somewhere like Dubai, obviously. Sort of the sponsor of this whole thing as it is. I think it's possible in the future.
- [57:34]
B
That's what Michael Red implied on our show yesterday.
- [57:37]
A
He did.
- [57:38]
B
That it could be international or that they're expanding the NBA cup international. That being said, Amazon did enjoy, like the whole production that they were involved in. Right. Because it was good. Like the whole thing this year was good and it has improved. There's no.
- [57:53]
A
Yeah. The NBA and Prime remain committed to holding the championship game at a neutral site. So I think we're going to be somewhere. It's not going to be like whoever's the higher seed in the whole NBA cup thing that's going to get the final as well.
- [58:04]
B
We're not going to be. That would be weird. Who gets the home game? So. So weird.
- [58:07]
A
Keep. Keep the neutral idea. Just maybe move it out of Vegas. Yeah. Also, the NBA cup is not in jeopardy despite the venue uncertainty. I think that's important. This is a lot of the reporting here. A significant portion of Prime Video's media rights package. Package. It's centered around this tournament. It's centered around the NBA cup that was included in the collective bargaining agreement. So it's something like this. This NBA cup is not going anywhere for at least like the next 10 years where the final game might move around, but it's going to be here. And I wanted to ask you guys off of that three years in now to this thing, what, in your opinion is working and maybe what isn't with the NBA cup tournament in total.
- [58:47]
C
Okay. What's working is point differential during the round robin stage. I think makes the games pretty interesting. And it's funny to see the unwritten rules being thrown by the wayside as teams try and run up the score. Okay. Also, the single game elimination works. It's exciting. Everybody loves a single elimination tournament. That's why the NCAA tournament is the biggest sporting event that we have going. Football playoffs are one game and you're out. You know, it definitely makes sense. That's why baseball added wild cards to make it exciting. Single game elimination, very, very cool. Things that aren't working, first and foremost is the courts. You know, that's. They look ridiculous. But also, I mean, it's a little weird to have Dwyane Wade and Stan Van Gundy being talking about how much money these guys are going to make on the broadcast. They're like, oh, get him this money we're talking about Josh Hart being excited. Excuse me, to replace his stolen watches. You know, like this Kelton Johnson story is pretty funny, him wanting to get a llama and this kind of stuff. But I'm like, Josh hart, you make $20 million a year. I'm not feeling bad for you. It's not that cool that you're making 500,000 extra dollars. It feels very mercenary to me at times. But they're also in a union and they're working overtime. So they should be paid more this.
- [60:06]
A
Game, especially that final one.
- [60:08]
B
Yeah. While the NBA is in the midst of this whole gambling concern. It is. Yeah. It's interesting to hear that for some guys off the end of the bench. That's who I always tend to go to those stories because it is more interesting for them where they're getting literally 50% of their salary in the form of a new check, which is awesome for them in that instance, I would say I think the scheduling has worked better for us geeks. Like they're scheduling it better. It's more important. Just as far as the tournament games go leading up to the it, we have dates where they happen. It's more fun. It's a bigger thing. The single elimination most definitely fun. I mean, next year we're going to be saying, yeah, Victor Wembanyama looked like a God in the semifinals. But anything can happen. A single elimination game. We saw what happened in the finals. So it is way more fun. And you know, the production part I think is with Amazon. We've seen it improve. There's no doubt. And it's been more of an event. There's no doubt about that. And you get actual players around. There's no. So that part is. Is way more fun in general. Even their little. The video like the trailer that they made has improved. Like it's more fun.
- [61:16]
A
Like a hype video.
- [61:17]
B
Yeah, it's more fun.
- [61:17]
A
Black thought I think was.
- [61:18]
B
Oh yeah.
- [61:19]
A
Doing the rapping or spoken.
- [61:21]
B
Awesome stuff. Yeah.
- [61:24]
A
What a matchup we got, y'. All. This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rocking. And the crowd lit chance at drum beat.
- [61:34]
C
Everybody showing that school pride.
- [61:36]
A
Game like this. Yeah. It calls for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah, Crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there. Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that, we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere. Adding ice cold Coca Cola. That's a winning combo. No matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going. So you're telling me that the AI that's meant to make everyone's job easier to manage just adds more to manage? On top of the thousands of apps the IT department already manages? Funny how that works. Any business can add AI. IBM helps you scale and manage AI to change how you do business. Let's create Smile to Business IBM. This is Matt Rogers from Los Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. This is Bowen Yang from Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. Hey Bowen. It's gift season.
- [62:49]
C
Ugh. Stressing me out.
- [62:50]
A
Why are all the people I love.
- [62:51]
C
So hard to shop for like me?
- [62:53]
A
Exactly, honey.
- [62:55]
B
I'm easy.
- [62:56]
A
But you're right, holiday gifting is stressful. And all the gift guides out there.
- [62:59]
C
Are boring and uninspired.
- [63:01]
A
Wait, what about the guide we made.
- [63:02]
C
In partnership with Marshalls where premium gifts mean incredible value?
- [63:06]
A
It's Giving Gifts. A series of guides filled with premium gifts at great value for everyone on your list. Yeah, cause if I see one more.
- [63:13]
C
For the dad who likes golf list, I'm out.
- [63:16]
A
Right? How about something for the people who actually surprise you with categories?
- [63:21]
C
Like best gifts for the mom whose idea of a sensible walking shoe is a stiletto. PSS wants a pair of stilettos.
- [63:26]
A
Or best gifts for me that were so thoughtful I really shouldn't have dying to see what those are. And you won't believe their prices.
- [63:33]
C
Just wait till you see what else is in there.
- [63:35]
A
It's basically a one stop shop for everyone. You know, I started bookmarking half the list for myself.
- [63:40]
B
Honestly, this is the guy for the.
- [63:41]
C
2025 holiday gifting season.
- [63:44]
A
Check out the guide on marshalls.com it's giving gifts Gift the good stuff at Marshalls. Running a business is hard enough. So why make it harder With a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other. One for sales, another for inventory, a separate one for accounting. Before you know it, you are drowning in software. Instead of growing your business, this is where Odoo comes in. Odoo is the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all in one fully integrated platform that handles everything. CRM, accounting, inventory, E commerce, HR and more. No more app overload, no more juggling logins. Just one seamless system that makes work easier. And the best part, Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. It's built to grow with your business Whether you are just starting out or already scaling up. Plus it's easy to use, customizable and designed to streamline every process so you can focus on what really matters, running your business. Thousands of businesses have made the switch, so why not you try Odoo for free@odoo.com that's o d o o dot com. Yeah, I sometimes think like we respect the cup here and we're NBA diehards and I do, I love the point differential too because you know, we're talking about these like random late November, early December games and they're funny and it's like, oh, wow, they ran it up. I do think though, we're too in it. And I think casual basketball fans or sports fans, I don't think they give a shit about those group stages.
- [65:12]
C
No, they don't.
- [65:13]
A
I think we moving forward, here's what's going to happen. We're going to add two more expansion teams. We're going to get to 32 teams. We'll obviously balance it out. Somebody's moving over to the Eastern Conference. It'll be balanced. And then we just have a single elimination tournament. Now I don't know how you make it work with the scheduling and all that, but that would be sick. 16 on one side, 16 on another. You win, you advance, win, advance, win, advance. People get into that. We do it all the time with Merch Madness. People love it. Obviously with the betting factor of it all, people love that. That to me is the way it's going to go when we have like the 32 teams, the perfect number to do it and less this group stage stuff.
- [65:51]
B
Yeah, but how do you.
- [65:52]
A
Because I don't think anybody cares about that part.
- [65:54]
B
Well, it all depends us. It all depends on the scheduling. It's okay if you do have an, if you have an 82 game season and you're going to have the single elimination tournament, you're just going to chop off or block off a month to do this. I mean that's, that's pushing. And we were already talking about scheduling being hard for guys to get a week off with this NBA cup. It's not a week, but you know, that pushes games into real tight scenarios where there's more back to backs and this is even worse. That would be, that would be tough to do.
- [66:23]
A
I think there's ways to figure it out. There's like dates on the calendar where this is the matchup of the two teams that have advanced and gone on to the next round. It's going to then be Making up all the other games. I understand that, but they can't do it.
- [66:36]
B
That's what they're doing now.
- [66:37]
A
Well, yeah. So why can't they do it for. For that?
- [66:39]
B
What do you mean? They have schedule for these Tuesday and they have it right now for just semi finals and finals.
- [66:45]
A
But get rid of the group part. Why do we need that part? We don't even know what the groups are. Nobody knows. Why are we in this group? Why are we playing this team?
- [66:54]
C
It's all about the pops. Literally.
- [66:55]
A
The players don't even know. They were confused. Remember the Thunder? We're like, what, we're playing Phoenix again? I thought we played them well. Yeah, you're playing them in the next. Like nobody cares about that part.
- [67:04]
B
Nobody cares about.
- [67:05]
A
Just rank them 1 through 16 if you want to. Based off this year. If we were doing it next year.
- [67:09]
B
Yeah. Timing just seems difficult to pull off. I mean, Adam Silver has taken. Taken on the other ideas of other soccer events during the main season and being able to just sort of replicate all right here, you're playing here, but there's just. In soccer there, they. They play far fewer games. So it's easy to do. In the NBA, it's way different. I mean, they should be a shortened season. We all know that. But when you've got these TV deals for 82 games, it'd be tough to do. It would just be difficult to do.
- [67:38]
A
I think we'll get there. I think they'll figure it out because they know this is the juice, this is the fun. They play hard if they can advance to make more money. Every round you move on, you make more money. They put it all on the line. I get you. It's difficult. I'm not saying this would be done in a week. Right. I'm saying this would be spread out. You'd find a way to spread it.
- [67:57]
B
Out over how long so you got.
- [67:59]
A
Well, this is already a month long, so. What do you mean?
- [68:02]
B
What do you mean this is already a month?
- [68:04]
A
The NBA cup, it starts in late November. Maybe not a month long. I'm exaggerating. Well, close to a month long. Yeah. So just do it over that.
- [68:12]
B
Over the course of a month.
- [68:14]
A
Yeah, because we're not playing every single game. Like, we don't have to play all the first round games on the same weekend. Right. We can do a quarter of them.
- [68:24]
B
So you're still playing your regular season games amidst that month?
- [68:27]
A
Yes.
- [68:27]
B
Like they're doing now.
- [68:28]
A
You would have. Yes, that part. Yes.
- [68:29]
B
Okay.
- [68:30]
A
Yeah. The part is going to be difficult is when you get eliminated. Those then games have to obviously be added to the schedule. The, the people that make the schedules. This would be a nightmare for them.
- [68:40]
C
Yes.
- [68:40]
A
I mean it probably already is, but even more of a nightmare.
- [68:44]
B
Okay, so you're just.
- [68:45]
A
What do I care?
- [68:45]
B
So what you're saying is get rid of the groups and just have them seeded.
- [68:49]
A
That's exactly what I meant.
- [68:50]
B
That's what, that's what you're saying. So instead of groups, that's all you're saying really is instead of groups, just seed them?
- [68:55]
A
Yes, because the elimination game is all that matters. As fun as the point differential is for us sickos, nobody else cares.
- [69:01]
B
Okay.
- [69:02]
A
Yeah.
- [69:02]
B
So it's like what they're doing, just we have to figure out how, what the groups are because they're boring.
- [69:06]
C
Instead of four teams in the elimination, there's 32.
- [69:08]
A
Yeah. I'm not saying there's no groups, no.
- [69:10]
C
Groups, but I think it's basically impossible to do this with an 82 game schedule and to figure out the scheduling of it and like having you to do it on the fly where like if you win on Tuesday, we literally don't know which teams are going to be playing on Friday, I think that's impossible.
- [69:23]
A
But outside of giving them 82 games, outside of giving them like three weeks off and like this is just cup time or something like that too.
- [69:31]
C
And already teams and coaches are complaining that the schedule is too condensed because of the cup being in the way.
- [69:37]
B
Yeah.
- [69:38]
C
So I mean it would be lengthening the, the season, how long it takes like number of months. Like it would have to be almost an 11 month season for that to work. And they pause it to do the NBA Cup.
- [69:50]
A
Yeah.
- [69:51]
C
Or you know, we don't play 82 games, but that'll never happen.
- [69:55]
B
All right. Yeah.
- [69:55]
A
Anything else on the, on the cup working, not working, change, tweak.
- [70:01]
C
I mean people talk about incentives for the teams should they get like an a half game in the standings. Like should the, the Knicks have the leg up on anybody else in the Eastern Conference? That could be interesting to see for sure.
- [70:13]
A
Yeah. Yeah, we talked about that. Was it Josh Hart that sort of came up with that?
- [70:17]
B
It was Josh Hart, yeah.
- [70:18]
A
He inspired that conversation at least. Yeah, I think there's something there there. It's just a tiebreaker basically what we're getting at that they have in their pocket now in any situation because they won the cup, they would get to implement that and they would be bumped up in any sort of tiebreaker would just go to the top of the tiebreaker list. Yeah, I like that.
- [70:34]
B
Yeah. And the other discussion was just keep the groups as division so you know who's in your division. So you rivals are, I guess, those same four teams. But then the tournament ain't that different than the regular season, so it feels a little off lot. Right. This feels, feels like it doesn't really stand out. Like it doesn't make it a special event. But you're definitely right about teams not knowing, not caring who the other four teams are in their group as it is right now, while they, you know, trying to make it like a huge tournament. But it's at the same time as the regular season. So it's complicated.
- [71:11]
C
Yeah.
- [71:12]
A
Final one here. The tense divorce between the Clippers and Chris Paul was weeks in the making before the 12 time ultimate ultimately was sent home by the team earlier this month. ESPN released a lengthy report yesterday by NBA insider Ramona Shelburne doing a little deep dive into the breakup, including details of a rift between Chris Paul and Clippers coaches Ty Lu as well as Jeff Van Gundy. There was a lot on Jeff Van Gundy and Chris Paul's relationship task up or down? I'm just asking this sort of in general here on Ramona's column on this Chris Paul Clipper divorce.
- [71:46]
B
Well, I like getting more on a divorce, so. Yeah, who doesn't? Yeah, I got into it.
- [71:51]
A
But was there enough in there that you were.
- [71:54]
B
Well, I think what it came down to, you know, besides the column watching Ramona on espn, what it came down to was the final sentence that she said that kind of just summed it up right at the end. When no one asks for your opinion but you offer it, people see it as a judgment and they don't like that.
- [72:11]
C
That.
- [72:11]
B
And Chris Paul literally was. And Ramona also said, my therapist used to say that to me, so it's very funny. And that's exactly what happened. Chris Paul was offering his opinion, like whatever it was, maybe I should be playing more. This guy should be playing. This guy shouldn't be playing. This guy should be playing. And whether it was Jeff or Ty or even Lawrence Frank, we brought you in to just to help out boat and kind of, you know, we brought.
- [72:38]
A
You into elbow, but. Shut up.
- [72:39]
B
Yeah.
- [72:41]
A
I almost feel like for Chris Paul.
- [72:42]
B
In that sense, I don't know, he's annoyed a lot of people. So it feels like, it feels fitting. It feels like Ramona's line there makes sense. But you wanted him to talk more. I mean, I guess. I guess he is Bringing. Brought in there to be this veteran guy, but I guess he was just. She also said if they're 500, then all's cool. Of course they're getting destroyed.
- [73:09]
A
Losing like this. Yeah. Exposes everybody for sure and frustrates everybody. Also the part, it's one thing like Chris Paul's done this his entire career. Been basically a pain in the ass. But he's been an elite point guard, a 12 time All Star, one of the best ever at the position. It's a little different when he's like getting on you or telling you we should do this or suggesting this to stomach that than it is when he's Chris Paul at the end of his career. I think that was in the article as well. It's like you start to get a little more frustrated. It's like, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. But you know, it's still weird how they unceremoniously just like get out of here.
- [73:47]
C
It was so brutal that Chris Paul hopped on a FaceTime with DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin talking for the first time since Blake left la. And they're all like, man, this organization is messed up, aren't they? Had a great old laugh about it. Ramona has the perfect name because she'll burn you. She always comes out with these kind of like punch post, you know, post game press conferences, for lack of a better word, telling us what was actually going on. But like, this has so much good stuff. If you like laughing at the Clippers, there's a lot to laugh at the Clippers at here. If you're a Chris Paul hater, this is awesome. They hated that game.
- [74:21]
A
Yeah.
- [74:22]
C
And the stuff between Chris, Chris Paul and Jeff Van Gundy, like, you can just imagine those two getting on each other's nerves, just complaining to each other about each other face to face. That was great. Very sad. Details though, about Chris Paul trying to throw a Halloween party for the Clippers and basically nobody showed up. Zubots, apparently, Bradley Beal and maybe one other player. And after that the Clippers fell apart after the Halloween party. That wasn't.
- [74:51]
B
Yeah, we could see who he had rifts with everyone, it turns out.
- [74:55]
C
I'm surprised that John Collins was on the record talking the way he was. He's like, yeah, we were destroying the starters when we playing with Chris Paul. I was like, bro, you're still on the team. You're one of the starters now and you're losing all the time. Maybe go off the record on that one.
- [75:11]
A
Yeah. An anonymous Clippers player.
- [75:13]
B
Yeah.
- [75:13]
A
But no, John's like, yeah, put my name to that. We were kicking ass. He just wanted everybody to know I was a ball and out. Chris Paul. Yeah. The part that jumped out to me, too was in an early meeting with Frank, Chris Paul basically was raising concerns like, the team's culture here sucks. And he was noting that there was a lack of conversation in the group text chat and a lack of time the players spent together off of the court. Maybe that's why he's trying to throw this Halloween party, trying to get everybody out together, silly costumes, stuff like that. But I think there's something to that. Like, there's no culture on that team. And then who do you blame for that? I think you usually turn to two things, right? The culture is like, top down, and I mean top down. Your owners, your coaches, your front office. And it's also usually your star player who helps set the tone of a. Of a culture. But that's Kawhi, and it's sort of James Harden. And they're not vocal leaders. And I don't think they're like that and never will be like that. And that's not a shock. And maybe that's where Chris Paul is, like, trying to fill that vacuum, so to speak. But it is strange that they, like, they brought him back. They brought him back after a good year with San Antonio, a year where at least he was healthy and contributing.
- [76:26]
B
Oh, he just wants. He was starting every game.
- [76:29]
A
Yeah. Yeah.
- [76:30]
B
And.
- [76:30]
A
But then they told him, you're not going to start every game, and he seemed okay with that. Like, I. I think everybody's at fault here.
- [76:36]
C
Yes.
- [76:37]
A
But it's. Yeah, it was a pretty funny takedown.
- [76:40]
B
Yes, it was a very funny takedown. Yeah. It's unfortunate that he was removed from the team. There's no doubt about that. I mean, you can look at a few. Last year, the Los Angeles Clippers, led by James Harden and Kawhi Leonard, were a damn good team, and that's who they were. They were, I guess, a quiet locker room, didn't hang out with each other.
- [76:59]
A
Right.
- [77:00]
B
And they were good. And Chris Paul, I'm sure, had trouble again starting all 82 games last season. In 23, or, excuse me, 24, 25, he was starting every single game. Victor Wanbanyama saw him come to an NBA cup game, and they went and they had a hug. It seemed like all was good there, but I guess he had. I'm sure Chris Paul had problems going from starting every game to playing, like, literally sometimes a DMP CD or a 10 to 12 minutes off the bench, I'm sure that was a huge problem.
- [77:33]
A
And it only gets worse and worse as the losses pile up and you start saying, why are we doing this? Why is this? Our defensive coverage, I think, was in the article of Chris Paul, like, suggesting even switching up something. And then, you know, Van Gundy and the coaching staff, like, took offense to that, and they're like, no, you demanded it.
- [77:51]
C
He's like, no, I suggested it. Let me go check with these guys. See, they said I suggested it. They're like, who cares? Yeah, just shut up, man. That's what they're saying. And Chris Paul's like, no, I'm right.
- [78:00]
A
Yeah. They're like, we don't care.
- [78:02]
C
We like being angry at each other. We like not talking to each other. Yeah, this is a quiet Leonard team for you.
- [78:08]
A
Yeah. The other part two made me laugh. Shelburne reported Paul was stunned. Sources said this is about Lawrence Frank saying, hey, we're sending you home. Like, he did not see that coming, even though it had been building up over weeks. And Chris Paul tried to plead his case. At one point, he brought teammate Brook Lopez into the room as something of a character witness. Picture that. Chris Paul here in Atlanta, some hotel room with Lawrence Frank three hours in. Now we got to send you home. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Let me see if Brooke's awake. Imagine Brooke Lopez stumbling into the room. Room one in the morning. Yeah, exactly. Chris is a good guy. My favorite guys are Mickey Mouse and Chris Paul, and maybe in that order. So it was just a funny little detail there.
- [78:53]
B
Very funny.
- [78:54]
A
But it wasn't enough to keep him. Keep him around. And Chris Paul has been made to be right even more because they still can't win.
- [79:01]
C
Exactly.
- [79:01]
A
So he was not the issue. Of course he was not the issue. But they're like, at least it's a little quieter around here.
- [79:06]
C
Yeah, exactly.
- [79:08]
A
It wasn't the issue.
- [79:09]
C
It also wasn't helping.
- [79:10]
A
Nope.
- [79:12]
C
You can get away with it on the Spurs. You know, they're a professional organization and a bunch of young guys.
- [79:17]
A
That's it. They're happy to hear it. Yes.
- [79:19]
C
Teach us.
- [79:20]
B
Yeah. It's a good way to put it. Yeah. This season obviously started with the Ballmer slash Kawhi salary cap scenario. Things go poorly and they couldn't. They couldn't take it. They couldn't take the CP suggestions, I'm sure. Just got to a lot of people.
- [79:39]
C
I did think that was interesting from Adam Silver. He was asked about the Chris Paul situation in la, and he's like, I haven't talked to Chris, but I have talked to Steve. Frankly, not about this.
- [79:48]
A
Yeah, what are you talking about? What are you talking about? Steve Silver did say too. You already said it. Tasks Vegas in Seattle. We might get some decisions about expansion in 26. Also, he had a lot of love for the prime crew and took some shots maybe at espn, I guess, maybe TNT back in the day with like how positive they are and how much they teach the game. Unlike some of those other broadcast networks.
- [80:16]
C
Yeah, it doesn't like. Doesn't like people saying one side just wanted it more. Yeah, but I did think the Knicks wanted it more last night.
- [80:26]
B
You're right.
- [80:26]
A
Sometimes it's true, isn't it?
- [80:28]
B
All right.
- [80:30]
A
Boy of the night. Only one game and it's going to OG Anunoby. He wanted it more. He wanted the woah boy more. Game high 28 points in the NBA cup final 10, 17 from the field, 5 of 10 from deep. Those were big, big threes. Added nine boards, three assists, one block. Did not commit a turnover in 40 minutes of action. He rarely does. So OG gets it. Even though Brunson got a Cup tournament MVP. OG gets woah boy. And I think that's right. Yep. Good.
- [80:59]
C
Yep. That's a, A nice consolation trophy for OG Yeah.
- [81:04]
A
Oh, did you see that clip, by the way? OG Being asked about it was something about like being a winner in Vegas, like, it's going to feel great. And he was like, the, the person was trying to say like winner when you're a winner in Vegas. Like, I guess obviously gambling usually like Vegas is different. Feels different. Oh, gee. Did not play with that question at all. He just like, what are you talking about? Nothing's different. Shut up. Classic OG he's awesome.
- [81:31]
C
He's a funny character.
- [81:32]
A
Oh my God.
- [81:33]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [81:34]
C
Super literal, man.
- [81:35]
A
Yes.
- [81:35]
B
So the, the question was, you like winning or no? No. So they just imply that gambling, like, it's more fun because it's.
- [81:44]
A
Well, they were just, they were just trying to do a very generic like, hey, man, Vegas, when you're winning has got to feel better. Right? Got to feel different. But OG didn't understand why they would ask that question. Didn't get it. And then they even tried to explain it and he was like, no, it's just classic OG I'm butchering the exchange. But if you've seen it, you know.
- [82:03]
B
What I'm talking about.
- [82:04]
A
You can picture OG Shooting it down. Yes, yes. Not humoring them at all. Okay with that. Yeah, we'll get to pick them. Only two games on Tonight.
- [82:14]
B
That's a quiet one. A super quiet one.
- [82:16]
A
Is that me two?
- [82:18]
B
I don't know who's dinging. There's two dings for two games because it's. I immediately thought that we were going to pick the game that's on NBA TV because it is a bigger matchup of Memphis versus Minnesota. I would put. I would call it a bigger matchup than Cleveland Chicago, but I saw that Cleveland Chicago line, and I honestly, I didn't know who to pick. The Bulls at home to the Cavs, five and a half point underdogs. So Cleveland's got to win by six if you're taking them. Skeets, you were comfortable taking. I'm not comfortable.
- [82:51]
A
Cleveland Cavaliers. I'm not comfortable at all. You keep doing this. I'm the opposite of comfortable. I've lost seven straight. Oh, I'm going for your record. I decided, though, I think you got up to 11. Did you go 11 straight to start that month?
- [83:04]
B
Yeah, I was looking yesterday.
- [83:05]
A
I think you're owing 11.
- [83:06]
B
I think so, too. Yeah.
- [83:07]
A
So I'm coming for that streak of 11 straight losses. Actually may have been longer if you go back the month before, too. I don't know how you ended that month.
- [83:13]
B
Oh, I don't know.
- [83:14]
A
Yeah. Anyway. No, I took the Cavs. Sure. I could have went by six. You know, they don't look all that great, but the Bulls are stinky and. Yeah, who knows?
- [83:25]
B
I wasn't sure you got the Bulls, Trey.
- [83:27]
C
Yeah. This was not one where I was enthused to be picking the Chicago Bulls, but the last time I was in this situation, we were coming down to, like, a head. Like a head to head, me and you. And it was nuggets versus bowls. And I was like, gotta take the bowls.
- [83:41]
B
Yeah.
- [83:42]
C
And they somehow pulled off a straight up money victory.
- [83:44]
B
That was a wild one to send me over.
- [83:46]
A
All right.
- [83:47]
B
Yeah. Last month, maybe the same.
- [83:48]
C
We'll see.
- [83:49]
A
Okay, Tas, you got the Bulls, and there's some talk of the payoff. Let's just call it a leftover Christmas gift. Mmm. That might be where we're leaning in terms of the payoff. Do you even know what I'm talking about?
- [84:00]
B
What are you talking about?
- [84:03]
A
I should remember if we talked about it with you while you were here.
- [84:05]
B
Oh, the actual. Actual gift. The actual gift. The gift. Gift. Yeah. What?
- [84:11]
A
No, no, no, no.
- [84:12]
C
Yeah.
- [84:12]
B
Well, I know. Like a gift. Yeah.
- [84:14]
C
Like a gift.
- [84:15]
B
Yeah. When you say gift.
- [84:17]
A
Yeah.
- [84:18]
B
Would you call what our payoff is a gift? I guess you just did, but I Wouldn't call it a. Nah, nah, nah. We've done this before on the show several years ago.
- [84:28]
C
Similar payoff.
- [84:29]
B
Very similar.
- [84:31]
C
Yeah, I guess you could call it box related.
- [84:34]
A
Oh, God.
- [84:34]
B
You're in the same box. It's a different box.
- [84:38]
A
We doing it now. Well, it. Hell, might as well eat some cold Arby sandwiches. That's all I'll do. Yeah, that's where we're leaning. But we're still open for suggestions for a payoff. Yep.
- [84:49]
C
Other suggestion was New Year's baby. We've done New Year's baby as well.
- [84:53]
A
Yeah, we've done.
- [84:55]
C
Well, there's nothing else. Nothing else out there.
- [84:57]
A
I've always wanted to do hanging upside down show. Looking around at the studs right now.
- [85:05]
C
Dangling like Mission impossible style.
- [85:09]
B
JD Is showing, showing us the tilt up.
- [85:12]
A
I mean, we could like. Is that dangerous? I don't know. Can you hang upside down for an hour? Like the blood is gonna go all your ass.
- [85:22]
C
Time to.
- [85:23]
B
You should curl up for you.
- [85:24]
A
Like. Yeah. During breaks. Yeah.
- [85:29]
B
Grab a table. But yeah, these studs can handle what, 140. 40lbs now?
- [85:38]
A
All right, well, maybe figure that out. Get Tony and Kyle back in here. Rick, something up up there?
- [85:43]
B
See, you sound a little. Kind of a little tired, A little like, you know, it's this part of the season. Where do. Are you. Are you upset that we didn't go to Vegas?
- [85:55]
A
Am I upset?
- [85:57]
B
Because when you. Because when you ask that question, what.
- [85:59]
A
Are you talking about?
- [86:00]
B
Well, we didn't get at all. Not upset, but we didn't get to go to Vegas. You know, we met, missed out.
- [86:04]
A
I'm not trying to go to Vegas. We wanted to.
- [86:06]
B
Yeah, we could have. You're right. But when you ask that question that the reporter asked OG. Yeah, I. I don't really miss that. Having to stick a mic in people's faces and say, hey, hey. Do you like when you get off the airplane where you hear the. The slot machine, like, just stupid questions like that.
- [86:22]
A
I hate that airport. I hate stepping off. I can picture that airport absolutely every square foot of it. I definitely can because, remember, I once missed a flight.
- [86:31]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [86:32]
A
And was at the airport all day long. Hung on over waiting to come back.
- [86:36]
C
Breakfast spot to the right, Cinnabon to the left.
- [86:38]
A
Oh, you want to go to Ruby's Diner or do you want to go to. Draw a blank on the one right. There's a Starbucks in the middle.
- [86:45]
B
And then.
- [86:45]
A
What the hell is that one? It's a California. Is it a California Pizza Kitchen?
- [86:49]
C
There was a California Pizza Kitchen, but I think it changed into a, like a diner spot.
- [86:53]
A
Then there's a crappy bagel spot that's down the other one. You got that stupid. Now you got that cat Cashless or not. Yeah, cashless thing at the bottom of the escalator when you got to get on the tram.
- [87:05]
B
Yeah. And then you see the Australian ad.
- [87:08]
A
For Men Down Under.
- [87:10]
B
Men Down Under. Thunder Down Under. It's there every year.
- [87:15]
A
Oh, yeah.
- [87:16]
B
I guess they could do it every year. Yeah.
- [87:17]
C
Very successful show.
- [87:18]
B
It's a hit.
- [87:19]
C
Yeah. That feels like one of the places I could draw from memory.
- [87:23]
A
100.
- [87:23]
C
I don't like that.
- [87:25]
A
No. And that's why when you're like, you're upset you didn't go to Vegas. No. Man, I can't believe how many times I've been to Vegas in life. My, My life.
- [87:31]
B
Yeah.
- [87:32]
A
Way too many times.
- [87:32]
B
You used to take a picture of the, the Las Vegas sign in that airport.
- [87:36]
A
Yeah.
- [87:39]
B
Yeah. I, I, I actually missed. There's a vending machine now in that airport with muff or cupcakes. They're pretty fresh.
- [87:47]
A
Oh, yeah. I know what you're talking about. Pretty fresh.
- [87:49]
C
Yeah, 100%, but pretty fresh.
- [87:52]
B
You take a vending machine with cupcakes, they'd be ancient.
- [87:54]
C
Yeah, that's true.
- [87:55]
B
They put them in there daily. I just, they icing. They ice them and put them in there. They're not bad. That's all I got.
- [88:02]
A
It's just also such a depressing airport because, you know, you're waiting usually to fly out of the place, and it's like a bunch of people have just been in Vegas for way too long. Everyone's tired, and it's like 99% of people have lost money and everybody's exhausted and. Yeah. And, you know, regretting decisions and, like, it was a weird vibe going on.
- [88:22]
C
Would you agree it's more fun to be a winner in Las Vegas?
- [88:25]
B
Yes, it was.
- [88:26]
A
Absolutely.
- [88:27]
B
Would.
- [88:28]
A
I would. All right, Coming up on tomorrow's show. This is fun. We got another guest. David Sims. Hey. From the award winning podcast Blank Check is gonna join us. Blank Check, for those that don't know, Review Director's complete Filmographies, episode to episode. TK I know you're a huge fan. Huge fan of Blank Check. And I guess David Sims is maybe a fan of no Dunks, right? I know. He's an NBA fan.
- [88:49]
C
At the very least, he is an NBA sicko. Has he listened to no Dunks? I know.
- [88:54]
B
Sure.
- [88:54]
A
Okay.
- [88:54]
C
But he definitely listened to the Basketball Jones and The starters.
- [88:57]
A
Whoa. Jeez.
- [88:58]
C
Yeah, we'll have to check his listening statistics recently, but he's also a Knicks fan, so be on top of the world as a Cup winner.
- [89:06]
A
Yes. Okay, so that's on tomorrow's show. We'll be joined by David Sims.
- [89:10]
B
It's hard not to go, David.
- [89:12]
C
You know, when Griffin every.
- [89:14]
B
Every ad break. David, you interested in Ledger at all? This is great, great stuff. They have the best ad reads in the game, I think. Okay.
- [89:23]
C
I heard him say one time that he says David like that, so that people can know when to start fast forwarding.
- [89:28]
A
Oh.
- [89:28]
C
And I was like, that's brilliant.
- [89:29]
B
It works.
- [89:33]
A
Well, we'll talk to him tomorrow. So hopefully you'll join us at 10am Eastern here live on YouTube. Flipped into a podcast soon after that. Otherwise, enjoy Survivor. Tonight, the finale, it's gonna be interrupted a little bit by Trump's presidential address to the nation. So hopefully this is. This is gonna take like four and a half hours tonight.
- [89:55]
C
I'm getting my potatoes cooking when I get home because I gotta stock up on energy.
- [89:59]
A
There you go. But hopefully we got a good finale till then. Clipper, bro, you heard it here first. Have a great time. Turn up. Love you guys.
- [90:07]
C
Awesome.
- [90:08]
B
Thanks for joining us. And remember, NBA players and teams have a limited time at half. And I think that's why spurs come. Coach Mitch Johnson had a stopwatch in his hand at half when he was giving his speech. It looked like a stopwatch. He had something in his hand. It's like, we got to get out there. We got to go out and warm up. I want to get to the bottom of that. Nice.
- [90:28]
A
Brace the day, people. What a matchup we got, y'. All. This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rocking and the crowd lit. Chance echo, drum beat, everybody showing that school pride. Game like this. Yeah, it calls for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah, crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there. Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that, we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere. And in ice cream, cold Coca Cola. That's a winning combo. No matter the sport, no matter the yard, everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going. Amazon Five Star Theater presents real customer.
- [91:22]
B
Reviews performed by Eva Longoria.
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Outdoit with intuit. QuickBooks feature availability varies by product.
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