NBA Mailbag | Morning Shoot Around

Summary

The Athletic NBA Daily – "NBA Mailbag | Morning Shoot Around"

Date: April 1, 2026
Hosts: Dave DuFour, Zena Keita, Ben Mandelker

Episode Overview

This episode of The Athletic NBA Daily is a lively and fast-paced mailbag session with hosts Dave DuFour, Zena Keita, and Ben Mandelker, tackling listener questions from Discord and YouTube. With just two weeks and six games left in the regular NBA season, they delve into playoff races, All-NBA debates, tanking reforms, automation in officiating, and even potential names for the incoming Las Vegas expansion team. The trio's conversational, insightful, and at times irreverent tone keeps the discussion dynamic and highly engaging.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Playoff Races & Teams With the Most at Stake [03:39–11:33]

Q: Which teams have the most to play for in the last handful of games?

• The main focus now is playoff seeding and health. Top teams have mostly locked their positions, but several playoff races remain intensely competitive.
  • East:
    • Knicks, Cavs, Hawks, Raptors, Sixers all in a close battle, especially Hawks vs. Raptors for the 5-seed.
    • Knicks likely can't catch Celtics; Cleveland could overtake Knicks for 3-seed.
    • Hawks have a tough remaining schedule (Magic, Brooklyn, New York, Cleveland twice, Miami); Raptors have a slightly easier path and the tiebreaker over Hawks.
    • "That battle is just so close...That one I really actually feel is interchangeable," – Zena Keita [05:37]
    • Sixers might jump to 5th if things break their way.
  • West:
    • Timberwolves vs. Rockets for 5/6 seed: Timberwolves are built to face the Nuggets; Denver would rather meet the Rockets.
    • Denver has the hardest remaining schedule, which could shake up the seedings.
  • Spurs and Thunder also have difficult schedules, impacting the top of the West.
  • Injury returns (like Franz Wagner for the Magic) could change results, but some roster construction concerns can't be fixed late in season.

Memorable Quote:
"It really all of it depends on seeding now...At this point, it's one, staying healthy, two, locking down your seeding." – Ben Mandelker [08:34]

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2. Narrative Shifts, Team Trajectories, and End of Season Momentum [09:44–11:33]

• Some teams (e.g., Knicks, Pistons) are faltering despite early promise, while others (e.g., Sixers) are surging with returning health and form.
• How teams finish the regular season has major implications for trust and expectations in the playoffs.

Notable Moment:
"Right now we're seeing teams that started relatively strong, started with strong narratives...that narrative is falling apart." – Zena Keita [09:44]

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3. All-NBA Surprises and Supermax Scenarios [11:37–15:25]

• The odds of a surprise All-NBA selection forcing a supermax contract are slim this year, per Ben ("No one this season.").
• Paolo Banchero is the only current candidate whose All-NBA nod could greatly impact his team's cap.
• 65-game rule creates unexpected eligibility and openings for late candidates.
  • Derrick White (Celtics) is discussed as a legitimate All-NBA and Defensive Player of the Year contender.
  • Jamal Murray's strong, durable season is highlighted.

Memorable Quote:
"I think Derrick White's making All-NBA...He's on my Defense Player of the Year ballot. And he's high up." – Dave DuFour [13:03]

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4. Favorite Basketball Documentaries [15:45–21:05]

• Recommendations include "Once Brothers" (Dražen Petrović and Vlade Divac story), "Hoop Dreams," and "Lenny Cooke."
  • "Hoop Dreams" sparked Zena’s entire college thesis on NCAA impact and is praised for showing basketball as a means to change one's circumstances.
• The group distances from "The Last Dance" as a documentary ("...like a Marvel Cinematic Universe version of a documentary"), but appreciates the access it provided.

Memorable Quote:
"Hoop Dreams is one of those more pure, unfiltered experiences when it comes to utilizing sport to get out of your circumstance." – Zena Keita [17:25]

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5. Media Presentation: NBC, Amazon vs. ESPN [22:03–23:09]

• NBC and Amazon praised for fresher, more engaging sports broadcasts. ESPN is seen as trailing in analysis but still massive in content creation.
• Natural cycles of novelty and critique in sports media, especially as familiar ex-players become longtime commentators.

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6. Third-Party Doctors for NBA Injury Verification? [26:43–29:46]

Q: Will the NBA bring in independent doctors, as the NFL does for concussions, to verify injuries?

• Logistical and players' union (NBPA) challenges would make it hard to implement.
• Speed of medical procedures and potential delays are major barriers.
• Ultimately, hosts doubt it will happen.

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7. Tanking Solutions & Lottery Reform [29:46–33:44]

• Proposed reforms often fail to "make the middle attractive"—only shifting who benefits rather than removing incentives to lose.
• Blanket lotteries or more lucrative playoff incentives are discussed.
• Owners are unlikely to approve redistributions that threaten current profits.
• "As long as there’s an incentive to lose to get better, teams are gonna do it." – Dave DuFour [32:36]

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8. Wemby—When Will the Honeymoon End? [33:44–41:12]

• Question arises: "How long until public opinion flips on Wemby [Victor Wembanyama]?"
  • It's inevitable for every superstar; fans already scrutinize SGA and Jokic.
  • Wemby's multidimensional skills leave little to criticize, but as novelty fades, fans may tire of his dominance or quirks.
• The "heel turn" is good for the NBA: tribalism and rivalry sell.
• Steph Curry and the Warriors are cited as a case study of lovable stars becoming widely disliked, simply by winning too much or changing the game.
• Flaws, or lack thereof, shape the type of criticism each superstar receives.

Memorable Quote:
"There is something about him that is so perfectly built for the sport...And there are going to be people that are annoyed at that, because he's got too much. He's too good." – Dave DuFour [41:12]

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9. Possible Punishment for Clippers Over Salary Cap Violations [42:22–45:59]

• Uncertainty over if/when the NBA will punish the Clippers or Kawhi Leonard for reported salary cap circumvention.
  • Investigation remains opaque; possible fines or suspensions have been rumored.
  • Panel expects a fine or light penalty, not roster-altering moves, due to the NBA’s desire to protect major narratives and stars.

---

10. Robot Officiating: What NBA Calls Should Be Automated? [46:16–50:08]

• MLB’s robot umps are discussed; NBA already uses tech for goaltending, could further automate out-of-bounds or charge/block calls.
• Hosts generally prefer human error to excessive automation.
• G League’s efficient late-game rules are praised—automatic ball advancement and free throw modifications make games faster.

Memorable Exchange:
"That should be a block every time. Move on." – Dave DuFour, about the “slide under” charge call [49:41]

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11. Naming the Las Vegas NBA Expansion Team [51:06–55:51]

• Names like "The House," "Aces" (already taken), "Vipers," "Flamingos," and humorous corporate tie-ins (Las Vegas Bellagios/Mandalays/MGM Grands) are floated.
• General consensus: "Aces" set a high bar, and almost every other idea falls flat.
• Public naming contest/branding challenges ahead for Vegas.

Memorable Commentary:
"I actually do think Vegas has a really hard time to pick a name because nothing sounds good to me." – Ben Mandelker [51:36]
"The Aces kind of nailed it, you know...They took the best name." – Dave DuFour [56:04]

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Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• On playoff races:
  “The Raptors have the tiebreaker over the Hawks, but they do not have the tiebreaker over the Sixers...” – Ben Mandelker [05:52]

• On Derrick White All-NBA candidacy:
  “He's had an amazing season...And he's high up [on my ballot].” – Dave DuFour [13:05]

• On sports documentaries:
  “Hoop Dreams is one of those more pure, unfiltered experiences...” – Zena Keita [17:25]
  “The Last Dance was like a fun popcorn movie, you know, like a Marvel Cinematic Universe version of a documentary...” – Ben Mandelker [19:27]

• On automation in officiating:
  “You know what? Shout out to Chris Mullen. Because we played defense, and that's why, like. Yeah, anybody can slide in.” – Dave DuFour [49:08]

• On flip in Wemby perception:
  “If he shoots poorly in the playoffs, I expect to hear people talk about, he needs to post up.” – Dave DuFour [38:45]

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Structure & Flow

• The conversation is organic, with hosts riffing on each mailbag topic, providing stats, personal anecdotes, and league history.
• Discussions are interspersed with quick debates and audience questions, keeping the pace brisk and engaging.
• The tone is conversational but analytical, blending lighthearted ribbing with sharp basketball insight.

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Final Notes

This episode is a quintessential listen for fans wanting a punchy, insightful, and debate-heavy snapshot of the NBA’s state as the 2026 regular season approaches its climax. The playful but informed exchanges between Dave, Zena, and Ben highlight what makes the show appealing: inside knowledge, strong takes, and a willingness to engage on and off the court topics.

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For more, join The Athletic NBA Daily’s Wednesday live streams and their growing Discord community!

Transcript

[Dave Defore]

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[Dave Defore]

Hey everybody. Welcome to the morning shoot around NBA Daily. We need a drop board.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yes we do.

[Dave Defore]

Guys, I would love to be in

[Ben Mandelker]

charge of that drop board actually.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah, if they're listening upstairs, you know, send me.

[Xena Keda]

What?

[Dave Defore]

What is it like elgato? One of those streaming device things with the buttons? Yeah, just send it on over because I need the horns.

[Xena Keda]

I know my audible. This doesn't do the same.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah, no, no no no.

[Ben Mandelker]

We will record yours.

[Dave Defore]

Oh yeah, yeah.

[Ben Mandelker]

That's the real authent believe in creating our own version of content.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah, I agree.

[Xena Keda]

I like it.

[Dave Defore]

That's right. Yeah. Morning shoot around. We're going to do a mailbag today. Before we jump into the questions. By the way, join our Discord links are always in the show, notes in the description. We love to take questions from there and and honestly it's a. It's a great place to hang out and watch a game. We had a really good conversation there about Shay's push off the other night and, you know, very controversial call. And that was a Scott Foster game. But he didn't make the call. He didn't make call. And we all wanted him to. Let's be honest, it was my first thought. I was like, I know old Scotty is out there. You know, he's working his magic. So, yeah, join a discord. We take questions from there, obviously, for, for the mailbags, but it, it is also, it's. We're building a fun little community watching games. So before, before we get to the questions, though, guys, where are your heads right now? We got like six games left. Like two weeks. We're almost there. What do you focus on for the rest of the season?

[Xena Keda]

That's a good question.

[Dave Defore]

What do you want to see? We have a.

[Ben Mandelker]

We actually do have a question related to this.

[Dave Defore]

Oh, do we? Yeah. How about the. All right, well, let me not undercut that question just to give me the question.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah. Okay. So KT says, can you break down which teams have the most to play for in the last handful of games? Okay. Perhaps Rank the most 10 impactful games remaining in the season. Oh, that part might be a little tough.

[Xena Keda]

I was like, yikes.

[Dave Defore]

If. If we had. If we had known that question beforehand, like, we would have done it. Yeah, maybe that's something we ought to do. Yeah. Thank you very much. That's a good one. You might steal that. They steal that and put it on the regular show.

[Ben Mandelker]

See ya on Sunday.

[Dave Defore]

Ye, that's right. Actually. Good bit, but yeah. Okay. So I don't know. You know, I think the big one right now, it's gonna. Obviously it's all seating.

[Ben Mandelker]

Absolutely.

[Dave Defore]

And I so much to me is already locked up. Like Detroit, they're the 1 seed. Right. Like we know that. Y. I don't think the Knicks are going to be able to catch the Celtics.

[Ben Mandelker]

No, that's it.

[Dave Defore]

Cleveland's got a shot at catching the Knicks. That 4, 3 matchup.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah.

[Dave Defore]

And if you're the Knicks right now, it looks like it. The Hawks, to me, should be able to hold on to five. If you're the Knicks, you absolutely don't want to play the Hawks. You would rather play the Raptors.

[Ben Mandelker]

I'll push back on the Hawks being able to get to 5.

[Xena Keda]

I agree.

[Dave Defore]

They have a harder schedule.

[Ben Mandelker]

Their schedule is insane. They play the Magic on Wednesday. Well, today. And then they play Brooklyn, which is an Easy one. But then they finish out the season playing New York, Cleveland twice and Miami.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah, I feel like those are. The Raptors have the fifth easiest schedule remaining or something.

[Ben Mandelker]

Raptors have a relatively easy schedule. They play Miami twice. They play the Knicks and Celtics still as well. But they also have the Kings, the Grizzlies and the Nets remaining on their schedule. So they have more games left than the Hawks as well, which is part of the.

[Dave Defore]

Oh, yeah, they.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah, that battle is just so close. Hawks are at 43. 33. 43 wins, 33 losses. Raptors at 42 wins, 33 losses. It's. That one I really actually feel is interchangeable. Very similar to what the Timberwolves Rockets look like on their Western Conference side.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yes. Also worth noting that the Raptors have the tiebreaker over the Hawks, but they do not have the tiebreaker over the Sixers. And so in. There is a world in which Philly jumps to five and Toronto stays at six and Atlanta stays at seven. Like those three.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah.

[Ben Mandelker]

I feel like over the next week or so, we will see them kind of swap places a bunch.

[Dave Defore]

So the. The other big one to me is Wolves. Rockets, the five seed. The five seed is important because of the Nuggets. The nuggets at the 4 seed would much rather have the Rockets than the Timberwolves. Timberwolves are. Are built basically to beat the Nuggets. And I think if you. I mean, if you're Denver, you, You really. You need the Rockets to. To win, to be the 5 seed, right?

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah. And I'm, I'm looking at this, I feel like, you know, of course, after yesterday's game where the Lakers just demolished the Cavs, I feel like the Lakers are locked into three, I think. So tough for Denver to try and climb out and get to third. Right.

[Xena Keda]

I mean, I think everyone wants the Lakers to be locked into three, and everyone wants the Rockets to be locked into six because of the KD LeBron potential matchup. But also, as Dave was mentioning, like the Wolves. Nuggets is always a fun series.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah.

[Xena Keda]

Or just a fun matchup in general. Yeah.

[Dave Defore]

I think Denver has the hardest remaining strength to schedule.

[Xena Keda]

Oh.

[Ben Mandelker]

So let's see who the Nuggets play,

[Dave Defore]

because I agree, the Thunder, they've got two against the spurs and then they've got the Trailblazers. And the Blazers are. Are playing hard.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah.

[Ben Mandelker]

They're fighting for a seating. Yeah. That's fascinating to me because, like, the spurs have a lot to play for right now too. I don't think they're Going to be resting anybody until they are certain that they're locked into two.

[Dave Defore]

And Wemby's playing for the mvp and

[Ben Mandelker]

Wemby's playing for mvp.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah.

[Ben Mandelker]

Also, the Thunder have an extremely hard schedule moving forward. That's another fascinating bit to this because if you guys remember a couple of years ago when it flipped and Denver was the number one seed for a little bit and they lost that game to San Antonio, the one Dave always brings up on the pod. And it flipped. It flipped the entire playoffs for. For the Western Conference and it ended up being the Nuggets having an early out Minnesota, etc. And so if depending on who gets one and two in the West, I think it could shape the entire Western Conference playoff.

[Dave Defore]

Oh yeah. If San or so if San Antonio's one and Denver's four.

[Ben Mandelker]

Right.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah.

[Esper Henny]

Right.

[Dave Defore]

I mean, I don't know, man, this playoffs is gonna be fun no matter what.

[Ben Mandelker]

It is going to be good. And like to, to kind of try and answer the question that KT was asking us. It really all of it depends on seating now. So we've gotten as much information as we can about these teams. At this point. It's one, staying healthy, two, locking down your seating. And to your point, Dave, I think, yeah, the, the, like the schedule is the, the standings are relatively locked in except for maybe two or three races on the elbows.

[Dave Defore]

Right.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah, exactly.

[Dave Defore]

And the other thing is, I will say as far as like what we're watching this time of year, like the Knicks, I'm paying attention to what's happening with the Knicks because someone needs to push a button. Something has to change and they're running out of time. Like it's, it's literally it might be too late to make a change and then they've had some, some poor injury luck. But I'm still waiting for them to do something. Like there's something. We're. Some shoe is going to drop somewhere. Yeah. I don't know if it's like Orlando like we talked about after that big loss, are they gonna make a coaching change allah the Denver Nuggets last year, but something is gonna change here in the next two weeks.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah.

[Dave Defore]

I'm looking at, you know, the races.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah. And I think the Knicks bring up the. What I'm looking for, which is how do teams get to the finish line. And right now we're seeing teams that started relatively strong, started with strong narratives around how they would be at this point of the season. That narrative is falling apart. And then there's some teams that did not Start with a strong narrative. And that narrative is looking really good in these last few chapters. Before the playoffs, aka the 76ers, for example. You know, with health coming back for some players, it's very interesting how that's going to work. You look at the Pistons without Cade, how are they going to get to the finish line and prepare for the playoffs? Like, it's an interesting mix of health, of course, as you're mentioning. But are you closing out in a position where people trust you in the playoffs?

[Dave Defore]

Yeah, totally.

[Ben Mandelker]

I agree with that. Yeah.

[Dave Defore]

By the way, I just want to address this from. From the YouTube chat, Jazzy6605 says Franz Wagner might be coming back soon. Magic won't make a coaching change till the off season. I think another point. Okay. But Franz Wagner is not fixing this. If anything, the problems could look worse. And I know that's a weird thing to say, adding, you know, one of if he's not their best player, he's their second best player. But the fit is so poor there. I mean, there's a thing where, you know, James Edwards said this on the show today, talking about the Knicks and just the port. There's roster design problems with the Knicks. Orlando's had these problems for a while. Adding Desmond Bain, you know, it should have maybe helped, but it actually exacerbated it because you needed another. You need another guy who can shoot. You don't need two guys that are so similar like that. But anyway, let's get to another question. Sorry, I. We went long on that one.

[Ben Mandelker]

That's all right. That's all right.

[Xena Keda]

Got us warmed up.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah, exactly.

[Xena Keda]

Got us throughout the entire board. So I agree.

[Ben Mandelker]

I agree. Okay. So. So also from kt, who might get all NBA unexpectedly and force their team into a supermax. And I will answer this one quickly. No one this season. No one this season. You think Jalen during the only. He can't. He. He can't get a super. So he. He would get a rookie max extension.

[Dave Defore]

Well, yes. Yeah.

[Ben Mandelker]

And then next year, if he gets all NBA, then it would kick into the 30% and rose rule and all those things that I'm sure KT is talk. The only player that's eligible for that this season is Paolo Banchero. So if Paolo were to make all NBA this season, which I doubt.

[Esper Henny]

Yeah.

[Ben Mandelker]

If he would bump his salary up from 25 of the cap to 30 of the cap, which would also destroy the Magic cap sheet. Like between this Desmond Bain, Suggs Franz, an Anthony Black extension, they're already dealing with a cap crunch. So that's the only player that's kind of dealing with that. But I will say there is an interesting little bit here of like the 65 game rule and who might end up sliding into that final all NBA team. I don't know who it will be, but I. It just. There's like three spots open right now, in my opinion of who might slide in there.

[Dave Defore]

Is that with Derek White already making all NBA.

[Ben Mandelker]

You like it? You want Derek White to make.

[Dave Defore]

I think Dere White's making all NBA.

[Xena Keda]

I.

[Dave Defore]

Number one. He's had an amazing season.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah.

[Dave Defore]

I mean, especially on defensive end.

[Ben Mandelker]

Like, he's.

[Dave Defore]

He's. He's on my defense player of the year ballot. Oh, yeah. I mean, he. And he's high up, but I mean, what the Celtics have done, I think representation in all NBA matter, you know, like to tell the story this season. Yeah. And. And then there's the narrative. You know, I talked to a lot of people in. In our industry about players, especially this time of year, because we're kind of kicking ideas off each other. What is your all NBA gonna look like? Who's on your all NBA defense team? You know, because we all are going to have blind spots and man, Derrick White's name comes up a lot. So I, I don't. I wouldn't even be shocked at this point.

[Ben Mandelker]

I like it. I wouldn't be surprised.

[Xena Keda]

I mean, he. We. We sang his praises while Jason Tatum was out earlier this season. And I think it's part of the reason why the early on I was like, Boston hasn't missed the beat. And if you remember, Dave, I was like telling you one show where I was like, the fact that they look this good and they don't have Jason Tatum and Derek White and Peyton Pritchard were their main go to's earlier this season. I was like, that's scary. The fact they're so identity focused and consistent in the way they show up. And Derrick White was very key to that.

[Dave Defore]

So.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah, I'm with that.

[Ben Mandelker]

Let's. Let's play a little game. Okay.

[Dave Defore]

Okay.

[Ben Mandelker]

I will throw out names, all NBA names at you guys and you tell me when to stop, when Derrick White should be involved. Okay.

[Dave Defore]

Okay.

[Ben Mandelker]

Sga Jokic, Wemby, Luca Kawhi, Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brown, Donovan Mitchell, Kevin Durant, Tyrese Maxey, Devin Booker, Jamal Murray.

[Xena Keda]

Stop.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I put Derek White in that.

[Ben Mandelker]

In that. Okay. So as soon as we get to that conversation.

[Xena Keda]

Okay.

[Dave Defore]

Well, though Jamal Murray. I think Jamal Murray's had A better maybe. Well, I don't know.

[Ben Mandelker]

I think Jamal Murray has had a better season.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah, it's. It's slightly better.

[Ben Mandelker]

By the way, did you know Jamal Murray this season? You know, there's so much conversation about his health. He is sixth in the league in total minutes.

[Dave Defore]

That's it. Wow.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah, I was looking that up the other day.

[Dave Defore]

Like that came in the season in shape.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah, there you go.

[Dave Defore]

There you go.

[Ben Mandelker]

Absolutely.

[Dave Defore]

All right, what's the next question?

[Ben Mandelker]

Okay. All right, let's see what else we got here. I mean, I would also like Andrew to debate Mo too, but I know he's not on the roster anymore. A real question. Make the case for the top. Yeah, I know we can't do debate. Favorite basketball documentary.

[Dave Defore]

It. I mean, it's probably once Brothers, the. The Dren Vade documentary. That's cool, doc. Yeah, Vad. I mean, part of that is just I, I got to spend so much time in that area and so, you know, I've been to a lot of those places, but I mean, I think that's a pretty good one. But I'm not really a sports documentary guy. It's not. I, I like games. I, I really just. That's it. I don't want to know what these guys wear or what kind of car they drive. Just put the ball in the hoop

[Xena Keda]

and try to think, is it sports documentary s. Or basketball?

[Ben Mandelker]

Documentary basketball. But I mean, if you want to extend it to sports, that's fine.

[Xena Keda]

No, no, I got a bass. Mine is Hoop Dreams. For sure.

[Ben Mandelker]

I was, I was gonna say Hoop Dreams. Yeah, yeah.

[Xena Keda]

I, I remember watching that for the first time in college actually. And I was anthropom major and I, I based my entire anthropology, cultural anthropology thesis around the impact of the NCAA system and their rules and regulations on the black male body. And it ended up being about Maurice Claret in Ohio State and that whole story. But Hoop Dreams was a reference as well. Just how that was for me, I think watching that documentary the first time I had seen just how, how much communities will buy into the idea of utilizing basketball, utilizing sport as a conduit for changing your circumstance.

[Dave Defore]

And I don't know if it's like that anymore. Xena. It's not, you know, that movie.

[Xena Keda]

Absolutely not.

[Dave Defore]

And now it's all been commoditized.

[Xena Keda]

But that's the point.

[Dave Defore]

And it's like that was the last.

[Xena Keda]

I mean, that's one of the last docs, I would say, that showcases that concept of Hoop Dreams. Like now you are second generation basketball Players, or even if you're not second generation basketball players, you are identified very young and plucked from your community, inserted into these engines that create these athletes early. Right. IMG Academy. There's a million all around the country. But Hoop Dreams is one of those more pure, unfiltered experiences when it comes to utilizing sport to get out of your circumstance.

[Ben Mandelker]

I love that pick, by the way. Very funny. Here I was just looking at a list of basketball documentaries and Coach Carter is on there.

[Xena Keda]

I feel like that's not a documentary,

[Ben Mandelker]

you know, based on a true story.

[Xena Keda]

Shout out to May, but it is not a documentary documentary.

[Dave Defore]

It's not real.

[Ben Mandelker]

That's funny calling that. You know, I actually, I know the. I don't know the real Coach Carter, but I. There's like degrees of separation. I know the real Coach Carter and it's just like, come on, man, that's not a real documentary. I will give you one that I think. I don't know. If you guys have watched it, I would recommend you guys watch it. It's called Lenny Cook. It's. It's by the Safdie brothers who directed Uncut Gems and Marty supreme and all that stuff. One of their first movies was a documentary about Lenny Cook, who was this high school prospect who I believe in the same year as LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony was ranked higher than those guys. And I remember hearing about this and yeah, his life kind of unwinding through there. But it's a good documentary. Would recommend it. So.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah. Yeah. All right. There you go.

[Ben Mandelker]

Okay. Basketball documentaries. Okay.

[Dave Defore]

Not the Last Dance.

[Ben Mandelker]

Not the Last Dance.

[Dave Defore]

No, did not.

[Xena Keda]

I love the Last Dance. I know some people don't like it.

[Ben Mandelker]

I like the Last Dance was fun.

[Xena Keda]

I.

[Ben Mandelker]

That's exactly what I was gonna say. The last was like a fun popcorn movie, you know, like a Marvel Cinematic Universe version of a documentary where it's like with this perfect version of the storytelling. But it was well done.

[Dave Defore]

It was more like flipping through a photo album or, or you know what I mean? Like for me at least.

[Ben Mandelker]

I will also say. I will also say for like. Yeah, you watched it. For someone who like to see that level of access and the footage that they got, that's the cool part for me because you just. You get a level of access that one, you don't get now and two, if you were to get it now, it's manufactured in a way. Even with the gold medal Olympic one that we saw, what was it last year? Right. With the. I didn't see Xena and I watched it.

[Xena Keda]

You did see it?

[Dave Defore]

What? No. You guys. Okay, you. Full disclosure, I, I again, I don't really like sports documentaries. It's not for me. Yeah, I don't read sports books. I watch games. You guys did the interview with.

[Ben Mandelker]

We did the.

[Dave Defore]

Did it.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah.

[Dave Defore]

I sat out because. Yeah, no, I watched the documentary.

[Xena Keda]

I mean, we're not faking it.

[Ben Mandelker]

No, no, we watched it.

[Dave Defore]

I.

[Ben Mandelker]

Look, I enj making a documentary.

[Xena Keda]

I enjoy it. I think anytime.

[Dave Defore]

You documentary is not for me.

[Xena Keda]

You said what?

[Dave Defore]

I said making a documentary. Fun, right? Regular documentaries, great. There's a great movie called the Truffle Hunters. One of my favorite movies. Okay. It's a beautiful documentary.

[Ben Mandelker]

That's awesome.

[Dave Defore]

But I'm just not into sports documentaries. So anyway, I was happy for you guys to do it.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah, Any type of documentary nowadays that gets you one. The sheer amount of people they spoke to, like you saw in the Last Dance, like you saw in the Olympic documentary, like that is always super impressive. And, you know, getting people to kind of relax. Last Dance was so good that NBC paid millions thinking they'd have a version of that with Michael Jordan and did not.

[Ben Mandelker]

Oh, they thought they'd have a version of that with him. I mean, midway through a golf course.

[Dave Defore]

No way.

[Xena Keda]

I mean, you're. Come on, come on.

[Dave Defore]

They recorded one hour interview.

[Ben Mandelker]

Insane, man.

[Xena Keda]

And they just split it up over the season, man.

[Dave Defore]

Hey, that's. Guys, you know, I don't do this often. That Michael Jordan thing, that's one of my best calls ever. That.

[Ben Mandelker]

That's.

[Dave Defore]

You guys, remember, I was like, this is going to be the biggest nothing. Yeah, it's sad. I mean, it's not really sad. I think that they've done such a good job. NBC. Yeah, NBC and Amazon.

[Ben Mandelker]

NBC has done an incredible.

[Dave Defore]

Absolutely put ESPN and their presentation of sports just on full.

[Ben Mandelker]

Shame. Yeah, yeah.

[Dave Defore]

NBC makes it. Sunday night games are so good.

[Xena Keda]

ESPN step their game up. Like, I agree. You guys saw that really great Luca breakdown that Jeremy Lynn did on ESPN the other day. Like, yeah, they, they used to do that all the time. I think we just didn't really pay attention to it. Now I think there is an appreciation for the breakdowns, for the, the sticking to basketball that we're seeing Amazon and Embassy do that now we're like, okay. And espn, I think, has had to up, you know, kind of up level. I still don't think that their analysis is on the same par of what we're seeing on NBC and Amazon. But I like the fact that, you know, if we're gonna participate in capitalism. There's competition and there is a level of. You need to.

[Ben Mandelker]

I like the. If I like that, you know, they're the.

[Dave Defore]

And you know, not to defend our competitor. It's fine. I'll defend ESPN a little bit. They make a lot of stuff.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah, they do. 1,000%.

[Dave Defore]

They make a lot of stuff.

[Ben Mandelker]

Also, like, it's worth mentioning that there is a level of freshness and newness to what Amazon and NBC do. And so naturally, when you're introducing that, people get excited. They like it. Let's have this conversation 10 years from now when we've heard Steve Nash.

[Dave Defore]

Right.

[Ben Mandelker]

Blake Griffin for 10 years. You know, like, that's the. Anyways. Okay.

[Dave Defore]

Rico. Timeless. That guy's amazing.

[Ben Mandelker]

He is. Yes. Yeah, go ahead. Okay.

[Dave Defore]

All right.

[Ben Mandelker]

H Forlor Thorin. I'm sure I'm saying that half Thorin.

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[Ben Mandelker]

No half.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah, I wish I could see it, but alas.

[Ben Mandelker]

Okay. Will the NBA implement a third party doctor like the NFL with concussions to sign off injuries? We saw there was this report that the Utah Jazz, you know, they were, they were. The Adam Silver was going to send a doctor to. I can't remember what place.

[Dave Defore]

The MRI.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah, watch the MRI for Lowry Marketing or Jaren Jackson Jr. Or something along the lines of that. I don't know. I have no idea what the answer to this question. They would have to negotiate that in the mvpa. Absolutely. Yeah.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah. That makes me think of. Not basketball related, but this very strange story that is happening in ahead of the World cup with Killian Mbappe and his leg.

[Ben Mandelker]

Oh my God.

[Xena Keda]

It is the wildest story and it makes no sense.

[Dave Defore]

The MRI the wrong knee.

[Xena Keda]

But, but no, wait, so they say they mri. There's. There is a report that they MRI the wrong knee, but Killian Mbappe is saying no, that did not happen and no one can understand. Why would he defend these doctors. That is actually what happened. And the fact is he has come out and said that didn't happen and no one believes him. Like no outlet is taking that back. And that is strange, right? Typically if the player themselves is being like that didn't happen. I shouldn't have like let. I shouldn't have let it be.

[Ben Mandelker]

Well, they lost their jobs, right? The.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah. Yeah. And like Real Madrid is very upset. And I think that's the, that's the weird part about this is like is Mbappe trying to like acquiesce to Real Madrid? Like why is he trying to defend their doctors and all the outlets that reported this Are like, we don't care what you say in Bobby. We know what we, we know what we heard.

[Dave Defore]

And that is so weird. That's, you know, different press.

[Xena Keda]

So.

[Dave Defore]

Wow.

[Xena Keda]

Maybe that's what needs to happen is like they need to send doctors to check which knee. And the best part about this was Cindy LaRue of the women's national team in the USA like, writes a comment on one of these posts. She goes, they typically put an X on the right knee, like the correct knee. And I was just like, she's gone through like multiple knee injuries. And yeah, this is crazy. But anyways, alas, let's continue.

[Ben Mandelker]

S. Sorry, that's crazy.

[Dave Defore]

I do think that this, there's a slippery slope with doing stuff like this. And also there's just the logistics of it. And I don't think that that'll happen. Also the NBA guys, I don't know if you guys heard this. They're gonna solve tanking, so this won't even be an issue.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah. It's just that the, the execution as you mentioned, like if you, when we see these injuries happen, everyone talks about the fact that Jason Tatum was able to return as quickly as he did because of how quickly, how fast everything he got his surgery. Right. If you have to delay any of this because you're. You're waiting on an NBA appointed doctor, it could be potentially disastrous. Yeah.

[Dave Defore]

I would say this though. If a guy is going from the court immediately into surgery, I doubt the NBA is going to be like, hey, let us just confirm that he's sure.

[Xena Keda]

But if those are the rules.

[Dave Defore]

Right, Exactly. That's the thing.

[Xena Keda]

That's the weird thing. You can't put that in place.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah. So I don't see him doing it.

[Ben Mandelker]

Can I just say on the tanking thing, it's so stupid. Can I just. I would like to say that currently, right now, that it's dumb and any of the proposed agreements and things like that that they are throwing out there are just going to make these open

[Dave Defore]

up some other Pandora's box, some others know how to handle pop up.

[Ben Mandelker]

It's just not anything.

[Dave Defore]

Anyway, as soon as the rules come out, every team is going to have a bunch of people sitting in a conference room or on a zoom pitching ideas for loopholes.

[Ben Mandelker]

How do we do, how do we fix.

[Dave Defore]

That's it. How do we get around this? You know, I, I do think like there's one way you just throw every team in the lottery and you say come what may and maybe you put provisions. You can't be Top three two years in a row. Whatever. Sort of whatever. But as long as it's a blanket policy that applies to every team. Yeah, you. There's no incentive to lose.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Dave Defore]

Okay, so how about more money for playoff teams? Incentivize ownership, Incentivize winning.

[Ben Mandelker]

Man, I don't know how. I don't know.

[Dave Defore]

You have to go re. Divvy the owner's share of the money. But yeah, make it about. About the money. We say this with the players all the time. Like, hey, maybe they'll play harder in the all star game if you give them money. Well, owners are supposed to be all about money too. And, and it's funny because you can make more money sometimes losing than winning

[Xena Keda]

because, I mean, think about that.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah.

[Xena Keda]

Think about the fact that the middle attractive.

[Dave Defore]

This is a great comment from, from YouTube. Make the middle attractive. Right. It's totally fine to be good. And with parody, sometimes the good is going to win. Like, you don't have to. Just like Oklahoma City has had poor injury luck and they've managed somehow. Right. Like, they built this system, but if Shea was out this year, Wes would have been way more wide open. Yeah.

[Ben Mandelker]

Anyway, I agree that making the middle attractive is, is the thing. I would say that by expanding the lottery, you are not making the middle more attractive.

[Xena Keda]

I have a question.

[Ben Mandelker]

I don't think so, but.

[Dave Defore]

No, I agree.

[Xena Keda]

I have a question for you both. We don't like this 65 game rule. Right. For the MVP.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah.

[Xena Keda]

Like baseline. And I'm wondering what if we had a 45 win baseline.

[Dave Defore]

You can't get awards for, oh, 45

[Ben Mandelker]

win, like for a team.

[Xena Keda]

And it could. And there was like some sort of like, payout and, or, or looking at like rev share amongst teams. Like, if you don't get 45 wins, your percentage starts to flow down. Like some sort of breakdown in that way. Would you guys be interested in that?

[Ben Mandelker]

I mean, I would love to hear that, but owners would reject that so fast. Like, that would be great for me. Yeah, I would be.

[Dave Defore]

Well, they, they're going to reject anything that changes the way the money is divvied up. Yeah.

[Ben Mandelker]

Right.

[Dave Defore]

In a playoff share now, like, and you obviously, you get the home gate revenue and all this stuff if you make the playoffs. I just think it should be even more lucrative, like, make it more attractive. But also, I don't know, I, I just, I think as long as there's an incentive to lose to get better, teams are gonna, are gonna do it. No team wants to actually be a Loser, period. Right. They all want to get better. It's why they're tanking so hard. So I understand, but I don't know. Yeah. By the way, distribution is the issue.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah, I agree. I agree. Donkey16 says don't most of the reforms they propose make the middle more attractive. It makes the middle more attractive for better teams and for worse teams. It does not make the middle more attractive. It does not incentivize the teams that we are trying to incentivize to win. To win more. To lose out on lottery odds. That's. That's the issue there. Anyways. Okay. Flipping some more questions. John Blount says, how long until public opinion flips on Wemby? I say two years max, until all the people that love his campaigning will hate him.

[Dave Defore]

Oh, it's starting. It's starting already.

[Xena Keda]

Wait, I'm. I want clarity when you say flip on him. Like. Well, like, for example, he gets on your nerves, for example.

[Ben Mandelker]

I think. I think the narrative has flipped on sga. You know, for the most part, there are fans, and this is. This doesn't apply to us. We cover the game, but, like, fans will immediately jump down SGA for, like, the free throws, the push off, whatever. Right. What have you. Will that eventually happen to Victor Wembanyama, by the way? I think it happens to basically every superstar, so.

[Xena Keda]

Has it happened to Jokic?

[Dave Defore]

Yes. Yeah.

[Ben Mandelker]

Absolutely.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah.

[Xena Keda]

Really?

[Ben Mandelker]

Should he have won three MVPs in a row? He doesn't really play defense. He gets tired.

[Xena Keda]

Okay. You know, like, I get that.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah.

[Xena Keda]

It was.

[Dave Defore]

It was more prevalent when he had Embiid as a peer.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah.

[Dave Defore]

When Embiid was there as an alternative to yic.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah.

[Dave Defore]

There was a lot.

[Ben Mandelker]

He doesn't actually like basketball.

[Dave Defore]

He wants. Yeah. All that stuff.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah.

[Xena Keda]

Got some narratives. Okay.

[Dave Defore]

I would say that I think it's happening a little bit already with Wimy, and especially since he made the MVP comments. And if. If you guys noticed, Shay was asked about it. They asked Luca about it last night.

[Ben Mandelker]

We know what Lucas said.

[Dave Defore]

Lucas said. I don't. I don't think like that.

[Ben Mandelker]

I.

[Dave Defore]

But I think I've been playing great basketball. Right. Very, very similar. I mean, not quite what Shay did. Shay was very, very chill about it, and I think Luca was just very casual about it. Yeah. But I. I am seeing it a little bit in some of the stuff that I pay attention to, that there is a little bit of a. And I actually think all of this is very good for the NBA that, like, we're getting. We're really getting some hardcore fan bases back. The spurs are important to the NBA and those fans being back in is good because people already don't like them. Okc. They're villains now. Right. Like, yeah, nobody likes the Lakers, so. And you know, if I can dip into professional wrestling business is always best when you have a heel champion.

[Esper Henny]

Yeah, right.

[Dave Defore]

When. When. When everybody was chasing Ric FLAIR in the 80s, they were making great money.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah.

[Dave Defore]

And I think that this is really good for the NBA. So I do think it's gonna. Gonna flip on Wemby, which is of course going to turn the spurs supporters even more hardcore into. I mean, it's gonna be. I mean, this is good.

[Ben Mandelker]

Xena, you. You, like, watch this happen in real time with the warriors, right? Like, Draymond was. Was the perfect example of like, you can hate on him very eas. Even with Steph, it was like, oh, they ruined the game. This isn't the same game everybody thinks of. And like, that narrative existed. And by the way, they're winning three championships and everybody hates them because they're winning also, you know.

[Xena Keda]

Right. I think with Wemby, the basketball is undeniable. Like, you know, with. When it comes to. As you meant, you laid out these arguments around Jokic and. And Shay and Luca. Like Jokic and Luca, they don't really play defense. Right. So you. You've got that issue with them or Shay, you got the issue of the free throws. There's not much issue you can take with Wemby's game. He plays the game the right way. He does everything on both sides of the ball. However, the way I see how people could flip on Wemby is come. Is very similar to how, you know how kids are real cute at 4, 5 and everything they do is super cute. And you're just like, oh, look at that. You can read a book. Thank you so much for telling me that you can read or showing me that thing that you've, like, pointed out. And then by the time that you drive past that, like, fifth billboard that they're like, look, it says this and it's like, okay, we know you can read. Like, we're. Now you're eight and now it's normal. And now it's like, it's not this. There's not this novelty to the cute things that you're doing.

[Ben Mandelker]

Totally.

[Xena Keda]

I think that is going to be the Wemby issue is that this concept of like him going to the monks and him starting the chant in Sam in San Antonio and him doing all these things I think is at one point, it's gonna flip to not being cute anymore or being cool, and people are gonna be like, okay, this guy's kind of annoying, or this guy's kind of corny or this guy's kind of whatever. Well, and I mean, like, that's American, like, fandom, I think.

[Ben Mandelker]

Exactly. Yeah.

[Xena Keda]

But, yeah, I don't think the basketball will ever be in the same way that you talk about with the warriors, for example, people got annoyed with the warriors because they kept winning and they. They changed the. The geometry of the game right through Stefan, really.

[Ben Mandelker]

But I'll push back on the basketball. I think people will get a. No, I. I think people will get annoyed about his basketball. I think there will be. I don't. I don't know exactly what it is right now. Maybe it's the defense. Maybe it's like, oh, he. He. I don't know. Maybe he. It doesn't play the way that we would want a player of that size to play whatever have you. We'll see what happens in the playoffs this year.

[Dave Defore]

If he shoots poorly in the playoffs, I expect to hear people talk about, he needs to post up.

[Ben Mandelker]

He needs to post up, stop shooting. Right? Yeah, exactly. That will be something there too. So I feel like any time, by the way, these players aren't, like, perfect, but, yeah, the. The other side of it, they will poke at the flaws of whatever that player has.

[Xena Keda]

Well, here's the thing, though.

[Ben Mandelker]

To your point, you're saying Wemby has no flaws.

[Xena Keda]

No, no, no, no, no. I'm saying that look at the flaws that we've called out. Basically, it's been, you are good despite this thing that you do.

[Dave Defore]

Right?

[Xena Keda]

Luca, you are insane. And you are different despite the fact that you don't play defense a lot of times, right? Yokich, you are better. He's been better. He's been better lately. Exactly. Yo, K, you are unreal despite that you do not play great pain defense. Shay, you are unreal. But it's because you're, you know, foul baiting. All of these things are. You are great despite. And I think that the difference between Wemby and Steph even is that there's not there. It's not. You are great despite. It is. You are annoying because you know what I mean?

[Dave Defore]

Where are your flaws?

[Xena Keda]

Where. Where are. Like, if you say, oh, Wendy should. He's not shooting well from outside. It's kind of like, well, he ain't supposed to be anyways. He's 7 6. Like, he's supposed to be inside.

[Ben Mandelker]

I feel like, I feel like people do that. Like I. I vividly remember people being mad at LeBron for passing the ball or like not having a jump shot in. In not being able to shoot as well as other lead creators. And like that was some. A guy who is virtually flawless as a basketball player. Like had his flaws growing. Growing into whatever he was.

[Xena Keda]

I.

[Ben Mandelker]

With Steph, I think it's. He is such a spectacle of the sport. And we all agree that like the way that he plays completely changed the foundation for everything else. But there was always the skepticism of like, okay, he is not a true point guard. Maybe that's like another thing. Right? He is not a real point guard. That was like one of those. I don't know. There will always be these narratives. These things will always exist for a player. You know what I mean?

[Dave Defore]

I think Wemby is such a like computer generated like fiction of reality. Like, you know what I mean? Like there is something about him that is so perfectly built for the sport. Right?

[Xena Keda]

Yeah.

[Dave Defore]

He's seven and a half feet tall. He's got eight and a half foot reach or whatever he's got. He can shoot threes. He's great on defense. He's intelligent. Right. Like, it's not like he's got all these things. And he's not a great athlete either because look at the way he moves. And they're going to be people that are annoyed at that.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah.

[Dave Defore]

Because he's got too much. He's too good. I mean we got to see it. But I do think that that's going to happen. But this is good. This is like you're supposed to not like Wemby if he's not on your team.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah. I guess my point is that like that exists for every player. Like I chill mentions it here, but like that's just the reality. Sports tribalism. Like if he's not. If SGA was on my basketball team, I would be absolutely happy that he's drawing 20 free throws. You know what I mean?

[Dave Defore]

Like, yeah, but if they don't do that in the, in the international stuff. S. Sorry for you. You don't get all those. We don't get all the free throws.

[Ben Mandelker]

No, unfortunately you get mid range pull up jumpers for the win against Spain. That's neither here nor there. Okay. Big Mike says will Kawhi and the Clippers be punished for their alleged salary cap circumvent this summer?

[Dave Defore]

The world wants to know.

[Xena Keda]

Great question, great question.

[Dave Defore]

I honestly. Look, the only thing I could think is that they're, they're waiting for them to be eliminated. Like, you know, get, get them out of the playoffs and do it.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah, it's funny because having an incredible

[Dave Defore]

season, he's gonna make all.

[Xena Keda]

Well, they took that L yesterday, so watch that one go down.

[Dave Defore]

It's. I don't, I don't know. I'm, I mean, look, Pablo Torre literally pulled out the smoking gun that he had taped underneath Adam Silver's chair. And that's the last update that we've heard. So I guess when Pablo tells us more, we'll know more. Check out Pablo Torre finds out. Fantastic show. But I can't be the only one that has expected nothing to happen the entire time, right?

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah, I, I, I don't, I actually disagree with that. I don't know how you feel, Xena. I think something, I've always thought something will happen. The severity is right where I, I have no idea.

[Dave Defore]

It's been a while since anyone has texted me. I will, I will just say, like, personally from, like, around the NBA and said, oh, I heard blank about this. It has been like, two months. It's around All Star was the last time I, I heard anything from anybody where they were like, oh, I just heard this thing. So I don't know if that's good or bad or what is good or bad or at least, I don't know if that leads us toward any kind of punishment or any kind of outcome at all. But I assume they're just waiting until they're out.

[Xena Keda]

I feel, I agree. I feel like something's gonna happen this summer. And when you talk about severity, s. I really think it's going to be a fine. I just, yeah, the concept of doing anything that hurts. Hawaii standing with the Clippers is just not good for basketball. Like, from a, from an NBA perspective, you want these storylines, these narratives, and when you think about the fact that LeBron's days are slowly sunsetting, Stephen Curry's days are slowly sunsetting, these guys that have held your league down in terms of narratives for years, it just doesn't feel as if the NBA would just jeopardize that, especially in the last few days. So, yeah, I, I really don't think they're going to do anything, and they're going to find a way to justify it to the fans

[Dave Defore]

is going to be interesting. I'll just say that if they do nothing, but they'll do.

[Xena Keda]

Excuse me. I don't think they're going to do anything severe. But, yeah, just finding, I think they'll find The Clippers somehow. And, you know, that'll be it.

[Dave Defore]

I. I have heard. I have heard varying degrees of things, and I, you know, NBA telephone is a funny. Is a funny game to play, but I heard that. That there were severe punishments on the table if, if this independent investigation went, you know, against the Clippers. And I mean, I heard, like, big suspension for maybe even Kauai. So we'll see where it goes.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah. Then you get into the whole MVPA and.

[Dave Defore]

Right.

[Ben Mandelker]

Like, that's the issue that I think comes across with, like, you know, we got to lay down the law. I. I don't know how that would be possible with the mvp anyway. Anyways.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah, I think we'll probably know something by the end of April, at least

[Ben Mandelker]

by the end of the season, you know, at the very least. Okay. Katie Lewis says with the use of robot umps in MLB now, if you haven't been watching, by the way, it's actually pretty cool.

[Dave Defore]

They are embarrassing the umpires. Did you guys see this? Okay, there was a missed call at first base yesterday.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yes.

[Dave Defore]

Where, you know, it was, it was a bunt attempt. Second baseman throws an error, like, throws the ball away toward the first baseman. Runner tags first base and the umpire says he didn't tag the base. But when you go and look at the replay, the ump is looking at the ball flying past first base, not at the. The runner's foot. Yeah. Yeah. That to me is such an indictment of, like, what are you doing here? Yeah. You know, like, you've got one job and now you. You're caught in 4K Shout out to MLB 4K baseball. And, and. And now they've got the computer umps. That's. I don't know, man. If you're fighting for your job, you gotta actually fight. And I'm. I, look, I, I think. I don't like robo umps. I don't want robo referees. I don't like all this camera stuff. The human error part of it just. You just gotta live with it, you know, I just. I would rather just live with it. That was insane. I started to interrupt, but it got me so fired up yesterday because I was like, this is crazy.

[Ben Mandelker]

The only thing I will say here is that the. The MLB has done these, like, live challenges now with strikeouts versus. Right. I'm sure you guys have seen it online. The. The speed at which they're able to call the. The robot is able to say whether that was a strike or not is so quick that it made me ashamed of the National Basketball Baseball is now

[Dave Defore]

faster than the NBA.

[Xena Keda]

It is games clock and these robotoms.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah. Now, I don't know if this is good for baseball in person, because I actually, I. I love to just hang out at a baseball game.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dave Defore]

It's great for.

[Ben Mandelker]

Let things cook. Yeah.

[Dave Defore]

But remember, Adam Silver tried to convince them not to get a pitch clock because it was more time for, you know, all that live betting. Right.

[Babbel Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah.

[Dave Defore]

And then in contrast, you look at the NBA, and I mean, the last four minutes of an NBA game take 25 minutes.

[Ben Mandelker]

It's awful, man.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah.

[Ben Mandelker]

So the question was, what is the one call you would like to see a robot be used for in the NBA? I will just say we already kind of see it for goaltending like they do.

[Dave Defore]

That's the only one.

[Ben Mandelker]

Quick one. I think that's probably it. The only other one I could see being kind of interesting is the charge slash block call. I don't know how they would do that technology wise, though, so.

[Dave Defore]

Well, that's a call that needs to just go away.

[Xena Keda]

Oh, you sound like Chris Mullen now.

[Ben Mandelker]

He doesn't like the charges.

[Dave Defore]

You know what? Shout out to Chris Mullen. Because we played defense, and that's why, like. Yeah, anybody can slide in.

[Xena Keda]

The concept of you're going full speed at the basket and someone could just slide in and get a charge is just.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah.

[Xena Keda]

It's unfair to them.

[Dave Defore]

It's a rule that was put in for white guys who couldn't play defense.

[Xena Keda]

Defense. Okay, wait. So hold on. Okay, so, like.

[Ben Mandelker]

Oh, I didn't know I was getting it.

[Xena Keda]

I. I'm not. I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna add on to that one. I'm gonna let the white men speak about that. Y' all got. Y' all speak amongst yourselves.

[Dave Defore]

I hate that slide under thing. That. That should be a block every time. Move on.

[Xena Keda]

Okay. So the. The robot aspect, though, if your foot is on the line, having that line be sensitized in some form.

[Ben Mandelker]

It's an easy one.

[Dave Defore]

Out of bounds.

[Xena Keda]

Yeah, like an out of bounds with, like, having all of the lines on the floor be.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah.

[Xena Keda]

To see if you were stepping on it or.

[Ben Mandelker]

They do that in tennis.

[Xena Keda]

Right, Exactly. So I think that that's pretty easy and. And cool.

[Ben Mandelker]

I agree. I will also just say it would be awesome. So I. I obviously watch G League basketball because of the Raptors 905 and their scene. Season is now over. But I. I will say the. The efficiency of the end of games for the G League is awesome. One with the Free throws two. If a. If a team calls a timeout, they automatically immediately advance the ball without actually having to have a timeout. So let's say if the timeout is only to advance the ball, you're not going back into the huddle. It's just, boom, let's move on. Let's call it a day.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah.

[Ben Mandelker]

There are ways to make the NBA more efficient. They're happening in the G League. I really hope they eventually.

[Dave Defore]

But you lose out on all that live betting and all those commercial breaks. Yep.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ben Mandelker]

Okay. Do you want me to do one more question or you want to.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah, let's do one more.

[Ben Mandelker]

Okay.

[Dave Defore]

All right.

[Ben Mandelker]

Let's see. Sons of Thunder says, what do you think about naming the Vegas expansion team the House? They could always have household marketing House. The House always wins. Yeah. Household wins and never bet against the house.

[Dave Defore]

Fallout New Vegas tie in Las Vegas House. Want to tie into an old Las Vegas Houses? Yeah.

[Xena Keda]

It ain't hitting like a. I think we would. We would like the. The puns to hit, but I.

[Ben Mandelker]

You know what? I actually do think Vegas has a really hard time to pick a name because nothing sounds good to me.

[Dave Defore]

I love these

[Xena Keda]

Aces is.

[Dave Defore]

I agree. But that's taken. It's done.

[Ben Mandelker]

You can't do that anymore.

[Dave Defore]

Aces.

[Xena Keda]

Las Vegas Kings.

[Dave Defore]

Also, I don't think the NBA should be doing any kind of gambling connected stuff, just from a PR Perspective.

[Ben Mandelker]

Also, the Kings are taken, and the

[Dave Defore]

animals that live there are like, wait,

[Xena Keda]

the Kings are taken by who?

[Ben Mandelker]

Sacramento.

[Xena Keda]

Oh. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

[Ben Mandelker]

I mean, I don't blame you for forgetting about the King.

[Xena Keda]

I was like, oh, wait, there's an NBA team that has the K. Yeah. Let me take.

[Dave Defore]

We got. We got Vipers in the chat. Yeah. I don't know.

[Xena Keda]

I just.

[Ben Mandelker]

None of these are hidden, man.

[Dave Defore]

What about the Las Vegas Basketball Club? How about that? Okay.

[Ben Mandelker]

Sure.

[Xena Keda]

Dave, Come on.

[Dave Defore]

Sporting Las Vegas.

[Xena Keda]

Just.

[Dave Defore]

They're gonna do something weird.

[Ben Mandelker]

Sporting Las Vegas.

[Dave Defore]

It's gonna be something weird. You know, it's nice that we know that the Sonics are coming back, right?

[Xena Keda]

Yeah.

[Dave Defore]

And. And I, you know, they. They get. When that team comes back, they get the entire. Everything. They get the history. They get all the, you know, everything, which, you know, of course it's awesome, but. Yeah. I, I. I don't know. I'm not sure. Like, are they gonna go, like, what's the color scheme gonna be? Because, like, you got the Raiders there, you got the Aces there. Are they gonna. I mean, the Knights are. They've got gold.

[Ben Mandelker]

They all have kind of like a

[Dave Defore]

goldish black to them, but they've got black and silver.

[Xena Keda]

Silver. Yeah.

[Esper Henny]

Right.

[Dave Defore]

Well, yeah.

[Xena Keda]

Aces in the in. The Raiders are black.

[Dave Defore]

What if they go the red? How about the Los Angeles Flamingos? Like, lean in, do it. Do a 50s. I would love Vegas.

[Ben Mandelker]

I would love flamingos.

[Dave Defore]

Something like that.

[Ben Mandelker]

Awesome. But why they would instantly be my favorite NBA team. Can I just say, I have an obsession with the color pink. I love pink. It's an awesome.

[Dave Defore]

Well, do you know the Miami Heat, when they did their. Their Vice?

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah.

[Dave Defore]

That's the cleanest look in the NBA. Those colors are beautiful. Like the court, especially. Yeah. I don't know. I. I do think that they're gonna have a tough time. I wonder if they'll go to the public. I wonder. You know, it'll be like MC Basketball face. The Las Vegas MC Basketball faces or something. The.

[Ben Mandelker]

The Toronto Tempo.

[Xena Keda]

They're.

[Ben Mandelker]

They've been. They've been playing around with what mascot they'll eventually be. I don't think they've actually released it yet, but they just release with a mascot called the Metro Gnome. Oh, so it's a gnome and it's. It's frolicking around Subway.

[Xena Keda]

I like this.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah. I like.

[Ben Mandelker]

And so, yeah, of course you guys understand the little metronome. So I like that a lot.

[Dave Defore]

I was thinking they should have a conductor, you know?

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah, why not? Yeah, that would be cool.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah.

[Xena Keda]

In Las Vegas. I'm literally typing this in.

[Dave Defore]

I don't know.

[Xena Keda]

I don't know. I don't know.

[Ben Mandelker]

Las Vegas Red rocks.

[Xena Keda]

Do we. Oh, I mean, I like that, but no, it just wouldn't hit.

[Dave Defore]

I like that, but not really.

[Xena Keda]

I like that. Okay, so I have a question. Like, yes, this is funny. So when I was working at the warriors and we were trying to figure out what if we did have a women's basketball team, what could we name it? Etc. I was responsible for the partnerships element of this. AKA like, how could we make as much money as possible? And I was thinking about selling the naming rights to the team. AKA like the New York Red Bulls, for example.

[Ben Mandelker]

Right. Yeah.

[Xena Keda]

And I'm wondering. MGM is so entrenched.

[Ben Mandelker]

Oh, Las Vegas mgm.

[Xena Keda]

But like. No, no, but like, take any one of their properties and like the.

[Dave Defore]

I hate this.

[Ben Mandelker]

That makes.

[Xena Keda]

That makes me feel like Las Vegas.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah.

[Xena Keda]

Mandalays.

[Dave Defore]

No, they could be. They could be the Las Vegas Suns too. And I'd like it better.

[Ben Mandelker]

The Las Vegas Bellagios is hilarious, man.

[Xena Keda]

So aggressive.

[Ben Mandelker]

The Las Vegas MGM Grands, something like that, you know.

[Dave Defore]

All right, I think we're off the rails at this point, guys. Let us know your favorite Las Vegas basketball team names. It's gonna be tough because the Aces kind of nailed it, you know.

[Esper Henny]

They did.

[Ben Mandelker]

They did. Yeah.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah.

[Ben Mandelker]

They took the best name. Yeah. Absolutely.

[Dave Defore]

Yeah. Anyway, guys, thanks for joining us on the stream. If you're listening to the podcast, don't forget we do this every Wednesday, noon Eastern, 9 Pacific. And join the discord again. We're having a good time over there. For Xena Keda and Esper Henny, I'm Dave Defore. This is Ben. Good morning. Shoot around. Thanks for hanging out with. Owning a home is full of surprises. Some wonderful, some not so much. And when something breaks, it can feel like the whole day unravels. That's why HomeServe exists for as little as 4.99amonth. You'll always have someone to call, a trusted professional ready to help, bringing peace of mind to four and a half million homeowners nationwide. For plans starting at just 4.99amonth, go to HomeServe.com the that's HomeServe.com not available everywhere. Most plans range between $4.99 to $11.99 a month. Your first year terms apply on covered

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