H (3:20)

Foreign.

E (3:23)

And welcome to the NBA Daily for December 11, 2025. I'm Dave Defor here with Zena Kada. Coming up, the spurs and the Thunder are moving on to Vegas. We have Andrew Schleck live from Oklahoma City. We have Jared Weiss from Los Angeles. And Xena. Man, we were wrong about those Spurs. But at least Wimby might be back on Saturday.

E (3:48)

Okay. We had a 49 point blowout in the NBA cup quarterfinals last night. Xena, guess who it was.

H (3:56)

I mean, come on, is it a.

I (3:57)

Team that's 24 and one now?

E (3:59)

You don't have to watch the Thunder to know what's going to happen in their games. Andrew Schle was at the game last night. 49 point win. Shay sat the last 15 minutes of the game. He didn't have to play after halftime. Andrew.

E (4:14)

What, what is going on with these guys, man?

H (4:17)

Yeah, Shay even was telling Mark it's, it's too early. It's too early for him to be pulled out of the game.

E (4:24)

His scoring average went down 28.

H (4:28)

Yeah, the, the Thunder did beat the Suns by 49, which is now their largest margin of defeat in the history of their franchise.

H (4:37)

49 points is pretty crazy. Yeah, the Thunder were on a mission pretty clearly, especially without. With no Devin Booker, the Thunder, I think, knew that they could just shut off the water really fast. Yeah, because it's really hard. It's hard to create an advantage against the Thunder, period. It's even harder when you have essentially one ball handler and it's Colin Gillespie and he couldn't really create an advantage against the Thunder. And so if you don't have multiple guys that can do that, it's, it's just pretty much over for you. And so that's, that was kind of the case. The Thunder had basically one lull and that was in the second quarter, but it was just for a few minutes and they pretty much took care of business from there. They hit a ton of threes tonight. They were able to just kind of manhandle the Suns and really the only recourse the Suns had Was Grayson Allen just trying to shove Chet to the ground? And I don't know.

E (5:33)

Did you have a chance, Andrew? Have you seen the replay of that and Shay Gilous Alexander's reaction to it? Yeah, it's really kind of incredible.

H (5:43)

But I mean, he's so funny.

E (5:45)

Really stuck him.

H (5:46)

Yeah. Yeah, he did.

I (5:48)

Andrew, my question is, I mean, we can ask this of the fans, especially because the fans are going to be at NBA cup, so we could definitely ask them this. But I want to know, for these guys, have you ever gotten a sense of how they keep it fun? When you're beating on teams this badly, this consistently, this dominantly, how do you refrain from it becoming boring for you?

H (6:11)

I think one of the things, and this is like, this is so apparent when you go into the post game locker room is that these guys just genuinely love being around each other. I mean, like, a lot of these guys are really close. Even think about, like, Shay and Lou Dort have been on this team together for a long time. Having guys like J. Will in the locker room is huge for them. I walk, I. I walk in there. You would have thought that they, like, won their first game in a long time. They're so excited, you know, like, they're like, the locker room is popping. Like, nobody's, nobody's complacent. Like, they're all excited. They all love to play. I mean, I ask all the guys after the game, like, what are your thoughts on being in Las Vegas? And this is also like a part of kind of the ethos of their team. I asked probably five or six guys, hey, you're going to Vegas. What do you, what do you think? Like, they don't, they don't really care about being in Las Vegas. This is like, not like a Vegasy group, but there's like, I'm just excited to play basketball. Like, you know, like, that's kind of like the Tenors, like, they just love to play. Like, they want to continue to play. They, they all crave to get better and they love being around each other. And I think it's like those things that kind of keep them from being complacent. Like, I, I think that they have big, big goals in mind and understand that. Like this, this night, like, yeah, we took care of business. We beat the Suns by 49. Like, this is not the goal. It's not to destroy the Suns. It's to win another championship. And so I think that they are very driven to just get better day by day. And, you know, I, I don't Notice any, any complacency so far?

E (7:46)

Yeah, I mean, look, Chris Youngblood played 10 minutes in a NBA cup game. That is the, the level of dominance that we're seeing from the Thunder. They moved to 24 1. Andrew. This is now tied with the 15, 16 warriors for the best start in NBA history. We don't, we. As we're recording this, we're not sure yet who they're going to play. Xena and I will. We'll discuss the matchup, you know, once we get the results from Spurs, Lakers. But look, this feels like a team that's running away with not just the regular season. I don't see how anyone beats them four times out of seven at this point. You know, maybe the Nuggets, when they get to full strength, we're going to feel differently about them. The Nuggets also off to the best start in franchise history. Kind of under the radar. But you know, what's the ceiling for this team? Because I don't know that we've seen it yet. They've yet to play a single minute this season with their full starting lineup. And that is ridiculous.

H (8:43)

Yeah. No. No Isaiah Hard sign. No Isaiah Joe tonight. Case of Wallace left early with looked like maybe concussion type symptoms. He got, he got clocked. The thing that I think should be most scary for the rest of the league is that the Thunder have an 8 point the + 8.2 net rating with Shay and J Dub off the floor. What?

I (9:05)

That's huge.

H (9:07)

Yeah, off the floor. And so that they are finding ways to crush teams without Shea, without J Dub. And it's really just like this chemistry. I was asking J Will, like, what's, what's the difference between last year to this year? Like you guys have, you're destroying teams and like you were good last year. Obviously you won the championship. Second best net rating of all time. You know, you won 68 games. But like, you guys are clear. Like there's clearly something different. And he said, really? It's all chemistry stuff. Like it's just us knowing where guys want to get the ball. It's us communicating, you know. He said his. The way that they communicate on the floor is different this year. They're all talking all the time. He said, like tonight he said I was, you know, yelling to Shay about a screen. Shay said he didn't want the screen. And then Shay found his spot, pulled up swish, you know, he just said like their communication and their chemistry is just like continuing to rise. And like that's, that's like the Main difference that, that he has seen throughout this. And to say I was asking, asking Ken Rich Williams about it too, he kind of said something similar. And so yeah, it's, it's really about like building chemistry, building habits, you know, right now. And they're doing it with or without Shay.

I (10:25)

I, I heard that by Steve Nash during their broadcast is that they are third in that rating. When Shay is off the floor and I, my mouth dropped, I was like, yeah, that is a problem for the league. And it feels as if there's not. What else can we say about this team? And when you saw the second unit come in and you're like, and they're still dropping threes and they're still being physical and that there's just the through line of that ethos of non complacency and just wanting to be the best you can be. I don't know how you develop that. On the broadcast they also shouted out the athletic, thank you Amazon, let's go. But they shouted out the athletic writers and particularly talking about the survey that recently came out about the, you know, the best front offices. And you have seen that shot of Sam Presti arms folded, watching on like, you know, looking on in the tunnel and you just wonder when Sam Presti look at, looks at this team and he looks at that through line, who and how does he kind of share the, the blame of. And not even the blame the credit really of developing that. Because you could say folks talk about the way Sam Presti brings these guys in and the way he talks to them and makes them feel really comfortable. And then you go to Dagnal and then you look at the type, the type of players that they've recruited into this program and the way that Shay and all the way down the line, everyone is not satisfied. Like how do you develop that if you're not the franchise that's on the cusp, that's trying to grow and break through. Like Andrew, you've been there. Like how do you develop this? Who gets the credit?

H (12:00)

Yeah, I think it's there, there's like the Thunder have this like four headed monster basically that starts with the ownership group in Clay Bennett and then it goes down to Sam and it's to Mark and it's to Shay. It's like those four guys, everybody follows their lead. And also Sam picks a particular kind of player, one highly skilled for their position. If they have size for their position, great. If they don't, are they aggressive enough? Like Lou Dort doesn't have great size for his position, he's aggressive. Same for Alex Caruso. Same case in Wallace. So they're looking for a particular skill set and then they're looking for very specific personalities like that. They want guys that are willing to fit in. Like you look at some of the guys that they even passed on in the draft. Like, go, go look at the names. Like, there, there are guys that I don't know that would fit in Thunder ethos. You have to have a specific personality. You have to be willing to sacrifice. There's just a lot of things that go into like picking these players. And even you look up and down the roster, there are very, they're very similar stories throughout the roster. The, the only exceptions are like Chet is one of the exceptions to this is like he was famous in high school. A guy that was like a high level pick, his second pick in the draft. But you go through every guy like Shea, Lou Dort, J Dub, you know, J Will, Caruso, KENRICH, Aaron Wiggins, A.J. mitchell, these are all guys that were afterthoughts whenever they were in college. These were guys that weren't supposed to be here. Shay was not supposed to be the best player in the NBA. You know, Jay Will wasn't supposed to be this good. J Dub was supposed to be a role player. Like they all have these stories, every single one of them. And I like really believe that's a part of the ethos is like these almost this underdog mentality that like I, I have kind of built this on my own, you know, my own brand. And like that, that same brand just exists throughout the entire roster. And I'll tell you, like these guys are, they're. They're also just like very like down. As down to earth as NBA players can be. Like, they all kind of possess that. It's kind of strange. Like I, I feel like I can have like easy conversations with every single guy on this roster. And there was a time where that wasn't particularly true in Oklahoma City.

E (14:21)

Okay, yeah, we know that story.

H (14:23)

It is a diff. It is a different. It is a. Is a different place. It is, it is very unique from a lot of NBA teams. And I think it was all very, very intentionally built by, by pressing.

E (14:36)

Can I add one thing to all of that, which I, I mean, obviously I agree with all that human part.

I (14:42)

We're glazing it on. Let's go.

E (14:43)

Well, this is, this is underrated part of this. And I think it also helped the Spurs. Like being in San Antonio was an advantage to the spurs being in Oklahoma City is an advantage to the Thunder. And I like Oklahoma City a lot. We had a great time there, but I've been there a few times. I like Oklahoma City. Are fewer distractions than if you're in New York. It's harder to do. The lights aren't as bright, so it's easier to kind of control things a little bit. The media is smaller, the scrutiny is less, and it's easier to keep these guys, you know, in your program more often because there's just less distraction going on. Again, it worked great for the Spurs. And just like the spurs, where they had Tim Duncan, you've got Shay, Gilders, Alexander, who's the best player in the. In the league, maybe, and he's able to be coached like every single guy on the roster. And so when you have that kind of buy in from your star and. And your coach like it, it feels like there's a real partnership between the players and the coaches. I really think the city itself deserves quite a bit of credit. I mean, and I know that that's like a weird thing to. To kind of focus on, but that.

I (15:48)

Is the fifth head.

E (15:50)

It's hard. It's hard to do this kind of stuff if you're the Clippers or the Lakers or, you know, the Lakers, actually, surprisingly, almost always have pretty good team culture. I think that, you know, that ownership group has traditionally understood the basketball part of it and what it takes to. To have a good, good team. But, man, Oklahoma City is. Is a huge advantage. Andrew, look, the. The last question I've got here, and it's to your point about how good they are without Shea on the court, because you look at this 24 one, obviously that season that the warriors won 73, Steph was a unanimous MVP. I think Shay's the front runner.

B (16:27)

I.

E (16:27)

Because I will lean especially with. With the numbers that he puts up. I mean, if he was scoring 24 a game, it's different. But with the numbers he puts up with the dominance that they show when he's on the court, I have him as a front runner for MVP over Jokic, who's having a ridiculous season. I understand. But there is going to be a point where the conversation is going to change. It's going to be like, wow, Oklahoma City is too good. Is Shay, like, is. Is Shea really the MVP because they're so good? Like, can you push back on that before it happens?

H (16:55)

Yeah, they're 24 and 1. I mean, like, this isn't normal, right? Like, this doesn't happen by accident. There have been A lot of talented teams throughout the history of the league. I don't know that you would say, like, this is like the most talented team I have ever seen. You know what I mean? Like, I don't know that that's, that's who they are, but I do think that they have a guy who's leading this group in Shai and he's more efficient than he's ever been. That pull up shot from the mid range is a layup right now. Like he, he is on track to have like one of the most efficient mid range shooting seasons in the history of the league. Like, that's like who he is right now. Plus getting to the basket, plus getting to the free throw line, plus making threes. I mean, he was three or four from three tonight. Like adding that to his game while also being a better passer than he was last. Like, he's just, he continues to add to his game. You go all the way back to probably his middle school days. He's obviously gotten better, but like, it's harder to like reach new levels after you get to the league every single year and just go look like he's added something to his game every single year. And he won the MVP last year. He's a, he's a much better player this year. Like, he's a, he's a much better teammate on the floor. He's a much better shot maker. He's a much better passer. There's just. It is kind of shocking because you watch him play last year and you think, oh, this is. If this is his peak. Like, this is unbelievable. This is amazing. Finals mvp. Like he kind of, he swept all these awards, but he's better. And the team is better too. And they're 24 and 1 right now. I don't know when their next loss is going to happen. I mean like this, this Suns team is not bad.

E (18:38)

No, they're fine.

H (18:39)

They made them look really bad. This, this sun team has.

G (18:43)

They be Timberwolves.

H (18:44)

I beat the Lakers in the past week. Like, that's not a bad team. But like the gap between the Thunder and the rest of these teams is so wide right now. And like it's.

E (18:54)

They don't play the February, you know, February.

H (18:57)

Yeah, I mean it's, this is. We're watching something special and I keep telling people this. I have a Thunder show called down to Dunk. I tell people, like, listen, you are watching one of like the best teams and some of the best players of all time right now. Like, like imagine going back and saying like you could go watch the 90s bulls or you could go watch, you know, the, the 15 warriors or whatever. It was like if you can get in the building, if you can watch this team, like that's who you're watching right now. And it's, it's pretty incredible.

I (19:28)

Dave, that argument about, you know, is he too good to be given that WNBA fans know that argument so well.

E (19:35)

Team's too good, right?

I (19:36)

I mean whether it's Brianna St. Stewart in New York, Asia Wilson in Las Vegas, I've heard that argument. I was triggered as soon as he said.

H (19:44)

No.

I (19:45)

But I just want to ask, my last question is more team wide and really about what we were seeing this NBA cup game. There are two games tonight or last night. Excuse me. And everyone's locked in and it's this 40 point blowout and it's just like, oh man. And the frustration though is OKC is not only so good, but they're also not like the Miami Heat that we just watched yesterday. Right. And the Orlando Magic where we just watched that were back and forth, quick pace. They are in the middle of the pack when it comes to their pace. They are methodical in the way that they move on the court is there. And the most part when we see them run fast, it's because it's off transition because they just disrupted something on defense. Like is there any element to, for you, Andrew, like watching them play? And as a basketball head, of course, good basketball is fun to watch, but for the product, for the NBA at large, for the fans that are tuning in and they're not seeing an up and down, up and down type of game, does, does that impact OKC's lore to become the Bulls, to become the Warriors? Right. The teams that maybe someone that's like, doesn't have a team is trying to latch onto, they're kind of like, oh, this isn't as fun and fast paced like Dave, you talked about that with Wes Goldberg yesterday about watch Miami and it was fun or two days ago. So just curious if, if, if you think that that might impact their ability to be that fun team to latch onto, be on top of being so dominant.

H (21:13)

Yeah, I mean I do think like this team is really focused on getting better. And one way that I think that they are trying to get better is just being able to attack zones which requires a lot of half court offense.

I (21:28)

Yeah.

H (21:28)

And so I think that they have really worked on that intentionally. And you can, you can see them crack zones like so much faster so far this season.

H (21:36)

Yeah. They're, they don't have like a super high flyer. They don't have like Russell Westbrook. But like if you just want to watch dominant basketball like this is your team. I think I know that people in OKC are just having a blast watching them. I, I think inevitably just teams that are, that win like this, I think people will latch on to them. I think that just happens inevitably. Yeah. Whether or not like the style of play or whatever it is is something that people love. I don't, I, I don't, I don't know that I know the answer to that question.

G (22:11)

Sure.

H (22:11)

But I do know that like people in OKC are like enjoying this run and want to see their team dominate and like people are legit like cheering during the fourth quarter. I'm like gathering all my notes and everything. Like people are still like excited, like they're excited for Usman Jang to hit these threes, you know, like they're pumped up for Chris Youngblood to, to, to.

I (22:33)

It just makes me think of Adam Silver telling guys, you know, folks watch the highlights. Right. And that can get folks.

H (22:43)

Sometimes because.

I (22:44)

You'Re watching the High Flyers.

E (22:45)

Yeah.

I (22:45)

As opposed to the good passes. You're watching Kayson Wallace. Wallace go into the middle of the paint and kick it out to James.

H (22:52)

Yeah.

I (22:52)

After, you know, meeting up with Mark Williams in the post like that. That's, that's not the stuff that gets on the highlight reel as much as, you know, the up and down. So that's the only reason I was asking about that.

E (23:01)

I mean this team reminds me a lot of the 96 bulls a lot. And watchability wise, same thing the way they move the ball and yeah, you've got your stars that it rotates around but the ball movement otherwise it's, it's very similar. They got a lot of the same kind of players. I'm having a lot of fun watching this team as a person who watches 96 every night. Okay. Yeah, that's right. That's right. So same here. Andrew. Thanks for hanging out, man. I, I guess I'll see you Saturday.

I (23:35)

Well, we'll see each other Saturday, guys.

E (23:39)

That's right. Stick around guys. After the break. Jared Weiss is here. Talk about the spurs and the Lakers.

G (23:52)

Hey, Andrew Schlecht here. This Tuesday at 8:30 Eastern it's the Emirates NBA cup championship game on prime. This year's quest for the cup has delivered incredible moments and jaw dropping highlights and they've been building toward this. The final two teams. I am so pumped for the NBA cup here at the NBA Daily. We will be there live in person, ready to take in the cup, ready to respect the cup. And what's been really fun is that the players have been very motivated this year to win this thing and they have. Multiple teams have expressed this and you can see it through the competition and I cannot wait to see it live in Las Vegas. The Emirates NBA Cup Championship Game live from Las Vegas Tuesday night at 8:30 Eastern on Prime. And if you're not a Prime member, that's not a problem. Sign up for a 30 day free trial to get started today. The Emirates NBA Cup Championship Game this Tuesday at 8:30 Eastern only on Prime. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com Amazon prime for details.

G (25:04)

What if Sports were Traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robinhood Prediction Markets. It's not you against the house, it's you participating in a live market. You can buy or sell your positions live all game long. Use your sports knowledge in the moments that matter. Robinhood Prediction Markets changes the game. It's people moving the action so when momentum shifts, you can move with it. I always knew the game, but I never had a dynamic way to apply the knowledge. Now I can actually take part. Live in a market powered by people. You're no longer just a spectator. Play by play, you decide. Trade every play with Robinhood now available across the U.S. download the Robinhood app now to begin Future and cleared Swaps Trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Events contracts are offered by Robinhood Derivatives llc, a registered futures commission merchant and swap firm.

G (26:05)

As a small business owner, you don't have the luxury of clocking out early. Your business is on your mind 24 7. So when you're hiring you need a partner that works just as hard as you do. That hiring partner is LinkedIn Jobs. When you clock out, LinkedIn clocks in. LinkedIn makes it easy to post your job for free, share it with your network and get qualified candidates that can manage all in one place. I've been in a position where I need to hire many times and I never had the luxury of having LinkedIn jobs help me. As a user of LinkedIn jobs now I find it incredibly easy to find the most qualified candidates. Here's how LinkedIn jobs works. Number one post your job. LinkedIn's new feature can help you write job descriptions and then quickly get your job in front of the right people with deep candidate insights. You can post your job for free or you can pay to promote promoter jobs. Get three times more qualified Applicants number two. Get qualified candidates. And at the end of the day, the most important thing to your small business is the quality of candidates. And with LinkedIn you can feel confident that you're getting the best. Based on LinkedIn data, 72% of small businesses using LinkedIn to say that LinkedIn helps them find high quality candidates and finally share it with your network. You can let your network know that you're hiring. You can even add the hashtag hiring frame to your personal profile and get two times more qualified candidates. Find out why more than two and a half million small businesses use LinkedIn for hiring today. Find your next great hire on LinkedIn. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com Athletic MBA that's LinkedIn.com Athletic MBA to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply.

E (28:01)

Zena I believe we owe the San Antonio spurs an apology. We none of us picked the spurs to win. We did not believe in them without Wemby. We barely talked about the Spur when we previewed this NBA cup match that they just absolutely dominated over the Lakers. Luckily, our man Jared Weiss knew they.

D (28:24)

Were going to win.

E (28:24)

He was in la, Jerry.

D (28:26)

No, he didn't. Nobody thought they were going to win this game.

E (28:29)

We're making you prescient here. Listen, the spurs, like, we're kind of underrating them. They've won some games. Like, they've been really competitive without Wemby. And last night, no different. And you know, look, they were able to defend this Lakers offense that we've talked about. It's been supercharged. But the biggest thing, man, they were scoring like crazy. They put up 132 points. That's the most points the Lakers have given up all year. Stefan Castle, 30 point. I mean, just an absolutely ridiculous game out of him. How about those Spurs?

D (29:03)

He's an animal. It's what's so interesting about what's happening with the spurs right now is so Wemby's been out a month and they've continued to win at the same rate. Like, they're playing really well. There's been some mediocre teams, but like, they just beat the Lakers at full strength. That's a pret pretty massive win in the league right now. And their offense finally looks like the offense they wanted to run this season. Now the question is, what do they do? Let's say Wemby comes back for that game on Saturday against okc. How do they maintain the flow and pace that they're playing with while also integrating one of the best players in the NBA and I think we'll probably just see less post ups, although maybe the post up will be a good matchup against OKC if he does play. I mean, we still don't really know, but coach Mitch Johnson from the spurs like gave a pretty good indicator that Wemby's trying to come back for that game and they've got some time. But like de' Aaron Fox ran the offense so well as Harper started to make his return, as Castle started to make his return, and just like everybody else on the team was geared into the right place where like guys like Barnes, Champeny, Keldon, Johnson, they're crashing the glass and they're getting second chance points, they're getting out and running and they're hitting threes now that they have three point guards who are just circling the paint over and over again. They're getting so many open threes and they have so many guys that are good in the post and good in the paint and crashing the glass. They just have that kind of complete recipe for a high octane offense.

I (30:25)

Right now we're talking about offense. I mean, it was really impressive to see the defensive effort they put up against the Lakers really bothering the likes of LeBron and Luka and disrupting things, just putting the pressure on it. I mean, I think that's probably why I'm really excited to see the spurs team go up against OKC is because of all the things you just laid out, that high octane offense and then on top of it, a physical defense. Now, Jared, you've been watching them all season long. The physicality that we saw with the Lakers, I don't know if I remember seeing that as much all season long consistently. What have you made of their defense and how they've been able to pick it up in terms of just being more physical, being more present with those three point guards out there and the lack of Victor Wenyama.

D (31:12)

Well, it's funny because Wemby's not out there, but Wemby was the one that came out at media day and he said defense is non negotiable on this team. If you're not defending, you're not playing. And that's something like a coach usually says to hear that from the star player. It's also like easy for him to say, you know, Wendy screws up on defense all the time and then just turns around and blocks the shot. Like, like, let's get, let's be real. Victor, like he gets away with a lot of it. That's the point. He's a cheat. Code, right? He's allowed to make mistakes, and then he cleans him up anyway. And this defense, you know, and so defense are all about, how can we clean up when other people make mistakes? And this team has cut down on, I guess, what I would call defensive turnovers, where you just make such a blunder. It's as if you've committed a turnover and they've cut down on offensive turnovers. They had a good turnover advantage and points off turnover advantage until, like, the very end when the game was out of hand. And so I think we're just seeing that there's a level of purpose on both sides of the floor and they're feeding into each other really well. And as we know, in today's game, offensive defense, it's a continuum. It's. You execute well on offense and you don't miss layups while your shooter are planted in the corners. And you have good transition defense principles. You're going to be good on defense and then, you know, vice versa. And so the big thing here is the spurs have a bunch of guys that are pretty good size for their position, so their switchability is pretty viable. And there's just a lot of guys that just like. Like defending, like, Steph Castle is just. He's an animal, right? Kelvin Johnson, he's the heart and soul of the team. We had multiple people after the game, I was asking them about Kelton Johnson. They all said heart and soul. Like, that's exactly what they said. It's like, as. Sometimes I wonder if they're just, like, going over talk like, they know what I'm going to ask. They're like, all right, we'll give Jared this one tonight. And so, you know, they. They have all these guys that, like, love the defensive side and that kind of inspires their offense. And so the irony is that they're diff. Like, their defensive rating has not been that good this year, and it hasn't been good with that Wemby. But, like, watch the game. Like, I think part of it is just, like, they're playing at a pace where they're going to give up transition baskets because they're playing transition like it happens. And we. We saw, like, the fourth quarter got pretty gross in this game, but they have the ability to chunk it up. And, like, you know, Luka crushed for, like, 28 minutes of this game. And then I remember in the fourth quarter leaning over to our friend Jovan Bua and being like, is Luka in the game? And not realizing Luka was on the court and you know, maybe I just got my glasses adjusted today. Shout Out Mykita, they're one of their two stores in the country, is right next to Staples. So I finally fixed my broken glasses. And so, like, maybe they screwed up my prescription a little bit. But you're not supposed to not know that. Luka's on the court during the fourth quarter and they just somehow just magically made him disappear from the game and that. That's a good defense right there.

E (33:51)

Yeah, look, these guards, Stefan Castle, Dylan Harper, for young guys, they don't play like it. You know, Stephen Castle, he comes back from this injury. He, he just fits right in, right back in the starting lineup. Huge game last night, but Dylan Harper is playing like a guy. I mean, he, he's. This was his 14th game last night, and he had a moment where he got DeAndre Ayton on a switch, and I just loved that. He pulled him out to the wing, had an empty ISO on him, got a drive. Now, Aiden did a really good job defending it, and he got nothing out of it. But this sort of stuff. When I'm watching these two guys play, it's as if they're, they're veteran guards. And I think that this is part of why, you know, you can have Dear and Fox out there and Castle and Harper, and they're going to find a way to contribute even when the.

B (34:42)

Ball'S not in their hands.

E (34:43)

I mean, I, I compared in, in the first half of this show, I compared Oklahoma City to the spurs with Tim Duncan. But I'm now going to compare this spurs team to the current Oklahoma City Thunder team because they really match up like the talent. Now they're in a different. It's obviously a little bit of a different build, but the talent. You've got a couple of veterans who are key veterans, like Harrison Barnes, the Keldon Johnson piece. He's like, they're Lou Dort to a certain extent. I mean, they have so many parallel similarities and they're gonna meet now. It's gonna be three times in less than like a week and a half or whatever that is, starting with, with Saturday night's game. So I, I just want to fast forward here. You said Mitch Johnson really has. Has signaled that Wemby is doing well and could possibly return Saturday. I want to live in that world. So let's say Wemby's back on Saturday. The Oklahoma City Thunder, they just moved to 24 1. They tied the 1516 warriors for the best start in NBA history. Tell me how the spurs beat them. Saturday night in Vegas and move on to the cup championship.

D (35:54)

Okay, let me put my scout hat on. Okay, so they're not going to beat them without Victor. Like, I'm sorry. And like spurs fans and spurs staffers, feel free to punch me in the face if you see me in person. If I'm wrong about that, go for it. I'll take it. But like, they could, they can do anything with Victor. If they're playing this offense like, like this. They're, they're, they're missing a top five player in the NBA. And we've always perceived there to be a pretty sizable gap between him and the rest of that team. And he's just such a, he's such a central player to the way they play like okc. You take Shay off that team and you have other guys that can try to emulate what Shai does on this. And that's not a shot at Shay. Just like Shay is a very, like, typically excellent, well rounded wing slash guard player. And there's other guys like that. Like, there's just, there's nobody quite like Wemby. And Luke Cornett's done a good job filling in for him, but it's a totally different thing. So this team has lost what should have been losing its identity if they weren't a well coached, well organized, you know, well designed team and yet they've continued it. So I, I'd imagine that they're going to transition well into Victor. Maybe not the first game, which is why this is tough, but they're probably going to transition well into playing this way with Victor out there. And I, I asked Dear and Fox after the game, like, how do you envision that? And he just talked about kind of an obvious one, but like, all right, let's say Victor gets a stop, he gets off the ball quickly, you have a fast break going and then your 7 foot 6 shooting center is the trailer on that where it's like, if you just give him the ball while he's on the move, he's probably just gonna like Michael Jordan space, jam it from the three point line and throw it down with his arm stretching out. Which like I make, I make jokes about that all the time. Like I'm still waiting for it to happen. I think it's going to happen at some point here. And so it is. If they can get into a transition game with okc, which we've seen some games like we saw with Indiana, there were some games where OKC had to play up tempo and Shay wasn't able to kind of squeeze the defense like he wanted to, to get to start getting to the free throw line over and over again. And you've got Victor in the trail with de' Aaron Fox, Steph Castle, Dylan Harper leading the break. Three guys who are just like killing it in the open floor right now, especially Harper. Like you know Harper, he had a pass late in this game to Harrison Barnes on the corner and he just like hit the brakes so hard on like a one, two step in the paint and then made the perfect pass to Barnes and Barnes gets the shot any or missed the shot anyway. So it's not going to be a highly real play but like it was for a 19 year old, like a 19 and a half year old, like he's barely over the halfway mark on 19. I just couldn't believe it. So like if they can play an up top no game, which is what they've been doing and Victor is the thing they're adding to that. It's very possible that they beat the Thunder, but also I think the Thunder are going to go 81 and 1 at this point. It feels like it.

E (38:39)

And how about that one loss? They blew a 20 point lead.

I (38:43)

Yeah, yeah, that's crazy.

D (38:46)

So they're borderline undefeated.

I (38:49)

Talking about Dylan Harper, thinking about these guards that are just like slashing through defenses made me think of Sam Van Gundy last night saying, well the Lakers are just going to have to find a way to guard. And it was such a basic sentence but it was like, yeah, there's no way to stop the penetration that these guys guards are putting on on the Lakers defense. We'll see what happens of course against okc, but now my only question. We've been talking a lot of X's and O's, I think Jared, you were the one with the question of the night around what the NBA cup really, really means for some folks, but particularly to the heart and soul of the spurs team. And that's Kelton Johnson regarding the purchase of a farm animal. Not your average one. Was that you that asked about the llama?

D (39:37)

Listen, llama, llama, red pajama guys, you know what I'm saying?

D (39:43)

Hey, you're wearing red pajamas right now, aren't you?

I (39:45)

It's a burnt orange, but yeah, close enough.

D (39:48)

I love a good burnt orange, but it's my color of the year. Pantone. Get it together guys. It's not white. What are you talking about? Nobody knows what I'm talking about now.

D (39:57)

Kelden Johnson, man, this guy. Like I was in Boston for a long Time. So I've been around some, like, spiritual leaders of the team or like Marcus Smart, who was in this game and was doing his. Marcus Smart. He had a very Marcus Smart night. Like, he knew you were in the game. It's funny, I didn't even talk to him this game. It's like the first time I talked to him before a game in forever. But I just saw him last week. It was fine. We caught up. But he. Marcus Part has three games a year where he goes 8 for 12 from three. You're like, who the hell is this guy? You have to win him because you get three gifts from nowhere, and you got to capitalize. And they could. They didn't become close. Well, I guess they came close in the end, but, like. And he was the only one scoring, right? Keldon Johnson, just, like, he loves bleeding for this team, which is what reminds me about Smart. And, you know, franchises that are well run tend to have those guys, like, they identified this guy in the draft. They're like, I'm going to pick this guy in the top 10. I think he's probably not going to quite be the offensive player that we hope for him to be, but he's just going to run through brick walls over and over, and he's going to, like, love it, and he's going to. And, like, when he gets hurt, when he gets a rebound, when he just, like, gets a team to throw the ball away, that's when he gets the most excited. And you see that from Kelton. Like, Kelton likes it when he hits threes, but when he flies in there and grabs a rebound and passes the ball away and he falls over and someone else has a shot, he gets up and he screams. He just. He loves helping his team win, and he's consistent with his messaging, and he's goofy as hell. You know, we asked him, like, what are you going to do with the money? And, you know, we asked him, like, he going to get a llama. He's like, I'm gonna win this one for the llama. He was. He told Cassidy Hubbard at halftime, I'm trying to get that llama right?

D (41:28)

He might get that llama.

E (41:29)

He actually. A lot of weird animals as pets in Texas, man. I mean, he'll fit right in in San Antonio.

D (41:35)

Well, he has a farm. He has a farm that he runs with his family.

E (41:38)

And he.

D (41:38)

He told me a story about how he had, like, a cow that broke a fence. So he traded the cow for his neighbor's donkey, but the donkey's a total apparently. So you see, it's a deal. So he has to deal with chemistry issues at home because he's dealing with this donkey that's going rogue out here. So you know he's going to be able to handle chemistry for the Spurs.

I (41:54)

There you go.

D (41:57)

This is how champions are made, guys. This is what really happens behind the scenes. It's all.

D (42:02)

We'Re seeing.

I (42:03)

The pedigree come out because of the NBA Cup. Respect. That's right up, y'. All.

E (42:07)

More proof.

I (42:08)

There you go.

E (42:09)

Cup means more. Jared Weiss. Thank you guys. Go and read them at the Athletic again. I do this every time. Jared, one of my favorite writers, he really just, he can cover every part of a basketball team. X's and O's in the locker room. He's the best. Go read him. Jared, we'll see you in Vegas at some point, I think, maybe. Thank you for hanging out. Thank you to Zena keda. I'm Dave DeFore. This has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us.

C (42:58)

Mic check, one, two. Are we recording? Hi, I'm Michelle Bernstein, an award winning chef, restaurateur, and mom. I have a lot on my plate, including my psoriatic arthritis symptoms. That's why I was prescribed Cosentyx. It helps me move better.

F (43:16)

Cosentyx Secukenumab is prescribed for people 2 years of age and older with active psoriatic arthritis. Don't use if you're allergic to Cosentyx before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Like tuberculosis or other serious bacterial, fungal or viral infections. Some were fatal. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms like fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough, had a vaccine or planned to, or if inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, serious allergic reactions and severe eczema like skin reactions may occur. Learn more at 1-844-cosentyx or cosentyx.com Ask.

C (43:53)

Your rheumatologist about Cosentyx.

B (43:59)

Hey, it's Adam Grant from Ted's podcast Work Life. And this episode is brought to you by ServiceNow. AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into. That's why it's no surprise that more than 85% of the Fortune 500 companies use the ServiceNow AI platform. While other platforms duct tape tools together, ServiceNow seamlessly unifies people, data, workflows and AI connecting every corner of your business. And with AI agents working together autonomously, anyone in any department can Focus on the work that matters Most. Learn how ServiceNow puts AI to work for people@servicenow.com.

B (44:37)

Guys, thanks for helping me.

C (44:38)

Carry my Christmas tree.

D (44:39)

Zoe. This thing weighs a ton.

H (44:41)

Drewski, lift with your legs, man. Santa. Santa, did you get my letter?

D (44:44)

He's talking to you, Bridges.

H (44:46)

I'm not.

C (44:47)

Of course he did. Right, Santa?

H (44:49)

You know my elf Drewski here. He handles the nice list.

D (44:52)

And as I'm six' three, what everyone.

H (44:54)

Wants is iPhone 17 and at T.

A (44:56)

Mobile you can get it on them.

D (44:57)

That center stage front camera is amazing for group selfies.

G (45:00)

Right, Mrs. Claus?

C (45:02)

I'm Mrs. Claus's much younger sister and AT T mobile there's no trade in needed when you switch. So you can keep your old phone.

H (45:08)

Or give it as a gift.

C (45:09)

And the best part, you can make the switch to T mobile from your phone in just 15 minutes.

H (45:13)

Nice. My side of the tree is slipping.

D (45:15)

Kimber.

H (45:16)

The holidays are better.

E (45:17)

And T mobile switch in just 15 minutes and get iPhone 17 on us with no trade in needed.

D (45:23)

And now T Mobile is available in.

E (45:25)

US cellular stores with 24 monthly bill.

D (45:27)

Credits for well qualified customers plus tax.

B (45:28)

And $35 vice connection charge credits and imbalance due if you pay off earlier.

D (45:30)

Cancel financing, remit 256 gigs. $830 eligible for it in a new line.

E (45:33)

$100 plus a month plan without our.

D (45:34)

Papers, taxes and fees required. Check out 15 minutes or less per line.

E (45:36)

Visit T mobile.

D (45:37)

Com.