Spurs Got ROBBED?! Hartenstein Pulls Castle to the Floor & Refs Miss EVERYTHING | Alley Oop 185

Summary

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The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz – Alley Oop Ep. 185 Summary

Spurs Got ROBBED?! Hartenstein Pulls Castle to the Floor & Refs Miss EVERYTHING

Date: May 22, 2026

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Episode Overview

Broadcasting from the Elser Hotel in Downtown Miami, Dan Le Batard and his crew dive deep into the NBA playoffs, focusing on controversial officiating in the Spurs-Thunder series, player performances and injuries, team roster constructions, and epic playoff moments across the league. Unfiltered and high-energy, the discussion is a blend of analysis, humor, indignation, and authentic basketball fandom.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder – Guard Issues and Injuries

• Turnovers Plague Spurs: Stephon Castle, forced into a point guard role due to De’Aaron Fox’s injury, racks up a historic 20 turnovers over two games.
  • “Two games, 20 turnovers. But we need you because Jordan McLaughlin is getting minutes ... in the playoffs.” (00:58)
• Roster Construction: The panel notes the need for a true backup point guard for San Antonio, criticizing McLaughlin’s defensive liabilities against elite guards like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
  • "When you put him on Shay. Barbecue chicken. What kind of chicken? The barbecue." (03:31)
• Injury Update & Implications: With Fox and now Dylan Harper sidelined, Spurs are struggling with backcourt depth and ball-handling under playoff pressure.

2. Thunder’s Flexibility and Offseason Potential

• Jalen Williams’ Future: Speculating on roster tweaks, conversation considers flipping Williams (and Hartenstein) for a superstar like Giannis. The Thunder’s deep bench and cap flexibility are major assets.
  • "Maybe Jalen Williams gets turned into Giannis ... now you got Chet and Giannis. Maybe you got A.J. Mitchell in the backcourt now with Shay." (04:39)
• Draft Pick Maneuvering: Thunder positioned to “play the evilest, dirtiest game in the history of free agency.” Potential for big swings if a top-five pick is leveraged. (06:09)

3. Spurs “Got Robbed”? Officiating Controversy

• Hartenstein vs. Wemby: The heart of the episode—panelists rage at non-calls as Isaiah Hartenstein roughs up Victor Wembanyama (“Wemby”) with impunity.
  • “I'm talking about my boy had 13 fouls last night. In the first quarter.” (10:19)
  • “They’re not calling, so I’m gonna continue to hack and hack and hack some more.” (10:31)
• Hair Pulling Incident & Missed Calls:
  • “He grabbed his dreads. That’s something—close to my heart ... you ain’t snatching dreads, bruh. What are you doing?” (11:41 - 12:01)
  • Non-calls escalate to uproar: Oak City player’s “phantom flop” negates a Spurs three; a backcourt call against Castle is slammed as incorrect even on replay.
  • “None of those was called files. ... None of them Hardenstein files was called at all.” (13:57)
• Referee Critique: Consistency and bias questioned, with tongue-in-cheek suggestions for accountability.
  • “Publish their addresses.” (13:10)
  • “The referee is one of the first people to help [Thunder] players up, I got an issue, man. ... seems as though you're showing a tap touch of favoritism.” (13:36)

4. Playoff Heroics and “What Ifs”

• Stephon Castle’s Dunk: Despite Spurs’ woes, Castle throws down a monster dunk on Hartenstein—dubbed the “dunk of the playoffs.” (14:48)
• Wemby’s Durability: Frequent injuries and falls spark concern for Spurs’ postseason chances.
  • “I’m always holding my breath.” (15:28)
• Strategy Talk: Suggest resting injured stars for long-term competitiveness rather than rushing them back and risking aggravated injuries. (15:43)

5. Eastern Conference Collapse: Cavs vs. Knicks

• Cleveland’s Epic Meltdown: The Cavs blow a 24-point lead in seven minutes; panel calls it “one of the most deflating losses in playoff history.” (16:10)
• James Harden & Coaching Blame: Criticism rains down on Kenny Atkinson for not calling timeouts or making adjustments as the Knicks rally.
  • “A 10-year-old knows that a timeout stops momentum, calms the crowd down... Call two of them in a row. How about that?” (17:31)
• Harden Exposed on D: The hosts call out Harden’s poor defense and Atkinson’s failure to sub him out.
  • “Number one is getting cooked by number 11 over and over. ... come sit over here right quick and talk to you.” (19:13)
• Max Strus’ Defensive Impact: Noted as a positive, shutting down Cade Cunningham earlier in the playoffs.

6. Jalen Brunson’s Ascendancy & Villanova Chemistry

• Brunson’s Dominance: Jalen Brunson “one of the best stories in basketball history”—authors and inspiring leader.
  • “Jalen really is one of the best Nick in the last 30 years for sure, maybe longer.” (22:28)
  • “The saying goes, everybody is always better than Jalen Brunson until it’s time to be better than Jalen Brunson.” (24:08)
• Series Comparison & Future Matchups: Hosts hype a potential Finals matchup between OKC (Shea) and Knicks (Brunson) as a showcase of comparable, elite lead guards.

7. Notable asides & Playoff Vibes

• Alex Caruso Appreciation: “When game 91 comes, Alex Caruso comes out of that coffin like a vampire, and everybody’s getting bled out.” (08:48)
• Roster Rumors: Drew Holiday and Kyrie Irving floated as difference-making veteran targets for playoff hopefuls.
  • “Put him in Minnesota. Chip Worthy. Put him in San Antonio. Chip Worthy.” (06:09)
• Listener Shoutouts & Humor: Headband solidarity, self-deprecating jokes, and appreciation for contributors and listeners pepper the conversation.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On TURNOVERS & Injuries:
  • "We need Dear and Fox back asap. Rocky. And on top of that now we got Dylan Harper leaving the game and not coming back. ... those two guys in Harper and Castle aren’t true point guards." (02:11 - 02:54, A)
• On Hartenstein’s Uncalled Fouls:
  • "My boy had 13 fouls last night. In the first quarter, they barely called any ... that's gotta stop." (10:19, B)
  • “He grabbed his dreads.” (11:43, B)
  • “None of those Hardenstein files was called at all.” (13:57, B)
• On Referee Accountability:
  • “Publish their addresses.” (13:10, A)
• On Castle’s Dunk:
  • “Dunked on Hartenstein so hard. I think this might be the dunk of the—not the year. I don’t know another dunk that was better than this in the playoffs.” (14:48, B)
• On Cavs’ Meltdown and Harden:
  • “A 10 year old knows that a timeout stops momentum ... Maybe we play a little trivia game on the jumbotron. Call two of them in a row. How about that?” (17:19 - 17:31, A)
  • "James, you're in pick and roll all the time. They know and are attacking you. ... As soon as the pick comes, we trap." (17:31, A)
• On Jalen Brunson’s Playoff Consistency:
  • “Since Jalen went to the Knicks, has anybody outplayed Jalen over the course of a series? ... I don't think nobody done got the best of my boy.” (24:20 - 25:05, B)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:49 – 03:11: Spurs backcourt woes and the necessity of De’Aaron Fox
• 03:31 – 06:09: Discussion of roster construction, backup guard issues, Thunder’s future flexibility
• 10:16 – 14:18: Hartenstein’s physical defense, uncalled fouls, and missed officiating blunders
• 16:10 – 21:26: Cavs’ blown lead, Atkinson’s coaching, Harden’s defense, and Max Strus impact
• 22:28 – 25:33: Jalen Brunson lovefest, Knicks’ Villanova core, Finals anticipation

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Final Thoughts & Recommendations

• The crew concludes that the Spurs need to prioritize health for their stars and perhaps load-manage for the long haul.
• Urgent call: “Bench James Harden. Bench him right now. Get his crusty ass beard off my TV screen and put him on the eighth slot on the bench.” (26:01, A)
• They salute Alex Caruso and listeners, tease future live episodes, and promise more playoff insights.

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For more, visit alley oopshow.com or catch them live on the DLS Hoops channel.

Transcript

[A]

The sun is shining, we're doing our thing. Wemby's getting bodied by Hartenstein. And they're not calling.

[B]

My sister is kicking ass in this world right now, bruh. I suggest you follow my sister online at Tristacric for every situation. I'm talking about soccer balls, I'm talking about basketballs, I'm talking about bald head brothers. She gonna keep you up to date with the news, man. I'm so proud of you, sis. You've been kicking ass, bruh.

[A]

I'm proud of you. Juju. You're my guy, you're my brother. You're my partner in crime for life.

[B]

You don't have to say you're proud of somebody just cuz they say they're proud of you. I'm still getting it together. But that's how good of a friend she is.

[A]

No, no, we're all getting it together, Juju. You know who's got to get it together is Steph Castle. Bro, stop turning the God ball over.

[B]

I mean that's kind of. Yes, that's understood for sure. Stop turning the ball over. But he's filling in as a point guard because Defox is down. And with Dylan Harper going down as well now it's like yes, two games, 20 turnovers. But we need you because Jordan McLaughlin is getting minutes in God's green, 20, 26 in the playoffs. So they struggling at that guard position. But I think he doing the best you can. What say yeah, yeah.

[A]

I mean Steph Castle should not be the one facilitating anyway. Right. Like you're putting somebody whose natural position is a two. He's a slasher, he's explosive, he's dynamic, he's a two way player. His jump shot I feel like hasn't been like so great in these first two games because he's been having to play on the ball and, and generating his own shot off the dribble which he's not necessarily the best at. So like you're right. But you're talking about 20 turnovers in two games. That's the most in history. For the first two games of Western Conference finals. You're talking about like 10 turnovers on average.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And you're talking about 20 something points off of turnovers for the Thunder and the Lightning. Lightning and the Thunder. So like that was just one out of many reasons that the Thunder ended up getting game two. But they need Dear and Fox back asap. Rocky. And on top of that now we got Dylan Harper leaving the game and not coming back. So we really need D. Fox. Because I thought to myself, they don't need Fox. Like when they first got Harper and Castle together, I was like, okay, well, Fox makes so much money and, you know, he is sort of a combo guard and. Yeah.

[B]

And combination.

[A]

And not necessarily one of those guys who's a leader and not one of those guys that wants the final shot. But truly you're seeing right now that Defox is super important to what they're doing because those two guys in Harper and and Castle aren't true point guards.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Don't have that experience in clutch moments with pressure on ball pressure and errant, unnecessary turnovers as well just based on internal pressure. So, like, I actually think it was a good case study that dear Fox kind of needs to be on this roster until those two grow up. What do you think?

[B]

Yeah, I think it's a good case study for the. The front office of the San Antonio Spurs. You feel me? Because, yes, you constructed this thing pretty awesomely. Oops, I forgot. We need a backup point guard. Like a real deal. True backup point guard that's not named Jordan McLaughlin. Salute, bruh. Salute to Jordan. But at the same time, when you put him on Shay. Barbecue chicken. What kind of chicken? The barbecue. Korean barbecue? KFC Mesquite barbecue.

[A]

Mesquite. Yeah. Love a mesquite.

[B]

Chips. Like it's all pick a barbecue.

[A]

Deep fried barbecue.

[B]

Exactly. One of those.

[A]

One of those turkeys that they deep fry in the buckets.

[B]

Exactly. I think Austin, Texas, they do good barbecue over there. He put him in that. Like, pick a barbecue. That's what Jordan McLaughlin is on defense when it comes to Shay. So I feel like Dylan Harper was just enough to keep you like, okay, we can. You guys take turns turning this musk truck over if you. And Steph. And without. Without Dylan, it's gonna get very, very scary. I think he can come back, but that hamstring ain't nothing to play with. Like, well.

[A]

And like, listen, they lost J Dub also for the Thunder. I don't think he comes back. And honestly, I. I was thinking to myself as he left the game, like, they played better without him. Right. A.J. mitchell doesn't make a lot of money. He's very dynamic. He's very shifty. He can get downhill. He can get his own shot off the pull up off the dribble. He's got defense and spades. Yeah, he's not as. As thick or as strong necessarily as Jalen Williams, but like, you don't really need that from him. And to. To like, as I'm thinking about. And I'm always thinking about roster construction along the way, how things are going to tweak down the road, right? And I think maybe. Maybe Jalen Williams gets turned into Giannis. Maybe you flip him or flip him, plus Isaiah Hardenstein into Giannis, and now you got Chet and Giannis. Maybe you got A.J. mitchell in the backcourt now with Shay, and things are all kinds of, like, tweaked. And then I'm looking at San Antonio, and maybe you flip somebody. Kelden Johnson, Devin Vassell, combo for Drew Holiday. And maybe you got Drew Holiday as a backup guard, and he gets San Antonio another ring, and now he becomes that. That steady force who doesn't turn the ball over, who's very calm, collected, but also has straps on defense because San Antonio needs to be able to defend all across the board.

[B]

Yeah, I got four syllables for you, too. That's gonna. It's gonna go somewhere, is maybe Minnesota, maybe San Antonio, maybe. Stay put. Kyrie Irving, bro. Put him in Minnesota. Chip Worthy. Put him in San Antonio. Chip Worthy. I think my boy is going to go somewhere soon. But how do you like this? Put Jalen Williams in a package. Put Hartenstein in that same package. Who got picks number one through five? Anybody with picks number one through five want Jalen Williams or Hartenstein. Because if we can somehow sniff the bandster, if we can somehow get Mara from Michigan, if we can somehow get a. A cuff, bruh, these Thunder are positioned to play the evilest, dirtiest game in the history of free agency.

[A]

Thousand percent, thousand, thousand percent agree. And the. The question is, is, like, who do they want to get out of that. Out of that top five? There's a lot that's going to happen in the off season, and we're just seeing those strings get pulled right now where you're seeing, okay, like, the team is evaluating and seeing exactly what we're seeing.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

Jalen Williams kind of messed up the recipe when he came back. He's taking a bunch of errant shots in game one, and it's like, oh, we were. We were kind of cooking with gas with AJ. AJ really declined when Jaylen came back. AJ makes no money. You make 50 million, we could kind of get rid of you and still be under the tax. And I think Sam Presti is going to take a look at all that. We love you, we support you. We appreciate you. Jalen, you got us and helped us get a ring. We got to continue to build for the future and not have one really expensive ingredient. Who's constantly sitting in the cooler because his hamstring's broken.

[B]

You know who I would pay right now? Low key. I know this is unethical. I know this is not how the life works. And especially with knees and backs. How they go? Alice Caruso, brother. I don't know how much you getting paid, but they get more. Throw something on that. Because my boy. What you think of my boy's performance so far?

[A]

I said this. I think maybe it was either here or on. It is what it is. Maybe it was NBC. But, like, Alex Caruso is one of those guys that for 90 games a year, yeah, he's completely unneeded, completely not thought of.

[B]

Nope.

[A]

Not ineffective in any way. But they pretty much put him on ice. They put him in his cryogenic chamber. Make sure he's getting his red light therapy, make sure that he's eating his vegetables into the weight room, stretching, rolling out. Because when game 91 comes, Alex Crusoe comes out of that coffin like a vampire, and everybody's getting bled out. He is always turning you over, blocking shots. Doesn't matter who he's on. Doesn't matter if you're 7ft tall or 6ft one. He's quick enough, he's strong enough, he's explosive enough. He's good at his role. He can shoot the three. He can get into transition. He makes the right play. He can go up and under. He can even dunk. Like, I think Alex Caruso really was that final piece for sure.

[B]

And as a brother in the headband community, we always stand with our brother Alex because headbands are necessary for some of us, we have long, elongated slopes of foreheads, and we got to cover those puppies up. And he's one of the best of us. So salute to Alex Caruso. You got.

[A]

You feel like your forehead's too big?

[B]

Ah, man, we. That. That's a. That's a long book. I don't want to go in that book. I got so many insecurities. I could talk to y' all day. I might need. But I'm gonna stick with the thunder for a second. Hartenstein one of them pieces that could be moving. He ain't going nowhere right now, and he is moving. I'm talking about wimy all across the paint.

[A]

Why didn't the refs call any of that, bruh?

[B]

I'm talking about. My boy had 13 fouls last night. In the first quarter. In the first quarter, they barely called any foul, bro. And I'm like, bro, this gotta stop.

[A]

Like, listen, if I'm gonna foul out. I'm gonna foul out. That's fine. I'll do it. I. I'm gonna use all six fouls. And you used them all in the first quarter. And it was like when a kid is finally, like, getting a little bit of freedom, and he's like, well, they said not to go to the park past the train tracks. I'll just see what happens. And nothing happens. It's like, well, maybe I'll go down to the store. Maybe I'll go to the mall. Maybe I'll go to the next state over. That's basically what Hardenstein was always like, they're not calling, so I'm gonna continue to hack and hack and hack some more.

[B]

Exactly. You better. Dylan, we may as well let these roll, bro. Cause I'm gonna get into it right now. We got about five videos that are just scraping.

[A]

That's another foul.

[B]

Exactly. What is this, man? Like, referees? I understand that this is the playoffs, and we gonna. We gonna do a little bit more aggressive fal. This is ridiculous.

[A]

Foul again. Foul. Some more. That's six fouls right there. Foul. Another one.

[B]

And it's the first quarter, you dig? And then later on in the game, Stefan Castle, he was going to the hole or trying to go for a loose.

[A]

Get him in his face.

[B]

That for sure. But he grabbed his dreads.

[A]

Oh, yeah, that's.

[B]

That's something. It's just close to my heart. Near and dear to my heart. You grabbing. See, I. See what I'm saying, like. Okay, see, you see what I'm saying? This a whole different ball game, breath. You sitting right there with the guy with the damn whistle in your mouth. Look at him. Look at the referee.

[A]

Oh, no.

[B]

Oh, no, bruh. This is fighting like if this is in the streets. Salute to Hardenstein. I know that's a big brother, but we jumping. You bit, bruh. You ain't gonna be snatching dreads, bruh. What are you doing?

[A]

I'm gonna tell you this right now. If Hardenstein wasn't mixed, he would have been mixed up.

[B]

Exactly. And he German. We got some old Isaiah Joe brother. The bruh. The. The spurs was in rhythm, working it, about to hit a tray ball. They took this tray ball off the board because a phantom flop from Isaiah Joe. Get the hell up out of here, ref.

[A]

He didn't even touch him, bruh.

[B]

They stopped the play and said, oh. Offensive file on Harrison Barnes. I don't understand this. And guess what else? It ain't over. The referee on Stefan Castle called a Backcourt on Stefan Castle. He was dribbling the ball. After further review, he wasn't down back court either. Bruh. What is happening with these refs? Do they need what. What can we say or do to these refs to get them to get a little better, bro?

[A]

Publish their addresses.

[B]

Hello something, bruh. Go back to regular regular season Stipe files. This was called a backcourt. I mean it's pretty close now, but look how close the referee is. Come on man.

[A]

He was literally. His eye was on the line, sir. That did not touch. That did not touch. That did not touch, bro.

[B]

Come on man, like you can't be doing all of that. And on top of that, if the Thunder players fall down and the referee is one of the first people to help them up, I got an issue, man. It's just. It just don't look great for the league. I'm thinking we go back to how we called it during the regular season. I would rather that because it seems as though you're showing a tap touch of favoritism on that side of the ball. You did. Because what can you say to that? To the, to those WIMBY files how Hardenstein was getting away with pulling hair. Let my add to the. To the listening audience. None of those was called files. You did like none of them Hardenstein files was called at all.

[A]

And then. Okay, so say, say Hartenstein gets into foul trouble. That changes the entire complexion of the game.

[B]

How.

[A]

How players defend Wemby because they don't want to get called for those. Like you have no one outside of Chet that can play center now Jalen Williams is injured so he can't play five. So now you got like J. Will who has to give you minutes and, and now you've got real problems. So I mean it has a trickle down effect, a crickle down effect, slippery slope effect.

[B]

But all that fouling couldn't stop my boy from getting his ass yam down last night. Hey, talking about boy Stefan Castle dunked on Harnstein so hard. I think this might be the dunk of the not the year. I don't know. Another dunk that was better than this in the playoffs. Like before type like he punched it so hard on his ass. Yeah, and look Heartstein finally filing his ass right there too. Grabbing the jersey, bruh. No foul call. Don't only, dumbass. Wow, what a game, man. What a series, man.

[A]

But it's gotta go seven. It's gotta.

[B]

I hope it. I hope it goes seven. I hope the spurs can stay healthy some Kind of way is looking bad right now. Especially how Wimby be going down, falling, getting up, grabbing his wrist, grabbing his arm, grabbing his fingers, always holding my breath.

[A]

Not good juju. I think if I was Mitch Johnson and the crew, I would say, all right, let's, let's get Dylan and de' Aaron as healthy as we could be for game four. Because what we can't have is you're coming back for game three, then you leave the game again and then you can't play game four. And now we're cooked. Now we're, now we're down. We're going back to OKC for game five and we're down three one. That's what we can't have.

[B]

Cannot happen. Going across the. Across to the east side. The Cavs had one of the most deflating losses in playoff history, bro. Ever since my Celtics last year, the Celtics have given up two back to back 20 point leads in the second half. I present to you a 24 point lead with seven minutes left gone. Knicks win. What do you feel about this series?

[A]

I mean, if I was, if I was the owner of the Cavs, David Griffin.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I would be ripping up whatever contract we had already agreed with James Harden. Whatever, whatever. Like insanity that James Harden leverages to get these contracts done before he actually produces an important moments is insane to me. I would be ripping that up. I will be having a conversation with Kenny Atkinson and saying what you just did, you're right on the hot seat.

[B]

Hottest.

[A]

You really are on the list because you had four timeouts. You have two of them that are expiring in no matter what.

[B]

No matter what.

[A]

Those are gone. Why don't you try? If a 10 year old knows that a timeout stops momentum, calms the crowd down, maybe we play a little trivia game on the jumbotron. Call two of them in a row. How about that? Has anybody called timeout? Timeout. Have we seen a double timeout? We need to cool it. Okay? James, you're in pick and roll all the time. They know and are attacking you. So don't just allow, don't just like slide over to guard Jalen Brunson. No, make the person that was originally called guarding Jalen or whoever, Dean Wade. Dean Wade. Fam. No switch. Stay on your man. As soon as the pit comes, we trap. Someone needs to rotate to the screener. We. We need to rotate. We cannot allow James Harden to be put into this vulnerable situation. Okay?

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

Because we know he can't defend. We know he's old that's the part.

[B]

That's the part.

[A]

And it's Harden. We know what Harden does. So I blame Harden, of course, but I also blame Kenny. I also blame Dean, and I definitely, definitely, definitely blame Donovan Mitchell because this is the kind of we are on your ass about Mr. Jones, me and Mr. Mr. Jones. He won't go into the paint. Why do you not attack the downhill? When the lights get bright, your eyes get blinded, you start making bad crazy decisions. It was disgusting. Juju. Disgusting.

[B]

Very disgusting. And like you say, Kenny Atkinson, my boy, I don't give a damn. You can't have it both ways. You can't keep James in the game and then not scheme for James to look the best he can. Because I. I suggest. Hey, brother, you said a 10 year old will understand how what timeouts work. A 10 year old will also understands number one is getting cooked by number 11 over and over. Hey, number one, come sit over here right quick and talk to you. Hey, number Max Cruise, whatever number you are, go handle that right quick while I holler at one of our superstars for at least a second. We ain't calling time out. We didn't make a substitution. Dennis Schroeder didn't see the court. Matt Scruse didn't see the court. Matt's give you energy. Then it's gonna give you energy. At least enough energy for you to say, hey, James, you see what I just did to you? You can sit over here for the rest of the game with me if you want to, or you can go back in and give me some of that. Because this is stupid right now. And if you're not willing to do that as a head coaching our year or lower 20, 26, bruh. Get. You're not a coach. What's the use of a damn coach if you're not gonna use your coaching skills, bro? You ass right now. Come sit down. You can't. I can't say that. His. His ego too. Too fragile for that. If that's the case, you don't need to play basketball no more. You're 37 years old and you're getting K.O. i said K.O. c O O K E D like.

[A]

Come on, man, we don't got time and K oed.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

Next. Truce. Did a phenomenal job on Kate Cunningham.

[B]

Come on, man.

[A]

Was locking his ass up. Dean Wade does a phenomenal job.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You're up 22. You don't need to score anymore. No, you need to stop them from scoring. I don't score. S care if you score Another God point. You could do a 24 second violation for all I care. For the rest of the game, just play keep away and then guard your ass off because they're not coming back. Don't play with your food. Kenny

[B]

James shot a three airball, bro. I'm like, bro, what is happening in the end of this game? I mean, I know we. I'm not gonna say that because when we love our partners, but this is. This is Terry Rosier levels of stuff going on, man. Because I don't understand what I'm seeing. Like, I'm watching the game. Like, what is happening?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Like on top of that, bro, when Jalen Brunson hit one of them momentum three pointers, he walked right over to Kenny Atkinson calling the timeout and screamed right in my boy face. Kenny, either get a technical file, call the time. Don't call the time out now. And now you're getting screamed at. And I look at him. Want to fight? Kind of. Nah, Kenny don't want to fight me. Fight James Harden. Don't run up on me, Kenny. I promise to God, the only person in Madison Square Garden that you should never even think about touching is number 11. What you think about Kenny in this moment right here, bro?

[A]

I mean, he got sunned. I've not seen that level of disrespect directly on the court before that way, you know what I'm saying, bruh? Like Jalen. Jalen really is the best Nick in the last 30 years for sure, maybe longer. Jalen really is one of the best stories in basketball history. You're talking about Villanova, you're talking about titles. You're talking about undersold, undervalued, underdrafted, undersized, not thought valued or not thought of highly enough to be valued. Let walk from the Dallas Mavericks. Played as a co star with Luca. Really was the get back guy for Luca. Kept the team energy and chemistry high. Nobody cared. Took a deal that was way less, probably even with the Knicks than he was really valued as, Right?

[B]

And then Pablo Torre found out.

[A]

Yep. Took a pay cut. One of the most clutch players in the league. Let had the whole crew. Come on, yo, it's not just me. I'm gonna need my guy. Josh Hart trade with Portland. I'm gonna need my guy. Dante Divincenzo. Come over here from wherever the hell you were at. I'm gonna need Mikhail Bridges. You come over like, I don't care how many picks it takes, I'm gonna take less money. Just pay him. The Villanova boys all Together doing the damn thing, about to go to the finals. Holy. Like Brunson is one of them ones.

[B]

Yeah, he is, man. You got to put respect on it. Like the. The saying goes, everybody is always better than Jalen Brunson until it's time to be better than Jalen Branson.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

You feel me? All that Donald Mitchell. Yeah, it look cool. It sound good. K it. But I'm seeing what I'm saying.

[A]

So has there been anybody that you've seen since Jalen went to the Knicks? They have outplayed Jalen over the course of a series?

[B]

Nah, not that he was in. They might have done it against the Celtics or somebody else, but I ain't seen it. Not against them. Because even in the series that he may have lost or got, didn't have the best series, didn't nobody have a better series than my boy. He gonna have at least equal or better than your superstar. Never like this. Because on top of that, his stature is so small, and the Hawks thought they found the recipe. Put him in. Put him on. So, yeah, I. I don't think nobody done got the best of my boy.

[A]

You're right. That's why I think he's like, literally, you know, OKC versus the Knicks.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Will be phenomenal to watch because people think there's, like, this massive difference between how Shea scores and how Jalen scores. They're very similar. Yeah, Jalen just doesn't guard the way that Shea guards. But offensively, very, very similar players. Only Jalen Brunson is like five, six inches shorter.

[B]

Yeah, man. Bruh, what a playoffs. What a playoffs we having right now, bruh. Like, I think this, every game in these series right here, I think it's going to be magnifique. Even the Cavs, bro, because I don't think they're just. Just ass. I just think that they need to get it together, man.

[A]

But do need to get it together.

[B]

That's gonna do it, though, for another episode of the Alley. Oh, man. Any last words on the way out of here, sis?

[A]

We gotta bench James Harden. Bench him right now. Getting his crusty ass beard off my TV screen and put him on the eighth slot on the bench.

[B]

You feel me? Salute to Keon. Man, give my boy Keon some minutes. Come on, bro. Thank you as always, to Ms. Rebecca as well as our brother, the distinguished Dylan. And without the listeners, everybody locked in right now, who the hell are we, man? Catch us again this Tuesday on the DLS Hoops channel, man. On YouTube, as well as we're going live, baby. We went live last night and we going live again and we stay tuned. We're going to let you know these dates. So we need you to lock in for sure.

[A]

Lock in, lock in. Www.alleyoopshow.com.