George M. Johnson (12:09)
Yeah, but the official doesn't know that Luke is talking to a fan. He. He thinks he's talking to him. His reputation put him in that position. So, yeah, there's the human element. But the official has the last word. No matter what you say, how you say it, when you say it, where you say it, that official has the jurisdiction to run the game and give you a technical and toss you from the game. So, yes, you can say what you want. It's like your children can say something to you. You're the official. You decide. Hey, timeout. Hey, ground you. So Luke has got to understand that official, whether he likes him or not, that's the parent on the floor. So you can say what you want to say, but this isn't free speech. Now, there's repercussions there. And to watch that last night, and he engages, but maybe it fuels him in all fairness to that personality. But that's just something he has to be aware of. You know, Draymond would do this. They get into the postseason, then he would. He'd get tossed. He'd have 16 technicals. And then all of a sudden, you get the next. You know, you just can't put yourself in that position there. And were they a beat? No, Clay. See, I don't know. But we know that they didn't beat him because he wasn't in there. And now you have this game Coming up tonight, you got to win these games. You know, these are so important. Back to Denver. They haven't played well since the All Star break. Reportedly, there was tension between the GM and the head coach, Calvin Booth, and Michael Malone. But, I mean, timing is everything. So you look at Denver in Memphis, the Grizzlies said goodbye to Taylor Jenkins, and he had done a great job with the young group, trying to keep them together. The Nuggets are just two years removed from a title. You have Michael Malone, who was there to help build them into something. And as I said, after they won the title, and then he got up there on the microphone at the parade, he was in his cups and he was saying, nobody's, you know, we're not going to let any of these guys go. And I go, yes, they are. This is what happened. Sometimes when you win, that's when your problems start. You would think that the hard part is winning a championship. It's once you win that championship, can you keep everybody? And Denver was not going to keep everybody. And I've said the last two years, we're going to look back on the malpractice that happened, that they did not surround Joker with bench players. Deeper bet that's how they won the title. They had depth, and they don't have that now. And Malone turned this team into a consistent winner. You know, they weren't underachievers. And we don't know the full story yet. Maybe we won't. But if you're going to make a decision like this now, you don't get many chances to roll the dice again. So it must have been really bad between the GM and the coach that they didn't get along, that you're going to fire both of them. That's rare because usually you go, okay, we're going to part ways with the coach. The GM is going to stay. But, you know, this was a fractured relationship. And, hey, Michael Malone's a spirited guy, and he's probably thinking, this guy just came in as our gm. You lost your previous GM who went to Minnesota. Now all of a sudden this guy, and probably was like, I don't want to be told, hey, give me a bench. Help me out here. And you could see frustration. Joker showed frustration on the bench. But three games to go in the regular season, and the odds didn't change on Denver, their title chances. So I don't know what that says. You know, maybe Vegas is saying, hey, it doesn't matter who's coaching. This team isn't going anywhere in the Postseason, maybe that's what they're saying, but the odds, they're long. But I don't know if people looked at Denver and said, you know what, they can win this thing. It feels like that we, we've given credence to the Lakers winning, Golden State winning and OKC winning. I think we've dismissed the Rockets because we feel like they're too young, and Denver because they just aren't consistent. You have the best player in the game, but they're, they're nowhere near what they were. Now maybe, maybe you're going now, this will spark them. Well, here is the owner of the Denver Nuggets, Josh Cronkey. On the timing of the firings, you know, outside of the decision, there was thinking around two separate things, you know, involving with the timing of it all. I think that, you know, the awkwardness of the timing with only three games left and then the playoffs looming. But, you know, it came to down to, to two factors. One, I have a complete belief and trust in our group of players that are in there, and I have complete trust and belief in our assistant coaches and their ability to step up into different roles. And maybe if their voices are a little louder in certain areas, maybe they can squeeze some of that juice that I've been talking about. Okay, good luck with that. They're just not a, you know, they're not a formidable team. Now. Can they have moments? Sure. But I'm curious and, you know, Joker has two more years and then I think there's an option. So it's around 55, 57, 59 million over the next three years. And then I saw there's already odds on his next team. Take a guess. The odds that came out yesterday, the team that, you know, Jokic is going to end up with. Yes, Paulie, The Dallas Cowboys.
