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Wave.
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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Right Time, a Wave original. My name is Bomani Jones. Thanks for listening. Wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for watching us on YouTube. Subscribe, like, rate us, review us, give us five stars. You only give us four stars. I'm inclined to believe you are a hater. We got Danny Parkins in on Thursday. What's going on, man?
C
Good morning, Bo. God, these NBA playoffs are a marathon, my man.
B
It's a marathon.
C
We.
B
We really just gotta get through, like, the next two and a half weeks or so. Yeah, right. That's a long time. But that's the key. Like, once we can. Once we can start getting some teams out of here in the second round, like, we've gotten some help already, right? Oklahoma City, did they part? Made quick work. San Antonio, did they part? The Lakers had their opportunity to do their part last night because it's worse with them. Because they gains could be way far west. You know what I'm saying? But they didn't do it. They had nothing for us. Which is raising the question. I talked about this. A bit of goodwill on Wednesday's show. They really did play over their heads in those first three games. Right. Is what we're. The question is whether or not we are witnessing a regression to the mean in this case. Cause they got Austin Reeves back, and I don't know if that hurt or helped.
C
Yeah, I think Austin Reeves, like, clearly was knocking off some rust and had some fatigue. Like a lot of his shots were coming up short. You know, obviously very different players. We kind of, we saw with Joel Embiid, like, Embiid came back and game one was not good. And then game two, he was dominant. So I, I think the Lakers, that might be like their biggest sign for optimism is that in theory, Austin Reeves should have fresher legs. Than the rest of the squad for Game 6. And maybe. Weird sentence, maybe Austin Reeves, Dave LeBron James in the Lakers. Like, very weird time we're living in, but it is plausible. But, yeah, it was a. I don't think Luke Canard and Marcus Smart were gonna do that. You know, just like those guys were. And at this. Those first games, it wasn't just that Canard went nuts or Marcus Smart went nuts. They all went nuts early. Like, they all had amazing first quarters. So, like, LeBron could save some energy for the end, and they could play with a lead and Houston could get tight. So it wasn't just like, oh, a random spurt late in the second quarter. It gave them a cushion for the whole game. And, yeah, that. That is not happening anymore.
B
Like, I believe that there was no excuse for the Rockets to lose this series with or without Kevin Durant. That was. That was my take in the beginning. Now that it's 3:2, we're kind of with game six being at the crib, right? Like, we're kind of in. Like, look, man, the thing about playoff series is the Rockets don't have home court advantage, but they got it back to where it was supposed to be off the top, right? Like, it's all just a matter of can you sneak a win here and there. Now, of course, what we're asking them to do at this point is win four games in a row, which is very difficult to do against a team that is reasonably in the same ballpark as you are. But them winning. Now, that is 3:2. Like, I feel like we have to ignore the fact that it used to be three up. Now it's three two. They have game six at home. It is reasonable that the following collection of players could win this playoff series. Jabari Smith, Tari Eason, whose mama be talking crazy about him on the Internet. It is the wildest story in the NBA that, like, as somebody who has haters, nobody hates on me like Tari Eason's mom hates on him.
C
I'm not familiar. What is she doing, man?
B
Let me look. Let me. Let me look.
C
I'm sorry to not be able to. Yes. And you here. I missed Tari Easton, mom corner of the Internet.
B
No, no, no, no, no, no. Tari Easton, mom Twitter. Let me get to where this is. So this is From. From Reddit 11 months ago, and it said the title is bro. Tari Eason's mom posted this. Oh, actually, no. That was her being very harsh to. Toward the. Toward the Warriors.
C
Apparently.
B
She's just like, this with everybody. But like if he has a bad game, Tar Eason's mama gonna be the one to say that he's had a bad guy.
C
Oh wow. Fun.
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, like it's, it's that sort of situation. But these are the guys.
C
I like it.
B
These are the guys that are out there in this game. What a weird series. This is Jabari Smith, Tari Eason, Alperin, Shingoon, Ahmed Thompson, Reed Shepherd, Dorian Finney Smith, Aaron Holiday and Joshua Kogi Smith, Shingoon Thompson and re and Thompson played 42, 43 and 46 minutes. Austin Reeves comes off the oak after missing that time and plays 34 minutes because you had to because he used to be playing Rui over 40 and you still had to play him 37 as a 41 year old man playing 39 minutes. Deandre Ayton playing 38 minutes for you shot. I should have known you lost with just by looking at that Marcus smart in year 12 giving you 37 minutes.
C
It is a, it is a ragtag bunch for the Lakers and the Rocket side of it, like man, that game was weird. The series has been weird. Last night the Lakers are making their comeback. They cut it to three after the Rockets and seemingly been in control and Reed shepherd goes ISO hits a bucket and then picks LeBron's pocket and fast breaks the other end. I'm like what am I watching?
B
I got it.
C
Like it was such a, it's such a strange series. But to your point earlier too, like the Rockets had a collapse where they right, they're up up six with 30 seconds to go and, and blow the game series very easily could have been two, two. But if we just like men in black mind erased ourselves and like hadn't watched a minute of the series and said okay, there's no Luca, there's no kd. Austin Reeves is coming off an injury. The Rockets are down three two. But game six is in Houston. I think it would be totally reasonable to pick Houston to still win the series because old LeBron old Lakers team with one day arrest between game five and game six and then one day arrest between game six and game seven, like the younger, more athletic team should get stronger as the series goes. And I think that's what we're seeing. Like I think Houston's defense The last like 9/4 has been pretty like I think it was. It's 21 or fewer points for the Lakers and like six of the last nine or six of the last 10 quarters. So I, I think this is tilting towards Houston and LeBron could end up being the first guy ever to lose a series. Up 3, 0.
B
You remember when LeBron said he don't even like when he was explaining about how he don't like to go to Memphis and he was like, I don't even like go home no more. After letting Reed shepherd take. Take your cookies like that in front of everybody, I don't think he's ever going back. I wouldn't personally. And, and when I say I wouldn't, I don't mean I wouldn't If I was LeBron James. I mean that I comma Bomani Jones at age 45. It's hard to explain. It's not, it's not that Reed shepherd shouldn't be able to take the ball from me. I'm just not going to be able to explain it to people.
C
It was wild. It was, it was, it was a wild moment. And it happened in the fourth quarter of an NBA playoff game. I witnessed it. I'll remember where I was fighting off sleep on my couch.
B
Let me tell you who's really going to remember with that. Reed Shepherd. I don't, I don't know what Reed shepherd is going to have to do with the rest of his career for this to not be the first lie in the. On the resume, right? Like right there.
C
You remember that sequence in the fourth quarter, a game five of a round one game where you got the best of LeBron James in a 45 second
B
stretch, brother, let me tell you something about that one time. I dunked the basketball in a game, right?
C
Hell yeah.
B
And I remember when I worked with Pablo, Pablo would get on me about that and he'd be like, that one time. I'm like, well, tell me about the one time, right? I don't know the one time. It never happened again. I don't think I ever tried. I don't think I ever tried before that. But you're going to hear about this. I have to tell you about this. There's a dude my brother's cool with and he used to live in my building, right? And this is no lie. He invented the phrase wifi. That's his claim to fame, that he was in the meeting and they were like, what are we gonna call this? And he throws out Wi Fi and he's kind of like the dudes who play drums with James Brown where everybody sampled your breaks but you ain't get paid for it. Or like in the Wire where Wallace is like the dude who Invented the chicken McNugget must be rich. Yeah, but he's not. It's a similar thing. And so my brother told me all this time about the story about the guy who invented Wi Fi. And I said, he then one day said who the guy was and I was like, oh, I didn't know it was him. He was like, oh, my bad. I thought you said you'd had a conversation with him before. Because, hey, man, it comes up quick as it would come up quick for me. That might actually be my nickname.
C
Bomani. Wi Fi Jones.
B
That's what they call me. Wi Fi Jones. Like, you know, so when I was cooking up Wi Fi, right? Like that's what it would be if I'm Reed shepherd and I took LeBron's rock. That's all anybody's gonna hear about. Sure, my dad was the most outstanding player in the 1980. 1998 Final Four, but we're not going to talk about that. Like, that's old news, pops. Was LeBron James playing in that game or was Michael Doliak playing in that? Oh, that's right. It was Michael Doliak that you were playing against. Got it. Yeah.
C
You and I. I gotta be honest, I don't have my one time dunk story and I don't even have for. For my people in my athletic ability. I don't have my one time hole in one story. But I promise you, Bo, when I get that hole in one, I'm working it into every conversation.
B
You got to, you got to. And remember, the key is you got to start recording the video from the te. Not from the shot necessarily, but you're going to have to walk it all the way down.
C
Oh.
B
To. To be sure that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That you, you, you have gotten it. And I gotta say, that is not just for your people in the way that you intended. That is just for a certain class of the bourgeoisie. Because if my brother hits a hole in one. Brother. I'm low key hoping he never does.
C
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, this, this summer, I am looking forward. Me and your brother have to get out and finally put some golf together.
B
Yes. Yeah, yeah. Because let me tell you, there's a hole in one. I don't know when we're ever going to stop hearing about this. I personally think you guys need to be glad that I don't talk all the time about when I got that hole in one. On the wordle.
C
Thank you.
B
Right.
C
Thank you for sparing us of your first guest.
B
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. See that right there, that's the issue. It take as much skill to get that as it would to get your hole in one in golf. It's just a good, pure swing with a little bit of luck after.
C
You keep telling yourself that.
B
You keep telling yourself that, huh? How about that, right? There we go. Like, Greg Maddox never threw a no hitter, you know what I'm saying?
C
That's true.
B
Right?
C
There's a certain amount of luck involved.
B
Hell, yeah, there's a certain amount of luck. Like, I can't believe you came in here. Poo. Poo. And I'm like, first thing that. The first. The first green square, then the second green square, Then it felt like the next three just went on a sprint. I was like, wait a minute. Is something broken or did I get my hole in? What? Like, my brother got a hole in one on that the other day. But I ain't going to lie. I'm hating because my brother did the technocratic move of. He just used what they say is the best combination. So I don't even feel like that counts. You know what I'm saying? It counts because you got it. But, like, it's.
C
It's like a hole in one on a par three course. You have more chances.
B
I pulled it off with a door. As a Prince fan. I got a door as my hole in one, as. What I was going for was to get three vowels and not to just go with the. The. The most common letters, though. A little. Little hit with a little L1 on it. You know what I'm saying? And so, yeah, I got a good little hit. Hit the. I felt like I spun it back. You understand what I'm saying? Like, I felt like I got it to go past the hole, and then I hit it with the right kind of spin.
C
Were you concerned about adorn?
B
You know, I was, but sometimes you got to make the hard decisions.
C
Yeah. Yeah.
B
You understand what I'm saying? And that's. That's what I did.
C
Green. Green.
B
I went like this right here. I took my tongue, I put it on my thumb, put it up in the air. I saw which way it was going, man. That's what I. That. That's. That's what I did. And so, yes, this is what it's going to be like to be cool with Reed Shepherd. Yeah. For anybody that knows him, that's met him or anything else, this is. This is going to be your life. But I got to. I got to ask you this. And this is tied to a game for Wednesday night, and it's this thing that Ryan told me and I was like, there's no way, not Danny Parkins, not, not such a reasonable man with historical background, no way that this is what's going on. But have I heard correctly that you are all in on James Harden and the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the East?
C
Let me tell you a story, Bo. Short answer is yes. In fairness to me, I made this pick when? Before Jason Tatum came back and looked like Jason Tatum.
B
Okay.
C
This was a day after the Garland trade.
B
Okay.
C
Because I, I am not a Darius Garland fan. I think that he is part of a breed of NBA player that is very exciting to watch but very difficult to win with. Like the six foot fast guard.
B
Hold on, let me put a pin in that right fast. We're going to get back to this other thing in a minute, but I want us to. Maybe not even if not now, but it's a discussion be had. I would make the argument that Darius Garland, for those reasons is a. I am fans of guys that you're not going to win with because they're fun. But I get you as a television analyst with an investment in being right.
C
That is. That is it.
B
There you go. Okay.
C
That is it. I was like, I was like, man, he's a. He's a small, fast guy with bad toe injuries who you got to give three years, $178 million to on his next contract. You didn't win anything with him. Yes. I thought it was totally reasonable to. Yes, you're not selling high on the asset, but I think that asset is going down. I was like upgrading him for Harden, who could take some of the burden off of Donovan Mitchell, who's a great passer. Like, I thought it made some sense at the time. And I didn't think Tatum was going to come back and be Tatum 10 months after the Achilles injury. And then I'd like to think of myself as the guy in the Titanic who closes himself in the captain's room and is willing to go down with the ship, as opposed to the guy at the end of the movie who's like, I have a child and gets off the boat. And so I'm not abandoning my take. And I do think that James Harden, while he has way too many unforgivable and atrocious game sevens, people act like he doesn't have good playoff games.
B
Correct.
C
And he has a lot of them. Like, you would think he's fourth in active playoff minutes. You would think he'd be like 11th in scoring. He's fourth. Fourth and made threes. Like, he's he's right in line. He has, he has some stinkers and as Nick Wright likes to point out, he has like triple the games of the next guy with like more turnovers than, than made baskets. So he definitely is a ball dominant guy, gets a little careless with the ball. But he's not supposed to be the number one on this Cavs team. That's supposed to be Donovan Mitchell. And if we're being honest, the number two is probably supposed to be Evan Mobley. And Mobley had a good game last night but has been very disappointing in these playoffs and I think has plateaued. And so I think for what they are asking of Harden at this stage of his career, frankly, he's been the only one who hasn't looked scared on Cleveland. And so yeah, I, I am a bit of a James Harden truther.
B
Okay. So I'm gonna throw this out here just as like a pro tip of sorts. And I know you don't need like full on pro tips. You've been doing this job for a while, but like it's a little different on radio. Radio involves a lot more words, a lot more conversation. Right. The volume of what you do on radio is different than tv. Tv, what you say, it feels like it sticks a little more. Hey man, don't be, don't be holding yourself accountable to what you did to fill out the rundown that one day. You know what I'm saying? Right, right, right. Like, just because you, just because you took that one for the team on that day does not obligate you to ride this whole thing out. Now you raised in hearing you talk about who should be the number one, number two and number three on Cleveland, you made me think about that team in a very, in a way, in ways that I hadn't thought about. Right. Because for me, my issue with them before the trade was you have two small guards and you have two tall guys, and that is not the same thing as two big guys. And when you wind up in a situation where you have to deal with big guys, right? Like if they mess around and have to go play Detroit, which I don't think is going to get that far, but if they had to mess around and go play Detroit, Detroit has big guys, right. Beef Stew don't need to be as tall as these boys because he coming in there just to knock their asses around. Right. Jaylen Durance coming in there to knock their asses around. There we go.
C
Yep, 100%.
B
But I always struggle with the idea of Donovan Mitchell as your Number one, because small guard, right? And then when you talk about Evan Mobley, we get to that part in a weird way. The most reasonable, true number one option for them in the postseason, one would argue, is James Harden. Like, we've seen James Harden get teams to the conference finals, right? And I am not a James Harden truther. I am the opposite. I just know I may. I agree with you on the point, and I think that it gets lost. He has a lot of really good games in the playoffs. You just know in the last one he's going to stick. That's the. That's the part that you know. And hey, maybe you maybe in line with your fill, the rundown point, the last game might not be the Eastern Conference finals. Therefore you can get by and you can win the East. But they have such a strangely configured team where year 17, James Harden. There is a way in which you look at him and you say, at least for some of these games, this is the guy that I want to have the ball because Donovan Mitchell is so good. But he's a guy where I feel like Jalen Brunson is bigger than you think. Even though it's like it's there. He's 6 2. It feels like he's 5 11, right?
C
Yep.
B
Donovan Mitchell, I feel like it feels like he's six three, six four. Nope. He's six one, six two.
C
Yeah. And Don, listen, I. I think Donovan Mitchell is like a top 10 guy in the NBA. And so he's an such an incredible scorer. Also has had great playoff moments and oftentimes his playoff losses, it's like, Donovan Mitchell was amazing and everybody else was trash, and then the loss gets hung on him. And so I just try to be fair about those sorts of things. But there's no doubt that the ball is in Harden's hands way more than like I anticipated it needing to be when they made the trade. It. He just. He has the ball the whole time. And I wish that there was a different way for that. And this is one that bothers Nick when I say it, because it brings LeBron into the conversation. But I will ask you, do we talk about James Harden entirely differently if Chris Paul doesn't pull his hamstring?
B
It is a phenomenal question.
C
So for anyone who does not remember that Rockets team is built with the express. We are not scared of the Warriors. We're going to go after the Warriors.
B
The most admirable thing Daryl Morey's ever done, Correct.
C
And they try to beat them at their own game and they Are up three games to two. And Chris Paul at the end of game five, a game that they were up comfortably enough that he got hurt at the end of that game, they still win. They're up 32 against the warriors, but CP3 goes out, warriors come back and win in seven. Harden has the bad Game 7, but he's all of a sudden out there with nobody else.
B
He takes like, didn't they miss 28 threes in a row?
C
Correct. And he, and he took, and by
B
the way, literally correct. I think it was 28.
C
Correct. And he took like 30 shots in, in the game. So he didn't go down scared, he just went down missing. And then in the finals, warriors sweep LeBron. It seems reasonable to say that if the Rockets would have been able to beat the warriors and the warriors were good enough to sweep the Cavs, that Rockets team wins a title that year over LeBron, and all of a sudden James Harden has beaten peak of their power, Steph Curry and LeBron in his prime. And we talk about him entirely differently. And it was because Chris Paul pulled his hamstring.
B
I would say that we talk about him entirely differently simply if they go to the Finals. Because every player of his caliber, right, every player with his historical legacy or a historical record, more accurately, yeah, all of them have made the Finals, right? Even when you start getting into the Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, right? Like when you get to that tier, they've all gotten to the Finals. And I think that if Harden simply got to the Finals, we would talk about him a bit differently. There's no way in at Double hockey sticks that LeBron James in 2018 was about to lose to some combination of Jim Harden and Chris Paul in the NBA Finals. Because, look, I know the Rockets won like 65 games that year. Yeah, I understand everything that you're saying, but I know for fact that James Harden, that lemon booty would have, would have been overpowering for him.
C
I listen and I get we're now arguing historical hypotheticals where either one of us could just be totally convinced that we are correct. But like, I, there's gotta be some level of transitive property to the warriors swept the Cavs. If the Rockets would have beaten the warriors, that the Rockets would have had a fighting shot against that Cavs team.
B
I think a fighting shot is fair. It's just that team has had a lot of dudes. I don't trust James Harden, Chris Paul and Mike Dton at the same day of time.
C
I, I, I, I get it. And, but, but they had the warriors on the ropes.
B
If they did, I did. They did hurt. You're not wrong. Everything you say makes sense. But it reminds me of a meeting I once had with a professor in graduate school. And I was needed some help with my homework and I was going through my homework with him and I was like, so what you think? And this, I mean, let's just say I wouldn't be surprised if this cat was good at jigsaw puzzles. You understand what I'm saying? Like, if you could throw all your change up in the air, he could tell you the exact count by the time he hit the ground. You feel me?
C
I got you. I understand what you're saying.
B
And I just remember that man did not look at me. He looked away from me and said, and I quote, you are off on one thing. And that one thing is everything. And that's where it gets to be the idea that Jay's hard was go with a go, go, go with a championship. I would tell you this though. I had been saying, maybe one day I'll get around to watching a game in that series. And after it became clear that Detroit was going to take care of Orlando, I went over there and watched some of that Raptors and Raptors cav series that surprisingly to me was on ESPN and not on Amazon prime. As Amazon prime is like a souped up NBA tv because that just seemed like such an obvious NBA TV series. Hey man, that was a good game. Like, I think that series is going to wind up going seven games. I will now be able to like pick Scotty Barnes out of a lineup. Like a lot of things I've been able to do since I went in there and watched that a little bit. But that team is, I guess if they get Orlando next, maybe they could beat them. But I think Detroit would wax them.
C
Well, listen, I. Detroit is pretty one dimensional and so I'd be, I think going into the playoffs, Cleveland was the second favorite in the east in terms of. In terms of the gambling markets. Now I. Everyone loves. And now part of that was path because the Celtics and the Knicks would have to play each other in the second round. So like part of that's the bracket and some skepticism on Detroit, which I think is being proven out by how this Magic series is going right now. But Cleveland is. It's ridiculous for someone like me to say this about professional athletes, but like within the context, relative scale of professional athletes, they're a little soft like you were talking about it. They get big guys who are not big. That's like the more diplomatic way to say it's. And so I do think that Detroit would physically impose on them. And by the way, Orlando's tough, too. Like Wendell Carter and Jaylen Suggs and those guys, they. They play really hard.
B
All of a sudden, hey, man, Pa had a game. I'm not a Pa guy. Paolo had a game in Game 5. But Paolo seems like the kind of guy where for much of his career we'll say, wow, he had a great game in that loss.
C
I think that is. I think that is so far looking to be correct. And the Magic are not that a ton of people care, but they were supposed to be like the odds, the win total before the year 54 win team, mid mid-50s. And then everybody got hurt. Like, Wagner got hurt, Suggs was hurt. Paolo had weird stuff, weird stuff with the coach. Now all of a sudden, they're healthy, they got Detroit on the ropes. Indiana made it last year. It's all I'm saying.
B
Yeah, no, they like, Indiana made it last year.
C
I now have to be open to the pot. This is. This is not the NBA we grew up in, where it's ones and two seeds nine out of ten years. Like, it's. It is. There's so much damn talent in the league and the three point ball is such a variance that I don't know. I think we have to be open to a lot more possibilities.
B
Now, that is a fair point. And we have not discussed enough that Indiana went from having a legitimate chance to win the NBA championship game seven, and we're playing pretty well until Halliburton went down to immediately saying, we're going to tank like you've never seen before.
C
And it's smart and it sucks.
B
It wasn't dumb. Right? Like, yeah, yeah, right.
C
We've talked about this before.
B
Yeah, there is a difference. But it's. Yeah, look, like I said on the show yesterday, I was like, shout out to you, Adam Silver. Losing should make you feel ashamed, right? And we have to try to do something. But that is such a huge swing. And let us not forget, that was the second straight year that Indiana had been to the conference finals. Like, just like Minnesota went to the conference finals last year. Like, this air, like you talk about this being an NBA, that's different than we grew up with. And I think the most interesting part of it is Minnesota went to the conference finals two years in a row and there's no pressure on them. No, no.
C
Because nobody thinks that they're a top three. They're six seed. No One thought they were a top three team in the west, weren't that impressive in the regular season, but nobody's
B
even mad at them for that. Like, nobody's like, hey guys, so when are you guys going to turn the corner? It's like every year's a new year in the NBA now.
C
Yeah, there's. Right. We got seven champions in the last seven years. Yeah, it's it. We've talked about the problems of the regular season and they are significant. But if it actually has created a world where you can't just not watch a series because the NBA champion or at least the NBA Finals representative could come out of any series, that makes what was already a great product even better.
B
Yeah, I don't. I love the dynasty saga. Right. Like, like I think there's, there's a bit of unfairness in some of the people ready to pounce on Jokic. But you know what, supposed to be like that, right? Three time mvp, what the end game is supposed to be? Nah, they're supposed to be a little weight on this. Victor is the only guy that I think is in the league where we're going to at some point if it doesn't happen soon enough, where we're going to be like, hey man, so when you're going to, when are you going to pull up and get that ring guy? Right. Everybody else is just get into the tournament and hey, maybe we'll just see how it goes.
C
Well, yeah, I think people think that Victor is inevitable and they're probably right. I put, put, put me in that everyone category.
B
Do you?
C
The Thunder are in such an unbelievable spot where like if Victor Wembanyama didn't exist, I absolutely would think that we were step one of Dynasty.
B
Well, coming up next, let's get to that because there's a part that's very easy for us to forget about. When it comes to the Thunder, you can predict the playoff action all the way to the finals with FanDuel predicts. All you have to do is sign up to get you a $25 bonus. Follow all the playoff dishes, swishes, wishes and misses. Every move is a potential plot twist. Predict the spread, the total points and even the game winning moments that make the playoffs where one run, one rebound, one shot changes everything from opening tip to the final buzzer. Stay locked in with every pass, every play and every moment that moves us closer to crowning a champion. Sign up now for your $25 bonus on FanDuel Predicts offered by FanDuel Prediction Markets LLC, a registered futures commissions merchant 18 bonus is non withdrawable and expires seven days after receipt. Trading Derivatives involve significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Manage your activity with our consumer protection tools. Restrictions apply. See terms@fanduel.com predicts/bonus offer terms offered by
C
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B
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D
I get so many headaches every month.
B
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D
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B
Why wait? Ask your doctor. Visit botoxchronicmigraine.com or call 1-844botox to learn more. All right, we are back with Danny Parkins and we're talking about the idea of like Oklahoma City as dynasty. The thing about Oklahoma City and by the way to a degree San Antonio depending upon how they wanted to use things, Oklahoma City still has that war chest of stuff to get better if they so decide like they could have
C
gone and got Giannis Corre correct. They are a perfectly constructed basketball team and I profiled in the book was one of the chapters Sam Presti pipeline of the pros available now. And he you cannot play for the Thunder if you do not play defense. Like that's one of the things like I've never seen a team like that. Like they don't just put out the like spark plug offensive player. The like white three point shooter. Like they go nine deep and they all D up and people oh no, Jared McCain's not that good. I'm like I don't know he's playing his ass off any oh you're Jerry
B
McCain that they built. David Stern should have stopped that trade from the grave.
C
It's crazy like and he's playing like eight minutes. It's not they are they are so deep and so good at both ends of the floor. Chet, Jalen, Williams and SGA are all signed through 2031. And to your point about all the assets, it's the draft picks like they at which the draft those draft picks by the way might have gotten more valuable in this new model because team misses the playoffs and you've got just as good like a random down year maybe you're not going to get a top pick but now you got flattened odds better shot at doing it. But like they got Alex Caruso in just a one for one trade for Josh Giddy because they're like Josh Giddy's good but doesn't have room on this team. So we'll go get Caruso because he's an unbelievable defensive player on a way below market value contract who just wasn't valuable to the Bulls. So they'll now be able to go to because every team in the league has a good player or on a, on a Steal of a contract. But it's like a closer in baseball on a bad team, it's not that valuable. They'll just be able to go pluck those guys from other teams and say, we'll give you a first round pick. We'll give you this guy. We'll give you that guy. So people are like, oh, they're going to lose Case and Wallace or Lou Dort, they'll find the next one. That's just how they are right now.
B
Yeah, they are. And then they, then they're, they're going to get San Antonio, like, well, and
C
listen, that's, that's the thing. Like, if San Antonio was in the east, it would feel like we were going to get. And it would obviously not for the league be Lakers, Celtics in terms of like, market size and historical, but it would feel like we were going to get Wemby against the Thunder in the finals four of the next six years and like, actually, like, get like a great finals rivalry. And now it just feels like the Western Conference finals is going to be the NBA Finals.
B
Yeah. Every year, like, every stinking year, this is what it's going to be. But I want to ask you this. We're going into Oklahoma, Not Oklahoma City. Denver. Minnesota.
C
Yeah.
B
I still think Denver should win this series. I think Denver will win this series. At this point, if they don't, there heads gotta roll. Right? Like, it's a great set of game sixes. Like, we didn't even get to Knicks Hawks, where, I mean, the Knicks are getting to play home games everywhere they go. That can't hurt. But I think it will be very interesting to see what happens if Denver does not pull this off. Like, this is one where if Yogic is, I know Yogic is not physically well, but you got to go out there and do like 35, 18 and 11. Right?
C
I mean, yeah, he, he was real good in the last game. And I, I, I agree with you. I, I think you lose and Andy Vincenzo, I can't imagine Minnesota having enough to win that, to win that series. And I don't. I love what Gobert is doing in terms of, he's like, taking it very personally that he wasn't a finalist for defensive Player of the year. And he's just like, I am, I am built to guard Jokic and give him trouble that no one else really has been able to do. So they're going to go down with the fight. But I do think Denver gets out of it. And it's weird, man. We've talked about it. Before, like, life comes at you fast. I was going into these finals thinking, is this Denver team actually arguably better than the team that won the title with how Jamal Murray was playing with Aaron Gordon's health, and, you know, Minnesota's a terrible matchup for them. Christian Brown's been awful. Jokic was inefficient, which is really weird for him early in the series. So I think that, you know, heads would roll, so to speak, for Denver. It'd be embarrassing, and we'd knock on Jokic. But the one that would be mortifying is the Knicks. And I know they're up 32 now, so they're probably fine, but I don't even. You firing Mike Brown one year after you fire Tibbs, or are you just trading Carl Anthony Towns, even though he's been awesome when you've given him the ball in this series, like, what are you doing if the Hawks actually steal this thing?
B
So let me, let me, I'm gonna run this by you as it relates to Jalen Brunson.
C
Okay.
B
And I'm just curious your thought here. One thing you have to be careful about is I talk about it as hiring the interim coach. Right. So you have a good run with the coach that wasn't supposed to be your coach, but is that guy the guy you're supposed to hire as your coach? Right. Like, do you hire the interim. I don't think anybody expected Jalen Brunson to be the player that he proved to be with the historical significance no doubt that this team had. Right. I don't, I don't think that happened. I don't think it ever happened before. Okay. Um, but he's not supposed to be your number one guy. I think we'd agree on that.
C
Yeah. Listen, I, I, I don't, I don't think this Knicks team can win. Like, I, I think they are a, it's a flawed team that eventually will, will get exposed. But they're so beloved, and he signed that below market value deal that I, I cannot see a world. If you're going down the world of like, move off of Jalen Brunson.
B
Right. And that's what I'm saying. I think that has sailed. He's the most beloved player they've had since Patrick Ewing.
C
Correct.
B
But he's a 62 guard. And can that guy be the guy that is the guy. But the guy that should be the guy has demonstrated to us that he can't be the guy.
C
Yep.
B
Right. And that's Carl Towns.
C
Yep.
B
They're in a weird Place, right? They may, they, they got to get Mikhail Bridges out of there. That is officially an unsustainable situation with him. He can't, you can't have that guy keep playing for your team in New York. Bo.
C
His contract extension starts next year. Yeah, I mean like you gave up five first round picks and then the. Gave him the deal. The deal starts. Like, who is trading for Bridges?
B
Right?
C
Like, I just. That one is. To me, that, that is, that is untradeable. Towns. Towns. I gotta give him credit. He's been really good. Like he, he, he has been good and he has been trying on defense and like he has been. There was a great line back in the day in the post Jordan Bulls era when they drafted Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler and Scott Skiles was the coach. And a Chicago reporter asked Scott Skiles, what could we do to improve Eddie Curry's rebounding? And he said jump. Like, just like, you know, it's like Carl Anthony Towns is jumping. Like he's, he's like playing a little bit more like a seven footer and it's been nice to see. But I still think with Brunson and Towns on the court as much as they need to be on the court, that there is a ceiling on that team as presently constructed. You could trade Josh Hart, but Josh Hart's really good. You could trade Ognobi, but he's really good in his role. I think the answer is you trade Towns because what other.
B
What can you get for him though? Because in order what they. They traded. I've said this many times on this show. People heard me. I felt like in that trade with Minnesota and New York, each team traded a guy that they thought you can't win with to get a guy that they're like, maybe it'll be different here.
C
Correct.
B
But I think Carl's up. He's about to make. He's making $60 million a year too. Like there's that, there's that next. Like there's, there's a lot going on there. And you are right. If they don't win this series, they are up 3, 2. They should win this.
C
They should win.
B
If they don't though, it's going to get weird. And then if they do win it, they got a good chance against Boston. Like that Boston, hey man, that Boston, New York series. Me and you might have to jump in the car, go to Boston to go check out one of them games. It's too expensive to go here, dude.
C
The, the tickets at Madison Square Garden are offensive. I can't It's. I can't believe it. But I would. I would love to go to Boston to go to one of those games with you. And as we just, like, kind of bounce around the NBA, which I love, the Celtics are my least favorite team to watch. I take 50. Game two. They took 50 threes and made 13 of them. There should be some sort of shame or relegation or punishment for that. Like, it's one thing when Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant were doing it. You're three of the five greatest shooters in the history of the damn sport. Like, you have Jalen Brown and Jason tatum. You're shooting 26% from 3. Get fouled. Go. Go to the rim. And it's just. I hate watching them. And it gets rewarding. Like, people. People talk more, like, stylistically and complain more stylistically about the Thunder. And I get. People don't like flopping, but Luca does it. Brunson does it.
B
It.
C
That is like a. At least they are driving to the basket. Like the.
B
The.
C
The. The Celtics, 6 out of 10 shots or for. I think it's. I think 40% of their shots come in the paint, by far the lowest in the league.
B
It's like.
C
It's not basketball.
B
I hate it. I agree with you. I don't like the way I love Joe Missoula. I do not like the way that he coaches basketball.
C
Right. Well. Well, but so the. Right. But then, like, how much can we love Joe Missoula when you lost to the Knicks because you went cold from three, and you were like, this is just what we do. And now you're here playing with your food against the less talented team in Atlanta. And when you go cold from three, you. It extends the series, which damages your ability to go win a title. Like, you're a great coach. Don't let him play with your food. Go get fouled.
B
Remember when I said that sometimes you're a fan of people when they don't always do the winning thing?
C
You know, like, that's a psycho.
B
I'm a big. He's such a psycho. I'm a big Russell Westbrook fan, right? Like, I love the guy. We all have our guys, like, here and there that we choose. I think the thing with Oklahoma City is it's one thing to flop on that end. It's on the other end where. Where Lou Dort is out here playing left tackle, and you boys are just out here, like, roughing people up. I think that's the part, like, the thing with the, you know, What? The thunder make me think. The thunder make me think that somebody need to giving a free idea here. And maybe not everybody can pull this off, but if you could get you some artificial intelligence, you know what I'm saying, that like redo videos and stuff and basically do some sort of parody of Matthew McConaughey and a time to Kill where he gets to talk about what happened and then he ends it with, now imagine they were white. Just imagine you just had 15 white boys flopping and hacking all the goddamn time. Would nobody abide by this? Everybody would be down on it, right? Like they, they, they, you know what? They, they play like Duke. They play like old fashioned Duke. Getting all the calls and playing defense with their hands. That's what they do. That, that's, that's where it gets a little tricky with them.
C
I can't defend the Lou Dort stuff. I can't, I can't.
B
You're right, that, yeah, like, that's, yeah.
C
No, I can't, I can't, I can't defend the Lou Dort stuff. And I, and I never, and I never would try to, you know, it's, it is. Of course it's in the Dylan Brooks, Draymond Green and those, but at least
B
Dylan Brooks got a personality to it. You know what I mean? Like, the game needs a Dylan Brooks.
C
Yeah, Lou Dort does have a tendency to hip check Jokic when he's running up the court in the back court and then be like, what, who, what happened?
B
Right?
C
What are you talking about? It's like, nah, just, just, just, just own it. Just own it. Yeah.
B
They're so good though, if we get there. Like we were talking about being sleepy. And I just want to mention something. I think this is a subtle thing, a subtle change with the NBA rights deal. I meant to mention earlier, but I'm gonna just throw out here and see what you think about, about this. All right. Having these games on NBC means that games that may have started at 7:30 now start at 8. Because NBC doesn't get, doesn't, doesn't get to remote until 8 o', clock, which means I feel like we get some of these games that used to maybe be like 9:30, 10 o' clock tips, something like that. They now them 10:30 tips and the 10:30 tips. That's, that's rough, man. That's, that's, that's rough. It's helping NBA. It's helping the NBA goose them numbers because they get to go over the air for the NBC games, man. But it's a, it's tough. Go with them.
C
10 30s, 10, 1030 Eastern. Announced start to, it's just, I'm like in a bad mood leading up to it. I'm like, okay, all right. My kid goes to, kids go to sleep like 8, 8:15, whatever. Like, I know, like clockwork. 6:45am running into the room, daddy, I want pancakes. I want eggs. Like, all right, you, daddy was up late watching Lebron. So I, every day. And I do work through the afternoon show so there's no naps in my life anymore. It's very, I've got a hard life. Beautiful. Got a, got a real hard life doing this one hour a day television show, you know?
B
Yeah, man.
C
I want people to feel badly for me. How's it going?
B
It's not too late, by the way, for you to teach your kids a very important phrase. When they say they want pancakes, they want eggs. People in hell want ice water.
C
Yeah.
B
You ever thought about running that one by them little jokers, you know what I'm saying?
C
I don't know how the six year olds may be approaching understanding. I don't know how 4 year old Eli would just be like, okay, I don't even know how to make my own cereal.
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's fair.
C
I gotta, I gotta, I gotta keep the four year old alive. I've, I've been told. But I will say, Steph, the wife and I, we have Saturday morning cartoons. I get why they've been a thing for generations.
B
Yep.
C
Like, you know what I mean? Like, man, I get, I, I, I now get it. Date, date night with the wife on a Friday night. Wake up. You know what, why don't we just give you guys 30 minutes, a little, little 30 minute snooze for mom and dad to ease into our weekends.
B
You just, you just sitting them down, slapping split that, put that bowl in front of them. Yeah, yeah.
C
Here's a yogurt, here's a, here's a show. And I don't think this is, this isn't neglect. Unless I get. Let it get to like 9 o'.
B
Clock.
C
I don't think it's neglect for. I think that's, I think that's the amount that I give myself.
B
I see the vision. I do, I do see the vision. All right. Do you think Philadelphia has any chance at all or you just thinking that Boston just, we're just going to have a game or two of this with Boston where they're just not going to make any shots?
C
Yeah, that's what I think that's exactly what it is. Our research staff put the graphic up on the show the other day. It was like last five years or three years, whatever it was. The time frame, a short period of time, win loss record, just straight up in the playoffs for teams that went into games as a 10 or more point favorite. Boston was 9 and 7. The rest of the league is 16 and 4. So like if you're a double digit favorite, you're supposed to win the game outright. But Boston, so talented. The rest of the league's only been that big of a favorite 20 times total. They've been that big of a favorite 16 times, but they only win nine of them. Because when you shoot that many threes, there's just variance. You're going to go cold. You're going to have a night where you miss. And so they'll probably go to Philly and shoot 40% from three and win the game by double digits because they're wildly talented. But again, you play around with your food, anything can happen that even if you get by Philly, it's still an extra flight, albeit a short one. It's still an extra game. It's still an opportunity for someone to roll their ankle. So yeah, I do think Boston will get it done and they'll get to that series with the Knicks, but they should be just much better at extinguishing these series than they are, but they won't. You want the variance in the games when you're playing teams that are better than you or when you're down 15 at half. You don't need the variance against the Sixers.
B
I think something is easy for us to forget about the Celtics and forget about the Tatum part. And I, and I, I include me in this. This is not the Same team of 2024 like the 2024 team one. This does not appear to be the same Derrick White.
C
Well, he's really struggling. No doubt about that.
B
I think that part is important. I think by the time the finals got around, they had healthy Porzingis and healthy Porzingis is a different caliber of player than Vucevich inside. There's a different range of things that he's going to provide you. They out there starting. What's his name? Keita Quetta, whatever. How you say? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Who? What? No, he wanted to do is because the Celtics ain't got that many numbers that they got to give him. Like a, like, like a, like a, like a quarterback number is like 29 or some shit like that.
C
Yeah, no, that that. That is.
B
They're.
C
They're not as good as the. But they were the 2 seed in the east and Jaylen Brown's going to be first team all NBA. And then they got Tatum back like, so, like in the Eastern Conference. This is the amazing thing about Boston. Detroit has one guy who can facilitate his own offense. Cleveland has a group of players who, as discussed, you don't really trust to. To get it done. Who am I forgetting? Who's the other top. Oh, and then. And then the Knicks, as, as discussed, an oddly constructed basketball team with a lot of external factors going on. In a year where Jason Tatum missed basically the entire season with the ruptured Achilles, it will be worthy to criticize them if they don't make it out of the East. They should make it out of the East. Do you disagree? Should.
B
Yes. Like, Boston's my. My pick, right?
C
And so like, so I think that's why. But, but normally it's like, oh, you lost your best player to an Achilles. You're not as good as your title team. Like, all right, you're not going to catch much heat if you lose. But because of how flawed the other teams are in the East, I do think that they would catch a decent amount of heat for blowing this thing.
B
The east feels more and more like the JV bracket every day. Yeah, every day. And it's weird because we have a team that won a championship two years ago who. Jalen Brown has elevated him. Right?
C
He.
B
He has been excellent without Tatum being there. The Pistons. Hey, man, we have a team like this every couple of years, right? We've seen this. But the Knicks. The Knicks. Why not, right? But I think what makes it bad for the Knicks and was got to stink for all those teams in the east is that we looking at him and saying, you should win the east. Because the answer is, why not?
C
You know what I mean?
B
Like, I don't have. I don't have a compelling. Why not for the Knicks.
C
Yeah, listen, you made it to the Eastern Conference finals last year and you fired your coach. So it was. And James Dolan went on the radio and said it was a finals team. I was like, okay, well, then I guess you got to be a finals team or else it's a failure. And they've been. They've been better defensively than I thought they were capable of being with Brunson in towns playing as many minutes as they do. So I guess they can do it. I still got to see it to believe it, because Jalen Brunson. Jalen Brunson goes cold. They don't, I don't know what their next pivot. Carl Anthony Towns took seven shots in that last game against the crazy.
B
To me, he should be scoring 30 a game.
C
Well, they got to give him the damn ball too, right?
B
I'm not even blaming him this time, right?
C
This time, yeah. Yeah, exactly. And so it's just like I just, I don't trust them, you know, like, I just, I do not trust them to not get in their own way, lay an egg. Forget that Carl Anthony Towns is 7ft. They just, I just, until proven otherwise, I just do not trust that basketball team.
B
All right, before we go, my man Danny Parkinson's got a big event coming up that I want to make sure you guys know about.
C
Yeah, man, thank you. It's a, it's a passion project of mine that I work very hard on. My brother Brad, three years ago this April passed away from glioblastoma, which is terminal brain cancer. It's brain cancer without a cure. And you know, it really shook me up. But I. My radio background, I've always thought we get to kind of play in the toy department with these jobs. I like using the platform for some good some of the time. And so I had kind of done this radio thon where I broadcast for 24 hours to fund the construction of a grocery store on the west side of Chicago. We talked about it in the past called Austin Harvest. And after my brother got diagnosed, I kind of wanted to pivot it in his honor and raise money for cancer research. And so the Chicago Cubs, who I'm very tight with, top to bottom of that organization, they said, the president said, what if we combine your radio thon in my ballpark and we do this big weekend long fundraiser. So May 21, I will go back to the score in Chicago, top ranked radio station there, and simulcast on the Marquee network, which is the Cubs regional sports network. I'll broadcast for 24 hours. I will bring on athletes, celebrities, doctors, and then just normal patients. And people will tell their cancer stories. High net worth individuals and companies sponsor hours for like dollar for dollar matches. So you're like, ah, what's my 10 bucks going to do? We have companies that will double and triple your donations every hour of the broadcast. And then people can also donate tickets, memorabilia, experiences that we, we call them donation incentives. But basically that you can make a donation, an auction off and kind of get a prize on the back end. And I'm really proud of it because everybody who works on it we all have other jobs. And the Cubs cover the cost of the fulfillment of, like, mailing out the autographed baseballs and whatnot. So you've been involved in charities? I've been involved in charities. Sometimes you go to one of these galas and they raise a bunch of money, but then you look around, it's like, well, you're drinking top shelf liquor and you're eating steak and there's a band over there, right? And there's a ton of cost going into it. We raised $750,540 last year. And at the end, after all the accounting, the Cubs wired the brain cancer charity that I'm on the board of directors of Brain Up. $750,540. So 100% of the donations go to research, and I'm really proud of it. CubsForACure.com is where you can donate or put in the lead up to the radio thon if you're like, hey, I'd like to sponsor something or, you know, send you some tickets to something or whatever the case may be. My DMs are open on Instagram and Twitter. And thank you for letting me plug it, man.
B
No, no problem, man. And again, a moment to send a shout out to my buddy Michael Smith. As some of you know, he lost his wife in December from this same form of cancer. So my relationship with Mike and seeing what this particular cancer, what all this does to people, it was a very moving and jarring sort of thing for me personally. So any support that you can give, I'll definitely be looking to do something to help you out as the time approaches. So I thank you for doing this. More importantly, and it's my pleasure to be able to help you get the word out a little bit.
C
Yeah. Thank you very much. And you introduced me to Mike, and he's gonna come on. He's gonna come on the radio thon broadcast on May 21st and. Yeah, man, so I, I really, I really appreciate it, bro.
B
All right, no problem, man. Danny Parkins, check him out. First things first, 5:00 clock Eastern on FS1. My man. I appreciate you.
C
Always a good time, man. Thank you.
B
All right, no problem. And ladies and gentlemen, thanks so much for joining us here on the Right time. We do this four days a week. Ryan Brumley handles everything behind the scenes. Thank you, sir. Hit the voicemail line, 323-596-7767. And remember, follow the right time. Subscribe like, rate us, review us, give us five stars. You only give us four stars. I'm inclined to believe you are a hater. We'll talk to you guys in a couple of days. Take it easy.
Podcast Summary
Episode: Danny Parkins on Lakers losing to Rockets, Harden Playoff Struggles & Celtics' Red Flags
Date: April 30, 2026
Host: Bomani Jones
Guest: Danny Parkins
This episode dives deep into the ongoing NBA playoffs with a particular focus on the Lakers’ collapse against the Rockets, James Harden’s postseason legacy, the unpredictable landscape of the Eastern Conference, and why the Celtics are triggering red flags despite their talent. Bomani and Danny bring their trademark mix of sharp analysis and banter, discussing player dynamics, coaching, team construction, and legacy narratives. The episode also features reflections on the changing nature of the league and wraps with a moving segment about Danny’s charity work for brain cancer research.
Danny’s Hot Take: Admission of belief in James Harden and the Cavaliers to win the East—made before Jason Tatum’s return. ([14:29])
Garland Trade Analysis: Detailed breakdown of why moving Darius Garland for Harden made sense (size, injury, play style).
Harden’s Playoff Reputation: Fair assessment of Harden’s many clutch games, but also his infamous Game 7 failures. Both agree context is needed.
Parity and Variance: Open discussion on how much more volatile and open the NBA has become, with regular season seeding less predictive than ever.
Boston's Flaws, Red Flags, and Playoff Habits
Knicks, Cavs, Pistons, and the East’s Open Path:
Bomani (on LeBron’s strip by Reed Sheppard):
“After letting Reed Shepherd take your cookies like that in front of everybody, I don’t think he’s ever going back. I wouldn’t personally.” ([07:45])
Danny (on Harden’s playoff narrative):
“He has way too many unforgivable and atrocious game sevens... but people act like he doesn’t have good playoff games. And he has a lot of them.” ([16:32])
Danny (on Celtics’ playing style):
“The Celtics are my least favorite team to watch. I take 50—game two, they took 50 threes and made 13 of them. There should be some sort of shame… that’s not basketball.” ([42:54])
Bomani (on Reed Sheppard’s legacy moment):
“If I’m Reed Shepherd and I took LeBron’s rock, that’s all anybody’s going to hear about... Sure, my dad was... MOP in ‘98, but we’re not going to talk about that. Was LeBron James playing in that game?” ([10:17])
The tone is conversational, insightful, and full of both good-natured ribbing and earnest reflection. The hosts skillfully blend analytical rigor—debating player value, coaching strategy, and league trends—with cultural wit and human connection. Whether celebrating career-defining moments or critiquing structural flaws, the episode remains engaging for both hardcore NBA fans and casual listeners.
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