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Wave. 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. It is that time of week where we have a guest join us. Check him out of Yahoo. Sports. Check out his excellent newsletter, Tom the Finder. Check him out with the Portland Trailblazers, pre and post. Tom Haberstro. What's going on, man?
B
What's happening, Bomani?
A
Hey, man, it's all good. Shout out to all the every list. Every, every time we do this, we have one listener who finds out that Tom Haberstro is white. There's always one that learns this. It is a fascinating thing to me that they did not know this already. It's kind of like it's a lot of white people that think that Jason Kidd is one of their own.
B
Hey, man, if they want to call me Tyrone Haberstro, that was what. That was what my name was a few weeks ago. I'm OK with that. But it is Tom. I would just say it is Tom.
A
Hey, look, I'm just telling you, man, the time ain't no time. But I hung out with Tom at a wedding in Gardena last summer. Man, he fit. He was cruel. He. He was, he. He was well under control. You know what I'm saying? But look, NBA playoffs were here. We're gonna have Wednesday night, San Antonio, Minnesota, Monday night. Look, it's only one game. The series has to go. But I've been calling Anthony Edwards the Legend Killer because he just comes and he has taken out all his heroes. Like you can look, one by one after year, the Timberwolves are taking out some hero of Anthony Edwards. And now the Legend Killer is going at the Legend before the Legend even got there. He's not even supposed to be playing because he's got this bone bru. Right? They win this game against San Antonio and I think the most impressive thing. How many shots did Victor block? 13, 12.
B
But according to Chris Finch, it was three. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
A
He, he, he, he eliminated all of those. But I want to say they had something like 40, 50 points in the paint. They were completely unafraid of continuing to go in the paint even though Victor was pitching a shit all over the place. And they got another one of these wins where for me, I know that people get locked into the numbers. Anthony Edwards seems to be the leader guy in the NBA.
B
So the thing about Anthony Edwards is he. He not only talks the talk, but he walks the walk. And I love this about Anthony Edwards because he is the perfect character and in the NBA media to like, put that. Put him on a pedestal and broadcast him to the. To the masses. Like, the energy that he brings. He came off the bench in this one. Coming back from injury is the exact kind of storyline that David Stern would be doing backflips for. Is Anthony Edwards coming for every one of his, whether it's Kevin Durant or whether it's every. Every star player that you need a rival for and a guy who's good looking, can talk and can absolutely play and back it up where he's got maybe five of the top 10 dunks that we've had in the last five, 10 years, it's Anthony Edwards just bodying people. So he has that it factor. And then going against. You know, you and I are both huge, huge believers in Victor Wembanyama. And that feeling like this league is about to be taken over if it hasn't happened already by that guy, Victor Wembanyama. And Anthony Edwards came back early and I was just, man, shivers went down my spine for the spurs because Anthony Edwards just, ma', am, he. He's about this life in the NBA. He's about it. And when you go at Wemby and then you have Julius Randle doing the more Marcine Gortot screen and being physical and taking him out like a. Like a snowplow, taking him out of the paint. We're having to see Victor Wembanyama respond in ways that I feel like playoff experience is overrated and more so overrated in this era because injuries are way more important in today's era. And three pointers and the variance is way more important than quote, unquote, experience. But Victor Wembanyama's got to respond in a big way because there's a lot of juice in this series and Anthony Edwards is here for it.
A
Well, I think something else interesting about Edwards, and I'm curious what you think about this. He is not a high achiever in your advanced metrics, right. Like, you could go through the numbers that it makes. He's the sort of guy that we've looked back in the past. Kobe Bryant is somewhat of an example there where his reputation is not quite matched by some of the advanced numbers behind him. But every now and then you just need to go out here and win a game. And there are some things that I think are not necessarily quantifiable And Edward seems to be the modern case of that one. Because, look, one could try to make the argument about him that he's more in the class of calling a Carmelo Anthony, right. Who we all think was an excellent basketball player. But you raised the. It was fair to raise the questions about how much he affected winning. Anthony Edwards clearly affects winning, because I don't know who these motherfuckers are on the team with him half the time. And you'll look up at one of them score 45 points.
B
Yeah, I was just basically like, handed to them by the Chicago Bulls and Kobe White, who, like, saved the Charlotte Hornets in that play in game. Also just handed to the Charlotte Hornets in ways that. Wait, a Carolina guy's fallen from the skies. Who can actually play and be the second creator on a playoff team? The. The Bulls. Just call up the Bulls and be like, yo, can we get Alex Caruso? Great, we'll take them. I would assume. Great. 43 points scored more. More points in that series than anyone on the Denver Nuggets. Great. We'll take them. And look, Anthony Edwards coming back in this series. He had. He was coming off the bench. He only played 25 minutes, but you know that that's going to be closer to 35 here in game two. And Victor Wembanyama is already here saying, I got to figure out my energy. I got to figure out my minutes. Like, I came out dedicating way more energy to the defensive side of the floor. And it's ironic that he plays for the San Antonio spurs, because a lot of these blocks that I saw him making in that Game one, I was saying, can you be a little bit more like Tim Duncan? Can you just block it a little bit and get it back and then start the break the other way? You don't need to slap it across the backboard or slap it out of downs. Just get that. That little block steal, as I like to call it. A lot of times players would swat it into the third row and feel like they did something, and then they inbound it and then they score a layup and it's like, hey, he gets a block for that. But did he get a stop? No. And sometimes I do wish that Victor Wembanyama would just look for the stop rather than the block.
A
Yeah, I think. And I also wonder to a degree whether somebody there has given him, like the John Thompson lecture to Patrick Ewing just to go out here and beat the shit out the ball and. Because they'll remember it and then go from There, right. Like there is the block it out of bounds is a bit of a waste, but it, in theory, it'll get into their heads. And Minnesota was like, nah, bro, it's not going to, it's not going to do that at all, actually, to us. But I also think for San Antonio, they've never played a game with these stakes. And say what you want about Minnesota is not the whole roster, but the guy in charge. He and Gobert, Julius Randle, Naz Reed, these are guys who have played games at this level. The spurs basically have Harrison Barnes. Nobody else has been in a game like this. And it's, it's interesting how those, these different levels of being in the playoffs or whatever, different levels of stakes truly add to the pressure in a different way. Like I was thinking about the time I went to Carolina, Duke game at Cameron. I had been to Cameron for other games. You just notice how much hotter it is when it's the Carolina game. Right? Like physically hotter. Part of that may be some decisions from, you know, the, the thermodynamic department, but also. Wait, wait, wait, wait.
B
Are you alleging Greg Popovich didn't have something to do with the LeBron cramp game in the Finals?
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I am simply saying that at times things could be different. But what I am saying in this case, it's just more pressure. It's just a different energy. And so when Victor talks about, hey, I got to figure out how to regulate my energy, that's a man who misunderstood how this was going to feel once he got out there. Yeah.
B
But I also feel like he updates his iOS system better than anybody.
A
Yes, he does.
B
He's learning so fast. And you know that he's a. He's a dude who when he goes out there in his age 20 season and leads a team to a 60 win. And it wasn't all him. He missed a bunch of games this season and they played well without him with de' Aaron Fox and Stefan Castle, Devin Vassell and Dylan Harper, the rookie. But I feel like Victor Wembanyama thinks about the game in ways that it well beyond his years. And I feel like this is a huge, A massive game too for him because a 2A down 02 hole going back to Minnesota with a team that's already been to the Western Conference finals twice. And every day that they play is another day that you're going to see five more minutes out of Anthony Edwards. They can't play with their food too much here. Bomani and I. The offensive balance for Victor Wembanyama he missed all of his three pointers. De' Aaron Fox also did, too. And some of that shot variance, if that shot goes in from Champagne, a wide open three at the last second, if that goes in. This is a totally different narrative going into game two, but I do think that Victor Wembanyama needs to expend more of his energy offensively getting down in the paint, get that vertical spacing and play more of a bully. But as we saw what Rudy Gobert did to Nikola Jokic and Julius Randle is a bull. He is, he is strong as it comes when, when you, when you talk about big men who want to go through you and are willing to be physical. Julius Randle is a different guy than, say, most of the fours in today's NBA.
A
Also, Rudy, Rudy, this is round two of. And I took that personally. If Rudy Gobert was ever going to take anything personally. Right. Jokic, who has dominated him for basically a decade, he decided he wasn't having it this go round. Victor who, I mean, Victor's reputation was made right when there's some, some, some interaction with him and Rudy where he destroys him. And I keep talking all the time about two years ago when Victor said, congratulations, with a defensive player of the year, you'll never win it again. Yeah, just, just throwing it out there like I am. I can't imagine how insufferable Victor was to the French basketball people when he was like 17, right. Like that, that, that actual asshole age. And now you're coming in and you're like, I'm better than all of them. And they're like, yeah, we're going to see. And then you are.
B
Yep, yep. And that's, and that's the story of Victor Wembanyama. And this was when we were talking about this season was can he ramp up and be that guy in the playoffs if he's playing like 27 minutes like he did in the regular season and now you're seeing the fatigue factor is impacting him in ways that I, I, I'm hoping just for the drama that we get Victor Wembanyama against Chet Holmgren and Shay Gildrus Alexander in the Western Conference finals. I feel like that is so necessary for people to buy into Wemby is him having these moments and in the playoffs where he overcomes. I remember it was his rookie season, I want to say I told all my friends and their kids to, like, watch Victor Weminyama. His debut on national tv, and he did a clunker. He had a stinker on national TV in his debut. And I felt like he needs to have these moments. And he did it against the MA at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks on Christmas Day. He needs to have this in game too, where it's just like, oh, he's already here. And. And what he did against the Portland Trailblazers in the first round, that's great. But against Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert and Julius Randall here in the second round would do wonders because 11 points is not going to cut. I get it. He had a triple double with blocks. But we see Chris Finch out here playing the whole officials and the media game in between. Frank Vogel used to do this with LeBron that he gets officiated differently than everybody else. And they're trying to play the referees in the press conferences. I don't know if that will work. But Victor Wembanyama has to be better than just getting five, five baskets inside the three point arc as he had in game one.
A
Well, that was the mistake. There is. Hey man, you don't have to keep shooting all those shots from out there. You're eight feet tall. Like you. You just. It's just not you. We have other people who can do that, but you're the only guy we've got that can be eight feet tall. So, like, you know, if you want to go do the eight feet tall things. Yeah, it's cool. I understand you like, you're a renaissance man. That's fine. Go down there and be a feet tall and that'll probably be better for the rest of us. For those who don't know, with Chris Finch, he did off day availability with media and he talked about how. What was it he said? 4 of win by Yama's blocks were goal tens and he had a fairly decent case on them. I just want to point out that if we take away the four that were gold tens, there are still eight left.
B
Yeah. And I went back and watched those. I think one is a legit goaltend and then the other ones are iffy. That I. It's still incredible to me, Bomani, that we've got all this technology in the world, but we can't figure out goaltends. It's a literal just the ball is on its way down and we have VAR in soccer, but we can't figure out if the ball flight is decreasing. How is this possible in the. In 2026, we are still doing goaltends by just three dudes watching the ball flight.
A
I'm okay with that.
B
I'm okay with that.
A
I'm okay with that.
B
We should have. I mean, the tennis var. Where if it's on the line or if it's not on the line. We've had that for a decade now. It feels like, why can't we have this with ball flight? I don't understand why we're still doing this. Like, we're cavemen.
A
I do think the Cyclops is a good tool, right? That's the. The tennis technology. I. I am. I am with that. I just feel like to a degree, what you talking about is us making ourselves slaves of these robots. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's.
B
I'm not saying everything I know everything I'm saying, that's how it starts.
A
You know what I'm saying?
B
Like, that's.
A
That's. I understand you. I feel you. And goal 10 is the tricky one because it's the, you know, the idea the ball is on its way down and cats like victory can get called for goal tend because people just can't conceptualize that the ball is that high. Like, have you heard Kevin Garnett tell them stories about Elijah where Elijah talking said, I am testing his lateral movement. I am testing his lateral movement. And Elijah wod used to get called for travels in the playoffs. And his thing was they have never seen lateral movement like this before. They simply could not imagine that this is. That this is. That's against the rules. And then you watch the clips and be like, yo, they were just not ready for the lateral movement.
B
And one thing that I think people don't realize is these guys don't have full battery packs while they play basketball. And it's one of those things that makes 82 games different from the playoffs is that Victor Wembanyama by trying to block everything and jump and be locked in is the same reason why Jalen Brunson moving off the ball in the Knicks postseason run is so big that I don't think people realize how hard it is. In the same way that Wemby is exhausting himself trying to protect everything in the paint and block everything in the paint, and he doesn't have any energy left offensively. It's the same reason why Cat Carl Anthony Towns becoming the hub of the offense in their flex offense and having Jalen Brunson be able to get his heart rate down and not have to dribble seven, literally 150 dribbles fewer per game this postseason for Jalen Brunson, then last postseason, that matters in the terms of the stamina and the energy that it takes to exhaust yourself through an NBA playoff game that is going to help the Knicks in ways that I think Victor Wembanyama needs to chill a little bit defensively in order. Because I think there's some Rudy Gobert mind games that are happening here where he wants to prove himself to Rudy Gobert and his fellow Frenchman in ways that I think is detracting from the overall goal of winning this series. It seems like he wants to prove something to the guy that he used to go up against his big brother, so to speak. And we've all been there playing one on one against your big brother. And it is something visceral. I used to cry every single time in my backyard, playing on my hoop with my brothers, and every time it would be the same outcome. And I just had this thing inside me that I wanted to prove to my big brothers that I could beat them one on one. And I think that's what's happening with Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama here. And I think he needs to recalibrate things to make himself more effective over the long haul.
A
Hey, man, I got to go here because you brought it up with the Knicks and going through Carl. And I'm curious, where are you on Mike Brown as a coach?
B
I was out on him up until game four of that series with the Atlanta Hawks. And then everything changed. Like to get Carl Anthony Towns to buy in. Being a guy who was going to be a hub and not worry about getting 25. He was more. More worried about a can you make sure that you get six assists a game where you're going to make things so much easier for everybody else? It's something Tom Thibodeau couldn't do. In four games in that series, Carl Anthony Towns had more assists than he did all of last season in the postseason. 18 game sample size he had under Tom Thibodeau. He had fewer assists in the entire postseason run to the Eastern Conference finals than he did in four games in that series against the Atlanta Hawks. So whatever Mike Brown did, because we kind of felt like we slept walk through that first 82 games of the season, I didn't see enough to lend me to believe that he was reaching Jalen Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns differently. The one thing he did differently in the regular season was he lowered their minutes totals and recognized we can't be running these dudes into the ground. Mikel Bridges, OG Anunoby, Carl Anthony Towns, Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson. They played something like 35 minutes a game as a unit in the postseason, as a five man lineup. Like those five guys were on the floor about 30 minutes a game. And Mike Brown has established two things. One, we're going to lower those minutes and depend on on the second unit a lot more to preserve the energy of these guys. And two, we're going to run the offense through Karl Anthony Towns to preserve Jalen Brunson and those two things. What they did at the second half of that Atlanta Hawks series makes me think a lot better about Mike Brown's tenure over Tom Thibodeau.
A
I've always thought that Mike Brown was a bit underrated as a coach and I think like his success with the Cavs was easily discounted because he had the cyborg version of LeBron James. His time with the Lakers, I think they find out that the owner's dying five games into the second season of his tenure and they panic and they decide to fire him after they've overhauled the offense and everything else. Right. Like I think he got to the playoffs of Sacramento in a game seven. He's clearly worked under some people where he's learned some things. And what his shortcoming was when he first started as a coach was offense. His offenses were bogged down. Nope. He did that apprenticeship under Steve Kerr. He seemed to figure some things out. They got this thing going and then what happened in this, in for the last, I guess now four games of the Knicks, which is interesting. They seem to turn it on. Right. Which is something that's odd for a team that's never really won anything they like. Okay, I think maybe we can just stop around here because we're better than everybody else that's left in our conference. And it looks very clearly as of right now that they are in fact better than everybody else that's in this conference. Like they should win it. And getting Carl Towers to buy in is interesting because I think you and I would agree on this. He's an excellent passer. The thing with Towns is he's an excellent everything if he does it. Like why he's not better is maddening and confusing. But if you get him to be that passing guy because you can't have your six two guard dribbling the ball. James Harden is a six foot five tank and him dribbling the ball over and over again has worn him out postseason after postseason. Like, I don't. I've seen people say that they think this series with the Sixers is going to go a long time. I don't. I think this is going to be
B
quick for the Knicks. It's huge. The Carl Anthony Towns being that Jokic Shangoon hub at the top of the key. The Hawks haven't figured it out. The 76ers haven't figured out. It's a basic Boman. I played that offense in high school. I like the flex, the motion. We call the motion. It's the easy, it's the most easily like teachable offense. And Mike Brown is installing it as Karl Anthony Towns is at the top of the key and these defenses have no idea how to stop it. And for me it's like Tom Thibodeau. The thing we kept talking about with Tibbs was this rigidity is that he just has this view, a narrow minded view of what works in the NBA. And that's always how he's going to go. He went on a sabbatical. I talked to him. He, he's like, yeah, I'm a new coach. Like I went and I, I met with medical professionals and sports scientists and all this and he kept doing the same things once he got right back and we realized that the tiger doesn't change his stripes. Mike Brown, I think the, the tough thing about Mike Brown is he learned the power of having that big man as your hub with Demonis Sabonis. Yeah. And I don't know if that's a good selling pitch for an NBA star. Is like hey man, look what we did with Demonis Sabonis. You need to go do that too.
A
I mean I would say this like you turn to modus the bonus into a 60% shooter from the floor and everything else. Like he turned about as a bonus into something. And by the way, with an all time great offense by numbers, it's not the worst seller poison you're gonna make.
B
I, I, I know what you're saying is but for NBA stars, do they want to be Damonus Sabonis? I don't know.
A
Yeah, like when Carl George Carl told Carmelo I see deadlift shrimp in you.
B
Yeah. It, what was it when Reggie Miller went out on national TV and was like, you know Caitlin Clark reminds me of yes. Peyton Pritchard. It's like oh right.
A
Kobe Bryant told Dwight Howard you could be our Tyson Chandler. It didn't understand why that went over poorly.
B
And, and, and you know what? We'll sue. That is when you're down 1, 2 in a series and you are given the keys to being the hub and everything turns around for you. So I don't know how sustainable this is. It still worked against, against the Sixers. And Embiid just got ruined. Like, they were putting them in pick and rolls nonstop, and they were saying, we're going to have you guard in space and we're going to try to figure this out and wear you down. After having a couple of weeks out with the appendicitis and, man, the Knicks look great, and I was out on them, man. Bomani, I, I pronounced them dead on the scene at the end of that regular season. Down 21 against the Atlanta Hawks. But kudos to Mike Brown and Carl Anthony Towns. We'll see if this is sustainable. He had more assists in this postseason than the first three postseason runs combined. This is a new groove for him, man. And we say that a tiger can't change its stripes. But Carl Anthony Towns, he's, he's at, at this age and this stage of his career, he's showing me something in ways that I did not think he had.
A
I would say this one thing right before we go into break because you mentioned Thibodeau, and I think this is funny, and I'm curious if you deserve this. Thibodeau, Stan Van Gundy, very similar guys, right? Not necessarily. They're not the same exact coach, but they are of similar schools and they both have the same thing in common. They seem so happy when they're not coaching basketball and so miserable when they are. And I never understand why they ever coach basketball.
B
It's weird. It's the Van Gundy tree, right? It's the Steve Clifford. Steve Clifford in Charlotte. When you see him on the sidelines here in Charlotte with, he was the former coach of the Hornets and oddly enough, also the Orlando Magic. So if people are thinking Tom Thibodeau is going to take that Magic job, Steve Clifford did a similar thing there in there in Orlando. Steve Clifford is like the happiest, most jovial dude, but when he's in between those four lines, he's as curmudgeon as it gets. With Tom Thibault, Jeff Van Gundy and Stan Van Gundy. Awesome to talk to off the floor. People don't realize Top Tibeto is a great hang on a TV set.
A
When he, when he would walk around the seaport at espn, he got a little swag to him. He'd be like, look at me. Like, he's the guy to give you, like, a point from across the room.
B
I love, like, I, I, I've hung out with Tom Thibodeau. I got lunch with him. I've seen him at, even at the Sloan Conference. You're hanging out and I'm like, this is not the guy that I thought you were like, he's, he is charismatic in a way when he's not coaching that I think would surprise a lot of people. So. But it, it is, it is crazy. Is that all of the stereotypes, the narratives about Tom Thibodeau oftentimes come true and we'll see if he gets another job here in Orlando Magic. It sounds like the Billy Donovan left at the altar story from a few years back. Maybe they finally consummate that this, this time around. But man, if Tom Thibodeau takes that job, I, I would pray for Paolo, Ben Cara and everybody else's knees and their, and their, their miles on those tires because it just doesn't seem like Tom Tibe is not going to change.
A
Hey, man, I understand letting Mosley go. And I understood the allure of Billy Donovan in 2010 or whenever that was that, you know, he left and then decided to come back to Florida. After 10 years in the NBA, Billy Donovan has demonstrated himself to be a replacement level NBA coach. Not bad, certainly, but no reason to think he's great. I can't believe they are still that enamored with the idea of hiring Billy Donovan.
B
That Florida Gators stuff is strong down there, man.
A
Yeah, it is.
B
It is. So, look, the, the, the Knicks story is huge. It's. I feel like it's the most.
A
It's.
B
It's hard to see because we want our stars to be averaging 25, 30 a night, but when you have a guy who recalibrates his whole portfolio of what he offers for your team, like Carl Anthony Towns, and, and look, the defensive stuff, he's been playing a lot better defensively. And all the ticky tack fouls that we get so angry about with Carlantine Towns that still might come up and be the boogeyman in all this thing is that he can be the hub all he wants offensively, but if he's going to be, you know, in foul trouble early against Joel Embiid like he was, where it's like, oh, man, that's still an issue with Carl Anthony Towns. We're still only one game in, but right now I would say the Knicks, I feel better about their chances than anybody else in the East.
A
All right, look, coming up next, I understand not everybody thinks that talking too much on the Internet is a tradable offense, but what if I do talk about Jaylen Brown? 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 your $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 commission merchant. 18 plus bonus is non withdrawable and expires 7 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 offer terms this episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. May is mental Health Awareness Month, a reminder that whatever you're going through, you don't have to go through it alone. Life is a journey. Some days feel good and others feel overwhelming. Whatever's keeping you up at night, it's easy to feel like you have to figure it all out on your own. But the truth is no one has all the answers and no journey should be alone. Having someone with you to listen, to understand and to support you can make all the difference. BetterHelp therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the US BetterHelp does the initial matching work for you so you can focus on your therapy goals. A short questionnaire helps identify your needs and preferences and our 12 plus years of experience in industry leading match fulfillment rate means we typically get it right the first time. If you aren't happy with your match, switch to a different therapist at any time from our tailored Rex. You don't have to be on this journey alone. Find support and have someone with you in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off@betterhelp.com bomani that's betterhelp.com
B
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A
All right, we are back with Tom Haberstroke. Tom, Jaylen Brown, we've talked about this a little bit here. He got on the live stream talking crazy. The NBA found him $50,000 for claiming that the referees had an agenda against him. And by the way, I think it's entirely possible that they do. I'm not, I, I, I don't know if this is correct. I don't watch them enough to know if he's really being officiated unfairly. But it's on the board. They are kind of petty like that, like these. It's, it's not like it's never happened before. However, I bring him up just because I think the window is probably closed for the Celtics. Jaylen Brown has played 10 years in the NBA. I don't know what version of Jason Tatum they're going to get back. Most people have said that Jaylen Brown has been an all NBA caliber player this year, a top five in the MVP vote and that is largely buoyed by the team success of the Boston Celtics. But Tom Habershow, I ask you, this is, you're the sort of person who pays attention to these things. Have you taken a look at the Jalen Brown on court, off court differences from this season?
B
This is why I did not have them on my first or second team all NBA because the team was not just on court off court. The differential and this is, this is one of those things why the Nikola Jokic analytics, how, how he became the patron saint of analytics is a lot of the introduction of on court off court metrics. And what that is is, is in the play by play area era since 1997, we can now see how well your team does when you're on the floor. Meaning how many points does your team score minus how many points your opponent scores? And that differential, how does that look, that margin of victory, what does that differential look like when you're off the floor? And for Jalen Brown it was very confusing because a lot of people were saying hey, he's carrying that Boston Celtics team. But their record this season without Jalen Brown was fantastic. This season without Jaylen Brown in uniform, they were still a 50 win team and even better without him in uniform. And then you go to the in game on court off court metrics and it does not paint a pretty picture about Jalen Brown's ability to raise your teams ability to win games was not favorable to Jalen Brown this season.
A
And just to be clear for people offensively with him and without him, they were roughly the same this year. Not Exactly. But they were worse. But it was, it was close. It was too close to be like, oh, they were worse without him on offense. Right. That would be a bit dishonest. But defensively the gap was a little bit bigger. They were better defensively without him. And in this postseason they were way better when he was not on the floor than when he was on the floor. And looking at those numbers and them being combined with the sort of things he was saying about enjoying this season the most out of any other season. I would love to know how the rest of the Celtics felt about this because even if they aren't looking at that like I'm talking about players, even if they aren't necessarily looking at the numbers, they know intuitively, hey, man, we're actually better when he's not here.
B
Right?
A
Like, I don't think you have to hand them to stat sheet. They may be like, you know, I felt like it was going that way. But they are quantified. They were quantifiably and clearly better without him this year. Yes, yes.
B
And when you talk about him saying on a stream, he knows what he's doing, this is one of the most calculated guys in the league. He knows what he's saying. He is out here on a live stream where he knows how big of his audience is and he knows that it's going to be clipped and aggregated. Where he says so much by just saying, this was my favorite year in the NBA. Yeah, Bomani, that's a wrap. It's a rap after that because you had Jayson Tatum over here out with an Achilles tear, rehabbing out of the picture and having a NBC documentary about his recovery and coming back and this whole movie theater, this, this movie that is being produced over here. But Jaylen Brown is the main character of this other movie, which is, I'm the number one guy on a 50 win team. I told y' all I can do this. I won a championship. I won the Eastern Conference finals MVP and I won the finals mvp and you guys still didn't believe me. And this is why Jaylen Brown is so happy with this season. Because he proved to himself that with a roster that I don't think people, I think the over under on the Celtics this season was like 442 wins, 41 and a half. They won 56 games this year and for most people, they're not going to be looking at on court, off court numbers. They're just going to look at 56 wins with Jalen Brown and an Achilles tear for Jason Tatum. And say that guy deserves to be a number one on another team who have his own team. But the on court, off court numbers were disastrous for him this season. Peyton Pritchard coming off the bench, much better for the Celtics this season. But one, one thing I will say about Jaylen Brown, man, the 56 wins mattered a lot more than his effective field goal percentage. His ability to shoot efficiently is different than what I think people really they saw. He is averaging damn near 30 points per game this season. Yeah, but what they didn't show you is that his effective field goal percentage, meaning once you incorporate the extra value of the three pointer, it's like slugging percentage in baseball. It's not efficient basketball, he's shooting 22 times a game and he's not doing a great job of making the most out of those scoring opportunities. And so yes, he is averaging close to 30 points a game, but he was very in the bottom percentile in terms of efficiency. And in the playoffs that reared its ugly head and without Jason Tatum playing in that game, everything kind of crumbled for the Boston Celtics. And I do think that Jason Tatum is going to feel a certain way about those comments. And I think that's the point. I think Jaylen Brown wanted Jason Tatum to feel like, hey, this was my favorite year without you on the floor.
A
And this is, I think there's some extension that he is eligible to receive in this year. And NBA teams now are all about signing these guys up for the money because the $70 million sounds crazy now, but as the cap changes and everything else. Right. Like maybe you feel like you're getting in on a discount doing this as it goes. But they Brad Stevens has a lot to figure out. It's fair to ask if he's gonna have to figure out something about his coach because while I find his coach to be a lovely personality, how far you can go with this style of ball. Of course, yes, they've won a championship, but that roster was loaded. Like, I think it's very easy for us to forget that Derrick White's the fifth best player on that team. That's not what this roster is going to look like. I'd seen it being proposed. Well, maybe you could somehow turn Jaylen Brown into Giannis. And I think Jaylen Brown would love nothing more than to be on a team like the Bucks with nothing to do but go get buckets. Like, I've already got my ring, I've been to the finals a couple times, spent the first 10 years of my career going to the Playoffs. Let me go out here and get these buckets.
B
Well, Bmani, are we going to talk about the fact that that 24 run was maybe the easiest path we have seen for a championship team in terms of the injuries that they. They did not have to face. Jimmy Butler, that Cavs team was shorthanded. Pacers team was shorthanded. And then they go against the Dallas Mavericks. And yes, they beat that Dallas Mavericks team, but they were not a juggernaut going into the postseason. It was Luca Donches first run there in the finals. So if you want to talk paths to the NBA Finals and the championship, we did the whole asterisk thing last year with the Oklahoma City Thunder. If you haven't read it, I write this every year is I put an asterisk on every NBA championship because if you want to, we can play that game with just about every title team that something weird happened along the way. So I am not out here saying that the Celtics were un. Were lucky in ways that other champions are not. I'm just saying we have to remind ourselves the path that they had going to the NBA Finals that season. The path was laid down by a bunch of guys in street clothes in ways that we have not seen in a long time.
A
Yeah. And I mean, yeah, all of. All of that is correct. And that was. They're another team that was kind of like the Nuggets in the sense that the Nuggets window had opened before people fully realized it was open. It's just that Jamal Murray was hurt. Right. And so 23 was the end. Was toward the end of the window. The beginning was actually 21. And then Murray got hurt. The Celtics have been so good for so long. How long do we think the window really was? Right. Like, they've kept this thing up for like 10 years. At some point that has to slow down. And that would have been independent of Tatum and the Achilles injury, where it is amazing that he came back, but I think it was solidified that he's not going to be the player that he was ever again. That's just too much to ask out of somebody, especially because he has a very physically demanding game.
B
Yeah. Do you think a little bit of Brad Stevens is glad that they lost this series in a way that now he has the pretext to break this thing up and the fans wouldn't revolt?
A
That is a very interesting question. Because you can't break it up as good as they had been. They did it a little bit at a time though, right? Like for tax reasons. Get. Get drew Holiday out of here. You got Porzingis out of there a little bit at a time. That is what they did now. So what do you do? You keep Jason, you keep Tatum. You trade Jalen Brown. I don't know what you get for Jaylen Brown though, do you?
B
So this week on the Kevin o' Connor show, the Yahoo Sports show that we do, he proposed Giannis to Boston, Jalen Brown to Atlanta, and then picks and young pieces from Atlanta and Boston going to Milwaukee in a way that you get a star player that is on the other side of 30 for the Boston Celtics and you have that kind of force in the two point area, going downhill and getting buckets and have Joe Missoula's three point offense. It might work with Giannis and Jalen Brown goes home to Atlanta. I'm not sure the, the history of the NBA suggests that going coming home is not all that it's cracked up to be. We can have LeBron James going back home to Cleveland and that was a storybook fairy tale ending there. But most of the time, guys, NBA stars going back home, it does not work out for them. So that is interesting to me is that the, the Atlanta Hawks have the number one overall pick potentially in this draft because of the New Orleans Pelicans trade last year. And they could get Jalen Brown for probably not a lot in terms of the assets and the, and the, the, the trade that you would have to make to get Jalen Brown. I just, I'm not as much of a Jaylen Brown guy and Jason Tatum, I feel like, I feel like Boston got that championship out in 2024. But part of me thinks that Brad Stevens is relieved that he can go to the lab and figure out what is the best opportunity for me to improve this Boston Celtics roster without having Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum feeling that I have to force that marriage to work. Because it does seem like with Jaylen Brown's comments and this season and the early out against the 76ers that he has as ready of a ripe opportunity to make a pivot here than I think he's had in a long time, if ever.
A
And also let us not forget that this is a team full of guys. The Brad Stevens is like, I don't want to coach them anymore.
B
That's a good point too.
A
All right, like, like there are levels at which he's looking at all these guys like, hey, hey, you know, I don't know if this is, I don't, I don't know if I would want to have to do this, maybe you guys could do it. But where are you on Missoula? Because I do understand, I do think that part of what got them in that series was a bit of the rigidity of Missoula ball and we just gonna keep chucking these threes up here. There's nothing in there for. Let me get a quick bucket right fast.
B
Well, I, I could not believe that he was starting Ron Harper Jr. Luca Garza and Baylor Shireman in that game seven. I felt like that was a statement in ways that he was trying to flex in ways that was his downfall. Then when I'm watching that series, in no way was I like, oh, you know who's the missing piece here is Ron Harper Jr. And Luca Garza. Just didn't make any sense. I know that they had to scramble without Jason Tatum and they wanted to keep that second unit intact, but it did not look like Joe Missoula was coaching with maximizing his potential to win this series. It seemed like he was trying to say something else. I don't know what that is, but the rigidity that you mentioned the three point volume analytics. To me, analytics is misbranded. I've always said that analytics is the study of what wins. Bomani it is not dogmatic in that you must take this many threes in order to win basketball games. It is that if you study the length of the NBA history that three is more than two and it was undervalued in the way that on base percentage was undervalued in baseball. But that evolves. You cannot be dogmatic about what wins in the NBA because as rules change and as defenses change and as trends change and the circumstances change, Jason Tatum is out, we're in the playoffs, we need to win this one game. It doesn't. Point differential doesn't matter anymore. Like in the regular season you might go maximal point differential is that in the long run shooting this many threes is going to help us to maximize our point differential in an 82 game season. But in a game win one game situation the math changes. And so I don't want to blame analytics in general as a like Joe Missoula believes too much in the three point shot. I think that he just went too overboard with believing that that'll win in an 82 game season and we won in 24 using that. And I think sometimes you need to recalibrate what you want to do offensively in order to maximize that one game. And that's tough. If you've been preaching one thing the entire season to adapt in the middle of a series. Doesn't seem like that's Joe Missoula's strength there.
A
All right. I will switch gears right fast as we get out of here where I saw something interesting. Have you seen this? The athletic survey, right. I think it's the player survey with all kinds of stuff. Most underrated player, most overrated player, best go. You know all that type stuff. Right. I fascinates me about this. There's 151 votes cast for the most underrated player in the league. Nobody got more than 4% of those votes. Like it's a. It seems to be a decent cluster of the same guys but it doesn't sound like guys just really get that passionate or worked up about talking about who the most underrated player is. Most overrated only has 81 votes which implies that people are falling back off of that one. But buddy, the, the distributions are a bit more concentrated. 12% of that 81 say Alpechin goon. Up next, Rudy Gobert. After that Trey Young was tired Rudy Gobert. Then Carl Anthony Towns did a tie for Paolo B. Caro and John Moran. And I have to say I believe we are at a point where it is impossible to call Rudy Gobert overrated. I think it is very clear that he got we've been so down all Rudy that he has clearly become underrated.
B
Do you think that we are nuanced enough or that we have the ability to hold two thoughts at one time which is Rudy Gobert is a flawed offensive player but defensively he still is an incredible one of the greatest defenders of all time.
A
Yes.
B
And if he gets tripped up by Luka Doncic or if it's going to be Dylan Harper or de' Aaron Fox in this series we don't hold that against him. We don't ask Kareem Abdul Jabbar to guard Michael Jordan out at the three point line in a game saving moment but we do it with Rudy Gobert.
A
I think it is amazing how well he plays when he gets switched out on the perimeter on these guys at 7:3 but it is all jokes somehow when the 7:3 guy can't guard Luga Dodget at the top of the key.
B
It's not's man like the idea that
A
you even let him try is a testament to what is good about him. Now you see guys like demarcus Cousins that always made this point and I understood this that can you say that Gobert is the best defensive player in the league if his impact is really just as a team defender and that it doesn't necessarily bear itself out when he's matched one on one with somebody. That was the big thing about this series against Jokic. You know, the Jamal Murray Brother, I have 47 story, right? Or just like Yogic putting these huge numbers up on him and you're like, okay, you can have all this team defense impact, but if somebody is just being guarded by Rudy Gobert and they can light him up, how good is he? Actually I understand that argument, but he is a game wrecking defensive force, always has been and just gets dogged. Like no player as good as him has ever been more disrespected by his peers.
B
Well, what he did was he completely change Nikola Jokic, his legacy and we're not going to give that to Rudy Gobert. We're going to say it's a, it's a shortcoming of Nikola Jokic that he wasn't able to win that series. And it's not. The credit is not going to go to Rudy Gobert. It's not, that's not how the conversation works. But I can't leave without talking to you about the Nikola Jokic conversation here.
A
Let's go.
B
It just, you know, you, you've texted me on the side about the Jokic stat of him not playing with an all star, all NBA defensive player of the year, all defense player up until this season. Jamal Murray was the first time this season that Nikola Jokic had an all star or an all NBA player or all defensive. He still hasn't had an all defensive guy on his team. It's never happened before with an MVP in NBA history. We've never seen a guy through 10 years not have a single teammate while playing with that guy. The mvp not playing with an all NBA or all star player. It's incredible. The average that we have seen in NBA history up until this point in Jokic his career. The the number of all NBA accolades, whether that's all star, all NBA or all defense is 16 accolades at this point by teammates and he had zero coming into this season. Jamal Murray got, finally got the all star and the funny thing happened was he turned into a pumpkin in the postseason. So it's like he can't win Yoke. I'm not making excuses for Jokic, but if you had Jokic with Giannis, this is a different conversation about whether Jokic is really that dude. He has at this point in his career. Magic Johnson had 38 teammate accolades whether it's All Stars, All NBA, All Defense, Michael Cooper, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, AC Green, Norm Nixon, all these guys. James Worthy. Jokic has not had one of those guys. And we've seen it twice with Jamal Murray going on an all time run in the postseason. But outside of those two runs in the bubble and after that, the championship run, Jamal Murray's just been a 20 point scorer and he shot 35% in this series against Minnesota. And the whole entire referendum is about Jokic. And I just feel like the supporting cast, conversation, the individualism of the NBA that's happening. I feel like we're, we're trying to take down Jokic through the lens of analytics, but I don't. I think this is a, A straw man.
A
Yes.
B
I think him being the beacon, the, the, the patron saint of analytics, he won those MVPs because he averaged a triple double.
A
Yeah, well, it's funny because I was talking about. What's really happened is it's a pushback against the dorks is what this has been. And people are like, oh, you're not a yogic dork. I'm not in this with Jokic for the dork stuff. The eye test was good enough for me. The dork stuff was also there, but I felt like people just got too ahead of themselves in the. This is one of the 10 best players in the NBA.
B
Well, where did that come from? What. What is the. Like that? Is that a strawman to the top 10 NBA? Is that something? Is this.
A
I think that's just. That's a wing of Internet chatter that I have seen is right. Like the people who will tell you the yogic is better than Akeem Olaj, for example. Now Olajuwon becomes an interesting point because I wonder what people would have said about Olajuwon from 87 to like 91 or 92 when they weren't winning any series and he was out there by himself. Would you have talked about Elijah W In the same way? The comp I did a pod with Ethan yesterday? To me, the comp with Jokic that I hadn't really thought about until recently. What if the comp is David Robinson, where David Robinson was an advanced stat monster and also one of the greatest players that we'd ever seen, and until Tim Duncan showed up, never had anybody there with him to really put up a fight except for like the two years of Dennis Rodman. If you want to say that, that's the same thing. Duncan came. I still think Robinson was the best player on the team when that, that first year with Duncan. Duncan was the center of the offense. But David Robinson was still an excellent player. But we dog David Robinson out, largely because of one series. But that was the only time he got to the conference finals. Before Tim Duncan showed up, YIC had done more with his guys than David Robinson, who, again, if you're too young to remember it, you drop David Robinson off. Right now. David Robinson is killing the NBA. Like David Robinson was so extraordinary. And speaking as my daddy always says, he almost got Navy to the Final Four, right? Like David Robinson was. That guy Jokic, I think, actually has a career at this peak that kind of matches up with what Robinson had been. Different types of players, but similar performance and similar. Similar shortcomings with what was around him. If in the end, what we say about Jokic is he's as good as David Robinson, that's a hell of a compliment, no matter what anybody says or anybody remembers.
B
What about the KG thing? Because I remember talking to Chris Bosh about this. When I was covering the Miami Heat, I sat down with kg. I mean, I sat down with Chris Bosh talking about his quote, unquote legacy and winning a championship and how that changed his legacy and what people think of Chris Bosh and going to Miami and what that did for his. How people remember Chris Bosh. And he thinks very positively. Obviously, after 2011, he didn't feel good about things, right? But 2012 and 2013, the way that he came back from it, his. His abdominal strain, his. His groin basically detached from his body in that series. And he came back, beat KG and went to the NBA Finals and was able to vindicate himself in ways that people don't realize. How much hate, like we think about LeBron's legacy was in the balance. Skip Bayless was out on ESPN calling him Bosch Spice.
A
And Chris Bosh got on TV with him and asked him to stop, and he said no. Yeah. And he didn't slap him.
B
So this. This. This whole thing comes back to Jokic. Because Chris Bosch told me that while KG was destroying him in the playoffs, year after year, at that 2010 free agency, he reached out to KG and said, yo, you left Minnesota, and I have an opportunity to leave Toronto to try to change my narrative about change my situation. And he goes, man, loyalty is overrated. Loyalty. KG told him, loyalty is overrated. Go leave Toronto and go somewhere else. And that gave Chris Bosh the emotional fortitude that if KG tells me to do it. And I saw what happened with KG's legacy and the way that the Boston Celtics changed everything for kg and he had Wally Zerbiak and Tom Gugliotta riding with him for so many years. Chris Bosh said, thank you kg, because I took control of this situation and it changed the way people talk about me forever. So thank you. He owed a lot of gratitude to the guy that was shit talking him in ways that would would make you cry in the middle of the 94ft. But Chris Bosh always gave that that nod to KG and thanked him. And in that analysis of fewest star teammates through 10 years, 11 years in their career, there's only two guys. It's K KG, Kevin Garnett and Nikola Jokic. And in a similar vein, I feel like Jokic is not going to be out here and saying I need to get a star player next to me. He said as far as he's going to say it was in Serbia, we would all get fired.
A
Yes.
B
Is KG also a comp for Jokic in the terms of the way we look at this guy and when he gets star players then it changes the way we view him in his legacy.
A
So it's interesting to me with KG because I think for KG it was not simply KG getting star guys. It was also getting KG guys who could take those shots that KG didn't really like to take. There's game seven against Sacramento where he jump on my back and he brought him home. This is a conference semifinals in 2004, right? Like that is to me the defining individual. Kevin Garnett game. He made it happen. However, that is a dude. Tim Duncan, by the way, also on this list. A little yippee when it came time for that big shot. That's not really what they would like to do. The the classic Tim Duncan turnaround shot before the Derek Fisher shot in 04. The one lucky shot deserves another as Shaq called it. In that point Duncan was aided by having other people who could come on,
B
don't come for Duncan, don't do.
A
I'm not coming for Duncan. I'm just saying you can still be Tim Duncan while also like Carl Malone a bit Yippee. Charles Barkley, a big yippee. Like you could go through and look at some of these great players and would love to have somebody else who could take that, who could be there to take that shot. And then Kevin Garnett could be all encompassing leader guy. It's still his team, but in a way that does not require him to take that shot. Right. Jokic is not the same in that regard. Jokic can be that guy. He needs other players. But I do think that Garnett needed a. Like, you couldn't give Garnett another glue type of guy because Kevin Garnett is like the advanced version of Rasheed Wallace of Super talented Glue Guy. Right. With Jokic. I think my question, Jesse, is you look at the Nuggets and Jamal Murray. I think that, I think that Jamal Murray is Jamal Murray, as we think of Jamal Murray, because he's played with Nikola Jokic. I think it's a fair point for us to make. Yep. I don't even know who the guy is to put around Jokic because I've seen what he's done and it's been so excellent just with these dudes. I can barely imagine if this is an extreme example. What if Giannis somehow gets dropped off there? Well, I don't even know what to say.
B
What if it's, what if it's Anthony Edwards? Right? What I mean, I'm not saying that that's ever going to happen, but just the guy who has that energy and also the off ball and the size and he doesn't need to be the playmaker. That's the one thing you can knock on Anthony Edwards on, is that if you throw a double team at him, he gets flustered in ways that he's just. He hasn't developed the, the secondary playmaking that you would want at this point in his career. But with Jokic, you don't have to really worry about that as much. So I don't know. And then like, it just aggravates me cause gets bogged down in analytics when it's not, it's not, it's not about analytics with Jokic. To me it gets. I tweeted this out and people got all upset about it. The Athletic tweeted that Jokic has never beaten a 50 win team in the playoffs and is on it.
A
The Clippers, by the way, won 49 in the short bubble season, I think.
B
But why do we do this? Why do we. It's. It's intellectually dishonest if we're going to say Nikola Jokic when playing in two bubble years or short Covid shortened seasons, that he hasn't won a 50 game, beaten a 50 win team when the Utah Jazz that year were a 50 win team and the Clippers that year were a 50 win team in 2020 and they just had a Covid shortened season. They had a win percentage of a 50 win team and a 56 win team. So it just seems like to me we want Jokic because we've never seen anything like Jokic, there has to be a reason why he's having shortcomings, and it's because analytics overrated this guy. And I think it's more that he hasn't had the complimentary supporting staff in ways we've. That. That's unprecedented in NBA history. And I just. I think that should be more of the conversation rather than analytics. Ruined the conversation. Jokic is overrated through the analytics.
A
I also think it's just possible to say, hey, man, dude had a bad series. True, right? It doesn't have to be much deeper than the guy had a bad series.
B
But that's not what we do, right? It's. We take these things that happen in the playoffs and we. We level it up into a larger conversation about what this means for Jokic. And I'm not saying we can't do that sometimes, but I just want to make sure we're talking about it through the right lens. And I just. I don't know. I feel like Jokic is being represented as an analytics darling in ways that it feels like basic stats. And if you just watch this dude play basketball. Why Stan Van Gunny says he is the greatest offensive player he has ever seen. I. Stan Gunny isn't out here saying he's a good defender, right? He's saying he's the greatest offensive player he's ever seen. And the way that he passes and shoots. He had a bad series against Rudy Gobert. He did not post up, and Rudy Gobert frightened him in ways that I hadn't seen. Jokic cower in that moment. And, man, just got to give Rudy Gobert his flowers at the end of the day. We're here at May 6th as we're recording this, and at this point in his career, Rudy Gobert is still changing the story of his career.
A
Tom Haberstroke. Check him out. Tom the Finder. Check him out at Yahoo. Sports. Check him out with the Portland Trail Blazers. My brother, I appreciate you.
B
You got a Bomani. Anytime, man.
A
All right, man. Ladies and gentlemen, check us out. Bomanijoneslive.com doing a live show in Atlanta. I said the other day that it was May 13th. It's May 15th. It's on Friday. Bomanijoneslive.com Get your tickets there. 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. 323-59-67767. 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.
The Right Time with Bomani Jones
Episode: Tom Haberstroh on Anthony Edwards has NO FEAR of Wemby, Jaylen Brown Drama & the Jokic Analytics Debate | 05.06.2026
Host: Bomani Jones | Guest: Tom Haberstroh
In this rich, fast-paced episode, Bomani Jones sits down with Tom Haberstroh (Yahoo Sports, Portland Trail Blazers coverage) to dissect all angles of current NBA playoff action. They touch on Anthony Edwards’ electrifying performance against Victor Wembanyama, the evolution and challenges of both players, the latest “drama” with Jaylen Brown’s Celtics future, and dig deep into the analytics versus “eye test” debate surrounding Nikola Jokic’s legacy. Their conversation balances humor, candid insight, and layered analysis—perfect for NBA diehards and casuals alike.
(01:05 – 16:55)
Edwards’ “No Fear” Performance vs. Wembanyama:
Wembanyama’s Challenge and Growth:
Fatigue, Playoff Experience, and the Timberwolves’ Edge:
Victor’s Rookie Adjustment & the French Connection:
(16:55 – 26:59)
Mike Brown’s Coaching Turnaround:
Towns’ New Role and Limitations:
Comparisons Between Coaches:
(29:55 – 41:38)
Brown’s Outspoken Comments and NBA Fine:
On/Off Court Stats and Team Dynamics:
Should the Celtics Break Up the Core?:
(44:22 – 45:33)
(45:33 – 60:12)
Rudy Gobert’s Defensive Value Reassessed:
Nikola Jokic and “Analytics Backlash”:
Bomani on Legacy and Player Comparisons:
The KG/Bosh Legacy Lesson:
Frustration with “Analytics” as a Strawman:
Bomani Jones and Tom Haberstroh deliver a nuanced, sometimes funny, always insightful look at the intersection of performance, perception, and analytics in today’s NBA. They frame Anthony Edwards and Victor Wembanyama as the vanguard of an evolving league, question how star legacies are built (and torched) in the media and locker rooms, and push back against simplistic analytics versus “eye test” narratives. Fans of X’s and O’s, locker-room drama, or broader NBA history will find this episode essential.
For full context, check out The Right Time with Bomani Jones wherever you get your podcasts.