← The Ringer NBA Show
The Ringer NBA Show
League Pass Rankings, Season Schedule Insight, and Opening Night Expectations
01:06:24
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- [00:11]
Tyler Parker
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- [00:20]
Sponsor/Ad Voice
This episode is brought to you by Bleacher Report. Football is back and downloading the Bleacher Report app puts you in the middle of the action. Make Bleacher Report your go to this season for the fastest breaking news alerts covering NFL and college football. And don't miss a moment with highlights, scores and live reactions in the app. Get expert analysis on your favorite teams and the news that you want this season. Download the Bleacher Report app today.
- [00:55]
Jesse
Hello.
- [00:55]
Tyler Parker
Hello.
- [00:56]
Jesse
Basketball is fantastically good. My name is is jcon. Man. This is a summer off season episode of the Ringer NBA show. This is a chair I haven't sat in in a while, especially with the. With the guy who's on the other end of the line here. I never know where he is exactly. He might be in Delaware. He might be riding through the desert in his truck. The Las Vegas. I don't. I never know what he's up to. Tyler Parker is on the other end of the line here. Tyler, what's. How's your summer been? Have you been outside? Have you been. I mean, are you just coming down from the champagne drunkenness of the OKC title? What's. What's your life been like? Just kind of a tour of. Of celebration. Give me. Give me a rundown.
- [01:38]
Tyler Parker
Yeah, no, I mean, I, I haven't gone full junior. Like, I've worn a shirt. You know, I've tried to disappoint.
- [01:45]
Jesse
Yeah.
- [01:47]
Tyler Parker
For the most part. But the. No, it's been. It's been a, you know, a summer of Thanksgiving, a summer of joy, a summer of. Of feeling much better than just I ever have before, I think, you know.
- [02:06]
Jesse
Yeah.
- [02:07]
Tyler Parker
And so it. It's nice, man. The view from the top of the mountain is. There's a reason that people, you know, try to get here. It's pretty. Pretty.
- [02:17]
Jesse
Yeah. Did you. But did you. Was there any kind of measure of you that once you got to the top, did you. Was there any part of you that was like, oh, this is it, like. Or was it was as fulfilling as you thought it would be because you never want to tie? Well, you've got ou. I guess you've got that beautiful thing over there. Oh, you. Football.
- [02:33]
Tyler Parker
I mean, let's just really humble it.
- [02:35]
Jesse
In the sec, I think.
- [02:36]
Tyler Parker
Let's chill all the way. Let's chill all the way out. Let's. I don't know if we need to restart the Pod Jesse or.
- [02:44]
Jesse
No, I'm in my right mind. I, I just. You guys talked a big game and you came in the S.E.C. and I think, you know, coming back down earth a little. I don't know. I'm not saying Kentucky's going to beat you, but not ruling.
- [02:55]
Tyler Parker
I'm not. No, I'm not saying that either. And, and I, I feel like that hell is freezing hearing a Kentucky fan talk about football in a, in a, in a big chested way. But, you know, I'm not going to, I'm not going to take any shots at UK because I have a lot of respect for the Stoopses.
- [03:19]
Jesse
Yeah.
- [03:19]
Tyler Parker
And you know, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna cut market the knees or anything, but. No, I mean, yeah, hopefully. Hopefully. Oh, you wins a few more games this year.
- [03:31]
Jesse
Sure.
- [03:32]
Tyler Parker
No, I mean, I. It's been a good summer. It's been, it's been nice to, you know, have a little bit of downtime, getting to play with the girls and stuff and just enjoy, enjoy not having to have my eyes on a TV all night, you know.
- [03:54]
Jesse
Yeah, for now, for now we're getting. There's a little exhale here. We're a little bit like teachers. We get a little, we get a little break and then it gets intense, you know, so we. That's kind of been the vibe across the NBA scene. A lot of people unplugging because the, the race is long and it is a sprint you run. There's no, there's no jogging. You gotta, you gotta sprint. And before the fire hose of basketball opens one of the little bones of news activity, there's a few little small things that if we get to them, we'll get to them. They're amusing pieces of news that I hope we can get to. But one of the things that is a very strict official order of business is the schedule. The schedule came out, so the schedule is dense. I want to get to sort of the fun parts of the schedule before we launch into the competitive nitty gritty measuring teams against each other and we'll get to that. But from 35,000ft, Tyler, we're just looking at this schedule. The big thing that they kind of pitch it on is opening night. Opening night. We're going to have OKC versus Houston. We're going to have. They've done an interesting thing here where they've put the sort of geriatric superstars against each other. They're not trying to kind of spread, you know, we're Getting the Youngs versus the Youngs. How are you feeling about my first thought here is do you think that there is a possibility that on opening night Houston. How riled up do you think that Houston is going to be to come in there and sort of spoil the broth from the beginning here and get a news cycle going of like, oh, Houston is coming for okc and is that on your mind at all?
- [05:28]
Tyler Parker
Yeah, no, I mean I think that, that, I think that that is definitely the mindset they'll come into the game with. How could they not? Like if you're on that team. Yeah, you would want to be. Especially if that's ring night and especially if you're Kevin Durant coming back to Oklahoma City for ring night. Yeah, I, I, I think that there, that will be a extremely motivated visitors locker room that. Yeah, I mean I would, it wouldn't, I don't think it would shock anybody if the Rockets beat the Thunder. You know, if it's, if it's some beat down and it, you know, like then yes, I think news, cyc news cycles will probably start regardless, you know, if it's, unless the Thunder just walk all over them and in which case it'll be like, well, it's, it's still early. The Rockets got to learn how to play together. But like if it's a close game, you know, that there I think that it'll be like, you know, it'll be a. Something that leads a lot of pods. You know, like, I think it, because people are deservedly very excited about the Rockets. I mean they obviously project to be really, really good, really fun. And so it, I love that the Thunder are playing them on opening night. I think it'll be a fun game with like two teams that are just filled with a bunch of dogs that, you know, are going to try to kind of meet the moment.
- [07:00]
Jesse
Yeah. From, from a broader perspective here, I think something that comes out, we get all kinds of cool analytics about like back to backs and what teams are going to be playing the teams that are on the fewest back to backs versus the the most back to back. So we start to get an idea of like what schedules are harder than others overall. You know, it ranges in that like 13 to 16 back to backs total on the schedule. So five teams are going to be playing 16 back to backs. One of them is the Philadelphia 76ers. There has been a lot of oh God energy from Sixers fans who are already, you know, they're seeing, they're seeing Paul George in the in the brace. They're. They're wondering, will Joel Embiid ever be Joel Embiid again? I can imagine how. Seeing that would be a tough beat if you're a Sixers fan.
- [07:49]
Tyler Parker
No. Yeah. I think even like taking Paul George out of the equation. Right. Like it. Yeah. You're devastated if you see that. That. If you see that that's happening with Embiid coming back. The. I mean, the one. I'm kind of excited to watch this or at least intrigued to watch the Sixers. You know what I mean? Like it. Maxi and McCain are a really fun duo back there, and I think could really light things up if things fall the right way, especially if Embiid or PG are able to give them anything and they're able to play off of those guys, too. Like, that. Just. I. I'm really high on McCain and on Maxi. I think that is a. That in a few years, that backcourt will be lava. Like, I think that that's a. I think that that that's one of the most exciting backcourts that the league's going to have going forward here for the next, you know, whatever, seven, eight years. So I. It. I think that having those guys a year older and able to carry a little bit more of the load, I think, you know, hopefully that lets Georgian Embiid kind of, you know, jog back into sort of playing these games. They don't have to come into it from a full sprint and have to carry the load. But, yeah, no, if you're. If you're an Embiid fan, you can't have been pumped up to see that schedule.
- [09:34]
Jesse
No doubt about it. Another. Another sort of point of order to point out here. The Pelicans, according to positive residual, have, in terms of strength of schedule, have the hardest schedule in the league, which is, you know, I'm not trying to pummel a dead horse here with a sledgehammer, but that's a tough beat when you consider the guy that they traded up to get is going to be out for a few months with a wrist injury. Derek Queen in a ruthless. You made a point here about. It's never been more valuable to be a member of the Eastern Conference this year. I mean. Oh, my God.
- [10:11]
Tyler Parker
I mean. Yeah. How many wins is that worth, like, being in the east at this point? It's one of the reasons, you know, that these teams, like, you know, the. I mean, the Magic are. Are a good team, but it's one of the reasons that, like, you know, your eyebrows kind of go up whenever you start looking at that roster and stuff like that. The same, Same thing with the Pistons, right? You're like, oh, all of a sudden these teams that feel like they should have been a couple steps away from making the conference finals, like now it's like, it's extremely feasible that one of those two teams would. Could wind up in the Eastern Conference finals. So it's, It's. It'll be cool that it gives maybe another team who was on the doorstep a chance to kind of play in the waters of the conference finals and see how they react to that sort of stuff. But, yeah, I mean, it. The east is wanting this year, and the bottom of that conference is a shit show. And to those, you know, the Knicks, the Pistons, people like that, that are going to be at the top of the East, I mean, they could feast. You know what I mean? Like there.
- [11:33]
Jesse
Yeah, yeah.
- [11:34]
Tyler Parker
Like, like, you know, the Cavs going to win, what, 65 games? I mean, like, how many games are the Cavs going to win?
- [11:43]
Jesse
They're going to. I like the Alonzo pickup for them. Yeah. I mean, I think that it's. You get, you know, you offload some of the issues. I think you add more connectivity. Obviously, he's got the size. It's good to just see him healthy, period. But another kind of broader point here that I was going to say Jesse brings up in our chat that the Sixers, also another. Another head shaker for them is have the biggest, second biggest decrease in national games. The Suns are first, followed by the Sixers and the Pelicans. The Celtics actually had a pretty huge drop off in national games this year as well. I think they're down to like 25 or something like that. But when that's all the. That's the vegetables, you know. You know, we get the. We get all the matchups that they want that we want. It's different from college because the college schedule always gets me really excited because a. It's more condensed. We get to see the home and home atmosphere as you get the one shot at some of the teams with the NBA schedule, basketball is just more available than it's ever been. And a big reason why that that's the case is because league pass is more. In the streaming era is more accessible than it's ever been for me. Well, I wanted to just kind of talk about. Because Tyler, this past year did league pass rankings for the site that were awesome. They're always. It gives. It gives you a lot of leg room to sort of flail and kick and do Whatever it is that you want to do. A lot of studio space.
- [13:06]
Tyler Parker
And those were like, those were player specific. Yeah, like it was, it was, it wasn't. It wasn't team driven. It was like, you know, amen. Thompson is a jet plane. You know what I mean? Like there's more of that stuff.
- [13:19]
Jesse
Yeah, yeah, yeah. What I wanted to do today, getting to sort of the why we're here, what we want to accomplish is I just wanted to go through the league pass rankings, my league pass rankings for teams. We're going to go into more. We are going to go into some of the more specific players or people that we think have a chance or they are candidates to be, you know, premier sort of league pass entities. Last year you mentioned Amin Thompson, whose middle name is Excellency. I just always have to bring that up, as is his brothers. He was your mvp. And we'll talk about him more specifically. But I'll count down. These are my. I didn't do 10. We'll do the top nine. Um, number nine for me is you. You mentioned how the east is sort of a wasteland, so it was sort of hard to pick. There are some sort of honorable mentions. Like I do think that this person will probably come up more over the course of the pod. God willing. Like the. The Nets, I think are. Could have. Could have the potential to just be funny on some nights because you have the. Just the fact that Cam Thomas and Michael Porter Jr. Are going to be playing next to each other is going to be some like AAU EYBL shit. Like it could be just.
- [14:31]
Tyler Parker
It could be wild.
- [14:32]
Jesse
Yeah, that's my first honorable mention.
- [14:35]
Tyler Parker
No, I mean, yeah, there's going to be some, you know, knock down drag outs to see who gets to shoot the ball between those two guys. Like they, yeah, they may just stop passing to one another at a certain point.
- [14:50]
Jesse
Like.
- [14:51]
Tyler Parker
But it. No, yeah. Mpj. Mpj. Taking a bit of a step down from playing with Jokic to. And I'm a Cam Thomas apologist. I think he lives Moss. I think he is one of our finest heater, heat check artists and one of our finest gunners. You know what I mean? Like I. And. And that, that is, that's a virtue as far as I'm concerned. But yeah, probably a little different playing with the shot a minute. Cam Thomas. Then it's.
- [15:23]
Jesse
It's probably that the Nets drafted all passers in the draft. Maybe that was their thinking. It actually makes a lot more sense. We need a lot of passes to go around. A lot of passes and yeah, that one. That one makes a lot of sense for me. I was going to say that. Has any player benefited from being imported into a situation with a particular teammate than MPJ did with Jokic? Like what. How would his career have been different? I'm not going to try to make this an MPJ pod, but it's. It might end up being inevitable, but I just can't. Is there a more perfect person on earth for him to be. To have been paired with? Because you mentioned how Jokic is such a giving lover on the court, how he could take a. What did you say? He could take a pile of sticks and make. Turn it into a connecting. A bonding moment with someone else. Like, I just can't imagine a better situation for a player.
- [16:16]
Tyler Parker
Yeah, he. He fell, you know, spavors into the lap of luxury for sure. Getting to play with him. I mean, it's, you know, the, the. He falls in the draft because of his back. All those things are well known. But yeah, for a. For a catch and shoot guy who is gigantic and can see over the defense and be seen over the defense. Maybe more importantly with. In this case.
- [16:48]
Jesse
Yeah.
- [16:49]
Tyler Parker
No, you can't. You can't ask for a better situation than what he found himself in. So, yeah, it. I don't know how it'll go. I really. It's. It. I. I think that he might be in for a pretty rude awakening and look back and be like, oh, shit, that grass was really green. I thought it was gre. That grass was like, that's.
- [17:15]
Jesse
Grass is green in Colorado. It's beautiful out there.
- [17:17]
Tyler Parker
Kelly green.
- [17:18]
Jesse
Yeah.
- [17:19]
Tyler Parker
And so. Yeah, it. Yeah, the net. The Nets will be an interesting watch. I don't imagine the Nets are on your.
- [17:27]
Jesse
No, they're not. They're. They're. Honorable mention. Another honorable mention that I wanted to bring up. I know we both have an affinity for this situation is the Jazz. I really just. I like the Walter Clayton Jr. Ace Bailey combo.
- [17:41]
Tyler Parker
I just so excited for Walter Clayton Jr. Man, I. Yeah. Especially after watching him in Summer League 2 and seeing some of that stuff kind of translate. I mean, I know it's summer league. I know that if they play bad, it doesn't matter. If they play good, it doesn't matter. But the. Something about the, the confidence and how smooth everything still was. Yeah. No, I'm big. Big Walter Clayton Jr. Guy.
- [18:07]
Jesse
Yeah. Number nine on my list. And this is driven by, you know, revenge Tour, I think is going to be a theme for some of the teams. There's going to be a oh, you forgot about us thing going on with some of the teams in the east, specifically number nine, though, is just skinny Luca, the Lakers. I just, I'm very curious to see what is going to happen with skinny Luka here. And also potential weirdness, Ongoing weirdness. There could be like some LeBron behavioral kind of stuff driving some of the news cycle stuff with the Lakers that I think is going to be interesting. My first question though for you with the Lakers is how skinny is too skinny for Luka? Do you think, do you think he. He risks losing something with losing all the weight, like with the way that he plays?
- [18:51]
Tyler Parker
It certainly risks it because he uses those shoulders like battering rams and you know, if you, if he gets you on his hip, he's strong enough that he, you know, nobody's going to be able to really bump him off his spot. Does that take a hit with him? You know, hopefully he maintains enough mass. Right. That that stuff is still able to be part of his game. It is like, you know, I remember when LeBron got super skinny, you know, like, it was like there was all those rumors about like, did he just get really skinny to be in Train Wreck and then he put more or.
- [19:32]
Jesse
Is it like a Ben Affleck body career? You're like, ben Affleck, he's real thin.
- [19:37]
Tyler Parker
Oh, he's probably more.
- [19:39]
Jesse
That's probably not fair. But he gets. It's very up and down. Yeah, right.
- [19:44]
Tyler Parker
I'm sure the rumor that he lost weight for Train Wreck is not. Is wildly unfair too, but like, I just remember him coming into that season like noticeably thinner and it didn't. He was, he was better at a higher laneway. You know what I mean? Like there's. To me, Luca never like, you know, body style wise, like looked all that out of shape. It was, it was just the conditioning was. Seemed to be a disaster and he could. He was always comfortable taking a few seconds to complain about a no call before he got back on defense. And that stuff kind of puts you behind the eight balls. Like, it's obviously good that he is more in shape. Like, I'm not trying to zag and be like, oh, you know. But to answer your question, yes, there probably is a too skinny version of Luca.
- [20:41]
Jesse
Yeah, I mean, Cade went through some of that when he first came into the league. I was, I don't pointed this out.
- [20:46]
Tyler Parker
I'm ready to say that, like, I don't think Luca is in any danger of being too skinny right now. Like maybe, maybe the season starts and.
- [20:53]
Jesse
You just wonder, you Just wonder. That's all I'm saying. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not passing a verdict or something here. I'm just saying. I just. I've wondered. I have. Kentucky had a kid named Dakari Johnson who moonlighted with the. With the Thunder for a little bit. I remember Dakari, and he had a big old butt. When he came to Kentucky, he was a heavy kid, and he would just pummel people, and it was fun to watch. And then he lost weight because he thought he needed to do that to go to the NBA, and it just neutralized him. And I just thought.
- [21:18]
Tyler Parker
I'm just pointing out.
- [21:19]
Jesse
That's all I'm saying. You know, I remember when I was.
- [21:21]
Tyler Parker
Pretty fat in college, and I, Johnson, have a lot in common.
- [21:25]
Jesse
Yeah. No, I mean, I went to college. My. My uncle, actually, who's outside my house with my dad working on something right now. He was like, you're gonna gain weight in college. He was, like, messing with me, I'm pretty sure, but I was like, no, I won't. Totally did. Went to college, gained like 50 pounds. But I remember people bouncing off of me in the lane in a way that they never did the best. And I was just like, oh. Anyway, it always. Always comes to mind.
- [21:48]
Tyler Parker
No, but I think if you tell. I think if you hit up Luca. If Luca does struggle early on, I think if you hit him up and say, look, when I was at Murray State playing.
- [21:57]
Jesse
Yeah.
- [21:57]
Tyler Parker
Pickup ball, I think that that stuff. I think that that will. That analogy will bridge that gap and get him to see.
- [22:05]
Jesse
He'll probably jack me and give me a pair of Luca threes and be. Think of threes or fours, and I guarantee he'll bring me into the fold. No doubt about it. Number eight is a total chaos pick. Now. I think that the broader nature of league pass appeal. I was going to defer to you, and you're like, league pass aura is just different than competitiveness. Right. There's. The stakes are lower. We're not like, you don't have to win the sort of piss and vinegar sort of part of it is something that is a common denominator, I think, with some of the teams that draw your eyeballs. And I think the Wizards have a chance. I know I've talked about them off and on this summer quite a bit, but I think the Wizards have a chaos good thing going on with them, where especially they pick up Cam Whitmore. If they just spin Cam Whitmore like a top out there, and he's like has some, like, you should have been playing me energy out there. That's fun. Obviously, the, the Koulibaly, you got guys flying around dunking.
- [23:05]
Tyler Parker
I know.
- [23:06]
Jesse
Is, is dunking a key tenet of league pass aura, Tyler? Is that a key part of it?
- [23:11]
Tyler Parker
I don't think it's a key tenant. I think it's definitely a factor. I think if you excel at it, then it's obviously a plus for you. It's not a requirement to be high profile, you know, league pass option. But I don't. It, it doesn't hurt. But it, but it, but it's not. If it's a team that doesn't have a bunch of leapers. But they're still, it's possible to still be fun to watch even if you're not playing above the rim all the time. You know what I mean?
- [23:43]
Jesse
That's true. I mean it's, it's okay. It's not as good, I, I would say, but it's, I, I, I just think, I just think there's a, there's a teenager driving the Ferrari manual shift thing going on with young teams where they, you know, one moment they're going 170 and a 55 and then they're, and then they can't shift the gears because they don't know how to play yet together. And I think the Wizards have a chance to be a team like that and they're going to be pissed and they're going to be, when they play a good team, they're going to have that OKC Poku teams. They'd just be like, oh, we're going to beat the best team in the league tonight. And we think we can like, I think that is like the, that's the essence of league pass power, I think.
- [24:24]
Tyler Parker
No, I hear you. I mean, I do think you have to consider that Poku is a one of one as a competitor and we're not going to see the like, the likes of him again.
- [24:34]
Jesse
His like again. Yeah.
- [24:35]
Tyler Parker
Unless someone in the league smartens up and brings him back overseas. When you sent me your list, the Wizards at eight, it definitely made me raise my eyebrows. I would, I put them at eight. No, but, but I would be absolutely lying if I didn't say I was stoked to watch Trey Johnson and Kaishan George and Koulibaly and these other dudes try to kind of figure it out together. I think you're right. That Whitmore there, like, I think he's going to come out and be, and be very much in that mindset of, you people don't know what I've had to hide for these last few years. You people don't know how I've had to. You know what I mean? Like, you people don't know how I've had to have. How I've had to tamp my own brilliance down.
- [25:28]
Jesse
Is. It has been a pride swallowing siege that I will never fully tell you about. No, I, you know that there's going to be a moment in December where there's going to be attacks for Apple. I, I want Apple TV to let me program the notifications because I don't. That's where I watch League pass through. I just want me. I want them to let me write the, the headlines. I want them to be like, turn the channel right now Trey Johnson has eight threes and, and they're going to beat the, you know, they're going to beat the warriors. And it's the fourth quarter. Like, I just, I think there's potential for that to happen. I think Trey Johnson drives a lot of that. Moving on. Moving. Do you have any.
- [26:05]
Tyler Parker
I do. I want to. Bub Carrington has earned the right for us to mention his name, I think. And also Alex Saar. I mean, like, he, you know, wasn't lighting the world on fire or anything like that. But the end of the year was better than the beginning of it. And you know, number former number two overall pick, like, that's a factor there too, to watch his development.
- [26:29]
Jesse
And part of one of my favorite moments ever with you in a casino when we were walking behind them and that guy said them some tall brothers. He was walking with his brother. I'm some tall. Oh, brothers. That's right. Summed it up. Number seven, the Orlando Magic. Orlando Magic. I do think that there's some, some Mufasa voice, you've forgotten me going on. I think that both, both of them with the. It was labrum, right? Was it the torn. It was shoulders. They both basically had the same injury. Them coming back and adding the lubrication of Desmond Baines shooting. Subtract some of the, I don't know. You talk to Magic fans and a lot of them, I think from the outside, the national NBA people or the average fan would look at the Cole Anthony experience and be like, oh, don't know about that. But you talk to Magic fans and they all, a lot of them would defend Cole Anthony in my experience. But I just, I just see a season from them in the, in the decimated East. You were talking about making a run Taking a step forward. I especially think when you consider the Pistons. I was thinking about Days of Thunder, as I often do, and there's that part where, you know, Cole Trickle was the new. The new hotness, and he is away for a time because he gets his eggs scrambled in a couple different wrecks. You know the story. And Russ Wheeler comes in, played by Cary Elway. I don't know how believable that one is, you know, Carrie Elway, nascar. But he comes in and they have a rivalry, and I could see that ramping up between the Pistons and the Magic, who the Magic were like, we're not gone, buddy. You forgot about us. And. And some tension could arise there. So I think they could be fun.
- [28:06]
Tyler Parker
To watch this year to do all of that and to also get Jalen Suggs back, I think. Yeah, I just. I think defensively they're going to be a nightmare once again. Maybe even more so. Like, Bane is. Is not a bad defender at all. Right. Like, he's very capable on that end, too. And I. I'm very, very excited to watch how Bain's deep ball can open some things up for Franz and for Paolo kind of in the little in between areas where that they like to operate, you know what I mean? Like, the. The. I think that he's going to. He's going to loosen the defense up a lot. And. And I think that their offense, Will was in desperate need of more spacing, and Will can only take a step up now that Moore is going to be there. You know what I mean? It's. I'm excited. Like, I'm a big Anthony Black guy. Like, I'm excited to see what he looks like this year. Yeah, I just. They are a team that is extremely scrappy and extremely competitive and they don't take shit. And I think that that stuff just travels really well, you know what I mean? Like, that, like, I think their floor is going to be super duper high. I think their defense can keep them in games that if Paolo and Franz show up to the gym a little frosty, you know what I mean? Like, I'm not there a team that I would be like, I would. I would really be really, really surprised if they did not look significantly better this year, at least on the offensive end than they did last year. You know, like.
- [30:08]
Jesse
Big, big fu.
- [30:09]
Tyler Parker
Energy.
- [30:09]
Jesse
I think with them, I think they're going to be pissed. They're going to be ready.
- [30:12]
Tyler Parker
Mo Wagner coming back, like, is. Is. He's a good player for them, you know what I mean? Like, that would be his thing.
- [30:18]
Jesse
Like they're could have a Franz all star leap also that. That's also in the card. So that could. That could be interesting. Number Number six just moving through here. Number six. I think just the. The reliability and like the consistent brilliance has made him maybe less of an imperative to watch on a nightly basis. Granted, you could always. You could on a nightly basis just watch Nikola Jokic and have a just very bountiful plentiful basketball diet in your life. But I think. I think he alone justifies just being number six in on any given night. He could be number one. I just think that we kind of know. I feel like league pass is a little bit more for the fresh. You know, the teams that we know a lot about. I feel like it becomes less of an imperative for them. But I think them figuring it out with Cam Johnson bringing Brucie back, maybe we get Daron Holmes into contributing at some point. But I think the Sixer or the Sixers, the Nuggets I think are going to be a consistently fun watch because I think. And you mentioned that they were they 1a or 1b on your concern list for you.
- [31:23]
Tyler Parker
You talk about like as threats to the Thunder. As a Thunder homer. The. Yeah, they were. I mean they're kind of interchangeable with the rockets at 1A and 1B to be honest with you. Like, the. I think the Cam Johnson pickup is massive and I think that that'll be a seamless fit. I've always been a Brucey B apologist. You know what I mean? Like, I think. I think he. For what he does, it just fits so well with how they like to play there, you know, And I just feel like that offense isn't going to. Isn't going to lose a step really. And you know, they took the Thunder to seven games, so it's like it's a. That's, you know, respect to them. And then the Rockets, I feel that way because of just obviously the K.D. dorian, Finney Smith. I mean we can talk about that later. But yeah, those are kind of the. But yeah, I'm. I'm very, very pumped up to see what the Nuggets look like. Just because it's like it'll be a little bit. It's. It's, you know, it's not just like that. The. It's not just adding a new skill, a new player with a new skill set. Right. Or whatever. I mean there's some. There's definitely some overlap with MPJ and Cam. But like it. It's also just a new vibe kind of in the building. You know what I mean?
- [32:55]
Jesse
I think retooling around your core is just essential. If you watch over the years, over the best dynasties, I mean, even the Celtics in the 80, they were 80s, they were like moving pieces on the periphery to sort of keep things fresh and to keep it moving. The spurs, the way that they were able to elongate that those timelines is that they did such a good job doing that. I yeah, I think that Cam is a more intuitive cutter than mpj. I think he's, he doesn't have these sort of attention lapses that that MPJ has on both ends of the floor. I don't think he's going to struggle to learn some of the, some of the ways that I just don't think it's going to be a steep learning curve for him playing next to Jokic. And Jokic bridges a lot of those gaps.
- [33:38]
Tyler Parker
So like Johnson, Cam, Cam Johnson is a very, very smart player. You know what I mean? Like, like, like offensively, like that's a thoughtful, thoughtful guy who understands what he does and where he needs to be to be most effective. And yeah, I think putting a shooter like that with Jokic, yeah, it could just be bonanza, you know?
- [34:05]
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- [36:23]
Jesse
Next on my list, the Pistons. The Pistons, I wrote in my notes. The Pistons are an old mechanic at a body shop in eastern Kentucky just sitting on a tailgate during their break, deeply inhaling the smoke. They just, they take those deep draws. They, they don't. Ron Holland is nuts, man. I mean, he's. I wasn't, I wasn't, I wasn't a gigantic fan of his coming into the draft because I was just really skeptical of him offensively putting it together. But the defense, you know, we talk a lot about the Terror twins with the, with the Rockets. Asar and Ron Holland together are entertaining because they can guard anybody up and down the food chain. They're both great, bouncy athletes, spindly, sinewy, powerful, and they got some shit to them. Both of them do. Holland took Reed shepherd as a personal affront to his existence at summer league. He was just like, there was a really funny moment where Reed was miked up. I think I talked about this on the ringer NBA on the draft show. But Reed was miked up and he said something like, can't do that. Can't leave me open. Can't say something. And Ron Holland proceeded to make his life hell for the next, for the next. Like, it was, it was incredible. But the Pistons, I think Beasley had one of the best, like, most productive off screen efficiency scoring seasons in a while. Last year, I think he was top three up there with the usual suspects of the staffs and the, and the guys like that, but they lose him, but they gained Duncan Robinson. The question I guess is just going to be are they even going to miss a beat? Because they might not, honestly.
- [37:59]
Tyler Parker
And that's before we even get to Jaden Ivey coming back, which I think is going to be massive. Just beyond him being good for them. Like if we are just talking about it from a league pass perspective, like that's a big ad, you know what I mean? Like that's another big.
- [38:15]
Jesse
That's one of your sleeper guys. You were saying for, for could be one of the key players in the league pass landscape this year.
- [38:23]
Tyler Parker
Oh, I think so. Just because as, as, as, as the roster, as the Pistons have kind of filled out the roster, I think going to be able to focus on the stuff that he does well, you know, and that's playing like a madman and getting out in transition and like you know, making boom a little bit. And that, that is, that, that is something that we at league pass headquarters love. You know what I mean? So it's, it's. I'm, I'm, I'm, I've. I feel very excited about that. But yeah, I mean just the Pistons in general, I mean just completely grimy in the best way and very about it.
- [39:05]
Jesse
Right.
- [39:05]
Tyler Parker
Like there's. They're not going to back down from anybody. They are going to feel like they're in any game. I think Cade gives them a lot of confidence and a lot of swagger and yeah to just to watch them last year kind of carve themselves into this thing that is extremely sturdy and isn't going to really get rattled, you know what I mean? Like as a young team to watch how they handle themselves in that Knicks series like it was, that was not a young team that just was in over their head playing it, you know what I mean? Like it was, that was a, that was a blow for blow kind of series and could have gone the other way if, if, if a couple shots do some different things. So yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm really, I'm really excited about the Pistons and yeah, that's another team that I think it wouldn't shock me at all to see in the Eastern Conference finals, huh?
- [40:23]
Jesse
It's. Yeah. Of all the years too. It's, it's very impossible. Yeah. Right out of the gate we get on October 24th we get them at Houston which will be that, that will be a feisty one. And then let's see the first time that Orlando comes on. See, they play. That's all the way in April, though. April 6 and they play March. They play Orlando at Orlando. So they're going to have a lot of opportunities to, to get feisty with them. And November 28th at home.
- [40:53]
Tyler Parker
Yeah, I think that them and the Knicks though, like, I think that, that.
- [40:56]
Jesse
That, that'll be ongoing series.
- [40:57]
Tyler Parker
Yeah, that series kind of established something and, and I, I, I'm excited to watch that kind of blossom at number four.
- [41:09]
Jesse
You were surprised by this one. I put the Hawks. A driving reason for this is the ass ascension of Jalen Johnson. I don't know. I always joke about there are these, I know ball things that come up in basketball conversation where you can kind of.
- [41:25]
Tyler Parker
He's definitely, definitely.
- [41:27]
Jesse
Yeah, you tip your cap, you're like, I see what's going on. Like, you pick that thing that's just fringe enough. And I feel like Jalen was that for a while, but he's 100% graduated to like, this isn't just some like. And it's not that strange. I mean, Jalen was like an rsci, like composite high school rankings. Cream of the crop, top of the top of the pops. He was one of the main coveted prizes in his high school class. Weird, weird year at Duke. Gets undervalued, gets pushed back into the first round, gets taken 610 guy with ball skills. Shooting has been the question for him. Passing the ball has always kind of been there in transition. He shows a lot of things. He's built like a freaking Adonis. He's gigantic and, and ripped. Just a, and just so handsome. I don't even, I've just go down. I was like, kyle, are you having a moment there? No, I just, he's, he's just a great, great athlete. Um, and I think some of the, some of his ascension, some of his strength as an on ball presence, I think has, has sort of paved the way for the. Hey, Trey. You know, the Samwise on the Mount Doom thing of like, hey, share the load. I can carry the ring a little bit too, Trey. And that is what I'm going to be most interested to see because this past year, before last 6% of his touches were pick and roll on ball reps. In this past year that went up to 14%. He's still only 23 years old. The shot isn't something he's hunting, but it is something that he can hit when he's 12 open. You know, then you also got, you know, some of the most cursed words in the basketball lexicon if Porzingis is healthy, lightning gonna strike.
- [43:06]
Tyler Parker
Yeah. Duck.
- [43:07]
Jesse
And then you've got the. The fun tandem of another set of terror twins in. In Dyson Daniels and. And Reza Shay. I just think it's an interesting roster and I think you're. You're talking about the openness of the East. They might have some scrappiness to. To jump in there and seize. Seize the open. You know, the. The vacancy.
- [43:25]
Tyler Parker
I wasn't that surprised to see them to see the. The Hawks high. I like to see them at 4. It did make me think for a second but as you know, huge member of the Jalen Johnson fan club and have been for a minute.
- [43:44]
Jesse
I think you know, ball man, you know.
- [43:46]
Tyler Parker
Oh man, I'm so. Dude, I'm so smart. Have you. If I were you, I'd watch this LeBron guy this year.
- [43:55]
Jesse
Okay.
- [43:55]
Tyler Parker
Really interested to see what. No, please take that joke out. Jesse. The. I don't. I like. I think. I think you're spot on with Jalen where it's like if the three ball does come along. My God, you know what I mean? Like that. That's. That's a perennial all star. If the three ball comes along.
- [44:19]
Jesse
He and Franz I think are like right there at the threshold of. Especially with the guys that are out that we could see both of them like make that kind of a job. Like. Yeah.
- [44:28]
Tyler Parker
And. And Jalen. There's a lot of fun passing stuff with Jalen too that I think gets swept a little bit under the rug. But like that's a guy that can dime some people up. You know what I mean?
- [44:47]
Jesse
5 is per game this past year.
- [44:49]
Tyler Parker
No, he. I mean he's pretty good numbers.
- [44:52]
Sponsor/Ad Voice
He's.
- [44:53]
Tyler Parker
And I think that as you said, if the on ball reps go up, that goes up too. You know what I mean? And to see Reese's Shay in his second year. I mean for the second half of the year, recess shoots like I think like 41, 42% from three on like five attempts a game or something. Like he's. He was playing well for the second half of the season and you see him another year better. Same thing with Daniels. I also think adding Nikhil Alexander Walker is pretty massive for them. Just. He's. He was huge for the Wolves and I think elevated his play in the playoffs too. This. This past season. I think that that's a guy that they'll miss. As much as I Love Terence Shannon Jr. But the. But yeah it. It Alexander Walker being added to that mix in the back court to also just that's now kind of two guys that can be your point of attack defender at the top of the, you know, at the top of the shell a little bit. And that's another guy that you could play with Trey that can take some of that defensive pressure off of him, you know what I mean? Like, yeah. And so it. I'm, I'm excited about that. I'm with like Porzingis is to the point where like, yeah, we'll see what happens. You know what I mean? Like he's. His health is so up in the air all the time, but I don't even really know what to do with like predicting anything with him. You know what I mean? Like, it's like, well, we'll just, we'll see what his body says.
- [46:46]
Jesse
He's ice icing on the cake. And they have a Kong woo and they have, you know, they drafted Asa Newell's more of an energy big. So the depth there could be a question. But yeah, number three, number one picks drive traffic. Typically people are going to be curious and I think this situation, especially if he starts to figure out on ball life, if he starts to detangle that in the first two or three months of the NBA, the Mavs, I just think Cooper is going to be in a unique situation where, you know, if Kyrie were there, I still think it would be pretty fun to watch. But I think he, you know, they brought in d' Angelo Russell, I don't really feel like they're going to just throw the keys to d' Angelo in that sense.
- [47:30]
Tyler Parker
I mean, I hope not if I'm a Maps fan. I hope not, I guess.
- [47:35]
Jesse
But I just, I, I think Cooper, Cooper's unique situation, I think he's going to be fun to watch anyway. But I, I think in this particular scenario, playing with the players that he's playing with, I think we could see some pretty cool early returns from him.
- [47:49]
Tyler Parker
I don't disagree with your, with what you said on Cooper. The, the Mavs would not be at three for me. But, but the flag factor is obviously a big one and I agree with you that with Kyrie sitting more of the ball handling, I think they're going to try to put in Cooper's hands and that will be. It'll be fun to watch to see what he's capable of and where the holes are in his handle, where and how he tries to compensate for those. What kind of counters can he add? Just stuff like that. Like the, the as. As great as he looked as a scorer there. I, I did Feel like there was like a little bit to be desired, handle wise. And that's to be expected. Right? Like he's a rookie who is only just now starting to like, really explore what he can be as like this dominant one ball kind of guy, but like, it. I agree with those things. I'm not going to be like tuning into every Mavs game or anything like that. Like, I don't. I don't. They don't get me going in that way. Exactly. Now, that said, if Clay comes back and, you know, post Megan the Stallion has a little bit more pop to his game, you know, it's got some life which is not out of the possibility. She's amazing and I hope that Clay.
- [49:30]
Jesse
You said Clay, just as we, as we drive by this, we. We gotta get off the interstate for a second here and just talk about you. You had a. A Shaq. I didn't. I didn't. I was unfamiliar with your game to that extent moment.
- [49:44]
Tyler Parker
You were, you were.
- [49:46]
Jesse
I mean, I always thought Clay was a charming guy. He's got his own boat. I was explaining this to Megan. I was just like. I was like, I think women like Clay. I mean, he's got his own boat. He wears the hat, he's light hearted. His dad was a famous. You know, he. You know, I just. Well, we won't go too much into detail there, but yeah, I just think what surprised you. I wasn't super surprised.
- [50:09]
Tyler Parker
It wasn't. It wasn't any shots at Clay, like, you know, obviously magnetic, individual, you know, like with a lot of charisma. It's more. It's more a comment on how. How high the esteem that I hold Megan thee Stallion in. You know what I mean?
- [50:32]
Jesse
Oh, I see.
- [50:33]
Tyler Parker
Like, you know, this is one of the greats.
- [50:36]
Jesse
Okay.
- [50:36]
Tyler Parker
And to see Clay with her, I was just a little bit like, hey, man, I was not familiar with your game. So, you know, good for him. Yeah, no, he could take a big step up. You know, it could be like when, you know, like a sort of an inverted version of whenever Fred Benvleet had his kid. You know what I mean? And he just goes ballistic. Maybe this is. Maybe, you know, maybe this will be the Afro Clay.
- [51:02]
Jesse
I'm not trying to wish fatherhood on him, but.
- [51:05]
Tyler Parker
No, no, just like. Just something changes in your relationship status in some way and then you take it and then you take a leap up, you know, who knows? Yeah, but. Yeah, but yeah, I mean, like, there is a version of the Mavericks that I think is appointment viewing and legitimately Fun to watch. I mean, in the same way that, you know, if Porzingis is healthy has become, you know, an exciting collection of words, I think you could do the same thing with fad is. I mean, you know, will, Will. Both of Will. Will Gafford and Lively. Like, can they stay healthy? Will they be back? Will they be able to be as effective as they can be with. With like the current ball handlers that Dallas has? You know what I mean? Like, is obviously they're not going to eat and pick and rolls like they were when Luca was there. You know, where they get, where they. How, how they get their stuff will change. But yeah, that's, that's one of those, like, I just want to kind of see how it works before I start putting them too high on my rankings. You know what I mean?
- [52:26]
Jesse
Sure, sure. Well, I'll just rattle off the last two here for time's sake. The Rockets at number two. They were high last year. They were really fun last year. Some of the, some of the biggest line stepping energy in the whole league. Amen. Was your league pass mvp. I expect them. Since they, they offloaded Jalen Green and Dylan Brooks. His on ball opportunities are going to have to go up even more, but I think there's room for him to expand. And I think he's probably the best athlete in the NBA right now. Would you say?
- [52:54]
Tyler Parker
I mean, he. Yes. Yeah, he is. He's the, he's the guy in the NBA now that is most likely to do something that makes you think there's something wrong with your Internet. Like, you know what I mean? Like he's the guy who is going to go from point A to point B and it's going to feel like that there was like a glitch and like the screen jumped a little bit. Like there's. Because it's not just jumping right. Like it's not. It's incredible. Yeah, laterally he's incredible. End to end speed. It's just, it's bananas, man. Like, the, Is he the.
- [53:33]
Jesse
Is he the best closeout defender in the NBA right now? Like, I know he's on ball stuff.
- [53:38]
Tyler Parker
You're better at that sort of stuff than me, dude. Stuff.
- [53:41]
Jesse
Yeah, the stuff that he dissuades. There was a play that I was watching where he was literally in the short corner by the, by the free throw, like the free throw line in the baseline. Like by that corner on the baseline. Nas Reed caught the ball on the, on the right wing and, and Amin starts to move towards him and Nasri was Like, nah, I'm not gonna be able get this off. He kicks it to the corner and. And Amin shifts and goes over. I've just never seen someone so territorial like covering ground. Like, he just contests things. He recovers and contests things. That's just what I mean. Like in terms of like covering open space, he's just a phenomenal talent. I mean, it's like OG it's, it's. It's a. It's a high list of guys. Kawhi's not flying around quite like that anymore. But Amen does some incredible stuff closing out on shooters.
- [54:32]
Tyler Parker
He would be a reason to buy a ticket, you know what I mean? To get to see him in person. Like he is. I think he's one of those players now where that physically he's capable of. Of so much. You just. Yeah, you want to see. Because it's. Because sometimes it's not the plays that wind up as highlights. Right? Like, sometimes it's just he tried to take a ball off the back, like try to take a layup off the backboard. And like the layup just barely beats him to the glass. But like he's ripping it at like the top of the square and stuff like that. Like, it's just these. There are these sort of in between things you talk about with that closeout. Like just him getting back in transition is a show. And so like to like. The other thing I think with getting rid of. Getting rid of Jalen is that that was a defender that he was having to help cover for. You know what I mean? To. To remove him. Like, I think they'll be able to put out some lineups where it's all positive, plus defenders, you know what I mean? And so, and to see him able to kind of like if. If it. He's so valuable on ball, they. They might not want to do this type of thing. But him in like a Draymond Green, put him on the. Put him on the non shooter and let him roam. And you just kind of let him free safety it back there and just Ronnie Lott shit all game. Like there's that. They added Dorian, Finney Smith too, I think is a. Is a big thing. Just these, these. They're gonna have waves of these long defenders. It's kind of like it's, it's. It's a more. It's a taller sort of version of what the Thunder have. A little bit like, you know, the, The Thunder are better equipped.
- [56:42]
Jesse
Yeah, right.
- [56:43]
Tyler Parker
Yeah, but the, The Thunder are better equipped. Maybe like point of attack. You know what I mean? Like Casen, Caruso, Dort, these sorts of guys. But as far as like wing defenders are concerned, right, like this, like this collection that the Rockets have put together, like, it's, it's scary, man. And, and yeah, and I mean, Vinnie Smith has shown the ability to like make plays on offense when he has to his shots when he has to. Yeah, I, it's, it's. They're, they're. I think they're going to be really, really exciting. I think Durant has been, will have been hearing a lot of people kind of talk about him like he's not quite what he was, you know, which is, which is true, I think, but I think that motivating factor, he's going to, they're going to be, I think they're going to be very good very quickly, you know, because he is such a seamless fit. Like, I don't think they're going to be the record scratches that you can see sometimes whenever you add like a big time offensive player to these new teams. Like, I think that'll go, that'll go well. So it, yeah, I'm rambling at this point, but yeah, I think they, they're a Goliath now. You know what I mean? Like before, before they, depending on the night, they could be, you know, really difficult. But yeah, to add, to add someone as sure of themselves on offense as kd, I think just, it can't not take them up a level, you know.
- [58:34]
Jesse
Yeah, I think he'll slot right in there and I think some of the, some of the scheming gridlock that the Rockets would run into in late game situations in terms of just shot creation, end of clock, end of quarter, end of game. He'll alleviate some of that stuff because he's just one of the best. No dribble, you know, off the catch.
- [58:50]
Tyler Parker
He can just make, I mean, Van Vliet, Van Vliet will be better in those situations because he's not going to have as much of a burden offensively. Like, he's just going to have more juice late in the games. Like it? Yeah, no, I, they're, they're. I think they're going to be a.
- [59:06]
Jesse
Bear to deal with finally, number one, largely because of Wimby. I still just think Wimby's one of the most singular all time aliens. Can't believe I saw that. No one else can do some of the things that he can do. I just still think that he's one and we get, you know, we had the truncated season Last year was cut short. We didn't get to see him and Dear and Fox together. Now you compound that with the fact that Dylan Harper is going to be finding his sea leg. So I think that and he'll have some exciting moments. You got, you know, year two Stefan Castle coming off a great season. I just think that team is going to have a lot. I'll be curious to see how close they are to Houston. Honestly, I think that, that alone, I just think the state of Texas, that triangle is going to be a really strong league pass entity. But I just think Wimby, if he comes back and he's healthy, hopefully that doesn't continue to be a thing in the way that it has been for Porzingis where we, we worry about it all the time. But I just think San Antonio is going to be a really fun watch.
- [60:08]
Tyler Parker
Oh for sure. I mean I think I like a large portion of it is like I think because Wemby is capable of just doing things that people haven't seen before. Right? Like there's there, there is still as he, as he develops and becomes capable of more and more. Like sometimes when the, when the crazy new thing has been around for a few years, it stops being a novelty but because he's developing and adding all these parts to his game, like he just sort of remains one, you know what I mean? He remains this sort of new thing. Like what can this guy do? I like you've talked about this before. I know, but it feels like it's like will, Will his like running one legged threes that he, that he will take off of like two bounces. So not really running but like, you know what I mean? Like will these things start to be a thing that he's doing in the league? Like what just I'm, I'm interested in. But for a lot of these, especially a lot of these big dudes, the thing that always lets them go to the next level other than developing like a consistent jump shot, I just think how tight can you get the handle? Like how, how locked up can you have that right? Like if, if, if, if everything is, is smooth off the dribble, then that makes all the other parts of your game open up more, you know what I mean? And so like to see where he's at with that this year, I think will, that, that will, that will be a thing that will be of interest for I think the next like five years. You know what I mean? Like as he, as he just continues to grow and figure out what he needs to do but yeah, I mean, could he get 20 blocks in a game? Like, probably not, but, like, 20, 20.
- [62:19]
Jesse
Could he get 15? Wait, 10 is very possible. I mean, I think he got 10 his rookie year. Yeah.
- [62:25]
Tyler Parker
Yeah.
- [62:26]
Jesse
Could he get 15? Can we get in that 15, 20 range?
- [62:28]
Tyler Parker
Yeah, like what, like, what's. What is. What's crazy for him? You know what I mean? Like, because if you would have, like, when Jokic first came around like these 30, 20, 20 games, everybody would have been like, shut up. Are you insane? No way.
- [62:42]
Jesse
And how many times he done that? Yeah, yeah.
- [62:45]
Tyler Parker
And so, like, it's. There is something to Wimby where it's like the things that he's capable of are things that nobody before him. Like, you know, there's the Wilt discussion, obviously, but, like, it. Yeah, there's just, there's. There's. He is. He's the one guy in the league who can sort of rip the roof off of whatever people think is possible for a basketball player. Like, he's the guy who can reset the ceiling height a little bit for like, what we think is. Is able to be done on the floor. And so, you know, for that, I, I don't blame you for having one.
- [63:33]
Jesse
Yeah. Yeah. So that's. That's my league pass rankings. We were going to do league pass hall of Fame, but we, we ate up all of our time. Just some of the. The ones I wanted to hit really quickly. Vince Carter, 98 to 2001, some of the best appointment TV of my lifetime. Rookie Zion. Rookie Wimby, 24 to or 2014 to 2019. Steph Curry had some of the craziest hot streaks. You know, almost 400 dribble threes and 15, 16, and he hit 43% of them. John Morant. Blake Griffin, though, was the overwhelming one. I don't, I don't want to dwell too long on this, but I. From a lot of the people that I heard, I mean, Blake was nuts during that time frame. And then in terms of just specific runs, you know, Linsanity, I think was a pretty crazy league pass run. Kobe's run in 06 that culminated with the 81 point game. The Heatles, the Warriors during their 73 and 9 season. Lob City, there are a lot through there. You know, seven seconds or less. You smartly brought up the oh3 mavs.
- [64:37]
Tyler Parker
Yeah, when they got Van Axle. Yeah, when I got. When they got Van Exel.
- [64:43]
Jesse
Shiny shorts, baggy. Yeah.
- [64:45]
Tyler Parker
I mean, what he did in that series against the Kings that postseason, like there was forget what game. It was. But yeah, he went ballistic in one of the games in that series and yeah, just another guy who, like in that Nelly offense where they were just running and gunning and it was, yeah, Nick, whatever you want to do, man, go ahead. Yeah, that was, I, I, I, that was like a weirdly like a foundational basketball thing for me, watching that. Being like this. I can't. This guy, I just, it was, it was, it was, he was so interesting on that team because it was Dirk. And Nash. And Nash.
- [65:28]
Jesse
That team went to the conference finals.
- [65:32]
Tyler Parker
Yeah.
- [65:32]
Jesse
Yes. Van axel, Dirk, Nash, LaFrence. Let's see. Finley, Raja.
- [65:40]
Tyler Parker
Yeah.
- [65:40]
Jesse
Tariq, Abdulhad, as I said, Walt Williams, Nahara. Another good one. Oklahoma. Right? Anyway, fun stuff.
- [65:47]
Tyler Parker
Fun stuff.
- [65:49]
Jesse
And other than that, yeah, we talked about Gallinari's wife got bitten by a shark. You had a quick take on that.
- [65:58]
Tyler Parker
Do you want me to say that thing? No, I mean my joke take was, well, she deserved it. You know, that's, that's where he, that's where he lives, not her.
- [66:07]
Jesse
Yeah.
- [66:08]
Tyler Parker
Or I mean, maybe it was a female. Maybe it was a female shark. But you know, you know, I don't know if I want to be saying that on a podcast, though.
- [66:15]
Jesse
That's fine. That's fine.
- [66:18]
Tyler Parker
And.
- [66:18]
Jesse
All right, well, yeah, I guess that's, that's all. You can continue to hit us up with your league pass rankings for this year or start to do it, however, whatever. And we're going to be coming back with, as we ramp up to real basketball time. Enjoy your, enjoy your downtime, formulate your theories and hit me with them, whatever it is. And Tyler, good to see you. Jesse, good to see you as well. Are all hearts clear? If so, we're going to get out of here. Good to see you guys. And we'll catch you. We'll catch you next time.
- [66:55]
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- [67:47]
Tyler Parker
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