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- [00:00]
Logan Murdoch
Foreign.
- [00:05]
What's poppin Real Ones Logan Murdoch here, back with Rajabel for another edition of Real Ones. We get into a lot today. We get into LeBron's streak of 1297 games of 10 or more points gone finito. But he did it in a game winning assist. So you know, it was great. We talked about the legacy of that accomplishment. We talk about what where LeBron is and how he's fitting in with the Lakers and then we talk about just how disrespectful the clippers were to C.P. i'm sorry, I know that there was nuance there and there's a lot to get into and we get into all of it, but mostly it's just sad. And then we talk about Giannis and not necessarily about the fake trades and all those things where he could be going. Although Atlanta is a great possibility. I like them. They have the Pelicans number one pick. They have a really strong chance of getting him if he were to actually ask for a trade, which he hasn't done yet. But there's a lot of possibilities out there. But we talk about instead the mileage of the average NBA player and how that is different from the past and how the roots of AAU basketball and the current landscape of how we grow our players is actually affecting how their bodies are going into where we are today and how they mature. So big, big discussion today that was really, really fun with myself and Raja Bell when one other thing that I need to remind you guys about real onesmailback gmail.com realonesmailback gmail.com real onesmailbag gmail.com I know you guys see it. It's going to be linked below and in the description. It's also going to be right here where it's at right now, where Victoria just put it. So make sure you tap in with that and we have a great show for you.
- [01:46]
Raja Bell
The Ringer NBA show is presented by fanduel. Fanduel's got it all. Same game parlays, quick bets for jumping in live in your way so you could build the bet that fits your play. Plus don't miss out on holiday offers and surprises all month long. Download FanDuel app or head to FanDuel.com Ringer MBA to get started. 21 plus and present in select states or 18 plus and present in DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org ChatInElectric this episode is.
- [02:18]
Sponsor Voice
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- [02:49]
Logan Murdoch
What's Poppin ruins Logan Murdoch here. Raja Beldaire. Get right to it, man. We're gonna talk about one LeBron James, whose streak of consecutive regular season games with at least 10 points ended after 1297 consecutive regular season games. Oof.
- [03:09]
Raja Bell
That's a lot of work.
- [03:10]
Logan Murdoch
That's a lot of work, man. But it ended in pure LeBron James fashion with a game winning assists to Rui Hachimura in one of the ugliest games that I've ever seen LeBron play. Raja, there was a play early in the second half where he tried to go to the basket for a left hand layup and just threw the shit up and fell down. It was, it was one of the ugliest displays and it's, it's pretty like LeBron is definitely coming into the season one old too late in the season, trying to get his sea legs under him as some people do, but he started doing it damn near 42 years old. Um, but this was also one of the clutchest games that I've seen from LeBron. One of the most selfless games that I have seen from LeBron where he can go and he probably could have even at his age right now, when you look at the play, probably could have went all one and got the game winner himself, but chose to throw it to Rui and Hachimura in the corner for the three pointer. So when you see this, Roger, when you see the record, when you see the numbers for context, the second the person that can catch up with him is Kevin Durant and he wouldn't be able to catch up to him until he's 50 if he stays at the current pace that he is right now. This is probably one of the league's most unbreakable records. What did you, what do you, when you put it into that context, what does it say about LeBron James, what does it say about his game and what does it say about where he is right now that it ended at this point?
- [04:42]
Raja Bell
Well, I mean, what it says about LeBron is pretty much. I mean, what we already know, he might, he is one of the most physically gifted NBA players of all time. Like, just start with that.
- [04:59]
He could physically get out of bed in a league where you're playing against the most, you know, elite level athletes on the planet. Like, he was still a unicorn in that league and could roll out of bed and get you double figures. You pair that with what he is cerebrally and how his skill set continued to develop as he got older, and that's what you're going to get, right? Like, that's just a remarkable feat. Who knows? But probably never broken. Never is a strong word, but.
- [05:28]
That'S going to last for a very, very, very, very long time. I think, you know, what it says about him now.
- [05:36]
Is it's interesting, right? Like, obviously he's older. You can see the decline in physical ability. Just the legs don't have the same juice that happens to everybody as they get older. But you know, I also took away from it some.
- [05:52]
Self awareness, right, because to your point, you could have probably tried to get that game winner. I mean, it wasn't like you were doubled or, or anything like that. It would have been fully within his right as LeBron James to shoot the game winner and get the streak to continue. Right. But I think he struggled in a way that you articulated before and decided at that point, you know, this isn't mine tonight. Like, I'm not hot, I'm not making these shots. It's going to be a much better chance that we win this game if I, if I distribute. And he did that. He's done that over the course of his career. He's caught some stuff for it. I weirdly heard people debating it this morning, which I thought was asinine. Like it was a great pass, great shot BY re.
- [06:38]
But LeBron could have very easily said, I'm taking that shot. You know, in the absence of, of, of Luca, you know, like Austin Reeves went, went off. But like he could have very easily said, well, if Austin's not shooting this, this is on me. And paired the two, the game winner with the streak continuing and he had the self awareness to not do that. That's exciting for me because, you know, we talked about LeBron as he tries to reintegrate with Luca and Austin and how difficult that could be potentially.
- [07:09]
Logan Murdoch
Right?
- [07:09]
Raja Bell
And we were, at least I said I was really excited to watch how that played out. I think that self awareness lends itself to, to him being able to do that. And we've, we've got a, I mean, how many games, sample size now of them playing together? What's he been back? Six games? Five games? About six, seven, Something like that.
- [07:29]
And he seems to be fitting into that role. So. So, you know, it says. It says a lot. You know, first you got to tip your hat and just acknowledge how incredible a physical specimen he's been and, and what he's been able to do in that regard. But then also, I think it's kind of exciting to see him say in a game like that when he's not playing great, he does not have his legs. Hey, man, I'll. I'll pitch this over there. Not that I should be surprised by that, because he's done that in the past.
- [07:54]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah. Couple of more numbers for you here. The second highest streak was set by Michael Jordan. 866 straight games from 86 to 2001.
- [08:06]
Raja Bell
You said LeBron was 1200 and something. Is that. Is that right?
- [08:08]
Logan Murdoch
1297. And to give even more context, I said Kevin Durant is the second highest. Has the second highest streak. That is at 267 games. Roger.
- [08:18]
Raja Bell
That's correct.
- [08:19]
Logan Murdoch
So, yeah, there's no way. And he. And Durant's 37. It. He's probably going to play like, what, two, three more years? Like, he's not. There's no way in LA is catching that record.
- [08:29]
Raja Bell
1200 games. It's 1300 games, essentially.
- [08:33]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah. I have a pop quiz for you later on about this. For you. I have a pop quiz for you, but one of the things. Let's get right back to the Lakers point of this.
- [08:41]
Raja Bell
But wait, wait, wait, wait. That's 13 years. That's 13 years worth of that.
- [08:46]
Logan Murdoch
Pretty. Yeah, yeah, he is. He.
- [08:49]
Raja Bell
I mean, if you're playing 100 games into the playoffs every year, like, let's.
- [08:52]
Logan Murdoch
Say it was January 2007, I believe. Again, I have a pop quiz for you later on.
- [08:58]
Raja Bell
I was. Let me. Can I just say this, though? Like, I came into games hoping to be in double figures, like, hey, bro, we get 10 tonight. We're all right. We did all right, right? Anything over that is gravy.
- [09:12]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah. But let's get to the Lakers point of this really quickly. And then I want to get back to LeBron and of it all. But me and you and Howard had a conversation a couple of pods ago just about how LeBron was going to fit in. And I made the case that LeBron, the role player, could probably the best, be the best foot forward. And there was a debate on whether he could do that from an ego standpoint. From a play standpoint, there was also the argument, if you have LeBron James on your team, should he even be a role player, is that cheating his ability? Right. I think this has been the best case scenario. I think he has been his version of a role player throughout this time. He has also played in spurts really bad, right. And they have kind of needed the Austin Reaves outburst. They have needed the Luka outburst to overcome his bad play. But it's not like he is pissed off about it. He is. He has said everything the right way, the way you would want to say it, right. I am a guy that is one of the smartest players that's ever played the game. I do know my role and I will play my role to the best of my ability is all the things that LeBron James have said. And despite maybe the up and down play, he has done that. And I think that's really been good for the Lakers. Now, I don't. I think this probably is going to be used against him in the argument that he wants a max deal this summer or, or something else like that, Right. Like he could be lament level in terms of quality of play, right. If he wants to play for the Lakers or any other team. But they are going to need a very, a lot more efficient version of what they are right now of him right now. But he still commands the double teams, he still commands attention. He still commands ball handling responsibilities.
- [11:00]
I think if he could just be a little bit more efficient and be what he was the first game he was back, right? The low, the low point total triple doubles. Watch. LeBron is probably the most efficient. Put him on the block. Maybe he has, he can play point forward when Luca is out, right. Get in where he fits in, run offense through him. But I think if he can be a little more efficient with his game, this is definitely the most optimal LeBron for this iteration of the Los Angeles Lakers.
- [11:29]
Raja Bell
Yeah, I would, I mean, I would agree with you. I was on that pod. I was saying that I'm just fascinated to see how that plays out because that can be a very difficult thing for a dude to come, a dude like LeBron to come into a situation like that and have to figure out how he fits in. I mean, you remember, you know, he had to have those conversations with Kevin Love about fitting in. Like, you know what I mean? Like, you're talking about someone who's usually.
- [11:58]
The person that people fit around, having to figure out how he now fits in. And I was just fascinated to see how that plays Played out. He's been the ultimate professional in that space. I mean, it's been, hey, I'm here to help. How can I get plugged in and, and, you know, accent what we already got going on? It's, it's how efficient he's been at times doing that. You know, to your point, you probably want to see it more efficient, but it has been exactly what they need him to be in terms of mindset, willingness, and attitude about the current situation. What's, you know, when you say you need him to be more efficient, that's where my, that's where I, you know, that's the space that I was living in when I, when I would argue, like, hey, if you have LeBron and you're asking him to do this.
- [12:52]
How much have you marginalized him? And he does still. Does he then still represent enough to help you guys win a championship? I don't have the answer. What I would tell you is the efficiency that a player like LeBron plays with when he is on the ball and the focal point of the offense.
- [13:10]
Is not the same efficiency that he may play with if he's not that. Does that make sense? I'm trying to articulate it. Forgive me for not like finding the right words to explain it, but when you've got a guy in his comfortable, usual.
- [13:29]
Ball centric, I move all the pieces around the chessboard position, he feels very comfortable in that and knows his way to efficiency in that role. It is more difficult when you are in a, A, a new role or an uncustomary role for you, and you're trying to figure out your way around that to be as efficient. That's why those guys typically are snipers and three, three and D guys, because that's what they do.
- [13:57]
Logan Murdoch
Right?
- [13:58]
Raja Bell
And that, that's the argument I was trying to make the last time I was on the pot. It wasn't in any way, shape or form trying to, you know, say that LeBron's not phenomenal and couldn't still be phenomenal. But if you're asking him to essentially be a very, very efficient sniper because you're going to get it when these guys are off of it, that's just not what he's used to doing, and that's really not his skill set. So. So to your point, they are going to have to find ways to have him with a little bit of flow. Right? And I actually have a good feeling about it, like, I think they will. I've watched them. You know, I got to give JJ credit, like, he Seems to be feeling his way around it pretty well. He's got a good feel for the team, but he's not a. He is not a high level three and D guy. Like, that's just not LeBron's game. He might get to that. Like, I'm not saying that through the course of the next 15 games, he doesn't figure that out because if anybody can, it might be him. But, like, that's not what he's used to doing.
- [14:58]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah, I think the comp here is 72, Will Chamberlain. And I know I'm getting a real specific bag here, right? But I'm. I'm looking at the stat sheet right now. This is when. Also, Will. Anytime you look at Will Chamberlain's numbers is just ungodly, right? Like him having a down year, like trying to have a different type of role.
- [15:16]
Raja Bell
This is.
- [15:16]
Logan Murdoch
This is. Will Chamberlain's a role player. 14.8 points a game, 19.2 rebounds a game on 64% shooting. Now, I'm. What. It's fucking nuts. But it was a.
- [15:30]
I'd say all that to say it was a muted version of Wilt Chamberlain's game, not necessarily a change in Wilt Chamberlain's game. And I think that what the Lakers deed right now is just a muted version of LeBron James and what he can give. That's not necessarily putting him in the corner all the time. That's just having less expectations of what he can do. Doing the stuff that he's actually doing. And the stuff that he's actually doing that he's been doing is at a way higher level than the average basketball player. He's smarter than pretty much everybody else in the league. You still put him on the block. You're just not expecting him to get you 40 points on a given night, right? Like, maybe he can do. Maybe like he's on a heater one night and he can do that. But like, nah, man. Like, that's why you have Luka and Austin Reeves on the court right now, right? The. The other thing that is going to be fascinating, and that's this summer that has nothing to do with this season, is just the. What number you put on that in terms of how much is this valued for this team, right? He's making gargantuan amount of money right now. But I think that that's going to be the question. As for right now, as for where we are sit right now we just need a muted version of LeBron James. Yo, get the ball to Luka when needed. Get the ball to Austin Reaves when needed, kick it out to Rui when needed, get your points when you can. But this is how this version of LeBron needs to be more muted in order for the Lakers to be successful.
- [16:53]
Raja Bell
Well, I think he. I think he could do that. Like, so 3 and D is probably, you know, to your point, not the fairest argument for what he should be. But. But I guess I would use the same argument, though. If you need him to be muted.
- [17:06]
You'Re assuming that taking the ball out of his hands to the degree. To the degree which. Which he's used to having, it isn't going to affect his ability to be that guy. Now when he gets it in shorter doses, and that's not an easy thing all the time because people are used to what they're used to. So, like, you might get a muted LeBron, but then you. You might not get him being as efficient as a muted LeBron as you'd like him to be, because he's not used to doing it like, all right, it's been seven minutes now. LeBron go like. LeBron's not used to that. He's used to, like, coming out of the gate. Like, let's. Let's figure out how this, you know, this defense is maneuvering. Let's do that. I got the ball in my hands. I fired around a little bit. And so maybe he does figure out how to. How to be highly efficient with less volume in the same space that he used to live in with more volume, but that's just not an easy thing, is what I'm saying. And then to your second point, that's kind of what I was saying last pod, too. If you're going to be asking him to do that.
- [18:04]
Then he's. He's just not LeBron. Like, he's not. He's. He is LeBron, but, like, he's not what LeBron has represented in terms of. Of, you know, pay, in terms of, you know, defensive coverages, which. Which I still am. Like, why would you. Why would you double at this point? But like, that, then you're. Then it's a different animal. Right. So we're having different conversation as to what he represents to any organization in terms of, you know, price tag, you know, winning and what that looks like moving forward. And that's, you know, that's just what it is.
- [18:36]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah. I got news for everybody listening to this pod. LeBron is not LeBron. Other than the salary. The salary slot that he commands right now, he's just not. He's not making. Not even the LeBron of last year, he's not making the same moves. And the important thing is just will be the self awareness aspect of this. Right. Like can I get to that spot that I don't normally know if I can get to? That is a really hard thing to do for any NBA player. We've talked about this in the past, but specifically, arguably the greatest of all time. Okay, now I have some. Before we get to the next segment, I have a pop quiz for you, sir. Hey, LeBron related. So this is since January 5, 2007, the last time that LeBron scored in single digits. We're gonna have a pop quiz for you. First question for you, sir. These are things and stuff that may or may not have existed. You know when LeBron did. Yeah, the single digits. Did Twitter exist?
- [19:37]
Raja Bell
2007? No. I have no idea. But no.
- [19:42]
Logan Murdoch
You'Re wrong. That it was less than a year old at the time. Was Cooper Flagg born?
- [19:48]
Raja Bell
But how old is he now? Like he reclassed up? Yeah.
- [19:53]
Logan Murdoch
Yes.
- [19:55]
He was 15 days old.
- [19:57]
Raja Bell
Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
- [20:00]
Logan Murdoch
Was. Was the iPhone available for mass consumption?
- [20:06]
Raja Bell
IPhone. 2007. Where was I? Phoenix. No, it's not.
- [20:13]
Logan Murdoch
You are correct.
- [20:14]
Raja Bell
Yes.
- [20:17]
Logan Murdoch
Did the season finale of the Sopranos happen?
- [20:24]
Raja Bell
Whoa, Sopranos. I have no feel for this one. Even though it's a big Sopranos fan. 2007. No, it had not happened yet.
- [20:32]
Logan Murdoch
You're right. Did not happen until June of 2007. Correct.
- [20:37]
Raja Bell
Up 75%, bro.
- [20:38]
Logan Murdoch
Good job, buddy. Spirit fingers. Yes, sir.
- [20:43]
Say a quick break. We're going to talk about something a little less happy.
- [20:51]
Sponsor Voice
This episode is brought to you by Amazon Prime. The holidays move fast and Amazon prime keeps you in control with fast and free delivery. We've all been there. Family plans are fluid. Somebody's not coming. Suddenly they are coming and you're excited about it. You want to get them a gift, so you hop on Amazon prime, line that up with their interests. And it's easy to do because Amazon has everything. Prime's fast shipping is always there for you during the holidays, especially when it's last minute and it just can't wait. Need that last minute gift or holiday essential? It's on Prime. Head to Amazon.comprime to shop now. This episode is brought to you by Amazon Prime. The holidays move fast and Amazon prime keeps you in control with fast and free delivery. We've all been there. Family plans are fluid. Somebody's not coming. Suddenly they are coming and you're excited about it. You want to get them a gift, so you hop on Amazon PR with their interests. And it's easy to do because Amazon has everything. Prime's fast shipping is always there for you during the holidays, especially when it's last minute and it just can't wait. Need that last minute gift or holiday essential? It's on Prime. Head to Amazon.comprime to shop now.
- [21:57]
This episode is brought to you by Fox 1. Fox 1 is now live. You can stream all your Fox favorites together in one place. From the NFL on Fox to big noon Saturday. Starring Rob Stone with Fox one, you get it all live. Start your seven day free trial today. Offers are subject to change. Go to Fox one for complete terms and conditions. Fox one streaming now.
- [22:20]
Logan Murdoch
And now another edition of Packwatch with Jamie.
- [22:25]
Jamie (Packwatch)
Ah, guys, it's my favorite time of year. It's when you open. You can feel that crisp air. And what do you smell? Oh, you smell a pack. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Jomy. We are here to say goodbye to the Los Angeles Clippers. Now you're probably asking, brother, it's December. It's a little bit early for a Pack watch. And I would say.
- [22:49]
Not for this particular team because I don't know about y', all, but I have been inundated. I have been just overwhelmed with a level of nah, man, Clippers, they gonna be okay. They always gonna be okay. No matter what. No matter what happens. The floor could be falling under them, but it's gonna be okay. Not this time. This time, I think it's finally over. In 2014, Donald Sterling was ousted from the Clippers. Famously, news commissioner Adam Silver said, I am banning you for life. You can take the bad man out of the Clippers, but you can't take the Clippers out of the bad. Here we are 11 years later, and you could, you can't argue that they're worse, but you can kind of see the vision at this point. The ownership embattled, the front office embattled, the head coach embattled. Let's not even talk about the roster. It's just been failure after failure after failure. They make the trade to get Paul George, and in a moment, we like, ah, it's going to be the. Now we're at a point we can sit here and say, top two worst trade in NBA history, the number one being AD for Luca. But let's not talk about that right now. Sga. Not only is an MVP a Finals MVP a champion, you look at their future OKC, you can see multiple championships, multiple, multiple finals MVPs. You look at the Clippers right now and you're like.
- [24:15]
They don't have a pick for this year. Oh, who's that going to? Oh, OKC in a Paul George trade. This is a team that is finished. That is over. Ancient. They. You know how bad you got to be to send Chris Paul home Now, I know they had issues in the locker room.
- [24:29]
Raja Bell
There's a lot of beef, yada, yada.
- [24:30]
Jamie (Packwatch)
This, yada yada that. But to send one of the greatest players, your franchise's greatest player, right? And you said, hey, kick rocks, champ. Are you kidding me? And I know that y' all want me to be, like, happy. I want me excited. And trust me, I am. Let's not, you know what I'm saying? Clip gang. Don't bang around here. You feel me? But at the same time, you strip it away. It's sad. It's so sad. For multiple reasons, but I think the main one, I'm going to end with this. You got a team.
- [25:03]
A golden franchise in your city. You had shaq, Kobe Powell, LeBron Luca, Austin Reeves. And here you go. Room for Kawhi, James Harden and the leftovers. My brother in Christ. Love yourself. Do better.
- [25:25]
It's too late, though. The bandwagon already filled. We good over here, champ. Y' all got it. And when y' all moved to Seattle in like two to three years, because nobody filling up that little dome y' all got over there. I see the seats empty. Okay, Y' all got more toilets and bathrooms than you got fans in there. I see it. But it's cool. We good around here. Y' all enjoy your little pity party. And we all up in Seattle. I'd be like, I'm not gonna say I told you so, but I will be looking at you crazy.
- [25:55]
Logan Murdoch
We are back. It's been a while since me and Roger got in the lab, but we had to talk about this one. Chris Paul getting dismissed from the Los Angeles Clippers. This happened on Wednesday and early Wednesday morning, 2:40am Eastern time. There was an Instagram post from Chris Paul saying, I just found out I'm being sent home. This is an Instagram story post from Chris Paul live from Atlanta on Wednesday after a three hour meeting with Lawrence Frank, who delivered the news that he, the greatest player in franchise history.
- [26:35]
Two weeks after he announced his retirement, would no longer be with the team. And this is what the Athletic said. This was a piece that you guys should all check out by front of the show. Sam Amick, Joe Varden and Law Murray. The reason why Chris Paul was let go because of quote, chris Paul's constant criticism internally had been the root of the perceived problem.
- [27:01]
Apparently, Chris Paul was out here telling folks that their shit stinked, and people didn't like that very much. He was saying this in team meetings as the Clippers, who had high expectations this season, not from me personally, but from, you know, the basketball world at large. Despite all the things that happened in the preseason, they had expectations that they were going to do something.
- [27:25]
And they are now one of the worst teams in the league. And Chris Paul, as we both know, does not like that stuff. Doesn't like this. And we'll call you out if he sees habits not being formed in good ways. So Chris Paul is now out with the Clippers. We'll get into more context, but first I want to hear your response on this. Roger, what's going on? What was going through your head? You were probably asleep when this happened on Eastern Standard Time, but what did you think when it happened? And what does this say about the Clippers at large? I have a rant incoming, but I want to hear yours first.
- [27:59]
Raja Bell
Yeah, what. What? My. That's just unfortunate.
- [28:04]
You know, it's unfortunate all the way around, but especially I think, for Chris Paul, who had just kind of announced that he was, you know, going to retire, and this should have been a good year for him. I have experience in this space. I've. I've told this story before. I have a very low tolerance for dumb shit. I don't like. I don't like dumb shit.
- [28:25]
It's hard for me to hold my tongue when I see dumb shit. And that happened to me in Utah as. As a very. As a. As an old player, I was nowhere near Chris Paul. So, like.
- [28:39]
It came to a point where they were, you know, was I coming back for my final year in Utah? And we agreed that I would not come back out there. It was going to be too difficult for me to watch what I thought was, you know, not. Not very, very well run shit for me to sit there and not. And not speak on it. And so I have. I have sympathy for him. That was a. At the time.
- [29:06]
If I could do it over again, I would probably shut the fuck up and went there and enjoyed that last year for whatever ounce of enjoyment I could have gotten out of.
- [29:15]
Sucked to be home for that year. It didn't suck. I played a lot of golf. I was basically a pro golfer. I got paid to play a lot of golf, and I was around my kids as they went into their first years of formal education, and I got to take them to school every day and so there's some benefit. But if I'm being honest with the audience and myself, I would have liked for my last year to have been in a locker room with guys and enjoying that part of it in a way that I wasn't afforded the opportunity to do. So I feel terrible for him. Like it's a, it's, it's, it's a, it's a tough look. All the things that make him a great player, all of the reasons that you, Howard and myself talked about pods ago are the reasons why he finds himself where he is right now. Because he's just, he's. It's going to be very, very difficult for him to be in a space where things don't look like they're being run well or professionally or what have you and hold his tongue. He's just not used to doing that. And so very unfortunate for Chris Paul. I can't speak to what the Clippers have going on. I don't know. I don't have anybody in the building reporting to me. I don't know if it's dysfunctional or not.
- [30:21]
I have to imagine there's.
- [30:26]
There'S a lot going on though if, if, if Chris Paul had gotten to that point where he was sideways. I read with anti Lou hadn't spoke spoken for two weeks. I don't know if that's accurate or not, but, but unfortunate all the way around.
- [30:39]
Logan Murdoch
There's a few things at play here. I'll start with the Chris Paul thing.
- [30:45]
Chris Paul is at an impasse in his career. A very clear impasse. I don't know if we're ever going to see him play, which is really unfortunate for both the Clippers and the league at large that he goes out like this. One of the greatest we've already talked about. We already had the Chris Paul discussion a couple pods ago. You guys can go listen to that. One of the greatest point guards of all time. Top five in my, my opinion. But when you have great players and we've not only seen this with Chris Paul, we've saw this with Russell Westbrook where we thought we were going to see it a little bit more with LeBron James, but we have seen it with LeBron James. Right. The identity crisis as you get older where.
- [31:22]
You are afforded some leeways when you are the best player in the face of the franchise that you were not afforded when you were no longer that right. Like they will tolerate. Teams will tolerate the Chris Paul's of the world telling them what they need to do and telling what they don't need to be doing and grading on teammates. When you are the face of the franchise and you are the best player in the franchise, right? But as you begin to. As your skills tend to recede and you're. And you become a role player based on your skill set and not necessarily your star power, it's. It's a weird dichotomy in your brain that you have to figure out, right? And a lot of we talk, we've seen this with Russell Westbrook, where a lot of people are in the locker room have just, quite frankly, Russell Westbrook just gets on their nerves, right? Because he's just like, yo, we need to be doing this. You need to be looking at film here. You need to be doing this, right? And I got to imagine that James Harden and Kawhi and all those people just didn't like that as a. When they're already losing and you got Chris Paul preaching good habits, which honestly they probably needed to have because you watch the Clippers and they don't have a lot of good habits, right? They lose a lot of close games. They're in a lot of close games that they're not supposed to be in, right? And they are not great defensively in stages, right? And Kawhi is in and out of the lineup. And there's already a preexisting beef. At least there was a preexisting beef with Chris Paul and James Harden, all factors that the Clippers probably should have done their due diligence on before they signed Chris Paul, right? I know it's a great story, but you don't do that, at least on the outward thing, to the best player in your franchise's history. You figure out a way to make it work, in my opinion, because this is the thing that's always been going against the Clippers, right? They are going to be mired for what they've done and how they have treated their star players in recent years. You talk about when they signed Blake Griffin, the second best player in franchise history, to a massive extension and then trade him as soon as he's eligible to be traded to the Detroit Pistons, right? Our guy Russell Westbrook. Say what you want about him. You give him all these promises and you say all these things and then. Then you tra. Then you have all these promises, then you trade him away, right? I say all that to say this. The Clippers have no draft picks over the next few years, right? They have all these pick swaps and they are banking on Giannis Adeta Kumbo or some other star to just pick them out of nowhere and say, hey, we're going to go to LA to play for the Clippers. You think that they, that Giannis doesn't see how you treat your stars. Why would he want to come there, right? Or say what you want about Paul George, you don't take care of him on the back end, right when he. Whether you wanted to make the deal or not or however. But you took care of Kawhi. But you're. There's a pattern here that is being have happening league wide or league is seeing this league wide that how you treat your stars and they have to reckon with that. And this might be a. A small thing in their eyes and it's a numbers game. But that's always been my problem with the Clippers is that they kind of, it seems on the outside looking in that they treat their players like numbers as opposed to like people. And you see that on the other end with the Los Angeles Lakers, right? They'll, they'll give you the bag, they'll draft your son, they'll do all these things. Now it remains to be seen how they're going to do with the new ownership, but they take care of their own. The Clippers don't have a reputation of taking care of their own. Right?
- [35:07]
Raja Bell
You sh.
- [35:07]
Logan Murdoch
What. You know, it's funny, I was, I was in the Bay Area when Oklahoma City was there and there was a conversation that was coming up just about how.
- [35:23]
After, if they go to the NBA cup, this is among officials or whatever, how after they go, if they, if the Thunder go to the NBA cup and their first game back and they go to Vegas and their first game back is going to be against the Clippers. A lot of OKC officials were a little giddy because they were like, oh yeah, we get to celebrate Chris Paul for all he's done for the city. Not just for the Oklahoma City Thunder, but for the Hornets when they were in Oklahoma City. He's not going to be able to get celebrated like now. He's not going to be able to get celebrated at all. Right? And that's the thing that is scandalous by the Clippers because you need to allow your greats to be celebrated and they're not allowing their greats to be celebrated. Whether you are pissed off about what he does on the day to day. You knew the job was dangerous when you took it and you know that he is a guy that you need to celebrate not just because of what he has meant to the organization, but what he means to the league as whole and also what you celebrating him does for other superstars who potentially want to come into your building. Now all of that is erased. So this is really disappointing by the Clippers, I get it. But you put up with Chris Paul. You know who he is. Lawrence Frank, you know who he is. You were an assistant when he was a player on the team. So you have a lost season, put up with his shit and let him ride off into the sunset and be an ambassador for your team going forward for other stars. You think he wants to be an ambassador for your team when you're going into pitch meetings? Like this was so. This was so short sighted by the Clippers and it was the most Clipper shit of all time. And like, we'll see what happens. But they need to fill that into a dome. It's going to be really hard to do that without stars.
- [37:06]
Raja Bell
All of that's fair. All of that's more than fair. I would just say that for them to do that, I know at least a few of the Mayans in that building.
- [37:20]
They'Re not dummies. So I don't know if they considered everything you just said, but they had to have considered some of what you just said for them to still come to the conclusion that this had to be done. I'm not pointing any fingers, but it had to be utterly toxic. It had to be just beyond the, the point of, of reconcile. Like this had to be toxicity Logan, because you know, you're not wrong. But I know some of that had to be mulled over. You know what I mean? Is that fair? Like some of that had to be discussed. Before you do this, this isn't a. To your point, a player that you just have a meeting at, at 7:00am on Wednesday and say, hey guys, we need to shake things up. Let's get rid of Chris Paul. Like this is. He's not that kind of player. So, so what was going on there? Dude, I don't know. But it had to be toxic.
- [38:15]
Logan Murdoch
You know the guys and they're like, you have any, have you had any interactions with Lawrence Frank? Do you know him as a, as.
- [38:21]
Raja Bell
A, like, as a human? I mean, I know him, but no, I haven't. I. No, but I know T. Lou. I know Trent Redden. I know a few people in that building and like more than just to say hello or have. Having played or coached against. And again, not dummies. Like, you know, these aren't people that they might not have looked into every. Nook and cranny that you just described, but they looked into a lot of them. And to still come to that conclusion, I just say this is throwing no shade at Chris Paul at all, because I have no idea what happened. It could have been on the Clippers more so than Chris Paul, but whatever happened, that dynamic was toxic.
- [38:58]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah, I mean, obviously, I just.
- [39:03]
And what you're saying is correct or could be correct. We have have no idea what's going on in there. But, like, in this day and age, perception is reality, bro. Bro. So, like, whatever had happened, the end result was that you canned the best player in your. In your building that has ever walked in there. Right, who really just changed the joke of your franchise. Right.
- [39:22]
Raja Bell
That's all the way bugged out, right?
- [39:24]
Logan Murdoch
And I mean, like, whether you like it or not, other team, like, whether there was toxicity in your building or not, like, other players are just going to see that, right? They're going to look at the Clippers and be like, this is the clown show going here. Not only just the stuff with the. Not only the stuff that just happened in the preseason, but, like, the stuff that's happening right now. Like, you just don't want to. I don't. You're not sending a great message to the rest of the league that you take your players. And I think that's the bottom line here. Like, and if your whole, like, it'd be one thing if you were like, okay, fine, we got a whole load of picks, like, forget it. You know, we're just going to draft our next star. They don't have that. All they have is the cachet to say, hey, man, we take care of our people here. You a Clipper here. You're a Clipper for life. They don't have that anymore. They don't even. It, like, I don't.
- [40:06]
Raja Bell
They never. I mean, did they ever. Like, I. I mean, I hear what you're saying, but I could make the argument, Logan, that you know all of what you're saying, they lost, they never really had. Yeah, that's true.
- [40:17]
Logan Murdoch
I mean, if they're okay to that point, they need to build that up, right? And, like, there was a screenshot after that on Chris Paul's story of him, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan of them on FaceTime. I can only imagine what they're talking about. But, like, that's not a good look, right? All three of your best. All three of the people that you go ask like, yo, what's like with the Clippers? They're like, man, that shit was weak. It was terrible. You know how they treated us, like. And he had to go through Donald Sterling to this to Now. It's funny because it's like all of the things that Bomber promised in terms of, like, success. Yeah, they've had some success, but it's not what you think, man. Like, they're, they're another ver. They're becoming another version of the Kings right now, right? Where you have this, this, this new owner who has all these grandiose promises that he's not really necessarily following through. He has a good arena. That's cool. That he can't fill up after this. So. Sorry, man. That was my rant for, for the first Chris Paul and the Clippers. You got anything else on that? I'm sorry, I'm taking a lot.
- [41:18]
Raja Bell
Yeah, I would just say I. Look, man, for, for his sake, I don't know what the reputation is. There's a lot of phone calls that happen when something like that goes down. And if it was on you as a player, you could find yourself very quickly without an opportunity to end your career on the court. I hope for him that he finds that.
- [41:36]
Logan Murdoch
Me too. He deserves that. That's it. It does a disservice to him that Chris Paul can't go out on his terms and he announces his retirement in your jersey, and that it ends like this on a damn near 3:00am like, just in the thick of the night. Oh, yeah, Chris Paul, you out of here, buddy. Like, just terrible optics here. Just insanely terrible optics.
- [42:00]
Raja Bell
Just gonna say again, that doesn't happen. That had to be.
- [42:07]
That had, man. Like, I, I, I don't even know what that. I mean, my, my situation with Tyrone Corbin was. I don't know if I've ever told the story. We had him. Locker room thing where he blamed me for a loss. I was on the, I was on the fucking bench, like. And I had said something, you know, on the bench, like, like, fuck, man, just get me out of here or something like that. And he was like, four chairs down and he heard it. And so he just held that until after the game we lost in Philly. And he came in and was ranting and raving, and his eyes caught mine. He said, and you, you, you go do that shit, you know, on the bench. And it cost us the game. And he wanted to keep talking. I said, whoa, whoa. I said, bro, are you saying that what I, like, I lost us the game? And he said, yeah, that's what I'm saying. I said, well, you're a Stupid motherfucker. And he was like, what? I said, if you're there, we lost it. I lost this game. Then you're a stupid motherfucker. And that's toxic, right? Like, when we get to that point, that's toxic. But even then, we went. We went back to Utah, had a meeting, said we get. Like, for them to make that move like that, it had to be crazy.
- [43:11]
Logan Murdoch
They said, we can't take this shit no more. Whatever it is, we can't. Chris Paul's in the back of the. Always in the back of the film room. Anybody got anything?
- [43:22]
I got something. Yeah, Chris, what? What is it? Chris?
- [43:29]
Yes, Chris.
- [43:32]
We'Re on a plane. Anybody got anything for. We need to do it approve on Chris again.
- [43:41]
You know, James Harden was sick of that. James Harden was already. He thought he escaped Chris Paul after the Houston debacle. He was like, I'm done. He came back, was like.
- [43:52]
Okay. Anyway, let's take a quick break. Don't talk about some other stuff. And we are back.
- [44:00]
We're going to talk about Yanis Adeta Kumbo, who.
- [44:06]
Has strained his calf. He is out two to four weeks. I feel like with this calf injury stuff, it's. It can be. I'm gonna come back. When I come back, I don't. I don't like. I. I know there's a different tiers and stuff like that, but we need to start thinking of. Of. Of the calf injury as a lot more catastrophic than I think people give it credit for being, because if you mess that up and that rehab, it can be even more catastrophic. And you need to make sure you get on the. Get back on the floor when you need to. We talk about that with Wimby, but with the Giannis situation.
- [44:38]
It opened up a lot of questions, right? You get the. The Shams report. That's. That tends to happen anytime something happens when Giannis either injures himself or ends up losing seasons, that they're going to have a meeting to discuss trade options or discuss very vague language that gets refuted by consistently by Doc Rivers and other players in the locker room. I think Kevin Porter Jr. Said that he doesn't feel that Giannis wants to leave and that if he would, he would tell people. Um, but it's opened up a lot of. Just even more trade speculation for Giannis and where they are right now, I will say, to start this season, the Bucks were one of the fun stories of the early part of the season. You know, Ryan Rollins out here balling out of control. Giannis just doing a LeBron like performance where he's just literally carrying the team up to his standard. And Miles Turner has also been playing really well.
- [45:41]
But what I want to go with this one, Raja, is it was a story that came out in the Athletic that was really good that you guys should go check out. Talking about.
- [45:53]
The superstar workload and the workload of the modern player now versus back in the day and how much a star player now misses.
- [46:06]
In terms of games based on.
- [46:10]
You know, it could be a variety of low management, injuries, pace of play, a lot of things that we have talked about.
- [46:18]
There was a memo that was, that was put out by the league last season where it says during the 80s and 90s players missed around 10 games per season. That figure rose to 13.9 games in the 2000, 17.5 games per season in the 2000 and tens. And in this decade, the average player misses about 23.9 games. What a year.
- [46:42]
Raja Bell
Yeah, that's a, that's a real stat.
- [46:44]
Logan Murdoch
That's a, that's a real stat, buddy. That was a real stat. And that is at the heightened of, that's even highlighted even more by the fact that the pace of play is even more daunting and that's even hiding even, even, even more by how early these guys are playing. And I wanted to get your insight to, you know, the AAU scene to now just the workload of soon to be NBA players and how that is affecting right now. If you could, if you could see it and if there's any recourse to what we should be doing with how we approach putting these players out there on a given time period. And can we, can we, can we put the toothpaste back in the tube?
- [47:29]
Raja Bell
That blew me away, dude. 50, 59 games is what, like 59 games, right?
- [47:35]
Logan Murdoch
You say they missed 20, 20, 20, 23.9 this decade.
- [47:40]
Raja Bell
That's, that's, that's bananas.
- [47:45]
No, I, I don't think to put to, to answer the question would with the analogy. I don't think the toothpaste goes back in the tube. Genie's not going back inside the bottle, dude. Like these kids are. Well, let's talk about the NBA before I get to the kids. The pace is what it is, you know, like that's, that's.
- [48:05]
Statistically and analytically speaking the way this game is going to be played.
- [48:09]
Logan Murdoch
You're.
- [48:10]
Raja Bell
You're going to play with pace. You're going to get up and down, you're going to shoot these threes and the body again has Only got so much in it. It's like a car. I say it over and over again. Yours is. Your odometer is different than mine, your engine's different than mine. Like, you know, you might have 120,000 miles. Mine only might have, you know, 95,000 miles. Who knows? But when you're putting, when you're expediting, you know, the way you get to that mileage, like you're going to wind up with people that have these soft tissue injuries, you know, a lot sooner than they would have in years past when you weren't getting up to those high mileages, you know, as quickly, right. Just because style of play was more lumbering. Walk it up the court, get into a set. It's just what it is. And so.
- [48:54]
How you protect the NBA player from that. The only way to do that is to shorten a season. I mean, that's just the only way to do that. Whether. And that'll never happen for.
- [49:07]
You know, a myriad of reasons. First and foremost, money.
- [49:12]
Logan Murdoch
Right?
- [49:12]
Raja Bell
With the TV deal, you're not shortening the season, and players probably wouldn't elect to do that if you ask them to take less money to accommodate playing less TV games. Right? But if you're going to sit them and teams have figured out, you know, with their sports science departments the right amount of games for Logan Murdoch to sit throughout the course of a season, they've targeted these games strategically. You know, if it's the third game and in five nights or, you know, what have you back to backs, however they decide they're going to do it, that's the way you mitigate, you know, the risk of, the higher risk of injury for the kids.
- [49:47]
It's, it's. I don't know what you do when, when you've created a culture of.
- [49:56]
Not just the kids, Right. Like, I don't find it to be the kids that say they have to play. Kids always want to play. When I was a kid, you asked me if I wanted to go play basketball. The answer was yes. You asked me, I want to go play baseball. The answer was yes. No matter what was going on, Yes, I want to play. But it's the parent in a lot of these instances that I find when I ran youth organizations and I've been in these gyms, it's the parent that can't distinguish between what is play for a kid, like truly joyful play, and what is.
- [50:28]
Work. What is time spent doing something because someone else's kid is doing it. And you think your kid needs to have A leg up on that kid. And that level of competition coming from the parent.
- [50:42]
Jamie (Packwatch)
Right?
- [50:44]
Raja Bell
Envy, in some instances, jealousy. Just like. But it doesn't always have to be rooted in the negative. Right? Like, it could. You know, we work. Hey, man, you listen, the story of. I'm always conflicted by this. I'm sorry, I'm just. This is a stream of consciousness. I'm always conflicted by the story of any NBA player that says, hey, man, to make the NBA, you know, I had to be up at 5 in the morning. Here was my schedule. I was 5am up shooting 300 shots. Then, you know, I went to class, and then, you know, at lunch, you know, I shot another 200 shots. And then I came home, I ran some miles, and then at night, and then I. Okay, cool. But then, you know, I open Instagram or something and some. Some. Somebody's got their kid doing that, and he's 11 years old. Yeah, that's not healthy. Like, it's not. And look, I have kids. We work hard. I'm not. I'm not the pot calling the kettle black. Like, we work hard. But I often have to tell, like, my kids, hey, bro, you need a day off. You're not. Don't do shit today. Don't do anything this weekend. Or I'll call their coaches sometimes. I've had multiple talks. You know, Ty's high school coach is a young guy. He's just learning. And, you know, this is a testament to him. He'll pick my brain about, like, hey, Raj, how much practice. Like, you know, he was one of those dudes that would be in there twice a day every day, all through the summer running, you know, 5 or 10 17s, like, just crazy shit. I'm like, yo, Dylan. Like, these kids are going to be torn up, dude. Like, you're going to have. You're going to have. The first of all, they're going to be fried, like, mentally, emotionally, they're going to be exhausted, but you're going to run all the tread off of their tire physically before it's even time to really play games. And it's. It's. It's a really weird space. Logan, I don't know if I answered your question, but, I mean, it is a. It is a culture that is. It's.
- [52:43]
There are a lot of kids out here grinding, man. I know people who are. Who homeschool kids in the fourth and fifth grade to chase. I shit you not, dog. Multiple independent train, like, individual trainings a day on top of whatever their practices are. And a lift. They're 11 years old. Yeah, like, I, I, I, I just don't know how you stop that. And I, I, I mean it's, if any parent that knows me ever listens to this and wants to corroborate this, Anybody who's ever asked me about a kid like in, you know, when we started, it was third grade, I practiced twice a week. We play every other weekend. Parents would leave my program at times because I wasn't giving their kid enough. I'm like, he's in the third grade, dude. Does he not have homework? Like, does he not? Like, doesn't he have shit to do? And they'd be like, well, how do I get him better? I'd be like, look, we're going to shut down from after AAU Nationals until around MLK day. Let's let the high school play season play out or start. Let's let these kids go play something else. Usually it's football down in South Florida, right? Let them get away from this. We'll come back to this. I lost any number of players because they just wanted to play all the way through. But to a person, if they ever asked me what can I do to help Johnny or Julie or whoever be a better player, do you know what I told them? Let them go play something else. Yeah, let them go do something else so they're not A, mentally and emotionally burnt by the time they're in the sixth grade and B, they're not killing these repetitive movements that come from playing only one sport and just over training the shit out of your body to the point where your odometer is, has run out. And I mean it's, a lot of people don't want to do it.
- [54:32]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah. I mean also there's the economics of this, right? Like I was watching this, I've been in my Lane kiffin bag because it's just the messiest situation ever. But my algorithm gave me a Theo Vaughn interview just on how to recruit in the nil, right? So I was like, oh, this is interesting. And Lane was talking about like how parents don't even ask about the academics of the school anymore. They're just like, yo, I want the bag, we want the bag. And when you play sports now, it's so, it's so focused from an even younger age on how are we going to get this nil money, how are we going to get this whatever this type of status before. So like when you, when you talk about an 11 year old just being taught, just working, working, working, there's an Economic incentive in this. Right? They're trying to get to the M's they're trying to get to. Because like I, to your point, I remember when, when I was playing, you know, I played football and I also played basketball growing up as a kid. And this isn't just me, just some like mid basketball player. This was like the whole culture for everybody. Once we finish football in like November, I'm not seeing y' all till August. Like I'm not going to see you guys until then. We might do a camp or whatever, but that wasn't until high school. I'm hooping, I'm running track. I'm doing other stuff then I'm enjoying my summer. I'll see you guys in August. Right now it's just every single day and I'm working on a piece on someone that you guys will see in a second. But I won't, I won't, I won't divulge it too much, but I was talking to this person who is a prominent player in the league, younger player, and they were talking about when they had, when they had injured, when they had their first injury. They realized how hard they worked and they had to switch how they've worked out and because of the workload that they put onto themselves and how ego, like not egotistical, but how much it was running them into the ground and destroying their body. This person is not even like 26 yet and they're dealing with this, right? And you know, it's, it's something that we have to have some sort of reset on whether it's going to be a reset from a league standpoint or just like hella injuries and you're just not. The product is just going to be so terrible, right? To where you kind of have to maybe. But I think the other thing is, and I want to throw it your way first, I want to give you just some stats that I had seen from, from the last 10 years. So player tracking on NBA.com is really, really good. You got, you can get, really get lost in the player tracking and in the team tracking as well. But I want to. Since player tracking has started.
- [57:17]
Up until last year. So I want to give you context. So the, the, the team that ran the most miles per game throughout the season during the 2013, 2014 season was the San Antonio Spurs. They ran 17.8 miles per game throughout their. That was the year that they went to the finals, but I believe. And they won the finals. And then last season.
- [57:45]
The team that led the league and distance per game was the Indiana Pacers. And that was a whole 2 miles at 19.1 miles per game. And I say that to say this last year, who was the best player on the Indiana Pacers and what happened to him with. You talk about the pace and who continues to run and how unsustainable this is, right? Tyrese Halliburton is one of the not only great players in this league, but the great personalities in this league. And I think in a time when we're talking about ratings, which have been up, by the way, but when we talk about ratings, if we talk about when, you know, you and your family spend their hard earned money to see a certain player and they're not there, that's. That's going to take a toll. Tyrese Halliburton is somebody that people want to see who is a personality in this league. So I think, like, even from your business model for what you want to do going forward, you can't afford the Jason Tatums getting out because they're running their bodies into the ground. And I do wonder, Roger, if there is some sort of reset where, like, maybe the offense has changed back. Right? Like even something small as that. Maybe Rick Carlisle is like, this is not sustainable for my guys. I need to kind of pull it back a little bit. I wonder if there's something like that to be happening and I'm just spitballing just like you are.
- [59:04]
Raja Bell
Yeah, sure.
- [59:07]
You know, off the top, I.
- [59:10]
The way it goes back is for the big to come back into.
- [59:16]
The basketball. The big. That is just the punishing interior presence that we can. We'll guard you shooting all these threes because we're that good at doing it and. But we're going to come down the court and put it inside to somebody that's going to score 47 every night at the rim. 47 is a lot, but you understand what I'm trying to say? So then once you have that guy, now I've got to get a guy to stop that. Like, you'd have to have that domino effect happen, right. For the game to start slowing back down and getting back to, like, you need the anchor. I mean, you know, you need something to try. You need an anchor to slow it down, right? Because right now with the guard play and all bigs being trained as. As wings, essentially, it's going to lend itself to more threes. It's going to keep the floor wide open. And when you're in that world, it's. It's pace and space, but you're you're going to get up and down and go.
- [60:10]
You know, as far as, as far as the grassroots level. I think education is really important, you know, for, for the kid, but, but more importantly for the, for the parent or, or, you know, the.
- [60:24]
Person who's running the organization.
- [60:29]
Again, you look at an NBA player's workouts in the summer and he details to you how he is going about preparing himself to be the best that he can be. You try to model that. What they're not showing you in a lot of instances is, you know, are the resources that they have available to them in the way of recovery, in the way of fuel, nutrition. They're not talking to these kids necessarily about how sleep or lack thereof affects their ability to recover. Like, there, there are so many things that, that you don't see when you're trying to model that and isn't being told to person, to a person that has no, you know, experience in that realm. And they're like, all right, all right, Joey, get out there, let's go. You're running seven miles. Then we're gonna go like, you're like, yo, my man. Like, you know, what did you feed him for breakfast? You know, you have kids coming in, you know, playing 11 o' clock games, haven't eaten a thing. You're like, what? Like, you know, I mean, so, so educationally, I think. But the problem with that, Logan, it's what I said is like, it used to be that you had.
- [61:38]
A few entities that provided a real platform for youth, high level youth basketball. Right. And so you, you, you know, you had a lot of these players in one place and if you chose to educate, you could. But now, because everyone has seen it as a money grab in their local markets, you don't need a whole lot to be a tournament thrower or to even run an organization under, you know, which you have teams that can throw tournaments under your umbrella. There's very little that you need. You just need gym access and insurance.
- [62:14]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah.
- [62:14]
Raja Bell
And a little bit of marketing skills. And if you do that, like, and your presence on social media is good, you'll have just the wild, wild west of a basketball, you know, culture, which is what we have in South Florida, where you could never corral and educate all these people as to what's going on. And because there's so much money in it, this bad boy is running year round now, dog. Like, there's. You talked about that little bit of time that you got off from football to baseball or what have you. That shit does not exist. These jokers are playing year round in this stuff and it's just, it's not, it's not beneficial health wise. You'll have some little skilled cats that come out of that because they've been playing a lot of hoops. But like in terms of injury prevention and burnout and overuse, it's not helpful.
- [62:59]
Logan Murdoch
You know, it's funny, I was talking to an assistant coach recently and they were talking about the, the problem that they've had with guys from, you know, the overtime elites and the. What was the other one? The, the G League. The G League team that Kaminga and the ignite. The ignite. Yeah, the ignite, exactly. Talking about the ignite. And teams like that, right. Where they're seeing guys come from these programs and all they know is like being a star and roll out and play and it's hard for them for when they get into an actual team with actual roles with actual star players, it's hard for them to adjust into this league. So on one hand we're not educating the players on how to play the game the right way and then we're also running them into the ground. So on twofold. It's like we're having the bad coaching and we're also having the, you know, people just say, oh, we need to, we need to train. You want to be like Kobe, train five times a day. Not knowing that Kobe even back in the day wasn't even doing it as much as this, this iteration of guys. He wasn't like it was a whole different game at that point. Right. Like there's, I, I'm not hearing any more stories very rarely about the player that played three sports anymore. We don't have. And there's, there's articles written about that. There's not the, the Deion Sanders, Bo Jackson type athlete. And it's not because there can't be. There are some amazing athletes out there, but they're not getting the opportunity to be those three sport athletes and see other things. It's all just focused on if you're, oh, you're good at this, you're only going to play the sport.
- [64:42]
Raja Bell
I'm living it. You're, you're right. And like again, I.
- [64:47]
Let me not be the pot that calls the kettle black. Like, this isn't my choice for Tyler. This was Ty's choice. But Ty, probably a pretty high level Division 1, you know, football player.
- [65:03]
Diabetic.
- [65:04]
Logan Murdoch
D1 basketball player based on what I've seen. Right. Or he could have been a low D1. He averaged 20.
- [65:09]
Raja Bell
I don't know what his ceiling would have been, but, yeah, he probably could have. Probably could play basketball if he wanted to. But both of them independently tie earlier than diagnosis.
- [65:19]
Made a call because so many kids had specialized. And basketball. Basketball's a little different because, you know, it's harder to go play football and come back and immediately be a really good basketball player. There's so many fine motor skills that you need to be able to handle that ball with dexterity, to be able to put it in that little cup like football. You know, if you're a receiver or something and you're. And you're naturally kind of twitchy and you. You could get off, you know, and go catch a ball, right? But what Ty was seeing was, like, every time he went to play football, he'd come back to basketball. And people that were like him when he left basketball were not like him anymore because they had been pouring it into basketball that whole time. And he said it. I'm begging him, like, hey, man, go out there, put the pads on, dog. Like, let's see what that could. But he's like, nah, I need to stay locked in here. Because he doesn't want to lose ground, right? And now we're kind of past the point because of his recruitments, taking off and stuff like that. But that's the dilemma that, you know, parents are facing and kids are facing. And again, Dia and Ty made those calls on their own. I'm the dude. Like, yo, play, play, play. Both, bro. Like, but it's. It's a tough culture that they're living in in that regard.
- [66:26]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah. I mean, it's funny, though, because, like, in the back of my mind is like, if you played a long game like you do, you don't necessarily specialize, but you play all these different sports. And then maybe towards the end, like, LeBron in his senior year of high school just was like, no, I'm gonna just play basketball. Like, this is just. This is my meal ticket.
- [66:44]
Raja Bell
Yeah.
- [66:44]
Logan Murdoch
I think if you played the long game in that way, based on what we were talking about, I think you'll be fine still. Right? Because you're going up against a competition where, like, say, they're running themselves into the ground. And if you play and just do the right things and say you do specialize late. There is a world where you just. Because of how time is, maybe you not go to the school that you want to go to, but on the long run, you are able to have the career and everything that you want to have, because you didn't specialize so early. I'm just spitballing here.
- [67:15]
Raja Bell
Well, yeah, but here's what's. Here's what's interesting. And be interested. Brandon Harris, the general manager of Texas football, wants to come on the pod so bad. Just shout out Brandon. I told him we tried to get him on at some point, but he'd be an interesting person to ask this to and could. And could, you know, shine a little bit more of a light on it. But this has been my experience with my two sons. One in the football world being recruited to play college football, and one in the basketball world being recruited to play college basketball. Every single football coach that came through here asking about Diaz, a quarterback, asked if he played another sport. All of them. And all of them love the fact that he played basketball and he played at a high level. It was a plus in his recruitment. Not a single basketball coach has asked me if Ty plays another sport, and it doesn't seem to be of any value to them if he did.
- [68:13]
Logan Murdoch
Wow.
- [68:13]
Raja Bell
And that's interesting, right? Like, so, because again, the football kid, they want to know, hey, does he run track? Does he play basketball for receivers and DBs and quarterbacks, you know, maybe even linebackers. Like, did they. Are they throwing discus? Are they doing stuff like that? The basketball coach has never once asked. Like, occasionally, you know, they'll say something about da. I'll be like, yeah, he's a really good football player, too. And they'll be like, oh, really?
- [68:37]
Logan Murdoch
Oh, but okay.
- [68:39]
Raja Bell
They don't seem to care. It's a weird. It's weird.
- [68:42]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah. Well, we can talk a lot about this, but we're an hour five in. We still got to do Rowan of the week. Good job by you. Getting an hour five in.
- [68:49]
Raja Bell
That's Good job by.
- [68:51]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah, us. Anywho, let's get to Rowan of the week.
- [68:57]
Monster Energy.
- [68:59]
Raja Bell
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- [69:27]
Logan Murdoch
All right, and we are back. It is time for real one of the week.
- [69:32]
I can go first. I just have mine we already talked about at the top of the show. I'm going to go with LeBron James because I just think that. That if you're going to break your streak of 10 of, of 10 straight points or 10 points in a game. You do it on a game winner, bro. You make that shit count. And he did. And it's been a long trying season for him. There have been a lot of weeks where he probably wasn't ruined of the week or isn't ruined of the week, but, you know, you got to give the flowers where it's due. And for him to be that selfless at this stage in his career, that's something that's really hard to do. And that's something that is really. That's something that is, is, is really commendable, man. I don't, I don't know any like one because it's really just hard at this stage to play this long. Based on everything that we have talked about in this podcast, for him to be a model of longevity in the way that he has is just really admirable. But big time game from him, big time finish from him and a big time game for him. So LeBron James, Rowan of the week for me.
- [70:27]
Raja Bell
Yeah. Where do I want to go with this? There's so many places to go.
- [70:31]
You know what? I'm going to go to Lane Kiffin.
- [70:35]
Logan Murdoch
That's a rare one. That is. Hey, hey, hey. You're the only. Wow. Okay. All right.
- [70:40]
Raja Bell
I'm not saying that I support any of what happened or any of the reports. I'm saying you got to be a real one to get up and bounce on a c. A college football.
- [70:53]
Logan Murdoch
You gotta be a real something you got.
- [70:56]
Raja Bell
But, but whatever that is something, whatever it is. But that's when you're a real one. You're really just being real to yourself. Right. In my estimation. And he had no. He was like, yo, I'm out. I also give real one of the week to every.
- [71:10]
Every coach. I think I heard Mario Cristobal. I heard Diaz. Diaz, soon to be coach Steve Sarkeesian. There are probably a few more that I've heard get up there and they're all doing their, like, lobbying for, like, for why their team should be in the CFP right now. And they're real ones, too, because they're getting up in there like politicking. But. But ultimately because it was just so, so wild. I never, I mean, he just walked away.
- [71:36]
Lane Kiffin.
- [71:38]
Logan Murdoch
Wow. I'm speechless. Also would want to give a real one of the week to the podcast. His nephew Diabell, for signing officially with the University of Texas. I'll do it. You know, shout out to the Shout out to the little dog. I. I have been racking my brain and racking the Google search for games on the west coast with Texas football, and I can't find any because I. I am going to. I want to get some tickets, but I hope that Ty Bell plays for a team that plays on the west coast because I'm trying to go see the little nephews play one of these days, but, you know, we'll see.
- [72:14]
Raja Bell
We gonna work that out.
- [72:15]
Logan Murdoch
We're gonna figure that out. That's been another edition of real One of the of real One of the week and another edition of Real Ones. We do this every Tuesday and Friday, and we'll see you guys next Tuesday. But first, real ones, mailbag gmail.com real ones, mailbag gmail dot com real ones, mailbag gmail Dot com hey, roger, you know what? You should tap into real ones mailbag gmail.com Me, Raja and Howard Beck are expected on Tuesday. So we'll see you then. Good to have the gang back together. Great old school vibe. You know how we do. You know how we do. We've been doing this for years.
- [72:47]
Raja Bell
You were worried. You were worried, bro.
- [72:49]
Logan Murdoch
I wasn't worried. Hey, I was not worried. When you said you didn't know if you wanted to do the pot this morning, I was like, oh, we're gonna have a epic one. All right.
- [72:58]
Raja Bell
Say that, bro. You start. You ready to pot? I said, yeah, I don't know.
- [73:02]
Logan Murdoch
They did. And I was like, we're good, but okay. Anyway, let's get the out of here. See you guys next week. All the shits. Bye.
- [73:11]
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