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- [00:00]
Chris Vernon
You're listening to the Ringer NBA show presented by FanDuel. FanDuel has made it easier than ever to see how your bets are doing without even opening the app. Because now you can get the latest updates and follow along in real time directly from your phone's lock screen or Apple watch. No login required, just head to your My Bets page to turn it on and if you don't already have it, download the FanDuel Sportsbook app today to get in on the action. The Ringer is committed to responsible gambling. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and help lines available and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 plus and present in select states. Gambling problem. Call 1-800- GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com welcome.
- [00:46]
Zach Lowe
To the brand new Zach Lowe Show. That's right, I'm back to have the same in depth NBA conversations you're used to. We're going to talk about the games. Yeah, the games. The X's and O's, the drama, the trades. The playoffs are coming up and now you get to see every episode in full on video on Spotify and on my own YouTube channel. Episodes drop every Monday and Thursday with a collection of guests you're gonna love. So make sure you follow and subscribe to the brand new Zach Lowe show on Spotify or wherever you watch or listen to your podcast.
- [01:19]
Raja Bell
Let's go.
- [01:23]
Chris Vernon
This episode is brought to you by Acura's all new adx, a compact SUV that isn't just built for one thing.
- [01:29]
Jason Concepcion
It's.
- [01:29]
Chris Vernon
It's precision crafted for everything. Like hitting the road with available all wheel drive and staying connected thanks to Google built in. Plus you hear your music at its best with an available Bang and Olufsen premium sound system. The all new Acura ADX, crafted to match your energy. Visit acura.com ADX to learn more. Google is a trademark of Google LLC.
- [02:01]
Jason Concepcion
Here Roger Bell there. Friday vibes are upon us. Try to get some small talking with Roger. He said let's go. Let's pod, dude. Let's do this. Let's go.
- [02:11]
Raja Bell
Yeah, I bet. I was gonna say I've been at Waffle House for the last hour with my parents small talking. So like it was great. My grits were on point scraping by. You wiping the nose too? We got the out here. Yeah, no, it's good though. It was Waffle House was good. Thanks for asking.
- [02:29]
Jason Concepcion
Wait, okay, could you. Could you just dispel a myth for. For. From our me and my fellow West Coasters, who just see nothing but viral videos from Waffle House about, like, the tomfoolery that goes there, goes on there. Or maybe like, can you just dispel some of that stuff? As a Florida resident, I've been to Waffle House and I've had great experiences. Waffle House. But like, apparently it's also lit at Waffle House and it goes down at Waffle House. Can you just dispel some rumors for the listening audience?
- [03:00]
Raja Bell
The Waffle House is just like a microcosm of society, right? There are some good apples, there's some bad apples. There's some places you should be after 11 o'clock, and there's some places you're not supposed to be after 11 o'clock. And if you operate accordingly, you stay out of trouble. Waffle House is no different, right? Like, there are Waffle Houses that project like, class and cleanliness. There are Waffle Houses that don't.
- [03:28]
Jason Concepcion
There are Waffle Houses that, that, see, cleaning is just like sliding somebody across the. The diner, right? Just. That's too.
- [03:37]
Raja Bell
I mean, I. What trips? Like, I walk into one of those and I walk out like, you got eyes. So, like, if you walk in and the grease traps running and there's shit all over the floor and none of the dishes are clean behind the counter, get up and leave the mofo. But, you know, generally speaking, our Waffle Houses around here are actually pretty good, man. Like, there are some, you know, where, where, you know, if it's 2, 3 in the morning, you know, you, you don't know what you're going to run into in a Waffle House, but I'd make the argument with a little bit of age on me. You supposed to be home in bed at 2 or 3 in the morning anyway.
- [04:14]
Jason Concepcion
Yeah, I'll tell you, bad shit's gonna.
- [04:16]
Raja Bell
Happen at 2 or 3 in the morning, potentially.
- [04:18]
Jason Concepcion
I'll tell you my 2am theory off air, I don't think it's okay.
- [04:24]
Raja Bell
So I'm a, I'm a Waffle House supporter dog.
- [04:27]
Jason Concepcion
I was, I had a Waffle House that I, I lived in Atlanta for a summer. And that's what, I mean, that's what you eat there. That's literally what you eat there. It was great. I had, I had a blast there. I had nothing but good experiences. But, you know, when I left Atlanta, I was like, this is the Waffle House that I grew in love for these three months. You know, this isn't what I seen from the local community in the establishment. What's going on here? I don't know. Anyways, that's how you milk the first three minutes of a podcast. Ladies and gentlemen, we are here to talk about basketball. A lot of great things that happened last night. It was a really fun basketball night. I mean, Lakers, warriors, which we're going to talk about. Biffus, which we are also going to talk about. With a big win with Ja, Giannis had a monster night. What, What Big.
- [05:15]
Raja Bell
That's a big win for them.
- [05:17]
Jason Concepcion
Yeah, they were, they sucked, they sucked out the stretch.
- [05:20]
Raja Bell
I beat the Heat. Okay, fair.
- [05:21]
Jason Concepcion
All right.
- [05:22]
Raja Bell
All right.
- [05:22]
Jason Concepcion
Well, the Heat were hot. They were, they won like seven.
- [05:24]
Raja Bell
Yeah, but like, okay, I mean it's.
- [05:28]
Jason Concepcion
Listen, I'll give it to you. It's a night in Miami. Was not expecting this. Let's just be real. We're not expecting this. Let me give him my opening monologue.
- [05:38]
Raja Bell
Jesus.
- [05:39]
Jason Concepcion
Giannis had a. Had a really great night. Just want to give space to that. I don't know how much we're going to talk about it, but he had a really good night. Our guy, I don't know if he's afraid of the show, but he is definitely. We're a fan of his. Anthony Edwards just went down with an ankle injury, which was tough, so we'll see what goes on with him. But let's talk about the Lakers and the warriors to start. Then we're going to talk a little Ja, then we're going to talk a little Russ, then we're going to have a little branded segment. I didn't even like shout out everybody else, shout out Victoria on the video and Cliff on the boards. But lakers, Warriors, Warriors 1, they are 20 and 4 since the Jimmy Butler trade. They now have a path to the three seed according to playoff status. Was very impressive win on the road. They're the last game of a two week road trip and the first night of a back to back. You know the league got you fucked up when you fly from Memphis to Los Angeles for a game and then you have a back to back at home as your first game back from a road trip. But they're, they're thugging it out. What did you learn, Raja, from each team last night watching?
- [06:53]
Raja Bell
Yeah, I mean they're, they're both, they're both going to be very formidable playoff teams. I think I learned from both of them like just watching that they both need to take care of the ball. You know, they both get, they both got loose with the ball in certain situations that put them in real interesting spots, you know, The Lakers weren't able to overcome it. Golden State was able to overcome it a little bit. I think that gold. You know what's interesting, man, Like Golden State, weirdly, because I thought they were great. I thought Steph looked, he looked a little banged up. I know he still had 37, he made some incredible plays, but he didn't look like he was moving great. You know, he, he didn't look like he had the juice necessarily, which is wild to say. And still have 37.
- [07:43]
Jason Concepcion
And he's still, he was also, he was also coming off a cross country flight after he scored 50. So like.
- [07:48]
Raja Bell
No, no, no. Like no.
- [07:50]
Jason Concepcion
That's a tough, tough.
- [07:53]
Raja Bell
Not a knock, Not a knock at all. No. Listen, I'm the biggest step fan there is. I'm not knocking and I'm just telling you what I saw, right? So like he looked a, he looked a little slower than normal. Pajinski had a phenomenal game and really, really carried him. Like I thought the tale of the game was him and Kaminga and the support that they were able to give. Which brings me to my other point, which is if they're going to be the team that, that, that we think that they can be and be a real threat, they got to get more out of Jimmy Butler. They have, they have in certain instances he was great defensively and all over the floor and stuff like that. But they're going to be times in the playoffs where Steph is going to not have the juice and still have his 30 and change, but you're not going to get the Kaminga and Pajinski game together. And the question is where's, where's the production going to come from? And it's, it's gonna, I mean it's Jimmy Butler, right? So like it's gonna be real interesting tonight. And I had this kind of theory as I was watching the game last night. Like I wonder. Cause they have Denver tonight. Cause he did not look aggressive at all. Like if you watch the game he was like in chill mode. Like offensively that is like. And just kind of facilitate and getting in the paint, kicking it out. And Steph carried. And so then I wonder tonight if he like flips the switch and he's the one that carries a little bit more offensively and if they were playing that game like kind of like, hey I'll, we'll save you tonight if we can, you know, I don't know. But they'll need him to find his way in that offense and I know he has since he's Been there. But it's going to have to be really consistent in the playoffs because, you know, they just, they just have to have that. And then from, from the Lakers. From the Lakers. Let's see. You know, Bron look good. Luka has not been great offensively. He's flashed, but like, he hasn't been great offensively. He's got to stay in front of people. He just got to stay in front of people cooking him.
- [09:43]
Jason Concepcion
Steph was cooking him on every switch.
- [09:45]
Raja Bell
Yeah, I mean, everyone's going to hunt it. Steph no different than anybody else in the league. Luca did a good job a couple times, but then he has these like five or six possessions a game where like he's just going to let you go. And they're not built to withstand that with like an interior presence defensively, it puts a lot of pressure on them.
- [10:05]
Jason Concepcion
Like, it's still like, obviously he, we always worry about his conditioning and stuff, but you really see it on a defensive end when he has those five minute stretches when he does that. Like, do you see it as, like, as a, as a conditioning issue or do you see it as just a lack of effort?
- [10:20]
Raja Bell
Yeah, I don't think he's ever going to be an elite level defender. Right. Like, so I think it's a combination of the two. Like in one might cause the other, like it might be lack of effort because of the shape. You know, it. I, I don't have an answer to that. I don't think he's like the most locked in dude defensively ever. But it becomes even harder to make that extra slide when you're carrying more weight than you should carry. Right. And let's say we live in a world where, where like a few nights ago they got the support from the threes, like you know, every, everybody. I don't know what were they. They have 12 threes, like off the bench or something like that. Whatever that was, I forget the game. But when they're cooking like that, you know, those few possessions don't expose you in that way. But last night they, they, they weren't shooting the ball great outside of like Austin Reaves and, and, and LeBron. And those possessions become really, really magnified because we can't withstand that. We're not getting the point production. So it's, it's two, it's two things with the Lakers. Like, he's got to defend better singularly because I think around him there's some really good pieces. But like they also, they also have to find a consistent. Either their big three has to be great. Austin Reaves, LeBron and Luka have to be great together. And you don't get the support or they've got to find bench guys to give them real support like Kaminga did. The Kaminga outscored, probably outscored their bench last night. Like he was, he was great.
- [11:49]
Jason Concepcion
Had 18 points. I don't know. Yeah, he did. I swear to Rich. Yeah. God, the pitch was terrible.
- [11:55]
Raja Bell
Yeah. Like Gabe, Gabe Vincent gave you nothing. Finney smith gave you 0 for 5 threes.
- [12:00]
Jason Concepcion
Like Vanderbilt gave you nothing. But Vanderbilt's not a score necessarily. But you need like those five threes. You need to hit three of those five. If you.
- [12:08]
Raja Bell
That changes the game. It changes the game.
- [12:11]
Jason Concepcion
A couple of things on that one. And I think you could attest to this when you seen it. The Lakers just came out flat generally speaking, right. They didn't look like they came up. They were up for a game like this, which is wild. Right. And one thing that was interesting is like LeBron wasn't aggressive to start this game at all. Right. He scored 22 in the second half, but he came out flat and just. And a lot of that has to do with like he's now taking a backseat to Luca. And I think there is a recognition that Luka is a number one offense, a number one option within the offense for the Lakers right now. But it was really weird to see LeBron be passive and he can do this to start games. This isn't something that we have seen. Sometimes he works his way into games, sometimes players do that. But I think in a game like last night, I would have wanted to see LeBron kind of recognize where the game was going earlier, early on and probably attack more because I feel like if they attacked more to start, they would have given more respect to the fact that the warriors are better than the last time they played them. Right. I don't think they gave. Gave him that respect. And the warriors blitzed him time and time again. They hunted Luca on the pick and roll. Pazipski had like a, a weird legacy game. Like you're not going to get. I've. I've watched the warriors all the time. You're not going to get that from pods every night. In fact, he wasn't. Hasn't been shooting the ball well for the majority of the season. So to see a pods game like that was like, whoa. This was definitely an outlier for them. Right. Which is why like I see, I feel like this was a game where you learned a lot. It didn't Learn much at all. Right. Like, if you learned that the warriors are better than they were earlier this season, but in a playoff series, like, this is just one game. I don't think this. This really tells you so much about these two teams in a playoff series going up against each other. I think it'll still be a long series and they'll figure it out. Another point that I wanted to go back to was Jimmy Butler and his scoring prowess, or lack thereof at some points, you know, his big mo One, he's not particularly a great scorer during the regular season in terms of, like, he doesn't. He doesn't get a lot of. Like, he's not going to average 35 points over a stretch in January. This is not how he's built. His career average is around 19 a game. I think since he's been with the warriors, hovered around 17, 18 points a game. Like, he's the guy that is the ultimate star in his role. He's going to do whatever it is. He can get a shot whatever he wants to, but he's going to do whatever it is the offense tells him that he needs to do. So I would expect an uptick in his production going into the postseason. We've seen that with the Heat. But I am curious to see, because you watched him more with the Heat that I've watched him now with the warriors, right? When does he flip that switch in your eyes? And when does he. Does he need to do it earlier? Because I don't know if last night's game necessarily suggested it because pods balled out, kabing the balled out. I don't know what the balance is for him right there, because I know watching Jimmy Butler in a small sample size with Golden State offense is that he's going to see what the offense gives him in the defense gives him. He's going to act accordingly to that. He hit timely shots last night. What's the balance that he's going to have to have going forward? But he's not necessarily looking for a shot all the time. He's facilitating playing defense.
- [15:41]
Raja Bell
Yeah, that's a. I mean, balance is the operative word there. And finding it. In Miami, he was the number one option. So when you're the number one option, I mean, everyone else is trying to balance what they do off of what you do. Right. So you don't really have to worry about how you kind of get in and get out of this double Dutch. That is like chemistry offensively. So he didn't have to worry about that in the way that he does with Golden State because obviously it's Steph centric and he's trying to figure out. And you could see that, you saw him last night trying to figure out how he gets in, you know, and how he's going to point produce. And I don't have the answer to like when he's going to have to do that. And like there's. I don't think there actually is an answer. He's just going to have to have a really good feel for tonight's the night. And on the flip side of that, like, Steve Kerr is going to have to have a feeling. I feel confident about this because, you know, I think, Stephen, Golden State has shown an ability historically to be, to be very detailed, especially when you condense like the amount of time in between games and you. And you're playing the same team over and over again to really strategize because, you know you're not going to get. Like last night wasn't an open court game. Jimmy wasn't getting the open court buckets. Like the game, the game. The game for him at least was played in the offensive, like in the front court. And I saw, you know, they were trying to get him a few. There's a lot of top locking going on when you got Steph running off of all of these screens. Yeah. So you get this switch where he, he gets someone switched on him and he's probably smaller and he's already on his top shoulder. So Jimmy's just trying to hold him off and you're trying to throw that pass over the top to him a few times. And last night was probably a bad example because so many of those passes went awry. Like there were probably like four or five opportunities that he would have had the ball in his operating space that he didn't get because of a turnover. But they're going to have to come up with another way to get him the ball is. I guess what I'm saying, that can't be your only bread and butter because that's a very low percentage pass where he's catching it sometimes, as you saw last night, when it works, it works. When it doesn't, it doesn't. So they're going to have to ask.
- [17:55]
Jason Concepcion
Him to be Randy Moss. Like.
- [17:57]
Raja Bell
Yeah, on the catch.
- [17:59]
Jason Concepcion
Yeah, for sure.
- [17:59]
Raja Bell
Yeah, on the catch. You're asking him to be Randy Moss and now he's. Now he's in his ISO mode. So look, this isn't a panic button. This is in. These are details when you're talking about we got four or five teams we think can win a championship. They're all good. Then we start to separate them, you know, based on, you know, what they can and can't do. And this is one of the things that Golden State's going to have to be good at. Steph is phenomenal. What he was able to do last night when he didn't have the juice was phenomenal. If you don't get the Kaminga game and the Pajemski game, Jimmy Butler has to give you a game. And I think it's going to be more often that in the playoffs than it is going to be getting the Kaminga and the Pajemski game. You might get one of them, but I don't think they're going to be a ton of nights where you're getting both of those guys going as ballistic as they went. And so Jimmy's. They're going to have to figure out how to get Jimmy involved.
- [18:49]
Jason Concepcion
Yeah.
- [18:49]
Raja Bell
Consistently.
- [18:51]
Jason Concepcion
Did this. Did this game put the warriors in the title discussion for you or at least in the conference finals discussion for you at all?
- [18:57]
Raja Bell
No.
- [18:57]
Jason Concepcion
No. What about the lake? I mean, are the Lakers in that as well? No. Okay.
- [19:02]
Raja Bell
No, but I. But I said they didn't put it in because I. I have them. Like, I think they're right there. Anyway, that game didn't do anything to take them out of the class that I already had them in, I guess is what I'm saying.
- [19:14]
Jason Concepcion
Right.
- [19:14]
Raja Bell
Like, I'm not disrespecting either one of their chances at it. I think they're both slightly, you know, I would. OKC is my favorite. Clearing away. Right. And then I'd have them in a category kind of creeping behind that. I don't think last night's game moved them out of that for me.
- [19:31]
Jason Concepcion
Oh, there was something that happened at the. Towards the. I believe the end of the. Around the end, or at least the second half for sure, of the lakers game where LeBron James did a. And I'm probably dry stitching here. I'm going against all my stuff. But it was on camera. Jesus. But he did I. Bronze is looking at me crazy right now. What do you want me to do? I gotta have to do it. I gotta have to do. We have a podcast. We have discussion points. I'm gonna look myself in the mirror after I. After this pod. And just like. Yeah. So he flashed a. What seemed to be. You feel me? A. Ooh, op that thing. Bow, bow, bow.
- [20:07]
Raja Bell
The blicky.
- [20:08]
Jason Concepcion
The blicky. You know what I mean, LeBron embraces inner Y N.
- [20:17]
Raja Bell
We don't want no problems, bro. We don't want no problems, bro.
- [20:21]
Jason Concepcion
You know? You know, but he did that, right? Almost. Almost like. Like. Like a week to the league. Like, everybody does this shit, right? And it goes to. And he did it towards Draymond. It was a laughing thing. Like, they laugh. And it was a. It was a callback to a couple days ago where Ja was doing the gun signs towards Buddy Hill, that they got into it, then they got a warning. Actually, new news here. John Moran just got fined $75,000 for finger gun gestures. And I just. I think this is a great conversation time to have the conversation about perception and how it bites you in the ass because. And I think LeBron alluded to it when he did. His reference to gun sign is like, I think as a league right now, my dad always used to say this, Raja, don't get that jacket put on you, because you ain't never. Sometimes you might not ever be able to take it off, right? And I feel like Ja has a jacket put on him for better or worse, for what his past actions are. And this is a full backlash of the league because I will say this one on one hand. When I saw the clip the other day with Ja against the warriors, bitch and Buddy healed, I rolled my eyes because I was like, man, John, just being hella immature right now. Like, what are we doing right? After all this, you still going to do this, right? But on the other hand, I'm like, he's clearly getting. Very clearly getting targeted, right? Because whatever you think about the gun references, bro, players do it all the time. All the time. And the fact that the. Even the greatest player of his generation just did it last night and no one said a peep, but ja's getting fined $75,000. What is the perception of Ja right now, Raja? And how is it affecting his pocketbook and his reputation?
- [22:29]
Raja Bell
Oh, well, the perception is he can't get right. I mean, that's the perception, right? The reality is that you are correct. Like, there are a lot of people making those gestures. Like, look, Pajemski. There was a point in the game where Pajemski makes a three and he's running down the court and he's doing this right, which is his three celebration. But look at that. Cause I immediately thought when he was doing it is Buddy throwing up the blicky. Like, I didn't know. And so.
- [23:03]
Jason Concepcion
You sound so lost when you say that, bro. I'm sorry.
- [23:05]
Raja Bell
Like, it's okay. Yeah, it's all right. But, like, that's where we're at in the league. Like, a lot of people are doing that. It's just, you know, Ja like, dog, you got to have a little. You gotta have a little self awareness, though, bro. I know we talk about this. Is it fair that other people do it and don't get fine? And you do it and get fine? Like, probably not. Like, is there a reason behind it? Like, if you put yourself in this situation 100%, like, you're not out there with, like, not that it makes a difference, a pistol or nothing, but you like swinging the Draco or the AR15. Like, you out there, like, with big boy guns. Like, that shit is not like a celebration of a three, my boy. You lighten up the bench. And so it's just a bad look. And you. You have put yourself in the situation where you can't have bad looks, especially as it relates to firearms. Like, and so, I mean, there's a lot that can be true at the same time. Right? His reputation plays a large part and his, you know, prior offensive play a huge part in the fine. Other cats aren't getting fined. That's not necessarily fair. The league probably needs to, you know, I don't. I don't know what the language or the letter of the law. You can't do a throat slash. So why the. Are people running around like, shooting people? When did that become okay? I remember, like, the throat slashes. What was. That was almost a decade ago now where people were doing that in, like, in. In. In playoff games and. And they were getting fined for that. When. When did we introduce assault rifles?
- [24:43]
Jason Concepcion
Yeah, but.
- [24:44]
Raja Bell
So that's a league. That's a league.
- [24:46]
Jason Concepcion
Sam Cassell was doing the. The big balls gesture. Yeah.
- [24:50]
Raja Bell
My dog, Eddie House, I'm pretty sure got fined for that.
- [24:53]
Jason Concepcion
Cove got fined for that. I remember that too, but.
- [24:56]
Raja Bell
Yeah, but no. So I guess, like, it's kind of messy. But let me. Let me just. Because I don't. I want to go back to Ja. Listen, man, I don't mean any disrespect. I don't know him. I don't know anybody in his camp. But you can go back and listen to what I've said about him before when he was in all of this.
- [25:14]
Jason Concepcion
It.
- [25:15]
Raja Bell
It just screams immaturity, bro. It screams lack of awareness. It screams, you haven't learned anything really, from, like, what you've been in already. And maybe saying that you haven't learned anything is the wrong. You haven't learned Enough, right? Like, maybe you're not out there really, you know, handling the firearms and being in the places that you're not supposed to be in and doing that in. In, like, real life. But you're. You are an ambassador, bro, of the game. Like, they don't. They don't. That's not a great look, killer. Like, you gotta kill is probably the wrong. Sorry for the. No pun intended. But, like, you gotta. Come on, bro, tighten up.
- [25:52]
Jason Concepcion
I think that. What I think is happening, I'm sure you. You would agree with this, is he feels targeted. You know, he feels like that. And he is now be defiant against it because he feels like he is being wrongly. Like it's. This is unfair and all these things. But to your point, like, that was my first thing. Like dogs. Just like, I remember I was at a Warriors practice during my beat writing days. There was this player by the name of Jordan Bell. And Jordan Bell had a lot of talent. You know, I really thought he was gonna be something in this league. And I remember Steve Kerr had an availability, and he was talking about how players had some. Certain players. When he says players have a day off, he's only talking about certain players, right? Like, Clay has a day off. Steph has a day off. Draymond. Kevin Durant has a day off. And then he pointed over the shoulders of the media members. It was like, jordan Bell don't got a day off. It doesn't apply to him. Right? Right. It was wild. Steve Crow was a gangster for that. But. But that applies to Ja. Like, you're not LeBron, bro. You're not that. Like, and that's something that you just gonna have to accept at this point. And, like, also, bro, like, what do you gain from that? Who cares? What do you.
- [27:14]
Raja Bell
That's like, that's fair. But I'd argue, like, you're not LeBron in the sense that, like, you're not. You're not the face of the league. And maybe a goat conversation. You're not LeBron in that regard, but you're also not LeBron or LeBron's not you in that he does not have a. A history.
- [27:29]
Jason Concepcion
That's what I bet by. Right, that's what I mean. Like, you're. Because you know that he's. You know that he's in his group chats right now talking about, bro, did you just see LeBron type shit that I just did? Did you just see him just do that? What the fuck? Why they. Why they targeted me? Right? Why did you just see such and such do the same thing. Why they all on me, right? But the reason why. And, like, another thing is, like, perception. And all these things that he has done on IG and all these things are one thing. He's also been immature with, you know, things around the league, talk about lawsuits that have happened. Like, Ja has come with a lot of baggage to the point where, like, we get all these whispers that, like, he might, you know, dip. We talked about this the. A couple. Couple pods ago where, you know, you. You see that the front office is trying to change the offense. Like, that is a clear indication that my guy, you are expendable. Like, all this stuff that you think that you are right now, like, just a trade away, homie. Like, and I don't think that he necessarily gets that. But the other side of this, Raja, is that he's so fucking good. Like, you saw that even in the same game that we're talking about, where he just didn't care. He was just defiant to the core. He had an amazing game winner, right, like, and kept Memphis afloat, right? And so that's the jaw experience. Like, you're gonna get this. You're going to get all of these things for the foreseeable future, right? And he's not this young dude no more like, He's a. He's 25, but, like, he's 25 going into. It's the old 25. And you're gonna have to take all this baggage when you take him. And, like, at a certain point, man, like, I don't know how long a team is going to keep up with this baggage, bro. Especially when they're not winning at the clip that. And you're not playing all the games that you're supposed to, and they're not winning at the. At the rate that they think they should be winning with you in a lineup, like, it's just gonna. I think something's gonna give it Memphis for real. I think something is.
- [29:36]
Raja Bell
Well, I don't. Look, there always comes a point with anyone where the juice isn't worth the squeeze, right? Like, and so when that point is reached by the Memphis Grizzlies organization, I. I don't know. He's still super. He's super talented, and he's such a good player, especially when you. When you allow him to be the best version of himself by what you do offensively, right? Like, and now we can have the argument as to whether or not that's the best offense to be running to try to win championships, and we can debate that, but, like, he is one of the guys that if you. If you give him the ball and do what. Let him do what he likes to do, like, he's incredible to watch. So I don't want to take anything away from that. I would just say that again when. When the league suspends you. And I'm trying to remember his timeline here. Like, he was suspended. They put him in, like, counseling and stuff or some. Something like that for a while, right? Where they, like, yeah, like. Like there was all kind of stuff done to try to, like, rehab, you know, the. The. The thought process and so on and so forth. The hopes at the end of that are that you will never have a problem with weapons or the imagery of weapons or being arrested for weapons again. We've. We've, like. We've curbed that behavior, even if it's just enough for you to, like, not do it publicly. And we haven't changed your, like, private life. This. Don't do it publicly anymore. And when you come out of all of that and you've lost all that you've lost in terms of seasons and games played and, you know, finances and all of that, and you can't help yourself in that situation. I'm not arguing that other people don't. Don't do that. I can argue, though, that, like, you know, we're talking, like, semantics kind of at that point. Like, the imagery is different when you're swinging that, bro. When you are sweeping the motherfucking street, bro. With.
- [31:30]
Jason Concepcion
I know.
- [31:30]
Raja Bell
With that is a wild image. Like, after.
- [31:33]
Jason Concepcion
Wild after. By the way, you got in trouble for put lasers on. On. On teams after a game. I don't know if it was a red laser, but it was a red dot that you were. That allegedly was coming from your car, and you're putting it towards another team. Like, that's crazy.
- [31:51]
Raja Bell
And you can't. And you can't help. You can't help yourself with that. I would just say again, it screams. It just screams immaturity.
- [32:01]
Jason Concepcion
It also screams like, people in his. People, in his camp are not, like, telling him what it is. Rah. If I do some stupid shit, first text I'm getting is from Raja Bell saying, you're doing some dumb shit, bro. You know?
- [32:13]
Raja Bell
Yeah.
- [32:14]
Jason Concepcion
Yeah.
- [32:14]
Raja Bell
Well, that would be the first.
- [32:15]
Jason Concepcion
I don't know if this is the wave.
- [32:17]
Raja Bell
The first text you get is from your mama. I know her.
- [32:20]
Jason Concepcion
Why you got to do that? Why. Why are we doing this? Yeah.
- [32:23]
Raja Bell
No, because. No, because. No, I'm saying that affectionately. Like. Yeah, yeah, because if one of my youngins pop out and are acting reckless. Like, I love them so much that me or their mom are gonna be the first person to hear, yo, my man, what are you doing? I know my dad and my mom will be the first people on my phone. So, like, I know, you know, when you have a support, like, look, man, part of a camp's responsibility, part of a camp's responsibility is to stand in there and balance you out. Sometimes it might mean when you're at your lowest, they remind you of who you really are and support your confidence level and rehab, you know, your mental. It could be when you're feeling too big for your britches and you're reading your own press clippings that they remind you of where you came from and center you back down, take out this motherfucking trash.
- [33:19]
Jason Concepcion
Stop playing.
- [33:21]
Raja Bell
But it could also be like, you know, where people are saying to you in a way, hey, man, we're moving. We're image. Image is. Is. Is important, right? And like, the opportunity that exists because of the talents that you possessed in this. In this league. And you could have it in your hand, or at least there was a time where you could have had it in your hand. I don't know if that time's. That time is past. Like, I. Like I said to you, I couldn't tell you when. The Juice isn't worth the squeeze for Memphis, The Juice is not worth the squeeze for the NBA. He ain't the face of this league. No, that. That time has passed. But even in that space, there's still room for your camp to say, hey, bro. Come on, dog. Hey, you got to tighten this up, baby. We can't. We remember, we've had these problems. We don't. We don't need them moving forward. And clearly he's not getting that.
- [34:08]
Jason Concepcion
Yeah, you know, we'll. We'll see what happens, man. Let's take a quick break. We have a branded segment, but I also want to talk about the gift of the curse of perception. The Ringer NBA show is brought to you by FanDuel. It's the final stretch of the NBA season, and the playoff picture is changing by the minute. Every three pointer or fourth quarter comeback means that much more. With live betting on FanDuel, you can make the playoff picture a little prettier. So whether you're looking to ride with the hot shooter or think a team is due for a run, you can get in on the action until the final buzzer with America's number one sportsbook. Let's take a look at the Slate Kings Hornets. Oh, I'm not going to watch that. But if you do, I think I would suggest picking the Kings and taking the over. Jazz Pacers. Ooh, Lord, I would take the Pacers and I will take the over on points for Tyrese Halliburton. Sun Celtics. Ooh, the Suns are a dumpster fire. And I think the Celtics are going to beat the brakes off of them just like they beat the brakes off of them last week. And we're going to take the overall point scored for the Celtics and I'm going to take the overall on points for Devin Booker. Let's go Nuggets Warriors. I'm going to take the over on that game and I'm going to take the under on point score for Steph Curry. However you want to play, now is the perfect time to join new FanDuel customers. Get started with $200 in bonus bets. If your first $5 bet wins, just visit FanDuel.com RingerMBA to join today. Make every moment more with FanDuel. Official sports betting partner of the NBA must be 21 years and older and present in select states. 18 and older and present in D.C. first online real money wager only $5. First deposit request acquired Bonus issue to non withdrawable bonus bets which expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms@sportsbook bandool.com gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com did somebody.
- [35:54]
Raja Bell
Say free underwear Trade up your questionable.
- [35:58]
Jason Concepcion
Old undies at a Duluth trading store.
- [35:59]
Chris Vernon
For a free pair of buck naked at the third and maybe last underwear trade up event April 12th and 13th at at your Duluth trading store.
- [36:08]
Jason Concepcion
And we are back. I told Raja what we were talking about over the, over the break and he's like, he said, oh, word. Let's go. So let me get the, let me, let me get the Brandon segment out of the way. This episode of Clutch plays is brought to you by Amazon Business. We're going to talk about the ending of Nuggets Timberwolves, which was clutch for the Timberwolves. Not so much for the Nuggets because of one Russell Westbrook. And I told you we're going to talk about the gifted gift and the curse of perception. Roger's still making me nervous because he got that twitch in his eye because we're talking about Russ and we might have to slander him today. And you know what he taught what he does when you try to slander Russell Westbrook. Now all I kept hearing after that game was Russ fumbled the Bag. Russ did this, Russ did that. Russ is who he is, ladies and gentlemen. I'm going to go see him tonight. Warriors play the Nuggets. Pretty excited to see this. Last time I watched Russ, he actually, he went like 7 of 85 and still hit clutch shots and beat the warriors by himself. Somehow. I don't know how that happened, but when you see everything that's going on with Russ over the week. Raja, what are your thoughts and what are we missing in this argument?
- [37:28]
Raja Bell
What are. What are my thoughts? Like what, what you saw that he.
- [37:33]
Jason Concepcion
Made a bet, right?
- [37:34]
Raja Bell
He. He made two bad plays. He missed the layup. He had a great steal. He missed the layup and then he fouled the jump shooter. I don't know why. Like, this is what bothers me about Russ. I'm not defending missing the layup or fouling the dude. Like, those are poor plays, but everybody makes poor plays and nobody catches this level of criticism and like trying to turn him into a clown as Russ does. Nobody. And I think that's bullshit. I really do. Like, I don't understand why. Yeah, Dog, he fouled a three point shooter. We don't want to do that. Take me to synergy and show me where he's the only person that's fouled a three point shooter in that capacity and I'll shut my mouth. But he's not. So, like, I don't understand why he gets that level of vitriol. Like, if, if you're going to tell me it was because he's run afoul of that many media members over the course of his career and stuff like that. I can't really argue that I wasn't a part of the media. But I'm just saying, as we level criticism, Adam, and to the degree with which we do, it's in proportionate to his skill level and to a player that's accomplished as much as he has. It just is.
- [38:45]
Jason Concepcion
I think when you, when you see it again, we talked about the jacket that gets put on players and we talk about in the rest of this case, it is the jacket on him is while he plays hard, he also is prone to a lot of mistakes. And also, like, this is just around the league. And I've heard this from like people that will never say this publicly. Um, but there is a sense of fake hustle from Russ, specifically on the defensive end. Right? Like he'll, you know, he is. His defensive effort isn't exactly what you would think it is based on his effort level. So there's that on his jacket. There is the erratic shots, there is the erratic plays down the stretch. And I think what happened was all of that came into focus the other night against the Timberwolves. And it's a recurring thing, and I think that is something that people are pissed off about, about. Because he lived up to the jacket that he wears, I think is what the league wide perception is. Raja.
- [39:55]
Raja Bell
Well, listen, let me. Let me attempt this, right, because again, this is. Let's. Let's flash forward to the night after that, right, where they played San Antonio and he was 11 for 25 with 11 boards, six assists and 30 points. And they lost the game far too often. The media will look at that and tell you those are hollow numbers. And there he is, stat stuffing. And it doesn't lead to a win fair in and of itself, singularly. Let's go back to the night before that. Nikola Jokic had 60. What was it, 20? And something else like, I'm not looking at the stats. Didn't fucking win the game. Didn't win the game.
- [40:42]
Jason Concepcion
And the narrative over four this year when Nikola Jokic.
- [40:47]
Raja Bell
But the narrative is Russ. The narrative is Russ. I just don't see that as being equal or fair. Now, it can be true that Russ, the mistakes he made down the stretch contributed to them losing that game, but it could also be true that in the night after that, there were mistakes made by Russ's teammates, maybe not as glaring in the last minute, but equally, equally productive in leading to a loss. And they don't get magnified the way Russ do. And the narrative on other players who get big numbers in incredible individual efforts that lose games isn't the same as we try to hang around Russ's neck. And I'm not here for that.
- [41:27]
Jason Concepcion
I think what's his. What's it. What's he getting paid this year? I'm not trying to pocket watch. I'm just saying it's in terms of, like, production, right? I think he's like fat minimum or something like that. Like, you're getting somebody who. What's with his average right now? He's averaging 13 points, five rebounds, six assists, about 45% from the field. I mean, anybody.
- [41:47]
Raja Bell
What's he shooting from three this year? What's he shooting from three this year?
- [41:51]
Jason Concepcion
Let me see. 33%.
- [41:55]
Raja Bell
All right, well, look, I mean, I'm not sitting here telling you that this.
- [41:59]
Jason Concepcion
I'm just saying based on. I'm just saying based on, like, if you get that in the free agency market, on what a vet minimum, bro, like, you're pretty excited.
- [42:06]
Raja Bell
Of course. Of course. And listen, don't get me wrong, man. I'm not. I'm not sitting here telling you that what happened in that game, specifically what Russ did that what, 201512 minute stretch didn't heavily contribute to the loss. I'm acknowledging that. I'm simply saying that when he has that moment, we take it and turn it into something that we don't do that for anyone else. Like, we take his mistakes and his foibles and we blow them up into a whole narrative about who he's been as a player in a career. And we don't do that to other players. Like we do it to Russ. I don't know what it is. Like, I don't know what it is about Russ. Like, you know, that's a. That would probably feel pretty shitty to be in his shoes. But like, I will say this again. Like, I've argued with people on, on these networks, like, not in the version of rust that we're getting now, but even in the version of rust that we were getting in OKC when the man was averaging a triple double and dragging teams like, to places that they. Like he didn't win a championship, but those teams weren't going to the places they were going without him doing that. And they'll still sit here and spin a 180 narrative about that. Like to. In terms of like the way they would spin it for someone else. Like, it's all about Russ and the emptiness of his stats. And if it were anyone else, it would be how great they were and how little support they're getting. And I'm not supporting that.
- [43:34]
Jason Concepcion
I was watching a clip from Gill's arena. Shout out to Gil's Arena. Really? Like, I think they get a billion subscribers, man. Like friends of the show for sure. Like shout out Gil, shout out Josiah, shout out Nick Young, shout out Lex. Doing a great job. But they had a. Gil had a clip recently where he was talking about Russ and his impact on the Washington Wizards, right? And there was a clip that. I don't know if it's gone viral, but like I saw it, I thought it was really interesting for this discussion. And basically they were going through a practice. This was during COVID year. And like five, six times down the. Down the floor. The team just wasn't looking for Bradley Beal. And Russ was like, stop practice. Stop practicing. Was like, yo, yo, yo, yo, what the fuck? This is the all NBA. This dude is this, this and that. You give Bradley Bill the fucking ball. Whatever Right. Like, that was just a little anecdote to the type of culture that he set. Mind you, Wizards, they've been to the playoffs since Russ Lap, but I don't think that, like, he gets even, like, he gets roasted. Like, even bug Laker fans about, like, there's this big clip that came out about, like, him, like, just telling the locker room to have fun or something like that. And it just gets undermined with his messaging just throughout the season. But I think, like, that he means well, and also that, like, in the places that he has gone, he has set a culture. And there is always a gap, I think, between the perception and I am a member of the media class, so, like, I'm lumping myself into this, even though I don't necessarily, like, believe this notion, but, like, I think that there's a gap between how players feel about Russell Westbrook in the locker rooms versus how the media talks about him on a nightly basis or writes about him on a daily basis. There's a big gap. Like, I remember, I remember going to a summer run at ucla. This was the first time I ever really, like, not necessarily interacted with Russ, but, like, saw him outside of the confines of an NBA arena, and I was floored by, like, how many people loved him. And this was like, OKC Russ. This was probably, like, 2017, 2018 summer. And I just, I pulled up and I just sat and just. You know when you go somewhere and you just sit and just try not to get kicked out? Like, you just sit. You just sit in silence. I was just right there, just, like, soaking it all in. Right. And the way that he galvanized those pickup teams and the way that players, like, really galvanize around him was, like, really, like, impressive. And this was, like, coming off. This was coming off the MVP year, but this was also coming off a time where, like, people were, like, shitting on him after Durant left, shitting on his game, shitting on how he played. And I was just floored by, like, how many people really respected him as a person and as a man. And I think that there's really a gap in how we see him, how we view him as a player on television versus how people feel about him in the locker.
- [46:56]
Raja Bell
Look. Yeah, there, I think you're 100% right. I've said before, some of it are. Some of it has to do with the aesthetics and, and what your eyeball likes to watch in terms of basketball style and play.
- [47:09]
Jason Concepcion
Right.
- [47:09]
Raja Bell
Some of it has to do with analytics. I, I, I don't Mean to be controversial, but, like, it always is going to bother me when there is that big of a disconnect between the basketball playing community, people who have done that for a living, been in the locker rooms, been in the huddles, been on the floor in the tight situations where you need a bucket, looked into people's eyes who don't want any part of it, and will tell you that no, that dude is like that. When there's that big of a disconnect between those people and the people who have never done it and only can look at stats and analytics and break it down, there's a problem. I'm not telling you. You can't be good in no basketball if you didn't play it. That's not what I'm saying. But when most of the people creating that narrative are that community, there's a problem.
- [48:10]
Jason Concepcion
You know what I think, though? I think they're like, for me, at least, because I am on. I am on the side of the ledger that you described, right? Like, in terms of the media side, that is. That is commentating on this game that, you know, I haven't. I haven't played basketball to the level of Raj. But I think for media members, it's really important to, like, take that into account. How much a. At least for the sake of this argument, how much a locker room loves a player and why a. You know, you could. You could say both sides of it. You could say he played like, but he's loved in the locker room for this XYZ reasons, right? Or why he has galvanized the locker room. Or why, like, they rock with him despite his mistakes late in games. Right? Like, you could tell a whole picture. I do think that there is more, and I've always said this on this podcast and beyond there is. There needs to be more of a balance in terms of, like, how we approach covering this game. I feel like we're just like, at points in times between players and media, we're just talking at each other, especially as there's been more of an influx of players in the media, which I don't mind. I think that I love it. Like, I think that, like, Roger, your perspective is amazing. Like, I learned so much from you. I do think there's a balance that could be had and a lot of it also. This is some other stuff. A lot of the people that are talking a lot of shit about, not only Russ, but all these people aren't in the locker rooms to, like, back that shit up, right? Like, the people that Are that are talking about this. Like, you notice when someone talks shit about you during your time or, like, wrote a column, Motherfuckers was there the next day. Right now, there's so many bare. There's so many less barriers to entry. You could write a blog shitting on somebody that you'll never see. And I think that that has also played a part in how we. In the discourse and how we talk about players and how we talk about the league as a whole.
- [50:09]
Raja Bell
For sure. I mean, that's the world, right? Like, so many people can sit behind the keyboard now and never, never really face the person that they're making a statement about in a way that there's.
- [50:18]
Jason Concepcion
A lot of people that listen to real ones that. That talk shit about us will never see us. Or they'll say, hey, we love your show. Hey, how you doing?
- [50:27]
Raja Bell
No doubt. And I'm not sitting here saying that, like, Russ is a perfect player. So, like, if your job is to write about a game where he's making mistakes down the stretch of a game and that's factual, you gotta write it. Like, I'm not saying that you don't write that. What I'm saying is when you're trying to create, like, a narrative, again, the whole. Like you said, when he plays like shit. Well, I mean, again, there are a lot of NBA players that don't have a great game every night, and we don't talk about them playing like shit. It's not categorized as that. It's not. It's not. It's not done in the way that it's done to him. And I find that interesting. Like, on a human level, I find that very interesting. Why is he the person that commands that level of like. Like. Like vitriol in your language? And so, like, you know, I'm not saying you can't write that he doesn't play well and shit like that. I do think it's fair. And it's hard to quantify how much someone means to. That we don't know the nuances of what they're asking him to do down the stretch. Like, there's gotta be a sliding scale between the mistakes you make and how much is put on your plate. We never factored that in. Like, no, I'm not going to make a mistake down the stretch because I don't ever had a fucking ball. But if I'm asking Russ to deliver a win every single night down the stretch and have the ball in his hands and make every play, guess what.
- [51:49]
Jason Concepcion
He'S going to do you'll try to do it also, like, bro.
- [51:52]
Raja Bell
And he's going to. But he's going to make mistakes because he's a human being. So like we don't like, there's very little context put into the conversations about him at times. And that's, I guess what ultimately is frustrating for me. And I would like, you know, again when people said I had this in the front offices and media members do it too. He can't play. He's trash. He sucks. Those rebounds are hollow. What the fuck is a hollow rebound? Motherfucker. You couldn't chase down a rebound with no players on the court. And you writing that this man's rebound is hollow. Take your ass out there and try to get a rebound. Then come back and write that it's a hollow rebound. But I ran around NBA courts for 12 years trying to get 10 rebounds. Guess how many times I did it? And, and none about. Nothing about my effort. Nothing about my effort was fake. I couldn't afford to have it fake. I wasn't talented enough to be fake. Seven. Eight.
- [52:52]
Jason Concepcion
That's hard, bro. That's hard. It's hard.
- [52:56]
Raja Bell
No, but I, I get hot about this though because there's too many people running their mouth that don't know shit. And, and there's too many people out there listening to people run their mouth who don't know shit. That, that give them credit for knowing shit. And sometimes you got to stay in your lane as it relates to talking shit about people. So real talk, like I, I got hot on this segment. Russ is not a perfect player. Russ is not an efficient scorer of the basketball. He does not shoot threes well. Like he is certainly not the player now that he was, I don't know, eight years ago. But just treat him and his legacy the way you would treat Lucas. The way you would treat Carmelo's. The way, the way you would treat AIs do that.
- [53:39]
Jason Concepcion
He's. I will say this. He's definitely not getting the treatment befitting of what he's going to be, which is a Hall of Famer, right? Like, he's definitely not getting that. And also one other thing that I would have a caveat for. Like I just looked at his. And again, I'm not pocket watching, just saying it as a thick effect. Two years, $6 million contract. If you're looking for your, your star player or your, the guy to win you games down the stretch to be your, the guy that's making $3 million. Like that says a lot about your team. That says a lot about the Denver Nuggets, right? Like, Nicola Jokic is right there, right? Every time. But, like, if you're relying on Russ to get at this stage of his career, this stage right now, to consistently be the guy to. At least not because I know Jamal Murray's on the team, but I know all these things, right? But he's polarizing. Like, he is, right? Like, that's where we're at right now. If you're continuing to rely on him, like, take the Russell. Take the name out of it. Like, I just gave you the stats of what he does. It's pretty much a bargain for that. For. For that price point, bro.
- [54:41]
Raja Bell
Like, it is. And I think. I mean, while it says something about, it also says something about. About Russ. Like, I'm gonna bring my voice down because sometimes you can't hear what I'm saying because of how I'm saying it. Like, they're not in the habit of rolling people out there that can't contribute in a major way to winning games in that league. People are paid millions and millions of dollars to make that determination in training camp, watch what they have, sort through it as a staff, come together, collaborate on it, and decide who's going to be the eight to nine guys that go out there and try to do that. And he's still standing there as a part of that core, and that is a testament to him in a way that people don't give him credit for. And I would just say this again, like, and all those guys I talked about, those are all time great players, right? Like, and while we can debate and have a conversation of like, like, I'm not saying he's as good as any of them, I'm saying you don't speak about them. None of them have championships, right? You, you, Luca, the jury's still out, so I probably shouldn't put him in that right away. But, like, we don't treat their legacies and talk about them the way that we do, Russ, is we don't play around with them like that. And. And I don't think that we should. Like, those are. Those are. Every player has his flaws. Nobody's a perfect player. But we can recognize what they were great at. And, and. And I think there's a lack of respect for it as it relates to Russ. And I'm going to double down on what I said. And this is. This is as clear and concise as I can put it. Those two back to back games, the narrative that would surround those two games, I think is a great example of the rush treatment. 60, 20 and something in a loss. Not your fault. Couldn't be better. Oh my God. Incredible. Amazing. Let's blame it on someone else. 30 something and whatever the next night in a loss. Hollow stats don't contribute. Like I just think. And again, I'm, I am acknowledging that Russ directly impacted their ability to lose or win that game. You can't. But you can't also escape that. If you go to the San Antonio game, there are plays made by Russ's teammates or plays that weren't made by Russ's teammates that would have affected his ability to win that game. And I'm not saying that Nikola Jokic wasn't phenomenal. Of course he's phenomenal. I'm not trying to say that's not take anything away from that. I'm saying like treat the loss, the numbers, the circ. Treat them equally, bro. Give the man at least that much credit and I don't think that's done for him enough. So I'm sorry for yelling at y'all for 10, 15 minutes, dog, but I really feel that man. Like, I really feel like that.
- [57:06]
Jason Concepcion
A last second three pointer. That's the kind of play that defines winners when it comes to business. Amazon business is your clutch performer with fast access to essential supplies and flexible purchasing options. They are there when you need them the most so you can tackle unexpected demands and keep your business in the game. Visit business.Amazon.com to learn more. All right, all right. You know what? It's time for real one of the week. It's Friday vibes. I have my real one project. Do you have your real one?
- [57:46]
Raja Bell
Yeah, why not? Go ahead first.
- [57:48]
Jason Concepcion
Okay, I'm going to send you a clip buddy. Just look at this real quick. Especially on the heels of after I just read terribly Reddit ad. Let's take a look at that clip. My my rower of the week is going to go to the one and only Kate Scott from Philadelphia who mid game is reading a mid game read ad read. As you know that kicks my ass all the time she's doing in the middle of a game reading it and then catches a team shirt. Doesn't even break stride. Keeps the keeps the keeps the team shirt that they throw in the stands and gets the read done perfectly. I marvel at that. I stand on that. Shout out to the homie Kate Scott for hold it down. Shout out to the greatest thing that's happening to Philly over the last couple of years. Great, great performance. We love you. Shout out to you, hopefully you get to watch some winning basketball soon. That is my ruin of the week. Kate Scott. The Hobie, the God, the goat, no doubt. That was impressive, right? You saw that?
- [59:01]
Raja Bell
That was pretty cool.
- [59:02]
Jason Concepcion
Yeah.
- [59:02]
Raja Bell
That takes a level of concentration that, unless you have to do the reads and stuff, like, you couldn't appreciate.
- [59:08]
Jason Concepcion
You throw something at me, Rossiter, to read. I am. I'm fucking up, dude. I can't even do it when I'm just, like, here. You know, Reads are hard.
- [59:17]
Raja Bell
Reads are hard. And just generally speaking, everyone in my family knows I can't do two things at once. So if you're trying to have a conversation with me and someone asked me, like, a little, hey, like, write something down on a piece of paper, I've got to stop one to do. The other. Brain doesn't work like that.
- [59:33]
Jason Concepcion
So I'll just say reading in front of the class was really hard.
- [59:37]
Raja Bell
Reading it from it. See, I don't have a problem with that because, like, I, like, I. All I have to do is read. So, like, I'm good in, like, I'm actually not bad with reads on. On the show, like, and stuff when you're not here and I got to do the ads.
- [59:48]
Jason Concepcion
You're not terrible.
- [59:50]
Raja Bell
Yeah, I'm not awful. I can do that. It's not like. And it's just. I can do that, but if I have to do two things at once, no matter how, like, easy they are, like, I'm gonna struggle.
- [60:01]
Jason Concepcion
Yeah. I was so proud of myself during the live show. Cause I killed that shit. I was so proud of myself.
- [60:06]
Raja Bell
You're really good on the live show. Shout out to the live show. Live show was a lot of fun.
- [60:09]
Jason Concepcion
Let's do it again.
- [60:10]
Raja Bell
Let's do it again, man. All right, I'm gonna give a shout out. I, I didn't really have one, but I'm gonna. I'm gonna stay in the Philly area with Phil Martelli Senior.
- [60:20]
Jason Concepcion
Okay.
- [60:21]
Raja Bell
And why, like, Phil Martelli coach in Michigan, I think, most recently, but, like, he was at St. Joe's when I was in the Philly area. Had those good teams with, like, Delonte and Jameer and, And. And. And other players. But. So, yeah, I made. I, I. I made buddies with his son Jimmy Martelli, and his. His older son, Phil Martelli Jr. Just took the job at VCU, and he hired his younger brother, Jimmy Martelli to go coach with him at vcu. He was at Penn State. And the reason I'm giving Phil Senior Real one of the week is because that's pretty damn cool, man. Like, to. To have your two sons coaching on his staff together at. At that level. And you were a career coach and. And like, that's. That's real One of the week, right? Like, you did right by them. And the joy that that must be bringing the family to be able to kind of, you know, watch them work together and stuff like that, I think is pretty cool. I told Jimmy that. So, like, real One of the week.
- [61:26]
Jason Concepcion
I can't. I can't see Cliff right now, but I know he's like, shed tears that we're finally, like, shouting out, philly, bro. We love Phil. I mean, shout out. All right, that's been another edition of real the real one of the week. And Real Ones Howard will now be be. This is a news to Raja. I didn't get to tell him because he didn't want to fucking talk pre pod. But Howard will now be on Fridays with us, ladies and gentlemen. All right, you'll find out why next week. But so next Tuesday, it will be being raw and may or may not be a special guest. We'll see. But that has been another edition of Real ones. Hey, also real one, mailbag gmail.com real ones mailbag gmail.com Real ones mailbag gmail.com we're gonna now do that on Fridays now, just so you guys know. You guys got time. We love all your questions. Talk to y'all soon. Shout out to RA Shout out to Cliff, shout out to Victoria. All this shit's my. Must be 21 years older and present in select states. For Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino, or 18 and older and present in D.C. gambling problem. Call 1-800-Gambler or visit rghelp.com call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org backslash chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 1-800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE NY or text HOPE NY in New York.