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What Does Raja Think? James Harden and the Cavs, Burner Accounts, Adam Silver’s Tanking Remedy, and More! | Real Ones
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- [00:00]
Podcast Host (Sponsor Announcer)
This episode is brought to you by Spectrum Business. Fast, reliable Internet means everything for your business and even this podcast. That's why I trust Spectrum Business. They keep companies of all sizes connected with Internet, advanced wi, fi, phone, tv, mobile services plus 24. 7 US based support. Millions of business owners already trust Spectrum business so visit spectrum.com business to learn more Restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas. This episode is brought to you by Firehouse Subs. Who just dropped a game changing sandwich? The French dip. Literally one of my favorite sandwiches. Slash subs. Roast beef, caramelized onions, melty cheese, little freshly toasted garlic butter roll and the warm savory au jus. I've been eating these forever since I was lived on the east coast in la. I think to me this versus the cheesesteak, the French dip, no contest, way better. And I think it's really because of the au jus. I don't know anybody who doesn't like au jus. An elite game day sub. Fun to order by the way, if you want it delivered because they usually put the au jus in the special little container you can pour it on. Knock yourself out. The French dip here for a limited time. I wish it was longer. Only at Firehouse Subs. Limited time at participating Firehouse Subs restaurants while supplies last.
- [01:33]
Logan Murdoch
What's poppin? Real ones. Logan Murdoch here. Raja Bell in a few. We are back behind our desks for the back stress of the season. Had a really, really fun time doing shows in Los Angeles with Howard Beck and Tyler Parker. We had a blast. Can't wait to do it again. But on today's episode, we're back with Raja, who we haven't heard from in a while and we play a game of what does Raja think about that? Where we bring storylines to his attention and we get his thoughts. It was a really, really fun episode and can't wait for you to listen. So without further ado, Victoria, play the theme music. What's poppin? Logan Murdoch here. Raja Bel there. How you doing, buddy? I haven't seen you in a minute.
- [02:20]
Raja Bell
Yeah, I'm doing well.
- [02:22]
Logan Murdoch
Little cold.
- [02:22]
Raja Bell
Little cold. But like had a week off, recharged the batteries. I'm ready to rock and roll.
- [02:30]
Logan Murdoch
Let's go. Okay. All right. Well, we haven't. Like you said, we haven't heard from you in a while, Raja. So yeah, I, I figured we'd play a game since Howard is out and it's just me and you old school, Real ones vibes.
- [02:43]
Raja Bell
All right.
- [02:43]
Logan Murdoch
I wanted to play a game of what does Raja, think about this, right? I'm just going to throw you some stuff that you missed, and I just want to, you know, get your opinion on it and your expertise and talk through it for the next hour and change. So are you ready to play the game? There's no, like, prize or anything, but, like, you know, just, you know, just the prize of us talking together.
- [03:02]
Raja Bell
Yeah, I like it.
- [03:03]
Logan Murdoch
We'll get right into it. All right. James Harden has played three games with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He's averaging 20 points, 6.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and last night was just pretty much amazing. They blew out the Brooklyn Nets, but he was great in that game. And the three games that you've seen from James Harden over the last week or so, what have you thought about him? What does this say about what's going to be the future of the Cleveland Cavaliers over the next few weeks?
- [03:37]
Raja Bell
I thought that James Harden going to Cleveland was going to work out for Cleveland and James Harden the way it has worked out through three games, he is a much better facilitator, playmaker, unlocker of others than they had previously. He's used to playing with stars that score the ball like Donovan Mitchell, but he unlocks the other guys that can't naturally go get it themselves in a way that they did not have before. So it's been a pretty seamless transition for him. I think the team has obviously functioned well with him there, but they will continue to get better. They're not a finished product yet that is going to continue to look better and better. Now, once you get into the playoffs and we're talking about, like, what you're cut from and how you react in those high pressure situations. And James Harden has his, you know, career long, you know, evidence to support, you know, that, that there's some struggles there. I don't have the answer for what that's going to look like. But as far as did they get better for a run at it this year in the Eastern Conference with James Harden, the answer to that is yes, and I expected as much. I'm not getting into the contract moving forward. I'm not getting into what that does to Cleveland and all of the things outside of the lines. But inside those lines, are they more dangerous? Are they a better team? Absolutely.
- [04:59]
Logan Murdoch
Well, you know, one of the things that I, you know, I just watching them last night and granted they were playing the Nets and it's been a small sample size, I don't think they really played anything, anybody of significance. They played the Kings. I forget the other team they played with. But in regards to this argument with the Nets and the Kings, from the G. The games that I've seen and one of the games that I have, one of the things that I have seen from his game and who's the beneficiary of his game is the bigs, right? Evan Mobley and Jared Allen. Jared Allen in particular, over his career. And this is from the Amazon prime telecast last night with James Harden. He is averaging 21 points a game, 10 rebounds a game, on 77% shooting, on 11 field goals per game. It was funny because James Harden said, I can't lie to y'. All. Jared Allen was way better than I thought he was. He said that last night, which was hilarious. But what you're seeing, though, is an unlocking of the bigs. And then when you like James is he doesn't get enough credit for how great of a passer that he is. I don't think, even though he led the league at assist a few years back, but he's able to, like, kind of play within that pick and roll structure. And I think what you've seen even in CLE in Los Angeles is his ability to mature his game to come off screens. But I think he has unlocked this team through three games and provided point guard play that they just haven't seen before because he's able to get into the lane, because he is able to play within the pick and roll. And could you just speak on, like, how the bigs are going to be able to feast with him on the team now?
- [06:33]
Raja Bell
You know, first of all, he's one of the best pick and roll players of all time. Like when you put him in a pick and roll and if you said to a kid, hey, go watch X, Y and Z play in pick and roll or pick a handful of them and study all of them, see how your game might, you know, compare to theirs. Like, find one and then, you know, use him as your blueprint. Like, he would be one of the guys that you'd say, hey, include him in the film you watch because he does some really interesting stuff in pick and roll. Do you remember what Clint Capella looked like when he was kind of prime running with James Harden?
- [07:06]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah, he looked like a better version of what Dwight Howard was supposed to be on that team.
- [07:10]
Raja Bell
So. So, like, he. He has an ability to do that for a lot of players. The better the finisher, the better the IQ of the person playing in pick and roll with him, the more you're going to eat. He puts defenders in A very, very tough spot in terms of whether you're going to stop him or whether you're going to allow him to continue to probe and get downhill. And, you know, a lot of guys bite at the opportunity with the ball in their hand to shoot the shot over and over and over again. And they don't include the big necessarily to the degree that you could include a big. He just has a really good balance of the two. Like, he will eat and pick and roll if you don't pick him up. I mean, he will eat. He will float you to death or get to the rim or, you know, stop and pop that three. But he never forgets about his big. And, you know, bigs often get forgotten about and they could get really sensitive, you know, and they want to.
- [08:04]
Logan Murdoch
Wait, wait. Historic. That's. That can't be historically factual, can it? Are you serious?
- [08:10]
Raja Bell
But it's. But look, they do a lot. We ask them to do a lot of work, especially on the defensive end. And so including them and to some degree, unlocking their ability to score the ball if they're not a ball in the hand. Big is. Is like, the value of that is, you know, you can. Multiple. I don't know what the multiple is, but, like, that's super valuable because he's bought in now. He's getting a taste. He's finishing around the rim. You're including him on that end. And then on the other end, like, typically you just get more buy in, more effort, more. More willingness to do the things that you really need him to do on the defensive end of the court. So not only does it unlock them offensively, but it gives them a level of buy in that would help them on the defensive end of the floor as well. Not that they weren't defending. So, like, let's say you're a big, right? And obviously, you know, you and I would have different skill levels. You're a big that I can throw the ball to. Allah. Nikola Jokic on a pick and pop. And you can go create it yourself, right? Yeah, I'm a big that. I don't really want it all the way out there where I have to beat my primary defender. But I'm good on a short roll. Meaning, like, you can give it to me, I can make a decision on whether or not the defender is picking me up and then I'll make one more pass, or if he's not picking me up, I can go and finish that, right? So that's another level. And then let's say Howard was here and Howard is a big that can't play in a short role. He doesn't want the ball on a pick and pop because he can't beat his man and make decisions. But he's a lob threat like he will finish it around the rim. You as a point guard have to understand who you're playing with and where and when they want the ball, what they can do. Aside from his skill set, James Harden's, that is, he's mastered understanding who he's playing with in any given pick and roll from minute to minute, from substitution to substitution, he generally gets that right. He knows where and when that big wants the ball. And it's not as simple as just knowing when they want then becomes his job to orchestrate and manipulate the defense in a way that he can get it to them where and when they want it. And he's mastered that. And that is why he unlocks so many different bigs. It's his ability to keep defenders, you know, occupied in a way where he can get his guy the ball in the perfect and ideal situation for them to convert.
- [10:23]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah, it's. It's so interesting that you say that because when you talk about that, what comes to mind is just the nomadic nature of his career, right. He's played with so many different types of points players and I remember when he first got to Houston and the adjustment it took for him to play alongside Dwight Howard. Right. And if you look at those first couple of seasons, I believe when Dwight got there was the 1314 season. There were a lot of mislobs during the beginning of that season and then towards the end, he had totally mastered the lob and pick and roll. And I think that that experience has really educated how he plays alongside big right. He's really, he's one of the, one of the most confounding players in NBA history, but he's one of the greatest and one of the reasons why is because he can adapt to so many different types of offenses. He is a hub, but he's an adaptable hub nonetheless, and it's been really good to see. I don't really care what happens at this point in a couple of months, because right now it's really fun to watch. So we'll see what happens. Okay, the next question of what does Raja think about. I texted in a group chat last, last night to Crickets during the the Knicks Pistons game, but Kane Cunningham balled out. And this is, this was the first one of the first games without Durin, without Isaiah Stewart, and one of the Big things that we want to see is like, how are the Pistons going to, to be able to manage without two big pieces in their lineup? And they didn't miss a beat last night. They beat the Pistons 126, 111 and it wasn't even that close. And Cade had, I think he had 42, 13 and 5, I believe to something NASA. This was the first time a player, I think Taylor Rook said last night, it was the first time a player has had 43, 3 and 10 since LeBron in the Garden. So what do you think about the Detroit Pistons at this stage and what do they need to do to continue what we saw last night?
- [12:30]
Raja Bell
They're the class of the east right now. You know, I, I often come on and talk about like what, like tiers where I think a team is like, you know, especially in the Western Conference this year, where I've always thought Oklahoma City was playing just a tier above everybody else. And then there'd be a group of three or four teams behind that. Yeah, I think Detroit's in a tier kind of solo right now in the Eastern Conference. Cade Cunningham is, is. I, what number would I use? He'd be a top. He, he's phenomenal. Like, I'm not going to get into like, like the debate of whether he's top five.
- [13:09]
Logan Murdoch
We told ZQ he was the best American player.
- [13:12]
Raja Bell
He might not be bullshitting. Like, that's not, he's real deal. Like, I like to play a game of like, who would you take Cade Cunningham or said player? Like that'd be fun to do. Because he's a problem,
- [13:24]
Logan Murdoch
Kate. Oh, why is that?
- [13:27]
Raja Bell
Why I, I, I think he, he is a three level. I get to the rim. Not, not as explosive a player, maybe not as many highlights purely as what Ant can provide you, but, and not as good a three point shooter. Shot it well last night, but a way better center of the table, a way better chess piece mover around the board. Like, yeah, I think he does that way better. I think he's got a mastery of the movement of a game and the quarterbacking of the team. Now they're different players, right? Like, but bigger. You know, some of the shit he was getting to yesterday was, you know, those are, those are tough fucking buckets. Like Ant lives on the athleticism, being able to get some of those up. This dude's doing it off of just, hey bro, you're too small. Like bump, bump. Like you're too small. Like the creation of shots that'd be, it's a tough One, but I think I might. I take Kate, his ability to pass the ball, set the table size. I think I would.
- [14:32]
Logan Murdoch
My guy, Steph Anderson, who's a big Knicks fan, watched the game last night. We were on the group chat. I believe he was at the game. He said, cade, no wasted movements offensively. And I think that that's what you've seen. Right. He's getting right to the cup if he needs to. He is very decisive when he's playing. You could see a saturation of his. Super efficient. I think it was 17 to 34 last night. He was. He was. He was getting him up, but he was making those shots. How do they. I think the big question is they're. They're going to have multiple identities throughout the back stretch of the season when the guys get back from suspension. How do they keep their flow as guys are coming in and out of the lineup? Right. And is. Is. Is that mean just. Cade is the offensive hub and he is who he needs to be. He has to be the. The balance for that team. How do they just navigate all that stuff that they're going to have to deal with the next few weeks?
- [15:30]
Raja Bell
Yeah, I don't think it's an issue for them. You know, as long as it's not Cade that's missing significant amounts of time, because so much of what they do is him being the hub of that. I also think stylistically and the way they want to play, I don't see you missing too many beats when you're moving, you know, Isaiah Stewart back in or Duran back in. They want to get in the paint, all of them. Like, that's. They. The amount of times I saw two feet in the paint from Detroit last night and not settling until they were able to spray it out for open threes was pretty remarkable. Those guys, Duran and Stewart, don't change that fundamentally. It's. So. I think, if anything, they add to the physicality like that. The board discrepancy last night, from my naked eye, would have said that Detroit really worked them on the offensive glass. It was relatively even last night. But when you bring back those two, I think it does become an even bigger problem.
- [16:27]
Logan Murdoch
Right.
- [16:27]
Raja Bell
There's a bigger discrepancy on the glass when you're playing teams like that. So I think it just adds to what they already want to do. Logan. I don't think it changes what they want to do fundamentally. So for that reason, I don't think it's a big.
- [16:38]
Logan Murdoch
A big deal. I think that the thing that I like and I think that the Pistons are a breath of fresh air in terms of, you know, for the last decade, it's always been about 3 and D. We're going to spread you out and we're going to cook you from beyond the arc, right? And that's not to say that other teams haven't, you know, done the opposite, but it's just been defined by great shooting. And what the Pistons did last night is they just punk the Knicks, man. And it's, it's sad to see the Knicks like this, but they were from the jump. They didn't necessarily shoot the ball very well last night. The Knicks did it, but it was more of, you know, getting in the paint, frustrating Cat, just imposing their will, and they do that all, they've done that all season long, and I think that's what you want out of a basketball team right now. And just like when you think about a team that takes on the identity of its city, the Pistons do that in so many different ways. Let me look at the offensive rebounding numbers for you.
- [17:40]
Raja Bell
It was 11 and 11.
- [17:41]
Logan Murdoch
It was 11 and 11.
- [17:42]
Raja Bell
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Again, watching it, I would not have said that to you. So I watched it before I looked at the stats, and because I wanted to, I wanted to just frame an opinion on just my eyeball before I started looking at the stats. And I was really surprised when I saw it. It was, it was a stalemate on the offensive glass. I, I, I would say you, you mentioned, like, Cat, like, look, anytime you shoot a for 35 from three, you're putting yourself in this tough spot as an, as, as, as a basketball team, right? Like, you're, you're just, and, and, you know, it's hard, it's really going to be hard to overcome that when you're, when part of your identity on the offensive end of the court is, is shooting a volume of threes. If you can't make a, a, a threshold number, like, you're going to be in a tough spot to win a game on. On top of that, I, I just, you know, I know he's always had his issues defensively, catching. There were multiple plays more than, I mean, there were five, six, seven plays last night where you could see him making a decision to not stop the
- [18:47]
Logan Murdoch
ball at the rim. Blake Griffin was so fed up with him last night, and I don't know if you saw the halftime breakdown of that, but there was literally a halftime breakdown of just Cat defensive missteps where he's just standing in place and he's not but he's not giving any effort whatsoever. And the other thing that's frustrating about watching Cat definitely offensively is when he is down and you get him out of his game. What the Pistons did was we're so physical with him on the. On their offensive end and defensive end that it just pushed him out of the game. And then he has this spurt in the third quarter where he's playing well and he's playing aggressive and he's playing all these ways, but he needed to get that out of him because he played so poorly in the first half. And that's the hard thing with Cat at this point, as he's dealing with all these trade rumors and he's dealing with all these things that have everything to do with the New York market, but nothing to do with what's going on in that locker room. And it's really affecting him. And you can see it on the court. There's so many ebbs and flows and highs and lows with Kat's game, and it really affects how his defense, and by extension, how the Knicks do game to game.
- [19:50]
Raja Bell
If you have a backbone defensively, he can be that, like, he can live in that lane. If you have someone that's going to pick up the slack and just provide a, A, a backbone in the middle of that paint, like, hey, bro, you're not coming in here. I'm making. Do you know how. Do you know how important it is to make someone make an extra pass? I mean, it sounds like a real trivial thing. Oh, you're making one more pass. Who gives a shit? Extrapolate that out over over a thousand times and see how many extra, like, possessions your team gets via turnover. Just by making someone make an extra pass, yo ass is standing in the lane, just letting them lay the ball in the hole. That becomes a problem over the course of time. Right?
- [20:34]
Logan Murdoch
So.
- [20:35]
Raja Bell
But my point would be, like, not the end of the world. If you have something that stands next to him that represents, you know, your defensive tenacity and who you want to be. But when he is the only thing you have out there with real size and you're expecting him to provide that for you, it becomes really, really hard to watch at times. If you're a fan of their team.
- [20:56]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah, because what happens is, you mentioned the 3 is an 8 for 35. From what I saw with the naked eye, is there's. The Knicks are so bad defensively that they get behind early and they have to shoot threes to get themselves back in it. And then you're you're in a position where you're constantly just playing catch up, right? And because of how in the biggest way you played catch up in this modern iteration of the league is with three point shot. And they're just forcing it all the time, like the Knicks teams of two years ago would, similar to the Pistons, would just impose their defensive will, but they just don't have the bodies defensively to be able to keep up. So, I mean, the Knicks have terrible vibes right now, and you. And you know, it's bad. Like, you see terrible vibes when you're, you know, in an arena, right? You can see it when you actually look at, at the, at the bench, but when you see it when it cuts through on tv, that's when it's really bad. And that's at the stage right now where I see the Knicks going. So it's going to be a long next few weeks for the, for the Knicks, okay? So let's have a little fun. Kevin Durant, who also balled out last night, I mean, I don't know if you saw that game.
- [22:12]
Raja Bell
I did not. I did not see that one.
- [22:13]
Logan Murdoch
No, just a vintage Durant performance. Just getting in the lane. You know, he's. He's doing the rock the cradle, the. Oh, I'm get you right here. No, I'm get you right here. Oh, over the top. Oh, I'm gonna get you in the post. Whoop. Don't even trip. Got you. Oh, I'm gonna take a scream from Shangoon. Get in the lane. Ah. Like he. It was. It was a Durant performance. But that's not really what we're, you know, here to discuss. We're here to discuss the alleged tweets from get off my Bookerson and get higher 77. Nowhere he goes, allegedly. You know, Durant didn't really, when he was asked about it a couple days ago, he says, I know you got to ask these questions, but I'm not going to get into any Twitter nonsense. I'm just here to focus on the season and keep it pushing. My teammates know what it is. We've been locked in for the whole season. We've enjoyed our break. We had a great practice today, and we're looking forward to the road trip. And, you know, know, there was a lot of questions about how the Rockets would respond to this. Jabari Smith played well. Who was. Who was one of the players that caught get off my Dickerson's Ire and the Legends and the alleged dms, but he played. He played really well. My question to you is, before we get into the game, what does Raja think about burners and social media burners?
- [23:34]
Raja Bell
What? I. I mean, I don't know that I have any real thoughts on social media burners.
- [23:38]
Logan Murdoch
I would.
- [23:39]
Raja Bell
Let me. Can I ask. Answer your question with a question, because I'm not up to speed all the way on Did. Did he ever just come out and flat say, hey, dude, not my fucking burner? Like, he did.
- [23:49]
Logan Murdoch
Not me.
- [23:50]
Raja Bell
He never just.
- [23:51]
Logan Murdoch
I just gave you the quote he just said when they asked him about that.
- [23:54]
Raja Bell
But that's the only quote. That's the only quote he's ever issued in regards to the burners.
- [23:58]
Logan Murdoch
Well, no, he said that he has multiple burners. Right? And like, he does. He is. He has been caught with burners before. He is standing on the fact that he does have burners. And listen, I get it, because, hey, when you're really, really famous, what you want to do, honestly, be in a position where you can let your hair down. Right? But that's just. Is what it is. But you. And we'll get to this in a second. You get susceptible to screenshots and things of that nature, and I think that's whack if you in a group chat and you are here sending screenshots. But he. To answer your question, Raja, he did not say in this particular moment that it was. That those wasn't here, that those. In this specific alleged tweets and DMs from get off my Dickerson and get hire77. He didn't specifically confirm that this was him in these tweets.
- [24:47]
Raja Bell
Well, that's. That's unfortunate.
- [24:49]
Logan Murdoch
He also didn't deny because.
- [24:51]
Raja Bell
Because that'd be. That'd be pretty easy to do if it wasn't you, right? Those aren't my burners. I've never been the type of star that Kevin Durant or Anthony, you know, I mean, Edwards or. I've never been in that stratosphere of stardom, dude. So I. It's hard for me to judge. I don't want to do that. I would just say that we've all had complaints about teammates or coaches or, you know, philosophy play calling, you name it, and yeah, we all should be able to express those and get things off of our chest. Just because I've reached such a level of a star that I can't go to the grocery store all the time doesn't mean that I still don't harbor these frustrations and need to get them out. Why does it have to be via social Media to the general public. You, you have a circle of people, I'm assuming.
- [25:51]
Logan Murdoch
Well, to be fair, this was a circle of people that he or the other whoever is trusted to.
- [26:00]
Raja Bell
So these, okay, so these, this is a, this is a private account.
- [26:04]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah, this was like a private group chat that got exposed to the world. He wasn't saying this to at least the stuff that he's talking about. He wasn't saying this to the actual world. World. He was saying this to people within a group chat with somebody in that group chat. Okay.
- [26:20]
Raja Bell
I'm being educated now, which I think,
- [26:22]
Logan Murdoch
which I think is whack.
- [26:24]
Raja Bell
Yeah.
- [26:25]
Logan Murdoch
But also, like, you can't really. You got to figure get some people that you can trust. I think it's whack that somebody, you know, did that to him. And also, like, to your point, everybody complains about. Yeah, co workers. It's stuff like that. Yeah.
- [26:45]
Raja Bell
I mean, but we're living like, this is. What platform were they in a group chat on, dude? Like, what, what is X?
- [26:51]
Logan Murdoch
They were on X.
- [26:53]
Raja Bell
They were on X? Yeah. I mean, like, I, I don't understand. Obviously, this, this. I'm not in a, in a group chat. I don't want to be in a group chat on X or anything, honestly.
- [27:04]
Logan Murdoch
You don't?
- [27:04]
Raja Bell
Like, yeah, I don't want to be in that shit. And I'm certainly living in a world at least. I'm trying to explain to my, my boys. I don't know how, how much of my advice they take in this space, but like, yo, don't write shit that anyone could screen grab and throw back in your face. Dude, don't, don't put it out there. If you have to wonder whether that's going to come back to bite you in the ass or not when you're typing it, if it's even debatable, don't type it. Erase it. You know, so, like. But is it corny as hell? It's corny as hell if I'm in a safe.
- [27:35]
Logan Murdoch
It's corny to do some shit, but
- [27:37]
Raja Bell
it's corny as shit if you go, you know, like, I am in a group text because I, I do have some with my buddies and like, you know, we'll talk about stupid shit. Like, if anything is shared in that, that is a betrayal of trust. Like, let's be frank, right? Like, that's a complete betrayal of trust and pretty shitty for that human being to do that. But. But yeah, look, dude, I don't know. I wasn't fully understanding the situation coming in. I Thought these were. These were. This was a burner count that he was tweeting to the masses. These thoughts, which is on one level, as a teammate, is unimaginable and like, unacceptable. But, like, if that's in a group chat and those are your private feelings and you've got a. A group of four or five dudes that you're. You're saying that to. We're all allowed to have those opinions, man. Like, it's, it's shitty that someone put him out there. And I would encourage KD to kind of, if that is him. Hey, bro, stop. Stop typing random shit, man. Call that mofo. And had a conversation.
- [28:30]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah, it's just, it's. It's. It's the weird world we live in because you can't. Like, if you're of a certain notoriety and some certain popularity, it doesn't seem fun anymore, man. You know, like, you can't. You can't do anything. Like he.
- [28:46]
Raja Bell
But Logan, I'll say this, but, dog, pick, listen, pick up the phone. I need to say, hey, bro, Logan, is this. And that and that mofo is this.
- [28:55]
Logan Murdoch
Blah, blah, blah.
- [28:57]
Raja Bell
Pick up the phone and call the person you need to say that to.
- [29:00]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah, it's true.
- [29:01]
Raja Bell
Just pick up the phone.
- [29:03]
Logan Murdoch
But the other thing is this. And this is, you know, this is. This is my generation versus your generation. Like, it's the. You know, if you FaceTime them, you get the screenshot of the FaceTime. Or if you. If you don't, like, it's a matter of trust. Or if you call somebody, joint can get recorded, you know, and like, used against you. You have to. At this point in this point of life, if you are of a certain notoriety or a certain anything, you have to complain to people you trust. That's pretty much what it is, right? Because like, I have. I've covered a league for a minute. This isn't just. Just happens on good teams. It happens on bad teams everywhere. There's always complaints. I remember when I. There was. I won't say the player's name or anything, but I remember know when I was covering teams, honestly, over the last few years, there have been plenty of times where players have just great teams complained about, man, you see this motherfucker right here? Didn't give me the ball, man, this is crazy. I'm annoyed he ain't pass me the ball or I. Politics. You know how politics go. They not even giving me no chance to get no buckets. I don't like this, coach. This is on great teams, on good teams and on bad teams. Like you're just going to get this. I, I think there's two things here. You can't trust everybody, plus the people you know that you may or may not know. And two, on the other side, it's whack that you know somebody would do something like that.
- [30:37]
Raja Bell
Yeah, look, this is going to. I, I don't want to take up the entire pod on this bullshit, but like, again, I, maybe he is in a, he is in a group chat within X.
- [30:49]
Logan Murdoch
Within X. Y.
- [30:51]
Raja Bell
The, the people that he is in a group chat with, they don't know this is Kevin Durant. Theoretic. Like, like, in theory, they don't know this is, they think this is just another random NBA fan user on X.
- [31:04]
Logan Murdoch
I think they, I don't know. Right.
- [31:08]
Raja Bell
Because like, if, if you're in that,
- [31:11]
Logan Murdoch
I mean, the screenshots would suggest they know it's Kevin Durant, obviously, you know, because they, they, they sent them out.
- [31:17]
Raja Bell
Yeah, like
- [31:21]
Logan Murdoch
these, this is really, this is, this is interesting. This is a trip.
- [31:24]
Raja Bell
It's not my bad. This is like. Because it's all like, here's my thing. If you know these people, if you're Kevin Durant and that's your boy over there and you're in this group text with your people and they know that you are get off my dickerson.
- [31:38]
Logan Murdoch
Right.
- [31:39]
Raja Bell
You know what I'm saying?
- [31:40]
Logan Murdoch
That's a great handle, bro. It's phenomenal.
- [31:43]
Raja Bell
It's just, it's phenomenal. I giggle every time, like, Jesus Christ. If. Then, yeah, man, it's shitty for them to share those private, those private messages and so on and so forth. But I would again then say if they know you and you know them, just, just call your people and have a conversation about that. I think it's way safer than, than having the ability for people to screen grab the conversations and shit like that. Just call the motherfucker and tell them what you think. If you're in there as like a random NBA fan with a couple other dudes who are random NBA fans and you befriended each other via X, they don't necessarily know you're Kevin Durant. And you, you become found out because of X, Y and Z, then what the fuck are you doing in there? At that point I'm asking the question, like, that's just dumb as shit. Like, don't. What are we doing at that point? And then I'm. To you, I'm saying, yeah, dude, only have communications with your trusted circle of people, bro. Like, that's not a lot to ask. That seems like common knowledge to me. It seems like common sense. Like, why are we having debates and shit like that with people that aren't in our circle of people? I don't.
- [33:00]
Logan Murdoch
You don't fuck with nobody, Raja, except for, like, five people.
- [33:04]
Raja Bell
Yeah, but why do you feel the need like that?
- [33:07]
Logan Murdoch
No, no, no. I'm saying it as a. No, no, no. I'm saying. No, no. I'm saying that with you. Like, you. If you're gonna. Cause I'm not mad at the complaints. Like, I'm not right. As regards to teammates. I'm not mad. Cause, like, it happens, bro. It happens in everyday life. It's fine. Like it. It also. You need to get that off, bro. Like, it is what it is.
- [33:24]
Raja Bell
Yes, it's. Where you get that off. Where you get that off is. It's the problem, right? Yeah, we all got to get it off. Like, you know, I come home and. And vent to my wife about what was going on. Or if I needed to, I call my man Ron D. I'll call. I will call someone that I really, really trust.
- [33:41]
Logan Murdoch
You would.
- [33:42]
Raja Bell
And if I really, really, bro, you can't. May you watch that motherfucking game, bro. Like, easy money. Feeling safe in those wide open, vulnerable spaces in social media is crazy. I can't even wrap my mind about it.
- [33:56]
Logan Murdoch
No, not at all. Last question on this. He spoke about his current teammates, talked about Jabari Smith, who played again really well last night. He had 15, seven. And Alfred Sanguine, who didn't shoot the ball particularly well from the field, but had some good shots in the second
- [34:17]
Raja Bell
half down the stretch.
- [34:18]
Logan Murdoch
And direct credit to him for, you know, just the push that they had in the start of the second half. If you're the. Like, I'm on two minds of this one. I think with a young team seeing this stuff could be detrimental. But I also know athletes where you guys kind of need a little bit of hubris to come together. What side of the. Of the ledger do you fall on with how the Rockets are going to react over the next few weeks? Right? Like, what do you. How do you think this is going to. You know, we don't know if. Get off my Dickerson. Who's Kevin Durant at this point?
- [34:52]
Raja Bell
Well, just stop saying. We don't know.
- [35:00]
Logan Murdoch
You know, we don't know if that is actually Kevin Durant at this particular point. We have. At least there hasn't been confirmation that this him. But he did say some things about his current teammates. If they saw what the username that you find hilarious has said about them. How do you know they react? Huh?
- [35:15]
Raja Bell
G O M D. Okay, the username. G O M D. Right. Like you're saying.
- [35:23]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah. Oh, I thought you were. I thought that was like an acronym of something that you were going to respond to. Okay. What do you. Where do you think that they're going to react to. This isn't the end of get off my Nickerson days.
- [35:33]
Raja Bell
We're gonna.
- [35:34]
Logan Murdoch
Hey, when Howard comes back, we're gonna. With him so much.
- [35:36]
Raja Bell
I can't believe we had a segment about a burner account in the NBA.
- [35:41]
Logan Murdoch
You're just mad he took the. The burner account name more than you did, because that seemed like a Rajabel username if there ever was one.
- [35:49]
Raja Bell
It is phenomenal, man. But, like, this segment is making my brain hurt because I can't even imagine where we live in a world where, like. But it's so crazy. I don't imagine they came out like they beat up. They beat a pretty good Hornets team last night, right?
- [36:03]
Logan Murdoch
Like. And Durant was great down the stretch. Pretty hot. He scored, like, the last 10 points down the stretch. He was great. Yeah.
- [36:09]
Raja Bell
You know, obviously, I didn't see that, but I don't think that this will be a major hiccup for them. I would like to think that in the locker room, the personality that is Kevin Durant, that didn't come out and necessarily just put it to bed via the media, would have said to his teammates, hey, man, listen, you know, I. That is not me, bro. Like, that is not me. That is not how this should be.
- [36:36]
Logan Murdoch
Or just like, my bad, you know, I'm sorry.
- [36:38]
Raja Bell
If it was just my bad, I. I'd be looking at him a little sideways because some of that was. Some of that was like, you know, like, he.
- [36:46]
Logan Murdoch
He used some slurs.
- [36:48]
Raja Bell
Yeah. Some of that was a rose above the level of me saying, hey, man, that was supposed to pass me the ball. Or, man, can you believe. But, like, it rose above that level, which is completely understandable and happens all the time. But I. I don't. I don't really see if. I don't foresee it being a problem for them. He's so probably so revered in that locker room by those young dudes. He could probably do whatever the hell he wanted and. And not lose faith with them, you know, this season. So I don't think it's gonna be
- [37:13]
Logan Murdoch
a big deal for sure. I'm gonna try not to use the. The username for the rest of the podcast. I can't tell you that. I won't. We're so immature. We're so immature. I can't wait till Howard gets back. Oh, I can't wait. Let's take a quick break and we're going to get some more Raj's thoughts.
- [37:38]
Podcast Host (Sponsor Announcer)
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- [39:23]
Logan Murdoch
Okay, we're back. I'm going to try not to use the the username because it's going to get us off the rails. Okay, so over the weekend, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that tanking has been worse this year than we have seen in recent memory. He is considering every possible remedy, including taking away draft picks, because he wants to curb the overt behaviors of the Utah Jazz and The Indiana Pacers of the world. He last week the NBA fine Utah Jazz and the Indiana Pacers. The Utah Jazzy fine half a million dollars and The Indiana Pacers $100,000. With the league saying that both teams sat healthy players in recent games. Matt Ishbia has weighed into this as well. There is going to be an owner's meeting coming up soon I think over the over the summer where the rules committee is going to get together and you know think about some ways to curb tanking has with the fines. Raja, has Adam commissioner solved tanking? Has it been. What do you think about it being solved?
- [40:40]
Raja Bell
Where do you think with the, with the fines.
- [40:42]
Logan Murdoch
With the fine.
- [40:43]
Raja Bell
Dollar fines.
- [40:44]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah yeah. Do you think that that is absolutely. What do you think?
- [40:46]
Raja Bell
No dude, stop playing with me bro. Half a million dollar fine. A hundred thousand dollar fine curb like tanking.
- [40:53]
Logan Murdoch
No. You think it's. Yeah. You don't think it's curb tanking.
- [40:55]
Raja Bell
I mean I appreciate it that it that it some some degree of a statement that that you know the league will take action if it's. If you are egregiously like spitting in the face of competition and what our league should be about. But it's not going to stop like that's not going to stop anything. Logan, you know, you know that they have.
- [41:18]
Logan Murdoch
This is sharp Serania he tweeted this last yesterday. GMs had a meeting last week and they all discussed the following concepts to curb tanking. First round picks can be protected. Only top four or top 14 plus lottery odds might will freeze at the deadline or a later date. They're no longer allowing teams to pick up a top four pick in consecutive years. Teams can't pick up a top four pick the year after making the conference finals. Lottery odds allocated based on two year records. Lottery extended to include all playing teams. Flattened odds for all lottery teams. These are just concepts that are around. You know I think the issue here is also the CBA that you know the players got raked over the coals with. This is from Sam from Warriors World. He said something that was was really interesting and pointed about the cba. The new CBA is incentivizing what Utah and by extension Indiana is doing. You get a bunch of picks, cash them in for a Triple J but also tank so you can get another high caliber talent at the on a cost control contract. At the end of the day you have three or four years before you can't afford everyone. So you're constantly in a cycle of overvaluing rookie contracts for cap purposes. So basically, if stuff doesn't work out over one to two years, you basically just say, oh, let's try to figure out a new team. Right? And teams are. That means we're made an environment where teams are just giving up and saying, hey, we can't really win the title and our books aren't great, so we're just going to just start from scratch. I don't know. And I agree with Sam on this, and by extension of that, I don't know how you remedy this because the cap makes it so restrictive to do a lot of things. And I just don't know where we are right here. I don't know. Unless you make a softer cap, which the owners aren't going to do at this point, you're kind of in the catch 22.
- [43:19]
Raja Bell
You are. You've created the system. I mean, it's, it's a product of your own design, right? Like, that's, you know, in an effort to, to stop the spending at the top and, And live in the world that we were living in for. I don't know, how long was that last CBA was. What do they go, 10 years? Are they 10 year deals?
- [43:44]
Logan Murdoch
I don't remember.
- [43:45]
Raja Bell
But like, you put this system in and it, and it puts us in the situation that we're in, which is, you know, we've got to be able to field these teams in a lot of cases in these markets where we can't get these huge free agents, we've got to be tanking. Like, we've got to find ways to refresh, you know, more cyclically than we did in the past.
- [44:03]
Logan Murdoch
Right?
- [44:04]
Raja Bell
Like, and that, that is unfortunate, but if that's what you want, just say it like that. If, if that's what ownership wants, if that's what the league deems healthy, just say it. Like, come out as an ownership group and be like, hey, guys, listen, we created this. We don't mind it. Everybody chill out. And Commissioner, you're part of that, bro. Like, you, right? Like, you're part of that. So again, we're talking out of both. You're talking out of both sides of your neck again, which I don't like. You're. You created the system, then you come out and find teams for using the system that they created. Like, I, I don't know. I'm not smart enough to handle all this. Here's what I'll tell you. Real talk. I'm not smart. My brain hurts. You me up with the last segment on, on social media and burner accounts and G O N D. Like, you got me, bro.
- [44:53]
Logan Murdoch
Right?
- [44:56]
Raja Bell
I would. I would say this. Whatever they have to do, whatever you have to do to make the sport and the product feel like it's all about competition. And the very essence of what sport is, please do that. Please do that. Because I get it. People think that this is hyperbolic, and I'm that old. Get off my lawn, dude. And I can appreciate that. Everyone's allowed their opinion. All I ever knew was sports. It's all I ever wanted to do. My dad was a PE Coach. For a while, I thought I was going to be a football player. For a while, I thought I was going to be a baseball player. I wound up being. For a while, I thought I was going to be a tennis player. I wound up being a basketball player. It was my passion. The common thread in every single one of those and in everything I ever did was competition, pure competition. Learning how to fight and scrap. And if you could go win a game. The best feelings I ever had were winning games I wasn't supposed to win. Those are the best. Some of my best memories were going into people's buildings, having no chance to win a game, being the complete underdog and figuring out a way to win that. When you start meddling in that and fixing games, if you will, because that's what it. I mean, that's what you're doing.
- [46:13]
Logan Murdoch
Like you're.
- [46:14]
Raja Bell
You fixed the fucking game. Like, you fix. I mean, why. People get. They're f. FBI raids. I saw some former college basketball players. They're indicted right now for fixing fucking games, for changing the outcome of game. You're midstream in a Utah Jazz game, and we got a chance to win, and this spread's getting covered. And you, as the Jazz say, sitting
- [46:34]
Logan Murdoch
all three players, that's not the case over here saying. You know, actually, he was on a minutes restriction. No, he wasn't. Lori Markin was on a minutes restriction. That's why he did it.
- [46:45]
Raja Bell
Look, I'm not. I don't want to get clipped and go viral. I. I really don't want to do that. Don't meddle with that, man. Whatever you need to do to make this about competition and clean up the.
- [46:54]
Logan Murdoch
The.
- [46:55]
Raja Bell
The optics of that to the younger generations and to the people that aspire to be in your league one day, please do that. I don't have the answer. I. I'm. I'm. I. You know, I. I am a true lover of sport and a true lover of what sport can mean to young people in terms of Teaching them life lessons and what type of thickness of skin and stick to itiveness and general competition can mean to them in their world, transcending sport, whether that's the business sector or the fine arts or what have you. It is really important that we protect the essence of that. And you're fucking around and playing with it.
- [47:34]
Logan Murdoch
It.
- [47:34]
Raja Bell
And so that bothers me, and I'm asking you, as a league, whatever it is, figure out a way to protect that, because that's important. Otherwise, we're living in the wwe.
- [47:46]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah, I think that that was one of the things that I said in higher learning, like when in October, one of the. It was when the Clipper stuff popped off. But it applies here. The thing that that separates professional sports from the WWE is that fans believe that sports are a true meritocracy. And when you take that out, when you take that assumption out, then what are we watching the game for? You know, what are we doing? I'd watch something else. I know they're competing in the NFL. I know they competing, you know, in other. In other leagues. Um, but that this is an unfortunate state of affairs. Um, one last thing I want to ask you, and we're going to have the full conversation if this actually happens, but I want to ask you about this. There were two announcements. One was Kyrie Irving is out for the season just to rehab his acl. You know, there was some buzz that he might come back at the end of the season. There's really no incentive for him to do so other than maybe raise his trade value if he wanted to get traded this summer. So he's out. But there has been some Jason Tatum comeback buzz. Right. He practiced with the Maine Celtics in February, early February. Our own Bill Simmons said that he could come back March 1st. He kind of. There's a documentary on NBC that they're doing on Jason Tatum out there about his recovery. And, you know, I think Jason Tatum's people told Ramona Shelbourne they kind of poured some cold water on it. But I don't think. I think the speculation is going to be there for him. But I guess the question is, what does Raja think about the proper way to recover from catastrophic injuries, like an Achilles or an acl? Right. And like, how do you. What will be your advice? Early advice right now for our guy, Jason Tatum?
- [49:52]
Raja Bell
Be patient. I was blessed not to sustain any real lower body catastrophic injuries. Like, I had a major, like, wrist surgery. But, you know, that was something that when I came back from it, I don't think the risk of re injuring it was as catastrophic as one like an Achilles or an ACL or something like that. So you know, I'm not speaking from a place of experience with this. I would just say to him or anyone like they were my kids, be patient with that. They have. And he has Jason Tatum access to doctors and rehab technology that I'm not privy to. So if in fact the rehab and the timeline for return to play has shrunk significantly over the last couple of years and he's being guaranteed that he's safe and his percent chance of re injuring that is super, super low, then by all means dude, do your thing. I love watching him play. The Celtics are in an incredible spot right now with an opportunity in the Eastern Conference to maybe sneak into the, to the finals in a, in a way this year. But the risk of that being re injured or re aggravated or something else happening would have to be negligible to not. It would have to. There would have to be like a below 5% chance risk for me to come back. Like I'm just keeping it a buck. Other than that, I would buy my time. I would get fully healthy. I would take another off season to get myself back and try to get closer to 100% because even if he comes back, Logan we don't know what percentage of himself as a player he will represent to them at that point and whether that representation is enough to help them get over that hump. And at that point I don't know that the risk is versatile. The risk is worth the reward, if that makes sense. You know, if you told me we're dropping a 100% all the way healthy, all star caliber forward and Jason Tatum back in with the Boston Celtics and you said there's a 15% chance of, of re injury. Like, you know, Eastern Conference is kind of open. I just said Detroit's in the class by themselves. Boston's really fucking good. Like yeah, I might swing at that. But if he's not going to be that, I mean I had to think long and hard about, about whether that risk is worth, worth, worth that reward.
- [52:27]
Logan Murdoch
I think so too. And I mean aside from like being healthy and the small chance of re injury, I'm just concerned with. You haven't played an NBA game in almost a year and it's hard to get thrown in during the regular season, early in the regular season and kind of try to find your footing and, and then you're going to go where everybody has been playing. They're in game shape and not only Game shape. They are in three fourths of the season type game shape. And then playoff game shape is a whole nother beast. And to throw some 81 into there is really, really a hard thing to do. And remember when Jamir Nelson, they just threw him into the finals and it changed the whole trajectory of that finals for Orlando, for the bad. That's one example of how hard it is to play at that level when you're trying to find your footing. And so I'm concerned about that. I don't think you should do it, but it'll be, it'll be great for a great fodder for us. But it's, it's, it's. I, I don't, I don't get the motivation here.
- [53:33]
Raja Bell
That's what I'm, that's what I meant by, like, what percentage of himself as a player is he going to be? And like, you're just now getting on the court, if, correct me if I'm wrong, but we saw maybe two, three weeks ago him shooting jumpers, like, you just got assigned to the main G League team. You're in the very first steps of getting yourself in real basketball shape. Like, these are the infancy steps of getting yourself in real basketball shape.
- [54:00]
Logan Murdoch
Can you explain the difference between real shape, like, I'm like in the best shape of my life versus basketball shape? Can you give the listeners the difference between those two things? And then, and then the difference between that and playoff basketball shape?
- [54:12]
Raja Bell
I didn't sustain it. I just, I watched my son, Dia, two years ago have to have tightrope surgery on his ankle. It's a, it's a pretty sick, you know, it's a, it's a relatively normal surgery, but it had him out for, I don't know, 12, 12 weeks, something like that. Right. So, like, he came back and was able to start playing 7 on 7 on that ankle in May. Okay. Like, could he be out there playing seven on seven where he just has to take a drop and fire a football? Yeah, he could do that. By June, Dia was able. This is a whole month of, like, rehab and working just to get, like, stability and all the little, you know, muscles in his foot and stuff firing again. By June, he was ready to start, like, shaking a little bit and doing a little, like, you know, cone, cone drills, more things, change of pace and stuff like that. Not just linear, straight line stuff. Right. So you're already like a month in with him being back, and you say, oh, he should be able to play. And he and his rehab guys, like, no no, no, he can't play. He's just. He can, he can do that, but he can't play. Play yet. Now, June, we've just crossed another hurdle. Is he ready to play yet? No, because he's not up to speed. He doesn't have the, the, the, the bounce in his legs yet. Lord forbid he takes a hit on that ankle again. So that doesn't happen until August where I look at Dia and Dia's like, hey, man, I feel like I can really do it again. And I'm checking on him every week. So again, this was May. This was May where he could be out there and you could see him throwing at a local 7 on 7 event. To the naked eye, they probably say, yeah, he could play football. It wasn't really till probably, in fairness, July until Dia started saying, hey, I feel like I could really go out there and do that at a high level. There's a huge gap of time between when someone says you can be back on your feet shooting jump shots in the basketball world, but you feel good
- [56:11]
Logan Murdoch
when you're doing it though, right? Your body is like, feel great, feel great.
- [56:14]
Raja Bell
Yeah, I'm back, I'm on the court. There's a huge amount of time work and, and, and just healing that takes place between that. Those first couple jump shots, those first couple throws to right where you're game ready. And not just game ready, but game ready at the level that you want to be game ready at.
- [56:34]
Logan Murdoch
Yeah. Yeah. It's going to be fascinating to do all this because I do feel that, that. And I'm, I'm not there day to day. I'm not in Boston. But it does feel like when you read the tea leaves and you see the reports that are coming out of there that Jason Tatum is like, oh, I feel good. I feel good. I like it. And he's definitely somebody that loves basketball and is around it and it's like,
- [56:55]
Raja Bell
I love him for that. I love him for that, bro. I, I'd much rather that than a dude that's like, yeah, I'm, you know, the, the, hey, I don't want to play a guy because I feel, I feel a little stitch in my hamstring. Like, that bothers me. So I'd much rather Jayson Tatum just be careful, man. Protect him and like, err on the side of caution, dude. Like, there's no rush, bro. You got a long career, dog. Like, don't, don't jeopardize that if it, if you got other intel. Because again, I'm telling you I don't know. I knock on wood. I've never had an Achilles. If you got intel from doctors say, hey, bro, you're Gucci. That's hey, do your thing, bro, but be careful.
- [57:32]
Logan Murdoch
One second before we get out of here, we do this every Friday. It's called real one of the week, where we point out a entity, organization or person that won the week. This. I'll go first. This is. This is actually from a couple of weeks ago, but I want to give a real one of the week to James Harden. He's played great, but he pushed back on the. On the notion of the importance of player loyalty in the NBA. He said, the end of the day, it is basketball and the whole quote unquote loyalty thing is overrated. This is a business. At the end of the day, there's a lot of money involved and a lot of decisions that have to be made. If a player isn't producing or if you don't see see him in the future or those in the front office have to do their job, they trade players. Or if a guy isn't happy and wants to be traded somewhere else, it's a problem. There are just so many different dynamics that go into it. Not even just in the NBA, people who have normal jobs have these same problems. They just aren't magnified. This is a business at the end of the day. So players ultimately do what's best for them and the front office does what's best for them. And I thought that was really like one great quote and also all true. But it was interesting that you hear it from James Harden because if you look back at his career, he has been a victim of this time and time again. Right. On both sides of it, right? No. Gets traded by early in his career, sees what the real NBA is when he gets traded by the Thunder for no other reason than the Thunder just didn't want to pay that much money to keep him on. And then you see what happens, no matter what you think about both sides involved, but you see what happens to him in Philly, where he thought that he was promised a certain amount of money from the front office there, and then a bad playoff performance. And it's like, actually, we don't want to give you the max. We're actually not going to give that to you. And, you know, kudos to him for telling the truth. And it is a double standard, you know, when front offices, you know, coldly trade players or get rid of players when they sense their value is on a decline. And we just Heard that from Daryl Morey last week when they said they sold high on a player, right? So kudos to James Harden for telling the truth and actually, you know, exposing that double standard wouldn't say once and for all, but again because it needs to be exposed. So James Harden, ruin of the week.
- [59:57]
Raja Bell
I'm gonna give my real win of the week to a freshman football player at the University of Texas. He'll wear number six this year. He's near and dear to my heart, Diabell. And the reason I'm. He had a good week, man.
- [60:12]
Logan Murdoch
He.
- [60:13]
Raja Bell
He got their student athlete of the week, which I don't think I ever once earned in my five years on anyone's campus. So we're really proud of him for that. Like as a, as a freshman, he's got a lot coming at him in terms of playbook and responsibilities, but making sure that he's locked down on that side of it's really important to us. So like we're really excited about that. And then he said on the field, he hit a personal best speed, max speed of 21.4 miles per hour yesterday working out, which is moving pretty good for a qb. So like all in all, good week for the kid. So I'm going to give him real one of the week.
- [60:48]
Logan Murdoch
That's what's up, man. You got a lot of. I don't know if you know this or not. There's a lot of Texas fans and at Ringer hq, oh word. Who are very invested in and Dia's success. When I was in la, Brian Curtis, who is the. Is the host of the press box pod, he was just, he asked me when I was on the pod was just like, what's up with Dia? How's he doing? What's going on?
- [61:15]
Raja Bell
He's got a lot, right? Yeah, a lot coming at him right now.
- [61:18]
Logan Murdoch
A lot, a lot, a lot. But I want to go to a game and if somebody can pay for me to go to a game, you're in even better then I am in. But anyways, appreciate the support though, that's for sure. Yeah. Shout out to the nephew of the pod. I damn near need to get a jersey, bro. I might need to. I may need to cop the Texas church. It goes against every one of my childhood morals because I grew up a USC fan but you know, nephew of the pod. Diabell, I'm so proud of him. So proud of you. Thank you.
- [61:51]
Raja Bell
I appreciate that. Thank you. I, I don't know though, like real talk, when you're. Wherever he's going to be on the depth chart. That's tbd. I don't know if they sell those jerseys.
- [62:00]
Logan Murdoch
Well, if there's a there's a creative jersey. If there's a creative jersey, I might rock with it, bro. I'm on his bro. I was on I followed the obvious on Instagram and I saw him with on his story just kind of posted some stuff and he posted his locker and I was like, oh. Oh, man. Oh, man. All right, man. That's been. It's good to see you, buddy. Really good to see you too, bro.
- [62:22]
Raja Bell
To be back.
- [62:23]
Logan Murdoch
That has been another edition of real ones. I believe all three of us will be back next week for our Tuesday episode. You know what happens on Tuesdays. Real ones mailbag Gmail.com Real ones mailbag Gmail.com real ones mailbag Gmail.com make sure you tap in. See you next week, buddy. Ah, all the shits. Bye.