← Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara
Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara
Shams Charania Talks Giannis Trade Deadline, Jayson Tatum Comeback and NBA All-Star Celebrity Game
00:58:17
Loading summary
Transcript237 lines
- [00:00]
Jerry Ferrara
What was that screen time like?
- [00:02]
Shams Charania
It wasn't as high as maybe I thought it should be, but people still think I'm a maniac. This is Monday. Let's go Tuesday.
- [00:10]
Eddie Gonzalez
You didn't sleep.
- [00:11]
Shams Charania
Let's go Wednesday.
- [00:12]
Eddie Gonzalez
Wednesday. 19 hours, 49 minutes. This is post deadline.
- [00:17]
Shams Charania
Thursday's the end.
- [00:18]
Eddie Gonzalez
Thursday the end of deadline. 19 hours. Good.
- [00:32]
Jerry Ferrara
Foreign.
- [00:36]
Eddie Gonzalez
Welcome to another episode of throwbacks. Please do us the solid. Follow us on all social media at throwback Show. Go on YouTube at Throwback Show. Subscribe. Press that button. It's free. I know people don't like pressing the subscribe button. You can trust us to do that, man. So I'm solo today for the for now. Well, I have someone who's going to back me up, but our own Matt Liner. Matty Ice is out. The injury report has been listed. He is out with the flu. And now I get to imagine what it was like for Scottie Pippen if Michael Jordan just was like hey guys, I got the flu, I can't play. And sat out. And then who knew maybe Scotty Pippen would have still had his own version of the flu game where he was by himself. But I needed some backup because we're going to talk a lot of NBA today and I can't think of anyone better besides Matt to talk NBA with our producer and also a very, very awesome voice, especially talking NBA Eddie Gonzalez. How you doing Eddie? Thank you for coming. I mean emergency emergency quarterback situation.
- [01:44]
Jerry Ferrara
Ne next man up mentality, man. I appreciate the nice intro. I hope we could feel in for Matt. You know Matt is the most prepared out of all of us every week. Every single week. Yes. So it's crazy that he had to, had to call the audible. But yeah, I think we gotta, I think we got a good show on the way and it'd be fun. It's always fun to catch up NBA stuff with you, man.
- [02:04]
Eddie Gonzalez
Yeah. And look, I know Matt's always down to talk NBA, loves his Lakers. But you know, I think you and I lock into the NBA in a different way. Like, well, I'm watching like I'm knee deep in Hornets games right now because
- [02:16]
Jerry Ferrara
I was gonna say I'm like con canippled up right now.
- [02:19]
Eddie Gonzalez
So I'm just knee deep in like wow, the Hornets actually could really make a run at this thing. And you know, I don't know if Matt's grinding Hornets games like maybe you and I but he'll hopefully be back soon and it's a 24 hour thing. It sucks.
- [02:35]
Jerry Ferrara
Matter be good, you know how that goes with the fam. You got three kids there, the wife. Everybody's gonna have to get sick a little bit. And Pops usually gives it the worst.
- [02:44]
Eddie Gonzalez
As far, it's a petri. Your house is a petri dish there. There's rashes and snot everywhere. No, it's terrible, but ironically. Ironically. So our guest today, which you had a big hand in helping us with, and he's the best in the business right now, our guy, Shams. The last time Shams came on throwbacks, I actually went live is when the cat trade broke last year to the Knicks, right? And obviously I was freaking out. And somehow I think through Eric Wells, and obviously I go way back with Shams too. He's a huge power fan. I'm wondering why when he comes on, he always has something he does every time he sees me, or whether it's in real life or digitally.
- [03:23]
Jerry Ferrara
Definitely going to.
- [03:24]
Eddie Gonzalez
He always will. He always starts off when he goes, yo, broa.
- [03:29]
Shams Charania
He's like.
- [03:29]
Eddie Gonzalez
He's. He's channeling Tommy Egan or Ghost. He goes procta. So I wonder if he's gonna hit me up with that. But the last time Shams came on, he was nice enough to come on right after the cat trade broke and talk to us Nick fans about it. Matt. What? Matt was in the air because that happened so fast, and we got himself. So Matt wasn't in. So Matt is now 0 for 2 with Sean's. Not quite like Sean's this week. Last weekend it was 0 for 4 in the celebrity game, but Lion's 0 for 2 with Sean's appearances. So you guys go way back too, right?
- [04:01]
Jerry Ferrara
We do. We do it. So Matt's never gonna get his Laker
- [04:04]
Shams Charania
scoops,
- [04:07]
Jerry Ferrara
but, yeah, me and Psalms go back a ways. It was, you know, I was a fan. I was working in media, kind of doing the beat all the same. And then when I had Etc as a kd, I was like, we should just get them, like. And we. We went over it for weeks though, because, like, how crazy is it gonna look if you have an insider on your show? And, right? We were just like, let's just do it. Let's just see. And he was down and funny enough. Like, I think Kevin owes him, like, an interview. You know, you. You do the favor for the favor that he never got from back then. So I might have to nudge K and let him know, like, hey, man, you still. You still gotta sit down with sh. But nah, Shams is a good dude. I mean, he's always on his Phone. But great to have him here after the deadline and yap with him and quiet as kept. He had a little bit of a hand in, you know, shops on is everything. So I get a call one day back in the summer, he was like, hey, what's this hearing on. What's this I'm hearing about you and Jerry Ferrar show? Yeah, like, yo, how did you know
- [05:10]
Eddie Gonzalez
he got a scoop? He got an entertainment scoop.
- [05:12]
Jerry Ferrara
Y' all just had two combos about this ever. But he's, he's, he's everywhere, man. You never know what this dude. And every once in a while he called me asking me something. I'm like, shs, if anybody knows, it's you. Why are you asking me?
- [05:24]
Eddie Gonzalez
So you know, that's probably like a old veteran trick where it's like, I'm gonna take this info that I know that I'm gonna act like I don't. I'm gonna set, I'm gonna flush it over to Eddie and see if Eddie maybe over talks about something. Like, you know, I, I, I think that's a trick, man. I mean, that's a friendly trick. I don't think he's trying to throw you under the bus, but I think that's some, some savvy insider. Oh, yeah, he's hitting you with.
- [05:48]
Jerry Ferrara
I've definitely had a few combos. Walked away and said, wait, am I the source? Did I just tell him? Did I just tell him? But nah, he's a great dude. I met his family. I went to Chicago once. I stayed with him and met his moms and his, his family. His brother, great dude, just fat. Like, yeah, it's funny. Like, there's shams the insider that we see on TV that's like, Then there's like, there's an actual human behind him.
- [06:13]
Eddie Gonzalez
So, yeah, I got to learn a lot about like, his origin story. We were working on something together, but hearing his stuff, like in college, like, he would just leave class to like, drive to Milwaukee because he had a locker room pass. And like, that dude, like, was taking classes about like, media in college while he was already an active participant blowing up with a job in the media. So he's awesome, dude. He's going to be coming up in a minute and we'll definitely recap allstar with him and a little trade deadline stuff and now look into the summer. But allstar weekend, la, you know, it's winding down. A lot of people been talking about it all week long. You were there, you were boots on the ground in la. So Give us the kind of IRL review because I could tell you on TV it still looked like every other All Star game. I enjoyed the differences and I'll give my take on some stuff. But how'd it feel like to be there?
- [07:08]
Jerry Ferrara
Yeah, I'm curious on your end too, because you got the little guy who is like. He was like me when I was seven and knew everybody's batting average.
- [07:15]
Eddie Gonzalez
I got a basketball nerve.
- [07:17]
Jerry Ferrara
Yeah, I love that. But, you know, it was a work trip for me where they recorded Cousins with Vincent Tracy. So we were kind of busy with that. But you've been there and, you know, and you've been, you've. I'm sure you've been to All Star in LA too. Everything is so far apart and so hard to get.
- [07:32]
Eddie Gonzalez
The traffic is awful, obviously, so corporate sponsored.
- [07:36]
Jerry Ferrara
Like, it was kind of just like by the time the actual weekend starts, you're tired, like you're just over it. And a lot of people that are there for the work stuff, they leave Sunday, they don't even go to the game. It did not feel like a lot of buzz about All Star in la. Now, I would say the crowd was great for the game, right? Saturday night is kind of iffy.
- [07:54]
Eddie Gonzalez
I. I had a. Friday night's a dead show, right? Because that's when everybody wants to go out and go to dinner and have drinks and like, they don't necessarily want to go to the Rising Star and the Celebrity Game, which we're going to talk about in a minute. It felt like Friday night was dead, but it felt like it escalated, got better each night.
- [08:10]
Jerry Ferrara
And I think, like, you know, it's funny, it was odd times too. So like, some people's events were during like All Star Saturday and stuff. Like, so it was just, you know, one thing I will say, and this is like a nightlife thing and this is like kind of first world complaint. LA closing at two changes a lot of the calculus. It just does because then you gotta, you have to kind of go to a party at 10. Or like, you can't do the New York thing where it's like, I'm kind of getting dressed at 12, I might be there by 12:30, you know what I mean? So that changes a lot of the calculus too.
- [08:45]
Eddie Gonzalez
But so I, I always enjoyed that about LA because, like, I am one of those firm believers that nothing good happens after 2:00am like, for real, it just doesn't. You could even say the same for midnight. So I always enjoyed that. And I wasn't like that much of a I mean, I went out a lot, but la, at least back in my run was all about. You'd see it when you go out to a club, right? Especially even during the entourage days when it hits like one o' clock and, you know, last calls come in, the lights are going to come on. Nothing weirder than walking out 2am when they just flip the. And then. But where's the afterparty? And let me tell you, I've been to a lot of cool after parties, but also I've showed up to a lot of fake, wrong, inadvertent, like, fake addresses. Like, show up to a house in like Brentwood. Like, why is there an afterparty in Brentwood? Walk up the door, I'm like, this is like a family's house. Someone's getting docs, right? This is not a real afterparty.
- [09:37]
Jerry Ferrara
Afterparty ratio is not as high as it should be. It was cool in the sense of the nightlife. I know D. Wade, CP&, and Melo. They do their big party every year. And I heard a lot of great. I didn't go supper club. There was a couple. There was a big Jordan party. It's always a big Jordan party. Boardroom brunch was a. Was a hit, as always.
- [09:55]
Eddie Gonzalez
Wait, what would you say was like the number one of party slash event? That would have been this.
- [10:01]
Shams Charania
If you're.
- [10:02]
Eddie Gonzalez
If you would advise someone, if you can get any invite, this is the invite you want to get.
- [10:06]
Jerry Ferrara
Okay? So I think the number one now is the boardroom party, which is usually a brunch on Saturday. Everybody gets to meet Kevin, which is always exciting, but they always.
- [10:16]
Eddie Gonzalez
Is rich holding court. Is my guy rich?
- [10:20]
Jerry Ferrara
He's doing his thing. He's working the room. They had Wale in there. They had Big Sean in there. A lot of cool people in there. Victoria Monet. It's like, it's. It's a chill vibe. It's in the day, but you get to kind of rub shoulders with the stars. I think D. Wade and cp, Their thing is usually a big deal too. That was like, my boy called it Black Truck Central. He was out because he told me, like, yo, I'm hearing about the supper club thing. I'm like, yo, that's the Wade's party.
- [10:45]
Unidentified Speaker 1
You.
- [10:45]
Jerry Ferrara
You better know somebody. You're not just.
- [10:47]
Eddie Gonzalez
You're not getting it. That's probably the hardest one to sneak into or try.
- [10:52]
Jerry Ferrara
For sure. Oh, for sure. And I'll shout out Jordan. They had like a block party. Jordan usually does it really well. So it was Some good stuff. The B party was at Lucia at Friday night, which Lucia is kind of out the way, but it was like everybody and their mom was there. So that was kind of how I went. Friday was that Saturday was D wad, Sunday was the spades in the game. So here I am. I'm not talking about any of the basketball. We're talking about partying all week.
- [11:16]
Eddie Gonzalez
Well, I think it's part of it, though. It's part of the. It's the part of the weekend that the fans don't get to see. Right. But it's very much going on around you. But yeah, we could talk about for a minute before we get shams on here, like, okay. So, you know, my. I think I feel like we all. Everyone's tried to figure out how to fix things with All Star and why doesn't it work. And there's so many combinations of things. I'm a firm believer too that the Allstar, the actual Allstar game was so good in like the 80s and 90s into like early 2000s. Because this really was a lot of times that kids and young people would see these players nationally. Right. Like, you weren't seeing like Shawn Kemp necessarily, unless you watch highlights on espn like in a game. You weren't seeing a lot of these guys nationally like we are now. There was like, there was national games, but we didn't get the kind of coverage. So, like, I think that these players in the 80s, 90s, early 2000s are like, I got to show up because this is literally the first time some people are seeing me. East coast people don't really stay up for the west coast games. West coast people aren't really watching, you know, the magic at 4pm back in 1997, you know, so I think that was like a perfect storm. But really what hit me was having like, my almost 7 year old is a full basketball nerd like me.
- [12:36]
Jerry Ferrara
Love it.
- [12:36]
Eddie Gonzalez
And this was the first time he was actually watching an All Star. So I was explaining to him what the dunk contest was. Three point contest. And then the actual game, the three point contest he was fully enamored with. Dunk contest did not hold his interest at all.
- [12:50]
Shams Charania
Wow.
- [12:51]
Eddie Gonzalez
And the game was very interesting because what he was obsessed with was like, I can't believe Brunson's playing against Kat. Why? How I will say the three teams, which I think worked overall for like, you know, adults watching. Like, we. I don't. Like, my son had a hard time following, like, there's two USA teams and like, he just Had a who's on whose team. So maybe they could dial that in in a more succinct way and eventually drop it to two teams. I think that would be clean. But yeah, man, it's literally it. To me, the all star game is really about the kids. Like, yes, it's for guys like me, but, like, you really want to make that special for kids. Those are who are going to want to go watch it live, and those are people who I think are ultimately going to care the most. I do think that, like, this whole, like, Dame Lillard messaging Steph saying, like, let's get like, let's literally make it like, legendary. I think that's one thing. I think Wemby being an absolute psycho person competitively, like his look of disgust at cat that every Nick fan has had while missing an assignment. I think add it, like, set the tone and similar, I think, for like the dunk contest to me ever come back. You know, the NBA is a star league. Like you. You need one guy. Call it Anthony Edwards. Right? You need one big star who's super competitive like Wemby was to be like, screw this, I'm coming for it. Who's coming with me? And then almost like guilt them into doing it, you know, That's.
- [14:27]
Jerry Ferrara
That was my favorite.
- [14:28]
Eddie Gonzalez
It keeps going.
- [14:28]
Jerry Ferrara
Yeah, that was my favorite arc of the weekend is Anthony Edwards went from I don't care, I'm not going to play God to like, whatever Wimy said and did either previous or on the court, it woke him up and he said it. Wimy set the tone. I want to beat them now. Well, then they came back late in that game. Let me ask you though, because I'm biased. So the OGs, they beat both teams and then they lose to the, to the. To the youngins in the championship. But they're the only team that had to play three straight games. Did they get cheated? Did they get robbed? A little bit.
- [14:58]
Eddie Gonzalez
It doesn't set up well for them, I will say. And unfortunately, like, you know, they're still. Even though they're old heads, they're still in elite shape. And that's not nearly the wear and tear of like an NBA game. But I mean, you could make the argument that that setup did not favor them at all. Like, they got to maybe figure out to get. Yeah, but. But I don't. I don't think it was as taxing as a format that, you know, it really hit on them. But yeah, they. I mean, I think it's a cool wrinkle. Like, oh, now they got to go three in a row. It definitely didn't set up well for that.
- [15:30]
Jerry Ferrara
If they had one center, they might have won it. They, they, they had Brown and Kevin playing center, and it was just no hope. But I had fun with it and I, I went in, like, being pessimist NBA Twitter guy, and I ended up having fun. So I thought it was. I thought it was. Look, dunk contest aside, which I think is always the asterisk now, I thought it was a good weekend.
- [15:48]
Eddie Gonzalez
Well, we're gonna do our. Before we get to Sean's gonna do our Wendy's fresh take of the week, and I'm gonna tie this in. This is not. This is a definite fresh take for me because I have an idea about the Friday night affair. So I was lucky enough to play in the celebrity game one time again. I used to love that event to watch. I thought it was really cool. We used to get, obviously massive stars like Kevin Hart would play. I mean, Samuel Jackson played once before, right? I remember my year was in LA. I think it was 17 or 18 whenever it. And I take that this stuff seriously. Any charity game or celebrity game I ever played in, I'm not even sure I'm trying to win and trying to play proper basketball. I don't. I don't like people MVP hunting. So I show up to mine, and it was the year, I think Rachel Nichols was my coach and she. I was in the starting lineups. Like me, TMac, Terence Crawford, Michael B. Jordan. Like, we had a squad, right? So I'm in the locker room. I'm in the locker room putting on. I was with the Lakers. I was putting on my purple. I had my Kobe Jordan threes. Remember the Kobe collab pack? The threes and the eights I bought. The only time I ever wore the threes was in that game. They never touched the floor ever since. They're behind me right there. That's the. That's the box. So I'm getting dressed and then I just hear a bunch of people, like, yelling and then almost see like a bunch of women, like, screeching like, oh, my God, you know, like, what? And I'm like, what the hell is going on? What is all this noise? And it's me and, like, Terence Crawford in the room and someone else and. And Caleb McLaughlin was in there. Yo. He was like nine years old at the time. And in walks Justin Bieber, who was not slated to be there, right? And he walks in and he's like, yeah, man, can I get a jersey? I was I was gonna play.
- [17:35]
Shams Charania
Walked in.
- [17:36]
Eddie Gonzalez
Eddie, like, he went to open rec at some LA fitness gym and was like, hey, could I get next? Like, walked in and just was like, I'm gonna play. Didn't get approval, didn't get like ask beforehand. Just showed up and then I knew what was gonna happen at that moment. I knew my ass was gonna get benched because I'm looking at the names, I'm like, they're not gonna bench Mike B. They're not gonna bench Caleb, they're not gonna bench tmac and they're definitely not. They're gonna bench me. And sure enough, I got benched. And I think I played five minutes in the game. And we all had to watch Bieber go out there and do several through the. Like, he basically turned into harden through the legs 19 times and like a quick first step. And I did manage to hit one three, but no one took it serious. Quavo was mvp. He was MVP hunting. That's all he was trying to do.
- [18:26]
Jerry Ferrara
Oh, he definitely was.
- [18:27]
Eddie Gonzalez
Terence Crawford. I missed my first shot because Terence Crawford actually made the proper pass and I missed it. And he said, I'm not passing you the ball ever again if you're going to miss. Because he was so mad he actually passed the ball. Cuz no one passes the ball in this, right?
- [18:41]
Jerry Ferrara
Oh, and you can't say nothing to Bud Crawford.
- [18:43]
Eddie Gonzalez
I'm not saying no, I'm gna. All I say is thank you, sir. I'm not saying don't pass it to me.
- [18:48]
Jerry Ferrara
You're right.
- [18:48]
Eddie Gonzalez
I'm like you, sir. I'm like, Mr. Crawford, you do whatever you want with the ball, but thank you. Unfortunately, TMAC hit me on a corner three and I knocked it down over Jason Williams, who had like a torn ACL while he was playing. So I say all this to say it was not competitive and it was all about the star. And that's cool. So here comes my Wendy's fresh take of the week about this celebrity game. Okay, okay, so fresh second week presented by Wendy's. Get yourself a four dollar biggie bites, $6 biggie bag, $8 biggie bundle now at Wendy's. Okay, we need competition. As Wemby proved right now, I don't think any celebrity game is going to give you the format until now. What if Eddie Gonzalez, we go year by year and say, okay, next year we're gonna do the celebrity game with football players. So you just. It's only football. It's Miles Garrett. It's to. It's awesome athletes and we always want to see, like we always have these discussions. Could football players play basketball? Could basketball players play football? Let's put some of these theories to the test. You try and tell me that an NFL only celebrity game at some point's not going to get competitive.
- [20:04]
Unidentified Speaker 2
It.
- [20:05]
Eddie Gonzalez
I just have a hard time believing it's not. Then the next year, you know what? We don't want to leave out our friendly actors. So we're going to do actors versus musicians. So now we're going to get my guy, Ted Lasso, Jason Sudeikis, who could ball. We're going to get the actors that could ball. We're going to go up against Quavo and rappers who could boss. We're going to have actors versus rappers. And every year you just gamify it like that where you cross a genre up and you try to find athletic people who could do it, but you make it competitive. If I'm playing against rappers, I want to know, I want to prove that actors could ball more than rappers. I'm taking that personally. And that's my take.
- [20:47]
Jerry Ferrara
This is like Survivor. I'm a survivor.
- [20:49]
Eddie Gonzalez
A little bit. A little bit.
- [20:50]
Jerry Ferrara
Survivor did like nerds versus Jobs.
- [20:52]
Eddie Gonzalez
Yes. Crows versus Joe's kind of thing. Yes. Let's get the. Then we could even mix it up. Let's do baseball players versus football players. Right. Like we mix it up after a while. I'm telling you, this format works because we're no longer getting the giant stars to show up to make it like a glitzy glammy, like, oh, it's cool. Justin Bieber got a crossover. Those days are over. It's over. So NBA, if you hear me, let's get a little competition mixed with a little athleticism and do it that way.
- [21:21]
Unidentified Speaker 1
You.
- [21:21]
Eddie Gonzalez
I know Everybody's watching NFL vs. MLB in a celebrity basketball game. I know. I'm. I would almost guarantee it as, as
- [21:29]
Jerry Ferrara
a, as a rock and jock baby myself, that's what I tune into the celebrity game every year. Like, I think it's. This is gonna, this is gonna be my first take. I think it is consistently the, the, the most entertaining event of each week. And what I mean by that is like it is the same level every year of ridiculousness. We get bad dunk contests, we get bad gangs, we get bad three point on and on and on. But it is consistently what it is and it's fun. So I watch it every year. But I'm with you. We got to spice it up a
- [22:01]
Shams Charania
little bit and let's get some states.
- [22:03]
Eddie Gonzalez
Let's get two great charities going and be like whatever, 100 grand, half a million to like this the actor's charity or the, this, this the football player chat. Like let's get two charities involved, throw a little bit of money at it. Everybody always plays a little harder. I, I just think it would add to the, the intrigue and give you like a theme to follow. And this way there's like some excitement. What's it gonna be this year? Right. There's a little buzz around. Instead of just being like what six influencers, four rappers and two actors could we get and people drop out, you could tell they're filling spots. I don't know. That's my fresh take.
- [22:40]
Jerry Ferrara
But put the 400 point basket up there again like MTV did. Yeah.
- [22:48]
Eddie Gonzalez
Borrow a little bit from Rock and J. I don' think there's still potential with that because my, my thing, Eddie is like. I agree. I do still enjoy the celebrity game a little bit but like we could almost get rid of Friday night at this point and just condense Saturday a little more. You know, I, I just don't see, I don't see the need Friday nights when everyone wants to hit. I just don't, I don't see it. So anyway, that's more talk about an all Star game than we probably ever needed. But that's, that's it. And let's get, let's get our guy shams in the building right now.
- [23:21]
Jerry Ferrara
Let's do it.
- [23:26]
Unidentified Speaker 2
Wendy's really outdid themselves with these new biggie deals. At $4, $6 and $8, the new Biggie deals are bigger and biggier than ever. I know what you're thinking. How could the Biggie get even bigger and better?
- [23:38]
Eddie Gonzalez
These new Biggie deals are perfect because you get to choose between the four dollar biggie bites, the six dollar biggie bag or the $8 biggie bundle. If you're feeling something snacky, you can get the $4 biggie bites with the JBC and a four piece nugget.
- [23:51]
Unidentified Speaker 2
Feeling something medium, get yourself a six dollar biggie bag with JBC four piece nuggets, a small soft drink and a junior fry. If you want to go full Biggie, you can get the eight dollar Biggie Bundle with your choice of two sandwiches, a small soft drink and a junior fry.
- [24:05]
Eddie Gonzalez
The choice is yours for a pretty Biggie deal. Gotta be Wendy's. U.S. price of participation may vary. Single items at regular price. Prices may be higher in Alaska, California and Hawaii.
- [24:18]
Unidentified Speaker 1
Guys, it's officially playoff season and we know what that means our weekends are booked and played around kickoffs. What spot on the couch is the lucky one. And hoping your neighbors ignore the yelling.
- [24:27]
Unidentified Speaker 2
When you're yelling at the tv, everybody can get it. Refs, the coach, even the quarterback. But while you're losing it and pacing during the first drive, you need something to keep you going. And Twisted Tea is the answer.
- [24:38]
Eddie Gonzalez
And Twisted Tea is a refreshing, hard iced tea made with real brewed tea and 5% alcohol. Which means it tastes. Tastes like iced tea because it is iced tea.
- [24:47]
Unidentified Speaker 1
Just with a little kick, no carbonation, super smooth, full of flavor, perfect for that stressful moment when your kicker's lining up for a 44 yarder with the season on the line. Too soon?
- [24:57]
Shams Charania
Yeah, sorry, Baltimore.
- [24:59]
Eddie Gonzalez
It happens to all of us.
- [25:00]
Unidentified Speaker 2
Twisted T keeps the good times going all postseason long. So crack one open, settle in, and remember, your team might stress you out, but your drink shouldn't.
- [25:09]
Unidentified Speaker 1
So grab a Twisted Tea today and keep the playoffs twisted.
- [25:15]
Eddie Gonzalez
All right, we are joined by the number one basketball insider in the world, fresh off his All Star game performance. We're going to talk about for. For a hot minute friend of the show. Second time on with us, Sham Sharania. How you doing, my guy?
- [25:29]
Shams Charania
I'm doing great. You guys are two of my favorite people. Jerry, we've had. We've had a long, long history. We talked a lot during the bubble. We had you on. On Run it back on FanDuel TV a few times. And then we did the pod and obviously Eddie I've known for years and years now, he did FanDuel TV at one point. He was. He's been running around. I feel like every different platform, so appreciate you guys having me on.
- [25:51]
Eddie Gonzalez
Well, you. You always say something to me every time we reunite. And this is the first time he didn't say it. I'm a little sad. You always hit me with a proctor.
- [25:59]
Shams Charania
Yeah, I was waiting, man. I was waiting. I was waiting to drop it in somewhere in my answer.
- [26:04]
Eddie Gonzalez
But you know what?
- [26:05]
Shams Charania
You wanted it early, Proctor.
- [26:07]
Eddie Gonzalez
Man, I was like, the day Shams doesn't do that, that's the day I gotta get back on tv because that means I'm sl.
- [26:14]
Shams Charania
So.
- [26:15]
Eddie Gonzalez
Yeah, man, I remember those days too. We would talk a little. A little power. I would always try to get something from you you'd never get. I didn't even know. I'm like, do you want to know how power ends? And you would just not text me back. No, don't tell me none of that. Yeah. Thank you for doing this. And I know you and Eddie are tight, and I gotta say, ma', am, I give you a lot of respect. I've played in that celebrity game, and it certainly is an interesting. I'm curious just to hear your thoughts. My. I just told my story. I got benched for Justin Bie. Justin Bieber showed up.
- [26:47]
Shams Charania
You play the Justin Bieber game?
- [26:48]
Eddie Gonzalez
Well, he showed up.
- [26:49]
Shams Charania
There was a mandate that he might. You might. You know, he has to play certain amount of minutes.
- [26:53]
Eddie Gonzalez
And he showed up. Sean's like, it was a pickup game. He was not slated to be there. He just walked in in street clothes and like, yo, I'm gonna play. And then Rachel Nichols benched me, and I had to sit there and watch Justin Bieber dribble through his legs 150 times. So how did it feel for you going from, like. I'm not gonna say from hunter to hunted. You know, you're going from, like, media to player. How did that feel for you?
- [27:17]
Shams Charania
I didn't really know what to expect going in. Like, I had a bunch of people hit me up with advice. Oh, you have to be aggressive. Like, you. You have to just shoot it every time. And that was the one piece of advice I heard from pretty much everyone that. That would reach out to me. They're like, yo, good luck, and remember, take every shot you get. And. And, you know, I think I blew, like, 13, 14 minutes, four shot attempts, went over four. You know, it's a make or miss league. I wish I made one of them, obviously. Could I have gotten more shots? Of course I could have gotten more shots. To me, though I look at it, that was my first experience. We won. I was part of the closing lineup that finished the game. And I'm just glad we won. I'm glad I was part of a winning effort. I was part of something fun. And, like, we had Jeremy Lin on the team, Taco Fall on the team. I thought going in, I was telling a lot of people when I said it, every time I was asked whether it was on the red carpet or, like, I did this pre game interview, Like, I don't think it was really close. Our teams, like, the way that our teams were stacked together, like, we're a balanced. No, no disrespect. I mean, we had Taco Fall and Jeremy Lynn on our team, and these guys, like, actually played in the game. Like, they. They actually, like, got minutes and. And like, Taco, in Taco's case, like, I. I don't know what his ending stats were, but it felt like he had 20. He had a 20, 20 game.
- [28:30]
Eddie Gonzalez
He's like Will Chamberlain in the 50s.
- [28:31]
Shams Charania
Yeah, like, we. We had. We had a lot of fun. I'm just glad I was part of the experience. Growing up, you told me 15 years ago that I'm going to be the NBA celebrity all star game. I would have said, amazing. I don't care if I score or don't score. And so I was glad to be a part of it. I'm glad we got a win.
- [28:48]
Eddie Gonzalez
Anybody trash talk you, whether it was player or crowd? You get any crowd work? Because I, I had people chirping me from the crowd, saying stuff like, tommy Egan should have killed you sooner. Like, I was getting chirped from the crowd. You get any crowd chirps or other celebrity chirps?
- [29:06]
Shams Charania
I mean, I'm trying to think like. Like, you know, White Chocolate J. Will, like, he said something to me like, man, boy, you gotta. You gotta shoot him. You gotta get him up. You gotta get him up.
- [29:15]
Eddie Gonzalez
And.
- [29:15]
Shams Charania
And that was like, in the second half, I think at that point I was like, 0 for 2. And, you know, I'm, you know, at
- [29:21]
Eddie Gonzalez
this point in my life, like, there
- [29:22]
Shams Charania
were times in high school and in college where I was. I played a lot on the ball. I was kind of a combo guard, point guard, two guard. Yeah.
- [29:28]
Eddie Gonzalez
I saw the handles. We saw your hand. You did a little dribble X.
- [29:31]
Shams Charania
This is the thing. I think my. My teasers and my, like, all those sizzles allowed. Allowed grand expectations, and I welcome those. And I just wish I. At times I'm like, all right. Like, I wish I could. I could have at least if I failed, you know, like, I got a chance to really fail. And. But I thought overall, I was glad to be there. And. And, you know, I definitely. I'm proud that we got the win. I'm proud I was part of the closing lineup and we were able to get it done.
- [30:02]
Eddie Gonzalez
Yeah, you got. You got pick Full court by ISHB I thought that was crazy. I thought I was like, what am I seeing right now? And then, like, I thought it was super cool, like the whole Giannis connection, you know, like, clearly had the faith in you to close that game out, you know, it was dope.
- [30:17]
Shams Charania
Yeah. I mean, there was a lot of chatter. He, you know, I wasn't gonna play. I played.
- [30:21]
Eddie Gonzalez
He's gonna bench.
- [30:22]
Jerry Ferrara
You traded, man. I thought you were going to trade Block.
- [30:26]
Shams Charania
You know, man, maybe I should, you know, maybe I should ask for, you know, should I ask for a trade? I think that's got to be the question you guys got.
- [30:33]
Eddie Gonzalez
It would have been fun if you tweeted about yourself that you have demanded that you leak that you have demanded a trade sometimes. Because I know.
- [30:41]
Jerry Ferrara
Ask for the full trade. You could just let them know you're thinking about your future and it might be.
- [30:47]
Shams Charania
I was. I was. I was committed, you know, I was committed to the team and committed to winning, and we won. So I'm part of, hopefully continued winning.
- [30:57]
Eddie Gonzalez
So there was a. A video. I think there was a video of you. Did you get caught on your phone for a second? Right, that. That circulated? Yeah.
- [31:03]
Shams Charania
My brother was sitting literally right behind the range. And so anytime I would get, like,
- [31:07]
Eddie Gonzalez
anything, he had the bathroom text.
- [31:08]
Shams Charania
Yeah. Like, if there was a flurry of texts that I ended up getting, he'd give me. He'd be like, yo, you've got, like, more than a couple texts.
- [31:14]
Eddie Gonzalez
You need to see this. Yeah, well, that's what I found myself thinking. It's like, it obviously, if something big broke, I do believe you would have walked right. Right off the floor into, like, a suit and been on TV two seconds later if something big broke. But even, like, the, like, the Kyrie news that you broke. Right. He's sitting out for the rest of the year to heal up. Like, if that dropped during the game, do you walk out? Like, what level of scoopage does it have to be for you to be like, yo, I gotta leave this game right now?
- [31:44]
Shams Charania
I mean, probably like. Like a big. A big bun. It has to be a big trade. It'd have to be a big situation, you know, big injury, something that could have, like, real league impact at that point. You know, it's funny is during the game, I actually thought there was a chance. Here's. Here's behind these. I actually thought there was a chance. Haywood Highsmith, who's a free agent, who was free at the time, I thought he was going to reach a deal with the Suns. Ironically, with Ishbia playing in the game and their executives and their coach, like, courtside, I thought that deal was going to happen during the game. And so there was a chance of that happening. It ends up happening a day later. I think it happened on Sunday, so. Or maybe Saturday or Sunday. So it's just. It's definitely, you know, coincident. Very ironic, coincidental that the owner of the team was playing in the game. I was tracking that, and it was potentially going to happen during the game, and then, you know, obviously didn't happen. But that was one of the things I was Tracking it would have been kind of hilarious if it happened during the game with all the parties involved.
- [32:40]
Jerry Ferrara
You got to lean into. I'm going to tell my kids that you broke it during the game. Right.
- [32:48]
Shams Charania
He had got upset. I was gonna put it out.
- [32:50]
Jerry Ferrara
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So next year, you're going back next year, right? You gotta be.
- [32:58]
Shams Charania
I don't know. I've been asked. You're the first person to ask me. You know, I. I don't know. I don't know. It's definitely an interesting experience to play in the game, you know, I don't know. Jerry, how many times you played? Once?
- [33:13]
Eddie Gonzalez
I. I played once, and I feel like I played right when there was like. Like the end of the Kevin Hart run, right? Like, multiple.
- [33:22]
Shams Charania
He played what, three times? He played like.
- [33:24]
Eddie Gonzalez
I think he won mvp because it was, like, fan voting. He won MVP three straight years. And, like, it really did lead to some great comedy. Kevin was. And Kevin could hoop. But also, he really did. He. Kevin kind of mastered the art of, like, promoting during all star weekend, and I was even a part of it. We did that with Think like a man won. And Kevin really always looked at all. I mean, I'm not. I don't want to speak for him. He always promoted something he was doing coming out soon over all star, and he used that celebrity game as a great marketing device, and he, like, he went full entertainer. So. But yeah, for me, I. Like, I said, I. I. We talked about it earlier, Eddie and I. It's like, I, like, you want to win, right? If I'm there, like, I want to win. I want to make the good pass. You know, I want to, like. And it's just not what happens in there. Everybody, like you said, your friends telling you to shoot every shot was absolutely correct because you lucky you got four shots is a lot of shots. And I was really got the ball
- [34:23]
Shams Charania
in scoring position like seven or eight times, and I shot four of them. And so it was. And I tried to play my role, like. And, you know, hindsight, could I been more aggressive? Could I have done that? But I stick to my role. I make the right pass. I'm just glad we won. Honestly, I don't want to lose because I knew if we lost with that team, with that roster, I mean, I don't know who's analyzing these games, but it would have been. To me, it would have been a massive upset because we had two guys, Taco falls, playing professionally right now. Jeremy Lin just retired last year. Both these guys, when you're around Them, they look like they can play in an NBA game right now. And so, you know, if they, if they actually had to. So you know, we had that on the team, on, in a celebrity game. That's pretty good.
- [35:05]
Jerry Ferrara
How did the friend saying.
- [35:07]
Eddie Gonzalez
You were the friend saying, shoot your shot.
- [35:09]
Jerry Ferrara
Every shot, every time you touch the ball, shoot it. I don't care.
- [35:11]
Shams Charania
So what's crazy is the other thing, the other thing, and I don't know if they had this when you were playing Jerry the Ruffles four point line.
- [35:17]
Eddie Gonzalez
They did. They, I think it was the first
- [35:19]
Shams Charania
year they introduced it is so appealing. So I went in, you know, I trained for the three for the NBA three. Going in for like five or six days after the trade deadline, I'm like, NBA three, NBA three. I'm good. I'll get my range right. This is where I shoot where I really shot throughout high school and college anyway. And then I see the four point line and my eyes just lit up. I'm shooting this, I'm shooting this one. Yeah. I'm like F. F the NBA line. I'm shooting the. So three out of my four shot attempts were the. I think it's like a 28 foot four. I think it's 28 or 30.
- [35:50]
Eddie Gonzalez
Steph Curry range for sure, man. Yeah.
- [35:52]
Shams Charania
And I'm shooting that and it, and it's, it's appealing. You know, your eyes get, get wide and bright and then you shoot them. And there was one that I had. I got the rebound or I got a pass or something and I brought it up. I don't know if you guys remember this, but it was like center court. It was like two, three feet behind the ruffles line.
- [36:11]
Eddie Gonzalez
Yes. You were 30ft shot, 30ft out. Yeah.
- [36:13]
Shams Charania
And I, I really thought that was going in and that would have been a great highlight and I missed it. And the rest is.
- [36:20]
Eddie Gonzalez
Well, I tell everyone too, like, because, you know, I, I up until about three, four years ago was still very much playing rec league hoops because I love to play, stay in shape. Something about the a, the floating hoop in an arena, right. Where there's just the clear backboard, you see, it's translucent. It's just floating in the middle of nowhere mixed with the lighting. That four point shot probably to your eye, probably didn't look that far until you actually like get your legs into it. Like, oh my God, I gotta throw my whole body into it. Even like the NBA 3 when you're actually standing on that court, it looks like a free throw. It looks like you can just flick it up there like they do. But then you realize like, oh my God, I'm two and a half feet short. I got to get my legs involved here because the lighting and where, how, how it is with the audience, it just, it doesn't look as far as it is.
- [37:08]
Shams Charania
Yeah, that's what RJ kept telling me. RJ was just like, put a little more air on it.
- [37:16]
Eddie Gonzalez
So before we wrap up, because I know you, you definitely, I saw you take a little peek. So I'm wondering, like, is he starting to get a bunch of texts? This deadline was insane, right? And I was fortunate enough after that cat trade last year. You came on and talked to me because you knew my, my fellow fans were in a bat, in a, in an interesting emotional space. And this year, I don't know where it ranks for you in the sense of how crazy it was. I know it's hard, it's hard work and you're grinding. But, but obviously everyone was talking Giannis the whole time, but I felt like there was so many teams that upgraded their situation with maybe not the splashiest things that I think are really going to add to a crazy playoff situation. So how was the deadline through. Through your eyes? I mean your, your boots on the ground?
- [38:03]
Shams Charania
Yeah, I mean this is my second year at espn. So last year we had the Luka Doncic deadline, which was like, you know, obviously to me, probably the most,
- [38:12]
Eddie Gonzalez
I
- [38:13]
Shams Charania
mean I, I think probably the most compelling trade deadline maybe of all time. Like for Luke, obviously, Luca being the headliner, that's the, probably the, the most stunning trade in, in NBA history, if not professional sports history. So that alone like gives it its own identification. But then this year, I think, I think, I believe it was a record amount of players traded at the deadline. I think it's 75 players never as has it been that high at the deadline. So that gives it its own uniqueness as well. And there were moves that everyone thought might happen, right? A.D. was, was talked about for a while, but for him to go to Washington, that was a stunner. Jaren Jackson Jr. He's someone. Everyone thought John Morant was going to get traded. And there was a thought around the league that, okay, if John Morant gets traded, then maybe Jaren gets traded. But, but you, but Memphis made the decision with or without a job trade. We're moving because they ended up getting three first round picks and Walter Clayton was the first round pick last year to basically, you know, however you want to justify that. Four first round picks for a guy like Jaren Jackson Jr. So he goes to Utah, AD goes to Washington. So here we have two examples of two teams that are clearly in a rebuild, in a tank this year. But adding like an all star, all NBA level player to their mix for next season, that's clearly like a win now move starting next season. So that gave us, you know, a very unique, unique element to this deadline where you had two essentially rebuilding teams in that position. And then James Harden, I think that James Harden, Darius Garland swapped. It was kind of talked about a little bit early in the year around, you know, behind the scenes around the league that, you know, if James Harden, if the Clippers end up making a move, could Cleveland or Minnesota or Atlanta emerge as a spot? Then the Clippers go on this run where I believe they won 21 of 24 games or whatever it was they started out, or maybe it was 17 of 20, whatever it was, but they were 6 and 21. And then they end up all the way. You know, they, they come back and they make, make. I think they were like a game or two below.500, like a crazy run. And then it kind of died down. But then because of his contract situation, because he was able to like do what James Harden does, which is like, hey, I want to get to the table and I want to really figure out my future. And when there is no promise beyond this season, James Harden essentially and the Clippers working together on how can we figure this out when James Harden is in this place, you know, whether it's in Houston, in Brooklyn, in Philly, James Harden always finds a way to figure out what's best for him long term. The only difference here in this situation is that I think there was that partnership with the Clippers. Were they able to work behind the scenes and figure out like, okay, we know this is going this way potentially. All right, let's go get Darius Garland. Like this could have ended up in a situation where you have a defeated asset. They end up getting a second round pick as well as Darius Garland. For James Harden, there's a 10 year age gap. I believe that's the largest star for star trade age gap in NBA history of 10 years. So definitely some uniqueness to that deal. So I just thought overall, you saw Cleveland go for it this year. You saw Washington and Utah in their respective ways, go for it for starting next year. Then you saw a flurry of other moves around the deadline where teams, you know, obviously trying to, trying to beef up their rotation. Warriors with Porzingis, Lakers with Luke Kennard.
- [41:27]
Eddie Gonzalez
My Knicks with Jose Alvarado.
- [41:29]
Shams Charania
Let's go. And, you know, I think, you know, and then they get Jeremy Sohan in the. In the buyout market as well. So I think. I think there was definitely a little bit more movement than I expected. Just leap wide.
- [41:42]
Eddie Gonzalez
Yeah, it's. You know, obviously, OKC is still like, the prohibitive favorite when healthy. You know, they've been struggling because Shay's out and all that, but the. The NBA really is reaching that NFL level of, like, God, I really don't know who's gonna win this thing. You know, like, we say the thunder, but we saw cracks in the armor for the first time. Like, we don't know what the Celtics are going to be. We think the Pistons are for real. The Knicks, kind of turn it on, turn it off. You got yoke. It's just kind of laying in wait. Like, it's the first time where truly anything could happen. And the thing I like about that hard trade, because I'm in Cleveland, it's like, we only really saw him, not counting when he was at OKC in Westbrook. Like, we saw him in Brooklyn with Kyrie a little. They were always hurt, so they never. You never really got to see Harden all the time with another primary ball handler who. In a playoff game. It's not just like, Harden is the only playmaker we have. Right. And now he's with a team that arguably has one of the best playmakers in a playoff game with Donovan Mitchell.
- [42:44]
Shams Charania
So.
- [42:44]
Eddie Gonzalez
And Cleveland's what, like, 9 and 12 in their last 10, so you're gonna have a fun ride throughout the rest of this NBA season. It's. It's absolutely bonkers right now.
- [42:54]
Shams Charania
Yeah. In the east, specifically, like, you know, with the Knicks and Cavs and Celtics, this is.
- [43:00]
Eddie Gonzalez
It's.
- [43:00]
Shams Charania
It's becoming very. And Pistons, obviously, it's becoming very, very competitive and. And, like, it's wide open in the east, and that's why a team like Detroit, you know, you have to pay attention to them greatly. And, you know, they also chose continuity than anything else. Right. Like, they get mentioned with AD or Trey Murphy or whoever, but they ended up keeping their continuity, keeping their core. They go get Kevin Herder as another space, the floor shooter. And. And, you know, that's the kind of, like, you know, move that. That kind of tweak that they made to their rotation where they're like, okay, like, we get this. This slight piece. We don't want to mess up the integrity of our team, but we get this piece that could help us in a playoff game or make a big shot in the playoffs.
- [43:41]
Eddie Gonzalez
And do we say, are we on Hornets watch officially? Do we, are we looping them? I mean, what to me that's been as a bad. I pride myself on like watching all of basketball and that's been, that's been my favorite team outside of the Knicks for like the last two months.
- [43:56]
Shams Charania
They've been fun. Like Lamelo's figuring it out. Miles Bridges doing what he does. Like Charles Lee. You have to give them a lot of credit. Like they have, they have turned the culture a little bit there. And I think the start of that though, and I think it just speaks to like that last year's draft class of Cooper flag Con Canepel, like the focus, determination. He's all about team and he's producing and he's like, he's doing everything. He's shooting at a high level. He's a great teammate focused on the floor. He has come in and single handedly changed the entire tenor of how that locker room and how he like he set the tone as a rookie. That's hard to do.
- [44:33]
Jerry Ferrara
We talk all the time. And I know like, I know as your friend, first week of February, it's like blackout days. Like yo Sean's might just have to go. Like it's cool, we're still buddies, but I might not hear from with my guy for a few days. But like I wonder what your fam like, your family. I know your brother works closely with you. I know Mama Shams is there. She don't care about no damn trade deadline. What's it like at home when you're going through this and you're balancing, you have a real life. What's that week like for you? Because I know it gets crazy.
- [45:01]
Shams Charania
I mean the last two years though, I've literally spent Eddie like trade deadline week in Bristol, Connecticut. So I'll, you know, Sunday to like Friday I'm in Bristol because that's that allows me to get, you know, quick if I want to get on tv, on Sports center, on this show, that show and all the Sports Centers run through there. So I, I, I really just spent all my time in Bristol and it was quick turnarounds. It was made sure if there's any news like Jerry Jackson breaks. Okay, cool. I'm on SportsCenter ad breaks. All right, I'm on Sports Center. This trade, this trade. As we were talking a lot of Giannis all week. So I think my family is so great because when it was trade deadline, all trade deadline, free agency, draft, those are the three periods where they know I'm pretty much in a cave, I'm pretty much on my own, and. And they just look out for me. If my sister's got to send me some doordash or. Or some ubereats, she probably knows you
- [45:52]
Eddie Gonzalez
haven't eaten in two days.
- [45:54]
Shams Charania
She'll just send it. Like, she. She knows. She knows I'm not on my. My breakfast or lunch or dinner schedule. So to be like, hey, dinner's coming in X amount of time, and I'm like, shoot, I haven't ate in, like, five, six hours. I've just been running on coffee or. Or. Or snacks or, like, chocolate or whatever.
- [46:10]
Eddie Gonzalez
She read your mind. She read your mind.
- [46:11]
Shams Charania
So it's like, it's good to have people there that, like, have known my regimen for years and years and years now, and, you know, they. They're fully supportive. And then once I get back, I get back in that mode where I'm, like, bouncing, like, at least they're getting 50. 50 of me.
- [46:25]
Jerry Ferrara
Good vacation soon, man.
- [46:26]
Eddie Gonzalez
What was that?
- [46:27]
Jerry Ferrara
Screen time? Like, this is an annual tradition.
- [46:30]
Eddie Gonzalez
Oh, yeah, we're gonna get a screenshot.
- [46:32]
Shams Charania
No, I mean, I think. I think. I think ESPN did a graphic for it, but I'll give it to you guys. I'll give you guys a real. It wasn't as high as maybe I thought it should be, but people still think I'm a maniac.
- [46:50]
Eddie Gonzalez
That celeb game knocked off two hours.
- [46:52]
Shams Charania
I'll let you guys decide. Okay, this is Monday. This is Monday.
- [46:56]
Jerry Ferrara
18.
- [46:57]
Eddie Gonzalez
That's what? That's Monday. Monday.
- [46:59]
Jerry Ferrara
This is post deadline. A week to it.
- [47:01]
Shams Charania
Let's go. Let's go. Tuesday. Tuesday.
- [47:05]
Eddie Gonzalez
Audio listeners. 20 hours, 11 minutes.
- [47:07]
Shams Charania
Dude, you.
- [47:07]
Eddie Gonzalez
You. How. You didn't sleep? So you didn't sleep.
- [47:09]
Shams Charania
Wednesday. Let's go Wednesday.
- [47:11]
Eddie Gonzalez
Wednesday. 19 hours, 49 minutes. That's the deadline.
- [47:16]
Shams Charania
All right, Thursday. Thursday is the end. Thursday's the end.
- [47:19]
Eddie Gonzalez
Thursday, the end of deadline. 19 hours and.
- [47:21]
Jerry Ferrara
Goodness. You all right, man?
- [47:24]
Shams Charania
I'm good. I'm good. We're ready. I mean, I'm. I'm excited for the second half, though, and, like, you know, we'll see. You know, obviously there's news today on multiple fronts. Kyrie Irving getting shut down for the season, which, you know, I think was to be somewhat expected given how they're playing. But, I mean, he made significant progress, you know, throughout his recovery process. I think, you know, his agent, Shatari Riley Irving, gave me a statement. Basically, this is about him being 1000%. This is about him wanting to chase a championship next season. And if this Mavs team isn't a rebuild, depending on how they go next season, depending on who they hire as the general manager, there could be some hard conversations there too, because next season he's essentially going to be on an expiring because he's got a player option in 2027, so that's another one to monitor. And then Franz Wagner in the east as well with Orlando, he's been so. That team has been so injury riddled. Jalen Suggs, Paolo, Ben Caro, Franz Wagner have played 14% of the games for the Magic since last season. They've had just a woeful run of injuries, and so he's out indefinitely. It's going to be at least three weeks, likely a lot longer than that. So we'll see, you know how, how that shapes up for Orlando.
- [48:34]
Jerry Ferrara
We got one big comeback waiting this season too, you know?
- [48:37]
Shams Charania
You know who are you breaking news.
- [48:39]
Jerry Ferrara
No, yeah. Talking about that's your job, man. I mean, hey, we'll, we'll, we'll find out from you, I'm sure. But, you know, hopefully the Celtics get some good news soon. We'll be waiting to see.
- [48:51]
Shams Charania
I mean, listen, Jason Tatum has been doing five on fives for a period of weeks now. And you know, these are the steps that you take as you ramp up. But at the end of the day, only he can be the one that gives the final clearance that, hey, mentally I'm 100%. And then medically, there's going to be about a dozen people invol involved here at the end. Doctors, his side, Celtics officials, you know, that are going to eventually gather in a room and be like, okay, we're good. Let's move forward.
- [49:19]
Jerry Ferrara
That's what Tay told me earlier in the year. We were having one of those like, hey man, are you sure combos. And he's like, Trust me, bro. 20 people are gonna have to tell me it's okay before I get to go. So it's. We're gonna be 100, sure. But I'm crossing my fingers I won't want to see JT out there.
- [49:33]
Eddie Gonzalez
I want. As it. Look, as a Knicks fan who's absolutely terrified of the Celtics at all times, I still always. And I'm trying to teach my 7 year old son this, who loves basketball. It's like, who wrote a get well soon card for Tatum and Halliburton when they tore their Achilles? It was the cutest thing. Like you, you always want to play a team at their best I know you could like, say, oh, well, it doesn't matter, A championship's a championship. But like, I still like, want to play this. If you told me right now I want, I want to play the Celtics with Tatum. I want to see the full strength Celtics no matter what.
- [50:04]
Shams Charania
But to see a player in the prime of their career, if, you know, maybe just short of entering the prime of their career, right, have a torn Achilles and be able to try to come back or be doing five on five in the goals or the hopes of coming back nine months after surgery in the prime of their career and pushing every day, working out six days a week, having a goal to come back within a year of tearing your Achilles. I don't, I mean, there's not much you can say. Like, it's hard, it's hard to put in the words. It's kind of unfathomable. It's very, very. It shows his dedication and his love for the game of basketball. For him to even be at the point of playing five on five fully nine months after the Achilles. I, I don't know if we've ever seen this from a player. I think Kobe Bryant came back in 10 months. I think it was who was an idol of Jason Tatum's. But for a player that's at the age of 26, I believe Jason Tatum is to be doing this. It's, it's, it's, it's remarkable. It's.
- [51:08]
Eddie Gonzalez
Well, so many people too. We all, everyone focuses on negative stuff of like, oh, tanking load management. It's like, all right, well, could we sell? And hopefully he gets back, right? And if he does, he gets back.
- [51:18]
Shams Charania
And even if he's like 80, 90% of himself of like, like, of what we've seen from Jason Tatum, we got to celebrate it.
- [51:24]
Eddie Gonzalez
We got to celebrate it.
- [51:25]
Shams Charania
It'll be one of the most remarkable comeback stories in that finite amount of time. I think in pro sports for a
- [51:31]
Eddie Gonzalez
player like, that's not just come back,
- [51:33]
Jerry Ferrara
that's not just any team either. They're the two seed right now and people are thinking if he comes back, they can make a real run. So that's a lot of expectations for him coming off that. But I mean, I know and everybody knows he's focused, he's ready to give it a go and, and again, hopefully he's stealthy and, and we get to see some great greatness out of him.
- [51:51]
Eddie Gonzalez
Well, Sean's. We're gonna let you go. I'm sure you got to get back to work on that screen time can't thank you enough for always checking in with us. You know how we feel about you over here. You're the man. Think about your All Star game next year if you're gonna do it. And then let's just say like obviously it's gonna be a fun summer for sure. Obviously the draft and the playoffs. But then for you, like we're all going to be glued to your Twitter account this summer, that's for sure.
- [52:18]
Shams Charania
I think it'll be, it'll be a big second half of the season.
- [52:21]
Eddie Gonzalez
Yeah.
- [52:21]
Shams Charania
NBA is wide open. Okay. So he's got to be the favorite. But like you said earlier, Denver's waiting in the wings. They, they, they took Oklahoma City to seven games. We haven't seen them healthy all year. If they, I know in totally in Denver they're thinking if we can just get our whole team healthy, April onward, they're going to have a shot. OKC is obviously going to be the favorite and then the east is going to be a crapshoot.
- [52:43]
Eddie Gonzalez
So yeah, we have Mike and Nori last week and like it's hard to talk to that guy.
- [52:48]
Shams Charania
Minnesota, we have like you mentioned. Yeah. Like it's. They're the back to back conference finalist. They're the team with the MVP of the All Star game coming up. And ant's going to be a problem for anyone in the, in the west.
- [53:00]
Eddie Gonzalez
Playoffs are going to be great. Well, thank you, dude. All the best to you. Keep doing the great work that you do and keep shooting the ball when you're in that gate. Let him fly, baby. Let him fly.
- [53:10]
Shams Charania
Maybe from, maybe from NBA 3 next.
- [53:12]
Eddie Gonzalez
Next time.
- [53:14]
Jerry Ferrara
There we go.
- [53:17]
Eddie Gonzalez
All right, man. Eddie, listen, you know, no liner today. You kind of stepped up. Thank you for getting Sean's man. That's not the p. I want people out there to know that's not the easiest get. You know when people say they're busy but they're just lying and they're not actually busy. They just don't want to do the thing. He's actually busy. He's like one of those dudes that is really, when he says he's busy, he's really, actually, actually busy. We saw by his screen time.
- [53:40]
Shams Charania
Yeah.
- [53:40]
Jerry Ferrara
Getting that guy to put his phone down for 30 minutes and then. And then you caught him. I caught him too. I wasn't gonna say it, but you caught him. He took a little peek. I don't know if he sent the text, but you never know what's going on in that dude's phone. So. Nah, it was that was cool. It's always good to catch up with seams. Hoop season's like, the hoop season's like here now, right? Like Christmas starts it. But once we get past super bowl, we can lock in on basketball, right?
- [54:03]
Eddie Gonzalez
Yeah, I think you're right. It's like as. And I. Look, I love basketball, so I'm always watching. But like I will say for the general population and the football loving fan, this really probably is like the first week of the regular season to them, right? We're post all star. All the people have landed where they want. And look, Knicks, Pistons. Tonight we're kicking off right away with, you know, Pistons have kicked the Knicks asses twice. I expect the Knicks to show up, but these might be the two teams in the east that are staring at each other. Come.
- [54:30]
Jerry Ferrara
Maybe look, I'm the bad influence friend, so I'm gonna. I'm gonna make a proposal to you that I know you're not gonna take me up.
- [54:36]
Eddie Gonzalez
Okay? But no, that's here.
- [54:38]
Jerry Ferrara
I. I know you just had. I know you just had our nephew.
- [54:41]
Eddie Gonzalez
And yes, baby Jesse's here.
- [54:43]
Jerry Ferrara
Baby Jesse, he's the man. And, and, and, and you know, we love Bri and we, we want you there, but the, The Rockets play the Knicks this week. The Rockets playing the Knicks on Saturday. So my guys, your guys, we're at the Garden. Look, I got a plug. I can get us tickets. We won't be sitting next to Fat Joe and all of those and Ben Stiller. We can use your tickets, too. But if you. Look, if you just so happen to come out, love to have you, obviously, but. Yeah, I think it would be dope to catch a game. My guys versus your guys. But again, if you can't make it, I understand you got a lot going on.
- [55:21]
Eddie Gonzalez
So first off, I would have to check the murder alert and see if Bri would murder me. And just. I could usually tell because I'll start. So I'll always start that ask. Like, so listen. The minute I say so listen. She's like, if she's like, what? Then I'm okay. She's like, what? What? What do you mean, listen? That. I'm not even gonna ask. I'm just gonna say I wanted to take you to dinner Saturday. I'm gonna. I'm gonna abort the mission. But so you're obviously like, Rockets fan, right? Like, you're. Yeah, that's your guy. You're pulling for the Rockets. So let me, Let me flip this back on you then, because if I could pull that off without Getting murdered. I'm in. You know, I'm always down for a nick scheme. If I did get the Ben Stiller Fat Joe tickets, right? And me and you were sitting there, does KD come find you?
- [56:08]
Jerry Ferrara
Oh, we'll be right here.
- [56:09]
Eddie Gonzalez
Shot. We'll be right in here.
- [56:10]
Jerry Ferrara
We're talking all game. Don't let them win, because then we're talking to you all game, and they.
- [56:15]
Eddie Gonzalez
All right, but if the Knicks are winning, like, and I'm. What? So permission to Trash Talk KD? If the next 10 going into the four.
- [56:21]
Jerry Ferrara
Oh, do your thing.
- [56:23]
Eddie Gonzalez
Shut the up, right?
- [56:24]
Jerry Ferrara
I'm like, I. I try to talk. I try to think. I'm a quiet guy at the game. But if. If, like, Kevin gets an N1 or somebody fouls him too hard, then it's like, yeah, and then we're sitting there yelling at Fat Joe and Ben Stiller and. And all of these, like, chalamet or something. But the guards.
- [56:40]
Eddie Gonzalez
I mean, I don't know. I don't know, right? Like, you know, he's definitely gonna get asked a lot of in New York, like, that New York media is gonna be itching to turn, like, make that more than a game with him. But he's gotta love playing, and I know all players do, but I feel like Katie particularly because, like. Because he does talk to the crowd.
- [56:58]
Jerry Ferrara
Nah, man, it should be fun. If you can't make it, I understand. Don't tell Brie it was my idea, if you can. Yo. We'll have a good time. Hopefully the good guys.
- [57:06]
Eddie Gonzalez
I'll check. I'll check the murder report and see how, like, it's like, checking the weather. I'll see if, like, my likelihood of getting killed in my sleep is high.
- [57:13]
Jerry Ferrara
Bring. Bring the little guy. I am a. I am a dad. I would love to see nephews and kids.
- [57:18]
Eddie Gonzalez
Well, if you tell me you can get three or four tickets, then. Then I could bring the nephews. That changes things.
- [57:23]
Unidentified Speaker 1
Things.
- [57:24]
Jerry Ferrara
See, look, that's a whole different. That's a whole different ballgame, but, man, this was fun. Matt, definitely come back next week. Feel better, buddy. Thanks to Shams for sure.
- [57:33]
Eddie Gonzalez
Big thank you to Shams, everyone behind the scenes. Maddie, feel better, buddy. We need you next week. Got a good show coming for you next week. And yeah, man, basketball is back. Basketball is my favorite sport.