IT IS WHAT IT IS - PISTONS & WOLVES GET TO SCRAPPIN, LAMELO BALL OUT FOR THE YEAR & IS THE GIANNIS ERA COMING TO AN END WITH THE BUCKS?!

Episode Date: March 31, 2025

Ma$e, Cam’ron & Treasure "Stat Baby" Wilson are back with another one!! On this episode, the Pistons and the Wolves get to scrapping on the court, which leads to 5 players and coaches got ejected. The Grizzlies fired their HC Taylor Jenkins, do we agree with this decision two weeks before the playoffs?! Then, Lamelo Ball gets ruled out for the season, what do we make of his career thus far with the Hornets. Lastly, what happens with the Bucks now that Dame Time is ruled out with a Blood Clot, is the Giannis era coming to an end in Milwaukee?? Please rate, review, and follow the podcast for more content.  Support the show and sign up for Underdog Fantasy HERE with promo code CAM and get a $1000 first deposit match, and a Special Pick'em pick. Follow the show and our hosts on social media: It Is What It Is, Cam'Ron, Ma$e, and Treasure "Stat Baby" Wilson , Producer Ayooo Nick Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello y'all, uh I was selling crack on a private jet up in a hell and back But no confusion, this a reunion Hello y'all, welcome back Yeah, Murda here, he countin' money He said, can't man the hell we're at I'm only here to shit on niggas and piss on bitches Welcome ass, I bought jewelry and bikes, nigga

Black fences and white vigas Now I'm out here and I'm lookin' for more chandeliers and light pictures Nah, I don't like niggas, what's wrong with me? Welcome back to It Is What It Is. This episode is sponsored by Underdog. The app is an easy way to make some cash just by making picks on your favorite players. Underdog is available in more than 30 states, including California, Texas, and Missouri, just to name a few. Make sure to support the show by hitting the link in the bio and downloading the Underdog is available in more than 30 states, including California, Texas, and Missouri, just to name a few. Make sure to support the show by hitting the link in the bio and downloading the Underdog app.

Use code MACE, KIM, or STAT to get up to $1,000 in bonus credits with your first deposit and a free pick. I'm Treasurer Wilson, aka Stat Baby, along with your hosts Mace and Kim. Killer was good. Murda, how you man? Good, man. Coming out with them new man? Good, man. Coming out with new suits every Monday, man.

Read up, huh? Looking good, man. Looking good, man. I'm proud, man. Make me proud, man. Word, man. I wanna start off real quick before we get into this, man. Really big RP to my bro, Young Scooter, man. That's

my nigga, man. That shot me in tears this past weekend, man. I love that nigga, man. So just want to give an RP to Young Scooter, man. Yeah, definitely rest in peace. He has showed a lot of love to us and the show and very sad situation. So we are here with you and your family and hope, you know, everybody is good. Okay. So we're going to start with the Timberwolves versus the Pistons. So the Timberwolves beat the Pistons one 23 to one Oh four. The game got messy. Five players and two coaches were ejected after a big fight broke out. So ejected was D'Vincenzo, Nas Reed, Ron Holland, Isaiah Stewart, Marcus Sasser, Pistons heads coach, JB Bickerstaff and Wolves assistant coach. So objective was D. Vincenzo, Nas Reed, Ron Holland, Isaiah Stewart, Marcus Sasser, Pistons head's

coach, JB Bickerstaff and Wolves assistant coach. So they were all ejected Mase after seeing that fight and then just the game. What was your reaction? They had a lot going on. Yeah. When you think of this, this situation, I'm not happy that they're

fighting, but I'm happy that people care enough about the game that it led to this kind of passion. You know, you got a you got a pissing team that just turned everything around in one year. Now they're balling. Then you got this this Timberwolves team that was just a contender a year or two ago. So now they're feeling like they're they're being pushed out of that spot. Detroit is looking like they're coming up, you know, and this this makes for a good rivalry, you know.

So I'm not I'm not happy that the coaches got into it. That you expect the coaches to stay stay poised. And just because you get these corrections don't mean you have everything right. It just me. That's what I see that needed to be stated on this particular topic. Yeah, let me be totally honest with you. I didn't see the game, but I did see the clip of the fight. I agree with Mason, man.

It's something that shows passion. This shows it's some dog days. And the NBA right now, like Mason made some great points. Look, you got the Pistons fighting for playoff position. Right now, they are currently in the fifth seed. And it looked like they have a fight with Milwaukee. And even possibly the Pacers, these last seven eight games for four fifth or six. Same thing with Minnesota.

Minnesota, we didn't know if they was gonna make the plan. They climbed their way, got back in the plans. Julius Randall was hurt. He came back, they looked sensational with Julius Randall. And right now they're actually in the seventh seed fighting with Golden State to be in the sixth seed. Now we all know it's a big difference between the sixth seed and the seventh seed.

The sixth seed means you don't have to plan the plan. The seventh seed means you have to play in the plan in order to get to the playoffs. So everybody was scrappy. It was gritty. And I understand where both these teams as far as the game. No, I didn't see the game, but I understand where both teams at as far as their mentality leading into the playoffs. We got about a week left until the playoffs starts.

So we'll see what happens. Yeah. There's a little side note, the guy on the pistons, Isaiah Stewart, at this point, he could literally have a fight tape because he's the same dude that's trying to swing on LeBron and stuff too. Like there's so many videos of him fighting. It's crazy. So he was in the middle of this? Yes.

Yes. Of course. Like he was right there. Yeah. He like, but you know, he all, like you know, he, like you said, he always fights. Yeah. Always, man.

He even started. And D'Vegenzo, that was crazy too, cause he pushed the whole group off the bench too. So like, yeah, that was, that was real crazy to see. So just a follow up question about the fight before we move on. So kind of Mace, to your point, you were saying you were kind of shocked

that coaches kind of got into it. JB Biggersoft spoke about his involvement after he said there was things said by their assistant coach, we're going to defend each other. I'm not going to let people say belligerent things about my guys. So kind of what's your take on coaches kind of like getting in that position to begin with. I think way before the coaches got involved, it was already way out of control.

So therefore they should have been the authority that just tried to, to, to keep it cool, but it seemed like they got involved and they got involved like after everything was already crazy. So it wasn't like they, they saw it and just jumped up. They got crazy, got crazier, and then they got involved. So at that point, I think they could have they could have stayed out of it at that point. It was already where it was. And the exact question is that.

Yeah, basically, because he was saying he wasn't going to let people talk crazy, basically to his guys, which I understand that from a coach. But what is your opinion on him kind of having that involvement? I like that because it goes to show that the coach is with you. Sometimes when you see a coach get that involved, you like, all right, I want to go harder. It's like sometimes you ever see, not even when it's a fight, when the coaches are yelling at the referees and the players have to calm them down so they don't get ejected, so on and so forth.

But when you see a coach with that type of intensity and that type of tenacity, you're like, all right, he one of us. Sometimes players don't fuck with their coaches. Everybody come to work and do what they gotta do and go home. But when you see your coach involved, that goes to show, okay, we gotta go hard for them. And that may be part of the reason that the Pistons

are where they at today in the biggest turnaround. And I ain't gonna say an NBA history, but shit, last year, them niggas won 14 games. They won more than triple of the games that they won last year, and that definitely is an NBA stat. So that's amazing, from 14 games, and I think they're 43 wins so far, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, man, yeah, man.

I would love to see my coach get scrappy with me, pause and put himself in the line of fire because that means he's gonna go hard. I don't know if y'all guys are old enough to know this, but go and Google it. It was a time that Knicks were playing the Heat and Jeff Van Gundy was the coach and he ran on the court and started biting Alonzo Mourna ankle. You know what I'm saying? Like I said,

oh this nigga, wow. But it made it show that he was a New Yorker. It made it show that he's gonna go out with his players. Patrick Ewing and them niggas was looking at Jeff Van Gundy like he fucking crazy. But he got a lot of points from that from New Yorkers to show that he's one of the not just the coach. He's one of them. So I respect that. Yeah. And I'm the reason why I said what I said, especially being a Detroit Pistons.

Like, who was that? Who was Indiana playing at the time that? It was the Pistons. Yeah. So this is this. That's what I was thinking. I was when I thought Pistons, I'm thinking Indiana and the Pistons and you know how far this goes back and you know what happened out of that that's what I meant by the coaches getting involved so I definitely understand what killer is saying but then once the personnel on that level get involved, the next personnel is the fan so that's that's what I was trying to avoid in my commentary. Takes.

Okay. So with a couple of games left in the regular season, the Grizzlies fired their head coach, Taylor Jenkins Grizzlies GM Zach Kleinman says he solely made the decision because this was in the best interest of the team and urgency as a core principle of ours. So I decided to go on with the move. Mace, do you think that this is in the Grizzlies' best interest? So after they have a fight, they fire the coach?

No, the Grizzlies. Oh, I was about to say, I thought you said the wolves. I was about to say that is not good. The Grizzlies, they definitely had to do something, but I don't know if it was fired a coach just yet, because the real inconsistency has been if Jai is healthy. So I wouldn't put that on the coach and for the coach to do a great job. You got to have consistent personnel.

If he doesn't have consistent personnel, then he's he's really called the puller rabbit out of that hat pause for for a lack of a better term. When it comes to the Grizzlies, they have everything that they need to win games. They got John Morant. They got E.D. They got Jackson. You know, they just have and bang, they got players that they really put it together. They could win. But you got to have a healthy job.

Morant, if he's in and then he's out, pause, then he's hurt and he's not there. Is it doesn't make for a great, consistent team. And I don't think that that I think after the playoffs, then they could fire him after that, because you get to see what he's able to do with Jah being there. But if Jah is not going to be around, then another transition that they're making to this team. That's already plagued with inconsistency.

Yeah. Yeah. Listen, man, this thing I know, I listen, I have no idea what the fuck this is about besides something. This is personal. This is not, this is not a business call whatsoever. There's some shit that we're going to find out eight, nine months next year, whatever, something happened.

Cause somebody that's on the Grizzlies now is going to come out and say, well, you know what really happened? You don't fire no motherfucking coach till a week and a half before the playoffs start, especially John Marin ain't been there in three, four weeks, maybe six, I don't remember how many weeks, but I know he missed six to eight games, something like that.

Last year he was hurt. The year before that, well, last year he was hurt mixed with the off the court problems. The year before that he was hurt. The year before that you go to the Western Conference finals. This is definitely personal. I don't know who wife got fucked, who got slapped in the face, who pissed on who. This is not a business decision a week and a half before the playoffs. Something happened that we don't know about and that we're gonna end up finding out about.

Whether it's tomorrow, the day after, next week, the month from now, a year from now, that's to be determined. You don't fire your head coach who's been doing a decent job, like May said, without a John Moran, and not without John Moran just this year, without John Moran being consistent

the last few years. This is not a business decision whatsoever. It's not in the interest of the best team. You had Jackson be the defensive player other year, one of these years since he's been there. You had John Moran, I believe, second or third team when he played a full season. I don't know what the fuck this is about,

so about some business decisions. To me, the coach's been doing a decent job considering the personnel that he had to work with. Nah, same happen. We gonna find out. We don't know the date, but we gonna find out. They know what the fuck happened in Memphis. We'll see.

What I think is somebody gonna get traded off season and when they get traded, they gonna tell us what happened because they ain't gonna be there no more. They ain't going to give a fuck. So another follow up. So they're the 15 in the West and we know how sticky the West is just because how close the teams are. So with that being said, they obviously have their interim head coach.

How far do you see them going at this point now that, you know, that kind of just happened? I mean, we just saw it pretty much last week when when the Lakers played, the Lakers were playing on Memphis, right? They just lost the they just lost the L.A. Austin Reeves had 31, LeBron has 25, Luca got 29. This would probably be who they're playing if the playoffs started right now. They would be in a series with the Lakers and The coach people looking at this you you say you can't blame the coach And you really can't because jives have been consistent in there

And I think this is a panic looking at that game Looking at that game where they lost to the Lakers are saying we could very well be looking at this first round and we got To change something and I think it's just a panic move. They pull a plug and somebody had to go and it was the coach. That's what I think about it. And the exact question is that. Yeah. How far do you see them going?

Because we see how close the West is and then they just said, Hey, bye coach. I don't know. To be honest, that's a great question. I don't know how far they going to go because to me, this is not a good move, unless somebody on the team, and that somebody being John Moran, saying they don't fuck with niggas. We see what happened actually at the end of the season.

And Donovan Mitchell will never admit it, but he ain't fucked with their coach. Coach is coaching in Detroit right now. He didn't want them there. He didn't even play at the end of the season, last year in the playoffs, and he got his money. He got a new coach and Cleveland is excelling.

So I have no idea how far they're gonna go. I just would say this is not a good decision unless the players didn't fuck with them. And they went to management and said, nah, listen, man, we can't get this done. This ain't gonna happen. That's the only thing I can really see. To me, this is terrible.

Because this is almost like a boxing match where you get rid of your trainer two weeks before the fight unless you don't really need a trainer. Or you don't need somebody in your corner because you're that good that you say, I don't really need somebody in my corner. Only seen a couple niggas're that good that you say I don't really need somebody in my corner. Only seen a couple niggas just that good that can say fuck the trainer and still win.

I'm just saying, we've seen my personal opinion and I know we're switching to boxing analogies, but Deontay Wilder, he had one bad fight, got rid of his trainer, and he ain't looked the same since. I wouldn't have did this. I would have waited to the off season, the fire, the coach. But as far as they could go, I have no idea. The real answer to that question stat is

they could go as far as John Morant takes them. Without John Morant, just forget about the whole shit. That's the real answer to the question. Yeah, I think they're out first round. Dang. If they play the Lakers, they're out first round. Let's see what happens, because I think y'all are both right. So now Lamello ball was ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing a pair of procedures on his right ankle and wrist.

He had reportedly been playing through pain in recent weeks before the doctors concluded him going through with the procedure. So just his journey, his career, kind of what's your opinion on, you know, one, him being out for the season, just the injuries that he's had. Yeah, these are injuries that you can't really

turn a blind eye to, especially when it deals with the ankle, anything dealing with the ankle, anything dealing with the ankle or the knee. Those are two things that creates the mobility for you to be faster, that creates the ability for you to be explosive, to turn, change your direction. And when you have those two things challenged, then a lot of things are going to be compromised as a basketball player. So I think this is catastrophic really when you think about it, because if you're talking

about his wrists and his ankle at the same time, this is just a lot. And sometimes people say it's better because you're a young athlete, but these are signs of time for him to put on some muscle. If his body keeps breaking down and some things he's going to have to do to better prepare his body pause for 82 game, especially if they plan on being in a playoffs, he got to prepare himself for a hundred something games. So I think that's time for him to really hit the weight room after this surgery. And if not, he doesn't show any improvement in that area.

Then this is going to be the decline of his career, because the ankle ain't nothing to play with. I only really saw one player that really came back from major ankle injuries as a guard, you know, at the one and do well. And I mean, I saw Isaiah do it, but Isaiah's wasn't really like terminally ill like that. And I saw who else? Stephen Curry.

Oh, what? Ooh, the Mellow Balls out. Like they is going to the playoffs. Nick has been eliminated, yo. Should have been out. Wasn't going to the playoffs, so why the out? Like, should be crazy. All the Mellow Balls out. What the fuck to the playoffs, so why'd he out? Like, it should be crazy, all the mellow balls out. What the fuck, we wasn't gonna miss him anyway,

he ain't in the postseason, so what? Go get the surgery, go get better. Maybe he's been avoiding surgery to get better. I don't know, I know he's been hurt a lot. And it's really sad because he's so talented. He's must watch TV. That kid with that basketball, I was watching some of the mellow ball highlights

and man, that kid is fucking sensational. But he's always hurt. Year after year in his short career, he's always hurt. So hopefully these surgeries that he's going to get will keep him on the court, probably moving forward. Whatever it is, I hope he does get better, but for like, he's ruled out for the season. It's like when niggas said Paul George

was ruled out for the season. So what? This season been over weeks ago. Who cares, yo? They're not playing in the postseason. So for a week before, when they were like, two weeks ago, oh, Paul George is ruled out. And they say eliminated.

Oh, Lamela Balls ruled out. So what? And I'm not talking about they got a chance and they're fucking their chance up. No, they are like officially, like, all right, if they won the rest of their games, they still not going to the playoffs. That's what I'm saying.

They can win the rest of the fucking eight, nine, 10 games, whatever, they still not going to the playoffs. That's what I'm saying. They can win the rest of the fucking eight, nine, 10 games or whatever, they're not going to the playoffs. Whoop the fucking dude, LaMelo Ball is ruled out. Congratulations, I hope you get the surgery you need. I hope you feel better because I like watching you play. I think you're better than all your brothers personally. And I love seeing you play, but I am not, I'm not doing, Melo's ruled out?

Damn. Shit. It's crazy, man. Melo's out. No, he's out anyway. Next week. The whole Charlotte's out. Whole Philly's out.

When you say Paul George is out, the Miggas is out. Get better, my nigga. Okay, so I know you're saying you don't care, Miggas is out. Get better, my nigga. OK, so I know you're saying you don't care and I know you're saying get better, which is very valid, but I'm just curious. So kind of remember how we had that conversation last week when Arabia was on the show and we put people in categories like the private jet, the Uber black, the Amtrak, just different things. What kind of category would y'all put Lamella Ball in?

Because I feel like he had such a high ceiling and then his injuries prevented a lot of things. And then, of course, the team as well. But where would you kind of put him? You know? Killer go first. LaMelo Ball is a private jet that you scared to fly because it's never working. There you go.

He like, you get on the jet, it's nice, it got seats, it got broken. He's broken. He's broken. He's broken. He's broken. He's broken. He's broken. He's broken. He's broken. He's broken. He's broken.

He's broken. He's broken. He's broken. He's broken. He's broken. He's broken. He's broken. He's broken.

He's broken. He's broken. He's broken. He's broken. He's broken. He's broken. He's broken. He's broken.

He's broken. He's broken. He's broken. He's broken. what we doing. He's a private jet that looks beautiful, but it's always broken. You're scared to fly. And I wouldn't fly the shit personally until they didn't maintenance. That just one night a week of maintenance P. Say good back to the manufacturer. Get that shit done right. Well, we know, I will never forget that one plane

you went on and they said they were gonna go fix fix fix something real quick and you left. You said, I'm not flying. You said they had to fix something real quick, which is what they do on planes. Kim said, nah. I see a nigga with a screwdriver.

You see a nigga with a real screwdriver, but I left, right? Nah, nah, bro. That means you could've had a butter knife and fixed the door. I ain't with that. You absolutely right, Snack. Yeah, nigga.

I walked past, P, nigga had the, you know the door that shut the plane? Because it was taking a while. So, nigga's walking around. I walked out off in the little tunnel to take the plane. Nigga had a screwdriver. I get out my bag and left. I don't even blame you. It's actually, when I start saying stuff, it's like, yeah, I had a screwdriver, I'll get out my bag and left. I don't even blame you, when I start saying stuff,

it's like, yeah, I gotta go, but I'll stay. I'll stay. That was a good one, I kill it. I probably was gonna say something along those lines, but I would say something different. It's just, he's like a very expensive yacht that you're just not sure if it'll work when you get out in the middle of the

sea so you don't take the chance. It's an expensive yacht, but you don't want to get far and find out it doesn't work. Valid. I mean, there's life jackets, you got some extra security just in case. Yeah, those are the things that make, you know, cautious people sell out with it. But to people like Kaila and myself, we're not taking those chances. If I know you can get out the shore and won't make it back, who, who really takes that chance?

You know, I don't know sharks. Sharks don't know me. You know, like I could call one of them and say, yo, I'm in the middle of the ocean, help me out here. So I wouldn't take the risk. I'm just being serious. Valid. No, that's very valid. There's some people like me who sometimes just got to take the risk

because I'm like, shoot, I think I'll be good. Yeah. Get you a little steamboat. Go out there, you know. But no, you need that steamboat if you get out there. Valid. OK, so tonight the Hornets will be playing the jazz. Obviously they do not have LaMelo ball. So, Underdog has Miles Bridges at 22 and a half points. Do you have him higher or lower Mace?

Of course I got him going higher than 22. With LaMelo not there, he normally have around 20 with Mello there. So he's definitely gonna have more than that without him there. That's a good one, Underdog. I have to really admit that is that 22 is a great number because a lot of his points come from mellow passing him the ball Well, he get 22 without mellow being there. I'm gonna go higher though

Okay, Mark Williams is at ten and a half rebounds. You have him higher lower camp. I don't know mark like that I'm be honest with you. I only study a Mark and all that. I mean you. You asking my intuition. Let me tell you something, Nick sent me a stat. All my underdog pics the last three days been hitting. Code cam is up. Everything I said the last three days have been hitting.

So you fucking with code cam, we back on track. So this is why this pic right here is very important to me. Mark, I don't know you like that. I'm going lower. I don't know you. I hope I'm- How many is that? 10 and a half rebounds.

10 and a half rebounds. I'm gonna go lower too. I'm going with Cold Cam. Okay. And remember they almost sent him to the Lakers. So that would have been. Oh yeah, he was nice, but it was a reason he went back. Yeah.

And after that he's probably been playing lackluster like niggas ain't want to fuck with me now. They want me to go crazy. Yeah. Yeah. It's mental right now. So he's probably not playing at his best. That's why I said lower

Okay, and Colin Sexton is that one and a half three-pointers made do you have him higher or lower mace? One and a half Going lower I gotta go lower pause. I won't go high. I'm gonna give him that okay. You got him getting two threes That's what higher means, Mase. Sometimes you need to hear it again to make sure. Yeah, when it's one and a half and you say higher, it's probably two means higher. All right. Sex and don't shoot at all.

I don't think you know who's sex and then do you know who sex and is? Yeah. But do you know who he is? The guy that was here. Yeah. So he don't shoot? Oh, I mean, back in the days he had no jump shot. Back in the days, he done nigga like 24. He got sick of this.

He get it greatly improved. Back in the days. I haven't been watching him. I haven't, clearly I haven't. Yeah, well listen man, you might be right, but he definitely shooting. Yeah, he's like, Good calling.

The thing about it is he gonna shoot, the question is if he gonna make him. So I think he gonna shoot enough threes to make two. Okay, make sure y'all download the Underdog app and you can make your picks too. So for the first time since the 2016 to 2017 season, the Sixers have been eliminated from playoff contention.

Mace, what is your opinion just based off of how their season has went? And then how long do you expect their bounce back to kind of take? Because they've been going through it. There's a lot of questions you ask. So a lot of the times you ask me three questions in one. So they will not answer. They don't know where we are. So which one would you like me to answer first? Well, I asked it in order.

So the first one. Yes. What's your opinion on their season? OK, this season is a debacle. The season for the sixes is a debacle. It makes no sense that this type of talent came to this kind of end. You know, that's that's just the best way to put it. There's no way in the world that we thought when you got Joel Embiid, you get Maxie, you start paying all these guys to then you bring Paul George and pay him more

than the Clippers were able to pay him. And then he goes podcasts on you is crazy. You know, and I'm just keeping a real long sport. So I know that got to be very heart breaking, almost depressing. If you're the owner, because you expected something in the other direction, you expect a championship contention. And now you're here where you're not even in the playoffs is crazy. Because I would think even with Maxie and one of the other stars, you would get in the playoffs.

So you think they're not in the playoffs. We was talking about this team going against the Knicks at three or four or something like that in the in the beginning of the season. So this is crazy. And your other question. Yeah. Yeah. How long do you predict their bounce back to kind of take the bounce back from something this bad?

I don't think they bounce back. I'm just going to go on a record and tell you, I don't think you bounce back. When is this great level of distrust? And you have not just distrust, you have a group of people that are not willing to do what it takes to build the trust. You know, so you got this trust working and you got a team of people that all want to do their own thing. There's no way to build it. So I don't think they bounce back. I mean, those are only two questions. Okay. Yeah. The season may say it's a debacle. I have to agree

with that. And then as far as them bouncing back, I don't know. It just made some great points. Paul George, to me, seems, and I'm just going off the eye, I don't have any relationship with him. I don't know people who know him. We bring him up on the show because we know the talent that he was or could be still possibly.

But just from the eye test, he has no interest in basketball. He sat there and said, he's not gonna do the podcast. The day he said, okay, cool, I'm not doing a podcast no more for a while, I'm gonna focus on basketball. Whatever that first game he said that he has some wow, good, good numbers.

I remember 28, 29 points. It was something Paul George's that we're used to. You know, Indiana Paul George or OKC, whatever it was, it looked like the Paul George before the podcast. But I think he's so caught up on the podcast that basketball is his second interest right now. My personal opinion. Basketball is not Paul George's first priority

in life moving forward. Just to me, because for you to have to have a fight with yourself inside and say, nah, fuck that. It's almost like a person who's going to rehab for something. Whether it be drugs or cigarettes or whatever it is and you're trying to quit something mentally, that you have to announce that.

Nah, fuck that, yo, I can't do this podcast shit. It's not working. But the games and the, that seems like me, he's having a fight with himself to refrain from doing the podcast and we asked to announce that I'm not doing the podcast. And if you don't have a focus Paul George on this 76ers team, they're not gonna win next year either.

Now, if he comes into the season, fully healthy, focused and fucked the podcast, then possibly they have a chance. But I don't know if Paul George is getting better. When he said fuck the podcast, he looked good a month ago, month and a half ago, however it is. We don't know the health of Joe LMB.

Tyrese Maxey is the only one you could really count on. You're dealing with a Cleveland Cavalier team that's really good in the East. You're dealing with a New York Knick team that's looking really good in the East. You're dealing with a Milwaukee Bucs team that's not looking as good as I think they could possibly look.

And you're dealing with the defending reigning champions, the Boston Celtics. Not only that, you're dealing with the Orlando Magic, who's up and coming. Indiana Pacers are not in the sneeze at. These are all the things that you have to deal with in the East. And I'm not saying they're as tough as the West is, but you have to deal with in the East. And I'm not saying it's as tough as the West is,

but you have to compete. Joe LMB hasn't been competing, Paul George hasn't been competing, and Tyrese Maxey can't do it by themselves. We have to wait to see next season how focused Paul George is and how healthy Joe LMB is to see if they're going to make a comeback for what they used to be. Yeah. So just out of curiosity, I know that Embiid's health is always a big question mark, but also to your point, you said Maxie is really the only one that they can really count on. For both of you, do you guys feel like Tyrese Maxie is their most important player? Or do you still feel like that stands on Embiid given his injuries? I'm just curious. When you say importance, I would have to say Joel Embiid given his injuries. I'm just curious. When you say importance,

I would have to say Joel Embiid is the most important because without him, you see it, you're not even making a playoff. So you get what I'm saying? So I think if you took Maxie out of it and you had a focused Paul, George and Joel Embiid, they would still make the playoffs. So I can't say that he's the most important that Maxie is the most important.

He's a hell of a talent, but I don't think he's the most important. The most important on the Sixers is Joel Embiid. Now they can change that could change in the next year or so. But today, when you're asking that question, it got to be Joel Embiid because it seemed like they go or go home or go higher on Joe L. Embiid. The answer is Joe L. Embiid is the most important player on the team. The most tough, rugged, competitive person so far with this three headed monster of poor, so to speak, is Tyrese Maxey. But Tyrese Maxey is not going to be able to get the 76ers to the promised land by himself. He's undecided. He has to deal with the teams I just named in my previous take in the East.

Is he good? Absolutely. Is he sensational? Absolutely. Is he an All-Star? Absolutely. Can he get them to the promised land by himself? No. Joe Lumbi is the reigning MVP currently. Because he hasn't been playing well the last year or so, we tend to forget last night. He's still the reigning MVP. Now, would he be the reigning MVP if the Joker didn't get hurt

them last few games last year? That's to be determined, we'll never know that. But he played good enough to be the reigning MVP currently. Joel Embiid is a fucking problem when he's healthy, focused and ready to go. Only problem I have with a healthy Joel Embiid is that he's not the fucking healthy to go to Denver to play against a Joker. That's my only problem with Joe LMB. Everything else, when he's healthy, mindset, ready to go,

he's fucking good, really good, really, really good. He's a little dirty from time to time, do some whack ass shit. I'm talking about not basketball plays, but sometimes not basketball plays are part of basketball. You gotta do what you gotta do out there sometimes. I see Draymond Green do a bunch of not basketball You got to do what you got to do out there sometimes. I see Draymond Green do a bunch of not basketball plays, but I like that. Sometimes you need that on your team.

But as far as the most important player currently for the 76ers to excel is Joe O'LeBee. Okay, we're going to go to break. When we return, we will discuss the Bucks future. Don't go anywhere. Welcome back. So we learned that Damien Lillard is out indefinitely with a blood clot. The Bucks are the sixth seed. What does his absence mean for the Bucks, Mace? I was just going to record and say that him not being there just means kind of what Kilo was mentioning off there. That Yannis is going to try to be out of there.

Now I know he's a really big Bezo boarded up. Yeah, Bezo. Yeah, that Yannis is going to be out of there. Now I know he didn't say that. Really Bezo brought it up, Yannis. Yeah, Bezo. Yeah, Yannis is gonna be out of there. Damon Lillard is saying he has a blood clot. We don't know how long that's gonna take to recover from. We pray that he gets well. Damon Lillard get well, just like Lamello Ball. Everybody that's suffering from injuries,

we know basketball is a way you take care of your family. But I'm thinking about this, if you're Giannis and you're like, oh, I thought you was bringing Damon Lilly here so we could win. I agree with that. Giannis would have to be like, this is it now. I know last year we was going to say that, oh, Damon Lilly needed another year. But right now, he definitely got there. He definitely is thinking about being out of there. There's no reason for him to stay, not if he wants to win.

Yeah, and the same thing we were talking about off the air, like with Bezos, now Bezos praying, I kind of agree with both of y'all, but when y'all say Yannis is out of there, what do you mean? What do you mean he just gonna walk out? He's gonna ask for a trade. And if you're the GM, you're giving Yannis a trade? Oh, it's a tantrum-filled league now, Killa.

Not for Yannis. You throw all the tantrums you want. That's just like watching your daughter, your son cry on the floor. You're not going outside, Joe, on punishment. I don't care how much of a tantrum. Now somebody like James Horton or whoever, cause you know James Horton used the Darryl Morey

relationship to get these trades. You gotta realize all them trades James Horton had was Darryl Morey related. They're dealing with the same GM for the last 12 years, like 13 years or however long it is. So you build a relationship with them. But as far as Yannis just throwing a tantrum and think he's leaving, you forget about that shit.

If I'm the GM, I don't give a fuck what tantrum you throw. Yeah, Yannis, my nigga, you a 6'11 pound. Let's think about this, right? And I don't know. And of course he was being facetious and exaggerated and so on and so forth. But LeBron just say Yannis would score 250 points in 1970s. He just said this.

This is how much praise LeBron is giving Yannis that he knows that Yannis is that good. I see Yannis take three dribbles after rebair and make a layup. He's running like a deer out there. He gets the ball, Strouds are crazy, and he goes from coast to coast. I'm exaggerating, maybe four dribbles,

but he's taking long strides, he could dribble. He's worked on his mid-range game, it's gotten a little better. But, y'all, it's a problem. And I really believe that the fact that the Joker is so good and we have the emergence of Shay Gilders, Alexander, and Luke has been looking really good. And these are teams, as far as the Joker's concerned,

who, pardon me, they won the championship the year before last. And then Shay is first team on the NBA. We have new players coming up in the merger, and I'm not saying the Joker's new, but I think the last three years years people are really catching on to what Shades been doing, especially this year because they get more games on television. Then we forget, we tend to forget what Giannis brings to the table. We tend to

forget that Giannis' brother was on the team and we was all told joking last year talking about that's how good Giannis is. How the fuck did T.A., his brother, get on the team? How the fuck did his parents get denied for a visa two times? And then he says, all right, well, you know what? If they don't get the visa this time, I gotta go back to Greece. Oh, all of a sudden, his parents get a visa and they move here.

That's how good Yannis is. I'm not trading to Giannis. I don't even know what package, pause you would put together for Giannis if you wanted to trade him. But I'm not disagreeing with what you guys said. He wants to trade, but who you putting the deal for Giannis and where's he going?

I was asking, where's his card track up? Yeah, it's to the 2026, 2027 season with the player option, 2027, 2028. So Yarny's got at least one more year and with an option on it. So we got 25, 26 coming up, and then we got 26, 27. So Yarny's gonna be in Milwaukee

and I'll reduce after this joint. And hopefully if he wants to go, they can figure it out. But if I'm the GM for Milwaukee and I'm on the phone and he's like, yo, you know, we got Spencer Demwody. Call me with no Spencer Demwody in these niggas. For y'all, this nigga, we' package seven first-round draft picks, hanging up on all that, man. It gotta be somebody to Shay Gilderis,

our status, or Luca, or, you know, somebody of that nature. I think, like, because we seen what happened with Luca in the middle of the night, one night, that we just think that anything's possible. That shit was personal. And to be totally honest with you, I got insight on it, what was personal.

I can't talk about this yet, but I get permission to talk about it, that I will, but it was personal. I wasn't really business. Okay. And then just in general, from just how they've been playing, do you like how the Bucks look? Are you a fan or no?

No. How could I like the way they plan if they lose? And, you know, especially with them not having Damon Lillard, it's nothing to like about this team. You know, like Janis and Kuzma. No, it looks like Janis before he got help. This is exactly how it used to look before they won the championship. He's right back in that same season when he started emerging as a superstar. And everybody was like, if he got help, he could be good.

And we knew if he got help, he could be good. But he's back with that kind of personnel that he's playing with. I don't think Kuzma helps him get a championship. I don't think Kuzma helps him get a championship. I don't think Kuzma helps him get to the second round. And I mean, Kuzma could if he if he step up his game, but they're going to have to work off season for that. It's a difference between playing in a league and then winning in the playoffs. Those are two different players.

And I know Kuzma has been on that level before, but it takes something new today. And exactly the question's that? Yeah, just do you like how they're looking? Do you like Yannis and Kuzma together? Are you just not a fan of how the Bucs have been playing at all? I'm not a fan of how the Bucs have been playing at all.

Why would you say Kuzma? Or his accent? Because he's trendy. Because he's trendy. Because he's trendy. His hair's blonde. I didn't say he was better. I'm like, since he's been traded, do y'all like it or is he still, you don't care? When he's his wife, he like, whoa.

Which is, that's cute. Shout out to that. When he my homie too, it all went. She know that. It's a family. I'm happy for her because she's happy. So I have nothing to do with basketball. No, I don't like it.

I think that me personally, this is the best hope for the Milwaukee Bucks this season. This season. It's not, so what I'm understanding, I know health comes first. And I don't even know if this is gonna be anything able to save the season. But they're saying it's possible, possible that Damien Lillard might come back for the playoffs,

possibly. But even if he comes back for the playoffs, he's not gonna be in playoff shape because he's gonna have to sit out for this blood clot. And like I said, prayers up for Dave Lillard. That's my bro. I hope that he recovers quickly. And if you're not healthy,

Dave, don't worry about it. You got another season. But even if he comes back, I don't think he'll be in playoff shape because he's gonna be sitting out for a few weeks or a month and a half or however long it takes to get rid of this situation, even if he does come back. But no, my personal opinion is,

shit been going left ever since Doc Rivers been there, man. That's my personal opinion. I don't know why it's not working out with Doc. And I have no, like, Doc Rivers, let's be clear, so we're not taking sides or picking favorites. Doc Rivers being the coach, not just Doc Rivers being the coach, this Damien Lillard trade has not looked like

it's going well, because Drew Holliday has won a championship since he's left. It's never good when you trade somebody, and the very first year you trade them or get rid of them, they win a championship. That's never good. Am I mad at them getting rid of Chris Middleton?

Not really because he hasn't been healthy since the championship. Year after year after year, he's been hurt since they won a championship. He's not consistent. Then when he's on the floor, he's not looking like the Chris Middleton that helped them win a championship. So I'm not sure that I'm cool with the trade That's not consistent. Then when he's on the floor, he's not looking like the Chris Middleton

that helped them win a championship. So I'm not sure that I'm cool with the trade for Kyle Kuzma, not cool with the trade, but I don't know if Kyle Kuzma is Chris Middleton when a couple years ago when he won that championship. So I'm not sure, but my personal opinion is the Milwaukee Bucks are stagnant and they're going to stay at

the place they're at now. I think Mace made a good point. They're kind of in that spot right before they won a championship and needed some pieces to help Yanis win. And they might be right back in that spot. Mace may be a hundred correct, a hundred percent correct with that. Okay. And then just curious, who do you guys think would have to go first, more players

or the coach? Like they're stagnant. It's always the coach that goes first. I mean, but in this because in this case, I think the stock on Damon Lillard has dropped too low. This is the stock with Damon Lillard is concerned. You would have to be a true fan of his to know that he could do better somewhere else. But that don't seem like how the NBA processes things right now.

They would say two bad seasons back to back. He may not even be the same player anymore. And so I think the coach goes first when it comes to these type of situations, because they can't move anybody else but Yannis, you would have to pretty much give Damon Lillard to somebody for something that you know is not worth Damon Lillard right now. I don't think it's like a Bradley Bill type of thing where you just give up something for a person

or pay a whole bunch of money for it. Not at this point, I don't think they'll do that. And I agree with me, Stamey and Lillard's stock really fell. And it's sad, you know why? Because it's sad because last year, we know he was going to do something personal and he said he's going to come back better this year.

And this year, I don't know if he's been better, but he hasn't been sensational. And the thing that's crazy about it, and we get to see the growth of all the players, because let's just take for instance, right, just in the Eastern Conference, I don't know if Damian Lillard is top five point guards right now,

and I'm talking about in the Eastern Conference, maybe top five, but right now if I'm picking, I'm picking Don, maybe top five. But right now, if I'm picking, I'm picking Donovan Mitchell over Damian Lillard. I'm picking Jaylen Brunson over Damian Lillard. I'm picking Trey Young over Damian Lillard. And I'm just, that's just a quick three that I'm picking over Damian Lillard in the East. And the reason that's why that's so important to me,

and I'm saying this because he was so sensational in the West, and to me the West is harder, pause, than the East. You know, this nigga Dame Time in the West, and I'm not just talking about point guards, he's an elite player sending their favorite players home. Their favorites. Whether it be, you know, you could go watch a poster of him

shooting in Paul George's face from half court to send them home. What Russell Westbrook, Pat Beverly, I mean, it's named Pat Beverly, not like an all star, but you know, defensive prowess who was seasoned day and night in one game, and then he went crazy. You know, he was going to war for years and years with Steph Curry.

Steph Curry got the better of it, but at the end of the day, he wasn't no slouch. Chris Paul. He goes to war year after year after year in the Western Conference, and not to look as good as he does in the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference, it doesn't look good. It really doesn't look good.

And he's not getting younger, he's getting older. I've been around Damien Lillard a couple times and he always told me, look, I'm about to do this, about to do that. And I'm talking about basketball wise. And he showed me, he went and bust ass, but I'm not seeing that. And sometimes when your personal life is not going right,

as much as you want to do something professionally, it's not going to play out. And I'm not comparing him to what I'm about to say, but I'm just giving an example of when your personal life isn't right. We haven't seen Tiger Woods one time, matter of fact, last 12, 15 years, ever since his wife caught him cheating and came out with them golf clubs

and fucked the car up and everything, he won one tournament. Before that, that nigga was winning every 10 minutes. He couldn't stop winning. When he had his wife and his bitches on the side, he was killing. No wife, just bitches, and they ain't winning. Sometimes your personal life for real, sometimes your personal life

drags into your professional life. And maybe that's what we see. Yeah, do you think he's better than Maxie? Not right now, that's number four. Yeah, and- Halliburton. Halliburton. That's five possibly. That's, you know, that's number four. Yeah, and um. Halliburton. Halliburton.

That's five possibly. That's, you know, that's what I'm saying. And that's what I, and I'm happy you brought the other two point guards up, because I'm sitting there saying, two years, Portland, trailblazing Damian Lillard, we wouldn't even been having that conversation on who's better.

He would have been better than every point guard that we named. Maybe Donovan Mitchell you could have argued with, maybe. But J. Lebrunson didn't emerge. Tyrese Maxey was on the come up. Tyrese Harlow Burton was on the come up. You could have argued possibly Trey Young, but Trey Young doesn't win.

So sometimes it just equivalates to, he's good, but he's not winning. But two years ago I don't want to think it had been a big argument about the people that we just named as far as point guards are concerned Yeah, and then we didn't even mention drew holiday, right? Yep, right So, I mean, I know you asked him but I also got to ask you because I people are gonna want to know So Jalen Brunson Halliburton Ty, Tyrese, Maxie, Trey Young,

are you taking them all over before you take Damian Lillard? According to this season, if you're going with this season, you would have to. You got to go with who's been doing what this year. You know what I'm saying? So if you if you're going with that, you definitely got Maxie up there. You would definitely have Donovan Mitchell. You got Trey Young. You got, can't forget New York.

Jalen Brunson. Jalen Brunson. And then you got Halliburton, you know. Andrew Holliday. Andrew Holliday. So that's- That's six. That's six.

So that's what I would have to go with. I don't think anybody could argue with that, you know, based on this year's performance alone. Not his legacy, not years before. We talking about right now, if you're putting them on the court, who would people pick for the All-Star? Who would people pick for their game? It's going to be hard to not go with what these guys are doing today because of what he did yesterday. Sports or entertainment, you go through that time when you're watching somebody do what you've done and you got to understand that there is their time right now. That's why when you get the

opportunity, you got to do as much as you can do. That's just the game. That's how it goes. Okay. So I want to talk back about Yannis because he did respond back to LeBron's comments. Basically just talking about the era is when LeBron was like, he would do this in the seventies, drop all these points. Janice said, great compliment, but I don't like comparing eras. He said, it's not fair. If I'd played in the seventies, how everybody practiced and how everybody played, we would have played the same way. That's all you knew at the time. The game evolves. We got to 2020 and we know more. So we did discuss this a little bit last week when the initial interview came out. But now after hearing Yannis' response, what did you think of what he had to say? I like what Yannis said about that comment, because it takes him out of the conversation.

That's what he was probably intending to do. And that's the way he accomplished that goal. Because when you tell people you don't want to be compared, they can compare you, but then you're no longer to keep answering the question, which is, which is a great thing for him, because right now he's trying to get to winning. And if they keep pulling them into those conversations, it's just another distraction that they don't need. They already got a coach who finessed his way in.

So now they got to figure out how to get Doc out of there. And and Yana's got to figure it. They can keep Doc. Yana's got to go. I think that I think that was sensational. What Yana said, because I said that. You can't compare, because the rules change and not just change, you see players that make you want to do better.

When, like I said, Kyrie, he said he could watch Air 1, he had to sneak and watch Air 1, and watch Alan Iverson. You don't get Kyrie without him seeing something to make him want to do something different than nobody else did. And that's, to me, that's what Yarny said. He said, if I played in the 70s,

we all be playing the same. We're in 2020, we seen more stuff, the game involved. I think that was sensational. Because all these players now, not even the players now, the older players, you sit there, oh, Shaq, I'm just using Shaq because he's a champion. Or we would have bust the Bulls ass,

the 94, 93, 92 Bulls, whatever. Or you got the Golden State Warriors dynasty saying that they were better than the Bulls. And then you may have the Golden, pardon me, the San Antonio dynasty saying that they could have been meet the eighties Lakers dynasty. I think this was sensational. We only said that way.

He'll be like, look, I have nothing to do with, I'm not, because to me, sometimes it's disrespectful saying that, yo, we got to did this, I could have did that. And you don't know, because it's two different hours. But I love what he said, because like me said, it takes him away from saying I'm better than somebody like Bill Russell or Will Chamberlain

or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, or just naming big man. Look, respect to them, we see what they did. I can only do what I'm doing in this era, and I'm trying to win. I think that was a great answer. And that's why I fuck with Yannis also, but Yannis is a different type of breed. You ever notice Giannis in the summertime

don't meet up with them niggas? You ever see how like all the basketball players be at this little gym in New York playing against each other and they call Giannis to come and be like, nah, I'm good. You don't ever see Giannis with other basketball players. You don't see him with LeBron. You don't see him working out with Carmelo.

You don't see him with Kevin Durant. You don't see him working out with Carmelo. You don't see him with Kevin Durant. You don't see him with none of these niggas who be hooking up trying to get better, and not saying bad way, but I think he feels if I get cool with y'all, I'm gonna be too cool with y'all and I'm trying to be better than y'all. So I think that's what I said already. I think what you said was really phenomenal about the,

in different eras, there was different rules. So when people make those equations, they don't make sense because in a hand checking for you, you know, God and a person with your forearm on their body pause that that makes it a total different game. People being able to file you that hard coming down the lanes, that's a different league. They might as well say we will beat them in our time where you can't really touch people, where you can't really do these things.

And that's where it becomes complicated. So I definitely want to reiterate that when you talk about the times and the rules that goes with those rules, because that's what makes that's what make the league what it is. Like if you had some people's favorite move would have been travel in a decade before. So you can't even say that because you couldn't even do some of these moves. Like we had, I think, I think it took a while before somebody did a back step. Now to bounce the ball and step over and shoot, that would have been travel in every tournament,

every year on every coast, no matter where you were. So somebody went in their in their film room and said, look, he's only actually taking these many steps. You couldn't even, even do that move at all. And that's just one of the moves they used to call, um, what they call that the Euro step you get caught on travel some places on that. So, you know, a lot of the moves you couldn't do. And even real quick to your point, Yannis really do be doing his own thing. He'd be out the way. He'd be getting his wife pregnant.

Like he's very content. So good for him because everything seems all good over there. He's greased though, right? Huh? He's greased. Yeah, great. So what does that mean? He said he's greased. Oh, is he? I mean, I mean, when you come from very humble beginnings, you understand that you would put in this position for something different and that's how you're carrying it. Yannis is really African you know

for those that didn't know make sure you tune in and talk with Flea at 9 a.m every Tuesday and Thursday and I interviewed his brother they have a movie on Disney I can't think of the name of the movie out this current time but it it's sensational how they basically fled Africa because their country was going through so I had to sneak into Greece and then became residents of Greece. But his first rise, rise, rise. So for those who haven't seen it, it's a story about Janis and TA, his brother, how they ended up making it to America to the NBA. It's a sensational film. It's really, really dope on Disney.

But they had to flee Africa, retreat, actually sneak their way into Greece, end up becoming citizens of Greece, learning basketball, et cetera, then come into America to play basketball professionally. Sensational. So Mesa's right, like, coming from super duper humble learning basketball, et cetera, then coming to America to play basketball professionally, sensational. So Mase is right, like coming from super duper humble beginnings, like a lot of times we grew up in poverty

in America and that slight in our poverty at all. But, you know, we don't understand what other countries go through sometimes, whether it's war or sometimes you lose your country. You know, if you ever watched, Vladivostok, and damn, I can't think his name is a 3430 Vladivostok, Petrovich, right, they stopped, they stayed with friends because their country, they stopped being friends, because their country split up. Like, imagine, let's just say, for instance, be my

man Bezos in the room, I'm from Harlem, he's just say for instance, my man Bezo's in the room. I'm from Harlem, he's from the Bronx. And some fucking civil shit happens and the Bronx splits up from Harlem and the Bronx is not considered New York no more. And I'm saying, fuck y'all niggas, y'all like this. And then we're not friends no more because of some shit the government did.

That's how deep it gets in these other countries. And when these countries come over here, and these players from these different countries come over here, we don't know half the shit they've been through to get here. Yeah. Great point. I also think that's also why sometimes foreign players

come across as more humble than a lot of American players. And that's not supposed to be a diss, but it's just like the approach and answers that they have to a lot of things are real different. And Amarn said it's different. I remember to what Ken was just saying, there was, there was, what, Lomachenko, a boxer by the name of Lomachenko. He found himself, could fight for the title, but he said, no, I'm going to war.

For the Ukraine. Yeah. They like go to war. How are you going to war? For the Ukraine. Yeah, they like go to war. How are you going to war? And these are the things that, you know, European athletes and athletes from out of the country

go through. And just to put some more context with Mesa saying, just so y'all totally understand what he said, basically Russia is fighting with the Ukraine the last half of the long, but when the war with Russia and the Ukraine started, it's a Ukraine fighter that's really top 10 fighter, Lomacheco, that he said, forget fighting, that he went back

to the Ukraine to fight the war where he could have stayed in America and said, I hope everything works out. But that's how much honor he had for his country. So I just wanted to put some context to what this was saying. So you fully understood it. Make sure y'all check out that episode of Talk with Fleet with the NASIS is a good one so y'all can learn something new. But that is all the time that we have for today. Thank you all for watching.

And as always, it is what it is. Thanks for watching!