IT IS WHAT IT IS - THUNDER BOUNCE BACK IN GAME 2, JALEN BRUNSON NEEDS A KNICKNAME & MA$E ON MUSIC MAKING

Episode Date: May 21, 2026

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Okay, we're back at it. It is what it is. I'm Treasure Wilson, aka Stap Baby, along with your host, Mace. Cam will be back, and y'all today we are joined with our analyst, Trista. What's up, y'all? I see you. I see you. I see you.

What is this that we see? Is this New York? It's New York. It's rain on. Yeah, we're coming home. When are you guys coming home? Oh, my goodness. When are you guys coming home?

That's the real question. Yeah, I was actually a third wheel at Nick's show, right? I was just listening in, you know, taking some pointers, pause. And they were in there talking on Nick's show about how it's crazy if you're from New York and you're not a Nick fan. So shout out the Nick and his staff and that show. it was a really good show. And I think that's a lot.

That's a lot to unpack pause. But when I see Trisha with the New York jersey on, I just think it's time to go home. So I'm welcoming everybody back to New York City, man. Welcome back to New York City. Let's get on the one and hit up to Hong Kong. See, I don't. Man.

That's why I clarify Knicks fans and then just New York fans because I can't speak for them. I know they probably... You know, I'm not a New York fan stat. I'm just trolling. It's early in the morning. You know, the coffee didn't make it. So I figure I just throw a little, you know, espresso out there.

Throw a little espresso. Yeah, we'll see what those fans have to say. I do have a question for Trista from the Detroit fans because I can't even necessarily say they've been looking for you because they might have been hiding from you because you said a lot. But before we get into the game that happened last night, because that was a great game. Trista, I would just like to know,

do you have a message for Detroit fans because you would barking on them throughout the season? And now here we are. Listen. Listen, I'm rooting for y'all. I'm rooting for y'all. I'm rooting for little Caesars. You know what I mean?

I'm rooting for J.B. I'm rooting for Trajan Langdon. I'm rooting for Cade. I'm rooting for Tobias Harris. I'm pretty much not rooting for anybody else because I tried to tell everybody. And I don't like this whole backtracking like, oh, Tristan, nobody said Detroit was a contender. You're just changing the goalpost.

No, no, no, no. You're gaslighting because we talked about them being a 60 win one seed all year. And people were like, can this be the year that Detroit goes to the finals? They've got the easiest path to get to the Eastern Conference finals. They should be able to do it. Mike Brown hasn't figured things out. Carl Anthony Towns does know his role. And I said, absolutely fucking not

because they don't have a role player to speak of. So now don't go backwards and say, well, that's not what we were trying to say. No, that is what people were trying to say. Okay? And that is now come to fruition, which is you need a bucket getter alongside Cade. You can't just roll with just Tobias Harris

and hope that Duncan Robinson and Marcus Sasser's ass and Osher, who can't hit the broadside of a barn, is going to be able to save you. That is all. That is all That is all You know That's how people

Are doing takes These days That it is what it is It's going as long as you want Pause They were People People

Me about that yesterday It's the six minute Take So I was letting Trista go To see if she Could break the racket You know She almost

I think that was I think that was 90 seconds She was gonna keep going But I think When it comes To this whole Detroit thing that Trish did say this early in the year. I thought she was trolling.

I was one of the guys that said that Detroit could, you know, end up right there. But I thought it would be the Knicks. But I thought they would at least make it to the Eastern Conference finals. So, you know, people said, Mace don't, Mace not watching the game. I shouldn't have to watch what I already know. It's certain things you shouldn't have to watch. See, I got better things to do with my time than a, watch something I already know.

I'm quite sure Trish wasn't watching the game, not that game because we knew the inevitable. So I would like to add my expertise to what you're saying, Trish. Okay. If it comes down to it and a certain team

doesn't end up there, I'm going to have the same take you just had. Maybe I'll wear a jersey too. You know, who knows? Certain team throwing subs. Well, I will say Detroit did put up a fight. It went to seven games.

So if that counts for anything, hopefully it counts for something. But I know. It doesn't, you know it doesn't count. You know it doesn't count. Yeah, that's what I'm like, I'm trying.

I'm trying. But yeah, it's, it. Listen, you were, you can't do it. You're up three one. Up three one on a playing team. Yeah.

You barely made it out of the goddamn first round. Okay. I love you all, Detroit. There's nobody I dislike in Detroit. I like Eminem. I like Big Sean. I don't fuck with you. And that's that.

You don't like Chris, you don't like, what's his name, Kid Rock? You're leaving out a lot of people. You leave him a lot of people. I can't. I have to truncate all my takes,

according to you. I got to make sure I keep it short so we can get this show. No, no, no. I was trying to get you to, I was trying to get you to break the record. I was edging you on. I was saying,

go, break the record. Listen, I knew as soon as Eminem, came in there with this five o'clock shadow it was a rap for Detroit yeah now Trish I like you Trish don't go playing with Eminem as a white girl that history says that I know he did Mariah tough yeah yeah shout out them and them that's one of my favorite riah's mixed but still yeah shout out shout out Eminem but now let's get to the series that we're all so tuned in the good one. I mean, there's another good one, too. Let me not just the

east like that. Can't do that. Okay. So, okay, C, one, game two, being the Spurs, 122 to 113. So Mace, what were your overall thoughts on the game? And then what were the main adjustments you saw in this game versus game one? When it came to this game, number one, how they play Wembe. They was not letting Wembe go crazy like he did. The first, game. They had a plan. And this, this lets me know that there is a good coach in the city of Oklahoma City. He, he sat there and said, you know what, even though they won this first game, I almost feels like, not that he let them win the game, but it's like you, you have to sacrifice something for the greater end. Like, it's almost like boxing and you're setting somebody for a trap.

It's looking like they're winning, but you're letting them get away with stuff that's going to come back and be a problem. It seemed like Hardstein or whatever his name is, when they made that adjustment, and it doesn't seem like Wimby has figured it out yet, they're not going to let him be that player that he was that first game no more. I think it was highly disrespectful to them. They sat down and talked about it, and they say, you know what, he's not going to beat us like this. and they made an adjustment. I would say the adjustment that you make in a championship team

is that if anybody's going to beat us, we start pointing out the people we want to beat us because we know they can't beat us by themselves. And I think that defensive strategy is what they did different. And it was a different shade to me. Even though the numbers may be different, it was a total different shade. Like the way he was attacking the glass,

the way he was like fearless against Wembe. I think even though they're at different positions, this is a game of Wembe versus Shay. And the person who takes in upon themselves, the winning series is the one that's going to win it. Even though they're at different positions, is when the marquee goes up and it says, O KC versus San Antonio, on one side,

you're going to see Wembe, and on one side you're going to see Shay. and that's another adjustment that was made. She made sure they won. That's what I would say. She made sure they won. Quite sure there's other people that do their thing. But when it comes down to it,

championships are won by superstars. For all you guys in the chat, writing down these little moments. It's not about the little moments. It's about the big moments. And when teams win and championships, the stars must show up. This is why James Hardin hasn't gotten a championship yet, because in order to win in the championship level, the stars have to show up. But what do I know?

I just spent my whole life in Tidal Town. Traveling Circus, Tidal Town. It goes from city to city. I'm going from city to city too, hey. I like to travel. I like to pack my bags. You know what I'm saying? It was 97, 99 when there was a jump ball in the fourth quarter. And I thought that was the moment everything changed. She got the ball. Alex Crusoe misses the shot. It looked like the spurs were going to get that rebound. Somehow, OKC ends up getting the offensive rebound.

It's a loose ball call, foul on the. the Spurs, Kays and Wallace hits a deep three, and that starts the 11-0 run. To me, even when San Antonio tried to get back into it, and they tried to make a little run, it felt like that was the heavyweight punch where it was a ton of offensive rebounds, and every time, OK, C, had an offensive rebound, it turned into one of those big shots. And then San Antonio was pressing. They couldn't score. they were turning the ball over like crazy. And to me, what I saw was a team that really was lucky to win game one. I mean, obviously, and Wimby was tremendous in game one.

But no Deerrin Fox. And without Deer and Fox, Steph Castle is just not right or capable right now of facilitating without turning the ball over a bazillion times. You're talking about 11 turnovers, game one, nine turnovers today or yesterday. You've got five turnovers in the first half. So I think they've desperately missed here in Fox. And then you look over at the steals that OKC had. They had 14 steals compared to San Antonio's five and 27 points off of turnovers.

To me, those are the elements that made the game. Yes, Shea Gildes Alexander was back to being his 30 point self. And that was tremendous. Yes, they figured out a way to somewhat neutralize Wembe. and Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet, they figured out a way to sort of ham and egg it where you're not going to go over the top and just let Wemby dunk on you the whole time. J-Dub going down is something to watch. And also Dylan Harper left the game, did not come back.

Those two things are pieces to watch, not really dictating the outcome of the game, but something to watch moving forward. But I really do think that it was that moment that changed the course of the game because before that, they were just hitting three after three, exchanging shots, really doing the things that you said, Mace, that you see in this heavyweight battle where they're just trading blows. And that felt like it kind of killed San Antonio's spirit a little bit. And I must say this also, unless you want to go, stat, are you going?

I am, but you can say what you're going to say first. Go ahead. All right, yeah, they're saying I'm officially line-stepping. You ain't line-step me. You haven't done that to me yet. Okay, all right. It's me. So I'm just excited.

I get excited about what I want. No, I like that. You know? So when it comes to this game, I think that OKC is more dangerous without Williams on the floor. As crazy as that seems, I think they're more dangerous

with the guy Mitchell. Like, for real, if he gets going, this is a much more dangerous team because when Mitchell gets the going, then you got another slasher on the floor, which now makes Caruso a third slasher on the floor when he gets in the game, and it becomes impossible to stop OKC.

This is what we see when we see Castle, and we see Fox, and then we see Harper on the floor at the same time. We very seldom see all of them playing extremely well at the same time. normally two of them are rock and one of them have an off game because then you got to get the ball to wimby. But on this OKC team, what we've seen 10 games prior to this championship team and this championship series on the West Coast is that Mitchell was cooking. He was cooking and he came out of nowhere. I don't know where he came from.

I got to do my homework. But he was looking crazy out there. And then when you would bring Shay back in, it gets really crazy. And I think because it's like that first year of NBA, or I'm not sure his history, but when you don't have the scouting report for a person, that's why I said first year of NBA, you don't really know how to stop this person. And it'll take, you know, over the summer where they figured out, not that he's that dangerous, but I remember this was the same case with like Tyreek Evans.

That first year on Sacramento, he was just gone crazy. They didn't have a scouting report. for them. Next year, they got a better way to stop them, but those first rookie years are crazy. Yeah, I agree. I agree, Mace, just to your point before Stad goes. Like, I honestly think that not just because of the injury issues with Jalen Williams, but just in terms of his lack of shiftingness, like A.J. Mitchell has just a little bit more dynamicism to the way that he moves. Like, you saw even in game one, there were two threes that Jalen Williams took that were, I guess, good looks, like somewhat good looks, but those were the

two plays that ended up shifting the momentum for the spurs. I agree. I think that this team right now should have at least calculated that him coming back might mess up the chemistry. Yeah. And then just to add a little bit for Mitchell, because I know we don't always have the scout report, but I do have a little bit of background. So he was born in Belgium, went to UC Santa Barbara. And then, of course, he was drafted by OKC in 2024. So like you're saying, We always talk about those players that you're not really expecting, but those players that when we see them make their presence on the court are able to add to the team offensively.

So he's done that beautifully. And I don't want to take away from J-Dub because I know that Spark isn't hitting exactly how we want it to. But he is a good difference maker for the team when he is playing well. But we're seeing that in these games, sometimes people have their high moments and sometimes people have their low moments, which is kind of why, like, SGA, game one, we were like, when's it coming out? because in one, Wembe completely took over. And then this game, it's fun because that's like a tug of war.

It's going back and forth because now SGA was like, man, I can't do that. Like, y'all ain't going to do me like that. Like, I feel like in this series as a whole, and the East is going to be a challenge too, of course, for them as well. But like, there's no such thing as cruise control. Like, these boys, I know they're tired because they're just going bat for bat for bat for bat. And if one player gets tired, another player is going to have to pick it up because even on OKC, we've seen how Caruso's been balling because it's like he's had this

automatic spark. But even Jared McCain, my nail twin, like he, when he got on the court, he was doing a lot of things offensively for the team as well that I think looked great for OKC as a whole. So to me, it's kind of hard to see where the series is exactly going because it's like, you think you're seeing one thing and then you see something completely shift. And then on the Spurs side, it just kind of felt like, Wembe was kind of getting beat up by Hartenstein. Like, that's not the matchup that I had expected, but it worked.

Like, you could tell he was, Wembe was visibly frustrated throughout this game because they're just going at it in the paint. And that's kind of what they needed. Hartnstein is a lot bigger than Wembe. And I know Wembe did put on some weight as he needed to being, you know, the size that he is. Like, we know height-wise, but strength-wise, This, Hartstein's a little, got a little bit more grit to him. But I think that that's one of the biggest adjustments that, okay, see.

He said Hartystein got a little bit more girth. I didn't say all that, pause. But he definitely, you know, he got some thing. I didn't say that, Mace. You can cross-check that. I did not use that sentence because I do not be that clipped up and dropped wherever it needed to be dropped. Because you know how our audience be.

But we're here. That was super great. We're definitely here. But definitely a shout-out to OKC because I just, I'm loving this series. Like, I think everybody stops what they're doing to watch this game. But looking at how game two went, got to ask you all about your predictions for game three, Mace. Who do you think wins the next one?

In which series? In which series are we talking about? Game three, Spurs, O.K.C. Who do you think wins? Spurs, O KC. I'm going to say the Spurs. I think it's going to be a back and forth game. I think it's the fifth game that we'll see somebody, like, really try to take over the series.

I think in the beginning, that's what it's going to be. It's going to be 1-1-2, 2, 2, and then it'll go seven games, but the one who wins five is normally the one, who wins the championship. So three, I'm going to go San Antonio. Okay, Trista. Yeah, I think for me it very much depends on, are we going to go see Deer and Fox? Is he coming back?

He didn't participate, I believe, in shoot-around before game two. So that led me to believe that he's still a little bit away. If he can play and Harper can play, I've got the spurs. But if they both don't play, I think OKC runs away with game three and then maybe they're just saying, hey, we already split in OKC. Let's just make sure we get Deerrin and Dylan completely right for game four. Go back to OKC22. But they need those playmakers to be healthy because it cannot just be Castle and Kelvin Johnson out there.

No disrespect. But it's really, really hard to be OKC when you give them free possessions. Yeah. And Castle has been working. King, that's how I'm like, I know, like, I just can't imagine. Like, game two, game three is already going to be a different B. So hopefully they figure it out to be able to give everybody some help because it's definitely going to be a lot.

So, Mace, I know that you said you've seen this series going back and forth, but why can't go back and forth for the East? Because when I said it could go seven games, you're like, absolutely not. Like, does your opinion change for this? And who do you predict wins this next game for Cavs and Nix? And then Tristan is same for you. Now, I'm going to say this because just to let people know I do, I do pay attention to the details, and these are the details that come to me.

Sometimes I don't pay attention to the details that don't matter to me. Like, I'm watching two players on the floor that think they can play point guard, but they are not point guards. They're combo guards, right? So this is the danger of having combo guards. when you have them out there, even when you're talking about you need, um, Dian, how you said, Fox? Yeah, how you said, Darren. Deerrin Fox, right?

When you have him at the one, he's, he's more of a point, but he's still a combo guard. Those kind of guards can struggle, especially in, in series like this, because you need people that can think and not that he can't think, but you need somebody that's more of a pure playmaking point guard for the type of talent that's on the floor. So you're watching Castle play well, but Castle is struggling. And I wanted to start there so I could just, you know, bring this all the way to the East Coast. This is the same thing that's happening with the Cavs. The Cavs is, they got two combo guards. They still don't have a point guard on the floor. And when you don't have a point guard on the floor and you got people that just taking turns getting shots.

It can be, the series can get away from you really quickly. Like, Shea is a point guard. He's just a point guard that's well-polished pause and can do some of everything. But when you get on the East Coast, these guys are not point guards, right? Whether is Donovan Mitchell, whether it's James Harden, extremely great and gifted, scoring, playmaking guards. but not point guards. And when you're playing against somebody like Jalen Brunson,

who is a point guard that is gifted, even in combo God in his package, balls, he can play point and he can be combo guard. So that's why he's able to shift in times and he's able to shift in pace. And when you don't have that, the series gets away from you. So I don't think the Cavs will stick around more than six games.

I just don't see it because that's why it looked like Brunson is playing a whole different game than them because they don't understand the paces and the speed. And even though I've never played in the NBA, I know the position of point guard. Yeah, I mean, I agree with Mace 100%. You look at game one. And it's like that was the one, you know. the Knicks were rusty. They didn't look like they were themselves.

I mean, there's this fine balance between being in a groove and being fatigued and being well-rested and not being in rhythm. And what you saw with the Knicks and even to a degree with OKC is that they had a layoff

because they blew the teams out in the last round. And the other teams were sort of in a groove because they played these long series. Now, that was Cleveland shot. Like you're up 22, eight minutes left to go. I don't know how emotionally you can get over allowing that meltdown to occur. And the way that it happened, Kenny Atkinson not calling a single timeout, them putting James Harden in pick and roll over and over and over again, 24 times they put him in isolation situations

where he was the guy that they were attacking. I think that's like one of the most I've ever heard of. He was, we were talking about it on the group chat. Like 18 points approximately James Hardin gave up just defensively with whoever was scoring for the Knicks. I just don't see not only them being able to emotionally recover, but as May said, like, I'm just not sure about Donovan Mitchell's ability to make the right play when the lights get super bright and the leverage moments get super high. We saw it in game seven, but we also saw one hell of a performance from Sam Merrill. We saw Max Drew's pitch in.

We saw Evan Moby do his thing and Jared Allen. Everything needs to go perfect in order for the cast. And it feels like when things go wrong, Donovan Mitchell goes away from the things that makes him successful, which is a problem. But in terms of James Hardin, I don't know how you can put him on the floor in those late game situations if he's going to get picked on like that so blatantly where Mike Brown is saying, Well, we knew we had to just go at him over and over and over again. Yeah, he was coming on picks just looking for James Harden, right? So I'm like, my goodness, y'all got to put him at the three. You got to put James Hardin at the three right now.

And he's having so much success against James Harden. It's like one of those plays. If I go off the pick and they switch, I'm coming back over the pick. so I get the God Paul's that I want guard me, which is James Harden. And a few times you see Jalen Brunson doing this, and it's like, that's what I mean by the basketball point guard IQ. That's those things that point guards think about. Like, I don't have to get the shot.

You're giving me. I can get the shot I want to get whenever I want to get that shot. That's the difference between a combo guard sometime and a point guard, knowing and having the patience to be able to get the shot you want. This is why you've seen Phoenix struggle, even sometime when they have Devin Booker at the point or Russell Westbrook at the point, right? He's a point. He's learned the play point, but he's not a point.

He's a combo guard, probably played combo guard all the way through AEU and just fit the role for a little bit, but never was able to get a championship because exactly what we're talking about. Sometimes people be like, Mace be all over the place. Maybe I'm just too intelligent. And I'm just going to just hang my hat on that. To your point, Mace,

to your point Mace about Jalen, when they decided sort of late in the game that they were going to blitz him or double team him, Jalen's not like going to force it when he's getting collapsed on. Pause. Like give the ball to the, the open man and now you got OG and OBB straight line drives to the basket.

Like that was just some absolutely dog shit coaching that we watched to be able to lose that game and do all of those things wrong. And obviously bad execution from the rest of the players as well. Like I cannot believe if I was a player on that team, I would have called the timeout my goddamn self. Yeah. And even more, right? Because I love Devin Booker as a player.

I'm harping on this situation so to make sure a stat understands it because sometimes they try to act like I'm not making sense. Even when you think of Kaye... I didn't say anything. Even when you think of Kay Cunningham, right? He's not a point guard. Agreed.

They got him in this position of playing point guard, and this is how this series got away from. from them as well. Even though he's getting 29, even though he's getting 28, it's not the flow that causes a team to get a championship. But what do I know? And same point, Mace, with Orlando.

Orlando doesn't have a true point guard as well. They try to use Palo in that spot. They try to use Jalen Suggs in that spot. And then shooters that go to Orlando because you don't have a pure point guard getting you the ball in the spots that you want them, how you like to receive the ball. Paul pause. Now a 40% three-point shooter is fucking broke.

What we're talking about, stat. This is where we're going these days. Like, Kyrie is a point guard. Chris Paul, point guard. People that can score, they love to play with these kind of guards because they get you the ball where you're the most dangerous. When you're playing with combo guards is like, this is my shot. Next shot is your shot. and they hardly ever run place. It's like just taking terms with skills. Yeah. Pause.

Yeah. I just want to know, I don't know why you keep saying. I'm not understanding what you're saying because I do understand what you're saying. But if we can make some understanding, this is a question for both of y'all because I see this on Twitter earlier and I was like, that's a good question. Does Jalen Brunson have a nickname? Does he have a nickname? Because like I feel like every, like, you know, like the, the, The flyer said, like, Spider versus Brunson,

and then you'll call Wemby the alien. And SGA is SGA or Shay Butter. Like, does Jalen Brunson have a nickname? And why does he not? You know, because in New York, you know, get people nicknames like when you rocking one of them. Like, you know, I got my nickname. I got Statt.

Trista got hers, which we just got a BT Diddy. It could be something else. But, you know, where's his nickname? Why did New York give him a nickname? That's a great point, Statt. How has that man played in New York? all these years without a nickname in the hometown of getting a nickname. I wasn't off of the plane five months and I already had a nickname from Jacksonville, Florida.

So I don't know how he's done all this work and not get a nickname. They got to come up with one. They got to give him the Brunson burner. No, come on. He doesn't like that. It's too long. It's too long. It is.

The people in the comments right now, go ahead and tell us what should be Jalen Brunson's nickname for the plan that he has done. Now, you remember Jeremy Lynn, he was only playing for two weeks and he got a nickname. So come on now, New York, we got to do better. You got to do better. Yeah, no, I think it's a valid question. I was just curious. So like, may he said in the comments? Let us know.

What was Jeremy Lynn nickname? Linsanity. Linsanity. And that's tough. That's tough. That's tough. I like Linsanity. I like Greek freak.

I like those are lit. Like, I just, hey, Brunson, he deserves. I think he definitely deserves. Okay, but it's good, though. You can't tell me it's not a great. The Greek freak? What? Greek freak.

I have a question for you guys for about the Knicks. So I saw this trending online too, Statt, you made me think of it. So say it Spurs Nix, right? And you get to see Wembe game three in the garden. First game of Wembe in the finals in the garden. What's the most you would pay to get into Madison Square Garden? Hmm. That wouldn't pay at all.

I mean, I usually don't have to. But like if you get away with it If I was in the situation where I had to pay, I would pay to go see Wembe in the garden. Hell yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You pay five?

Would you pay five? Like that's the problem. Realistically, I don't know what people are paying, but I know that it's a lot. Would I play 5K to go see Wemby play in the garden? Good seats. No, no, especially. Even if you're a Knicks fan, why not?

Because of this, like, I'm trying to imagine I'm sin, right? And I'm like, yes, the Knicks, this is our year. And we got Winby in the Garden. You know how Sin be. He don't talk like that, but he talks in his sin way. Would I pay five bands? Probably. If you're a real fan, why would you not?

Is Winby and the Knicks? And then if I'm a Knicks fan, I'm like, we're crushing Winby. So, yeah, I'm paying five. Or even a Spurs fan. Like, say your Cam, like, you got to be in there. This is my picture. You and Campbell should be there anyways, my opinion. He got to go because this is his team.

He definitely got to go. In New York, that would be really interesting to see him in New York rooting for San Antonio. I think that would make them. That might be worse than me, them acts of me to show up with dips, show up with the locks versus dips at the versus, right? You can't do that. That's crazy. But the crazier thing is, though, he still would do that.

Like, you know, New York's going to want to pose. Max's going to go to square garden is going to want to pose. Be like, dang, but he's wearing spurs gear. Like, what do you do? No, I don't think he'll do that. I don't think he'll do that. He's crazy, but he ain't that crazy. He might be.

Who knows? He might be crazier than that. Killer, if you're watching this, I know. I don't think he should do it. But, you know, I'm sure. Would he go, like, split jersey, like the moms, like when, like, like Ron Harper with Dylan and Ron Harper, Jr., if they would have met in the finals? Would he go, like, half Knicks, half spurs?

Yeah, but if he were, Knicks, it would have to be number 70, whatever year they want it. You got to go probate. That would be really good. That's a great question, interesting. I don't know. We'll ask, I always got to ask certified Knicks fans what they would do. And they'll probably say, yeah. So that's pretty like.

Okay. So the NBA announced that this is actually the most watch playoffs in 29 years, averaging 4.5 million viewers per game across all networks, which to me is not a shock because I don't know anybody not watching these games right now. But Mace, what do you think has been the biggest reason for these ratings? Like, do you think it's better young stars? do you think it's better storylines? Do you think it might solely be the locations of these teams?

In your opinion, what do you think is the biggest reason? In the notes that you sent me, right? You said the rating was at what number? What exact number? Averaging 4.5 million viewers per game across all networks. All right. I thought it was higher before. For some reason, it seemed like it was higher.

Like right now we might be at According to chat GBT it says that They were at 9 million Then it says that it was at 10 before that 11 before that 11 before that And 12 So I'm not sure if chat

GBT need they need to be reset Because a lot of their information is I will say because I have a problem with chat GPT I ain't going to lie Because you I do Because one you have to type in things

exactly the way that you're trying to write it because if you don't, it can sometimes misconstrue exactly the question that you're asking. And two, it pulls from a lot of multiple different sources. Sometimes it's not one main source. So your best research is always going to come from the NBA website or NBA stats or things like that. Chat GPT is good. Sometimes not all the times you got double check it. I have way with you. Thank you for sharing that with me, stat, because people ask me, do I study? I'm like, I study, but you know there's different ways you can get information these days. Yeah.

And it's sad when you're expert and you get the wrong information because my, my heart is to always have the truth. And any time my mouth opens, pause, is it tell the truth about what I'm speaking about? So people can trust that what I'm saying is has been verified and it has been, you know, came from a reliable source.

So when I think of these, this NBA playoffs, I think the playoffs is phenomenal now because you're not seeing stacked up teams where people just jumped ship and ran with other teams. And I think people that love the game is now enjoying the game again because you're watching people compete. If I load the team, I don't have to compete as much. Right now we're seeing people compete. We're seeing people exert their will to win, you know, like, you. you see players that still get mad when other people are getting awards before them.

All of that is a part of what it takes to compete on this higher level. And I think people appreciate that. And not to mention that these are a lot of teams that used to be really good, right? So we're used to back in the days seeing a Detroit Piston play. So this is why when they start winning all of the great. came out you saw you saw who what's his name a horn you see Dumas Isaiah Thomas Mike Paul's piquist had in the in the building and then you saw the same thing when they came to these other teams so now you got people showing up

I remember when the Knicks was about the win it was a lot of people coming to those games that we haven't seen in a while we even now I'm seeing the Knicks bridge marketing wise the older Knicks with the newer Knicks. Like there's commercials out there with John Starks with Josh Hart, you know. And that's a beautiful thing to see when you see legacies come together like that. And I think all of that together is causing a great infusion that's making people celebrate. I think there's time for everybody to be like that in all genres of creativity.

Because when you see John Starks there, you see Yuin there, or you see Starr. Um, even what's his name, Spike Lee, and then you see Josh Hart and you see Jalen Brunson and all of them on a mountain hiking or wherever they was. It brings all of the fans together. It's kind of like what, what I learned to doing music, right? I take a beat from this time, take a chorus from this age, and then put a new style of rap on it, and then you put it all together. And that's how you still own many millions of records because you got fans coming in from different places and different reasons.

Make the check payable to Mason Betha. I just gave you a hit. Wow, that was like game. I didn't know we were going to get music stuff. I always get so excited when you give us music nuggets. Thank you for that. Wow. I have a question for you about music

because I asked Cam, and Cam left me on red, but I bet you know the answer to this. You know, he's doing a million things. But Cam's flow... Cam did really good on first take. He did really good. He's killing first take.

He did really good, really good. He did. He's got Stephen A on his toes, which I like a lot. Cam's flow was different on horse and carriage. What, like how did that evolve? his flow from what it was then, from horse and carriage to what we hear now, from that to Purple Hays to all of that. Because if you listen to that song,

it almost doesn't even sound like him in terms of the cadence that he would rap in. And now obviously it was a song with you, so you knew his flow obviously on a close basis back then. I wasn't there for a lot of the music. per se after I don't know exactly the time but I wasn't there for the writing of

horse and carriage. I did I'm not sure if even the chorus was probably Cam's idea and he was and he wanted me to sing it. I'm not sure I don't remember exactly what happened. I know we had fun, you know,

recording the record, but I think his vocals was already on it. I think more of the S-D-E vibe or more of the early mixtape cam is more of what I was there for. No, I wasn't there for any of the diplomatic things, but that was dope too, but it was a different, that was a different cam. Definitely. And the evolution of cadence and flow is like super interesting to me and how it felt like it like was a pretty dramatic shift from then to everything else. Like when he was rapping, rapping, when he was rapping, that was, I think I was a part of that.

When it became more like swag and cadence, I wasn't a part of that. Got it. Yeah. I'll answer your question though, Treasure. I think a lot of it, has to do with the transition to kind of what Mace is saying, but on the flip side, too. I grew up, I grew up with NBC, NBC, you know, Sunday NBC basketball, NBA on NBC,

that sound, the round ball, ball rock sound, like all of those iconic moments resonate with me on a nostalgic level. and so when they brought that back, I feel like the energy around the excitement increased, but also you can tell that the people that they hired have a deep love and enthusiasm for the game and telling stories around the game

and not just disparaging the game for comedic sake or for to put on a good show. And you see that to a degree, right? Yeah, you see that to a degree with TNT. You see it to a degree even with ESPN. But when they brought in NBC and they brought in Amazon, both of those networks had a commitment to making fans smarter and to elevating the excitement of the game.

And I think it forced ESPN's coverage to shift and change as well. And then just NBC is easier to find. So I think moving to NBC and as hard as it is to find on Amazon when you're at a hotel, you're traveling, I think just the way that the network shifted things made those ratings go up. And then also you had, you know, multiple game sixes, game sevens as well. Yeah. And some people may have thought the ratings was going to go down because the playoffs almost

seemed like exclusive. Like you had to have the app. I'm right. If I'm going to watch the game, part of why some of the earlier games I didn't see is is because it was on the app, right? So I'm thinking, this is like, oh, times I'm going to be able to take my flight, and then while in the middle of my flight, I could watch the game. But it was not happening, and I thought that was crazy that I had to come back and watch

it on DVR and play the game back. But that was pretty interesting to really shift the whole culture and put the finals on an app called what Paul's Peacock. I think that was one way you have to watch it. And then you have to go through Amazon Prime. And I have Amazon Prime. But at that time, I couldn't use it on the airplane. So that was, that was really gutsy to make that move on such a major part.

But that's, they say that when you can make the money. That's when you make the money. So that's why you don't never, you never get upset. People have to make, um, shift. than do things because that's when you can make the money. You can make the money. It's a new thing out there when it comes to the NBA. Everybody wants 20 years of the NBA.

Now, I miss it going, then, then, then, then, then, then, then, then, then, then, then, you know, but we're not in that town no more, you know? I'm a classic. I like classic. I like the stuff that everybody, you know, grew up with. I don't want, I don't ever want them to change the flag, you know. certain things I don't think supposed to change. Yeah, it's, it is a lot of platforms.

Like you said, Peacock, YouTube TV, then there was League Pass, then there's Amazon Prime, but it's DBR. DBR, where are you seeing those? I'm a classic stat. I don't even know if I use one of those. You don't know what that is? I don't recall using those. I know what it is, but like when would I?

You could save, you could save the shows. like I got a hundred games. I'm one of those people. Like I go back and I watch, I even watch like championship games from years before. Like so I really be knowing what I'm talking about. You look at, you hit the button and go, wow. That's crazy.

Why do you watch those? I like to know what I'm talking about. That's how I was raised. Know what you're talking about. Got it. Clear. One more question. Just because since we're going,

down memory lane. What was your first, like, gaming console? What did you play? Like, what was your first one that you remember having? Um, it was called Atari. You know what Atari is that? I've heard of it. It was a cartridge.

You used to have to go. Yeah. And then you, that was a lot. On a TV with the hands. That was a lot. That was a lot. It came a long way.

Red card. Can't picture that, but red card, red card. No, flag on the plane. The game was about this big. You had to keep pushing. Add some girth to it. Yeah.

Different times. Classic, if you will. Because, yeah, I didn't. Stad, have you ever heard a duck hunt? No. I have no idea what that was. It was literally just a duck and they gave you a gun and then you just shot the duck.

Yeah. I have no, like my first game was probably the Nintendo DS. I don't know what duck duck hunt is. I never used an Atari and never used a DBR, but I love that for y'all. Mace, that's what I say, right? I love that for y'all. I need to find where they're at. If somebody say Atari, they're telling you their age.

So if you say Atari, you're like, wow. Super. That's like before VCH, I mean, yeah, VCR, all that. Super throwback. But like you said, you all like the classics. I love that. I'm Nintendo, the first Nintendo. I'm a little bit later.

I'm after Atari, but there was no PlayStation. It was still blowing on the little cartridges. A lot of work. That's a lot of work. Yeah, G.I. Joe. Just to get that to go. Okay, speaking of somebody who had to go, the Mavs announced that they had decided to mutually part ways

with head coach Jason Kidd, who went 205 to 205 across five seasons, leading the Mavs to a Western Conference Finals appearance in 2022, then an NBA finals appearance in 2024. Mace, do you think this was the right call for their organization? We know the Mavs been through, especially in recent years. But what are your thoughts?

The Mabbs is not playing with niggins, for real. They don't know who's behind the scene with the Mavs that's doing this, but the last couple of years, the Mavs is saying, listen, ain't nobody safe around here. Do your job or lose your job. Yeah. And I like that kind of environment. I really do like that kind of environment.

You do your job because it's, is not for me to do your job. You do your job or you lose your job. And it seemed like when they did this with Luca, you would have to know that Jason Kidd could be fired if Luca could be traded, right? That's another take about this. Sometimes people say, well, they're just bugging out in Dallas.

But I remember, you know, a long time ago, we were talking about the Dallas Mavericks and that the new owner was doing everything in their power to move them to Vegas. And this seemed like another one of those things. Like, they're going to change as many things as possible. They traded AD. They got rid of Luca.

You know, they still got Kyrie there. Who knows what their plans are? Tomorrow, they could just say, you know what? We're going to trade Kyrie too. I wouldn't be surprised this is what they're doing. They're bugging out in Dallas. Who's ever there, let's pray for Dallas. man, because for real, Dallas is

tripping. You can't get rid of Jason Kidd. Not with the debacle of everything that's been there. You got an old Clay Thompson that's going through what he's going through. And that's, you know, that's basketball royalty.

But then you get rid of AD because he was hurt. Then Karee is hurt. And then you trade Luca. What was the man supposed to do? What did you expect him to do? Like, realistically. what was he supposed to do without a chariah a d or lucca what was he supposed to do if you're the coach of that team stat or you're the coach of that team tritia and i take away luka

the chyrie is hurt and i trade ad and we got a six eight wingman that plays small forward and y'all are begging me to put him at point guard you're gonna get fired you're gonna get fire. There's no way around it. There goes against that. See how it just came full circle. Yeah. Got a big man playing point guard. That ain't really a point guard. Somebody going to get fired because the game gets away from you. There's a reason why it's called point guard and not shooting guard. That's that. Trista. Yeah, I mean, this is so complex because, you know, you fire Niko. and I think that was very obviously a response to how, listen, we can't have you trading our guy, Luca.

Everything related to the Luca trade has got to get erased. So they get rid of Nico. They get rid of AD because he's essentially the other side of the Luca trade. So we can't have you around. Your trade value is next to nothing, but we don't care. You're going to be out of here. And you're injured all the time. And now it comes out today because,

Jason Kidd was playing around and told us that he didn't know nothing about the Luca trade. Shom Sharanya reports today on the Pat McAfee show that Jason Kidd was lobbying to get Luca traded. So he was the one playing Littlefinger behind trying to pull the strings saying that he couldn't win a championship with Luca. So Masai Ujiri from the Toronto Raptors gets there. My guy Mike Schmitz from the Portland Trailblazers gets installed as the GM. And they're like, the last piece of the stench and the disappointing move that we have to move on from is anyone connected with that lucid trade needs to go. Because the fan base will never move on if those snakes are still lying in the grass. So let's cut the grass, get rid of the snakes and start fresh and acknowledge that we've fucked up.

And anybody who's around that fuck up is going to go. And so to me, yes, like Mace is 100% correct that Jason Kidd was not in a position. to coach in any meaningful way with that roster. But that was Jason Kidd's bed that he lays in. I like that. See, I can live with this. I can live with that kind of correction, right? It's just straightforward.

There's no hiding in it. I like that, Trish. Welcome home, Trish. Welcome home. When you get to New York, welcome home, you know? When you get New York. This is what I'm thinking about. I'm thinking about what she's saying when it comes to Jason Kidd.

I did not know that. I was not privy to that information. Yeah, it just came out today. Yeah, just came out. And we was talking about sharing the day. If they're dumb enough to play around with Luca, trying to bust moves behind the franchise back, you got to go.

You can't have people working for McDonald's not putting salt on the fries or trying to remove the Big Mac off the menu. The Big Mac is why we're here. If you don't like Mickey, don't work for Disney, man. I don't get it. Like, how are you in Dallas talking about getting rid of Luca? Like, you're bugging out. If you don't like Mickey, don't go to Disney, bro.

No doubt. We're trying to get rid of Big Mac. That was game. Yeah, this is how people. This is how people think. People are that delusional, that they think they're that gifted, that you can get rid of the reason why you're there. Don't play yourself.

Don't play yourself. Words of wisdom from Mays. Don't play yourself. Don't do it. I always say that's why they got the pen and the paper. They can, hey, the boys. Yeah, don't play yourself. No, for real, it's like, things.

It's like thinking that you're not going to need the person that's the reason you got there. You're going to need them at some point. Like there's something to it that though you grow, right? Though you grow and though you evolve, like this is just life. Like sometimes when I'm speaking, people are so delusional and they're so small-minded that they try to put this on, somebody I know, or they're thinking of another person or personality or athlete, and they'd be like, oh, Mace was talking about this. No, when it's a truth, moron, it's for everybody.

It doesn't change for anybody. You don't point it at one person when this is the truth. It's the truth. There's certain music that I made, right, that I can never, I can never recreate that music. Without Derek Angeletti right there, without Koola Love. Why? Because these are the people I got the energy from. I may be the person that wrote it, but it's the energy of the people that you're around that bring you those records. Sometimes people will be like, yo, I did this by myself. No, you didn't. Because we could put you in the studio with a whole other group of people and you're going to be different. just like stat she's this way with us if she goes somewhere else it may even be better but it won't be because the people you're around give you energy they give you vibes they give you vibes so if you were dumb enough to play around with lucca you're not the vibe for the dallas

some avarics and they had to get you out of there. He had to go. He had to go. First of all, what was he supposed to do? And now he's like, ah, he might have had to go. I don't know. You've got to know what Mazz fan thinks. I know Michael Urban probably thinks strongly about this, too, because

Alex's been going through it across all sports. That's who we should have had on camera to ask, Mike from the Glasshouse. Mike was going on? Mike would have said, oh, yeah, he had to go. Or not. I don't know. Mass fans, let us know in the comments down below because I know y'all probably feel strongly about it,

but y'all have felt strongly about a lot of the things that have happened to y'all's team over. I would say still a short period of time. So let us know what y'all think. But y'all, that is all the time that we have for today. Trista, it's all the pleasure to have you on the show. Yeah.

Spooking on that. And also in the comments, let us know that Jalen runs a nickname because we need it. Okay? we will see what we like, what we don't like. We need some options because I'm trying to know. But Trista, always a pleasure.

That you just know that the energy that me and you bring when it's you and me and Mace, it brings out a very philosophical, nostalgic version of Mace where he gives us the musical game. Yes. And I am grateful to be here in these moments when he does that. And I am grateful that you are a part of that too. is Gemini season.

It is Gemini season. Happy birthday to stat in advance. Happy birthday to me in advance next week. Yes. See, we celebrate all month and next month. Wait, wait, wait. Well, May. Shout out to all of the Nick fans.

And shout out to the Nick fans. Shout out to the Nick fans. Shout out to Sin City. Shout out to Josh. And shout out the St. Nick Projects, Drew Hamilton. Shout out. And a little bit of foster. Shout out.

Shouts everybody. We will see what happens. Holog grounds. tonight. Okay. Thank y'all for watching. And as always, it is what it is.