The Daily Zeitgeist - Go NY, Go NY GO... and playoffs with Tony Jones

Episode Date: May 12, 2022

Miles and Jack are joined by former college player and current Utah Jazz beat writer for The Athletic, Tony Jones on the latest Mad Boosties. Beyond continuing their playoff breakdown, they also go into some of Tony’s experiences both playing the game and covering the league.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry.

Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball.

And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. Captain's Log, Stardate 2024. We're floating somewhere in the cosmos, but we've lost our map. Yeah, because you refuse to ask for directions. It's Space Gem.

There are no roads. Good point. So where are we headed? Into the unknown, of course. Join us on In Our Own World as we uncover hidden truths, navigate the depths of culture, identity, and the human spirit. With a hint of mischief. One episode at a time.

Buckle up and listen to In Our Own World on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Trust us, it's out of this world. Welcome back, welcome back. You know what we're doing this week? The playoffs continue, so there's plenty to talk about. This episode, an ode to Ja, James Harden, and the refs coming back with just big

dad energy, making a really interesting music video. And also, we're just going to talk all the things making us continue to be in love with the NBA with our guest, jazz beat writer for the athletic Tony Jones. I'm Miles Gray. And I'm Jack O'Brien. And this is Miles and Jack got mad boosties in perfect synchronization. Boom. Welcome back y'all to another edition of Miles and Jack got mad boosties today. I just realized how much 60 minutes energy our intro has where you're like, I'm Miles Gray and I'm Jack O'Brien and I'm Marley Safer. And this is Mad Boosties. But yes, let's introduce our guest. We are thrilled to be joined by Utah Jazz beat writer for The Athletic, Mr. Tony Jones. Welcome, Tony. How are you guys? Thanks for having me.

We're excited to have you. Where are you coming to us from? Are we talking where I'm from? Where I'm from? No, just like right now. Currently, your living room. I'm at home in my living room. I just ate. And you're in Utah?

And I'm in Utah. Okay. And then where are you from from? I'm from New York. Okay. I've heard of that place. Heard of that. Heard of that. A Knicks fan?

I am a huge diehard Knicks fan. All right. Okay. I've heard of that place. Heard of that. A Knicks fan? I am a huge diehard Knicks fan. Died hard. What do you mean by that? There was a certain tone to that I really liked. What does that mean to you? It's just disappointment.

From 1994 when John Starch went 2-for-18 in Game 7. First, dismantling us in 5-in-99. And, you know, my guy, Stephon Marbury, coming back to New York. And that ended up well to us finally being competent again with Jason Kidd and Carmelo Anthony and Amari Stoudemire

to the last decade of just futility. What's the next memory that you hold near and dear to your heart? The next memory that I hold near and dear to my heart. You know, obviously Larry Johnson, four point play. Yeah. Like young Mark Jackson.

This is when I was a kid, like young Mark Jackson, you know, fresh out of St. John's. New Yorker. He was, shout out to Bishop Laughlin because he went to Bishop Laughlin. And I grew up like five blocks away from Bishop Laughlin. Okay. And, you know, just all of my good memories are from the 90s.

But the ambiance of being in the garden and going to basketball games. It's untouchable. Yeah. You can't beat that. Every year. I'll say, you know, like my Mets,

you know, I'll say same thing. This is the year. This is the year. Hey, you might have something with the Mets this year. Not too bad. Not too bad.

Arlene Marte is the best player in major league baseball, but we're here to talk basketball, Tony, and to redirect this to becoming a full-on mets podcast because i'm excited too uh gotta talk about you know just the last week or so has been fantastic filled with wonderful wonderful moments uh jack i know you're feeling a song for john morant in your heart yet again? Yeah, I'm holding a torch, carrying it around my house. Real quick, I have to tell a Mark Jackson story.

So my dad, Tony, is a basketball coach. He's retired now, but he was an assistant with the Knicks when they drafted Mark Jackson. Who's your dad? Jim O'Brien. Oh, okay. Yeah. So he was an assistant on our Patino there. They draft Mark Jackson.

I'm like six or seven. He's my favorite player. And I wrote a biography of him and brought it to him and watched him read it. And I hadn't done any research on it. So the story was all about how everyone told him he was too small to play basketball just because he looked small next to all the other players. And he was very kind. he didn't throw it away he he signed it and uh great guy uh amazing like early mark jackson he was rookie of the year even though he wasn't like you know one of the one of the top picks that year but that was that was a fun team those were fun days in new york yeah those days right you know

you know mark jackson and ross strickland both one year apart and you know they were kind of like a dynamic duo at the point guard spot yeah i mean yeah the the 90s were fun you know we had all the 67 65 basketball games that we can handle on those days. Also, Rod Strickland, one of my favorite references ever in a rap song. In a Wu-Tang song? Sickening, guaranteed, made him jump like Rod Strickland. Rod Strickland. I was like, because it's like nice

and obscure, you know? It's like a little obscure. And it's like, isn't that the last rhyme? Isn't that the last part of the song? last rhyme? They go out on that. Jump like Rod Strickland out. Cut it out. We are from New York. He was a bucket getter.

He was a bucket getter. Speaking of bucket getters, I got to talk Ja. While we're recording this, there's just a report that he might be out for the remainder of the series. We'll see how the series a report that he might be out for the remainder of the series. We'll see how the series plays out. It might be over by the time people listen to this,

but we recorded our last episode right before he dropped 47, including the final 15 for the Grizzlies, became the first player to score 45-plus in multiple playoff games before the age of 23. But there's this one play uh you know i think golden state's up 99 98 jaw brings it up he twists the defender up so bad that he just sits down yeah under is turned around like backwards and then just sits down as jaw just you know uh

puts it in over everybody with just perfect touch switch now he's got pool under two minutes to go the shade oh you know what the way it's like he was trying to move with jaw and then the second jaw was like i might just pivot. It's like Poole completely gave up and was like, alright, I need to completely reorient my body just to find out that he was sold a faulty pivot where he was like, wait, where'd you go? He's like, sorry, this is

what I'm doing right now. I think the best part about that move was Jordan was completely beaten and Josh still gave him another move after that. That's when it was like, okay, my knees just collapsed. I touched earth and I think it's apropos because Jordan Poole's

been doing that to defenders all year. Somebody got him back. The fourth quarter when Jha took over was I don't know. Again, I keep referencing the LeBron series against the Pistons, that game where he just took over was i don't know again i keep referencing the lebron series against the pistons that game where he just took over and could get to the rim anytime he wanted and nobody thought that the calves were gonna beat the pistons and just all of a sudden it was like oh

they have no answer for him he is at the rim at will and there there's something, that's how it felt watching Jha just get into the lane and get easy shots. Like, you know, most of them, by the time he was done cooking his defenders, he had just wide open looks from like three feet out. And there's just something weird about watching it, I think, because they make it look so easy. The shots look easy. But what's really happening, I think, is make it look so easy. The shots look easy, but what's really

happening, I think, is everyone else is operating at a speed that's like 25% slower than him. And so it's like, what bullet time would have looked like if the camera didn't slow down to how like Neo was perceiving time. It's just, he's just moving and more locked in by a significant enough margin that like he, he's just doing whatever he wants with the ball. Yeah. There's a casualness of, but I think the only time I experienced that is when I play against children. Yeah.

And you play against children a lot, which is, you know, a lot of people question that decision by you, but like I've always said, you got to try your sham God on kids first before you can really take that to the court. I can hit him with the sham God really easy. And that's, it helps me feel like a fully formed adult, I guess, but it's true that that's sort of that same feeling. Uh, but yeah, it's, I hope that I hope he's okay though. I hope he's okay. I think there's been a conversation happening.

What level is he at, at least this season? You hear him compared to some very good MVP caliber people, and then sometimes people bring up, is he going to be top three, top five at some point? This moment felt like one of those things that I'm going to remember. This playoffs in general. Like, also that incredible second half against the Wolves where he had the best dunk of the season,

and then, like, the momentum of that just, like, blew that game up, and suddenly, you know, he was just scoring at will. Like, it did remind me of those playoff moments that you've seen from LeBron and MJ and a couple others, but it felt rarefied. It felt like next level. I hope

at least we are in the Jha era now. I don't know if we're in the Jha era because Luka's in the same era. Yeah, and there was a play this week where Luka did the same thing, turned somebody around, and then the person sat down. Yeah. I mean, I think it's safe to say that we're in another golden era of point guards.

I mean, with Luka, Jaya, Trae Young, those guys are obviously at the forefront. I think the best example to use of how much talent there is in the league is if you look at Luka and you look at Ja, look at their secondary point guards. Look at Jalen Brunson and Tyus Jones. Both of those guys are starters in this league. Tyus Jones is coming off the bench. Obviously, Jalen Brunson starts but you know he kind of starts on the wing but you know both of those guys I mean these are guys that aren't day in

day out point guards and yet they're going to go to different teams next year and they are going to get paid and I think that as much as anything is a testament to how much uh talent there is at the position right now right yeah I I mean I I've had the same feeling that like, this is the most talented the position has been collectively like ever. And I, I've been wondering, is it that people, you know, this is the generation that like watched Steph for, you know, so long, just like kind of changing the game and breaking it open by like, you know, doing things differently. Is it just it open by like you know doing things differently is it just that there is you know more people playing basketball and there's more available like clips and you know ways to learn the game and so you know just by sheer you know population

numbers people who are tall enough to play point guard there, there's more of them. And so you're just going to have like, I don't, I don't know why you kind of are seeing in the NFL with wide receivers to the, like this one position has just like kind of suddenly kind of become just, you want to draft a wide receiver now because like all of sudden, wide receivers are better than they used to be significantly. I feel like we're kind of seeing a similar thing with point guards. I don't know why.

I'd love to hear theories. I've always thought that point guard is the most important position on the floor. You've got to have dynamic pick and roll players. You've got to have guys that can touch the paint with two feet off the dribble. You've got to have guys that can bend the paint with two feet off the dribble. You got to have guys that can bend the defense and, you know, put defenses in tough spots. And, you know, you look at some of the best point guards in the league. You look at Steph, look at Jai, look at Chris Paul, you look at Trey Young, look at Luca, obviously, you know, those guys, they bend your defense and you have to game plan for those guys.

And when they do bend your defense, they're incredible shot makers, which is collectively something that that's kind of jaw dropping in today's game. But they're also really great playmakers for other people, you know, always key on them. or other people you know so always key on them yeah but yeah i think to your point like even the way you're saying that the amount of information that's available to somebody who's interested in playing basketball is at a completely different level than it used to be like yeah i saw better kids hooping than i did by going to the gym and then whatever i could catch on tv there wasn't like youtube clips i could then go to try and like actually develop very specific parts of my game. I think that part is also the information amount of information available. I think something else, too, that's pretty underrated.

All right. Let's take a quick break. And then, Miles, we're going to find out what your clip of the week was and then do a little playoff recap. and then do a little playoff recap. I'm Carrie Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports, where we live at the intersection of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese.

I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Every great player needs a foil. I ain't really hear them. Why is that? Just come here and play basketball every single day, and that's what I focus on. From college to the pros, Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Angel Reese is a joy to watch.

She is unapologetically black. I love her. What exactly ignited this fire? Why has it been so good for the game? And can the fanfare surrounding these two supernovas be sustained? This game is only going to get better because the talent is getting better. This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network,

iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. All right, here we go. It's Cam Jordan from New Orleans Saints here to tell you it's going down on season two of my podcast, Off the Edge with me, Cam Jordan. Can't stop it. You know what's going to happen. Can't stop it. That's right. Catch new episodes every Wednesday, all season long. That's what you look for in year 14 to do more.

No, that is wrong. And I'll have my friends who happen to be some of the NFL's biggest stars join me on the pod. We'll give you a player's perspective of the biggest storylines, trends, and did that really just happen moments from around the league. And you know we'll have fun doing it. Ha! Yeah! Oh, and I'll have a special guest each month join me to mix it up a little bit.

Who is it? None other than... Psyche! You'll have to tune in to find out. Ha ha! Hoo hoo! Hee hee hee! So tap in to Off the Edge with Cam Jordan's podcast,

your ultimate playbook for all things football and not football. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Mike Wright from the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast. You heard that right. The Fantasy Footballers have officially entered the Dynasty space. Every week, we bring you the same in-depth analysis and entertainment you've come to

expect from the Fantasy Footballers, only now from a Dynasty perspective. Maybe you've been living in the Dynasty Fantasy Footballers, only now from a Dynasty perspective. Maybe you've been living in the Dynasty fantasy football space for a while. Well, we're here to take your game to the next level. Maybe you love fantasy football and you've been feeling that itch to jump into the Dynasty format, but it feels a little bit intimidating. No matter where you're coming from, the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast has something for you, and you're going to have a great time listening, I promise. Join me and the rest of the crew every Wednesday

for a new episode. Listen to the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. and we're back uh and you know i just i wanted to to get in some philadelphia love just for a moment because i'm watching this you know this this postseason as a neutral uh but there is something i just love those dagger moments in games when players can absolutely just take the momentum away from the other team in one simple movement. And I have to talk about James Harden, the fourth quarter of that game four. I've never watched something that was so satisfying to me as a neutral in a long time, mostly just because of those debilitating, demoralizing step backs. There was like a maxi lob that was sandwiched in between hard and threes that just every time it felt like there was a chance for just some kind of momentum to go the other way.

He was just there immediately to snuff out the flame of Miami. And yeah, I'll just we'll play a little bit of the sounds from that so you can get a bit of an experience. Right now, Philadelphia, Embiid needs to touch the ball on this possession. Here comes Harden, knifing right through the teeth of the defense. I stand corrected. James Harden continuing to attack. Let that drama build here in South philly maxi three to shoot

harden from deep see those moments right miami's it's 101 to 106 you're in the fourth quarter as a fan you're thinking okay if we can get a stop maybe we're in it and then just casually here comes this bearded man to completely ruin your day and i just like and i know jack you were not you weren't you weren't watching at the time but i said please watch it because yeah as a no i always watch the winds i always watch the winds i just watch them after the fact because otherwise that just takes too much out of me. spied and I just I thought that was that warmed my heart all together I was like yeah this this Philadelphia game's giving me a lot a lot to enjoy yeah they caught him in the background Kyle Larry's bringing the ball out and uh you know you just see him on the baseline catching it's it's a real dad move I've done it during um you know I went I took my kids to see Sonic 2

and you know that was a nap. That's all that was. That's all it was designed to be. Now, at a four-point playoff game when you're sitting on the floor, I mean, you must be very tired, sir. He's working. He must have put in a shift. I get being tired some places.

The only sporting event I've ever fallen asleep at is a baseball game energetically that feels like the environment but there's something about how you can be on the floor like you're saying in a playoff game philly wearing like sixers gear i'd imagine you were a fan and you still you just had to sneak in that little shut eye but yeah being on the floor at an nba game is a life-changing experience it changed like i i was courtside once and i was like oh this changes everything about like what i think that a human body can do just like seeing them that close seeing how fast and strong and big and like high they are actually jumping up close yeah so maybe that's what maybe he just like took in a couple quick breaths and like needed a fainting couch um that's he hardens resurgence was too much by the end of that hardening kind of i mean the game was over my man obviously put in a graveyard shift

the night before right third shifter it was just you know he's like the game's over Harden put their lights out tied 2-2 wake me wake me one game five starts and it's funny he did an interview like right after and he's like nah I, they caught me quite literally at the moment. I just caught in a couple Zs, and I woke right back up. But unfortunately, when you're on the baseline, the camera can't get you. That's a great quality to have, just being able to turn it on and off. Right. Just got me at the wrong time.

I was just sleeping while he was bringing the ball up the court. The second they got into the teeth of the offense, I was going to be back up. That's all. They just, you know. Ready to go. But that series is fun. 2-2.

As of this recording, one of the teams will be up 3-2 and looking to close out. By the time you are listening to this, let's talk. We got to talk the Celtics. Yeah. You know, last week we talked Giannis

after what he did to the Celtics in game one, but the Celtics have come roaring back to tie it 2-2. And man, Jason Tatum is, I don't know, his footwork is so out of control, nice and precise. And I don't know, some of his Euro stepping, his footwork is one of the like first things I noticed about him and also when he's on it really feels Tony I talk a lot about like when Clay Thompson is locked in and the ball is not not just going in it's hitting the like mathematical

like geometric center of the rim like every single time that he puts it up. I feel like Tatum gets in those zones too, where it's kind of uncanny. Austin's lead is seven. Tatum, he's been great. Got a huge second half. Oh, Tatum! Wow, somehow

able to score it. I think he's got a chance to be the next American-born player to be NBA MVP. Wow. Yeah. You know, just the footwork and, you know, the number of counters that he has

combined with, you know, his positional size, the ball handling ability. You know, he's always in attack mode. He's always going at you. And the fact that he defends really well. Yeah, one of the best perimeter defenders. Yeah, plays both sides of the ball.

So I think that the next time you see an American-born player be named the NBA's MVP, it's got a good chance to be Jason Tatum. Yeah, he made me sit down at one time. He put someone on a spin cycle and my legs stopped working. And then we also got to talk Luka, right? I think the last time we recorded it, they were down 0-1. So he's got 655 points through 20 playoff games. That is third behind Wilt and Jordan.

That's it. Interesting company. Yeah, interesting company. Those guys are good uh do you see the play where he was on the ground and just threw a perfect dime like from from his butt on the court the walk had a notion luca drives the closeout it should be a favorable matchup for donchage good defense by aiden went straight up. Comes right to Luka.

The pass from his hand bottoms. Reminded me of Magic and I believe either Kurt Rambis or AC Brain. Magic was on his backside. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That summed everything up for me because everything he does seems so relaxed. Like he might as well

be sitting down for a lot of the plays. As a playoff performer right now, I'm not sure that there's a guy that I'd rather have in a playoff game right now than Luka Dacic. Yeah.

I mean, it's hard to argue with, especially on offense. Yeah. I think he's that good. I think that he's the best player since LeBron and Magic at dictating pace and making you play possession at his pace. You know, Magic obviously super fast, but LeBron and Luka, you know,

they slow you down. And LeBron's ability to slow a team down is the reason why he was able to be successful against the Warriors in 2016. So that's Luka's probably, that's one of his best traits is, you know, he'll grab that defensive rebound, he'll get you up the floor

and he's going to slow you down and you're going to play at his pace at his number of possessions and you got to get better possessions and his number of possessions than he does. And that's extremely hard to do. And right now, I just don't know that there's a guy, a single guy in the league in a playoff scenario

that I'll take over Luka. Just looking at the West, who do you like in that series? And do you see the eventual finals contender in that series? Or do you think, who do you like? Do you like the the grizzlies how do you see that all playing out right now probably favor the warriors slightly to come out of the west but you know phoenix and golden state would be a fascinating series and honestly dallas and golden state would be a fascinating series as well yeah just because i I'm not sure, like, you know,

how many bodies can you throw at Luka if you're the Warriors? And I think the beauty of the Mavericks is, you know, nobody talks about it, is they have, you know, a lot of wing defenders. You know, Dorian Finney-Smith, Reggie Bullock,

Josh Green, you know, Frank Nicolina. They have a lot of wing defenders that make shots so structurally they're they're they're structured pretty pretty perfectly around luca and uh it's just really you know it's that they're hard to beat and you know i watched them up close with you know in their series with the jazz you know they were really hard to beat then and they're proving to be hard to beat right now you know i think a lot of people talking about boston being on a tear towards the end of the season rightly so but

i didn't realize dallas has the second best record since january 1st so phoenix has the best record because they just had the best record all year. They just stayed winning the whole time. Uh, Dallas has the second best record since, since January 1st, uh, and then Boston, then Memphis and then the Sixers. Um, so I don't know that that, that was instructive because watching some of these sons Mavericks games, I was like, wait, are the Mavericks like my pick to come out? If they beat the Suns, would they be my pick? And I'm starting to be open to that idea, even though I've been kind of pulling for the Warriors. I've been really interested in seeing what they do with this new nucleus. And they are really fun when they get it going like they did in game three.

But I don't know, man dallas is tough luca is very very hard to stop yeah yeah he's he's extremely difficult to stop and you know they've got they defend really well and you know when they go five out it's just really hard to to defend them because you know they've got five shooters on the floor at any given time and they're able to defend out of that even though they're small and they've proven to be

able to rebound out of that even though they're small Dallas is just a bear they're a bear structurally and you know obviously Luka he tilts the scales in a major way and you know obviously luca you know he tilts the scales in a major way and you know what and shout out to jason kidd not only jason kidd but shout out to eric kostoff his chief assistant those two guys have been coaching their behinds off for a year and that's continuing into the

playoffs yeah absolutely i mean jason kidd used to torture me when i was a celtics fan and he was just putting them out of the playoffs every year that That was the first time I saw somebody where I was like, oh, they are a computer that always just puts the ball in the exact right position every single time for like optimum. And then LeBron like has done that his entire career. But Jason Kidd was the first time where watching someone do that felt very helpless like oh man you just can't stop him from making the right decision let's take a quick break and then we'll be right back i'm carrie champion and this is season four of naked sports where we live at the intersection of sports and culture up first first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game.

Every great player needs a foil. I ain't really near them boys. I just come here to play basketball every single day, and that's what I focus on. From college to the pros, Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Angel Reese is a joy to watch.

She is unapologetically black. I love her. What exactly ignited this fire? Why has it been so good for the game? And can the fanfare surrounding these two supernovas be sustained? This game is only going to get better because the talent is getting better. This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network,

iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. All right, here we go. It's Cam Jordan from New Orleans Saints here to tell you it's going down. On season two of my podcast, Off the Edge with me, Cam Jordan. Can't stop it. tell you it's going down on season two of my podcast Off the Edge with me Cam Jordan. Can't stop it you know what's gonna happen can't stop it. That's right catch new episodes every Wednesday all season long. That's what you look for year 14 to do more. And I'll have my friends who happen to be some of the NFL's biggest stars join me on the

pod. We'll give you a player's perspective of the nfl's biggest stars join me on the pod we'll give you a player's perspective of the biggest storylines trends and did that really just happen moments from around the league and you know we'll have fun doing it oh and i'll have a special guest each month join me to mix it up a little bit who is it none other than psych you have to tune in to find out so tap in to off the edge with cam jordan's podcast your ultimate playbook for all things football and not football listen on the iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts hey this is mike right from the fantasy footballers dynasty podcast you heard that right the fantasy footballers have officially entered the dynasty space. Every week we bring you the same in-depth analysis and entertainment you've come to expect

from the fantasy footballers, only now from a dynasty perspective. Maybe you've been living in the dynasty fantasy football space for a while. Well, we're here to take your game to the next level. Maybe you love fantasy football and you've been feeling that itch to jump into the Dynasty format, but it feels a little bit intimidating. No matter where you're coming from, the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast has something for you, and you're going to have

a great time listening, I promise. Join me and the rest of the crew every Wednesday for a new episode. Listen to the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back.

It's time to ask our guest, Tony. You know, what is the wildest thing you've ever seen on a basketball court to you whether you saw it as on tv or just experience but what is what is that moment to you that uh kind of defines you just being like wow you don't want to hear the wildest thing that i've seen on a basketball court in an nba game not just on a basketball court okay alright so we're not talking about the wildest thing okay that would have ended up

in yeah that was not good um we're talking just NBA game wildest thing we've seen in an NBA game probably you know the chase down block in 2016 that's gotta be one of the greatest plays ever right

either side of the greatest plays ever, right? Yeah, either side of the court. Just incredible. Has LeBron run as fast as that ever since then? Has anyone? I mean, the determination, what that block meant. I don't know. I don't know if he has. You know, shout out J.R. Smith,

who made Andre Goddard change his shot. Right, exactly. Without that initial contest from J.R., LeBron gets dunked on. Yeah, right, right. Were you kind of a career-long lebron fan yeah i i've always been so fun fact about me i was born in akron ohio okay you know i was adopted so that's why i grew up in new york because the woman adopted me, my mother moved to New York and that's where

I grew up. But my siblings all grew up in Akron. So nieces, nephews, point being, I was probably a LeBron fan just because of that. Right. Yeah. Did you play a lot growing up? Oh yeah. I got played, played. Who were some of the people you, you, you during that time? My high school teammate was Mark Jackson. Oh, wow. Not that Mark Jackson. Yeah, big guy Mark Jackson. Yeah. I played at Roman Catholic in Philly.

Yeah. Played with and against a lot of people. Katina Mobley, Alvin Williams. Played against Rasheed Wallace. Whoa, okay. Those are people that I grew up with. When I was in New York, before I left New York, Stephon Mulberry, Felipe Lopez, Reggie Freeman.

My sophomore year, when I was at R.C. Lutheran, I played with Caboose Stewart, who played for the Philadelphia 76ers. So, I mean, I've played with and against a lot of people that played in the league. What was your best moment playing? And what was, did you ever get embarrassed that, but you're proud to say you were embarrassed by somebody?

So my best moment, I would say one of my best moments was actually in Sunny Hill practice because my Sunny Hill league team, we had Alvin Williams, who played at Villanova, played for the Toronto Raptors. And Alvin, people don't realize, probably had, I would say Alvin Williams had one of the 10 best crossovers in NBA history. And people don't, he doesn't get credit for it. So, you know, when we were in high school, everybody said, yo, don't press up on Alvin because he's just going to cross. You know, he's six, five and he was long or whatever.

So one day I played for John Hardnett, who was legendary coach, whole bunch of pros, rest in peace to John. But we were scrimmaging and on one possession, Alvin came down and he hit me with one of his crossovers. It was like left to right. I basically did the Jordan pool.

Like I touched earth and, and, you know, it was, it was bad enough. Like they stopped practice. So, so I was just like,

you know, I mean, I was just like, F it. Like I'm going to go and get him back. So the next time I came up the floor, I called the play, and Alvin was pressing up on me, and I crossed him back over. And he stumbled, and he almost fell, touched earth,

and everybody was like, oh! And the funny thing about that was i went from like getting no playing time up to that point to getting like 20 minutes a game just because so that was probably one of my best moments oh i love that you got the up and the down all in one very clean yeah it was like up and down like two possessions but yeah it was fun all right so we're coming to the end of the episode this is where we like to talk about some of the funniest things we've seen this week last week uh we already gave a shout out to the dude falling asleep front row at the sixers game but we gotta follow the saga between the nba refs jack Harlow, the NBA refs bringing big dad energy.

Miles, do you have the clip? Do you want to just tell us what is happening in this clip? I think last week we covered, I believe it was Scott Foster and Ed Malloy who were confounded by the presence of Jack Harlow. They said, who's Jack Harlow?

He's that guy over there. Yeah, but who is he? What did y'all think of his album? No, I don't listen to Jack Harlow. I'm the Scott Foster of this podcast. That's what we were saying. We're like, wow, man, we're washed. Because look at us. We were quoting

the Wu-Tang double album lyrics a second ago from 97 or 96. And now we're like jack harlow i mean i've heard a few of his things i know he's he's nice with it well i wanted to skip summer school that year so i just got the wu-tang double lp and that was all the education that i needed but yeah that moment i think you know it was it was very hilarious and i think for him he used that to to troll a bit uh but you know the refs clapped back in epic fashion where they were just saying, you know, actually, we do know who Jack Harlow is. Who's Jack Harlow?

I don't know. There's a guy over here, right here. Oh, so now we got them walking into a. He's dabbing people in the hotel lobby. I didn't get why he gives that one guy the cold shoulder that was the other ref he's like hey man and so now they're all the refs in the car not a fashionista

okay scott foster does an okay job too like he he's i'm knows the words that was pretty good that was fire yeah he had a little flavor i'm not gonna lie jack's album is pretty good i mean based off that i was like no that i know there's like 14 songs of that oh say less i think i'm too focused on kendrick's album coming out this week then i was like okay yes yes listen there's gonna be a time for kendrick all right friday's gonna come you know what i'm saying listen Jack Harlow like think of Mac Miller okay but let me not go that far because if people on social media hear that I said Jack Harlow Mac Miller they're gonna kill me I'm not saying that

Jack Harlow is as good as Mac Miller because he's not Mac Miller was more talented but it's the same type of styles you know same type of hip hop I'm here for it I'm here for it and I'm here for refs you know just saying i'm not a fashionista i was like okay really really nailing that delivery but i'm fly though oh man i'm curious what they're listening to in the locker room before the games probably

not that carlo yeah like john tesh probably just the john teshh basketball theme like over and over again that's what gets me pumped man round ball rock that's right but yeah I long made this I don't know meme last I'm

curious if they'll yeah we'll see if there's an escalation or not if if there's a response but I don't know I'm it's always nice to see a sense of humor from from everybody involved i can't imagine that this is crossing jack harlow's

radar at all i'm sure it is all right maybe but like he comes back and is like you know claps back at scott foster it's like a drake pusha feud oh wow right but i think it would be Like a Drake-Pusher feud. Oh, wow. Right. But I think it would be hilarious on the next track. It's like Jack Harlow featuring Scott Foster and Ed Molloy. Like, just a feature with those full names. I would laugh. Oh, you know he's going to play that clip. Who's Jack Harlow?

I have no idea. He's right there. That's going to be... That little sound clip is going to be... How you open a show. Yeah, exactly. Well, Tony, such a pleasure having you. there that's going to be that that little sound clip is going to be how you open a show yeah exactly well tony such a pleasure having you uh thank you so much for joining us man thank you so much for having me i appreciate it where can people find you follow you all that good stuff

well you can find me on t jones on the nba uh on instagramones Athletic, and nobody uses Facebook anymore. True. Miles, where can people find you? Find me at Miles of Gray, wherever you have at symbols. Jack, where can they find you? Jack underscore O'Brien, only on Twitter and on the Daily Zeitgeist.

Yep, Monday through Friday. Yeah, yeah. Check us out. You can find me waiting two hours and then checking the Sixers for to see how long this season

is gonna last but alright y'all we'll catch you next time thanks for checking in with Mad Boosties I'm sure we'll have plenty more to talk about

next week alright take care of yourself bye bye I'm Kerry Champion and this is season 4 of Naked Sports We'll be right back. of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry, Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the

making of a rivalry,lyn Clark versus Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball. And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. Do you ever wonder where your favorite foods come from?

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