The Daily Zeitgeist - Hot Streaks and All Things Orlando w/Khobi Price

Episode Date: November 24, 2022

Miles was joined by Producer Jabari this week and the duo was pleased to talk to Orlando Sentinel beat writer Khobi Price on the latest episode. The trio discussed the exciting, young core in Orlando and the latest stories from around the league.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Trust us, it's out of this world. Welcome back, y'all. The Celtics remain one of the hottest teams in the league. It turns out the Kings might be right there with them, and we'll be checking in with the state of all things in Orlando with Orlando Sentinel beat writer Kobe Price on today's episode. I'm Miles Gray with I'm Jabari Davis. Oh, look at that.

We got a guest host. And this is Miles and Jack Bari. Got mad. Thank you. Nailed it. Jabari nailed it so much. Jack is out just having a little break for the Thanksgiving. So he'll be back next week. Worry not. So it will just be Miles and Jabari nailed it so much Jack is out just having a little break for the Thanksgiving so he'll be

back next week worry not so it will just be Miles and Jabari today but we are thrilled to be joined by like I said Orlando Sentinel beat writer Kobe Price Kobe thank you thank you so much for coming on the show that's what I meant to say before I got turned on yeah no it's my pleasure appreciate y'all for having me on I can tell it it's going to be fun. I like the energy. I like the vibe already early on. Oh, yeah. We're a mess. We haven't seen anything yet. You haven't seen anything else yet.

This is the least serious basketball podcast you've ever heard or been a part of. Okay, so I know you write for the Orlando Sentinel. You're covering the Magic. Are the Magic your team? Who's your team? Who'd you grow up with? I grew up a Bulls fan. So I grew up in Chicago, Chicagoland area.

So the Bulls throughout. So I grew up in Chicago, Chicagoland area. So like the Bulls, you know, throughout my childhood were my team. Specifically, like those baby Bulls, like Lou Aldane, Kirk Heinrich,

Ben Gordon, Chris Duhon, kind of transferred that over to D-Rose, Joaquin Noah. Yeah. All of those guys. Like those were my Bulls team.

My bad. I officially just turned into that gif of Matt Damon from Saving Private Ryan where he just ages. Like I just became the oldest person ever because he said my bulls team and my bad i officially just turned into that gif of matt damon from saving private ryan where he just ages like i just became the oldest person ever because he said his childhood and i was definitely yeah late 20s during that era so here we are i was outside but okay and how you feeling about him now how you looking you still you still catch up with are you one of

these journalists that we have all the time was like i, I'm professional. I obviously love the Bulls, but I'm not getting too emotionally caught up in it. Do you still get caught up, swept up in it like a fan? No. I'm still one of those journalists who's like, yeah, that's the follow-up. It's just different. Honestly, when you're in this job, you just don't... You don't see... The team you may have

grown up watching like that, you don't see them as much unless you cover them. Right, right, right. Honestly, they just played... The Magic just played the bulls that would have been on friday and i can count on what they've played what are they they're seven and ten so the 17 games i can count on one hand like how many entire bulls games i've watched this season and that's counting the one i just watched yeah i was physically at one right so it must be like once that happens like you kind of like emotionally distance yourself from the situation just because you know it's like your priorities change uh yeah it's part of it because you're a professional at that point

uh rather than like a hostile fan like i am with a podcast like i'd imagine right one part is you're professional because obviously you're not going to have your like bulls fandom bleed into your coverage of like the magic but also i'm sure being around like once the veil is lifted and you're actually up in it every day it probably does take on a completely different texture huh yeah no you're right about it and honestly yeah so both those things but also like more i mean it just become more like fan of the game like period yeah just like you like i appreciate broader bigger like basketball than probably i did as a fan of the game like period yeah just like you like i appreciate broader bigger like basketball than probably i did as a fan of the bulls growing up that makes sense yeah but yeah so everything you're hitting yes correct yes but there's also like a greater deeper appreciation for the actual

sport even outside of like fandom like you become more at least for me i become more a fan of the sport or the game than the actual like action theme i want to i want to get zen like y'all yeah i'm telling you man it's like it's like uh i mean i can't i think i'm just like peace it's far healthier it's a far healthier you know standpoint yeah you don't want to cry holding a grown man's jersey in your hands not from the press box no or the crypto.com parking lot because they asked you to leave in the second quarter uh but anyway look look and here's another way i put it my fandom is in my checks so as long as my checks cash then um there it is that's when that's when i start crying that's when i start crying in a parking lot and then

they usually go from there there you go the best ability availability yes sir said booked and blessed uh but yeah i mean kobe we got to talk about the magic man got a got a really nice team over there i i gotta admit i was telling jabari earlier you know small market team i like in the shadows i feel like have just been getting better and better, but like without the attention of everybody. And man, my man, Franz Wagner over here, we were just talking about Michigan basketball shorts,

shout out those uniforms. like he's improving every single year in a way that I think is really underrated. Yeah, no, France is really, so I think some of his, uh,

his rookie season last year was when underrated or just maybe overlooked. If you asked people and i think i guess he made the first team all rookie so i think at least among media he was respected for what he did but if you ask like most people most fans publicly you ask for the five best rookies from last season yeah i don't know how many would have chosen franz as as in the top five and honestly like even if you give me your top five players from the 2021 class, Franz's class,

I do wonder how many people would list Franz in the top three. Because at least to me, I mean, just if you look based off of last year and this season, there's a better, there's a great argument that he has been, at the worst, the third best player in that draft class.

And that is a class that includes Jalen Green, Scotty Barnes, Evan Mobley, Kay Cunningham. The list goes on. I mean, what he's doing as a driver is sensational. The passing is there. The defense is there. We spoke, I asked for Carla about him and he said like, this is a two way wing that just don't know. They don't grow on trees, man. Like players like this are a two-way wing that just don't you know they don't grow on trees man like players

like this are not easy to find so right franz to me and i've said this on other podcasts other platforms all-star potential easily yeah it's it's interesting that you say that because that's actually where i was going to go with it you know you know to miles's point you guys have you know a ton of young talent there obviously with ben car Ben Carroll, who we'll come to here shortly. Jalen Suggs, Franz. Franz is already at a point where he's averaging over 19 points. He's giving you four and a half and just about four and a half. That's not far from all-star level. Do you think that he has that potential over the next couple of seasons while developing alongside those big guys?

100%. I mean, you look at his season-long numbers, 19, 4-4. He's shooting, you know, what, almost 50% from the field. The three balls coming along. Like, he's a good shooter. He just didn't start off the season well. But if you just want to look at November, like, once, you know, got the five really just poor shooting games. It happens to every player or get the seven shooting games.

Like, it's what 22 four and a half and four shooting over 53 from the field 41 on threes like this is like i said and you that's just the offense like you added the defensive ability the switchability like this it's not it's not something you should take for granted so he definitely has to meet all-star potential a guy who's going to be a cornerstone for the magic you know and what they're building you know with the next level alongside palo and alongside the other guys they have on the team but all-star to me if if you don't see all-star potential with franz i don't i don't know if you watch enough of him because he's just been that good and it's not just it's the driving it's the

cutting when he's able to get off the ball he's really he's shown a lot yeah and he's and he's creating for himself too yeah there's i mean like it's like one of those things here is like i mean well he was drafted was the eighth pick so he's like yeah he's gonna be good it's like one of those things it is wild how even like reflexively i wouldn't immediately look to him but in like just you know watching more and more of this season and then you know after doing a little bit of research to prepare to like really talk about the magic i'm like i'm like wow i was fully asleep uh you know to like what he was really doing um but yeah it is it is wild to watch that all come together because i think yeah it's it's always nice to see those those talents develop um speaking of talents paulo mr bank carol uh you know right now he's got a little

bit of an injury how long has he been out almost two weeks if i'm not mistaken yeah what's that been like for you because we watch highlights over here and we're like whoa okay he looks very confident he looks very confident his ability is very secure and it has a good sense of self already as a rookie what is that i mean give me what's it like up close on the daily basis you're there what what like are we missing something or it's yeah is it's that good no it's that good i don't know if you're missing anything i mean it's whether you see it from afar when you see it from up, it's pretty obvious the kids got it. Right. I mean,

you, it hit me honestly, like a summer league. It's not just like, it's not just the scoring. It's not just the past. It's just the way he does it. You're just kind of like,

Whoa, wait, how old are you again? You sure you're a rookie? Like you're playing like a 25 year old five year NBA vet. It's just the maturity about his game, the fluidity in which he moves you're just kind of like you're this good already yeah like you can get better so it's it's super i i knew he

was there was an assistant coach from duke told me that when you see him in person he's going to be bigger than you think i'm like come on now man like i think i didn't say this about like come on man like he's listed at six nine six ten like i don't know if you 250 like i know he's gonna be big but when i saw him in person i was like ah all right yeah grown man i said grown just pure grown man at whatever he's just turned 20 but at 20 years old and the size strength the fluidity the touch the ability to just get to the line over and over again like put reps in that position the passing you're just like uh yeah this is a cornerstone this is this is everything that you know you kind of want to build like an offensive fulcrum around an offensive hub like

he has the skills there already now it's just about building upon those skills and if you have a tandem like franz and paulo and build out from there like I don't like you can mess up so much around that but you have those two yeah you're gonna get somewhere good yeah seriously but I mean it's I mean once like Franz gets those those those three point numbers up I saw him getting nice with the step back recently I was like oh right this all comes together yeah it it's it will be trouble. Guys, we haven't even talked about one of the more exciting stories from this season, at least from the outside looking in.

What about Bull Bull? Bull Bull! Okay, so there were some, and I'm sure that Kobe being tapped in with the Orlando fan base, there were some that were, I don't want to say questioning, they were absolutely full-on, wholeheartedly poo-pooing that signing. And if I'm not mistaken, you broke that news this past summer. But over his last five games, he's had 18 points, 11.5 rebounds, just under two blocks.

He's shooting the ball 55% from the field, 44% from deep, and 82% from the free throw line. Can you talk about his development and just what type of player they have there? Yeah. Honestly, when you ask me that, i'm still trying to figure it out myself because this just seems like you know he's a guy who you knew he was super talented you know he was on the top uh one of the top players i think what in the 2018 high school recruiting class and you know 7-2 guy who has that handle who has you know to score like that like you see that immediately but it seems like i just wrote about this every few games you start to show off a little bit more

like the first few games there's a lot of rebounding you know be in the right position to you know put backs or you know double passes all like all these little like simple things that you just be like dude you're 7-2 you can do all this like in your sleep now like especially i would say the past five six seven games like we're seeing some pull-ups and some step backs you know even through all of this we've seen the coast-to-coast euro steps and just finishes like he had a dunk the other night against the pacers where he like moved around a guy. He just like extended his arms out and dunked. I'm like, how do you do that?

How are your arms at the basket already when the guy's like fully like not fully, but like partially still in front of you. So he and you can tell like some things are like coming along for him. He hasn't played a lot of like before this season. He had not played a lot of basketball, didn't play a lot in denver injuries you know this is the most consistent basketball he's played since high school so you can see which is a crazy thing to say out loud but you can kind of see the game coming to him you know day in and day out you know from us not just from a scoring perspective but understanding like all right i need to make a pass here i don't need to like it doesn't have to be full you know full force to score so you can kind of see it you know after what what's

that four or five years of not consistent playing basketball things trying to you know put uh be put together for him yeah it's i mean i he's it's nice to see uh him him improving constantly i know some like a lot of magic fans like, this is most improved right here. There's some competition there. Like I said, I'm not going to get in that man's way. I just love watching Bull Bull play. I didn't really actually consider how little he's played

in that sense. Then it come out like this. It's something. I spoke with him in the locker room about this maybe before one of the Indiana games, I forget which one. And like, we were just chatting it up. I was like, yeah, this is most consistent basketball. You've probably played in a few years.

He's like, now I realize he only played nine games at Oregon. And, you know, before in Orlando, I think he only played like 53 games from 2019 to 2022. So like every single, like the first four games he played of the season like the first was the first time he played like 10 minutes a night in a row for consecutive games which is like a low benchmark but then you think about like wait a second you haven't played at least 10 minutes in a game for consecutive times like there's so much more that you need like so many more benchmarks you need to clear um so he's kind of just scratching the surface on what he can be which is almost like terrifying yeah because like you said he's already doing yeah where is this yeah yeah so i'm doing some insane stuff when you're that tall the ceiling

must be higher than you so that's i think that's good news i like that the ceiling must be higher than seven two with a seven eight wingspan yeah exactly at the at a bare minimum and that's that yeah yeah that's a big room for sure i mean quickly this the celtics also been doing quite well you know as people know my allegiance is live on the west coast with a storied basketball franchise but man they look real real. I cannot deny it. I mean, it's Jabari, what are these stats we're looking at here? Well, what's interesting to me, and I'm intrigued to get Kobe's opinion about it, because, you know, last year they were incredible defensively.

This year, they're just 23rd overall in terms of team defensive efficiency, you know, and they're middle of the pack when it comes to rebounding. But they're doing it really on the other end of the court. You know, their second overall, you know, second overall in team effective field goal percentage. You know, they've got a great assist to the turnover ratio. Their second overall in the league in that. They shoot the three ball well. And they basically just take care of the ball. What are your thoughts about the job that Coach Joe Mazzola has been doing?

Yeah, I think he's done as good of a job as, you know, as you would hope for. Considering all the circumstances that he had coming into the season you know kind of taking on this job what like what two weeks before the season started I want to say maybe even less I know it was in September um but yeah just to be able to you see you know this the roster was never really a question I I think, you know, obviously, you know, they've been without without Tom Lord for the start of the season. But, you know, you saw the talent, especially after, you know, they pick up a guy like Malcolm Brogdon. Like the talent is there. So you just wonder, like, how is he going to be able to keep these guys together? You know, keep the locker room buying after the the really strange offseason they had, especially more so in the August-September

part of it when you go through what you went through with Danilo Garnari getting injured and obviously the whole Eman Udoka situation and then Mazzulla, he's handled it as well as Dan. I think some of it, there's been maybe a tad bit of slippage, but I think

a lot of the defensive issues will be fixed once they get Rob Williams back, just because he is just that kind of level of defensive player. But I've been super impressed by what they've done. I'm super impressed by the Celtics. And before the season, I had them as a team where I thought, if things break right, they should be in that upper tier of eastern conference contenders or just contenders period throughout the league and everything i've seen so far has you know backed that up yeah 100 and i guess from another team that you know the lakers have a bit of history with gotta talk about another team

the sacramento kings because my goodness they look really good in a way that like i can't even front i'm like whoa they i'm in 20 years we were talking about this before jabari it's hard to really see like the gaps in here because they look deep they got shooters i love to see that and herder is also a man i heard kevin durant bigging up herder and he's like man if you're not watching the way this man is shooting the ball right now he's like you're not really a fan like you need to appreciate what he's doing right now i immediately got online i was like okay you know what katie told me i'm again i'm asleep on something i need to watch and yeah he's he's right. They look like something. Darren Fox, too, is also.

It's a lot of sweat, beads of sweat that are created upon my forehead when I look at how they're playing. And to that point, Kobe, in your opinion, is this a matter of, like, they were terrible for a lot of years. And believe me, Kings fans, I'm not piling on. I'm just being honest. And they kept on stockpiling talent and finally found the

right mix with the right head coach. Yeah, I think that's a good way to look at it. Herder's been shooting lights out. To me, it starts with Fox. He's been... He's coming off a player of the week. He's been sensational. I got to see him.

He's the guy I got to see up close when he hit that buzzer beater over the magic. And he was, in certain parts of the game, he was just clinical. Complete control of what he was trying to do. So to me, it kind of starts with him. So Bones has been effective. It's Mike Brown. What he's doing is working. The pace that they've

been scoring at is ridiculous. But I think they just overtook the Celtics for the top offense in the league. You can see the talent, but the fact that they put it all together in this way is

credit. That's a kudos to mike brown his staff and just also like i said box of bonus herder you know month you know just down the line just uh it's not it's not because i'm just one guy it's kind of you could just read the whole roster basically yeah yeah it's like it's like six different guys you just kind of like well this they're performing you know i didn't even say Murray, who I think some people before the season thought, if it wasn't going to be Paulo, I think some people would have had Murray as a rookie of the year contender. So they're a fun team.

They're just a fun team, too. It's not just they've been good. They've been super fun to watch. Of the teams, like say the Kings or like, you know, the surprise teams, you know, out there, whether it's Portland or, you know, Utah. Utah, yeah. Are all of them real or do you expect, you know, any of them to kind of separate themselves from, you know, from the pack? I'm trying to think of like, so Portland, Utah, Indiana. Good point on Indiana.

We didn't even mention them. They're 6-2 over their last eight. They're like one of the hottest teams in the league as well. Yeah, 6-2. 8-2 over their last 10. And then 10-6 on the season. I'm trying to think. I think with Utah, I don't know if they're going to end up being the number one seed

when the season's all said and done. But my thing with Utah before the season was it was clear that there was a lot of talent there. And I think this is the case with most of the teams we're talking about. It was clear that they had talent. You just didn't think that the teams themselves would stick together this long. I feel this way about Indiana, too. I didn't think Utah was going to keep all these guys around 20 games into the season. I didn't think Turner and Heald would still be in Indiana 16 games to the season.

Maybe Sacramento, you look at them just because you thought, all right, yeah, this team's going to be there. But a lot of the surprise teams, or I guess a couple of the surprise teams, more so in Utah and Indianaiana it's just been like we thought these situations want to be different but the fact that they're not i guess utah you look at him it's like all right number one in the west what's really going on over there uh brian windhorse but yeah i mean i don't have no reason to believe that what indiana's doing or what i guess portland slipped a little bit but you know dames i think what dames out now like yeah i believe that they're real so i think of all the teams who have played i think

utah is probably the most likely to slip down just because the west is so volatile and right you still think you know something's you still feel like something's going to shape over there even with the hot start they've had right uh all right well let's take a quick break uh and we'll come back to talk about some some outstanding performances from the last week. We'll be right back. It was December 2019 when the story blew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, former Packers star Kabir Bajabiamila caught up in a bizarre situation. KGB explaining what he believes led to the arrest of his friends at a children's Christmas play. A family man, former NFL player, devout Christian, now cut off from his family and connected to a strange arrest. I am going to

share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. I got swept up in Kabir's journey, but this was only the beginning. In a story about faith and football, the search for meaning away from the gridiron and the consequences for everyone involved. You mix homesteading with guns and church and a little bit of the spice of conspiracy theories that we liked. Voila! You got straight away. I felt like I was living in North Korea, but worse, if that's possible. Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, we're two space cadets. And totally normal humans.

Sure, totally normal humans. Embark on a journey across the stars, discovering the wonders of the universe one episode at a time. We'll talk about life, love, laughter, and why you should never argue with your co-pilot. Especially when she's always right. Right. And if we hit turbulence, just blame it on Mercury retrograde. Or Emily's questionable space piloting skills. Hey!

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We'll learn more about some of the most iconic heroes in the ring. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask as part of My Cultura Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts. And we're back.

And so is Ben Simmons? I just want to say it like that. I want to just, I just want to say it like that. I just want to give it the space, you know, because the man has had a lot of pressure on him. But it would be remiss of me to not point out that he does seem to be on an upward trajectory again. I know it seemed a little iffy here and there, and we were laughing sort of early on in the seasons.

But now it does feel like the mind body connection is returning. Right. For me, watching him of late. What I appreciate is he's getting downhill again. It was because it was one thing that you'll to not really shoot all that much. And I don't I'll be honest with you. I don't care if he if he never shoots a three pointer, you know, like at any point in his career. But it was a whole other thing when he was it looked as though he was afraid to get downhill. He was avoiding contact and things of that nature. He looks far more natural or as close to natural as I've seen him, what, in three years?

Honestly, I think some of us, we forget. We not forget, but we overlook the fact that, no, he has not played basketball. And, you know, he missed the entire season. forget like he not forget but we overlooked the fact that no he has not played basketball and you know he missed the entire season I know that he missed the entire season but he walked into a completely different situation you know after that so I think some of it is the mind-body connection but also you know figuring out new teammates and figuring out like you know new guys to play around yes it seems so easy to be like oh yeah just throw him next to KD and throw him next to Kyrie and all these guys and all these shooters. It'll work out.

But when you get into a new team and a new system and then you have all the, this is called a mess that Brooklyn has brought since whenever, since July 2019 and just Benz happens to go into it. It takes a minute to find your rhythm, especially when you're dealing with stuff like back and those kind of injuries or those kind of ailments. So he is, you know, trending upward. And I think there's plenty of reason to believe he'll continue. Yeah. I mean, as he even said, he said, quote, my mind is telling me, go be you. But then my body's trying to catch up. So it feels like I'm just progressing each day, each game, just building up.

I'm still trying to get a rhythm, find my pace. Sounds has a good attitude too you know i'm like i feel like that's i feel like so many times athletes will put themselves in like absurd pressure situations that like you can't climb out of and it seems like he's at least giving himself the environment to do that but yeah uh i know jack was very very excited to see him like He was like, wow. I remember when he saw that, he was like, he didn't shy away from the contact. And, you know, that's progress. Brings a tear to your eye. Yeah, he went 22-8-5 over that win against the Grizzlies. Klay Thompson is another one.

And last week, we were a little bit like, yo, what is going on with Klayompson but then it's like he's heard the podcast because i know he listens and he said oh you think i just like boats now wearing captain's hats and looking off into the sunset wrong 41 points 10 for 13 from three wow okay i was telling you jabari i said well i was wrong and i was like that's egg on my face and you said well let's allow some consistency to build which is true which is true but i it was wild to watch that performance against the rockets where it truly was like oh it it's it's doing that thing where it's not hitting any part of the rim anymore

yeah that was vintage clay and i'm not sure if you if you saw if you were able to catch that one kobe i'm sure you saw at least the highlights of it it was the first time this season where he looked like clay thompson and i'll admit it i'll acknowledge it 100 last week i was in the background saying yeah he needs to come off the bench they need to stop playing games with this stuff you're like you know why are they ruining the situation with jordan pool and i'll still stand by i i think that probably is ultimately their best option, you know, moving forward.

But you know, I won't, I can't poop. That was the absolute. I wasn't able to watch the entire game, but I did, I was able to see highlights and it did just look like, I hate to say it because,

you know, he's not old, but like the old clay that we're kind of, you know, there were accustomed to it, even against the game against, I think they played the, I think the Knicks before that game. I think like, or two days before,

I think he actually had a good game against the Knicks too. And for him, like, again, similar to the Ben Simmons situation, but even like, I guess even more dramatic, like he missed what two seasons and like he, he admitted like he didn't play pickup this all season just because of like the, you know, I guess you can call it maybe anxieties that come with,

you know, or the worries that come with, you know, maybe re-injuring himself. So I think it's more than just like the actual physical stuff. Sometimes it's truly is the mental stuff that, you know, it takes a while to get,

like have these breakthroughs where you just feel comfortable. And I think for him, having more of those moments like we saw against the Rockets will help him mentally just to get feel comfortable back on the floor. Because once the guy's comfortable, then that's when you start seeing, you know, games like that or, you know, he starts playing with a little bit more consistency. But I just don't think we've seen a comfortable Klay Thompson. What we've seen a lot is a Klay Thompson that's pressing. And that's not the Klay that you want to see. Right. Yeah see right yeah i mean yeah the performance was definitely like i got my back to the wall and i kind of do remember like what i'm capable of and definitely he he reconnected with that i was there was one shot in that game where like i feel like him was pump faked and then he

realized no one was on him he's and he was just, you know what, I'll just shoot it from here. Like, barely any, like, he didn't get the full motion into it, and I was like, oh, you just threw that in. Like, okay. When you're that nice, you've been doing it that long. And quickly, I do want to shout out my son, Kyle Kuzma, turning into a Kuzman

over at Washington. I love to see a young man, you know, I see you posting stuff about, man, these Lakers were – yeah, they were, Kyle, they were. I miss you, baby. Yeah, man, 28-10-5 against the Hornets. And, man, there he is. He's part of their success. He's part of the formula.

Can I just say it? I think he's their best player. I recognize Bradley Beal is, you know, obviously, you know, he's the big name there. Porzingis is there. Top to bottom, both sides of the court. Interchangeability, capability to guard some big twos, but definitely threes and some fours.

I think he's actually their best player. You know, as a Blasian, I would say I might have a different opinion on who the best player is on the Washington Wizards, but stats don't lie in this case. So I will agree. It's my son Kyle Kuzman. I mean, yeah, it's wonderful to see

and I know there's so much hand-wringing over on the Lakers side about him. Man, what happened? What could have been? Yeah, and while we're on the subject of Lakers fans, Jabari, you're also a Laker fan, from what I can gather. That I am. Both from the 818, you know, faithfully.

Anthony Davis, we were saying last week, too, if he is able to come into his own and really just, I don't know, like find that next level mentally and just be consistent with his performances and that same intensity we will we will begin to see some progress and it looks like we are doing that um with the lebron lakers and nothing but ad like i'm interested in getting kobe's opinion on this but i think and i and believe me i'm not making excuses for him you know for whatever his reasons were that you know they were but it almost feels like you're on a team with lebron. You start, you come up watching LeBron and appreciating his game. You know, you know, he, whether he's your, you know, the greatest or one of the greats, you know what I mean? You know, he's still in that level. You're in, you're on the team with him and he's still performing at an incredible level.

I wonder if it really was a matter of, yeah, they can, you know, they can say, you know, AD is the guy, you know, they can say, yeah, we want to run things through him. But was it, do you think it was a matter of him, like, getting over that mental block? And I don't, maybe mental block isn't the right term, but you know what I mean? Like, just getting past it mentally? I think for him, part of it is just recognizing

that in order for the Lakers to, like, this is a part of the quote-unquote plan from the beginning. In order for the Lakers to continue to be, I guess, get back to being like a true contender, there had to be some kind of passing of the torch from Le Lakers to continue to be, I guess, get back to being like a true contender, there had to be some kind of passing of the torch from LeBron to AD. Like, AD, I may be, forgive who the best player is. Like, LeBron on, you know, if we're talking about top end, like, on the absolute best day, who's the best player?

It still may be him. But LeBron's 38 years old, right? Like, he can't be the best player every single night for the Lakers. That's not what you want from a 30 year old. AD, you are 29. You're in the prime of your career. Night to night, you need to be the guy. I can still be like LeBron can still be the guy in the moments or in certain moments.

But AD, you are the lone star on this team who is in their prime age. You need to be that guy day to day. And if you're a Lakers fan, like Yujabar, you can at least hope that this is the start of the, or continuation of the process of AD accepting like, forget who the best player is, night to night, I'm the

guy. And then everything else kind of falls down for me. And that's going to be, you know, that's the process because LeBron, for what? Since maybe like those early heat, has been the guy. And you do wonder what it's going to look like once LeBron comes back and how the offense runs. But at least for now, this is an important process of AD getting back

to being the guy like he was when he was in New Orleans. Yeah, I mean, it's a double-edged sword to have a player like lebron james like on your team you know because on one hand he can inspire a lot of the players around you because they're like man i gotta get it together i'm playing with lebron and then on the other there is like a psychological sort of shadow that you're just in inherently because you're on the same team with him and i think i don't think it's not to say that LeBron is the reason like him not playing is the reason the Lakers are doing better but I think that it's allowing these players to have an identity that isn't exclusively tied to him and they're stepping into that I mean like Austin

Reeves he's he is really like he's also I look he just looks more comfortable and like we saw flashes of like what he's capable of but it feels like a lot of like i don't know there's just there's a little bit of breathing room and there are certain players that now feel that it's they're like i guess more comfortable stepping up and yes i needed that because we were in a bit of a hole there i mean they're still five and ten and to that point i know but look jabari look it was bad it was bad you're taking like three wins on the bounce you're like yeah i'll let's yes please something because you know we were talking about how bad it could have got really could have been uh and it luckily wasn't as bad but yeah it's still again like i said i'm trying to be very level-headed here and i will acknowledge progress when i see it and i don't

need to be like toxic be like man this whole thing this whole thing's trash. Blow it up, man. We're trying to get 18. Well, to that point. But I'm interested. We know how we feel about it. Let's get the outside opinion of someone that knows a thing or two about this league.

It's not completely ill emotionally from having to look at it like we do. Kobe, no pressure. No pressure whatsoever, but no. What do you think the ultimate answer is for the Lakers? Is it a matter of like, just try to get healthy and stay healthy and see how that goes? Or do you think they ultimately do make a move? I think for them, just get healthy, see where you go from there.

I don't, you know, even with they have made progress. Now I do want to also add in the context that this some of this progress has come. You only play who you can play, right? Yeah, yeah. No, I go schedules ahead of you. Wow. Can't even let me have that. Wow. But it's true. It's facts. OK, go on. You did beat a Brooklyn team that's also like trying to figure themselves out as well. Detroit, who I think as of last time I I checked they were at the bottom of these maybe

one of the bottom teams in the they were either one or two for the worst in the league and I know they're at the bottom of these and San Antonio who have taken like they after their hot start they were a team that if we were this you had me on like two weeks earlier I've been like yeah they're not passing my smell test in terms of like this is real and I think they've shown that but even with that you look at this team and i i ask myself like what's the ultimate like it was even if you can make like this big move i don't know if they can make that move and if without like a big move i don't know how they can get to what they were expected to be um but i think yeah this is a year

just to like i don't think you i don't think you really have the opportunity to, like, mortgage a bunch of your future in terms of this. Like, I think kind of just play it out with the guys that you have and just hope the guys you have turn around. Like, you still have a team with Anthony Davis and whatever LeBron will be once he comes back. Like, that is at least a team that should be competitive on a night-out basis. Six-man of the year, Russell Westbrook. Oh, yeah, and six-man of the year russell westbrook oh yeah and six man yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah now they put themselves into a what a two and ten hole so yeah like that's just so hard to overcome no matter of course of course yeah you know from here you just want to say all right let's see how we can compete and we

have to roll from there i mean we went from being like oh my what is happening to like at least been like oh right yeah anthony dave yeah yeah i remember him we just we went from like during the games texting each other like hey maybe to not text each other at all anthony davis so yeah no we they've they've pulled us back. Yeah, yeah. No, and I look, there's there's always promise on the horizon, I'd say. Also got a shout out Bones Island scoring twenty nine off the bench. Just, you know, no, no, no, no. Jokic. He's like.

I'm trying to like I'm trying to figure out who he reminds me of. You know, I'm going to say a name. Yeah, you can you can clown a name. Yeah, go ahead. You can clown me if you want. Go ahead. A lankier Nick Van Exel. He's herky-jerky in the same type of way. Got the flash.

He can put the ball on the floor. He'll do some things out there. Maybe not exactly. You're right. That's what it was that quick little bounce in the yeah yeah although like it's like it's like he was playing like in a like a kirkland signature john morant costume you know you had to call him the great value i'm just saying i'm just it's just a look it has nothing to do with his game you know what i mean but that's just that's

my comedic assessment of what i saw from a thousand feet away on my tv screen okay no shots of bones i think he's fantastic uh yeah and also we got just really quickly too all these wenbin yama clips i'm tired of this guy tired you better pack a lunch oh this broke my brain this broke my brain yeah that makes no sense he picked up his dribble like like 13 feet out man his drive rolls it i know honestly the way he plays we always use this comparison of like when you're the uncle playing against your nephew we're like you're just bigger and you're like yeah you're gonna be in my way but like watch me get this bucket like and also like you you'll try to block me but i'll just i'll just put it up higher on the glass in a place you can't get to and i feel like you're so huh it's that with a dunk ball

court i it's playing against little kids on an eight foot rim on a foot rim i'm like okay guess what they might as well put your faces on milk cartons because y'all gonna go missing after this it's playing against little kids on an eight foot rim on a foot rim i'm like okay guess what they might as well put your faces on milk cartons because y'all gonna go missing after this performance i'll put in uh yeah but it is i mean like there is something about just his like i don't know every time i look at it i'm like is it that he's a man among boys is it that he's a mutant among humans what is it it's just that he's that big with all those skills right there's nothing else i'm missing i was i was gonna you know defer to kobe but for me it's as simple as he's not a big man that you know has handles for a big man no he has guard handles yeah absolute guard skills at seven foot whatever and that's just ridiculous yeah a lot of times with

like guys like this, we think, Oh yeah, these, these guys are so skilled for big men. No, like Victor would be, if he was like six, seven,

six, eight, he would still be like ridiculous. The fact that he's seven, four is just kind of like, Oh, you're just cheating now. Yeah. Like this doesn't feel like you're,

you're, you don't need this. You just happen to have it. Right. Like a lot lot like these other unicorns like them being whatever seven but whatever it's kind of like oh yeah you kind of need this to like help your other skills because no this is where you're like oh yeah this is a dude with the six seven skill set he just hasn't been seven four he picked up his dribble

like a little bit behind the three-point arc. He starts to make his move to the basket. Yeah. And it's so fluid. He moves so fluidly. It's not stiff. It's very controlled. He has grace

for being a 7-plus player. Look, they called AD a unicorn, and he is. They called Porzingis a unicorn. That's fine. You can call those guys unicorns. This guy's a dragon. Yeah, yeah.

If those guys are unicorns, this is a dragon coming with handles. It's a new thing. Like I say, he's your 2K creative player with maxed out stats. Yeah. He's like, I don't know. Yeah, make him 7'5". Yeah, yeah. Make him dribbling 99 yeah

yeah make it like sure uh i'm like i've never seen anything like this but it is fun to watch let's take another quick break and we'll come back and close this episode out with the rapid fire round of questioning i hope you're ready kobe because this goes lightning quick. We'll be right back. It was December 2019 when the story blew up. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, former Packers star Kabir Bajabiamila caught up in a bizarre situation. KGB explaining what he believes led to the arrest of his friends at a children's Christmas play. A family man, former NFL player, devout Christian, now cut off from his family and connected to a strange arrest. I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. I got swept up in Kabir's journey, but this was only the beginning.

In a story about faith and football, the search for meaning away from the gridiron and the consequences for everyone involved. You mix homesteading with guns and church and a little bit of the spice of conspiracy theories that we liked. Voila! You got straight away.

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on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts. In a galaxy far, far away. No, babe, that's taken. We're in our own world, remember? Right. In our own world, we're two space cadets. And totally normal humans. Sure, totally normal humans. Embark on a journey across the stars, discovering the wonders of the universe one episode at a time.

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Most of the time. And we're back. And guess what, Kobe Price of the Orlando Sentinel? You've wandered in to the rapid fire round of questioning. This is the most high-paced question segment in all of sports history. Yeah, I said it. Prove me wrong. Show me the receipts because I cannot find any.

Anyway, what we're going to do is we're going to ask you a question. You just give us an answer. Just quick. Like I'm chest passing. You chest pass right back. Don't think about it. Just give me the answer. And do not take a long time because we have to keep the record in mind that this goes lightning quick.

And keep us on pace. Please keep us on pace. Jabari, thank you so much for joining me because you are the guest. I will allow you to ask the first question. No debate. Are you sure? Yes. Jabari, of course.

Come on, man. All right. All right. All right. You can get that clock. Yeah. Well, actually, let me look. Maybe I want to go. I didn't start the clock yet, so this part can be slow.

I mean, you can go. It's totally fine. I respect it. Let me... Your name is on the mark. Hold on. Let me go get a cup of water real quick. Kobe, look.

This is what we're talking about here. This is what we need you to keep us in line for. Yeah. Sorry, sorry, sorry. No, no, no. Jabari, you're going to go first. Start the clock all right kobe let's go you can pick any three dunkers from history for a contest but you also

get to pick any defender from history that gets to go up and challenge each dunk oh give me your dunkers and give me your defender clarification in game or just straight up just like this is a like a dunk contest it's a contest contest just attack the rim okay uh my dunkers are mj vince carter and zach lavigne wow who are they dunking on or who are they trying to dunk who are they trying to dunk on they are trying to dunk on matumbo. Ooh, okay. Matumbo, Rudy Gobert, and Patrick Ewing. Ooh, okay. So we got some Georgetown flair and the pride of France. Okay, I'm not mad at that.

Miles, would you have anybody else? No, I mean, as long as Vince Carter was said, that's all I was. I'll buy a ticket to that show doesn't matter whoever anybody else is like as long as vince carter's there yes please please all right i'll be a whole day so good i'll be a man kobe what do we say about this man you got to keep us going uh next question you have the chance to win ten thousand dollars to make a layup with each hand twenty five thousand dollars to make at least four or five free throws or a hundred thousand dollars to make at least three of five from d which challenge are you taking free throws oh no no mike and drill no is it easy money no no i'm

going for the free throws are you are you nice with it at the line oh yeah yeah no i mean it's free throws man like they're free. Wow. Okay. I've heard a lot of people say that before. Yeah. You just got to be like, look. You didn't say five for five. You said four or five, right?

Four or five. Four out of five. Yeah, so I missed the first one, and now I get in rhythm. Wow. Hey, FanDuel, FanDuel, can y'all give us 25 sacks? To make this happen? I want to see this happen. I get a cushion. If you said 5 for 5, I'd be like, yeah, let me get my mic and drill on.

If I get the cushion of 1, I'm going for it. If I miss, alright, babe. At least I went for something. Could you do 5 out of 6? See, that's where it gets the most. Yeah, that's the one. You're i'm feeling like mark price anymore are you okay i'm going layups on that one oh yeah that fifth one's like had him well again that but

again the question was about the four out of five so i don't mean to switch it up on you like you will take the four for five challenge for twenty five thousand dollars if If you do not make it, you owe us $25,000. I believe we agreed on that. Fanboy, please put up the money. Okay. I'm sorry. Who's going next? It's on me.

It's on me. Oh, yeah. All right, Kobe. You can travel back in time and attend any debut from any player in history. Which do you choose? Michael Jordan. Okay. Just that simple.

Just Mike. Doesn't matter. Just Michael Jordan Okay Just that simple just Mike doesn't matter Just Michael Jordan I want to see What it looks like in person when he's out here Making layups he was in the air For like 10 seconds at a time Now Kobe Price from the Orlando Sun Tell me what is it about Michael Jordan

I mean Kobe wait hold on wait We're not supposed to be elaborating it's your responsibility to keep us on task right here okay okay next question next question okay next question thank you I mean I'll ask questions here and I will right now Kobe Price what is a new rule you'd like to see implemented or altered effective immediately in the NBA in the NBA I think they do this in the g league uh it's the free throw rule i'm forgetting how to describe right now but they've been doing they've

done in the g league for a while and it's not just the take foul then they do something else with the free throw how they do it wait it says under the new experimental nba g league rule one free throw worth one two or three points will be awarded in the event of any foul that would typically result in one two or three free throws being shot under standard nba rules interesting yes i want to see yeah yeah i think it's supposed to uh that's it perfect i'm glad you found it it's supposed to like help to speed the game up i just want to see it i just want to see it yeah it's super gimmicky i know but i just want to want to see it. It is. This is your rule. I'd be perfectly fine if they did it one year

and they were like, alright, we're taking it out. I just want to see it. Just getting rid of it. I'm all here for just trying things out. Why don't you try this next question now, Kobe? Alright, let's go. Okay. Sorry, I wasn't ready for that energy.

Why don't you try this out, young man? All right, Kobe. You know, it's this time of year. As a matter of fact, this episode will be released on Thanksgiving. What are your top three Thanksgiving dishes? Dressing. Any sweet potato dish. With or without marshmallows?

Doesn't matter. Okay. You got to have it with marshmallows oh ham ham okay no mac and cheese okay no mac and cheese you know what i don't know but that's what makes it a tough choice oh wow okay so you're yeah dang it i just slept on mac and cheese i'll yeah you know what i'm it's yeah it's this is rapid fire i'm living with the mistake i know go ahead no no you can you can revise your answer because this will be recorded for all of history so you might as well get right with yeah no mac and cheese any potato dish and ham wow all right just got dropped oh hey you know what yeah somebody hasn't somebody hasn't made the cut yeah i think i would pick gravy as one just the gravy boat like you can't yo i should get in trouble man my grandmother yell at me because i was i was flooding that dish with gravy

she's like are you out your mind i'm like i don't know it's turkey dry what do you want me to do hey i mean that's a different conversation. And that kicked off the second phase of my Thanksgiving. Man, rest in peace to my grandparents. I miss y'all every day. And finally, gotta ask you, Kobe Price, what's a better name? Jack or Miles? Miles.

Alright, we heard it there. Kobe Price from the Orlando Sentinel has done it. He is a fantastic man with a plan. And please follow his coverage on the Orlando Sentinel where he follows the Orlando Magic. Kobe Price, thank you so much again for having us, man. Where can people follow you on the internet and read you and all that good stuff? Where can they find you? Yeah, as long as Twitter is working, you can find me at Kobe underscore Price, K-H-O-B-I underscore P-R-I-C-E on Twitter.

Hit me up there. OrlandoSensible.com Go to Orlando Magic page to find all my work. Even got a little, you know, got my little profile on there. See my picture. See my mug. Have fun with it. Yeah.

Like I said, as long as Twitter's working, you can find me on there. Not hard to find name is pretty unique so yeah okay perfect uh what about you jabari thanks again man for for hopping on today man what where did the people find you and to learn more about you i don't i don't mean to do the most long-winded segue but i have to that's the only thing i know how to do that's okay it's almost like i've never done this before, so I'm just stepping all over you the entire time. That's okay, though. Thank you for this opportunity, Jack. It's been an honor, even though I still couldn't get your name chosen at the end.

We tried. I'm easy. Jabari Davis, NBA. Like Kobe said, as long as Twitter is around. All right. And you can find us at MadBoosties, B-O-s-t-i-e-s did i spell that right yes i did uh and shout out to this week's boosties listener of the week at hoop realist uh we were asking people what you know what games do you want to travel back in time to experience

uh and hoop realist said i already had the list just locked and loaded jordan 63 versus celtics in the playoffs kobe's 81 uh 2001 game one for ai's classic okay the flu game and triple ot pistons versus nuggets game that ended in 186 184 in december of 83 that's a pull yes like first of all i don't think he's old enough to even have seen that game. Wow. That makes me... I'm sure... You saw that, Jabari? You've probably seen it. Come on, man. I was three. Stop this. I know, but you do like... You do finals, finals. You're always... You look at the historical record. You have access

to the archives. I've seen clips. I've seen clips of it, but yeah. Is that one of the highest scoring games? It has to be. Especially combined. Love to see it. You'll has to be it has to be especially combined love to see it you'll love to see it all right well you already know where to find us make sure you check back with us next week because we will be back with more mad boostiness uh and enjoy your holiday and all that and don't eat too much rest up all right see you later bye bye peace appreciate Appreciate y'all. 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.

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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. What happens when a professional football player's career ends and the applause fades and the screaming fans move on? I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite.

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