The Daily Zeitgeist - MJGMB #103: State of the Celtics with Josh Gondelman

Episode Date: March 6, 2024

Miles and Jack were very pleased to be joined by comedian Josh Gondelman on today's episode! The trio talk Josh's Celtics, their historic winning streak, the league being TOO DANG GOOD at offense, and much more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Guess who's back? Who came crawling back? They thought they could defeat us, but we are undefeated. It's episode 103, and guess what? we're talking about the boston celtics putting up i would say numbers from another dimension that we are trying to process what is happening with this team and are they going to go all the way and we'll also check in just just trying to ask our office is too good now are Are they just too good? Yes. Yeah, yeah. Please make the basket smaller.

Make the ball like a weird shape so that they can't make it as good. Yes, exactly. And we're going to be doing all of that with comedian Josh Gondelman on today's episode. I'm Miles Gray. And I'm Jack O'Brien. And this is

Miles and Jack O'Brien. And this is Miles and Jack O'Brien. Peace. lebron's got it with five he's gonna try another three mr lebron james oh man josh gondelman thank you so much for joining us he's not a gondelman he's a gondelman i'm always telling people that exactly they're like it makes sense the way Jay-Z says it, but not the way you say it. That doesn't work at all, man. For people who don't know, Josh has worked on everything, including last week, tonight. Mrs. Maisel, Desus and Mero. You got a new comedy special, People Pleaser, that's out now.

People Pleaser's out now? Yeah. On tour. Yeah. And I'm recording a new special in Brooklyn in June. Oh, yeah. Yeah. i'm all over the place i'm all over the country and then locking down this hour in brooklyn which i'm very excited for a little i need the home field advantage absolutely such a people pleaser he came back a second time on

our podcast and you're taking advantage of it we're thrilled to have you last time you were on i felt like it was in the postseason. I think it was in the summer. I think that's right. Yeah, we only had a lot of looking back to do and a bit for it. But now we're in the season. What are we, about three-fourths of the way through now?

Yeah, that's right. And man, I hate to say this, but I love to see it, I guess. Your Boston Celtics are freaking me out. They're freaking me out, man. They're freaking me out. The Celtics are in the midst of what is being described as, quote, perhaps the most dominant 11-game stretch in NBA history.

They have the largest point differential over any 11-game stretch in NBA history. They have the largest point differential over any 11-game stretch in NBA history. Seven points better than the next best, which was Buck's team with Lou Alcindor on it, which I believe that that was around the time they were like, we gotta change the rules, man. This guy's too good at basketball. So you guys are better than that team where everyone was like what we're i don't even want to be here anymore this guy's so good

where they're like we're so racist we need to make duncan yeah exactly exactly should we just do that what do we do here yeah yeah these are these this guy. What about that? What do you think the pitches were for rule changes? There's a new legal defense. You can crouch in the paint and push the offensive player over that guy's back. And that's a legal guard. And that's just hilarious. Yeah. Good old-fashioned fun.

Yeah. But I don't know. How has this felt from inside the head of a Celtics fan? I am finally starting to feel not confident, because I never feel confident as a person or a sports fan, but I'm starting to feel comfortable watching these games and enjoying them. And being like, oh, it's been since they lost to the lakers who had none of their starters playing that i was like this they shouldn't have lost this game right they've lost a couple of close games but most mostly they were losing occasionally against good teams and now they're doing the thing that i need them to do is just beating most good teams and beating the hell out

of bad teams that is yeah they're beating they've they've got 350 point wins this season which is more than any other team in nba history yes too that's too many i mean just that's like yes they're beating up on the amount of yeah that the celtics have in franchise history history yeah and they have three of them within the last like six months they're beating up on bad teams but they're also i think our last episode or maybe it was two episodes ago but we were talking about how the warriors were resurgent yeah and looked really good um last episode we were talking about how the celtics are like historically great so the celtics what you know those two uh it was called the boosties bowl you know the mad boosties. Everyone was like the two teams they talked about in the most recent episode.

What's going to happen? Like one of them is going to have to win. And the Celtics beat them by 52 points. It was like, not fair. It just seemed unfair. Again, I like back to the 1971 bucks.

I was like this, we got to do something here about the rule. Is this an exhibition charity game? Well, in fairness to the 1971 Bucks, I was like, we gotta do something here about the rules. Is this an exhibition charity game? In fairness to the Bucks, they didn't have Brandon Pajemski, so with him playing, it would have been a totally different game. Yeah, totally different thing.

Yeah, but that was, I mean, I listened to it on the radio. I was baking brownies for a little dinner party. Yeah, it was a nice time. I listened to the whole game on the radio. ESPM baking brownies for a little dinner party. I was listening. Yeah, it was a nice time. I actually listened to the whole game on the radio. ESPMradio.com? No, no, no. I did the local.

I do the NBA app. You can listen to the local call. So I listened to Mike Gorman and Cedric Maxwell. The Gormanster. Sean Grandy and Cedric Maxwell. Mike Gorman did TV. He's about to retire. But it was so fun.

And by the third quarter, they were going, well, this is about to turn into a podcast. Like they were just saying, we got nothing more to say about this. They were 44 at the half. And I like, I know sometimes for when it is not a team that you're interested in, you know, when you're just like, oh, what game is on Thursday night or Sunday afternoon? And it's a 40 point blowout at halftime. You're like, well,

I guess I won't watch the second half. And I kept the whole thing on and was just like, more harder. Right. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

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Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.. I had a great time. a good time. a good time. a yeah dr evil pinky finger to the corner of the lips just all the hovering off the ground yeah yeah yeah i had a great time oh man that's the best feeling in the world what's uh yeah why do you what about the expectation right because a lot of times we were headed we're getting closer to the postseason the celtics look amazing and are you you're fully embracing you're like this is like does it feel different are you doing the kind of thing where you're like i don't want to like put too much you know expectation on this because i don't want if in case the thing doesn't fall the way i need it to i don't feel you know

i'm not like we're doing it this is the year but it does feel different than the last couple years it feels like 2022 when they went to the finals, they had a terrible first half of the season, great second half of the season. This season they've played uniformly pretty well with a couple bad losses and a couple close losses to good teams and then one real blowout against the Bucs. So it's just like they've played uniformly well. They're playing better than they have all season right now and i kind of feel like if you don't let yourself believe at this point like when do you get to you know right and especially and i understand the answer to that might be when you win the title right and if that's your answer like if you're a warriors fan or a raptors fan that one time or whatever, then you can say that.

But like, I live around Knicks fans and they'll talk, they'll go up 10 in the first quarter and just be like, this is the greatest team of my lifetime. Yeah. Tom Thibodeau is a genius and my biological father. That's what I was saying last week, Jack,

my friend who was like, yo, Jalen Brunson's the goat. I was like, that's just how Knicks fans are. Like, it's like something's like this is it this is it i'm riding the wave truly respected so much as someone who

has has lived in i've lived in new york for about almost 13 years and i've like really come to respect and admire the way new yorkers like anytime there's a glimmer of hope for any of the teams they're like this is the year like right that and the yankees were like straight up bad this year and the red sox were worse but the yankees were bad and people at the beginning of the year were like this is it we're doing it yeah they were just so bad and then like and they never learn it's like the next year they'll just be like no this is the year well because they have like a propaganda tv network in msg and like the yankee network there is a whole television network that only shows wins it just shows you like historic

victories by the yankees so you could just like live there watch tv and assume the yankees had never lost a game it's truly like watching like the vladimir putin news exactly yeah they have that for sports in new york it's such an interesting thing i don't think it like i mean the lakers like have you know like there are definitely some laker biased channels and shows out here but there's not just like a closed universe where yankees yankee dumb reigns supreme it's interesting because there's also like that happens in europe too like real madrid and barcelona have their own tv channels that are 24 7 like glory days yeah some some teams are just like that where they're like no man sometimes you need to get stuck in a positive feedback loop

forever which i again i respect because knicks fans also will go straight to despair but as soon as there is like one crumb of hope they're just at 11 with confidence which i respect the knicks win two games in a row and every single person in new york city is just walking around with the confidence of like biggie freestyling yeah yeah the guy in the spider-man suit is out in front of MSG crip-walking and stuff. You're like, what? Okay, he's getting sturdy.

Yeah. But I will say, the Celtics are, I think last week, we were marveling at the fact that the Celtics had entered the top 10 for, not PER, net rating,

of all time. Of all time. They're on there with, with like Jordan's Bulls, the 72 win Warriors, like all these historically great teams. Since we talked about that last week, they've gone to like fourth, I think, or second, depending on which net rating

you're talking about. They are like a historically great team at a time when like, there, this is not a, this is not a year when anyone was like, Oh, there's not a lot of talent in the league. This is like as talented as the league has been.

There are definitely some teams that are, you know, it's not, there's not a ton of parody, like in terms of, you know, there are some pretty bad teams, but they are, they're doing historically great in a league that is as stacked as the league has ever been.

And they've had a few games. I think they beat the Wizards by four, and they went to overtime and beat the Pistons by two to barely extend their losing streak. They were going to be the ones they broke it against and they barely squeak that game out. And then they like close game against Dallas until the third quarter, one by 28, uh,

just absolutely ran away from the beginning. I'm a Sixers fan and we were playing you guys tight through the first half. And then it was just, it was like, Oh, you guys were sprinting oh no no okay we're gonna pull away now but that was to start yeah time to us to time for us like the effortlessness with which you guys just put us away like granted without mb but i don't know

that it matters at this point um i'm i like really i'm genuinely and i don't say this in a condescending way i'm genuinely sad that joelle and bead has been out for so long like it i first of all as a human person who's just like in pain every day yeah that must suck like my my wife is doing some physical therapy on her knees just from like general wear and tear and like that seems miserable and for him to be like i can't go to work because my my knees are just like i i'm there's no flesh i'm just skeleton under my skin yeah like that sucks and it's like such a wonderful worthy adversary like i know i love that clash i i don't love that he's like and i'm coming back this year regardless of what her record is like i love that it's like a professional wrestler move

yeah you're like oh he's coming back it doesn't yeah for the long-term health of the 76ers and him uh i i don't love that but i think this is good for the nba too because yeah i think the whole nation other than boston celdics fans roots against the celdics and now it's true i've been a lot of places the narrative structure the narrative structure of this season is rocky four like we have ivan drago in the nba right. It's the team that everyone doesn't like. They have actual Ivan Drago in the middle for them. They're like historically like punching the punch meter and it's like, you know, going to a million pounds and scientists glasses are breaking. Which I love that the Nuggets have Bizarro Ivan Drago on their team.

Right, yeah, yeah. For sure. Like, kind of the Sylvester Stallone of the NBA. Like, kind of looks funny, doesn't really seem to care that much. Yeah. He and Sylvester Stallone have, like, equally thick accents somehow. Yeah, you know. When you hear Stallone talk, you're like, are you like Italian from Serbia?

How is this happening? That's right. I want to be with my horses, you know? That's what I want to do. I just want to be a job. That's a good impression. Don't I got rights? Who are you? Is there anyone, you know, looking, you know Obviously, getting to the finals is step one.

Is there anybody you think is going to give you trouble at this point? I think Jack's been saying for a while, it's the Celtics versus the field probably, but is it the Bucs? Is there anyone you look at? Obviously, you're not going to be cocky, but who do you actually like? This is one thing

I am. We really will have to rise to the occasion and show a little bit of a different dimension from past years to get through and get it done i do think it would feel significant to beat the heat this season i think like there is it feels like there's a real narrative that the heat have like dominated the celtics which in the past three conference finals the heat have won or that theyics, which in the past three conference finals, the Heat have won, or that they played against each other.

The Heat have won two, the Celtics have won one. So this feels like legitimately a rivalry, but Miami Heat fans are like, no, we're a yacht. Like, that's your rowboat.

And it's like, no, like let it be a rivalry. Like it's not, you know what I mean? To be like, you guys suck, we rule.

And it's like, no, both can be good. And that's, that's like what a clash you guys suck we rule and it's like no both can be good and that's that's like what a clash of the titans are yeah right you know you guys are bad at basketball actually turns out yeah leave it alone yeah that sucks we're in seventh you're in first leave it alone yeah yeah well i mean and then there's the national thing of like the heat the heat have the league right where they want them way on top of them and it's like like truly it's what they accomplished last season was great and i think that that it was a pretty crushing eastern conference finals and so i think it would

be nice to vanquish them but i think the heat and the bucks are tough i like don't and you know famous last words but like i don't have a lot of fear of the knicks even at full strength i don't and you know famous last words but like i don't have a lot of fear of the knicks even at full strength i don't have a lot of fear of the calves even at full strength at this point um and i like can't believe we would live in a physical reality where joelle and beads knee is sufficient to like for a deep playoff run this year yeah and then it's the nuggets right like out yeah yeah yeah that's i mean like i'm at the point where i'm rooting's the nuggets right like out west yeah yeah yeah that's i mean like i'm at the point where i'm rooting for the nuggets because i think they're the only team that has a chance of beating the selden yeah yeah i think the nuggets have the best chance for sure

i think it would be a real knockdown drag out series with um with the the thunder and maybe the wall the timberwolves i don I, I have a little less confidence in them, but I, I just feel like Shea Gill, Shea Gill, just Alexander is to this point in the season. He would be number one if I had an MVP ballot. Yeah. I think that's perfectly fair. And I, I will say on the record, I, I'm a huge Jason Tatum fan. I think the, like, should he be the MVP of the league conversation feels like a little manufactured. He's just so good. But like,

but I also, as a hater, as a true Bostonian and hater, anyone who votes Luca Donchic top two is just absolutely out of their mind. Like you can't, their team is too bad. It's like, oh yeah, sure.

The most valuable player, he heroically brought the Mavs to a 46 win season. Right, right. Yeah, with like a 98% usage. Yeah, like he's amazing at basketball, but it's like, let's be serious here. Yeah. Amazing highlight reel though.

One of the best shot makers. Unbelievable. Should we take a break and come back and talk about how the league is too good and you need to make it worse? It's too good. Get this off my airwaves. I hate looking at it.

It's so boring. All these shots go in. It's like watching a circle. 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. 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.

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B.C.? I didn't realize how old the hot dog was. Listen to Hungry for History as part of the My Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back and i mean just quickly around the league bucks also looking good uh it's kind of getting drowned out by the fact that the celtics have won an 11 in a row but the bucks are six and oh post uh in the danilo galanari era is what Bucs fans are calling it. That's what Bucs are calling it. The Danilo Gallinari era. Yeah.

The Gallinari era. Undefeated. LeBron James put in his 40,000th point. There was a cool computer graphic of every one, like a shot chart of every one of his shots going in. It was kind of fun to watch. I like watching a shot chart. Yeah.

Give me more shot charts. Might have been Kurt Goldsberry. Someone did a Caitlin Clark shot chart. And I was like, I to watch i like watching a shot chart yeah someone give me more shot charts might have been kurt goldsberry someone did a caitlin clark shot chart and i was like i'll watch this till it's done oh my god yeah yeah um caitlin clark i mean broke the all-time ncaa scoring record topped pete maravich uh and is going into the draft this offseason. And then on the other side of the spectrum, Washington. We didn't, nobody thought it was possible for somebody to catch Detroit. But they are now, they now have a worse record than Detroit. They're 39 and a half games back. Detroit's only 39 games back from the Celtics. So it's, yeah, 9-51 versus 9-52.

I'm starting to think it's not their year. There's still time, right? Wasn't Kuzma saying something like, you don't want to lose to that team? Yeah. At this point, just don't be that team talking about the Detroit losing streak. It's like, you're them. Well, well, well.

Yeah. Jordan Poole is having an absolute laugh, though. Laugh. He's having a laugh over there. All right. Now the real question. Yeah. there. All right. Now the real question. Tim Botemps and Kevin Pelton over on ESPN explored the

topic that was on all our minds. Have offenses become too good? Yes. Yeah, right? Yes. I come for the misses. I come for the rebounding, the box outs.

My favorite thing is seeing the ball go off the heel of the rim. Yeah. Just a clank. Straight up in the air. I love when a rebound. Like a hard iron sound. When a rebound would go past the three-point line if no one picked it up. That's what I want to see.

I like the rebound. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Just like real stiff rebound. The miss is so much worse than anyone expected it. Everyone just kind of walks out with a little

exasperation to get it. I love a shot clock violation. Oh man. Now you're talking my language. Give me some show vies. Some 10 second violations. Love it all. The article's incredible because they answer the question repeatedly.

At first they're like, some people say it's a rules change. The rules did change back in 2004. I think it was. They've been the same for 20 years. Nothing changed. For same for 20 years. Yeah. And nothing changed.

Yeah. Well, for at least 10 years. Yeah. The thing that changed, they asked Mike Brown, who's been coaching since 2005, and he's just like, no, everyone's just way better now. Everyone's gotten better, man. better man like the shot making is incredible and we're getting great nba players from literally like every country on earth yeah like it's it's also there were like 25 years of nba history where it was just like uncouth to shoot three pointers right right right people look at the line and be like shots okay i'm certainly full i couldn't more yeah for sure it was just like impolite for a long time and that's why the scores were low and then

people were like maybe we should practice these shots that are worth more points and now they're amazing at it and it's like yeah it's incredible yeah well i don't know if there's anything that could be done to like curb today's record scoring. Guys are just so freaking good compared to back then that it would be tough. It'd be tough. That's Mike Brown being like, compared to when I was also an NBA coach 10, 15 years ago, guys are just way too good at scoring. The thing that people come to nba basketball games

to see people are shooting the best ever from three-point range and these aren't like just open looks these are like contested shots they're playing defense yeah yeah they're making more free throws turnovers are at their lowest that's like again like turnovers they're taking care of the ball they're doing all the things that your high school basketball coach shouts at you to do yeah make your free throws and take care of the ball they're doing both of those things we're running ladders for every for every turnover no no no i think the one proposal that i heard that i was like actually this sounds kind of good is to for the I forget who said it was different ball shapes. It was me earlier.

Different ball shapes. Right. Yeah. The genius from earlier. The reps to call games more like the playoffs. So to let it get a little more physical. And I think the one the good thing about that is it empowers great defenders because I do like watching great defenders play defense but also when there are fewer calls there are fewer replays so you also thin out the replays right because

it's not just like oh i called a foul is it a foul or is it not it's like it's not a foul and you have no chance to say yeah sorry yeah yeah um so i'm like oh yeah sure like that's that seems exciting but outside of that it's like let's get do away with the corner threes why yeah right like so that you just can't shoot them anymore yeah why what what what would that even look like the three-point arc would just end over there just yeah it would just stop it would be like a map in the 1400s that there's just dragons painted on the court. Here there be monsters. The land of the lost. Like, do not go there. But yeah, this is so silly.

Yeah. I mean, also just on a continuum, like we've said, even from the start of this show, players are getting better and better. It's fun to watch people get better and better. And not only that, the game is becoming more popular around the world and we're getting there's just more people there's just a larger sample of people that are getting

better and better at basketball and we just benefit from that i mean i get the thing of like being like hey let them play because i i do miss those you know like 90s playoff basketball um but at the same time like seeing some of these performances you're just like what is going on and how i i also think it's not like we're not seeing thrilling defense played right like right numbers too high is like a bananas complaint like you watch an all-star game and you go right oh that's what it looks like when nobody plays defense yeah exactly watch victor when banyama play and you're like he's making defensive plays that i've never seen before i just watch him play defense i like pay attention

to only him on defense because no one's human body is capable of playing defense like that so it's like okay there there are examples right like there are teams that are worse at defense so it's not like defense doesn't make a difference in the league does that make sense yeah like you watch the the celtics you watch the timberwolves the knicks when they're healthy and you're like oh yeah these teams can like lock down when it's time to lock down it's just that like the level of locking down has has gone up with the the you know the floor is a little higher the ceiling's a little higher but but if defense weren't a thing, then there wouldn't be teams that were better at it.

Their shot making has gotten so good that they can lock down less than they used to. Yeah, totally. But they'll still lock down and the shot making is just at a different level. It's a

luxury that they have now. And like that, the thing with the playoffs is, yeah, the refs call it a little bit differently, but also people are playing much more intensely, you know, at a higher level with more physicality because it's like one of,

you know, seven, it's not one of 82. And so it's just a change of the mentality yeah but yeah i truly i think the thing that people are witnessing is that basketball more than any other sport is like everyone's getting better every season like you can just see it like the like i remember watching like basketball in the 90s and then like seeing a clip from the 80s and being like who are these guys out there just like running around with like mustaches you know

guys like in short shorts with like big knee pads and like he's just doesn't yeah there's no athleticism and then the 90s it got better and now if you look at like today's players compared to then it's just a completely different level of everybody being able to make shots make like more difficult shots it's incredible um and it's fun like that's what's great about the nba yeah who's ever seen a made basket in the nba and been been like, this is an affront in the eyes of basketball fans. Well, cause you have like, you know, like, you know, Drew Holiday has said, like, just let us play a little bit more physically. Yeah. And then I can then like, you know, cause those are like, that's sort of like the level of dissent is like people.

I don't know if people are going to put up. He said, quote, people like to see people get 60 and 70 and do all that. How are you going to do that? If somebody can be physical and be handsy and be aggressive in that way? So I personally don't think that the balance is there. And that's more level than people being like, it's completely off balance. The world's gone haywire. Yeah, that's a small tweak.

And Joe Dumars, he's just saying like, yeah, man, a lot of people are calling us saying, like, you need to look into this. And he's just saying for his sort of defense here is, quote, it's not to that point yet in terms of like looking at what can be done specifically from a rule standpoint. It's like, well, we're diving into the data right now. Just a ton of film and putting together a ton of reels to be able to look at this and go, OK, yeah, we do have a problem. But you don't make changes like that just on an anecdotal call. And to his point too, I think he said people are like with all these high scoring games, people were like, did you see what Booker did?

Did you see what Embiid did? Did you see like, those are, those are the moments that I am texting other people about. Cause it is just so different. And yeah, there's some people who are like, well,

it's cause they don't play defense, but at the same time, like, yeah, but I think it's cool to see somebody just go out of body like that. Yeah. And like Carl Anthony Towns scoring 60 in a loss. And it's like, that's like 70 to win.

There wasn't a Carl Anthony Towns 20 years ago. There wasn't like, you know, until like Dirk Nowitzki started shooting from distance at that size it's like that that guy just didn't exist in in 1992 whatever 33 32 years ago they would have had him on the block just like thumping against other guys and so it's like oh yeah that beautiful style of basketball and it came from outside of the u.s you know it was like oh yeah what and now we have mb who's like what if shack had the touch of dirt like oh yeah joelle mb the the what he does for the myth of you can't shoot free throws because you're a real hands are too big yeah funny we're just like someone should just make shack watch joelle mb shoot free throws for like an hour and be like and you couldn't have gotten half this good it's my wrist okay i don't have the same reflection big hands yeah so silly it's

it's such a goofy like it's such an espn pilled conversation like you've gone through the looking glass to their defense i think they knew that because the article is like a just a very clear like has like five great arguments like it turns out the biggest driver in the nba's recent rise in scoring is teams getting smarter about how to attack defense it's just like no everyone's better and smarter and doing exactly what they should do if they want to score yeah and drew holiday is also like exactly the guy who would make that argument right of like yeah you let me body a guy up and he's not gonna score 70 yeah i believe that from him he's a guy that like me makes his money being just like an incredible defensive player

and he would be more incredible if the rules permitted but like do we want is that what we want from the league so what we need yeah uh when you guys got through holiday i was just like we're all screwed let's all right maybe maybe in five years put it to bed i was so sad when they traded marcus smart i was in i remember where i was i was in oklahoma city and i was like in on a in a hotel room and i was just like oh man i'm sad about this team it's it's like the end of an era and then they got through holiday and i'm sad about this team it's it's like the end of an era and then they got drew holiday and i was like or is it oh yeah it's like he's really filled the marcus smart shaped hole in my heart he's or as they say where i'm from the marcus smart shaped hole in my hat

yeah smart shaped hole in the hat uh amazing let's uh should we take a break and come back and put josh through the gauntlet yeah the gauntlet man oh yeah that's what you think and then uh ready come at you got some got some tough ones for you jock we'll be right back when you think of mexican culture you think of avocado, mariachi, delicious cuisine, and of course, lucha libre. It doesn't get more Mexican than this. Lucha libre is known globally because it is much more than just a sport and much more than just entertainment. Lucha libre is a type of storytelling. It's a dance.

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or wherever you get your podcast. And we're back. I've heard Miles say and we're back oh that i've heard miles say and we're back before but not licking his chops right he's he's he's at playoff intensity he's not like this dialed in i'm in the matrix right now i've never seen him like this josh we love you man We love you But it's time To cook you I'm ready In the fourth quarter It's the rapid fire round

Of questioning the fastest Question and answer segment Of all sports podcasts In history On an NBA podcast Hosted by two guys Who also do a daily show About news and politics

That's right Very specific category Top three in that category Top three I mean to be fair Top three in that category Yeah Exactly

That's right So we are two. Okay. So here we go. Say one. If it was one. There we go. Two in the league.

Just say two. It's okay. We're going to the south of France. Just say south France. And the south of Boston. Yeah. I'm from the south. Yeah.

Not a southie. I'm from the south of Boston. Now get ready southie. I'm from the south of Boston. Now, get ready, Josh. We're going to ask you a question. Just don't think, respond, reply rapidly so we can maintain our crown of being in the top three. Okay? Okay.

Here we go. You've done it before, so I don't have to tell you anything, but I do have to tell... Brian, start the clock! Okay. Brian, start the clock. Okay. Brian, just do what he says.

Yeah. He did it. He did it. He's got it. He's got it. What do you want to do? You want to start first? Yeah. Why don't you want to start first?

I start first. Okay. Yeah. Here's an easy one. We're talking nineties throwback jerseys. Okay. You can pick three of these nins throwbacks to preserve forever what are your top three 90s throwbacks from this image we are going sonics obviously for posterity

the gary payton sonics yep yep yep late 90s yep we are basketball in orbit around the sonics logo yeah yeah it rules um we are going suns incredible basketball streaking across the jersey yeah and then this guy likes basketballs and his logos yeah and then we're switching it up hawks we're going charlotte hornets classic starter jacket colors yes larry johnson charlotte hornets colors that was honestly such an iconic era like aesthetically in the nba like when that when that team was out i remember buying like every pair of converse like i used to be a nike head but grandmama incredible that blew my mind i was like mom i need cons with react juice i need cons i need cons with the react juice not the regular ones there's no juice in these cars what the heck this ain't react juice

this is capri sun in here yeah i know this one it's the fruit punch one uh we got purple stuff react juice uh what do you want yeah all about the react yeah i never fully understood the promise the physics that were implied by react juice it was like i go this way the juice goes the other way it balances you out and allows you to react i don't know yeah don't worry we were it Don't worry. You know how you play your best basketball when your shoes are wet? Just imagine that. The heaviness of wet shoes.

Yeah, exactly. You ever been in the rain and your shoes get soaked down to the insole? Squash around out there and react juice. Converse. We react juice. Just a clip of Larry Johnson dunking with like a Converse React juice Just a clip of Larry Johnson

Dunking with like a Sound as he takes off Alright we got some more likely to happens For you More likely to happen More likely to happen and why Orlando Magic Eastern Conference Finals run Or the Cleveland Cavs

Eastern Conference Finals run? Cleveland Cavs Eastern Conference Finals run but neither one's going to happen. That's the correct answer. That is correct. No. Thunder or Wolves Western Conference Final run? I think Thunder.

I think Shea is the best player on either of those teams. Yeah. Shea is so good. Did you see them lose to the Lakers? I don't know if you guys got that. They lost to the Lakers. I don't know if you saw that. Thunder lost to the Lakers. Yeah, yeah. I did see that. And Miles, you were proposing

a rule. You were saying, the offensive defensive balance is fine. And this is just an idea that you're spitballing here, but do you want to pitch it to Josh? The offensive-defensive balance is fine. Rule change proposal. This is just an idea that you're spitballing here. Do you want to pitch it to Josh? Yes. It's called the warrior logic of the ancient times. You assume the position in the standings of the team you beat.

Oh, sure. Kind of like Mega Man, you steal their power. Exactly. Thank you. I think that's fun. Or Man, you steal their power. Exactly. Thank you. I think that's fun. Or Rockman for my Japanese listeners. Yes. I thought you were going to say any player who is 39 and over, they get an extra 0.5 points for every basketball. Oh, no, no, no, no. We don't need to say this and curse the Lakers, but it is interesting to me that of all the teams in the top net rating,

top 10, the only ones that didn't win the title were beat by LeBron James teams. Yeah. I know. He's really good. He's still pretty good. He's good when he wants. He's good when he can be.

Yeah. We just need it to be a little more consistent. Anyway, it's not about them. It's about you. Who's more likely to happen? What's more likely to happen what's more likely to happen to what tatum finals mvp or yokich second finals mvp oh i think yokich second finals mvp because i think that there's a better chance that if the celtics, it could be one of a couple guys. And I think if the Nuggets win, it's Jokic. Yeah.

I see. I see. Okay. Okay. That's fair. The Celtics are stacked. How you say stacked? How you say stacked in Bostonian? How you say stacked?

That's still on again. Yeah, it's still on. Hey, what are you guys? How you say stacked? What is the one moment or game from NBA history you wish Twitter had been around for? Oh, man. That's a great question. One game from NBA history.

I think what's like maybe the Rudy Tomjanovich punch. Oh, my God. Maybe that or you know what i think the greatest i think this would have sent new york city like new york city's power would have gone out from all the tweets is um stark's dunking over jordan yeah oh yeah yeah yeah new york any of the servers just exploding it's been so long since they've been good that like i that's a really good point like that's gonna be a whole social media event when they're making finals runs like oh yeah oh my god oh yeah insufferable oh it's gonna be so bad yeah um who's the most underrated NBA social media follow? Ooh, that's a good question.

I'm not, I don't follow a ton of players. Um, I do think, um, I do love both art, but make it sports and NBA. I think NBA dance is great. Yeah. Yeah. I have the Jason potato hat where it's Jason Tatum has a little potato. I almost got my dad, the Derek Walter White hoodie, which is Derek White in front of the van from Breaking Bad.

That's incredible. With the shaved head now, obviously. This is pre-shaved head. Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah. I feel like a better moment. Yeah, right. Just his little flat top with the brim around it.

Right, right. They should have one of him chasing down opposing player that says i am the one who blocks that would be pretty i mean i like that i like that that's i i hope they're listeners i mean they probably are we are the number two nba uh actually i'm already i'm already selling it on red bubble now i just designed it using ai it's for sale now. Yeah, look for my Redbubble store. All right.

NBA player who is not Blake Griffin that could have a comedy career. You know who's been... I've been really thinking about whether this guy's funny or he's just on a heater right now. Luke Cornett. Luke Cornett is funny? He hit a shot and then did this weird like celebration where he was just kind of like karate chopping his face and then he recently

they talked about this on no dunks today but celtics twitter was a buzz about it the other day that they were like favorite movie villain like one of those like in arena prompt like little bumpers and luke cornett went personal trauma from goodwill hunting oh my god which is so funny that's really good yeah i think he's cornett i'm gonna i did i made a mental note today to be like i gotta reach out to my sources to see if he's really funny yeah right right oh man Oh man. Okay. Boosty's listeners will know. Boosty's listeners will know. Lou Cornette from. The. Inventor of the Cornette contest.

Yes. Which. I think. I haven't seen as much of it this season. But I feel like we're going to start seeing it. Come back. Because. Wenbing Yam is going to use it.

To actually block shots. Somehow. Oh yeah. Oh easily. From the paint. Yeah. Like Mr. Burns blocking out the sun. Yeah. Exactly. Hauser did it in the game against the warriors i think and then shouted out uh cornet after so it's so funny yeah it's a thing

it's a thing that's what you showed when you did it used to be kobe but now it's Cornette. Cornette. You jumped straight up. Okay. And this is a real important question, Josh. Okay. You're on a life raft in the sea, and you come upon Jason Tatum and Bill Russell in the water. They need help, but you can only fit one more person in the raft.

Who are you saving? Look, Bill Russell's playing days are long behind him as he did pass away a couple years ago. Wow. He is an American civil rights icon. So I think it has to be. And he's an older man, less good at swimming. So there you go. Assuming he's still alive and old.

Yeah, Tatum's going to swim. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's got that. He's got the fight in him. He's playing those 38 minutes a game bill russell gets in the raft or nine rings in 11 years gets you in the raft or 11 and 13 gets you in the raft yeah that's fair that's fair that's fair yeah we're trying to design that question to really really put a twist how about this what if it were twan or paul pierce

How about this? What if it were Twan or Paul Pierce? Oh. I think I'm taking the truth. Yeah. He's such a funny figure around the league where he just goes to Celtics regular season games like

a 22-year-old at his old high school. Yeah, just in there. They're like, you know who I am? Yeah, this is Paul Pierce. Yeah, yeah, that's me. Yeah, and they're like you know who i am yeah this was paul pierce yeah yeah that's me yeah you're like one of the best ever play for our team yeah yeah i just wanted to make sure yeah it says on my jacket yep what was the best uh anecdote we got from doc rivers's brief break from coaching was when he was talking about how the Celtics coaches, when Paul would get on the team bus with his sunglasses on,

they would be like, Oh no, Pierre's here, which meant like he'd gone out the night before. Like he was not going to be very good. Oh, Pierre documentary about hungover. Paul Pierce called Pierre up there.

Pierre up there. Josh Gondelman yeah what a pleasure yeah another one in the books thank you so much for doing it where can people having me where can people find you follow you see you all that good stuff i'm at josh gondelman across social media josh gondelman.com for tour dates uh i'm going all over the country, coming up Bloomington, Indiana next, and the New Orleans. Shooting a special in Brooklyn, June 21st. Tickets still available for the late show. And I do a weekly newsletter called That's Marvelous.

That is, it's free. You can sign up for it. It's full of pep talks. And sometimes I talk hoops, but I think a lot of people get bored when I do that. So it's all right. Well, here, come back and do that with us. Thank you.

I appreciate it. This was such a pleasure, as always. And make sure you follow the hashtag MadBoosties, B-O-O-S-T-I-E-S, for show links, updates. You can follow me on Twitter at MilesOfGrey. I'm at Jack underscore O'Brien. And that's going to do it for us. Another one in the books. Man, they said, I mean, more than anything,

they said, yes, they said we couldn't make it to 100 episodes. They definitely said no chance 103. Well, look at us now. Look at us now. Yeah. And another banner. That's right. Dr. Carter, you were wrong.

All right. That'll do it for us. We'll see you next week or we'll hear you next week. Take care. Bye. Yo, Pierre, you want to come out here? I'm Kerry Champion

and this is season four 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. Katelyn 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. Señora Sex Ed is not your mommy's sex talk. This show is la plática like you've never heard it before. We're breaking the stigma and silence around sex and sexuality in Latinx communities. This podcast is an intergenerational conversation between Latinas from Gen X to Gen Z. We're your hosts, Diosa and Mala. You might recognize us from our first show, Locatora Radio.

Listen to Señora Sex Ed on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.