The Daily Zeitgeist - MJGMB #105: Are the Nuggets Inevitable? with Tony Jones

Episode Date: March 20, 2024

The guys were pleased to be joined by The Athletic's NBA writer Tony Jones for today's episode. The trio discussed the state of the Denver Nuggets, the Knicks and the postseason, the future 'face of the league' and more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. 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. I'm Keri Champion and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore

the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry, Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Well, they could never stop this show. We're back, baby. Oh, you didn't know? Oh, you didn't know? Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, I got a newsflash for you. But it seems like what we've been thinking all along, it's probably set to happen with the Nuggets and Celtics just on some kind of collision course again this June.

But there's still a couple teams out there. There's a lot of fun getting there, though. Yeah. There's some teams out there that, you know, want to voice their opinion. Maybe they have something to say. And we have a great guest to discuss that with today. NBA writer Tony Jones on today's episode. I'm Miles Gray.

And I'm Jack O'Brien. And this is Miles and Jack got mad boosties. And Luka Dacic hits 10K. There you go. And the driving, spinning, fading hit. LeBron's got it with five. He's going to try another three. Mr. LeBron James. Giannis with the take.

Uh-oh, look out. No showtime. What you got, Giannis? Tony Jones. Tony Jones. NBA writer for The Athletic. You cover in both the Utahah jazz and the that and the the the the the denver nuggets yeah uh and of course the nba at large thank you so much for

joining us again man have you been thank you so much i expected confetti so i'm just a little disappointed but hey other than that this is perfect man i appreciate y'all thanks for having me yeah we had a bit of a mishap our last episode. Our air cannon that launched it injured my neighbor. A bird flew in there and it got nasty. That sounds morbid. Yeah, but luckily this is an audio podcast, so it was just only for past guest Blake Wexler to be traumatized by. But yeah, we're here. We're all right. We're all right. We're all right. Where do we start? Where do we start?

I mean, should we start with the nuggets are they just inevitable i guess since the last time we recorded the nuggets uh beat the celdics pretty i mean it was it was a good game um yeah i mean the i i think both teams were like treating it like an important game. It was maybe a preview of what we're going to be seeing in a couple months. And the Nuggets just... I don't know. A lot of people are like, it's inevitable at this point. The Nuggets are going to do it again. I don't know if that's necessarily the case, but they did.

I'm personally rooting for whoever's not the Celtics. And so that gave me a little bit of ease, as well as a fan-sided article I'm going to talk about a little later on. But what did you see, Tony? You know, that's a good question, whether I think the Nuggets are inevitable in the Western Conference. And, you know, I think the thing that we have to acknowledge is that they're the best team in the Western Conference, right?

Right. They are definitely the best team in the Western conference, right? Like, right. They are definitely the best team. Um, but the, the other question is, you know, can Phoenix knock them off? Are they capable of knocking them off?

Are they Phoenix? Okay. Yeah. The, the temple wolves or, uh, the Oklahoma city thunder, you know,

capable of knocking them off. And, you know, I don't know. Like, I would favor Denver in every series in the Western Conference that they could face for differing reasons. And, you know, I think the Celtics should be inevitable in the Eastern conference. Like, I don't think that there's any team, um, that's, you know, uh, playing on their level, uh, in the Eastern conference or at that level,

maybe Milwaukee could get there, uh, because, you know, Damian Lillard is such a playoff riser. Um, you know, but this seems like the Celtics year, and this seems like the year where if they don't at least get to the finals, that should be considered a lost year for them. So I do think that the West is a little bit more murky. I think it's a little bit more – it should be more competitive. But I do think that going into the playoffs

that Denver should be the favorite in the Western Conference. The West is so bizarre. Golden State, Lakers, Suns are 10-9-8. And then Dallas. That's the play-in. Those are the play-in teams right now. It's just nobody knows anything, obviously, heading into the season. But I don't think many people had OKC, Minnesota, the Clippers as three of the top four teams.

So it is very strange. And then Denver seems like this island of predictability in the middle of it all. So we'll see. But I am counting on J yokich to carry the day against the celtics if it does come to that there is i wonder like do you think there's this thing that because it feels so inevitable whenever there's anything other than like a victory people like i don't know what's going on with the nuggets man like because what they're like 11 and 2 since the all-star break and like those two losses were that kairi left-hander from another

dimension i was uh i was impressed by that miles you were less impressed by that look like i said i could do that you know what i mean over yokich come on yeah you're like with this i'm like but that's what you have to do to win the game you know what i mean and it's that i'm sorry do you not like winning yeah i'm i. How, how would you have done it? Cause there's no other way to do that except to be as audacious as, as that man was there. And then the other one was like a, uh,

was an overtime loss. But do you think there's something about that sort of like expectation that for, for people who are watching and, and wanting the nuggets to win that they're like, Oh man, I don't know, man.

Like it, like it's almost too much like, yeah, they're, they're human beings. They're not going to win. They're not going to win out from here. There's going to be anomalies or, you know, just certain performances that kind of shake the trend.

Well, I think the thing that we have to, you know, consider in the Dallas game is that, you know, Dallas raised their level to Denver's level. You know, I don't think that Denver played badly and especially down the stretch right like last five minutes of the game excluding the final possession where you know Jamal Murray you know atypically missed uh a 15 good look yeah it was a really good look and I was actually shot the the mistake of that that possession was that jamal murray went so early that he should have went two seconds later yeah but i wouldn't have gone that early and i also would have made it that was the my two thing my two notes for him you got to make too early and i listen it's hard for me to understand why you did it the way you did it uh i would have tried to make it right right, right, right.

Sorry for saying, Tony. I was shocked that he missed it, but beyond that final possession, Denver got pretty much what it wanted down the stretch when it became winning time. They got good shots. They made good shots.

Jamal hit the three, the possession before. He had another three, a couple possessions before that. He had a layup possession before that. Jokic had an easy post up on Doncic. So that's, you know, four possessions and 10 points in, you know, the last two or three minutes, you know, out of about four possessions. I think Denver scored on a number of consecutive possessions down the stretch, and they took a three-point

lead. Dallas just raised their level, and Dallas played up to that level, which is what you have to do in order to beat Denver. Denver's never going to play below. They're very rarely going to play below a certain level. And they're always, you know, and obviously they can raise their game to a level where, you know, it's hard to read.

It's hard for any other team to reach. But, you know, like you said, they're 11 and two beyond the all star break. They're playing like the best versions of themselves. the all-star break. They're playing like the best versions of themselves. They began the quote-unquote second half of the season multiple games behind the number one seed. They briefly took over the number one seed a couple of times in the last week. I think that Denver is happy

with where they are. i think they're happy with uh how they're playing and you know i think that you know the down the stretch you know they want to be playing like what they consider the best versions of themselves and they want to be healthy and i think that they're two for two in that right now. Yeah. Looking at the other team that we're talking about, inevitability with. The Celtics have won six straight, lead the Eastern Conference by 10 games.

The other thing, other than the Nuggets game, made me feel a little bit like, okay, maybe this isn't an inevitability. The past couple episodes, we've talked about how their net rating is historically great. And usually teams,

like their top four, I think, or they were pretty recently a top four net rating team. And like anybody in the top 10 is usually either winning the title or losing to LeBron. Getting, losing to LeBron. Losing to LeBron, essentially. One analysis that I read this week that kind of made sense to me

is that when you look at those teams, their best player is almost always way better than the rest of their players. The old cliche in the nba is like you want to gamble on the team with the best player whoever the best player is is going to win you the playoff series and of the six teams to like finish the season with a net rating of plus 11 or greater their best players uh box plus minus is on average 9.2 and the lowest from that group is kevin garnett having 8.2 for the celtics in 0708 this season celtics best player is tatum at like 5.2 which is not

like it's a it's really good but it's not like. I think it's like 11th in the league. So I guess it's elite, but it's not to the, to the level that those top 10 teams usually are. And that, I guess that kind of coincides with what I see from the Celtics every season when they're expected, you know,

the advanced stats are like, they're going to win the title. Um, they go into the playoffs and feeling inevitable the thing that usually derails them is that like at there's that moment when it it's up to their best player to take over and he just hasn't been able to do that and i guess that's borne out a little bit by the advanced stats that like they're the best team one of the best teams ever because of how dominant they're the rest of their team is and not their best player which could be a problem in the playoffs i guess is the theory of

the this fan-sided article we'll link off to in the footnotes. But I thought it was an interesting analysis. You know, I think it's an interesting analysis, and I think it's fair. But I think, you know, every case should be taken in and of itself. And if you look at what the Celtics are in the Eastern Conference, and if you look at them realistically, realistically, the only team that should be able to, on paper, take them to seven is Milwaukee, just because, you know, Giannis is so great, and he's always been, you know, a playoff riser.

And Damian Lillard, like I said, he's, you know, one of the best playoff risers and Damian Lillard, like I said, he's, you know, one of the best playoff risers that, that, you know, we've seen in the last, you know, 10 or 15 years. For what those metrics say to matter about Tatum, the series has got to be close. And if you're Boston and you get, let's say you get Atlanta or you get, you know, if they, you know, let's say, let's give Miami a lot of respect and say they can take two games off of Boston. You know, it still should be a multiple game series. And, you know, they should be favored by multiple games over everybody they play.

And, you know, they should be favored by multiple games over everybody they play. And outside of, you know, possibly Milwaukee and possibly Cleveland, you know, because I do think that Donovan Mitchell, you know, is also a playoff riser. And, you know, I think I do think that Cleveland's got, you know, the physicality to be able to to to bother Boston. We know that Boston is a great regular season team and one of the greatest regular season teams of our time. And we also know what happened in the Eastern Conference Finals last year. I think that they're a better team, significantly better team than they were last year

because last year there was no Kristaps Porzingis. Yeah. So Boston still should win the East, even with those metrics, even with what the metrics say. If it should matter, it should matter in the finals if they play Denver on the margins. And that's what we saw in the two matchups with Denver and Boston Denver won by one or two possessions and both in both games because the margins mattered and I thought that Denver was a little bit better on the margins than Boston was so do I think it should matter you know that Tatum's a 5.2 in the playoffs probably not until the finals and if they meet denver there then yeah it possibly does matter because they won't have the best player in the

series because nicola yogis would be the best player in the series right and he's the best player in any series because he's probably the best player in the league according to at least these advanced stats which yeah i mean backed up by the by the eye test, as I don't usually say that, but people who watch a lot of NBA basketball say that. Should we take a break, guys? Let's take a quick break, yeah. Take a look around the league? Yeah.

I'm Kerry Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports, where we live at the intersection of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Every great player needs a foil.

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And we're back. We're back. You got to see Wemby in person recently. He keeps having historic nights where he's like just the total of like points, field goal percentage, blocks blocks rebounds are three pointers made just all true yeah just every day it's like a new record broken or what i even realized yeah yeah but what what did would you glean from watching wimpy yam in person like i've heard he's pretty tall oh my my God. Is that true?

I've never seen anything like, I've seen one. All right. So at the very, very, very beginning of my career, like I'm talking fresh out of school, it's around 2005, 2006. And I interviewed Yao Ming and Yao was taller than me while he was sitting down. I interviewed Yao Ming, and Yao was taller than me while he was sitting down.

That's me and my five-year-old. Yeah. His legs were thick like tree trunks. That's the other thing I noticed about him. Like he just had these very, very thick legs and, you know, I've been covering the NBA for a long time. And beyond that,

the only time I've seen anything, you know, physically more outlandish or as outlandish was you know watching victor win by yama walk two feet by me in the interview room and he was almost as tall as the ceiling he had to duck to get i was just like what a tall human being and right you know for him to be that big that tall and to be able to handle the ball like a guard the way he does, I think that, you know, that's really, really, really amazing. Right. Yeah, it's just in like the last 30 days,

like there's always like a new thing where it's like, oh yeah, he's now 31 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 6 blocks. Only Kareem did that 10 times. Abid did that twice. David Robinson did that 5 times. Hakeem did that 3 times. Cat did it. AD did it.

Charles Barkley. And they're like, and this is his rookie season. And then you go even condensed, like all in this 30-day stretch, like the frequency at which it's happening, it's, yeah, I don't really know what else to say except for like yeah he's it's truly making good on like the promise that at least we saw on all the speculation that was happening before he he's as good as as advertised and yeah you know i think he affects every part of every facet of the game i think he does everything. When I wrote about him a couple of weeks ago,

some of the things I asked him, is your playbook, so to speak, opening up? Because he did limited actions in November, but now the Spurs are running their offense to him now. They're running DHOs, dribble handoffs with him.

He's directing the offense from the nail, from the block. They're getting him in mid-post, and obviously he's doing this stuff facing the basket and above the arc. He's directing things a lot more so you can see the progression um even from you know november to now and you can see how much of a significantly better player he is now and you know in the weeks since that article that i wrote about

him you know he's that's that's when he's kind of really like blown up, like having those 31, 12, seven, six type of games, um, you know, with like five assists and three steals as well.

Uh, five by five. Um, you know, so he's, he's a, I think he's going to get a quadruple double at some point in his career. You know,

he's, he's a guy who's every bit is as good as, as been advertised. Yeah. It's really fun. Um, and it seemed like the next game was particularly fun. If people didn't watch the highlights for that,

uh, go check it out because it also felt for the first time felt like the team was getting him involved. Like, like you said, they're getting used to playing with him enough to like get him involved and like actually throw inbound passes to him, which seems like it should be easy since he can just like reach up and nobody

can, can get the ball. So, um, but like there, there were some fun alley-oop plays and some fun, like hitting him as he was like storming to the basket storming to the basket and dunking at his chin. Because that's when he gets ahead of steam going and jumps.

The hoop is below his neck. So, yeah. I don't know. Those are exciting times. I'm really looking forward to seeing if they're able to build around him if they're able to like bring a point guard in if there are like some nba point guards who are like man this would be a really fun challenge fun time you know yeah yeah like getting to have him finishing everything around the basket like that who's who's the dream point guard to like pair

with him i feel like chris paul would be a lot of fun with him yeah chris paul 10 years ago would be a lot of fun yeah you know maybe trey young because i think victor is good enough defensively to mask his flaws Oh, yeah. So I think that he's a guy that would be good to play with him. Yeah. This will never happen, but SGA would be great to play with him. I think both those guys should be. I think Chet and Wimby Yama should be on the same team. Yeah.

I don't know because I don't think. I don't know. I don't know. First of all, I don't know that those two like each other. No, no. I'm just playing. It would be very weird if they were on the same team. I mean, if I was playing 2K, yeah. I'm putting them on the same roster. Absolutely.

But you know what? In real life, I mean, basketball, skill-wise, they fit. I mean, they'd be... They'd be tough. They'd be tough. They'd be really tough, and it'd be really tough to score on them alright we gotta talk about your Knicks because you are a Knicks fan

yes four straight I just played 48 minutes no go ahead I'm sorry but how are you feeling heading towards the playoffs I feel like Jalen Brunson always overperforms in the playoffs.

The, the Knicks have won four in a row. They look tough there in fourth. They would be playing the magic at this point in the matchup. How do you feel about how the Knicks match up and just how, how are you feeling about them heading into the playoff? We need to get out of the fourth seed and get into the third seed so that we avoid Boston in the second round. Yeah, that's the goal.

We need to get healthy, but apparently OG's elbow is a strand of spaghetti at this point. You know, and we don't know when Julius Randall's coming back. Like, listen, on paper, if we get everybody healthy, you know, we've we've got a chance, at least a puncher's chance, at least going to the Eastern Conference finals. You know, Jalen Bronson is has been so good. It's been one of the biggest free agent steals in a long time. I remember when we were like, do we really want to pay Jalen Brunson a hundred million dollars? Now it looks like a real bargain. You know,

he's, he's been terrific. Dante DiVincenzo has been terrific. Josh Hart has been, you know, an absolute monster. Yeah. You know,

but I worry about legs because, you know, nobody in the starting lineup has come off the court in the last month. As Tibbs is wanting to do. As Tibbs is wanting to do. And I worry about health. I think it's very concerning that OG came back and lasted two games. Yeah.

Before he went back out. And, you know, we got to get Julius Randle healthy, and we got to get Mitchell Robinson healthy. But if we can get those guys and we can have all of our guys heading into the playoffs, I feel good about our chances for sure. Yeah. I didn't know Mitchell Robinson was possibly coming back. He's on there is there is um

hope that he can make it back wow is his high school coach still living with him that's a good question i think the answer is yes yeah i feel like yeah i mean look i felt like karmically i'm like that's a good look man i feel like the universe will will smile upon you for your for your good deeds and then also man the game against the warriors i was like is is steph curry is that steph curry or has deuce mcbride just completely i mean i love i love that this guy shares my name miles mcbride but what what is going on with him locked up abroad yeah i couldn't i could not believe what was what was he put eight eight from 20 or eight for 20 and then like four from 13 from deep the league has

there are some there is some speculation that the league has tipped the balance of how they're calling games a little bit and let it letting defenses get away with a little bit more and I do feel like if anybody is going to profit off of that it is going to be

uh the knicks and a tom tibbett like the knicks regardless just like it's in the dna of the franchise right and then a tom tibbett team like it's just they're like oh yeah my only hope is that they let us drive basketball and drag basketball back into the 90s. When we beat them in seven games, 79 to 76. That's my only hope. Then we'd have a chance for a championship. That would be fun. That would be fun.

We're on the floor. I still remember that Sports Illustrated cover. Amazing. All right. Enough about the teams. Amazing. All right. Enough about the teams. There have been two plays from this week that stopped the world in their tracks that we wanted to review as if short films.

Anthony Edwards just absolutely detonated on John Collins. Where he took off from, it's one of the wildest things I've ever seen. Like, truly, it's up there with some of the plays that we've talked about with, like, Ja, where he jumps up and grabbed that ball with two hands and then just, like, kept going up, just ascending into the rafters. Yeah. This just feels otherworldly. It doesn't make sense.

It's so athletic, so violent. It's like it's like also like it's like the mj in space jam dunk yeah you know does he have enough arm and he just said yes there's plenty i mean like yeah looking at all the images of it are just it's icon even from the way collins was on the ground i know he like hit his head or whatever but the pose of him like it looked like he was burying his head in his hands as if he's like why did i make a terrible business decision like that he's go up with this man i've never identified more with an nba player than john collins in that moment um just how you feel how like that's exactly how i would react um i think he was reacting that way because like he

got a finger in the eye but that's just what i would do every time i got done so hard that it dislocated anthony's edward's finger that's how hard that impact was but yeah i mean yeah it was just go full i would sit on the ground put my head in my hands and then take off one of my shoes oh yeah oh i could be over yeah yeah yeah i would i would hire lawyers to be like you have to get this image scrubbed from the internet there's too much stuff on me exactly something like that you gotta have you gotta have a good team of lawyers to sort of obscure that but yeah i that's definitely i mean we've had so many dunks this year i mean even last week who's it uh was it jaylen green's dunk we were talking about there've had so many dunks this year. I mean, even last week. Was it Jalen Green's dunk we were talking about?

There's just been so many, so much slamage, as they say in France. Slamage. The slamage has been absolutely off the charts. Yeah, we're going to have to do a whole episode even just trying to wrap our heads around it. But how does that rank for you, Tony, the Anthony Edwards dunk? It was one of the best dunks I've ever seen overall and probably the best dunk i've ever seen live and um i will probably say like it's not as good as what um vince carter did to frederick vice that okay yep that for me is always gonna probably be number one. Where he jumped over him.

Over the man. He just cleared him. But, you know, Darren, so first of all, shameless plug, everybody go to The Athletic and read my story on that dunk. Okay. Because I have a story up in The Athletic right now about that dunk. Anthony Edwards over John Collins. Second of all, i've come to get

to know john a little bit um through covering him so shout out to my man john um for one out for john at the same time yeah every text was you want to see a dead body yeah i think everybody had that yeah well you know this you know was was that song this for my homies? I just poured one out for John. You know, but the third thing is, you know, it was more than just the dunk. You know, Minnesota was running in mud like all night. And what Edwards did, it, you know, threw some juice into them. And then what he did after the dunk, which is just take over the game with, you know, an assortment of jump shots and terrific defense and rebound on the ball and, you know, playmaking for his teammates. You know, he, you know, it wasn't just the dunk.

He really took over that game afterwards. And, you know, he ran, he runs back to the locker room. He pops the finger back in. He runs back to the free throw line. He takes the free throw. And then he keeps playing. And I asked multiple guys in the Timberwolves locker room if they had seen that before. And the answer was no, except for one.

Monte Morris told me that a guy named Doug Anderson from his hometown of Flint, Michigan, had a dunk that was just just as good. Anthony Edwards also told me that he did a dunk like that in high school at Holy Spirit Prep down in Georgia when he was a sophomore in high school. He was like, no, that wasn't the only time I did that. I did that in high school. He was like, all the big schools was there. So I said, Anthony, I said, oh, you started getting recruited after that. You started getting recruited. And then he was like, I already had letters.

Oh, there you go. Okay, that answers that. Very Anthony Edwards answer. I like that. But it kind of reminds me of the jaw thing, that two handed block, because it also came at, comes at this moment as he's like kind of ascending to a new level of just dominance, you know, and being like somebody that is a bunch of people's favorite player in the league.

And there's just like more and more people falling in love with him and then like this moment just kind of brings everything together and is like the probably most seen clip on the internet last night i mean maybe not for all day yesterday because of course kate middleton uh was was spotted in a grocery store part i think it's doing better numbers now actually if you add up the different angles that people watch, I think it does eclipse the Middleton card. I got a question for you guys. I mean, when LeBron and Steph retire, is he the face of the league? I really think he could be.

I think he's got the combination of he's going to be good enough as a player combined with how charismatic he is in terms of he's going to be good enough as a player combined with how charismatic he is in terms of he's going to be marketable. I think he's going to be a guy that would have no issues embracing everything that comes with that.

When LeBron retires, Anthony Edwards is going to be in his early 40s. Right. I don't know it's hard to see how how he's gonna last because lebron lebron's not going anywhere but yeah i mean i think it's definitely possible yeah he's got the he has the magnetic personality where you just like you just want to hear what he has to say and he's really witty. I think he's still growing up. I think that's the one thing LeBron had

sort of locked down the second he entered the league. He was just polished. He was so polished as a media personality. Anthony is a little bit more raw, but I think that's also part of his appeal. So I don't know if he'll be exactly quite the same, but he definitely has the tools to be sort of like the poster child of the league for sure right yeah i mean janice obviously

uh luca yokich right and and him like we need we need an american in there he's right he's gonna be our uh but like luca and joker are too cool with it. You know what I mean? Yeah. They're kind of more, they're kind of like, you know what? Joker in the hotel commercials with, with Peyton Watson, Jokic is a lot more charismatic than I thought he would be. Oh yeah.

I think those commercials are witty and I think they're funny. And I think, you know, I think they've been fun to watch. Right. I guess. Yeah. The other thing is like,

what does, I mean, it also felt like John Morant could have also been that person, too. Maybe he will be. We don't know. It's hard to know. Again, some people are polished, though. Some people are polished. And I think that's kind of, I think that's the biggest difference maker.

You know what I mean? More than anything. It's because it's even funny. Because even, it's wild, though, too, because Anthony Edwards has those moments, too, where he's, like, doing post-game interviews. He's kind of saying stuff you're like all right bro like we get it we get it we get it but it's also the that's the fun of anthony edwards though too uh in contrast with those other players yeah yeah all right let's take a quick break we'll come back we we should talk pals and we should get into the fastest segment in podcasting shouldn't we

yeah i think we should. All right, we'll be right back. I'm Carrie Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports, where we live at the intersection of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game.

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

What exactly ignited this fire? Why has it been so good for the game? And can the fanfare surrounding these two supernovas be sustained? This game is only going to get better because the talent is getting better. This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke.

Hey, everyone. Jake Storielli here from John Boy Media. I want to tell you about my podcast, Wake and Jake. It's your go-to spot for anything and everything sports. Baseball, football, basketball, hockey, golf, college, whatever's hot in the street. We're talking about it on Wake and Jake. So if you're a diehard fan or looking for the latest buzz, we've got you covered, no matter your favorite sport.

We're breaking it down with the passion that'll make you feel like you're in the stands with us. Plus, we've got a bunch of guests, Foolish Bailey, Jolly Olive, Chris Rose, and more, mock drafts, rankings, whatever you want. It's the sports world. And come on and join our friends in the Wake and Jake family. You will not regret it. So, new episodes Monday and Wednesday. You can watch along on the Wake and Jake YouTube channel

or listen to Wake and Jake on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Mike Wright from the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast. You heard that right. or wherever you get your podcasts. from a Dynasty perspective. Maybe you've been living in the Dynasty fantasy football space for a while. Well, we're here to take your game to the next level. Maybe you love fantasy football and you've been feeling that itch to jump into the Dynasty format, but it feels a little bit intimidating. No matter where you're coming from, the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty podcast has something for you, and you're going to have a great time listening, I promise.

Join me and the rest of the crew every Wednesday for a new episode. Listen to the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. We're back. We're back.'re back we're back and the pelicans so the reason the suns warriors and lakers are you know hoping to stay in the play-in game uh at this point is because teams like the pelicans are uh you know ascending past them the pelicansicans are currently 41-26, 5th in the West, right on the heels of the Clippers, who are 42-25.

Beat the Clippers in the season series, 3-1. Zion is in the best shape he's been in this year. It's kind of maybe the best shape we've seen him in. Has reportedly lost 25 pounds since the in-season tournament when he was getting a lot of side eyes from people.

But yeah, he's just bringing the ball up for them a lot. And, you know, Ingram just quietly putting up 21, six assists, five boards on 49, 36,

80 splits. And I don't know. They haven't been to the playoffs since 21-22. So this is exciting times for the Pelicans. How are you feeling? You think they can make some noise? I think they're good enough, too. You know, I think a lot that happens with the Pelicans

and a lot that's going to happen with, you know, the Western Conference, I think is going to be contingent on who gets to number one, two, and three seeds out of Denver, Minnesota, and Oklahoma City. I think the order of which they fall is going to determine a lot in terms of what happens in the playoffs. Because here's the thing. I would not write off the Warriors or the Lakers because as flawed as those teams are in a regular season.

Very flawed, very flawed. The playoffs are a different game. And as long as LeBron is playing at this level and as long as Steph is playing at the level that he's playing at. And, you know, let's throw Phoenix in there as long as, you know, Book and Kevin Durant are playing at the level that they're playing at. You know, same thing with Luka. It doesn't matter if those guys are in the play and those guys with those specific guys are capable of making noise in the playoffs because all of those guys are such good basketball players. And the playoffs are just a drastically different thing than a regular season. So back to the Pelicans, you know, there aren't many teams that are deeper than them,

more athletic than them collectively. Their length at, you know, so many spots, you know, with Herb Jones, you know, basically at the two, Brandon Ingram at the three, Trey Murphy at the third, you know, even Dyson Daniels. Then, you know, you got, you know, Big JV on the interior. You know, they can play multiple styles of games. You know, Valanchunas allows them to play below the rim and allows them to play really physical while all of those wings allow them to play above the rim and allow them to play the entire court.

CJ McCollum is a crafty scorer who has been known to be a playoff riser. They've got a lot of components. They've got a lot of talent. They've got a lot of components they've got a lot of of talent they've got a lot of length and athleticism and depth and you know zion kind of ties it in with you know uh if he can be as locked in as he has been over the last few months so you know for me new orleans is definitely a dangerous team yeah yeah i mean yeah cj mccallum's definitely come to life i was i caught their last two games and just even the way zion is man because yeah

it's a lot different than the guy who lost to the lakers in the plan and people like bro what what just what's going on with him and then that that's clearly a turning point for him mentally because the i mean the way he's putting pressure on the paint you thought he was trying to get graffiti off the wall does that work it's a pressure washer yeah i like it okay yeah yeah okay i was i was workshopping that before the show oh zion deserves a lot of credit because you know i think we crest we questioned his pride back in december right right leBron obliterated him. Let's be real. LeBron absolutely dominated him and dominated the Pelicans in that

game. Because it was the end-season tournament, because there were no other games to take attention off of that, everybody saw it. All of the NBA as a community, we were all watching that and we all ran to Twitter. We all said the NBA as a community, we were all watching that,

and we all ran to Twitter. We all said the same thing. Like, yo, you can't let a guy come and just destroy you like this and not fight back. And I think Zion took that. I think he took it to heart, and I think he's gotten in the shape. I think that he took it personally, and I think that he showed a lot of pride. And that's what you want to see.

Right. Like, yeah, you want to see a guy, you know, fall down, but we want to see the guy had the pride and the competitiveness to get back up and,

and, and, you know, and, and quote unquote fight back. And I think that's what Zion's done. I think he deserves a lot of credit for that. Yeah.

Especially too. And like, there are people like Shaq and Chuck would be like, man like man if you you just put it together man like you have to want it like and that it's it there are a lot of people have those moments where like yeah this this is how you differentiate yourself from other players from good to great and yeah to see that kind of you know not evolution but just to see him really like knuckle down and and make consistency his thing and work so hard is like yeah that it makes them yeah i think that's i wouldn't be surprised if they they do

something really fun if again if they stay healthy i feel like that's always the caveat and that's the thing though right like and that's where i made the point with the top three seeds you know if if it feels like new orleans is locked into that four or five right you know maybe they can get up to the four and steal home court away from the clippers but you know maybe they hit a slide and they fall to six but you know four is their ceiling they're likely going to be in that four or five right it's a different let's say they get past the clippers it's a different feel in a different series if that second round opponent is oklahoma city right or if it's denver right so that's why i said i think you know wherever that those first three seeds land because they're all within a half

a game of each other i think it's going to tell a lot with how the rest of the West shakes out around Denver. I regret to tell you, Tony, that you have stepped into the fastest segment of podcasting. I'm sorry to do this to you, man. Sorry to do this to you because we really enjoyed the conversation, but this is the rapid-fire

round of questioning. You already know the deal. We ask you a question, just chest pass it right back reflexively. Boom. Don't think about it. Just put it all on the line. We don't even have time for the boom. Usually people say bing, bang, boom. Not even time.

I need the ball. I need the ball. Okay. Thank you. Rock, rock, rock, rock, rock, rock, rock, rock, rock, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball. That's me on offense. Ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball. That's me on offense. Ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball. They're like, no, man. Hey, hey, hey. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, no. Ball, ball, ball, ball. Bro, you're not even in the game, man. Sit down. You're on the bench right now. All right, yeah, cool, cool. Ball, ball, ball, ball. Just wanted to get you ready for it.

But here we go. Tony, I hope you're ready. Are you ready? Just confirm. Okay, well, good. Because Brian, start the clock! Alright. We're going quick.

We're going quick. Jack, you going first or am I going first? You go first. Ah, ready Tony? More likely to happen to why? Pelicans Western Conference final run or Knicks Eastern Conference final run? Go! Pelicans Western Finals run because they're deeper

and there's less of a chance that they get tired. But what about your Knicks, man? You're not even feeling good about them? Yeah, but I'm still an objective journalist. I feel like Jalen Bronson always surprises us. Always surprises us in the playoffs. That's what I admire about our guests who are the journalists, the objectivity of it rather than the mental illness of fandom. we say doesn't make sense to me yeah that makes sense to me it's

kind of all right sounds like you don't believe in your squad bro tony you have a time machine congratulations uh unfortunately you have to use it on something nba related uh to go back and personally witness one of the following uh wilts chamberlain's 100. Game 7, 2000 Western Conference Final. Kobe to Shaq Lobb. Michael Jordan's final game as a bull in Utah. Game 7, 2016 Finals. The LeBron block. The LeBlock.

Wilt Chamberlain. Because NBA Twitter conspiracy theorists are trying to say because there's no video that it hasn't happened. Send me back to Hershey, Pennsylvania in 1962 and witness Wilt scoring 100.

All right. Wilt's game, I feel like it would be watching that play that they had with Wimby against the Nets where they just threw it up and he was just holding the ball all the way up and people couldn't reach it. I feel like that would be a lot of Wilts 100, but it would be worth seeing.

I think the biggest thing with Wilts 100 was the fact that he couldn't shoot free throws to save his life. And he shot 28 for 32 from the free throw line that night there it is yeah for that alone he like only missed four like but he scored 100 points like but do you know about his free throw shooting 104 yeah right exactly okay tony rank these current duos in terms of your postseason expectations okay yokich Jokic and Murray, Luka Kyrie, KD and Book, Maxie and Tobias Harris.

I added that last one. I know. Maxie and Tobias Harris? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. The objective now. The objective now. Give me Murray, Jokic,

then give me... Wow. Then give me... Maxie and Harris. Oh, weird. Then give me. Who was the third one? Maxine Harris? No, who was the other one? Luca and Kyrie.

Didn't give me Luca and Kyrie. You're going to want to take a look at that Maxine Harris again. I feel like they're... I'm just going to pick Maxine Harris for just out of GP. Okay. Alright. Interesting. Interesting decision. Look, just out of GP. Okay. All right. Okay. Okay.

Cool. Okay. All right. Interesting. Interesting decision. Look, I took a shot, Jack. You know what I'm going to say. All right.

Your time machine still active. You now have the ability to go back and use a magic wand to grant Twitter to the world during a moment, during a single night for one NBA game, what one moment or a game from NBA history would you have liked Twitter to have been around for? Game six, 1988 Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Lakers. Isaiah Thomas scores 25 and one quarter. Yeah. On a turned ankle, right?

Wasn't his ankle messed up at that point a severely sprained ankle yeah great yeah that reminded me of me really gutty and just like skill you know i want to show nba twitter why isaiah thomas is the second best point guard in NBA history. Wow. Shots fired. Not fired. Just saying he's criminally underrated in terms of NBA Twitter. And I think NBA Twitter needs to watch a full

Isaiah Thomas game to really get a grasp of just how good that guy really was. Yeah. Number two behind Jalen Brunson, right? Number two behind Jalen Brunson. Hey, now, which brings us to our next question and the most important question, perhaps the final question. Tony, you're in the sea and you're on a life raft and you come upon in the water, two men struggling to stay afloat. One Carmelo Anthonyony the other jalen brunson they need help but you can only fit one

of them in your life raft who do you say jesus that's cool that's tough and this is going on your permanent record and we will be sending your answer and adding them you're like wow because i love both of them as a as a fan man they're both beloved man that's that's really tough uh i'm gonna say jalen brunson for one reason and one reason only because jalen brunson is still playing yeah still has a chance to add to his legacy so theoretically i can still win an n NBA title with Jalen Brunson. Wow. And then you'd be like, Mello, you get it, man.

You get it, bro. You get it, right? Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, this is a Titanic. Women and children first. Yeah, that's right. Because they still have a chance in this world. It's not the oldest men.

The old men went down with the ship. Mello, you get it. Yeah. Not asking if you get it. I'm telling you, you get it. I'm telling you you get it as I row away. It's been a pleasure playing with you tonight, gentlemen. Wait, wait, wait. Can we talk

about this a little bit? I said it's been a pleasure playing with you, Mello. Please, please. Well, Tony Jones, what a pleasure having you on Miles and Jack and Matt Boosties. Thanks for doing it, man. Appreciate y'all, man. Thank you so much.

Shout out to you guys and shout out to Jabari Davis for having me as well. For the people that want to continue hearing you, reading you, all that kind of thing, where do people find you and ingest your content? You can find me at The Athletic and you can follow me on Twitter at T. Jones on the NBA. Perfect. Well, you can follow us on, and you can follow me on Twitter at T. Jones on the NBA. Perfect.

Well, you can follow us on Twitter, and you can follow our hashtag on Twitter, hashtag MadBoosties, V-O-O-S-T-I-E-S. For show links and updates, you can follow me on Twitter. I'm at MilesOfGrey. I'm at Jack underscore O'Brien. And that's going to do it for us this week. That, well, that's going to do it. That's about that. Well, well this week. That? Well, that's going to do it. That's about that.

Well, well, well. There will be continued boosties. Yeah, there will be continued boosties, and they will be mad in it. All right. We'll see you next time. In it then. Bye. Bye.

I'm Carrie Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry, Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.

I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball. And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. There's so much beauty in Mexican culture, like mariachis, delicious cuisine, and even lucha libre. Join us for the new podcast, Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12-episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of Lucha Libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Santos! Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts.