The Daily Zeitgeist - MJGMB #107: State of the Clippers with Law Murray

Episode Date: April 3, 2024

The guys were joined by The Athletic's NBA writer Law Murray for today's episode. The trio discussed the state of the Clippers, the streaking Mavs, playoff dark horses and more! 1. Tyronn Lue called the Clippers ‘soft’ just in time for them to rediscover toughness    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, 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. Kaitlyn Clark vs. Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball.

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

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With a hint of mischief. One episode at a time. Buckle up and listen to In Our Own World on the iHeartRadio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts trust us it's out of this world we're back it's episode 107 and LeBron and Lucauka continue to do amazing things. Things that have some people saying no, no, no. And some people saying yes, yes, yes. Define physics. Define the laws of science.

Geometry even. And Booker has placed himself in quite rarefied air and we're going to get into the state of the Clippers and plenty more with NBA writer Law Murray on today's episode. I'm Miles Gray. And I'm Jack O'Brien. And this is Miles and Jack got mad boosters. Donchich, deep three, got it. And Luka Donchich hits 10k. There you go. Embiid driving, spinning, fading, hitting. LeBron's got it with five. He's going to try another three.

Mr. LeBron James. Giannis with the take. Uh-oh, look out. A little showtime. What you got, Giannis? I can't grab net, just so you know, officially. You can't. Yeah, yeah.

I tried the other day. I almost tore my hamstring and calf at the same time. I don't know how. On my left leg. That's my jumping leg. Because you grabbed it so hard? Yeah, let's say that. Because I almost grabbed it so hard I blew out my hamstring and calf.

No, because I'm out of shape. I slapped backboard so hard on this eight-foot basketball hoop. Exactly, right? Trying to show off for my nephew. And he was not impressed. But anyway, we got Law Murray here, NBA writer. Law Murray in the building. For The Athletic.

Law, you are a fan of the Clippers, and you cover the Clippers? Y'all gonna get me in trouble. I'm not a fan of anybody. Okay, I'm sorry. I do cover the Clippers. You cover the Clippers. Obviously, you have journalistic integrity. I literally rewrote in my bio that I am not...

I am not... Yeah, I'm not carrying water for nobody. Just saying. Of course. Of course. As in private, you know, does it warm your heart to see the white, red, and blue? We're talking about the American flag, not the Clippers. There's a lot of red, white, and blue teams in the league, though.

Yeah. So, you know... We'll keep it there. And you just root for the league though. Yeah. So, you know, we can just, we'll keep it there. And you just root for that color way. Yeah. You just like the colors. You true,

true American. I'm a mercenary. I'm not really known for my loyalty. Uh, yeah. So I, I feel like there's a lot of writers, reporters, uh,

fan media, if you will, that are very open about being moved by um one particular team whether they grew up with them or because they're on their payroll and i'm not so i try to let people know that straight up no that's good that's good i am around them a uh an inordinate amount of time and that's been the case for most of the past 10 years so who did you grow up who did you grow up being a fan of before you became a professional journalist? You got to remember, I'm from Philly back when Sean Bradley and Clarence Witherspoon were in NBA Jam. White, red, and blue.

And that team was garbage. So local ties didn't do it for me. And I know Miles, you'll appreciate this. I mean, eventually my favorite team became whoever was playing the Lakers. Wow. There you go. yeah so i love that i love that for i love that for everybody you know even for me though it's like i just i i was fans of players and the team lies on was my first favorite player you know that's glass yes and and and then you know i just wanted to be like appreciative of players and and certain teams yeah so i fall out of love with teams man um and that was really the case for me even even early um right so i'm appreciative when alan

irison was good right or made the sixers I should say. AI was good off the box. But, like, you know, that associated me with Philly more than any other time. But, man, when they traded him, I was like, all right, I'm off, y'all. Dated me. Single teardrop. I get that. Pretty much. Yeah, it's easier to be a fan of players, too, than teams.

I mean, like, granted, people understand i'm from la and i have a an illness called being a laker fan um but also i do i mean like i'm also i love kevin durant too and i try not to get too bogged down but let's be real you know i've i'm i can i definitely can be in my bag when the clippers are doing well because i'm insecure and you know what how many people can say that out loud right and that's not in a therapy session. That's why I do this show. Hey, you remember the Kevin Durant commercial? I think it was when he was a rookie where I think

from AAU or whatever up until he was with the Sonics, he's like taking the jerseys off. Yeah, I mean... The Texas one right before and then he comes out in the Sonics one. Yes, I remember that one. One of the best commercials ever, man. Final four.

I still don't think we do commercials like we used to. No. I'm not even kidding. No. Because nobody watches them. Because nobody watches TV. No, for real. All these people will be cutting, cord cutting or whatever.

You know, you can throw your commercial on some 30-second YouTube spot in between. Unskippable YouTube. Yeah, yeah. I remember when Nike commercials you know, Nike commercials, especially like Nike basketball commercials were like appointment viewing. They're like, yo, they're doing that basketball commercial where they're making beats and stuff

by squeaking their sneakers and dribbling the ball. Oh, my dad did that commercial. Oh, I loved that commercial. They doing that commercial again. Or the Fun Police. The Fun Police was a great, that was a perfect Nike basketball commercial, I have to say. The Fun Police was fantastic.

We're going to talk about a commercial later, because I think Luca modeled his game after a commercial. We'll talk about which commercial in a moment. Iconic commercial, nonetheless. But since, Law, you're here, we've got you here. We've got to talk about the state of the Clippers. 47-27, into uh tonight's matchup against the sacramento kings um you know 43 and 24 with harden been you're up you're down

you're up you're down but overall i think you know he's it looks like things are coming together well what do you think you know i just want to posit this right December and January, 23-5. February and March, 16-12. Now, some people like me rub their hands and they go, yes, it's coming apart. But then, realistically, there were some injuries and things like that that would, if you're being a little bit more objective, that would explain those kinds of things.

What should we expect from the Clippers when we get to mid-March? Or mid-April, sorry. What do we expect from the Clippers when we get to mid-March or mid-April, sorry, what do we expect? I can't wait to see what the postseason field looks like both going into the play-in tournament and obviously coming out of it especially this Clippers team is

to me, match-up dependent if they get a team that they can score on, they're scary their confidence might have been shaken a bit but i honestly just think that they've just had so many games guys have been pushing it all the talk you know they were mocked at the end of last year because they were all said to want to compete more you know uh try hard or whatever you want to call it but no that's what happened that's how you get 26 and 5 over the course of like you said the beginning of december

through the grammy trip because they won the first three games of february which is the last games of that road trip the season-long trip so that happens because you are you you know, instead of doing what you did the previous three years, you know, low advantage guys, um, with valid reasons. And, you know,

one of those guys literally tore his damn ACL. You know, there's a reason he wasn't playing back vets, you know, um, people lose jacket up. The other has soft tissue injuries every damn year. Um,

like, no, they tried harder and, and they might've peaked a little a little too soon but at the same time they secured or they're at the point where they just have to play 500 basketball to basically secure a top six seed that's where we're at now so the very thing that made people go oh yeah that team can be a problem is the very thing that has them running on fumes a little bit at this time of year.

It's probably like why Leonard's not going to play Tuesday night at Sacramento, but if they get a matchup where they feel like they can score, they're going to be a problem. If they get a matchup, like the new Orleans Pelicans, that's, they're going to have to shift their narrative a little bit too. Oh,

we're experiencing, we have another level because that Pelicans team, I feel like can take away the things that make the clippers comfortable uh on that offensive end of the floor and then the pelicans are big um like their size is going to be a real challenge for a clippers team that i think has size at every position except for power forward it just so happens that their power forward is their best player, Kawhi Leonard. So the sacrifice that Kawhi's made this year is he's had, instead of having somebody like Marcus Morris or Nicholas Batum getting those bigger bodies or being in the small line of holding things down,

now you're asking the guys who were playing 2-3 for most of the last four years to be the 3-4s. Every now and again, that takes a bit of a physical compromise. So I think the Clippers do have another level. They have guys who've been there in the playoffs. They have a head coach who's been there in the playoffs. It shows that he's got stuff that other Clippers don't necessarily have. Even as a player, you know, in the finals as a player, you know, story.

Right. But they're not going to be rattled or intimidated by the moment we've seen them be down oh two and make comebacks so that's the team where it's like the clippers should probably be better than the team that you've seen post all-star break because they know what time of the year it would be and the desperation level for that team and that franchise will be a lot higher than a lot of these other teams as well yeah for sure the west there's no there's no safe first round series in the west no there's not a single matchup like assuming we get lakers and suns out of the plan then we've got pelicans dallas clippers mini denver okc like any of those teams could beat the other team in a seven game series i feel like like just depending on how hot they are

right and someone's going to miss the playoffs you know yeah yeah either the rockets or warriors uh obviously you know two more teams in the playing tournament. There are going to be good teams that are playing reasonably good basketball right now for several weeks that will not even make it to the playing tournament. And then you got two more that won't make it to the postseason field overall. There's no team that you're going if you're a top four seed. And it's like, that's what we want game one at home like okay right all season you work for your home court advantage just to lose that job yeah i feel like the only team that like denver is probably the one that everybody has on their list that they're

just like no thank you not thank you um but other than that i don't see like i feel like any of those teams would feel good about playing any of the other ones. So you were mentioning for the Clippers, the Pelicans are a kind of counterintuitively bad matchup for them. I've just seen too many ass whippings over the past several years, including this year. Yeah. All right. So here's my question, because we recorded an episode after i think it was like the first game of the playoffs last year and i was like is kawaii leonard still the best

player in the league at like based on how he played and i think it was like the first two games maybe he got hurt in the second game but he still looked so dominant what where would you put him as like he is the blank best player in the league like top 10 man that's tough that's tough because i mean i'm guessing we're having this conversation for playoff kawaii not you know the kawaii that just has to get through the damn season um right and, all the credit to him. This man is the most games, the most minutes, the most dunks that we've seen out of Kawhi since he was in his 20s with the San Antonio Spurs.

I'm excited to see what he has for the playoffs. I mean, if you say 10, then that sounds sounds disrespectful but there's a lot of good players and a lot of players that have yeah levels you know come playoff time i mean i'll say 10 i don't really do player rankings like that i do position rankings in september when everybody's asleep body of sleep um but i yeah i mean at his position he's top three and overall i i would i think 10's a good spot i think i would like put him right now regular season 10 but like i said last year in the first game of the playoffs he was i thought the best player in the league like he was unbelievable like you know in the playoffs so maybe we we get another Kawhi playoffs and, you know, he's able to play, uh, for, for the whole time.

And then the sky's the limit for the Clippers. I feel like at that point, that's all, that's all anyone wants to see, you know, who's never finished the playoff series as a Clippers head coach with both of those guys playing the final game. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Um, and then, you know, just looking at potential matchups, do you want it with the maps or both of those guys playing in the final game. Yeah, right. Yeah.

And then, you know, just looking at potential matchups, do you want it with the Mavs? Or would you rather not, based on what we're seeing with Dallas right now? I mean, look, man. As someone who, again, I'm going to be there regardless. Sure. But, like, I'm going to get booked. Shout out to the Athletic.

Here's how the Clippers should feel. If you got to play a team like New Orleans, it's going to be a physical nightmare. You might win the series. Right. But your job is not to win one playoff series for that team. They're trying to win a championship. Right. It's going to be hard either way.

Let me tell you something about Dallas. They are beating teams the way they're supposed to be beating teams. They are already a powerful offense. They got more talent at the trade deadline in a playoff series. You might want to play Dallas. And this is not disrespect to the Dallas Mavericks or the team or whatever. It's just, let's just be objective here. Dallas is an offensively led team, much like the Clippers are.

And so in that kind of matchup, we know what Luka can do. But in the game of basketball, your game is decided on stops. And if you're the Clippers, it's going to be hard to stop them, but you are familiar with them. You are super familiar with Luka. You're super familiar with Kyrie, considering who the head coach of the Clippers is. And literally nobody else on that team concerns you on any level. No one concerns you from a shooting perspective. No one concerns you from an interior offensive perspective.

You don't think any of those dudes can really stop any of the guys that you have. So, yes, Dallas is coming up in a big way. you don't think any of those dudes can really stop any of the guys that you have so yes the alice is coming up in a big way luca has been come of age he didn't play in the playoffs last year he will have an edge he legitimately hates the clippers i can tell you that like luca does not is he a lakers fan no he's not like He's a guy who's had his season end multiple times against the Clippers, damn it. That's the reality. He does not like that team. He don't like dudes on that team because they get under his skin and they're not afraid of him.

It's going to be very... It would be another playoff series that a lot of people want to see. I personally do not give a damn. But if you're the Clippers, you're like, yeah. If you see Dallas, you're, like, but if you're the Clippers, you're like, yeah, if you see the Dallas, you're, you're, you're not as bothered as the Pelicans,

because again, the Pelicans have won like 10 out of the last 12 Dallas. You literally, even this year, they beat, they beat the Madison two out of three times. And the one time they lost, they were in the state of their version of the team that doesn't exist anymore.

All right. Let's take a quick break, and then we're going to step back and take a look around the league, and we'll be right back. I'm Carrie Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports, where we live at the intersection of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because

of one single game. Every great player needs a foil. I ain't really 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?

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Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. We're back. Let's stay on the Mavericks for a second. They snapped Houston's 11 game winning streak. Luca was making scoop shots from three point from the three point line. Um,

he scored 47 points, 12 boards, six dimes, nine threes, one 19 foot scoop shot. Uh, wow. That like didn't,

doesn't even like, he's got got a skill set i don't even know how to describe like i you know we talk about shot making but his is like shot making plus trick shot making like he's got touch both around the rim and touch not around the rim you know like that's there's just like there's also a clip from miles that you were sharing from the i was at the warm-ups of that game yeah the warm-up of the yeah yeah yeah of that game where he made the 19-foot scoop shot where he shot off the jumbotron uh and it ricocheted off the jumbotron and went in and not like oh my god i made that like he shot it he's like going off the jumbotron and he's already walking away because he knows it's going in.

100%. It feels like he saw that McDonald's Larry Bird vs. Michael Jordan horse commercial and thought it was real. He's like, yeah, okay, off the Jumbotron? That feels like his game

is... It doesn't make sense it's wild um he had he is like some of the best shot making we've ever seen and his teammate is the other person who we always talk about having some of the best shot making with kairi irving so right um they're they're gonna be fun to watch yeah regardless of who they're matched up against it was it was fun just to hear the reactions that different play-calling teams or just their reaction to that scoop shot. This is the first one from the Mavericks side.

He's about to hit it. And a little bit of excitement. Well, they're not the lone rangers. He's at the top right by the three. He has done this to many teams this year. What? What? What? And Lil Jon was there, I think, doing color commentary.

And then this is what it sounds like from the Rockets broadcast when he made that shot. It's a sort of like denial. Oh, no. No, no, no. No, no, no. You got to go. He's, he's, no.

This is about as fast. No six wins. No, no. You can hear the whole crowd too. No. Unbelievable. no no no unbelievable yeah if you haven't seen the clip he does a step through and then just does a underhanded layup but from the three-point line and yeah it goes in i think it's just like a literacy with the it's like jazz right you know like some like players can read like the notes like yeah i can execute this but some people like i know the scale so well like watch me just

do anything and like work with it and i think that's just like why you see those kinds of shots too because he's not he's not even like limiting himself he's like yeah yeah i'm having that let me try that one too yeah um and yeah he he's got he's got the touch um but yeah he got the touch i mean exactly shout out to the boogie knights um yeah i mean again that you know we were talking about the western conference the eastern conference boston and milwaukee seems pretty much that's that's fine it's really about the places underneath them um and then yeah with the western conference it's interesting to see 6-7-8, how that battle plays out. You know, we've got to talk about Book. The

52 points in a win over the Pelicans on Monday, and now with that 52 points, he has joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to have three consecutive games with at least 50 points against a single opponent,

which is pretty wild. Yeah, before he was 52, then I think 58, and then one before that, so 162 points in his past three games against the Pelicans. So he's probably looking for that matchup. He's not scared of them.

I guess there's no world where they're meeting in the first round. That's food, bruv, they say in london that's what he's saying yeah he got the memo of like how many points you're supposed to score right um if you want jalen brunson uh did not get the memo unfortunately uh he put up 61 and unfortunately anything in the 60s means your team is going to lose this season. Yeah. That's just what happened. You need 70 to win. He went up against the Spurs. Wemby Nyama had maybe his best game.

Aren't rookies supposed to wear down as the season goes along? He put up 40, 20, seven assists, three blocks. Just all sorts of highlights of just weird weird things you know like those Wemby highlights that give you chills a little bit but like kind of make you feel like you have the flu because you're just like what am I even watching and yet one of the mom stars

the Spurs beat the Knicks and Brunson put up 61 and you gotta score 70 if you're gonna score 60 you gotta get score 70. If you're gonna score 60, you gotta get to 70 or else you're gonna lose. Those are just the rules of this season's scoring. Just short yourself.

Yeah, but I do feel like, so the Knicks are in fourth right now. They would be facing Orlando in the first round. I just, I feel like whatever team Jalen Brunson's on, whatever round you intuitively think they're going to go to, just give yourself one extra round. That seems like where it nets out with him. Right.

For whatever reason, he's got that play. The Sixers rule is second round or not, but second round is the absolute maximum. It's the ceiling. They've been allotted. Playoff purgatory. Yeah exactly um but yeah so the knicks are going to be interesting um i don't i don't know that they're probably not going to make the eastern conference finals but i can see them get into the second round i would i mean for the city of new york that would be just for the videos that i would see

outside of madison square garden i would like to see that because they go off even when they just get into the playoffs recently. I want to see the fanfare from the fans for sure if that were to happen. The other great performance from this week, LeBron

tying his season high with 40 on 13 of 17. That's not free throws? Is that a typ 40 on 13 of 17. That's not free throws. Is that a typo? 13 or 17 field goals? Yeah. Oh, but nine for 10 from the free throw line.

Oh, no, that's from three? The three throw line. The three throw. Yeah, I don't know. That has been the question is like is he pacing himself is he going to suddenly like turn it on towards the end of this season and that game certainly looked like it oh man that that corner three just that he checked three he had it the last one he took i was like that's the lebron james that we need if i am going to keep this delusion going for another few weeks please

please uh law what's well what's your perspective what do you what do you think what's going on with braun is it just uh is it is it like is it just that part of his career where we get these flashes or you think he's doing the thing like now he's being more sort of intentional about where he's when he turns up the dial and turns it back down I mean look if it wasn't for like every national broadcast reminding you how old the brownies Wouldn't know based off of how he's playing right like Dude's only shot 40% from 31 year of his entire career and I was his tenth NBA season in Miami When you know, he was basically on top of the world right about to win a second

straight finals mvp obviously that comes with the championship after the olympic gold medal that he got with the 2020 12 team so he was you could really say like if you wanted to say that was the best version of lebron you can say that I mean, he's shooting a career high from three while shooting more threes than he shot that year. That, to me, is a player who understands that they don't have as long to play, but at the same

time, it's still the GOAT. LeBron's got more dunks this year than he did last year. He's playing with so many offensively skilled dudes. Like this is the team magic Johnson probably thought he wanted to put together when he was like, we don't need shooters.

We need ball handlers. Well, they got all handlers who can shoot. So this is one of the, this is a hard team to defend right now. Yeah. Now on the other end, their food and that's, they're food.

And, you know, that's going to be something they got to figure out depending on their playoff matchup. But the benefit there is LeBron also doesn't foul. I think you've noticed that. Right. He's just incapable.

Right. Like, those guys, him and AD, they can can play 30 35 minutes and they won't pick up multiple thousand a game and they're playing the biggest positions on the on the floor so it's just funny how that goes but yeah lebron he's reached a point where he knows he's a computer right he knows where he's supposed to be he knows where the defense is supposed to be he knows he's a computer, right? He knows where he's supposed to be. He knows where the defense is supposed to be. He knows where his teammates are supposed to be. He can make threes at this high clip and then because you have so much attention

on all these other guys who can make shots, who can handle and pass the basketball, he's still getting his stuff easy. I don't think there's a pace to it. That's your pace. Your pace is, LeBron's not the guy who has to create every damn play. You know,

this isn't the 2018 finals caps. Like LeBron can chill pretty much and get his stuff. And again, it's going to be fascinating to see who they mapped up in the playoffs, but you saw what happened last year. They were a seven that Memphis Grizzlies team didn't have the size or the experience or the poise or arguably the coaching.

And they wound up taking care of a high seed pretty easily. It can happen again this year. Yeah. What if you had to pick two Dark Horse teams from the West? Because I mean, I don't even know if it's Dark Horse. Yeah, at this point.

Not one of the top three Horse. Not one of the top three. So not one of the top three seeds that you could see making a run. Who would you pick? I mean, I've got to go with the Clippers. They're not going to be a top three seed and they are going to get

a lot of we don't believe in them. And I could see them making a run. I really could see them making a run i really could see them making a run the other team that i would have to that i would have to pick um it's tough because i mean shoot i probably would go with the lakers we saw it last year we saw it last year i really feel like that team in a seven game series is going to be a real problem for somebody, possibly multiple teams. And if they can avoid Denver somehow, they're going to have a path where they can feel like, well, we've beaten these teams multiple times. The Nuggets are probably the only team that has given the Lakers a real challenge.

And so that's weird to say for a team that right now needs to win two games in the playing tournament, just to qualify. Right. Right. I would have said the Pelicans that Brandon was healthy right now. Right. Yeah.

But I just, I can't do that with Brandon, not guaranteed to be ready. Like, I think he'll be reevaluated this week, but we all know what that does not mean. It does not guarantee that he'll be ready. I think he'll be re-evaluated this week, but we all know what that does not mean. It does not guarantee that he'll be ready. What about in the East?

In the East? Oh, man. I wish the Magic had more experience. I really like that team. I really like how they're defense-first. They're huge. They can't shoot and they still beat you. The East is like... i really don't

like talking about the east the celtics it's something it really is it's something to anybody else like you know everyone's going to give the heat undo you know respect because of the will the heat make the playoffs are they making it out to play in tournament? We gotta see. The Sixers are going to get Joel back, and I actually am excited if Joel is truly healthy because he's coming back to a better team than he left. He didn't play with Buddy

Heald. He played with Marcus Wurst. There's a big difference there. He's going to be... Tyrese is going to get a lot of relief. They have wings. They have wings. They have size. Like Kelly Oubre was, you know, finding his way after that weird accident in Center City, Philadelphia.

Now, like guys have been playing and Joel's coming back to that team. I think that could be a team that can make a run. So, and it's a different head coach. So, but. Right. All right. the east just doesn't they don't do it for me um as far as dark horses like i just yeah it feels pretty set yeah for sure two teams with the red white and blue color way true to your uh origins and then uh the lakers you know so there it is true american true american appreciate that yeah Embiid's coming back. I didn't even want to

mention it because I don't want to jinx it. We don't know all the details. It'll be very interesting. That first game back, just to see. His body is so big that it often takes him some time to get used to moving it

around a basketball court. He's got a good two weeks to figure that out. Yeah, exactly. That shouldn't be a problem. Sixers going to the finals. That's my prediction. Hey, Lakers Sixers. Alright, let's take a

quick break and we'll be back and we'll put Law in the hot seat for the rapid fire the hottest questions right after this 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 caitlyn 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 podcast network is sponsored by diet coke wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast nfl daily with greg rosenthal five days a week you'll get all the latest news previews recaps and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee. No dumb hot takes here. Just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media.

That's Patrick Claiborne, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him away because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that super bowl i don't know why calling catch the podcast the nfl daily with greg rosenthal every day subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends and who doesn't want that listen now

on the iheart radio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. Alright, here we go. It's Cam Jordan from New Orleans Saints, here to tell you it's going down on season two of my podcast, Off the Edge with me, Cam Jordan. Can't stop it. You know what's going to happen. Can't stop it.

That's right. Catch new episodes every Wednesday, all season long. That's what you look to happen. You can't stop it. That's right. Catch new episodes every Wednesday, all season long. That's what you look for in year 14, to do more. No days off. And I'll have my friends, who happen to be some of the NFL's biggest stars, join me on the pod. We'll give you a player's perspective of the biggest storylines, trends, and did that really just happen moments from around the league. And you know we'll have fun doing it.

Ha! Yeah! Oh, and I'll have a special guest each month join me to mix it up a little bit. Who is it? None other than... Psyche! You'll have to tune in to find out. So tap in to Off the Edge with Cam Jordan's podcast,

your ultimate playbook for all things football and not football. Listen on the iHeart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts and we're back law wow always good to have you man always great to have you but it is time to put you in the hot seat it's the fourth quarter. It's the rapid-fire round of questioning. This is the fastest questions and answers segment in all podcast sports history. We're going to ask you a question.

You just chest pass the answer right back. Don't think too hard. And if you take too long, we will be very rude in telling you to keep it moving, sir. So please don't take it personally. It's just about, it's just, it's the game. Don't hate the player, hate the game. Don't hate the host, hate the segment. Okay? you ready yeah i'm not as ready as james harden with a catch-and-shoot three wow wow and he's doing it this year right he's actually doing catch-and-shoot

sometimes i've not seen it in the playoff but we'll see yeah we'll see tbd, TBD. Shall I go first or shall you go first? Yeah, Miles, why don't you go first? I shall go first. LaMurray, what? Does Brian know what he's supposed to do? Oh my gosh! Brian! Start the clock! All right, La. Here's the first question.

Man, see, you got me off my game. It's because he was talking all that spice as a Clipper journalist. You know what I mean? You're completely throwing me off. I'm fragile, because he was talking all that spice as a Clipper journalist. You know what I mean? You're completely throwing me off. I'm fragile, man. I'm a snowflake. But here we go.

You're not staying in the fight, man. Thank you. Thank you, man. I appreciate that. You had me believing again, man. Thank you. You lift me up. When I look back on the sand, there was only one set of footprints.

It's because you were carrying me. We just cut out a five- rendition of you raise me up by Josh Groban that Miles just performed with tears in his eyes tears streaming down my face alright Law first question more likely to happen and look we'll let you expand a little bit and why

okay more likely to happen and why Clippers finals run or Bucks finals run Clippers finals run why head coach wow finals run? Clippers finals run. Why? Head coach. Wow. Simple. That was an efficient answer.

Enough for us to go, ah! Yeah. We're taking that. We'll take that one. Alright. Take that one. Law, you can go back in time to personally witness any of the following. You can take your pick. 2004 Western Conference Finals Game 5 D-Fish Game Winner.

2019 Kawhi Game Winner over the Sixers with the ball bouncing. This was my pick because I feel like if I had shouted at that moment, it might have been off. How would you have shouted? Like super masculine? I remember doing that like basketball games in school. Whatever you... Okay, got it. Sheer desperation.

As you said before, who recorded it? I'm Mark Wahlberg-ing this. It wouldn't have gone down like that if I had been in the crowd there. Yeah. The difference would have been I would have been crying too, just like Joel Embiid Jordan 63 vs. Boston in the playoffs Game 7 2016

finals LeBron Block which of those are you going back to watch in person? MJ 63 yeah that just the scene

I wasn't there for that one I remember where I was for the other three and I wasn't there for that one plus you could be smoking a pack of cigarettes the whole time in the Boston Garden yeah exactly it was free cigarette night I think everybody got one unless you were under

12 then you didn't get them hey by the way another 60 point game that game that the scorer didn't win the game. I know. Yeah. It always comes back to Jordan. Shout out to my guy, Bo. Yeah. Yeah.

It's a lot of land. Okay, rank these current duos in terms of your expectations in the postseason. of your expectations in the postseason? Giannis Dame, Jokic Murray, Luka Kyrie, KD and Book, Kawhi and Playoff Pete. Alright, that's five

of them, so you're going to have to help me out, but I know number one, it's got to be Jokic, Jamal, just out of respect. Giannis Dame, Luka, Book, Kawhi, PG. Got to go Kawh uh out of the remaining gotta go kawaii paul okay then i gotta go katie book yannis dame actually switch that we're gonna go yannis dame over katie book and the last one is going to be the Mavericks duo. Got it. Okay.

Wow. We do not fear the Mavericks on this podcast. No, not at all. That's good. That's good. That's good news. That's good news. Finally,

who is the most underappreciated of the truly all time? Greats. Give us a guy that deserves to be mentioned, but often left out of the all time debates and make a rhyme. Like those two sentences. i don't have a great rhyme but the first person that comes to mind hey there he is he's a poet and don't you know it is alex english wow the englishman yeah harry kane massive i had that nuggets throwback jersey it's a great jersey.

You're talking about a team that was consistently good, made a conference finals run, didn't obviously break through. I mean, that man scored more points than anybody in the 80s, from 1980 to 90. People talk about points, and that dude, out of all the dudes who played, he was the one who scored the most, who scored the most. And we're going to talk about Alex English.

So shout out to Alex English. Yeah. Shout out to Alex English. I didn't even realize that. I mean, I always knew he was like a scorer, but then when you put it like that. When I put it like that. Yeah.

Put some respect on his name. Absolute. Pour out all the respect onto his name absolute put pour out all the respect onto that name 100 that was a great answer well la murray thank you so much for joining us i'm miles and jack i'm at boosties uh where do the people find you follow you read your work and support your work yeah shout out to the athletic uh they put me on they still put me on this year season four covering mostly the clippers i promise you i cover more than just the clippers so there's that too um and i'm at i'm at all the social

media sites that i need to be on so yeah you know like wherever they got that yeah lawmurray the new and yeah like as long as y'all know i'm not here to be you know your favorite players um voice of reason um just my own voice of reason okay yeah i'm objective as y'all gonna get mad at me because y'all emotional but once y'all get over that i feel like i help y'all out so i just need to let i just need to say that perfect perfect There you go. You can follow the show on Twitter hashtag mad boosties, B-double-O-S-T-I-E-S. That's you can find the show links and notes and all kinds of things like that. Updates, what have you can follow me on Twitter at miles of gray. I'm at Jack underscore O'Brien. I'm just looking at Alex English started 14 playoff games one year and put up 30 a game

for Denver they made it to the Western Conference Finals in 85 and lost to the Lakers that's 30 a game in 14 playoff games that's unbelievable and shot 53% from the floor

that's wild conference finals right that's wild. Yeah. That's wild. There it is. Yeah. Well, guess what? We're going to be back because the season isn't ending and either is this show.

And we will be back next week. We're just getting started, folks. We'll have a better idea of what the playoff picture looks like. And maybe I will be sweating or crying or celebrating I don't know but we'll find out next week when we see you then bye bye 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 Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports.

Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Caitlin 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. 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.