The Daily Zeitgeist - MJGMB #109: Play-in Playa, Play-in with Harrison Faigen

Episode Date: April 17, 2024

Miles and Jack were very pleased to be joined by SB Nation NBA Editor and longtime NBA writer Harrison Faigen for today's episode. The three of them discussed the play-in tournament, playoff matchups and the overall state of the Lakers heading into postseason play!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. Do you ever wonder where your favorite foods come from? Like what's the history behind bacon-wrapped hot dogs? Hi, I'm Eva Longoria. Hi, I'm Maite Gomez-Rejon. Our podcast, Hungry for History, is back.

And this season, we're taking an even bigger bite out of the most delicious food and its history. Saying that the most popular cocktail is the margarita, followed by the mojito from Cuba, and the piña colada from Puerto Rico. Listen to Hungry for History on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get

your podcasts. Well, well, well. Listen to my voice. It's been a lot of screaming. For NBA reasons, we can only find out, but the playing is upon us. We can only find out.

The old saying. You know, I always use well-used maxims and colloquialisms on this podcast. But anyway, the regular season is wrapped up. Over the weekend, Jack Sixers ended the year on an 8-0 run. Meanwhile, the Knicks and Thunder each ended their respective seasons on a five-game roll. And we're going to get into the playing and potential playoff matchups and more with longtime NBA writer and editor Harrison Fagan on today's episode. I'm Miles Gray. And I'm Jack O'Brien.

And this is... Miles and Jack on that Booty! Donchich, deep three, got it! And Luka Donchich hits 10K! There you go. And he's brad's got it with five he's gonna try another three mr lebron james and it's the most wonderful time of the year. Listen to that bravado. Yeah.

Or I mean, bravado, not bravado. Spring's eternal for approximately 60 more minutes. I know. For the 76ers. We're going to do it this year, guys. We're on the brink, Jack. We're both on the brink. We haven't lost in eight games.

Yeah, so we're recording this. This is a Schroediger's cat of an episode. We're recording this before the first playing game. Y'all know better than we do what happened, what's going to happen. Yeah, yes. But no one knows. What if our predictions are really correct? Exactly.

I mean, we might know better than them. That's right. And who better knows than our guest Harrison Fagan, SB Nation NBA editor, co-host of Lakers Lounge, and co-host of Rewind and Reconsider. Harrison Fagan, thank you for joining us today. What an appropriate time for you to join us because, you know, people saw your words about the Lakers, their postseason, you know, what their options might be, what things may look like. postseason you know what their options might be what things may look like um there's a bit of pain you know around here in the mad boosties office uh and by that i mean me looking at my phone being like he's right but don't say this don't say it you just lose uh so yeah harrison you wrote an article saying what i thought and i think said to miles and Jabari that, yeah, no, you guys should duck the nugget.

Like, get out. Right. Throw the game. Don't win. Don't beat the pellet. Don't make that your problem. Don't win. Granted, I do have a loser mentality.

I am a Philadelphia 76ers fan. So I'm just like, winning? What are y'all doing? Trust me. Leaves nowhere. Yeah. But at the same time it just does seem to be the wise choice um is to not go up against the team that has all of our numbers

constantly yeah look i only disagree because like i said i live in a different kind of reality one that is not tethered to the reality in which the Lakers will actually be playing basketball. So that's why I choose to say, you know what? No. Bring them. Bring them to me now. But as I crash back down to earth, I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

I don't know if I can handle that. There's also the point that you guys might not beat the Kings. Because the Kings have also had your number and so you might just be out of the playoffs and that would be a very embarrassing way to go. DeMontis Sabonis has just learned all of AD's moves and he's like, you present no challenge to me. And yeah, that's also frightening. So all bad options, I would say for the Lakers. So we don't know what has happened. Harrison, I have to ask you, let's game this out, okay?

Let's say we duck the nuggets. Do you think someone is going to make it easy? Like you said, this was also the tweet that a lot of people didn't read the article that you tweeted. Quote, if the Lakers truly feel that any outcome besides a championship is a failure, they should do their best to give themselves

the clearest possible path by throwing Tuesday's play in game. Is there any in this version, right, where there somehow is a path that and like, yeah, I feel like it's an inevitability that if there's any way to any kind of championship, you're going to have to face the Nuggets. I mean, that is probably true. But the odds of facing them are lower the longer you go without facing them. You know, like mathematically, you know, if you win this game against the Pelicans and you're playing the Nuggets, then you're guaranteed to play the Nuggets. Whereas if you get to the other side of the bracket of them, you have two rounds where you're not playing the Nuggets. And theoretically, some other team could beat the Nuggets or the Nuggets could suffer, you know, like an unfortunate injury. Again, like no one's rooting for injuries, but this kind of stuff happens throughout the playoffs we've seen

it you know like every every year some can hope for contender gets banged up or takes like an ill-fated timed ankle turn or you know has something happen or whatever and so the longer you can go without playing the team that you have the least chance to beat the further you know your the better your odds are and you know maybe the timberwolves knock off the nuggets i wouldn't pick them in that series necessarily but if someone is going to do it then you know maybe it's them in the second round right yeah and then you know against the timberwolves you you have a better chance i mean the timberwolves haven't beaten you eight times in a row at the very least and so you know again we're dealing with like like it's a matter of percentages i'm not saying you know oh the lakers the lakers you should lay down and die because you're scared right no i get yeah

exactly well i mean a lot of people ask me all the time they're like harrison why are you not a professional athlete and i'm like i mean really the only reason is that i'm a coward you know and that's the only difference between me and lebron is that i i would duck the smoke and i would just be like hey let's rest ad his back's hurting yeah you know we'll rest him get ready for thursday's playing game let the warriors and kings beat each other up and then either beat what remains of the kings who have lost like two of their best guards already or a warriors team that you've shown you can beat in a postseason environment you have not shown that with the nuggets who it's like the same movie every single

time you play i know like in this tight game right down the stretch and the Nuggets, you know, go on like a 12-0 run to finish it out because they just know what buttons to push against this Lakers team. And the Lakers just don't seem to have a lot of options on this roster to, you know, deal with them. Like they've thrown most of the adjustments that I feel like they could throw at them. Now, again, Darvin Hamm makes a lot more money than me. Those coaches probably make a lot more money than me maybe they have some ideas but for me it's all about you know how far can you go without taking them on and you know maybe there's a chance somebody else takes

them out and then you have a better chance against that team because you probably have a better chance against any team that is not them but yeah i'm not saying like hey they they lose this game they play the thunder that's going to be easy they're going to sweep them or something no no no but at least we've shown we can compete against the thunder they've shown that it is possible for them to beat the thunder they've shown they could beat you know the clippers or the mavs or whoever and you know you at least have like a chance against them and against a healthy nugget squad like i just don't see it for these lakers yeah no the two worst matchups for the Lakers are the Nuggets and the Kings.

You kind of have both of them waiting for you one way or another. It's like, you know, Herter and Munker out. They're a different team than the one that beat the Lakers all those times. Theoretically, you could talk yourself into that, but with the Nuggets, they have all their guys. They're ready to go.

I'm just not seeing it in that matchup. The thing is, I can at least talk myself into it. It would be really embarrassing to lose on purpose and then get knocked out of the playoffs. That's among the reasons that they will not do it. That is probably cheap among them. Every

NBA team, I think, mainly makes decisions on what will get us roasted the most online. They're like, no, we've got to at least try because if we just every NBA team, I think mainly makes decisions on what will get us roasted the most online. And, you know, they're like, they're like, you know, no, we got to at least try because if we just sit the starters in this play in

game, then, uh, yeah, everybody's going to be really mean on Twitter. And so, uh, you know,

it didn't stop the cabs. Didn't stop the cabs from, you know, ducking whoever they were scared of, you know, the heat, the heat, the Sixers.

Nobody knows the Sixers. Yeah. That's wild that they're scared of the Sixers heat the heat the sixers nobody knows the sixers yeah that's wild that they're scared of the sixers but um nobody that gives you a little confidence you're like oh wow i'm like oh well you would think the calves of all teams would feel like they have a shot against the sixers because of like the two big thing like that's you know theoretically you would think that's one of the teams they have like i mean maybe not a better shot maybe you'd rather i guess play the magic who's less proven but um right yeah yeah but they're obviously they're the least online nba team we just figured that out the calves like you know all the nba players all coaches they're like we don't care what the media you idiots in the media have to say the calves truly do not care they prove it they're like no have

you seen how big and how many days yeah i don't know anything about the narratives or like uh like the metrics they're just like do you see how big and beat is that guy won mvp last year we gotta i don't want that gotta get away from that guy yeah they're like so uh you know so and so was saying on the so and so podcast that you guys are clown fraud cowards for uh ducking the sixers and or heat and they're like what do you mean what's a podcast yeah we don't know what that is we live in cleveland yeah oh man but like i think for me it all goes it boils down to the fact i think because we the lakers this was all self-created we we did this to ourselves to be in the position we're in you

know what i mean like and when you when you see how the insistence of playing players like cam reddish or torian prince have put us over rui and i get it rui's was hurt you know here and there but when you look at what that record looks like and say oh yeah that was our starting five from jump street maybe we would be you know organically uh ducking the nuggets already because we could have been maybe the fourth seats. I will just say, generally, now this is not always the case, but generally, benching three of your top five highest paid players is not a great allocation of resources,

I will say. What do we know? We're not Darvin Ham. Exactly. That part seems like, even as a coach, I'm like, okay, who are we paying them? Yeah, yeah, maybe we should play them, huh? No? No know they've been like what like 20 and 8 since they went to the new starting lineup or whatever it is like they're actually you know yeah so i mean you're exactly right is that the lakers that that's the crazy thing about this whole debate and whatever created

yeah lakers didn't have to be here they didn't have to be in this situation so it'll be poetic i think the version that will cause me the most distress is something like we end up having to face the Nuggets and just through note, something happens to the Nuggets and like they'll defeat us in the series, but they're somehow diminished a bit from the series against us. And we're like, we just helped the league, the rest of the league right now, because one of their starters is out. A speed bump on the road to history. Yeah. Los Angeles Lakers. We're proud. Legacy. Yes, forever. Yeah, Lakers. We're proud. Legacy.

Forever. Yeah, because we're a banana skin. That's why we got those yellow jerseys. Old oil rules. Sick reference. Should we take a quick break and come back and just talk? Take a step back. Obviously, the only thing that really matters is what the Lakers do.

But we're going to take a step back and just look at the league in general. What narratives do we think are being underrated heading in to the most wonderful time of the year? If you sing that too closely, we will get a content strike. Okay. My bad. Wait, that's YouTube. Never mind. A little more off key.

Yeah. It's the most wonderful time of the year. No, now the Simpsons can come at us for that teenager character. We'll be right back. All right, here we go. It's Cam Jordan from New Orleans Saints. Here to tell you it's going down on season two of my podcast, Off the Edge with me, Cam Jordan. Can't stop it. You know what's going to happen. Can't stop it.

That's right. Catch new episodes every Wednesday, all season long. That's what you look for in year 14 to do more. No 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 iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone.

This is Jimmy O'Brien from John Boy Media. I want to quickly tell you about my podcast. It's called Jimmy's Three Things. Episodes come out every Tuesday, and for about 30 minutes, I dive into three topics in Major League Baseball that I am interested in. Breaking stories, trends, stats, weird stuff. Sometimes I make up my own stats. Sometimes I do a lot of research, and it ends up I was wrong the whole time.

So that's something you can get in on. Use Jimmy's Three Things podcast to stay up to date on Major League Baseball and to make you just a smidge smarter than your friend who's a baseball fan. You listen to me and then you go tell him, hey, I know this and you don't. So I make you smarter than your friends. That's what Jimmy's Three Things is all about. Listen to Jimmy's Three Things on I heart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. You could also find it on the talking baseball YouTube channel and new

episodes drop every Tuesday. Hey everyone. Jake story. Ellie 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. And we're back. So the other matchups. Yes. Besides the one that we don't even know if it's going to happen.

That is the one that is causing distress in my neighborhood. Yeah. Wolves, Suns. Suns went that is causing distress in my neighborhood. Yeah. Uh, wolves, sons, sons went three and O against the wolves this season. The sons started rounding into shape, looking pretty good heading into the end of the season. Wolves ended up as the three seed sons of six.

I truly don't know what's going to happen because the sons have been so kind of unpredictable. I'm unsure i i think this could go in either direction uh would love to see anthony edwards have a great series would also like to see the suns pull it out so that we continue to get to see kd in the playoffs like kind of towards the end of the run i'm a sucker for a super team, man. Even if super team is in quotes. I'd like to see the Suns win this. I don't know who's going to win it.

Do you have an instinct, Harrison? You know, it's going to be a fascinating stylistic clash up, you know, between sort of you have like Hooper Oasis in the desert. You know, it's just like a bunch of guys that just kind of like like they all get buckets versus, you know, the sort of analytics darlings, Rudy Gobert, you know, like nerd team. And, you know, I'm I actually do think that the Suns have a chance because they are, you know, theoretically the type of team that could, you know, like Minnesota's defense is really sort of predicated on giving up the types of mid-range shots that uh you know like

kd and all those guys have made basically their whole careers on taking and making and so theoretically you know like they should have some advantages and you know but it i mean it's hard to pick a six seed to win but you know i don't know given what you just said about the season record and you know i think i don't know like the suns have been so underwhelming in so many moments, but this year, but I do think that, you know, if they're all healthy, I'd like their chances at the very least. Yeah, for sure. It's just hard for me to pick Rudy Gobert in a playoff series. I'm sorry. Like, I just saw a stat today that he has more defensive player of the year awards than playoff series wins.

That's messed up. That's wild. Or he will when he wins this year, maybe. Right, right, right, right. Sure. Yeah, that's not up wow that's wow or he will when he wins this year maybe right right right right sure yeah that's not a great stat uh to have there's someone on on reddit was posting something about how like with anthony edwards you know he he said kd is his goat and he also said beal is the hardest to cover so he's like i might have his work cut out for him he also had that quote about like yeah they got kd but we got but we got Jaden McDaniels. Exactly! Is he doing bits?

No, I think his point was that Jaden McDaniels would guard KD. I don't think that he meant he is as good as him. All I saw was the out-of-context version, and that was hilarious. I hope that he was arguing that those were equal players in NBA history.

Not even just currently today. That sounds like he was just looking around the locker room and named the first person. We've got Jaden McDaniels. Jaden, turn around, buddy. Yeah, McDaniels. That's what it says on the back of his jersey. Alright, this next series

I'm very fascinated by. Clippers, Mavs. Clippers went 2-1 in the series this season. They haven't played since December, though. Dallas got a lot better at the deadline and went 18-7 over the last 25 games. A lot of people are on Dallas right now. They're like, these guys look great.

They're playing well together. They seem to be having fun out there. One thing, I bring it up all the time, but I just don't want to forget, and I feel like people are forgetting. This is one of the players I think people are sleeping on heading into the playoffs. When healthy, Kawhi Leonard

does tend to lock in, in the playoffs and last year, uh, in the first game and a half of the playoffs was the, that was the story that at least that I was paying attention to was like, Oh, Kawhi Leonard is the best player in the, in the league. Again, we just like lost track of that. And he's actually the best player in the league again. We just lost track of that and he's actually the best player in the league. He was so good in that

first game and a half before he got hurt. If he's able to stay healthy this whole series. An incredible 72 minutes that will live forever in NBA history. Truly. Memorable, memorable. He's also been good in past years playoffs also. No, he's a playoff riser for playoffs also. So, I don't know.

No, he's a playoff riser for sure. He is a guy that definitely has, you know, the real stars are the guys who can, it's a cliche, but the guys who can raise their game up a level. And, you know, there have been those guys throughout NBA history. Like, you could see LeBron sort of, you know, take that extra step every postseason, no matter how old he gets. Like, Kawhi is clearly one of those guys that has that extra gear that he can activate when the games really really matter so I would still pick the Mavs if I had to pick in this series because it was funny you mentioned the Clippers you said they hadn't played since December and you meant against the Mavs but for a second I was like oh he's doing a joke about like they have not they have not played real basketball right since December I'm like ah good one um you

know and they just look discombobulated james harden doesn't really look like himself uh i i you know also a playoff riser though if my be back if memory serves james harden also a playoff riser so uh legendary yeah don't don't google it he always takes it up that next step google's lying whatever you see that's a lie and now i just read ty lue is saying kawaii is doing about a quarter of practice and then ramping it up to hopefully what does that even mean i don't know like i guess after wait i didn't even realize he was hurt all right uh never mind uh brian the editor cut my whole thing about how good kawwhi is.

Well, he might be back. They might be back. I think they're just saying they can't go full metal. I've been tracking this for SB Nation, and they've been saying, like, we think he's going to miss, like, two or three games for, like, basically, like, two or three weeks now. And he's missed eight games. And so, you know, he did, in an an optimistic sign he did just commit to play for the olympic team so right you would think it's not like a major injury that he thinks is going to sideline him months and it really is this sort of more day-to-day thing but the clippers certainly

have not like earned the benefit of the doubt with that after they said kawaii was day-to-day last year and then after the series they're like oh yeah uh he tore his i mean it's something in his knee i don't know it was meniscus or ACL. It was one of them. And, you know, we knew the whole time. They're calling it knee inflammation. You do have to use an abbreviation when it's an injury that is so common with this player. They're calling it knee inflammation. All right. So forget my whole thing about how good the Clippers are going to be.

No, I think it's still all right. I mean, well, the other part of that, too, is like you know oh the russell westbrook of it all like yeah depending on how they match up i'm like what what which which one are we gonna get because that's somebody who really has to come to play if man being on kairi yeah the the quite if kawaii is healthy or if kawaii like plays i think that is an advantage uh his ability to rise i also think they have the coaching advantage by a significant margin. And I do think the Russ thing matters. Like, if, like, Russ

really is like an off-speed pitch. He's just, he's the Pulp Fiction shot of adrenaline in the heart. He's been great in that. Yeah. So, I don't know. I think I'm both pulling for and

kind of have a feeling about the Clippers, and I could be exactly wrong. We'll see. I'm going Mavs for the record. Yeah. Miles? Jack? Do you have a pick? Jack? I pray for the downfall of my

enemies on a nightly basis. Okay. Why did I have to ask? I'm dusting off my Mike Finley Mavericks I pray for the downfall of my enemies on a nightly basis. Okay. All right. Yeah. Yeah. No, I, why did I have to ask? Um,

dusting off my Mike Finley Mavericks Jersey that I got in sophomore year, high school. I'm about to throw that thing on. Yeah. All right. Uh, in the Eastern conference, the Knicks messed around,

climbed into this two seed in the East, uh, with a little help from the Cavs. Uh, Jalen Brunsonson just all season has been unbelievable probably going to be in the do we think he's going to be top five mvp voting like it seems like it based on sort of the public ballots that have come out so far and sort of the top like he's probably it seems like he's going to be fifth on a lot of ballots, but I think he is going to be the fifth guy.

Yeah. OG returning at the right time. I don't think they're undefeated with OG, but their record is wild. It's insanely good. It's unbelievable. With him, they're really hard to beat. If the Sixers are able to get a win tonight,

that does appear to be who they're playing. If the Sixers are not able to get a win... They're 20-3 with OG. 20-3. And I heard a stat the other day that OG has not had a negative plus minus game the entire season, which is sort of astounding. Because that is a team-based stat a lot of the time yeah yeah you know like sometimes you're just going to be on the floor when like somebody else on your team misses a bunch of shots and you just are negative but

i mean that's crazy you know by this point we know what happened between the sixers and the heat i just want to say like i've read a lot of playoff content i've listened to some playoff preview podcasts it feels like people are doing like the heat last year i just want to like reiterate at this time last year the heat were in the same position yeah or very similar position they didn't people are like yeah but this year like they're not even putting it together. They're not... Last year, they were not good until the second half

of the second play-in game. They lost the first play-in game. They were losing by a point to the Bulls heading into the fourth quarter of the second play-in game. They didn't decide to take it up three levels until like the playoff start it doesn't make sense that they would decide to do that again i just want to remember like again like people are like yeah but butler this year

is different it's like he was different last year in the regular season too everybody was saying the exact same thing i don't expect it to happen because what when it happened last year was like that well this is a literal miracle like i've never seen anything anyone just decide to be way better uh but he was able to do it last year um If they're able to get the seven seed, I could see them doing it again this year. I don't know. I also feel like... Knicks versus Heat, those two specific teams would set basketball back. At least scoring.

It would set it back decades. We'd be getting final scores of 59-57 in a playoff game. When in doubt, I always like Brunson is always good for a round or two better than I'm expecting. Like back to when he was with the Mavs and, you know,

last year with the Knicks, like he's really great in the play. He's a playoff riser as well. And so I, I don't know. I think the, the Knicks are probably going to win no matter who they're facing but um it's i just it's like listening to like the bills on bill simmons

podcast he's just like not scared of the heat at all he's like i'd love to play the heat that's fine please who cares um oh just like that huh because jimmy butler's been bad all season i'm just like yeah man like what we did this last year Butler has been bad all season. I'm just like, yeah, man. Like, we did this last year. It's like the Simpsons scene of like how many times the Celtics fans have to step on the rake, you know? Right, right, right. Yeah, exactly.

Like, we did it. Bucks Pacers is also going to be interesting. Yeah. Giannis, this is doubtful heading into game one due to a calf strain. Calf strains are very tricky injuries we saw that be the injury leading into uh kd uh having an achilles like a few years back right like it's you just have to be incredibly like when it happened i was like oh yeah did you feel the whole thing go up your the back of your leg like a lot of people say that happens and i was like yeah yeah it's scary it's just like it really couldn't have

gone like the the last month of the season couldn't have gone worse for the bucks like it's really not good really the second half of the season couldn't have gone worse for the bucks you guys know that doc rivers was going to finish the year he took over the team when they were like 30 and like 12 or something and he he finished the year? He took over the team when they were 30 and 12 or something. He finished the year with a below 500 record. He didn't ask to come in. He didn't ask to come in.

He would not have wished that situation on his worst enemy. Thank you. Yeah, exactly. And the bus driver, too. The bus driver is low class. The equipment manager, it's crazy. He just leaves the laundry out all over the floor.

Like, it's not even, it's just. I feel like I'm at home with my teenage kids. I did start to wonder, after the second stray that the equipment manager took this year, I'm like, okay, is this guy actually just, like, doing a bad job? Like, nobody needs to look into this. Like, yeah, Doc and Giannis both bringing up specifically the equipment manager. I have some questions now. Right. Yeah, there's an agenda. I mean, yeah, because I saw it

on the more cynical end, it's that Giannis might not be ready until game two or three. And then Woj said today that they're preparing to start the series without him, at least. Yeah, yeah. No, he's not going to be there for game one. Yeah, game one at least. One of the betting sites had to change the odds for the series

because so many people were coming in betting on the Pacers after that. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. And there's also people speculating about Dame's future in Milwaukee if they lose early. It's just a bad... It really couldn't have gone much worse this season. Unfortunately,

I'm excited for the generational blame deflection that we're going to get whenever this Bucks run ends because you got Dame you got Doc right Giannis like an underrated sort of blamed deflector like all these guys seeing who's going to point the finger at who is going to be incredible. Yeah,

I can't wait to watch it. Yeah, it's going to be three Spider-Man meme. Yeah. I'm just like pointing to just everyone. What do you mean we failed? We reached the elite eight of the NBA in college. Like this is self-reliance. I don't understand how you're going to promotion failure.

Yeah. We did better than last year. It's about steps to success. We got out of the first round in a seven game series against the Pacers. And then we lost in the second round. That that's progress exactly yeah exactly what what storyline do you think is being underrated on either side of the the east the west where what do you think is uh we're gonna see heading in if you had to guess last year obviously it was the heat you know yeah i i don't know how many people were predicting that but what

if you had to guess a like underrated storyline we're going to be talking about heading into let's say the conference finals what do you think it is i mean i think to be honest and this hurts me in my heart to say but i think that people maybe are not giving like the celtics enough do just because they don't have that kind of one exemplary player who's going to be an MVP. They may not get a first team all NBA guy. They might, but like they have probably the, again, as a Lakers fan, this is causing me physical pain, but they have the best starting five in basketball right now. And they've been really good all year and they're probably not going to get like a great opponent coming out of the play-in. I mean, you know, again, it's possible it's the heat and the heat, like, you know, pull off sort of their, like, dark magic again,

and just, like, Jimmy Butler, he's like, oh, it's spring, time for me to become Michael Jordan again, and just, like, knocks them out of the playoffs. But, like, I think that the Celtics may be sort of getting a lot of rest between these series in some cases, and, you know, I'm not sure that, you know, just because of how bad the bottom of the east is like it seems like they are gonna sort of sweep through all the way to the

finals you know to be honest i would be sort of surprised if they lost more than like two or three games right now so the sixers did go eight no to end the season do you want to take that over again talking about how bad the bottom of the east is. And also, I cannot confirm or deny if I'm trying to reverse jinx the Celtics right now. So I will say they're unbeatable. No one can take them out. Prove me wrong. Oh, you're real.

You want to, you, you, you, if you're right, then let the heat beat the Celtics. I don't know. I,

I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, If you're a field, then let the heat beat the Celtics. I don't know. I am tempting fate right now. I openly admit to be rooting into heading into these playoffs. I'm rooting for the field. It's like Celtics versus the field. I'm just rooting for the field. The only thing that's giving me hope is all those like advanced stats that are like they're the best team ever. me hope is all those like advanced stats that are like they're the best team ever the thing they all point out though is that they are the best team ever but they don't have a player like a single player that is like good enough to be like up held up with like those jordan teams with like any

yeah any of those teams and that is usually a problem at some point in the nba playoffs because you need to have someone who is a walking talking bucket and that's been a problem for them in the regular season like tatum in crunch time has not been able to just like take the team on his back so i'm hoping that that is what we see derail them and yes that would be time you know it's right yeah like i i mean that's just been uh an issue they can't they can't just be like all right man like we're all tired and a little bit scared it's the end of the game and now it's jason time it just it doesn't work with the mask on jason point yeah yeah i mean grant williams tried to put the mask on and he was like what what are you doing you know so like that's how averse he is to the superhero mask it's like it's my team

let's go i don't you know i'm i'm gonna i'm going to, I'm going to trash talk Jimmy Butler. No way. Oh man. What a run. That was so fun when the last year, it is sort of incredible how many guys that Grant Williams has made mad. It's like every single NBA player interview, you know, I saw like, I saw like the math were coming out and blasting him and like,

you know, it just, yeah, it's a, it's amazing. He really has gotten under, under the entire league skin. Yeah. Not easy to do. Impressive let's uh let's take a quick break and when we come back oh man you're in trouble i got i gotta say uh harrison you are wandering into a shootout

uh it's the rapid fire round of questioning. We'll be right back. All right, here we go. It's Cam Jordan from New Orleans Saints here to tell you it's going down on season two of my podcast Off the Edge with me, Cam Jordan. Can't stop it. You know what's going to happen. Can't stop it.

That's right. Catch new episodes every Wednesday all season long. That's what you look for in year 14 to do more. 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.

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 iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Mike Wright from the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast. You heard that right. The Fantasy Footballers have officially entered the Dynasty space. Every week we bring you the same in-depth analysis and entertainment you've come to expect from the Fantasy Footballers,

only now from a Dynasty perspective. Maybe you've been living in the dynasty fantasy 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. 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 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. And we're back. We're back.

You're saying I'm walking into a disadvantageous situation can i just can i theoretically tank it and then get a better match up down the line like technically you know technically you're a coward uh or really you already said you were right yeah okay okay yeah okay diagnosed yes yeah yeah you can you can totally yeah yeah totally can you totally can't but don't we don't like to acknowledge that up top but okay between as the doctor is handing you to your mother after your your birth they're like uh sorry it's a coward i've never seen a baby cry this much ma'am wow he looks so scared oh my god good luck with this one yeah this one yeah he anyway well hey uh your problem now well but harrison fagan he's right it's time for the rapid fire round of questioning okay this is the fastest question answer segment in sports podcasting history we're

gonna ask you a question don't take too much time let's keep the pace up and if you do take too much time we will be so rude to you that you will have no choice but to not be confrontational about it okay here we go i'm i you know i don't think you could be ruder to me than the internet has been in the last 48 hours that's true that's true that's true yeah yeah you're you're a journalist who said something real to the to laker fans and trust magic johnson called you critics right magic? Magic Johnson was like, critics are saying that they should throw this game. But that must feel good

though. So congratulations on being critics. Yeah. I mean, look, people got mad at Jesus too, you know. It's just like, there it is. There it is. And maybe they will heed your advice. Have you seen the reviews for this year's Lakers? They're like at a 73 on Rotten Tomatoes.

Oh, 73 is not bad, actually. Okay, I'll take that. I'll take that. Because most times they're so cynical on there. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Well, here we go. Gerard Butler's plane. Brian, start the clock.

You want to go first or should I go first? Why don't you go first, Jack? You want me to go first or should i go first why don't you go first jack you want me to go first yeah harrison we see that there's a bb1 uh figurine behind you uh my eight-year-old uh my soon-to-be eight-year-old is a star wars obsessive i'm taking him to the skywalker saga uh marathon oh the only uh star wars film he hasn't seen is Episode 3 because it's a little heavy. A lot of children being slaughtered. Order 66 might be tough for an 8-year-old.

But he knows about Order 66. He's like, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I got it. He knows all the lore. He knows the stats. But as a Star Wars fan... Of just how many younglings? Yeah, how many younglings. That's weird. I don't even know that.

I'm a little worried about your son. No, he's all about putting up... He's all about stats and like, how many gunners do you think this has? Wrong. I'm like, okay, man. Sorry. Surprised you didn't know that, Dad.

Wow. Like, he really is like, doesn't understand how I'm not more obsessed with Star Wars. But I'm just curious, what's your favorite Star Wars film? I mean, this is cliche, but Empire Strikes Back. I do think it's the best movie of all of them. Most underrated

Star Wars film? I don't know if it's even Episode 3 anymore, because I feel like that used to be the answer, but now I guess I'll say The Last Jedi, just because it's so critically panned, and so many people get so mad about it. And I actually think that there like a good movie in there if you sort of cut down the length of it and like the b plot where like finn is basically doing nothing for like an hour of the movie

and he's doing oceans 11 on a casino plan good interesting ideas in that movie yeah yeah you know i think it could have been better yeah right i agree okay okay uh next question well thank you for answering that on our NBA podcast. Yep. Next question. And sorry, I got to have to take it back to the NBA, Jack. Harrison, what color kyber crystal would you use to color your lightsaber blade? Well, I, you know, I can actually answer that because I have, well, you can't see it on

this, but I have them displayed in my office. The one that I made at Disneyland and it's purple. Okay. Mace Windu. I got another question for you. True Laker fan, more so. But yeah, I mean, he was the one that made purple a thing. Yeah, I thought you were trying to support the one black

Jedi, but that's okay. That's okay. You know what I mean? It's for the Lakers. It's for the Lakers. We all have our faults. How about this actual NBA question? More likely to happen and why? The Lakers get in and win a series versus the Nuggets or Thunder or Sixers get in and win a series versus Celtics or Knicks? I'm going to say Sixers just because they need to win one game and then they get in against the Knicks. And I do think that they could beat the Knicks if Embiid stays healthy.

And so, you know, like anytime you need less sort of things to break right for you, I'm going to go with them. But, you know, I mean, I think the Lakers have a shot if they lose this first play in game and win the second one. Okay. All right. I'm going to read a quote to you from Jamal Murray. And then I want you to react by telling me Harrison Fagan has a good point. The Lakers should be made a good point.

They should be scared. But no, he said, quote, and I want I want you to react. I also want you to spot the lie in here. There is a, there is a error. I think we're the best duo. I think we're there in a bigger market and people have more interest in LeBron and a DNLA or what Damon Giannis could do or what Luca and Kyrie

could do talking about the best duos and getting the job done and how they play for each other and with each other. I think me and Jokic are undoubtedly number one weird that he called him Jokic first of all, just it's like are you a fan? Me and Gray.

I mean when you're talking about NBA podcast hosts me and Gray Gray. We're up there. O'Brien's got the touch man um all right first of all do you agree no um you know i i think i mean i don't know who i would pick as the best duo but it's just i i mean they're up there certainly and this is going to sound disrespectful considering they just won the title and everything but it's like you know i'm okay if yokich says that i feel like it's a little weird if jamal murray is the one saying it would be you know again this is extreme and this is too mean to jamal murray but i'm going to make the

analogy anyway and that that's like you know like luke walton being like kobe and i scored you know like 84 points combined that day you know right right right right it's like yeah i mean that like you know you guys do have two of the most points together as teammates in nba history but like one guy did the like the majority of contributing to that and so i don't know i just like i think that's got to be yokich giving that quote like i don't know like yeah and then make an all-star team before you're saying this what it what is the uh what what's the factual error that he included in there? There's an error in there.

I don't know. I, I, I didn't have her is a larger market than Milwaukee. Yeah. By quite a bit. Actually, Milwaukee is below Salt Lake city,

uh, below San Jose, California. Uh, market bucks bias, you know, it's like, market bucks bias. Yeah, exactly. It's like, wait, what? But yeah, Denver is kind of right in the middle of the pack.

By the way, I would have had more interesting questions to ask you, but then I found this list of U.S. markets by size and have just been looking at it for the past hour. No way. There are always some ones in there that you're like, wait, that city's bigger than that. Yeah, exactly. This has been a couple times I've fallen down that rabbit hole. Tampa needs an NBA team.

Seattle desperately needs an NBA team. Seattle does need an NBA team. 14th biggest. Puerto Rico needs an NBA team. Probably Durham at this point would too. I've never done this before during this segment, but Jack, we have to keep this moving. Okay, my bad. Smaller than Hartford, Connecticut

miles. The whale? Next question is this. Harrison, guess which city is bigger? I hate that. Based on lightsabers owned per capita. Okay, you're taking a time machine. You can go back in time I hate that. Based on lightsabers owned per capita. Okay. You're taking a time machine.

You can go back in time to personally be an eyewitness at any of the following moments in NBA history. You take your pick. 87 finals game four. Magic's baby skyhook winner in the Boston Garden. 2010 finals game seven. Lakers over Celtics. 2000 Western Conference finals game seven. The great Lob,

Kobe Tishek. Where are my seats? Wow. Where do you need them to be? How good of seats are you giving me? It affects the question. I don't know. I guess if we're talking Staples Center, they're like premier level seats. Sort of in that level. It's like, oh, you know,

we can get you a time machine, but not courtside ticket. Yeah. What are you, crazy? Okay, lower bowl. Lower bowl. Yeah. Lower bowl.

We'll say lower bowl. I am going to say game seven, 2010, just because that is probably my favorite NBA game of all time and my favorite Lakers win. Yeah. Just, you know, like one of the, yeah, that's a game that means a lot to me. And so I think it would be that one. Shout out to my therapist. I'm in my favorite Lakers win.

That's a game that means a lot to me. I think it would be that one. Shout out to my therapist, for sure, 100%. My therapist is that game. It was just game seven, 2010. I don't need therapy, man. Game seven. The Lakers won. I got that fifth ring. I'm good.

Finally, someone's coming to the great city of Los Angeles for one weekend give us three spots they need to hit up uh let's go attraction not not restaurants not bars just places places to hit tourists i'm a terrible person to ask this question too because i don't really like go outside all that much but um you know i would say the santa monica pier is pretty great uh you know beautiful like ocean waves you know that kind of thing ocean waves i've heard of these yeah yeah can you tell them a writer i've never been there i gotta check it out um yeah i don't know i mean i like it can be

personally you know what i mean i'm not asking for the object we're not the objective top three yeah what is your apartment put me on the spot. Yeah, my apartment, it's great. You should come by. Hang out. I got some vegetarian snacks for you. So yeah, my apartment, number two. I'll give a shout out. My wife and I went to

a place called the Love Museum in downtown LA. That was pretty cool. I would say a good date spot. There you go. If you have a significant other in your life, it was cool. Wait, like, you know, like a good, I would say a good date spot. Like, you know, if you have a significant other in your life, it was cool. Wait, what's in the love music? I paid,

they basically, they like, it's a museum built by this psychologist that was like famous for studying love and like how it works chemically in your brain

or whatever. And it has all these exhibits where you sort of like interact and think about things and talk to each other and whatever. It could be either the greatest or worst first date spot of all time um right but you know it was we

had a lot of fun and i feel like i genuinely like i learned things about my wife and how she sees the world that i did not know they give you mom yeah yeah exactly yeah i thought different colors you know it's great um yeah yeah it's had taking very deep labored breaths every three minutes is yeah well thank you so much for joining us on miles and jack got mad boosties uh i mean i think everything we said today was correct uh no matter even though we didn't know the results of certain games but look i'm pretty sure we nailed it where do people find you follow you read you listen to you all how do they experience the harrison fagan enterprise yeah you can you can read me and a bunch of others at sbnation.com during the during the playoffs and then we have

a bunch of team sites as well like mavs moneyball had a really good story up today on why the the map should be taken seriously as real contenders and, and they have a real shot to win the whole thing. And yeah, you can yell at me on Twitter, at H-M-F-A-I-G-E-N. If you think that the Lakers should not sort of tank tonight's play-in game, feel free, just jump in. A lot of people have been doing it. And yeah, check out the Silver Screen and Roll playback stream,

which I will be jumping on sometimes during the playoffs. Beautiful. the silver screen and roll playback stream, which I will be jumping on sometimes during the playoffs. Beautiful. You can follow the show by following the hashtag MadBoosties, B-O-O-S-T-I-E-S. Show links and updates. You can find me at MilesOfGrey on Twitter.

I'm at Jack underscore O'Brien. And that's going to do it. Another one in the books. In the bottom of the net. Swish. Boom. Stream music. to do it another one in the books in the bottom of the net swish boom street music call me um yeah i'm gonna do it bastion bach because we'll be bach next week with a whole another episode i mean miles and jack on mad boosties sick wow we pitched a perfect game with that last closing look i gotta i gotta get a bach it's sort of like seinfeld there's a superman reference

somewhere in every episode. There is a Johann Sebastian Bach reference in every single episode of Mad Boosties. Real fans know. Okay. Check the tapes. Alright. We'll see you soon. Bye. Swish! Dunk! Swish! Dunk, dunk. Dunk shoot, as they say in Japan.

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,

Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season 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. Captain's Log, Stardate 2024. We're floating somewhere in the cosmos, but we've lost our map. Yeah, because you refuse to ask for directions.

It's Space Jam, there are no roads. Good point. So, where are we headed? Into the unknown, of course. roads. Good point. So where are we headed? Into the unknown, of course. Join us on In Our Own World as we uncover hidden truths, navigate the depths of culture, identity, and the human spirit. With a hint of mischief. One episode at a time. Buckle up and listen to In Our Own World on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Trust us, it's out of this world.