The Daily Zeitgeist - MJGMB #121: Free Agency, Summer League and Laker Commiseration with CJ Toledano

Episode Date: July 10, 2024

Miles was joined by Producer Jabari for a fun and wide-ranging conversation with host and creator CJ Toledano for today's episode. The trio broke down some of the free agency winners and losers before discussing expectations for Team USA.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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We're already into the summer action. As Summer League has kicked off, the bulk of here talking about the NBA. We're already into the summer action. The Summer League has kicked off. The bulk of free agency has taken place, although some teams that I wish were a little bit more active are not. And Team USA is getting ready for Olympic action in Paris. We're going to get into all of that and more with host and creator CJ Toledano on today's episode. I'm Miles Gray. And I'm producer Jabari Inf for jack that's right and this is

my producer jabari got mad boosty we're gonna change it we can do that we can do that got it and luca dachic hits 10k uh cj toledano look the man who behind the fantastic grand follow you know not the movement now it's not just It's not just a... It's a move. And I see everybody rocking your follow-through here, too. It's pretty wild. We got to get you some... We got to get both you guys some stuff.

Hey, man, you know, I didn't say that to try and get some stuff, but... But it works. It works every time. And I do like you saying that it's a movement now. People have been follow-throughing. You have to follow-through. Yeah, absolutely. What did I see? No, I saw something, like, recently. a movement now people can follow through and you have to follow through yeah absolutely what did i see no i saw something like recently something big and somebody was rocking follow through

and i was like doing the leonardo caprio meme like oh we got we got a guy john wall we got a guy john wall rock well yeah yeah i don't know if it was john i think i may have seen like completely out of context and maybe you didn't even look the next time I remember, you know how it is. That's how you know, you're big. Exactly. And also, like we said,

along with John Wall hosts of the point God podcast. So it is good to have you because, you know, as we are all big Laker fans, there are many other teams making moves in free agency. And I just, I just, I just need a support group to kind of

just parse through all everything that's happening. You know, look, Jabari, I know all about the second apron, you know what I mean? So, you know, we don't have to talk about that because I know exactly what it means in every single way.

At least one of us does. Yeah. We don't need to know about aprons to know that the Lakers didn't do anything. every single way. At least one of us does. Yeah. Oh, we don't need to know about aprons to know that the Lakers didn't do anything. Yeah. Oh, right.

No, no, no, no. They re-signed Max Christie for 32 million. That's what's up. That was just thinking about it. Now,

when that happened in the first five minutes, I was like, okay, cool. We got that out of the way. And then we got right. Rosen, Lori marketing.

They're all on the way. then we got right rosen laurie marketing they're all on the way i'm getting ready you know rubbing my hands together and nothing yeah so uh i said look let's go through some of the winners and i guess we're some of the losers too uh with just i mean obviously later on in the summer we do more in-depth you know breakdowns to kind of let y'all know where things settle out. Top line, we should just look at everything that's happened. I feel like, have we even talked about the Clay move since

the last time we recorded? So, yeah, there's that. Well, let's start with OKC. No? Clay? Did either of you even want Clay? What were your feelings? I wanted it, but i was cautious about it obviously we're all cautious after we we do those like hometown trades and and i was

curious of what we were going to give up for it it didn't look like too much that dallas got for him um but you know i wanted him i wanted him yeah i mean i wasn't gonna be like well no but deep down i was like like, please stay healthy. Please stay healthy. Please let, and you do that thing in your mind. It's like being in LA will rejuvenate you and you will rediscover everything. But people were throwing around that Ray Allen, Miami heat thing. And I totally, I convinced myself of that, that we were going to have that Ray Allen,

Miami year. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I'll keep it. I'll keep it a stack with you. I was in favor of it until I heard that they were considering four years. Look, y'all know I'm in favor. Guys, get your money.

I'm happy when players get paid, except for when it's by my team, when they're on this side of the team. Yeah, exactly. Hey, you know what? Good for him. Going to Dallas, it ended up working out. Yeah. I wish you the best of luck.

Oklahoma City added Caruso and Hardenstein to this team was already looking great. That addition again, gonna call that a winner, but I hate to see that because, oh my

goodness, that was just a masterful trade. They got Giddy out, Car my goodness. That was just a masterful trade. They got Giddy out, Caruso in. It's just looking, I see no weaknesses. Maybe Jack should have had that ticket for this season, or this next year, the Oklahoma City Thunder winning it all. But, yeah. I feel like every move was in spite of the Lakers.

You know what I mean? Everything has this, like, take that Lakers. You know what I mean? Everything has this, like, take that Lakers. You know what I mean? Yeah, you like that? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, for sure. Oh, remember him? CJ, to your point, the next one they make when they steal Laurie

and hurt everybody's feelings, that's going to be the one that really hurts. Yeah. My goodness. They still have a treasure trove of assets that they can move, whether it's guys that are currently on the roster or their future picks. They realistically could push all in right now. And something I would not be surprised if they did. The Knicks.

They got McCall. Yeah. Re-signed OG. I think OG was the big piece. I had to make sure he was coming back so you know i'm i'm not gonna i'm not like losing my mind but yeah no they're good good bit of business i gotta say good bit of business for you the east is is slowly getting better yeah you know um for some reason the city you know i'm sure we'll get to the other teams, but it's just like I just

yeah, the Celtics are still the best team over there. And the Bucs did too many things to mess up their situation. So that was going to be my only threat to them. And for some reason, I'll just never say, I just don't feel right. No matter, the Sixers could get 96 Jordan and I'm like, something's going to happen over there. I know. Gosh. some reason i'll just never say i just don't feel right no matter the sixers could get 96 jordan and i'm like something's gonna happen over there i know gosh and i'm glad jack isn't here we have jack here jack jack has made his appearance oh yeah just energetically to be like we could we could have a whole team of 96 jordans and just nothing's gonna happen uh but yeah the sixers

signed obviously paul george uh eric g Gordon re-signed Kelly Oubre. Andre Drummond is back in town. We wanted him. Yeah. Caleb Martin, out of nowhere. Yeah. Yeah. So, on paper, I'm like, yeah, that's a winner.

But I think my close proximity to a Sixers fan has also like by osmosis poisoned me too and i'm like but you never know man like it's it's it is the it is the soft knee crew over there and i'm a little worried about that for sure i've seen it i've seen that reference on you know like on twitter i'm gonna be honest with you i really want this for jack look if my team's gonna if my team doesn't get up and we'll get to them later if my team's not gonna do anything i really want this for jack yeah i'd be lying i'd be lying if i said i was confident when it comes to you know the injury history of some of those guys and you know and that's not to you know it's not to you know rain on anybody's parade you know like philly fans they have the right to celebrate uh you know getting pg

but i think all of us know we'll be holding our breath you know up until the end so yeah yeah um san antonio spurs chris paul has entered the chat uh i that this feels i'm i'm and prior moves of chris palm again we'll see like we'll see what happens but this feels just because Wemby is in such need of somebody like Chris Paul, I feel like that's probably a win for them. Regardless of what happens, whether it's just what's happening on the court or just by having someone around like that

just to help you overall, help you see the game differently. And yeah, Harrison Barnes also. Look at this. Wemby yama born january 4th 2004 chris paul's debut november 1st good lord we're so so i was a full-grown adult when cp3 you know it came in what it i just saw cooper flagg in an interview say he was born in 2006. I'm like, that's not real.

What? He was born in 2006? I don't know if it was the same interview, but they asked him the greatest team of all time, and he hit us with the 86 Celtics, which, shut the hell up. Also, we understand. You watch some games with your daddy, and I'm not mad.

It's like when we used to say like oh i like early pink floyd but we just had heard someone say that right you know do you remember that like video that was blown up on tiktok where someone was just talking trash about those little league players where they're like uh my favorite rapper is mf doom and he was like no an older kid told you to say yes and like exactly doing commentary that look i get it but look you gotta have a respect for history obviously so i won't i won't you know i'm not going to knock you for that um the lakers are not doing anything okay and then moving on oh no no no no let's talk about them last because i have probably the most to be most to be upset about the clippers though they lost PG for nothing because again

this is all because of the second day a lot of teams are having to do this thing where they're like is this worth it or do we just completely dismantle what we've got here they re-upped with James Harden Derek Jones Jr. went that way Kevin Porter Jr.

why is he around? I would just say yeah I love how everyone was the people who, the journalists were like qualifying him being back in the NBA, they're like and he went off and did six months

overseas in a vacation resort playing basketball. And now he is making his return. It's like, no, stop signing him. Right. Yeah. And then you have Batum, Chris Dunn. I mean, happy for Batum.

Yeah. Yeah. Probably still has some stuff here. Storage unit. Oh, yeah. Definitely does. He had one game last in in this recent season where i was like okay okay batum you still got it yeah right right um but

still feels a little flimsy feels a little flimsy you know counting on kawhi and james harden uh but i i'm just saying this to cope with my own situation. I'm going to be completely honest. Most of the, most of the things I've been saying since the finals ended have just been me coping on Mike this whole time. Cause it is different. I'm not going to lie. Thank you.

Everybody who sent me well wishes. And even the haters that sent me memes, I appreciate it. The nuggets too. Okay. We got to have weapon. Last case EP considering Russell Westbrook, and traded Reggie Jackson,

I am curious where this is headed. Because again, we're talking about the second apron, the new CBA, and how that is just creating a lot of movement, a lot of motion. And I get it, it's to create more parity and equity in the league and things like that. But it is wild to just sort of see these squads that were working

immediately just kind of be like, yeah, we're going to have to just kind of completely break this thing up. First of all, with Westbrook, I was reading, is that a Jokic desire? That's what the word was, was that he was absolutely in favor of it, which, you know, I won't even clown. What I will say is if you're a player out there and you see, you know, like the way that Westbrook approaches the game, you know,

outside of the like the antics when he gets it, you know, gets worked up, whatever. I could see why you'd be like, hey, look, there's productivity there. I can totally see it. So like I like, you know, we clowns, you know, a couple of years back, there's productivity there. I could totally see it. Yeah, no, for sure. Even though we clowned, a couple years back, we clowned LeBron and AD for wanting that. I actually, deep down, understood it. And you know what?

If you're Denver, you may be looking at a situation where, if I'm not mistaken, Jamal Murray, he's due to re-up next summer. And you may have to make some tough choices. So having a guy like Westbrook that gets still productive and can play multiple positions,

I'm trying to convince myself, but I can see the logic. I just feel like they have a very much figured out system. Westbrook isn't the guy to fill that. You need a guy who can hit threes.

And we all, my fingers are still sore from crossing my fingers that those shots would go in when you play for the Lakers. So, yeah, it's worrisome. And I think if anything, that we might be finding Jokic's weakness is that he's not much of a GM or doesn't have the confidence of some of these player GMs we've seen on some of these other teams of knowing who to demand. They've lost out on Bruce Brown, Jeff Green, and there was no one saying anything.

Now they lost KCP. I guess it's Christian Brown's time and maybe Peyton Watson and some of these other guys, but it really hasn't been seen yet. As someone that watched them chip away, actually just completely destroy that championship roster in 2020, yes, I'm bringing it to the Lakers. I know what it looks like when you start to chip away at that championship DNA. Thinking you can get away with it. Thinking you can get away with it, thinking you can outsmart things. No, no no no no but hey i mean yokich works with like thoroughbreds and stuff maybe he can rehabilitate this one and russell westbrook you know i believe if i and for some

weird reason i'm like yeah yokich knows what he's doing like even though it could go any number of ways as many of us have witnessed uh but for some reason, I'm like, nah, he's too cold and calculating to make any kind of mistake. For some reason, he may figure it out. But yeah, that doesn't look great. And CJ, you mentioned the Bucs. You know, like, and everybody in the East is getting stronger. Celtics just got their 18th ring. Sixers and Knicks are also augmenting their roster.

But, you know, we got an older Dame. And another thing that made us feel old. This is Giannis' 12th season. Oh, man. Man. Really? No. That's crazy.

What year? It's 2024. That makes sense. So, yeah, I remember being in an empty apartment i just moved back here and just being like oh this honest guy is huge um and skinny are tall and skinny and then yeah man 12 years dang yeah look at him now and they still have doc rivers as head coach so well but then doc got some help he got our boy boy, Darvin. And Torian Prince. Yeah.

Jabari, what's your feeling on the Bucs here? I know, I think leaning, if it's a binary between winner and loser, it feels more loser than winner. Loser to me specifically because I remember, look, the Lakers made the Western Conference Finals last season. And then everyone else got better around them, and they just decided, like, oh, no, we'll just kind of – we'll see how things go. We can just do that again.

It'll work. We had a Bucs team. They were decimated by injuries, obviously. They didn't – I think, what, they're out in the first round this year. You already mentioned it. Dame's going to be 34 down the stretch of this season. Giannis is no spring chicken himself. I feel like they have to swing for the fences once again at this point in order in order to you know kind of

you know re-solidify themselves not saying that they're going to be weak i just i'm just not a believer that you can just oh okay we'll just figure it out in year two yeah yeah yeah the idea that it's like well if so and so and so and so step up then we'll be okay and it's like you don't know what what timeline people are on. And I get the idea of that being able to happen or what you see may seem promising, but it's not a promised thing by any means. The Warriors, again, we touched on Clay and obviously Chris Paul. They added Kyle Anderson. Buddy Heald.

I would have taken Buddy Heald. I would have taken Buddy Heald in a heartbeat. We joked about it for years. He was there he was there for weeks yeah well someone miles turner he's still available yeah right man i know that's oh god no disrespect megan no yeah i know i remember yeah we were coveting our neighbor's roster uh against the whatever commandment and commandment that is yeah it's all jerseys get them all yeah and so what if they man if they are if they're able to scoop lowry laurie uh what yeah they might they might be doing okay i don't know i mean it feels like right now they're losers simply because you know like i look at no disrespect to any of these guys like we just said

the lakers would have taken quite frankly all of them oh yeah right we will take anyone including i'll take us cj miles right now just i need to see some movement but if you're the warriors like say they don't make this you know they don't you know pull this deal off for marketing and they kind of go in as currently constituted they're going to be competitive but they're not going anywhere right and if you're steph i know i'm not you know starting any rumors but if you're steph how long do you say do you say like okay yes i want to continue to you know push the bill push the stone up the mountain yeah yeah oh wow references yes get it all here y'all just so know, this is a very high-minded podcast. Y'all not messing with Sisyphus and these metaphors.

Literally a big reason. Find your own podcast. I love you said that, Jabari, because is it me who is reading so into all these pictures and photos of Team USA right now and the bonding that LeBron and Steph and AD you know, just these like them pushing mics out of the way. I like to dream a little bit. You know? Oh, we're Lakers fans. We only

live in a dream world. Yeah. Go to state, you can have it all. Let's go. Yeah. What do you want? Bring Steph home. Every big swan. I never thought I'd be saying it, but bring Steph home, please. We'll definitely get to Team USA in a second. But let's take a quick break. We'll come back to talk about Orlando.

Touchback again on the Mavs and the Lakers. And then, you know, check a few other things around the league before talking about Team USA. We'll be right back. 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.

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they it seems like they're addressing their weaknesses yeah i really don't i don't have anything yeah what do you guys feel like because i mean like we all we went into the postseason saying like are they going to have enough scoring are they going to have enough shooting i like i love kcp i i definitely wanted him to return but i i still feel like they still need additional shooting am i alone in that or no i i know i think that's that's spot on. The thing they don't have to worry about is defense. So all the pieces you can add to create more firepower, I think, are absolutely essential

given what we saw in the postseason, for sure. And Paulo is flourishing. He is becoming a superstar in front of our eyes. And they also just don't have that pressure. If they get slowly better over the next three years, everyone's just going to always um and they and they also just don't have that pressure you know so like yeah if they if they get slowly better over the next three years everyone's just gonna always be like you know

good for the magic and then snap your finger yeah like the the east okc thunder you know like and so yeah we'll see i mean it was interesting to hear them be mentioned in some of these free agency you know rumors for like some of these big guys. I was like, oh, that's like a first sign of like, this is a real team. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And they're taking seriously. They got, they have goals they're trying to achieve.

I wonder, does like, if you have a family, does moving to Orlando feel like, oh, you know, and like my kids might not like, I might not, you like, they don't want to be uprooted, but we'll live at Disney World. Is that okay? Yeah, I think it's real. A bunch of guys still have houses there. Yeah, right. It'll be like being in a bubble, just not in a bubble. Yeah, exactly. The good times.

Remember those? And like we said, Mavericks, they traded for Clay and Quentin Grimes. They signed Najee Marshall. It's, you know, we'll see what goes on there. I'm curious to see what the Mavs actually end up looking like once the season starts. Because they were running on straight fumes at the end of that. And a lot of deficiencies became very clear very quickly.

And then the Lakers did nothing. So then we can just move on. So then like also in the league, Tatum re-upped. Okay, so the Lakers. Yeah. What is happening right now? I have no idea. Is Rob Palenka some kind of confidence man, to use the formal terms?

What do you mean what do you like i i'm just i don't know i don't know what i don't know what i i just don't know what he's thinking i don't know what his area of expertise is like sometimes you're like okay okay rob we see you and other times i'm like but no this like, that's the wrong decision completely. Don't listen to them. And sometimes I feel like we're becoming like the Raiders of the NBA. Genie got that bowl cut. You know what I mean?

Like Mark Davis. Yeah, man, it's baffling. That's the word I'm going to use because we had some major, major problems that we've been talking about for the whole second half of the season, and we have not made a single attempt to fix any of it. And I hope JJ's good, but I think the play that we all wanted to do was sort of just get a coach in there that had a resume who could be a little bit better on play calls. JJ is just way much more of a gamble and a guess there. So a little uneasy about that, but I'll be patient there.

And it's a change up at the very least in Darvin. We need a center. We need a center. We need to go back to AD playing the four. Just like I've seen so many centers just get signed and go back. I would have taken Mason Plumlee. I don't think what Jackson Hayes showed last year is the answer

to... I just don't think giving him more minutes is getting me to sleep more hours in the night. No, not at all. I love, I love Jackson's energy. I love what he brings out. Third big man, but he's too light.

He's too light in the behind. Honestly, if I'm not mistaken, he's like 40 pounds lighter than AD and AD is light for the position. Right. Right. Yeah. Like nothing at all wrong with having them on your roster. In fact, like I said, he's a third big guy. But yeah, I would have taken Valanchunas. He ended up taking him in a year to go to

Washington. That's when I'm like, what's going on? Yeah. And then I'm like, are we cursed now? Maybe it's me. Maybe it is us. I've never even said that out loud. I think it was the first time I said, is it us?

And I don't want to. I don't like that thought. No, I need to go back to my cognitive dissonance and be like, it's fine. We signed Steph. It'll be all right. Don't have to worry about anything. But yeah, it really was hard to hear about going into free agency. Like, okay, there's some potential people we're looking at. And then they're all just going somewhere else. And then hearing like, we didn't even approach

DeRozan at all? Outside of just kind of saying like, yeah, we're interested, but really didn't make a move. Never got him on the phone. Wild. That is absolute wild stuff. You know, call me crazy, going back to the center talk, there's part

of me that we could even explore Tristan Thompson, you know, of like, there was that small glimpse, remember that small glimpse in the Western Conference Finals where you're like, Tristan Thompson? You know, maybe even come in as a veteran, as a veteran

leader, even. not none of that we got more guard i know it's uh yeah we're screaming out for it i don't i honestly i'm like who is out there even now that we could even get excited about that feels like we're addressing the actual problems because if there isn't and we end up doing some really terrible business just trying to shoehorn someone in because there's like a deal and we're giving up pieces we really shouldn't be i'm starting to really think about like what's even realistic and what should our options be here i don't know cj feels i would still be happy with cam johnson somebody you know like of that name still very effective, long, can obviously shoot, take some of the pressure off of the main guys.

And that's not even to say that he wouldn't be a main guy. Take some pressure off of LeBron and AD. Obviously, we talked about Laurie earlier. That might be a pipe dream because I don't necessarily know that they have the draft capital to get that done with Ainge. Hessler's been floating around again.

Yep. If you need a five there you go a young five that had you know last year was a down year but that for you know that rookie year you look he looks solid you know he's solid so there's moves out there it's just a matter of art you know are we going to get in are we going to get in the pool or not yeah i just oh man i now i'm like maybe you know it's all about dalton connect you know can i gang can i gang bing bing bang what i mean i'm please something i just i'm just anything yeah i'm getting a little blackpilled here and i do

not like it um and i mean jabari you said you were going to say this on the show but are you going to say it i'll say it i'll say it with the financial situation this would be the and they're let me be clear they're not going to do this everybody this is going to say you're an idiot because this is logical what you're about to say i'll be there now would actually be the time to press reset now would actually be that time and and and and just and if you're rob you haven't been able to you know do it these last four years with those main guys you know with those two guys i'm not saying you get rid of both of them i'm just saying you i i would at least explore the conversation if you don't think that you're going to be able to get anything done

or if in fact you're not going to be able to get anything done but i don't know honestly i don't know if he has that heart well but it's also such cruel timing right it's like i we can't afford to not get the most out of lebron or ad this next year like we just can't like that's just not a luxury we have so but we've done it we we did it the last three years where we messed up the opportunity ad played 76 games this past year I know so that is that is great evidence as to why not reset now when you have AD at that value I mean

but we know the ship isn't necessarily being steered just by Palenka and the Bust family and yes LeBron is one of the greatest players of all time. So we've seen what else that means to

the front office and to just the power of everything. I'm not like, we gotta do it now. I understand why we're not. But it is gonna be like Groundhog Day

again if we have to have that dash second half of season to make the play in, to get a seed in the playoffs. We keep stepping in that damn puddle. No, we can't. That hype puddle.

Yeah. Well, we'll see. We'll see what happens what happens hey you know the most important thing america yeah that's right and that's what i like to talk about all day stars and stripes forever so team usa and see and this is why cj you're not just a brilliant guest but a brilliant host you know you kept me from spinning spiraling and put me on to a path to something brighter because did y'all watch the scrimmage the scrimmages the yeah the wow it's first of all just seeing this team together is kind of mind-blowing yeah yeah it's been a while since i've looked at a Team USA and was like, yo! This is something.

Can I just tell you? Yes. That scrimmage is part of why I said, hey, it might be time to press reset, sag for flag, but please continue. Yeah, dude, Cooper flag looks lejitimate, as I just said in my own made-up language, which is supposed to be legitimate.

There was that one sequence when he, like he had the ball up at the top of the key. I was like, okay, drew holidays about to rip you, bro. I don't even, I don't know what you're thinking.

And he on skate, you know, dude, skate, boom, ad switch to him. And he said, watch this boom,

net music, string music, call me Mozart. Then the following possession, just finishing at the rim. I was like, this kid is is spooky uh he is gonna be so good um i'm excited slash like upset because i know he's not gonna i don't i

don't know where he's gonna end up but it won't be the lakers and then i'm gonna have to end up being like man you know he was all right bro you know you know that's right you're right you're right um but yeah, I saw someone Jabari, you put this in the doc. I saw this tweet too where people were like, who's winning this battle? Team USA 2024 or 2008? And just looking at them, like

I look at 2000, I'm like, yeah, that was a great team too. But I don't know. There's something about looking at this 2024 team and I'm like, this is spooky and nasty in every right way. I'll let CJ go first. Cause I've got a controversial take. Okay.

Who would win it between 2000 and 2024, 2008 and 2020, 2008. Who's on 2008. That's the team team. Yeah. That was the redeem team. Yeah.

That was it. Okay. I'm cold. Yeah. You had prime LeBron prime, uh3, prime Mello, prime Dwight. Chris Bosh. No disrespect. Prime Chris Bosh.

Everybody was pretty much in their prime except for Jason Kidd. Man, I might go with 2008 it's tough you know why well it's Kobe I watched the doc Kobe was out of his mind running through his own teammates

but you know what you have the superstars the legends on our current team right now are not in their prime you know they're still playing exceptionally well but like there's such a gap between like you got lebron then you have ann edwards and tyrese halliburton on this team like that is such a gap in between i feel like you have all the guys in their prime on 2008 yeah the white's on there like dwight is still white is nasty you know yeah yeah all right i think oh he beats all of them

i think oh wait all of us 92 no wow must okay look you wow i recognize jordan look they had they had they had jordan at his at his peak they had and i'm not taking anything away from that they had pippen they had they you know robinson they had other guys that were still in their relative primes but magic and bird i'm sorry man like and y'all know magic is my favorite player of all time like i am biased beyond belief when it comes to magic, but that's, that wasn't magic. You know what I'm saying? That was post career magic.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was like a swan song for sure. People, people will throw 2016 out there. People will throw 2020 out there. And I,

and I do get it. Those two, you know, like in particular, but I honestly believe even with a smaller front court, 2008 is the best. Yeah. I could be,

I could be sold on that for sure i mean you sold me on it right there looking at that picture i was like i kind of went oh oh yeah um yeah olympic mellow part of me literally just went oh yes kobe bryant yeah like memory holding that whole thing when that was like one of the most like to your point about the doc i was like that is yeah wild wild wild uh but yeah the i mean team usa looked pretty good uh you know ant continues to be like the master of just fantastic answers when asked a serious question um who's who's ant off the court you know that's that's the person we want to know marlo marlo yeah um but yeah i i'm i'm i is anyone i mean i'm not who who we who should we be looking at in paris to be like okay we're gonna have to get through them because i'm i'm my american arrogance

is coming out again like with this team, with this team? With this team? Yeah, I feel like the international talent is big, but it's all a little bit scattered. Canada's going to be tough, I think. Yeah, Canada will be good. Yeah, Canada is a major threat. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, we will see.

I'm really excited just for everything happening in the Olympics, just generally. Did you get the silver last round, last Olympics? i'm i'm really excited just for everything happening in the olympics uh just generally get the silver last uh last round last olympics i feel like slovenia was in there did they qualify no no i'm talking about last olympics oh oh last olympics tokyo japan got sober oh no no that's women that wasn't the women okay it was u.s france got the silver it was france okay and then australia australia right got you that place got the bronze middle uh it's pretty good performance from them uh yeah so what's going on there yeah yeah yeah um and then just like a couple other things obviously uh like

you know obi toppin re-signing with the pages good to see obi kind of find yourself in indiana yeah absolutely uh we talked about valentina's going to the wizards um maxi we love maxi here don't we love tyrese maxi uh five year 204 million dollar deal what was that clip i saw a clip going around where he was like uh like giving and beat his flowers and saying like you know you were the first guy to to believe in me and i really appreciate that and he got all teared up it was a very like very wonderful moment but it helps like you understand because everyone's like hi maxi's like one of the sweetest guys like he is one of the best people to be around in the league and i just remember seeing that clip he he seems like such a sincere dude yeah any team is lucky to have him. I just was watching before this, was watching Jared McCain, like a vlog that Jared McCain put out.

I'm like, that is going to be the nicest backcourt. I know. He's so nice. Such a sweetie backcourt. Just good guys. Yeah. He was also a big Lego fan, right? Didn't I see? was he stunting with his

legos too uh jared or or tyrese there's a few guys no jared i know who else was that on there's miles there's there's the lopez i think they are yeah yeah yeah yeah um yeah, you know, it seems like maybe he's a Lego guy. Anyway, shout out to all the Lego heads out there. One of the most underrated toys to this day. But yeah, any other feelings, thoughts on Team USA before we keep this show moving?

I do hope it's competitive. I do hope it's competitive. Yeah, because we already have to suffer through a summer of no basketball usually. I don't know if you guys are heading down to Summer League, but it's going to be sick. We got Summer League and Team USA all in Vegas right now. It feels like it really hasn't stopped. It went from Finals, Reagency, Team USA, Summer League.

Then hopefully we close our eyes and we're back in the season. Yeah, truly. And hopefully close my eyes and open them. And then we've signed someone, too. That would be great, too. Now, to your point, CJ, if I'm not mistaken, after the Olympics, you've got three weeks and then camps. Love it. Or media days.

Yeah. Love it. I think Team USA's first game is against south sudan um so i don't i gotta see who else is in that group but it will be interesting all right let's take a quick break and we'll be right back to put cj in the hottest seat of all sports podcasts. The Hot Seat, right after this. In a galaxy far, far away. No, babe, that's taken. We're in our own world, remember?

Right. In our own world, we're two space cadets and totally normal humans. Sure, totally normal humans. Embark on a journey across the stars, discovering the wonders of the universe one episode at a time. We'll talk about life, love, laughter, and why you should never argue with your co-pilot.

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Ed. Listen to Señora Sex Ed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And we're back CJ Toledano You're such a nice guy You're the time maxi of podcasting Everyone says this You're one of the sweetest guys around And I hate doing this to you But you're about to get grilled

It's time for the rapid fire round of questions The fastest question and answer segment in all sports podcasting history Get in the hot seat right now Hit them with the spotlight Because we're going in Are we ready? You know how this goes I always do it wrong

And we can't get mad at you Again we can't get mad at you Because your energy is so pure You're so pure of heart I'm even prevented from being my normal rude self listeners of the show or know i'm famous for uh but shall we do this jabari are you ready i am ready listening jabari you ready cj you ready that's from american gladiators all right brian start the clock tennis balls hit me all right yeah exactly i wanted to play that oh yeah

and you get that little bazooka arrow thing to try to get the little target turbo yeah man i'm just launching the thing too yeah um i even forgot where i was and i forgot this is an nba podcast not a retro american gladadiators Dreamer show. Jabari, please go first. Alright. CJ, one question for you. Who is the face or will be the faces of the league for the next five years?

Anthony Edwards, Jason Tatum, Joel Embiid, and Wim Byama. I was wondering when, I'm like, wait a second. Sorry. We've gone entirely too far. Yeah. And'm like, wait a second. Sorry. We've gone entirely too far. Yeah. Yeah. And Luca.

There's a few. There's a few. Yeah. I mean, but then you're forgetting SGA, you know, but he's even like kind of older compared to that group. Who else is out there? I mean, Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Halliburton. Yeah, the list goes on. The list goes on. I'm sorry. The Apollo is just about to come out and get you. No, the list goes on. The list goes on.

I'm sorry, the Apollo is just about to come out and get you. No, I was just also curious, who's this Wenbin Yama y'all keep talking about? He's an alien. The guy on the Spurs? The alien guy? Yeah. I call him alien guy. CJ, next question. You can retroactively space

jam yourself. I've got a space jam is a documentary hoodie. So this is an appropriate question. Space jam yourself into having Robert Ori's career or Charles Barkley's career. Which one do you choose? Friend of the show, Robert Ori, we should mention. Man. Yeah.

No, and I love Robert Ori. And through iHeart, I've gotten to interview him. And it was a pleasure because he was talking about how when he played for the Lakers, Salma Hayek was like inviting him to dinner and stuff. And it's like, you know, it's one thing to be playing basketball for a living as a dream, but then it opens up doors to be going to dinner with Salma Hayek, you know? He went to dinner with Salma Hayek? Yeah, I think so. And he was like whispering it while because his wife was like his wife was right there i was like why did you get

quiet um but uh man you know i just such respect and admiration for charles barkley i he you know had he was one of the best players while playing and then just has put together this incredible broadcast career so like the performer in me goes you can have it all a basketball and and you know this broadcast career and he's going out on top troops i think i'm going barkley yeah yeah i'm not mad yeah that was that was the right answer just yeah okay for you for me it's it's big shot bobble yeah all those rings i mean it's all about rings in this thing you know that right here people know people already know what time it is uh i'm sorry joe i got you all right caesar someone has come now and like this cannot be all right i i won't qualify in advance someone's coming to southern california this summer one restaurant they need to hit up and it can't be

in and out or fat burger you know give me something When it's the one restaurant they need to hit up, and it can't be In-N-Out or Fatburger, you know, get me something good. Give the people what they want and what they need. Oh, man. You know what? This is the chain restaurant that families go to that

is probably everywhere. I went to one in Akron, Ohio. Oh, you're talking about Sizzler, folks? No, it's close. It's BJ's Brewhouse. Hey, I just went there last week. I am a... The pizookie is crazy. BJ's holler at us.

BJ's is the spot in these two. I feel like it had its heyday. There was one in Pasadena that closed. I used to go and watch Laker games. I used to celebrate, you know, work things at. I feel like, and especially in LA, everyone's always talking about these fancy places, this hip spot that's down an alley. You got to go back to basics. Yeah, we got to go back to basics.

Yes. Yes. Those are the purest celebrations when you'd be like, dude, we're going to Pazookia BJ's. I'm like, bro, say less. I went to the Montebello Town Center last weekend. Yeah. BJ's. And I felt at home.

It was warm. There were families around. There were kids who just played AU basketball. Right, right, right. Teens. Yeah. And you had some young families. You had people of all ages.

And then you can step out and go to a Lids or a Champs. Yeah know love eating at the mall i gotta say as i get older i'm like i'm telling my wife we're like yo we need to go to the mall like on friday we need a save ball that's where i'm like because that's my culture like growing up in la in the 90s and stuff you went to the mall yeah at the mall that's just what you did and i'm like it's funny how i'm just recapturing i'm like we're gonna walk by footlocker okay then we'll get a little boba uh and then maybe get a little you know like auntie ann's or something like that that's what i'm talking about and to that point i grew up going to the bjs in warner center right over across from the benga mall yo hit up best buy wooden hills yeah hang them all there we were.

Those are the good old days. Man, we're old. I don't know how many times we've said that. Man, good old days, man. I remember when Giannis was just getting in the league 12 years ago. I remember literally

like it was yesterday. Yeah. Wait. Oh, sidebar. CJ, are you... I know you're originally a Bulls fan, right? Yeah.

Okay. Okay. Okay. CJ, I know you're originally a Bulls fan, right? Yeah. Okay. CJ, next question. What? No follow-up? I was like, where are you going with that? Because you'll understand right now. Okay. You're on a life raft, and you're in the sea,

and you come upon two figures struggling in the water. Oh, no. One of them you recognize as BJ Armstrong. The other is none other than Tony Kukoc. Who? They both need help getting out of the water. But your life raft only has room for one. Man.

Who do you save? I feel like I got to save Tony because that's more championships that he contributes now this is now oh man it might have to be bj armstrong because you're like you got them rings tony it's all right you got those rings tony you can float away on those i i think oh man yeah maybe bj armstrong you know he was he was he's d rose's agent BJ Armstrong You know, he's D-Rose's agent Yeah He's still very instrumental With a lot of the current players Right now, he's like, you think about a good

Up and coming point guard His agent is most likely BJ Armstrong I didn't even know that Wait, who else does he represent? I feel like there's, I don't even know I bet you the roster is... Nice. You think... Oh, yeah, that makes sense.

Derrick Rose. Let's see. Also, Bismack Biambo. Okay, what? You jumped in. JaVale McGee. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm wrong. Jackson. Is that Carlos Arroyo's brother? Ross Arroyo?

Yeah. Ralphs. I don't know. Yeah. Well, hey, the first one I liked. I think he was running like Wasserman or whatever. I don't know. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Exactly. Yeah. What's up, JaVale McGee? What, three-time NBA champion? Yeah. I would have taken JaVale McGee this offseason. Yeah. Look, like we say, beggars can't be choosers.

We do not need to bank for jimmy yeah i feel like we do you'll be like man i'd rather go to the wizards and you're like what okay okay okay man um all right uh jabari go ahead sorry i completely i had to improvise that last question i had to zero in on it. That's why I asked the question, because I wanted to ask you something that was going to hit you more in your childhood heart than your fan heart. I will famously pander now.

We are planning a 90s throwback series this summer. We're going to highlight players and teams from that era. Shout out to your co-host, John. It would be awesome to have him on so we can talk about it too, but we'll get there. Do you mind giving us a few recommendations of 90s guys we should highlight? 90s? So far, let me give you who we've got so far.

Okay. You know, a friend of the show, Vince Carter, he recommended a couple guys. But we got Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, of course, Vince, Sean Camp, Young Kobe. I mean, duh. Yeah. AI, the Petrovich Nets. Derek Coleman action. Reggie Lewis, Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen, and Dennis Rodman.

Okay. Missing from the 90s. Ardvitas the bonus. Oh, thank you. Okay. Oh, yeah, yeah. Who else? Detlef Schrempf.

Yeah. I mean, was Reggie Miller on there? I know people broadcast that Reggie isn't most popular, but Reggie Miller, of course. I recognize fellow Bruins, so yeah, he's in there. Patrick Ewing. Was Ewing on there?

Hakeem. Hakeem is the one where I'm surprised nobody had mentioned before. Every day I go, because I just saw more footage of him. He's training somebody, but his game is like, because centers have become, now they're like,

oh, they can shoot threes and stuff. Can you imagine if you had, like, Embiid had that same footwork that Hakeem had? He's doing some of the moves, but not as fluid as Akeem was. It's like when an actor you can see them reading the lines in their head.

That's how the modern day center is. Akeem was just like you get the ball, he's in his spot, and then it just flows through him. That was so beautiful. Akeem is definitely one of my favorite players of all time, and I always forget that.

But yeah, I feel like I'm missing some. I mean, J. Will, Jason Williams is on there. Sacramento, Jason Williams, sorry. Yeah, yeah. No, I just saw Mitchell Ness was trying to sell some heat throwbacks of Jason Williams. He remembers that Jason Williams. If anything, do the high school one with him and Randy Moss. Yeah.

I love that Nike commercial. Oh, yeah. Just a good old boy. I remember being like, they went to school together, but I love both of them right now. We need a quintessential 90s doc about pop culture and sports together. And it could be like a 100-part series. Oh, easily. I mean, just think of like...

Was Wyden doing all those Nike basketball acts back then? I'm like, I need to talk to that person. I want to talk to the person who conceived Fun Police. You know what I mean? And be like, thank you. I tried to buy a big yellow jacket for halloween i could have found oh my god oh we should do a joint let's all of us on here do

a joint halloween costume next year we'll be the fun police oh i'm i'm google yada with a fun police number yeah yeah okay final question for you cj yeah I know you're a big person on style, especially things when it comes to basketball. Name a player sneaker model that isn't of Adidas or Nike that you feel is being slept on. I mean, the T-Macs are incredible. T-Mac 1 and 2s are legendary. Oh, that aren't Nike or Adidas. Are not Nike or Adidas. I mean, I went out and got those data C-Webs.

The N1 Spreewells were dope. The KG Spreewells were dope. The N1, just the tie cheat. You know, that's what Vince Carter wore in the dunk contest. The half white and red. Those are still legendary. There's like another one. Not Nike or like your adidas i'm trying to think um check the shagnosis rebar rebar this is dude the cop the rebar kamikaze yeah the sean oh yes those were also

fever i remember those shout out to my co-host John Wall. He had some great signature shoes. He had the ZigTex. And then he had another model that they did this DC cherry blossom colorway. That's dope. I'm probably missing a bunch. I mean, the pumps. The D. Brown pumps.

Yeah. The Larry Johnson Converse's. The Cons. The React Juice. Gotta have React Juice. Yes. I remember these. Yeah. I know I'm gonna get off this con and go, yeah the larry johnson converse is the cons we react to yeah gotta have react juice yes i remember these yeah i know i'm gonna get off this congo man i'm mad i didn't say that but no no i mean look that's all i ever since the answers question yeah that's the answer yeah there it is yeah yeah there it is there it is yeah but i can't even ask this question anymore because that was the answer uh cj CJ Toledano. Thank you so much for joining us on miles and Jabari got mad at boosties.

Uh, where do the people find you? Follow you, support you, listen to you, engage with your creative and athletic genius. Yeah. Uh,

at CJ Toledano and then check out point game pod, John wall there, go through the whole first season. Hopefully we'll back some first season too. Um, I'm going to summer league this weekend and do some videos. Check that the whole first season. Hopefully we'll back some first season too. I'm going to Summer League this weekend to do some videos. Check that stuff out. All on the follow-through channel. Dope, dope, dope,

dope, dope. Well, you can follow us on the hashtag MadBoosties on Twitter. That's B-O-O-S-T-I-E-S. That's where you can get show updates and links to all kinds of stuff. And also, you know, join in on the conversation on our Discord server. You can make sure to follow us on twitter you can find me at miles of gray you find me at jabari a davis and make sure you follow jack at jack underscore o'brien

let's let's let it breathe baby you know what i mean you're out here you know i mean you'll be back he'll be back you know what i mean? Jack will be back next week. And we will see you next week for sure as we continue to monitor the flourishing offseason of NBA and beyond. All right, y'all. Take care. We'll see you soon. Bye. Bye.

There's so much beauty in Mexican culture. We'll be right back. We do podcasts in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of Lucha Libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream 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 it's from the Dynasty perspective.

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