The Daily Zeitgeist - MJGMB #129: Pacific Division Team Over/Unders with Lina Washington

Episode Date: September 4, 2024

The guys were pleased to be joined by 3x Emmy-award sports journalist Lina Washington on today's episode. The trio discussed the current Vegas odds for total team wins of the Pacific Division as well as expectations for each squad!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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.

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Three of them this time, folks. Yeah, you know, I gave you that third one for free. And we're only 20 days before the first teams head into training camp. We're under a month away from media days and about 50 days from the season starting. So we are waiting with bated breath, which means the one thing we are able to do is check in with the teams and some of their offseason moves. And you know what? Let's start today with the Pacific Division with Emmy Award-winning sports journalist Lena Washington. On today's episode, I'm Miles Gray. And I'm Jack O'Brien.

And this is... Miles and Jack from Massachusetts! That was so slow. Donchich, D3, got it! And Luka Donchich hits 10K! There you go. And B, driving, spinning, fading, hitting! got it and luka dachic hits 10k and the driving spinning fading batter number 18 has been secured the celtics are nba champions over the double team oh Oh, night, night. Giannis with the take. Uh-oh, look out. No, showtime.

What you got, Giannis? Lena Washington, you have an Emmy. Lena! We famously don't, and that's why we wanted to have you here today to tell us it's great, isn't it? Yes. You know, I have an Emmy for each of us in the chat. Oh, wow. You know, not to flex, but we can all share the the wealth and it's happy to be on with you guys

i think i might have a five-timers jersey or hat on the way or yeah or yeah yeah we're waiting for the budget to get cleared once that budget clears i know i did promise you a whole leather jacket uh that was designed by louis vuitton i may have over promised there you did but how about a gift card i'll take it all right exactly but yeah we're gonna talk pacific division today that includes a team near and dear to your heart a team near and dear to mine a team not so near and dear to mine, a team not so much also. But hey, who better than to do that with you? But I guess overall, we were looking

just sort of how many games everyone's projected to win? It looks like overall, Jack, the West, we're kind of making space for some Ascendant teams. I guess, yeah. That's the thing I have to keep reminding myself.

Anytime we're talking win totals. We can't have all the teams that were good last year be good again this year in the West. And have Houston and the Spurs and Memphis all getting better. I think a lot of people expect them to. I personally expect them to. So I think people are just like, well, the I personally expect them to. So I think there's like, people are just like, well,

the blazers and the jazz are going to be bad. And that may be true, but they were bad last year. Right. You know, everyone thinks, okay, C is going to be much better.

Uh, so that adds more L's to the rest of the teams in the West. Um, who's going to eat all these L's is the question i'm looking at whenever i'm looking at western conference win totals who who are we gonna offload all these l's oh hello might i interest you in a three pack of l's sir maybe not so much not so much not so much door-to-door selling l's knock knock who's there i'm the salesman. Just saying if you want to do the community a service and absorb some of these. Some others may ascend.

But let's start with your Phoenix Suns, Lena Washington. What? 47.5 wins is the projection here. I'll take the over. I think the biggest addition in their offseason has been, of mike budenholzer stepping in as head coach i think the frank vogel era was a distant memory now and they're moving forward with a new coach a new energy and i'm excited to see how it all comes together with a new vision and hopefully you know the guys who went to paris and won a gold medal will come back even more cohesive to introduce some of the new pieces like tyus jones we know that he goes back with uh devin booker

and uh monty morris coming in to to the fold i think will be two good additions and then mason plumley uh coming on board leaving leaving the Clippers. So a little Pacific Division shifting with a lot of names and a lot of faces. But I think I'll take the over with that. I think you look at the division, it is one of the more competitive in the league, I would argue. But they don't have to face all of those teams every matchup. So they have that going for them, of course. So last year, the suns won 49 games this year they are targeted at 47.5 so that's one of the things that we realized is

they've like taken they've given everybody a couple extra l's i feel like that that's the way that draft kings has like mathematically made sense of the season is like all right somebody's gonna have to lose so everybody's gonna have to lose a little bit more like they're very bullish on like okc which that we're not talking about today but like they have them winning the same number of games they just that's first place because everybody else is losing a little bit more this year it It'll be interesting. I think I have the same question about two other teams in this division, as far as like, will some Olympic magic translate? Like, will it like hang on them?

Will there just be like that extra little fairy dust with the Lakers and the warriors and the suns i think with the suns when they came back from tokyo they had the the winningest season in franchise history off of that uh experience if i'm not mistaken granted kevin durant wasn't on the team at the time but at least devin booker came back with a whole new i think level and gear to him uh so and and neither was bradley beal so that's right who knows so but that's i'm now i'm so there's there's definitely i see like what the addition of tyus jones and montay morris does like the clippers i think we're toward like the bottom of the league for like three point attempts beside aside from having like a really good uh the sun i'm sorry the sun sun the suns i'm stuck in many minds here uh the suns and you know having

jones and morris you're not first of all they're not going to mess up that salary cap space you're you actually maybe now are able to have that big three function more like a big three because it felt like at times they were facilitating more than anything last season so i can see where like the optimism is but then there's the other part of me that has always looked at the bradley beal thing as potentially a step in a in not the best direction for the suns like for you do you feel that there's something is going to be different this year what am i missing as someone who is so myopically focused on my own terrible team uh that i am not seeing the sun for lack of a better word shine on the phoenix suns well i think the question with bradley's deal will always remain his health how will that affect his incorporation into the lineup and his production on the court in a consistent manner. We saw that he was plugged in a couple

times, was unsuccessful, didn't show up in the playoffs pretty much at all. I mean, I'll be damned if he gets swept. Well, he was damned, in fact. So that famous quote. But at least we have an idea of who will be running the point. There will be no question about that in terms of who's getting the ball to facilitate to the shooters. You mentioned the three points, the lack of three point shooting, which was mind boggling and confusing to everyone here as well. When you have prolific shooters like Booker and Kevin Durant right there.

So we will, we'll Frank Vogel talk a whole lot about how he was going to use those weapons. And that never came to fruition, as we know. So I think it's just a matter of seeing how it all materializes in a way that this team can be successful from the jump. Because once you get in a hole in the West, especially, it's tough to come back from. You look ahead to the turn of the calendar, the trade deadline, all-star, and then suddenly, you know, you're talking magic numbers. So it can really snowball when you're talking about the health and availability of

players, namely Bradley Beal, as we know, just given his career. But I think he's down for just being along for the ride and being a team player. His energy has always been positive from my experience and interviewing him and speaking with him in practices so um i get the feeling that he's whatever role that they want to put him in he is willing to accept and hopefully execute as best as he can yeah i'm an under on this one i think vogel is i think you missed you lost uh some coaching value in uh losing vogel personally really i'm i'm actually good friends with frank vogel i didn't want to let that bleed into this uh yeah yeah i do think it's better that you guys have point guards this year i don't think that was frank vogel's decision

not to have point guards necessarily last year but um it's uh yeah i don't know you guys were like fair like at least kd was fairly healthy last year he was the most healthy played the most minutes was the most effective uh you know would love to see it again this year would love to see yeah take that we're all we're all rooting for i always root for kd teams like i root for lebron teams because just love those guys but yeah yep yep yep but yeah bringing that uh bringing that parisian magic back will be i think key to all of it and yeah i i mean i do as someone who is part of a fan base or like we need this kind of player and we don't see that kind of player being signed i like that for as for sons you identify like could use some point guards and now you got some and so from

that i think i i'll just say you're gonna be right in there i don't know to like address the big person the void and the big bone that people had to pick you actually right yeah yeah yeah it's novel it's quite novel it's quite novel like what if that i'm trying to think of the other examples there was that year where duane wade came back from the olympics and was like had seemed like he had just like taken his game up like a couple notches um that i don't know i i feel like i do feel like Devin Booker could have, like, we might see that with Devin Booker. I would love to see that even just as a leader on the court, you know, franchise, you know, it's time for him to be that front facing guy, you know, not that he hasn't been

before, but just to elevate that in a way that the fans can receive and be excited about. Yeah. He seemed like he had a good time in paris i think i saw a clip of him running into someone on the streets in a booker jersey can we nominate that short film for uh an oscar i'm so serious his his camcorder reel oh yeah put together from paris yeah that'd be submitted for any kind of award because I think just the cinematography the the original he's got he's an artist he's a shooter on tour or there yes exactly you know exactly uh so you're going so Lena's got the over Jack's got the under I'm to go slightly under, but not too bad. Because I've read a lot where people are like,

I don't know what the Suns are thinking. Because they gave up their entire future for Bradley Beal. Where do you go from here? But I just feel like I'm an optimist. So I like to believe that things are going to click. I was an optimist last year. It didn't turn out. I mean, they had was an optimist last year what didn't turn out i mean they they had a good run some good runs there but it didn't turn out uh the way that i was hoping for it to so i'm gonna yeah fade a little bit on this one i would

say like we're gonna return to the mean or reversion to the mean or whatever smart people say to the mean uh but bradley beal his his mean seems to be missing a lot of time unfortunately on the injury front. This will be different. Hopefully not. Hopefully it's different and hopefully Booker makes that leap because I do think that's definitely possible. Love his shoe too. Love his shoe.

I was about to say the colorways are fantastic. Yeah. I gotta say. His sneaker, it's almost dare i say too fashionable for a basketball sneaker like it almost feels like it doesn't function at because it looks like such a smooth like i just love the design of it i think maybe i just get nervous seeing really low like low top basketball sneakers because then i just hear like a coach in my ear being like your ankles your ankles but look that's that's for me to work out in my dreams.

Yeah, that sounds like that. Yes. Moving on to other things in my dreams, the Lakers. In my dreams, we were able to sort out a roster that makes sense. And right now we're projected 43 and a half wins. That's down three and a half games from 47 from last year. I don't, I don't, I, I like, you know how it works. It's a toxic positivity.

And I haven't quite, quite gotten to the point where I'm feeling optimistic. I'm like, I i i need to see something more than dalton connect that makes me feel like oh maybe or like footage of brawny like working on his like you know the three-point shooting game sure uh that all looks great but again i would love a true big you know austin reeves said we could really use some bigs now i understand for us to get the kind of big we want would require some real movement of assets uh and we are limited in that you know capacity so we have to really think smartly maybe we shouldn't just pile up you know the kinds of uh guys we had on minimums like we were doing um but my goodness the inactivity is,

I don't even know what to make of it. For onlookers, such as the two of yourselves, how do you look at the just static nature of the Lakers offseason? We have a note in here from Jabari saying, are we all just stunned by the relative inactivity, which is just such a Lakers fan, to be stunned by inactivity, which is just such a Lakers fan to be, to be stunned by an activity. Why?

Are you startled that they didn't get better or do anything? What is this? Yeah. But you were surprised. Yeah. Yeah. I thought it was just kind of odd to see there were no additions like cricket.

But I guess if they found it to be successful last season and they can make it all click from the beginning then that's what they're gonna run with but i do have questions i have concerns yeah i would i would probably take the under on that you said 43 and a half yeah yeah yeah it feels about right to me like i guess both of these seem about right to me like the suns like i you know 47 and a half feels like even though i don't think they're gonna win a half a game so it'll probably be either 47 or 48 but like that feels about right and like 43 44 feels about right to me for the Lakers. But do you think, are the Lakers a play-in team? Yeah, I think they'll be.

Do you think so? Last year, that would have put them right in the mix to not make the play-in. I guess they would have been the 12th seed last year at 43-1. Yeah, which is tough. But again, there's... Oh my gosh, I don't even know. I'm trying to pretend things could get better like i'm i'm on like the max christy copium train too or like i'm like you know maybe we're gonna do jj reddick can do something different with him

maybe you can really coach his jj reddick man yeah yo you know i didn't want to say that part out loud that wow that really happened so now we're so now we're really all right so you still are you still right there at 43 and a half or you taking it down to like 38 no i think that makes it interesting you know i don't i love that oh that makes it interesting no it does like it's it's a real volatile uh you know asset that we've truly stuck in the which i guess that we almost always means like bad in uh stock like financial stuff i don't know it could go either either way um with jj reddick uh yeah yeah i don't know why i totally memory hold that i mean my big thing for this one this like booker and kd i feel like were about like booker was the

best role player and it's like the sons aren't looking for that to happen like with the olympic team but braun was like the best player in the world in the olympics like ad was so good in the olympics like was just like peak ad like this is the team where i'm like if we're gonna believe in anyone like sprinkling some magic olympics uh parisian dust on themselves this would be the one where you would want to believe in it i just i think they're really good like going back to the bubble right i think they're really good in finite situations where it's not 82 games and then like the playoffs where you have to play in denver for a whole seven game series and like a whole seven game series to be like old in altitude i feel like that um i just don't have as

much confidence that it's gonna it's gonna happen but i i would love for it to i feel like i i have good a good feeling about them the uh winning the in-season tournament again um but that's uh new heights or the same single eliminate you know like that it's just he he's so good when he like can just like really focus and you know conserve his energy and stuff like that but 82 games is a lot to ask at this point i feel yeah i mean i am fascinated by what the dynamic is going to be with jj reddick and his you know peers his you know contemporaries that he's now going to be in charge of and managing and having to answer tough questions too and yeah and make some tough shit to decisions too as a coach like i've looked at some of the

schemes yeah i've like i've read up on his philosophy on basketball and my main takeaway is uh hair too good his hair too good to be a good basketball coach you can't you can't have hair that good and be a good basketball coach you've got to let go of some of it like at the top at least to like have yeah yeah who is there anyone that we would give uh someone hair too good but also great coach like chuck daly yeah what do we think of chuck daly had a good hair but it was a flovy like it looked like it could have been cut by a flovy so that's got a good point spo but it's different spo has a healthy head of hair you know i mean i guess i'm talking about like when you go to go oh that's a that's

a cool hair that's a cool hair a cool hair as someone who no hair yeah you go, that's a cool hair. That's a cool hair. A cool hair. A cool hair. That's a cool hair. His hair always looks wet. We've had good coaches whose hair always looks wet. Pat Riley's hair always looks wet. JJ's hair always looks wet, but it also looks like he just stepped out of the salon

a lot of the time. It's just too boy band for me, I think. I think he just needs to come in with just a real clean part stepped out of the salon a lot of the time it's just like too boy band for me i think i think right i think he just needs to come in with just a real like clean part nerdy ass hairdo just like get go to brad stevens barber and be like give me the brad and he's like i know nothing else and gives you the same haircut he's been given every other human who sat in his chair for the past hundred years and then like that I would feel better about that

but maybe I'm wrong Phil Jackson with his flow yeah or even this is kind of an outsider pick but long hair pop was also a vibe I don't know if it was good but I was like this guy's cooking something up I don't know if it was good but i was like this this guy's cooking something

up i don't know what it is this man looks good or bad have but tissue boxes on his feet telling you let's get in the spruce goose and fly away oh man so yeah i'm i'm sadly i think i i would take the under uh for the lakers i just don't i'm i think good hair can work in college. Like, Quinn Snyder had better success in college, you know? But like,

it's too good in the NBA. I really think it's just like Pat Riley pulling off the 80s. Gordon Gekko was the most swag coach's hair has ever had. That's why Patino had that Gordon Gekko flow too. Yeah, yeah. And he worked out really well in college but you know so that's that's my one note for you jj and i know you're a listener and i don't want you to be mad at me but that's my that's my one note man uh work on it work on the hair do some do some do less do less exactly exactly exactly all right take a Do less. Do less. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. All right. Take a break.

Yeah, let's take a quick break. We'll come back. We're going to talk about who they, based on these win totals, DraftKings expects to win the division. It's one of the teams we've talked about so far. We'll be right back. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal.

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sports books have them at 46 46 and a half this what feels like draft kings knows something do they have do they have a delorean yeah do they have a sports almanac from the year 2100 that they're looking at and can make some kind of the big changes for them they signed demar de rosen acquired jaylen mcdaniels but i mean demar is the real one right yeah for sure for sure got rid of harrison barnes um i think he's a good fit. He's efficient. He's reliable. He's going to create, you know, get De'Aaron Fox some good looks to get cooking. And again, I just hate that the Lakers haven't done a single thing to address their problems that were so apparent on paper. Oh, yeah, you did mention that.

That does. I keep mentioning that in the context of every, like, when I look at this, I'm like, oh loved them like anyone would have loved demar de rosie yeah the main thing we wanted would have been nice for you guys huh yeah anything honestly but i i i guess is that really like is that really the key because the way the they're the draft king or the draft kings projections are working it's almost like and this is the final piece of that right light the beam permanently forever and ever and evermore the eternal flame of the beam of the beam of la beam uh lena what's your do you think that this is it is is 50 and a half at where where do you where are you yeah where are you at i saw your face i'm yes that made me scrunch up my face a little bit. That's a bit surprising. I will say, I do think, based, of course, on last season and the addition of DeMar DeRozan,

they probably have a good chance to win the division for whatever that's worth. I think they will give the teams within that division more of a run for their money than they're expecting to. These are not the kings of old they are still on the upswing their ceiling has yet to be reached as a team and with some of the moves with say like the warriors and some of their other uh foes that they faced in the post season and have faced throughout the regular season that have given them fits um i think that they've met that place where they're able to find cohesive play on the court consistently and yes keep that beam lit and i think to martha rosen being that x factor to that i'm not quite sure about that but i am very

intrigued to see how that all comes together and uh how how mike brown can operate with this new big piece and i mean sabonis has been their their glue guy in terms of just being able to find that success that they have been missing on a consistent level and as long as he's healthy and as long as the errands going this team can go yeah yeah i feel like just seeing that i was like that was the one of all the teams we're talking about i was like i i can i can foresee the improvement i'm like oh no no no i can see how that works like without being a little bit like i don't know about this and now i don't know if it's the the huge jump that draft kings has projected but i definitely see that you can already see like

with just how aggressive damar is going to the rim like he's just going to create those looks just collapsing d's kicking it out and next thing you know three balls raining down uh upon us but yeah uh yeah i can see them address a thing you know that they just i think i'm under on the draft kings yeah under on draft kings over on the other sports books if it's 46 two to three wins lower what would you what would you say if an improvement on 46 from last yeah i think they could be 40 i'd say like 48 49 feels about right for them i can just like see people being like the addition of DeMar DeRozan quietly like

takes the Kings up to a new level. He just feels like one of those players who has been hiding out in Chicago like you know just being amazing in games that weren't super consequential but like when you watched it was always

something to behold. He was always really, really good. So I feel like I, I like where they're headed. Um, there's just too many good teams in the West, but I do think I could see them picking up a win or two.

You think so, Lena? Absolutely. I think they, I don't know if four to five wins more is going to be what they see. But, you know, they're going to be a team, a dark horse, I would say, in the West. It's going to be, I think, really competitive, you know, in spring after the trade deadline. And that's going to be exciting for all fans to watch,

and every game is going to mean that much more. But then again, every game in October is going to mean so much more because you can't let those ones go when you're thinking about every possible tiebreaker situation you could be looking ahead to. Oh, yeah. Well, the Lakers will get off to a solid 2-18 start.

Always start strong. We love to start strong, don't we folks? Moving on. Golden State. Now, this one I'm I don't know what to make of the Golden State Warriors.

My heart says, well, I think we can put a bow on this one and just kind of begin to plan for the future here. But 43.5 is what's predicted with Caesars. That would be down about two and a half games from last season. They got Melton, who was one of my favorite 76ers over the past couple of years when he was healthy. Obviously wasn't healthy a lot last season,

but I think that's a great addition. I think that that's probably an underrated addition. And, you know, clay was, I don't, I don't know how much he was helping them last season. I mean, I know how much he helped them in that last game they played,

and it was not at all. But, I mean, I don't know. Did you feel, too? Because it felt like at a time he felt Clay looked a little down, you know, like as he was sort of reckoning with his own sort of skill set diminishing, or he felt like he's like, yeah, definitely I think I had better days, but now I have to deal with i'm on the other side of my career now do you think that do you think his presence may have been a distraction do you think that will be something

that will just be missed because of his many years in golden state in that locker room or you think it just might just net out to like a plus minus zero like a neutral effect on the on the team i think it might have a neutral effect. I mean, I was thinking, you know, life without clay, but of course they've lived life without clay for many seasons and recent seasons, just given his unfortunate injury history. But absolutely, I think just the finality of it and knowing that this was coming up

and likely coming to an end of this era, it's a cloud hanging over the locker room and of course they're going to remain friends outside of this team dynamic but um i think just moving on from that i think they also added buddy healed so you supplement a little bit of 3.8 shooting and jack did not mention buddy our famous i watched i watched jack not mention Buddy. I watched Jack not mention Buddy right there. He said Anthony Melton. I mentioned Melton. I mentioned Kyle Anderson.

Yeah, I don't know. As a 76ers fan who coveted Buddy, he was always mentioned in the trade talks, and then he finally came over, and I will just say, and it might be our fault, might be just the 76ers vibe, but it felt a little underwhelming. Obviously,

the Golden State Warriors know what to do with shooting, but I think Melton and Kyle Anderson are going to be really good additions there. That's what I'll say. Yeah, I mean, I think I'm going to go under, unfortunately.

Yeah, a loss of two and a half wins. I'm going to go over, actually, on this one. I'm going to say that they're about at the same win total they were at last year. Right. 46. Lena, you're scrunching the face, too. Yeah, I'll go over. It's 43 and a half.

43 and a half, yeah. Yeah, I'll go slightly over. I'll go slightly over. I'll take the over. Just a skosh. Where do we think Kaminga's contribution will be this season? I feel like there was a lot of contention around

his involvement, and now I'm like, is he going to make some kind of step up? Is it going to be Podzimski? There's these other players on the fringes that I'm just like, who among you can fill in the gaps to kind of make this season memorable for not a painful reason? Because part of me just sees a downward trajectory

that I'm not sure they can fully kind of stop at this point and i say that as somebody who's also on the sinking ship so i just have to say that i love to just i i know i know how i sound right now yeah i don't i don't know what coming i mean cominga seems like he's up and down and like uh people thought he was he was obviously a little bit better last year but i don't feel like i know enough about coming good uh and his off season to know what what he's going to do this year but like that my over under doesn't really take him in sure sure it's more the two guys they added in the loss of clay which feels like at this point wasn was he clay wasn't really responsible for many wins above replacement

yeah right yeah i think it's i think it's going to be a question of who who's going to be the auxiliary guy to right yeah and granted any team that has stephan curry on it is probably going to be successful one way or another and oh man put it on its back and make it happen but you're talking about 82 games plus of that and you know plus his heart like he did at the end of that France game the whole

season oh my god just hey Steph can you extend that entire fourth quarter performance in the gold medal game that's the only game tape they show for the whole season. Yeah. Steve Kerr's like, bro, you know what we were doing in Paris. Just let's keep doing that.

Just keep doing that. And we'll be all right. We'll be all right. Do it for America. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And say, bonne nuit, as they say in French good night um the Clippers uh are the last team we're going to cover here you said that so just unassuming

just the Clippers look at this well they won 51 games last season and now they're projected to win 40 and a half. That seems, even as someone who, as a rival, I'm like, that feels a little extreme. But, I mean, losing Paul George feels like a thing a lot of fans are like, why? Huh? Jack, I know you have now, you will welcome him into your Philadelphian embrace. City of Brotherly love. You feel, on your end, because someone was putting out how some coaches were rating the other team's off-season moves,

and some people were like, Philly taking Paul George was an L, but then other people were like, Clippers losing Paul George was an L. I don't know who this one person was who thought that that was an L in that direction. It's all Ls. Coach Stephen A. Smith. Yeah't i don't know who this one person was who thought that that was an l in that direction coach steven a smith uh yeah i don't know but uh yeah i think it could work out great if he stays healthy and yeah sure and bead stays healthy and there's just a lot of ifs for

the 76ers um and the clippers still it despite uh you know paul ge George, whose health can be spotty, leaving the team, still have some ifs, it turns out, with Kawhi Leonard and James Harden. I was big Kawhi, like, guys, did you see how good he was in the beginning of the play, in the game and a half he played before he got hurt last year? In the game and a half he played before he got hurt last year. And now I am no longer on. I'm no longer that guy. That man is dead. The man who said that about Kawhi Leonard. It's hard. I mean, because you think about all the pieces they moved to get Kawhi and PG and then get James Harden.

And now the expectations are like i mean every time it was like we are we feel the warriors are like maybe on a potential downward trend maybe this is our time to now move in and try and take up that mantle but with a new stadium and everything i don't know it feels feels a little bit uh dodgy uh from my from from my vantage point and i say that as somebody who who is counting on them to uh perform worse than the lakers and i don't know if they'll be that bad but um i i am invested lena what's how are you feeling about the clippers is this like does it reset time is it no no no you can there might be something here i mean i think they definitely already reset with the movement of two of their

big stars you know in russell westbrook and paul george and i think it's hard to be a believer in kawaii leonard sadly just to see them going to a deep run in the playoffs i would say um 40 wins i'll take the over i think that yes is an aggressive drop but i don't know if they are going to find the success that they need to given what they have invested in this roster and what they have given up in recent seasons to try and make it all work. And I think the most exciting thing will be this new stadium arena. I mean, shooting T-shirts from the top of the halo scoreboard.

That's exciting for fans, you know, and the wall, if you're a player on that team, that's gonna be exciting for fans you know and the wall if you're a player on that team that's exciting that's what you want to hear that the most exciting thing about the team is gonna be the scoreboard and the video the inanimate object

that's part of the team I get that you just made Miles so happy Lena look the fact is that it looks fantastic fantastic like yeah i'm i'm really excited to see what that place looks like and i know that look you don't want to be fourth fiddle at the staples center after the lakers kings and concerts um but you know i think the the wall i think is one of the most interesting things about how they are really just the shape of that arena.

Because there's a lot of money going into it. The only thing, though, too, is the cost of the tickets is not low either. It probably looks like you're getting your money's worth based on what I'm seeing for what these first game ticket prices are looking like on the primary. What are they talking about? Lower bowl is like three grand oh for a clippers ticket for the first game yeah now it's the first game mind you like so it's definitely has the energy of like we're we're popping circumstance yeah yeah we're let's pop champagne on this thing. But a lot of people were like, whoa, whoa, that seems like a lot.

Now I'm sure that maybe the ticket market will fluctuate, but either way, there's a lot. Is the first game there featuring Caitlin Clark? Or is it... Is that why it's so expensive? Starting at point guard. Yeah. Hey, you can't do that.

But yeah, i just i i yeah i think that's i'm gonna have to go the over though i will go the over though because 40 and a half just seems like a little it was like absurd it's just absurd but you talk about teams eating the elves are the clippers going to be that team yeah but are they gonna fall 10 and a half games i could like i could eating a solid six, you know, down to maybe, what, 44-ish, 45-ish? Kawhi was healthy last year. Kawhi had a very healthy season for Kawhi Leonard last year. Relatively speaking.

Yeah, relatively speaking, very healthy. They're losing Paul George. James Harden has his moments. So I think this is about right. Maybe I'll go under on this one. Despite. Whoa. Yeah.

Wow. A win total with a three. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I can see that. Oh, right. Unfortunately, I can see that. Yeah.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I was going to say that, too. I didn't want to just seem like a full on Laker fan, though. yeah i can see that oh right unfortunately i can see that yeah okay okay okay yeah yeah i was gonna say that too i didn't want to just seem like a full-on laker fan though but i think i think they'll win 22 games anyway that's that's my feeling yeah super producer jabari just pointed out the last year was the most uh games played by kawaii leonard since 2016-17. Yeah. Yep, yep, yep. Well, look. I hope for optimism abounds for their fan base.

The new logo looks great. I will say that. It looks fantastic. Does it? I don't know. I don't want to pile on. That's why I said a compliment. You said that with a... I had something in my eye. I had something in my eye on the side of it. That's why I said that.. You said that with a... I had something in my eye. I had something in my eye on the side of it.

That's why I said that. I saw something in my periphery. Anyway, that's going to do it for this section of checking out what is happening with the Pacific Division. There you go. But hey. Lock those in. Those are all locks. Lock those in.

A lot of different sports podcasts are like, okay, and this one's a lock. Every single one of the ones that I gave you as a lock. Right. My 22 wind projection for the Clippers. L O C K lock. Okay. Take that to the bank. All right,

let's take a quick break and we'll come back to put our very dear friend, Lena Washington in the hottest of hot seats for the rapid fire round of questioning right after this. in the hottest of hot seats for the rapid fire round of questioning right after this wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast nfl daily with greg rosenthal five days a week you'll get all the latest news previews recaps and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee no dumb hot takes here just smart hot takes we'll talk every single game, every single week,

but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media. That's Patrick Claiborne, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolf. This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him

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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 psych you have to tune in to find out so tap in to off the edge with cam jordan's podcast your ultimate playbook for all things football and not football listen on the iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts and we're back and we are back oh lena look we love having you uh look look we love having love having you every we're gonna have to do it to you unfortunately yep you're in the hot seat you already know what it is it's the fourth quarter the rapid fire round of questioning quick questions quicker answers no filler you get me miles why doesn't she

look scared because she's she knows you did the evil laugh i know she's unfazed she's a competitor she looked like she was trying not to laugh at us in phoenix so you say hot i have to laugh at that idea because whatever hot you're talking about i guarantee you i'm experiencing hotter out here i think quick question i'd hate to sidetrack have you ever left something out in the arizona heat and it just got ruined you're like oh i left my sandal outside and it's absolutely i mean mainly like chocolate bars and yeah you know wax hands like you know you go to the red festival and you get like a wax statue and then you leave it on your mantle and then you come home from school one day

in may and it's your peace sign looks more like uh yeah i don't know yes exactly yeah yeah so that has happened yeah okay yeah because there was we had a heat wave and i had a sandal that shrunk in size oh it was weird i know i didn't have i don't think it was just melt into the ground. I know. No, there's that's I'm like, yo, I think these are this is what I get for buying $7 sandals because they were like shrinky dinks. Yeah. Were they like, OK, soak in water for three days before using? Or like the little foam dinosaurs. Yeah.

Just like put the sandal in water and then expand to your side. Yeah. No, I don't know what happened anyway i'm gonna need to get some of those arizona sandals i can handle the arizona and sun but here we go jabari noted 100 straight days of 100 plus degree temperatures 76 was the previous record that was set last and that's violence yeah yeah well okay well look i don't want to keep you knowing that you are your the clock is running also against the time of of the sun and its heat so we will get right into it i wanted you to know like you're talking hot we know yeah all right sorry uh it's actually more of an it like we so our legal team has asked us to clarify it's more of

an itchy seat it's actually not that yeah it's just kind of like uncomfortable it's like do you have any fabric allergies like wool or mohair am i gonna need a cream after this no no it's just more irritating it's no it's just irritating i think that was the word they said this segment seems more irritating than anything. And we're like, well, you know, it all depends on them. Anyway, Brian, start the clock. Oh, my God. He's so mad.

Lena Washington. I'm going to start off. You know how these questions go. Lena, I can't vouch for him when he acts like this. Jack, stay out of this. I told you, if you're not with me, you're against me too. You guys can't see the crazy eyes. The viewers at home can't see the crazy eyes happening.

Okay, first question, Lena. And this is, and I must ask, are you from the state of Arizona? Are you born and raised? I am born and raised. Okay, then you should nail this part, this one out of the park. Lena Washington, what is the state bird of Arizona? The cactus wren. Oh, darn it. nail this part this one out of the park Lena Washington what is the state bird of Arizona the cactus run oh wow no hesitation you are absolutely right thank you Mrs Mallon's third grade class the cactus run oh damn Miles Gray you were born and raised in california what is the state bird of california

i got that one for you too what is it i got that one for you too it's a california condor it's no it's the quail oh thank god california quail yeah yeah official state bird now i did that it was one of our most important birds because it was on the brink of extinction. I remember doing a book report on that in third grade. And I do know that our flower is the golden poppy. What is the state flower of Arizona? Oh, that is a good question. I don't know.

A desert, a cactus rose. It's the saguaro. Saguaro. Saguaro rose. Just saguaro. Just the plain old cactus. The blossom of the cactus. And we're getting california bird because

i thought california condor also was the official bird of california the california condor and then they were like our state bird should have a stupid little hat we should make it the california quail because they get it's got like a little wear a hat well the quail has like a little that little little yeah it looks kind of like a flapper it's cute it is cute it changed in 1931 so i don't know who was who previously was the uh holder of that title from 1931 and then uh before that but anyway all that to say is we have to keep this moving it's not about my knowledge of my own state, which I barely have a grasp on. It's about yours, and you've actually nailed it.

Producer Jabari unfortunately gave us the sad answer to my question. The condor went extinct in 87. That's why. I saw the condor get loose on the ice rink in Bakersfield

oh really yes famously in the wild they actually only exist at hockey games oh no is the 1995 all-star game uniform the best ever

I would say yes it's got all you want from a phoenix centric all-star jersey i mean the the purple the the sunburst the font just everything about it i think just resonates and speaks to the southwest it looks like an arts and crafts project my eight-year-old would do at school oh that's actually a good thing because it's like really bringing 1995 energy you know well yeah and your kid is like a cutout cactus right almost any fashion from the 1990s if you ask me about it i will defend it i'm sorry zubaz whatever you know bright colors the crimped hair anything and everything that's in 90s i'm sorry zubas whatever you know bright colors the crimped hair anything and everything that's in 90s i'm supporting it okay next question the correct answer lena washington of the state of

arizona what is your favorite non-arizona arizona brand is it arizona jeans company or arizona ice Arizona Jeans Company or Arizona Ice Tea? Both famously not from Arizona, but using the name to evoke a whimsical Southwestern image in our minds. It would have to be Arizona Ice Tea. Just formative memories of getting a can for the road on the way to a movie or the park or, you know, it's just the good old standby. And there are variations of the best flavor. I typically go for either the sweet tea or the good old green ginseng honey. Yes. Personally. So depending on how we're doing it, but you have like the mango flavor,

you have a, I think a watermelon flavor. You've got the raspberry, you've got whatever you need. Arizona iced teas got you and they're not going to cost you more than two bucks i know it's becoming contentious thing it absolutely yeah because it's still affordable yeah yeah they've their fans are designed by the same people who designed the 1995 all-star game uniform so that's possible yeah that's possible that checks out all right lena what alternate reality scenario do you wish really happened if you could just like take one like so for instance this comes

from paul garaventa in the discord uh who says for me it's what if the blazers had drafted kevin durant over odom they already had brandon roy and Aldridge and assuming they still got Andre Miller and Marcus can be the following season. That is a solid lineup. What say you, what is, what is a, what if it gets you excited? I mean, the recency bias for me, and just because I was working in the market at the time would be if the kings drafted luca instead of marvin bagley in that draft how you think that would have been better explain that well wait a second whoa whoa whoa whoa well it's not like everyone was saying that at the time definitely not definitely not man that's frustrating how how you know the

career trajectory of luca and erin and vlade divac and tasia stoyakovich who were part of the front office at the time just how that would have expedited the success this franchise experience and all the questions surrounding the competence of the front office how those questions would have been suspended likely for quite some time I would think but it wouldn't have been

the kings though it wouldn't be the kings you know so the kings are going to they were definitely king and kings kings exactly and gz but uh yeah that's that's the quickest alternate reality scenario that i can think to for me it's always going to be what if the philadelphia 76ers had traded ben simmons instead of letting jimmy

butler go to the miami heat i don't know if it's even a realistic scenario because I think Jimmy Butler won it out, but you could have gotten really good value for Ben Simmons. Everybody's heard me say this already, but I can't stop myself when this sort of question comes up. Alternate realities can be fun. That team was B-Roy. I was... That was like one of the first non-Laker jerseys I wanted to buy. Yeah, yeah,

yeah. This feels... I like this guy. Well, Lino Washington, you've actually answered every single question correctly somehow. 100%. I don't know how... Are you looking at our answers? I did have a copy of the rub brick and the key on my end that's fine you sold us you

sold us because those answers came out so organically and so natural and so accurately uh the first thing is like legitimately who knows that that's impressive oh yeah yeah that was that was just you do shout out to your team on the five C's, which I think I would have stumbled on, to be honest. The five C's? Yeah. What's that? Oh, go on. You know, copper, citrus, cattle, climate, and cotton?

I think I got it. Copper, cattle, cotton, citrus, climate. Wow. Yes. Yes. Those were the foundational. The foundational economic drivers of people to Arizona. That is 100% correct, Jack.

Canyon? We're not talking about the problematic cotton either. Hopefully. I know enough history to know that wasn't that kind of thing. I don't know how south we were in the Southwest before my time. Predated. Canyon parentheses Grant. south we were in the southwest before my time but predates it yeah and that's a joke the league will cut um but lena thank you again so much for joining us blessing our show classing up the

joint with your emmy award winning presence where do the people find you multi sorry sorry oh sorry three times emmy award one one for everybody count it like that always a pleasure to be on with you guys thank you again for having me if you're checking for me I'm on the socials LWashingtonTV if you live in the greater Phoenix or Flagstaff area you can find me on

12 News the NBC affiliate Sunday Night Football returns this week so you can catch me right after every Sunday Night Football game or Thursday night football game on NBC. And, um, after big 10 football on NBC on Saturdays.

And if you're in a high school football, tune in for Friday night fever Fridays at 1135. After Jimmy Fallon, we are getting ready for our first full busy week of football and it is going to be full steam ahead for 18 plus weeks and then hopefully that includes a little you know mlb playoff run maybe a little suns playoff run on the back end next year so i look forward to hopefully checking in with you guys some time along that journey with my two and a half driving the bus here and you um which of

the which of the iconic three-point celebrations did you do after winning your third emmy did you do the three to the head like carmelo or yeah probably that's probably my go-to although you know the guys at uh usa basketball said drew holidays you know a little deal yeah like that was the crowd favorite but i think you know bogdan bogdanovich can't be doing all that but i think i can get away with it y'all absolutely mellow and on big stages and whatnot yeah yeah yeah amazing go but i will look for my five-timers jersey or hat in the in the mail no it's going it's going it's going it's going it's going wait it's not there yet oh my god what i haven't been in the building so i'll just have to double yeah i'll have to let

me verify your address again off mic really quick just to make sure because that's weird that's weird because i know it was coming from paris we just paid for the shipping and everything so oh oh yeah well yeah maybe it's the wrong address you know how this stuff happened porch coming from Paris. We just paid for the shipping and everything. Oh, yeah. Well, yeah. Maybe it's the wrong address. You know how this stuff happens. Porch pirates. You never know what happens. You never know what's going on.

But anyway, you can find us at the hashtag MadBoosties B-double-O-S-T-I-E-S for show links and updates. And that's where you can also find the information to join our Discord server

where you can be like Paul Garaventa and ask questions that make it into the rapid fire round of questions. Make sure you follow us on Twitter. You can find me at milesofgray. I'm at jack underscore O'Brien.

And this has been another flawless installment of Miles and Jack on Mad Max. We'll see you next week. Bye. I'm Carrie Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil.

I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese on the I heart radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast presented by elf beauty founding partner of I heart women's sports. I'm Carrie champion.

And this is season four of naked sports. Up first. I explore the making of a rivalry. Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball. And on this new season,

we'll cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. Wake up with football every morning

and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.