The Daily Zeitgeist - MJGMB #153: Playoff Races Start Now with Sarah Todd

Episode Date: February 19, 2025

Miles and Jack were pleased to be back together and happy to be joined by NBA beat reporter and podcaster Sarah Todd for today's episode! The trio broke down their creative suggestions for AS weekend moving forward, expectations for Luka now that he has settled in L.A. and plenty more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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And I'll protect it with my life. Listen to the official Yellowstone podcast now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's go. Well, well, well, if the NBA season isn't back, we're here for the second half. Oh, we're back, baby. I know, it was real touch and go there. Real touch and go there. But the gang's all here.

We're just dodging each other. Miles was ducking me on Miles and Jack got mad boosties. You know, you know, a few, few life things came up. You want to hear my spicy takes on the the Luca trade. That's what it was. I'm on a text thread with you. I heard all about it. We're gonna talk about the eventual playoff races in each conference. We've gotta talk about All-Star Weekend

and maybe some suggestions and plenty more to cover with NBA writer and podcaster, Sarah Todd on today's episode. I'm still Miles Gray. And I, well, last time I checked, I'm still Jack O'Brien and this is 18 has been secured. The Celtics are NBA champions. Over the double team.

Oh! Night-night! Giannis with the take. Uh-oh, look out. No show time. What you got, Giannis? Well, we got Utah Jazz Beat Reporter for Deseret News, co-host of the Unsolvable Podcast,

alongside friend of the show, Greg Foster. We know them as, at least here, behind the mic, as one of our favorite guests, and I hope on mic y'all know, this is one of our favorite guests, Sarah Todd. So good to see you. If you don't know, now you do. Now you do. Is that how it goes? Now you do. Yes.

And if you don't know, now you do and if you know now you do know That's is that the version your parents are playing in the car Now you do sir, no, sir Two shorts favorite word is hi Bay Area What's my favorite word? Hello. Hello. Uh. Uh.

Uh. Uh. Uh. Oh, man. Anyway, there was no, so there were really no weeks, no games to speak of last week, no game of the week to speak of, because all eyes were on All-Star Weekend.

I mean, there was that game where the Lakers did face the Jazz, and I think something happened there. Oh, yeah, what happened? What happened? You know, you know, you know. Sarah, it's your time. Rob is facing it. I mean, the Jazz faced the Lakers in LA on Luca Doncic's debut night. Yeah. And. Like there's buzz in the air, every

every seat in the arena is draped in a shirsey that says Doncic. There's I mean, everyone, including JJ Reddick, including Will Hardy, the coaches of the respective teams are talking about how excited and curious they are about how this is all going to work out. And it went exactly as you would have thought it would have gone. And the Lakers just absolutely wrecked the Utah Jazz. And they played again a couple nights later in Utah when the lights were not as bright and when no one cared about

the game. And how many sure is these do we see in the stand? No, no sure. Is this OK? No, don't sure. Is that and I took that as disrespect as a little right. And every stadium should be sure. Is it up? Absolutely.

The jazz picked up a win. But like, you know, even the bad teams will oopsie and do some good things every once in a while I don't think that that says anything good or good about the jazz or bad about the Lakers on it But I think it shows it shows size is an issue. I think at the very least That's what I was like. Well, I was like Walker Kessler really put up. Okay. All right Walker. I see you I sees ya But I guess that was right before All-star weekend. Yeah.

And I think we all know what the game of the week was at All-Star game. And that was the celebrity game. Celebrity game. Team Bonds versus Team Rice went down. Not really down to the wire. Sixty-six, fifty-five. Team Bonds won. Actor Rome Flynn one MVP.

This is my one issue that I wanna call out. My one issue with the entire NBA All-Star weekend. Yes, Rome Flynn is part of it. Everything else, flawless in my opinion, but because the celebrity game is not serious basketball, the announcers don't announce, like they don't do serious announcing. And this game is where I need announcers more than I have ever needed announcers in my entire life. I need you to repeatedly tell me who each of these people is over and

over. I need you to tell me who just scored, who has the ball right now and what they're famous for. I need like a carnival Barker. I need, you know, like somebody who usually announces the Kentucky Derby, bring him in. And I need you to tell me like, also like what have they averaged in other celebrity basketball games? Like I feel like there's they averaged in other celebrity basketball games? Like I feel like there's so much potential in the celebrity game. Like if I want to hear NBA players come in

and talk about who can actually hoop and like who can't. And yeah, and also I want more professional athletes from other sports. Like it was interesting to see Tio out there and like it was interesting because he was like thicker than I would have expected, but no way of knowing if that was because of a difference in how like NBA versus NFL players are built or if it's because he's a middle-aged man, you know, I want to see, like,

I want to see more active NFL players or baseball players or who can actually hoop. Like that's, that's kind of what what I want I'm gonna be super honest. Yeah, I spent most the time that you were talking just now googling who Rome Flynn is Uh-huh, and I'm I'm just right out of the bat confused because I did not watch the celebrity all-star game Mostly because the last few years, I don't know who any of these people are. Right, right. And it makes me feel, I feel old when I'm like, right. But like, I'm okay with not knowing who, not me, like influencers and TikTok and YouTube

people are like, I recognize my age in that issue, right? But I just Googled this guy and like,'s it's apparently the the NBA wants to appeal to a younger audience and I think they should. But Rome Flynn is best known for being on the bold and the beautiful. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is how to get away with murder. Certainly don't get away with murder. So like, I think We're talking about like

Rome Flynn is Mostly middle-aged to older women, I would think know who Rome Flynn is. That is not the NBA's target demographic. Yeah.

I want to see other athletes play basketball to see who like, who is actually a good athlete, like from other professional sports. And then I want to see NBA players play other sports at all star weekend. I feel like I want to see Luca play soccer. Yeah. I want to see. Soccer is like a big one because they like they all love soccer. And then it would be super fun to see soccer players who in some cases are more famous than anybody in the NBA,

you know, whooping and like see, I don't know. And then, all right, my dream, a decathlon across athletics, sprint, mile run, tennis match, you know. These guys all the time are always if you ask them like, sprint, mile run, tennis match. You know, these guys all the time are always, if you ask them like, Oh, what would you have done if you wouldn't have played basketball professionally? Like their answer is always just another sport. Yeah. Right. Right. And so now let's divide them up based on that answer. Yeah. Here's the flag football game.

Here's the baseball game. Here's the soccer game. Whatever ping pong.ong, do it. I mean, I'd love to see that. Instead of the rising stars team playing an all-star team, bring in the five best NFL players that play basketball, play them against an all-star team, then take the five best guys who think they're good at football from the NBA put them against one of the Pro Bowl teams. I mean, I would love to watch LeBron play some flag football. Like that would be a blast. What did Ant say he was a quarterback? If we ever gotten to see AI throw, throw, you know, play quarterback.

Ant was I think a quarterback maybe. Yeah. Okay, well anyway, a quarterback, maybe. Yeah. Okay, well, anyway. So, look, we had the celebrity game, we had the HBCU Classic, Tuskegee defeated Morehouse, then there was the Rising Stars Challenge, where Team Richmond was the one that got to play in Sunday's games against the All-Star Squads. Then there was the skills contest. A bit of hacking going on, a bit of hacking going on, a bit of entering the matrix, changing the code, trying to get an advantage,

where Chris Paul and Victor Wembenyama were disqualified because they were basically like, I think we'll get a better score if we just forego the shooting part completely. And all three of their shots were in the air at the same time. Yeah, like it was more impressive. It was like the spray shot on like Contra, the, you know, like a good timely reference to the last video game that I played in 1987. The Konami classic. Everyone, raise your AARP cards in the air and show us that you still remember the days.

Then the three point contest, that was Tyler Hero, came away with that one. The score wasn't like, it wasn't like an all time performance though, it was just kind of your standard three point contest and it's records being broken. And then the dumb contests. I think of Tyler Hero as not like a three point specialist. I think of it as, when I picture Tyler, like the quintessential Tyler Hero play, I picture him like getting to his spot

in the mid-range more so than like being a three point shooter so he showed me something out there guys. He showed me something. In the words of Shaq, you weren't familiar with his game. I believe. I guess that's right. I guess that's right. And then the dunk contest, Mack McClung won again, third year in the row. Now this is what's interesting. This inspired the kinds of players that I think many fans want to see in the dunk contest to say something. like John Moran was tweeting It's like maybe I have to go. Yes, please. Yes. Yes

That would have been nice on the 25th anniversary of Vince Carter's just out of this world performance in the dunk contest That would have been cool if you were there this year jaw and then he challenged Zach Levine Aaron Gordon and Look, but Aaron Gordon You know just for posterity, you know I think I think that's watching recaps of like past dunk contests and him getting robbed both those times was a Yeah, I was I forgot how badly he got robbed both times Not Rob like the person who won was good in both cases But I don't think he's doing a dunk contest anymore, right?

He's in a new phase of his career. Yeah, he also has an AARP card. Yeah, exactly. Because he's 29. Yeah, he's 20, he's ancient. He might as well be in a body bag. That's right. They don't even service those key as he jumped over.

And then Janis also said he would do it if Ja does. I was like, okay, well, you know, what about Anthony Edwards? Yeah, Anthony Edwards is the question. In the room at all? Jaylen Green, great call by Jabari. I mean, one of the Thompson brothers would be great. You know, Amin, the other guy, Detroit guy. Oscar. Oscar. Yeah.

Detroit, Detroit Thompson, you remember him. Detroit Thompson. Oh, Detroit Thompson. Yeah, yeah, he used to fight, like he used to fight under kid Cincinnati back in the day. Um. Um. Um.

But then we got to the final All-Star Game tournament. Now, this is where I was a little bit confused. I was like wait is Ken is is Chuck's team World all-stars and I wait that was that was that Charles Barclays team that had that when I was like wait What is Trey Young from foreign? Right? Donovan Mitchell They had a few just guys that like the US. Yeah, Young, Donovan Mitchell. They had a few just guys that were like from the U.S.

Yeah. Right. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. But then in my like very rigid mind, I was like, no, surely there must be something I don't know about them if they're playing on this team. You've been saying for a long time, you want to see Trae Young's birth

certificate. I have been saying that. I have been saying that. Let me ask you guys a question. Can you tell me who the coaches were of those teams? dog Sure, Kenny Atkinson Kenny

the jet No, but like of all the teams of all the teams Kenny Atkinson is a coach And which teams were they coaching? Oh Yeah That's a problem, right? Yeah. Is it? Because like, I mean, in the past, I feel like All-Star has been not only Shine for the players, but also like the leading coaches in the league, get some Shine too. And then we started adding like the TNT GM names to every team also and like even the even the broadcasters didn't know that like Chuck and Shaq weren't the coaches of those teams.

Right. It was that was very confusing. That is true because like I remember just as a kid I'm like I knew who Chuck Daly was because he was coaching an all-star team even though with my very Laker centric kid brain I'm like oh this is one of the best coaches of all time okay all-star team. Even though with my very Laker centric kid brain, I'm like, oh, this is one of the best coaches of all time. Okay. All-star game. I'm listening. Thank you for that information. Right. That makes sense. Yeah. Like I don't think I even saw Mark Degnault on the broadcast one time. And you know, Mark Degnault has a very, uh, ignorable, easy to ignore sideline presence. Yeah. And that is what we love about him

Yeah, you could have showed me a picture of Kenny Atkinson been like for instance, they didn't even show Mark Degna I've been like Yeah, where's my boy mark at? And I yeah, I'm a fan of coaches famously right to Miles's point though Like it was confusing to be like, oh, these are the global all-stars featuring, you know, like Wemby and Jokic and then also Donovan Mitchell. And I'm like, okay, Shay, I get that. And then I'm like, right, Kat, I'm like, cause he's Dominican?

Right. I was like, actually thinking like, oh, that's why Kat's there cause he's Dominican also. So there's, I see what's going on. And then I remember seeing like a Wikipedia article about Trey Young winning like a FIBA tournament in Chile, like at a U17 level. And I remember being like,

oh, did he play for the Chilean U17 team? And I was like, wait, no, he played for Team USA at the Chilean FIBA tournament. Anyway, so yeah, all that to say, it was a little bit confusing, but then uh the the shacks team the uh the team OGs pulled it off uh pretty convincingly in that last game um with you know it like i think that a lot Steph Curry had a lot of input right on the format i

was reading about this um and how to make it better and i think one thing though that they're almost on with these global stars thing is sort of what a lot of people have been talking about. Last week's guest, Aspera Haney was also saying like, just like in other sports right now, they're saying they're doing Team USA versus, because now there's such an influx of international players, just let's do it like that.

Let's give them, let's give them a little bit of a- World V Team USA. A light Olympics type rem's do it like that. Let's give them let's give the world V Team USA a light, a light Olympics type rematch or something like that. I felt like that would be a pretty simple way because I think I think what would happen is the international players would probably dust the US players and then thus kicking off like a rivalry in the following games, because I just think that's kind of that feels like where the energy is right now. I'm seeing three fights in the first nine seconds like that.

You can't tell hockey match. That's Thursday. That's Thursday. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah, I think I mean, there's there's a lot of. I think that the NBA has been by the fact that they have even tried to change the format so many times like there's an acknowledgement that something needs to happen. Right. And so that's good that they know that they, that we want to make things better. And I think like above all,

a lot of people were okay with the format and thought that there was a little bit of competitive play. Um, especially with the international players, honestly. The stoppages is what the problem was, right? Yeah, like that's, and that was one thing you missed sort of like with the broadcast, but then really putting yourself like in the arena at the time too, it feels like there's like, oh, there's a musical performance

and now this other presentation and now competitive basketball for a little bit. Right. And then y'all go take about an hour break and then we'll be right back. Yeah, that's the musical performances should be by the players. More musical performances. That's part of the competition. That's part of the decathlon. I will say I should have been singing for you.

I'm hearing my invoke. I've been hearing a lot of ideas for how to fix it, and they are bad. A lot of the ideas that are being proposed by your ringers, your Bills Simmon, I don't know, I'm just like, guys, this doesn't sound any better necessarily. But. Do you think it's like a generational thing?

Like right now, the current crop of stars are just sort of so not invested in the idea anymore that it, that maybe these younger players can take up the mantle to sort of inject some competitive, would be great if the players cared. Right. Like sure. Now is that born out of like the momentum that's being brought in from a lot of the players that have been in the league for a minute and their feelings towards it versus like more enthusiastic wide-eyed younger players who kind of feel like, oh, this might be a moment for me to stake my claim.

And do you emphasize that because there's more excitement there at the, you know, just to the dismay of the players who believe like, well, if there's an All-Star game, I should be in it. Certainly. Like, I don't know. I don't know what because I feel like the most elegant fix obviously is like, well, we just want to see them be as competitive as possible. But there's issues with a lot of them, obviously thinking about the second half of the season, wanting to be really competitive for that.

This can be like another game on top of many games when players already managing their load like I Don't know if there's a silver bullet. That's unlike everyone's saying That's right. Like all the ideas are coming from like left like it feels like very left field sort of like fantasy ideas Well, I think that like a lot of the reason that some of these things haven't worked out in the past is that the ideas are coming from the wrong people, right? So like, if you take like a bunch of league office people or even corporate sponsorship people and you try to put together like these fun and interesting ideas, like what you're

missing is that the answer everyone wants is like, what's going to make this most competitive and engaging? And so there really needs to be like a summit of like, let's get Wemby and Jaren Jackson Jr. who are like the most competitive guys on the floor who are actually taking it seriously, it felt like. Let's get the guys who are actually going to be in All-Star games, like get them all together and like talk to them in the offseason and be like, what do you guys want? Like, tell us what you actually want and try to implement those things. Because it feels like for years and years it's been talked about, like, how can we approve this? And like, I don't, I have never heard that there's been like a conversation between the league office and the players involved. Yeah, that's not who you want to listen to. You want to listen to GE. Yeah, yeah.

Like, and nobody wants to get a trophy, right? From like some random, like, CEO person that like they've never heard of. Like those are not the people. That's what I look forward to. That's actually my, that's the thing. The trophy presentation brought to you by a very nervous person from the C-suite.

Yes. That's actually the high, I have trading cars with cars, because moments on them that me and my friends trade back and forth. Do I have a Larry Moore State Farm Insurance rookie card, dude? You know how much that's worth? I will say, all right. So I do like the week after the All-Star game because it's fun to talk about

all the different ideas for fixing it because hope springs eternal and like, and because the NBA seems like they're open to fun, like new fun ideas like that. You know, my biggest issue with the tone and just like how people talk about this is like everyone's like, it's like a terminal illness they're like discussing with all-star is like the all-star game we tried something different and fun and like some people didn't like the rhythm of the show but I will say the best idea I've heard is the one we've already mentioned is the US versus the world team world because it would give the US an opportunity to be the underdogs in a, in a thing. And we're still talking about that hockey match from the Olympics,

like the, the, the U S winning as underdogs, like you will go down in history, my friend, if you can. Uh, and the U S would be underdogs like next year and would only get further and further under, you know, like they, I feel like they, they would be definitely not the favorite for years into the future. So that I feel like that would be fun. You have like some sort of pride bragging rights and I think there would be a clear favorite but you know, I just I think they'd need to figure out how to incorporate Kia's into that idea and and we'll be we'll be on board. That was cool. Like as much as we're joking about the sponsorship. That was an amazing dunk that I can't believe Mac McClung can jump that high. It's still,

I'm like, yeah, I mean, I got it. Miles. Oh, because he's white. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's from Carl. Carl Tartt's podcast.grounds podcast. They call him Mike Flit. Again, I think bring, we need more nationalism. We need more jingoism. So let's get US versus the world. You got something there. Oh, but there was a few, I do, there is one thing, like an aspect,

like I love obviously three pointers, dunks, that's all great. But I wish there was some kind of competition around dribbling, like specifically like twisting somebody up on defense. Like if there's a way now, I don't know if you because I feel like it would be like James Harden versus Idris Elba or something. People will tune in. But I feel like you just do a one on one tournament where it's like a breakaway, you know, like breakaway drills where you're like having to get back on defense

and people are attacking and you're having to stop them. Like then you'll get the dynamic you're looking for. Like, I don't know if it, it might be too dangerous for people's ankles. That's what I'm saying. As a fan, I was like, I don't mind if Idris Elba turns an ankle, cause he can do his acting. You know what I mean?

But if James Harden hits him with that Hesie, I do want to see somebody on skates. And I feel like that's a clip that goes viral. You could incorporate something like that into the skills competition, right? Like, because the skills competition, I mean, honestly, the only reason that anybody's even talking about it this week is because, like, Wimby and Chris Paul, like, tried to hack it, right? And so, like, that is probably the most forgettable of the events. But if you added like one of the components of the skills competition is like you have

to cross over and get past one of the guys from the other team. Yeah, you have to go past like the person you're going against on the skill side gets to choose a teammate who's like their defender. Right. You know. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. OK, I like that. Designated celebrity. I'm like, all right, Polly.

Sure. You're just wants to see Polly. Sure. Yeah, I want to see Polly. Sure. Absolutely. It's this weird fed. Sarah, last year, last week, we were talking about the trade deadline and he kept pitching Idris Elba getting in the game so he could get twisted up. Twisted up. I just want to see him get twisted up. You know what I mean? Listen, I love you just all the two man but see the guy on skates okay put him on skates James

weirdly specific fetish all right what one of the ideas that has come up repeatedly actually let's take a break. We've gone way too long. Yeah. Take a quick break. We'll come back. We'll finish talking about the All-Star again. We'll be right back. Welcome to My Legacy.

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whether it be check it up at the top of the key or, you know, something where you get into like transition, which might be a little bit more fun. I feel like everybody needs to say who their pick is. Right. Like it's a, it's a fun conversation. Oh yeah. Like, I mean, if you're doing offense and defense, like I think my pick would have to be Wemby because I just don't know who's getting shots off against him.

But yeah. Yeah. Especially the fifth in the half court. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think that that's, that feels like a bit of a, like a cheat code for that kind of specific version. But yeah, I do want to, I do want to see that though too. I just want to see how easily he would be like, man,

this is what it's like just playing one-on-one with me. I'd take, I'd take Kyrie and something like that. Yeah, Kyrie is a great. Yeah. Yeah. I had Kyrie Wemby and Steph as an outsider just because like he could just you know, get hot and Make threes threes on threes on threes right right and be the 24 hour fitness is worst nightmare player Guy just doesn't even dribble, just gonna shoot it every time he makes it. He's not even running. Yeah, for sure.

I mean, one-on-one, I guess that's the other thing. I think there's also something to like the marketing of it because do you remember like, hey, no, I'm gonna take y'all into a time machine with me. Remember in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, there was Dan versus Dave, these two decathletes, and there was an entire year long thing that they were like was Dan versus Dave, these two decathletes, and there was an entire year long thing that they were like, Dan versus Dave.

I think just building it up on sign, maybe that's dangerous to build it up like that, but I would love to get so in. No, it's never gone bad before. One of them didn't make it to the Olympics and the other one came in like 10th. Did not do well at all. Yeah, I feel like I just missed that. I think I just missed that kind of 90 marketing

Serious man, the decathlon would be super fun like where they're competing at different not not the actual decathlon like skiing shooting is in there for some reason Maybe the same time is in there for some reason. Maybe it's the same time. Depending what city, so if it's in Florida, there might be some jet skiing, some water skiing. Yeah, they were in San Francisco,

so sailing is one of them. Sailing, yes, exactly. Displacing local residents, nevermind. It's a little... Such a fine... Okay, well yeah, so we'll see. Next year, is it here next year? Or is it 2026?

No clue. I believe it is in. And it's LA, right? Yeah, yeah, it's in LA. That's right. Because it's into it, Dom. Yep, and I'm into it. You know what I mean?

Into it. As long as it's here. But yeah, that'll be, that'll be. Brian the editor pointed out that I failed to mention the sport that would be the most fun to watch NBA players compete in. And that is of course dressage. Yeah. And are they on a hobby horse?

Dancing horses. Yeah. Yeah. Equestrian. That would be wild. Cause you see people do the hobby horse competition where they had the little stick course between their legs and then they jump over the things. Yeah.

Brian editor had to, he had to unmute himself to get into that one. Brian is very sick. He's like over on his couch with a blanket wrapped around him and he just like crawled across his living room to get to the thing just to type dressage and then go back to. Imagine Wemby on a hobby horse doing little gallops, trotting. All right, well, we'll see. Hey, these are all suggestions. We are open to them being used. Those are all good ideas. I'm just saying these are all good ideas. Yes, yes, yes.

There are no bad ideas? No, never, never, never, never, never, never. That's what I'm saying. Hitting a baseball, just seeing who can hit a baseball. You've got the weirdest swing. Take them to the batting cages. Yeah. Take them to the batting cage. Like, I don't know. I'm saying like somebody could actually like hit a

like curve ball. That would be incredible. Yeah. Batting cages. They go to top golf. Then they come back in. And that it's it is like these are the best athletes in the world. Putting them in positions to do athletic things is my thing. Like that's what I want to see, you know? And that, I feel like that would be cool.

One of them should be rhythmic gymnastics. I feel like, you know? All right, we'll put that in the doc. We gotta Google doc. 100% Jared McCain is winning a rhythmic gymnastics competition. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Beautiful. These are good bets too. Jared McCain is winning a rhythmic gymnastics. Oh, yeah Beautiful these are good. These are good bets to how the jazz Sarah. Oh, they're bad

Moving on around the league Are you So Kessler Sexton Collins each survived the trade deadline Mm-hmm put on your Danny Ange hat for me for a second. Oh, you really have one. She literally had a hat with Danny Ange's face on it. It's just a Chipotle hat. Oh, yeah. How how are we feeling?

You know, we're a couple of years in to the experiment, to the age of Ange, the Ange-essence, as it's all being called everywhere. How are we feeling? Is it all worth it when you get Cooper flag to Salt Lake City next year? Yeah, I mean, that's the thing, right? It's like you don't know if it's worth it yet until this draft and potentially the 2026 draft, right? And so if you if you come out of this one and you don't have Cooper or Dylan Harper, probably not feeling that great because the last couple of years of drafts have not produced like a real star for the jazz like can't George, he was in the rising stars game.

That's fine. But like he hasn't really been that great. And he looks like he's more of like a bench player, if anything. Taylor Hendricks broke his leg, so we have to wait until that heals to see if he's gonna be good. Uh, Isaiah Collier out of USC from last season, Cody Williams, Kyle Filipowski, jury's still out on those guys. So it's just like a lot of waiting to see, like,

are these young guys gonna actually develop into maybe what could be role players? But you really, really hope you're going to get Cooper this year, right? Like that's the big hope. And then if, even if you do next season draft is going to be so good too. And the jazz don't owe their pick to anyone there. You know, the protections from OKC are gone on their, like all the draft stuff that they were dealing with there So like they they're gonna want to lose games again next year like that's they're gonna want to be high draft picks 2025 and 2026 and so I Keep trying to tell jazz fans to like temper expectations because this is not the only down year. The jazz are gonna have yeah But then maybe I think we're all rooting for Danny Ainge. I think the league just, you know, we want to see some good things happen for that guy.

Oh yeah. Show Sarah your Ainge Chint aliens shirt that you made. It's really cool. All right. Let, should we take a look around the league? Please. Oh, all right. I want to talk Luca.

He's been a Laker for a couple weeks now only two wins to show for now What what do you think Sarah there the Laker ceiling is as currently constructed but obviously Once Luca really gets going. Yeah, I mean I think right like Luca and LeBron James are probably two of the players in the NBA that have the real ability to make everyone, every single player on their team better. Right. Like and that's always kind of a cliche that people talk about with like the most elite players in the league is that they make their teammates better.

But these are two guys that it's actually real. They do. And so I don't think that. It's out of the realm of possibility that like the Lakers surge coming up because. With without Luca and if it's just LeBron James, because he's aging, like, right, we all still believe in LeBron James, but not as we did 10 years ago. Right. And so I think that with Luca, you inject more of that, make everyone better ability. And so guys like Rui Hachimura are going to absolutely feast because of that. Like in that one game against the Jazz on Luca's debut night, Luca didn't even, I think he played like 20 minutes,

something like that. Like, and it wasn't even that hard. You have guys like Rui, I forget who else for the Lakers had a big night that night. But it's like, you have a couple of guys who combined maybe average 18 points for the Lakers. And then you add Luca, it's like combined they're averaging 30 points.

And that's just because the defensive gravity is going to follow them so much that it just opens everybody else up and like the lobs are going to be crazy. And so I just, I really believe that even if the roster is as constructed that they have way more potential than they did before. Yeah, I think that's right. Um, why you're a little slow to get going, but you're down a little he's been a little slow to get going as a're down a little bit. Well, he's been a little slow to get going. As a fan of, you know, whose primary rooting interest is the field versus the Celtics,

just every, every team in the league that's not the Celtics, I'm watching his box scores from afar being like, this guy dud, they get a lemon from this Luke guy. I mean, something about this trade doesn't make sense. Maybe it was that maybe they, they, uh, Luca was the beneficiary of some, some manner of a witch's curse and, and it's worn off and only, only the Mavericks. Now, no, I was just curious.

Like is he typically kind of slow to build momentum when he's coming back from an injury? Is that kind of what we see in Luca, Luca? I think everyone is, right? There's no one that just like pops out from being gone for a month and is perfect right away, especially if you at the same time switch them to a new team after being on the same team for many years. Yeah, right.

I'll give them another game or two. Then I say, trade him. Jackson Hayes, that's the other guy. Oh, Jackson Hayes, you're talking about. Did have a big game here, right? Rui Hachimura and Jackson Hayes, they combined for trade him. Jackson Hayes. That's the other guy. Oh, Jackson Hayes. You're telling me. Yeah. Rui Hutchmore and Jackson Hayes, they combined for like 18 points a game on average. They had like 33 against the Jazz. Yeah. Goodwin also had a good game that game too, I remember.

Is there any hypothetical rim protector out there that they could get off of waivers off the scrap heap? Wasn't that the Alex Lin hope? Yeah, and what happened there yeah um let's see who what's travail mcgee doing these days all right like i feel like that's where we're at yeah yeah no i don't think i don't think so i don't think so yeah um all right what else happened around the league calves still got a six game lead okay OK, seeing the Cavs are tied for the best record. Yeah, no, no, no. Cavs have the best record.

OK, yeah. OK, so he's right behind them. OK, but there's even an eight game lead over the Grizzlies. It's and the Celtics are still there, man. Still there. They won't go away, Jack. Oh, I don't I don't expect them to. Um, I've seen all the I. You said they'd go away. I've seen all the Friday the 13th movies.

I know you don't. I say, oh, thank God. We'll go and lay down next to Jason's body. And then the other Jason Tatum shows up. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, I get it. I get it. But then the other thing, Denver, this was another thing. This is making, we do stuff to pick a game of the week.

And Denver is looking really good and is playing the Lakers very soon here. And that looks like it could be, I'm very, again, I want to see, I want to put these theories to the test. I do want to see how we're going to perform against the Nuggets, just given the momentum that both teams have. But Jack, I know you were saying you think they're... My don't look now rundown of the week is the Denver Nuggets. I feel like need to be observed with wariness over these last 30 games. Joao Murray just put up 55 in his last

game before the break, which I would think suggests that he's healthy again But yeah, they're trending in the right direction They're scary, you know but all I want to see is the best team come out of the West to challenge the Celtics slash Cavaliers if all things go according to plan So then I guess for the game of the week We should consider a few things coming up. Thursday, Suns at Spurs on TNT. Friday, Knicks at Cavs on ESPN.

Saturday, Lakers at Nuggets on ABC. And then Sunday, Thunder at Wolves. That'll be on your local station, so check that out. But Sarah, what I'll give you, of those games, what do you think? What's the one we should keep an eye on that will bring up for the next episode? different one sure Thursday Clippers at Bucks

Clippers at Bucks Rivers showdown I mean the Bucks they're playing I think it's like roughly 500, probably over their last five games, if not close to it. Which not great if you're wanting to stay at the top of the East. At the same time, 500 could probably put you at the top of the East, if we're being honest. But the Clippers are kind of playing sneaky good, and I think they won their last three going into the break. And so I think that they're going gonna want to keep the momentum going and so that's a game that I'd be interested to watch

Okay, okay. Okay. They were all right down damn in your face Lakers. It's not it's not you. Sorry I'm not even watch that like now that Sarah said I'm gonna watch that Clipper game. There you go I don't even care cuz we're probably gonna win anyway So it's like aren't the Lakers next two games against like the Hornets and the Blazers. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Well, I think our very next. Yeah. Yeah, our next game is against the Hornets. Yeah. Yes, exactly So we'll say game of the week. You have two options you can do Lakers and nuggets on ABC or you can buy league pass and Get the Clippers bucks game and pay whatever whatever or move to those markets yeah or move to

Milwaukee might not actually be on in LA okay well we'll check check your local listings all right we'll take a quick break we'll come back with a fourth quarter fourth quarter wrap or fire round of questioning right after this. Welcome to My Legacy. I'm Martin Luther King III and together with my wife, Andrea Waters King, and our dear friends Mark and Craig Kilburger, we explore the personal journeys that shape extraordinary lives. Each week, we'll sit down with inspiring figures like David Oyelowo, Mel Robbins, Martin Sheen,

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I really just sat myself down at the end of 2022 and I was like, look, either we make it or we quit. Expert tips to help improve your swing, and the craziest stories to come out of your friendly neighborhood country club. The drinks were flowing, twerking all over the place, vaping, they're shotgunning. Women's golf is a wild ride, full of big personalities,

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or wherever you get your podcast. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeartWomenSports. ["I'm Back to the Party"] And we're back, Sarah Todd. So good to see you. But it's time to hop in the hot seat. This is where the Night Cities end. Yep.

Yep. This is where I'm going to put on- No more Mr. Nice Sarah. Nope. Wait, I'm so- that's my line. It's a fourth quarter rapid fire round of questions. You know, this is the fastest question answer podcast segment in all of podcasting history.

We're gonna ask you a question. You give us your rapid response right back. Do not hesitate or we will be rude. So rude. My favorite part of the rapid fire section is sometimes how long it takes to ask the questions. No, no, no. That's not true. It's the rapid, rapidest of fires.

Don't point out ironies like that. What are you some kind of journalist? This is not the time or the place for your observations because I think they're wrong and biased at best. Brian start the clock. Oh, it takes a long time to get the question. I've made him so mad this time. I know like right now I'm fine. I'm fine Sarah's got the problem. Not me Not me. I'm doing okay because this what this is this is going so fast right now. I know Okay, Jackie go first oh Man, it's totally falling apart here.

She's figured me out. Hey, Brian, thank you for starting the clock. Appreciate you. All right. Let's play a little game of this or that brought to you by Jabari Davis. This is where Jabari plays a little bit of create a player with some existing players. Which player or duo would you choose for the next three years? Luca with prime LeBron's athleticism or Joker with prime Hakim's

defensive presence? Luca with LeBron's athleticism. Yeah. Okay, try this one on, Sarah. And I'm gonna say it so fast. Prime Vince with Steph's jumper or prime Kobe in Yannis' body? Literally couldn't understand what you were saying. Oh, okay. Exactly.

Let me turn it up for you. Wow, so fast. Let me slow it down for you, for the people in the back. Prime Vince with Steph's jumper or Prime Kobe in Yannis' body? Prime Vince with Steph's jumper. Wow. God, that sounds crazy, right?

Yeah, I know. What is this? What is this? How do I see this, Jabari? Anybody with Steph's jumper would be so- I know. Yeah. Miles with Steph's jumper.

Also the prime Toby in Janis's body was like a body horror thing. It's Kobe in Janis's body. It's a it's a mess. Yeah, they have to be surgically separated. All right.

And finally, which of these duos would you take? Would it be Luca LeBron or Steph Jimmy? Luca LeBron or Steph Jimmy Luca LeBron? Mm hmm. Final answer. I don't want to phone a friend. No, I don't. That's a right answer. Don't have any. That's a right answer. Burned a lot of bridges. All right. Last question. Hot shot.

You can make any finals match up utilizing all finals teams from throughout history. Okay. You can, you can just plug and play from history, put them together like we're playing some kind of dynasty mode in a video game. What is the matchup you would want to see more than any other? Yeah, like, it feels like I want ultimate defense versus ultimate offense. So I want maybe though the Warriors 73 team against the Detroit Pistons This year okay, Detroit Pistons Yeah, yeah, yeah the bad boys, yeah, yeah, yeah the Lambiers and of it all. Oh, yeah interesting Man, what would that even that actually I have no idea. Yeah, which warriors team? Like the 73 win warriors team. Okay. I thought you meant like the

1970 Deep cut yeah, Jack stick with the segment Warriors part of part of the the Like appeal of that Warriors team, right, is that like that was when Draymond was kind of at the height of his powers, right? But like, is Draymond really powerful if Dennis Rodman is shutting him up all night? Right. Yeah.

I mean, would they just money bought, like would the threes just put the bulls out of it? Would Michael Jordan in between games one and game two just become the deadliest three point shooter of all time? Oh, sorry. We're we're talking. We're not talking about 96. No, we're talking about the Detroit Pistons. Yeah. But I guess that would be like Joe Dumars on a step.

Yeah. What that looks like. And that's fun. Yeah. No, that is that is. Dang. That was a good one. Wow. OK. Sarah Todd. I mean, that did take a while. But it's because it's only because like your follow up for like really thought provoking and nothing to do with like normally is a very fast segment.

But I thank you so much for joining us as a jackpot mad boosties. I don't know why it's always so slow with you. This never happens to us. Sarah, where do the people find you, follow you, support you, listen to you, read you all that good stuff? You can follow me on all the socials at NBA Sarah. You can read my stuff at Deseret.com. And you can listen to me.

The podcast is unsalvageable. We talk about jazz, we talk about the NBA, we talk about it all. Amazing, amazing. You can follow us on Twitter. I'm at milesofgray there, and I'm also milesofgrey on Blue Sky. I'm Jack underscore O'Brien on Twitter and Jack Obi-Wan on Blue Sky. Obi the number one.

You know, you guys, again, as always, just so impressed with your mad boosties. Thank you so much. Really incredible leaping ability. This gets better and better. Yeah, Sarah caught me catching a fly that was flying around my office. And I really had to get up there. I'm pretty sure I tore my calf though.

I'm trying to get it. But I got him. Got him. Make sure you follow the hashtag MadBoosties for show links, updates. And that's where you'll be able to find ways to join our discourse. You can keep the conversation going again.

That's hashtag MadBoosties, B-double-O-S-T-I-E-S. That's hashtag mad boosties B double O S D I E S that's going to do it for us this week. We'll be back next week. Oh, and guess what we're talking about. You guessed it. The NBA. Oh, the NBA. That'd be a good one. Oh yeah. Wish. We all have a moment that splits us wide open. On my new podcast, Wide Open with Ashlyn Harris, I'll sit down with trailblazers from sports, music, fashion, entertainment, and politics to explore their toughest moments and the incredible comebacks that followed. Listen to Wide Open with Ashlyn Harris,

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