The Daily Zeitgeist - MJGMB #52: Giannis the Destroyer and Old School Hoops with Marques Johnson

Episode Date: March 23, 2023

Jack and Producer Jabari were joined by the legend, 11-year NBA vet and color analyst for the Milwaukee Bucks Marques Johnson on today's anniversary episode. The trio discussed Giannis, the current crop of Big Men, generational comparisons and more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. 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. I'm Keri Champion and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore

the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry, Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Señora Sex Ed is not your mommy's sex talk. This show is la platica like you've never heard it before. sports. You might recognize us from our first show, Locatora Radio. Listen to Señora Sex Ed on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Well, we've reached our official one-year anniversary as a show. Everybody said we couldn't do it. We did it. We proved them wrong, all the haters. And we're hitting one year just as teams are gearing up for the postseason.

We will discuss some of the generational bigs currently battling for positioning in the MVP race, eventual awards with 11-year NBA vet, current Bucs color analyst, Marcus Johnson, on today's episode. I'm Jack O'Brien. And I Jabari David and this is Miles and or Jack got mad boosties. Three on one. Davis. Driving, spinning, fading, hitting. Curry, a three-pointer. Bang! Steph Curry from downtown That's right. The next time you hear this show next week, Miles should be back from paternity. And I will be gone.

This is not like love below speaker box situation. My kid's spring break just lines up with the end of paternity leave, but you can start spreading the rumors. But Marcus Johnson, thank you so much for joining us on our one-year anniversary show. Big fan of your work. Big fan of just your career. Big fan of Raymond from White Men Can't Jump.

We were re-watching scenes today and wondering how the hell you are not a famous action star right now. I have to assume that is by your choice or the director's just messed up because man, you are, you are great on camera, but thank you for joining us. Hey man, look, I, I'm honored to be a part of this one year anniversary show, Mad Boosties. I love the name. And yeah, so thanks for having me. And yeah, you know, we had a good time doing the movie. I did some other stuff after that,

but nothing ever approached the popularity of that character, Raymond Dickens. Based on a true story about a guy by the name of Reggie Hardy, who was one of the first high school to prose players from the Detroit area back in the early 60s.

So a whole lot of in-depth background about that character that a lot of people aren't aware of. Yeah, I think I read that you have worked on or have a screenplay about the... A little screenplay. And look, you know, just the research was fascinating. I talked to everybody from Dave Bing to Bob Lanier to some guys from the ABA days, Freddie Lewis, a guy from the old Midwestern League by the name of M.C. Burton, who's actually a doctor now, was in med school when he played basketball in the Midwestern League, which is a semi-pro league back in the day. Ray Scott was the first African-American to be coach of the year in the NBA in the mid-70s with the Pistons. He was a teammate of Reggie Harding. So it was just fascinating doing the research and talking to all these guys about the history of the league. And Rod Thorne was another guy who was a teammate of Reggie's. And then this guy, Reggie Harding, you know, heroin and the siren call of the streets were his undoing.

But he was giving a business to both Wilt and Bill Russell, man, back in the day. Red Auerbach said he would be one of the top five centers in a couple of years right when he came out of high school and got to the NBA, but unfortunately, the drug addiction and heroin and the lure of the streets, the pimps, the gangsters, the hustlers, all that

stuff that he idolized took precedent over his development as a basketball player and i think i saw you say that what the detail of you know your character and white man can't jump raymond sticking people up but being you know so somebody who hangs around there and is like 68 uh he's definitely a full step right yeah and he was seven and they're like come on reggie not again man not again you're the only seven foot. And they're like, come on, Reggie, not again, man. Not again.

You're the only seven foot person I know. Right. And Reggie's like, no, this ain't me. This ain't me. This ain't me. So you really did pull that scene directly from his life. Yes, they pulled that directly. That was one of the first folklore tales that they would tell you back in the 70s when you got to the league.

They tell you the story about Reggie Harding and the, and the ski mask, Robin, the liquor store at seven feet. And the, you know, this ain't me. And so that was one of the first things that you heard. And it was funny back in the day.

It's a funny story, but when you look at the background and do a little bit more digging in terms of his history, it's actually a sad story. He wound up getting shot on the streets of Detroit. I think at about 30 years old, 1972. And so the same streets that he couldn't get away from

that derailed his career wound up leading to his undoing. Spent time in prison, Jackson Prison in Michigan, for two or three years for armed robbery. He was robbing a bunch of dope houses where he would buy dope. And they got to the point where they got so pissed off at him, because they knew it was him, seven feet with a ski mask mask that he came up to a dope house to rob it. And two shotgun blasts hit him in both legs. And he was hospitalized.

It's just a crazy, crazy life. Wow. Colorful, crazy life that crossed paths with a lot of great, great NBA all-timers. So it's really a fascinating story. Yeah, it sounds amazing. Somebody needs to buy that screenplay post haste um yeah uh i mean it's appropriate like that that you're on uh our anniversary episode you you are somebody who still can dunk and you know so you still have

the mad boosties that you had in your career. I still have the same ability to dunk that I had in my career, which is none. But I can still, I think, touch the bottom of the net. In that way, we are similar. Can you talk about that? Is it every year on your birthday you get out there? My son Josiah, I think of NBA nba twitter yes we should say that king josiah he he brought the idea to me

the year that blake griffin jumped over the kiosk oh yeah that was about 54 55 years old at the time and you know could duck really easily back then and so we could but we got some matchbox cars or something um you know i jumped over one you know i'm doing the same thing blake i'm gonna jump over a car yeah and that kind of that created a monsters every year after that i'm 67 now so it's for the last 13 years every year he's like come on dad we gotta do it gotta do it i'm like joe joe i don't know i mean i'm only i only dunk once a year on my birthday around my birthday i never tried any other time so i don't know if i could do it or not and i got some hip issues so this year was a little you know a little challenging but uh i was able to pull it off and uh we got it done so uh but

that next year i'm not sure i may have a hip replacement done by that time. So this may have been the last one, but it's been fun. What it does is, man, it keeps me in shape, keeps me working out, gives me something to shoot for, a goal to shoot for, to stay in reasonably good shape at 67 years old. So I work out six times a week, six days a week. And I mean, nothing, you know, like an hour and 10 minutes, nothing crazy, but just enough to stay in reasonably good shape. so it's been the impetus for that so that's been a good thing good positive behind it hey well i give you credit because uh you're doing something

at 66 i i wasn't able to do at 36 so yeah appreciate that yeah so i mean let's talk about the current nba the purported subject of this podcast. You get an up-close and personal look at the Bucs. And I feel like they are a lot of smart people's pick for the title this year. There's actually an interesting conversation happening around Giannis with Isaiah this week. I'm not sure if you saw this. No, I haven't. Tell me about it.

Well, actually, it's from earlier in the year. It was basically surrounding the conversation with Giannis where people were saying he might struggle in the 80s. He would come off the bench in the 80s or 90s or whatnot. Charles Oakley in particular. Charles Oakley in particular. And Zeke, to his credit, I'll paraphrase it. He basically was saying, hey guys, you guys need to be quiet because he would dominate in the 80s. We've

never seen anything like him come into our league. And basically, he's one of the quote-unquote old heads that definitely shows love. So I'm interested. You see him up close and personal. You've seen him for the bulk of his career. Definitely the the great moments how do you think Giannis would fare

no man I mean greatness transcends eras and traits will figure out how to excel in different eras and that goes both ways and so you know people talk about how we couldn't have played in today's NBA from the 80s and 90s and then guys from even 70s. I mean, but the great players would figure things out. Maybe they'd like to point to my three-point field goal percentage. Well, that's why I like cleaning the glass, because they don't count heaves and in the quarter shots and all that. Both of my stuff was in the shot clock, in the quarters, those types of threes. And so, you know, but if I'd have worked on a three-point shot, I'd shoot 37%, 38%. I know that hands down.

But with Giannis, yeah, that bugs me. Now, people are coming around. Charles Barkley calls him the greatest player on the planet. So that's a definite feather in Giannis' cap to have that happen. I mean, I remember James Harden coming out and saying, we should see him with seven feet and all he had to do was dunk. Giannis is an acquired taste. And, you know, watching him when I first got to the Bucs eight years ago,

he was coming off a season where he averaged about 16 a game, seven, eight rebounds. I didn't know if he would be a solid NBA player for the next 10 years at that time, 18, 19, topping out at that, or would he be an all-star? I certainly didn't think he would be this transcendent player who would be a two-time MVP that would drop a 50-piece in a closeout finals game. I didn't think that.

It just didn't look like he was on that trajectory in terms of his skill package, and it just didn't look like he was on that trajectory in terms of his skill package. And it just didn't look like he was going to be that kind of a guy. But that's where his background, his motivation, his inspiration, his diligence, the working out, his desire to be the best. That's where all that comes into play. And I saw that early. I saw him have great games and I'd see a shadowy figure after he

had a great game and we won. Running through a crowd of people right after the game in 10 degree below weather in Milwaukee and I'm thinking to myself, who is that crazy brother right there with the t-shirt and the cut-off sweats? What is he doing?

Then I look closer. Man, that's Giannis. Where the hell is he doing then i look closer man that's yannis where the hell is he going watch him he's going to the practice facility across the street to work on his free throws and it's genuine that's just with 40 plus point games we have a flight to another city that night on a team plane he's sitting in the back of the plane with sean sweeney the assistant coach at the time for the bucks going over film and video in terms of what he could have done better even though he just dropped 40 points on that opponent that night, DeShanis. I mean, and so he could have played in any era. He is such a unicorn is the popular way of describing a guy like him.

Think about it. He's seven feet, 250. So he's strong enough to kind of with handle, withstand the pounding back in the day. But he's also got this his his separator is this handle he's able to get to where he wants to go with this ball handling like no other seven footer i'm trying to run my mind through the course of history to think if there's been a seven footer that could handle like he could now that's also he's been a product of his era because it's been encouraged for, and it's the European kind of influence in the NBA and the American game. Big men shooting outside shots.

Back in the day, if you were a Jim McDaniels from Western Kentucky who averaged 30 a game in college, you get to the pros, you're soft because you shoot jumpers at seven feet. My teammate at UCLA, Richard Washington, the most outstanding player in the NCAA tournament in 1975, 28 against Louisville, 28 against Kentucky. Great jump shooter, 6'11". He got to the league, you're soft. Get your big ass inside. Pound it. Pound it inside. That's for the small boards and guards to shoot the jump shots.

So it's a different era. And so there's more of a premium put on big men, the stretch forward that can knock down jumpers. So that that that helps him. But, you know, he just knows how to play, how to score. His finishing is so much better than I've ever seen it before this year. But his ability to handle the ball, to get to his spots. And he studied defenders and knows how to attack angles and body position to draw fouls. And even though he's shooting 65, 66% from the free throw line, a lot of guys would back off from getting to the free throw line because of that.

He embraces the challenge and gets to the free throw line even more. Probably shooting more free throws this season than he's ever shot. So that's his mindset. It's just different, which I think would transcend any era and lead to his success. You know, as a current Sixers fan and one time Ben Simmons fan, like that was something I always admired about Giannis is there was just no, no fear, no matter what the last trip to the free throw line was, it didn't enter his mind. He has that like Tom Brady strategically short memory and just, you know, uses it to

his advantage. Yeah, without question so bringing it to this era and i'm taking nothing away from you know any area prior to this i'm not one of those you know you know folks that says oh you know yesteryear's players couldn't play i would love to see it because i think i like you i think greatness it will translate regardless but it was the coach's fault they were the ones telling everyone that a three-point shot was a terrible shot the whole time and then they like slowly by slowly figured it out and the players got their game up to yeah now now it's just a layup well remember rick patino was the first

guy i heard saying and this is probably mathematically not exactly precise but rick patino used to say well he'd say know, a three-point shot, you're shooting, you know, 10 shots and you make four threes, you know, or six, four threes is equivalent to six twos or whatever. So 40% of twos is like shooting 60% from the three-point line because of the point value. And that's the first time it kind of registered in my mind that, hey, that's a good point. You don't have to shoot a great field goal percentage. And then effective field goal percentage got introduced that was in the 90s we started talking about that when i was with seattle and terry stotts and george carl and that was an interesting stat

true true shooting percentage and effective field goal percentage and the value of that extra you know point that you get on the three-pointer. And now, fast forward to today, and now we're shooting with the Bucs like over 43s a game. There's a bunch of teams, over 43s a game, which is just crazy. Yeah, coming up, watching the game in the 80s and 90s, I never anticipated us being here. But to that point, we were told about five years ago or maybe even a decade ago that the big man was gone,

that there was no more great big men or anything or something along those lines that was the general conversation which it wasn't even true then but now you have guys like obviously we've been you know we've been you know discussing yannis you've got mb you've got yokich you got ad you got you know miles turner cat there are literally big all throughout the league so i'm gonna throw something out there and you can call me crazy that's okay i'm usually the crazy man i think this era of bigs is just as good as it's ever been even with the focus of the game you know we like to present it as its exterior game or at least outside in as opposed to inside out but given the range in an actual ability of the modern big i think this crop is just as good as it ever has been. Well, that's an interesting assertion.

And it's almost like you got a bunch of Tim Duncans out there. You know, you got a bunch of mobile, seven-foot, good shooting, not straight back to the basket, can go down there, do some work if they need to. But it's so interesting how so many teams, like the Kings and Sabonis, I mean, they run their offense through these elbow touches. Even Draymond Green, who's not really the prototypical big, but still, you know, he's in their lineup. They run everything through them as the fulcrum for what they do offensively.

So I wouldn't, you know, I'm thinking now I'm just kind of in my mind's eye trying to rattle off all the bigs in recent years and kind of what they did, Kevin Garnett and some of these other guys. When I think of the bigs and I throw Kevin Durant in that equation from sheer size alone, Giannis, Jokic, you mentioned all these names. Let me tell you,

Embiid, one year he was hurt and I forgot if it was a nasal fracture. I forgot what it was a nasal fracture. I forgot what it was going on with him. But he was out for an extended period. So we're in Philly, and I'm watching his routine before the game. He's not going to play that night. They're putting him through a real hard, rigorous routine before the game.

He knocks down literally like about 12 threes, just coast to coast. Dribble down to one three-point line, swish. D dribble back down to the other three-point line at the other end, swish, dribble back down. It was just amazing watching the accuracy and how he shot the ball at his massive 7'2", 290 size. Yeah. And the fluidity. You know, he plays, and I always say these guys at that size,

they play like they're 6'6", 6'7". Bobby Portis for us. I mean, the way he shoots and plays and moves, you don't think of him as like 6'10", 250. And that's the difference between now and back in the 80s in my day and even years after that. Some guy with that size would automatically be pigeonholed and discouraged from expanding

his game. Now they actually work on the expansion of your offensive skill package. So that, that plays a lot into it also. All right. We are going to take a quick break. We're going to come back. We only have Marcus for another 10 minutes.

So we're going to come back. We're going to get right into the fastest segment in podcasting, the rapid fire round of questioning. So we'll do that first and then Jabari and I'll stick around and BS a little bit. But we will be right back for rapid fire in act two

because it's a special anniversary episode. We'll be right back. I'm Carrie Champion and this is season four of Naked Sports, where we live at the intersection of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. I know I'll go down in history.

People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Every great player needs a foil. I ain't really near them boys. I just come here to play basketball every single day, and that's what I focus on. From college to the pros, Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Angel Reese is a joy to watch.

She is unapologetically black. I love her. What exactly ignited this fire? Why has it been so good for the game? And can the fanfare surrounding these two supernovas be sustained? This game is only going to get better because the talent

is getting better. This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. All right, here we go.

It's Cam Jordan from New Orleans Saints here to tell you it's going down on season two of my podcast, Off the Edge with me, Cam Jordan. Can't stop it. You know what's going to happen. Can't stop it. That's right. Catch new episodes every Wednesday, all season long. That's what you look for in year 14 to do more.

No days off. season long. That's what you look for at year 14 to do more. And I'll have my friends who happen to be some of the NFL's biggest stars join me on the pod. We'll give you a player's perspective of the biggest storylines, trends, and did that really just happen moments from around the league. And you know we'll have fun doing it.

Oh, and I'll have a special guest each month join me to mix it up a little bit. Who is it? None other than... Psych! You'll have to tune in to find out. So tap in to Off the Edge with Cam Jordan's podcast, your ultimate playbook for all things football and not football.

Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Mike Wright from the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast. You heard that right. The Fantasy Footballers have officially entered the Dynasty space. Every week we bring you the same in-depth analysis and entertainment you've come to expect from the Fantasy Footballers, only now from a Dynasty perspective. Maybe you've been living in the Dynasty fantasy football space for a while.

Well, we're here to take your game to the next level. Maybe you love fantasy football and you've been feeling that itch to jump into the Dynasty format, but it feels a little bit intimidating. No matter where you're coming from, the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty podcast has something for you, and you're going to have a great time listening, I promise. Join me and the rest of the crew every Wednesday for a new episode. Listen to the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty podcast on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. and we're back and marcus you just got to give the first thought that comes out of your mouth into your brain oh boy doesn't matter if it's dumb you know just whatever it can be wrong as long as it's fast um and we will uh be very slow and uh not fast our end, but that's okay, because that is our prerogative as hosts of this show. Are you ready for the rapid-fire round of questioning? We shall see. All right. Jabari, do you want to?

All right, start the clock. Let's go. Uh-oh. Mark. The clock has started. Each year, and we spoke to this a little bit earlier, but I have a twist for you. You know how you post a video that shows that you can still dunk? And like I said, it's impressive each and every time.

Related to that, do you have a favorite dunk of your career, or was there a player that you always wanted to meet at the rim that you didn't get a chance to? Yeah, so anyway, so we're playing against the Lakers. There's a scrum under the basket for the ball kareem is right behind me i've been down pick the ball up and off of vert jump up in the air kareem jumps the block and i dunk it backwards like wow it's a reverse dunk over kareem over kareem yes indeed a friend of mine got a great shot of it on a slide that i guess i can't find to save my life. I know it's, I know it's in my stash somewhere. I got to find that slide because he's got it. He's got it right at the perfect

moment. Me about a foot over the rim, Kareem trying to block it and getting ready to reverse jam on it. All right. The greats get gotten at times too. Yes, indeed. You have the number one pick next year. You're, you're an NBA GM. You have the number one pick. So you basically can draft Victor Wemby Yama if you want. And you have just learned that every NBA team is willing to trade you a single player for that number one pick. Do you do it? And if so, who do you choose? I'm verging on saying besides Giannis because Giannis seems like kind of, that's my answer, at least. But is there a player besides Giannis that you would trade Wemba Yama for straight up? Embiid.

Joel Embiid. Joel Embiid, man. If I could, Giannis and Joel Embiid, all due respect to Brooke Lopez, but man, if I could get Joel Embiid. Brooke is my backup center i'm sorry brooke but i love you i'm sure you would understand yeah yeah i think you'd be cool with that yeah all right keep it going if you could bet on any fan base and you know you see the fans you see the arenas you see what that you know what they're capable of but if you could bet on any fan base to make the in arena challenge shots that's the layup free throw the three-pointer and the half court shot which fan base would you bet ah i don't know the knicks i don't know why i don't ask you what

knicks always have been a team that whose fans are knowledgeable so i would hope that some of that knowledge would extend to some skills you know what i mean so that translates to the in arena challenge yeah yeah i've always loved playing for the next funny story with the knicks i know some skills, you know what I mean? That translates to the in-arena challenge. Yeah, yeah. I've always loved playing for the Knicks. Funny story with the Knicks, I know this is a speed round, but when I first learned about gambling, I think we were up by a certain amount of points, and the Knicks scored the cut at the three,

and the crowd just erupted, and I told Ernie Grunfeld, it's like two seconds on the clock, they're losing. Why are they cheering? The point spread was four. Right. Just a bunch of people running to the OTB immediately after the game. Yeah, man. Happy. Happy. New York, best city in the world.

What's the best NBA city based solely on the food? Oh, man. Best NBA city based solely on the food would have to be Chicago. It's kind of tough to be. Oh, okay.

We've been to some really, they do a thing called break bread nights with the bucks, but the team has these team dinners and I've been fortunate enough to get in on a couple of them. And Chicago is always outstanding in terms of the restaurants that they choose. All right. So this one is appropriate because like your boosties,

I'm also jealous of your crisp hairline at your age. So Jalen Rose recently said that men should be spending a minimum of $100 on a haircut. And, you know, while that might be a little bit steep for, you know, my taste as a podcaster, what is the single item or routine maintenance that you're willing to pay top dollar for? I mean, I gave my barber 60 yesterday.

You know, I used to give him 50, but he kind of fit me in with the crowd in the mid-afternoons. And, you know, I didn't want to ask him for $10 change, so I just left him with 60. And that's a lot. You know, back in my day, 10, 20, I was paying my son Mariah to cut my hair $20 a shot. Now he's charging 40. So 50, 60 is kind of like my limit i remember being able to go to the you know go to the shop with 15 bucks and leave a tip with that extra yeah no more they look at you like you're crazy now one quick follow-up it's jaylen's hairline too good to be true yeah yeah i don't know what's going on i've heard some stories you know but you know i think his

sister came out and said a couple things about it but whatever it is and jaylen rose is one of the all-time classiest guys i've ever been around uh what he's doing in detroit and every time i see him just on a personal level it's just great interaction we talk about you know we talk about you know kairi and his situation we talk about real stuff and he keeps it real and just um i just love jay rose and during the all-star game in oakland back in early 2000 i think the best cart the bench carter dunk all-star game they wouldn't let me in like the players party uh gave me a hard time about getting in all of a sudden jaylen shows up it's's like, hey, this dude's a legend. Come on, legend. You with me. Walk me right on in.

I love him for the rest of my life. I had about three or four ladies with me. You know, made it even sweeter. Whatever he's doing with the hairline works. I think it's a work of art. All right. You can take any former Milwaukee Buck and pair him with yannis which

former player would you like to see him play with oh man uh kareem hey i mean that's the that's not fair but yeah that is the right answer you know i was in oscar but oscar was kind of past his prime at that time um you know ray allen Allen, I think, would be a good pairing. But Ray kind of came into his own pre-post-Milwaukee days with the Celtics and then with Miami. But, you know, some good options there. All right. Last question. And this is probably the most important.

Are you ready? Yeah, let's do it. All right. Jack or Jabari? Jabari. Oh, okay straight to the point no that's cool i get it he you know he knows our people you know usually with most guests it doesn't completely devastate me but i'm not gonna lie this one hurts well no but here's jack here's the reason why because because I just did a, uh, interview for a documentary they're doing on Giannis and did a Kumpo,

uh, for, for an hour or so. But in the course of my research for that, for that interview, I looked at Giannis's scoring stats from one year and Jabari Parker averaged 20 points a game that year, the year he hurt his knee averaged 20.

It just kind of made me sad. You know what I mean? In terms of what, what it could have been. So that name Jabari was fresh on my mind. So I think it was more of a knee jerk than anything to do with quality. I'll send you some Jack Sikma stats a little bit later on. I'll take that sympathy vote right here.

Thank you very much. It's all good. It's all good. All right. Well, thank you so much for doing the show. Truly a legend. Jalen Rose was right. This has been a blast.

Where can people find you, hear you, all that good stuff? Yeah, I'm on Twitter, OldSchool888, I think. Instagram, the same thing. And, you know, on League Pass, watch some book games and check us out this year. I think this will be our year. I feel really good about our depth. We've got some of the deepest lineup in the league in terms of shooting. I was having a conversation

with Steve Novak yesterday about is this one of the best all-time shooting teams 1 through 12 in the history of the game. You know, you've got to look at that. So, that's going to help us. Alright. Well, Marcus Johnson, thank you so much. What a pleasure. Alright, Jack Jabari, thank you. Let's take a quick break. We'll be right back to talk about some great

performances from the week. I'm Kerry Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports, where we live at the intersection of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Every great player needs a foil. I ain't really near them. Why is that? I just come here to play basketball every single day, and that's what I focus on. From college to the pros, Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Angel Reese is a joy to watch.

She is unapologetically Black. I love her. What exactly ignited this fire? Why has it been so good for the game? And can the fanfare surrounding these two supernovas be sustained? This game is only going to get better because the talent is getting better. This new season will cover all things sports and culture.

Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. Alright, here we go. It's Cam Jordan from New Orleans Saints here to tell you it's going down

on season two of my podcast Off the Edge with me Cam Jordan can't stop it you know what's gonna happen can't stop it that's right catching new episodes every Wednesday all season long that's what you look for year 14 to do more and I'll have my friends who happen to be some of the NFL's biggest stars join me on the pod we'll give you a player's perspective of the biggest storylines, trends, and did that really just happen moments from around the league. And you know we'll have fun doing it.

Ha! Yeah! Oh, and I'll have a special guest each month join me to mix it up a little bit. Who is it? None other than... Psyche! You'll have to tune in to find out. So tap in to Off the Edge with Cam Jordan's podcast, your ultimate playbook for all things football and not football. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, this is Mike Wright from the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast. You heard that right. The Fantasy Footballers have officially entered the dynasty space. Every week we bring you the same in-depth analysis and entertainment you've come to expect from the fantasy footballers, only now from a dynasty perspective. Maybe you've been living in the dynasty fantasy football space for a while. Well, we're here to take your game to the next level. Maybe you love fantasy football and you've been feeling that itch to jump into

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um, you know, I've never had to do an entire segment of this show after losing. I had to go home to the wife and kids with my tail between my legs, but I've never had to actually show up for these fans so they can hear the defeated man that I am for 24 hours after I lose a Jack or Jabari. You have to love his ability to to play that game and say like oh you know what it really was about jack he was like he was on it he was quick oh man you can tell he's been a dad for many years because he yeah he made yeah i actually like you both equally i just picked it at random but that you know uh please stop crying it's making

me uncomfortable uh brian please cut that part out where he says, please stop crying. It's making me uncomfortable. And then I bawl and call him dad and say, thanks a lot, dad. Yeah. I just think it made him look bad. Yeah.

All right. So we're going to come back with the mad boost. He's great performances of the week. What a week. The Lakers fans are on the Reeves train. Austin Reeves. I'm hearing, you know, I have a lot of Lakers fans in my life

living out in Los Angeles. And I am hearing every time this man puts the ball in the basket from a Lakers fan. You guys are excited about this young man. Speak to it. You know, I look at it like this. Every fan base is going to be happy about a secondary guy. And when I say that, I mean no shade whatsoever, but not necessarily a star or a guy that was expected

to carry you at the most important juncture of your season. And he's done that. You know, he's a reserved guy that has stepped into a role with, obviously, with LeBron being out these last nine games or so. And he's played incredibly well. From the Lakers, you know, fans, you know, side of things, I do recognize we go overboard and there's a lot of us. So it seems like we're overdoing it with the love, but it's really just a matter of fans of a struggling fan base that are looking for something to be happy about.

Under a minute to play.ves here he goes on his way reeves has it again austin reads he is clutch right now austin reese is taking over the game i was going to ask what draft class he was and uh he is was not drafted but uh 2021. Yeah, that's the best. When you just have somebody who you weren't counting on who comes through. He always looks a little bit surprised when he does something awesome on the court. So it's a lot of fun. Did you see that? Newark's own.

And by Newark, I mean Newark, Arkansas. Yes. A little bit of state in America is just like, yeah, we have Paris, Texas. We're Cincinnati, Missouri. Paris, California. Yeah, all the Parises are out of control. Giannis, I've heard just about enough about this Giannis fellow, but just making it look easy with a 22-13-10.

Nine of nine from the floor. One of one from deep, went over the Raptors. Really solid pro career, I think, with Portland and the Timberwolves. Once again, look at this zone. There's a soft spot inside. Take it, Giannis. Get it to the elbow and work from there. What more can you say about Giannis? This is, you know, that hasn't already been stated.

But really, at this this stage it really doesn't matter if he wins the mvp because again i'm just reiterating he's the best player in the world and he goes out and he proves it on a nightly basis i wish the mvp conversation was over because i i honestly think it's going to either be yokich if if people who, you know, are on the majority of NBA writers who have a vote that was just the default, or it's going to be Giannis and all the focus on Embiid. And then I don't, I don't want to be to like wear himself out. I mean, he's been saying all season that, you know, this isn't important. The thing that's important to him is getting to the third round, getting to the Eastern conference finals. So we'll see about that but i just i want it to be over tomorrow i completely

understand that and i'll be honest with you i give these guys credit for being able to compartmentalize like that because i'll be straight up if i were in bead i would be like nah this is my year and yeah i give him credit why not keeping his eyes okay in fact why not i mean we might as well talk about joel and bead became the first sixers player to score 30 plus in nine straight games i was surprised by that that that was the first time and that's no shade whatsoever but for whatever reason i i didn't anticipate that being the first time that it happened i mean i guess we should talk about the mvp conversation because you had a text to miles and I, we still, we still have the group text thread going, uh,

where you said after, after one of these nine straight 30 point games, game winning shot at the end, I think it would, might've been the blazers game. I forget. Um, you said a couple more like that and he's going to put himself in the MVP

conversation in the conversation. Like he's not even in like that most of the conversations i hear include him they're not like and maybe if this mb kid could put a couple games together he might be i think there's still pete there's people who think he might be in the conversation oh if you ask the sixers fan he's you know he's he's leader of the fact okay all right now jokes aside that was a little bit tongue-in- cheek, but really it was kind of what you were, what you alluded to earlier where so much of the conversation has been, okay, is Jokic or, or someone else and, you know, deservedly.

So it's been Giannis in that, in that role. But I think Joel, I'll just say definitively, I think Joel Embiid has every opportunity to win this award, you know, as those other two guys, I think I'm going to say it definitively. I think he has a shot at the all-star team. He might do that. He might be able to make that pretty good. They need to,

they just need to catch. I mean, I guess with regards to his MVP candidacy, it's, it would be nice for them. I think he has a real shot. If they catch Milwaukee. I already passed Boston.

They, they need to catch Milwaukee if they want to make it out of the second round because they're not getting by Boston, at least not Boston with like at full strength, which they would be in the second round. So they need to catch Milwaukee. And I'm assuming that's where some of this urgency is coming from. Cause they're playing at a,

at the highest level they've been playing at, at a time when i feel like a lot of other teams are kind of hitting the doldrums a little bit um they they seem pretty locked in yeah i was gonna say if look if i'm a sixers fan which you know that i'm famously not but if i'm a sixer fan i'm feeling pretty famously i'm feeling pretty good i am shocked that they haven't just lost a bunch of games in a row but as we were looking over the schedule, I was like, ah, yeah,

here it comes. The, the bulls game, which will have already happened. So you'll know if I'm right or wrong listener, but I was like the bulls game. And that's the game that they lose where like, I'm feeling really good.

And then they just drop a bewildering loss on me. But, um, that is, you guys dealt with enough of me being a self-loathing sixers fan last week so we'll leave it at that um shay still doing it man you know let me go back and retroactively say you're right and what i mean what i'm referring to is about midway through the season we had this conversation about the most improved player and while i do i do obviously for those same reasons think that laurie is probably a good candidate

the most improved player this year has been shay without right so cam's gonna do this the opening nearly turns it over he does here comes the run out for sga on the drive inside gets it at the horn and the foul to boot and he fits in with the way that they've been giving the award out which is person who becomes a all nba caliber talent well you know that was john last year and i i feel like it's going to be do the odds reflect that this is honestly the first time i've it's gone back and forth i think shea is the leader right now but like it was larry for a while and they kind of hopped back and forth i mean laurie makes sense because he like was much worse than shea was last year right he was pretty good last year but it was it was it

was a throwaway year because you know he basically got it they i don't want to say they gave up on him they decided to move on in chicago they dumped him you know to cleveland he has that year where you know he still looks pretty good but we didn't anticipate this it's in in particular when when they made the trade it was okay well laurie might put up you know 20 point nights but they're not going to be in most of these games they've been right there, like all throughout. Yeah.

I mean, but like Shay wasn't getting dumped in a trade last year, you know, like whereas Laurie, they were like, yeah, well, you know,

we know what we have with this young man. Turns out not, I, I'm getting people ready for the return of miles gray. What's in this young man? Um, the Grizzlies are maybe putting some things back together uh had seven players in double figures led by jaron jackson's 31 desmond baines

26 in a win over the warriors they're just they're tough man they're they're really like mentally yeah just when i'm ready to write them off, they say, oh, okay, hey, guess what? Yeah. They've won five of six, coming close to catching the Kings, who are, so both of them are coming close to catching the Nuggets. Denver's been seven games out in front, I feel like, for the past few months. Six months. Yeah. Now it's, I mean, it's, they're not, they're not,

nobody's going to catch the Nuggets. I think they're winning again, but, you know, they're four up in the west and their point differential like they used to have a leading point differential i feel like and now they're that's kind of falling back to earth i think we we should probably have a nuggets fan or person on over the next you know month or so why would we do that well why would we do that because i watch nuggets games and i watch the action but you know how it's a little bit different when it's your squad i for the life of me can't figure out when it was a week i was like okay teams go through that then it was two

weeks and it's realistically been the best so you want to have them on and be like what's wrong with you guys why do you suck after they've had the best season in the history of their franchise. All right, you can come on now. What's going on guys. You don't look as good as you used to. You feeling all right. I think I still think they're probably doing the thing that every team seems to do other than like the six or seem to just be trying to power through to

the end of the, of the season right now. But Yogesh doesn't care about the MVP, uh, race. I, I think he cares about, you know,

preparing for the post season. There might be some resting going on and, and they, they do seem pretty comfortable with a four game lead over Sacramento and Memphis, but Memphis, it's, it's good to have,

it's good to have you back, buddy. You know, and then Dame, I just want to have you back, buddy. Absolutely. And then Dame, I just want to talk about this stat that you pulled. So first player since Kobe in 05-06 to have scoring games of 30+, 40+, 50+, 60+, and 70+. This man is locked in. He's a legendary scorer. I mean, it hasn't led to much you know to any wins really

like especially in the second half of this season but dame is you know i don't know where he's going to go down in the all-time you know everybody has a different top 50 or whatever the case may be but dame is going to be one of the greatest scorers that especially at the guard position that the game has ever seen it's all said and done and you know what a lot of people will you know make make light of the fact that he hasn't asked for a move and, you know, wants to stick around. At the end of the day,

it is still going to be pretty damn impressive when you look at all of the accomplishments that he really ends up with, regardless of whether he wins a title. Yeah. Did we ever talk about that thing he said in the,

I think it was on a podcast to JJ Redick, where he was just like, yeah, man, when I'm done playing basketball basketball i just go home and like play with my kids and enjoy my life like i'm not trying to yeah which i thought was pretty cool and pretty refreshing you just never i think most players whether it's true or not are just too scared to say that because fans tend to deify these players who like you know were like he was so mentally off that all he cared about was losing and it was emotionally devastating to him and it's

like yeah or you could like have a have a good life and be happy and put up 60 and 70 in multiple games you know i think that definitely helps his cause the fact that you you don't look at Dame and say like, oh, he doesn't seem like he's giving it his all. You know what I mean? When he is out there. So if anything, it's goals like to have that sort of balance, you know, life balance to be able to give it your all when you're there. And obviously, you know, when you're training in preparation for it, but also be like, yeah,

no, let's go make pancakes, kids. That's pretty all. Yeah. Yeah. All right. for it but also be like yeah no like let's go make pancakes kids that's pretty all yeah yeah all right so it's time to go with our nba broadcast call of the week nuggets home call on this putback dunk let's roll it easy shot yokich on the move what's it up Michael Porter Jr. dunking dunk it with his hand like parallel to his face like up so high which is always fun people forget how tall he is or I forget how tall he is people don't I do he's 6'10 and just has a wet shot uh so that that was pretty cool it was

off a yokich myth i'm just saying he also dunked over yokich's back yeah he got posterized by his teammate um and then the tweet of the week uh we gotta give it to king josiah son of this week's guest response to austin reeves scoring a career high utilizing Peter Weber's epic who do you think you are I am celebration which is what I'm thinking most of the day if you just like saw what was going on inside my head it is this celebration so anytime it's like you know it's one of the greatest sports celebrations of all time. And I, I absolutely mean that I'm not being hyperbolic. It's one of the greats, especially because I don't know if it completely makes sense, but we know what he means.

No, it doesn't make any sense. The way he delivers it is just perfect. Just perfect. Yeah. So what a blast. Absolutely. And then our boosties listener of the week was Aaron and Mixie, who is super excited about Mikael Bridges having the opportunity as a top option offensively.

Hey, Aaron and you and all of us, we're psyched about this. She was actually seemingly feeling guilty that she says, I guess now I'm a Nets fan too. And I'm just going to say this for the record. While I may have been a hardline, no, you have to have one team, you know, fan in the past. The Lakers are my team, but I've got several other teams that I, you know, because a former Lakers are playing on them or I just picked them up.

I've got a bunch of teams that I can appreciate. And I think that's probably a healthier approach to NBA fandom. Yeah. It's like having a rescue dog, a rescue team. That's a thing that I am hardline. I think the whole thing of like, you can't just adopt the town, your new team. I mean, you know, growing up and rooting for whatever team my dad was coaching, obviously prepared me to just switch teams with the people I value. But like, I've really enjoyed the NBA, just following LeBron around and rooting for whoever he's playing for, assuming it's not

playing against a team my dad was coaching. And, you know, just being a free agent and just appreciating what is super exciting about the league. So I highly recommend it. If you're feeling because of some other famous sports guy podcasts that you're not allowed to switch teams or it's a safe space here at miles and Jack miles and or Jack got Matt boosties. So you're, you're always free to switch teams.

I'd actually be interested to hear from boosties. Um, so you're, you're always free to switch teams. I'd actually be interested to hear from boosties listeners, like who, who feel beholden to this. Like, what are some teams that have tempted them where they're like, Oh man, I wish I could root for that team. They look so good.

Like the Miami heat looks fun. I rooted for LeBron when he was there, but I still respect what they do. I still love Eric Spolstra, Jimmy Butler. What they do is super cool. My heart does not feel, you know, I can't make myself a Heat fan, but I respect. It must be a fun ride to be a Heat fan. All right, I'm going to just throw this out there before we go.

We're five years down the road and Joel Embiid is in a Miami Heat jersey. Can you allow yourself then? Totally, easily. I'd do it. I thought so. If he switched teams tomorrow, I'd do it. I was trying to give a little runway. I feel like Sixers fans probably have the wrong idea

about me that I'm this dyed-in-the-wool Sixers fan. I am a Sixers fan because that's who I was rooting for. And then my dad retired, but I got to, I was rooting for them like from Embiid's rookie year. And so, you know, but I'm a, I'm a mercenary, I'm a mercenary fan out here and it does make me, I still have whatever that unhealthy fandom is where i feel physically ill when they don't do well so i got that part but i i'm in no way like you know long-term cursed to be with a team which is which is a nice luxury i have it is all right well we it. We made it a year. We did. Thank you so much for everything you've done, man. Jabari, one of the true great producers out there doing it.

One of the great NBA minds. Appreciate you. Appreciate you guys for listening to the podcast for a year and telling your friends about it. And that's going to do it. We're going to be back for year two next week or at least some of us will be. But yeah, we'll talk to you all then. Bye. Bye. I'm Kerry Champion and this is

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

Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore The Making of a Rivalry, Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball. And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. There's so much beauty in Mexican culture. Like mariachis, delicious cuisine, and even lucha libre. Join us for the new podcast, Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12-episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of lucha libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, Emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE Superstar. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you stream podcasts.