The Daily Zeitgeist - MJGMB #53: State of the Celtics, Playoffs and 90s Hoops with Mike Camerlengo

Episode Date: March 30, 2023

Miles is BACK and he was joined by Producer Jabari as they discussed the state of the Celtics, playoff positioning and a bit of 90s basketball with the writer/producer behind 60SecondClassics.com, Mike Camerlengo on today's episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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But the Grizzlies and Pelicans are also back and they're trending in the right direction again out west. And meanwhile, Celtics appear to have gotten back to playing at their elite level and we'll get into all of that and plenty more with writer creative producer video maker of a 60 second classics mike cameralengo on today's episode i'm miles gray and i'm jabari davis and this is miles miles jabari god damn. We're doing it. God damn. Boosties. Boosties.

Three on one. Davis. Love. LeBron. There you go. And B, driving, spinning, fading, hitting. Curry, a three-pointer. Bang. Steph Curry from downtown again.

Giannis with the take. Oh, look out. A little showtime. What you got, Giannis? All right. town again all right mike camillango welcome to the show man really good to have you have really great to have you thanks for having me i was uh i was wondering if i should i did a podcast once where i like jumped into the intro by accident like that and i was just like don't do it it's not your turn yet don't wait wait wait uh so mike man you're a big boston fan i know that's what i heard from the boston area right yep grew up in massachusetts uh it's kind of just like what you do around here you

watch boston sports and try not to get into fistfights outside of bars and stuff no i was never a fighter um oh but are you really from messages i mean can you really claim that you're from that area if you weren't a fighter i'm like well i'm you can there are guys that stand back with their arms crossed and kind of go yeah get them you know that guy yeah gotcha right right so yeah i grew up you know we're talking before big celtics run antoine walker paul pierce in the 90s yeah if you If you grew up and you're a Celtics fan, you never tried the Antoine Walker shimmy, then what were you even doing?

Right. Even as a degenerate Lakers fan, I did the shimmy a couple times. It was fun to try. It had a moment, for sure. It was very good. It was very good. And again, how are you feeling just overall

this season of basketball? Not necessarily about the Celtics, but how have you, you know, been engaging a lot? Are you still very Celtics focused or how are you kind of taking it in? Yeah, I feel good. I mean, there's always a point in the season where my brain kind of lulls and kind of is just like, is it the playoffs yet? Like, because I feel like, you know, kind of what you have in these teams and then like, let's just get to it.

That's kind of what's happening now. The whole month of March, I'm kind of like, because, you know, of what you have in these teams. And then, like, let's just get to it. That's kind of what's happening now. The whole month of March, I'm kind of like, because, you know, teams have ups and downs, the Celtics, where we can talk about whatever you want. But, you know, they started out real hot. And then they were like, wait, are they that good? And it's like, they're good. Like, let's just get to the playoffs and see the Bucs and the Celtics

and the Eastern Conference. I love that I heard the Boston come out when you said hot. Yep. I was like, there he is Boston come out when you said hot. Yep. I was like, Larry, he let it slide a little bit. You know, I have myself trained.

And then every now and then I'll be like, it slips up. Like, I'll just, you know, yeah. Love it. Hey,

what park do you like to go to? Which park would you say you like to go to? When I went to college, uh, many, many years ago, freshman year, they were like,

uh, that you had to go around and say like what you did over the summer or something and i worked at a park i was like a park instructor and i didn't even realize at the time my accent was so deep i was going i was going pack instruct and they're like what are you talking like nobody could understand me right so that's a real that's a real moment when you look back you go jeez what was i doing yeah yeah yeah uh and then also you're saying you lived in new york during the lynn sanity years did you catch that wave or you just watched respectfully as a celtics i respectfully watched i was entertained i i was there for a while i was in new york for

14 years so i mean you know there weren't that many ups no offense to nicks fans but lynn sanity was crazy because at the time there was some kind of, uh, fight going on with like the K one of the cable companies. So a lot of people weren't getting, uh, the Knicks games on their TV. So it like brought even more people out. You got to go to the bar,

you got to check it out. And it seemed like everybody was just watching this. Like, can you believe this again? Right. Right. Right. Two or three weeks stretch was unreal.

Yeah. And where are you living now? Uh, I'm back in Massachusetts. I'm outside of Boston. Yeah. Yeah. And where are you living now? I'm back in Massachusetts. I'm outside of Boston. Yeah. Fantastic. So I had a kid.

I fully embraced being washed up, you know, living that suburb life. Take it back to where it all started. Just up faking in my backyard with a ball, you know? Oh, and again, some people don't realize the reason I wasn't on the show is I was on parental leave myself. I just had my first child. Shout out to my son, who is almost eight weeks old. So this is a very new time for me, one in which everything I saw of the NBA felt like a fever dream. But I'm glad I'm back with everybody to catch up and Jabari, you know, to help me realize, make, you know, separate what I thought was a dream and what is actually reality because it all blends together. But yeah, let's kick it off first.

Looking at none other than the Boston Celtics. I mean, it looks, you know, look like you're locked in there. The two seed, you know, I, it, you had it there. Like you said, there've been some ups and downs. You're up, you're down, you're up, you're down. But as of this recording, 7-10, doing pretty well. But for you, what's the biggest difference that you're seeing? We casually talk about the Celtics.

And look, as Laker fans, we casually are just basically like, yeah, we'll see if they're that good forever. And then we're crying. And like, they are. But for you as a fan, what's the biggest difference for you guys this year with, with a fantastic comedian, Joe Missoula, who I would love to touch on after this.

Well, I think their shooting is much better. I mean, obviously when they, I'm not a stats guy. So if you're like, actually, if you're like,

actually it's down, I'm gonna be like, Oh my bad. But they, the style of play seems like they're just chucking them up a bit more. And especially in the beginning to the mid season they were just going on runs where they were hitting threes i went to a game where they won by 40 it was incredible so i think that's what plagued them

last year i mean obviously they ran into golden state in the finals but like they needed that you know extra shooter whether that's brogdon or not. I mean, I think he really helps. But I think that's the difference. They have a little more shooting help. And hopefully they don't kind of get stuck in the playoffs. I feel like the last couple of years they've had that thing where it's three, four minutes left. And who's going to take the shot?

Obviously Tatum's the guy. And I think he's gotten better again every year he gets better but i just think having like another option um and derrick white i mean i think derrick white's really good and uh so i think they have the pieces i know during like the trade deadline there was some talk around here of like you know are they going to add anybody and you know they're going to add another wing or something like that but i think they have enough talent it's just you know what they can do with it right to that point i was wondering because and you know i can be honest about it when you guys got brogged in i was you know i was hating from the outside of the club and yeah and acknowledging like yeah that's kind of like

the perfect piece that they needed but i'm just interesting what is your level of confidence heading into the postseason obviously you know we're not quite there yet, but if everything stays relatively the same and you guys are relatively healthy heading in, what's your level of confidence? I think I like it. It sounds like an insidious question from a Laker. Yeah, what's your level of confidence? You're like, wait. So that I can disfew him later on down the road like a month from now if the celtics are out i'm going to absolutely hit up on the timeline with hey remember when you said this on the show

hey by the way thank you thank you for your time and everything we really appreciate you bringing it but this is you so but also don't but don't don't mention we crashed out of the plane either but go yeah don't worry about it yeah yeah uh but yeah so yeah well how you feeling i think they should with the team they have, they should get to the Eastern Conference Finals. Now, if they lose to the Bucs, they lose to the Bucs. I mean, last year they were able to get by the Bucs, but they, what's his name, got hurt.

Middleton. Middleton wasn't playing. So there was that little bit of like, well, would it have been different if he was there? Obviously he's a great player. So I think if they get to the Eastern Conference Finals and lose to the Bucs, that's disappointing, but not like crazy. Like the Bucs are a great team. But if they lose before that, if they lose in the second round, that's a bummer.

Because I think they have a lot of talent. And I think there's no reason why they shouldn't get to the Eastern Conference Finals. Okay. That's not a prediction, but I think they should. Why not? That's your assessment that you feel it's a fair assessment to feel like they could get there. I mean, they're going to be a two-seed.

I don't think that's a hot take at all. That's not a hot take. No, I feel like that. That's why my career is going nowhere. I don't have hot takes. I need to get better ones. Yeah, but you got hot takes he got hot takes though i should yeah i should start some kind of that commercial i think it's for dish network when it was like that boston family it was like the thing and i remember there's one where the guy comes out with like a dip from the oven he's like hot hot hot hot hot uh and always i think that's why my ear is so dialed in at campaign uh but what were you gonna say jabbar well i was gonna say shout out to our guy you know former guest ben golliver for pointing

this out and i'm i promise i'm not going to be a wet blanket here but if they do make the conference finals it would be the first time in the if i'm not mistaken the last four seasons where we had a repeat conference final appear you know right so yeah that in itself would be an accomplishment yeah and i mean, you got right now your matchup with the Bucs. You split two games in the final matchup going up tonight, Thursday.

So with that game coming up, do you think it's that important, or do you feel you can put a stamp on it by taking this game, or do you just make, you know, kind of put a sort of put a stamp on it by taking this game? Or you just feel like, you know, look, there's there's there's plenty of opportunities ahead. Or how are you looking at it in terms of seating or like future, like mental?

Yeah. Mental. Everything. Yeah. I think the game. Yeah. I mean, it wouldn't hurt, obviously, to win. But I don't think I think the Bucs know they can play with the Celtics. And I think if they lost if they lost the season series two to one or whatever it is, they wouldn't be intimidated going in like, oh, we can't just, we just can't beat these guys.

Like, I think they're pretty confident against the Celtics as they should be. And so, so should the Celtics. So it would help. Sure. I'll give you a little bit of a boost, especially if you can kind of,

you know, keep Giannis under control. But that was the thing with the playoffs last year. I mean, he was unreal in that series against the Celtics. And it was one of those things where it was, I don't know. It was a series where you go, oh, my God, thank God we don't have to play him anymore. Whatever Golden State's got, let's have it. And they just, you know, they put the beat down on them.

But, yeah, man, they're tough. The Bucs are tough. Yeah. I mean, and they're playing really well. We'll get to them a little bit later in the episode. You know, the Sixers, 3-0, looking pretty good. Jack would have a hard time accepting that part, especially with your love of the Patino Celtics,

or lack of love for that era. And then against the Cavs and three yeah you know but but is this do you think that's the toughest matchup yeah i think you know they have shown that they have problems against them but i think with with any of these things with a seven game series unless it's a huge matchup problem i think that your best team's going to come out and i still think you know in a seven game series against the it's a huge matchup problem, I think that your best team is going to come out. And I still think, you know, in a seven game series against the Cavs or, you know, whoever Philly, even if it's a tough series, you know, they'll, they'll be able to play them well. I mean, I look at that, you know, it's the old, uh, what, I don't even know what the word is,

but the Celtics fans always looking back to 07, 008, right? We always bring up that championship. It was like 300 years ago. But anyway, that team was so good. But they played, I'm pretty sure the first round series was seven game series against the Bulls. There was a couple seven game series where teams were pushing them. So my point is just because some of these teams could push you, they have the team to do it. It'll just prove out over the seven games. Right.

Like if they can figure out how to score late in the fourth quarter and not turn the ball over. That was another thing last year in the playoffs. They had just a couple of stretches where they would run into the middle of the lane. And, you know, Jalen Brown obviously has gotten so much better as a player each year, as Tatum has. But his ball handling last year year he would drive into the middle and kind of a lot of guys were doing it they were i think they were pressing and i think

they've gotten better with that this year but we'll see because the playoffs uh obviously everything goes up 10 speaking of tatum that's actually where i was going to go with it you know like i've thoroughly enjoyed the mvp conversation up until the time when i didn't. But it's a lot of fun, you know, as someone that, you know, kind of always appreciated Biggs. Don't get me wrong, you know, like I'm a guard at heart, but I've always appreciated Biggs. It's nice to see this, you know, this conversation. But I will ask you, why do you think Tatum,

especially when you consider that it's generally the best player on one of the best teams, if not the best team by record, is going to be in the conversation for MVP. Why do you think Tatum hasn't been getting any more love in this discussion? I think because there's a guy in Jalen Brown who's right there with him. I mean, Tatum's better, but Jalen Brown, it's like, I feel like when there's a one-two punch like that, people take away from the one.

So, you know, if some of those other guys had a guy right there with them they'd be like well he has so and so right you know i don't know if that happened to jordan at all not to compare tatum to jordan but like you know you have that guy pippen or something with you uh i don't know that's the guess yeah exactly where you go well he's got he's got that thing so um yeah i mean tatum's been great he's had a great year and I don't know what the MVP thing is. Yeah. Is it just best player on the best team? Is that like,

if you take that person off the team, is it a completely different conversation? What's going to have like the, yeah. Like if you take, you know, and beat off the Sixers, are they just going to crumble?

Who's more valuable to their team? Or is it just like best player, best team, which is fine. I just, I, like you said, the conversation

around it has been about two months old and i'm like geez let's talk about the playoffs yeah okay let's put a pin in that because we're going to come back because i do want to ask you something about your coach joe mazula uh but that'll be right after this break we'll be right back wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee.

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Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. And I got to ask you mike like i ever since joe mazula's comment about the royal family uh and you know he was talking about jesus marion joseph with a straight face and then we've seen like this very dry kind of comedy style from him what's your assessment of joe mazula's like comedy stylings as somebody who is into comedy and is a performer themselves well i think it's great because for most of the time i don't know if he's being serious or not i know that's what bugs me so much it's like a it's like it's like uh what's the guy uh like andy kaufman or something yeah it's like you're like are you

doing some kind of performance art on me right now i thought at first he was dead serious on everything and then recently i was like oh i think he's messing it's almost like uh mike mcdaniel the coach of the the um dolphins of the nfl team but he's he has a little more of like a wink and a nod right whereas this is like straight face like so i like it it makes me want to like watch every press conference it makes me want people to ask him questions all sorts of questions yeah yeah so um if it's a bit it's the it's an awesome bit and if he's like being dead serious then like i don't know dude then it just kind of feels like oh he's like one of these singular he's like i don't have time to be funny because i'm just thinking ball all the time and you're like oh okay go ahead you're like coach yeah you'd be like

coach would you do this weekend he's like uh nothing just got up jumpers you're like oh but did you go out he's like no and you're like all right we can't talk you know is he one of those so i feel like he's got a little bit of a man he's kind of messing with people but yeah there's definitely there is there is a bit of a wink to it all because especially like i feel like he's always kind of has a thinly cracked smile with a lot of the things he says so anyway we're waiting to hear from you joe is this an andy kaufman you know kind of bit you're doing or are we just we're just basking in your genius uh well let's take out west west y'all dallas before i had my baby they were doing really well just about a week after my son was born on you know around mid-february they were the four seat and i was like oh okay uh and then i remember i was like oh kairi's heading over there and i was like okay

now i'm in the the midst of parenting like people my first child so it kind of like i would start checking in every few days things have not been going very well to the point that they are now out of the postseason including the play on as of this recording uh jabari what did i miss what happened uh because i mean i get that it's not all kairi but what's what is going on exactly that and i'll be honest with get that it's not all Kyrie, but what is going on? Exactly that. And I'll be honest with you. It's interesting that we have a Boston fan on with us for this conversation. But in my opinion, and you know how I feel about it. Kyrie as a singular, as an individual talent is still incredible.

Still incredible to watch. Still a heck of a lot of fun. But when they made that move, it was a desperation move. It just, you know, there's really no other way to describe it. I know that recently they've been coming out and kind of acknowledging that, you know, behind the scenes. But the reality is, you know, this is not a Kyrie issue. This is a Dallas Mavericks issue. And it has been an issue for quite some time in my estimation.

But I'm interested, Mike, if you see anything different. I don't know. I haven't been. I didn't just have have a child so i don't have an excuse but i also haven't really been paying attention to the mavericks but i recently was like oh because when luca did that thing at his press conference where he's like i'm not having fun like whatever he was saying i was like wait what's going on the mavs and yeah they're just not doing well. They're not having fun. Is it Kyrie's fault? You know, I don't know. But yeah, I'm a salty Celtics fan, I guess.

Even though it was funny when he tried to step on the leprechaun and everyone got mad. That was funny. That was so ridiculous. But yeah, I mean, like you said, Jabari, that's like kind of a desperation move to just throw him in the mix. He's obviously an awesome player, but does he match up well with the team? Does he work with Luka? I don't know how any of that stuff's going.

Is he playing well? Is Kyrie playing well? He's playing well individually. Both he and Luka have missed a couple games here and there during the stretch. If I'm not mistaken, the team is 3-1 in the games where it's just Kyrie and not Luka. That's not, that's a very small,

you know, a sample size. I'm not saying you should read, you don't read anything to that, but it really is a matter of like, yeah, the thought of Luca playing off ball, whoever thought that was going to work.

Right. And in order for Kyrie to be as effective as you want him to be, especially like in a series type situation, if you're, if you're projecting out to the post season, like I'm trying not to be like, yeah, I told you. I told y'all. When the move took place, that was my first thought.

That, on paper, doesn't even make sense, let alone in practice. Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, it's funny because when I was like, oh, that could be interesting. But part of me, now I'm looking back, I'm like, it was more fun when Luka had to put the whole team on his back no matter what because that was at least he was like highlight tape every time i mean we could actually just talk about it like just a second ago when

they played the pacers uh that pass that luca threw the baseline the baseline one yeah yeah like a illegal water polo pass or something that he did like the body control to be stuck in the corner and be like okay so y'all got me jammed up okay and his mind be like i have to elevate and then basically rotate my whole body and whip this ball around uh and then you know thank god jayden hardy hit that three because that like truly uh made it uh like the highlight worth talking's a really cool angle from behind Luka, and you see him jump and throw it. And when he throws it, you're like, where's this ball going?

Because there's lots of people in the way. And even when he's doing it, you're like, there are easier options, I think, to throw this to. But he jumps, and the ball, it's beautiful. And hitting the three obviously helps wood with the pass luca able to chase it down they got him trapped on the sideline they fouled in a situation like that before how on earth did he find hardy he found him and more importantly hardy hit the shot after they did find him that's amazing it's also crazy to think you know you look

at guys like you know whether it's luca or or any of the guys that are commonly stated as, oh, they're not the most athletic, right? And that type of play offers perspective. They may not be as athletic as some of the crazy athletes in the league, but you still have to have such a tremendous amount of athleticism and body control and strength to be able to do that. It's not even funny. It basically just reminds me of how washed I am when I see a guy like luca doing oh yeah i threw my back out watching yes like that kind of trunk rotation i'm like oh no no no no i'm on seven to ten day you know reevaluation yeah that's a lot of muscles being pulled right there yeah and i think it kind of goes back to like how you even define athleticism because that's clearly athletic i mean sure he's not the most explosive person like he's not going zero to 60 like like some players but

you can't you can't take that away um let's also touch on portland because the blazers i was i mean maybe some may maybe but they have also appeared to have bowed out they they've only won one game in their last 10 and they look like they're headed to the lottery um yeah what what what feels like we ask this question all the time but is this going to be the i'm asking you mike is this going to be the summer where we finally get some move you know the move finally goes down or we're going to get another year of no no no man no it's about loyalty and when i do that i'm not clowning dame i'm just clowning the conversation around it yeah i respect the concept well i'm gonna say i think yes this is the summer but i thought that the last couple i always think that he's gonna

he's gonna be gone and it's just i don't know they shut him down for the year right i think i said it looks like they're about like they if i'm not saying he didn't play a couple nights ago and they kind of shut everybody down. It looked like, man, all he would be so fun on a team making a run. Like he is so good. And,

uh, I think, yeah, I mean, he's getting old. I think it's time. Yeah. But I don't know.

He likes, he just likes playing ball. I saw a cool video with him where he was like talking about, I forget where it was. It was a podcast or something where they were asking about like winning rings and stuff he's like that's not all there is to playing basketball he's like and i thought it was cool it's kind of a fresh perspective because we all think about like oh your career glory glory glory yeah yeah your career is like a failure quote unquote if you don't have a ring but um you know

if you're happy with life and you're crushing it and making a lot of money and playing basketball, good for you. But obviously if you make it to that level, there is a competitor in you that you see other guys who are like, I'm way better than these guys who are winning rings. I can't for a second, believe that he's not like that. It doesn't matter to win like a ring, but I get that he probably has a healthy mentality to say, but even if I don't, that's not to say that I'm not blessed to be even make it to the NBA and play at this level that I am. So I get objectively, but,

but you know, every single person who's in that league, those are competitive. There's not a single person who does not dream of that. So I'm not, I'm a little bit dubious. I feel a little dubious to be like, it doesn't matter but

i get though too you don't don't you don't have to have like the toxic mentality to say well then mike there's no there's nothing except yeah and to mike's point in that in that same interview he he was very matter-of-fact about he said like yeah like of course he's a competitor of course he wants to win but the way he's able to keep himself balanced is he goes home he's got a kid he's got kids he's got a family he lives a normal life outside of the basketball court and you know what i aspire to have that sort of balance uh and and we're not even 400 million in the bank i i it would be nice it would be nice i'm a podcaster who's jumped the jumper just looks nothing like his uh but i try and keep it simple too you know when i've had a bad recording you know I'll go home look at my son and just remind myself it's about more than that mic out there and the retweets

it's not all about the download numbers unless the network's asking in which case we're working on it and then moving along Denver had a seven game lead in the west and that's been reduced to three it's so tight in the west it is so tight it's like that's why that's been reduced to three. It's so tight in the West. It is so tight. That's why it's so frustrating to even watch. Being a Laker fan, we're like, oh, we could have been... What was the math, Jabari, that we could have jumped? How many places...

There have been easily 10 games this season where either they didn't show up or they simply played down to the level of competition, which sounds crazy for a team that just finally made it to 500 just a couple days ago. But if they just win half of those games, they're in the five seat. I know. That's how frustrating it is.

And now we're in the nine and I'm like, I don't want to play these monsters up top. That's not how we eke our way into some kind of a run. But I mean, it is what it is. So I know you say you don't want to talk about it, but what's, you guys feel like the Lakers have the talent to like, make a little bit of a run. They're just a frustrating team to watch.

I mean, the completely diluted fan in me believes we're hanging number 18 up, you know? But the realistic objective person who you hear when I go, I don't want to talk about that. It's because there is obviously a crisis of confidence on my side on my part of looking at it and just seeing some of the things we've done like sitting anthony davis against the rockets i was

like that's a prime example where you need to hit the pedal put the pedal to the metal to try and get these done and i get the risk to him but you look at it in the long term it's like well then where does that put us in terms of seating and then who do we have to get through to do something? But, you know, I'll be glad if we get in there and I see something that feels like a respectable, respectable performance. I'm not expecting much else from that. And that's exactly where I am with it. Like the reality is this, you get even a relatively healthy Anthony Davis and LeBron James in the series. It's a fun conversation. No matter how it plays out, you have an absolute chance.

That's all I'm hoping for. I've given up on the, yeah, we're hanging 18. I don't give a damn. Hanging 18. Just get in, have some fun. You know, the Westbrook line. Just get in and have some fun. There we go.

And I say this now, but, you know, fast forward two and a half weeks from now, and they're in, and I'm going to be sitting there like, yeah, you're damn right we're going to win this, isn't it? Yeah. You're like, get it ready, get it ready. They don't want us. They don't want to fight us.

Oh, they don't want to see us. They don't want to see when you gave real. Definitely how I feel, for sure. So I do want to talk about a team that i believe is is very scary when just one player is doing well uh yannis but the bucks chris middleton led the bucks with 34 in a win over the pistons and okay this is this is about the depth because yannis and drew were both they were sitting they were sitting pretty But you get 34 from Middleton. Then you got 24 and 14 from Brooke Lopez.

Another 21 and 14 from Bobby Portis. And 22 points on six of eight from deep from Javon Carter. And my take always about the Bucs is like, well, if they got Chris Middleton going too, then they got something. And now you're like, yeah, Chris Middleton. Yeah, and Brooke andby and javon uh and then drew and janice are just waiting in the wings i'm like that is kind of nightmare fuel for sure i feel like if you're having to go up against that javon carter has it

carter rocking that dribble gets to the baseline rainbow gunning got it yeah they i mean they have the guys where if a couple of them get going it's it's kind of yeah it's all she wrote like you can't not all of them i know you can't like the more you go down the line you're like oh yeah him too him too and then you're like oh no this isn't good and that's just leaving out the honest part yeah so i feel like yannis is such a big focal point obviously where you're like gotta stop i'm gotta stop i'm gotta stop but if those other guys are spotting up or like dishing and kicking for three they just have they have enough guys who can turn it on so if three or four of them do that's a real tough out and that's what the celtics are going to be up against in the eastern conference finals you know you have a question coming up later for boldest predictions i appreciate that

you keep throwing that particular prediction out there along the way just speak it to exist speaking to warm exist yeah yeah for sure and then uh you know another thing i i haven't been able to talk about the phoenix suns with kevin durant because that was another thing i was like what what happened this is watching that trade deadline was wild but right now Jabari where are we at with them how are they how have they been performing bring me up to speed uh with them because I know KD has been not he hasn't been playing recently right oh yeah he's been out um with a foot injury but the reality is this and it's kind of like with the Lakers and I know that people may hear this initially and say

like oh no you're just lumping them in but no like you look at the reality of kd you look at the reality of cp3 you look at even the reality of devin booker they need to be healthy if they're healthy i i feel like it's going to be a hell of a run and i can't wait to see it you know especially in particular if it doesn't come with the lakers but no i i think it's going to be a hell of a run but it really is a matter of that's a big if. You're dealing with guys that are, especially with KD returning from injury and CP3 just traditionally, that for whatever reason, especially at this time of year, they maybe have some questions about their body. I'm hopeful, and this is pie in the sky, admittedly um but i'm hopeful that we at least get

a somewhat healthy first round out of these guys beyond that all bets are off but it would be nice to see them make a run or at least see what they can do together it is interesting to watch i mean as much as i like to your point i don't want to go through them uh unless like you know all three of them are injured but also it'd be interesting to see all those three pieces clicking together and humming along. That's fun basketball. 100%. The Bulls are back in the conversation.

The play-in. Yeah. Because it comes on the heels of Zach Levine violating us at the Creston.com Arena. I do not want to. And then that whole game, from that to just Pat Bev hitting LeBron

with the too small, it was just a hard experience to witness while holding a young child in your arms. I will say that. All right, let's take another break and we'll be right back with the most coveted segment in all of sports podcast in the hot seat right after this.

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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 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. 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 Syke. 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 iheart radio app apple podcast 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 to close out the show like we

always do, it's good to be back here. We gotta bring it into the rapid fire round of questioning. Now, Mike, I got to warn you. This is the fastest segment in sports podcasting. That is an official NBA product in collaboration with iHeartRadio. Okay.

And this whole point of this segment is we're going to hit you with some questions. Don't think. Don't elaborate. Just pass it right back. Don't do. I'm passing you just right. Just pass it right back. Don't do any finger spins or nothing like that. I'm just looking for an instant reaction. And it is on you to keep the show moving. So if I start, you know, bloviating or going on some tangent,

you need to steer this ship again. Okay? Like right now. Thank you, Jabari. Okay? Is everybody ready? I'm ready. Yes, we are. I'm ready.

I was listening back. I'm not sure the other rapid-fire rounds of questioning count because I never heard anybody start the clock, or at least a couple of them nobody did. We were waiting for your triumphant return. Oh, were you? Well, it's not a rapid-fire round of questioning unless we start the clock!

Start the clock! There we go. Is this for both of us? No, this is just for you, Mike. This is just for our exalted guest. Okay, are you ready? I'm ready. Mike Camerlengo in the hot seat. Question number the first. Is there

a single NBA player you would take right now over the chance of taking Wemba Nyama with the first pick this summer? Luka. Wemba Nyama's too tall. Wow. Luka, okay. We were just talking about him and that passes in my head. He's still young enough. Oh, yeah. I hope

Wemba Nyama's awesome, by the way, but he seems kind of tall. It's hard to know. I mean, you see what happened with Chad, too. You're like, are we going in on another big guy? manana is awesome by the way but he you know he seems kind of tall it's hard to know i mean you you know you have to win chad too you're like are we going in on another big guy we anyway all that to say it feels like luca too his head might be turning you know he might let's see where he because we might be fighting over him um at least emotionally um yeah okay mike better answers i'm sure but i didn't i didn't think I tried not to use my brain well a better answer would have been a quicker shorter answer that kept the second going uh but

Jabari please go on all right we'll keep this going all right Mike you can go back in history and attend any single game throughout NBA history and outside of game four 1987 finals, which one would you choose? Can I do Olympics when Vince Carter jumped over the French dude? Oh, the French dude? 100%. Was it Frederick Weiss? Frederick Weiss, yeah. Yeah. Disrespect.

I was just talking about that, too, with Jack, but I think it was in the context of a deep fake where it was Trump or something. Yeah, that. Uh, yeah, that, oh man, does anybody know anybody who was even at, I mean, why am I even asking?

Was that the Sydney Olympics? Uh, what? That was 2000. Yeah. I think so. Yeah. Yeah.

Good times. Yeah. So even though I don't even know really what happened the rest of the game, but just that one moment I think would be worth it. It's yeah. It is like one of those, those moments where you you're like your jaw falls on the floor i remember like this was like pre-youtube era and i had like the gif of that dunk that i would just like open on

my computer be like do y'all remember this uh back when gifs were youtube that's how old i am uh mike you can take any former celtics and pair him with the Jays. Which former Celtics are you bringing out of the cryo freeze to play with them? Oh, you know, I got to go Larry Bird. Oh, there we are. Look at that. Look at that. You got Bird in the corner.

Tatum in the other corner. Jalen Brown going down the middle. Bam. Yeah. That was it. Small lineup. Keeping it going. What is your boldest postseason or even play-in prediction for this year?

Bold. Go bold like we're at Del Taco. Go big or go home. The Lakers are going to win their first round of playoffs. They're going to make it to the second round of the playoffs. Wow. Stop the show. Stop the count.

Stop. We're good. Stop the count. Stop it. We are good. Stop the count. Stop it. We are good. That's number 18 right there. Spiritually. That's a banner.

You heard it here first. You heard it here. We are so delusional and desperate that that's all we needed to feel better. I could see you guys. I could see it in your eyes. You said, give me something about the Lakers. Please. Mike, and as much as I like that answer

it wasn't fast enough but I do have to keep the segment going here's the question you make some incredible 60 second recaps of movies and just other iconic scenes from TV and etc 60secondclassics.com check it out which we highly recommend but we have

to ask what are your top three basketball movies of all time white man can't jump above the rim We highly recommend. But we have to ask, what are your top three basketball movies of all time? White Man Can't Jump. Yes. Above the Rim. Yes. And I know there's another one I'm forgetting.

No, it's up to you. There's no wrong answers. Blue Chips. Blue Chips. Yes. Wow. Blue Chips is my third one. I'll say Sunset Park. Hey, you know what?

I like Sunset Park. Sunset Park. What time is it definitely number one and i uh and above the rims a close second i love the room love and then the other ones are kind of interchangeable i think i like blue chips but i blue chips the movie i've only seen a couple times whereas white men can't jump and above the rim i'll watch if i come across it just really quickly the original cast that they had in mind for the white man can joke

was Denzel and Keanu playing those roles. For the original? For Billy Ho and Sidney Dean. I don't know if Keanu could have pulled off Billy. I was just going to say. How does it work out? Well, Woody Harrelson could really play a little bit. He played like Division 3

if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, so I don't know. I guess that would be my main thing with... Wesley, not so much. Yeah. Wesley was like the... They made a lot of nice cuts in there where he's going and slow-mo. Very, very hospitable. I love that.

But in reality, Wesley was like the real-life version of Denzel in Carbon Copy. That's a throwback. Right. Keep it pushed back a throwback. Right. Keep it pushed. Back to you, Miles. Wow. And that washed reference brought to you by DraftKings.

By 43. And finally, Mike, the most important question of the entire show. Miles or Jabari? Miles because new dad. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much. I will tell my son that even though he will not understand. Jabari, you can't take that personally. All right. Honestly, you know, it's good school.

You know what? Next episode, we're going to tell the guests we both just had kids. We can do it easy. And we'll see. And then we'll see. Yeah, we'll disarm the guest of that. That is a good way to get people on your side right away if you're

like yeah i just had a kid and they're like oh i'm sorry oh man it's wild it's cool yo it is wild how much like it's so weird how in past instances in my life i've had family members pass away people like yeah all right i'm gonna miss work like and then you're like yeah i just had a oh really how you doing is everything good and like it's immediately the instant sort of understanding that is extended i'm like this is kind of addictive i might have a newborn for 17 years the best part honestly other than you know loving your kid and all that yeah whatever it's like going into like a coffee shop with your kid or something you get you walk down the street by yourself people like yeah like, yeah, whatever.

They don't look at you, whatever. I got the stroller out. People are smiling. We're going to a coffee shop. They're like, oh, hey. You're the king of the town. Enjoy it. It was wild. I was out eating with my wife with the stroller and these three

middle-aged white dudes were pulling up and they all had like matching hats. Like, like they were at a bachelor party or something. And like, they were like, they clocked us from across this like restaurant patio and made a beeline. I was like,

what is about to go on? All right. Okay. Yeah. I was like, uh, and they just said, Hey,

you know what? Just want to say you guys are doing a great job. It's not easy. We're all dads. You know what I mean? You guys are out here. Don't get down on yourselves. It's hard,

but it's great. And I was like, Oh, Oh, wow. And I was like, wow, it's wild.

Again, the well wishes that come from people like that are other parents on the street. All that to say, I will abuse that power. Okay. Mike, thank you so much for joining us,

man. On miles and Joe bar. He got mad boosties. You know, where can people find you, check you out and for joining us, man, on Miles and Jabari Got Mad Boosties. Where can people find you, check you out, and support your work? Yeah, you can go to 60secondclassics.com. I know people don't go to websites anymore, but there's like, I think, 170 videos up there, just commentary on movies and sports and all sorts of fun stuff.

Social media is at mcameralingo on Twitter and at 60 second classics on tiktok uh which may be banned soon so i don't who cares whatever good website yeah and you can see things like the iconic fight between you know slater and zach morris broken down broken down for you or i love the annexation of puerto rico little giants one of my favorite movies uh and most important final scene of above the rim yeah and urkel and grandmama and you know what it is fun thank you i appreciate that you guys like them it is fun to go back and watch all the stuff because it's like uh these are all things that i love so it's right trying to make like jokes but also be like oh no this is like my favorite stuff. Right. Cause well, and cause all the things you point out, like you could only really be clocking them if you didn't love it so much that you like, you know, every background movement

of every shot. And I think that's what makes these stupid. This is, I'm like, nah, dude, look how awesome this is. Yeah. This guy in the background, nobody's paying attention to him. Exactly. Uh, anyway, you can follow us at mad boosties, M-A--b-double-o-s-t-i-e-s on twitter and you know let's get to our tweet of the week uh we were asking polling again

jabari where are we asking people and who and who are we shouting out all right so we went polling again we wanted the final player award predictions and the you know the results are in i'm not gonna lie to y'all. I was a little bit surprised by this. Who are experts, first of all. Obviously, they're just as good as we are. Look, they should have votes just like anybody else that has a vote right now. Yes.

And if the league offices listen to this, which they actually will, we're just kidding, and you should give us votes. Okay. But also bring down the 50-point basket from Rock and Jock that Rick McFarlane hit back in the day. Can't keep telling y'all this. I keep asking our liaison at the league.

I say, get Adam Silver on the phone right now with me. And they say, that can't happen. And put Dan Cortez on a roster now. It's as simple as that. I want Queen Latifah stealing the ball at half court. I need that. I remember I used to go because I used to be at UC Irvine for a while. is that i want queen latifah stealing the ball at half court i need yeah oh yeah i remember one i used to go because they used to be at uc irvine for a while uh and i remember method man was

wearing the barry sanders uh air zoom turf shoes during a basketball game i was like oh that's tough even though that's the absolute wrong shoe for a basketball court uh but anyway what were so what were the results mvp you as the defensive player, six-man, etc. What do we got? I'll go through them quickly. MVP, 48% of you guys now say it is Embiid. That is very different from a little bit earlier in the season. Just 28% for Jokic.

Defensive player of the year, 54% of you guys now say Brook. 32% for Triple J. Okay. Six-man, this was an interesting one because it's kind of evenly distributed, but 35% at least said Brogdon with 28% coming in for Portis. I still think it's going to be Russ. I'm not mad at it. I'm not mad at it. It's still going to be Russ. I'm telling you.

I'm not backing down from that prediction from the beginning of the year. Six man. That's where the money was. All right. Rookie of the year. 81% Bankero. we really don't have to go there but i will say shout out to jalen williams because he has been fantastic while he's not going to get the award it's good to see him you know developing there in okc most improved this is the one that actually surprised me look i said earlier in the year

wouldn't shock me if marketing won it but that's you know specifically because of the circumstances or whatever but the reason why this surprised me is because 62% said marketing and only 20% for SGA. Traditionally, I recognize what we think the award should mean, but let's say the last 10, they've pretty much gone to guys that were good, that went from an all-star level to all-NBA and beyond type level, superstar level. So that to me is the

reason why i wouldn't be shocked if you know sga got it uh neither here nor there yeah but i think marketing fits more like the spirit or at least what it should or like when you're playing organized sports and most improve like remember that scrub he hit a three-pointer that one game and you're like yeah no 100 100 and last but not least, coach of the year, Mike Brown, runaway. 72% of you guys think he's going to be the coach of the year, and I think he will be, too. And Boosty's Listener of the Week goes to

at Bucks Hooligan, who thinks OKC's Mark D'Agno deserves some, wow, coach of the year love. OK, all right. They were supposed to be a tanking team, and they're right there in the mix. A lot of tankinis that just did not come out that we thought we would this year. So that's why I say shout out

to old boy Markkinen. All right, y'all. Thank you so much for listening. We'll be right back. I mean, right back in a week for the next episode. Sorry, yo. I'm still rusty. I'm just getting back in the swing of things because I'm a new dad, and you can't go hard on me because I said that. But we'll be back next week

with a new episode and hopefully maybe an entirely new looking, you know, standing. We'll see. We'll see where we're at. But I'm hoping for the best, preparing for the best too.

All right. We'll see you later. Bye. Bye. There's so much beauty in Mexican culture. We'll be right back. 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. What happens when a professional football player's career ends and the applause fades and the screaming fans move on? career ends and the applause fades and the screaming fans move on.

I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. For some former NFL players, a new faith provides answers. You mix homesteading with guns in church. Voila! You got straightway. He tried to save everybody. Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. MTV's official Challenge podcast is back for another season.

That's right. The Challenge is about to embark on its monumental 40th season, y'all. And we are coming along for the ride. Woohoo! That would be me, Devin Simone. And then there's me, Davon Rogers. And we're here to take you behind the scenes of the Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras. Join us as we break down each episode, interview challengers, and take you behind the scenes of this iconic season.

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