The Daily Zeitgeist - MJGMB #73: Atlantic Division Win Total Predictions with Sopan Deb

Episode Date: August 10, 2023

Miles and Jack were pleased to be joined by NYTimes writer Sopan Deb on the latest episode. The three of them went through the Atlantic Division predicting team wins based on the latest over/under expectations.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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And more with New York Times writer and author, So Panev, on today's show, I'm Miles Gray. And I'm Jack O'Brien. And this is Miles and Jack O'Brien. Miles and Jack O'Brien. Please. Three on one. Davis. Love.

LeBron. He's in the driving, spinning, fading, hitting. Curry, a three-pointer. Bang. Steph Curry from downtown again. Yes, it is us. We are back. Back. Back again. A couple weeks off. Didn't sound like it to you guys.

You fools at home didn't realize that we took a week off. That those were episodes that were recorded earlier. But anyway. We recorded the Steph Curry one two years ago. Yeah. Before the, we were just guessing at what was going to be in the documentary. Once we heard there was a development deal, we're like, alright, let's just do an episode on what that's going to look like.

People really counted them out, huh? They really did. Oh boy. Egg on their face. But we are thrilled to be joined today by our guest, Sopan Deb. Welcome, Sopan. Hey, thanks so much for having me. Yeah. I appreciate it.

It's not often. Great intro. You guys, like, brought a lot of energy. I feel like I have to, like, raise my... No, no, please, please. ...energy right now. We rest on the court like Lebron so like we don't we we're barely alive until the mic starts recording and then we have to like take it up so it's very noticeable there's a there's a key and peel sketch where they i think they're

parodying the breakfast club and um you know they and then the you know the red light goes on they're going crazy and then the commercial break hits, and they take out, they totally go silent. Right, exactly. It's a very, very funny sketch. That is dead on. I mean, look, you're a multiple-time author and playwright on top of being a basketball fan. How do you do it all, Sopan?

You know, I actually get that question quite a bit. Okay, never mind then. I only want to ask great questions. No,, you know, I actually get that question quite a bit. And okay. Nevermind then. Nevermind. I don't want to say I want to, I only want to ask great questions. Um, not that. Uh,

so pan, how goes it? It's interesting. You know, I think about this. Um, you know, I used to be a producer for a show that nobody watched called rock center

with Brian Williams. And okay. And he had Steve Martin on as a guest and steve martin amazing obviously comedian all that stuff but he's also an amazing banjo player yeah right and and and i remember brian asking him so like so how do you do both he's like well people are people do more than one thing you know like and wow it's like it's it's like it's like asking me like how do you go to the gym you know or how do you if you play pickup basketball how do you play pickup basketball you go to the gym too no and you're like outside of work right and and so for me it's just a

question of doing like i don't view you know in when i've been writing my books or writing you know creative writing i've never viewed it as work. It's just another thing that I do. In the same way that I used to, during the pandemic, play poker on Zoom with my friends. It's just another thing that I do. I don't view it as work, if that makes sense. Right, right, right. No, of course.

If you do view it as work, you will hate it. If you do view it as work, you will hate it. That's when the work day goes from, you know, whatever, let's say an eight-hour work day to like a 24-hour work day. That's when it starts being overwhelming. You know what I mean? Did you have parents that were like, hey, do what you love and then you'll never work a day in your life? Or were they... No. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Not at all. A little more rigid. Better get that check. Yeah, no, it was... Get that degree. My parents, even to this day don't really understand what i do for a living yeah the majority of way you know when i got to the times i think it was the first time they kind of understood what i did for a living

no i'm serious and then oh new york times yes oh i heard of that right right right before not so sure right right but the others it took it took a long time though yeah and basketball wise you're you said you were born outside of boston but raised jersey but you are a seas fan yeah yeah i grew up a huge celtics fan my brother is 10 years older than me he got me onto basketball and so so there are two reasons i became a celt fan. One was my brother. And the second was Antoine Walker was a rookie. Okay. And for whatever reason, employee number eight.

Yeah. I was really fascinated by Antoine. And so no one can say I'm a bandwagon Celtics fan or anything, because like when I started on the Celtics, they were awful, but I loved watching Antoine play. I mean, ML Carr into the Patino era,

into the O'Brien era. Yeah. It was like Dino raja i think was yeah and then you know they drafted antoine and walker was just my guy he was you know he could dunk he could shoot occasionally uh he could he could he would shoot that's he would shoot a lot he would make them all that often but he loved shooting it and i just loved the flair and then you know people you know, my favorite Celtics team of all time

is not the one that won a title in 2008. It was the 2002 team that went to the Eastern Conference Finals. Because that was when I was a teenager and sports mean the world to you at that point. Yeah. And for me, that was, I was,

I cried when they lost. I think it was game six against the Nets. I cried. Me too. That's not how a fork means to you at that time. Yeah. But they were not expected to go to even go to the playoffs, let alone get to the Eastern Conference Finals.

You know, that was my favorite part of my childhood. So my dad is Jim O'Brien. So he coached that team. Oh my gosh, right? Yeah, yeah. So that's. Oh my gosh. Okay, I swear that is not that.

I know, we didn't know that ahead of this conversation. Yeah, no, that team, what I remember is, you know, Patino, you know, kind of brings in, like, one of the worst eras of Celtics basketball. I remember Jim O'Brien.

I mean, that was one of the first teams that shot a bunch of threes. And it was, I mean, that was one of the first teams that shot a bunch of threes. And it was, you know, at the time, they got so much criticism for that. But for me as a viewer, it was an amazing, you know, basketball. I loved it. It was my favorite team of all time.

And, you know, I was sad when Jim and Danny Ainge didn't work things out. Yeah. And then that's why i don't really love the celtics as much anymore yeah that's fair that's i wish i i wish i had gotten over it because now i'm a sixers fan because that was the last team he coached for and did he leave philly on bad terms if you don't mind me asking do you leave philly on bad terms no right yeah

no no no he he was with uh he was an assistant with i feel like he beefed with like chris weber or something there is there was something oh yeah so the first year when he was a head coach that didn't go that well but then he came back and was an assistant in the mb era right right that was yeah and that was uh when i fell in love with Joel. With the process. And with this team. Was Frank an assistant too? Frank was an assistant with the Celtics. With that team, right?

With that team. He was down the bench a ways. But he was the tape guy. He was the video guy. You had to learn editing software. and after every game you know frank and this was my dad before frank would be up after the game editing together every play from that game and putting together different looks of all right like here's every

time they ran this offense to the left of the court here's every time they ran this offense to the left of the court. Here's every time they ran this offense to the right of the court. Here's every time like we did, you know, various permutations. And I really think that was also Spolstra's job with the heat coming up. I really think that like that number of reps of just like seeing basketball that often, like Frank Vogel knows exactly what you're going to run the second the ball crosses

half court because he's just like seen so many he's seen more plays of basketball than anyone i guess his age like now probably the younger people have been on youtube the whole time but i really think like being early in the tape game helped vogel and helped my dad and, uh, Spolstra a lot. Cause they just got more cuts than anyone. Jack, I'll tell you a story from last season. Um, I was at a wizards game and I was,

I forgot I was writing about something. I don't remember what I was writing about. Maybe I was, I think I might've been doing a feature on, I don't remember what, anyway, and I'm sitting on, on,

on media row and I'm not obviously not much of a fan anymore but I'm sitting next to Tony Delk yeah and I listen I'm I'm you know and I and I sat next to Tony Delk and and and I don't think a lot of people at this point Tony Delk at this point in his life is not like the most recognizable guy. But for someone like me, who that 2002 team was such a big part of my childhood, next time, I'm like, hey, I'm so pan.

Hey, I'm Tony. And you're Tony Delk. Yeah, literally. I was like, hey, listen, I don't want to make things weird, but I just want to let you know that 2002 team was one of my highlights of my childhood. And we just chopped it up for a little bit and it was so cool to you know he was uh he's still in touch with some of the guys and you know um and it was it was it was it was cool to us to you know be able to tell him that you know yeah i don't i

don't really i genuinely do not care about celebrity stuff i don't really like ever really fanboy it's not something that I'm interested in. Yeah. It was cool to be able to tell someone like, you know what, when I was a young, when I was a boy, like I was, you know, when this shit still was like, like the world to me, it was like you, you know, you hitting threes on kickouts from Antoine Walker was like pretty cool for me. You know, one of the strange, he had, I don't think I've seen this since,

and it probably happened before, but his shot had pure side spin on it. It, do you remember that Tony Delk's shot had pure, it was side spin. Um, I, it might've changed by the time he was in the NBA,

but when, so my dad was an assistant under patino at uk when they won the title there and delk was their leading scorer and at that time his shot just pure side spin and was one of the great you know scorers and shooters i remember he was in the top five like most random 50 point games along with cory brewer and like, you know, 53. I think in a loss too, by the way. Anyway, I didn't wake up today expecting to spend like 10

minutes on the 2002 Boston Celtics, but you guys really indulge me. I appreciate it. It's great because it just happens to be our next segment is about Vitaly Potapenko. Ah, yes. Let's check in with the Ukraine report real quick yeah but that was wild because i was studying abroad that year that semester and i came back for game one of the net series i think it was game one

and they lost and then came back like basically i saw every loss in the net series and missed missed the two wins so you were the bad luck i was the curse you you ruined my childhood yes that's on but you'd be careful he does take those he does take that on a lot oh yeah a lot of magical thinking he's he's responsible for that he's responsible for every i think second round exit of the sixers to actually not because the hat that was supposedly in my brain causing the losses, actually, I stopped wearing it last season, and they still lost to the Celtics. Hey, dust that old thing off, maybe? Bring it back around for the season.

See what happens. But yeah, I mean, just some news notes from around the league. I don't know. Do we mention Jalen Brown signing that five-year? I don't think so. $304 million extension? I think it happened since our last record. Ah, that was last week.

So, yes, this is going to be one of the largest contracts in league history. But not to be outdone by the Lakers' very own Anthony Davis, who agreed to the richest annual average in league history with the three-year $186 million extension with the Lakers. So that's... Money is... I don't even know what these numbers mean, but they sound really cool.

Yeah. That many millions. It's like 60 million club, huh? Oh, yeah. How does that... Wow. Okay. Neat.

Good. Yeah. I didn't even know team usa was playing that's that was kind of news to me yeah team usa uh had a had a game against puerto rico but i'm i'm very intrigued by this and this uh it's i don't think you can call it a dream team it feels like very reasonable it's like the pragmatic team. Yeah. But it's still like, on paper, you're like, they're doing work with this roster,

but it's not dream level. It doesn't have that ethereal quality to it. Like, really good day, team. So, I mean, it's good. The squad is... I want to ask you guys how many nba games you think this this team would win i think they'd be favored to win the east probably um and maybe even the west but uh so they're paulo you think they win the east with with with uh jalen brunson as their top guy they got paulo mikhail bridges jalen brunson anthony

edwards halliburton hart ingram jaron jackson jr cam johnson walker kepler bobby portis austin reeves it's just interesting to that awesome that walker kessler is on the USA Pass. Solid. Not taking anything away, but it's just like it feels like we've entered a new era. Yes, truly, truly. I don't know. I think they would easily win. In my mind, I just love

just like watching them play. I was like, they look really good. Obviously playing Puerto Rico in like an exhibition match. But, you know, I think they can get I feel like they can get to 60. Yeah, I'd say high 50s, low 60s. That's a 60 win team.

Yeah. Caliburn is the truth. Is the gem there. Yeah, for sure. But I guess let's take this time, because since we're in that sort of in-between period, still looking, waiting to see what trades happen. Figure if Dame or James Harden ends up moving, we shall period. Still looking, waiting to see what trades happen. Figure if Dame or James

Harden ends up moving. We shall see. But also, time to kind of take a look at the different divisions and just from the knowledge that we have at the moment, maybe just do a little bit of over under predictions here. Yeah, we got the Vegas win total

over unders, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So right now, let's kick it off. Well, let's take a quick break. Oh, yeah, yeah. We'll come back and we'll do some over-unders. Let's do it. When you think of Mexican culture, you think of avocado, mariachi, delicious cuisine, and of course, lucha libre. It doesn't get more Mexican than this.

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And we're back. And FanDuel has told us how many wins they think everyone's getting. And I don't know. They're being very conservative up top here. Yeah. So we're starting in the Atlantic Division this episode. And I think we'll go division by division per episode. But since we have a Celtics fan in the building, it's good to look at the Atlantic Division.

Projected. They're saying the Celtics are going to win their 54 and a half wins per their odds last year they went 57 and 25 it feels light to me i said i still feel like they should be the favorite to be as good as they were last year but i i know i know the marcus smart thing has celtics fans nervous. So, Pan, how are you feeling about 54.5 wins? I mean, I wouldn't go over that, for sure. Okay. That doesn't mean that they won't go deep in the playoffs. I just think that you're incorporating

a guy like Kristaps Porzingis, who is an unusual player to play with, right? He's a very different type of player with an injury history. Right. And it's not that they lost Marcus Sparrow, they also lost Grant Williams, who look, he had a lot of stress at DNPs

and whatnot, but he was still a significant part of the roster. And they haven't really, you know, Derek White's going to start a point guard for the first time. I think it's going to take a while for them to get it together. So I could see them having some regular season lulls and they've dressed as Batman that one time.

I'll make them both. I'll make them both. So that doesn't mean I don't think they'll get it together for the playoffs, but I could see the regular season being a little bit more of a drag for them than expected. Yeah.

For me, I was like, I think they'd be right around 54, but just, I don't know. I don't think I could say over that, but I don't think much far off from that. Yeah, you were saying you're predicting 54 and a third wins for them this season. Yeah, exactly. That's where you think they're going to land. I first said 33 and a third because I just saw the Naked Gun movie, and then you're like,

that's not how it works. And I'm like, all right, fine, 54 and a third. Fine. So the Celtics, they have two and a half fewer wins. The Sixers, they have four and a half fewer wins with largely the same, like mainly the same roster. I think they're probably assuming Harden is gone or at least doing what he does after he asked for a trade

and doesn't get it, which is not play at the, at the peak of his abilities. Um, make sense to me. I think nurse is a great replacement. I think that is a net benefit for the playoffs. But again, I think there's a,

it's probably important to draw a distinction between like doc rivers, one of the, one of the great regular season coaches. So I don't think a coaching change is a net benefit for them when it comes to win totals necessarily. So I think

this is probably, I don't have a strong feeling about either of these first two. But 49.5, how do you think you can eclipse that? Slight under. And then if James Harden is out. 49.5? How do you think you can eclipse that? Slight under. Okay. And then if James Harden is out. I don't know.

Losing Harden, that's a 25-10 guy. You're assuming he's out. He's gone. I don't know of a precedent of a player demanding a trade and then showing up to play other than like Anthony Davis with the Pelicans.

And even that was like this torture thing. Harden has a precedent of demanding a trade and then either dogging it or not showing up to play. So him showing up to training camp is probably not a great idea, right? So if you take him out, they lost Niang, right? Yeah, they did. They lost a couple other guys.

I think they signed Patrick Beverly, I think. They have not replenished any of the depth they lost around Harden and Embiid. Yeah. And they are losing Harden. So now you're relying on Joel Embiid to hopefully, you know, at who has his own injury history, play at the same MVP level that he played out last year, and hope that

Maxie picks up the slack for James Harden. That's a really, for me, I would be, that's a lot of ground to make up. To me, I think they're going to be way under. I think. Way under last season or way under 49.5? Way under 49.5 49 yeah like you think sub 500 season for them i don't think sub 500 no but you know i think it wouldn't shock me if it was like 43 to 45 to be honest

okay yeah but but then again i'm also horrifically wrong on predictions in my career so a good rule of thumb is to listen to what I'm saying and then do the exact opposite. Yeah. Generally speaking. Yeah. I think a lot of the optimism on Harden and not that there's a lot of optimism, but like any optimism that people seem to have on Harden coming back is like, yeah, but he went to that white party with them and like they were all hanging out and that seems cool.

But going to parties is what James Harden does best. And being a Hamburglar. A lot of these players, you know, there's the business side, and then there's the personal side. It's not like the 80s anymore where, you know,

Lambeer and Bird are coming to blows on the streets anymore, right? It's like, that's not the game anymore right it's like it's it's it's not that's not the game anymore these guys are cool with each other when they're not playing the game yeah yeah i mean literally i think there was like the meme yesterday of kevin duran draymond green showing up with the same outfit you know at a game and like and like so and then immediately so they they're spotted together at the at the at the party and then yesterday, literally, James Harden reiterated his request for a drink. Right.

It's like, these guys are, it's a totally different world, you know? Yeah. Have we heard anything about on the Dame front? Like, because I know the NBA, like, kind of pushed back and was like, hey, you can't just say you will only play for the Heat. Is there any... Not since that, but also the NBA has no light to stand on.

There's nothing, there's nothing, there's nothing they can do. They can, they can send sternly worded memos or whatever, but there's, there's zero. I mean,

they can, I guess maybe intervene if it's like, um, like they did with the Chris Paul trade with the Lakers, you know, but that, that would be a really stunning thing to do. And I don't think they have a leg to stand on here.

Yeah. That's the trade. They can do that. Everyone is, uh, I think, I think we're all, in this case,

the Blazers were the ones who made the trade request public, not, not Dame. Dame's not violating any rules. So there's what's, you know? Yeah. I think everyone,

like, you know, I'm quietly hoping like, maybe we do a hard end for Dame, like, cause that's a possibility, but it doesn't, it doesn't it doesn't feel like that well i mean it looks what more likely that like the the clippers seem like the team that would end up doing some business right yeah but like they have the same colors so i don't know maybe maybe it could work out like what would

you even what would you even like to see out from a from a deal with the clippers covington at least you want to see him back who with the withippers? Covington, at least? You want to see him back? Who? Oh, you're talking about Harding going to the... Yeah, yeah, yeah. If there's... How do you make a meal out of that? So I'm a little crazy. They have this one guy, Kawhi Leonard.

Oh! Who... Kawhi! A lot of people... Cow-hi. A lot of people have given up on because of his injury history. But I am encouraged by the fact that he was the best player in the playoffs for a single game um last year so i

don't know i'm i'm desperate i i would take anything whatever you're gonna give me i'll take anything man man whoever like literally man please um all right so we've gone two unders it feels like somebody somebody's got to go over then, right? Well, the next team to look at, the New York Knickerbockers. Last year, 47-35. This year, they're setting them right around 44-1.5. Yeah. Obi topping out.

They signed Dante DiVincenzo. I mean, Vegas is under on basically everyone. Yeah, I'm surprised the Knicks aren't getting more love you assume that some of the young talent quickly gets better you assume that Brunson and Randall matched their production from last year

you assume you see some growth from the Grimes of the world Dante's a solid signing for them I don't see any reason they take a step backwards I don't think they leap to the top of the East or anything like that but I don't see any reason they go backwards either

yeah I think 44 I feel like they're going to be in line with what they did last year at least seems like energetically the Sol doesn't feel like there's a regression on the cards but again yeah i'm like a very

casual knicks fan and i always will root for them passively so i'm like no come on you guys can do that yeah yeah it's because of the wu-tang it's because of wu-tang it's because of the north face jackets and timberland boots obviously obviously uh new jersey though formerly new jersey now brooklyn the nets uh last year 45 and 37 they're projecting now 37 and a half uh they re-signed cam johnson they got lonnie walker the fourth quarter god uh and dennis smith jr uh it's free agents but again what i feel like they could do just about as well as last i don't think they'd fall off too hard, but again, I'm, this is me with my, uh,

rosy tinted glasses on. I mean, they had that one guy, Kevin Durant for a lot of last season and he's pretty good. Um, so that's a guy in the bucket hat from the other night. Yes, yes,

yes, yes, yes. What was their record after he left? Um, that would, that would be the key thing for me to know, because I think that I could see them having a small improvement over there.

Like when percentage after Durant left, I don't, I don't see it being significant. Um, so I don't, I don't see them coming close to last year's win total necessarily. Um, but the,

the over under also doesn't have them coming close to like they have, they're picking 37 and a half last year they won 45 so I could see them like right at like 38 they were just under 500 without KD Jabari's telling us I think that's about right yeah so we'll see any excitement for you when you when you think

about the Nets so Pan no I was like you know I like look Mikkel Bredges had a great you know showed out when he got to the nets i i just i just think that there there just not isn't much else there i like claxton you know i like you know they have some young talent there but i think that they need you know they'll be buyers at the deadline i could see them getting in the race of another star

they have pieces to go get another star. For whatever reason, Cam Thomas can't seem to get a permanent role in the rotation. But if this is the roster throughout most of the season, I don't even know if they make the playoffs. I like Mikael Brages, and I think he's a... But I don't know how much of a number one guy he is at this point.

But I just don't see them making any sort of splash. 37 wins seems about right to me. Yeah. I like this next one. By the way, your description of why you're not excited about them just got me excited about them. So I'm actually, I'm on for the Nets over. The Nets are a very likable team.

Yeah. They're the exact kind of team that, you know, fun. They're going to be fun to watch. You know, Mikkel Bridges is a really, really likable, you know, fun guy to watch play. You know, Cam Thomas on any given night can like drop 50, you know, just out of nowhere. That kind of kind of microwave player. I just, I just don't know if it's sustainable over 82 games is a long season.

It's a long time, you know, to, to, you know, and then once players scout you, once other teams scout you out, et cetera,

you know, it's just, it's just, you know, I just think it's hard to stay in over full season. Bridges. Like when he, when he arrived and was suddenly just absolutely filling it up,

it reminded me of when Harden left OKC and went to Houston, and suddenly it was like, oh, whoops, we missed this one. And I don't necessarily think he's going to suddenly be top five offensive player in the league, but it feels like there's still room for him to keep going up. So it'll be interesting to see. The only thing I'll say is he's turning 27 this month. Okay.

And I don't know. I think I don't know how much more there is. Yeah, maybe he should just retire at that point. Yeah, I think he should hang it up. That's right. I think we've seen the best in the coverage. Yeah. And I just want to, this next, our last one, heading to Toronto.

Last year, perfectly even down in Toronto, 41-41. They're projected to do 36.5. Now, I really take umbrage with this because Grady Dick is on this team. Yeah. So, I'm taking the over. And they're going to go way over way over wow that's what i'm thinking because i'm losing a single game you said before we started yeah yeah yeah i said 82 and oh baby see the we already know you seen the neck on this kid they're not losing a single game

yeah it looks like you know the 36 and a half probably seems around there but i i really just for my own like meme ability of the league i i want to see i want to see grady dick potentially turn into something not just be the kid with the long neck and shiny suit yeah purdle i guess i i hadn't realized uh super producer jabari was saying that purdle is a big you know advanced stats guy people people who pay attention big advanced stats guy. People who pay attention to advanced stats really love him. But that was news to me. I'm sure all our listeners

already knew that. Of course they did. I was going to say, they lost Van Vliet. Siakam is heavily involved in trade rumors. Toronto is right in that space where they need to make a decision of whether they want to be contenders or if they want to blow it up.

Yeah. They have some pieces where they could push the chips in for a star if the one becomes available. But if one doesn't, what's that team going to do? And do you hold on to Siakam if that's the case? And I don't know that I would be very surprised if Pascal Siakam is a, is a Raptor by March. I just don't know if that's the case. I would be very surprised if Pascal C. Ockham is a Raptor by March. I just don't know if that makes sense.

It sounds like the sounds coming out of there sounds like he's getting moved on. But where to we shall see. Okay, before we take a quick break, we should just get a couple of our bold predictions in before we wrap this up in our third act.

So, you know, right before the season starts, so Pam, we'd this up in our third act, uh, so, you know, right before the season starts. So Pam, we'd like to ask our guests just to give, give some just wild, bold predictions, just something really heavy. And I'm just,

for example, you know, right now, scoot Henderson. He just not only wants to go down as like the greatest point guard to ever play. He wants to get into the goat conversation. Um,

so we're like, Oh, okay. That is, that's a bold amount of confidence from you sir that we we like that here on this show uh but for you what is your absolute boldest prediction like don't don't don't get into facts just just articulate something from the heavens for the upcoming nba season go bold oh man. Do you guys have one already?

This is for our guests. This is for our guests. We don't indulge when we're hosting. No. I'll tell you my bold prediction for this season is that Wenbing Yama wins defensive player of the year. That's my big, bold prediction. I was actually

interesting. I was going to go the opposite. This guy stinks. No, I think that I'm not saying I was going to go the opposite. This guy stinks! No, I think that... I think, I'm not saying he's going to have a horrible season or anything, but the guy is young. You know, my bold prediction is that Weminyama is not Rookie of the Year. Oh, okay. I'm not saying he's not going to fill up the hype or whatever.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. I'm just saying... He will fill up the hype. His body is still developing. He's still going to fill up the hype or whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. I'm just saying, his body is still developing. He's still a teenager. LeBron James is the only player of the last 30 years or whatever that has come in and met that level of hype. Right from the moment he entered the league. And even then, it's not like LeBron's rookie year was without struggles. Right. That has come in and met that level of hype right from the moment he entered the league. And even then, you know, it's not like LeBron's rookie year was without struggles.

Right. Right. And so, like, Wemenyama, who, you know, obviously an amazing talent, all this stuff, and, you know, I'm not taking anything away from him. It just might take him a little while to get acclimated to the current NBA and the way it moves. little while to get acclimated to the current nba and the way it moves and plus you're playing 82 games the schedule the physical grind the emotional grind just you know it just might take a little while you might not be ready to be you know crowned right that's that's he's not playing 82 games i'll let you know no not with that big toe uh i mean to that end so pan what plan for the spurs. Then Pop. Pop's going to, yeah.

Which rookies do you feel like have the best chance at rookie deal? Oh, I love Scoot's game, man. I really, really like Scoot's game. You know, I just think that it's really, really hard. I just think that it's really, really hard. Because NBA draft picks are getting so much... They're so far polished entering the league in some ways because they're starting to play much earlier. But the Thompson twins are really interesting to me.

But Scoots, the guy, I don't know. Maybe I'm just buying into the hype a lot just from the what i've been able to watch see him play and whatnot scoots seems like the guy that's very seems very nba ready i don't i don't mean he's gonna like fill dame shoes right away or anything but it would not surprise me if he had a really surprisingly good rookie year or anything yeah okay my bold prediction the twins win co-rookie of the year just like when they went grant hill and jason kidd had to split it okay there we go wow that's a good one yeah they

accidentally award it to the wrong twin backs yeah oh that would be absolutely real goof them up can't make it and so the other one fills in and then they do like an oscars moment yeah exactly this Doubtfire situation. Hello! And like last bold prediction, Sopan, what offseason moves, which offseason moves will actually have the greatest impact in your opinion?

Interesting question because there haven't been many big ones. Yeah. I mean, easily. So to me, it's actually not that hard to correct. To me, it's the Porzingis smart one for both sides. Because in Memphis, Marcus Smart needs to play a big role that hard to me it's the porzingis smart one for both sides because in in memphis marcus smart

needs to play a big role with jaw out for the first quarter plus of a season yeah right um that means he's got to play a larger offensive role and marcus is listen amazing like was so much fun to watch but when when marcus kind of ran into trouble is when he would have to do too much as an offensive player. That could be an issue for Memphis going forward. Porzingis, it's a huge change to the way the Celtics are going to be

on both ends of the board. Porzingis gives them a rim protector that they haven't really had as much of the way the Celtics are going to be on both ends of the board. Porzingis gives them a rim protector that they haven't really had as much of the last couple years. But to me, that's easily the most impactful move of the season until Dame gets traded or until Harden gets traded. I mean,

I don't even know what the other contenders are for impactful offseason. Beal going to the Suns is pretty... Oh yeah, that's probably... Yeah, I guess I should probably... But like, that was almost... No, you already locked in oh yeah that's i mean yeah that that's probably yeah i guess i should probably but like that was almost no you already locked in your answer i'll defend it by saying that the sons were already like yeah yeah already kind of had a

super team goes yeah you're essentially replacing chris paul with bradley bill right right right and that's i won't um although you know uh i don't see chris It's going to be interesting. Although, I don't see Chris Paul going to the Warriors as that big of a deal. Not because, again, if he's coming off the bench or whatever, I don't know how big of a role he's going to have there.

I just don't see that being as impactful. The Celtics flipped their roster makeup to make the Porzingis still happen. I'm going to go with that one. All right. Well, let's take a quick break, and we're going to come back with the fastest question and answer segment in sports podcasting history right after this. It was December 2019 when the story blew up. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, former Packers star Kabir Bajabiamila caught up in a bizarre situation.

KGB explaining what he believes led to the arrest of his friends at a children's Christmas play. A family man, former NFL player, devout Christian, now cut off from his family and connected to a strange arrest. now cut off from his family and connected to a strange arrest. I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. I got swept up in Kabir's journey, but this was only the beginning. In a story about faith and football, the search for meaning away from the gridiron and the consequences for everyone involved. You mix homesteading with guns and church and a little bit of the spice of conspiracy theories that we liked. Voila! You got straight away.

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Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back yeah we are that's your bottom dollar we are so and uh so good to have you wow wow wow but you have wandered into the fourth quarter of mad boosties which means it's time for the rapid fire segment okay the fastest question answer segment in all sportsing history. We're going to ask you a question. You just chest pass it right back.

Don't even think. And don't add a bunch of fancy stuff to the answers. Boom, right back. But if Jack or I start yammering on and extending, you have to cut us off and keep the segment going.

It's actually your responsibility as the guest to also keep the segment going in the event that the hosts themselves are unable to do their duties fair enough okay you just chased a butterfly into the shootout of the okay corral let me just put it down oh i thought that would be the first question yeah yeah wow i just i like to get evocative to give you an idea of like where wow okay who you're running towards right now? Which brother are you going after? Alright, here we go. I think we're ready to

Brian, start the clock! Oh my gosh. It's so mean. Yeah, well, Jack, it's gotta know. Sometimes it's really slow at starting the clock. Because I care, man. Because I want all of us to win. Miles just slapped the court.

Antoine Walker style. And I want all of us to win. Miles just slapped the court. Antoine Walker style. And I got blown by. I just spilled my whiskey and cigar all over the floor. Okay. Do you want to go first? Or should I go first? Why don't you go first, Miles? My good man.

I will go first. Thank you, Jackathon. Yes. So, man, first question. Jack, Jackathan. Yes. So, man, first question. ESPN recently decided to rework their entire NBA crew with Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, Mama.

There goes that man off of our screens. You know, let go after covering, you know, 15 NBA finals alongside Mike Green. Who is now your dream in-game commentary team? You can now put that team together. Who are they? And you can't say Miles and I, because that's contractually. And the league has already said no.

That might be in the works, or the league might have said, no, stop asking us. Didn't we get a cease and desist for asking? Yeah, that is actually why you can't bring it up. Sorry, anyway. But for you, Sofan, who is your dream commentary team? Dream commentary team.

This is for the NBA finals. This is the top NBA crew, just to be clear. Yeah, exactly. The highest of the high. It doesn't have to be realistic, but use your taste to put together a fantastic crew of commentators. Sure. Roywood Jr., the Daily Show comedian. Yes.

Former guest on this show.. Yes. Former guest on this show. Former guest. And like someone that's like the total kind of totally opposite of him, like Bill Burr or someone like that. Dennis Miller, babe.

Someone that Roy would hate. Right, right, right. Like a comedian, you know, like someone that he would absolutely just despise. One of the Paul brothers. Yeah. Just getting rinsed by Roy Wood Jr. Just for the passive-aggressive bar.

Just to see the angriest broadcast. Angriest but most hilarious broadcast. Right, right, right. Roy Wood Jr. absolutely needs a shot in the booth. Have we said Deezus and Mero would be a good answer there? I want to see Deezus and Mero reunite in the booth. Alright, give us a team

no one is considering for title contention this year but should be in the conversation. Should be in the conversation. Yeah. I guess I would go with Clippers. Yeah, i'll go clippers sure clippers wow i mean listen i'm not thinking too hard about this so i'll go no no that's it yeah no but what is it about the clippers go on well i'm assuming here's the thing i'm assuming they

get hardened because this is how this always happens. Harden wants to go to the Clippers. The Clippers have no incentive to put together a great package because this is the only team Harden wants to go to. So no other team. So they won't have to give up that much. It's probably going to be like Marcus Morris and Steve Ballmer's

driver or something. His driver's sick, though. He's going to really make good use of that driver. You've got to trust the process there. While we're at it, we might as well give him Embiid. You know what I'm saying? You're going to be awesome.

But you gave me someone that's probably not going to be considered an entitled contention who probably should be. And I think it'll be the Clippers. Okay. That's off the top of my head. I'm sure if I thought hard, I could. Yeah, and I'm going to cut you off right there, Sopan,

because we do have to keep the segment going. It has nothing to do with my obeisances to the Lakers. The one was so good. Like, I recognize the injury is troubling. Injury history is troubling. He was still so good when he was playing last year. Yeah. All right. Next one. Oh, yeah. S oh yeah best nba city in terms of food choices and what's your go-to dish and what's your go-to

dish uh new orleans best nba city for uh food uh and my go-to dish is there's a restaurant called which is like uh an amazing New Orleans restaurant. They have everything there, but when we go, we usually get this whole fish there that they have. It's amazing. I'm going to Pesh in New Orleans. Amazing. New Orleans is the best food city I think for NBA cities.

Pesh, please have us there for a live episode or just a meal. We're willing to hear offers, Pesh. You can find them at 800 Magazine Street, New Orleans. I've got to cut you off, right? Whoa. I do just have to add Brandon Ingram looks like

a totally different person. He looks like he's been eating well in New Orleans. I don't mean that like eating well. He looks like he filled out. Like, I was always like, he's not going to fill out. That's his body. Like, and he's good. He,

in the USA basketball things, I was like, who is that out there that looks, looking like a slightly shorter... It's those muffalettas. He's just pounding them muffalettas down there. No, but he looks good. Alright. If you could have any player skill set for a day, who are you going with?

What skill set are you stealing? Jokic, easily. Oh my gosh, listen. To me, I guess I'm not supposed to give extended answers, but he was the only players that I would catch every game during the season. There's something about him that I just find his game to be very magnetic.

And to see a guy of that size passing the weight, I love big guys that can pass. I really do. Those are my favorite. That's why I got an Antoine Walker as a child. For me, it's Jokic. I love big guys that can pass.

Unfortunately, you have only taken his passing skills. You haven't taken his height. It's a monkey's paw type wish. Sorry about that, man. Fair enough. But you can still shoot that shot over AD somehow. You'll still be able to pull that thing off. Falling away off one foot. That's really the skill

just to make just completely frustrate people at every pickup game at LA Fitness across the country. Has there ever been a higher release in the history? Like he releases so high and he's also seven foot. Whatever. Yeah. It's a tall.

So, I mean, there was a. I just saw Clay Thompson talking about that shot. He's like, golly. Getting that shot. That was like sort of his. Sheesh. It's like, it's disgusting. It's disgusting.

Yeah. Because it was. Okay. Here we go. Ultimate peak. Prime Bird or Prime KD? You lean back on that one. You're thinking. I like this.

I've never thought about that. I would say Prime Bird because he won the three MVPs in a row and no one's done that since. Yeah. And I also think that Bird you know MVPs in a row and no one's done that since. Yeah. And I also think that Bird, you know, he had, you know, he was a better rebounder and passer,

but again, the game was so different back then. I think I'll go with Bird because he did, you know, he did something that no one has done since then. It's a very arbitrary thing. I think I think Yoko should have won three straight. I think, you know,

LeBron should obviously have won three straight, or if not more than that, at some point in his career, Jordan, whatever. But given that Bird did it, I mean, to me,

it's, it's Bird. Yeah. All right. Like, but that's like, you know, that almost feels unfair to KD,

but like, you know, the, the, the, the platitudes are what the, you know but the platitudes are what they are. Yeah. You can place any former Celtics great

on next year's roster. Which former great are you adding to this mix? And you do have to make the salaries work. Do you have to make the salaries work? Yeah. I think Bird made like $40K a year, so you gotta make sure that that don't want to slip into the luxury tax we're doing it by salary and uh he got a case of beer too if

they won the title so i guess it would be russell man i mean how do you i mean it's an easy i mean it that's almost like an unfair question to ask a celtics fan because there's such like easy hierarchy to choose from but yeah i, I guess you're adding Bill Russell because he literally fits a need for the Celtics right now. They need a defensive anchor since they lost Marcus Smart. Of course you're going to add Bill Russell.

Then you're bringing Al Horford off the bench, I guess. If he's willing to let his ego subside for once. Yeah. It is funny. I feel like every time, every time we've, I think, asked this question to a Celtics fan, it's like, I don't think anyone has not said Bill Russell, right? I feel like that's been pretty, I mean, why

wouldn't it be? Exactly. And finally, this is actually the most important question I think we've asked of the day. A lot of money riding on this one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So please be quick with your response to this one. So, Pandep, Jack or Miles?

Ooh. I have to give it to Jack because of his dad, man. His dad was a big part of my childhood. I will take it. Miles, if your dad... His dad was a big part

of his childhood, too. So, Miles, if your dad coached the 2002 Celtics, I would have gone with you like really easy. He wouldn't even be close to doing that. I can only respect that answer, Sofan.

I can only respect that answer, man. It is hard to hear. I mean, everything worked out in this episode. We surprised him with it. I knew he was a big 2002 Celtics fan, but I didn't let it slip before we recorded so we could just build momentum. Everything worked perfectly.

You fell right into my clutch. The second he mentioned Tuan, I was like, this guy's rubbing his mitts now. He's rubbing his mitts. This is a win for me and my family. Well,

Jack, you can pass on to your dad, and I hope you do that. I was a big fan of him growing up. I hope you'll pass that on to him. Fantastic. He's actually not my dad, but you can't take it back. That was all a lie. You fell for it.

His dad owns a bunch of Subway franchises in Montauk. Wow, amazing! No! No! owns like a bunch of subway franchises in montauk wow amazing no way my favorite place for subway oh man uh well so panda thank you so much again baby yeah yeah for real for real uh so panda thank you so much for joining us on miles and jack got mad boosties where can people catch your work and all that and, and, and,

and read you and all, all any sort connect to you. How do they do that? Uh, I'm easy to find on social media, man. And I've got the, my books are easy to find,

but I, I appreciate the opportunity to plug. Uh, but you know, it's just Google. I had to be like Shaq here, but like just, just Google.

Hey, okay. I like that. Just, just one name, baby. That's all you need to know. And it will appear. I like that. Just one name, baby. That's all you need to know.

And it will appear. It's just really nice to finally see nepotism winning. If you're an NBA nepotism who stinks at basketball, it doesn't help that much. So it's just nice to see a place where nepotism can finally win.

And that place is Miles and Jack got mad boosties. You know that. So make sure you follow us on Twitter. You can follow me at Miles of Gray and Nepo. I mean, Jack, where can they find you? What? At NBA Nepo baby on Twitter.

At Jack underscore O'Brien on Twitter. NBA Nepo boy. I got to see if that's available. Yeah, you should. You should. Or at least your display name. And you can also follow the show on hashtag Mad Boosties, B-double-O-S-T-I-E-S for show links and updates. That's going to do it for us.

We're going to be back because you know that's what we do. We're always back. We're always there for you. And until then, we'll be us. The UBU, okay? Bye. I like that little sign off. Bye.

That's the way to go. 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. Captain's Log, Stardate 2024. We're floating somewhere in the cosmos, but we've lost our map. Yeah, because you refused to ask for directions. It's Space Gem, there are no roads.

Good point. So where are we headed? Into the unknown, of course. Join us on In Our Own World as we uncover hidden truths, navigate the depths of culture, identity, and the human spirit. With a hint of mischief. One episode at a time. Buckle up and listen to In Our Own World on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Trust us. It's out of this world. covering all the hot topics from the sports world, a lot of baseball, a lot of postseason coverage, mock drafts, awards, guest interviews, all of it. New episodes every Monday and Wednesday. Come watch along on the Wake and Jake YouTube channel or listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.