The Daily Zeitgeist - MJGMB # 74: Pacific Division Predictions and HOF Talk with Claire De Lune

Episode Date: August 16, 2023

Miles and Jack were pleased to be joined by writer and recording artist Claire De Lune on the latest episode. The trio discussed this year’s Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class and the latest news in Philly before going through the Pacific Division over/unders.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry.

Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark vs. Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball.

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wherever you get your podcasts. Oh, no. The dawn. The passing of time comes for everyone. 2000s basketball fans included as we celebrated

just a ton of wonderful human beings being inducted into the nasmyth basketball hall of fame we're going to discuss that uh incredible headlining class of 2023 as well as continuing our division by division predictions with the pacific division on this episode with writer and recording artist claire de loon on today's episode i'm miles gray and i'm jack O'Brien. And this is... Miles and Jack O'Brien. This is... Curry, a three-pointer. Bang! Steph Curry from downtown again!

Giannis with the take. Look out. A little showtime. What you got, Giannis? Oh, Claire DeLune. Welcome. Writer for The Guardian. Your band, Tiny Death, has a new single coming out at the end of the month.

And you have chosen to bless us on our podcast. Miles and Jack, I'm Matt Bustis. Thank you for coming. Man, thanks for having me. I'm excited. I haven't actually been on a podcast to talk and Jack, I'm at Boosties. Thank you for coming. Man, thanks for having me. I'm excited. I haven't actually been on a podcast to talk basketball in several weeks now because we're in that doldrums of the off season where everyone who works in the NBA universe

is in some tropical location with their phones on Do Not Disturb. So getting back in the swing of things. Yeah. I haven't been paying any attention. I haven't looked at any news. I haven't, like, looked at any news. I'm coming in fresh, so I'm just opening up my updates. What is happening?

Oh, Sixers news. It's a good time to take a vacation and put your phone on. Do not disturb if you're a Sixers fan. Yeah. Oh, boy. You just want to hop right in, Jack? You want to rip the Band-Aid off?

Or just a little banter up top? What do you say? What should we do? i mean um i think i i thought that oh they're just gonna bring them back and it's gonna work out um as i was mentioning on last week's episode and our guest was like i don't think so that doesn't usually work out with James Harden. Yeah. And I'm not feeling that. Yeah. Turns out doesn't,

doesn't look, doesn't look good. He does not appear to want to play for the Philadelphia 76ers this season. And I don't know who's going to trade for him. So I don't know what we're going to do. Yeah. I feel like Embiid's most comfortable when one of his top teammates is sitting out

due to a contract dispute. That seems to be how he likes to play. So I think maybe this is all just getting him in his comfort spot. Primed. Primed for the season. Did you guys see the got see the latest goss on on twitter involving joel and bead that he removed yeah yeah processing gone philly from

the bio gone and the process from his twitter bio so yeah maybe not yeah he doesn't like the vibes in philly huh why wouldn't he how could he not? Very consistent. Such a consistent team, obviously. Yeah. The process has been, it's been processing for, it's like a Dell, like a 2001 Dell computer. for those of us who don't understand that somebody there is a viral list going around of like just you know a rundown of what the 76ers have done each year 2013 through the present and they left out a lot of bad

stuff on the list they yeah like so they covered you know traded 21 year old a lot of this stuff predates my time as a Sixers fan They, yeah. So they covered, you know, traded 21-year-old. A lot of this stuff predates my time as a Sixers fan. But once you get into it. Oh, it predates your pain, right.

Yeah. Once you get into 2016. It's the Mark Thief era, yeah. Yes. Right? Yeah. I remember. That was the beginnings of me watching you slowly begin to fade.

Yeah. 2016. I mean, there were high highs and low lows, right? Like you guys were one game seven collapse away from the conference finals. Conference finals. Yeah. They don't seem to want to get there though, do they? Kawhi Leonard improbable bounce away as well. Mm-hmm.

Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten about that. That's right. Have you? Yeah. Oh, right. I remember where I was when I was watching that I'm surprised that you as a Sixers fan that it's not like emblazoned in your memory in that way because I remember I

was on my friend's couch it was on I was on a trip and I was on my friend's couch visiting and I was like kind of reclined on the couch like lying down and when that shot started bouncing off the rim I like left off the couch and i was just standing there watching it bounce like breath suspended and it was one of the craziest endings to a game that i think i've ever seen in my life no it's not ringing any bells um so 2016 i'm not gonna go down the list but here's, but here's what the list leaves out. So every year it's saying one decision, one terrible decision, or a terrible occurrence.

Kicks off 2016, hired their advisor's son to run the team, which gave us the line, it's a normal caller, find a new angle, which we use a lot just in our with Brad and Angela. 2017, number one pick loses the ability to shoot a basketball. 2018, GM trashed star

player on Twitter under burner accounts. Hired a new GM with no experience. That was the, it's a normal collar. Find a new angle drama. traded jimmy butler 2020 fired coach hired new coach then hired new gm 2021 star point guard demands trade 2022 investigated for tampering i didn't even remember that 2023 star point guard demands trade um they did leave out that their 2016 number one pick also lost the ability to

shoot or, or like kind of never had it, but like play basketball in general. Yeah. Which that's why 2016 and 2017 number one picks both lost the ability to shoot is like more, more of a curse than anything that would make sense. You know,

um, the 2016 number one pick is a better shooter with his right hand, but refuses to shoot with his right hand. And then the 2017 pick that lost the ability to shoot a basketball, they traded up away from drafting Jason Tatum to get him.

So it's important to keep in mind up away from trade from, uh, drafting Jason Tatum to get him. So I just, it's, it's important to keep in mind that they are currently, you know, two very bad moves away from having Jason Tatum, um, Jimmy Butler, Joel Embiid,

and whatever you could have gotten for Benson. Like if they had just traded Ben Simmons instead of Jimmy Butler at that point, when it was like either Butler or Simmons, um, that was like the peak of Ben Simmons is like trade value. So. Yeah.

Do you think it was like the stubbornness about like that the process was worth it that kept, because that was kind of my interpretation was that Simmons and Embiid were sort of like the homegrown stars and sort of the products of the process and that the Philly fans had been so long suffering throughout this process that they wanted to say like see it was worth it we got our two hallmark stars out of this versus catering to Jimmy Butler who ultimately I think in retrospect it's obviously the better choice but was like they traded for him and he wasn't from there. And he hadn't really expressed interest in staying there

because when he was leaving Minnesota, the Heat was actually his preferred destination at that time as well. Yeah, it might be a little pat to be like, they could have had Jimmy Butler because Jimmy Butler didn't seem that excited to stay. He made a lesson for agency. Yeah, there is some reporting that

like he was like the the thing that i don't want is to be on ben simmons's team and they were like well buster you're out of here well the thing about jimmy butler that so jimmy is my i don't know if you guys have ever like even scrolled my twitter you know lebron james is my favorite player of all time and currently but my my second favorite player is Jimmy Butler. And something I love about Jimmy is like when he doesn't get along with people and when he doesn't like people, it's because they don't, it's because of one thing. It's because they don't grind hard enough. They don't have like his work ethic and they don't approach the game in that way. And I feel like, so that was like the issue that he had with Carl Anthony Towns. That was the issue that he had with Ben Simmons. And I kind of respect that because I feel that he had with Carl Anthony Towns. That was the issue that he had with Ben Simmons.

And I kind of respect that because I feel like the people he ends up having issues with are these guys who were super high draft picks, physically gifted, who maybe don't have to put forth quite as much effort into their game in order to be successful. Obviously, everybody has to put forth effort to be successful in the NBA. It's a very small sample size of human beings who get to play at that level. But I think that's something that people that Jimmy butted heads with having comment is that they just weren't,

they weren't like dogs in that way. Like they weren't willing to like get their hands dirty. And I think that's why the heat was always going to be such a great fit for him is because Pat Riley has like a zero tolerance policy for players like that. So no one's going to survive in Miami with with or without jimmy butler without that mentality yeah no that makes sense it is hard to be this physically gifted and you know maintain a strong work ethic uh i've found yeah you took it for granted man you took it for granted yeah um

but anyways it does it just does feel like they've had to work to get themselves, like, to dodge really great players in a couple instances. Yeah, it's kind of fascinating. It is kind of fascinating. And, like, they're always at the center of the NBA news cycle drama somehow. Yeah. Which is kind of amazing, especially when you think of, like, they kind of dodged a bullet in a way with like, the way they went out, I thought at the end of this past season

was like quite embarrassing because they really had it like in that game six. And then, so, but the Celtics found a way to like go out in like a more embarrassing fashion so that it kind of buried that in the news cycle. Like,

how did you, like, how did you have like how did the celtics fumble that eastern conference finals but then the sixers were like hold my beer we're right back at it in the news cycle and we're going to be at the center of the drama again before you know it and the celtics are just kind of like quietly figuring out what to do about christas perzingis yeah and or fascia or whatever. Yeah. I don't know. The process stuff gets a lot of attention, but their other philosophy as an organization,

all press is good press, doesn't get as much, but it's definitely important to how they run things. And they just like to be messy and get as much ink as possible. I feel like it's relevant for me to say on the record that I do love Daryl Morey because he's a fan of my band and has been quite supportive of my music. So he didn't lie to you about liking your band.

Team Daryl Morey and the Daryl Morey versus James Harden. Actually, honestly, team Daryl Morey in general in this scenario because I feel like the hubris of James Harden to be like, because clearly he's just mad. Daryl, it sounds like, I don't know. I wasn't there. This isn't like, I'm not reporting anything,

but it sounds like maybe there was sort of like gentleman's agreement about a longer contract extension if he agreed to take a pay cut last year. And that didn't end up happening. But it's like, hey, James, maybe that didn't end up happening because you were of no show in the most important moments of the playoffs again. And they realized that they could not pitch their wagon to you in good conscience like if you showed up in big moments you're one of the most talented NBA players of all time like the bag would be getting thrown at you still but you fall apart when it really matters and so I think it's like I'm like number one player empowerment like i feel like the players should have the power they

are the talent they are the reason any of us have a job but at the end of the day like you have to show up in the big moments if you want the big paycheck like that is the correlation and they'll give you the benefit of the doubt for a season maybe two seasons but james harden like year in year out in the absolute biggest moment has found a way to be a no-show regardless of how much of an mvp season he's had the regular season regardless of how well he's played in the first or second round even so yeah sorry dude like no one's gonna want to pay you and i'm like where do you go like given all that too literally i was trying to think of that today i was like what team would be,

because this is the issue with a lot of these unhappy superstars that demand trades, is like it has to be a team that's good enough that they're willing to mortgage their future to try and win now, but not so good that they have assets that they're not willing to give up,

which is like, I would say maybe like two to three teams total for any superstar. Like that's in that little sweet spot of like, we think we have a chance, but we clearly need like a James Harden level talent to get us over the hump. That's like not very many teams. And if the team is trying to tank,

they don't want to bring in big talent and they don't want to give up draft picks to do it and if a team is really in the championship hunt they don't really need to like roll the dice yeah it's a risk a player like james harden who's so mercurial and might you know be unhappy before the trade deadline i love that euphemistic use of mercurial to describe him. I mean, yeah. Trundle and even. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that, yeah, he's just, he's in that.

I feel like we were looking at this exact same scenario when Kyrie was demanding a trade out of Brooklyn last year. It's like how many teams were in that sweet spot of being like, we need Kyrie Irving services. We're in desperate need of a talent that big and we're willing to mortgage our future to do it and it doesn't really matter what the long-term implications are. I feel like Dallas was kind of one of the only teams in that spot where it's like Luka is going to demand a trade

within the next one to two seasons if we don't figure out a way to get him some help and also we're pretty good already, and it's worth trying, you know? Right. I don't know what that team is for James Harden right now. Does Kyrie for Harden make sense?

Like, just, it doesn't make sense for anyone, but, like, just because the Sixers need to get it, like, he won't play for them? Does, like, would he be a better fit than Kyrie and Dallas I mean that's a good question I don't I don't know how bad the Kyrie and Dallas situation is and I know I think something that a lot of times NBA fans when they're trying to predict this stuff underestimate is like the egos of the people in charge of making the trades yeah and they are really really reticent to admit defeat when they made a bad decision and I think signing Kyrie was estimate is like the egos of the people in charge of making the trades yeah and they are really

really reticent to admit defeat when they made a bad decision and i think signing kairi was obviously they didn't even make the playoffs slash play-in tournament last year so i think that has has not panned out to be as what they hoped it would be i think it usually takes another full season before they're willing to admit that idea because they did give up a lot to get him. Yeah. Um, not necessarily in like current,

they gave up, you know, future stuff they gave up. I think was Dinwiddie in that trade. Um, yeah, I think, yeah.

So, and I mean, yeah, so they gave up quite a bit and I think they're, they, it's, it takes more than you would think for these very like stubborn GMs to be like, Oh yeah, my bad. Let me fix that real quick. You know, I think it takes more than you would think for these very stubborn GMs to be like, oh yeah, my bad.

Let me fix that real quick. I think it takes a lot. It usually takes at least a full season. Or a full meltdown. He seems like a down-to-earth guy, so I don't know. From what I've seen on Shark Tank. Yeah, no.

As Superdude Sir Jabari said, we should have just put the ether beat under uh what you just said about james harden um it was hurtful but i think uh 76ers fans need need to hear it yeah come to terms with it yes um it is what it is you know tis where has it was better strip club philly or dallas oh that's a great question we should be including as well let me get my spreadsheet out here real quick um jack yeah where's that usb thumb drive you have on your keychain those southern girls you know they're

well fed yeah they look they look good in a thong i mean but also you think like portland like per capita that's also like the epicenter of concentration of adult of strip clubs i feel like if portland somehow traded damian lillard for james harden there would be riots there would be riots i can't think he's got a beard just like all of you people yeah exactly look around yeah put him on a fixed gear bike he'll blend right in exactly he's yeah he's late for a shift at what at powell's books later come on i mean would be a miracle for philly i would say because daryl morey like damien lillard is daryl morey's white whale he's been trying to get damien lillard since at least since the ben simmons james harden times um yeah maybe longer so i mean i think daryl would be thrilled with that but i can't imagine the Ben Simmons, James Harden times. Maybe longer.

So, I mean, I think Daryl would be thrilled with that, but I can't imagine a scenario in which Portland does that unless there's like a ton of draft capital that Philly has that I'm not privy to. Yeah. No, no. Yeah. That's for the fantasy books, for sure. Yeah.

Although maybe, I mean, I don't know, Max. I don't know. They probably wouldn't throw in Max. No, I feel like, because I feel like the fans, you see Max is like a franchise player, right? sure yeah although maybe i mean i don't know max i don't know they probably wouldn't throw in no i feel like because i feel like your fans you see max is like a franchise player right they can't you can't i know but part ways with him you understand how much daryl loves damien the lord like yeah i mean also the other thing the minutiae of these trades right is like to like as we were talking about like it's about where you're at as a franchise. It's not just about like the pieces on the board in general. It's about the context in which they exist,

which is like, how likely are you to win right now? What's at stake? And for Philly, I mean, if Joel is kind of like making overtures that he's threatening to also demand a trade, like the pressure's on if you're going to keep Joel Embiid. I mean, that's another conversation. Like, do you even want to mortgage your future for Joelelle and beat is it worth it he hasn't really shown up in big moments either to be honest so yeah i'm having trouble breathing right now but i think he'll be no yeah i think his apple watch is going off it's like are you having some kind of heart just fall down you're fall down a long time ago? You're in a very contentious environment. It's like, I didn't even know it had that setting.

What? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You are getting... Remove yourself. Sir, are you the method being cooked? You're very unhappy. You're unhappiness waiting through the roof right now. Yeah.

But yeah, I don't know. It does seem like they don't really have a move at this point. It's also wild that Harden went as public as he did with that demand because it like makes it harder for them to deal him. Right. Right. So awkward videos I've ever seen too, because like these,

he was in China, right? So like the Chinese kids are just like, we're so happy you're here. And he's a liar. You're like, as like unwitting pawns in this like public meltdown and i'm just like that's so can you just do that like can you just call

malika andrews and have a sit down if you want to like air that you have to bring these innocent children into the equation like they're just trying to be in a basketball camp dude i i saw i mean he's having fun in china so that clip of him sell 10 000 bottles of wine in like 40 seconds like on tiktok or whatever and he's i mean maybe he should go play in china then if he's having just a good time see what kind of value we can get back should we break or should we hit the hall of fame talk first uh let's take a quick break yeah we'll come back and talk about a an all-timer hall of fame class hall of fame ceremony with some heartwarming moments fine finally

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make me feel old i felt like proud of them like as if i was their like older sibling like there you go i'd love to see it uh there were some fantastic moments um there was a moment in speech where he just you know just handing some some roses over to steve nash uh that i think was also fantastic because he did take that moment to talk about their hairstyles. So let's hear from them. Creativity is worth nothing without leadership.

And the guy that comes to my mind is my friend, Steve. I mean, we've been offered if he said anyone else because Steve Nash is sitting right there. I think we came a long way from those two brutal haircuts we saw there. You had the frosted tips you had. Frosted tips for a moment. Who would have thought when we first started to play together

that we'll be on the stage together. That means the world to me, and you were a great role model to me and the best teammate I ever had so you were always positive you always encouraged me we worked our butts off at night went back to the gym so and you became a friend for life so thank

you my friend just watching two greats broing down like that. Love a good bro down. Yeah. See, Nash is very shiny these days, I've noticed. That's my one. He's getting some sun, you know?

Yeah. He's getting a good tan. Sun, Botox. More soccer, probably, you know, just out there on the pitch. Allegedly. This did raise the question to me of like where their haircuts, because their haircuts were pretty bad. Like Nash,

when he first came into the league for a long part of his career, he had that like stringy, like guy who smokes weed on the soccer team. Look, you know, which was probably like thousands were rough, rough time for male hairstyles. I would say in general, a lot of swoopy side,

you know, like long things going on. A lot of skunky highlights and dark hair. There was frosted tips to Dirk's point. It was rough. It was a rough time. Dirk had a middle part, right?

He looked like he was at a Dave Matthews band concert. Steve Nash looked like he was a Lance Bass lookalike from long distance. Wow. You guys could see the photo we're looking at right now. They look like members

of Backstreet Boys. And then that's not hyperbole. Like the ones that didn't make it though. Yeah. Like Lou Pearlman was like, I don't know about them too, actually.

Have you actually looked at like photos of like boy band members at the time though in retrospect? Because they were, some of them were really like, I'm like, you were hot enough like photos of like boy band members at the time though in retrospect because they were some of them are really like I'm like you were hot enough to be in a boy band like I think Chris Kirkpatrick

early Chris Kirkpatrick and Sync Look at that guy Like back in the heyday when he had like the weird ad- He looks like the guy from Counting Crows. Oh Adam Derwitz Come on. Yeah. The goat? The goat had it locked up like jamaican hair come on now i remember reading an article like waiting for the dentist once and like one of those tabloids

about like all the hot celebrity women that adam duritz has dated yeah he gotta give it up yeah no i mean really for the love of the game he's just out here it's it's when you theoretical physicists are still trying to explain what happened there they are yeah oh 100 but then like my dating life as well actually they're still on the case a lot of white dudes with dreads huh oh my god oh no absolutely not absolutely not absolutely not not with a 10 foot pole my friend but i mean i guess speaking of uh some interesting haircuts oh i thought you were gonna say speaking of your day we've got someone on the phone right now like look at vlad rad when he was rocking these like where did this rank because there was some okay bad things happening that one is giving uh um millie vanillie yeah vladimir radmanie yeah had like tiny little braids um all these references are are aging

me so hard by the way like backstreet boys and millie vanillie it's like i'm not fancy and i'm over here like i've outed myself i'm going further back yeah i still remember where i was the first time i saw andre karolenko when he like stopped using gel yeah like he because he just went he was like straight drago with like the spike for most of his career and then he like came back and his hair was like very soft and like just feathery and hot that's kind of a look like i feel like he looks like he could be on the oc or something this picture in this version but at the time i was like what is he an oasis or something like that it's very gallagher a gallagher brother hair it's the best one so far it's the best one so not that there's stiff competition but first it was this picture is not doing it justice

because right now like this picture or the goodness like how bad it was how bad it was because he like had a fade with a spike and then like one game he just like his hair was just forward and it just for for whatever reason it was around the time that like his game started like tapering off a little bit i feel like austin reeves hair kind of looks like that right now actually we kind of grew it out for team usa yeah it's definitely yeah it's like it's it's like wavy, dude. He's wavy, dude.

He's in his wavy, you know, era right now, I think. And you mean wavy as like a figurative term, not like his hair is wavy. No, yeah.

So obviously, I use that in like the young kids version. Yeah. Oh, he's wavy. Again, I already told you.

I'm a millennial. I don't know. I don't know. I'm not up on this link. I'm a geriatric millennial, but I know how to fit in with them kids. You know what I mean?

Hello, fellow kids. Hello, yeah, with my music band t-shirt. And with them kids you know what i am hello kids hello yeah with my music band t-shirt uh and then obviously you know like i mean i hate to do this to our boy but late stage caruso you know also good for him yeah yeah yeah exactly it was it was even late stage chris cayman was also a very interesting hairstyle but anyway that was let's get back to another heartwarming moment. Dwayne Wade. Oh my God.

I literally cried. I cried my eyes out. I cried too. But that's only because his dad's hairline is so strong. I couldn't believe it. That's why I was in tears. But also the father-son dynamic was also touching. We had the same exact dream.

And hairline. And we carry the same exact name, Dwayne Tyrone Wade. To know we hustle all the way to the Basketball Hall of Fame is God's will. So, Pops, I know your knee's a little sore, but will you join me on stage as we take our rightful step into basketball heaven? Oh, boy. I mean... It's this next part. It's the next part.

Uh. This one right here, this one is for my father. love you and i'm thankful for you oh my god man we're in the hall of fame dog oh iconic okay this was so touching and moving that my mom who knows nothing about basketball and is on a completely different part of twitter texted me and was like, who is this? This is so beautiful. And I'm like, yeah, mom, that's

Dwayne Wade. Literally Hall of Famer Dwayne Wade as evidenced by the video. One of the most famous shooting guards of all time. But she doesn't give a bleep about what I do. Oh, well. Yeah, I know. It's what I do. Oh i do oh sure sure but this father

son relationship was really something else and then finally becky hammond dude this was another one where it was like in its minimalism made it so touching when becky hammond is like oh my gosh face was what did it mean when when she's like i can't look at you and he was like I can't even look at you right now either it was so beautiful but here let's let them talk for themselves pop I'm not going to look at you oh

that's that part when he looked down he looks like a little boy oh my god being pop get emotional is like the world is off its axis. Like, it's so intense. If I was an actor, I'd use that to motivate myself to cry in real life. 100%. You're a man of principle and excellence.

I know you weren't trying to be courageous when you hired me. But you did do something nobody else in professional sports has ever done. Oh, and her voice breaking too. she's trying to get yeah and becky hammett she is such a like legend so tough yeah to see them both get so emotional is like i think part of it like i wonder if someone who doesn't follow the nba as closely as we do like watching that video would be as moved by it because i think part of it is the context of like, these are two of the toughest, most like unshakable, unmovable characters,

you know? Yeah. Yeah. Totally. Pop, especially. Cause I mean like, I'm,

I'm like, can he be my like parental figure? I like every time he talks, like I can't, I hang on to every word and like, yeah. When you see some, when you see him be moved,

you can't help, but understand how like monumental that is. Just like, yeah, when you see him be moved, you can't help but understand how monumental that is. Just like you're saying, in the context of who they are and how typically unflappable they are. Jack, which one of those three got you? The hardest. The pop one was a lot.

It was a lot. Yeah, just like him looking down, watching people like try not to cry. Wow. There's something about that. That was Dwayne Wade's dad who was trying not to cry. You could tell. Oh, yeah. His bottom lip was quivering. Oh, my gosh.

Holding it in. Meanwhile, I'm just sobbing on my couch. Just like ugly crying, gasping for breath. Yeah. Usually what goes viral with pop is him being like is that really your question that's yeah that's really where you're gonna go you know have you guys ever been in a presser with him no constantly yeah yeah never we're not taking very seriously we're kind of silly podcast i was in a press conference uh that he did last season

and it was like super super super small because like i don't know the visitors team press conference room at staples is actually quite small like i'm sure it's like the size of whatever rooms you guys are in right now respectively like a little office and everyone was late to the press conference so just me and one other person were in there waiting for it to start and And pop was just like, so you guys got like five questions each or whatever. Cause like apparently no one else is coming. And it was just like riffing.

And I was just like, I am having a lucid experience. Like this is crazy. Like Popovich is like roasting me right now. Right. This is the best thing that's ever happened. Yeah. I can,

I can only imagine. I would, I think I would just be like pop. There's a, there's a meme that we share, like on one of our threads for another show we work on of a little otter holding a guitar, looking so happy. And I don't know if that's really for nobody except Jack and some of our friends, but I would have been the otter holding the guitar. Do you know the otter holding the guitar, Claire? I don't think I do.

Oh, it's this one. You simply must. You simply must. This one. Oh, my. Well, you You simply must. You simply must. This one. Oh, my. Well, you guys have seen Otters Holding Hands, right? The video? Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's my favorite video of all time. It's my comfort video. 100%. This is so cute. He's like, hey, I don't know if you're busy, but I just brought this guitar. Right, right. You just showed up at your house and you were like, sorry, I don't have time out she's like oh no it's okay we're good uh shall we feast our eyes upon uh what the

betting crew says about the performances of next season for the pacific yeah the pacific you know what i was thinking too when jabari sent me the kind of rundown that we were going to be talking about the pacific division do you guys remember a band called or like a rap group called active oh yeah yeah of course of course i was i was like whatever happened to pack div like they they were great i remember seeing them play at like a block party in like probably 2012 or something yeah i i don't know what happened i mean it was they had their money, PacDiv, let us know. I mean, obviously, being an LA kid, we loved our PacDiv out here. They were great.

In this episode, the episode description for this will probably light up their Google alerts, because it'll say we're doing the PacDiv. Come through, come through. Hi. But yeah, who do you want to start with? The Suns, I guess? I mean, this is a pretty stacked division. So the Suns are where they have the most improvements happening.

Last year, they were 45 and 37. This year, they're over under at 52 and a half. That seems like a lot. That's a big jump. That's a big jump. I mean, I guess they're looking at the, you know. Full season with KD. Right.

Beal coming in. You got, you know, my boy Yuta coming in. We got big Frank in the building. How do you guys feel about the Bradley Beal thing? I think it, like, I don't know. I feel like it could go well, but it doesn't feel like the safest move to me. Yeah.

I'm confused by the faith that people keep. Cause this happened when I remember when it's like how quickly people forget, but when the Katie trade first happened, even they were like, Oh, sons are the favorites to come out of the West. Like they could win the championship this year, even though Katie got there

and literally sprained his ankle, like, before he even played a game with them. And, or a home game. And I'm just like, have we not watched this movie before? Like, teams take time to build chemistry. And it's about, it's just as much about having some depth

as it is having, like like those couple of superstars yes you do you can't have one without the other like you can't get to you can't get past the first round of the playoffs without a superstar I really do believe that like it doesn't have to be the best player in the league but you need at least one ideally two superstars to make any kind of run in the playoffs because teams can, they're giving you their best, their game planning against you. You have to have someone who can just be like,

when all of the plans disintegrate, put the ball in their hands and they will just make magic happen. Like you need one of those players. That being said, you also need a bench full of role players who know their role are willing to stick to it and execute it and play defense and do all the dirty work that the aforementioned superstar is not going to have like the energy or space to do and i feel like teams keep just focusing on column a and completely

disregarding column b but if you look back through who the last few champions were even in just like the last four or five years it's that formula like i know like i was this was my biggest qualm with the lakers i was like rioting when they traded for russell russell westbrook two years after their championship so i was like even in the best case scenario of that right even if russ had like done what he said he was going to do which was like change basically his entire game to fit into the system with lebron and ad you traded away all of what made you win that championship which is this very deep bench that was full of

very hard-nosed defenders who knew their role and were willing to stick to it. I worry about that with the Suns because I don't know who on that team, who are the dirty work players that are going to show up for you in the playoffs when... I know

that having Beal, Booker, and KD, and not having to get rid of Aiton, obviously is huge in that. I just, I don't, personally I'm not as threatened by them. I wouldn't be as threatened by them if I was, say, the Nuggets, or even the Warriors, or the Lakers, or whatever, as the rest of the

league seems to be. They're not heavy favorites to me. They're in the mix. They're for sure in the mix. So you're taking the under? What was the game total? 52.5 is what they think. Oh. No, I feel like they'll win 52.5 games. I guess I was forgetting that they

only had KD for half of the season. They'll probably win that many. I think they'll win that many games, but my thing is to win is is more important. I mean, this just made me realize how stacked the Pacific Division is in terms of how interesting it is.

The Warriors, they're over under 48.5. Last year they won 44. That's a lot of improvement for just adding Chris Paul. But Andrew Wiggins and Steph Curry both missed a ton of time last year. Right.

So it makes sense. If they're both healthy this year, that's at least four more games. I think. Speaking of, if they're both healthy this year, the Clippers, they have winning more,

uh, three more games than last season. Absolutely not. What? Like I'm confused by why. Hit the under on that. Yeah. I don't know what the Clippers like who whose mom the clippers have like hiding in a closet somewhere like that they can get the media

to just predict they're going to win the championship every single year regardless of the fact that like kawaii leonard and paul george have not both been healthy or either been healthy for like any time and like what what has it been now like five years that they've been there yeah have they done one full complete postseason with both of them healthy no like i just i don't get it i don't understand what miracles they think are going to happen i understand that they they both have an incredibly high ceiling especially kawai kawai when he's playing to the best of his capabilities is maybe the best player in the nba like i know that's what's so wild incredible he was so good in that first game in the playoffs but that's it and that's the clippers experience to me in a

nutshell in the kawaii leonard era is like flashes of greatness but as we know flashes of greatness do not a championship make like you need someone you can depend on and the playoffs are so physical and they're so gritty and they you have to take so much physical contact as a superstar in the playoff like i mean kawaii is not lebron's age but he's not in his 20s anymore like i just i don't i don't see it and paul george has had how many surgeries now and how many like i don't know yeah i don't see it yeah i mean it's like especially when like all your all your hopes and dreams hinge on these two players like you're saying that just aren't gonna really appear when the time is needed so it's funny to watch like yeah yeah like clippers fans just being like i just sort of dejected i have one friend who's

like doesn't matter they don't play i'm just embracing the chaos of whatever this season's going to be. And I'm like, oh, okay. So that's you're hopeful? And they're like, well, yeah. Maybe you like, because you know, Russ has a good mindset. And I'm like, oh, really? Okay. Well, off you go. But off we go to Sacramento to check out the Kings.

They won 48 last season. They're saying 44 and a half right now. So this is just basically that was as well as this team can do. And there will be like a regression to the mean. Yeah, because it doesn't it doesn't really make sense. They have the same team coming back and they have them losing or winning for fewer games. I would hit the over on that. I mean, I understand they're in a really tough division.

I understand that, you know, like some of the other teams are getting better. Like the Lakers will certainly win more games this year than they did last year. I don't think that's like, spoiler alert, I don't think that's like a huge prediction. But I do think that like, as we go with the Nuggets, we have a habit in the media and also as fans getting really excited when big names go somewhere and expecting that to be a huge impact on winning and also really underestimating teams that have continuity, that are balanced, that have good coaching.

And those teams do really well. And one of those teams just won a freaking championship. So I think that the Kings are absolutely going to go over 44 games. Yeah. And I think De'Aaron Fox is going to go up like nine levels this season too. He was already so good. I mean, the Warriors

had a lot of flaws and we saw that obviously in the next round against the Lakers, but they were the defending champs and they looked for the most part

really unafraid during that series and it was all of their first times being in the playoffs. All the key players. Yeah. And De'Aaron Fox

went toe-to-toe with Steph Curry for seven games and was a man through a hand injury you know for part of it so yeah i absolutely think that that's i think that's a little disrespectful honestly yeah i'm like i'm such a good like stealth kings fan like as a lakers fan but i'm just like i really i really love seeing them i wrote a piece on them last year kind of breaking down like how did they turn it around from being like the laughingstock of the NBA to like one of like the most exciting teams in the league.

And they really kind of just, they have all of the components, like all of the ingredients and a recipe that goes into like a successful NBA franchise. They have a great coach. They have a good balance of vets and young players. They have an emerging superstar in De'Aaron Fox.

I have a lot of faith in them, actually. Lastly, this one was... We agree the Lakers are going to win more games than they did last year. They have them winning 47.5. That's the over-under.

Last year, when they spotted the rest of the league a 12 game head start uh they were 43 and 39 yeah it's wild like i know that sometimes i'll be i'll like look at the last half of the previous season and be like whoa they were amazing like their record was incredible during that like so that's what they're going to be bringing into this and like that rarely works out that way um but this still feels low especially yeah yeah like this is a public team so it feels like you know it's a team that like people bet on more so it's wild that they're going so low on it yeah and all the moves like we're we're younger and bigger and i just it yeah it's hard for me to see like you only think we're gonna go we're gonna win four more games

but again again it's also like where do what where do ad and lebron fit into all this too and how how much how much can we get out of those bodies this season let me break down why i think that that's super wrong and they're going to win substantially more games than that. Okay, let's go. Reason number one, I think if their roster as currently constructed or as constructed during the playoffs was their roster all year last year, I think they would have been like the four seed in the West. I think they were like, the West was a pretty weak conference last year, all things considered. And, you know, I think that they were right up there with the best teams in the west and they were the best team in the west as far as record goes after the trade deadline

they won the most games in the west after the trade deadline so that's one thing the other thing is people forget lebron and ad both missed a lot of time last year like they were both injured for a month plus each so that win total is considering a way worse roster and even factoring in that safety net of like what if lebron and ad missed time so i just don't unless one of them misses the whole season knock on wood like i just don't see a scenario in which them both missing time and this roster being so much better and also austin reeves you know taking another leap now in team usa over the year he's like he's looking like the best player on the floor for team usa right now in a lot of these games so i really don't see i think their win their over under should be at least like

on par with the rest of the good teams in the west maybe besides like the nuggets but yeah yeah i i mean what how do you i mean just looking at LeBron, where do you see him? What's this next iteration of him we're going to see this season? How do you see that coming together? I mean, I think LeBron is aware that this is... I don't think it's controversial to say that this is the last chance that he has to win a ring,

at least as in the role he currently has, which is like the first or second best player on a team. I mean, I think if there's any more rings in his career after this year, it's probably going to be, if he does the like veteran leadership role on a team, that's already really good and takes like a smaller contract, which I just,

I don't really see happening because I don't think he really needs a ring bad enough to do that. I think he'd rather just retire than kind of take on that role. So I think he's aware that this is kind of like his last real chance. Last year was, I think that's why he was so upset about what ended up happening in the Western Conference Finals last year is that last year was like, they had a really good shot to win a championship against all odds last year. They were right there with the Nuggets within probably a three to eight point differential

for every game, even though they got swept. I mean, I'm not trying to say that there are any moral victories, but they were right there in those games. And that was the conference finals. And you saw who came out of the East. It was the Miami Heat. It was an eight seed. So they really could have, I think,

potentially won a championship last year. And I think that really upset him because he knows how close he is to the end of his career and how few chances he has like that left so i think this year i think he's going to leave it all on the floor this year i think he knows like this is the this is the chance you know it was that he that altitude was hurting him because he's old and altitude hurts the i think he's been spending the off season training at altitude that would be my my him because he's old and altitude hurts. I think he's been spending the offseason training at altitude. That would be my guess. And he's going to be ready for him next year.

I just made that up. And some sort of altitude chamber instead of a hyperbaric chamber. If anybody has it. Have the air pressure turned up. That's his MJ lifting weights after the Pistons gave him that business. I love that that's all MJ did. He was like, wait a second.

You can lift weights? Oh, now I got some for you over there in detroit but yeah i'm i'm it was a little bit difficult to watch him become look more mortal uh towards the end of the last season but but again i know how how much talent and ability is is contained within him so like i'm again i think like last year i was even like hey we put number 18 up even with the russell whisperer kind of i'll always go into the season with that kind of uh disturbed confidence but i i understand i really would like but this was a time when i'm like okay i want like i'm really i'm lebron like let me see let me see you get smarter and just like give it give it, give it, give it to us now because this is the time. I mean, that first half of game four was, I was there, I was at that game.

And, like, that was one of the craziest things I've seen in person, like, in a basketball game was what he did in the first half of that elimination game. Like, he wanted that one so bad. elimination game like he wanted that one so bad and yeah if if literally anyone else on the lakers roster had showed up in that game in any meaningful way on the stat sheet they would have won that game like it was right there you know so i think it was so much closer than it would seem based on the fact that it was a sweep i know yeah that's the thing is that's why i say i understand that there's no moral victories but i do feel like it wasn't a sweep in the sense of like it was a sweep. I know. Yeah, that's the thing. That's why I say I understand that there's no moral victories, but I do feel like it wasn't a sweep in the sense of it was usually a sweep.

When you watch a sweep, you're like, okay, one of these teams is clearly world better than the other one and it's not close. Let's just put them out of their misery in four games and move on. This was like two teams that were, I think, quite close in how good they were. I think basically the difference was the bench.

The difference was I think the Nuggets just had more to get them over the hump when it came to those single possession moments at the end of the games. And they had people like KCP showing up. And they had people like Michael Porter Jr. or Aaron Gordon one game. Each of their role players had one game that was like their game. Yeah. They had that. The Lakers actually had more of that.

I think in the series against the Warriors, but like you had the Lonnie Walker game, you had the fourth quarter. I know exactly. And like game four, that was pretty cool. Yeah. He's going to have to frame a whole bunch of things from that game.

But yeah. Yeah. So I think, I think the Lakers made marginal improvements to their bench and they you know still maintained the i would say the three most important players that they had last offseason um and so i don't see any reason why they don't have just a good of a shot this year and i don't think lebron is aging so precipitously that like him being a year older is going to make or break them.

I think what they need is they need Anthony Davis to be like the player who was in the Warriors series in the Western Conference Finals. All right. Well, it's time for us to take one more break

and we're going to come back with the rapid fire round of questioning right after this. fire round of questioning right after this. All right, here we go. It's Cam Jordan from New Orleans Saints here to tell you it's going down on season two of my podcast off the edge with me, Cam Jordan. Can't stop it. You know what's going to happen. Can't stop it. That's right. Catch new episodes every Wednesday, all season long.

That's what you look for in year 14 to do more. And I 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 know we'll have fun doing it. Ha! Yeah! Oh, and I'll have a special guest each month join me to mix it up a little bit.

Who is it? None other than... Psyche! You'll have to tune in to find out. So tap in to Off the Edge with Cam Jordan's podcast, your ultimate playbook for all things football and not football. Listen on the iHeartRadio app apple 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. Hey, everyone. Jake Storielli here from John Boy Media. I want to tell you about my podcast, Wake and Jake. It's your go-to spot for anything and everything sports. Baseball,

football, basketball, hockey, golf, college, whatever's hot in the street, we're talking about it on Wake and Jake. So if you're a diehard fan or looking for the latest buzz, we've got you covered. No matter your favorite sport, we're breaking it down with the passion that'll make you feel like you're in the stands with us.

Plus, we've got a bunch of guests, Foolish Bailey, Jolly Olive, Chris Rose, and more mock drafts, rankings, whatever you want. It's the sports world, and come on and join our friends in the Wake and Jake family. You will not regret it. So, new episodes Monday and Wednesday. You can watch along on the Wake and Jake YouTube channel or listen to Wake and Jake on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And we're back. Oh, Claire. Oh, Claire. Oh, Claire, you really stepped in at this time. Wow. You are now firmly in the find-out phase of being a guest on this podcast because it is time for the rapid-fire round of questioning. This is the fastest question and answer segment in all of sports podcasting history. Okay.

I've trained all my life for this moment. For a moment likeorker like this we know we're gonna test pass you a question just send it right back all right new york hat on take your minnesota hat off yeah exactly yeah exactly i'm walking here just have a walk in here that's the kind of i'm walking in all right so here we go. And also, if one of us start talking, you have to cut us off and keep this segment going because we do want to maintain our status as a very fast-paced segment, okay? We're not really good at being

fast, so we just really lean on you. Yes. Like true men, yeah, we're going to rely on the labor of a woman to help us achieve what we need to. That's never happened before. Here we go. Brian, start the clock!

You want to go first? It's already slow. Sorry, I got to get myself pumped up. Hold on. We're getting in the blocks, okay? Hold on. You're like, here we go. Wait, hold on. Who's asking the first question okay all right you you want me to go or you want to go um who went last time did i ask that first

i forget here i'll go this time okay okay yeah yeah all right but remember for the next episode i'm gonna go first though okay that's how we'll remember uh because that'll be an even day and exactly okay cool uh All right, Claire. ESPN recently decided to rework their NBA crew with Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson being let go after covering 15 NBA finals alongside Mike Breen. What is your dream in-game commentary team? Oh, I mean, Doris and Mark Jones

is already an in-game commentary team, but just bring them up. Okay. Okay. Any wild cards? Like people that you would... Oh, people that aren't currently on a game stand? If you could just say,

I want to hear these three people go off and give me my in-game for your maximum entertainment, who are those people? Chase Serrano. Yeah. Me. Okay.

Okay. That was one of our last guest's answers also. I don't know. I fail at this game. Oh, play Thompson. Oh. That would be fun. He's so funny.

With or without the captain's hat? With the captain's hat. Okay. All right. Good to know. Good to know. Here we go. Claire, what is your absolutely most bold

prediction for the upcoming NBA season? I want you to swing for the pavilion at Dodger Stadium. The word bold is both bolded and in all caps and italicized, if that's helpful. And highlighted. The italics

are from how fast the word is moving. Put your reputation on the line With something so bold And it can be funny Don't worry no one's going to hold you to this No I know It is harder when you're on When you're on the spot

It is harder My most bold Prediction Female head coach My most bold prediction. Female head coach. Coming in this season. Okay. Yeah.

All right. Why not? Yeah. Boom. Not funny. Just true. Yeah. Just true.

Let's do it. I like that. Needed. All right. I'm giving you an option here. Okay. Which offseason move will actually have the greatest impact or which team will have the biggest win change, increase or decrease?

Pick one. You're not allowed to say the 76ers because... That's mean. That's mean. And I don't know if my heart can take it. Like medically. Oh, maybe that should have been my hottest take. I think when the Miami Heat get Damian Lillard,

because I think they will get Damian Lillard, when they get him, I think they could win the championship next year, and I think they will. Let's just say it. I think the Miami Heat are going to win the championship next year with Damian Lillard. Hot take. Now, what is it about Damian Lillard exactly that has you saying that?

I think Damian's a winner. I think he's a winner who's been in a non-winning scenario. And I think that the Miami Heat are the perfect team for him because I think he does,

he's a Heat player. He's much like Jimmy Butler was a Heat player playing for non-Heat franchises. I think Damian Lillard is the same. Okay, more on that later, Claire. We have to keep this segment going.

Oh God, I'm sorry. It's not your fault. It's actually ours. You explicitly told me to be faster. I'm sorry. But what's the best NBA city in terms of food choices?

And what's your go-to meal when you're in that NBA city? Ooh, I mean, New Orleans is the best U.S. city in terms of food choices. Two in a row. Yeah, okay. And when you're there, what are you eating? I mean, literally just, like, anything. Food in New Orleans is so freaking good.

I know that's a cop out, but just eat anything and it's good. You could eat cheap street food. You could eat fancy fine dining. Commander's Palace kind of thing or maybe I would say seafood of some kind. And something extremely spicy. Something that's going to

light your mouth on fire. Fried pickles too. I feel like fried pickles are everywhere when I go down there, and I can't stop eating them. Whose fault is this? Oh, it's ours. Jack, next question. Finally, the most important question of the night. Jack or Miles?

Plead the fifth. Oh, that is unfortunately not allowed. You are in the court of law of the rapid fire uh segment of questioning you don't have i'm gonna go with the diehard lakers fan then come on yeah no that's cool that's why i put my eddie jones that's why i put my eddie jones up la baby i'm about to go to a dodgers game right after this hey you know what time it is okay thank you so much claire you are one of the wildest winnersenders we have. That was the saddest little thing. You were just quietly, dejectedly

to yourself. I also live in LA. No, that's cool. What the podcast audience can't see is that Miles' whole entire setup, everything, is LA all day. Lakers jersey, Dodgers hat. He's really leaning in.

And a LeBron Lakers jersey oh I mean AD he's got he's got them all with the GG patch you know what I mean like LeBron when he first came to Lakers he was like I don't think this guy's good you're like oh that's all the time we have that is true that's how much of a Laker fan

I was I'm like what's he gonna do for us you know what I mean yeah and then you go there and you're like thank you anyway thank you guys so much for listening okay wow can I change my answer is it too late but hey

make sure you follow us on twitter I'm at miles of gray jack where you at I'm at jack underscore o brian yeah follow us just hashtag mad boosties b-double-o-S-T-I-E-S for show links, updates and that. Claire, where can people find you and check you out, including your music and all that? Well, I'm also on Twitter at Claire MPLS from my Minneapolis days. And I write for the Guardians.

So you can check out my writing about the NBA on the Guardians website. And then my music project is called Tiny Deaths, and I have a new single coming out August 25th, the end of this month. Well, we look forward to that. Boosties listeners, please make sure you check that out. And you know what? We're going to be back next week with another episode because that's what we do. Maybe that's what happened. But we're going to be back next week with another episode because that's what we do.

Maybe that's what happened. Maybe Daryl Morey is so excited about the tiny deaths, new drop that he just took his eye off the ball. He posted a picture on Twitter once with my vinyl like at the 76ers practice facility. Wow. Whoa. Okay. I know. That's my dog.

That's Daryl. Wow. Well, another fantastic legendary guest with legendary connections. Me so much. Not really. Yeah, you got to. You got to. But we'll see you next time. Bye-bye.

Bye-bye. I'm Carrie Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports.

Listen to the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports.

Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Caitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume

women's basketball. And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps,

or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. Captain's Log, Stardate 2024. We're floating somewhere in the cosmos, The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. 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.