The Daily Zeitgeist - MJGMB #82: Unicorn Showdowns and More with Jason Jones

Episode Date: October 12, 2023

The guys were pleased to be joined by The Athletic’s Jason Jones for the latest episode. The trio discussed Victor Wembanyama vs Chet Holmgren as a rivalry and plenty more about the preseason.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball. And on this new season,

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

Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game.

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So I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Oh, thank you so much, Universe, for bringing some form of basketball back to our eyes. I was holding my breath the whole offseason. Wow. Jack was turning purple and blue. Man, we got a fantastic taste. Wemby versus Chet, preseason. Wow. Jack was turning purple and blue. Man, we got a fantastic taste.

Wemby versus Chet. Preseason showdown. Talk a little bit about the Lakers. Looking pretty good as well. Some preseason player rankings. And some really interesting win predictions from ESPN. Breaking it down by conference. And we're going to do that today with the Athletics' Jason Jones on today's episode.

I am Miles Gray. And I'm Jack O'Brien and this is Miles and Jack got mad boosties Curry a three-pointer. Bang! Steph Curry from downtown again. Giannis with the take. Uh-oh, look out. It's no showtime. What you got, Giannis? Welcome, welcome, Jason Jones.

Welcome back. Right about culture. The Athletic. You're an L.A. native, LBC raised. You've been covering the NBA for many years now. Welcome back to the show. Thank you for stopping by again. Yeah, thanks for letting me join you before things get too crazy.

I mean, I juggle about a million sports now, but I think it's somewhat the athletic told me I'm still an NBA writer, whether I like it or not. At heart. Can always spot the NBA writers coming. Are you excited? Like, that first night of preseason action really i don't know if it was the first night but it was the first one that i was paying attention i guess technically

it would have been what the nixon celtics yeah was that was that the first the one thing on my chat showdown was yeah i i'm exactly what the wise kevin garnett said uh in a tweet when he said wimby and chet look like two created players last night future is bright my favorite part was the headbutt yeah yeah yeah which uh yeah i mean i did chet holmgren had something to say i mean these every clip i saw i was i was like cheering which is wild i've never done that to have like going like okay like stuff like that it's been like while watching youtube highlights on oh yeah twitter yeah yeah 100 100 and being like okay okay so i see what you're doing now that's just me talking to my cell phone

in the middle of the night uh but yeah every single every single highlight was was was out of this world jason how did how did feel? What were your expectations going into watching this Wemby vs. Chet showdown and how did you take it in? I have zero expectations about preseason anything. Okay, that's wise. I just I more so just kind of, you know, you

peek in to see, okay, well, how do they look comfortable? And for me, you know, Chet gave us really teased us for like a minute last year for the injury. And I was just more so, wow. It's like, you hear so much about how long an athletic Wimby is. And I'm like, well, Chet's like, Chet's not that far off height-wise. You're like, wow, this is crazy.

Yeah. They're entering at the same time. height-wise, you're like, wow, this is crazy. Yeah. They're entering at the same time. Yeah. Two guys, like, two just wildly skilled guys over seven feet tall. Yeah. It's like watching two

video game guys. Yeah. Yeah. Truly. I mean, like, this one play, just Wemby with the steal to a perfect alley-oop. Yeah. Came through, scoops it, throws it behind his back. Perfect alley-oop that his through scoops it throws it behind his back perfect alley-oop that his teammate manages to couldn't finish okay a little bit of a bummer there yeah and then this one too i don't look real right especially this play when he gets crossed up i'm using like well

every other player's left for dead and then he recovers and then it's a block. So this was, this was the key one for me. Cause I, I saw this, he gets completely beat defensively and then managed to recover for a block. And I was like, all right, let's dig in. I picked, I picked him preseason for defensive player of the year,

just watching him in the summer league. And like how nobody wants to shoot when he's on the court, everybody like within a six foot radius of him is just trying to court. Everybody within a six-foot radius of him is just trying to get away from being in a six-foot radius of him. And he changes shots that he's not even close to. So I was like, all right, let's see how many blocks he got. And that was the only block he got in the whole game. At first, I was like, that's weird.

But when you think about it, that might have been the only time anyone was willing to shoot around him. And it was after somebody blew past him and was like, well, surely he can't block this. He's in my rear view mirror. He has to trick people into shooting in his vicinity in order to actually get a block.

So I don't know. That was wild to me i think overall too like i mean we saw when we were in vegas for nba con we got to see wemby's first you know summer league game and that was it's completely different but it was like night and day like he when i look at the performance from uh against the thunder versus what we saw against Portland it felt like he was probably like I guess nervous or something in the summer he looked so much more like secure in his physicality and his movements and things than just like a couple months ago that I was like oh wow like he's he's coming into it I think summer league can be some of the worst ways to gauge a big guy especially

yeah no those teams are you you got guys on the floor which you're trying to get jobs elsewhere right you know he just got off a plane and been in the states for like you know a month and he really hasn't played yet so i always kind of yeah britney spears is bothering him in the casino yeah i just kind of i never put too much into what i see especially from a big guy in summer league because it just, that's not conducive to them. I think you can tell watching that, you know, with the actual team, with NBA players, they've got a system that he can run. It's still crazy, like, watching him dribble. Like, that goal, he goes behind the back.

It's like, you're not supposed to be able to do that at that height. His handle is legit like it with like just watching him play in you know in internet like before summer league you know last year his hand like he can put the ball he's so tall that it is like sort of a liability for him to put the ball on the floor but he really can do it like when he has to he really is a is a great ball handler for somebody his size i should i should take your wisdom into account jason because after that match i remember walking out of the thomas and max and i'm like this guy's cooked i'm like this is your king okay i see and then you

know i realized not not the best place to assess somebody especially someone that is seemingly some one of these generational talents who's changed like about to change sort of the way we view basketball. Yeah, never forget Anthony Randolph cooked everyone in Summer League one year and then never saw. No shade to Anthony Randolph, but you get my point. There's a list of Summer League Hall of Famers who just didn't get any traction in the league. Right,

right, right. Um, I mean, what do you, what are your expectations now for Wemby? Yeah, I get it.

You're not taking much stock in terms of what you've seen so far, preseason, summer league, et cetera. But what, what are, what are you expecting? What do you think we,

the most we can expect from Wemby in this first team? I think, you know, I don't know about the team, but I think he'll probably, you know, he's almost, he'll probably win a rookie of the year because they'll get plenty of opportunities on that team and

usually i always go with a smaller player for rookie of the year just because they they're going to have the ball right you know but i think him being in san antonio you know they're going to run you know you're not going to get a a rogue no devassell going to say, I'm not giving him the ball. You're not going to have him. They're not going to freeze him out or do anything crazy. They're going to run stuff that highlights what he does well. He'll make an impact on defense just because, you know, what is he, 7'5", 7'6", whatever.

Right. And he's young. He might be taller than we last remember. Yeah, right. He'll make an impact. I don't know if the team will be any good in the sense of being a playoff team. Someone's saying he'll be an all-star. I'm like, I'm not going to put that on him. He's still got to have a learning curve.

I'm interested to see what happens when he plays against guys who are going to be physical with him. I think the highlight that I was most impressed by was like Wemby coming across the lane, like scoop shot was something I don't think I'd seen from him. Like that was, I don't know. That was something. I think we've seen everything that's like, okay, this guy's big. Like we get it.

But then when you see these sort of like other finesse elements just come through, you're're like i think the ball moved like 14 feet yeah it really doesn't make any sense and i don't like it like he can like be on one side of the restricted circle and just go around someone with a scoop shot to the other side of the circle yeah i'd never touch them exactly yeah it's i mean yeah this is i i'm i'm very i'm very excited. I mean like what, okay.

So Jason, who are you thinking? Where, what do you think the first test is going to be for Wendy in terms of like, who, who you're really going to be like, that's a matchup. I want to see that.

I'll begin to really draw some data from, uh, I don't know what I'll get. I want to see him go against Giannis. Just to see it. I think obviously Joker is going to be physical with him. But I also think that the Spurs are smart enough to say, you know what? If it's a physical thing, remember, they called Tim Duncan a power forward for 20 years, even though he was playing center. Right.

They'll hide him out yeah yeah they'll do something to make sure he doesn't get you know they're not going to let him like don't get in the pain and let you know these guys just go right at his chest all the time but i think i would love to see him out on the perimeter yeah you know yannis coming up the court trying to go by him for a dunk and just see how just to see Right, right, right. Yeah. Guarding perimeter players might be interesting because as we saw, even

though they'll get past him, that doesn't really matter because getting past him, unless he's at the other end of the court, then you're not really past him because he can still block your shot. Yeah. For nickname, I just want to put Monsieur Fantastique

like Mr. Fantastic on the table. There's been a lot of nickname ideas thrown out. I'm still going to go with Doll Slim from Street Fighter. Yeah. Or Doll Sleazy just to give it a little bit of

just a little bit of you know some style yeah that's yeah yeah although i don't know if he wants to be sleazy but yeah something with video games or superheroes like that that is what i'm getting that like it feels like we're seeing something that is cgi of some sort yeah yeah right right right yeah when you were watching, I'm like, yeah, this is back when I was a kid. I'd be like, you know what I'm going to do on live or 2K?

I'm going to create a player who's 7'5", who can handle. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And you go, you'll never see a player like this. You know,

he's going to be the same height as Yao Ming, but he's going to dribble like a guard. Yeah. He's AI in Yao Ming's body. Okay. Right. are y'all ready for this we'll see we will see uh what about i mean how you feeling about oklahoma city jack

that's your you know you got got some money on them you know i got a hundred large on that sleeper means a hundred dollars right because that's what i got on them yeah we'll call it we'll say one large is a dollar roonies there you go yeah yeah yeah yeah i don't know man got something yeah i it was a flyer it was a wild uh a wild pick but that's sure that's what i was interested in doing and they look interesting i mean if check can check and come right in and play um i like that he had a little chip on his shoulder when he was like yeah uh that move's called a headbutt uh do you know it was legal thanks a lot yeah it's illegal thanks a lot dude uh

but i i don't know why that's his voice i'm sure he's much cooler than that um it's his party he's just like come on man, man, just play. So it had to feel like the guy at 24-Hour Fitness who's calling a foul all the time. Like, come on, man, we're just playing. What about you, Jason? How do you think, what is your opinion? What's your opinion of Oklahoma now? You've chatted here.

This is something, we got some kind of outlier contender. Where do you think they're going to end up? I think they're in that kind of where they were last year. They're in that top 10, top eight range. I mean, they got a nice little young school. I mean, you dropped Chet in there with Shea, Giddy. I mean, that's a nice core of talent. And I think Shea elevated them to a level that most people didn't expect last season.

Yeah, yeah. They do have every Williams in the NBA. There's probably a plan on that. They're consolidated. They're hoarding Williamses. Yeah. If you've got one, you know, Robert Williams better not get comfortable in Portland. You know, okay.

That's right. They've got to add him. They've got their eye on him. They just trade Chet for him. They're like, sorry, man. We just have to consolidate all the Williams. We got to get all the Williams. Yeah, it was never about you.

But I like what they've got. I wonder how, I'm interested to see how Chet does over the course of the year. I like Giddy. And I think in today's NBA, you got to have multiple playmakers. And with Shea and with Giddy, you got two legit playmakers. Yeah. Yeah. Well, shall we move on to one of the other matchups?

Let's call that Money in the Bank, I think we can say, on OKC. That's Money in the Bank. They're going to win the title. I think we're all in agreement there. You're going to like that. You're going to like the interest on that one. Should we take a break and come back and look around the league? Sorry, you know

me. I'm eager to watch the Lakers win, even if it isn't preseason. Oh, yeah, the Lakers won a preseason game. That's right. Yeah. All right. We will talk about that and other things around the league, including ESPN's somewhat confounding win predictions. All that.

Help me understand this. We'll be right back. me understand this. I'm Carrie Champion and this is season four of Naked Sports where we live at the intersection of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Caitlin Clark

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

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

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

On season two of my podcast, Off the Edge with me, Cam Jordan. Can't stop it. You know what's going to happen. Can't stop it. That's right. Catch new episodes every Wednesday, all season long. That's what you look for in year 14 to do more. And I'll have my friends who happen to be some of the NFL's biggest stars join me on the pod. We'll give you a player's perspective of the biggest storylines, trends, and did that really just happen moments from around the league. And you know, we'll have fun doing it. Oh, and I'll have a special guest each month join me to mix it up a little bit.

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now you're on it. I am a loyal viewer, one of my very favorite shows. We appreciate that greatly. If you want a deeper dive into the inner workings of the NFL, look no further. On the Insiders, you'll hear from the league's top players, head coaches, and key decision makers. The Insiders will keep you informed and educated on everything NFL. Listen to the Insiders on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. We're back. And the Lakers, Austin Reeves,

coming through with some, you know, big boy shots. Yeah, yeah. Squeaked it out 126 to 129 against the Nets. But yeah, I mean, like, we got a little AD blockage. We got some LeBron, a little bit of Bron. But yeah, it was nice to see Reeves and Thomas just trading threes. Love to see that. But yeah, I need to see more before I go full Laker mode

and completely disconnect from reality and say that we're winning it all. But I like that I'm not as panicked as I was going into this season as last year. Jason, how do you feel as a SoCal native, someone from the area? Did you catch the game at all? Not really, but I always start by saying Lakers in six, no matter what. I have no idea what the matchup is. I would just say Lakers in six.

I know even when they lost every preseason game last year, I was like, Lakers in six. Yeah. We'll get there. I like, I like this Laker team. I really do.

I just think I like them adding some shooting. I like the idea that maybe there'll be healthy. You know, I like having d'angelo russell and gabe vince it from the start of the season i like the idea not having to switch full gear you know and in february so i i like this team i think in a lot of ways maybe people are kind of underestimating them you know everyone talks about Denver, obviously. People are talking about what Phoenix might be. I think every

year we get the Clippers are going to do it, and I won't believe that until ever. Until I actually see it. I think this Laker team is going to make some noise. Yeah. We look deep, and just seeing everything come Yeah. I mean, we look deep.

And just seeing everything come together. Christian Wood, still a bit of a question mark there. You know? But time will tell, I think. Not a bad question mark to have. I mean, you know, last season they had guys playing where you're going. I mean, if he's on the court ever, we're probably in trouble. And those guys are all on.

You have three guys that got on the court together at the same time last year at the Lakers. Right, right. I swore they went and got every guard who couldn't shoot and said, let's go put them all on the same team and see how this works. Let's just see. I feel like this is a good one. I think this is going to start clicking. But yeah, the question marks. I think, yeah, for us fans last season, I felt like the Nick Young meme with just question marks over me being like,

oh, okay. Well, I guess that's where we're going. When you said Lakers in six heading into last season, did you know that that was going to be 17 games that it was going to take them to get to six wins? No, I did not know that. I was thinking big picture.

I was thinking, yeah, first round of the playoffs, still winning six. Yeah. You were right about that. I mean, they won in less. Yeah. Yeah, I wasn't thinking. I mean, yeah, that was one of the more brutal starts

of my lifetime for the Lakers. It's like, that was just bad. I'm like, well, they win again. I was like, are they going to beat anybody? Right. Took years off Super Producer Jabari's life, and I get it. We were texting each other through that whole time, just being like, do you see this?

I'm like, I just, let's just think about a brighter tomorrow. And it feels like maybe this is where we're at. I don't think Darvin Ham gets enough credit for the job he did, keeping that thing even remotely afloat. I mean, go into a season with

Pat Bev and Russell Westbrook as your guards. And say, okay, we're going to somehow eke out enough wins to when you do make all these deals, you're not completely out. You're not like you're not completely out of it. Right. Because I know

the injuries hit. That was a bad, unwatchable team. especially with AD and LeBron. That was just bad basketball. Yeah, it's going to be interesting. I'm sure everybody's going to be motivated to get off to a better start this season. Not that they were trying to lose last year, but. Yeah, but I think that added benefit of knowing what a strong start means down the road and like look if we can just correct that mess too we're putting we're setting ourselves up enough for a much better you know result at the end of the year yeah so the one thing i'll say so i i'm still shopping around

for my team now the sixers just fill me with nothing but dread um you know the sons are probably at the top just because of uh you, you know, knowing Frank Vogel, really liking him as a person. Um, they're being exciting. Um, you got to check them out a little bit too. Can you,

I mean, yeah, yeah, I got to, my dad was at their training camp, just kind of observing, giving Frank some feedback cause they've worked together for a number of years.

And, uh, I got to go down for 24 hours and sit in on one of their practices um kevin durant is tall like okay so he's not lying and they got kevin durant and devin booker so those are my big scoops from yeah yeah yeah yeah and how many points did you score you said did they let you on the court? It was a zero, but it was not for lack of putting up shots before security dragged me out of there.

Right, right, right. But it was pretty cool. It was a pretty cool experience. Yeah, it's funny because for your point about Darvin, like even the mention of Frank Vogel, I was like, oh man, yeah, what a time. But yeah, I do completely, I really do underrate the fact that he kept this thing together

when that, honestly, I think in retrospect is like an impossible proposition, but he did it. So respect to the handman. I've never successfully rooted against a LeBron team for a whole season. So it's always going to come back to me kind of pulling for the Lakers a little bit. Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, sure. We'd love to have you. Love to have you. Shall we talk about some of these ESPN rankings?

I mean, I guess. I mean, their rankings are always great for engagement in our business. Yeah. I feel like the same way on our other show, we always get incensed when people put out the top 90s hip-hop albums, like numbers 1 through 50

and we're like what are they doing they're like stankonia is not even on here um and that's what sort of these i feel like too yeah they're they're good they're good outrage bait for sure yeah i mean so on the players so they put out players they're they put out 100 through 51 rankings of players um and i think the only things that really jumped out to me was how bad their rankings were last year yeah like they had chris paul at number 21 the 21st best player in the league last season which seems uh very strong for him. Yeah, a lot of optimism, I think, in that one. Way too much optimism. Because now he's fallen, what, 55 spots?

Yeah. Like, I'm like, okay, he should have been 76. He should have been 76. I don't know. But, I mean, I guess he had been really good, like, through long stretches. But he just, like, felt like he didn't have enough gas in the tank to be 21 last year. That seemed like it was based on

just priors. Right. Chris Paul's got to be one of the best players in the league. But the other big thing, Franz Wagner is 52 this year, which feels about right. He wasn't ranked at all last season. is wild that feels

like a like they just forgot that he played in the nba or something because yeah yeah when he should have been in the top 100 um zion's at 57 he was 40 last year that feels too low to me but i don't know i mean i guess if you're taking health into it then maybe maybe that makes sense right right right what's jumping out for you guys i mean no that honestly that the percent going from 21 to 76 for chris paul i was like oh okay i mean that that that feels a little bit more like a reasonable correction i love seeing austin reeves getting in there it's from going from not at all to 66 i like the continued uh reeves assance that we're witnessing yeah uh but yeah like but other than that i mean it's i'm just sort of like okay we'll see you know if if any of this

makes sense these are kind of like the things like to jason's point we're like i've i will remember it in the moment i see it but I'm never coming back to this information in the season. I'm like, they had Reeves at a 66. Can you believe it? No one's talking about that. Well, well, well. I'm not going to say, you know, Kavon Looney was the 88th best player

and he shut down Sabonis, whatever number Sabonis is. Right, right, right. Yeah. Yeah, it's wild um what about these wind i think the wind projections were something that were i'm completely lost with like i don't know how how these wind totals are being uh adjudicated or predicted do what do what huh it's just all stats basically that we're going like, it feels like such a, there's some aggressive departures from even what the money people are saying in Vegas.

Yeah. Um, it's weird. So the Western conference predictions, they have landing in first place in the Western conference, the Memphis Grizzlies with a whopping 48 wins. That's the best record in the Western Conference.

At number two, the Timberwolves at 47. It feels like they just did a math equation and were like, all of the teams will have about the same number of wins. That is what we're looking at. And then arrange them how

you like. The Nuggets at 46, the Warriors And that's, that is what we're looking at. Um, and then arrange them how you like. Yeah. Then publish the nuggets at 46, the warriors and in fourth at 43, uh, the sons don't show up until fifth place and they are barely 500 at 43 and a half wins. Um,

the Pelicans come in six, the Kings and seventh, the Lakers squeaking into the play-in at eight with 41.5 wins, the Mavs at nine with also 41.5 wins. First of all, I don't think any of these teams are going to have half a win. That would be my first point.

Or how do you have a.2 win? That's what I'm saying. So this is already, the math doesn't check out. And then the Clippers at 40 wins. that's what I'm saying so this is already the math doesn't check out but I think to your point and then the Clippers at 41 so last season's last season's edition of these projections

they said were 60% accurate with the over under totals and like I don't know like to your point Jack if it does feel like they just had like chat GPT do it they're like use these stats now tell me what the rankings are going to be and they're like, yeah, yeah.

We got Memphis in there. Number one. Minnesota, two. There it is. Jason, what are you thinking? This is hilarious. How do you think it's hilarious? I mean, look at it.

The Warriors who got older and smaller. They're going to be in fourth spots ahead of the Lakers, but only two games in front of the Lakers. Right. Yeah. I mean, I guess they don't care that Jha's going to miss how many games. I know they can have a good record without him, but he's going to miss 25.

And isn't Tyus gone now? He wouldn't have a good record without him, but he's going to miss 25. His entire is gone now. Maybe they think Marcus Smart and Derrick Rose will have a renaissance. I don't know. Like I said, this is no. This feels like Marcus Smart getting a lot of love, but then when you go over to the Eastern Conference, the Celtics are the only team that they predict

will get over 50 wins this season. Has that ever happened? Has there ever been such parity in a league that only one team gets to 50 wins? That feels weird to me if that happened. All the rankings are weird to me. How does Minnesota, which couldn't figure out how Towns and Gobert even play together, put a second in the West?

Yeah. They figured it out. I feel like they haven't figured out how to do defense yet. defense yet and so gobert being a defensive stopper who like affects a lot around the rim gets over indexed and in things like these you know um and then he's like it turns out the fact that he makes your offense uh kind of stagnant and makes it so that Cat can't be on the floor because he can't guard the fours in the league. It's just these sorts of things, I used

to put more stock in them than I do these days. Jack, to round it out, they have the Cavs in second, 48.6 wins. Yeah, I wasn't expecting that. 48.5. Jack, the Sixers fourth 46.9 are you feeling that do you think you like this i can see them being fine i can see them in

fourth for sure i mean they're they'll be all right i wonder what the what was the vegas prediction that was it around this was it around 46 they dropped off I think they were like 44 yeah yeah yeah yeah so they dropped off and then yeah the Knicks 44.6 that's at 5th and 6th the Hawks almost 44 wins 7th Heat with 42.7 8th Raptors

same thing almost 43 wins the Nets 40 and then the Pacers 38 just almost 39 wins in 10th so we shall see will the ais come for our jobs i think that's what we will really find out uh depending on these these rankings in which case i might be the only ones who are going to have a actually normal win total because they've got 40 40.0 wins everybody else right right deal with fractions which is gonna be a first um yeah well we'll talk about statistics later it's kind of complicated

yeah but i don't know i would be really surprised if the grizzlies and the timber wolves were one and two in the west but that's me i'm crazy jason who's your one and two in the west and one and two in the east just from you know just from what Just from what you're feeling, what you're observing, what would you say? How would you correct this list? I was thinking the East is going to be the two best teams are going to be Boston and Milwaukee to me. Yeah, that seems easy. The West is trickier because I want to say the Lakers would be up there, and I want to say the Lakers would be up there and I want to say Denver,

you know, but then again, cause I also take into account the fact that I don't think that it's based on recent history that Phoenix, I don't think Katie plays, you know, 80 games. So that'll probably knock them down a peg.

I can't see the Clippers having those guys all together for an entire season. This has never happened. I just don't think the Warriors are as good as that projection is, you know, and I just think Memphis, I mean, I think it's going to, I think Memphis will be around there,

but I just can't, I think I'm going to go lean on the two teams that are in the conference finals. Right. You know, I think I, but I wouldn't be surprised to say if Denver went down to three, it wouldn't shock me. I mean, I think, you know, them losing, I think losing Brown was a big, it was going to be, that's not something to gloss over, kind of the role he played on that team. Right. That's always been kind of the downside.

When you win, everyone overpays your role players. Right. Yeah. Right. side when you win everyone overpays your role players right yeah i've always been a firm believer in the one of the worst things you can do as a gm is overpay a role player from a winning team right that guy looked that good because of the team he was on like nothing he's a bad player but if you're expecting him to be the guy you saw playing next to steph and clay or whoever was shack whatever right you know you end up with a guy making a gang of money and you're like well the guy you saw playing next to Steph and Clay or whoever it was, Shaq, whatever.

You end up with a guy making a gang of money and you're like, well, how come he's not as good as he was? Well, you don't have Jokic next to him. That's why. It's the context they were in. It's like, oh, man. Now there goes a ton of my cap space. For the West, I think I'm going Spurs, Thunder 1 two just based i don't know

if i'm uh just i don't know if i got money on the recency bias or what but spurs at number one spurs at number one okay see at number two yeah for you i'm gonna say uh okay see number one lakers two okay appreciate that yeah just just just so i can one for you one for me you know what i mean okay well let's take another break and we'll come back to close this thing out with the rapid fire round of questioning with close this thing out with extreme prejudice exactly right after this put your helmets and seat belts on folks it's gonna be. We'll be back. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports,

where we live at the intersection of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball

just because of one single game. Every great player needs a foil. I ain't really hear them voice. I just come here to play basketball every single day, and that's what I focus on. From college to the pros, Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Angel Reese is a joy to watch. She is unapologetically black. I love her.

What exactly ignited this fire? Why has it been so good for the game? And can the fanfare surrounding these two supernovas be sustained? This game is only going to get better because the talent is getting better. This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. All right, here we go.

It's Cam Jordan from New Orleans Saints here to tell you it's going down on season two of my podcast, Off the Edge with me, Cam Jordan. Can't stop it. You know what's going to happen. Can't stop it. That's right. Catch new episodes every Wednesday, all season long. That's what you look for in year 14 to do more. And I'll have my friends who happen to be some of the NFL's biggest stars. Join me on the pod. We'll give you a player's perspective of the biggest storylines,

trends, and did that really just happen moments from around the league. And you know, we'll have fun doing it. Oh, and I'll have a special guest each month month join me to mix it up a little bit who is it none other than psych you 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 iheartHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee.

No dumb hot takes here, just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game, every single week, but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media. That's Patrick Claibon, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now.

This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that Super Bowl window, why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that Super Bowl. I don't know why, Colleen. Catch the podcast, the NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal every day. 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.

the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we are back. Jason Jones, you're back on the show. And that means, obviously, you are back in the hottest seat in sports podcasting. It's time for the rapid fire round of questioning. Okay, so you know how this goes. I'm just going to ask you a question. Just give us instinctively your answer right back.

Don't, don't think too long about it. Don't hold up the segment because we'd like to go at lightning speed. And if you go slow, we're going to get mad at you and we might be rude, but because I respect you, I will just be passive aggressive, not so aggressively rude. Okay.

Sound good. That was good. Okay, good. Um um i think we're ready for this jack you're ready too yeah i think so do you feel like jason knows the temperature of the seat like do we need to do some metaphors like how hot the seat is i feel like the seat is like you know the car's been parked outside for an entire afternoon it's 3 30 in august oh yeah leather interior you're wearing the shortest of shorts yeah oh man some will call them daisy dukes even yeah and others would say those are marathon shorts yeah i think we're made of metal for some

reason yeah yeah so that's FYI, in case you're wondering how hot this seat is. Okay. And Jason, again, you've got to keep this segment moving, and we haven't even started, but again, just a warning.

You have to keep this moving. Brian, start the clock! Okay. All right. Jack, you going first? You going first? Who's going first? Yeah, yeah.

I think I should go first. All right. This feels like one that needs to come from me okay um i just feel like don't you think it should come from me like i yeah and looking at just how complex the just the whole question is of course i i can barely wrap my head around the question so yeah i think it's probably better for you to go. Jason, listen, thanks for coming here today. Thanks for taking the time. Sit down if you don't mind. Yeah, the seat is very hot.

Very hot. But I am going to ask you to sit down in it. I want to ask you, what's your boldest prediction for the upcoming NBA season? Boldest prediction? Oh, that's a tough one. Boldest. I'm like, something crazy.

Something crazy. Yeah. The Kings win a round in the playoffs. Wow. Okay. Okay. Is that bold? I don't know if that's bold.

Let's just go one more round than they did last year. Yeah. I mean, they haven't won a playoff round in, what, 17, 18 years? Yeah, sure, sure. So that's not really even bold, though. I think a bold one would be, I'm going to say OKC definitely makes the playoffs. Wow. And now we're talking.

And now I'm making money. Now that I'm warmed up, OKC definitely gets in. There we go. OK, he's warmed up, OKC definitely gets in. There we go. OK, he's warmed up. OKC gets in. Dallas does not. Dallas, man. I don't understand the Dallas thing.

People being like, they've got it this year. They figured it out this year. I don't know how. They feel like a team that should have made a coaching change, maybe. And should have maybe made a couple more changes. But people are really... The Grant Williams thing. They're like, this is going to make some differences around here.

I'm going to put them over the top. That was the issue last year. They didn't have Grant Williams. Right. My main thing is that the players on that team didn't seem annoyed enough they you know i feel like they would play better if they were super annoyed it's the white man can't jump uh logic of who plays the best you have to be annoyed by your teammate you find that extra gear and jason we got to keep this segment moving and i appreciate you know obviously the the thorough answer but we got to move to this next question all right jason jones

who is the best player you've ever witnessed in person and what did they do as you bore witness to that event best player in person shack and he just destroyed the entire golden state warriors front line and made them look like children. Like they were crying. They might as well have cried, yeah. Poor Eric Dampier. Oh no, Eric Dampier. Oh man, I hope he's okay.

I hope he's okay. I heard that Shaq guy was good. Would Shaq be the same answer for a player you feel like you need to see in person to fully appreciate? Yes. Yeah. Just the size. The grace.

Yeah. How big an athletic Shaq really is. That's the thing. It's like what he's known for. And yet, everybody I know who has met him in person is like, yeah, but like he's like really really he's way bigger than you think he's bigger than your mind can make sense of uh oh yeah yeah yeah because you go yeah like the people on the tv screen are big and tall and then you're in the presence of someone who's like is you know feet taller than you then yeah you're yeah it's a whole other thing it's a whole other thing all right

it's a whole other thing it's a whole other thing all right what is the most underrated nba city to visit and also what is your must-have meal in that town i'd say portland and there's a there's a restaurant now a truck now it's called la montage bistro they're like occasion food and they have like this macaroni and cheese. It's amazing. I would get the macaroni and cheese with like buffalo, like hot sauce and chicken in it. It's amazing. Oh, I appreciate the thorough answer.

So many times people are just like, oh, you got to try the food everywhere in one town. But you gave me a real dish. Where is it in New Orleans? Sorry, say that again. Can you describe it? It's macaroni and cheese. They have like all these different options. dish where is it sorry say that again can you describe macaroni and cheese with like it's like they have like they have like all these different options but the one i would get is the macaroni

and cheese with the chicken and the hot sauce and the blue cheese crumbles oh yeah and they're a food truck now so i don't know what they have in the food truck but they it was a restaurant i'd always hit post game in portland yeah okay i love wheels on that sucker and took it mobile yeah yeah yeah okay how about this jason because i got to keep this thing moving if you could have any player's skill set for a day whose skill set is it and what is it what skill specific and where are you using it? LA Fitness? 24 Hour Fitness? Does that look correctly? I would take Steph shooting.

And where are you taking it? Where are you taking it? I'm taking it to the playground to hustle people. Yeah. Oh, how would you do it? Would you put money on individual shots? Would you say like, hey, let's run some twos real quick? I mean, I got 300 bucks on me.

Anybody else? I'd run some twos because you look at me i look like a football player no one can pull up from 35 and hit shots so yeah that's what i do okay okay yeah i like it this is the first time actually that anyone has used the skill set to then articulate it's like oh and then i'm gonna hustle people yeah and then i'm going to commit fraud that's not fraud could you take someone to court they'd be like your honor this guy said he had no jumper and then he was just it was splash city from like 40 i couldn't believe what i was seeing so i do want my 35 dollars back i feel that i that's why i came to small claims court i don't know if you can claim that but then you

only have the skill set for a day. So the judge is like, all right, let's see the jumper and then it's no longer wet. And they're like, yeah, I'm like, come on. I just had a good day.

Your honor. I was dismissed. Please take your, please take your $35 and go, Mr. Jones. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. It's all a scam to get $35.

This one comes from, uh, the mind and fingertips, nimble fingertips of Super Producer Jabari, who says you can go back in time and permit either Nick Van Axel or Eddie Jones to stick with the Shaq-Kobe squads for those title runs. Which one are you choosing to take that ride? I'm keeping Eddie. Eddie. Okay.

He didn't need a point guard really in a triangle like that. So I'm thinking I'm keeping Eddie. Eddie Jones. I love to hear that. I think CJ, we asked CJ Toledano, and I think he picks St. Nick Van Excellent at the time. And I was heartbroken as an Eddie Jones fan. I was like, it's got to be Eddie.

It's got to be Eddie. It's got to be Eddie. Eddie's the guy I always say, man, I wish he could have got a ring with him. Oh yeah, for sure. I mean, he was my favorite player in that era and I was heartbroken that he wasn't there for that. Okay, next question and final question, Justin

Jones. You got to pick one. Ready? Jack or Miles? Wow. Jack. you gotta pick one ready yeah Jack or Miles wow mmm mm-hmm Jack yeah barely any hesitation Miles oh wow that was wow

yep you got that one that was a fair one strong and that was a fair one that was a fair one what can I say you made the wrong choice, but I appreciate it. Hey, anyone who will still claim the Sixers, I got to respect. Yeah, Jesus. Hey, okay.

We love that. Criminate. More so for the amusement of it, because I have a few friends. Oh, boy. And I just enjoy watching their like utter misery and just they it's like the most angry just fan

base of all my NBA fan friends yeah yeah just like broken down emotionally just yeah not not not feeling great the bruck up as they say. Well, Jason Jones, thank you so

much for joining us on Miles & Jack. I'm Mad Boost. He's working people. Find you and read you, support your work, all that. You can find me on theathletic.com. I'm the lead culture writer there. And whatever it's called now, whatever, ex-Twitter, I'm

Mr. Jason Jones. On Instagram, I'm Mr. underscore Jason Jones. On Instagram, I'm Mr. Jones LBC and the LBC stands for Long Beach, California. There you go. There we go. Tell them. Let them know. Let them know. And also, before we go out, we want to shout out some of our listeners of the week. We are asking some of y'all, who is your league pass

team for this upcoming season? At Dr. Macademic says, OKC will be his league pass team. this upcoming season at dr macademic says okc will be here baby yeah uh former guest warren shaw at shaw sports nba said okc and the kangs will be his league pass teams okay okay at greg smith rival says the bucks are a must watch obviously and raul duke's cell says he'll be tuning in for the Pacers magic and OKC. Well, that's three teams, but hey, I get it. He's got three names.

Raul Dukes cell. OK, you're right. So maybe I forgive my ignorance role for that. You know, like I usually tweet from my cellular telephone and that's why this is Raul Dukes cell. You got Raul Dukes cell.

How can I help you? That's what he does when you tweet at him. Shout out Raul. Hello, this is Raul Duxel. Make sure you follow us on Twitter. You can find me at Miles of Gray. Jack, where they find you? Sorry, real quick. What is your answer?

My number one is going to be the Spurs. I can't get enough of this one being i'm a kid uh do you guys have answers you're i can't get enough of this grady dick kid so it's going to be the toronto rafters yeah okay i mean i can't get enough of his draft day suit although you know the tbd of how much how much i'll actually be able to see him so i I think for me, it's probably Wemby. And as I was saying before we recorded, and the Kings too, you know? I got a little corner in my heart where I like to see the boys in purple do something. It's so condescending.

You can't be nice to another NBA team without being so condescending. I am being nice. I think it's fantastic. I would love to see them do good. It would be cute, you know, before we demolish them. There's a very LA thing, how Laker Nation refers to every other

team in California. Yeah. Yeah, it's like when the Warriors started going, we were like, oh, we're so happy for you. Oh, I'm glad. Little brother, you finally did something. Oh, y'all got a couple. That's cool. That's cool. Oh, hey, man, help me with this. I'm kind of old. Can you help me hang number 18 up?

Okay, thanks so much. Thank you so this. I'm kind of old. Can you help me hang number 18 up? Okay. Thanks so much. Thank you so much. Congratulations. You guys can stop wearing our Laker jerseys and wear your own. Yeah. You can put the Kobe jersey away. Also, make sure to follow us at hashtag MadBoosties.

You know, check out all the show links and updates from there. That's going to do it for us this week. Obviously, we're going to be back with even more fun because we can talk about people playing the game again. So we'll see you then. All right. Peace and blessings. Bye. Bye.

Bye. I'm Kerry 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 I heart radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast presented by capital one, founding partner of I heart women's sports. I'm Carrie champion. And this is season four of naked sports up first. I explore the making of a rivalry, Caitlin 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. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee.

The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolfe. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.