The Daily Zeitgeist - NY BACK and Playoff Talk with Jared Greenberg

Episode Date: March 9, 2023

Jack and Producer Jabari were joined by NBA TV and TNT's sideline reporter Jared Greenberg on the latest episode. They discussed the blazing-hot Knicks, Mikal Bridges and other potential breakout candidates and the playoff races.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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. Well, well, well, we are back. The NBA, full steam. The MVP debate is heating up as teams continue to jostle for playoff position.

Basketball is back in New York City. The Knicks are officially the hottest team in the league. We have a new team atop the Eastern Conference. I'm not going to tell you which one it is. It's a cliffhanger. It's a tease, as we call that. There's some movement throughout the Western Conference. Jabari kept it nice and vague.

We're not going to say if it's the Lakers necessarily, but we'll get into it all. Plenty more with NBA TV and TNT sideline reporter Jared Greenberg on today's podcast. I'm Jack O'Brien. And I'm Jabari in from Miles. And this is Miles and Jack

got mad boosties. Jared Greenberg, NBA analyst, sideline reporter, host of Crunch Time, the NBA's version of Red Zone, which you can get on the NBA app. They need to put that on the NBA TV as well if they haven't already because that gets me excited. I've been begging for an NBA version of the Red Zone. You can also catch him on tonight's TNT golden state warriors,

Memphis grizzly broadcast. It's Jared Greenberg. Jared, welcome to the show. Thanks so much for having me fellows. Excited to talk with you. Yeah. So are you still a Nets fan?

Are you, have you had the fandom professionally drilled out of you? Yeah, I think so. You're at that point. I think we all root for good games, but no overtime. That's the rule. That's right.

Right down to the buzzer, and as long as it doesn't keep us up any later or at work any later. But no, I mean, I grew up a New Jersey Nets fan, as I was telling you guys before we came on, back when I was fighting off fans, because the only other people in the building with me were people coming to watch mj or patrick ewing and the knicks or shack and the magic they used to just eat at me so much but now you know being covering the nba for as long as i have um man it's kind of desensitized me a little bit yeah do you used to i remember

going catching the the bus out of that that big bus station which i've it's been so long since port authority yeah uh to to go out to the meadowlands uh back in the day and man that was that was a trek a grim ride sometimes they did not make it easy to go watch games at the metal land they're like you want to watch the nets what do you want to do that for well we are back to those days perhaps because the knicks are hot nine and oh since the trade deadline as of this recording uh jaylen brunson and julius Julius Randall have been excellent. And deadline edition, Josh Hart looks just like the perfect New York Nick right now.

It's exciting. I was saying before, I'm just happy. Like I am still a Sixers fan, but I have that internal, I just want to see good games. I want to see what's most, what makes the league most fun to watch. And having the Knicks be one of the best teams playing right now is exciting.

No, I agree. I think the Knicks fans kind of got fooled and teased a little bit a couple of years ago when they made the playoffs and they got punted out of the first round by the Hawks and what Ty young did to him but they they seem like a more complete team this year and uh julius randall it just feels more legitimate than it did a couple of years ago um you know i was i was all in on julius a couple years ago and then felt like really let down last year when he had as bad of a year as he did and i actually talked to him a couple of weeks ago about it remember i mean he was like fighting with the fans he was fighting with opponents he was fighting with the referees it was real content uh contentious and

and he flat out told me that like he knew where his game was he had to get his head right and he took the opportunity to do that and he took some really cool steps to do that this past summer and and now i think jalen brunson has brought out the best of him i think you know a lot of people me included didn't believe that jalen brunson as good as we've seen him be in dallas we didn't know that he was capable of being like a franchise difference maker or could he be the best player on a team that was really good um and i think we, and I'm as guilty as anybody, we didn't recognize the intangible factor of how much of a leader he is and how polarizing he could be in a locker room.

And listen, I don't want to take anything away from Julius Randle's hard work, but I think if we're going to point to how Julius Randle went from where he was last year to where he is this year, a lot of credit has to go to Jalen Brunson. Yeah. I had the narrative in my head that, okay, the Knicks from two years ago were a flash in the pan type, or, you know,

they were the aberration and like they're, they're going back to being borderline playing team. And then the, this past run, it's starting to feel like, Oh, maybe last season's kind of off year was the aberration. And like, this is who Julius Randall is. This is who the Knicks can be, especially now that they've added Brunson. Because I think a lot of people were looking for them to make the home run swing move in the off season to get them into contention. And they seemed very confident that Jalen Brunson was the guy to get them to a place where they're now in the conversation. They're now at a place where you're in Miami and all of a sudden, let's go Nets or

let's go Knicks cheers are ringing out. That was exciting. That was cool to see. I didn't know the Knicks fans traveled like that. Well, yeah, they do, absolutely. But I also want to pump the brakes a little bit, too. I don't want to pour water on this whole thing, but listen, it's a great story it's really cool i give jalen brunson a whole lot of props i think what julius randall's been

able to do whether it's above the shoulders or below the shoulders whatever um and give tom thibodeau a lot of credit because he gets a lot of crap so give him a lot of credit but i i also think nick fans have an issue of like um compartmentalizing things right like this this is good now this is good but like i also wouldn't be surprised if the knicks lost in the first round of the playoff like i i don't i think we have to be careful about where where we have these conversations because like anytime we talk about a team in new york it's like all or nothing and we have these conversations. Because anytime we talk about a team in New York, it's like all or nothing. And we have to recognize that it's really good. They're taking a huge step in the right direction.

They're building something. But they are miles away from where the top echelon teams are in the Eastern Conference. Now, to that point, is it a matter of simply, and Jack and I were discussing this before the show, we haven't seen Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson do it together. Like, is it a, is it a, we don't believe you, you need more people situation or is it, you know, situational, you know, you just don't like how they, how they would match up against some of the other teams. Sorry. I'm just

deleting the four paragraphs I had about how the Knicks are the new championship favorite. Give me one second, but you can go ahead and answer Jabari's question. No, I think number one, and I think this is fair, like Julius Randle for all of his success this year, and heck, the guy may make another all-NBA team like he did a couple of years ago, but he's got to prove that what he does is winning basketball in the playoffs. And clearly what we saw was it's awfully predictable in the playoffs the last time we saw him there. A team like the Hawks were able to take him to school and embarrass them, literally embarrass them.

So for me, it's number one, can Julius become less predictable once the playoffs roll around? And two, who else is there? What's amazing about the Knicks' success this year, if you would have told me that the knicks were going to be where they are now at the beginning of the season i would have told you that that rj barrett is in the most improved player conversation that rj barrett is this this and that and he's not and they're getting performances from guys like

quentin grimes on the defensive end emmanuel quickly you know occasionally going off like he did the other night uh mitchell rob defensively, what he's able to do. But where is that other offense coming from in a playoff series where teams have 48 hours between games to get ready for you? And we saw the last time that the Knicks, and listen, they're a different team now. So I don't want to say, but I'm just not ready to put them in a place that's beyond where they are right now because we don't know, come playoff time, how Julius Randle, R.J. Barrett, and any of these other supporting cast players are going to react. I think that's fair.

If we're being honest, Knicks fans are much like Lakers fans, and I'll raise my hand. It's all or nothing, man. It's either we're going to win a title or it's the worst thing in the world or you know the sky is falling so i get it yeah i mean the thing that makes them dangerous to me like i'm having just like based on cognitive biases i'm having a hard time taking them and the kings seriously uh for the postseason and with the kings i i can look at the fact that they don't really defend that well, right? Like they aren't a great defensive. Yeah. They're a bad defensive team. And,

um, that usually doesn't play very well in the, in the playoffs, the Knicks defend. Like, I mean, that's, that is the one thing you're always going to get with the Thibodeau

team. And that does make them a little scarier to me. I don't want to see them in a, like my, my brain doesn't want to see them in a, in a playoff series but my like gut is still stuck in like yeah but there's still the knicks like six years will take them out but the the julius randall uh game winner against miami was one of the worst looking game

like not not the shot itself but just the play well the shot wasn't it wasn't the yeah it's not the basket fading to the right thing to the right having just lost it twice in a row it was just one of those shots that never goes in and then and then it went in runs and tied up finds randall throws it low randall gets it back eight seconds to go randall on the drive stripped by butler randall gets it back. Eight seconds to go. Randall on the drive. Stripped by Butler. Randall gets it back. Randall puts up a three.

Bang! Bang! Randall knocks down the three with seven-tenths of a second remaining. Alright. And then quickly, Emmanuel quickly put up 38-8-7. Double overtime win over the Celtics. Very street reminds me a little bit of maxi.

Uh, and they were, you know, played together in Kentucky, hit out in Kentucky, uh, and then, and then,

you know, got drafted too late, but has there been a player with a better name game match than Emmanuel quickly? Well, the Aaron Fox is pretty good too right yeah yeah clever fast yeah just knows for the yeah that's a good one i'd really i'm surprised by myself i hadn't really thought about that that's a good one jack yeah rarely they rarely match up so well and finally we just got this tweet from tommy beer on uh the last week for the Knicks. And this is a good question.

So the tweet Monday, Tatum rage quits and blow out win over Celtics Wednesday, Brunson with 30 points in first half and brutal beat down a Brooklyn Friday, the double bang game winner by Randall to beat Miami Sunday IQ scores, 48 in double OT thriller in Boston. By the way, you don't have to give him a new nickname his last name is quickly and he's quick so we can just stick with that you don't need to call him

iq that's that's a good that's a good nickname too if his name wasn't quickly uh and then the end of the tweet best week for nicks since question marks it's got to be like 2013 yeah i was gonna say that that mellow year the mellow year and even then like i don't know if they had a run like that this is a part of being an nba fan like as a sixers fan we haven't had a lot of fun in the in the postseason over the past decade or two decades or so but like when your team is on a run in the regular season like playing meaningful games and and putting putting up big wins like that. And everybody's getting excited.

That is about as fun as any experience as an NBA fan. I feel like, cause you, you don't have the, in the playoffs, there's almost always, unless your team actually wins it, there's always the reality of fate closing in to make,

make those memories sour. But with, with something like that, the Sixers had that time during Ben Simmons' rookie year where Embiid went down with an injury. No way. And Ben, come on, man. What?

Broke his face. Are you sure? No. And then Simmons took over, and he was a rookie, and the sky was still the limit. It was like oh my and they won like you know 16 in a row or something heading into the playoffs that was about as as much fun as I've had as a as an NBA fan so I don't know all right let's talk about

Mikael Bridges which since he's been traded to the Nets, he's already had more 30-point games in eight games with the Nets than he did in 365 games with the Suns. Was it three with the Nets and one with the Suns? I think that's right. Yeah. And we sometimes see players on a new team. I mean, I'm not going to say he's James Harden, but it was like when Harden was suddenly with Houston,

the focal point of the offense and you saw like, oh wow, this is, this is way better than what we were like kind of banking for him, for, for this team. What do we think Mikael Bridges ceiling? Well, I think on a team that is not expected to win a championship, I think he could be a leading scorer and turn into a guy that we should have already put in the conversation for one of the top two-way players in the league. We know how locked down he could be defensively. Although, it'll be interesting to see because the Nets' defense has been atrocious since these guys came over. And the crazy part about it is I was with the Nets the day of the trade deadline when they got rid of Kyrie and I'm sorry, when they got rid of Durant. And I was talking to a bunch of people

and the one hope was, especially with Jock Vaughn being the head coach, this team really fit Jock Vaughn because you had so many defensive-minded players. You're starting five and this didn't even include ben simmons because you you know you didn't know where he fit in but if you include ben simmons like guys like mikhail bridges dorian finney smith nick claxton even spencer dimwitty

to a certain extent these guys have a focus of defense ben simmons obviously right so they should if nothing else just be a really good defensive team and they are not either and i think it speaks to the point of just how elite the offense is in the nba right now maybe that's more than anything else but the way i would think the nets are envisioning it is that one day mikhail bridges is like their second offensive option but still their best defensive player i don't know and you know we saw this with kawwhi for a little bit um a little bit in San Antonio before he got hurt a little bit in Toronto but they kind of backed off because of how they'd want to put too much stress on him can you be a team's number one offensive option ask to score you know somewhere between 24 and 28 points a game and also be a lockdown defender on every possession.

Like, think about it. I mean, even the great defenders like Kawhi and Giannis, the guys who are great offensive players and are all equally as good defensively, don't often for 40 minutes get asked to take on that responsibility, at least in the regular season. Yeah. Is there an ideal type of player or even specific player to pair him with moving forward is it a is it a defensive big like you said if if he can you know kind of slide into the second slot from a scoring perspective you know is it a scoring point guard what is the most ideal is the guy who runs the show like ben simmons you know who can just like rip off 20 games in a row dude i i don't know it's obviously ben simmons it's hurt right now um and i you know i don't want to take any shots at him with him being hurt but like

it's weird what's going on with him in the nets like there's a lot of stuff behind the scenes that i don't think we know about because like the day the trade was made and ben simmons should have been the starting point guard they had him coming off the bench at the backup five again and it's just it's weird and you know, I worked with Stan Van Gundy that game. He made the point, like, if there's ever a time when the pressure's gone, there's no Kyrie, there's no KD, you know, yes, this organization still wants to make the playoff. They have no reason, no motivation, no draft capital to miss the playoff.

But let's just go and throw all of our chips to the center of the table and see what we got. Like, now's the time where we can play up-tempo basketball. Like you were talking about that year in Philadelphia, where Brett Brown just said, let's run, let's run every possession. Let's take advantage of our speed and our athleticism.

And the Nets are like, ah, no, Ben Simmons is still going to be our backup five. So that to me was a little concerning, but yeah, I would think with bridges, like, you know, every good team, I think needs a really good facilitator and a guy that, five yeah so that to me was a little concerning but um yeah i would think with bridges like you

know every good team i think needs a really good facilitator and a guy that that is a great playmaker and a great decision maker yeah in terms of people who have shown us something this season and who we feel like we might be seeing some things from in the next couple years so now mikhail bridges is on my radar as like this this dude could be making a leap in the next couple years so now mikhail bridges is on my radar as like this this dude could be making a leap in the next couple years halliburton obviously um anyone else that you've seen something from this year that you feel like you're buying stock in in this person to be a superstar like uh jabari i think you were saying Ant? Yeah, I mean, obviously Ant's been fantastic this year once he was able to settle in and get it going,

but it feels like there's still at least another level as he continues to develop. I'm just wondering, like, you know, the bust-out guys that could be coming over the next few years. Yeah. I think Anthony Edwards is a great one. The one I'm leaning towards is kind of like this Sacramento duo. Like, we've known that Sabonis is good, but we're like,

yeah, he can't be that good. Sure. But he's the reason why they're in third place in the West, right? And De'Aaron Fox has had a pretty darn impressive year as well. Yeah. Another one that's going to be interesting to see in the playoffs here, if he can stay healthy, is we always said if michael porter jr stays on the court he could be a great player and when he's been on the court this year he's had a really good

year i mean that aaron gordon's had his most efficient year in the nba um trying to think who else i'm i'm gonna have somebody in my mind here and then after the show i'm gonna be like ah should have said that guy yeah we'll put it out to the timeline yeah uh all right let's take a quick break we'll come back we'll talk about some of the best performances we finally got to see the uh the sons in their fullness and it was pretty it's pretty intriguing uh so we'll talk about that when we come back. Lucha Libre is known globally because it is much more than just a sport and much more than just entertainment. Lucha Libre is a type of storytelling. It's a dance. It's tradition.

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And we're back. And I'm just going to say this was one of the most fun weeks of basketball. Like this past Sunday's run of games was a blast. There was a game where the Philadelphia 76ers played the Milwaukee Bucks and prevailed. It snapped the 16-game winning

streak, I think. It came from behind. I enjoyed it. It was a Grace and Allen game, which the fans are always clamoring for anytime you can see that guy go off. Seriously, put up 20 in the third quarter. Brooke Lopez, Giannis looked great. Embiid had 31, I think. James Harden had 38. It's what is starting to

make me feel like, not necessarily that the Sixers are getting out of the second round, because I feel like that's where they they're not allowed actually it's in the it's in the bylaws of the franchise page 178 yeah they're not they're not permitted to get out of the second round but they are for the first time since I've been a Sixers fan winning games at the end that they don't have any right to win. It used to be a thing where they would give the game away at the end and you'd go into any fourth quarter where you were only up by 10 points being like, oh, this isn't going to be good. And now they're closing really strong. They have some really good clutch stats. So that was fun to see. And then they had just a barn burner against the Pacers

where they won 147-143 in regulation. Embiid had 42, Harden dished out 20 assists. Halliburton 40-16 in the loss. But it's the 11th time Embiid has scored 40 or more this season. Like just taking everything out of the MVP conversation, which I think is getting a little overheated uh i'm just enjoying another pretty phenomenal mb season right now jared let me ask you this i've been trying to convince jack now jack is a cautiously optimistic

fan and i and i respect and appreciate that because you know deep pessimistic i would say okay you know what i didn't want to put that on you but yes but i've been trying to convince him that this year they look different and i you know whether it's uh his his sixers and by by different meaning like i don't have to squint as hard to convince myself that they could make it beyond the second round well let me ask you a question then for people listening in their car or at work or wherever in the gym pumping some iron why does jack have sunglasses on that have rosy colored? Why does he need to wear those sunglasses on this podcast? Hey, man, this is just a look.

It's a vibe that I'm putting out. He's protecting his peace. Joel Embiid is playing like an MVP, regardless of where you put him in there. If James Harden is playing at this level, and then you have Tyrese Maxey playing at this level, and then they get Tobias Harris back. Could you see a path where they could make a deep run finally? Yeah.

I mean, listen, before we even talk about the Sixers, I mean, there are holes in the two clear-cut favorites in the conference, right? Like Milwaukee's had their issues this year, although they don't feel like they have very many of them right now. And Boston clearly is going through something major right now. But I would say this, like my biggest thing with the Sixers, and this is kind of almost like my conversation that I had with you about the Knicks, but just the same but very different.

Like James Harden missed Tuesday night's game, right, with an injury. And Jack, you know better than me as a lifelong diehard sixer fan here like every time things are important there's a joel and beat injury there's a reason why he's out he's fractured his face in two different playoff runs yeah like i don't know how that happened and i'm not criticizing him i'm not saying anything but a big He's just got a breakable face. His face is just that Mr. Glass quality. This is

a dumb statement. The Sixers need Embiid. They need Harden. They need Harden to be at his best. When it comes to the playoffs, Embiid, more times than not, has missed a game in a playoff series throughout his career james harden has not shown up in playoff series regularly throughout his career uh so like those

things you know just make me wonder now i'll say this you know sneaky some sneaky moves that daryl morey made like this jaylen malen McDaniels move. Let him into this starting lineup on Monday night. That was impressive. I would say I'm giving the Sixers a sliver of hope because right now, today as we speak, I have some doubt in the Boston Celtics who I thought would be the clear-cut favorite

in this conference. And while I'm feeling really good about the Bucs, they're not the 2016 warriors. Yeah. And even the 2016 warriors clearly found a way to lose. So anybody's beatable. The issue though,

is if, if the Celtics find their way, if Jason Tatum finds his shooting stroke, first of all, he's got to get back on the court, hurt his knee the other night. And he can find a consistent shooting. Like this has been really weird with Tatum.

And I think this has gone undercover. Is Jason Tatum's shooting I think this has gone undercover. Is Jason Tatum's shooting slumps that he goes in and out of this year. It's just really bad. But as we stand today, like the Sixers will have to face one of those two teams in the second round of the playoffs. Yeah. That's the thing is like,

I I'm frustrated that they don't get to the Eastern conference finals. That means you're one of the final two teams in the East. Like that's, and the East is really good this year. That hasn't been the case last year. That hasn't always been. Yeah, that's true.

But like that, it's a tough year to be like, got to get it out of the second round. So like Eastern conference finals are bust. Cause you know, Cleveland is tough. Even though I think, I think the six are just match up pretty well against better than most teams

against the bucks. But I think they just if they face the Celtics in a seven game series it's over for them. They just can't beat the Celtics. Period. Alright. It is that time Jabari.

Anthony MF Davis second of his name leads the Lakers to victory over a Warriors team with Steph back in the mix. The Lakers are 6-3 since the trade deadline. LeBron's only played in three of those games. Been without D'Lo since February 23rd,

but they're finding a way to claw back. I still am very intrigued by this team. What say you? Yeah, I mean, the trade deadline made a lot of sense for them. And for as much as we've crapped down Rob Blinko over the years, a.k.a. LeBron, the de facto GM, they did an amazing job this year. Listen, I don't think, I think some of the players' name,

like we do like this thing during the trade deadline or in the offseason when a team gets a guy and we're like name recognition, all of a sudden we're polarizing. Like we know this guy, do we know him for good or bad or indifferent? Always good. Right. The thing about this Laker team is these aren't like all stars that came to

the Lakers. Although D'Angelo Russell one time was an all-star, but they got guys that make sense around LeBron and Anthony Davis. And if this injury to LeBron had happened without those trade deadline moves, the Lakers ship is sunk, right? Dead. And the other part of it too is like,

there's a reason like why there's all these teams fighting. Like nobody's very good. Like Dallas is not very good. The Clippers, yeah, they could be good. Like the Clippers could win a championship or miss the playoffs. Who knows? Utah, Utah, not very good., they could be good. Like, the Clippers could win a championship or miss the playoffs. Who knows? Utah, Utah, not very good.

Portland, not very good. Perilkin, not very good. The Thunder, not very good, right? Like, there's a reason why all these teams are in this conversation for, again, and let's remember, for as much as LeBron moaned about the play-in a couple of years ago, if not for the play-in... Saving grace. Right.

The Lakers are out of this whole thing. And, you know, so listen, the Lakers have a very favorable schedule coming down the stretch. I think until they face Phoenix on March 22nd, if I have that right, they don't face another team that is, well, I guess the Knicks on March 22nd.

Yeah, that became a tough game all of a sudden, right? All of a sudden, that's a tough game. But they don't have teams, particularly on the road, they don't have to face teams that are in contention here until the end of March. So there's a path for the Lakers absolutely to get where they want to go. They just need Anthony Davis, or as you called him, another name, he needs to absolutely be a beast. He needs to be a guy that is so good over the final 18 or so games of the season that people are saying, well, why wasn't he in the MVP conversation?

It's a bad conversation to have. It's an ignorant conversation, but there needs to be so much recency bias in the play of Anthony Davis over the last three weeks of this season that we are saying, wow, this guy's too good to keep off the MVP belt. Yeah, they have to catch Utah as one of the teams in front of them, Portland, and those are all teams with very difficult schedules coming down the stretch. So I think they have a shot. Yeah, and as your resident Anthony Davis fan,

I will acknowledge, I agree, but we go game to game over here. We're not even thinking about it in terms of the last three weeks. I can't even go weeks at a time, game to game, just be that guy. I 100% agree. Well, I mean, let's just face it here. I was told, I don't know if weeks at a time game to game. Just be that guy. A 100% agreed. Well, I mean,

let's just face it here. Like I was told, I don't know if you guys heard this report I did on TNT last week. I was told by the coaching staff that not only was it expected, but it was anticipated that Anthony Davis would play last Tuesday at Memphis. And then Wednesday in Oklahoma city, the coaching staff fully expected and anticipated that he would be able to play, and he would play.

Well, all of a sudden, game day comes, second night of a back-to-back, he's not playing. Lakers have back-to-back coming up at New Orleans, at Houston. Now listen, at Houston should be a winnable game without Anthony Davis, but there's a reason why you're battling for the 10th spot in the West, because you're not that good. You need your best player to play.

Then they've got another back-to-back at Utah at the Clippers. He's got to play. You've got two more back-to-backs. You can't afford to lose any of these. If Anthony Davis is not playing these games, then you know why you're going to miss the play-in. I do my best not to be the sky is falling guy, but I will say that over the next, you know, over that three week period that you just mentioned, if I'm the Lakers organization, and this is obviously not based on any reporting, this is just my opinion, but if I'm the Lakers organization, and this is, you know, talking about a guy that one of my favorite players in the league, I have to look at him and say, well, can you do it or can you not? Can we, can you be

trusted? Can you be leaned upon? Can you be expected to give us 20 solid games that you know you're down the stretch of a must win you know scenario and if you can't then i have to you know we have to at least consider what you know what this roster looks like moving forward yep and then finally just the the mad sons game was a blast uh luca kairi kd booker just a just fun back and forth game KD Dagger uh Luca missed the bunny and then you know the double techs I enjoyed it thoroughly Wayne Wright with eight to shoot back to KD with six Durant driving on Hardaway pull-off jumper Durant got it and Phoenix has a two-point lead I've never pulled for the Suns in just a stray game. I catch a stray game.

It's just always been. I don't really care. I usually find myself at a gut level pulling for whoever they're playing against. And now I'm on the Suns bandwagon because KD, LeBron, those are my guys. They're generationally some of my favorite players that I've ever watched. And I didn't know if I was going to be able to pull myself onto the bandwagon. I did it, though.

I'm aboard. I'm excited. You feel good about yourself? I feel great. I feel awesome. What do you guys think, though? Did you learn anything? Yeah, I mean, it has a chance to be freaking awesome in phoenix

um yeah i'm not just saying this like i'm not saying this like on behalf of the nba because they don't pay my check but like there's got to be some integrity into the 82 games of a season and i just find it very hard to believe even the best of the best players can pull it together over 15 games and just go win a championship after that it just to me there's something it's not a video game right not has it ever happened has has a mid-season trade ever resulted in a championship Detroit right yeah with Wallace but I mean that but he also wasn't their first second or third offensive option right it's like we already have a very solid team, and all of a sudden you throw a sheet.

You throw a hungry sheet in the mix. Well, NBA action, it's fantastic. Let's take a quick break. We'll be back for the fastest segment in podcasting. Jared, I hope you're ready. I hope you did some neck stretches because these questions are going to be pinging past your head just at a rapid rate. We'll be right back.

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behind this spectacular sport from its inception in the United States to how it became a global symbol of Mexican culture. We'll learn more about some of the most iconic heroes in the ring. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask as part of my Cultura Podcast Network on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream 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,

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And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, here we go. It's Cam Jordan from New Orleans Saints, here to tell you it's going down. On season two of my podcast, Off the Edge with me, Cam Jordan. Can't stop it. You know what's going to happen.

Can't stop it. That's right. Catch new episodes every Wednesday, all season long. That's what you look for in year 14, to do more. No days off. And I'll have my friends, who happen to be some of the NFL's biggest stars, join me on the pod. We'll give you a player's perspective of the biggest storylines, trends, and did that really just happen moments from around the league. And you know we'll have fun doing it.

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

or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. And cue the – do we have theme music for this segment? We do. Start the clock. Start the music. Let's go. Kick on the rapid fire theme

brought to you by John Williams. We did spend the entire annual budget of the show on John Williams making a rapid fire. It's not a good match. I gotta say. I don't know why we went with the guy who made the Star Wars theme for something that's supposed to be up-tempo and focused.

But that's what we did. Jared, we're going to be asking you questions. We don't want you to even think about it. It's just the fastest first gut reaction. Jabari just made a sound that was supposed to be lasers, I guess. It was a Star Wars laser. It was lasers-ish. Lasers-y. And Jabari is going to kick it off for us. It was a Star Wars laser. It was lasers-ish. Lasers-y.

And Jabari is going to kick it off for us. Jabari, take it away. All right, let's just cut the nonsense. Jared. Cut the nonsense, Jared. First of all, cut the nonsense, all right? Hold on, hold on. Give me a second.

Get serious here. All right, I'm ready. Cut your nonsense. I'm ready. Jared, you can go back in time and be on the broadcast of any single NBA game throughout history. Which game are you choosing? Game 7, 2016 NBA Finals. Okay.

Game 7. The block. You got it all. The block, the shot, comeback. I love it. And it was a rock fight there for a little while. So you got to feel that. You know, it's what a game.

Yep. Best NBA city based solely on the food new york oh okay i i always figure people are going to say new orleans here but i guess it's a matter of you know okay okay i got you all right jared it's time for it let me get your boldest play-in or post-season prediction my boldest post-season prediction yes the golden state warriors will make the western conference final oh wow okay the exact opposite of last week's uh boldest post-season prediction who somebody said they won't even get out of the plan aaron edwards he said he said they're gonna get knocked out you know first game to play in okay what do you think

is gonna come together for them well i them? What really needs to come together? Listen, I know they have Okay, here's a different question. What has fallen apart for them that has put them in this position where I'm surprised by you saying they'd be in the Western Conference final? I just think what stuns me about the Warriors,

what's different about them from last year winning a championship to this year is these things. Gary Payton II, Otto Porter, Nemanja Belica, and a little bit more of Andre Goddard. To me, once the playoffs roll around, I get that those three guys actually played a pivotal role for the Warriors. But Jonathan Kaminga, if you watched him the last couple of weeks, balling. Clay Thompson is actually putting together two better months than he's ever had in his career, like ever, ever.

Forever, ever? And Steph Curry is just getting back. Yeah. I feel like a lot of what I think we're going to see in these West playoffs is a lot of teams trying to find their identity once it counts the most. And the Warriors know who they are. Yeah. Right?

Like, Denver, for as much as they've been in the postseason the last few years, like, not with this group playing at this level with this expectation. Memphis, no. And who the heck knows if Memphis is going to have their best player in the playoffs. Sacramento has never been here. Phoenix, as constituted, has never been here. Is Chris Paul going to be healthy? What are they going to get from their supporting cast? Minnesota's never been here. Dallas, never been here. We don't like their supporting cast. Clippers, is Kawhi going to take a game off in the playoffs because he doesn't feel like playing? There's a lot of questions about a lot of teams, and I get that the Warriors have left a lot of doubt in people's minds,

but when it comes down to it, I am taking the five-man unit of Steph, Clay, Wiggins, once he gets back, and he will be back soon, Draymond with Looney, and Jordan Poole coming off the bench, Dante DiVincenzo coming off the bench. I'm taking that seven-man group against any seven-man group in the West. Wow. That's a really good point. And, you know, we're usually being jokey in this segment,

but that's a great point and one that I probably should have considered, you know, prior to now. You know, shout out to former guest Ben Goliver. He made the point that no NBA. He likes nature, Ben. He loves nature. He does. He does.

Numbers, too. But, no, he pointed out that there hasn't been a repeat conference finalist over the last four seasons. And that would mean that, obviously, Golden State would be the first to do so. Yeah. Sorry to slow down this segment. I just got passionate there. No, that's perfect. Passion spills over sometimes.

It happens. For whatever reason, this past week, the Nuggets have started to make sense to me as the team coming out of the west oh i'm still there don't get me wrong i'm yeah i'm with you there but like have you ever felt less good about saying that about a conference champion i have like they for for some reason like i was i was out like i was at that place where i was like well it can't be the nuggets right like it's not like they as good as they look in the regular season, we've seen them in the playoffs, and it hasn't worked out.

Just something about, there's been some articles about their metrics in the clutch being some of the best in the league, and they've just started to feel like this powerhouse. And they're also seven games out in front. It's not even close. I mean, I guess that was the case with the Suns at some points last season. Is the clock still ticking?

Yeah, yeah. Start the clock, Brian. All right. If you could trade one player currently in the NBA for the number one pick next year, so Wenbin Yama, would you? And who would it be? Jesus. So I would have to be the team Wemby Yama, would you, and who would it be? Jesus. So I would have to be the team getting Wemby Yama. You have the number

one pick, let's say. And you can trade for a single player in the NBA right now. Ready for this? Yeah. This is called a timely take. John Morant. Wow. I love it. The fact that it's even a question is crazy just a from

a women's perspective like no nobody really like i mean yeah there's probably somebody but you have to like think about it pretty hard well because it's not just a mystery box we've seen you know and we can we can so we can see with our eyes, like, man, that could be incredible. Not just special, not just great, incredible. And I'm not guaranteeing, I'm saying it could be. He's shooting low 30s from three. I'm just saying. I'm putting it out there.

Maybe he should go second. I think he should slide to the sixers. All right, Scoot, you're up. All right, my turn. Let's keep it going. If you could bet on any fan base to make the in-arena challenge shots, you know, the layup, free throw, three-pointer, half court, which fan base would you bet on?

Well, I'm not taking Boston or Philly because they've been getting ready for the game too much before the game. I'm not taking Atlanta or Miami because they may not be in the stands by halftime. Wow. Shots. I'm going to go Indiana.

There it is. That's the one. It's got to be Indiana. They're so good that they only give out $50 in gift cards to somebody who completes the whole challenge. You get rolls of quarters. You get a $50 Target shopping card.

Yeah. All right. I have this persistent nightmare. It's basically a reverse like Mike where I suddenly switch bodies with an NBA player in the middle of the game and I have my skills. Is there a player you would switch with? What would you do if you suddenly, you are in Jokic's body in a big game?

What do you do? Do you fake an injury? Do you try and let it rock? What are you doing? I'd probably be like, I would take Zion and just try and like, I don't even know if I could touch the bottom of the net, let alone dunk.

Like just to play bully ball. Just springing the bottom of the net, let alone dunk. So like, like just to play bully ball, springing around. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I just hope that game,

whatever game it is, he's dressed and active. So I'm like not sitting in the, on the bench and street clothes, you know, any game. Right. Yeah.

All right. Last question of the week. This is the most important one, by the way, Jack or Jabari. Oh, it's no question. It's Jabari. Oh.

Because anybody who slides into my DMs, I'm all for. There we go. Yeah. You've never slid into my DM. I know. Got to be attentive. I can't keep up with the seductive DM sliding powers of Jabari. By the way but just for full

disclosure and transparency my wife is can't hear you guys but here's me talking about somebody sliding to my dms and she has questions right now sorry mrs greenberg it was me professional i promise yeah what about that picture such a yeah jabari does send a picture when he first reaches out to people he does send a picture when he first reaches out to people he does send a picture uh it was a good picture it's in vegas by the pool you know i figure it gets people in the mood it's festive there are roses involved uh jared greenberg such a pleasure having you on the show where can people find you see you all that good stuff i'll be on tnt thursday night in memphis for a big Warriors Grizzlies game.

Nice. Then all throughout the next couple of weeks, TNT is going to take some time off here for March madness. And I'll be on the NBA TV side of things doing a crunch time, which Jack is going to become your new favorite show on the NBA app. Where we take you to the biggest moments of the night as they happen live. The NBA is only whip around show. And I'll be doing some,

some NBA game time appearances as well on nba tv awesome well thank you so much for joining us that's going to do it for us this week quick shout outs to some listeners we asked for your mvp opinions and here were the results 53 said yokich or uh jokey 36 said yannis said Jokic or Jokey. 36% said Giannis and 7% Sorry, what is it? 7%? Did you... It's not a typo. No, it's not a typo. Man, I just...

Gotta say, if Embiid and Jokic would just play one another in an important nationally televised game, then we would actually be able to see. Or if Embiid went up against Giannis with 16 game winning streak on the line. You know? Anyways, great picks, listeners. Our Boosties listeners

of the week at Brock Denton said Jokic is great, but it's insane to me that he's going to win three straight. Embiid or Jha should have won last year and it's surprising to me that the voters aren't getting tired of giving it to him. LeBron should have been MVP every year from 07 to 15, but voters got tired of him.

Yeah, the MVP conversation is the conversation about a narrative being told by NBA writers. So, at this point, whatever. But make sure you give us a follow on Twitter, at MadBoosties, that's M- give us a follow on Twitter at mad boosties. That's M a D B O O S T I E S. Um, and that's going to do it for us this week. Back next week with more NBA action,

uh, more of the spicy piping hot takes. Uh, we'll talk to y'all then have a great week, everyone. Bye. Bye. then have a great week everyone bye bye 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 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 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 Podcast or wherever you get your podcast.

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. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball.

And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke. What happens when a professional football player's career ends and the applause fades and the screaming fans move on? I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. For some former NFL players, a new faith provides answers. You mix homesteading with guns and church. Voila! You got straightway.

Be trying to save everybody. Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.