The Daily Zeitgeist - Tis the Season

Episode Date: December 22, 2022

The guys wrapped up a phenomenal year of covering the NBA with Producer Jabari as the trio went back through some of the bold predictions from former guests heading into the 2022-23 season.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

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. There's so much beauty in Mexican culture, like mariachis, delicious cuisine, and even lucha libre. Join us for the new podcast,

Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12-episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of lucha libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, emperor of lucha libre and a WWE superstar. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts. Welcome, welcome.

One and all. Tis the season as we're about a third of the way through this NBA season. And checking in on all of our preseason predictions because we were so accurate it's kind of freaky you guys i would start i mean this is not betting advice but maybe take our word as a gospel yeah you might want to listen to us guys i'm just gonna put that out there you're about to hear some evidence exactly turns out i got bullseyes. But we are here to talk about those preseason predictions with our super producer Jabari on today's episode.

I'm Miles Gray. And I'm Jack O'Brien. And this is Miles and Jack got that boosies! Okay. We did it. We did it. There it is. Third of the way through. Oh, man.

Time to look back. Jabari, how are you feeling about this season, the third of the way? Feeling good about the season in general. Not necessarily about our Lakers, but I'm sure we'll get to that. Why would it happen? Oh, nothing. Don't worry. Santa's got a nice gift for us because we've all been good.

That's what I believe. Yeah. We got some NBA games happening on this christmas that that was one of my predictions at the beginning of the season that was yes yes early on we should say shout out to that very early prediction you nailed that one yeah i should say all my predictions were kind of in that vein of just like man i bet i bet the nba even has some games on christmas right and then you're like what if they did an all-star game in 2023? What if?

Okay. So you know how they've done city jerseys? They even did them like last season. I think they're going to do them again this season, even though they just did them last season. Guys, sure enough. Call me an absolute loony tune. But I think Steph Curry, he's going gonna be shooting okay this next season maybe a little bit better i don't know i don't know i don't know i'm not going out on any limbs like

that but yeah anyway yeah but shall we look back on some of our guest predictions uh and and see where where the wisdom yes producer jabari went back checked us and uh was actually is now in awe he said his words not mine in awe of our uh ability to see into the future yeah jabari read that script that we gave you earlier right now okay so miles and jack got it all right in the night okay we're good all right right yeah great nailed it thank you just a bunch of bullseye sound effects i think we had here in the description is a bullseye sound a boing because you're thinking of an arrow i'm hearing an arrow hit a bullseye but yeah uh it could also be the boing yeah uh for no reason just because that's a fun sound effect theater of the mind for

the listener yeah no but jokes aside when i was going through this i was i was actually impressed specifically you guys got a lot you guys got a lot of these right. Okay. Thank you. That was a much better read on that script. I'm sorry. There was some surprise. Because keep in mind, remember, for anybody that is listening, you can go back if you'd like to go back to the bold predictions episode.

They're supposed to be bold. They're supposed to be crazy. They're supposed to be wild. Somehow, somehow you, you know, as I went down the list, there was really only one or two that,

and we'll get to those for sure that, you know, we're questionable aside from that. Yeah. Like you said, I think we're by us all. We were right about everything. 100%,

100%. We also had some really, really accurate ones that kind of freaked us out. Um, which we'll get to later on the episode which are the ones are saying like yeah aka call me now okay because we were miss cleo in it um so should we start off with one of our first guests who gave us some predictions mr dragonfly jones yeah dragonfly of the jenkins and joe's podcast here on the network or the volume

network as well obviously he you know he wears it on his shoulder or on his, or I guess on his chest, either way. He's a bronze fan. He was rooting for the Lakers, but he was hesitant, which is probably pretty smart. He wasn't really sure about Russ coming off the bench or whether he believed it would be the case, but he was right on that. The Lakers are currently 13 and 17,

one game in the loss column outside of the play-in. Where were you guys on that? I didn't weigh in on that, but I did listen back, and I did say that in our episode, halfway through through the season you wouldn't be able to make up your mind as to whether he wears it on his shoulder or his chest yeah or sleeve or yeah one of them i i did say that i just wanted to put that out there yeah um yeah i was i'm still hot on the lakers as in disappointed oh no like if i pull my collar out steam shoots out because i got the stress sweats oh okay that's not right i don't know i mean i have to i want to be a little optimistic i want to feel like this is the most radical turnaround we've ever seen

uh but maybe not uh but I want to feel optimistic. But I think at that time, I felt I was a little bit more with my chest out, a Laker fan from the outer limits of our atmosphere. Think about it this way, okay? What did the Lakers start?

0-5? Yes. And then they moved Russ to six-man position, where we said from the start in our predictions episode, this man should be six man of the year this year. He should be on the bench coming in, giving him a change of pace,

a change of speed pitch. And, uh, since then they've been, I'm not going to say dominant. They've been 13 and 12. Uh, so pretty good.

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Over 500 it counts well jack when you say it like that i mean when you say it like that come on you don't have to read the stats like that just be like just go more in the vibes direction the vibes yeah they've been better so yeah yeah absolutely maybe uh they should be listening to miles and jack on that boosties. They already do. What's up, Jeannie? What's up, Rob?

Hey, Kurt. Hey, Kurt Ram by, and unfortunately you did use an I word and they only put trophies in the place of eyes. Oh, that's right.

That's right. Right. I shout out to the Ram by Kurt and Linda or the Ram BC. I don't know how you get your holiday card from the rambi i did i did yeah they sign it the rambi oh yeah oh yeah they got to they got are they double eyeing that or like how are they doing that yeah oh yeah oh i mean if you had one you'd know but that's okay we've seen we've heard we know i'm always left out this is how this goes what about his uh do you have a prediction about the plain turkey sandwich yeah i love of the plain turkey sandwich i think he

appropriately described malcolm brogdon as a plain turkey sandwich but not in an inappropriate way like he wasn't like it it's solid yeah look he's giving him you know just about 14 points four rebounds almost four assists off the bench uh the The Celtics have the second best record in the league, and he's been exactly what they needed. Oh, man. If only I hadn't, you know, doubted them preseason. But, Jack, you didn't. Oh, that's right. Thank you, Jabari.

You went back and listened. Yes, yes. The first thing I said in my predictions. Tell them, Jabari, what did I say? I think you said it's something along the lines of, I think people are underrating how good the Celtics will be. That was a weak attempt at your voice, but yes. No, that was perfect.

I felt it, yeah. To the degree that I hated it. You know how you hate your own voice? I hated your impression of me. That's how I know it was accurate. Yeah, I think I said something like 22 and 9 around the time that we record this. I also predicted that Joe Mazzola was going to do a, just a better than expected job and would also confuse people with a joke

about how the only real royal family he's aware of is Jesus, Mary and Joseph, even though that's not a thing people call that family. And I think that happened. I feel like I willed it into existence. What else? Dragonfly Jones. Keeping it going. He had a bunch.

He was kind enough to join us for the episode. He thought the Warriors would make it back to the conference finals. He thought the Pels would be a top four seed out west. I'll be honest with you. He was probably right. All of you guys were right about the Pels. They do look

as though they're going to be there, but the Dubs are currently 15 and 16. They're tied for 10th. You know, Steph is expected to be out until somewhere around late January, potentially early February. And I'm really not sure if I, if, if I believe in them this year, but are you, where are you guys on the dubs? Well, I did know that Steph was going to be injured a partway through the season. Yeah, I did say that. So my prediction takes that into account and i still think they're going to finish strong and this is no i i i think you're right i think i think we were way off on that one yeah everybody was nobody saw them having this much trouble yeah and the only thing i knew was that by the 20th of december

steph curry will have had 131 three-pointers made. That was just something when I was just like, let me just pull something out in the air. But how close were you on that one? How many does he actually have? So at four, we have Malik Beasley with 110, Buddy Heald 113, Anthony Simons 116, Steph Curry 131. And what did you say? You said 131. Okay, that's pretty good. Oh.

Am. God. What is going on here? Okay, let's pretty good. Oh, am God. What is going on here? Okay, let's move on. This is too freaky. All right, so this is where he went all in on it. He was big with Milwaukee. Excuse me.

He's got Giannis winning the MVP. If pressed into a second choice, he said, Luca, we'll get to him later. He's got defensive player of the year once again at Giannis. And finals MVP with Giannis. Milwaukee, they got the best record in the league. Giannis has been

an absolute force and they've done a lot of that damage without Middleton, at least for a good portion of the first half. So that prediction could absolutely come true.

Okay. Okay. Yeah. All right. I'll allow it. I think a lot of people were on to the Giannis being good at basketball thing. That Giannis guy? Yeah. All right. I'll allow it. I think a lot of people were onto the Giannis being good at basketball thing. That Giannis guy?

Yeah. I'm telling you, this Giannis guy, he's looking good. Yeah. Oh, yeah. You mean the guy that had a 50-point double-double in the finals to close it out? Yeah, that guy's pretty good, I guess, if you need him. God, he had a 50-point double-double. That's wild. I think that was only like two

seasons ago. He's still pretty good. I think. Alright, should we take a break and then come back? Yeah, let's do it. Do you think we should both take a break and come back? I said yeah. I'm down with it. I like to get a consensus. Absolutely. Jabari, then we'll do it.

Now? Yeah. Okay, let we'll do it. Now? Yeah. Okay, let's do it now. We'll be right back. 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,

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 near them. Why is that? Just come here and 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. When you think of Mexican culture, you think of avocado, mariachi, delicious cuisine, and of course, lucha libre. It doesn't get more Mexican than this. 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. It's culture. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12-episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of Lucha Libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, the emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Santos! Santos! Join me as we learn more about the history 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 iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts. It was December 2019 when the story blew up. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, former Packers star Kabir Bajabiamila caught up in a bizarre situation. Packers star Kabir Bajabiamila caught up in a bizarre situation. KGB explaining what he believes led to the arrest of his friends at a children's Christmas play. A family man, former NFL player, devout Christian, now cut off from his family and connected to a strange arrest.

I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. I got swept up in Kabir's journey, but this was only the beginning. In a story about faith and football, the search for meaning away from the gridiron and the consequences for everyone involved. You mix homesteading with guns and church, and then a little bit of the spice of conspiracy theories that we liked. Voila! You got straight away. I felt like I was living in North Korea, but worse, if that's possible.

Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. You know, just going through all the ways that we predicted the future. And Rookie of the Year. So we're still with Dragonfly Jones, who basically predicted Rookie of the Year with Paolo. I mean, we don't know for sure. We don't know for sure. But he's definitely having one of the most impressive rookie seasons we've seen in a while.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I mean, let me just look in the crystal ball. What were we saying about paulo can you run that tape back actually from right before paulo played his first game and i think what we said was going to happen by december 19th 20 ish of this year so i believe paulo will probably no he will lead all rookies in scoring and assists. Jack? I'm going to come in, you know, it seemed like you were ramping up to say he'd also lead them in rebounding. I'm going to go ahead and say fourth in rebounding, Myles.

Hot take. Hot take. So Myles and Jack, today in October, this is what you're predicting? Yes. Yes. Yes. In October. Leading, scoring, and assists.

Fourth in rebounding. I think he's going to be a swell player. Yeah. As we say back here in the past. We love, yep, love Polo Banchero. Mm-hmm. So, wow, first of all. Was that accurate?

How close were we? Let me see. He's currently leading all rookies in scoring and assists. And, Jack, wow, you run away with this one. Fourth and rebounding. Okay. Yeah, that's what I figured. Why do you stay so humble, man?

I don't know, man. You just kind of see the matrix after a while. You watch enough hoops. Yeah, you get tired of it. You play it enough hoops, you know, so you can kind of see it from both sides. Touching up rims. I see both sides like Chanel, you know. Yeah.

You get it. Well, playing to, you know, that humility there, Jack, I've got something for you. He was huge on Maxie. In fact, he was kind of ahead of the curve saying he was going to be the best player in that backcourt. Now, he's missed half the games. Your boy, Todd Maxie. Did he say that even though I told him that Maxie was going to miss half the games? Did he still stick with that Maxie was going to be the best player. Did he still stick with the best player in the back court?

Best player in the back court. And right. And right now, even though he's missed half the games, he's putting up career numbers and points, rebounds and assists. He definitely seems like he got a little bit better this season. And he was already,

he he's been improving at a rapid rate, but probably missed too many games for my tastes, which is probably, you know, I don't think I came right out and said it, but I was like, I don my tastes, which is probably, you know, I don't think I came right out and said it, but I was like, I don't know. That's a,

that's an issue. I would love to see him play better. I think on a per game basis, he's going to be much better. He will miss half his games through the first 29 games say. So just keep that in mind. And he said, what are you talking about?

How would you know that? And then I said some stuff about the matrix and see both sides like Chanel that hopped in the DeLorean and bounce. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. So his final prediction, once again,

he's heavy on bucks. He's got bucks versus warriors and he says bucks in six. Now, obviously we don't know that result yet, but like I said, yeah, we'll see this mid season. We're just checking in or a third of the way.

So this is an opportunity for us to revisit this question because this is one of the things that's been most exciting about this season for me is how wide open the west is because bucks makes a lot of sense bucks are have the best record in the nba right now uh bucks celtics seem like they're probably going to be in the finals that would be my guess they seem like they're probably going to be in the finals. That would be my guess. They seem like they're kind of head and shoulders above everybody else. The fact that Cleveland and Brooklyn are up there and in that conversation, I don't think a lot of people saw it coming. Sixers, I think a lot of people, they were like a cool pick in the lead up to the season. So I mean, they were like a cool pick in the lead up to the season. So,

I mean, but the calves and the nets being right back there is exciting, but out in the West, I think like the, the safe pick would be the grids like that. That feels like the safe pick to me right now. And that's so exciting. Like,

you know, jaw in the, in the finals would be so dope the pelicans are in the top four like as as we predicted as predicted but wait a second um when you're saying safe pick you mean outside of the lakers right yeah yeah oh okay got it i just wanted to clarify and you're gonna stake your entire reputation on that. Right, Jack? What? That the Lakers are the safe pick? Mm-hmm. Right now.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally. What? Just because. What? Yeah, just because I just want to get this over with. Sure. Let's go with the Lakers are the safe pick.

Oh, good. You heard it here. Yeah. He said it. He said it. They're looking great. They're looking good. Yeah.

And I'm happy for you guys. I'm happy for you both. But so if you were making a finals pick right now, Jabari, who is a serious basketball mind and does not have access to time travel the way Miles and I do, who would you put in the finals at this point? Grizzlies, Bucks.

Like, I would love to say the Celtics. No, I wouldn't. But truth be told, I honestly, I think you're right. The Grizzlies are probably the safe pick. Obviously, a lack and change and health and availability will make a difference. But in a jammed West, I still look at them as being the deepest. So if you're telling me that Ja is going to be there in the postseason, Bain's going to be fully available in the postseason, and they're going to get this type of play from Triple J, I would say that that's going to be one of the toughest outs this offseason.

That's exciting. That makes me very happy. You know what makes me happy, Jack? What's that? The thing that I was most excited about when I was going back through this footage, you absolutely nailed it when you discussed the most improved player. Because you specifically said, and I quote, the most improved player, it tends to be

players that go from good to all-star caliber. And you mentioned guys like AD or Zion could be interesting in those conversations. But there was another guy, a guy from Canada, Shea Gildress Alexander. And I'll be honest, I didn't anticipate this because I thought that he would eventually be moved. But he's been playing lights out. If I'm not mistaken, he's one of like three players that like already at this stage in the season to have like three or more game winning or at least tying buckets. He's been playing lights out. OKC is actually still right there in the mix.

And, you know, a lot of us would have anticipated them being in the Wimby sweepstakes once Chet went down. But they're right there and being competitive. And I would have, to be fair to me, I would have mentioned Shea Gilgis Alexander, but I had never heard of him at the time that we recorded the predictions episode. So yeah, but I am pretty impressed with the first thing I said, Celtics going to be best team in the East. And I still think they might be, even though the Bucks have a better record than them. Now, last thing I said,

I got the narrative right on, uh, on the most improved player. Um, so, you know, all joking aside, I am pretty much psychic.

Yeah. I would say, yeah, I think I would have grizzly. I think, I think the Celtics actually could make it to the finals. Yeah. I think it's going to be Celtics grizzlies. I think they canics actually could make it to the finals. Yeah, I think it's going to be Celtics-Grizzlies.

I think they can. I just feel like with that number six on their chest, I'm a big fan of playing out of your body as a tribute to something bigger than yourself. And I think that may help coupled with the fact that they're doing well right now. Although, you know, some people are

freaking out a little bit after hiccups here or there but yeah and i would love would love love love to see spider-man john in the finals that would bring a oh the one thing that i can see getting in the celtics way is that spider-man and bane yeah two comic book the heck? DC and Marvel teaming up? The only thing I can see getting in the Celtics' way is just, you know, Joe Mazzola cracking them up too much. Yeah.

Those jokes are an example. Yeah. I have a team that could potentially get in their way, and it's someone that Miles in particular mentioned that he was very high on, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Watch out for them. Third seed in the East, 21-11 currently. They did a lot of that damage without,arius Garland for, I think, a good stretch of games,

right around 10 games. They're three games off the best record. Yeah. I wish I could say I thought they were going to go super far, but I was just hot on them. Oh, okay. So more of an 82-game prediction as opposed to a 16-game prediction? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just more of an adjusting your collar and steam

shooting out exactly exactly they have the best point differential in the league right now like yeah you know i remember when that used to count for something around here when you would score more than the other fellers would yeah but i mean boston was running away with point differential for a while and uh cleveland cabs now six and a half point differential. All right. Uh, one of our favorite guests, CJ Toledano had some pretty good things to say.

He started us on the Russ six man of the year, revenge tour season, third star. They need could be what's happening inside Russ's head. Like when you're, when you're watching out there. Yeah. I don't know if that's the objective way that I would describe what's happening inside Russ's head. Like when you're, when you're watching out there. Yeah. I don't know if that's the objective way that I would describe what's

happening in the season, but there are moments like the Russ, Russ, Russ, Russ. At the very least. I'm going to, and you know,

it's kind of cliche, but it's really nice to see him smiling on the court again. It's really nice to see him just simply enjoying basketball. And I can admit this as a Lakers fan. We were very, very hard on him. And then we drifted into absolute worry and fear. Yes. We were like, could he possibly do it again?

Yeah. I wasn't certain heading into this year. So, you know, CJ definitely nailed that. It was on Bucks winning the title as well. And very Lakers-centric, even though, you know, he's a baby bull now. He had Caruso winning Defensive Player of the Year. I don't know that that one will quite come true, but I like where his head is.

Yeah. The Revenge Tour, I think, like, to Jack's point, like, it is in his head because there are times, like, when he rocks that baby out of nowhere, you know he's like, ha-ha! And then I think he's oh and seven with rocking the baby or something like that is the record so but i like the energy i like i like where your head's at russ you know like i said too i think you'd be you still could be six man of the year all right should we take a quick break and we'll come back oh yeah we'll come back right

we're still playing we can go okay yeah yeah we should come back, right? We're still planning on it. Yeah, yeah. We should come back. There are some predictions that weren't quite as dead on as the ones we've covered so far, and we'll talk about those in a little bit. I'm Kerry Champion, and this is Season 4 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 near them boys. 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.

It was December 2019 when the story blew up. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, former Packers star Kabir Bajabiamila caught up in a bizarre situation. KGB explaining what he believes led to the arrest of his friends at a children's Christmas play. A family man, former NFL player, devout Christian, now cut off from his family and connected to a strange arrest. I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. I got swept up in Kabir's journey, but this was only the beginning. In a story about faith and football, the search for meaning away from the gridiron and the consequences for everyone involved.

You mix homesteading with guns and church and a little bit of the spice of conspiracy theories that we liked. Voila! You got straight away. I felt like I was living in North Korea, but worse, if that's possible. Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In a galaxy far, far away. No, babe, that's taken. We're in our own world, remember? Right, in our own world. We're two space cadets.

And totally normal humans. Sure, totally normal humans. Embark on a journey across the stars, discovering the wonders of the universe one episode at a time. We'll talk about life, love, laughter, and why you should never argue with your co-pilot. Especially when she's always right. Right. And if we hit turbulence, just blame it on Mercury retrograde.

Or Emily's questionable space piloting skills. Hey, join us on In Our Own World for cosmic conversations, stellar laughs, and super corny dad jokes. Listen to In Our Own World as a part of the My Cultura podcast network available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And don't worry, we promise to avoid any black holes. Most of the time. And we're back. Hi, guys. Hey.

Hey. We came back. It's me, Jack, from the first two parts of this episode. Yeah, no, I know. Yeah. So, you know, there's some... Gods and mortals, I think, is what we have to call this segment. Yeah.

So we've already talked about some god-level predictions. Me basically predicting SGA, even though I didn't know that he was a person before this season and some other stuff. There's some people who didn't quite nail it. Josh Eberle from Spotify Live came through and this prediction stuck in my head because I was like, man, I am not hearing that anywhere right now yeah you are not hearing this man's name for mvp you are not hearing this team as someone who's gonna make noise this year and then they had a couple good games where i was like man we were the only place i heard this

prediction that is that trey young is gonna have his first his first MVP season and leads to dialogue about him being better than Luka and also said that Atlanta was going to make a ton of noise this year. So, I don't know, Jabari, I actually don't pay much attention to the league, but can you, where is Atlanta at? How's Trey doing so far this season? Well, shout out to my former co-host on Hot Takes and Shot Fakes. That was a shot fake right there because it has not come to fruition yet. Oh, do you think he was doing that on purpose to fake us out of our shoes?

I think he was. He gave us that good up fake in the post and flying all over the place. I hit the net. Miles hit the rim. You hit, you know, somewhere in between, I'm guessing. The rafting sessions. Exactly. The rafters.

But yeah, no, you know, they're just 16-15. They're currently in a playing-type situation. The reason why that prediction was difficult to me was because, and I understood, he was excited about DeJounte Murray coming over and remedying some of what they needed out of their backcourt. But the reason why that was a difficult prediction for me is because it was either for that to come true, either Trey is going to have to just be astronomically better from a number of production standpoint or as well as an efficiency standpoint, which he's already putting up. He had already put up crazy numbers or Atlanta would have to just blow everyone away.

And obviously that hasn't taken place. Now, we watched the Celtics last year do a complete turnaround in the second half. Not that I'm predicting that for Atlanta, but that's about the only way that that prediction is going to come true for Joss. So sorry, Joss. You are so far the weakest link when it comes to these predictions. Wow. A weakest link reference. And we don't even own that IP.

Nah. But we basically might as well. Yeah. Let's see what else we got. Ben Goliver from the Washington Post. So this is where we came with the point, and this is not in the category of bad predictions. We only had really like one that jumped out to us as like,

you know, kind of off base. Ben was like, hey, you know, there hasn't been a repeat conference final team for the past, what was it, three years? Four years, I think he said. Four years. And it turned out that wasn't true. He was just making that up. conference final team for the past was it three years four years i think he said four years and it turned out that wasn't true he was just making that up but no so that turned out to be true but that was very valuable to hear as you're like trying to make predictions about the season

everybody is predicting like oh it's just gonna be kind of more of the same like the warriors have like this young core that's like coming up behind Steph and Clay and everything's just gonna be the same and that has been the opposite of like what we've seen this season so Warriors Mavs Celt heat I feel like the Celtics have been the one team that that has really like held up their end of the bargain of coming back. But just generally, there's a lot of volatility out there. Yeah. I don't know. The Warriors, the Mavs have been underwhelming the Heat also.

Not really doing it to them this year. I think without a move made by either of the other three teams, I guess the Warriors have the best chance to offset that. But I could absolutely see all three of those teams either failing to make the postseason or going out very early without any actual shakeups. Dallas and Golden State are in the 10th and 11th position in the West.

And that's not where you want to be, is what I'm told. Again, I don't pay much attention. I think you want to be above that dotted line. Yeah, yeah. Typically. I think that's what my grandmother always told me. What about Dan Favalli from Bleacher Report? I know he also, I think he was also,

had some love for the Pelicans too, right? It's kind of wild that, I think he might have been the one who put it as Pelicans' top four team in the Western Conference, and they are at number four right now. So we kind of jumped on the back of his, and then we asked Brian to edit out him saying it so that we were saying it first.

But yeah, I think he was right. And I think we also predicted that Dan Favelli would take things we say on this show and pass them off as his own takes too so he's known to do that yeah yeah you know and he actually mentioned your guy uh miles he specifically mentioned you know trey murphy's emergence being a a big part of it you know obviously with everybody if as long as everybody else stayed healthy now herb jones has been out of the lineup but trey murphy has been absolutely incredible in replacing him. That was quite... He called that one.

That was actually... That's God level. That's the best prediction I think we've covered so far other than mine about Joe Mazzella. Agreed. Agreed. Dan, you get the lightning bolt. What about Raj Chapalu? another laker like

i just want to say i did i did disagree with him i thought he was mispronouncing troy murphy's name and i was like man that guy hasn't been in the league for over a decade golden state troy murphy or like late late career lakers troy murphy uh or what about Pacers Troy Murphy? You know what Pacers Troy Murphy might have been the best of? Cross paths with my dad. Very nice guy. I did not see him making a significant impact for the Pelicans this season. Hey, you know what? We were both right.

At 42 years of age, yeah. We were both right on that one. Count it. Count it and swish from deep downtown well miles i got you ross jupalu uh you know shout out to him of espy nation he was high on luca matter of fact he said luca for mvp and i'll be honest with you man like i recognize that the individual numbers they're they're just astronomical these days and you could even call him a bit inflated, but 32.5, 8.6, and 8.3

is still ridiculous. It's still ridiculous. It's unfortunate that his team hasn't met him. One could say that they missed Jalen Brunson a bit. One could say that they probably should have matched that deal or offered him a

deal prior to him hitting free agency. But either way, they're 15 and 16. I don't think Luka ends up winning the MVP without a significant second half increase in the standings. But I will say he's playing MVP basketball. So, Roz, you were partially right. Partially right. But he kind of did also have a good prediction, too, with the Nuggets. He said they

were going to be the top seed i mean they're in second so uh and yokich looking freaky i remember looking at that mvp ladder i'm like wow look at those guys up there um but now i don't think one of those guys will be on there anymore anyway shout out ad what's the mvp ladder just like the heat score oh oh oh oh yeah yeah can be found on nba sorry to go grape stomping lady on him i just didn't know what you're talking about oh oh oh oh oh i'll be a ladder so we're down to our last one shout out to mark schindler uh wmba lead writer uh yeah host of they've got now podcast he was also high on the pelicans and he had both the pelicans and calves being top four in their respective uh conferences and winning 50 plus games i think he's gonna nail that i think both of them will we did ask for wild prediction i mean i guess those were wild they're they're both right there um he got specific with it so you know if he had said

they will both be fourth exactly in their division then maybe I'd give him a little bit more credit. But yeah, Cavs are third. So, yep. Sorry. Yeah. Cavs third, Pelicans fourth. Pretty good. But be more specific, Mark.

Yeah. Yeah. Get your stuff right. Get it right or pay the price. Does anybody know what that's from? Yep. So that you're sure it's Camp Oniwana. Every time I hear someone say get it right, that goes off in my mind like a nostalgia bomb.

There it is. And I hear, get it right, get it tight. But that's a different, you know, different mood altogether. I exactly. I found you, Miss New Gluteus Maximus. All right. Well, those are some fantastic predictions, I must say. Yeah.

I mean, it is a little weird to look back and be like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Am I part of the Stranger Things or something? Why am I freaking out with all this mind power right now? Am I part of the Stranger Things or something? Yeah. You guys just good like that. Hey, man. Don't think that thought hasn't crossed my

mind am i part of the stranger things or something what's going on here i mean but we might be we might be but yeah i mean a good look back i mean we're third third of the way through the season uh we'll have to check back in to see where we end up especially as we get into the postseason but gods monsters mortals we all come together on this show mad boosties anything else no i think just a happy holidays and happy new year yeah or i guess is there another episode coming out before the new year best of so yeah best of yes so check that out but this will be the last time you hear from us in this calendar year and you know thanks for sticking with us and listening to the show and we'll be back in the new year with even more

and can't wait to be even a writer about everything. Thanks for sticking with us when nobody else would. When they all said everything they say is wrong their predictions are bad the Celtics might not even field a team this year let alone be

good. You know a lot of people said we couldn't do it. And look at us now. A lot of things. And obviously to the league, too. We're sticking with us. All right, y'all. We'll see you soon. Bye.

Oh, Jabari, Miles or Jack? Oh, yeah. Jack. Yeah! Merry Christmas to me. 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 the 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 caitlyn clark versus angel reese on the iheart radio 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. There's so much beauty in Mexican culture, like mariachis, delicious cuisine, and even lucha libre. Join us for the new podcast, Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12-episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of Lucha Libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar.

Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts.