The Daily Zeitgeist - We Still Love This Game with Lina Washington

Episode Date: June 23, 2022

The Finals just wrapped, but Miles and Jack are still bringing it each week throughout the offseason. This week, they were joined by Emmy-Award winning journalist, NBC 12’s Lina Washington to provide final takes on the 2021-22 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 and a WWE superstar. Santos! Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts.

And we finally have a winner, your Golden State Warriors. Obviously, this week we're going to wrap up the NBA Finals with our very special guest, Emmy Award-winning journalist for NBC12 in Phoenix, Arizona, Lino, Washington. I'm Miles Gray. And I'm Jack O'Brien. And this is Miles and Jack got Mad Boosties. That was really, really good. That was, I think, one of the best ones we did.

I feel like we merged as two souls and delivered that in perfect harmony. We did it. We made it through the NBA finals. We made it through the NBA playoffs. Yes. It was a joy. My brain still has that reflex now when we're done working for the day. And I'm like, all right, what playoff games are on?

I know, right? You're like, NBA classics, I guess. Maybe that. But let's bring our guest, Lena Washington. Lena, hello, hello, hello. How was your finals experience? First of all, thank you guys so much for having me on. My finals experience was still, I was still a little bit salty, of course,

that, you know, we weren't seeing the Suns make another run here in Phoenix. But it's hard not to find entertainment in the way Steph Curry plays, the way Andrew Wiggins and his storyline suddenly changed over the course of these playoffs. Shout out to Maxine. Yes, exactly. And then, of course, I love seeing more Riley Curry

being animated and celebrating her dad being one of the greatest players ever. I mean, first of all i think for nba fans all nba fans right it's fun that it was a team like nobody had them winning it when the season tipped off so i feel like that gives hope democratically for for nba fans the the vast majority of us root for teams that have not won a title in the past 10 years. So I think it was cool that the Warriors kind of came out of nowhere

according to predictions from anyone who was not Steph Curry as we'll talk about. He knew what was up, but I've seen a lot of Clippers fans being like, hmm. So a playing team with an injured all-star

comes back and wins the next year. Hey, it could happen. Yeah. Right. And then we also love talking about on the show like breaking new ground, feeling like you're seeing something for the first time. And I don't know. We've seen the Dubs win before.

I feel like I've never seen a team, like I was famously saying Warriors in six from day one at the beginning of the playoffs. Famously. Famously. Everybody knows that. And we will revise that. Give somebody a play episode seven back real quick.

There were some people who were saying the Celtics in six repeatedly over and over again, even up until game five. Yeah. When it was a mathematical impossibility. But I feel like anyone who had that sort of limited perspective on things might have been reacting to the fact that when you see a team that is like dominant defensively, like the Celtics were in stretches. that is like dominant defensively like the celtics were in stretches and i've just never seen a team win where the long range shooting like hitting low percentage shots over and over and over from deep

is like the ultimate is like their go-to weapon like that that was just the thing that like they had Steph, Steph was their rock, you know, like that has, that hasn't always been the case in past finals, you know, like that's why he didn't win the NBA finals MVP prior to this, right. Is because he hadn't been their rock for that first title or he was leading up to the finals, but then, you know, things got a little spotty, but this time it was just so automatic so dangerous and yeah i don't know i i do feel like i've never seen something quite like that like this was the ultimate like steph curry has changed the game

and like changed how we think about nba basketball and what can do, how you can win an NBA title more so than, I don't know, maybe any title of the past like 10 years. It was really cool to see. I mean, just backbreaker after backbreaker and like all of them being what my high school coach would have called circus shots and benched you for taking even if they went in yeah i wish there was a way to measure like which player has the most visceral reactions from the people watching the games because there was a run in the third quarter where you just knew it was curtains for the celtics in game six because steph was just like he said automatic and he was you know with each shot reminding people who he is and it was really really fun to watch gotta say yeah and to your point about like doing something

different I mean like off mic we were talking so many people I had text threads being like all right man LeBron or Steph now like we gotta talk about this and I'm like that's I don't like that conversation because I think it's really up to for me i feel like i pick who my favorite basketball player is but based off of whose game i would like personally the most and that's just down to my personality more than anything objective but to watch the way like you know lebron's power and speed all that's evident with him but like you're saying jack for the way staff crew was like just picking them apart in these ways that were so devastating it was like daniel plainview and like there will be blood he was like oh i could be over here because i will drink your milkshake from all

the way over i don't even need to be near you to damage you and that's what felt i think like very like a new sort of mutant power from like the X-Men had appeared. Yeah, you could tell he modeled his game on Daniel Plainview. I think that was clear to anybody watching these finals. Method. That's very method with it.

With those far pointers. With the LeBron-Steph conversation, like, yeah, I could stop both of them. I think I'd have a harder time guarding LeBron-Steph conversation, yeah, I could stop both of them. I think I'd have a harder time guarding LeBron just because of the physical dominance. Right. Yeah. No, I don't know.

I find that conversation, and it does seem to be the go-to conversation, thing that people talk about for the week after the title. I find it boring because it just seems arbitrary. And I just don't know that anybody knows how to accurately gauge one year's players against players from five years ago,

let alone 15 years ago. So it's just, I don't know. I think, and also I feel like in a way way it just takes away from being in the present moment which was that was that was a great that was great what we just saw without getting to like yeah but what about lebron immediately like no how about what we just saw was fantastic and and that moment i mean all respect also to the celtics and what em Udoka was able to do in his first year and their whole kind of shift mid-season that brought them here and you know I would have loved to see a game seven but the way the Warriors are just built for this just just made it clear

that they weren't leaving Boston without popping champagne in the locker room. But that moment where Al Horford and Otto Porter were, it was just a straight shootout. It got exciting. But in the end, I think Steve Kerr and his guys are so well coached and so experienced in these moments that even if it did have to go back to the Bay, it would have been, I think, the Warriors coming out with this one. But yeah, they weren't expected to win it. But I think just the way that they're built,

it would be hard to leave them out of the conversation. And it was foolish for those who did, I guess, in the early goings of last year. Yeah. Unlike us, because I guess we have a lot of unreleased episodes of Miles and Jackot MetastHistory where we predicted this exact outcome. In the vaults. I feel sorry for anybody who took so long to pick the Warriors

that they were picking the Celtics right up to the last moment. It was embarrassing. Or low-key just being like, well, nothing I want happens, so maybe I'll say this out loud so it doesn't. That's kind of how I felt as a Laker fan. I was like, yeah, yeah, the Celtics might do it. They just might. Super producer Jabari pointed out that Steph,

in the aftermath of the title, was saying, what will they say now? Right. Like, now how are they going to hate on me? And I've heard the best player on title teams make claims like that, ask for their flowers, say, and that's not a reference to anyone in particular. And I've felt like, well, everybody knows you're

one of the best players in the world. That's undisputed you have to be looking for the criticism to to feel that way um but i i don't know like this one felt justified it did feel like at least he he showed me because i i did not think that necessarily like this was a a title team up until the last minute um and we can edit that out so i sound smart but the other thing like to your point lena like so so the three-point shooting winning it with your number one weapon being somebody who can just like you know get a split second window uh look at the basket and like make it from the logo like consistently that was new but the thing that i think the way this was like past titles is the value of experience right and like they just

they were unflappable they were unshakable like when the celtics would have one of those runs where like i got more texts from people being like whoa the celtics are scary just across the whole finals than i did about the warriors but the warriors just were unshakable you know we've seen it we've seen the warriors be this scary for a long time so it was shocking to see the celtics do it but yeah the warriors are a bit scarier yeah i feel like even when we were talking about like when we were sort of early in the playoffs, where I was like, we're like, yeah, and the Warriors always basically have a chance to be there.

Who knows, you know, when we're like, it's possible, it's feasible. But yeah, it was definitely like you could see that experience. And to that point, I think one of the things I just want to call out that I loved about all of this is like, my favorite moment of this finals is actually from last season when the when when the Warriors went out in the play-in and I just want to play Steph's words from 2021 from that play-in tournament because like we're saying the experience the like the the focus it's evident it was evident over one year ago just didn't go our way i don't know how many

different ways to say it but it's uh it's just it was a special year all things considered now i'm in a new experience for me draymond loon tried to make the most of it come back bottle this up everybody make the right strides take advantage of the summer and you don't want to see us next year. I was at that game. I was at that play-in game at Chase Center last year, and it was lit. I wish there was any other word to describe that energy, but it was really fun, and that's when I totally bought in on the play-in

and the excitement. But yeah, Steph said, mark his words. You don't want to see us next year. And I think some people are like alright bro okay sure I would say that too but then even then like in March Draymond was like we're getting the chip in March you know

and then even and then Clay saying it was 2015 vibes when they went down 2-1 to the Celtics I was like okay that that's where that that like any i think even clay was saying at the at the post game he's like we've been here so we're built for it and that's it just comes together like that when you have that experience i mean having somebody come in like clay we we still don't know what clay is going to look like next year right yeah right when a player

comes back halfway through the season like that is never the finished product uh you know like we we saw with jordan when he came back from retirement and like you know he came back deeper into the season but people are like oh well he's washed uh and you know they didn't quite win it and so people i think a lot of people forget about that like can you imagine twitter's response to that they know you would see mj is washed yes a thread yeah that's what they would have done to him totally oh it would have been over um for a couple months and then everyone would have forgotten and he would have been the best and and i think that's the benefit of maybe not having twitter culture around back then.

It allowed us to be like, look at the magic person who is fantastic that we all love and we can't air our weird opinions for everybody to hear unless we're in a local sports bar or a barbershop. I also think I might not want to see them next year, personally, as a fan of a different NBA team.

Maybe not. Maybe not huge. I do want to say, though, I think it's really cute for some hypothetical person to pick their favorite clip as something from not even this year. But I did want to pick one clip from this year, and this is the Backbreaker 3 Steph hit to put the Warriors up 72-50, and somebody put together a compilation

of all the different broadcasts from around the world as they react to what was a ridiculous shot. Super deep. Again, just like catch the second it touches his fingers. It's up, it's in, and they're up 22 all of a sudden. Let's hit. In French. This is French.

That's French. And then he turned around, said he wants his ring. Portuguese. Portuguese. Yeah. Lina, are you taking notes here? Yes, I am. As a professional broadcaster.

Absolutely. Korean. Hey, that sounds the same in every language. Oh! That's what I sound like. Spanish. Italian. Chef Curry.

From 40 feet, I think. Spanish. Spanish. From 40 feet, I think. Spanish. I mean... Point to that finger. I think he said he washed his hands after that in Spanish.

I do just want to give a shout out to the Spanish broadcast because I watched the, I lived in Spain for a month during high school. We know, Jack. You lived in Spain for a month. All right. Yeah. Lena, I find a way to bring this up every episode. Let me tell you about, actually, Lena, you might want to hear this.

I went to Italy once once way better place but so i was there during the 96 finals the jordan's last final so i watched every game in the spanish language broadcast and their broadcaster actually narrated every dribble that would happen so So every time they'd dribble, he'd go, beep, beep, beep, beep, coming up, beep, beep. And then he's taking it with a beep, beep, beep. But he just didn't, it was like he didn't feel comfortable if there was any silence, like any air at all. Gotta let it breathe, bro.

Yeah, you gotta let it breathe. And the Spanish broadcast that we just heard did a great job so uh i feel like they've stepped their game up the nation of spain no more beeping no more beeping yeah all right let's take a quick break uh and we'll be right back with some more lena facts 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 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. 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. 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... Psych! 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. Hey, this is Mike Wright from the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast. You heard that right. The Fantasy Footballers have officially entered the Dynasty space. Every week we bring you the same in-depth analysis and entertainment you've come to expect from the Fantasy Footballers, only now from a Dynasty perspective. Maybe you've been living in the Dynasty Fantasy Football space for a while.

Well, we're here to take your game to the next level. We'll be right back. for you and you're gonna have a great time listening i promise join me and the rest of the crew every wednesday for a new episode listen to the fantasy footballers dynasty podcast on the iheart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts and we're back. All right. So Lena, Phoenix area native. So you now work for the Suns. You grew up a Suns fan? Well, I work for the NBC station here, but yes, we cover the Suns now.

Oh, sorry. Yeah, yeah. We cover the Suns. We cover the Cardinals. We cover the Coyotes, ASU, high school. But yeah, I grew up here. I went to ASU. I interned at the Valley Sports Regional Sports Network. I think my kind of initial push into the industry was when I worked the NBA All

Star game my freshman year. And I just got to see how cool everything was behind the scenes. I was running tape. Like that's how old I am now is that we were learning how to cut and edit video and shoot on tape uh back in the day so yeah it's been a fun year with the cardinals and the suns and the mercury all having pretty successful seasons um but we're still waiting for the next team to bring a chip to the city yeah okay so growing up a suns fan what what's been your most favorite uh the your memory like something you close your eyes and you're like i can feel it i can it's like it was yesterday maybe it might be recent it might be from you know 28 years ago i don't know you tell me what what what are some of those sort of seminal moments for you being in and around the Phoenix Suns area and team? Sure. Yeah. Well, my dad, who is no longer with us, unfortunately, but he used to work at the

arena, Miracle West Arena. He owned Shoeshine Stands there. So I now think about it and I'm wondering how he was allowed to take me to work with him, but he did. So now I'm making like the same drive on the freeways downtown that I did with my dad growing up. And they had the coyotes, the Rattlers and the sons all playing in one building. So I grew up kind of watching those games from the suite levels. So that's something that automatically comes to mind when I think of my life growing up a Suns fan. But since being here, so this is almost been a year since I've been at the NBC station here in Phoenix. I previously worked for the ABC station in Sacramento covering the Kings primarily. And then I started in Bakersfield many moons ago.

But I came in, my first day on the job was game five of the Western Conference finals. But I had a 12 day like onboarding plan, where I wasn't supposed to be on air for like another 10 days or something. But then the suns did not clinch at home. So then they had to go on the road. And when they clinched on the road, that was my first day on the air. So I was live all day at a watch party down across the street, downtown from the arena. And people were literally crying. People were jumping up and down in the bar. And then we went outside and I will just never forget this night and just seeing the excitement and the energy people literally doing the worm on the light rail tracks downtown and driving doing burnouts and doing laps waving their flags their

sun flags and um it was just like a party in the middle of downtown phoenix and then we're leaving after our you know like hour-long special break-in newscast. And I'm with my photographer and he's like, oh, so now we're going to go to the airport. And I was like, oh, we're going to the airport. So this was news to me, but I'm glad I did it. So we went to the airport where all the fans had gathered for the previous series, but obviously they did it again when the sun's clenched.

And they landed around midnight. And it was just the coolest moment to see them having this like impromptu parade just because fans wanted to come and express how excited they were and I will also just never forget the moment when and I have it on on my camera roll but there's a moment where campaign is driving through and it kind of lulls in the in the cheering and then some guy just goes hey cam turn that up and it was the dj khaled like little baby song and so now whenever i hear that song i immediately think of that image so uh and of course frank kaminsky you know chugging a beer and tossing it into the air and Bobby Schmertesnack style. Like, don't think we saw that beer can ever again. But yeah, that was that was a really cool moment as a Suns fan and as somebody who now I can't even watch the games live.

I have to like watch the replay if they win, because otherwise I'm just like depressed for, you know, 24 hours. And that says a lot about me as a man. But like just I would love to learn from you because you have to like get on air after a son's loss sometimes. Like, how do you and that's your team, right? Yeah, I think it's now the Suns loss. The game seven. Ah, yes. Explicable.

And I'm kind of glad we had a little bit of time to stew on it before we went on air because that was not fun to watch as a, again, lifelong fan before I even thought of this business being a part of my life i was going to games and watching the suns and all that but yeah it also makes it a bit easier to just call call a spade a spade you know and right also let the fans kind of speak for us in some instances where we can't necessarily say things but we can say hey this is what this is an interesting thing i heard twitter people are saying um yeah so thankfully like i said this season and this last year has been

really fun to be a part of i mean the 18 wins in a row the franchise record and wins monty williams getting coach of the year um it was a fun ride overall So we didn't have to have as many You know uncomfortable Broadcasts after a demoralizing Loss But I did cover the Kings for four seasons So I'm kind of used to Being able to not from a

Fan perspective but Knowing how to kind of Put on a brave face Turn it on when things are dark. Right, yeah. Let's bask in this idea of championship celebrations a little bit because the Warriors had theirs on

Monday. There were some great moments. Clay had a day. RIP to that hat. Yeah, so Clay's been he's been taking a boat to the games and to practice for all season. This is a rookie move right here. Yeah, he's on a boat on the bay, like famously windy.

Famously windy activity in a famously windy area. And he's just got his championship hat on and that thing blows the hell off his head. Snap back on. You need the chin strap on it, man. Yeah, exactly. At least turn it back because that brim is going to the brim gives you what I believe in the aeronautics industry they call

lift. Your hat is not a spoiler, sir. Oh no! I lost my hat. It just blows. It just blowed. We know, Clay. We saw. But it was nice that he knew we were going to use it on a podcast and narrated it for us.

Yes, it is famously a non-visual medium. You could tell the first moment he's like, oh, it was like a person who's like, I lost my hat I like. And then he settled into i'm clay thompson i can get 17 of these in a second when i get off this boat and replace it i actually have a lot to smile about well and then he almost lost his ring is that accurate yes he has so many rings he almost lost one during the parade here we got we got that clip too. Come on, Clay. Here he is. He said, anything is possible.

Took a big sip. Whoa, whoa. He's doing some Michael Jackson moves. He dropped his championship ring, and he's lost it in the confetti. Okay. Anything is possible. Correct. Okay.

Anything is possible. Correct. It is one of the, like he trips at one point over trolley tracks, I think. Yeah, to the streetcar. Takes, it's like one of those trips that I've definitely had in my life where you have to sprint

to catch up to the top part of your body. So like the lower part of your body has to like sprint and it turns you into like somebody doing a tackle sled drill in football practice. You're at a 45-degree angle with the earth and just flying forward and just takes out some young fan.

And they were fine, fortunately, but it was just, it's definitely how i would have been during a championship celebration oh yeah yeah that's that's how at best best case scenario i like how someone asked him to at the once he got to the parade someone said hey what happened to your hat and again he, he speaks in proper Siemens terms. I lost her and I tried to recover her. He's in Davy Jones' locker. Yeah.

No, I did actually take the boat in today because it was a perfect glassy day on the water. It's funny because I lost my championship hat in the wind. I do not condone littering, and I tried to find her, but she's one with the ocean, unfortunately. That's why I had the captain's hat on, because I lost the finals hat. He looks actually kind of bummed out.

He's like, that's why I got this captain's hat on. That's going to hurt. He hurt. Yeah, and here I was a second ago being like, I feel like they would just hand him a stack of new ones the second he got off i can't believe he didn't just pull another one out yeah or i like that they're like what do we tell you about messing around on that boat right he said if you wear it on the boat either take it off or wear it backwards and you're not gonna get another one and he's like now i gotta wear this giant captain's hat so um there's that the captain's

hat looks really good though uh it's hard for Clay not to look cool, honestly. It gave him a new energy. I don't even think he was anticipating to pull up in the captain's hat like that. There's some legendary championship celebrations. There's one about the Celtics partying 48 hours in a row,

not knowing that two days had passed. I think that was in the bird era in the 80s um there's one where meta world peace uh had like it showed up somewhere two days after the title and still had his uniform on i think that one of the closest we can get to like an official account is like espn reported that after the cabs won in Golden State, they stopped in Vegas. So their plane landed at 2 a.m. like the night after they won,

which there's just like something I love about that. They're just like, yeah, no. Like hours no longer mean anything. Once you win a championship, we're just going like all night and the world will open up before us. And sure enough, like the videos from the club that they went to when they landed at 2 a.m. is packed. And then they just went back to Cleveland where everybody was waiting for them.

That's the time. Just keep your foot on the gas until the parade. And then you can sleep for the rest of the summer. Yeah. I mean, how do you burn off all that excess adrenaline from having to win a championship too you're like uh i could literally run through a wall so because i don't want to injure my body we'll go to vegas for 36 days straight uh just so i can survive that but i mean yeah it is it's also the time too where you you remind yourself why you compete also and maybe get a little petty you know get in your bag a bit yeah um draymond my man yeah we saw you with that shirt you had this boston celtic shirt

the fans were wearing that said it's all about 18 basically in their pursuit of their 18th ship their 18th banner and it's like a it's got 18 squares except the last one that's blank meant to be like and here's 2022 our year and then he wrote warriors nope nope you said what did he say maybe in 23 maybe in 23 you gotta love that which is kind of a nice way to be like yeah maybe next year guys like yeah at least he added that in I'm sure he wasn't being passive-aggressive at all. Very PG, I would feel like. Draymond was on one, too. I mean, he stopped and got some ice cream,

danced with the... The Jabberwockies? Jabberwockies. He battled a Jabberwockie on the parade. Yeah. It looked okay. It wasn't embarrassing. He could moonlight as a Jabberwockie.

Yeah. Although, all those dudes are like five seven so it's wild to be like i think that one's draymond he's just literally following in shaq's footsteps with the broadcasting and then dancing with the jabberwockies right right right and will he be a dubstep dj is he nice on the ones and twos though like shaq diesel i'm sure we'll find out soon enough at a Dre's nightclub near you. Right? Oh, my. Oh, wow. They rebrand the Dre's. D-R-A-Y-S.

Yep. See? There it is. Brent Bolthouse. I'll take a 2% cut. Yeah. SBE Entertainment. Hit up Lena Washington.

Cut her that check. Thank you. But, yeah, to your point about the pettiness, I mean, we kind of already mentioned it, the stuff afterwards. I feel like they're burning off that excess, the thing that they kept motivating them through the finish line.

And any social media comment that was annoying them all year, that they were using to motivate them and annoy them all year. Like those come out. We talked about stuff saying, what will they say now? I just find it so funny when guys, you know, and I don't, you know, this is what they're probably going to say and expecting to say. But there's this idea that they don't listen to the outside noise. You know, they're very insular, all that stuff.

that they don't listen to the outside noise you know they're very insular all that stuff but you can't tell me they're not searching their name and candles or specific you know dates and things like that to have this type of motivation to be petty i respect it but you know i also respect the honesty of it all yeah and i i think there is something where that petty comes out because again like to to really prepare yourself to be focused to win a championship you get there i imagine it's like if you use a pressure cooker like you just can't open it right after like you have to release the steam out of it first and that's sort of like what happens like after the series ends it's like just so you know the amount of energy we had to build up in this pot, watch it go for like four days straight. They're like, how much steam is coming out of there? And it's like, that's what they were like.

Even, you know, Steph said, we got to bottle this up for next year. And there it is there. And now they release it. So, yes. Yeah. It's wild to see. And I do feel like the reporters know this at this point. They're like, hey, Clay, Clay, over here.

Who are you mad at right now? Now that you've won a title? What would you like to say to your haters? Who's a bum? Exactly. Any bums you want to shout out? Any bums you want to talk about real quick? Yeah.

Any Grizzlies players you'd like to give a message to right now? I like how he says some player he really he did that he did that i don't know her which is the ultimate totally mariah yeah yeah oh i don't know her some some some gentlemen from the memphis grizzlies i believe some lost gentlemen i don't know man like that that like that's fine that he used that to motivate him i i think it's like probably innocent enough i do love steph step motivate him. I think it's probably innocent enough. I do love Steph's clapback because it's at the media with their hot takes, the people who are like,

Steph's still not top 10 afterwards. We had people say, how many titles will steph win in new era i think is what they called in the next four years um and we got perk with the big zero around his eye um i don't know who's who's on the right there i think that's dominique foxworth okay is it given the big zero around his eye um and then we got steph at the championship uh given the big zero around his eye can't see you from over here folks perfect form yeah now like i actually did it better than either perk uh or dominique foxworth it just gives you yeah it's just that extra it gives you an extra gear you know and i i can only imagine if if michael jordan had twitter uh what he where he

would have took that too because i mean we had the last dance i feel like yeah he's given us enough and i took that material right no exactly and i think that i took that personally. Right. No, exactly. And I think that I took that personally is like every, it like rings throughout my head, no matter what I watch. I was even watching Stranger Things recently. And like, there was like this moment where somebody's talking to Eleven. They're like, is there a memory that makes you sad or angry? You can tap into to release this piece. I'm like, that's Michael Jordan's whole thing.

It's not Stranger Things. But yeah, it is. It's just, it's one of the most potent fuel sources on the planet, it seems like. Yeah. And then finally, Wiggins and Poole, just with their, we about to get a bag. And yes, no lies detected there. They're not wrong. They're not incorrect.

Bag incoming. I think we talked about it on TDZ a while back, but Wiggins has one of my favorite NBA videos. One of my favorite, you know, those fan interstitial videos where they give a quiz to somebody. And it was back in the Timberwolves days. They were like, okay, which of these songs do you like better? And they played XO Tour Life 3.

And he was like, i know i know this one little uzi bird i like it and then they played uh michael bolton's how do i live without you um how am i gonna live with i don't know the name of it but his face is transfixed to like a far off dimension and then he just like turns to camera and is like, I like this one better. And you have to watch it, but it is one of the great performances. I've loved him ever since then, so I was very excited. But this new video of him celebrating a chip with Jordan Poole might be a close second to that clip. Hey, you're about to get a bad job. You're about to get a bad job. We're about to get a bad job. might be a close second to that clip.

Champagne goggles around his neck. Nice champagne goggles this year. Yeah. They look sleek this year, those champagne goggles. And Super Producer Jabari asked the important question that we'll probably save for the offseason, but is that bag going to come from Golden State for both of them? Because Golden State are already in the luxury tax, and I don't know. That's a lot of bags.

That's a lot of baggage. A lot of bags. To maintain. Going around there. But, you know, obviously, like we promised in our trailer, we won't be firing up the trade machine. We will not be. We will wildly speculate.

I can just pick up vibes on Golden State fans. Golden State fans are underappreciating Jordan Poole. I think because he's the latest and they have a championship run with some of these other guys, and they are underappreciating and underrating Jordan Poole, I think because he's the latest and they have a championship run with some of these other guys and they are underappreciating and underrating Jordan Poole, I think, would be my take compared to – And that's a hot take, man. You're saying they're underappreciating him?

They're underappreciating – all right, look. Jack, you've got to go up to the base. You don't want that slander coming out your mouth. All right, let's take a quick break. We'll come back, and it's time for Rapid Fire Lightning. You got to go up to the base. You don't want that slander coming out your mouth. All right. Let's take a quick break. We'll come back, and it's time for Rapid Fire Lightning Round Splits Decision. 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. 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 gonna happen can't stop it that's right catching new episodes every wednesday all season long that's what you look for 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. Who is it? None other than... Psyche. You'll have to tune in to find out.

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 iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Mike Wright from the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast. You heard that right.

The Fantasy Footballers have officially entered the Dynasty space. Every week we bring you the same in-depth analysis and entertainment you've come to expect from the Fantasy Footballers, only now from a Dynasty perspective. Maybe you've been living in the Dynasty Fantasy Football space for a while. Well, we're here to take your game to the next level. Maybe you love Fantasy Football and you've been feeling that itch to jump into the Dynasty format, but it feels a little bit intimidating. No matter where you're coming from, the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast has something for you,

and you're going to have a great time listening, I promise. Join me and the rest of the crew every Wednesday for a new episode. Listen to the Fantasy Footballers Dynasty Podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. Lena, it is time to enter the rapid-fire zone. This is what we're going to do. We're going to throw out some questions to you.

And I don't want you to think because as the second you answer, the next question will come out and we just have to keep this moving. This is one of the fastest paced segments in, I think, all media, to be honest. Have you ever seen lightning, Lena? It's fast. It's about to strike. It is almost about to be monsoon season here. Exactly. So, exactly.

So, quick answers. We're so focused on the questions. We just want that answer. We're going to keep it moving. Start the clock. Fire in and of itself is not fast, but when you add the modifier rapid, it becomes pretty fast too. And so, we got two things that are pretty

fast to summarize this segment because it's a fast one that is going to, you know, let's hold on to our butts, everyone. Thank you. It's going to be a fast one. Start the clock. Question one. The Barkley era, seven seconds or less, or last year's final squad in a series? I said it in the playoffs, and I think just on paper, I got to take last season's team. Best Suns team ever. Oh, wow. Interesting.

Simply by the numbers. So there's, in this case, no nostalgia comes into play for you. You're looking ruthlessly efficiently. I'm standing by my previous take, which was there's no denying that what we watched this last season was probably the best suns team that we have watched yeah maybe maybe in the calendar year especially you know from their arc obviously in the finals to this you know untimely demise in the in the second round but, what they were able to do makes them the best Suns team ever. All respect to both eras.

Yeah. I mean, as a Laker fan, I felt those 47 points that he put on us in that last game. Whoops. Anyway, rapid fire, rapid fire, rapid, keep it rapid, Jack. I mean, because a lot of people thought that Barkley team was going to win it, like heading in against

Jordan, and then get taken out by a singular force of nature, like, uh, Michael Jordan, uh, who's, uh, one of my favorite players of all time. I think it's pretty good. Lena, if you could travel back and attend any single game throughout NBA history, which would it be? game throughout NBA history, which would it be? Oh, rapid, rapid, rapid, rapid, probably the Spurs Miami series, Ray Allen, Ray Allen shot. Wow. That's a great one. That's a great one. Now tell me a little bit about Ray Allen. What'd you like? What did you want to see something about Ray Allen specifically? What was it? It's just, it was the moment I remember specifically where I was in that space and time. And I wish I was not in a brewery in Bakersfield and I wish I was in Miami in that moment.

I think it'd be cool to be there for that. Champagne on fire. Ready to go. Right. You know what? Ray is a word for a single unit of light and light. It travels quickly like this, like this game that we're playing alan as in

iverson check out also quick check out this crossover to my next question also lena let us know if the speed is too much for you in this rapid okay i'd like to tweak it we don't like to leave people behind uh all right funniest am i up or are you not well hold on this is right yeah okay oh my bad no okay this is me rapid rapid you just had that really good point about how alan iverson was fast and also good at crossovers and you're crossing over to your next question the segues are really good i gotta say uh i think the the rapid fire segues that you guys are delivering is so fast the questions that are being fired rapidly well get ready your head is spinning

i'm sure we're firing rapid what's the funniest thing you've seen or experienced while covering the league oh my god i don't even know um rapidly rapid so tough uh Maybe just experiencing the ground below me shaking during a T-Pain concert during a summer league game in Sacramento. When he was when he was he was singing Cyclone specifically. Again, I have video of this and I was standing in the crowd of people. It probably was like 2018, 2019. And they had little concert series during their California Classic Summer League thing in Sacramento. Really cool event. But yeah, it was, again, lit. The ground below us was literally moving with people just enjoying T-Pain on a summer day in Sacramento. Now, what is it about T-Pain, you think? His music, obviously, he's got several bops.

His personality. Now he's going into the restaurant game, I hear. So I probably would be visiting that. I mean, he's given us anthem upon anthem from the strip club to the birthday parties. He's got songs for everybody. Fun fact, because I just Googled him. I'm 15 days older than T-Pain. All right.

So there you go. Now when I see T-Pain i'm like what's up son i'm 15 days older than you like on some elementary school type stuff as well t-pain is definitely one of those artists who i associated with a past era and i i assumed he was like a decade older than me um and he is in fact five years younger than me he is your son but that's the thing about time right it's very relative exactly it's a flat circle thank you and even when we perceive it to be moving fast much like this rapid fire segment it's really it's about the person slows down exactly time dilation next question lena your ultimate all- time dunk contest you get to pick any four players oh my god LeBron Derek Jones Jr

Dwight Howard and Vince Carter yay okay wow now what is it about Vince Carter oh god what isn't it about Vince Carter the best dunk contest of all time is that what it is?

yes it's over. Yes. It's over. Was that 2000? That's the best dunk contest performance of all time. Oh, I know. Jack, I feel like that's all we talked about.

Miles, are you joking right now on this comedic podcast? I might be. Now, I never heard of this Vince Carter fellow, but I'm going to look up some of his. Oh, wow.

What a dunk. Oh, boy. He's cooking with gas, huh? I should have put Aaron Gordon in there so he could get another chance at maybe winning, but also probably losing to Vince Carter. Yeah. I think, yeah, maybe one of the all-time greats. Those are good picks.

Dwight is not one that I would have picked or seen. Rapid, Jack. Get this takeout faster. What? No, this is as fast as I go. Okay. What is the dunk? Tell me the dunk that I need to go watch by Dwight Howard in a dunk

contest that's going to change my opinion. The Superman dunk. That's an affirmative definitive dunk. I do like Superman. But does it change? Yeah. I feel like it is. It's a great picture. But did it... I remember, remember again me and my friend we we we abandoned going to our our valentine's day dance in high school like one of our first

high school dances so we didn't miss vince carter in that dunk contest absolutely you probably made the right decision oh man my friend hasn't heard the end of it even to this day our homegirl from high school always teases him about, like, you know you stood me up at that dance, right? And we're like, it was Vince Carter. You have to understand. We had never seen anything like that until that point. But anyway. Rapid, rapid. Here we go.

Next one. Lena, this is the most rapid question I'm going to ask. Eyebrows were raised at, you know, back at the start of the month when odds makers suddenly had phoenix as the most likely destination for one kevin durant but seeing how things are playing out do you think there's actually a chance that katie winds up with the sons no but i would love to still entertain the possibility uh something something else to talk about something exciting to talk about i don't know how they're gonna do it but if they can get to talk about i don't know how they're gonna do it but if they can get it done and i don't know the only real feasible thing would

be like a sign and trade with aiden right so um you know i i i don't know it's a very fun dialogue to engage in as a fan to finally be a destination that people are entertaining to to live it's great it's great city now It's a great city. Now it's a great basketball town. And just a follow-up question. What is it about KD? What isn't it about KD? Okay, no, that's fine.

He's good, right? Yes. I believe he's good. I quite enjoy how he's been engaging with the fans on social media with his Twitter fingers. But yeah, I mean, his talent is undeniable. And I think his personality, whether you get it or don't, is something kind of refreshing in the way. Fantastic. Yeah. More on that later. You know, we have to really keep this segment going. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cut you off like that. Finally, last question. Where is Kyrie, which oh like some sometimes people shorten kairi irving's name

just to his first name some a lot of people like used to with jordan they would be like just jordan you know not michael rapid uh where is kairi playing this fall uh when the new nba season starts and uh if he's not playing or he could be i don't know there's been some commentary about whether or not nailed it he'd uh be playing with the with the nets or not there's also other teams like lakers clippers nicks uh being thrown around yeah i'm i'm not sure i think uh i'll have to light some sage and think about that one uh you know kind of like the rapid fire of the uh lighter lighting stage um think about that rapid fire question you just threw my way um you know maybe he stays in brooklyn with some of the personnel changes that they've had or will have um but i think that's a great question where do

you guys see him playing kairi ah man the guy they know as Kyrie Irving, yes. Kyrie Irving. What is it about Kyrie? I had a feeling you were going to ask that, Myles. Yeah. We've done a whole episode on Kyrie that was rapid. I don't know. I think it's his speed.

Some of it is ball handling, which feels exceptional. Something about that. I don't know. speed. Some of it is ball handling, which feels exceptional. Something about that. I don't know. I mean, when I read the thing about that the Lakers are always named and things like this, I'm like, really? At this point

though, if that's where we're going, I guess I'll just watch another interesting season if that happened, but I don't know. I honestly don't know. It feels like part of it is seeming like this is to maybe leverage something to stay with the Nets, but again we we haven't fired up the trade machine to really begin to learn all the permutations we do know that i mean we can pretty much like lock it in that jason tatum will be playing for the lakers next year oh yeah so and then it has been probably

like just depending. Yeah. So I don't know. It's like, will there be enough shots to go around for Kyrie? Just be, I, this is just me. I've, I've only been covering or researching based on Lakers. And that's been our rapid fire segment. Thank you so much, Lena Washington for participating.

Quick on your feet. I don't know how you were able to keep up with us. I was really, you were testing my agility with all the questions being fired rapidly and moving on to the next one so quickly. I believe so. All right, well, we're setting records. Lena, thank you so much for joining us

on Miles and Jack Got Mad Boosties. Where can people see your work, hear you, and support you? Well, if you live in the Phoenix to Flagstaff area, you can watch me on the NBC affiliate, 12 News, on Sundays at 10.30 is 12 Sports Night, our magazine sports show. During football season, we are the only high school football show in town. That's Friday Night Fever, 1130 on Fridays. And then after Sunday Night Football,

during the football season, I will be hosting Cardinals Locker Room as well. So you will probably see me on your TV. If you don't live in the Phoenix area, you can follow me on Instagram and Twitter at LWashingtonTV. And thank you guys so much for having me. This was really cool.

Yeah, this was really cool. Yeah, this is a pleasure. Thank you for legitimizing our show by bringing your Emmy award winning sports ladiness to the show. As you say in your Twitter bio, that's from a Twitter bio. I didn't just, okay.

That's a reference called a call back, Jack. Okay. Okay. All right. Reference. It's called a callback, Jack. Okay, okay. In the bins. All right. Cool. That's been another episode of... Miles and Jack got mad boosties.

Damn, we didn't kind of harmonize on that last one. Yeah. They call us NSYNC. I'm Justin. I'll be the Chris Kirkpatrick. Damn. You don't even know that. That's Jack's name.

Should have been quicker. All right. We'll see you next week Bye I'm Carrie Champion And this is season 4 Of Naked Sports Up first I explore the making Of a rivalry

Kaitlyn Clark Versus Angel Reese Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Keri Champion and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. 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.