The Herd with Colin Cowherd - #thisleague UNCUT: Summer reunion and our Giannis Latest

Episode Date: August 29, 2023

Chris Haynes and Marc Stein don't get together as often for podcast convos in August and September as they do during the season, but they had plenty to talk about in this episode after Giannis Antetokounmpo's recent explosive interview with The New York Times in which Giannis himself suggested his future might be elsewhere. The guys discuss the quotes Giannis shared with their former fellow Walt Disney World bubble resident Tania Ganguli and debate which team's Media Day in early October (Milwaukee's, Philadelphia's, Portland's or someone else's) will be the most tension-filled.    #fsr #herdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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you get your podcasts. Welcome to This League Uncutt. In the world of 24-hour NBA news, this news you lose. Chris Haynes, it's go time. Mark Stein, it's showtime. Boom, Sakalaka. This League Uncut is underway and on fire. This should be a good one. Friends, welcome in to a long overdue reunion of the cast of this league uncut. Producer Ryan is here behind the scenes. Chris Haynes is here. I'm Mark Stein. We are back together again.

This is so crazy. We did the live show in July at Caesar's Palace with Lakers coach, Darwin Ham. in the midst of some sort of, some sort of seeing an emergency at Caesars that we weren't even fully aware of what was going on when we were doing the pod. We got past all that. Chris Haynes and I were together. I was so excited to see him because I hadn't seen him in person

and I don't know how long. But since then, I've barely spoken to Chris Haynes. I think he needed a vacation from me. because we've only done a couple pods since then. In the summertime, we do dial it back. But I think, I don't know if he's prepared to admit this, but I think Chris Haynes has enjoyed his vacation from annoying me, nagging him and bugging him with requests and questions and admin

and just my usual panicky self. Is that true? Are you enjoying this time away from that we've kind of been? And we've kind of been separated here. We have, Stein, but let me tell you this. The way I feel I have a little bit something to reveal. The way I feel right now, I don't want anything to do with a little Caesar's pizza. I don't want anything to do with a Caesar salad.

I don't even want to hear about history about King Caesar, whoever it was back in the day. That's just how I feel, Stein. All right, I got that. I get it. I hear you. Okay. Okay. So maybe you're mad at me.

Because the thing is, the thing is, like we text a lot. Like I think even our text frequency has been way down. So you've been, I don't know, like I said, I think you've enjoyed this time away from Ryan and not.

No, it has nothing to do with you, Stein. It has a lot to do with Charlene's beauty supply. I've been working. That is your, that is your number one job. I've been working for.

You are the least. Lead insider at Charlene's Beauty Supply. You are the undisputed. Hey, I've been on the road. She sent me on the road to go get more stock. I'm driven on the road. I flew to Atlanta to get some more stock from the store. Yes, I'm at the register.

What else am I doing? I'm cleaning up aisles. Did you at least get to see your collegiate daughters on your trip to Atlanta when you were on that mission? I did. I did. And I'm actually going back to Atlanta next week. We have a, we have a summit out there, company summit pretty soon. So, no, I've been, Stein, I would love to have broken away to do a pod or have a conversation with you, man. But Charlene has kept me highly awkward. All right. All right. I'm glad it's not personal. We're good. We're good. Just no season salad for me. Any other salad, any other pizza, I'm good.

it. All right. I get it. I hear you. All right. Well, here's the thing. Here's the thing. We did have to kind of get reconnected here because like I said, I feel like I was a little, I mean, you know, I get, I get, it doesn't take much to get me worried. Now, our text frequency has been down lately. So I was, I was a little, I was a little jittery. But all right, I'm moving on because I keep saying this. I say it on by, I say it a lot on my Saturday radio show in Dallas. I've written it several times in my substack. Look, There's no sugar-coding this. Training camp is still a long way away. We're not even at September 1st yet. For all but two teams in the league, training camp doesn't really start until Media Day on October 2nd.

So we're still a long way from that. But there is, I feel like this has been a more active newsier August than normal. We've got the Feebo World Cup going on. So right now we're in the midst of this run where there's eight games about. basketball a day. From now until September 3rd, there's going to be one off day. And then there's two days, two games of basketball, pretty high level basketball every day through September 10th. That's going to get us even closer to the start of NBA training camps. We had Hall of Fame inductions and we keep getting news. You know, we're still waiting for some movement on the

Damien Lillard trade front and we're still waiting for more definitive action. on the James Hardin trade front, but I mean, James Harden has certainly made news with what he said about Daryl Morey and China. And then just this past week, my dear friends at the New York Times, Tanya Ganguly, who had a great story with, she did a feature on Janus,

on Tadacumpo, and Janus said all kinds of stuff to Tanya in that piece. And, you know, the New York Times, the sports section is still rumbling, along despite reports of its demise. I don't know how much longer that's going to last, but this story was A plus plus. Janus, Janus, Janice, Janice Antitacumpo is eligible for a contract extension in September,

a three-year deal worth more than 170 million. But he told Tanya, he is not signing it. He is not doing an extension this offseason. And then he was asked, he, I mean, Janus volunteered that it makes more financial sense next summer, but he did quickly add even then he's not sure that he wants to resign it. So basically, Janice Antidacumpo in late August has put the bucks on notice with these quotes that he gave the New York Times. And, you know, this is a massive, massive story. This is huge because basically, you know, the bucks were living under this just constant fear of losing Janus and can we keep Janus happy and is Janus going to extend?

And Janus Santacumpo did extend his contract right, you know, before the run to the championship that season, he signed a five-year deal worth nearly 230 million. But after just three years of that deal, the bucks are right back where they were. and the whole league is looking at this now wondering, man, is Janus getable? Is Janus basically saying that he wants to leave? I mean, he is, the Bucks made all these moves this summer to try to make him happy. And then this story comes out. So, you know, you know Janus well.

You cover him a ton. I mean, what did you think when you saw some of these quotes? Again, let me just read it. quote, the real question's not going to be this year. Numbers-wise, it doesn't make sense. But next year, next summer, it would make sense for both parties. Even then, I don't know. Janus continues, I would not be the best version of myself.

If I don't know that everybody's on the same page, everybody's going for a championship, everybody's going to sacrifice time away from their family like I do. And if I don't feel that, I'm not signing. My initial response, definitely golden quotes. Great job by Italian. Amazing profile. People should definitely go check that out, go read it from start to finish.

I'm not surprised. So this is not the first time Janus said something that has kind of perk the ears of everyone who caught it. I want to say it might have been, I was looking for it, just now as you were reading those quotes. He says something, I want to say last year, maybe last offseason, maybe even two years ago about, you know, if he chose to leave. It was something like if I left, I might want to play somewhere else. I might want to do it.

It was something along those lines. Excuse me. People, you can find it if you really dug. I think I'm looking. I'll keep looking while we're doing this pot. You need to find the right word. that he used but I'm not surprised he definitely I definitely put him up there with LeBron James of the people that I've covered and spent significant time with put him above

there up there with LeBron James as the star key players who just having a sensationalable desire to win Janus is right there up there and I like that he's finding his voice over the last few years He's saying what's on his mind. A lot of times, you know, there are certain players, and Janice is like that too where, you know, he'll be in front of the cameras or be in front of a reporter. And, you know, he'll say all the right things. And then behind the scenes, when you talk to him off the record,

you'd be like, damn, oh, Janice, I didn't know. I didn't know you felt that way. I don't know, you talked that way. You know, so I like that he's bringing his voice and showing his voice to everyone else right now. not surprised, Stey. I think he's definitely putting the team on notice. But I think the pressure was always there from the beginning for Milwaukee. They had to make moves. You know, they did.

Remember after the bubble, you know, there was uncertainty around if they were going to keep Coach Bud at that time. They ended up keeping them, you know, got a title, and then had a lackluster for their standards, a lackluster season this past year than they can, but. So the pressure is there. Does this intensify it? Probably so. Because this is not going to be the last time we hear the potential of Janus to relocated.

I mean, to me, I think it ramps it up huge because I just, you know, again, that the whole, the league was on Janus watch until Janus signed the five-year extension with the bucks. Then they won the championship. And then the past two seasons have not gone the way Milwaukee hoped. And then this whole off season was, the conversation was, will the bucks make the moves that will make Janice Santico happy? And they spent to keep Chris Middleton. They spent to keep Brooke Lopez. They made a coaching change.

And, you know, you and I both reported about how. of the names of the coaches that were interviewed to replace Mike Boodenholzer, Adrian Griffin was the coach that Janice wanted. And that's who Milwaukee hired a first time coach replacing a coach who's won a championship. So the Bucks, I'm sure they felt like we've done everything. We did everything with the thought of trying to satisfy our star player. And Janus comes out with all these quotes that suggest he's far from convinced that they've done enough. And he might well be right.

I mean, you know, the bucks, it was expensive just to keep the team they had. You can't really say that they've improved it. And, I mean, the best thing Milwaukee probably has going for itself right now is we have questions about pretty much every top contender at the top of the East. Philly is obviously in a lot of flux with the hardened situation. Boston has made a huge change by basically sending out Marcus Smart, cutting ties with Grant Williams, and bringing in Christopps Porzingis. So the Celtics are going to look a lot different.

Miami, we don't know what they're going to look like. We all know they want to trade for Damian Lillard, and that hasn't happened. So the heat have lost. They lost Gabe Vincent and Max Trues from their team that went to the NBA finals. So there are a lot of question marks at the top of the east. And that's got to be good news for Milwaukee. But I mean, this is, this was a thunderbolt to me.

And again, the whole league now is going to be back on Janus watch. And is Janus happy? That is going to be a constant discussion from going forward from here. I think Milwaukee wants to give themselves another chance with the fact that Chris Middleton wasn't healthy last year. So I want to see if they can duplicate from a few years ago, getting to the finals and ultimately winning it. So I found that story, the honest. This was, it's almost two years ago.

So this happened November of 2021. It was a story he did, a GQ story. They got Yonis one-on-one. This was his quote. one challenge was to bring a championship here, and we did. It was very hard, but we did it. Very, very hard. I just love challenges.

What's the next challenge? The next challenge might not be here. He said, me and my family chose to stay in this city that we all love and has taken care of us for now. I'm two years in two, excuse me, in two years that might change. I'm being totally honest with you. I'm always honest. I love this city. I love this community.

I want to help as much as possible. So I remember when that came out, it made some news, but it wasn't, I don't think it hit the magnitude of Tanya's story. But, you know, him saying that back then, it was kind of laying the groundwork to say, hey, as long as I'm here, I'm going to do everything I can. But I am very much open to going elsewhere and taking on another challenge. He's clearly honest. I mean, he is, he is being as open as he can. And, you know, the other kind of bombshelly thing he said in this, in this Tanya story is, you know, he acknowledged that, yes, on some levels, he does want to be a Dirk Novitsky, a Tim Duncan, or a Kobe Bryant, the guys who we associate with staying with one franchise forever for their whole career. And, you know, he, Yanis has talked about that that is, that is something he would like to do.

But in this story, he also did mention to Tanya that, you know, quote, winning a championship comes first. I don't want to be 20 years on the same team and don't win another championship. He has the one, but clearly one isn't enough for Janice Antedacumpo. So, yeah, I mean, this is, even in a summer where, you know, we are still expecting a Damian Lillard trade at some point. And James Harden clearly wants to be traded from Philadelphia. Don't know if he's going to get that trade, but he clearly still wants it. Even with those two massive stories, the reverberations from this one might even be more significant because, you know, Janus is, you know, on, on, his worst day, he's one of the five best players in the league, maybe one of the three best players

in the league. So Milwaukee has a lot of pressure now to, you know, have a good season and do, I mean, they were, that playoff series was disastrous, how bad they looked in the Miami series. Yes, Janus's injury at the start of that series was certainly a factor. But, I mean, they were, you know, they were that, I mean, that was just collapse, you know, two late collapses against Miami. And, just the whole way that first round series unraveled. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

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I thought Philly was under pressure to start the new season. Man, Milwaukee. Milwaukee is right there, if not facing more. Yeah, this changes things a bit. But it's definitely calculated, for sure. This is definitely calculated. And I don't, you know, this is what, you know, superstar players do. They oftentimes, because they feel like they're putting everything into their body to make sure that they can give it all when it's time to play in an 82 game regular season, then into the postseason.

And so a lot of times when they get to a certain level or accumulate certain years of stature, they feel comfortable of putting the, franchise on notice, applying pressure there because players always have pressure. It's always pressure for the faces of the franchise. So it was like, you know what? Let's share in this pressure. Let's publicly share in this pressure. So allow me to issue a few quotes to get us both on the same page so we can both feel this.

Because oftentimes, you know, obviously when things don't, when situations come up short, the player or the players, you know, catch the brunt of it. So this is, this is definitely going to be an interesting season to see how it all unfolds, especially towards the end. What we need now is a roulette wheel sound effect. I don't know if we have that capability in the This League Uncut Audio Archive. We'll find out when Ryan gets done with this thing. Because now I, you know, before I was the last time, maybe not the last time, but in one of our

recent pods. I know I was giving you a hard time about where will Chris Haynes be on Media Day? Will he be in Portland with still a Blazer Damian Lillard? Will he be in Los Angeles with the Lakers? But now, I mean, they might have to send you to Milwaukee. You might, I mean, you might be in Milwaukee for Media Day. I don't think they'll send you as far east as Philly, but I mean, I doubt it. You are. I mean, well, listen, let me tell you this, Philly, it all, so let's transition there. If it's Philly, if I am in Philly, the only reason I would be in Philly, I would think, is if James Hardin is still a member of the Sixers. and then James Harden has to show up to Media Day training camp.

I think that would be the only reason why I or any other national member reporters will be in Philly for Media Day. Just to see how that is going to play out. What is James going to do? Well, on the tension meter, where will the most tension be now? Let's pretend, let's assume that. Dame is still a blazer on Media Day, October 2nd. Media Day is October 2nd for 28 of the league's 30 teams.

Only Dallas and Minnesota, who will be opening their exhibition seasons in Abu Dhabi. Their Media Day, I believe I keep, I think it's September 29th. I'm doing that one off the top of my head. I think it's September 29th for Media Day for those seasons. Everybody else, Media Day is October. second. Who is going to have the sauciest, most tension-filled media day? Philly, if Hardin is still on the roster, as it certainly looks like he will be. The Sixers want to slow play this. I do not think the Sixers even want to trade James Hardin. So if Hardin is still in Philly, if Dame is still

in Portland, and now with Janus, having said what he has said to the New York Times, what would be the most dramatic media day that you that chris haines has to attend of those three if harton is still a member of phil yeah the lakers i mean they're they're boring on media day they re-signed a d they kept austin reaves nobody even threw an offer sheet at austin reeves everybody's austin reeves the new darling of team usa and everybody's wondering why didn't san antonio just give him that four-year hundred million dollar offer sheet just to make the Lakers match it. We don't even have, and the Lakers are boring. Yeah.

I mean, Golden State with Chris Paul. That's another one. That was the other one. I forgot. Would he accept, yeah, would he accept the reserve role or how would he? He's going to be a professional. I don't think that that no longer cracks the top three. I think, I'm sorry, but, you know.

I hear you. But I'm glad you mentioned that because I think that was one of the ones I was quizzing you about before. you're right but if it's those three Harden Dame Janice I think it's Hardin because I think Hardin's case that has the most potential to be an explosive day

I think Dame if he's if he's still with the Blazers I think Dame shows up to camp and I think he handles things professionally and I think he avoids a lot of questions Harden I'm not sure I'm not sure if he's going to avoid questions. And I'm not even sure if he'll show up.

I don't know. So that's, that's what. So if you say from all three, those three scenarios, James Hardin's situation is definitely going to get the most. See, that's what I'm saying. This August, like, you know, on my substack, I have this great chat room where I, you know, I get to hang out with my subscribers.

And I know everybody's getting antsy. Everybody's like, man, we still got a month to go before training camp. there is, I mean, all these, there are some question marks that, because these are all interesting. I mean, look, you know Dame 10 times better than me, but I have to imagine that is not going to be a fun media day for him if he is still a blazer to have to stand up there and, you know, field whatever questions come his way, because we know he wanted to be traded to Miami by now. And it hasn't happened. And look, also, things can happen in September. And also, Stein, also check this out, Stein. Check this out.

For James and Dame. Because it just came up to me right now. I think I can see an avenue of which Sixers and Portland might say. I haven't heard anything. It just hit my brain right now. They might say James, Dame, don't show up. Because they have every reason. every intention to trade, probably not on a certain, probably not as desperate of a timeline as

James and Dame wants, but, because, you know, Media Day is all about, let's build up the interest. Let's get the fandom behind us. You know what I mean? These are all good quotes that's going to get the fan base all energized and motivated to come out. And then you have James and Dame like kind of bringing a, I'm not going to say a dark cloud, but they're not on that same level of excitement as everybody else. So could you see the Sixers or Portland if both star players are still on the team at camp? Could you see them say, hey, just skip media day.

Let's, let's avoid, let's just avoid a bad look. You know, that's a great question. I would have to check with the league because I'm pretty sure that's like that's, you know, Let's just say player X didn't show up for media day. That's a finable offense. So I don't know. Do teams have the latitude to tell a guy? Hey, we think it's better that you don't do media day.

I flat out have to ask the league. I genuinely don't know the answer to that one. I would think if the team and player agrees as best if the players stay home. I would remember with Philly. It's not just, you know, look, all the focus is on Hardin. The union is saying that they're going to file the grievance now on James Hardin's behalf because the league has fined him $100,000. And, you know, all the, all the questions on the surface seem to be Hardin related. Does he have any shot at winning a grievance?

Is he going to report to training camp? No, will Philly ease its stance and decide to train? but all of that is secondary to what Joel Embed thinks. And that, I get what you're saying. Obviously, there's going to be tons of curiosity. Is James here? Is James here on the first day and media day? Is he going to speak to the media?

I want to hear from Joel and B. I mean, that is the question. What does Joelle and Bede think of all this? Because what Philly, Philly is trying to thread a really, really complicated needle. because when Hardin's contract expires and when Tobias Harris's contract expires at the end of the season, they could have tons of cap space.

So next summer, they have all this cap space and then they'll be in better position to extend Tyrese Maxie's deal, but you've got to, if you're Philly, you have to sell Embed in the meantime on, hey, big man,

we might have to take a step back this year waiting out this chaos and dealing with the hardened drama before we before we can really make a splash. M. Bid turns 30 in March. Does he want a, does he want a season where they take a step back? I can't say to her and tell you that I've spoken to him anytime recently,

but my gut would say I doubt it. I don't think Joel and Bid wants to lose another season where they don't get past the second round waiting for what might happen next summer. So all my curiosity is, how is Embed going to deal with the fact that is Hardin still on the team? Are they not going to trade him? And I get it from Philly's perspective.

Philly doesn't want to just trade harden and take back whatever because they don't want to mess with the cap space. I mean, if they're going to trade hard and they've got to be sure they're getting back pieces that advance what they're trying to do because they can't take back long-term money that messes up that cap space. But again, they have to sell Embed on this process. And that was actually unintentional. promise I did not mean to use process there.

So I, man, these are, they're all fascinating. Philly, Portland, Milwaukee, and yeah,

Warriors too. I mean, it's, you're gonna have to be in more than, you're gonna have to be in more than one place. It feels like I, we feel like we're missing the team. I'm sure we are.

We're off our, I mean, I'm off my game. So, I mean, I already forgot, I already forgot the Chris Paul scenario, but but I think when we were talking about this before,

when we were talking about this before, we were guessing that you were going to be on the West Coast. So I think we were talking Lakers. Oh, well, with sons. I mean, you know, we haven't seen the sons with all these guys in one place. I mean, their media day will be, you know, certainly of some interest just to have Durant, Beal, book, and Aiton all in the same room with a new coach.

But again, I would even put the same. sons, I don't think the suns crack the top three either anymore. It's not, but the clippers, the only reason I say the clippers are because now with Ty Lou and the organization stressing how important it is for guys to be available on a nightly basis. And so this is kind of a new structure that the clippers are embarking on where they're prioritizing being available. And getting Kauai's take on that,

like what is that saying? Getting Paul George's take on that? And can I just interrupt you with a shout out? Paul George's podcast is tremendous. I don't know if you saw today. I mean, he is just, I saw clips of him today uncorking a Kauai imitation and a Charles Barkley imitation,

and they were both, like, they were A-plus. I didn't know he was an impressionist. I mean, his Charles Barkley was, wow. Fresno State education. I'm not surprised. Look at you. Always bring it back to Fresnel. I'm not surprised.

Yeah, no, Paul George's podcast, since we give him a shout out to player podcast, Paul George's podcast is excellent. Jeff T is really big. striking a big out there with his story. And it's funny, we're actually lucky that, you know, we made the big trade with Dremon where we said, Draymond, you come on our podcast and will come on your podcast. Now, Draymond has not cashed in his chip. You know, he could have us on.

We have to hold up our end of the deal, but maybe he's just, maybe he just doesn't want us. Maybe we're not interesting enough. But, you know, given the whole Fresno State thing, I think you should extend the same offer to Paul George. We'll go on his pod if he comes on ours. Would Paul George entertain that trade? Yeah, I think he would. But Paul, we would have to go out to L.A. to Paul. He ain't doing no remotes.

That's right. Stein, are you willing to come out of your cave? Okay. All right. It can't be one. It can't be one. It got to be both of us. I'll be there with my Cal State Fullerton hat on.

Don't worry. Okay. All right. I don't know if he'll entertain it, But we should offer that. I'll make the call. I think we could get a done. Yeah, shout out the call.

He's doing, he's doing, I mean, he has amazing guests and he's got guys really opening up. But like I said, his, his impressions are really good. You know, I don't know that we have. Hold on real quick, Stey. Before we get to, hold on, Dallas. Is there any intrigue with Dallas Media Day? Yeah, no, I think, I think there is, I think there is. I think there is, but something tells me that all those teams would probably be higher in list.

I guess the intrigue in Dallas will just be Kyrie Irving. We haven't heard from Kyrie Irving, and Kyrie did not speak at the end of last season. So going into free agency, he decided not to meet with the media. When Kyrie was traded to the Mavericks in February, he had asked, please no contractual questions during the season. I don't want to cause disdraught. I don't want to cause unwarranted distractions, I think, was the term. I got to look it up exactly.

I think it was he did not want to cause unwarranted distractions. But then after the Maverick season ended, he didn't want to do media before going into free agency. So you are correct that when Media Day arrives, that will be the first time Kyrie Irving has addressed the media since April. And the first time he's addressed the media since resigning with Dallas. However, as I work my way through this as we discuss it, The Mavericks, as I said, the Mavericks and the Wolves, they both have media day a few days early because they begin exhibition play abroad. So September 29th, again, I believe, and I really hope I'm not saying the wrong date. I hope it's not September 30th.

But I do think it is September 29th. Both the Mavericks and the Wolves will do Media Day two, three days before everybody else. So Dallas's Media Day with Luca and Kyrie Irving and Jason Kidd and Minnesota's Media Day with Cat and Gobert and Slow Mo and Aunt Edwards, Team USA's go-to guy. There will be no, the Mavericks and the Wolves will not have to battle for, they will only be battling each other on their media day. Okay, that's all I ask you. I remember Kyrie hasn't spoke. So what about Luca? What's the mood, like, from outside looking in, Stein,

it's, you know, Lucas's supporting cast keeps changing. They're trying to get the, you know, right cast around him. Is there, you know, how people are waiting for, like, Joel N.B. To see what, you know, what he thinks, is that, is there a similar thing with Luca or is that, that's definitely way too premature? Well, look, it's the NBA. So, I mean, I'm sure the question is going to come up. But yeah, I mean, you know, because on one hand, you've got Luca doing media pretty regularly

because he's playing for his national team. But he always says when he's with Slovenia and he gets asked questions about the Mavericks, he tends to bat those away because he'd rather not talk Mavericks when he's on national team duty. So, yes, I don't think there's any question that there's going to be a lot of interest in the Mavs when they're do Media Day because it is the first time both Luca and Kyrie will have spoken since, I mean, spoken about the Mavs since April. So no question. The Mavs are a team that a lot of people are looking at because there are still,

I mean, there frankly are still questions, you know, Luca and Kyrie as a duo. It didn't go great last, last season, obviously. the Mavericks counter would be that it was a mid-season trade. They'll have a full training camp now to try to actually build a team that functions better. And they've certainly made a lot of changes with Grant Williams coming in. They weren't able to get Matisse Taible, who they went after with the restricted free agent offer sheet. They've made changes to their front court rotation as well. they did not get the front line starting defensive center that they were hoping to.

So they did bring in Rishon Holmes. They drafted Derek lively, who everybody in Dallas is excited about. They also drafted Olivier Maxence Prosper, who is probably going to have a role right away. But you're right. Dallas Media Day is up there. I don't know, maybe we need to do like a Media Day rankings, but I would still say that, because honestly, I think Minnesota had enough, they had enough late season drama that even theirs will be a source of interest and intrigue

as all those guys get together again. But I wouldn't put the Mavericks or the wolves in that Philly, Portland, Milwaukee tier. Those are my top three for drama. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying.

Yep, that's me, Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok. Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at It podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know.

I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. You know a wild card team, the Memphis Grizzlies, starting Media Day, John Morant, suspended for, what is it, 25 games? 25 games. So those, these will be, well, it is expected on Media Day for it to be his first public remarks or comments from the suspension. What did the Player Association, were they looking?

Was they last looking into Fowling a grievance? Or is that done with? Is there anything there? Producer Ryan, can you help me out on that, buddy? Trying to see if there's anything that can be done before the season starts. But I doubt it.

So, I mean, just hearing what Jai is going to say. But, you know, that would be some intrigue right there, but everybody knows he's not going to be there to start the season with him. So I don't know if they, is that a top team? Yeah, they probably make top 10 to probably most intriguing teams to go into Media Day. Definitely not top five. But I'm just trying to think of all type of, I guess,

uncomfortable situations that can be had on Media Day. Do you have any say in the assignment? Like, do you volunteer and say, hey, I would love to go to C Team X. Oh, I can say that all I want. as far as anything happened at all for that no they're going to tell me where to go you'll have your NBA TV polo shirt

all pressed and ready to go yes oh hey the great thing about those polo shirts that it only be pressed wrinkle free maybe I can ball that shirt up ball it all up and put it on and look good so I'll be fine but yeah I'm gonna wear the medium again

so that's enough you know that that that reminds me another one the chuckster we gotta get the chuckster on here yeah chuck is he's been hiding from us suck and i saw he just did the bill simmons podcast yeah did bill simmons too he did rich uh did he did um um rich um what's his last name how you said dikes did he really i missed that he did richard ditch's pod yes he did He read Richard Diches last week.

I think he spoke for like a hour and a half or something like that. Yeah. It was the quotes. It came from, did you see the quotes circulating from Charles about Amazon, how Turner and ESPN are kind of sweating. I actually totally missed that. I totally missed that.

Wow. Yeah. That came from Diches. I listened to his pod with Simmons. We have not had the Chuckster on this podcast. How was it? We have to rectify that. Okay.

Because I want to hear him going at your shirts on this pod. Hey, listen, man, you got a lot of requests. See, we don't talk for a month. And already you say, hey, get us on the pawn doors. Yes. And that's true. I am demanding and annoying. And I worry a lot.

And you have to deal with all that. But, but I do have a, I have a pod lined up. I have a big name. guest lined up soon. I do not want to reveal it yet because I don't want to jinx it, but I really think in the next week or so, we will have a very, very, very good guest that I actually set up for us to kind of make up for all the heavy lifting that I ask you to do. I heard. I'm looking forward. That would definitely be a good one. And producer Ryan just informed us that. about John Morant's situation in the NBA

NBPA. So far, the union has only said they will explore options and next steps. That's all they said. So I don't think anything's going to happen. So that's that. Thank you, producer Ryan. Producer Ryan Music,

he went on like seven trips. I don't even know where the last time we did the pod with Spears, we had to call in Minnesota Tim to pinch hit. Luckily, we found him and he was able too. So it's good for all three of us to be back together again. All right. This was a good getting back up to speed effort, I think. We would love to be able to tell you that a trade involving Hardin and or Dame was imminent. But unfortunately, we are not able to say that as we record this on the evening of August 28th, the month of August, finally dribbling to a close.

But when is it going to happen? I mean, I feel like I've said this 15 times over the last couple months. We do see NBA trade in September. We saw Donovan Mitchell get traded last September. So these things can spring up quick. And the thing you do have to say is it's easy for teams like Philly. and Portland to have patient stances during the summer. The closer and closer we get to training camp

and the closer we get to October 2nd and Media Day, and when these teams face the prospect of having to bring these guys back, then it does start to get more uncomfortable for the teams. And we'll see if these teams really have the resolve they say they have to be patient. All the signals out of Philly, they tend to suggest that the Sixers want to slow play this and they don't want to rush into a Hardin trade and they're prepared to deal with whatever chaos is created at training camp. But let's see when Hardin shows up or doesn't show up and said chaos begins.

And, you know, as you said earlier, you expect calmer waters in Portland and not as much of a fuss. but everybody knows that Dame does want the trade and he wants to be sent to Miami and when the season starts up again, this becomes a daily topic for the Blazers. This is a daily discussion that they will have to manage. So let's see how they do it. It would be uncomfortable.

It would be an uncomfortable situation. But if I'm comparing it to James Harden, I think we've seen James. We've seen James in action. Dame does not have a fat suit in the closet that he's going to, that he's going to put on and wear to Blazers camp. And Dame hasn't called, hasn't called, is Gia a liar?

No, he is not. So, yeah, Jay, so we, we, We know how far James Harden is willing to go or has been willing to go. So that's why I think his, that media day would be something to look out for if James was in attendance. Stein, my birthday is coming up, man. August 31st, it's actually this Thursday. You know what I don't want for my birthday? I'm trying to think of what do I do that annoys you?

What do you not want? You do not want to trade on your on your birthday? I wouldn't mind a trade. That'd be fine, especially if I get to break it. Actually, yeah, that wouldn't be a bad. I just don't. But check us out. Stein, check us out.

So let me tell you about this. It gave me so much anxiety. I had such an anxiety attack. So my mom, we always had this. is it like a race? I've turned it into a race. And so her address is, her address, I'm not going to give the address. Her address is three numbers.

And every time the clock turns to that address, you know, twice a day, we'll always text each other, hey, you know, if we catch the clock at that time, we'll text each other. Hey, it's, give an example. Hey, it's, it's 518. 518. And so that's her like, she's kind of like trying to say like a blessing is coming. You know, a blessing is coming. We call it a blessing is coming.

You know, that's our address. A blessing's coming every time we see it. So we do. But I've turned it into a race. So I want to beat her text it every time. She doesn't view it as a race. So this morning, this is when I knew it got like got too serious. for me. So this morning

I text 518 and her 518 came in before I mine did. I'm like damn she beat me she broke first and I had some I had to chill back like hold on this is not my job I said mom I'm sorry I had the car I said

Bob I can't do this though but I'm taking it too seriously I already got to deal with this at work like Let's stop. Maybe she should be tweeting for you. Figure another way, yeah. Starting, when I saw it come through before I sit by, man, I was so hurt and so mad. Like, I was like, oh, she got the scoop. Like, man, I'm like, I got to.

Every day, this is a daily thing? I need this time off. It's a daily thing. Daily thing. It just happens. And I cheat. I'll put alarm on my phone to make sure I beat her most times. But, yeah, you know, so I'm just going, I don't want to travel.

I told the wife, I don't want to travel. You know, I got kind of, kind of, you know, this is probably the most laid back. Sacramento to Fresno is not that long of a trip. It's not, but I'm talking about just summer. Like, you go out of the country. Most people go out the country soon. Yeah. I haven't done anything.

Like, I'm in New York right now at the U.S. Open. Like, I just, yeah. I've traveled my whole life since I, I mean, since I was a little kid. I mean, we used to get just, my brother and I used to get set overseas for the whole summer to be with our family in Israel. So it's like, yeah, in the summer. Well, the main thing is with living in the heat in Dallas has been, it's always unbearable, but this, this was the hottest August on record.

It is 1-10 every day. And I know anybody in Phoenix doesn't want to hear it, but it has been blistering humidity, withering, suffocating. New York, the U.S. Open is always hot weather. But this U.S. Open has been high 70s every day in qualifying last week. The main tournament just started now. But like the weather has been so mild. I never imagine that going from Dallas to New York in late August

would be that kind of vacation. But I'm literally, it's 30 degrees cooler every day, which is insane. And I'm very, on your birthday, I am returning to the Dallas heat. And I can't wait to see the fan. But man, just going back to the 110 with the crazy humidity. When you could land at DFW at 11 p.m. and it's still 95. Yeah, that's what I can't stand in humidity.

Well, that's awesome that your birthday's, I mean, now it is locked in my files. I will never forget it again. It's going to be in my files. That's a piece of Haynes trivia. I did not previously have. Interesting. Okay.

Oh, let's give a shout out real quick to Mark Spears and the Conversation Projects, his new TV series on Hulu drops today on Hulu. Check out all six episodes. I went to his screening in Oakland and Mike Brown was there. Stein, he said, what's up? Mike Brown is here. Monty Poole came through.

Who else was out there? My guy Lance Young, one of the top comedians here in Sacramento. So we all went out there to support him. And, you know, hopefully everybody goes out. Mark Spears is not suit. not soon forget August 2023, gets the Kurt Gowdy award from the Basketball

Hall of Fame, becomes an executive producer of a Hulu series, and in between that, he appears on this league uncut. August 2023.

Mark Spears breaks through on all three levels. And he's going, what, next. month, his alma mater, San Jose State. They're honoring him with some prestigious. That's right.

Actually, that was my favorite line of the whole podcast that he pointed out that all three of us are Cal State guys. Fresno State, Cal State Fullerton, San Jose State. We should be on the CSU podcast. We need Syracuse. Maybe they'll do a trade with us. We turned out. We turned out all right. All right, everyone.

That does it for this edition of this league uncut. appreciate your patience. You know, again, we, we, the frequency of the pod does drop off in August and September. In mid-October, we will be right back to two pods a week. But appreciate your patience. Appreciate you letting Chris and I, and even producer Ryan, chip away at the rust. Like I said, I think we have a pretty good pod. Fingers crossed.

I don't want to jinx it. But within the next week, I think we have a pretty. significant guest. And we're going to work on some of these other things. We're going to make that trade offer to Paul George. We might get flatly rejected, but we're going to make the offer anyway. We're going to check on the Chuckster. We're going to work on these things.

And we will update you as soon as we can. That does it for this edition of this league uncut. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe to the pod. And let's depart by wishing a happy 29th. birthday to Chris Haynes. Fake news, but thank you. I'll take you.

And that'll do it for us. See you next time. This league uncutte is an I-heart radio production. Boomshackalaka. Chris Haynes and Mark Stein. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Oden Kirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, And so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.