The Herd with Colin Cowherd - What's Wright - Best Of Nick Wright - Are Lakers FINISHED? Celtics TEAM TO BEAT w/ Tatum? Jokic TOP 10 EVER?

Episode Date: April 12, 2026

All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet.   Nick Wright breaks down if LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers can still hold NBA Playoff aspirations with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves injured. With Jayson Tatum back and playing at a high level are the Boston Celtics not just the team to beat in the Eastern Conference... but the entire NBA? How much of a case does Nikola Jokic have as a top ten player of all-time? And will we ever see a three-peat again in the NBA? #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman

help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L'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 ice. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments.

If we didn't talk ever again, I was funny. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis' keep coming to you. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs.

This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. Is everyone lying to me about who they are? I felt such desperation.

I felt it was what I had to do. Listen to deep cover the family man on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts. or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the best of the week for What's Right with Nick Wright. The best takes and moments from this week on the show. Enjoy. Tatum returns to MSG tonight for his first time since tearing his Achilles last year in the playoffs.

He's not thrilled about going back. It's a little traumatic, but he wants to go about it now because they might be able to see them in the second round. What do you think of his approach? So, I... I had a hunch on, because the Celtics play a back-to-back. They play tonight and tomorrow, and he's not yet allowed to play back-to-backs. So we very easily could miss this game and then play tomorrow.

And I had a hunch that I've since confirmed that it was very intentional that he is playing this game rather than tomorrow's game because he doesn't want the first game back to be a playoff game, the first game back in that building. And so a couple things on that. One is, I really do feel it is good fortune for the Celtics and for Jason Tatum individually that this game was still on their schedule. Like they only play at MSG a couple times a year. If both of those games were early in the season, then he wasn't going to get this opportunity.

to play at MSG before it's a playoff game and it would have you know if the Celtics nicks playing in the playoffs it almost assuredly it'll be round two it would be you know very eerie and you know i think uncomfortable for jason in that it would be around a year ago to the day same round same opponent like all of that and so i think it's it's really good that he is playing this game. I also think it is really interesting, DeMonze, how publicly open and honest Jason Tatum has been throughout this entire process. And if you guys saw his answer on this specific thing about coming back,

it was a level of honest vulnerability that was, surprising. Like, I don't know. It would not have at all been shocking if Jason Tatum lied. If he just said, like, oh, yeah, you know, it's the next game. You know, the building isn't what caused my injury. Like, even if he felt funny about it to just try to pretend he didn't. Yeah.

And I think, right. And I think that every piece of this has been unique. I also, it is, his return has been stunning. And how quickly he is playing 35 minutes a game, how quickly his numbers are. If you watch it, it was the first week and a half there was a rough. Yes, but then, but really since then, it's been, if you watch it, it, it doesn't look look like peak tatum yeah but so here is minutes played since his return and his return was just over a month ago 27 27 27 took a game off 32 32 32 31 31 31 31 31 35 37 31 31 took a game off

just played 39 minutes in the Hornets game. And then you add to it, DeMonse, in the last five games. So Tatum's numbers, his first 10 games back from the injury, was they were fine. He was 20 points, 9 and a half rebounds, four assists, but couldn't hit a 3. was 38% from the field, 30% from 3. And if he had stayed at that level, it still felt like, well, you know, he's taking minutes from Baylor Shireman and such.

Like that's, it's a net positive, but you weren't getting the full impact of it. Right. His numbers in the last five games that he's played where the Celtics are 5 and 0, 25 a night, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 49% from the field, and 41% from 3. Now, some of that is maybe, you know, just a little hot shooting because he's not a 41% career three point shooter,

but he's 37%. Like, you know, he's a good career three point shooter. But him being this impact, this quickly is stunning. And I do feel like tonight's game is the final checkpoint for him. Like being...

Like fully back? Mentally. Oh, got fair. The final mental checkpoint. No, I don't think you're going to see first team all-MBA, MVP candidate, Jason Tatum, probably until the beginning of next season. but he seems to already be all-star Jason Tatum, and that's unbelievable.

And it's why I think it's why I'm so confident in Boston making the finals and I think being the safest bet to win the championship. So let's talk about that for a minute here. Who do you think is the biggest threat to them out on the east side? You know, I know the Knicks beat them last year. And I know the Knicks built a team specifically to counteract Boston. But I don't think it's the Knicks. I think the biggest threat is actually Detroit.

Yeah. Because the Knicks, I don't think I have enough defense, in my opinion. Well, and that's where maybe they miss Tibbs. and the Knicks have had a solid year, but I think it's been a disappointing solid year, like that they were supposed to be the team. Detroit wasn't supposed to be this good this quickly. Boston was supposed to be in a bit of a, you know, transition year.

And Cleveland, you know, made a mid-season massive trade because they weren't happy with where they were going. The Knicks have been healthy, and the Knicks. The Knicks were supposed to be flirting with 60 wins like Detroit is rather than low mid-50s. And Detroit's ability to sustain without Kade and find another offensive creator in Dennis Jenkins that now when Kate is not on the court, maybe the offense doesn't go to die, I think is super important for them.

I also want to add one other thing, and this is, and I don't want to step on things we're doing later in the show, but here's the other intriguing piece of tonight's game on the Knicks side of things. The Knicks right now are 51 and 28, and the Cavs are 51 and 29. So they are just a half game up on the Cavs. Now, what they do have is the season series.

So if they finish with the same record, the Knicks get the better seed. But here's where, and maybe I'm, let me tell me what you think here. Who do you think the Knicks would rather play in round two? Boston or Detroit. I mean, I'd say they probably want to play Boston. Oh, so I disagree. Detroit? I think they'd rather play Detroit, even though they beat Boston in the playoffs last year.

Because they also beat Detroit in the playoffs last year for whatever it's worth. Now, Detroit has owned them this regular season, but I don't know how. And I could just see like the wear down of facing Detroit and then having to go to Boston. Yeah, but the flip side is you play Boston, maybe you don't have to play Detroit, you just lose. And so here's the reason I ask it. After tonight, the Knicks have Toronto and Charlotte left. Two teams that need those games for seeding purposes.

Let's just assume, and the Knicks are the favorite tonight, so I'm not saying they're necessarily going to lose. If the Knicks lose tonight and Cleveland ties them in the standings, it certainly becomes very on the board that Cleveland jumps up to three. Cleveland's final games are at Atlanta and then home for Washington, and you can't lose that Washington game if you want to. Because what I know about the Wizards is they're not winning game 82 and screwing up any of their lottery odds after they've thrown this.

entire season in the garbage right now that Washington has the worst record in basketball they have one win less than the Pacers you're going to have to pry these losses from their cold dead hands so it is the Knicks might fall to four I don't know how bad that is for them and but I guess the flip side of that is how much does Cleveland want to move up to three I'm not sure on that either. But I think, I just think, not I think, I will

be shocked if the Celtics don't end up in the finals. Now, against the Thunder, they would be decided Vegas underdogs in those finals. Yeah. And against anyone, they,

well, I shouldn't say against anyone. Against the Thunder or the Spurs, they would not have home court advantage in the finals. I just also think whoever comes out of the West is going to have been through such a gauntlet that Boston could be pretty well positioned. And I understand, listen, Vegas disagrees with me. Vegas has, our friends at Hard Rock Bet, has Boston at plus 550 and OKC at damn near even

money. Hard Rock bet is almost putting OKC versus the field. They're plus 120. So they only have the field as tiny favorites over OKC. I think Boston at plus 550 is a bet. I bet the Celtics at 11 to 1 for a little bit when I thought Tatum was coming back and at 9 to 1 for a fair amount when I knew Tatum was coming back. and I think they are

I think they are the safest bet to be in the finals and I think I'll be taking them if they get to the finals. With all that said, I should give the Nix if the Celtics are full strength tonight and the Nix win that game,

it does basically for the Nix all but lock up the three seed. They're not going to fall to four if they win tonight. They would have to, you know, lose each of their final two games. and have Cleveland win its final two games. And then maybe the Knicks feel a little disrespectful by this. Be like, we beat you last year in the playoffs.

We can do it again. I just, I don't see that happening. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor Hard Rock Bet, Florida Sportsbook, Springs in the air. That can only mean one thing. Baseball's back. Hard Rock Bet makes it easy to bet on America's pastime, just a few easy taps.

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Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. Guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to us.

First people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was...

This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast. could call in and say, hey Jonas, and then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, 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. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jen she went.

I mean, she went down at three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your courtside seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. All right, DeMonte, let's get to the Lakers. All right, so this happened really fast. The Lakers have fallen out of the three seed. Luca is headed to Europe for treatment on his hamstring strain, and Austin Reeves is dealing with an oblique strain. Are the Lakers screwed, or is there a little bit of Holt? Well, listen, if Luke and Austin are both out for the entirety of the first round of the playoffs, and it seems like Austin is almost guaranteed to be out for the entirety of the first round of the playoffs,

Luca, this trip to Europe, there seems to be a glimmer of hope now because of it. If they're both out, then they're dead. and we saw LeBron instantly be able to go back to head of the snake, hand on the joystick LeBron with 30 points and 15 assists and nine rebounds. But we also saw the Lakers lose that game to a Mavs team that hadn't won at home in two months. And it wasn't enough. I did believe, when I didn't know Austin was going to be out, I did believe that LeBron plus if it was just Luca out,

that the Lakers could beat the Rockets in round one. That I thought LeBron could go toe to toe with Kevin Durant, and Austin could provide enough scoring, and the Rockets, I know the Rockets are on a nice little run, and that was a good win over the Warriors. but that the Rockets were not going to be able to, that I thought the Lakers even without Luca could beat the Rockets, I guess what I would say.

But without Luca and without Austin, they got no shot. Now, it has ruffled my feathers a bit the way some folks, and I probably started the TV show off poorly yesterday, pointing this out, and I probably need to apologize to old kids, W and Danny today. But the number of folks who are taking Luca and Austin being out

and the Lakers all of a sudden looking awful as evidence that the Lakers were frauds all along, I find outrageous. that they are so desperate they were so desperate to be proven right on their anti-Luca's stances or at the Lakers or fake contender stance that they are using games played without their two leading scores as evidence that that team was never actually what some of us thought it could be which by the way, I don't, I didn't see anybody saying that Lakers seems best team in the league. What I think some of us were saying is we have literally seen multiple times Luca take an underdog, undermanned mismatch team, and on the power of his own individual offensive brilliance,

seeing him take those teams on multiple deep playoff runs to the conference finals or the NBA finals, and none of those teams had a wingman as obviously is experienced, but as savvy as LeBron. And so I did feel there was a path. And if the Lakers fall apart entirely, I think it will be, honestly truly outrageous if austin and lucca don't come back and the lakers get clocked in round one which they would if they don't come back and folks then say see this is why march was a was an illusion i would just ask them take any team in the league and if drop them into the playoffs without their best player and either their second or third best player.

And let's just go best and third best, any team in the league. And how do you think they would do? So if the Thunder lost Shea and Jade Up, how are they looking? if the Nuggets lost Joker and Aaron Gordon, how they look. If the Spurs lost Wimby and Fox, how they look it? Like if the Rockets lost Durant and Amin Thompson. Just tell me, are there any of these teams? Now, you can say, well, we saw the Celtics survive without Jason Tatum.

we're seeing the the pistons survive without Cade Cunningham. Absolutely. We have seen teams survive in the regular season, and I think the Celtics will want a playoff series even without Tatum, and in the Eastern Conference, maybe early in the playoffs,

without their best player. But you lose your best player and your second leading scorer, and you're in the Western Conference, if all of a sudden, the the timber wolves go into the playoffs without ant which i guess is a possibility now and jaden m'd say they're an easy out and it doesn't in my estimation make those teams i get you know it is this is not an exact fair comparison because that team was obviously a brilliant team but

I would have thought it was outrageous if after the Raptors beat the Warriors in the finals, when Kevin Durant and Clay Thompson went out with injury, people were like, see, I told you that Warriors team didn't have it. It's like, well, and again, I'm not comparing the 2026 Lakers to the 2019 Warriors. So that to me is, um, there is a great. growing the lakers are always polarizing because they're too hyped and because they're too hyped they get you know they get more attention and so of course that exists but there also really is a growing cottage industry of um yeah i know luca one player of the month in january and march

and i know he's you know first team all NBA every healthy year of his career after his rookie year and I know he's second all time in playoff points per game, but how good is he really? And that would make sense if he had hardened playoff track record, but instead he has quite the opposite of that. He's never lost his favorite in a series. He's never lost to a lower-seated team in a series. All he has done is upset teams in the playoffs or have his teams outperform their seed, except for last year, his first year with the Lakers, when they were the favorite and they did lose, you know,

as the higher-seated team, that was one series of his whole career. What do you think happens with him in the 65 game rule? I think that he, I think he wins his appeal. I think that if they put in their, you know, extenuating circumstances, the birth of a child a continent over has to be one of the extenuating circumstances.

I also, with all that said to Monzae, I want to go on the record here. I think Luca will play in round one. Okay. I do not think he will play the first game of round one. But Luca got hurt

on April 2nd. The play Playoffs begin on April 18th. Game three of round one will probably be on April 25th. Like the Lakers right now, it looks like, are probably going to play the Rockets in round one. The Rockets played a seven-game series last year in round one. So if we just look at the Rockets, like that seven-game series schedule,

here were the dates. they played on Sunday, April 20th, which would be the 19th this year, that's first Sunday of the playoffs. But the 20th, then two days off played on the 23rd, then two days off played on Saturday the 26th, then played every other day, 2830th, May 2nd, May 4th. So, and again, maybe I'm overtrusting the Spanish, doctors and platelet-rich plasma therapy or whatever the hell he's doing over there.

But he's doing it because he believes he can come back. And I don't think he's doing it because he believes, well, I could be back for the conference finals because Luca knows if he's not back and full strength in short order, they are going, the Lakers need not only Luca to come back in round one, But to have any shot at anything, to be close to himself by the end of round one, because round two, the Lakers were going to be drawing incredibly slim no matter what. And if Austin's not back and Luke is not 100%, they're drawing dead there anyway. But I think Luke is going to find his way back.

The guy's a warrior. And I think he's going to be, I think he's going to find his way back. All right, let's talk a little LeBron here. Yeah, so LeBron called the injury news a shot to the head, heart, chest, and mainframe. What does his reaction tell you about his belief in L.A. going forward? Well, listen, LeBron's smart. He understands that what I said before, that the Lakers are like literally every other team in the league, that if a week and a half before the playoffs, you lose your top two leading scorers,

you're going to be in real trouble. I also, though, think, so there's a clip going around from the Mavs game. This is terrible. You know what? This is truly terrible podcasting. Are you about the show for your phone on the screen? I am going to hold my phone up to the camera and the microphone up to the microphone and see if you guys can hear this.

Hold on. First, I have to turn my Bluetooth thoughts. because I want the again I apologize on the front end but I think this will be worthwhile this is LeBron to a fan who is recording courtside during the Mavs Laker game and I don't know if you guys will be able to hear it but I'm gonna put the audio up here just trust me that it's LeBron walking around so if you didn't did you hear that de Monta at all no what is she I heard okay so he couple times. So he says

to a fan, I can still do this shit. You know what I'm saying? I can still do this shit. They put me on the shelf though. And so and he's smiling and laughing when he says it. Yeah.

So here is, I have two takeaways from LeBron's 30.9 rebound 15 assist game in his first game as back to being LeBron and not being. the third option my first take is I stand by my take from before that LeBron will never be bad that if LeBron could just keep playing and at age 45 would still be a good

NBA player I said on Levitard show a couple months ago and they made fun of me that if LeBron wanted to take on the Jason kid on the Mavs role, he could be an all-star at 50. And they said I was, and maybe 50 was overstating it, but 45 is not.

And the fact that he could, he can go from lowest usage, oddest role he's ever had in his back, basketball life, not NBA life, basketball life. Because I promise you seven-year-old LeBron James was the primary option on his team. The fact that he can go to that role and then first game back to be like, okay, now I'm just back to regular LeBron is something only he could do in the history of the league.

But here's the other thing. seeing how much fun he was having doing that, I think does inform potential options for next year. Yeah. Because a lot of people, myself included, have kind of circled Cleveland. But Cleveland, he would be in the same role he had been in with the Lakers. Because much like Luke and Austin, Donovan and Hardin, have to have the ball in their hands.

Their entire utility is scoring or playmaking ball in their hands. So I think that is a less attractive place. I think that Simmons and others have really pointed at Golden State. I have not believed Golden State. However, in Golden State, he would be the initiator of the offense. he would be the guy running the show. You know, Steph can be the leading score,

but Steph as of now is, you know, it doesn't play like the traditional point guard role. Yeah. And the fact that Golden State is going to miss the playoffs entirely this year, though it's going to get popped in the play in. They're going,

they're basically locked into the 10 seed. And they're going, they have clinched a below 500 record, makes to me going to Golden State more tenable. It's harder to say, oh, man, you know, he's writing Steph's wave when Golden State is coming off of sub-500 missed the playoffs here. It would be the time for optics. Yeah. And so I think Golden State's a real option.

I think the Knicks are a bigger option now. because while, listen, he wouldn't be the primary, that'd be Jalen. But he would still be their secondary initiator, secondary ball handler, secondary scorer, I think, and take some of the workload off Jalen. And I am not going to ignore entirely Dave McMinneman, just throwing in to his where will LeBron play next year article out of nowhere seemingly. The Nuggets. I thought it was really interesting.

Now, everything runs through Joker there, but again, Joker's not like consistently bringing the ball up the court. Now, that would be obviously joining Joker's team, but I think that's, I think in year 24 at age 42, joining Joker's team is, because Joker's the generation after Bron. Like that, you know, it's like,

it's like being on Lucas. basketball dudes ever on the same team. And listen, and I believe, and you know, Brew and I argue about this, I believe the two best passers of the era. Like Brew thinks I overrate LeBron's passing. But the, yeah, I mean, so I think somewhere he can have the ball in his hands, this little, these next few weeks, now maybe what these next few weeks reminded. him is how damn exhausting that is.

He's like, I don't want to do that. But I think I think it was very instructive that the moment he was asked to go be that guy again, he was. Now, again, maybe tonight he won't enjoy that, playing

the pit bulls on the Thunder. As, by the way, what do you think the point spread for this game you're going to tonight? Thunder at Lakers. Okay, C, minus 18. Wow, what a sharp. What is it?

17 and a half. Let's go. What the hell, let's go. Wow. What a sharp by you. And so, listen, we'll see, we'll see what it looks like. But all of those things to me are interesting subplots. Still got the fire.

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compared to 12 months on the Boost Mobile Unlimited Plan. As of January 2026, for full offer details, visit BoostMobile.com. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a podcast. A pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band.

Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. and then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.

But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman

help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and Head, writer Street or 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. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs' tennis podcast, I'm breaking down

everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jen can win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface.

Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis Podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Ian says it's been two more playoff runs since Yolk's title. He had one brutal loss to the wolves and couldn't beat the Thunder last year. Yet people keep pushing them up in the rankings into the Steph and Akeen tier.

I don't get it. He's better than Janice and Durant, but is he a tier above? He has two good playoff runs and that's it. Shea could surpass that all this year. you think people are going too far with Yokoch's praise these days? Listen, I guess it depends on what you define as people. If people are trying to argue, you know, he's one of the five greatest players ever. Yes, that's too far.

Now, I do think he has pretty clearly established himself ahead of Janus and ahead of Durant. And I just, I don't get, like, Duran having two rings doesn't offset to me the individual dominance of Joker and the fact that he was the unquestioned engine behind his ring. And that he went through, you know, people can scoff at it. That LeBron and Anthony Davis Lakers team had won a title and Joker was, unstoppable in route to that series. And his other deep playoff run, he ran into a great team. That 2020 Lakers team was a great team.

They were the best team in the league start to finish. So, but, and I, so if we expand, you know, outside of my top 12, which we did at the end of Thursday's pod, of Braun, Kareem, Jordan, magic Russell Wilt

Duncan Kobe Bird Akeem Shaq Steph After that 12 if we were to remove Yokic

I then would have Dr. Jay and Moses I I And Moses is a great comp by the way In that Moses Only has the one ring

Has three MVP's was this kind of forgotten how dominant he was. Dr. Jay's tricky because Dr. Jay was the greatest ABA player ever, then came over to the NBA and immediately started going to a bunch of finals, but didn't win his title until he and Moses came together. I have jokers slotted right ahead of those guys as right now the 13th greatest player ever. And the reason that it's not just DeMonse can he win another ring, it's about deep, consistent playoff runs because those guys that I mentioned,

here's their playoff games played, okay? And I'm just going to kind of go down the list as I see them. Braun is at 292. Okay, that's ridiculous. It's three and a half seasons of playoff games. Tim Duncan is at 250. Kareem is at 237. Kobe is at 220.

Shaq is at 216. Magic, who had a shortened career, is at 190. I'm scrolling further to find the... So who have I? Wilt is at 160. and keep in mind the playoffs obviously back then there weren't as many rounds bill russell is at 165 a keem is at 1.45

and you people don't think of a keem as like a ton of deep playoff runs he's at 145 step is where is step hold on i can't find him oh step is at 155 did i did that cover everybody did i leave anybody out did i say bird Bird is at 164 and Joker is at 94 playoff games So that's where you start hitting your head on If everyone on the list has played nearly double the playoff games as you

It's just hard to break in to that group And I know Shaq only has the one MVP. But what Shaq does have is it's not just the three Pete and it's not just the three straight finals MVP's. It's that in the early 2000s, in back to back to back,

NBA finals, Shaquille O'Neal did the following. In his first NBA finals, first championship, I should say, He was 38 points, 17 rebounds a night for the finals. And then in his next NBA finals against defensive player of the year, DeKinebe Matambo, he was 33 points, 16 rebounds a night. And then in his third NBA finals, he was 36 points, 12 rebounds a night.

which means those three finals collectively, he averaged 35 and 15 with three blocks and four assists. So like that gives him real heft, if you will. Akeem, who's the other center, I still, and I know others don't have a head of, that I have ahead of Joker. He is, and maybe Wimby takes it, but he is the greatest defensive player of the last 50 years, and by his second year in the league, he had led a team to the NBA finals,

averaging 27, 12, and four blocks a game en route to it. He then, like Joker, was out in the, Joker's not out in the wilderness, but didn't have a championship caliber team around him. And even though DeManzi, he was the greatest defensive player alive, Akeem had a playoff series as a 25-year-old that they lost in four games where they lost in four. he averaged 38 and 17 as the greatest defensive player. And then he won back-to-back championships and back-to-back finals MVPs, averaging over the course of those two finals, 31 and 11 rebounds,

along with four blocks a game, going up against two other first ballot Hall of Fame centers, Shaquille O'Neal, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, along the way, and not shutting those guys down, but winning those matchups. So as great as Joker is, if you want to elbow some of those guys out of the top 12, much less the top 10, you're going to have the opportunities.

Two, three more deep runs. Or one more, one more ring, multiple more deep runs, and we can start, you know, having those conversations. is what I think is the fairest way to look at it. All right, go ahead, DeMose. Poppy Dreams asked, do you think a team will ever three Pete in the NBA again?

Ever is a very long time. And so my answer to that is probably, but I also think it is not DeMonsei coincidental. But that as time has gone on, and the talent. level's gotten higher and the league has added more teams that the ceiling of championships one can win keeps lowering so here's what i mean bill russell the player of the early days of the nba i mean post mic and but of integrated mb a one 11 championships call him the player of the late 50s, early 60s. Yeah.

Right? His teammate, John Havlicek, who was on his team for some of those championships and then played into the 70s, he set the new bar, which is lower, the 70s-era player for championships at 8. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who played in the 70s into the 80s, set the bar the ceiling of championships for that era at 6. Michael Jordan, who played in the 80s into the 90s, met that bar at 6. Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan, who started their career in the 90s and then played into the 2000s,

set the bar of championships at five. And LeBron James and Steph Curry, who played in the 2000s into the 2010s and 20s, have set the bar championships at four. So you, like the defining guys, it keeps going lower. Yeah. And it's also one of the reasons why I don't find the Jordan Six

versus LeBron's four to be as persuasive as, Yeah, I feel like I've never heard you bring out that argument when defending that case. But yeah, that makes a lot of sense. You know, so Magic who played in the 80s into the 90s has five. Like the maximum realistic championships that can be one number seems to keep decreasing. And now what we're seeing, DeMonsie is the 2020s guys, none of them. have gotten their second yet. The 2010s into the 2020s guys,

they're all sitting on one. And now obviously some of them are going to get two. Some of them may even get three, but are we going to see... The three Pete. Right, three Pete makes it even harder, right? But so it's just the... What is realistic,

as far as number of championships, seems to be decreasing rather than increasing. And a three-peat, which, I mean, the Celtics had an eight-peat. The Bulls had back-to-back three-peats. The Pistons were a game away from having a three-peat, but it was on the front end. They lost a game seven of the finals and then won back-to-back championships. The Lakers had a three-peat.

The reason I'm not going to dismiss it is we might be, two and a half months from the thunder being two-thirds of the way there. But yeah, it's not just gets harder in this sport in particular. Speaking of OEC, you know how with NBA, the champions, it seems like the next year after you win, just like a slump. OKC is kind of beating that, huh, with them winning a championship last year. And they've been pretty dominant this year. Well, I mean, listen, they've been dominant,

but we felt that way about Boston at this point last year. and Denver at this point the year before, not as dominant in the regular season. Like, we'll see. The defending champs keep getting popped in round two. Now, OK, see, we would think is going to avoid that. But everyone thought Denver was going to avoid it. Nobody thought Minnesota was going to beat them.

And no one, like, most people thought the Celtics were going to avoid that. People didn't think that the Knicks were going to beat them. So we'll see. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick.

And guess. What? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.

Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite, unhumored me with Robert Smygel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L'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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam, it's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Tolodano. It's our favorite time of the year. on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season, and I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app,

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