The Mismatch - Can Jrue Holiday Help the Bucks Break Their Postseason Slump? Plus: Surprises and Disappointments at the Halfway Mark, and Mailbag!

Episode Date: March 5, 2021

Verno and KOC start off the podcast with the shady-as-all-hell All-Star draft in which the two Jazz stars were chosen last (0:30) before getting into what Jrue Holiday adds to the Bucks' postseason potential (10:00) and wondering what's up with all these young players getting ejected for complaining about the refereeing (23:30). Then they talk about the best surprises and worst disappointments of the first half of the season (28:50) and where Blake Griffin might be headed after getting bought out by the Pistons (46:25). Finally, they open up the mailbag and answer some listener questions (48:40). Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O'Connor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On R2C2, C-2, C-Sabathia and Ryan Rucco guide listeners through everything going on in the MLB, NBA, and NFL. They also talk to friends, athletes, and celebrities about the world of sports, and much more. Check out R2C2 with C-C-Sabathia and Ryan Rucco on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to The Mishmatch. I'm Chris Vernon. And join him as he does every Friday from The Ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, A.K.K. Kevin O'Connor, A.K.K.K.O. Bomber, Kevin O'Connor, Kevin O'Candeland, Kevin O'Candex, Kevin O'Connor. Kevin O'Kineess. Kevin!

Vernow! It's Friday! What up. And we have made it to the All-Star break for this odd NBA season where there are a ton of games in a short amount of time, and that will be the case once all these teams come back. But these guys do get a break here. The majority of the league does. there will be an All-Star weekend, though it is going to be different than any All-Star weekend we have seen before. Certainly, we have already covered that there are some not in favor of this All-Star weekend even happening. But then you have last night, which I must say is an interesting and fun wrinkle that has come along with the All-Star game,

which is two of the great players in the league having to draft teams almost as if you were a kid. kid out on the playground and you're picking your team. And LeBron and KD did that last night and they picked their teams. And it seemed like the instant reaction was, oh my goodness, LeBron is awesome at drafting and his team is going to kill KD's team. But it was, I got to tell you, it's a fun way to do it, I think. I like this, where they are, where you're now having these two guys that are real superstars in the league and you're hearing their opinions and you want to see who they are going

to select. I like that. I think even more than I thought I would now that we've done it for a couple of years. I love it. I love it. And I think the NBA should always do it. It makes it fun, man. I mean, then you get the stuff about like which guys are getting picked last. So we saw you Utah players go last. Okay. So TNT accused them of Utah slander. LeBron. in an attempt to defend himself said, look, just like the video game, when we were kids, you know, Stockton to Malone were awesome, but nobody played with Utah.

And that is a quote that resonates with everyone, especially from my generation, because... Too young hair. You didn't. You did not pick the jazz. You really didn't. Like they were, you acknowledged that they were awesome,

but I think jazz fans, I don't even know if jazz fans chose the jazz on those games. Who'd you choose, Chris? I was always... Seattle? In Chicago? Yeah, like, well, like Seattle was like Gary Peyton and Sean Kevin. We're talking like NBA jam stuff.

I always like those, like especially on like the old NBA lives and stuff, those old Warriors teams, like the run TMC teams with Tim Hardaway and Chris Mull and like I like those teams. The Sacramento teams. were always fun, right? Because they were flying up and down, I mean, in the era of video games. And yes, those were two Hall of Fame players, but they weren't, they weren't what people were drawn to.

Now, I don't think it's as fair because you could term those guys boring. And Gobert, you might say he's kind of boring. But Donovan Mitchell's not. Donovan Mitchell is mega exciting, right? And so I don't think it was necessarily fair for Donovan and Gobert to be thrown in the same pot as Stockton and Malone. I mean, maybe Gobert kind of fits a little bit more with the Malone thing where it's not that fun. Even though on a game, he would block shots like crazy. It depends on what your interests are.

I like watching Rudy Gobert. I like watching a guy on defense who just his mere presence forces guys averaging over 20 points per game to not go into the paint. I find that fun. It's crazy to see how good a guy can be just to change the way habits of these star scores are. But for an all-star game, I get it. I get it's not fun. But really there's fun during a normal game. Okay, let's just say he stops perimeter little guys that score 20 points a game from going into the paint.

He sure as hell don't stop the big ones. Not all of them, no. They cook his ass. It's unbelievable. I've never seen. He should be help defensive player of the year. That's what he should be. Because these other big to have worn his ass out.

No, that feels like slander to me. Like more, even more than what, you know, LeBron and Katie did not picking them until last. I mean, it's tough because the last week I've seen. Oh, boy. That was a some shots fired. Wow. Did you press that line at his ass?

Did that just come off the dome right now? That came off the dome where you have that ready to go. Wow. No. I'm impressed. That's what I'm giving him. Help the defensive player of the year. Wow.

That's, hmm. slanderous. What do you want me to say? I mean, I, guys just had 40 and 19 on his ass. Zion put him in the fifth row. Yokic cooked his ass.

Zion puts everybody in the fifth row, though. There's certain players. These elite level bigs, it's not like he's shutting them down or even, he doesn't hold them, he doesn't hold them below their averages. In fact, they get like double their averages.

It's crazy. Is it, I mean, this is just, you know, we didn't plan to talk about this, but the thought just came to mind. Is it sort of a similar thing where like,

Drew Holliday is arguably the best defensive guard in the league. And last night he had the awesome possession against John Moran, 50 seconds left. Yeah, stripping him. He does a great job against guards. But even that, like, no matter how great you are as a guard defender, oftentimes you're going to get cooked by Damien Lillard. You're going to get cooked by Stefan Curry. Isn't the type of thing where it's similar for a big?

If you're Rudy O'Bare, like, you might be the best defensive big in the league, but you're still more often not going to get cooked by other equally, you know, elite offensive scoring bigs like a yokech? I don't know. Is it a similar concept? I think perimeter guys, I think generally the best ones, they are known for holding guys. If you looked and you looked at their percentages and you looked at the job they do on those guys when they're guarding those guys, you will find that they are able to make my life more difficult than what it typically is.

I think that is true. I think that is true with Lou Gwynstort. I think that's true with Ben Simmons. I think that's true with Drew True with Drew Holiday. I mean, there's a level at which. Yeah, but Ben Simmons got,

you know, just splashed by Devin Booker with that three-point or a couple weeks back on the left wing towards the end of the game and everybody's making fun of them for the Jenner stuff and all that. Yeah, yeah, Ben Simmons played really good defense.

Yeah. But sometimes really good defense is beaten by really good offense. And I just wonder if maybe it's true, you know, for Biggs, like Go Bear versus Island. I don't know. I come from a different point of view

because I would say no, because I watched a big that won defensive player of the year. And if there were another center on the other team, and Mark Gassall was like, he knew he had that assignment, he loved that. Because what Mark Gassal hates is when he has to constantly go all the way out and switch on to like Steph Curry or whoever. But if he can just focus on there is another center across from him and now it's his job to slow or stop that guy, people routinely played worse against Mark Gassal than they did. He even did that in Toronto when he was playing, right, against the big guys in the playoffs. Big guys routinely played worse against him straight up. I think Gobert is just like a big tall guy that, like, you know, he blocks a lot of shots, right?

He does. But, I mean, in terms of like guarding a guy straight up, guarding a really good player straight up, I think it's a little bit of a different story. And I think we saw that the other night. But I appreciate your ability to defend him. I think he's better than you give him credit for, Chris. Well, I'll tell you this. Look, you can't mend the bridge with Utah fans, Kevin.

You can try all you want. I'm not trying to mend. I don't care of a bridge. I don't care. Chris, I was going to stay it like it is. I'm going to say it like it is. Wait, wait, I don't care about it. Like it is.

I think Obert is better than you're giving him credit for. I also like watching Rudy. go bear. That's all. I mean, all right. Well, he was the last pick. There he was. Understandably so. And the funniest, the funniest was when Charles Barkley called out LeBron for saying, I need size. And he said, and so you didn't take the seven foot

five guy, you end up taking Sabonis, who's 6-2, which of course, Sabonis isn't 6-2. But it is kind of funny when you chose your pick because you needed size and you didn't go with Rudy Gobert because LeBron, like, there was no defense for that and he just started laughing. I mean, it's a, it's an all-star game too. I get it. I get it. Well, and I get it. By the way, LeBron's team, how is LeBron's team always so much better? Oh, my God. That's crazy. How do you have LeBron, Janus, Steph, Luca, and Yokic in your starring five? Did you see Yonis?

his reaction last night while he's eating wins. Yeah, that's great. Yes. He, well, I mean, because you hear that starting lineup and it's like, this is crazy. So LeBron, very good at drafting. We will give him that. As you mentioned, the Janus thing and seeing it last night, I actually saw Janus

in person last night, and I saw the Bucks, which I was very, very pleased because you never know how these games are going to go between teams. with the last game being before the All-Star break. I have covered teams where I have literally seen guys walk out of the locker room after the last game with suitcases. Like they are headed straight to the airport that night. And so guys look so forward to getting a break that sometimes that last game, somebody mails it in before they get to the break. because they're just thinking ahead. They're excited about the break coming up.

It's kind of like the last day of school thing, right, where you might have a field day because the teachers know nobody's going to be paying attention anyway. That's a good feeling. The last day of school. It is. Those teams put on a show last night for sure, did the Grizzlies and the Bucks.

And obviously both really wanted to win a game before they headed into the All-Star break. Drew Holiday has not come back completely. He had only been back a couple of games and they were bringing him off the bench. But I was left watching that game last night thinking, you know, he makes these massive winning plays down the stretch. And you view that through the prism of what the bucks, how the bucks can be different when it comes playoff time. And it is the huge difference.

And this is like what I witnessed last night, it was, I was glad in some ways. that I got to witness this because when most people have, you know, the bucks are more of an afterthought now than certainly they were last year because everybody's on the, you got to prove it. But that is a different deal

than it is with Bloodsoe, you know, when he's there. I mean, you saw the difference, which is this is a guy that can make the huge plays when it matters most. And he is the perimeter guy. that can make the huge plays when it matters most.

And I know you just did this video about Middleton, but I walked out of that game going, I don't know if there's going to be a big different in Middleton when it comes playoff time. Like I kind of feel like he is what he is. But the last time we saw Holiday in the playoffs, that Pelicans team was wearing out the Blazers. And he was better in the playoffs than he was.

during the regular season. Unfortunately, Middleton has been significantly worse. He had that disastrous series against the Raptors a couple years ago. The numbers aren't as good when it's come playoff time. But Holiday gives them an element, and I think you saw it for anybody that had that game on last night. The steel. That makes them different.

Like that, it really does. I think he's a, he is a big time player. And come playoff time, he could be, he might be able to be the thing that gets the bucks over the hump. Yeah, man, I feel like with Milwaukee, they've been sort of overlooked for understandable reasons because we have all these new teams, Phillies looks different now and Beds have an MVP season. The Nets obviously have Katie back and Kyrie back and James Hardin now. You have some teams that are underwhelming in the East, like the Celtics are underwhelming compared to expectations. They heat are. And then Milwaukee's just sort of, like you said,

people just want, well, they're really good and people just want to wait. to see it. They want to wait until the playoffs. It's like you're not overreacting to the regular season. But what the regular season has shown is that this team is doing different things. On defense, they're switching screens more often, especially when they have yonness of the five. So they're not just sticking to their drop defensive scheme that they've used for a couple of years with Brooke Lopez that has been exploited in the playoffs. On offense, they're putting guys in the dunker spot near their baseline more often to differentiate what they do. Sometimes they have everybody behind the line, you know, four out spacing. Sometimes they only have three out with the guy

the dunker spot. They're running a little bit more pick and roll with Yonis as a screener. And it's Drew Holiday. You know, it's Chris Middleton and Drew Holiday being used as the pick and roll ball handler with Yonis and Akumpo. And Holiday, you saw last night, you had great defense by Eric Bledso. What you didn't have was great offense. He's a solid spot up shooter during the regular season. Not a guy you give the ball to go get you a bucket. Drew Holiday, no timeouts left, brings the ball up the court and comfortably gets into a shot. And that is going to have to be the difference for the bucks. What can Drew Holiday and Chris Middleton both do as perimeter shot creators

and tough fourth quarter moments when the defense is locked in? The game slowed down. You're not able to get what you want to get to maybe with Janus or maybe your typical motion, you know? Can those guys get you a bucket? They're better there this season. They are better than they were in the past. And that's where like with the Chris Middleton.

video I did this week that you mentioned, that's where I feel like Milwaukee, there's more, there's more that they can get out of Middleton Andrew Holiday. And I wonder if they'll hold it until the playoffs to do it. But we did see the flash last night of what they could be. Yeah. And with the holiday, it was awesome. And like, it's so odd because I can say, you know, people get fatigued talking about somebody like the, the honest thing, right?

There's a reason that people were saying he'd have to average like 50 and 20 to be in the MVP conversation because people are over it, right? Because they, you know, the game the MVP again and then he didn't do well in the playoffs, whether it's his fault or not. I mean, I watched a team that did not have a good matchup for him, did as good a job as they could have possibly done against that guy, and you still look up at the end of the night, he's got 26 points. Yeah.

Like, that's how, I mean, he is a absolute force of nature. Again, they're just getting holiday back into it, but I do think when I, you know, you and I got this argument at the beginning of the, year and I said, you know, I just don't think Middleton can be your second best guy going up against these teams. Holiday might. Holiday might be. He might be able to be your second best guy depending on because he is like, it's funny.

You did that video and you talked about him being maybe the most underrated player in the NBA. It's funny because holiday might be too. You know what I mean? Like if it's not one of them, you're right? If we're talking about underrated players, and Holiday obviously does not have the all-star appearances, you know, a bunch of all-star appearances. He is one of those guys that's kind of been in that class of everybody acknowledges

he's a fantastic player, but he doesn't always get rewarded for being a fantastic player in that tier below the Curries and the Lillards and the Pauls and whatever, kind of like Conley was. But, you know, it's, When you watch them, you can see that's the difference. Like that, that's why they gave up all those picks. It's why they gave up so much in so many people's minds for Drew Holiday. It's because he might, I mean, the upgrade from Bledso to him is extreme offensively.

For sure. I mean, no doubt it's extreme for them. And Drew Holliday's playmaking is better too for that matter. It's, you know, not just defense, not just, you know, scoring. It's playmaking. And with Chris Middleton, like the usage of the word underrated. part of me did that because I mean obviously he wasn't voted an all star

you know this season by coaches or you know but also I'd still wonder if like is he underrated even by the bucks even by himself he gets 15 shots of game Chris when he's one of the most efficient scorers in the league shooting off the dribble and I just

I would love to see what happens if he has two or three weeks or a month straight of 18 19 shots every night if that's what he's getting I would just love to see what happens maybe you get diminishing returns because he's not like the silkiest ball handler. He's not the guy who gets to the basket all the time and lives at the free throw line.

But the dude just drains jumpers off the dribble, like no matter how hands are in his face, no matter how covered he is. I would just love to see what the production is with three more shots. And I think there's more that the Bucks can get out of him if they want to get it out of them. So more than anything else, I would just love to see the Bucks experiment with that for, you know, couple of weeks. This is what the, dude, the team, like Giannis himself said, they're using the regular season as practice for switching on defense. And you can see them doing it. Like, they have screwed up a lot on switches, botched switches. And they've had situations where guys are

getting attacked relentlessly, which is one of the concerns with like DJ Augustine in a playoff situation. One of the concerns with like Pat Connithin in certain playoff situations. But the point is, is that this team is still winning a lot of games, is number three in the league a net rating when they're practicing and they're admitting that they're practicing during the regular season. So, I would just love to add, you know, Chris Middle to the pile of experimentation. Let's see

what more you can get. You know, it would be an unbelievable matchup, too, would be the Sixers, if those two teams could somehow meet up because you've got the Yonison and B thing. You've got the Simmons and Drew Holiday thing. And then oddly, I was

looking at this last night. You know, we talk about, hey, you know, Middleton and his numbers and how good he's been and he wasn't an All-Star, they are, if you go look him up, and I'm talking all the way down to like true shooting percentage, everything,

they are identical to Tobias. I mean, across the board. There's a couple more things here, a couple more there. But I mean, generally, like the percentages,

the actual, you know, raw numbers, the points per game, et cetera, they are so like each other. And so it would kind of be, be, you know, three on three and then the ancillary guys have to contribute, but, you know,

they would bring their, you know, three guys to the table and the Bucks would bring their three guys to the table. And now we'll see. Because they both kind of have these point guards, one wing that averages 20 points a game, and then this huge superstar, you know, down low. That could make for a hell of a series, to say the least. And the Bucks, certainly with Holiday, are a much different team. The other thing that happened last night was obviously, Morant. One more quick thing in Milwaukee.

They're not done making moves either. I reported last week that they still like PJ Tucker. That was reported that other teams like him as well this week. They could be looking to move Dante Devinchenzo as like their trade asset, not necessarily looking to make a deal with him, but he's the piece that they would have to deal to get somebody. So there's upgrades to be found out there for the box. You mentioned like everybody else around the stars.

these teams aren't done being built. And with the trade deadline being moved, I feel like we haven't been talked a lot, talked a lot of trades. It's happening so much later than usual right now. But the reality is that these teams aren't done being built. And we can see the bucks further improve their roster. The Dante thing does not surprise me just because that is very,

that is very, very difficult when you, there's a breach of trust that goes on. There just is. When your name has been out there, it is reported everywhere that you're going. going. You've been through the family members and your friends all texting you. And he thought, you know, for a moment of time, and as did everybody, that he was going to be a Sacramento King.

Exactly. And that is hard, right? Usually, there comes a time where if that player has come up before as a guy that might be moved, that eventually he ends up getting moved because, you know, there's just, it's tough with that organization. Once there's that breach of trust, I think it's hard. because you go to work every day, go a day, they were going to get rid of me. Yeah, you know what I mean?

Sure. It's hard. Yeah, no doubt. I mean, that's part of the business. Because they were. They were going to get rid of you,

you know? It's the tough part, man. I can't imagine, like, being a player in that position when you're fighting so hard every day, you're sacrificing so much in your life

away from family and all that. And like, you also have to deal with the pressures of, like, how long am I going to be here? That's tough, man. That's hard. It takes,

it takes like real mental toughness, you know, mental fortitude in order to stay locked in and stay focused, which is why, like, you just mentioned the Sixers. Why I'm so impressed by like Ben Simmons? He was almost traded for James Hardin. There were people in his camp who thought the deal was about to be done. He thought like he might be going.

And then he's come back and play the best basketball of his life. It's just, it's really admirable. Yeah. But at least on that, at least on that one, you know, whether it's true or not, uh, Daryl and Doc could go to Ben Simmons and they could. could say they wanted you, we weren't going to do it. Yeah. We did not.

We, you know what I mean? We believe in you so much. We weren't going to do it. I mean, and also, it's kind of a compliment. If you're involved in trade discussions for James Hardin, it's like they wanted too much with you. They didn't value you enough. You know, like we had to us. We value you more than they would have.

Exactly. Exactly. And you know what? That's one of the reasons why the deal wasn't made, right? I mean, I suppose. That's true. The other thing that happened in that game last night, Marant had 35 for the second consecutive night.

And so you may see, I mean, you may see, you know, second half of the season, you may see, you know, a different guy. He had very bad ankle injury earlier in the year. Has kind of been up and down, up and down. And then these last two, and this is what was fascinating about it. These two 35s in a row that he has had, 35 plus points, is that he has gone to the free throw line, an extreme amount of times as compared to what he previously had throughout this season.

And it comes off of over the weekend in a game against the Clippers, he got ejected from a game. And I do wonder if it's a total cause and effect thing. You know what I'm saying? Like the NBA, honestly, they don't want their young stars getting thrown out of games. It's not a good look, right? It's awful. It's not a good look for your young stars to get thrown out of games. games because they're so mad at not getting calls when they drive to the basket. Because they feel

human emotion. I mean, I can't believe the people who defend the officiating in those cases. Well, don't complain to the refs. Don't complain to the rest. It's like you're competing. You're playing a sport. I complain when I'm playing in war zone. Right. I'm sitting home in my pajamas. Well, and it was kind of like, someone who's watched all those games. He has, he's gotten text here and there. He's gotten angry. But then it came to this crescendo where he gets thrown out of a game. And so now you've got everywhere, John Morant thrown out of game. John Morant ejected from a game. And then what?

I mean, it's hard for me to say that this didn't have a profound effect because he'd never been to the line more than 10 times in his career. That happened like once. And next game, you know, within a couple games, he goes to the line 14 times. And then again, he's in double digits last night going to the free throw line. It's like, I mean, I mean, It is kind of crazy, though, right? Like you're seeing this. And this has been a thing this year.

You know this, Kevin. Not only have people bitched about reviews and review time at the end of games, but also we've seen a lot of the young players in the league get very upset with officials. You know what I mean? It's been a thing with Luca. It was a thing with Trey Young. It's been a thing. Obviously, you've seen Dremont getting chucked out of some games.

The other night you see Devin Booker get thrown out of it. a game. You see Donovan Mitchell getting thrown out of a game. I mean, this is not just, you know, a one-off thing. Like, this has been, this has been a deal this year more than I can remember in the past, the level of frustration that these guys have to the point that they're getting ejected. You don't see a lot of ejections. I mean, yeah, I mean, you should, you should not be ejected for bouncing the ball and, you know, maybe saying something, you know, if you're Devin Booker, and forget about the fact, national TV game against the Lakers, one of the biggest games of the first half, entering the All-Star break.

You have a chance to talk about one of the best, most promising young teams in the league, the Phoenix Suns, led by Devin Booker, who went through some losing years. And then during a great game, a great night, he gets ejected for bouncing the ball. By the official, he didn't even bounce the ball to or saying anything to. It's really ridiculous. It's really ridiculous. And look, the NBA is great. There's so many great players right now, so many great teams, which is why we have so much fun talking about this.

but you as fans chris we just deal with the long replay reviews when we can see the replay in 10 seconds and know what the right call is we just deal with some of the poor officiating decisions that happen and you know refereeing is hard for all sports especially for basketball there's so many calls that are tough to make and i don't tend to get mad about like some miss calls here and there but the ejections, stuff like that. Like, that's just, like, that should never happen. And not because it's national TV, not because it's a star player,

but be like, he is, he bounced the ball. Come on, man. And it's the young stars in the league that are getting thrown out of these games. You know what I mean? Yeah. It just hurts the product. And it's hardcore fans. We deal with it. Yeah. And we keep watching. But there are a lot of people who turn off

their TV is like, wow, when I watch this? Why don't I watch this crap? Well, I mean, maybe do something about that to bring those fans and to see this amazing game that's happening right now for us. The league is great right now, Chris, isn't it? Yes. It feels great right now. Yes.

Every team's fun. Every night there is entertaining games on. I end up by, no lie, I've got this, you know, typically on any given weekday night, I will, I'll turn on league pass and I will have, I'll have my phone out or my son will and we'll just go through and we'll look for the close games. And then we'll stick on one and then we try to watch the end of everything that's coming down to the wire when there's like six and seven games going on. And every game, there's something awesome that is going on.

All right, Kevin, we are to the All-Star break. Give me one team that has surprised you and one team that has disappointed you. I don't know if this is cheating for my response here for the surprise. I don't think it's really a surprise, but I just want to talk about them. The Phoenix Suns. Oh, I think I could fill them in as the surprise being the number two seed.

Does that apply? That's fair. The number two seed is crazy. We thought they were going to be good. We thought they'd be a playoff team. Very good. Yes. But being the two seat as you go to the all-star break is surprising.

That is surprising. Okay. So, Okay, so they fit. I did a big feature on them on the ringer posted on Thursday. The team formerly known as the bright future sons, Chris, now known as the bright now, now, even the brighter future sons. The brightest future sons.

The brightest future. They are a joy to watch. They really are, Mr. Vernon. I love watching the sons after all our years of doing this podcast together. I've always enjoyed watching Devin Booker and Drag and Ben, Josh Jackson Marquis Chris Alex Len and Jared Dudley

and keep on going Tyler Tyler Annette Timothy Luwawa was there for a short bit I loved watching the Phoenix Suns Or was it Ulys I think it was Tyler Ullis

but never before have I loved watching them as much as I do now They are They are complete two-way basketball team And let me tell you this Chris Let me tell you this they are contenders. Of course they are.

They are real contenders. You have two of the leagues, 15 to 20 best players, and Devin Booker and Chris Paul. You have some of the league's best wing players, McKell Bridges, elite defender, Jay Crowder, been to finals, had multiple deep playoff runs. You have DeAndre Aiton,

who has become a very, very good two-way center. You have a deep bench. Cameron Payne. Yep. Had a big game for them last night. Cameron Payne. has had some really good games for them. Dario Sarich, that dude, backup center,

if it wasn't for like a guy like Jordan Clarkson, you would hear Dario Sarich's name mentioned more often as a six man of the year candidate. Chris, the Phoenix Suns, they are, they have surprised me in the fact that they are not just very good, but they are a legitimate contender. And I look forward to seeing how they develop them in the second half of the year,

because they, you know, I mentioned this in the article, it feels like they have gone progressively better over the course of the season. And I don't think the Booker Paul connection is what it can be at its highest level yet. They're getting closer. Booker just one player of the month. But I feel like those guys can be even better together.

There's more. There's more. I think, I think, I think, Zach Lowe, I'm going to get this number right. I'm almost positive. It was plus 14 with those two on the court for net rating. He had it in his column this morning because he was talking about how

when it comes time, they're going to have to stagger them because when they are on the court, they have been a real net positive with Paul alone on the court. They have been a real net positive with Booker out on the court. But in those moments where Motti

has not played either of them, it has been a neeming. I don't think you're going to see that in the playoffs, really. I don't think you'll see that in the playoffs. No, no, no, I'm saying, right, right, right, where they staggered them. Oh, yeah. And you do the hard-in-pole thing.

Oh, yeah. During the playoffs, I'd be shocked if you don't see that. I'd be totally shocked if you don't see that. All right. So you put Phoenix being the number two seed. What stood out to you for my story on them if you read? No worries if you didn't. I won't be offended.

The Phoenix Sun story. The Phoenix? Yeah. I won't be offended. It was long. T-L-D-R. I haven't read it yet. Okay.

T-L-D-R. I understand. I get it. It was long. I mean, how many times we read you writing about the sun? I feel like that's why I want to talk about. That was the genesis of this podcast. It was me reading you write about the sun.

Here's what I'll say about the story, Chris. For anybody else who's not a son's fan, it's like, should I read a 5,000 word story or not? It's kind of split up until like a number of short stories, like 600 word short stories about the sun. So if you want to read about DeAndre Aten, Chris, just do control. Control F. Aiton.

And you'll get like a DeAndre Aten section where he's a great quote about a suspension last year. And I'll tell you what. I got a, I got to read you this quote. It sounds like he was addressing, you know, you know,

you. I am going to get to. You'll love this quote. I'm going to get to your article right after I finish Mobey Dick, which is roughly the same link. This quote, this quote was good. He said,

I let my team down. I got bombarded and destroyed by the internet. And you know what? I deserve that. I thought, who am I to say I'm a certain way when I didn't prove it? So I felt motivated to go out there and fix my name to find myself and show who I really am. The suspension felt like the bottom of the pit. Then professionalism hit me.

I knew I wasn't going to cheat myself. I worked harder and harder. I didn't care if I wasn't playing. I wanted to get better. I was locked in. I was in the pen for 25 games and came out an OG. DeAndre Aiton, from your criticism, Chris. Oh, my God.

In the pen. From me, and I came out at OG. DA, D.A. D.A. D. D. Andre Aiton was a joy

to chat with. I love talking with him. He was a fun interview. Yeah, he's really fun. He's great. Super, super open about everything

and about his development, about non-basketball stuff. That guy's awesome. I love chatting with him. There's a fun story that can report out. There you go. I would say, in terms of my surprise,

this is odd, because I would probably say the thing that has, if you would have told me at the beginning of the season and then you would have given me the standings as it stands right now and you would have told me that there was no acquisition made, I think honestly, from looking at the standings, I would be most shock that Oklahoma City has 15 wins and that they are that they are that competitive at the All Star break. that they, the Oklahoma City has the same record as the Pelicans right now. Like, I think we looked at them. It's crazy. After this all season, we're like, they got every pick in the draft for the next 10 years, it feels like.

And we just, they are going to suck. Like, they are the team that's just punted more than anybody. And you look at their roster and you look at their depth and you go, all right, like, geez, man, that's got to be a lot for, uh, Shea Gilgis Alexander and Lugentz-Dort and Hamadu Diallo and Mike Muscala and these guys Al Horford.

Yeah. And it's like, all right. Roby. I like Isaiah Roby. I don't know if people would have thought they would have 15 wins the whole year.

And they're 15 and 21 going into the All-Star break. There was a really good win over the Spurs too. Yes. He goes to Alexander. I mean, that dude, I said he should have been an All-Star Reserve. I still think he should have been that.

That guy's had one. one hell of heck of the two-way season. Both ends of the floor. Gildes Alexander is really blossoming into a high-level player. Yes, the job, just the fact that they are that competitive, you know, throughout the, throughout the first 36 games in the season. I know their record's not great, but it's just what we thought they were going to be versus what they have actually been.

I feel like that has surprised me probably the most. weirdly of any team just because I thought this is the theme that's just punted completely and this is a joke and instead like you gotta come to play or else they're gonna catch you and they caught a lot of teams

they got some good players man Kendritch Williams coming off that bench I mean I know it's like Kenrich Williams Kenner Williams this is a guy to talk about a ringer NBA University now I bring him out here but Kendrish Williams he's been a really rock solid defensive player for them

is 6-6, versatile, plays hard, and he's hitting over 40% of his threes. Like, that's what you want is three-and-e style guys who make smart decisions on the core for you. They have good players on their team. And like, this kind of speaks to what we talked about in passing earlier, Chris. There's just a lot of fun teams in the league right now. There's always something fun to watch. And with OKC, it's Gildes-Alexander, is like their best young player. But then they have a bunch of other guys on that team who are just rock-solid rotation guys for you.

like Henrich Williams or Isaiah Roby, you know, that contribute to winning. And that's why OKC is way better than people expect. Well, and the crazy thing is I told you about that, you know, the league pass thing that I do. I can't tell you how many nights, you know, I've looked at the scoreboard. And it's like a four point game with two minutes ago. I'm like, what the hell? They play so many close games. Like I feel like I have watched the end of infinitely more Oklahoma City games.

than I would have ever expected. And sometimes, like, some of those games end up being, like, an 8, 10 point loss. Yeah. Sometimes, but, like, for a lot of young teams, that's the case. And, like, I remember, like, growing up watching, like, the 0-607 Celtics. That, when they had that 18, 19 game losing streak the year before the big three, I always entering the fourth quarter, watch those games. My dad was like, the Celtics are keeping this close for three and a half quarters.

Like, I feel like there's something building here. With OKC, if you're a fan watching that team, you're like, there's something building here with this group. These guys have character and like talent. It's just they're not there yet for certain matchups. But they're, Gildes Alexander's,

I mean, he's really good, man. He's really good. Wait till the second half of this season when they just bring in the secret weapon POCU. Oh boy. Just wait. Post all-star break. Do you see those G-League, G-League highlights,

those passes? He's done. He's done in the G-League bubble after, you know, this next week or so. And then they're just going to unleash him on the friggin' league post all-star break. And watch out. Watch out, league. All right. Poku's G-League stats, 7.9 points per game, 31% from the field.

But four assists per game, Chris, for seven-footer. One of the youngest players entered the NBA since high school players were all. No, the youngest player to enter the NBA since the high school age limit, changed. The youngest. The youngest. The youngest. Biggest disappointment or a team that has disappointed you versus what we thought they were going to be

at the beginning of the season. There's two ways to look at it. Minnesota, in the sense that we haven't even got to seen Catt and Delo still. That's a major disappointment, but I think generally most people expect them to be bad. So Dallas still, I still say Dallas,

even though they've starting to win more. I have won three in a row, eight and two their last 10, they're at the 8th seed right now. But overall, they're the team where I thought maybe they'd be where Phoenix is, like the two or three or four right now in the top of the West, outperforming expectations, but instead they've underperformed. How about you, Chris? We've talked a lot about Dallas.

Yeah, we have. Oh, and by the way, before I get into my disappointment, we do need to mention that the Knicks were both on our surprising list. We've talked about the Knicks a million times so far this year. Same with the Celtics. We've talked about them a bunch recently. Yeah, because we know they are one of the great stories. They're one of the great stories this year in the NBA, to say the least, are the NICs.

And then they got another win, so their whole fan base gets to feel good going into, you know, the long All-Star break here for a little bit. So the NICs would fall on that list. I would probably say, I would probably say Washington. and that's just because I thought, you know, there, again, nobody's out of it, out of it in the Eastern Conference. But I did think that that team, which was, they were a team that was invited to the bubble last year. And I know they've had a bunch of the coronavirus, you know, the delays, the league parked them and whatever else. But when you trade for Westbrook and you add him to the mix and you pay Bertons, the amount of money you paid him, and you bring back these guys like now they've tried to figure it out with Mo Wagner

at Garrison Matthews and these other guys. But I think I thought that they wouldn't be, you know, 14 and 20 going into the All-Star break. Getting better. Yeah, they are getting better. But it's just I think to me that's a disappointment to be 14 and 20 headed into the All-Star break because I thought that certainly in the Eastern. conference that they were going to be much more in the mix than they have been. Because, I mean, again, they were a team that was invited last year.

And they should be better than they were last year, significantly better than they were last year. And they are getting better. It has taken. Their transition has been harder, given some injuries, given the amount of time that they were part by the league, it's been a harder transition. but I would say it's a disappointment. And then obviously, you know, look, we've talked at Nausem about New Orleans. Yeah.

I mean, you watch them and it's like, what the hell? You know, like some nights you watch them. And, you know, we just saw it the other night where they get this win over, when they get this win, the one we talked about on Tuesday, where they had kind of forgotten Zion was on the team. the win against Utah. And then the same team that can beat Utah is the same one that, you know, gets beat by Chicago a couple of nights ago and then goes into the All-Star break, taking another loss last

night. And it's like, what? I don't understand. They should be better than their record. Yeah. That's all I would say. I think that's fair. A couple other things before we get to the mailbag today, Kev.

At the All-Star break, I think we agree as of right now, M-D- Bede is the favorite to win most valuable player this year. We will see what happens in these last, you know, whatever, 40 games of the season. But it feels like he's certainly in pole position at the All-Star break. Yeah, I think so. I'd have him as the number one for sure. And it's his to lose. Yeah.

I feel like Lillard might get in the mix. He did it again. You know, he's still doing the dame time thing damn near every night. And it's just put that team on his back without McCollum. And if they're able to rack up wins in the second half of the season and then get McCollum back maybe for the very tail end, hopefully, I feel like Lillard might be able to get in that mix. Because Yokech is clearly in that mix.

Hardin may wedge himself in there, especially if their record is crazy. Maybe one of the jazz guys can wedge their names in there. And one other thing, because it is today, it is March 5th, meaning tomorrow is March 6th, and I am going to owe you $100. And I have an infinite amount of excuses for this, but I am just going to give two. Number one, and this is that Andrew Wiggins would not be on the Warriors in a year's time. So I obviously got insanely screwed by the calendar because when everything shuts down,

well, that was going to be post trade trade deadline theoretically, right? Well, want to go, want to go double or nothing and move the date? For the, no, no, no, for the trade deadline? Because where I really got screwed, this is where I really got screwed was the clay injury. He's not there. if Clay's there. Like they're just not, they're going to utilize that money differently.

And that was the basis of the bet. But Clay did get injured. So, of course, they're going to keep him now. They can't move him now. They got to have somebody for Steph to play with. That's a wing that could put the ball in the bucket on occasion. I never thought it was going to work with Steph Curry, Clay Thompson, and Andrew Wiggins.

And I think that when Clay comes back, eventually you will see Wiggins not on that team. but Clay got injured. It screwed me. And so they will hold on to Wiggins. And so you're going to win the bet. But I don't want you to feel too good about it because he would have been gone. I feel great. A hundred extra dollars in my memo.

I feel great. We also got one other piece of news today, Chris, during recording. Adrian Wardenowski from ESPN reported that Blake Griffin has been officially bought out. So he's going to hit the market now. The teams to watch here. the Lakers, the Celtics, and the Nets. That's what I've heard this past week or so are the three teams to watch on a Blake Griffin buyout,

the Lakers, Nets, and Celtics. We'll see if more teams get added to that list. I'm sure there are others that will have some level of interest, but those are the three main ones. L.A., theoretically, he's going back to where he spent the first major part of his career. And it's kind of a, you know, maybe a little FU to the Clippers, playing in that same building that he played in prior to.

Which of those do you think he's the best fit with? Maybe none of them. The version of Blake Griffin that we saw this season was not a guy that who's going to get playoff minutes for you. He played more with the Nets and he'd play more with the Celtics than he would with the Lakers. I mean, if they've got Davis back and they have Davis and Montrez.

Well, yeah, I don't think Blake would play that much with the Lakers. See, to me, like I look at Brooklyn, he's that small ball five even though Blake can't hop you know like he used to but he'd play more you can put him in that pick and roll and roll down the lane short roll pick apart defenses I still think Blake can offer something to a team and so I look at Boston and Brooklyn as the teams that if I'm him I'd be looking towards those teams if I want to get minutes Lakers if you're like oh maybe the 80 injury is worse than people think maybe you know that if you're at Blake's camp and the Lakers might know that too who knows

maybe in that case you go to the Lakers go back to Lakers go back to L.A. He loves Lai. That'd be kind of a cool story. Go to the Lakers. Imagine that playoff wrinkle, Lakers Clippers, second round series or something. And he can also,

you know, with stuff going to be opening up sooner than maybe we expected, he could go work on his comedy career. Yeah, for sure. They got better comedy clubs there. I guess he could do it in Brooklyn too. Even though all the comedians are moving to Austin,

Texas now. You got Joe Rogan, moving there, a bunch of other comedians moving down there. A lot lower taxes. Yeah, a lot lower taxes. Yep, yep. All right, let's get to the mailbag. We got some good stuff this week, Sasha. That we do. All right. Let's start it off

from Stu. I believe Stu's from England. Hey, Stu from England. I'm wondering why we're hearing so many trade rumors around Vouch that are seemingly requiring the magic to give away their prize, Big Man. just because they're having a bad season

doesn't, shouldn't mean that they have to give him away for a few salaries, right? Is it a case of the magic having kept him as an asset and are trying to kickstart a rebuild with this year's lottery being pretty good? I would be shocked if they trade Butchabitch.

Everything I've heard is that he's a guy that they consider a keeper, that they consider a legitimate guy to build with. Would that said, like, could a team make an offer over the top? grab vuch from orlando yeah of course he's not an untradable untouchable player uh i just wouldn't expect the team to meet those demands from orlando if any if you're looking for an orlando big

that's more likely to move look at kem birch or mo bamba kembert's a free agent in a couple of months mobba is a restricted free agent next off season in 2022 one of those guys maybe potentially I could see a move, but Vuchovic, I'd be a little bit surprised if anybody's willing to meet the price that the magic have, which is significant.

There was that report this week that the Celtics like Vooch. I'm not sure it matters that the Celtics like Vooch, unless they're willing to pay up more than people think they probably should and where it looks like an overpay.

Yeah, and to answer why his name comes up because this is the plight of the awesome player on the disappointing team. Yes. It's just what happens. I mean,

Tremont Green once got fined by the NBA for saying we need to get Devin Booker out of there. You know, I mean, and everybody was talking about, oh, it's not going to be long. And inevitably,

if you are a very good player on a team that's not going to be excelling, that's not going to be playing to the playoffs, people want to see those players play for the highest stakes. And so when you are on a disappointing team, but you're outstanding,

people always will then try to poach you from said disappointing team. Well, let's do another one. I'm actually interested in this one too. Okay, this from Levi. Should the Rockets tank this season and next season or continue, I love this wording, continue building a respectful team and hopefully have a solid team that can hopefully use the Nets picks to contend in five years or so like the Celtics did.

Not that that worked out. They've lost 13 in a row. I would love, if I'm a Rockets fan, I would love to lose 30 in a row. Just give me the top lottery odds in this loaded years draft class. And one of the big reasons why, the reason why is because if that pick falls out of the top four, they're not going to get to keep their own pick. They're going to receive a pick from either Miami or Oklahoma City, whichever one is the worst. So for Houston in this situation, you have an opportunity.

here to draft the franchise player, Acadia Cunningham, and Evan Mobley, or Jaylen Green, we saw him in the G League in Ignite. There's a lot of talent at the top of the 20-21 draft, and for Houston, that should be the priority. It's keeping

that first-round traffic. Otherwise, you set yourself back for many, many years to come. I would tell you that I have been very anti-tanking. This is an extreme situation to me. As I said before, they do not have

there is not the same in terms of level of competition onus put on fans in the stands and so you're not the product to me I think it is unfair to have people paying money to go see a team that doesn't isn't even trying to win

that's one of the reasons the other thing is I think it's impossible to build a real winning culture when you have a group of guys that you're basically throwing out there to get their ass kick every single night. And I think that has a profound effect going forward. That being said, this is an extreme situation with the whole pick and losing the pick thing.

And frankly, I don't think any of these guys are going to be on the team for what you're building anyway. Christian would. Christian would. He will be. But that's about it. Yeah. But that's about it. Jayfonte, maybe, yeah.

You know, maybe just on tape. But, I mean, again, what you're going to be post rebuild, that's not what the guys, the guys that you would be, that you're throwing out there right now, it's not the same. And my problem is typically when you have, like we just went through it with Atlanta, right? Lloyd Pierce, he loses 20, you know, he wins 20 games and he wins 29 games. And then, okay, now it's time to be good. And you've got a lot of losing habits. You've got a way of those guys playing where they're not accustomed to winning.

And the sting of losing went away. I think it hurts, honestly, I think it hurts some of those young guys on the Pelicans, people don't want to hear this, but those guys, they played so many non-competitive basketball games when they were playing for the Lakers. I think Ingram and Lanzo got a terrible training ground. I think you are trained that it doesn't matter if you lose that game, or rather, you're not hurt if you lose that game. Once those expectations are torn away from you, I believe it can have an effect on you

in terms of when now you're asked to play winning basketball. But that's not going to affect any of those guys on the Rock. They don't have a bunch of young players on the team that they can poison. Similar thing with Phoenix. Devin Booker is the only player on the team from before the 2018-19 season. The only guy on the team, the only one. Even from the 2018-19 year, you only get DeAndry Aitin, Chris, DeAndreateon, Devin Booker, and McKell Bridges.

That's it. Three guys from just two years ago when they won only 19-8s. And they went through 50 coaches and two different management. Yeah, it took a long time to get here. But they're at the point out where they're winning in with the Houston. It's about getting those guys that you can win with. Christian Wood, he's one of them. And then you can draft a guy, he's another one.

And maybe a couple of the pieces now, like a Jay Sean Tade or Sterling Brown, a Nawaba, maybe one of those guys sticks around long term, but maybe not. But you've got to find the guys who are your cornerstones, and they have an opportunity to do that now. And if they miss that, it's a major, major loss for the franchise. I'll set them back for years to come. Fair enough. I love Nuwaba. He's a good player, huh, Sasha?

Absolutely love him. Love his defense. I also, I might be remembering wrong, but I believe that like one of Lonzo's traits that everybody loved coming from college was that he like is a winner that he like really cares about winning. And like when he loses, it's like he like hates, he like hates losing. And then I really feel like that was kind of like kicked out of him. Yeah. I think he's getting it. I think Lonzo's getting it back though.

He's had some he's had some all defensive. caliber games individually as a player with the Pelicans this year, which you couldn't say last year. Last year. Last year. Yeah. I mean, he just has crazy arms. Bons is a fun player. I love the way he's playing. God, miss him. Even though I was slandering him last week. I do miss him. Okay, so this is from Alex. I actually became a Nassir Little fan last year as well. So I'm interested. Hey, Kevin and Chris. One player I haven't heard you guys talk about much is Nassir Little. I'm a Blazers fan and have seen some really good flashes from him lately leading to a lot of Portland fans campaigning for him to get more minutes what do you guys see in him what do you think his ideal role is

any good player comparisons msir little msir little oh that's interesting on the player comparison thing because you get for a comp here yeah um geez louise six five seven foot two wingspan muscular body frame you know he's he's he's a i'm not sure who the comp is for him, but player, you know, production wise, he should be playing more. He plays bigger than 6'5. There's no way around that. And it's that 7 foot two wingspan and then, you know, the strength

he has. The offensive flashes have been really encouraging for him. And he's still young, you know, makes some mistakes defensively, but that's what Portland needs is the type of versatile defender that Nassir Little can become. The type of secondary score that Nassir Little has shown he can be on

certain nights. So for Portland, to me, I look at their situation, even they're trying to be a playoff team. You also have to invest in the youth. And I'd love to see some more consistent minutes for Nassir Little. I keep trying to think about these. They've done a very, look, Portland deserves great. They do a very good job with player development there.

They always have, you know. And it's always one of those chicken or the egg thing. Do these franchises always nail the draft or are they just great with developing what they do have, right? They make these players the best versions of themselves. And Little, who was picked at the, you know, back end of that 19 draft, was he like, he's in the mid-20s, I think. Yeah, he fell. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I mean, that was, but we knew about this year a little prior to.

I mean, this guy, he was McDonald's All-American who played at North Carolina. I mean, so. And he's really, really struggled in college. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's not like he busted on the scene, you know what I mean? Like, oh, I never saw that guy play a guy. I mean, we knew, we had an awareness of Mr. Little. He was a huge recruit, huge, huge recruit.

A late bloomer in high school and then became a significant high school recruit. And I wonder if in the NBA, it could be the same thing. Like, he was not good in college at North Carolina, you know, not getting a lot of minutes early on. But will he, again, be one of those late bloomers in the NBA? There's a lot of talent there. And for what it's worth in terms of comparisons. Yeah, what were the comps in the drag? Yeah, this was the draft guy comparisons I had.

Andre Uadala Harrison Barnes, Stanley Johnson. Shades of all of them in different ways. Not perfect comparisons, but the Harrison Barnes comp, you know, I like that one. But, you know, with Nasir Little, he's somebody that they should invest in. It makes sense for what they need. Yeah, he is, he is an odd player.

I like him a lot. I like him. He's, look, guys like him are the reason outside of the Dame stuff, like Dame can get you. over the hump when that's a tight game at the very end. But the reason it's a tight game is because they get, they get contributions from all kinds of guys, man.

One night it might be Man Nassir Little. The other night it might be, you know, Derek Jones Jr. might have a flash, or Gary Trent might have a flesh. Or like, there's these big Carmelo games. I mean, like sometimes you get a nice Anthony Simon's game as well. Same with the Cantor. They, you know, they've lost a star,

and they've really done it with the whole strength of numbers things. and you've got to have guys like Little that can make place and can have those nights where I think he had a 30 earlier this year if I'm not mistaken because I remember seeing it and thinking this year Little had 30

in a game All right Sasha we're getting at that All right we can do one last one this is not a basketball question also from Alex I don't think it's the same one though a while ago

Kevin and Chris, you mentioned the movie Soul and the Fish in the Ocean metaphor. How do you all live life in the present and not get too caught up in distractions? The philosophical question. Okay, so for those of you that didn't hear a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I was walking through my living room and my kids were watching that movie, Soul. And there's this moment in the movie where a lady is telling a story and she's talking about a fish going up to an older fish. And he is saying, where is the ocean? And the lady says, you're in, you're in it. And the fish says, no, this is just water.

I want the ocean. Yeah, I want the ocean. And it was this, and I mentioned it because it's profound. Like I'm walking through the cartoon on it. It kind of stops you in your track. Like, damn, man. And the whole idea is, right, living in the moment and being aware of what's happening to you at that time.

I struggle with this a great deal. I have attempted to get a lot better at this. I think over the course of the last couple of years, having an awareness of what's going on at the moment and being more appreciative of what's going on in the moment. because like I'll tell you, there was even a moment last night. This true story. I was at that Grizzlies Bucks game, and it's coming down, it's a one-point game.

It's coming down to the very end of the game. And I mean, you could just feel like there's not that many people in the arena, but it's tense. And I'm on Twitter and I'm seeing all these people like saying, I'm about to throw up. My heart's going 100 miles an hour, you know, like the way fans do, right? And I had this moment where I was just sitting there and I was like, this is unbelievable. Like this really is This is unbelievable Like I love this

I love that feeling I love that feeling of It is a one point game They're gonna come out of the timeout And it is either going to be I know what's about to happen Either everybody is walking out of that arena With their head down sullen

bitching about something Or it is going to be Absolute euphoria But something is about to happen. And I did catch myself thinking, like, man, I've missed this. I've missed this.

Because oddly, I have not been at close games. We had this stat last night that, at least the Grizzlies, it was 18 games in a row that were decided by like nine or more points. So I really haven't seen, I haven't been in that moment where it's like, okay, whoever gets the ball, it's going to get the last shot, and they're going to win or lose. And I did, you know, I had this moment of appreciation. I also did with my son a couple of days ago

because he asked me to, he asked me actually go throw baseball. His baseball season is about to start. And I had a moment where I was, so those are the moments I've really tried to take in because I, he's like, he's always bashful, asked me, like, you want to go throw? You know, and it's like some field of dream shit.

It just gets in your feelings, right? But I had a dad that, like, he didn't, my dad was a great, great dad and great sports dad. But when my dad got home from work, he didn't want to throw. He didn't want to throw. You know what I mean? He wanted to get his diet Coke and watch the nightly news and just, you know, he was exhausted.

He's exhausted, right? And he didn't want to do that. And so I, there was that moment where I was thinking about, you know, you think about that. And you think about your own mortality in some ways and just like, I'm going to do this, even if I don't really want to right now, I'm going to do this. And I'm going to, I'm going to soak this in because I'm going to be glad that I did this. And again, I mean, hell, I throw a football or baseball or shoot baskets with them every day in my life.

But for whatever reason, I think it was because we were at his house. My, I don't, we don't really have a great level ground place to throw at mine. So we actually went down to my parents' house to throw. That's cool. And so maybe that one was what got me and my feelings about it. I don't know. My dad was like inside, you know what I mean? Yeah.

He was there. Yeah. So, I mean, I think I've tried to do better, but it's hard, man. There's no great way. No great way. It is hard. I think, you know, for me growing up, my parents are always good about the acknowledgement of a feeling in a Like even last night, it's like, you know, I'm living with my mom now during the pandemic,

helping her own and everything. Last night before she goes to bed, she comes in, you know, say good night. She's like, Kevin, I loved hearing you laugh. I was watching curb your enthusiasm last night. Just for her sitting in the other room doing whatever she was doing, hearing her son laugh in the other room. Right. That's one of those little things that as a parent, I'm sure you can relate to that.

You probably embrace those moments like hearing your kids laugh or even if hearing them argue, right? And embracing that moment and recognizing that moment as a little thing. Because that's what the movie Soul was really about, about just embracing those little moments in life. The real secret to enjoying life isn't necessarily to have some big goal to aspire to. It's about enjoying the moments along the way of whatever your life's journey is. And, you know, I'm thankful to have had parents and my mom did that ever since I was a little boy,

you know? Or, you know, it's always made comments like that. I meant, we said earlier, the feeling of the last day of school, you know, that's, that's something to embrace and enjoy. And for me, man, like, we only got this life, man. I want to be as happy as I possibly can be throughout this life. And, you know, everybody's circumstances are different. And sometimes it's hard to focus on doing the things that you enjoy or focusing on the things that make you happy. But I think a lot, a lot is a choice. A lot, a lot is a, a lot is. due to approach and mindset.

And for me, over the years, all my life, I really tried to develop a happy approach, a positive approach to whatever situations come your way, good or bad. And I think in those little moments, like we've talked about this, Chris, post-pandemic, I can't wait. I can't wait to be at the dinner, a dinner for the first time, pull off our masks. I think about it sometimes. We pull off our masks. and for the first time is that little weirdness,

the awkwardness of what it's going to be like to be at a table with other people sharing food possibly. I look forward to that moment and however I feel in that moment and going to embrace that and try to capture it and keep it. I think it's about those little things that happen on a day-to-day basis. I'd love to say that that movie and that

moment that I relayed to everybody had the profound effect that it should have. You know, I remember getting stopped in my tracks, but it was actually something else. that had the effect on me. In that movie? No, it was, I don't remember where I heard it.

And because I, you know, in between podcasts and reading and whatever else, I end up taking in so many things. But it is something, you know, sometimes somebody says something and it just stays with you. And it was a guy and he was saying that there's an old, you know, there's an old Buddhist proverb or whatever it was. and I'm not Buddhist, but he said, and it just, like, I've thought about it. I swear to God, every day since. And he said, a healthy man wants 10,000 things. A sick man wants one. And I've thought about that since I heard it. I've thought about that so many times.

I've thought about that so many times. And the point was about your desires, right? And so many times we get caught up in so many different. things and when you're sick there's only one thing you want right and i i think that there is there's something about that that when i do have my health and i do have so many good things going for me being appreciative of that and i think that does help me stay in the moment more right that level of appreciation um that you got a lot of good going on you know yeah no doubt about it man is a lot of good. And I think the acknowledgement of that good, the good things in your own life and the recognition of it, you know, from within is really important.

Like I spend a lot of time reflecting about stuff. And I feel like very in touch with my feelings. You know what I mean? Because I think about those things and I explore my own feelings. And I think, you know, the question was about like, how do you do that? Well, that's how I do it. I spend a lot of time reflecting and looking within. So that's helpful for me to do that.

But like you said, Chris, it's never perfect. It's so easy to get caught up with other stuff that's happening or thinking ahead instead of being there in the moment. But just remind yourself to be there in the moment. And you'll develop a better habit, a stronger habit of doing that. That's really what it is. It's a habit of recognizing the moment. And for all of our audience, you're going to get to have one of those moments on Sunday

when you are watching the slam dunk contest and you're going to say, I want to never forget getting to watch Cassius Stanley dunk. Yeah. When the rest of the world says, who is Cassius Stanley? Yeah.

Anthony Simon's in there, right? Obey Tauffin, right? It could be fun. I need, look, I don't want to send out any missives, but I need Obie to win that thing because I've got his top. shot. Oh, you get a top shot.

Okay. I see. Everybody have a great all-star weekend at all-star break. And we will talk to you again on Tuesday. Thanks to producer Sasha as always. Kevin, I'll talk to you next week. I'm looking forward to everybody. Have a fun weekend.