The Mismatch - Clippers Cut the Series Deficit in Half with Game 3 Win. Plus: Trae Young Scores 48 in Game 1 and New NBA Coaching Hires.

Episode Date: June 25, 2021

Late Thursday night, Verno and KOC get into the Clippers Game 3 win over the Suns and how big of a role injuries played (1:04), then give Trae Young the credit he deserves for his Game 1 performance (25:53), and finally they discuss the new coaching hires in the NBA (51:59). Hosts Chris Vernon and Kevin O'Connor Producer: Carlos Chiriboga Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The NFL draft may be over, but the Ringer NFL show isn't going anywhere. On Mondays, join Kevin and Nora as they look ahead to the 2021 season. And on Wednesdays, check out Flying Coach Season 2 with NFL Network's Peter Shreger and Rams head coach Sean McVeigh. The two longtime friends are joined by guests from around the sports and entertainment world to discuss the latest NFL news, tell stories from their careers, and break down the game from their unique perspectives. Check out the Ringer NFL show on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to the mismatch. Chris Varney. Join me as he does every Friday from the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, A.K. Kevin O'Bomberts, Kevin O'Colk, Kevin O'Connor, Kevin O'Brien, Kevin O'Clymer, Kevin O'Klyness, Kevin O'Candyland, Kevin O'Brien. Kevin O'Birdle! What up? As we record this on a late Thursday night following game three of the Clippers versus the Phoenix Suns, which saw the Clippers you know, at least get their first home game

with a pretty good win, a 14-point win, 106 to 92 against Phoenix, we at least are able to do this podcast literally an hour earlier than we recorded the last one after the Phoenix LA game because we did not have, there was no need for extensive reviews at the end of the game, even though I did kind of panic when the, when the whole Crowder Paul George thing happens next to the sideline. And I'm like, oh, no, please don't, please don't take 20 minutes to sort this out. This was a really good win for the Clippers, and this was a little scary, I thought,

for the Phoenix Suns. In only this way, you know, there was the one miced-up moment, which I thought was very, very good with Monty Williams, and he's yelling at his team. This is the playoffs. They can't be the more desperate team. They are the more desperate team.

And, you know, he's trying to get through to his guys, but I really felt that way the entire night. I know that psychologically, one team has their back against the wall and the other team doesn't. One team is getting back at home. But it was all night pretty clearly the clippers playing with a lot more desperation, a lot more fight in this game. And just to wit, all the big numbers that you would have expected to go along with

that they busted them on the boards. They had more steals. They had more blocks. They had been getting shredded in points in the paint in the series so far. They're pretty even on points in the paint tonight. Like all the hustle stuff, all the stuff that comes along with. And Booker did not look right at all. And Paul didn't look right at all.

And that's the only thing to me that makes me think maybe this this could be more than just your typical first team got the first two you know if you if you're going to win a game you're going to win game three at home and chris not only that cameron pain had an ankle injury right four minutes into his stint on the floor and cameron pain those first two games was terrific the offense played so well at the pace that he plays and if they do miss him beyond this this game that hurts a lot right so a lot yeah devon booker It's hard to know what the cause was. Clearly, Patrick Beverly had some fantastic defensive possessions against the energy.

Like, this was the best version of Patrick Beverly tonight. It was really fun watching him play defense. Chris Paul, first game back, you know, probably shaking off some rust. Devin Booker may be bothered by the face mask that he had on and Beverly. And like you said, I think the bottom line here is the Clippers fought so freaking hard, like all game long. And they were playing with such awesome effort. I thought on the defensive end of the floor, their rotations, both with Zubots in there and when they had their small ball lineups.

And then when they were playing small on the offensive end of the floor, man, the ball movement. It was so good. The looks they get when they play small are so much better. Yeah. They hit hard shots tonight. And the ball is boom, boom, boom. Yeah. And that's in half court basketball, right?

Zubot was great. You know, look, we've talked about it. That hilarious stack. Is it over? It's over. It is over. And he was big tonight. He was great for them.

16 boards. Really aggressive play by him. And a lot. I mean, look, you could go across. This was not a good Paul George shooting night. Would he end up like nine for 26 or something like that? Nine for 26 for George, three of 11 from three. He did it have 15 rebounds, eight assists, as well as the 27 points.

Well, I mean, and then Reggie Jackson. Holy Macro, they ended the broadcast by saying he made him itself a lot of money this offseason. Dude. He very well may have because, I mean, he was double digits in the fourth quarter and just the shots were immense shots that he made. He had that layup in transition. Then I think maybe a minute later, he had that three-pointer.

And we've talked a lot about Reggie Jackson in recent weeks. I mentioned that kind of goofy stat where he's number one in the isolation scoring efficiency. I mean, it's funny to see that. Like, he's the one name that's not an all NBA talent. but watching games, the dude's legit. Like he's really, really good right now for the Clippers. And without Kauai Leonard, isn't that exactly what you need as a team? Like if a guys go down, like the sun's had that.

If Chris Paul goes down, Cameron Payne steps up first two games. Kaui Leonard goes down. Paul George has a big game against Utah. Reggie Jackson further elevates his play. That's what you need when your star players go down. And Reggie Jackson has given him that. It's fun to watch. Well, and I liked the bit that, you know, Van Gundy did.

about knife fighters and milk drinkers, right? And you think about, we talk about those kind of guys, like, and we've talked about them for years. What do are knives and milk have to do with it? Can you explain to me? Am I too young for this reference?

No, no, no, no. Like, well, just think about it, right? If I called you a milk drinker, right? That would mean you're a, you're a laissez-faire kind of guy, right? Really? A knife? A knife. Hard working people don't drink milk? What about all those advertisements I saw on my TV?

Oh, for goodness great. Mustaches. For goodness sakes. All right. Look, if I say you're a milk drinker versus a knife fighter, that should be pretty easy to understand. And they have, they do have night fighters. The milk drinker seems pretty responsible to me.

Well, they might be responsible, but they're getting their ass kicked. Yeah, they did. And, and Pat Beverly, like, if he had a switchplate in his shorts, it wouldn't shock anybody. He's a real knife fighter. he's an absolute lunatic out there half the time. I love it. Dude, there was one play in the second half where Devin Booker tried to put a move on him, then he passed out of it. Yes.

And then Beverly, like I saw him on the screen. This is like mid-fourth quarter, turns and just starts yelling at him in his face. Like after Booker gave up the ball. He's been yelling at him for two games. It's so funny. He was yelling at him in the last game, even after he had butted him in the face. And by the way, well, how different was this game in terms of the officiating? They let him play.

Like there's a lot of hard performances on both sides, some toughness. I love to watch it. It was an enjoyable game with the toughness, especially in that second. And I want to highlight another guy who was an innocent bystander in the first half. The guy got the start, but really, I mean, I don't even know if he touched the ball. I don't remember him even touching the ball. And that's Terrence man. They came out in that second half.

He had eight points by the time they went to that first time out. He's flexing. He's pumping up the crowd. He's screaming at the top of it. his lungs and like those type of things where he obviously came out in that second half and was ready to impose his will on the game not being innocent bystander and he was going to the basket and he was I mean he was getting steals he was causing all kinds of havoc and he scores those eight points very quickly before they get to the first time out and as I said he's pumping up

the crowd and everything. And like, those are the kind of guys who I talk about all the time. That just has a profound impact. Like, yes, it is eight points in the box score, but it is so much more in raising the collective level of a team. Because when a guy like Terrence man is flying around out there like a bat out of hell and playing with that level of aggression, the rest of the team comes along with that. Next thing you know, Zubots is dunking it with two hands and banging on his chest and Reggie Jackson's going hard to the hole. And it's like those type of things

have a carryover to the... I'll tell you this man. He has been... He's been one of those guys that, of course, got to play a lot for the Clippers down the stretch this year. But I think for a wider basketball audience

getting to see him, some of the things he has done in the Utah series, obviously was this coming out party. But then even tonight, Like there's these three-minute spans where Terrence Mann can just be a guy that is the most impactful player on the floor. And he had another one of those spurts tonight. And it was right there at the beginning of the second half. And I really felt like that set the tone.

And that's when Monty Williams had that, you know, that mic'd up moment where he's like, that team looks desperate. Like you can't be, you can't be the less desperate team. And, of course, you know, you could say whatever you want. Bonnie Williams can't go out there and dive on the floor. But those guys, the clippers, I'll give them credit. They went hard tonight. The sons, on the other hand, on some case, on some level,

I thought it was a young team that, you know, really feeds off people cheering for them. That's not uncommon. Young teams, you know, can get very boosted morale-wise by everybody going, crazy for them and they really play off of a crowd, maybe more so than veteran teams. I'm with you, Chris. I mean, like the Cooper's played with better effort. Terrence Mann and Patrick Beverly kind of the faces of that.

Terrence man, unbelievable, what he can do in the defensive end of the floor. But I think for the Phoenix Suns here, I mean, that's an element of it, the effort, they got outworked and outplayed, out hustled all that. But the big part is the fact that Chris Paul and David Booker, combined to shoot 10 for 40. There is no question about that. That's the biggest factor and why the game went the way it did. I mean, you could say Paul George was only 9 of 26 as well.

But I mean, just those two guys, you can't have both of them being combined 10 for 40. Like that's not going to win games like that. That's the big part for me. There's no question those two going 10 for 40. But, you know, only seven free throws combined for those two as well. Zubots had 10 total. We've talked a lot about reasons. excuses. I think they both have reasons. Chris Paul was 11 days off, you know, and he's getting back

in the mix. Broke nose with a mask on. Well, and let me say this on the Booker thing. Number one, in retrospect, him coming back in that game two is absolutely unbelievable to me. And even playing tonight when they told, when they talked about his nose being broken in three different places and whatever, I don't know. I look at, I look at your nose. And you look at, and you look, look to have a perfect nose. So I'll imagine. I don't know about that. You haven't had something, you haven't had anything happen to it, though, right? I have, I had a deviated septum. Oh, you did. And I don't think the deviated septum surgery worked. I think my nose is still clogged on one side. Oh, goodness gracious. I don't think it worked. I was like, it was like a two month period,

Chris, where I took a deep breath through my nose. And I was like, oh, my God. This is what normal breathing feels like. And then it went back, like a lot of deviated septum. Jeff, maybe this is why we're such good friends. I have this affliction myself. Wow. But it's not. So let me just say, mine was from injury. So I have, I, here's a little personal thing.

I have had all manner of things happen to me in the past. Like I, both my ankles, my shoulder. Wow. I've probably been stitched in my head at least four times. both my eyebrows. I've had stitches underneath them. If you shaved my eyebrows, you'd see where the scar marks were.

I've broken my finger. I've broken, I mean, a lot. But I will tell you this. What do you do? Like fight club or something? I was doing fight club. When I broke my nose and I would do every injury

that I just mentioned, both ankles, shoulder, everything, I would have all of them at the same time happened to me before I would do. before I would let my nose be broken again. It, I can't describe to you the level of pain that getting your nose broke it is. It, I've had, and I say this because I've had a lot, I got injured a lot when I was in my teenage years.

And really up until I was probably like, I don't know, 20. But that, breaking your nose, for anybody out there that's done it, it is the absolute worst pain I have ever. felt him. I wanted to die. I wanted to die because you bleed out like hell too. But it's just, it's a severe. And the fact that when they said he broke it, that he came back and played in that game and he didn't even have anything on it, bro, I'm telling you, that dude is tougher than all hell. They took me straight to the hospital. What kind of headache do you think he had dealing with that? Oh my God. It's probably just splitting his. No. It is the worst.

So mine was I actually, I got hit. I was not wearing a mask playing hockey. And I got hit with a slap shot in the face. Oh, my goodness. The puck. You don't wearing a mask? Yes. Is that a normal thing to people wear masks playing like pickup hockey?

I don't know anything about hockey. No, this is even worse. This is even worse. So you have to back then, you had to until you were 18. and I went back the summer after my freshman year of college and I was like, I'm not 18, I don't have to wear a face mask when we're just playing out here. And it was the first time I didn't wear one.

And I was coming out. You know how, well, you know how you're like, how about this? It was a guy on my team. It was, you know how you like, I don't know how familiar you are with hockey, but if you shoot it in past the blue line and somebody's in the zone. Oh, it's ice. Well, it's not icy, but off sides. Offsides.

Yes, yes. I've got to clear out, right? Yep. So a guy shot it in, so I'm behind the net. I've got to clear back out. He doesn't see me. The puck comes out. He winds up and shoots it and like from 10 feet away.

He shatters my face. Wow. I mean, it was. Wow. And I'm telling you nothing in my life. And even the like, you know, they stick these like, you saw them in Booker's notes. They look like tampons. They stick.

them all the way up your nose. And then they have to like stay there for like a week. It's the, it is the worst. And I'm telling you, if you would have made me go play something two days later, I mean, and I was,

I guess I was 18, 19 when it happened. I mean, I was on my, I was on a couch for a week. I mean, it would, now maybe you're getting hit with a hockey buck's worse than getting hit with Pat Beverly's head.

But it can't be that much. I mean, they said it broke. He said it broke in three spots, and I know he's got a face. I know he's got a face mask on, but, and I know Pat Beverly's defense was great. But I'm saying, just as someone who has broken their nose, that would be very, very hard to play. And we mentioned the breathing aspects for him, his breathing could be different. Of course it is.

It might be harder for him to breathe. Oh, you cannot breathe. No, I mean. He's not breathing out of his nose. Exactly. So if he's normally, you know, breathing through his nose and now he has to be a mouth breather, that might affect his energy levels, right? Everything. Like your breathing, your breathing changes everything in your body.

Kev, the other thing is it hurts all the time. Yeah, constantly. Probably has that headache. No, it just never doesn't hurt because it's on your friggin face. And so every time it just hurts all day. And so, I mean, that's tough, man. That thing ain't going to, that thing ain't going to. You know what I mean?

Like I don't know. So many injuries because I've had like I've had two baseballs hit me in the face when I was playing like Little League years and years ago. When I wasn't looking, it just smacked me in the face. I had a played basketball butted heads and had like a black eye from button heads. But I don't think I've ever had a broken ball. It was all. All. All sports.

Clearly this is why with the mismatch, huh? Yeah, mine was all sports. It was, uh, wow. Hockey was two of them. fight. I got a lot of fights. You can imagine that. All I know about it. I got an idea. If you talk, if you talk crazy when you're a kid, you know what I mean? Like I grew up or around a lot of other kids. So I got a lot, I got a fight. And I got a fight to play hockey. And then, I also, what was the other thing? Chris, that I've never been in a fight. No. Does not

surprise me. You're a diffuser. I have, I have defused a fight. I have defused a fight. I have. I have defused a fight, yes. With me. Someone trying to pick a fight with me and I defused that successfully. Me? Me? Yeah. With me.

You defused it with me. Oh, yeah. With you as well. Every week. Every week. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know.

I just, I mean, I haven't gotten injured at a long time. I got wood. But just that's just from whatever it was when I was playing stuff. From 13 to 20, you know. when I was playing stuff year round, different crap happened. I don't know. I'm fortunate in some ways.

I've seen a friend ruptures, Achilles, just going up for a rebound. I've seen friends of Ski-Ls. I've seen a lot of bad injuries in my life playing pickup basketball. I've seen some brutal ones, but I promise you, as someone who's injured themselves a lot, there ain't nothing like breaking your nose.

It sucks. I mean, it's the worst. I feel for Devin Booker, and I applaud him for even run around out there and play it because that it's it's worse than other stuff. Now, you mentioned the campaign thing. We got to see how bad that ankle injury is. I mean, this is a guy that had 40 points in the first two games. And the other thing is, you know how I was talking about how like sometimes you just need a guy to flip the switch for you?

Like Terrence man felt like, you know, when he's doing great, that it lifts everybody else up. how many times, even in these playoffs, has campaign been that guy? On a night when Booker and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and the, Paul couldn't throw it in the ocean, this is the exact night that you want campaign coming off with that bench unit. Bingo. And bingo. And, bingo. And, bingo. And, it was noticeable.

It's not like they went to Javon Carter or another. They didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't. Sprinkle in a little et one more, but he only played five minutes. wasn't significant. Yeah, right. And so, and that was like at the end of the game, uh, for the most part. But yeah, they, they don't really have anybody to go to. And he is a kind of guy that can change, change the game. And if they're going to be without him, that is a big loss. Big loss. Big time, man. Like he he's those first two games, he was really good. He's been good the whole freaking season for Phoenix. Right. This isn't a new

story for Sons fans who have watched this team all year. And if they're missing him, you know, the clippers have a real opportunity here. They do. We talked about it on the Tuesday night show how with the clippers here, we're not going to discount them. You buried them. Don't know. You don't get to do this now. You buried them. But I mean, not having Kauai Leonard, that hurts. But like you can't totally bury them. And we didn't. Why Leonard was there in a luxury suite. He was. I thought that was so weird. It's so interesting.

I thought Jeff Angetti mentioned it in the fourth quarter. Why is Kauai not on the bench? Isn't it like an injury related? Is that why he's not on the bench? It is very unusual. It's unusual. I wonder why. I'm not looking to this, try to find out if I can dig up.

Because what's he going to do? Talk. You know, typically guys are down there like being coaches on the floor. It's almost like having another assistant. I bet you it is injury. related. No, that's ridiculous. They probably don't, like sometimes those benches.

That's ridiculous. That's ridiculous. That is ridiculous. That is ridiculous. They might watch Sharon Jackson Jr. Jump around the entire season. And he was out the whole year with after knee surgery. Maybe he should have been jumping around the whole season.

Oh, well, come on. He wasn't great when he came back. I'm just saying. How dare you? I'm serious. How dare you? Look, he's been through enough. I don't want to be in a bubble of him.

recovering from all major leg injury. Look, there's all manner of guys that get injured that are still on the bench. That's ridiculous. Well, think about it with Kauai. Kauai's probably very particular with his, I mean, think about the way things transpired for San Antonio when he left there, right? He's probably very particular about the way he recovers from injuries where he sits. And whether he attends a game or not.

Yeah. I mean, look, he could say he wants to sit on Balmer's lap and he'd let him. Which would be great. What if Kauai sat on Bulmer's lap. Can you imagine that site? He should sit in the end zone next to him. I just want to see the juxtaposition between Kauai Leonard getting excited and Steve Balmer getting excited.

Oh my goodness. Yeah, we need a sweet, dude, if ESPN or TNT or listening to this show, we need at some point a split screen. Yes. Like even if it's just a replay, like a split screen of their reaction to a big moment. That's what we need. It has to happen. Please.

ESV&T production crews. Help us out. We got to see that. That's good content, Chris. I know. Or maybe at worst, maybe we could get like a Kauai hologram to put next to Palmer down on the bench if he's unwilling to sit down there.

But no, I guess the one good thing is it does look. This isn't going to be a wipeout series, right? If anybody was out there thinking the sons are just going to run them over because they get Paul back. Kauai's out. like they're not going to run them over. They're not pretty clearly. And this could be a long, good series.

It is a little distressing. Like there has been absolutely no indication that Kauai Letter is coming back at all. Right. So, I mean, we could kind of rule that out. It feels like it would be shocking to anybody if we see it. Maybe that's why it's injury related. Yeah, who knows? I used to not having Kauai.

And also, I want to just want to quickly note, he was sitting with us, family too. Like he might have just want to be with this family during the game. I don't know. I don't know if that's a good reason. I don't have, I don't have kids. I don't know what that's like. I might just want to be with this family, Chris. Bro, you are really reaching. Everybody wants to be with their family. I mean, I know. I know. I want to be my family too. You know what I'm saying? Like, I don't get to sit with them in the state. I'm just, I'm just interested to know why. Well, probably because nobody even brings it up to him. He just sits wherever he wants to.

Nobody even said anything to it'll be ball in our next game. Yeah, it's not like they broached the subject. Hey, Kauai, do you want to sit on the bench? And he probably, no. They're like, okay, yeah, do whatever you want to do, man. It's not like you're going to be talking to anybody down here anyway. It's actually more awkward if you're on the bench because then they'll be like, why isn't he talking to anybody?

Because he never talks to anybody. He never talks to anybody. That would be, that would be the most shocking is if next. Gabe Kauai Leonard was down on the clippers bench. And like when they came to every huddle, he was there barking at him and talking to him. He has the clipboard, right? And he's like, he's like coaching them what to do here, what to do there. He's like, I'll show you Chris Vernon.

Hey, Subbatch did. Yeah, he did. These guys, I'm telling you. One of our 250 listeners. They're all, well, like, I would say 240 of them are guys that I have insulted and it proved me wrong that are within the NBA. But I did get a note that Gobert stopped listening to us. He was scared.

He didn't want to hear what I had to say. If I were Rudy Gover, I wouldn't want to listen to you either. I wouldn't either. No, no. Let's get to what took place last night, which was, I mean, at some point we got to stop being shocked with the Atlanta stuff. Yeah. You know, I tweeted about this last night, Kev, that as this game, game unfolded and then there was the aftermath.

I left it on TNT and I watched a post game show. And it feels like, you know, second verse, same as the first on a lot of this stuff regarding Atlanta and their opponents. That every time Atlanta does something spectacular or Trey Young does something spectacular, the focus becomes on what the other team isn't doing. or does not do in the moment. And it is the failings of the opposing teams personnel. It is the failings of the opposing teams coach.

But it is rarely about what this guy is doing. You know, I harken back to a few weeks ago, you did that video, your breakdown video of Trey Young and kind of what he is doing against defenses. And people can go back and watch that on The Void, The Void with Kevin O'Connor on YouTube.com. And you can go back and watch that video,

but it all rings true. It does. I mean, you could go back and watch that video and the stuff you were talking about in that video is the stuff that has happened along the way. It's just that what point are, is everybody going to stop talking about,

you know, the shameful Knicks and then the shameful 76ers and the shameful bucks and realize this guy, is just lining these teams up and mowing them down and is the best player and dominating these games many nights and even the nights that he's not having good

shooting night, he is controlling the game. You know what I mean? Like you see it and it's like, okay, his shots not going in it. Well, now he's getting to that mid-range and he's throwing up Lobster Capella and Collins. Or he's making a big shot, even though

he's one for 50 or whatever. else. And I just, I don't know, as I'm reading everybody kill the bucks last night, I'm like, man, how many times are we just going to kill, are we going to kill everybody else instead of thinking about what this guy is doing? Because Kev, I'm left thinking, bro, it's Ben Simmons and Matisse Thibel and now it's Drew Holiday. Like, who do you want him to go against? If I was going to, if my life was on the line and I needed a stop,

those are three of the guys I'm choosing from. So like, who do you want him to go up again? That's a great point, Chris. That's a good way to frame it. Yeah. Who do you want him to go up against? That's a great way to put it. And he's answering every single time.

He's always creating a good opportunity for himself or others. And with Trey Young, dude, I mean, it's, first of all, it's fun to watch him. Like, it's just fun to watch Trey. but the way in which he dominates at six feet you know six one under 200 pounds the way in which he uses his body and the intensity he plays with the confidence that he plays with it is so easy to love it is so easy to hate and i'm sure like sixers fans and nicks fans already hate him books fans are learning how to hate him right now like if you're if he's beating you you hate this dude and that's it's good to have players like that in the league and it's not just that though

it's the it's the offense it's the scoring it's the power you're It's even like letting Kevin Heter go off if he's feeling if he has a matchup. It's being differential. The defensive intensity from this little guy in the floor, I tweeted out a clip the other night of him like defending Janus on a one on one around that, you know, the free throw. Yonis backs him down. But Trey like bumps him and like tries hard.

Like he's not, you know, just flailing. He's not trying to flop on the play. He's playing tough, man. And I watch moments like that. And like that's the smallest guy on the floor doing that. That's the team's best player doing that, and he's doing it all night long. And if you're on that team, you're seeing Trey do that, him set that example. That's leadership by example.

And like, I'm just very impressed by him in all regards because he's answering all the questions about him people had out of the draft. How could he adapt playing with others? How can he survive in the defensive end of the floor? How old is team like? What type of leader will he be? All of those intangible qualities, it's becoming check, check, check. And Trey Young, before our eyes is really blind. loss him as a superstar.

Well, and you have 45 plus points at 10 plus assist, and no one has ever done that. No one has ever done that. Not never done that in a debut, not never done that in their first playoffs. They've never done that. And theoretically, all the best players are the ones that are in the conference finals year in, year out. And so in the history of the league, no one has had the game that he just had in his first conference finals game ever. I mean, the crazy thing is, Kevin, this is your first time through.

I always talk about, you know, catching your playoff scars. He's just dishing scars out to people. Like, he's not even getting any. Great way to put it in. He's not even getting any scars. Like this is. And so, again, it's about, you know, how stupid coach Bud is. And they can't, they can't play Lopez.

They need to play Portis. And then they play Portis. And he's shimmy and right in Portis' face. Oh, my goodness. What does it matter? What a moment, dude. Well, like, they spent the entire half time on TNT talking about, you know, having the Brooke Lopez, Bobby Portis argument, maybe move Janus to the five, whatever.

And I thought it, I just thought it was ironic that, yes, obviously he was killing them in that drop coverage. And then he was pulling up from three. And then he would drive. And then they went to Bobby Portis. And then guess what? The shimmy happens on the Bobby Portis. when by and fours, like, that's when I'm watching that. And I'm like, like, all right.

At what point do we start admitting that it's not about everybody else? It's about this dude. Because it doesn't matter who you are playing. It really, I just told you it's frigging. It's frigging Ben Simmons, Matisse Stuyball and Drew Holiday. Like, it doesn't matter. You can talk about they need to do this and they need to do that and they need to do I mean, we're just going to, I guess we're just going to keep saying that until the end.

And then it was like, and look, the bucks may come back and the bucks may even win four straight. Nothing is out of the realm of possibility. They're a prohibited favorite to win. And maybe it is the Atlanta needed trade to go to 48 for 48 to win that game. But like, we've seen them when he's been bad win games against good teams. So I don't know, man. Like, to me, I was just left after that game thinking about,

like, I'm not making any more predictions about this dude because that was freaky, freaky. It really was. I mean, everybody told me, wait till Drew Holiday gets his ass. And maybe he will tomorrow night. Maybe they'll defend him totally different. Maybe he'll shut him down. But people are waiting for everybody else to shut him down all along this way.

I look forward to seeing how the Bucks do adjust though, because like naturally you're going to make some type of adjustment. You mentioned it hasn't mattered what teams do. And 100% like you're right. I think in the second half when they did go with Yannis at the five, they did make more of an impact with more switching, a little bit more pressure. It seemed to work better. Will they lean into that lineup? Yep, that's, you know, the first thing you think about, will they lean into Yonith at the five more often? But then the second part is, though, are they going to continue doing drop coverage?

Are they going to go with a lot of switching? In game one, he scored 1.3 points per chance against drop coverage. That's what the Hawks scored when he ran a pick and roll. When he, Trey Young, ran a pick and roll, and the buck switched, they scored 0.8 points per chance. So they're much better against the drop coverage. That's just a one game sample. but it's consistent with what the entire playoffs are versus the Knicks and the Sixers.

The Hawks were worse when the opponent switched, way better when they played drop coverage. So will the Bucks, a team that on paper has done it more and more and more all season long that trained for this, that got ready for this moment? Are they going to go with like a heavy switching defense with more small ball lineups in game two

or at some point during the series? That's the main thing I'm watching for. It's simple, but that's what the Hawks, what's why they built for this? They were built for this moment. Well, and do you have, When that game goes out of the end, if you're the bucks, well, there's a couple things that concern me.

Obviously, the bood and holes are factor is concerning. And what adjustments will be made, right? There's not a tremendous level of trust amongst that fan base for their coach doing the right thing, right? Hawks fans are used to it too. They've seen it. Correct. You have, I mean, Janus was fantastic. Drew Holiday was fantastic.

Middleton is like sometimes you get him, sometimes you don't. Like we've talked about this, right? 6 for 23. Yeah. I mean, sometimes he's as good a player as there is

on the floor and then other nights you're going to catch those nights and you just, you don't know which, but they got a good Drew Holiday won. And the truth is, game is on the line. They got a wide open three. and Pat Conantin missed it by 60 feet.

I mean, you can tell right away too. I mean, look. It's one of those misses. Just a, it's disgraceful. Pat, I mean, look, I don't want to be too hard on him. But we've had a rough go here as the white guy basketball player. The Wagner kid in the NCAA tournament, Juan Howard calls it for him. Wagner.

Wagner. He throws the. ball into the stands on a three. Joe Harris. Katie is having the game of his life, kicks it over to Joe Harris. Joe Harris, who could probably hit 100 out of 100 when he wants to, Brick City. And then Pat Connettin all the low. Like, this is your John Paxson moment, bro. This is your Steve Kerr finals moment. I mean, since the beginning of time, don't leave the white guy. And when you got one job. Pat, you got one job.

That's all anybody wants you to do. Just shoot the ball. But Chris, stop trying to do too much. Chris, there's a guy by the name of Kevin Herder. He's all we've got. He's all we've got left. He's all we've got left. That's it.

We got freaking Kevin Herder. These other guys, it's the only thing I've been able to count on these guys for. Like, come on. You got, what are you doing? Pat? I mean, airball, a freaking air ball? What is that?

I mean, that didn't happen when I was a kid. It was like, they threw that thing over to John Paxson. That was cash. They threw that over to Steve Kurt. Cash. That's money. Cash. He's guys.

What was the guy's name that won it for Indiana? I'm dating myself. Steve Alford became a coach. Steve Alford. Cash. I mean, there's a long lineage of this. That's the good, look, we're getting... This generation, Chris.

Hey, not the same. I know it's not. These new fangled white guys, they can't, they can't do nothing. We only got to get Kevin harder. And not to turn up the Mr. Serious basketball analyst, but Pat Connethon is only a career, 35% from three. Shouldn't be airballing in that moment. Bro, we're wide open.

But this does speak to like the same. thing you're talking about with Chris Middleton, though. This is an on and off offense sometimes. Like, they have the nights where they look horrible because a lot of their guys just hit those extremes at the worst possible moment. And Drew Holiday is one of those guys too. And they had him on a great night, like you said, Chris, 33 points, 14 to 25, 10 assists. He was really great, really great.

And if you get a great Drew Holiday night and a great Yonatan de Kupo night, you should probably win the game, right? Like, that's really, that game felt like it slipped a lot. away from the bucks. Losing that home game is really tough because like Atlanta could steal another one. Like we could really get a deep series here. This is what happened.

They, I thought they, I thought they screwed around in the first half of that game. And this is where I thought Charles Parkley gave very, very good analysis at halftime. He said, you got to worry about the bucks here in the sense that, because I felt this as I was watching it.

I thought that was a team that just, you know, they had to play a grinded out in the mud type of game against Brooklyn. They couldn't do the fly up and down the court, you know, play some free basketball, you know, pace and space, all this kind of stuff. And their mode of operation to win that series was going to be to play those low-scoring games and play a bunch of half-court basketball, right? That was how they were going to be best served, especially defensively, not let those guys fly out to the wings and try to play like that. And so I thought that's not how they typically operate.

And I thought it was like, well, this is going to be a lot more fun, right? Now we can go up and down the court and we can just play free basketball. But what Charles was saying was they're playing it like it's a, it's a game in like mid-January. Like there's not like you're at home It's the conference finals This team just got done You know Playing and you got to

You got to bury them You got to bury this team You got to put the screws to them Right off the bat And I thought that they were comfortable Just kind of playing it like a regular season game There wasn't that level of intensity It was just kind of like

Everybody's going up and down the court And that gives some team like the Hawks so much confidence and so much mojo that they can like they can play in this game and then by the time it comes where you're like all right now now we're going to put them away because that's how a lot of teams have a lot of experience play and it's like all right now it's time we're going to get every stop down the show it's too late because this guy's caught a heater he's got 40 something points he's not you're not now you don't have the chance to just put the screws to them and get a stop every time down the court and so I did think that that they were, they didn't play with the level of intensity that is required in order to win that game. And if they're going to let, if they're going to let Atlanta play free and get up and down the court and get their dunks off and Trey get in space, I mean, look, look no further than the shimmy play. That is disgraceful. I mean, he had 20 minutes. He could have done anything he wanted to. He's just standing there. That play is indicative of how ridiculous the level of intensity is.

That can't be. This is the conference finals for God's sakes. This guy is shimmying. He's just making a mockery of your defense. I couldn't believe it. Oh my God. I really couldn't believe he actually did it during the play. I rewinded it live. Unbelievable. I'm like, did he just. I told you. Remember when I brought up a bad guy wrestler about a month ago against the Knicks? And I'm like, I always kind of like those guys. The guys kind of winning me over. I really had to view him through the prism of that so that all the irritating things then become funny. Yeah, they're so great. And it really is funny now. You know what I mean? It's amazing. It really feels like he is the guy that like, you know, like he would like be hiding under the ring and then he'd run up in the ring and then punch somebody in the nuts and pin him. And everybody like, boo, F you. You know what I'm. He's done it again. Oh, and then he scurries off. Oh, he's done it again. You know, except he kind of like, he kind of acts like, I don't know, like he's got all the swag in the world. Yeah, he does. He's like point. He like was like, he like he like looked for being. He like, he's like, he like looked for being. He's like, he like, he like, he like, he like looked for. people to stare down.

I guess there's no celebrities there, right? Yeah, I saw somebody tweet that. No celebrities in the crowd. He just kept looking for one. Packers' offensive linemen. It's a pretty good tweet. I'm sorry. I'll try to remember who tweeted that.

At J. Cool on Twitter. tweeted that. It's very funny. Yeah, right. Aaron Rogers ain't hanging around those parts anymore, is he? I'm sorry Milwaukee fans. Sorry. but he's not.

He's wherever and Bora Bora singing karaoke with hot chicks. He ain't at your game. Trying to get traded somewhere. Maybe he can get Jordan Love to the game. Problem is nobody would know who Jordan Love is. Trey Young would be like, who?

Like, oh, that's a guy's going to play quarterback, Aaron Rogers, at least. He's like, that's Jordan Love. He starts staring down Jordan Love. All right. A couple of news and notes. I think, look, I do not think, I do not think this is going to be a wipeout from here on out

that that was just a one-off. Yeah. I really don't. I don't. I don't think that was a one-off. You know, I know there's a lot of people out there like, from Trey, you mean? No, yeah, that it was one game and he had 48 and Milwaukee's still the infinitely

better team. Like, I don't trust them. I don't trust them. Yeah. And Atlanta, like we've said, Atlanta is not just some hot playoff team. been hot for months now going back to middle of the regular season. Like, they've been a really good team for a really

long time now. And we've got to remember. They caught Brooklyn. They caught Brooklyn, like, hobbled. Yeah. And it took to the last shot, literally. Exactly. Or really, whatever, three to five inches of Kevin Durant's foot, you know, to be in this spot. But no lot. Like, I like that Bucks team. I love Yonis. But damn, man, when is the last time you were like,

mega impressed with them? Miami, right? Like, even after all those Brooklyn games, I was never like, damn, the bucks. You're right. When is the last time they looked awesome? Miami, right? Yeah, Miami, yeah.

They never looked awesome against Brooklyn. Series. It was always like, eh, I don't know. They got by. Yeah, they did, of course. And I think just to talk about Brooklyn for a second here, Chris, the flip side of it. Brooklyn was just getting healthy. Yeah.

They were just getting healthy. And on paper, like, they should beat, like, Brooklyn could have beat this Atlanta Hawk squad and gone to the NBA finals against us, like the Clippers without Kauai or the sons with Devin Booker with a broken nose. And for the Brooklyn Nets, it feels like such a missed opportunity with those injuries coming at that time, right? And for Brooklyn, we've talked about Chris how, like, how great it was in many ways to see a small market team defeat like this super team that came together.

I think for Brooklyn, after losing, this isn't just year one of this. This is really year two because Katie and Carrier were the team last year. It's hard to join them this year. This is year two of this project. For this team, it's now been two years not winning. I'm curious if you think of them having now to battle back retool and then have to go through it again and maintain health again to really get through a gauntlet in the playoffs. does that change what the nets can be

with how you view them? Because like they've now not lost. Does that make it more of a challenge instead of like just year one doing it? Or is it still? This is a super team. I hope they continue to lose. Yeah, it's super team.

I hope they continue to lose. I feel terrible that they lost for their one fan that's been with them. Oh, God. Been with them through thick and thin. Oh, come on. You know, the guy out there in the Caris-Liver jersey. But other than that, like, come on.

If those three guys are healthy, it is what it is. They proved that. It makes it a better story, though, because there are some challenges for them. They really are. Oh, God, that great underdog story of them, three of the 10 best players in the world, fighting all the way back. Shut up. I couldn't get it.

That's ridiculous. One thing I'll say, Chris, just one thing, though, like the injury things, that might not go away from. them. It's still scary. This might be a annual thing. Let me say that is possible. I also, in this sense, I do think this is good. And I'm being serious about this. Brooklyn losing,

when you look at the four teams here, right, and Kauai's sitting up in the stands, he's not, he's not part of that team right now. That I know that players around the league are major NBA fans and they are

watching. this intently and they watch getting to this moment. And you can say and fans and media can say, yeah, well, if Adie and LeBron weren't hurt, and yeah, if Brooklyn wasn't hurt and whatever else. But they were. And so they're not there, right? And so what they're all seeing right now, to me, the reason I think that this is good for the sport is because I think you have a lot of guys that are watching.

it that many times when it gets to this level, they say, I can't do it unless I team up. And they're right. They're right. They look and they say, this isn't good enough. Like, I'm not on a team that can beat LeBron and AD. Like, I can want to win a championship, but I'm not on a team that can compete with Kevin Durant and James Hardin and Kyrie Irving. But they look and they see Trey Young getting to be there.

And they see Janus getting to be there. and they see Devin Booker and DeAndre Aiton getting to be there, right? And it's, that's impactful. It just is. When the teams that are there at the end, where it doesn't make you feel like I have to do this in order to achieve what I want to achieve, because that was and has been true. You did. If you were, the truth was, if you, if you were going to be.

those warriors and you were going to beat those Lakers. And that's been the two teams, you know, really since, that you were going to be pretty damn formidable. And you look around to your team and you go, I don't know if I'm ever going to have enough here to do that. And so I like seeing those guys in all those different places, being able to be where they are right now. Because I'd hate for so many guys throughout the league

to feel like their goal is unattainable unless they go and team up with one or two other guys. And that's the only way you're going to be able to win what you want to win. Because somebody's going to do that without it this year. And it's going to be the first time in a while, right? Yeah. I mean, I guess, well, I guess Toronto. I don't want to forget about Toronto. Toronto did it.

Right. but most of these titles have been Golden State and then the Lakers. For sure. Chris, I'm totally with you. No doubt. Every word you said, I think that's all true.

And, you know, ultimately for all of these teams, you know, injuries happen. They're part of the game. They're part of every team's story, some major,

some minor. But ultimately, these teams are here for a good reason. You know, Atlanta, like, it's not just because of injuries. This team has been rock solid,

like really, really good for months now. This is, Bucks team is built over the years, and we're seeing them maybe build now during this series. And out West, I mean, the Clippers are really the only team that can qualify as a super team, right? The Sun's built organically, then made a trade for Chris Paul. Different way of building.

But, I mean, even that Clippers team, what got him to that point was building young. Like, having guys like Shigiel de Salis. That's what set them up for it. And that's the thing. Like, people, when I said something about the homegrown bucks, people were like, yeah, well, look at their starting lineup. They didn't draft those guys. Look, if you build your team through draft and trade rather than free agency, that's what I'm talking about.

Yeah, of course. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. And they would have DeVincenzo in the lineup. And it's all context, you know, it's like two stars do it at the same time. You know, it's a big difference. For sure. All right.

Let's get to some of this coaching news real quick before we get out of here. Celtics made a hire. E. Mae Odoca. When I saw this, I thought, wow, that's an interesting. tweet by Jay Williams. I'm just kidding. I thought, come on, it's jokes. I thought, I thought, wait till Jay Williams sees the Dodgers. He's going to congratulate Muskie bets on being the first Black Dodger ever. I mean, of all the things in the world, I think Jay Williams said that his Twitter got hacked, right? Yeah, he did. Oh, that's,

that's, man, that is, that is one wild hack. He's out there tweeting some weird stuff. Anyway, I'ma Udoca. I got to get these jokes off. Come on. Emeu doca. It's been a name that's been in the, well regarded in the coaching circuit.

I will tell you for a long, long time. I believe when Dave Yeager left and there was an opening, the year that the Grizzlies hired Fisdale, they interviewed Emeo Doca. and I believe also he was in the mix, well, this last time around before Taylor Jenkins got the job. So I've been hearing his name for at least like four or five years, you know, as a guy that was very, very highly regarded by a lot of people around the league

and was always in that, you know, in that mix of guys of the up-and-coming or guys that will eventually be head coaches in the NBA. And so I'll tell you that from, and that goes back like whatever five years, like everybody that I ever talked to about Eme Adoka came away like mega impressed with the guy and thinks that that guy's got the goods. You never know, as we've said it a hundred times. You know, it's just like the military in some ways. Some guys just aren't cut out to be generals. And you don't know until you make them a general. right? Some guys are just cut out to be assistance.

But there's a lot of people with a lot of high praise for this guy. And so an interesting hire to say the least in Boston because that's big, big shoes to replace because Brad Stevens has been a fantastic head coach, in my opinion. Absolutely. He's been great for many years. And before that, Celtics had Doc Rivers who had many good years of the Celtics. So it's definitely big. choose to fill. But as you said, Chris, everybody you talked to about him, people say, like, he's the guy, most people are surprised,

isn't a head coach yet, and now he is. Yep. Yeah. Him and Darwin, Darvin, Darvin, Ham, who's there in Milwaukee. Exactly. Those two, those are the two names all the time. All the time. That have come up. The Indiana Pacers,

look, uh, they need some good PR with Nate McMillan. killing it like he is. And so they'll just try to... They're just going to try to erase the Borkrid era. They're going to see if they can expunge it from the media guide and they can just act like it never happened.

And they went straight from Nate McNeillan to Rick Carlisle. It's just to act like that season never happened. Yeah. Cross it out. Yeah. No lie. Like, it was about as bad as it could turn out when you have to be. have a guy for one year, right? And it wasn't even like, it wasn't like they, it was the worst

of it because it was one year. Your players didn't like him. You weren't bad enough to get a lottery pick. Like you were in that mix, right? So it's really, and you have to fire the guy. So like, nothing good comes out of it, except you are in a spot to be able to hire Rick Carlisle, which is good. Great timing, huh? And also, I mean, you're really lucky to be able to get Rick Carlisle to be there because that's not the most desirable of all situations right now. There's probably jobs out there that are better than yours. There are. There certainly were until today.

There still is today, right? Like, I mean, you'd rather have the Mavs job than that job just on paper. but being able to get Rick Carlisle, who's an old buddy of Kevin Pritchard, I do think that Rick Carlisle, like, they hire him and I'm sure they'll make some personnel moves, but I would assume that they will be right back in the playoff mix as they were for a long time prior to, you know?

And this Pacer's team could come back better, you know, having guys out that were out in and out, season long. And I look forward to seeing what Rick Carlisle does here with DeMontos Sabonis. How does he change his role or enhance his role? Can he get more out of him than the Pacers already have been? What he's got out of himself? Sabonis has turned himself into such a great player. What can he do for Miles Turner as well? Is there more to get out of him if they keep both of those bigs? I'm just excited to see the way the Pacers rebuild here. Yeah, Lavert too, of course. Yeah. You know? Because I mean, Lavert's got promise. He does.

This guy, I don't think you've seen the best of him. I agree. There's still more to his game. Yeah, yeah. Now, the job he left, Dallas. Jason Kidd, I mean, he's a point guard for the title team there, right? So there's a real connection. There's obviously a relationship, a prior relationship between that organization and Jason,

between Mark Cuban and Jason. And as of time we're recording, you know, all signs pointed towards what, As of right now, Woj is saying that they're working out contract details. So if you're to the point where you're working out the contract details, and they've never been one to, you know, walk away from the table and say, oh, no, no, no, no, that's too much money, right? Like, I mean, I imagine Jason will be very thrilled with the contract he gets with Dallas, and they will get their guy.

He did have a young star before, which we could say whatever. want about Jason Kidd, you listen to the Milwaukee kids that were there, the Brogdens and the Yannas and those. And they swear by him. They do. Like, he was good for them. And it only matters if he's good for Luca. That's it.

That's it, Kiff. Right? If Jason Kidd is a good coach for Luca Donchage, that they can be on the same page, that Luca can be an extension of. coach and that they can get along, you know. The coach and the best player on the team being in lockstep with each other. And that's that job to me right now, right? Because Luke is about to sign a long extension there.

And I mean, he's been like a, what, like a little below 500, I think in his time with Brooklyn and then in Milwaukee. So, I mean, there's nothing to be crazy impressed about that he has done, but he's very highly regarded as a player. He's had off-court problems, which have been well documented. And it's a little surprising that a team that has been in the news for off-court problems would even bring that upon themselves, right? You know what I'm saying?

Would even bring that upon themselves PR-wise, but I guess Mark Cuban's never been much for caring about, you know, PR. I don't know. I mean, to me, I would say jury's out. I follow some Mavs fans on Twitter. They didn't seem excited at all. No, not at all. They did. Wasn't it interesting how Rick Carlisle threw his full support behind Jason Kidd as he was under the case as he was under his face. Is he a whole or do we think that that's being him like being sincere? I don't know. I really don't know, Chris. It's just very unusual. I feel like coaches stick together and do that. I'm not sure if there's anything reasoning behind doing it, though. That's unusual. Like usually you'd hear somebody say, well, I've been there for many years. I'm sure Mark Cuban and their staff are going to do a great job finding the replacement. You wouldn't hear a name. Like it's just you'd hear very PR friendly thing to say. You know, it's you don't hear that. You don't hear that. often, do you? Like, has that ever happened?

Where a coach left and said, I hope this this former player of mine gets the job there. So that that I can remember. Usually it would be somebody on the staff, you might say that. I'm sure that's been said, but I'm not sure

about like a coach from somebody not on your staff. Well, I think that if we read all those stories correctly, it seemed like they had a pretty good level of dysfunction, you know, that was going on there because like there was the one story where I just thought it was odd that one story had a quote from Luca talking about what a good head coach Jamal Mosley would be.

That quote was from the game he did coach during the season. I think it was after that game. He said that. No, I think it was recently they got a quote from him about it. I just thought it was strange. So it was, it was from them. I looked it up after the show we did a couple of weeks ago. But they put the quote in the recent story as to make it sound like Luca would support this.

It's strange. I could be wrong. We brought about it on the show. And it was odd. Yeah. It was odd to read a story about Rick Carlisle leaving and then have a quote of Luca Donchitz saying, I think people say that Jamal Mosley is the frontrunner.

So maybe Rick. Carlisle was like, if that, you don't get this job. You don't get this job. I'll be out there telling everybody that Jason Kidd should have the job. You know what I mean? Because that was, you know, obviously the assistant coach that had a very good relationship with Luca, but I thought that was, I don't know, when I read that first article, I was like, oh, okay, Rick Carlisleau is going to leave and this guy that's already been there that's got

a relationship with Luca's going to get the job. But so maybe Rick was like, yeah, that ain't happening. I'm walking away. But they should hire Jason kid. I mean, I don't think they're hired Jason kid because Rick Carlisle said. Yeah. You might have known it was happening or something. Yeah, right.

Who knows? Who knows? Maybe he was just being nice. Yeah, for sure. He said nice things in his iPhone note statement to Woj. What he left. What a weird year for Dallas, man. What a weird year.

So much change. change. After all, I see it, all these guys being there for so many years, just strange. Like, this is a pivotal year in every choice they make. It's all going to determine if in a couple years we're talking about Luca, like, competing for championships. Yeah. Or Luca looking for a way to get to the Knicks. It's like one of those things, like depending on what happens now. So we still got, the Pacers got filled, the Celtics got filled, Dallas got filled. Portland's still out there Orlando still out there

New Orleans still out there right? Am I missing any? Portland, New Orleans, Orlando that's just off the top of my head. Yeah, you got a... Is there a couple other jobs that are open? We had at least six openings, right?

After the news of... Yeah, just six. Wizards Magic. A wizard. You said that right? No, I didn't say wizard. The Pacers got higher. So now it's down to five.

Blazers, Pelicans, Mavericks, but Mavericks could be filled now. And it's not official yet. Hmm. All right. Well, and yeah, it looks like. Pelicans gig will be interesting to see. What happens there? That is a huge one.

Yeah. I would like to put my support out for Master P. Who went on TMZ and said he wanted the job. You haven't met him. twice. He's the nicest guy in the world. Yeah. Nicest guy in the world, really, truly. We actually have, I know some guys that grew up with him. And so he was always cool to be like every, and he came in and did a, maybe like an hour, hour and a half with me years ago. And I remember being so, were you, were you a kid when Cribs was on? Was Cribs still on?

Yeah. Yeah. You know that. Cribs was on. Yep. Okay, so when I was a kid, Cribs was on MTV and I used to watch it all the time. And so when I got the interview Master P, this is one of the first things I wanted to talk to about. I was like, look, I watched that Cribs so many times because the Cribs with Master P when you walked into his house in New Orleans, he had Kevin, he had like a 24-carat gold ceiling. The whole ceiling was gold. And I was like, I remember on the episode of Cribs, I was like that gold. I was like that gold ceiling. I was like, you know, being a kid, I was like, I thought that was

unbelievable thing I had ever seen. And you know what he said? He goes, yeah, that was stupid. And I was like, what? And he's like, here's the thing. You know, you get all this money. And at the time, yes, it is cool. And it's cool on cribs.

And he's like, but then when it came time to sell the house, what you realize is there ain't nobody that wants to pay for a 24-kary gold ceiling. You're the only person that wants that. Yeah. He said he could, he could, he's like, that was a huge loss because I was never going to get the money back for that ceiling. But yeah, that was, it's one of the most famous cribs because it had a gold ceiling in there. So, uh, I love the guy. Do you have clips of that anywhere? I'd love to watch that here. I, I need to find it so many years ago. It was an old radio interview. He actually, when that was going on, he, and this is the type of thing that people would never know because it wasn't even publicized, really.

He was doing charity stuff for trying to, and he was not only giving money, but also giving his time to the inner city in Memphis. He really was. And schools there. And he was, and this is, you know, post him being an insanely famous rapper, right? Like he was a little bit older at the time. But yeah, he would come into town and just be doing stuff within the inner city, trying to help.

And that's how, that's how met him that first time. And so, look, he did play basketball, so why not? The no limit soldiers, I'm with it. It would be great for me to say. I know the Pelicans coach. Chris, you've convinced me. I'm all in. I'm all in.

Master P. You know what he said? He said Zion would be happy. That's what he said. That's all it matters, Chris. That's all it matters. Hey, he might be the guy that could keep him. Keep him there, right?

Make it happen. I mean, what does it matter? You think that you think they won't play for, I mean, look, they'll play harder for him than they did stand ban. What does it matter? Let's make it happen. Huh? Let's make it happen. Yeah.

Master P. That's who I want to get the New Orleans job. I am fully behind his candidacy. Can you imagine that? That woge bomb? Oh, my God. People are going to think he got hacked. Oh, my goodness.

He, they would. Same guy that got Jay Williams. This guy's a regular Julius, Julian Assange or whatever they call. All right. It's going to do it for tonight's show. It's been enough goofiness. We're now in the witching hour,

so we've got to go to bed. Thanks to Carlos for Philly and his producer once again. And Kevin, I will talk to you on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to it, Chris. This is a fun one. Have a fun weekend, everybody.