The Mismatch - Do the Lakers and Warriors Deserve All Those National TV Games?

Episode Date: August 16, 2024

Verno and KOC react to the NBA schedule release and discuss the glaring lack of excitement around the release as well as the need for more rivalries in the NBA (01:19). Also, they debate whether the NBA is making the right call by positioning the Lakers and Warriors as the two teams on national TV the most this season despite not being true Finals contenders (12:38). Is it time for the NBA to move on from LeBron James and Steph Curry and feature the next generation of NBA stars? The guys open up the summer mailbag and answer some listener questions (27:41)! They discuss the Spurs' future with Wemby, which fan base should be the most excited after the Olympics, and the biggest question of all: Does bigfoot really exist? Got a question for Verno and KOC? Send them an email at [e-mail]! Or you can send the guys a tweet @ChrisVernonShow and @KevinOConnorNBA! The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Producer: Jessie Lopez Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the fall of 2014, a group of hackers pulled off the biggest Hollywood heist of all time. They broke into computer servers belonging to Sony Pictures and released hundreds of thousands of top secret documents. The attack would cause an international incident, upbent thousands of lives, and changed the movie industry forever. From Spotify and the Ringer Podcast Network, I'm Brian Raftering, and this is the Hollywood Hack. Listen on the big picture feed, starting August 19th. Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon and join me as he does every Thursday night from the ringer.com. It's Kevin O'Connor, A.K.A. Kevin O'Bomber, Kevin O'Bomberr, Kevin O'Connor, Kevin O'Connor, Kevin O'Connor. How are you doing today, Burna? What's going on? We had the schedule released in the NBA. Of course, all of these teams are going to play 82 games.

We are just figuring out when they are going to play the 82 games and against whom. The first thing that stood out to me because they're, you know, anytime the schedule is released and they're starting to hype it up, like, you know, here's what's happening on opening night. And here's when there's going to be these returning players going back to the teams that they left. And so it was like, here's when Clay Thompson is going to be playing against. the Golden State Warriors. And here's when Paul George is going to play against the Clippers. And here's when McKell Bridges

is going to play against the net. And here's when DeMar de Rose is going to play against the Bulls. And I was like, the Clay Thompson one's cool. Like, and. Yeah, this isn't Katie facing the thunder for the first time.

I'm just left with, we need juice. We need rivalries. We need hatred. We need some of that, like where I'm looking at the schedule. And what I was left with when this was announced was just a blah. Well, I mean, one good one, one really good one, just to throw a good one up there. Friday night, opening week of the season, Pacers at Knicks. That's a really good one. Nix hosting the team they lost against in the postseason, the crowd is going to be crazy there at MSG.

That's a really good one. Like that could be, you know, Pacers, Knicks, you know, rivalry part two decades later. That's a good one. Because maybe, I mean, it appears as if the Pacers have taken the place of Trey Young. They still hate Trey Young and Trey Young such us, and he eggs it on. But look, I'm not saying there's not, there's tons of games that I'm going to really look forward to. But in terms of. Rivalries.

Yeah, like mark him down. Like, I was glad, honestly, today when the schedule dropped and some of these teams were taking like little digs at the other, I was like anything that can help. Like, I don't know if you saw the sons. The sons put up their bit about the Golden State Warriors being bandwagon fans. I mean, that's nothing, though, for the players. For the fans it is. No, no, no. But there's already, the reason they did that is because there is a little juice there because of the Draymond Nurkich thing.

last year already. So that kind of started anything that can make these teams feel animosity towards each other. And I think one of it, you brought up the Pacers and the Knicks as one that could have some. It was the non-competitive playoffs that led to this, truly. Like there weren't those moments where it's like this guy's up in this guy's face or this guy says something. crazy in the post game or like that's the kind of stuff that needs to happen at the highest level of competition there needs to be these things that take place and then you also get like repeat performances against teams and even the times that we've gotten repeat performances it's like yeah

okay we've gotten to see the lakers and the nuggets play the last two years but the nuggets of won 12 of 13. That's not. There's no rivalry. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, so we've gotten the same opponent, but typically, years back, it would always be the teams that you would regularly see.

But it's crazy. As I was looking down, I'm like, well, Chet Wemby's cool because they like obviously want to go at each other's necks and they were peers. But OKC's far ahead of the spurs right now. And they also just got in the league. You know, like where are these longstanding, like, this guy versus this guy? And I don't know.

I hope this is it. I hope this is the beginning of some of those rivalries. You know, I hope, you know, the Knicks, you know, Brunson and Halliburton, two great point guards going at each other and two great fan bases. I hope that's the start of something. I hope the Spurs can get good soon. And that Christmas Day game they have against the Knicks, the Spurs are. you know, hovering around 500 or above 500 and that's a good matchup and I hope they're able to have competitive games against the Thunder. So I hope that we're seeing the beginning of those

rivalries brewing because I do agree with you. Like you're right. Like a lot of these teams right now, even Nuggets Wolves, it was just one series. They need to have many more great battles for it to really become a rivalry. So I think we're not quite there yet where the schedule release doesn't feel like it's going to be that. But I do think that there are games on the schedule where it's like, okay, this could be the start of something. Oh, no. If you have the Knicks and the Celtics getting a wrestling match on opening night, all

of a sudden, everybody's excited about the next three Knicks. I mean, we weren't expecting to care about the bucks and the Pacers last year. But by virtue of the in-season tournament, we did care. Yeah. Right? Yeah. That was fun. Well, I mean, that's what I hope for.

I mean, I hope in the East, you know, I mean, Celtics won 64 games last year. They roll through the decimated Eastern Conference and they just plow through the Mavs and the finals as well. You'd hope the East offers even better competition this year, not just in the playoffs, looking way ahead to April, but the regular season as well. You'd hope that that can happen in that there's some fierce battles throughout the year,

that there's another team or two or three that you look at and say, okay, they're dominant too. They have a real chance at the finals. And then Celtics great fan base, great home crowd, one of the best in the league. And you hope that could be the Knicks. And they have another Boston, New York rivalry. As the Red Sox Yankees rivalry has kind of declined, you hope maybe that Boston, New York thing can spark back up with the Knicks being a really good team. You hope that can happen.

But we'll see how those teams actually end up looking. Same with the remade Sixers. How are they heat going to look with some of the tweaks that they made? They got Kalele Ware in the draft, second year guys, Hamehakis. I think the heat are one of those teams as well. Celtics Heat have had a bit of a rivalry. But it's a lot of boring.

It's a lot of boring. Like we need the Anthony Edwards and the John Morant. Like the guys that like really have the it factor and the charisma. Of course. We need them talking crazy. We need them, you know, I mean, it was obviously on their way. I was covering that Memphis team and everybody started to hate them. Right?

because they felt like they were getting ahead of themselves. They weren't scared anybody. Well, they were. No, and they had gotten into it with the Warriors. They'd gotten into it with the Lakers. They'd gotten it. And then like, I guess like Oklahoma City will be the one that they go after this year because they feel like Oklahoma City literally just stole their whole flow,

like doing the whole team interviews after the games and like all that stuff. So like I could see. But again, there's no, chat's kind of brash. Chet could pop off and say some stuff, right? Could it be very interesting. No, but I'm saying he could, you know, he certainly got an edge to him. But we need some more of these guys coming into the league that have got an edge that are, I mean, you need that kind of stuff. Booker was kind of like that.

And he got his comeuppance last year. The same way that they used the Morant were fine in the West. Booker had his, I don't know how you're going to stop us last year. And so it's not necessarily an age thing because Booker's been around long. longer than Morant, but you could still, like, you do need this kind of stuff in order to make people amped up for these matchups and whatever. I hope Zion can play a full season and Zion could start dominating and doing stuff, but like, we need, we need some of these to start creating, like, real animus and some real rivalries because I look at this schedule and I'm like, golly,

I mean, like, there's just not that much juice between a lot of these teams. And maybe it Well, maybe you're right. Maybe it will be the beginning. Like there was nobody that like last year, you just had that whole Celtics run. And what playoff series do you remember? None of them. Yeah, I mean, because every series,

a star was hurt. Yeah, I mean, they don't remember any of it. It's kind of strange. Yeah. It was a weird run for Boston. And that's why for the Celtics, like I'm looking at at their season.

ahead. And I forget if we touched on this on a prior episode, but this is going to be a proven year for them still, even though they're the defending champions, to me, if I'm a player on that roster, if I'm a coach, I'm like, yeah, people said all postseason, we beat all these injured teams. They're still doubting us even after winning the finals. And so this regular season, I would look at that, especially after Tatum, not playing at all in the Olympics, Jalen Brown not getting selected for the team. Those guys, especially, They must feel like they have something to prove as the Boston Celtics, despite just winning the championship.

So I'm really eager to see what type of energy they come out with. Are they in that prove-it mode? Or with Tatum, is there actually something wrong with his jumper? Is there an issue here where it's been months now with the shot not falling? So I think there's a lot of questions with Boston. And poor Zingas could miss the start of the season as well until, you know, who knows when late 2024, early 2025. So there's questions for Boston that I'm very eager to see how they come out of the gates.

But 60 plus wins, that be pretty telling about who they really are if they managed to pull that off again. Well, the East is way stronger. It's so much stronger. It's crazy strong. Oh my God, it's so good. Much, much stronger. I mean, you get even down, like, there's no, you're getting down to like Orlando getting better, Cleveland getting better. And then obviously you've got the better teams like the Knicks and the Pacers and some of those Milwaukee.

Philly should be way better than they were. Bucks should be better as long as Bucks same thing with health. Like Chris Middleton was never 100% last year. Right. Right. So there should be a lot of people that are good. But at the same time, Chris Middleton is going to be 34 years old next year or 33 years old. I'm sorry.

33 years old. He is older. he does have an injury history. So the Bucks, they're the type of team. I look at them and it's like, well, we're going to find out, is this team just old? Are they past their prime? Or is there another gear with them? And they have the Sixers on opening night, the new look Sixers.

That'll be very interesting. And early in the year, they have Boston and Memphis, a Monday and Thursday night. So that's an interesting little stretch there early season, and Cleveland, where I think all of those matchups going against different types of opponents is going to be a pretty good barometer for where the bucks are entering this stage of their kind of trying to get back to the finals. Either way gives us an amazing opportunity to overreact. Yes, of course. To their early season, whichever way it goes. One of the things that stood out to me from when the schedule comes out is the national television games. And I want to get your opinion on this. Do you think it is good

that the NBA is featuring LeBron James and Steph Curry despite their teams not being elite level teams, that they are the two teams that are featured the most on national television. Do you just milk this? You know this is where your bread is butter. You know this is who people want to watch. And so as long as those guys are around,

keep putting them on TV because that's going to draw the viewers and that's what people want to see. Or do you think that there is that at some point the NBA's got to start to pivot to promoting a younger generation of stars so that when these guys walk away, it's not like, well, you haven't told us to care about these other guys forever.

Yeah, I mean, I do think that maybe it should be bumped down. They're two of the four teams with over 30 national TV games. And if they were in like the 23 to 30, range instead of 31 plus that would make more sense to me. But at the same time, I still think those teams belong on national TV a lot because not only do they have LeBron James and Stefan Curry and those are still two extraordinary players coming off an amazing gold medal run,

those teams could be competitive. It's not like they're necessarily going to suck. It's not like we're projecting them to be 30-win teams. They're still going to be competing for the playoffs and teams that are actually going for it and maybe have a chance to win 48, 49, 50 games. Who really knows? I think for the Lakers, what if JJ Redick is really good right away as a head coach? What if he gets more out of that team than Darwin Ham ever did? What if LeBron and AD continue playing at the same level that they did last season? What if on the warrior side of things, Pods takes a leap? What if he gets better? What if Cominga carries what he did midway through last year? What if the Warriors are really, really good. So I think it makes sense for those two franchises to have a lot of games,

but maybe bump it down by five or so for each of them, with the uncertainty with them not being favorites, and within the fact that you could still feature some of the younger guys that deserve to have a platform to be featured on national TV. Yeah, just, I don't, I don't know if it's a chicken or the egg thing, right? Like these guys, do these guys need to become stars and then the NBA will really jump behind it, you know, after they kind of do it organically? Like, they're not pushing it on to people. And I think it's pretty relevant that now, even at this advanced age, now obviously we just got to watch these guys play throughout the summer, but that didn't dictate this. What it tells us is there's Curry, there's LeBron, and there's everybody else,

truly, in the league. And then Celtics and Nix have a ton of national TV games as well. They are the other two of four teams with over 30. And one of them won the title and one of them's in the number one media market in the country. And it's a great thing. Right. And it's a great thing. Right. Exactly. It made improvements this offseason too. So I mean, I think if you're looking at the teams that have over 20, the Spurs, they're the team that they're really forcing early. This team might not be great early, but they have Victor Wenyama who could be better even better in a second year and should be way better in a second year. And they added veterans to support the team where you're not, you're hoping that it's not blowouts with them. And I don't think it will be because with Victor Wenamama, after he was moved. to center last year, they played pretty close to even when he was on the floor. So they should be better this year. They should be competitive on a night and night out basis. And I think the NBA made the right bet with them.

And I'm happy with- I know. He's amazing. He's incredible. You shouldn't have to have league pass to see Wemby. I agree. I mean, I think the NBA made the right move there.

They put the thunder on a bunch too, the Tim Wolves on a bunch. I'm almost a little surprised they put the clippers on as much as they did after losing Paul George. that is insane who gives a crap about the clippers i'm sorry that's the one that surprised me most honestly the clippers is it just because of their new arena i don't know seriously who cares i know is anybody excited that their game is on have i ever seeked out a clipper game like oh i mean it's not like they shouldn't i think they should have over more than half that like like I think they should be in the top half of the league in national TV games,

but I think it should be, again, subtracted by five. And then you sprinkle some more towards the magic and the Pacers and the Kings and the Pelicans and some of these teams. The Rockets, the Rockets have a young, fun roster, a fun style of play. To me, that's the type of team that if they're on national TV more often than they are, that they could be, you know, one of those fan favorites when they tune in. really weird because you mentioned the Rockets. The Rockets, Orlando, SAC, some of these teams that you mentioned,

they got almost double the national TV games as those teams. And they have fun, those are fun teams too. Like they play a fun brand of basketball. Yes, the Kings play fast and fun and exciting. They have like a player in Sabonis, the son of an NBA legend, a basketball legend where the national TV story,

for nostalgic fans is there, easy. Fox is great. Exactly. Fox is awesome to watch. The Rosen's been like one of the best scorers in the NBA for 15 years. And he's a throwback style player with his mid-range. I just think like the Kings should have more, the Rocket should have more. Orlando was like a top five scene.

They should be putting Bancaro out there, Franz Wagner out there as these like too attractive, six foot nine, you know, fun, fun to watch players. the forward position skill would size. I wish those teams got more. But other than that, I mean, I don't really have too much of an issue with any of their choices aside from those aforementioned teams.

Like, I think the Grizzlies have the right amount. Maybe you should have a couple more with job back with how good they could be. You know, the numbers gone precipitously down in the last four years is New Orleans. Because they were at the beginning, they were into the Zion show. And I guess it's just burned way too many times.

There's only so many times they could put them on national TV and then it not pan out where they didn't get. Because Zion's a draw. People tune in and they're like, okay, I don't really care about watching Brandon and Ingram, Ingram, Jonas, Valenthunus, and Trey Murphy. Like people do. You don't, you don't tune in for Trey Murphy? I do. I love one.

Look, Zion's the guy. I know he is. And I hope he can regain it because he is. is, you know, I was talking to one of my buddies in terms of, we were discussing, like, when the schedule comes out, like a ticket draft that he does. And I was like, man, I still, like, of the guys to see in person, like, that I marvel at, Zion's still one of those guys. Like, if he plays in the game, Wembe's for sure on that list. And I'm talking about beyond the, the legends, like the Curdies and the LeBrons. But of the young guys in the league, seeing Zion in person,

seeing Winbenyama in person. Like I still put those guys, I put those guys way up the list in terms of if I were trying to go see a game and see a player in person, those would be certainly on my list still. Yeah, for sure. I hope he can get it back.

I hope one of these times he can just become the all NBA player he should be. Mm-hmm. You know, I think it would be easier for him. If he could stay healthy and they got Ingram out of the way, Katie bar the door. I mean, I do think he could have a big, big, big season.

with the ball in his hands a lot more. You know, the teams that got basically the lowest were Detroit, Portland, Toronto. No surprise. But I don't view Detroit like I do Portland and Toronto. Yeah, but they don't belong in the higher tier. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. But I'm saying I, you know, I mean, geez, Brooklyn, I don't know how they got on TV five times. That's crazy.

That's crazy. That's crazy. Well, how many of those are NBA TV national TV games, though? I don't know. I mean, those count, but they don't really count the same way. But, I mean, national TV is certainly the way to get yourself in front of the biggest audience and make a name for yourself. They got four NBA TV games and one TNT against the Knicks. Okay.

Oh, the McHale Bridges return. I know everybody's just going crazy for that one. Oh, yeah, that is the return, actually. That is the return, yeah. It'll be a crowd. Bridges returns to Brooklyn like, who cares? It'll be a crowd full of mixed fans. I know.

Oh, can you imagine how much animosity he's going to face? But that's a good game to put on national TV, though. If you're looking for a Tuesday, that's a Tuesday night, 430, Pacific 730 Eastern game. Yeah. The Knicks smashing the tanking nets. That'll be fun. I guess so. What do you make of Atlanta who's,

been, you know, like, it feels like the Trey Young buzz has gone down significantly over the last couple years as well. Well, I mean, I feel bad for Trey Young. I feel bad for Trey. Not only on national TV eight times. Yeah, I feel bad for Trey. He's improved on some of his flaws that I've

long criticized him for for years. He played better defense last year than he ever has in his entire career, better effort. He's willing to embrace Quinn Snyder's offense. He's still not moving at the level off ball that I believe he can. But he does more than he did in the past. And Trey's improved as a player as he's entered his prime here.

He's 25 years old right now. He'll be 26 next season. And yet the team has just fallen apart around him. It is degraded. And you just hope that the silver linings with them, Jalen Johnson, who has made tremendous progress. You hope he's able to continue ascending. You hope Zachary Riesuchet. is able to be good right away.

You hope, you know, Clint Capella can, you know, tap into what he's been in the past. You hope O'Kongwu can continue getting better, who, by the way, started shooting more jumpers last season. And you hope that the Hawks are a team that midway through, you look at him and you're like, yeah, we should have had more national TV games.

I just think they should because he's, he, there are very few players that evoke emotion like him. Like, people truly hate him. Well, let me, let me, let me finish my point. I think they should have more for the reasons you're stated, but I think the NBA is just thinking this team, even if all those things work out, there's still nowhere close to some of the other top teams in the Eastern Conference. Their stealing is like seven seed.

That's their ceiling. I got it. But I'm looking at an entertainment product. And I agree. The good teams. I agree with you. I agree with you. They should have a tick more.

They should. And that's why I think like that's where it all comes. That's where it all comes from. The Lakers and Warriors, if they had three or four or five less, if the clippers had six or seven less, and then you sprinkle those to Memphis a little bit, kings a little bit, you get the hawks a little bit, magic a little bit.

To me, that would make a lot more sense rather than having it so top-heavy. Yeah. And get rid of all the clippers. Dispers their 21 to other teams. Let them be on TV. like six times. I'd rather watch the Hornets. I would. Come on. Would you really?

For sure with their announcer. So I guess it's better than that national TV. Yeah. Yeah, I know. Hornets are fun. Lamello is way more fun to watch than anybody on the Clippers. And I love me. And I'm not trying to turn this into a bag fest on the Clippers, but honestly, who cares about them? Who? You're not, you're not excited about. about them signing. Kawai plays like 50 games.

No, no, no, no. No, no. Moamba. Oh, my God. You know, I hear his name all the time because they, they license the song in that college football PlayStation game. I've been playing.

Oh, I turn, I turn the music. The first thing I do when I started the game is I turn off the menu music. It's the first thing that I do. Oh, number one thing as I adjust the audio levels. because it's like

I don't like I want to hear my own music or my own podcast or whatever well you don't play sports games I like the announcers on it too I'm playing Madden I'm playing Madden this week oh you are madden

did you get madden yet are we gonna play a game we can stream it on Twitch Cowboys versus Patriots I haven't I haven't checked it but I bought the it's probably downloaded now that you say that

or maybe I need to start the download I bought the two pack. So it was like, I don't know, I'm not sure. I got whatever one came on Monday night. It offered me, you could buy college football for this price, or you could buy this in Madden for 150 bucks.

Okay. So I did that. We'll stream it on Twitch. Oh, smoke you. Patriots versus Cowboys. You know, give me a bro. Drake May got his first touchdown tonight. Do you see it?

Yeah, I know he did. He ran it in. Yep, yep. Maybe they'll get off his ass a little bit. I mean, look, I don't know how good you are at the game. I'm not correct. either. I'm still getting back in the flow. But if I beat

your Cowboys with the Patriots, that's embarrassing. I don't care how old you are in your 60s right now. Are you, is Judon already off your team? Well, the roster update will come soon. Okay, good. No, no pass rush. No offensive line. Trust me, I've done a few practice games of the Patriots. Horrendous?

Preparation for, oh my God, that's terrible. It's horrible. Like, Drake May has no time. You don't even know the people. You just hand it off Remandre Stevenson for three-yard losses. Exactly. There's nothing I can do. I've done games as the Patriots and Games as the Chiefs, the Texans, a bunch of teams. The Patriots have been the worst team that I have used in Madden.

The offensive line is so disgusting. I saw the PFF scores the other day, and they were like between 25 and 30 and like a bunch of units. I was like, boy, Belichick left them with nothing. It's kind of wild. All right. Well, good luck Gerard Mayo. We have been telling people to send in mailbag questions over the course of the past

couple of weeks, and we have gotten, I am told, a lot of good ones. So hit it up, Kev. Let's hear what we got. All right. Let's start out with a Spurs-related one from Stephen or Stephan. It's spelled like Stefan, but might be Stephen. Stephen or Stefan. He said, been lessening since day one, Spurs fan.

my question is, do you think if a player is as incredible as Victor Wenbenyama appears to be, that there's a need to go all in because you can't predict the future, they're good now, you should take advantage of it, or should you slow play and try to time it from when he's in his prime? And he goes on to say, if you have any other thoughts about the bright future spurs, let me know, love what you guys do, and we'll continue to be an avid listener. You're a day one homie. Thanks, Stephen. Okay, I think you owe it to the player to build out a competitive team around them.

I have thought about this a lot because I have wondered if you do, I think he is so transcendent that you've got to view it like, man, you might have could have done even better on the young LeBron teams instead of having them around Boobie Gibson and Larry Hughes and that whole crew, right? And so I do think that every year that you have with them, you need to build out a competitive team around them to give him a chance. And I've wondered if that if you get somebody that great that early, if it's kind of like having, you know, these teams always have a massive advantage when they've got the quarterback on the cheap contract. That's spot on. That's the way I think about it.

Try to take advantage now. But on the other hand. sense. But on the other hand, so I could kind of tie my head and knots on this. On the other hand, I view Wemby and like the LeBron type where it's like, those guys are the Mahomes. Right. So it ain't going to matter when you're paying them a fortune because they're so great. You're going to be able to put them with stuff and they're going to be able to win. But I do think, so I think you do build out for a few years down the road. I think one of the big mistakes. is you want to try to match his timeline. And so get him a couple running mates. Hopefully castles that running mate. Hopefully you've added another one.

And you get him two or three guys you can grow with. And then you parse in some veterans, which is kind of what they're doing now. But I do think you keep his timeline in mind because it can be a mistake to build out around them to win right now and then have it collapse like afterwards. Like this is the, this is what Minnesota is going through, right? I thought they, you know, if you want to say them getting to the West finals,

mission accomplished on the Gobert thing, but you remember my problem was, and this was even my problem with what they did in New Orleans. It's like, once you rush the timeline, you can F things up. Right? Because those guys aren't ready to be the ones that are holding up that trophy. And we just saw it took even Tatum and Brown until they were 26, 27 years old to pull it off. And there's a reason that takes place like that. And so I do think you have to be, I think you owe it to them to be competitive early. You need to be competitive early.

But in terms of like your ultimate goal, I think it's totally reasonable to build. build out around them with other young players, and you do everything with that timeline in mind. Everything you do is based on Wembenyama. That's where I said with the team. Anthony Edwards. Yeah. Yeah. And ultimately, though, they put the to Wolves in a position to contend for finals.

They were right there on the doorstep in the West finals. And he had to be the guy. And he's not ready to be that guy. And well, he was for spurts. But he wasn't ready when it mattered most. People were comparing him to Michael Jordan. And then what happened, though? Well, then he had a hard fall.

And did that affect him? It probably did. And we don't know all the details, but I'm sure that did affect him considering his decline. He was not ready to deliver versus the MADS. Exactly. He was not. And he still needs to improve as a playmaker, but he learned a lot. It's like you always say you're getting your scars.

And I think for the Spurs, what they've done is build a roster that feels more competent around Victor Webbenyama. To me, if I'm the Spurs front office, I'm looking at the team this year, and I'm thinking to myself, exactly like you said, our intentions are to contend for championships when Victor is in his prime, 25, 26, 27 years old, or even 24 years old, right? Just at the start of his second contract. But what if they're on pace for like 47 wins? What if they overachieve? What if Victor is looking like a first or second team all-N-B-A guy? And what if the right guy becomes available for a trade? Then maybe you pounce early.

And then maybe you say, you know what, screw it. Let's go for it. Let's improve our odds right now and still maintain long-term flexibility. We just dig into that a little bit now in order to maximize these early years. So I think playing that middle ground for a team like San Antonio, when you have, as you said, a Mahomes, a LeBron, that's the right of I think it's a lot more difficult of a question for a lot of other teams, but the Spurs, I'm happy with the way in which they're playing this. And you know what?

Maybe they end up going the other way and they trade a Chris Paul at the deadline because Stefan Castle looks so good. And they're like, we're going all young. Let's get more value for the future and trade the veterans even more. They can go any path with the way they built this team. To me, you've obviously dedicated to Castle. So you got Castle, you want what other young guy that you can dedicate yourself to and now you've got your core that you want to be able to grow with Wemby and you try to get

them in the playoff sooner and later and start taking their lumps, right? Because the sooner he starts taking some playoff lumps, the better. Absolutely. Yeah. Question from Ethan. Ethan asks, wondering your thoughts on the Nuggets right now, should they be trying to add a player like Brandon Ingram, who's still available from the Pelicans? He proposes an idea of a trade centered around Michael Porter, Jr.,

for Ingram. He thinks Ingram would be similar to the Aaron Gordon acquisition, and he thinks that the two-way value that Ingram could provide with Yokic could exceed what MPJ provides without MPG having MPJ having playmaking ability.

He said the Nuggets feel kind of stale, and this might be the chance for them to shake things up for another title run. Not a good enough three-point shooter to be a great fit with Yokic. They do need more shooting. They are near the bottom of the league. Porter's the best shooter.

I know he shot like shit when it matter. But, I mean, like, Ingram's not a three point shooter. I want the maximum amount of space when I've got Yokic. I want him being able to kick out to guys that they can knock down threes. And you just added Russell Westbrook. I mean, but the thing is, like, your last some three point attempts when you have MPJ. Right. You're last.

Right. I mean, you could argue that MPJ should be shooting way more threes than he does. Like, is MPJ's value optimized? in the way that it could be or should be in different offenses, like 6.8, 3 point attempts per game in the playoffs for MPJ during the regular season, also 6.8 3 point attempts. Is that enough for a guy with his shooting prowess? To me, it should be closer to 10, like near the top of the league.

I agree. I agree with you. And I think Trey Murphy is a better Porter Jr., possibly. I think he is. I mean, that guy, I don't think 10. He doesn't care. Well, and it took a while for the Pelicans to get him to 10. Yeah. I mean, I think they're the same kind of player, though.

I'm saying that that duplicates to me. Yeah. And so I don't know. That's not the kind of, that's just not the kind of guy I would want for the nuggets. I think that's, I think Brandon Ingram's a guy that's cool to trade for on 2K, but in reality not. That might be true. I don't think he makes everybody better. I think he's a brilliant individual score.

I think he's in the same line of the Carmelo, Anthony, Rudy Gett. you know, all these kind of type players that are very good individually, amazing if you get them in an open gym. Players all respect their ability to score the basketball, but how do they fit within a team concept in order to raise the collective level of play? I've never been convinced that it's there. I just wish he defended at the level he did his last two years with the Lakers. I wish he could get back to that. He was a way better defender with the Lakers than he was at even at his peak with the Pelicans. So that's what the biggest bummer is to me, because I think he can pass the ball.

He can obviously score the ball, but the defense has declined in ways that are very disappointing. Question from Zach. If you could go back in time and watch any basketball game live in person, what basketball game would you watch? I mean, I guess the last shot, is it game? Jordan. Is that six? That's game six in Utah.

That's a good one. I mean, it's just so iconic. I try to think of this through the prism of if I, you know, like one of those things where like it always, something that always comes up and you could say I was there. I mean, obviously any of the old stuff, like I would love to have the perspective of,

yeah, or like see some. I'd want to see. Wilt scoring 100 points. How did it happen? Yeah. The old Bill Russell, like,

you know, like, if I could, if I could go back at time and I could go to any game, you know, to give you the perspective on seeing some of these things

that have taken place. Yeah. I think that, I think probably that last, that Jordan, Utah, holding, you know, the.

It's a good one. Byron Russell play, Brian Russell. That's a good one. so iconic. I can't think of anything more iconic than that in my lifetime. And he was the guy when I was growing up. So I guess, I mean, I know that's on the road in Utah, but hell, that would have been fun too. Because I, I like every other little kid couldn't stay in the jazz, you know, I didn't like Carl Malone. I didn't like that he always dunked with one hand. I thought Stockton and Malone were annoying, you know, I like Jordan.

Jordan was the cool thing. And so I guess, I like it. I guess, I guess, probably. Probably that one. It's a good one. Yeah. Question from Al. What NBA fan base should be most excited after watching the Olympics? And he mentions, I have to imagine the bulls are toward the top, considering how Josh Giddy played for Australia, which I would agree with.

Giddy was great for Australia. Okay. So anybody else come to mind? How about the Sons with Booker? But Sons fans already knew Booker can do all that stuff. It was the national audience finding out. So you had sent me this question last week. And I'll tell you, I stole it and used it when I had Tony Allen in studio on Tuesday.

And I asked him. It's a really good question, isn't it? Yeah. Thanks, Al. Really good question. He and Devin Walker, who's also on my local show, both had the same answer and got mad at each other for saying it. They both said the answer is the Celtics. And it's for what you brought up earlier.

Hmm. that now it's going to be a revenge tour. He's like, I promise you Jason Tatum will try to drop 50 on Steve Kerr of the Warriors. I promise he will try to drop 50 on Ty Lou and the Clippers. And the disrespect that Jalen Brown felt, then the benching, the DMPs that Tatum took. And so it's like, if there was ever going to be a title hangover, they think those guys are going to be loaded up for this year where they have oddly had this post-championship where people have degraded the championship, have taken away from the championship,

have said what they've had to say about the championship, and then not had Jaylen Brown make the Olympics, not have Jason Tatum play in the Olympics, and that they're actually going to be furious about the way that's played out and so it gives them a chip on their shoulder instead of what would typically be a title hangover they will come back ready to prove no no no you got this effed up and I don't know if that's true or not

but I find it interesting that was from a player's perspective I think I like it that's a good one that's a great answer and I mean we're an agreement there yeah on the Olympic thing you know it's weird because the stars, I think you're a little depressed if you're, right? You're like, I got LeBron and AD and they're obviously still, you know, can be at peak of powers, but we don't have enough around them.

And we got Curry, but kind of what's the deal there? Do we, I mean, do those, those teams think they're winning titles? Probably not, but they think they're probably mad at their franchise for not having teams that could best augment these still amazing plays. players. Who else was like a big standout in the Olympics that you would be excited about? I mean, I think Giddy, as Al originally mentioned, is a good answer. Because he was traded. Bulls fans are, you know, looking for something to feel good about. I think Giddy's the answer. Next question.

Okay. From Thomas. This is a fun one. Sixers. That Embed thing in the Serbia game was, that was. Yeah. That would get me thrilled. That was the most high pressure, big moment. I'm a superstar.

And he was going up against the other best guy in the world. He delivered in a big moment for Team USA. And that would get me super excited. So we got to throw him in there. I do think I would be excited if I was a Sixers fan, just see what MB did when it mattered most. Question from Thomas. This is a quick fun one.

Easy answer. a game of two on two until 21. Chris Vernon and Russell Westbrook versus Kevin O'Connor and James Hardin. But both of us have to make at least 10 points in the game to win. Who is winning? Blastewish to you. I totally agree because Russell Westbrook would want to destroy me. James Harden would have no heart, desire, or care about the game.

But Westbrook would want to kill me. You would want to kill me. And only I would want to kill you guys. So I'd be picking you guys He'd be up against two Rottweilers Me and Russ are cut from the same claw I know I would not win

If we did lose y'all would be bloody James Hardo would be like Why am I here? Why am I here? He for sure would be why am I here Yes and he wouldn't put in any effort So Russell Westbrook would Yeah I agree

That's an easy one Easy. A question from a different Thomas Do you believe in Bigfoot? What's the best way? I mean, I don't not believe in it. So, I guess. I think it was a man in a suit.

I mean, if there was a big foot, if there was like a huge creature that lived in the woods, I guess it wouldn't be that shocking to be. They said there's aliens. Yeah, there's gigantic creatures in the ocean, too. Conceivably, there could be a gigantic creature somewhere in the woods. Yeah. So it's not that I don't believe, but I do think that hazy footage was probably a guy in a suit.

Yeah. I mean, I don't think, yeah, I don't think, like if there was a big foot, it would not be the craziest thing to me. No, not at all. They've said there's aliens, bro. So if there was like a big foot, I don't know if it's like the, you know, just like the alien thing. I don't know if it's like what we dream up, you know. Yeah. Like we think of it like there's like, you know, like, you know, the, the fictitional depictions of Bigfoot.

I don't know if it's necessarily like that. Sure. But. Yeah. Well, do you believe in aliens? Sure. Yeah, me too, without a doubt. Yeah.

Well, they've already said that. Like, that's what I knew this country was so screwed up when they announced that they're like, like the government said there's aliens. Well, they didn't say there's aliens. Nobody even cares. Well, they said, they didn't say aliens. They said the unidentified objects. Yeah.

What is that? Probably. For sure, aliens. It could also be like some, you know, a foreign government has some type of futuristic devices. I think it's aliens. I absolutely believe that there are aliens. I'd be shocked if there's no aliens,

Especially if there's not aliens that are around Earth or on Earth or monitoring Earth, there's definitely aliens somewhere out there in this vast universe without a doubt. For sure. Someone as intelligent or more intelligent than us. Us silly little humans on this little rock floating through space. Back to basketball. From Brenton, if you could be on an international flight in business class, seated next to any living basketball person,

who would you want that to be? And this assumes this person would be in the mood to chat and be friendly with you and have a good conversation. Who would that person be? Somebody like Jordan notoriously does not want to talk to you. But if you did want to chat.

But if he did want to, oh, yeah. I mean, come on, that's not even close. Jordan. If I was wanting to laugh the whole time, I've actually gotten to hang out with Barclay before and he is the best. The best.

But you hear a Barclay on a podcast. That's your thought, right? He's exactly what you think he is, though. No, I wasn't on a podcast. I was at a party. I'm saying, but you could. Like, Barclay does pods. He does media.

You might run into him at a game, but on a plane. Yeah, I think Jordan's a good answer. I was thinking about Kevin Garnett because he's like, I loved him since he was in Minnesota. Garnett would be a great one just to get unfiltered off mic time with KG. I think would be even better than on Mike KG. I did it about two years ago. Buddy, we have never had to edit out more F words and N words in life.

It's just his vocabulary, but I loved him. Loved him. That's a picture that's hanging behind me. That's him. Yep. He's the best. He is amazing. I love him so much.

No, and he's hilarious, too. Yeah. Like, and he's just, he's got that, like, intensity all the time. All the time.

Um, yeah, it's a shame. Bill Walton just passed, but Bill Walton would certainly be up there too. Like, for sure. Like,

if we're just sitting around talking. Yeah. But I mean, in terms of, yeah, Jordan, God, if you would be willing to talk.

about stuff. That would be the greatest moment ever. I've never met him. I've only been, I've seen him play in person, and then I've seen it, I even saw him play with the wizard. So I guess I've been in a press conference

where he was at, but I've never, I've never been around him. That would be cool. That'd be a good one. He's the, he's the most larger than life. Athlete we have.

That's a really good one. Yeah. If you want to hit us up, email us at NBA mailbag at gmail.com. We'll be doing double mailbags next week. But let's do a couple last questions here for this week's pod. Brett, Brett sends us an email saying, with neither of you having gone overseas, why don't you plan a trip to Australia and do a live show?

And we got another message from Eric encouraging us to travel, a very nice message talking about how much you'd enjoy it with your kids and how much I'd enjoy it. Very nice message from him. But Brett asked, why not go to Australia? I'd love to go to Australia. Scared of the big spiders there and kangaroos knocking me out. So if I went to Australia, I'd go down there to see my buddy.

Chris Pongrass, who is the president now of the Sydney Kings. Oh, yeah. One of the Australian basketball teams. and so I actually do know a guy that lives in Australia that I could go down there and see and Sydney's right like that would be a spot to go to

so I would love that I would love to go to Australia at some point yeah me too that'd be an awesome awesome trip to make out of them they say people are great down there and I love pine grass I loved him I love being friends with him

just so I could listen to him talk all the time I actually told a story to one of my buddies yesterday about him. He's the one that introduced me to this slot machine called All Aboard when we were out at Summer League. And he was like, I was like, Pygrass, what slot machine we play in? And he's like, oh, we've got to go play the choo-chews. And I was like, the what? He called the slot machine the choo-choo's. And he taught me how to, like, he was like, look, what you're trying to do is get this bonus where all these trains pop up, whatever.

No lie. Took me over to the machine. My third spin, I won $600. The choo-choo's. The choo-chews. So every time I see it, oh, I did not see Pongrass this year at Summer League, and I went and played the choo-choo's,

and I got my ass kick. So it was just his, it was just his aura that got me the money. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Shout out. That's my favorite team, the Sydney Kings, by the way.

Hit us up at NBA mailbag at gmail.com. Last question for this week. And if you have, sent a question that has not been answered. Some of these questions were sent in 10 days ago, two weeks ago. So we gave a backlog of some really good ones. So continue to listen. This final question today is from Sean Day.

They ask, do you have any songs that you have always wanted to learn to play on guitar but haven't learned yet? What are they? Oh. I got a, I know how to play it. That's better for you. I mean, I'm not good. I can play like seven chords. Yeah, but seven chords you can play hundreds and thousands of songs.

Oh, I know. Hundreds and thousands, millions even, Chris. But I could never like. You could write and then listen to on the songs. I could never do like a guitar solo or something. Why not? You know what I'm saying? Like, I'd say, you could learn.

Maybe, uh, like, if I could play like those unbelievable guys, like, you know, like the Stevie Ray Vaughn stuff, like Pride and Joy or something or like. Yeah, that's a fun. Irruption, you know, play like anything. any of those guitar classics those would be amazing to be able to play

well the guitar classic for me I know how to play it I can improvise it I know all the chords for the chorus sections I know how to play the solo but there's this one section of comfortably numb

it's the final descending lick this epic descending lick during the solo that like I want to master it I want to be able to play it note for note with the record and just it feels right where i don't feel like i'm rushing where i don't feel like my one of my hands is lagging behind the other where it just sounds crisp and clean and perfect it's this descending lick um towards like the middle of the solo the final descending

lick for people who really know pink floyd's comfortably numb and may play guitar it's that lick that i i want to master that lick and i will someday i'm getting i just got some new cables for my guitar there you go. Getting back into things. Yeah, I would just like to be able to play the awesome stuff, like the most famous awesome stuff. And then honestly, I would much rather be able to play piano.

I could never do it. Could never do it. Really? No, I just can't do the two hands doing something different. It takes time. No, I know. I got it. Oh, trust me.

My mom put me in piano lessons when I was a little kid. I just, yeah, I never really took to it. And then obviously I wish I had done it. and I like the piano songs. I've always liked the piano songs. Well, it's a good thing you have a great voice and a beautiful brand.

Stop, give me a break. I would, yeah, if I could play piano, I would, because I, I mean,

and that's why I'm not that good at guitar either. I can't do the two different things at once very well. You know, this, the, the, strumming at a different pace, then my fingers are moving on the other side.

With Kevin O. Pelican, you did great on stage. It's fantastic. I gave me a brain. It's like, look, I learned, I learned, at the very beginning, I learned GCD A minor, E minor, A and F. That's all you need. That's it.

It's all you need. People think you got to be some crazy, talented person to play guitar. But you can play thousands of songs just with those chords and a capo. Slaping capo on the neck and you know the shapes. You can play so many different songs and play them in a way that you can do around a campfire or in front of your family at the holidays. You don't need much. For sure. All right.

Send us in those questions as the summer goes on. NBA mailbag at gmail.com. NBA mailbag at gmail.com. Thank you to our executive producer, Jesse Lopez. As always, and Kevin, I'll talk to you next week. Can't wait. Have a good weekend.