The Mismatch - Knicks Annihilate Grizzlies, Rockets' Playoff Formula, and When Will the Jimmy Saga End?

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

Verno and Jacoby are together in New York to recap their experience going to Madison Square Garden to watch the Knicks-Grizzlies game, and Verno talks through the disappointment of having to watch his team get blown out by over 40 points (01:01). They also discuss Amen Thompson’s game-winner in the Rockets' thrilling victory over the Celtics (13:39). After the Heat indefinitely suspended Jimmy Butler, the guys discuss how this whole situation reflects on "Heat Culture" as well as the consequences of trading for Jimmy (32:10). Next, Jacoby introduces a new segment called "Tiny Trend or New Normal" (52:52). 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 David Jacoby Producer: Jessie Lopez Social: Keith Fujimoto Additional Production Support: Ben Cruz and Isabella Roman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's popping, everybody? Logan Murdoch here from Real On the Ringer NBA show. And I wanted to invite you to pull up and kick it with Roger Bell, Howard Beck, and myself during All-Star weekend for our live podcast. We're going to be at the Stork Punkline Comedy Club in San Francisco on Saturday, February 15th at 2 p.m. pre-gaming all the all-star festivities. And you never know who might stop by. Get your tickets now by heading over to ringer.com backslash events. That's ringer.com backslash events. to see you there. Welcome to The Mismatch.

I'm Chris Vernon. And joining me in person in New York City from the Spotify Studios is Dave Jacobi. What a special episode. The two of us in person, you made the trip from Memphis to New York City. You wanted to see a Broadway show, you saw it. But the main reason for the visit

was to go to Madison Square Garden, the world's most famous arena, and see the number three in the Western Conference, Chris Grizzlies with a six-game win streak. Hottest team in the NBA headed right into the hottest city in the world to face the number one team in the Eastern Conference, the New York Knickerbockers.

They weren't the hottest team in the Eastern Conference, but I'll allow it. So, the Broadway show was great. Great, yep, yeah, Sunset Boulevard, Shoutson, Nicole, the restaurant we went to was great. Catch you a Pepe, always wins. get to Madison Square Garden and I can't get into the game.

No, no, we're walking up there because I go to games. You have to have the Knicks app. Why? To go to it. I don't know. It's a new thing. It's a new thing a couple years ago. Let me just explain to everybody out there.

All right. I'm an out of towner. Fish out of water. My tickets are through Ticketmaster. And then I transferred them to my wallet. like I have for every game. Add to wallet. Yeah.

Any like that's where when I fly that. Everything adds stuff to wallet all the time. Everything's add to wallet. Go on Disney World. Add to wallet. Get to the next game. Madison Square Garden,

my first time the world's most famous arena. Walk up. Pull out my wallet. Pull up the tickets. They said no. They said no. You don't have the little thing. And I was like, what little thing?

And they're like, there has to be. And they show this other guys. thing. They show this other guys like phone. They're like, it has to have this thing on there, like a little scan thing. And I was like, these are my tickets. I transferred them to my wallet. Like these are my, and they're like,

no, they're like, you need to go back through Ticketmaster. So I pull up my ticket master. So I'm already in because I have the Nix app. So me and my wife are in. Yes. The barrier. Verno and his wife, not only are they like stopped at the border, there's a mass

of human beings. A mass. I'm I'm holding it up. It's a small hallway. Anyone's been to Madison Square Garden. It's very poorly designed as far as logistics of getting humans in and out. They have these small hallways that lead to basically staircases. It's chaos. It's just a massive.

It's right around tip off. So everyone's trying to get in as soon as possible. And Verno and his wife are holding the whole thing up. Holding the whole thing up. And Verno is not taking it well. No. Because now he says, go to your ticket master thing. So I go to my ticket master thing.

I pull up my tickets through Tiggermaster. I walk back up. He's like, dude, you have to have the little dingy. I said this, you told me to go to Tiggermaster. Now you are calling me. You're like, download the Nix app. There's a guy working security who's like, first of all, I always appreciate when people recognize me.

I love the show, whatever, ESPN or Fox Sports or mismatch. I always appreciate that. I'll always appreciate that. day and say what's up. Always with the love, back to the love. But this guy, one of those guys is like, I know you from somewhere. How do I know you? And I'm like, maybe I can use this guy to help get Bruno in.

So I'm like, oh, ESPN, whatever. He's like, oh, that's right. So it's right. He's like, what's wrong with your friend? I was like, he doesn't have the Nix app. He's like, well, tell him to download the Nix app. I was like, I did. And then I was like, and he's like, so I think he's like, bring him over here.

So I'm like, all right, come over here. And I bring him over here. And then he's like, the guy I'm talking to is like, this guy will help you out. And then Berno sees that. And he's like, oh, no. He's like, I've been to this guy like three times. I've been to this guy hates me. All right.

All right. So, long story short, I download the Nix app. My tickets directly go into it. Basically, it's the Ticket Masters connected to the Nix app. So it's just like, if you buy it on Ticketmaster, it goes right to the Nix app. And so now it goes to the Nix app. It says, oh, here are your tickets. Like, it would not show me my tickets or allow me to.

to get in until I download this app. Allow me to tell you that the game was at 7.30, so I'm probably in at like 735, 740, something like that, right? By the time I get in. 736, that thing is off of my phone. They know. It doesn't matter. They're still tracking you. They know what you had for breakfast.

They know they're here right now. And allow me to say, it will never be on my phone again because I'm never going back to that Godforsaken place. I had a great time. It was a disaster. I came all the way from Memphis, Tennessee, proud of my team. Six straight wins. You said it's going to be a lazy Monday night. Oh, not a lazy Monday night. The world came out. You would have thought that Denzel Washington, who's about to be on Othello on Broadway, you would have thought it was him when John Morant walked in that place. because it's Michael J. Fox. It's Dustin Hoffman.

It's Adam Sandler, Judd Appetal, Chris Rock. Timothy Shalameh, Kira Sedgwick. Fat Joe. Everybody in the free world is there for the show. And I said, it's not going to be a lazy Monday night, Jacoby. John Moran will wake him up. John Moran was minus 41. How many points did he have?

10? Minus 41. He is throwing the ball to Desmond Bay. so Desmond Bank could turn the ball over again, and then running to the corner, and him and, him and Mikkel Bridges are having a thumb war. And then every time the Grizzlies got the ball,

they threw it to the Knicks. It was wild. It was like, hey, everybody's here. Look at all these stars. The Grizzlies were unfortunately perfect participants. It was like they were part of the play. They looked like the Washington Generals.

They looked like the Washington generals. the generals. My people are sending these Knicks fans, they're sending me memes, you know, rest in peace, Jay Huff, Miles McBride just

shit on you. They're sending me the box score. They're sending me highlights. It's a disaster. They're down by 40 at one point, and I'm like, what has happened? What has happened?

I've just, again, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Thursday, Saturday. I went to four games and watched the Grizzlies win all of them. That was coming after two San Antonio wins. It was six in a row leading up into this.

Playing well, feelings are good. Now, here's proving ground time. So up those six in a row. You're back to go play somebody good. You're back to go play somebody good. You've run over bad teams. Were two of those against the Pelicans? Yeah, they've run over.

We're two of those? Charlotte. Charlotte, Utah. It's all rat teams, except for Minnesota on Martin Luther King Day. Yeah, yeah, that was the only one. Yeah. The other four, it was Pelican, Charlotte, and Utah. So it was three rat teams.

I guess you could fall into this belief that like, hey, we're really good. We're playing really well, right? Heading into this Knicks game. They were a disaster. And everything that you worry about the Grizzlies on the highest level came to pass. That was the hard part about watching it is because one of the things. that we have talked about is... Do you need to lie down for this?

Like a therapist coach? Their offense has been admittedly incredible. It's very fast-paced. But they have been at the very bottom of the league in allowing points off turnovers. They have also been bad on transition defense. The 29th in turnovers. Right.

And... How were they not 30th? It shows up. And so then they had gotten the turnovers down. But again, not playing anybody. Not last night. Not, but also not playing anybody. And so it was like,

What is going to happen when the competition gets greater? Who are the guys that you can trust when you're playing a vet team, when you're playing a team that is defensively schemed, when you were playing a team filled with veteran adults, and it was a debacle. And also that start well. Like the Knicks started well. For sure.

And Memphis just could not swim against that side. I just felt like I don't think the Knicks called time out because Memphis went on like a 6-0 run. I don't think it happened. It was your perfect combination of one team. team playing horribly as a terrible representation of themselves and one team playing, I mean, admittedly amazing. I mean, they scored 140. Well, I think the Grizzes had a lot to do with them for sure they did. And it was a very brief story. When I was with Grantland, we documented the

Drew League action, which is sort of like LA's version of like a Rucker Park sort of the thing. And the game, you know, the rapper of the game, he was on a team. Right. And I think DeMar de Rosen was on his team, maybe Baron Davis. And the game is probably the worst basketball teammate in the history of basketball. Good, better basketball player, you'd think. But what he would do is he would never play defense. He would stand in the opposing side of the court and waiting for a rebound or a steal. And then he would get the cherry picking outlet and he would either dunk or shoot a three,

normally shoot at three, right? And it was ridiculous. It was like a, it was honestly like what Vivek Renadevae was talking about when he suggested that they do this. And honestly, in the fourth quarter, the Knicks started to smell. all of the turnovers that the Grizzlies were throwing. And they started doing that. Like bridges and Deuce started like hanging out around half court,

knowing that eventually the Grizzlies were to turn the ball over, and they would get a game at Drew League like dunk or three off of the ensuing transition play. And me and you watch it in the fourth quarter where most people probably tuned into the Celtics Rockins game if they're at home and watched it happen over and over again. It was embarrassing. It was crazy. And those red uniforms too? The red uniforms too.

The red uniforms are great. I don't think you should be a Grizzies fan anymore. How dare you? I think you need to give up. How dare you? I think for the team, you should sacrifice your fandom. No. For you to be in the building and witness that, the problem is you.

No. For sure, not me. Look, they had all the stars out there. I don't know what happened last night. I'm not going to try to explain it away. It was a disgusting performance. Over the course of 82 games, those disgusting performances happened. When was the last Memphis game?

But for them to do that when I flew to New York, They should pay for your flights. It's abominable. They should play for your flights in hotels. They should for sure. I'll write a strongly word of email. They should for sure. And I mean the players.

Not even like the team. Like the players should have a pool, a verno pool. I agree with that. I bought my tickets. I'll write an email. I'll write an email. Who do I write the mascot? A guy hit me up on Twitter last night.

And he said, hey, at least you didn't have to pay to get in to watch this. Yeah, I did. I spent $250. I haven't paid you for the tickets yet. I'm not paying you. You just ate that. That's fine. I mean, what else are you going to do?

I mean, go ahead. Go ahead. You know what? You know what, Jacoby? I'm already dead. You can't hurt me. You can't hurt me. What night.

New York City was great. Being with you was great. Yeah, I got to hang out with your wife. It was embarrassing. I know. Who played well for the Grizzlies? No, but come on. Precious of Chua hit a three and had an assistant a dunk in like a real-time five-minute span.

I was there. Dude, I was there. Deuce dunked on Salty Aldama. No, Jay Huff. We dunked on Huff? Yeah, that's why people were... Jesse ended this out. We cannot have any Huff slander on the pot.

I mean, no, we can not say, Huff got in the game. He stays ready, boy. I was watching him on the bench. He was doing calisthenics during the timeouts. He's staying ready. Staying warm. Staying warm. Stay in limber for that two and a half minutes

for you're down by 40 at the end of the game. Down by 40. Who? The only people having fun were all of the... the celebrities in Jacoby and all of the Knicks fans. That's a great time. My wife bought a hat. I said, this is a terrible representation.

Terrible. Yeah, Vernon, my wife went to go get an ice cream. She's pregnant. She's allowed to do that. She's like, hey, Chris, Elena, do you guys want an ice cream? You guys like, no, no, no, no. 20 minutes later, Chris Vernon is like, where's that ice cream? Yeah, where is the ice cream?

I need some happiness in my life. I need some sort of joy. Where is anything? I need any sort of joy in my life right now. Now, give me the ice cream. Give me the ice cream. So that's between the two. And I hope the line is super long, so it's less of the game.

I have to watch. Those are the two, three seats in the Eastern and Western Conference. We had a matchup between the two, two seats in the Eastern and Western Conference. A little more competitive. Yes. And so I went back and watched the, I went back and watched the game edit of this Celtics and Rockets game. first thing that stood out as I was watching the game edit of this was I was like, boy, there's a lot of Luke Cornett in these.

You know what I mean? And the second thing was, oh my God, Dylan Brooks, which, again, after I had already had this miserable night basketball experience, now I'm watching Dylan Brooks make literally everything he takes while having flashbacks. of two playoff series that this same guy has shot me out of. They left him alone. I'm like, what the hell is going on tonight? They left him alone from like 12 feet.

This whole night is a nightmare. I'm first, the team, my thing gets destroyed. Then I got to go watch highlights of a guy making like 10 3. 10 for 15 from 3. Where was that? when we need to see it. He's going toe to toe to toe with Jalen Brown, going back and forth with Jalen Brown,

like their equals, like their peers. And then the only good thing for me is I have been over the top with my praise of Amman Thompson this year. You know. I don't even think it's over the top. Oh, my God, I love him. And buddy, those plays that he made last night slithering to the basket,

And then, even on the last, that's like, here's a guy that is not, you want him to shoot jump shots, right? And so you know. If you're the defense, yes. Yeah, you know what he's going to try to get. His damage is done eight feet and in, and eight may be stretching it. We can't say at the ram because he shoots those little, like, mini little, yeah, but I'm saying, eight may be stretching. We're six feet and in, basically. Yes, yeah.

Most of his stuff. So you know he's going to try to get to a spot, you know, And that drive and then quick stop in order to get that game winner was absolutely unbelievable. He created like four feet of space, five feet from the basket. By the way, that Rockets team's got mega hard. They're down 12 with what, like nine minutes left to go in that game before they mounted their comeback. And look, I think there's, if you're Joe Missoula, you could probably say, hey, look, we wanted. The whole idea was that we get Dylan Brooks to take 20-something shot.

Alpern-Sengoon and Jaylen Green are not going to beat us. And Dylan Brooks and I'm in-Men Thompson, we're like, okay, sure. Right. And that's going to be the trick when you get to the playoffs, right? Because we think about these teams. In fact, it'll be interesting to see that's the next team Memphis plays. Thursday. It's a Thursday night game on TNT.

Yep. And it's a Thursday night game on TNT. Memphis is 3-0 against the Rockets this year. No, no, no, no. Either way around. Oh, that's right. Yeah. Right.

Oh, my bad. slip my mind. But look, that Rockets team is what we know. You know, with all of these teams, whether it is, and we've talked about this a lot, the three teams that are at the top of the Western Conference that don't have, they don't have Western Conference finals and tons of playoff series wins under their, under their belts. In fact, Houston, this is going to be their first go through. Oklahoma City last year was their first go through. before they got clipped in the second round. It's like what happens, especially with the younger teams,

when you get to the playoffs, everybody is going to try to direct those shots to who they want to take those shots. And so what's going to happen when somebody is running two at Shade Gildes Alexander all the time? Is Jalen Williams going to be the guy that could step up? Is it Kaysan Wallace? Is it Lou Dort? Are those guys going to keep shooting like they have shot throughout the season?

sometimes you have to have guys overperform like you had last year Derek Jones Jr. and PJ Washington for Dallas. And the same thing goes with Houston, right? They're going to say, hey, these are the guys that we want to be taking the shots against us. And so... It's going to be Thompson & Brooks. And we will see. But for a night last night, I mean, that was promising.

Again, you got to do it for four games when it gets playoff time, but you kind of know how a good team is going to direct them and what they're going to try to direct them to. And so I do think that it was super promising for Houston. The other thing is this. You would think this is best opportunity. Many times you see this where there's somebody, there's a reason that the other team has a different knowledge of the personnel on the other team. than is typical, and that would absolutely be the case with for sure.

I mean, if I were wanting someone to scheme up the Boston Celtics, I mean, he's got to be at the very top of the list. We talked about this a couple of years ago. And I'm sure there's some vengeance. There's some petty motivation there too. I'm sure that when Eames with his best friends talking about his time in Celtics and how it ended, he's not like, you know what? I made mistakes all on me.

I'm not the victim. I am I'm not the victim. This is all my fault. I don't believe he feels that way. Well, and then the other thing is, you remember a couple years ago when Sacramento played against Golden State in the playoffs,

it was like, that was kind of the trope then, which was, if you were going to have anybody prepare for Golden State, how about the guy that was just on their bench? How about Mike Brown? And then they ended up going seven games against them and they got done in by that monster Curry performance.

But a former coach scheming, so I do think in a, If you are a Celtics fan, you can say, hey, look, their coaches, IMA Udoca. Dylan Brooks has 10 threes. And Dylan Brooks has 10 threes, and you won on the buzzer. Yeah. But it, all right. Not the end of the world.

We'll go to Celtics in a second, but very briefly on the Rockets is one of the prevailing sort of narratives about the Rockets is they don't have the go-to. They're like a closer by committee team. That's right. Like if Sangoon is hot, then he's going to be the guy gets the ball at the end. Like last night, Thompson is hot and put the ball in his hand. Jalen Green sometimes has it sometimes doesn't. Do you think that this is a flawed system and they need a quote-unquote star?

I don't think there's one available to them at the deadline. I don't think it'll happen. Or can this closer by committee go with the hot hand? We play great defense. We're well-coached. We're young. We're athletic. We're energetic.

That can also work. Because I feel the latter. I agree with you. I think the goal here because you've got a young, that you're going to build out around. The vet guys will probably change as the years go on, as we know. My opinion is, and especially because this is going to be their first time through in the playoffs with the group, is you go there, you let them take their lumps, you let them have those opportunities.

I mean, those are going to be intensely valuable for those guys. And so I do think the guy generally, is going to be green. I think the guy generally is going to be green. But there's just some nights he just doesn't happen. I got it. But I'm saying like the guy that can get his own shot. And if I'm down by one with eight seconds left and I'm inbounding,

I can clear out and I know this guy can get his own shot. And that's what was important about last night. It was a clear out and Thompson was able to create his own shot. Yeah. So you let those guys. I think you let those guys go into the playoffs and you let them take their lumps because, as I've talked about a thousand times, all of these teams got to get their playoff scars. And so this will be the year that Houston takes their scars. And part of that is putting young players in the most pressurized situation.

And most times you fail before you succeed. But this will be the time. And again, they might be able to surprise somebody. They might be able to get to a second round and make it a really. hard, seriously. But nobody has some expectation. You know what I mean? If they were in the Western Conference Finals, it would be surprising to people simply because

this is the first time through with this group. But they might have home court advantage in the first and second round. Is it that surprising for the number two seed to get the Western Conference Finals? No. And then the other thing is I think with any of those teams outside of Oklahoma City, we still, it's a crapshoot. Of course.

It's a crapshoot with all of them. Now the problem becomes, for those three teams, I think for that matter is that you're looking as you constantly monitor the bottom three whoever's going to end up being six seven and eight it appears as if the most likely scenario is that those are going to be veteran latent teams that have a lot of playoff experience the sons the lakers and the mavericks or that's who's waiting for you or the warriors or the kings wolves or the wolves yeah i mean like they're all All legit teams with...

They're not young and up and coming. Outside of the Kings, they all have Hall of Famers. Right. Outside of the Kings. I wouldn't be surprised. It's a subonus, especially because of the... De Rosen? DeRosen.

I don't know how it works. I'm not a big, like, Hall of Fame in or out. It doesn't really, like, bother me. I'm like, sure. You may get in the basketball Hall of Fame just for Jalen and Jacoby. Hopefully. I grew up down the block. As a contributor.

You grew up down the block? Yeah. Have you ever been? Yeah. A lot. Oh, you like, yeah. No, I mean, it's not, it's, it's not a place you go to like every weekend, like the playground. Is it worth going to?

Yes, but don't, you don't plan a trip to go to Springfield, Massachusetts. I'm not kidding. I have never had, I have never had somebody asked me, have you ever been to the basketball Hall of Fame? Never. Well, I'm not a thing. I'm from, I got it, but it's not a thing like the, no, going to Canton is a thing. Going to Coopers Town is a thing, for sure.

Have you been to Canton? No. But I would. It's not a thing. It's not? No. Cooperstown? No.

Yes, it is. I'm not a Hall of Fame guy. But Cooperstown is like a whole like utopia. I've been and I was like seven when I went. I was a collecting baseball card. That doesn't count. Yeah. Springfield's worth doing.

And everybody says the same thing. They've got this conveyor belt that you go down and you get shots up. It's everyone's favorite part. You can celebrate the greatness of all other athletes that have come in the last 200 years. But no one cares except for them. getting their own shots up. It's great. So now I get to see, is it fair to say,

you can't be higher than what that locker room was probably like last night for Houston. Oh, afterwards? And then you can't get lower for what the- I'm at Thompson said, I felt like Kobe. He was my first game winner. I felt like Kobe after the game. So yeah, can't get higher than that locker room. And you can't get lower than whatever Memphis felt in the-

The game's in Memphis, right? It is. And yes, late tip. Late tip. Late tip. Yep. Thursday night. So you need to get some of your local, what do you call people from Memphis?

Memphians. Memphians? Yes. Oh. How dare you. Sounds like a class of mammal. How dare you? Memphians.

That's what they're gone. They dwell in trees and on the ground. We're memphians. We're memphians. We'll get some of your mempians to get those, to go out Wednesday night and, you know, show the, uh, show the, uh, uh, So the visiting Rock had some fun on Beal Street. I doubt that.

Well, that'll be a big game. I'll say that. Okay, the next thing is whatever, Easter conference thing, travel. They probably enjoyed New York City just like you did on Sunday. That's the feel that that game had. This is a big game Thursday. It is. This is a big one.

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and even player props. What a schedule this Wednesday. There are two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve games. The national games will start with. I like the New York Knickerbockers hosting the Denver Nuggets, minus whatever they're favored by. And here is a tricky one. In the other nationally televised games is the number one team in the Western Conference,

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You know, we've kind of gotten through. I am a little remiss to make huge judgments this time of year because we are hurtling towards the All-Star break. This is kind of a malaise in the middle of the schedule. Like, there's a couple things going on. We're heading towards the All-Star break. Trade deadline. Also, more importantly, we're headed towards the trade deadline. And all of these teams have guys that are sitting there going.

Am I going to have to sell this house? Am I going to have to, you know what I mean? It's a weird part of the schedule every year where you've got, you know, things can kind of settle in post-trade deadline, post-all-star break. But these few weeks always leading into the trade deadline slash all-star break are always a bit strange and we can get odd results that take place. So I am, as I said, I'm a little hesitant to make. many snap judgments, but obviously...

Sounds like you're making excuses for the Grizzlies. No, no, no, no. This was about the Cavs because I think there was absolutely no reason to not be crazy high on the cabs. And then it was like, well, are they what we thought they were? I mean, Evan Mobley wasn't available for a couple games. And, and Darrys Garland against the aforementioned Houston team, he missed two of the free throws at the end of the game, you know? What are the chances? But it is interesting to see the Cav

because there was this idea like 70 win pace, they're on pace to win 73. And I think anyone that is an objective mathematical fact, the pace at which they were winning, but I think anyone who's being honest with themselves is not saying Cavs 2025, one of the greatest teams ever.

I will say, especially after the recent events and being that what I saw last night. I mean, you know, my preseason pick was the Knicks. Right now, you feel as good about the Knicks as you do about the Cavs or the Celtics, regardless of record.

If we're getting into a playoff series, the only thing with the Knicks is they are one injury away. These other teams might have a little more breathing room if somebody went down. You have no breathing room if somebody goes down. No. No, there's... How do I say this? There is a reason that Tibbs plays seven or eight people.

That's right. There's a reason. Yeah. There's a reason. And so anyways, Cavs beat the Pistons who had obviously had an amazing 20-25 thus far. Cavs held in 91. Yeah.

And I mean, I don't, I don't, it did not change my opinion drastically of either of those teams, depending on that result. And the Pistons are still an awesome, fun story that hopefully I think you're looking at them as going, hey, get into the playoffs, maybe win a couple games. Again, another team that's got to take their lumps this year. The Cavs are certainly one of the favorites who I do think that if they are not in the

Eastern Conference Finals, it'll be a disappointment to them. That's fair to say, especially when you have a record like they have. Yeah, being the number one seed in the conference. Yeah, you should be in the Eastern Conference finals. The big story yesterday was Jimmy Butler. Again, the number one news source of the NBA right now is Kevin loves Instagram. We have to again recognize that. And yesterday it was a clip of Denzel Washington say he was going to put cases on everyone.

And it was a representation of Jimmy Butler's reaction upon arriving at shoot-around. This is in Orlando, right? So he arrives at shoot-around, learns that Haywood Highsmith is going to be starting over him and then just leaves shoot-around. and is then suspended indefinitely, at least for five games, by the heat. Why is that five games significant, Berno? Guess them to the other side of the trade, definitely. Okay.

Now let's... Without pay. Let's talk through this. Do you think it was because it was Haywood Highsmith? I think the heat are like... Do you think he said, oh, hell no? Do you take it personally if you are... Haywood-Ey Smith when he says, and at the three Haywood.

And I could see them playing out. Oh, hell, hell, no. The stands up and walks out. If you're Haywood-Eyman, this is a good moment for you, theoretically. Like, oh, wow, I'm getting to start. Here's my chance. But now the star boy here just says, oh, hell no. And walks out of the room.

I think I would take it personally. I mean, I think that this is a, I'm going to get a little macro. here because we've had this decade run of what's been labeled the player empowerment era. And I think this is the Miami Heat front office, Pat Riley, getting into room with a lawyer and saying, all right, what we have learned about Jimmy Butler's behavior behind the scenes in Miami is exactly that. What we have learned about Jimmy Butler's behavior behind the scenes of Miami. We can only assume there has been conversations, there has been discord, there has been

disruption, there has been disrespect, that he has done his, he's broken out his Jimmy Butler's saboteur playbook and he's running all the plays. And what Miami is saying is, all right, within the rules of the CBA, how can we screw over Jimmy Butler as much as possible? And they're like, all right, if you're going to walk out in the middle of a meeting in the middle of a shoot around, which is an organized team activity, guess what we're going to do? We're going to suspend you indefinitely for not providing services, which means you're not getting paid and you're getting suspended. And what they have done is they've said, you are

pulling the levers that you can pull to get you out of Miami and out of this franchise. We have levers we can pull to, one of which is intentionally announcing in front of the team that Haywood-Haw- Haywood-Hmith is starting in front of you. Okay. Do you think

that that, here you go, does that in your mind mean that we should pause heat culture or that it is a reinforcement of heat culture that not even Jimmy Butler, the attempted culture killer,

can be successful. This is a great question. This is a great question. I'll tell you exactly what this is. Heat culture is a lovely, lovely, lovely home. Beachfront property, Miami, South Beach. It's made of wood, right in the beach. And what my Jimmy Butler is,

Jimmy Butler is a little rising tide. It's getting a little too close to the house. It's starting to crumble, starting to get a little mold on the two-by-fours that are holding up the house. And what this is is Pat Riley saying, concrete. Concrete.

We're building this house out of concrete. So this is not a pause on heat culture. This is not a referendum of the weakness of heat culture, but this is indications that from within, heat culture can erode. And these actions are Pat Riley saying there are certain behaviors we will not accept here on the Miami Heat, no matter who you are, no matter what position you play, no matter how it points you score. And we're going to enforce to

every letter of the law as much punishment as we can on your behavior. And outside, Haywood Highsmith is building said concrete wall. Yes. He is laying it down. He's laying down the concrete. And Pat Riley's putting his initials in it. Heywood, I said. Exactly. Hey, Wood Hesford. It's like, what do I would, I say? What did I do?

I like Jimmy. Like, we're homies. Now he's mad at me for starting. Now he's mad at me. I know. I've got my mom tickets to the game. She's going to come watch me start. Now Jimmy's mad.

Look, and the interesting part is going to be. It, obviously, we have talked a lot about this in Memphis, simply because their name was in conjunction with Jimmy and not in a good way. It was anywhere but. But Memphis. Which is insane. Okay. But I do want to just take a quick aside to mention this.

So if you go back in time, because I think in some ways it's been misconstrued, even by people that are from where I'm from, which is to say, wait, what the hell, man? You don't want to win? You don't want to be a, you don't want to try to win a championship, right? It would be perfect fit. And what? Oh, you're too good for Memphis?

Oh, what? Look, if you go back, everything is always fine with Jimmy. All of these problems always emit from him not getting paid. You did not give him the contract that he wanted. Chicago, Minnesota, Philly, Miami. Every time it's always about the contract. It's always about the money. That's when it goes wrong.

Offense they're running or whatever. So here's the deal. Memphis is more than likely the team that they have talked to them about the most, right? Whether it was Mickey Harrison, whether it was Pat Riley. Like, bro, you can't keep telling us you want out. We got a deal that we can make and you don't want to go there. But understandably, from the other side, Memphis cannot pay him, right? They're paying John Morant.

It would be a terrible decision. Anything possible. They can, whatever. So then the trick would be, is there any way in hell that you could convince him, come play from now until hopefully June? Don't pick up the option. You go your way. We go on the way.

He's on the books for $52 million. Which is 100% why you cannot make the deal. But it's also the reason Jimmy Butler doesn't want to get traded somewhere that he has no chance of getting that contract that he wants. He doesn't. He has no chance of that. Because him as a free agent is not that valuable. No, Jared Jackson Jr. is going to get a $300 million extension. Yeah.

And you already got Moran. You've already got Bain on the books. You're not paying. List the number of teams that want to pay Jimmy Butler three years, $150 million. Right. Now, the only, again, the convincing would be, look, bro, nobody is paying you that. You have sabotaged how much, especially if nobody's going to watch you play basketball, your chance is going and having a chance to be in the West finals or the NBA finals

and building up that value. And then people will be lined up to get you for a couple more years, right? If you were to do that. He scores 25 a game for the Grizzlies and then losing the finals? Right. Oh, yeah. Here's $200 million for three years. Now you could make some real money doing that.

The problem is if you're Memphis, you can't sit there and go, God. It's not happening. He literally said anywhere from Memphis. But that's the reason. It's not because he doesn't want to win. It's not because it's always. Always money with him. Always.

Do you believe the sons trading one first round pick for three first round picks? And then involving two or three other teams will make this happen where Jimmy ends up on the sons. I think there, look, one of the things that we have learned is generally when these guys want to direct themselves to a place, they have been able to direct themselves to a place. But for whatever reason, Bradley Beale has a no trade clause. Right. And he said he will not waive it to go to the Bulls. Right. The No Trade Clause

in Bradley Beal, someone needs to do a six-part documentary about this, like the OJ thing. How did this happen? This is a travesty. Well, I think the better investigation would be that Mark Bartolstein

is his agent, who's a great agent, great agent, right? Who negotiated that? Bartlestein's son, like, one's the sons. Yeah. So how many places were going to be trading

for Bradley Beal with said no trade clause. Like there is a connection there that exists. And now you're in a precarious situation where it's like, but it also may help, right? The same way that you acquired it, it would be interesting to see if that can also help in this situation. But there's no question. It's a weird dynamic, right?

the player who has got this no trade clause is represented by the guy who is the father of the guy running the front office. And at the time, it makes sense. You're doing everything you can to get Bradley Beale in Phoenix to complete this big three to make a championship run. At the time, you're not like, well, what about that no trade clause? You're thinking, we get Bradley Beal.

We're keeping him through his contract. Why would we ever think about trading Bradley Beale? We're working so hard to bring him here. He is the last piece of this championship team that we need. And then all of a sudden, he doesn't play that well. Your team doesn't play that well. And Jimmy Butler comes available. You have to start opening up that contract and seeing what the no trade clause is about.

Yeah. So we'll see how it plays out. But do I think Jimmy Butler is going to be elsewhere for sure? I mean, it's untenable. I love the drama. I would love for them not to trade him just to see what happens. And I would love for him to pick up an option with the heat next year. Like, yeah.

The full harden. Here we go. $52 million. Pay me. Yeah. See what, I, there's no chance he puts on a heat uniform for the rest of the year. No change. I think we agree.

Yeah. Yeah. I think everybody just wants this hall to be over. It's too, it's too, it's too. It's too much of it. If you're a player on the heat, a fan of the heat, you're in the heat front office. Just get this guy out of here. It reminds me that Stefan digs on the bills a little bit.

Yeah, this is not. It's like, yes, good player. Yes, contributes on the field. But we just feel as a franchise we'd be better off without that good player. that contribute to the field. Well, and I think it just continues to make Jimmy, I always look at it like this, right? I understand anger.

I understand ego. In the end, what is the goal? And are your actions getting you closer to accomplishing said goal? And I think it is fair to say that Jimmy Brothers' actions are nowhere close to the actions of someone with, theoretically the goal that you want to take place, which is I want to go elsewhere and I want to get a long-term contract and I want somebody, you know,

because you continuously are doing things that hurt your reputation. Every day that this is in the news, every more game that he has suspended, the more it hurts his reputation. Of course. And who wants him? If you're the sons, you trade Bradley Beale and whatever else to make it work,

you bring him in. What do you give him an extension? Right. So now you've got Booker, Durant, and Butler. Right. Is that that much better than Beal Durant Butler? And one of the problems with the Sun's franchises, they're so locked into these three huge contracts that can't build role players around them,

you're still in the same spot. I mean, look, I think there's probably some discussion of, bro, we got to do something to win right now because our future is screwed anyway. Our future is screwed anyway. We better win now. Like, that was the whole idea behind this. That's why I made the trade the day I bought the team. I mean, we better, I got to win now because look, bro, we don't have something to look forward to.

The sons have been kind of winning recently. I know. They're getting some games behind them. I don't know. Did you like the Nerkich has no relationship with the coach? I mean, he said they haven't spoken to two months. You know how much time these people spend together. How?

It'd be so hard. not to speak to the head coach for two months. And he's a, Bud's a huge culture guy. Yeah, this is odd. That's been the whole thing. Culture, culture, team dinners. You know, really care about the players, right? Like this whole, you know, I think about this all the time.

And guys like Bud have been perfect examples of it. Years and years ago, I interviewed Pat Summit, God rest for soul. And Pat Summit said one of the most profound things. that anyone has ever said to me during an interview. And I was talking to her about how she interacts with her players. And I think about the NBA a lot through this prism. And she says, they will never care how much you know until they know how much you care.

And that's been kind of that bootingholzer, Atkinson, Taylor Jenkins, Quinn Snyder, like all that group that from that, Popovich slash Budenholzer team team dinners

and really knowing the guys and knowing their families and all that like that's what they've been great at is building the camaraderie, building a culture. So that's what's stunning to me. It's like that is not that like if somebody told me

EMAU doka hasn't talked to him in two months, it would be wildly or Joe Mazze. You're surprised if you did talk to somebody. But two months ago, Nurtage once. even that bad. Like, he's in the doghouse now or whatever,

but like two months ago, it wasn't like, Nirkich is the problem with the sons. Bro, if Tyler Colick said, I don't think Tibbs knows my name, it would not surprise me. That's probably a good thing.

He probably for sure doesn't know your name. Yeah, yeah, yeah. White dude, get in. She probably does your number, 17. Right. Collick.

Yeah. What you call it? Callic. You call him the wrong name. Collegreens, whatever it said. It's like a hundred years ago, I was covering the Grizzlies.

Drew Gooden, who's now a broadcaster, right? The entire time he got drafted fourth overall. He was on the team for, I don't know, first couple of months of the season before he's traded to Orlando for Mike Miller. Hubey Brown never called him, Drew. Every time he go, Dwight! He never knew his name. He called him Dwight.

He called him Dwight. He caught him Dwight. Hey, ask him, he called him Dwight for three months. Dwight Dwight I mean Hugh Brown is like 80 years old

Coach of the girl but I mean called him Dwight Shane Badier said he laughed every practice That's hilarious

Dwight Get over here Oh it looks nothing like Dwight fucking Drew There was once a man named Dwight Gooden

in sports played a different sport No a long time ago No it's a totally different era Dwight

Joeby Brown Yeah so I mean look the the original point is Budenhoser like I just says

bizarre and it's like I don't think it's true it's probably Nurkich exaggerating I'm sure they have spoken but I think it's just nergish just trying to just I think the Nurgis has seen his name dragged through the mud and he's like you know what I'm going to drag a name down in here with me that's what that is

Are we concerned about the magic yet? Yeah we are I've been waiting for them to be full strength because they keep getting their guys back and now they're full strength Yeah, that's a tumble On the standings.

They were one of our favorites. I know. They have really switched place with the Pistons. And it was defense. You know, where it's like, yeah. It's one thing guys

could get hot, get cold offensively or whatever that happens. But I always thought they could always be in games and rely on their defense. It hasn't been there. Haywood Highswift, too.

I think they need Movites, Bogner. I think for the way they win games, the energy that both Suggs and Mo Wagner have brought them. Yes. Throughout that first-

Having a career year this year, too. But for that first whole part of the season, having those two guys and that, you know, I always talk about there are certain guys that raise the collective energy of the team, and they're both those. And I think one of them,

one of them with the starting unit and one of them with the bench unit. Yeah, because Suggs is going to play a lot more minutes, so he's going to have a lot more impact. But Mo Vagner was always doing something testy. He was always in the midst. He was always pissing off the other team. He was always making some kind of hustle play or something.

A month and a half ago they were playing the Lakers and Mo Wagner was dunking all over the place. He's getting at people's faces. He was like a like a catalyst. And I remember I said to myself, I was like, is this a Mo Wagner revenge game? Like, is he like angry at the Lakers? A couple other things that are worth mentioning. Raptors like they're, they've won five of six now. It's five of six, right?

I think it's six or seven. wherever it is. And apologize to Scotty Barnes. I'm not apologizing to Scottie Barnes. I mean, I apologize to the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week. You're only saying that because Jared Jackson Jr. is the Western Conference Player of the Week.

No, I'm saying that because Scotty Barnes one player of the week. I'm not a Scotty Barnes believer. You should be. You're not a believer of Player of the Week, Scotty Barnes. You're not a believer of Player of the Week, Scotty Barnes. That's what he is this week. No, no, not a player. That's what he is.

Not a supporter of the PLW the week. Well, and again, there's the Pelicans that they beat. But they have had some good wins recently and certainly not going to be, it appears to be, going the route of the wizards and some of their peers, which is be wildly non-competitive every night. Like they are at least attempting to compete. Are they? They won't five of six.

I think they're winning by accident. No. No. And they've gotten guys back. They have. They've gotten guys back into their lineup. They certainly look more legitimate than they have. There are times when you're like, Barnes, Barrett, quickly, turtle.

You're like, okay. It's not winning any playoff series, but it's also not crap. Yes. There are some of these teams you, you flip on the wizards and you're like, Jesus. Certain Pelicans lineups are like, what are we doing? Ugh. Like these are at least legitimate NBA player. Like maybe it's not the best fit.

Maybe it's a bunch of guys that would lead you straight to the middle. But leading you straight to the middle is way better than being a 10 or 12 win team, which is what some of these teams are putting out. And so once the Raptors have their, at least the guys they do have, it's a mess of a salary cap. It's not, you know, a bright future. No. Necessarily outside of figuring out a couple guys that you can.

build out of round. Scotty Barnes is holding the NBA Finals MVP trophy. I will admit that I'm wrong. But something tells me I'm pretty good on the under on that one. He'd probably drop it. Yokic had monster game but they lost to the Bulls. And then we had A.D.'s

Monster Night, which is worth mentioning. 42 and 23. Come on. Come on. The Hornets, that they played. And by the way, didn't you tell me that the Nuggets were the second best team in the West? Yeah, I did. Oh, okay. They lost a

Chicago Bowls, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, at least they didn't lose by 40. At least they didn't lose by 40. Ahead of the nuggets. Oh, head of the nuggets. Okay. Despite, look, they only count in one column. I only count on it.

You know what? I can't get out of this town fast enough. All right. If I see anybody else in Nick's gear today. I've got a very fast gimmicky segment for you. Let me hear. is it, I'm going to set up something that's happening currently in the NBA. Okay.

It's currently happening. Okay. I'm going to ask you, you're going to determine whether it is just a tiny trend that will pass or it's the new normal. I like this game. And we're going to go quickly. Okay. Like a manual. I will answer quickly.

Donchish still out. Derek lively. Out for an extended period of time. They get Cleaver back. He's out again. Mav's season is cursed by injuries and going nowhere. Tiny trend or the new normal? As of this morning, they are tied, though, behind Phoenix.

For the eighth spot. Yeah. They are half a game up on sack, two games up on Golden State. Tiny trend or new normal? Boy, I hate that these are my only two choices, but I'm going to say tiny trend. I'm going new normal. No, no, I'm going to say tiny trend because I think post-all-Star break, you have time. And we saw that team go bananas after the all-star break.

And so what my consideration would be is that you will get Luca Donchich back. You will have him for that stretch run for those last, you know, whatever it is, 30 games. And that will be enough to have a good enough record to once you get. into the and again if you if they're if they're eight that is an absolute nightmare scenario for Oklahoma City oh yes

that is a nightmare and so it's you just have to be to 10 and assuming that they get Luca back I think they will have a good enough record to be in the play in again a play in team you would not want to see I will say I'm a disagree says the new normal

because I see it like this it is more likely that they deal with more injuries than it is that lively comes back and plays the rest of the season. Luca comes back and plays the rest of the season. Kyrie's bulging disc in his back is all of a sudden better. Kleeve is all of a sudden better. It's just more likely

they feel kind of like the 49ers last year in football where it's like good team, prior success, injury riddled season this year just throw it out. Well, if they don't get it, look, if they didn't, I do fear that it wouldn't even be, if they can't get lively back by the time,

it would be time for a play-in situation or whatever. But I think right now, I would say your most likely scenario is that they're in one of the play-in games. And then at that point, you still have Luca Dantra's on your team. So I'm not going to, I'm not going to bury them yet. Steph Curry. No. It was over 8 in the second half in the loss against the Lakers in three. The Warriors are outside of the playoffs.

And this core looks like it will never compete for a championship again. Tiny trend of the new normal. Oh, that's, come on. That's been the new normal. Okay, fair, fair, fair. Yeah, yeah, that one, that one's easy. That one's easy. I mean, unless you made some kind of, again, this core. This core.

Which you're just talking about Stephen Draymond. Yeah, and Steve. No, in the absence of them adding an awesome play, which I would not take out of consideration. No, but they almost need someone to be like a one B to Steph. Correct. They don't need like a second score like Andrew Wiggins. But you know I have been on this thing where they say like, well, we don't want to sacrifice the future and I say what future. Like, again, if you're not going to pay Kaminga, you move Kaminga within these next couple of weeks.

And if you can move Kaminga and you can get somebody that is like that one B, I mean, that's what I would not decide cannot compete. If you were able to get one other big time player. Who's that, though? Levine? Butler? If you got one of those two guys, still not competing for a championship, my opinion. Okay. Moving on.

Mac MacLong is officially going for three Pete in the dunk contest. He'll be up against Andre Jackson Jr., Stefan Castle, Stephen Castle, and Bozillis. It's okay, here we go. No stars in the dunk contest, Tiny Trender, New Normal. Oh, that's been the new normal. And look, I'm a Mac MacMacong fan. I love watching MacMachlan dunk. How does it do us any good to have a guy that does not play in the NBA winning it every year?

Every year. My thing is this is... Like, bro, why don't you just... You know what I'm saying? Like, that's fine. But, like, you know that guy? The guy that I love on Instagram, a lethal shooter.

Oh, yeah, yeah. Now you understand. Yeah. Right? That guy. All right, you stop playing with me. This guy. Let's just have him in the three-point contact.

Sure. Put lethal shooter in the three-point content. Team flight brothers or whatever. Like, there's professional dunkers that do nothing. They don't play basketball. They just dunk in front of crowds. I'm sure they can. do it. My thing is this is

I'm not I don't think the dunk contest is done and buried because I remember the Aaron Gordon Zach Levine dunk contest. It's a long time ago now though. Yes it was it was I'm gonna say it was in Chicago eight years ago. Eight years ago.

It was a long time ago. That's a long time. It was so good. It was so good. That was one of the best of my lifetime. Amazing. It was in this new era of sort of like young leapers being a part of it, not all stars. And I love that dunk contest. That was the best of my life. Maybe Stefan Castle and Mattis Buzellas can save it.

Okay. You don't believe so. No. Seems like every time SGA takes the lead in the MVP race, Yokic does something crazy and have like 35, 22, and 17. The race is too tight to call and anyone who is leading one way or the other is a fool. Tiny trend or the new normal? No, that's tiny trend. tiny turn. In the end, as I've told you, I might end up being wrong about it being unanimous, but I do think that, look, anybody in Bontems will be sending out, I'm sure, his straw poll pretty soon. I think every single person that responds to that is going to have SGA number one. I do. I don't know if at the end that will be the case.

Oh, I'd see. There will probably be one person in there. No, that's not true. So say this again out loud, because there's a piece of metal in front of your, Watch what I say. It's in front of your mouth. And it records what you say. I do not think. It goes digitally onto a server so then you can reference it later in life. I'm telling you, I'm part of the Bontemp's thing.

The straw pole will be unanimous. Not a single person will try to outthink the room. Correct. And put Yokic on there. And again, it would be much more likely for that to be the case in the straw poll than in the actual when it comes down to the very end. But one guy already has three and is on not as good a team. But he's playing better than he did in all the seasons in which he had three. It's already the narrative and they're in first place.

Okay. How about this? Jacoby. If I passed it off and I say, you know what? You know what? I can't do this by the time saying. You do it. You would have SGA one.

Yeah, I would. So what everyone? But not everyone else. But not everyone else would because there's always some asshole that tries to outthink the room. It is like, all of you people are. wrong. I am the true basketball knowledge man. I have said, and I am the one who knows that Nicola Yokes, you're trying to tell me you can't make a good case.

I've said, that might be so. I said, at the end, in the end, what I think is when the straw poll comes out, I think all of the first place votes will be SGA. I think everybody will have him number one. Okay. Next. People complaining that NBA teams are taking too many threes and it's ruining the game. Tiny trend or is just the new normal? Tiny trend for people complaining about it.

I think, I say tiny trend as well. I think people complaining about it. We were at that game last night and there was never a moment where you thought, wow, there's way too many threes being taken. And they're taking open ones. Like, you can pick and choose. You know what that is? You know what it is?

I've thought about this a lot. Oh. The league always changes based upon who wins. Yeah, yeah. It is a Celtics thing. Yes. It is. And the Celtics are on TV all the time,

and you can tune it in, and they're taking 50. They spam the three-point line. They do, but they've got the horses to do it. And also, then, like, look, we talked early about Amen Thompson and whatever.

Like, yeah, Dylan Brooks hit a ton last night, right? But that's not their game. No. Right. That's not their game. The Thunder don't take a bunch of threes. Right.

So I think part of it is the team that won. So we saw them for every round and we saw them win. And then the other thing is you can't get outscored by 35 points at the three point line. So what ends up happening is

Celtics on TV the most or a lot because they won the title. They're a very popular team. They take 50-something threes. I can't lose by 30-something points at the three-point line. Therefore, their opponents are generally going to take more threes.

You would think, right? I would have to do all the stats to bear this out. But then those games feature a tremendous amount of three-point shots. And so it's really more about some of the biggest teams, including the reigning world champion, than it is league-wide. For sure they're- Look at the Western Conference.

The Thunder, don't take that many threes. Rockets, don't take that many threes. Grizzlies, they take some threes. They take three. You take threes. They're not crazy. The Nuggets. Don't take that many threes.

And we're going down. Remember for the five spot? Lakers. They're not bombing threes. This is truly... The clippers. They're not bombing threes. The Timberwolves, yeah.

Anthony Hempers is shooting as many threes. He literally possibly can. But the rest of that team doesn't. It's not. So I had this argument with my friend Mike after our reckless basketball game on Wednesday. And he comes to me, he's like, they're taking too many threes. They're ruining basketball. And what I, my takeaway from that conversation, and I respect him,

so much. He knows a ton about basketball. He loves the league. My takeaway from that is that is what I call it a snowball opinion that just gathers more and more people as it goes down the mountain and gets bigger and bigger. But I don't think it's actually

happening on the screen when I watch games. I can see clips on the internet where it's like, you know, five threes in a row. That looks bad. But when I'm watching NBA games every night, I'm not watching it being like, they take too many threes. It doesn't cross my mind. Right.

It doesn't. I think this is all fake. I don't know if it's all fake. I would say there are... Most of these teams are very smart about it. They know that the numbers tell you you want to tray it up or lay it up, right? Your most efficient shots are going to be at the rim, and they're going to be at the three-point line.

And so you still see a lot of drive-a-kick, drive-a-kick, drive-a-kick, drive-a-kick, drive-a-kick, paint, touch, kick it out to a three. Of course. There's a lot of guys that do pass up the four-foot shot to throw it back out to the three-point line. Or a lot of spray to the three-point line on the break. Old guys hate that. If you're over 40 and you see someone spray to the three-point line on a transition possession, you're mad. You're so mad.

To me, that is more of it. To me, it is more of, it's not as much about the number of threes. It's about the similarity of style of play. Yes. That there's not as many, because these teams all have entire, offices of statistical analysts, and you are now taking players and turning them into players that do one of these two things. Do you get to the rim or do you knock down corner threes?

And if you can't space the floor by being able to shoot threes, it's very hard to get on the court anymore. You have to be Janice Tentacupo. You have to be exceptional at doing other things. things. And so I do think that that will evolve. There will become a different, you know, market inefficiency. But for right now, there has been, because of so, you know, because of the statistical revolution that has taken place within the NBA, you do have too many teams playing similarly. That's what I would say. I just think sometimes I feel bad for the commissioner,

silver when he has to go there and be like we're looking into it we're going to make some changes i'm like bro i would say we're monitoring it we think we have a great product i mean monitoring the other thing and i do think this is totally fair they run old games on nba tv all the time your memory fails you yes it's it was not it was not jo go benito in 1992 your memory feels you're not the beautiful game they're not whipping the ball around your memory fails you it's how many Dale Davis post-ups do you want to see? I mean, there are four guys standing in the lane. Yeah, yeah, and like the most popular shot is like a 10-foot baseline jumper.

Right. Is that what you want to see? With a lot of bricks. Yeah. All right, moving on. The Super Bowl coverage for the next two weeks will have heavy doses of Taylor Swift. The Taylor Swift takeover, tiny trend or new normal. What are you talking about?

It's been the new normal for five years. It's a terrible question. The idea that Taylor Swift is like the third most important figure in this Super Bowl is just insane to me. My daughter asked to go. To the game? No, ticket. I'm saying to one of her concerts. This last tour was like $2,500 for the upper deck.

Bro, I'm a huge Olivia Rodriguez guy, thanks to my two nine-year-old twins. $2,500. I love Olivia Rodrigo. To me to take my two twins to see Olivia Roderigo, was like $10,000. And those aren't even good seats. And you got to get the Knicks app. Then you got to get the Knicks app.

Or you can't get it. They wouldn't even let you in the building without the Knicks app. So you know how many 14-year-old girls are going to be so pissed? Oh. When they're going to be all dressed up in their clothes and they've got face tattoos. And they've been listening on the car ride to all their favorite Taylor songs. And they get right up to that same gate. And that same guy is there.

And he's like, yeah, I get the Knicks app. They're like the Knicks. I don't even know what the Knicks are. I drove from Pennsylvania. And dad's not there, so now mom just took the girls. Mom has no idea. Mom doesn't even know the Ticketmaster login. My wife would have never gotten into that game last night.

So then what happens is then the mom starts to call the dad, but the dad's got the night off without the kids and the wife. So he's at the bar watching the Grizzlies get beaten by the Knicks on the road because Taylor took over the garden, and he's not even answering his phone. And then they don't even get to see Taylor Swift. And this costs $9,000. Sorry, dude.

the Madison Square Guard way too small for Taylor Swift. Oh, she plays the garden. She's over at MetLife, bro. She plays the garden. No, she's in stadiums now. Yeah, you're right. Wow, she doesn't even do aren't.

She's met life. Wow. All right, so I guess you don't need the Knicks app. Good news. And it's 2500 to sit the upper check. You still can't afford it. Good news. You need the, you don't need the Knicks app.

The Jets app. You do the Jets app. The Jets can't afford that. They can't afford that. Burroughs, I'm so good to see your person, buddy. Oh, man. It was great to be in New York City outside of the game. I'm coming to Memphis.

I'm coming to Memphis next. F. Tyler O'Col. Don't forget Bridges. F. Miles Bridge. Precious. Michael Bridges. Pressions hit a three. Oh, my God.

What a gang. What a game. What a game. Hey, I promised you this. I'll never forget it. Do you not love? Just the end of this podcast, I just want to recount the end of the game. Grizzies are down by 40.

Colics in there. White flags have been, everyone's waved away by white flag. people are just streaming out of the exits. And I'm thinking to myself, wonder if Bruno's going to leave early. I will say this. Hey, hold on. I was like,

I wonder if Bruno is going to leave early. Because it was time to go. It's a 39, 41 point game. I was like, I wonder if Bruno's going to leave early. And then Bruno starts asking questions. Like, how do I get home? I was like, oh, you walk home. He's like, is it safe?

He's so concerned about walking 10 blocks in New York City. I was like, it's not really safe, but it's also not dangerous. I got so high. Anyone who lives in New York, the Times Square area is very marijuana-ish. Why? It's just people, because people go and hang out outside there, there's nothing to do. It smells like weed everywhere.

And there's police everywhere, too. They do not care. Isn't that CBD crap or is it actual weed? No, it's actual weed. It smells like weed everywhere. Everywhere. Everywhere. And that one stretch of the city that you were in is a very marijuana heavy stretch.

All right, so I made one purchase at the game, and now every time I see it, I'm going to have this horrible memory. What did you get? Of watching the Grizzlies lose by 40. Here was my one purchase on video camera. There it is. It is a plushy of Patrick Ewing. I had to have it. He looked at it and he was like, oh, no, I got to get that.

I have to have it. He's like, I got to get that. I mean, the Widows Peak. The Whittos Peak airline. The mustache. The point side sideburns is. So this will be. The only way I could look more like him is if it was sweet.

wedding right now. This will be my unfortunate reminder of the first time I ever went to Madison Square Garden and got the Nix app. Did you really take off your phone? And watch the Grizzies lose by 40. Do you really take it off your phone? Huh? Did you take it off the phone? I'll never

have that app, but I'm never going to that. I'm going to, I'll post the video when I post this pod of Verno getting stuck outside. Just look on his face. He's going to like he looked like he was about to turn cannibal. He's about to go like Mike Tyson and bite someone's ear off. It was absolutely fantastic. That wasn't that.

I was frustrated, but I'm not one of those that starts yelling at people. I just get frustrated and like, what am I supposed to do? I just want to get in. You were not rude to anyone. I just want to get in. But you were fuming on the inside. Oh, dying. On the inside, you were fuming.

It got to the point of like 15 minutes later, you're still complaining about the Knicks app. Like, we're here in our seats. We're watching the game. This is the only thing I have to remember it by because it used to be I collected physical tickets. There's no such thing as a physical ticket anymore, right? So this is my only souvenir of Patrick Ewing plushy toy. Safe travels home. And try not to get high on the way home.

Thanks to Bell for helping us out on site. Thanks to our executive producer Jesse Lopez, as always. And Jacoby, I'll talk to you later this week. Must be 21 and over in present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 over and present in D.C. You got a gambling problem? Call 1-800 gambler or visit R. G-help.com. Call 1-88-78-88-98-9-7777, or visit ccpg.org

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