The Mismatch - Perfect Fits for KD, Patience with Ben Simmons, and No More Magic for the Wiz

Episode Date: December 17, 2021

Kevin Durant is on a tear and has the Nets on his back, but it’s the surrounding role players who are impressing Verno and KOC the most. KOC gives props to the Nets front office for finding the pieces that fit next to KD (03:23). They get into how defending the 3-point shot is key in this era of the NBA (08:45). KOC is adamant that the 76ers should be patient with Ben Simmons and doesn’t believe that he will sit out the entire year if he’s not traded (18:41). They next discuss the issues going on in Portland and debate the best route for the franchise to turn it around (22:43). The guys were excited to see the Wizards' hot start to the season, but the magic seemed to run out as they dropped from first place in the East to seventh (31:37). They debate whether the Wiz’s issues are completely tied to Bradley Beal. In looking around the association, the guys discuss Klay Thompson’s return, the Grizzlies' success without Ja, and Zion Williamson’s injury woes (47:10). Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Producer: Jessie Lopez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Football is back and so is the Ringer NFL show. Coming at you five days a week with wall-to-wall coverage from recapping the Sunday games, giving a player perspective, deep dives, and previewing the coming slate. Check out the Ringer NFL show on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to The Mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon and join me as he does every Friday from the Ringer.com. It's Kevin O'Connor, A.K. Kevin O'Connor, A.K. Kevin O'Connor, A.K.K.O.K.O.K.K.O. Kavana O'Connor. How's it going this Friday? Everything's good. Now, look, there is obviously a problem going on in the NBA in terms of players having to sit out and teams being short-handed. But we are going to talk basketball first. We will touch on what is going out of the NBA before we get out of here. But there are a lot of actual basketball stories that are going on, not the least of which is Kevin Durant is on absolute fire as of late. And he was on a big stage last night for anybody that tuned in. You saw him once again be absolutely sensational.

Now, over the course of his last three games, if you've tuned into the Nets, he has averaged right at 40 points a game, 39.7 points per game, while shooting 49% from the field, nine assists, 10 rebounds per game. That's in the last three games where he has just been. Supernova. And you watched last night, and there's a lot of sentiment when people are watching this going,

who are these other guys? You know, this was like going to be the superstar laden team. These are guys that you like, you didn't even know who they were when they were in college for the most part. David Duke Jr., people are saying, David Duke.

Incredibly unfortunate. name. Yeah. And then the, and then the other one is, of course, Kessler Edwards. Exactly. Yep.

Like, but, but you can even say Daron Sharp, Cam Thomas, like people who aren't following the draft. It's like, well, who are these guys?

Bro. Kessler Edwards played 33 minutes last night. And the other night against Toronto, which was a Tuesday night, he played 44 minutes. in the game. Kessler Edwards has played 44 minutes and 33 minutes,

and I consider myself an extremely avid NBA fan, and I had absolutely no idea who Kessler Edwards was. He is a second round pick from Pepperdine. Beautiful, beautiful campus of Pepperdine. Oh, my goodness. Beautiful campus. It's in Malibu. They have this huge, big, huge green lawn.

Yes. Like right off the PCH. It's a beautiful campus there. Yep. And look, Kessler Edwards, you played in four games now this season. And so if you tune in to the Nets and you're watching this Kevin Durant show and he, and at one point passes it over to a guy. And they say, over to Edwards, inevitably every NBA fan is like, who?

And it just speaks to when you're. playing David Duke Jr. and Kessler Edwards, big minutes, and you're still getting wins, something, and James Hardens out, something you know special is going on. In fact, it is, with Durant. And I know that you did a video on Yokets. There's been a lot of Yokic talk this week. Zach Lowe's rant on ESPN earlier this week, too, defending him and saying, he should be in the conversation and everybody else is laughing at him. Silly. Well, because you got on both coasts, you've got on one coast, you got Curry putting on his show.

And on the other one, Durant putting on his show. Yes, exactly. And in fairness, while everybody does need to acknowledge that Yolkich is having this outstanding season, we covered this last year. Generally, when you're talking about MVP's, what happens is it's best player all best team. Like, that's been the history of the award. It's like Westbrook was an exception when he's. He had his triple double year and won it over Harden.

That's, I mean, like, there is a precedent for a player on an average team winning it, but it's not so infrequent. It's so infrequent. And what Durant is doing is truly special. And I just think that one of the things regarding him, I remember the shows that we did when he went out. And then even when he came back, it's like, man, the track record on this thing is just not great. you know, and he's a real tall guy. Yes, while he is not completely dependent upon athleticism for his greatness, and we were sure he was going to be able to be an extremely good player,

that is much different than being the absolute best player, which certainly he is in that conversation right now. And I think it's just very promising going forward. when you're talking about devastating injury and the fact that you have seen a guy recoup from that and be able to come back in the manner that he has and that it leads us to thinking about Clay Thompson. For sure, Chris.

I mean, doesn't it make you feel so much better about Clay's chances are coming back? No question. And Clay somebody, you know, he could sit on the floor and still make three-pointers. Right. You know, he could still make. So, I mean, with Katie doing this right now,

it also bodes well, just for guys coming back from future injury, Chris. But this just flat out bodes well for Brooklyn, period. I mean, they're 21 and 8 right now with James Harden not being quite the James Harder. We've known the last seven, eight years without Kyrie Irving. And with a lot of names, you know, the casual fan doesn't know, like Kessler Edwards, David Duke, Darron Sharp. I mean, like, this is a roster right now. Even a Nick Claxton, that isn't a name that like every NBA fan knows. But this roster, I'll tell you what, though, Chris, when I watch the Nets

play, I'm thinking in the back of my head, yes, it's an unbelievable Kevin Duran is doing this, and this is definitely something that bolsters his MVP case. And it really just makes us, it magnifies his greatness, his historic greatness too. But that Nets front office has done a good job

finding quality players that fit, dude. Kessler Edwards, he's not this big name out of college when he came out of Pepperdine, but what he is, is a good spot-up shooter in a hardworking defender. That's about it. Like he never showed anything in the ball handling category in three years in college, never showed any playmaking ability, but he did show he could be like a three and D guy. And same thing with Cam Thomas coming off the bench. Spark plug guard. Dayron

Sharp. Potentially they're trying to turn him into a versatile defender, a good rebounder, a bruiser. So they're finding the pieces that make sense around Kevin Durant, James Hardin, and they would hope, Kyrie Irving. So I feel like you also, like I can't help but think about that. Nets front office, despite not having assets, despite giving so much up for Hardin, they've managed to find talent, not just a free agency, but the draft. And that says a lot about where they're going. Well, one of the crazy things is you look and they have had a precipitous drop in

offense from year to year, but their defense has been a massive gainer. and one of the things that we need to pay attention to as the season goes on is how much things hold in terms of what has happened against them. So it was a few weeks ago that we were talking about what had taken place with Memphis and you had said, you know, I told you that they were, opponents were shooting over 40% from three through the first 20-something games of the season. Now, what has happened since they have been on their just ridiculous run winning nine of their last 10 games is nobody's hitting threes. Are they defending it better? Sure. But there is going to be this wide variance. But they went from teams in the NBA hitting the highest rate of three-pointers against them to hitting the lowest rate of three-pointers against them.

Okay? And so then your defense shoot all the way up. I say that to tell you about what's going on with Brooklyn. So far this year, teams have shot 31% from three-point range against the Brooklyn Nets. Number one. Inevitably, some credit goes to their defense. But that is also a number that we know changes dramatically. and the teams that have had the biggest uptick in defense this year

are the ones that have the biggest difference in three-point percentage against. That was a thing last year when everybody talked about the Knicks and how great their defense was throughout the year. And they said, well, this is going to even out. Teams are eventually going to start hitting some threes. But you think about this year, Cleveland, massive jump. defensively. Clippers. Their offense has dropped off

massively since last year, but their defense is up. It's because their fifth in three-point percentage against, right? You look at the top five teams. It's Brooklyn, Golden State, Utah, Cleveland, the Clippers. You also go down a little bit further. It's Minnesota.

Minnesota is one of the biggest gainers year to year in defense. And then on the other side, you go all the way to the bottom, and you will be unsurprised to find out that the best three point percentage against is against Portland. So much of this is, you know, do teams hit threes against you or not? How do you feel about that, Chris?

I mean, like, because teams are so reliant on the three point shot in today's league that it undoubtedly, like not, not just in an individual night, doesn't matter, but it matters in terms of what your offensive rating is going to be, right? Like if you're going to be a top team or middle of the pack or bottom of the barrel, I mean, three point variance is such a dominant factor in the league today. I thought the article Zach Cram did on the ringer earlier this week or last week. I forget exactly when it published,

but the headline is shot quality doesn't matter anymore in the NBA. So what does? And Zach Cram wrote about how every team is taking layups and threes and trying to get free throws in it in the past, you know, from 05 through around 2018, 2019, there was a strong correlation between teams taking those analytically smart shots, layups and threes with success. Now there is no correlation because every team is taking those shots. It's not a variable anymore because everybody's doing it.

And I think that factors in a little bit to what you're talking about here with the three point percentages, opponent three point percentages. So Zach's conclusion in that article was like this means, you know, because things are flat, just having better talent is what matters most over the course of a full season, maybe over the course of the series. And I think that's true to an extent, but also like on a night to night basis, there's just so much variance, man. Well, and it's also just so odd, right? The question is, do we believe in the Nets' massive defensive improvement or that's when it's so hard to tell, right? Have these teams improved greatly defensively? Like, let's just take, for instance, I mentioned Minnesota. There's no question that adding Patrick Beverly and playing him the minutes that they do and having Jared Vanderbilt as one of your energy bigs and them switching their scheme to where they, they bring him.

their bigs out very high is going to have an impact on opponent three point percentage. There's no question that they have improved greatly defensively. The scheme and the personnel has helped them a great deal. On the other hand, you know, no matter what scheme you have, you are still going to give up threes. And if teams are hitting them at a high rate, they are, you're in a bad way. And then if you're already not playing all that well and teams are shooting a ridiculous percentage from three against you,

then you're really getting buried, like what's happening with Portland. Portland has teams have shot better against Portland from three than against any other team. And I don't think that that's all that surprising to people given their defensive non-prowice this year. But you take a team like Brooklyn and you go, all right, how much is that going to hold?

You know, like teams are not going to shoot 30% against you for the entire year. But the truth is, even if you look up and down, this is one of the things, maybe across the league, and this is going for people to decide, have teams, in many cases, switch their scheme to be able to guard the three-point line in a better way, or are generally three-point percentage against and what teams are shooting from three-point? down because of the new ball or whatever. You know, there's clearly several factors, you know, that lead to this.

But, you know, you weren't, even if the team, whoever shot the highest percentage against teams, or, I mean, whoever gave up the highest percentage last year. So take for instance right now, Portland, it's an unbelievable. It is 38% that teams are shooting as teams. against them. Last year, it was Minnesota, who was 39% for the entire season. And then, guess who was right there next to them? It was Cleveland, who was 38%. Now, those are two of the biggest leapers in terms of defensive performance this year. Cleveland, by far. And I think it's pretty simple. Like there's a massive correlation.

Guess what? Those teams are both in the top seven and three point percentage against. So how did they go from being the worst defenses? Surely having Evan Mowbly now being great defensively in the paint is intensely helpful. Changing some of the personnel in Minnesota is intensely helpful. But also maybe that personnel has led to teams shooting like crap from three against them. Yeah. I mean, that personnel matters.

I think you mentioned Evan Mowgli in there. I was on with Zach Lowe this week and we talked about, well, he said how Nick Claxton is like almost as great as Evan Mobley in terms of his switchability as a big man. And I think to tie this to Brooklyn, Evan Mobley, anytime he's on the floor,

that dude is a dominant force. And some teams with the ability to switch screens, you might stop a pick and roll and therefore prevent a drive into the paint and a kickout for an open corner three or you might prevent a pick and pop simply by switching the screens. So I think different.

different defensive tactics, different defensive alignments that teams use makes a difference. And you also mentioned the ball in there, Chris. This season, all of the NBA is shooting 34.8% from three, down from 36.7% last year last year before. It's pretty much always been close to 36% the last 10 years or so. The last time it was below 35% was 2011-12 when team shot 34.9%. And the only other times in the last 20 years that's happened was an 0304 when team shot 34.7% and 0203 when they shot 34.9%. So the 3 point percentage league wide is down slightly. It's still very, very early in the year.

Free throw percentage is identical, 77.3 to the league average. It's been that way forever. So could be the new ball. Could just be, you know, early season. You know, a lot of worse players are also taking more threes, Chris, too. worst players taking more threes could cause that percentage to go down. Yeah, and we'll see if it all evens out. And that would be something to keep an eye on regarding Brooklyn especially,

because, as I said, teams are shooting 31%, which is an extremely low rate against them. The best last year was that Knicks team. And team shot 34% against them. I mean, that is a huge difference, a huge difference. I mean, the best three-point percentage against defense was New York, and they were 34% and this year Brooklyn's at 31%.

So we'll see if that starts ticking up and it gets more to like it was last year, or maybe this is just going to be lower percentages across the board. It might be so. And you say it's still early. I mean, we're a third of the way through the season. We're almost, we're not far from halfway through the year, Kev. I might have this wrong, but I believe Seth Part now,

who, by the way, just published a book called The Mid-Rane, theory. And Seth Parnell, I believe he had an article earlier this year or a tweet about how historically three point rate is lower. A three point percentage is lower early in the season. So it tends to rise. I might be incorrect about that, but I believe there was something Seth had about that. And he's very smart, much smarter than me.

That dude knows numbers. He worked for the bucks before, Chris. I know. In their analytics department. He knows stats. Seth knows stats. How about on the flip side of that Nets game? Are you still?

The Sixers should be patient. Yep. I'm digging my heels in, Chris. I'm telling you. Still should be patient. Until when? Early February. Then maybe it's time to panic a little bit.

But right now, I'm still relaxing. If it went through the trade deadline, he just said there wasn't a deal there. I said four years. It might be four years. Then I would say, come back, Ben. Come back. Come back, Ben.

That's what I would say. come back unless you're getting a player who's going to help you more than Ben Simmons or players who are going to help you more than Ben Simmons come back are you really going to sit out the whole year? Are you really going to? Are you really going to set up the whole year, Ben Simmons? Rich Paul, are you going to have your clients set out the entire season and not come back to this team? That's what I'd be saying. Come back, Ben. Deal with the booze. Deal with people shitting on you in Philly Sports Talk radio stations. Deal with it. Have some great games. Play with this new personnel. Play with Seth Curry. Who's playing.

best basketball of his career, play with Tyrese, who's in his second year playing great basketball. Come back, Ben, come play with this new personnel. Let's see what we can do together. That's what I would say if I were Darryl Moore. I wouldn't trade him for spare parts. The horse shut the barn on that one a long time. I don't, I don't believe that, Chris. I don't believe that. And I maybe I'll be, maybe I'm dead wrong. And you can play this clip back in a couple months from now and I'll look foolish. But I still think there's a chance Ben Simmons going goes back to the Sixers. Why?

Because why not? Because why take something piss poor in return? Why do that? Why blow up your chances of winning a championship? That's the Sixers side of things. Why would Ben Simmons go back? What's done is done. Why not?

Why not go back and play out the year? And then figure things out during the off season. When there's going to be more clarity, more guys available, just play out the friction. second year if there's not a good deal out there. He will never. He will never play in a Sixers uniform again, ever. The odd, you know what, Chris, the odds are a good deal is going to become available.

Odds are, that's what's going to happen. A good deal is out there. That's what I bet on. I would bet on a Ben Simmons deal happening. But my argument is if there's no good deal, you're not making a deal. You're not making a deal. I kind of think, you know what? It felt like we were hurtling quickly.

quickly towards the McCollum type of framework. And then you do wonder. No, you do wonder like when that, when that happened, the injury takes place and they find the punctured lung. The lung problem he has, right? Yeah. That's right. They said there's a report yesterday that he's showing improvement, which, I mean, that's

encouraging. Yeah, but it's still scary. That's like a week to week thing, the lung problem. I'm more worried about Damien Lillard. That dude doesn't look the same with the abdomen. injury. Like, if you're Philadelphia right now, I mean, you go for, you get Dame if Dame says I want out, which he has not said at all. It's in fact, it's actually the actual, the total opposite here. But I mean, he sits out for what, 10 days and he comes back and he has a

a 5 for 17 and 11 for 31, a 6 for 21 over the last three games. After taking the time out, he's shooting 32% from the field, Chris, 32% from the field. Not right. It's, he's not, he's not right. Yep. And that's worrisome, not just for any team that's having, you know, fantasies about trading for Damian Lillard, but for the Blazers that are having fantasies about being a playing team. Still not out of it because all these teams are so mediocre. There's so, the West is just, you're a game back from the Kings. You got a, you get a shot if you're a game back from the Kings. But also, it's not good to be a game back from the Kings,

Chris. No. And losers of seven straight, which Portland is. Seven, straight losses for the Blazers. What a mess it is there. It is a mess. Covington moves to the bench. He can't stop anybody. Can't stop anybody in the perimeter. Your Grizzlies, they beat them up. In that fourth

quarter the other night? Let me tell you something. I told you when they rolled Terry Stott's, you get one chance, and look, the management's gone now. But you'll get one chance to blame the coach. Because then

if the new guy doesn't win with the roster, then now all of a sudden the light shines on the roster. And so when you're the GM, you get to say, look, they're not being coach right. Like we'd be better off with the different coach. And the Billups thing has not been better. There's no question. He hasn't been better.

He's in over his head. He's in over his head there. I mean, it just hasn't been better. And the truth is, Terry Stott's probably maximize that thing. You go look at what they, when they didn't have McCollum in the other night.

So I watched that game intensely. Look at what they brought off the bench. It's outrageous, Kevin. Look at their bench. It's terrible. Trendin, Watford. What? Three minutes.

Ben McLemore 10. Ben McLemore. How is Ben McLemore playing minutes for you? Well, Covington. 23 minutes. Covington 23 minutes is the big one. They gave up two first two first for a guy they're giving 23 minutes off the bench because he

can't stop anybody man to man. Look even further down though. It's like C.J. Ellaby and Dennis Smith Jr. They didn't play though. I mean, no, no, no. That's the other things that are available though for you. Like if you don't want to, if you say, oh, these

guys off our bench ain't that ain't so hot. Like maybe you have some other guys that you could give some run to, but then you look at who else would you be playing? And it's like, good grief. You know, I was thinking about this with that Grizzlies Blazers game. I say Billups is in over his head. And I don't, and I don't necessarily mean like that is some knock against his own abilities as a coach.

I think every rookie head coach goes through this at some point where feeling out like when to call a time out, you know, figuring out your rotations, figuring out your system. And the personnel with Portland is undeniably, to me, the root cause of their problems, the personnel, which is on Al Shea. He's the one who determined the personnel. But you gave a rookie head coach five years to solve this problem. That's all Shea's mistake. And if, what if Billups isn't a good head coach?

And you got this during this transitional period here with the Blazers, where there needs to be rostered. changes. You got a superstar in Dame who might want out eventually, who also might need surgery, who's making $50 million and he's 31 years old and who knows what he's going to look like on the other side of surgeries. If he does need to go it, undergo it for the abdomen injury. You gave up two first round picks for Covington who can't stop anybody. Now he's coming off the bench. Like I just think about all of the mistakes that Olshe made the past couple years, especially the summer Chris.

And I keep coming back to for Portland here. It's at a point where what what what do you do? I mean, like is McCollum for Simmons really a solve here? I mean, like how much needs to change for this team to suddenly start looking like it did three, four years ago when they made a West Finals? And when they actually looked more competitive

with their first round serious losses, I don't know what you do. I don't know. You do the best you can to flip over the roster. to build around Damie Lillard because he has come out and said, I want to be part of the solution. And so that is your task. If you gave me that Portland job, that would be my task immediately.

How can I best, what is the best way to build around this guy? And obviously there is a massive limitation to what I have right now. So how can I flip what I do have, these assets, to try to build around this guy, the best way I can? and it Lillard is 31 though, Chris. I understand. I understand.

But Kevin, Chris Paul was just 36 in the NBA finals as the leading a team there. Chris Paul. Chris Paul doesn't need to jump though. What? What I'm saying is Chris Paul's game,

I mean, Lillard is an interior finisher. He's not a dunker, but he's very athletic. His burst and speed, change of direction ability. I think that's why this abdomen injury is affecting his performance

so significantly because of like the athletic prowess that he has. Chris Paul, I mean, he can play slow. So can Lillard. Lillard. Lillard's a shooter. I don't know. I mean, we just watched him at 12, 3-pointers in a playoff game.

I mean, look, shouldn't 30% from the field, 30% from 3, that abdomen injury, he doesn't seem to be moving with the same explosiveness or burst. That abdomen injury 100% is making a different. with him. And who knows, maybe there could be other stuff bothering him. But for Portland here, like I said, 31 years old, Chris,

31 years old, he has the serious abdomen injury that might be limiting his play. He's making $40 million, $42 next year, 45 the year after 48 the year after that. Portland at least, I've said this recently to you, they at least need to think about maybe

we go the rebuild route because our team needs so many changes. So many new, the young players that need to develop, so many veterans that we need to add that in two, three years, can we really get that done for Dame? To me, it seems like a path that might just be endless. And there's no solution there. I think when you have a guy like Damien Lillard, you should do everything possible. But they also kind of have done everything possible. You might have four more seasons of him being amazing. I get what you're saying. You're right. 100%. And by the way, the people say to me, Kevin never says blow it up anymore.

Well, that's because they change the lottery odds. It's not as appealing as an option anymore. You don't get 25% odds at the number one pick for having the worst record anymore. It's 14% flat for the top, top three teams. So that's why I'm not as like enthusiastically saying Portland should blow it up. A couple years ago, I'd be saying that right now, Chris, but the rules changed. But it's still, to me, a path that should be in serious consideration here. I know he's Damien Lillard, but you need so much.

You yourself said it. Change the whole roster around him. That's not easy to do. That's hard to do. Well, I actually think. You might change the roster and it could come back worse. No, but I think you do have like veterans that you could move around. I mean, look, step number one is getting to be.

What are you going to get for Nirkich and Covington? What are you going to get? I don't get much. Maybe, I mean, not much, but maybe something better than what you've got in terms of fit. you know what I mean? I think it's hopeless. Hopeless. Yeah, I think they need to make two big moves.

And then if that doesn't work, then you blow it up. To me, that's what you do. You try to train McCollum and a whole bunch of picks for Simmons and then try to flip Nurkich for like a center who can shoot threes, a la Miles Turner. To me, that's what they should do. That's what they should go for. Roll it out there.

See how it works. Maybe Damien lowered by that point is looking like the demon-lood. I was just saying. I know, I know, but like, I'm saying you do that. No, but like you do that and then you blow it up. That to me is the solution. But like I don't think if that works, anything's going to work is what I would say. So like you give it this season after undergoing a bunch of chains this year.

And then summer you consider trading dame. That to that to me is the most sensible approach if I were in there in that GM spot. That's what I would do. I would consider I would consider blowing it up now, Chris. I would. I mentioned Chris Paul. Chris Paul is part of a team that somehow was in the NBA finals last year but has gotten even better. And they win by 20 over the Wizards last night.

They are now tied for the best record with the Warriors. They have been absolutely fantastic this season and consistently fantastic. Those two teams both with great, great records as we are heading towards the Christmas break. And interestingly enough, while they have been amazing, that team on the flip side on the 20-point loss of that is a team that we talked about early in the season. And we were like, man, if you take a screenshot of the standings right now, they're number one.

The number one seed is the Washington Wizards. And we liked kind of off-season they had. We liked, you know, the collection that they've got around Brad Beale, that's certainly much better from top to bottom, even if it lacked star power. And my God, they've cratered, Kevin. I mean, we were talking about what a cool story it was. Best start in 40 years.

Wes Unseld Jr. is, you know, coaching now. And there's some synergy there because the last time they started off this great was when Wes Unseld was playing for the Washington Bullets. And damn, man, like, there you look up. and it's 15 and 15. And like, what happened? Yeah, what happened? They're 10 and 3 start followed by 5 and 12.

The number 25 offensive rating over this stretch, number 27 defensive rating. I don't know, man. Like, I, I, we liked them. Yeah, we liked them. We liked them. We liked them. It's like we went on, it's like we went on two great first dates. And then the third date, just something.

It all fell apart and you never saw him again. I don't want to see him again. I mean, look, I know you're playing against Phoenix last night. And I know they've been on this road swing. But you got Brad Beal, 26 points, 11 for 18 for the field. Great. That was one of his best games of the season. And then you have, I'm serious, Chris.

I'm not joking. One of his best games. the year. You have 13 combined points from Caldwell Pope and Coosma. You have zero from Daniel Gafford, who starts for you at center. Then off your bench, the bench has been pretty good this year, right? You got double digits from Netto, Montrez, Denny Avija, some guys, you know, performing a little bit, but like, you look up and down and it's like late earlier in the year Kuzma was giving you stuff and it was like, man, look how good Kuzma looks now.

And Caldwell Pope was having some moments. It's like, wow. And Daniel Gafford, for that matter, right, was a guy that was really a steal for them last year, post trade deadline and really helped them make a run at the end of the year. And it's like, I mean, 20 minutes, 0.5 rebounds? Like, you could throw a dead person out there, and the ball's going to hit them five times.

It's ridiculous. He's got seven foot tall and athletic. I mean, I think for Washington, losing to Phoenix, nothing wrong with that. That team is a machine. Like, any Wizards fan who might have watched the Sons for the first time this season going against them, like, damn, you got a show in terms of that team creating open shot opportunities. They're a machine. But everything you just said about Washington,

I mean, this team doesn't have a traditional point guard. Beal and Dinwiddie are more combo guards. Well, but Dinwiddie's not in and he wasn't good when he was. I know, and Aaron Holiday plays last night. But, you know, Dinwiddie has not been great. Has it looked like the same guy coming back from his injury. Like there's some silver linings from Washington. Denny Avdia gets better all the time.

He's been individually, very good defensively this year. he's shooting the ball well the past couple games. It's only a couple of games but it's good to see at least. So for Washington, everything I just said about Portland, Chris, everything I just said, copy and paste. Copy and paste.

Where Washington should be thinking about do we want to build and give $50 million to Bradley Beale when we need all these roster changes around him? It's the same questions. Same situation. Well, and it's now seven of eight that they have lost and the only win is

Detroit by three points. And Detroit's, I think, lost, I think they've lost every game for the last 10. I think they're 0 and 10 in their last 10. So, I mean, you had a three point win against Detroit and every other game you've played in the last eight games. In overtime, too. Yeah. You need an extra time.

I mean, including just losing, forget the Phoenix, right? Like, there's a lot of teams that they're going to get. their ass kick by Phoenix. He lost by 14 to freaking Sacramento. Like, what happened? I have a question for you,

Chris. Yeah. I had a Wizards fan messaged me the other day on Instagram, and they're like, I love Brad Beal, but is he really a $50 million

dollar player? Oh, God. Out on Beal, huh? Yeah, he's out on Beal. And like, I know,

I know other Wizards fans that feel that way. I've not talked with Joe House about it yet, our friend. But I want to ask Joe, house that same question because

yes. Is he? Yes. You think yes? The guy we've seen this year, 23 points per game, 28% from three. This version of Brad Beal

has not been very good. But, I mean, look. Can he get back to the Brad Beal? I can't let you do this. Because anytime it's something that you like,

then you say, very small sample size so far. And anytime that it's going to support you know, that a guy might be a bum or something, then it's like, hey, look, look at what his numbers in right now. I love Bradley Beale. I've written features about Bradley Beale. I understand.

But like the Beal we've seen in 27 games, you yourself said earlier were a third through the season. I mean, like it is a small sample, but it is a third through the season. It took it to the last two weeks of the season for Step Curry to jump him in for the scoring title in the NBA. in the end basketball I was about putting the fall in the basket

and he did it better than every other player in the NBA not named Steph Curry is he. Yeah, I know, but what I'm saying, Chris, is the playing field has changed. Like the rules have changed the way falls are like his free throws are down from eight the last two years to 4.4 per game.

He's almost halved the amount of times that he's getting to the free throw line per game. He doesn't look. watching Beal, he doesn't look as explosive. He doesn't look like he has as much burst. I don't know if there's something physically wrong as far as I know nothing's been reported about him, but just watching Beal, like side by side, put on 2021 Biel versus 21, 22 Beal.

He doesn't look like the same level guy that I saw the last two, three years. So, I mean, I guess there's something wrong there. And that's why with Washington, 10 and three start and then they suck since then. if Beal turns back into 30 point per game, Bradley Beale, then we're having a totally different conversation and the Wizards are probably winning a lot more basketball games. And to your point, Chris, the answer is undoubtedly yes, that he's worth the Supermax contract

that he's going to ask for this coming off season when he can become a free agent. But if you're the Washington Wizards and you're seeing the way the team looks right now, you're seeing the way Beal looks right now, you know everything. The Wizards have all the information that we don't. I think that's why Wizards fans who are watching all of these games and seeing every possession that Beale plays are like, I don't know.

I don't know. Are we in a situation here? Like it's Kimber Walker with Charlotte where he wants the supermax. And you're like, no, we don't want to give you the supermax. And that turns out to be the right decision on Charlotte to do that. I mean, this isn't as clear as day as like all NBA player Bradley Beal. It's former all NBA player Bradley Beale who is not performing in the same level right now, who is in a situation. where he can become a free agent in a couple of months

on a team that needs a lot of changes around him in order to accomplish anything. Like, it's a little bit scary for Wizards fans here right now. Okay. Let me just say this. I do think it is two different discussions. Is Brad Beale worth that money, worth giving that contract? That is one discussion, right?

That's what I was answered. the second part is a more interesting one that you know is is certainly worthy of debate which is is that the best mode of operation for the wizards yeah right there is the are you worth this should you get paid this i mean that from a wizard's perspective really that first question but like yeah for the wizards how should they be operating here chris well like if i because because well to me that's separate right is he a is he a super max guy the answer is yes yes Yes. I don't know, not this year.

Well. And I think you would also have like some wizards fans who are anti-Beal. They'd say he didn't play a look of defense the past two years. We're giving that guy $50 million. I don't feel that way the bill we saw the last two seasons. He was one of the best players in the game. But you would have some Wizards fans who feel that way. Like he didn't play defense.

He's getting a supermax. Okay, that's fine. But like, and we can do the Kemba revisionist history. Nobody said the Celtic shouldn't give him that deal. Yeah, but it was less money than what's. Charlotte could have given him. I understand. Like Charlotte, he wanted the Supermax or a little bit less than that.

Well, he had made all NBA. Anywhere near as much. Yeah. He had made all NBA and so he was able to get more. But the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the best days were Charlotte. That was crazy. That was a coup for Danny Age to be able to get Kemba Walker. It is only in retrospect, a retrospect that we were able to look back and say, uh, his best days were Charlotte.

and maybe that wasn't the best. How about a Simmons Beal trade? I would love it for Philadelphia. I don't think you could get Bradley Beale for Ben Simmons. I think you could. With more? No way. With more?

More on top of that? I'm talking picks. Like I'm not saying just Simmons straight up. I mean, it might be straight up, but that's a different discussion. I think if you're moving Brad Beale, you could get a lot more than a Ben Simmons deal. Well, I mean, that's why I think Philly would probably have to add picks into that. Yeah, but they're going to be good. Those picks aren't going to be any good.

Maybe add a young player in there. I mean, Ben Simmons is young. He's 25 years old. He's signed long term. You kind of just spin it forward. Instead of having Beale potentially walk for nothing in a couple of months, you have Simmons who has this first year of his contract plus three more. Yeah.

I just think you can do better. Build a little younger. I think you could do better. I think you could get a better situation. I mean, I just think if I'm a GM, I would not trade for Ben Simmons. I wouldn't unless I was, like, you know, in some kind of massively desperate situation. You know what I'd be worried about if I were a GM trading for Ben Simmons? Is he going to defend the same way that he has in Philadelphia, all NBA caliber defense from Ben Simmons?

Are we going to get that from him night in, night out? I'd be asking myself that question, and I'd be very afraid. because I also remember the Ben Simmons at LSU who didn't put in any effort. I remember the Ben Simmons, who Sixers fans have seen over the years, go through stretches where he's hustling and going crazy on the court, try it hard, and then stretches where he's just kind of floating in the effort and the energy and the intensity's not there quite as often. I'd be worried about getting that version of Simmons the majority of the time. So if you're Washington and like you're not in a winning situation, if you trade Beal for him,

you're still 500 middling or below 500. I'd be nervous about that. I would be, Chris, to your point about not wanting to trade for him if you were a GM, I'd have real concerns there. It's also hard to believe that he truly loves basketball. He'd be out there if he did. I mean? He'd be out there.

And he's never been a guy that everybody references a gym rat, you know what I mean? Like trying to improve constantly. he is an immensely talented, gifted, and physically gifted individual. He is not somebody that would be held up as a, look how much better he got in every single year. And he just loves basketball and you just can't. You got to drag him out of the gym, you know? You have to drag him to you have to drag him to the gym. Some guys, you've got to drag him out of the gym.

You've got to drag Ben Simmons to the gym. it creates an issue. I don't know if I'd want to build my franchise around that. I don't know if it's to that extent, but I mean, I think with Simmons, Chris, to your point,

there is risk. Like, there's no guarantee you're getting the same exact guy that you've seen in Philadelphia the last couple years. I mean, his, I mean,

like, like I said, there's a chance that you get a, a Ben Simmons who is 70% of what he was in Philadelphia on defense because of effort and hard. heart and intensity. And that's a version that I'm not very high on. Nobody was sitting around waiting to pull the trigger for a trade on the 15th.

You know, like there's so much bait of like, hey, 80% of the lead becomes trade eligible on the 15th. And so there was only some thought that like a lot of these teams that, you know, might be interested in changing out their roster. Maybe they would do it. Maybe they'd pull the trigger on. So maybe, you know, these teams have already spoken to each other and no deal was going to be able to be consummated until after that deadline.

And so maybe there would be something there. You know, I had asked you, and you were like, I don't. You said you didn't expect it. And usually, we usually don't get trades early in the season, no matter if there is a special day that comes about like December 15th was. And so looks like, you know, we might have some trades earlier than the February deadline. But that, quote, day. and passed without somebody like right there waiting for the clock to turn because then a deal

that had already been spoken about previously could be consummated. Yeah, I mean, pretty dead, pretty dead right now. Pretty dead. Hopefully, hopefully we get some action the next, you know, six, seven weeks leading up to the deadline. I hope so. A couple of other things we already touched on Clay. It looks like Clay is not going to be back for Christmas. I don't think most people expected that, but it would have been pretty amazing. And now you have a real luxury, much like Kevin Durant, you know, and I think it's fair to surmise that the extra time, given what took place in that bizarre year, the extra time that Kevin Durant had in order to rehab before he came back, you know, we'll never know for certain, but I can't believe it did anything else but help. Now, the warrior

being in first place have this incredible luxury. This was not a hold down the fort until we can get clayback situation. This is a, we are in first place. We can take our sweet time with this and not make sure that he's 100% when he gets back on the floor, but that he's 120% when he gets back on the floor, right? Yeah, 100% Chris. I haven't thought about that. I mean, but like for Golden State here, they could,

wait until February if they really wanted to. Clay could wait. Didn't Clay have a quote where he said something along those lines? He says, I want to wait until I'm 100% conditioning where I can come back on the court and just immediately be, be myself. I believe he had a quote about that. And what a luxury. Doesn't it make sense? No kidding. I mean, because he started ramping up his workouts. I think it was November 30th. They said he's 100% to do anything on the court. So now it's like we're in week two of him playing and practicing with his teammates, really getting reps in. They can wait two more weeks,

three more weeks, four more weeks until he feels like I can step on a court and be the same guy I was prior to these injuries. And when they're at that point, they can wait that. What a luxury, Chris. No panic, no Russian. Amazing.

And I was talking about guys that, like, you have to drag them off of the court. Yesterday, one of the young stars in the league, John Morant, tweets out just a few more days. in Spanish, no less. Speaking about another team, another team, though,

that would have the luxury of bringing him back whenever he wants to come back, whenever his knee feels as if it is no risk whatsoever and that he can be himself because they have been as hot as any team in the entire NBA. They've won nine of ten games without him. You go back to last season, and they won their last five when he was injured last year. So, I mean, it's like 15 and 1 or something. And so he is, or 14 to one, he is going to be coming back.

He acted like in a few more days. But in his absence, the Grizzlies have run up all the way to the fourth seat in the Western Conference playoff standings. And forget holding down the fort. Oh, my God. It's just been outrageous. You know, let me mention this. I got a text this morning about them from Charks.

And we were talking back and forth. And I do want to tell everybody, as you know, Charks has been going through his cancer treatments. And when I talked to him about a month ago, he was really worried about he was having to do a whole other round of chemo. And I'm happy to report he went through his entire other round of chemo. he is completely done with that. He still might have to do radiation,

but by a wide margin, the worst is behind him for now. And he said he was feeling good. So it was great, great, great news. But yeah, he was asking me about kind of what's happened without Moranth in the lineup, and the three-point percentage for opponents has gone down dramatically.

They've got, and one of the things I told him is, it's the craziest thing. literally everybody on that team loves each other. I've never been around a team like ever in my life. I'm talking one through 15. They're all friends. I see if I'm watching on TV. I can't imagine some of the stories you have or stuff you've seen

because you can see the love they have for each other. Just watching games, the way they jump off the bench when that three-point ball is in the air when like a teammate who's getting an opportunity to play comes off the bench, like they're all rooting for each other all together. I mean, it's amazing the culture the Grizzlies have. It's really, it's like, it's just fun to watch. Yes.

It's fun. And every time they do a walk-off interview, whoever it is, they get mobbed every single time. And I've never been around a team like it where everybody is really like bought in all for one, one for all. Everybody celebrates each other. I mean, for those who to pay attention, John Morant has been live tweeting every game since he's been out.

Like that is not common. Yeah, that's not. For the hurt guy to be at home or the guy that's on COVID protocol to be home, watching the games, bitching about raves, celebrating guys that are making shots. It's really rather unbelievable to watch him live tweet games. And I think it speaks to what they've got going.

You guys hit the lottery with Jha. Oh, my God. You did. You really did. I mean, I'm so happy for kids like around the age of your son to have root for a guy like John Moran. I mean, I don't know. Like, who knows what kind of team success the Grizzlies will have in the years to come,

but to have a player like Jha, who's just so likable and so fun to watch and so good. I mean, it's just great. I mean, I get it. You know what mine may be getting though for Christmas? Oh, what are you going to get him? Well, mine might be getting. I don't know yet. But I don't think he would be the old.

one at the at the school oh it's bain now bain oh yeah you know jaron was a jaren was a couple years ago then it was moran and now bain is like i mean is awesome bane is awesome i i love he is he has uh captured their hearts and minds there's no question i love desmond bain like he he's

he's a great character just the name desmond bain everything. The way he looks on the court, you know, with his frame and the style of play. He's so smart. So smart. I love the trash talk he had a couple weeks ago against Josh Green. I want more trash talk. I love, I'm a big trash talk guy

when it's friendly, you know? I mean, like and that was a, you know, a little little bit of personal. A little out of his name. A little bit, but I like that. I like it. We've got more Zion updates and God, every damn time, Kevin. It's depressing as hell. Yeah.

An injection? Nice pivot from John Moran to the Grizzlies to Zion, Chris. Was that intentional? Hey, you ever heard that old Garth Brooks song? Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. Sometimes God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers, Kevin, as I pivot from jaw to Zion. Holy mackerel. An injection in the foot and we'll check it out in a month and a half.

Yeah. just not great. Not great. And I'm a Zion fan. You could say he's played as many games as Greg Oden through his first three years. Or you can say he's played way more games than Joe Al-Lambide through his first three years. You know, that's the half-class full perspective. He's played more than a beat.

You know, half-class empty is the Odin side. And we don't know what way it's going to go. We don't know what's way it's going to go. You don't know. I mean, he could play 15 years and be a Hall of Famer, and we're talking about him on the NBA. He could be on the NBA 100, Chris. He could be in the NBA 125 years,

but he could also be another one of those stories where what if, what if he could say healthy? And we don't, we just don't know. We don't know. Generational talent. There's no question. I mean, he was one of the last season. He was one of the 15 best guys in the league,

which is saying a lot considering how much talent there is in the NBA right now. When you and I did the show, I remember at one point we did the show. And we said, we were talking about him. And he was in the middle of one of these amazing runs. And I had just seen him in person. And you had said, you had asked me about kind of like where he was. And I said, look, I don't know how I would answer in terms of if I'm trying to rank a ball. And I said, but if you lined up every player in the league.

and weren't choosing teams, and you said you got to win this game tonight? Bro, he is. Even at one point last year, he was going to be one of the top ten guys you picked. That's how good he was. He was a force of nature. You go back and watch some of those games when he was at his best, and he is unstoppable. Like really, totally unstoppable.

his last 46 games because January 29th was the date Stan Van Gundy started using him more of in like a point guard playmaking role. Last 46 games of the season, average 28 points per game, 7.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists to only 2.8 turnovers, shot 62% from the floor, 32% from 3, 70% from the line, and average 33.3 minutes per game over his last 46 games. He was one of the 15 best players in all of basketball at age 20. At age 20, Chris. I know. I know. The other note we need to get to, we had mentioned how great it was to see Isaiah Thomas

was still chasing the dream. And we talked about how much we loved him in that run that he had. And you talked about how special that run was to you. And we were hopeful we get to see him. We didn't realize it'd be this quick. He went down in the G League. He murdered everybody. in one game.

And then yesterday it's announced he gets signed by the Lakers. So we are going to get to CIT. And I mean, I'm very, very, very, very happy to see Isaiah Thomas get an opportunity with that 10-day contract with the Lakers. It's a good chance there. I'm disappointed about the fact that they're kind of doing this

because they have 400 guys in the health and safety protocols. We were going to talk about health and safety protocols and everything that's going on. But I'm going to ask you, are you fine with not talking about it. I think our, I am so tired of this, man. I, I texted my buddies last night. I said, I can't take this again. I pulled up my timeline on Twitter. The whole damn thing was about

COVID. And I'm like, I can't do this again. I don't know. I really can. I mean, I, I, here's what I'd say to that, Chris. Like, I think it's, this is kind of us speaking to the listeners too. We're kind of asking them. Like, do you want us to talk about it? I mean, because I, I think on one hand, it's, we cover the league and it's an important. thing to talk about. But I also think what is there to say unless the NBA makes a decision

like we're going to pause play. We're going to, you know, if there's a game cancellation, then you talk about it. I said this to you on Tuesday and this is all I'll say this week. They've announced, this is the player's decision.

They've announced they're going to ramp up testing. That is not going to go the way they want it to go. Just trust me. Well, it's going to find more positives. You have seen over the course of the last 48 hours. how many positives they pulled within the last 48 hours. Now ramp that up and start testing every single person involved.

As long as the rest of the world is going out and acting like we're not in a pandemic anymore, when you're going to have 20-year-old guys traveling the country, going out, hanging out with strangers, hanging out with friends, Going out places, going out to eat, playing in arenas with 18,000 people, going in locker rooms, being in close quarters, playing basketball games against you. Like, it is what it is. You're going to have positives, and you're going to have a boatload of them. And yes, there will be a lot of guys that are asymptomatic.

There will be a lot of guys that don't know what's going on. But I would just tell you, if they ramp up testing in the manner that they say they're going to ramp up testing, What they will find is an immense amount of positives, and it will threaten the games. And what's going to be interesting is if they ramp this up soon, what happens if it messes up the Christmas? That's their day. It's their holiday. It's when a lot of people start watching the NBA for the first time all year. You're going to go field one of these teams or not be able to field the team?

When it comes to that, I just think there's going to be big decisions made. and my prediction will be the business will be at stake in terms of money being brought in, whether that means fans in the stands, whether that means games even being able to be played. And then you are going to see a different decision be made. The decision they made is going to make things worse in the short term, I bet, in terms of canceling games, people sitting out, whatever. And they'll do the, as soon as it starts to cost everybody a boatload of money again, they'll do the evolving protocols thing and figure out some way to maybe not make it as devastating.

I mean, I don't know the solutions here. I mean, we're almost at the two-year mark. We are at the two-year mark because considering it started in, you know, late 2019. we are at the two-year mark. But, I mean, we don't know everything there is to know about this variant yet. Omicron. Early indications, South Africa, their health minister had a press conference, I think, on early Friday. And they said, like, hospitalizations are way down.

I mean, serious infection is way down when Amacron. You know, the difference between South Africa and maybe the United States or the rest of the world is. is I believe the numbers said 70 to 80% of citizens may have also had prior COVID-19 infection according to antibody surveys, meaning that they have some level of protection. So that's different than other places in the world where more people have been exposed. More people might have been vaccinated already. So we don't know how it's going to affect the United States compared to South Africa. But early indications are this variant is significantly more transmissible.

Thus, all the infections we're seeing in. the NBA, the NFL, what is it, the Cleveland Brown says, like, half their roster in health and safety protocols. And in all of society, this is going to happen. This thing is going to spread like crazy. It already is. But early indications do seem to be that it's not as powerful. It's not causing as much serious infection, particularly for those who are vaccinated and have been boosted. That's what that South African health minister said at his press conference today, that the The vulnerable are the unvaccinated who have never had prior infection to COVID. So, I mean, we'll see how this thing plays out.

But for the NBA here, I don't expect them to, as some people on Twitter have suggested, pause the season. I don't expect them to do any form of a bubble. I would expect that the NBA is going to do what almost every business is doing right now, trying to navigate these uncharted waters right now and figuring things out and listening to the data. and right now the data seems like if you're vaccinated and if you're boosted or you've had prior infection, Amercron is not so far a major cause for concern. However, it is inherently a cause for concern considering it is a pandemic we're living through here.

And that's where the challenge is Chris, like, because it can still, even if it's a small amount of people, it is still an amount of people who can have serious infection or a serious reaction to this. So for the NBA, I don't know what they're going to do. Well, it's going to be interesting. At what point, do is it start getting treated? I would only expect individual potential game cancellations or postponements as we've seen already. The big question is for all these leagues, when does this start getting treated like other respiratory illnesses rather than something that is killing? What's written about on the athletic the other day?

There was that article on Ethan Strauss. No, Ethan Strauss wrote about it. No, Ethan Strauss had an opinion piece that he wrote on his substack. There was a piece on the athletic that we've noted how the NBA has talked about that scenario in the future where we're treating this like, you know, a flu, which hopefully, hopefully like that that's the hope because it's not going away. COVID's not going away. Like I'm sorry. It's not going away. Well, you were the one talking about, yeah, I remember you saying a hundred times, why are we so focused on cases when we should be focused on deaths?

People are dying at this like they weren't. And serious infection. I mean, I think there's probably, there's going to be better. metrics than just cases. Cases include people. This was for a long time. This was a life or death proposition. And it's just not in the same manner that it was.

Hey, Chris, I see a lot of stuff on Twitter, you know, directing anger at the NBA, at the NFL, how league should shut down. But I feel like sometimes that anger is misdirected at times. I mean, because this morning I read another amazing piece by Ed Young over. at the Atlantic. He has covered this pandemic, unbelievably, the last two years. Won a Pulitzer Prize. I mean, the guy is a fantastic writer. And Ed, the last paragraph of his piece today, which has a headline, America is not ready for Omar Khan. To me, summed up my feelings. But I think it's another great piece for him. So I just wanted to read the last paragraph of what he said, because it kind of sums up our

discussion here. Vaccines can't be the only strategy. The rest of the of the pandemic playbook remains unchanged and necessary. Paid sick leave and other policies that protect essential workers, better masks, improve ventilation, rapid tests, places where sick people can easily isolate, social distancing, a stronger public health system, and ways of retaining the freight health care workforce. The U.S. has consistently dropped the ball in many of these, betting the vaccines alone could get us out of the pandemic.

Rather than trying to beat the coronavirus one booster at a time, the country needs to do what it has always needed to do, build systems and enact policies that predicts. the health of the entire communities, especially the most vulnerable ones. Individualism couldn't beat Delta. It won't beat Omar Khan, and it won't beat the rest of the Greek alphabet to come. Self-interest is self-defeating, and as long as its host ignore that lesson, the virus will keep teaching it. And to me, that sums it all up for me. I'm not going to get mad at the NBA. I'm not going to get mad at like an individual for making certain choices. It's the freaking government that needs to solve some of these issues and build a better system for people

to adapt and live with this virus that isn't going away. Or how about treat it, God's sake. And treating it. There's nobody that's come up with a way to treat the damn thing. Here in the United States, it is a pathetic joke that you've got to go to CBS and spend 20 bucks for three rapid tests. You know, around the world, they're sending tests to citizens? Like, they're sending them to their homes.

They cost pennies. It is a pathetic joke in this country that we have to spend $20. 20 bucks for three tests. When they're free. People start to lose some trust. There's no way around that. And so now sports leagues. You're right, Chris.

Yeah. Sports leagues have to try to navigate things. They have to. Just like we all do. I know. We all have to. Nobody's had great answers the whole time. Nobody.

And they've been wrong about plenty. How many times have they said, don't wear a mask, wear a mask, don't do this, do that? Like, they're figuring out too. But that's why, that's why as Ed wrote in that piece, It's about the system. It's about the process and how you're going to handle this thing that's way out of our control. No question. And I think he nailed it.

I think he nailed it. It was another terrific piece. He has done some of the best work, the best writing that I've seen the last two years. I'm going to tell you what. I'm glad that we talked so much basketball. And we did get our COVID piece in because it is what's going on. But I am still curious, Chris. Like you said, how much.

I'm so fatigued. I am curious how much. listeners, I genuinely want their feedback. How much do you want to us to talk about it? How much do you want to hear about it? Zero. ESPN, everyone broadcast. Zero. That's what I think you're going to say. Unless it's newsy. I think, yes. Like the league decides to shut down unless there's game cancellations. Oh, you ain't coming. If you're coming to the mismatch to get your frigging COVID news. We got a whole other set of problems. I'll tell you what, though. I mean, I I hope people are turned on to that article with the Atlantic.

It's a really good piece, man. We're going to stay safe this weekend. Thank you, our producer, Jesse Lopez, as always. Kevin, I will talk to you next Tuesday. Looking forward to it, Chris. Have a good weekend, everybody.