The Mismatch - Playoff Seeding Remains Uncertain With Three Days Left in the Regular Season. Plus: Udonis Haslem Plays Basketball, and Looking Forward to the Hall of Fame Ceremony.

Episode Date: May 14, 2021

Verno and KOC are back talking about all the crazy matchups and movements in playoff seeding and the uncertainty going into the last three days of regular-season basketball, including the implications on the Western Conference play-in of the Suns' win over the Trail Blazers on Thursday night (0:31), and the tough first-round matchups that could cause upsets in the Western Conference, with the Warriors, Lakers, and Trail Blazers at the bottom of playoff contention (18:45). Then they get into the Eastern side of things with Boston clinching the seventh seed for a home game in the play-in tournament (26:56), and how Miami could upset the balance in the East as it peaks at just the right moment (33:29). Finally, they talk about Steve Kerr voicing support for the play-in tournament (44:25), the mess that is the Sacramento Kings (48:18), Matisse Thybulle playing himself into being the third-most-important player on the 76ers (56:48), and their memories of those who will be inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame this weekend (1:01:42). Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Associate Producer: Sasha Ashall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On R2C2, Cecee Sabathia and Ryan Rucco guide listeners through everything going on in the MLB, NBA, and NFL. They also talk to friends, athletes, and celebrities about the world of sports, and much more. Check out R2C2 with CCet and Ryan Rucco on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to The Mishman, and joining me as he does every Friday from the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, A.K.K.K.O.-O.-Cadowne, Kevin O'Brien. Kevin O'Killian. Kevo! Bono! What a day of NBA! Well, this is now going to be a super exciting weekend because while we do have the 10 teams that are going to be involved in the playoffs or play-in situation in both conferences, there is a lot of seating still to be sorted out and that seating is going to matter a great deal.

First, by virtue of what took place last night, Sacramento losing at Memphis, that clinched a spot for San Antonio. So that was the last spot in the Western Conference to be clinched. Congratulations to Chase Serrano and all the Spurs fans. The Spurs are going to be there. And now all that is left to be decided is who is going to be the eight seed. and that's going to come down to a game between the Grizzlies and the Warriors on Sunday. Regardless of what takes place in either of their games tonight, which I'd imagine they'll both sit their guys leading into the game on Sunday,

given the schedules that everybody has had post-all-Star break and how much wear and tear is on these guys. They play the Warriors play the Pelicans, the Grizzlies play the Kings, and... they are going to play in the afternoon on Sunday, and whoever wins that game, it doesn't matter who's a, you know, as long as they're within one game in the standings, which they will be after tonight, there's no way to separate them by more than one, then whoever wins that game is going to get the eight seed because they have played twice,

they've split, and so Sunday will be the tiebreaker. So then they would end up tied if one of them was behind the other. And likewise. So anyway, that's all anybody needs to know. That's going to be the eight. But what is still, Kevin, in hanging out there is it might not be the Lakers that the eight seed plays. That Blazers' son's game. Oh, my.

Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Last night, Sun's Blazers, for those that were unable to see it, because it was late, comes down to the end. It looks like maybe Devin Booker has screwed this up with a double dribble with the game on the line. And then Robert Covington clanks a couple of pre throws. And then what is a very controversial call gets Booker to the line. He buries a couple free throws.

And next thing you know, the sons have escaped with a victory after they gave up like 40-something points in that fourth quarter. and the Blazers had made this furious comeback. And so because that happened, the Blazers, who, this is wild, they feel like they got screwed on that call. Obviously, Houston, and they were right, felt like they got screwed on the Taylin, Horton Tucker, non-travel at the end of the game against the Lakers, which would have given them. You know, they'd had a one point lead with 16 seconds left to go and go into the free throw line.

So we've had a couple of officiating things happen here that are deciding this too, which the spotlight becomes so much bigger. But that being said, if Portland loses to Denver and the Lakers win their game, the Lakers are going to move up. And it's going to be Portland again in a play-in scenario, which is kind of crazy to think about. Yeah, I mean, Portland. I mean, I was thinking about this this morning with the Lakers, do you want the Clippers in the first round? or do you want those games in the plane to get some reps, you know, guys haven't played, have a game against the Warriors,

then maybe the Grizzlies or Spurs. If you do lose that first one, I mean, I'm not saying that you would rather face the Phoenix Suns, because they're a great team too. Oh, that's fascinating. Like the sons are a great team too, but I mean it more from the standpoint of having those games to get guys going.

Ultimately, like, you'd rather have the playoff lock. And plus there's also no absolute guarantee. There's no guarantee the Clippers staying. The Three, the Nuggets could always move up. Like, we'll see what happens there, too. It seems like the Clippers are there to stay, but no guarantee still.

Yeah, it's hard to jockey four position, but you say, ultimately you'd rather not play in the play in. I do not believe that that's so. If the answer is, you would play the Clippers. Yeah, I mean, and that's a tough part, man. I would rather play in the play in. That's one game I got to win. It's one game, but my. But my reward would be I don't have to play against that Clippers team until later down the road.

When hopefully, theoretically, I'm healthier if I'm the Lakers, right? But there's so, I mean, it's like impossible to jockey for position at this point. And I think that's what's happening in both of these conferences, because even if you look up and you say, hey, we'd like to stay away from that team. like you might play yourself into the situation where you get them anyway. And that's why there's just no jockeying. It doesn't exist right now. It's a type of thing where like even with Phoenix, at least last night winning that game, they were able to control their destiny a little bit more.

Utah is still one game ahead of him. But man, that game last night, dude, I know the Portland Trailways had a great comeback in the fourth quarter. I couldn't help but be impressed by Phoenix still pulling it out though without DeAndre Aiton. in that game, I mean, they had no rim protection. None. Zip. Zero. They had nobody who on the offensive end could screen and roll hard to the rim.

Like Sarge has had a really good season. He has not been good the past two months, ish. He's been dealing with an ankle injury. Clearly does not look like himself. DeAndre Aiton would have made a dramatic difference in that game on both ends of the floor. And yet, Phoenix was still pulling out some clutch buckets down the stretch. Chris Paul, mid-range mastery in that fourth quarter. Devin Booker made some plays.

Granted he didn't have a great game overall, but I don't know. I thought the resilience that Phoenix showed and the toughness not having DeAndre Aiton in there was a really impressive victory for them. But they need D.A. They need to have Aiton to have any shot in a seven-game series, including against a Portland.

You know, like you've got to have Aiton. And despite not having Aiton last night, I guess it was just fresh in my mind. And I was at Grizzlies King, so I just got to see the tail end of that game. And they were up, you know, really going into the fourth quarter, I think they were up eight going into the fourth. And I thought, because I'm sitting there thinking through the prism of,

oh, my goodness, the Blazers might really, they might really fall back. And then the Lakers are not in the play. And though everybody's kind of been talking about that for a while here, because just the way the schedule is going to break. I had it in my mind that I had listened to, I, on my way home, I listened to the first part of Rissillo's pod, and he was going through all the different teams that are at the top of the stage. And one of the things that he mentioned was that Phoenix is like 20th in defensive rating since the All Star Break.

And I would, that was a shocking number to me. I was like, whoa now, right? Because typically, and we're going to find out as we get to these playoffs, Brooklyn, the biggest example. how much is it going to go to form in terms of you do need to be really good defensively in order to be able to make runs in the playoffs or achieve your destiny. But I had that in my mind, and then I'm, you know, right, I'm flipping on that game and I'm watching them give up like a 40-something point quarter. And I'm like, geez, man.

Yeah. I mean, like, maybe, because that is a team that we've kind of thought of, and they have been outstanding all season. But that number was a little bit startling to me when I heard it. No doubt. And like last night was the first game all year that DeAndre had missed with left knee soreness. And,

um, you know, you like, you just need him healthy. Like you need him to be 100%. He's been such a critical part of their defense, uh, all year along.

He's an anchor down there. He's not like a defensive player of the year, caliber player. He's not an all defensive team player, but he is a very, very good defender. But like, that's what I mean with Phoenix.

they pulled out that victory and even last night, you would think winning that game would mean David Booker had a big night. It didn't. It meant Chris Paul had a big night. It meant Cameron Payne had a big night. It's one of those games that you like to see from teams when projecting ahead in the postseason. Can they win when their best player doesn't have a great game? Phoenix did. Like last night, Philly in the Miami game, Joel Embed had one of his worst games of the entire season, maybe one of his worst games ever. Apparently was feeling ill. Ben Simmons was not able to step up. Nobody else was able to step up and they got crushed by the heat. Those are the types of games. When your best players down, you like to see other guys

elevate the roster. Phoenix had that last night. Philly didn't. Well, I know you're making this about Phoenix, but the truth is, I mean, I think it's a fair argument that the Blazers got screwed. And if they don't, they would have won on the road against Phoenix with extremely high stakes, and they have been unbelievable for the past two and a half weeks. Portland, and I know you buried them a couple weeks ago, but they stopped

playing guys. They don't play 10. They don't play 11 guys. They just stop playing guys, and they just went with their guys, which are, and we talked about this a couple weeks ago, their starting lineup's numbers were always good, despite their

defensive failings and everything else. And so what they've done is they've just upped all those guys minutes when things have gotten tough and it has reaped them incredible benefits over the last couple of weeks. Now, it also does stand to reason that they don't need to make a play in because of the way they're doing this. Because if they have to play in that extra game, and God forbid they lose it and have to play at two extra games, this is a team that's going to be running out there guys, you know, they're going to play McCallelham and Lillard like 40 minutes in these games. They're going to play Nerkich as much as they can.

I mean, they're playing, I think would they play eight, maybe total last night, you know, including Carmelo, who was there when they were closing the game. But they have just, they've just decided we're not going deep into our roster. We are not going to play negative impact guys. We are only going to go as far as we can into that bench. and it's been like seven or eight guys, and they've been good. The Chris Vernon philosophy,

don't play guys who suck. Well, and unfortunately, they've got too many. And they've trimmed their rotation to eight, and they're nine and two in their last 11 games of the number two offensive rating in the NBA, the number 12 defensive rating. So, you know,

their defense has been much better. You know, I still don't think they can stop anybody. I still think they're going to get pummeled in the postseason because their defense can't stop anybody. But there's no doubt that, team can score points. We know that for damn sure, Chris. They're going to be competitive. How come you don't believe in their defense when it's been 12th over the last 11 games,

including on the road against Brooklyn? They were good teams and offensively potent teams that they played against. And yet you believe in Phoenix's defense who's been 20th since the All-Star break. I mean, the Phoenix, we've seen it over the course of the full season. I do have my concerns about the sons for sure. But with Portland, we've seen not just this single season, but years of the Blazers defense struggling. And you know, you mentioned that Nets game. And I mean, they have Kyrie Irving playing. There's no Kevin Durant, no James Hard.

And it's not like this was the full strength Brooklyn Nets. And nor was it. Well, no, there was a whole trip, though. Yeah. There was a whole trip that they went on after they had really, when we talked about them losing nine of 11 and it was going all the wrong way. and I am a little persuaded. They're off, their numbers, their starting lineup numbers have been great all season long. It's once they've gotten into their bench.

And so what they did was they just don't play their bench anymore. I'm persuaded by that. You know what I mean? Like you could say their starting lineup can't defend anybody, but their starting lineup's been like a plus 14 this year or something, which is the mark of what, not a good team, a great team. So do you believe in them to win a first round series? And like against who?

Could they beat Denver? I don't think that's out of the question. Okay. Could they beat the clippers? Doubtfully. I'd be doubtful about that. I don't think it's out of the question. I just watched those teams play last night.

Okay. Just curious. Yeah, I don't think that those, I don't think that's out of the question. So it's very possible then, you know, that they could beat Phoenix or beat Denver in a first round series. It's just the clippers that you would want them to avoid. And you could see them going into a second round. That's fair. I wouldn't argue that.

Those would be competitive series. They wouldn't get wiped out by either of those. You can't rule out a team with Damien Lillard on it. You just can't. Like he is on an all-time trajectory. You can't rule out any team that has Damian Lillard on it. It's just their defense. I don't trust them in a seven-game series.

And I haven't all season long. I haven't for years. Well, I guess we'll see. They're now. they're in a total must win against Denver. You know, and that game this weekend just becomes monumental towards everything. Because if they lose that game to Denver, all of a sudden, the Lakers aren't playing, assuming the Lakers take care of business, the Lakers aren't playing in a play-in situation.

And LeBron James still hadn't played. Like, we keep hearing that LeBron James is going to be back for this game and LeBron James is going be back for this game and he hasn't been back yet. And so there's got to be some level of taking a step back and being like, all right, when is he coming back? And when he does come back, you know, is he LeBron? Like just, you know, I could take over this game. I'm going to, I dominate the ball. I dominate the pace of the game. I'm the dude. I mean, it's hard to know, right? Like, what version of LeBron we get, and especially when it was the beginning of this week, that it was like, okay, he's going to play on Tuesday night.

And then it was like, okay, he's going to play on whatever it was, Wednesday night or Thursday night. And it's like, all right, now we still haven't seen him. And we're heading towards, you know, Tuesday, next Tuesday is going to be a play-in game. Pretty concerning, huh? I mean, I mean, like, naturally you would play it as cautious as possible with LeBron James. right? You're going to be cautious, but it's still concerning that in some must win games, granted the Lakers have won three in a row against Houston, against New York, and against Phoenix,

you'd still like him to be there. He's LeBron James. And that's the argument we're having here about, well, maybe the plan could be better for the Lakers because you get him those reps. You get him a big game that he needs, that's a must win. Maybe it's helpful. But like I said, or is it worse because they could lose. Well, yeah, well, yes, that's why it is. That's why it is worse. That's why I say you still want to avoid it, in my opinion. Our assumption is they win, but if they don't have LeBron James or they don't have full-on LeBron James, I mean, now there are different possibilities for outcome.

So clearly, right, you'd like to stay out of that. I mean, but I've been assuming that he's going to come back and be okay because we started getting that news at the beginning of the week. but as this week goes on, and these are pretty important games, if they want to avoid that, who knows? I mean, I wonder how much part of them feels like

we can win these without them. You have Indiana, you have Indiana right now on Saturday, then you have New Orleans on Sunday. Maybe he comes back for one of those, or both, who knows. But, yeah, I look forward to seeing how LeBron looks when he's back on the court.

Yeah, because that is the difference between them and, like, say, Brooklyn. We saw Hardin was back on the court and very productive coming off the bench for them. And so we've seen him back. Like we just had to see. And again, he probably will play this weekend. You'd assume considering we got news that he was supposed to play at the beginning of the week. Maybe they thought we can win those games without him or it or we are less concerned about winning those games than we are him coming back on the court too soon.

Sure. You know, because it's not like its first couple years in the league. You know, he's not young anymore. But I think we know they need LaBron James in order to win these games and to be able to be the team that people still consider the favorite, despite the fact that they are going to go in as the six or the seven seat. you know, the interesting thing is all these teams right now kind of just crawling to the finish line here, or just missing guys, like even Utah, Donovan Mitchell's going to be out for the rest of the regular season.

You hope he's back for game one, round one of the playoffs. But getting these guys back and in rhythm, like, that's a tough thing. Like, thinking ahead of here, we'll talk about it next week as we preview the playoffs. But with the Utah Jazz, like getting Mitchell in rhythm for a potential first round series against, like, like the Lakers maybe or the warriors potentially or the Blazers, those are all going to be tough. Like those are all tough opponents. There's not a single,

quote, quote, easy series or matchup in the West. Every single one is tough. Whereas in the East, yeah, there's some matchups you'd much rather have. And those top seeds are going to benefit from them.

Well, and the other thing is, well, because all the best teams are at the top in the East. What we feel are the best favorites. Like, well, the teams that we feel like are the favorites.

Like if you were, ranking. If we say they're going to be as healthy as we think they're going to be, most people would have both LA teams and maybe Denver. I mean, just because they've got, I know they're without Murray, but they

command the level of respect considering what they did last year and the fact that they've got what will be this year's MVP on their team for God's sake. Potentially, you know, a top three finisher for most improved player of the year, Michael Porter Jr. I mean, just he's been outstanding.

But what I mean, though, is like, even if the teams in the West are in order, you know, of like best tours to like whatever, however you'd rank them, the eighth best team is still way more difficult than the eighth best team of the East. That's all I mean. It's like the Warriors, like what they're doing right now, Golden State with the small ball, but Draymond Green, Juan Tuscano and Anderson, who congrats to him getting a contract and Stefan Curry. Like, we've criticized Steve Kerr a bit on this podcast. I've criticized Steve Kerr a bit on this pod, but you have to give him credit. for doing what he's done, leaning into small ball in recent weeks with the Warriors. Those lineups are shredding teams. The fascinating thing that I looked at this morning, Chris, with Golden State is ever

since Wiseman went down in early April, that trio, Juan Tisano Anderson, Draymond Green, and Stefan Curry has played 210 minutes together. And that's like in 17 total games. Prior to that, and the 50-plus games during the entire regular season, they played 240, minutes. So they played nearly as many in like a quarter of the time ever since that injury. And they're just shredding teams outscoring them by 18 points per longer possession. They've been dominant, those small ball lineups. Draymond Green's having one of the better seasons of his career.

Definitely the best since we saw Peak Draymond and Steph being Steph. And Tuscano Anderson kind of symbolizes to me this new, you know, we talked about it with Portland, trimming the rotation, playing guys who don't suck. the hustle from him, the heart, it embodies and symbolizes what that team has. Like Andrew Wiggins, Chris, he's here to stay. Andrew Wiggins is here to stay.

He's become one of the better defensive wings in the entire league. It's crazy. He has. It's just the truth. It's the truth. Like Wiggins has found a home. It feels like with going to stay.

Like this team, like I said, Kurt, Kurt, not. Kurt. Can't run enough pick and roll with James Wiseman. But sticking to what has worked for years is kind of working right now with this current core that he's rocking with. Well, I think you did see probably the screencap that was going around everywhere of four Phoenix Suns.

It was Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Miles Bridges, McKell Bridges, and Dianneux, and they were all four guarding Steph Curry, all four of them. and this is like near the half court line, and then Jay Crowder is standing back in the middle of the lane, and somebody would pause their screen and taken like a picture of it and how hilarious it was. And it is like these guys for the Warriors, they've got to step up because that is an extreme and was a hilarious, you know, photo.

But it does speak to the level of attention. These teams are now giving Steph Curry as to have him not, be able to kill them. And it made me think of back in the day, there was this coach who was at Loyola, Maryland, this school, and they played against Davidson. And you could probably find a video of this somewhere or whatever. I think Curry might have had zero.

And this is like when he's Davidson, Steph Curry, and he's, you know, murdering everybody. But the guy took two of his. players and put them on Steph Curry the entire game. And Steph Curry went and stood in the corner of the, in the corner of the three-point area and just like basically like with his arm folded, twiddling his thumbs and whatever else, the rest of the game. And so he had the two guys that were standing over there guarding him in the corner and

they were not going to leave him no matter what. And then his Davidson teammates, like, I mean, they ended up destroying Loyola, Maryland, and everybody was pissed at that Loyola Maryland coach because it was like, oh, great. Steph Curry didn't beat you, but these other guys murdered you. And there was part of me that thought about that the other night when I saw the massive Wiggins game and some of these other numbers that guys have been putting up. It's kind of like, okay, great. Steph Curry didn't kill you, but look at the numbers of all these other guys.

And that's what he has done. That is the offensive attention that he commands, even on this NBA level, that has enabled them to just, pick your poison. Are you going to let him be able to get some shots off? Or are you just going to have him command so much attention that he's going to whip that thing around and guys are just going to be playing, you know,

free-rain basketball with open shots? It's crazy. Andrew Wiggins, baby. Andrew Wiggins. Telling about it, his defense has been really good, Chris. Oh, I had a guy tweet me right after the Grizzlies game last night. They're like, Andrew Wiggins is going to do you win, you know, because the game's coming up on Sunday with the Grizzlies.

He's going to put the clamps on Jha. That's my, yeah, that's my destiny, right? I will say this. I bet you get a different John Morant than people have seen in a long, long time. He's one of those guys. He had his last year when they played in the play-in against Portland, he had his career high. And that was after, you know, just kind of losing games, going with the flow throughout that entire bubble. When it's all on the line, I'll bet you he, I bet you get a different guy out of Morant and a big performance on Sunday.

That's not saying they win. I just bet there's a level of aggression that people have not seen recently. Because I saw it the other night against Dallas where he decided I'm going to take over this game. And he was the best player on the floor by a wide margin. And that floor included Luca Donchich. So there's times where he'll crank that thing up and just decide I'm going to. And I mean, if there was ever a time, it's going up against Steph Curry, right? And that's where you, that's how you make your bones in the league.

Maybe he fails. But I promise it won't be for lack of aggression. That'll be a fun game. a fun, fun game. And I know the whole world wants the Warriors to win it. I would bet on the Warriors. Well, everybody wants the Warriors to win it.

Well, hell, you had the Warriors as a top four seat. Of course you do. They're playing for their playoff lives. Yeah, I don't know if it was top four. Against the Grizzlies, no less. I think it was like fifth seat or something like that. But whatever. And the other side, we did have Boston

clinch seven. So they are going to be hosting a home game. Boy, must be excited about that. Well, the other. other teams are going to, like, that's all still to be decided. Washington, Charlotte, Indiana. Is there any matchup that interests you a great deal more than the other? Or is there one of those that you think could knock off Boston and cost them being in the playoffs?

Any of them could knock off Boston. It's one game, and they have really been sliding last couple weeks, especially this past week. I mean, I forget if we talked about this on Tuesday, Chris, but with Boston, it's just a weird thing, dude. Like all their young guys got better this year. Tatum got better. Brown got better. Pritcher got better. Rob Williams got better.

And yet it's been an underwhelming, disappointing season. Just a, I can't, I've thought all week about examples of this in league history. I can't think of one where all the young guys got better. And yet the team felt like it was like having a disappointing season. It's just so weird. It's a very weird thing. And how about this? Even post All-Star break, they got something out of Neesmith.

Yeah, the Neesmith, too. He was, he was like not even relevant this entire season. Next thing you know, like he's playing real minutes and doing stuff. You know, it just looked like. And that's the thing. Like, Pritchard has a rookie got better over the year. Neesmith has a rookie got better over the year. So usually you're happy.

That doesn't work. Celtics fans if you're ranking like NBA fan happiness rankings. Celtics fans are probably in the bottom 10 right now because of where expectations were entering the year compared to where they are now with a team sputtering into the playing tournament when there were a finals hopes. It's just a it's so weird, dude. It's an odd year. I thought about this this morning.

Could you imagine? Because there was a report earlier in the week about next week that Charlotte could get back Hayward. Could you imagine? Oh my God. That would be something else. If Gordon Hayward's return is the 7-8 game at Boston

and it's Terry Rocheer and Gordon Hayward walking. There was a report though that he's likely out for the plane. And by the way, all the talk about the Celtics making this big huge mistake

of letting him walk, that is really quieted down, hasn't it? Yeah. He's been out since. That's because he's been injured, yeah. I mean, that's the thing. And that's been injured. Exactly.

Right. How available are you going to be? And he has just, he hasn't been able to, when is the last time Gordon Hayward played 70 games? The year after he had that big injury, he did. Oh, he did? Yeah, he did. He played that one

out with the Celtics? Yep. But obviously he wasn't his full self. Right. And he did have some games off. That was also like a, you know, the full 82 game season. He missed, I think he had just over 70 that year, if I remember correctly. But I don't know, man. Like with Gordon Hayward, it was a great story until he got hurt.

He looks to get them all like himself. Hey, it'll pop back up if he limps out there and gives him 20 points. Dude, what a storyline that would be, huh? Oh, if they announced in the morning, Gordon Hayward available for today's game, now all of a sudden that becomes so much more fun. Oh, yeah. Because they just, like, you know, you were talking about the reintegration. of LeBron earlier, and you've watched this as the season ago.

It is very difficult to bring in a guy that is going to be, once a team gets used to playing one way, this will be the challenge for Utah, because what happens is everybody starts to assume roles. Everybody starts to, and they know how to play with each other, and now you're sticking guys in. And I do think that's part of the problem that when you were talking about, when we're diagnosing what happened with the Celtics. I talked to you about how those four guys that would normally be four guys that play together,

they just never accumulated minutes. And so you're constantly, now this guy's playing in this role and this guy's playing in this role. And it's very, very difficult. That's why most of the time when you see really good teams, really good teams are also the healthiest teams generally. And because they're able to log so many minutes and build that kind of chemistry, now when you're integrating somebody that is going to be playing a lot of minutes for you and be a high volume guy especially, it's very hard because the other guys have gotten used to playing without them.

That's why, like take in, for instance, we were talking about that Sunday game with Memphis and Golden State. It was supposed to be this huge boost when Memphis got Jared Jackson back, and it has not been at all. In fact, they have really struggled. and it's not for his lack of talent, it's that you got used to what it was like, you know, functioning without him.

And in fact, in that Dallas game that I mentioned, which is the best the Grizzlies have looked in weeks, he wasn't playing in that game, right? That was a second half of back-to-back, and he was sitting. And I think you find that true with a lot of teams. LeBron, the Lakers, there's going to be an adjustment because guys have gotten used to live in and playing without him. There was an adjustment when AD.

came back. There was a struggle. You talk about Utah, bringing in back. And so, and it's happened with Charlotte with Lamello. It hasn't been the same. Yeah. As when, you know, and now they also need to get Miles Quiggis back too. And Charlotte, he's been out. So, I mean, it's tough. And now those guys that have been playing minutes, those guys that have been driving to the arena, knowing that they're going to get X number of minutes, knowing that they're going to where to be. And now you fall into a different role. And it's hard. when you're reintegrating guys, especially when you're reintegrating guys when it's high leverage situations.

I promise you, if people would say, ooh, they're getting Jamal Murray back, but there would be a problem with that. Because Michael Porter Jr. now, that's a different deal with him, right? And it would just be hard to fall back into, okay, this is how we play when Jamal is here. because you've gotten used to playing without Jamal there, right? Isn't this the appeal of the Miami Heat? Yes. They are peaking at the right moment.

They've won 11 out of their last 14. Guys are healthy aside from Victor Lodipo, like unfortunately undergoing surgery that ends his season. But other than that, the Miami Heat looked like the team that went all the way to game six of the NBA finals last year, despite having guys missing in the finals. But they were healthy up until then. And I look at this heat team in that when they had against the Sixers last night. Like we mentioned in passing earlier, Chris, and Bede was apparently ill, wasn't as full self. But the way in which Miami defended him, fronting him on the post, pressuring from behind, doubling when he got touches, making other guys beat them who couldn't. Ben Simmons unable to impose his will on the game in the half court, which has been a problem for many years and will continue to be.

until he can become a shooter. This Miami Heat team just plays with such heart and great. Oh, I'd be terrified of them. I would be terrified of them. They're tough, man. Yeah, they're tough. And just horrendous timing by Embed after the brilliant Ramona Shelburne huge piece comes out yesterday. You know, about this kid and about how he wants to be the MVP and the best player in the league.

And when he goes. And last night, unfortunately, as you said, the report is that he was ill, but puts up maybe the biggest clunker of the year. I think it was the lowest amount of rebounds. He's had all season long. And it was crazy because that article was getting passed around all day. I kept seeing, you know, this big, you know, this was the big article, the great quotes, everything about Embed. And you figure, okay, and now you get to watch them tonight. And, of course, he had this clunker.

And the thing with Miami is... And by the way, he did have that clunker. Philly didn't need the game. I mean, Miami did need the game to push into the four or five. So different teams and different situations here. All that context is important. So, like, I'm not reading too much into it. It's just the way in which Miami defended him and that Philly team in general that was just a reminder of what the heat can be.

Well, and plus, like we were talking about with Denver, like they, they, they get your respect because they've won big games and they've won a lot of big games. They've got big time players too, man. And they've got a guy in Butler and likewise, Yokic in Denver that in any given day they could dominate a game and they could be a real problem for somebody. The Haslam thing was so damn funny. Oh, man. That was awesome, dude.

It was awesome. So for those that don't know, Hazlm came in, gets into it with Dwight out. What do you end up? Three minutes? Three minutes, two techs, chucked out of the game.

I mean, it was, you know what it reminded me of? It reminded me of when I was a little kid, and they don't have this as much, and I know that it became a topic last week with that Rangers thing. But when I was a little kid, I used to go to NHL games all the time.

We had season tickets to the St. Louis Blues. and you had a designated goon. So, like, our guy was Tony Twist, right? And Tony Twist, and there's another guy named Kelly Chase, but Tony Twist, if you saw Tony Twist come in the game, he was going to skate directly at somebody, and he was going to fight them. Like, that's what he did, right?

And it was just like a bat out of hell, And so you'd see his, you know, number 18 fly over the bench and you'd be like, oh, hell, here we go. And Tony Twist would be lied towards somebody and fight him. And that's what the Haslam thing reminded me of. It was like, you have no role except to just go in there, be the goon, and then you get here. In Twist case, it would be a five-minute major, you know, but, you know, now the crowd. a frenzy. Everybody's going nuts. Team is all inspired because he just, you know,

rough somebody up and it'd be hilarious if Hazam does that in the playoffs. And they just put him out there to like start a game and he just rough somebody up and sets the tone. Even aside from the ejection. Like that was hilarious. Something else that I found funny last night was a shot that you never see anymore. He took like an 18 foot baseline jumper looks straight out of like the heats. 06 finals run.

It was just comical and the bench got all excited and all that. But it was just like, you don't see that anymore. It's like this is a blast from the past. Yes. It was like you took a player from the 80s and put him in a game today. Yeah.

I loved it. I loved it. Back to the future. And so you took his player out of the 80s and you teleported him into a game today. And he ruffs a guy up and he takes an 18 foot jumper. and he's just gone. It's outrageous.

Oh, so good. I loved it. Udana's Aslam. And, I mean, he's just, he's been there at the end of the bench all year long. You see him when times get up. He is always in those huddles. It's like a, I mean, it's like a coach. He's the highest paid assistant coach in the world.

Yes. Yes. And he's also the keeper of heat culture. Oh, yeah. Right. Like, that's his, he is like, the. keeper of heat culture. He has been through all these iterations of it.

And so you kind of know he's overseeing the whole thing and you better you better fit in. It's almost like the bodyguard of heat culture. And you know what, man, that team does have that mentality, doesn't it? They do, dude. No, you can roll your eyes at that, but that shit is real. Yeah. No, it matters. I think having that veteran leadership and that example, like men,

mentorship and having good teachers and leaders, it matters. Like, no matter what you do, like, whether it's sports or something else, having someone who can help be a guiding hand is important. Like, it's, you can work hard, but you need to work smart. And sometimes the way you think the game or approach subject matters. And Eudonis Haslam has been through everything you could be through an NBA career. And having a veteran like that who is vocal and eager. to teach and pass along his life lessons, that makes a dramatic difference for everybody on that

entire roster. I mean, it does. It matters. It matters. It really does. And I don't know, it was just great to see him rewarded with some minutes in that game last night for it to play up the way it did. It could not have been. Dwight Howard, no less. I know. I mean, everything about it was perfect. And I'm like, please let these teams meet up. Let them meet up. It was his first game of the season, Chris. Ridiculous. Ridiculous. I loved it so much. Haslam is the best. Just come in there, like I said, goon it up.

Get the two tags. It's going to cost him some money, too. Yeah, it's so good. It's going to cost him some money. And then he's just out and then he's gone. Like, he's just letting them know we are not to be trifled with. You know? And it's like, wait, what?

Edanus Haslams is a game? So great. One mission. 40 years old, baby. Huh? 40 years old. Yeah. He is 40.

He turns 41 on June 9th. So I guess Carter was older than him. So he's got to be the elder statesman in the NBA. Vince Carter was the elder statesman until he ended last year with Atlanta. So it's got to be, it's got to be Haslam. I don't even know if there's anybody, geez. Is there anybody, is there anybody even near Haslam's age? right now because i would dollar 37 years old they've got both of them he's a he's a member of

the eat too and then carmello and then j j reddick and then lebron and then marcusole and then paul milsap then p jay tucker that's the oldest players in the league huh christ paul and then taj gipson that's the top 10 according to guess the site name oldest dot org no is it really oldest not or Oldest dot org. I just Google. Shout out to them. Oldest NBA players. Oldest dot org pops up.

That's amazing. I feel like I feel like I believe your list because of the reference you gave. Their front page right now. These are like their headlines. 12 old school cartoons to bring back your childhood. 13 oldest book covers that tell their own stories. It's just a site about old stuff. It's just a site about old stuff.

Yeah. 12 oldest doors in the world 10 oldest mail order catalogs in the world This is like ClickBake Central right here Oh my goodness Articles like everything is old It's pretty awesome actually Wow my parents would love that site

Tell them about oldest.org This is not a paid ad This is not Yeah No you're right You know but now that I know that you can So yeah like Udana's has them Inigua they can sit around in the locker room

but talk about, like, tell those young whippersnappers what it was like without the internet, right? Because they're the only two guys that can relate to each other, right? Tyler Hero has to think those guys are just older than crap. Oh, I can't imagine. What's he 20? I can't imagine the generational gap. It's like, he's 20, isn't he? Or 21?

21, yeah, yeah. I can't imagine like the generational gap between, I don't know, whatever it's called. But someone who, like, I was born in 1990. I got to experience the world without internet. I know what it was like. Yes. And I also know what it's like to live on the internet and have a digital life. Yes.

I can't imagine what it's like with that generational divide with Tyler. 40 and 40 is probably a bigger difference than ever before. Oh, yeah. Just an old hand in the locker room talking about the way it used to be. And then he comes in and the oldest thing he did was shoot an 18-foot jumper. Love it. And you also never see anybody gooned it up, which is the best, right? Everything about that was great.

A couple things that took place. Since we last spoke, we talked earlier in the year about LeBron not being thrilled with the play in, the Mavericks, their owner and their best player, both came in against the play in. And yet there was Steve Kerr, who is going to be involved in it. We did have a prominent voice, voice. support for the play in. And so I laugh so hard when I saw that headline about Kerr talking kindly about the

play in because, you know, the teams that are higher ranked that have a chance at getting knocked off just if they lose a game or two at the end of the season, they're not going to like it. But the teams that are given an opportunity that maybe they might not have had given their circumstances, they are going to like it. And so I just thought it was good. It was good that someone, especially that prominent, involved, was positive about it, because those are headlines that we have not seen.

We have not seen so-and-so supports the play-in and it be somebody that was involved in the play in. Generally, what we've seen is they're in the play. I don't like to play in. This is stupid. Whatever else. But I do think it matters because at least then you know within the NBA, there is a differing opinion. Of course there is. Of whether or not. Of course there is. And like, I mean, with all due. This has been great. With all due respect to like any player, an executive or coach who says they don't like it, what matters is like for fans, For fans, this makes it great. At the end of the regular season,

like friends that I've talked to, they are enjoying the end of this regular season, even like watching their non-favor teams more than ever before. And like this is all just like individual conversations with people, but like this is from hardcore fans to more casual fans. Everybody seems to enjoy the end of the season more that I've spoken to personally. We've enjoyed it more, Chris. Hell yeah.

And I'll tell you what, man, everything about the way the NBA did this season for the rescheduling standpoint. I thought it was a smart move to drop the second half of the schedule and the way in which they did to remain flexible. They did that because of the pandemic and all that for rescheduling games, but that could be something moving forward to to retain. The playing tournament, I'm telling you, dude, as fun as it's been already, I think this next week is going to be even better to get to actually experience it.

We could get some real drama, some real great basketball. as a preview to the playoffs to come, which are also going to be great. I don't know, man. I don't see any way. We talked about this earlier in the week if the Lakers were to miss the playoffs because of the play on playing.

I don't think there's any way the NBA gets rid of it. It is too good. It has helped the end of the regular season, which usually stinks, become something that's watchable and enjoyable across the standings, from top to bottom. It's been more enjoyable.

You don't have to worry about them losing. I saw what they did to Houston at the end of that game. They ain't losing. And you can say, oh, that's a conspiracy. Some conspiracies are real. I mean, I'm not saying this one is, but some are. Was somebody watching? Was anybody watching there?

It did coincidence. And, by the way, Houston was probably happy to lose that one, too. They probably were, right? They probably were. Well, when you were talking about the play in. For Titta, remember he said earlier in the week? He's like, I've never thought I'd win 16 games and be so happy. wait till he gets a fifth pick

let's see how happy he is right I will say I will say this though Kev is last night I did have this moment where I was like I mean it's hard to believe that anybody doesn't like this

if they are if they're truly a fan of the league because I was sitting at a Memphis This Sacramento game where Sacramento, because of the cratering of San Antonio down the stretch, and going into last night, Sacramento had unbelievably won six of seven games, they were alive. Sacramento was alive until last, they might have gotten the spot.

you know, if they win that game and then they turn around and win again tonight, they would have been able to get that spot from San Antonio. And I'm thinking, who in the hell would have been? Now, I guess people could argue it's stupid that a team like Sacramento even has a chance at something like that. But because they went on this hot streak and San Antonio went on this cold streak, they were right there with the chance. And they didn't even have their guys in that game.

last night. And I thought, dude, you would have laughed so hard because there were so many guys that I watched last night. And I'm like, what in the, who is that? I watched a guy score 31 points last night. I had, you're going to laugh. This is interestingly enough, Rashon Holmes, our guy, which started this four years ago as the, who is that? He only played 10 minutes and he got hurt. Okay, last night. In that game, a dude named Justin James scored 31 points. And I swear, who is that? Like, he had 13 points in the second court.

Please tell me you don't know who that is. I mean, he's been on their bench for two years now. He's not a full-time player. You've seen the name. Yeah. I mean, Justin James has come off their bench a little, but he's a deeper bench player. But he's not like a full-time guy. And for him to go off like that.

31. I know. That's shocking. That is shocking. I think he said his career. I was 15. He had 13 in the second quarter. I'm like, they just have, they got Steph Curry just sitting around on their bench over there.

His guy came in. He's shooting fireball, stepbacks, the whole thing. I'm like, who is this? Who is Justin James? and Mettu was knocking down threes. It was crazy. But there was that moment where I was sitting there going,

I can't believe this. This team who's playing their hearts out, they got a chance at being in a frigging game. This King's team, no Fox, no Bagley, no Holmes, no nobody.

Just a bunch of guys that most people haven't even heard of outside of Buddy Heel. Or Sean Holmes. Yeah. That was so long ago, Chris. The 1617 season. Right?

No, Justin James is the new one. That was probably like, one of our first couple of months of doing the show, I would think. I think that's probably so. Maybe the first month, possibly. Might have been, yeah. Do you still have that shirt? I got you a Rashon home jersey.

It might be in L.A. right now. I don't know. How dare you? Yeah. How dare you? Well, at this point, you know, they always say like those old school jerseys like that, that those are good, like, we call them a music fest jerseys. Yeah.

Right? The throwbacks. So if you ever go to like, whenever you get back to L.A. and you go to some music festival, you need to wear your throwback. You need to find it. The 76ers, Rishon Homes.

I really, I haven't gotten tickets yet, but I really want to go to outside lands. There you go. And the Bay Area, I see Tame Impala, play on Halloween. Oh, my goodness.

What a day that would be. Hey, and you can wear your, your Rishon Home 76ers jersey and cut the sleeves off since you're fit, Kevin now, right?

Cut the, sleeves off your jersey and wear it to the music festival. I'll be a Sixers player. I'll be very very convincing as a Sixers player. Hey, so as I said, the Kings did lose. People think you're T.J. McConnell.

Yeah. My name's T.J. O'Connell. Hey, the Kings did lose last night, though. That's 15 years. 15. It's a long time, man. Bro, they have time. the Clippers. That tied the NBA record for the longest drought in NBA history. Like,

that is something to really contemplate because you just don't see. And man, I hate that because I know so many Kings fans, they are a, and that's a passionate bunch. And they deserve so much better than what they've gotten. They do. They really do. They deserve, they deserve, I mean, And then they see, you know, they see Mike Malone doing great with Denver. You got every time you flip on the Sixers, who were the number one seat, Dave Yeager's standing there right next to Doc Rivers. I mean, it's like, it's not like guys have it left. It's like, you love Dave Yeager. It's funny.

Huh? How about the fact that they passed on? I mentioned Malone first. I know. I'm just saying it was just funny. I'm saying they've got two, they've had two good coaches and have abandoned those. I mean, it's largely a player problem. We're just being real here.

It's a player problem. It's a personnel issue. It's mistakes made by the front office by Vladid Bak in past years. It's passing on Luca. It's all the mistakes that they've made by the front office to the roster. I mean, coaching, like, you can have Greg Popovich there. He might help push him into the playoffs. It's a nine or 10.

But like, this team still has a player personnel issue. And that's what needs a change above all else, more so than the coaching. I think they got players when they're, when they were healthy. I mean, they were right on the cusp of the playoffs. They were nine just a couple of years ago. And now they've fallen back the other way,

even though Fox has gotten better as time has gone on, right? And Buddy Heald's had some big three-point seasons. I feel you. They have some good players and then they have a lot of. Yeah, no, no. They always make. Who is that? No,

and they also always make stupid free agent decisions. Like, you know, they signed. Dwayne Deadman or Corey Joseph or whoever. That's what happens when you try to break a decade plus streak without the playoffs, is you're trying to rush it and make mistakes. And ultimately, like, that's the scary part here for the Kings. The scary part is the fact that the Western Conference, in all likelihood,

should get better. You know, New Orleans should get better around Zion and Ingram. You look at Minnesota, they should get better with a full season of Cat. and DeLo and Edwards, the Thunder, even, with Chegildas Alexander. Right. And maybe the number one pick.

They should get better. Whereas with Sacramento, I mean, I hope for them, fingers crossed for them that they get a top four pick in the draft lottery. I hope for their fans that they get that. But no guarantees.

Especially Cole, who's been one of our biggest supporters, who is the host of the Dyset podcast, which has that new season about, Jesus. And he always does that outstanding job, but he loves those kings. And it's just, I hate it. I hate it for them.

15 years, 15 year, there is a 15-year-old in Sacramento that has never seen playoffs. I feel, I feel worse for the 25-year-olds who was 10 when they fell in love with basketball, they're Kingsfin. And then their entire teenage years and through college, they get married. The kicks still haven't made the playoffs. Oh, my God. Those are all Laker fans now. Oh, God. Right?

I hope they turn it around soon, man. I do. Yeah, it's rough for them. A couple things that we did hit before we get out of year. The high seeds in the Easter conference. So we talked earlier, we had a minor discussion about defense and how much it's going to matter. if it's going to matter at all. This may be the litmus test.

Offensive numbers, we're at an all-time high this year. We've talked about Brooklyn. We know that's what they bring to the table. We talked about Phoenix and we talk about Portland and some of these teams that we may not trust all the way defensively. And yet that team that's at the very top there in the Eastern Conference and also that Miami team that they just played last night. but that team, that Philadelphia team, has been outrageous defensively, especially since the All-Star break, like multiple points better than every other team in the NBA. And part of that is a guy that you did a video on in Thibel.

We know Ben Simmons is outstanding. We know Joel Embed is outstanding. And then they've got this, you know, weapon to deploy against other teams and perimeter players in Thiable. So what encouraged you to want to do a video on him? I'm doing a feature article on him. So it was just kind of a quick little video in prep for the article whenever it drops during the playoffs. And plus, like just good timing with the all defensive team votes and all that.

I think he will be on my second team. It's just an intriguing guy to focus on because of the fact that he plays only 20 minutes per game. and yet the impact is so significant in those amount of minutes. It's just, it's like an interesting case study of a player whose impact is greater than what maybe the raw stats might show. He's, I don't know,

for anybody who would like to check out the video, be much appreciated. Matisse Thaibel is probably one of the more unique defenders I've ever seen in my entire life and just a pure joy to watch him play on that end of the floor. He's so unusual, man. And it's so crazy to have these two, guys that could be your perimeter guys and like the old joke of, you know, I mean, like they'll beat you one to nothing because they can't score, but you can't score, right? Both in Thuypola and Simmons. Like, they're not scored, but you're not scored either. So, but you have these two offensively challenged scoring-wise players that are just devastating defensively. Yeah. And how much can you deploy them together?

against other good teams, you know, does the good outweigh the bad on that? Guess we're going to find out, right? Sure. Yeah, I mean, those guys are magnificent in the trio of them, Embedde, Diebel Simmons. It's very, very unusual what they're, what they'll be able to do on the defensive end of the floor. The question's going to be, it's like we talked about earlier, just to tie this to the Embed conversation is being potent, scoring in the half court when Joelle Embed is inevitably, inevitably, inevitably

going to be double teamed, pressured, maybe even sometimes triple teamed or like, Seth, four guys on them. Yeah, four. For a triple team. Bottom line is he's going to be pressured. Yeah.

And that's going to put it on the other guys, on the Ben Simmons, on Tobias Harris, on Pat he's sable to make shots, to make smart plays, to get to the basket off the dribble. Those guys are going to have to produce because teams are going to try to take away Joe and Labit in the playoffs.

That is for certain. Real quick, now that we do have 10 teams in both conferences decided, we know who is going to be involved in the lottery. Who do you think needs Cade Cunningham the worst? Sacramento. Just because the 15-year drought, because of the 15-year drought, if we're talking context and all of that, if we're talking like who's the worst team in basketball? Well, and they could get something for Buddy Healed. Yeah, they could. I mean.

They could. And they've got Halliburton, right? You know, with three more years on a rookie contract. I mean, I think if we're strictly speaking of the worst team, then it's Houston. Do you believe they're the worst team or do you believe that they or Detroit, Houston or the best? That's the question. I mean, with Houston, you can look at Christian Wood, his improvement all year. You can look at Kevin Porter Jr.

dropping a 50 bomb, having some other flashes. It's not like Houston is without hope. They do have some quality young talent. And they have a whole bunch of first round draft. picks on the way in the years to come. Yeah, I'd say Detroit. I'd say Detroit, maybe Orlando, one of those two teams for sure. But because the best player is Jeremy Grant and there's a pretty big fall off.

Yeah, I think that's fair. Detroit or Orlando, but there you go. Then your back court would be your guy, Killian Hayes and Cade Cunningham. That's pretty fun. Killian Hayes has had some good moments the last couple weeks. I'll tell you that. Hall of Fame induction is going to be this weekend and what a class. I mean, it will be cool to see Michael Jordan, who has.

going to be presenting Kobe Bryant's induction. But along with that, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, and I loved seeing some of the, you know, there's been a myriad of articles that have come out over the course of the last couple of days celebrating those guys. And like, it's not always the case where a Hall of Fame class would truly include three of the greatest players ever that are all ones that, you know, we'll all tell our children about.

And also players that will, like, live on forever because they have been to video, YouTube, and everything else. But all distinctly different, you know, in terms of what they bring to the table. But I don't think that there is their greatness, I think in all three that even if people didn't like Kobe Burr. Bryant, they acknowledged and appreciated how great he was and feared him on the other team. And then the other two, two big guys that went about it completely different ways, especially in terms of attitude and demeanor. But again, both who got their bona fides, got rings, so there's nothing out there hanging

over their heads, MVP level players, and truly all-time great. So this is a hell of a class, man. Yeah, for sure. I mean, it's players that I grew up watching. It's that time of my life where I get to experience these guys that made me fall in love with the game of basketball, go to the Hall of Fame. And all of them in their own ways, their own distinct styles, defining the way they played and the way their teams operated and built around them. Kevin Garnett, my first time ever going to an NBA game was Timberwolf Celtics. and I saw Kevin Garnett when he was with Minnesota

and I fell in love with him the intensity. I remember just seeing the way he played and like I always resonate to players that play that way. I think a lot of it's because of Kevin Garnett and the way I saw him play on the court and Tim Duncan, big fundamental. Oh man, just so dominant without really needing to scream or yell or smile or show any emotion just constantly just destroyed

teams and just made them feel insignificant like they had no chance and Kobe Ryan of course yeah it's it's I mean it's it's bittersweet in some way in many ways to that he won't be there tomorrow

but I don't know it that's what a remarkable human being and remarkable player and I just look forward to the tributes to him tomorrow because he set he set the bar very high man two things number one Duncan and Kobe

both exemplify, and we will see this happen with dirt coming up. But I hope there is a day where we look and we say, this guy was a Hall of Fame player and played his entire career in one uniform, right? That feels special right now in a way because there's going to be a whole group of these amazing players from this era that didn't play it out. We saw them playing for other teams. and there's something special about playing your whole long career wearing one uniform. And we know the circumstances of Garnett,

but Garnett gave it everything he had in Minnesota. Oh, yeah, man. He gave it everything that dude had for over a decade. And T. Wool's fans swear by him and loved that he won in Boston. That's how you know, right? And he gave it everything that. But I do think there's a special of that. thing is, holy hell, does it make me feel old? I went to, I went to Kevin Garnett's McDonald's

All-American. I did. You know, he was a one-year player. It was in St. Louis, and it was possibly, people could go look up these rosters, possibly the best All-American rosters ever. I mean, it was Stefan Marbury. It was Vince Carter. Ron Mercer, Sharif Abdulrahim, Antoine Jameson, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Chaunty Billups. Wow. Like crazy McDonald's game. Crazy. And he was like unbelievable, unbelievable.

You knew. I mean, he was the kid that was going to go straight to the pros. But it was a huge deal at that point that he was going straight to the pros, right? I forget what year that self-this game was, maybe like 1999 or something like that. So it's a couple of years into his career, but by that point, he was already established as a great force in the league. And all those years in Minnesota, like they had some really good playoff runs. They had some really down years. And everything, like you mentioned the importance of those guys who stay with their teams for one year.

And that is critical. It really is. Like, I think it's those guys, the Kobe's the Duncans, those guys, I hope there's more of them in the years to come. I hope Stefan Curry can be one of those players. You know, I hope for that. as growing up a Celtics fan to get Kevin Garnett it is also an important experience

for players to be in positions to achieve the greatest accomplishment you can as a team and to win a championship and for that Celtics team to come together in 07 and during the 0708 season Kevin Garnett Paul Pierce Ray Allen

when people were talking about blowing it up that whole roster for them to click right away a lot of that was due to the the man and the leader that Kevin Garnett is and was as a player. Ubuntu bringing them together. That's it. And you know, you know Tony Allen, you do your shows at him every Tuesday.

He talks about it. That team will always, my entire life, have the most special place in my heart with the chemistry and togetherness that they had. And so much of that was due to Kevin Garnett. Oh, God. He's one of my favorite people ever, favorite people to interview for sure, ever in my life. And let me just make clear. I was a kid when I went to that McDonald's All-American game.

I wasn't covering it. It's not like I went there as a reporter, right? But it just happened to be. I thought you were in your 70s, Chris. Yeah, right, in my hometown at the time. Kevin, this is going to be an unbelievable weekend to say the least. It's going to break my heart to see you in that Wiggins jersey on Sunday, but it's going to be fun to see this all play out over the weekend. And then by the next time we come on Tuesday, we're going to be.

going to be talking about play-in games that night. I can't wait, man. Oh, boy, indeed. I can't wait. And everything's about to get ramped up to another level, Chris. I'm pumped in Jax. Let's go. I know you are. I do want to remind everybody that through the play-in, playoffs, everything else, make sure you're following the mismatch

and the Ringer NBA show on Spotify. Also, Ringer MBA on Twitter, as they will be updating throughout this incredible time. Thank you to our producer, Sasha Eschow. As always, it's great to have her back this week, and I'll talk to you on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to Chris. Everybody, have a fun weekend.