The Mismatch - Steph As MVP?, Impact Player Tyrese Maxey, and Final Contenders

Episode Date: November 19, 2021

Verno and KOC discuss Steph’s performance this season as he’s averaging 42 percent from the 3-point line and has gained support for MVP (1:09). Then, they touch on the 76ers, from the up-and-coming Tyrese Maxey to another advancement in the Ben Simmons saga as Daryl Morey states there are 30 players he would trade Simmons for (11:16). Then they talk about league executives potentially forming an association (27:12), and weigh in on potential Finals contenders (39:56). Then they wrap things up with Zion Williamson and Klay Thompson updates, and Crypto.com Arena thoughts.  Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O'Connor Associate Producer: Erika Cervantes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Ringer Gambling Show is here to help you place your bets on the biggest sports around the world. Join NFL analyst Warren Sharp on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with guests Chris Vernon, Ben Solac, and Joe House to guide you through the NFL betting landscape. Each week, they'll cover everything from spreads, game totals, and parlays to player props, futures, post-game reactions, and more. Check out the Ringer Gambling Show on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to The Mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon. And joining me as he does every Friday from The Ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, aka Kevin O'Bomber, Kevin O'Concert, Kevin O Climer, Kevin O'Conflict, Kevin O'Clymouth, Kevin O'Clysmouth.

Kevin O. Patriots are 7 and 4. NBA season is going great. I'm feeling absolutely fantastic on this Friday morning. How are you doing, Chris? What's going on? Well, everything is good. We have had some interesting stuff that has happened since we last spoke,

not the least of which was last night. Steph Curry is going city to city, putting on a show and getting chanted as the MVP. And so I don't know if we've ever had someone win MVP after 15 games of the season. But if it is possible, it certainly seems like even opposing NBA fans are in favor of this.

And the most fascinating thing is if you go to like, if you go to cities that are, you know, very disenchanted with their team at this time, right. So it's different if you went to Orlando or if you went to Detroit or you went to Houston and the fans expected, you know, to show up are going to be visiting fans. But very good season and on a hot streak were the Brooklyn Nets. Cleveland has been one of the fun stories in the NBA thus far this year. And those are the two cities back to back that Steph Curry is going to the free throw line in the fourth quarter and the crowd that is there is chanting MVP, MVP,

unbelievable, unbelievable. And how could you not, Chris? You know, how could you not with the show that he puts on? Like in last night's fourth quarter, I didn't track the the total amount of dribbles. But in his 20 points that he scored off, you know, makes, I believe at least over 75% of them came off of zero dribbles where it was like straight off the catch for a three-pointer or straight up the catch for a layup off a cut to the basket. I mean, it's just so fast moving the way the ball pings around the court with the Warriors. They're back, they're back.

They're 100% back. The telepathic ball movements there, the motion and the cutting. They have more shooting than ever before. Steph Curry is attempting a record 13.5 three-pointers per game. Remember last season, Chris? When I said Steve Kerr, you know, should have. have Steph Curry shoot 15 times per game. And then he started doing it to close the year.

And it was working. Well, that's carried over. They're, they're using Steph from three more than ever before. The difference is if, if you, let's say this sustains, Hardin had 13.2 a couple of years ago. He shot only 37% from three. Steph is at 42%. 42% on 13.5 attempts for a game. It's outrageous.

It's insane. He's Steph Curry. It's amazing. Let me tell you. you how insane it would be. So he has hit 85 three-pointers in 15 games. That is, he is making 5.7 three-pointers per game. Now, if this, if this continued, and he did this throughout the rest of the season over the course of 82 games, he is on pace to make 467 three-pointers. The most three-pointers that any player has ever made in the season was Steph Curry.

In 1516, he made 402. Wow. He is on pace for 467. Now, keep in mind, second place on the list. Harding, right? Steph Curry. 300 and, oh, I'm sorry. sorry, it is Hardin.

Oh, you're right. No, you're right. 378. And then, uh, third place, fourth place, fifth place and eighth and eighth place are all Steph Curry. Oh my God. Okay.

So monster, dude. One guy has ever made 400 in a season. He is on pace so far to make 467. And he, James Hardin is the only other guy. in the top five that has amongst three-pointers made in a season. And then even like number eight is Steph Curry too. Unreal, dude.

It's truly crazy. What's going on? He's gotten better. I mean, like, like put the scoring to the side for a moment. And like this guy's a better playmaker than he was before. He's finding teammates quicker with more accuracy. He's having the best defensive. season of his career. Many Warriors fans have remarked about that last time he's asked about,

you know, his his all defense campaign. Steph's just gotten better and better and better. And he's gotten better on offense because he's taking more threes because he's potentially setting those records that you're talking about, Chris, 33 years old. And he's better than he was the last time the Warriors were contending for a championship. It's nuts. I'll tell you this. Now, I, as I mentioned in the last podcast, I've covered more than a few rat teams in my career. And the only players I have seen get cheered MVP in the opposing arena were Kobe Bryant in the early 2000s and in the early 2000s Alan Iverson. Those are the only two. And I think those guys, they had a level of stardom that is now rivaled by only.

Curry. And you know, you and I have talked about this a lot. My son is in sixth grade. And I would say of the six graders, all of his friends, which are all big sports fans, I would say every single one of them has a John Moran jersey because he's the hometown guy, right? I would say outside of him, the most amount of jerseys or shoes or paraphernalia. from all of those kids, I would say it's Curry one, Mahomes 2, and there's like, whoever is three is way distant. But at least in his circle, amongst, like,

that's my reference point for what kids like. Like, and it's not just they're all Chiefs fans or something, right? But like those are the guys that break through. They all have their own favorite teams, but they all love Steph Curry and they all love Patrick Mahomes. Those are the two guys that, like, they all love.

And so I find it interesting that now you're going to have this younger generation, right? That, like, look, when when that guy comes to town, you want your mom and dad to take you to that game. He is the one right now. They really don't care about LeBron that much. They don't. He's not their guy. It feels like Steph Curry is their guy, right?

You went through these different generations where like someone Williams age. Yeah. Like you say like the nine to 15 range. That's right. That's right. I think they view Curry as their guy. That was the guy that they first became aware of when they were a kid and when they started playing.

And obviously his insane impact on the game. I mean, look, they all, because. and we've talked about this a lot, you could go out to a basketball court and you can mimic him. You can just throw the ball up. You know, you can't launch threes, but you can't dunk.

In a way that you can't. But weirdly, you know, they do all like Janus too. I see a lot of Janus shoes, you know, in his basketball games. More Steph Curry's shoes than I would have imagined because I don't think, yeah, I don't think of kids going and buying those, but he was just in a basketball tournament and there were a lot of kids wearing curries and then Kyrie's still sells a lot of shoes

you see Kyrie's and then there are a lot of the freak shoes that are on and I think part of that is they look cool and they're cheaper I was going to ask about price because I'm not a sneaker head really the freak the Janus ones have a better price they're like 99 bucks right same with calories are cheap right that's cheaper

cheaper you know what about what about like bronze? Are those very expensive? Clunky. A lot of people, yeah, a lot of people that play basketball don't like playing basketball bronze. Yeah. And I think that's even true for kids. But yeah. Clunky. Clunky. Interesting. Yeah. And expensive. You've never worn them? You've never worn them. I've never worn them. Yeah, they're heavy. Maybe I should go to a Nike store and try them on and just not buy them. I'm just not a secret. Yeah. I would just say, you know, but that they just speak. I'll wear anything to me. It just speaks to the curry popularity and that I think his popularity is going to get even

bigger and bigger and bigger. I wore like the same pair of sneakers for like seven years. Like from like age 12 to age 19. It was like the same pair. Not the same actual pair, but the same type of shoe. I'd get a new one when the old one got old. It was like these black Nike's. It wasn't even like any like MJs or Kobe's or anything or just a Nike, a regular Nike. I could not be less surprised. Just being honest. I mean, I was not a sneaker head. I'd like to be a sneaker head.

I just, I never grew up spending the money on shoes last night. I'm going to keep it going for now. The Warriors 36 to 8 in the fourth quarter. quarter. That's like impossible. 36 to 8. And the Cavs, we had them the whole time and then we let them off the hook, I guess, because they get outscored by 28 in the fourth quarter. And so the Warriors end up winning that game. The other one that was a little surprising last night was the short-handed 76ers going in and winning in Denver, which is not an easy task. They are, of

course without Bed Simmons or without Joel and Bede now. Who do they have, Chris? Who do they have? Tyrese. Yes, they get Tyrese Maxie. That's who they got. Tyrese maxi is looking for real, dude. Well, Tyrese Maxie has been very, very good recently. Curry added 20 points. And then, you know, they, the Denver was really mad about the officials and you don't see this all that often. Mike Malone ran out on the court, ran out on the court. And Yokic is just like getting in his way. And I'm like, yo, is he going to slug this? Even Yokich was like, hey, calm down.

You don't see coaches belining at an official. But something really set him off. I think it, and when something like that happens, this is what I would imagine. It's beyond the cause. Like there's been something. the ref reacted in some kind of way at one point that really irritated Malone even worse. Because guys do get angry at calls, but that's when when you get that whole game. And when you get that mad, it's because you feel like it's personal.

That's what sets you off to the point where you're running out at a guy is when you feel like it's personal. It's not just you're incompetent or I think you're incompetent. It's you're doing this now to screw me. And you're and the fury just was, I mean, totally evident. He's being held back by Yokic. I wonder if Yokic wouldn't have gotten in his way. What would have happened? I'd like to see a little coach rep Dost up at some point.

Mike Malone's got like a good angry face. Oh. He looks like a, like a army sergeant or general from the 1950s. like Gomer Pyle type of type of guy. Yes. That's what he looks like. No. That was a great angry face.

Yeah. People got to go watch this. One of those white guys who get really pink and red when they get angry is. Legitimate rage. Yeah. That was rage. That was taking place. I was got a kick out of Yokin's holding him back.

I loved it. Yeah. I wonder. You know what? He kind of feels like he needed to be held back. He looks. He looks like he's freaking out. Ballones get the.

and everything. Oh, yeah. It's an army guy look. He is, but that is a good win. You're old enough to have watched that one in air, and I'm sure, right? What the hell?

Old enough to watch that. What do you think? How old are you think I am? No. What on earth? You think I'll sit around watching Leave it to Beaver too? Leave it to Beaver.

The original Wonder Years, you might have watched that, right? I did. I did watch that. Yeah, you watched the original Wonder Years. Okay. Yeah, that was in color, stupid ass. Holding around for black and a watch. How about like the monsters?

I watched those on Nick at night. Nick at night was going when I was a kid. And they had like that. They had like Mr. Ed. They had this old show with Sally Fia called the Flying Nunn. You ever heard of the Flying Nun? No, I don't recall that. Imagine that.

You look it up. There's a friggin TV show about a Nunn. that flies. Imagine that. Sally Fields. She was a flying nun. It was a real sitcom, man. It was on for a long time.

Wow. Yeah. From September 7th, 1967 until April 3rd, 1970, 82 episodes like an NBA season. About a nun that flies. Imagine that.

You couldn't get through a meeting with that is your idea now. I promise you that. No kidding. There's no way. first people like you know how google it says people also ask i don't think anybody's actually asking that but but it says does flying nun still exists you get like a bunch of like 80 year old people type it with one finger into google whatever happened to the flying none when's flying on flying none on yeah flying none re-airs there you go maybe they're gonna i bet they won't reboot that one

anyway. How about a little house and the prairie last last old show? My mom used to love watching that show. She said little house in the prairie. Everybody's mom did. Her sister said it was boring. Was that a boring show, Chris?

To me. To you, okay. To moms, it was awesome. I see. So we got a little short, Ben Simmons update.

There was some advancement on the story. They're saying there are 30 players. Little house on the prairie to Ben Simmons. There you go. A mismatch. Yeah. 30 players that Darry would trade for. Now the 30 players aren't named.

I would love for somebody to compile the list of the 30 players that Darrell would trade Ben Simmons for because I got to imagine, I don't suspect Jeremy Grant is in there, but that was the other news item that came out this week that there had been talks at some point about Jeremy Grant, the young player, a pick. the young player was named as like Sadiq Bay and the reporting that came out from the Detroit side was well I don't think they would include Sadiq Bay

and I'm like oh my God like what are we talking about like yes yes they would like what they wouldn't include Sadiek Bay in order to get it but I mean I don't know like the I can't imagine Jeremy Grant would be on that list of 30 guys I think there's a chance really yeah there's a chance six eight versatile defender i mean he hasn't hit shot so far this season but he's been pretty

good the last three years with uh denver uh detroit okayc like at the three years and are three different teams so yeah i could see him being on the list if detroit was willing to add more to him that would not fall into the class of difference yeah but like i would say like there's different tiers of trades there's like here are the guys we'd give more with ben simmons here are the guys it'd be a one for one here are the guys that we need more. And I think Jeremy Grant falls into that latter category of the guys that they would need to add more with the key player Jeremy Grant to get Ben Simmons. But ultimately, though, Chris, we mentioned Tyrese Maxie in passing earlier today. He was the name.

Everybody brought up in like a Damien lower trade. Oh, Simmons with Maxie, so they get a young point guard to develop and picks. Maxie last five games, 25.2 points, 3.6 assists. in only 0.8 turnovers per game. That's the most impressive part of his game, not the scoring, not the three-point shooting. It's the limiting of turnovers. He doesn't make many mistakes on the floor.

As a young player, that's rare. We've seen a lot of young point guards score, but not limit mistakes the way he has. He looks terrific. The Sixers are getting to the point here with Maxie, with Seth Curry, that I really think the only thing that you realistically would trade him for

unless it's a dame type is that type of wing forward guy, like a Jeremy Grant. Like that's the ideal is finding your versatile defensive wing to replace your best versatile defensive wing in Ben Simmons. And so I don't know who that is, who might become available. But like that,

that's what I'm thinking about. And I'm about to say something I might regret here, Chris. But I think Ben Simmons just needs to go back. He just needs to go back to the Sixers and play and see how it feels. Because with the way Tyrese Maxi has developed, with the level Joe L.M.B. was playing at before he's been out. I mean, dude, you're the, you're the missing piece.

Like, Ben Simmons is the missing piece. You remember my, you remember my conspiracy theory long ago, which was in part that maybe some of what has taken place could, um, maybe it is a little bit different if Maxie isn't a clutch guy, you know, but he is. He is a clutch guy. that's a good point. And he is a great asset. And this whole Ben Simmons saga has opened the door for Maxie to really explode. 18 points per game. Forty three percent from three. Not turning the ball over. He's not turning it over. And you know that's not happening if Ben Simmons is playing. Yeah. And so it's not, it's not like him not playing does not benefit.

fit. Like he's already got his contract, right? But Maxie, if you start to explode by year two and you're great for two more years, now you're a Max guy. You may have another Max guy in the fold, right? Instead of a guy that when it comes extension time, you know, is played sparingly the first couple of years. And look, obviously, Ben Simmons was always going to be in the way of Tyrese Max. Like, if he plays for Philadelphia. Right. So this has broke a good way if you are reping Tyrese Maxie. Whether whether you were the same group or not, it's broken well. It just so happens. It is the same group. And so there is a odd benefit from Ben Simmons not participating right now.

Sure. And that is how well Maxi has played and just the opportunity that he has gotten that he would not have. You nailed that months ago in terms of like the benefit. Like we didn't, we didn't know for sure Tyrese would double his points per game that he'd be excelling the way he has. Like I'm, I'm a believer in his three point shot because he's always been an elite free throw

shooter. He's always had great touch on floaters and layups. It seemed like he was a type of guy. It's just a matter of can he develop the lower body strength? Can he develop the mechanics and the consistency and the confidence to become a good three point shooter? I think that's happening this year. It's both off the catching and off.

the dribble. So I'm buying Tyrese Maxi, like heavily buying that this is for real. And the fact that's for real, that does open up options for you if you're Philly. I guess it would be wonderful to have Ben Simmons back, but now you also have Maxie handling a lot of, you know, half court shot creation reps. You're having Seth Curry handle those half court reps behind Joelle Limbide. Ben Simmons is an elite defensive ace and if he accepts it and embraces it, he could be a screen and roll option for them, like, you know, their own Dremont. They're, you know, but we'll see. Like, we'll see if he would embrace that.

But for Philly, that Jeremy Grant, Sadiq Bay type of, you know, package, that that's at least intriguing to get two big forwards who are versatile on defense, who can hit threes up to catch for you. Then you can play five out and those guys can handle the ball a little bit too. you know, Grant can create, Bayes flash that here and there with Detroit. You've did it at Villanova as well. So like that package is intriguing. And if you're the Pistons, you're looking pretty solid with Cade Cunningham. I think they're four and five in games Cade has played 0 and 5 without him. Cade's putting up consistent numbers now.

He's a great fourth quarter moments. If you're then, like imagine pairing, you know, Ben Simmons and Cade Cunningham with that size and versatility and shot creation. Like that's going to have a peel. the piston side too. So for Philly and clutch, Maxie gets to remain the guy on a championship squad.

You get to reshuffle the deck of your own clients and put them in their best situations. You can try to sell. Hey, you could sell this. Philly fans would go crazy. For Granted Bay.

Oh my God. Yes. Yes. Maybe. Maybe. Yes. Maybe. Not when you've gone out of your way

to say difference maker. Well, it depends on what else you're getting, though. If you're getting, getting, if you're getting Jeremy Grant and you're getting Sadieke Bay and you're getting like a pick or two, that that has some appeal to me because Jeremy Grant is not a difference maker. He's not. I think he, I think he is in the sense that his defense is going to be the rock. It's just a matter of what level is his offense because last year you, you would have said, yes, he is a difference maker. This year, you'd say, no, he's not a difference maker. Two years ago, in Denver, you'd say, no, he's not a difference maker. When he was on a good team. Yeah, but what, what if, what if you get like Denver level usage out of him, but with

Detroit level shot creation? Like a hybrid role. What if I grow to 6-8 tomorrow? Like, what are you talking about? Yeah, but that's not like, that's not a fair thing to say. Yes, it is. You can't, you won't grow to 6-8 tomorrow. And he won't do that.

Yeah. He's not going to, he's not going to low. his usage and give you he's, you know what you just described? He did lower his usage this season to last season. No, no, no. Like he has, but you just described somebody awesome and Jeremy Grant's not awesome.

Jeremy Grant is a guy that put up at a, I know, I'm not saying, I'm not saying he's awesome. On a bad team. I'm saying last year, like he had, he had some great stretches offensively.

He did. And they lost it. And all I'm saying is is if the baseline for Jeremy Grant on the Sixers, if the baseline is Denver Jeremy Grant, hitting spot up threes, attacking, close outs, playing hard on defense, defending multiple positions. If that's the baseline, well, maybe now, you know, oh, sometimes that guy on nights he's feeling it, he can get you 20.

He can get you 25. Because I think he proved that last year in Detroit that he can get you it on certain nights. He wouldn't need to be the guy doing it every night like he currently is in Detroit. He would have to be the guy who only has to do it on some nights playing with Joelle and Labead and Tyrese Maxie and Seth Curry. So this is a long way of me saying that I'm supportive of the grant idea for Ben Simmons. And if anything, you could argue it's a better fit because of Maxie and Curry's improvement, Joelle and Bede handling more playmaking. It minimizes the need for Ben Simmons to be the open court transition playmaker that

he's always been spectacular at being. And in the half court, it would further diminish his role already because of the development of those guys. Jeremy Grant is a piece who has a baseline, spot-up threes and all that stuff I listed, but also can handle the ball on nights you need him to. There's an advantageous matchup, or he's just feeling himself, and it's time to let him go to work.

So I'm supportive of that idea, depending on the other pieces around Jeremy Grant. That's the question there. This is perfect, because this is why this is a mismatch. I hate it, and I think it's literally the worst idea I've ever heard outside of, I mean,

you can go get buddy healed, and I'd rather have him tomorrow, you know, in terms of fitting in with that team. Jeremy Grant's a guy. He's not a difference maker. He don't need shooting. He's not a difference maker. Jeremy Grant's breaking down people off the dribble all the time.

I mean, come on. Well, what is he? He's just a guy. I guess Josh Richardson could mentor him. I guess he's no longer there. He's in Boston. It feels exactly like the Josh Richardson arguments. I used to have all the time.

everybody always loved detaining him too. All right. So one of the things that you had mentioned in passing was the whole like Portland thing, because the Portland thing always comes up. But one thing that we have not spoken on is who knows of Portland is going to be doing anything. And you do wonder what kind of mode they are even in regarding any types of player movement because of their situation management wise.

You know, their president of basketball operations is, gone now. That happened about a week ago. Neal Oshy is being... Those are president, I believe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I said. Not a basketball office, though. Oh, of the whole team? I think it's president. Yeah. Oh, wow. And now

you've got Oshy being also being investigated by a group that was hired by the Denver Nuggets now, or I'm not the Denver Nuggets, the Port of the Trailblazers. Wode reported that this has now spurned on general managers to put together an association for themselves because GMs around the league fear that teams are going to be able to do this

and that they don't really have any kind of unification or protection in teams doing this. that if you are unhappy with somebody, that what you do is you bring in outside people, you have them dig up everything they can. They ain't looking for good stuff about you. They're finding people to dog you out. They're finding people to say, this is a toxic workplace environment.

They're trying to find things that you did wrong. Inevitably, they probably will and find that. and then they will be able to fire you without paying you your contract. And this sends a shockwave of fear throughout general managers around the league because it becomes, this fear that that's going to be a mode of operation. If somebody doesn't, if I'm under contract and they want to get out from under it, then what they're going to do is hire somebody from outside to come in and say, I'm a dirt bag or I shouldn't be here anymore.

They could fire me for cause. Now, this just happened. I saw this happen actually. I know you're not a big college football fan, but this happened at the University of Tennessee like a year ago. They had hired one of the Sabin old assistants, Jeremy Pruitt, and they were trying to get out of it, but they owed him a fortune.

They hired somebody, not the NCAA. They hired somebody from outside to come in and investigate and then found, like, recruiting violations. They investigated themselves just so they could go and say, you're fired, right? And so there's this fear that teams are going to do this, investigate themselves if they are unhappy with, and that this is the way they get around paying guys off. But I say all this to say. Is that Scott Frost from Nebraska? No, no. No, it was Jeremy Pruitt. Jeremy Pruitt at Tennessee.

Yeah, he was, they brought in, the University of Tennessee brought in somebody from outside and got, and he's like, they're going to court over this. Wow. You know, but anyways, now a very fascinating, uh, that this is happening within the NBA with general managers. Also, who knows what Portland is in the mode of doing right now? I mean, what a, I don't know what the work environment was like.

But we know that he is being investigated and investigated by not like the NBA came in. Someone commissioned by the franchise. And so do you think Neil, Neil Oshy is doing business as usual? No, he's not. He's not. I can tell you he's not. I've had multiple agents and executives from other other teams tell me, like, they're not sure who the actual person to call is right now on your day to day stuff. That's crazy.

A lot of disorganization, as you'd expect. Like, that's, that's not unusual when there's an investigation happening. They're getting pulled in so many different directions right now. Yeah. And I mean, you've got a, you've got a team in the Western Conference. You had a, you know, your best player who, you know, seemingly was unhappy in the offseason. had that whole brought in Chauncey Billups and the press conference debacle. And now this and it's like, okay, when December 15th comes or when the trade deadline comes or whatever is Portland,

are they just going to be in a holding pattern until they figure out what's what? And clearly this could be a tremendous mess, right? Because you're going to bring in, you're bringing in investigators. you're paying them to find bad stuff about this guy. I mean, because you don't want to have to pay him. And we'll see what happens. I mean, I don't know what's going to happen with that.

I mean, I just want to give a little bit more context from the Woage report. It was noted in there. They'd Olshe signed a three-year contract extension two years ago, the first year of which was this season. So they kicked in the 21, 22 season. Woge wrote and Ramona Shelburne. They both reported that together at the end.

Terms reported by the media. like, quote, toxic environment and, quote, hostile workplace felt to rival GMs as a campaign to trigger a firing for cause, presumably a tactic to set up the voiding of the remaining years and salary on Al-Shay's contract. That's what worries rival executives and has hastened the urgency of finalizing an association that could help support front office execs in situations like the one unfolding in Portland. I mean, like the way in which and the manner in which it's forming.

Part of me understands. But part of me is like, let's just see this investigation find when it's going to find. You don't investigate unless you have reason to investigate. You don't go through all this just not to, you know, without believing that you have something to find here. So with Neil Olshea and all the weirdness that's happening in that front office here, I think the association can overall be a good thing for the executives around the NBA, but ultimately

that doesn't change the fact that this investigation is legit. From what I understand, from what everything else has been reported by many reliable writers and reporters around the NBA. So, I think it's

okay to feel both ways about that. I don't know if you go, but I'm telling you rival executives aren't forming this association if they think that it's all on the up and up. That it's like, hey, here was this article that came out about this toxic work environment that's going on in Portland.

Here's this scuttle butt about how toxic it all is in Portland and then there was an investigation. Like that didn't happen. And if you read later in that article, I believe there is a statement that there had been previously no complaints. No one had gone to, you know, HR.

There wasn't anybody that there wasn't like some you know, big story that came out like it did about the Washington football team. In the nine plus years running the Trailblazers, the NBA has received no calls to the league office or its tips hotline alleging workplace complaints against Olshea sources told ESPN. The Blazers Human Resources Department received no complaints on O'Shea until recent weeks. Yahoo Sports reported. Interesting. So what does that tell you?

Very interesting. Yeah. I mean, I mean, like I'm not. going to jump to conclusions here without all the information. But it's intriguing. It certainly is. The first year of his new three-year contracts. Yeah, I hope. I hope nothing terrible happened there. But there is clearly an amount of guys that are out there that are thinking,

they don't like the way this is going. They thought that they, you know, he fumbled all over the Billups thing. He's probably fumbling around with the Lillard thing. Lillard doesn't believe in him wholeheartedly or whatever. I'm pontificating here. I don't know. And so it's like, well, hell, hell, we just ended up to a huge contract. I mean, if we get rid of him, we got to pay this guy off.

His contract just kicked in for God's sakes. They say, well, how can we get rid of him? That's at least the sentiment that creates the GMs wanting to go create protection. And I'm not saying it's not a toxic work about it. I'm not saying that. I'm not saying. I don't know. How could I know?

We don't have all the details. How could I know? But, you know, typically in these kind of situations, you have, you know, the Robert Sarver article. Or you have the Washington football team, you know, article that comes out. Or you have, you know, there's a lot of reporting or something from somebody from outside says, this guy's a dirt bag. This is all what has taken place there. Yada, yada.

And the fact that that didn't happen. and makes it more perplexing. The thing I'm interested in here is I'm not sure if this is just for GM. This is just for the GMs, right? Only for GMs. It's not for like your lower level executive on the analytics side or like a guy who got hired from the coaching staff into the front office role, you know, international head of international scouting.

Right. Which I feel like those are the types of people who probably need the protection most, not the GM is making millions of dollars. That's a totally different topic for another day that I don't really want to get into too much. But it doesn't seem like the people who need the protection quite as much are getting the protection. Probably so.

Let me say I last night, I went to a basketball game and I watched the Grizzlies play the Clippers. And the Clippers have been nine and five. You can poke a few holes into the nine and five. I mean, they'd beaten Minnesota three times. They had beaten Oklahoma City once. So that was four of the wins. they had that thriller game versus Miami without Jimmy Butler that they were able to win.

But the numbers were pretty good for them. Certainly the defensive numbers were really good for them coming in. And they had some guys out last night. So maybe it's not totally fair. Paul George has been playing at an MVP level this season. I mean, you think he was third in the NBA and scoring coming into last night. But watching them, you remember in the offseason when there was a trade made and they acquired Eric Bledsoe.

And I said, I do not like this because this, what happens is, if you acquire a guy like that, the coach is going to play him. He's going to play him. And I read this morning that the on-off court numbers, like the worst in the league, like, you know, some of them are what you would surmise, like Jalen Green and some other guys that are on really bad teams. But the on-off-court difference with Bledso is, is like almost 26 points.

That is unbelievable. Like actively hurts you, right? By being on the court. He's shooting 25% from three. In a significant manner, you know? And I got to be honest. Now, maybe I caught him on the wrong night, but I'm surprised they're nine and five after seeing them.

And it just speaks to how unbelievable and otherworldly George is. But with them, in the absence of Kauai, now hopefully they get some guys back. Abacca's not playing for him right now. Morris is out for them. There's a couple others. I think man had been kind of banged up,

Batum, who'd been pretty good, you know, hadn't been playing. But they've been winning with defense. They've had a weak schedule, a home heavy schedule. But I think that they're, you know, I think that they're probably going to be in that, whatever six to seven to nine six to nine reign of those numbers by the way chris yeah

with paul george on the court at all times so when paul george is on the court with eric bledso they get outscored by three and a half points per one hundred possessions a 102 offensive rating a 106 defensive rating when er when paul george is on the court with er without eric bledso they outscore teams by 17.6 with their net rating. Unbelievable. 113 offensive rating, 95 and a half defensive rating. So this team goes from a dominant force with Paul George on the court without Eric Bledsoe

to below average when Bledsoe's on the court. How, you know, that's like 150 minutes with both 175, which is George. That's crazy. because, you know, obviously, you know, when they run out, they can space the floor pretty well when they've got Kinnard out there. And they've got, you know, when they've got Kinnard out there, they've got George out there. They got Reggie Jackson out there, you know,

whoever they play it big, either Hartenstein or Zubots. But man, like, that is one of those acquisitions that really can hurt you. when I always talk about like don't put guys in there that actively hurt you. It's so hard with a guy like Bledso, it's like impossible to get your coach not to play him. It really is. Like Tailu is going to play him. If Kauai comes back in April, are they a finals contender, Chris? Not with Eric Blitzel.

Well, I mean, look, yeah, that's a problem. But let's just say Bledso goes to zero minutes per game with Kauai returning. Oh, are they are they a finals contender? Of course. of course. What? If they've Kauai Leonard and Paul George healthy? Yes.

Okay. They still got two of the top, what, 10 guys in the league? I think there are 11 teams that have a shot at winning the NBA finals this season. 11. 11 of them. Five in the east. Nets, bucks, sixers, bowls, heat. And then six in the West.

Warriors, sons, nuggets, jazz, Lakers, Clippers, Clippers. Clippers, only reason they're on. on there is because of the chance Kauai Leonard returns in April. It's the only reason they're on that list. But I think those are the 11 teams that have a shot at winning the NBA finals the season. Well, and you're

pontificating that the Simmons deal gets done. I mean, I'm putting Philly on there just because they have a chance. They have no chance without Simmons or something that replaces him. Yeah, exactly. Because something replaces him or he gets traded. I mean, something replaces him through trade

or he returns. Yeah. Like something happens there. So I'm keeping them on the list. I'd say those are the 11 teams. Is there anybody you'd add or subtract off of that list? No. Dallas. Dallas is a name some people throw out there because Luca could be great enough.

Would you put them on that list? Absolutely. Make it 12. You would not. Is there anybody else? No. No. I mean.

So that's a perfect list you're saying. I think the only other one that you could throw in there. would be the only one that you could throw in there, in my opinion, would be Atlanta. So not Washington. They have a lot more to prove.

No. No, that they're on the list. I mean, you've got to give Atlanta respect. Atlanta was there last year. They were there. They were there.

They were there. I mean, they were right there on the cusp. I wouldn't put them on it. So I would say, I don't think they have any chance of beating those five teams. Nets, bucks, Sixers, Bulls, Heat.

That would be the only one that could be added. So 11. So we're at 11 then. 11 teams can at least have hope of winning the NBA finals. And the truth is there's probably about four or five. Yeah, you'd really cut that list down. We know. I don't know about four or five. Yes, there is. You got to, I don't know. You got to have one of the top five

players in the league, Kevin. That's what history tells you. Yeah, to win the NBA finals. Yeah. Yes. You got to have one of the best five guys. and so. So who does that include? Nets? Bucks. Yes. Sixers.

Yes. So not. You would say no to the Bulls then? I say, right. I would say no to the heat then. You pick them to win it. They don't have a top five guy.

I mean, they have a clue, they have like a top 10 to 15ish guy. Bullers. I mean, in terms of two way, he is a superstar. Yeah,

he is. And also he's having an excellent year. Like he's, he's been great. Yeah. And that would be a, that would be a, that would,

be more of a collection of. I think that's fair. But yeah, I mean, they would certainly, they wouldn't be favored against Milwaukee if Milwaukee's totally healthy. I was looking up, I was watching some Jimmy Butler this week and looking up his stats, 25 points per game, career high, and his effective field goal percentage,

also a career high, 55 effective field goal percentage, career high, true shooting percentage. Oh, he's been amazing. He's just, he's just been absolutely extraordinary scoring the ball this year. Yes. And, without shooting three. I just love seeing guys like that. He's been awesome.

And what would be, what it would be interesting is, is, is LeBron still? Is he? I mean, we might, hopefully he's going to be back at the fold. He's questionable for tonight's game

against Boston. But is LeBron still that guy? You know what I mean? Is he still one of the best five players in the league? I would say yes. But, you know, that's,

We just know history tells us in the end. When it's all said and done, you've got one of those guys. You look through and, you know, Kauai Leonard was on that Toronto team. I mean, the last time that somebody hasn't had somebody that was top five, top 10, no matter what list you come up with, was that Pistons team. And that's a long-ass time ago now. Even Dirk, you know, and I know people want to bring that one up, but Dirk was at peak of powers at that time.

He was. And that would be the closest one. So I would say, yeah, I mean, you probably whittled down the amount of teams that actually are going to win it when it's all seven. I don't think we whittled it down all that much, though, Chris. I really don't. I think there are like 10 top five players. Like, well, you know, you get, you know what I mean by that, right?

Like there's 10 guys that are top five quality. The league is deep right now in terms of guys that you, like, I think, I think you're, it's appropriate is my point for you to say, Jimmy Butler can be the best player on a championship team. I think that's appropriate. Just because of the nature of the league right now, because of the nature of who the competition is. You might be right in the sense of the league is so, there's so much talent now that you might just have to have a top 10, you know, that you could. if Yokic is your best guy, you can't win it. And by the way, Yolk is better this season than they was this MVP season because it was defensive improvement. He's like, he's like an all defensive candidate. But across the board, but across the board, people would not necessarily all have him in their

top five, right? Look, there's a, there's a unanimous, which is going to be, which is going to include Curry, Durant, and Janus and LeBron. Like, everybody's going to have that. right and then you can decide on five right yeah it's like yoke yoke it's luka hardin like it's you know to take your pick it's like all a matter of flavor

what you prefer kawai when he's healthy of course so right you might be able to have a top 10 guy like there might be 10 guys that could lead you to a championship now and usually there's been about five like over the course of history the divide is like Jason Tate that that's like the dividing line well it's like tate him isn't quite in that category but he's

right below it like the 12th 13th 14th 15th guy and a little a little bit lower than he needs to be yep one guy that we did think was going to be a massive superstar but it hasn't played out the correct way is zionn williamson who was off the charts last year 27 points a game totally dominant the whole thing there's an update on him yesterday and he said he's cleared for contact and it's going to start with one-on-ones, and then the full team, and then who knows. But it's still like, just everything about this from the very beginning has been weird.

And, you know, I was reading this article by Brown Winhorse this morning, and he mentioned in there in passing, they still have never said when he got the surgery. They've never said, like, therefore, you don't even, it's hard to even know if this timeline is a fair timeline or when you could possibly expect them back. Obviously, they got egg on their face from before the season when they said, we expect them to be back for the regular season.

Zion said, I expect to be back for the first real game, meaning I just missed the preseason. And now we're to almost Thanksgiving. And they still haven't even said, when he got hurt, how he got hurt, when he got the surgery, and you still have a totally and completely unclear timeline as to when he could be back on the court. Like everything, everything about this whole deal has been strange, Kevin. Really?

Even yesterday's update was strange. It's like, okay, he's cleared for contact. Now he can start doing one-on-ones, and then he'll do five-on-fives, And then, you know, he's going to get another scan, you know, next week. We'll kind of see from there. And it's like, what? So strange.

We haven't known anything ever. Like, is he just going to show back up on the court one day? It would be like, oh, wow, sounds playing. Like, it's just bizarre, but it's not a, it's one of those that it feels like it should have been good news yesterday. Like, oh, wow, he's cleared for contact. except the way it was all framed didn't make me think positively about the situation at all. It's weird. Can I say one thing that might make you think positive, Chris?

All right. One thing. Last week, we talked about like feeling bad for Pelicans fans with just how weird everything is. Like it sucks to deal with this with your star player. Here's one thing to make you feel good. Paulo Bencaro. Chat Holmgren. Jade and Hardy. I'm serious. Like these guys on paper, Chris, if you're a Pelicans fan,

if you're David Griffin, that's such a bad thing to have good odds of getting one of those dudes. It's not such a bad thing. Is it? I mean, is that really such a bad thing to have a chance at pairing a six foot 10, 250 pound versatile scoring big man and Paulo Bancaro with Zion Williamson? is it such a bad thing to pair a seven foot playmaking guard and chet homegren who can protect the rim who can space the four to three is it such a bad thing for jaden hardy your six foot four shot making guard who can hit threes from 30 feet who can run pick and roll with zion is it such a bad thing to have that guy no guarantees you end up with a top pick with the way the lottery are it's today but the fact is chris is that the team as is is not enough it's not enough one of

those guys could make it enough. And so there's a silver lining here. That takes too long. It takes too long. It takes a long time. It does. But if you have that guy in your roster, maybe like if Zion is developing with Bencaro or a home grant or Hardy, you know, makes him happy. He happily signs that contract extension and those guys grow into stars together. And then the pelicans are competing for championships. This is like the best case scenario that I'm outlining here. But the best case scenario happens. Like we've seen it happen. It happens. Sometimes it might not,

and it never happened to the Warriors. It happens to all these teams that turn into consistent winners over the course of time. Sometimes you don't get lucky. Sometimes you don't. Sometimes you're the magic. Sometimes you are the warriors. We'll see how it turns out for the Pelicans. Point being is that there's some major talent at the top of the draft that could be a perfect pairing

with Zion Williamson and their existing young players. So what I'm saying is that despite how. ugly everything is now. There could be a present at the end. There could be. The funniest part of the article, which was not supposed to be funny, but I must admit I chuckled. It said, what are the pelicans doing to make sure Williamson stays healthy and wants to be in New Orleans? And it says, the pelicans have poured resources, time, and energy to protect Williamson's health. They have changed members of their staff and even changed some of their culinary practices in an attempt to I couldn't even, I can't even read it without laughing.

Finish, finish. I want to hear the rest of it. It says they have changed their culinary practices in an attempt to support him. What does that even mean? They started making them, they change their culinary practices in an attempt to support him. Like they stopped feeding him or they only, when they making him eat clean food or they just giving him everything. he wants to eat. I don't even know what that means. They've changed their culinary to support him.

I like this line from that wind horse Andrew Lopez article. It says they changed their culinary practices in an attempt to support him. They've talked with him about protecting his body from extra hits. Griffin has stood up for him privately, sending video clips to the league. Griffin ripped the referees publicly for not protecting Williamson. So far, it has not not shown terrific results, but everyone is going to keep trying. I just love that line in there. Everyone is going to keep trying. It's like,

you're going to keep going, guys. We're going to keep doing it. And by trying, I'm telling you, Chris, tanking, tanking and holding him out as long as you possibly can might be the best

thing you've ever done. I mean, like, I don't know if David Griffin is going to survive this. He is on the hot seat. As we talked about previously, Jake Fisher reported that from Bleach, report. He's on the hot seat. So we'll see if he survives it. But for the franchise, this could

be the best thing is just for him to sit out as long as possible, get a high get higher draft odds. And then maybe you get a second star that pairs with him perfectly. I'm telling you, like that could be the best case scenario this season. Rather than getting like the 11 spot, he returns, you know, and you're the 11 seed. You're missing the plan or even you get your ass kicked in the plan. That's not the best case scenario. It's not a couple quick hits. It's not. Ogen and Oby. This is the year to tank, Chris. I'm just going to say, you've said that every,

you've said that every year for five years. That's not true. This is a year to tank. You always believe in, in the fantasy land of getting the best player and it changing your franchise. And sometimes it does. You got driving around with the second pick. They didn't tank, stupid ass.

Okay, but I'm saying top picks. It doesn't matter how you get the top picks, tanking. If you compete and you win the lottery, I don't care how you get the, pick top picks can give you franchise changing players undeniable fact okay tell me all right when did tanking work it worked because the sixers have joel and bide it worked because the sixers have ben simmons oh that's worked out famous yeah the process has worked great actually it has how many

easter coverage finals they go to it doesn't matter we're not talking results here talking about it doesn't matter it doesn't matter what the what we're talking about process It doesn't matter. It's different conversations. We're talking about approach. I know. Approach philosophy. There is a whole generation of sports fans that has been brainwashed into believing results don't matter.

It's like I'm not saying. I'm saying they don't matter to the context of this conversation. They really believe. With this conversation, they don't matter. They should be able to go home and say, I studied as hard as I could, Mom. I know I got an F. But my process was good. So give me credit for my process.

No, we're not taught. This is two different conversations, Chris. I'm saying results matter a lot. And you're right. But everything you're talking about. But this is different conversations. Like I'm saying specifically to this conversation, we're talking about the approach of how to build your team.

Not about what it leads to, but about how to build your team. How to build your team. Yeah. And that was obviously great way to build your team. It's ending in catastrophe, literally. We'll see. I don't think it's ending for Philly.

It might just be beginning chapter two. Maybe so. We'll have nothing to do with that. OGN and OB there, that is. One more thing though. Yeah, one last thing. You got to admit the idea of Bencaro Zion or Holmgren Zion, that gets you a little excited though, doesn't it?

that gets you a little excited, the idea of it. I think that Zion would ask out before it would be good. You know, me about that. It takes a long time. It does. It takes a long time. It does. And Holmgren, you know, he's like 190 pounds.

He could have an adjustment period. But Ben Caro, that dude could play today. He could get you 16 and 10 today. You think so? Yeah, definitely. Yeah. 100%. He could get you 16 and 10 today.

An Anobie, uh, he heard his hip and it is undefed is undetermined. We don't, we're not going to have a timeline on him. Too bad. Very soon it sucks because he was being very, he had been very good. Toronto's been a good story so far this year, but that's a killer. Hit pointer. Real positive news regarding an injured player was the Clay Thompson playing five on five. Ooh.

Yeah. Because like they needed reinforcement with their record so far. I'm feeling good about my final's prediction, Chris. They're going to get, they're going to get Clay Thompson back in the mix. feeling really good, Chris, about my prediction. Well, I mean, look, I don't, the Warriors have been a great story. I'm not here to crap on it. Okay.

Like, they have had one of, if not the weakest schedule in the entire NBA thus far. They have. Like, that is, that's fat. They've also beaten. I mean, I know you saw Memphis beat them. Memphis is also good. Yep. You know, great teams lose good.

Hey, kept them from making the playoffs last year, if you recall. Yeah, yeah, I do. I do recall that. Yeah, that was fun. Pretty good. Maybe a little, little Morant Curry rivalry developing. That would be great. That would be fun.

Clay Thompson back playing five on five. And that is extremely positive news because at the beginning with, it'd be great if you could just like, look, we got a month until the Christmas games. If you could even just get him back by then. But if he's already playing five on five full contact, we're not that far away. I've heard he looks good. I've heard he looks good. I've heard the play looks good. Oh, I'm sure.

Yeah. You know what I mean? Like he is not. He looks like he looks like clay. He's never been a guy that was dependent upon some elite athleticism. Exactly. I don't, I don't even, I don't even feel like saying that, you know, what I'm hearing is that much like newsworthy. It's like, of course he looks like clay.

Yeah. I mean, he could shoot without legs. Yeah. I mean, the fact, the fact he can move around and still run through screens and all that. Yeah. Like this guy can shoot standstill until he's. 50. Oh, I saw this. He doesn't need to move around, but I don't know. He can. I don't know if you saw this meme that was going around. It was going around like maybe like a couple weeks ago.

And it was like, here's what the league looked like the last time Clay Thompson played basketball. And it was like Kauai in a Raptors jersey. And it was like this guy and this. And it was, it was wild when you think about it. Like, I wish I could find the meme in the context of. right the last time we saw Clay Thompson playing basketball and stuff just happened so fast and it feels like forever ago. It feels forever ago that Kauai Leonard was a raptor. That feels so long ago to me. And to think that that's the last time we saw Clay Thompson, been a long time, man. It's a long time. So it'll be super cool when he comes back and he's obviously not that far away. he's playing five on five. And then the last thing is in your adopted now hometown,

no longer Staples Center, Kevin. It is going to be crypto.com center. Do you have an opinion? No, no, it's arena. Arena. It's crypto.com arena. Crypto.com arena. Arena, yes.

Do you have an opinion on this? I think it's cool. You like it. I think it's going to be cool calling it the Crip. There, they're going to the Crip to watch the Lakers play the Sons. That sounds, that's a good ring to it.

There was a lot, there are a lot of people, LA people that very, very sad about this. I understand. Understanding. Understand. Did you feel this way about the garden?

Or do they still call it the garden, even though it's like TD? Well, that's, that's a little complicated because the original. boss and garden got torn down. Yeah, it's gone. Now that, that's sad. Like when an arena falls, that's sad. But they called it, you know, the fleet center was the first name.

And I grew up with calling at the fleet center. Sometimes my dad would just call it the garden and like correct himself. Yeah. But then they changed the name to TD Garden. Yeah. Like TD is the sponsor TD Bank. And now it's people just call it the garden. Nobody calls it. Nobody calls it.

Td. It's just the garden. That's what it's become again in Boston for the most part. So for crypto.com arena, people are just going to call it the crib. And it's going to be cool in five years. And also, I think this is the first instance in which we're seeing crypto, like the online as Web3 approaches. You're going to see more names like this, more crypto style sponsorships. If crypto.com could get stape, if crypto.com could get stape.

center. If they can get Staples Center in Los Angeles for the Lakers, they can get anything. They can get anything. Oh, that's sure. So, I mean, we'll see. I mean, it's just the name. The building still exists. All those memories still exist. And also Staples is like, it's a store where you get paper and clips and binders and folders for school. Yep. That's what Staples is. So I don't, I don't feel, I understand why people do. Because I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, get it. It's like a change in the name of, uh, it's much more, it is much more well known as the arena than it is the business. Yeah. It is. It really is, isn't it? Isn't it? I wonder like a Google trend search. If Staples Center, Staples Center gets more searches or just staples

internationally in the U.S. Staples might get more because people are buying paper. But internationally, staple center is more well known as just the name. I think it's just so much more famous. I do think that there is, it would be hilarious. Somebody should do this. Walk around, like somebody out in L.A. Here you go. Here's your free idea for a video.

Walk around outside before a Lakers game and ask people what Staples is. Not the arena. What is Staples? I would bet you a large percentage have no idea what it is. Truly. Like they have no idea what Staples is. They know that it's the arena, but they don't know what the business is. Seriously.

I have some bad news for you, Chris. Google Trends. I put in on Google Trends for searches, web search, Staples versus Staples, the retail company. And even in California, even in California, Staples receives like over 80% of the search than Staples Center.

Yeah, but are people searching for actually staples to buy them? You're talking brand recognition, which can't be measured. I'm saying are people, the way I'm talking about? But I'm saying are people Googling where I can buy staples

and it just happens to be the name of a business too. That's possible. That is possible, just staples. Yeah, I mean, it's kind of like if I, that's a good point. If I made my thing, you know, pencils.

If I had a store named pencils, then everybody that searches for pencils online. Fair point. That's a good point. The data is skewed. It is an actual product too, right? So it's not necessarily fair. That is true.

That's true. I'm not, see, I'm not sure about like if Google trends. I have the Staples retail company in there. We're going off the rails here. But. but but I think you're right though that Staples Center has more worldwide recognition at the least I don't think Staples is a worldwide store

it's the United States next time you go there next time you go down to that arena whatever they want to call it I want you to go and find Bill Plachey and give him a hug I read his stream of consciousness somebody retweeted it on Twitter and he was just he just broke up about the whole thing really yeah oh god you did just just just I see he has a tweet about it

Bill Plashky said. Oh, no. The crypto. com arena sounds cool, but we'll call it the crypto and roll out all sorts of burial metaphors, but still,

this is a tough one. Then he goes on. Kobe's, uh, you know, Kobe played in staples and this and this is the place of memories. And it's where fathers and sons went. Yeah.

I mean, I, I don't know. I've never felt that way about it. You've got to tell Bill. The memories are in your heart, Bill. They can't take those away by renaming it after.

cryptocurrency. I think people are going to like calling at the crypt. The kids are going to like calling at the crib. Writers with all their puns, their smart puns, are going to like calling at the crypts. All the things they can do with that word. Tales from the crypts. I've seen that multiple times from multiple different writers already. Like, as their new, like, a post game. Russell, Russell Westbrook tried to act like the media was calling it the Crip. Like a gang member.

Yeah. I saw that the other day. It's the crypt. That's what I'm saying. People are going to call it the crypt. People are going to call it the crypt without the tea at the end. The crib. I know.

That's what I'm saying. People are going to have fun with the name. We're having fun with the name. Do we ever have fun with the name Staples Center? No. Because it's a retail store. Boring. The crypt.

It's going to be fun. People are going to like, and by the way, like I said, we're going to see more of these. I'd be, I'd be willing to bet we'll have like another cryptocurrency. arena name, whether it's NBA or NFL or whatever. It's inevitable. It's going to happen. Ethereum Stadium. Yeah, Ethereum Stadium.

That's got a good ring to it, actually. There you go. I like the way that sounds. All right. It's going to do it for today's show. Thank you to our producers. Jesse Lopez and Erica Cervantes for filling in today. Kevin, I will talk to you next week.

I'm looking forward to it. Chris. Have a beautiful weekend, everybody.