The Mismatch - Thanksgiving Week Mismatch Mega-Pod

Episode Date: November 22, 2023

Verno and KOC go through last night’s in-season tournament play, starting with the Pacers, who clinched their spot in the knockout stage, and the growing star power of Tyrese Haliburton (02:57). The guys explain the 76ers’ struggles and debate whether Zach LaVine could help turn them around (26:11). They also dive into the Suns' success even though they didn't have Bradley Beal, Chet Holmgren’s game against the Warriors, and the great week for the Pelicans (39:07). Finally, with Thanksgiving tomorrow, the guys give out what they are most thankful for this NBA season (57:32). Got a question for Verno and KOC? Send them an email at [e-mail]! Or you can send the guys a tweet @ChrisVernonShow and @KevinOConnorNBA! The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out theringer.com/RG to find out more, or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Producer: Jessie Lopez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What would you do if everyone said they heard your trailer a hundred times? You'd probably make a new one. I'm Justin Sales, the host of The Wedding Scammer, the ringer's first ever true crime pod. We've been hunting a con man for a few weeks now, and our hunt is coming to an end. Schemes, Heartbreak, How to Put On a Wire. We've covered all this and more, but there are still a few surprises left. Binge the Wedding Scammer wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to The Mismatch.

I'm Chris Vernon. And joining me on this Wednesday of Thanksgiving week is Kevin O'Connor from the ringer.com. Kevin Obama. Kevin O'Connor. Kevin O'Climber, Kevin O'Clymer, Kevin O'Chyr. Kevin O'Cand. Kevin O'Blessarian. Kevin O'Fierre.

Kevin O'Brien! Happy Thanksgiving, man. What are you doing this week for Thanksgiving? I, you know, I was thinking about this this morning. I think my entire life. life into adulthood, I have spent Thanksgiving day with my family. I don't think I have ever missed one in my entire life. And that will be the case on this Thanksgiving.

My mom always cooks. That's a nice thing. Yeah, there's tons of people that will be at her house for Thanksgiving. And, you know, I think, you know, obviously my father is a huge Cowboys fan. I, by proxy, I'm a Cowboys fan, and they always play on Thanksgiving, so that's kind of always been a thing. But yeah, I don't think, you know, no matter even when I was in college, I would go back home for Thanksgiving. And then I always lived close enough to be able to drive to their house for Thanksgiving. And now, obviously, they live right down the street for me.

So, of course I'm there. But yeah, I think I think I have spent every Thanksgiving of my entire life at my parents' house, which is amazing. That is beautiful. That really is a beautiful thing, right? You can't take that for granted any year that you have it. My mom and I this week, we got invited over one friend's house, but my mom's like, you know what? I want to experiment with like a different way to cook a turkey. She likes, so she wants us just us this year.

So, yeah, we're going to do just, she's going to cook some stuff in the morning. And I think in the, maybe afternoon we'll go for a drive somewhere, go for a walk. So it's going to be like a basic day, just me and my mom. But that's all I need. So I look forward to that with her. There you go. All right. Well, we have had some unbelievable things happen in the NBA since we last spoke, not the least of which was Tuesday night's games, which were in C.

season tournament games, which featured one of the most outrageous scores that we will see this entire season. I've got to believe this one, I know I've gotten burned saying this kind of stuff a thousand times over the last eight seasons, but is somebody really going to score more than 309 combined points in a regulation game? I suppose it could happen. But one of the 157 to 152, the Pacers beating the Hawks last night, is amongst the more outrageous things we have seen. There were tons of jokes about an All-Star game broke out. Obviously, saw the Halliburton massive third quarter, the Halliburton enormous numbers overall. And beyond what was a crazy offensive game, the Pacers clenched.

their spot where they are going to be part of this in-season tournament, heading out to Las Vegas, and we have now had them and the Lakers clinch their spot. And we'll talk about kind of who's in pole position. But first, this Pacers team that now moved to 8 and 5 on the season, scoring tsunami after scoring tsunami this year. They are averaging the most points in the entire NBA. They do not play very much defense, but they're one of those, like Mike D. Antony's got to be watching this team and just in love with them because they can outscore you on any given night.

And that may have been their Mona Lisa with 157 in regulation. What do you think? I don't know if it's going to be their Mona Lisa because I think the Pacers are one of those teams with the right opponent on the right night that they could end up beating the regulation. record for points scored in a game. We could see that. What's the number? I believe it was 162 to 158. If I remember correctly.

So they were two buckets short. They're two buckets short of the all time. Yeah, it was 1990, November 2nd, 1990. The Warriors beat the nuggets in regulation 162 to 158. That's the highest score in regulation game on record, ever. Wow. And they were so they were a couple bucks and short. Sure, yeah. So I think for combined score, that could be the highest ever. And the Pacers, the highest, the highest ever for an individual team is 165 back in 1970. So you say this could be their

Mona Lisa. Maybe it is their Mona Lisa of the season offensively. But I think there could be even the higher scoring nights for them come later in the year. And I mean, I think with them, Like, they have built an offense around a super genius offensive creator in Halliburton. I said this on through the ringer to Tate Frazier earlier in the week. He asked me, like, you know, looking at the betting odds, the Pacers, a good bet to make the playoffs in the East. And I think you and I would both agree that they are, even though right now they're the 60. I think that'll at least escape the playing or grab one of the top six seeds. I feel good about that.

but with Halliburton like he it's like with Denver Denver built a team with a bunch of smart high IQ players that surround Yokic Aaron Gordon Jamal Marie all these types of guys hasn't Indiana effectively done the same thing around Halliburton different type of style obviously with a guard instead of a center as your source of offense but I mean they took Bruce Brown from Denver but all these other guys on this team it's just a bunch of dudes that can play with somebody like Halliburton. It's all about Tyrese Halliburton and his assent from star to superstar. But they've built a really good offense around him.

It's just about the defense getting better over the course of the year because they obviously have to be anything in the playoffs. Yeah. And you feel like this could have happened like it is right now if he would not have gotten injured last year. You got to remember, they were right in the middle of that playoff mix when he went hurt and the season truly went to hell. Like if there was ever a great example of how much a player means to a specific team, it was them right in the heart of the playoff race. You know, they were like the five seed or something when he went out. And then it just cratered for them.

And then he came back at the end. But like I feel like that full on ascent into the national conversation, you know, because his injury almost lined up like so much of his spectacular play took place before the general public starts really paying attention. And he wasn't there for the biggest stage, which is that stretch run and then the playoffs. And so this is the year. that, yes, all the basketball fans have an awareness of how good Halliburton is. But this is like the, I'm, like he's now on the map as one of the big stars in the league because he's throwing a team on his back.

It felt like his season could have been the East version of what happened with Gilgis Alexander last year. Because Halliburton would have been all NBA as well. If he doesn't get hurt last year, he would. was well on his way to being an all-NBA selection. But he did. He did get hurt last year. And so he is certainly one of the massive emers in the first 15 games of the season.

Absolutely. And I think the cool part with the Pacers is you can kind of flip them the other side and look at the team that's on the opposite end of the spectrum as them. And that's the magic. Like they, they gave him a shalacken on Monday night with their game between the magic of the Pacers. The Magic having elite defense with a super, super young roster. Their offense has not been so good, but they really put it on the Pacers on Monday night. And they had another big game against the Raptors this week. The Magic, like, they're another young team.

A different type of vibe than the Pacers. It's more about defense than offense. But, like, you got, like, this super young starting lineup that is really starting. to gel bank caro 21 years old Wagner 22 years old Badazzi started the other night he's 23 Suggs 22 Anthony Black is still a teenager he's 19

years old like this Magic team as well you get some young teams that feel like that they could build something sustainable in different type of ways and the magic the magic is great the other night against the faces too they look awesome and let me tell you something

I watched them last night their game against the Raptors until that got wildly out of hand and then I flipped over to Cav Sixers. But I was watching the magic prior to that. And as you mentioned, Goga Batatsi's starting for that team last night. Anthony Black is starting for that team last night.

That's the most impressive thing. And you know, I've loved the magic since the preseason. But the fact is, you got so many of these teams that they've lost one guy or they've lost a couple of guys. And it has a profound effect on their team for them to be able to plug in Anthony Black and Goga Batati and only have Fultz for five games. Only have Wendell Carter for five games. Key guys. I mean, it's unbelievable what they've been able to pull off.

And I'll tell you something, that Pacers team, if you find somebody that can't. match scoring, like we're looking at two of these teams as teams like when they, when they get to these, when we're looking ahead and we think that these are going to be like new teams in the playoffs, you find somebody that can't score against the Pacers. You're in a world of crap. And the same thing goes with the magic. If you've got a size issue and you can't match up because they make teams look small on regular occasion and the fact that they're able to throw guys at you and that even off their bench,

their depth, you know, that they can lose a guy like Fultz, they can lose a guy like Carter simultaneously. And where it usually hurt you is you might find somebody that you can plug and play in your starting lineup and get by. But then you're ravaged, you know, in terms of what you're bringing off the bench. They're not. Like that magic team, they're going to be around. They're going to be around this season because that's the that's the real trick when you can do it while not having guys in your lineup and look as impressive as they have strangle teams out defensively that's when that's when you know and part of that is you know jalen suggs that's figured it out so i mean i mean granth like anthony black took false's a spot in the starting lineup but jalen

suggs suddenly becoming a a reliable shooter 35% from three he's like it's actually activated his just relentless downhill attacking. He does not stop coming at you on drives through him. He will just plow past through you if necessary. And defensively, that dude is just a dog. He does not stop, man, ever. You got to see this if you get a chance.

You can probably find the video somewhere. So I don't expect that everybody was tuned in to the magic of the rafters. I just happened to be. The first two minutes of the game last night, the guy hits a shot, they come down to the other end, and he makes this crazy defensive play and gets the turnover.

And I'm telling you, he is pumping his fist and the crowd's going crazy. Like they're in the NBA finals or something. Like two minutes in the game. Two minutes. It's literally the first, if you watch the first two minutes,

two minutes of that game. And I told you that this is a regular, a regular season, in-season tournament game on a Tuesday night in November, you would never believe it. The level of intensity that that kid brings to every game is freakish. Like, it's just, you can't believe it.

He's, I mean, he's flexing, he's pumping his fist. And I'm like, this is like, one minute left in the fourth quarter, one-point game reaction. No, not one point gay reaction. This is what happens at the beginning of the game. And then they just beat the crap out of them. And I'm like, it emits from stuff like that, right?

That raises the collective level of play. When you have a guy like that and a guy that it matters so much to, I do think it just permeates your team. I really do. I love him. God, I love it. I loved him in college, and it's taken a little bit, but he started to catch on as year three. He started to come into what he is going to be.

Yeah, right? Absolutely. He still, he's still, this is a perfect example again of development is never linear. Because even, even at Gonzaga, he wasn't necessarily expected to be a one and done. But he was so good, so soon that he was able to be a one and done. Then in the NBA, he's a, he's a top, you know, five pick, goes fifth to Orlando. higher than he ever could have anticipated during his freshman season, and then it starts slow.

But now year three, you're seeing why that he was a high pick and why this could really just be the beginning of a long, highly successful career for him when he's a tone setter. And the way you're talking about, that play early first quarter was special, man. Like the fist pumping just makes you feel like, if you're on the other side of that, you're like, oh, damn, this team really wants it.

They're coming for us. Well, and here's the other thing. You got to see it last night because his minutes have been here and there, but they start black last night. And he's so big and so long when they've got those two in the back court defending, oh my God, welcome to hell. And Suggs is 6'5, and he looks small next to Anthony Black. I know.

Some of those magic lineups are so massive. And both of those guys are like, you know, hungry pit bulls that you're. just let out the cage. Yeah. And they are just, I mean, you bet on a, on a regular season night, like, that's why you see them beating the crap out of people every once in a while, right? And you're like, wow, the magic. It's because you got, you got a couple of these guys that are like ready to go and ready

to compete and ready to make your life hell. And a lot of teams and a lot of guys go through the motions on the regular season. they just do and so when you run up against the guys that are super intense like that like a lot of them will just bail on the game they're like all right i ain't trying to do this i'll just pass out of it right and it really screws up the other team um but yeah we got so we got the pacers we got the magic on that side oh let's speak on this very quickly on the pacer's thing um the other side of that was the hawks and another two that they've been faltering as of late to say the least they got real defense problems

for sure that goes without saying with the number they got put on them but i mean they've got real defensive problems and it's like it's a real real problem they got a lot of offensive players but like who who can get a stop and who can stop the you know they can score with you for sure but they're going to have to get some defensive presence in order to fix this. I don't think that this is a personnel that's all of a sudden going to be able to be good enough defensively when they really need it. They've only had one game allowing under 110 points this season. What? Only one game allowing under 110.

I mean, you would just figure somebody would shoot terrible. right? Well, that's what happened the night they gave up 105 to the Pelicans back in that early November. The Pelican shot 28% from 3 that night, 26% from 3. That's the only night they've given up under 110 points to see. They are giving up more shots at the room than anybody. And, you know, part of that is because of, you know, small perimeter guards fighting through screens and pick and roll. but more than anything else, I think it's an off-ball defense problem. It's where they're put into rotation and teams are back-cutting behind them,

getting to the rim. Capella looks like he's lost a step in recovery and in pick and roll too. They're so small, like, Trey obviously is tiny. Bogdanovich is not big either. They're forward defenders. DeAndre Hunter is having like a really aloof year.

You know, Jaylon Johnson, as good as he's been. He's not like a great off-ball defender yet, not somebody you can rely on as an anchor as a small ball five either if you want it to shift towards that rather than O'Kongru or Copella at the five. The defense of personnel is a major issue. You're right, Chris. And for them, I don't know where the solutions are internally to improve defensively. They just may not have it at all.

So, like, what do you make for a trade that says Capella, like in theory should be a room protector? But I just don't think Capella is in his prime anymore. I think he's a bit past his prime now. O'Congu's very, very good, but there's just so many other weak spots on the perimeter that it doesn't really make a difference. Well, and they don't have anybody that stops a point of attack.

Exactly. It's everything. It's everywhere. And that gets every offense going in motion. You got to have guys, right? Like, I mean, if I can just, if I can go, if I could drive on trait every single time, now all of a sudden I've got that defense rotating.

Yeah. And you've just got to be so strong behind it. You know, you've got to have, if it's going to be like that, then it's got to be like Quinn, you know, it's almost like, it's almost like Quinn's old jazz team, except Gobert's not in front of the rim. Right? Like, they don't have guys that are stopping people,

but they don't have that guy that cleans everything up for them. And so once they're going to have to find some point of attack defenders so that their defense just can't get scrambling all the time. Not to mention, they just, I mean, they're flying up and down the court and transition. Yeah, they've gone the wrong way recently. And obviously, in last night's game, Trey had his first great game offensively. He had him shot above 46% from the field in any game. entering last night.

So he's had a really down year offensively, and their offense has still been really good, in part because the Jonte Murray has been flourishing offensively. He's been one of the league's more efficient isolation scores. He's been shooting the ball well from three. So Murray's had a good year. Trey Young's had a down year offensively.

But you wonder how much that goes hand in hand. Yeah. You just have to wonder how much that goes hand in hand because it's like, can they both simultaneously be awesome? And that's what's going to happen because I don't think their defense is going to get any better than below average, maybe average at best, so that the offense needs to hit a higher level for that to matter.

But even then, like, to win in the playoffs, your defense still needs to be much better than anywhere near what it can be with the current personnel. So the Hawks need to make some moves. Cash in on bawling out this NBA season with Fandul, America's number one sportsbook. Right now, new customers get $150 on bonus bets with any winning five. dollar money line bet. That's $150 if your team wins. On Wednesday night in the NBA,

I like the thunder over the Bulls. They're heavy favorites in that one. They're rolling the Bulls, not so much. And if you're looking for better odds, how about the bucks over the Celtics? The game's in Boston. Tatum's questionable as of recording on Wednesday morning. So that would obviously hurt Boston there.

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Fandle, official sports book partner of the NBA. First online, real money wager only. $5.3 pregame money line wager required. First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. bonus issue with non-addrawable bonus bets that expire seven days after a seat. See terms at sportsbook.fandul.com. So let's talk about that other game that I flipped over to, which is Philly and Cleveland.

Cleveland's gotten going here and they even did it without Donovan Mitchell. Yeah, they were missing guys. Yeah, I was super impressed. Yo, who is the kid from Wichita? Oh, isn't he nice? Who is Craig Porter Jr.? Craig Porter does something every night, it seems. Well, okay, so he had this massive breakout

in that Denver game, and then turns around, he makes like monster plays down the stretch last night. And I'm like, who is this? Who is Craig Porter Jr.? You think of Wichita State players are like the most undervalued commodity in the draft or something like that? I mean, well, Cleanty Early would like a word, but other than that

Clinton early Other than that Van Vleet Boston Reeves Yeah he before he transferred He's at least spent some time there Yeah Some good ones

Who is this guy? I swear to God I'm like Does he have a Wikipedia page? Like what is going on? Does he have a Wikipedia? I don't think he does have one yet. Are you serious?

I don't know. I'll look it up right now. Hold on. I got you. He does. He's got one. He's got one. There you go.

Craig Porter, Jr. Just created last night, probably. Probably created last night. He's on a two-way contract with the Cleveland charge. and he played college basketball for Viscennes and Wichita State. So he transferred to Wichita State after he played, he was at a Juko, where his Juko team won a national championship, evidently. How about that from Terre Haute, Indiana.

I swear, you see these, you see these guys a couple of long. and they show up out of nowhere. He went undrafted in the 2023 draft, and then he signed a two-way contract with the Cavs. Craig Porter Jr. And I'm watching this game last night. I mean, he's on the floor with Garland and Maxie and DeAnthony Melton. And he's like, and Pat Bab, and he's making these key plays in the game.

I was super impressed with Cleveland on the, other hand, you see, when I talked about the magic earlier, Kev, boy, Philly, you see like the Ubrei loss, even, you know, in a game like last night. And you think about them going forward and kind of as good as they've been overall this year, some struggles as of late, obviously Ms. Ubre and they should be able to get him back hopefully sooner than later, according to Nick Nurse, but they're going to have to find somewhere to be able to generate some stuff

or else they're going to run Maxie into the ground and he's going to, you know, by the time you get to the playoffs, because the on-off numbers for Maxi are crazy. Like they got to find something else that can give them some pop and so that they could get by when they don't have Maxi on the court because it just feels like Maxi and MB

have to simultaneously be awesome so often. I think this touches back to the conversation we had at the time of the Harden Trade with, well, what do you what do you need to get now? And I still think despite some of his flaws as a player,

Zach Levine is still the guy that they should have that addresses some of these issues that you're talking about here because he provides that extra source of creation that you're talking about where when they don't have Maxie going or they don't have Embed going or it's just one of those guys.

It's a lot of pressure on just that one player. If you have a third in Zach Levine and you insert him into this motion and movement with heavy dribble handoffs, I don't, I'm not a big Levine guy. So, like, this is, I'm not a huge Levine guy, but I think in this ecosystem, some of his flaws don't matter as much

and those strengths could be enhanced with his scoring ability. I'm just trying to imagine, like what would it look like with Levine and Maxie in a back court just operating around Joelle and Bede. That could be really hard to stop, man.

And I'm having to give up Harris in order to make this happen? No, not necessarily. You might have to give up the package you got from the Sixers, which includes Batum, who made a really goofy play at the end of last night when he batted the ball instead of just grabbing it. What the heck was that at the end of the game? What was going on through his mind

just batting the ball and volleyball? But you don't have to give up Tobias Harris. It could be Marcus Morris, Nicholas Batum, Robert Covington. It could be that path. But I mean, obviously Harris is a much cleaner trade with just one player at a salary that matches with Levine rather than three players, which can get pretty complicated pretty quickly. Because it wouldn't have to just be three, by the way. I believe it.

Well, because I would be fighting. If I'm the Bulls, I'm fighting to get Harris in the hopes that I could flip. You know, trying to do what the Blazers thing did. I do think that that's a good case study in, okay, we're moving you this significant piece that you really want. I want to get as many assets as I can that are actually tradable assets. Yes, I want draft picks. Yes, I want stuff that's going to fall off my books. But I may be able to flip Harris to a contender as well.

Harris is a free agent. So Harris is a free age. All of those guys are. Harris, Harris, Morris, Batum, Covington. But that's why I would fight for it because I could get, I could flip Harris now and get more picks to somebody that really wants them when it comes time. And the Harris deal could happen sooner. But if I'm the Sixers, I would much rather give up Morris Butto him coming to them. Of course.

Of course. Wait, you mean you'd rather give up a bunch of sorry players instead of a good one? What are you talking? Thanks, Kemp. Well, the reason why I say that is because, With Tobias Harris, he was viewed as a sorry player up until the season by Sixers fans. That's because Doc Rivers had him standing in the corner, twiddling his thumbs. 100%.

That's why. So I think with Harris, he has proven that even if he had to take a step back in his role, if Levine or somebody like that were acquired, he's still in this type of system is a far more effective, far more important player. So I'd give up more picks if I had to in order to make it Morris Batum, Covington. I think the incentive for Chicago, I understand your point about Harris as a loan salary, but $40 million to take on with an expiring is a lot. If the Bulls were to take on those pieces, it could become a larger deal where it's like,

okay, Morris is $17 million gets flipped to this third team. Covington's $11.6 million gets flipped to this other team. So like those salaries that are expiring could be flipped into parts rather than the one lump salary with Harris. I think there's an advantage there for the Bulls. that wouldn't be there with Harris. But, I mean, we're just speculating here in terms of, like, Philly addressing the offense. The Levine thing is a real thing, considering he was just in this, you know,

within the last week, he's in this, you know, these headlines about him storming off the court and then Billy Donovan's having to address it. It's like their season isn't going well and he's got this level of discontent. And, you know, the idea of, you know, and you've been calling for this for a long time, which is just, you know, break that whole thing up. And if they do, if they do happen to break that whole thing up, it's the craziest thing. There's a bunch of players that would individually have tremendous value for other teams.

Vosovic could have tremendous value for another team. Levine could have tremendous value for another team. DeRosen could for sure have huge value for another team. Caruso could have value for it. You go up and down their roster and it's like, it's not a bunch of crap play. it's like this throwing it all together for whatever reason sometimes it just doesn't work. And yet they do have assets that I do think could get them very good return in many different cases because those players would be much better off and much more helpful to the team acquiring

them in many cases. I'm curious, did you listen to my pod with Bill Simmons last night yet? He did like a two part, two part megapot. I mean, do you want me to comment on this? You Boston guys are just out of control. I'm sorry, Kevin. Here's my hot take. I listen to it.

30 minutes on if Jalen Brown is going to be okay and where Jay. They're freaking 11 and 3. The guy has had two bad games. They got the best starting lineup in the history of the world. You guys are the most miserable. set to crap. You're always bitching. And Marcus is gone, so you've got to find

a new whipping boy. And it's like, oh, is Jaila Brown? All right. Okay. How is Jalen going to fit in? And it's like, they're plus 40 net rating.

All right. All right. Bill is just nitpicking about something. Oh my God. He sent me a text. I was available and I went on and we talked about it. And how did you guys not catch? How did you not catch?

The initial, the pod starts with got this tweet from RWB and it's like, it's like Jay LeBron is as it, the best gig in the NBA, blah, blah, blah, got this max contract, but nobody blames it for anything. And yeah, I got it, right? And neither of you recognize that that is an elite level burner name if you were Russell Westbrook. I didn't catch that. Come on. As soon as he said RWB, I was like, oh, let's go do some research. Let's see if Russ is tweeting. All right. If the next tweet is Russell Westbrook is amazing. I didn't look the guy up.

Enough about the Jalen Brown aspect of things. My question for you is about the end of our conversation we were talking about Zach Levine. And I said to Bill how with Levine, when has he been in a situation that you would think is great for him in terms of playing winning basketball? He's never been in one. I was looking at after we signed up the pod last night,

I kept looking at some Zach Levine stuff. And I'm like, it's first three years in Minnesota. They're all crappy rebuilding teams. his entire career with the Bulls has either been rebuilding teams or teams that were like just really struggling to get in the middle. And yes, you could say, well, Levine's part of the problem there. Levine's part of the problem. But I just don't, I just don't think he's ever been in a situation where like,

and I am not a big Levine guy. I get it. Doing this pod with you over the years. But I just think you put him in certain situations around the league right now. And suddenly I'm like, huh, this makes sense. for playing winning basketball. Do you agree with me there? What do you think?

Are you more on the bill side where you don't want to touch them? Oh, I'd take a stab at it, especially if I need something. Yeah. Another creator. The guy could score. I would also,

it's a discussion for another day. This is going to be a great week for Thanksgiving. But you know that over the eight years, I am intensely anti-tank and in many cases, and I think you can find this all around, you are a trained loser. And a lot of guys never get out of that. Once you strip away the pain of losing,

and it is over and over and over and over and over, I think it has a profound effect on that player for the rest of his career. I do. Do you think it does for Joel Embedde? I don't think that they, once they put Mbid into the lineup, they weren't, they never, I never felt like they were intentionally not competing with Mb.

But I do think that there are people that could possibly bring up that Mbid is not, I mean, when the competition gets the greatest, has he delivered? No. I mean, I'm not blaming that he was on a rat team at the beginning of his career necessarily. Sure. Or some of the coaching in recent years. But I also don't think that Embed, I think they kept him away from that better, kind of like they did with Gildes Alexander in Oklahoma City.

They kept him away from that. Like it wasn't like they were going out and intentionally losing and putting out horrible lineups. Like they would just sit Gildes Alexander for the rest of the year and not have him be a part of that. Right. And they let all the other guys get their ass kick. But they weren't letting him get his ass kick. And so I don't know, man. I think that that when you say the guy has always been in bad positions, maybe he could overcome that.

Maybe he could. And maybe it's just been a bad spot for him. It was a bad spot for the most part for Andrew Wiggins. Kelly Ubre. Obviously had that one, you know, bad season where he was part of a winner in Golden State, which led us to believe that we should raise our eyebrows at it.

But, I mean, there are guys that have lost their whole career that can assimilate to winning. They can't. And so I would certainly take that chance because I think Zavine is a bona fide score. That guy can get buckets. End of story. I'm with you.

I think with the scoring ability. He just can't be your most important guy. No, and he wouldn't be anywhere that he goes. The issue is that he signed. He's in the second year of a five-year, $220 million contract extension where, like, the money is so significant. That's where, that's where, like, my hesitations would be. But if you're a team, if you're a team that is all in and what you're missing is somebody that can offer the things that he does on offense as a score, a secondary creator, as a guy who can come off screens and handoffs and get downhill, lob threat,

all the offensive versatility that he can provide it from the guard position. If you're all in, the salary kind of becomes insignificant when you're thinking about just winning a championship. And Philly's got to be one of those teams that is like, okay, we got to do everything possible to win a championship and build this thing up. It's just a matter of when you make the move. If you want to make it now ahead of the deadline or wait until the offseason for other options to become available,

All right. So some other really hot teams, the Bucks, they have gotten going and have played very well as of late, Oklahoma City and Phoenix. I will give you those three. I'll let you choose which one you want to hit first. Bucks, OKC, Phoenix. Let's hit the Bucks because they get their big game tonight against the Celtics, even though news came out on Wednesday morning. And maybe you'll have clarity by the time you hear this podcast. But there's news that Tatum is questionable. illness, which is a big bummer that we won't get to see Boston, potentially won't get to see Boston at full strength against Milwaukee, because the Bucks, they are starting to figure things out after that really worrisome start to the season. Ever since they switched their defensive scheme, Brooke Lopez dropping back to the paint, just swatting everything away, looking more like his all-defensive caliber version of himself. Chris Middleton, even though his minutes are not up yet. His per 36 numbers, his per possession numbers are pretty much equal to what he's done in past

seasons. His playmaking creation still looks at a high level right now. And then Damian Lord and Janus, Janus individually is on this absurd run right now. I mean, he had 54 points, 35, 35, 16, 40, 42 points in six consecutive games now. He is unbelievable at this moment, still dominant at the rim, his mid-range numbers are back up to what they were prior to last season when he was dealing with an injury that seemingly in hindsight may have been limiting him. And then him and Demian Lord, it's kind of starting to happen with the two-man game stuff. They're doing more picking roles together, more two-man game stuff. Feels like chemistry is on the up and up.

Those guys have talked openly about some of the stuff that they're doing together away from the court to try to build chemistry. For the bucks, you would think after that bad start of the season. I think I said to you, it should only get better from here. I mean, we're starting to see that. And I think Wednesday night, regardless of Tatum status, will be the true test of where they are, a good barometer of where the bucks are and where they couldn't get by the end of the year

when Middleton's actually playing 35 minutes a game. And there were legitimate questions at the beginning about like, oh boy, here's going to be this coaching. Like they've had coaching change. They had personnel change. They had Middleton on a minute's restriction. But most importantly, one of the things that you highlighted on regular occasion was this defense and what the hell was going on.

And we do have to give Griffin credit, right? There's a lot of guys that could just be stubborn about it. And instead of being stubborn about it, he's like, the hell with this. Like, why, okay, having Brooke Lopez out on islands is not a good idea. Like, we've got, like, this is, this is a perfect setup where we've got a power forward that can roam around and help and block everything. And we've got a guy that we can just sit in front of the basket. and at the very least, we're going to be able to defend the rim.

And what they had done is put themselves at a situation where they weren't good at defending either. And it's always going to be a little bit. The same thing I talked about, we can go back to the whole the Hawks thing, right? The point of attack. You're going to be deficient at this. If you're running out Lillard and Malik Beasley and the like, you ain't staying in front of a bunch of people. But you can get away with it.

if it's strong behind them, right? This happens in Cleveland. You can get away with it if it's strong behind them. And what they had done at the beginning of the season, it is, like they've taken away that. And it's like, look, your point of attack defense is not going to be good enough. It's not going to be good enough. You've got to just at least have some reinforcement behind them.

Because those guys are going to get beat off the dribble. And there's going to be a lot of offense getting in motion because of that. So they've got the, but they've got the wherewithal to deal with it. You know, because Portis is super active as well when he's in there.

Like, I give Griffin credit. He didn't stick to his guns and say, hey, we need to do this differently. Now, you ain't got to reinvent the wheel there. And I know everybody wants to.

Everybody wants to do their own thing. But it was stupid. And at least he recognized it was stupid immediately. before they lost a bunch of games doing it that way. The Sons, man, they have not had this super team that they threw together in the offseason, but just getting Booker back, my God, it has reaped incredible benefits. Durant is only behind Embed in terms of points per game.

He's second in the NBA in scoring, and he has been absolutely awesome. over 50% from three. I mean, you've been absolutely awesome. And Booker, you know, he's come back. He's ninth in the league in scoring. So, I mean, you got the second leading score in the NBA and you got the ninth leading score in the NBA.

I'm actually going to see them. You want to talk about a crazy scheduled game? I'm going to see them in person on Friday at like 4 o'clock central. Black Friday. Memphis hosts. Phoenix. Oh, hell yeah. In an in-season tournament game.

It's just strange. That is just strange. I can't ever remember that being the case before. Certainly, I've never had to be at a home game the day after Thanksgiving. But that's on the schedule. But yeah, they got, you know, it's kind of a slow start for them. They still haven't had Beal. So we don't know what it's going to look like in full form.

But, man, just having Booker and Durant, they're devastating. unbelievable. Booker adds so much downhill attacking and his playmaking average are 9.2 assists this year. Only three turnovers, career high in scoring. Booker looks like it's an evolution of what we've seen from him over the years where pre-Christ Paul, he was kind of forced into being the lead point guard for the Suns, some, you know, not great Sun's teams. Chris Paul puts him into more of his proper role as like a go-to scoring option off of a lead guard. But now we're seeing that evolution that happened with him in Phoenix. This is one of the benefits. It's the flip side of what you were saying earlier with how tanking can be detrimental. Being bad can allow you to put players in situations where they can experiment and learn new skills. And with Booker, he was able to learn how to be a lead guard running an offensive score

and as a playmaker earlier in his career. all of those skills added up over the years. I give them no credit for this. None. It's not about them. It's not about them. It's about what it allows the player. It allowed Booker.

So who are you giving credit to? Who are you given credit? I've said this a thousand times when I've told you about my good school, bad school analogy. There are some students that are so exceptional. That's what I'm saying. You can put them in a bad situation. That's what I'm saying.

I'm saying this. great student. But it's not because of that. It's not because of that. That guy would have been a success no matter. He overcame the circumstance. It's possible. It's possible.

That circumstance didn't benefit him. He overcame it. Very possible. But I'll tell you what. Like with Devin Booker, you can go back to my story on the Bright Future Suns back in 2017. And he talked about how he looked around the league and saw other guys that weren't getting the types of reps that he was getting and how valuable that they were.

Booker is a guy who in college, ran like seven pick and rolls under John Calipari. And then in the NBA, he became somebody that had more opportunity given to him because the son sucked. That early investment, I think he would even admit that those early career reps became beneficial in terms of gaining that experience and running an offense, getting on ball opportunities. Maybe he wouldn't.

Maybe he'd say, oh, yeah, I'd be equally high level anywhere. Maybe he would be. Maybe he'd be even better if he were drafted to a team that were winning at the time. Like if the heat took him. or something like that. Maybe he'd be even better now. But I still think with Booker, that opportunity he was provided,

the situation showed what he could become. And now we're seeing it now that he actually has talent around him. You think everything benefits everybody, though. No. You're going to look back and say that it. Of course not. It was great for Wemeyama to play with the shooting point guard. No.

Of course not, Chris. No. But Wembe Nyama is one of those great students where I think making things hard on him. can be beneficial. Like, I'm not worried about Victor Wembeyanama's

development being derailed at all. I'm not. I think it's worth the investment to see what you can get out of the other guys in that team.

Webby's one of those types. No, I don't think it benefits everybody. We literally just had a conversation last week about the pistons and how pissed off we are about their situation, because I don't think they do have those guys.

They started starting Ivy. Yeah, they did start, but I think they need to figure that mixed out. out. They really do. And plus they're playing two of the biggest bust in recent years together. And with the front court, Wiseman and Bagley. It's like, I mean, it's just true for bigs. It's like they have this mess of a team. And like, it's just like they get to figure that out right now with the guys that they want to keep. You do think that they've screwed that up as well.

They mean, even with OKC, OKC, OKC we just talked last week about is this best for Gitty? Like, what do you? talking about. What do you mean? With the last week we talked about some of these situations, is this the best for Giddy? Is this the best for the Pistons? Giddy.

Yeah, we talked about Giddy. You wanted to trade him. I think he could be the trade piece. No way. They're awesome. They are awesome. They're dangerous, too. They are a dangerous thing.

But somebody is going to have to be moved eventually with OKC. Down the road. when it comes payment time you're not going to be able to you're not going to be able to pay all I understand but I mean you're you're in a little ways off from Chet too I mean I know that that's not going to be some kind of

go high into the luxury tax team and pay penalties but and so you're right they are eventually going out to pay but I mean you've got a little bit until you still got you still got two more years of the guy on a reasonable contract and Oklahoma City has been I mean, they were like to be the chic team that everybody thinks is going to be like good. And now they can add another guy in Chet to the mix and they're going to be just fine. Or I mean, that they're going to be even better.

They're kind of knocking on the door of being a playoff team last year. And them being kind of everybody's pick. Like, oh, I think they're going to be really good. Like, but everybody thought that. And now they are really good. Like delivering on it is pretty impressive. To be everybody's like, hey, they're going to be good. And then delivering on it.

And obviously SGA is, we talked about Halliburton earlier. Like he's moved into superstar mode. And if nothing else, that Chet game that he had with the game time shot against the Warriors, but then that overtime, look no further. That's heads up with Curry, and he gets the bucket, then gets the steel, then gets another bucket. It's like, holy crap. Like, he was so clearly the best player on the court that night on a court that included Steph Curry. Did you see his Instagram post just going at Steph over and over his high highlight real?

I did. He is, boy, he is much like Halliburton. You've got these two big guards that kind of make everything go. And they have, they have ascended into this superstar status that elevates their teams into ones that you don't want to get into a close game with because those guys very well just may do you in by themselves. Super impressed by Oklahoma City. I, I, uh, I'd love to see, I'd love to see a couple of these, you know, fun new faces.

in that in-season tournament. They're not really in pole position. The ones that are in pole position, we mentioned Pacers and Lakers have clinched, bucks, heat, Celtics, Kings, T-wolves are the ones that haven't lost in-season tournament games. But I'd like to see, you know,

at least there's a wild card, some other new blood and some of these emerging stars. It's nice that we're going to have Halliburton there. Maybe we can get another one there as well. Now, Edwards. Edwards would be a good one to have it. Okay. Okay.

See, a great chance of getting in. They're one and two in the end-season tournament at the moment. They're out. Yeah, I mean, it's unfortunate, but I mean, maybe another young team. Well, the magic too. The magic have a shot. The Minnesota Timberwolves, they're 2 and 0 right now in the end-season tournament.

The pelicans are 2 and 1. So I think there's some other young teams that could get in alongside the Pacers. But that's going to be the cool part about it. There's going to be a good mix of kind of those fixtures, the playoff fixtures that we see every year in the familiar faces, but then there's going to be some new teams that are going to make it. It should make it exciting with the knockout round. Yeah. And also, look, I see the jerseys behind you, the Zion and Ingram jerseys. It was a great week for the Pelicans. It was. It was a great week for the Pelicans. They won their game against a Mavericks,

very narrow loss against Minnesota, where Ingram got a very good look to, And that was a one-point game. And then stomped on the Kings, where we've seen a bunch of these. And I'm like, what the hell happened? And like there's a bunch of these, what the hell happened? And I'm not making excuses for the Kings.

And I don't want to take anything away from the Pelicans. But you go and look and it's like, that was the Kings, I think, fifth game in seven days. Like we've gotten rid of this three and four. We got rid of like some of the, as many back to the, of backs, but like we have seen it's pretty consistent that if I see some kind of crazy ass score and then I go and look, we're seeing especially early in the season, these teams at

the first time their games pile up a lot and they're playing a lot in a short amount of time, there's some real clinkers in there. And, you know, the other team's got to be ready to go for sure, but that was what happened with the can. I mean, they just got buried and there's a good week. And it's also very good for Zion and Ingram to be simultaneously good in a couple of these games. Oh, yeah. They've been, they've been great together and a big part of it with the Pelicans as Dyson Daniels and Herb Jones together as well, that defensive duo with those two guys just hounding everybody on the perimeter. I mean, one of the themes of what we've been talking about through this whole season is length and versatility.

So you have Herb Jones at 6.7 with long wingspan, Dyson Daniels at 6.7 at the guard spot, you know, big beefy, you know, guys that can defend quicker players as well or bigger guys as well. So I think with the Pelicans, they got C.J. McCollum coming back soon, Trey Murphy right around the corner. It feels like they're starting to figure out some things. It'll be interesting to see how Willie Green integrates them.

They got Alvarado back this. week as well. They have a lot of guys. I mean, I am of the opinion. You know, I've always been the opinion of them. I think it serves them better to be able to have these role players in there. There's role players and stars. And I do think the balance of, and I don't know how you figure that out when you've got Valenus McCollum, Ingram, and Zaya. There's no, you know, there's only one role player on the floor, right? And I actually think it benefits them greatly to have multiple role players on the floor. With, you know, they augment the stars.

Right? That's their job. Their job is to do all the stuff the stars don't do. And those two guys, as you were mentioning, if you watch them, they do all the stuff that you're not expecting, you know what I mean? The Zion and Ingram-Margana. They're not doing that stuff. But those guys, they're getting down and dirty now.

and two really high-level role players, for sure. And I think it benefits him. You know what? Like, that's got to be the debate for the Pelicans coaching staff here, because the way Herb Jones and Dyson and the Angels defend together and how both of those guys in their own ways, like neither of them are going to be like the lead point guards of your team. But if you have a lineup with Daniels, Zion, Ingram, Herb Jones,

those four guys surrounding Valanchunis, or you add a wing out there if you're playing small ball, all of those guys can handle the ball. And CJ himself isn't a pure point guard either. But at least with Daniels, you have elite defense on the perimeter. It just feels like they found something there

that really, really works. And I wonder if having McCollum come off the bench is this spark plug sixth man who is just feasting against bench units at the end of the first quarter, the beginning of the second quarter, if that type of rotation would make more sense for CJ and for the benefit of the whole team.

And maybe CJ wouldn't accept that. He thinks I'm a starter in this league and all that. He could still be a finisher, but I just, I can't help think watching the team this week, that that could actually be for the best for them once CJ does return. Before we get out of here, it is Thanksgiving week. I told you, just jot down three things you're thankful for with the NBA. You want to go first or you want to go second?

I'll go first. Okay. I'm thankful for the 07 draft class. Still plugging away. Kevin Durant, we talked about him earlier, shooting over 50% from three, dominant as a scorer still. Al Horford's still going at it with the Boston Celtics. Jeff Green, your guy, Mike Conley,

playing big, important minutes for the Timberwolves Green with the Rockets. It's just cool to still see some players from the 07 draft class, still playing important minutes for really, really good teams across the league. Because that was a year for me as a basketball fan, was a formative year for me. Because I was rooting for the Celtics to tank hard that year because I wanted either Katie or Grego, it didn't matter who. I was like, I'll take either of those guys and go win a bunch of titles. But then I saw my team lose 19 games in a row losing the lottery. I felt that disappointed that you know

as well seeing Grizzlies lose games and then losing the lottery. It's a bummer when that happens. But then I saw how you can go from worst to first with the right trade. So like that is a formative year for me as like a fan watching the NBA growing up.

And seeing those representations from the 07 draft class, all those guys that I hope to have of my team still going. It's just pretty awesome. It's just so cool to see that. especially with Katie doing what he does. Like, my goodness. You're not attempting to do this,

but you're now, I'm going to have PTSD about this. I've told the story on the mismatch before, I believe, but like I hosted a huge draft party. The Grizzies had the worst record in the league. I hosted a huge draft party. And the guy at the time, who was the president of business operations,

was a guy named Andy Dolich, and he had two big blowups. One of them was Odin and one of them was Durant, and one of them had a number one jersey on it. and one of them had a number two jersey on it. And we just knew like this is going to change the franchise forever. We go down to a bar in downtown Memphis. And I mean, there are hundreds of people there, hundreds.

And all gathered around to watch the draft. And the worst possible pick that Memphis could get was fourth. And they got fourth. Which ended up being Mike Conley, who's a legend. But at that night, I mean, do you want to talk about drinking your sorrows away? Oh, my God. Everybody in that bar just absolutely crestful.

ESPN was there. There's probably a video of it somewhere. I mean, despondent, the whole crowd. It was all, and I remember Eric Haslton, who's the radio voice, stands up, but he's like, you know, it's still a great draft pick. Chris Bosch went number four, and everybody's like, BOR! Nobody gives shit about Chris Baj!

Who cares? Oh, yeah, terrible. O7 is a nightmare. Absolute nightmare. You know what? And sometimes, you never know what it's going to work out. You could end up, you know, end up with Conlo who's going to have his jersey retired

instead of Greg Oden, who only lasted a few years of the NBA. So you never know the way it's all. You really don't know. You really don't know. You also could end up with Kevin Durant. And who knows how that time was. line would have unfolded. Oh, I know.

Could have been better, could have been worse. You never know how things could have been. But Mike Conley, the guy that you didn't end up with ended up pretty special. And it's still cool to see him still out there doing his thing with a really good Timoril's team this year. It's great. First thing I am thankful for, you know, we mentioned this in passing all the time, but I did want to just shout them out.

That TNT crew, as an NBA fan, you know, Ernie, Kenny, Shaq, and Charles, that the thing, They stay together. It hasn't yet broken up. The chemistry gets better every year. They razz each other better every year. And I get excited when they come back to the studio. And I say this because it is so hard. I, every time NBA season comes around,

and I know they're regularly talked about as the best studio show, but it is so infinitely better than literally, anything else in any sport. The only thing I would even, like, put in the tier of, like, something I truly love watching is college game day, the football version. The football version of College Game Day with that crew, it feels right. It feels like, you know, I've been watching them for so many years. And they have had a little moving parts.

Now they've implemented McAfee into the mix there. but I love college game day and I have for many, many years. It's just, you know, even with there's nothing like it with baseball or football or anything else. And they are to consistently be that good, have that good of chemistry and be that entertaining. I am thankful that we have that and that it stays intact every year as something I can count on. 100%. 100% true. All right, next one.

He was in the news this week. James Dolan was in the news because he said in a statement that was, you know, leaked to ESPN. Given all that has occurred lately, I have come to the conclusion that the NBA neither needs nor wants my opinion. My hope is that the NBA will be treated equally and fairly as all other NBA teams. As you know, I am very busy with all my duties at MSD family of companies. I need to apply my time where I can be most productive. So James Dolan is not going to be attending Board of Governor meetings anymore for the Knicks. I am thankful for James Dolan for creating the sphere.

Oh, God. Oh, my God. He narrowly defeated Elon Musk for inventing the Tesla. I'm the April for James Dolan dedicating his time for his duties at the MSG family of companies. I'll be going to Madison Square Garden next year for a Mount Joy show for sure next summer. You had seen, oh, so you just don't want to be banned. You don't want the cameras to pick you out. Dude, when I was going into the sphere earlier this year, I saw like outside.

of the sphere, like at all MSG places they have, like we use like video camera technology, blah, blah, blah and some that. I looked at it and I was like, oh my God, what if what if he's heard something we did? Can you imagine if that

happened opening that at the sphere? But no, but I think with Dolan, even before all that camera stuff came out, I think I've always been kind of like, at least he lets his GM's GM. He doesn't meddle as much. I've always said that on this show.

but yeah now I'm definitely brown-nosed you are gross I'm kidding I'm kidding I'm kidding I saw they're talking about Beyonce possibly being a headliner there UFC is gonna oh dude UFC next year no no you didn't see that about

oh no I did I didn't see the Beyonce thing no that'd be crazy dude no the Beyonce is like in talks of possibly doing like the headliner thing like she would be the resident the next resident. Wow. That would be wildly successful.

The New York Post reports that the team is working on the sphere has set its sights on Beyonce. Wow. Oh my God. It would be enormous, right? Dude, that would be sold out every single night. Every night. I mean, but I am genuinely thankful for the people who created the sphere. You're gross.

And I just had to tie it to the NBA in some way, shape, or form because it is. Chris, anybody that's going to Vegas to the in-season tournament, if on the off night they're playing a movie, they're playing a movie there or they're playing the concert there, you gotta go. It's amazing. Stop. The mismatch brought to you by the sphere.

I mean, Thanksgiving week, I say thankful for three things. The frigging guy says James Dolan. You know, you said James Dolan. No, in your text, you said three NBA things. You said James Doling. You said three NBA things to be thankful. I'm thankful. Bro, you're literally the only person in the world that has ever said they're thankful for James Dolan outside of like, I don't even know.

Like, Isaiah Thomas. You and Isaiah Thomas. Or Ann Bono from you too, he thanked him. anybody who's been there all right next one yeah anyway you said three NBA things that anything is this an

anything with Angle 4 or is this three NBA things for that NBA okay okay then I stand by what I said literally nothing to do with the NBA he's an owner of a team made it work next one for me So I've gotten roped in.

I am now coach Vernon again. I've gotten roped into coaching my daughter's team. And I said last year I was retiring from coaching after I gained a entirely new respect for coaches. And it took what I felt like was possibly years off my life because I wanted to do so well and wanted them to win so bad. But I'm doing it again. And I do enjoy it a great, great deal. but my daughter got some new basketball shoes that she wanted for the upcoming season and it actually made me think about this yesterday as we had practice.

She's got, I want to say like the Janus Fives. I think there's the Yonis Fives already. Wow. I think that's what they are. They're like the aqua-colored ones. They're awesome-looking shoes and she loves them. She wore Janus's last year anyway. But I just wanted to say I am thankful for Janus.

Not necessarily the shoes, but she wears, no, no, she wears these shoes. And it did make me think. And I always keep another, you see a lot of. You're thankful for shoes. I'm thankful for concert venues. Look at us. Going off track there. This is not shoes, Kevin.

I'm thankful for Janus because you see not only her, but a lot of kids wearing them. And I do think that it is important that when she has an. awareness of Janus, yes, from what her dad does in the NBA and that he's famous and the Disney movie and everything else, but that she wears these shoes all the time, right? And I think having a star that is that likable, that is that consistently happy and smiling all the time, and is that good and that relentlessly hardworking, I think he is a great example. Like, I mean this sincerely. Like, I, I, I, I, I, thoroughly do not mind that she wear, I like that she wears Janice's and that she looks up to him

a great deal. And I think it is great to have those type of guys for kids in the NBA. And I am appreciative of him. And what a good guy he appears to be. I don't know him personally. So I don't know any of his personal failings, but I do know how he presents himself, and I do know what, like, the example that he seemingly gives, um, gives out in all of his public performances. And so I'm, I'm, I'm thankful for him. I, we don't have that many that, like, actually have a real personality of the great players. I know MB does, but, uh, you know, with Yokic and Luca and like, I just feel like Janus stands out so much more than many of his peers. I really do. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Janus sneaker, like cheaper than the average sneaker? It is. And the Damian

Lower to Adidas sneakers, too, and those guys are teammates. That's right. Kind of cool. So those are, those are under 100 bucks for like a Janus sneaker. Well, I'll tell you, I'm a member, you know, like one of those Nike members, whatever. And so I got those. What's that? Like, what's a Nike member, me? I mean, I don't pay anything. Like, you sign up for you're, you know, you sign up. Oh, I just sign up. Oh, I didn't know if there's some membership for a sneaker deals or whatever. No, no, no, no, no.

No, no, no. There, I don't pay anything. But then I spent so much with Nike over the years that obviously you get member perks or whatever. And so one of the member perks recently was like 30% off already discounted. So like those were, I think they were marked down to like 80 and then I got 30%. I mean, I think I got those shoes for like 60 bucks. Huh. I think that's right. I need some new sneakers.

Maybe I should get a pair of, honest. I've been wearing like the same Air Force ones for a couple of years now. What size do you wear? 11, usually. All right, I'm getting you some soon. Oh, you're getting me some sneakers. All right. Last one. What a sweetheart.

Nice guy. Santa Claus over here, Santa Verno. I kind of talked about this earlier, but I'm thankful for just the amount of high IQ stars we have right now, like Halliburton. On the up and up, Yokic, obviously just won a championship. But we just have

so many players who elevate the players around them. Yeah, I was sick of all the dummies, too. Those of them dumb stars that we had for so long. I'm glad we finally got some guys in that IQ. What are you talking about?

I'm just thinking for the type of basketball that we're watching right now. I'm just busting your balls. That's funny, though. Thank God. I'm done. It's over. And James Stolen.

All right. And the last one, I'm going to give a special shout out. I saw him not that long ago. This week, you're going to love this because he's a mutual friend of ours, and I'm making this number three since a thankful NBA-related. So I've been going to games for over 20 years. In fact, by the next time we speak, I will have seen Phoenix in person and then I will see

who do I see somebody else Sunday. Oh, Minnesota two really good teams actually I'll see in person by the next time we speak but so I go to all these games obviously we have had so many over the years of these

great great halftime acts that have filtered out right like quick change you know red panda there's so many for so many years our buddy Christian and Scooby, Christian Stoenyev, who was on Jimmy Fallon this week. Christian and Scooby has become the preeminent halftime act in all of sports.

And I am extremely thankful. We became friends with him through the mismatch as he was a huge Raptors fan once upon a time. He is an absolutely great guy. He's, he does, he's also in the, uh, He's got a residency in Las Vegas, and then throughout the week, he'll go and do half-time here, half-time there. And his success, obviously, he won America's Got Talent, and he's been on all of those, you know, the Star's Version of America's Got Talent, etc., etc. But especially not, like, I got to see him a couple weeks ago, and so I've been holding on to this. But, like, the crowd loves that act every single time.

It is very reminiscent, much like Quick Change, much like Red Panda. He has now carved himself a niche where when people see that he's the halftime act, they stay in their seat and are so excited and love to see all the success he's had. You and I usually get to see him when we're out there for Summer League. But a longtime listener, longtime friend of the mismatch that now I believe has become the best halftime act. in all of sports, and we could not be prouder, and I'm extremely thankful that it's gone that way. I love Christian. I saw him come through L.A. pretty recently,

and, like, as I was walking off the court to go into the media room at halftime, I saw Christian and Scooby, and I was like, and announced, I was like, oh, my God, I'm going to stay. Amazing. And I stay and watched, and you're right. Like, the crowd always goes crazy for his act, and it's, Christian, Christian's the nicest guy. Like, he really is. He is such a sweet person.

truly loves basketball. I always love talking basketball with him every time we cross paths. And hopefully see him in Vegas. If he's not on the road, he's probably going to be on the road at some point during December. So hopefully he gets to see him in Vegas, whether it's maybe he'll perform at the in-season tournament in Vegas. That would be awesome. Who knows? That'd be cool.

But hope to see Christian out there. He's the absolute best. And I'm with you, Chris. Christian and Scooby is the best half-time act going right now. And we're not just saying that as friends of him over the years. I think the crowd reaction says everything you got to know about their act right now. It's awesome. For sure.

And last but not least, obviously, for both of us, I speak with us. I say we're, it's been now, as we've talked about many times, going into our, what, eighth season, seventh season? Eight season. Incredibly thankful to all of you that listen on a regular basis. And we mean that sincerely, because obviously we're able to keep doing this. because we have an extremely loyal listenership year after year after year. And so I think I speak for both of us.

I say we're very hopeful that all of you have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving. You get to spend time with the people that you love and, you know, think about, I think with attitudes of gratitude. But we are very thankful to all of you that download this and listen to it every week and respond. enjoy. It's special, man. I'm super thankful to have those relationships with people over the years and cross paths to people say, oh, hey, I love you and Chris.

It always warms my heart every single time it happens and to interact with people online. They'll listen to our show over the years. And even if you don't interact with us, even if you, you don't say hello or messages or anything like that, but you've just been a listener over the years. We thank you as well. It really does mean the world that's changed everything for us.

And I'm incredibly thankful to do this show every week with you, Chris. It's always a pleasure, man. It's always a pleasure. Super thankful for the only producer that has never left us, Jesse Lopez. We went through a thousand of them because we are both just such intense divas. Actually, they told us that the reason we kept switching producers because we were so easy to work with that everybody wanted to. That's actually true. that's actually true that we are easy to work with and easy to produce

and like oh well but this guy has stayed loyal to us just Jesse this Jesse Lopez Jesse Lopez Jesse is our longest tenured producer ever I believe not even close I believe so like most people wouldn't even make it a full season Jesse's on what year two year three at this point that's right crazy Jesse, thank you, Jesse. So I'm thankful for Jesse Lopez, our executive producer. Kevin, have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thanks to everybody out there for listening.

And everybody else, have a great Thanksgiving. And I'll talk to you next week. Have a good one. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. Must be 21 plus in President Select States. FanDul is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under an agreement with Kansas Star Casino LLC. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler or visit fandull.com slash RG in Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois,

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