The Mismatch - 'The Mismatch' LIVE! | The New Daisy Theatre, Memphis, TN

Episode Date: March 22, 2023

In front of a sold-out crowd, Verno and KOC headline the New Daisy Theatre located on the world-famous Beale Street in Memphis! However, the guys are not alone, as The Ringer's Joe House joins the show, as well as some surprise guests from the Grizzlies. The first surprise was David Roddy. The guys discuss his progress in his rookie season; playing for the Grizzlies G League affiliate, the Memphis Hustle; as well as the team identity that the Grizz seem to be building. The second surprise was Jaren Jackson Jr. They discuss his hot streak, playing with Dillon Brooks, his relationship with the referees, and the desire to win Defensive Player of the Year. Also, the guys debate which teams in each conference have a true chance at winning it all. Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Guests: Joe House, David Roddy, and Jaren Jackson Jr. Producers: Jessie Lopez, Elizabeth Fierman, and Ben Cruz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's official. One Shining Podcast is back, and I am your host, Tate Frazier. And as March Badness begins, we're covering everything from Selection Sunday all the way to the championship and beyond. We're going to have great guests that are coming through on the show. And look, if you're a friend of the program and you're already subscribed, you don't have to do anything. OSP is back. It's going to be right back in your feed. And if you're not a friend of the program, and this is your first time on the rodeo, then let me tell you this. You need to go to Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcast. and smash subscribe today because the OSP show is back.

Look at you, Memphis! What up, Memphis? Memphis! Let's go! Let's get this. All right, look. So, Los Angeles, we tried this, and you guys may have seen the video why it didn't do so well.

So, when we do the intro tonight, somebody that can do the Kevin O's, I need somebody that for sure can, defeat Wyatt. Come on, man. You say you can do it. Let's go. Let's go. Come over. Come over there. Come on. Yeah. Let's get you over here on this side. Look at this guy. Do not embarrass me in my city. All right. My man, what's your name? Brian. Brian. Brian, everybody give it up for Brian. Yeah. I believe in you. I believe in you. This guy looks like, I think he's going to be good. I think he's going to be good.

I think he's going to be good. All right. Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon. And join him as he does every Tuesday from the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, aka Kevin O. Bomba, Kevin O. Commentator, Kevin O.

Characters. Kevin O. Rob Mahoney. Kevin O. Pelicans. Kevin O. Grady Dick. Kevin.

Bernie. You did good. You did good. Unbelievable. He did great tonight. I'm proud of him. So thank you everybody for coming out here tonight. This is the thrill of all thrills. The New Daisy someplace I've been to many, many times over the years. And so to be on this stage is crazy. Who played here, Chris? Prince? Yeah. Nirvana. Prince played here, Nirvana, the food fighters. Wow. Everybody, everybody has played here. And now the mismatch.

What is McCombie? What is McCorm of the New Daisy? They opened it back up for us. So anyways, we're super excited about tonight and getting to do the show here. First person we want to bring out is from the ringer, the great Joe House. Joy from D.C. Joe House is here.

He's going to be doing the show with us. Memphis! All right! I mean, that was very nice. Y'all know I'm not Bill Simmons, right? I'm just house from D.C. But look, Bruno, before we get going,

you know, I was born and raised a little north of the Mason-Dixon line, but I still understand Southern Manners. So when I come as a guest to another pal's hometown, I don't show up empty-handed,

buddy. Let's go! Kyle Tussma! It's the best thing that happened for the Wizards the last two years. The only good thing that happened for the Washington Wizards. This is happening.

Kyle Kuzma bobblehead in the pink sweater. Let's see. Oh, we're going to let the crowd see this one. Here we go. Is this how you open your- Kyle Kuzza? There we go! Yes!

Now that is a gift from D.C. Look at that thing. That is terrible. Is this how you open your Christmas gifts? You just let everything fall. Amazing, yes. He's treated like home. Somebody will come.

up. Now, you are not Bill Simmons, and Bill Simmons got stuck at the airport. Him and Kyle and the TikTok camera could not get through TSA. Could not get through customs. But I promise you this. I promise you. You are going to be surprised at what we have in store for you tonight because we've got all kinds of special stuff that is going to be coming up. You guys were at the game last night. Yes, sir. You know what? Before I get to that, um, It's a music town, right? This is a great music town. I mean, we talked about all the music history that's taken place in this exact place.

Right here. Yeah. And like a dream of mine has always been to kind of like play on this stage. And, you know, I haven't talked to you about this at all. Kevin. Kevin O'Shredder, no less. but I think I want to welcome you to Memphis with a song. Oh,

see, if there's any possibility, I think I want to try to welcome Kevin. Oh, my goodness. Oh, wow. Wow.

Unbelievable. Look at this is unbelievable. Oh, wow. You guys were really totally prepared, huh? Unbelievable. This is a total shock to me. Southern hospitality right here. Really?

We're getting a performance from Verno and everything. This is Southern hospitality. Oh, my goodness. What a tease. This guy. I said on the podcast at one point, he's trying to get me to play guitar. I said,

Berno, we need you to sing. He says, I'm not singing. Look at this. There you go. Oh, this is beautiful house. How's the sound? Sound good to you?

Kevin has no idea I'm doing this. And honestly, I came up with the song this afternoon. It has never been played in public or frankly in private before. You're like Paul McCartney. In fact, I can't even find the lyrics to the damn thing. You're like Paul McCartney. There we go.

On the back of a bank of Bartlett envelope. What's your dream? Ready? Are you ready? I'm ready. It's Kevin O Pelican. It's Kevin O Pelican. Welcome to town

Kevin O Pelican I hope you don't frown But I kind of do The Grizz are in second The Grizz are in second The Pels are in 12th Stupid ass bed on Zion's hell He's Kevin O'Pel

He's Kevin O Pelican Welcome to town Kevin O Pelican Do you feel like a clown They're in second. And we think it's neat. Ask your boy Elon to delete all those tweets. You better do.

He's Kevin O. Pelican. Welcome to town. Kevin O. Pelican, please don't frown. He's Kevin O. Pelican. What are we got? What? Oh, I told you, I wrote it this afternoon. I know that it hurts.

Say you don't care, but you can watch the playoffs with Rudy Pelican. Welcome to town. Kevin O. Pelican, please don't frown. The gris are in second. And the Pels are in 12. Stupid ass bed on Zion's hell You might say that it's fun You might say that it's luck

Just jump on the bandwagon and stop being a miserable My son is in the crowd guy Kevin O'Pellican Welcome to town Kevin O'Pellican Please don't frown Thanks for the Rudy Gaubert lyric. Yeah.

All right. So, you guys were at the game last night. Bernardo, that was beautiful. You loved it. Absolutely beautiful. I mean, it was short notice. Here we go. Last night, you guys were front row flossing with our guys at Fandul.

Watching the second place, Grizzlies. And you got to see the second place Grizzlies. Down 13, going into the fourth quarter. And we were talking about it this morning house. quite the experience where you were sitting by a Mavericks fan last night, and you said there was a grizzlies fan that came over to the Mavericks fan on the front row and said, you will not be talking in five minutes. And this was your first experience being in that situation in Memphis. And so, of course, you were waiting with bated breath to see what was going to happen in the game. And sure

enough. The Dallas Maveridge fan, I will imagine, was not talking five minutes later. Well, that was the biggest aspect of it. It was two minutes. But the gap was closed up. And, you know, by five minutes, it was

exactly what had been forecasted. The thing that I did right when I got back home, speaking of our good friends from Fanduel, was get online, look at the Grizzly's odds to win the Western Conference, because what they demonstrated in terms of that fourth quarter closed out. What were the Grizzies out to win the Western Conference?

Eight to one. Huh. Did Joe House bet it? Oh, yes. Let's go! Let's go. House. House.

How much of that bet was informed by what we've seen recently with Jaron Jackson, Jr., his uptick and offense in addition to being the defensive player of the year. Hey, KOC, you know, we had a nice conversation. I hope we get a chance to talk a little bit further about Triple J tonight. I just hope there's an opportunity along the way here. But I asked you, I said to you, I think that Triple J, to my eyes, to my brain, the way I'm looking, he looks like Yanos to me. And I said, is he, is he Janus?

Now at this stage of his game, for the inside and the outside, a guy who can protect the rim, a guy who's committed to defense, a guy who can rebound at will, a guy who's got the stroke from three, a guy who wants the ball at the end of the game, a guy who wants to take the game winner. The only thing that yet he needs to mature into,

and I think he will, is getting that downhill speed a little bit. But all the other elements are in place. I said, is he a homeless, Janus? Is he a poor man as Janus? What kind of Janus is he? And I said to you, maybe he's like a cousin. Because he has the versatility on defense, right?

like he's best defender, most impactful defender in basketball right now, Jared Jackson Jr. is Yannis, one of the best in the NBA as well. Jackson off, it's a little different. You know, he doesn't have the downhill, you know, explosive playmaking like Yannis, but he can do more and more of that in his career compared to you look at him in college or his rookie year. He's stratosphere is better than he was then as like Grizzlies fans seen.

Are you seen a lot of around? And I think that's what the Grizzlies fans are all wanting right now is that, you know, you'll get Morant back. But one of the things in Brevin Knight talked about, it last night on our broadcast was this can't change, right? Jaron being a guy that last night, he was, you know, his second leading shot taker on the team, though he only played 23 minutes in the game because he had the foul problems. And so it's like, if you can harness what they've gotten out of Jaron over the course of the last, you know, week and a half where he has become this

aggressive monster calling for the ball. And they can pair that with Morant. Then you've got an extremely dangerous team when it comes playoff time, right? Like if you can get the Morant that you know you're going to get with this Jaron Jackson, now all of a sudden, because, I mean, that's not even to mention all the ancillary parts, including Bain. Yeah. They've got the guys, right? And you've got to have two amazing players, right?

And they may have, you know, they're on the way to possibly having three because Bain has been so good this year. not even any of the starters last night that made it happen. It was the bench guys. The bench guys came in. They're down, they're down, they're down 16 in the game. Bain hits a three at the end of the fourth quarter. Now they're down 13. And then those bench guys in a quarter where the team gave up 12 points in the fourth quarter

last night, you get these bench guys coming in. And the unit is not exactly the usual suspects to, a regular NBA fan, right? You're out there watching, and you've got Tyos Jones, you've got Luke Kinnard, you've got Santi Aldama, who's having a career, who has a career night. That's right. Who has a career night last night. You also have David Roddy. Yep. David Roddy. David Roddy. David Roddy is a fan favorite right now. And I believe we're going to get to see Mr. Roddy tonight live and in person. Give it up for David Roddy.

David Roddy. Yeah. It's the fan favorite, David Roddy. So this has been crazy for you. I mean, it's been, it all started with the Dallas game with the 17 points, hearing chance now in a venue like this. You heard them inside FedEx Forum for them for the, for the, first time. I can't imagine that you ever thought that's happening during your rookie season was in the

card. Yeah, no, it was crazy. You know, I really appreciate everyone coming out. This is an amazing venue. This is my first time in here. So shout out to you guys. But yeah, no, this is a real feeling. I'm just glad we got the win. And, you know, hearing those chances was pretty cool. And you're a year removed, like, from March Madness. A year ago, you're playing in March Madness. Does that feel like it was less time ago, or does that feel forever ago to you? To be honest, it felt like yesterday, really, to me. I mean, you know, just from the process that I've gone through of, you know, going to the first round and then pre-draft and then getting drafted,

and then the whole process after that, now we're, what, 70 games in, and it just still feels like yesterday. On a calendar year ago, I was pretty much, you know, back in Fort Collins on spring break, crazy. Even though a lot of time has passed, like you're in a dramatically different universe as a player right now. Like you're the guy for Colorado State last year. You're coming off of screens. You're running picking moles. You're doing literally everything a star player can do. This year, your role is a lot different. And you're excelling in it, which is why the crowd's

chain your name. What is like what goes into making that type of adjustment as a player, like as a rookie coming into this year after everything you did just one year ago at this time? Yeah. It's really just learning on the fly. I mean, you know, in the NBA, we don't practice too much. And so it's completely different than college where you practice two hours a day pretty much. So learning on the fly, asking as many questions as possible, and really just trying to use your basketball IQ to try to make sense of certain situations. And I think that's the biggest thing is all regis have to learn is that it's a whole new world of basketball that you're about to play. And it takes years and years for people to get comfortable. So just don't, you know, just trust the process and be patient, really.

When did you start to feel comfortable this year? Yeah, I'd probably say, man, at first, game one through 30 was just a blur, really. And then I think the game started to slow down even more. And then I got more time in the G League with the Memphis Hustle. And, you know, that definitely helped. Shout out the hustle for sure. That definitely helped. And then, you know, just learning from Desmond and those guys, you know, ties and everyone,

just asking as many questions as possible to try to figure it out. and, you know, the game is definitely slowed down so much since my first game. Talk about the hustle thing because you didn't resent it, right? There's a lot of guys that get drafted in the first round. And I feel like everybody's opinion towards getting minutes, playing a lot of minutes, and getting those reps in the G League has changed dramatically that guys now view it in the correct way, which is this is a chance to learn, this is a chance to get more reps. this is a way for me to become more comfortable to be able to contribute on the next level.

Yeah, I mean, there's so much talent down in the G League. And, you know, again, getting more reps is just super important. Rather than, you know, I'll play maybe, you know, five to ten minutes a game or, you know, some games I'm not even playing. You know, I'll go a week, week and a half without touching the floor. And so to be, you know, down in South Haven, you know, playing 30 minutes a game, it's super, super important to keep a confidence level up, as well as work on things that, you know, you would get. subbed out for and, you know, playing the Sixers or something like that. You know, I can't do between-leagues crossovers, you know, against Joel and Beds. You know, I can do that,

you know, and get practice and not, you know, get in trouble for that. I'm interested in the draft process as you're sort of going through it. At what point did you get the sense that the Grizzlies might draft you and how did you sort of feel? Were there other teams in the mix that you thought might jump on you? To be honest, I didn't know the Grizzlies were that interested, to be honest. I did work out for them. I had, you know, interviews at the combine and here and everything like that. I went through, you know, all the testing that you can think of. But, you know, there's just certain teams that were more interested telling my agent,

you know, all these things because they can't contact you directly. So it's like, I'm just calling my agent every day, like, hey, what are they saying and everything? So there was a lot of mixed reviews and then literally like pick 22 when Walker Kessler got picked. You know, my agent's spritten down, looking at both of his phones and everything. And he was like, yeah, you're about to get drafted by the Grizzlies. And I was just like, wait, what? So, yeah, it was a huge shock. But, you know, again, I'm just so blessed and honored to be here.

You had a pretty big draft range. But it does seem like the Grizzlies are starting to develop a little bit of a type with positionless type of players. Like you, Kenny Lofton last year, Dylan Brooks is really big for his height. I got a versatility of a Jaron Jackson. I mean, up and down the roster, Chris, there's so many different guys. like you that can play different positions. When he's got you closed in the game last night,

because you guys are, as he calls it red, you guys are switching everything. And in order to switch everything, you've got to have a bunch of guys that can switch. Yeah. Right? On to bigs and smalls. Yeah, no, it's really important. You know, again, we have one of the best defenses in the league right now.

So just really just continuing that, you know, again, it's spearheaded by Jaron and Dylan. Those two guys should be on all of defense teams and defense player of the year. What is it about, like, Jaron Jackson, his role, he roams a lot. Yep. How much of that is kind of game plans with what you guys do versus, like, him being in a prisoner and helping off of a weak shooter and it's instinctual? Well, what's the balance?

Finally, 80% of it is just Jaron trying to block a shot, really. And we know that. So it's like, it's a good thing. You know, you have a lot more confidence on defense guarding your man when you know, as soon as they drive to the lane, it's going to get blocked or, you know, contest it somehow. So when he doesn't go and block the shot, that's, you know, we're kind of spoiled. We kind of, you know, get on him for like, like, right, bro, why didn't you block that one? I look bad, right?

So, but, you know, there's certain, you know, X's and those things that, you know, Taylor does that, you know, we can, he can rotate rather than whatever, a Tyos Jones or somebody smaller, you know, not to put them in that position. When is the time that you felt like you've been totally thrown in the fire? Like you go out there, they tell you, all right, that's who you're guarding. Because a lot of times you would sub in for Dylan or you may draw the hardest assignment that's out there. And you, as a rookie, you're going, come on. I know he's about to get mad at me, but they're throwing me on Devin Booker or Kevin Durant or whoever they be.

There's been like five or six of them that kind of caught me off guard, to be honest. The first one, and this is like my welcome to the NBA moment, you know, is my third game. We were playing at Dallas. And DB, Jaron, Zaire was hurting everybody. So, you know, I was playing about 25 minutes a game. And it was I had to guard Luca. And as a third game rookie, like this is my third game, my first back to back, my legs are hurting already. I'm sore.

And Luca's over there. And yeah, he scored like 42 on us, 40s. 40. So that was the first one. I'll probably say the last, I mean, I got a Kevin Durant. That was crazy.

He's just super, super tall and skilled. But the last one was Philly. After all-star break, you know, we get a scouting report and you sub in whenever you're a man

that you scouted subbed in. So I'm like, okay, you know, I'm going to guard, you know, this guy, and, you know, he's off the bench. I'm just relaying the things

that I studied in my head. And I go to the board and Taylor wrote, you know, like DR and it says Hardin on it. And I was like, oh, all right, then. So, I mean, it's like, you got to do it. So, no, that was, that was an exciting one again, you know, playing against those superstars and one of the world's, you know, top talents is, is always fun. When you were talking about getting yelled at, uh, the things that you don't get yelled at in the

G league, right, if you do that you might get yelled at on the different level. What have you and yell that about in your rookie year? Man, probably, to be honest, it's really just defense. Like, you know, again, the coach, you know, puts ultimate trust and confidence in us on the offensive end. You know, hey, if it's an open shot and you feel it's a good shot, you know, take it. You know, we want you to take those. I think just really rotational defense is the thing that he's a stickler on because

it's just so important, you know, everyone's moving and one person's hesitating and it kind of ruins the whole flow of the defense. So he's gone on me a few times about just, you know, not knowing where I'm supposed to go. You know, most of it's kind of a rookie cushion, but I started to feel it. I was like, okay, I really need to focus on this because he's starting to, you know, get on me pretty much. Everybody says as they watch you, football mentality, football mentality. And so I know House, we were talking last night, he starts asking me football questions about you and I didn't have the best answer. Well, because we were sitting courtside, KOC and I, we were very lucky.

and you come right up to us and like, God damn. I'm looking at a lot of backing right here. And then Verno, so we... I thought he's a quarterback. There's a life decision at some point for you where you were like, I'm either going to go be a professional quarterback in the NFL or I'm going to go be an NBA guy.

How'd you go through that decision? Yeah, it was a pretty tough decision. I grew up, you know, playing football and basketball in my entire life, started in, you know, kindergarten first grade. and played, you know, throughout high school. And I was recruited pretty much, you know, a lot of people were recruiting me for defensive end or, you know,

tight end or something like that. But my main position was quarterback. So only a few schools kind of recruited me for that. But a bunch of basketball schools were recruited me. So I got a better connection with the basketball side just because they only recruit 15 guys a season and then football recruits 500 plus. One was Wyoming, right? Yeah.

Because I wonder. was Alan there? Alan was just left. So he was there, the QB coach at Wyoming, also coached at North Dakota State with Carson Wentz. So that was like a huge thing for me to just be under him and kind of learn under him and everything. Yeah, it was a tough decision.

But again, I'm glad I made that decision. Here we are. Yeah, here I am. Yeah, you are, right? Do you ever watch on Sunday and go, come on, Taylor Heineke or whoever. Like, I could be, I could be an NFL far. Yeah, just dice up the defense.

Yeah, no, no. Nah, I mean, college, it really stung that first year in the fall. Like, when you start, you know, feeling the season's changed and lots of leave change and everything and, you know, Colorado State has a brand new stadium that I'm walking into. It's like, okay, you know, my teammates are asking, like, what coverage are they in and everything? And I'm just like, okay, I got to be relaxed.

I can't, I coach didn't even allow. me to touch a football my first year because he was like, yeah, no, we're not, we're not going to allow that. But not anymore. I mean, you know, again, I'm a huge Vikings fan. I don't know if there's Vikings fans in here. One. One. The one. I am sorry. We get disappointed every season, but just saying. I love them, though. And so, you know, watch the Vikings all the time and just catch up with as many games as possible. What have you figured out? What do you do with your free time? Now that the NBA schedule, I mean, it's the first time that you're playing 82 games in a season, right? You kind of figure out a schedule as the season goes on when you know you have downtime outside of coming to live podcast.

What have you found to do in your free time that you enjoy? Yeah, I really spent time with my family. You know, my mom and my older brother live with me. One of my older brothers is here, actually. I don't know where he's at. Oh, right there they are. Shout out Josh right here. Oh, and I know mom.

Peeze and a five. Mom. Hey, let's talk about mom. Oh, moms. Mom was staring down Dremont Green the other night. And I'm like, yo, if Miss Roddy gets a hold of Dremont, we are going to have a problem in this building. Hey, I don't know how worried he is about Dylan. But he saw Miss Roddy.

Tag team partners. Maybe so. But, yeah, I mean, those two over there, I mean, they're. you know, they're everything to me. So I really just hang out with them. Nobody roots for you like her. And you see, we've gotten the video, right? She's always giving you a pep talk before the game.

Ever since I was a kid, really. I mean, like, you would watch, like, my football highlights, and then you would just hear some ladies scream. And, like, that's my mom. That's my mom every time. Is it refs, coaches, opposing players rank your mom's anger towards? Oh, it's refs, like way up here, way up here first. She don't really yell out of their coaches of players.

Unless they do something dirty, like, or like, I get hit or something like that. It might be a clean play, but she'll think is dirty. But it's, she is wretch. She can be your anger translator for getting a foul. Absolutely. Three times. You don't need to say anything. Yeah, yeah.

She can handle that. That's amazing. So you end up now when the Dallas game happens, this is about a week. I mean, it's crazy. you guys play Dallas three times in 10 days. But the one, that never happens. I know. It really doesn't.

The one where you have the 17 points in the fourth quarter, did that feel as big to you as it did to the fan base and everybody that's watching it at the time? At the time, no, not as much. I mean, you're just so locked into the game that you want to win. You know, you want to do whatever you can to win? you know, looking back on it, I was pretty cool. Like, I was, you know, again, just looking back on it, it was a great moment, you know, for my development.

And, you know, it was just a testament to, you know, all the unseen hours and all the work that I put in that, you know, I've always come up short. And now it's like, you know, hey, finally I got a rhythm. So, man, I was super, super elated after the game. 17's a big number. Yeah. Did you have any idea that you had 17? I didn't, no. You know, again, through the flow of the game, I mean, you know, the ball just kind of came to me.

You know, the team, you know, I just saw some open shots and I knocked them down, started to get a rhythm. And so every time I had an opportunity, I took it. Speaking of rhythm, it seems like the team is in like a serious rhythm right now. You got a bunch of games at home. You guys are comfortable at home. We've only lost five games there the whole season. How does it feel right now within the team as you kind of, you're going down this home-stress? versus how it's felt at other points during the season. Has anything changed? Is there now a greater

sense of urgency? How much do you standings watch? Like all this stuff with the last like 10, 12 games? Yeah. I think the team feels, you know, really good going into this final stretch. You know, again, we're just super happy to, you know, be in the position that we are. We don't really pay attention to the standings too much. We try to focus on what's going to get us better. So, I mean, we have meetings all the time about, hey, what can we do offensively to improve defensively and everything? And we have true honest conversations. And so I'm just really excited to, you know, get back going tomorrow against Houston and, you know, finish out this homestand. We are going to let you get some rest.

David Roddy, new fan favorite. Appreciate it, guys. Thank you, Roddy. Thank you, brother. Thank you so much. Everybody. So cool! The NBA season is coming down to the wire

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Louisiana, call 1-8777-770 stop. In Maryland, visit MD gambling help.org. And New York, text hope, New York. In Wyoming, visit 1-900-522-4700. And West Virginia, visit 1,800 gambler.net. David Roddy, unbelievable. Like, you know, I was telling you guys when we were at lunch today, I said, there's nothing like a rookie, right?

The first time you're going through it, the first time a guy takes hold, the first time a fan base gets super excited about a guy, and everybody's been like simmering as one of those kind of role player guys that everybody falls in love with. They love to seem progressing as the year goes on, and that Dallas thing was just the breakout of all breakouts. Well, Verno, the thing that struck me,

it looks like the dude's been here for about five or six years. You know what I mean? The integration, the, I mean, I didn't come down here to get on my knees and kiss the grizzly of ass. You can't help it. I did come down here for some barbecue and we did get that. We did do that. But I will say, you know, there is a next man up mentality that definitely fits and there's a culture element and he just is clicked in.

He has a complete understanding of the things he needs to do to earn minutes. And like you think about like watch what he did last year at Colorado State. Like what I asked him about this dude was like doing everything. He was posting up. He was isolating. running pick a knolls he was doing luka impressions with his 6 foot 6 240 pound frame whatever he is right it's like and now he's you know spotting up hitting catching true threes defending multiple positions he's a dramatically different player than what he is i think that also speaks to the grizzlies front office like how well they've drafted i think about like that that's that's been true that's been key to this ascent from like the middle up to the top of the league aside from john morant and him being a superstar It's all of these other guys on the roster, the Desmond Baines, Santi, Aldama, and of course, David Roddy. It's really, really a testament to them putting this team together.

Yeah, there's like a couple different things that they obviously look at, but at the very top is the character thing. And figuring out guys that are, like, as you say, guys are like the biggest star. They're the focal point of the entire offense. And then they've got to figure out, you know, there's about two guys, maybe three on a given team that can do whatever. the hell they want. The rest of them won't have to fall in line. And you've got to figure out how to be awesome in your role, especially, and you can progress as the years go on. But when you are first coming into the league, that's what you've got to figure out. And so it's interesting, you know, look, David Roddy was awesome at Colorado State. And I always kind of think about that when we're

thinking about the NBA draft and we're thinking about the NCAA tournament right now. Like, people will watch those games now and watch Roddy and they'll be like, yeah, no shit, David Roddy's good. Did you watch him in Colorado? I mean, he's the Mountain West player of the year. This guy was killing everybody last year. And it was the same thing with a Jarron Jackson. It was. He was really good in college and now he's great in the NBA. Jared Jackson Jr. has gone bananas the last week. He is over 28 points per game. And has just been absolutely everywhere. And we should probably talk to him.

Yeah, let's talk to him. Why do we talk to him? What's up, Sharon? Is this thing on? What's going on? Hey, thank you so much for coming out. This has been a hell of a week and a half for you. Yeah, it's been, uh, yeah, go Spartans, man.

It's been a great week. It's been great to get back home. We've had some late games at home, so I know you've seen. Yeah, we've been watching. And now, like, your average of 28 points a game over the last, like, week, week a half. 28's a big number, Darren. And obviously, I know a lot of people have asked you about this, but you've said it's kind of a combination of my teammates finding.

But I have sensed a, like, different lack or a different mode of aggression for you, right? Like, you have not, you've not been a, give me the ball. Let's go. and I felt like over the course of the past like two weeks, there's been a lot of give me the ball, Jaron. I mean, they're kind of, it's, I don't really have to do it as much. They're kind of for,

I really meant it when I said they're, they're forcing me to do it. They're like, Jerry, you might. You really, you really got to do it. Like, you got to, you have somebody slower, you got to do it, you have somebody smaller, you got to do it, you have somebody weaker. You got to just find ways to, like,

get an advantage. So, I mean. And you have found there to be several people that are slower and shorter and weaker. So when they implore you to do that, you look up and you go, oh, wait, this is what they're talking, but this guy is slower than me or weaker than me. I mean, the thing is, is like, they're forcing you to do it, but you're ready for it in the sense that, like, you know, you said go Spartans. And Michigan State, you were not the offensive player that you are now as a creator. Like, you went left a lot, right? You're going right now.

I still go left. You still go left a lot. But now you're going right a little bit more often. You're much more complete off on some player. What's the difference between Jaron Jackson Jr. then and now? What are the steps you've taken to be ready for this opportunity that you've received recently? Yeah, well, I mean, I'm left-handed. I'm left-handed.

I don't shoot left-handed. I used to shoot left-handed when I was like knee-high, but then I decided to switch it for whatever reason. You ambidextrous? Yeah, I mean, well, I do everything else right-handed, but I mean. Wait. Yeah, I don't. Let's go through this. Hold on.

Hold on. I'm not left-handed for real. I'm just. So you're not your left-handed basketball-wise, but everything else? I used to shoot, writing, throwing, kicking. If you sign an autograph? Writing, yeah. Everything's right-handed.

Yeah. But basketball's left-handed. That's where you feel more comfortable. I used to shoot left. But my cousin told me left-handed people don't. go to the league and I was like four. So I switched. I switched on my own time, like in the backyard.

And then by the time he told me he was kidding, I had already. That's some vision. Yeah, dude. Like four years old to switch hands. No, I was pissed. It's only Ben Simmons did that. It'll go to the league. Yeah, I want, I mean, I wanted to, you know, I wanted to do this type of thing.

Like, I mean, yeah, going, I was going left a lot. I think it was like 90% or some stat that when I was going left. I mean, I just figured that eventually you had to stop me going left. But now, you know, you got to just have other dimensions to your game. So just getting footwork and balance, like just getting your body right, studying my own film as well as like other players that really drive well, like Janus and stuff like that. You know, they have great balance. That's like the biggest thing. Is that the guys you're looking at, right?

I mean, honestly, look, you can't just look at... I'm looking at the slowest players. No, you're not... I am. You're looking at athletic freikos like you, right? It wasn't that? That's not film. It's got to be somebody that has the same kind of body that you do

in order to be able to replicate it, right? Kind of, but I like just like, I mean, Yolkidge, Luka, like, those dudes who move at their own pace. Like, they're going to be able to play like that for hundreds of years. I'd rather be able to, I'd rather learn those skills, you know, for the long haul, like, just a slow type of game. Like, I mean, I'd dunk less. Like, I feel like I don't even dunk for real now. You're done like four times in the first quarter.

I'm saying, like, they were all rebounds after he missed the, yeah. Yeah, they were like, like, you know, I usually just, I mean, I feel like I'll get to a hook and just hook and stuff like that. Like, I'm thinking more under the rim. I got to get back to the, and I think lately I've been more attacked and just go up there. One thing we observed in the first quarter especially, and I wonder if this is something that you've always felt comfortable with or whether it's with the new responsibility the last couple of weeks, playing through contact, taking that contact and moving off the contact,

your game winner last night was off a contact, and you were able to finish beautifully. Going left. Going left. Yes, sir. Is that something you're comfortable with, or is that sort of something you've grown into? It's a great city, ain't it? I mean, contact is really what you make of it.

It's all about angles. So if you can get, if you know you're about to get hit and you're at the right angle, you want to be at the end of the day, like, you can use it to your advantage to even further help you into the right spot. So, like, sometimes I kind of would rather it. Like, I'm going in hoping. I got hit so I can further get to the spot I need. Like, if I don't get hit, I might miss because I'm kind of expecting, like, all right, I'm going in here.

I'm slow stepping. Like, if a defender pulled the chair, then, you know, you really got to have balance. You really got to, but I'm going in there expecting contact, expecting a bump at all times, you know, not really going for a foul, but just trying to play the glass, trying to play it, you know, I don't know. I'm weird. You just got to see it. How much do you think in this?

weird way that it is benefiting you that I know you don't like it because you love playing next to Steve-o. And you've talked about how much easier he makes everything for you, but making it more difficult for you, right, that it forces some kind of growth for you. And they're not having him next to you is going to end up in this. It can be a blessing in disguise by reaping benefits. have you learned by him not being there and you having to take on so much extra? Well, I mean, that dude is just, he gets, he was getting hurt like every game.

Like, he would always get hurt. He'd get hurt, go to the back, get hurt, go every game. And then like the one time, like, he actually did. I'm like, oh, my God, all right. Like, and now I'm the five, so I'm in more ball screens. I knew I had to rebound a lot better. I mean, I'm still trying to rebound a lot better. But he's just a monster.

Like, he really, that part of the game, like, he's scaring off opponents before, like, he's even in the building. Do you sense the guys are like, yeah, all right, I don't want to deal with this guy? It's a bat. They put three people on him to box him out. So, like, dead.

can get an offensive rebound. It's crazy. But I mean, it forced me to, you know, grow a pair. I mean, and you've done that this year while also cutting down your filing. Granted yesterday at five, you know.

But, yeah. Oh, wait, you got mad yesterday, too. What's the smoke with Christian Wood? I have never seen you slap a ball from a guy. You were mad. You guys got history? I mean... Did he say something?

He just... There's a lot of talk on the court. There's a lot of going on, especially these days, you know? But that's how we... That's how we like to play. You know, you get a foul 94 feet away from the basket. It's not a smart foul. I'm already doing something not smart.

And I'm kind of near the guy and I'm like, you know, I'm really frustrated about it. Frustrated about a lot of things. Frustrated that you were talking about. at the free throw line, frustrated at, like three of your teammates are talking loudly. Frustrated, I fouled you. So what is he saying?

What's he saying at the free throw line? I only, like, is he talking trash correctly to you? Or is he like, you guys can't stop me? I mean, he's mainly talking to DB. Yeah. It is so good. that guy. He's talking to D.B.

Yeah, Dylan, Dylan has a plan, though, with how he approaches the game. Like, it looks random. It looks, but if you're not ready for it, you'll get rattled and he won't because he's going into it knowing what he's going to do. So he's, you know, he'll stay within his game and still he's going to guard the best player and whatever. But, I mean, at the end of the day, I'm still not going to like it. And I guess that day, I think that day I was just a little, like, even when I took

a nap that day, I was just kind of, I was a little short-fused. You're human. I was just like, yeah, like, it was one of those days. I mean, shoot, when I was a rookie, I got like seven texts in a row. I remember seven straight games. And then I, you know, it cost a lot of money. So I didn't get any more. Just paid for it.

You were just paid for it. Is there ever a time where Dylan did something and you saw him get under somebody's skin and you're like, oh, boy, like this is now, this game is about to get out of fan. Oh. Uh, yeah, just about a, every game. He has to do that, though. It's part of the game. It's part of this.

It's playing the game within the game. Like, I mean, you got to guard the best player every game. You got to guard the best wing. He's the best wing defender in the league. Stand by that. So part of doing that is doing other things. Like, it doesn't really matter how, I mean, isn't that the basis of our team? It doesn't really matter what anybody.

he's ever going to think about anything you do as long as you get it done. No one ever. Yeah. No one ever cares. You mentioned in your rookie year getting the seventh straight text, how would you characterize your relationship with the refs at this stage? Well, now, because I do it. Last night, notwithstanding.

That was the Tony Brothers show. We were all invited to the Tony Brothers show last night. A portion of the ticket is to see Tony. I'm not going to get you in trouble. I'm not going to ask you to me. Tony Brothers given the stare down to Burntons at that one point. Yeah. Got right in his face.

Tony Brothers show. Oh, my goodness. How about your relationship with the refs now? Well, I mean, some of them ref my dad. So. Do you feel like because of your defensive accolades that you are getting more respect now? Yeah. For sure.

I think at the rim, at the rim I've gotten smarter on how I approach, like, defending at the rim, I mean, most of the time, if I'm getting a foul, offensive or just something off ball or something, something that, uh, I said, I said the other day that like, it was kind of petty, but he was just asking me, like, what do you like, what do I got to do better or something? I was just like, I got to remember the year we're playing in, we're playing in 2020. We're not playing in 2010. So I just got to remember the year.

And you can't, you know, can't really be in hands. You can't put your hands out. Technically, it is a foul. It's good cause. how the rules are, I want the call to. So at the end of the day, I'm getting those calls as well. I probably get filed a little bit harder than I'm filing. But, you know what I mean?

Like, that's just how it is. I just think, like, at the rim, I'm definitely getting, like, my fair share of leeway. So I can't complain too much. Like, you know, there's probably a go-tend last night that was. Probably gold-tended. But, you know, it is what it is. Like, it's going to have.

been scab. Last year, you were on Zach Lowe's podcast and you said, yes,

I want to win the defensive player of the year. And is that still something that is important to you? For sure.

Huh? For sure. I want to win it. I want to win it. I mean, I want to win it. I wanted to win it last year, but I didn't really,

I wasn't really thinking about it. I don't usually, like, you know, I think it's a, how you say like a mental thing but I don't ever look at like

standings of stuff and stuff like that you just kind of keep it moving but like you don't let you look at Reddit threads about yourself yeah I mean not unless not unless the homies

put it in the group chat I mean like you don't know how close you were and then Markets Smart was having unreal year like you know and I heard the whole narrative you hear narratives Gary Payton thing

with the Markets Smart and you're like all right, cool. That's nipped. Do your thing. I think you just, when you realize you had a shot at it like this year, like you realize you actually had a clear shot at it, you're like, damn, I don't want that. Well, Sharon, I got a vote.

And this year, you currently lead my ballot. Yeah. Hey, O, C, dropping it. Well, one of the things that you do, one of the things, one of the things you do, better than anybody is Rome. Bro.

Like the way off ball, like you kind of help off of weaker defenders and block shots around the basket. I asked David Roddy earlier, how much of that is like game plan from Taylor Jenkins? How much of that is like you just kind of, you know, freelancing? How would you describe, you know, that role of kind of roaming off of those weaker shooters and protecting the pain inside or sometimes going back out to help or double? Yeah, like I think there's an advantage I have simply just because, of the shots I take on offense.

And it's, I mean, you can be a shot blocker. A lot of big shot blockers. Like, they block shots at the rim. It's very, I see them block it. You see it's a classic block, boom. But I think, like, on offense, I'm taking floaters. I'm taking, I'm dribbling. I'm doing a lot of different things.

So I know when a guard comes, what he's most likely thinking when he sees me. I'm like, all right, he's coming. He's driving. Do I think he's going to drive all the way to me? Probably not. So I'm going to take a step forward and just wait till he does the little quick floater and just block that. Like I'm just going to like kind of, I'm just going to like not, like he's not going to come all the way to me. There's no way he's going to come away to me because he, it's just not too little.

Yeah. Or if they do, I mean, then it's just, then it's just okay. But, you know, I'm blocking different. You want to block it, keep it in bounds. You want to just get the possession going. And you can't think block either. I'm really just thinking like let's make him miss because that's the that is the equivalent because we just need the ball. So if I end up blocking it, if you just get a pinky on it, if you get a finger on it, which I mean, ended up being like what I was accused of bluffing.

Me and Kurt Goldsbury did a pretty good job. They did. KOC went through every home block and said these are legitimate. Yeah, so why. You did it do. I looked at them too. I was like, wow, this is pretty. You know, it weirdly worked in your favor because what happened is because of that thread,

all the media members then went and watched it on. They're like, Jesus, this guy blocks everything. And then they thought I planted it. Did you? I thought, I called my agent. I was like, yo, is this you? Because I'm not saying it to you. It feels weird.

He's like, ah, brother. This is smart, right? This is really smart. Yeah, Roddy, in fact, when he was out of here, he said, now it's gotten to the point where they take you, I don't want to say for granted, but that if somebody beats them off the dribble and you don't

block it, it's like, come on, bro. Yeah, when they look at me crazy and they're just expecting you to defend the guy too, right? Did you see the clip that was going around with Kyrie today? Oh, yeah, yeah. There's a clip that's a

somebody had from the All-Star game, and you guys are at practice, and you guys are talking about moves, and he is explaining how what his counter would be against you defensively, and they lined it up. It's literally what happened last night, where he tried to go right and wrap around you, and you knew. I told him, I'm, listen, I'm just, I went, this is at the All-Star game, and I'm like, you know what, I'm going to just, I'm about to. get as much info from these dudes. I was asking, I was asking D'Amar about his little move and stuff like that, like little things like that whenever they had time, because no one really wanted to be there

anyway. But, you know, Kyrie was like, Kyrie, we were talking about switches. We were talking about ball screen switches. He's like, yo, I'm a switch out here. He's like, oh, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to go wide. I'm going to my right. And I'm like, yeah, these are counters.

Honestly, his counters that he showed me at the All-Star game were really good. But, you know, they were different than yesterday. I mean, he's the greatest ball handler is earth. So all those moves, you got to be ready. I was just like, dude, all I'm going to do, I told him, I'm just, I don't remember everything I told him. But I was like, I'm going to calm my body down and I'm not going to just, I'm not going to move at first. You're going to do the first move. And then you're going to go.

And then that's what I'm going to move. So it's a whole dance. It sounds like I don't know what I'm talking about. But you tried to, you used this as an opportunity to try to figure out, like, what these guys are thinking. Yeah. By the way, you were talking about D-Ride. D-Roy was, this has been unreal. Unreal.

D-Ride is one of my favorite players. Like, I've told him he was, it was one of my favorite players, like, before we even started playing games. Like, his mentality is unreal. I've been told him he's one of my favorite. What about him? Why does it work with Kim? And also, let's talk about another guy who, I've been totally honest about this. When they said, Jaron's going to be out to start the season and the starting power forward is going to be Santi Aldama. I'm like, are you serious?

And I think that's how every fan was. Like, really? Like, that cannot be our solution. And he has been fantastic. Has the career high last night? Like, those two guys in particular, these things. bench guys and kind of why why you think they have had the success they've had this year? Well, first I start with D-Rod.

I mean, he's just like, he's a football mentality. So, you know, preparation-wise, he's going to go hard and warm-ups. He's going to go hard and lift. Nothing's going to phase him. He knows that working hard is all he has to do. Like, he doesn't care about anything else except working hard. So if you have that as a baseline, you're going to be fine. And you have no conscience when you're out there.

He's shooting whatever. it's just going up. I always say that when he catches the ball on a bench. Like, it's going up. But at the end of the day, like, it's going in. And, you know, the way he uses the size, like, not just settling all the time, really imposing his will and being a good defender and caring about it. You just have to care about defense and care about our system. The buy-in is already there.

Like, those little things are going to, it's going to make you stick anywhere. Thank God he's with us. Santee. Santi, I mean, he's 21, right? 21 years old. Can you do something for me? Sonti's so young, like he's just, I mean, you can do anything. He's huge.

He's huge. He's creative. He has no conscience either, but in a different way. Like, he'll throw a fake behind the back pass, then a real behind the back pass, then a 360 oop. And like, he's doing all this stuff. And then like, you know what I mean? I mean, it's, it's bound to happen that he's going to go off in some of these games.

Did you know he was going to be good? Yeah. Yeah. I did. Look, I'm in practice, too. You ought to understand. Like, there was a training camp, the training camp, not even this year, but the previous year. You know, you come in train camp trying to, I'm not trying to make the team.

I don't know. I didn't think he was or anything, but, like, I definitely wasn't. So I'm going hard, but this guy is out of his mind. Like he's coming here. He had like five threes in the first drill. Like he's dunking. And I'm over here like, you know what? Like this guy.

And I'm pissed because it's on me. So I'm just like, damn. Like, slow down. What the hell is this guy? Like, I'm about to go crazy. And I mean, he just has that. He really does have it. Those are two of the bench guys that were out there last night that cut down that lead.

The other one is Knaar, who is like he's been the addition and it's been rather seamless. Yeah. He's just been plug and play with your team, has picked it up. And it feels like he has been on the team throughout the year, honestly. Like, it's not, it doesn't stand out in any way, except that there's a guy you can throw it out to that makes threes all the time. Thank God, man. He's, he's, he's, I mean, I remember when he was on the clippers and he gave us like 30 when they didn't have PG or Kauai playing. And we went into the game.

I think we were a little too lax. He gave us 30 loud, and he beat us. And I remember that now he's on our team, and I'm like, you know, this guy can really shoot, like, this, when he shoots it, I am really in a good mood. Like, I'm going to, like, as is going up, as that time when it goes up before hits the rim, whether he makes or misses it, I'm in a great move. I'm like, this is, this is great. I mean, and now with him and bang, oh, yeah.

You guys, especially for bigs, you need the space. Yeah. It helps for me so I can, like, you know. Do cool shit. Speaking of being in a good mood, the Grizzies are in second place in the West. Yeah. And looking pretty solid to hold on to that spot.

As you look at the bottom mismash, it could be anyone really of six different teams. I know you guys aren't looking too far ahead, but you just heard the same thing that I got in my head. if there was a team that you might hope to find in the first round if the basketball gods let it happen, are you in a position to name a team, or would you just say you'd be happy to let the crowd?

There's real smoke. What? There's real smoke. Like, I mean, it's like, you feel it, right? Those games are different now. Because of it. Is it a rivalry? You know, I mean,

Wow. We did it. It's the best, like, yo, we're the best, like, home court advantage. Yeah, you do. Yeah. You can't.

I would really hate, I would really hate to come here and play. I would really not like to come here. Why do you think? The crowd is awesome, Chris. The crowd was so great. It was unbelievable. It's so good.

This is how the games are, bro. You get real distracted. Like, or something. If you're not ready for it, you will get. It's the first time that I've, like, jumped up in the fourth quarter in a long time because I will tell you, I wanted you to come here.

You had five fouls. You guys are down 16 in the third quarter. And I'm telling Rosa, I'm like, you have got to be effing kidding me. I'm like, the only way this falls apart is if they ended up getting run out and Jaron doesn't play well. He's not going to want to go out in public.

And I'm like, please, God. Please. and Bain hits a three. Aldama, man. He saved me. He did. It's Tanti. Yeah. Saved us. Canchar hits the three from the corner to start the fourth.

Now it's 10. And then you're able to check back in with six minutes left. When you hit the game winner, oh, I almost flipped over the table. I was like, let's go. We're going to get him. He's going to want to be in public. I mean, it went from like four dunks in the first quarter, joy, five files. I was not going to come.

Yes. Let's go, baby. He should have seen Taylor. He was like, we're at the table about to check in. And he's like, it's like me and Des and Devi at the table. They're making their run. He's like, you better go in there.

They just brought us back. Y'all better go in there. Y'all better go finish this because they just work. They're gas. They're getting an ovation. We're in there and like, all right. We really are. We might as well finish this out.

They miss a couple shots. I'm like, okay. Let's do this. Crowd is unbelievable for sure in the fourth quarter. But people are going to bring up like the whole road and home. And that's the importance of home court advantage. But what do you look at as the big difference between home and road for you guys beyond just everybody cheering for you at home this year?

And you were just able to win two out of the last three on the road when you just went on that road trip, including the biggest comeback in the NBA all season. that would have super sucked with you and your dad doing the photo. And then that being commemorated with the loss of the Spurs, but it wasn't meant to be. So you guys were able to get that win. But, you know, kind of gotten rolling more recently. But just throughout this year,

what have you looked at as why is the team so dramatically better record-wise, home versus road? Dude, I don't know. I think just going on the road, going on the road, we know what to expect. You got to get booed. You're going to get this. We're going to get this.

We're the team to boot. Good shit. But I think just that just remembering, like when you're on a long road trip, just like remembering the big picture, like during the game. Like if you lose one, it's kind of easier to lose the next. It's easier to lose the next. Like it's rhythm. You win it.

It's like, okay, you remember more of the feeling and you remember more of certain things. Maybe it's just a long year. I mean, we do play a lot, but it's no excuse for the most part. Do you see a big difference because of all the shit talking that? People want to give us our best. People want to give us the best game they can. It's like playing Duke in college. Like, it's, it's, you want to, you want to beat us.

You feel like teams now. want to beat you in a way that was not. I mean, they come here, they get harassed. We go to them. They want to be this. Like, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, seems. The timing of that flight change help, like flying out the night of games. They're good.

You guys, you guys were all. That's a little overblown, right? Is that real? No, it's for sure. Overblown. We was always just. They were doing it. It's literally a schedule.

Like, we got to leave it. Would that come from? The athletic. So that's nothing new. Yeah. No, no. I mean, we got to leave at some point. So it's either one day or it's a different day.

No, I mean, it's one of those where it's like, oh, John's been in the news. Let's find something else. Right. And so the flight left Miami. Like, bro, you're not staying in Miami. No. I mean, no team. Of course not.

No team is making the decision to stay in Miami. me after a game, especially after a loss. Yeah. Okay. Well, we do need to mention, the aforementioned, you get him back tomorrow after a long time. And I know that has been, you guys have been super close and it's got to have been weird over the course of the last couple of weeks, right? Just walking in the locker room and him not being there and there he was last night and it felt

comfortable. Seeing him out on the bench, seeing him around everybody. and obviously smile in here to ear. That's a bad man. At the end of the day, on the court, he's unbelievable. It's something none of us has ever seen. It's something he hasn't even seen either because, I mean, even if he watched every single player ever,

he's doing stuff that they didn't do. So, I mean, at the end of the day, like, I'm just, we're just so excited to have him back. more just on a personal level, really, of anything, just like, you know, that's our dog. He was there last night and it was lit. Get the routines back in order. I mean, he's a part of so many different things.

And you get to bring him back with a great flow going. It's not like... Yeah, but we had tires. We had ties. It was easy. Tyos has been out of control, great. We had ties. We had tires.

And he was, he was, I mean, He's always ready. That's just how he's built. Everyone's always ready when caught upon. And, you know, Stones, he's that guy. He's that guy for sure. House bet on you guys to win the West. I did.

After last night. Eight to one. Eight to one odds for the Memphis Grizzlies to win the Western Cup. That's how overtaken he was by the Grind House. Fourth quarter. The fourth quarter, he went home, jumped on. fan duel and bet him. Fan duel.

He did it. I'm allowed. You are. You are allowed. He's in. Let's go. I bet on the Grizzles to come back and win last night. It was.

It was unbelievable last night. Jaron, you were unbelievable. Yes, you were. Keep scoring 28 points a game. Yes, please do that. Hey, thanks for coming out, brother. Coos. He said, is this Coos?

We got it. Style icon. Give it up for Jared Jackson, Jr. Oh, the best. The absolute best. The, uh, so awesome. The Grizzly's propaganda section's over. It's over.

You guys made it through. You guys made it through on. Tell me. We are going to do with a little Joe House action, actually, while we've got him here. we are going to do Word Association and you are our Eastern Conference analyst. So we're going to do Word Association.

We're going to talk about all these teams and we're going to go through all the way to the play in, all right? Yeah, Verno, let me, I want to ask what the rules are here. Is this a free-flowing conversation? Yeah, free-floor and conversation. Occasionally touch on mature subjects. Turn the TikTok camera on.

Milwaukee Bucks. The chance. camps. Oh, I like it. You like it too. They're my pick to win it too. I do. I do think they've got to be the favorites. I think it's okay to say. Yeah, they've been the favorites nearly all season long. I mean, look,

the guy scored 50 points in a game seven. He's the best player in the world. I think we agree that while he may not be the MVP this year, that if we're drafting, we go into the playoffs this year and we're doing the draft, Janus is going one. Well, I mean, like we talked about it with

Jaron and Roddy about the importance of that type of versatile defender. Yeah. I mean, that's what's special about Jaron Jackson. There's not a lot of guys like Evan Mowgli, Jaron Jackson, Yannis. How many guys are there that can dominate on the perimeter? You can feel like you can reliably put him on Kyrie Irving. Yeah.

But also be just the most ferocious shop lockers around the basket. Like how many others are there? Like, can you guys think about like any other? Yeah, the Killier. He had 15. Kili had 15 points. the first quarter tonight. Kevin O'Killian.

Kevin O'Killian. I didn't see how he finished the game. He might have only had 15. Come to Memphis. I'll take a look right now. I love it. Boston Celtics. Performance anxiety.

Oh. You called them the Sharman Celtics. They are. They are. They are. On Bill's podcast. Yes, I did. Several times.

And I meant it and I continue to mean it. There is something going on with Marcus Smart and Jason Tatum since the All-Star break. They've both been in slumps. Tatum's is particularly impactful because that dude gets the shots up. His usage rate for that team is crucial. And, you know, the Rob Williams being out, that's just, you know, that's a day that ends in why, right? They're used to that by now. but their inability to execute on offense is a problem, KOC.

Well, what is the explanation? Because Tatum, since the All-Star break, this guy was one of the best three to five players in the NBA this season. And since the All-Star break, he's like 42% from the field, 29% from three on 10 attempts a game. Like, you can draw a pretty clear line between how their best player is performing and how that team is performing. I believe he's dealing with a little hand-risk injury,

which could be playing into that. But Boston's offense overall, though. I mean, like, after they started 20 and 5 this season, their offensive rating is in the bottom half of the league ever since then. It's not just stadium. It's not just anyone player. It's just the offense has not clicked like it did when they're shooting 53s a game, hitting 45% of them.

I mean, like, the people were talking about them as one of the best offenses ever. It's way too early. At this point, it's become pretty apparent they're a good offense, that are a very streaky offense. And if their defense isn't the elite of the elite, like last year when Marcus Smart was, I didn't think he should have won defensive player of the year, but he was great.

Robert Williams was actually healthy. Robert Williams isn't even playing right now. So I think performance is anxiety. That's a great way to put it with them. The Missoula thing, too, is fascinating because I thought after they signed him to that, he's falling off. After they signed him to that contract, the Tatum quotes were like,

EMA was my favorite coach. And it's like, what the hell? That's not exactly. You want coming out after you sign up a coach, right? That's exactly right. And the people of Boston don't have a high level of confidence. Yeah, they're on his ass. 76ers.

Real quick, Killeen Hayes update. Oh, God. He has 19 points in the late fourth quarters. And he's six at 15. What's a score? The pistons are successfully tanking. What's the same? Down by 24. Great job, Detroit.

76ers. I believe they have the best record in the league since November. Yeah, so to me, it's a math problem. It's MVP plus playoff harden plus Doc Rivers. What does that equal? We really don't know, right? It has been zero. You don't trust it. How can you?

There's a long track record, especially. with two of those dudes. But he has he ever had anybody, like, and he had the big three Celtics. He had the clippers with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, but is he ever had anybody

as great as Joel Lambeed is right now? I would say no. Yeah. And I don't think that's going on a limb. Maybe Embed kind of outweighs that. That's like maybe Embedd's that great. Have you changed? Would you vote Embed the MVP today?

It's like neck and neck between him and Yonis. For me. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. I understand. I understand Cleveland

Word Association House Let's go One year away Now Kevin and I had a nice conversation Last night we were watching the Grizzlies Over the course of the game The Grit and Grind There were a couple of timeouts

The cheerleaders were not out So we were able to compare notes Cleveland The team In the National Basketball Association With the best they have the best net rating and net rating yes the best differential

in the entire NBA and that's a function of their super consistent defense over the course of the year. Number one in the league the problem I have is as of late they're not performing very well against the top teams in the east so that's

why to me now the Donovan Mitchell trade was a home run of home run proportions tremendous job by Cleveland pulling him in helping him in helping that team mature come together the way they have. I still feel like they need some playoff chops. I think they're dangerous. I think they can be too.

I mean, like what House and I talked about last night, Cleveland right now, number one defensive rating, you know, pretty much all year. But their offensive rating is number nine for the full season, number four since the deadline. So they've like trended up step by step throughout the year. Mowgli's been better like Jaron Jackson's been better

offensively. He's doing more. Jared Allen, Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland O'Coro shooting over 40% from three. Cleveland's get the pieces. They just don't have the experience that a Milwaukee, a Philly, or a Boston, which is why they don't belong in the same tier. Yeah.

But they did. I mean, like you never know what can happen with young teams, right? And you know what's crazy with that with the Mobley thing is that J.B. Bickerstaff, who was the coach of the Grizzlies, had Jaron as a rookie here. And when they were in town, the Cleveland guys, if you talk to the Cleveland guys, J.B. would tell you, Jaron. Mowgli is like, it's freaky how much he is like Jaron and said the same thing, which is he's just got to get that MF.

Like, you know, he doesn't realize how good he is. We've seen Jaron kind of amp it up recently, and frankly, we've seen Mowley amp it up recently. He's had some big scoring out. Yeah. Like, there are these guys that are constant mismatches because somebody's either too small or they're too slow or they're too little. you know, to deal with these guys. And it's just, but they're not,

they're not those alphas get out of my way. But if you get them to do it, they're a massive problem for other teams. And so it's kind of interesting that he's got kind of the same type of guy right now. He's dealt with this before because there's not that many of these. We waited so long for the, no offense, on your whiz, the unicorn stuff. But we do have some real unicorns now.

Yeah. Truly. Yeah. Like what we thought Porzingis was going to be, we're now starting to see some of these. I mean, the dude sitting that chair in a couple minutes ago kind of fits that description. Right. Same way. The Knicks.

Well. Oh, Knicks fans. Let's go. I'm old. And also old school, which means I love a rocking MSG. I love a Madison Square Garden that's bumping. Bing Bong is back, baby. Bing Bong is back.

Yeah. I love the Knicks this year. Yeah. You love the Knicks this year. I think that Cleveland, New York series, the way it's sizing up, is going to be really juicy. And I think the Knicks are absolutely up to the test. You think dangerous also.

Oh, yes. Yeah, you don't want to play them in the playoffs. Just the Tibbs thing, all the dogs they got on that team, runs in hard. It's like you're going six or seven games with them. You're not bouncing them quickly. They're a gritty team, man. Gritty. Yeah.

And then honestly, like, is there anybody, I don't even know. We don't need to do Brooklyn, right? No, no, no. That's a bad box of wings. Who cares? You got buffalo wings mixed in with old bay wings. They should have traded us, McKell Bridges. I don't know why they were.

Yeah, they should have traded you, McKelellan. They were being wieners. Sure. Miami. I mean, that's the only one that playoff zombies, right? You got to kill them. Everybody wants to stay away from Miami, but what do we think? I don't think they're anywhere near the level of those other teams, even Cleveland's.

Wow. What about you? I don't disagree, but, you know. If it lines up right now and Boston's playing Miami, you think that thing's going anything less than seven? You know who's not afraid of going into Boston and put something down? It's that guy right there. That's exactly right.

Kevin O'Connor? Kevin O'Connor and Jimmy Butler. Those two. Those are the two. Oh, Kevin and Jimmy Bowles. Yeah, that's together. Atlanta. No, come on.

No, no more. No more East. No. Who else? Quinn Snyder. I had to go on a podcast with Bill Simmons last week and say that Trey Young has one of the worst contracts in the NBA. And I meant it.

All right, the other ones, Toronto. No. Nah. Nah. No. Let's go to the West. Chicago. Let's go to the West.

What? Hey, Chicago. I haven't even got a new house is. It's her gift. Man, it's right there. He's right there. Here he is. That's my guy.

Look at this. Jared Jackson saying, is that? Cous? Yeah, that was hilarious. Fashion icon. Hey, do you want to get in the play in? I think you deserve Wimbabiyama. You personally. I mean, that would be a lottery miracle, but I'm from Washington. I've come to not expect such things. Boy, I've got to be honest, I have never heard anybody have more disdain for a local team's best player. Well, really me with Paugasol years ago, possibly be gay. But they're both the same as you say, right?

They're miscast as the best player on a team. Yeah. And beta beels a little far. I know. It's a bit. It's a bit. He is. You don't want them going to the playoffs.

No. For what? Hell no. What's that do for him? I'm not going to that. Four games? Yeah. Screw you, house.

I get fuck it in the playoffs. Look at my sweater. He's going to be. gone from Washington this summer anyhow. Yeah, I think you're right. All right. Let me ask you the Western conference. Let me ask you. Yeah, all right.

I'll ask you. I'm ready. I am ready. All right. The Denver Nuggets, Bruno. Who gives a shit? I'm kidding. I think they're trying to get out of the one seat and everybody's like, what's

going on with them? They're really faltering as of late. I think they see Phoenix. I think they see probably Golden State or L.A. at 8. And they're like, you know, man that's not that desirable right now that would be some mockybellion shit i got i gotta tell you look i want the grisleys to stay two three yes because if you can win the first round now you're playing against the kings to get to the west finals yeah and while i do respect the king don't sleep on the

king's story they don't have they don't have the scars he's thinking score in the fourth quarter i mean they don't uh i know denver i do believe still get even with their recent struggles. I actually still look at them as they have to be the favorite. They're the only team that is better than the grizzly are on par with the grizzlies. You can't even breathe there. And, you know, I know, pissing all over Yokic recently. He's still the best guy in the conference. Oh, sure. He's the best player. Not Kevin Durant? Huh? Not Kevin Durant? Kevin Durant doesn't play basketball. He doesn't play basketball. Not very often. Yeah. I mean, so of the that play? Who do you guys fear more?

Katie or Yokic in a series? Pretty split. Pretty split. I know. I just think, I just think I am confident that Yokic is going to play because he, because he doesn't get hurt. Steph is the scary one. Steph? Oh. But the warriors, the warriors aren't scary though. As much as they were. Okay, that's scary. All right. Well, let's go to the two seed. Let's go to the

two seed. I think the The two seed. I think Denver still has to be considered the favorite because they have home court advantage and the best player. Fine. The Memphis Grizzlies. I feel much better about them than I would have two or three weeks ago because it's been time for all those teams that have a 70 game sample size that have been decidedly average or mediocre and no one wants to believe. that they are average or mediocre. And all of them have said, it's time to turn up.

So for the Lakers, it's time to turn up, and the clippers, it was time to turn up. And for the warriors, it was time to turn up. And they all keep getting their ass kick. And so when you continually see that, you become less fearful of those that are below you, and then you start dreaming big. Because if you can get, if you hold on to say two, now you got to knock off whoever wins that play in it. seven and then you've got the Kings

where the chance to go to the Western Conference Finals. And so I think because of the way it has played out recently, both with the Grizzlies and underneath them, I feel much better about their opportunity at a West Finals than I would have, say, two weeks ago, three weeks ago. I understand that.

What do you think? KFC? Absolutely. I think it's very fair. And as we talked about tonight, the evolution of a Jaron Jackson with what he's showing offensively when he needs to score. That could help job around in the postseason series. Because look, I last the concern with Memphis. Like, we know their defense can be dominant.

We know as long as Stephen Adams comes back, which is a big question. Like, do we know? Like, is there any intel, Chris, on Adams return? I mean, they're hoping by the playoffs. Because you need Adams against the Yokes. Of course. But at the same time, against the Sons, they're inevitably going to go

with Kevin around at the five. That's when Jaron Jackson Jr. is going to be of the most value. Right. So, like, the Grizzlies, if they have Stephen Adams, have lineup flexibility. But what they need to prove is that they can consistently score in the half court and end game situations. Yeah. That's the one hangout I have with them. But, you know, if Jock can come back and play some of his best basketball, do what he did in past playoffs. He should be well rested. That's for sure. And if Jaron could continue doing what he's been doing a little bit more with the ball on his hands, like all of that adds offensive variety.

And you got to feel better about the Grizzlies. Theoretically, like Stephen Adams coming back is the big one, though. You know what I'm saying? I'm saving this podcast. I mean, obviously, you know, home court crowd. But, I mean, that's the most he said nice about them. I mean, oh, my God. We had to. We watched it course on last night.

You can't say anything bad about them. Chris, it's fair, though. Yeah, it's fair. It's fair. All right. Let's do the Kings. Let's talk about Sacramento Kings. I love the Kings.

I love watching. Light the beat. I do. I think it, I think it is the most fun story. Yeah, man. I'm going to hate having to beat them. It's going to be painful. But I mean, as long as they can win their first.

round series. It'll be a 17, you know, they've been waiting for 17 years. I love fan bases that have been long suffering and then they get that moment. And they got destroyed for the subonish trade, but that has worked out famously for both teams, I think. It's fair to say. And that team can be absolutely devastating. They're one of those where the variance is going to be really high because the night that they shoot 40-something percent from three, they're going to beat your ass. And the night they shoot 29% from three. It's going to be a dog fight. But they, yeah, I think everybody has waited even myself. Like at what point are they falling off and they just haven't? We said post All-Star break, they're going to have one of the hardest schedules in the NBA and they just haven't.

And their numbers down the stretch, clutch numbers, Fox's numbers. I think they are, I think they're a very, very good team. And I think that they are one of those that, people are going to take notice of in the playoffs in many cases for the first time because I mean they're just not on TV unless you are a hardcore NBA fan watching them late at night on league and like I haven't you know ironed out my all NBA ballot yet but like they could end up with two guys to get a ton of votes maybe Fox and Subonis don't make all NBA but that's the 15 or so best guys in the league right that's right and but those guys are both going to get votes whether or not they both make it that remains to be seen but yeah they have top

Ben Talon and they have a ton of great depth too. Phoenix Suns. Just a massive unknown. I mean, again, they're one of those teams that we have to project. We only saw them for very short time when Durant was healthy and playing with them. And they were awesome. They were awesome. Yeah.

Like it looked, that Dallas game on the Sunday, you know, you saw what the best of them can be with Durant and Booker. But I do not trust Paul throughout. You got to get 16 wins when it comes playoff time to stay healthy and be that guy. And I do think that you're asking Durant to be your best defender and carry a massive offensive load every single night. So I think with them, it's only fair to say wait and see. We know it can be devastating if it all works. We just haven't seen it enough. I think with Kevin Durant, they're the favorite in the West.

Wow. But my question is, what version of Kevin Durant? Like, what precedent is out there for a situation where the best player on the team arrives having missed, you know, several months in the lead up to the playoffs, shows up with the playoffs, and boom, it all works? He's Kevin Durant. I know, but there's never even a president. He was Kevin Durant. Oh, wow. Hey, we watched the first round of that series against us.

Celtics last year. He got in teams. But I really think that Celtics, that series was so much of credit to Boston defense. Like the game plan they had last year. The answer is, though,

there is no precedent. And there is also no precedent at your best player, never playing with your team. And then just showing up and carrying it. Bottom line, though, like these, we just went through the top four in the West.

Like, never mind all the teams that follow with bigger question marks. All the top four have questions in their own. Of course they do. All of them. There's no clear.

No, no doubt. Favorite. Yeah, for sure. Five. Memphis could find that way, no doubt. Clippers. Oh, they suck. Do they?

Yeah, they suck. Do they? I was at, the grizzlies vomited all over themselves in the fourth quarter. They also dropped 51 in a frigging quarter. They did do that. That's true. At their arena.

Do they belong? They play lineups where you're like, there's four guys on the court that I would not want on my team. They're just bums. But do they belong on the? the pile of teams that could make the finals in the West. Sure. I mean, they could just because everybody could.

So you put them there. But, I mean, they could, but I don't think they're, I would not bet on that. That's what I would say, right? I think you're hoping for a 2016 Kauai Leonard, you know, more than the 2023 Kawhi Leonard, who is still really good, but I mean, I don't know. They're more scary to me than the Fed. And the Westbrook thing is stupid. Well, the limited sample size, they're a little bit better offensively.

They have found a little bit of a rhythm with it. This is the problem with the clippers to me. It's been a season-long experiment. He hasn't found his rotations, playoff rotation. They've been working on it since October of last year because they had to load manage Kauai and PG. They never got any continuity with all the parts. You look at that team on paper said, oh, my God, these clippers, they're the top tier

in terms of the Western Conference, top tier in terms of potentially winning NBA championship, and it's a goddamn experiment. There are 500 team all season long. That's right. 500 team. All right, next. The Golden State Warriors. This fan base

loves them. So here's what I would say. I would tell you that they, I do believe in the idea that they are a very mediocre version of their former selves.

That being said, they have not lost with Steph, with Clay, with Draymon. They have won every series they've ever played

they've been able to steal a road game. So the whole home court advantage thing, they have been able to steal a road game like they did last year. They only still in Memphis,

but it was that game one where John misses the game winner at the very end. I do think, think that they, because of the pedigree, deserve a level of respect that those other ones I would not give. If there is somebody that I was to believe could become a best version of themselves when it comes playoff time and care more, and they're still very good at home. And I have

heard a very good theory on this that everybody keeps saying, why do they suck so bad on the road? They've only won seven games. The only teams that have won less on the road are Houston at San Antonio. And I think this is a very good theory. At home, like these guys, you just saw Jared here, Roddy, these guys are around their families, they're hanging out. They're, you know, everybody just goes their separate ways and goes to their houses, right? On the road, you are together. And Draymond knocking the shit out of Jordan Pool. I mean, it all goes back to the punch.

It really does. We've been talking about it. The idea that when they are on the road, that that there's a level of together. that used to be there that simply is not there. That stuff does not get, you know, it just doesn't get overcome quickly. It, that's, you know,

and I do think. So for the Warriors, it's a lack of togetherness for the Grizzlies. It's too much partying on the road. Probably. I mean, COC. They're young.

What's the deal with Wiggins? So I can't take Golden State seriously without Andrew Wiggins. I don't know. I'm not sure. Do we think he'll play in the playoffs? Don't know. Can we say this? I tweet.

I texted you these internet rumors that are out there. And you said you've heard those are not true. I've heard that's not true. There's a big question of like what is happening, what will happen. But the bottom line, like putting aside everything with his personal life from a basketball perspective, the Warriors need Andrew Wiggins.

I agree with us. You see the need for wing defense. I mean, you see Jordan Pool getting roasted. I mean, like they got no shot. That's right. No shot without wiggins.

All right. On the bottom of this list, I mean, do we go through these teams? Let's do the Lakers first. Oh, my God. Let's do the Lakers. I think it's the other one. So we saw that thing about Austin Reeves. Austin Reeves is going to the free throw line more times than Domar de Rosen and Tray Young.

I think NBA might want him somewhere. You think the NBA, Rudolph, who's in the play in as it starts today and tell me they don't want the Lakers in that thing? Dallas is it seven Minnesota? is eight, Oklahoma City is nine, and Utah is 10. So Oklahoma City versus Utah. Yeah. And Dallas versus Minnesota. Right. Now you know why Austin Reeves has gone to the line 90 times in the past. To get Austin Reeves some credit, like he did a great job driving to the basketball game.

And he wasn't down. He scored 70 plus points in a high school game. Awesome. He drew a lot of files in college. It was part of his game just to defend. I'm not. It's too many files for a second year player who never gets the benefit of that whistle. It's so rare. Yes. But we are seeing Bencaro average like eight free throws a game. You know, Benis McManoran.

There are some rookies and young guys that are getting to the line. So it's happening more often. Are we going to talk about, we can talk about your theories house? What theories? I mean, how can we talk about the Lakers without talking about where the king went? What do you mean? Germany? Oh, yes, yes, yes.

of course. Well, he's not back yet. I mean, I thought if he was back already, I would have known. That would have been to tell. Do you think he's going to have incredibly hairy shoulders and appear to look like the incredible Hulk upon his arrival? Back in the lineup. I think that he is a firm subscriber to an advocate of advanced medicine.

That's what I believe. I think he believes in advanced medicine. And I want him to play. He comes back. It is the best player in the world. I want him to play. I want to see him play. Out of those other teams,

is it like we watched Dallas last night? Is there anything? Is it possible, Kyrie, where he walked away in a boot last night, and Luca comes back? Is there anything? I think Dylan Brooks might have gotten

Kyrie Irving's last Maverick's jersey last night. I'm not sure we're ever going to see him again. Yeah. Dirty pool, by the way, to not take Dylan's jersey. That was hardcore. I mean,

hardcore. Kyrie's kind of hardcore. I get it. I get it, but no, Dallas no. Okay, so not Minnesota Oklahoma City either. Dallas's defense stinks. Yeah, it does. Minnesota will be interesting,

though, getting Kat back on Wednesday according to reports. Anthony Edwards could be back too. They're in the eight spot right now in Minnesota, and that was a great series last year. Grizzlies Minnesota was a good series. I enjoyed it. Hey, Mike Conley plays for the Wolves. Oh, God.

We love Mike Conley. You do love Mike Conley. Yeah, my Conley. was a good series last year. Rudy Gobert also plays for the wolves now. You may have to. That's how we can get Kevo back to Memphis. Grizzlies,

grizzlies wolves. That's how we can get you back here, right? I mean, should we talk about the Pelicans? Or are we done enough? You sang a song. The floor is yours, Kip. You sang a song.

The Pelicans. Let's talk Pelicans. The floor is mine. Yeah. Well, there will be a photo line after the show, guys. Hold on. You want to line up over there. We'll be taking photos in the front of the stage. Dead ass serious right now, by the way.

I got a... We will be doing a photo line after the show. What are we doing? You'll be lining up on that side, and Chris and I will be in center stage. Oh, we're going to do a little meet and greet afterwards and take photos. Where's the one? I was trying to find the one that's like...

It's like the... Where was it? How's you're going to love these? I'll try to do a dramatic reading, possibly, if I can. If I could go back. in time. I'm going to have to

find it. Huh? I'm going to help you find it. No, I think I've got it. I think I've got them saved here. Wow, there's just so many of them.

What a weird way to cope about the Grizzlies, not having a better present and future than the Pelicans. Kevin O'Connor. Yeah. And then it says, I know you don't watch

the Pelicans, in parentheses, a better team. than the Grizzlies, but check out Killian's game against them. You will be impressed. I'm not going to read them all. It's overkill.

They're in 12th place. And the Grizzlies are in second place. It sucks. What was the line on your song? Betting on Zion's health? Yeah. It's a bad idea. That was one of my bold predictions

was the Zion was going to be able to stay healthy this year. I was rude for it. I was bullish. It does suck that he has. It does suck. It seems like he can't. Yeah. It blows. It was terrible to watch Zion Williamson go down this year and not be able to play.

And, you know, sometimes, obviously, the Grizzlies have had great success and we're hoping going forward that the Morant stuff is the best it's ever been, that he is, you know, he says he wants to change the narrative. He says he wants to write a new story. And that's words, but his actions will show, right?

And you go back to that draft. And once upon a time, I did this whole draft party. There's probably some people that are in this audience tonight that were at it. And we had a blow up Greg Oden, and we had to blow up Kevin Durant in Grizzly's jerseys at a bar downtown flanks, and when they said Grizzlies got the fourth pick, it was the most crushing thing. ever, ever that they got the fourth pick. And that fourth pick turned out to be the aforementioned Mike Conley, who's going to have his jersey raised.

He's going to end up, you know, he's one of the most beloved figures in the history of Memphis Sports. And meanwhile, we know what happened with Greg Oden. And I don't want to, I don't want to put that evil on Zion. But you go back to that night and it was the Zion draft, the Zion draft. and what the Grizzlies have gotten with Morant as a franchise star and a guy that people believe can be the best player on a title team. It's crazy the way it all can possibly work out, right? When you look back, because Zion is not one of these Odins.

Every single time he plays, he's amazing. He just doesn't play. Yeah. Well, these next three months are going to be potentially that new story for Jaa, right? Yeah. These next three months. And you can rewrite it all. Yeah, you can rewrite it.

It's a new chance, a new beginning, you know. What was that? Well, I figure who reported it about Adam saying, we need to be better on the road. Well, this is that opportunity for the Grizzlies with a wide open Western conference. Yeah. A great roster with depth,

Voddy, upcoming rookies, potentially the defensive player of the year and Jaron Jackson, and all NBA caliber guard and Morant and so much depth, the great coach. The Grizz have all the ingredients to get to the finals this year.

And if you make it there, you never know it can happen. Well, it comes down to Jom Rantz more than anybody else. On and off. I think you got to see with these guys. And it's one of the things that I've talked about on our show a thousand times locally, which is they're them getting character guys. And on late notice, both with Roddy and with Jared Jackson, you know, they played last night. They play again tomorrow night.

And then they play again on Friday night. They only got two off nights the whole week. And for those guys to show up for us and for you guys tonight, it was just unbelievable, unbelievable. O them a massive debt of gratitude for showing up here tonight. Look, we have now gotten to do two of these. We did one in Los Angeles, and now we've done one in Memphis. And for a long time, people have been tweeting me and asking me,

when are you going to do a Memphis one? When are you going to do a Memphis one after we did in L.A. one? And I was rather confident that a Memphis one could do well because I had gotten a lot of response on it. But this tonight, this is unbelievable. Absolutely. Unbelievable. It's so awesome being out here in your city, Chris. Your home, I mean, what was put together by Elizabeth with the Ringer,

who has done an unbelievable job organizing this here at the New Theater. Jesse Lopez, as always, producing it too. I mean, it's been a full team effort, everybody on the ringer video and audio side making this happen. But ultimately, you guys made it happen as well, listening to us all these years, listening to Chris all these years. It's crazy. Legend in Memphis. Yeah, look. A legends.

Obviously, Bill took a leap of faith by hiring me who was in Memphis, who was not going to move anywhere. And to be able to, and we get put together. and now seven years is unbelievable for any relationship, right? And it has worked, and I'm so thankful to so many of you that we're going to support, no matter what I was going to do, you guys are going to find out. I love this city. I love all of you, and I'm so thankful. Hello!

I'm so thankful to all of you. You guys, I wanted this to work out. I wanted this to be great with, you know, for it to be impressive for Kevin and House and in between the Grizzlies and pulling it off last night and then showing up here and I see so many faces out here.

This has been, this is a dream. Truly, it's a dream to be able to get to do this. So thank you all. I know Kevin said we are going to be doing afterwards. What were you saying? We're doing a photo line, which will be on your right side of the stage, our left side.

Right up there is Ben Cruz, big piece of our podcast team right there who's going to be helping organize the photo line. We'll be doing that in front of the stage. You guys can line up whenever you want to. Oh, yeah. If anybody wants to say, hey, get picture, whatever. We'll be around afterwards.

Also, Jesse Lopez. We need to find Jesse. Where is he? You guys hear us close every podcast. Thank you. Our executive producer, Jesse Lopez. Yes. He is here.

He has come down to Memphis. And so super excited that Jesse is here tonight. There he is. Look at the best. Roeshop had. Yeah, Jesse. They all went to the pyramid. Also,

is Will Rich in the crowd. Will Rich. Will Rich? Special shout out to you. Showed up at 2.30. Showed up early tonight. Oh, I love it. Yeah, Will.

All right. Thank you for coming. Hey, thank you to all of you for showing up. Thank you to Jared Jackson. Thank you to David Roddy. Thank you to Joe House. Thank you. Jesse.

Elizabeth, everybody here. Thank you, everybody with the ringer. Yeah. Thank you, everybody for. coming out tonight. Thanks for making it a great night. Thank you everybody. Thank you all.