The Mismatch - Warriors Road Struggles, Injuries Around the League, and "Prove It" Time for Jokic

Episode Date: March 10, 2023

Verno and KOC discuss last night’s Grizzlies rout over the Warriors, whose season-long struggles on the road continue (04:35). If the Warriors don’t fix their road woes, they are in danger of missing the playoffs altogether. The guys also debate how the Suns will fare after the Kevin Durant injury (15:44). Plus, the hope for a Zion Williamson return this season is in doubt once again as the Pelicans announced he will be out for at least another two weeks (33:13). Despite being without LeBron James, the Lakers are rising up the standings as Anthony Davis and the rest of the solid core continues to step up in their playoff push (39:10). Also, the guys discuss why this season is a "prove it" year for Nikola Jokic, Fred VanVleet calling out the refs, Dillon Brooks, and Lonzo Ball’s latest setback with his knee (52:28). *The ‘Mismatch’ is coming to Memphis for a live show at the New Daisy Theatre on March 21st! Get your tickets here!* Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Producer: Jessie Lopez 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. Welcome to The Mismatch.

I'm Chris Varnan and joining me see does every Friday from the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, A.K. Kevin O. Bomber, Kevin O.com, Kevin O. Kavanaugh, Kevin O'Campure, Kevin O'clock. Bruno! How are you doing back in Memphis after our wonderful night in Los Angeles? That was so fun. Yeah, I'm doing great. So we're recording this after I was just in the arena. for the Grizzlies and the Warriors. But before we get to that, we do need to talk about earlier this week because it's the first show that we have done

since the live show. For those of you that listened to the live show, it went well. I don't think either of us had any idea what to expect. We're certainly appreciative of everybody that came out, got to see people that I don't see very often. And between Chris Ryan and Sean Fennacy and Tate Frazier, our guest,

And then everybody that put everything together, honestly, it exceeded all of my expectations. The theater was beautiful and the crowd was great. Shout out to Wyatt coming on stage. One of the only people raising their hands to do the Kevin O intro. That's right. Wyatt gave it his all. And shout out to the guy who got a little bit too lit or something.

I don't know. Yeah, for a guy He heard he's doing okay. Yeah, heard he's doing okay. A guy passed out. Yeah, passed out at the show. Yeah, somebody told me that he was so overwhelmed

with my amazing takes that he just passed out. Yeah, not going like a... It's not a Travis Scott situation. No, no, no, no, no. The show did keep going on, and I will tell you, I did text KOC afterwards. I was like, hey, that guy was he,

He was okay, right? Yeah, yeah. I was told after the show that he was okay, sitting out front, and all was fine. What we're trying to say, folks, is these live podcasts are lit. Lit. You never know. I almost passed out at a show once. Like, my eyes just kind of, like, glazed over.

Like, it was at the Boy Genius show. Boy Genius is like a super band. It is a super band a couple of years ago. And, like, I just kind of, I don't know, it's weird. Dehydrated. You just got overwhelmed. Water. I don't know.

It's the only time that's ever happened in my life. But I was okay. Stayed standing. And now that guy? He's telling the story about that man,

one time I went to the mismatch. A live basketball podcast. I went to the, I went to this. Yelling out Okogi and Austin Ree's MVP. I went to this live mismatch taping and man,

next thing I know, I'm on the ground. Yeah. Hopefully that doesn't happen in Memphis and, And what, it's it, 10 days, 11 days now? March 21st in Memphis.

Over 85% sold on tickets. So if you want to come, you better buy soon. Get your tickets. There'll be a ton of people there. It's at the New Daisy Theater on Beale Street in Memphis. And so that is March 21st, as Kevin said, you don't have your tickets yet. Make sure you go ahead and get those. But thanks to everybody, Elizabeth Fehrman, who helped us put the whole thing together and make it all work.

The live show is great. And most of all, thank you to all the listeners that bought tickets came out and were an unbelievable crowd. The link for the Memphis show is going to be with the podcast. So if you're listening to this, you'll be able to access that link rather easily. Yep, absolutely. I just scroll down to the show notes, and the link will be down there for the Memphis show if you want to get tickets. So as we were recording this, as I mentioned, I just went to a basketball game. I went to go watch the Grizzlies versus the Warriors.

Now, this one had a better lead-up than many regular season games because the day before this game, Draymond Green dropped a podcast where he eviscerated Dylan Brooks. He called him a dumbass. He called him a clown. He called him all manner of things. And so as if the matchup between the two needed more intensity given what has taken place, over the course of the last couple of years, the Grizzlies knocking them out of the play-in a few years ago

to get into the playoffs. Then last year, the Grizzlies losing in six games to the Warriors on their way to a title. And then you've had this war of words kind of back and forth Christmas Day earlier this year. Short-handed Warriors team humiliates the Grizzlies. And so fast forward, now you have Draymond putting out this podcast, eviscerating Dylan Brooks, who at first said something about him and how much he didn't like him and how if he didn't play for the Warriors, he wouldn't be a big deal in an ESPN article that came out a couple weeks ago.

But great timing, super media savvy for Draymond, dropping that right before the game. And so tonight's game, which was a TNT game, I didn't know really what to expect. There had been a bunch of horrendous news for, the Grizzlies over the course of the last week. They lost John Morant, as you know. The news came out yesterday that he was going to be out at least four more games.

After missing the first two L.A. games after the Denver game, they had lost to the Clippers and to the Lakers. And then this morning got more bad news as Stephen Adams, who everybody was expecting to come back. He had, I mean, he had, he was playing five on five. in Los Angeles. And so it was like, that's right around the corner. And instead, the booby prize dues, which was he's getting stem cell injections, re-evaluated four weeks.

And I don't know how many times we're talking about this, Kevin. Anytime I see re-evaluate, I... Not good. No. Re-evaluate, like... Bad sign. I want a timeline. I don't need a timeline to re-evaluate.

We talked about this with the LeBron injury where it was like, Will, reevaluate. That just means don't anybody ask about this for the next three weeks, four weeks, five weeks, whatever the injury is. We'll talk about it again in three or four weeks. And so that really is the end of the regular season. So I didn't know what to expect, but then the Grizzlies had a monster effort. 77 points in the first half, end up running out on them in the second half and end up winning the game by 20, the road. It was a strange game, man. Like back and forth,

Ron after Ron after Ron. You know, Warriors cut it to five, then Warriors balloon it back up to 15. Warriors cut at the four. Like, it's just really a strange, strange game. Yet it never felt like the Warriors were totally actually in it, though. Yeah, you know, they were, I don't, I don't know,

there's no explaining how bad they are on the road. It's incomprehensible. Chris, There's seven and 26 now. I mean, if they ran the table, Kevin, they ran the table. So what's that? So that puts it at 33. So you play 41.

If they went 8 and 0, the rest of the way, that would get them to 15 roadwind. Well, and that's like the tough part for them is, I mean, they have bucks on Saturday, suns on Monday. And then they have a five-game road trip at Clippers, Grisleys, Rockets, Mavericks. And then they have some home games. And then three out of their last four games are on the road at Denver, at Kings, at Blazers. So, you know, they have some winnable ones in there.

They do. The games they should win on paper. But the fact is, is they have been horrible all year long, regardless of the team that they've put out there on the floor. They've just lost three games in a row on their road trip. They lost all three. Lakers, Thunder. in Grizzlies. It hasn't mattered.

They've had Steph and they've still lost these three in a row. I think if you're the Warriors fan right now, you feel like the odds are you still make the postseason. You're currently in the sixth slot, but you're only two and a half up on the Blazers and the Thunder in that 12 and 13 spot. Like, there's still a chance the Warriors actually missed the playoffs here. It's fair to say, Kev, that they be there with what you just outlined,

they've either got to figure out how to win some road games or they are going to be falling down these standings. There's no two ways about it. You've either got to figure out a way to do something that you haven't done so far. Because 7 to 26, I mean, you're losing one out of every four games that you play on the road. I'm sorry, you're only winning one out of every four game that you're playing. One out of every five, actually. It's crazy to think about what. what they've gone through this year with their road struggles,

and then what you just outlined, because you're not going to sweep the board completely on all your home games. Now, you're not going to lose all of those road games, right? You mentioned Houston. There's a couple others in there. They could be under 500 by, like, the road trip beginning, with bucks and suns coming up. Like, Katie's out Monday.

You know, we'll talk about that later. But, I mean, those are two loseable games still. Everybody's scuffling. Everybody's now, you know, playing this thing out for the most part. You're only looking if you get a Detroit or a Houston. There's not that many free wins is what I'm saying. There's not that many free wins for any of these teams. Most of them are playing this deal out.

And so I don't know. I don't even know what to make of it because you would figure with all of the interest generated in this matchup, as much as the both teams have talked about it, And then, let's be fair, they're playing a team without Morant, without Adams. They had just lost Brandon Clark to an Achilles. Like, this is not a game that the Warriors should be losing by 20 points on the road. That's crazy. I mean, if I'm a Warriors fan, I'm like, what the hell?

I mean, look, dude, like I think with Golden State, you know, Tuesday show, I said, I feel like if they're healthy, they still have the championship ingredients, you know? Like, well, then Andrew Wiggins is. has been out for a long time now, their second best player. Gary Payton, they trade for him, you know, an ace defender, you know, great fit on their offense.

He's out. Jonathan Caminga slips and falls and gets hurt before today's game. He's been really good for them. Now he's out. They have no size, no depth. I mean, some of the lineups they put out there tonight

were like absolutely comical. It's just like feels like a team that is totally incomplete. They dust it off Iggy. And like Jordan Poole is turning the ball over every other possession. It just doesn't feel like a team that is anywhere near complete because they are. Like they are missing guys. They are.

Right? Like I think if they get all their guys. But that's not an excuse for something like this. No. And those are big ifs too that you get all those guys back. We really don't know with Wiggins. We don't know. So I was told that it's a family thing that he's out.

And then somebody told me yesterday that he's been in Minnesota. the whole time. So it's like something serious. Yeah, yeah. That's been dealing with. That has been reported out there. The team did announce he's out for an undisclosed family matter. That's what they said.

Yeah. And that he is, and he's not even like in town. Like he's, he's been in Minnesota for virtually the whole time. So something's going on. And again, there's no timeline,

right? You don't know. And by the way, also Anthony Lamb, he's, his two-way deal is up now and they haven't converted him yet. I feel like tonight would have been, a game they could have used Anthony Lamb.

They could have used something, Kevin. They could have used something because they were getting bombed out. 77 is an extreme number and a half. And that's what the grizzles had in the first half. And also they played more like the Warriors with the 32 assists and the low turnovers and kind of doing it as a collective. Like that's what we always just got used to with Golden State. He's turned himself into a great player, you know, really good rotation player.

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And West Virginia, visit 1800 gambler.net. As you were mentioning with all of these teams, we could talk about who's not playing for them. And it does feel like that's going to be the race in these last, you know, 16 to 20 games is who can stay healthy and be equipped, who can be most healthy going in to the playoffs. because so many of them are just one injury away from being a radically different team. And that unfortunately hit Phoenix. They lost Durant on just a bizarre turn of events,

for it to not even be happening in a game and to be happening in a layup line where everybody's just kind of going through the motions and getting warm for the game, twist his ankle badly enough that he's out multiple weeks and they even used the re-evaluated word

when they put the three-week timeline on it and as you said you mentioned in passing the damn same thing happened in warm-ups tonight with comminga

a twisted ankle just the same and that's two nights in a row it's one thing these guys to be getting hurt you know

in the middle of games we've had two twisted ankles in warm-ups going into these games. This is bad news for Phoenix, who lost some depth, obviously, with making the trade. I mean, they need, it goes without saying they need healthy Kevin Durant by the time it comes playoff time. But they also need him in these last 15 to 20 just to be able to hold on to a spot where they're not having to play the best of the best when it, you know, when it comes, or even hold on to,

you know, not being in a play in. I know that sounds crazy, but everything is so tight that if you don't play good basketball, you can, you can have a three game losing streak easy. And then you're looking at a different whole set of problems in the standings. What do you make of Durant being out, how will they be able to you know, stay afloat, be 500, a little over 500

without him or are they dead without it? I think they'll be okay. I mean, they're four and two since the deadline without Kevin Durant, three and O with him. I mean, Devin Booker is still playing at an absurd level. You know,

I think overall, like you're just going to lean on Booker more, you're going to lean on Ait and more, like you were a, prior to the deadline with the really impressive stretch that he was having. And, you know, other guys are going to have to step up. Chris Paul is going to have to have more good performances like he did last night against the thunder. You know, you got Terrence Ross coming off the bench, a guy who went off for 24 points.

You know, we talked about it on the Tuesday live show, how many opportunities Wayne Wright got, Okogi got. Well, it was Terrence Ross on Wednesday night. And sometimes the ball is going to find that guy for a lot of open opportunities. So I think obviously, like, no, duh, like you lose Kevin or in, it hurts your team. But I think the Phoenix Suns are going to be absolutely fine over the next two to three weeks without him. But they are only up three and a half on the playing. I don't see them falling that far. They're three up on the five seed.

Maybe they slip down in one spot, but I'd expect them to maintain their spot at four. Just, you know, looking up at their upcoming schedule. It's not like for them they have like this extremely, me long road trip or anything like that. They have some difficult games because every team is difficult games, but I don't feel like their schedule necessarily is this advantageous to them. You got it pulled up? Give me the next, like, just what they're going to deal with right now.

They get kings at home, warriors on the road, bucks at home, magic at home, then three-game road trip, Thunder, Lakers, kings, and then Sixers at home. That sounds pretty tough to me, Kevin. I mean, there's some tough games. They are not going to be okay. So you think they lose a lot of those? They can win some of those. I mean, they, like, what do they have to do?

Go 500 or slightly above 500? I think they can go 500. In those games? Yeah. I mean, they really, you're really counting on some, I mean, you watch the Dallas game that just happened a couple days ago, you know, you see when they're playing somebody that's got some offensive power power, And, like, you know, that was Durant and Booker in tandem going for 70-something points together.

I mean, Durant's as good as you get, but, I mean, you don't have much depth. You're counting a lot on DeAndre Aiton to put up real scoring numbers for you, too. I mean, they can win that Warriors game, Magic, Thunder. That Warriors? Yeah. Monday night? Sure. Look, the Warriors is terrible as they've been on the road.

They have been brilliant. They've been great at home. Yeah. They've been great at home. I don't know. I think they could fall back a little bit. But what I'm saying is like, that also means the clippers and the warriors or the wolves or the Mavericks need to be winning. Yeah.

So like two things need to happen. The sun's might, they might go slightly below 500, but that also means that the clippers need to go much better than above 500. The Warriors seem to be much better than above 500. So I think I just don't know if those two things will both happen. The Mavericks are sliding. That's fair. They're one of the worst teams in the last 10 games. The wolves have been about average.

The Warriors have been average. The Clippers have been average. I don't know if, I mean, really the only team, like they're too far back. You might be right. They might have to completely fall on their face. For sure, which may be. Like, you never know. Things like that could happen.

I just don't see that totally happening. Whereas like the Lakers right now, they're five back. they have the number one defense in the NBA since the trade deadline, but five is too much. Like you're not getting all the way up to four. The Lakers, their hoper, is getting to five, not the four. Fair to say they have to have him back for the playoffs. And then if you do, if you do get him back, it's kind of a regardless of seed.

But that's a, it's hanging out there. We don't know, you know. Three weeks puts it right at, you know, towards the end of the race. regular season. And so what you're hoping is that you've got him available for the postseason. Yeah, dude. If you do, you're a dangerous, possible not home court advantage team. I mean, let's say it is three weeks, which would mean he comes back the 31st against Denver. That would leave only six games remaining in the season. And that could be comes back then.

Yes, and that includes a back to back. So theoretically, he could only have eight or nine games with the sons before the playoffs begin. And he just got back from the knee. Yeah, and he was amazing right away. So, like, that's the encouraging thing where he looked like Kevin Durant right away, still dominant force overall on both ends. He looked like an MVP candidate just like he was prior to the injury in January with the Nets. Right.

Like, he was top five of my MVP ballot at that time he got injured. He looked like that same guy when he returned. So, I mean, I think with. Kevin Durant, he's one of the unique players who can come back and fit himself, but I do wonder how much other guys are affected with chemistry. Like, it does take others' time to adjust

to him, I'm sure, but I don't know, it did look seamless, but then again, it was the Hornets, Bulls, and Nass. So not like your face of a little different when somebody runs to a Devin Booker and he's throwing it down to Josh Akoggi, as you said. Yeah,

yeah, and the three teams they face Hornets, Bulls, and Mavs, those aren't exactly the type of defenses you're going to be facing in April, May, and June. You don't think? Well, maybe. The match has to hold on because they are... Well, wait a minute.

No, maybe the Hornets, though. The Hornets defense is like sixth in the league since early February or late January. But that has something to do with Mark Williams finally getting playing time for Charlotte. He's been so great since Clifford pulled him out of his doghouse, his big red... for its big red doghouse.

I mean, it's also, it's also, we're going to be, yeah, Mark Williams. Also, to be fair, nobody gives a shit

about playing the hominets. That's the other factor. That's the biggest factor. And they still wop their ass. Nobody. I don't care what their defensive stats are. I know. That is,

the night before, as a player once told me, if you're playing the Hornets, the night before, you say, table for eight, and you got a VIP, table the night before.

Like nobody's, nobody cares about that. Yeah. Maybe it's since the Lamello injury. They've really ramped up the defense. Mark Williams is nice, though. He is nice. I love Mark Williams.

Yeah. Love Mark Williams. Return to the big. Him and Walker Kessler have been some revelations. Mm-hmm. You know, as guys that have had real impact.

So you mentioned in passing the Mavs. He had that scare for Luca. I'm going to see them, Saturday. His MRI came back clean, but they're down to eighth now, Kevin. A little free fall going on with Dallas. They're three and seven in their last 10 games.

You know, you've had some of these games where you've gotten some big dual-scoring output games, which is what you would expect from Luca and Kyrie, but defensively still pretty porous. and, you know, it really, it feels when I've watched them like, I'm going to, I feel like they're one of those teams, and this happened to them last year and sometimes in the playoffs, where it's like, I'm going to be able to look at their three-point counter

and I'm going to be able to tell you what happened in that game, right? And the nights that they, you know, the Reggie Bullocks and the Tim Hardaway's of the world or banging threes, they're spacing out the floor around Luca, and they're knocking down threes, they're going to have chance to win games or win some games, and then the nights they don't. It's going to look pitiful.

Like, I feel like their variance is so enormous. And, man, I don't know. They're three and seven in their last 10, and it's not like they've been without Luca for 10 games. So it's pretty ominous. and the Kyrie thing, while they have had some impressive outputs, it's not been a honeymoon. Is that fair to say?

No, no. I mean, also, you know, we've talked about it before. Christian Woods still hovering around 20 minutes per game after being up at 35, 36 minutes for a long while prior to the trade deadline. And he was one of their most important players. He, you know, he's not like some elite defender, but he provides more shot blocking and room protection in size and length than Dwight Powell does. But that's what they think, right?

Like, I'm sure that if you ask them, it's like, we can't have those three on the court at the same time without giving up 150. But the truth is, you got to play your best players, man. Well, you're in the position where you've got to score 151. Yeah, well, that's another reason. Also, along those same lines, you should probably play Jaden Hardy more too. Every single time you give, like, even though he's just a rookie, even though he's going to make the mistakes on defense,

you're just going to play your best players, period. And they're not doing that with Christian Wood. They're not doing that with Hardy. Like, they've had weird minutes fluctuations for Josh Green. I just feel like they have some guys. Green should play over 30 minutes

every single night. Wood should play over 30 minutes every night. And Hardy needs to find a way into that rotation to provide some scoring off the bench. I feel like there's some ways for a kid to tweak the rotation to make it better than it's been. Look, they got a team right now. I agree with you.

They've got a team right now, in my opinion. The only chance they got is shootouts. So what's your best chance? You're not stopping people anyway. So what's your best chance at a shootout? What you say. So what? You're going to give up a ton of points either way.

Why don't you at least have another guy out there that could get you some buckets? Like you were saying with wood. You know, what is the- Well, Hardy, Hardy, too. Look, look, there's no defensive downgrade that is severe as the offensive downgrade. That's what I would say, right? And it's not like, you know, you're having to make a decision to sit Dennis Rodman in order to play the guy, you know? I just think that that's, you know, it might be uncomfortable, but those are the kind of games you're going to have to win.

That's exactly what the Phoenix game was. It's a damn shootout. That's what it is. And Luca got a shot at the end to, you know, they, you know, they, you know, they, you know, they, They could have won that game. So, I mean, you can see when they get into those type of games. They've got some super offensive firepower. And to your point, part of that offensive firepower doesn't even play all that much.

But as another guy that could, you know, you're just going to have to, they're not, they're not grinding anybody down and they're not winning low possession games anymore. Like they've got a, they, I would just say, look, let's run and gun as much we can. I know Luca's going to control the pace anyway, but at least let's play with some pace and we're going to try to outscore people. It's not going to serve you well when it comes to playoff time. Three out of their next five are against your grizzlies.

You're going to see a lot of them this next week. They have destroyed the grizzles over the last couple of years. That has been a horrendous matchup because, for that very reason, it'll be interesting to see what it looks like now. That will actually be a great litmus test because one of the things, that caused the most problems. And the reason they have been a uniquely horrendous matchup is that the Grizzlies don't want to play

a ton of half-court basketball and they can't speed him up. They can't speed up Donchich. And they played this deliberate, slow, we run a play, you run a play. But they were also much more defensively formidable. when they've given Memphis serious problems. And they've lost, you know, some of those guys that they've had.

And so, you know, they killed them earlier this year, but that was kind of a, it was the second half of a back-to-back. It was meat to the lion stuff. Well, it was also the second game of the season. I just rolled up on the schedule on 137-96 team two. It's early on. Yeah, it was a bloodbath. But they have been a uniquely terrible matchup.

and so it's going to be fascinating to see how that plays out. I am going to see them quite a bit. You're going to get to see them in person here. Because that'll be one of those games. Oh, yeah, that's right. On the 20th, yep. At Memphis on the 20th. And they played twice before that one?

Saturday, the 11th, so two days from now, and then Monday the 13th. Wow. Yeah. That is a weird schedule, quirk. to play the same team. It's a division team three times in a week. I know, yeah. Like over a nine-day period, three games against the Gris.

They have trashed the Grisers. That has been the one. In fact, if you would have asked me last year, I would have said, that's the team I want to stay away from. I don't know what it is. They just can't beat that team. So it would be interesting to see what they look like with the Kyrie. But guess who else was awesome?

Brunson was on that team. and it was noteworthy to me you could go back and find these well you could find baines you can't find moranx because he's deactivated his account but when brunson signed got signed by the nicks and people were like talking about wow that's a lot for brunson or whatever

both of those guys and i never see this both of them came went to twitter to talk about how people don't understand how awesome that guy is they don't get it. Both of them, both Desmond Bain and John Moran. As soon as that Brunson thing happened, because I perked up, I was like, wow.

I mean, they really went out of their way to talk about how much they respect that guy and how good they think he is. And they were right. In fairness, they were right. Game recognized game, right? Absolutely. You know, look, no Brunton and Kyrie instead.

It's probably a little different world. this year. So we'll see. They're three and seven in their last 10. They're down to 8th right now and everybody's all jumbled up as we've talked about.

Another team, Pelicans are 3 and 7 in their last 10. They're right on that play-in line. And I'm not bringing this up to mess with you. I'm bringing this up because the Zion News came out.

Okay? Zion News came out that they're like he's not coming back for at least another two weeks. I think most people think like, all right, we're done getting hopes up, right? When he first heard it, it was like three weeks, or then there was a setback, and now they say another two weeks. If you're just looking at it, Kev, another two weeks, I guess where would they need to be for you to think it is

worthwhile to bring him back? In the playoffs, I mean, top six. Solidly? Yeah, I mean, I just, I don't think it's even going to happen. But if you're, say, 11. But I'm not even entertaining the thought that he will come back. Oh, really? Yeah, I'm just, like, it's not until they say something solid about him returning, I'm not, I'm operating as if he's out for the season, personally. That's non-sourced, nothing to do with sources or conversation. Just, I don't know why you would operate any other way.

They did it a couple years ago. They could have brought him back the push, and they didn't. They're going to play it extra, extra safe with Zion. So I just, I just don't think they're going to. going to bring him back, where I'm not even thinking about it like that, Chris. I think they're just going to continue to free fall. I know they win the other night. It's puzzling to me.

It is. It's puzzling to me that they're this bad, even without Zion. Because, look, everybody's lost guys. But he is. They played without Zion last year. I know, but he is so dominant. And also. Oh, come on.

The Lakers don't have LeBron James. I mean, the teams throughout the league, you just said you think that the Suns can hold down the fort without Kevin Durand. Yeah, but the Lakers have Anthony Davis. They've got Brandon Ingram, C.J. McCollum, Jonas Valentinus. I mean, they got enough guys to not be shitty. They do have enough to not be shitty.

I agree with you there. I mean, I think Pelicans fans would rightfully point to some of their gripes with Willie Green and the way he runs their offense, some of his rotations with the guys he leans on and the guys that he doesn't. You know, like Dyson Daniels has become a sub 20 minutes per game guy. when we've seen him lock down Luca over the course of the season and have so many impressive moments as a playmaker for them.

Not that Dyson Daniels is going to change your fortunes, but it's just one example of some of the issues with their rotation. And that's not the problem either. I mean, I think C.J. McCollum, besides that game the other night against Dallas, he has not necessarily been a model of consistency or great efficiency at all this season.

He's had spurts where he has been, but he's not like a 25, 28, 29 point per game score. He's like a 20 point per game guy for the most part, other than some stretches. And Brandon Ingram as well. I mean, like I love Ingram. I've loved Ingram since the Duke days. Like I had him one on my board. I said the Lakers shouldn't trade him for Kauai, like some insane stuff, right? Like with Ingram. He as well. I mean, he's had some stinker performances as well. And he also is not being the guy that he has been in the past defensively.

Like it comes down to rotations, individual player performance. It's a whole collection of issues for the Pelicans underneath the fact that one of the 10 most talented players in basketball is not active for them. I just wonder. Zion, like Zion, Chris was so dominant, man.

Like he was just starting to enter people's like MVP bubble. Not like a guy who can win it, but somebody who's like, huh, does he belong in the like fifth in the, like, fifth in the ballot. Like he was in that, should I put him fifth? Oh, he was an all-star game starter, and it was not even like, it was not even

a thought. And not because not only was he, you know, his same dominant force on offense, he was better defensively too. Like, he still wasn't great, some stopper, but he was at least, you know, passable. He wasn't, you know, a sieve out there. So I think with Zion, you can't

underestimate that loss with like a player of his if they would, if they're in like, let's say, look, let's say they got right and just went on a street. Let's say they went on a four or five game winning street. They got Thunder, Blazers, Lakers, Rockets, Rockets, Spurs, Hornets. Okay, so let's say, let's say you made a run. Five out of six of those, yeah. Right. Like, you're not that far.

Look, Kemp, there's three games separating fifth through 13. Yes, exactly. You're right. So you're one run away. And what I'm saying is at what point you say top six, like I'm saying if you got a week left in the season and he can come back. Because you're really looking at it. Then you bring him back. A week or two.

Then you bring him back because of the fact that you don't know what his long-term durability is going to be. It's like the reason why he held him back in the past was to be overprotective. I think the reason why you would bring him back if they do get right, if they do go on a run, is because you're going to take advantage of the opportunity that's presented for your. yourself. So even if they're seventh or eighth, you would say bring them back anyway. Yeah, I don't see why not. To play in. Yeah, why not? Like, if you, if you can get, if you get the six or seven seed, who knows, man? Like, you could, we don't know what job status is going to be. The kings are

in the playoffs for the first time. Like, you know, if you get that six seed or that seven seed, you never know what could happen in a series, especially with Zion back. And this is how insane it is, right? We're talking about them being on the brink of falling out of the play in, given their recent slide. On the other hand, you're a good week away. And to that point, look at,

by virtue of the Warriors losing tonight, the Lakers are a game and a half out of fifth. Isn't that what? Insane! Yeah. Two games back from the Clippers, to be clear, at the fifth.

One and a half from the Six. Okay. Okay, so there are two back from clips. Yeah. One and a half from the Warriors, which is absolutely wild. It's unbelievable. Wild. Yeah.

I mean, they could be out of, it's not crazy to envision a scenario where they're not in the play in. After all this? No. I mean, it's just, it's unbelievable. Truly, Davis has been amazing. Absolutely. Amazing. Unbelievable.

He's carrying them. And they certainly. You see him all like beat up the other night? Yeah. After the game. I mean, this guy, oh, look, the Grizzlies, when they, when that game, they played them. When he went out in the second quarter, that's when the grizzlies like got back into it, kind of flipped the game and played really well. And as soon as he came back in, I mean, you want to talk about being able to expose being small because the guy is just playing volleyball off the rim.

I mean, you could have, he could have, he could have, he could have, it's like playing against a child against like, when he's out there against like somebody like Tillman who's like six, six, right? The guy could have just kept throwing it up against the backboard and getting it every time. He has been great. He's been great for them. And you know who impressed me the other night was Brown.

Yeah, Troy Brown's a good player. What a weird deal, right? Got drafted. Like, that's another one of those, like, that's, that house would bitch about another wizard's miss, right? Like, that he's trapped so terribly. And it's like, you got, what was he, like, 15th or something in the draft? Yeah, 15th of the Wizards in 2018.

Had that stop in Chicago and, you know, it shows back up. And I don't know, I thought he was ferocious the other night. And obviously he hit a dagger three to end the game, dunked on Conchar. Like, he had some moments where I was like, geez, this guy good? He's found a role. I mean, like, what was nice about him coming out of Oregon was the fact he's a six-foot-seven wing who, you know, ran some point for that team. Like, he was a good passer, a smart, high- IQ guy, like cutter, movement off ball. And that's what kind of works with the Lakers right now.

He's just a connective glue within their half-court offense. And he's been really competitive on defense, too. So it's working. I feel like the Lakers have found a good collection of supporting pieces. Austin Reeves, Troy Brown, Beasley. They have. Bando. Vanderbilt is obviously amazing.

We've talked about him a bunch. Hachamara really good the other night against Memphis as well. He's been up and down. Hit or miss. Yeah, a lot of downs. But he can have those nights for you where he's potent offensively. Oh, and Kev, most importantly, when we're talking about them, maybe making a run to get Russell back tomorrow.

As we record this on Thursday night, DeAngelo Russell's coming back. I mean, that's a guy that you're talking in. Most nights is a guy that's going to be your second leading score more likely than not, right? You got Davis is the guy that, you know, we're talking pecking order. Davis is the guy.

And then kind of everybody, when you say one thing about the whole role thing that I think when you were talking about this, it's really smart because it's one thing to be role guys and add a bunch. It's another to have a bunch of role guys that are willing to be role guys. They ain't going out there trying to shoot it 20 times. They know their role within the context of the team.

And so the guys that are open or the guy that some night it might be this guy, some night it might be Beasley, some night it might be Reeves, some night it might be this guy. to have something. And, you know, if Russell could kind of make the whole thing go, because he's clearly, like, way better than Fruter. You know, he was great at the end of Minnesota.

Yeah, that's where they need help as offense. You know, I mentioned earlier how they have the number one defensive rating since the deadline. They also have the 23rd ranked offense. Right. So with DeLo, if he can, you know, get them to average, you know, over this next three or so weeks without LeBron James, and they continue to maintain their elite defense. I mean, like, we've been rattling off some of the schedules some teams have.

The Lakers have one of the easier ones. Toronto, New York, New Orleans, Houston, Dallas, Orlando, Phoenix, OKC, Chicago twice. And then that's the three-week mark where LeBron could be come back, re-evaluated, whatever it might be. There's a lot of winnable games over the next three weeks for the Lakers. And, I mean, D-Low, like, It's going to be very interesting to see what he does for that,

a half-court offense. I feel, I mean, I said it, Chris, like, you know, you might chuckle at me. You know, people said, people said at the time I published my post-deadline championship power rankings that it was for clicks that I put the Lakers at sixth. No, that was dead ass serious that I put them there. I still think the Lakers are a serious championship threat as long as they get LeBron James back. And with D-Lo back, we're going to get a taste of what they could look like. as long as LeBron James can come back and stay healthy.

Because right now this is a team with an absolutely dominant defense, AD playing at a top five, top 10 level, and a bunch of role players, as you said, who understand and embrace their roles and enhance the talents of their most important offensive players. So I think the Lakers right now are lurking in the title race, and it's all going to come down to whether Ron James comes back. But the fact they're performing this well already without him and without Delo,

that bodes well for that moving forward. Well, and it's guys that have won, I mean, you think about where we're looking at the bottom of those, you know, whoever's going to end up, you know, six, seven, eight.

Eight's probably getting thrown to the wolves against Denver. But we don't know what's going to go on with Phoenix while they're without Durant. And Memphis and Sacramento are obviously susceptible. They're not teams that have been in like multiple for Sacramento, this is their first time doing this in damn near 20 years.

Okay? And so if you're running up against the clippers or a Lakers or warriors, like you're running up against a bunch of, the same thing with Memphis, you're running up against a bunch of guys on those teams that have got a lot of playoff experience,

a lot of playoff experience. It'd be fascinating to see with the way this plays out, because what you're going to find is there's going to be a lot, a lot of people that are picking the lower seeds in the Western Conference to win. Though they have not showed us, and we're going to find out how truly devalued the regular season is, you know, if this matters. Because everybody's got this belief of teams being something they have not shown us to be this particular season.

And yet, whether it's Denver, whether it's Memphis, whether it's Sacramento, who knows, as we said, there's a question mark next to Phoenix right now. Like, there's going to be, I think if I threw them in a pot, there's going to be a lot more people that want to ride with the clippers, the Lakers, and the Warriors. Those are not shown to be anything other than decidedly average all year. You'll see more pundits and podcasters and writers picking upsets than ever in history, ever, right? I think you will see that.

And I don't think it's necessarily incorrect. It's going to depend a lot of them. Including Kev, the number one seed. If I tell you the Warriors get eight, are you picking the Warriors or the Nuggets? Well, in that case, you know, I'm sweating if I'm Denver because the types of teams that are going to beat them are the teams that can run a ton of, you know, high pick and roll or have a shooter on the outside. You know, like Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Devin Booker, those pull-op shooter types that can, attack Yokey. Kauai Leonard? Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't pick the clippers over

the Nuggets, but I, you know, they're at least one of the teams that fall into that category. To your point of like, hey, I can run this high pick and roll and a guy can hit an elbow jumper. Yeah, yeah. I mean, the Lakers are the, the interesting match up there for the Nuggets.

We haven't seen a lot of 80 against Yokic in recent seasons. Lakers against Grizzlies. We haven't seen a lot of AD versus anything in recent seasons. No. You know, it would be cool is if we got Lakers Kings in the first round. No.

You don't want to see the replays of them getting robbed. Well, I mean, it would just be like a cool full circle way for the Kings to get back into the playoffs. If they lose the series, obviously it's heartbreaking. But if they win the series and beat the

Lakers who just climbed back into the playoffs, would there be anything sweeter for a Kings fan than to beat the Lakers in the first round. I know that it comes with great risk. You'd be terrified. You see the highlights and all that. But is there anything sweeter than that,

Kurtz, if you're a king man? And you've got those old clips of, you know, whatever it is. I'm not scared at the Sacramento Queens. You know, the old, is it Shack like part of their ownership group now, too? Yeah. No, he's like part of the Kings, isn't he? I think so. Let's he sold his steak.

And that's his famous quote from back long ago. Oh, he sold his steak last January. So January 22, Shaquille O'Neal officially sells his stake in Sacramento Kings walks away from our great partnership. Yeah. All we need now is from Michael Jordan to sell the Hornets.

Standings watch. Hottest teams still bucks and nicks. They won nine to ten. But in fact, the aforementioned as we're recording this, the kings are stomping the Knicks tonight in Sacramento. they are up by 18 in the third quarter. I don't know how that will end up playing out, but it's worth noting right now

because the king's doing that to one of the hottest teams in the league. The only teams that have won nine of ten are the bucks and the Knicks. Bucks got a win tonight against the net. How about, wait, Chris, how about Monday night recording for the mismatch? We're talking with Sean Fennacy about isn't sustainable for the Knicks,

but then they lose to Charlotte on Tuesday. What if he's the curse? Yeah. Did he just curse him? I don't know. The fantasy curse? Maybe. He started talking about them winning the title?

I'm not sure you can say it's a fantasy curse. It's just the Knicks, dude. It's just who they are. It is who they are. Yeah. But to be fair, though, you know, kings are tough, beginning of a tough road trip here. I told you they, yeah. So the Knicks are down in that game, but they've been hot.

The Bucks kept on winning. They got a little scare. from Brooklyn, but ended up winning tonight and no Janus. And Bobby Portis slips into Janus's spot and goes 11 for 15 from the field, 28 points, 13 rebounds. Bobby Portis, I don't know. What's his game number 54? I mean, that's a guy that would be right there in an open six-man-of-the-year competition.

He would be solidly in the mix. Bobby Portis has been great for them this year. Great. And total fan favorite. And got to start tonight. Look at what he did. Guy puts up Janus numbers for him. It's crazy.

He's been fantastic. Right now on Fandul, he's fourth on sixth man of the year odds. Quickly, minus 140. Malcolm Brogden plus 110. Norman Powell plus 3,600. Bobby Portis, plus 5,000. Still got Russell Westbrook on the board. When we talk.

Talked about this a couple weeks ago quickly wasn't even on the board. I know. Like he was kind of hiding in plain sight. It's all who gets hot, right? I know. And Brogden, like, his team is not doing so hot lately. And so he's kind of been the standby throughout the year. Ford is probably, I mean, he's at 54 games right now.

So he'll be able to have enough. But he's been grateful. of them and obviously got the start tonight. And then on the other side, the only other one in the Western Conference, the only team that's won even 8 of 10 is Denver. And they've just kept on rocking. But they're one of those that

I'm not sure when we were talking about looking at this and where teams land playoff wise, there's still people that would pick against even Denver, as great as their season's been. If they were to draw a golden state,

if they were to draw a Lakers, There would be people out there thinking that they're, you know, do you think they're disrespected? No. For as good a season as they've had. It seems all Yokic, Yokic. They're not disrespected at all, Chris. I mean, the fact is that, you know, all this over-the-top MVP debate in recent weeks.

Forget all that. I'm talking about as a team. But I'm just saying, like, this over-the-top, you know, MVP talk, one of the little seeds in it that people talk about is, well, Yokic needs to prove it in the playoffs. You know, like, you know, you have some people saying, nobody's saying he needs to win a championship to prove it. Yes, he does. Yes, he does. Just like any other mega star, any other MVP, regardless of sport, Peyton Manning, Alex Rodriguez. What solidifies you. That's the Yonis had to at one point. Now Yokish does. Yes, he does.

And one of the things that he needs to prove is, we see. the other night, the Raptors, they lose the game to the Nuggets, but they're getting to the rim at will. Against the Bulls on Wednesday, the Bulls announced during the game. You could be watching the game. He's like, wow, really getting to the basket with ease tonight? And it's like, yeah, you were. Everybody was cutting up the nuggets and attacking Yokic.

So that's going to be the thing. Can Yokish prove it in the postseason when now Michael Porter Jr.'s healthy. Jamal Murray's healthy. he is the best supporting cast of his career Aaron Gordon playing in an all-star level I still think he should have made the team he did not but an all-star caliber player Bruce Brown coming off the bench

Jeff Green playing some good minutes for them off the bench like they have Contagius Caldwell Pope one of the best 3-and-E guys in the league they have a championship caliber roster around Yokic this is the ideal roster that you could build around Yokic aside from getting like Kevin Durant

right besides having a player like that. Look, like I guess maybe disrespect is a bad word. I just feel like, and again, it's one of those like, nobody cares until you've done it. And so maybe that's why.

But I feel like people don't talk. They are so far and away ahead of. I mean, they're the one that's not in peril of anything. Everybody else's got to worry about the standings. They do. They got a great team. From Memphis on down,

everybody's got to think about where they are in these standings, all the way down to 13. But they are far and away, but I don't think that anybody feels like they are far and away, like the favorite. Because they could be the new Utah Jazz, where they are regular season monsters and then play off failures.

And so I think that's with Denver where, yes, this is a prove it year for Yokic, regardless of whether he's free pizza's MVP. Because their biggest hit was the bubble. Yes, exactly. Their biggest hit was the bubble and they still fell short there. And now, Yokic is an even better player than he was then. And the surrounding roster is far superior.

Well, in fairness, that was, when we look back at that, it's now look back as look at their playoff run. At the time, it was, that's the biggest friggin' gag I've ever seen in my life. From the Clippers. I mean, that was just vomiting all over themselves for three straight games. games. They're up three one. I mean, they were about to get run out. Doc Rivers was the coach. I've seen a lot of those over the years of them. And that's the same reason why it's a little hard to take the Sixers seriously when we've

seen Doc Rivers vomit all over himself. Celtics, Clippers, Sixers. Yeah, but at least like one of his best players is heart. So, I mean, he's got, he's got a guy that he can count on what it matters most. Um, some quick kids. I'm not even going to entertain the heart of the debate tonight. Some quick kids we got to get to. The Van Vleet Presser. Oh, boy. I can't remember a time where a player

went directly at not the officials tonight, not the rats, like call an official by name, Ben Taylor. Talk about how effing terrible he

thinks he is. The guy Now, the news has come down tonight. He's gotten fined $30,000. Kevin, if there was ever a $30,000 grant, I think that was it. I don't know what the fine should have been, but, and I don't know, Van Belit's hopefully going to get a $100 million in the off season.

That's why he, you know, changed agents and everything. So 30 grand is probably not as big a deal. deal to him as it is to others. But, damn, man. If there was ever, if there was ever a $30,000 grant, it is calling a individual official by name and just napalving the guy who was so good. So good. I loved it.

I did do. I very much loved it. I think a lot of players across the league, coaches, executives, were all very happy to see a player directly call out an official and hold them accountable publicly, which so very rarely ever happens, especially not to the extreme level that Van Fleet did it. So I think for him, $30,000 well spent. Well, and it did feel personal.

Five of eight technicals he's received have been from Ben Taylor, so he feels a certain kind of way against him right now. Oh, my God. I mean, you never know, and it'll be now, now I want to, I want to see the next Toronto game that Ben Taylor officiates. You know what I mean? This usually goes the wrong way for the guy. Yeah.

Usually the reps are not like, oh, well, now I've been called out publicly. Now I'm going to pussyfoot around this and not call as much as I used to or try to play nice or whatever. Usually it's like, if them do that to me. I'll show you. Whirp, whirp! And then the guy loses his mind again. I mean, I told you years ago, this happened. I was at a game like this.

And Dave Yeager, who's now an assistant for the Philadelphia 76ers, he and Mark Davis, I mean, hated each other with the fires of seven hells. Hated it. Okay. So one night I'd go into the arena. And one of our broadcasters is like, hey, it's like, oh my God, did you see we've got Davis? And I was like, look, you got to stop all this. Like, it's, like, we can't, like, every time it's not the refs.

It's not the refs. He's like, no, no, no, no. Like, Dave, there's smoke there now. Like, because he's called him out, whatever. And I was like, look, these refs are not out to get the grizzlies. They don't think about them that much, okay? He's like, I promise you. This is Rob Fisher, our sideline reporter.

He goes, you will see something tonight you have never seen in your life. I was like, whatever, dude. So I go and I sit my media seat. At that time, I'm sitting on the scores table. Games about to start. And Martin Davis walks over, and he goes, and puts up the tech sign. Delay a game, Memphis late to the tip. And I looked down, and I went, oh, my God.

He's like, I told you, I told you. They hated each other. Like, it got to the point where, they're like putting together like clips of games and sending it in. And that just made Mark Davis matter. And so that's what I would just warn Fred Van Vleet. These guys got egos now. And you know everybody in Ben Taylor's life was calling his phone this morning.

Like, bro. It seems like such a weird guy to hate Fred Van Vleet. Why do Fred Van Bleet and this guy have a problem? Have you ever, I've never even thought of Fred Bainville. Like Draymond, I get it. Chris Paul, I get it. Doc Rivers, I get it. All I remember about Van Fleet is during the 2019 finals when my suitcase and his suitcase got mixed up.

And I had to bring it to his hotel and switch him. No, you should have kept that one. Yeah, way better drip than you. You guys are probably around the same height. You're a little taller, maybe. I think he's, I think he's, Fred Van Fleet's like 6'1. What? I don't care what they list him.

tiny. Let's find out. He's listed at 6-1. Okay, let's actually check this. He ain't 6-1. Oh, you're going to go look at like combine numbers or something? Exactly what I'm doing. That's exactly what I'm doing right now.

Would they list the guy? And then you could go back and look. And we can't do the whole. He wasn't 19 when he came in the damn league. So he hadn't grown. He hasn't grown since that. So sometimes you could go back and look at those. You could say, yeah, but whatever he measured at the compound, he's grown a bunch since then.

I'm going to guess that Fred Van Fleet hasn't grown an inch since he's been. Hell, he's 30 when he came into the NBA. He's playing in Wichita State before I had kids. If I remember correctly. I wouldn't have got measured either. I'm not so sure he was at the NBA draft combine. Oh, he's undrafted. Yeah, because he was undrafted.

I don't think he got the Combine invite. Smart. Smart. Or maybe he did. It said, I ain't going to that crap. You ain't measuring me. Anyway, I'll see y'all in Portsmouth. Yeah, yeah, he was a snub at the Combine.

Yeah, he didn't make it. Unbelievable. All right. Speaking of trash talk, Chris, something new tonight. Dylan Brooks, after the game, he said, I know him a better player than Draymond Green. And he said it was also a low blow for Draymond Green to try to pit his teammates against him. And he said, Dylan Brooks said, I ain't out there getting into physical altercations with my teammates.

I love this. And Draymond said like Warriors Grizzlies is not a rivalry. You know, winning games in March doesn't mean anything. You get a win games. to go talk to Clay Thompson, because Clay Thompson called it a rivalry. I know. It's a rivalry. It's totally a rivalry, I think.

Dylan Brooks should have brought up that, hey, you had a chance to make the playoffs two years ago, and with the game on the line, you went and chucked it against the backboard, and if it wouldn't have hit the backboard, it would have killed a fan. That's how reckless your shot was when it mattered most. And he got done in by Xavier Tillman and Grayson Allen. Draymond says rivalries are created by you and I win. Clearly we've won four times

and their organization has zero championship so I can't consider that a rivalry. Anybody can win in March. Anybody can win in March. What that mean? I have a hard time getting out of bed in March. What's the game in March mean? No.

So Draymond. I love it. I love it too. I want them. I want Grizzlies Warriors first round. I want Kings Lakers first round. Did you see the walkoff? Yeah.

the walkoff tonight. He said he needs to just keep on podcasting or blogging or whatever he does. He keeps calling everybody a blogger. That's so funny. Dylan Brooks is now called Shannon Sharp and Traymond Green bloggers. I'm a Dylan Brooks hater, but you got to give him credit where it's due for some of his defensive possessions tonight. You know, just absolutely.

Yeah, he was unbelievable. Got to give him credit. He is an outstanding. perimeter defender. He is. Yeah. Oh, yeah. When he's at his best, I mean, he's... If he took eight shots a game, people would think he's awesome. Yeah. The problem is... He could do more with less. You just saw that Laker game. He went five for 17. What are you doing, taking 17 shots?

When we just talked about the Lakers and understanding where you are in the pecking order and what's a good shot and what's not a good shot. Yep. You know? A couple other things to quick hit. Lanzo Ball. God, this is the saddest thing. It's terrible. This is, this, you know, I, I live this. It's bad to bring up. But I actually saw him talking about this, about a week ago, the Lonzo stuff. I, I lived this with Chandler Parsons in Memphis.

When you keep on getting, you know, like sometimes, they're not figuring out what's wrong. at first and they're being kind of a mystery to it and then getting something fixed but then it not fixing it so you have to fix something else and then you have to

this is going to be the third surgery bro the third like we got to start considering that we may have seen certainly the last of him as a big time player in the league or a real player in the league

man, you know, I know that Ingram and Zion were effusive in their praise and really wanted to keep him. But what a bullet they dodged in New Orleans with this because this is just now gotten sad. I think they might have known something. Yeah. This has just gotten sad. I know. It's terrible. I mean, because where it's like, you know, it never came to fruition.

And when it was, when it was good. man, it was good for the beginning of last year with him and with DeRosen and with Levine kind of flanking him. He kind of made that work. And, you know, they just never were able to all stay together healthy. But then they had Caruso coming off and they had Butch and they, I mean, they had, they were on to something. Maybe. But we'll never know. Yeah.

I hope he can come back at some point, whether it's. a year from now, later this season, next season, or two years from now or three years from now. Don't they say it's third on the same knee? Yeah, I know. He's only 25 years old, though. You know, you hope at 28 years old, Lonzo's getting rotation minutes, even if he's playing 18, 20 minutes per game, Sean Livingston style. After all, the injuries that Livingston had earlier in his career, you hope Lonzo can have moments like that. Because his story, I mean, think about the guy he was.

was when he gets drafted number two by the Lakers. You know, the guy with the funky jump shot with the loud father and all the fanfare around him. But he managed to turn himself into a really good shooter, you know, 40% from three last year in Chicago, 37% with the Pelicans, over 70% from the free throw line, an awesome defensive player, not a, not like a all-star, all-NBA guy like you hope to get with the number two pick, but just a good ass winning player. And like you said, what he was doing for the Bulls was that connective glue.

Just such an important piece for them. I just hope he can come back and be a contributor in a winning environment someday. Because I love to watch him, Lonzo and the guy that he turned himself into through hard work and open-mindedness to change his funky form into the efficient shot that it was. He turned himself into a great player. It sucks. It sucks. and it just now getting cut on again at this age.

It's crazy. You never know the way things are going to shake out, man. It was years ago now where the game was in Memphis. I saw Kentucky with Fox and Otabio and Monk play against UCLA in the NCAA and the NCAA tournament, and that was the big showdown between the two point guards that everybody liked,

and Fox just absolutely destroyed him. It's one of the most unbelievable performances I have seen in person from a college athlete. And now you fast forward all those years later, and how many times have we kind of probably gone back and forth, you know,

food had done a snapshot even a year ago. there would have been a lot of people that said, I think I'd want Lonzo with the way he was playing with the Bulls and the Bulls are the number one seed or whatever. And now you fast forward another year. And it's like one guy we may not see again or it certainly looks ominous.

And the other is all NBA caliber, most clutch player in the NBA leading a team to the playoffs for the first time in 17 years. It's crazy. It's crazy. the trajectory of these careers. I know. You know? I know.

It sucks. I mean, I just hope Lonzo can come back. Three surgeries on one knee, man. That's scary. Scary. Yeah. Because you're not figuring out what's wrong with it.

It's not responding. So it feels degenerative at that point. But here's how medical science is better than it's ever been. So here's hoping. Only 25 years old. You know? He's got a chance, right? If he can get it right, and within four years, like, that's a long time.

He won't even be 30, right? Won't be 30 years old. The Livingston thing is interesting, too. Same kind of deal. Just catastrophic injury at the beginning of his career, drafted in the top five, and did not have the career that he was supposed to have, but he ended up having a very good, long career, and he contributed to championships. Three championship teams in a big way.

Yep, for sure, right? Like he wasn't the 30 minute per game, All-Star, you know, taking 10, 12, 15 shots per game and leading the team or the league and assist, he wasn't that. No, he was going to be Gildes-Alexander, honestly. Yeah, but he was a critically important player to title teams, and that's what you hope for with Lonzo Ball. And Markle Foltz, right? Like, he's on his way to figuring out his role following the Livingston Lane where you're the number one pick and you're not the guy that people expect you to be, but you're still a very important player

for a young rising team in the magic, and maybe someday Markell will be that guy on a championship team. And maybe Lonzo Ball still will be, too. You know, it can go up and down toward your career. I just hope Lonzo can get back. Because he was, you know, like you said, those UCLA Kentucky games, they played twice that year. And Fox was so amazing in that second one.

Those are like, you expect, oh, wow, these two top ten picks, I can't wait to watch them match up for years. They're dramatically different types of players, but both fun and, you know, they bring joy to the court in their own way. I just hope Lawns can get back because I love watching that dude play basketball. He plays the type of style that I think anybody can enjoy with his playmaking

as a passer, you know, in the open floor, and then on defense, dude flying around. I miss watching Lawns of Ball play. You and me too. All right. I do want to remind everybody that Memphis show is coming up on March 21st. Very few tickets available. So if you want to get

into that show, make sure you go grab those tickets. The link is going to be as part of the description of the pie. I'm going to miss next Tuesday show as I'm out of pocket, but I'll be back for a week from now. So Kevin, you take care of the mismatch. For one show, don't defame me. I might put a ban no grizzlies talk on Tuesday show.

Go ahead. Even though Grizzlies and Mavs play on Monday night. Make it all pelicans. Yeah. Be great. Anything to do with the Grizzlies might be banned. unless we get some news by then. You never know.

You never know. Like I said, bavs and gruslies play that now. We might have no choice but the talk grids. Oh, thanks to our executive producer, Jesse Lopez, as always.

Kevin, I'll talk to you next week. Everybody, have a great weekend.