The Mismatch - Western Conference Health Check, Jokic’s MVP Chances, and Random NBA Questions

Episode Date: March 11, 2025

Verno and Jacoby go through last night’s slate of NBA action starting off with Nikola Jokic’s otherworldly performance against the Thunder and the chances of Jokic surpassing SGA to win his fourth MVP (0:35). They then discuss Ja Morant's improved performance during the Grizzlies’ three-game win streak (16:25). After LeBron’s groin injury, the guys discuss the health of players on the teams in the West and how it could shape the playoff matchups (27:40). Next, the guys share three random NBA questions.The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming (42:20). Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Jessie Lopez and Tucker Tashjian Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon. And join me see us every week from the ringer.com. It's Dave Jacoby. Jacoby. Verno, so much has happened since we last spoke. So much has had, I don't know where to start here. I really don't. We've got to start with Nuggets Thunder because about a month ago, you on the show highlighted that these teams were going to be playing a back-to-back

when we got to March. And you, at that point, highlighted. the game saying this will be the MVP bowl. We are going to get to see SGA. We are going to get to see Nicola Yokic, these two teams going up against each other, and we know that there is going to be a debate on which of those two players is the most valuable player in the league. I don't know if we got any further down the road on said debate considering SGB.

had the night of nights on night one and his team got the victory. And then last night, as we record this on Tuesday morning, Nicolioch, Nicolioch's team got the victory and he was otherworldly in the game. And so the Nuggets beat the thunder 140, 140 to 127 in the second game of a back-to-back. And man, oh, man, when you think about this through the prism of a play, off series. They got to see each other once. They got to feel each other once. Now came back for game two. It seems as if this could be absolutely epic if we did ever get to see it in a seven game

series. Well, we'll like put a pin in the MVP conversation. We'll have coach Malone. We'll hear from him in a second. But I think that the main takeaway from these two games for me wasn't about the MVP race as much it was about these two teams and how they stack up. And much like a playoff series, when you see game one, you overreact to that and say there's no chance that Denver could possibly win. And then you see game two and then you say, oh, they've made the adjustments

and they totally figured it out. But like if you really want to break game two down, which was last night's Monday night's game, it was as simple as this. The Nuggets could not miss shots. And I was texting you during the game because you were at the Grizzlies game, which was weird, good win.

But there was a run where Pickett hit a three, Westbrook hit a three and Peyton Watson hit a three and I don't think it was consecutive possessions but it was probably like that was three out of five possessions and when that happened I was like well this team is not losing tonight this was really about everyone else hitting threes and Yokets just orchestrating

and everything just clicked into place and I really think another thing it showed was just how much the thunder rely on J-dub's shot creation because the nuggets were just like we're going to double SGA on the touch. Once Jay Dub went down, it was like, we're going to double him on the touch and let someone else beat us.

And Lou Dort did his best to be that someone else, but it just wasn't enough. And it was a really interesting game that I hope is a preview of something that we'll see in the conference finals or the playoffs. So one of the things I texted you last night and I said, all right, I got to go back and watch

this because you're texting me as it's going on that the nuggets cannot miss. What's crazy is, as I'm watching this unfold this morning. Jacoby, I'm writing down in my note with seven minutes left in the, so I know the outcome. I know the final score of this game before I'm ready to watch it, right? With seven minutes left in the third quarter, the Nuggets had 76 points.

With seven? No. With seven minutes left. 64 points? Yes. God. They had 76 points. 76 points with seven minutes left in the third quarter.

Then as I'm watching it unfold, at one point, the announcer says, well, I'm not, I think the color commentator says, how many have they missed in the second half? And the announcer says they're now 11 from 15 for 3, 73 percent. 11 for 15. Like I mean, that is, that's the rule here, right? Like to your point, you're not beating anybody that's shooting 73% from three. It's impossible. It's one thing to be able to generate open threes.

It's another thing to knock down 73% of them. at one point. It was just so extreme. But this is how, and the shame of it all is you're left after watching those two games going, man, I'd love to see game three. Yeah, I mean, honestly, it's like this, I called this the MVP cup or the MVP bowl or whatever, thinking that it would provide some sort of clarity, but it was just like a net neutral. It really was. SGA was amazing on Sunday. Yokic was amazing last night. Again, it was also the, it was more like the thunder great on Sunday and the Nuggets were great on Monday. And I walk away from this thinking about both the teams and the individual stars,

that it's a very even matchup. That's how I walked away from it. It's a very even matchup. Do you think it meant anything towards the MVP? Well, I think that Coach Malone had some really sort of enlightening sound. Yolich himself said I'm playing the best basketball in my life. If he wins it, he deserves it. But it was sort of like, it was sort of the first time you hear Yolkis sort of like express his

desire to win the MVP, but Coach Malone broke it down very specifically right here. You know, this whole MVP thing is really going to pick up. And you understand that. That's a part of it. Obviously, Shea Gilgius Alexander is a great player. And if he wins his first MVP, you know, he's deserving of that. My thing is this, you know, if you didn't know that Nicola won three MVP's, and I put player A and player B on paper, and you had no idea that the guy who's averaging a triple

double, the guy who's top three in the three major statistical categories, things that no one's ever done, he wins the MVP 10 times out of 10. And if you don't think so, I think you guys are all full of shit. I love it. But I think he is right. I think if Nikoliyokic had never won an MVP before, this is his year to win his first. However, he has already won three. So as it goes, We want to see a new person with the trophy. We want to hear a new speech. We want to create a new narrative. We want to build a new thing.

And I think that SGA will win. But I think that Nikola Yokic is the most valuable player. But can that narrative take hold? I think that is a very persuasive argument. You know, and I was even listening to, I was listening to Rusillo on with Bill on the pod they did earlier this week. And one of the things he said is, in the end, I am left with this feeling that the best player in the world is

Nicolioch. That's how I feel. I feel like he is the best player in the world. And so when it comes down to the debate and you sit there and you go, who is the best player? Not. And again, this is always the debate, right?

Is it best player? Is it best season? Is it, you know, I line them all up at the park and I've got to win one game? Who do I take? Is it, you know, the guy whose team has the best record? Is it, you know, you know, because you can, you can put up a myriad of accomplishments for both of them, right?

I mean, if you want to line up here, if you wanted to make the argument for SGA, it is super persuasive. And if you want to make the argument for Nicoliochic, it is super persuasive. And the interesting thing about this year is it's only two guys. You know, we've had it split a couple years ago. I remember doing this show saying, look, if you voted for MBE or you voted, Are you voted for Janus or you voted for Yokic? I'm not going to, I'm not going to be mad at you either way, right?

It's eye of the beholder. And I do think that this is one of those. And though I thought earlier in the season that SGA was going to totally run away with this, because we always like new blood, the narrative would take hold, best player, best team. That has generally been the history of the award over the course of NBA history. That being said, Yokin's made that an impossibility. I mean, he's too freakish. Well, I mean, we were discussing this when the Nuggets were the five seed.

And that was a different conversation. But now they're the two seed. And they're going, they split the season series two and two with the thunder. It isn't, it's like, well, who is the best team? And I also think that I think we're going to see SGA win it. But I think that Yokic has had the best season and he's the best player. I think the Yokic just has a better season. But because of just the fact that the history of this award is not always the best player,

it's whose turn is it now? Who are we inviting into that exclusive club? Being an all-star is great. Being an all-MBA is better. Being an MVP is better than all of that. And I think of players like Derek Rose, like those great players that had that great season that are now part of that club. It's like a banner in the rafters you can never take off.

Derek Rose will be at his like granddaughter's high school graduation and he'll have to give his speech and he'll be introduced as MBA MVP Derek Rose. And I think that sort of putting that brand, that stamp on SGA feels appropriate at this moment in his career. But if in a vacuum, Yokic is a better basketball player. I don't think very many people would argue otherwise. That being said, don't we always look back in history and say, okay, that's. guy got it, but, right? And sometimes we do it with LeBron. Obviously, look, we're both old now. We still think about Carl Malone winning the MVP over Michael Jordan. And you look back and you right. And this feels like it could be one of those years. It feels like it feels like when we

look back at like the, the total body of work that Nicola Yokic and, and, and, and Shai Gildes Alexander put on the floor during their NBA careers. I don't. don't think it will be very comparable in terms of who was more effective during the run of their careers. And I also think that you can't really say, like you can't in many LeBron's season, and you can make a case in that Malone season that, yeah, he's not the best player, but he had the best season. I don't think you can say that about SGA. You can't. Well, and we did it with Yokic a few years ago. And then he reminded everybody and went and won the title. Yep. Right. And then we were all sitting there going,

uh, you know, maybe he is the best guy. You know what I mean? And it doesn't, one thing I liked, I think SGA is going to win so we can talk about this forever,

but like I really do think that it's SGA is to lose. But I do think it's interesting from a, from a, branding and like a personal standpoint, that Yokic is being vocal about his desire to win it. And, and his,

his feeling of being deserving of winning it. And in a very Yokic, humble, way. He's sort of expressed that he wants to win. And like last time, that slight could be motivation during the playoffs for him just to absolutely go nuclear. One other one other point on last night's game. There was no like watching it, but then there are times where the guy looks so much better than he does other times. That looked like playoff Murray. Like that was the Jamal Murray that runs that high pick and roll.

Nicolioch, it strikes fear into opponents in the playoffs and, you know, a miserable Olympics. And then the first couple of months of this season were a, but we're a dud, yeah. And but man, oh man, just in a vacuum, you watch that last night. And it's like, oh, God. Like, it's, it's, it's, is this big game guy? Is this just he's going to show up what it matters most? It's like a Derek Henry thing where it's like, he sort of like treats the season as like a ramp up. and he starts to peak around this March, April time.

And this isn't the first year that this has happened with Murray either. Like, this is why he hasn't been an All-Star because he waits until after the All-Star break to really turn it on. And before we move on, I also want to just give someone else in the Nuggets a shout, which is Christian Brown. And look, what his evolution from like athletic, bouncy, fast white guy to, like, actual contributor, shooter, transition god. has been really interesting to watch. And it is one of those things when you, the Nuggets famously lost Bruce Brown and then KCP. And they had these ideas of Christian Brown stepping into that spot.

And I was somewhat skeptical at the time early in the season. But now I am not at all. He's a, he's a guy. He's a two-end contributor and he's been playing really well in the last month. Yeah. Last night was interesting. One last thing is if they, if anybody goes back to the very beginning of the game,

I had this flashback. Years ago, Deshaun Pry, told me this story, which I've referred to before, about how at the beginning of the game, Larry Brown had this theory of just throw the ball to Ben Wallace, first possession of the game if, and he could do whatever he wants, literally. If he wants to throw it in the stand, he can throw in this day, he wants to take a 15-footer, he can take a 15-footer, whatever.

But if you get Ben Wallace, you give him the ball, you let him touch the ball, you let him do whatever he wants, now you're going to get all that other stuff. going to get the rebound and you're going to get the defense you're going to get everything right you've gotten him engaged early in the game and now he's a part of this and he goes on he tells this story he goes if you ever go back and watch i think it's game five i think it's game five against the lakers he's like first play of the game you know off the tip we throw it to ben wiles and ben wallace knocks down this 18 footer the entire roof comes off the place and we all looked at each other like oh yeah this this is it if you go

back the reason I'm mentioning this is because if you go back that game start where the ball swings around and they throw it to Russell Westbrook and he pulls up for an 18 footer and he buries it the first shot of the game and I was like oh my God is this a Ben Wallace thing? We felt like it. Maybe we should have known the way it was going to play out because it's like really first shot of the game like you know you're thinking about all the adjustments that have been made and everything like that it's like swing, Russell Westbrook and he just. pulls up and takes this long two, but he buries it.

And I was like, oh, maybe that was an omen for how that thing was going to play out last night. Before we move on, one thing I want to say about this Nuggets game, and just them moving forward, something to keep an eye on, especially when we start looking at like second and third option scores is, I feel like they need to water the plant that is Michael Porter, Jr., a little bit more than they do. I think that it's so much Yokic and so much Murray. It's sort of like you said, like the ball has energy.

Like you want to touch it. I'm watching Porter Jr. last night in key, key possessions and even like in the fourth quarter when the game was already in hand, he kind of runs to the corner and stands there a lot for someone that has his ability. Like I think that for the Nuggets to really make a championship contention run, they're going to need his contributions. And to get his contributions to be what you want. You have to water that plant, get him more touches, run plays for him, get him more involved. I think that would be really helpful for the Nuggets. So last night, the game that I was at was Memphis versus Phoenix. and you show up to the arena and there is, like, Memphis has absolutely no big guys available for this game.

Brandon Clark is out, Santiago is out, Jared Jackson Jr. is out, and Zach Edie is out. Like, all four of those guys are out for the game. And, you know, the sons have got their guys and they've caught some breaks here, especially with the Mavs going into dismal mode. I mean, they should be ashamed. I mean, I texted you this as I was watching this game. I'm like, how can they not win these games, right? When they've got, I know Beal was out, but I mean, they still got Durant Booker.

Durant misses a game winner at the buzzer. But I, yeah, but I think the big story, obviously, from last night's game is this continuation that after Memphis had this four game losing streak, they've now won three in a row, not over a great competition. but John Moran has looked like a different human, especially in fourth quarters. He has gotten stronger as the game goes on, multiple double-digit fourth quarters recently,

and they're running a lot more high screens and letting it. I talk to you about how they've got to figure out they installed this new offense this year and that the trick has been what is best for job versus what, best for the group. And it's almost like they installed an offense that is job proof, right?

It enabled them to still be good in the absence of. And the numbers have been very good. And yet, it's clearly not the best type of offense to get the most out of him. And what you have seen recently is them running a lot more of the Jah Moran offense. And setting those high screens, letting him turn a corner, you have to make a decision on whether he's going to throw a lob or he's going to kick out for a three. And so they've installed a lot of stuff that they used to run. And I think he has reaped the benefits of it.

The other thing is, if you saw the ESPN game that they played against Dallas over the weekend, he slipped up and he said after the game, he said, wow, you looked a lot better in the second half because he was dismal in the first half. And then he was like, yeah, I'm probably not supposed to say this on TV, but I had some help. Like, okay. Those cortis, hey, if he took that cortisone shot in the shoulder, I tell you this, he has looked like a different cat ever since whatever happened happened. Well, I want you to explain a little bit more for our audience because you watch every single

minute of every single of Crisley's games, but I'm sure a lot of people listening don't is they were sort of one of the lowest high screen and roll teams in the league by design, by design. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They were absolutely the lowest by design. changed the last couple weeks. So what do you think Jenkins strategy was to establish that to begin with and why change it now and what is it done for John? I think there was a level of frustration that was starting to boil with Moran because everybody's going, what's wrong with John Moran? What's wrong with John Moran? And part of it is right. Yeah. And part of it was, you know, there's, there's a lot of

different things that go into it. Part of it is wanting to have a revenge season that got kind of ripped away by injury. So all those like All-Star, all-MBA, all that stuff, like getting your place back in the league, that's kind of ripped away from you because you get injured and you have to sit out so long. Then you have this new offense and you have to come back in and meld into it. Then there is, right, like this all five guys in unison,

playing sharing the ball. And like he is a ball dominant, right? Great player that also one of the things, that made it much harder on him is like, I'll give you a for instance, right? Like, so say you're playing against the Knicks, right? Okay. So you're playing against the Knicks,

and they bring out and like typically your point guard gets to face the, you know, the Trey Youngs of the world and the J. LaBrunsen's of the world, whatever. So let's just say you're playing against the Knicks. Well, now I've got Bridges on me. Yep. And McKell Bridges is guarding me the whole game.

Every time I get the ball, McKell Bridges is guarding me. In the absence of getting switches, I am just dealing with life with McEl Brits. Like that is basketball, right? Like being able to get those guys. And instead, what you say is, okay, McKell Bridges is kind of taking this out of the mix. Now, what I do is going to be harder to pull off. But also now these other guys have more desirable matchups.

And so the frustration ends up building, right? Right, where it's like, yo, like the whole gig of this is get me switched on to Brunson. Get me switched on to Tray Young. Get me switched on to this big that has to come out all the way from the basket. And so you're seeing a lot more of those recently. And obviously, sometimes, you know, I think them reinstalling this, basketball can be rather simple. If you can set a reasonable screen up top, he's turning the corner. these are now a decision that has to be made.

Am I taking the roll guy? Something's happening. He's either going all the way to the basket. He's kicking out for an open three because the corner guy pinched or he's throwing up something to the big that is rolling to the basket. And so I think just adding more of that into the mix has had a tremendous benefit for him. And he's also beyond any of the basketball stuff because it's not like he's been Mr. efficient recently. but he's been much more aggressive and also like all that swagger that everybody loved

and the rest of the team feeds off of that has come back in a way that it just, you know, the frustration he was just morose in many cases throughout the year. But you've started to see a lot of the, okay, I'm that guy. Here's what I do. Even last night after the game, as he's walking off, they asked him about the 10 point, you know, fourth quarters that he's recently had. And he's like, that's what I do. It's like, oh, okay.

Like, I know, but we didn't see, like, you know what I mean? Like he hasn't been that guy. And like you see in that confidence build, you're seeing that old John Morant start to come back. And man, oh man, would that be just in time? Well, they need the new triple J to come back because without him, they're not going very far. But we'll move on from the Grizzlies.

and I do want to talk about a game. You brought up sort of like the, the, give me a pick, let's get a switch, let's attack the magic that we want to attack. And there was no game that exemplified that, than a game that feels like it was three weeks ago, but it was just Saturday night,

and that was between the Lakers and the Celtics. And it just felt like the Celtics plan was to get Luke in front of the ball carrier, and it worked. And the Lakers plan was to get Al Horford in front of the ball carrier, and it did not work. I was so impressed by Luca getting Al Hort in front of him and saying no more picks.

Everybody, everybody get out of the way. I'm going to cook Al Hhorford and Al Hortford just not letting it happen. It was really, really impressive from the Celtics Lakers game. I mean, you saw that stat that I think it was to Bontem's to put up about how like that was the most that that has happened since the tracking. It's like the whole, okay, we've decided we're going to try. tried to get Al Horford isolated on these guys over and over. It happened like 23 times or something. And two horrible results.

Al Horford. 0.39 points per isolation or something. I mean, at his age, to be able to hold up like he did, it was just, it was otherworld. That guy is a flat winner. He just is. That's like the kind of guys that you. just have to have on your team. It's like, all right, if this is what you want to do,

you think you're picking on me? Go ahead. I'm going to shut you down. And he's like down in this defensive stance and ready to go no matter the matchup. It's unbelievable. There's no way that you should not have the advantage when you get the switch onto Al Horford.

And yet he had the advantage in that game. That was so impressive. It was unbelievable, unbelievable. Yeah, and it does. Is it me or is Luca like always a little hurt? Is he always a little hurt? Like always. I just feel like he's never 100%.

And I don't know if he's like the toughest or the softest basketball player I've ever seen or somewhere in the middle. But he's always hurt, always. Wait, wait, wait. Am I talking to Jacoby or Nico Harrison? I have to bring this up because last time we did a pot, I mentioned that Nico Harrison was getting booed at a hockey game. game, it's been upgraded. He got booed at medieval times in Dallas.

At medieval times during the horse show, I've never been to medieval times in my life. I've always wanted to go. It's a bucketless thing. I look forward to going. I want to experience that. But the idea that they're chanting fire Nico at a medieval times show restaurant is just wild to me, absolutely wild. Wait, is that the thing where they like dress up like night? Yes.

Yeah. You've never been either. I've never been. You know what's crazy is I was, when I was recently in Arizona, they have one like that. And I looked it up and I thought, wow, this would be super fun for the kids. The menu looked horrendous. Oh, yeah. Everyone's like, oh, the turkey legs.

They're like, oh, turkey legs. Turkey legs are the absolute worst. I don't care if you're in Disney World. I don't care if you're a state fair. I don't care where you are. That is not a hot take. Turkey drumsticks are terrible, terrible, terrible meat. I've never enjoyed one.

I think no one's ever enjoyed one. I think people fake it. They think it looks cool to carry around a turkey drumstick and feel like a Viking or whatever, but no, no. But I want to go to medieval times. And we're losing Hooters. I don't want, I don't want medieval times to go without me experiencing at least once.

So Nico got booed at medieval times. They should have had like that. The horses are doing a horse show. It's knights jousting and having sword fights. And for some reason, they're chanting fired Nico. They should have had like whoever was like the the the the wakene phoenix character like do like the big thumbs yeah the thumbs down thing you take him out in the middle uh but you know i think the the biggest thing to come out of celtics

lakers was uh lebron getting hurt obviously sure i mean it said they said one to two weeks doesn't seem that bad obviously it's a little concerning because of his previous groin injury but there is a little bit of silver lining to this where it's like all right let's look uh luca run the offense for a little bit and get LeBron some rest. Get ready for the home stretch. Doesn't seem to be like a very serious, serious injury. They'll jeopardize him for the playoffs. And then they couldn't beat the Nets. Couldn't beat the Nets. And I couldn't even watch it. Oh, Gotham. Gotham Sports, man. I refuse to pay. When I go on the app, there's a big lock sign next to the Nets games.

But shout out to NBA crunch time. I got to see the end via crunch time. But here's what I'm saying. This has been an ongoing thought of the mismatch for many many years, as I have expressed, you know, I've been around one NBA team for over 20 years and it is without question

every single year, the ones that freak me out groin, calf, hamstring. Those are the three. These soft tissue things and they impact the playoffs every single year. I know that it's supposed to be okay.

I have just seen those end up being much worse than you thought they were at first or taking a lot longer than you thought they were going to take or a guy just never being able to be himself or a guy, I've seen this one too, a guy come back and then immediately re-injure it. Right? Yeah. Because these soft tissue injuries, those are the ones, if I am for every fan out there, If you're a fan of a team, like those are the ones that to me always scare me the worst, right? I know how other other one of the, in many cases, these injuries have, you know, timelines on them, right?

And you can, you know, if somebody bust their ankle, which happens virtually every other night, you know they're going to be able to stick that thing in ice, you know, they're going to be able to do some rehab. And you know, they're going to be able to get back on the court. the sometimes super rolling timeline of these soft tissue injuries are the things that always worry me a great deal. And so that's the only reason I would have cause for pause on the LeBron thing is because I just never want to hear hamstring groin or calf. You know, and there's varying, they're varying degrees to those as there are with any injury. I just hate those injuries. It's bad news. But when you watch the game and watch

his reaction to the injury. It felt like one of those, if this was the playoffs, I would finish the game. Right. I'm not debilitated. I don't, I don't need to, you know, get treatment, go to the back, get MRIs. I think it was just a little bit of a tweak, which I think will ultimately be fine, but you cannot lose games to the Nets if you're the Lakers. I don't care who's hurt, who's not hurt, who you have, Rui or Hayes or whatever. Like, you got to beat the Nets, man. You've got to beat the Nets in that one. You know, and beyond LeBron, you know, this is something we're going to keep track of as we teeter towards these last 15, 16 games of the season is we know that health is going to, every year, health ends up dictating who is standing there at the end, right? And in many cases, who is even

standing there by the time you get to the conference finals, as we saw last year with Indiana getting an opportunity to be there and your Knicks becoming the walking wounded as the playoffs went on. you know, there's a bunch of them to keep an eye on. Obviously, the Lakers have LeBron. They also have Brewy. They also have Jackson Hayes. You know, I told you the Grizzlies didn't have Sante Aldama, Brandon Clark, Jaron Jackson Jr., a bunch of guys.

It doesn't seem like any of those are particularly serious injuries. The Van Fleet thing, like, didn't he get hurting like January? I mean, this is a hell of a bit. He's another one of those that came back and then left again. Hell of an ankle injury. And obviously they've, you know, they lost Thompson, who's going to be out for a couple of weeks, who is a massive contributor for them. Jalen Brunson, your guy, the very end of that game last week, lands on a foot, ankle injury. It's going to keep him out for a couple of weeks.

And then you have Kaminga and Podzinski. You know, they're supposed to be able to come back into the fold for the Warriors. The clippers have lost Norm Powell. But wasn't Kaminga supposed to come back? like two weeks ago. I know, right? Like, I thought Cominga would be back by now. I didn't think it was going to be like this.

I think everybody did. And so, as we know, there's varying degrees of these ankle injuries because, obviously, for Van Vlita Kamenga's sake, this has been a rough go. And then most every, I mean, like all of these teams are dealing with something. And it's like, who can get to this finish line known as the playoffs beginning with their team intact? because we're now, as we get to this part, this last quarter of the season, we're seeing a bunch of guys going down. It feels like every night there's some other injury that could be very impactful

towards not only the standings, but also play out basketball because you think about, look, this stuff is dictated by what happens in the standings. If the Lakers look like they did against the nets last night and have this super tough go without LeBron, now all of a sudden you could be looking up. And if you're Oklahoma City, you're seeing them in the, second round because they've dropped to four, right? If the clippers keep falling back and then, you know, and they're able to get Norm Powell back by the time, you know, the playoffs come around. Now, they, they are a much better team than what their seating is. And so it's odd.

Some of these teams that are losing their players now that might have a rough go. And record wise, it's going to dictate greatly what ends up happening in the playoffs, possibly, simply because they can't worry about getting these regular season wins. And in many cases, they're veteran-laden teams, but they may fall back in the standings. And then that changes everything in terms of outlook for playoff basketball. There's something interesting happening. And I'm glad you mentioned this section of the Western Conference that's sort of like three through seven in the Western Conference, because let's just stay with the injuries

conversation were happening. Lakers are without LeBron and Ruey and Hayes. Memphis is without everyone who's over 6-8 in the entire roster. Houston's without Thompson and Van Vleet, as you mentioned. And then you've got Golden State who are without pods. And Cominga.

And Cominga, who are supposed to be back soon. It does feel like we always said when they got Butler, we're like, Golden State's going to make a run at the 6th. Well, they're in the 6th seed right now. Yep. But I think when you look at sort of the way things are going and who's available and who's not and how hot the warriors are. They've won, what, 12, 14 and five in a row. Like the warriors might creep up into that four spot, five spot. I could see that happening for sure,

which would change the dynamics of the first round pretty dramatically. Well, and obviously, if you're Oklahoma City, the last thing you want, in my opinion, is for the Lakers and the Warriors, you know, the Warriors moving up and the Lakers moving down, which we both just accepted or like very real possibilities. Oh, yeah. Giving the circumstances of the last two weeks. Because right now, if you're Oklahoma City, it's an absolute dream. You're playing a rat team in the first round more than likely.

And because of whoever wins the play in. And then you would be catching the winner of more than likely Memphis and Houston with the way this is playing out. Well, imagine if you're- Is it Memphis in Houston, though? But I'm saying, imagine if you're catching, imagine if the lake. fall back and the Warriors play four games better than their peers the rest of the way.

And now you're catching the winner of Lakers warriors or one of those two. That is a much more daunting task than it would be to play some of the teams that have less a playoff. The Thunder Path could end up being Timberwolves, Lakers, Nuggets, Celtics. Yeah, that's, I mean. Or calves or whoever it is out of the east. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a tough run. That doesn't feel like a one-seed run to go up against Anthony Edwards and now Gobert

and whatever Randall's doing, fine. But then you're going to face Luca and LeBron in the second round. And then the best player in the planet and a hot Jamal Murray in the conference finals. Like that's tough. Like you work your entire 82 game regular season to have the honor and the privilege, to have home court advantage and to have the one seat, the most favorable matchups. It just doesn't feel like you're getting them. And I hate to say this.

to you, Verno, but the softest part of the Western Conference playoffs are the Rockets and the Grizzlies. That's sort of like the soft middle of the playoffs. Of course. That's who you would want to face. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, look, I'm the one that comes out of here every day. It tells you vet teams win. Like, that has been the history of the league. And usually that's the, that's the trial by fire that the young teams have to go through. Right. Once upon a time, I mean, you think about it. The last two times Memphis was in the playoffs. They ended up winning the first round series.

And then they played against Golden State. And that was the trial by fire. And they end up losing that hard fought series. And then the next time around, they get the two seed. Well, they run into the worst possible situation they could run into, which was in the play in game, Anthony Edwards has literally the worst game ever. And they blow it again.

against the Lakers, Minnesota does. So then the Lakers got the seventh seed. And so, and then they mashed in the Grizzlies in six games. Well, if Memphis would have drawn Minnesota instead of the Lakers, it's probably a different world. So that's what I'm saying. This stuff all becomes matchup dependent. And yes, I am well aware.

If you're somebody like Oklahoma City, I am praying. Look, as someone, as someone who roots for Memphis, I would take the deal right now to play Houston and then Oklahoma City. Of course. Rather than having to play those vet-laden teams. You know what I mean? You don't want a part of those teams. And that's why I think that we focus on the playoffs so much.

But these last 17 games of the regular season are just as important because they're going to determine who you play in the playoffs. Now, the hard part is, is how far up, as you mentioned, the Warriors can get. as it stands right now in those Western Conference playoffs, they, they do, you know, there's not so many to get above Memphis. There's so many games left, right? So right now, Golden State has played 65 games, right? Okay, 65.

So they got 17 games left. And there's seven behind the Rockets. Yeah. So they would have to play three games better than the Rockets, the Rockets, the rest of the way. And they would have to play four games better, really five games better than the Grizzlies, the rest of the way. Or the Lakers for that matter, because the Grizzlies and the Lakers are tied at 12 back from the number one team. So, I mean, that's, you've got to, you've got to put together a really good record. I mean, you have to just, you have to win so many of those last

17 games and then the other team has to go basically 500. But we're also talking about a team that has won 12 of 14. Understood. Yeah. So it's not impossible. It's not a. It's something to keep an eye on. Something's keeping eye on.

I think the Western Conference sort of like bottom half is much stronger than the Eastern Conference bottom half. That goes without saying. I. One of the best parts about the tourney is when an underdog takes, down a powerhouse. And right now, those upsets can get even better because all this week on Fandual, if your underdog bet wins, you'll land even more winnings with a profit boost. This is your chance to ride up with the long shots, the scrappy teams, the ones that refuse to

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in Boston against the Celtics. I would always ride with the Thunder, especially if they are underdogs. But that's not a real underdog, as I said, because they are one of the best teams in the NBA and have a high chance of winning. it all later. But one team that has no chance of winning it all,

no chance of making the playoffs. However, I think they could pull off an upset this Wednesday. And that is the New Orleans Pelicans with Zion when he plays, playing well, against the Clippers. The Clippers will be on the road. And I have a hunch, a little hunchy hunch feeling that the New Orleans Pelicans pull off the upset and are your underdog and Fanduel will give you a profit boost if your underdog wins.

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All right. Let's get to our random questions of the week. All right. You start. You want to? All right. So if you could have one NBA player you want to be on a stranded island with in order to survive, you would choose? Okay.

I thought about this way more than I should have. So I'm on a stranded island castaway style with one NBA player. I don't know how we got there, but let's just imagine we got there. Okay. Oh, it was a terrible plane wreck. and you guys were the only huge survivors. Yeah. Did we eat any people in the process?

No, no, no. We didn't eat any people? No, this person obviously, look, you're going to need a real alpha male because this person. Listen, I thought about this a lot. All right. Now, initially, I said, I want someone country. That's where I went first. I was like, I need someone country.

If we're going to be stuck on like a deserted desert island, I need someone who knows how to start a fire, the skinned animal catch a fish and I was like I need someone country I need someone strong and I also am going to spend a lot of time with this person

like a lot of time of this person so I need a good attitude so I started with Steph Curry and I was like he might just be too smiley and happy for like he seems like a peacetime president and not a wartime president and then originally I said to myself

I need someone strong someone fun to be around and someone country with survival skills and then it dawned on me and I had the perfect answer for this. A gentleman you're very familiar with who goes by the name Stephen Funaki Paya

Hey, Ofa, Ki, Loa, Adams. Stephen Adams, I challenge anyone to come up with a better answer than Stephen Adams. Because Stephen Adams, first of all, great hang, great attitude, great, just like good vibes all day, every day because this is going to be a marathon.

It's going to be the two of us hungry stuck on a deserted island so we need to keep the morale up and I feel like Stephen Adams would do that. Also, from New Zealand I'm sure he can catch us some fish. He's literally from an island and he has

17 older brothers and sister. He's the strongest person, not just in the league, maybe on the planet, probably top 100 and he's just the absolute perfect person to be stuck on a deserted island with. I challenge anyone anyone listening to this pod to tweet at me and

Chris Vernon and come up with a better answer than Stephen Funaki, Paella, He, Ofaki, Loa Adams. I don't even think, I am so proud of you. And I don't even think that they're like, unlike the MVP, this is no debate. Whoever is number two, it's so far away. This guy never wears shoes. He's also the kind of guy that like, let's just say a python ran up on you. Like, he would just grab it. Yes.

No, no. He would just grab it. He would literally just. just grab the snake and strangle it. If you needed food, he'd be able to get you food. Oh, no, here's a scenario I love. I'm trying to climb a palm tree to get a coconut. And I have no upper body strength.

So he sees me fail and fail again. He walks over to the coconut tree and just like picks it up out of the ground, roots and all, puts it on the ground in front of me and says, go grab the coconuts. They're on the ground now, David. That's what he would do with a smile on his face. I love Stephen Adams for that answer. I'm so proud of myself for that.

Should we just end up? I got to be honest with you. I thought I was going to, I set that up because I figured you were going to take somebody else. Like I thought you were going to go, the brains over brawn possibly. No, no, no. Very proud of you. Yeah.

Yeah. Any animal that comes out of the jungle to attack us, I stand behind Stephen Adams and Stephen Adams carries the day. Any animal. Any animal. I agree. Okay. what team are you looking at right now that would not hold on i got to mention one other guy just

another guy that i actually came a contact with yonis valentunas oh same kind of same kind of dude like i broke he hunts wild boar oh i need a hunter yeah i do need a hunter hey i'm talking with a knife whoa yeah i did you know what i was watching the game last night it's a different breed bro Guys like that they're a different breed. Oh, yeah. I was watching the game last night, and they literally said, outside of Stephen Adams,

I can't think of someone in the NBA stronger than Valanchunis. That's literally what they said. They brought up the two of them in the same sentence last night. Do you know one time he told me the most incredible story on my show about it? And this is one of the times I've done a favor for somebody, where years ago it was like about him hunting wild boar and all this stuff. And they were like, his representatives were like, hey, can we, can we take that out?

Like, we don't want to deal with the Pita people at all. And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, all right. But I was like, but that story is crazy. I'm like, this guy, like, goes and like, hunts bore with his hands. This is, you got to be a maniac, a maniac. All right. Anyways, go back. I feel like you should be allowed up to hunt things without using bullets.

I feel like that's like, no matter what it is. I'm again, beat a people like, leave me alone. Yeah. Give him a break. All right, mine's just pretty much down the middle. This is my only sort of like down the middle basketball question. What team are you looking at that you think will be the most likely to pull off a first round upset? So what team will be on the road in a game one of the playoffs and not the obvious like four or five matchup?

Like what team in sort of like the, you know, the six, seven, eight seed or maybe in the nine or ten right now in the in the Western. Eastern Eastern Congress you think is most likely to pull off a first round upset. Okay. So we need to talk this through a little bit because are you saying they will be on the road at the beginning of the playoffs? Are you saying that they will be the underdog in the series? Because I do think. That's fair to say.

Underdog. We'll go underdog. We'll go underdog. Because we could. There's a scenario where the warriors are not the underdog, right? Like that if you want to. When it comes time to bet them on Fanduil, they are actually. Yeah, like a Grizzlies Warrior series would probably favor the Warriors.

Correct. But I would say, look, the answer by a wide margin is the Warriors. Right now, again, if we're doing this today, they're not, they're more than likely going to be on the road for their playoff series, all of them. They're more than likely at this point. They could keep on winning and winning and winning. But the answer is they are by far the most dangerous of the seeds five and below the rest of the way. Because are there any of those Indiana, Detroit, Atlanta, Orlando, none of those, none of those scare you.

Like none of the, you would be Indiana is the only one. Indiana, you know what? I was doing a little prep work for this like second and third score thing. If Indiana beat Milwaukee, it wouldn't be the craziest thing. Indiana's like third option is like Matherin. You know what I mean? Who's fine? But it's not like scary.

And also Detroit is a tricky one with that too because you're kind of like Cunningham. And you're like Beasley and Duren. You know what I mean? Like it is an interesting exercise that we will do, which is why those teams don't scare me. But I would say of those teams, the scariest are. probably the magic, probably the magic. But they're playing terribly right now. Ugh. No.

I know. They're cashed out. I mean, I... You know what? It's the Warriors, but here's my thing, man. When I went to that stupid Warriors game, it's just, again, I get that Pads was out, and I get that Camingas out, and we'll see what we get from them. But it's like Santos and, like, Pajimski, and Quentin Post, and Kavana Luni.

I just think the drop-off after. Draymond on that team is huge. And when you watch someone like the Thunder, they're like their 10th rotation player is like better than everybody that's fourth and down for the Warriors. And the other one is just because of, you know, Jeff Van Gundy and Ty Lou being able to cook up something that just makes the other team wildly uncomfortable.

If they were able to get to the playoffs, I know they've been on this recent swoon, but if the clippers were able to get to the playoffs with Hardin, Powell, Leonard, all those guys, Zubots, all those guys available. Like, they've got a bunch of wings. They've got guys that can make shots. And also, I do have a great respect for their coaching staff and their ability to make life hell for their opponent.

They're one to watch that could at least be dangerous. Yes. And I think a lot of these like quote unquote upsets will end up going like this. You split the first two on the road and then you win game three at home. and then everyone like us is talking about how the series is over and they end up losing in six or seven. That's usually how it plays out. You split the first two on the road. You win and gave three at home.

Everybody overreacts and then you end up losing a six or seven. But that'll be a fun ride to go on, which we do every single year. Here's my, you're next. Okay. Next question. What do you think about LeBron James confronting Stephen A. Smith in front of everyone? As a policy. as you, like you have been doing this a long time.

And I tend to steer away generally from like covering the coverage, from like getting into like media said this or Charles Barclay said this about Kendrick Perkins and Kendrick Perkins said this. Like I try to stay away from that sort of stuff. But this one I found interesting because of, I always say this. It's not what you do, it's how you do it. And Stephen A, obviously, a former colleague of mine. His number's not in my phone. We're not like great friends,

but he's, you know, never been negative towards me. Great dude. Obviously good at his job. But let's not, I think LeBron got everything that he wanted out of this and I'll explain why. I don't think it's a coincidence that the news came out that Stephen A signed a hundred million dollar deal with ESPN and then LeBron is confronting him like 24 hours later. And I also think that LeBron James knew that in between the third and fourth quarter, I want to say, is when this happened? LeBron James knows that there are 20,000 people with little cameras, phones in their pockets. And then if he walks over and talks to Stephen A, and does not start with a handshake and doesn't end with a handshake, and he has a stern face on, that he knows that it's going to play out the way it did.

And I think that this is not a coincidence that this is a topic of conversation. I think LeBron intended for this to be the result, and it worked exactly as he wanted it to. Let's not forget how and when it happens. Now, what you do, it's how you do it. It's not that he confronted Stephen A about some of the words that he said about him as a father or Bronny as a basketball player.

It's that he did it while he's in uniform, at home, in Los Angeles, on television, in the spotlight, at his house. It's basically his living room at this point. walking over to Stephen A. Smith and giving him some very stern words that anyone who didn't even hear the conversation, which we did not, can take away from it that it was not comfortable for Stephen A. Smith. And I think that LeBron wanted this and he got this. And I think that this

is also way more about LeBron feeling disrespected as a parent or LeBron feeling that Stephen A disrespected Brani. I think this is the culmination of years and years and years and years. of players like LeBron and others, not loving the way that Stephen A approaches his job. And I think that this was a little bit more of an excuse isn't the right word, but a reason to come talk to Stephen A in this manner. This was more or less the excuse for him to address Stephen A in this manner, but it wasn't necessarily about something that Stephen A said about Brony.

That was my take on the whole thing. Because it wasn't a basketball thing. I think what set LeBron off is the whole, I'm talking to you as a father. All right. So now you're not talking to me. You're like you, you established.

You're not talking to me about being a basketball player. You're not talking to me about basketball. You're not talking to me about my son being a basketball player. You're talking to me about my parenting on national TV. And so, right? You know what I'm saying? I'm not talking to you as a, like, if I talk to you like today and I said, Jacoby, I'm not talking to you as a sports talk host or a podcast host.

I'm talking to about you as a father. And it'd be like, okay, dude. Like, you know the reaction you're going to get, right? Like, bro, now you're talking to me about what I am as a father. You are criticizing me as a father on national TV. I got that. I understand getting mad about it. I mean, I get it.

So I think I move a little different than a lot of people. Like the whole like, don't bring my kids into this. Or kids are sacred and off limit in a rat beef or something. I'm like, yeah, criticize me as a father. I'm not a great father. I have a lot of growing to do. I'm like, right now I'm like a C plus. You know what I mean?

So like, sure. Go ahead. Criticize my parenting. I don't care. It doesn't change my life for my kid's life. Go ahead. Say I'm a bad dad. I'm working on it.

Like, I don't know. I'm just not that sensitive about that stuff. though. Like, feel free to criticize my parenting. I'm not the best. I think it would bother you if Stephen A. Smith was on ESPN saying it, though. You would. I would be more surprised than bothered. How did this get in the D block? He knows my name? He always just called me fella. If that. What we got next? Next. Okay. Here's something that I found very interesting. Because remember, I'm tracking this pretty closely. This Kevin Durant's son's relationship.

The sons reportedly shopping may not be the right word, but we know, having some conversations about potentially trading him at the deadline. And then he comes on to Draymond Green and Baron Davis's podcast and says that he wants to finish his commitment of this year with the sons. And then there are reports from our guy Shams who says that the sons would work. with Kevin Durant in the offseason to get him to a contender. And now there's Dwayne Rankin of the Arizona Republic who's connected. And this is from his article, quote, sources inform the Republic. The most ideal return on Durant trade is regaining three first round picks

and a young player as part of a multi-team deal tied to getting under the second apron. Interesting. So they potentially had conversations about trading him. He said he wants to finish this season. There are reports that they would work with him to trade him this offseason. And now we've got a price. Like a price is being put out there into the ether. Not just this guy's for sale.

Like you don't even go to the jewelry store and you see all the jewels, but you don't see any price tags. Like that's the way Kevin Durant was before. But now there's a big old price. tag next to him about what the sons want in return. So this says to me that he is gone, gone, gone after the season. And my question for you is, where do you think he's most likely to end up? Well, you told me a couple weeks ago that he was going to be a rocket. He's going to be a rocket.

I mean, that's what you said. I mean, look, obviously, if you are, if they said they are willing to work with him, you're now, that list gets very small, right? because it's like, okay, if you're working with him, he ain't going to a team that he doesn't think he can win with. Like the Wizards. The Wizards are one of the teams that's sort of like part of this. And I'm so,

I've said this before. I hate when we want to put players in their hometown teams. Sure, he grew up in the DMV. Doesn't mean he wants to play for the Wizards. Doesn't mean he wants to be Jordan Pool and SARS teammate. Well, and I told you that during the trade deadline, Memphis put a huge offer on the table for Durant. And it just did not happen.

And so is that. something that can be revisited. Interesting after a first round exit. When it, when it, when it comes time, I don't know. Um, you know, that Houston team obviously is loaded up. What about a return to okay C? So what if something happens with them and it falls short and they say, hey, we'll stack together a couple of these awesome young players and we've got more draft picks

than God. So we can, we can set you up and then we get this swan song return for him. him to Oklahoma City. I mean, I think you could be looking at Oklahoma City. I think you can be looking at Memphis. I think you could be looking at, uh, you know, because again, this is so, this is the last go round. This is the last go round, right? For him. Yes. Right. Whatever, wherever he goes next is probably the end. I will say, I will say of those teams, I've been thinking about this a lot. Of those teams, it feels like OKC is too much of a close to finish product

to add someone like Durant although they have the draft assets and the young players. I just feel like they're gonna win like 60 something games this year. Like do you look at that and be like we need to make some dramatic changes? And I would,

that's why the rocket scream to me. My question for you about Memphis is who is the young player? Like who's that like future All-Star that's wearing a Grizzies? uniform right now that you could package with a bunch of picks. Wells. G.G. Jackson. Like that's not, Kevin Durant. Like, I'm looking at the Rockets young players and the Thunder young players. And I'm saying we got some potential future all-stars that you could send my

direction in exchange for a future Hall of Fame or like Durant. It'll be interesting to see. But I don't think he's on the suns next year. Yeah. I don't either. Uh, all right, you mentioned in the last episode about having a pregnant wife and that you got another kid on the way, right? what is the process for naming kids in the Jacoby household i'm i'm fucked christmas oh oh oh so we're going to have this kid hopefully on the 27th of march um i might not make the show on the 28th two weeks uh scheduled situation uh you know we've had a couple C sections before to kind of go back to that route and so it's a scheduled thing and we have three other kids Quincy great name loved it great job by us all right how did that come about uh we had a book at the time that was like rock

star names and we love q as like a nickname so it really came down to like quin quinentin or quincy and quincy jones we're just like quincy it just hit we she was like four months pregnant we've already decided it's over right and then we have twins my wife's name is joey everybody calls her joey but a real name is joie if you speak french it's like joie de v like joy in french so if you want to like really get in a good side color joie and her name is French. Her middle name is Dominique. So it's like a little Francophile thing.

She's Jamaican. I don't know how this French stuff got involved. So we have Margo and Chloe, which are like two French names. And we did pretty good with that. But right now we got nothing. Nothing is sticking. Nothing is sticking whatsoever.

We have to have like a real head to head to head meeting about naming this child because like the family names are awful. There's like Denise, Esther, Ruth, Torreya, Dorothy, Patricia, like, Clara. Like, these people are clearly born in like the, the 20s, 30s and 40s.

So we're screwed. I don't have a name. I might just name her Chris. It's so funny. Look, hey, like, when you go to, now, I never knew either of my grandfather's, but, you know, when we were doing the family thing, too, my grandfather's names were Horace and Stancil. Stancel's such a good name

Stancel S-E-A-N-C-I-L That's an awesome name S-E-L-L-L Oh, I love it Oh, Stancel Oh, that's awesome All right, I'm naming my daughter, Stancil

There we go, thank you for clearing this up for me One quick, one quick name So we're firing text back and forth Trying to see what sticks to the wall And I'm watching some show I think my kids are watching it There's a character named Dalen And I was like, oh, I was like, that's pretty cool

I was like, let me send it to Joey, right? I send it to Joey and she writes back. She's like, so you want to name our daughter, Dalen, which is basically a combination of your and uncle Jalen's names. And I was like, no. Wow. I was like, no, we can't do that. We can't do that.

It's like we cannot do that. We can absolutely not do that. I've got a final question for you. I'll keep you guys updated what the name is. Final questions here. Jesse has the audio ready to play. Oh, hey, can I, hey, real quick before we play the audio? Oh, yeah, tell me your story.

No, no, no. No, I was just going to say, how about Cam Spencer Jacoby? Can you do that? Cam, but see, my wife doesn't like short first name, so it would have to be like Cameron Spencer Jacoby, but that could work. Okay. That could work. That could work.

All right. What we got? Okay. So, you know, people love certain athletes that are in their life, and they take it, you know, far. I used to pray to like a poster of Larry Bird when I was a kid before basketball games. And this is a question I have for you is, is the audio that you're about to hear, like an R&B song about an athlete, is this a touching tribute to a future Hall of Fame NBA player? Or is it kind of creepy and doing too much? Jesse, let Chris hear it. R&B song, LeBron, LeBron.

LeBron James That's not real That's real That's like somebody A-eyed or something Right No that is that is real It's been on the internet

For like a week now And it's starting to pick up steam Is the name of it LeBron? I think it's called LeBron James Why is it Sounds like Trace songs or something

LeBron LeBron James No it's like that's 90s That's like color me bad Like Jodicy vibes That's like Drew Hill Drew Hill Yeah

Yeah yeah yeah no that's creepy bro that's a lot that's super creepy that's super creepy come on is that a nice tribute or creepy i i land on creepy what who is singing that who is bopping that in your car but no who's going who's like who's like tells their best friend like oh what did you do today it's i recorded a song you know i'm trying to work out some new music like oh what's it about oh it's lebron james uh what's the chorus it goes like this. LeBron, LeBron, LeBron. Okay. I'm going to give you, I'm just going to end with this question to you then.

I'm going to flip it back on you. Where would it be acceptable to listen to that song? Never. I can't think of a scenario. Where is, where could you be? Like, because you could say, right, in my car, AirPods, like, there's only one scenario. There's only one scenario when it's okay. when you're listening to the mismatch

every Tuesday and Friday on the ringer network and we bring it to you that's the only if you're listening to mismatch in your car and it comes on and you got the windows down you listen to the mismatch on 10 and you know you put you

you stop at the stoplight and someone looks over at you and you're sitting there lean back with one hand in the wheel like LeBron, LeBron, LeBron, James. God, D. DJ Jesse Lopez.

Thank you, too. You are executive producer Jesse Lopez, as always. And Jacoby, I'll talk to you later this week. Must be 21 and over in present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 over and present in D.C. You got a gambling problem? Call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-Help.com. Call 1-888-78-9-7777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut or visit MDGamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gambling helpline.m.m.m.org or call 800-327-50-50 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts.

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