The Mismatch - Will the Bucks Do Right by Giannis? Plus, the Fun Hornets, John Wall Love, and a Slam Dunk Disappointment.

Episode Date: January 30, 2026

Verno and Jacoby return to discuss the news that Giannis Antetokounmpo has finally requested a trade from the Bucks. They debate whether he’ll be moved by next week, the rumored deals, and whether the Bucks will choose to do right by Giannis. Next, the guys dive into their loves and loathes from the past week in the NBA. (00:00) Welcome to The Mismatch! (01:05) Giannis finally requests a trade from the Bucks (31:10) Verno and Jacoby’s no. 1 loves of the week (42:10) Verno and Jacoby’s no. 1 loathes of the week (47:27) No. 2 loves of the week (53:55) No. 2 loathes of the week (01:03:00) No. 3 loves of the week (01:12:38) No. 3 loathes of the week The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit http://www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Leave us a message on our Mismatch Voicemail line! [phone] Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Jessie Lopez, Brian Waters, and Jeff Shearin Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon. And joining me to us every week from the record.com is Dave Jacoby. Jacobi. Once again, we are taping this on Thursday evening as the late games are happening. We have the Timberwolves who have been in the news regarding Janus Tentacompo. They're currently holding a nice little lead against the Thunder in the second quarter. We also had a Tyrese Maxie game winner that took place earlier tonight against the hapless Sacramento Kings who have not won a game in two weeks. But it's a great game winner and Maxie and Embed combined for like 77 points in the game and were fantastic.

And so there's something that we have been monitoring over the course of the last couple of weeks is that Sixers team and how good that duo has looked and how good Embed is looked. But the story since we last spoke is the tweet heard round the basketball world. And it was phrased as such, Sham Sharania from ESPN, two-time MVP Janice Antecunpo is ready for a new home at the February 5th trade deadline. Or in the offseason, as several rival teams make aggressive offers to the Milwaukee Bucks for him

and the franchise is starting to listen, League sources told ESPN. This is the absolute nicest way to talk about a non-trade demand demand in the history of the NBA. Like he is, he's so badly does not want to be the bad guy. We have chronicled this throughout this NBA season, but it certainly seems much more plausible than ever that we're going to be talking about him wearing a different uniform, if not by next week, certainly by the summer.

The wording is interesting. It clearly feels like it's from the bucks. And it says, hey, other 29 teams send us your best offers. However, we reserve the right to accept none of them and then readdress this in the offseason. Well, I think they're also like looking after him to go. I mean, you translate to me. You've been in the media for a long time. What does it mean to be ready for a new home?

I mean, if you went home tonight, here's what it means. I'm ready for a new home. Would you be like, you mean we're moving? Be like, no, I'm moving. She'd be so excited. You have no idea. What that says to me, the translation is,

is Janus Tentacupo will not start next season on the Milwaukee Bucks. That decision has been made. We have, there is no, oh, maybe we can trade for, such and such and make another run at this. It is not happening. Janus will not be on the bucks next season. Will he be on the bucks a week from today? That is when it starts to get interesting.

Because, and again, I'll start with this. I've, just like you have, just like most of the people listening this podcast have, we've all heard the potential offers. None of it necessarily blows me away. None of the offers that we've seen on the table, which we will discuss piece by piece, are really good for the bucks in the way I want them to be good for the bucks

if I'm the bucks. Well, hold on now. I was a bit taken aback by the Warriors reporting. Oh, it's changed. It's fluctuated a bit. It's just because there's a lot there. And if you are moving a superstar

and you're trying to get a King's ransom, One of the things that you are looking for is, okay, I'm moving this guy to, A, some place that will not torture me, be something that is going to give me future assets that I feel comfortable with, right? So I am moving, you know, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, these guys, but I know that that's not for long and I want their future. draft picks. And so when you're talking about all those draft picks that Golden State has, and you're talking about, let's see, 26, 28, 32, all unprotected. And then in 2030, if it falls one through 20, then that one could get moved too. So you're talking up to four first round picks in the future you could get. And then a combination of Caminga, the Butler contract, pods. I mean, honestly, whatever you want to get. And you know they're doing this to pair him up

with the 38-year-old Steph Curry to try to make the most of the end of the Curry run in Golden State. And so that one does stand out to me. But immediately one of the things that came to my mind, which is something that people have not talked about yet that I have heard. Oh, oh, you got me already. What do you got? You can't have all five of the best players in the league all in one conference. Oh, yeah, you can. And that's what that would mean. All of them would be in one conference.

And so like, look, by almost every ranking, you have Yokic, Janice, Wembe, Luca, SGA, right? In whatever order you want to put them in. Those are five. Okay. Tatum comes back. He's in the conversation, but whatever, yeah. Okay, but he's also, Jason Tatum, post-Killings. Yeah, we'll get to him later.

Okay. Like, in the next realm, it's like, even if we're like going to keep on ranking, Curry's close. Edward is like right there. Right. So, I mean, you could have theoretically the best seven players in the Western conference. Like, Yonis is the only guy. Like, Yon is staying in the Eastern Conference just for some level of balance.

At least there's one of the five guys that's over there as he waits for Cade Cunningham or Apollo or whoever else who may be getting that argument at some point. But like currently right now. So there's that one. And wouldn't you immediately look at the warriors as a huge threat if they had those and juxtapose that with the team that keeps coming up, Miami? and it's like if they give up their guys, if they give up Hero, if they give up where, if they give up Hawkes, if they give up those guys,

you look and you go, okay, Janus would end up in Miami, but who's he running with? And I don't know, right? Like you're not putting yourself in a position. If the whole idea is he doesn't want to be where he is because he wants a chance at the title, that's one of those that becomes super interesting.

who could give up stuff, but still have a chance at winning pick? I don't know. I find this fascinating because there is no sort of natural dance partner in this situation. Because if you are the Milwaukee Bucks, you're John Horace, you're the ownership, what do you want out of this? All right, Janus, it's been a great run. You know, came here when you're 18 years old, won a championship, two-time MVP. you are on the Mount Rushmore of Milwaukee Bucks players.

Congratulations. But you want something back. And I think some of these trade proposals involve a little bit of that like Tyler Hero. When you talk about the, the heat or like Carl, Carl Anthony Towns, when you talk about the Knicks where it's like, if you're the bucks,

I want to tear it down to the studs, give me picks and players on rookie contracts. You know what I mean? Are you in the Tyler Hero business if you're the Milwaukee books? Right, because he's got an extension that you don't want to pay either. So I do wonder, you know, to that point, Mark Stein has been reporting about this quite a bit. And on his substack, he had a quote from one GM or whether it was a GM or it was a decision maker that said the idea was this might could go into the off season that like it's eight days and they're kind of canvassing this. and maybe we just go back when the suitors are even greater when you get to the offseason,

including maybe even after you find out who's got what picked and whatever else. But he said the quote was, they are asking for the moon. They want all your young players and all your draft picks. Yeah. I mean, that is what they should do. And I also feel like this is a completely different environment post-lottery. Because after the lottery, it's not just, oh, hey, the Pelicans pick.

Right. But what if the ping pong balls go a different way where the Pelicans pick is seven? Right. You know what I mean? I think post lottery, if I'm the bucks, I'm in no rush to trade down to centicumpo. And I am looking for players on rookie deals that can't turn into all NBA, all-star type of people. And I'm looking for high draft picks in the next two or three years. So we can start a new timeline, a new new new key.

this because a lot of these, especially because to make the contracts match, a lot of these involved players that are older and on their second and third deal. I do think, though, this, maybe they can pull it off in the next eight days. They're already, they're out of the, you know, they're now what, I think three and a half out of the play in? It's not. Something like that after. Well, I mean, they lost again tonight.

And so they're, they're three, they're out of the play in. and by all accounts, this draft coming up is an all-timer, and then the next two are much, much, much more down, right? There's not the level of talent and there's not the level of players. And so that is another thing that you might, you know, what are you going to do, sit him out for the rest. He doesn't seem like I'm going to just sit out for the rest of the year on a team that's losing its way down the stretch for draft picks.

right. Like so you do kind of get into that conundrum. And also you'd be and I don't think, I think you want to do right by him. And he doesn't want to waste one of his prime years. Okay. So would be, this would be a prime year that is that is getting wasted, right? They've done what they could. It didn't work out. Now everybody's ready to move on. They're obviously come to terms with the fact that they're ready to move on. Yannis has come to terms of the fact that he's ready to move on. And so you gave yourself that the reason that that was leaked like it was earlier this week is to be like, all right, we got 10 days to make this happen. What do you all have? And when we see the possible return, I mean, it's just going to make us revisit the how stupid

the Luca thing was. I mean, it's like, oh my God, look at what, you know, like, I mean, this is going to be the great, it should be the greatest return in NBA history. I'm serious. Should it? Yes. Yes. Oh, I disagree. What?

It's been a long history. Cream Abdul Jabbar got traded, well, Chamberlain got traded. And I also, it's a totally different climate than now. Yes, I agree. But I mean, but still, you know, as a, you know, someone who's on 35 different like Nick's group chats is, I will say that, Yonest isn't the most. enticing proposal right now if you are a team. He has been injured often, been unavailable often. There has been multiple playoff series that he was not available to play in, at least

partially over the past few years. And he's currently unavailable with a calf strain. Then his second non-contact calf strain in the past three months, it's not a guaranteed thing. You know what I mean? Like say what you want about Carlton County Towns, but he plays. He's available. He's out there. Like, Janus is not always available. So to say that you want this huge haul back for a player who is edging at the end of his prime and is often unavailable, especially in the postseason, I don't know, man. Like, what I find so interesting about this whole thing.

You would talk yourself into Janus in two seconds. Two seconds. It wouldn't even take two seconds. It wouldn't even take two seconds. So it feels like you're couching it because you don't think the nicks are going to end up with him. But I'm just telling you, like, we know throughout the history of the NBA, it, you generally need one of the five best players in the league. He applies.

He applies. Generally. Yes. Generally. He does. If he's available, he applies. One thing I find interesting about this that you brought up that I want to talk about is the due right by Janus part. Now, there has been reporting.

There's tons of reporting on this in the past 48 hours. We can't cover it all. But there's this idea that he wants to go to like the heat, the Timberwolves, or the Knicks, or the Warriors. And if I'm the bucks, I'm like, Janus, I will take that into account. And then I will close the door when he leaves, and I will not take it into account.

I don't believe as an organization they owe anything to Janus to put him in one of his preferred destinations. Now, because of the extension that is coming in time, you want to, if you are to trade for him, you want him to extend there. So there is this sort of like natural partnership between what Janus wants and where he will end up. Does that make sense? Sure, because where is he like, you're not moving him to. So like, I'll give you, for instance, right, when they say, hey, well, they want young players

and they want draft picks, right? Okay, well, look, I'm around a team all the time that is loaded with young players and draft picks, but they're never trading Janus to a place like Memphis, right? Memphis would be used as a facilitator, right? So like if you're one of these teams, you say, all right, these other teams, what they don't have is those draft picks. They don't have some of the stuff that they want. So what will happen is some of the teams that he would never, like, resign with long term or, If the idea is he wants to win and wants to have a chance to win championships, I mean,

I think that I think they will do right by him in the sense of they're not moving him to a place that is just a place that's going to lose for a couple of seasons. No, because they won't extend him. He won't sign an extension there. That's the thing. That's the power. That's the leverage that he has. It's like, sure, wizards, you want to trade for me?

Fine. Go ahead. But I'm not signed an extension with you. so I'll be a free agent in a year. Great. I had a great time in D.C. for you. That's all it is. I was baffled by the Minnesota thing.

Just the fact that that came up because, and the reporting on that was Mark Stein saying that, you know, it's been known under wraps. He, like, would kind of fancy being next to Anthony Edwards and playing with Edwards. I mean, when was the last time you heard? So, like, I mean, that, that speaks to the power of, of Edwards and what other guys in the league think about him and think that he would have a chance to win the title alongside him. But also, it's not a team that we ever thought of as they, they don't have draft capital.

And it's just interesting. They have a mega aggressive GM for sure. But that one was just out of, the idea that that was chattered around, you know, because you figure Miami has been chattered around literally for six years. That started in 2020. And but the Minnesota thing, I was like, wait, what? I never saw that one possible. No. And all the potential Minnesota deals involve a third team, which make it really tricky.

The Miami thing is interesting, but it's like, to your point, and I'd hate to give you credit for making good points, let's say he ends up on Miami. What does that starting five look like? Davey on Mitchell. And Janice and Pellie Larson and Bam, and it's like, well, that is a first round exit. You know what I mean? Right. No, you're right. There aren't, I think the thing that I find interesting about this is because there is no sort of natural,

organic, authentic dance partner that makes perfect sense for both parties, which means it will go to a bidding war, which I believe, and again, I'm just speculating, will go to the offseason post lottery. because if you're going to trade me a draft pick for this year, I want to know where I'm picking. Well, and look, on the Miami thing, and again, we're talking like maybe fantasy land, but it would be you swung and you were able to knock down two with this thing. Not only did you bring in Janus, but you also finagled your way to Morant, right? That you got some, I'm saying it's another running mate to go along.

Because to your point, it's not going to be. it's not going to be Norm Powell and Davyad Mitchell and Janice and Bam and then fill in your other guy. Again, I'm not telling you that this can't happen. I'm telling you that you would have the idea is like if you're, if we're trying to envision a scenario in which Miami becomes competitive with Janus, but with having to give up all that it would take to get Janus, you're talking about them. acquiring somebody else. I know Drew Holliday's name has been floated out in the past. That's such a weird report too. I know. Drew Holiday is like, what do I have to do with this? Like, yeah, we won a championship three years ago. Okay. Well, I mean, end of the line, you know, need a point guard, could go to Miami to play with your old buddy and, you know,

I'm just saying, like, they would have to do something. It wouldn't be as simple as we give you this King's Ransom for Janus. And then, hey, we'll try to find somebody. in the offseason, like they would probably have to find, they would have to be pulling off multiple deals at this deadline right now to be able to bring in somebody else to run with him so that you could have two stars and flank it with the role players because I don't really know if the Bam, I don't know if the Bamianas thing,

that doesn't seem like a good fit to me. It just doesn't. No. It doesn't seem like a good fit. So it's interesting. The more I think about it from like a basketball perspective, like there isn't really a great space. spot for him. The Curry, Yannis thing is by far the most fun. It is. All right. Fun is different.

No. If we're talking about like watching. If we're talking about tune and also put them on timber wolves. Put them on Timberwolves. Anthony Edwards and Yannis would be so much fun to watch with stupid Gobert. They're handling all the defensive stuff being Brooke Lopez that can't shoot. No one can shoot on the entire team except for Anthony Edwards. You don't think curry and Yonis would be dynamite. I just can't see a world in which Johnis is like running that offense. Like is he in the Drayman spot where he's like a creator at the nail on a short role? Like I just don't get it.

I mean, is he running around off screens? Like it's just weird. He's two dribbles to the front of the rim. I know that. Well, anywhere he ends up, he's going to be two dribbles to the front of the rim. But it's, it's, it, I find this fascinating because I don't know what's going to happen, which is what makes this so much fun. And I think that it could possibly just end up going to the.

off season. And he won't play the rest of this year with the bucks. I could totally see that. I could totally see. Couldn't you see it playing out that way? Look, yeah, I do think this, depending on what you say, I do think like you're either having a trade deadline with a lot of stuff around the margins or let's say this stuff starts getting done. And, and we know that a honest deal is on the horizon, this trade deadline becomes a classic one. Yonis, Josh. Because Da, AG, everybody. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Domino starts to fall, right?

I do feel like everybody's going to be waiting and see it on this. And there will be a possible moment, like the Brian Winhorse moment. If you start seeing some of these teams like moving guys for a bunch of draft capital or whatever, like you know that they're moving it in order to be able to build up that war chest to, you know, to go all in because they don't have the goods, right? If you were to look up and you were to say, O. G. Ninovi just got traded for a player in four first round picks. And you'd be like, what? That doesn't even make any sense.

Like he's been amazing for the, I'm saying, but he's been amazing for the Knicks, whatever. And then the next thing you know, it's like, oh, it towns and five first round picks. And this, it's like that, that's the way that it's going to be interesting to see if somebody like goes loading up. Because they don't necessarily have the, They don't want to bring it a third team necessarily, right, to then set everybody off. And the other thing is, is there a plate you could go that would then encourage others to be able to? Because I think that one of the things that's interesting about this is there's a lot of these teams that are good right now that we kind of thought like, man, if he ever becomes available, they're natural.

And so we talked about San Antonio. They don't want a part of it. Talked about Houston. Reportedly, they're not trying to get in the mix. And they would be, to me, they would be the ultimate one. Right? If Houston wanted to throw a Scheng, like, I'm talking like Schengu, who is a great, great player.

But if you're like, hey, we got Kevin Durant, and we think we can kind of bridge this and win now and win later, because we still got, we'll still hold on. to some of our really young talent. But if we're moving, you know, if we're moving off of a player now, it's only because we're getting Janus and we're going to try to go win this title,

like tonight. We're going to try to win this title. But it seems like they don't want to, they don't want to do that, you know, cut their nose to spite their face. Answer this question for me, Chris Vernon. So if you're the bucks, you want young players in draft picks

hopefully this year, next year, you know, draft picks soon. Like the 2031, 32 draft picks, like who knows what's going to have in the NBA by that time? Like, who knows where those draft picks will be valued? How come we've heard about the spurs, the pistons, the Knicks, the Warriors, the heat, so many teams, the Timberwolves in this Janus thing,

how come no one is talking about the Thunder who have young players and draft picks? More than the, like, how come no one's talking about them? P.S. once upon a time when we talk about like what they want in return to exactly how this whole thunder thing was built what they get SGA who no one expected would be an MVP of the NBA but they got SGA and all those picks and they're still reaping the benefits they're still

reaping the benefits from those picks and they still got them going out from the why why is why is don't even discussing the thunder as a potential potential trade opportunity for Yonis. I mean, I think because they won the title and because, I mean, who is their second best player, if you want to say second or third is Chad Holmgren, who's on a rookie contract right now. Yeah, and they would also have some trouble making the salaries match. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, because you're going to have to make the salaries match at some point. And they've got everybody that's either on a max or a rookie deal. Yeah. And they built that thing organically. Interestingly enough, there's only a. few teams in the NBA that don't have many players on their team that have been traded for. And Oklahoma City is one of them.

They traded for SGA and then they traded for they did the Caruso Giddy thing. Yeah, but like other than that, everybody else is either a homegrown guy or a free agent. That's how they feel. Not too many free agents either. Hardinstein. You know who else that's true of? This is interesting. And again, there's.

A myriad of ways to build a team, the two top teams in the league right now on their respective conferences. Oklahoma City is not a trade team. I mean, obviously their best player was via trade, but that was not, as we just talked about, that was not what people expected it to be. And then Detroit, Detroit only has one player that they've traded for. So, Duncan? Yeah, and that was the sign and trade for Fontechio. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hit a couple of shots. It's kind of crazy, though, isn't it? It's kind of wild that the teams that they, that they have organically built it. So when we talk about what teams would want in return for a great, great player, that's why. Because if you can get that haul back and then you hit it, then it gives you the ability,

like you see some of these teams that have, that have, that have hit in the draft and have built organically, you know, then they can do the margin thing. with free agency, and they're not having to swing trades a lot to build out their team. Just for fun. Like as a, as a, you know, someone who pays very close attention to the league, as do I,

where would you like, what would your ideal landing spot be just for fun? Like not like it makes sense for both teams and yada yada, because there's no real spot where it makes great sense for both teams. New York. There's nothing. New York. That'd be the most fun for you that came in the garden? Yes.

him on that stage with that level of media. Yes. Yes. We haven't had a star like that. I mean, in my lifetime, because Ewing was not a... What? With the next...

Patrick Ewing was not a what? Finish that sentence. Patrick Ewing was not one of these, like, very vocal, charismatic, like... Okay. There's no Disney movie. about Patrick Ewing. What planet are you on?

No, I thought you were going to say he wasn't a star. No, he's a star, but he also, he also, PS did not win Dick. So, be fair, Janice is a guy who has won two league MVP's and a title and like scored 50 in a game clincher.

Oh, wasn't he like, was it like 14 for 16 from the line or something? And the last one he missed was like in garbage time. Like that, that was a crazy. It was a game six, He's one of the greatest players in NBA history.

And, yeah, that would be fun. I would like to see him on the Spurs. I think there's a world where he's on the Spurs makes me very happy. Oh, no. Next to Wembe Nyama? Oh, yeah. I would love it. I would absolutely love it just to see, like, what it looks like to get past your man

and to look at Wembe and Jan standing there on each block, like kicking out to a shooter. It looks like something. thing you would have to jump on one of Elon Musk's Mars spaceships to see otherwise. That's what that's, I mean, that would be the most fun for me as a fan of the league would be giving Wemby a real all-MBA super star. I also just think it's good for the league if he stays in the east. That's why I said that too. Oh, yeah.

No, of course. You can't have every awesome player in one conference. That's ridiculous. You can't have the top six players in the league all players. in the Western Conference. You know, I think there's some great players. You know, Tatum's coming back. Brown's playing great.

Maxie's great. Oh, my God. Brunson's great. Like, come on. They're great. They're also second tier to that group I just mentioned. Of course. None of them are.

They're not MVP candidates. When all of those people I just mentioned go to the foul line, their home crowd does not chant MVP. They don't. The mismatch is brought to you by Fandool. That's right. Your Friday nights just got a little louder because. because NBA happy hour is happening on Fandle.

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You can bet against Verno's Grizzlies because I feel like the pelicans are going to beat them. There are games all up and down the roster. And don't forget, between 6 and 7.30 Eastern, open up the Fandual app because NBA Happy Hour, you can get those boosts and bonuses that you want. That's NBA Happy Hour every Friday, 6 and 730 Eastern only on Fandual official sports partner of the NBA. So visit fanduel.com slash mismatch to get started. Don't forget, you must be 21 or over and present in select states or 18 and over in present in D.C., Kentucky, or Wyoming. Often as required rewards are non-withdrawable restrictions supply, including bonus and token expiration, leg requirements, and max wage or amount.

See terms at sportsbook.Fandul.com. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-Hash-Help.com. Call 1-88-78-7-7-7 or visit. at ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. Let's get to our loves and loads of the week. I'm going to start with my first love and oh, you're going to love this. So I saw the Charlotte Hornets in person on Wednesday night.

It's the first time that I've gotten to see this iteration of the Charlotte Hornets. Quick side note, and you're going to love this. I went there early. We have been trapped in our house in Memphis for a week. since last Saturday, the roads are so bad you can't even like drive on them. So I decided like, I mean, obviously I had to be down there for the game last night.

And my daughter's been Kevin Fever. So I took her with me. And we went early to the game so we could watch warmups and whatever early at the game. And I look up, listen to this. This is one of those never meet your heroes moments. Oh, no. Oh, I'm sitting there right by the. bench. I'm watching warm-ups and I hear this voice, this bellowing voice about 10 feet away from me.

And I'm- Oh, I'm star-struck. I am. I'm star-struck, Jacoby. Did you not even ask him to do your show and he was in town? The voice of the Charlotte Hornets is right there 10 feet from me. You didn't even say anything to him? I couldn't. I couldn't do it. You didn't say anything to him. I couldn't do it. I didn't want to mess up anything. This happened to me one time post college. I grew up a St. Louis Cardinals fan, and I used to listen to this guy, Mike Shannon. God, I love Mike Shannon.

I mean, he was like a soundtrack of my childhood, him and Jack Buck together, Joe Buck's father. And one time I was in a press box, and Mike Shannon walked in, and I heard his voice. And I turned around, and I was like, I don't even want to talk to him. I'm afraid it'll ruin it. Like I, this guy, he's meant so much to me. I'm afraid I'll ruin it.

And I had that sensation with Eric Collins. Yeah, I saw him and I was like, I don't want to do it. But you didn't reach out and ask for him to come on the Chris Vernon show? No, it was all. Again, I've been trapped in my house, Jacoby. I should have, but I wouldn't have been in studio. So I couldn't, you know what I mean? Oh, you've been doing remote shows?

Oh, gross. Yeah, I've been doing the show from the house. Anyways, I saw Charlotte. I love Charlotte. Musa Diabate turned into. Musa Diabate. Thank you. Bill Russell.

Thank you. Because I listen, if you've listened to the mismatch all year, you heard me talking about Musa Diabate in the offseason. Because they're like, oh, so they don't have a center. They don't have a center. They sound like a plumbly or something in the off season. Like, no, they've got this guy, Musa Diabate. I saw his greatest game of it.

It was just a random, random Saturday game. No, you did it. last year and he got, he got the interview after the game and he did not know what to do. I was like, I love this man so much. You did not see his greatest game because I saw his greatest game. Was it like 14 for 16 or something? Nobody was watching this game last night, I could imagine between Memphis. This guy had 18 and 20 and hit a three and had like a, I think it was his first three of

his career, right? It was the first three of his career. And the next play stole a ball. went on a break and cocked one back and hammered it. And I'm like, what am I witnessing? Check this out, though. They have this lineup, right? We've talked about they got good vibes.

It was, I was literally five rows off the court last night because we've had ice and everything. I mean, there's people that were not at the game. And so I'm right down there. I'm watching. Stay away from politics. We don't have to mention ice. The way those guys interact, the way those guys.

communicate on defense, I was like, oh my God, this is the most fun kind of team to root for, truly, the Charlotte team. I was so jealous of watching them. I was like, oh, this is awesome. Check this out. When they have had lamello, Cnipple, Miller, Bridges, and Diabate, that starting lineup, they are 10 and 1. They are 10 and 1. Really? I'm shocked that they've, I'm shocked that they've started 11 games, to be honest with it.

Listen to this. Their offensive rating is 139.4. Per 100 possessions? Yes. That's got to be like the highest of the league. Their defensive rating is one. It's like all-star numbers. Hey, hey, their defensive rating is 106.

seven. They are a net plus 32. This in 163 minutes, that's all they've gotten to play this year. It's like the greatest team ever. And oh my goodness, every time they were on the floor, they just absolutely cracked. Oh, they're so good. I mean, they're young, they're fun. They communicate with each other. They like their bench isn't any good. I mean, Collins, I like Collins. I like Collins. Yeah. I mean, Sexton. They ain't really got much. coming off their bench. But man, they bring those starters back in. What about our guy? Cockbrenner. Come on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I like him, dude. The inflatable car salesman.

Yeah, yeah. And Grant Williams is out there putting around. Doing stuff. But they're fun, man. They are fun to watch. A lot of fun. They've been devastating recently. I don't know. As we are recording tonight, they were in a game with the Mavs where, by the way, the aforementioned Musa Diabate got cranked on by Cooper flag in a huge poster dunk. Yes. That game's 102, 102 with seven minutes left as we were recording right now.

We should stop the pod and watch that. We should stop the pot and watch the court. Canvils got, wait, Cooper has 42 right now. We should pause the pod. He's got 42. That's probably a career high, right? Well, he was letting everybody know, I don't give a damn if this guy was my roommate and we're friends. I saw that stupid ESPN thing where you tried to give him rookie of the year.

That's some bullshit. Watch me cook this dude. Watch this. Watch this. Don't go on his homeboy. I'm going to put 50 on you guys. Yes. Man, he can put up some numbers. That's huge. Yeah. It's great. That's a great love. I love them as well. They remind me a little bit of one of my favorite New York City teams, which is like that. Do you remember the DeAngelo Russell, Caris Levert, Jared Allen, Jared Dudley, Nets team that like took the Sixers to the six game. And they were just like such great vibes, young core. Everyone's having a good time. Like they remind me of that team. And then of course like Kevin Durant and Kyrie were like, that looks like fun. Let's go over there and ruin the entire party.

We need we need this team to climb their way into the play in spot. They're three and a half back. They're three and a half out right now. They can do it. Yeah, and that's from Chicago and Atlanta. And so we need them in the mix so that we at least, at the very least, we get them in a playoff, a play-in scenario, and at the very best, we get them in playoff basketball, just to, like, take their lumps.

I could definitely see them overtaking the Bulls and or the Hawks. For sure. And even the magic the way they've been playing. For sure. That's a great one. I'm a little jealous of it. You got to see it in person. Shout to Haley, by the way, going with you.

So the calves have sort of found themselves of late. They're playing pretty well. And a lot of their sort of younger players have been given opportunities because they're always injured. Evan Moby's out for a while. Garland's back out. Struce hasn't played. And there's a lot of attention on Jalen Tyson. Rightfully so.

He has sort of broke through. But, man, I love. I love Naquan Tomlin. I love Naquan Tomlin. Every time I'm watching the Cavs, and he subs in, he jumps off the screen.

He is just, he's just so athletic, and he can play one through four. He is, he just checks all the boxes except for shooting. Like, super athletic, I'm gonna put him in like,

I don't know he's listed. He's probably 6-9, 6-10, maybe 6-8, somewhere in that range. But he can get down in the stance in front of guards. He can rebound. He can block shots. He can finish around the rim. He's not a three-point shooting. He shoots like 23% from three. But he is fascinating to me. And then I started doing a little research on him. He's from New York, from Harlem. Shout to him. He didn't play basketball in high school, Verno. He's in his second year in the league. He played community college for three years. And due to a COVID year, and then he went and played like legitimate programs for another couple years. Where?

Where did he play? Oh, man. What do you making me do? I did my research. He played in Memphis, damn it? No, he went Kansas State and then Memphis. Yeah. He played in Memphis.

Like, so you're familiar with them. But like, I don't watch a lot of college hoops. Like, he was not on my radar. And he didn't play last year at all. And he just shows off the screen to me. I love this kid. He played in the city. for my favorite team and was not on my radar.

I can't believe this is happening. And me neither. No, he was like a mid-season guy. He like came in. He had gotten in some trouble or something. Then he ended up at Memphis. And that Memphis team was like a big disappointment that year. So it wasn't like some kind of like, right,

it wasn't like a precious situa or a Jalen Duren or some of these other guys that have been at Memphis that you have some kind of feelings about people, you know, it was all kind of weird. and he like got brought in later into the season and it was odd. But I certainly never expected that I would ever be doing an NBA podcast where my co-host would say, you know who I love? Naquan Tomlin. If you would have asked me three years ago in Memphis while I'm watching him on ESPN

plus against Central Florida. And you told me that's who you're talking about. You go to like community college. I know. whatever, Westchester or whatever. You're just like, yeah, sure, I'll play basketball for fun. Because, like, I just needed something to fill my time with. And your teammate ends up in the NBA getting real minutes for like a good team.

I just, every time I watch the Cavs, he jumps off the screen right at me. I love Nick Juan Tom. All right. Loath, this is going to be a quick one. So this came up last night because, as you mentioned, my daughter went with me. And as I told you, and so it's hard for me to explain to her. why the Charlotte Hornets were kicking their ass. But I didn't want to get into the in the weeds discussion of,

hey, get used to this because Chris Vernon's about to become a opposing team scout and draft expert. Because we're done talking about the Grizzlies. I'm sure there's joy. No, there's people in their cars that are like, thank God. I never have to hear about them again. Like, I mean, maybe if there's a Morant trade or something or something big happens, other than that, it is what it is.

And there's like 30 something games left. And I am going to become an expert at checking out the opposing teams. So I'm able to tell you what I think about them, i.e. what I just saw from the Charlotte Hornets. And by the time this draft comes around, I mean, I'm going to know these kids' sisters' names. I mean, I'm going to know everything about this draft because over the course of since we, you know, since that European trip where Morant came back was great against Orlando, whatever. This is just a few episodes ago. They've lost four in a row.

Their schedule is murder going forward. They're probably going to trade their, you know, franchise star within the next week. And I got to start doing draft stuff. I've had to do it before. over the course of the last 25 years, I've had to do it many different seasons. This is not one that I expected to be doing it, but you can count on me. I'm going to know about these opposing teams more than I ever knew, and I'm certainly going to know about the NBA draft this year.

They had their pick this year and next year, right? And they have Phoenix's pick this year. I mean, they've got a bunch because they got a bunch going forward because of the vein deal. Yeah, it's a weird spot for the Grizzlies. and it's a good case study for sort of like contention because the Grizzlies two years ago were in contention. And now, as you just mentioned,

it's time to start watching some college basketball. That's it. And it can happen so quickly. And it doesn't happen because of one big thing. It happens because of a million little things. It happens slowly over time. And in October, before the first ball went up at center court in the first game, if you're a Grizzis fan, you convince yourself

that there is a way where this can break right and the Grizzies can have a great season. And now here we are at the end of January and it's time to start looking at AJ DeBanza, Darren Peterson, and the rest. And the trade deadline a week from now. And what can we get for JAA? Right.

And will Yonis hold up a Jod deal? If you're in Miami, you're not making a Jod deal unless you feel like there's a Yonis deal coming. Or is Moran involved in a Yonis deal? I can't see that. No, no, no. I'm saying when you're getting multiple teams involved, right? That's, that's a lot.

It's hard to get a Janus deal done. It's really hard to get a Janus Morant deal done. Not saying it's impossible, but it's hard. Let me go to my first load. This is easy. We're going to have to discuss it. I just, I love Yokic. Everybody loves Yokic.

I love Denver. It's a great city. This Aaron Gordon stuff is killing me. Like, apparently he re-agravated the hamstring, and now he's being evaluated in four to six weeks. Yeah, we got a soft thing. tissue problem. And Yokich is supposed to be coming back at some point, but that got pushed a little bit. Like, it's cute when you got Spencer Jones and Peyton Watson winning you games against some good teams. It's a fun story. Look at how successful they've been without Yokic and they're not falling in the standings.

But there's only so much you can take. And without Gordon, who had, what, 52, 8 for 10 from 3 earlier this season? Like, it's just there's only so much you can do when you're depleted the way that they are. And it just makes me sad. There's only one thing that matters, though, with the, with the team like that, with the made men. And that is that they are healthy by the time you get to the playoffs. That's the only thing that matters. You know, we went through this last year and it was like, you know,

Chad Holmgren didn't play last year. Chad Holmgren was there for the playoff run. Yes, but he, he hurt himself early in the season and came back in the regular season with enough time to get himself back into shape where he was himself in the playoffs. You think Aaron Gordon. And hopefully that happens with Gordon Yolkich. But do you think Aaron Gordon should be stretching more often?

Yes. No. I don't even know why you would say that. Because he said, so we keep doing this soft tissue thing with him. We did an interview with him on a show that I was on once upon time. And he may have enjoyed some, some botany. That's every interview. He might have enjoyed some, some botany.

He might have enjoyed some botany. you some gardening before the interview. I was like, dude, it's like nine o'clock in Denver. You got to take the edge off, man. You got to take the edge off. He was relaxed. He was very relaxed. He was relaxed. Yes, he was very relaxed. My next love, the John Wall love. So this is going on all night tonight. They had John Wall night. They gave away the bobblehead with him doing the stuff and whatever. And it's like, it's one of those deals where I, they're showing the old highlights and everything. And because things get colored by the way things end, you forget what it was like at the time. And it was like, I'm watching some of those old highlights and Kim when he was at his

best. And I even went back and looked. I'm like, when was that? Bro, six, two thousand 17, John Wall was a thing. They had 49 wins. They won in the first round. Were they up like 2-1 on the Celtics in the playoffs that year or something? He hit a game winner in game six, and then they lost in game seven. And that was the Isaiah Thomas Celtics. And throughout those playoffs, he averaged 27 and 10.

And they like, you know, Then after that year, that year he was like third team all NBA, average 23 and 10.7 assists, two steals. He had made a defensive team at one point. And it was like, we were just talking about this. We were talking about how quickly things can change. And it was like, if you would have just taken a snapshot at that time, you would have thought that was like, this was starting something, right? They won 49 games. They lost in seven games to the Celtics.

They've got him and Beal. Beal had like 38 in game seven in a game that they lost. But like they've got this young back court. Now you can build out around that, whatever. And then you go. And then the next year, Wall played 41 games. And the next year,

he played 32 games. And then he played 40 games with the Rockets. And then had a dinky roll with the clippers and it was over. And that was the end. That was the end. It happened so fast. It was the end. I mean, that 16, 17, he had his best season ever and was unbelievable during the regular season,

unbelievable during the playoffs, and boom. That's gone. And I think the injury that started all was some sort of like fell down the stairs, slipped in the shower, kind of home injury thing, if I'm not mistaken, which always felt a little weird to me. And it is just an indication. and again, like a good case study of one injury, one thing can derail an entire career. He made five all-star teams and one all-NBA, as I mentioned. He is on that list of like Isaiah Thomas, Seattle, Isaiah Thomas, Boston, Isaiah Thomas,

and like Rudy Gay and, and, you know, and John Wald, players that were trending in a certain direction to be, you know, all-NBA icon. and then injuries just to rail the career. Like a Greg Oden type. It's just like injuries just did it. Yow me, you know? Now, he needs to be in the class like more with like the Penny Hardaway's and players like that and the Grant Hills, not the Rudy Gay never had injuries. He just wasn't good enough.

Completely disagree with fine. I text. Come on. I covered the first several years of his career. The Grizzlies went to the West Finals when they traded him. I like, I wrote to our buddy house. you'll like this. I like John Wall getting all this love.

When you think of Wall, do you have good memories or did the end ruin it? He's the only Wizards fan we know, right? Oh, a shot to Andrew Sharp, my guy. Oh, yeah, okay. I don't know him personally. He said, good memories with exclamations.

He was a real one. made a bunch of marginal shooters, a bunch of cash, because he passed to the corner so well. He could also play defense when he felt like it, made an all NBA defense one year. I definitely like him better than Beal now. There you go. Oh, for sure.

Oh, yeah. Listen, I would never question. Also, John Wall was cool. There's something to be said for that. You know what I mean? Yes. He was cool. There are some John Morant, John Wall parallels that we won't get into.

All right. I mean, you can. It's not. I'm good. I'm good. Next love of mine. This one's easy. You know, you know, I'm a Knicks fan.

And they had a game against the Raptors. I was a little concerned about. They played great. Brunson was ill. Crown of the Towns had like eight points and 22 boards. But it was wingstop. It was OG and Bridges. Bridges had a good game.

He had like, 24 points in the second half or something. And after the game, here's what he said in the post game. I think I just wasn't playing how I was supposed to be playing. I think I wasn't coachable enough. I don't know what it was. Maybe I felt too much entitlement, but just had to kind of talk to myself a little bit about it

and just be coachable, be the best team I can be, and then, you know, let basketball speak for itself. God, I love it so much. Whoa. I love it so much. After a game like that, you know, a player who when he was with the Nets was scoring 30 points, damn near every game.

He was a star. He was having his Michael Porter Jr. moment. And to come to the Knicks and, you know, all the picks that gave up for him. And he has become sort of like a third, fourth option. He's had some big moments in the playoffs last year. But for him to have a big game like this and then to sort of,

instead of say, yeah, I could have done this all along, for him to say, I wasn't coachable enough. I had to have a conversation with myself about, myself and to take that level of accountability when he's off of a high. It's one thing when you're low to say, I need to look in the mirror and change.

But when you're off of a high to say, I had to look in the mirror and change, I just, I just found that to be a very mature and insightful commentary from a player who just finished one of his best games than Nicky Moore. Super humble. Love it. I love it. All right. This is good.

My next loathe is remark reaction. Let's start with the guy that you mentioned earlier in the podcast. Jalen Tyson, who caught the ire of the worst group of people to draw the ire of LeBron Stan. This could be potentially LeBron's last game in this building. How would you characterize his impact on this city and the franchise? Well, you could say something, Jim. This is Donald Mitchell City now. It's Donald Mitchell City now.

When he come back here, we're going to make sure that everybody grew for him like they did for him. This is so. This is a city. No. Donovan Mitchell's like, oh, do respect to the, you know,

you know, we have all, we have all kinds of, you know, thanks to the young guy, but we certainly respect everything that LeBron did here or whatever else. I mean,

Jalen Tyson is just trying to build up his guy and trying to like, you know, gas up Donovan Mitchell on the other hand. But my goodness, he had to, he apologized by the time he got to the podium. This guy is a quote machine. because one of them that I caught,

the first time I ever saw a Jalen Tyson interview was like maybe like a week ago, something like that when he went off. I think it was against the Sixers or somebody. And they're asking him about him going off. And they're like, man, and you're killing it. He's like, and they're like, and your brother. You know, his brother is Jordan Tyson,

who's one of the best receivers in college football. they're like your brother is going to be a top 10 draft pick in the NFL draft. And you know what this dude did? He goes, my brother's going to be top five. So I think he's Donovan Mitchell's going to be number one. This is his city now. And so he had to come out. He saw the black vans, as they say, the clutch vans pull up.

And so he corrected himself very quickly. So showed proper remorse for him crowning Donovan. Mitchell, King of Cleveland. Just, I mean, just rookie mistake, man. Come on. Do you, uh, young player mistake? I thought last night was interesting. They were taping this Thursday evening.

You know, obviously LeBron played in L.A. Luca hurt his ankle off the weird court, whatever. But like, I found interesting. I started thinking I was like, is LeBron going to retire? Because he's giving mixed signals. Like, I feel like he could. Because him going to play for Cleveland next year seems so weird. Him taking a pay cut to play for the Lakers seems so weird. Did you see that story today?

It was a headline, a literal headline on, I think it was ESPN, said that the tickets for LeBron's last game at the Garden of Eclipsed Kobe's with people thinking it's going to be his last game that he plays at MSG. You mean Madison Square Garden, not TD Garden. Yes. No, no, no. Madison Square garden. Those are always tough tickets whenever he's there. But these are like surpassing anything before because people think it could be his last time ever playing in the garden. It's kind of a crazy story. And I was like, did he announce something that I just think, I mean, if you listen to the post game comments, there's, I got it. Certain sections where it sounds like he's going to play for another 10 years. And certain sections be like, oh, he is done, done. Yeah. I don't know.

Yeah. Well, also, uh, remark reaction. You also have Doc Rivers when he was talking about Joel and Bede earlier this week. I was telling a very, very, very, Hall of Fame player that I coached, that he's, Joe is the most talented player that I ever coached. And he was like, what? And I was like he is, you know, it's the things that you guys see and then the things you actually don't see in practice sometimes that he can do. It's incredible. All right. So this is, this is Doc talking about MB. The fact that he would even have to broach this subject even again because Janus is like I think because of the situation we're in with all of the Janus stuff, people took that one some kind of way. Whereas I just thought he was being effusive and praise on Embed. Yeah, I don't look at that as a slate towards Yonis. I don't either. And by the way, Joel Embedd is.

more talented. Like, if we're just talking, like, Joel and Bede is one of the most talented human beings to ever walk the earth. Like, I mean, and every coach that has ever coached him has said that same thing. Going back to the year that Andrew Wiggins was at Kansas, my buddy Gary Parrish,

who is the college basketball writer for CBS Sports, Parrish went to do a story on Wiggins. at Kansas. Because everybody knew, like, Wiggins was the guy. Wiggins is going to be the next big thing. He's going to be the number one pick of the draft, whatever, right? And so Wiggins is out there, like, working out. And Paris gets there, and he starts talking to Bill Self.

And Bill Self points to the other end. And there's a guy that no one know, like the people didn't know, envy. And he goes, Gary, I know you're here to write. I know you're here to write about Wiggins. that kid down there is going to be the best player I ever coached. And that's no small thing to say considering that Kansas himself. Right. So that's no small thing to say. But he said that that's when M. Bede was like a freshman at Kansas.

He's like, that's the one. Every coach that's ever had M.P. Like can't believe that he can do what he can do at his size. And I didn't take that any other way than Doc Rivers just trying to talk about how awesome. some Joel was. Also a weird thing to say, a very, very,

very, very, Hall of Fame. It's basically Kevin Garnett. It's Kevin Garnett is what he means, right? A very, very, very Hall of Fame player?

A very, very Hall of Fame player that he coached? I mean, Chris Paul, but I don't think they're probably a Chris Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett. Yeah.

This goes a lot. But anyways, I didn't take that any kind of way and there should be no, there should be no remark remorse. Is that a word? I just invented it. I just invented remark remorse.

Yeah, no one will ever say that again. Okay, trademark. Trademark. Yeah, trademark that. Yeah, you can have it. Trademark. We're in love still? Well,

no, that was my second loathe. Keep up. Oh, this is mine second loathe. This I, this, this, this, this, this Carl Anthony Towns thing is really starting to bother me. What do you mean? Like, it's certainly to bother him too.

Three weeks, the Carl Anthony Towns discussion has turned very, very toxic where it's like he's the problem. Everybody hates him. He can't play defense. He's the worst. We got to get rid of him. Trade for Janus. And now he's upset.

The reports are that he's upset because the front office wanted to trade him over the summer for Janice Hizsendipo. And here's what he said. And I quote, I feel like I've been in trade room. a lot for a lot of times for a year damn year that don't bother me I don't look at social media or none of that stuff I focus on the job at hand we're just trying to get wins every single night as long as I do that I do my job I go home happy and I feel accomplished I'm not worried about what

anybody got to say what people write or anything like that it sounds like someone who is worried about what people have to say that sounds like someone who is worried about what people write it sounds like someone who is on social media and it's just like dude it's gonna happen people are there if when janice intent to cupo is a potential acquisition you're going to have to break some eggs to make the yannis omelet and your name is going to be in it and it's not something that you should get bent out of shape about you are not luga donchich you know you're you're not one of those i can't believe it's luca when i'm about to say untradable you're not an untradable asset you're carl anthony towns he's on stentacompo that's going to happen just get over it the whole

town's thing the last three weeks is really bummed to me out. The entire city has turned on him. And it's like he's probably going to be on the team in 10 days. So let's all get behind Carltony Towns and make him feel special because he obviously needs it. All right. I hope that he is not on social media. So he didn't have to see that video of Russell Westbrook bullying him in the post. That would have been a tough watch. That would have been a tough watch if I, I mean, if that was me, I'm just saying if that was me and I was on social media and I scrolled down and I saw me at seven foot 300 pounds getting bullied by Russell Westbrook, I would have scrolled past two and I would have just found like, I don't know,

puppy videos or something. The algorithm is not serving you puppy videos, Chris. I know you too well. My next love, Joe Missoula Jujitsu. So Joe Missoula was on the sidelines and he, boy, these refs lit a few. They lit a few. There's very few people that when they charge, I'm like, oh, man.

And when Sam Cassell jumped in his way and he just chucked him out of the way, I was like, oh, buddy. And there are these stories. You know, Blake Griffin told this story early in the season on Amazon when I was watching. and he was talking about Joe Missoula and he was like, yeah, it's like nothing about him is fake. Like it's all real. You know players would see through it. He goes, I go in there when I'm playing for Boston at the end of my career.

I go in there one day and I'm going to go like get a lift in early in the day. And I hear around the corner, I hear like, and he's like, what is that sound? And the guy in the like the strength training guy was like, oh, that's Joe. He's doing his karate. and he was like, what? And he, like, walks around the side. And Joe Missoula's like, oh, hey, Blake, this is my sensei. And we had, like, a sensei.

I need a sensei. I want to be able to say this is my, will you be my sensei? This is at the facility. We all need senseys. He's like training. So I've had this in my mind that the guy, like, trains in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. And then you saw this moment where. he gets all pissed and it looks like he's going to charge.

And Sam Cassell grabs him and he just chucks Sam Carole. Charles Barkley was making fun of him telling Sam Cassell he's got to go get in the wait room because he did nothing. But I don't blame Cassell. I think Maz is like a, he's like a real like karate guy. He's like a real Brazilian jiu jitsu guy. And he actually like the force and the speed, which he threw Sam Cassell out of the way, was mega impressive. And also, it's just been a good Joe Maswee.

Because you also had that story come out with our buddies, old man in the three. They did that pot. They did a pod with Peyton Pritchard, Luke Garza. Derek White is like, is Tommy did an interview with like four of them. And they were talking about the war zone, the war zone practice drill they did. But they also, Derek White tells a story that it's,

it's his birthday and he's like, I think he said he's at a golf course or something and his phone rings and it's Joe Missoula and he's like, hello? And he's like, happy birthday.

He's like, oh, thanks, man. He's like, everybody thinks we're going to suck and I love that and hung up. Hey, by the way, his birthday is in July. The unbelievable story. Shout out to Obed and the three for pulling that one. But I mean, Derek Lai is talking about.

They played like full court one-on-one for 12 minutes. I couldn't play full court one-on-one for three possessions. Like 12 minutes of full court one-on-one is insane. While there's war zone sounds playing through the sound system, Joe Missoula is an absolute psycho, but it is, as you mentioned, authentic and organic, and he really believes the things he says. If Joe Missoula was given Adam Silver, his job instead of like free throws, we would just have fist fights.

That's all. It's a great, a great Joe Missoula week. I don't care. I don't care if the Celtics won or lost any game. It's a great Joe Missoula week. Just quick update. The Timberwolves are up 21 in the thunder at the end of the third right now. Like the message.

That's a message they're sending. I'm just kidding. The two wheels, Thunder was a good Thunder, man. We're in a weird time of the year. We're in a weird time of the year. We're in a weird time of the year. We're seeing some weird outcomes every night. What did what did Flag end up with?

Don't tell me he ended up with 50 while we're recording a damn high. No chance. No chance. If he ended up with 50, the night that we're doing a pod, 49. I'll be damn. Oh, yeah. It's over. 49.

God. 49, 10, and three assists. Cooper flag. You still can't beat the hornet. He did that because Khan was there. He did that because Khan was there. Unbelievable. The youngest NBA.

player in history to have 49. LeBron never did that. No. Cooper flag, you got to remember, he's a reclass too. Yeah, yeah. So he should be a freshman in college this year. He should be playing his freshman year right now. He's so good.

It's a 123, 123, 121 loss for the Mavericks. No teenager has ever scored that many points in NBA history. Con had 34, by the way. Which, by the way, is his career. Dylan Brooks had 40 to beat the Pistons. Damn. Dylan Brooks had 40 with no Booker. Well, that's because Barclay said he's an all-star.

He gassed him up. He gassed him up. But anyway, no, how about that? You had the Cooper Flagg-Concanipal game. One of them goes for 49. The other one goes for 34. 34 is not bad. Unbelievable.

It tried to go, man, man, man. I mean, this rookie class is crazy. They're going to be so good. that everyone's going to forget that they shit the bed in the NCAA tournament. Everyone's going to forget. Oh, my goodness. We're on lows now. Yep.

All right. No, your last love. God damn it. How can you not keep up? It's so easy. It's such an easy format. Oh, this one's easy. It's much like the bridge's sound.

I just love the self-awareness and the accountability that these players are showing in post game. And here's Joel Embed. There's been the, the Joel Embed sort of renaissance has been covered for the past couple weeks. But him speaking after another good game yesterday where he caught an alley-up from Maxi was just, it just made me so happy. Here is something I love from this week with Joel Embed. Man, it feels so good. Every single time I, you know, just step on the floor. Like he, you know, I've become emotional because, you know, the last few years I've been extremely tough. You know, what, you know, I've been through, you know, my family.

So, you know, I'm just happy. You know, finally being consistent, being on the floor, I don't take it for granted. Because you remember where he was surgeon? Well, he remember last year he was late for everything and there's players only meetings. And he went to Memphis and you've got some inside guys saying he didn't take the bust of the game. And he's hurting. And you remember Tro LNB that was so active on social. he was playing pickup in Philly with children.

He was this huge, happy personality, this big man, big personality, like ready to take over the league. And then the last couple of years happened, and I went into this season being like, I don't know, maybe he'll play 30 games, who knows, he'll probably get hurt again and get another surgery or whatever. And the idea that he has enough perspective at this point, his career in his life to say that I'll never take it for granted

just to be able to do this, makes me so happy. That's something that I love. Just someone who understands an approach. appreciates the blessings that they have in their life currently. I appreciate that. It is a great story. He had 37 tonight in their game against Sacramento. And he has been cracking.

And there's a lot of guys that have gone through a bunch of injuries over the course of their career that I think most of us thought their days of being able to consistently be on the court and be one of the best players in the league are behind them. and that has been not the case at all for both MB and Kauai letter. If you were making bets, those were two guys that everybody would have bet against having the kind of years that they're having so far this year. And it's been a great story for both of them to not only be on the court, but both prove that their best days might not be behind them. Oh, no. Their best days are behind them, but they are still extremely.

Verno, Verno. I'll let you get away with a bunch of bullshit, but Kauai Leonard and Jolene B's best dates are behind them. But that doesn't mean they're not plus players. That doesn't mean they can't be contributing players for a very successful playoff run. Kuwait Leonard is having his best season ever, Jacoby. Look it up. Okay.

Look it up. Okay. And they are also 15 and 3 and a guy just had to eat a tweet because of it. Which a lot was made of that, but pretty, eating a piece of paper, not a big deal at all. Too much was made of the eating the tweet. Okay. Too much was made of that. All right.

My last loathe. The slam dunk participants. Oh, my God. I mean, they announced today that Jackson Hayes and Carter Bryant are, I mean, to quote, my old buddy, God rest of this old Bert Sugar, if it was happening in my back, I wouldn't raise the blinds. Like Carter Brian averages two points a game and Jackson Hayes stinks. Like who wants to?

I don't want to watch them do anything. And I got it. Jackson Hayes is fine or whatever. Oh my God. But like a six 10 guy that's not Dwight Howard is not winning the dunk. Dude, you came up, you came up with that great idea about, you know, how we could redo rivalry week a couple weeks ago on the show. And I know that you said that you know, Adam Silver watches all of our pods, especially now because they're on Netflix.

On Netflix. Yeah, yeah. Adam, just offer a big money prize. Just put it up there. No, put the cash like in a briefcase under the basket. Just put the cash right there. Just save the damn thing. You want this to be good for your new TV partners. Just put up whatever, half a million dollars on the line for the.

dunk contest and watch who lines up to do it. And you can say, well, we shouldn't have to pay these guys that. Yes, you do. You have to pay them. Otherwise, we're going to have to watch Jackson A's Carter, Brian. Carter Bryant, Carter Bryant, like, terrible. Vijay Edgecombe was like, no, I would never do the dunk contest. If Vijay Edgecombe is not even considering the dunk contest, the dunk contest is broken. Yes. If Vijay Edgecombe, one of the most exciting, athletic rookies, future stars that we have, this is the perfect spot for BJ Edgecombe to make a name for himself. And he was asked about it. He was like, no chance. No chance. The only way you're saving it is money. So either do away with it or offer a huge cash prize. Or, because I think about this

a lot as a parent, should I go like positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement? What if instead of paying them if they win, we just kidnap their families and hold them hostage. Oh, come on. No? Just, there's no bad ideas in a brainstorm. That one is. So all of your children are in a cage above a shark tank. If you lose the dunk contest, we're going to open the bottom of the cage. Hopefully they can swim. You say that a lot. You say there's no bad ideas at a brainstorm, but I just think that's cover for you saying the goofiest thing you could think of. Yeah, you're absolutely right. There are terrible ideas in every brainstone. And usually they come from me. You're absolutely right. Guilty is charged. 100% guilty is charged. Your last

loathe. My last loathe. Let me take a look at my notes here. Oh, this is, this is for you. I mean, this is, I'm going to, like Maxie on the break. I'm going to serve this one up right to you. What? Here is Jason Tatum talking. about the franchise he plays for and what it would be like to play for a less storied franchise. You know, the career I had right now, if I had it with

the Grizzlies, like, I would have a statue outside the arena. Right. But now I'm chasing people like Larry Bird where the standard is so much higher. So he paused before he said Grizzlies. And he pulled up the Manila folder in his mind that was like

the franchise with no champion, championships, no history, no fans, and nothing. Oh, the Grizzlies. That's what I'm looking for. I'm going to give you some perspective on this. Number one, Jason Tatum loves Memphis. Pops is from here, played for a Memphis team in AAU, and comes here every summer. So he does not mean anything bad about Memphis. Why do you say the Grizzlies? Number two, this is supposed to like offend, I think. I think this, you're saying like this is supposed to offend me. What is not true about what he's saying?

I'm trying to think of grizzly statues. Like, it's not a lot. If, if Jason Tatum, yes, we would a hundred percent build a statue of a guy that made all NBA every year and won a title for the city. Who's the greatest grizzly of all time? Zach Randolph. Is that, that's the, that's the answer, every Grizzies fan would say. They should.

I think the list isn't that long. It's not that long of a list. There'll be four numbers in the rafters and that's the, what they call the core four. And it's Zach Randolph, Marcus saw Tony Allen, Mike Conley. Those four guys. Those four guys. But Jason Tatum would lead every statistical category. I'm saying if he had the career that he, and again, you'd stand a reason that he wouldn't have that.

had that career if he would have gone to Memphis. But I didn't take it as a slight. I took that as he's chasing ghosts there. Like it's Bill Russell. It's Larry Byrd. Oh, yeah. It's all those guys. Like, the Grizzlies have been to the Western Conference Finals once.

You know what I mean? They've won X number of playoffs series. Like, but like a guy that accomplished that has been one of the best players in the NBA for the length of time that also. won a title, even if he wasn't Finals MVP, he still won a title there. He would 100% be like king of the city. Like I don't, I don't know why that's taken as like, oh, I, he plays for the most storied franchise.

And we can argue Celtics Lakers, whatever. It was more about that, though. But it was, to me, it's more about the fact that he plays for the most story franchise than here's a slight on because the same would be true of a myriad of different places. How many places could Jason Tatum's career not be looked at as one of the greatest careers in their franchises history? Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, San Antonio. Right?

That's all I can think of them. I mean, if San Antonio, he would have had one of the greatest careers. He would have. One of, sure. He's made a lot of all-NBAs, bro. I mean, he is... So, you know what? I don't take it as a flight.

What happened? You know what? I didn't even expect to talk about this, but I do want to get your opinion on this before we go. It's on Tatum. This Chris Haynes report. I love Chris Haynes. I've worked with them.

We don't know each other. His numbers not in my phone or whatever. We're not like friends, but I like... He told me he thought you were a dirtbag. That's a good read. I am a dirt bag. So you got good info there.

Yeah, he's a great reporter. fact fact checked fact confirmed i'm a dirpac better off you going now um he comes out with this report that tata might not play this year oh it sounds like yeah like it's like after the he invites the media to watch the workout he's saying i'm ready from the sidelines like i thought it was in concrete pen locked in stone chissela whatever it is that he was going to play in march or whatever and now it's like, ah, he might not play. Can someone figure this out? It's like, I want to be careful.

Like, well, then what was that about? Yeah, yeah. That seems very. To watch you work out. Yeah, for an hour and you were dunking. That seemed very not careful. Yeah. It was odd.

It's just odd. This little, like, sprinkle of like, oh, he might not play. It's just an odd messaging over the past week that I can't make heads or tails of. What do you think? I don't know. I think everybody thought like, oh, he's going to, he's going to really try to do this. And he's going to like, because you remember you go back to the dad thing. The dad was like, Kobe came back in eight months.

It was like, oh, God. So he's going to do this. He's going to come back in like February or March. And maybe it was. It just became a big talking point last week. You had Vince Carter on TV. It may have gone too big. Vince Carter was saying, don't do this.

and Charles Barkley was like, don't do this. And so he probably heard from a whole lot of people over the course of the last week and a half that might have changed the thought process on whether or not you want to do it. So someone spoke to Chris Haynes. He didn't make this up, right? Yeah.

And so then you wonder who does this benefit? And it might be Jason Tatum just sort of like hedging, hedging the emotional bets of the Celtics fan base. Totally. You know what I mean? Yeah. Because I think it might have been that just like the noise got, so loud that people like myself thought it was a given that he was going to come back this

regular season and be available in the playoffs, that there's a part of him that's like, oh, this might be a little bit too much. Maybe I have to like scale this down a bit. It's the only thing that makes any sense. I just found it very, very odd that someone in his camp or himself would tell Haynes, yeah, I might not come back. It's like really? Because every other indications that you are coming back, every single one. That's going to do it for this episode of The Mismatch. Our producer Jesse Lopez is always coming out. We'll talk to you next week.

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