The Mismatch - Will the Celtics Make History? Plus, LeBron's Injury, Coaching Scuttlebutt, and Ja's Cryptic Social Posts.

Episode Date: May 26, 2023

The Celtics stay alive, and Verno and KOC discuss how they blew out the Heat to remain in the Eastern Conference finals (01:05). No one believes LeBron James is going to retire, but the news of his injury will definitely affect how the Lakers will handle the upcoming offseason and will determine how they keep LeBron healthy deep into the playoffs (29:30). Next, the guys discuss the latest head-coaching rumors and debate what type of coach would best utilize Joel Embiid’s talents (37:36). Also, the NBA is finally looking into penalizing flopping, and the guys discuss Ja Morant’s cryptic Instagram post (56:35). Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Producer: Jessie Lopez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You may find this hard to believe, but 60 songs that explain the 90s. America's favorite poorly named music podcast is back. With 30 more songs than 120 songs total, I'm your host, Rob Harvilla, here to bring you more shrewd musical analysis, poignant nostalgic reveries, crude personal anecdotes, and rad special guests, all with even less restraint than usual. Join us once more on 60 saws that explain the 90s every Wednesday on. Spotify. Welcome to the mismatch.

I'm Chris Vernon and joining me C does every Thursday night from the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, a.k, Kevin O'Bomberr, Kevin O'Bomberr, Kevin O'Bomberto, Kevin O'Bomberto. Kevin O'clock. Wow. Oh, my God. Game 6?

This might happen. So now what? We already buried the Celtics. What show do we do? time to dig him back up man because chris this is a this is a different level defense like one thing that's the same as game four after we talked about talked about that one is shooting over 40 percent what are they now 38 and two when they shoot 40 percent or better on the season right season and playoffs it's the only step you have to look at yeah yeah that's one stat but their defense still though their defense is different forcing the heat to have to have 16 turnovers in the game. Timely help defense, especially out of pick and roll

on the side from Miami, helping in the gaps. Hansy on drives to the basket, once again. Robert Williams looks more like the guy we saw last season. The Celtics in general looked more like the defense

that we saw last season when they were at their peaks. Not like the more, you know, they're good, but not amazing defense that we saw this season throughout the playoffs. And Jason Tatum, 11 assists tonight, granted some of those were very generous. But 11 assists tonight, the playmaking at a high level,

on a pick and roll, making great decisions, like right from the opening pass that he had in the game, that like crazy drive and kickout, spin in the middle of the paint, out to Marcus Smart. Tatum looks like right now he isn't completely comfortable and full control of the game, picking his spots and scoring, playmaking, doing it all, defending Jimmy Butler,

switching off him, doing everything at a high. level right now. Another thing I think you have to love is that they have brought finally, it took a while, they brought the toughness. Yeah, they're tough right now. There was not a second chance point, but the Miami Heat until there was five minutes left to go in the game. That was the first bucket they had on a second chance point.

And this is a team that not only had been shooting the cover off the ball, but really, can make, hey, with offensive rebounding and out-tuffing you. And not only did they play good defense, they took care of the backboards, right? They did not give Miami those extra possessions that they have been very good at throughout these playoffs. And so when they, you know, they finally, you know, there's just so much that they've finally done. They have finally played defense. They have finally knocked down. shots like they did at the beginning of the season.

The reason that they had the record they did this year is because not only were they a high volume three-point shooting team, they're a really good one. And, you know, we've joked about that stat now, but it's very real. And it's hilarious that the last game, game four, they shot exactly 40% from three. tonight they shoot 41% from three so it's not even like they're shooting much higher than the 40% but when they shoot the volume that they do you've got a math problem on your hands

you know when a team like this and likewise you know they've cooled off on the other side it's they still shoot 39% from three Miami does but they only make nine I mean when you're outscoring somebody 16 to 9

from the three point line that goes a massive way towards victory. It's a 21 point difference just from threes. I mean, this speaks to the kind of the conversation revolving around the Celtics right now. You know, when they were down

3-0, at that time, the conversation was, well, highly unlikely the Celtics come back. They would be the first team in NBA history to come back from down 3-0. But if you were talking about a team that could come back from down 3-0. In today's day and age, it would be a team that shoots a heck of a lot of threes.

And they took 49.4% of their shot attempts from behind the arc tonight. And like, that's what it's about sometimes. It's that variance that your offense has to have these types of shooting nights. If they come out and shoot, you know, 33% from three in game six, you can still win the game. You know, they were closer to 500 when they didn't. shoot above 40% or better. But, you know, like for their team that shoots this many shots from three, like it is pretty indicative of your odds of winning games.

But I think their defense, though, does deserve a lot of credit there, though. Sure, they held them to 97 points. You're going to win games as you hold somebody to 97 points. They've been great. You should. This felt like a night off for Jimmy Butler. It was like a very strange passive night for him. Granted Boston did a good job, especially Jason Tatum.

They had some switches. Robert Williams did a nice job on the handful of possessions he had against, and everybody did. Bam, Atabio, even though you look at his stat line on the surface, you see 16 points, 8 of 15, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, the 6 turnovers, he was sloppy with the ball. He's not the aggressive adabio that we saw earlier in the series. He's gone from looking like, you know, one of the three best centers in basketball to looking like a glorified Tristan Thompson at this time in the series. And for Miami, they need to have a strong Jimmy Butler night. They need to have a strong BAM at a bio night. And also, I felt like Chris in tonight's game with the type of ball pressure, Boston was putting on Miami,

if Gabe Vincent can't play, that is going to be a serious loss for them because he's been so good in pick and roll all playoffs long. He's a stabilizer bringing the ball up the floor, initiating offense, half court sets. I felt like they really missed Gabe Vincent tonight. I know he's an undrafted guy, but Gabe Vincent was sorely missed, in my opinion, from Miami. It's really funny to see Haywood Highsmith come in and be awesome. It's like, you know how many people are watching this game going,

who? Like, they just find these guys. Heywood, it doesn't sound like a real name. It sounds like a name from like an old Nintendo game you used to play. I was like a 2K generated player. Yeah, right. Haywood Highsmith. Who went to, where do you think?

You want to take a guess on where Haywood Highsmith looked at college? I just looked a couple minutes ago before the pod, Wheeling, Jesuit, something like that. I mean, that is, it's a video game. I don't even, I actually, I just watched it play. I don't even believe he's real. This can't be a real. Haywood, Hewitt went to Wheeling Jesuit. Of course he plays.

If I told you, hey, there's going to be a guy named Haywood Highsmith who is going to have an impact in an Eastern Conference finals game. He's going to come off the bench and he's going to play really well. You didn't ever see him in college, but he went to this college, a real small place called Wheeling Jesuit. Who do you think he plays for? Would anybody not guess the heat? China? It's the most heat thing ever for Haywood Highsmith.

Spain or something like that? Yeah, to get his opportunity. Well, and here's the deal, Cap. He was really good, though. He was banging down shots. He looked great. And this thing was decided in the first quarter. It was.

That was the big difference, right? This is the difference with the Celtics tonight that they've gotten double-digit leads, and then they've surrendered them. They were able to hang on to this one throughout the night, right? Without then starting to doubt themselves, getting in peril. I mean, they're up 20 right before. They're up 61, 61, you know, with a minute and a half left to go half time. They come out in the third quarter and they're still, you know, oscillating between 17 to 20 points.

And then Spolster just waves a white flag in the fourth. No Butler, no BAM, doesn't even come back with them. This is your consummate. Okay. No sense in running these guys out there and putting a bunch of, putting any extra. miles on them. We're going to rest up. We're going to get ready for game six. And I think you and I both agree, they better take care of business at game six. You know what I mean? If you're Miami, you better go ahead and take this team out in six.

Because I don't think you want that to go back to seven. And I'll be damn. I heard you guys talking about this when you were on Pills podcast. The fact that Arod and Jeter were at that game. I mean, that is such horrendous karma. Truly. It is bad for the, no one has ever come down. And it's like, what are the, and it's a Boston team.

And it's like who could come back from three oh. And if you were going to put anyone in the crowd in that game, that's who you'd want. To just start to believe like, hey, this is, you know what? Now we remember it can happen. But I see those guys that are just crazy in retrospect. And they still got to win two more games.

They still got to win two more games. Yeah. They still got to play the way they have. But they haven't gone out lame. I'll give them that. They haven't gone out lame. No, they haven't at all. You got to give Boston credit for even pushing this to six.

But I'll tell you what. That game six, A-Rod of Jeter can't be there. If you're the heat, you're going to not let them in the arena, even if they have tickets. You pay them not to come. They can't be in that arena on that night. It's bad energy. They were there against Boston in 04, A-Rod swatting at the glove. Do you fly in Dave Robborks if you're Boston?

I fly in David Ortiz from the Dominican Republic. or something, wherever he is in the world right now. Have him sitting courtside of Miami. Good idea. Bring him Big Poppy. That would be cool, huh? Can you imagine that? You have been really hard on Joe Maz.

He's been much better. He knows how to call timeouts. He's starting to win you over a little bit? Well, I mean, he's starting to get better. He's starting to use timeouts as soon as you mentioned how Boston builds a big lead. They're up 20. Heat cut it like 7.0. Bizzula calls a timeout.

He'd go 5-2 run, Missoula calls a time-out. It's like he's got Brad Stevens in his ear, like a little air pod in his ear, saying time-out, time-out, like someone whispering in his ear. That's what it's like right now. He suddenly has a great feel for timeouts.

It's happened all of a sudden. Game 100 or whatever it is of the year for Boston. He has a feel for timeouts all. So you've got to give him credit there. And, I mean, I think with the team itself, we talked about it after the other game the other night. I don't think they've made like a ton of true adjustments in the series. It's like largely a ton of effort, but again,

going to go back and have a rewatch. Well, I will say this. In the last game, one of the things that I noticed was when Miami dropped into that zone, they did move it to where Tatum was in the middle. And so now he could make plays from that position in a way. it was a good adjustment for sure, right? Like, okay. And again, you can bitch about it taking too long,

but better late than never. And when the zone starts to, what had befuddled them, that's what you want, right? Here's something that has given us problems. Okay, we've got to find the way that we need to attack this thing. And he found a way to attack it with success, you know?

And that's what you want of a coach. And the other thing is, more importantly, I think we all felt like after three games, man, has he lost them? Are they not responding to him? He's in there saying, you know, I didn't have them ready to play. I didn't have them in the right mentality. It's my job. They weren't connected.

I've got to have them ready to play and be physical and execute. That's my job. Like, he took everything on top of him after game three. But it also left us feeling like, hey, man, are they listening to? this guy? Like, do they, are they down with him? Are they going to respond to him? And on that, on that front, you've got to give him a check mark, right?

Because they have played very good basketball two games in a row since they got their backs completely against a wall. They're motivated. They're, they're hustling. And like, I think that's, you know, partially, you know, listening to Missoula. Part of it is inspiring yourself. And part of it is games. planning. Like they are digging in and reaching for steals more often. And I would assume that that's

like considering everybody's doing it on the team. It's not like just one guy is being aggressive swiping at the ball. It's everybody. I would assume that is something being emphasized by the coaching staff like, hey, these guys are loose with the ball in this situation. Swipe at the ball and there's a good chance you're going to force a turnover. And like that in addition to the aggressive of help defense. They're doing a good job preventing drives towards the middle of the basket.

It feels like they're also staying more at home on Jimmy Butler with some of those little, you know, weird little shoulder pump fakes that he has, right, to try to draw defenders

out of position to create space for himself. It feels like they're a bit more solid. And that could come from the coaching staff, again, you know, pro personnel scouting,

learning player tendencies over the course of a series. But at the same time, I feel like, you know, only 10 shots for Jimmy Butler. In part tonight, it just didn't seem like he was seeking his shots as much as he was in prior games earlier in the series. Did you get that sense too? I don't know.

I just didn't sense the aggression from him right out of the gates. No, there are, there are, and I would certainly expect in game six, he will immediately attempt to impose his will on the game. And that's what you're talking about. That's what was missing. Yeah. He could just be. the dominant guy in the game. That it all revolves around him.

No. And I do not think that that was just, they took him out completely. I do think that that was somewhat a function of Jimmy. And again, it's unexplainable, but we know what he looks like when he becomes possessed.

And that was not a possessed player tonight. No, not at all. No. Not one bit. And I do think you're right about the Vincent thing, too, though. Vincent takes a lot of pressure off those guys. You know, Vincent's had those last two games.

I know he heard his ankle in the last one, but the one before that, he led him in scoring. He had 29 in that last game before he heard his ankle. He had 17. You know, he had 15 and another one of them. He's only had one game under single digits or under double digits, I mean, so far. And he plays a lot of minutes for him.

I mean, 35, 40, 35 are like the three games where he was able to play, you know, big men. The other thing I would do if I'm Miami is I'm done with Kevin Love. Kevin Love is not the guy for this series right now. Maybe bring him off the bench instead of Zeller, but Zeller only plays four minutes tonight. Maybe you have, assuming Vincent's back, assuming he's back,

maybe you have him play and Highsmith's play and Love's minutes are eliminated, or they just come off the bench and like really a short, you know, five, six minute, you know, stretch like Zeller had only four minutes tonight. I just don't think Love is having a strong series at all. He's ineffective defensively.

That's why he's playing only 10, 12, 14 minutes per game. It's not like he's thriving from Miami. It's an interesting thing that's happening with this series because I could see if the Celtics get beat in six, then it's like,

I mean, you saw what they're capable of. You just didn't see it until they had already pissed three games away. And there's a reason that they were minus $5.50 on the money line to win this series. But they pissed away those first three games. And so you kind of always look back at it and be like, geez, too late. It was too late before you turned up. On the other hand, they go and catch game six.

I guess the question right now is, and we could say this before we even go into it. to six, you think they're onto something. Do you think that they, you know, figured something out? And now this is, they've got the recipe and Miami's going to be in big trouble in any game against them going forward. I guess the question is, should we trust the Celtics after these last two performances? I guess that's the best way to put it. No. I still don't trust them.

I think they're learning something for sure. You don't think this is real and that it's just flipped? I don't know. I mean, they're definitely learning something. Like, that's for sure. They're definitely learning something. But, like, we've seen, I think Boston is the type of team. We've seen this for years with them.

A lot of the time, they are at their best when their backs are against the wall. It's sometimes when they settle into a place of complacency and they lose that edge. So for the Celtics, you know, you got Jalen Brown. after the game saying, you know, you let us win two, don't let us win one more. If they continue with this mindset moving forward in the series, then you know what, if they come out with this focus and understanding what's really at stake, like they did in the first quarter today, like they did in game four, well, I mean, then you like their chances, but they haven't, they've wavered and they've been like that for a long, long time

now, and we'll see, we'll see. They've been down to. fascinating. I can't wait. We've seen them down 3-2. Again, take away the fact that they were down 3-0. Right now, they're down

3-2. Yeah. We saw them like, you know, Tatum walk in and extend it. You're saying if you like shuffle the order of the games. Yeah. Right? Like if you don't even factor in that they were down 3-0.

Correct. And if game 4 was game 1, and game five was game three, right? Something like that, right? You could just shuffle the games and make them more random. You'd think, oh yeah,

they got a shot. Well, because here's the deal. Yeah, if you don't take it into the context, and you just say, hey,

it's 3-2. Well, then you go, they're down 3-2 last year to Milwaukee and Tatum went nuclear and they ended up coming back and next thing you know, they're in the NBA finals,

and they were down 3-2 to Philly, And they got it done And then went back at one So they have been down Three two The last two years Against really good teams For sure

And won the last two So to your point about They've done well Their backs against the wall Like we've literally seen them down three two And flip the series For sure And you know what

And It's Also So it's going to be funny. Like last round, Solix fall down three, two. I say Joe Mazzul is not ready for this stage. They make some adjustments in Game 6.

Robert Warren is helping off. They went two in a row. The series, clueless head coach, time to move on. They win two in a row. Let's see what happens on Sunday if they force a game seven for next Tuesday.

I'm excited, man. The series, I'm glad. At this point, you got to hope they lose. If I'm you, you gotta hope they lose. You can't,

you don't want this stuff to last, I mean, because it'd be your luck. They win the damn title. Which actually would give me, that would be, oh, it would be amazing for me,

especially after I watched you abandon your boyhood team for the frigging Lakers. If you're, if the boyhood team, then overtakes it. And wins a, what is it, 18th title or whatever. Yeah. It would be crazy.

After as much as we have slandered them and sent Jalen Brown back in and Missoula back in. I got to write a, I got to write a column someday, you know, detailing my feelings. It'll be like therapy. That's what I'll have to do. So people understand. Basketball therapy. I just pulled it up. How about this?

They're favored in game six. Yeah, I mean, they've been favored, like, I think, the last two even. Pretty sure. But at Miami? I'm pretty sure they're a favorite, yeah. They said at the end of that, this is, they're three-point favorite in the next game. And so it's interesting. I think they said at the end of the broadcast that they have won four out of the last five

playoff games in Miami. Yeah. Boston has. Wow. This would be crazy. This would be crazy. I mean, it's got to happen. They look good and they look.

They're shooting 40% from three. I said when we went into it like, dude, there's only one stat you got to look at. I don't care what else happens. This team wins when they shoot 40% from three. In fact, they're damn near unbeatable when they shoot 40% from three.

And the variance is the variance. When you're high variance, you could get a four-game heater. I mean, you just got to do it four times. You got to do it four times. And not only were they shooting the ball not that well, Miami's been shooting fireballs the whole playoffs. There's still part of me that goes, man, you're really going to beat Spolstra and Jimmy Butler four games in a row?

I know. I know. Maybe you are. Maybe you do. The Celtics do have the better team on paper. So we'll see. So, I mean, like, whether Boston is the team to do it or not, whether Boston is the team to come back from down 3-0 for the first time in NBA history or not,

it's going to happen someday. It will happen someday. We saw the Red Sox do it. We saw it happen against the Bruins. Like, if we're talking about Boston sports fans, they've been on one side of it. They've been on the other side of it. And now we'll find out, right? I think Boston sports fans, like, the unique thing,

about the last 20 plus years with all the teams, all the success is being in positions to feel heartbreak as well. And I think that's part of it. When you're in it, these feelings that you have, these ups and downs, these highs and lows,

like Boston sports fans are very experienced in these moments. And that's why there is still like a little bit of level of belief because Boston sports fans have seen it before on both sides. So we'll see. Sunday night, game six. I'm excited.

I think they lose six. I do. I think Pat Riley walks in. You think they lose it? Okay. Gives one of those 1980s, you know, hardcore speeches, gets everybody fired up,

you know, who we are, what we are. We're not letting this happen kind of thing. You know what I mean? Pat Riley probably walks in there, gives this, like, huge speech,

and then they go out there and play, you know, Jimmy Butler's possessed. And they take, Yeah, I would think that he wins six. That's what I think. What about you?

It's hard to sweep someone. I also think it would be hard to win that fifth game. Per Twitter, Jimmy Butler and Shakira follow each other on Instagram. Maybe it's the Shakira curse that happened after game three. That happened after game three? That happened after game three, according to Twitter. I don't know if it's true. Let's just assume it's true.

Jimmy Butler and Shakira. Tom Cruise didn't effectively make a move on Shakira, but Jimmy Butler's play, apparently, was good enough. You Shakira fan? I know, I only know like the song, Hips Don't lie.

Yeah, you do. I don't know. What else did she do? I forget. No, I don't know. What else does she know? The World Cup song, Waka, Waka. You know that. Waka, Waka.

It is. I don't know, Come on. You didn't watch a World Cup when it was in Africa? I don't remember it. No. All right. I don't.

Well, the Shakira curse. That would be a new one. Everybody knew hips don't lie. Come on, Kevin. Oh, yeah, whenever, wherever, that's the first one I remember. Whenever, wherever, that's a great song. See? Yeah, that's a good one.

Maybe if her and Jimmy doesn't work out, you could holler at her. No, I'm good. No, not your type. Don't want to move to Miami. Too human there. I understand. All right. We got other NBA news to talk about.

We'll do it after these words. Can find a Shakira in L.A. Make a fast break to Fandul during the NBA playoffs because right now, new customers get a no-sweat. First bet up to $1,000. That's $1,000 back and bonus bets if your first bet doesn't win. The Fandul Sportsbook app, there's great promotions every single day with a safe and secure app and you get paid instantly. There's no better place to bet on all the NBA playoff action than America's number one sportsbook. Visit fandil.com slash mismatch and get a no sweat first bet up to $1,000.

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In Indiana, call 1-800-9 with it. In Kansas, call 1-800-5-2-2-4-7-0. In Louisiana, call 1-877-7-0. In Maryland, visit MD-Gamblinghelp.org. in Wyoming call 1,800 522470470. And West Virginia visit 1800 gambler.net. All right, Kevin, we've got a couple other stories that are not game-related that we've got to get to.

I can I tell you how many times I was tagged on the story today that Sharm Shoradio went on Pat McAfee's show and I guess on said program said LeBron James played the last few months of the season with a torn tendon in his foot that could need surgery this summer. And so everybody started tagging me and saying, you said this would happen. Look, let's be fair. I said it would happen at the postgame press conference after they lost.

It did not. So I'll take my loss on this. It actually happened a few days removed from that. And so now we're talking about like, we knew he was hurt, even though we went to go see the LeBron James of Foot Doctors. And now the interesting thing to me regarding this, there's no doubt in my mind, his foot was bothering him, okay? Definitely was hurt.

He 100% was hurt. He was certainly able to play and play extremely well on said foot. Okay. The interesting part to me is going to be the surgery decision. And typically, look, LeBron knows right now if that thing needs surgery. or not. Let's be clear. You're going to know the extent of the foot

injury and the necessity for surgery based upon the timeline of this. Most guys that play through injury during the season, and this happens

all over the league. There are guys that play and they can put it off until the end and then they'll get the surgery in the offseason. And sometimes teams can become very frustrated with players if then they don't do it, and then they end up doing it later in the summer and they miss a portion of the season. And so the timing of this is what's fascinating to me, because clearly if you do need surgery, it just says, and might need surgery, he knows whether or not that thing needs surgery.

It's just dependent upon when he wants to get it. And he is at the age and the stature now that nobody's going to tell him when he needs to get that surgery done. But if he doesn't want to play all 82 games next year, like most guys, I'm telling you, get their surgeries done immediately, right when the season's over, as to get the maximum amount of time for rehabilitation before the next season. And so it's just something to keep an eye on. If it needs surgery, is he putting off the surgery a little bit later down the road in the off season? And the other thing is maybe it can rehabilitate without the surgery. I'm no doctor. But it's a fascinating story, and it might keep him out going into next year.

And it might keep him out going into next year on purpose. Yeah, I mean, we'll see there. I know he said to Dave McMeneman, he's going to. get another MRI on it to see how it's healed or not healed, and then he'll figure it out from there. So, I mean, maybe he misses the start of the season, comes back midway through. We'll see about that. But yeah, you're right. It's possible that this could dip into next season for him. He could take it extremely cautiously following surgery if he does need the surgery or not, but this definitely sets up

another interesting variable for the coming months with the Lakers and LeBron James and, you know, this could be used as leverage, you know, the retirement stuff. It seems like nobody,

nobody around the league thinks LeBron is going to retire. Everybody's like, you're telling me, LeBron James is going to retire without a farewell tour. Be real. Like, Yovon Bua was on the Bill Simmons podcast

the other day with a great, conversation between Yovan and Bill. And Yovan does like good Lakers beatwriting for the athletic. And he mentioned how LeBron, like, there's no private conversation with him. If you get like a side conversation with LeBron, a one-on-one, he has a camera crew following him around at all times, recording everything. Like there's no privacy with LeBron James. So you expect the guy that has a documentary crew following him around to retire without

a farewell tour, be serious. He'll be back. It's just the matter of when and for who. Yeah. It was brilliant to bring that up at the press conference because it got that all anybody talked about was that. Yeah, it's all. He didn't talk about him getting sweat.

And saved me on the, he's going to see how it healed. You think it went a long way towards healing when you're playing 48 minutes? Yeah. Does that look like a guy that was taking it easy on the foot? If anything, it probably got worse. I mean, we live in a day and age of load management. The guy was playing 45 minutes every frigging night.

You think his foot was getting back every other night, by the way. Yeah. That's not that. Look, again, not a doctor. I would think not a recipe for healing. If that's the goal is trying to see how it heals, I'm going to, I'm going to bet that MRI. I says, yeah, actually didn't heal very much,

Le Ron, considering you played every minute of every game, every other night for the last month. I mean, the thing is with him, though, we are at the point here, Chris, where he is going to be 39 next season. And, you know, ever since he joined the Lakers, he's played 55 games, 67, 45, 56, 55. and granted two of those seasons were shortened by the pandemic.

We are at the point now where he's not playing 82, 76, 79 games, heavy minutes every single season carrying his team. So regardless of how long this absence after a potential surgery dips into next season, we are at the point here where injuries have piled up for LeBron. He's had groin injuries in recent years. And I remember a couple years ago, an executive said to me, someone who's been tied to LeBron said, LeBron invests more money and more time and more science and more energy

and more everything into his body than any other athlete he has ever been around. If he's getting groin injuries, these core injuries that nag and that you put everything in your power to prevent, it's a sign of him. getting old. And I just think that something, obviously aside from the age, she's still doing magnificent things that game four was remarkable scoring 40 points. He was unbelievable on defense.

Like I was still blown away at what LeBron did this postseason, even in his diminished form. But it is just something to keep in mind where like when we talk about January LeBron, the guy who was averaging 33 points per game on elite efficiency and looked like the same dominant guy we've watched for 20 years. There's no guarantee you get that guy in April, May, and you hope June, if you're the Lakers moving forward. So I wonder if we will enter a load management phase of LeBron's career because of the injuries, because of potential surgeries.

And that just speaks to the greater need of a better second fiddle than Anthony Davis. AD can't do it every night. And that's why the Lakers and LeBron, that's why LeBron wants Kyrie Irving. It's why the Lakers need to find him somebody, whether it's Kyrie or not, who can help carry the load. in those other nights. And by the way, it's not like Kyrie

hasn't missed time either. Yeah, right. He hasn't exactly been Mr. Reliable. Not at all. Another thing that we need to get to is the coaching searches. So I was interested

when you were on with Bill. I heard him, matter of fact, say that those are being reported everywhere that Nick Nurse and Doc Rivers met with the Sons and that Sons

Associate head coach Kevin Young and Sacramento Kings, associate head coach Jordie Fernandez are all candidates for that son's job. He said rather matter of fact that Kevin Young is going to get that job. He did. He must know something. He said, brought to you by the person to withhold you six weeks ago, Barney James is going to USC, which he did.

He also told us that Aaron Rogers was going to the Jets in like the middle of the season. Yeah, yeah, he was ahead on a lot. Bill's got good sources. He does. So people might not know that, but Bill has great sources. So yeah, we'll see it, Kevin. Bill is rich, and Bill talks to other rich people, and rich people are the ones that make these decisions.

There's just a rich guy text he's on that they just exchange this crap. Hey, you think there's like a group chat with people who are worth over X amount of money? Yes. You had to have sold a business for me. millions of dollars to even get on it. Welcome to the chat. Yeah. And so somebody has told him that Kevin Young is going to get that job.

So we can set that one aside. We'll see if Bill says it's Kevin Young. We'll put it like in pencil for now. Just because you never know, things can change. But for now it seems like Kevin Young is the guy there, which means a lot of good coaches still could be available on the market for all these other jobs. Well, what's crazy, Kev, is when we look at these names, like the same names in many cases are interviewing for these different jobs.

And so now you're just kind of playing musical chairs with guys that have championships. Okay, so there's four that have titles that all got let go. Doc Rivers has a title. Nick Nurse has a title. Frank Vogel has a title. and Mike Voodnalser has a title

Yeah, it's a lot of championship coaches And then you've got these other ones That are kind of names in there Adrian Griffin His name has been Kenny Atkinson A little bit As an assistant

Mike D'Antony As a possibility In Philadelphia With a Daryl Moree reunion But anyway, Nurse Has emerged as a candidate with the sons and the Bucks.

Nurse is one of the finalists in Milwaukee, they say, which is, as we've mentioned, Kenny Atkinson and Adrian Griffin. And another report said he also interviewed with the 76ers. So Nick Nurse is interviewed with everybody. And the Sixers met with another NBA title winner, which was the aforementioned Frank Vogel, who was out of coaching this past year.

In addition to Vogel, 76ers reportedly have talked to Nick Nurse, Monty Williams, we forgot about him, Mike Boudinthuser, Sam Cassell's name got thrown out there with the Sixers, as did Mike DeAntoony, who that would of course be a comfort hire for sure for their general manager who had him in Houston. and for Hardin, if they expect to keep Hardin, to replace Doc Rivers. When you hear those names for the 76ers, Vogel, Nurse, Monty, Budenholzer, Cassell, Dan Tony. Any of them particularly stand out to you? None in the sense that, like with Dan Tony,

I like Dan Tony, and he did a lot of great thing as a coach, But I'm just thinking about for Joelle Ambide, regardless of who the coach is, regardless of who they decide on, how is Daryl Morey going to build this roster out around Joel Embed? Because I think with Embed, like, it's been on my mind a lot, like, watching Yokic on this journey to the finals. Like, Yolkich can playmate like anybody else. He's far better as a passer than Joel Embeded. But the way Yokic is utilized as a screener, as a ball handler, as a guy. initiating the offense. Wouldn't it be cool to see Joelle Embed in a more diverse offense like

that where he's empowered and enabled to do more creative things? Like he's so skilled from the perimeter. Can they run him through a dribble handoff when he's the guy running into it? Like, I just would love to see a coach be in a position within Bede to install an offense like that, which also requires Mori to add the appropriate personnel, but I don't think they don't have a lack of personnel who can do that. I just, that's just been on my mind. So regardless of the coach, That's where I'm thinking about it, Chris. How about you? Do you feel that?

I don't think offense is a problem for Joe L&B. He just led the league in scoring. No, no. Yeah, but his efficiency dips every year in the postseason because the things they do that work during the regular season don't translate as well as the postseason. They need more offensive diversity. They do.

And that's partly on Hardin, too. Hardin was dribbling the air out of the ball, slowing down the pace of the offense. So, like, if they lose Hardin, which they might, if they lose them or say, you know what, we don't want you back, you got to change the way you build. And I think there's more to Embed's game that a new coach could help unlock. That's where I feel, you know.

How about this? I think one of the things that could be unlocked is something that, and I know you're not the biggest fan, but you have to give Mike Boodenholzer a defensive guy credit for what he did in Milwaukee and turning Janus into probably the best defender we know of, right? and what if he could get that out of Embed. Embedd is not a dominating defender. Yeah, but Embedd is going to be more in the Brooke. Embedd's more in the Brooke Lopez role, though.

Right. He's not Janus. He's just not. I think Embed can do more of the off-screen, off-ball stuff, you know, that Yokic does as a score, not as a password. Yokic is in his own category. Then he can do the Janus switching and versatility stuff. I'm not talking about that.

I'm talking about being, look, you loved Brooke Lopez as a defensive player of the year candidate years ago, not as much this year. Not this year, years ago. That was our argument. I literally have. I ever voted Brooke Lopez for top three

for defensive player of the year. Oh, wow. These are all public. This is a huge mistake. I'm looking it up as we speak. I'm looking it up. This is a huge mistake. I'm looking it up as we speak.

This was our whole me calling him the modern day Bill Russell. Yeah, I know, but I don't think I voted him for a defensive player of the year. That's like a totally different thing. I don't think I did. I'm almost positive. I didn't. You've never voted him top three. I don't think I did.

I'm grabbing my pass ballots. Give me one moment here. Oh, I can't wait. I'm on the edge of my seat. Do you know that I have bought basketball cards off of eBay, and people have put in with my purchase Brooke Lopez cards. I know that.

I know. I know. I know. I know that. Why can't I'm trying. So look, all I'm saying is Mbid could be a much more impactful defender than he is. That's awesome.

And that way, when the offense goes, you're still massively impactful on defense. And I don't believe you for one second that you didn't vote for Brooke Lopez in the top three. No change. I don't think I did.

What year would it have been? I guess whatever year was that 538 said that he was the greatest defender to ever walk the face of the earth. Him and him and Gorgie Jang season and Yaka Portal. The drop coverage all stars. The drop cover. Drop covers all stars would be like a good, that's like a good bit. Yeah. All right.

Rudy, Rudy is the king. Rudy is the king. I voted for, I voted for Rudy every year. That's what I did. We know that. Word notes. On 2021, for a defensive player of the year,

I voted Rudy O'Bair, Ben Simmons, bam out of bio. Penn Simmons! Shut out Ben Simmons. Oh, wow. We are two years removed from second on your ballot.

That must have been a sympathy vote. It was not a He was awesome. Yeah, I know it was. It's hard to remember every once in a while. I'll look him up on YouTube. And I'll, I can't,

I can't pull up the 2020 votes. For some reason, I don't know where the NBA put it. The 2020 votes. Wow. Whatever. I didn't vote for Brooke Lopez. I know I didn't.

Look. You did. But Joe LMB. I didn't. I know I didn't. Really? For sure. That was just so I couldn't bring it up years down the road.

Yeah. In 2020, I voted for Rudy Gobert, Marker Smart, McKell Bridges last year. And 2020, he wasn't, was that the year we talked about him being the next Bill Russell? I'm sure. I'm sure. I'm sure it was. But everybody loved Brooke Lopez. I know I voted Gobert that year.

Well, I mean, I'll try to find it while we're talking. but your 2020 ballot no i i i definitely didn't i know i didn't i know for a fact i didn't wow well i will be there's probably just you saying something silly like goopo goopo can't defend it i'm like yeah he can no no no no no no no no no no no no no it's funny the bill rudy ober the french bill rossel brooke lopez the second coming of bill rossel I'm trying to look here. I found the 2020. Where is it?

Can you link me? I can't find it. All-defense team. Maybe that's what I don't. Who cares? Doesn't matter. You love Brooklyn. You can deny it now.

Fortunately, our archives live forever. All right. I had, I found my, I had him on second team all defense on. on the 2020 ballot, but I didn't have him in my top three. By the way, this year,

this year when he got defensive player of your votes, I didn't even have him on my all defensive team. That's because I bullied him. I bullied him for five years about this. Please, be serious.

I'm immune to bullying. dealt with it my whole life. That's true. Nothing you can say to me. It's true. All right. These Twitter trolls, I've been dealing with this since I was 11 years old. Fuck off.

Oh, my goodness gracious. I grew up on the internet. I grew up in this filth. I understand. So of those, is there any that you think would be, honestly, look, you're talking about a bunch of guys that have won a lot of games. I think all these teams are going to get a good coach. I'm easier on coaches than you are. If you are my boon-noseder, you got a good coach.

If you hire Mike Williams, you got a good coach. If you hire Frank Vogel, you got a good coach. If you hire Nick Nurse, you got a good coach. I can't know what Adrian Griffin is going to be. I can't know what Kevin Young's going to be. I think Kenny Hankinson's a good coach. I liked what he did. I do, too.

I like him. I agree. I mean, it's not like I've seen any names where I'm like, what the hell? Like, all these guys are capable NBA coaches, all of them. And I always reject the whole, well, what if they ever? Look, everybody loses until they win. Everybody's the choker until they win. I couldn't believe this, but I was watching, and I know you're not a golf fan,

but I was watching the major that went on over the weekend. Brooks Kevka won, right? They said Brooks Kevka won his fifth major, okay? And they said, Brooks Kevka won his fifth major, and he has added age. that is a year younger than when Phil Mickelson won his first major. And I was like, what the hell? And then I went and remembered that for, you know, 10, 15 years,

Phil Mickelson's the choker. Phil Mickelson's the guy that can't get it done. Phil Mickelson's the guy that can't make the adjustments, whatever you want to say, right? So all these guys have proven themselves to be capable NBA head coaches. and most end up due getting it done if you're a really good coach. And so I don't think these teams are going to go wrong. I can't know about the guys that are the young ones

that we've never seen on a sideline. But all these other ones that have been named, I don't think this is just retreads. I think these are all good coaches that deserve to be coaching NBA teams. They're good coaches. They are. I agree.

I mean, I'm not saying boon and holes or doesn't deserve a job. It's just about finding the right job for them. You don't like it with Sixers. I don't know. I'm not sure. I don't know. I'm more concerned about what type of offensive system is the coach going to build.

How creative is this coach going to be with Joel Lambeed? And are they going to bring James Hardin back? Because Hardin's not going to let that happen. And I like it. You know, I'm a Hardin guy, but I'm less than convinced that it will work after a year and a half of it now. I don't know if he's the right guy for Joel Lambeed. I want to see more creativity considering the way his offense has developed.

Funny you mentioned James Harden. There was a report that has come out since we last spoke and says James Hardin has become the Rocket's primary target in July. But outside of a reunion with their former franchise star, The Athletic, recently reported, that Houston also plans to pursue Dylan Brooks. Dylan Brooks. Patrick Beverly said he might go back there too.

You see the Pat Bev's thing? He might go back too, he said. Cam Johnson, Brooke Lopez. Wow. And Austin Reeves. Oh. So they got options besides Hardin. And they got a lot of money to spend.

And they got the number four pick that they'll try to flip possibly. Maybe. I think there's a chance every pick two to six could get traded. Like there's a slim chance. Like two to seven. I think two to seven, every pick could get moved. Absolutely. They could.

Yeah. Because when you look up and down, it's either the fit isn't necessarily, like you don't have to take, you don't have to take Brandon Miller too necessarily if somebody really wants to get up there to get scoop and so you can move down if you're, for three, yeah.

Yeah. And for some of those teams, like they don't need to add another young player into the mix and just keep doubling down and doubling down on youth. Houston the same way. Like how many, How many high draft pick young guys do you need?

You've got, to me, it's like, you've got your guys build out. You've got, like, I would look at it, and I would go, I've got Jalen Green, I've got Jabari Schmidt, I've got Shengoon, I've got Tari Yason, right? So, I mean, I've at least got four

that I'm committing to and now build out around them. But those four, I'm committed to. That's what I'd say, if I were there. And why do I need to, I mean, now I'm adding another 18, 19 year old, does that mix? Yeah. It doesn't make any sense, you know? I think the asset is worth more than what the player that you can add.

You've got enough youth. You don't have good young potential problems there. Dylan Brooks, Cam Johnson, Brooke Lopez, Austin Reeves, any of those strike you as very good fit for the rockets? I don't know. I don't know. Honestly, it depends on what happens with Hardin. Is Hardin actually going there? Is this hinging on Hardin going back, Chris?

I don't know. I'll tell you this. Let's assume Hardin goes back then. Hardin is back in Houston. He signs for X amount of money. Yes, Brooke Lopez is a perfect fit for James Hardin. He protects on defense. He spaces the floor. He can pick and pop or he can roll. Austin Reeves, the Lakers are foolish for giving him

only 11 shots per game in the postseason, especially against Denver. They might have actually won a game or two if they had fed Austin Reeves more. He's capable of more. A lot of people around the NBA feel that. Dylan Brooks, I mean,

I don't know about him anywhere. I don't love the fit. As long as he stopped shooting, I'd love it. Houston needs guys to take bad shots. They don't have enough. No, they,

they get, yeah, they need a guy. If Dylan Brooks says, I'm not going to shoot. then yes, I like Dylan Brooks on Houston, but not if he's going to be shooting all the time. Would you like Dylan Brooks if they've removed his hands?

I think he would be, I think he would have a hard quality of play on the court. Do you think Dylan Brooks would be a better basketball player with no hands? I do, I do. Do you agree? It's hard for me to disagree at this moment. If you don't think that dude would shoot it with nubs, you're nuts. Well, you might shoot a higher percentage. You're so happy he's gone.

No, no. Me? Yeah, you're going to miss him. I know, I'm kidding. You're going to miss them. Me? You're going to miss them. The NBA's competition committee is considering assessing technical files for obvious flops.

Thank goodness. Well, here's the thing. Like, don't you feel like most of the flops that we get pissed about aren't called and that's why we get pissed about them? Or we say that's a flop and it gets called wrong? Like, I don't think we have a huge problem of the officials seeing guys flopping and then just not calling it. And so to me, I get it. But are we going to have to review all of these flops? Like a guy falls on the ground.

Now I got to go check a monitor to see if he truly fell on the ground or if he was an actor. I mean, that's the one thing that scares me about this. I don't want any more reviews. That can't be like I agree with you. You know, Ben Thompson from Stratory. He brought that up from his no tech Ben account as well, you know, where you can't have more stoppages. That would be counterproductive if you do that in the league. What he suggested was maybe you have something reviewed after games on an off day.

Technicals are assessed and every two flops you get a suspension without pay, something like that. To me, I want, yeah, I want the fines and public shaming. I think that fixes it. I really do. I think if it's out there and it's public. posted on social media by the NBA account. So-and-so has been fined $10,000 for flopping. You got to get suspensions, though. I think there needs to be an immediate penalty. And I think there also needs to be a lasting penalty.

Now, in fairness, Steve Kerr brought it up during, you know, and I know people said that Steve Kerr was whining, but Steve Kerr brought it up and he said in FIBA, they started calling text on it, and it eliminated it. Yep, that's the thing. If there's an immediate, if there's an immediate, you know, punishment for flopping, I think you'll see fewer players doing it on the court. But to me, that is the understanding that these referees know it's a flop,

but just don't call it a flop. I don't know. You know, look, everybody, everybody that's been watching was, we're tired. Anybody that truly loves the NBA thinks it's stupid and the flopping got out of control. You can't reward guys for falling. That's all. That's right. You need to be smarter about it as an official.

Right. Even if, like, this might be a bit much, but if you have a fourth official on the floor who is tasked with watching for certain things, including flopping, like that being one of their high priority things that they're looking for, where they're keeping a very close eye on, is this guy screwing around or is this a legitimate fall? Like if that's their priority that they're looking for in the court, in addition, like, you can't just look for that every play, but in addition to some other priorities, maybe this official is looking at moving screens, blah, blah, blah, blah, whatever it might be. Or maybe, yeah, or maybe we have like Mr. Floppy. And like, you remember, like that old show, like Showtime at the Apollo where if you were terrible, then the crowd would start yelling at you and they booed up the stage and that clown ran out with like the broom or like a hook or whatever.

We get like something like that. We dress him up like a clown. And if you fly if you flop out on the court, the Mr. Floppy comes out and like scrubs you off the court. Real public shaming. Oh no. Mr. Floppy got him.

And the guy's like walking with his head down. Like, oh no, not again. Right? Just make a total mockery out of these. But this sounds funny. That's what I'm saying. I'm saying making a total mockery out of these guys. What if you have like a real.

clown go out there and escort them off the court. You gotta walk with the clown. What if the NBA creates an award flopper of the year? Yeah. Or just a show like on NBA TV, like they have Shackton a full. Yeah. Yeah. They just have...

Flopper of the year would be funny. Yeah. Yeah. Flopper of the year is a good idea. Like that's the award you don't want to win. If you're in the top five for that, yeah. What they used to call those, the bad actor awards? Yeah.

Yeah. The Razzies? the RASI Awards or something like that. Yeah. Yeah. Anything they can do to penalize flopping, I am all four. All right. Now we got all the goodhearted stuff out of the way.

Last thing before we get out of here, I woke up to the John Moran Instagram post. It's headlines everywhere still a couple of days ago. And my immediate reaction was, what is he doing? It's four in the morning or whatever, right? with the post that I saw. Now, evidently, these got posted, the succession of posts. It's like seven something in the morning.

Which was like the, for the listeners who don't know it, you're referring to him putting up like a photo of him and his dad, love you, dad. One with him and his mom, love you, mom, and so on and so forth.

Then one saying goodbye. Right. And so this is one of those where it's like massive generation gap. Because to anybody my age, You're absolutely terrified. And you think this guy's going to hurt himself. Yeah.

And because not only do I have kids, but also I work with people much younger than me, I have an awareness of that leaving social media could be made a huge deal, right? Like there's a connection to the social media. And that's what he says he was doing, that it was. that he was leaving social media. And I pray that that is the truth. I can never understand young people now. I think it's actually plausible.

Also, I think it's plausible that that is something you say to get people to stop asking you about it, right? And as I've said from the very beginning, and this was in March, when I posted it, I said, I hope someone can get to him. And I've told you this off the show several times that I've never viewed this like a basketball star story. That when I watch this, it is way too reminiscent of people that rise to fame in a massive, massive way. Yeah, child stars. Yes, and are ill-equipped to deal with it. Whether it is a child star, whether it is a musician, whether it is an actor or an actress, whether it.

I mean, and I could list you a thousand of them. and you sit there and you go, how did they die of a drug overdose or why did they go crazy or whatever? Right. And it's like these pressures of fame and the perch that you have been put on, it all becomes overwhelming.

Then you can't take it. You start to cope. In his case, it was alcohol, obviously. And then you start making terrible decisions. And then it just, it keeps on getting compound it. And so, look, we, we keep on saying that hopefully there is a rock bottom that is not a dangerous one, that something happens, or that someone can talk to him and get him in a healthy state of mind. Because it is rather clear that even though we are a few days removed,

he's not in a healthy state of mind, a few weeks removed rather. He's not a healthy state of mind. I do think he is still struggling, and I do think that someone hopefully can get through to him. And I hope, honestly, I hope that was honest

that he is going to get away from social media, not because of the mistakes that he's made on social media posting, but because it is an endless stream of negativity. And it is just no good for your health if you're him right now, I'm saying.

I mean, my whole feed, Kevin, my whole feed is John Moran jokes. And he's done it to himself. But it's not, you got to go and realize there's a world outside of this. And it also gives you this delusion that that's what the world is.

You know, a bunch of people that will say things anonymously on the internet are not the same people that, and it's not indicative of how many people truly care about you. But it feels like all anybody's doing is making fun of you or trashing you or making memes or whatever.

So the best thing I think he can do is to get away from it completely. And I think it would be good for his mental health in all honesty. But as I said from the very beginning, I hope somebody can get to him because it's scary. It is scary.

It's scary what went through my mind is like I hope he doesn't hurt himself. But it truly did because I like I told you a few weeks ago, I think he'd trade it. I think if you could tell him he could have his old life back.

He'd trade the money. He'd trade the fame. He'd trade like he would. That doesn't make sense? Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of famous people that feel that way, right? Maybe, Chris.

I mean, on Thursday morning, his sneaker release and it sold out within minutes. Right. I know. Despite everything, within minutes, almost instantly. There wasn't. I think they only made $3,000. They were supposed to release a ton of those.

Yeah. And they didn't. It was like a limited edition one or something like that, a rare one. It became that. Yeah. It wasn't supposed to be. You know, it wasn't on the Nike site. Yeah.

They only sold that thing on sneakers. The sneakers app. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's the only place they had it. So bright young star, no question he can still move product. And here's hoping that he can get his health right because he's clearly still not in a good place.

Yeah. Hope he can, you know. I'm rooting for him. And hope this summer is one in which he has experiences a lot of clarity in his life and takes the right steps towards, you know, becoming a. a successful face of the franchise with all the pressures that come with that and understanding how to handle that and grow from it and thrive with it. That's what you hope for with him. And I do think there's a lot of people reaching out to them and just hopefully somebody can

get through it to them. Yeah. You know, because I have even had people that have, like, I can get a hold of them. I'm not calling the guy, but they're, I know of extremely famous people in the sports world that have attempted to reach out to him. And hopefully they were able to. And hopefully he is, hopefully he's able to, you know, have an open heart and somebody can get through to him and he can change everything. Hope so. Because he's still young, man.

He's still 23. Yeah. Just a kid. And he's got a lot of, he's got millions of kids that look up to him. And they even see those Instagram posts. And that's scary, man. Scary. Mm-hmm.

It is. It was scary when he posted that. you know Kevin it is always a pleasure thank you to our executive producer jesse lopez as always and i will talk to you next week yes so next week today have a good weekend chris i didn't know when it was finals coming up soon we'll sit so it's next week it will be next week next week next thursday