The Mismatch - Will Westbrook Help the Wizards? Plus: Lakers Loom Large and PG-13 Talks Trash

Episode Date: December 4, 2020

Verno and KOC get into the nitty gritty of the Westbrook-Wall trade (3:00), then talk over the latest news around the league, including the LeBron and AD signings (42:30), Paul George’s recent comments about his role on the Clippers, and the NBA season schedule. Thank you for listening to 'The Mismatch'! If you haven't already, please subscribe to this new feed and we'll have episodes for you every Tuesday and Friday. Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, this is Kevin O'Connor. Today on The Mismatch, Chris Vernon and I got into the Russell Westbrook for John Wall blockbuster trade. And then we went around the league and talked about some of the news, including Anthony Davis and LeBron James, extending their deals with the Los Angeles Lakers. All that next. Welcome to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon. And joining me as he does every Friday from the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, A.K. Kevin O'Bomber, Kevin O'Conflict. Kevin O'Chammer, Kevin O'Compick.

kindness, Kevin. Verdo, this is our first show posting on the new, the mismatch podcast feed. We do have a new feed. Thank you for all of you that are listening on that feed. For those that are not listening on that feed, go subscribe to that feed wherever you get podcast because it is available. To do it, just look in the description of the podcast right now. If you're listening on the old ringer NBA show feed, there'll be a link to the Spotify.

or Apple feed or just search for the mismatch in order to find it. And it would mean a lot to us if you're able to do that. Now, get it over with because, you know, we're not going to pay on the ringer NBA show feed anymore. And it's because of you guys that it's awesome, Chris. You know, it's really cool getting our own feed. And I'm going to tell you,

totally overwhelmed these last few days with all of the incredibly nice messages and people that came out of the woodwork, congratulating us or being excited about it with us saying that they've been with us or listened for a lot of times. Some people said they found us during the quarantine, whatever it may be.

But I'm very, very grateful to all of you out there. And on a side note, Kev, we have been inundated. I know because I've seen your feed, whether it's like Instagram or Twitter or whatever, with the Spotify putting out the year-end stuff. And it's showing what people listen. to. My goodness

gracious. I mean, absolutely overwhelming how many people have sent and the amount of time that you have listened to this baloney is unbelievable. Unbelievable. I couldn't listen to myself

that long. I saw like some people like it said, 6,000 minutes, 10,000 minutes, listen to the Ringer NBA show and I hope to to see next year that for the mismatch. Because you've got to go to the mismatch feed in order to get our podcast now, Chris. And this one is airing on both the

Ringer NBA show feed and the mismatch feed, but starting on Tuesday, it'll all be on the mismatch feed. All right. Let's get to fighting. All right. So anything involving a Russell Westbrook trade, I'm sure. I want you to take a very, very, very deep

breath. Just very deep breath. Because here I come. And I am coming with the fires of seven hells. Okay. I'm ready. I have taken in all of the analyses over the last 24 hours. The story broke about 24 hours from when we're recording this on Thursday night, on Wednesday night that there was going to be this trade between the Houston Rockets

and the Washington Wizards, Russell Westbrook for John Wall. Now, somehow along the way over the last couple of years, I have become a Russell Westbrook defender. That was never my intention on this. but I do have great respect for him as a player. As I watched this story unfold, and I saw the reactions to this story about how the trade where nobody wins, two bloated contracts, traded for each other, whatever,

whatever the case may be. And that was the general sentiment. I was absolutely floored. The dislike slash disregard for Russell Westbrook has gone so insanely off the deep end that people were acting like this trade is anything close to fair when he is traded for a guy with the same contract who we have not watched played basketball since 2018 and is coming off a friggin' Achilles injury.

All right. Like, this is absolutely unbelievable. Under any other circumstance, people look at that trade and they go, what in the hell is Houston doing? What are you doing? It'd be different if the contracts, if one ended before the other. But if we're just talking about level of place, peak John Wall was not what Russell Westbrook was. So now you're getting a guy who's coming off of two years of injury. It clearly

makes Houston a lot worse. It clearly makes Washington a lot better. I'll listen to arguments about the pick. But in terms of the trade, this is a robbery, a robbery. Well, I mean, this was a situational trade. You had Russell Westbrook who wanted out of Houston and did not appear at Rocket's training camp. And according to Mark Stein tonight, James Hardham has yet to arrive either. They expect him by Sunday. But we'll see about that.

But Westbrook didn't show up. He didn't want to be there. And there just weren't that many teams that had any interest at all in trading for Russell Westbrook, except for the Washington Wizards. Because they were dealing with their own John Wall situation where, you know, he wasn't super happy about the fact,

Bradley Beale was the number one guy there, it seemed. And also, for the Wizards, they had never seriously considered trading John Wall until Russell Westbrook became available. And you know me, Chris, I am number one Russell Westbrook hater on this podcast, maybe an NBA media and all together. Maybe, everybody. I don't know about everybody. Maybe, maybe. You're up there. I've ripped him quite a lot. I'm in like the all ripping Westbrook media team, which I'm not necessarily proud of it, but I'm, I think my analysis of him is fair. And that's why I say this is an obvious upgrade for the Washington Wizards. You gave up a heavily protected 2023 first round draft pick with

John Wall, John Wall, who's coming off of ruptured Achilles, has not played basketball in two years who has a style of play that's largely dependent on explosiveness on attacks at the rim on burst on his drives and just sudden change of direction go those guys historically history's not kind to people coming off achilles injuries like him so for for for for Washington i just want to quickly summarize this i wrote about this today at the ringer two just quickly like for the wizards this is a a desperation move in the sense that you need to make the most of these next two years or else Bradley Beale is a goner. He's a goner. And so you get an upgrade despite Westbrook's flaws, despite the questions of the fit with Beal, which we'll get

into, this is an upgrade. And for the Rockets, it is also a desperate move. Hardin wanted out, Westbrook wanted out. You don't want to trade Hardin for all the reasons we've got into in recent weeks. He's a top 10 player, an MVP candidate. You don't trade those guys without giving it a shot. But Westbrook, you know, I've heard a lot of people in that front office viewed this as an to maybe recalibrate, maybe get better. And with John Wall, maybe he'll work out. I'm not optimistic that he'll be anywhere close to the same guy that we saw pre-injury, but even the guy we saw pre-injury was not Prime John Wall.

He was starting to be starting to decline a little bit. So for Houston, it's really a last-ditch effort to make things work with the new personality at Christian Wood there now, get a new coach in Stephen Silas. It's a last-ditch effort to get things to work with James Harden before. there's no option but to trade him or you lose him for nothing and free agency. It's a desperate move for both teams, but it was a move that had to be done. All I know is this, Kev, if we would have discussed a week ago what you could get in return for John Wall, even as much as people don't like Russell Westbrook, it's insane to think that they got that.

You would think you're attaching all kinds of first and like just to try to get off the contract. It's because he wanted out and nobody else really. wanted them. Charlotte had some level of interest until it turned out they were going to get La Mello Ball. New York, like their interest from what I understand was minimal at best. Like, they'd want more back in return with Russ to get that to happen. And then the Clippers, I reported weeks back that they were one of the teams of the interest. That seemed to fizzle very, very quickly. And so that really left Washington. And for Washington, just like there wasn't interest in Westbrook anywhere, there also wasn't much interest. Well, this was, these two teams had to

work together. They had no choice. Reading about, well, first on the, on the injury front, just for people to understand, because I was covering Mike Conley when he went through his Achilles issue. And there's... And that wasn't a ruptured Achilles, so that was like an Achilles sprain

or something like that, right? Well, what they do is you've got a rub in the back of your heel, and they go out and they extract this, and then you have to rehab in order to you know, because you're worried if you keep playing, you are going

to rupture your Achilles, okay? So Wall got that same thing done that Conley did. And then in rehab tore his Achilles. Yes. And that's the terrifying part of this, right? Because he was already going to rehab. And then to read David Aldridge's story,

and this is just kind of slipped in there, but there was obviously a lot of stuff with Wall and Beal and that whole deal. And one of the things that is mentioned was that Beal didn't necessarily feel like John, like he didn't know how long he's out of wait for John Wall to be John Wall again and that he didn't necessarily take his rehab as seriously. And whether that's fair or not, that's how the guy feels. Beyond that, he also makes the point that the owner, Ted Leontes, as well as Tommy

Shepard, the general manager, were absolutely furious about the shirtless photo where he throwing up gang signs that went around for John Wall, just obviously a regrettable situation. Pretty much across the organization, there was some disappointment with that whole situation. And he's facing the franchise. And they were very, very bad about it. It wasn't the first time the first time that we know about publicly and not the first time privately either. And they were, they were super upset about that. And so that, that whole relationship and everything had run its course. Okay. And John Wall, they, they didn't want him to be part of the organization anymore. He didn't want to be part of the organization anymore. You've got the weird dynamic with Beal already.

And then you have the whole Westbrook thing, which was a one year stop in Houston and now he heads off to Washington. The one thing I will recoil on, though, regarding in my defense of Russell Westbrook. And I understand that you have acknowledged. that you're a hater. I listen to the emergency pod. But I think more than anything else, I'm brutally honest about him. Okay.

Well, I'm going to be brutally honest about this. I was listening to the emergency pod. And one of the things that I have gotten bothered by with everybody, not you, everybody talking about Westbrook, is this idea that Russell Westbrook

is who he is. He hasn't changed his game at all. and this is what you're getting, this ball hog, this inefficient monster. And I will circle back to, there's a website I like a lot. It's called the ringer.com. And they have a writer there named Rob Mahoney, who's very good. Very good. Rob has beautiful words.

His vocabulary is so much more vast than mine. And I will tell you. Right before the NBA season stopped, Rob Mahoney of the ringer.com wrote the following. Russell Westbrook is bending and opposing defenses are breaking. And he chronicles all the ways that Russell Westbrook had transformed his game in the second half of the season. That before January 1st, he was taking 40% of his share.

shots were from the restricted area. That number ballooned up to 52%. That his field goal percentage went from 52% in the restricted area to 63% in the restricted area. That his true shooting percentage moved to 57.3, 1% behind James Hardin and right behind LeBron. That he led the league in drives. He scored 15 points per game in the paint. and in fact, there's only two guys in the whole NBA that scored more points in the paint on average.

And that was Janus and Zion. That's it. That's the list. Janus, Zion, and Russell Westbrook. And like, I feel like he did. Now, he got COVID. He had the quad injury. But there's even quotes from Mike Dantone in the article about, and it's like January to March didn't happen.

He started off terribly. He shot the ball like hell. But guess what he stopped doing? Shooting. He stopped shooting those jumpers. And yeah, maybe I'm, I don't know. I guess there's excuses or reasons. But I feel like it's a legitimate excuse that he was injured and coming back from COVID in the bubble when he tried to play in those playoffs.

Yeah. I mean, for Washington, this is why it's a win for them. Because Russell Westbrook was playing some of the best basketball of his career prior to the hiatus. in March. No doubt about it. He was adapting. He was playing a different style and partially it was a response to the system. Partially it was a response to the fact his jumper wasn't falling, which is one of the inherent problems with him. We saw that pop up in the postseason despite any problems with coronavirus, despite the quad injury, defenses don't respect his shot in a postseason setting. They lag off, they sag off of him, they give him space and he often doesn't make them pay.

That's a whole different issue. With Washington, To me, it's going to be very interesting to see the way these two fit because with Bradley Beale, you have a player who despite the fact he wasn't named to the All-Star team, despite the fact he didn't make all NBA, averaged over 30 points per game. And he was incredibly efficient. He was unbelievable last season. He took the leap. He went from two-time All-Star, very, very good player to somebody who is in the discussion

to be a top 10, top 15 player in the league. is he that yet? I don't think so until he does it again, until he does it when there's actual winning expectations, but he looked like that level of player. So, Bradley Beale did that by becoming an on-ball monster. But before that, why he was a two-time all-star, why he's been good since he was young player, was because of his off-ball prowess coming off-of-screens and pin-downs and hand-offs, cutting to the rim, moving and relocating off-ball. He's awesome in that area. With Russ, you know he can handle the on ball. You know he can run, pick and roll for you and find Beal, create shots for him.

I am excited to see how much balance is there. How much is Russ off ball? Because John Wall, Wall is a better shooter than Westbrook. He shot over 38% on catch-and-shoot three-point attempts since 2013. Russ is sub-30%. So there's a big difference between those two with their three-point shooting ability. is that something Russ got better at over the off season? He's not leaping as high.

Did he change his shooting mechanics? I have no idea. We'll find that out during preseason when we see some footage of him shooting. But I am, that's the big question for me. Westbrook could be perfect for Beale if he's able to at least be somewhat of an impactful player when Beal has the ball. Because of what Westbrook can bring as a passer to create for Beal and make them an even more dynamic offense. I also have recoiled on the whole ball hog ball dominator.

I mean, this guy, like Kevin Theran averaged over 25 points a game every single year. Paul George was in the top three in the MVP voting. James Hardin didn't have a bad year. Like I'm saying what is playing with another start? Just the idea that it would negatively affect Bradley Beal. To me is silly when you look at. There's three different guys that have had amazing seasons along playing alongside

Russell Westbrook. That is not true of all kinds of guys. When I say it could negatively impact Beal, what I mean is you have this person who's just turned 27 years old and who has gotten better literally every single season of his career. And the biggest leap happened last year when he went from very, very good to great. That's the toughest leap to make. And he's somebody who I know when I reported the story in the Wizards back in July,

they said they were talking about extending his three point range to 30 plus feet. they want him to become one of those guys that isn't just pulling up at the three-point line like he was. He used to be somebody that pulled up from mid-range. Beal was a mid-range guy and then he became a three-point guy. I think this takes so much pressure off of him. Well, I know it takes pressure off, but what I'm saying

is like you still need to give room to Beal to be the player that he could possibly be. And with Ross, I hope there's just balance in the way their two roles are structured. To me, Beal is still the one, the number one guy on that team. And I hope Russ is able to adapt and allow that because there was the report about how Ross wanted back his old role where it was more like what he had in OKC.

Hopefully it's more like what OKC had with Durant. If it's Durant and Russ, this could work wonderfully for the Wizards, for Beal, for everybody. Same coach. Scott Brooks. Who loves him? Yeah, exactly. And I'll tell you what. If you're Washington, there's no way you make this deal.

All year long, it's been about how Beal and Wall are excited to play with each other. They're looking forward to get back on the court and see how it works. One of the reasons why they both had their contracts lined up. There's no way, no way you do this trade unless Tommy Shepard, the Wizards GM, is getting approval from Beal, getting a sign-off from Scott Brooks that there's interest, you know, and having Russ back and coaching him again. There's no chance this deal happens for Washington, which is why, for them, I'm really excited. that's a risk in the next two years

damn well got to go well for them or else Beals are goner but this raises their ceiling and the only way to keep Beal the only way for any of them to keep their jobs is to win and this helps them win more basketball games. One of the things that I think that

and this is this is just a a feeling that you have about guys as you watch them as you watch them that don't it does not always stand up on paper.

And that is the impact. Like people can laugh at like culture and they can laugh at foxhole guys or whatever you want. Like Russell Westbrook is the kind of guy that if there's no camera in the gym on a Tuesday night and you're playing in Charlotte, he's still trying to murder you. And that matters. It just does. The kind of guy that is like has that kind of.

spirit, I think has a profound effect on a basketball team. Now, yes, he is a flawed basketball player. I somehow have turned into a Russell Westbrook defender, and this was never my intention. But I will tell you, as I've watched this guy play now, you know, dozens of games in person over my lifetime, I watch him and I am in absolute awe about how he is constantly just trying to kill you on the court. and I do think his teammates feed off of that. And I think it will have a profound effect on Washington.

And I'm kind of surprised that people don't look at them. I look at them now as I will be surprised if they are not a playoff team. I don't give a damn how low people's opinions are of Russell Westbrook. You don't have two players that good. What non-playoff team has players as good as Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal on it? I mean, that is a hell of a back court. You know what I think it is, Chris? I think the Wizards were so bad last year.

I mean, they missed the playoffs in the East. They were bad. People didn't realize or they don't fully grasp how unbelievable Bradley Beale was. I mean, he got, he got no accolades. And that's because they weren't winning. That's right. But the fact is, the fact is, is that he had a season where he averaged 30.5 points, 6.1 assists with a 57.9 true shooting percentage.

Those three numbers have all only ever been exceeded in a single season by James Hardin, Michael Jordan, and Oscar Robertson. That's crazy. I know you can say I'm cherry picking stats or whatever, but that's the facts. Those three statistics have only been surpassed by those three legends. Beale had an unbelievable year. I don't care if it was on a bad non-playoff team in the East or not. everything Beal has always done

has worked in winning situations. When the Wizards were in playoffs, it has worked in losing situations like it did last year. It's going to work this coming season. I look at it and I say, I say you got Westbrook at Bill, you should be able to put three pretty good guys around him.

I didn't like the Bertons contract, but Burton's a good, I don't like it. I like it for the next two years. He's a good player. And again, but you got him on the outside that you can also throw it out to

with these two incredibly dynamic players and then, you know, look, the roster's not... I got other good players, man. Troy Brown's really good, dude. He got better over the course of the year. What if Rui takes a leap, you know what I'm saying? Like, I mean, they got some guys... They drafted Denny Avvia, one of the most NBA-ready players in the entire draft.

And some of those guys, like, they're going to be... I think this isn't development mode anymore. They're going to be thrown in the water, and it's going to be sink or swim for their young guys on that team. And we'll see who survives. You know what I mean? Of the Troy Browns and the Rewies and the whoever. but Scott Brooks, I mean, he knows how to coach Russell Westbrook, right? I think that is an element that is important here.

And then we haven't spent a lot of time on the other side, which is, you know, this feels like this is going very quickly towards nobody believing that James Harden is going to be a member of the Houston Rockets post-trade deadline. Even if they hold on to him at the beginning of this year, is he going to be there? for the long haul. And do you think that this move is a signal that that's what is to come? Or do you think that this was legitimately a move to try to, I understand the situation with Westbrook and that had to change course? But do you think that they looked at this as a basketball move that can improve us? And it's hard to understand what they did with, you know,

Covington going elsewhere. and they signed a free agent in Christian Wood, which is a free agent move that you liked a great deal. Yeah. I just, I don't know. Do you think they look at, I know what they're saying,

but do you think that they are making that deal thinking this makes us a better team? Or do they just acknowledge it's not going to make us a better team, but we need to do this because the other thing is untenable. I think it's largely due to just the fact that they traded. They had to trade. Westbrook. He wanted out. He wasn't showing up the camp. And like I said earlier, but Hardin wants out too. Harder wants out too, but you're not going to trade James Harder. That would be stupid. It'd be dumb to trade James Harden considering the lack of

godfather offers that's not out there. There's no offer that you're like, you know what, screw it. We got to do it now. We don't want to, but we get to do. That's not out there. But trading Ross, you know, I've heard from a number of different people around the league that Houston sort of looked at this like, all right, we know it's not going to work with. with Russ and Hardin. They both want out and basketball reasons. Russ doesn't get respect to the half court when Hardin's dominating the ball. Try to find the best best possible basketball fit.

And with Wall, similaresque player to Westbrook and that he should get a lot of at-room chances with his explosiveness, assuming he's able to stay healthy. And he's also a better shooter than Westbrook is. So could it be an upgrade? Maybe. It could be a fit upgrade if Wall is anything like he was before or maybe even with a more mature style.

Because again, when I reported that wizard story back in July, I talked to John Wall and he, I mean, players and coaches and GMs, they say stuff all the time. And it's hard to know what they're just feeding the media, feeding fans to make them happy and satisfied. They give him a good quote. But I did sense Wall had some accountability for his style. of play. He said the reason why I was somebody who dominated the ball so often was because Beale wasn't the level of player that he is right now. That was my role in what I had to do. But now that Beal has become the star player, he said, I'm open to cutting off ball and spotting out more and sharing the ball with him. You would think if that's true, if he's got to

walk the talk here, he would do that with Hardin as well. And Adrian Wojornowski from ESPN reported that for Hardin, Wall was the preference over Westbrook for him, which I mean, I don't know what Hardin wants. One year ago, he didn't want to play with Chris Paul. And so they traded Paul and all these draft picks to get Westbrook. And maybe now he apparently prefers to play with Wall instead of Westbrook. So they're flipping Westbrook. I mean, who knows, man.

James Hardin might not know what he wants. Maybe the Westbrook thing is crazy because it's not like they were just a pairing out of nowhere. One of the thought, though, maybe the biggest mistake was giving Hard and all that power. Maybe that was the biggest mistake. I understand the Paul thing, right? Like, Paul has clashed with other guys, right? Like, he's not the easiest guy in the world to play with. I freely admit that because he is an absolute Rottweiler, right?

And he's not always easy on his teammates. I mean, you saw at the end of that Clippers run, you would see, like, it felt like, you know, Blake and DeAndre and those guys have been pretty beaten down by this guy, right? even though I'm a huge Chris Ball fan and admirer, I understand. And many of the great players are not the easiest because they care so deeply and are such perfectionist about things. That being said, it's different with the Paul thing than the Westbrook thing. Because we were sold the bill of goods that they were friends.

And they had played basketball together. It wasn't like a pairing out of nowhere. Hey, let's see how this works. That was a, we know each other, and we've played basketball together, and we've known each other since we're in our young 20s, and we do want to pair up. And this is going to be great. And it's crazy to think that within a year's time, that obviously, more so that people could talk basketball, this is a relationship evaporation that caused this, because both of them were talking about wanting to play elsewhere.

My understanding is that part of Westbrook's desire to want a trade was simply because Hardin wanted a trade out. There was an aspect where he wanted his old rollback and he knew he couldn't get that in Houston playing next to James Hardin or he thought he couldn't get it next to playing next to James Hardin with Antonia's the coach, who knows with Silas. But he wanted out, he wanted out nonetheless period and he got his way out. And it's also tough on players.

We know. Look, they look up, it's not the same guy running the team anymore, you know, with their. It's not the same guy coaching them anymore. All the stuff they signed up for, it's not the same guy's flanking you anymore. Robert Tuffington is going and playing in Portland. And now you're playing with Christian Wood. And so everything's changed.

And there have been, we're not speaking out of school, multiple reports that they were not happy about the Stevens Highland. Neither of them were excited about the Stephen Silas Highland. Which is disappointing, which is really disappointing. pointing Stephen Silas, a highly accomplished assistant coach, highly well regarded in for all the conversation this year about, you know, the NBA, there has to be more black head coaches, more black general managers. Silas was given an opportunity that he rightfully deserves and has long deserved. It sucks that this has sort of been some of the response there from Westbrook

and Hardin. It's like, he's a good coach. And I just wish, and I hope for Houston's part, that Hardin, I hope for them and for him that this works out. Like it would be kind of nice if it does because Silas is a good coach coming from Dallas. He can adapt some of what they did and install it here. Christian Wood there. Look, is this a bad starting five? Christian Wood, PJ Tucker, Eric Gordon, James Harden, John Wall. That's not a bad starting five.

No. That's not bad. What if Boogie is able to come off the bench and provide some energy for you? You get Sterling Brown. Ben McLemore was good last year. This isn't a bad team. Oh, no. No.

It's a good team. That's right. I mean, they're probably not home court advantage team, but it's a playoff team. It's a playoff team. It should be a playoff team. Could it implode?

If Wall doesn't stay healthy, it could. A lot does hinge on that. A lot hins on John Wall. And that's what's scary here, man, because with John Wall, it wasn't just the Achilles injury.

He had multiple knee problems, had multiple lower body problems leading up to that happening. And he did not look like himself the year and a half, before the injury. Well, I read something, it might have been

John Holliger's column about, like he thought, you know, best case scenario is Detroit Rose. He's a good player. It's good.

That's not, that's not a $47 million dollar player. You know what I'm saying? But, I mean, what's fair is fair, right? Because Seth Portnow

wrote a big article, you know, as many have seen, chronicling guys coming off of Achilles. And it's tough. It's not good. Yeah. And obviously we're going to have two coming back this year, getting to see Duran.

Oh, yeah. And we're getting, oh, yeah, that's right. I forgot about the bookie one. And those two back together. Yeah. After the Kentucky days. I mean, with cousins, it's technically ACL is the most recent one. Right.

But he didn't technically return from the Achilles prior to that. which puts into perspective, the point here is that he had the ruptured Achilles and then a torn ACL that stopped his comeback. Because that's what can happen. That's what can happen with that. And there's no way for us to know until we see these guys play basketball. What they're capable of.

Let me say. And I have training camp in preseason two. Not a lot of time to prepare it. We get less than 20 days until the season's opener. Look, John Wall, one of my favorite players to watch ever. Seriously. Like with,

you got a real fetish for inefficient shooters, don't you? No, that's 1617, John Wall, which is his best year. Like that guy, well, look,

they're in games, they were what, a game seven away from East finals? I mean, it's the best of Wizards have done in the last 50 years. Like, he was a dynamite player.

He was exciting. He was a fun. He was a fun. exciting fun player. You know what I mean? And he's got great charisma. So I'm hoping that, you know, John Wall can come back.

But as a Derek Rose fan also, there's another one for you. As a guy who likes Derek Rose too. I've seen what's, what's happened with Derek. A Derek's a good NBA player, right? But he's never going to be MVP there, Gross.

You know what I'm saying? Like, sure. So here's hoping. You know, with this Houston trade, since the deal happened, I've checked with a handful of people

in the league in front offices. and almost all of them have said they think Houston's going to string this along as long as they can with Hardin, even if it doesn't work out with John Wall. Like they're going to try everything they can to keep him there. And my thing is with that is let's just say if it works with Wall, it's easy. You know, you get a winning team. Maybe Hardin's happy there. Maybe he feels like he should stay and win.

He has like roots there. He has business there. It's not necessarily that Hardin wants to. leave Houston that said he wants to go to the place that gives him the best chance to win. Brooklyn is that team right now that he feels like he can win with. But can Houston steal that crown back? Maybe if Wall stays healthy. But let's just say Wall doesn't stay healthy.

You know that's not true. For being fair, though, Kevin, you know that's not true, though. What part? He has no chance at a championship with that team. You know that. Probably not. Well, as they're controlling. Probably not.

Yeah, that's what he cares about. I mean, you know what I'm saying? I mean, for them to win a championship, John Wall would have to be better than prime John Wall it's just the honest truth it's just the honest truth Christian Wood would need to put on 15 more pounds

and be able to defend bigger guys like there's a lot boogie's going to have to stay healthy and be 70% of what his prime self was a lot would need to break right but let's just say it doesn't go well John Wall isn't the same guy

or he has nagging injuries or another major injury whatever it is if you're Houston what is the move at that point? because if Wall, if Wall gets, you know, his value gets further diminished, you're not moving that contract. That is a truly immovable contract. I would try to get a great, what can you do? I would try to get a great player and a million draft picks. I mean, that's kind of the, well,

that's what I'm saying. Like, if you're Houston, how do you get that player? Or young talent. Like, look, what happened? Look, they were put down hard and like, what are you giving up for that young talent? No, no, no. I'm saying I'm talking about if I'm moving hardened. That's what I mean. So like, Like the Pelicans did when they had to move Anthony Davis, it gets to that moment. What I'm saying is if it's indeed true that they want to drag this along as long as they can, keep hardin as long as they can. If Wall isn't the guy they hope he is. No, you put yourself in it. What is the move for them?

Because to me, I don't think there is a move. This all hinges on John Wall. All of it. They've got some tough stuff too. I mean, look, Eric Gordon's about to start a four-year $72 million extension. I mean, like, they got tough, man. They got tough stuff because you look around and it's like, all right, how are we? When you're asking me, how do you improve?

It's hard to look and see like, okay, here's assets we could move to attempt to, if we're trying to play K. Hardin and say, hey, we are trying to build a team that can compete at the highest level, right? Because he's going to play. Gordon's a piece you could move probably sooner than later. You can't get much back though, not. Maybe, maybe. are you getting something that helps you win a lot more than Eric Gordon does? Let's just say like a comparable player who's a little bit bigger, if that makes any sense,

like a bigger comparably talented player. I mean, to me, that's the type of move that you make around the edges of your roster, but there's not a lot that Houston can do. And even the assets they got back, think about that that 2023 first round draft pick they got from the Wizards. That's lottery protected in 2023, top 12 protected. in 2024, top 10 protected in 2025, top eight protected in 2026, and then if it still doesn't convey, it becomes two second rounders. So the wizards, they are completely protected. If this bombs, if Westbrook and Beal are gone by the 2020-23 season and they're a lottery team,

they still get their pick. And they get the pick the year after that. I was really surprised they got all those protections on that. I was. Yeah. That's a good deal for Tommy Shepherd did right by that. I'll tell you what. I don't think it's a coincidence that this deal was talked about around draft night because that's around the time where it seemed like Charlotte might be an option. It seemed like New York might be an option. And then they all went away. And then things picked up and you get these protections that truly the name protections.

It protects the wizards if this blows up for them. They are protected. It's okay. You know, it's okay for them. So there's not long-term risk there. but point being is that for Houston, that first round draft pick doesn't have much trade value. It's almost guaranteed to be a non-lottery pick.

And if not, even if they suck, you know what I mean? You're not getting the pick. No, when you make a deal like that, you're sitting there rooting for the team to suck. And it's like,

well, geez, if they suck, we don't, we don't benefit from that. It's just a tough situation. And that's why I keep coming back to the fact that, I don't think this is going to work enough for Houston.

for them to keep hard and plugged in there. I just don't see it working because I don't have. It's a bad deal, Kev. Like when you, you've probably worked places with people that are unhappy or don't want to be there. And they come into, that's hard, man.

Like, it's hard if, and especially if it's the best player on the team. If he's walking into training camp and he don't want to be there. You know, like, I understand that you have to be a professional and you have to go about your work or whatever else.

But it's going to show, right? Like, as much as you want it. Everybody in that locker room knows he don't want to be there. He don't want to be on this team. He don't want to be playing with these guys. He's not going to have some meeting where he says, hey, I know everything you read, but let's go, let's go win a title. By the way, Hardin isn't even that type of guy.

Like, he's not, he's not, I mean, look, I remember a couple years back. I think it was the year, Janus won his first MVP, if I remember correctly, or maybe the year before that, a GM said to me, he's like, I don't understand everybody voting hard in his MVP. I don't get the hype for him. He's like, he's not a leader. He doesn't lead his team. And everybody talks about all these stats on encore production. But what makes the most valuable player, the most valuable player is not just that. It's also what they do on the bus, on the plane, in the locker room at halftime, after games, between games, how they mentor players.

He's like, all that is a minus for Hardin compared to like a LeBron or Iona. So those other candidates we've had in recent years. And with Hardin, that's another reason why with this situation for all we've argued about him over the years and how much I love him as a player, the one real knock on I have on him is the leadership. And I don't trust him as somebody to steer this rocky rye that they're on. I don't trust that he's going to be able to navigate this for them. They're in a tough spot.

That is a, that's not a great environment to walk into training camp with. You know what I'm saying? Well, especially because there was also the report that not only was hardened and Westbrook unhappy, but PJ Tucker wasn't happy. Eric Gordon wasn't happy.

I mean, good luck to Stephen Silas. Like, congratulations to him getting this gig. He, I hope he knew the chemistry problems were as deep as they are when he said, yes, please, to the job.

But, uh, it's weird. It's weird. But you know, hey, you know what? And again, you're counting entirely too much on John Wall. But that is the kind of thing that could save a situation like that. Is a guy with this, depending upon how he comes in. But if he's got this insane energy, let's go do this, because he is a gregarious guy.

He is a, he is that kind of a guy. Like they always said in the locker room, John Walls, kind of the wild guy and Bradley Beals the quiet guy in the corner more so, right? And so sometimes it's fire and ice. On that hand, it does at least infuse a little bit of energy if there's a guy that's out there that's excited to play basketball and is constantly trying to get everybody going and on the same page.

It's too much to put on a guy, a new guy. But you just cited the David Aldridge report, though, that apparently they were unhappy with how he returned and the shape he was in. That's not what leaders do. Leaders come in and they set the tone. They're the first there. They practice the hardest. They're the one setting a tone for everybody else.

They're going to suck. I agree. I try. It's a disaster and it's hurtling to a town. It sucks. I feel so bad for Rockets fans. Shout out to our ringer, co-worker, my friend, Sean, you are resident Rockets fan here.

I'm sorry. That stinks. All right, Kevin. We do have to get to a lot. a few news and notes. Great news for Lakers fans. They needed more great news after coming off a championship. That Anthony Davis and LeBron James both extended their contracts for an extreme amount of money.

Both. There is no argument that both are worth every single penny. But it also leads to the conversation of, and you've talked about this a lot, and I agree, that the story is not written with LeBron James. They just won a title last year. They will be the prohibited favorite to return to the NBA finals and win the NBA finals this year. Barring injury,

that is a, it is objectively a better team than that was last year. And we said this, that this was the scary thing when we're watching them in the bubble playoffs, which was, this is probably the worst version of the LeBron AD team, you know, in terms of what they're flanked with. And I beat up their supporting cast. I have said many times, like, I thought they've done an extremely great job this offseason.

And it's a downright frightening proposition when you see them and what they've built around LeBron and AD. they can lose one of those guys for 15 to 20 games and be okay. I hope they don't, but they could. Whereas that was always going to be a tough road to ho last year, if that were so. Now it's extended. And anybody that had these pipe dreams of signing Anthony Davis in a couple of years, like, okay, you could go ahead and cross that off. Forget about that.

And so we know we're getting at least what? three, four more years of LeBron and AD there with the Lakers and it's just going to be a matter of who the other 10 guys on the roster are. So a couple of quick thoughts here. LeBron's deal is through the 2022-23 season. 80s deal is through 24-25 with a player option for that year 24-25. So 80 signed a five-year max extension. That's noteworthy because I've had a number of conversations with execs and agents recently

that have made the point that because, of the uncertainty with the coronavirus pandemic and how that could affect the salary cap in the coming years and possibly even the collective bargaining agreement, there's some thought that you'll see some big name players like AD or even like Janus sign on that dot of the line for a longer term deal to lock up a big time, a lot of money and have long terms of security when normally you probably would have seen AD sign a two plus one contract that would have him taken, would have taken him to the 10 year max extension where he could have made more.

That's fascinating. That's a chatter because it's a bird in the hand. You're right. They look at it and they say, okay, I'm pretty comfortable with five years, $180 million or $190 billion. Right. And ultimately, will that influence Janus's decision, you know, after the offseason they had getting Drew Holiday? We'll see about that. But on a related, 20 second time out, just to go back? Hardin didn't sign that.

He didn't know. They offered him that, right? So that is at least one example, right? That is the difference between whatever they had thee Davis because Hardin could have locked that number in. They offered it to him and he didn't, which also led us to believe that. Sure. Clearly is signifying, I don't necessarily want to be here for the long haul. And with LeBron's deal ending in 22, 23, that's noteworthy because his son graduates high school in 2020.

the NBA right now doesn't allow high schoolers go straight to the end to the NBA maybe by then that age could change or maybe by that point you know he plays one year in college and LeBron does a one year extension with the Lakers I find that interesting but the timing of the deal for the high school side with his son I think we're gonna if brawny keeps getting better there's a strong chance with his skill level as a pastor like this isn't just ESPN hype it's not just media manufactured hype brawny James is a good process. for a high school freshman. Oh my God. I saw a highlight video of him the other day. He is huge. He's gotten bigger. He was standing next to his dad. And I was like,

what the hell? He looked like he grew a couple inches over the whole hiatus since we lost. Unless LeBron was like hunching down for some of these. He looked a little bigger. He looked, his neck looked a little stronger. He looked like he was growing up like high schoolers do.

And so there's a chance. He becomes an NBA player. No guarantees, but a chance. So with LeBron, there's that possibility, but also this. Look at it from the Lakers perspective. For the 23-24 season, AD is their only salary on the payroll. So theoretically, if LeBron were to leave that off-season to go play with his son somewhere,

or if LeBron even were to resign, the Lakers could still have either way a max slot to bring in another guy to play with AD. they are in position for that offseason to possibly lose LeBron but still be a franchise that's a destination for another star. So for AD, they're about to crank up the Zion stuff, get both the pelicans. That would be horrible. That would be horrible.

Both Pelican guys. That's messed up, man. Leave Zion alone. I'm not trying to start anything. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. But, you know. You keep Java, Rand's name out your damn mouth, by the way.

Well, that's going to be the summer. We see some of the guys, depending on the length of their deals, from last summer's resignings or this summer's restricted free agent signings, depending on the timing and the length of their deal. That's the offseason. We'll see some of those guys pop up there. So, you know, the Lakers and AD specifically, to me, they made a wise decision based off the pandemic, based on the long view here to position themselves for.

for the next guy for either post-Lebron or with LeBron on a shorter term deal. And that is the difference between those two teams in L.A. and what was this grand battle with the whole Kauai and Paul George thing last year, which is now the Lakers, we feel confident. They are going, they are going to be awesome for at least the next four years, probably longer. Clippers, who knows? Who knows what the timeline is on that? We really don't.

you could look up and within a year's time, right? Like, because they don't have that same commitment. And that's what happens when you win. That's what happens when you win. Well, one thing I want to say, let's not forget, one of the teams Kauai had in consideration was the Nix. I'm just saying, what if the Knicks looks like the more appealing team to Kauai after the season? It probably won't happen. He don't like the cold.

Remember they said he lives in San Diego for God's a good. New York's a great city, though. like New York is one of those cold weather cities where I'd still be happy. Well, you got, they got to move to somebody because now they're not getting Anthony Davis. With Paul George, you know, he's got to be the guy. You kind of went at it a little bit. I saw it on Twitter.com. He said, he said on all the smoke podcasts, uh, with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson,

quote, Doc was trying to play me as a Ray Allen or JJ Reddick all pinned. downs. I can do it, but that ain't my game. I need some flow. I need some mixes of some pick and roll and post-ups. That last season was hard. And I took issue with that comment because despite how much I've knocked Doc Rivers for blowing countless three-one leads and the playoffs for lack of adjustments, I never had an issue with his role for Paul George. I thought it was fine. Paul George, you know, Doc Rivers' role didn't cause Paul George to hit the side of the backboard in game seven elimination game in the fourth quarter. I mean, so I looked up the stats. That's all I did. And I tweeted out, interesting comment.

Paul George finished 33% of his total plays using the pick and roll, which was a career high. The prior high was 25% and OKC according to synergy. It's nothing, nothing like a Ray Allen or JJ Redick role. And not only that, he had many other seasons in which he'd logged more shot attempts off of handoffs and screens than he did in his first season with the Clippers under Doc Rivers. To me, it just came off as this major excuse and there was already...

countless reports, namely from multiple writers at the athletic that said, there's a lack of accountability. There's a lack of accountability with Paul George. To me, that statement just was everything people have been reporting for months about him.

Do you, when you wrote the following, interesting comment, does that mean that you truly think that that comment is interesting? or is that your way of saying this is colossal bullshit? And I just need this as a reference point in the future. When you say something to me and you say,

that's an interesting comment, Chris. Does that actually mean that it is colossal bullshit? Well, I mean, so when I say interesting, I really tend to mean interesting. In that case, all you get to do is pull up the quote tweets in response of mine, everybody else spoke for me. They found it interesting also. Everybody else spoke for me.

Everybody found that very interesting. What Paul George had to say. Honestly, honestly, though, like in all seriousness, they're not going to win unless there's accountability from the best players in the team. There's got to be accountability. Like, why? Why?

I mean this with all due respect for him, to him, to Paul George. We're like, why would your response not be like, you know what? Like, the role wasn't my ideal role. I wish there was a little bit more balanced. I got to get used to playing with a star like Kauai. But ultimately, I just got to be better as a player. I need to lead these guys. Like, just take ownership.

Take ownership. Your level of a player. People talk about Paul George. He's a top 10 player, which he's not. He's not a top 10 player. And then this is one of the reasons why. This is one of the reasons why mindset. He had one spectacular season.

Other than that, he's been very good. Very good player. Not a great player. Prove it. Show it. A couple other stories that we did need to get to. Shows Sharania reported that the NBA All-Star break looks like it's going to be March 5th through the 10th this year. And then the trade deadline.

So for marking down our calendars, it's going to be roughly, tentatively, the 25th of March. And so, you know, much like the season being pushed back a little more than a month, typically, I think the last year's All-Star game was, well, I remember it was Valentine's weekend. is Valentine's weekend is when that was going on. And so this clearly pushed back three weeks from then, which is kind of in line. But look, it's pretty clear they're having an all-star break. That was one of the things that was on the table as to, hey, will there even be an all-star break

when there is only a 72 game season? But they're getting that in. Hopefully, I mean, obviously we hope against hope that by March 5th through the 10th, you could have fans there and that this would be a real all-star experience rather than there's not going to be an all-star game right i thought that was canceled oh it is star game i believe no i don't think so the all-star game the actual game is canceled but they're going to have all-star weekend because they're a report the report was at the end no it's like this was like

all-star break but all-star the game all-star game itself they're not actually going to have the game In 2021, it was canceled. It was supposed to be in Indianapolis. They moved it to 2024. Okay. So there will be no All-Star game, but there will still be an All-Star break. And what's interesting, though, is they did move the trade deadline to after the All-Star break. That's been unlike recent years where it's been moved ahead of it.

And a lot of GMs, a lot of executives found value and congregating down to, you know, wherever the All-Star game was and having conversations there. Now they changed it back. I wonder if that's something. I was there for Chicago. last year and I mean God it was we got there it was negative 20

why do they have it in cold weather cities negative 20 why why I mean Chicago I love Chicago in the winter I don't love Chicago it's so damn cold it is so cold

and you're down there by freaking Lake Michigan it was freezing everywhere he had to go we're just trying to walk over to Lou Malnadi's you know Lumill Nottis is so good I've been dieting. I've been dieting like the last three weeks and I've lost like 15 pounds or something. Let's go. A lot of water weight. What kind of diet?

The diet I did back in 2011, I lost 40 pounds in 2011. I went from 210 to 170 in 2011. It was this book called The 17 Day Diet. And basically it's multiple cycles. The first cycle is like a lot of, you know, turkey, chicken, fish, vegetables and no carbs for the first 17 day. And then the next cycle of 17 days. Wait, 17 days with no carbs? 70 days of no carbs, yeah. Man, I'm glad you haven't snapped at me too much. No, I'm good, man. I've done the no carb thing.

Boy, I get pissed. I get a headache too, yeah. So, yeah, you know, like my first time doing it back in 2011, I got headaches a lot the first 17 days. But this time around, I had headaches for one day. And that's because even though right now, I mean, or a couple weeks ago, I was heavier than I've ever been. I was 220.

Looked on the scale. And I'm like, you know what? I got to just start the down. diet tomorrow. That was the day it clicked. And the 17-day diet for me, I think I've realized while doing this diet again, you've got to make dieting something that you don't hate. It's really as simple as that you can't hate it. You can't feel like you have to work out in the gym or do workouts for too long. This diet, you know, I can slow play it. I can work out 20 minutes, 30 minutes a day or if I want to ramp it up and do a bunch of, you know, heavier workouts,

I can do that too. You know, but. 7-0 protein. But, you know, for me, I know I'll get to my target weight. It's just a matter of how much I want to push myself with the workouts, which with the diet, I can fluctuate that and do it as much, you know, or as little as I want. You know, you get to make it something you enjoy. The point is no Lou Malnoughties for you. I will eat all of that.

No Lou Malnoughtis for me. But I'll tell you what, Chris. I'll tell you what. Once I hit like a benchmark weight, I'd love to get some pizzas with my mom because earlier in the year, we did order some. of those Lumanati's pieces from Goldbelly. Yep. I heard actually Bill Simmons and Dave Chang were talking about this on Bill's Pod earlier

this week, which was a fantastic conversation. They got like, I highly recommend if you're not already listening to Bill's Pod, listen to the combo with Dave Chang. They get into. Dang, Chang, too. I love Dave. He's an awesome guy. He's unbelievable.

And they got into a lot of like the problems restaurants are facing and the importance of supporting your favorite local restaurants right now through the pandemic because they're getting hit so hard. What was the one we went to him in Vegas? Me and you. Mo Mo Mo Fuku. Oh, so good. Unbelievable.

Unbelievable. Yeah, it's one of the best meals you've ever had. Shout out to Dave Chang. But they, but Momo Fuku is now on Gold Belly where you can order certain dishes. Really? The Lumal Nadi's pizza from Gold Belly, like it, I think it was Gold Belly. Maybe it was another site, but I believe it's on Gold Belly. It travels unbelievably well.

No, it is the best. It's like at worst. The dry ice. the dry ice. Yeah. It's at worst, like 90% of what it is when they serve it to you on the table

or you take it out, right? It's awesome. So, you know, if you've never been to Chicago, but you want to try their deep dish pizza, just give it a try. And like you and your family or you and your roommates or whatever,

you will love it. It's so good. But right now I can't enjoy that. People can go look up a lot of the NBA schedule for the first week. In fact, almost all of it for the first week has come out. I think by the time people listen to this podcast,

on Friday is the expected release of the NBA schedule, at least the first half for all these teams. It became pretty clear just from what has been reported so far, Kev, before we get out of here, they are obviously still going to be featuring Steph Curry on national TV. The Nets, clearly now with their acquisition of Kevin Durant, are going to be a team that we rarely saw on national TV, but immediately will.

And also the other one, like none of the other ones particularly surprised me. It, at least on the surface, it seems like a lot of the team stars that you would expect, but that this year, it was interesting that the Sons are going to get one of the first games, and you have not seen them on national TV in a long time outside of maybe a late game here and there where they're playing at L.A. or something. but the MAVs few national TV games right off the bat that is the Luca deal

we know the Pelicans were regretfully on national TV a thousand times last year they will be on national TV with Zion again that seems but the MAVs stood out to me and the Nets as teams that were already scheduled in that first week because that kind of lends you to know who the NBA is really looking at featuring

maybe a little more this year than they have in past years. Sure, yeah. And you know what? Makes sense. I'm happy with that opening week schedule. And it's going to be weird. Lucas is a blast a lot.

And right? And that opening game on December 23rd, Maverick's Sons. What an awesome matchup. This revamped Mavericks lineup around Luca with the Sons now with Chris Paul and the additions they've made like that. To me, that could be a playoff. preview matchup on their opening night.

I'm really excited, man. I think this season's going to be a challenge with coronavirus. Like there will be delays and postponements and, you know, some confusion and challenges along the way. But from a basketball standpoint, the Lakers are the favorite and they will be my pick to win it all. And I believe they will repeat. But after that, there's a lot of teams that are in like that next level.

You also see. You also see it spread out too. You know, now look, say what you want about Westbrook. He is a guy that has been on TV quite a bit in the past. And so now him being in Washington and Durant being in Brooklyn. Be interesting to monitor and see if the ratings can take a tick up from the disaster that they had because you've got Curry back. You're right with the Warriors. And you do have some new stars on that East Coast for the early games where you kind of got into that problem.

where Warriors Lakers were like and Clippers and their games are at 930 and that's that's tough. You know it's tough as you've been on the East Coast those games are later on shit. Trust me, dude. Like when it comes to football and when it comes to late night basketball games, I miss California a lot. It's it makes it so much better when it comes to watching sports. You know, it's a diehard fan or covering it, covering it professionally. But like, you know, it's going to be a fun year, I think overall. And the other aspect that could impact the ratings too is the fact that the Lakers are a legitimate threat, a strong threat to repeat, and people feed off of dynasties.

They feed off of potential dynasties. They feed off of juggernauts and domination. Yes. So that is going to be an aspect that I would think brings in a lot more casual fans. One more casual fans are going to see that. Because of them winning, it's got that old warriors feel where it's like every time. every time they lose, it'll be a story. You know what I mean?

But that's because they want. No, it just is. It could be the way it is. You know what I mean? Like if they lose opening night to the Clippers, like last year. But it's always your team's biggest win. You know what I mean?

When a team's that awesome. And it's featuring LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the same team. And they're the reigning champions now, right? So that adds a little more gravitas to it. Kevin, before we get out of here, we'll remind people one more time. I'm extremely appreciative of everybody that has come along the ride with us with the mismatch. And you can subscribe.

And we need you to subscribe because we are no longer going to be on the Ringer NBA show feed after this episode that you're listening to right now. So you've got to go subscribe to the mismatch to find us. So you're not scrambling around and tweeting us on Tuesday. Where the hell's the pod? We're telling you. You know what? Yeah, we're telling you now. So go down to the description of this podcast, click the link or hyperlink to Spotify, Apple,

or search for the mismatch on any app that you use to listen to podcasts. And you know what? We'll remind you again in future shows because I'll be staying on the Ringer NBA show feed in some capacity. I'm not sure which day I'm going to be hosting a show. I think it might be biweekly or weekly. I'm not sure yet. But I'll be hosting a show on the feed. So I'll always be nudging people on that show once they're.

that's out sometime in December or January. I don't care about that. I don't care about that. You're not going to listen. But point being, point being, nobody, don't unsub from the NBA show feed because we have the show that I'll be

hosting coming up. We get real ones with Logan and Raja, which is awesome. Group chat still on the feed. And I believe there's some other show in the works as well, which will be allowed us that are later date, but by moving us off this feed, that opens up two days for other stuff.

So I'm excited to be a listener of the feed and to host on the feed once a week. But Chris, it's been awesome. The last four seasons on the Ringer NBA show and I'm excited for the future with the mismatch. It's going to be awesome, dude. For us to be able to be blessed with this, after going through a pandemic season,

makes it all the better. You know what I mean? That really shows how, awesome our listeners have been to us through all the business. Yeah. Our listeners all through it, man. All through the hiatus, all through everything. I mean, it's, uh, it's always fun.

I mean, you know what I miss? I miss a lot of things from prior to this year with the pandemic. But one of the things I do miss most is just bumping into people like games or even in the street or like, you know, concourse outside and they'd be like, love the show with you and Verno, you know, like I have this great clip. from someone at the Annette's game, which I feel like we should use for a, for a teaser. Oh, where a guy jumped on me, right? You got him, you videoed him yelling at me.

He hated on you for your Kyrie take or something like that. Yeah. Yeah, well, how's that going? He's like, he's, how's that going, Flat Earth? It's third eye season. It's third eye season. Third eye season. You don't know what you're talking about.

You responded to me on Twitter about Kyrie Irving. You're a hater. He's an amazing guy. Third eye season. Third. I, dude, I'm going to be listening next Friday and Tuesday. Don't forget twice a week. All right.

Thank you to producer, Sasha, as always. And make sure you go subscribe to the mismatch. Yeah. We will talk to you on Tuesday.