The Mismatch - World Cup Takeaways, Luka’s MVP Odds, and the Bright Now Suns

Episode Date: August 29, 2023

Verno and KOC discuss how impressed they are with the presentation of the World Cup and their excitement watching this new era of Team USA basketball (01:38). Luka Doncic continues to shine in the World Cup, but can he translate this play into an MVP season? Also, which other countries are impressing the guys the way Germany and Cape Verde have (13:42). After a trip to Arizona, Verno shares why he’s rooting for the Suns even more (30:18). Lastly, the guys end the show by answering some of your emails (36:29). Got a question for Verno and KOC? Send them an email at [e-mail]! Or you can send the guys a tweet @ChrisVernonShow and @KevinOConnorNBA! The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out http://theringer.com/RG to find out more or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Producer: Jessie Lopez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Football is around the corner and we are ramping it up over here on the Ringer NFL feed in the month of August. Every week, Ben Solac and I will be bringing you not one but two extra point takens. That's right, double the trouble as we predict, debate and analyze our way through camp and the preseason every Monday and Friday. But that is not all. Stephen Ruiz and I will be coming to you every Wednesday. We'll talk about everything in the world of the NFL. And who knows, maybe Stephen will even have something nice to say about your favorite squad. Though frankly, I wouldn't count on it.

Subscribe to The Ringer NFL show on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. And be sure to follow the Ringer NFL on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter at Ringer NFL. Welcome to The Mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon. And joining me, she does every Monday night from The Ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, a.k. Kevin O'Connor, A.K.K.m. Kevin O'Conflict. Kevin O'Candiland. Kevin. How are you doing today, man? I'm doing well. It has been a easygoing summer, but it has not. not been without basketball. In fact, I had a national writer text me yesterday and I was like,

he asked me how I was doing and I said, I'm doing well and yourself and he's like, I'm waiting for the offseason. Because he has been covering the World Cup as well. Now, honestly, I've been getting up in the morning and if I know that Team USA is on, I have found myself flipping it on. And when there's been other games on that I have an awareness of, I turn them on. And one of the things about watching this, we've talked about the young stars that are involved in Team USA. And I watched their game against Greece this morning, super impressive. Nobody plays over like 21 minutes. The team looks very good.

Greece was very little competition for them. but one of the things as I watch so many NBA games every year and then we get to the playoffs and so many of them can become so long I gotta be honest with you Kevin this product is something that I envy greatly I really do

I envy the lot less files it's the pacing's beautiful. I understand the broadcast stuff and everything and so it can't be done. But, you know, they only get two timeouts in the first half. They get three timeouts in the second half, but only two in the last two minutes of the fourth. And then they get a timeout that they can use if it goes to overtime, but each breaks 60 seconds. And so the pace of this thing, And the fact that there is just so much basketball that goes on, the game is just moving up and down. Now, it got a, this one was a little more slow because of the immense amount of free throws in the Greece game. But even then, it's kind of like, all right, now a guy goes to the free throw line.

Pop, pop, takes the free throws. Now we're back to playing basketball again. And there's just so much action. I don't, I know, you know, it takes a lot smarter person to me to figure out how you can get, you know, just closer to that kind of flow. But I got to be honest, just watching it. I envy the product. I do. I love it.

I love it. Yeah, I mean, players can't grift for files the same way that they do in the NBA. The NBA should be taking notes, though. I know you said that because of commercials. and the broadcasts and all that type of stuff. You can't change from 48 minutes to 40 minutes. You can't have only two timeouts per team in every half. You can't remove the TV timeouts and all the stuff like that.

But if you do, maybe it leads to significantly more viewership when you change the way ads are delivered to the viewer. Maybe instead of cutting to a full screen commercial break, when everybody's looking at their phone anyway, you instead go to split screen, video of the coach in the huddle. There's a bar on the side of the screen that's displaying an advertisement.

It's like with our podcast advertisements, personally, Chris, I think for any podcast advertisers interested in our show, I think the ads shouldn't cut. I think it should be within the flow. Like Mr. Beast videos, where it's part of the content. Right. And it becomes something that the listener or the viewer

actually enjoys. And it's part of it. If you just cut to commercial, people just look at their phone. And then they're completely tuning out of the commercial nowadays. So I think for the league and their broadcast partners, that is something to think about. How do you overhaul the way ads are delivered? And does that mean you can then therefore improve the aesthetics of the game, which is ultimately what's going to bring in more viewers,

more people who want to dedicate two hours, two and a half hours of their time to watching a full game? and getting the best possible experience. To me, I think that should be first, above all else. How do you make this the best product? And the NBA should be taking notes, and then you figure out the advertising after that. I'll also say that just from watching this team USA, I have found this team USA team to be intensely likable.

Like, I like rooting for them. The ball moves. Like that pass Reeves had to Halliburton, behind the back, back to Reeves, flips it to Bobby Porter's for the layup and transition. Like all these guys are just high IQ hustle and maniacs. It's a lot of fun. Well, and that's going to be the fun part.

As the competition gets greater, you know, you're kind of in regular season mode. If you're Steve Kerr, where everybody's playing, even Walker Kessler got some minutes today. Nobody's playing big minutes. Chris, everybody's eating and happy. But wait a minute, don't say even Walker Kessler. That dude is one of the best front protectors in the league. I get it. But, I mean, he's the last guy on this roster.

Yeah, I know, I know. And he, you know, they're playing Pollo at five. And even like you saw a moment today. Paul looks good. Paul looks good at the five, man, doesn't he? You just see all. This is when you can really see how truly interchangeable this new wave of stars has become.

There's a moment where they have, you know, Jared Jackson is no longer guarding the center because Anthony Edwards is. Right. They've got guys like Anthony Edwards that can just switch on and start guarding centers so that Jared Jackson can roll a roam around and block shots. And one thing about today and just watching them, obviously Reeves was great. Josh Hart did all of his role player stuff.

I would have loved with this version. We talked about how there are guys that are extremely accomplished that are playing in this, like Luca. But when we got beyond that, we're kind of down to Towns. Towns was one of the most accomplished guys in terms of all NBAs and contracts and everything that's participating in this. There's not a ton. A lot of guys are sitting this one out. I would love to have seen this team USA, not like the Olympic one. This team USA have to play Greece with Yonnes. Oh, yeah. Because that's a totally different deal. He is by far the most accomplished.

best player on the floor. And I think it would have been great for Paolo Bancaro and for Jaron Jackson and for all those guys that are a part of this Team USA to have to go up against Janus because his brother's out there. His brother's not an NBA player. Yeah. I know he's in the NBA. He's Jonas's brother.

It's like, if his name was Thanasis Jones, he's not playing. in the NBA, though. I mean, instead of Yannis, they got Papa Yannis, though. Right. And not good enough. You know, it's not bad, though. Thank you. No, he was solid against the USA, but also not an NBA player.

Yeah, and I would have loved to have seen this version of Team USA have to deal with the team with Yonis. And we might get to see him have to deal with Luca, because he is by far the best guy. that is playing in this. He's killing everybody in his sight. He looks the best he's looked in a summer for sure in terms of every time you see a picture of him. He's clearly, there's always this time. And I've seen it happen with a lot of the European guys as well. I'm not saying that there aren't American players that start to watch what they eat and really start taking care of themselves.

but there have been several, like, whether it was Sabonis, whether it was Mark Gassal, whether it was the reigning MVP and world champion Nicola Yolkich, right? Like, these guys that there comes a moment as they're kind of in those mid-20s after some years in the league and they're already awesome, that they start taking all the off-the-court stuff more seriously. and then they turn into different deals. And it's not like Luca wasn't already

one of the best players in the world, but he dominates people. He, I mean, he had four steals today in the game. And I do think that we may catch. I think this might be foretelling of a season where it's like, okay, now we're going to start to remember when we thought, thought this guy could be the best player in the league.

You know, he's kind of, he's not hot right now. He's, you know, they didn't, they didn't end up making the playoffs. He wasn't having the big playoff moments. He wasn't even involved. And so we were all about it, you know, just a few years ago, when they were making that crazy run to the West Finals, and then last year was kind of a downturn. Maybe, maybe this year will be the remind everyone who exactly he is.

Well, if you look at the Fandul NBA MVP odds, right now, Luca is third at plus 650, Yonah's second plus 500, Yokic is the favorite at plus 430. Do you think Luca should be the favorite? No. No. I mean, he still has to do it. And I know, I know. But considering everything you just outlined, how amazing of shape he looks like he's in,

this could be a prove it year for him. He has Kyrie Irving as his co-star on the team. their offensive rating was unbelievable when those guys shared the floor in minutes last season. Luca could be in store for a huge season. So you just think third is appropriate. Yeah, just because of the other two, right? But would you pick him? Like if you're making your prediction early, this isn't an official prediction.

It's only August 28th as we record. But today, would you pick Luca as MVP? I think that if you were asking me to place a bet, that's what I would do. You'd place the bet on Luca plus 650. Okay. Correct. I think that's completely fair. I think it's better odds.

Because I do think they're going to be vastly improved as a team. Oh, yeah. I mean, if you're watching them, I know they're playing against Georgia, you know, in this game today. But it's not like he's not doing this against everybody. He's looked amazing this summer. And I do think that, you know, he weirdly has something to prove coming in. into next year, as well as that team has something to prove.

And so, yeah, I mean, and we always like to give it to somebody new. In the end, when all of a sudden done, they were raising the trophy, people were like, Ah, Yokic is actually the MVP, even though I know it was a regular season award, but after the MB vomiting all over himself when it mattered most, and then Yokic, delivering over and over again totally historic performances. You know, we want to give it to somebody different. And so he hasn't have his yet.

And Janice has his and Embed has his and Yokic has his. And so there's no question. There's going to come a year where Luke is the MVP. It's just whether or not it's going to be this one or not. What do you think? He'll win an MVP. I'd be shocked if he never won an MVP. I'd be shocked.

Yeah. And he looks great. So I hope Team USA ends up facing them. You know, you've got a couple of these other teams that are worth checking up, Bogdanovich and that Nicola Jovich has been fun for Serbia.

Yovich. Yovich. Yeah. And hell, it might help him get a dame deal done if he keeps popping off. He looks good. He looks good off. He's versatile. He's showing a lot of the stuff that he showed

that made him a first round draft pick. Yeah. And the Canadian team has been awesome. Oh, they're so loaded. And they're loaded. They got SGA. SGA. Barrett.

Atlantic. Dwight Powell. Nikiel Alexander Walker, Dylan Brooks. I mean, they got a bunch of guys on that team. Yeah. And Zach Eadie coming off the bench. Yeah. And they have 44 assists against Lebanon.

44 assists. You know, it's interesting. interesting with them because, you know, I just saw the name Shagildos Alexander on the MVP odds and he is ninth at plus 1,800. And with SGA, he does not play like the Oklahoma City version of Shaggildos Alexander for Team Canada like Luca does for Slovenia. SGA is in ball sharing mode. He's, you know, not having to dominate like he does for the

thunder. It's just a completely different style of play for him, whereas Lucas, like, he has become the same guy in international play that he is for the Mavericks because he's undeniably that legendary of a talent. He has to get the ball for them to have success. I'm going to give you another guy that if you've watched this Fiba stuff at all, and you can flip on a random game and see Germany, and you would think Dennis Schrooter

is one of the best 30 players in the NBA. He is awesome. I mean, he's like that guy. for Germany, and Germany's got players on it. Like, they're kind of a fun team. They got the Wagner brothers, and they got some guys. Bonga, Tice. Yeah, they got some players.

And Schroeder is just a menace. He's big for the Lakers last year in spots, and it's pretty tenacious. And the Raptors got him for a very low contract. I went back at Look, is two for 26, so it's not like they're paying him a lot to play in Toronto. and he probably just is always going to be an asset, somebody. He's been on a bunch of teams, but I was shocked to, I went and looked it up. I'm like, how old is he now? He's only 29.

I feel like I've been watching Dennis Schrooter for 20 years. Right? On those Atlanta teams, doesn't that seem like forever ago? I know. He was a hawk. It seems like so long ago to me. It seems like a long time ago when he was playing for the Thunder. to me.

It's like, you go and look and it's like, I mean, he has been in the league like a decade. He just came in when he was 19. It's crazy. It's reminiscent of like a year ago when we were talking about Stephen Adams being 29.

It's like, what the hell? How? Or like Valentune is not being 30. And it's like, what is going on? We just see these guys for so long. And yeah, Schroeder. Not even 30. years old. And I just, I just stared at my basketball reference screen. I'm like,

ow! And I'm like adding up. Like, it's just real. He's only 29, but he's good for Germany. And then, oh, Kev, you're French guys. Oh, don't, don't go there. Oh, Kev. Let's move on. Let's move on to the next topic. Let's move. Let's, we'll, we'll, let's, we'll, let's, we'll, let's can move on instead of talking about that they were bronze job at the last two World Cups runner up in the Tokyo Olympics

it's because it's because they didn't have Killion or Nilakina that's why lost by 30 to Canada then turned around and had like a 13 point fourth quarter lead against Davis Burton's and Latvia

oh god and Forni and Batum and Gobert all headed home. Batum said he doesn't even want to show his face in France. That's how much they let him down. Lusatvia. And I guess, look, by next time around,

they'll have Wembe by the time it comes to the Olympics. And they might have M.B. I was reading that he got French citizenship. And so it might be a little battle for Team USA and France to try to get the services of Joel and B for the next go-round in international play for the Olympics. But what a disgrace. I am sorry. To all of our French listeners, I mean, I'm sorry, guys. But that is, that's pathetic.

Come on. Latvia, really? They're sent home. and surprised your boy, Gobbert couldn't get it done. What a lot? So, I guess Lapvia had a stretch five

like every other team that sent him home early. Gobert. Wow. Even if Lapia has a stretch five, it's over. Tough. Space him out. Oh, man.

That, that French, the French offense was an embarrassment. Francisco, I mean, just can't run the show off the bench for them. I mean, the offense was a joke. And Rudy, I'm not going to talk about how Rudy had a very poor game, including some flubs down the stretch as well. Come on. But, but, yeah. We can talk about it.

Let's talk about it. How about that play where he's open underneath the basket? passing the ball. Everybody hates Rudy. I mean, nobody likes Rudy. I mean. We saw

passing the ball. That French offense was disgusting. P.S. Towns is still around. Yeah. Towns his team's still there. Mm-hmm. So, yeah, France, who,

I mean, geez, they were a runner up in the Olympics. And they were, sent home. It's kind of crazy that they're 0 and 2. They've lost, like that's crazy. They're done. I know. That's what I'm saying. Oh, and 2, like losing both.

I know. I mean, crazy. Like, even Cape Verde won a game. Cape Verde. Cape Verde. The reason why Cape Verde stands out to me is because I grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts, which has the highest population of Cape Verdeans in the United States.

What kind of trivia is this? What is it Cape Verdean? It's like a little tiny island off the coast of Africa. And so where I grew up, Cape Verdeans, it's like normal. There's tons of Cape Verdeans in Brockton. There's tens of thousands of Cape Verdeans in Brockton. Yeah. It is the number one.

I didn't even know there were thousands of Cape Verdeans. I've never met it kept Verde. Yes, there's tens of thousands of Cape Verdeans. in Brockton. I grew up with Cape Verdeans as friends through elementary school, through high school. And for me, it was normal until I realized, wait a minute, Cape Verdeans basically only live in Brockton, in Boston, and some other Massachusetts cities. Like, they're not in many other states in the U.S. at all. So it's kind of cool to see Cape Verde get a win. Who's playing for them?

Eddie Tavares. Remember that guy? Kind of big seven foot two guy. I remember the name. Yeah, Tavaris is the main name that NBA people will know. But yeah, K. Bird, one and one. They got a dub. Good for them.

Yeah, there was that other team. Who's it, is it the next team that Team USA plays? Jordan, is it? Who is Ronde Hollis Jefferson playing for? He's playing for somebody where he's like the guy. for something. It might be, it might be that Jordan team.

Yeah, it's Jordan, yeah. It is? Okay. I mean, how about it on social media this week? For the people who listen to our podcast that aren't on X or Instagram or TikTok or any of the social media apps, I woke up the morning of that game and saw highlights of Ronday Hall of

Jefferson channeling Kobe Bryant, you know, the emoji eyes. And I'm like, get the hell out of here. And I watch it. I'm like, oh, I see why the social media manager tweeted this.

Oh my God Going nuts out there for Jordan Turn around jumpers from mid-range He's the guy for them Yeah yeah that's pretty funny Yeah who else are they got a pass too right? I wonder how he does against the U.S. Terrible Wednesday

Probably terrible Yeah he'll probably get the Thanassus treatment Like you're the only NBA guy out there Okay we're going to make things terrible for you Oh and Cape Verde plays Slovenia that day Hell yeah, go Cape Bird. Let's go.

There you go. Let's see what they could do against Luca. Kevin Cape Verde. Okay. Had no idea you're such a big fan of their work. It's no, dude, it's, it is, it is crazy, though. Like, number one in the U.S. Brockton, Massachusetts for Cape Verdean population.

Who knew? There's your trivia question, everyone. One interesting NBA note that has taken place since we last, spoke was there was a random player signing that took place. And you want to talk about just falling through the cracks, the PJ Washington contract. When that hit and like the news broke like, oh, PJ Washington signing a contract, it was Charlotte. I was like, wait, what?

Like PJ Washington didn't get a deal. It's just one of those that everything comes. Fast and Furious once free agency hits that I didn't even know that PJ Washington was still hanging out there without a deal. Like it felt like the last, I remember feeling like when is this Grant Williams thing going to get done? And then obviously the Jayla Brown deal. But that felt dragged out. But then on like the end of August for it to be just some random, hey, the PJ Washington deal got done. I didn't know what the hell was going on.

And they got him cheap. I don't, I don't understand why he locked that in. To me, you would have went with like a one year proof of deal if you were him. For sure. Like maybe his advice was the money won't be out there. But I think you and I are both probably higher on PJ Washington than many. Yeah. But I think he has real value, and I think he can have real value to a good team.

It is a bargain contract for the Hornets. And if I'm a Hornets fan, I am ecstatic with what was reported for the three years, $48 million. I am fired up about that because I think PJ Washington, 25 years old, super versatile on offense. He's the type of guy you can use him in different roles, different situations, and defensively, he's versatile. can protect the rim a little bit as a helper. He can switch onto the perimeter as well. He's not some lockdown guy by any means, but at 6-7 with length and size,

he can play different roles for you. I think his true value is going to show on a team that's winning. And Charlotte has not been that team ever, but maybe with Lamello and some of the other guys that they have and recent draft picks and PJ Washington coming back, maybe they can build off what they did in the second half of last season, when they had a top 10 defense in basketball. And for PJ Washington,

I think this could be a big year for him. To your point, Chris, about this being a three-year deal instead of a one-year prove-it deal. He probably just wanted the security. $48 million is a hell of a lot of money.

And maybe three years of proving it sets you up for $200 million. Maybe in his eyes, that's worth the fact. Maybe, but these are like prime years. They are. Yeah, he's $12. I mean, you're getting this guy like, right about to go into his prime

because he wasn't like an 18 year old coming into the league. So you're catching this guy right when he's about to be going into his prime at these prices. It's a very, very team-friendly deal. Very team-friendly. And just bizarre for it to go to the end of August. Maybe he just, I don't know.

Yeah. There's the security that, comes along with it and I know nobody's going to scoff at making, you know, almost $50 million, but it's life is leverage and I am surprised that he did not have more because I just figured the going rate for him would be bigger. But there is kind of, there, there is more of that like kind of middle class deal. I felt like getting signed this summer where maybe we're seeing a kind of a correction where it's not like, okay, even the, there were several, I felt like we came back and like, wow, especially in restricted, where we were like, wow, Austin Reeves, what a deal for Austin Reeves. And clearly he's made that look great with his play for Team USA. And this is another one of those. The guys that are going to restricted, there just wasn't another something out there.

where teams weren't signing big offer sheets to guys where another team had to match. And so then you're just kind of, if that's not out there, you don't have leverage. You just kind of got to take what you're getting offered by your team. But maybe more of that range is going to be signed going forward. I think that could be the case. Because it felt like we just had a bunch of guys not getting,

paid much and a guy's getting paid a fortune. Sure. And now the guy in that situation is Christian Wood. He's kind of in limbo right now. Where is he going to go? Definitely not back to Dallas. Could it be Miami? Could it be the Lakers?

Yeah, because we even talked about it, right? We got that question about Malik Beasley last week. Yeah. But it's like, okay, just another prove-it deal. And Kelly Ubray, still out there too. That's the other guy. I mean, I'm not a big Ubrae guy at all, but it's a solid player. He's long, lengthy.

He actually scored a lot for that Washington team, right? Yeah, he did. He averaged like 20 points. Granted, it's a super small sample, but it's also a super terrible team. The hornet. Sometimes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But Washington earlier in his career, which also feels

like forever ago. I know. I know. He's been a friggin' warriors since all that. T.J. Warren as well, another guy. Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty slim pickings at this point. But these names we're talking about, though, I mean, Terrence Davis, Kelly Ubrey, like these are guys that, you know, probably are good enough to at least be on a team already with a solid contract.

It just shows how deep the league is. I know what. Speaking of teams that have guys that are making the fortune and guys that aren't making all that much, they do not have a lot of these middle-tier contracts, and that is the Phoenix Suns. I happened to be in Phoenix over the weekend. It was my first time I've ever been to Phoenix Scottsdale area. It was hot.

Was it over 100? That was 150 degrees, yeah. But I loved it. I loved it there. I had a ton of fun. It was a nice trip. Seeing these beautiful sunsets in Phoenix? I did.

Nice. We were right by that Campbell back mouth. and I wasn't trying to climb that thing. Not when it's 115 degrees outside. I saw helicopters going and like retrieving people. Oh my God. That ain't for me. It's a death wish to go up there now.

You ain't lying. And so anyways, what I wanted to speak on was I was there from Friday to Sunday. And I always noticed this when I go to different NBA towns. How aware am I of the team when I'm not? there at the airport bouncing around town going to like the the big mall they have there talking to people seeing people wearing stuff whatever and i got to be honest with you i couldn't i wasn't there like you know the sons are there immediately and everyone i talked to that was like an NBA fan or like a basketball like super excited like over the

the moon excited about this upcoming season and the whole now we have Duran and we got Beal and we got this different owner and it's like I just I don't know and you know what you could have run into all manner of different people but anytime I talk basketball with anybody there I just liked the vibe man I just liked the way people are feeling about it it was it's a it's refreshing number one the people there were so nice but beyond that, that they were like genuinely excited and positive and like looking forward to this upcoming season. And I know what it's like to be a fan of a team and you sit around and you bitch about this. Ah, we still need this.

We still need that. And if this, hopefully this guy doesn't do this and hopefully, you know. But it felt a lot like the hope springs eternal stuff. And I swear, there is direct. Grant and Booker shit everywhere. Hmm. Everywhere. Jersey.

Shirt jersey. Shirts. Hat. I mean, you just see it all over. And it's weird because not as much, usually you go to towns like that. And it's just like whatever the NFL team is, is just, you're just plastered with everywhere.

And that's just not a Arizona Carlin. Not much Kyler Murray out there? I saw Kyler Murray and Buda Baker stuff at some places. But other than that, that was really the only Cardinal stuff I really saw. I didn't see anybody wearing Cardinals gear. Now, in fairness, Vegas has them as the lowest over-under by, I think, three games to any team. They're over-under for the season is three-and-a-half wins. and they play 17 games.

Jeez. Oh my God. Three and a half. So they're on a downturn. I get it. Fandle has the Cardinals as plus 18,000 to win the Super Bowl. Right. I mean, you might as well.

Tide for last with the Texans. Just go throw your money in a fire pit. They, I just, I don't know. I just being around there for three days. and having an awareness. I'm always, I try to have an awareness of how a town feels,

what people are thinking, and then kind of how much, clearly Arizona States there, so you see a lot of Arizona State stuff, but I saw a lot of Sun stuff, man. I really did. I saw people wearing it. I saw people selling it.

And everybody I talked to was super excited about that team. And they are certainly going to, be one of the premier teams in the NBA. And they've got the star power. And you see the Durant thing. It's just weird to see Durant stuff all over. Because you just, we did not get a lot of Phoenix Suns Durant. You know what I mean?

I feel like it's not, I get just, it has not been super memorable yet. They were downed guys by the time they got to the playoffs. and he was hurt, like, almost as soon as he got there. So it feels kind of weird to see all this Durant Sun stuff. But I don't know. I really liked the town, and I thought the people there were super nice, and I thought they were in love with that team, and super positive and excited.

And it made me happy for them that they're so looking forward to the season. I know part of it's got rid of that sorry-ass owner finally. That's just such a bummer. Oh, and here's the other thing. If I was a player, I would 100% want to play there. Yeah, Phoenix is a great thing. I'd be terrible. I mean, terrible owner.

Do you have bad your owner has to be for people not to want to be there? Oh, yeah, I know. I mean? I've been to Phoenix, I think maybe twice. I think twice. And I've liked it both times. It's a nice city. And, like, it's even nicer when it's not 150 degrees.

but during the basketball season, which is when you're primarily there anyway. It's gorgeous. Yeah, it was nice. And beautiful sunsets. The sky, I love the sky in Phoenix. So I'm happy for the suns fans. Yeah, bright now, suns.

Yeah, right now, suns. Hope Springs Eternal. All right, we've got to get to some questions. We've been trying to hit some throughout the summer. Questions that we have gotten in the mailbag. Give them the mailbag so they can send in more as the summer goes on, because we'll have a couple more of these before we get into all our season preview stuff. You can either email us at NBA Mailbag at gmail.com.

That's NBA Mailbag at gmail.com. Or you can tweet at us at Chris Vernon Show at Kevin O'Connor NBA. And, you know, we'll see that in our mentions as we scroll through. And this is what we have starting with this week's mailbag from Eric. A real quick 20 second timeout. You know, I do resent the changing of the name. From Twitter to X. Yeah, because you just said, just tweet us, right?

Yeah, I mean, that's an old habit. It's always going to be, we're always going to say that. What are we going to say, X us? No, no, no, I think we would just say send it to us on X. I think that's what it could become. See, I've never cared about stuff like that. It's the same website to me, regardless. of the colors or a name or whatever.

I don't want to have to change my language on everything. Yeah. I mean, that's why I just tweet just spit right out of my mouth. That just happens naturally after however long we've been on that app. Too long. Yeah, way too long. It's a hellhole.

Always has been. All right. From Eric in Milwaukee. My question is pretty straightforward. What's your earliest basketball memory? For me, it has to be either the laran, Johnson grandmama commercials or when big dog Glenn Robinson got drafted. What's yours, Chris?

You remember that? No, that's Eric's answer. Oh, oh, I was about to say. There's no way you remember that. No, my earliest basketball memory, which I don't even, I mean, I kind of remember it, is going to Brockton High School and the Celtics were there and getting my poster signed. I kind of remember it. I more know the poster was signed. Yeah. That's my earliest memory.

Mine is actually... This was like 1997-98 for what it's worth when that happened. So every year, when you lived in a non-NBA market, as I did, they would, usually the world champion would come in. And so for one preseason game. So the Bulls came in. The Pistons came in. The Lakers came in to St. Louis, and they would play one game. My dad would always take me to those. And it was one game a year that you would get for a preseason game, which was super cool.

But I would say, and that would have been, I guess the bad boy Pistons would have been around that time. But when I was little, right after the Jordan Dominique dunk contest, so that was 1988, if you had a subscription to Sports Illustrated, there was a VHS video that you would get. It was called dazzling dunks of basketball bloopers. And it was Marv Albert and Frank Layden that were on there. and it was a VHS tape and I bet I watched that VHS tape I would say over 200 times

easily because it had like it was like it was good it was a good somebody's probably got it on YouTube now and it probably funny to go back and watch it but when I was a little kid I watched dazzling ducks and basketball bloopers over and over and over again

and I would say that inside stuff with Amad Rashad. Like, I guess as a child, it's all Jordan's stuff. And I think that dazzling dunks of basketball bloopers actually chronicled the dunk contest. But I think probably like that dunk, like right around that, the dunk contest with Jordan and Dominique and then that video and having that video, I would say are probably the earliest memories that I have of watching basketball or having an awareness of basketball. like in a big way as a kid. And I think that that, I mean, that was either late 80s, early 90s when that video came out. All time.

It's a goat basketball video. Oh, and then Come Fly with me came out. The Michael Jordan VHS. Yeah. And I watched that. I watched Come Fly with me. Same thing. A hundred million times.

But dazzling dunks of basketball blooms. That's what I'd say. from Potts, who is a Yukon fan and a Bucks fan, he said, I have a two-year-old daughter and an eight-month-year-old son. The little one sometimes starts to cry very loud because he's teething. And the only way to calm him is singing Kevin O. Pelican. Oh, come on. What Potts wanted to ask. You wrote a hit, Chris.

You did. I had to read that part of Potts's question. Pots asked, he wants to know. if we think Janus will ever win another title with the Bucks or if their window is gone considering the age and the durability of Middleton, Brooke Lopez, Drew Holiday. Will Janice win another title with the Milwaukee Bucks?

And this is also timely considering his quotes in that New York Times story about putting pressure on the team, the desire to win a championship. Will he win another title with the Bucks? I think I'd say yes. Oh. Yeah.

Okay. So you think the Bucks win one of the next two or three championships or he stays long term and potentially it's seven years from now with a completely different looking team? I think it's, I think the latter is probably more likely. And then the current team. Yeah, that I get eight or nine more cracks at it. right then it doesn't have to have if I'm just betting on will they win in the next two to three years obviously odds are against that you know in any given season something can go wrong something can happen but he is so if I truly think he is an all time great which I do he's an all time great

then every team he's on has a chance yes but with the bucks is a is a different conversation though considering the length of his contract considering the comments. And in that case, I would lean know that if he wins another title, it would be somewhere else. And I think with this current team, this Bucks team, unless it's this season or next season, I think the Bucks are heading towards a situation where it's going to be very scary about losing Yannis. It's going to be very scary. Especially because he's at the messy crap in Miami too much.

Yeah, that team is old. They lack flexibility. They don't have assets. The situation's pretty dire for the future, but they're still obviously contender today. Depending on if Chris Middleton gets back to the guy he was pre-injury. So that's what I'd say. If I'm betting on Will he win another one?

I would say I think that he is more like the play it all out with one team rather than joining up with something, all of his quotes. That'd be great. He's always talking about the process. Remember last year talking about how last year wasn't a failure? Yeah. And so, I don't know. I'm such a huge fan.

I think the guy is an all-time great. And so we know this. You got to have one of the top five players in the league to win a title. That has generally been true. And so he's going to be that for quite some time. So he's one of probably five or six guys that's going to have a chance to win the damn thing every year. This question came up a little late. I didn't text you about this one ahead of time from Wassam in Lebanon.

I apologize if I mispronounce your name, which I probably did. This question was, with the FIBA World Cup happening, who do you think would win a competitive seven-game series between Team USA and Team World? and he put together some 10-man rotations for World versus USA. Just to rattle off some names, like a starting five for World could be Yokic, Janus, Marketing, Luca, Jamal Murray from Canada or SGA. That was what he put together on the World team, what he put together for USA, Katie, LeBron, Booker, Steph, 80, off the bench, Tatum, Butler, George, these are his teams. The World.

The World. all seven B'd. So you're picking the world. I agree. I agree. And this is why I think, like, that's not going to happen, a seven game series between those teams. But this is why I wish the NBA would turn the all-star game into world versus USA.

The world would take it seriously in the first year and whoops some ass and try it out for a couple years and see if it turns into something. And that's the thing. They get the whole world. They get all these guys. It's like, uh, It's like that old Norm McDonald joke. I think he did it.

Remember that joke he did on the last? It's like the last Letterman episode. And he was talking about, you know, how people are always scared of. They get scared of Russia. They get scared of China. They get scared of whatever. It's like, Germany's always the one that scares me. And he gives you a little history lesson.

And he's like, so Germany got really upset. And they decided that they were going to go to one. war and they chose as their opponent the world and you wouldn't have thought it'd be close

but it actually was and then they did it again they chose the opponent the world so good that's kind of how I feel right

you can give them every They get the world. So, yes, Team World would beat Team USA. It's getting serious. It's like four of the five best players we have right now. Yokic M.B., Janice and Luca. Like, I don't know what list you're making that doesn't have those guys in the top. Like, there's no way you're getting past seven.

Yeah. On any list. Without those four. The world. I love that. It's so good. You were to go look that up. Norm MacDonald on Letterman.

It's hilarious. I'm going to listen to that one after. That's great. Yeah, it's probably a bit a while since I watched that on YouTube. YouTube's great, man. Isn't YouTube awesome? I mean, I remember when YouTube first launched back on all of those? That I can just say something like that.

You can go pop it on. I know. I remember when YouTube launched like an 06 or whatever it was. My dad was like, can you type in? Hegler-Herns? And I was like, yeah, you can type in anything. And we watched it back. This was my first time ever seeing it.

And it was his first time probably since it was live in the 80s, besides seeing highlights over the years. And he was like, this is incredible. Oh, I mean, yeah, this is so long ago. But, yeah, I'm going to watch that afterwards. From Joe in Iowa, I don't want it to be forgotten how great Aaron Gordon was in the playoffs. can this is that it's not from Joe this is from

Joe Gordon his question is 60 seconds giving Gordon some love oh god yeah Aaron Gordon you did this you typed this I did not type this from Joe Aaron Gordon was awesome

what you wanted to say versatile. He pummeled teams on the post. The nuggets this coming season, maybe when Yokic isn't on the floor, you could see Gordon at the five. He's so versatile. He can handle the ball. He can score in different ways. I mean, Gordon is the perfect piece next to Yokic and they have synergy together. Unless you're playing against the Lakers and he has to get benched. But other than that, he was, look, anytime he had a favorable matchup, he just, Absolutely punished teams.

Tremendous postseason for him. Tremendous. Great postseason. I'm going to combine these last two questions here. Joe Gordon. From Jason in Australia, he asked, which cities do you think will have the best home crowd energy this season? That's because he wants to,

he's making a trip to the United States. He wants to go to some games. And I'm going to combine that question with Ryan from St. Louis. Ryan asked, It's always been a bucketless item of mine to see all 30 stadiums. My wife and I split at the beginning of the year, so I've been thinking about hitting all 30 this season. Feels like it'll be a great distraction,

and I'll be able to create great memories that I'll keep forever. I'm based out of St. Louis, so I'm centrally located. Any advice on accomplishing this feat? And Jason from Australia will be taking a trip to the United States. Any advice on places that they should target this year? any advice on how to accomplish going to all these arenas. I have no idea on the latter part going to all 30 arenas. I've been to, I think, still less than half.

I've been doing this a long time. I, okay, so just off the top of my head, as you mentioned this, this is what I wrote down. The Knicks, I think the Knicks are going to be good. You got to do NICs. Yes, that would be number one. I would say, just for the experience of going to MSG. And also, I think if you're going to go up to New York, then of course,

and you're also hitting the Nets and try to schedule it at a time that both teams are home. And then maybe since you're in the Northeast, go to Philadelphia, go to Boston, two other great home courts, two great crowds. Those places always have awesome energy. And then the other ones, I would say, Denver coming off a title will have a different deal. Memphis as well since he's in St. Louis, if he hasn't already been there. Oh, yeah, Memphis is great for a game. And then,

great crowd. I love the crowd. Sacramento and Oklahoma City, both really good. I think this year probably. Those will be two good ones. And also, small markets always have a different energy.

They just do. And also take a trip to L.A. Do it during wintertime, December, January. It'll be, you know, 75 degrees and it will be cool out at night. It'll be a perfect time

to go to a Lakers game and get the energy there. If you want good energy, if you're Jason and Ryan, you can hit both the Lakers and a Clippers game. I hope Clippers games have good energy this season, but it can be hit or miss,

depending on the opponent, depending on the state of the team. But Lakers games are in an event. They have great energy. It's in effect, man. It feels like you're going to something other than a basketball game. It feels like you're at an event. And yet it is a basketball game because the crowd, the hardcore Lakers fans that are in the upper level

and scattered throughout the bottom load sections, they're hardcore. And that's the one thing that, That's one of the things that made me happy moving from Boston to L.A. I grew up my whole life having the most awesome crowd experiences. I love going to Celtics games. The Celtics crowd is arguably the best in the entire league, but definitely top five. And Lakers games have their own different type of energy,

and yet it's equally in its own way satisfying as a fan of the NBA to be in there. No, they have like real NBA fans for sure. And they got all those statues outside. They got crazy history. And when their team gets going, that place gets rocking. And they're going to be good this year too. Rocking.

You know, I, yeah. Lakers just, you need to go to a sea game there. It's different. The stage lighting. And they'll have that Kobe statue out there this year now,

right? You're walking around outside. Yeah. Yeah. So it's certainly one that you need to do if you're a basketball fan just to see it because it's cool no matter what they're calling that arena now it's not staples anymore but i know everybody so calls at that yeah yeah then also i think if you want to see wimby maybe catch them on the road try to schedule it out if you can't can like

to see some of those rookies scoot henderson with portland whoever really catches your eye during the course of the season try to see a rookie whether you go to san antonio or portland or whatever I think that's always cool to be one of the first to see a great young player in person. Sacramento looked amazing last year when they got good. Oh, my God, dude. I know. It really did. And the whole light to beam thing.

It's just a good energy. It's good energy. I know. All right. That's it for questions. That's all for this week. NBA mailbag at gmail.com if you want to submit for next week or beyond. NBA mailbag at gmail.com.

Thank you to our executive producer, Jesse Lope. pairs as always. Kevin, I will talk to you next week. Have a good week.