The Right Time with Bomani Jones - Bruce Bowen GOES IN on Spurs Title Chances, Luka Doncic's whining, Tatum's return | 03.04

Episode Date: March 4, 2026

Bomani Jones is joined by San Antonio Spurs Legend Bruce Bowen.  First, they discuss the Spurs' season and whether Victor Wembanyama can lead them to an NBA title.  Later, they break down other Western Conference contenders and discuss the disappointing seasons that Luka Doncic and the Lakers are having.   Finally,  they react to Jayson Tatum potentially coming back for the Boston Celtics and if that is a good idea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the right time, a wave original. My name is Beaumani Jones. Thanks for listening wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for watching us on YouTube. Subscribe, like, rate us, review us, give us five stars. You only give us four stars. I'm inclined to believe you are a hater. It is that time of week where we have a guest joined us coming to us live from San Antonio.

East Fresno's own Bruce Bowen. What's going on? You know what? I'm not going to let you do it. starting off with East Fresno. You know I'm from West Fresno. It's West my bad. Yeah.

No, you did that on purpose, man. This time I did do it on purpose. That's what you do. I read the comments. People, all they want to do is hear us go back and forth. They want to hear me talk about, you know, I'm going to get you and all that stuff. But you know it's West Fresno, but you know what? What makes it so bad is I was like, I messed it up last time, but I'm not going to mess it up again.

And then I came out here and I messed it up again. That's what we do. doing as the better hazard? Because I'm happy to see you, right? This is always a good time. But we got you back here. I got, look here. I got this. Okay. Okay. This is my calming teeth. That's what you need. Only when I deal with you. That's your loose. See, here's the worst thing about it, man. Bruce doing this. You know what I'm saying? Because you know what I'm trying to get Bruce, it ain't going to be about what side of Fresno. It's all the same Fresno to me. I don't know no better. You know, like when I'm going to get you, I'm going to get you. I'm going to get you. I'm

one to start off. Look, this is the thing. Bruce Bowen, San Antonio Spurs legend, retired Jersey. He was nice enough to let somebody borrow it, but I bet you ain't going to do that again, right? Retired Jersey, number 12, up there into Raptors, has been a down few years for the Spurs. It ain't down no more, man. Like, when you watch this team, what do you think? Because this is, here's what I think is interesting and is a little bit different, is the Spurs had the luck of two superstars who were perfectly built for San Antonio, right? David Robinson into Tim Duncan. Victor is similar to them, but Victor got a different kind of star power and wattage to him, right?

Like he's not, he is of a much different personality than those guys are. But it still feels like this is San Antonio Spurs basketball. Well, yes, and to Victor's credit, I think San Antonio has been blessed. with, I think, great thinkers of the game, high IQ, big men. Now, I've played with some big men that that elevator didn't quite get to the penthouse level. But to think about how they have gone about things. Victor wanted to be here. Now, you think about this. A guy that's able to go to an organization that has had successful foundation players. Why wouldn't you want to? But on top of that, still staying true to who he is as far as his evolution and his IQ to seek out knowledge in different places and not be afraid to tap into some individual that may be monks.

Let me go spend some time in China to learn different things about how I can center myself in this great league that we're in. how can I seek knowledge from some of the former players that big men would never think about seeking knowledge from, hey, Jamal Crawford, I like how craft you were with the basketball. Hey, can you give me some time? You know, obviously, Hakeem Alijuan. But just to say that one thing about Tim and David that I've always appreciated as how they've been comfortable in their own skin. And that's what you see in Victor.

You see him comfortable in his own skin, but being so much different from a standpoint of certain things that turn him on, certain things that turn them off. But at the same time, he has that same IQ of wanting to be a better version of himself. Let me tell you, and I want to get back to talk about current Spurs, but as you mentioned that, it got me thinking about something. I was talking to somebody about this the other day. because of one bad playoff series, I feel like we have really slept on what David Robinson was. Like the high end of David Robinson, like even you were you playing with him after the back injury.

You go look at the advanced numbers. David Robinson was still David Robinson just at 25 minutes a game. You know, you talk about the first big man that would beat guys up and down the floor. You know, you look at his frame. And this is what I think Wimby had to deal with. People look at his frame and say, oh, he can't handle this. He can't handle that.

But all of a sudden, what you see on the floor with Wimby is something that's truly special. But you're not accustomed to seeing that from somebody with his build. David had that build, but more importantly, he didn't allow the bigs to beat him up so much because he learned how to utilize his strengths more than anything else. So I have a big guy that wants to guard me on the block. Dave would take him out to that wing and catch and rip right through him and get to the basket. At that moment with him and Avery Johnson, how many guys were running the floor like Wimby does

and what Dave was able to do? And they're just pointing at the rim. I mean, in full transition mode. Not one of those things where you could see the law coming, but a certain play in transition where that becomes part of the weapons that you use when it comes to your offensive game. Davis' ability to block shots and stay with winged players at that time, it was something we never had seen before.

So to see him do it, I mean, only other slender guy was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar that I can think of, or Ralph Samson, who was more, I think, in the lines of what Wimby is, but at another level and less upset about being that guy. I only say that because it seemed like Ralph Sams were always fighting somebody. Like, why are you so bad at him, brother? I mean, come on. Ralph in the NBA finals, our guy Howard Bryant,

you know, he grew up as a Celtics fan. He hate Ralph Samson so much, so much. But, you know, that's the beauty of this, is that Dave was not a guy that was, well, when I played, I did this. That, you don't ever hear from Dave. Dave was about what he could do. to, I think, more importantly, add to his longevity in the game.

And I played two years with him, and it was interesting. I had heard the yoga that he did. And so I said, Dave, tell me about the yoga and what it does for you. And Dave hopped into a position. Oh. And I was like, you're right. And I'm saying to myself, like, man, that looked like your abs really got to be strong want to do that. You know, I mean, please don't ask me to do it, Dave. But what he was doing,

I think he was ahead of time as far as the way you have to take care of your body being that size so that you don't wake up with knots in your muscles and things of that nature. But he, he was funny in how he did things as well. Dave, he would just say, uh-uh, when you thought you were driving in to get, get, oh, no, I, not that one. I don't know, you got to try that again. And it's just, it was humorous to me, but at the same time, he was sending a message that, hey, I may not talk trash like these other folks,

but I do have something to say about whether you score or not. Yeah. And so you think about that and you look at me being able to press up on guys, knowing that I had Dave back there. And even Dave as at his final two years was still better than a whole. whole lot of others that were in their prime. Yeah. The thing that I find interesting between David and Victor is

Victor is a much ordinary character. Like, Victor seems to be, as my buddy, Joel Anderson, says, motivated by spite. See, and that's the beauty of Dave. Dave's strong to vow Christian. And Dave would bless you, brother, for feeling that way about me, and I'm still going to give you 30 and 15.

And whereas when Victor, like this is a thing I couldn't stand it when reporters with little sny remarks yeah but you seem to walk up under him while he was shooting can you believe that Bimani

they would say stuff like that on the low and it bothered me and I couldn't do much about it because I didn't have that intention of what they saw but they would immediately say things like oh he tried to do that he's a dirty guy. Now, that being said, I heard that, but I didn't say anything to it.

Whereas Victor has heard all the folks talking about, ah, just take him on the block. He can't do nothing because all you have to do is be physical with him. Draymond knew that that was the only, that was the last line of defense he had on him, is to try to be physical with him. Two years ago, Victor probably would have tussed with somebody trying to show how strong he is. Now he sets them up to utilize their strength against them. And what

happened when you press up on them on that underneath out of bounds play? He spins and he's catching it for an and one. That's the ultimate get back in that particular moment as far as I'm concerned. Take that. Now, how good are the rest of them dudes? That's, I think, the

most interesting question. Because, I mean, we know we got a pretty decent idea about D. Eric Fox, who I think has done a good job of recognizing that like you playing with you playing with the guy right like don't don't lose track of what really matters but he's been good they got all these young dudes but I feel like they could win the West but everybody got the same point and it's a fair one they've never won anything like a single solitary playoff series no and that's fair beaumonti it it really is and that's always been my thought process with this group prior to it coming together quite like it is now

I always have shared with people that you need experience, you need that failure to teach you more than anything else. Case in point, this last game against New York Knicks. They had 11-game win-street. And what stood out to me in that little moment was, okay, what happens to most is when you get on a win streak, you become more concerned with the Ws than how you went about being a B.

best you could be and taking whatever happened. Now on those win streaks, this is why coaches are so thrilled when they come to an end. Now you will start listening to me again. Now I can coach you again because before I could coach you and we got on a wind street and then it became skipping steps to get a W. We saw steps skipped in that game. And in those steps that were skipped, I'm sure Mitch was able to go back and film and say, hey, fellas, look at this. Look at how we just tried to get Wimby the ball in a rush and didn't really take note of how he was being played and how we could counter to maybe if there's someone denying him. Those are the little things that those lessons of losing a win streak or losing a game

you're able to learn from. In the playoffs, it becomes more heightened. Now you see so many things that only one that maybe have a little bit of playoff experience that I can think of at the top of my head is Fox. And Harrison. Harrison. Harrison Barnes, exactly. And what you have in those two are so valuable, the things that they can bring to the table, so valuable for a guy who's excited, you know, Vassell, excited, Kelton Johnson, excited,

it being able to get to that point and feel like, oh, my goodness, this is what they're talking about because I remember my first year in the NBA, I went to, was it was my second year, I believe it was. I go to the Lakers guy. They're still at the form and they're playing the Portland Trail Blazers. And that's when the big, he was a tall, skinnier version, bouncing. guy that went to Iowa State. Catino, no, not Cotino. Calvin Cato.

Calvin Cato, when shot dunked on him, but you bring up that clip. But when shot dunked on him, that was a moment where Calvin Cato realized that his defensive rotations needed to be a 10th of a second quicker. The fact that he was rotating late because he's never been in that environment.

And the way that Shaq stretched out on him, I still think about this one. And just the way it happened, I saw it coming. I'm like, uh-oh, uh-oh. And boom, it happens. Also during that time, that's when J.R. Ryder told the press, said, I own Eddie Jones. And every time he scored, he would pull his jersey a little bit,

like, I got heart. Eddie doesn't. And so all these different things go on during the course of playoffs where the game slows down and there's a focus that happens. Teams aren't coming up with new plays, but it's about the execution of the plays that they have where you're saying, oh, my goodness, this is truly special. So, you know, you look at being that it's Victor, had a rookie of the year and not Vassell, but Castle. Castle. What they have, Castle's ability to learn on the fly because I look at Castle as far as his ability to make the change in defense. I remember last year there were a couple of times he opened up a little bit on certain guys and that gave them a driving way. Now he's become more physical and he's starting to really enforce his will on the defensive side, let alone the offensive side. You look at Harper, what he's able to do. We have so many different valuables. options now. Now, when it comes to playoff basketball, who's able to play their role to a T, who's able to understand how important it is to follow a game plan and how necessary it is

to pay attention to detail. Those are the things, those are the things that you learn during the course of that time. But I feel like they can win a series and learn from that series and learn how more important things are because of that. It doesn't happen often, but I think that they're capable of doing that. All right. If you had to pick somebody in the West right now, though, which way are you going? Well, I think it's hard to not pick the champions, especially when they're in first place. So it's always going to be them. But I think even in the fact that if Spurs and OKC meetup in the Western Conference finals,

the only edge I would give O KC is the fact that they've been there before. Now, where are you on Denver? Because I still think they got the best play on Denver. Because I still feel like, oh, you're not here in Denver? You're not here at Denver? You know, it's just, and I only have to say this because they're missing a key component

that you never see, right, you never see, Yokic get out of character. And what transpired, in that in that okay C game, I look at it at it from a standpoint of, no, you're the three time MVP. That can't happen to you. And I know people are going to say,

well, he's human and he got to, sometimes you just have to, and I'm just saying as far as the edge of you having something over someone else, you can never allow a moment to happen where you're saying things like, oh man, I lost my cool and now everyone knows that I'm human

and because sometimes it's just that mental edge that you have as an athlete as a basketball player, football player, whatever it is. That's where you keep your edge. Whereas like a player like Kobe, he kept the edge on a lot of guys because of the mental aspect of not allowing them to ever feel like they got in.

Yeah, like this is, I feel like Denver's got the, they've done it before. we talked about this the other day. It's like we give Minnesota no credit for the fact that they've been knocking on the door these last two years, right? I don't think that they're champions

just to be clear, but it is interesting. Like they, Anthony Edwards is, he's like, I've seen all my heroes and I've taken them all down at least once. Right? Every single one of them. He's like, I had something for all of them. That's scary for a team going up against him because he can,

Rally the troops, and this is, there hasn't been many, rallying the troops kind of like Kobe, kind of like MJ. It was interesting to see their growth without Kat because it becomes a different team. And yes, they're more wide open, but at the same time, I know we give the French boy a hard time down low, but he's still able to get things done on a day. defensive side. Right. He's a good player.

Yes. He's a good player. Maybe it's because Shaq keeps talking about him so bad. It's because everybody, nope, I think, I don't think any player in the history of the NBA has ever been less respected in the course of what will be a Hall of Fame career than Rudy Gobert. You know, and again, when you think of Rudy Gobert, Do you ever think of highlights?

No. I just saw the last one. Draman Haddy. And it's that picture of him, like, like, you didn't see him like, you better get on me trying to choke me. It was like, I use what I made.

Morda Fina, I use what I made. Like, that's the part. But then you watch him in that game in Denver. I'm watching them. I'm like, Rudy, why do I feel this way? Like, like, but again,

it's part of the hole, is Jack, it's, it's the pictures that we see. It's the things. It's the low, it's the low lights that we've seen instead of the highlights.

And he is, so getting back to facing that team with a leader like, ooh, man, 80 is just, he, and I, I think what stands out about Anthony Edwards right now is that whole confrontation with the

coach. People made more of it than they should have. But there's many times coach is going to say pass hit the open man. But to see his fire like, no, I got this. This is what I do. Yes, it is. But when you have someone open, it's that moment with Michael Jordan and Pax. and when Phil Jackson says, Michael, who's open?

And he says, Pax is open. Then get him the ball. And next thing you know, in L.A., Michael does it once. Michael does it a couple of times. But it's what Michael created first and foremost that we understand what he's able to do before he starts getting it to the open guys. So I think this is what's scary about Anthony Edwards

is that what he's doing, as you said, taking down everybody. When he see LeBron James, now listen to LeBron at the All-Star game, hey, man, I love what I see in AD. I want him to keep going. Now you got people that you've had on the hit list, so to speak. Now they're giving you compliments like that. Ooh, that's scary, Bumani. That's why you never heard me say nothing positive other than the generic.

he's a great competitor. That's what he does. You're not going to hear me praise no Vince Carter. You and Vince. He's going to hear me praise no Ray Allen. We wouldn't hear you praise Vince Carter because you just not go praise. We wouldn't hear you praise Vince Carter right now.

Sure. I think he was the most talented guy. He just didn't have that other piece that was necessary. Some people say the Wizard of Oz, I like to say the whigs. You know, ease on down. Ease on down the road. What I love here,

what I love here is that you were like, I will compliment him, knowing the whole way that in the tuck, you was coming right behind it. But talk about that bad's ticker. Well, I'm on the right time, right? There's no better time than the right time. Like, I'd love to get your list because Vince is the only one that I know.

Like, nobody excites you quite like Vince when it's time to talk about what ain't. Well, you know, Vince, Vince has some choice things to say. And I just felt like in our time, Ray Allen, he could have talked to me too. But Ray, Ray and I were good. It's just, it was a spirit of competition. Whereas I look at what, and this is at all jokes aside, Vince was the most talented guy, like playing that position. He could, he had bounce.

He could shoot the ball. It wasn't like, back up, back up. He can't shoot. That wasn't the case. Vince got kicked out of a game with me and he had like 38 points. Like, I remember Manu in the locker room right after the game said, Bruce, I don't care what you say. You could talk about my mama.

I got 38 on it. I'm going for a career high on you. But that was the difference in Manu and, say, Vince Carter. Vince allowed those moments of the motions to get to him. And who ends up winning? The cooler head always wins. The cooler head always prevail. So I understood that.

So if I know how to push your buttons, then do, do, do, do, do, do. Set to blow up in the third quarter at this point, engaged. It's so fun to know that you weren't accidentally like this. You were really doing the math. But I tell you, man, I would sit and listen, I observed because I think I like to observe people and how they do things. But I remember being at a place.

And it's the summertime, and this is a star in the league. and he tells me, hey, you know, every time we play, you kind of, you hit me a little bit after the shot, you're not supposed to do that. And I said, oh, I'm sorry. My bad. That's my bad. Very tough.

But in my head, oh, shoot, he don't like you. Man, when these guys started saying all this stuff, I'm recording. Like, really? Oh, my goodness. I'm getting back to the crib like, yo, guess what I just found out? In those moments,

it's like in the most adverse situation, fourth quarter, let me see how true this is. Let me poke the bear a little bit. Next thing you know, man, I'm getting such a reaction. I didn't know that. But I only knew because they shared that with me. They just told you, huh?

So thank you all. Mm-hmm. Coming up next, I'm going to find out out where Bruce Bowen thinks about what's going on in L.A. Ever wanted to go to the NBA finals? Well, now's your chance,

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get a quality candidate within the first day. Try it for free at ZipRecruiter. Try it for free at ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter.com slash Beaumani. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash Beaumani. Meet your match on ZipRecruiter. All right, we are back with Bruce Bowen. I guess it's what I'm going to talk to you about the Lakers, but I just had this moment where I thought about this. The Clippers are the most interesting team that isn't really winning.

No, no, no. Why you got, you know I got fired for my comments with Clippers. You know that. I thought you thought you would let that go. No, no, no. I didn't say I was mad about it. I just said, you know. I did.

I did. I did. I did. See, this is what was happening right now. I know you're such a stand-up dude that I could trust you to be fair, right? Because what is interesting about it is they looked terrible. Then they looked great. Then they gave up on the season.

But Kauai Leder has been incredible this year in a way. you rarely see for a guy playing on a team that doesn't matter. Well, I think because of all the stuff that's going on around Kauai, it's been one of those situations where Uncle Dennis is like, hey, man, look here, we can't, we can't pack it in here. We got, we still got a job to do. And it goes to that part of professionalism that he's displaying. But at the end of the day, it's the, it's how the foundation is

within that organization. I think they have a great coaching staff, a great coach staff. Bishaw, my man, you talk about hero, mentor, all that. You have that in him.

He knows how to connect with players. Now you got Jeff Van Gundy as an assistant who loves the game of basketball. You know, the Van Gundy's period. They just, they're born with knowledge of the game. and then Tyloo NBA champion NBA player a champion as a player you have what's necessary there

but then you have Mr. Frank that's where like everything has to have to line up in a way accordingly that's going to continue to allow you to build the fact that they I love that they got ahead of the situation with James Harden but it's still still puts them back in that scenario of, what are we talking about here? Come on. Sometimes the clippers just can't not get clipped because they're the clippers. Yeah.

Yeah. But, hey, the Lakers, I say this, the Clippers, it's been, as a, an interesting season that they could wind up getting out to play in and feel good about themselves if they got there, right? I don't think there's anything that can happen to make the Lakers feel good, right? Like, like, you have Lerbara. You have Luca Dachich, you have LeBron James, and you guys will be lucky

if you win two games in the first round. But, Moni, there's this thing, and I say this to all leaders when I'm coaching, whether it's corporate setting or giving a motivational speech or coaching my 14-year-old group. To whom much is given, much is required. So you've been blessed with a certain skill set.

and because you've been blessed with a certain skill set, it is so important that you do all the little things that others will be able to see a leader in you that they can get behind. All right, you have LeBron James on the same team with Luca. Luca could look at LeBron and say, man, look at what he's done with his body for the amount of time he's been in the NBA.

usually by somebody's 38th year, or I should say being 38 years of age, you no longer see cut up. You start to see a little fluff going on that muscle because they're not working out like they used to. But that's the example that you see in LeBron getting out on fast breaks. If he turns it over now, I mean, if there's anybody that gets a pass, it's a 40-old getting back on defense. But when I see someone steal the ball from Luca and he barely attempts to get back or he's chatting with the rep because he feels like he's been wronged, he hit my hand before he hit

the ball, that's where I have the issue of you are a leader. What message are you sending to your teammates on the bench? When you don't go hard because you didn't feel like you got the fair call, I have an issue with that because I've been around some greats that it didn't matter. Okay, that's what you want to do. You follow me. Okay, but they're not going to call it. All right.

I'm not going to go complain to the official. I'm going to go right through your nose in order to make my point. Tim Hardaway, I mean, before he got up in the age, competitor, went at guys. Oh, yeah, that, yeah, the U-TEP two-step. watching him watching zo knowing all he got is a jump hook he going jump hook you to death or he going to dunk on you but the spirit of competition you notice i didn't bring up my other two sinners that just would out-think you how maneuver you and tim dunkin and david roberston that doesn't need to be said but to watch a guy who is a critical piece especially after what he's

he's gone through in order to get there, you would think that from that failure of being traded, that it showed Luca that, man, I need to get myself together. I need to make sure that that version of what they saw in Dallas is not a version that they'll ever see with me as a Los Angeles Laker. But what I see is some of that remnants of what used to be still showing up. Yeah, I thought this was going to be show and prove here. Well, think about this.

The beginning of the year, he came in a little slimmer. Yeah. It did happen. But, you know, old habits die hard. I get it. But he can, with his talent and with his skill set, he should be doing, I mean, it should not be clips of us asking or watching JJ Reddick, you know, trying to talk to him and he pouting and things like that. that. Again, come on now. It's something to call it, it's something called accountability in this.

But, Moni, you, you have a boss to answer to. You can't ever think that, oh, man, shoot, I'm the one. Now, you may feel like you're the one, but you can't ever act like that when you're not bringing what you're supposed to bring to the table or else they will what, find someone else. And I know that that sounds harsh, but in reality, that's truly what it is. or you become handcuffed by a player and his lack of effort from time to time and you don't want an organization like that. Those organizations don't accomplish much in life.

Now, I want to go to the East, and I've talked about this on the show, and I've talked about this with you a little bit, but we didn't really get into it. I'm curious because you have much more experience as a, obviously, as a professional basketball player. I can only assume that if the Celtics bring Jason Tatum back, everybody medical involved somehow thinks that this is okay. Okay and a good idea

are two different things. I would have never dreamed of bringing him back out there this year. They seem like they're going to do it. And like the idea is, and I'm curious what you think about this, is if Jason Taylor was going to come off the bench and be Vinnie Johnson and just gun for 15 minutes a game, okay, maybe that works. But I don't, I don't know how you just drop Jason Tatum in coming off an Achilles. with as much uncertainty as we'll have about what that means about what he has to provide. And everybody, like, I just feel like you look around. I'm like, oh, this is normal to everybody.

I feel like I'm the greatest. Well, first of all, thank you for giving me that experience of being a player. You know, it's very rare that I get those kind of compliments from you, Bumani. But I like to go back to this. Celtics years ago had a player by the name of Isaiah Thomas. and he had an incredible year. He was building up, carried the team, dealing with so many emotional things.

He lost his sister and just certain things in life was taking a toll. But he gave his all to that organization, playing hurt. Now, as time went on, it found out, they found out that maybe he shouldn't have been playing. And I get it, this is a business. But at the same time, with, I started off today, you and I were talking, I talked about how as you get older, you got to be able to conform with the newer nuances of whatever the game is,

whether it's new offensive plays, whether it's different ways of handling a medical staff. But your investment is Jason Tatum. Jason Tatum is not a guy that comes off the bench. Jason Tatum is an individual that's going to have the ball in his hands for quite some time because of how good he is. Now, if it's me, I'm looking at it from the standpoint of I want to protect my asset. Is it better for me to have him now or let's start off with a week of training camp and go from their next season?

Right now, they have a flow with how they do things. I play for the Miami Heat and I remember when Alonzo morning started coming back to practice. He sat out because of the whole kidney issue. and never knew if he would play again. But then he showed up at practice, and he was doing conditioning drills and things like that. Then he started practicing with us. And at this time, Anthony Mason, rest of soul,

was an all-star for us and our team MVP. He was playing the four position. Brian Grant was at the five. I was at the three. Eddie Jones at the two, and Tim Hardaway was at the one. And so Zoh starts practicing with, with us and I'm like, hmm, Zoe's coming back.

I don't know what to think of it because I'm the player. All I'm looking at from standpoint is, hey, it's Zoe. He's going to give us what he used to give us. Well, Zoe was coming off of a kidney transplant. And because of that, there are certain things we just didn't know if he would ever get back to that player. So I say that to share this. We play a game.

We're incorporating Zoe back. in, Mace is unhappy. Not because he doesn't like him, but because the flow of the game changed. Now the ball was no longer in Mace's hands and Mace making decisions. Now, Zoh is pounding the ball, getting to his shot, and it's created a disruption. Now everyone is suffering because of that. Maybe Zos shouldn't have come back during the season quite like he did. Now, I say, looking ahead, what if now Jalen's not able to get to touch? or not even Jalen. It's going to be a role player that's not going to get touches because Jason is taking a bulk load of the shots. It's nothing against Jason Tatum. It's just the disruption

that happens during the course of a season or let alone the chemistry of what you guys got going. Again, let me state this because somebody's going to hear this, Boehman, and say, Bruce Boyne say that Jason Tatum shouldn't play because he's terrible. That is not what I'm saying. He has to go through a litany of different things. Do we trust the explosion again? And all the things of what happens during the course of games. How do you make your adjustment? I don't know if that's necessarily a thing.

But if it's me, I'm protecting my asset, especially in today's game and utilize this year off to allow him to kind of get his body back together and see the game in a different light. Let me tell you, this is my feeling. if you're not going to play Jason Tatum 36 minutes a game, I don't think you can put him in front of Joe Missoula

because that is a crazy person who really only knows how to go hard. And I say this is a compliment. Like I can't believe how much I've come to, I don't know this man, but I've come to love him, right? Like, I appreciate there's an outright sincerity and he's trying to win all of this.

You know, he's a little different. You know what I mean? We like to call it no fluff. Yes, yes, yes, yes. There's no, all he knows is. what is directly in front of him. That is, that is, that is all it is. But you're not going to give him Jason Tandem and he'll be like, cool, I just play him 10 minutes. He doesn't, he can't, his, his brain does not operate like that. Can I just give you this? Joe, when he, when Joe was at

West Virginia, he didn't play a lot of his freshman year, sophomore year, he didn't play a whole lot, but he got to start against Kentucky in the NCAA tournament, I believe it was. And they beat him, and he has 17 points. But what he talked about in his post- game interview. It wasn't, yeah, you know, coaches finally realized what I could do and I'm just happy I got a chance to do it. That wasn't what he said. What he talked about, he said, my freshman year, because of our length, I said, man, we could be a really good one three one zone team and if we could just incorporate things because of our length. My point in all that, as when others are trying to get buckets, he's thinking about the game at another level. No fluff.

He is about that life of how can I make this group better. Oh, he's with me. Let's go. 38 minutes. Absolutely. 30 plus minutes. Because with coaches that are always thinking of making it better, they do not like seeing players that can't play suit up because they will make the

mistake and say so-and-so, get in there for so-and-so. So for him, he doesn't need to see Jason at all if he's not going to utilize him. Once he starts seeing Jason, now. it starts happening. Sorry. And there's somebody got to be the one to try to explain it to him. Who going to out explain?

Who's going to out explain why this is not good? Yeah, Brad can't even do it. Yeah, Brad can't even explain that to him. Look, I get Brad credit. E-May, I think, was a fairly obvious hire. Or that was one that a lot of other people would have made. Now, when he hired Missouli, he was in a position where he kind of had to because he made, right?

And I thought in year one, we were like, hey, I don't know about this. And in year two, when they brought Casell in as an assistant, I don't know about you. But my thought was, your replacement is right there if you don't get this straight. And nope, it's worked. And then this year, this has been Coach of the Year level stuff that he has managed to done. Dude, got to give it to Brad.

Brad was like, no, I think I see something in this, too. Well, you think about Brad's mindset, how he thinks the game and how he's a great thinker of the game. even at Butler, you know, what he was able to do there. So I think it gets kind of brushed off to the side of when they were putting a staff together what Brad saw in Joe. He saw that person that we see now. And a lot of times in these situations, Brad is so proud of what Joe has been able to accomplish,

not because it's tagged to him, but because these are the things that Brad saw, and Brad didn't know if Joe would ever get an opportunity within the Celtic organization to be able to do this. Now, that's not to say that Joe wouldn't have gone elsewhere and maybe had a head coaching opportunity, but within this organization, no one knew that the whole e-made deal would happen the way it did. So more than anything, Brad is thrilled with the mind that he knew Joe had. Because we're talking about a guy in college. Again, ain't nobody.

I know my teammates weren't thinking about no dog on 131. I had, hey, I had some thugs. I had a guy hit our coach one time to practice. Bomani. At Fullerton? At Fullerton. Man, that was the last time I saw that brother. When he punched, he bow, and he walked straight out of the gym.

Now, the coach was over there like, you go, you, you, you, you. Yeah, I'm like, no, coach, he went that way. That old coach. eyes are a little cross right now. But that was the last time. I saw that player, but, you know, I had players like that. Guys weren't thinking on that level of,

like, it's only been few that I've been on the bench with. Like, Javon is another one that, that is a great thinker of the game. And to see him go back to Kansas now and possibly, you know, lead that group, it only makes sense. I want to ask you about the Pistons because I know Bruce Bolton,

and I know the kind of team that Bruce Bowen go like, and that is a Bruce Bowen team right there. I see you can't even sit still talking about him. I can't. I will say this. I'm going to go another direction. Of course, what Bickerstaff is doing there, I love it. Because he's just come in and connect with those guys.

I think when it comes to NBA, it's truly about your connection with players. And it starts with Kay Cunningham. I saw Cade when he was a sophomore in high school. I used to work this or observe, like I said work on an accident. Whoops. But the Nike League camp, man, and he would compete against all these guards. And at that time, it was Jalen Green.

He and Jalen Green were the one-two-one-two. And Kay would come down, man, get an N-1. And, you know, everybody, and one, okay, get hit. He just turned around, run back on defense. And I saw it in him, his senior year, than I saw when he was at Oklahoma State. And I'm so proud of that group because of what he has as far as the leadership there.

Detroit has always had great leaders, Joe Dumars, Chonsie Billups. And now you enter into the mix as players on the floor, Kay Cunningham. You take a mirror, I'm not Amir Johnson, it's his twin. No, you talk about Asar.

Asa. Who? Man, I'm like, how did you get two? kids with all that athleticism. Him going up against Jalen Brunson last year has, again, I talked about we only learning our failures.

That moment in time will always be in his head. And that's only going to make him better. The big man down low. Man, I almost want to call him Orlando Woolridge because he looks so much like him with that zero. You talk about enforcing. You got to have somebody that got you back, man. And he for sure got everybody's back.

Let him come on in here. I'll show you what I'm going to do to him. Well, he got guys scared to drive the ball. And then they bring Stewart off the bench. Like, it is amazing that the, it is amazing that the piston, this is the third incarnation of this model that they have broken out of a team. It works. It works for them.

You can't, you, I can't think of another organization other than San Antonio where you put a centerpiece as far as a big man and you build around it. It's the hard work. It's the lunch pale. I'm bringing my hard hat. It's those things that work in Detroit. You don't have Detroit as a, hey, we're going to get up and down. We want to shoot 20, 47, 43s a game.

No, that ends up just a bad team in the East. We have enough of that. So you get a team that can buy in on that aspect of things. We're going to work hard. We're going to do everything that we need to do with purpose. And I love what bigger staff and the staff is doing down there with that. What do you think about your man, Stuart? Which one?

Isaiah. Ooh. I mean, but money, it seems like there's always mess. But the thing is, like there's, he got a little Ron Artes. any from the standpoint that it's like, hey, hey, come on back over here. Don't go over there. Don't go over there. No, no, no, no, I got to go over there.

No, nobody ever called the cops on rod. That dude for the son's called the cops on you. So, but now I know we joke about it. And that's all it is, ladies and gentlemen, it's jokes because, but somebody, is able to connect with him. And this was his way to get in. And yes, you are an enforcer as well. But let's, as they say, with deli meats,

let's curate it to a point where they're not calling the po-po. Right. Like, that's, we gotta stop there. Because at first, I was judging that man for calling five-0. And then I think it was Obi-Rod who hit me up. It was like, nah, he's the one that's in this situation. Right? Like, apparently it sounded like he had been told

that it was on site in perpetuity. I don't, you know, I know we come from that generation where there was a fight, but then they let it go. I think the worst, the worst one was, was Doug Christie and Rick Fox,

two light-skinned brothers. It was very bad. It was beige rage. There's a lot of beige rage. I'd never heard that word. Bage rage. But I mean, like, they really took that thing to another level because we pretty boys ain't supposed to do that.

But can you imagine some of those folks that's like, yo, dog, I'm out of the mud. I don't care about this. When a person says they don't care or say less, and that's bad. news to me. That's bad news to me. But there was a player, he went to Wake Forest, played with the Heat. Johnson? James Johnson. James Johnson, no Kung Fu, or one of them. Man, look at here. I wouldn't have, I would probably apologize him if I filed him.

Hey, brother, look here. I am so sorry. That was not intentional. The only other person I could think in that situation was Charles Oak. Oak still might smack you. Oak, I was at a, I was at the Belagio one time. We were on a, we're on the craps table and Oak just got back in to the Belagio. And we gambling and we're having a good time. Now, Oak got a bunch of tips that he's putting on the cum line. And I'm, I'm, this is new to me. I only know Blackjack. I know how to count to 21. Okay. So I take one of my tips and I put it down there like, hey, and 12 came up. So 12 pays like 30 to 1, the odds there. And so they give Oak all his chips. And I said, what about mine? And the guy was like, you put it down too late. And Oak said, y'all better pay my boy him

money or else ain't nobody playing. And I was like, They gave me my chips, Bumani. I left. I was like, mm-mm, mm-mm. No, no, no, no, no. I just, there's just a mm-mm. And he was helping me out. Yeah, that's about the end, but that time.

Jesus. Yeah, he scared to the Jesus out. That's the part where it's like, oh, man, what if he was mad? Yeah. Yeah, I will say this. You've been to Kaye, cut it. I watched Kate Cunningham play one game in college.

It was at Oklahoma State. It was either the conference tournament or it was the NCAA tournament. I can't remember which. And what always stuck out to me was after every play, he was the bring it in dude. And I watched how fast all those other dudes ran to him when he brought it in. And I was like, oh, we got something going on here. Like a Mike Connolly type of situation where I wasn't,

he's a better player than Mike Connolly. At that time, I wasn't sure exactly how, good he was. Like my question for him in the NBA was like like it was with Mike Conley, your team has to be a certain level of good for you to get the Mike Conley benefits out of it. But if y'all are sorry, Mike Connolly can make you better. But if you're good, Mike Connolly can help make you very good. And I think that's because of all the noise surrounding him going to Oklahoma State. Oklahoma State had hired his brother the year before. And at least that's what I remember in that scenario,

but you cannot put a price tag on leadership. Leadership is something that's not about the price tag. It is who the individuals are. You brought up a great point in Mike Connolly. There are a lot of people that felt like Mike Connolly shouldn't be in the NBA. There are people that thought less of him because he played with Greg Oden in college, as well as the AAU scene.

But what you've been able to see from Mike Conley was something that that has always been who he was. He's been a great leader wherever he's been. And so when we talk about Cade, you talk about a leader that's tough. You know, when they played the San Antonio Spurs and he chucked Wimby, it wasn't all the little like, no, ref, he ran into me. No, he's like, yeah, I did it. And that's what you want from your leader.

But also the leader that he hit also knocked down the three the very next play. Yeah. Yeah. I got one last thing with you, Bruce Bowen, before we get out here, because we were talking about what's going to happen with the Celtics if they bring Jason Tatum back. And just speaking hypothetically here, Bruce Bowen was playing out there.

with Jason Tatum. Would it be the second quarter or the fourth quarter? Oh, boy. Not that you would kick him in the back of the leg, but like, just leave it in the air. You know what I'm saying? Like, like, let it, let it, let it.

No, no, no. This is another one of those great questions you have, Bumani. Yes, it is. You know, you say, if I was playing today, right? Today's, okay. Again, I love your work, Bumani. I mean, I think you are, you know, poof.

It's no surprise that you are where you are. Being it, it's me and, you know, I've been known to get close to guys. Chase's Tatum, I have a lot of respect for. And because I have a lot of respect for him, I'm going to play hard against him. Now, this is Bruce Bowen 32 years old. Okay. or 28. Hey,

I understand that they're watching me. I understand that. I understand. So, I'm going to try and play a fiscal game

and continue to stress that I know that they're watching me. Got you. Got you. Essentials. Hey, I can do this. I just had so many flashbacks to you and that number 12 when you went like this. Like if they put a statue and you in front of the building, it's going to be you know just like this. Where in that jersey?

You're looking like a mob trying to try to make you see what are you talking about? Well, my is because officials are taught that if they see this action, they call fouls. So if my hands are here in Boston, I'm going to show my hands. And more importantly, Bumani, because of the rules of the game today, the Harper got called for a flagrant one. He contested the shot, and Jalen can. came down next to his foot. Bruce Bowen would be as he contests,

and I come down before he'da running away so that they can't say that I did something illegal. Yep, because it wasn't illegal where Bruce Bowen played. And then in today's day and age... Hold on, I need to drink my tea. Yeah, I'm just saying, man, you know. What are you saying, Beaumani? What are you saying?

Some people got things named after him. Sometimes it's a statue, sometimes. it's a building, sometimes it's a park, sometimes it's a rule. You know what I'm saying? You know what? I told my therapist that you would do this. You would do this around this time. But I'm not even phased by what you're saying,

Ma'am. I'm not even fazed by what you're saying. I just seem to have a rash right now because all the forgiveness that I've given you and brother, my- You're a legend, brother. You're a legend. I'm giving you credit for being a legend. No, no, no. See, you just, you pouring gasoline and alcohol at the same time on the fire. You were legend. They should have named the airport after you, but instead, they just decided to give you a rule.

You know, I'm going to go there to Robert. Actually, though, to be fair, it's the Zaza rule. It ain't even the Bruce Bowen rule. It's the Zaza rule. Well, what did Zaza do? Yes, right. Hello. That's right. When it happened to me, y'all don't talk about when it happened to me. See? Look, it happened to me with Baron Davis.

Now what? Yeah, you're right. You're right. You know what? We need to take that up. I don't like your tone right now. No, no, no. You're just doing that to comply.

You know what? Not as you mentioned it, you're right. It's the Bruce Bowen rule because they did it to you. See? See? See? See? See? Take that compliment, Bruce Baldwin.

Take that compliment. That is not what I'm doing. That is not what I'm doing. I know it's not. I know it's not. I tell you this, Bumani, I really do enjoy talking to you sometimes. But it seems like it always goes a certain direction with you. But I bring it back to love, you know what I'm saying?

Oh, there it is. That's my bad. I was waiting for the chef in you. Bring it back. You know, you just did your marinade with me. Hey, man, I did. And now you're about to go burn up. I mean, cook some stuff.

Yeah, yeah. But that is Bruce Bowen, my. brother, it is always a pleasure, man. I appreciate you joining us. Absolutely, brother. All right, bad. And ladies and gentlemen, thanks so much for joining us here on the right time. We do this four days a week.

Ryan Brumbley, handing everything behind the scenes. Thank you, sir. Remember, follow the right time. Oh, hit the voicemail line. I forgot. 3, 2, 3, 3,000, 9, 6, 7, 67. Follow the right time. Subscribe, like, rate us, review us, give us five stars.

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