The Right Time with Bomani Jones - Thunder beat Pacers, win NBA title, Haliburton's heartbreaking injury, Durant traded to Rockets | 6.23

Episode Date: June 23, 2025

On today's episode of The Right Time, Bomani Jones discusses the Oklahoma City Thunder winning their first NBA Title, defeating the Indiana Pacers in game 7 of the NBA Finals. Later, he breaks down the tragedy of the Tyrese Haliburton achilles injury & the Houston Rockets trading for Kevin Durant. He wraps the show by listening to viewer voicemails about "that time you went up against a former athlete". Subscribe to Supercast for Ad-Free Episodes: https://righttime.supercast.com/ 00:00 - Introduction 01:00 - Thunder win NBA title 20:41 - Haliburtion's terrible injury 36:40 - Durant gets traded 45:30 - Voicemails 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. We got so much basketball to talk about.

We're going to get to the Kevin Durant trade in just a little bit. But I don't think there's any other place for us to start than with your 2025 NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder. Well, actually, there is a place to start, but it connects to the Thunder right fast. Send a birthday shout out to the biggest Oklahoma City Thunder fan that I know. My mama, right? So the night before her birthday, she gets the Thunder with a victory. And now on her favorite podcast, she gets a birthday shout out.

I see you, darling. I see you. You got this. And they went and they made it happen. And I'm going to tell you. I wasn't really sure that they were going to get that at any particular point. Indiana raced out. Obviously, Halliburton got hurt.

We'll talk about that a little bit more later. But the Pacers being as relentless as they were, you couldn't be sure no matter what happened that the thunder were going to get this. On top of the fact that, like, it's that season where things like, you know, during the winter, You just have it where, you know what I'm saying? Somebody gets a little cold or the flu or whatever, and it kind of bounces its way around the locker room, and you just got to hope your team can survive it, even though a couple people have been afflicted.

Like, of course, the worst of that was in COVID-19 when they was out there picking up dudes in front of the Home Depot in order to fill out the roster because they wouldn't pass in the test. You did, what I'm saying? The thunder at points during that game went through something else, And luckily for them, it was a mild situation that was bouncing around. However, a cute situation of Lemon Booty was moving through the squad, right? Like, you could just tell, like, if somebody had, like, the blue light or the infrared or, like, one of the 4K videos that they'd be putting on the Internet to show you how things work, you'd have just seen it.

It'd have been a bunch of lemon peel going around, right? And then you just see booties like, it's all tight. You can see it, the MVP in the first half, that man booty was looking drumming, you know what I'm saying? Like, it was tough for them. That thing was, that thing contracted on your man. You saw it with other cats on the team, man. Look, the magnitude of trying to close out a championship is crazy, adding to the fact that the thunder were the team that already had all the pressure. And look, this is something that I've talked about before, and I want to make sure that I get this exactly right,

because it's very easy to mess up, mess up on these sorts of things, but it's the real. Guys, this is only the second year that they made the playoffs. Like you've seen the statistic that this is the second youngest team ever to make the finals, the other being the Portland Trailblazers in 1977, who also won with Bill Walton on that squad. But you got to normally do some things. overcome some things to get to where you are going.

And yeah, maybe you could count losing in the second round last year to Dallas as a thing that was overcome. But no, no, no, no. These guys got to the top fast. I don't care this is the era of parity or anything else. They got to where they were going. And then once they were there, every now and then they look young. They looked young where they didn't put it away in game six, which looks like something they were going to pay for. Right.

But they didn't. They got here. They held this together. they have a real live legitimate superstar. And as I struggled with the idea of whether or not he was the superstar and all that stuff, right? The guy that I actually think is interesting perhaps as a comp dishe, in part because they physically look so different. And I'm just talking about on offense. The guy I think about is Kauai Leonard.

And the reason I think about him in the context of Kauai Leonard is they're both playing the same game. I'm just trying to get to this spot. And then when I get to this spot, it's cash for me, right? Kauai gets you over there to that right wing to get that jump shot. It's Kass. Shea, not exactly the same spot, but he's trying to get you to the elbow. And then once he gets to the elbow, he's got that shot. Now, of course, the thing with Kauai is he gets there because he's strong like bull.

It's not exactly the same thing that's going on over there with Shea Gilders-Alexander. but he can get to his spot, he can get those shots. He had, I looked up at one point, Ryan, and they had the graphic and said it was in the third quarter, and he had 22 and 10. And I was like, wow, that was a quiet 10, 10 being assists. I was like, that was a quiet 10. Yeah, I mean, it was a very bizarre performance because you never felt that he was dominating the game. But at the same time, like the stats were there and he was clearly the best player on the floor. You looked up and you saw those stats.

And in the end, just so we're clear, it was 29 points and 12 assists. 8 to 27 shooting, but he got 12 foul shots, right? When guys put up the quiet 29, we only call it a quiet 29 when you win. When we lose, we call them 50 calories. Like, did it really impact the game? Well, clearly on some level, it did. My man Chet came through holding it down for the skinny folk. I've been seeing all y'all out there.

I don't see it with Chet. What they be talking about with Chet. Chet put up 18 on eight field goal attempts, and he had five blocks. Right? When McConnell Ladova was in there doing his thing, it seemed the only thing that could do it to him was a little white-on-white cry. You know what I'm saying? Like apparently somebody, the brothers apparently didn't feel like they was allowed to block the white man shot.

Chet was like, man, fuck that chick cause. I got you. You know, he's still white. He just taught like that. You can get it to the nuts and bolts of the basketball. I honestly don't think that too many people came away from that game for a number of reasons thinking in that context about this. But I want to throw something out here that the story of how the thunder got here is so interesting to me. And going into the finals, you saw a lot on the internet.

I know Jamel Hill wrote a column about this for the Atlantic, but people kept pointing back to Paul George as being the guy who is the reason why all of this happened, right, for both teams. Because Oklahoma City built their team in large part because of the Paul George trade. And then Indiana got here. They traded Paul George for, I want to call it a Victor Oladipo. Sabonis and somebody else I can't remember all the top of my head. And then Sabonis got traded to Sacramento in the deal that brought back Tyrese Halliburton. Okay, I see where people are coming from here.

But the person that people need to talk about, going back to a dude I just brought up earlier, the dude to talk about in this is Kauai. Because Kauai, we should really call him Kauiza So Se. Now, have seen that movie? Kawiza Sosek. Now, again, it's my mom's birthday, so I'm going to walk her through this, not to ruin this for the rest of y'all. But Mama, it was this movie that was called The Usual Suspects,

and you can look this up. And it's like a heist movie, you know, about a bunch of criminals and a robbery or whatever. But the way the movie is done is they have a guy, and he's sitting in an office, and he's being interrogated by the local police. And the dude is, I don't know any.

of the modern words that you allow to use. But, oh, he appeared to be disabled, not just mentally, but a little bit physical. Okay. And so they put the screws on it because he's also a criminal because they think he'll break or everything else. And as this is going on, there's a parallel investigation. And they figure out that the real guy behind what was going on there was this worldwide master criminal named Kaiser Socet.

Okay. And so the whole thing about the movie is. is the dude is sitting in the room getting interrogated. The feds are trying to find Kaiser-Sosei. The locals are trying to figure it out because they all caught up on this other dude. And in the end, it turns out that the invalid, I think that's okay. Like, it sounds very antiquated, but nobody told me you can't say it. Anyway, they found out the guy with all the problems himself was actually Kaiser-Sosei.

And in the end, he started walking straight instead of walking with the limp that he had in the movie. And it was like, oh, man, he's Kaza-Sosei, right? right, Ryan, you remember it wasn't that long ago that we ain't even know if Kauai could talk. Yeah, I mean, I feel like I still haven't heard him talk that much. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, a lot of people made a lot of presumptions about the way Kauai Leonard gets down, right? Correct. Then he had this uncle that was coming in and handling his affairs.

And it turns out, his uncle is actually a very accomplished man. Like, I know somebody that actually worked with his uncle's wife. And, like, I think he was, he's not an AAU uncle. Yeah. which is what I think that people, people just heard, man, you're going to uncle, right? And they misunderstood what time it was. But anyway, it gave the impression that Kauai needed somebody to, like, speak for him. You see what I mean?

That was the impression that we got about Kauai. Instead, Kaua's associate was out here making moves trying to find somebody else to come with him to play with the clippers. And as I recall the story, and Ryan, I ran this by you, and you remember this the same way, right? So Kauai Lennert was trying to find somebody to come with him. And the way he ultimately got Paul George to decide he wanted to come is that he called Paul George. It was like, yo, I want you to come down here.

And he's like, no, man, me and Russ got something going in Oklahoma City. And he was like, I don't know how to tell you this, but your boy, he's trying to get out too. And Paul George was like, what? He's trying to get out. Time to go. Fine, then I'll come with you. Little did he know. Kauai had called Russell Westbrook

and offered him the same pitch and that was what Kauai was using to say that Russ was talking about getting out of there Kauai brought it up his gimpy ass started walking straight right like that was an amazing level of game but what it did for the thunder

that was so important was the thunder got this gigantic haul with all these picks and very important. certainly Shea Gilders-Alexander. They got all of that not because of the value of Paul George, but because that was what the clippers had to do to get Kauai and Paul George. Okay?

The clippers were in a position as they have spent the better part of the last decade and change, trying to wash all the Donald Sterling sink off of them. They didn't have an actual real-life superstar. Kauai Lurter had demonstrated himself at that point with two championships to two finals MVP to be a legitimate superstar. I got with an argument at that point for being the best player in the NBA. They got him. And then if you get Paul George as the number two, they made the trade.

I thought it was a perfectly appropriate trade to make. They gave up the world in order to make that happen. The next step in this, though, now is Russell Westbrook now definitely wants to be gone because Paul George isn't there. Nothing acrimonious because I think deep down, San Presti's looking around like, all right, I got to get him out of here too. but he's kind of the most beloved player in the franchise, so how do I pull this, right? Okay, made the trade for Chris Paul.

And that is always such an interesting trade to me because I would not be surprised if one day they retired Chris Paul's jersey in Oklahoma City because he is perhaps the man most responsible for them having a team in the town because of how well it went when the Hornets were there for their Katrina Sabath. In the way that Chris Paul, those first two years in the league for him, the way that he handled himself during that time, helped them get that team, then they brought him back. The reason I bring him up, though, in talking about this is this was not the process. This was not what you see happening in Utah, for example.

This was not a tank in the ways that people talk about a tank typically. They made the playoffs that first year after they made those trades. That's the reason why Chris Paul was there with Shea Gilded's Alexander got his MVP, because Chris Paul was She's OG, right? on that squad. That's how that worked. But at every turn, you can look at what the thunder were doing, and they were trying to win. This was not a full-on bottom out. And the way in large part that you know that this was not a full-on bottom out, and hey, look, they went 22 and 50 that first year after the bubble, okay? They were 24 and 58th year after that. They were not good. But the next year,

they went 40 and 42. The team that's trying to tank is not a team that's going to waste its time with a 500 season. They went to the play in and they didn't get it. They went young, which is not the same thing. The other reason for me, this did not feel like a full-on tank. Now granted, they changed the rules about how the lottery worked and everything like this. but this team only has one super duper high pick. And that's Chet Holmgren at pick two.

Nobody else on that squad is one of those. They got this done with, A, the volume of having all the picks that came from all the moves that they made. Right. But they got this done by just having a great eye for talent. Like, they got here because they have the best general manager. in basketball. Like, I felt like that a long time. There was a point while this was going where people were asking the question as to why it

was that he was not getting the same hell for the tank that, say, somebody like the Sixers were. And I'm like, the Sixers were actively looking for players to be terrible. Oklahoma City was truly looking for players to help win, even if it didn't happen today. For example, Ryan, Jalen Williams, that's the number 12 pick. Same draft as Chet, but that's the number 12 pick. that they got there. You look at the way they've built their team.

It feels very, very intentional. From Jaywin Williams to Kason Wallace to Brinan Caruso, they're going to throw waves and waves of defenders at you. And, I mean, that was their clear identity from this entire season in this entire playoffs. And don't forget about left outside Lou Dort. Yeah. Right?

They, they, he's, it's so funny. If you've ever watched football players play basketball. It's so funny to watch him. Yes, the jumper. You got it. It is the, cut you back behind your head and throwing as high as you can. And also the trajectory where it goes,

the moonball shot he hit from 40 feet. Yes. Well, yeah, we'll take a defensive tackle. Yes. Well, also, not pretending like he is anybody other than who he is in terms of the way he plays defense, right? Like this is what it is. But it's all these guys, man,

and it's kind of cobbled together when you run through and look at the names. Like the question was, did they have enough guys, like enough guys that could go get it for you? Apparently they did. I don't, I still think they could stand to get one more. But when you had Jaylon Williams get the 40 piece in game five, you were like, oh, okay, this is what's happening. But the build on this and to get these young guys and the recognition that, look, we're not going to be able to get anybody in free agency to really come here. We're going to have to get young guys. They're going to have to like each other and they're going to have to really like basketball.

and that's the way that we're going to be able to make it here is under those circumstances, right? We have to build a team and build a franchise that guys want to play for. The only thing the Thunder truly has to offer the modern NBA player is competence. We will make this the best team it can be. We will make you the best player you can be. That is the only way a franchise like that can truly function at a high level. right to be anywhere near where they are and think about it they got russell westbrook to sign the second contract extension they got paul george to sign an extension if you've ever listened to

carmelto talk about playing for the thunder on 7 p.m in Brooklyn the way he talks about that franchise and how well run it is in the program that they have for you this is what you're going to do this is how you get to hear there and there and everything else like he spoke of that franchise with a certain sort of reference you go look at the way it is with those guys and them have hanging out because I'm going to be honest with you, brother. My mother's from Oklahoma City. I got Kim folk there. Shout out to my cousin, well.

And he sent me a text about them winning day. He said Oklahoma, right, he said Oklahoma City is title time. They're happy over there, boy. Good for them. Yep, that's what I'm saying. Although the irony of it is, the other title town is Green Bay. And Oklahoma City might be Paris compared to Green Bay. So, you know, it all runs together.

Yeah. But they just had, I would rather be rich and in the NBA in some other places. Yeah. That is me. But they got it, man. Think about this. Shea Gilders Alexander stuck with this for six years. They made that trade for him six years ago.

They had to sell him at every point. This is what we're going to do so that at no point does he say, hey, man, I'm trying to get out of here. That didn't happen. Six years of him. And again, while slowly adding players that I might necessarily. believe it. Like, hey, she just wanted to let you know, we got Isaiah Joe.

Word? Oh. Oh. Okay. Like, I don't know what I would have done. We got a Wiggins. Not that Wiggins. Yeah, yeah. Wiggins is coming. That would have been there. We got Wiggins. Word? Hell. Well, well, you know. But, but like at this point, I look at this roster and I look at it up and down. And I see a dude that played in a game seven with a duct tape.

And before he had a ducktail, he had a shack. because he's from Dallas. I keep trying to tell you all about Dallas. And a lot of y'all think it's just because I'm from Houston. It's not because I'm from Houston. It's because they wear shags and ducttails in 2025. A dude with a ducktail or shag walked in, and Shay Gilders did not say, get me the hell out of here.

Because I'm going to tell you right now, if I'm in the spot and the dude shows up with a ducktail, we're leaving. That's how dedicated. That man was to win him. he said no no no we can keep this gone we can we can we can we can do this and they did they're going to be good for a really really really long time everybody young man even the damn coach is young the coach is born in 1985 as much as i've talked about i believe that this league is about a dynasty saga

and the NBA is ruined the since before dynasty sam presby who ironically when the 2012 or 2011 2012 CBA came out that was supposed to break up the big market teams actually broke up the Oklahoma City Thunder. This guy has apparently overcome. All the things that are meant to tear down a team

is good. They aren't this. They got it. I don't know how much I like them as a team and that's the best part. The more people watch them, the more they will develop emotional feelings about them. Especially after they've ruined. everyone's sports movie moment for the Pacers.

Speaking of which, I do not know if I have ever felt more about a team like you can never count them out like I did about these Pacers. And that's particularly interesting for a team where, I mean, Pascal Seacom being your number two player is, I mean, that's not a bad thing to be able to say. I mean, I've already seen a team win a championship of Siakim is the number two. Whoever you want to call their number three, that's where it's like, oh, okay, I guess.

But never at any point, while they were down big in the double digits in the third, down pretty big in the fourth quarter, never thought they were out of it. Down 12 with like four minutes left. Never thought that they were out of it. never at any point that I feel that way about them. And that was even with the particular circumstances that they were under in game seven. I just can't think of a team that I came away from respecting more than I did that particular team and that particular makeup, especially given that they brought it like that after the Halliburton injury.

Now, I had more than a few people mentioned to me during the game. when they saw Halliburton hit the ground that, quote, I called it, unquote. I did not call it. I want to be very clear about this. I did not predict this what happened. I did not think this would happen. I damn sure hope it wouldn't happen. The thing that I said was maybe I'm a little scarred because after the Kevin Durant play with calf strain,

I associate the calf strain with being right, like one train stop away from the Achilles tear. But I didn't know enough to know if that were actually true. I've seen enough, Ryan. What is what is a point two is a trend? And I'm taking it way past trend. Yeah, I saw a tweet that was like, we're going to, I'm going to start mentally treating calf trains in the NBA, like concussions in the NFL. Yep, yep.

Yep, yep. How many figures am I holding up? And it's just so tough because you don't, it's just the image of the Kevin Durant holding is all so fresh in his mind. Like when you talk about people calling it, like people want to predict the worst case scenario because they want to be right, right? Yes. But it still didn't make it any easier to watch. Well, especially because just like the Kevin Durant game, which was I believe game five

in the NBA finals in 2019. It was game four or game five. I can't remember which. But he was on fire. Yes. It was game four. It was game four because the game was in Toronto. He was on fire that game.

And then he just crumpled into a heat. But also remember this about the Kevin Durant game. He missed time in that postseason. About a month. Yeah, yeah. Like he missed a long time. Halliburton was trying to play straight. through this.

And it was effective in game sex. He was, but that isn't the point, right? Like, we are not in a place, at least from what I have seen, where the question is about the Blaine game on this. I think the case was a little bit

different with Durant, especially since he was going to be a free agent, and we all felt pretty confident he wasn't coming back to Golden State. It felt like they were ringing the last drops out of the rag. You know what I'm saying? Before they got done with them, And that felt a little bit unseemly. Of course, it would have been pretty cool to be able to get some insights from Bob Myers,

former general manager of the Warriors, at the halftime show as he was there and had a role in the Kevin Durant decision, given what happened to Halliburton inexplicably. ESPN didn't give us anything about that. Like, I can only assume that Bob Myers didn't give us anything. This was like that time Drew Brees ran away from the set when John Gruden called DeMaris Smith, some variety of a big-lived African-American. I know that John Gruden said it didn't have anything to do with him being African-American,

but fuck out of here. This one felt tragic. The Durant one felt like it just had a lot more surrounding it. I don't know if I had evolved in the way that I look at things since that and now. I look at it with Halliburton where I think this is it. I think I'm a little less cynical about these things than I used to be. and that I am operating, in this case, on an assumption that Halliburton made an informed decision and decided to, this is his chance to win a championship, and he decided he was willing to go for it.

And I think that in the 20-something years that I've been doing this job, I have a better understanding of athletes and what they're willing to do to get. and I am willing to bet at this point that if you ask Halliburton 20 years from now, whether he would have done that, he'll probably say yes. And I could be wrong, but that is informing the way I look at it. But it still was tragic. And as soon as he's laid out on the ground face first, I have not seen the details of the replay, by the way, because I don't do that. My brother saw it and was like, yep, there it is right there.

Like you can see it. Like, we all knew exactly what it was when he laid down. We knew what it was when he started crying, because an Achilles chair is not one that takes a lot to diagnose. In fact, we have not even gotten an official word as I say this. His daddy told Lisa Salters it was in Achilles tear, which I don't think was the most responsible thing for anybody involved to do. But we're all pretty confident that that is what happened.

They're testing for severity, not the injury. Yeah, and dude, this is another one, man. Three star borderline superstar guys have torn ACs. the Achilles in the last three months. Dame Lillard, Jason Tatum, and now Tyrese Halliburton. Lillard is at an Achilles tear age in the ways that we have thought of, Achilles tears. We talked about this with Tom Havistro, who had mentioned this spate of Achilles

tears that we had seen, but the idea of seeing a 25-year-old face first on the ground with an Achilles tear. don't forget this one. Ryan, Luca Dachich was dealing with a cash strain this year with some pushing to get him back out there. I bet you Nico would have started doing press conferences. We would have all of a sudden

seeing a long media and podcast tour if that would have happened. Between defense winning championships and Lucas Achilles, we've heard a lot more from Nico Harrison. Nico would have put out the most heartfelt tweet. He'd have sent that man flowers. He'd have done the whole nod, but he'd have been a lot.

I told y'all. But is this what the NBA is going to be? With all these guys and all these miles, and I was talking to a guy who worked in college basketball after we had done the thing before about these Achilles' tears. And the point that he made was, he said the issue isn't so much that guys play more basketball now than they used to. He's like, the difference is they play,

more basketball than gyms than they used to, right? Because if they weren't playing all these AAU games, they would have been playing on the street or playing in local runs because basketball players play basketball. That's what they do, right? Like, that's where it would have gone. Where he said he thinks the mileage really comes from and where it truly becomes a discussion is in all the time

they spend working with trainers and how hard it is. Like, after these guys are used to not having off seasons. Just a couple of days ago, a good friend of mine came up here, because his son had a basketball game. The son is a top 100 recruit. And the young homie, school year over, like, they still play it, right? It's June. The school's still playing school games.

There's like the early summer. The schools keep playing now like April, May, like, you know, past the regular season. Then you get into AAU season. The last time I saw my man, he was here, it was like late September, early October. they were already playing basketball again. And so what the guy was telling me is that the hardest thing for him is getting the guys, okay, take a little break. Don't be in the gym.

All they do is go in the gym because the brain is now so focused on get to the NBA, get to the NBA. The understanding of the level of competition around them is so strong. And it's like, once you know these other cats are in the gym, well, now I got to be in the gym. They putting in these hours and everybody's put it on Instagram. So you're seeing and you're recognizing. at every moment, this is how much you have to play.

And I am not convinced that part it's true. But this is how much that you have to do and everything else. And so these guys have an extraordinary number of miles on them. And just, you know, the best way to keep the business of the season going is to extend the season. If there's no off-cending, you can charge for 52 weeks of training instead of 26 weeks. That's right. That's right. And so it goes and it goes and it goes.

And we just watch because Indiana, everything that we were saying about why can't the Thunder keep this going for a long time. It was the same feeling about Indiana. Why can't Indiana keep this going a long time? And now the answer is because their best player just tore as Achilles. Now, it is possible that they come a long way on these Achilles'

tears. I mean, Kevin Durant tore his Achilles six years ago. Two years after he tore his Achilles, he was playing well enough, maybe some of the best basketball we'd ever seen Kevin Durant play to lead a team to a championship if you wore a shoe one size small. Right? Like, we saw,

all of those things. But man, it hurt to watch it, man. Especially now, like, you know, I'm in an older age or whatever. Even though I'm not looking at it from the standpoint of somebody to blame, man, I heard to watch. It was a difficult thing to view and to see and to see that emotion and see them carry him off the floor and everything else. I'm going to say this one too, and we'll throw it out there. And, I mean, we can be general. I don't think they're the only people who did this, but both Perk and Stephen A had a lot to say about

Halliburton on the, if you can walk, you have to play. I don't say those kinds of things because I don't even want to do a show with a headache. You know what I'm saying? Like, I ain't the guy. I'm not the one to do that. But I do think that this is one of those moments

that makes us or requires us often to be a little bit careful about what we say other people should do with their injuries. If you can walk, you can play. Ryan, that's not terribly different than the logic that send people out there with concussions.

Yeah, I mean, and we talk a lot about it. You know, you mentioned that like his lack of regret, like all athletes are in that position because they will always make the decision to play through it. Yes. And when I think the similarity of

it's hard about concussions is when is it the right time for the player or the organization to make that decision. That's something we haven't figured out with calf strands yet. Yeah, well, one thing about concussions, and I've said this a while ago, is that we treat that differently because we treat the idea of, like, the dementia and everything else. Like, right, we prioritize the head and the brain, which makes perfect sense. I'm not saying that it's a bad idea.

I'm just saying the other stuff hurts too or the other stuff is why people take pain pills, right? Like with football players, like there's, these are all injuries, right? They're all bad. They're all miles that guys are going to have to take later. And so we look at playing through those injuries differently than we look at playing through head injuries, and I understand it. But we just watch somebody endure one of the most severe injuries that you can possibly have.

And he did it in spite of the fact that what appears to me to have been an obvious warning sign. Now, again, I bet if you ask them to do it over again, he probably would. But that is a decision for him to make. It is not one for me to encourage. So I wish that young man the best. He had one of the best post seasons that I can remember, one of the most clutch post seasons that I can remember. He helped get a team that none of us thought of in this context to a game seven of the NBA finals. They had a great chance to win that game before he got hurt.

He did that. And that is not going to be something that gets him solace for a very long time. And I understand that point. But man, you're not going to be able to say you came away from this postseason without a Sears, respect for Tyrese, Halliburton. Stop calling that man, Steve Irley. That's the fine or kill. Let me tell you about Zbiotics pre-alcohol probiotic.

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That's cash app. We are not doing it if you haven't heard this go around on the show. And the reason is, it is honestly. the first time this has ever happened. We had so much happened that we got to kind of skip out on that for this week. Don't worry. We'll have weird stories for you. So,

the morning of game seven of the NBA finals, the word got out that Kevin Durant had been traded to the Houston Rockets. Damn, I wish I had gone to Fanatics Fest. I went on Friday. And Fanatics Fest, and if you don't know this, like the company

Fanatics, it's like their big expo show they haven't at the Javit Center. in New York City and very interesting people. It wasn't like Comic-Con for athletes from the videos. And it felt like Comic-Con. Oh, goodness. It got a little bit. It's a little weird in there. Yeah, you saw some of the videos. Yeah, like I was there. It was a little strange. They get a lot of people to show up. I'm sure the demographics for about 98% dudes. Yes. Yes, dudes and very kind women, right? And so, you know, they do the thing that is the model for content everywhere. which is we just get famous people on stage to talk to each other.

You know what I mean? Like there's a lot of panels that's just a lot of famous people talking to each other, which I don't necessarily find to be the most interesting thing. But I saw that my good friend Taylor Rooks was going to be interviewing Kevin Durant on Sunday. And I thought about going, but I've been working on a bunch of other stuff. So I hadn't really been able to make it over there, right? And then, of course, the word drops that this trade has been made while Kevin Durant is on. stage. Now, first of all, if you think Kevin Durant found out on stage, you don't understand how

things work. He may have found out it was official while he was on stage. But they did not trade Kevin Durant to Houston without him having any idea that this was going down. I feel pretty confident saying that Kevin Durant was involved in whatever the moves were because what nobody wants to do is to acquire a disgruntled, Kevin Durant. We've seen that movie. You can win, but you're not going to like it. Okay? No, he was up on what the game was going to be on that trade. Bottom line is Phoenix had no leverage. Two years ago, Phoenix traded four first round picks and a bunch of other stuff. It was a four first round picks, McHale Bridges, Cam Johnson. Like, it was a, it was a haul for Kevin Durant. Yeah, just to remember, McKell Bridges, who went for four

first round picks and they got traded for five first round picks. Yes, that is a great point. Yeah. This trade was the number 10 pick in the draft, Dylan Brooks, Jalen Green, five second round picks in order to get Kevin Durant. And the number 10 picking the draft was Phoenix getting its own pickback. What had been long forecast, and Brian Winhorst called this trade a year ago,

that the Rockets were getting Phoenix's got some of Phoenix's picks from the net. Because Phoenix is in a position where they can't even tank to get better because they don't have control over their picks. And so the Rockets went to get Phoenix's picks because they're more valuable to Phoenix than they are to anybody else. And then Phoenix could perhaps then get those back and the Rockets could use that to get Kevin Durant.

They managed to get Kevin Durant without having to give up those picks. That is crazy. But it's because Phoenix set themselves up in such a way that everybody knew they had to move him. They had ultimately no way. leverage. The question was just going to be whether there were teens who would be willing to trade for Durant without him saying he wanted to go there. Minnesota, Durant does not want to go there.

Would you be willing to do what Masai Ujiri did when he got Kawhi Leonard? I don't care if you want to come. We're going to try this for a year and we're going to see how that goes. Was that something that Minnesota was going to be willing to do? I think that was the question that surrounded Durant's cap. Nope. Why don't go to the Rockets? I think this was a seal for the My best friend from growing up hit me and was like, why are we giving up all of this? We be in the Rockets. Like, why are they giving up all of this? And I'm like, I didn't think they gave up all to everything, anything.

They gave up Dylan Brooks. Okay, they got Amman Thompson. Not that you don't want to have two very good defensive players, but they got another one of those that's better. Okay, cool. They gave up Jalen Greene. I believe that to be addition by some trash. I just don't. I don't think that young man plays winning basketball.

I just don't. And I don't think Phoenix thinks it either because everything we hear is that they, They're going to move him to a 13. What 13? Who the hell trying to do that? Anyway, those five second round picks. Second round picks are, you know what second round picks are? Change.

Right? Like, hey, man, this will cost you $18. Damn, I only got a $20. All right, you want somebody second round picks then? You know what I mean? They're like $1 bills, right? You know what they're like when you go to the casino and you hit for black Jack and Black Jack's three to two, but you did it with some weird number.

So they got to give you a 50 cent piece. Yeah. There, that's, that's, that's, that's what second round picks are, right? They just gave them the look, gave a little change out of their pockets and said they could have that part. But I don't think the Rockets gave up anything. And if they are so inclined, they're still in the position to, um, bring Janus to the Nigerian ancestral home of America, Houston.

He ain't got to use that funny spelling of his last name ever again. He comes back to Houston. then he'll be back amongst his homies. You know, just hanging out with engineers all the time. Be right there for them and rappers. We got a few of those too. Shout out to the homie, told me. The Rockets now, what did the Rockets not have last postseason?

Got to get a shot. Right? Big moment in the game, you need it. What the Rockets didn't have was a guy to get that shot. Now they have a guy to get that shot. Huge, huge. Because they'll be able to get that shot for the rest of his life. Yeah.

And also they have, they extended their coach, is there handle sulky kd insurance because you know who is not interested in sulky kevin durant and he's already look he's already done it yeah right he worked with e-may worked with him in brooklyn like he's very aware of who the guy is that he's getting and kevin durand likes him so this is i think for the rockets this was great even if they don't get um yannas i don't I don't think they gave up anything. Let me tell you the last thing to Rock is need. Last thing to Rock is need is the number 10 pick in the draft.

In this day and age, how long is it going to be before that number 10 pick in the draft is contributing to helping you win? Like they finished, well, was it number two in the conference? They should be playing a win now sort of game, right? Now, my hot take is if Shingoon's not going to be your guy guy, and I think there's a ceiling on how good you're going to be with Shingul being that dude, I go trade him to get somebody else.

Like I think somebody with the type of game, he has the uniqueness of it. If you're not going to treat him like Yolkich, then go get somebody else. Like he will be the first thing. He'll be on the first thing to Milwaukee, I think, if they trade for Janus. He'll be up there wearing what's my man's name, the Ilyosver jersey, putting off for the home team. You know what I'm saying? I believe they're from the same place. But that's where I think that goes.

but I don't think Durant's going to be guarding anybody. I think that at some point all the years do matter, but he'll be able to get that shot. I firmly believe for the rest of his life. The Rockets made this happen. And it continues in a long, long line of the Houston Rockets getting superstar players. or some players of that ilk.

Even if you take it back to guys like Calvin Murphy and Rudy Tom Jodovic. Like Rudy John Donovic was the number two pick in the draft. Calvin Murphy was a college superstar. That's why he is in the Basketball Hall of Fame. But you go after that and I can start rattling off names from year to year. Rick Barry, Moses Malone,

Ralph Samson, Akeem Elijah Watt, Clyde, Drexler, Charles Barkley, Scotty Piffitton, Steve Francis, Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, James Hardin, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook. Like, it goes and it goes and it goes. This is a franchise that has always been about having big names. And they just went and got one more. Now we're going to find out just how much he truly has left.

All right. We got an oldie but a goody. Tell us about that time you went up against a former professional athlete coming up. We got some good ones. Here's the first one. I was, Bo. This is Eric and Andy, man. Your prompt was about the time you ran up against somebody who would end up being a big star.

So I was a pre-giftball player in Indiana, man, decent athlete doing my own thing. And I thought, you know, my senior year, Allstate, I test my medal against the best. So I go to a camp in Ohio that draws people from all across the Midwest. I'm offensive line. I mean, we're out there doing our thing. I look the part. I'm a decent-sized guy. Pretty athletic doing our thing.

So we'll get to the one-on-one drills, and I'm holding my own. There's one dude. He's, you know, test me. I can't get to my spot to cut him off. He's a linebacker, and he keeps getting there a step before me, and he's starting to realize he got me. He's in my head a little bit, so he's telling me a couple. times. So we get into like the old Bahama drills and the one on one drills, that kind of thing. And every

time I get up it against this dude, it's a battle. But he's starting to like, it's getting, becoming clear to me that he actually knows what's up. So he thumps me a couple times. I get up and do my thing. Everybody's cheering. Everybody's cool. But at one point, we get up there, man, he'd have to do this to me, man. We get up there. We do our thing. I'm standing up. And he just decided, man, he just mushed. Man, just mush me down, push me down, goes around me. And at that point, my division one football dream died. I realized it.

I'm like, you know what? I can hustle a little bit, but these dudes might be a little bigger than me, just a step faster, stronger, and maybe I'll find those places where I can get some playing time. So, by the way, that brother's name was Thomas Pepper Johnson. So, all right, ball. I'll catch you next time, man. Peace.

First of all, he sounds a lot younger than I thought he was. to be dropping up, throwing out Pepper Johnson. Ryan, are you even familiar with Pepper Johnson? Yeah. I mean, I had to look it up to confirm, but, yeah, I mean, I certainly didn't see him play. Yeah, Pepper Johnson played with L.T. Yeah. Yes.

And you know he's old school. We ain't been calling people Pepper for a long time. Yeah, I didn't know they still made those. No, no, we might make a pep every now and then, but a pepper? No, that's new. They're old. All right. Here's the next one.

What's up, Beaumani? This is David from L.A. This story takes place. I'm probably about the time where you matched that with a future professional. And I played a little juco ball in Illinois. And, you know, I'm coming off ACL. You know, he about to have a new teammates. So one of these new teammates, excuse me, he brings his younger brother.

He was like, oh, yeah, younger brother. He's got a scholarship, played D1 ball. And in my head, I'm like, you know, I already been playing college ball, so I'm about to welcome him to college ball to the wonderful world of J-Col. So, let's what you know. And plus, I had been seeing him on the local news in high school just dunking on people. So I was like, all right, whatever, man. I'm for the, I'm going to show this young boy, what, you know, what it is. And plus, I got something to prove because I'm coming off an ACL injury the first time, mind you.

so anyway there's a switch and I end up guarding him he goes right to the post and he calls for the ball so now I'm like ain't no bounce in the house

what you think this is now I'm all a 6-1 he was taller than 6-1 but still it was offensive to me so I said all right well you know he's gonna jump in the air

to get the ball as soon as he lands far onto the back you know and go hurt him but I'm gonna meet him when he drop you know what I'm saying

when he comes back down with some physicality And sure enough When they threw him the ball He jumped to get it He landed I hit it with the fore on It just his plan

Only he slithered And spun off of it So quick To where You know Sometimes you gotta You can't just follow him You have to go the other way

To recover And by that time He was already in the air And I got boomed on And That Future Your NBA Hall of Famer was Dwayne Wade.

Peter Mversets. Love the show, bro. First of all, I didn't know y'all said boom in Chicago. I feel like that's a Texas way. So I'm like, yeah, boomed all. He said, I thought I got him. I'd been playing junior college basketball. I love the visual.

That's a different bad. Yeah. He was in the Matrix. Yeah. Like getting turned around. I'm like he's roadrunner. Right. Where to go?

Where did he go? Oh, that's funny. All right. Here's our last one. Mr. Jones, I've been waiting for this one. I grew up in Pensacola, Florida. Now you probably know about five, six people, famous athletes from Pensacola, Florida. Now, my dad used to take me.

This is when my freshman year, probably around 2011, my dad used to take me on baseball. and my dad used to take me on base after school so I can play open runs on a of the Navy base just to go out there, give me something to do and just play a ball with the Navy dudes, you know, get some game, get better. Man, I'm waiting to go in one game. We're waiting around for the next game to start, and I'm on somebody's five. Now, they usually don't let the young dude come in, but they let me in. you know, we went a game.

And then it was like how Charlie Murphy was talking about Rick James or somebody with their aura. Here comes Roy Jones Jr. coming into the gym with his five already. They're all in Jordan gear. And they just got next. They ain't have to wait. You know, they just got next. So I'm nervous. these Navy dudes

was scared the youngest dude and the tallest dude was me I was probably 5'9 at the time I had to guard Roy Jones Jr. And I don't know if he has YouTube clips of him playing ball

but I swear to you play Roy Jones Jr. And basketball his shot looked like Kevin Duxworth or something like that he's pulling up like Steph Curry he has a pose game and he was giving me that work.

And every other time, if I was doing bad, they'll switch me off. Nah, I had to get it the whole game. At one point in the game, we both went out, we both went up for a rebound. And he accidentally, like, nudged me in my face, not a hard elbow, but a little one. And my lens and my glasses fell out, and he couldn't be nicer. But I was more mad that I had to guard him because they were some chums. about that. But yeah, if y'all in Pensacola or wherever you see Roy Jones Jr., play pig with them, do just, just play them. You'll see what I'm talking about. Thanks for money. And also,

I just want to say whenever I'm filling down, the whole ship's door brings me up. Peace. Oh, the whole ship. Brian, one day I'm going to have to tell you the whole ship. We have a slow day. I'll tell the whole ship. The whole ship never fails. But he had to eat the buckets. That's the words. He had made him eat the Roy Jones. But he also loved the idea that Roy Jones showed up with five and they don't wait. There's very few things that will guarantee you to be on the voicemails, no matter what is on this. Military base in Pensacola pretty high.

Walked in like Charlie Murphy or print story, almost a guarantee. If you say that that person is Roy Jones, that's an auto selection. That's the easiest job I had. I think it worked well. I think it worked well. But ladies and gentlemen, thanks so much for joining us here on the right time. We do this here three times a week. Brian Brumley handling everything behind the scenes.

Thank you, sir. Remember, follow the right time. 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. And we'll talk to you guys in a couple of days. Take it easy.