The Ringer NBA Show - Are the Warriors Back? Inside the Title Race and Potential Trades With Marcus Thompson | Ringer NBA Show

Episode Date: August 25, 2021

The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson joins Kevin O’Connor for a deep dive on the Golden State Warriors’ 2021-22 season. Marcus shares his insight into how the Warriors have balanced their short-term goals for getting the most out of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green and their long-term goals for developing young talent to avoid a down period once their stars are gone (0:45). Then KOC and Marcus discuss two other teams in the league that have overhauled their rosters, while keeping their key players in place, the Bulls and Lakers, and how all three teams share a need for on-court sacrifice (17:30), and whether Steve Kerr can mirror the adaptability the Warriors are requiring of their players (25:45). Then they talk about Klay Thompson’s recovery and how the Warriors could arrange their players on the floor when he returns to play in December (36:00). Finally, they touch on potential big trades looming on the horizon with the three giant question marks of Bradley Beal, Damian Lillard, and Ben Simmons still hanging over the league, which young players the Warriors would be willing to give up, and what other kinds of players they might target (51:00).  Host: Kevin O’Connor Guest: Marcus Thompson II Associate Producer: Sasha Ashall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Full Court Fits is the Ringer's new weekly NBA video series hosted by Big Was, Waz, aka Wazney-Lambre. Each week, we take you around the world of NBA fashion and share can't miss style choices from your favorite players and keep you up to date on the latest news and releases in sneaker culture. Waz also talks to experts like Damian Lillard's personal stylists to give you behind-the-scenes looks at how the NBA's biggest stars choose their outfits. New episodes drop every Friday, so make sure you're subscribe to the Ringer's YouTube channel at YouTube.com slash the ringer so you never miss an episode. Tap it in everybody. Thank you for tuning into the Ringer NBA show. My name is Kevin O'Connor.

And today you're going to hear a great conversation with Marcus Thompson who covers the NBA and the Warriors for the athletic late September. It's right around the corner here, which means players are going to be showing up the training camp. We're going to be watching live NBA games again really soon. So we thought it'd be a perfect time here to record a podcast about what we learned this summer and what it means moving forward. And I believe that looking at the league is true what Golden State lens allows us to really understand a lot of the

themes that matter right now in basketball and will matter this coming season with on court play as well as potential trades. So even though we're primarily focusing on the Warriors here, this is really a conversation that can apply to the team or the players that you root for. So anyway,

let's talk basketball with Marcus Thompson. Marcus, welcome to the Ringer NBA show. I just need to say this up front and be very clear. I'm loyal to Logan Murdoch. That is my friend. That is my homie. Logan, you were gone.

I tried to call and see if this was cool. You didn't answer. So I hope you cool with me coming on with KOC, because Logan's my guy. Logan is somewhere. He's on a real vacation now, away from the NBA, which is great. But with that said, though, Marcus,

we're only a month away from training camp here. Soon we're going to see Russell Westbrook, sharing the floor with LeBron and AD. Zach Levine's got the best team of his career in Chicago. The best team in the league you mean. Let's go. Yeah, I mean, we'll talk about that later. But here's the thing, though. So when I talk to coaches and executives around the NBA, though,

they say the team that they're most anticipating watching is a Golden State Warriors. That's because of the return of Clay Thompson, rejoining Stefan Draymond after two seasons away from the NBA because of their draft picks, Jonathan Kaminga and Moses Moody, a second season for James Wiseman, all of their free agent additions, Auto Porter, B-Elits, of the return of Igudala. So after two lost seasons for the Warriors, they have the fourth highest finals odds for the Fanduals sports book behind only the Nets,

the Lakers, and the Bucks. Marcus, are the Warriors back? They're not back to the dynasty levels, but they're back in the mix. They're back to where they were before they won a title. Remember before they won a title and they were like a top team

in the West, but you didn't, know if they would actually do it, right? It felt like they won a championship a bit early. But you could see the pieces, right? You can see that had the components. I think they're back to that level. Now, we all thought they would stay at that level. That was a great level. Like, after what they'd been, after where they come from, it was a great level to be mentioned amongst the, like, yo, they could win this thing if everything breaks right. I remember those the euphoria in the air of those Bay Area days before the dynasty, when they were.

It was crazy that the Warriors were like a perennial playoff scene. So I think they're there where if things break right, including Clay Thompson's Achilles, they're a scary team to face. Like they could win a championship. They still might need another piece or two to make it, make them a favorite. But especially after what we watched last year,

you could see Steph getting hot and Dremont doing his thing. doing his thing and things clicking, and they being a scary team to play at the playoffs. Yeah, I mean, anytime you have, like, Steph playing at the level that he still is, Dremont, you know, he was a defensive player of the year candidate, and if Clay can be Clay, like you said, they're kind of at that point they were before they started winning championships.

You interviewed Steph a couple of weeks ago after he signed his $215 million contract extension. And what he said to you that stood out the most to me in that interview was, quote, just being around the conversations that some people are privy to and most people are not, we want to win. And if anybody was not with that, then we've got issues. And I don't think I'd have signed up for five years of that. So that's the vibe. And that stuck out to me because, you know, this offseason, a lot of Warriors fans had hoped for more NBA-ready draft picks.

There was a lot of Deviant on Mitchell talk or a trade for a star, whether it was Beal or Simmons. And I think at one point, you even reported that Steph and Dr. Bond or the Warriors were pushing for a deal for a player who can help immediately. So keeping in mind what Steph said that we want to win, my question for you is, what is Golden State's approach to balancing the short-term goals of winning now during this era with Steph and Clay and Dreamon versus the long-term goals of sustaining success deeper into the future?

Well, I think step one was committing to balancing it because there was a party that says don't balance it, right? Get them youngsters up out of there and go the LeBron route, right? Like, yo, give me players who can win right now, sacrifice the youngsters and draftics for it, and let's go get a championship. So I think there were maybe one or two guys they would do that for. And somehow, whatever happened, Steph was convinced that they tried, right? That they went for it. and now they are committed to balancing,

which is try to plug some holes with some veteran pieces, you know, develop your youngsters and hope for this fitting synergy. Like he signed a four-year extension, so it's no longer like a one-year plan and let's see what happens, right? So now he's got basically a five-year window. Draymond's got three years left. I think Clay's got three years left.

So there's at least a three-year period to where they get a title and it's all well, right? Because all they need is one, okay? All they need is one. That's it. They need that one without direct to show that they can do, right? That's what we're talking about.

To get one more title, would they love two or three, obviously. But if they get one, a lot of legacies are cemented. So I think they're committed to the path of developing. It requires Clay being great again. It requires Draymond being great. It requires Steph looking like he looked,

last year, and they're going to have to get some players to grow. They're just going to have to. If they do that, they're on a very more traditional championship process, right? It may not happen year one, but you take a step year one. The first thing I've got to make the playoffs. They haven't made the playoffs in two years. First they got to make the playoffs, make some noise, teach the youngsters how to win and get over the hump. They might be more equipped to do it because they have three days.

dudes with championships, but it's a far more traditional role to a title, one that we watch Milwaukee take, right? When we're watching Phoenix on now. So around here, kind of could be like a curse, right? Kind of be like, this is terrible, this is pathetic, but this is most of the NBA, right? They're on a pretty good path. No, do, doubt. I think he said this is most of the NBA, and this is kind of the, this is the challenge

that every team goes through. You've got to, when you have these superstar level players, future Hall of famers, you need to take full advantage, but you also can't leave yourself depleted, sometimes making these short-sighted decisions. I think, though, when teams do that, like the calves with LeBron James, they go all in, like you said. Obviously, they're bad after LeBron leaves, but you can see the potential. Bad, bad.

But you can see the potential of what they have now. They probably have one of the 10 best young cores of the NBA. The Nets go after Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, and that fails miserably. But then with the new front office, they built a young team that was pretty good and competitive. It was good enough to appeal to Kyrie and Katie and eventually Hardin. And whether, you know, it's dramatic moves like that or, you know, more like just like Utah, you know, drafting Donovan Mitchell after losing Gordon Hayward. You develop him. He's blossoming.

Tatum and Brown when the Celtics said Isaiah Thomas and Al Horford. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Like with Damien Lower and C.J. McCollum, the Blazers tried to do that with Zach Collins and Nasir Little and Amfrey Sine. And those guys just haven't popped. But isn't that, I mean, contending and developing at the same time, that's generally a good idea, though, I think, for the Warriors and for NBA teams to take that approach. It's the best idea, right?

The only problem with the Warriors is they won three championships and they have three dudes who are legends, right? And also, I think LeBron is the problem, right? LeBron, we've watched how LeBron did it. And there's an obvious way to do this when you have this level of a star. The fervor for Steph Curry in the Bay is ridiculous, right? It's everybody, people care more about Steph than they do the Warriors. I grew up a Patriots fan. So it's same with me. I felt that with Tom Burney. Like eventually it became more about Tom Brady than the Patriots. Absolutely. It's like, yo, what the number one goal should be to,

to maximize the resume and legacy of Steph Curry, right? And that's a bit of, that's the only thing that's kind of warping the algorithm, right? It's that they were a dynasty and, you know, people want them to get back to that level. But this is actually the best way. And it convinced Steph to sign for, you know, to lock himself up for five years. But I feel like the same three players who are so good. are good enough to make Otto Porter, you know, what he needs to be, Jordan Poo, what he needs to be, you know, camiga.

Like, these dudes are that good. And the question, the only question is when it's time for Steph and Clay and Dremont to, you know, either retire or take a backseat, will those new guys be good enough to take over? That's to me the only question, but I don't think Steph Clay and Raymond need that much, right? They just need some players who are competent and who can play and who can be relied on

to do some things. So I feel like this is the best, this is the best model for sustenance, right? We've often heard the Spurs model, right? How are you doing for 20 years? This is what they want to go for. This is the way to do that. and barring going out to get somebody who's like incredible.

I don't know. To me, this would be the best. Now, it requires, like you said, you got to hit on the picks, man. Like, that's really what it is. You got to hit on the picks. You got to sign the right guys. And if they didn't do that, it won't work. But this is the method.

I mean, so like there's a number of, you know, you mentioned like for Steph, Dremont and Clay, they don't need a whole lot. I mean, this isn't like the Wizards. adding Corey Kisper trying to make the playoffs or the Pacers adding Chris Duarte or the Pelicans trying to sneak in with like Trey Murphy. It's a difference with those guys. Like with the Hawks, even with Trey Young, what they have, adding Jalen Johnson to that mix isn't the same level because of the level of Star Power the Warriors have. But, you know, all of these teams in their own respective ways are going to rely on these young players in some capacity, come playoff time

or come late in the season when it comes to competing for the playoffs. And, you know, we've, we've seen young players in recent years, whether they're rookies or second or third year guys, O'Conwu with Atlanta getting 10, 15 minutes per game, Thibble for Philly already made second team all defense. But most young players, though, most young players, it takes time to become a playoff contributor, sometimes in a year two or three or four, even their second contract. So I want to bring it back to your conversation with Steph because, you know, he definitely seemed satisfied, you know, with everything that happened this off season. But how bought into this plan are Stefan Dremont? I mean, I think they're in because they were in on the plan.

The difficulty, to me, this all boils down to one real thing that I think I've even seen you point out before. They need somebody else who creates shot. That's what it is. It's why it's Bradley Bill. It's right. It's why they're not going crazy over Ben Simmons, right? Like they need somebody else who can create a shot. It's why they went after Patty Mills too. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely, right? It's playing game.

It's Warriors against Memphis, which we're not talking about championship caliber. Memphis is like, yo, we're picking stuff up on the other side of half court. He's not doing anything. And they had nobody who could create a shot, right? They had no reliable place to go. Jordan Poole steps up, starts looking like that guy, right? but you know, it's a small sample size. I think Jordan Poo's going to be really good,

but I don't know if you bank it on that as your championship answer. So the question becomes, how do you get people to, how do you get teams to not be able to say, yo, Steph, we're going to pick you up a half. Like, you're not, we're going to make sure you don't touch the ball. So that's really what it boils down to. Do they have that guy? I don't think they have it.

And I think once they tried to get it, they couldn't get it, all the parties know you couldn't get it. So now it's like, all right, you got to go the other route, which is get enough ancillary pieces to make teams pay when they do that. Clay is the perfect. Clay Thompson is that guy, right? He's the guy who will punish you for doing that. That's why you see Ata Porter, right, a guy who lived on corner threes, right? That's why you see Namanya Bailita.

You know, they need some guys who can say, all right, we don't have a guy who we could say, hey, you got the offense, Steph is resting for six minutes. The most nerve-wracking six minutes in Bay Area sports is when Steph is on a bench during the start of the second and started a four. They don't have a guy to make that more comfortable for anybody. So now it's like, okay, teams are going to do this.

Who can make them pay? I think they all are on board. But also, I think in the back of their mind, they know, like, this isn't it. This is now, this went from, we got to do this right now to, okay, we have three years to do this. Like, we're all committed. We're all under contract.

So if it doesn't happen now, what's going to happen next? Even Steph mentioned it in the same article. Like, you know, he's bringing up buyouts and trade that. Like, he's bringing that up. Like, you know, there's going to be some other moves made at some point. But right now, we just didn't happen in the R. So that's what they're thinking. We tried.

We didn't get it. It was on them anyway. Who was going to recruit him? Who was going to get Bradley Bill to opt out? And we're going to be Bob Myers. It was going to be Steph or Draymond, right? Or not Clay because Clay Chiller. But it would have been one of them two.

So they tried. They couldn't do it. And I think they all know what they're working with. So it's like, all right, it's on us again. But we got a few veteran pieces. So I feel like they're on board. So, I mean, in other words, you're saying they're on board now. It's just a matter of how things develop over the course of the season.

Yeah, I think they just wanted to see. So the question it felt like was, where the war is going to go, were they going to try to win a championship or were they going to focus on development? I think that was more about a philosophical question. And I think the question was answered, yeah, if we can win, we're going to do it. But I think they all realize, yo, nobody's choosing us anymore. Right? nobody this is not i mean

matum doesn't pick them right like there's a lot of people who they were trying to get Patty Mills doesn't pick them i mean it's right there right it's Dennis Schrader didn't pick them like so it's not like they had the bounty to choose from and then the words were like nah

let's go development they just wanted to see that yo if we can do this we can do this now what we don't know is how much of it was was real and how much of it was let's get stuff under this deal So is it different now like Steph, you're locked in what you're going to do. So I guess we'll find out that element.

But in the end, like, why would you not want to make sure Steph has what he needs? Because he's going to fill the seats. I mean, as I've now with the roster, it's like you said, they've got to have those guys who can make teams pay if they are going to trap. And, you know, deny the ball from Steph. You got Igwadala, you know, did some stuff with Camingia in Summer League, see how that works out. But, you know, Steph, Clay, Dremont, these guys are going to have to accept playing with some younger guys. and they'll have to commit to a level of sacrifice on the court, a different type of sacrifice than we've always seen from them.

They've always embraced their roles. And that's going to be, you know, the question with some of these new look teams around the league, like with the Bulls, finals favorites for kids. Yes, let's go. You know, on paper, Zach Levine, DeMarda Rose and Lonsa Ball, Nicola Vuccivic, going to get plenty of touches to. On paper, this team's going to be really good offensively,

but that's a lot of Muls to feed. And like, I wonder when I play devil's advocate with myself, about them, how do those guys all share responsibility? We've seen Clay and Dremont do the little things, whether it's screening or rebounding, Dremont, you know, not, you know, begging for more shots and whatnot. Will those guys do that in Chicago? Will DeRosen set screens? Can Butch, you know, be cool and not taking 20 shots per game?

Will Levine play defense like he did during the Olympics? I like their roster, but, you know, what's your take on Chicago's changes that they made this off season in the context of like the sacrifice that's required to win at the highest level. Man, this is why I'm high on him because it's not just the pieces. De Rosen is 32. What's he won?

What's he won? His boys got a title and a new max, right? Like, De Rosen is, the Rosen's ready. He's about that life. No, Voutts ain't changing his game. He's the clay.

He stays. He's like, yo, I'm going to do me. I get 20 and 10. Zach coming off the Olympics. Did you see how good he looked off the ball? Yes. Did you see how?

Exactly. I was swooning. I was swooned. I was like, yo, if he plays like this at all, like we obviously know he can take the ball and go cook. But that's another level with Lanzo. I think I think Zach unlocked something in his game with those guys. I think he saw it. I think it matters.

That team USA stuff always matters because you're playing with the best. you're playing with winners. I just don't see him coming back and saying, yo, I can't do it. He was the most reliable spot-up shooter. Like, like he felt like he made everyone.

And one of the most reliable perimeter defenders, which something you never would have said. Never. Like, picking up 75 foot. Like, this is crazy. I've been more critical of Zach Levine,

you know, ever since pre-draft really than a lot of players in the league because the talent's been obvious. But last year in Chicago, I thought he became at least a passable defender. A passable level playmaker. And you got to give a credit

to a guy for doing that. And for him to take another step forward in the Olympics, that bodes well for him. And I think he made a great point about the Rosen here. Like you said, and he's in his early 30s here, approaching his mid-30s. This is the time for him. He's out of San Antonio here to become

the best defender he can be. And he has been in his career. It's time for him to lock in there. He played the four a little bit for San I think we'll see some of that lineup flexibility. I'm really looking forward to watching the Bulls. And if Levine and some of these guys can elevate their play on defense, they're going to be really freaking good, man.

Like they're not a finals contender, but this team is going to be really freaking hard to stop. They can push a finals contender. They're going to give a final contender a headache. And then maybe one more move. Who knows what they become, right? And they don't they still have the Lori Marketing Chip? They still have Laura.

Yeah. And we'll see how that works out too because, you know, maybe Dallas for him. Who knows? They could get like a Dwight Powell back, something like that. And also, is it this exactly, to me, this is exactly what Patrick Williams needs around them, right? This is exactly like not, these dudes aren't at the diva stage in their career.

Like, they're at the hungry stage in their career. They're at the, like, it's time for us to do it and we got a shot. Like, I'm projecting a lot of this onto them because I really want this to be good. So I don't know where they are, but just this is it, right? here. This is Lonzo's third stop, right? And we know Lonzo can defend, right? We know how he's worked to develop his shot. But I feel like you got a collection of players who know what time it is, right? And they're going to, this is what Patrick is going to be groomed in by dudes who know they got to sacrifice, you know they got to work hard on defense, who know they got to share the ball,

who know, like, when Zach, when Zach goes in, not if when Zach goes in, it's like, yo, I'm about to be the best slasher in the league and when y'all need me to get a bucket, I'm going to get it. But you watch how well I play off the ball. You watch the defense I play. Like, that's going to help the whole team. That's going to infuse the whole team. I'm big on the team.

I'm giving them, I'm giving them. Man, no, the Hawks are too good. I'm giving them the five seed in the east. They jump in. It's hard to figure out in the east right now. I mean, because so much could change. Like, if Simmons gets moved for a dame or whoever, that can change everything in the east.

Yeah, I mean, who knows? I'm really hoping Dame gets to Philly wins the title and like nobody's nobody's more perfect to finish the job. Alan Iverson started to Damian Lillard. I would love to see how that works out with Damon and then in the West. How do you feel about, you know, everything

Lakers did this off season, you know, Caruso's out, mellow's in, monk is in, none is in. Of course, Russell Westbrook has been added there. We've seen before, you know, right after the Warriors, right? They lose in the finals of the Raptors. Then the Lakers win a title. They do it with a team that had buying across the roster, all the pieces fit.

Then the Sons made the finals last year, elite team chemistry. You know, with this Lakers team, do you see that level of chemistry? I'm sure. I mean, with Russell Westbrook, I do have my questions. Regular season will be great, but playoffs, I do have questions. Here's the reason, like, and look, I get all of the Russell Westbrook criticism. of here's where I like this. Anthony Davis has always hurt.

And LeBron just, he can't do it all anymore. LeBron needs somebody to say, I'm going to stand on the side. I need you to take this. And Russ will. And, bruh, this is perfect for Russ, right? This is perfect for us. And then when it's time, when LeBron's ready, you'd be like, hey, Russ, chill. And guess what Russ can do?

if he really wants to win. He can save all that energy for defense. Right? He can finish. He can become an attack dog. I feel like this is a great situation for Westbrook to maximize what he has left. One of the best in the league, because there's no question LeBron's a better player. He can't even delusioned himself in the saying, I'm the best player on his team, but Coach Hayton.

He can tweet about it, though, Marcus. He can tweet about it. right. Exactly. So I feel like this is a great situation. Obviously, it all depends on health. But man, this is, you know, we were talking about like Chicago's hungry.

Like, this is the most full team in the league, right? Like, what, they've got a lot of dudes who've done it all already. This team is full. Like, they got champions. They got OG. They got people who made all kind of money. Like, it's going to be interesting. I guess, you know, mellow.

trying to get a championship, but I don't know if Mello has another level in him anymore. I know he doesn't, right? Mello is not going to turn into hoodie Mello in the NBA game or Syracuse Mello. Like, I got to get a chip. He would need somebody else to get him there. But if he gets there, I can see Mello hitting a big shot. But, you know, Arise's won, you know, because Saul's one. Like, I mean, this is a team is, they're pretty full.

Yeah, they are. They are. Regular season, I'm with you. This is great. could be the best team ever for Westbrook with the amount of flexibility they have with 88 to five, the spacing, it could be awesome. But it's going to be about adaptability in the playoffs. And to bring this back to the Warriors for Steve Kerr, you know, in this offense, the real, the real key to maintaining success, long term in sports, you mentioned the Spurs model.

We talked about the Patriots earlier. These teams did it for 20 years because they're always shifting schemes. They're always innovating. Spurs, like they've had a post- offense with Duncan and David Robinson, motion style with Manu and Parker as those guys under the picture, use more ISO as Kauai Leonard emerged as a star. Like the spurs are, they're falling off today, but remember Pop hated the three? Shit. And they were the first team to really push the limit to its corner three pointer. And, you know, Joe Lakeup, the Warriors owner has talked a lot about wanting to be the next spurs. Bob Myers has talked countless times over the years about wanting to sustain success. So, you know, it's,

pretty clear that that's what the warriors are intending to do by using their two lottery picks on, you know, a more raw player and comminga and moody. That's an indication that this is the path they're going to follow. But with that said, you have what you have and you're still trying to compete for championships. And Steve Kerr has taken some heat in recent years for not making some bigger system changes to fit the personnel. Last year, it was about like James Wiseman, not using him and pick and roll that off. And, you know, so I guess what I, what's on my mind is this, does the Warriors front office believe in Kerr's ability to be adaptable? And do you, based off his track record? I do. I think they do. I think Steve Kerr has this thing

sometimes where he's like, it ain't going to work, man. Like, I know this. Like, I have 8,000 rings, like, listen to me, right? And I think sometimes people are like, can you try it? Right. Can you try this? But I also Like what pick and roll you mean Like something like that Like pick and roll yeah I think he understands The sustainability of it

And keep in mind Like he won championships Betting against this very philosophy He's like we have what we have And you are running that And we're going to win Like we know it Because eventually you will crash and burn

And he was right in those models right This is why they never Would lose to Houston Like they knew Houston would never change And they knew That's not a sustainable over, you're not going to beat us with that, right?

So there is a bit of stubbornness there, but I also think Steve Kerr learned something, and I think a lot of us missed it. Like, that dude never had to coach like that before. I mean, he walked in with a championship caliber team. He has never had to be the difference between 10 and 15 wins in a season, right? where it's like this is a 35 win team,

but because of the coach, they won 42, right? Like, he's always had these stack rosters except for these last couple years. And the year before that, they were so decimated with injuries that it was just like development, right? It wasn't really about winning. So I think last year was the first year where he was a middle of back team and he had to have his handprint on the game in a way a Rick Carlisle would, right? in a way a Terry Stott's has to, where you got to milk every ounce of ability out of this team,

otherwise it will happen. There were so many times he didn't call a timeout because you don't have to call the time out with his KD, Steph, Clay, and Davey and Davey and Lee, like, you got to call the time out, right? You got to run the play. So I think he had to learn that last year. I think he had to understand that.

You could see him developing. And of course, as usual, it was injuries that kind of changed her, right? Wiseman got hurt, Kavanaugh got hurt, Dremont had to play five. They go into Dallas and drop 147. And it's like, hey, maybe we should just go small. But I feel like he was just so used to, like, our system works. It's like one of our favorite quotes from, Remember the Titans when he's like, yo, man, it's like, it's like Nova K.

It always works. Stick with it, man. It always works. Coach Bull ran six plays. Like, it always works. And I think he had to learn that, yo. It don't always work when you don't have the players to execute it. Like, he wouldn't take people out.

Like, he wouldn't put Steph in earlier, right? And he, in his mind, is thinking, I know Steph. I know the difference between Steph on 40 minutes and Steph on 36 minutes. I know what happens in that. extra four minutes, right? And over the length of a season, I know how this works, right? I'm going to preserve that extra four minutes

because we got a long game playing. But then he was losing actual games. So he had to be like, all right, well, let's make some tweaks. Let's pick our spots when we do it. But in the past, he's like, he had Kevin Durant and Clay Thompson did a second unit.

You could do that. Now it's like... He had a luxury of star power in the past. So I think he had a great... growing that. I think you had to learn how to do that. And I think you could see the signs towards the end that he was like, all right, I get it, but he's never had to

be that kind of coach before. And I think this offseason, it's a positive that they changed up to coaching staff. They hired, I think, three or four new assistant coaches. My goodness, did I tell you was that like a loud message for them? They're spicing it up there. And a whole new development staff and everything.

Absolutely. I mean, so when I was in Las Vegas, I had multiple people from the league telling me they found it very interesting that Kenny Ackinson specifically got hired as elite assistant because Atkinson has sort of like one of the leading head coach and candidates and I had one assistant coach from another team who I met with in Vegas speculate and you know just going to emphasize pure speculation that Kenny Ackinson's presence could give the warriors a natural successor to Steve Kerr you know, Atkinson's a good coach especially really good with player

development even before he was head coach in the Nets and Kerr I mean he of course is flirted with retiring before. And I mean, if he wanted to stop coaching, it's, you know, if the Warriors wanted to change, it's not like he couldn't move into a front office advisor role or something like that. And I mean, we're also at the point here where he's the third longest 10th coach in the NBA. Only 13 current NBA head coaches were hired before 2020, less than half the league. Only five were hired it before 2020. Only Spolstra and Popovich were hired before occur. So, you know, even though this coach was speculating, I, I don't, I don't, I don't think it's some crazy idea necessarily.

What do you think about that and just the general idea of, you know, sometimes needing a new voice in a locker room? And, you know, is there anything that you know, understand about Kerr's future as Warriors head coach? Man, Kerr ain't going nowhere. Nowhere. Here's a part of Kerr that people sleep on. That dude is competitive.

Here's what I don't see. I don't see Kerr let somebody walk in and taking his job. like if I don't want to do it anymore, all right, but I definitely don't see that. Kenny Ackinson basically was running summer league, right? Like running the whole, the operation as the top assistant there

because Mike Brown was with Team Nigeria. Steve Kerr was with USA. It was Kenny Ackinson show. I don't, I don't, I didn't sense any word from Steve. Like, I don't know, maybe he couldn't. Maybe it was nothing he could do. He had already committed. but you don't take that job with Team USA if you worry.

But I think the biggest hurdle, or the biggest, not hurdle, but the biggest benefit that Steve Kerr will have is Steph Curry, Clay Thompson, and Drey McGree, because it sounds good in theory, right? But we haven't seen Kenny Ackeson coach these type of this level, right? Definitely. And when he had the chance to, Brooklyn was like,

D.C. This is Oh, you most of Coach Kyrie. And when I met him, I understood. Like, he is, man, that dude is full of energy. Yeah, he is.

Very high, very, like, wired guy. Right? Like, he wakes up, like, at 4 a.m. Yeah. Like, he's a stationary bike and watch a film. Like, you can just see him in conversation. His conversations are all, it's like he's arguing.

Every conversation, you don't hear what they're saying. But it's like he's arguing about, like, big ear pock who's better right he's got that kind of that kind of energy he's like yo what are they talking you just looking like what are they talking about why is he so animated but i could see that being lower star players are like man relax and calm down be that's what steve kerr's great at because he was in the locker room he knows like he's got his players and as much as much as he got criticized for how, you know, how he was managing. The one guy who was in on every move and who was the vouching for every move was Steph, right?

Like, so. Of course. The one guy who everybody knows can kind of coach Draymond is Steve Kerr. So maybe when those guys are done, all right. But I would love, here's the conversation I would love. I would love for, I would love to hear the conversation. Just say in some universe, Steve is out, Kenny Acces as the coach,

and the Warriors still have the big three. I would love to hear the conversation Kenny has with Clay, when he's like, here's what we want you to do now. Clay looked at KD into happiness. It was like, I'm not changing nothing. I would love for him to see. What would Clay say if a new coach came in and was like, all right, Clay, I know you've been doing this,

but here's what you're about to do now. Here's what we need from you now. That would be an interesting conversation, which is why I don't think it will happen. It's funny you say that just because like these guys have always, you know, sacrifice in their own way, but they've also done what their best at. Just like a perfect, you know, marriage between them, right?

You mentioned Clay. So last season, Warriors are 20th in offensive rating, despite Steph having basically identical numbers to his unanimous MVP season. There were 10th in offensive rating when Steph was on the floor and last place when he was off the floor, which no surprise. You don't have Steph Curry, don't have that other ball handling presence, like you said. you know, and maybe some things, you know, get changed a little bit this year with the system,

maybe Currispices it up a bit, regardless. You know, the roster has more shooting on it. There's more that they can do. But, you know, any struggles last year weren't just because of the system or the personnel. It was the lack of clay. And with him coming back this season, he might not be back until December, right? Yeah, yeah. So do you have any, you know, intel about like how clay looks physically?

Have Steph and Draymond trained with Clay at all? Is there any word on where Clay is right now? I mean, just so you know, if I was going to break that news, you'll read about it in the athletic. Sure. Okay. But nice try. No, I have actually, people have been pleasantly surprised with how he's look. The young guys are like, yo, Clay looks good, right?

I think they're going to be super cautious. He hasn't played in two years. Yeah. Right. That's the thing. Like, I know a lot of people are looking at Kevin Durant and saying Kevin Durant came back from the Killies. Well, you know, Kevin Durant is...

Clay's kind of wired the same. Like, a different dude. Like, their bodies are a little bit different. They usually bounce back. But he's been out two years. He ain't played an NBA game since June of 2019. So we're looking at December of 2021. That's two and a half years between games, right?

So they're kind of... ease them back. They're going to take their time. So you hear that, yo, he's looking pretty good. He's doing some things that are, you know, like, okay, there's some reason to feel good about him. But then also you hear Steph saying, yeah, we ain't

going to have Clay for the first couple months. It's like you know, there's kind of, you know, almost two schools of thought in this. Like, he hasn't played two years. It's been coming up on a year since he tore his Achilles. What was a draft?

Like, this is November, right? It was the day before the draft. So November would be a year with the Achilles. So it's like the timeline makes sense, but, you know, Clay is super chill, right? He's on boats in the bay, riding boats and junk. He's chilling. So it's always kind of hard to tell with Clay. It's always hard to tell where he is.

I know he's more with the team this year than he was during the ACL. He's more involved. He's, like, in the building, like, his, presence is felt he was on the bench more right so there's a there's a sense of clay is doing his rehab in the way that we like this time so let's assume clay is totally back to being of self shredding from three doing a little bit off the dribble playing good defense the same clay that we saw before and let's assume that there's no trade to be made you know let's assume this thing let's let's be like the ultimate warrior's optimist here i mentioned before golden said has the fourth best finals odds

What does the team need from their rookies, Kamenga and Moody, to become the favorites this season? I think bigger they need something from Wiseman. Right. They need Wiseman to be a functional NBA center. Which he was not last year. No, no. Not on that team, not with everything required from a center.

No, yeah. I mean, they need him to be like Javelle McGee. Right? Like, I'm a protector rim. I'm a finish. I'm a rebound, I'm going to run the floor. Simple stuff. He has the talent to do way more than that, obviously.

Right? And the better he gets, obviously, they'll get more of that. But, like, there was just, the larger issue was defense, right? To me, like, he was just too susceptible defensively. You know, like, when T.J. McConnell is getting to the rim on you, like, there's a problem. Because he should get the shot off, right? He should be doing some circus MJ reverses, flipping it out in order to get it off.

But you just throw in the Hesies and whatever. But you could move him last year. You could like throw a fake or lean one way. You can get him going in direction you want, which was just full on inexperienced by him. So they need him to be able to stay on the court defensively so he can not be in foul trouble, not be jumping to everything,

not be out of place and protect the rim. And if he can just finish, right, if they just put him in position to finish. I know we got gas with the highlights, K-O, he coming down, course spinning on fast brakes. But that's all bonus, right? That's all extra stuff.

What they need him to do is one dribble from the dotted line and we're banging it, right? But they need him to catch at the elbow instead of 22 feet and hit that mid-range instead of being, you know, off the dribble trying to take a guy. So simplify his game. To me, that's huge. Because truth be told,

they're playing with Looney who's giving them not much offensively. He's a screen setter, right? He's going to make the pocket interior pass in. He'll finish some times. But they need to upgrade that part, especially if Dremont is not giving you 14 points a night, right? So to me that's a big deal. But I do think that's where Kamega could come in

because, like, that dude is a little bit different. You know what he is? He's something they do not have on the roster at all. all. They do not have a dude who's 6-8, 2-40. And like I said, like, free-throw line, get him to ball to free-throw line. One move, he's to the basket. Like, he's there. One move, not a lot of dancing, like elbow, free-throw line extended, one move. He's to the basket. And he's going to get there. He's going to be able to finish. They don't have a guy like that, you know, like I wonder, you know, obviously he was doing his Summer League, but I wonder how it's

handle holds up, you know, at that, at that level. He, of course, had the crossover into the loud dog. It's a bit of a slower crossover. It's a summer league. It works in Summer League. That's what I'm wondering if he can do that. Also, you know, in Summerlee, he's like running a show. So he's playing a lot from the wing and from the top.

And he needs to be inside the three point line on the wing, right? Like, he needs to catch there so he can hit and go. And I think that's what playing with staff, playing with Dreyma will help. Because, you know, once he started learning those back doors, those aren't like floaters when he gets it. Those are, I'm taking off. And I think the dude under the basket is smaller to me. So I'm going to finish strong.

Like, they don't have that. So I do actually feel like he can do something with this team if, you know, if, you know, he takes that seriously, right? You know, Kibica's got a bit of star power, right? Like, that dude know he's nice. he's got a bit of like he had the big grin on his face after having to dunk but I mean

so like with him like he had these moments in Summer League right you know this is not a knock on him but he did only shoot 37% of the field 28% from 3 65% of the line so to your point you don't want necessarily want

Kaminga creating his own shoppermer you want him on the interior doing the simple stuff cutting setting screens attacking clothes out but do you think they learn from Wiseman on that because they They were basically like wise men, just do what you do. They were basically like treating it like a workout.

Like we want to see what you can do. So just go, right? Do you think they learn? Like, maybe you should do that. I would hope so. And I mean, that's what I thought was so, you know, interesting about Golden State Summerlee because they didn't do it a lot. But we saw, you know,

Kaminga play a little bit of small ball five. Yeah, yeah. And that can help mitigate some of the shortcomings as a shooter and emphasize the athletic traits that you're talking about, you know, getting to the rim, cutting to the rim, like getting him, getting him the ball in the short roll. They're the free throw line, one or two dribbles get to the basket.

You know, we see teams do this. Like, whether it's Bruce Brown in Brooklyn, Miles Bridges and Charlotte with non-big. So, and Kaminga is big at 6-8-240, like you said. Do you see Kerr utilizing Kaminga in that type of small ball five roll at all? Yeah, especially with Draymont at the five. I think that's the big problem. The big problem with the Warriors was they, they had to play Dremy. Raymond and Wiseman together because they was basically forcing Wiseman.

And neither one of those guys did that. Right. Like they just didn't. And then the other option was one of those two with Kavanaugh-Luny. And he doesn't do that. And like the other option was Eric Pascoe, but he wasn't good as the four. And he was only good as the small ball five. So they, when you put somebody with Draymond, he's got to be a,

shooter, Bielitsa, or he's got to be a slasher, somebody who can finish. And I feel like that's where Kaminga can do it. Because Ramon's going to be at the top anyway, right? He's going to be playing point directed traffic. He needs somebody to cut back door and bang that junk, right? Or, you know, Stephanie, somebody who could do them long outlets too. I feel like that's where Kaminga's lane would be. I think they tried to use that.

The shot is going to be everything, right? And the turnovers is what Steve Kerr can't take. Steve Kerr just turnovers really, he's like allergic to him. He started yanking dudes when he turned it over. But we kind of saw this with Juan Tiscano Anderson. This is that role, like the backup four, the guy who plays actually four, though, who's really a three, but he plays, you know, down to a four. But Kamiga's like, he, Kamika in his head is a three.

He's a guy who like, yo, give me the rock, I'm a cook on the wing. but he's perfect candidate to put at the four and play big almost as to five because the actual five is that at the point running the office, right? So you got these guys running around. He becomes the effectual small ball five. It's inverted offense. Absolutely. What we're talking about is a lot of versatility, right? We're talking about, you know, versatile defenders, guys who can play five or four or three.

And, you know, I look at this warrior's roster and, you know, aside from the star power, Steph Clay and Dremont. That's what I like most about this team. Moody, he's just a rookie, but he could be a solid spot-op shooter, solid defender as a rookie auto-porter. He's better than what I thought. On defense? Defense, he's a good, he's a better passer than I thought.

I thought he was just catching. I thought he was Bruce Bowen. Yeah, it's like maybe like self-creation. He has a long way to go. But again, like you don't need that from him today. Absolutely. Like down the lineup that develops. That's a bonus.

You mentioned auto Porter earlier, 44% on catching shoot threes over the last five. years. He turned himself into a knockdown guy. Bealita, knockdown shooter for his size. So this team can, it can roll out lineups with four or five shooters on the floor, right? Or can lean on defense. You know, people overlook how good Wiggins became

on defense last season. And he became more efficient on offense for that matter. Sustaining it, doing it again is another question, but I was encouraged from what I saw. But it should be easier if you got played. It should be. It should be. Right. Even more simplified. You mentioned Tisano Anderson. Love watching that dude play.

That guy plays hard. Good defender. Iguadella back. We'll see what he has left in the tank here. Jordan Poole, really good to close the season. The Warriors are young and old. They can play small. They can play big.

We'll see Draymond with Loonie and Wiseman. We'll see different combinations here. Like, was it pre-Chevin-Darrant when the Warriors last had this much depth and versatility? Yeah, remember the Strith of Numbers campaign? We had Maurice Spades and Leandro Barbosa. Strengthen numbers part two right here. This is Strengthen Numbers Part 2.

The difference is, though, and I think this was very important for them to address, the problem with the last two years, but specifically last year, one that actually counted, was Steph Dray and no clay because he was out, had to serve two roles as the star of the team and also the senior leaders in the locker room, right? And I think people misgaged how much of a task that was. Like we've never seen. Remember Steph screaming at the bitch? You've never seen Steph do that.

At 11 years, you've never seen Steph going on. But he had, like, there's nobody else. It's him and Draymond. And then a bunch of, a bunch of people with no experience or no leadership, like, type of swag, right? Wiggins have been in a while, but he's not yelling in them. So they need a guy like Iqadala, right? Even if Otto Porter isn't that good, he's seen some, he can say some things. Like they need players to take the load because Steph, Draymond, have to come from, okay, I got to go out of your produce.

And then when I get to the bench, I got to put my arm around some guys, right? And then we go into the locker room. Totally. I got to now manage these moments, attorneys and a teacher with moments. They need somebody else to do that. And I think that there's strength of numbers. They were pulling out OGs, right? They were, it was Sean Livingston, right?

It was like guys who've been around the block. Well, last year, it was a bunch of dudes who, like, it was why. Scott O'Henterson was one of the top leaders on the team. And he came from Mexico, the Mexican League and worked his way up, right? So this is a great point, Mark. Because I hadn't thought about that in the context of the Warriors, but this is a conversation. Like I had a bunch last season in regards to the Celtics. People talked about, like, you know, Tatum and Brown need to grow into leaders.

These guys are under 25 years old still, right? Like they can't, you know, it's hard. It's hard to demand a superstar level player in their 30s to do everything, every night. all last year 72 games, 82 games this year, and do it all in the court. Having those different veteran presences in the locker room, guys who are on the bench off in. That all adds up to make a big, big, big difference for the team. And like, that's also why, you know, the Warriors did, you know,

well, who knows how hard they pursued Patty Mills and Nick Baton, but like you said, why there was intent to go after those guys, not just for what they could offer on the court, but also just bringing those, like you said, veterans into the team to have that experience. It's crazy. You never think about it, too, but those dudes are valuable, man.

Like, I just remember those times in the Warriors Locker. It was Sean Livingston. It was Andrea Godala. It didn't have to be Steph and KD. Like, it was the other guys when the youngsters

are losing his head. Like, it can't be Steph to go stop them, right? Are we saying the Lakers are going to fall apart without Jared Dudley? That's what we're saying.

That's what we're saying. That's what we're saying. So, they won't be falling apart this year, though. I want to bring this back to your interview with Steph real quick in relation to the Batum and Mills thing. He said to you, I'd be disappointed if there was ever a vibe that you're complacent or that you're not proactive and looking for ways to always get better. So if you're telling me, we're trying to go after Batum, we're trying to go after Patty and things didn't line up like that, then that shows how the league works. But if there's ever a situation where you don't feel that commitment from upstairs, then we have issues.

I haven't felt that this summer. So I read that and I was thinking to myself. So Steph says they didn't feel that this summer, which is, you know, good. But what about during the fall and winter? What about or Lillard does become available or if the price is way lower for Simmons or any star player for that matter becomes available? Is there an expectation from these guys that if the opportunity is there to get those guys, if a deal can be done, that then the team just do everything possible to go get that guy?

Because like you said, Beal fits what they need with that. at other ball handling presence. Like he would change everything for this roster, elevate them up at even higher level. Yeah, I think that's where it's going to be tough. I do because, you know, time will get, like, let's presume trade deadline. With trade deadlines back in February now, is that worse?

It should be back in February. You know what? I don't think the deadline date has actually been announced, but since we're on a normal reason. Yeah, the presumption is. It should be early February again. So come February, like two things. are going to happen. They're either going to be more in love with

Wiseman or less in love with them and its value won't be that high, right? The more time will make you more like married to the youngsters typically. So it's going to be tough if one of these guys do come available. The Ben Simmons

one is tricky to me. Because like there's a split. You know, there's people, there's some people in in the warriors who believe like, yo, you get a guy like Ben Simmons. you make it work, right? Like, this is what you do.

You make it work. He's that good. And then there are some people like, you can't, he can't shoot. You can't put him next to his dream mind. He doesn't feel what we do. But now they're kind of off the hook because Daryl wants the sun, the moon,

the stars and your third daughter, right? Like so. Lord Damian Lord. Yeah, right? It's like, yeah, duh. We can't. That's not there. But if that price go down, he becomes available.

And now it's like, what's you got, right? If he comes to you like, hey, when you tell me. Make your best offer, right? That is like, uh-oh. And I do think they'll be watching that. But Steph signed a contract extension. So what's he going to do?

Here's what you do, Steph, if you're listening. Here's what you do when you get to that moment where you're like, okay, this complacency I spoke about, it has arrived. You call Marcus and you demand the trade to me. That's what you do. That's the only leverage you got, buddy. You signed the deal. You liked it.

I mean, it's really going to be interesting to see because, you know, like he said, come February, Beal might not even be available. Like he might want to stay in Washington long term. Like the Blazers, what if the Blazers are pretty good? What if the Blazers make an addition rather than trading Dame? And what if the team looks good enough for him to be like,

you know what? I'll stay around through this season, then reevaluate again. It's possible that we're in a position where just nobody's available. And the next time a guy's available might be in another year or two. And it's a whole different group of guys that we aren't just talking about now. And maybe at that point, the value of a comminga or a wiseman or a moody is higher than it is today. So, or maybe it works, right? Maybe they all like how it's happening and they

don't want to mess it up. Like, that's the value that time is given them. They can, they can push the can down the road, which is really all Bob Myers says he wants, right? I just want to see them all with clay. Like, I want to see how this works with clay. And to me, if they just, Like, if they had gotten Patty Mills, it solves everything. They just need a guy who can create offense and it's not Steph. That's it. That's what they need. They don't need the stars where you're saying.

They don't have to get the bill. It's better, obviously, right? If this Bradley Bill, like now, Steph is chilling in those six minutes, right? Like, it's all good. If he does, you, Steph is hoping for the double team because Bradley Bill is getting one-on-one and you take that. But I don't think it's required. And look, to be fair, I always thought.

thought there was a, from everything I've heard, even the players had a ceiling on what they would do to get those guys. It's like, I want them, but I don't want it to just be us three. I do think there was a cap on what they were willing to do to get them. So, but who knows what that is for the next guy, right? That's just who was mentioned now, you know, who knows how this thing shake out? It's going to be interesting because Steph's, Steph has never spoken like this before. And he's clearly like, hold on. I mean, even at the end, I was shocked when he was like, you know,

once I realized we wanted to win, then all, you know, the other teams, who I was thinking about playing with or other players, you know, that went out the window, which means, yo, you were thinking about, you were thinking about where you were going and who you were playing with. Like, it's only natural to think about it, though, right? How could you not think about it? Yeah, he just doesn't say stuff like that normally, which means there was probably.

a part of step who was like, hold on, man, let me see. Well, let me see what y'all talking about right now, which is unique. And I don't think that goes away. It only increases with age, right? Like the urgency only increases. I mean, especially if he's able to play into his late 30s and 40s and maintain like a level of being a guy who can lead an offense,

lead an entire team and continue being a star. If he can do that, boy, he's going to be expected it. Can we put on our GM hats for a second? Last thing here, I just, you know, just on the note of that we're going to mind To the back, though. Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. Yeah.

So I was thinking about, let's say, let's say come February, things aren't working out in Washington. And Beal tells Tommy Shepard, their journal manager that he wants to trade. And let's just say the Warriors are one of the teams on his list to be willing to resign with long term. Like with the South Lakes, the Knicks, whoever else is on it. Tommy Shepard calls Bob Myers and he offers this deal. Wiseman, comminga. No. Moody.

Diggins. Gold states, 27, first. and the rights to swap the 2028 first for not just Beal though. Kuzma, Holiday, Daniel Gafford. You get Kuzma to replace Wiggins. You get a guard off the bench in Holiday, a lob threatened Gafford. So the Warriors would retain depth, get a little older. Beal's only 28 years old.

So you add more star power and a little bit of youth. Beal's not old here by any means. If the price is that significant, how do you see a situation playing out? Because it could be. If there's a number of teams going after Beale, it could be significant. Only 28, Marcus. There's no way. There's no way they're doing it with Wiseman.

They want to give up the farm. Not Wiseman and Cominga. Maybe one of those guys then. You might be able to pry one of them. And obviously we'll have between October and February to evaluate, like, how those guys look. If Camiga looks at all good, he becomes. Sure. And this kind of connects to what we talked about earlier, though.

Like, even if they're trading for a star, whether it's Simmons or Beal or whoever, they want to still retain some youth on the roster. And they, they, they, Joe Lekap, the Warriors owner has said this. Like he he doesn't want to go through that period after the Star leaves where you're bad. Like he just doesn't want to do that. And he's convinced that Wiseman and now Cominga are future pillars. Like this is his, you know, life after Steph, right? So in five years, he thinks these guys are going to be really good.

They're going to be the foundation of the team. And they got to sell out chasing her after Steph. So they're like, yo, so you're not just swapping pieces to fill a, all right, look, to get a team. Like, they're seeing it as, is this worth being a contender when Steph is gone? Because they are convinced that these guys are contenders. So there's so much more a stake here. So I think you could probably talk them into one. too no

that ruins a long term maybe it's more like well let's just say Damien Liller gets traded for Portland to Philly and they decide to blow it up maybe like a Nerkich if he's on the move or Miles Turner from Indiana who's been involved in trade talks from forever now

maybe like you wouldn't give a Wiseman for any of them not not WISN for those guys Oh yeah yeah but like that type of target If you're in need of a big Absolutely you know like that type of thing and maybe you get a guard in one of those types of deals. No question. That's where they're going to, that's their lane right there.

You know how like some people are like driving these Teslas and then other people like, nah, man, just give me my little Lexis. I'm good. That's my lane. That's the Warriors. They're like, yeah. Just giving my Lexus.

The Warriors on a Tesla team? They seem like a Tesla team. They weren't shopping like a Tesla team this off season. They seem like they get the full self driving, the $10,000. They used to be that way. This year, it was like, hey, man, can you take this $6 million? Come on. we got you.

Well, I mean, to be fair, they're in luxury tax. Absolutely. Six million is like 40 million in reality. No question. They are, they have the most expensive team in history. Like, it's crazy. Like, their tax bill is going to be nuts. It's going to be something we haven't seen before.

People forget, like, when they got KD, they was under the cap. Like, that was, they signed KD with cap space. Like, that's, that was crazy. right? That's because Steph's deal was so small back then. But they're in, they're in Cap Hill, right? In a pandemic, by the way. Marcus, when was the last time we saw actually there in person?

Was that the Dunkong Cancer event in Toronto, the Warriors, Raptors Finals? Was that the last time in person, I think? Right a bit. 2019. I think it was. I always appreciated that. You waited in line after the event to donate,

and I was in such a haze. That's a hell of funny. I was in such a haze. Can you tell the story? I didn't recognize you at first. Tell us. I was in such a haze. I was like,

I think I said to you, I saw you at Meady Day earlier today. Did I say, I think that's a day, right? Yeah, that's too funny. Yeah,

you were shaking hands and kissing babies, man. You were doing the thing. Yeah, I remember, I remember telling my dad that story. I was like, yeah, saw,

you know, you know, a bunch of people waited afterwards and Marcus Thompson, great writer, waited afterwards, handing me money for donation to, you know,

Dana Farber and all that. But, um, yeah, I always appreciated that. The funniest part was your face when you realized when I'm like, I felt like a horrible person. Why?

I mean, I know I was in like a, I was in like a, nah, I was watching the whole time, man, you were, you were just in the,

you know, they were coming and you were just in the zone. Like, I didn't, I didn't take that at all. I just thought it was hilarious when you were like, like, oh, come on.

I was like, I see, I saw you earlier today. I think. I was like, it was like, Meady Day, I'm pretty sure. I was trying my best not to rub it in, but that was hilarious.

That was so funny. Marcus, where can we find your stuff? Articles, pods, books. Where can we find it? Oh, man, that's a tough one. You can find me on theathletic.com always, but Thompson Scribe. I'm on Twitter, Facebook. I ain't even on Facebook.

I ain't that old yet. Instagram, wherever you can find, Thompson'scribe. I do have a new book coming out, but it comes out in October. A third book. A third book on NBA Dynasties, the history of NBA Dynasties. But look, I didn't do it by myself. There was an artist, so it's like a combo illustration book who had some dope, man, just some dope artwork in there.

I've never done anything like this, so it was cool. But yeah, we're going over the history. We picked the 10 greatest dynasties. We go over, like, the history of it. It was, to me, it was great to get into the old days. Like, we have such a recency bias. It was great to learn about, like, Sam Jones. George Mike in it, you know, just, man, we, we, we, we, we, we, we got to start paying better

homage to our OGs, man, like the game, they, they did some things that really paved the way for our game today. And like, it was fun getting to know that. Like, that was that, that was worth, that was worth the project. Was this something you worked on during the pandemic? Like, you know, lockdown time last year? Oh, yeah, yeah, yep, yep. I need just something to do. And they were like, yo, we need you to write this book. And I was like, you know, I was so tired of writing books after the last two I wrote. I was like, I ain't write another. book again. Then a pandemic hit, I was like, I ain't got nothing to do. So I was like, all right, let's do it. Then with the art, you know, the artist connected to it, I was like, yeah, this is

unique. And to be honest, K.O, this was all about impressing my daughter because she didn't read my book on Steph. She didn't read my book on KD. So I figure if you put some, she's an artist. So if you put some art in it, I can show her like, yo, I'm, I'm, I'm, my skills are translate. They are universal. So I'm hoping the artistry of the book gets her to actually crack it open. Then maybe she'll be like, ooh, this is pretty good. You're a good writer, dad. And then she'll read Golden, the miraculous ride.

What's going to happen is she's going to flip and look at the art and they'd be like, oh, man, that artist is pretty good. They put the book back down. Follow them on Instagram, right? So we get a month until training camp, you know, get any fun plans for the NBA off season? So no. I'm about to make some real quick, though.

I need to make some because this is ridiculous. Like, I feel like this, this is not enough time. I don't know about you, but this is way too fast. Yeah, it's moving fast. I feel for them, like, these players, are you serious? Like, this is unbelievable. People I talk to, like execs are, you know, tired. They're done.

They didn't get to stop, like, especially the teams that were like. With the draft and everything. So, yeah, this is crazy. But my daughter just started high school, which is weird. So I figure she could use a break. So we're going to go somewhere. Forget this mess. I'm done with this.

I'm done being confined and cooped up. Like, I got my shots. Let's go. Time to have some fun. Marcus. I'm about to go to Africa or something. I don't know. Hey, she can do remote school from there for a week.

You know what I'm saying? She'd be all right. Yeah. Marcus, thank you for joining. All right, man. No problem. Thanks for having me. Thank you for listening to today's episode of the Ringer NBA show.

And thank you to Sasha Eshaw for producing. If you like today's podcast, please let us know with your tweets, messages, reviews, and be sure to give us. us a follow on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. You can also find me every Tuesday and Friday with my friend Chris Vernon over on the mismatch podcast feed. We're recording every week this off-season all through straight into the year. Thanks again to Marcus Thompson for joining today's show. We really hope you enjoyed it. I love recording it. Hope you have a fun rest of your day.