The Ringer NBA Show - Could the Warriors See a Complete Overhaul With Early Exit? Plus, the Phoenix Dysfunction. | Real Ones

Episode Date: April 15, 2025

Logan and Raja open the pod with the mess that is the Phoenix Suns (1:50). What led to coach Mike Budenholzer’s firing, and where will Kevin Durant end up this offseason? The Pelicans fired head of basketball ops David Griffin after another injury-ridden, disappointing season (25:22). Should he be at fault for Zion Williamson’s shortcomings as a franchise player? The Grizzlies and the Warriors will face off in Tuesday’s play-in game to determine who’ll play the Rockets in the first round (41:16). Just how important is this year's playoff for the current construction of the Warriors’ roster? The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hit the mailbag! [e-mail] Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Producer/Audio: Clifford Augustin Video Producer: Victoria Valencia Additional Production Support: Ben Cruz Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to The Ringer NBA show presented by Fandul. America's number one sportsbook is the best place to bet on the NBA. Because not only does Fandall have all your favorite player props, but now you can even check out stats and recent performance trends right in the app before you make your picks. Just download the Fandall Sportsbook app today to get in on the action. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit RG-deshelp.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available

and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 plus and present in select states. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-dash-help.com. Welcome to the brand new Zach Lowe Show. That's right. I'm back to have the same in-depth NBA conversations you're used to. We're going to talk about the games. Yeah, the games, the X's and O's, the drama, the trades, the playoffs are coming up.

And now you get to see every episode in full on video on Spotify. and on my own YouTube channel. Episodes drop every Monday and Thursday with a collection of guests you're going to love. So make sure you follow and subscribe to the brand new Zach Lowe show on Spotify or wherever you watch or listen to your podcast. Let's go. What's popping, Bruins. Logan Murdoch here, Roger Bell, there, Cliff on the boards. Victoria on the videos had a crazy static, bro.

Are your ears okay from what the hell happened to Victoria's static on her line, bro? woke your game up. Yeah, if I came in here, half to sleep, I'm not now. Oh, man. Dude, she woke my game. I always half sleep my damn self. And it was, oh, whoa, static. Oh, man.

Speaking of static, there's a lot going on in the NBA, Roger. There's a lot going on. It's playing. It was, there was like Black Monday on yesterday. Geez, a lot of people got fired. A lot of people got, a lot of people got axed. Some more clarity on the Denver Nuggets firing of Michael Maloney. and Calvin Boof would like to get your opinion on that.

We're going to talk a little playing tournament. We're going to talk Mavericks Kings. That looks pretty promising. There's Atlanta Hawks, Magic, that looks pretty promising. He, uh, Bulls. I think you wanted to talk about those games. I don't know if there's a game on the West Coast that you want to talk about necessarily. Oh, yeah.

Give me all of the, give me all of those. All right, man. First off, let's talk about, let's, let's go to Phoenix, man. Let's go to Sky Harbor. Let's figure it out. Coach Bud got fired, which is like the least surprising thing of all time, right? Yep.

Kind of got a fighter coach after a season like the Suns had three coaches in four years for the Suns. It's just a, it's really bad in Phoenix. But I just got back there from there a couple weeks ago. The city itself was great. I had a blast there. But whenever you were going through, the arena was just really depressing, right? And we'll get into all the reasons why, but what are your first impressions of why coach Bud got fired? And was it just the right thing to do

based on how this season had gone? How do you feel? What are your thoughts you think about the fire? First, my thoughts are just kind of sad because I don't know Phoenix. I don't really know them in any way other than the kind of joyous place it was when I was there. And I've got such fond memories and the town was electric, the building was electric. Like everything about that kind of error of Sun's basketball was was great. And so it's sad to hear that, you know, it's the antithesis of that at this point. As far as Bud being fired, I mean, do you have to fire him? I mean, I guess.

I don't know. what am I supposed to fucking say to that? Like, I'm trying my best to be really fair. And I've said this on air before that the sons, the ownership group and whoever he's entrusted, you know, Seola and folks like that have done such a good job of like reconnecting with with some of, you know, some of us that weren't really connected to the sons in that way and inviting us back and, you know, inviting us to Steve's Ring of Honor and Matrix's thing and stats.

And so I am very appreciative and supportive of that, but this is dysfunctional. That's what this is. Sorry, Logan, but like, if I'm being fair and I say that about other organizations that can't keep a coach and they're just firing one after the other and trying to put a band-aid on something, like, then I have to say it about the Sons. And this is dysfunctional at this point. Well, I think that. I think it was more of the roster and the setup and the vibe of this team.

That was bad. And I think Bud's year there was an extension of that, right? Where whether it's trying to give advice that sound advice, I think Chris Haines reported this of him telling Bradley Beal, hey, man, maybe you should be like Drew Holiday for this team. That would be a good role for you, right? And I think that that would help our team win. Bradley Bill, ego is like, nah, I'm Bradley Beal.

It's like, yes, you are Bradleyville. I mean, if you were trying to be more like Drew Holiday in this context, we probably would do better, right? That's sound advice. You don't think so? Wait, hold on. Okay, so anyway, that's one thing, right? Yeah, yeah, no.

That's one thing, right? That's one thing, right? And then never got a good relationship with Kevin Durant, whether it's, KD, and I've written about this already, whether it's KD not really liking the offense that put out there specifically for the roster that was that they had on. the floor, right? A lot of young guys, especially post-trade. Kevin thought that they should have simplified the offense more for the group that they had, right? As a consequence, they look really

predictable in a lot of games. I think also with that against the Celtics when you, you have like, here, you shoot, no, you shoot. Also, Bud didn't have a great relationship with Devin Booker, right? I guess that's a fair thing to say. So when you don't have a good relationship with your star players, and the other player doesn't want to take a role change. And me and you have talked about Bradley Bill all season and his injuries and just the lack of overall self-awareness that he tends to display. I think it was a recipe for just disaster in all ways, right?

And I think that you can say also the record of Coach Budd wasn't optimal considering, you know, Frank Vogel got the same group to 49 wins and his sixth seed. last year. But I think overall, I think this, I don't think this is an indictment necessarily on Coach Bud going forward as a good coach, right? I think that this was just a bad situation for him.

And I think that we kind of looked at the suns with rose-colored glasses because of the talent level. But the locker room vibes between those two entities just wasn't good. And I think that this was, what else are you going to do? You're going to try, like, you have to kind of, what else are you going to do? if you're Matt Isfee.

I don't know what else you can do. This has been mismanaged. It's been mismanaged. Like, let's just look. For everything you said, right? Like, I'll try to address them all, although I won't do it justice. But let's say,

again, Bud's not running an offense that people like. Bud's not doing the things offensively that puts the team in the best position to be. That is supposed to be addressed before you hire him. that is supposed to be addressed with Bud. It's supposed to be addressed with the brain trust with the sons. And then you are supposed to include Devin Booker and Kevin Durant to whatever degree Bradley

Beale, maybe, maybe not. I don't know how he's looked upon in that organization. But at least those two are supposed to have some prior knowledge about what he intends to do. Give some feedback. Hey, I don't think that's going to be a good idea. We don't want to do that. Like, we don't play like that. You know, and I reference this all the time.

with Steve Kerr and when he brought in Terry Porter and it did not work because what you were selling to us as a team in place and they I thought Steve did a decent job of probably reaching out to Amari and Steve Nash and Sean Marion and he even called me not as a as a sign off just as a courtesy to let me know what was going to happen but he was selling it as if things weren't going to change like this is what's going to happen and then Terry Porter's not doing that and so now there's So, like, disconnect. People are like, yeah, what the fuck is going on? And so I only say from personal experience, like, when you are making moves like that with a roster that has the type of pedigree that they have, this has to be worked out up front. Yeah. Like, relationships, like,

when you are going through a coaching search, you're building a team in that, in that coaches locker room. And if he's not a relationship guy, like, you should know that. Like, Bud's got enough of a track record. If he's not a relationship guy, and I don't know in one way or the other. But if he's not, you certainly get somebody on that staff that's a relationship person. Right? I mean, they try. I think they tried to do that with, uh, had Fisdale on the staff who tends to connect

with players. But based on everything that I see, he was just a guy that was liaison between KD and but it wasn't necessarily like the rest of the group, right? You know what I mean? However, however you slice this, it has been mismanaged. Yeah. It's been, it's been. managed for a couple years now.

And like, I don't know if you've ever seen a, I don't know if you've ever seen this, Roger, but I want to roll this by just a visual. Like, I've never seen a superstar player. I was there for about a week, a couple weeks ago. And I've seen them in person when they played in the Bay Area. But I've never seen a star player talk to a coach between every single, uh, stretch down the court. Like, Katie, as he's running from one side of the court to the other, every, every play was yelling something at Coach Bud.

Like, it wasn't pretty either. It was like what the hell is going on? Or it's always like a micromanaging of relationships between those two guys. And I think that was a microcosm for the rest of the roster. But they just didn't trust each other. Have you seen something like that where like every time down the court, not just like maybe once or twice a quarter like, hey, I got to give you some advice. Like, no, every possession they are, seem to be going at it. I've never seen anything like that, but I've seen dysfunction.

I've been in huddles. You know, I tried to give KD the benefit of the doubt and bud, the benefit of the doubt when the first started becoming public about those two, like having the words and shit like that does happen. So like, you know, I don't have to definitively say that it's a bad look because things happen sometimes. and I'm not there, but it's usually a bad sign. And I've been in huddles and locker rooms where someone's talking and, you know, a player that holds weight on that team is looking at him with the fucking side eye look. And everybody else on the roster is looking at the player in agreeance.

Like, yeah, this shit is crazy. What fuck what he's talking about. Like, and that is toxic. Like, that's a toxic environment. There's that that is just a you've got a complete lack of trust from your star down. And at that point, that is a coach that has to go. Like whether record or record or not or someone has to go in that situation. And so, no, I haven't seen that, but I've seen other situations that are very similar to that.

I, this reeks of, I mean, obviously, we've talked about this a lot with my SPA with the new owner syndrome. But like everything that, every person you talk to within that organization or around the organization or anyone that is, that is, that is, that is paid. paid attention to them on a daily basis. Basically, when Matt Isbio got the job, he pushed aside James Jones and just said, I'm going to make all the decisions. And James Jones was a really good GM. We've praised him on this show, right? And he's basically just kind of put it into the background.

And every decision has Matt Isbia's fingerprints on it, right? And it almost seems like he's just flying at the same. seat of his pants with this, right? Like, hell, KD's on the market. Let's do everything we can to just go get them. I just want KD on my team, right? Not thinking about the picks that you're sending back, right? Getting rid of Cam Johnson, getting rid of like a lot of your debt to acquire KD, right? It wasn't even a negotiation. Same with Bradley Bill, honestly. Like, oh, hey, okay, get Bradley Bill. I don't care. Just do it. We're going to throw a boatload of picks. And, I mean,

Washington just kind of just fleeced them on that trade. You look at the, picks that they got and how they're set up for future success. You take that deal 11 times out of 10th of Washington, right? But like you're just, it seems like he's willing and dealing. Coach Bud's a good coach. He's done really good with Janus. I've seen him on TV. Let's figure it out, right?

Instead of like what you're saying is instead of doing what you're saying, you know, let's talk to the guys. Let's look at film. Like it just seems like a guy in Matt Ispia that isn't real, he says he's empowering people, but isn't really empowering people. to do their jobs. And that's what this all reeks of. And now Phoenix is in a mess right now, right?

Like, it's gotten so bad that I feel like the only way you go back to even being able to build another team is tearing everything down to the studs. And I'm not just saying trading Bradley Bill, which shout up to Gambo down there in Arizona who said that they're going to trade Bradley Bill. or Bradley Bills aren't going to be on the roster next year. And not only do you have to trade him, you got to try K.D., you've got to kind of think about trading Devin Booker to get some of your assets back because you're not going to be able to build the team that you want to build around Devin Booker with the current climate that we're in right now in terms of picks, in terms of what you're return for guys.

It's pretty bad in Phoenix right now, Rob. Yeah, you've... I don't know the inner workings of the relationship between their front office and ownership. I'm going to take your word for you guys report for a living. Whoever is steering the ship, you've run into ground. And you are going to now have to take some desperate measures to be able to recoup the assets that would be able to allow you moving forward to try to build again. A few things. You touched on Bradley Beal not wanting to be Drew Holiday.

Look, I like Bradley Bill. I'm a Bradley Bill fan. He's a really good player. But you also said lack, you know, there was a lack of self-awareness. I couldn't agree more. Like at this point in your career, you've got multiple bags. You've been the guy. You've had the opportunities.

It hasn't come to fruition in terms of championships. At what point do we say, hey, look, I have to play a role and be the best version of that role to try to help this team win. Now, provided a man's not telling you to sit down and you don't have a place in this, we've got to be able to do that as professionals at some point in our career. And look, I'm the guy sitting here telling you, when dudes are young, when dudes are trying to get to the bag and trying to get to the mountain top, those things can be in conflict. What you're asking me to do to sacrifice for us to win and what I need to do to get to the top of this mountain and and maximize my earning potential,

like those two things can be in conflict. And finding the sweet spot is what good organizations do. But like, that's not where we're at with him. So like there should be a level of like, we're disrespecting Drew Holiday by saying, I ain't willing to be Drew Holiday. Bro, he just wanted to chip. Drew, he's single-handedly swung multiple chips.

Bro, as soon as he got on the Celtics, it was like, oh, that's the tipping. And the box. And the box. So, like, I find that fascinating. Look, is there a, I love Devin Booker. This is going to sound crazy because I know I'm straddling to the fence all and all that.

Phenomenal player. Is it possible that he's a, that he's not the franchise player? Like, is that possible? On a championship level team? I don't think that's a slight. I know I ever, I think, whatever you say that, people look at you like you or like, no one's downplaying that. Like, there's only a handful of those dudes.

This is what I think about David Booker. And I like you. I love his game. I love what he's about as a person. I love his drive. I love all of that. All of that. But I would say this, and this is to your point, right?

He has always kind of needed an alpha personality next to him to succeed. And I think the biggest thing that has been a hindrance for him is the trade for KD. I think that that has been a hindrance for him. And hear me out on his rock. Because Kevin isn't a number one personality and all the things, right, kind of goes close to the background. Devin, because, this is my opinion, Devin has kind of treated Kevin the way he treated Chris Paul

and like kind of shying away from the top. We're 10 years in, bro. No, but listen. We're 10 years in. Because he feels that way because he sees like, yo, Katie's my idol. I looked up to him. I want to hear what he has to say. But he is kind of taking that backseat role.

And Kevin Durant isn't Chris Paul personality-wise. And I do think that if I'm going to agree with you on that point, is I think that that personality trait has been a great hindrance for Devin Booker throughout his career. And I think it's been the difference between him being a number one to what you're describing as, maybe a more complimentary piece, a great superstar level complimentary piece, but a complimentary piece nonetheless. However the fuck you want to shine that up, do it. You see me?

Like, it's your job to write. I was editing. You're a writer. I'm not a writer. I'm getting on here telling you. I put a poetic spin to it. And I appreciate that. Let me distill it because I'm going to say it again.

We're 10 years in, right? And he's a phenomenal player. But at some point, you went, you're. not the number one on a championship winning team. And that's not me saying that. That's historical fact. You ain't won a championship yet. Like, so, so, so, you know, I'm just, I'm, I'm, I'm talking about every one of these big three players in a way that, that, that I see that, right? So, like, if you're the sons and you're saying we might have to give up on Devin Booker and, and, and, and, and, and, not give up in terms of we don't, we don't love him and we don't want him, but in terms of, like,

we are just in such a bad spot that, that, that, that, we're, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, We have to explore all options. Well, I mean, maybe. I don't think, right? I honestly don't think it's that hard. Because it's not, my bad. Because and Kevin Durant, I'm gonna be like the KD situation. Phenomenal player.

I'm the biggest fucking KD fan. I love KD. But you're all culpable in this in some way. Like we're all culpable in this. You don't get to be a. of that level of, of, of talent, and have it be, the cluster F that it was, and all of us not get some shit on us, including the organization who I just gave shit. Like they, the coaches, like everything surrounding that has been mismanaged.

I'll just use the word again, mismanaged. But like every player that was supposed to be the focal point of that has some culpability in that. And KD is no different. Yeah. You know, I, so I think, I don't think, I don't think it. it's that hard of a decision, Raja. You need to tear this down the studs. That's what it is, right? Like, I want to evoke the great Alonzo Carter. Get your feelings out to shit. Like, I get it.

I understand that you have an attachment to Devin Bucker. I understand that you maybe don't want to get rid of him. I understand all those things, right? I understand that he wants to be, and he told me a couple weeks ago. He wants to retire his son because of how rare that is in Arizona sports. It doesn't happen, right? Like, this is something that I love. And, Finney, is a great place to live. You know, it's a great place to be a star, all those things. And I think that he fits great in with Arizona. All that being said, the organization hasn't done enough to put an optimal team around

Devin Booker, right? And I'm going to say this post-Matt Ishbitt. And I know there's going to be people like, oh, man, but he got you Kevin Durant. Oh, man, but he got you Bradley Bill. But they didn't build a team. They didn't build a functioning deep team. You look at them, Raja, and you got, if you have a team, where Kevin Durant is your backup

and sometimes starting center, you have a problem in the way that you construct a roster. They have been constructed a roster around Devin Booker in the way that they are supposed to. Clearly, the proof is in the pudding. We saw it this season, right?

But you, because you haven't done that and you don't have any avenues to do that, you are doing a disservice to him. And honestly, you're kind of doing a disservice to yourself by not tearing this down the studs and figuring it out the right way, a hard reset is necessary in Phoenix. And don't nobody want to say that within the organization.

But that's what it is. That's the only way through. Let me come at it from Devin Booker's perspective because, look, again, I want to make sure that everybody understands. I think Devin Booker is fantastic. Love them. But when I am talking about number ones on championship level teams, like, I am, there are only a few of those in the NBA for me. I don't have as nearly as many of those in my tier as your average person would have in their tier of people that are capable of doing that.

And so I don't see it as any real disrespect to him. He's incredible. And I said what I said about if I had to move that because of the situation I put myself in, as much as I might not want to because all of the feels and the emotions and the history, got to do what I got to do, right? having said that, let me flip it and go from Devin Booker's perspective. I love the fact that he wants to be in Phoenix. Phoenix is amazing.

Like I would have loved to have stayed in Phoenix and had that history, albeit at a much lesser level, a player than him. But I would have loved to have, like, have the connection to that valley and the people there and have my kids were born there. I would have liked that association in that way. I respect all of that. You should want to get the fuck out of there. You should want to go at this point.

because what are they going to do to get you where you're trying to go? No. Like if you, if recent track record is going to speak for what's going to happen moving forward, how do you think, show me the roadmap to how we get to me being a champion if I'm Devin Booker here in Phoenix. I don't think they can show you that. So even like, if I'm him,

I'm like, hey, bro, like, that's valiant. I love it. Like, that's old school shit. Reconsider. The Ringer NBA show was brought. you by Fanduel. We're coming down the stretch of the NBA season and the best place to get in on the action for all the best games is Fandle, America's number one sports book. Because with Fandual, there's so many ways for you to play. They've got all your favorite bets from who will win the game to play or

props for points, assists, rebounds, so much more. Let's take a look at the slate. I'm going to take the Warriors over the Grizzlies. I'm going to take the over on field goal attempts from Jimmy Butler. And I'm going to take the over on points with Jimmy Butler. How about that? Does that sound good? Well, you could score an even bigger W because Fandill has given you a pro. profit boost for all of tonight's actions. Just check the Fandual Sportsbook app to see how much you get. Or head over to Fanduil.com backslizer, NBA for more info. Make every moment more with Fandul official sports betting partner in the NBA.

Let's see 21 years and older and present in select states or 18 and older and present in D.C. Optin required minimum three leg parlay required. Bonus interview does not withdrawal. But profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply including any token expiration and max wager amount. See terms at sportsbook. Fanduel.com. Gambling problem.

called 100 Gambler or visit RG dash help.com. All right, man, let's do 10 minutes on the Pelicans. We got so deep in the weeds, I got a text from Cliff, like, yo, make sure we get to the other topics. Yeah, I'm sorry. And I don't even like to talk about the Suns like that.

I'll feel you. Let's talk about the Pelicans really quickly, right? Where Griff, as I think is another, similar to Bud, as another casualty to the situation, more than like an indictment on his acumen and talent level, bro, like, honestly, I think the Pelicans did griff a favor, you know?

Like, you go through so many things with an organization, and it's just, it's just time. And the fact of the matter is the pelicans are a team filled with bad luck, an organization filled with bad luck, saddled with Zion, who has injury troubles, and a whole host of other things that have taken him down. and not let him reach his full potential, right? That's putting it lightly. I know I'm poetically sanitizing the message that Raja would have went hard on, but Zion just hasn't been what he is supposed to be, right? And then you have a calvocate of injuries around him, right? You have, you go from building a team that can win in spite of Zion,

but also need Zion to get to the next level. And then, you know, you have the Lonzo Ball experiment that didn't work, right? You have the Dejante Murray's injury, and he also hasn't played that great in a pelican uniform anyway. You just, you know, like in New Orleans, they're not even the first priority in the ownership, right? The pelicans aren't, right? The saints are very much so. You could see that within the organization with their facilities, right? Probably have the worst arena in the league.

No disrespect, but there just is what it is. And there's just a lot going on bad with the pelicans right now. And on top of that, Raja, they're going to bring in Joe Dumars, which I don't think is a really good idea. Shout out to Joe Dumars. But I don't think this is the time for him. It's just all bad. I said 10 minutes on the pelicans for me to rant about how bad the pelicans are and how it's great that Griff has freed himself from the situation. Yeah.

Man, where to go with this? shout out to Griff. You know, what did he have been there? He had been there, what, six years now, 2000 and probably 19 or something like that. Like it was, you know, at some point, the buck has to stop somewhere. And, you know, whether you can point to Griff for any or all of that,

I mean, eventually the buck is going to get to you, right, if we're not getting this right? But to his point, to be fair, though, I think he did a good job with his role, right? Like, you got Zion who was. No. Number one pick there. You tried to build around them.

Yeah, good guys. I'm not saying, no, no, no, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that it's, that, that what, look, I'm not there, right? Like, again, when I always try to, and maybe it's not great podcasting, but like, I try my best to, to, because there's so many dynamics going on in those organizations to not, like, point fingers if I don't know definitively who's making someone do what or whose call it was to do this and that. And so, you know, what I am saying about that is like, if your job is to manage it and your job is to be the president of it and so on and so forth, if it's not working, eventually the buck is going to get to you and it's going to have to stop with you, right?

Like whether you fully deserve that or not, I know that Griff is really, really good at his job. I know that Griff felt very supported early. He thought it was a great situation. I had conversations with him in regards to that and maybe even hopping back. you know, on that side of the, on that side of the profession. I do know that it was very, very tense with the camp. You got that draft pick wrong. And sometimes that happens, right? Like, I mean, it wasn't wrong in the moment, but that sometimes happens. And it wasn't wrong from a talent perspective.

Like, everyone would have made the pick. You know, I actually said, like, who, what class was that again? Who was in that class? Who was in that class? John Moran. I was right. I was thinking it was 2019. It was jaw.

No, that wasn't the class that I had said that about. It was the Markell Fultz. It was the Markell Fultz. That was the class. But no, I mean, that was R.J. Barrett, Darius Garland, some good guys. That's a tough. Yeah, but it's a tough. It was fine.

It was fine. Everyone makes that pick. It just happened to be that, like, it was, you know, the pick was injury prone. Flashes of brilliance, but injury prone. and then not a pro. Like, I don't, I didn't just get that from one source. Like, I got that from multiple people. Like, it's, he's, it was very, very hard work to get him to act like a professional and get the

people in his camp. It's bad, Roger, it's bad when people in your own camp are just like, this guy here, this guy. Yeah, they're at their what to do. They're at their what's end with it, right? And so, you know, like, look, that, again, you, if you expect David Griffin or any other grown man to be able to take another grown man who is making the type of money that that he's making and the franchise is tied to him in that way and change his habits just because they say so, you're a dummy. It doesn't work like that. That shit does not work like that.

You all won this morning. So like that is not real life, bro. This man, this man, clearly he has been raised in a in a situation and I don't mean by his parents necessarily but just maybe the whole AAU system to be able to do what he wants to do when he wants to do it and it's and it's hard for that to be it's hard for that to be the standard in your building and we can say hey man well we got vets around here and we got we're bringing in the C.J McCullum's and we're bringing in the these and these are the people who are going to be the cultural leaders and that's all well and good for real Like, don't get me wrong. I advocate for that all the time.

And CJ is phenomenal. And a phenomenal player, human being, all of that. But Zion is Zion. Like, that is a... The role players don't matter as long as much... Not to say that CJ McCollum isn't good, but like, none of this shit matters. If Zion don't pop,

we're trying to build a roster around one person. Yeah. And so it becomes really difficult when that is inconsistent, less than professional, and has injury history that may or may not be linked to the lack of professionalism. It just becomes very difficult. And so for all those reasons, like, look, again, I'm friends with a lot of dudes in the NBA. I'm not the type of friend that says, you know, eventually they can't be let go because it's never their fault.

What I'm saying to you is if all that happens on Griff's tenure, as much as I think it was out of his control, I mean, eventually the buck gets to you, right? and that's kind of what happened there. Griff is great at his job. Like, great. And I think Griff's track record at being great at his job and developing others that are currently great at their job speak for itself. Hey, man, I'll say this.

We're going to talk, and this is a great transition. The Denver Nuggets, which now have an opening for a front office guy at a basketball lops, right? I mean, I don't know. I mean, I don't know. Griff's pretty good. He's pretty fucking good. Let's text my dog.

Rippy real quick. How like Griff, man. Let's get a scoop right here. Let's see what's happening. But the Nuggets, man. I sent you a story yesterday. Joe, excuse me, Josh Cronkey,

Stan Crocky's son. Dog, first of all, the Cronkey's got so much bread. Jesus Christ. Just like, damn, bro. Like I was, I was just prepared for the podcast and I was just like looking.

I'm like, yo, Josh, let's look at this Wikipedia. Yeah, Stan. God damn. God damn. Walmart breaking money. But anyway, Josh, to his credit, I will say this, to his credit, did speak to the local media in Denver.

And was really answered every single question about, you know, for better or worse, the decision. And I honestly, like, I was pretty enlightened to, you know, what the decision making prizes. And I don't necessarily agree. But I do think that there were some interesting things that Josh said. There are a couple quotes that really stuck out. He said that he was thinking of making a change, a change like this, around Thanksgiving.

Right. And whenever he wanted to make a change, this sometimes happens in the NBA of sports in general. Whenever you want to make a change, the team goes on a run. And it's like, damn, I can't make it now. I can't do it now. and you wanted also, you know, closed shop around the All-Star break, but Denver got hot, right? And then it seemed like he was waiting on a losing streak to happen before he made this move. Is that a good philosophy or a bad philosophy here, Roger, when you're thinking about what Denver is trying to do at this point?

I mean, I don't know. Who am I to judge whether that's a good philosophy or bad philosophy overall? I don't know. I've never run a fucking team. I don't know. What do you want me to say? Here's what I can definitively say. I understand where you're coming from. Josh, sounds like your mind was made up a long time ago.

Okay. Who's out here playing double dutch? Yeah, I don't know why you'd be doing that. Just go ahead and rip the band-aid off and go. Like, if your mind's made up about it and it seems like very little was going to sway that, then just go ahead and do what you got to do. What I know is there's a code. Like there's an unwritten set of rules.

It was like made men back in the day. And there was, they were, you know, notorious in some instances and stuff like that, but they operated by a code. You hear that with dudes, you know, today, like in different arenas. Like they're like, yo, man, like we might do X, Y, and Z,

but there's a code to this. Like, there are certain things we don't do. firing them at that point in the season before the Memphis catastrophe. Well, actually, I think that emboldened them do it. They were like, oh, shit, that's a similar to our situation. Let's do it. Yeah, it definitely did. But before that, what I'm saying is, like, people get fired in season if it's absolutely

necessary. Don't get me wrong. But, like, typically with three games left in the season, man, like, six games left in this season. Like, these are people that you've spent a lot of time with. Like, short of them coming in your office and telling you to kiss their ass and like knocking everything off your desk, let them finish the job. And even then some people stay, even then, as you know, so even if you know, yeah, trust me.

Like some people stay. There's just a wild shit that we both know behind the scenes that if they get and they still got their job. You understand? I'm like, there's a little bit of a code to a dude who has brought you a championship pretty recently, the GM who's helped do that, there are three games left. I still will tell you, anyone trying to spin anyone, look at me, where's the camera, anyone trying to tell me that Gak gives them a better chance to win in this year's playoffs is full of shit. So if like, I just,

I don't like, I didn't love that. Like, just let them finish it fire room as soon as they losing the playoffs boom we're out of here because i always think that like you're trying to give like like this is your business but at the end of the day you're trying to help that roster do everything that it can do right and i i know adam's probably good and this is no reflection on him at all one person there had taken you all the way to the promised land in that big chair so hold on wait, this is one thing that, this is the Memphis thing and the Denver thing that is just a grave oversight by their team that I don't think is being mentioned enough when we talk about new coaches this late in the season. How is a player supposed to trust a coach at this stage, right? Where not even on no like this is a bad, you build trust over a season and time spent together in bad losses and good wins, right?

You're putting Adelman in an impossible situation. You're putting the new Memphis Grizzlies Coast in an impossible situation because you're asking them to go through the peaks in the valleys at the biggest stage of the season. Right. Like, luckily Denver has Yokic, who is like this strong pillar of leadership, right? Where I feel like that makes the Denver situation a little bit better. But like, who do you turn to when you're trying to calm things down and calm all these things down? you're asking a guy like Adelman

who doesn't have any head coaching experience to learn both on the fly at the highest level and still try to build trust with these guys. It's one thing to build trust, like I said in the previous pod, when you're an assistant coach and you got your arm around a player

and saying everything is going to be okay. But then when you have to also be the bad guy here and also have to make real decisions, a totally different seat, totally different seat. And I really think that the organizations, whether it works out or not, really put their players in a really bad situation. That's my point. By your logic, by my logic, or by both of them, that there's no way that you can

sit in front of a mic and try to sell to your fan base and the players in that locker room, that that is putting them in the best position to maximize success right now in the short term. Even if Michael Malone was an asshole, he's the asshole that I know for the. the time being until you get up about in the off season. But that's the operative part of this for me. It's the time. It's the, it's the, it's the amount of time that you have to do this, right? Like, if you're saying to me for future, for the health of our organization, this is a

different conversation I'm having with you now. Like, you did that in the off season. You don't think he's the person in moving forward. But you're talking about in the short term, like right now in the middle, fuck middle of a season, at the end of a season, 78, but 74 to 7. 79 games in and a slight playoff run, you're telling me that the dude that's never, ever done it with this group is going to have the best chance to get the success out of them?

Stop. Stop. Stop. Please stop. Anyways, let's stop with this segment. Let's talk a little playing because we'll talk about the playoffs like as a whole on Friday with Howard motherfucking Beck. We'll talk about a little bit of the playing. I do think this Atlanta Hawks, magic game is intriguing. It's the first game on Tuesday. It could be something. Miami Heat and Chicago. You want to talk about Dallas Kings real quick? Nope.

Do you want to talk about any of the Eastern conferences at all? Like, honestly, do you have any thoughts about the Easter conference playing? I mean, the Easter conference, yeah, I mean, I don't really have dots. I mean, I'll be there tacos in hand tonight to watch the, you know, the Atlanta-Orlando game. Like, I'm there to watch it. I don't have true thoughts on it. I mean, there's only one game in the playing that really, like, I know, I know, you know what I mean?

Like, can we keep in a lot of criticism? Like, we got to be on here faking, like, like, we get a lot of criticism. Like, oh, you're just talking warriors. And I'm like, bro, the warriors are the most interesting team in the one of the most interesting team in the league. And this is the best match. And the other dude is throwing grenades. Yeah.

So, yeah, that's what we're talking about. One more of I got a whole artillery that he brings out on the court. And the other one's got Steph Curry. Oh, my God, the puns are all there. Dog, the thing. with like job real quick before we get into it. It's like, bro, like, I don't believe him. You know what I'm saying?

Like, when he tries to hang hard, I don't believe him. This is probably going to give me best out. But like, I'm probably, like, I talked to Cliff about this earlier. It's like, who? What are we doing? Stop. And the explanations are even worse than the actions. I'm just like, talk.

Anyways. Here's what I don't know. And here's what I don't know. I mean, I don't know him, but I don't know. who he knows in Memphis. I know. I got family from Memphis. I used to spend summers in Memphis.

I lived in Memphis. I want no problems in Memphis. None. Listen. Just love and respect. Love and respect. No problems with Memphis. I love Memphis.

Hey, here's another thing. I, no, and I say that really, and I'm not saying that, you know, some of it is from fear, but most of it is from love, right? Like, I lived in Memphis for a summer. I absolutely loved it.

I love the people there. There's good people. It's hardworking. And it's a real underdog city too. No doubt, no doubt. It's a city where like you got them fucked up at all times. You talk about their rivalry with Nashville and all the things like that. Like, it's just, it's great.

Have I told this story on the pod about like the wildest, like most, it was the most beautiful experience probably. Like I had a shirt. I was staying at the Peabody and I had this suit. It might have been Easter or MLK. And I had this suit. And I was like, I didn't wear suits all the time, but I was suited. I was ready to go. And the Peabody, I missed the dry cleaning cut off or something like that.

And so I had called the Belmont up and he was like, yo, like, and he could see the look in my face. He was like, yo, man, I take that home and have my wife touch that up for you. And I was like, what? I don't know why I felt comfortable doing that, but I did. And my man took that shirt home for me. His wife. He was dead serious, too. He ironed, she ironed that bad boy to a tea.

Like, it looked better than it would have looked coming from a dry cleaner. And I was able to roll out the next day, like, fresh to death. And that was, that was Memphis, I got a lot of love for Memphis. That was like the most, it was the most genuine, like, I don't know what the word is for that. Like, it was just, it was real humbling. Hospitality, right?

Yeah, no, that shit was crazy. Bro, I, I, shout up to this. I had one of my greatest Uber drivers ever in Memphis, bro. He just, he, he, he picked me. We are from the airport and the Cadillac, and we listen to nothing but eight balled, MJG and E40, bro. And, like, it was one of the best 30-minute drives

that I've ever had. It was like, I don't have the Tennessee accent, but they was like, we rock with the Bay. We rock with y'all. Too short. E-40, we rock with Shaw, heavy. I'm like, respect. Anyways.

No, no. All that to say. Well, they're going to be rocking with the Bay. They're going to be rocking with the Bay tomorrow night, right? Tonight. I'm going to the game, Cam. Oh, it's tonight? It's tonight.

No, it's great. You've played in some of these games, Roger. I call them the center of the universe games, where all of the NBA world is looking at you and you know it. Right? Like, that's going to be one of those games. I love being at those games. I love being around in those games.

I can't wait. I'm getting to the arena early. All those things. The Warriors right now are, let's say, teetering. It's, it's pretty, I don't know. It's funny how one, a one game or one stretch can change your outlook on a team.

Like we said when the trade happened that they would be a second round team. That would be a good season for them if they made it to the second round, right? Yep. I don't, I think this last week has really messed them up, man. The Harry B three-pointer

buzzer beater. And then this loss to the Clippers who we'll talk about on Friday because the Clippers look amazing. Look really. good. But the Warriors, they just look old right now.

Ramon is missing bunnies. Jimmy Butler's hurt. They are, defenses are just collapsing on stuff right now. It doesn't look good for them. I do think that they're going to win tonight, but I don't. They got to play the

Rockets. I think the Rockets can beat them, Raja. And we talked about the Rockets. We talked about the Rockets a couple of weeks ago that they're not to be fucked with. A man Thompson on Steph Curry is a problem right now. Yeah, Rockets are going to be a tough draw, period, specifically for Golden State because they'll put their paws on you. Like, and Golden State's just not.

There's a thing, Roger, Golden State can't punk them. You're not going to pump Houston. Yeah. Houston has a size advantage with Stephen Adams and Shangoon. and they have a guy that can guard step. I'm not going to say stop step because you're not going to do it, but like make his life hell. They also have multiple,

even though they have multiple wings that get on top of the rim. Like they're just, they are really attacking you. Like that's the style of play that they're going to play. And wings that can guard, grow. Like say what you want about Dylan Brooks, Broke can guard.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. No, they're an attacking defense and an offensive team. and specific to playing Golden State with lack of depth and age, that could be a problem. Like, it just could be. Like, they're the type of team defensively that they have enough perimeter dudes that lock down and length. You know, Steph, if we're being real, what he kind of has struggled with at times, like, he always cracks the code eventually. but like that dude who's long physical, it's a rare thing,

long physical and can move. Yeah. Like, we're talking the elite of the elite, but like, you know, for someone who makes their living, moving around and getting jumpers off real quick,

like length can, length can be a deterrent and a distraction. And, you know, now you're getting beat up and banged around the floor and, you know, reffing is going to, refing is going to be critical if,

you know, if and when that series happened. Like how, how do they call those games? I don't want to also say like, just make it a foreground and losing and a goal to say it's going to win this game because I really don't think so.

They're 0-3 and play in. So let's do the Memphis side of it and how they would match up against Houston. How do you see them matching up against Houston if they were to win tonight? Yeah, I think, I'm still taking Houston. I like Houston.

I think that style. of play size, physicality and all of that, more of a fair fight between Houston and Memphis. I think they're more equipped, maybe personnel-wise, like, with the roster and

like I said, the physicality of it, the length of it, maybe the youth of it in some instances to go up against a Houston team that's going to be like foaming at the mouth to get out there and hoop. But I'm still taking Houston. I would still take Houston.

I'm going to be real, man. I don't like Memphis's roster. And I think I've kind of, I've kind of, you know, I don't know. I've talked about it in the past. But like, I don't like it. Like, I don't like, I said this in the last episode. I don't like Triple J in the role that he's in. I think he fouls way too much.

I think that Jha with the injury history is one thing. But also I don't think that he's really, transformed his game enough for this time. I think he gets really predictable in the postseason. And my favorite player of the group, Desmond Bain, I think he'll be well suited on another team in a couple of years. Because I think he is,

he's a number three. But I think like he, I can't wait to see Desmond Bain in a, in a Dylan Brooks type role for a team. You know what I mean? Where like, he's not expected to carry the offensive loaded sometimes. And he could just like really key in on a player that he's defending and just hit a corner three, bro.

You know what I mean? Like, I can't, but I just don't like their overall roster. I think if they play against Houston, I think Houston has the personnel to, you know, play them and their length, because Memphis does have some length and play that way. But they also put Amen Thompson on Jop, right?

Like, I think that that would be a really good matchup for the Rockets. I really do. And I think the Rockets would win, honestly. It would be a shorter series as they play Memphis. Yeah, well, Yeah, you might be right. And I think what I take away from that, what I would say about that series or both series is like,

if you are the Rockets playing Memphis, you're going to, you're going to be better at doing kind of what they do than they do it. Right? Like, you're just better at that. Like you're bigger, you're stronger. You're all of that.

Like where Golden State could stretch a series against Houston in a way that Memphis can is like they play a, completely different style than Houston. Right. And Memphis doesn't play the exact same style, but we're talking about like length on length, strength on strength, you know,

X, Y, and Z. Like, Golden State plays a very unique style. Like the way they, the way they get you caught in that blender when things are working offensively, if you don't deal with that, you could have all these defenders that I'm talking about.

But if you're not, if you are not executing defensively on any given night, and you're just a fraction of a second off on those switches, boom, lay up. Damn, another three. And you're out of sync defensively. And if you get out of sync and he's hot, Steph Curry, that is, game's over. Yeah. Right?

So they can get you caught in that space. I do see that. And also, the Warriors, the Warriors have been really great defensively down the stretch. Their offense hasn't really messed up with their defense post-Jimmy Butler trade. I think it's like 15th or something. It's definitely not in the Razor zone in terms of, offensive and defensive efficiency rankings. But what I do think that they can do and they can put,

if they control pace in the game, the Warriors can really do some damage against Houston in the half court. Right. Like if they play the defense, the half court defense that they're supposed to and slow the game down, I think they can grind out this series. Problem is, I don't think that once they get through a series with Houston,

I don't think that they are going to get through another. series. Yeah, that's punitive, bro. That's what I was going to say to that. If they were to, if, if, ifs were a fifth, but if they did, that would be punitive. Like that would be- get in there. They're going to get their ass-wipped. It's like, no matter what, they're going to get their ass-wift. That's what Houston is going to do. And another thing will go to State, man, like, this is something to keep an eye out for everybody. But, like, if the, the Warriors roster and the guys on there are really playing for their collective futures right now, right? I don't care about the contract situation.

I don't care about none of that. Like, if they fall in the playing and don't look good in the playoffs, everybody on that roster is expendable other than Step Curry, but everybody. And if I don't cover Joe Legg up a long time, I know that I see something happening in Milwaukee right now. And I know this is like, this isn't, this, I know this isn't like an old rumor. This is not a, this is not a new rumor, excuse me, with Janus.

But if Janus is on the table, they are going to go after him and they're going to, doesn't matter that Jimmy Butler signed for what he signed for. It doesn't matter that Draymond is, has the contract. Everybody can go if Janus is on the table. I think they are going to look at that very, very carefully. And the other thing that's going on is, underlying is the Kaminga situation, Roger.

It's... Yeah, what's that? I think we've talked about this on the program, but there's always been kind of a disconnect between how the coaching staff of Golden State feels about Kaminga and Joe Lekh feels about Kaminga.

I think the big reason why Kaminga hasn't gotten a deal and agreed to a deal is because the coaching staff is like, eh, and Joe Lekub is always like, give him a chance. And I think, that a lot of it has to do with Kaminga's a bit miscast

at least by Joe Ligke was like, oh, he's the next future number two guy. I think he can really be something. Whereas like in big games, he hasn't done great or not necessarily great, but he hasn't

had the performances that would elicit you saying this is the next guy. You think about, I talked about this with someone last week, but like you think about last year and the king's warriors play in when the king when the king's just blasted the warriors. Kaminga tried to get in his bag and be that number two guy and he just fell flat as that and they got blown out. He's not a guy that is going to carry an offense and I think

there has been at least from I'll be I'll have a nuanced discussion with myself about this but like the coaching staff has don't doesn't trust him and And Kaminga knows that, and it's really pissing Kaminga off. And that's been a historic thing. And Kaminga says, well, when Andrew Wiggins was down a couple years ago, I held it down for you guys. Why shouldn't I have this trust? And the coaching staff is, well, they don't trust his mind 100% of the time.

Which is why you're seeing him not play down the stretch in big moments, like against the Clippers their biggest game this season. When you're saying that they don't trust. So the DNP the other night, like that was, was that his scheduled DNP? Like that was just like, no, he was,

he was fully healthy. He was fine. Okay. So, that's a pretty big disconnect. And I just want to make sure that I'm clear as up because you're, you're informing me on this. The not,

the not trusting him is a decision-making thing. Like, like, like he hasn't learned enough to make these decisions yet. Or he's not listening. to what we're telling him to do and he's stepping outside of what we're asking him to do and then thus stepping on someone else's toes. I think it's a little bit of both in the sense.

I don't think he step. I don't think that he's stepping necessarily on people's toes, but I think it's a maintenance thing. Every time he doesn't get what he wants or he doesn't get the minutes that he wants, the coaches see him as like a guy that is sulking. So this is tough for me because you know I really like, Steve Kerr and them. Like, I do. And so if you're telling me that Camingo went in,

after not playing down the stretch, like, in whatever game that was, it's a Clippers, Clippers. He didn't play at all in that game. We got a full DMP. Yeah, but, yeah, the Clippers game. What was the game that you said, that you didn't play down the stretch against?

Well, no, when he didn't play, I referenced the Kings playing last year where he did play a lot. Oh, the Kings play. And he didn't do, and he didn't play in the way that, like, you would have wanted him to play. So, so if there's anything that happened between the, the DNP and the last time they played that was completely disrespectful and out of pocket for a player

to come in and do to a coaching staff or another player. And that DNP was, hey, you're going to learn your lesson. You can go do that shit again. Then forget what I'm about to say because you're sending a message to him and we've got a curb behavior. I'm all for that. He is not the type of player that should be getting DMPs with what the roster that Golden State has. I agree. he is not the type of player

that should be getting DMPs. I love Steve Carr. I think he's a great coach. We both love Steve Carr. In any world. In any world should he be getting DMPs. He, I'm just going to reference the,

the Laker game that, that I watched when, when, amazing. He, like, Pod was, Pot,

what do they call him? Pajemsky, what do they call him? Pods. The pods. Pods was great. Pods was great. Out of his mind in the first half.

But almost as great was Kamingas, ability to just be on top of the rim and and just assaulting the rim against the Lakers in a way that nobody else from Golden State can do. Nobody. Bro, just for the simple fact in that Clippers game, no, Raj, and I agree with you. I definitely agree with you when it comes to Kaminga. And also, like, again, you know, like when you, when it talks about, when we talk about Steve Kerr, he has consistently done this where he'll see a lineup thing that he just doesn't like. He said this week that he doesn't think that

Draymond and Butler and Kaminga play together great. They don't, that lineup just isn't good. But what I think with Steve Kerr is sometimes he gets in his own way with his lineup shit, right? Like you think about in the Olympics with Tatum and you think about locally with Moses Moody who has been playing really well and

but he was just in Kerr's doghouse for whatever reason. Like, Kerr puts people in his doghouse for whatever reason, and it backfires pretty frequently. And I think it's, it backfired definitely in the Clippers game, because if you watch the Clippers game, Kauai was getting everything he wanted. And they're not saying Kaminga would have necessarily stopped Kauai, but Kauai had a performance where, like, similar to LeBron in the 2016 finals, where he's got to put bodies on him. At the very least, Kaminga would have been another body that you put on him, right? And they could have gotten you some extra off.

offense down the stretch, right? And that's something that they need to figure out. But like, I don't, I don't, I don't, I, I don't think the relationship is tenable between the staff and Kaminga right now. And I would not be, he's probably not going to be on the roster next year. I don't think he's going to be on. I don't think it's, I don't think that the, either whether it be a trade or something, but like, I just don't, I don't personally see. I definitely did. I didn't see that game. I was in a gym with tie up in. in Kansas City. So I can't really reference that game.

But what you're saying is essentially what I'm saying and what your eyeballs see when you watch them play is like he is, he's different physically sometimes than the other pieces that you have. And there are instances like we can have the argument and the discussion as basketball as hoop heads about when and where that's valuable and when it might be less valuable. And we don't want to put it out there. that's that that's fine but there he isn't a dnp type of guy like not on that team there's no there's no there's no there's no world where he should be getting dnps because you've said that he isn't one of

your top nine 10 like options on that team like there's no world it's especially on that roster bro especially but that's what i'm saying on that particular on that particular roster there's no world that you can convince me that that that that's okay even if he's not scoring Yeah. Just as the athlete, to your point, the wing span, the athleticism to put on one of these elite winged, there's no world that you can convince me that that's okay. And so when you tell me he's not going to be on Golden State next year, I mean, if I'm the player. I don't, I don't think so.

I mean, he's a restricted for age as they can do that, right? Like they can keep him. If I'm the player, my conversation with you is like, look, don't do that. Don't match that. Like, don't want you don't want me here. or if you do Mr. Lakeb, he surely does it. Like, don't do that to me, man. Let me go somewhere and play, bro.

Like, don't do that. I mean, also, not for nothing, bro. And I know, and I know Steve a long time. You've known Steve a long time. Sometimes he likes to use the, oh, but, you know, you can redeem yourself in the next game. You know, maybe, like, we're going to need you in another game. And we're going to, but, like, you embarrassed him.

You embarrassed that dude. You embarrassed Kaminga for sure. And this is not the first time he's felt embarrassed, right? Again, Steve, Steve, Steve's a long-time gentleman in this game. There's a code to this shit. You knew what you, when you DNP somebody like not, that to your point, you were absolutely right. I'm sorry for cutting you up.

That was too embarrassed someone. And I don't know if it was consciously, but it did happen. Like, he, Cominga is embarrassed. What, you saw you forgot to put in? Did I sanitize again? You forgot. Yeah, because I don't, I don't see a world in which you forgot to put him in. No, there ain't no forgot.

Hell no. So then that means consciously you guys decided not to play him. And you went on the radio saying that he's not, he doesn't fit with your two best players. Yeah, look. Look, I don't want to take shots at Steve. Like, Steve, you don't want, look, we all have players like shit, even at youth basketball level, bro. Like, most people can relate. There's some players in the Rosabelle doghouse?

No, but like most people can relate. You coach a YMCA team or you coach some shit like that. Like some of the players you like more than others. Some of them you look at it. You're like, man, no matter what he does, you're like, it's human nature, right? Like, you try to give him all a chance, but you're going to be drawn. Like, there might be a kid. Like, I've seen it.

There might be a kid that, like, you know, like, you know, might punch a player. And you're like, no, but he's great for our team. He's great. You know? There might be another player that, like, you're like, hey, man, he can't. He's so athletic, but, like, we just don't trust him in high-pressure situation. Like, that happens. It happens.

It happens. What do you want me to say? It happens. And look, you can get, again, I am a, I am the best example to myself and to my children of this. When you are valuable enough and you are performing at a level that is desired enough, they will let you get away with some of that. As soon as you are not worth that, got to go. And we might see that, we might see exactly what you said this summer with Golden State,

where they're like, eh. It's going to happen to, I mean, everyone is going to reach the point where you're not worth it. Yeah. It's going to happen. We love real ones right now. They love real ones right now. I don't know. Let me text griff me and see how many, yeah.

Let me see what I got on my contract. You might need a job. We might need a job. All right, relax. We're just kidding, guys. Everybody's like, oh, what are you going? Oh, man, fuck out of it. Yeah, that's a good time to, do you want to do any predictions?

Do you want to do any predictions real quick? No, I really thought the Golden State. I'm excited now because I knew I was watching Atlanta, Orlando. You're staying up. I thought Golden State was, oh, I'm up. I'm up, yeah. Okay, all right. Hey, hey, every chef might be Bobby.

Who knows. I'm going to be at that thing, too. It's about to be popping, bro. I already got my, ooh, I'm ready to go. Yo, the real ones group chat might be popping. Raja, hey, ladies, before we get out of here, Raja, ladies and gentlemen, has been participating in the real ones group chat. He has actually been starting

some conversations, I think, that does not actually just links to his kids recruiting stuff. He's actually like, yo, this shit is crazy. You know, like, he's participating. It's playoff time. We're ready to go. Yes, playoff time. That's what happens, bro.

Hey, you was coming in hot this podcast. This is a great podcast. I'm seeing you riding in a playoff form. Like, we're ready to go. Let's fucking do. It's going to be exciting. No doubt. No, no. All right. I'm drinking a night.

Damn it. Little wine, a little rosee. Nice, hot taco night, bro. I'm going to make some tacos, so it might be a little,

yeah, I don't, we'll find, we figure it out, maybe a little tequiz, I don't know, I don't know. A little tequiz, man,

I'm so jealous. I'm so jealous. Anyway, um, well, I'm about to be at the game. Actually, not that joseous. Um,

anyways, that was another edition of real ones. Shout out to Cliff on the board. Victoria on the video, um, that static, please, please, please,

come on. Let's get it together, guys, Jesus. See you guys on Friday. All the shit's love y'all. Real ones. Bye.

Must be 21 years and older and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with the Kansas Star Casino or 18 and older and present in D.C. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 gambler or visit

RGhelp.com. Call 1-888-78-9-77777-7 or visit ccpg.org Backslash chat in Connecticut or visit MD Gambling Help in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit GamblinghelpM.A. or call 1,800-32750 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts, or call 1-8778 Hope and Y or text Hope and

Y in New York.