The Ringer NBA Show - IT Out, Fultz Back, Lorde’s Thunder Fandom, and Concern-Trolling Playoff Teams | Sources Say (Ep. 237)

Episode Date: March 28, 2018

The Ringer’s Juliet Litman and Chris Ryan discuss Lakers guard Isaiah Thomas undergoing hip surgery (1:24), Markelle Fultz returning to the rising Philadelphia 76ers (7:02), and Ben Simmons’s recent exploits (9:59). Then, they discuss singer Lorde’s Oklahoma City Thunder fandom (15:55) and some struggling playoff teams (27:40). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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ladderlife.com slash NBA. And now, sources say. We won. Yeah. They suck. Yeah. We're here. Another sources saying, Almost Playoffs Edition. I'm Juliet Litman.

I'm Chris Ryan. Breaking news coming out of Los Angeles, where we currently are, Isaiah Thomas getting surgery. Yeah. Tough news for I.T., who we've talked about it a little bit. His stock has gone up and down in our emotional NASDAQ. Would you put him on the NASDAQ?

Can't even make it to the New York Stock Exchange? I can tell by the acidity in your voice. Yes. That's sympathy. is not at the top of your menu today. Oh, come on. That's not true. It's not fair. I know you like IT.

He was a great story last year. He's been traded multiple times in the last 12 months now. He's been through a lot. It's less than a year since his sister passed away. Yes. And then today, Wode reported he will undergo a scope on his problematic hip in New York and is expected to have an extended rehabilitation process is obviously pretty bad news for his pending free agency.

But the Lakers apparently are pretty happy with IT. Yeah. Unlike the Cleveland Cavaliers. And I guess Boston wasn't unhappy with him, but they weren't so happy with him that they were like, we'll keep you over Kyrie overing. Boston made like a cutthroat move. They knew this was the situation. Danny Angel of Chipotle somewhere just being like, this is what we have to do. One thing that's just really hard to understand is why the calves went through this trade.

Like they had the opportunity to nag out on it when IT's health came up. I think it's Dan Gilbert made the trade. Isn't that just the biggest mystery related to all of this? I mean, that's like my one question for Dan Gilbert among like many that one could out. ask is like, why didn't you invalidate this trade? Well, I mean, I don't think he invalidated. I think he actually was the architect of it. Yeah.

Yeah. But it's just weird. I don't know. Like, why their return on Kyrie Irving was so small. Although I would argue, let's just say this. Okay. That the chain reaction of events that goes from trading Kyrie for Isaiah Thomas, then having that crap team and then trading them for all these new guys.

Yes. May have been the secret sauce that keeps LeBron. because he has like decent pieces around it. Well, I think for some work with, the Brooklyn pick. Emotionally, there's a reset on the season. I think when they have their guys and they're all sort of healthy, they're pretty unstoppable if Kevin Love could just stop getting his teeth knocked out. And I think you could make the argument, you can make a compelling argument to LeBron,

like we're rowing in the right direction. And even if we don't make the finals this year, there's no reason for you to blow it up and go to L.A. or Houston or wherever. Sure. Okay, that's true. But I guess we should go back to the Lakers. I didn't mean to. Oh, I was just saying that apparently the Lakers are very happy with IT. Yeah, Ramona was just saying on Twitter that they thought it was like a win-win for everyone.

He was a good influence on their young players. One thing about Isaiah, he definitely seems like he worked hard. As we know, he likes to practice. He sure does. He likes to talk about that. Yeah. The sad thing is that I was watching a couple of Lakers games earlier in March, and he's actually had a really good March.

He was averaging like around 17 plus four and a half assists. The Lakers have definitely improved. And they were like five and six. Yeah. They were like an average team with him in the lineup. And like, Ingram's been hurt here and there. and stuff. But every time you hit the deck, especially with small guys, you're just like, are you going to get up? I feel it way more with big guys. Oh, really? Yeah. I'm a lot more fearful

every time M. B. B. Fals than literally any walls. Well, now, but you have, you know, M. Bid likes to fall. He says that that's good for him. Right. Okay. Dr. M. Bid. Thanks for waiting. Dr. M. Bid is also working on my, my bad arm. Yeah. Well, I just feel like with the short guys, particularly, Isaiah Thomas, it's closer to the ground, you know? The fall's not so hard. Okay. Okay. That's a good logic. Dr. Juliet. Finish his limit over here. Yeah. That's what I've got to add.

Watch his ER once. Watch his ER a lot of times. What do you think it says about the Lakers that he was kind of like the secret sauce they needed? I think that it's really hard to have a team where all the players, all the starters are young guys. Yeah. And I don't think KCP was the sort of energizing locker room factor. I mean, KCP's on a one-year deal. I think that there's like something to be said for the fact that you have to have a mix and you can't just send out like three or four rookies or guys who are playing for their

first big deal and think it's just going to work out. Yeah. And ironically, because Isaiah, I think we were all saying, like, oh, he's going to go to the Lakers and he's going to chuck so that he can get like 25 a game and get a, you know, a Hornets or magic contract or something. But it sounds like he worked him pretty well with the system. And he's been pretty funny. I've enjoyed his commentary on Lonzo Ball's Jumpshot.

Oh, me too. Yeah. He's a supporter. Yeah. He's just like, yeah, never change, man. Be you. But that probably is a good influence for Lonzo because, like, he's a really unique player. And IT's a really unique player.

I also think that Lonzo is the kind of guy who needs another person in the locker who's like, I'm happy to talk to the media. And Isaiah is very happy to talk to the media. Oh, is he ever? And I do have a lot of sympathy for him. I think he got a raw deal. Sounds like it was unpleasant in Cleveland. Again, his sister passed away.

That's tragic. But my point about him and still is like most of, this is actually an anomalous situation in the Isaiah Thomas 2017-18 campaign. Because most of the time that we're talking about him, it's because he's talking about him. Yes. And so that is, he is probably like, a useful diversion inside of the Lakers circus.

Right. Yeah, I think he's doing both a good job and a bad job of selling himself. Like, I think that if he had just sort of quietly gone off and just been like, well, I just got to like, you know, take my lumps when I came back. I mean, he's come back. He probably stayed too long when he was hurt in Boston and came back too early when he was recovering for Cleveland. Right.

So. How close are you following Lakers social media? Lakers players. Not much. Because there's a lot of fun stuff happening. Oh, Coos and Lanzo are really excited. And then they also make fun of Josh Hart a lot. Those three rookies really seem to like each other, at least like to roast each other.

It's not surprising that they need kind of like a veteran presence. And not that necessarily like Isaiah Thomas like mentoring them. But it probably is useful to have someone who's like, guys, act like you've been here before. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. So to go from a team that has missed the playoffs for the last five seasons, or we'll have missed the playoffs for five seasons, the Lakers, to a team who's definitely making the playoffs, the Philadelphia 76ers.

Congrats, man. I think I'm owed a buffet of congrats. Not only for the team, but for my steadfast support of a particular player. Markle Fultz back. Yeah. I'm really, how are you feeling? Day two. Is it crazy?

This is wild. But I would say that the joy and elation I felt on a short-term basis, like just in the quick second when he walked on the court and then started playing like competently, it was kind out there with the Super Bowl. Oh my God, Chris. No, but just because of like the amount of people who didn't believe in him. Not very many people I may be even sitting at a table with somebody

who didn't think he would play this year. I'm shocked. I also was like should they even let him play? Let him get rookie of the year next year. But the way they did it was awesome. It was like a surprise album drop. It was just like, it was like the Beyonce midnight drop. And Brooke Brown being like, I got an update on Markell. Who's playing tonight? And it was just like, what? And then it was just really cool. I thought that he has gone from somebody who I thought was like

the narrative about Markell was a little distracting. And I was like, man, like the Sixers still like, they don't know how to handle injured play. and what's going on with him and how much of this is in his head and how much of this is in his shoulder and what's... And it was like really quite moving

to see like a standing ovation his mom and his sister, I think, were there. He got his shit blocked like multiple times and definitely doesn't look like he has all his legs much less his shoulder. Four times. But he like had a great couple of jumpers at the end of the game,

had some really slick stuff and didn't seem like scared or blown away by the moment. And it was like very moving to see how much his teammates actually obviously were like this is awesome. Totally. I'm really happy for him. I'm happy for you. I'm really, really happy for him. How awful would it be to be like the biggest bust in NBA history? Like just so, like, I'm really sad for the UVA kids. Like I'm like, the ones who lost to UMBC and like you guys are the biggest losers in

NCAA history. Like that sucks. And like I just am really happy that he looks like he'll be serviceable if not more. He could be even an interesting little thing to throw in the playoffs. Totally because he's, he was aggressive. Like he going straight to the basket. I also like really am into his game. I mean, I guess that's kind of stupid. Like, I felt like he had, like, some hardenedy stuff going on. Like, both his handle, the way in which he was, like, changing tempo.

I don't think he's as good as hard on, obviously. But, like, I thought it was fun to watch him play. It was, like, a different look for the Sixers. Are you worried things are going a little too good for the city of Philadelphia sports-wise? Somewhat? Because all you can do is fall. Did Boston fall?

Yeah, not really. Boston were, like, losers for, like, 80 years. Not 80. How long was the curse? Oh, because of Babe Ruth? Yeah. Well, I was thinking of the Celtics. Yeah, the Celtics.

Okay, but like Boston were losers. Sure. And then like the Celtics came back and the Patriots and the Red Sox. So it's like, it's possible. That's great. You're just so full of hope and life. Kind of like this locker room. It seems like these dudes like each other.

Yeah. I'm still a little dubious about how Ben Simmons fits in. Can I ask you snap right now? Give me your top three sixers. Number one, Ben Simmons. Okay. Number two, Joelle Embed. Number three, hmm, might be rock coughing.

Okay. I'm going Dario Markell-Malb. But I still love Ben. It's just, and Ben is, is creeping into the top three. This is not like they're on court stuff. I'm talking about just their personas. Yeah, off-court. So Ben's dating to Nosecée, which I was given the opportunity to discuss briefly on MBA desktop. Fantastic video. Thank you so much at Network, Jason Concepcion. I am just so happy. This is our first NBA hip-hop couple in a while. Yeah. Falls in the great lineage of Brandy Norwood and Quentin Richardson. Interesting. And these still together, Shannon and Monica Brown. Oh, yeah.

They're just like forgotten in the history of like important NBA couples, but they're up there for me. Okay. And so I'm just really happy of Ben Simmons and Tanase. She seems like a lovely young lady. I like her. She gives good interviews. I actually don't know any for music, but I've watched her on the breakfast club several times. Have you?

Yes. And I'm really excited about that. And then it turns out that when they have team breakfast, a player has to give some kind of presentation. and Ben Simmons gave a presentation with a slideshow about his native country of Australia. Sidebar. What's up with Australia's tourism board and what they're funding?

So they've got Danny McBride and Hemsworth doing these promotional fake trailers for Crocodile Dundee that wound up being like an Australia tourism commercial. What do you think the chances are that Ben Simmons's Australia PowerPoint was actually SpontCon? Oh, interesting.

I'm going to put it at like 20%. Okay. What do you think? think? I think it's like 50. There's a 50-50. He played for the Australian national team. It's not like he's not known in Australia. Sure. He's super famous there. And that that PowerPoint seemed really like clean. It seemed like somebody put it together. I was wondering who made it. I was like who's a sign. The Instagram of the PowerPoint seemed like a professional photo shoot. And I wouldn't be surprised if it was like photo credit the Australia Chamber of Commerce. Wow. I believe they're

the same government that made Amber Hurd and Johnny Depp do like a video apologizing for like smuggling some kind of animals outside of the country. I'm glad you brought up how professional looking the PowerPoint looked because it did look really nice. Also, Ben Simmons just looked really good in his Nike gear, so it makes me like him as well. But yeah, there was one of the slides of Australian Wildlife, and it was kangaroos in quotation marks.

And I just have to believe that everyone in the room has heard of a kangaroo. If they haven't, we've got some issues. It's pretty good. Then they had dingoes, maybe less well-known. But I was surprised there wasn't like a marmite slide here or something. Here's another thing I want to say about Ben is that he's so composed, like, it doesn't seem like a rookie at all. Like, he never seems too up or too down.

Yeah. Like, he seems like right there. And he's getting into a little bit of, like, I like the, he can do a little trolling if you let him. So last night, there was an Instagram photo of, or video of Ben and Carl Towns were playing Player Unknown's Battlegrounds, which I guess is like kind of like a Fortnite game. Sure. Fortnite's having a big moment too, I guess.

Totally. But Ben was playing and he was talking to Carl Towns on, I don't know, I guess it was Twitch or something and was like, play with me, like play this game with me. And Carl's like, I don't know, I have to like, we have a game tomorrow. I have to go to sleep. And he was like, well, who are you playing? And he was like, Atlanta. And Ben's like, then you can definitely play with me.

Oh my God. I love it. But also, like, Carl Towns needs to get his rest. The Timberwolves, we're going to talk about them in a little bit, but they're at 8th. They need to watch out. Trouble for the Timber Pops, as we've been saying here. who do you think will ultimately be a more exciting celebrity, not basketball player, but celebrity. Jelle M. Bede or Ben Simmons?

I feel like Joelle is going to burn bright and fade away. I think so, too. I think we're going to get like five incredible years from Joelle, but Ben, I could see like in an American Express commercial in 12 years. Yeah, I just feel like Ben Simmons is more durable and has like just, there's just something about him that's like effortless where M. B's like kind of a tryhard, like in a really endearing way. Yes.

Yeah. But I also just saying that like M.B. That was like probably like the better person. It seems like he was really like a huge cheerleader for Fultz this entire time. It was so moving. Which is awesome. Like the thing that's great about how good a basketball Mb is, that he just seems like a great guy.

He tweeted when they announced that Markell was playing, Mb tweeted the Undertaker Giff of him like standing up. Like, you know, it's just, it's just great. It's great stuff. Covington pouring Gatorade cups on Markelle after the game. Bobby Rock. I love it. We'll be back to talk a little bit more about some of our favorite fascinations after a quick break from our sponsor.

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to the very last minute. And with Hotel Tonight's H.T. Perks program, the more you book, the better the deals get. So start scoring amazing deals at incredible hotels and download the Hotel Tonight app now. Now back to the show. All right, Chris, this is a big one. This combined a lot of my interests. There's also, this one spans years. Yes, this spans presidencies. Are you in or are you out on Lord, the singer, being a huge Oklahoma City Thunderfan? She's a Thunder Buddy. She's a Thunder Buddy. I'm super in.

Super in. Yeah. Did you like Lord already? Yeah. Love Lord. Do you think she factored into the Jack? What's Lord's approval rating right now? Pretty high, right?

I think it's high, but do you think she factored into the Jack, Ansonoff, Lena Donum break up? No, I don't think so. Okay. Because I think that's just like a major negative for her, but if you don't believe it, then we're all good. Do you believe it? I can't rule it out now. Okay.

So where do you put Lord's approval rating? factoring in her possible participation. Lord music, very pro. Lord, person, medium. But I really like her music. What about Lord NBA fan? Lord NBA fan. I'm going to give it a shot.

I want to be in on it. I think it's fun. I also like that her... So Lord's from New Zealand. She's a Kiwi. And therefore, she loves her man, Stephen Adams. You know? So she...

Lord broke onto the NBA scene in 2014. Yes. Juliet and I have this, like, running thing in our office that we talk about, which is Obama tent. Obama tent, yeah. Content from the Obama era that would just not really

raise an eyebrow now because we're all like distracted by other things. But during the Obama era, there was a kind of... There was a lot of time to be wondering what Lord likes out of her basketball team. Yeah, and it was a time

where like... Yeah, and so this story was from 2014 and Lord kind of like breathlessly tweeting from her first NBA game she went to a Bulls game and she was tweeting things like

I am at a Bulls game. This is so indefinitely. tense, how does everyone in this room not have a stress ulcer? I am such an outsider in this world of sport, but I feel very proud of all playing. The cheerleaders are doing synchronized movements to small pieces of drum-based instrumental music. Now this seems like, what are you, like an infant? Like, come on.

Yeah, it's like, come on, girl. It's like, Lord of 17, just because she's from New Zealand. It's not like she doesn't know what basketball is. It's a global game. Right. But back at the time, we were like, everybody thought this was delightful. How hilarious. Ha, ha, ha.

I can tell you, you do think that she broke up Jack and Lena. I do. I actually really do. I can't. I just, I hate cheaters. I hate people responsible for breakups. Okay. I don't know.

Something about Laura does rub the wrong way. I just feel like, geez. Is this a new bit? No. I really like her music, though. So I just try to ignore it. Like Supercut and the Louvre is like really. I thought, okay, so like for Juliet, 100% approval rating is Adel.

Yeah. Where's Katie? Perry? Yeah. Probably like a 82%. Okay, because you're kind of a vague Katie cat? I'm a vague Katie cat.

I'm worried she's just sort of a little I was going to say simple. I was worried she's just a little dumb, but... Which one do you think is worse? Simple. Being called Symbol is really mean. Yeah. I like Lauren.

I just don't think she's like my number one pick for like famous Thunder fan. Okay, who would your number one pick for famous Thunder fan? I don't. Casey Musgraves? Oh, that'd be a good one too. I love Casey Musgraves. Yeah, cool.

Miranda Lambert would be good too. But I don't know. I just don't believe Lord will really go to the finals with them. I don't do the Thunder will go to the finals either. She's just like, yeah, if it fits into my schedule. Yeah. But I do like that Stephen Adams has a celebrity fan. Yes.

So just to bring this full circle, Stephen Adams, almost four years later to the day. After Lord first came and saw a game of sport in Chicago, Stephen Adams and Andre Roberson, his bro for life. Seriously. They're really tight. I think it's cute. Went and saw The Lord Show in Oklahoma City. It was in Tulsa.

They drove to Tulsa. Oh, really? Yes. Do you think they have a driver or do you think they drive together? I bet they drive together. I bet Stephen Adams is like, I don't want a driver. Yeah. He's like, no.

Do they drive on the other side of the street in New Zealand? No idea. It's only England, right? It's also like some other English properties. Like, I know the Cabin Islands. It's the other side. Oh, okay. So anyway, Stephen Adams, Lord, it's been a really nice week for Stephen Adams.

He had a very funny, Paul George was asked about Stephen Adams. And he was asked about, like, what's it like playing with him? and he had this very funny quote where he was like, I thought he, you know, when he arrived in Oklahoma City, Paul George said, I thought he was just some cocky, arrogant dude who always wanted to start trouble. I just thought he was one of those bigs that at every opportunity he wanted problems.

And when I got here, it was the truth. He was joking. And then Paul George laughed. Yeah, Paul George laughed. Where are you putting the odds on Paul George staying in Oklahoma next season? Really low. I'm going to go with like 35%. I really appreciate you being so positive about the Sixers

because I can tell you're feeling pretty cynical today. I'm just hardened by this cold world. I actually wanted to talk to you about how I feel like my playoff allegiance is really up for grabs. I just don't know which team I'm like, yeah, I need to watch every single one of their games. It could be the Sixers. I think the Blazers are super in play for you. Yeah, I watched Blazers Pelicans last night. And I was like, why am I watching Blazers Pelicans?

My second Blazers game in almost as many days. Every Blazers game is like 120, 118 and comes down to the last minute and it's always dame time. And they have lots of fun dudes. I also just love Nurgich. I love watching him play. I think he's probably a huge jerk. And he looks like an 80s villain. So what more could you ask for?

Him and I think he and Stephen Adams got a little shoving match during that Thunder game. Oh, yes, they did. That would have been like Godzilla versus Mothra. I don't know who wins that fight, fist to fist. Honestly, like, that would be like one of those like we need to get the National Guard involved. It would probably be like on the challenge when they hit a stalemate.

Like, that's what it would be like. Actually, if I hadn't picked two NBA players, to go on the challenge, I might pick Steve Adams and NERC. I feel like NERC doesn't have a lot of lateral mobility, though. Does he? No. But he's good. All right.

What do you think about Paul George choosing Terrence Ferguson to being his new gay raid commercial? I want to know what the decision-making process was like for that. It's incredible. It's like Chris Paul gets to Houston. He was like, oh, cool, I've got this huge sponsorship. Trevor Risa. I think I'll involve my old favorite friend, Trevor Risa, and the star of my team,

James Hardin. Cool. Good idea, brand savvy of me. Paul George gets to Oklahoma City. And, you know, he has a signature shoe. He's got a scattery deal. And he's like, cool, who can I involve in my... Nick Collison?

Nick Collison, the big brother of the team, perhaps. Raymond Felton. Carmelo Anthony, a veteran of the spotlight. No, I think I'll go with Terrence Ferguson. I wonder if too many of those other bigger players had other beverage deals. So they were like out of commission. Yeah, power aid or whatever. Body armor.

Sure. That's what it's called, right? The drink? I don't know. Yeah, like, it's... I was just wondering. I only drink Russell Wilson. brain water.

Body armor endorseers are Kobe Bryant, James Hardin, and Clay Thompson, of course. And Clay was like more recent. So I, because Kobe and Hardin were like among the first body armor endorsers, I was wondering if Rob Polenko owns a piece of body armor. Juliet investigates. I'm going to actually, I'm going to look into that. There's like an SEC filing. I can like invest in.

You can. You can look that up. Yeah, I know. Because I am curious about it. It is interesting how like players align. I mean, it's not that interesting. It usually has to do with their agency. Well, we were, I was listening to Rich and.

Bill and Kevin Durant's podcast, great podcast, check it out, Bill Simmons podcast. Have you heard of it? And Clyman was talking, Richard Clyman was Kevin's agent business partner, was talking a lot about like the investment things that they want to do now and how it's like they don't want Kevin to have to be like a brand ambassador to date, but they do want to be like active investors and like members of boards and stuff. Sure. So I wonder whether or not, you know, there's a lot of like, I wonder if the drink space is

very conflicted, you know. Yeah. It really blew my mind when I found out Carmelo Anthony was an investor in Seat geek. So it's just who knows what these guys have ownership taken. I'm just glad I'm glad Carmelo Anthony has made a sound investment. At least one. Yeah. I'm still, I'm going to dedicate my life or at least a couple of hours to figuring out the state of Mello and Lala.

I'm just dying to know. Does that come before or after you figure out who is invested in body armor? Probably after. Okay. First I'll be looking into Rob Polinkas Holdings and then I'll be moving on to that. I just would love to know what Russell Westbrook. thinks about Terrence Ferguson being in this commercial. I bet he's into it.

I feel like Russ has had a couple commercials with like Randow young, like a, not a Jeremy Grant guy, but like whoever the Jeremy Grant was a couple of Jeremy Grants ago on the Thunder. Sure. Because you know how they've just had like this string of dudes who like once they get off the Thunder? People realize they shouldn't be in the NBA. Yeah, like at all.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think Anthony Morrow was more of a KD guy, to be honest. Oh, he was? Yeah. Okay. Russ puts his brother in all of his commercials.

Oh, that's right. Yeah. That's right. What did you think, oh, this came up the other day in conversation. What did you think of the Why Not Tour T-shirt celebrating his MVP season last year? Isn't it weird that he put it all, like he started wearing it now? I'm very self-promotional averse. Like, I just, I think it's weird. I think it's like one thing. So you don't want to wear a T-shirt that has just like the date of every batch party episode? No, but I don't think so. That'd be really nice if someone like made that as like a present. Yeah. Like if I was Russell Westbrook and I'm with, you know, Jordan Brand and it made,

that for me. I'd be like, wow, this is cool. Thank you. So one of our buddies here at the ringer, Tanya Hubbard, was saying to me yesterday that Kelly Ubre is like what Russ wants to be. Wow. That's so insulting to Russ. I like Kelly Ubray, but that is really rude. Do you feel like Kelly Ubray can have a moment during the postseason? No, I think the Ubrae moment passed it, it came and went. We've all moved on. Sorry, Sharp. I think it's a tough beat for us.

It's like talking to Christopher Hitchens now. Me? You're just so acidic. The Uber movement is over. I'm telling, I actually, I'm a little worried about Ross. Like, I just, in terms of legacy building, I almost wish that, like, he'd, like, quit after the end of last season. It's, it's, it's, uh, it's Iversonian at this point without, like, the dark stuff. It's like, okay, so you're going to be, like, an Oklahoma city, maybe not lifer, but they're not going to let you go because they want to fill that gym. Yeah, of course. His wife, Nina, my favorite NBA wag, she was on a food network show with Billy Donovan's wife on the pioneer woman.

Did they seem like they were getting on? watched yet, but I'm excited to. Pioneer Woman is the name of the show? Yeah, it started as a blog. It's quite popular. What's the deal? It's just like a home cooking, like homemaker show. Pioneer Woman, like she had like, she lived like somewhere kind of rural and frontier life

kind of. It's not like how to skin deer, you know, and like smoke your own meats for the winter. I just wonder if she's looking to become more of like a face the way that Aisha Curry has done. That's a good thing for us is maybe to check it, do like a wag power check in. Who's making moves? Yeah. I would love to. Okay.

We'll talk more, but first another break. Today's episode of Sources Say is brought to you by Sonos. The big homies at Sonos have been incredible partners for the Ringer over the last year or so. And I got to tell you, their product, it just makes my apartment. Boom with stereo sound. It's so great. They've got a couple of different things. One is the Playbase, which works as a sort of, it just goes right underneath your television,

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Use promo code Ringer NBA. B-A-10, capital R-I-N-G-E-R-N-B-A-10 at Sonos.com to receive this offer. This offer is available for a limited time only and cannot be combined with other discounts or promotions. And now, back to sources say. All right, Chris, let's look ahead to the playoffs a little bit. As I said, my fandom is up for grabs. I'm going to see where my heart takes me.

I always follow my heart. Let's chat a little bit about some of these playoff teams. I think there are a couple that I am concerned trolling right now. Okay. I'm not even concerned trolling the bucks and the wolves. because they're both in eighth in their respective conferences. I watched the books last night.

The wolves were as high as three. I just want to mention that. Yeah. And I watched the bucks last night. Against the clips. Yes. And that did not look like a playoff basketball team. It's a real bummer.

I feel bad because they are like a Jabari away from being very interesting and Jabari's there and like it's just really seemed kind of rusty. I couldn't catch like his handles off or something. Do they get swept by the Raptors if they play the Raptors? I think so. I think maybe Janus wins one game. like on like oh my god yonnas scored 44 but i think that they they get pushed aside pretty easily

here's my top concern for the for the bucks in a playoff series i just feel like yonis will get frustrated and dark yonis is going to come out who's the victor's victim of dark yonis who's the yonis maybe yonis you think yonis punches up like that maybe i wonder if it's van vleet fred yeah fred gets drop kicked but like it's got to be someone who's like in his face a little bit cj miles maybe yeah oh abacca what are we talking about yeah search that's definitely a fight waiting to happen. Yeah. I'm a little worried about that.

Although I kind of think that like the heat who are in seventh, so also could possibly play the Raptors, I could also see them having a fight with the Raptors. Oh, absolutely. Didn't they fight already? I think so, yes. So I think that Abacca in playoff series with matchups, like definitely could get feisty in general.

So for the wolves, you know, they have Atlanta, Dallas in the next two games. They got to win those. They play Atlanta tonight. They play Dallas on Friday. Then they have like a tough, you know, a tough game with you, on Sunday because that's like playoff positioning. Denver will probably be like fully out of it by

next Thursday. And then they have Lakers, Memphis, Denver. So the Denver game could be meaningful, I guess, at the end of the season. But Denver is like completely crapped the bed over the last couple of weeks. I don't know. This, this Wolf's team like, not unlike this Bucks team, without Jimmy, I'm just kind of like, what is this? What are you guys doing? It's a real testament to Jimmy Butler. Like I kind of was always a Jimmy Naysayer, but now I'm all in on him. Jimmy Believer. Yeah, I'm a Jimmy believer. Okay. Oh, he should brand his fans that way. Jimmy Believers?

Yeah. I also, I think Utah is like the number one chip on their shoulder team. Oh, did you see the Jerebko and J. Crowder have like a really cool friendship? They do? Yeah, I guess when, like, even when they were, because they were friends from Boston. Yes. And even when Jerebko was first on Utah, he was basically like, oh, it would be great to play with you again because, like, this Utah team's a little, like, tough to watch.

Uh-huh. Well, just because, like, I think they were getting used to life without Gordon and Donovan hadn't popped off yet. Sure. And then when J. Crowder got traded, Jerebko was like, my neighbor is moving out of their house. You should buy it. And Jay Crowder bought it. How cute.

I'm happy for Jay Crowder. It seems like he found a home in Utah, which I feel like he's a good fit for the chip on their shoulder team. They have like a Spursian kind of like the guys who want to be there. Like guys who are there want to be there kind of vibe going right now. Like I can't think of who the next like Utah defector is going to be. Sure. Right now four or five would be Thunder Pelicans. I think the Pelicans could steal that.

I think they could win two games at least. I mean the series, though. I have a hard time believing that they would let the Thunder. The Thunder, like, Davis is the best player in that series, but the Thunder have the next, like, three best players. Right. Who would you put in number four? Interesting.

Ross and PG at two and three after Davis. Do you think, so you think Drew Holiday is better than Mello? I think Stephen Adams is better than... I'd probably rather have Stephen Adams, but that's a good question. Drew Holiday's been looking good. He has been. Aside from Davis, I just find the Pelicans. to be hard to watch. Like, obviously he's amazing. I would like to watch Rondo and Westbrook in a

series together. Oh my God. I'm just excited for like some beef in. I feel like it's going to happen because a lot of teams are like, it's just, there's a lot more up in the air. Speaking of it up in the air, do you want to just give, what's your, what's your temp check on the Warriors? All these injuries? I don't believe they're going to win this year. Kevin did not particularly appreciate Bill's question about whether or not they were like mentally like drained from the last couple of seasons. I have been, I've been personally mentally preparing to live in a world. I never thought I would have to where Chris Paul is an NBA champion. I really think it's going to happen. I think things are just trending right for them. Okay. And think if we've learned anything from

sports over the last couple of years, it's that just because something's trending in one direction doesn't mean it's going to happen. You're referring to when the Warriors were up three, one, they lost? And no, I just mean like, I think a lot, like, you know, sometimes Alabama wins it, but like, you know, for the most part, lots of crazy stuff happens. What is the hardest matchup for the Rockets other than a fully healthy warriors, which I just don't, I don't know. I don't know. Because I think tactically it would probably be the spurs because I think just the voodoo that Pop has over Dantone and they do have like a bunch of bodies that they could throw at rocket shooters and they seem to have a little bit of an idea of how to stop them.

Past Thunder teams have always been able to spring something on a playoff series because they're so athletic. I don't know if that's going to be the case this year. So I'm going to go with Spurs weirdly. I think Blazers would really punch up for them. That's going to have to be a shootout though. Yeah, it would be a shootout. And I think the Rockets probably would win. But the Rockets, by everything we've seen this season and by the numbers, like the Rockets should go to the finals. I'm just mean, I will believe it when I see it. Sure.

I will believe we don't have some weird story about like, you know, and then James Harden showed up in game six and didn't play well. Like, like, I'll show me a game six where he plays well and I'll be excited. So you're saying show me the money. I'm saying that. Okay. Thanks for listening to Sources Say. Thanks to Sonos Hotel Tonight and Google. And Yahoo Fantasy Baseball.

And Yahoo Fantasy Baseball, of course. And Ladder. We'll be back in two weeks. Bye.