The Ringer NBA Show - Kyrie Irving Is a Dallas Maverick, KD’s Next Landing Spot, and the Off-Court Antics of Ja Morant | Real Ones

Episode Date: February 6, 2023

Logan and Raja share their reactions to the Dallas Mavericks' trade for Kyrie Irving, how he fits alongside Luka Doncic, and whether or not they made the right move long term (2:00). Along the way, they talk about the Kevin Durant trade rumors heating up ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline (15:00). Later, the guys discuss the reported postgame altercation between a friend of Ja Morant’s and members of the Indiana Pacers (37:00). Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Associate Producer: Jonathan Kermah Production Assistant: Kai Grady The Ringer NBA squad is coming to Salt Lake City for NBA All-Star Weekend! Get your tickets here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's popping everybody? This is Logan Murdoch from Real On I have some big news to share on Saturday, February 18th, the Ringer NBA show will be hitting the road for All-Star weekend for a live show in Salt Lake City. You heard that right. We are taping the pod in front of a live audience in Salt Lake next month and we want you to join us. Pull up on us at the stateroom in the heart of downtown Salt Lake. You can grab your tickets now at thestateroom.com. That's the stateroom.com. Doors open at 9 o'clock. Show is at 10. It's going to be a 21 and up event. come hang with the gang and chat mid-season updates draft preview and even have a Q&A with us space is limited so grab your tickets while they last at the stateroom.com or click the link in the description of this show hope to see y'all in there what's popping real ones logan murdock here roger bell there Monday real ones I've been waiting for this ever since I saw yesterday when the news dropped raja Kyrie Irving is a Dallas Maverick. Now we already had like a whole emergency pod, but forget all that. This is the real one's reaction. We're ready to go.

We're ready to go. First off, what were your thoughts, immediate thoughts, when you first saw this trade happen? And what are you thinking right now? A day later. My son called me and told me it happened. Which one? Which one?

What's son? Tie. The Kyrie stand. The Kyri stand. And so he hit me and let me know it took place. I was kind of floored that it was the Mavericks at the moment. I'm going to give you my initial gut reaction was just disbelief that it was the Mavericks that were able to swoop in and kind of get it done.

I felt the whole time that Brooklyn was ready to be out of the Kyrie game. Even if he was playing great and, you know, they had had this kind of when before KD got hurt, were playing great under Jacques and all of that was true, but I just, he's, he's given you enough of a sample size now to know that even when it's good, you're always kind of wondering what's next. So I thought they were kind of out. I wasn't surprised that he necessarily got moved. I was surprised that it was Dallas. And then when I digested it and where I'm at now is, I shouldn't have been surprised

that it was Dallas. Like Cubes is, Mark Cuban is risk versus reward type of dude. Like they're in a place, you know, kind of as a franchise with Luca where it's time to do something. Like they've been waiting patiently to try to figure out what his sidekick is going to look like or what his 2A is going to look like or whatever the phrase would be. And so, you know, that Nico, Nico Harrison's relationship in place, you know, Nico's a great dude. I think just a people person, his relationship game is really strong. And so I think at the end of the day, I shouldn't have been surprised it was the main. Mads. I just didn't see it coming.

My first reaction to this was because I remember this starts, our real ones' relationship with this transaction started last week when Roger was really giddy in the chat about, y'all hear that guy re-news? What's up? Right? And so immediately, I'm thinking, like everyone else is thinking, yo, he's going to the Lakers. Like, this is literally what we thought was going to happen, it seems like too good of a fit for it not to happen, right? And usually when

stuffed is too good to happen, it usually doesn't happen. And with the Mavericks, I talked about this with just a barrier yesterday in the emergency pod, this seems like one of those moves,

at least in my vantage point, where it's one of those moves where on the face of it, it's like, oh man, we finally got a co-star for Luca Donchich, right? We finally got a player that me and you on this program have asked for for Luca for a minute. Like, yo, what guy can be the good co-star to Luca? And so on paper, this trade seems to do that.

But when I look at the trade and I see they got rid of two of their best offenders and they mortgaged the whole entire future of draft picks for a guy. guy that is still, that we know with Kyrie has been chaotic at times erratic, all the things that you want to talk about, brilliant basketball player. But then you bring him into a situation where he's looking for an extension and we don't know where his head is at in terms of, is he going to be on his best behavior? Is he going to do all these things? There's a lot of question marks on this deal.

And it doesn't seem like they had to. to do it at this particular time, and they mortgages a lot of things that I think could end up biting them in the ass, Roger. That's what I'm thinking about this deal. I mean, I think all of that is, all of that is fair. You know, that's why I said Mark Cuban shouldn't have surprised me, because, you know, Mark's not afraid to take big swings, you know, not just in terms of ownership of the mass, but just in his business life. Like, Mark will roll the dice. You know, Mark is, Mark understands that all of that potentially looms. And at the same time, if it is a good fit,

and if Kyrie is locked in and reliable and accountable and all of these words that at times he hasn't been, at least in Brooklyn, if all of that is best case scenario, I mean, you're now sitting in a really interesting position in a wide open Western conference. And so I don't think you're off on any of that. All of those are facts. Like there's a lot that went into that. Could you have gotten him in free agency for nothing?

Maybe. You know, there's a lot. But Mark is one of those dudes. And again, that's why it takes me back to like, I'm not totally surprised. And I'm just, I have no inside source or anything like that with the Mavs or Brooklyn. And so I'm just speculating. I'm just kind of looking around and saying, you know, you're taking him to a situation where you already play kind of ISO.

You kind of play like an ISO style of game. So while, yeah, they're two ball dominant cats. I mean, I think Kyrie's play with LeBron, you know, and Kyrie's play with people who, so I think he lives in that. I think they can figure that out. I think they can figure that out. And then as a franchise, like Mark Cuban, not only is he a high risk, high reward type of dude sometimes,

but as an owner, like we've had him on the pot. He's a good dude, man. Like he's the dude that is a problem solver and make sure that things are in place from an organizational standpoint to make an athlete and the staff around the Mavs feel as comfortable and as productive as possible. So he's one of the dudes who's kind of,

probably better at operating in those gray areas at times. I think, again, I'll touch again on Nico Harrison's role in this as a former Nike exec. And I know Nico since he was even younger at Nike, I always found Nico to be a great people person. Like one of, I mean, great business mind strategist and all of that. But I thought what the best part of Nico was was his relationship building ability. and I know he's got at least a modicum of one already with Kyrie.

And so I think if you're looking at it from the Dallas perspective, you're saying, while everything that you said is true, what if? Do you know what I mean? And I've always said, like the word I like to use about Kyrie and his talent is intoxicating, bro. It is not easy to watch that cat do what he does and have an opportunity, given all of his history. It is not easy thing to watch that and then say, man, I got a shot at it.

I pass. Now, I'm not telling you that's the right thing. I'm not telling you that's the right thing to do because I might pass, but it's not easy. It isn't easy. It's funny because Kai, third eye, Kai and me and Kerm we're talking about just like, when we heard about the news that he was available in a trade

that Kairu isn't available in a trade, automatically we thought Lakers and automatically were like, oh, that's a championship. Lerbron, A.D. and Kyrie. Like, oh, wow. Okay. Well, that's the head of the Western Conference. I don't necessarily think that with the Mazz, but that tells you how good of a talent that Kyrie is. But we're not talking about how good of a talent he is because that's already talking. We already know that. We already know if this was talent alone, he's worth this haul.

Like, if it was his talent alone, like, oh, okay, yeah, ship out Dinwiddie. ship out Dorian Finney Smith, who I love. Ship out those draft picks. But you're also taking on a guy that is, I think people forget about what happened last summer and how much the Nets just were waiting to get rid of them. And that shows, and this dude, this dude, Kyrie asked for a trade on Friday. It was shipped out on Sunday. That tells you everything you need to know about how the Brooklyn Nets fell.

felt about him and felt about getting him off their roster. They couldn't wait. Mind you, that team was like nine, ten games over 500 to Brooklyn Nets. This is a good team. And then they were just treading water until Kevin Durant came back, right? And now they're like, oh, let's get rid of him. When you think about Kyrie's legacy in Brooklyn, Rajah, what comes to mind and what do you think about how they're going to think about him? And from this season and beyond when it's all said and done?

his legacy in Brooklyn, I mean, I mean, blown opportunity. I mean, we could talk about, I mean, I guess what could have been is basically going to be. And I think that'll wind up being a legacy for everyone who played in Brooklyn over the last few years. It won't just be Kyrie. Maybe Kyrie's legacy is a little deeper than that. Maybe his is like the, and I'm not, I'm not saying this. But when I'm, I want to be clear, like this isn't what I'm labeling it. But you're asking me what the legacy will be from Brooklynites.

Like, it could potentially be that Kyrie is the reason that it could never get right. You know, because if you wanted to, and again, I'm not doing this, but if you were inclined to do this, you could point to a lot of what transpired with Kyrie over the last few years as significant dominoes falling in the chain of events that, ultimately, you know, left you with just KD and will at the end of the day, more than likely leave you with no bags, no KD, no Kyrie, no James Hardin, maybe Ben Simmons. Because I don't know who's taking that. But you know what I mean? Like this is this is where we're at. And so I think, you know, fair or unfair, I think that could wind up being his legacy.

I mean, you put together a team like that and those guys say they want to play together. And we're already talking championship. And then, you know, you take a big swing with James, with James Harden, and you put those three on the court. And some people didn't think that would work on the court. But you couldn't deny the level of the three individual talents. I mean, there's only one reason that's coming together. And to have not gotten anywhere close to it, it's definitely a missed opportunity. And those who want to make their argument for Kyrie being, you know, the impetus of that, like I think there's an argument to be made.

I'm not here to make it, but you asked me, and I think, you know, that could be it. I'm thinking about Nico Harrison right now and like all the stuff that we talked about from a Brooklyn Nets perspective, he's now taking on, right? Like that extension is still on the table. I mean, that extension talks are still going, right? I know they might push it to the summer, but that's still there. One of the, one of the holdups reportedly for the Nets and this, this, this contract situation was they wanted to put in a clause about,

and Kyrie's contract, they wanted to put in a clause basically stating that, yo man, if you win a title, like, you'll get your brain. Like, there's these championship like incentives, right? And I get why they did it. Duh. Of course you do that. If you're the Mavericks, like, aren't you doing the same thing? No.

Aren't you doing this? I mean, you can't put the incentives in there, right? You can't do it. No player is. Listen. If a player signed that, it would be the equivalent of what the Cleveland Browns did with Deshawn Watson and why the Baltimore Ravens are so steadfast and not doubling down on that with Lamar Jackson. You are setting precedent for change that it will snowball on your ass in a way that you'll never get back to where you're at right now.

And in the NFL, that means- Are you talking about from Kyrie's perspective or the players association? Hear me. I'm talking about from Kyrie's perspective, signing a deal like that is the equivalent or would be the equivalent of Cleveland giving guaranteed, fully guaranteed money to Deshawn Watson. It's never been done like that. You can't do that. As a player, you can't sign and have your massive extension tied to team success, which has so many variables attached to it, so many moving parts that could derail it. I'm not responsible for all of that shit. I can't bear the brunt. I can't bear the brunt of us winning or losing a championship.

I mean, if it was tennis, I could. Because it's the one of me of singles tennis or singles golf, but not in a team sport. And so Kyrie, while Dallas and any other team that would try to ask him to sign something that would at least in theory keep him motivated and and committed and in the building more often than not, I don't begrudge you that because his track records suggest that any leverage you can use should be applied. A player could never, never. Don't even come to me. We're not even starting.

I can't even start negotiating with you with that. Not a chance. I think that Bezzi speaks to the fact of how much Brooklyn just did not want him back. Oh, word. You've told him. When you told him that, you said, hey, there's no place for you here. Yeah. Because you know he's not.

You know he's not signing or negotiating off of that starting point. Not at all. Not at all. And it's interesting because the way, the return that Brooklyn got with all the picks and Spencer Dinwiddie and all these things, remember, they, they, it's a good deal for Brooklyn. Shot marks, I think, did a really good job based on the circumstances, especially since a lot of their picks are going to Houston for the, and that James Hardin deal. They're already in Houston, right?

So he gets those picks back. And it's looking like right now, there's two ways that they can go, the Brooklyn Nets. They can go the, we don't know what's going on. with Kevin Durant yet. We don't know what he wants to do or where he's going to go at this point. I think Stephen A said something along the lines of like, hey, look out for Boston trying to say, hey, how you doing? Look out for that. Wow. Which I don't think that Boston should do that, but maybe they will. We'll see what, like, just they're having a great season. We'll see what happens. I don't know. Did he elaborate on what that? I mean, I'm just curious now. Maybe it's not good

for our listener, but did he elaborate on what what would be in exchange at all for KD? Basically on first take, Stephen A was talking about how KD could be on the verge of getting traded to Boston for

Jalen Brown, which I just, I don't do that. For what? I'm out. Yeah. I'm out. If I'm Brooklyn, I'm out. Not Brooklyn. I'm sorry if I'm Boston. Apologies. Right. So, and we can elaborate that on the second, but like, I keep thinking about just what could have been and how terrible this is in general, man.

Like from a Brooklyn standpoint, but the overall point of this is they are positioning themselves with the draft picks and the extra players. If they end up trading Kevin for whatever reason, they're just starting from scratch. And they're putting themselves, if you trade Kevin Durant, you're going to get a shitload of picks. And you are going to be able to be in a position to start where you were four years ago. Right? And this front office has showed that they can do that and can build something out of a team that might not have high expectations. So on the one hand, they're building for that. Yeah. I mean, they have showed that they could do that. You talk about the 2018, 2019 season when they had DeAngelo Russell and that they, and that they made a good team out of nothing. And they tore it down for this dumpster fire. Okay. But what I'm saying is they have proven that they can build an 1819 type Nets thing.

Like they can do this up to this point. Build a team enough to attract a good player or a great Hall of Fame level talent. And then get rid of them so that the next person can take them from that point to winning a championship. We agree. Okay. So that's not good front office. Is that good front office in your opinion? What is that?

Tell me what that is. I don't know. Sean Marks is my dude. I'm simply saying, I agree with you. You are right. We got to a point. This has been a failure. So on one hand, this is a team that is proven that they can.

build a somewhat formidable team under wild circumstances, right? So boom, if KD leaves, they can get the stockload of picks and build a new. But if he stays, right, they can use these types of picks to trade for someone else, right?

So I think Brooklyn did a really good job in this trade. Would you agree with that? I guess you got something, you got a couple pieces for Kairie before you were going to lose him. I don't think necessarily that Brooklyn's front office has done a good job in recent history. Like, I don't.

I mean, you know, I got to call a spade of spade. That's my job. But I don't see that they've done a great job in much. Like if you're telling me, yeah, they salvaged Kyrie and grabbed a couple pieces and some picks, yeah, okay, I'll give you that. Everything else up to that point since you destructed that 19 team has been a train wreck. I say one thing that they do got to figure out. Like, I think that they've done a great job of assembling talent for sure. They don't know how to manage said talent and manage a championship team with expectations like that.

And that is a big bad mark on their report card for that. No pun intended with Sean Marks. But like, that's the job. I mean, yeah, I can agree with you because I was on here preseason loving the talent that that they brought in, you know, this year with the Royce O'Neils of the world and stuff like that. Like they've, I'm not, I'm not sitting here arguing that they're incapable of a talent evaluation and being able to get those going out and acquire in those pieces. But that's not the entire job.

Do you know what I mean? Like, that's, that's the entire, the entire job has to do with, with that component, plus the managing of egos and, and, and, and people and organization in general. and that has to do with establishing culture and holding people accountable. And there are a lot of things that go into being able to do that. And I don't think, if I'm being fair, they've done a great job at that. And so, well, I mean, there are a lot of people that, I mean, it's like, I don't know, let's use a, like, remember the movie Major League?

You know, oh, you're a baby. You don't remember the movie Major League, man. I forget. Roger, I am 12 years old. All right, well, some of the listeners might. I mean, it's like having a hitter, you know, this cat, this big old dude who could just hit the ball, you know, a million miles. But all they could hit was fastball. Like, you can't play baseball.

If you can hit her fastball, you got to be able to hit all kind of different off-speed stuff and, you know, anything. Like, there's more to the job than just acquiring talent. And while that is, you know, not an area of weakness, there are plenty of areas of weakness, i.e., the Brooklyn Nets right now. have Kevin Durant who will ask you to leave he will ask you to leave he has already asked you to leave okay and he is going to Kevin Durant is not squandering the last few years of his damn career Kevin Durant is this is me talking to you bro get the fuck out get out right don't squander the last few years of your career they've done nothing to show you that they can get that right around you right so like he's going to ask you to leave and you're sitting there

holding Ben Simmons, who, by most people's accounts, doesn't even, we don't even know if he really likes to play basketball. Like, that's a mess. That's another thing, man. Like, if there's ever a, I had a lot of critiques about Katie's trade requests. When critique was, bro, if you knew the front office was like this and you knew you didn't trust it, why you go back? You know?

I would have just said, fuck it. I'm not staying. I'm not, there's no kumbaya moment. I don't trust them. I don't. Because no matter what, no matter how fair or unfair we can see from the optics, he knows how it is in his front office and the way he sees it. And nothing has seemed to change from August to now.

You know what's changed? And that's what I was going to say in a minute, a minute ago. What's changed for him is public. opinion. And it's, it's, it's going to be a really easy thing for him to now go back and say, hey, right? The last time he asked out, who was the villain? Kevin was the villain, right? Everybody, me included. Like, I don't like the way he handled that. Don't like the way he went it. When he asked him this summer, is anyone going to hold him like, uh, is anyone going to hold him in contempt? Wait, hold on. Hold on. Wait, what you mean this summer? Trade deadline ain't

till Thursday player. No, they can, I don't, I don't know that. I mean, he could, he could, I mean, He could, but I don't know that they can move in. I'm just saying, it's literally possible that he could ax out right now and be like, I can't do this. So whenever that happens, right, I just don't know that Kevin Durant is the type of piece that you can get all of the ducks in a row within this deadline to move a move a Kevin Durant because that's a franchise. You're trying to set yourself up.

We're not talking about two pieces. We're talking about major hall for Kevin Durant. I think I would have to sit there and work that out. Maybe they could get it done. But point being, whenever they ask, whenever he asks you for it, is he the villain now? No. So what's changed? No, he's not.

What's changed is, you know, the franchise. Yeah, time. Now he's not going to be, no one's going to look at him and be like, oh, that's, you know, that's the effed up move. KD. Like, can't believe you left this hanging like, it's not going to be that. It'll be like, hey, brother, good luck wherever you're going to go. Because people want to see KD and his brilliance as a player have more shots at it. And it ain't happening in Brooklyn.

it's just such a sad like man Katie's tenure in Brooklyn is just so sad for a player of his caliber bro because I think with all it is man and you forget just how great he is

you just forget like not that you forget it but it's just it's muttered in all the bullshit that happened in Brooklyn it's just muddled and stuff and like this guy became brought himself to being still a top 10

player after an Achilles injury. It just doesn't happen. That don't happen. But if you're Kate, okay, so you said something about the KD trademark. Let's just get here. We're here. You just said if he goes to Boston, you wouldn't trade him for Jalen Brown right now. Why?

Jalen Brown is young. He's one of the best shooting guards in the NBA right now. And he's ascending as a player. He's already got great chemistry with Jason Tatum. I went to the finals last year. year. I'm close. I'm really close. I don't know what that looks like if I bring KD an aging vet, injury prone at this point. We beat you last year. You know, there are a lot of reasons that I'm not, I'm not giving up Jalen Brown for that right now. And I'm, I don't mean if it sounds disrespectful

to KD, I mean none. I'm just saying I'm not giving up Jalen Brown right now for KD. I'm going to give you some, I'm going to give you some teams. Say, fuck it. Let's just, you tell me why it's good and why you or why you wouldn't do it. I'm going to start with your Phoenix Would you trade the house for Katie right now? Does the house include Devin Booker? No. Yes. Then yes.

The answer is yes. The answer is yes. Everything else. Everyone else but the boss of Celtics, you would trade. Just about. Okay. All right. Yeah, just.

I mean, right? We don't have to go down the list. Let's just do it. Like, everybody but this. Well, give me a few other good ones. The Phoenix Suns, yes, because. Like, Golda State. For who?

I just want to say this because I know people are listening. This is just theoretical. Please just don't. I don't know aggregations, bro. It's just two buds having conversations about basketball. All right. Don't be scared. Don't be scared.

Who we got? No, because no, buddy. Who are we moving? Who are we moving if I'm Golden State? Throw Jordan Pool up in there. A host of first round picks. You put Comingo, you put, oh, hey, give me Moody too. All the Young Corps and some picks and maybe throwing Andrew Wiggins.

That Andrew Wiggins is hard, but I'm just saying, let's just do it. I'm throwing Andrew Wiggins in there with Moody Pool and a bunch of first round picks. You gave him Jordan Poole, Coomingo, Moody, and a whole bunch of first round picks. Yes. For Kevin Durant? Yeah. And that's a tough one. But yeah.

Yeah. Because I think, look, I think with Kevin Durant, your window is still, your window is still open for a few years. The West is wide open. The West is so wide open that the Warriors look like shit and they could still make an argument that they might go to the, you can still make an argument. Word, you drive Kevin Durant and that shit? Oh, my God.

Oh, they're the favorites. They're back to what they used to bring the band back together. That's a tough one, though. That was a lot. That was a lot you asked me to give up there. but yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

So it's probably going to be just about everybody else. I mean, have you got any other good ones? Miami. Miami, would you do it? Who? I mean, I don't know. Like, okay, so you host of first round picks,

Tyler Hero, get your ass to Brooklyn. You're going to Brooklyn. A host of first round picks. Do I keep Bam and Jimmy? I think you got to choose between who you're going to push. And I think maybe you would have to choose one of those two. Damn.

I mean, yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah. Which one would you choose? Bam. Okay. I would. And only because, I mean, Jimmy is not a spring chicken himself. He's a culture driver, though.

That's hard for me. But, yeah, I think probably. Probably, right? I think, no, the argument to keeping Jimmy is, like, KD just needs that alpha personality in a locker room that Jimmy will always provide. Jimmy is not letting up, bro. That's a very good point. And you need that. If you're going to have a KD on your roster and be successful, you're going to need an alpha personality.

Hey, my dude, can I just tell you this? The fucking best point of the pod right there, man. It's a great point, though. That's a great point. Yeah. It's great point. And I didn't factor that in. So those type of, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Those type environments are going to be critical, right? Yes, and that's why the warriors and teams like that that already have infrastructure and- Just thinking about Katie as a player, bro, like he is, he is one of the greatest of all time. He's one of the greatest players I have ever seen live in person, ever, right? Yeah. But he's, he always, and he said this on pods in the past,

like he's one of those guys that just wants to be one of the guys when his talent suggests he'll never be one of the guys. He's one of one. He's so great. Those guys have to be alphas, but he's just not on that. So you have to, it's just when you're bringing in a guy like that, you need someone that he respects that will call him on his shit. It's always, that's always tough for me in there.

There's only a couple of teams that can provide that. Yeah. No, that's, yeah. Look, I, you know, I wonder, I mean, this is neither here nor there, But I wonder if like just the way it played out, I'm wondering if way back when Josai and and Kyrie met after the, after the, after the, after the, fiasco that was the anti-Semitic rhetoric and stuff like that,

remember they had the meeting. Kyrie was kind of away from the team and then they had a meeting. And at face value, you were like, okay, well, everything is cool. Like everyone's friends again, you know, he's, he's back in the great. is the team. Everyone seems to be working together. The team started playing great. And that's what I took it for because that's what it looked like. But what if that conversation was like, hey, look, man, there's nothing we can do with you right now. All right? You're at your stock is in an all time low. And we're not going to move you like that. And it's going to be really

hard for us too. So if you'll just act right and we can put on this really good face for everybody else, play well, you know, stay with the team. Just be solid. for a couple months. We'll let you say you want to trade and we'll move you. We'll acquiesce to the demand. Is this conspiracy, Raja? I'm just saying. This man was playing great basketball this whole time.

Some of the best basketball, his career. Talking about the culture in Brooklyn and him being able to maybe see a championship and all of that. And then on the drop of a dime, I want to get traded. That shit hit everybody like a, I think universally. I mean, when you heard the news, But everyone was like, what the what? No, I wasn't.

I wasn't. I was in, I was, I remember I was talking to somebody in, when I was in Boston, because I was in there for the, I think it was the last game that, uh, that Kyrie played as a net. I was, I was at the, the Nets, um, Celties game. I remember pregame talking to somebody. We're talking about, yo, man, like, who you think going to get traded or woo, and I brooks the topic like on the Nets?

Who's going to get traded on Nets? I bros the topic like, do you think Kyrie going to get traded with the debts? They're like, absolutely not. And I'm like, but what has changed other than like what, what has actually changed on this relationship for them to do this, to not like want to trade him and get him up out of here? Like we see, like, we see it as a headline, but we don't live that shit. We don't, we didn't live through him like going MIA on the team multiple times, right? We didn't live through last season in the, in the building of just like the of him not wanting to play and being not wanting to.

to be a good teammate to his team and not being there for his teammates. Like, shot or not vaccine, we're way past that. But more, we always talked about it. It was more of like, yo, bro, just be with your team. He decided not to do that. And even to start this season, there was always something. We saw the headlines. We could get over it.

But like, in the building, I knew, bro, they were, they couldn't wait to get them about the pain. I got a question for it. Oh, go ahead. But yeah, from their perspective, I understand that, totally. Now, at the time, I wasn't operating with the knowledge of the stipulations in the contract extension. So from everything you just said is absolutely correct. And I could see why maybe Brooklyn would move him.

I didn't see him coming out and saying, hey, I went out. That's what caught me by surprise. I have a question for you. If you're in LA, because there's another discussion that I would like to have with you that's pretty poignant in the next segment. But the question that I have for you, because we didn't even talk about this shit, and you have a connection to this, what does LeBron James do now? Because this is a guy that was very thirsty last week when he found out the news about Kyrie. He's dropping sweets. He's playing questions like, yo, what did you think about the Kyrie move?

Duh, I want him to have be here. Like, he was so ready for Kyrie to be a purple and gold and just go make this run. And you know this about LeBron. Like, not to say he needs to be motivated by any stretch of the imagination, but when there's a mid-season move, LeBron has showed that he can be rejuvenated and play some of the best basketball he can play. It was all there for the taking.

Put Kyrie in the building. LeBron goes super saying for the backstretch of the season. You could talk yourself into the Lakers being a full contender, right? Now, I'm not saying Kyrie won't go to the Lakers in the offseason because that's still on the table. Make no mistake, ladies gentlemen, that is on the table. If you have seen Kyrie's work,

if he is not satisfied with this Maverick situation, he is a free agent, the Lakers have cap space, there is a world where Kyrie is still a purple and gold. But you're talking about on the other side of that,

LeBron is like, damn, what does he do now? How is he going to react to this situation over the next few months? Because it's looking tough in Los Angeles right now. Yeah, I don't have an answer to that.

I know I can speak to why, well, yeah, I mean, look, it's not just Kyrie's talent that LeBron wanted. It was it was the familiarity. And that's what was so important about the Kyrie piece. I mean, the talent is what the talent is, right? Everyone wants the talent. But as far as it pertains to LeBron, he already knows what that does with him. You already know, once I put it in there, like, we're pretty seamless.

We've done this. We know how to dance together, right? Caitlin, not worried about who's leading. And if I'm stepping on toes, like, we can do this. And so that's why that piece was going to be so important to LeBron, not just the talent. What he does now, I mean, you know, you just, you have to, he's a pro. He is a pro's pro. So, you know, the deadline hasn't passed yet.

Maybe there's something, I mean, it's not a Kyrie. Who knows? Who knows? Maybe the Lakers are out there conjuring up something that nobody even knows about. But, you know, I think if nothing, if it's not going to be an earth-shattering move, like you go ahead and you get your records, you knock these personal goals out this year. You hope that AD. Yeah, well, that was my next point, him say healthy, but and you hope that AD shows you

that he can ride out healthy the rest of the way, right? Like, and then your focus is turned to what can happen in free agency and in the offseason and we're coming back next year, taking a run at it. But these windows don't, I mean, he's got few windows left. It's going to be tough in Lakerland. Let's take a quick break. I'm going to take a trip to Memphis. And we are back.

The big news of Sunday was the Kyrie trade. But the other big news was the athletic report on John Morant. And John Morant and his homie's getting him in trouble. Let's just keep it a bean. Right. Let's just keep it a whole stack, right? I will give you guys the information, but that is the gist of it. So on Sunday, the Athletic reported that after a January 29th game against the Pacers, members of the Pacers organization alleged that a red laser was pointed at them from a car containing John Morant and others. This was after a game that features some contentious moments in one sequence that involved John Morant's father and a close friend of the 23-year-old point. guard. I'm reading this from the Washington Post report of the incident. So bear with me if it's a little

scripted. Some witnesses at the scene of the alleged postgame incident, per the athletic, believe the point in laser came from a gun. At the time, the Pacers were reportedly on their team bus in the loading area of Memphis's FedEx Forum getting ready to depart. Somebody from the travel party said this to the athletic, we felt we were in grave danger. The website said that people with whom it spoke to wanted to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from those that they accused and that the same reasoning deterred them from filing a police report. I got to read all this just so we can get through it. And a statement provided to the Washington Post, NBA spokesman, Mike Bass said,

while we substantiated that a postgame situation arose that was confrontational based on interviews and other evidence gathered, we could not corroborate that any individual threaten others with a weapon. John Morant basically tweeted out that, you know, this was Cap and this wasn't the whole story without actually giving any details to what actually happened. And there was video that suggests during that game, one of John Moran's homies was on the court yelling at some members of the Pacers organization and the players, right? And so, like, I want to tread lightly on this, but I do want to make,

there's a discussion to be had about players and entourages and all of these things and how and it's a very nuanced thing and we're going to get into this but let's start first with just the incident itself raw and what can be done going forward for this and with john morant and the memphis grisleys how do they move forward from this incident and also just the weeks that they've had in the news that stuff that has nothing to do with basketball and has everything to do with people that are adjacent to the organization? I mean, as an organization, I think, you know, it's difficult because most of the antics that aren't on the court, at least from what I've seen, seem to involve your franchise players,

people, right? And so treading on that has to be super light. Like, you know, that's, that's, that's, that's a very convoluted kind of relationship and, and, and, and what have you. But what I, what I think you should do is, you know, with the team, whatever leadership you deem like, necessary to be there to get this information out, it's just to explain what, what this kind of has looked like over the last few weeks, right? Like whether you believe them to be at fault or not, and you probably address it. Like, look, I know this isn't of our own doing necessarily,

but here's kind of what it looks like. And so what we have to do is clean it up. Like we don't want it to be a distraction to like or from how good of a basketball team we are. And what, you know, what great people we have in the building and what great, you know, families and, and everything. We want the world to know that Memphis is a great place to play basketball, woody, whoop do, who do whatever else you want them to say in that meeting. But let's make it our point over the next few months if you guys, you know, can help us get this out that we want to,

we want to be all the way tightened up. And again, I mean, you just hit me on the spot with that question. That might not be the most eloquent way to put it, but it's got to be something like that. We have to get this cleaned up. without actually saying to somebody, hey, I need you to control X, Y, and Z, right? Like, as an organization, we've got too much good stuff going on to let this distraction kind of, you know, take away from it. So we're going to err on the side of buttoning it all the way up, making sure that everything is good. And so I think that's the only way you can really approach that, right? Because, you know, John Morant and company or I'm not there.

I don't know what's happening, but you don't want to offend, you know, John Morant necessarily. for something that it is pretty gray area. Like, I don't know what was said or who did what, you know? So I think you got to make it about the team, the organization, the, the optics of it, and not distracting from the brilliance that is our team and some shit like that. Yeah. Yeah. And also I want to say a member of someone close to Jha has been suspended from FedEx Forum for a year.

And John Morant tweeted. like kind of his disappointment in that. I'll say that. He tweeted that out, you know, very recently. But it goes to a to a very big conversation that I like to have about players and what, I guess,

what's the media term for, entourages? Honestly, it's just people, it's just your homies, man. It's just people that you, that you had. And it's, it's, it's, and I don't, and I want to tread a straight line because I think the NBA has also had a history, and I think you've seen this too,

Raja, where specifically with black athletes, you know, they called them, you know, possees and all of these things. And even just how this is covered, right? Like, we don't know the whole just of whatever happened. But I do see,

you know, Nicola Yokic's brothers that are defending Nicola Yokets on games. And it's kind of thought of as a bit of a novelty. Like, oh, man, you can't mess with Nicole Yokets, but it's, but. Right. But his brothers are in threatening positions during NBA games.

Right. But that's not as covered as this is what's going on right here. So I do want to tread lightly on how we talk about this because there are sensitivities here, right? There are all those things. So what I want to talk about is like, how do you tell your homies like, yo, man, you're kind of making a spot hot right now. Like, how do you have that conversation as a basketball player? with the people around you to be like, yo, man, you're kind of messing this up for me right now

because boom, perfect example, what's happening in Memphis, right? There's a narrative that is beginning to start about John Morant when you talk about the Shannon Sharp episode that happened, right? And that basically, it stopped a game for a quick second, right? And then you have his family that are courtside and that are doing all these things.

And then a few weeks later, you have this incident that bubbles, up to the surface, right? How do you have that conversation with the people that you're with, like, oh, man, I just cool out real quick. I need, I got this Nike deal that I just got. I got this great situation in Memphis that I love, like Memphis loves John Morant. Yeah, John Morant loves Memphis. How did you tread that line when you are the face of a franchise in this way? I mean, I was never a face of a franchise, so I don't, I don't necessarily know, man. I just know that, you know, in my dealings with family and friends and people who were around to some degree

when I played, you know, I always ask them to let me be the story. Let me be the story, good or bad, you know, like, I, and there were plenty of bad, but I need to make sure that I'm kind of in control of this narrative. Now, what are our relationships? relationship is off the court with family, friends, spouses, significant others, what have you, like, that's different. But as it pertains to my work environment, like, I need to be able to control this, right? So I've got to, I've got to be the story. Like, you guys are there to support me. Please don't insert yourself into that. And I don't know what Jaws relationship is with said parties and, you know, his dad, I'm sure as proud as any dad on the planet, I would be too. And

you want him there and you want him celebrating and being a part of it and you want people to be themselves too right like you don't you're trying to strip your dad of of who he is man he's there having a good time and he's proud of his son and that's great so it's a very very fine line that you're trying to kind of walk because I think to some degree it is endearing and people people kind of like it right like and this is just this is just life this isn't just a John Moran thing this is life in general. Things that are endearing and cute and cool, they're that until a point. And then that same thing once over that line can become something that people are turned off by and offended by, you know? So you're always trying to walk that delicate kind of balance.

And so, you know, I don't know. But again, I would just, I would just say that this is, this is why I kind of said I got like AAU vibes from their squad. You know, like we talked about it before, and I don't mean to throw any shade or anything like that. But in those looser environments, there's way more interaction from people that aren't on the court than have typically, then are typically you see in an NBA game. Like, there was never, when you asked me this on the pod, like, there was never really any real other than a little bit of shit talking and laughing and having fun interaction with fans. again, unless something was happening in the stands with your family or something like that. And so I think as you get a younger crowd and younger stars and younger parents that are used to, you know, different types of environments, like these things have to be discussed a little bit, right?

And so, you know, I don't know John Morant. I'm a huge fan of his. And I certainly don't know what took place there, you know, after the game or anything like that. But the language that the Pacers were using, and I found that interesting. too. Those were a lot of like those were a lot of pointed response eliciting or at least attempting to elicit a response type of phrases threatened and and you know, you've said a lot of things in there that are kind of like, what do you call them, like dog whistle type of words. Whistle lower?

Yeah. Like, you know what I mean? Like you're, you, so you just want to be careful, man. You want to make sure that your game and your and your brilliance on the court and the overall Memphis Chrisley's success and all of that is the story. Don't, you know, you don't want distractions from the story. Yeah. And it's just, it's an interesting thing because, like, Jai is the face of Memphis, man. And it's, I tell you this, man, it's such a beautiful thing to see the relationship between Memphis and Jiam Morant. It is.

And, but you can't have, like, your homies or your friends, Excuse me, because I don't even want to, like, I know me and you are talking amongst friends, but there are people that will like, that will take. These are his, these are his friends, right? You don't want just images, especially where, like, the backgrounds that me and you come from and what we kind of have to deal with in general. You don't want to have that image of your friends on the court. And maybe they're defending you. I don't even know the motivation around it. I wasn't there.

I don't know. But you just don't want that to mess up. the beautiful thing that you have already, right? Because it's a beautiful thing that he got going on in Memphis. That's what it is, right? And you, and it's, it's really tight. Like, I'm thinking about last playoffs, man, it's really tight to see just a, you know,

a family-like environment from your star player and that relationship with the city, right? But you can't, you have to be able to control that. And, like, I don't know, like I said, I wasn't there, but they were like that the report of John Morant being in a car with his friends and they put in a laser out,

that's just not great optics, man. That's just not cool. It's just not cool at all. This is just basketball at the end of the day. And everybody trying to get home to their families, that is not a cool optic at all, no matter what the circumstances is. If you have another team

feeling like they're in danger, that is not cool. It's not. that speaks and reeks of immaturity. And it's what I said, we've talked about this. I've said it at lengths. Like, you know,

it's immaturity at minimum. Okay? At minimum. Because let's just say hypothetically, I was in a car the other day leaving school. We had basketball practice and I was in the car with my son. And there was a red laser on the car in front of us. Right?

And then there was a red laser in our car coming through the back window. And it was some knucklehead. kid behind us who had left on one of the other teams that had one of those laser pointers and he was just pointing it at teams right so like let's say that it was just that right let's just say that it was just that i mean think that's just immature on a whole another level right like you haven't really posed any violent threat to anyone because it wasn't a weapon let's say but you know what you're trying to do with that and you were in an NBA professional environment like that is just reeks of immaturity. If it was a weapon, immature is not the word. Immature is not the word. Like that,

like that, that gets you into all other kind of words. Now, I don't know what it was. But not in that, that is not condonable in any way, shape, or form in that environment. Before I was just talking about that on the court, sidelines type of antics, right? Like those type of things I've addressed already. But as it pertains to being down in that parking area where my fucking family is and my babies are and they're all type of people down there that are supposed to be safe and protected. You know, that's why only select few people are allowed to be in those areas. If you are faking like you have a weapon or have a weapon down there and are brandishing it and threatening people with it, that's on a whole other level of immature is not the word.

And I quite frankly don't have the words for it. But, you know, that's, again, I'm going to tell you, like, that's, that stuff I'm I haven't really witnessed before. Now, do people in states where you carry what, like, I don't know. I ain't, I never seen a gun down there, but I'm not naive to think that people in NBA, you know, circles that are allowed to carry weapons might not have a weapon in their vehicle or something like that, but you're, you ain't threatening nobody would. I never heard of that.

No, not at all. And like, also, and like even take away the, when you got the, the red beam or you're playing around with something, like say it, take away all that information that happened after the game. Bro, why you got your friend on the court during the game? He was on the court to the point. I sent you the video. The ref has to tell him to get off of the court.

Like, and this is two weeks after the thing that happened at Staples, right? Like, this is, this is weeks after we just had a huge moment about this. And it's like, I think that there should just have, there needs to be a conversation, whatever just happened with J. And just be like, bro, come on now. Yeah, we got to be better. As an organization, as an organization, we have basically given you cart blotch. Your peeps can just kick it wherever.

I don't even want to say this vernacular because I feel like it can just go anywhere. And I feel like peeps and homies and potters can get misconstrued to something. That is my vernacular. You have, we let you do basically whatever you want in this organization. And it's cool because we love you and we have a great relationship with you. And this is what we want to do. We love everything about you. But you got to, you got to cut us some slack, too, man.

Because we are defending you right now, all some stuff that is kind of wild. And there has to be some balance on this, in this, in this relationship. And especially if we are, if we are basically rolling the red carpet out for you every single time, you got to hold us down too. It's a two-way street. You know what? In retrospect, you are right. And I am wrong in regards to how you approach that as a franchise. And I'm talking about, like, you know, hey, you know, tread lightly.

And maybe I'm not all the way wrong. But my approach is certainly not the approach. I would take your approach with that. I think that, hey, look, man, I mean, what the, let's just start at, at this. Have you ever seen or can you ever remember in your lifetime an NBA player's family or close friend being on the court involved in, in an altercation? I'm sure this happened. I haven't seen it, though.

Can you, I ask, could you remember? I didn't ask if it could have if it happened. I'm asking, do you remember it? No. I don't. I don't. I don't. And so...

Though, the last one I do remember, I will say this. It was preseason, and this is me getting in my bag. I think it was preseason like 03. Remember when Rick Fox got into it with Doug Christie and his wife was hit. Doug Christie's wife was hitting Rick Fox with the purse in the tunnel. That I do remember that. That was in the tunnel. I'm talking about like out there on the court while the game's being played.

No, I've not seen that. No. It's very. And if it has happened, I mean, it's far more the exception than it is the rule, right? And we, you are not the, you are the face of a franchise. Yeah. You're the face of this franchise. We're going to need you.

Yeah, we need you. And soon to be the new face of one of the Nike campaigns. Like you have to and you're. family and friends have to conduct themselves as such. That's not a lot to ask to be handed this. And I don't mean to, I don't mean to marginalize how hard he worked and his talent and all of that. It ain't like someone just gave it to you earned it.

But at the same time, there are a lot of people, you know, that earn things and people don't trust them with it necessarily because they fumble the bag in one way shape or another. Like, it is going to be given to you. You've earned it. We're in, we're in a relationship now. Like, we got you. You got to have us. Like, we got to clean this up. This can't keep happening. Because at the end of the day, we all are a team, right? And also, like, let's take it off of basketball, man. Like, I'm just saying from my personal, like, life and stuff, and I'm just putting me into this, like, from an actual, and I ain't, and I'm not as famous as as John Moran, I don't make as much money as John Ren. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not,

putting myself in his shoes, but I'm just saying as an everyday person, like, there's just certain things that you just can't bring to work, right? Like, this is a general statement. You just can't bring it to work. Like, that might be your homies. That might be all these things. There's a lot of stuff that be personally, and my personal life can't bring to work. I'm sure, Roger, you have the same thing, right?

Like, there's stuff you just can't do. And I think that that's, it's interesting because this is just the thing about celebrity and fame and all those things. It's just normal situations playing out in front of the masses, right? Like, this is an example of Jha going through and his family and all these things going through a lot of growing pains. And I'm not saying this to minimize it, but this is stuff that happens. This is stuff that happens in real life. And just like in real life, there are ramifications and repercussions. And he has to figure out what his balance is. And this is why they say, like you have there's some people that I'm not saying this in terms of him but this is why they say

that when you get to a certain place you're going to have to cut some people off and I'm not saying he should cut people off in this situation but this is the reason why as you ascend your circle gets smaller and smaller and smaller because you can't have liabilities in your camp is what it is there were plenty you are you were 100% right and they were plenty first of all I just want to touch on as I thought about how I would feel knowing that I was in a beef with somebody in a game and knowing that my teammate was in a beef. And if the level had risen to threatening level, I don't know I was not there. But if it had, right, being then on the bus, seeing said people, having an eye on them,

them getting in a car, and then having a beam hit the bus. And what that would have meant for everyone on the bus, security. that's a very uncomfortable and scary position to be in. All right? But then in terms of when I was a pro, and I had this, I've had very close people to me, and even in some cases, family members, where I can't be in that car.

I can't be in the car. I don't know what's in the car. I don't know. There are reasons that I can't people, hey, they can't be around. Like friends, he can't come to the house. Like, do you know what I mean? don't, they're, because if something, if something happens here, they are not the story. I am now

the story, right? And, and who knows what chain of events can be set off by this one. So, so yeah, you have to vet your people a little closer. You got to, and you have to be frank with them. Hey, man, this is, first of all, in some situations like this, we're all going to eat. Like, we're all, we're all going to eat because because of this just brilliant shining star. And in a lot of instances, you know this, Logan, especially, you know, the first thing I wanted to do for some of the people in my life was get them in better situations and stuff like that when I was able to be able to afford to do that. So the fact is, like, let me, let me be able to do this. Don't jeopardize me being able to do this. Like, don't put it in harm's way. Like, you know, and if you, if you can't agree to do that,

I'm not about to sacrifice everybody else and mine because you're not willing to give up acting silly. Now, again, this isn't pointed at John Moran's people. This is general big picture when you're a pro athlete. Not everybody subscribes to that, but a lot of people have got in some shit from that fringe perimeter of friends that aren't doing what they're supposed to do necessarily.

So you do have to vet them a little closer and then just be frank and have real conversations like, yo, bro, come on, we got to chill that out, man. I mean, like, I've had the conversations on my end just as like, you know, just a low-level podcaster, you know what I'm saying? Like, you got, you got it like, yo, bro, like, there's people that can't- Are we low-level? Are we low-level?

Mid-level? Are we low to mid-level? No, no. Low to mid. No, let's not get it. Let's not get it fucked up. We pop in. But, like, I'm just saying as in terms of like, but in terms of just, in general, like, for the

plate, and I'm just putting it as a personal non-prone. professional athlete, because I do want to humanize this because this is not just NBA stuff. This is human shit. This is just what it is. For the places that I want to go, there's some shit, just people you got to cut off, you know, just for the things that you just laid out because I'm sure they're leading with love. I'm sure everybody in his camp loves him.

Everybody do. But if you love me, you can't be, you can't fumble a bag for all of us, dog. Not all of us. No, no. And that's, look, that's, because what's to say if that goes, that was a weapon, right? And Jop was in the car, right? Nike deal gone. Over. Right? Just like that. Just like that. You know, if you fuck up and say if it did go left the way the Indiana

Pacers thought it was going to go left, every, they void in the contract. The new contract you just signed, boy, in that shit, if it goes all the way left, the way it could have went. For what? Over a, over a game? No, bro. That's not what we're doing right now. Morant is a once in a generation superstar, bro. Don't be doing that. That's not cool. Yeah, can't do that, man. I don't, again, I wasn't there.

I don't know exactly what happened. I hope. I really hope in my heart of hearts that that was not, that somebody wasn't pointing a weapon at that bus. I really, really hope that. For all parties involved. For every, dude, for everyone. I'm not even talking about the tasers.

For the league. for whatever they did for the league for ja if he was in that car and that stuff happens right like his career's done if if like if some shit popped off it's over the indiana paces everything that they went that shit that's fucked up it's a black guy on the league in general because of a like motherfuckers couldn't control their emotions on a basketball game it's a terrible like what it is terrible look it's a terrible terrible look yeah man and you know that is another edition I don't know what else to say on that, bro. Like, I think this, I don't got nothing else to say, dog.

And they, they, they, dog, I just had a wild weekend. I had this, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, seeing this John Moran stuff, was disappointed me. And on top of all of that, Harry Styles beat Beyonce for album of the year, dog. Like, it's just, it's just, it's just, it's just, it's just, it's just, it's, it's a, a lot of bullshit happened this weekend. Can I just, can I just say this, though, as it pertains to the John Moran clip with the cat, Dwarte.

Can I just say this? as Duarte walked up and John Moran looked like he was talking to someone else and I felt him on this and I don't, I'm not defending any of the other actions that took place, but hear what I'm saying to you. And this is always, some people may feel me, some might not. I think more people will feel me than not.

At least people who know me are going to know. If I'm in the middle of an exchange, right, with someone, do not walk up and aggressively put your forearm in my chest and try to push me back. Especially, I don't let my own friends, friends do that. No, don't do that. Uh-uh, I'm good. Don't touch me. Uh-uh. But here's the kicker. You're not on my team. Oh, yeah. Don't fucking touch me.

Touch him. You get in front of him if you want. Do not put your forearm up in my chest because I'm talking the same shit. Hey, bro, don't touch me. You go handle whoever that is. Yeah. But that shit stays on the court, though. But no, no, no, yeah, I'm not defending any of the rest of that. I'm just speaking for that specific because I thought that when I saw the exchange. I'm holding you down on that old thing. I just want to make sure. Because I knew you met that as your point. It still overall, it stays on the court. Oh, yeah, yeah, has to.

For sure. All right, ma'am. It's been a Monday edition of Real Ones. We'll see you guys Thursday. Talk to y'all soon, man. Hala.