The Ringer NBA Show - Luka Is Unreal, Fixing the Sixers, and "Kobe Day" | Real Ones

Episode Date: August 24, 2020

Logan and Raja discuss Luka Doncic's stunning performance against the Clippers and where he fits in when it comes to the top franchise building blocks in the NBA right now (07:04). They are also joined by Ringer staff writer Tyler R. Tynes to talk about the 76ers getting swept out of the bubble and how to fix the absolute mess of a team (39:42). Finally, Logan and Raja remember Kobe Bryant on "Kobe Day" with memorable stories and encounters with the legendary player. Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Guest: Tyler R. Tynes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Or in Colorado, call 1-800-5-2-4-7. Welcome to the Monday edition of the Ringer NBA show. I am your host, Logan Murdoch, staff writer at the Ringer, NHT Steppa, Nation of Fislam member, president of the West Coast Chapter of Rihanna Navy, and a town representative. I am joined by Raja Bell, who was an aspiring staff writer, a curator of vibes, a media mogul, and a former resident of Piedmont, California. What's popping, bro? Slow motion, man. You got to chill on the Piedmont. though, and listen, Piedmont has a nice little sushi spot. If you haven't been, I suggest you go check that out.

I'm going to keep it a buck with you. Piedmont was a little bit out of my tax bracket. It was cool. I mean, I didn't go there much. I went to Piedmont High School. I guess shout out Piedmont High School. I guess. What's up with you this morning, man? You just, you were just off camera and you just lost out on the Kobe's? I just missed on the Kobe's, man. Listen, I have, you asked if I'm a sneaker head. The answer to that is no. But I have three boys. eight to 13 who are. So we are active participants in the release game. So sneakers, apps in four hands,

everybody trying to cop a pair of different sizes, and it rarely works out. Y'all not using bots? Y'all just trying to be real legal with this. Are y'all not doing anything? Like, what are we doing with this? If you haven't figured this out, I'm not the most technologically savvy individual. So I don't, a bot, I mean, if you could hook me up with the bot,

I would use it. I'm not above the, you know, You're not trying to go to the dark interwebs to get this too. So what shoes are you trying to get? Like, you lost out, like, as soon as this started. You had your, we had to, we had to start this late because you were over here looking at your phone. What's going on? I want a sneakers out. Yes, we're trying to get the, you know, the Kobe Day releases.

Today was the, what was today? The five-time champ, like the purple and black. We missed out yesterday on another pair. And I could see the humor. And I see you're getting a kick out of this. I can understand the humor. But all jokes aside, my kids are huge fans, man. Like they know the little bit of history.

They've read his book and obviously everybody was tuned in with what happened. So they just, and their sneaker heads. So it all kind of comes to a head and it's trying to cop to Kobe's on sneakers app this morning. I'm going to hold you down, but I'm going to send you some bots and stuff like that to see if you guys can do this. I can't believe that I have to do this. You are Roger Bell, you are big time. You are a former NBA player. I can't believe that I have to do this for you, but I'm going to see what I can do.

There you go. I appreciate it. All right. Coming up on the show, we're talking Luca. We have a guest coming out later on, Tyler Times, who is here to talk about something near and dear to both of y'all hearts, the Sixers being ass. And then we're going to get into one of the week. But first, I want to talk about the Lakers tonight.

They are trying to take a 3-1 lead in the series. Lakers are the only Los Angeles team that are doing something right right now at the moment. What you think about the Lakers right now? I like the Lakers. I think Portland's in trouble, bro. Two things. They've neutralized Yusuf Nerkich and Hassan to a degree, right? The center play for the Lakers stepped up. The guards are giving them some production.

Now, game one, like they had 13 combined. Danny Green had 10 of those. Games 242 for the guards and games 3, 31 for the guards. Like just getting some offensive supplementation from the guard, specifically making some threes really opens things up and kind of lets LeBron and AD do their thing. And all your points are valid. I think LeBron just being assertiveness,

I mean, being assertive just did wonders for that team. I mean, for the first two games, he shot just 40s. He averaged a triple double, but shot just 41% from the field. Right. The last game, he just went off. He scored 38 points, had almost a near triple double, but he was in the flow of it. How much important is it for you that LeBron is assertive in that way?

I've always been a guy. Even when I was with the calves and there were three miles to feed with like, you know, Kevin Love, so to speak, and Kyrie, I would always be sitting up in the box with David Griffin and wondering like why he wasn't more aggressive at times. But, you know, if I'm being honest, you know, I haven't played with too many guys that see the game like he does. You know, there's a very few select view that can really see it and have their finger on the pulse of kind of what needs to be done when. And so he kind of, he feels his way through that. And I think you're right, he felt, and he feels his way through a series, right? So he felt after game one and going into game two that this had to start picking up a little bit. And then by game three, now you see him starting to, you know, really take the reins and take command of the series.

And it does go a long way for a role player when you see your alpha kind of do that, right? It kind of loosens you up a little bit to be more productive. I just feel like if LeBron was a more assertive, it would be a sweep right now. We would be going to, instead of trying to take a 3-1 lead or try to take a 3-0 lead, I don't, I don't, or try to sweep. I don't, I think that he should just do this more often. This is the LeBron we need to see. I think that, especially right now with a team that their second best player hasn't gotten as far as LeBron in a lot of ways. I think that he needs to, and they, their bench is not playing well right now. Danny Green is not playing well right now. I think that LeBron needs to be assertive for this team to be successful.

So I wish he would have done this more. I'm with you. I think he's got a lead. The only thing I worry about, and you kind of touched on it, I asked you a couple weeks ago, was who has to be the main, you know,

the focal point offensively, who's it going to hinge on whether he plays well or not? And AD is kind of that guy. So like, I think you see LeBron giving him a little bit of freedom to kind of go out

and put his stamp on the game. But trust, if he feels it's his job to do it, he's going to do it. Let's get to the real stuff. Let's get to Luke. man. Oh.

Luca Donchis is ridiculous right now. Like on a different level, man. 43 points, 17 rebounds, 13 assist on one leg. One leg. On one leg. Yeah. He's a problem. He's a problem.

He joined Magic Johnson as the only player in NBA history with a pair of triple doubles in their first four playoff games. If you were to start a team, and this is from TD, I want to give a shout out to TD, our producer. who asks this question. If everyone's healthy in this league, is he the number one pick in the entire league for you? If everyone's healthy.

All right, let's dig a little bit deeper. Let's dig a little bit deeper into the health. Are you saying like I get KD back post-Aquillies healthy or pre-Aquillies like regular KD healthy? Regular KD healthy. Luke is in the conversation. How was KD? 30, 31.

Yeah, probably if I had to start a franchise today. I think I'm taking Janus. That was who I was taking. Yeah. But that Katie, that's tough, man. Well, 30 got me, right? Like 30, if I want to win a championship, like if we're ready to rock right now. You're starting a franchise, though.

You're starting a franchise right now. He's 21, like, Luca's 21 years old. So then you're going Luca. I'm going Janus right now, actually. The reason why I'm going Janus is because Titi's in our thing right now saying, overhardened, yes, overhardened, T.D.

What are we doing right? No, it's, yes, I'm taking Janus over. I'm taking Janus just because he's a freak of nature. He is 6.11.

He can do all these things with those hands. I think that Giannis, just because of the physical presence, Luca's probably number two on that list. I'm with you. And I think, I think it's, you know,

Luca obviously has the offensive, the offensive gifts that Janus would, would like to work himself into some of stuff from the perimeter. I don't know that Janus is ever going to be that, but you can get better at the things that Janus doesn't have right now. Like, you know, Luca is phenomenal, but you're not going to get like 6-11, 7-5 wing span, super twitchy athleticism. Like, you can't work that. Right. You can work a jumper. You know what I mean? Like, you can spend hours in the gym and hone a stepback, you would think. But the stuff that Janus has, like, he, he's, you know, he,

He can't, like, Luca can't work that. Lucas' step back is amazing. It's not as far as Janus's. So if Janus does, like, the crazy step back and still can get, and figure out that jump shot, probably could be one of the best players ever live. Like, no hyperbole. I would take Lucas second. You know, when he came out and I'm going to, I hadn't seen a ton of film on him.

I had heard everything about him. The two concerns that you have, or at least that I had, was one, athletically, like, what is he really athletically? Can he figure out how to like acclimate to the natural speed of change that you get when you come over to play, you know, in a land of freaks? Like, these are athletic freaks you're playing against. So that was question number one. Question number two, and I don't know if this is fair or not, was like toughness factor. Like, do you, do you have that dog in you?

You know what I mean? And I'm just, are we talking about Luca or Ariana. Luca, this was, these were my questions. Oh, they were your questions. Because I'm like, he answered all those. Those questions you said in this series alone. All of those questions have been answered. Like he figures out, even with a lack of athleticism, and there is a lack of like, you know,

but there are guys that do that. I mean, like, he just plays at his own pace. People still can't stop him. He counters everything that you do to him defensively. And he's got some dog in him, and I like that. Yeah. So building on this question, who will be your top three right now? If you're starting to franchise right now, we've got the draft coming up.

I need you to draft your top three franchise play. I would probably go. Janice, Luca, and then, because we're starting it right now, how old is Kauai? Kauai is like in that 30 range, too. Then give me KD. Give me KD for number three. Yeah, I mean, if we're talking about a year difference between him and Kauai, I'll take KD. If Kauai is substantially younger, then I probably take Kauai.

Yeah, I would say, Janice, Luca. But that third one's tough because I'm thinking, is this over a four-year run? Like, what are we talking about, right? And then, because I do want to pick KD. I do want to pick KD, but are we talking about like a 15-year stretch for him? Are we talking about like, you're not going to get that? Correct. So let's say we're talking about a 10-year franchise window.

Does that exclude KD and Kali? That does. So if that's the case, then I'm taking Anthony Davis. Okay. Look, I've said this before. There's also other ones like, you know, like Steph, there's Dane, town business, Donovan Mitchell, who's balling out right now. Ooh.

Oh, yeah. You know? Donovan Mitchell, who plays in Utah, has not gotten enough shine right now, but he is bawling. He's bawling. He's balling. I don't know if I'm picking Donovan, though. I don't know if he's not my third pick.

I'm just... Yeah, I got you. I got you. You know what happens with for everyone other than LeBron? When you hit that wall and that body stops, like, responding the way it used to respond, it happens really fast. So you could be like in year four of that 10-year window. things look great.

And by year six, the wheels are falling off. Yeah, I'm going to, I think I'm going to go AD. All right. I know we're not supposed to do Lakers talk. And there is something about AD for me that always feels like he is more comfortable in the number two chair. That's fair.

Similar to Kevin Garnett in a way, right? Similar to Kevin Garnett. It's all the attributes of a number one, but when it comes down to it, when it comes down to it, might be number two. Which is unfair. Even with KG, he played in Boston, and you could kind of make the argument

he was a league guy there. And I do believe that KG's mentality was the lead. Like whether that truly got them over the hump with him is the number one. Like he was taking the reins. That was his team. You know what I'm saying? Like his attitude was like, this is my shit.

Like you either we're going to do it my way or we're not going to do it at all. And I don't feel like AD commands the room like that. I mean, he's stupid talented. I just, that's kind of what I feel about it. But here's the thing, though, like when LeBron leaves, Assuming AD is going to continue to stay in LA, he's going to have to be the number one guy.

Like, it is what it is, right? They've hitched their wagon to that. Great choice. But when you, I do want to ask this question, getting back to Luca, was there any, have you ever seen a player like this that you had to guard where he's not, maybe sneaky athletic, but not that athletic and can get boards and can get rebounds like that? Who do you think is a guy? Like, I would think like maybe Jason Kidd maybe, but Jason Cook can never shoot like Luca.

Jason Kidd couldn't shoot like Luca, but he was, I want to say Jay Kidd was sneaky, more athletic than Luca. The parallel I would draw, and it's probably not, you know, you're not going to get the rebound production that you're talking about and stuff, but just the guy that I remember going into a game and being like, there is no way that this cat is going to give me buckets. And he gave me buckets. And then proceeded to give everyone buckets for the next was Steve Nash. I remember going in like not super athletic not that strong fast not really big but just played at his pace you know like and I'm comparing strictly offensive you know ability to overcome the obstacles of your of your stature and your athleticism but no one ever speed you up you're you're never out of your comfort zone you're always dictating what's going to happen offensively and no matter

what someone thinks that they have on you physically, it doesn't matter because you figure it out mentally. And I feel like Luca's kind of like that. Yeah. Now, Luca's like that. I don't know, man, because I don't know who to compare him to, I don't know if I can compare him to Steve Nas. Because Steve Nash wasn't the score that Luke is right now.

He wasn't, maybe he's the evolution of Steve Nash, but I don't know. Yes, we had this conversation too. I'm with you. Steve did not shoot as much as Luca. But Steve, when pressed, like by the spur. and the Mavericks, like those box scores were 40 balls. Like, he was...

That's true. He was getting numbers. You know, it's an easy comparison. The dude, I really want to say, and I hate to do it because, you know, like, but it's Larry Bird. Like, he's, you know, the size, you're relatively the same size,

the ability to just, you know, get buckets is pure. Larry, Larry Legend could have played a point, too. You know, he can bring the ball up, up court. That's the hell out of the ball? All of that. Larry Burr was a bad boy.

yes, you know, racial stuff aside, yes. That's a great, that's a great comparison. I just compared him to two white dudes, didn't I? Yeah, you did. That's never happened before, though, Roger. I know. I didn't happen. I usually pride myself on not doing that.

No, no white-on-white comparisons. You don't like doing that? That's not a thing you do. Okay. But here's another thing, though, with Luca. And this happened with switching gears a little bit. What's beef, Roger? I want to talk about Luca and,

mantra's harrow. Yeah, okay. Talk about the beef. Talk about the beef. What specifically would you like to know about the beef? Like, from your perspective?

I thought it was, I just thought it was whack. Not the beef itself. I just thought the outcry of the beef was pretty whack. And then I'm going to say it in air quotes, beef. That was, he called him what a,

can I don't know if I could say it, edited this out, legal, do what you need to do with this, if this happens. He called him a bitch-ass white boy. Yes. That's what he called him. You've played in the league.

I've covered the league. That is very, very, very, very tame. Yeah, yeah. That's a very tame thing. That happens every game, but because there's no fans, there's no noise to be over that.

We can hear more, which is cool for the viewer. I love that. I love seeing that. I don't think it was that big of it. There's some wild stuff that gets said in between those lines. And so for me to say that that

was the worst I've ever heard would be a lie. Like I don't know that it was necessarily tame, but I'm not saying, like, I've heard some wild shit. I mean, compared to what we hear, though. Yes. That's what I mean. Not, it was relatively tame.

Yeah. Here's what was interesting. I like Montres Harold. I think he's a good player. He's certainly not a great player. I hope that's not offensive. I haven't seen too many times where like, like I referenced my story with Reggie Miller, right? Like, Reggie was an all-time great.

I certainly wasn't going to call him. out of his name and really disrespect him like that. Like, do you know what I mean? Like, I feel like that wasn't, most of the beefs like that when you're calling people bitch-ass whatever's are like level to level. You stepped up a level, Mattres, when you went at Luca. Like, and I, that was unique.

Oh, you mean level to level like player-wise? Stature to stature. Like, you stepped out of your weight class to a degree. That's fine. I ain't got no beef with it. I'm just saying that was the uniqueness of the situation. But here's the thing, though. this is the thing.

They're, they're, there, they're, there, there, there, you know,

Montres hell is not better than Luca Donch's, but you're not going to tell Montres Harrell that. Well, right? Somebody, somebody needs to tell Matres Harold that because you, you,

you, I'm with you, I'm with you. Also, you have beef with Kobe. Are you, were you better than Kobe? Yeah,

but I ain't call Kobe no bitch ass. Like I, we had, like, we played hard. I mean, you didn't call him that, but you know what you did. I know what I died.

you know what I'm saying? Yeah. No, listen. It can't happen. I'm just making the argument that it can't happen. It doesn't matter. And I don't necessarily agree with the level on level thing. I think that you can talk people talk trash with whoever they want to talk trash to.

So we had this conversation and this is going to be all off topic. But like, all right, let's say Luca, let's say Luca barks back and calls Montrez something out of character, like along racial lines. Yes. Like, what's our reaction to that? It's outrage. But there's nuance to that. Okay. There's nuance to that.

I think that, yes, there would be collective outrage and rightfully so. If he, I don't know, called him an N-word or something like that, right? If he did that, there's a reason why there would be more outrage if Luket did that. Because there's a lot more nuance to that than if Montrez calls him a bitch-ass white boy. That's all I'm saying. And I don't know if we want to get in the hot water on this, but like, yeah. I don't want to be in hot water. I just, so that's why.

All right. So that is why I think it's like, yeah. Correct. So now we're, now we're touching on the same. That's where I was like, you call him a bitch ass. You know, once you went to the, once you went to the white boy on top of the bitch ass, but I was kind of like, it's, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not on the same playing field. It's not on the same level.

And I feel like a lot of people put the narrative as it's on the same. same levels of Lucas said that to him. I'm in agree. I agree it's not on the same level. And I would be like, Luca, you can't do that, bro. Like, I'd be in that camp. Like, nope, nope. I'm just saying. So when came off, that's the way it came off to me.

Like, damn, man, just call him a bitch ass and keep it moving, man. You ain't got double down with that. Because that becomes really personal. Like, that's really, the bitch ass, the bitch ass, Logan is where you're like, I hear that shit all the time. Like, that's part of this game. You don't think he gets called a bitch-ass white boy all

time? Yeah, but then you then you fucked up. Because now you go get him now, now you're going, hey, listen, he's not, he's a bad man. Yeah. Well, you're saying on the court, but I just feel like there's more nuance than the race stuff. And I don't, I don't feel like it's good to equate bitch-ass end with bitch-ass white boy because it's totally different. And I think that, I don't, I don't think that it was warranted this outrage. Again,

shit that I've, shit that I've heard on the court. Like, what's, let's get to the real shits, Raja. Yeah. What's the wildest shit you've heard on a court without saying names? I've heard someone call a referee an effing C word. Oh. Yeah. And not be thrown out or attacked.

Oh. Yeah. And that's interesting because that's not player to player. Like that's like right at the ref standing next to him like, I don't like you and you've been giving me to business all game. So take this and the ref not do a thing about it. Are you just, is this business as usual? Are you just like, oh?

No, I'm like, whoa. because I can't say that's a bad effing call without getting thrown out. So is that when you found out it was levels? Or levels to everything. When you were like, well, I can't do that. What's going on? I had always suspected, but yes, those type of situations will clarify it for you. Yes, yes.

And did that make you feel that you, that you see that and you don't even get. Let me tell you a Kobe story. Let me tell you a Kobe story. Can I tell you Kobe story? Storytime with Roger? Storytime with Roger. Let's get it. There we go.

We're in the Staples. Kobe and I are exchanged a couple elbows. I think he clipped me on the lip, and so we chested up. The refs pop in, stop it early, early in the first quarter, right? We chirp. He looked at the ref. Listen, he looked at the ref, and he said, call it even the night. Word.

And I was like, what? And listen, Kobe still gave me work. but when you look at that box score, I had about 24 or 25 in Staples as a relatively unknown person on the Utah Jazz. Like my free throws were up, everything. But Kobe said to the ref, call it even the night. That fucked me up.

So the ref was like, okay, Kobe. I mean, I don't know what his processing of that was, but mine was like, my top was blown. And I'll be damn, like, it could have been coincidental. Maybe I was just on that night. It just felt different. How did that make you feel that you have wanted career games when they when Kobe said Kobe like just was like hey

Kobe allowed me to have it yeah yeah I don't want to say that but you know hey what how did that make you feel I ain't give a shit I had 24 25 of them I'm trying to get paid yeah call it even then call it even yeah but it was really it was I mean it's it's deeper conversation but I mean that one that one that one got me a little bit that one had me questioning some things that I thought were that I thought could be real that that may wind up being more real than I thought. So TD, who's a legend right now, brought up the stats from this game.

I don't even know how we did it so fast, but that's why he's a legend. You had 26, 9 of 17 from the field. Kobe had was 8 of 23 for 34 points. I mean, but listen, if you look at, I mean, great job on bringing them stats up quick, but dog, I was rarely within eight points of Kobe, and I'm rarely scoring 26 against Kobe.

Was that you like, Was he, he was your primary defender? Not yet. And he was just giving him buckets. I mean, I don't remember every bucket of the game. I just remember the result and the conversation early in the game that just, I mean, there are things that you don't forget, right? Like there's some conversations that you have where you're like, man, that was, that was deep.

You remember who the ref was? Nah, I wish I did. Oh, okay. Okay. All right. I think you do. You out here. You out here, you're out here pump faking, but it's cool.

That's cool. I get it. So let's go to somebody who has not been playing well right now. Paul George, he's missing in action right now. Let me just read these stats off. Do not cry. Do not, do not, let's not get in our fields. But he's playing trash.

He is averaging 11.3 points, shooting 21% from the field. He's putting up Logan numbers right now. 16% from three point range. And the clippers are one and two over the last three, including the mission and action game, last game against the Dallas Mavericks, where the Mavericks came back from 20 down to beat the Clippers. What the hell is going on with Paul George, right?

All right. Let me ask you a question first. How did you feel about him coming out post-game three maybe and making the comments that he made? And the comments were more or less like, I'm not just a score in the league. I do a lot of things, so I'm going to have nice like this. He said I'm not James Harden.

I'm not James Harden. I'm not James Harden. Correct. Correct. All right. And then he went on, I don't know. I don't be seeing you on socials, but then he put some stuff on social like, uh-uh. You all know who I am, basically, to that effect on Instagram.

I didn't see that. But how do you feel about that? You got to back it up if you say something like that, bro. If you say, if you get, if you think the fans have you fucked up, you have to respond. You can't respond by missing layups down the stretch. You can't respond in a swing game or a chance to, go up 3-1 against this team when they're paying you $100 million.

And the Clippers traded away a franchise player to get you. You can't come up lame like this, bro. You cannot do that. That is not something that you could do, especially if you puff out your chest and you say, these people got me fucked up. You can't go out and lay a goose like this. I don't know what it is. And you can't call yourself Playoff P if you're going to go out like this.

You can't do that. You can't give yourself a nickname and Ninja. shoot 21 and then play like me. Okay? You can't be PG and then go out and play like me. That's not how it goes. I don't know. And this is not something that's new, right? This is not something that we've not, haven't never seen before with Paul George.

Sasha, our newest producer, just called him Pandemic P, which is hilarious. That's fantastic. That is a new nickname right now. Well played, Sasha. Shout out to Sasha. She's about to do big things at the ringer. But PG, I don't know what's going on right now.

I don't, I don't, you took everything. Let me touch on a couple of the points that you made, right? Because you just, your case was perfect. One, let's say you're not James Hardin and, and Logan says you have to respond because you're out there puffing out your chest. To your statement about not being James Hardin, let's say you're not going to score in the next game. You know what I need you to do?

You need to lock Lucidant to just to fuck up. Like, he can't come out and have 42. If you're not going to give me point production and you're saying your value lies in other areas, then have some value in other areas. go out there and put on a defensive performance for the ages. He didn't do that. The second part of what you said that really hits home for me, and it's a bigger picture than Paul George,

it's a lot of guys in the NBA. You're paid to be the guy that you're saying you're not. And that's not your fault. I'm not saying that's Paul's fault, but NBA teams are paying guys to bring home the bacon, to carry the mail, to be the guy. And so it's hard for me to sit back and listen to you say, like, that ain't me. Because that's what they're paying you to do.

And you have superstar level talent, bro. We've seen you do great things. But we've also seen you looking real funny in the light in these playoffs. And these playoffs and playoffs before, remember when it happened with CJ Miles, when he got pissed off at CJ Miles for shooting with the game on the line, it was like, no, I got to take that. Yeah, I got to go take that shot. You can't, this is on me.

And then you go airball. You know what I mean? Then you take these shots and you don't and you don't produce. You have to do this. And this is another question. How much of a burden is this putting on Kauai and putting on other guys that don't necessarily have this load? And they don't, not Kauai, but also like Lou Williams, right?

Yeah. Great score. But he is not your number two score. You're putting a burden on these guys. What do you think that does for these guys? Yeah, that you can't have Lou having to have that point production every night. So the burden right now is heavy. Like it's a lot of lifting for Kauai.

It's a lot of, you know, when you sign up to play with Paul George, you don't sign up to play with Paul George because Paul George is a decent defender and is going to give you 12 points in the playoffs. You sign up to play with Paul George because. Top 10 level talent. Yes. Like I have a co-pilot in this. We are going to do this together.

So if I'm off, you're on vice versa. That's not happening right now. Paul George is a fantastic player. He checks almost every box you want. in terms of an NBA star. I do question sometimes the mental part of it. But I think he'll be fine. I think he'll find his stride.

He'll find his rhythm. I think I don't know that he's going to be top 10 player talent. I think you're being a very big optimist right now. Nah, I think you're at. Maybe, but I think he's going to be okay. I don't expect him to be carrying the clippers offensively this playoffs, this playoff run through the bubble. But I think he's going to start making shots, though.

Like he's not going to be O for O for the bubble rolling into the Western Conference Finals if they get there. That's another thing, man. Are they even going to get there right now? Well, without him doing what he needs to do, it's going to be really difficult. I mean, he... Because you're asking essentially Lou Williams to be the number two guy right now. Listen, I think this whole thing is fascinating because everything about the Clippers when you were comparing them pre-pandemic to the Lakers was there so much deeper.

They've got this, they've got this bench. They're just going to be, well, I'll make the argument that in this series, like, Dallas has been the deeper team. They're getting more production from the Seth Curries and the Bobons. Like, you know what I mean? Like, you even got Trey Burke. Channeling Alan Iverson. Word.

Like, their bench appears to be the deeper bench. Like, and so I think that's hilarious, you know? And Paul Pierce's absence just highlights that. even more, right? Because that's, you know, one of your alphas. You don't expect. Paul George. Yeah. But you, you know, you don't expect your ones and twos to go missing in the playoffs. Yeah, you don't. And also, Clippers are missing Pat Beverly, but it goes back to my argument, man, they were, in the words of Lil Wayne and Babyface, they were way too comfortable, way too comfortable throughout this whole season. And they had the

attitude of someone that's been there before, and that is one thing. They haven't won a damn thing. And they're in grave danger of being out in the first round, which would be hilarious. If they, if they, if they talked all that trash, and this is the performative act of going at Summer League walking past LeBron and just being, sticking their chest out. And to do all of that and potentially losing the first round without even getting to see the Lakers would be hilarious. Hilarious. They did it without Chris Stavs last night too. People are sleeping on Chris Stabs. He was the unicorn. two years ago.

Yes. I think this is what I think. And I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this. Are the clippers of new rockets sticking their chest out to do nothing? To do nothing. When it comes down to it? Well, yes, that's a shot at TD. Yes, that's a shot at TD.

Okay. I said it. He said it. If Paul George is going to be, again, from Sasha, he's the first player to shoot under 25% in three straight playoff games since Bob Cousy. In 19-1-19-B-G-13%. If you're going to be that guy, then, yeah, they're going to be the next rockets because you're not you're not you're not beating the Dallas

Mavericks unless he unless he wakes up and again he does not have to wake up to the tune of 28 and and 9 but he's got to wake up to some to some give me average to above to slightly above average numbers you're paid to be bro give me 19 and 6 and 6 bro that's all we really need right now correct did you have you ever played with a star like this that was reluctant sometimes that had all the talent in the world that maybe not just didn't figure out. Not of his level. Not at his level. I played with guys like Boris Diole. Boris Dio was so talented that, you know, on a team like ours with the sons, you probably, he didn't have the freedom to show you everything he had. And we were so pass happy that he would wind up like getting to the rim on a finish

and he'd kick it, you know, right to the front of the rim with a little baby hook. And then he kick it all the way over for me to shoot a three or LB. And so like, you know, I was excited because I was helping my average. The point was he had way more than he could show you in what we were doing. But he wasn't Paul George. Can you dig what I'm saying? He was a really, really, really good player, but not Paul George. Well, we're going to get to Tyler in a quick second. But before we get to Tyler, let's give some context to this, because he's from Philadelphia,

Pride of North Philly, born in rage, King College Representative. Big Sixers fan. What the hell is going on with the Sixers right now, bro? What's going on? It's dysfunction, bro. That's dysfunction. you've you last year was your your last year was your team man like last year when you had jimmy butler who is an alpha right he's in place you have the shooting with j j reddick you've you've got

some of the pieces you're one one crazy shot away from going to the finals man like you were right there and you and you weren't able to retain those pieces for whatever reason you went out and spent stupid money on over the hill like al horford and then oh man, they just, they missed their window, and now it's a mess. It's a complete mess. For context, swept by Boston. Wasn't even close. Wasn't even a close series.

Ben Simmons gets hurt. Joelle and B. This is, in my opinion, this is somebody that you have kind of not been high on, Joelle. It felt like his moment to just say, okay, fuck this. This is my team. We're going to at least fight. Like, is it going to at least be a seven-game series?

We might not win it, but we ain't going down like no suckers. It doesn't even get a game off on the Celtics. What do you do? Do you trade, do you trade Joel? What do you do? Like, what can you do? Well, first, and this might hurt with you, they got to fire Brett Brown. They have to right now. Oh, yeah, that's happening.

They have to do that. Do you trade Ben Simmons or do you trade in Bede? No. Yes, and no. I do, but like, they're not trading them. Which one do you trade? Throw them in a hat, roll the dice. Just flip a coin real quick?

It doesn't, I mean, do you think you do? That's terrible. Look, I would probably trade Joel Embed. And I feel bad for Joel Embedde. Like, imagine that. Like, I was a dude not really high on him. Don't love the antics. Think he's immature. And yet I feel bad for him, having watched

like the Celtics sweep them 4-0. He had good games. Like, he put up numbers. But this brings us to another conversation that we had about, like, cats that can get you a little. lot of buckets, but it doesn't win. The value of a bucket, the value of a point. Maybe it's not fair to him. He wasn't playing with great complimentary pieces. They didn't have a full, you know, a full arsenal at their disposal, but I just don't trust him and the mentality at this point

in his career, you know, to do that for me. Like, I just don't trust it. So for that reason, I probably move him and try to build around Ben Simmons kind of unique skill set. Yeah. And that was a partnership that didn't fit at all. You know, they tried to. It just didn't work. And I just felt like this team was just always, and I think this is a product of coaching. And they always underachieved.

I think they went 50, they won 50 games the last two seasons, and then 40 this year. But it wasn't like a high 50. This is a talented team that should win like 60-something games. I think that this team should have done way better than it did. And I think that that's a product of coaching that they just underachieved every year.

I remember when we were on the West Coast covering, you know, I was covering the Warriors, that was one of the cities we booked for the finals. Philly, Toronto, Cleveland, Boston. Philly was in that mix. We were expecting Philly to do something,

always underachieved. I don't know what you do. And that's a fan base, as you know, they don't take, they lose a lot, but they don't take kindly to lose it. They suffer no fools in Philly, man. You got to be of a certain to do that. I think they waited a little bit too long to get to this point with Brett Brown.

We'll see what Tyler has to say about this. I think we're going to bring him in right now. So take a quick break real quick and we'll get to Tyler. The Fanduals sportsbook NBA playoffs offer for all new customers is still running. Plus 2,000 on any team in the playoffs to make the NBA finals. It doesn't matter if it's the Bucks, Lakers, or Nets, plus 2,000 on everyone. They don't even have to win. Don't miss out before it's too late.

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Or in West Virginia, visit www. 1-800 gambler.net. In Indiana, call 1-8009 with it. Now back to the show. And we're back. And now we're going to introduce a new segment called Puller Out a Little Liquor with Roger and Logan. And this is a segment where we get somebody from the ringer staff, record label, and motherfucking crew to talk about their team that just got eliminated and say their piece before they go out for good. And now we have a friend of mine of the show.

We have a North Philly representative. Let them know. We have a King's College alumni. Let them know. You only got to let them know that, but let them know. Tyler R. Times is in the building. His Sixers just got swept, Roger. They just got swept.

They just went out sad. I ain't watched no games. Like a normal Philly team does. I ain't watched no games. I'm giving you the platform right now. Say your piece on the 76ers, please. I mean, first and foremost, right? Before you even talk in any basketball,

the idea of where the bubble is right now is something that is, on all the jerseys, on all the courts and everything, centered on an idea of what blackness is supposed to be. So it would be a complete miss to talk about the Sixers and equally not say, first and foremost, that, like, Trayvon Pelliford and Jacob Blake was killed by police in the last few weeks in Lafayette and in Wisconsin, and that shit is corny as fuck, right?

That has to absolutely stop. You know, the idea behind this entire summer between our reporting at the ringer and between just like what we're thinking about generally when it comes to policy and what these players are advocating for, at least piecemeal, is that a defunding of the police or an entire reestablishing with the idea.

of what policing is, as it is center and central in the American version of this experiment, it has to stop. It has to be changed. It has to be fixed. Because if we're not going to actively talk about or think about policing, whether it's in our sports, whether it's in our policy, whether it's in our educational systems, then we're not going to actually change anything for the betterment of the players that we enjoy talking about or the systems that we enjoy living and breathing through. Right. And this is another day where obviously we're making some content here and obviously like we want to talk about basketball, but like, I'm still a black staff writer at this place and a lot of my work centers around what we do.

in this place, and a lot of that work centers around the intersectional points of that policy and of those athletics, and that comes to terms with these players, right? I'm not going to talk about why Tobias Harris is an absolute failure of a basketball player without equally talking about why Tobias Harris was not advocating for something about racism and blackness to be further and more equal in Philadelphia. And so we ain't fit to forget that whenever I get on a job, but like, that's just first and foremost. About basketball, though. The Sixers are an absolute circus tent when it comes to the idea of, like, how we can properly make a good organization, right? we had the actual thought process here behind Sam Hinky.

Sam Hinky was the closest thing to Jesus Christ that I ever seen touchdown on earth. And so if that's true, if that's true, right, if Sam Hinky was what sent as a Messiah to give us the process that will wash us free of all of our sins, the last time the Sixers were actually worth a damn was when Rajah Bell was on that 2001 team with Uncle Bubba Chuck and Aaron McKee. And so if that was the last time we saw any sort of like long lasting greatness in the Philadelphia basketball scene, then right now from 2013 to 2020 can only be held as an absolute failure. Sam Hinky put out a vision, a blueprint for what you can do in the modern NBA when it comes to picks, talent acquisition,

flipping those proprieties, and then giving it to something else to make a good team. Fine. Brett Brown has been the head coach of this basketball team for three years too long, right? And so if you're bringing in a guy from the San Antonio Spurs and his best talent is talent development, you are an assistant coach at best, right? I don't even know Kenny Atkinson type motherfucker coming on to my team to make this team better when you have two cemented all-stars, two top three picks. It would have been three if y'all ain't mess up Markell Fultz,

but two to three top picks that you have mostly ruined. Joelle Embed is arguably one of the best big men of the NBA. Ben Simmons is one of the best defenders, if not the best on-ball defender in the NBA, as well as a multi-tool skill that can be put in almost any offense right now, right? If the idea here is twofold, one that is a transition basketball team that gets out almost better than anybody else when you leak out from the rebound to the rim and also is a bully ball atmosphere type of team that's supposed to beat people to fuck up every time down the floor, you have fundamentally failed at the idea you are trying to give to a psychotic fan base that lives off of blood and wins. Brett Brown is obviously very lucky that this was done in Orlando. Because if Brett Brown got swept on his home floor in South Philadelphia, I promise you this. A gang of fat boys who smoke cigarettes and wear wife beaters with oil stains on them will walk down Broad Street and beat his ass with a bunch of canolis.

I could promise you that right now. Now, here's the opposite angle to that, Logan, and I'll tell you this real quick. I talked to folks inside the organization last night. I talked to folks inside the organization this morning. It's very clear that these folk ain't fin to have their jobs for too much. longer. And by too much longer, I mean today. Right. And so if this is the end of the era of Brett Brown, which it is actively supposed to be from everyone that I've talked to, and maybe the end of the era for a lot of the front office people who are in the Philadelphia 76ers, goodbye and good

writtens. You have wreaked havoc on a city that does not deserve it. You have wreaked havoc on a staff internally that does not deserve it. You have truly, chaotically, and without any remorse, failed an entire city who all they wanted on the back ends of a great Philadelphia Eagles 2017 championship Super Bowl run was to live that success a bit longer. You are a disgrace, you are incompetent, and y'all shouldn't get no more jobs in the NBA. And Donovan Mitchell is still Jared Jack with a shoe deal. I don't care what I got to say. You see, this is why I had him on the show, Rodgers. This is exactly why we had to get him up on the So put on your GM hat right now, Tyler.

I do it. What are you doing right now? You know, the problem, too, is that the market ain't good, right? Like, if your idea here is like, oh, we're going to call Stan Van Gundy and he's going to be the next head coach. I mean, that's cool. If you're going to call Ty Lou because he cussed out LeBron a few times in Cleveland and they won a championship, that's cool. If you want to call E. Mae Oduca, you know, I mean, the assistant who's, and please correct me from wrong, Toronto or he's with us. I remember where he's at.

But that's fine. Don't call Jay Wright because we do this every single year. We say there's a job opening and Jay Wright's a good coach and that's just not going to be true at the NBA level. It's a tough decision. But off jump, the only person in the organization I actually feel bad for is Elton Brand. There's this idea that black players can't be coaches and they can't find their ways in the front office markets, right? Elton Brand, two years removed from his playing career is the GM of the Sixers. I haven't really had an issue with him except for the actual roster construction here.

But the trickle down here is that is the job of the coach to figure out the construction of the roster. The coach has ultimately failed at every pass at not only motivating this roster to want to play for him, but equally getting the most out of this roster. Because here's the thing, is Alhorford, Tobias Harris, Ben Simmons, and Joelle Embed and pick a fifth guy? Is that like the most stable roster in the NBA? No, it's not. Could they have made the Eastern Conference finals? Yeah, probably.

But this ultimately comes down to the coach. The GM didn't make the best moves, but he made two blockbuster deals to ensure that on paper the team could be better. That is the job ultimately of a general manager in the front office. The coach's job is to make sure all this shit works. The coach has said at many terms on the public record that he's failed his job. So I don't really understand why he's still coaching. Like I said, the market is bad. The whole front office needs to go.

I would give Elton another year. The medical staff needs to go because no one can seem to ever be healthy in the NBA. And it's almost taboo around the league that anyone would want to go to the Sixers. Because if you're spraying your motherfucking ankle, you're not going to play for two months. Like, that is the atmosphere of this team, right? And so who would honestly want to coach this? Ben Simmons don't want to be here at this point. Joelle M. B threatens almost every goddamn month that he wants to leave because he's moody, which I understand.

It's really hard to me to think that you can bring a coach in here who most likely has to to be a veteran and convince this squad, this demoralized team off of four bounces from Kauai Leonard, and off of an absolute shalacking from a team whose mascot is really just a colloquial old white supremacy. And they head coach is the 6,000 most athletic person in the state of Indiana. Like, you are losing to a city who you can taste the racism in their food. That is an indictment on everything you stand for as a Philadelphia. And so a culture change has to happen. And you're going to have to be okay with how messy it looks. If you kick out Jimmy Butler from your franchise,

you're going to have to bring somebody like him back to whip everybody asses in this shape. Man, listen, that was a lot. It's a lot to digest there. But let me, first of all, I think you hit a good point. Get some seasoning. Not a great look if you're a potential coach, right? Like, not a lot of guys going to want to step into that mess.

I do think you're giving Elton a little bit of a past, though, because some of those contracts. I am. I am. Yes, because that is your job. bro is not to acquire it only, but to make sure that the acquisitions kind of mesh. 100%. I'm with you.

I'm Brett Brown. Let me ask you the question. Yeah. Where are you at in terms of those two playing together? The one that you said is really moody and is always threatening to leave. And then obviously the other one, Ben Simmons, who's injured right now. Where's Philly at in terms of their being able to play together and being the nucleus that the team needs?

Yeah. Let me answer your first John and I'll get to your second John, right? I give Elton a pass in the sense, not only of being in Philadelphia, but in the sense that anecdotally and also quantitatively. You can talk about the data of upper mobility. You can talk about the data when it comes to just like how it feels to be black in any workplace, right? Elton Brand has done a bad job, right? If Elton Brand gets fired, however, he then becomes a symbol to all the rest of the players

who ever have ambitions to get into the front office that y'all are unequipped to do the job, that you're not smart enough to do the job, that you are not qualified to do the job, that you, you know, and the idea that there's been so much complaining and so much of of a thought process behind the white counterparts who get these jobs are more ready, right? Which isn't true really ever. Elton Brand then becomes the guy that, like, anybody around the league can look at Philadelphia and say, if that's the best y'all got, I don't want it. And that's a shame, right?

It shouldn't be all on him, and it's not all on him, but it will ultimately become that. And so I give him only a pass in the sense that, like, I know that if this is his last day as the GM of the Sixers, it's a real good chance. somebody ever want to hire him again, and that sucks because it's not really about the talent, more so than it is about what he looks like and where he came from, right? To the second point, I think that what's being peddled, right, that Ben Simmons and Joe L&B can't play basketball together, I think it's silly. I think it's silly, right? Is there a spacing issue? Yeah. Does the spacing issue get fixed if yo 610 all world point

guard who's playing power for wants to shoot a three threes? Maybe also, yeah. So I think there's a way where, and the one thing Brett Brown has shown that it works is the staggering of some of these lineups, where you don't have to play Ben and Embed on the floor at the same time. You can start them together. You can run a different type of offense when they're on the floor together.

You can worry mostly about transition baskets and hard-nosed defense, but at the end of the day, you're going to have to give them boys three shooters. If you don't get them boys three shooters, this ain't going to work. That's the minimum. All right, but let me ask. Let me follow up real quick.

Logan real quick. All right. So, Beth, you like them both. I'm telling you right now, you can't have them both, right? I can guarantee you a championship. I got to move one of them to make it happen. Who are you keeping? Wow, that's so disrespectful.

That's just, that's, that's, that's wow. Honestly, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's just anti-black, really. You know, you know, you know, if I had to keep one, to keep it a buck with you, so like, it's a pure business perspective. I think you will get more returns on Ben Simmons than you will, Joelle Embed. So if you were going to move one to actually make a team with the talents you do have, I would move Ben Simmons primarily for the point that I think Ben Simmons is more valuable on the trade market than Joelle Embed is. Because I think Joel Embed is ultimately going to end up being the better player.

I think he has a better skill set. I think he's a much more dominant player. I don't think he has an attitude issue when it comes to taking over a basketball game. And those intangibles are very valuable to me as how I would build my team. I think Ben Simmons on paper has way more tools, right? I just think Embed's the more dominant player. And so if you trade Embed and you surround MB with a bunch of shooters and one actual real point guard who can shoot 36% from three, come on, let's run. Give him a real bench and let's run. And I think at the same time where you think of where the modern NBA is going,

many more front office people want Ben Simmons, right? And that's the thing. Like Ben Simmons ain't out here saying, y'all got to trade me, y'all got to trade me. I want to go to L.L.A. just because he's just that kind of dude. Like, the dude is smart, right? Like, the camp he keeps his smart. And so they know if he get moved, it would be of a good return. I just, I don't want neither of them to go. But if we got to move one, I think you'll get back more for Ben, but I think Ben has more tools.

My issue with Ben has always been is indecisiveness. You watch him grab a rebound. He takes three dribbles. He's within 15 feet to the opposite cup. And he don't shoot the ball. You know, like he shows the flashes of being able to be a whatever type of three-point shooter. He gets an open shot. He doesn't shoot the ball.

And the thing is, he's averaging 17, 8, and 8, basically without having to shoot. I'm fine with his style of basketball. It's the fact that he's not an aggressive basketball player. That's always going to be my issue with Ben Simmons. But at the end of the day, what is he, 24? Right. He got some time. He'd be all right.

All right, man. That was Tyler Tynes. Pour out a little liquor for your sixers, bro. We'll see you next time. They don't deserve the liquor, so it's fine. We'll be right back. And we're back. Yeah, Tyler was on fire, man.

I like that pour out a little liquor, man. It's going to be hard to top that moving forward. But let's keep it moving, man. It is Kobe Day. I referenced the story of me and Kobe years ago. You've referenced 12-year-old Logan's infatuation with the Lakers. So what's your favorite Kobe memory? My favorite Kobe memory, I have two.

And I posted a picture of me and a Kobe jersey yesterday on Instagram. It was me in front of Staples. It was me in front of Staples and like my all Laker and Kobe stuff. And that was my first one of my first trips to L.A. to see him live. And that was great. That's not the story. But one of the best stories that I've had about him was I was interning in Sacramento for this radio station. And I was driving back and forth from Oakland to Sacramento.

And I remember I drove up and I remember I was, I think it was like 18 or 19. And I was very shy back then. And I didn't know that I was, you know, but I knew that night I wanted to ask him a question. And I remember it was 2012, 2013 season. And we thought this was probably going to be Kobe's last. trip to Sacramento because there was rumors of them moving and things like that. And so I was very nervous, but I went about it and I was like, I'm not going to leave this locker room without at least talking to this man.

Because, you know, he was for 12 year old Kobe for everything, or 12 year old Logan. And I remember asking him about what he thought, about the Kings leaving. And he gave a great answer. He was like, y'all not leaving. What are you talking about? Like, you got the, you know, this is, you guys say this shit every year, it's not going to happen. And then I followed up and I was like, you sure? And he was like, no, it's not going to happen.

And I remember that being a really, really big moment for me because it made me think that I or know that I could do this, you know, that it wasn't so daunting to ask somebody like that a question. That was a big deal. And I found a video the other day. I'll probably post it. I'll post it before this comes out. But that was a big deal. And then there was another one where, and it was still, it was the same year, and I was an interned still. But I drove down to L.A. for a Kings Lakers game.

And this was the night that Mike Dantone was actually hired as the coach of the Lakers. The Lakers are going to play the Kings later on. I think the King, like about two weeks later. And I'm going to locker room. I ask him another question and get an answer. I come out of the locker room and then Kobe's behind me. And so,

I don't know Kobe. I don't even know. I don't think he's ever seen me before. And so I go to Kobe, I say, Hey, Kobe, I say, hey, Kobe, see you next week. And I tap him on the shoulder. Like, see you next week. This was very, I thought it was going to be very awkward.

And then two seconds later, I get a, I get like a very hard tap on my back. And it's Kobe. And he's like, see you next week, bro. And I was, and I'm, And I'm like, oh. Like, he hits me on the back and I'm like, oh. Right.

And he's like, I'll see you next week, bro. And I just remember being like, oh, shit, Kobe touched my, like, gave me a pat on the back. Like, this is crazy. He didn't think nothing of it. But that was a big deal because it was just like, oh, it broke the barrier between, like, media and player for me. You know, because there was always just like a wall and you just don't talk to them unless there's a scrum or whatever. And those two moments were a big deal for me. So, R.S.

C-C-O-B, R-P, G-G-R-P, the victims. No doubt. And happy birthday. No doubt. Well done. I wasn't going to do it. Let me tell one more, though, because I think this was, he was such an interesting brother, man. Like, we played, I want to say it was preseason in L.A.

I was with Charlotte. We were hooping, and we had, you know, we had been talking. There was nothing at stake. So we were having more pleasantries exchanged than normal through most of the game. And the game was over, and I was in my locker, waiting for y'all to come in. And, you know, I felt, you start, you know, when you're down there, you're tying your shoes, you're doing, you know, what you got to do. You start to feel the congregation of media kind of around your chair. And so one person was standing way closer than everybody was usually standing.

I'm like, who the hell is this? And I look up, and I believe his name was Robert. But he was in a black suit, looked like he was like the men in black or like Secret Service or something. And he was like, Mr. Bryant sent me down to ask if you'd like to. attend dinner with him tonight. He didn't say a 10. He said something like, Mr. Brian would like to know

if you'd like to go to dinner with him tonight. And I just remember thinking, like, dog, I just played 36 minutes with this man like no less than 30 minutes ago. We were out there the whole time. And he sent security down.

Like he was just, that's just the way he wrote, man. He was a different dude, man. We had our, our moments, but the respect I had for that cat is crazy, man.

Did you go to dinner with him? I tore my ligaments in my wrist that night, so I couldn't go to dinner. It was the beginning of the end of my career. I mean, I should have probably prefaced it with that. Okay, okay. So I couldn't go. You could eat dinner with some torn ligaments, right? Just use the other hand.

No, I was straight to the MRI, like, hospital, like, trying to figure out if what was up. You could have played with Kobe. Why didn't you play with him? You wind up going to the jazz. You had a meeting. Kobe is texting you. I think this is 09. Kobe's texting you, you know, come through.

And you spurn Kobe. You probably could have won a chip that year. but you, why didn't, tell me more about that. What happened? Listen, Kobe hit me, what is it, August 1st or July 30th, whatever it is. Like, it was my last time around the free agent block. I got a couple calls that night, nothing firm, just basically letting you know you're going to be the third tier of free agents, so don't press. Kobe called me the next morning. I was in the street in Long Island when my boys messing around

and he hit me number, yo, this is Kobe. Did you have his number? Was it like an L.A. number? Did you have? This wasn't, I had his number, but this was not his number. This was an L.A. number. So it was Kobe, and he was telling me what the heat were going to do. Like, you know, these boys are getting a team together. They, you know, they think that it's a rap out here, but we're going to do our own thing. So I'm just letting you know, like, we got to work it out with management.

But, you know, anybody who could do what you did in the playoffs, I want them on my team. Like he said it like that. Anybody who could close line me in the playoffs, I want on my team. So I was like, bet. So a few weeks go by, they spend all their money, though, Logan. I'm in L.A. He's sending the Mamba chopper to get me. Like, I'm like, you're not just going to this.

Where are you in L.A.? He's just, what are we doing? What's going on? I'm down there for the SPs. So wherever that's at, where the SPs held? Hollywood. Yeah, so I'm in the chateau probably up in that area doing something. The chateau marmong.

And Kobe's like, you know, let's meet up. We'll have dinner. You come to my house. So I'm like, all right, bet. He's like, I'll send a chopper. I'm like, what? I'm like, dog, I just get in a car. He's like, no, I send a chopper.

but in between then, no bullshit, in between that conversation and him telling the chopper, like the time he was supposed to pick me up is probably like three hours later. Utah called with a deal that the Lakers just weren't going to be able to match. And in my situation,

you're offering me 10 times more than someone else's offering me. I got to take that, you know what I mean? What did Kobe say when you told him that, nah, hold that chopper? All respect. Like, he didn't really fight me on it, man. I was like, yo, Utah gave me an offer that, you know, it's three years for this. Like, you all ain't going to be able to get to that.

And he was like, I understand, brother. And that was it. Man, RIP. No doubt. All right, let's get to the real one of the week. All right. Let me go first this time. Let's go first.

Let me go first. I had two of them, and I want to give an honorable mention as I usually do to the one-legged Slovenian, who's out there just torching people in his first playoffs. But my real, real one of the week is going to be Donovan Mitchell. with the jazz team that you thought, I think you predicted they would do this, right? Like, if I'm not mistaken, I was a little leery just because I thought them missing Bogdanovic was going to be.

I was a little leery too. I just did it, just as they do it. But Spita is on fire right now, man. 39 and a half points per game, almost a 40 ball, average, four and a half rebounds, six assists,

shooting 56% and over 50% from three. That's my real one of the week. That's a respectable real one of the week. He's balling. I think Donovan Mitchell should get more. love. He hasn't gotten as much love. Utah, maybe, you know. Shoes are terrible, though. The shoes are terrible. They're pretty bad. Yeah. I mean, I don't know if that's because they're Adidas.

Okay. All right. Dames are fire. No, they're not. But my real one of the week, let's go to the Wobble. Let's get to the Wubble. Let's get to the Wubble. All right. My, my rule of the week is Diana Tarasi, the goat, the greatest of all time, Tarasi in more ways than one. She was playing against the Minnesota links. And the refs called a shooting foul on her for a steal. And she did not agree with the call. And she told the ref, quote, I'll see you in the lobby.

Don't trip. Real one. Who do you see doing that? Oh, I've done that. You done that? Oh, what? They had to hold me back from like, I waited outside of ref's locker room. they kicked me out of game.

I showered real quick. Posted my shit up right at the referees, waited there for about 30 minutes until like the police came and they were like, oh, you don't want to do this. You don't want to do this. We were at home in Utah. They were like, don't do it.

And then cooler heads prevailed. So I was like, okay. Okay. But yeah, that's real one. That's real one of the week. Real one of the week, bro. Dan Tarasi also wore a number eight jersey for Kobe's birthday on Sunday.

Something that we didn't get Sal to Soucher for bringing this for us, the Lakers will wear. a Mamba inspired jersey with a Gigi patch. They're kind of fired, to be honest with you. I think that they did a good. The Lakers are doing a great job celebrating their own RIP to the victims, RIP to Gigi and Kobe. And I think we can just end on that, man.

Rewin it a week. And shout-outs, thank you for coming. And that has been the Monday edition of the Ringer NBA show. Make sure you follow us on Spotify and wherever else you get your podcast. before we get out of here, Raja, we need some help from these, some help from our listeners. We do not have a name for this show.

Yeah, we need to get that tightened up, bro. We need that tightened up. We're going to put this on Twitter and social media. We need a name for this dope Monday show. So tap in. I'm about to get on the Twitters. I think there's some back channels that Roger can do because he is not on social media right now.

I don't know what's going on. We need to get you in. He's going to crowdsource his way. He's probably going to do like a, I don't know. I'll probably write a couple notes and drop him to some mailboxes. You know, just, you know, prehistoric shit. Well, we need, we need, we need your help on this. So tap in with us. Give us your suggestions.

And we'll talk to you guys soon. This has been the Ringer NBA show.