The Ringer NBA Show - Russell Westbrook Announces He Tested Positive for COVID-19. Plus: Bruno Caboclo and Richaun Holmes Break Quarantine. | The Mismatch

Episode Date: July 14, 2020

Russell Westbrook announced on Instagram that he tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms while away from the team. What will this mean for the Rockets? And is the NBA’s bubble going according to plan? Plus: multiple NBA players have accidentally broken quarantine since arriving in Orlando. Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it's Liz Kelly, and welcome to The Ringer Podcast Network. The Ringer's got a brand new show out now about NFL player Cam Newton called The Cam Chronicles. We'll be releasing at new episodes every Monday for the next six weeks, but you can binge all six episodes right now for free on Spotify. Here's a quick trailer. From the Ringer, I'm Tala Rottines, host of a new podcast series, The Cam Chronicles. NFL star Cam Newton has always been a complex figure. Over the past year, I've traveled to Kornado.

country speaking to coaches and teammates, friends and family, and even briefly to the man himself, trying to unravel the enigma that is Cam Newton. The Ringer NFL show presents Cam Chronicles. Listen to the full series now on Spotify. Welcome to The Ringer NBA show. I'm Chris Vernon and join the me as he does every Tuesday from the Ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor, aka Kevin O'Bomber, aka Kevin O'Col concert, Kevin O'Climber, Kevin O'Cand, Kevin O'Blessarian, Kevin O'Chamra. Come on. Verdo. What's going on this Tuesday morning, buddy?

We are not far away. I've still got my fingers crossed. We are not far away. By the time we speak two weeks from now, we will be talking about NBA basketball games that are going to be happening. So we got about two weeks. And the stories since we've spoken on Friday was what life has been like in the bubble. for the NBA.

And there have been a bunch of stories that have come out since the league has all gotten back together. The first of which is actually, we've got to start with the story of the guy that is not there, which is Russell Westbrook. He is by far the biggest name of the active players that has come out that has tested positive for coronavirus. Very early in all of this, Kevin Durant that some other names from the Brooklyn Nets had come out. But now we had this story over the weekend about how Westbrook and Hardin weren't joining

the team yet. I think the general consensus was, with some of these stars, you know, the less time they have to be there probably the better, and maybe they'll try to wait it out a little bit, or you never know what's going on with them. But in Westbrook's case, he came out yesterday and announced it on social media. He said he was fine. He said it is serious. He said it is serious. he encouraged everybody to wear a mask, but we did have our first superstar that we know of, test positive for coronavirus

and be unable to be there with his team in Orlando. What did you think when that news broke yesterday? It's like we talked about last week. Hopefully it's these guys just spending time away and it's not the Rona. And it was the Rona for Russell Westbrook. And we'll find out if that's also the case for James Hardin. It's floating out there that maybe it could be,

but who really knows, unless he's actually going to announce it himself. And, you know, regardless of what it is for James Hardin as well, hopefully everything's okay for him not to be a Disney World right now. But either way, man, like this touches on why this year's playoff run could be so volatile with the results. There's so many variables in play here, you know, never mind, you know, coronavirus, but players coming back early and risking further injury or whatever.

But like there's so much that we don't know with what could happen moving forward. in Houston, a team that I look at them, and I'm like, oh, this is a team that could maybe upset the Lakers or Clippers. You know, you never know. They have some hot shooting games, you know, something happens on the other end. You don't know. But with Russell Westbrook out, now the question is like, well, does he have any, you know, side effects when he's trying to play 35 minutes? You know, maybe does an impact his endurance at all? Because that's one of the main side effects people have with coronavirus. I mean, one of my friends, he's not a professional athlete, obviously, but he got diagnosed back in early May. And he still can't do any physical activity. He has a job and physical labor. And he tried to go back after testing negative a bunch of times. But he can't because he still has problems with the lungs.

And hopefully no NBA player has any side effects like that. But it's out there for a lot of people dealing with. It's not just, you know, you recover or you die. There's a lot of gray area here. And hopefully for Westbrook and any other player who has tested positive, that they're able to make a true full recovery. Yeah, and the Hardin thing is interesting because on one hand, you sit there and go, well, why isn't he there then? Like, you would think that the team, Mike D. Antony, who was asked very pointedly about it,

you would figure he would just say he's not here because he's dealing with blank, blank, blank, or he's not, because these teams, I mean, we're seeing them. They're playing five on five. Like, they're practicing. They're gearing up and getting ready for this. And so it is odd that one of the biggest players in the NBA is. is not there with his team. And to further that, there was really, it was just kind of like they'll be here in a couple of days.

And then with Westbrook, we got that answer. Okay, now this makes a lot of sense. I've just been perplexed as to, like I understand because of, you know, health regulations that you're not, you don't want to say. You don't want to say if one of your players has it. That's his choice, right? And we're seeing that, by the way, right now. Denver. I mean, Gary Harris isn't there. Michael Porter's not there. Torrey Craig isn't there.

We don't know why. Right. I mean, Michael, Coach Michael Malone said yesterday is like, you know, in respect to their privacy, I'm not going to say anything. Right. It's like, oh, so that just has people wondering, is it coronavirus or is some family matter? Are they just opting out? Who knows? Sure. We don't know when it is, you know, it's kind of odd how like some guys, they leak out, you know, immediately and others. Like, we don't, we still don't know as far as I can remember. We don't know who those three or four Lakers were who tested positive. positive a couple months ago, do we? They never came out, did it?

No. And I mean, you do have one of those, because you know who's not there, right, with these teams, who's not practicing with these teams. And in the case of, like, somebody like Westbrook, I'm sure, I mean, look, you make the decision whether or not to tell the world that that's what's going on. But for me, I'm just putting myself into that position. I wouldn't want everybody to think I'm just a prima don't want to be there, right? Like I would say, hey, here's why I'm not there, just so everybody knows, right? I understand it, right?

The food sucks. You see it guys complain about it. You see it, you know, they're having to live in these circumstances. But it's not because I think I'm better than everybody that I'm not there and I'm not with my team. Here's why I'm not there. Like, so I can just say on my end, I understand. I would do that. I would tell everybody.

Me too. If I've got it. Because that's what people think. people think, oh, yeah, you know what I mean? You just show up whatever you want to show up, right? Great teammate. I don't really care about like, I mean, I can't. I'm not a player, so I can't speak to that.

But I don't think I would care about the perception aspect. I would just want to kind of do what Russell Westbrook did and be like, wear a mask. This is a good example here and just, you know, try to use your platform. But yeah, also for your teammates or anybody else in the league, you don't want them questioning if you're a competitor. But, you know, people are going to think what they want to think all the time anyway. Yeah, you have the biggest active name.

that is tested positive. So here's hoping that Russell Westbrook makes a full recovery, and he is able to be Russell Westbrook when the NBA gets back and going. There is, you know, I hate to say this, but there is some truth to it, Kev, that there is, for some of these teams, especially with their best players, there is some kind of odd advantage to getting it and going through it

earlier than later, right? Like if, you don't want anybody to get it. You don't want anybody to get it. But in terms of the competition, clearly, right, for Westbrook to be able to recover prior to when the games are starting because getting it in the middle of it, you're going to be out for a long, long time.

That's all I'm saying. In that sense, that's true. Though, like, there's so much mixed science. I'm like, how long, you know, you are immune after you have, you know, the first time. I mean, can you get it a second time? There's just so much we don't know.

And never mind the fact that like, you know, let's just use Westbrook as an example here. If, you know, if he's 90%, you know, in terms of like, you know, long capacity and, you know, full health, how much does that, you know, 10% he might have lost, you know, impact him on the court? I don't know. I mean, like, these are things that we don't know.

We don't want anybody to get it. You don't want anybody to get it. Yeah. But not, if you assume that there have not been many cases, of people getting it again, then you would think, barring injury, the rockets are going to have Russell Westbrook for the stretch run.

Sure. And that, I mean, that's going to be one of those things we learn a lot more about over time. And then hopefully, you know, whether it's, you know, natural antibodies that your body produces or whether it's, you know, something from a vaccine that creates immunity.

Hopefully that lasts a long time, if not forever. Well, two out of 322 positive tests that the NBA announced. Those are a very, very low number. I mean, that was positive. There's no way around that. It's working so far. Yeah.

The protocols are working. Keeping guys like Westbrook away, keeping those guys who test positive away is so far, it's working. Two out of 322 because, I mean, look, if you took 300, any 322 people, you know, if you just walked out on the street and grabbed 322 people, I would think two is low.

Much less a bunch of guys that, many of which are between 20 and 30, and they've been playing basketball already. We have seen videos of them playing basketball already, not exactly quarantining themselves, living their life in masks. And I don't want to say that all of them have been grossly irresponsible. I'm just saying the 20 to 30 year old range of people throughout the United States have acted differently than other age groups, certainly much more than. the older age groups.

One thing I want to note on that two out of a 322. I am curious. I mean, I wish we knew who they were and how they got to that campus because those are guys that tested positive on campus after being in quarantine. Right. And I just

wondered that they also travel on a team playing, you know, in the lead up to there. Or were they, you know, Orlando Magic players that may have, you know, driven there, gotten there on a bus or were they the Raptors players that were there for two weeks already. I mean, I don't know if we'll find that out. I mean, I've done a little bit of digging, but I haven't come up with anything yet. But the fact is, is that does, you know, then touch on the

NBA's protocols with contact tracing there. Because if it were a player that traveled there on a plane, then you would then, you know, be monitoring very closely the other players and coaches and whoever else that was actually on that private flight. And by the way, like, when it comes to flying, There's a lot out there with like the type of HEPA filters that are on planes that do make it relatively safe because it's constantly bringing in new air. However, I mean, like you're going to close little tube flying through the air. It's still a scary thought despite anything that they might have for it. And we do need to clarify those that report was from the July 7th round of testing. And so.

Day one of arrivals, right? Yeah. I mean, that's right when they arrived. We're a week later. So to know how well the bubble is working and whether or not a couple of guys that were positive playing basketball with a whole team on a regular basis is going to be one of these things that transmits very easily. We're not going to know that until we're a little farther into the bubble and everybody's getting tested. And then we see what those results are. And that's what we really got to cross our fingers for because two at the very beginning of all of it, that was a good number.

But, you know, let's just hope that nobody contracts it while they are there. And more importantly, they're not passing it around to the teams that they are practicing against and, frankly, their own team. I mean, ultimately, like, I think we said this last, you know, Friday's episode, that this next week is the pivotal one here. I mean, because, like, if two players had infected others, whether it was on a flight or, you know, whatever it may be passing through the hotel, whatever. those tests might not show up as positive until like late this week. That's right. That can happen because of the incubation period with coronavirus for a lot of people that do end up getting infected. So like we just, there's just so much we don't know.

But so far things seem to be working. But like we just don't really know until, you know, next week after this full week passes. And hopefully like the next round, you know, the next round of tests that has announced. Hopefully they say this week there are zero positive tests. and that would be a really great sign moving forward for this whole damn thing actually working out. Right, because the other side would be if it comes back at 20 or 30 guys have it, they may, they'll talk about shutting the whole damn thing down. Really.

So that's what we're waiting on, right, is to find out how these tests goes during the quarantine. We have had a couple of guys that have been busted already for breaking quarantine. Not exactly the biggest names in the world, but Bruno, Caboclo from the aforementioned Houston Rockets was one of the guys. The story came out yesterday that there were eight days left that he had to remain quarantined. I saw that story come out and over the, over the, it happened over the weekend, like right when they got there. So you have to stay in your room for like 24 hours, right when you get there, right? And everybody knows that. Like they tell everybody that.

I have friends that are still friends with Bruno Caboclo from his time in Memphis. Now, let me say this all the bat. This is a source of say right here. Yeah. Sources say? I mean, this is true. Okay. Bruno's the sweetest guy in the world.

But like, if you told Bruno he's in Jupiter, Florida or the planet Jupiter, who knows? I mean, Bruno is, Bruno is in his own world half the time. And I say this is someone who loves the kid, all right? But he is, he's out there. So if I had to, when, I think when anybody saw, anybody knows him when they saw this story, like, I think that when the story comes out and it says inadvertently, people are like, how do you inadvertently? Like, what is he doing?

Trying to get a chick in there. Is he trying to do whatever? Like, I think anybody that knows him as I do saw that story and was like, oh, my gosh. Like, you know it's some kind of. I, this is what I thought. It's nothing dastardly. It'll be some kind of innocent, goofy-ass reason that this guy got in trouble. What happened?

What happened? He was hungry and he left his room to ask about getting more food. I swear to God. He went down and he went downstairs and asked him about how he could get more food instead of like calling from his room. And they're like, what are you doing? That's how he broke quarantine. He was trying to get more food. That sucks.

I know, but it's just you got to pay. Same as Roshan Holmes, right? Rashon Holmes had, like, Postmates deliver and he went out to go get him, but he crossed the line of where the quarantine was or whatever. And this is after Kelly Ubre had tweeted out to all the NBA players, this is how you do it. Postmates will deliver, security won't help you.

Well, but the thing is, you're like, look, you can walk out there. You can be within your confines, but like not during that first time. Yeah. Not during that first point in time. And so these guys, It's like we saw that video from J.R. Smith with his Instagram live last week where when the food was delivered, they all were just standing at their hotel room door, grabbing their thing and looking at each other from, you know, more than six feet away.

Right. Then they went right back in. You just can't leave. And that's just the beginning while you're there. Because obviously, once you get past that point, you take the multiple test, now you're going to practice. And you're playing with your team and you're playing basketball and you're going out fishing with guys. And you can be... We're past that now.

Yeah. We're well past that for everybody, except for those guys. But it is funny. Guys couldn't even make it 24 hours with them. At least a few of them, right? And it's not like they were doing something dastardly or intentionally, you know, thinking they'd get away with it. Like, they just didn't pay attention.

They didn't pay attention to what you had to do while you were there. They were just misunderstood. It's like, you know, it just sucks. But, you know, hopefully like, you know, those guys aren't. positive at all and you know they don't affect anybody that's working there or anything like that. So, uh, unfortunate for Koboklo and our guy, Rishan Holmes, uh, your guy, my favorite player. I'm going to tell you this. I actually, look, I don't, I hope that Rishon Holmes didn't put anybody at risk as you said. But after all of these years of me doing it together,

everybody's finally knows his name, Keff. Like, it's like he finally made big news. He finally became a significant, no, he became a significant. No, he became. came a significant NBA player. And this is, like, for the first time, people were like, Roshan Holmes, huh? Like, it's the biggest news he has made as an NBA player. You know, it makes me really happy and was when we get those tweets, you know, tagging us after that news comes out,

because it shows that those were people that were listening to us at the beginning. That's right. They were mismatch originals before we were even called a mismatch. That's right. Because that was the 2016-17 season, man. That's a long time ago. Do you still have that jersey I got you? Yeah, it's somewhere.

You gotta wear that one day. It's a 76ers one. I'm not sure if it's here in Massachusetts or it's in storage in Los Angeles. Reson Holmes? I don't know. I don't know. I'm not sure. I might have it here.

For some reason, I don't think I do have it here. It feels like you might have ditched him. We also have the other story that we have coming out of the bubble as we're going through these is on Twitter. a female named, ironically, ugly Anna, because she is not ugly. She was invited to the bubble. She was invited to the bubble by an unnamed NBA player. Now, this gained subtraction. You and I were texting about it over the weekend because this is hilarious.

Mo Bamba sees the tweet and then accuses Donovan Mitchell of Wild out. I don't know where that came from, but it was funny nonetheless. And then Ugly Anna responds with, I wish it was him. Now, this creates all manner of issues because if you are the guy and you're not Donovan Mitchell, you've got to be looking at that tweet going, what the hell? Like, you wish Donovan Mitchell invited you? The other thing is, just playing around. The idea of somebody inviting. a girl to the bubble is just outrageous. And, I mean, we didn't even make it past the week.

They just got there this weekend. And at least somebody within the NBA, if we are to believe Ugly Anna. And I have no reason to believe that Ugly Anna would be, that would be lying about this. And she said, yeah, this isn't going to end well. So she put that out there for everybody to see. And then you saw a couple of players. And then, of course, you have NBA Twitter being super sleuths.

They go and find out that Montres Herald follows her. So they start accusing Montres Herald. It all became a thing. And so we had at least... It's so silly. We had one girl out there saying that she has been invited to the bubble. And I, again... Rodion's Kroots also follows her from the Brooklyn Nets.

Who does? Kroots from the Brooklyn Nets. Kroots! what would be interesting and John Wall who was not at the bubble is that right? It'd be interesting

if a bunch of guys started following her after she saw this what would be really hilarious if Donovan Mitchell did I wish Donovan Mitchell invited me I mean she has her

she has her gamer tag listed in there why can't guys just settle and play Xbox with her that's right you don't have to invite her to a bubble and there's this funny joke I saw on NBA

right and I clicked there this morning and they're like, could players sneak out of the bubble like Solid Snake and Metal Gear Solid and a little cardboard box? Is that a reference you understand, Chris? No, but somebody. That's like me not understanding. How do they sneak out?

Save by the bell. It's like in Metal Gear Solid, the video game franchise, Solid Snake sneaks around underneath a cardboard box sometimes. Yeah. Like to avoid bad guys. It's the silliest thing in a very serious game. I'm just saying the inverse could be used.

for players to sneak in whatever it is that they might want to sneak in. Whether it's a person or other items. Wait, are you saying that maybe somebody could put Ugly Anna in like a FedEx package? I don't like where this conversation is going now.

I do not like where this is going. It was an innocent middle of your solid reference. You're talking about whatever they need. It's funny. I would imagine if a player invited someone after like three days. They got to be joking. That was a joke, right? That was like not a serious invite. There's no way. After three days, come on, man. I mean, look, and I'm

gonna tell you this. Have some self-control. Hey, how bad would you feel if you were, if you were the guy that invited her? I mean, I would feel terrible for her to, for her to put out there, I wish Donovan Mitchell invited me. That would be, that's a real ego. I'm not a position to even think about what that tall must be like, Chris. It's a real ego hit. I can't even, I mean, I'm pretty good at putting myself on someone else's shoes. I can't put myself in that type of position. Oh, really?

Well, just inviting people over. I don't know. They're airing this out on social. Like if this, if this girl said, I'm not a promiscuous person. You're not? Oh, you've always struck me as very promiscuous. Wow. All right.

Well, speaking of sneaking anything in, it will be funny if somebody does try to sneak out some ways about. We do know this via Chris Haines. No one has used the snitch hotline yet. So no one has reported somebody else. I think anybody will. I mean, what's a scenario where a player would use that? During a playoff series, I could see.

You know, Chris Paul or. somebody might be on the lookout. But even then, I don't know. I feel like, I feel like if I were a player, this is something I can relate to. If I were a player, I'd be worried something like that will leak out because everything leaks out.

And like, I wouldn't want to be the first guy out there to, like, use the stitch hotline, even if it was probably the right thing to do. I could only for- Snitches get stitches. I could only foresee the snitch hotline used actually over, like in the case, like in the case

that Ugly Anna showed up to the person that didn't invite her and then he finds out she's there, then it all of a sudden, yes, you start snitching. Yes. That, yes, that would be the circumstances in which I could see snitching. Or maybe like losing a ton of money in cards

and you don't want to pay up. So you start snitching on somebody. But I would imagine that's playing with your own team. I think players will use it seriously. Like if they do see someone like coming, you know. Oh, you know, from Disney World or whatever. I don't know. Really?

I don't know. Would you ever? Would you ever? I could not. No, I mean, I grew up in Brockton and like my whole life, it's almost like snitches get stitches. And I'm just like, I'm not going to snitch. Yeah. All right.

No tattle tales on the, in the O'Connor house. The snitch outline has not been used. We also, since they have remained, they've started back playing basketball. We've already had a big injury. And that was Rondo, who we talked about last week. Now, we talked about it in reference to Avery Bradley being out because they were going to be short on guards. They have added guys that have not played for them yet. J.R. Smith, you'd imagine, will fit in just fine on the LeBron team.

And Dion Waiters, who also has not played for them yet. And so you had Rondo, who, especially if you were going to be playing against two big guards, if there's an instance where Portland catches fire and is able to make it to the playoffs. And you've got to face Lillard and McCollum in the first round. Rondo being a bigger guard and maybe being able to play off the ball defensively would be helpful. The other thing that we mentioned is he has this track record of being a guy who has been way better in the playoffs. He just has. Now, even a few years ago when he was playing for New Orleans, he had like eight double.

doubles in nine games. They swept the aforementioned Blazers when he was playing there. And so who knows what he was going to perform like and how the stats are going to match up from what it was like when LeBron and Rondo were on the court in the regular season to what it would be in the postseason. That being said, I cannot help but look at the numbers and think that it could weirdly be actually a benefit to the Lakers. I mean, if the numbers translate to postseason play, the Caruso LeBron numbers are crazy. Like they are, I think it was in terms of just a two-man lineup,

I saw Kevin Pelton put this up yesterday after he had talked about the whole playoff Rondo and how that's real. that you had, I think it was plus 20. Their net rating was minus 6.8 with Rondo on the court as the worst of any player who had seen more than 400 minutes of action this season. Although the Caruso James pairing has been predictorily effective, lineups with Caruso at Point Guard and James on the bench have been far more effective, plus 3.5 net rating. And so it went on to say that these numbers

with those two guys on the court together, the LeBron Caruso, okay, according to cleaning the glass, the Lakers have played just 84 minutes all season with none of Bradley, Caruso, James, and Rondo on the court. Quinn Cook has played in those. situations. The Lakers outscored opponents by 20.8 points per 100 possessions with both players

on the court. The best of any two-player combination that has seen at least 200 minutes of action for the team. That is Caruso and James. And so that's the odd thing here, right? I mean, look, you'd rather have Rondo if you can have Rondo. But statistically, Caruso with James has been. better. And I think it, like, this is one of those where it's pretty easy for me, at least to see, okay, do the analytics match up to what you think could be true? And Rondo is a guy that we've always known. It's not very effective without the ball in his hands, even when we talked about playoff Rondo. He's a guy that controls the ball. And on that team, you know, Caruso knows his role,

and it's LeBron's team, and he's got the ball. So I could see how they're better without another guy that needs the ball because that just means LeBron's got the ball more. Alex Caruso, overcovered, underrated. Yeah. We're a weird player in that sense, you know, because he's on the Lakers, you know, he's become a meme, you know, with the balled head and everything. But he's an underrated player.

All-star voting? Yeah, all-star voting. But he's an underrated player, though. He's a really, really good role player with a real nose for the ball and the defensive end plays hard, you know, tips out rebounds. And on offense, he always makes the right play. He's like, you wish he was a little bit better as a shooter. You know, he hovers around 37% on catch and shoot spot up threes.

You wish that were up a bit higher like 40 plus percent on a higher volume. But he's a good player, man, for that team. I mean, especially next to LeBron James, as you just said, like taking the ball out of LeBron's hands is not what you want to do. You don't want to take it out of 80's hands. And Caruso is a guy who really blends next to those guys and complements their strengths. And it doesn't clash against them at all. Well, and obviously there is the comparison because he is a white point guard that plays out of LeBron team.

I mean, it's not unlike Delhi. You saw a lot of times where Delavadova that's a good, that's actually a really good comparison for like the style. It worked. It worked with LeBron, right? Did all the dirty work, kept the ball moving, you know, could hit an open shot every once a while, but he was not like some kind of dead eye guy, but harassed, you know, opposing point guards, played good defense, made a couple winning plays here and there. And that worked.

I mean, that was a nice fit with LeBron, certainly. He can be sort of like, he can be that deli. He can be that Chalmers. And that's sort of what you're looking for from Caruso moving forward. And by the way, I mean, like with Rondo, he, assuming the Lakers advanced past the first round after they defeat the Pelicans. Yep. Or the Grizzlies.

I'm just joking around with you. I tell you this, Caruso can't stay in front of John Moran. I promise you that. I mean, yeah. And that's where the losses will come for the Lakers when it comes to those matchups against, you know, high-powered point cards. Whether it's that first round matchup against Dame or Jama Rant or whoever or down the line, you know, losing Bradley and, you know, we'll see how Rondo is on defense. They're going to have to defend some point cards, James Hardin, Russell Westbrook, whoever it may be. But for the Lakers, man, I mean, it could end up that Caruso gets this opportunity that he otherwise wouldn't have gotten.

and it doesn't get taken away from him. And that could be a better thing for the Lakers in the long run because of his style compared to what Rondo is. Well, and that's the thing, Kev. That's where I say sometimes, and we see this a lot in the NBA, you stumble into something that maybe you wouldn't have gotten to, but you were forced to. And it ends up, you know, changing your team sometimes forever. Like I saw it. I saw it years ago. Like, this gets lost in history.

but when the Grizzlies franchise turned around, Zavier Henry was drafted with the 14th pick overall. He was the shooting guard for the team. OJ. Mayo was still on the team. Sam Young was still on the team. Tony Allen, who they had signed in the offseason, was an absolute afterthought. He was collecting dust completely.

In December of his rookie year, he blew out his leg. He tore his ACL. And because of the way the roster was, they had to insert Tony Allen and everything changed, everything. Like the whole team did. And they're defensively, they changed completely. And then they had this ore and they became this grit and grind type team and whatever else.

And so you stumble into that. And with this Lakers thing, I think, again, it's not going to be that profound. But if Caruso is the better option and you're Frank Vogel and you go with that over Rondo, it's a big problem if Rondo's totally healthy. He's a guy that has a ring. He's a guy that we've known. I mean, Dallas just had to get rid of him. They're going to be in the damn playoffs, Kev.

And Carlisle wasn't with it. And they had to just send him home. And so if you're not playing... That feels like so long ago. I know. It feels like yesterday, too. But if you're not playing him big minutes and he's not a big part of it,

I don't think it is unfair to suggest that it could be a problem, right? If he's, if Caruso's playing over Rayjon Rondo, that maybe it's, you know, that maybe, maybe this is getting to somewhere that will actually benefit them. Certainly the numbers would tell you that that's true. It might get you to a place that benefits them while making it the easy thing to do because benching Rondo for Caruso later down the line, that could be a disaster in your locker. And I'm sure some Lakers fans will say.

say this will be like when David Lee got hurt and Draymond Green. Absolutely. You've seen it. Sometimes you stumble into it. By the way, like it's not going to be that extreme. I'm just joking around. But that's like the most extreme best scenario. Absolutely.

Then any team has gone through in recent years at all is what happened with the Golden State Warriors stumbling onto, you know, Draymond Green being that guy in that position that he fell into without David Lee there to block his way. And I mean, for the Lakers, man, like they're the favorites in my book either way, Rondo or Caruso. but I do like their odds a little bit more, knowing that Caruso's going to get this chance early.

And then it's going to be Rondo, who's going to have to come back and get reintegrated into the rotation. And we'll see, like, at that point, with that point on that second round matchup or like mid-second round when he's ready to come back, Vogel at that point might be like, eh. I mean, Rondo, there's a case to be made there. Like, it's hard to integrate you back in here.

And we'll see, though, because, like, I still think, like we talked about last week, playoff Rondo is a real thing. Oh, yeah. It's real. And there is an upside factor with him that can't be underplayed with the Lakers moving forward.

And there could be a role for him at some point whenever he's able to get back because, I mean, this team is dealing with injuries right now, you know, dealing with situations with Browley sitting out. They could use Rondo down the stretch

and they might need him in order to get through some series against the clippers down the line. Oh, they absolutely. need him because at the very, even if we're just going to do the numbers, at least he's played minutes with these guys. And he knows to get the ball to Anthony Davis. I mean, this isn't rocket science when it comes to the playoffs and what you need to do

if you're the Lakers. Get the ball to the two guys, right? And they don't have anything. They got Quinn Cook and they got like J.R. Smith and Dion Waders haven't logged a minute, you know, on this current team. I mean, the truth is, can you knock down some spot-up threes, make a play, especially can you hold down the fort when LeBron has to take his slight breather? Because we know, we've been through this for years. You end up winning.

The pace slows down. LeBron's going to have the ball. He's going to whip it to you. Make the damn shot when he does. Other than that, it's going to be the James Anthony Davis show. If we eventually do get that Lakers Clippers series, man, I mean. That's going to be epic. Epic.

It's a shame. It won't be at Staples Center, though. I have, look, you don't know how this is all going to play out regarding what teams are going to look like. But I would tell you as of today, I would be surprised if those two teams aren't in the Western Conference Finals against each other. Like, I don't, I would be shocked if somebody outside of those two won the title this year. Stunt Including Milwaukee No, no, no, no, I'm saying

at the Western Conference, I'm sorry. Okay, so go into files, yeah. Yes, I could see somebody from the East. Certainly. I wouldn't be shocked in the sense that it's only my video this week of the restart. Well, I mean, it's just about like there's just so many variables that play here that we really, like,

with coronavirus, if it's a player test positive, I mean, among, you know, the factors with which guys got better, which coaches change their system. I mean, there's a lot of variables. play here. Never mind like a little thing like, I don't know, the fact they're playing at Disney World in three months and, you know, physical health and mental health and, you know,

the arenas that they're playing in without crowds. There's so much that we really don't know. Maybe it makes no difference. Books, Lakers, clippers are the three favorites easily. It goes without saying. But, you know, there is a window here for a team to jump through and maybe upset teams. So like, in this

week's episode of the restart, I just looked at two sleeper contenders, one in each conference, but there's others too. I mean, we talked about Toronto and Dallas in the video. It could be Houston or you could talk about Boston. You can talk about Miami. You can't rule out an upset, especially with so many variables at play. You have to say, I mean, well, look, I know,

Bucks fans always, you know, get mad at me when I say this, but you do have to prove it. You've got to be in the Easter conference finals and make it to the NBA finals. And so until that takes place, there is going to be, some reason to doubt that you can do it at the highest level. And I think the East is way more wide open. And that leads us to our next story because I think we've all, we've said this throughout the entire season, Kev.

There's six teams and then there's a big drop off, okay, in the East. And that included Indiana in there. We kind of wrote them off a little bit last week. If they're not going to have Oladipo, like what's the ceiling? The ceiling goes down greatly. there. Broad twists. Yeah.

Now they're saying there is a growing belief that Ola Dippo will play. And I said this last week. If that is so, and Ola Dippo is able to come back and he is Victor Ola Dippo as we do, not the one that we saw right prior to the season getting delayed, but if he's old Victor Ola Depot and he is healthy and he's able to come back, like, I don't care what series you're playing in the East. bringing Ola Dipo and Brogden to the to the floor as you're starting backcourt, I go up against anybody with that.

Right? Like, I mean, that is a, that is a very formidable back court. They are also, in this day and age, very awkward. They play a different basketball than everybody else is playing. And they can go supersized when they've got, you know, Sabonis and Turner on the front line. And then they'd have these big defensive guards on the, the outside. Like they are kind of a, they could throw a real curveball at you. And if they've got

Oladipo, I think we're back to six in terms of, I could see any of the six. I could see a scenario where any of them are in the Easter conference finals. I have a very difficult time seeing that if you want to throw in Houston because of the superstar power and because their games are so variable, one night they're going to hit 25 of 51. threes and the next night and they're going to win and maybe big and then the next night they're going to hit 13 to 51 and they're going to lose pretty big like their their outcomes can be so great that okay if you want to convince me that they would have a fighter's chance i have a hard time with a lot of the others seeing them you know knocking off a lakers or the clippers whereas if you got

all a depot with the pacers i think we're back to why don't and by the way though i mean with with Pacers, you do have the fact that Old Depot will see if he looks anything like the former Oraldebo pre-injury. That's a big question. He did not look like that player in his limited action after returning this season. But also, Malcolm Brogden still hasn't practiced yet after testing positive for COVID-19. And there's been a delay there for him. I mean, another guy, everything we just said about Westbrook and everything else applies here. Hopefully he's able to be his full self after returning to 100% health, not 90%, not 95% health.

but 100% health. Because Brogden is an integral player to them. I mean, one of the best passers at the NBA in terms of how reliable he is, limiting mistakes, a great hard-nosed defender. I mean, that dude,

that dude hustles, dude. He plays so freaking hard and makes so few mistakes. Brogden is somebody who can run that offense or play off Ola Depot, and that's what the Pacers missed when they faced Cleveland in the playoffs a couple years back, a couple years back when Ola Divo was just

getting pressured constantly getting the ball out of his hands. Nobody else was there to beat him. Brogden can be that guy that the Pacers lacked that season. So a lot of question marks with Indiana more so than those other teams, but I'm with you. I'm with you that I put them in that conversation if Oladip was back and if Brogden's back. Big ifs, but, you know, we're talking hypotheticals here. And here's the thing. At the very least, you feel like that's a team that is going to get you in a war.

you can be playing six or seven games against them. They can play with two bigs, Sabonis and Turner, or they can play with one big, just Turner or just Subonis. I mean, they can play so many different styles if they want to. I mean,

Nate McWill is a solid coach, and I hope he's able to integrate, you know, some new sets into that offense in the half court post, you know, minicamp over this month. So that's a question I have with them.

They still shoot a lot of deep mid-range jumpers. Well, don't want to, don't want to, Don't have beer off too much here, but like with Indiana, there's room, there's, there's a higher ceiling for them than what they've been able to show. Well, and you know, I've got a soft spot for them because they have put together a collection of guys that, as I said, minimize the amount of guys that are going to play for you,

get minutes for you that suck. And they are, they are a perfect example of that. Like, why have they outperformed? Why have they been better? Why have they been able to sustain what we would have thought would be killer injuries? I mean, losing the guys that they did throughout this year. I mean, they lost lamb at the beginning of the year who they had just signed in free agency. They lost Hola Depot for the majority of the year.

And they were sitting there at like fighting home court advantage, you know, four or five seed for the majority of this season. How do they pull it off? It's because you got a bunch of good players. They don't bring guys off and you're watching it. go, that guy sucks. And so I think they're back in the mix. I do. If they get Oladipo back.

I'm with you, Chris. We recorded that video yesterday before that news came out. And I wish we could go back and add in Indiana statement in there because it's the truth, man. With Vic, things change. But yeah, I do have to plug. Go check out that video on the Ringers YouTube channel on Wednesday. That'll be out talking about two sleepers, one in each conference that could contend for

the NBA. finals with so many variables at play. All right. As you say that, I gathered that you're going to do a sleeper video. And of course, you're going to say Houston because you love Houston. You wear rockets underwear to bed.

But did you say, are you really going to throw Boston in as a sleeper? They're the three seed. No, so here, no, no. So the video, I talked about Toronto, who's a two seed, and I talked about the Dallas who's currently the seventh seed. But the fact is, is that you look at the bucks,

you look at the Lakers and the clippers, they are heavy favorites. Looking at those Vegas betting lines out there right now, heavy favorites. It drops off a clip after that. I believe one place had Boston like at plus 2,000, Toronto plus like 2400. To me, like from a gambling perspective,

again, it could be very volatile in the postseason here. There's a wide range of factors at play here that are abnormal compared to a normal postseason. Feels like an opportunity here to, because those teams are pretty good. Toronto and Boston, they don't really fit the sleeper criteria. You know,

Dallas or whether it's Houston or even Denver, I mean, they have an opportunity. I'd feel less good about any team in the West considering you're going to get through Lakers and Clippers. But in the Eastern Conference, just the Bucks, I mean, they're going to be an immense challenge.

The bucks have depth. The bucks have Yonis. The bucks have flexibility on both ends of the floor with different things that they can do. It's going to be hard to get through them. But they're not, you know, a juggernaut, you know, super team here. You can defeat the bucks. And so I just look at Toronto, Boston, Indiana, Miami, as you've already mentioned. And I'm like, yeah, there's an opportunity here.

And that was really the point of the video is to say that this isn't some sure thing. because there's so many variables at play. Did you consider throwing Orlando in there after seeing your beloved Mo Bamba's extreme weight gain? He looks ribs! How are you going to explain that you don't have Bamba in the video as someone who could pull off an upset? I mean, maybe he's the Yonah stopper, you know,

if they draw them in the first round. I'll tell you what. Orlando's not going to beat the Milwaukee Bucks. They're not even going to make it interesting. However, I am excited to watch Mobile. I know you are. This was one of his issues, man. He was too skinny.

And now he's at 252 over 250 pounds right now. He's 8 foot tall. He looks great. 252. He looks great. What? He's like 50 pounds less than Zion. Well, no, Zion's not 300 anymore.

Zion might be 252. See? They posted those videos from their practice the other day. Bamba had some good moments this season. I just hope Orlando is able to find more minutes for him and not hand them to Kim Birch and Vucevich. I know Vucevich is going to get his minutes, but I mean, that's not a great situation for Bamba.

You put him as a five with shooters around him. Bamba could be pretty good. What are you looking at me like that for? He just giving me the deep depth there. He's like the fifth pick in the draft. or sixth pick, whatever. If they believed in him, they wouldn't have paid Vuzovic,

the contract that they paid him and to keep him there. And they certainly wouldn't be playing Kim Birch ahead of him. Come on. He's at sixth pick in the draft, Kevin. Who buries that guy? Sometimes coaches think short-term with the decisions that I make.

And Steve Clifford has historically been a guy of playing guys win now, win now, rather than player development. And it's not just the bigs here either. It's like the fact that somebody like Aaron Gordon, who I loved in the draft lot and still like him a lot, he also isn't at the right situation because Gordon, I would love to see him play some small ball five. I'd love to see it. He's a great defensive player who's versatile.

He can handle the ball on offense. But he's not in a situation because they have bomb up, because they have Vucevic and Birch, that they don't have the opportunity to do that. They don't have enough guys who are big. It can also space the floor effectively. and they also just have too many bigs to do some of those things. And by the way, in their back court, Markell Fultz can't shoot either.

So, I mean, they got a lot of problems in Orlando. They got a couple of guys that can come off and give them buckets, though. I've seen Terrence Ross give them, you know, they're such a weird team, really.

You got a very strange team, Orlando does. It's just an odd combination that doesn't fit right. Like, there's a bunch of, I thought they were primed, you know, to make a deal.

Like some guys that are like, you know, veteran guys that could be an eight-man rotation, some young guys that other teams would still certainly really believe in. And maybe that will, who knows, maybe all of this might have screwed up their plans for whatever their off-season might have been, you know,

projecting forward. But I even thought, we talked about that at the beginning of the year. Like, you look at the team and they've got like the perfect kind of trade assets to go get something because you've got, young guys that, you know, have promise, but you've got contracts that you could tag with them in order to net you something pretty good in return, you know.

And I know De Rosen's name came up at one point. They didn't do that. And there were some other names. But, I mean, they're still in the same spot. You know, the Buseviches of the world and the fournieres and the Rosses and these, Gordon, even for that matter, these kind of guys, like, maybe they don't all fit well. together, but you could package them with a Bamba or some of their other young players that they've gotten, Jonathan Isaac, if you wanted to.

It just all doesn't fit. It just doesn't fit. It's an odd team. It sure is. And I look forward to watching Bamba with his new muscles. All right. Kevin, hopefully we have good news by the time we talk on Friday. We'll get another round of tests.

in the bubble. And let's just keep our fingers crossed because if it all works out, we got about two and a half weeks till we're watching basketball games. Almost there. And for everybody listening to the show, please submit some questions for Friday's mailbag at NBA mailbag at gmail.com. Thanks, everybody. NBA mailbag at gmail.com.

Thanks to Bobby Wagner as always. And we will talk to you on Friday.