The Ringer NBA Show - The Lakers Are … Inevitable, the Celtics Get Their Heads in the Game, and the Wubble Is in Jeopardy

Episode Date: September 21, 2020

Logan and Raja are back Monday morning discussing the inevitability of the Lakers-Nuggets series (5:18), whether awards snubs motivate star players (18:21), and if Marcus Smart’s outburst after Game 2 brought the Celtics back into the series (38:07). Then from The Ringer’s copy desk, Jordan Ligons hops on to talk about recent coronavirus concerns in the Wubble, Candace Parker’s future, and the WNBA playoff format (51:33). Finally, producer extraordinaire Isaac Lee pours out some liquor for his cursed Clippers (59:33), and Logan and Raja each pick their Real One of the Week (1:05:30).  Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Guests: Jordan Ligons and Isaac Lee Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to a special edition of the Monday Ringer NBA show, part of the Ringer podcast network and Spotify. I am Logan Murdoch, staff writer, president of the LA Sparks fan club. RIP, pour out liquor. We'll get to that in a bit. Town Representative. And I am joined as always by our staff writer, our curator of vibes, the man who wears open-toed sandals in February. Roger Bell, what's popping, bro? Brand new whip just hot.

Wait. Wait, oh, you're too old to be no, wait, you too old to be. No, I'm just saying, bro. No, I don't tell my age, man. I don't date me. Somebody, somebody here just turned 57 years old at a birthday over the weekend. Oh, that's tough. You know you're old when you can't laugh without coughing, right?

So, so, Roger, if you want to know your age, we can put it out on Wikipedia or Google or something. But how old? I'm a proud 44, bro. A proud 44. How old? I mean, how old does it feel to be this old right now? I feel blessed to be this old dog, like straight up. But my body, and as it pertains to this show, right?

Because I think this is a good kind of like, I watch what dudes like Marcus Smart and cats like that dude just giving that body up. And I'm like, bro, in 15 years, you are going to so be mad at yourself for that. Like, it's going to pay off nice, but it's going to hurt really bad when you get to be 44 years old. Is it an overnight process of like one day you're just feeling normal? And then the next day, you're just feeling like, like shit. Yeah, it, I mean, it's not. It clearly is happening the whole time, like it's gradual. But it really does feel like that, though, right?

Like you, it's from, I would say it's from like the end of your, I don't know, 33rd birthday season going into that next 34-year-old season. When you hit training camp, you're like, oh, shit, this is different. Like, I can't get there. I can't do that. You know what I mean? That should, it just kind of itch. Can you still hoop?

Like, can you, how many pickup games can you give me in a day before it's like, you, we're done? What level pick up game? Because that's, I mean, that's always what's about, right? Oh, you're in, yeah, I could give you five, six, seven games. But if I got to stop, I can't get started again. If I have to sit a game, it's a rap. I'm going home.

So how was the weekend? I was a festivities. Oh, it was dope. I had my family over. A little cagorator in the backyard. We just, we just, we just chilled, man. It was good. Had the kids all around.

It was good. Okay. That's dope, man. I finally, I finally, I got out the house this weekend, man. What'd you do? Oh, I had a doctor's appointment in Berkeley. I'm not sure if you know, that's near, that's near your stomping grounds of Piedmont. Yeah, it's Piedmont-Mish.

I had a, I had a doctor's appointment on telegraph in Berkeley. And I just said, why not? Let me walk up, let me walk up the street. Let's go to Cal. You know, I haven't been outside. I've been on that side of the bay in a minute. Let's do a little safe walk with the mask on. Let's go up, Telegraph.

So I'm going up to Telegraph, and I get to the Cal Berkeley campus. And suddenly I have the urge to use a restroom. And I'm like, okay, well, let's figure out where we're going to find it, right? And I'm walking everywhere. I go to the Amazon store on campus, nothing, right? But I go to the Amazon store. I'm trying to find this restroom. and I asked the OG lady at the at the at the Amazon thing and I'm like hey can do you know where

any bathrooms are and she goes no they're they're all closed and what you need to do as a student you need to talk you need to email administration and figure out this because this isn't a safe thing you guys should always have access to bathrooms on campus and so I say that story to say I don't know how I should feel to be thought of as a student still. Is that a good thing? How should I feel about this? Yeah, I think you should be. That's flattering.

It's flattering at this point. Yeah. I was in that weird space too of feeling like if you carded me for some wine at like the liquor store or something like that, should I be offended? And, you know, with more perspective, dog, always take it. Because right now, I give a lot to be carded. Do you get carded now? Do you? Occasionally.

When I don't have this gruff on my face, I will occasionally get carted. Do you like be hella juice and just go into your wallet? Yeah, I got it right here, my ID's right here. Give my shit to Tiger. I just hit him with a quick little, bah. Still got it, huh? Yeah, still got them. Yeah, man.

Okay, all right, all right. Shout out to the lady at the Amazon store for making me feel younger. The OG lady. The OG lady. Shout out to the OG. Also, shout out to Sasha, our producer, also a birthday girl. Big up. Today.

Yes. Oh, is it really? Man, today's our birthday. Happy birthday, Sasha. We did a whole pre-show and ain't nobody telling me shit. Virgo gang. Okay. I thought you knew.

I thought she was out here. Let's get to the show, man. We're here on, we're taping this at 8 a.m. West Coast time. Raza's out here living large. It's somewhere where he's at. It's three hours ahead. So, you know, shout out to him.

We're recording this. We're recording this a night after the Lakers. win game two of the Western Conference finals after Anthony Davis three-pointer at the buzzer. Was this game ever in doubt to you, Raja? Because I just, I don't, I didn't see it. I know the Lakers were up double digits, lost the lead in the final minute.

Nuggets had a quick lead. What should we, were you ever in doubt? I know I wasn't. Yeah, I mean, through 99.9% of that, I was not in doubt. When the Nuggets took the lead, the Lakers had the ball and the shot was blocked in the corner. I had some serious doubt.

With the two in change on the clock, the inbounds, like I don't trust that situation. I felt like it was in jeopardy. But for, I mean, up until that point, I was good. I always felt the Lakers had it in the back. See, that's the thing about this series for me. I think that I don't really see the nuggets and I know we've got, we've got criticized on this show.

I'm not sure if you know this for not talking about the nuggets run enough. Oh, have we? We've gotten some real pushback about not talking about the Nuggets enough. And that's, and, you know, that could be on us, maybe. You know, they've had to been a great story. Well, allow me to say this. Can I say this? Can I interrupt real quick?

Just for anyone? Go ahead. I feel like if the Nuggets were in the, the Nuggets are the second best team in the bubble right now for me. They just happen to be playing the best team in the bubble. You think they're better than Miami? I would have them beating Miami or Boston. So I think of them that highly, whether I've said or not on air, I just, they're playing a team that I don't think they could beat right now.

I don't think that they could beat them either. And I'm just, have we talked since, we've talked since the Clippers fumbled a bag, right? I think I'm just still just annoyed, more annoyed that the Clippers fumbled the bag than the Nuggets being a great story, which they are, right?

And I think that, but I think this is the first series where I just don't, I don't see any help for them right now. What do you think? Here's what I think. When you get a performance like you did out of Nicola Yokic,

both with points and the assists, Jamal Murray does Jamal Murray things. The Lakers turn it over 23 times. You shoot 33 free throws to their 19 being Denver out shooting them by 14 free throws attempts. And you can't get it done. I have serious, serious concerns whether this is going to be a series at all. I really think it's going to be five game is what my gut says, but I could see this being a sweep.

And I really like the nuggets. I just, again, you're not. not going to get that. You're not going to get that out of Nicola against the three-headed monster of centers that they could throw at him every game. And he's fantastic. You're just not going to get that. I just don't see where they go from here, Logan. I think that what's interesting, you said that about the Lakers, three-headed monster at center when you talk about Dwight Howard, AD, and Javelle McGee, it's funny how it's going to, it always goes back to that because we always see this league going small. We always hear about how, you know, teams need to go.

Put PJ Tucker at center. Just go ahead and do it. And my retort to that was, why don't you just have super athletic big men that are over seven feet tall? Like, why don't you just do that? Why do you have to compromise your size when you can just have your players be, just drive players that can do that but are just taller? Why do you think that's the case?

And I think why is the Lakers, why have the Lakers been so successful with that? So I think the Lakers did a good job of, you know, Anthony Davis is the prototype. That's what you're talking about, right? You're talking about a seven-footer that can run and move like a guard, shoot like a guard, handle the ball. They just don't fall off trees.

You know what I mean? A lot of seven-footers usually don't have that type of hand-eye and just pure agility. Like, they're breeding them different now because they play guards since they're young. But the point is you don't see a lot of those. So the Lakers did a good job of, like, you have that, but then you have the defensive chops and the, and the rim protection of truer, like, if you will, quote, unquote, centers, right? Like the big Javail and big and big Dwight, because that's really what you need.

No one is, very few teams are really making you pay in the paint by running something through a Shaquille O'Neal type of player, right? You're talking about what? The Sixers with Joel Embed, Denver, who else is out there that does that? I mean, I'm drawing a blank. I just mean more, I meant more in the case of, like, you talk about the rockets who had size, Clint Capella was one of the best defensive centers in the league,

and you trade him away. Or, you know, the clippers who don't. No, that shit's stupid. Like, you're right. Like, you need, you need, I mean, to boil it down, maybe I'm misunderstood the question. Like, yeah, you need size. You have to have, not just to deal with the Nicola Yochich or AD,

but just to protect the rim in general when, when you got these dope-ass wings that are flying through there trying to, you know, finish at the rim. Like, what if you don't have Bamat a bi? if you're the heat. Jason Tatum dunks that shit. It's a different series right. You need size.

Yeah. And I just feel like we've gotten so much to, you know, pace and space and guys who can switch. But I think you do need that. You still need that center. And I think that we're seeing that with the Lakers right now, because they could just trot out multiple dudes at Yokic. And Yokch, in a way that the Clippers just didn't and couldn't.

And what do you think about that matchup? Because that was the biggest thing that we kept hearing about AD versus Yokch, AD versus this or Yokin's versus this this front Lakers front line. Right. It hasn't seemed to be that much of an issue for the Lakers. Like they could put multiple bodies on Yokic. Yeah, they have they have the bullets in the gun.

But I liked what Denver did with Yokic last night. They didn't play him. Even though like when you're describing all of these centers that they have, you would think and be like, damn, well, his advantage would probably be on the perimeter because he's so gifted with the ball. He could shoot it. He could play off the bounce. They actually took him and put him in the post more yesterday.

He was way more active. They moved him around. It wasn't just catches out in space. He punished some people around the block. So I liked what they did with Nikola Yokic. The problem is, like, you have, that's 18 fouls you have to give on them or somewhere in the 16, 15 range. And the toll of that over the course of a game,

and then if you extrapolate that out over the course of a series, is going to, it's just going to take its toll on him. It's a lot to ask him and basically Jamal Murray to go to work because they're not getting a whole lot from a lot of other places. Michael Porter Jr. has been okay. But, you know, if the Lakers are going to out shoot you from three and their bench, and we thought that, I don't know how you felt, but I felt like the Lakers bench was probably their weakest part of their team.

If they're out playing your bench, if you're the Nuggets, there's some problems there. Oh, yeah, for sure. I mean, we talked about the Lakers bench for much of this time that we've been talking together. In fact, when we're talking about Lakers clippers, that was what the clippers had an edge over, at least on paper. Like, the Lakers are reliance on LeBron and AD. Yes, they're LeBron and AD, but you do have to have that supporting cast. Caruso out here balling right now? What? You see that? Hey, look, spark plug, man. Let me give my eight and spark this thing. That's what I'm paid to do.

Yeah, man. And I just think that, you know, it's just been fun to watch. Also, AD hitting a game winner. Did you see the play and did you see just the defensive lapse of Mason Plumman? Yeah, I saw it. And I just want to put more context in that before I asked you this question.

Now, the play came after Jamal Murray blocked Danny Green shot out of bounds. No timeout was called. Does that, do you, when you're in that situation, do you already have a defensive strategy lined up? Like, how does that work when you don't have the time out to go over that? Is it a case of, oh, I just, I didn't know what I was doing, or is this, what is going

through Mason Plumley's mind at this point? Mason Plumlee clearly thought that he was going to switch a screen. You see him drop underneath the screen that never took place, like as, as, I think it was, I don't know who it was that was there, it looked like he was going to set it, but he didn't set the screen. So Mason Plumley, this is why, to take it back to the conversation. we were just having, it pays dividends to have those big, versatile players like AD because Mason Plumlee's of the world aren't used to chasing somebody off screens.

Like, that's my job. That's a wing or a guard's job. Bigs don't typically do that. So, you know, I would have already known, like, this guy, I got to run on his hip, trail, and if he shoots it with me attached to his hip, God bless him. I'm not going to give him space. But you just saw Big, not used to being in that situation, not being. you know, really coached up about it, like lose track of what was going on.

What do you think about the symbol of AD hitting a game winner for this Lakers team? Because we talked about this earlier, about how you wanted to see AD take a bit more of a leadership role and be that number one guy. Is this playoffs kind of shown that he can do that for this team for you? Yeah, I was worried full disclosure, first half yesterday. after what he did in game one and he came out and I don't know if I should have worried though tell me if I'm crazy for this.

It looked like LeBron. I might be. It looked like LeBron was obviously there to make his statement last night in the first half, right? And I don't know why somewhere deep down to me. I was like, damn, I wonder if, I wonder if AD just had a couple too many

for LeBron in game one. I don't know. Like I'm not saying that that's the case or LeBron would ever act like that. That's just what went through My mind, right? And so, but then when AD took the reins back in the second half, LeBron let him do his thing, and then AD closed it, which I've always kind of, you know, just wondered if he had that dog in him,

not saying that he didn't, but wondered about it. I do think it was a great, it's great for the Lakers. It's going to be great for AD and LeBron in the next chapter because they're going to win a championship this year. Oh, are you guaranteeing? Yeah, you just stamped that. I just did that. Yeah, yeah.

Okay. Big bad. And then going forward, you're going to have to hand those reins over. over to AD if you're LeBron. Do you know what I mean? I think that, you know, we were talking about this in the group chat where do we think that AD is, do we think that AD is prime for that role and is LeBron ready to give it to him? And I think that LeBron is ready to give it to him. I think that that's something that he wants. I think that's something that he said outwardly that he wants, this isn't, this is going to be AD's team at some point.

I mean, I think that it's a formality that AD is going to sign with them. He's going to sign back with the Lakers. I think that this is all part of the plan. I don't think that there's any animosity or anything towards that transition of power to you. I don't think so, but I would ask you the question, even if there's no animosity and I've said I wanted to do it, do you think that someone who's used to doing what LeBron does

and calling the shots? Do you think that's an easy transition? Do you think that's something that he's just going to relinquish? Do you know what I mean? I don't know that it's that easy. or maybe not everywhere else, but at least on the floor, AD is the guy because he has to be.

Yeah, I think you're right. And LeBron, as long as LeBron could get close to 20 and eight rebounds and nine assists, LeBron's fine. LeBron's not a selfish dude in any, like, on the court at all. He's just trying to win games.

So I think he'd be all right with it. I just wonder sometimes, never having been that guy, like how easy it is to transition because it was hard for me to transition in my limited role to like, my even lesser of a role. So I wonder what it's like for those guys.

If you say, I'm Roger, but I got power. Y'all got me messed up right now. What's going on? Is that what you said in Utah? Is that you're like, guys? No, listen, I went back to Utah, fully expecting to come off the bench. And like, it just for two years,

though young guys weren't ready to take it yet. And so I kind of just defaulted back into a starting role. And it was just enough for me to think I was probably a little better than I was. Was there a humbling that came through right there, Roger? At that point? Yeah. Did you get, what was the?

It was an anti-humbling because I was like, shit. Oh, I still do this. Because I thought, you know, when I signed, I was like, you know, I'll come on the bench, be a good locker room, dude. And then here I am, starting for two more years. I'm like, I just spurned Kobe, you know what I'm saying? I got two extra years of a bag that I didn't realize I was going to get. Right.

All right, Michelle. Yeah, yeah. But speaking of animosity, LeBron got some animosity to hear of these. media voters for this MVP. How do we get a vote? How do we get a vote? What is the criteria to get a damn vote? That's what I'm saying. So LeBron said he was pissed because he got a second place finish.

And honestly, when I see some of the votes, I can't be mad that he's mad. Well, I will say is that Janus should have won it. But when I see some of these ballots, there's one ballot that came out. And let me show you. Let's let's let's let's let's let's let's decipher. for this thing. Okay. There's one media ballot that had Andre Drummond as first place defensive player of the year. What? Had Hassan Whiteside second place defensive player of the year.

Had Luca Donchich as an all-MBA player. How on first team, all defense? Luca Donchich? Right. This is the same dude. Chris Stapst, Borzingis, was second team all defense. And Russell Westbrook was also second team all defense in this ballot. Now, when you see ballots like this, you can see ballots.

see why LeBron is pissed. Was that Kanye? It was like Stevie Wonder. But I feel him on being pissed like about this. But I do feel like there should be a balance of some player input, but also some media input. But there has to be a better vetting of each, right? There has to be a better vetting of people that we know watch the game on a regular

basis have to get this vote. Yeah. Because if you watch the game. game, Luca Donchens is not in all-first-team all-defense. He probably will tell you that. Luca Donchis is not in either of the top three teams defensively in the NBA right now. At all. At all. Yes, that's absurd. Yeah, look, LeBron, LeBron, again, greats, right, Logan? They're going to find a way to, like, fuel the fire and, you know, coming down. Would you agree that he has a bone to pick? I will say this, though. Yonis deserves to be the MVP.

John is the MVP at every point. Does LeBron deserve to be pissed? Janus was undoubtedly my MVP. I think LeBron can be pissed that it was a landslide the way it was, because I thought LeBron turned it on late. And had there been the last whatever amount of games that were in the season, LeBron, I think, could have tracked him down. So, yeah, I mean, LeBron has a beef,

but don't beef because you didn't win it because I think Janus should have won it. How do you feel about how the media is voting for the MVP now? Do you think that the criteria has changed from when you were playing? No, I think I've never really thought that the most valuable player was the way people voted for this award. I always felt like it was probably the best player on the best team or one of the best players on one of the best teams. So, like, team success was going to play a large role in that. And then there are times where I think you can have, you know, just media darling type of status. where it gives you a little boost.

You know what I mean? So I've never really felt like, never really felt like it was a pure, pure award. You know what I mean? I don't know. Does that make sense to you? I don't even know if it's a best player. I think that it's the best narrative of the season.

Best storyline? Sure. Best storyline. Like, case in point, when Russell Russsbrook had triple doubles for the whole season, had the narrative going the whole season. There was no time where you thought Russ isn't going to win this award.

Right. Right. That's a great point. That's a great point. And I do want to think that I'm not going to say that we both agree that this was not a question. We'll MVP. Janus deserves it. But for the sake of LeBron being pissed, let's get into it.

So questionable MVP's, Derek Rose over LeBron in 2011. Yeah, that's tough. Yeah, it's correct. I think LeBron probably should get that under the right circumstances. But again, the narrative was, you know, Derek Rose had a great season. He was everything LeBron wasn't in that time during the time where the media was talking about how LeBron just left, straight up left cleop, right? Yep.

Carl Malone over Michael Jordan in 1997. These are all really close to, like, I'm going to make a case for MJ. I was an MJ fan. I know what the Bulls were doing. Carl Malone was dominating shit out in the Western, like he was really a bad man. His numbers were ridiculous. I could still make a case for MJ, though. But I just feel like this is the, this is the award in 97 where MJ just won,

just wins too much. You know what I mean? We got fatigue. We got MJ fatigue. Like, he just wins too much. And then, you know, MJ used that as a slight so he could win a title over Malone that year. Sure.

Right. Here's something. Here's another narrative that I want to, um, that I believe is a narrative. And you might, you probably, we're probably going to fight on this show and this might be the last show. But Steve Nash over Kobe in 2006. All right. Do you have the numbers?

Do we have the numbers anywhere? Like there are the numbers up? We, what I would say was we were the better team that year. I mean, I want to see how many more. What was Kobe averaging that year? 35.4. Let me get Steve Nash's rule.

Steve Nash in that year. Average 18 points, 10 assists, four rebounds, 50% from the field, 40 from 3. 50, 40. And 90 from... And 92% from free throw. Kobe, 34 points a game. Five rebounds, four assists,

had one of the best scoring seasons of all time. No, no, no need for that. No need for any of that. Did he or did he not? No need for any of that. All you needed to do is give me the stats. I mean, you gave me Steve stats. Just give me Kobe stats.

That's what I mean... Kobe stats are... What do you shoot from the field? What do you shoot from the field? Just give me the whole picture, so I know what I'm dealing with. Shot 45 from the field. That's not bad.

Shot 34 from 3. That's not great. Here's what I would say to that. Because I would, Steve is my guy, you know that, I would not be mad if Kobe got that MVP. He was having a fantastic. We were a better team, though. To your point about the narrative, I think we had a little bit more of a narrative like we were fun to watch back then. And I would argue that while the Lakers clearly weren't going to be anything without Kobe,

nothing that we did was going to work without Steve because it was all predicated on him having the ball and orchestrating that. We ran offense, but most of our stuff devolved into Steve setting the table for somebody in a pick and roll situation unless you were going to give Amari the ball or Boris

once in a while on the block or Amari at that elbow. So that was true value, right? Both of them were equally as valuable to their team and then, you know, I just think we had a better record that year. But I wouldn't have been mad at the Kobe. What was that, what was that like for you guys? because I know I'm not the only one that thinks this, and I know you guys heard that narrative.

Well, Kobe should have won that MVP. There's no way you shouldn't have won that MVP. What is it on your end when you guys are playing and you guys are with Nash? Is that something that comes up, or do you guys care? Does Nash have like a, is he have a chip on his shoulder?

Because I'm the real MVP? That's a good question. I never really asked him. Maybe if we could get him on the pod and we could ask him now, right? Open invitation to Steve Nash to come on the Monday Ringer NBA show. Of course. How no.

I never asked him. He never seemed like it really bothered him and never talked about it bothering him. From our perspective, I don't think we really we really cared, man. We were locked in. We were really trying to win a chit. It just didn't happen.

But our focus was like laser focus like that. We weren't concerned with the rest of that. Wasn't laser focus in that first round to start? No, not with the... Stand out at the lows in Santa Monica. Staying out of the lows of Santa Monica. It seemed like Kobe felt some type of way about that. Kobe clearly felt some kind of way about that.

You could... Could you tell? In retrospect, at the time, you know, it just felt like Kobe trying to win a series, but I think the way they came out and you could see his like celebratory, like, you know, actions after some of those big shot. Like, it meant more to him, I think,

than just a first round, you know, upset possibly. He was out to prove a point, which he should have been. I mean, like LeBron, the greats are always looking for something to throw in the motivational bag, right? And so there's 100% of me believes that Kobe was motivated by that. Were you on the court when Kobe dunked on Nash? Yeah, yeah, I was on Nash. How was that?

I mean, I will say this. It wasn't offensive foul. However, you don't call an offensive foul on that. Yeah, you don't. That doesn't happen. Well, depends. Depends. What happened?

Was it an offensive rebound? Something happened where I was, like, closing out to Kobe, but I couldn't get there in time. and he took off. So it was when, I think it was a long rebound. Lamar gets the rebound, passed it to Kobe. That's what happened.

I was in a rotation, so I wasn't on Kobe, and I tried to close him down, and he just, he went with the quickscape dribble, and the rest is, how did he feel immediately after that? How did,

what was he talking shit? What was going on? No, I don't think Kobe, I don't think Kobe talked any shit. And Steve, Steve didn't say anything about it either until after the game, and he was like,

damn, I got, you know, I got dunked on pretty good. It was, I had seen Steve, get dunked on like that before, though. And it might have even been nastier than that. A lot of people don't remember the Ricky Davis

on Steve Nash with the son's dunk. Yeah. That shit is, I mean, Ricky doesn't get. Were you on the team for that too? Was I? And that one, I was like, there were very few times where I have a reaction that's like anti-teamate. And that one, I was like, oh, oh, Jesus Christ.

What do you do when a teammate gets dunked on typically? We were clowning than that one. That one was a clown fest. Yeah. But there was nothing at state. Is it you? Is it gentry? Who's clowning? Who's clowning the ass when this happens? The Kobe one, I think, too much at stake.

And the rivalry was heated enough that nobody really clown because you didn't want to give Kobe like the satisfaction of knowing. With the Ricky Davis one, when it was just the Mavs against, I think it was Cleveland on like a sleepy Sunday afternoon. It was me, Walt Williams, Nick Van Exel, Eddie Nahara, everybody sitting over on the, the bench was clowning. You got dunked on like that.

How does he take that? Is he chill? Steve chill when he gets dunked on? Like a champ, bro. Very self-deprecating dude. Like, doesn't take himself too seriously. New his limitations. Like, it's a defender.

So that kind of added to the insult. You know what I mean? But he was cool about it. I always think about that. But I do think that. Look that shit up. If you don't remember that though. We're going to look it up.

We're going to look it up. Look that up. Wait, just a little. Fast break. Through the riverway. Oh. Oh. Oh.

Oh. Correct. Yo, why is Nash always trying to take a charge? Bro, you're bugging. Why? I don't know. Why, bro? Here's the thing, though.

If you know someone's going to dunk on you, they're never going to give you that call. If the dude finishes the dunk, you're not going to get that call. Charge taking number one, Logan. Meet him before he does. jumps. If you let him get in the air, it is, it's 50-50 and you're probably going to get dunked on. So you got to get him as he plants to take off so that you disrupt the whole takeoff. What's the coldest dunk you've ever had? And what's the coldest poster you've ever been on? Because I'm about to look up both of these right now.

See, I didn't dunk a lot in the NBA, man. My best dunk in the NBA was probably on Lawrence Funderberg. I was playing for the Mavs. It was probably second round of the playoffs. 2003, I came down the middle and just took off and Lawrence Funderberg. It was my probably only and one dunk as a pro. So I dunked it on Funderberg and converted to three-point play. I don't know that I've ever been in a poster.

Why? Because you, like, just luck? I just, that wasn't my, like, I wasn't meeting anyone at the rim. Like, I didn't try to shop lock, so. Or you giving up? Were you giving up on it? Like, we're just like, I'm not going to, I'm fine. I'm not going to do this. If I can, if I can only get, like, my wrist over the rim, it don't make a lot of sense

for me to be trying to block like Ricky Davis or Kobe at the rim. So my job was to try to stop him from getting to the rim. Once that happened or didn't happen, that was up to like DeKembe and Kurt Thomas and Sean Bradley and those dudes. What's the instance when the guy's coming downhill, right? And it looks like he's going to dunk on you. Is it I'm going to like try to strip them or I'm just going to get the hell out of the way? Like what is going through your mind when a guy either on a fast breaker,

he's just coming down the lane? Yeah, that's a good question. That's, that's, you're talking about tenths of a second to make this decision, right? And it's, if I can get to your feet, like, okay, I don't have to get you before you take off, but I have to get you before you get like 33% into your ascension on the jump, right? Because once you've hit that point, then hitting me is just going to propel you higher. So I've got to, that's what happens, right? Like if you hit, I'm just taking you further up to the rim.

So I got to catch you like at 25% or, or, or, or, or, or, or, you're, you. earlier in your ascension as if I can't get to that, then I'm pulling a flyby. Like I'm just going to run through and try to swipe it, swipe at it, or I'm just like running through your path and getting the hell out of the way. Another thing, though,

because it's always the funny thing to ask players this. You guys do weird shit when you're guarding people. Like when you're not guarding people, but not actually guarding them, like if you're laid on a closeout, you try to tap his leg and stuff. Does that stuff actually work? I hate seeing you guys do that type of stuff.

It's just so, or you guys do the, you guys do the, Kobe used to do to clap. The clap out of. Yeah, like, but when you're clearly, like, out of a rotation, like, you're not playing well and you're just do the weak shit on defense. Of the legal weak shit to do.

And you get into the illegal stuff, too. You're out of the leg. I will. I'm going to go into that. But, like, the tapping of the leg, the poking in the belly, those can work because they can work, because you're kind of vulnerable

when you go out for a jump shot, right? Like, you're not ready for, the tapping on the leg not a big deal the poking in the belly can throw you off a little bit the rest of that is silly like I got two boys I got 12 year old

I mean 13 and 11 my 11 year old is a little bit more like me and that he will get away with anything you'll let him get away with so he is a big believer in poking you in the belly like on the close out and I've seen him get into multiple fights because of that with his brother

but there were guys and like I'm not going to there were guys that you know for a fact on that closeout, they were going to try to stick a foot under you. Like that type of shit, I always felt like, even though people thought I was a dirty player, I didn't play like that. Like, you know what I mean?

Like, I was physical. I'd flop. Like, I had my moment with Kobe, but I ultimately wasn't trying to like break your ankle or something like that. I've had guys put the foot under me. And you see it on film and I confront them and they couldn't even hide from it because it's like, yeah, I did that. And then the other one was the tap in the,

in the nether regions, which you've seen boys fight. Like you saw Channing Fry and, who was it, KG square up over that? Yeah. Boys used to do that, and that's pretty uncool too. And how do you combat that?

Do you, like, do you have to fight them? Do you have to go to the threat of a fight? Like, how do you, when someone goes under your leg, how do you get them to stop doing it? Yeah, listen. You're out of the league now, bro. I tell my sons, I'm a big believer in this shit, man. Like, there are times where you,

you got to do it. you got to do. So you're going to have to fight somebody, you're still, you're going to get in trouble and you're going to have to suffer like the repercussions of having to fight them, but you got to fight them. Have you ever had a situation where you've had to just be like, hey, bro, check this out. Oh, what? Listen, me and KD. Like, he was a rook in the league and he caught me, we were in Seattle, and he caught me on a close out. And I liked KD. I still like KD. So I went up, I shot, I turned the hell out of my ankle. man like square on his foot all my weight on it um and i was in fury i looked up at him i said

i said boy please tell me you ain't do that shit on purpose man because i was like if and he looked at me he was like i didn't do it i went back and looked at the tape and it was an accident but like in a situation like that i'm going to have the next time i see you we have to do something if you're your livelihood this is your life yeah but katy didn't do it on purpose but that's the way i felt about that play, right? And because, yes, you are, you are costing me money. Yeah, okay. Let's take a quick break.

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Let's talk some Celtic seat, Roger. Mm-hmm. So the boss of Celtics, they took care of business. All the cliches got it back to a two one, got it cut it to a two one lead. Before we get into what I want to talk about was Jimmy Butler. Let's talk about the Celtics for a second. Mark is smart. After a game two loss goes into the locker room and says basically you all need to get your shit together.

And there's a lot of loud noises, there's arguments, there's all these things. between him and Jalen Brown. They have since, at least outwardly squashed the beef. Is this normal, though? Yeah. Yeah, that's normal. Especially when you have a guy like Marcus Smart, who's clearly like their emotional leader.

I don't know that you'd call him necessarily the on the court leader. And that's always an interesting dynamic too, right? Because I played those sons teams that I was on, I was kind of the emotional leader of those teams, right? because I wore my emotions on my sleeve and I was loud and I was, you know, like, and it's always tough when you have to call out people or lay into a team of guys that you know are probably better than you as a player, although Marcus Smart might not believe that. That's an interesting dynamic, but it has to happen sometimes.

And you've got to fight about it. Like any relationship, you got to get all that shit out on the table. And everybody can say their peace and we don't have to like what each other says, but we are a family. We got to respect the feelings. And from there, though, you can maybe move forward and do what you need to do. So I think it's normal for it to happen. And I actually think that that needed to happen for the Celtics because they were getting bully.

They were getting outworked, out-tuffed. Marcus Smart was trying to defend five people in the first two games. Everywhere he went, he put a fire out and another fire popped up. Like, that shit, I can't do this shit by myself defensively, you know? So I don't know verbatim what was said. But if I'm Marcus Smart, I'm a little pissed too. When you say you were the emotional leader, or one of the emotional leaders of the sons,

and we know that Marcus Smart is the emotional leader of the Celtics. How much of a responsibility to get that right? If you're going to yell at somebody, how do you make sure it's constructive and not, fuck him? I'm not going to play. How do you make sure that happens?

It's a really good question. First, I don't think you can have that kind of outburst at your team or your teammates very often, right? You can be one of the emotional leaders of a team and have different interactions with people that would support that without having to have that big blow up. Like when you're going to go off, like I remember a situation in Sacramento, it was probably 05-06. It was halftime. We were probably down 20 points.

And like Mike D. Antony started talking and I just interrupted him and MFed and soft asses and son of a beat. Like I just went off. And, like, you know, damn near tears in your eyes. Like, this is some, and we had a response to that. Like, the whole team came out. We won that game. But I can't do that every night because people start to think you're just bugged out. Like, you know what I mean?

Like, or, you know, you're going to have some fractured relationships there. So number one, I think it's important that you don't do it too much. And then number two, you have to have established a healthy enough care and relationship with dudes that they know, even though I did that or even though Marcus Smart did that, it's for the greater collective good. Like we're, I'm just trying to get the best out of us as a team and this is the way I see it. And if we can, if we can agree to kind of move past it and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, like, like, like, like, like, we won't hold any ill, ill, ill will towards each other because of it. So, so you just cut Mike Dantone off and just cursed everyone out? I cursed everybody. What was it, what was it, what was the circumstance?

What happened? It was no, no, no, I mean, like, like, like, like, like, what was the, how the, how was the season going like, how was, how was, what was going on when. No, we were in the midst of, what was. a good season. We were a good team. We thought we had championship like potential, but we were in Sacramento on one of those sleepy midseason games and they were wearing our ass out. And whether it was right or not, like, because I haven't watched the film, I felt like we were just getting out tough. And I prided myself on playing hard and playing tough. So in my mind, I thought I was doing that. And whether I was right or wrong again, I didn't feel like everyone was given the

same effort. So I let us have it, you know? And I, you know, the other thing I think is important, though, is to include yourself in it, even if you don't feel like you're part of the problem necessarily. When you're doing that shit, it's got to be we. It can't be y'all. It's got to be like, we have a problem. We aren't playing tough enough. We need to, you know, toughen up or whatever you got to say to them and then keep it moving. But we responded. And it was the only time I did it that year so verbally and so abrasively, And we had a good response to it. Do you think that the Celtics get help from this?

We know in the immediate aftermath they won game three. But do you think that this catapults us into a seven-game series, whereas I thought maybe four or five after the first two games? I got mixed emotions, dog. Like, I think, first of all, I think that really helped. I thought you saw guys come out with another level of intensity. I think getting Gordon Hayward back is really huge for that team. It's another playmaker, another versatile defender, a guy that can put you in pick and roll and create out of it, also score the ball.

My heart, Logan, says that this is going to be a series now. I don't know. How do you feel about it? There's part of me that feels like the heat, it's a sustainable thing, man. They play hard. They got a bunch of playmakers. They've been doing it all bubble. And then there's another part of me that says, man, is there an expiration date on that shit?

And when is that? You're talking about for the Celtics? For the heat, I wonder. I'm asking. I don't know. I think that we'll get to this. I do want to ask you a quick question before we get to that. Gordon,

you brought up a point about Gordon Haywood. You got hurt, went home as a pregnant wife, and it's talking about going, like, what do you do in that scenario? You stay your ass in the bubble, bro. That's what you do. You stay your ass in that bubble. Like, and I know it's, look, I didn't have. I mean, I was just saying the other side of that, like, you know,

wife's pregnant. Do you go back home? Like, do you have her coming up? Like, how does that work? And yes. I want to be careful, dude, because I say some, I say stuff. And I'm not, I'm not saying that it isn't beautiful to be there with your wife and, and witness the childbirth.

I was blessed enough to be able to do that. I'm just from, from where I sit, if I had been in the middle of the Eastern Conference or Western Conference finals, there is no question that I would be, at the game. Personally, I can't tell Gordon what to do. Gordon, I had Gordon as a rook, man. Gordon's a great dude. Great family. All of that. I think the fact that you were just at home and you got some time there that you didn't anticipate having. Yeah. And you saw how much you meant to Boston. I would tell you, I man, you probably need to stay in that bubble, dog. I might have seen, I might have done the other thing, Roger. I might have just stayed. I wanted to just stay

if my wife is just about to get pregnant, I might have just did that. Like, I might have just stayed at home. Well, if you didn't come back, then I would, that's a thing, that's choice, right? But now you came back. Would you have come back in that instant, though? Would you have come back into the bubble if you go back to, to, um, mother and your children? I would have, bro. I would have because I know how rare it is to have an opportunity to win a championship, man. Like, I would have, like, they don't come. I went to the finals, my first year in 2001 with the Philadelphia 76ers. And I thought at minimum, every three years, I was going to get a sniff. Like, and I never got to. back. So, you know, maybe that's having a little perspective. But I'll tell you, like, real

quick story on my son, Dia. We were in the 2007 playoffs against the Lakers. And my wife went in with what was like probably like some Braxton Hicks type of thing. She was late in the pregnancy. Them damn doctors in Phoenix induced her to have the baby. So I did not have to miss the game the next night. Like my wife will never forgive them for that. But that's what they were on. They were like, We go get the baby out so he could go to the gate. Wait, so the doctors already, they already knew who you was. They already did it. We were like, we need Raja.

My wife would slap that doctor if she saw her right now because she was so pissed. But we had the baby. I got to play in the gate. Wow, that's crazy. Okay, let's segue back into the Heat series. The Heat remind me a lot of the 2011 Dallas Mavericks in a lot of ways. Go ahead. Articulate those, please.

I'm trying. I'm interested. one star one like bonafide star right okay surrounded by a bunch of dudes not a bunch and when i say dudes i mean that in all respect like like bonafide dudes yeah like not regular guys not not regular guys like bonafide dudes yeah and they just go on this unexplained run you know because if you look at that Dallas mavericks uh series they or that that that that run they beat the i think they beat the poorland trouble as they go beat the Lakers. They sweep the champion Lakers who are looking for a

three peak. And then they go and beat probably one of the best collections of talent ever in the Miami Heat. Right? But they just were on that run with a bunch of veteran dudes, a veteran coach, probably wasn't seated high. I don't think the, I think the Mavericks were seated around the same

if I'm not mistaken. Something along those lines like four or five, something like that that year. And they go in and they just go off. I just see that in this team. I think that's the argument, and I don't believe this argument, but there's an argument going around that the Heat could win the title,

but that's the argument you can't have for them winning the title, is that they are that type of team that has gone on a run like the Mavericks did. Okay, so I'll ask you another question. That Mavericks team not only had a bona fide star, but one of the best to ever do it offensively. Do you think that the Heats bona fide star,

A, Jimmy Butler, two questions. A, is good enough offensively to carry when he needs to. And B, understands that role because, like, Dirk knew when it was time, he was to give me the ball. I got these. Do you know what I mean? Like, it looks to me. I think that Jimmy can carry them down the stretch of a game, for sure.

I mean, that's not even a question. He's done that. Right. In these playoffs. Now, can he carry a game? Consistently, though. Like, this is consistent. This is...

Let's look at his last couple games. And I want to get your take on this. All right. Jimmy has had his last, let's say... Let's go five games. 13 shots is the last game. Before that, 11 shots, 14 shots, 6 shots, and 15 shots. Throughout this whole postseason, he's only hit 20 or more shots one time.

I know he is the unselfish superstar. I know I get that. I feel that he needs to be more assertive. It's his team. And maybe that's the old school staying in me, but I think he should be more assertive. I agree with you. I think if you are the straw that stirs the drink,

and I think he is for the heat, you have to force the issue when it needs to be forced. The heat play a wide open kind of style where they don't, you know, it's not like one guy's ball. Like they play a, a real team style. So everyone is going to get their FGAs up. And, you know, it doesn't lend itself to you shooting 25 shots a night like some teams are built. But you certainly, when other guys are cooking or games are in jeopardy, you have to get your shot production up. You need to demand a ball

and you have to, you know, for lack of better way to put it, get it done. And that's what separates like grates from really goods, you know, the ability to do that in a timely fashion. It doesn't have to be all the time, but it has to be when we need it. As it pertains to that 2011 Mavs team, just a little pushback. Let me, you had Dirk Nowitzki. I don't think there's a comp for Dirk on the heat. And I would argue that like there's no one on the heat that's as good as Sean Marion was as a player in his career either. I meant more so in the sense of like you have an older veteran player, older veteran star. Yeah, I could dig that. I can dig that. That's what I mean, right? That That has been there, but hasn't won anything.

That has been to that level and hasn't won anything. And I'm not comparing games, though. But I mean situations where you have this aging guy, you know, that's on this team, you know, a veteran group that's just going on a run. Fair. That's fair. I think Jimmy Butler needs to shoot more. I think Jimmy Butler needs to, without taking them out of their rhythm and what they try

to do offensively. Like, you're not going to just give it to Jimmy and let him go ham. But he's certainly got to take a little bit more ownership on the offensive end. things aren't going well. Let's take a quick break. And we have a new segment, a new WMBA segment featuring Jordan Liggins. We're talking WMBA. Yes.

We have a copywriter, a writer, and an expert on the WMBA, Jordan Liggins. How are you doing? I'm doing great. It's WMBA playoffs. How could you be upset? It's awesome. So we, we, we, we, I got Jordan on the show under the, the, the, the, under the promise that there will be no LA Sparkslander.

Now, I don't know if we can promise that anymore. We'll get to that in a second. But before we get to anything, I do want to talk about, you're talking about the Wobble. Should we be concerned that the Wobble will be no more? Because yesterday, on Sunday, the Seattle Storm Minnesota Links game was canceled. Well, postponed.

I think Postpone is the right way to say. It was postponed because of a few inconclusive tests. We don't know. another game is going to happen. Jordan, should we be concerned about the WMBA season? I'm not concerned.

First, I'm a really big optimist, so I'm just going to say that it was a bad test kit. You know, these were just errors. Three times during the regular season, there were inconclusive tests. And those players just didn't play. But they came back negative the next day, and they were able to play and practice.

the following day. So I'm just going to hope that that's what's going to happen again and that we're just going to keep going and we're just going to forget about this. I don't want it all to crumble, especially Seattle, who might go to the finals. I don't want that to happen. Do you think that, I mean, because what does it say about the security of the bubble? Because this will be really, really, everybody's in such close proximity. This is, It seems like multiple people were had inconclusive tests. This could be something though, right, Jordan? Yeah.

So this time, that's why they shut down the game because it was multiple players on Seattle. Whereas before, it was just one player and that player, you know, everybody else tested negative. So this time it was multiple players. But again, being an optimist, I'm going to say they tested right after each other. and those were just a bad batch and that we could keep going. I think I would be more worried if it was one from Seattle and one from Minnesota, then that would mean that those are two separate testing areas and maybe it's spread already.

But two in the same team, two bad tests, and that's what I'm going with. Okay. Well, we're going to be pouring out a little liquor on the sparks a little later on. But there was some Sparks News, the Sparks, News, the Sparks, to the Connecticut son. It was really sad. Without Nekka, Guma, K was not in the lineup. And their season is over.

But Candice Parker was talking about her free agency. And she said she wanted to stay in L.A. But wasn't like all the way committed. Should we be afraid that Candice Parker is, should I be scared that Candace Parker is not going to be back with the sparks next year? I think you should pray to the basketball gods that she stays in L.A. because I'm putting my money that she goes to Chicago. She goes home.

She tries to get a ship with the sky. That's my prediction. I think she's done. I don't know how many times, just like she said, I don't know how many times you can say, next year we're going to do it again. Next year we're going to be better.

Yes, next year they're going to have NECA, hopefully, if she's healthy. They're going to have Christy Tolliver who opted out of this season. They're going to have Chenay. But how many times are you going to say next year will be better next year? So you're saying right now, Jordan, that the real CB3 is going to be out of L.A. That's what you're saying. I think she might.

I think she goes to Chicago. That's my prediction. I'm saying it now on the NBA show right now. As I don't break my heart, I hope that doesn't happen. Before we do get you out of here, I do want to, this is the biggest thing that I do, I want. wanted to come over here and talk to you about and also talk to Rajah about is the playoff format for the for the first and second round of the playoffs where you have it's a playing tournament where you have the lowest seeds have two single elimination games before they get into the um the conference finals

now the we've seen this in the in the NBA where there is a single elimination game but it's only for the to get into the postseason, not to advance in the postseason. And Sue Byrd said that she is not, she is for playing games, but higher seeds should not have to deal with playing games because it's unfair. They have worked too hard. And I, as a Sparks fan, I agree with this. The spark should not be out as much as they are. I want to start this question off with Raja. Roger, do you believe that there should be single elimination games for the first two rounds?

of a of any of a of a wmba game or any league no no not I mean if if you've worked all season to be the number one seed or number two seed you shouldn't be subject to having one bad game and getting knocked out of the playoffs if moving forward in the playoffs you're going to have series take place

to give you a bit more context to rather through to give you a little bit more context the first and second seat they have two buys but even even third fourth like my point is like if you're the higher seat I agree with Sue Byrd Like you you don't want to have to have one bad game dictate whether or not you're in the playoffs. If moving forward, people are going to get the hop in series and then the best team usually winds up winning. So I just think, you know, it's single elimination all the way through or you figure out a way to do like a three game series instead of, you know, having one bad game and you're knocked out.

Do you think that there's going to be any reform to this, Jordan? I would agree that second round should be best of three because, you know, if you take the sports, you get NECA back and that swings the whole series. That will change everything. And it really did seem they did a bad game. I've never seen Chelsea Gray shoot like that before. And I know that that wouldn't have continued if that was the best three series. So there were a lot of complaints.

There were a lot of complaints. So I think that they might tweak it. I like the first round single elimination game. It's chaos. it's madness, it's so much fun. And then the semifinals best of five. I think that if it's just a progression, that would probably be better. Yeah.

I think that part of the reason there was argument was costs associated with a five-game series in the first round, you know, just for both arenas and both teams, the cost of it was a bit expensive. But I would say that even if you need to have the second round be a three-game series, you have to give the higher Cs a chance. So we'll see what happens. I really hope that there's a postseason because we need it right now. So we'll see what happens. But thank you so much for coming on. We should make this a weekly thing for the WMBA. Yes, I would love that.

All right. All right. All right. No spark, no slander is all I'm going to say. We can't be, we might have to cut that out about the CP going to Chicago. It was really, the whole time I was watching that blowout, we have to say. It was pretty bad. Sorry.

I just, yeah, I didn't wear my Aces jersey. I had to wear my Monarch's jersey. I don't know if that was better for you. A piece of Permanetero Monarch's jersey. Man, that's respect. Thank you so much. We'll see you next week. Okay.

See you guys. It's time to pour out a little liquor, Roger. No doubt. We have a friend of the show. We have one of five Clippers fans on the planet right now. It's him. It's Billy Crystal. It's Clipper Darrell.

and it's like two guys that got free tickets as kids. And he is one of them. Isaac Lee is in the building. Hey. Isaac, you had a week to process this, collapse, this shame as a staff record label and a motherfucking crew. Speak your piece on the Clippers collapse.

My peace. Damn. Well, first of all, I appreciate you giving me a whole week to give my wounds to heal, time to heal. My peace on the clippers collapse? I mean, what peace is there to speak? There's no peace. There's only turmoil.

There's only chaos. You know, this is, in many ways it was to be expected. Suffering is the inevitability of Clippers fans. and for the Clippers organization, it is the curse, the yoke that is on our shoulders. You know, life is just a precursor to death. Hope is poison.

You know, all of those things. It is just suffering after suffering. It is just pain after pain. It is loss after loss. And there's a certain level of comfort in knowing that it's so very, very predictable. You know, after game five, it was like, oh, they're going to blow this.

After game six, it was they are absolutely losing for certain with no doubt whatsoever. And Logan, you and I were talking throughout game seven, you know, you can tell me what my mood was, what my, what my state of mind was. He bet against the Clippers for game seven because he just knew that. on the nuggets. Oh, is that what clip? Oh, that's tough, homie. Yeah, keep going.

I don't mean to know. Keep going, no, no. It's just, this is despair, you know, this is despair, you know?

And had this monotone right here. It was just, it just seems sad. He just seems out of it. These are usually fun for me, but like this one, I feel bad. It's not fun.

I'm not having a bug, I know. He's speaking at the funeral. He's like looking at the, he's looking at the grass. He's not even looking at us. Oh. You know,

Raja, I, I regret the fact that, that this is the circumstances under which we are meeting, I'm usually a pretty dynamic personality. I consider myself a fairly happy person. But you find me in distilled despair. You know, the purest form of disappointment is where you find me.

So, yeah, I did bet against the Clippers. I bet the Nuggets Money Line and the point spread. And I want some money off of it. So at the very least. I would like to point out, that Isaac is a Clippers fan because he went to a Clippers Lakers game in which he got free tickets

saw Kobe hit a game winning fade away, one of the greatest shots he's seen in person and said I'm going to root for the team that lost. I would like to say that he chose this and I don't have any sympathy for him. Yeah, I mean,

choosing that life because of that is hard. It's hard for me to really feel terrible for you. I would I would ask you, though, because I'm really interested in, like, as a Clipper fan, who do you hold, like, most responsible for the, for the meltdown? Like, is it just an organizational thing? Because you just said, you know, it's a life of a Clipper fan.

Or do you as a fan say, damn, Paul George didn't hold up his end of a bargain, or Kawhi or Doc? Like, is there someone that you're pointing to finger to more than someone else? That's a good question. I don't know. it's tough to blame any of the great personnel on the roster

or part of the organization. As much as there has been slander for Paul George, Kauai didn't show up in the fourth quarter of Game 7 either. He went one for 11, I believe. Like, it's not like it's not like Kauai was this

banging superstar that we saw last year and Paul just didn't show up. It's kind of both of them didn't really show up. You know, Doc? didn't make adjustments. I think it's kind of an all-around. Total meltdown, huh?

We had a total meltdown. Total meltdown. I mean, this is what happened in 2015 is just like, it's just the repeat, you know? It's just like, didn't it happen in 2006 when Rajah played and beat your clippers? Yeah, I wasn't going to bring it up.

That 06 team is my favorite team of all time. That's a tough team, man. Yeah, you know, Elton Brand's my favorite player. But you guys, you know, it was, it was tough. It was tough reliving these, the same memories of them losing the second round over and over again. Never getting to the conference finals. I got some water right here. I know, Roser probably has something kicking.

Coffee. I don't know what you have. Let's pour out some liquor for the team. Thank you, Isaac. We'll talk to you next season. Yeah. Hopefully I'll have a much higher voice by then. Yeah, probably not.

All right, man. Peace. Nice to meet you, bro. Nice to meet you. All right, man. I do want to, I do, while we're still recording, I do want to pour out some liquor for the LA Sparks. Don't have to say much, man. Pour out some liquor for, um, for Candice, pour out some liquor for all the homies.

It was a good run. We'll be right back. All right. And we're back for real one of the week. This is somebody or someone or some entity that, um, it displays all of the characteristics we want in a real one. And so my real one. real one of the week.

Pretty somber here, Rajah. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the notorious RBG. He passed away this week, Supreme Court Justice, a trailblazer for women's rights, trailblazer for civil rights,

passed away, and it's going to, we don't have to get too political into this, but she was a real one in her life. And I just want to give her some acknowledgement. Also, honorable mention, Zendaya becomes the youngest,

Emmy winner for a lead actress and a drama for Euphoria, town legend, town representative. Shout out Oakland. Shout out Zendaya. A real one of the week honorable mention. Facts. My boys are big fans of Zendaya. Did not know she was a town native.

Those are two good ones, bro. It's going to be hard to top that. But my real one of the week is one, Cameron Jarrell Newton. Speak on it. Newton. Disrespected, left for dead. No one wanted to...

No respect on his name. No respect on his name. Every team in the league had a shot at him at bargain basement, like cheap, like pennies on the dollar price. No one wanted to touch him. And even when he went to the Patriots, I had to listen to all of these fools on all these networks talking about how he was coming off the bench and Jared Stidham was going to be the better quarterback.

and, you know, his career was over. And Cam Newton came out running the ball week one. They told me it wasn't sustainable. He was going to get injured. They can't play like that. And all he did last night in defeat, though, in defeat, was go 30 for 44 for 397, one TD in the air, 11 carries for 47 more yards and two touchdowns on there

and almost snatched a W from the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle. So I'm putting some respect on Cam Newton, real one of the week. Welcome back, Superman. That was really good. You might be good in this role, man. You know what I mean? That was pretty good.

Thank you. All right, man. That's been it for the Monday edition of the Ringer NBA show. Keep giving us names. We should have one in the next, I say a week or so, but keep giving us names. Also, listen to the mismatch coming out tomorrow. Tap in with that. Listen to our podcast, man.

On the Spotify network, and wherever you get podcasts, bro. Listen, man. You know what I mean? I got to get, you know, birthday shoutouts to Roger. birthday shout-outs to our producer sasha it's her birthday today make sure you make sure y'all you know pour out some for her you know what i mean shout out we'll see you i don't even know bro everything's going or series messing around right now yo tap into the podcast bro we'll see y'all next week