The Ringer NBA Show - The Main Takeaways From KD’s Debut in Phoenix and Ja Morant in Hot Water | Real Ones

Episode Date: March 2, 2023

Logan and Raja are back to recap Kevin Durant’s first game with the Phoenix Suns and discuss how he fits with the team (0:00). Later, the guys address the serious accounts about Ja Morant's behavior and what that means for him and for the Memphis Grizzlies (0:00). Finally, the guys close out with their Real Ones of the Week (00:00). Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Associate Producer: Jonathan Kermah Production Assistant: Kai Grady Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it's Kevin O'Connor. I've got some big news for you. The Mismatch is hosting its first ever live show in Los Angeles at the L.R.A. Theater on March 6th, me and Chris Vernon are going to be there. I'm fired up about it. At the L.R.R.A. Theta, there's been performers like Bob Dylan and Kendrick Lamar, enraging as the machine in Licky Lee. I'm fired up.

Get to be on that stage with my guy, Chris Vernon. We've been together since 2016 doing NBA podcasts. And now we're going to get to meet a lot of you who have listened. to our show for so many years. We'll do a Q&A at the end. We might have some special guests, but we're definitely going to be talking basketball. It's going to be a lot of fun.

I'm excited about it. Tickets are going fast, though, so be sure to head to the LRA.com to get your tickets now. Doors are going to open at 7 p.m. And the show is going to be starting right at 8 o'clock. Let's go, baby. What's popping? Ruins Logan Murdoch here, Rajah, by there.

Raja, I got my recording going this time. Somebody tweeted at me that it sounded like I was recording from my bathroom yesterday. It was just hella echoey. Just full transparency. We didn't do that. I listened back over the pod yesterday. We edited the part out when I realized that my mic was not recording. And so I didn't realize that my mic wasn't recording until 10 minutes in.

Mind you, listener, we are the last thing that either Kai or Kerm says to us. before they disappear from our screen is, hey guys, are we recording and do we have sufficient battery level? It's the last thing we hear before it's just Logan and I on the screen. What's hell of funny though is that Third I Kai and O.G. Kerm actually asked me personally because they asked Roger. Roger was straight. Roger knew he was good.

He was recording. And then Kerm literally says, Logan, are you good? And I said, I'm good, man. And then I look 10 minutes into the pod and I'm like, fuck. That good. That good. I was like, fuck.

Which also messed me up. Players, players mess up too. Players mess up too. But it really messed me up because it messed me up in terms of the timing of the pod. Because like the record usually tells me how long the pod is. I had no idea last time. I had no clue what we were doing. Or were we over?

Like you get to a point now where it just, it is kind of muscle memory in terms of I get a feeling when like we're, we're right around this should be ending you know so were we close even though you didn't have the recording we got to like 45 minutes which is like on the low end for us but it's good you know it's a solid it's a solid midseason pod I mean by podcast metric

standpoints 45 is a benchmark right like you're trying to get to 45 and you're not trying to be over what I mean like bro before the trade deadline we were giving motherfuckas like hour 15 so but there is a point like what 130 where someone is like that becomes two sessions for them to sit down and listen to a pot, right?

Yeah, it depends on the, it depends on how pop it is. Like, you know, the Juan T episode, for instance, we give it them three hours. All right, we're giving them, you know what I mean? It depends on who's in the show. We'll give them a two-parter. All right. That was just, that was just fluffy and just, I mean, I think we're better than that. We are better than what we just did.

I really do. I think we just came up against really slow. You know what, bro? You know what I'm saying? just keep that shit in though you know what I mean because at some point we're going to get better than we are today just like the Phoenix Suns rasha hey see you know just like the Phoenix Suns who you know had their first game in Charlotte with Kevin Durant so let's recap this thing I want to just go through my reactions of like watching it like we were we were talking about pre-pod just about like how you know we're just degenerate and how we're just degenerate and how we watch sports and we are like really just Monday morning quarterback in it.

You're talking about the combine earlier, just how you got your pin and pad and you're looking at diamonds in the rough. That's how I am with basketball and that's how you are. So basketball. So I'm on the league pass app watching this, right? I'm just locked in. All right. I'm locked in, right?

And I see, I get in about the first quarter and I just, usually when you see a team trying to figure it out mid-season or like with a big train. or something. There's just a, there's a, there's a adjustment process. It didn't seem like must adjusting for the Phoenix Suns. It seemed like they were running sets. They were calling shit out. They were like, Chris Paul was like, hey, hey, hey, you move the hell out of the way so I can get the ball to Kevin or, or Diadra Aden in the post, right? And so I'm like, I texted a couple people. I said, quote, a couple text messages didn't come back. A couple texts I had to like walk back my my my my uh my my uh my hot takes but i came out like phoenix looks great all right phoenix looks

amazing they're looking great and then i realized something and the suns looked great but it was also like the first real time that i've seen the charlotte hornets all season and i got to be honest with you it the competition just wasn't there it just it it was they were it was the la fitness run you know it was just it wasn't it didn't look it didn't look great but the phoenix sons look good. They look good in their first bit of action with everyone. Let me give you some stats before we hear what Roger's opinion is. Katie and D. Book combined for 60 points. Kevin Durant's full stat line, 23 points in 27 minutes, 10 of 15 from the field, six boards, two blocks to assist. CP3 at 11 assists. DeAndre 8 and 15 and 15. And they held the Hornets under 100 points with

no lamello. I give you those stats, Roger. What do you think? Um, I think you're absolutely right. I was impressed with how efficient KD looked and how easily he looked integrated into that offense. I was appreciative of how simple they kept the offense last night, and they just kind of hooped. And then when I boiled it down to how are they able to just do that, it's because with all due respect to Charlotte,

the Hornets are terrible. They weren't pushed in any real way in that game. And so it affords you the opportunity to just be out there looking like. And I loved it. It looked like an LA fitness run for the Phoenix Suns. It was just really easy and really cool. And so while I can tell you that I think they're going to work together. And what you saw last night is kind of a precursor to what you can see on a grander scale as it continue to get better together, we don't really know because they weren't pushed in any real capacity.

And when those kind of chinks in the armor would reveal themselves, would be in games against better teams with better defenses, games that mean more. And so I am optimistic. I do think it's going to work out great. I think those, I've said it before. I think that's going to be a really potent offense.

But just as it pertained to last night, you know, I tried to watch that. I did. I tried. No, I did. Because I, you know, and I did watch pieces of it. And then I found myself like, you know, I'm going to keep in a buck. Tell me your journey. What was your journey, bro?

My journey was like I tapped in first quarter sitting on the couch. I had a bunch of my son's teammates at the house. They were hanging out and doing their thing. And so I was a little distracted. But still like, you know, I'm trying to watch. You know, I'm trying to watch this, paused it, went away, had to do something from my daughter, came back, tap back in, and was locked in for stretches at a time.

And then I found myself like, if you grab me as anything, I'm locked in. But when I start wondering who's going to run the fastest 40, is Devon A chain going to run the fastest 40 or Jalen Hyatt? or is it going to be Darius Davis from TCU? Like once I start drifting into that, and now I'm on my phone trying to figure out who's going to run the fastest 40 in a couple days at the NFL Combine.

It's not a very good product. And that's where I was. Like all my attention kind of drifted to the NFL Combine because the game was just bad. Bro, so I was in, so I locked in. First of all, I was like, I knew that Phoenix was going to start with KD yesterday.

I just wasn't, I wasn't locked in on the timing. So I was like, oh, they're probably going to play like 7 o'clock local time. I'm on the West Coast, right? I see that it's the game starts at four local time. And I'm like, oh, shit, it's 420. So like I got to lock in. It's like midway through the first quarter. And I missed Katie's first shot.

I missed all those things. But then like, you know, I'm like, oh, okay, let me just watch a couple plays, right? Let me just see what's going on. It was so easy for the, for the sons. It was like when you're on pro mode on 2K. So like similar to you, I'm currently writing right now. I'm in a bag of like writing in the editing process. Rashi don't ever be a writer.

It's terrible. But I'm currently in that. So I just drifted towards like Google searches and listen to the new Don Toliver album. So I'm like, oh, okay, let me let me let me just put this. Let me mute this. Let me mute this game. I'm going to listen to listen to this album. And then I just go to another tab.

and stuff. And then I get back, fucking sons are up 20, right? Yeah. And then I'm like, oh, okay, like, it's whack. Then I go back to the third quarter because I see the score is like, I see the score is getting a little tighter, right? I see, you know, Tony Rogers out here, you know, trying to do something,

you know, a couple guys. Gordon Hayward's getting a couple shots up. You know, Kelly Ubre is just, it's telling people they're too small, right? Kelly Ubray. They get the lead down to six. They get the lead down to six. I'm still like, it's one of those things where like bro, I already, I didn't even,

I watched the last play that I saw was Damian Lee getting hit in the face and Kelly Ubray Duncan on somebody to cut the Charlotte, cut the Phoenix lead down to six. And then I was like, nah man, they're gonna bring their, the Phoenix is gonna bring their starters back in, it's gonna be over. Like, it's not even a, it's not even a thing.

But my question to you is, that was my journey. Now my question to you is, one of the biggest one of the biggest takeaways I got from this game even though it was just a very it was just it was cardio for the sons

was it was great to see KD play with other great players and I know a lot of people are going to know we play you know and I know even what you're probably going to say Raja everybody in the NBA

is really good I'm not discounting that at all but it was really good to see him play with other high IQ basketball players like a Chris Paul and like a Devin Booker, other star-type players because a lot of times during the Nets run, a lot of the offensive responsibility laid on Kevin Durant because he's Kevin Durant, but also he didn't have those ancillary pieces and also just the turmoil that was going on in Brooklyn. I really felt like it was good to see him kind of

find a comfort zone and not have to bear all the responsibility on the offensive end. And it was just really cool to just see ball movement and like, oh, this is good. Easy shot here. Easy shot here. He's not working for so much. That was really good. What did you see from his overall performance during that game? Again, I agree with what you're saying. And it kind of echoes what I was saying. Like that it looked great. I thought that he played with a real kind of ease, like both physically, I mean, because there wasn't a ton of resistance, even when the lead was like, it just wasn't a compelling, like, game to watch. You never thought Charlotte was really going to, at least I didn't.

So anyway, I digress. I thought he played with an ease physically because they were just kind of letting get to whatever spot he wanted to get to and he was just up over the top. But I thought he played with, it looked like an emotional ease. You know, maybe a weight had kind of been lifted and he was just out there. I heard a pregame thing where he said he was just looking forward to getting lost in the game again. And that's a cool feeling when you're a basketball player. Like when you get out there and, you know,

no matter what's going on in your personal life, right? And because we're all, you know, humans and we've got these families or whatnot. Their businesses, there could be things that are going on in your exterior world that are pulling at like your emotional bandwidth. But when you get in a game, it's such a serene place to be where you get out there and it's like everything goes quiet, which is so weird because you're in this building with thousands and thousands of people yelling and rocking and screaming and coaches yelling and DJ's playing and really

you're just at this really quiet place at your soul, you know? Like you're just vibing out there. And so I saw him have a little bit of that. And I can say all of that. And with it being said, still tell you that the reason it looked like that in part is because of how

bad the Charlotte Hornets were. Hey man, hold on real quick, real quick. Shout out Charlotte, bro. We ain't got, we don't got hate for you guys. At all. I love Charlotte. Okay. Just want to just make that clear because like Charlotte's thrown through the ringer during this podcast. It hasn't. I'm not, I mean, listen, I certainly don't hold any ill will to Charlotte.

I played on teams that weren't good. I knew they weren't good. I mean, you're fucking 22 and 44. Do you think you're good? I don't know what their record is. I apologize, but I'm just, I'm calling a spade a spade. Like they, if Kevin Durant, when Kevin Durant has to do the things that you were talking about him having to do, which is like put the franchise on his shoulders and, and try to drag it somewhere, that's going to show up in a highly contested down. the stretch, we're down three with a minute and a half to go, like, or going into the fourth, we're down five, and it's a play. That's when it'll rear its head. And it remains to be seen whether

or not they can find the type of chemistry and the type of flow and type of, uh, type of overall, just, um, organization, the sons that is, to, to be able to withstand those type of situations. I think they can. But the reason he looks so peaceful, so serene, so like, so, in. So, flow with Chris Paul and Devin Booker is because it was like light work. Now, let me just say this, to your point, the other part of the reason it looks so easy and it looks so organized as Chris Paul. Like what they did not have in Brooklyn, and this isn't, this isn't meant in any way as a slight towards Kyrie. Kyrie's just different than Chris Paul. Like in Kyrie's point guard play, it's less of an organizing compote, like, what do you call that guy? Is he the composer? The guy that sits out in

front of the orchestra, not the composer, but whatever he is. The conductor, the conductor. The conductor. Sorry, dude, the conductor. But that's more of Chris Paul's style while Kyrie's style is like he's an artist in the band, you know? So I think when you get those talents like KB and book and to make them work and make it flow and make it look beautiful, you got to have a, you got to have a conductor. You have to have a dude. And even in that last night, you saw him doing it, Logan. You saw him just hold that ball for an extra second point, point somebody over. there hold somebody with his eyes on that side.

Boom. We got Aiden in the middle because he hadn't got a touch. We've been trying to force feed Kevin Durant, put it into D8, let him get a buck. Boom. Like, you saw him conducting, and that helps talents like Book and, and KD and just offensive weaponry fit together when when you have a dude who knows how to get it to who and when. I'm not going to hold you, man. And I don't even like, no.

Like, we're here. We're here. I'm just going to say it. I fucking love watching Chris Paul. play basketball dog. I love watching it. I do. I do.

Like maybe like he does fuck up sometimes in the postseason. Like that's and he gets injured and that happens, right? And he does a flailing and he does all that stuff. Right. He does. He's annoying. He is all those things. But what you just described,

Raja, was so poetic. Right? Like it was just, it was. And I, when you did it, I kind of,

you were in your bag and I kind of closed my eyes and I just thought about it. Like, yo, that is a, Chris Ball is a fucking point guard, bro. And every sense of the word, right? Like, in every sense of the word, like, Kyrie is a great player, phenomenal player. But let's just be honest. We've all watched Kyrie play.

He's a two guard that has to be put into the point guard role. He wants to get buckets, right? Chris Paul, Roger, if you are in AAU right now, you're probably, if you see your point guard and he has some talent, you're probably showing. in Chris Paul film. Right. You're probably showing him like, yo, this is what he does. This is like just commands a team.

And like we'll see. He commands a team on the floor, right? And that's going to be the key to this run as a whole because, you know, KD, we've said this on the pop before. And I think Devin Booker's time is starting to reveal this about Devin Booker as well. Two guys that kind of just need an alpha. right? Just kind of need an alpha in the room. Both are amazing book and Katie are amazing talents. But they do need a guy to be like, yo, go right there. For whatever reason, this is kind of how they're built.

And Chris Paul, it's going to be interesting to see just how that dynamic works because he's going to have to be healthy. And he is going to have to honestly, and I want to say this correctly. But I think he's also going to have to make. sure that he's still the alpha while I think reforming his approach because here's a thing. Chris Paul is a guy that is a leader, but he is also a guy that has historically, Pat Riley is like this, right? There have been figures like this in the past that are just so hard body and just so hard nose that eventually it wears on other teammates, right? So there's the balance that he's just going to have to face.

But I think he is perfect for this. I think that he is perfect for this type of team. He has to stay healthy. And I think that they can do something. This is me, this is what's going through my head, Raja, as I'm talking myself into the Sun's finals run.

I have a lot of thoughts. Let me start here. He's the antithesis of what Brooklyn just was. Chris Paul embodies everything that Brooklyn did not. In terms of structure, holding you accountable, being the alpha, even if you don't like what I'm saying to you,

holding you accountable and being in your face to get you to do what's in the best interest of our team. You know, Brooklyn needed that in a big way. They didn't have it. Chris Paul is going to do that. Make no mistake. He must be healthy for the sons to have a chance because you're right. He is what they need.

Not to score points. Not to score points. They're going to score points. They're great. But to keep it the ship pointed in the right direction at all times, right? Like we just need somebody up there on the wheel, making sure they through the night while all the passengers are sleeping, we're avoiding the icebergs. Can you dig what I'm saying?

and that's what Chris Paul is doing. He's just up there sliding. So I have a couple more thoughts. One will take me to the other. People always miss when you say, hey, he's a coach on the floor, right? A point guards are coaches on the floor. And they don't really understand what that means when you kind of boil it down, right? Like a coach's job is to sit over there. Yeah, X is an O's and philosophy and all of that. But he's watching the game in a way that a player that's lost in the game

can't watch it. And he's feeling the flow of it. Like, you know, we're on these runs. Let me, let me let it keep going for a while. It looks like we've lost a little steam. Let me bring someone into the game to change the momentum. That's like a six point run. We can withstand it right now. Everyone's fresh. Or that's a six point run. Everyone looks gassed and spirits look low. Let me call this time out. Like, that's a coach's job, right? To feel the game like that. Chris Paul on the court is like an appendage of a coach. Like he is out there feeling those same things. So in an arena with all of these people,

I've tried to do this as a coach. It is hard to really express your message. You can't play. All you can do is hope that they're hearing what you say, they're digesting it and that they're taking it out there and put it into action. And it doesn't always work like that. You know, I've been in plenty of post games.

When I coached and what other people coached, you know, great coaches saying, guys, we were supposed to, this was our game plan. Like, we should have, we went over this and dudes are just looking at you like, yeah, I know, but we couldn't get it done. Well, Chris Paul is now that and all of that messaging out on the court as one of the five. So when stuff starts going wrong, he's able to take care of it for you in a way that you couldn't, if you were the coach, because he's actually playing in the damn game,

feeling what's happening there, which brings me to my last point. I'm sorry, I'm on this rant. basketball as a lifelong lover of the game. I think it's awesome that we have evolved our play to a point where almost everyone is a combo guard. I thought it was so unfair that in a generation past, this one particular player on the floor was not really allowed to get in his bag and score in a way that looked like it was really fun. That was typically the point guard, right?

So I'm cool with that. But what we have lost to some degree and what I miss is the beauty. of the PG who just understands, I, above all people on this court, am going to have to wear different hats on different nights. And one night, it might be that I score 40 points. And I can do that if you need me to. But on a night, like last night where it's one for eight for Chris Paul, he didn't give a shit. He had 11 dimes.

He set everybody up. Like, let's get up out of here with a dove. Like, your job is just to win game from that PG spot. And it might mean on one night you wear a scoring hat. And on the next night, you wear a facilitating hat. And then on a whole other night, it might mean to lock somebody down and try to keep the pace up. You know what I mean?

But you're wearing these different hats. And I miss the nuance of that. And I miss the players that understand that. Because I find beauty in that. Like, I can find beauty in dudes who score 40 points a night and just dance on the ball too. Don't get me wrong. But I missed that.

I miss the point guard who understands, yo, Doug, I know exactly what this team needs. And I will be what it needs. 90% of the time. Sure, I'm not going to get it right every night. But 90% of the time I know exactly what we need, and I got it. You're speaking like a guy whose favorite point guard was Steve Nash. Well, Steve was great at that, but there were a lot of them that were great at that, man.

Like, there were a lot, like, Isaiah Thomas, John Stockton, Magic, Mark Jackson. Just organize the game. Dude, yeah, just organize it. And there are buckets to be had, though. Like, they'll any owner, I'm going to get you 40 if they need to. Yeah, I wish, you know, in hindsight, I do wish that, like, I wish that Steve Steve Nash is a bit more aggressive on the offensive

end, you know, just in hindsight, but neither here nor there. But how about this, though? Like, while you do, and I find this, I have this debate all the time, while you wish that, and Steve has even said he wished that. Guess what? We don't look like the same team if he does. We don't.

You don't know what the butterfly effect of that is. You know what I mean? Like, you don't know. You don't know what that does. And so I too, I know he could have. I know he could have scored a assload of more points. but I don't know what that makes the Sun's seven seconds or less type of teams if Steve is out there trying to cook every night

I don't know. You know, one thing I do like about this Sun's team, and eventually we're going to talk about the downside of the Suns and some of the stuff that I was kind of like scared about that could potentially derail what they the great vibes they have going. I'm like 99% in all in on the Suns right now.

But one thing I do like though, and you spoke about Chris Paul and just the just the calmness that he brings, right? the commonest that he brings to a floor. What I do love is that this team has dudes that are in the right stage of their career. Everybody got paid, right? Chris Paul has gotten paid, book got paid, Aidan just got paid.

Everybody's just, everybody is looking to win a title. And you got a guy, like when you have a point guard like Chris Paul, you got to have a coach like Monty Williams. because to your point about the coach not even having to worry, he just looks at Chris Paul. All Bonnie Williams has to do is just do a look and some sort of stare at Chris Paul. And they already have like a telepathic. That's it. They got their third eye open.

Third eye, Monty and third eye Chris is locked in at all times. And they also, the thing I love about Chris Paul and the thing also I love about the rest of the roster and the other two, three scores, is those are three guys in Book and KD and Chris Paul. They're guys that can give you those. You know when there's a run that's going on. This is why I wasn't even tripping off of the Charlotte Little Run in the third quarter because they have three guys in their roster that has, you know, the guys that has those, Steve Nash had this, the guy that can make the calming jump shot to just, when they,

when they push the lead to like five or something, just, I'm going to just get it to seven. You thought, you thought, don't even. We're going to reorganize and we're going to regroup. They have a guy, they have KD who was like one of the best to ever do that. Chris Paul, who always, always has like a timely three, right? This is a timely one. Devin Booker has that and is developing into that more. That's what I love about this team.

Now, I'm looking at the schedule. They played a bulls. They're on a bit of an East Coast weird. They have a weird little like road trip. And this is a nasty road trip. But they got Charlotte and then they're going to Chicago. It's, that's a team that the sun should beat, right? But then they're starting to get tested.

Kings, Warriors, the game I'm going to, then they got the bucks. That's really going to kind of test them a little bit and test those, the things that I am concerned about. And I'm sure you're, I'm wondering what you're going to be concerned about. The thing that I'm concerned about, their depth in the front court, how I, like, their defensive depth. I don't really like, I didn't like what I saw. I know they have Bionbo behind DeAndre Aden. But I just, and they have, I'm not sure the other person that they have. I'm going to be honest with you, Rajah.

But they, they, I am very concerned with, you know, if they do go against a Denver, right? Or they do go against the team with, in the Eastern Conference. Say they catch Philly in the finals, right? If that happens. I am concerned about what they're going to do in the front court because, I mean, Katie was really good as a shot blocker. And honestly, in stretches. he has been an all-world defender, right? I remember when I was covering him in like 17-18,

dude, like, the first part of the season was getting, like, defensive player of the year vibes because he was just, he was this guy that can guard multiple positions and protect the rim. But you don't want KD playing that much great defense because you really want him on the offensive end, right? And so I am concerned with, you know, Aiden historically has gotten into foul trouble

in the postseason. and overall their depth and can they stay healthy? That's the biggest thing. Those are the biggest question marks that I have about this team that can make or break their season. They're great question marks to have.

I mean, you know, they're playing Jacques Laundale, Landale. Like, you know, I don't, I don't know that you're ready necessarily to step on to a Western Conference finals floor because DeAndre Aden picked up two in the first three minutes and hold them down in a way that they would feel comfortable about.

Could he do it? Sure. I'm sure he's like, I haven't broken his game down. I'm not trying to slander him. But what I'm saying is a team that's ready to win right now, you would want something you know unequivocally coming in behind that is ready for that situation. Do you know what I mean? And therein lies kind of the, you know, the catch-22 of, you know, having three great

offensive weapons like that with, you know, you're going to be thin in other places. I mean, Brooklyn just dealt with that, right, to some degree. You know, you're going to be thin and you're going to have to make it work and you're going to have to be prolific offensively, you know, in a way that doesn't expose that underbelly of maybe lack of rim protection after Ait and in depth. And then also, and this is why I think the bulls, while the sons should maybe beat them, I think it's also another good measuring stick.

Like, you've got to see Zach Levine and, and, and, and, and, and, um, and DeMarer Rosen. and you've lost a lot of perimeter, you know, defensive chops in the trade. Shout out of McKell Bridges, friend of the show. Yeah, yeah,

and so, like, you know, but those are just things that you have to watch the suns and see how they deal with them. It doesn't really matter whether they win or lose necessarily,

but how do they deal? Do both of those cats get off? Do they have no answer for anybody out there on the perimeter? Like, if that's the case, then you'd kind of like, you know, forecast down the road when they get into these playoffs and you're like,

oh, shit, man, we can't guard anybody. You know, I'm not saying that to be the case. But, you know, these are things that you're looking for with the Suns as they move forward. And I think it would be prudent to have some reservations. Like you can still be very optimistic and think that they're, I quite frankly do. Think that they're one of the favorites if the offense is working the way it should.

But every team has a slight Achilles heel, man. And theirs could wind up being depth and just, you know, perimeter, perimeter defense. Wing, more so wing, but. It's going to be interesting, man. And I'm and this is only one sample size. We're going to be talking about the sun's a lot down the stretch. I know I'm locked in on everything the sun's got going. I really can't wait to see what's going on down the stretch.

You know what's funny? You're right because I was actually locked in in a way. I was, I was motivated in a way to get to see a game last night. Now, it didn't wind up keeping my attention. But it, I wanted to see it. Like so I mean, even this conversation you say now, bro, like they play. the Bulls tomorrow. I'm locked in

on that game. You're going to watch it. You're going to make you jealous, Roger. I'm going to see, I'm going to see them twice next month in person. So I can't wait. I'm so choose. So, you know, all the rest of it be damn. Like, Mike D. and Tony used to say this to me, like, and I'm sure he said

it to other people, too, but we were in Phoenix. And he said, man, you know, short of winning a championship, just be really fun to watch. Do you know what I mean? And, and it's going to be a fun-ass team to watch, bro. Right. Oh, man.

All right. And it was funny. The last point I'll make is, like, I remember, you know, we were, you know, when you see a trade on paper, you're like, you always dissect it and you're like, should they have done this? And I'm not specifically talking about this Sun's trade, but I'm just saying in general. Right. When I saw the first 30 seconds of this new revamp Sun's team, I'm like, oh, you do this trade 10 times out of 10. Fuck it. This is what you just figure it out.

You get that man in the building. and then you just figure it out. That's exactly right. I'll say a quick break and I regret to inform you guys. The vibes won't be as jolly as they were in this segment and the next one. Bet the NBA on TNT with a no-sweat same-game parlay from Fanduel. America's number one sports book. It doesn't matter if you're new to Fandul or already have an account.

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www. www.1-800 gambler.net in West Virginia. Logan Raja. It's your boy, Kerm. First time caller. Long-time producer. Sorry I couldn't make the recording today, but I was kind of up pretty late last night celebrating that Lakers win, you feel me. I'm not nervous. Are you nervous? LeBron's out.

80 missing games here and there. You know, who's worried? All you really need to win key games down the stretch is obviously Dennis Schrooter and Austin Reeves and Vando. So nobody's nervous. Me? Nervous? Definitely not.

And we are back. All right, Rah. I mean, we had a conversation. What's up, buddy? You're looking heavy. What's going on? I was really close to saying you sound hell of jolly. and then you just kind of dropped your tone into like melancholy real quick.

I told you, bro. It was a melancholy low on this one, bro. I told you. I'm looking at the rundown right now. And we talked about this. And I almost was like, I didn't, we talked about this, this subject a couple of weeks ago, in depth to the point that I was like, I was talking, I was talking, I was in the chat. And the separate chat, because you don't fucking, you don't, you don't respond to the chat.

So this was the producer's chat. Time out, time out, time out. Anyone who knows me, my brother-in-laws, my parents, my wife, and they will all tell you that I am not good in a group chat. And in a lot of cases, Logan, you guys should actually feel good about this. I will sign myself out of the group chat. But I haven't done that in our group. I still exist in the group chat. But if I can get out of this.

Yeah, I will get out because I don't want to be in the group chat. You don't exist to the group chat until you do and then you fucking flood the shit and we'll talk about that in a second We'll talk about group chat around a second Who likes group chats though? Like why the hell do I want to be sitting there

Trying to watch snowfall In the little break I got between pot And picking up my kids And have my phone go off 27 times About some shit that's not even pertinent to me You sound like a real Virgo right now And that's that's all I can say But anyways

I didn't really want to talk about this Because we talked about it recently but like my goodness um john morant this is the lead um jama this is this is from an aggregated site of what actually happened this is reported by the washington post but this is this is what's going on this is the lead memphis grizzly star john morant was accused of recently punching a teenage boy in the head and threatening him with the gun last summer according to memphis police records acquired by the washington post i was going to read this and then we're going to just talk just like how we did last time.

The teenager also repeatedly told Shelby County Sheriff's Office detectives after the fight that Morant went into his house and reemerged with a gun visible on the waistband of his pants. This is after a pickup game, mind you know. John Morant has weekly pickup games at the crib for people to come through and just hoop. Sounds great on the surface, right? Apparently, the person that went to the detective's office, says that, you know, they were playing, they were hooping, and he threw a ball at John Morant,

passing him the ball, and went through John Morant's hands and hit him in the face, right? And after that, apparently John Morant and one of the friends, allegedly, punched a dude out, right? Gave him some knots on his head.

It's just every time I just get sad as I read this, right? Morant also, Morant claims that the other dude was the aggressor. And that's why he did it because he threw a ball at him. And he took that. Morant took that. This is what he said in the deposition. Morant took that as a sign that as a sign of aggression, went in to go, you know, get his thing and came back out.

This was also after allegedly Morant punched, and his homie punched out this kid. 17-year-old kid, by the way. And Morant said that, you know, that the boy claimed that he was going to come back and light this place up like fireworks. You can read all the stuff in the Washington Post. But more than anything, man, you guys can read exactly what happened. More than anything, Morant keeps his name, keeps coming and getting into things that

it just shouldn't get into. Like, regardless of the situation, this should not just be happening. We already talked about a couple of weeks ago where a beam allegedly was, a red beam was allegedly pointed at Indiana Pacer's staffers after a game in which it got a little contentious and one of John Morant's friends was on the sidelines yelling at Indiana Pacers players and then this all happens.

And then you kind of heard whispers of the current case that we're talking about over the summer, but now this is all out in full view and now this comes out it's just it's really disappointing that this his name John Moran's name keeps getting associated

with instances like this Raja I didn't hear no rumors this summer I mean I didn't I you know and so if I had it would have kind of shaped a little bit it would have helped shape my opinion a little bit more about the subsequent things that have happened now

that I have a little bit a bit more perspective on it, right? Like those, I thought those were the first couple of dominoes to fall. According to this report, like, these are the last dominoes to fall. So I would just say that I try to tell my kids this. If everywhere you go, somebody comes back and has your name in their mouth about some negativity, right? Or if everywhere you go, you come back and there's a problem between you and somebody else. I think it says more about you.

This is me talking to my kids. I think it says more about you than it does about all these situations and places you've been that have absolutely nothing in common except you. So as it pertains to John Morant, I'm not saying that he is guilty of anything or labeling him as anything. What I am saying is what I've been saying about a young ascending star in the league. you can't keep putting yourself in situations where things like this can transpire because it doesn't matter who else was there or what they necessarily did when it comes to these headlines and who they are going to try to target. You know what I mean?

It's just they don't, it doesn't matter. There could have been 30 mofos there and all of them could have had something to do with it. And they're still saying John Morant is this. And so you have to navigate that in a better way. his camp has to help him navigate that in a better way. It speaks to immaturity. I've said it before.

I said it when it, you know, the Memphis team as a whole. Like, there's a level of immaturity around that. And I'm not going to go as far as to get into like the legal ramifications and guns and all of that. But just from general broad picture optics, it looks like some immature shit. Here's the deal. I've been in situations where I've thrown a ball at somebody. They think that I threw it at him. And then my rebuttal is,

nah, no, I pass him the ball, bro. It just hit him in the face. I know damn well I threw it at him, right? So maybe the kid threw the ball at John Moran. Can you dig what I'm saying? Like, maybe he did, and John Moran felt threatened. And you two-piece him real quick. Like, you know, shit happens.

But there's got to be someone around you that after that happens says, hey, yo, you cannot come out here with the strap. That can't happen. Like, we already fucked up, all right? The next step cannot take place. You cannot come back out here with no goddamn gun. You can't do that, right? And no one's around him doing that, right?

And so then it speaks to, again, I'm sorry, dude, but this is, I have young, I have young boys that I'm trying to teach how to navigate this world that especially for young black man can be kind of tricky. It can be laden with minefields, right? And so I'm telling them like, look, bro, when you get to a certain place, whether fair or unfair, it is what it is. And so John Morant, you can't be having pick up games with people you don't know, like inside and out at the crib. That's a recipe for disaster, dog. Like you can't be having randoms pull up.

Now, this was like his friend and y'all got into a squabble and friends said, okay, man, fuck you, we ain't friends no more. I'm going to sue you. That's one thing. But by all accounts, this is just some doom. Why is he at your crib? As John Morant, the new face of the Nike campaign. Like, I just, again, man, speaks to immaturity. Jaws and the camp.

And I hope they get it figured out because I'm a big fan. I don't know what happened. I ain't here trying to tell you I'm a detective or charges need to be pressed. I'm not here for any of that. I'm saying, man, you are in a glass bowl, a big one. And you are the biggest, shiniest fish in the bowl. And everybody's looking at you. have to comport yourself in a different way.

So my overall thing of this is, and also I just want to make it clear, like, we're saying this a disappointment because we fuck with John Moran, right? Like, we really, we're saying this because we're, like, I don't want to talk about this because I'm genuinely just disappointed in the whole situation, bro. Like, like, it's when Jha is like pure Jha and Memphis is gone and it's rock and it's, and it's positive. It's a beautiful thing. It is.

It's a beautiful thing. But like there's just also, there's been a pattern of, like, I will start off by saying this. And I don't think a lot of people realize this. When you go to the NBA, especially, you know,

from backgrounds that me and you come from, there ain't no rule book or no, or no handbook on how to deal with this. Yeah, there's a rookie seminar, but there's no real, there's no real, I don't think there's ever going to be a real crash course. and how to actually deal with it is something you have to figure out on your own, right?

Like you're not only changing your life space, you're changing your finances, you've got enough bread to just bring a whole, like have your own little mini economy with you. You know what I'm saying? Just like have your whole, like you're feed a lot of different people. It's just so much more nuanced, right, that you just don't have a handbook out for, right? And the thing that I continue to be disappointed with, and I say that you can't have a, there's no handbook to this stuff. But there are people that are in position to be able to steer Jha the right way,

people that he respects, that have constantly not been doing that. Every time he does something, there's always someone, whether it's in the Memphis organization, whether it's the coach. This isn't just like the off-the-court stuff. This is stuff that me and you actually see, Ra. I'm talking about like last year in the playoffs, right, where, job post a video and call somebody dirty, right? And during the postseason.

And then when the coaches asked about it, you know, he just double downs on it, right? Like, just double downs on, on, on, just half in the, on the surface level, having Jaws back, right? Or even when this Indiana Pacer's things happen, it just, everything seems to just be like, oh, okay, it's cool. Like, we don't want to disappoint J'all. We don't want to disappoint J'all. We don't want to, like, rub them the wrong way. you're doing them a disservice when you do that. You're doing them a disservice as a human being.

Like, I get it. You're trying not to offend the talent. That's typical like, he's too good, man. Don't want to lose him. Want to make sure we, we accommodate and every way we can. And let's make sure. And 99.9% of the time, it's not, if that person wants to leave you, they're leaving you anyway. Yeah.

That shit doesn't like, bro. Like we see, but here's the thing. No, it's human beings, bro. We see right through that shit. Like, Raja. Like, if you were to tell me all the time, talking about like us as a partnership, If you were to tell me all the time, I'm a shit don't stink

and that I'm doing great all the time, I inherently, me as a person, wouldn't trust you, right? If you're just telling me everything is just all honky door and just like, oh my God, you're doing great. Oh my God. Like, that take was awesome.

Yeah. Oh, my God, yeah. Like, that's not going to make me want to stay all the time. You didn't grow up. You grew up. You grew up. This isn't a John Moran conversation. So let me make this clear.

You grew up. This is a generation of, of people who didn't grow up like you and I grew up where there is accountability. And so you respond to being held accountable at times and don't necessarily respond to never being held accountable. There are some kids now that have only been empowered and emboldened and allowed to. So that's what they respond to. Like, do you understand?

That's what we're talking about. When we're talking about places where they got to keep finding. and coaches because fucking players can't figure out how to work with them. That's not someone who responds to being held accountable. That's someone who's been raised to feel like everything they do is right. And that's what they respond to. And so a lot of times you'll see people coutail. Again, not talking about anyone in particular, I deal with a lot of kids.

So you'll see that you can identify it. Like you can't say shit. Every time you say something to him, he got an attitude or she's got an attitude. and their parents have an attitude. So clearly, their parents never tell them that, hey, dog, you can't be doing that. And so when you try to tell them they can't be doing that, both the person you're telling and the parent are like, you're taking our shit and we're leaving. But so the reason you don't respond to it, Logan, is because you probably have people

in your life that told you, hey, Logan, we ain't with that. That's not appropriate. You can't do that. And you learned what was right and wrong. And now you respond to a healthy balance of people. both constructively criticizing and praising. But we're in a world now where they don't get that. Not all the time.

This is the young dude on the chat line right here. I don't think it's just, I don't think it's specific to our generation. I really don't. I look at stories and I've read my Googles and I've done my history lesson. Logan, sorry. I deal with these kids on large scale, bro. Like hundreds of them in gyms.

I'm telling you, it is more prevalent now. I will challenge anybody who wants to tell me otherwise. Because unless you out there dealing with them every day and talking to people who then deal with them every day, like it is a more prevalent thing now. It has always existed 1,000. Everyone's a little spoiled shit growing up. Multiple.

But it's on a grander scale. I think it speaks to our, but like I'm saying it's indicative of the system. And I think the system has gotten bigger, if that makes sense. Right. Like, like, when, I mean, when you, when you were a kid, there were, the camps were just starting, right? Like, these kids now are getting famous at like 12, 13 years old, right? They have one hot summer.

Yeah. They got one hot summer and they pop and they're just popping and they're getting their Instagram, they're getting their Instagram followers up and they're just famous at an earlier age. Right. My thing is, though, the system, like this system has been in place for decades. right, where there's always been a person, and I deal with it sometimes even in the media, right? Like, there's always been this one hot shot person that comes up that's probably just been enabled by the system

because someone maybe one person of importance saw something great in them and just gave them hell of looks, right? And they just became a name off of that, right? That's always happened. That's always been the thing. The key to it, though, is, like, this is something that I, like, want to, like, I guess, stress to Joe, whoever is listening to this pod that maybe want to get some game or anything. The key, though, is to make sure that it's the difference between a nine-year NBA career

and a 16, 17, 18-year NBA career, where it's not all the highs and lows and stuff. It's just steady, bro. You just want to be steady, and you just want to make sure that you're keeping your head on. on one of those things. And I just feel like at this point, I'm just, my fear for J.I. right now is that he's just working on a nine-year,

like, NBA great, like just up and down. He had a great time, NBA career, when it could be so much more than that because he's just not moving right, right now. And as a consequence,

because he's so great and all these things that the Memphis Grizzlies aren't moving, right? Because guess what? They follow Jaws' lead. They follow what he does. He is that.

he is for the city, for the team, for the organization, he is that magnetic and that speaks to his specialness and his greatness. But like, I think he needs to be more aware of that, bro. Of course he does. He's not steady right now. No, he's not moving right. You're highly volatile, dog. Like, you're, you're, you know, for whatever reason. It's just, you know, it's a fact right now. There's too much going on and you are the face of a city, man. A city that loves you, bro. It's like, it's a perfect marriage. And look, here's the deal. I don't even, if you said to me, hey, bro, you don't know me.

You don't know where I came from. You don't know how we get down. And I'm staying true to all of that. I would tell you point taken. You're right. I don't know you. And I don't begrudge you staying exactly who you are and true to everything you've ever done. But you can't have both.

You can't want to be the face of the franchise, the face of Nike and the longevity and all of that. and still be doing that because the chances that you get caught up in some dumb shit are high. And when that happens, people have to, they have to divest. They got to keep moving, bro. Like they, how many people you see and get, get told by a company recently, hey, now we're good. Yep. Like people, you'd be like, they never. And they're like, yeah, hey, sorry, you're too hot, bro.

We can't, we got to block is too hot right now. We got to go. Yeah. And so, you know, I just, again, but what the rant that I went on is, is, is big. picture. It wasn't it wasn't at Jha or anybody else in the NBA. It's just what I deal with on the regular and as it pertains

to the organization and the original genesis of how it started was you have to do right by Jha. And I'm not blame the blame at Memphis. I'm not trying to deflect from Jha, but you knew he was a young man when you got him in there. You know? And you and you should

know if you've run organizations in the past and you've been around them that things come at young people really quickly, especially when they've got fame and fortune. There's a lot of things pulling at them. And if you've identified him as the face of your franchise moving forward, it is partly your responsibility to help him navigate that and help put parameters and checks in place where you can, you know, you might not be in his daily life with someone, you know, helping him move in a certain way. But you certainly can kind of structure things in a way that helps him get from point A, which is a young burgeoning star to point B, which is the face of the

league possibly, you know, you've got to help cultivate that. And so, you know, Jha and Camp has to be, has to be accepting of it. Here's the other thing I would say, Logan, and for those who don't know, when you get into the NBA and you've reached a level, I've never reached Jaws level, but I reach a certain level of accomplishment in the NBA. The amount of people that want to to be your friends and want to help you and want to do things for you is immeasurable. Like you can reach out to just about anybody you want, good, bad, or indifferent. Like, real talk. Like, you know, and so the NBA also does a great job of when they bring you in,

they do the seminar early. Like, there's a lot of great information. A lot of dudes don't choose to partake in digesting that information, right? They will help you go back to school and facilitate getting you a degree, which I partook like they will help um check your finances and and triple and double check double and triple check the people that are doing your finances to help you navigate like all the scams that are out there the MBA provides a lot of they will do um internships and understudies with uber successful you know businessmen and women and entrepreneurs like they have a lot of things in place that if you

want to partake you can help broaden your horizons as a as a player. Whether you partake or not is up to you. But while your star is high and all these people want a piece of you and want to be around you, there are opportunities for you to network and align yourself with business people who have already gotten to a level that most guys want to get to post career. And putting yourself around people like that, that will also help you understand hey, hey, hey, hey, they don't move. None of them move like this. Like none of them do this. All of these people are CEOs and owners. And so it will help you see things in a way that if it's not around you in your locker

room, at least it's around you. And so, like, you need to take those opportunities, man, and, you know, pick brains of people who have these brands that are forever. And so the other side of that, though, like, right? And this kind of speaks, and I'm kind of talking about you. This is stuff that I've kind of just seen from 2,500 miles away. But when you get to this point, right? Like, and you dealt with this, you've seen this before.

When you get to a point where, you know, you get into this new world, you know, you don't really, it's hard to trust too. Like, you could see all those, those, those, you know, you could see all those programs and all those internships and stuff right there. But who would you trust more? You trust somebody from back at the crib. And I'm not saying this is right or wrong, right? I'm not saying this is the thing. But like, you go to that level and you don't, like, this is just, especially. your job, all this shit is coming at you, bro.

All of this. And you want some comfort in your life. And you want something, you want to see something that feels and looks familiar. But no, because I mean, look, I've lived this on a smaller scale. On a smaller scale, I'm not, of course you keep your people, man. Like, you know, when we, when I eat, we all eat. Like, we, you know, of course you keep your people and you want familiarity. And, and, you know, I'm not telling you to change out your friend base and your family base.

and your family base, like that's not it. But, you know, very few of those people that you're talking about, if they're there hanging out and, and chilling with you, you know, more than likely, you are the breadwinner in that situation. And so just by that relationship alone means that you are, your star is brighter and you're a bigger brand. And so what I'm saying is while all of those people are around and, and we're doing what we normally do.

Someone has to help you with knowledge and understanding of what it takes to get to that next level of branding and professional imagery and stuff like that. Like someone has to help you get there. And so if there are resources at your fingertips, then MBA is not going to put you with anybody that would like knowingly hurt you. Do you know how many, like how much of a vetting process someone would have to go through for the NBA to bring them in as a potential like partner slash internship like mentor for for one of these dudes like you I mean they're digging into your background with FBI people all

kind of shit like there are things at your disposal and so I'm not suggesting and I do understand wholeheartedly the the the the the want for normalcy and for people that that love you and that you can trust and all of that I'm also saying that you're you're you're building building a brand and you are in a partnership with an organization and a city that requires you to, to, in all, in all quarterback cases, like in football and star NBA players, all of you are in these partnerships with billion dollar companies. And so your people aren't always equipped, in some cases they are, but they're not always equipped to help you manage that. And so if they aren't, you need to find that. Yeah, yeah. I guess last question on this one is, where does Memphis go

from here. And I've asked that question of like, I mean, this is definitely salvageable. You know, like, you gotta get on his shit. You know, it is. What is, what is, what is Memphis? What do the Grizzlies need to do at this point? I mean, it's clear that, you know, Jha, you know, he needs, he needs, a real big

homie around him or he needs something. You know, he just needs, he needs, you know, he needs help navigating through this shit. Yes. What is, what are the Grizzlies need to do at this point? You've heard the term, bro. Winning Cures. everything. It cures everything, brother. You go out there and you win and you win at the level we're talking about, which is a chip or a finals appearance and all of this shit quiets down to a certain

degree. Now, that is surface treating, you know, like the symptoms, not necessarily like the root of it. They got to grow up. Like big picture, they got to grow up. And whether that be, you know, through programs put in place by the organization to help this young core, if that's what you're going to ride with, like, grow up, like, team building, like, you know, you see people do stuff with the Navy SEALs and stuff like that where, you know, that's not just team building stuff, but that's giving you some insight into like, you know, what we do is trivial. Like, what these dudes do is real.

And perspective is important sometimes, you know, and or whether it's the team putting things in place like that for them to kind of mature together. Or if it's via acquisition or trade or what have you, where you're bringing more vets, solid people. Like shit, you should have two motherfuckers on that roster. Excuse me, because I'm like, you should have two people on that roster. They ain't got shit to do.

They got families with four kids apiece. They've been around. You, Donis Haslam needs to be in the Memphis Grizzlies organization next year. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, he ain't going to play no basketball, but he's going to show everybody what it's like to be a 16, to 20 year pro in the NBA. They need some of that.

I think we can just leave it on that. No, honestly. It's Thursday, Raja. Yeah. You know what that means. You tell me, bro. It's time for real one of the week. First one post all-star break.

Mine ain't that deep, so I'm going to go first. I'm going to give it to my dog, Big James, from the state room in Salt Lake City. Oh, okay. He was a security guard back in the back while we were, he was holding down in the backstage during the live show. I wound up, I just said what's up, like right after our little, like our opening hit.

Like I had like a little opening intro joint. And then I came backstage and I saw this, this dude who just seemed like, no, just seemed like, I don't know, just very familiar face. Right. I never met him. But like, we just, and then he's been in Salt Lake for like decades and has been working at the state room for a minute. So he was giving me hell of just fucking old school rock star stories and shit. Like, it was great.

And so I, uh, I told him, I told him about the pod because, you know, I'm always marketing, bro. You know the vibes. And he already. I do a podcast twice a week for my dog, Roger Pell, who's a jazz man. Have you heard of him? All right, cool, bet. We locked in.

So I gave my man. He was like, yo, write down the podcast. I wrote down the name with a podcast on a napkin for my dog, right? And he said he was going to listen. I told him I shout him out. So shout out to Big James Salt Lake. If you're ever in the state room, he said he's going to hold it down. So shout out to him.

Shout out of Salt Lake City. James, welcome to the podcast, my boy. Hey, friend of the show, Big James, welcome to the pod, man. Let's see, my real one of the week. I think this is a retray because I think I gave him real one of the week. This is my young nephew. Jordan Dirkak. I've talked about him before. He's up there with Merrimack basketball. He was a rookie this year. But this week, he was named Northeast Conference All-Rookie Team. As people who've played a

sport know that first year, whether you're a rookie in a professional league or you were a freshman in college, there's a lot of stuff going on. It can be hard to navigate. It can be inconsistent. But he weathered a whole lot of stuff, man. He was in the lineup. He was out of the lineup. But he was always productive. I watched him play a couple times. He always had a great attitude. and spirit, a leader, regardless of how many points he scored. And he was rewarded him and a teammate this week with all-rooky team, first team. So Jordan Durkat, all-rooky first team, North East Conference, Merrimack basketball, real one.

There you go. There you go. We see you. Shout out to all the real ones out there. Man, we back online, dog. Mondays and Thursdays. We got shit in store for y'all. Y'all just stay tuned.

But I got to get back to writing and editing, Rajas. We will see you guys on Monday. Yo, real quick, real quick, real quick, real quick. Did you watch the last episode from last night yet? Have you gotten to fucking episode three? That's what I'm saying. Don't put me in a group chat because I'm about to go watch this right now. All right, I watched it last night.

It was sick. We're going to, we will table that on Monday for the Monday discussion. Snowfall talk is back. We'll see you guys on Monday. Talk real soon. Holla.