The Ringer NBA Show - The NBA’s Orlando Bubble. Plus: ‘The Last Dance’ Questions, Allen Iverson in 2020, and Chris Paul to the Bright-Future Suns? | The Mismatch

Episode Date: May 1, 2020

With news swirling about the NBA's continued exploration of potential return options, we discuss the complexities of restarting basketball in a bubble in Las Vegas or Orlando (1:23). Then, we open the Friday mailbag to answer your questions on ESPN’s ‘The Last Dance,’ teams that could make a leap next season, and whether or not Kevin is secretly British (23:39). Hosts: Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it's Bill Simmons. I wanted to tell you about a new podcast on the Ringer Podcast Network that we are launching this week. It's called TV concierge. It's only available on Spotify. These are 12 to 15 minute mini podcast that review the latest TV shows streaming on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO, Showtime, FX, Apple TV, wherever else. We'll preview new shows that are launching. We'll break down the biggest shows that just launch. We'll review the biggest binge watch seasons that drop as they happen. It's our new TV. concierge podcast from the Ringer podcast network. Think of it like a little bit of a playlist. Pick and choose the ones you want to listen to. It's available only on Spotify. Welcome to The Ringer NBA show. I'm Chris Vornan. And joining me see he does every Friday from the Ringer.com.

It's Kevin O'Connor, A.K. Kevin O'Bomber, A.K. Kevin O'C. Kevin O'Clymer. Kevin O'Compterian. Kevin O'Brien. Kevin O. Verno, what's going on this morning, man? Well, we have a lot of news. You know, I know. that I'm sure everybody you have talked to, friends, family, listeners, etc.

Over the course of the past 50 days, have asked you, what do you think about a season restarting? And, you know, the answers have been hard to come by because they were going to be waiting until at minimum, May 1st to start making some decisions. Now, according to health officials and everybody else, they have said, look, don't make any decisions until you have have to. Adrian Ward Janowski wrote a long piece about, you know, the things they're going through in thinking about a possible return. You have Brian Winhorse and Tim Bontemps that put together an article on how an NBA bubble would work. I mean, there's been a lot of content over the last 24 hours. So let's try to sift through it. I'll start with asking you, what has stood out the most in

terms of the coverage of a possible return to play and how it could be pulled off. That Adrian Worgianowski reported in his story posted last night. He said, quote, from the reopening to the end of a resumed season, the NBA has an expectation that it will need in the neighborhood of 15,000 tests, sources said. Several manufacturers can assure the NBA those tests, but they can't guarantee the American public will have its needs met. quote. And that stands out because there was a report this morning that Congress cannot get enough tests. There's been those types of reports across the country, whether it's American

citizens or politicians. They're having a hard time for whatever reason coming up with enough tests. So for the NBA, they could pay, you know, a private company to get those tests. The NBA would have to weigh the bad optics that would inevitably come as a result of doing something like that for their own benefit as an enterprise to put on a product against if American citizens at the time do not also have access to tests. And hopefully by that point, we will. I mean, Los Angeles, I believe, was the first major city in the United States to say everybody can get tested if you don't have symptoms or not, which should be happening everywhere. So for the NBA, that's something that really stood out to me because, you know, in July, we would hope,

we would hope at that point that testing will be readily available as they claim that it is. You would certainly hope that the advancements in testing go swiftly, you know, like that we are, like that this is going to happen rather quickly. But here we are. And we've been without sports for now. I believe it was 50 days yesterday since there have been any live sports going on. Wow. 50 days already. Can you believe that? Yesterday. I mean like today, today, it's got to be May. It's already May. Oh, no. I can't believe it's already May. Not Kevin O Timberlake. I mean, this early in the show. It's going to be May. Grizzly's minority owner,

Justin Timberlake, by the way, for our NBA tie-in. That's true. That's true, yes. Hey, the thing that stood out to me is, okay, so I've always been of the, I've always been of the understanding, or I guess maybe it was just poor understanding on my part,

that they came back, there would be a massively reduced regular season, and then there would be a playoffs, right? And that's how this would get played out. The thing that stood out to be the most actually came from Winhorse and Bontemp's story, and it was about the bubble. But I guess either I've missed this or maybe this is the first time that it's being broached. But what I have not considered is if we are ruling out all travel,

which of course they are when they're talking about the bubble, that the amount of games that you could knock out, in a very short amount of time is exponentially high. And so in their article, it said in a scenario where the NBA played eight games per day using two courts to host concurrent games akin to summer league, the regular season could be completed in 33 days with almost no back-to-backs. A full four-round postseason with minimal days off would take a maximum of 55 days to complete. Wow. Okay, so you hadn't heard this either, right? I was like, I never had. I hadn't had an

opportunity to read that yet this morning before recording. So that's fascinating to be hearing. I've never even considered that. Like the idea of you, I mean, you know how it is when we go and there are games going on in the Thomas and Mac and the Cox Pavilion, if we're, if we're likening it to Summer League, right? But assuming you had multiple courts and you, and you, said, we're going to play four games every day. Like, I thought to myself, could you imagine? And it's going on in the summer? This would be freaking awesome.

You know, if there were, and, and you really could knock out a large portion of, I mean, that would be, God, if you could ever pull this off, that's when I, I'm reading that article and I'll be like, I don't be damned. I never even considered that this could be an option. option. Well, in that story for what it's worth, you know, I'm reading that portion now, they're mentioning that that's getting to 82 games for completing the regular season. You could still chop that in half and end it like 70, 72 games and apparently get that done in 16 or 17 days. You could still slightly shorten the playoffs. And rather than doing 55 days to complete that,

you could chop that down a bit more as well, if really need be and get this from 88 days total in that scenario to, you know, 50, 60 days. So that in that case, players will be, you know, playing, you know, for up to a month and a half. And of course, like, as a playoffs advance, there'll be, you know, fewer and fewer teams actually playing. Here's a thing, Kev, they ain't going to want to have 30 teams in a bubble. We know that.

That's too many. You're only going to have 30 teams for the rest of the regular season, though. That's what I'm saying, though. They're not going to want to do that anyway. You're having the whole league. And then I get it, right? It is a possibility where you can play four games per day for 33 days. And that's why there's no guarantee that it's just Orlando for Disney World or just Las Vegas.

There still could be multiple sites. I know we're all sort of focused on, we're all still sort of focused on one potential site with like all 30 teams, as you said. But, you know, I've heard recently that again, like again, ever since this all started, everything's on the table. Everything is still on the table today on May 1st, as it was on March 11th when this whole thing started. And Woj reported last night, again, that multiple sites are still in consideration. And I mean, like maybe, maybe what you could do is like a, you know, a north, southeast, west, thing or some type of region area in order to complete the regular season. Well, also, Kev, hey, you know, much like they do for, you know, it used to be now,

all 30 teams go to Las Vegas. But just like you have Orlando Summer League and Vegas Summer League. Yeah. I mean, you used to have Orlando. You still have Utah. Yeah. It used to be a Boston Summer League many years ago. Yeah.

You could still do something like that and picking because I remember when, again, when this first started and like there was that irrational idea. of it just being a month off, right? There's the idea of having those multiple sites early on. That was a more prominent thought that people had in picking areas where infection was low and it was really like in the middle of nowhere. That could still happen. It could still happen.

And the type of site that the NBA chooses, if it comes to that, could include somewhere where there's really a low risk or where a coronavirus has. not hit yet. Donned, I mean, it's the first time that it dawned on me. I just thought that finishing a regular season at all would be improbable. But it's the first time it dawned on me that, hey, maybe they could actually, like, finish out the season for real, you know? Yeah.

So maybe they could. Who knows? Obviously, they're discussing everything. Everything's on the table. One thing that did dawn on me yesterday in thinking about how funny, because the Disney World stuff has gained a lot of steam. Obviously, the biggest broadcast partner is ESPN. You'd be tying into them.

So you and I talked about how in, I can't remember where it was, was a Taiwan that was having like all of the, like all the mannequins in the baseball stadium. And that's who was in the stands. And so you were talking about, you know, we talked about family members or having close to people, almost like an AAU environment. I thought if they do Disney World, you could have all of the Disney characters. in the crowd. That's what I want. I want Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, you know, like, you could have the little crab from Little Mermaid. You could just have, I mean, they're in costumes, so they're

not passing anything on, right? Like, what's, it's it, that's way more devastating than a mask. You, you are not getting coronavirus from Mickey Mouse, right? He's got on, I mean, he is, he's got on, he's furry everywhere. And so you end up, you just look out into the crowd, you know, And like, you know how they win it, they say they're going to Disney World. Like, they wouldn't even have to say that. They'd just be like, I'm at Disney World. And then, like, Mickey could give him out the, you know, he could give him out the trophy at the end. Yeah, that's what, it'd be perfect.

I just want all the Disney characters. Mickey pulls off his helmet and it's out of Silver underneath. He's like, surprise. That's right. That's right. And then the final's MVP, it's Pluto. And then he yanks off the hat and it's Bill Ross. Russell.

Please, please do not fly Bill Russell anywhere during this time. As much as I would love to see Bill Russell hand over the finals MVP trophy. Do not fly Bill Russell anywhere right now. Keep him safe. Keep Bill Russell safe. Have I ever told you about the time I interviewed him? No, please tell me. I need to hear this.

Oh, you're going to. you're going to flip out. This is great. So Bill Russell had this, he had this book and the whole book was about him and Red R. Back. And so I had him on and I was so excited. I was so nervous. Number one, he was the absolute coolest. Great storyteller, laughed a ton. But we got into, I started asking him questions at the end of the interview about like things that people wouldn't know about him or whatever. And do you know what he tells me? he goes

I am a huge Treki Wow And I said Wait, wait What? And he said Oh yeah

He loves Star Trek Wow He ended the interview With Live Long and Prosper I'm not kidding you You got to be kidding You have a recording in this

Is there Where's a recording Yes I will find it I will get my producer You know what I'll bring it to the I do have it. I will get my producer to get it,

and I will bring it to the show next Tuesday. But he is a huge trekkie, and you can hear me gasp on the air. I'm like, wait, what? How about that? If you want to ever think about it like, hey, people aren't always what you think they are, I would have never in a million years have suspected

that he would have this deep love of Star Trek. But Phil Russell. Wow. Bill Russell, he said that to me. He loves Star Trek. How about that? That, that, uh, there's a little word to the wise for everybody today. That blows my mind.

You know, I, I can admit, I don't know a lot about Star Trek. Yeah. I mean, I've watched obviously all the Star Wars, but Star Trek is sort of, um, territory that I haven't explored yet. And so I guess for any of the listeners, as I am curious, where should I start? Where should I begin with Star Trek? Because I would love to explore that world and experience it. Because as of now, all I really know is the Picard song, Captain John Luke Picard of the USS Enterprise.

That song, does anybody know that? Yeah. Yeah. You recognize that, Chris? That meme from like the 2000s. I remember. Yes. All right.

Yeah. I'm going to go out of my way and I am going to find. I'm going to find this. I've got the audio somewhere and I'll find it and I'll send it to Bobby and you can hear next week, but it was a trip. And so... There you go. Yeah.

Yeah, that. That's what I know of Star Trek. Let me tell you something. I never watched like the old ones, like the William Shatner stuff, Leonard Nimoy. I mean, I'm aware of all of it, right? But that remake they did a couple years ago.

Did you not see that when it came out? Like they did the updated version? No. Whoever was in, I can't remember who was in it. But they did that updated version. version. That movie was awesome. Like the new one that came out. It's modern. It was great. Star Trek.

Are you talking about the 09 movie directed by J.J. Abrams? Yes. the experience of being in that theater. I mean, there's been a lot of great space movies the last 10, 15 years. Of course, forever there's been great space movies. And somehow, Star Trek, I just haven't seen it. Very sad. I'm disappointed.

I like that JJ Abrams one for sure. Okay, back to back to the whole NBA thing. A couple other things we need to consider. I might have seen that. I'm not sure. But anyway. It's been a long time now. God, that came out longer ago than I remember.

A couple of things also that you learn from reading some of these articles today. One of the things to consider is the whole, you know, the way the coronavirus and COVID-19 has affected, as we know, people over age 65. And it was the concern that Greg Popovich is 71 and Mike DeAntony is 68. And so there are even coaches within the NBA that certainly fall or fall into the higher risk category. So this is something that must be greatly considered.

I also found it fascinating that this whole idea of the bubble without family members, they said that that is an untenable option. That would not be the case, you know, removing guys away from their families for an extended amount of time. And so they've talked about, and that's where you got that number, about 1,500 people, you know, what is the minimum that you would have in order to be able to put this on? But it would not be players just being quarantined without family completely. And also this consideration of there are people in the league, very significant people within the league that fall into a higher risk categories that you must consider outside of just, you know, generally NBA players would be in the very low risk category.

majority of them in their 20s, majority of them in incredible shape with extremely healthy immune systems. And so they would fall into a much lower risk category, but there are also people involved within the NBA, most explicitly, major coaches that fall into the high risk category. So it's something that's got to be considered. I mean, there's 100 million hypotheticals with this. And it doesn't seem like you're going to make any significant planning. Dr. Say, hey, make some significant planning.

But the more you hear about all of the different options, the more it becomes extremely evident. They are finishing a season some way, somehow. You know, I've had conversations with people recently about what's the minimum amount of people from an NBA team, each team would have to send? And that number seems to be about 30, including players, minimum. Ideally, teams would want to have 50 or 60, including trainers, video room guys, and so on and so forth.

That seems to be what would probably have to happen. But in addition, like you mentioned, having families go with the players as well is something that's obviously incredibly important to them during a time like this. And that sort of relates to what I mentioned before about the idea of you could have people in the crowd if you had families or close family friends

quarantined with the players. And that could be your way of having some type of AAU style atmosphere, Rucker Park style atmosphere with a bunch of people who are close to the players in that same mini little court or arena or whatever it may be. Because I also, if I were a player, there's no way in hell that I would go to Disney World unless my mom was with me. You know, I just wouldn't go, right? I would rather not play than be away from her.

And I would imagine there's a lot of players who do want to play. and I haven't talked to a single agent player executive or anybody that doesn't want to play, but you can feel that way and also be like, I don't want to do anything more than be with my family right now. So that adds a new wrinkle that makes this even more difficult for the NBA to handle because of the amount of people that you would have there. And that does make me wonder, Chris, like you said earlier, if maybe having multiple sites is a bit of an easier way to get this done, especially if like like doesn't really make sense to fly the golden state warriors to Orlando Florida for you know however long it takes them to complete their season which is over already or does it make more sense to put some of these teams that are done in the same bucket right you know

like should the Knicks the warriors the calves and the sons all be in us in the same you know area and to finish out their seasons together I don't know but uh you Would that be called the Nobody Cares area? Who wants to watch any of those teams play basketball again? I mean, if Steph Curry's playing, why wouldn't you want to watch that? You know, like, I'll watch Steph Curry play on Instagram. I could watch old games of Steph Curry where he's playing with good players. Come on.

What? Drake Dreamong can be on the court, Andrew Wiggins. It would be fun to watch the Warriors get some reps. I would like to watch the Cowboys. Avaliers playing Larry Nance at the three with Andre Drummond and Tristan Thompson in the court. I'm going to tell you, you want to talk about rattling off things I don't miss. You are really rattling them off. So you can watch Frank Niel Aquino play again.

You don't want to watch Trey Young? No. Why? Come on. I've seen it. He scores a bunch and they get killed. Clemella could be back. How are they going to incorporate Clint Capella and John Collins together?

These are questions that keep me up at night, Chris. Come on. Hey, well, we can broach those next season. This season is done. Doesn't, it doesn't particularly matter how they employ them. I sound like, I sound like a real basketball junkie. I got, I got to know John Collins and Clint's Capella. Yeah, you're saying that for show. I got there's no way you really believe that. I really do care. I, I'm, look, I'm curious. Then fire up two K, K, K, Kav. You can see how they play together. No, because Larry Nance has played 74 minutes at the three this year with two bigs in Cleveland lineups

and they have destroyed teams in that small sample of 74 minutes with Lance at the three. A guy that was playing small ball five last season with the Cavs and with the Lakers and in college at Wyoming he was playing five and now he's playing the three with two bigs in a league that's going smaller. I'm interested in these trends

Chris. Holy hell. I'm dead ass. I'm dead ass. Yo man. This quarantine has made you nuttier and a fruit cake this is crazy I don't know what you are

talking about with this whole Larry Nance and the three stuff but this is yo get outside today Kev for real you gotta get some

fresh air you gotta do something besides think about this I just gotta say as a neutral observer you guys are both a little nutty today

you got describing Mickey Mouse costumes singing in sync playing Star Trek music out loud what's going on are you guys feeling okay Coronavirus. That's what's going on, man.

Where have you been? Bobby, we've been stuck inside a damn house for two months. Day 50, the podcast starts to get weird. This is our live journal. We hit the limit. We have broken through the threshold. Now we've just gone straight goofy. All right. Speaking of that, let's see how goofy our listeners have gotten. What do we got for mailbag this week, Bobby? Let's just start off with a couple last dance ones.

because it's on the mind. So Connor wants to know. He says in the 1991-92 season, Dennis Rodman shot 32% from 3 on 101 attempts, while Michael Jordan only shot 27% on 100 attempts. I always wondered if this was a sign that Robin could have been a stretch 4 if he really wanted to and had been given that role.

How do you think Robin would have adjusted his playstyle to the modern NBA? And are there other things that you think the ESPN doc has sort of ignored in their retailing of the last dance? On that last part, I'll just say this. no Joe Dumars mention when he was the primary defender against Michael Jordan is a bit surprising. One of the guys who actually had a solid time, you know, defending Jordan is one of the best

defensive guards ever, but a bit surprised about that. And for Dennis Rodman, 23% throughout his career from three on 355 shots, a 58% free throw shooter. Odds are, I mean, he would have been a subpar three-point shooter. or even with a small sample. But it is interesting to think about what would have happened had he actually practiced those shots more often. You know,

I mean, he was 34% from mid-range late in his career, 25% from deep mid-range. So maybe if that were an area that he practiced more, he could be more of a stretch for. But fact is, is Dennis Rodman was at his best near the rim. And that's what you wanted him to do.

And the Chicago Bulls used him quite often as a five. you know, with coo coach at the four and essentially what looked like modern small ball lineups. So Rodman probably still would have just played that role today as a guy closer to the rim,

you know, but maybe you would stretch a moment a bit more, but I don't see his role changing too much in that sense. Yeah, I mean, you've got to know that these guys built themselves up and practiced what would give them an advantage at the time.

And so it's just so hard to know. but my general inclination is to believe that the guys that are elite level in these different eras, they could absolutely translate to a different era because they would just get great at whatever they needed to get great at to be great in that era. Like that's what it was at the time. But you see his level of athleticism, tenacity, and basketball IQ. Dennis Robben could have played whenever. You can't just take a guy.

and say, okay, that's what he would be if he played in the NBA now. No, he would get great at the things that he, like Michael Jordan would be an amazing three-point shooter. There's no doubt in my mind. He would become an amazing three-point shooter if that's the way the game was played at his time. But that's not the way the game he's played. So he became an outrageous finisher at the rim and a mid-range guy.

and all of the things that made him what he was. And so I think you could extract said player from era and the great ones, the truly great ones, they would have been able to be great. It would have just been a different way of being great. And Jordan, you know, according to basketball reference from 96 through 03, that's the only years they have shot location data.

Jordan shot 45% from three over those four, three seasons. And, you know, Kirk Goldsbury wrote about, you know, his shot location data during the the 97-98 season as well. But that overall larger sample, 45% from deep mid-range, if he's practicing more deep three-point shots rather than deep mid-range shots, you would see that three-point percentage rise. And that's why there's a lot of people who say had Jordan played today, rather than averaging 30 for his career, maybe he would have averaged 35 or closer to 40. And considering what we've seen from James Hardin in the way in which he plays today, I'm sure Jordan today would incorporate more of those elements into his own game.

I mean, Hardin takes 13 three-pointers a game. 13 three-pointers a game. It's crazy. It's crazy. Michael Jordan was a high of 3.6 three-pointers a game, and that's when the line was shorter during the 96-97 season. That's what makes it so hard. I talked to Bill Simmons about this yesterday on his podcast that posted last night.

that's what makes it so hard to compare players from different eras, you know, with the way the style has changed. Like how, like Bill mentioned, if the 86 Celtics were to play to the 17 Warriors, obviously Larry Byrd would have to be shooting more three. So the Warriors are going to blow them out. And it's the truth. Just like the Chicago Bulls, had they played today, they would have to tailor their style play at least a little bit. But they, like I said, they did play some modern style lineups with Rodman at the five at the time. So that's something that wouldn't necessarily have to change a whole lot. I would say something that I have wondered about that has not been broached.

And clearly this is something they are not going to cover. And this is what goes along when the subject of the documentary has say over the documentary, you're obviously not going to get into everything. but just as somebody who is a somebody that is married and is a father he he was married in 1989 that's when he got married so like this whole time that you've been watching that he's married and then they had two sons right so i mean he is he is a guy with a family through all of this even what you're seeing in you know against the pistons and even what you're seeing post that And I get, right?

You're not going to get deep into a guy's personal life if you don't want to get into a guy's personal life. But that is another major element of anybody's life. It just is. It's a huge element of your life. You and I both have talked about family so much even on this podcast. Now, we're willing to talk about it, right? It's not like we dive into every single thing that's private about our families. But that being said, he married Juanita in.

September of 1989. So, I mean, you watch all of this and that's a married guy. He's a married guy with kids. And so I, like, that's a whole other side to him and an element of him that I just know so little about, you know. And I know it ended with divorce and I know that they, and he's obviously remarried now. But that is a, that is something that has not even been mentioned, right? It hasn't even been mentioned.

It's like he did. It's like he, it's like he, it's like he didn't even have. have a wife. Wouldn't you agree? If you watch this documentary, you would think that Michael Jordan's a single dude. Yeah. Do all of that. You see his kids bouncing the balls at one point with him. But if I remember correctly through the first four, I believe that's the only time we see his sons as well. But yeah, I mean like that, you're right. That's a whole different side of him that would really, I mean, look, he's exploding. He's becoming a worldwide star while also having a family at home.

And who knows, maybe he does get into that. I mean, we still have a bunch of episodes left. It could touch on it during one of the later ones, especially at the peak of his stardom. We'll see. But I wouldn't expect there to be something about that. But I would also be very, very interested to see that. Yeah, I just would like to, just anybody.

I mean, it just makes them, you know, three-dimensional. And it humanizes them. Yes. Right? And you could talk about the challenge. They call, like half. jokingly called Jordan God, some of his own teammates. So it's the type of thing where like that's the way he's looked at as a basketball player

as as a basketball god. It would also be just kind of cool to see Michael Jordan the dad, Michael Jordan the husband. Yeah. That person was like. Right. And they were married for 17 years, Kevin. Oh yeah, long time. Yeah, I mean.

So, I mean, it wasn't like they were. I'm sure they knew each other for much longer than that, too, dating. Right. Were they college sweet arts? Like I don't even know, right? I don't even know how it all, how it all happened. I just don't know much about that. And I get it, right?

Nobody cares about that people do care about people's personal lives and how somebody that was vaulted into this massive superstardom. It was the biggest athlete to the world. How do you manage, you know, and obviously it's probably something he doesn't want to talk about. But you don't mean, like you would typically, I don't know, one of the, Anita Jordan and like her whole perspective on everything, right? Like there is another side of this and what it was like to go through all of that. That's just not there because it's as if he didn't even have a family at the time,

except for that one time we saw the kids dribbling the basketball overseas. You know? All right. Next up, Zach asks, he references an article from Dan Devine. Shout out Dan on the ringer that Alan Iverson could have potentially had a skill set that was more suited to today's game. So basically Dan's argument was that, you know, with the changed rules and the way the speed of the game has gotten so much faster in the last 20 years that AI could have been a potential guard who had a better skill set suited to 2020 than even

in 2000. So Zach wants to know, because he's surprised by this, because of all of Alan Iverson's long twos and his low efficiency numbers and that kind of thing, Zach wants to know, do you think AI would have had a better career if he joined the NBA in 96 or 2018? Oh, God, it's not even close. Alan Iverson would average over 40 points a game easy now. Easy. Easy. He averaged 30-something playing when he did.

I mean, if you now, like, if what he is designed to do now and the way the lane is opened up and the way you can't knock anybody down, I mean, this guy was as durable as anything. and just there's so much more open space and now. And he was so devastating. And now being able to get past defenders and there being so much more open space and the spacing. I mean, this guy's scoring like he was scoring when there's eight people's feet in the lane.

You know, at the time. If you now have it opened up. He still got to the line. He still got to the line a ton too for Markle. Yes. he would be more efficient and he would be a more devastating scorer. I'd defy anybody to tell me differently. And I would also like to thank Zach Lowe for writing into the show.

I mean, just to add on to Lowe's question, Alan Iverson in his career attempted 26% of his total shot attempts. 20 so one quarter of his shots came between 16 feet into the three point line compared to only 17% of his shots from three if you flip those numbers and AI is doing some of his filthy crossovers into three point jumpers into midrange jumpers his efficiency would jump up it would jump up he would get to the line even more if they're the spacing today so to answer the question directly the answer is he would be better today had he answered today's league and here's the other think, Kevin. Back in those days, which isn't that long ago, but you're even watching this as you were watching this Jordan doc, guess what? 16 to 21 feet? You were guarded from that range. If you, let's just say you were amazing at 16 to 21 feet, you would destroy it in the way the game's played now. That's if you didn't have a different skill set. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. If you were that If you were that open and you were that kind of guy that could score from the mid-range like that,

right now, like the mid-range guy can absolutely roast people. You see these games some nights, you know, there's very few of these guys in the league. But watch like T.J. Warren. This guy can score like hell. Now, he shot more threes this year, but that ability to- T.J. Warren's where you went with that? I'm just surprised. I'm just saying.

Quile Leonard. No, De Rosen's another one. I'm talking about guys that don't take many threes, but can really score. Like, there's not very many of them. Obviously, there's the stars like Kauai, like Dermar de Rosen, but I do think of guys like Warren. He's such a throwback. Well, not to mention Chris Paul, who's made a living in the mid-range too. And we got a questionnaire from Patrick who wants to know.

So we've seen how well Chris Paul has played this year. If you were the Phoenix Suns, Kevin, we get so many Phoenix Suns questions. you've created monsters out of our listeners. Oh my God. Would you consider trying to trade for him to pair him up with Devin Booker and squeeze out the last few productive years out of CP3? Yeah, I would need to think more about the cap situation. But for the Knicks or for the Sons, I'd be totally into the idea of Chris Paul.

Look, man, this past year, what will happen in Houston last season, it really didn't show what Chris Paul could be. That was so much of the situation. playing next to James Hardin, a far superior player. But with Chris Paul in a different system, different environment, we're seeing he's still got it, man. And with CP3, there's a chance that he doesn't age well. I mean, but, you know, at 34, only 6 foot, 175 pounds.

He's a smaller guard. But thus far, in my opinion, from evaluating his game, other than his durability deep in the playoffs, which has always been a thing with him. I see little reason to believe that he can't play productive basketball throughout the duration of this contract and maybe still be able to produce after this one's over. He's not a $30 plus million player. Very few players actually are or should be. But Chris Paul can still produce man and putting him next to another guard like a Devin Booker could work a bit more effectively than what did in Houston next to James Harden. I think it would be a colossal mistake.

I think that he needs to be on a team with more veterans at this point, his career. And I think the young guys, he would just, he would not be able to. I don't, I don't think it'd be great for a bunch of, a bunch of young guys on a team. He's playing with young guys right now, dude. Not nearly as many. They had a lot of veterans around. He's been helping Shay Gildas Alexander as a mentor. He has, but he's been great.

Yeah, but he's also flanked by Danilo Gallinari, Stephen Adams. like there is a strength in numbers in terms of good veterans that they have on that team. You're telling me he doesn't want to be flanked by Aaron Baines and Frank Kaminsky? I don't even I don't even know what to say.

It was a joke. I don't even know. It was a joke. I can't tell if you're serious. That's how goofy you get. That's. I can't tell if you're, if you're serious,

or not. By the way, to your point about being older, you got to remember, Steve Nash was still, you know, he's playing those last couple of years in a Phoenix uniform. So we're not even talking about Lakers, Steve Nash. Those last, you know, three, four years there, he's 34, 35, 36 years old and still an outstanding player. So, I mean, the idea that Chris Paul couldn't be outstanding until he's for two more years, we've seen a guy. Be great, you know, to 36,

who does not have, you know, I mean, yes, he's a little bit smaller. Paul is, but he's also been a Mack truck during his career while he's playing until he ends up, you know, there's some kind of freaky thing that happens many times

playoffs where he has some kind of nagging injuries. I think he should be on a team with veterans. I think he would hate DeAndre Aiton. And I think that it would be... Who says you don't trade Aiton though? If you get Chris Paul, who says you don't flip Aiton somewhere else and get some of those veterans that you're talking about?

Because if you get a 35-year-old point guard and install him into your team and you're giving up some salaries, like a Rubio and Ubre, to get that done financially, who says that you're not making another win-now move to build around Chris Paul and Dave.

So we're winning now. We're winning now. I thought the future was bright. Now we're going to win now. Well, at some point, at some point, the bright future sons are going to,

they're going to be the bright now sons at some point. And we saw flashes. Just with all different players with Chris Paul 35 years old. Yeah, that would be the funniest damn thing to me ever. If they finally get good, it's because they brought in a 35 year old Chris Paul. And you're sitting there going,

and they should have just stuck with their young crappy players. They get Devin Booker, man. The guy that I've been on for years now. They just be a Booker fan. Don't turn that into believing in the son. Yeah, I am a Booker fan. But what I'm saying is because the Phoenix Suns have Devin Booker, they have a bright future.

And they do have young players in assets and draft picks. There's a lot of reasons to feel optimistic about what Phoenix can be. They're a young team. To your point, Chris, a young team. I mean, young teams usually suck. They usually suck, especially in loaded Western conferences. Would they be a playoff team in the East? They sure is how it will be in the conversation.

I'll tell you this. I'll tell you this. I'll tell you this. Now, this is going to be something very nice, I say. Now, I did think. They added veterans in the all season. They made some very stupid moves, but they did have enough veterans. That team, if you go look at their lineup stuff,

they got really hit by the injury bug this year. Yes. And clearly the Aiton ridiculous suspension that he got at the beginning of the year set them back. If they were, they have lineups they throw out there that are highly successful. The problem is they haven't gotten that many minutes together because of the injuries this year. But all healthy, that team could have absolutely been competing for the playoffs.

I believe that. Monty Williams got them playing a lot better basketball and they've just got better players than they've had the last four or five years. With Booker and Rubio on the court at the same time, they outscored a point. it's by 6.3 points for 100 possessions. They were really good with those two on the court. Take one of them off or both of them off and they suck. And that sort of shows the format for this team moving forward

to the point of the question right here from Patrick that if you add a veteran point card who's better than Ricky Rubio, this team could be really good, but you got to do more than that too. All right. Next one, Bobby. Let me put this on you then, Kev, because we have a question here from Daniel,

which teams that now have a bleak future could potentially have a resurgence in the next season. And he gives the example of Miami, who a lot of media members last year, as he describes it, were saying that Miami had a pretty bleak outlook, but then they signed and trade for Jimmy Butler, they draft BAM and Tyler Hero, and then they signed two undrafted free agents, and Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson, and now they look pretty good in the East. Are the sons one of those teams? Yes, they are. I wouldn't say it looks like they have a bleak future.

I would say it looks like they have a bright future, no pun intended to this team. But with Miami, I would say that they are particularly interesting to me because they didn't have cap space when they got Jimmy Butler. And they just traded Josh Richardson to make the deal work financially, the sign and trade. And that sort of shows the format moving forward with a loaded free agent class in 2021 and some other good free agent classes coming up in the years after that,

that you don't need cap space to get a star player. You don't have to clear your cap. You can do a sign and trade. It's a bit more difficult. But whether it was something as big as LeBron when he went to the Miami Heat or whether it's something like Jimmy Butler last summer, any team can get any guy as long as they have the salaries to make things work. So with that said, I mean, again, like we've had.

hit this team a couple times and you're going to laugh at me, Chris. But because the Knicks are a big market team, they naturally go on this list as a team with a bleak future. I wouldn't say a team like the Hawks who clearly have a bright future. I would say that I'd say the wizard. The wizard. But yeah, do they have a bleak future?

They have John Wall and Bradley Beale. You don't see a bleak future in any team, though. Have you got to look at what the fan base sees? The fan base think that they have a, not true. All right. Who has a bleak future? You tell me.

I don't think that's true because I think, right. No, listen to me. I think our first season, Chris, the 16,

17 season doing the show together, there was a bunch of teams that had bleak futures. There was a bunch. Just say somebody you think who's future is bleak.

Yes. Right now. Detroit. You think of future? I mean, what is it's going to get worse? It's going to get worse. That's what bleak means.

Oh, I don't think it gets worse. It's not getting worse in those places. places. Sacramento. Sacramento? Sacramento? You got frigging Deerrin Fox up

Marvin Bagley and Buddy healed. Marvin Bagley, please. He hasn't been on the court when he has. He's been good. What do you please? Marvin Bagley is not that good. Look at the numbers when he has played, Kevin. He hasn't been on the court.

He's been injured. Yeah, I mean, he could be good long term, but early in his career, he's not going to jolt them immediately. There's no indication he's not good, though. The defense is an indication that he's not good. That needs to improve so much for him as it did at Duke and still does as a young player. And to your point, he hasn't got a lot of reps, a lot of experience.

He hasn't played over 30 minutes. He needs that opportunity and experience to get good. But you're asking me, which teams do I think have bleaker futures? I am naming those teams. Darren Fox is one of the best point guards in the league in two years. He ain't got a bleak future if they've got him. what did you just say about David Booker and the Suns?

So they don't have a, they do have a bleak future, but the Kings don't have a bleak future? I didn't say they, I didn't say the Suns had a bleak future. What are you talking about? They have a bright future, right? Oh, for God's sense.

I just want to hear you say it. They've got a maf future. I mean, they, they've spent, they've spent a bunch of years sucking to get to a point where they're fighting for a playoff spot

and other teams have surpassed them. So congrats to them. Thank you. I appreciate it. Maybe we'll get to see Devin Booker play playoff basketball one day. And with Sacramento, Sacramento has Harrison Barnes making $20 plus million. They have Bogdanovich as a free agent this summer. There's some uncertainties with this team moving forward that go into it besides just Deerrin Fox being a great young point card.

You can get off that Harrison Barnes contract. Hell, if you can trade Andrew Wiggins, you can trade Harrison Barnes. I promise you that. True. True. Very true. You also had to give up a top three protected pick And what is a very, very, very good draft class, too

To get off Wiggins, of course, you're getting Russell too But there's an element of it there too Where so very few teams wanted Wiggins For good reason This episode of The Mismatch is brought to you By the hit showtime series Billions Starring Emmy winners, Paul Giamati and Damien Lewis This season, the battle between Chuck and Axe reignites

And in this ultimate game of one-upmanship, no one stays at the top for long. The scheming and sabotage will leave you guessing as loyalty shift and opposing forces collide. Don't miss the new season of Billions starting Sunday, May 3rd at 9 p.m. only on Showtime. To try a free month of Showtime, go to Showtime.com and enter code Ringer. The offer is for first-time subscribers only and expires May 31st. that's showtime.com with the code ringer. Now, back to the mismatch. All right, let's do a couple non-basketball ones.

This one comes from Ian, and this is maybe one of my favorite emails we've ever gotten. I realized Kevin says mum and not mom like most Americans. Is Kevin secretly British or Irish over the next few pods because you have Kevin work the following words into his vocabulary to help provide further clarification? Kevin, I don't want to say, these words because then it'll

give away how Americans pronounce them. So I'm just going to highlight them and why don't you read them off this doc? Well, first I'll say the word mom. I have a wonderful mom, the best mom in the world. I'm not sure how I'm mispronouncing mom or pronouncing it differently than anybody else.

That's the way I say it. Are you serious? The words on the list. You do know you say it different. You know when I say... I don't. How do you say it? My mom and dad. My mom. Everybody says their mom. My mom. My mom? Yeah, you say it, all right.

If you say it written out, M-O-M, what does that spell? Mom. Mom. Okay, whatever. The words on the list. I don't know. How do you spell it? How do you spell it?

Like it's short from, I would spell it M-O-M. And he grew up calling her mummy. What? Like she was a mummy. Mummy. Like, do you say, do you say, mummy? If you say, that's my mummy.

Or is it just when it's short, my, my, my mummy. My mummy. My mummy. What was, what was, what was that old movie with Brendan Fraser in it? The mummy.

The mummy. Okay. My, my mommy. Let me read these words from Ian. Let me read these words from Ian. Leisure, privacy, tomato, vitamin, route. It really just is,

it really just his mom then. Yeah. Is that a Boston thing? Might be. I don't know. Maybe it's just the Kevin O'Connor thing. Let me check my brain. I'm going to Google this.

This is my brain. One second. Mom pronunciation. Americans pronounce British, okay, Americans pronounce mom, blah,

blah, yeah, but I want a regional in the United States. They think you're British. maybe you're left over from the whole tea party thing okay you know

the tea party was there the tea party was there those are your hands I got I got something it's this is from dialect blog.com so you know it's legit

oh wow the author writes in the western United States for example mom is often more clearly mom. Still, is it possible that mom

and mom and ma'am began as different spellings rather than different words. Never mind. That was not what I was hoping it would be. Screw dialectblog.com. By the way, that's my website. Dialecta blog.com.

No free ads anymore. I wrote that website. He didn't get... He said, is he secretly British? Incredible. Thank you to Ian. Kevin O'Connor, 007. I mean, I'm a quarter Italian, a quarter Irish, a quarter of Polish, and then like some other mixed stuff that I'm not totally sure about.

Idiot. From your... Oh, my goodness. I mean, I... I... I... Right. Jerry, right.

Risenorf. I was saying that last week. Ryan Storm. I get that corrected now. I have Ryanstorff. I'm good on that now. What's the last one? All right. Let's close. Says the guy who says Daryl Morey. How dare you? What's my other one? Pat Kinnotton.

It's Bill last week. He, Jilges Alexander. Come on, you guys. Okay. All right. We're ready for the next one. all right let's close on this final one Richard asks my question is if you could start a new NBA franchise in any city that's never had a team before which would you choose and why oh it's never had a team that's never had a team I think I think Vegas would be fun man yeah

that would be fun um I wouldn't want to pick a team regionally near Chris because I wouldn't want to step on Memphis as a oh go ahead there you don't even know any cities around Memphis. We're going to pick Little Rock, Arkansas. Sure. Why not?

Let's go for it. Just don't say Nashville. Just don't say, hey, just don't say Nashville. I'll make a competitor to Memphis then if you want to go. Let's see. Let me think of some place that I think would be good that has not had one. Because clearly Seattle comes up all the time. Vegas, I feel like we've said that many times.

San Diego had one because they were the San Diego Clippers. Maybe something in like the Midwest, you know, there's not all that much. Montana. Montana. I mean, just build a big city in Montana. I mean, I know you've got, you've got a huge. Yeah, you've got that group of teams like, you know, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Indiana, Milwaukee that kind of goes up straight up and down in the middle of the country.

Because you've got the coastal teams, you know. by and large in the Atlantic. So maybe just something like, you know what? Well, Kansas City had a team. I already said Kansas City. St. Louis? Wouldn't be bad.

You know, I mean, they lose their sports teams. They lost the NFL twice, for God's sakes. So I don't know. But St. Louis. I'll put a team in Billings, Montana. I think we both agree on Vegas. Yeah, I think Vegas would be cool. I'd hired myself as the GM.

I would not hire you, Chris. What? I would be Jerry Jones style. I mean, they've already got, they've already got the, they already got the hockey team out there, and now they're about to have the NFL team there. Why not, right?

I mean, just make that a major sport city. Yeah, that would be. I mean, they're already going to be, right? They've got the hockey team. They got the NFL team. That's what they're missing. You've got to imagine it's probably, you know, down the road anyway.

And you and I have both been to Vegas several times. It would be super cool to have another professional sports team there. That makes that trip even cooler when you go. Right? You're pretty well in the season all the time. And God, would that open the door even more on the gambling stuff? Oh, boy. Holy, holy, holy, mold.

Put a baseball team there while we're at it, too. Great place to play baseball. Outside, nice and warm. You think it's hard with a 82, you know, or with 81 games, right? You would have to probably have a dome, right? Yeah, sure. Why not?

You'd have to have a dome. That's what the Diamondbacks have. Yeah. Open roof could work. We have the technology. Look, look, it can work, but I mean, 81 games, it's a lot. It's a lot. I mean, obviously you're getting all these casinos involved.

You're comp and tickets every single night. I just, I like the Vegas heat. I remember my first time landing there. I think it was my second, the first summer with the ringer, 2017 Summer League and I landed at night and I got outside the plane thinking like oh my goodness it's going to be so hot but at nighttime with the heat when the sun's down it just feels like there's just a warm blanket around your body it feels awesome with no humidity I love it because it's the it's the humidity that that that kills me that was actually a prostitute Kevin oh then what is it

in Orlando this show is completely off the rails what what is it in or in orlando then christ when i step off the plane and i'm just drenched because it's so humid i i i humidity i i i'm just trying to i throw an alley you for you to make another joke oh this ain't what mickey mouse i don't know who's on first he's into a he's into the furry sorry enough already i'm gonna i'm gonna i'm gonna go think about larry nance playing the three you should you should jumbo jumbo you nerd Humble ball. Poor guy.

He's going crazy. The last we heard from Kevin O'Connor, he was sitting around thinking about Larry Nance playing small forward. And not the original Larry Nance because he just saw the Jordan Doc. He's thinking of the new Larry Nance. You and J.B. Bicker staff just sitting around thinking about Larry Nance at the 3. We're actually been FaceTiming two or three hours a day. All right.

That's going to do it for another episode of The Mismatch. to everybody have a happy and safe weekend thanks to bobby wagner as always for producing kevin i'll talk to you on tuesday talk to you next tuesday chris and everybody submit more questions for next friday show by emailing nba mailbag at gmail dot com thanks everybody we'll talk to you next week