The Ringer NBA Show - What Went Wrong vs. the Lakers, Play-In Part 2 vs. the Thunder, and the Kuzma-Dinwiddie Drama | Off Guard

Episode Date: April 14, 2023

Austin and Pausha unpack all that went down during the Timberwolves-Lakers play-in game on Tuesday, from the Lakers comeback to Mike Conley’s ridiculously clutch free throws, before addressing what needs to be done to clinch the eighth seed vs. the Thunder (3:52). Then, they break down teams to watch heading into the postseason, from the Cavs-Knicks matchup to a defending champion Warriors squad against the Kings (15:19). Later, Austin sets straight his thoughts on the Bronny James NIL valuation (37:01), and touches on the Kyle Kuzma-Spencer Dinwiddie drama (46:45). Hosts: Austin Rivers and Pausha Haghighi Producers: Erika Cervantes and Ben Cruz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Chris Vernon, and me and my buddy Kevin O'Connor, aka Kevin O Everything, host an NBA podcast called The Mismatch. They call it The Mismatch because I'm awesome and Kevin is a gigantic nerd. No, no, that's not why at all, Chris. They call it the Mismatch because I have a brain and you're a loudmouth bozo. Good grief. Anyway, listen to our amazing NBA podcast, The Mismatch. Or don't.

We really don't care. We're probably going to win a million awards either way. Chris, we do care. So don't say that. Please subscribe and listen to the mismatch only on Spotify. Did you really call me a bozo? What's up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode, another week.

It is one of your hosts, Austin Rivers, here with my guy, Pasha Higigigee. We are live with the off guard on the ringer, man. What's up? How's life? Life is good. Life is good. I've spent a lot of the week with my guy, Mike Miller, who's in town doing a pre-draft for his agency. We watched the playing games together

Had some beers together He's, I mean you're up there too But he's in all time He's like one of my favorite people Like he's just awesome to be around great energy You ever spend time around Mike? I do like Mike Mike's a solid individual

His approval rating You hang around Go ahead It's high His approval rating is everyone I know is like Mike Miller Excellent guy He's all time

I don't know him as well as you Obviously But he's always Yeah like you said I've never really heard anything negative about the guy you've always had high price for them and good things to say about them.

Of course. Everyone I hang out with, I'm going to say nice things about it. I like to big my people up. I'll give you this. This is a really good, you know, you hang around a good people,

man. All your friends that you've ever introduced me to have always turned out to be, you know, good wholesome people. So, yeah, I'll give you that.

Good taste. I've good tastes. You do. You have good taste in people. Yeah. You do. Also, Mike said he was going to do the podcast for sure. You know where I was going to go with the other thing?

Yeah, yeah. Mike's, I know. What was I going to say? I know you too well. You're going to say, oh, sometimes or maybe, I don't know. You're going to say something in regards to how maybe your judgment's blurry with me. Am I getting warm? Of course.

You're a great guy. But Mike definitely said he's going to do the pod. And he's, it'll be an all time episode. He's, like I said, he's awesome. We were watching the playing games. And we were talking about the Thunder, who. you guys are playing tomorrow. And how crazy their season is.

I mean, their average age is 22 years old. They're like an AAU team out there. They are the Cinderella team of the NBA right now. It's like a March Madness feel. Do people want them to beat us tomorrow? That's tough because also people want to see Ant in the playoffs. Anne has a high approval. Speaking of approval ratings,

and that's one of the highest. Yeah, he got killed the past couple of days. He's been getting, he was like trending on Twitter for like two days straight after that L.A. game. It was really rough. It's a tough game for him. I mean, we're used to seeing him kind of shine on those bright stages. But he's human.

How old is he? He's 22 years old. Let the guy live a little bit. Oh, yeah. I mean, I don't think anybody on this side made it a big deal. I don't think anybody in our team even thought about it twice. We just, you know, Ant didn't have his best game. And then you add to it that every time you got the ball, he was seeing two to three people.

So, you know, it wasn't the easiest game for him to, you know, go out there and be himself. but I know he's ready and chomping at the bit to get back out there tomorrow. Tomorrow's going to be a hell of a game. I mean, OKC is no slump. They're young, they're hungry, and tomorrow's a stay-in-front game. I don't want to get too deep into the X's and O's of it, but whoever can keep the ball in front will win tomorrow. They have a lot of guys who are ISO-heavy guys.

They attack the basket. They don't have a high-shooting, you know, rating team. They're not a guy who's going to – or a team that has multiple guys that's just going to rain threes on you. their best player pretty much operates usually within the mid-range all the way to the basket that's Shea Alexander as well as the young kid Jalen Williams and giddy for that matter so we really got to keep the ball in front

if we do that and protect the paint tomorrow we win the game if we don't then you know it's vacation time I guess I don't unfortunately I want to talk about your game against the Lakers that was an insane game and that made me think of you say Yippee let's talk about it we have to and you're the one that's very against the playing

but these playing games have been amazing. And I think... Why do you do that? No one said I was against the playing. I just think the mix of the playing at the end and the mid-season plan, we're just getting so far away from just like normal C.

What you said, I don't want to quote you, but I just will, is that if you're the eight, the eight make it and if you're not eight, you don't make it. But now if a team, I'm not going to put this out there, but if a team like the Thunder make a run, like that's America will get behind that and that's like a fun thing to watch.

And that's something that wouldn't exist. You know why? It's not, do you know why a run is so unlikely to happen? Because it's best of seven. All right. If it was single game elimination, I would hear you on this one. And I guess that's why people like to play in because it ultimately is almost a single game elimination unless you're, you know, the seventh or a seat.

But with that being said, it is very rare. There's a Cinderella story that goes through the playoffs and is able to beat a team four to seven times. You've seen it a couple times like the I believe Warriors and like a couple other teams that have surprised teams in the playoffs, but it's usually, top seating teams usually beat the lower seating teams unless there's just a matchup, you know, mix.

What would be a Cinderella, see, would a Cinderella story not be if we won tomorrow and play against Denver and do something there? Absolutely. It's one and eight, right? It's a fluid thing for sure. You're right now, you're against the Cinderella.

You would become the Cinderella if you made the playoffs beat Denver. Yeah, yeah, we'd become that easily. Yeah, but I wouldn't even be, okay, obviously I'd be shocked, but you guys have great players. Like it's... Well, Harts, we lost... I mean, we have Nasreed, Jada McDaniels, Rudy, Gobert.

I mean, those are three key, huge players for our team. Do we win last game? You know, I'm not that guy to ever put that out there, but I think we were confident in our team's abilities. But listen, it is what it is. That's just kind of, you know, that's the NBA that's sports. We're down guys. They're not really coming back anytime soon.

Rudy might come back tomorrow, depending if he's able to play through that back stuff. So it's going to be a battle, man. That game tomorrow is going to be the energy in that arena is going to be incredible. I can't wait. Is something wrong with Rudy's back? I thought he was suspended for the Kyle Anderson incident. He was suspended for the incident, but it actually was pretty good timing. I think that he probably wasn't going to play anyway.

He was having severe back and some back problems that have really hindered his movement. and I don't know or actually I could say that yeah he was not going to play that Lakers game even if he was healthy I mean I mean even if he didn't have the suspension Rudy went to play last game so you have but you have to suspend listen I don't want to get too much I don't agree with that I don't agree with that at all by the way I don't you don't think that a punch in any form and about during a basketball game a punch listen the only reason this thing we even got to the level it was is because it was public and it was front of everybody If that would have happened in the locker room, ask yourself, if that would have happened in the locker room, if we were all in the huddle or all in the locker room talking, coaches in there. And guys got into it, guys talked.

And there's a little, I don't even like to call it a punch because that wasn't a punch. If Rudy really wanted to throw a punch, guys, he knows how to throw a punch. He did like this little like half shove push in the chest. And again, I'm not condoning it. It was, you know, a terrible look. But I've seen it happen a million times. It just hasn't been in public. If that happens in the locker room, is he suspended?

The answer is no. So now this becomes about, oh, this is because everyone saw it, or it's because it's a public thing. And I'm not disagreeing with the decision that was made by Tim and Coach Finch. I get it. He does that in front of everybody. It becomes a huge story. It looks bad. You know, you want to set a precedent for the team.

You want to set, you know, kind of like the morals than which, you know, the organization lives by and goes by. And that's that. You don't do that to your teammate, which I totally agree with. But I don't agree that it had to be like a suspension thing, especially. to play in the game. Take out that he's healthy. If he's healthy in that last game, I'm not suspending him. I'm just telling you I wouldn't. I wouldn't do it. For what? He had a low moment. He obviously got pushed there. Him and Kyle had an exchange. You didn't go the way it was supposed to go. Rudy chose not to handle it the best way and let his emotions get the best of them.

They made it up at halftime or at the end of halftime, whatever we want to call it. And even if you did it, you go out there, you just compete and win the damn game. And then after you address, you apologize. By the way, they sent him home. They sent him home at half time. time of that game already. So you already send the player home. It was already a suspension. He got a whole half taken away from him anyway. So he already got publicly embarrassed. He already got ridiculed in the media and people were saying all type of negative, you know, just nasty stuff to Rudy, which I don't agree with. And that's already harsh of his punishment enough. I just don't think he needed to be suspended. It didn't matter anyways because he was hurt,

but I don't agree with you in that one. The thing that actually made me the most mad was the employee that leaked the audio of Kyle talking after. That was ridiculous. Now, I don't know if anybody actually leaked that because the conversation happened and it was loud and it was in the hallways, you know, on the way to the locker room and in the locker room. So like, you just don't know if someone was able to hear it, but I just really do doubt it. Somebody probably leaked that. And if someone did, that's bullshit. I mean, that's just ridiculous. If somebody needs to find, but I mean, then again, like the footage being leaked with the Draymond, Jordan Poole thing was disgusting. Why that happens in people's own organizations tells you a lot about people or just,

you know, I don't know what you even get out of that. But the fact that transcript of that back and forth private conversation that happened in a locker room or even in the hallways, the fact that that got leaked to the whole rest of the world was just, yeah, it was just ridiculous. It was disappointing. It was disappointing. What were you thinking about when Anthony Davis crashed in the, Mike Connolly on that last three-tenth? Holy shit, these are some big free throws. What a position to be in. Down three, down three with point one.

So it's not even like two seconds left where if you miss, maybe you could foul, maybe you'll get another shot again, or maybe you get a rebound. There's point one. If you miss one shot, it's game over. He shoots the first free throw and it bounces on the front of the rim

and gets the bounce. The whole arena was quiet. You could have heard a pin drop and he knocks it in. And if you actually, if there's camera footage of this, if there was a video showing me, me and Kyle are looking at each other,

just laughing because we're just like, holy shit, man. Like, I mean, I know Mike's up there like, because that first one bounced up front of the run. You can see he was like, and it goes in, and then he just steps up and knocks the next two down, just huge free throws, man.

I thought we were going to win after that. I really thought that after they got that close and we took it back and got to overtime, I was like, man, I think we win this game, but we just weren't able to just come together at the right times. Yeah, you guys went close. in the fourth and in overtime. The reason I really am happy that Mike made those free throws is because he had a hell

of a game. He was shooting the shit out of the ball. And it would have been completely spoiled if he missed a free throw to go into overtime. That's why everyone went to harp on. Mike's been playing really well. It's been shooting the ball well. We struggled. They started switching everything.

They started switching everything before they weren't doing that. So we were getting all this weak side action in the pick and roll. And then they started switching one through five. And for the people who don't know, a lot of times when. people switch in basketball, it just promotes ISO basketball because, you know, a guy will get a mismatch, and now he has to take him off the dribble, which is designed that way. So we can, you know, our offense was starting slow. We were doing picks. They were switching every single screen to no action work. Then it just became one-on-one basketball and it kind of got nasty out there for us. And, you know, that's definitely a learning lesson. We watched a lot of film on that. You might see that more tomorrow. So we'll see.

Did you check out any other playing games? For example, like the Raptors Bulls yesterday. I watched the Rapper's Bulls. I watched the OKC game, obviously, just because we played the winner of that game. I thought New Orleans was going to win that game. Truth be told, just because it was in New Orleans. And I thought Eingerman, those guys would take it home, but they miss Zion badly.

Yeah, for sure. And what do you do if you're the Hornets? I mean, the Pelicans, you have Zion missed all last year, played like 28 games this year. It's just tough. I mean, do explore trading him at this point? I don't explore. I don't explore trade.

him yet. I'm not opposed, you know, I'm not against it just because his value is probably still high. It probably is still high. But, you know, the one concerning thing with Zion is his health. And the biggest skill you can have in professional sports is availability. It doesn't matter how great you are if you can't play, then, you know, you're useless. And in Zion's case, when he's played, he's been so dominant that his value is probably still high, despite how many games he's missed. With that being said, there comes a fine line, and he's approaching that. that line is getting, you know, more and more blurry to where you start, do we trade as I. Williams? I mean, this guy was supposed to be the face of the league. And to his argument or to his

credit, when he plays, he is like a top five, top 10 player in the NBA. He's that good. You know what I mean? It's just a matter of him getting on the court. It's a matter of him controlling his weight. You know, that's been a huge issue with them is keeping him lighter. So those joints, those knees, you know, those bones on that explosive body can can actually properly, you know, move and function and be healthy. So I would, man, that's a good question. This year is really tough for me also. It's a lot different than other years is because with Zion, they're a contender. We saw them this year with Zion. They were a top seed. So this year, him being out feels like, man, they could have really been something this year.

You know, who knows what would have happened. When other years, I wasn't quite sure. This year, with that roster and Zion, they're in the West. I'm not going to call a week, but it's open. It's wide open. Well, I think it makes them so much better when Zion's healthy because it pushes C.J. back to like the third best player, the third score.

And I think he really thrives in that, not saying he can't be a second score in a team. I've seen C.J. do it for many years in Portland. But I think when you've had that B.I. Zion attention, and then you had this other guy, like in the background, who now can light up you. and 20 points. It doesn't have that pressure on them.

I think that makes them just even better. I think Zion just really opens up a lot of people's games on that team, even more than CJ's than just all of the other other guys. He gravitates so much attention, man, for how explosive and dominant he is in the paint. He allows the other guys to get better shots. He's just vital for that team's success, man. We were talking about last night,

Brennan Ingram, what's the difference between him and, you know, to get that maybe a Jason Tatum step? What would be the difference between that level? Because Brian Ingram, we all, everyone watching, we're talking about how good he is. I mean, the guy's unbelievable, yeah. He doesn't have a hold in his game. He's one of the very few three-level scores.

He can score from the three. He can score from the mid-range. He could score inside the basket. He's explosive. He finishes. He gets fouled. He's long. He's athletic.

He's, you know, it looks like he was built to be an NBA score. It's like his body was built to be a great basketball player. And he is that, you know, the difference between him and Tatum, you know, a lot of that is a situation. you know, Tatum is in a much more, you know, he's in one of the top-tier organizations in basketball. You know, Brandon isn't. And I'm not saying New Orleans is anything that, you know, to laugh at or anything like that. But more praise about the Celtics than the same.

There's like there's in anything alike, there's levels to stuff. And Boston is just top-tier, man. They're just a top-tier organization. You look at the players surrounding Tatum compared to Brandon. Again, if Brandon had Zion out there, be a different thing, but he's out there, you know, essentially without him really trying to make do. And I don't know if there's that many differences. I think Tatum maybe has been more consistent throughout the season. It seemed like Ingram really stepped it up post-all-Star Break, where

Tatum's kind of been doing it all season for the past couple of years. And then Ingram will kind of go in these stretches where he's like a lot better than other times. But it's like when he's at his best, there's nothing, I mean, there's nothing he can't do. I mean, the brand of, we just played in that play in the first or the game before the play in the last game the year. He was incredible man. He had like 30 at halftime. He was unstoppable. Just kind of a player that you don't really hear about when people talk about, you know,

top guys and rank the top, you know, 20 guys or anything like that. I feel like Brayneinger definitely flies under the radar for sure. The Bulls game last night, I was super shocked because you know, they were the 10 C, they were down double digits on the road. I thought it was it could be really easy. It could have been really easy for them

to just say, hey, you know what, man? Cancun. This is over. Let's call it a wrap. hopefully get Lanzo healthy, you know, this and that, you know, and kind of just packed this season up and they fought back. And why don't, yeah, go ahead. Well, I was going to say, just what I noticed about the Bulls is at the end of the game with with Zach and Damar, it's really hard if the game's close, playing against those guys, they kind of get whatever shot they want.

They're a really hard team to stop. Yeah. When the game's close. You know, that's a great point because I noticed that when we played them in Chicago, if you get that team down to the last two, three minutes, and it's a close game or a two-point game, a tie-point game, it's hard to beat them because they can beat you

with that ugly style one-on-one basketball because they have two very elite one-on-one players who really get their points all-game just playing 101 and being able to get whatever shot they want. That's kind of how they play. It's really hard to beat a team that has guys that can close the game. And in as many holes as Chicago might have in their offense

and, you know, their back court, other things that they have other than Zach and DeMar they have a good team but it's nothing to look at it and think like oh championship or anything like that but they have two guys that if you put in a close game they could beat anybody

because Zach and DeMar can get whatever shot they want at any given point in time especially with one-on-one defense and then you know you have they have seasoned vets Caruso yeah Caruso and Pat Bev in the backcourt just wreaking havoc out there yeah throw Pat Bev in there

he hit that one three, he hit that one shot, a big shot to go up three, I guess. I don't know. I like their team. I think they win games off of the brilliance of those two guys, though. I think Zach, and I think Vuech's can be a big help. I think he's an X factor for that team. I think when he plays really well, it adds a third score to them, and it makes them a lot, a lot different of a team, which Lonzo used to be a lot of the times, but obviously

without Lonzo, there are different teams. It's tough. They're a group that their pieces just make more sense when Lonzo's on the floor, right? All those pieces are- Yeah. I think Pat Williams, I think even Kobe White, a lot of these guys have been affected by Lonzo's absence. The speed at which Lonzo changes the game, he plays at such a high tempo. He has that Jason Kid-like game. He goes in there, 6-6, grabs a rebound off the glass, and it's pushing at full speed. You're in your offense within three seconds with Lonzo as your point guard. And that's a whole different dynamic and feel to the game. And I think a lot of players have been affected by that. you know, for Chicago.

But they got good pieces. They got some good role players. I like Caruso. I like Pat's toughness, at least. I like what he brings to them in terms of just that winning energy that he always has. I like Pat Williams's. You look at him, you kind of see like quiet Lennar-esque type stuff. It just hasn't like clicked to that level yet.

But I like his game as well. And if you're the Raptors on the flip side, you know, last year, you were the 5C. Now you're out. That thing is. That's tough. They got to do, yeah, they got to, I don't know what direction they're headed in right now. I really don't. Scottie Barnes is a keeper.

Yeah, you keep Scotty Barnes, but he's got to get better. This has got to be a big summer for him. I thought this year he played well, but I thought this year compared to his last year, you know, it was a weird year for Scotty. And I'm not going to be harder than him because, you know, situations, everything. And sometimes situations can change from season to season. But I think his development in his game, especially shooting-wise, I think it's got to be a big summer with him in the gym, man.

If I'm Scotty, I'm living in the gym this summer. You know, they want him to be the face. They want to pay this guy max money. They want him to be a star. He has the intangibles. He can defend. He's a freak athlete. He's 6-9, 6-10, can rebound, has long arms.

If he can figure out a way to learn how to get fouled, like really watch some of these guys that live at the line. Like, watch guys who live at the line and improve your frito shooting and just be, I'm not saying become a great shooter because it's just anybody. can say that about anybody. It's just not that easy to do that, especially in the NBA. But he can work on it because he has touch.

He has game. Scotty Barnes adds a 75 plus 80% free throw to his game. Learns how to get fouled, which he can. That's something you could pick up and learn. And we just work. So let's just start with a quarter threes, corner threes, and midrange. We don't need to work our way out yet. Well, you know, maybe you get there midseason and the end of season next year.

All summer shoot hundreds, thousands of corner threes and work on. off-the-dribble mid-range pull-ups, free throws. That's it. Learn how to get fouled. That's what his game should, his workout should consist of all summer because he has all the other intangibles to be a star. I think that's where you start if you're Toronto.

And then you go from there. You see what you can get for Fred. You see what you have for Fast-scale. Fred's a free agent. So they didn't trade Fred and just allowed him to just essentially walk away. I thought they were going to trade him. I heard a lot of buzz about him going to the magic.

People were talking, but, yeah, they didn't make any moves at the deadline. Everyone thought they were going to trade OG. You're right. You're right. You're right. That was one of the same. And OG's a free agent, right? No, they still have him. They still have his rights. Yeah. And people are offering multiple draft picks, first picks from him. So you have OG and you still have Pascal and you have a lot of pieces there. I'm not saying you got to move Pascal, but you got a lot of guys that have high value. You know, they, I'm a, I think you start there and try to see if you can build around Scotty at this point. But it's got to be a big summer for Scottie. And if the Bulls beat the heat and tomorrow's playing in the heat or have them beating the heat? Anything could happen. I don't know, the heat were very

underwhelming against the Hawks. It was such a weird game. They got out rebounded, which is not really like them. I mean, especially to the Hawks. The Hawks aren't even like a big, the Hawks aren't even like a huge, I mean, they can't rebound. No doubt they have some rebounders.

But like, with Bam out of Bayou and Jimmy and the guys, the tough guys they have in Miami, you just wouldn't think that by the amount, they got, I think, out rebounded by 20 almost or something like that, 20-something. Like that, that's something you usually don't see like a heart-and-hustle Miami Heat game, you know, grind it out,

do-or-die game. They're at home still. Again, Zach Levine's going to have to have a huge game. You know, DeMarre's going to do his thing. Voyager's got to have like a 15 to 20-point game. And Zach, if he can get to the basket and finish it, you know, that's the one thing I liked Zach was attacking last game. You get Zach in that type of mode where he's attacking the basket. You know, the Bulls can be a dangerous team. If you're the, everyone was saying, you know, Celtics trying to play the heat in the first round and how good, you know, of a series that would be. Now they're obviously playing the Hawks. So do you think that's still a scary matchup for them?

Or do you think they're a little relieved that they'd have to play the heat? I think the Hawks are a scary matchup because they could put more points on the board. And in the playoffs, you've got to be able to put points on the board. The Hawks are a team that when they're bad, they're bad. But when they're rolling, they're rolling. I mean, they got some guys that can really put the ball in the basket between Trey Alone and Murray and Bogdanovich and Collins and Clint Capella is a good backup. I'm in a good starting center.

DeAndre Hunter? DeAndre Hunter. I mean, they got pieces, man. Like, they got guys who could put the ball in the basket. So, I don't know. I don't think they're going to win. I don't think they beat... Who are they playing?

Celtics. It's a tough one. Yeah, bro. I mean, no, no. Celtics are just ridiculous. They're loaded at every position. When the Celtics have Malcolm Brogden and Derek White and Grant Williams all coming off the bench, that's...

They're coming at you in waves. You know what I mean? They never let up. That's a great bench. I mean, Malcolm Brogden is... probably between him and quickly for six man of the year. Yeah, they got a good bench team. My favorite series of the whole playoffs probably is going to be the Cavs Nix.

What do you think about that? And I was going to ask you, we were talking about this, Garland or Brunson? Who would you rather have? I'll go Brunson. What's a tough call? Because I love Garland's game, too. I mean, if we're going for like the youth and like if I'm building a team, I'm playing president, I'd go Garland.

If you're asking me, who do I have in one series dependent, like, my life on it? or like if there's a billion dollars to write on which team and I had to choose which point guard I was going to run with, it's hard to go against Brunson this year, man. It really is. He might make it all NBA team. He's been so, he's been impressive, man. He really has.

He went from being a guy that got paid $100 million and everybody laughed at and made jokes about to him being underpaid. He's worth way more than $100 million. They paid RJ 100. They paid RJ Barrett 140. And I love RJ, but like, Like the guy Brunson who's at closing games in Julius Randall got 100. And he's been playing in like, I mean, dropping 40, 30, 48, 42, 41.

I mean, he's been incredible, man. He's been really good. What do you think about Mark Cuban's comments when he said that, you know, obviously he's got a lot of criticism for not signing, resigning Brunson and losing him for nothing? Well, he's, yeah. He said that, you know, it never was really in play. The Knicks hired his father and this and that.

I mean, they had opportunities to sign him the last few years. He could have him an extension. Yeah, but I think, I think, I mean, what he was, well, first off, Mark only got criticized after it didn't work out. You know what I mean? Like nobody was criticizing Mark for not giving him $100 million until, you know, this guy really played out of his mind and coming to his own. So now everybody wants to point to figure out Mark,

but everybody probably would have made the same decision them damn selves. So that's just contradiction at its finest by most people saying that. But with that being said, I mean, yeah, the next hired his fucking dad is the coach, assistant coach sitting right there i mean that's that's a big play the nicks took that took that on and it's really worked out for him and i think it's helped jalen perform you know what i mean he has his dad there has somebody he trusts he works player development with him gets his mind right before the games i mean he's and he's performed at a high level dallas wasn't really prepared to do that so i don't think mark said anything out of pocket i just think yeah i don't think there was much there

to even for them to to have actual fair shot of signing jelan well what do you think about okay so Luca, what is this, fifth year, doesn't make the playoffs, because they make the play in, okay? And you have this generational talent, and normally, it's typically linear where you're, every year, you're getting closer and closer.

For example, LeBron and his fourth year made the finals in 07. What do you think that says about, you have this generational talent, you get so lucky, you know how many teams just are begging to draft a guy like Luca? You get him.

And in his fifth year, and he's made the all-MBA first team the last three years, or it might make it again this year, four years in a row. It's a shot. No, he won't make first. So the last three years, he made it.

And to not make the playoffs in his fifth year, I think it's completely a failure to build around him. You said it's a failure to continue to build around it? No, no, it's a failure. They failed him. How do you, you have this guy in his fifth year. Yeah, this hasn't been, it hasn't worked out. I mean, what they put together has not been what he's needed.

But everyone knows that. I mean, and that's why this Brunson thing and became, you know, an issue. You know, again, and I defended Mark on that one because I don't think anybody saw that coming, but it became an issue because people are looking at what he's playing with right now.

And it's just not a team that's equipped to compliment him well. I'm not saying the players around him aren't good. They got good talented players. I like a lot of the guys they have on that team. Reggie Bullock, obviously Kyrie Irving. You know, Clebers are really, I'll actually like him at the big. He's pretty versatile in terms of his shooting.

He can guard multiple positions. I like Josh Green. I can go on and on. They got a lot of talented players. I just don't think it's the best team fit for Luca. I think a lot of those guys can go to a lot of other teams and have big impacts. So no disrespect there.

But if we're asking, is this the best team that is in place for Luca to thrive? Do I think Luca actually played his best this year? Do I think Luca gave it his best this year? you know, I think there was a lot of, you know, questions. You know, those questions, you know, a lot of people are asking those. You know what I mean? And I don't think he really had the best team around him for him to go out there

and perform at his highest level. And then I don't think Luca was able to do that. And I don't think he did. You know what I mean? So in Lucas defense, they, in Lucas defense, they went to a deep playoff run last year, right? Went to the conference finals. That was also a thing. It might have been a little bit of fools.

I'm not saying fool's gold, but like no one expected him to get that far last year. They go that far. Now, like, the president is them to get back that far. And it's like, bro, I, Luca kind of got hot and did some crazy stuff in the playoffs last year. And it was just like kind of playing out of it. I mean, he's just playing at a level that you don't see. For sure. You know what I mean?

He had a deep playoff run. He plays in Eurobasket all summer. Goes right into the season. He's dropping 60 during the season, a huge workload. It's a lot of basketball in a row. So it's, you know, I like to see him next year. I like to see him next year a little fresh, yeah. It is a lot of basketball.

I mean, I think he might need a little bit of time just to take a break. He might need a mental break. You know, his comments were a little bit of a red flag a couple, you know, I think it's like a month ago where he said, you know, he doesn't, he's not having a lot of enjoy, you know, enjoyment and excitement playing the game of basketball. And that's never what you want to hear from your star player, the player that you're building your whole franchise around. Yeah, but you want to hear a lot of when a guy's losing, you want him to be upset. That's normal. No, I know that, but it went on beyond him just being upset. It had to do with his overall happiness and mental health in the game of basketball was not high.

He talked about it and how he wasn't in a good place. And that's just not a thing that you ever want to hear as a guy that you're trying to put everything into and build a team around. You're trying to keep him happy. You want to keep him in Dallas. You know, you don't want to hear those comments. And a lot of that, like you said, is due to just him being competitive and losing. And I think a lot of it is due to what you also said, Pasha. I think he has played so much fucking basketball in the last couple of years.

I think he might just need time to go back home, you know, back overseas, take a little break, be around family and friends, kind of get back to his roots and then come back just like fresh for next year. You know, don't even put your head into who's around me. What do we have? You can only control so much as a player, you know, as is. But I guess he has to start with his dominance first. And then that way it's easy for him to point the finger. you can't point it his way.

You know what I'm saying? I think that's got to be his mindset for the summer. For sure. Sticking with the Western Conference, Kings, Kings, I feel bad. You make...

You're talking about the next series. This is a series. That's the series. That's the series. Third C, their home games are going to be so fucking insane. And the fact that it's 40 minutes away, I mean, essentially,

the Warriors players don't even have to stay at a hotel. They can literally just leave their house like it's a normal game day, just leave 40 minutes earlier. and drive right down the road to Sacramento. It's like an hour and 20 minute drive, bro. At the worst, it's no different than me living in Palisades going to the Staples Center.

You should take me about an hour to get to the arena. And there's guys that lived farther than me. You literally just, I mean, it's like a home game. I mean, it's the Battle of the West Coast Bay Area. They'll probably take a hotel just due to nap time and being able to have shoot around and a bunch of other things. But that's probably the smart thing to do.

I'm just saying that in the aspect if it's close. The Warriors will win, by the way, that series. You think so? I was going to say because the Kings don't make the playoffs in 16, 17 years. You get Wiggins back. You got Clay coming off for one of his best seasons ever. Statistically, I think, with its threes, over 300 threes. You've got Clay Thompson playing at a high level.

Steph Curry is always at a high level. You got Dre doing what Dre does best. You got a lot of these guys, Moody. Gary Payton's back. Gary, Gary Payton's back healthy now, getting his legs back under him, getting his rhythm back. Who's the athletic kid that they have? Caminga. Caminga.

They got Caminga who's got to get extended, you know, period of time. You know, he got more minutes. As Wiggins was down, a blessing of disguise is these guys like Moody and Cominga got really, like, good minutes to go out there and, like, kind of get their confidence up. And now you get Wiggins back and you got to beat this team four to seven games. I'm just telling you it ain't sweet over there. And in the playoffs, they're going to turn it up just like they always do. I don't see the Kings beating the Warriors. No, I think the Warriors won in six.

What about a little Harrison Barnes Revenge Series? I mean, that's in play too. They dealt him after he won 73 wins in a season. He wanted to be. He wanted to get paid. He got paid after that. He got like $80 million, bro. He wanted it out of there.

If the Warriors make a deep playoff, if they win the title this year, it's going to annoy me a little bit just because, okay, you won the title last year. you could pretty much lose every road game all year. People could take time off. The regular season just doesn't matter. And you could punch your teammate. You can do all these things and still win a title the next year.

It almost diminishes the entire regular season. I'm going to give you a little history lesson here. In 1994, the Rockets beat the Knicks, seven games, they won the finals. The next year, they were a six seed. They weren't that good. They did add Clyde Drexler at the deadline. They weren't that good all year. And then they won the title again as a sixth seed.

The Warriors are a six seed. So it could happen. But the thing is also, it's like there's no favorite in the West. I mean, Phoenix is probably the favorite, but they're not even like, you know, they're a good team because they're star, they're star heavy,

but, you know, there's not like a clear cut winner. And most people would agree that probably the three best teams right now are probably all in the East. So anybody can really come out of the West You know, it's up for grab So the Warriors, whether you're a 6-seat, 5th seed,

one-seat, any of the 8-seed Any of the eight teams could come out of the West That's just the truth of the matter So we'll see You know Speaking of the Phoenix series Do you think the Clippers should have lost That last game and kind of...

No, no, you don't take a chance Going into the playing Because you never know what could happen If you get in, you get in You get in the playoffs And just do it the right way Basketball gods will fuck you You try to like manipulate losses and wins because you're scared to play against someone.

I'm like, bro, just go out there, put your shoes on, lace them up. You got to beat the best to go to the finals anyway. So what difference does it make? You get points for going first round and second round. I love when people think they've accomplished more because they've gone to the second round versus the first round. Like, motherfucker, all you got is a less, you got a longer, a less summer. I got a longer summer than you and you got home with nothing, just like I did. Okay, the only thing, I agree with you.

You should never, you never want to be in the plane. If you have a spot to make in the playoffs, you make it. Yeah, you get in. But when you have Paul George injured, you want to buy time, and if you think Phoenix is, you know, a really hard team to beat, anything can happen down the road in the playoffs. You run into them in the conference finals, for example, and Paul PG is back.

You know, I don't want to say Chris Paul's been wearing down in the playoffs the last few years, but it's a thing, you know, is. But no, he's older. He's older. Okay, right. That's nothing against Chris. He just, that's your spot. I mean, that's... Would you rather play the Suns now when they haven't lost a game with Katie yet,

and you don't have PG or later on down the road? That's the only argument, but I do agree. If you can make it, you make it. I mean, I'm not, yeah, I'm not banking the season on. Let's wait to see if Chris could hurt. You know what I mean? No, I'm not. That made me sound like I'm some, like a knock on wood.

That's what you just put. That's what you just said. I would never. I would never. Come on. No, that's not. That's not what I meant. I didn't say hurt.

I didn't say hurt. No, no, no, no. Not hurt. Wear down. Let's just wait for Chris to wear down. Oh, Jesus. Okay. I think that's a good place.

Let's take a break for a minute. We'll come back and never praying on anyone's injury. That's so bad. Okay, I wanted to get something off my chest. I was really bothered by something to the point where I actually called you, obviously a couple of days ago of Pasha, and I had a whole video that I made. It took me like an hour and a half.

I put this whole four or five minute video together addressing this. And I was going to post it on my story and just decided not to, just because I thought I'd bring even more attention to it. I thought if I was going to talk about it, let's just save it for the pod. Last episode, we talked about the NIL money. And more specifically, we talked about Brunney making $7 million, which I think is amazing, by the way. People cut up my clip and put, because you started out like, hey, man,

I was amazing. And you hear Brony got $7 million. Isn't that crazy? You know, or in that, in that, I mean, wow, LeBron can go against somebody in the NBA and be like, hey, my son made more than you. Is that my, wait, really cool, is that the Pasha impression? Could use a little work. He could use a little work.

Yeah, it could definitely use some work. nonetheless that's what you said and my response was well I mean yeah it's we know why he got at his dad is LeBron James and people took that clip right there and just stopped it they didn't they highlighted point A

and that point B C D E FG which I made which was all complimentary of Bronny because I'm actually a fan of the kid and I'm a fan of his game and his growth over the past couple years which I all alluded to this on my last pot and they put it up they cut it up and they just pretty much said

Oh, Austin Rivers says LeBron, you know, Bronny James gets the deal because his dad's LeBron James. When context is everything, that's just not how I said and that's not how I meant it. I got so much negative backlash.

I've never had so many fucking 12-year-olds in my damn inbox on Instagram. I've never seen so many 13-year-olds threatened my life. I was generally like, what the hell is going on?

It had to have been a lot. It had to have been a lot because for you to call me, I want to make a video, I've never really seen you like that. So it had to have been a lot of backlash. Well, it bothered me Because A, it's just not how I meant it or how I said it, and it's not, it's just not true.

B, it's what's happening right now a lot in social media culture, especially with fucking TikTok. You're getting these people who will cut up a quote or a soundbite and then the whole narrative has changed and they get to control or put a spin on any narrative that they see fit at the expense of someone's livelihood and name, all for clicks and views. And it's just really fucked up. And you saw it firsthand with Andrew Wiggins when this guy had a family emergency and was dealing with a family illness, like actual real life shit, real life problems this guy was going through. And some idiot who hasn't been held accountable, by the way, starts a fool-on, just nasty

BS rumor about Wiggins and his wife or his girl doing something that she didn't do with somebody else and the kid not being hit. There's a whole fucking disgusting rumor that had zero credibility and zero truth to it. And spiraled so out of control to the point where, like, people believe. believed it and were causing problems on the internet as if this guy wasn't already going through enough at home. I wanted to address it and make this point because I think we're falling into this habit right now as human beings with social media to where we see something right away and form an opinion about something because that's what social media it is. It's an instant

access. It's an instant soundbite. It's a sound clip. You'll be on Instagram and you'll see a soundbite of, you know, Dylan Brooks or a quote of this guy and you'll be like, man, I don't like this guy. I don't like that. And then two, three weeks later, you'll see another sound bite or another clip of maybe that same person doing something wholesome or

someone saying something that you do like. And you'd be like, you know what, actually I do like him? He is cool. And it's so ridiculous that we get this up and down with people in terms of how we think and formulate a whole opinion about someone just based off these

bullshit ass little sound bites and clips that you see on TikTok and Instagram. And I say all this to challenge people, wrap this up. I want to challenge people to just do more, do better, to just crave a little bit more information. Cave a little bit more information. That way you could properly form the right opinion about people, man.

Don't be so up and down with people that you see on the internet. Nine out of ten times, we're no different from you. We like the same foods, the same movies. We think the same girls are hot. We think the same cars look cool. Everything's the fucking same, man. We're all pretty much the same. just make sure you guys consume and obtain your information properly.

Like get better at it. I'm guilty of it too. I do it all the time. I'll see a clip on Instagram and I'm like, man, fuck that guy. You shouldn't be that up and down with that clip. Know the whole story.

Know the person. Do more research. Like crave more, be better. Because otherwise what happens is you end up in this poison, toxic mindset where you're just up and down with people in such a negative and emotional way. And I just don't think that's what you should be doing. Especially in today's day where clicks and views are everything to some people,

they'll sell their soul for it. anything. Be careful. Yeah, everyone, it's a good rant. Everyone loves drama. That's just what it is. Back in the day, you'd watch ESPN and Stuart Scott and Dan Patrick would report the scores and show you highlights. And there weren't any really opinion-based shows. They had sports reporters on Sundays.

But nowadays, every show, it's not really, it's kind of just telling everyone, it's what you're arguing on TV, right? It's opinions. And that's what people like. So people want drama. It's similar to watching, what is it, man? influencers box now. People want to see them box. No one wants to see them box. That time has passed. No one wants to see

fucking YouTuber fight. God knows what blueface. I don't know who rap or I'm in a box. It's absolutely ridiculous. You do want to see, though, Ryan Garcia's fight coming up. Yeah, but he's not a... I don't know. I just wanted to kind of bring that up. I can't wait for that fight. I know you're excited about that. I can't wait either. I've been watching I've been watching the Showtime clips. Who do you have, by the way? What do you have in the Ryan Garcia? A tank, man.

You got a tank, man. Yeah, that against Ryan Garcia. Listen, they're both obviously awesome. I just think maybe, I don't know. I just... I do like Ryan Garcia. I like his talent. I also like his willingness to take this fight.

It shows a lot about Ryan. The fact that he's taking this fight this early, he could easily do what a lot of these boxers are doing, which is why a lot of people have problems with boxing versus UFC. UFC a lot of times there's no ducking. These fuckers are fighting. Dana White's making those fights. Yeah, they're setting up the best fights.

And you love it. And you love it. where boxing is this whole like, just fucking song and dance that these guys do. And half of these guys end up not fighting each other. And boxing is really hurt because of it. You got two young fighters with everything to lose. One of them is taking an L that night.

It's just really cool to see because that's what they used to do in the day. But, you know, back in the day, obviously. And that's what these guys are really setting a new president now. I'm really happy and impressed by Ryan for taking this fight. Because Tank is no joke. And Ryan's talented as well. It'll be a good fight. I do have tanked the fight

just with the experience and his overall skill level with both hands and footwork but it's going to be fun to watch. I can't wait. I think what happened with Mayweather is that him going undefeated. Boxers don't want to lose now

and have that blemish on their record. No, he set the standard. All boxers before that, great boxers have had losses. And no one cared because you're not going to win them all. If you're going to fight the best consistently all the time, like you go take some else. Muhammad Ali took L's.

Mike Tyson. Wai Jones took Lowe. took als. Mike Tyson. Joe Frazier, it didn't matter who you are. Everybody took ales at some point. Mayweather was able to build up this whole thing of the undefeated to where now this guy's, you know, in the way he talked and the way he was able to sell fights,

it worked out in his favor where not only does he have minimum damage to his brain, he also has, you know, six, seven, 800. I don't even know what he's made in career earning. Something silly. So naturally, boxers are going to emulate that. It's no different than UFC went from being, like a sport where like they'd interview the fighters

to like where Connor McGregor brought this whole like drama and trash talk that whole Muhammad Ali-esque type thing that you've seen in boxing, which you've seen Floyd do. Connor brought that and now like you see that all the time and now look at USC now. Like it's just like it's a copycat world. That's what we live in.

I think these guys are afraid to lose and maybe you know those paydays aren't going to be there anymore. Not true. Just have a rematch. Have a rematch. By the way, you'll make more money. The more, the bigger the fights that you're in, the more money you're going to make in boxing. And that's what Ryan and Tank

are pretty much selling? They're like, what the fuck's the point of waiting? We fight now. They're each going to make probably $50, 60 million that night. It's going to be one of the biggest fights that we've seen probably since Pachial Mayweather. They both are going to make an obscene amount of money that night. I mean, tanks walking away with life-changing money, and so is Ryan Garcia.

Regardless of who wins or loses, that's also a thing. Carter McGregor lost that Mayweather fight. They had to fucking stop the fight because his head was getting bashed in. The guy made fucking 60, million dollars. I think he made like a hundred million. It's crazy. Something like that, which he was able to turn and run proper 12 up to where he sold that evaluation at a high number. I think like 500 million or something like that. And now the guy's whole like life has

changed because of it. So it's just like take the fight. Take the fight. Speaking of, I know this is in a fight podcast, but speaking to Connor McGregor, have you seen what he looks like recently? The guy looks insane. He's jacked. It's worrisome though. It's not a good look. I don't like it. I like the more leaned out, strong, in shape. Now he looks like, you know, a guy that, like, takes roids and drinks like seven beers. His face is all red and flushed. It looks weird. I like the more polished, cleaned up, McGregor.

Connor's still the fucking man. I got nothing more respect for him. I know he doesn't follow basketball, so he's not going to see this shit. But I like the more leaned out kind of got it together, Connor. This one looks a little retired and a little heavy. It looks, I don't know. It doesn't look natural. Let's stay on the topic of fights.

Two guys that might end up fighting. probably not, I'm just kidding, but Kuzma and Dinwiddie This It's the most random beef ever It's the most random beef I've ever seen in my life Because it's also The timing of it

Spencer Denway is getting ready for the playoffs He's been doing these interviews Doing a little media tour It's What do you think about? Are you on a side? Do you like the beef? Do you think all beef is good beef?

I think it's just weird behavior to see like two guys get distracted and have like words that only hurt each other. I think what Spencer said to Coos was hurtful, and I think what Coos said back to Spencer was hurtful. You know what I mean? Both of them just kind of spread each other with negativity. And I understand why Coos is defending himself.

And, you know, Spencer felt away about some of the comments that were made mid-season. I think that's when it started about winning basketball being played or not played and different organization directions and whatever, whatever. and that's where it started and it's obviously gotten worse. I don't think it's that big of a deal. It was over Twitter, man. They used their fingers and tweeted some stuff at each other. But what they tweeted was some, you know,

does Spencer put up good numbers? Yes. Does Kyle put up good numbers? Yes. Does Spencer make good money? Yes. Will Kyle get paid good money this number? Probably by somebody.

I don't know who, but somebody will pay him because you can put him some numbers up and he has a lot of scoring ability. He's 6-10 and he's very versatile in the basketball. court. There's no denying that, whether you like them or don't like them. It's very hard to judge if someone's focused in basketball. Just because Kyle likes fashion and he dresses up before the game and gets attention for it, doesn't mean he's not focused. Shea Alexander does the same exact thing and nobody says anything about his focus to basketball. Wessel Westbrook is one of the most notorious guys who turked the whole runway. You know, he turned the whole walk-in as a runway.

Russ wears a new outfit every single game. He don't repeat shit. No one. ever questions his love and passion for the game. So, like, I don't know if those comments were fair by Spence, you know, and then to his points, you know, to Kuzma's stuff. I mean, I go back and forth from what they both said wrong and right. I don't think it was really cool. I don't think it was really necessary, but it happens. And if you find yourself where you've got to defend yourself, you know, that's what

you're going to do. You're going to go as low as possible. And that's just what happens within the lines, obviously, of respect. But they both are trying to like, the reason I didn't like the comments is because it felt like their comments were like cutting into each other's pockets. You know what I mean? It wasn't like I'm better than you. You can't go left.

You're not a good shooter's me. I'll give you 30. You also said that about the Dylan Brooks, Draymond Green Beef, where it's like, yeah, I don't like when you're going into someone's pocket, when you start talking like,

oh, well, he doesn't care about basketball. He's not a guy that you should pay. All he does is put up numbers or you're not a second option. You're not even this. Your team's won less games with you. But now it's like you're like painting,

you're doing, what people on Twitter's job is to do. You're doing the people on the Instagram comments. We should be rooting for each other. Yeah. And I'm not like all one brotherhood. Like listen, I'm not friends with half these fucking guys

that I play against. I'm just not. But I just don't like when you start talking about someone in an aspect where it like could affect how they're looked at in terms of compensation. Yeah. No,

I totally agree. I don't like the timing of it, I guess. It's before the playoffs. People are hyped about the playing at the playoffs. That part of it's bad. But listen, Kyle's got time on his hands, so I don't blame him for that. He's obviously out of the playoffs, so he could say whatever the fuck he wants.

Spencer would just be like, Spencer came back, I think, again and said something today. Like, he compared him to Rick Fox, which is absolutely just hilarious, by the way. I mean, that comment is so fucking funny that it's, and by the way, shout out to Rick Fox. I was watching some clips of him the other day, and Sixers game, one game. He was doing his thing hitting big threes. I love Rick Fox, but it actually is a compliment. I mean, there's a lot of worse guys who can be compared to than Rick's Fox.

Yeah, what's the wrong with Rick Fox? Rick Fox is the man, bro. Rick's Fox won championships and played for the Lakers, dated the prettiest girls, was the best-dressed looking guy, was an acting legend. Like, Rick Fox is the fucking man, bro. I love Rick Fox.

I have beef with Rick Fox, only because my mom doesn't even watch basketball, and we were watching some of those finals games, and my mom walked in and was like, who's that guy? And she has never said that about a basketball player, ever. Rick Fox. My mom is.

My mom is straight, you know, from Iran. Doesn't even look at the TV when basketball was on. Saw Rick Fox and was like, who's that guy? He doesn't, he looks. I was like, okay. Rick Fox was one of their original Rizzlers. I beg your pardon? Are you that fucking old, man?

What is the Red Cross? Jesus Christ, bro. I can't even throw out like a comment or like a, look at you lost as hell. You think it's a candy. You think it's like a Twizzler or something. What is a Rizzler? I'm sorry, I don't know what that is. Like the rat pack?

I don't know what that is. The rat pack? What's a Rizzler, man? Just tell me. You know what Riz is? You told me last time or the other day. It's a guy that spits game. Yeah, this guy just has that, you know what I mean?

That umph. Pools woman, has that, has the mouth game, has the looks, the style, the swag. Like John Mayer, he's a Rizler. He's got the Riz. Yes. He was a Rizler. Rick Fox was a Rizzer for sure You know it

This guy was out here Banging out fucking What I'm not gonna say Banging out is that What are you? On PBS? What is it?

I don't know what a fucking Rizzler is Okay, I'm 36, eventually You just like stop learning new slang You have to You know what I'm on the highway of like Lingo and you get off on the next exit Eventually you gotta get off the highway I'm sticking with the lingo I know

Okay, my vernacular is fine What's gonna happen What's gonna happen? is you're going to end up really dated and you're going to end up like that old guy. You're going to be like 42. We're going to be out like at a lounge somewhere in L.A. or Miami getting some food hanging around some people. And you're going to end up like saying a comment like,

like let's get jiggy with it. I'm not that old, bro. Yeah, you're going to end up saying some shit along those lines. And it's just going to be like, and I'm not saying you got to be like, yo, it's fucking lit. It's Liddy in here. I don't want you to be like, don't be something you're not. Yeah.

But just understand. understand when people are talking, like, keep up with time so you can actually, like, understand. You have to know what Rizz is or what the Rizzler is. It's just ridiculous. Yes, sir. Listen, yes, sir, that's not even part of it. But, yeah, no, it's, yes, sir.

I'm not going to say fucking the Riddler. It's never going to be something that I say out loud, but whatever, man. So today is your fiance's birthday. The fact that you're doing the pod is, how'd you get away with that? I literally have dinner in like 15 minutes, 20 minutes, man. I haven't had a nap all day I've had practice, had conditioning before I had

took the kid and the wife to lunch had to figure out this stuff with the credit card to get her this gift it's just been a circus of a day so you go explaining

dis do you for the fifth time this is exhausting I'm tired can I give you some can I give you some dating advice advice there's no way

on God's green earth, I would ever take dating advice from you, bro. I have seen you, I have seen you self-manipulate. I have seen you self-manipulate yourself out of a relationship. Self-sabot. Self-manipulate. I don't know what that is.

Is that like Rizzler? Listen, here's my advice. Just because I'm single, doesn't mean I can't give a little advice, all right? When it comes to gifts and stuff, and we're all hoping that you guys are together for a really long time, years and years, start low on the birthday gifts because...

I already messed that up. I was so infatuated with this girl when we first started dating man that, and I still am now. But I was so infatuated from out the gate for a 21st birthday. You remember what I bought her. I set the bar so unrealistically high.

I bought her a goddamn Lamborghini truck and I was out of my damn mind for doing it. And I remember even she was like, are you serious? Did you just do this? And I was just like, hell yeah, baby. That's what I do. You kind of leave out of like, holy.

shit, what have I just done? Like, I don't even know how I go. Where do I go from here? What about a lease? Because you could have leased it. Well, actually, I'd rather just own it that way. At the time, the car was really hot. I got it for retail.

I ended up actually making like $60 grand on the car. We sold it like six, seven months later and actually made money on the car. So it actually worked out. And she loves the car she has now. It has more space, more kid-friendly, you know, the rangeover. More the story. You set the bar way too hot. I mean, there's no way, like, five years down the road, you could, for her birthday,

get her a high coup. But I got her, I got her nice, I got her. I got other cars because not to show off or to be like, oh, I bought my girl this. Anybody who knows me knows I'm genuinely like a real petrol head. I'm obsessed with fucking cars. So like anytime it has to do with me, even me buying something for my,

my fiance, I take it so seriously as if it's like my own car. And I'm such a car guy. Like I fan out over the nicest cars. It's like my one vice that I have. It's the one thing I've always told my pops or my family, my financial visor. So the only thing you might have to worry about me with is,

I love me some goddamn cars. I love everyone knows my garage is nuts we'll actually talk about that one of these episodes we should have like a car guy in here and like Spitz talk about it a little bit I mean you don't really know shit about cars dude you don't know anything about anything about them basketball like what what I know a lot about a lot of things

I just don't know I don't know I mean I like I don't love cars I like I have a nice car it's a car it's a point to point B it's oh next topic don't do that then you make me sound like I don't care about getting from point A to point B and I don't want to just all right then what

What did you get her this year? You got the car a couple years ago. What is it now? Now you just get flowers, flowers, dinner, you know, give her, you know, maybe like a, she really just likes flowers. She doesn't really want anything, honestly. But I'll get her like flowers dinner, maybe a bag, maybe a bracelet, a necklace, whatever, man, the usual shit, bro.

Like, they just want to know that you care and that you love them. That's what the birthday is about. It's not really about the gift. I can get her a gift because it's a Tuesday. You know, it's about making. acknowledging her and being there and putting in time. I think that's what most girls really actually care to want, right? Not just on the birthday, but on a daily basis.

This is actually advice for you whenever you do get married. Will you be that guy that's like, like that uncle with like no wife, no kids and just kind of like hang around us? I mean, that's not how I'm mapping out my life, man. It's not the way I see things. I mean, the dating climate's tough out there. And you know what, man? You know what?

You know, I'm not like a big hip-hop guy. Guys like Drake ruining it for the single guys He's making all these rules You can't buy wine by the glass anymore You have to buy a full bottle Like can't take your girl to Habachi He's shit it on that in that one song You can't, what is it?

Can't go party buss No more party buses Party buses are nuts The Drake, he used to be the most relatable rapper You know, he had a song about You know, the broke boys I don't fuck about broke I mean it's my friends all hate that song

Because they're just like bro 99% of us just don't have that type of money Man like it's impossible Now to get a girl Because girls are like Are you broke? How much money to you? It is dating, I would imagine, is probably pretty fucked up these days.

Drake went from the guy that's, like, the kind of guy that's maybe, like, write you a poem. Or, like, he's like in love with a girl that doesn't love him back. Like, kind of a relatable situation to, yeah, now he's just super unrelatedable. But whatever, he's still a great rapper. I love his songs. His new one's pretty good, too. You know what else? You know what I was, you know what I was, I wanted to tell you?

We were talking about Tony Allen last night. And we were just like, they don't make players like guys like Tony Allen anymore, right? Like guys like that just, he's just a fucking dog out there. But when Chandler first got to the Grizzlies and he was playing Dallas, right? I remember I was court side for that game. He was his return to Dallas. He's on the Grizzlies. Tony Allen's his teammate.

And I met Tony a few times. I was wearing that, remember when Javanschi had that like pit bull, like a dog on the sweater? Yes. Okay. I was wearing that and TA's about to take the ball out. He looks at me. He's like, I like, I like that sweater. And I was like, oh, thanks, man.

He's like, no, no, no, I like that sweater. Very intimidating. I got freaked out. My girlfriend at the time was sitting next to me. She was like, do you guys have beef? What's going on? I was like, I don't know. After the game, Grizzlies, Wayne, Chandler's in a good mood.

He goes, hey, a TA wants that sweater, man. He's like, I'm going to need you give me the sweater. I was like, no, you're not taking the sweater off. He's like, no, I guess he has a thing for dogs. I'm not sure. Chandler was like, hey, man, listen, I'm new to the team. He wants the sweater. I took the sweater off, gave it to Chandler.

expensive sweater. I swear, I'm pretty sure. I'm 99% sure the next game, T.A. wore it to the game. My sweater, I don't have the sweater anymore. That's crazy. Tony's a gangster, though.

Come up off that sweater, bro. You would take off your fucking sweater and give it to him. By the way, Chaler was pretty much like, I don't know what's going on, but you got to take the sweater. Like, it's, we got to get that sweater off you.

It was crazy. You're a good friend, man. You're a good friend. It was more out of fear than anything. Yeah. Okay. I mean, you would beat you. Don't do that.

No, Tony's not one of those guys you really want. I'm not taking off my fucking sweater for anybody. But I do fuck with Tony, so I might just want to give it to him because he's like the man. I like Tony. He's awesome. He's a great guy. Yeah.

Do you have any pet peeves for me or has life been? I don't actually have any. Life's been pretty solid, man. I haven't been angry at anybody. I haven't got into it with anybody lately. So let's pray for another week of that. I haven't gotten bothered by somebody this week. Yeah.

I've been pretty solid, man. No complaints. That's great, man. On that note, good luck tomorrow. Thank you, man. Hopefully next week we're talking about the playoff series against the Nuggets. Yeah, man, hopefully we're able to pull it off. Obviously, we got a lot more work to do.

We believe we can make a run, even despite our injuries and stuff, we can surprise some people. And personally, for myself, I want to get out there, hopefully, man. Past like a month or so, I've been really hindered with injuries and found myself out of the rotation. So just trying to be that vet role and just really just try help the guys who are you know having their name called right now perform at the highest level and help this team go as far as I can whether I'm playing or not but I hope to get out there

soon maybe even tomorrow got to stay ready stay dangerous and we'll see what happens man good chat with you as always my bro