The Ringer NBA Show - Who Is the Clipper That Was Promised? Examining L.A.'s Future in Basketball | Sources Say (Ep. 202)

Episode Date: January 31, 2018

The Ringer's Chris Ryan and Juliet Litman sit down to discuss the end of the Lob City era, Blake Griffin's new life in Detroit, and who may be L.A.'s next big star (1:25). Then they discuss Kevin Love's tumultuous last couple of weeks (20:40), the end of the Cavs era (26:25), and the Warriors' post-loss escape-room trip (28:20). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it's Bill Simmons, and the Ringer NFL show has you covered for all your pro football needs. Sunday night, get Michael Lombardi and Tate Fraser's rapid reactions on GM Street. On Tuesdays, the Ringer NFL show with Robert Mays, Kevin Clark, and regular guest, Danny, break down all the biggest angles on Wednesday. GM Street again on Thursdays. Clark, Mays, and Danny are back at it again. And on Friday. GM Street's Friday focus gives you all the insight you need for gambling and everything else.

Don't forget about my podcast, too, on Mondays. The BS podcast, Cousin Sal and I playing guests the lines. More importantly, the Ringer NFL show, subscribe right now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. Week in the NBA, I'm Julietette Litman. I'm Chris Ryan. This is sources say, and man, sources are talking this week. They needed us. The streets needed us.

The streets needed us. There's been so much happening. I just want to say, still my favorite storyline of this NBA season is Bradley Beale saying that the Wizards team meeting. was not pointless, but didn't really accomplish anything. But let's move on to bigger and better items. I'm kind of sad. Are you? Well, here's the thing.

In a weird way, the Clippers are our team. The Clippers are our team. I feel like they came together really, like Lob City really started popping off when we, pretty much when we moved to L.A. Yes. And they've been like a constant in our podcasting lives. It's true. Is the drama in L.A. with Blake and D'Andre and Chris and Doc.

It's really true. End of an era. Between the two storylines that really gave us life were Paul George in Indiana. Yes, that gave it certainly. It also gave his child life. Also included Cali Rivers, connection to the Clippers. And Lob City, you're right, because we started working at Grantland. Well, you started in 2011.

I did kind of ish. And that was when Chris Paul came to the Clippers. And so Lobb City was alive as long as Grantland was. actually it just outlived Grantland and now it's really dead as is Grantland so it's all come full circle and that's all to say Blake Griffin is gone yeah peace out Blake

so Blake Griffin got traded to Detroit obviously you guys probably know this by now if you're listening to your 15th NBA podcast of the week no doubt and he was traded less than 48 hours ago and it feels like a week yeah I mean the Bradley the Washington Wizards players only meeting feels like it was in 2016 John Wall's

already, was he out for the season? He's out to eight weeks, but is it going to be explosive John Wall in eight weeks? I don't think so. We'll see. We'll talk a little bit about that. But with Blake, man, I was, there's a couple of things I wanted to talk about. First of all, just I'm really savoring, just seeing Blake in a new setting. I realized how energized I was. I hope he is too. I know that Bruno said he was sad, but Blake getting off the private jet in the obviously freezing tarmac in Detroit and just talking about how excited he was to start this new chapter, but subtle shot at the Clippers

fan base. What did he say? Just talked about like the passion of the fans that he can already see. And you know, you gotta remember Blake has kind of taken some shots at the Clippers fans. He's like, it feels like it's an away game. Yeah. Like we're here, we're playing. And it's like, I think that that was that's what he, I think that was after

a Warriors loss. Yeah. He was like, the reason why we lost because of the fans. Yeah. So I guess Cliffers fans still loved him, but I don't know if it went both ways. Yeah. So it's It'll be interesting to see him in the East. It'll be interesting to see him playing with Drummond. It's interesting to see him playing in front of a new fan base.

It probably has been dying to have a big name like that. I don't know. I'm kind of excited to watch the Pistons. I don't know necessarily that they're going to get more than like this. I mean, a lot of people are really shitting on this trade, but I think they can get the six seed. Interesting. You do? Wow.

Yeah. That's great. I hope that works out. I guess they can. The East is kind of white. We know what happened was I was so. They're currently in nine. Out on Tibbs earlier in the season.

I was like, Tibbs doesn't know how to coach anymore. He's like, doesn't get along with these guys, doesn't communicate. And the Timberwolves are awesome. And St. Van Gogh, he's a really good coach.

And everybody's like, well, how is he going to make this work? Like, he might figure out a way. I hope so. Because the consensus is that Stamangani Gandhi needs to make it work

to keep his job. Yes. And that was why they made the trade in the first place. Right. And he's the one who makes that trade, isn't he? He's the president of basketball ops.

Yeah. So, yeah, it makes sense. there's a lot other other strands we need to get into here first of all I just want to let you know that the high today in Detroit is 39 yeah the Detroit the high today in Los Angeles that's probably balmy for Detroit in January I think that is bomb me it's also gonna snow for the rest of the week but Blake came off the plane in a very large winter coat I liked it do you think Blake's seen the Jennifer Lopez George Clooney classic out of sight um I bet he has actually yeah don't I feel like that's a movie Blake Griffin would see because that movie I guess Detroit's not super cool in that movie but it Looks cool. Sure. Why not? There's just a lot of player reaction to it as well. So the Blake Griffin Clippers meeting from June, July, 2017 has been revisited a lot in the wake of this trade because he was signed to a five-year, $137 million deal. And the clipper is like wooed him by saying he would retire. Wasn't it like 173? It was a hundred thirty-so. Yeah. 173. I reversed those numbers. the clipper said he would retire as a Laker for life. Right. They ran him through a maze throughout Staples Center with all this, like,

this is your life paraphernalia up, like showing him in Oklahoma, showing him get drafted. And then when it got to the end of the maze, he was overlooking Staples Center. Yeah. And they were lifting his jersey into the rafters and being like, this is what's going to be. And they made those T-shirts that were made it to social media. And I've really been enjoying rereading Lawrence Frank and Doc Rivers interviews about being a clipper for life. About how Blake's going to be a clipper for life. It's pretty wild.

And then ever since that. happened. He was, he's been photographed with Kendall Jenner quite a bit. Um, he, you know, he got injured again. Like, it's just been a pretty weird time for Blake. And I, it's interesting. It sounds like that the precipitating event that caused the clippers to be open to this in the first place was his December injury. And to that I just am kind of like, did you not think that Blake Griffin was going to get injured again? Right. Did you think he was like had a new body or something? Yeah. So you signed him to a $173 million deal. Um, it's pretty, it's pretty wild. to see that he got, that he just got traded like that.

And the pistons are also not worried, I guess, but it's injury history. Well, I think that they think he's going to put butts in seats. But the players reaction to this, like various other players around the league reacting to this, I don't know how to characterize Blake's popularity in the league. I don't really either. That's a good point. He seems fun and he's like an A-lister, but he's not part of like a look. He's not part of a click.

No, it used to be him and D'Andre, but they don't hang out as much anymore. Right. And so I don't get the impression. impression like, you know, the Warriors and the Clippers have had really feisty games. I don't get the impression like he is beloved by other players, but it's really just a superficial reading of the way people are with him on the court. And these quotes are more general. So Steph, Katie, and LeBron all weighing in. Steph said it's another example of players being pigeonhole with the idea of loyalty sacrifice and all that kind of stuff when it comes to signing deals and where they want to

play. It's not reciprocated on the other end consistently. Classic Steph, like, reasonable take. Katie, when he signed, they did say he was going to be a clipper for life. We know those words don't really mean anything as players. Okay. LeBron, when a player gets traded, it's their doing. It's them doing what's best for the franchise. But when a player decides to leave, he's not loyal, he's a snake, he's not committed. It's just that's the narrative of how it goes.

I'm definitely aware I know firsthand. We'll be heading to LeBron a little bit later. What do you think of these reactions? These are more like this is a parable, less about like Blake Griffith. Yeah, this isn't like I feel so bad for Blake because he probably had so much like his roots were so down in L.A. And now he's moving to Detroit. Yeah, totally. I mean, just thinking about like who Blake has been photographed with, like the first, like when Sam Decker got treated to the clip first, he was like him and his and his former fiance.

And Sam Decker and his wife like all went out to dinner like in Beverly Hills. Yeah. But like I don't really feel like Sam Decker is like, you know, makes a squad. And then he was photographed with Chandler Parsons a lot over the summer as well. Blake was. Yeah, Blake. And like those players aren't really like churping up for him in general. Like it is true.

Like it seems like this is more of like using this to talk about like labor versus management. Yeah. It's more of like an Orwellian response. Well, Katie and LeBron both have like you betrayed us narratives going. Steph does not have a no trade clause. This was discussed today a little bit because everybody was like, how did Blake not get a no trade clause? because he had, because he was eligible for it because he had that year of service,

even though he didn't play his rookie year. Shout to Mark Stein for explaining that. Apparently, Steph did not get that, even though it was discussed with the Warriors. Right. Do you believe in no trade clauses? If you can get them. I believe in anything you can ask for. I agree.

If you can get it, you should. And somebody like Steph, this is wild because I think Steph's like really in the MVP conversation. Agreed. Has had ankle problems in the past. You know, and if the Warriors, I don't think the Warriors would ever do it. I feel like Steve Kirk goes out of his way to say that the Warriors are really are Steph.

Yeah. You know, it's like this entire thing is because of the way Steph plays. Yeah. But it is wild to think about these guys who are just so important to their franchises, not only on the court, but in terms of marketing, Blake was like on the side of a building, you know, selling season tickets with Blake Griffin and you're just like, okay, this is over. Who's the biggest star in L.A. now? Like, in L.A. sports.

Like, who is the most famous athlete here? The most famous athlete in Los Angeles. It's kind of nuts. Like, the Dodgers have some famous people. Yeah, they have a bunch of young kids. Like, I have Seeger and they have Pugge. And Kershaw is really famous. Yeah, in Kershaw.

I think Kershaw might be the most famous L.A. athlete right now. I think it might be him too. But, like, also, like, is Lanzo ball, like, suddenly top three? I think Lanzas top five, for sure. It's kind of nuts to think about. I mean, is it Jared Gough? Like, no. I don't think anybody cares about the Rams yet.

No. Yeah. It's weird. I mean, Philip Rivers probably is the most famous athlete in L.A., even though, he's not like an L.A. athlete. If you're throwing, like, a party, though, and you want to get, like, the face of L.A. sports to attend, who do you target? It was Blake Griffin. Magic.

It's still Madge Johnson. Yeah. That's kind of nuts, though. Yeah. And I guess it's still Kobe, too, but he. Yeah, it's Kobe. Yeah. That's a good point.

Yeah. But I would say that, like, affiliated with the team, the biggest name in L.A. Sports is probably Magic Johnson. That's a big opening. Yeah. Is that a big opening? appealing to like Paul George or to LeBron? Well, we don't even know what life is like with like, can you imagine if there was a

LeBron figure here? No, I can't. It was just Kobe for so long. And I think our view is a little bit skewed because of the way we cover basketball. But for the last like three years of Kobe, it was first of all, a ton of drama with Dwight and then he was injured. But it was just sort of like waiting for the Kobe era to end. Right.

And the Lonzo era is off to a shaky start. Love Kyle Kuzma. He doesn't exactly have the Wadage relationship more. He's more of a cult figure. He's like kind of like a folk hero. Totally. Yeah. It's just kind of weird.

There's a real void that I think everyone will be talking about come June. I'm sure that the next two summers is going to be. I mean, but we've been wondering about this for a while because the Lakers have been in the mix. I've tried to be in the mix for our free agents for a long time. And now the clippers are putting themselves in a position. It's not going to be as much this season. I don't think as much as next season. But the clippers are trying to put themselves in a position to get those guys too.

Isn't it weird for All Star to be here without a major star on either of the two teams? There's something weird about this All-Star coming. It definitely feels different than in previous years. Maybe also, again, our view is skewed, like, as media. But I remember when it was in New York, like, Mello was, like, kind of like, the host, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. At the All-Star game, it was like, this is Mello's arena. Anthony Davis kind of was like that for the in the morals.

Exactly. And in Toronto, like, A, they had Drake, who was, like, just so high-profile, but also, like, De Rosen and Lowry have been, like, in the top tier of the NBA for a long. time. There's just sort of like not that player for L.A. for this All-Star. Certainly not now. Yeah. It's bizarre. It should have been Blake, but then he didn't even make the All-Star team. And I remember thinking like, it'll be weird that Blake will be Not as- Is Blake going to be in Mexico while the All-Star game is in L.A.

Probably. Yeah. Yeah. And so it's just a real void. And we talk about this all the time. The NBA is so much more fun when there is like intrigue around the New York and LA teams. What do you think about the junkyard dog Clippers? So there was a good video of DeAndre Jordan leaving Nice Guy on the that he, that Blake got traded and he just, like, didn't want to talk and he looked really sad. And I was like, is he sad about Blake or is he wondering when his time is coming? Because, like, it's a rumor that he's an ex, right?

Him and Lou Williams. I kind of like the junkyard clippers a little bit more than I used to. It's fun. I mean, this will be an interesting, a lot of times when you listen to podcasts and you hear people advocate for things, like, for instance, like, I actually agree with Nate Duncan, but he was saying, if I'm the Pelicans and he's like, understand that this is not how this works, he was like, I would trade Anthony Davis tomorrow. This is the height of Anthony Davis's value. And this is how you rebuild this franchise and

essentially save this franchise is by rebuilding it for the next 10 years, by getting rid of somebody who is probably going to leave you in two years. And DeMarcus is exactly why you do that because you never know when a guy might take the wrong step, chasing his own rebound. that makes sense intellectually. Sure. But it's tough to stomach as like kind of a more casual fan as someone who doesn't care about team building. Yeah. They want to see like the guys that they have a personal relationship with.

So this Clippers team, which is now disassembled what was a relatively popular like group of players to not only the big three, but guys like Jamal Crawford, guys like Redick who were pretty popular Clippers. It was like a team with a brand. Like it or not. like it was a very specific flavor and you knew what you were going to get from the Clippers. And that kind of gave like a narrative baseline to watching the Western Conference. And it's just weird that's totally gone. And all the things that people are kind of saying about the Clippers now, it's just like, oh, they're going to be really good defensively.

Or like Tobias Harris is such a more affordable option to play either a stretch four or three than Blake was. And they're like, so they have so much flexibility going forward. And for the first time they have a couple picks and they're developing young players. It's like, that's all true. Right. But it's also, this is a major medium market. The Clippers got well because they were flying through the rafters dunking and they had played Griffin and D'Andre D'Hawton flushing Alley Oops.

So it'll just be really interesting to see what the Clippers fan base's reaction is to Milos, Pat Bev, Tobias Harris, you know, and Sam Decker leading the Clippers into the second half the season. I'm just going to say that's not really a sexy team. Like the teams that are popular are Lobcity or just teams that shoot the light out. the lights out or have a unicorn. Yeah. And they are none of those things.

So like the rockets and the warrior, I mean, the warriors are separate beast, but like the rockets are exciting this year because James Hardin could go off for 60. And because Eric Gordon is like incredible and obviously Chris Paul too. But like you need to have some kind of flare. And I don't think like a solid, like affordable team. Yeah. It's really going to fill the Stafel Center more than it was before. Yeah.

Yeah. Especially with this baby Lakers thing, which while not a success on the court, has definitely gotten a lot of attention. I have a couple questions I want to ask for you. The most important one is, who is the Clipper to be? Who is our future Clipper leader? The Clipper Who Will Rise.

Yeah. Is it Paul George? Is it Clay Thompson? I know this is really unpopular. I think Paul George will say in Oklahoma City. It's not unpopular. I think you will. I think Roberson getting hurt

and then they're going to have like a somewhat challenging. I know Charks thinks that they'll be better, but I think Roberson getting hurt. is going to be making a challenge for them to be a serious playoff contender. Uh-huh. And I wonder whether or not he's like life's too short when I move to LA. Interesting. Maybe.

Maybe I'm totally wrong. But I just don't think the clippers or the Lakers are that appealing. Los Angeles is that? Yes, that's true. Who is the future clipper? I don't know about Clay. I don't know. Do you think Michael would disown him if he would.

Yeah. I just don't think Michael Thompson would like that. Although if they give him all the money, maybe. Yeah. Money talks, as they say. Who do you think it is? We had this argument about LeBron and like because Jerry West, who's

one of those sort of front office. He is what a lot of people think is making these moves. Lawrence Frank is the president of basketball ops, I think. But Michael Winger from the Thunder is now the GM there. So I do think that they have like some new

kind of blood in the front office. But this LeBron West relationship is being touted as a reason. and why the clippers could get into the mix for LeBron. You know what else was really touted for a while? The Jerry West Harrison Barnes relationship. Remember that article when Barnes was still on the warriors? Whereas, like, he's learned everything he's got from spending the summer with Jerry West.

Yeah, yeah. And then he was gone. Yeah. Do you know if LeBron and Doc get along? I don't know. Do you? Just because LeBron has had a, you know, a contentious relationship with the city of Boston. Uh-huh.

And Doc was there for most of that. Sure. I don't know if that's really the coach that LeBron is looking for in the final phase of his career. I mean, LeBron doesn't go anywhere and is like, I'm just here to slide in and make it work. It's like, I come and then like there's usually a coaching

change. There's usually a huge roster turnover. Spoh was obviously very young and was kind of like selected by Pat Riley. Yeah. And he's a great coach, one of the best in the league. But he's not like a Doc Rivers type who sort of demands to be like the guy. Yeah. How do you think that Polenko would feel if Rich Paul doesn't, it delivers LeBron, take the clippers.

Would you feel betrayed after using so much of his cap space knowledge? You know, Polenko will be fine because as we learned from the article on Lakers.com, his favorite class in high school was AP Calculus. Yeah. He loves problem solving. So I'm pretty sure he'll figure it out. Check out that article written by Kevin Dang. Yeah, it's like, it's a doozy.

There's a real. It's Lincor patting himself on the back for sending DeAngelo Russon to Brooklyn because it's like a good situation for him. Yeah. Because there's a human element to these trades, you know? There's some real Lakers long form out there, and it's pretty incredible. Who do you think is the clipper that will be promised? I don't, it's just so hard to forecast because there's just so much changes so quickly in the NBA.

Yeah. It's just been a wild 10 days. It depends on who is building the clippers. It depends on who is in charge. Is it Doc? Is it Jerry West? Is it just Michael Winger? Is it who is the player that they're coming to play with?

Or is it a complete, like, hey, we've, got Patrick Beverly and Tobias Harris and Avery Bradley who we've resigned. So the perimeter defense is already awesome. Like you don't have to worry about like one of the problems for LeBron right now and like in the second half of this season is like he's the best defender on the starting lineup now. I guess Tristan is. But like LeBron has to play a lot of two way basketball right now. Right. I think also the other problem facing every superstar looking to move to a new city. The teams that have been the most successful over the last few years minus LeBron's team. are the result of a system and like slow growth using draft picks and scouting.

Yeah. And so like that's true for the Warriors. That's true. That's true for the Celtics. Even true for the Rockets. Like they have like a sixers even like a team like on the rise where it's like they've gone and identified guys. Yeah.

So it's not just like plug and play. Yeah. And so I think that's just going to be a challenge for the clippers and the Lakers. I think it's more of a challenge for the Lakers actually because they've gotten all of these high draft picks lately. And Brandon Ingram is probably not a number. one and Lonzo is like maybe a maybe will be a great point guard but it's kind of hard to know what his ceiling is right now. Yeah. So good luck to everyone in LA. Should we talk about the

Cavs and Kevin Love? Yes. This is a podcast that wants to declare justice for Kevin Love. We stand Kevin Love. You've been a long time champion of his like really even before the little kev days and he's getting a raw deal right now. He's just had such a strange career. He really has. He's 29 years old. It's a tale of two careers and it's so wild to look at him now even compared to what he looked like in Minnesota and even to some extent UCLA, but like his body type, his game style, all that stuff was like so different in Minnesota. He was this kind of doughy post-playing maestro in Minnesota who expanded his game outwards over the course of the seasons in Minnesota, but like obviously could not be the

best player on your team if you wanted to make the playoffs. And then he's kind of like changed his body. He's changed his whole vibe. He's like, now I've been a republic model. And I have not, you know, it's a real question about like, what are you willing to give up? What are you willing to sublimate? What do you, like, dignity-wise, what are you willing to give up to be a champion? And just watching this whole thing over the last couple of weeks where it's like, everybody

questioning Kevin Love's illness against Oklahoma was like the thing that led to this player's only meeting. And then Isaiah kind of being like, I, you know, I wasn't calling out Kevin Love. I just demanded to know what happened to him. Let's talk about how this unfolded because it was really weird. So the Clipper, I mean, the Cavs lose big time to the Thunder on an ABC showcase game. Kevin Love leaves in the middle of the game and it's like unclear what's wrong with him. And then it comes out that there's a player, like a team meeting and the players want to know like why Kevin Love wasn't on the bench and didn't attend practice the next day.

This comes out from an article with Wojj, LeBron James, if you do a Command F, LeBron James is not mentioned in this article about the Cleveland Cavaliers. Yes. And it's like kind of, it's a bad look for Kevin Love. Yeah. It's, it's weird. Then, like, five days later, Isaiah Thomas talks to the media and he clarifies because he seems like the ringleader against Kevin Love being like, I wasn't calling out Kevin Love. We just wanted to know where he was. No one from the team told us what happened to him.

So we were just just here, like, just trying to like fact find. It's a really interesting interview if you can find the video of Isaiah because I just want to specify that he wasn't like we were concerned. for Kevin Love, it was more just like, I want an explanation for why this guy is no longer here. And he did say, you know, I've known Kevin Love since like fifth or sixth grade is not a problem with me and Kevin Love. But I would not exactly say like, this could have been easily wrapped up if Isaiah was like, oh yeah, well, we were just wondering like what happened to Kev. Yeah. We were concerned like he left. Like, is he okay? Yeah, exactly. It was more like we needed an explanation. But he was trying to turn it on the team management. Yes, the infrastructure. Yeah,

and away from the players. I will say also that in the, in the wake of that team meeting. Kevin Love handed himself pretty well. He had a pretty funny interview where they asked him about being an all-star and being drafted by team LeBron and he joked about going last. He's like, I probably got drafted last. And then the next game, he grabbed a rebound. And instead of like passing it to Isaiah Thomas or like handing it off to him, he like dipped down to Isaiah Thomas's height and like handed him the ball on a platter, like almost as if like here you go, sir, like your ball. So that was pretty funny. Isaiah thought it was, I think he thought it was funny. I don't know. I can't read Isaiah Thomas's mind. Yeah. And now Kevin Love broke his hand

is after six to eight weeks. I am the image of Kevin Love running back to the locker room knowing he's injured is like a searing image in my head. Like he always looked exactly the same. It's kind of sad. He runs with urgency and so but also kind of like a real calm calmness about him. It's very, it's kind of strange. But here is the saddest thing. So last night he breaks his hand. fractures his hand. He's going to be out for probably two months. Dave McMediman right after the game. Kevin Love was transported back to Cleveland in a car after receiving X-rays and seeing his teammates at halftime. It was like, so I don't know who told Dave, like, make sure everyone knows that Kevin, like, showed his fractured hand to his teammates so that they didn't question, like, the legitimacy of his

medical reasons. It's like, come on, guys. Seriously. It's pretty, it's pretty wild. And then And today we got LeBron with this, you know, it's a fit out season, I guess, or whatever. It's definitely fit out season. He put up what was an Instagram story that said, what was the actual quote? He had a quote that said, when you become lazy, it's disrespectful to those who believe in you with the 100 emoji. Who do you think that's about? I don't think Kevin Love could be considered lazy for breaking his hand. Isaiah Thomas for not working hard enough on his comeback.

He is definitely updating us all the time about what. He is practicing. And he's like pretty, it's interesting that he has become the voice of the Cavs. Yes. As I've been saying for a while, he is a voice and he would like to be heard. Yeah. Which I don't begrudge him at all. Jay Crowder and Jarrah Smith both having tough seasons.

Jarris Smith probably having a career worse offensive season. Yes. I don't know who else he could be referring to. Channing Fry got dunked on a couple times last night, but I think that was more just like he's used to playing five minutes a game. I guess. If at all. I don't know

who is not giving the effort on that team. Isaiah Thomas' defensive rating numbers are astonishing. But they were always bad. You think he was playing one on five.

Seriously. Yikes, Isaiah. It's a tough one. If you keep watching that LeBron story, though, on Instagram, gets really cute. He shares a beverage

with his daughter and they burp in each other's faces. Dad LeBron's my favorite LeBron. Since we're, we started this podcast talking about the end of an era. Yeah. and sort of how the clippers have matched like us doing pods together.

Are you prepared for the end of the calves? Are you ready for the end of the calves, the end of LeBron in the lands? Are you kind of like, I'm done? I'm ready for it. The Miami era feels like so long ago. Oh, yeah. It's like, but LeBron is ever present. Like, it's like just he carries, he carries us forward.

Yes. I'm ready for the end of the calves. I also am really ready for the Cavs to not make the Eastern Conference Finals, let alone the finals. Like, let's just mix it up. Let's have some fun. Yes. Not, I mean, like, that's like a prayer.

I think they'll still make in the finals just because. Absolutely not. You don't think so? I do not think so. I just never wanted to bet against LeBron, as he told me on his Instagram, you know? Anything else you want to get to today? Great question, Chris. I just want to mention that we have a great feature about Jason Tatum on the ringer today by John Gonzalez.

Shout out to my Monday morning. He checked. But more importantly, last week, the Celtics were in town and team, like to go out to nightclubs and they're in LA, the Celtics went to Warwick, which is not too far from our office here in Hollywood. Oh. Gigantic life size, beyond life size.

Like, gigantic photo of Emily Rodgakowski in there, her naked. Why? It's just like, that's the decor. It's like a giant huge photo. Do you think she was paid for that? Definitely. Okay.

It's like, it's like art in air quotes. Oh, it wasn't like we just took a picture from GQ and put it up. No, it's like she posed for it. Okay. It's kind of shocking and weird. Anyway, Jason Tatum, not. a lot in the club because he's only 19 years old. Old enough to be a father, though.

Old enough to be a father. Not old enough for the club. Interesting week of clubs for these guys. Well, just because the Warriors went out in Utah, apparently. Okay, so the Warriors lost by 30 in Utah last night. Donovan Mitchell, very proud of himself. Congrats, Donovan Mitchell. You'll have a great future.

Juliet, can I interrupt you for a second? Sure. Breaking news. Oh, no. Catherine Heigle joined suits. What? Is that serious? Yes.

Yeah, Catherine Hegel's on suits. Izzy Stevens is on suits replacing Megan Markle? Yeah. Holy cow. The real queen is here. Holy cow. Yeah. I'm worried about suits now.

She doesn't have a good track record. Oh my God. This is really big. Thank you for letting me now. Yeah, sure. Back to the Warriors for a second. Warriors lost by 30 in Utah. And Chris Haynes, I think it was Chris Haynes is like plus one for

nightlife. The Warriors very specifically, like three or four of them, Instagram, pictures of them at an escape room. Yeah. When you first said this, I was like, does Salt Lake have a club called escape? No. Because there should be one. Sure. Yeah, that's a good idea. But an escape room is like a team building challenge, whatever, whatever. And so was that like a distraction to be like, look at what fun we're having as a team, like, and like being sober in Utah? I don't understand how you get smashed by 30. Like this is, I feel like this is a season

where we're seeing a lot of like, you know, like the Cavs giving up like a hundred and thirty-five points to teams. They almost, like, they always give 130 to the pistons. So when the,

the warriors go and get just absolutely roasted by the jazz, what do you guys like, like, what happened? I don't know. You're the warriors. I totally don't care.

Like, you guys can lose a game, but it's really wild. It is really weird. Like, when you just come out, like, not playing defense,

like, really they're just bored. I don't know. They've had a lot of road games. Because I saw it, I was like, oh, Stefan, Stefan Kevin must have rested. And it's, you know, 30 minutes. It's pretty weird. I don't really.

And also, I just found the escape room. Is Steve Kerr on the hot seat now? Fire Steve Kerr. Just kidding. We love Steve Carr here, although we don't want him to run for office. It's pretty good. And, yeah, lastly, a trip to Philly. Oh, God.

Mark Hell Fultz. I was kind of hoping we would just wrap it there, but okay. Markle Fultz is mad at his coach. Allegedly. Allegedly mad at his coach, who Brett Brown basically said he has, he's suffering from psychosomatic effects and that's why he can't shoot. So this is slightly,

so Mark Jones on an ESPN broadcast said that in a production meeting, Brett Brown said that. And then he said it on the broadcast. Markell Fultz was like, you can't trust anyone, yada, yada. And Brett was like,

I was like wildly misquoted. I have been incredibly consistent in what I've been saying about Markell all season. And he mentions, I have talked about Markell hundreds of times. Therein lies the problem.

and I really like Brett Brown. Sure. But this spectacle about which I participate in, which I watch as if it's like a horror movie every day the videos from practice, him trying to like get his shoulder to go up above his chin line and shoot two foot jump shots.

All of the like, I don't ever remember this much footage of an NBA player in practice ever getting online. Why are they still allowing it? Why are they doing this? I don't know. Close. How many times is Greg Popovich talked about Kauai Leonard in the last three months?

Zero. Seven times? Like maybe? You're right. He's not back. He's not back. He's back. He's not going to be back for a while.

I haven't seen any clips of Kauai in practice, though. Like, that I think is zero. Yeah. So, like, I just don't understand why they're... This is not a team that's unfamiliar with rookies with injuries. Yeah. So whatever the injury is, why is it being played out in public? I don't know.

It's very rude to Markell. And I don't know. It's kind of inexplicable. As you know, I've been concerned about how the Sixers are managing their stars careers. So I'm still concerned. Okay. Great note to leave on. I have so much to think about with Catherine Hegel now.

I mean, like, that's the big takeaway from this podcast. I'm glad I came out on sorts of a day because, as we know, the NBA lovesuits. Yeah. So it was really fitting. Thanks for listening. RIP to Lob City. And if you have suggestions on who should be the rightful air to the L.A. Sports Crown.

Please hit us up on Twitter. Bye guys.