The Ringer NBA Show - Who Will Win the Giannis Sweepstakes? Plus, What Will the Offseason Look Like in Laker Land? | Real Ones

Episode Date: May 17, 2025

Sam Amick of The Athletic joined Logan and Howard to discuss some major looming offseason storylines. Will Giannis stay put in Milwaukee, or will he be headed for greener pastures elsewhere? What are the offseason priorities for the Lakers? LeBron most likely will be returning, but in what capacity? Is there a chance that Luka doesn't re-sign with the Lakers? Nikola Jokic is faced with yet another Game 7—still, he’s shown a lot since the Nuggets moved on from Mike Malone and Calvin Booth. What areas could Denver upgrade to keep Jokic happy? How will the Kings clean up their mess? Could the Suns' next head coach be a familiar face? Plus, Allen Iverson memory lane and a "Pack Watch" with Jomi Adeniran. (3:10): Giannis Sweepstakes (26:50): FanDuel Ad Break (28:07): Lakers Offseason (38:46): Pack Watch With Jomi Adeniran (40:08): Nuggets Offseason (54:32): Kings Talk (1:04:55): Phoenix Suns Check-in (1:09:55): Draft Lottery Talk (1:11:48): Allen Iverson + Sixers Talk The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hit the mailbag! [e-mail] Hosts: Logan Murdock and Howard BeckGuest: Sam AmickProducer/Audio: Clifford AugustinVideo Producer: Victoria Valencia Additional Production Support: Belle Roman Social: Keith Fujimoto Pack Watch: Jomi Adeniran Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to The Ringer NBA show presented by Fandul. America's number one sports book has made it easier than ever to get in on the action during an NBA playoff game, even after tip off. Just look for the live SGP tab on the Fandual Sportsbook app and build your bet slip. Then sit back, relax, and track the outcome of your parlay right in the app. If you don't already have it, download the Fandual app today to make every moment more. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. please visit RG-G-Help.com to learn more about the resources and help lines available

and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 plus and present in select states. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-dash-help.com. Was Bobbin. Real ones. Logan Murdoch here. Howard Beck there.

Sam Amick is with us. We were laughing at Howard because he looks like he's at a public access show right now. He looks like he's doing a call bank. Where are you at right now, Howard? What's going on? Before you, like, start, like, just mocking everything with the surroundings here, I'm an Amy Polar's fucking studio, dude. This is Amy Polar's studio, all right?

Oh, shit. Have a little respect. Oh, shit. Oh, Michelle Obama was just in there, right? Did they, Michelle Obama? Then they packed it up so you can get in there, right? Okay, my bad. Just behind this curtain behind me is Amy Polar's backdrop.

Prove it. Prove it right now. I don't believe you. I don't believe you. you tear that shit down. What we got? I don't think Bell and the rest of the production crew here would appreciate me, like yanking on the curtains.

But trust me, this is Amy Poller's studio. Our esteemed colleague, frankly, she's our, like, it's like our co-worker. It's like, you know, coming to the barbecue and stuff. Yeah. It's real celebrity shit, Sam. You know what I mean? That's what we do over here at Spotify. I mean, I was just, Howard, like, since you and I are the older dudes on the pod,

like, Logan's not going to remember this reference. Remember the old Conan O'Brien segment when he would go spotlight to the face in the year 2000? Yeah, right? You mean before Logan was born? Yeah. Yes. You guys want to know how old I was in 2000? Do you guys really want to know?

Three months. Please tell us, Logan. Tell us how accomplished you are at your young age. I was entering second grade in the fall of 2000. Jeez. So. Killing me. No, no.

Yeah, I remember that there was a Y2K was like a thing. My parents were scared and we fell asleep at like nine so we didn't have to go through like our doom death. And then we woke up and everything was fine. It was fine. Yeah. And everything worked out. So we were good. Anyways, speaking of doom deaths, I guess.

I don't know. What's all going to be A man. We got Sam here. Let's just go right into it. We already talked about, you can go to another podcast to just get the full recap of what's going on with the Nuggets and the Oklahoma City Thunder. We're here to talk news and offseason and evergreen shit for the off season. Let's start with Janice Adetakumbo, Sam, because, you know, you seem to be a guy that is locked in on everything Janus-related. I'm going to start by saying this real quick.

And me and you both reported on this, since this is both of our backyards. It doesn't seem at this point that the Golden State Warriors are in the Janus sweepstakes. I don't think that they will be necessarily, not that they don't necessarily want to, but more so. they just don't have the assets to get him. And I think that, like, there was a big brouhaha. You wrote about it. I wrote about it. Yannis and Steph hanging out in the All-Star game.

There was a, at least from what I heard, I'm sure you heard the same thing. There was a feeling that Yonis was very, very intrigued by the idea of one day being a teammate of Steph's Curry. There was at least a feeling of, you know, that Janus wanted to play with Steph in the, in the very near future and be teammates with him. At least that was the impression that a lot of officials got during that suire. Talk about the Warriors' chances.

And then I want to give, I want to see the floor to you really quickly, Sam. Who are the, we know the teams are San Antonio, Houston, and OKC or teams that like are just in the mix in trying, in the mix for maybe his services. Should he actually officially request to trade, which is a interesting note there.

But talk about the Warriors' point of view and then the three teams' point of view and where they stand in the sweepstakes of Janice Adidicumbo, who, by the way, has not yet officially requested a trade. No, and I appreciate you saying that last part. We can write it until the cows come home. It feels like the world has already overlooked that part.

You know what I mean? And before I even dive into your question and the answer, I just will also give context that while I'm I'm all in on the idea that yes, to a degree, it is the summer of Yonis and might continue to be so. For anybody to act like this is the first time we've had questions about Yannis's future in Milwaukee, you know, we're forgetting all the subplots here. Every time you had a contract, every time they fell short of the championship, I'm going to put the over under at three. I don't remember exactly how many there were. Like Janice has never been Mr. Ten Toes Down in Milwaukee, no matter what. It has been in the offseason.

I'm going to talk to John Horace, the GM. I'm going to talk to my people, see what I think. And so this has been something they've been going through for the better part of a decade. They traded for Drew Holiday to help that cause. They traded for Damien Lillard to help that cause. So now here we are. To me, in terms of how this is. is going to go and how the landscape looks.

It's those teams you mentioned. I mean, I guess run through them real quick. To me, Houston, you know, we reported this last week. They're, you know, 100% going to look hard at it if it is a possibility. He is perhaps the only guy that, you know, probably on top of their list when you talk about age, talent, timeline, all of that stuff. All the talk about Kevin Durant in Houston, Kevin's age, Kevin's timeline. And I'm real confident saying that that is not the direction they're looking right now.

Even guys that have kind of unofficially fallen off their list. Devin Booker was on their short list before, but he had a bad year last year. But Houston, for sure, will be looking hard at Janus. If he is available, the San Antonio option obviously is a basketball fan's dream, potentially just that idea of Janus being with Wembe. Now that number two pick changes the calculus. even better for the spurs purposes. If they want to dive in,

who else am I forgetting there, Logan, that you mentioned? Oklahoma City. Yeah, I mean, that one's, you know, that's the fun part of the playoffs is that that is evolving in real time in terms of, you know, San Presti and the Thunder, there's just no way for them to know how they feel about this current group just yet because we got to see what happens on Sunday. And if they survive, we got to see from there.

If they go on to a championship run, that changes the way they look at their team versus falling out in the second round. but they've got the assets, they've got, you know, the optionality, if you will. You know, the Warriors, it's funny. I liked your story. I noticed that you wrote that anecdote from Steph's Party at All-Star Weekend 2. I will tell you in all of my years doing this, that was, I was there in person. So that was not sourced material.

That was me watching Janus walk up the stairs. Wait, real quick, real quick. I just want to say real quick, I saw Sam, and you're going to appreciate this, from the call bank in New York, Howard. I remember seeing Sam right after, was it game four? Game four, because I was his last game in debate, right? And I remember having that, like, you know, when you have something in the back pocket that you could just throw out real quick, right, that you know that you have in your story

that you're about to have, right? And I saw Sam writing about Janus. And then I read his story the next day because I knew mine was coming out Wednesday. And I was like, God damn it. I was like, God damn it. He did it. He wrote it. I wrote it's funny.

I wrote, I forget how I worded it. I wrote like a watered down version of it like a month ago. And then I was like, all I forget. I'm going to share all the tea. But it was like, I mean, yes, like, you know, it's Steph's party. He's right next to Chase Center at the Splash restaurant and bar that they have there. It's a warrior's event. You're welcome, Raymond Ritter.

Yes. And it's almost midnight, and it's Janice and his wife Mariah, they come to the party, they go up the stairs, and the room kind of stops. Like, I'm actually literally talking to Joe Lekob in that moment. And it was pretty entertaining to see Joe kind of turn and start having, you know, kind of a heart in his eyes as he looks up the stairs. But that being said, the warriors, you know, and my colleagues at the athletic just put this out yesterday, all signs point to them being all in on the Jimmy Butler era, that the major changes

are not the focus right now. They want to kind of build around their new big three. So we'll see where it goes. Milwaukee is going to try to sell Yadis on basically, you know, what we'll call a gap here that my buddy Mark, Eric Name, wrote the other day at our place, the idea that you could be an VP candidate, you know, have individual accolades for a year

and let us figure the roster out rather than jump and ship. That's not a great, a sort of great recruiting pitch, right, Howard? No, I mean, he's what, 30, 31? Like, the idea of pitching one. On a gap year when you're on the other side of 30, like, you don't have a lot of time. I mean, Janus has been in the league long enough now and seen enough of these like little, you know, jagged turns in the road, right?

You know, Sam alluded to it earlier where he kind of, you know, says something a little passive aggressive or whatever. and the next thing, you know, Drew Holiday magically appears on the roster. And then there's another one of these moments a couple summers ago when our friend Tanya Ganguly at the New York Times, you know, had the interview with Janus where he started to allude to, well, if we can't win championships here, then maybe, and the next thing, you know, Damien Lillard magically appears on the roster. So, like, Janus is smart.

He's been around this league a long time now. It's hard to believe how, how, what is he, 12 years in or whatever. I think he gets it. And I think if he had the confidence in John Horst, who has. of course, been the GM there for most of his career now, I could conceptually see it. If they could lay out, here's what's going to happen this season, but here's where it will leave us for the possibilities for next year, like maybe. And Janus has expressed just enough affinity for Milwaukee over the years that I could kind of see it. But my suspicion is not that. My

suspicion is, this is the summer where it is going to break. And, you know, Sam, you said it, like, Logan, you said, like, there's been no, there's been nothing yet. Literally nothing has happened between Janus and the Bucks that anybody knows of definitively. There's no trade demand. But Sam, I'll put this to you. Like, from what you gather of the situation, and you know Janus pretty well, you know that organization well. I've always viewed this as when you have a player like Janus or when Portland had Dame, even if you think the best path forward for the organization is, you know what, we hit a block, we hit a fork in the road.

we'll proactively trade him, it's really hard to do. My general principle is you don't trade the generational superstar, the face of the franchise type. Unless you're Nico Harrison. Unless you're Nico Harrison. Nobody else should do this. He knew he had Cooper. He was in the back pocket. Stop.

You don't do it in general. Nico Harrison being the lone exception in the history of the universe. You don't do it unless the guy says it's time. I'm out. And then if you can't talk him back in, you say, okay, let's work together on a trade. Janus hasn't done that yet, to our knowledge. He's passive-aggressively hinted at the possibility, but he has not said, I want out. Is there any situation or any possibility, Sam, do you think that John Horst and the Bucks would proactively trade him?

Or is this going to be like 99.9% of the other situations like this, where it's, you got to wait until the player comes to you and says, is time. Let's go. Yeah, no, I think it's the latter for sure, Howard. There's, you know, it's funny being close with, I mentioned Eric name, our very good Bucks beat writer. And he's from the area. We have an editor who I think you guys know, Rob Peterson with Milwaukee Roots. Those are my two kind of Milwaukee filters lately. And it keeps cracking me up because, like, if you talk to those guys and get the sense from Buck's fans, there's this idea that it's like, well, unless you're getting wilt back, then you're not trading on it.

what I mean? Like the fans don't. It's going to be really hard to get Wilbett and a trade in 2025. And it's just not something. They don't want to let this man leave town, the fans. And I think the organization is reflecting that mentality. And it's funny not to hit the rewind button, Howard, but the gap of your concept, I'm curious how you see this, because one of the comparisons that has been made is, and you covered, you know, the prime of Kobe's career. is, you know, there were stretches of Kobe's career where he was one foot out the door, almost two feet. And then he came back in and had to be patient and give it some time.

And then they got power or whatever the next move was. You know, same thing, Logan was Steph. Like, Steph has had moments. Now it's easier to have a gap here when you've got four titles or, you know, three or four at the time. That's the thing with Janus is that Janus is so great that having one championship at 30 is falling short of where he was hoping to be. But that being said, you know, that is the Bucks vantage point.

That is their pitch. And, you know, the roster, this is maybe a slice of good news for Bucks fans. My feeling and my sense in talking to people, Janus is not all the way out on this roster. He thinks the talent is actually better than what they showed in the playoff series against Indiana. I've even heard that he feels like the Pacer style of play and how fast they played and how aggressive if they were, that the Bucks should have had more of that, and that there's X's and O's things that he thinks could make this group better. So there's these little tidbits where you kind of wonder if maybe they can hold on to him, but to your initial question, like, yeah, the Bucks are not,

they're not doing anything unless he raises his head. And I just want to throw in real quick the quote that he gave to Tanya Gengoli a couple summers ago, where Yana said, you've got to see the dynamics. He's talking about whether he was going to extend, and this is the summer before he ended up extending again. At the end of the day, I feel like all my teammates know and the organization knows that I want to win a championship. As long as we're on the same page

with that, and you show me and we go together to win a championship, I'm all for it. The moment I feel like, oh yeah, we're trying to rebuild and then he pauses and then whatever. Like that's the passive aggressive, and it's not even passive, like I feel bad even putting in those terms. any superstar who has either not won titles or in this case is one one and it still feels like they need more, they want more, which is what we would all hope the stars would want.

It's fair to always keep the pressure on. You should. And quotes like this, comments like this in a public sphere helps keep the pressure on. Not that the front office doesn't know that they have that obligation anyway. John Horst doesn't need to be reminded. Ownership doesn't need to be reminded. But when Yonah says those things, it does give you reason. to believe that if the Bucks could not show the roadmap back to contention, then it, then,

then, then, yeah, it's logical that he would take the next step and say, okay, it's time. And I think Dame's injury and the fact that he's going to lose an entire season, and by the time he comes back, he's, what, 35? I mean, to me, that was, like, that was the final nail. Yeah, like, I don't see how you. For sure. How does this era bounce back from that with no dame for a year and the clock ticking on Janus? Just can I jump in and add two things because that all lands really well.

The interview with Tanya, less than a month later, they had Damia Liller. So that pressure absolutely had a domino effect. They had Dame, something that Yannis wanted. Now, the other thing that we've reported is that if Dame had not gotten hurt, there were going to be conversations this summer about him getting moved. There was a mutual thing like, do we think this is working? And I don't know what would have happened. but that was potentially a pathway for the buck.

To move Dame. Yeah, to move Dame and say to Janice, hey, you know, he's still an all-star, 25 and 7, you know, high-level player. We could get this guy and that guy add some depth. Really, the truth is what we also learned this year, Janus kind of loves being Magic Johnson. You know what I mean? Like he wants, as much as he does love Dame, their relationship is good.

Like, Janus is at his happiest when he has the ball in his hands. So I think they could have sold him on the idea of moving Dame for more. you know, depth, more role players get stronger around him, but that pathway is eliminated because of the injury. The other thing that I think I'm overlooking here, and we should add to the conversation, you know, it's all speculation, but as we look at these different teams, they could be in the mix, I'm fascinated by the next situation because, you know, we'll see what happens tonight in their game six. They're having a fantastic year. But to me, if they fall short, anything less than a title, And in terms of knowing a little bit about how Janus kind of sees the league, you know, I think for sure that if he raised his hand, you would see Leon Rose and the Knicks taking a really hard look at that as a possible.

I mean, they've got the depth on their roster. They've got the types of guys that the Bucks would, I think, you know, have to look at in, you know, a possible deal. The Knicks, to me, are pretty interesting. So with that, I got two questions on that front. So one question that you brought up was a really good point was what Janus wants offensively. right like him wanting the ball in his hands wanting to be a point center or a point for whatever you want to call it i'll ask this question first how does that educate which teams has an advantage at this point right in terms of roster right when you look down the line i mean i think

about san antonio where you have a twin tower effect right and it seems like they would be able to complicate each other well as opposed to maybe an oklahoma city who has the bar none has the best package to offer in general for a Janus Hadedekumba when you talk about the combination of young guys on rookie salaries and you have just a boatload of picks that they have. How would that educate where Janus goes? Does he have a say where he would want to go, packages be damned? Yes. I mean, he has a say on all of it. And I think your question is very relevant because let's say it's a Knicks thing, right, where they want to make that one last final upgrade. Well, you're not moving off Jalen Brunson. That guy's a Knicks legend at this point. So they talk

about usage and who's going to have the ball. Jalen's going to have the ball a lot. Maybe that's not. Same with Shea. Right. And then you look at Houston. The Houston one's fascinating because, you know, and again, we're just early speculation here. But if there was a rocket's discussion to be had, they are well aware that the idea of like Shengun and Yannis playing together. is not a great fit, you know. And so I would anticipate in that scenario, Shengu and going back to Milwaukee. Then, you know, I think that maybe has more possibility. Right now, the ball is in Fred Van Bleets' hands, to a lesser degree, Jalen Green's hands. There is more of a job opening in that regard in Houston than there is in some of those other spots. And the thing, the moment when I

learned this season about where Janus's head was at the most, on this topic is, I don't know if you guys remember the, he had this, this kind of quirky quote about, um, when Dame was out about the cookie jar. And he tried to make this little forced analogy about out. It's like when you're a kid and, and, you know, you have a cookie jar in the house. If you're an only child, like that cookie jar is, is all yours and you can put your hands in it whenever you want, get whatever kind of cook you want. If you got a bunch of siblings, then everybody's going to kind of like, you know, be a little more selfish and, and, you know, treat the cookie jar a little bit differently.

It was a weird way of framing it. It was something that was talked about in Buck circles that kind of informed his mentality. And yeah, I think it's something that should not be forgotten going forward. I think one of the fascinating pieces of this here is, you know, you've got, you know, first there's the honest aspect of this. Does he want out? Is he going to ask out? When we, if and when we get to that point, then it becomes.

comes, okay, where does he want to go? Does he have a list? Some cities were suggested to me, and I mentioned him on Zach's podcast and it got aggregated to the fucking nth degree, and so I'm not going to repeat them. Oh, my God. Aggregation. Here it is, Logan. Here it is Logan. I'm not doing it again. But then it's a matter of what does Milwaukee want back also, right? Like, Janice's preferred destinations are the first thing, right? Like, because he can, it's not that he can a deal. He doesn't have a no trade clause, all that stuff. But you're always going to try to do right by the star and you're going to try to work with him on it. So chances are wherever he lands is

going to be somewhere that he wants to land. But, you know, I think he will try to be a good partner in this too, which means that he'll work with Milwaukee on making sure that they are made whole to the extent that they can be. So the question I keep asking is, well, what does Milwaukee want out of this? We don't know. Do they want, like they have no control over their own draft picks for the most part. So tanking is not a great path for them. A tear down is not a great path for them. So do they want players immediately, like the idea of like a Jalen Green Alpern-Sangoon return that helps them stay afloat in the near term and be at least competitive seems like a good idea. Plus, obviously, the Rockets are a candidate for this too because they've got a shit ton of draft picks that they can

trade and the bucks do need draft capital. But what do they want? Do they want primarily draft capital? Maybe at the expense of winning right away? Do they want functional? competitive players that they can either flip or just tread water with? Do they think, no, we're trading a generational star. We need at least a star or two back. Maybe not at the same level type of star, but we need star type players back. Like that's the thing where until you get to that point, I don't think we can actually answer that question.

And the answer to that question helps us then determine like, okay, are the Knicks with an offer of Ananobe and Bridges in the running or not. Is that enough? You know, the Knicks don't have picks to trade. The Nets have a bunch of picks to trade, but don't really have a ton in terms of players to trade. And if they traded them, then Yannis has nobody to compete, you know, next to. So, like, it's complicated in that regard. It's not like you can just say, like, the entire field is open. Teams have different asset groupings to offer. And, like, that's why Oklahoma's so fascinating, right? Because if the Thunder fall short of a championship, And they've got a shit ton of extra players.

Their rotation is so incredibly deep. They've got more picks than anybody in the history of draft picks. They could make a really compelling offer. But you don't do that if you just won a championship, most likely. If you haven't, everything's on the table. And they certainly would be the most alluring for the bucks, but would they be for Janus? So I just think like there's so many variables here. It's really hard to game out as we sit here in mid-May.

Howard, just to put a finer point on that, the buck's best hope here is that every scenario that you are kind of mapping out and that comes across their desk paints a picture to Janus of, hey, we get it. You know, we love you. We're always going to love you forever. If you go to this other team, you know, we're still going to retire your jersey, build the stats to do all that stuff. But you are looking at being part of a sixth seed on the other side as well. You know what I mean? Like they want every scenario. to gut the other team. And John Horace is going to go for blood here. I'm telling you. Like, he just got a new extension. He has the organization's backing.

John is not going to just be trying to be on good terms with Janus. He's trying to do right by the bucks. And that means that if every scenario in play, you know, leaves the other team so gutted that Janus might not actually be in that much better of a situation, then maybe that's where he looks at the room and says, all right, let me stay put. Yeah. How long do you think this drags out, Sam? I think it'll be a while.

I mean, like Howard said, could we, could we go if I want to, if he requests a trade, is it going to be like one of those like those dreaded like August trades or something like that? Could it go that long? Could it be? Don't ruin our vacations, Janus. Yeah.

Mine, bro. That's going to be, that's going to be them. I got mid-July Hawaii plan. So that's probably when it's going to happen. I think it, I mean, we have the history tells us how this goes with yannis and again it's because this is not the first time he has a pattern of it's you know meeting with yannis his agents is you know two agents and then they sit down they talk about how the bucks see the future um if yonis heard something he loved in

that meeting then that would be a wrap and he says i'm good chances are that doesn't happen you know then it's going to be no this is we need more um Probably have a second meeting. I think he gives them a long run way to have that discussion. And then if all options have been exhausted and he still doesn't feel good about his current lot in basketball life, then comes potentially a trade request. And then, you know, you've got the sweepstakes from there. But I do think it's going to take a while.

Fan duel is letting you get in on all the NBA playoff action right from the first tip. Because right now all customers can get a no sweat, same game parlay every weekend when you bet the NBA playoffs. That's right. Use your token on three plus leg, same game parlay and same game parlay plus on any NBA playoff game and you'll get bonus bets back if you don't win. Let's take a look at the slate. Only one game tonight. Boston, New York. I think I'm going to take Boston. I'm going to take the over on Jalen Brown points, rebounds, and assists. I think it's going to be a big game for him. And I'm going to take the Boston Celtics to force a game seven. And I love betting on Fandul with their great promotions every day, their safe and secure app and instant

payments. There's no better place to bet on all the playoff action in America's number one sports book. Visit Fandul.com slash Ringer MBA and get a no sweat same game parlay every weekend of the NBA. Fan Duel official sports betting partner of the NBA must be 21 years and older and present in select states or 18 and older and present in D.C. Opting required. Minimum three leg parlay required. Refund issued is not withdrawable. Bonus bets that expire seven days have to receipt max refund $5 unless otherwise specify restrictions apply including token expiration.

See terms at sportsbook.fandual.com. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-Help.com. I want to go back to the Western Conference. I want to talk about a team that we always talk about on this program. The Los Angeles Lakers. It's a team that you have been

written a lot of great shit on. they are also in a bit of a it's a weird offseason right you know lebron is kind of he's he's pushing to 41 right now you got luka coming in there's lebron's injury there is lucas shape there's the jj reddock angle there's so many things that are going on in lakerland right now how are you think they're

approaching this offseason i mean i know they need a front court guy um they do need some roster construction where do you see with with the lakers right now how are they approaching the next season few months. Yeah, it is a weird time because when they made that trade, you know, it's almost like I feel like we in the media are somewhat to blame for the wonky conversation around them because when they made the trade, everybody seemingly said, well, Luke is amazing, but this is not the roster built, you know, intentionally around him. So expectations were low, but then they played well. And then

the defense was actually pretty good in the first stretch, which was pretty counterintuitive and surprising. And so then expectations skyrocketed to the point where it was like anything short of a conference finals appearance was a disappointment. And then they ended the way they did. And so now it's almost like even the Lakers themselves don't know how to feel about their season. Now their priorities, obviously, so the LeBron thing has got to get clarified, you know, certainly likely to be back. But in what capacity? Is he going to pick up his player option for next year and head off into the sunset and retire after that?

Does he going to want to talk to the Lakers about an extension? That is not clear. You know, as of my last conversations with the people involved, like they don't, the Lakers don't have clarity about what he wants to do. More importantly, for their future, you've got the Luka situation on August 2nd. He's eligible for a massive extension. they the Lakers are you know they're ready to give him whatever structure and form of an extension he's comfortable with but they would obviously love and number one priority this summer is like some kind of commitment from him beyond his current contract because when they made this trade you guys know this part always gets skipped over like the reason i mean this does not absolve Nico Harrison at all from you know how little he got in that trade but the Lakers pitch. that actually worked was to have the Mavs, like, listen, we have no promises from this dude

that he's going to stay with us beyond his current deal. And as a result, you're not getting both of our first round picks. You're getting one and you're not getting, you know, somebody like Austin Reeves. And so that is why the deal looked the way it did because they legitimately, they've been through this before. When Dwight Howard came their way, you know, whatever year that was, 2012, you know, Dwight ended up bouncing to Houston after getting traded to Lakers. So that's number two. And then the roster, you said, Logan, they need a big, you know, we saw last year some of the guys they were shopping for and trying to land. And obviously, the rescinded trade in Charlotte. So we'll see what they do.

Sam on this. Like, I know like we have to, it's our job to speculate and note, you know, oh, well, Luke doesn't have to resign. You know, LeBron's got his option, all this stuff. like give us the odds on like I got two pieces of this. The first is, is there any scenario in which Luca and LeBron are not on the opening night roster of the Los Angeles Lakers? Like any, any chance at all. I mean, and Lucas for sure on the opening night roster. I, and then again, to be clear, his people, his camp continued to share nothing but

positivity about his Lakers experience. And so the vibe there is good. It's just a matter of guys in how they want to handle their contracts. The LeBron thing, I'm in the minority. I mean, yes, I think he's going to be back. I just think that, you know, near the tail end of the season and the early part of the Lakers offseason, you know, I did hear a few things that made me go, huh, okay, like in terms of how LeBron was feeling, I mean, his concern over this roster is, I mean, for one,

he's had it in perpetuity, right? Like every year we write about how he's not half the roster. but the part where I'm in the minority is the night that he gave his, you know, when they were eliminated and he gave his press conference and he was asked what he thought this roster needed. And he made the joke about how, well, I'm not saying shit because the last guy who said something got traded to Dallas. Everybody laughed and everybody took it as a punchline. I did not. Like to me, it was it was humor, you know, it was packaging authenticity with humor. and it was real because I think he's had real frustrations about, you know, the roster itself and has those going forward.

Do I think that's enough to get him to go talk to Savannah and actually leave L.A. and try something else at the tail end of his career? Probably not. I have thought about Dallas as a place where, you know, we know that, for one, I had a couple people, again, joke about, well, you know, maybe he misses his buddy A.D. and wants to go. jump out there i mean that was something logan i think you might have reported on it as well that the mavs this summer were going to potentially keep going down you know this ad type of road like you know a 30 plus nike superstar type player the the carrie ad lebron durant whoever it might be um and try to accelerate what they were doing well now the the cooper flag stuff i think changes that landscape so very long-winded answer to your question howard like very like very like very like

likely that Luke and LeBron are there opening night, just trying to figure it out. Yeah. I'm going to ask that because, sorry, real quick, the second piece of it was just that we suddenly, as soon as the calves crashed and burned, it immediately became this umpteenth version of the, oh, maybe LeBron back to Cleveland. And I just, I'm not, I just, I'm not seeing it, right? Like, there's, you know, LeBron's family being settled in L.A., he gets to play with Brunney now. Like, maybe, you know, maybe you could argue that he checked the box and it happened and

he got his year with Brody and now he could leave or maybe he insists on bringing Bronny with him. I don't know. But it just that the Cleveland thing seems far-fetched. LeBron leaving L.A. at all at this stage seems far-fetched. I have to believe that just the very fact of Luca being there kind of re-energizes him and gives him the more of an optimistic view. Like, yes, they have more building to do around those two.

There's still a lot of work to be done on that roster. But the very fact of having another primary elite, generational scorer, ball handler, playmaker type next to him gives LeBron

everything he needs to extend his career and keep, you know, keep competing at a high level. It's like, I don't see the purpose of leaving at this point. It sounds far as...

But at minimum, power, I'll say this, like, even if he stays put, assuming he does stay put, at minimum, I guess what I'm sharing is my opinion is that what I have learned in the sense of the dynamics

between LeBron and Lakers is that it's like, it's just it's fine like it is a marriage of convenience sure you know that element has been kind of firmed in the past year or so where i i thought mistakenly that the lucca trade might spark this kind of like renewed sense of of kind of harmony um within their group and no it's a business decision like he gets their platform they get you know the spotlight and the accolades and and the winning to a degree that comes with him. But in terms of that relationship,

you know, like that's been the driving force behind me wondering about some of these other situations is because it's just, it's fine as opposed to great. To that point, Sam, how was LeBron dealing with the fact that, because, I mean,

the reason why he either in front of the scenes or behind the scenes always has this indecision around this time, it's for leverage. We all know that, right? He wants to have leverage over a roster and over a front office in the best way that he can. He's made a career of it. How is LeBron, to your knowledge, adjusting to the fact that he doesn't have as much leverage as he said maybe two, three years ago, especially with this being about to be Lucas team, how was he adjusting to that fact of like it's not the same relationship as it was when LeBron first got to L.A. It's not the same relationship that LeBron had with the Cavaliers.

It's not the same relationship that he tried to have with the Miami Heat. Is he adjusting to that okay? Is he adjusting to the fact that he doesn't have the most leverage in the room at all times? And by extension, his team doesn't have the most leverage that they're used to having? Yeah, I mean, I can't, I certainly can't speak for him. But I think you're asking the right question because I think, you know, if you take out the off-court components, the business advantages that come with L.A., the family ties. in L.A. Brani, his entire family being there and enjoying life in L.A.

If you're just talking about your question, Logan, like, and if you pick LeBron up and you put him in a place like Dallas, he is now just, he's one of the guys and he's on a fairly even level with everybody. He's a very smart guy. He knows that with the Lakers right now, it literally is a little bit more like, hey, like Bron, we love you. You can stick around for a while if you'd like, but Luca is the future. And they're not really running from that. They don't try to sugarcoat that or hide from it. You know, he is the number one priority within the organization. And, you know, LeBron is somebody who is finishing out his career. If he decided to retire tomorrow, the truth is, they probably look at that flexibility and that, you know, and honestly get a little excited about

what they might be able to do. But they're not stupid. He's a legend. He's in the goat conversation. you know, if he retires a Laker, like I think he will, he's going to get some version of the Kobe, you know, retirement tour treatment down the stretch. But, yeah, the part that you're heading on is, like, I don't know. I don't know how he feels about that, but he's smart enough to know that on the, you know, in the pecking order, he's not the guy at the top anymore.

Welcome back to Packwatch with Jomi, who is ready to make you feel worse about your team than you already do. What's up, Real Ones, you know who it be Jomey back. for another edition of Packwatch, and we are getting the Golden State Warriors up out of here. And I knew when I needed to do this, that I had to stand by the printer, right? Because all I'm spitting is facts.

Let me tell you something right now. I know step was hurt. I can understand, right? We're there. But let's just look at it, shall we? This is fake Demon FC right here. Jimmy Butler, I hear the man. Y'all had Dway liking pitches calling him a fraud, dog.

Wayne, the nicest guy. You, D, went on TV. I know, I know. Pat out there, like, hmm, it's not so greener on the other side, is it? Jonathan Caminga, they calling him Minimar because this game coming goes. You feel me?

Like, it's not all there. And Draymond, don't, who don't get me started on Draymond, bro. When it was Dylan Brooks, Tim and Green, Fran Van Fleet, he had all the smoke. Right? Now, Julius Randolphin, ooh, let me be soft.

Let me be, man, listen, There's a lot of talk for a team going home in the second round That's all I'm saying That's all I'm saying We packing them up And that was Jomey I dinner on

With the Packwatch We'll stay in the Western Conference with you I want to talk about it We not necessarily talk about the The series of OKC and Denver But I do want to talk about Denver right now And how they're approaching their offseason Right like

You talk to me and Raja We were definitely not on board with firing the coach and GM in the middle or at the end of the season, Howard was good with it. I was not. Howard was, said it was a very shrewd move and, you know, it should be studied for years to come. But how are they approaching this offseason, right? Like, is there any new news with the coach? I know Adam is doing fairly well in a postseason setting, right?

no matter what happens whenever they play game seven. What's the temperature in Denver like going into this offseason with so much uncertainty other than Yokic being on the opening night roster next year? No, it's such an interesting, unique situation. I mean, the temperature is good. They are loving the fact that, you know, not to go on Team Howard here, Logan, but that they're unorthodox move late in the regular season. You know, Josh Crocky, the owner's son, son of Stan Crocky and team president,

you know, Josh is the one, you know, at the top of the list of people who made this decision. And I've gotten to know Josh a little bit. And I, you know, his decision to me is so fascinating because he's like a boss who basically, you know, got busy elsewhere, wasn't keeping track of his shop as much as he should have. And by the time it came back, the vibes were bad. Whoa. Yeah. And to his credit, and I tweeted this at the time, like, man, he did like a 40-minute press conference

where he just owned all of it and was very transparent about it. But it was just like he got back and was like, oh, damn it. Like, you know, this is partly my fault. But now that it looks like this, I've got to make these changes. He was Childus Gambino, like in that gif where he comes in with the pizza and the whole room is on fire. That's exactly what happened in Denver. Right. And like, and now he's getting, you know, kind of validated because I've been around the team a fair amount lately.

I know everybody involved really well. And like the vibes are really good. And, you know, a lot of this has been reported, but it's like, you know, even it wasn't even a matter of like people having to be on Team Calvin or Team Michael. It was the fact that, like, at minimum, the players knew that the people in charge were not getting along. and that just wasn't ideal. Then you had, you know, players who felt like, you know, Malone was making certain decisions based on, you know, players that were tied more to Booth than him, whatever.

It was unhealthy. So David Adelman comes in, as we often see with coaches. It's like he represents, you know, it swings the other way, right? Like his personality is different than Michael's. His style is different than the previous coaches. And it's worked. He's a player's coach. He's made some mistakes, but he owns.

them, you know, Ben Tenzer is the interim GM at the, you know, a guy who's been with the organization for 16 years and is trying to empower and support and be pretty selfless with what he's doing. It's kind of, it's gone from like too much ego before getting in the way to everybody putting their ego on the side. And really, the empowering part for, for, you know, one guy more than anybody else is Joker. And what we're learning is that this dude is actually a pretty damn good leader. And it feels like he's elevated. Uh, you know, filled that void once some of this messiness got out of the way. So the vibes are good. I don't know what they're going to do. You know, if I had to handicap it, I think David is in a very

good position to remain. Absolutely. On the front office front, I can share what I have not been able to figure out is it does not appear that Josh Kronky has really kind of done any legwork on a, on a, you know, on a GM search. And I'm not even trying, that's not a criticism. I think it's revealing because I, right now, I feel like a world does exist where he looks at the current group and basically just says job well done, you know, you guys fix the vibe, you guys are qualified. I'm going to go forward with you. Now, we should also say for context, the nuggets, you know, pretty notoriously don't feel like paying a ton for, you know, front office and even coach.

So that would be convenient if they just kind of forge ahead. But, you know, I am starting to wonder, you know, maybe Ben gets the job. You know, there's a guy in Minnesota, Matt Lloyd, is number two behind Tim Conley and had been tied to the job. I don't think there's been any progress on that front. So kind of waiting to see what Josh does. But right now it feels like he's just kind of on this ride with the rest of them. Obviously, their offseason is going to depend on what decision they make there to an extent, right? Like, who is the coach, who is the GM?

And until we know those things, it's probably really premature for us to speculate on what their off season. and looks like, but we'll do it anyway, because that's what we do. Duh. Because you're an Amy Polar studio. That's why you're going to do it. I mean, Amy Polar does whatever she wants, and being in the studio, I feel empowered now to do whatever I want. I just think that, so

this is a huge, like, huge credit to the Nuggets for forcing the game seven and getting this as far as they have with a you know, an incomplete roster, I think, to say the least, an incomplete rotation and a one-armed Michael Porter Jr. everything they've gone through, right? Like really incredible that they are where they are.

So a game seven Monday night in Oklahoma. Sunday. Excuse me, Sunday. They win that and they're back in the conference finals where I don't think any of us necessarily expected as of a couple of months ago. That in itself would be somewhat of an achievement. Yokic, unlike Janus, has never put passive aggressive quotes out there and is a little bit younger and is not,

has never seemed to be wired to be the kind of guy who is going to throw a tantrum or something and start making demands or demand to trade or anything like that. You get to the conference finals. I mean, I know Minnesota's often had their number, but, you know, Denver would have a fighting chance to make the finals again, and maybe that changes everything. But they, to me, have been all along in the back of my head, Dark Horse, maybe at least KD chasers. I don't think that they have the assets to get into the Janus thing. I love the idea of Janus there.

I don't think there's a realistic path there. I'm not even sure. Well, with KD, considering his age and the small window that's left for whatever team that gets him, maybe it doesn't take as much. And again, now it's what does Phoenix want? What are they trying to get? Are they looking for a ton of draft capital, all that stuff? Because Denver doesn't have a lot either.

But I am curious about that. Like, where does this end up for them? And again, I just noted it. We don't know how far they're going yet. We don't know what Yokin's role might play in how their off-season's approach. We don't know who the coach and GM are yet. But are they a dark horse KD contender? And if not KD, we know they need to do something, Sam.

Like that much is clear. However this ends up, even if they somehow end up back in the finals, this is not a roster that looks like it has longevity to it. Like, what's next? Yeah, I mean, so yes, on the KD front, I think. they've looked at that in the past, like seriously looked at it. So that does make some sense. You know,

they've looked at Paul George in the past. You know, it's those types of players where they've thought about upgrades. Michael Porter Jr., of course, would be the guy going out in any of those deals. You know, you know, contractually,

he's the only one who makes sense. And then in terms of value, when he's healthy, he's a guy. He had a very good year. And so maybe you can get something done on that front. The question, And also, though, is like, do you go star chasing like that? Or do you, I mean, since we've been killing them over their lack of depth for the longest time,

do you just find a way to fix that? I mean, last night's game, I'm studying this box score, and I'm just marveling. I was watching very closely. Howard, you can relate. Like, I don't know if your daughter enjoys NBA basketball at all. But my kids don't a ton. My youngest son really got into that game. And it was just, I'm telling him like, ah, this guy, Julian Strather,

like he's done nothing the whole series, like nothing. And then he gives them, you know, 15 points in the second half. And they're hanging on by the skin of their teeth. When you look at their box, you know, it's like Strother's the only guy contributing yesterday in game six. Russ, who we all know is Mr. Roller Coaster. He's had some great games and some terrible ones. You know, Russ, who it's wild to say it has been their most important player off the bench.

You know, it gives you four times. You hear that, Howard? I'm saying, I'm internalizing Raja. And the spirit of Raja just came through to me. But go ahead, Sam. I was just thinking we need to get Mr. Roller Coaster on Russell Westbrook's basketball reference page. Can we get that added? Listen, Howard, this is a NorCal reference.

And Logan, you're NorCal guy as well. He is the big dipper of NBA players. You know what I mean? Like, little Santa Cruz boardwalk style. Like he... And the warm California son, baby. But yesterday we were, yesterday we were taking a little downturn, and it was four turnovers in 17 minutes and, you know, a bunch of plays that made you want to pull your hair out. So the depth is something that they got to fix because, you know, certainly some of those draft picks that Calvin Booth was hoping would pan out better, you know, than they have just haven't.

I think Will Chamberlain already has rights to Big Dipper. So let's just go with Mr. Rollercoaster for us. Maybe the demon that was at, is the demon still at Great America or is that gone? Man, we're talking about, forget all that. We talk about Medusa and Valleo, dog. Y'all don't know. Forget all that shit you guys are talking about. Anyway, I want to stay on Russ really quickly.

What, there's been like, there's some stuff that's come out about Russ over the last couple of weeks in terms of like his relationship with teammates. And where is he in this locker room right now? Based on your knowledge, right? There's always something. There's always a rust factor. What is a rust factor in Denver right now? I see that look on Sam's face. I'm just done talking about it.

No, you're not. No, you're not. Let's do it. He's counting here. He's trying to figure out how to do this. No, I just don't feel like being. 17 different conversations that are in his head right now from other people around. He's just trying to parse him into something.

Just into one little thing. I'm pulling a Howard where I'm like, I'm not trying to aggregate it here. Like, you know, it's, here's where I'm going to start. It's crazy having covered this league for a long time. I've never had something where a player who was an indisputable Hall of Fame or incredible ball player. You know, I'm in the group that voted for him, MVP. You know, I was amazed by what he did that one year in OKC, have covered him all the way through. But this thing where he's a back end of his career role player.

where you go Lakers, clippers, nuggets, and like three different versions with these similar threads were like, to some degree, all three situations were very sensitive with people. Like, Lakers was the most seemingly toxic, not seemingly. He and LeBron clearly did not click. I don't know if you guys noticed the other day. Somebody asked him a very vanilla question that had LeBron as context. and Russ kind of casually smiled and was just like, oh, I haven't talked to him in a while. So Lakers, you know, was a negative ending.

Clippers was a little more. The Clippers went to great lengths to hide a lot of the trickier moments that they had with Russ. You know, they acted like he put his hand up and volunteered to come off the bench. That was not the case. They had to twist his arm. They had to push really hard. And so, you know, he is incredibly intense and he is tricky in a locker room. And yeah, like we wrote about when they fired Malone and booth, we had stuff that's already out there about the fact that one of the things that ended up tripping Malona up at the end was that he was giving the star treatment to Joker, to Jamal, and to Russ.

And that locker room was like, wait a minute, like two of these things are not like the other. And that caused issues. The ESPN story the other day that Ramona Shelburne had, obviously, you know, was. was pretty touchy in terms of some of the locker room stuff. So he, you know, I mean, again, we don't even have to unpack it. We know the elements here in play. And but because of the dearth of depth that they have, they're in this like complicated marriage where the part I kind of love is that we went from,

like legitimately when we wrote our story last month on the firings, I was of the mind of like, oh, they are done with this dude. Like, they are, like, they are all the way out. And I'm hilarious that, like, a month later, it's just like these games here and there. What did they say on dumb and dumber? You completely redeemed yourself. Exactly. It's like, never mind, we're good.

You know, I mean, even the way I heard, you know, I think that the ESPN story the other day, there was like this, some defense of him from the organization and some, some not, you know, folks not happy about the way he was. portrayed in that one. And it's like, I'm kind of laughing like, oh, now y'all are back on, huh? Okay. Like, you know, but that's that's the playoffs. They need help right now. And he's, he's pretty good at times. He did the okay right there, Howard, didn't he? He was a little nervous to start. That was great. Not a, not a single aggregatable quote there, Sam. Good. Love it. Yeah, yeah. Speaking of to keep you on the hot seat before you go, I want to talk about,

hey, hey, Howard, Kings, Kings, Kings, Kings? Kings? No, that. I mean, Sam's the Sacramento guy, so he's got to be like the arbiter of this. But like I would- There's a permanent A, right? Permanent A? That's, it's just bad. Like, I think they lost the A and the Z's for about two years, a year and a half maybe, and now it's just there for in perpetuity again, isn't it? Okay, Sam can't say it. Okay, we're going to talk about the Kings. No, come on, Sam.

Way in here. It's Kang's again, right? Kings, King. For the foreseeable future? I've been informed through sources that my, my, my, my, my, my, King's negativity is wearing thin and king circles. Well, I got news for all the Kings faithful. It's coming.

That's all you're going to get for the next few years based on the decisions that you've made. Yeah, you don't, it's pretty simple. You don't want to be Kangs. Stop acting like Kangs. Get your shit together. Yeah, earn that eye. Earn that eye and that S. Earn it.

Earn the eye. There you go. So what the hell are they doing? Let's do a temp check on the Kings. They lost their pick, right? And they, all the front office and all the, um, even the coaching searches would be great if it was 2012, right? It just seems like they're in a, just in a time machine.

What is the plan there? Are they going to trade anyone there of consequence? Are they, like, is there going to be a fire sale? What are the king going to do? They feel like, I don't know if they even know, but what the hell is going on right now in Sacramento? I mean, my first thought is it's not, it's probably not fair to judge or criticize too much based on, you know, the, like the world of, draft lottery like representatives, right?

Every team chooses one person to represent them at the draft lottery. I don't know. I can't name all 30 representatives this year, but to your question, I will admit that I chuckled what I saw, and this is no disrespect, he's a very good player, but when I saw that Keon Ellis

was the King's representative, I just kind of like, that sounds about right. Like, that's not, you know, it's just I don't know what it represents You know what it sounded like It was like oh we got to have somebody there Yeah

Oh is Keon in town Is he for real? Let's put him in there The Kings are a very As Sam just alluded to Because they're not happy with being called the Kangs And being criticized they're very defensive They put their best defender on the on the dais Very well

Not Malik Monk No Not Malik Monk I mean listen here's I'll give the quick, you know, car wash breakdown. Scott Perry, the new GM, I think highly of. I think, you know, has had a very good career. He's, you know, part of the Joe Dumar's front office in Detroit that back in the day was part of that celebrated era.

You know, his time with the Knicks was interesting because, you know, if you look back at some of the moves, like he was on the front end of, you know, their turnaround. And even more to his credit, Scott, one of his best. attributes is, you know, he's very good people person and he's somebody who can work in kind of rot environments, if you will. And I'm not even trying to be funny. That is literally his number one value in the King situation is, and Howard, this is right up your alley. Like, Scott Perry was able to work well with Jim Dolan in New York. He was able to work, even when he was starting to get pushed out, you know, by the Leon Rose regime, they were still, it wasn't like in either or type of thing. Scott became, you know, a trusted voice in their very crowded room

with the Knicks and somebody who to this day still has good relationships with the people in New York, that speaks well of him. The reason I say all that is that in the King's environment where Vivek Rana Debe, their owner, you know, is so famously, you know, medals and has been very influential over the course of the past couple of years and a lot of their major moves after taking a short respite in the Mike Brown era where he kind of backed off for a bit. You know, Scott's pretty good at navigating these kinds of waters. So of the things happening with them, you know, I'm very curious to see what kind of work Scott can get done.

The Doug Christie decision, just given my opinion, it's just, you know, yeah, I mean, the look on Logan's face, it's nothing against Doug. I generally, I'm not going to lose any sleep or feel guilty about taking this perspective, which is, as a general rule, whenever you're hiring people who would not have a shot at the job with 29 other teams, you probably need to think twice about that. That's just not great process. Or a third time, you know, maybe a fourth time. Yeah.

And I mean, that's the thing, too, is that, you know, Doug, he's been on multiple coaching staffs where the head coach, you know, independent of everything else, would never have actually hired Doug. He was an organization hire. And so that's the Kings where the part, and now you got me to go a little more negative, admittedly. It's like I'm just a little bit over the culture of how every guy in the 2002 roster is lionized for all of eternity. Like they got to one conference finals. It doesn't feel like the healthiest ethos to make decisions through that prison. But we'll see where it goes. Yeah, man.

I mean, you know, that's also extended to your, to your SAC State Hornets, buddy. So, you know. That, I mean, don't even- Sacramento thing. Dude, I, first of all, I was going to bring this up later. But Howard, you like my coffee mug here, buddy. Nice. Excellent. Yeah.

Like, what world do we living in the home of Shaq and Mike Bibby is. So weird. I thought for sure. By the way, I'm actually sort of disappointed. I didn't get a text from you the day that they named Shaq. He was depressed. their NIL GM or whatever. Like I thought for sure you were going to be like

Lording it over me like ha, sack got him the Davis didn't or something. And they got him for free Howard. He's not even paid. That's some damn good negotiating on Saks stage. No, you guys. And we know what it was. It was like, yo, Shaq, will you do this?

Like, Shaq's doing a million other things. Like, yeah, whatever. Like if you need your FaceTime somebody's cool. His son's going there now. So that's part of it too. But, but I mean, Logan, you're kidding, but you're not kidding. Like that's literally the,

that's the butterfly effect of this culture is that it's like that group is just taken over the damn city, which is fine if it leads to success. It just obviously hasn't yet. And we'll see, and this, you know, Blotty Devots being the GM back in the day. Like these are the choices where I'm just going to stop talking and watch Logan's face. I'll just, I just want to pipe in and say this, because Sam, I feel the same way you do about Scott Perry. Um, great MBA guy. Um, great all-around person and somebody who I think can navigate these waters and I'm wishing the best for Scott for sure. And I like Doug Christie. I've always had a good relationship with Doug.

But what it feels like to me in this moment is that the Kings and Rana Divay specifically have not learned any lessons in the time that he has been owner. Some of the same bad habits in terms of the way that they're hiring, in the way that they're envisioning their franchise, in the impatience, in the meddling. It's just the same thing, different versions of it. And, you know, look, maybe it'll be a better outcome this time. I certainly hope that for them and for Scott and for Doug and for Kings fans who have been through enough. But the way that this organization has operated over the last six, eight months in particular, does not give me much optimism about where the Kings are headed. It was like 2012 again.

It was like when I first met my guy, Sam, just how depressing it was. Remember those days? Remember what Key Smart had to run on the court in the middle of a game to get the, The ad that fell. Remember that? You remember that? I do. Yeah, we were off of that game.

Yeah, that was, yeah, geez. And I liked that. You know, we were co-workers at once upon a time. You know? When the late grade, uh, Paul Westfall put out his own statement about DeMarcus cousins that, that was not approved by the organization. That was awesome. That was awesome.

And then one of my favorite, one of my favorite memories, I think. I think it was when you go look at the picture of DeMarcus cousins when he got his Team USA uniform. It was him and Rue Geh. And they were, you know, like it was like a pregame thing. And they were like showing their jerseys. Look how depressed DeMarcus is because he just hated George Carl so much with just an intense passion. Anyways, those the kings. Sam had something.

What was it, Sam? Sorry, Sam. Sorry, I was just going down this event. Memory Lane, my bad, buddy. No, I'm blanking. I forget what it was. I don't know. Oh, I know.

Like, it's not, okay, yeah, I was going to say it's not this idea of kind of, you know, trying to trick the fans with warm, fuzzy hires during times of peril. It's not a new trick. And I hesitate to say this because I actually think this guy's a very good coaching. It could be a good son's coach. But I was talking to someone today about the son's coaching candidates. And Jared Dudley came up. And it did kind of hit me like, you know, like that's, the sons have a lot of negative

stuff going on. You know, Jared Dudley was a beloved son. He's a qualified coach. He's been in the running for head coaching stuff in the past. But like generally speaking, making decisions like the Kings have for so long now that are disproportionately calculating or taking into consideration the guy's history with the organization and how warm and fuzzy he makes the fans feel, those are not the things you should be focusing on.

This is, it just took the life. Just talking about the Kings, I shouldn't even put it on the dog. Just took the light on this podcast. I'm just depressed now. And you're going to get me in trouble. I'm going to get more phone calls. It's like,

fine. It's okay. The downside of being, you know, one of the few. And then you brought up Isbio, what made me want to talk about the Suns really quick. We've got to go in a second. Can you just give me two minutes on Isbia real quick in the Sun.

like what they're going to do. Like, where they're at real quick. I mean, Brian Gregory, their new GM, it's the same type of thing. Like, he would not be in the running

for a GM spot with any other team. He has history with Matt Ispia. Doesn't mean he's a bad guy. Doesn't mean it hasn't had a good career. But, you know, a long-time college coach, but Michigan State ties,

it's the same type of mentality. You know, I mean, and he's a much better example. I shouldn't even brought Jared into this conversation. But, you know, Brian is, you know, they went shopping for the Bob Myers types and learned quickly that somebody like Bob wasn't going to come. And, I mean, I don't know where you want to take the conversation other than I actually, unless the Nuggets come calling for Kevin Durant, I'm not really seeing exactly where the Kevin Durant landing spot is going to be at this point. and Bradley Beal and his wife really like living in Phoenix.

So I don't think that's changing. All this brouhaha, they're just going to run this back. Right. Oh, God. As if this pod couldn't get more depressing, Howard. All right, listen, we'll end up positive note. On the plus side, still at this moment, at this hour, Phoenix son, Kevin Durant, did win the PBWA's Magic Johnson Award this week, which we were pleased to give to him for BIA. Being, I'm going to see if you're going to put it on this trophy case.

You think he's going to go, where's going to put that in an MVP? I mean, I think it's like on the shelf right below the MVP, right? That sounds about right. I meant to look, has he acknowledged the award or no? I don't think so, but Magic Johnson did on his social media feed today. So that was nice. Thank you, Magic. Very cool.

He should have tagged the PBWA, I would have asked kindly, Magic. But if you could have tag us. Well, you got his number, man. Link to our press release. That would have been nice. Yes, that would have been great. That's fine. I know none of my stories.

I'm going to leave you guys with this because I feel like we're wrapping up. Also another thing, real quick, before you go, just after you say what you say, give Cliff some just words of just, you know, encouragement for his six years. After you say your point out. Gotcha. My Kevin Durant's story's pale in comparison to Logans, you guys have a really strong relationship. But in terms of his PVWA, award that I do think is well deserved. He not only was good with local media this year,

but multiple authors of books. You know, Mike Singer wrote his book on Nicola Yolkich, and Kevin gave him a bunch of time for that. Chris Hyne has a book coming out about Anthony Edwards, that it should be great, and I know he talked to Kevin for that. But whenever I think about, you know, my own Kevin memories, this one is always going to be on the short list. So the finals in Toronto, Kevin is hurt. It's not the final injury yet. It's the one that preceded it. And he's trying to get back.

And I had sent him a note that said, hey, I would love to do a story. I think it was for game two, like sitting with you and just seeing the game through your eyes during the finals. And it was one of those like, you know, to use the old. It was a Hail Mary. Yeah, like the MJ thing. Like you miss, you know, all the shots you don't take.

And so I'm curious if he, and I actually pulled this up, I'm curious if he had any interest in this. And I'll never forget his answer. He says, you'll need a camera crew and Martin Scorsese to understand what I'm talking about. Oh, man. I'm just saying, oh, my God. The story never happened. I mean, I will say.

You couldn't get Scorsese? Like, come on. I will say this. KD is obviously we know about just like the ups and the downs of covering him on a day-to-day basis. Sure. But I will say he has been one of the most interesting players that I have ever been around. And I think every time I'm around him, I either learn something new, whether it's like, you know, him going off on something that I wrote or, you know, that's something that was,

that he didn't like that someone said about him even on this platform. But like, I learned something new every time about like the modern NBA superstar and what that means. Like, he's just so transparent in that way when you do get. him. He's moody as fuck, but he is like one of the all-time guys to cover because you learn so much for him. And yeah, that's what I have to say. I think that he's good. I'm going to miss him when he's retired in terms of like covering him. Sure. For sure. Congratulations, Kevin. Okay, Cliff. Do you have anything for Cliff? Because, you know, it's really depressing being a Sixers fan. He also, he recreated the Darry Maury meme in his house when

when that, when that, Cliff, come on real quick. Are you okay, buddy? Just like, let's do a temp check. He got the third pick. Cliff should be fine. Cliff, you should be on a, you should be rejuvenated. You okay, Cliff? I'm, I'm ecstatic.

I'm happy we got a pick. Like I said, Howard, you know, Howard, you watch the lottery and you know Kevin of Gandhi, my guy, my temple brother, he had a, he had an issue with some bad information to be fed in his ear. So for like, 30 seconds, I was like, ah, damn it, we don't got the pick. and then after the Mavericks sneak into the top four and he's like, oh, wait, no, that means the Sixers do get into top four. So then they go to commercial break and I was just happy. Listen, I would have been cool for.

I just think, you know, Sam, I had a little conspiracy theory about what happened with the NBA. The Mavericks landed the number one pick and Howard. Okay, okay. We don't need to do that again. Howard wasn't going for it. But look, I'm just happy that we have a pig period. So I'm cool. I'm not going for, I'm going to say this.

I'm not going for it either. I'm going to keep repeating this out. every draft lottery conspiracy conversation I have, the NBA needs to find a way to convince none other than LeBron James to stop being the one perpetuating this stuff. LeBron has done interviews where he literally talks about how him going to Cleveland was a conspiracy. That does not help when it comes to fans.

You know what I mean? He peddles conspiracy theories. Right. Now, you should be happy you got your pick. Absolutely. the Darry picture that we talked about off air cracks me up

because it's like if you didn't know the context you don't know if he's crying or laughing or like you don't know if it's happiness I did it until I saw the video because I was like I think we were at the game

so I didn't watch the lottery because we were both at Chase Center and when I saw I got the meme sent to me and I was like oh shit what happened then I finally saw the video the next day it's a lot more acceptable with context you know my only other Sixers

contribution is super random, but I'm going to share it anyway. I was watching ESPN recently, and I actually really enjoyed. I was a little confused about the timing and how this became a story, but they had a feature, I don't know if you guys saw this, talking about AI's famous practice quote. Did you guys happen to see this story? Yes. Man, Cliff, like, Duke Jackson did a really nice job contextualizing AI's practice quote and I hate to admit this as someone who's covered league forever. I did not know

all of the content around the practice quote and I don't want to get any of the specific details wrong but his best friend had been killed recently before that quote and a lot of his energy in that press conference and the reasons that he missed practice and was struggling

they were just very heavy life thing happening that you know scoops and tired story was essentially saying that Philly Media, you know, never really seemed to acknowledge the other real stuff that was going on. So just in terms of like Sixers history and, and, and I'm speaking Cliff's language right now. You're Cliff. You're speaking to this language. AI was vilified by Sixers Media for the longest time. Like the only people started loving AI after, you know, he left in 2006, whatever year he got traded to Denver. I mean, yeah, I was hated by

a lot of parents, a lot of media, like just growing up. people was just like, because he was a rapper too. So he just had all the, and then his, him and his wife had issues. Like, they were super public with everything. And yeah, he was, he was just the modern day, like, I don't care. I'm going to be me. I'm going authentically be me.

I'm from Newport News. Like, but he embodied, like, everything Philly is. Like, we, I swear to this day he's from Philly. Like, I'd be surprised when people say he's from Virginia. You know what I'm saying? Yep. And actually, now I'm going way down the rabbit hole. All right, all right, all right, all right.

I do one more. Logan, do I have one more. One more. You have the floor, buddy. I think this is safe because we listen. It's not a secret. We know that the AI, he certainly liked to hit the bottle of fair amount, things like that, right? Club Friday. Club Friday, man. I heard this story is wild. I heard a story about, I'm going to leave some of the details out. But I certainly trust the story.

He plays pickup ball one day, like an off day in an NBA road city. and a guy just goes to the gym thinking he's going to work out with pro-level guys, but not that kind of guy. He doesn't, this dude's wearing like a hoodie, like, and you can only see the eyes, and he literally only, he doesn't even know who this dude is, but they just get on the court, they start playing. And he's like, this dude is busting my ass. Like, this guy's like an international level player.

Like, he's playing overseas, not an NBA guy. He's like, this dude is bust in my ass. He goes, I can't figure it out because he's like, he's like, he smells like the bar. Like, you know. And to the point, like, he actually had to, like, you know, sign a little NDA and not even, like, share this. Well, then, then, then, you know, the hood comes off and he's like, my God. And it's AI.

And then, like, the next day he goes out and puts 35 on, on that team, you know. You had to sweat out that alcohol, man. Yeah. Yeah. Some kind of way. All right. By the way. Yeah.

But AI used to do stuff like that in the community. you would just literally pop up to the park or somewhere and just hoop with random people. Right. Right. Yeah, he was just a regular guy. It's crazy. Did you guys see the Buffalo Bills did their schedule reveal? The bit was, oh, we're going to use AI to do it as a shortcut.

We'll use AI. And then it's Alan Iverson. Go look that up. That was really funny. It was funny. Shout out to Justin Tinsley at Anscape, who, by the way, also did a story about the whole backstory to the practice rant on Anscape three years ago. Justin Tinsley did did that story, which I think was the first time I had seen and read about

just how much more there was to that scene. I will say because everybody gets a lot of grief now of like, oh, people make fun of this and they should like, okay, fine, but Iverson himself has now done multiple commercials and stuff where he himself is mocking himself, making fun of that moment. Like I think we can do both things. Like, I think we can appreciate that there was much more to what happened that day that was very serious in nature and that provides some context for what Iverson was saying and going through. But at the same time, like, the sound bites are what they are. They are in a certain context funny and a flashpoint and a meme and something that everybody references at some point.

Ted Lassau had a great spinoff of that appropriating it, which was great. Like we can have both aspects of this, right? It can be used in commercials. Iverson himself can make fun of it. But it is, I think it's important for everybody to know the backstory too. Now I'm just worried about Jim Mora

and what he might have been going through when he was screaming about. Playoffs. Sam Amick, National NBA writer at the Athletic. honorary rowing um thanks for coming on the program buddy really appreciate it thanks for having me i'm studying the movies behind you i'm gonna go watch some old flicks after seeing yeah yeah we got you know i mean these all the rewatchables that i have everybody you know we have we're video now on spotify and the spotify app so this is the rewatchables that i was on some little real ones um album covers you know we're tapping in man you know just keeping it groovy keeping it creative

Anyway, tap in with us on Tuesday. Roger's back. Real ones mailbag at gmail.com. Real ones mailbag at gmail.com. Real ones mailbag at gmail.com. Howard, Roger, me, Tuesday. See you then. I, I. All the shits.

Bye. Must be 21 years and older and present in select states for Kansas and affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 and older and present in D.C. Gamley Prom call 1-800 gambler or visit RGhelp.com. Call 1-888-789-7-7-7. or visit CCPG.org backslash chat in Connecticut or visit MD Gambling Help in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit Gambling Helpline, MA.org, or call 1-800-3-2-7-50-50 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts

or call 18778 Hope NY or text Hope NY in New York.