June 6, 2023 • 31 mins
On today’s episode, Jason is joined by ESPN personality Jorge Sedano for a lengthy conversation. During the interview, Sedano discusses the narrative that the Miami Heat’s hot shooting during the NBA Playoffs is unsustainable, what makes Erik Spoelstra arguably the best coach in the League, why Miami has more success with undrafted players than any other team in the NBA, the true meaning behind the ‘Heat Culture’ mantra, reports that Kyrie Irving is recruiting LeBron James to the Dallas Mavericks, how he expects the Los Angeles Lakers to plan for the future and much more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. What is up?
Straight Fire, fam, It's me Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Straight Fire for Tuesday, June sixth, And due to the
extra day between Games two and three of the NBA Finals,
we've got kind of a one of these slow news
weeks already emerging. Listen, this is what happens in June
and sports ladies and gentlemen, it gets a little slow.
So we decided we bring in a good guest today
to break it up. It just so happens. He has
(00:40):
spent a lot of time in Miami, done radio there.
He's now at ESPN Radio out here in La George Sodano.
He of course is a big, big, big Miami Heat
fan and has spent a lot of time around the team.
He's very optimistic. He picked the Heat to win the finals,
and for a moment he did not look good after
game one, after game time, all of a sudden, he
looks kind of decent, and we'll break that down. We
(01:05):
obviously will talk about the massive and I'm putting up
air quotes here story about Kyrie Irving recruiting Lebron James
to the Dallas Mavericks. Long story short, let's be real, folks,
that ain't happening. And it's kind of sad that Kyrie
Irving would be trying to push this on the media.
They would lap it up, which they kind of have
(01:25):
to do. When two reporters are putting out the same
exact story at the same exact time, come on coordinated
and now you see that. You know, Lebron's in the
middle of this weird situation. The Lakers are getting roped in.
We all know the Mavericks do not have anything to
offer the Lakers for Lebron. I think the real story
here is Kyrie Irving. Does he want to go back
(01:47):
to Dallas? Is he getting the offer from Dallas that
he wants, which is a four year max deal? Is
he trying to leverage the fact that, like, listen, we're
not that good. We've got me and Luca, Like what
exactly is going on here? Did he notice the Frank
Vogel move to the Phoenix Suns And that probably means
(02:07):
DeAndre Ayton is staying like there's a lot of play here.
We get into it with George Sodano and enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
You know, A guy Jason likes to think he knows
everything when it comes to sports.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I know what sports fans want, but for.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Everything he doesn't, he knows a guy who does. Let's
just say I know a guy who knows a guy
who knows another guy.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
All right, let's welcome into straight fire.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
I guess we've had on the podcast before, but the
timing now could not have been better.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
He is a Miami guy.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
He picked the Heat to beat the Nuggets and now
is looking kind of like a genius with Miami becoming
the first team to win in Denver in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
George Sadana, How.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
You doing, George, I'm good, buddy. Good to see you.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
I thought I would detect a little more excitement from
you with Miami stealing one in Denver, but you just
seemed pretty laid back, like you almost knew this was coming,
Like you had an idea, you had a notion that.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
To be able to pull this off.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Jason, at some point after two months, you stopped being surprised.
I think you know. I know that you've According to
my friends who have told me you've called them fluky
a few.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Times, they're happy.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Yeah, I've heard You're on like their list. You're like
on the most wanted heat list at the moment. So
uh yeah, I mean, it's not fluky when you've been
doing it for two months. I think that. I mean, look,
let's take last night's game game two into account. That
was only the fifth best night they've had in regards
(03:36):
to shooting over expected shooting percentages. Like, think about that
for a second, Like they've had even better games in
this postseason from a shooting perspective, and yet they were
able to still beat Denver for the first time at
home since March, like somebody nobody had beaten them since March.
Miami had won there since Gorun Dragic, Rodney mcgrudersh McRoberts,
(04:02):
Luke Babbitt and Hassan Whiteside were the starting five in
the last game they won.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Is that before Lebron got there? Is that after Lebron?
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Like after twenty sixteen, that was post Dwayne Wade injury,
Chris Bosh, Blood Clotts, like all that stuff.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
So yeah, I guess, I guess the people who were
upset with me, Like we have an eighty two game
sample size of what the heat were this season, and
we know they were not a great three point shooting team.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
They were not a great team.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
They barely got into the playoffs. They lost the play
in game at home to Trey Young, and then they
rallied in the final three minutes to beat my guy,
Zach Levine, and then all of a sudden, they've turned
into basically Steph Curry from three, whether it's Caleb Martin.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Or Duncan mean.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
They were the number one three point shooting team with
the same roster the previous season, and I think that's
where what people seem to just continually omit when they
talk about that. It's not like they're not capable of
shooting threes. They I had an incredible shot quality chart
this season. They just didn't go in for one reason
or another. Now, they also dealt with I believe, the
(05:08):
fourth most lineup changes of anyone in the sport, So
you know, there wasn't a lot of continuity there. Guys
were in and out of the lineup, so that explained
some of it. I don't believe that they're the best
three point shooting team, but I think they're closer to
the best than they are twenty seventh, which is where
they were ranked, because we saw that as a representative sample.
(05:30):
And you know, again it's no longer a fluke when
you're doing it for two straight months and you're shooting
the way you're shooting.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
You could argue, So which are they?
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Are they the team that was great at threes last year,
the team that was bad at threes this year, the
team that's been great at threes for about twenty games
in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Like it. It's tough for me.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
They're closer to the top of the three point shooting
arc than they are the bottom of it. It was
infuriating for most people to watch them this year because
to the point I mentioned a second ago, they got
quality looks all season long. They just didn't fall for
one reason or another, and maybe the continuity was the issue.
But ultimately, this team come playoff time, has the best
(06:16):
coach in the sport, a guy who can certainly get
guys open, and he've got really smart players. And I
think that the fact that these guys have been there
in three of the last four years in the Eastern
Conference finals and now two of the last four finals,
for the most part, a very similar roster is back
in the finals. There's a sense of, hey, we know
(06:38):
what it takes to win at this point, right like
it doesn't matter what happened in the regular season, that
doesn't mean anything. It's what Eric Spolster has been telling
people forever. Another thing Eric Spolster has been telling people is, Hey,
we've had the most clutch games of anyone in the
sport this season. I think they're over sixty some odd now,
Like they're well over sixty five games now at this
point where they've been within five points with five minutes
(07:01):
to go and they've won I want to say, the
nearly seventy forty four of them. So like that's that's
not a small number. Most teams don't even you know,
most teams in a regular year are hovering around five
hundred at best in those scenarios. Yeah, so while they've
had those crushing losses too, they've had a lot of
(07:22):
experience in these moments and they're just not phased when
the game is close.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
And then the counter to that would be, well, they've
had a lot of close games, are they a good team?
And then they have the negative point differential. I know
it doesn't matter negative point differential for the season. Meanwhile,
the Nuggets, I think it was like maybe tops in
the in the West, or maybe second whatever it was,
but they're used to blowing teams out, and it looked
like a blowout was coming.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
In Game two.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
At the end of the third quarter they go up
eight and then the Duncan Robinson show takes over. But
you mentioned a lot of numbers there, and then you
said they're a very smart team. And this is what
I think angers like the calculator crowd, you know, the
analytics folks, because Miami's.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Breaking them, literally breaking the people they are. They are outraged.
They don't know how to handle this.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
And I got a number here, So I just saw
this stat the heat point differential through twenty playoff games.
First quarter they're minus one, second quarter minus eleven, third
quarter minus twelve. In the fourth quarter, and twenty playoff
games they are plus ninety. Nothing about their resume would
detect their plus ninety. And this is the one thing
that the calculator crowd can't quantify, is like the undrafted players,
(08:31):
the guys who really had to fight and work hard
just to get here. I mean, I know they have
Kevin Love, who is a top five pick, but and
bam Adebayo is a lottery pick. But by and large,
they got a bunch of dogs. They got a bunch
of guys who are working their tail off. Caleb Barton,
Max Strus, Gape, Vincent Jimmy like no quid in these
guys because they know what it took to get to
the league. Now, I'm not saying that Denver has a
(08:51):
bunch of cod old guys. I mean Jabal Murray's super
high pick, porter Gordon Jokich's second round.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
But is there something to that that we can put
a number on.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
To heart and desire and grit and all this like
the stuff that you can't really quantify.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
This is gonna sound like I'm mythologizing them, but it's
the truth. I mean, they are open and honest about this.
When Eric Spolstra and everyone there says we're not for everybody,
it's the truth. They have guys that they know that
they can identify certain traits in them, right, and it's
(09:26):
not just the basketball stuff. It's a mental toughness thing
to not everybody can play there. I mean, remember that
there was this viral video like a year or two
ago of Jermaine O'Neil talking about how he had a
chance to play with Lebron, Wade and Bosh because remember
he was in Miami the previous season, and then he
made the joke I like Oreos too much, right, I
(09:47):
didn't want to. I didn't want to have to deal
with all the the the weight stuff and the way
they just kind of do things there. It's military school.
Even Lebron after the fact, left to Cleveland, what did
he do? He in a bunch of Miami guys, James Jones,
Mike Miller. I mean, there's a ton of guys on
that on that Cleveland roster that he brought in to
help establish a culture. So I think that that's one
(10:11):
of those things that they do really what they do
really well at They know how to identify certain guys
that not only physically will fit what they want to
do on the floor schematically, but mentally that they can
handle dealing with military school. And that's exactly the way
I describe it. So I think that's part of it.
And that's a credit to Adam Simon, who is their
(10:32):
vice president and assistant GM. I believe he's the guy
that mines all this talent going way back. Okay, this
isn't something that that is just a recent phenomenon. If
you look at their history, they WoT I mean, you
Donnas has them for God's sake, right is in this
twentieth season, he was playing in France after being at
the University of Florida. So they just are really good
(10:54):
at identifying this stuff, and certain teams are. Toronto is
another team. I think that's great at that. They've identified
a lot of guys over the years, Fred van Vlee,
Pascal Siakam, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The Spurs
were once great at it and perhaps can be good
at it again, but they certainly had a knack for
that for a long time. I think it's just that
they just know what they're looking for in a particular player.
(11:16):
They almost treat it Jason like a football team. They know, Hey,
this guy fits this role, this is what we want
him for. He's got the mental toughness to be able
to deal with what we need to deal with or
we want to deal with, and where we want to
be and the expectations that we have. And that's it.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
I mean, as a Miami guy, I'm wondering, have you
ever been able to drill down on what is in
that secret sauce for identifying grit, toughness, mental fourth quarter
capabilities because you know you can see it, like Jimmy
Butler's history, Like Jimmy Butler his story is incredible.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
I've been a big Jimmy Butler guy.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I've been saying Jimmy Butler over Kawhi Leonard from my
Fox Sports radio show before Kawhi won the title in Toronto,
and I got so much hate for it, and I
would stand by it today. I know as a talent,
give me Jimmy Butler any day.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
He's a dog.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
But I don't know has anybody in Miami ever elaborated
to you as to what exactly goes into identifying these
undrafted gems. I mean, I looked up Max Struse, he
went to Lewis College, and then De Paul gave Vincent
UCSB played in the G League. I don't know what
it is, but I would love to find it.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Well, I think I'll give you Gabe Vincent as an example.
Gave Vincent Santa Barbara, a gaucho was a scorer in college.
But when they saw him, they saw the handle, right,
they saw the poise, they saw the fact that he
was the guy in college, right, and they they he realized, Okay,
(12:44):
I'm going to small school, right, I'm going to try
to do my best to go through the G League,
the NBA, all that stuff. They identified him and they said, hey,
we know this is what you're already good at. Okay,
you're good at scoring. We know you can put the
ball in the basket, you can shoot it, you can
your three level scorer. We're gonna teach you to be
a point guard too, and we're gonna teach you to defend,
because the way you're gonna make it in this league
(13:05):
from the G League is by being able to do everything,
being as much of a Swiss Army knife as possible
and playing a role. And not everybody is made for that. Mentally,
think about it, you're the man, right. Basketball for sure
is tough, I think in a lot of ways because
from when kids are very young, we tell them they're
the best player. Of course, you're the best player on
(13:27):
your team, and you know in aau, you're the best player.
In high school, you're the best player here in the
travel team, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, you're the
best player in college. And then you hit past college
and it's like, oh, this is different. There's only four
hundred and fifty of these spots, and a lot of
these guys take one of those spots up for a decade, right,
(13:47):
So it's hard to break through. And I think for
certain guys they just can't come to grips with it mentally,
and other guys they buy into it. They say, how
am I going to make a living playing basketball? I
got to buy into a role. And the Heat, for
whatever reason, are really good at selling these guys on
these roles, and they're good at player development. It starts
(14:08):
with their head coach. Okay, Eric Spolstra was a player
development guy. When Dwayne Wade came into the league. Do
you know who was working with him on his shot?
Eric Spolstra every day was the guy working on his shot.
It's why Dwayne, you know, not the only reason Dwayne
gets the most credit for it, but Eric was there
when he was developing that mid range game as a
(14:29):
young player. We knew how explosive he was and how
he can get to the rim, and but he helped
him find his balance with his shot. And that's just
what they've always been. They've always been good at just
mining talent. Forget about the Heat, go back to Pat
Riley with your beloved Nicks, John Starks, Anthony Mason, finding
those guys in the CBA that people look at pat
(14:49):
Riley and they say, oh ARMANI slick haare showtime. All
those things are true. But at the core, pat Riley
is Schenectady, New York. Pat Riley is lunch pale. His dad,
you know, worked in a factory. He you know, had
a rough upbringing. Yes, he was a star in college,
but pat Riley was more Bruce Bowen in in the
(15:11):
NBA than he was Lebron James or Dwayne Wade.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
I don't disagree with any of that.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
I mean, it's really unbelievable what they've cultivated there in Miami.
That being said, I've got to be point blank, you
had no clue this was coming coming into the first
round as an eight seed versus the bus No correct.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Right, I had Milwaukee in six, and then from that
point on, I'm like, I looked at the path because
I thought if they get Boston in the first round,
I thought they could upset them. I was very I was.
I mean on TV and radio, I kept saying, if
they can get the seventh seed, they've got a shot
to get to the finals. But if they don't, then
(15:51):
it's gonna be way tougher. But they beat Milwaukee, and
I know everyone's gonna say, well, Yiannis was hurt, this,
that and the other. Great true, no question. Yeah, listen,
when Giannis was off the floor, the Heat won by
ten points per one hundred possessions. When Giannis was on
the floor in that series, they won by sixteen points
per one hundred possessions. So they beat Yiannis too when
(16:14):
he was on the floor. But once they beat Milwaukee,
I was like, all bets are off. They can get
to the finals, and they can win a championship depending
on what happens. Now, look, there's a long way and
a long path from there. But I text you you
didn't respond. I felt like maybe you thought it was
a five.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
I might have missed its where I said.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Your boy Tims is next because I saw you talking
about talking about it.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
I liked the Knicks in that series.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Yeah, and uh and and I listen, there was little
doubt I thought they were gonna be the Knicks, like
I was. I was surprised.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
You're a favorite. I believe in Vegas. I believe Nicks
were slight favorites, not big.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
They were not even on the They're not. This notion
that the Knicks were the more talented team was silly.
If Jimmy Butler doesn't turn an angle, it's a sweet point.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Well, well, Julius raydol now has surgery, so he was still
not one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
But I digress.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
So let me oh, okay, So we said nice stuff
about Miami, buttering up your heat, audience, because I got
to hit you with this, okay, and.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
I have it in my phone here.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
So in Game two, they had the heat, the I believe,
third best fourth quarter shooting the basketball in the last
twenty five years, eleven of sixteen from the field, historic stuff.
They needed Duncan Robinson to go off, Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin,
who is sick his little flu game, hits a big
three in the corner. I mean, it was a historical
(17:30):
fourth quarter and they survive when Jamal Murray misses a
game tying three that was online looked good at the buzzer.
So as excited as we are about the heat, let's
put in perspective. They needed a historic fourth quarter to
and survive a Denver game tying shot with no time
left on the clock.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
That's who they've been the whole season. In the postseason, Jason,
they have survived or come back. They have seven wins
this postseason when trailing by ten points or more. That's
tied for the most. You know who's tied who they're
tied with? The Warriors. I'm talking about all time, Oh,
all time Warriors last year and the Heat twice with
(18:10):
Wade and Lebron and Bosh. Okay, that's what they that's
what they've accomplished.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Which of those is different?
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Huh yeah, Lebron, Lebron and two Hall of famers, Curry's
Hall of Fame team, which what I would argue is
the greatest team of all time, and then the Miami.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Heat of twenty twenty three.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Right.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
But again, this is this team is built like. This
is where I should This is where Colin needs to
be on to help you here. This team is built
like a football team. Okay, everyone plays a role. Jimmy
and Bam are the stars, the star running back or
the star quarterback or the star wide receiver and the
pastor however you want to however you want to label it.
They're the two guys. They're the central figures. Everyone else
(18:48):
plays a role. That's how this thing works. And again
it's still only the fifth best three point shooting night
they've had based on expected expectations per second spectrum. Right Like,
it's not even despite all the stuff you mentioned, which
is one hundred percent true, it's not even their best opportunity,
their best three point shooting opportunity. The two teams, by
the way, that were ahead of them, the Lakers in
(19:11):
two thousand, barely above them, I think, less than a
percentage point. And then the Spurs against the Heat when
I was watching that game, and that was game one,
if you recall that one, that was the air conditioning
game in San Antonio, Oh right, right, right right yeah.
And and even in that series, I kept saying to myself, Man,
are the Spurs ever gonna miss? Yeah? Sometimes it doesn't
(19:33):
happen that way.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
It's listen, it's possible that Duncan, Robinson and company, the
undrafted guys, whatever you want to call him, they keep
up this in Fuego and stun everybody. And I mean,
Denver was the third largest favorite I believe this century.
After was it the Warriors obviously with KD and Curry,
and then the Spurs team that.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Faced the young Lebron Calves if you remember like two.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Thus it's funny you bring that up too, because ESPN
Stats and Info had this a couple of days ago,
where if you and it was in our slack I believe,
I don't know if they posted it, but basically, Eric
Spolstra is either three or four and one as some
of the biggest Like he's like, he's got like four
(20:19):
of the biggest upsets as far as Vegas was concerned
in postseason history. One of them was Milwaukee obviously this
year and then Boston, but he's got two other ones
from previous seasons too, So it's like again like everyone
wants to sit here and just like is befuddled by this,
but you know, the parts fit, the coach is great,
(20:41):
and they've been doing this for two months right like
this season. Here's some more numbers for you, because I
know you love numbers, and I know the calculator folks
as you like to.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Call them calculator crowds. Thet's so direct.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
But here's another thing. This postseason alone, the heater a
shooting forty percent on open threes. Okay, by the way,
that's within a player within three feet right, a player
within six feet which are called classified as wide open threes.
They're forty five percent Like these guys are. This is
who they are. This is closer to who they are
(21:13):
than what they were in the regular season. What people
need to stop focusing on is an eighty two game
regular season which was completely disjointed for them in a
lot of ways.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
I've compared this team to the New York Giants with
Eli Manning when they were just a pedestrian team in
the regular season. Then they get to the statoffs, Eli's unstoppable.
They go three to zero and win the Super Bowl twice.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
And the parts, but the parts fit right when you
watch that team. The parts fit on that team, Michael
Strahan right, all the defensive line. They could rush Tom
Brady with four right, which was always the key to
having success against Tom Brady. So, yeah, like I could
give you something like that.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Sure, let's quickly pivot to the other story.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
We're recording this Monday afternoon, the other big story. And listen,
this doesn't involve inn ESPN reporter, So we could be
real here with each other at about the same time
Monday morning, choms of you know, yeah, he worked for
like three places, and Chris Haynes.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Who I'm sure you know.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Yeah, I saw those.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Both of them at the same time. Reported Kyrie Irving
reached out to Lebron James. Hey, Lebron want to come
to Dallas. George, Listen, We've been doing this a long time.
This is some really pathetic stuff, not from the reporters,
from Kyrie Irving, because you remember last week he stood
on his soapbox, went on Instagram live.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Hey to all my fans, the.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Kyrie Hive or whatever he's pretending to be like Beyonce
with her beehive, don't.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Listen to the reporters. Don't listen to all this stuff
out there, George. We know Kyrie Irving directly fed this
to the reporters. Why, well, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Monday morning capture the news cycle, extra day off between
Games two and three, and now Lebron is the big
story when we know what zero percent chance of this happening,
negative percents of this happening. There's no way Lebron is
taking a pay cut because they can't afford him with
the Max deal take a pay cut to go to Dallas.
(23:03):
Dallas doesn't even have any parts to send to the Lakers.
This is asinine stuff, is it not?
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Yeah, it's crazy, but no, the reporters did their job.
They have to do their job.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Kyrie Irvan calls you a text. You you got you gotta
rub And I.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Don't know if it's Kyrie directly, but fair enough, it
could be someone in his circle. Clearly who they these
guys trust and I would I would understand why they
would trust a source like, you know, depending on who
it was. So if they're reporting it that clearly it's
a trustworthy sores And to your point, they both did
it within seconds or minutes of each other. Yeah, so yes,
(23:37):
it's silly. Kyrie is not. Lebron's not going to Dallas. Okay, Now,
could Kyrie still end up on the Lakers that I'm
still not ruling that part out of the equation out.
But I don't see Lebron. I know Lebron loves Luca.
I know Luca loves Lebron. But to your point, there's
no way to actually make this work without Lebron doing
something that is completely unpressent from a financial standpoint. First
(24:01):
of all, you'd have to ask for a buyout. Let's
start with that part of the equation right, because I
don't see to your point, the Lakers aren't making a
deal with Dallas, and Dallas has really nothing to give them.
So it's great for us for content, but then at
the end of the day, it's just us putting the
pin in the balloon, because as much as we could
talk about it, there's really not a lot of there there,
if you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Now, the other angle that I would take is just
what percent a chance? Let's say that Kyrie and Lebron
got together and hatched this plan.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
How do we get this out?
Speaker 3 (24:31):
There Is there an agenda where they are trying to
use this to send a message to Dallas, Hey, Kyrie,
don't want to stay unless you can get more guys.
Or is this Lebron's way of saying, Hey, Lakers, I
want Kyrie. Is there a world where Lebron is in
on this with Kyrie to get this message out?
Speaker 1 (24:52):
That's pretty Macavelian, But I don't know if I would
go that far. I would say that those two clearly
have a relationship again, and I would say that the
Kyrie stuff with Dallas, to me, that's more plausible. Look,
I think Lebron wants help. I don't think there's any
doubt about that. I think Lebron looks at himself at
(25:13):
thirty eight years old on two busted feet right, one
of them which may need surgery according to certain reports,
and I think he thinks to himself, I only have
so much left to give, like I've got to have
one more shot at this. And as much as there
are players on this team that I think he likes
(25:34):
Austin Reeves clearly Ruyachimura, I would imagine that adding Kyrie
would be something he would want. He has not been
shy about that in the past. So do I think
that him and Kyrie are on the phone actually this
out you text Sean's and Chris Hanes. No, I don't
think that, but I do think that there is. It
seems fairly clear that they would be open to playing with.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
So you said Lebron wants help, Okay, what world is
Kyrie Irving helping? Because I don't know how you're getting
him without giving up a D and is that well.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
I mean he'd have to come, he'd have to come.
They'd have to basically renege everyone right on, renege on
everyone on their on their balance sheet outside of Lebron
and ad which they can't right and then sign Kyrie
into space and then they could go over the cap
for certain guys like an Austin Reeves because they have
the bird rights, et cetera, et cetera. But then you're
(26:29):
looking at a lot of minimum veteran minimum guys.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
After so you're you're envisioning Lebron, Kyrie and a d together.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Yeah. The only way they can do that is by
renouncing the rights to pretty much everybody that is not
available or that's not that's that's not under contract going
into this offseason, and then re signing a couple of
those guys who they can sign to their bird rights,
like Austin as I mentioned, I think they've got one
exception they could play with potentially, and then you're looking
(26:59):
at a lot of veteran minim Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
So you know, I don't know if you like to
put yourself in the role of GM.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
It's one of the most fun things ever. Is there
a world where you would want to add Kyrie Irving
to your team right now?
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Only if I could line it up with Anthony Davis's contract.
I'm not giving him more than the two years or
whatever Anthony Davis.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Kyrie doesn't want that. He wants for it because Dallas.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
But that would be the only way I would do
it if I were in charge. Unless here's the other
part of the equation, And I don't think the Lakers
will go down this path necessarily. I do think that
they are open to everything because they have to be
at this stage because they're in the Lebron James business.
And when you're in the Lebron James business, they understand
that you have to push your chips to the center
(27:43):
of the table every season. That's anyone who's been in
Lebron James business, particularly for the last decade plus, understands
that that's part of the job requirement. So, but Anthony
Davis is due for an extension, that's another part of
the equation that you have to factor in. What's that
going to look like, what is the expectation from him
(28:06):
from the Lakers, et cetera, et cetera. There's more to
this stuff with the Lakers roster beyond this offseason that
needs to be answered here sooner rather than later. And
I believe I'm not one hundred percent sure on this
that AD's extension is they can they can offer to him.
I believe either in you know, in the fall or
(28:28):
somewhere like that, before the season starts, they can offer
to him. I just don't know the exact timeline, but
it's definitely before the season they can potentially offer him
another extent.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
I think Giannis has a similar situation, and so you
got to wonder, like Giannis is wondering what's gonna happen
in Middleton and Lopez in a holiday.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
It's tough for me to extend Davis, but it's even
tougher to envision a world where you give Kyrie Irving
four years. Lebron will definitely be going in four years,
and then Ad who the hell knows what his body's
going to be like in in his thirties, and then
Kyrie Irving is your main guy going forward. And that
is not something I mean again, you know, which is
why I would only do he Bus more than I have.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
But I don't really talk to Genie Bus that often,
to be honest with you. I've occasionally run into her
and we've exchanged pleasantries, but I don't I don't really
chat with her very often in regards to basketball stuff,
you know. So I don't like to pry like that
first of all.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
Yeah, yeah, I want to ask, do you want to
get him get Kyrie over here?
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Yeah? I don't. That's yeah, there's plenty of other people
I can find information from around the league without having
to go directly to the owner and put her in
a compromising position. But the in an uncomfortable position because
what is she going to say. She's not gonna you know,
she's not gonna say yes or no to any of it.
So but he ultimately, man, I just think that the
(29:51):
Lakers are in a tough spot, like they they clearly
are close, right they were in the Conference finals, and
I think though they have to look at their situation
with their two stars. And I'm a big believer of
the biggest predictor of future injuries past injury, and we're
now at the point, particularly with Lebron right where we're
(30:11):
now seeing this becoming more and more regular. With Anthony
Davis has always been things that he's dealt with, none
of them outside of the one Achilles thing he had
that one year that kind of terrified people, and understandably
so have I felt like there's been like this crazy injury.
But if Lebron were to have surgery this offseason, it
would be his first, at least to my knowledge. So
(30:32):
and at thirty eight years old, that stuff you have
to wonder. So that Lakers are not in an easy position.
They have to balance trying to win with an aging
superstar and also having to deal with what the rest
of that looks like beyond his time there, and that
(30:52):
I just don't know if you can strike that balance well,
is what I would say. Most teams can't balance that.
And that's not a knock on, right Polinka anyone. It's
just really hard to thread that needle.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Yeah, yeah, all right.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
George Sodano seven ten in out here in La ESPN Radio,
Miami native, right right, native.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
Actually you'd be surprised. Born in Manhattan, grew up in Miami,
moved when I was six years old.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Oh okay, nice, So there is some Knicks fan.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
No, no, no, not at all. Actually, yeah, not one bit.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Wait, shut that down, all right, man, Hey, thanks for
taking the time, buddy.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Good to see you, Bud. Thanks for having me on
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. What is up?
Straight Fire, fam, It's me Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Straight Fire for Tuesday, June sixth, And due to the
extra day between Games two and three of the NBA Finals,
we've got kind of a one of these slow news
weeks already emerging. Listen, this is what happens in June
and sports ladies and gentlemen, it gets a little slow.
So we decided we bring in a good guest today
to break it up. It just so happens. He has
(00:40):
spent a lot of time in Miami, done radio there.
He's now at ESPN Radio out here in La George Sodano.
He of course is a big, big, big Miami Heat
fan and has spent a lot of time around the team.
He's very optimistic. He picked the Heat to win the finals,
and for a moment he did not look good after
game one, after game time, all of a sudden, he
looks kind of decent, and we'll break that down. We
(01:05):
obviously will talk about the massive and I'm putting up
air quotes here story about Kyrie Irving recruiting Lebron James
to the Dallas Mavericks. Long story short, let's be real, folks,
that ain't happening. And it's kind of sad that Kyrie
Irving would be trying to push this on the media.
They would lap it up, which they kind of have
(01:25):
to do. When two reporters are putting out the same
exact story at the same exact time, come on coordinated
and now you see that. You know, Lebron's in the
middle of this weird situation. The Lakers are getting roped in.
We all know the Mavericks do not have anything to
offer the Lakers for Lebron. I think the real story
here is Kyrie Irving. Does he want to go back
(01:47):
to Dallas? Is he getting the offer from Dallas that
he wants, which is a four year max deal? Is
he trying to leverage the fact that, like, listen, we're
not that good. We've got me and Luca, Like what
exactly is going on here? Did he notice the Frank
Vogel move to the Phoenix Suns And that probably means
(02:07):
DeAndre Ayton is staying like there's a lot of play here.
We get into it with George Sodano and enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
You know, A guy Jason likes to think he knows
everything when it comes to sports.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I know what sports fans want, but for.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Everything he doesn't, he knows a guy who does. Let's
just say I know a guy who knows a guy
who knows another guy.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
All right, let's welcome into straight fire.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
I guess we've had on the podcast before, but the
timing now could not have been better.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
He is a Miami guy.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
He picked the Heat to beat the Nuggets and now
is looking kind of like a genius with Miami becoming
the first team to win in Denver in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
George Sadana, How.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
You doing, George, I'm good, buddy. Good to see you.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
I thought I would detect a little more excitement from
you with Miami stealing one in Denver, but you just
seemed pretty laid back, like you almost knew this was coming,
Like you had an idea, you had a notion that.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
To be able to pull this off.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Jason, at some point after two months, you stopped being surprised.
I think you know. I know that you've According to
my friends who have told me you've called them fluky
a few.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Times, they're happy.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Yeah, I've heard You're on like their list. You're like
on the most wanted heat list at the moment. So
uh yeah, I mean, it's not fluky when you've been
doing it for two months. I think that. I mean, look,
let's take last night's game game two into account. That
was only the fifth best night they've had in regards
(03:36):
to shooting over expected shooting percentages. Like, think about that
for a second, Like they've had even better games in
this postseason from a shooting perspective, and yet they were
able to still beat Denver for the first time at
home since March, like somebody nobody had beaten them since March.
Miami had won there since Gorun Dragic, Rodney mcgrudersh McRoberts,
(04:02):
Luke Babbitt and Hassan Whiteside were the starting five in
the last game they won.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Is that before Lebron got there? Is that after Lebron?
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Like after twenty sixteen, that was post Dwayne Wade injury,
Chris Bosh, Blood Clotts, like all that stuff.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
So yeah, I guess, I guess the people who were
upset with me, Like we have an eighty two game
sample size of what the heat were this season, and
we know they were not a great three point shooting team.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
They were not a great team.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
They barely got into the playoffs. They lost the play
in game at home to Trey Young, and then they
rallied in the final three minutes to beat my guy,
Zach Levine, and then all of a sudden, they've turned
into basically Steph Curry from three, whether it's Caleb Martin.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Or Duncan mean.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
They were the number one three point shooting team with
the same roster the previous season, and I think that's
where what people seem to just continually omit when they
talk about that. It's not like they're not capable of
shooting threes. They I had an incredible shot quality chart
this season. They just didn't go in for one reason
or another. Now, they also dealt with I believe, the
(05:08):
fourth most lineup changes of anyone in the sport, So
you know, there wasn't a lot of continuity there. Guys
were in and out of the lineup, so that explained
some of it. I don't believe that they're the best
three point shooting team, but I think they're closer to
the best than they are twenty seventh, which is where
they were ranked, because we saw that as a representative sample.
(05:30):
And you know, again it's no longer a fluke when
you're doing it for two straight months and you're shooting
the way you're shooting.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
You could argue, So which are they?
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Are they the team that was great at threes last year,
the team that was bad at threes this year, the
team that's been great at threes for about twenty games
in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Like it. It's tough for me.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
They're closer to the top of the three point shooting
arc than they are the bottom of it. It was
infuriating for most people to watch them this year because
to the point I mentioned a second ago, they got
quality looks all season long. They just didn't fall for
one reason or another, and maybe the continuity was the issue.
But ultimately, this team come playoff time, has the best
(06:16):
coach in the sport, a guy who can certainly get
guys open, and he've got really smart players. And I
think that the fact that these guys have been there
in three of the last four years in the Eastern
Conference finals and now two of the last four finals,
for the most part, a very similar roster is back
in the finals. There's a sense of, hey, we know
(06:38):
what it takes to win at this point, right like
it doesn't matter what happened in the regular season, that
doesn't mean anything. It's what Eric Spolster has been telling
people forever. Another thing Eric Spolster has been telling people is, Hey,
we've had the most clutch games of anyone in the
sport this season. I think they're over sixty some odd now,
Like they're well over sixty five games now at this
point where they've been within five points with five minutes
(07:01):
to go and they've won I want to say, the
nearly seventy forty four of them. So like that's that's
not a small number. Most teams don't even you know,
most teams in a regular year are hovering around five
hundred at best in those scenarios. Yeah, so while they've
had those crushing losses too, they've had a lot of
(07:22):
experience in these moments and they're just not phased when
the game is close.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
And then the counter to that would be, well, they've
had a lot of close games, are they a good team?
And then they have the negative point differential. I know
it doesn't matter negative point differential for the season. Meanwhile,
the Nuggets, I think it was like maybe tops in
the in the West, or maybe second whatever it was,
but they're used to blowing teams out, and it looked
like a blowout was coming.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
In Game two.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
At the end of the third quarter they go up
eight and then the Duncan Robinson show takes over. But
you mentioned a lot of numbers there, and then you
said they're a very smart team. And this is what
I think angers like the calculator crowd, you know, the
analytics folks, because Miami's.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Breaking them, literally breaking the people they are. They are outraged.
They don't know how to handle this.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
And I got a number here, So I just saw
this stat the heat point differential through twenty playoff games.
First quarter they're minus one, second quarter minus eleven, third
quarter minus twelve. In the fourth quarter, and twenty playoff
games they are plus ninety. Nothing about their resume would
detect their plus ninety. And this is the one thing
that the calculator crowd can't quantify, is like the undrafted players,
(08:31):
the guys who really had to fight and work hard
just to get here. I mean, I know they have
Kevin Love, who is a top five pick, but and
bam Adebayo is a lottery pick. But by and large,
they got a bunch of dogs. They got a bunch
of guys who are working their tail off. Caleb Barton,
Max Strus, Gape, Vincent Jimmy like no quid in these
guys because they know what it took to get to
the league. Now, I'm not saying that Denver has a
(08:51):
bunch of cod old guys. I mean Jabal Murray's super
high pick, porter Gordon Jokich's second round.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
But is there something to that that we can put
a number on.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
To heart and desire and grit and all this like
the stuff that you can't really quantify.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
This is gonna sound like I'm mythologizing them, but it's
the truth. I mean, they are open and honest about this.
When Eric Spolstra and everyone there says we're not for everybody,
it's the truth. They have guys that they know that
they can identify certain traits in them, right, and it's
(09:26):
not just the basketball stuff. It's a mental toughness thing
to not everybody can play there. I mean, remember that
there was this viral video like a year or two
ago of Jermaine O'Neil talking about how he had a
chance to play with Lebron, Wade and Bosh because remember
he was in Miami the previous season, and then he
made the joke I like Oreos too much, right, I
(09:47):
didn't want to. I didn't want to have to deal
with all the the the weight stuff and the way
they just kind of do things there. It's military school.
Even Lebron after the fact, left to Cleveland, what did
he do? He in a bunch of Miami guys, James Jones,
Mike Miller. I mean, there's a ton of guys on
that on that Cleveland roster that he brought in to
help establish a culture. So I think that that's one
(10:11):
of those things that they do really what they do
really well at They know how to identify certain guys
that not only physically will fit what they want to
do on the floor schematically, but mentally that they can
handle dealing with military school. And that's exactly the way
I describe it. So I think that's part of it.
And that's a credit to Adam Simon, who is their
(10:32):
vice president and assistant GM. I believe he's the guy
that mines all this talent going way back. Okay, this
isn't something that that is just a recent phenomenon. If
you look at their history, they WoT I mean, you
Donnas has them for God's sake, right is in this
twentieth season, he was playing in France after being at
the University of Florida. So they just are really good
(10:54):
at identifying this stuff, and certain teams are. Toronto is
another team. I think that's great at that. They've identified
a lot of guys over the years, Fred van Vlee,
Pascal Siakam, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The Spurs
were once great at it and perhaps can be good
at it again, but they certainly had a knack for
that for a long time. I think it's just that
they just know what they're looking for in a particular player.
(11:16):
They almost treat it Jason like a football team. They know, Hey,
this guy fits this role, this is what we want
him for. He's got the mental toughness to be able
to deal with what we need to deal with or
we want to deal with, and where we want to
be and the expectations that we have. And that's it.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
I mean, as a Miami guy, I'm wondering, have you
ever been able to drill down on what is in
that secret sauce for identifying grit, toughness, mental fourth quarter
capabilities because you know you can see it, like Jimmy
Butler's history, Like Jimmy Butler his story is incredible.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
I've been a big Jimmy Butler guy.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I've been saying Jimmy Butler over Kawhi Leonard from my
Fox Sports radio show before Kawhi won the title in Toronto,
and I got so much hate for it, and I
would stand by it today. I know as a talent,
give me Jimmy Butler any day.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
He's a dog.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
But I don't know has anybody in Miami ever elaborated
to you as to what exactly goes into identifying these
undrafted gems. I mean, I looked up Max Struse, he
went to Lewis College, and then De Paul gave Vincent
UCSB played in the G League. I don't know what
it is, but I would love to find it.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Well, I think I'll give you Gabe Vincent as an example.
Gave Vincent Santa Barbara, a gaucho was a scorer in college.
But when they saw him, they saw the handle, right,
they saw the poise, they saw the fact that he
was the guy in college, right, and they they he realized, Okay,
(12:44):
I'm going to small school, right, I'm going to try
to do my best to go through the G League,
the NBA, all that stuff. They identified him and they said, hey,
we know this is what you're already good at. Okay,
you're good at scoring. We know you can put the
ball in the basket, you can shoot it, you can
your three level scorer. We're gonna teach you to be
a point guard too, and we're gonna teach you to defend,
because the way you're gonna make it in this league
(13:05):
from the G League is by being able to do everything,
being as much of a Swiss Army knife as possible
and playing a role. And not everybody is made for that. Mentally,
think about it, you're the man, right. Basketball for sure
is tough, I think in a lot of ways because
from when kids are very young, we tell them they're
the best player. Of course, you're the best player on
(13:27):
your team, and you know in aau, you're the best player.
In high school, you're the best player here in the
travel team, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, you're the
best player in college. And then you hit past college
and it's like, oh, this is different. There's only four
hundred and fifty of these spots, and a lot of
these guys take one of those spots up for a decade, right,
(13:47):
So it's hard to break through. And I think for
certain guys they just can't come to grips with it mentally,
and other guys they buy into it. They say, how
am I going to make a living playing basketball? I
got to buy into a role. And the Heat, for
whatever reason, are really good at selling these guys on
these roles, and they're good at player development. It starts
(14:08):
with their head coach. Okay, Eric Spolstra was a player
development guy. When Dwayne Wade came into the league. Do
you know who was working with him on his shot?
Eric Spolstra every day was the guy working on his shot.
It's why Dwayne, you know, not the only reason Dwayne
gets the most credit for it, but Eric was there
when he was developing that mid range game as a
(14:29):
young player. We knew how explosive he was and how
he can get to the rim, and but he helped
him find his balance with his shot. And that's just
what they've always been. They've always been good at just
mining talent. Forget about the Heat, go back to Pat
Riley with your beloved Nicks, John Starks, Anthony Mason, finding
those guys in the CBA that people look at pat
(14:49):
Riley and they say, oh ARMANI slick haare showtime. All
those things are true. But at the core, pat Riley
is Schenectady, New York. Pat Riley is lunch pale. His dad,
you know, worked in a factory. He you know, had
a rough upbringing. Yes, he was a star in college,
but pat Riley was more Bruce Bowen in in the
(15:11):
NBA than he was Lebron James or Dwayne Wade.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
I don't disagree with any of that.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
I mean, it's really unbelievable what they've cultivated there in Miami.
That being said, I've got to be point blank, you
had no clue this was coming coming into the first
round as an eight seed versus the bus No correct.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Right, I had Milwaukee in six, and then from that
point on, I'm like, I looked at the path because
I thought if they get Boston in the first round,
I thought they could upset them. I was very I was.
I mean on TV and radio, I kept saying, if
they can get the seventh seed, they've got a shot
to get to the finals. But if they don't, then
(15:51):
it's gonna be way tougher. But they beat Milwaukee, and
I know everyone's gonna say, well, Yiannis was hurt, this,
that and the other. Great true, no question. Yeah, listen,
when Giannis was off the floor, the Heat won by
ten points per one hundred possessions. When Giannis was on
the floor in that series, they won by sixteen points
per one hundred possessions. So they beat Yiannis too when
(16:14):
he was on the floor. But once they beat Milwaukee,
I was like, all bets are off. They can get
to the finals, and they can win a championship depending
on what happens. Now, look, there's a long way and
a long path from there. But I text you you
didn't respond. I felt like maybe you thought it was
a five.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
I might have missed its where I said.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Your boy Tims is next because I saw you talking
about talking about it.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
I liked the Knicks in that series.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Yeah, and uh and and I listen, there was little
doubt I thought they were gonna be the Knicks, like
I was. I was surprised.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
You're a favorite. I believe in Vegas. I believe Nicks
were slight favorites, not big.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
They were not even on the They're not. This notion
that the Knicks were the more talented team was silly.
If Jimmy Butler doesn't turn an angle, it's a sweet point.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Well, well, Julius raydol now has surgery, so he was still
not one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
But I digress.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
So let me oh, okay, So we said nice stuff
about Miami, buttering up your heat, audience, because I got
to hit you with this, okay, and.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
I have it in my phone here.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
So in Game two, they had the heat, the I believe,
third best fourth quarter shooting the basketball in the last
twenty five years, eleven of sixteen from the field, historic stuff.
They needed Duncan Robinson to go off, Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin,
who is sick his little flu game, hits a big
three in the corner. I mean, it was a historical
(17:30):
fourth quarter and they survive when Jamal Murray misses a
game tying three that was online looked good at the buzzer.
So as excited as we are about the heat, let's
put in perspective. They needed a historic fourth quarter to
and survive a Denver game tying shot with no time
left on the clock.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
That's who they've been the whole season. In the postseason, Jason,
they have survived or come back. They have seven wins
this postseason when trailing by ten points or more. That's
tied for the most. You know who's tied who they're
tied with? The Warriors. I'm talking about all time, Oh,
all time Warriors last year and the Heat twice with
(18:10):
Wade and Lebron and Bosh. Okay, that's what they that's
what they've accomplished.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Which of those is different?
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Huh yeah, Lebron, Lebron and two Hall of famers, Curry's
Hall of Fame team, which what I would argue is
the greatest team of all time, and then the Miami.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Heat of twenty twenty three.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Right.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
But again, this is this team is built like. This
is where I should This is where Colin needs to
be on to help you here. This team is built
like a football team. Okay, everyone plays a role. Jimmy
and Bam are the stars, the star running back or
the star quarterback or the star wide receiver and the
pastor however you want to however you want to label it.
They're the two guys. They're the central figures. Everyone else
(18:48):
plays a role. That's how this thing works. And again
it's still only the fifth best three point shooting night
they've had based on expected expectations per second spectrum. Right Like,
it's not even despite all the stuff you mentioned, which
is one hundred percent true, it's not even their best opportunity,
their best three point shooting opportunity. The two teams, by
the way, that were ahead of them, the Lakers in
(19:11):
two thousand, barely above them, I think, less than a
percentage point. And then the Spurs against the Heat when
I was watching that game, and that was game one,
if you recall that one, that was the air conditioning
game in San Antonio, Oh right, right, right right yeah.
And and even in that series, I kept saying to myself, Man,
are the Spurs ever gonna miss? Yeah? Sometimes it doesn't
(19:33):
happen that way.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
It's listen, it's possible that Duncan, Robinson and company, the
undrafted guys, whatever you want to call him, they keep
up this in Fuego and stun everybody. And I mean,
Denver was the third largest favorite I believe this century.
After was it the Warriors obviously with KD and Curry,
and then the Spurs team that.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Faced the young Lebron Calves if you remember like two.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Thus it's funny you bring that up too, because ESPN
Stats and Info had this a couple of days ago,
where if you and it was in our slack I believe,
I don't know if they posted it, but basically, Eric
Spolstra is either three or four and one as some
of the biggest Like he's like, he's got like four
(20:19):
of the biggest upsets as far as Vegas was concerned
in postseason history. One of them was Milwaukee obviously this
year and then Boston, but he's got two other ones
from previous seasons too, So it's like again like everyone
wants to sit here and just like is befuddled by this,
but you know, the parts fit, the coach is great,
(20:41):
and they've been doing this for two months right like
this season. Here's some more numbers for you, because I
know you love numbers, and I know the calculator folks
as you like to.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Call them calculator crowds. Thet's so direct.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
But here's another thing. This postseason alone, the heater a
shooting forty percent on open threes. Okay, by the way,
that's within a player within three feet right, a player
within six feet which are called classified as wide open threes.
They're forty five percent Like these guys are. This is
who they are. This is closer to who they are
(21:13):
than what they were in the regular season. What people
need to stop focusing on is an eighty two game
regular season which was completely disjointed for them in a
lot of ways.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
I've compared this team to the New York Giants with
Eli Manning when they were just a pedestrian team in
the regular season. Then they get to the statoffs, Eli's unstoppable.
They go three to zero and win the Super Bowl twice.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
And the parts, but the parts fit right when you
watch that team. The parts fit on that team, Michael
Strahan right, all the defensive line. They could rush Tom
Brady with four right, which was always the key to
having success against Tom Brady. So, yeah, like I could
give you something like that.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Sure, let's quickly pivot to the other story.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
We're recording this Monday afternoon, the other big story. And listen,
this doesn't involve inn ESPN reporter, So we could be
real here with each other at about the same time
Monday morning, choms of you know, yeah, he worked for
like three places, and Chris Haynes.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Who I'm sure you know.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Yeah, I saw those.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Both of them at the same time. Reported Kyrie Irving
reached out to Lebron James. Hey, Lebron want to come
to Dallas. George, Listen, We've been doing this a long time.
This is some really pathetic stuff, not from the reporters,
from Kyrie Irving, because you remember last week he stood
on his soapbox, went on Instagram live.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Hey to all my fans, the.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Kyrie Hive or whatever he's pretending to be like Beyonce
with her beehive, don't.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Listen to the reporters. Don't listen to all this stuff
out there, George. We know Kyrie Irving directly fed this
to the reporters. Why, well, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Monday morning capture the news cycle, extra day off between
Games two and three, and now Lebron is the big
story when we know what zero percent chance of this happening,
negative percents of this happening. There's no way Lebron is
taking a pay cut because they can't afford him with
the Max deal take a pay cut to go to Dallas.
(23:03):
Dallas doesn't even have any parts to send to the Lakers.
This is asinine stuff, is it not?
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Yeah, it's crazy, but no, the reporters did their job.
They have to do their job.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Kyrie Irvan calls you a text. You you got you gotta
rub And I.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Don't know if it's Kyrie directly, but fair enough, it
could be someone in his circle. Clearly who they these
guys trust and I would I would understand why they
would trust a source like, you know, depending on who
it was. So if they're reporting it that clearly it's
a trustworthy sores And to your point, they both did
it within seconds or minutes of each other. Yeah, so yes,
(23:37):
it's silly. Kyrie is not. Lebron's not going to Dallas. Okay, Now,
could Kyrie still end up on the Lakers that I'm
still not ruling that part out of the equation out.
But I don't see Lebron. I know Lebron loves Luca.
I know Luca loves Lebron. But to your point, there's
no way to actually make this work without Lebron doing
something that is completely unpressent from a financial standpoint. First
(24:01):
of all, you'd have to ask for a buyout. Let's
start with that part of the equation right, because I
don't see to your point, the Lakers aren't making a
deal with Dallas, and Dallas has really nothing to give them.
So it's great for us for content, but then at
the end of the day, it's just us putting the
pin in the balloon, because as much as we could
talk about it, there's really not a lot of there there,
if you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Now, the other angle that I would take is just
what percent a chance? Let's say that Kyrie and Lebron
got together and hatched this plan.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
How do we get this out?
Speaker 3 (24:31):
There Is there an agenda where they are trying to
use this to send a message to Dallas, Hey, Kyrie,
don't want to stay unless you can get more guys.
Or is this Lebron's way of saying, Hey, Lakers, I
want Kyrie. Is there a world where Lebron is in
on this with Kyrie to get this message out?
Speaker 1 (24:52):
That's pretty Macavelian, But I don't know if I would
go that far. I would say that those two clearly
have a relationship again, and I would say that the
Kyrie stuff with Dallas, to me, that's more plausible. Look,
I think Lebron wants help. I don't think there's any
doubt about that. I think Lebron looks at himself at
(25:13):
thirty eight years old on two busted feet right, one
of them which may need surgery according to certain reports,
and I think he thinks to himself, I only have
so much left to give, like I've got to have
one more shot at this. And as much as there
are players on this team that I think he likes
(25:34):
Austin Reeves clearly Ruyachimura, I would imagine that adding Kyrie
would be something he would want. He has not been
shy about that in the past. So do I think
that him and Kyrie are on the phone actually this
out you text Sean's and Chris Hanes. No, I don't
think that, but I do think that there is. It
seems fairly clear that they would be open to playing with.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
So you said Lebron wants help, Okay, what world is
Kyrie Irving helping? Because I don't know how you're getting
him without giving up a D and is that well.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
I mean he'd have to come, he'd have to come.
They'd have to basically renege everyone right on, renege on
everyone on their on their balance sheet outside of Lebron
and ad which they can't right and then sign Kyrie
into space and then they could go over the cap
for certain guys like an Austin Reeves because they have
the bird rights, et cetera, et cetera. But then you're
(26:29):
looking at a lot of minimum veteran minimum guys.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
After so you're you're envisioning Lebron, Kyrie and a d together.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Yeah. The only way they can do that is by
renouncing the rights to pretty much everybody that is not
available or that's not that's that's not under contract going
into this offseason, and then re signing a couple of
those guys who they can sign to their bird rights,
like Austin as I mentioned, I think they've got one
exception they could play with potentially, and then you're looking
(26:59):
at a lot of veteran minim Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
So you know, I don't know if you like to
put yourself in the role of GM.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
It's one of the most fun things ever. Is there
a world where you would want to add Kyrie Irving
to your team right now?
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Only if I could line it up with Anthony Davis's contract.
I'm not giving him more than the two years or
whatever Anthony Davis.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Kyrie doesn't want that. He wants for it because Dallas.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
But that would be the only way I would do
it if I were in charge. Unless here's the other
part of the equation, And I don't think the Lakers
will go down this path necessarily. I do think that
they are open to everything because they have to be
at this stage because they're in the Lebron James business.
And when you're in the Lebron James business, they understand
that you have to push your chips to the center
(27:43):
of the table every season. That's anyone who's been in
Lebron James business, particularly for the last decade plus, understands
that that's part of the job requirement. So, but Anthony
Davis is due for an extension, that's another part of
the equation that you have to factor in. What's that
going to look like, what is the expectation from him
(28:06):
from the Lakers, et cetera, et cetera. There's more to
this stuff with the Lakers roster beyond this offseason that
needs to be answered here sooner rather than later. And
I believe I'm not one hundred percent sure on this
that AD's extension is they can they can offer to him.
I believe either in you know, in the fall or
(28:28):
somewhere like that, before the season starts, they can offer
to him. I just don't know the exact timeline, but
it's definitely before the season they can potentially offer him
another extent.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
I think Giannis has a similar situation, and so you
got to wonder, like Giannis is wondering what's gonna happen
in Middleton and Lopez in a holiday.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
It's tough for me to extend Davis, but it's even
tougher to envision a world where you give Kyrie Irving
four years. Lebron will definitely be going in four years,
and then Ad who the hell knows what his body's
going to be like in in his thirties, and then
Kyrie Irving is your main guy going forward. And that
is not something I mean again, you know, which is
why I would only do he Bus more than I have.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
But I don't really talk to Genie Bus that often,
to be honest with you. I've occasionally run into her
and we've exchanged pleasantries, but I don't I don't really
chat with her very often in regards to basketball stuff,
you know. So I don't like to pry like that
first of all.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
Yeah, yeah, I want to ask, do you want to
get him get Kyrie over here?
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Yeah? I don't. That's yeah, there's plenty of other people
I can find information from around the league without having
to go directly to the owner and put her in
a compromising position. But the in an uncomfortable position because
what is she going to say. She's not gonna you know,
she's not gonna say yes or no to any of it.
So but he ultimately, man, I just think that the
(29:51):
Lakers are in a tough spot, like they they clearly
are close, right they were in the Conference finals, and
I think though they have to look at their situation
with their two stars. And I'm a big believer of
the biggest predictor of future injuries past injury, and we're
now at the point, particularly with Lebron right where we're
(30:11):
now seeing this becoming more and more regular. With Anthony
Davis has always been things that he's dealt with, none
of them outside of the one Achilles thing he had
that one year that kind of terrified people, and understandably
so have I felt like there's been like this crazy injury.
But if Lebron were to have surgery this offseason, it
would be his first, at least to my knowledge. So
(30:32):
and at thirty eight years old, that stuff you have
to wonder. So that Lakers are not in an easy position.
They have to balance trying to win with an aging
superstar and also having to deal with what the rest
of that looks like beyond his time there, and that
(30:52):
I just don't know if you can strike that balance well,
is what I would say. Most teams can't balance that.
And that's not a knock on, right Polinka anyone. It's
just really hard to thread that needle.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Yeah, yeah, all right.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
George Sodano seven ten in out here in La ESPN Radio,
Miami native, right right, native.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
Actually you'd be surprised. Born in Manhattan, grew up in Miami,
moved when I was six years old.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Oh okay, nice, So there is some Knicks fan.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
No, no, no, not at all. Actually, yeah, not one bit.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Wait, shut that down, all right, man, Hey, thanks for
taking the time, buddy.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Good to see you, Bud. Thanks for having me on
Host
Jason McIntyre
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