On today's episode, Jason and Super Producer Rob G (Robert Guerra) get things started by taking a verbal blowtorch to Doc Rivers, James Harden and Joel Embiid following the Philadelphia 76ers' gutless performance in their season-ending loss to the Boston Celtics. Rivers' and Harden's playoff shortcomings are well-chronicled so that wasn't shocking, but given the way Embiid performed, the guys agree it's time to admit that the reigning MVP is capable of being a '1' on a championship team. On the flip side, Jayson Tatum dropping 51 in the series-clinching win showed once again that he can absolutely be a '1'. In fact, J-mac argues that Tatum is already a better offensive player than Celtics legend Larry Bird. Sticking in the NBA, Memphis Grizzlies was suspended (again) for flashing a handgun on social media (again) over the weekend. It's clear at this point that Morant just doesn't get it; What isn't clear, however, is what exactly Ja wants out of life. Does he want to be the Face of the NBA, or does he want to be a gangster? Only time will tell on that one. Finally, Jason and Rob close the show by breaking down a few NBA conspiracy theories involving the Phoenix Suns. Is Tyronn Lue next in line to replace Monty Williams? If so, could Russell Westbrook be coming along with him? And, how does Isiah Thomas factor into all of this? The Suns offseason should be spicy!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. This is straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. What
is up Straight Fire, fam, It's me Jason McIntyre. Straight
(00:22):
Fire for Monday May fifteenth, Ladies and gentlemen, this was
one of the most exhausting weekends I've had in a
long long time. We've got some clarity in the NBA
playoffs the Golden State Warriors. Can we say the Dynasty's over?
Rob g called it. I had faith in the Warriors.
(00:43):
I think a lot of it was me just thinking
that Golden State has never been beat in Kerr under
the Kurr era by a team in the West, and
it's official. It's done. Lakers route them Friday night. That
started the weekend, and Saturday was just chaos. Son had
a volleyball tournament, daughter had a soccer game, and I
had my dad's soccer tournament. If you follow me on
the gram, obviously you tracked everything. It was a glorious
(01:07):
day for soccer. I actually played better than I thought
I could, because I'm getting up there in age now,
you know, you start to lose it. We advanced to
the finals and we lose to a team that had
you know, there's only two ringers in the tournament, and
this team had a ringer who was just an awesome player.
Like I mean, he's like ten years younger than anybody
pretty much anybody on our team, maybe seven to eight,
(01:27):
ten years younger than anybody, and he's just dynamic. Scored
a goal like five minutes in and we're playing from behind.
They went three defenders. It's seven on seven and we
just couldn't break through. It was tough. So we lost
to the semifinals last year. Finals this year. I mean,
we're we didn't lose until the finals, and soccer is
a lot of fun. And then to Cap Saturday. As
(01:50):
if you I wasn't tired enough, there's this nerf gun battle.
I think I talked about it last year. Some YouTube
guy hosts a nerf gun battle at Sofi Stadium on
the sofa turf. So you sign up, you get tickets,
you bring a nerf gun, and you wear like goggles
or like I gear I protective eye gear, and you
just have a nerf gun battle with like, you know,
two thousand other people. And it was incredible. Now, I
(02:12):
was a little hurting with the legs and the body
from the soccer tournament, but it was awesome and I
will say this. I mean, I doubt this guy listens.
But you know, my daughter's Girl Scout Troop went and
my son had some friends and I was with some dads.
You know, we're just having fun whatever, and of course
the Girl Scout Troop gets in a battle with some
guys and one of them is like some kind of
maybe sixteen year old punk. But he had an awesome gun,
(02:34):
and I told my son, we're buying it. And so
the girls are going after him and they're like, we
need help. So of course the dads and my son
and his buddies we all gang up on this kid,
and he's starting to get ticked off, and I mean
he's like like really angry, chasing us, and like, I
don't know, I thought there was gonna be an altercation.
One of the other dads was like, dude, I thought
he was gonna swing on me. It's just some some punk.
(02:55):
But listen, NERF gun battles are fun. If you want
to feel like a kid again, go to a NERF
gun battle. A lot of fun. Now I need to ask.
I'll get the name of the gun, but it isn't
a NERF gun. It's one of those guns that shoots
the NERF those little yellow balls hyper or rapid, whatever
it's called. But this thing is powerful and it stings.
No no cap as my sudden likes to say, Nerf
(03:16):
got battled. Then Sunday, of course, a awesome Mother's Day,
and we had a game seven in the NBA that
I guess it was interesting for a half, maybe for
twenty five minutes, you know, before the Celtics went on
our thirty three to five run put away Joel Embiid
and the Sixers once again, Joel Embiid comes up short
of a conference finals. Doc Rivers third year in a row. Now,
(03:40):
depending on when you listen to this podcast, some of
you will listen to it. We're starting to put them
up at night after games because we've noticed there is
a bump in listeners people looking for takes. Because if
you noticed, if the game isn't on TNT, that the
TNT show's not on with Barclay and those guys, and
if it's not on ESPN, there's nothing on ESPN. So
people want re action, and obviously we provide it to
(04:01):
the games almost instantly, so he put him up. We're
seeing a bump in listenership. Now if you're listening to
this later on a Monday morning, say, I don't know,
closer to noon. Maybe you missed it on the morning
walk with the dog and you're listening to it late.
Doc Rivers might be fired already, because holy kill, all
that guy does is choking the playoffs. He has now.
(04:24):
Remember he blew three three one leads obviously, so that
means he's blown three three two leads. He blew another
one against the Celtics, and I don't know that I
can totally blame Doc, but this is what it what's
it called them's the shakes or that's how it shakes out,
or them's the breaks. Whatever they're saying is Doc Rivers
once again comes up short, and folks, Embiid was pretty
(04:48):
terrible five for eighteen in Game seven, missed all his
three pointers. And I put this on social media. I
don't want to hear, well, he's got the knee injury,
remember four to six weeks, because I didn't hear that
when he went for thirty three straight games and they
took a three to two lead, because I gassed him
up on her said, in't Beid's looking good. Celtics are
in trouble. I didn't bail on Boston. I was very clear, Hey,
(05:08):
nobody knows how to choke away a big lead like
Doc Rivers. Embiid was bad. And it's funny because when
Embiid played poorly in this series, well he's got the
knee injury. When he scores thirty plus, hey, Joel Embiid,
there's your MVP. We can't play these games. And what
I don't like about the Sixers year is there's always
an excuse. And if you remember Doc rivers first year
(05:31):
with Ben Simmons, oh, it's Ben Simmons looking in passing
away a layup against the Hawks. Ben Simmons is the
reason they lost, not Joel Embid. Embiid had eight turnovers
in Game seven against the Hawks, but you know it
was at home. But let's blame Let's blame Simmons. So
last year they lose to the Miami Heat in the playoffs,
and this year they lose to the Celtics. And this
(05:52):
year the blame game is going squarely on Jim Harden.
Now we don't call him James anymore. Rob g gets
credit with that one in just what is astonishing stat folks,
Harden in the wins. I'll just read off his stat
line in the three victories, forty five points in game one,
forty two points in Game four, and oh by the way,
(06:14):
he won both of those games with late three pointers.
And in game five, when they won in Boston, hardened
seventeen ten and eight. He attempted ten, got to the
line ten times, tied his high for the series, and
as it was efficient as hell. Those are the wins.
Now the losses. Jim Harden showed up three of eleven,
(06:35):
four of sixteen, three of fourteen, two of fourteen folks.
In the four losses, Harden twenty one percent from the field.
Game seven, Okay, this is money time, this is winning time.
Jim Harden five turnovers, three made baskets in the final
two games. The final two losses, Harden was one of
(06:56):
eleven on three pointers, one of eleven. Remember all those
two games he won. Harden goes seven of fourteen from
three and six of nine from three. How does that happen?
I know you want to say maker, miss league, but
I just find it absolutely befuddling that someone can be
so searingly hot seven of fourteen from deep. Next game,
(07:17):
Game two loss, they get smoked. Oh of six from deep,
they win game four, six of nine, they lose the
final two when he's one of eleven from downtown. So
the media obviously wants to blame Harden. Folks, I know
that everybody wants to talk about the end of the
dynasty of the Warriors. How about the end of the Sixers,
because a lot of the talk is Harden wants to
go back to Houston. I don't see a path to
(07:40):
success for these seventy six Ers, not with Boston standing
in the way, not with Yannis standing in the way,
not with the Miami heat culture still present in the East.
And oh, by the way, my Knicks, who did lose
in Game seven on Friday despite the an amazing effort
from Jalen Brunson. Gosh, what a fricking hero that guy is.
Jalen Brunton was amazing. I know he had a turnover,
(08:00):
but you had to do everything, carry them on his
back in Game seven in Miami and nearly pulled it off.
Brunton was incredible. But like the Knicks are coming. If
they can make a move and get crawling Antony towns,
they will definitely leap prog the Sixers. Cleveland is gonna
be better in year two with this Donovan Mitchell lineup.
I don't know, man, if I'm uh, if I'm the Sixers,
(08:24):
if I'm a Sixers fan, I'm really worried. You were
really gassed up after the Game five win, you go
up three to two, you think it finally we're breaking
through the conference finals, and then you poop your pants
in game six and seven, and Philly's going home, and
now Doc Rivers probably gonna get the acts, and now
James Harden probably leaving. I mean, listen, at some point,
(08:47):
Joel Embiid's got to look around and say, time for
me to get out of there, time for me to
get off the Titanic. This thing's going down, And I
wonder if that's sooner than later, because if you're the
six this is a tough question. Rob G and I
before the pod, we looked at the number ones in
this league. Can you be the number one, the alpha
(09:08):
on a championship team? And we counted seven. And now
some people will push back and say, well, they haven't
won a championship, like Luca hasn't won a championship, but
he clearly is a number one on a team that
got to the conference finals. Surrounded by an Lucas A one.
Steph Curry obviously a one that there should not be
(09:28):
any doubt. He's your best player. You've built around him.
You can get to the finals and win it. Jannis
a one. Lebron clearly a one. Gets a healthy Anthony Davis.
Look where are going? And I know some people will
dispute that AD is better than Lebron, but we've seen
a d As a one. You build around him in
New Orleans and his second round is a ceiling. AD
is a two. Oh, he's amazing. I think Jokic now
(09:51):
going to his second conference finals, he's a one. You
build around him. I mean, Jamo Murray, Michael Porter Junior.
I think I saw a crazy stat. I don't remember
exactly who put this out. It might have been one
of this guy named Goldsbury, Kirk Goldsbury, who used to
be at a ESPN. I'm not even sure where he
works now, but he put out a list of players
(10:12):
and the amount of help they've had, essentially, and Jokic
is like the only one without an all NBA player
around him, without an all defensive player, he's basically had
the least amount of help. Now, listen, Michael Porter Junior
is a good role player. Jamal Murray I like a lot,
but they're really like doing it around Yokic. And this
is two conference finals. So Yokich a one, Giannis will
(10:33):
one Lebron Curry. I think I'm sure some people would disagree.
Jason Tatum is clearly a number one. He's been to
multiple conference finals. He's on the cuspole, going to his
second NBA Finals. He's now set a record for most
points in Game seven, fifty one. I can't I'm embarrassed
that it took me ten minutes to get into the
podcast and start saying awesome things about Jason Tatum, a
(10:54):
guy who I am a massive fan of. Jayson Tatum
is a one you build around him. Hey, you know
what if it doesn't work out, well, he move Jaylen Brown. Fine,
that's plug and play around Jason Tatum. He has a
bag that is incredible. I mean, you saw him unstoppable.
Anybody on the Sixers stepped up to him in Game
seven and he was just torching him. Has he crossover
step back side step three, finishing with the left mid
(11:17):
range baseline like he has? I mean, the skill set
is unbelievable. Jason Tatum's a one and the seventh guy,
and it's just tough. I believe it's Jimmy Butler. I mean,
Jimmy Butler with the Miami Heat have gone to the
finals in the Bubble and now they're in the Eastern
Conference finals again. They were in the Easter Conference finals
last year. Like Jimmy Butler is a winner. The best
(11:39):
seventy six ers team they had with Embiid with the
one led by Jimmy Butler. Now, I know he's not
superstar in the regular season. That's fine. Jimmy Butler shows
up when the lights are the brightest. I think you
can build around him. Wisely, he's a one. Now, I
know he hasn't won a title, and I get it.
Tatum has at won ur title. Neither is Luca, neither
is Joker. But for my money, there's only seven ones
(12:02):
in the league. Now, I know people are gonna go
ape shit. Well wait, wha wha Kawhi Leonard? What's Kawhi
Leonard done? Can you count him? Is he reliable? He's
always hurt talent wise, if you make him your two,
you are really in great shape, just like ab Kevin Durant.
Why isn't he a one? Well, I don't know. We
drop him into Phoenix. The odds make Phoenix the favorites
(12:24):
to come out of the West, and I don't know, Robi,
I didn't see it unless we want to give a
pass for the eight and then Chris Paul injuries. But
was Durant like a difference maker? I mean, hell, I
thought d book was better than him in that series,
and I'm sure I'll get pushed back on that, but
I don't think Booker is a better player than Durant.
But given Durant's age, he's gonna be thirty five in September,
(12:46):
and you know, he gets the ball and he's a
scoring machine, but he's not like a Curry creating. He's
not snagging every rebound or making every defensive play like
Jimmy Butler. He's just not doing that. And again, it's
not a knock on him. I think Durant's an idea.
I think Damian Lillard's a two. D Book I think
right now is a two. He's very very good now.
He was the one when they went to the finals.
(13:08):
They only got there because you know, remember the upgraded
with Chris Paul. Things broke their way, ad goes down
Donovan Mitchell's two. There's nothing wrong with being a two
at all, but like Superstar number one, build around guys,
I don't think Joel Embiid makes that list. Now, Rob,
I'm sure you're gonna disagree, And a lot of the
Peanut gallery that will say, Jay, you've lost your mind.
(13:29):
Joel embie just won the MVP Award. How is he
not a number one? And I'll say, folks, we've had
multiple years in Philly now. We tried them with Ben Simmons,
we tried them with James Harden. He got Tobias Harris emerging,
Tyrese Maxey and James Harden is the guy giving them
(13:49):
two wins essentially, and Beid played good in three. I'm
sure we can make an injury excuse. We could even
blame Doc Rivers if we want. But for my money,
I think Joel Embiid is an awesome too, in the
same realm of Anthony Davis and Bead will play great defense.
He could give you points and boards, but you need
a wing player to create and lead that team. I
don't think Joel Embid's won, And Rob, I'm sure you're
(14:12):
gonna disagree.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
With me. Now, I am one thousand percent gonna agree
with you. This is the first, probably in months, where
you and I are in lockstep on something. Look Joel
Embiid on pure talent, absolutely, he's one level talent like
Anthony Davis. There's just something missing with him. And with
Joel Embiid, his playoff record is piss poor relative to
(14:37):
what his talent level is. You cannot have the kind
of teammates that you've had. Say what you want about
Ben Simmons, but he was an all NBA performer when
he was in Philadelphia. Jimmy Butler was there. You had
James Harden, Tyrese maxey Tobia's Harris Like the list goes
on and on of quality All Star to all NBA
level players all across his rosters, going back to two
(15:00):
when he's seventeen, twenty eighteen, lost in round two, lost
in round two, lost in round one, lost in round two,
lost in round two, lost in round two. Like, at
some point, it can't always be everybody else, right. We
saw this stat before we started recording. Joel Embiid averaged
thirty three point one points per game in the regular season,
which was great in the postseason, that fell to twenty
(15:21):
three point seven points per game. The drop off negative
nine point four points, the largest by an MVP in
NBA history. And it's not just this season. I looked
it up. He's played in fifty three NBA playoff games.
Eighteen times he shot under forty percent from the field
as a center, as a big man who lives around
(15:43):
the basket, shooting sub forty percent one out of every
three times he's in the playoffs, he is going to
give you a dud of a performance. And that is
precisely why he cannot be considered a one. And it's
it's exactly why I think you alluded to it a
few minutes ago. Things are going to get worse in
Philadelphia before they ever get better. Doc Rivers is gonna
(16:05):
be gone. That's probably an upgrade, to be honest with you,
James Harden, it looks like he wants to go to
my to Houston. Assuming he doesn't. Let's say he doesn't
and you're able to trade him unless you're able to
get another high level, number two level player like a
Damian Loward, which is not gonna happen because James Harden,
no matter what kind of picks you attached is not
gonna get you. Damian Lillard embid is as the cap
(16:30):
is there, he's a sec, he's a one and done.
He might win one round and then he's out like
there's no going up from there. So you're gonna see,
maybe even as soon as this time next year, Joel
Embiid is gonna realize that this is not gonna I'm
not gonna win a championship here in Philadelphia. He's gonna
demand the trade, and then the process is gonna start
all over again.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah, we we did see remember Drew Holliday with a
D New Orleans like they were a good tandem. They
won round and ultimately it was like, well, Drew Holliday
is really good. He's not a two every night. You
can make him a three. Oh, let's do that in Milwaukee, right,
And then Ad like, well, let's we tried him as
a one. Let's make him a one, b a two,
(17:10):
whatever you want. Alongside Lebron Boom title. And now they're
they're close to going to another finals. I do wonder, Rob,
can we find a move that will make Maury happy?
I know this is not gonna be positive, but trading
the MVP very unlikely this offseason. But if Harden Bales,
I don't know what you do. I guess you try
(17:30):
to reboot quickly. Tyrese Maxey's very good. I don't know
what you can get for Tobias Harris. But if you
look at a team like Denver, they have Superstar and Yokic,
you know, above average, but not a MAX guy in
Jamal Burray. And then you've got Michael Porter Junior. But
then you've got two other role players who are perfect.
Aaron Gordon, remember he was like a lottery pick. I
(17:51):
liked him a lot coming out of Arizona. And Aaron
Gordon's like, like, what is he like? He's not a
Max guy. He's like maybe a four, right, like a
role player who knows his role. Any defense boards and
you'll score some deal. Sign me up? Can I win
a title? Right? And then KCP, who already has a
chip with the Lakers, and you slot him in. If
you can build around embiid, maybe you keep him. I
(18:15):
just don't know really how you do that, because he
thinks he's the guy to build around mentally, I just
don't know if that's a hurdle he can get by.
I'm the MVP. I'm unstoppable, I'm a superstar. I put
up thirty three again. I want a scoring title. Like, okay,
do you want to get past the second round of
the playoffs. And that's a question, Like I mean, I
would take spare parts for Tobias Harris right now. I
(18:37):
know he had a couple okay games in the series.
I think he was their leading scorer in Game seven,
but they lose by twenty five. You know, like I
like those give me role players and a superstar and
a friend, and like look at the Lakers, Rob Listen.
I saw stat where when they were too intend to
start the season, they had like a point zero three
percent chance of getting with it to the playoffs or
(18:59):
the fine playoffs. Well, Polinka wisely said, all right, we'll
take a flower on D'Angel Russell. I think he can
plug in at point guard. Slight upgrade over Pat Bev
a little bit. We got Austin Reeves who's worked out great.
Jared Vanderbilt will be our defensive guy. I don't really
know where Vanderbilt fits into this series. Well, we could
talk about that tomorrow, but like that's he was instrumental
(19:23):
in Round one. He had his moments in Round two.
Dennis Shreuter. I think they have to thank Dennis Shreod
for keeping him given his idiotic contract situation that he
totally bungled. But the role players matter. Austin Reeves sitting
a half court shot like Austin Reeves was tremendous in
Game six. And I feel like Philly they just don't
have like you know, let's just listen. I like PJ Tucker.
(19:46):
He's that Austin career. He's tough. I would you know,
I would love to play with PJ. Tucker, But at
this point, I just don't know. He's like the Jay Crowder,
you know, like that tough, burly, good, rebounding, gritty small
ball four who is older and kind of limited, Like
I don't want that. Give me a Christian Braun from Denver.
(20:08):
I like him, young guy. Wings matter in this league,
and I don't know when you look at Tobias Harris
and who are there other wings? George's Niang, He's okay,
but they just don't. Philly doesn't have wings, and they're
they're not built really for what you need in this league.
And now they're out. Rob I probably should talk nicely
(20:29):
about the Celtics for a moment. I know most people
are like, oh, you gotta crap all over the Sixers. Well,
that's easy, everybody's gonna be doing that. But a lot
of people have wanted to bail on this Boston team,
a lot of people. And I'm not just talking about
cow Hurt and I'll say this to him on the air,
but like he's been trying to And I love to
reference this movie Lindsay Lohan in with Mean Girls, awesome movie,
(20:57):
and consistently the girl who's on Party of five keeps
trying to make fetch happen and ultimately the leading, the
lead ring leader. This girl. I had such a massive
crush on her, you know, you know what I'm talking
Rachel McAdams. Rachel McAdams, Oh my gosh, amazing. I basically
(21:17):
went through a phase where I would see any movie
she was in just because I thought she was like awesome.
I don't know anything about her as a person, but
she said stop trying to make fetch happen, and it
was funny. It was like a funny moment. It became
like sort of a meme, and I think we need
to stop trying to put Jalen Brown on Jason Tatum's
level because he's not. And that's not a knock on
(21:39):
Jalen Brown, who's a very good player. Jason Tatum has
now been All NBA First Team two years in a row.
He was killing with everything his I mean everything about
his game, and I know he had his struggles in
the series, and Rob even laughed, Oh, first quarter, he
can't get a bucket. I think was it three straight
first quarter games he did not make basket? That is correct, Yeah,
(22:02):
so he went through it. I get it. But when
the lights are brightest, who shows up with fifty one
the most points ever scored in a game seven in
NBA history, eclipsing Curries fifty from like two weeks ago.
And this, by the way, not to go off on
too much of a tangent, totally bolsters my argument that
this era of the NBA, this current one right now,
(22:23):
is better than any we've ever seen. And by a
mile a mile, it's not even close. Like we think
of Jason Tatum as like a really good player, I'm
calling him on one, folks, Jason Tatum would have been
like and I know people are gonna say this is
sacrilegious just because of the history. But like, Jason Tatum
(22:44):
is a better offensive player than Larry Bird. And that's
not like some major hot take. Larry Bird was amazing,
top ten player all time. Larry Bird's intangibles made him great.
Larry Bird's work, ethic, determination, trash talk, rebounding, passing, like
he was an amazing overall player. Tatum's not there yet, obviously,
But in terms of offensive skill set, I mean, Jason
(23:04):
Tatum's got to be up there with some of the
all time greats, like and he's ascending. Still, he is
literally unstoppable as an offensive player. And I know he
went through it. Listen, everybody has tough games. It happens,
but like, we need to appreciate Tatum for what he is.
And folks, Rob Mike, am I getting too gushy here.
It's fifty seven to fifty five in the third quarter
(23:28):
and Tatum goes. He hits a two on a layup,
a three, a three, two free throws. I think Jalen
Brown scores, and then Tatum hits another three, and all
of a sudden, a two point game is like fifteen,
and it's game over and Tatum basically vanquished Harden Embiid
Tobias hairs all of them, Tyrese Maxey, get the hell
out of here. Good don't you're not on my level?
(23:48):
Go go away. And I took Heath last week for
saying I take Tatum over and beat, and I stand
by one hundred percent, rob Am, I going two overboard
on Tatum. I you know I like him. I do
not personally know him. I did have his trainer on
the pod. I've followed Tatum's career very closely. I just
like everything about the guy. Man.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
I love me a future Laker, Jason Tatum. I think
he's great and look putting him in the same conversation
in with Larry Bird, even though I understand exactly what
you mean, and I think you're probably right in terms
of an offensive player, just because guys get bigger, stronger, faster,
more skilled as gears go on. I'm with you. I
just think that because of his career being so early
(24:30):
and Larry Bird being arguably like a top seven player
of all time, that might ruffle some feathers a little bit,
but looks sure. But with Jason Tatum, it's not just
that he performs well, right, It's not just that he's
a great a talent. His bag is deep.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
You know.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
It's that his best games in his career have come
at the biggest moments, and not a lot of guys
can say that, like Lebron can say it. You know,
maybe KD can say it. And that's about it. Like
(25:10):
Jason Tatum's Game six last year against the Bucks on
the road against elimination, drops forty six right Game six
this year, he plays terribly for three quarters and then
he becomes the second coming of Michael Jordan there in
the fourth this one Game seven against it, and he
(25:32):
hasn't really been great in the series, you know, I mean,
like outside of the fourth quarter of Game six, like
he's been kind of roller coaster. That's kind of been
who he's been in this series. The counting stats look good,
but if you watched the games, he hasn't really looked
like an All NBA First team player, which is why
I said Jalen Brown has been more consistent than him
in these posts in this postseason. But Game seven to
(25:53):
drop a fifty burger at when the game was close
at halftime, Like it's not like they came out and
he just blew him out of the water from the
beginning and he just you know, patted his stas there
at the end. No, they needed all of those points.
They He was awesome, And there's something to be said
when the talent is already there, but the ability to
(26:19):
rise to the moment matches that talent, Like that's special
and he is a special, special player. I can't wait
for him to sign with the Lakers in like three years.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
So we have a rematch the Bubble Finals, which were
so widely mocked. Oh the Bubble, what does it matter?
Come on, anybody could make it to the Bubble finals.
Boston and Miami same as the Bubble, Denver Lakers, same
as the Bubble. Boston, Miami starts Wednesday. We'll get into that.
Denver Lakers starts Tuesday. We'll get into that as we
(26:49):
get closer. However, there was some big, huge seismic NBA
news Sunday morning. Now, after the soccer tournament and the
NERF gun battle at Sofi, I did not have time, unfortunately,
to wake up and really check my phone to see
what was going on. It was like, you know, right
to church Mother's Day and we went to brunch. I
was like totally out of it. So I was late
(27:11):
on this. But I kept getting all these text jamrant
my smh Ja Morant shrug. People are like, I was like, oh,
wonder what happened to Moran. You go online and you
see that he is hanging out in a car with
one of his homies and they're listening to a song.
And I'll get to the song in a second, because
I heard it on the radio driving my son Sunday
(27:33):
and I was like, wait a minute, this is the
Ja Morant song. So I had to uh, I shazamed
it well. I had my son do it for me
while I was driving. I was like, this song is fire,
and I of course turn it up with my kids
in the car with me, and he's like trying to
turn it down because you know, he doesn't want people
to see like anybody knows who he is. Anyways, the
song is ain't gonna answer n Eli Choppa. I don't
(27:54):
know what that is. And Lil Wayne, I think I
told you guys about my Lil Wayne sent me up
message on ig about something I had said on Cowherd
and he was like, he was like, that's funny or something.
I was like, is this really little? You know? I
had to check you triple check and it was Little
Wayne apparently watching some coward after he watches Undisputed. At
any rate, this song is pretty fire. Ain't gonna answer,
(28:16):
but what John Morant did. They're rolling around and his
buddy decides, I'm gonna go live on Instagram because i
wanna be cool. I need to get my followers up.
I'm rolling with Jahn Morant. It's lit as a kids say.
And you know, I guess John Morant, for whatever reason,
is in the passenger seat of a It looked like
(28:36):
it was a jeep or something with like a sun roof.
I don't know, crop not crop top, but pop top.
But I don't know if it was I don't think
it was a convertible rob Do you know what vehicle
it was?
Speaker 2 (28:47):
I do not know.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Okay, anyways, John Morant's got a gun in his hand,
just waving it around while rapping to Ain't gonna answer,
And I'm like, the season's been over for two weeks
for Memphis. John was suspended two months ago, remember his
big apology tour. I mean, he's a mess. John Moran
(29:10):
is a total disaster right now. I mean the Memphis
suspended him instantly. But from what there's no offseason program
from Memphis, Like what, they're just putting this out there
like it matters. I mean, I think ultimately the question is,
like what does John Morant want to be? Does he
want to be like an NBA player and have a
great career, and you know, I know he doesn't want
(29:31):
to be a role model. Nobody signs up for this.
Charles Barkley famously I'm not a role model back in
the day, which was classic, and I kind of agreed
with him. John Moran didn't sign up to be a
role model. But thing is, people love him, kids love him.
He flies through the air, he dunks, he's acrobatic, he
is unrepentant with his trash talk. A lot of kids
like him and he didn't ask for that, but they
(29:55):
do anyway. And does he on some level need to
show the kids that, like, yeah, I should be waving
a gun around while I'm driving or while my buddy's
driving and I'm listening to music. And does he want
to be a gang banger? I don't know the answer.
I'm not even saying his friends in a gang, but
he's trying to give off that like I'm in nineties
(30:16):
in a rap group and I'm rocking guns like. That's
the vibe he's trying to get off. And if he
wants to do that, that's fine. Hey man, jeopardize your
career whatever you want to do, Bro. I will say this.
I saw multiple versions of this quote. I'm sure you've
heard it. Rob, show me your five closest friends and
(30:36):
I'll show you who you are. And the other version
of it is show me your friends and I'll show
you your future. Either one of those applies here. Okay.
I'm not saying he's got to be a choir boy.
I'm not saying he's got to be like Devin Booker
and date Kendall Jenner or you know, like he's got
to be like Lebron and hang out with Maverick Carter
(30:59):
and started to kill. I'm not saying he has to
do any path. He's gonna do his own path. I
get that. But who he's hanging out with is clearly
getting him in some trouble and if somebody doesn't step
up and stop him, this could end very badly for
John Moran. We've seen some of these ugly cases before.
I think there was some chatter that Steven Adams had
(31:19):
like called a team meeting during the season and was like, hey, guys,
we need to dial it back. Let's chill, let's not
be going out. Let's you know, we've got something special here.
And like that night, John Moran went out and was like,
you know, living it up. And I get that. It's
twenty three, You're twenty three years old. You got all
the money in the world. You know, you could do
whatever you want. But I'm just saying, Rob, like, I
(31:40):
don't feel good about where Jah Moran is right now.
It's pretty clear that that apology tour he went on
was just just smoking mirrors, doing it for the media
to keep the sponsorships. Let's see what happens to all
those millions that he's supposed to be getting in endorsements.
Let's see what happens with those in the coming days
and weeks.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Yeah, it's really clear it doesn't get it. Like, and
you don't even have to look at this specific incident
to know that he doesn't get it right. When he
first came back from suspension, his dad was wearing a
sweatshirt with Jamaran's picture on it that said Redemption. It's like, Bro,
redemption for like, you're the one who did this, this
(32:20):
is not a league issue. This is not Oh, he's
like the victim of circumstance. Like, no, your son is
acting like an asshole and all of the things that
have come his way have been self inflicted wounds. And
so you had people like, you know, Shannon Shark was
one of the most vocal guys, like, hey, you're not
about that life, why are you trying to glorify it?
(32:42):
And someone other people were saying, well, it's up to
the ogs and sports and sports media to like look
after him, and it's like, no, it's up to your dad,
who's right there on the sidelines with a drink in
his hand, to put the drink down, take that sweatshirt off,
and say you are screwing this up for yourself. And
(33:02):
Jahn Morant is so in love with the the Gram
and he can't put down, you know, his cell phone,
and he's just continuing to show you that he is immature,
that he is not cut out to be the face
of an NBA franchise, the face of the NBA, the
(33:24):
face of Nike, pick whatever multi billion dollar brand you want.
He doesn't get it. And you know when he went
to that therapy, right he went to some you know, uh,
check in therapist, whatever it was, rehab facility.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
You know, he was there.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
He was there for two days. What kind like I
know people who have been in rehab. I know people
who have gone to you know, therapy sessions. You do
not solve the kind of issues that he has in
two days. Jahn Morant unfortunately looks like he is going
to crash and burn and flame out of the NBA
(34:04):
sooner rather than later.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
And I'll be real, Rob, He's only twenty three. And
I remember I was very dumb and did a lot
of stupid things at twenty three. I obviously didn't have
millions of my pocket. I basically had pennies in my pocket.
And I was trying to be cool and have fun
and date girls and enjoy life right outside New York
City and in New York City, and like, yeah, I
(34:28):
had some very very forgettable, idiotic moments that helped me grow. Luckily,
there was no spotlight. I mean, nobody cared in terms
of the media or team or anything to be like, dude,
clean up your act. But to act. I just want
to remind folks out there, like, yeah, John Marian's really talented.
He's just we're talking about a two time All start here.
That's it. He's a two time All Star. He's not MVP,
(34:51):
he hasn't been to the conference finals. He's not first
team ball NBA. He did make second last year. He's
a really good play. But we're talking about a two
time All Star. The league choose these guys up and
spits the bout. If he doesn't get his act cleaned
up soon, he's just gonna be He's gonna be a
cautionary tail, honestly, And I feel bad for the guy
because he's getting some pretty friggin bad advice. I don't
(35:12):
even know if we should do it quickly. But this
this Monty William situation in Phoenix. So he gets fired
on Sunday, I guess not a total surprise. I started
to read up on The Sun's owner, matt is Ishbia, Rob,
have you read a lot about him only recently? Yeah?
Interesting guy? So this company that he's got this hold up,
(35:33):
I have it in my notes. I had to sit
in a car for two hours await for my kid,
and I did a lot of reading on Ishbia. Okay,
so I got some name fun names in the Sun's search. Rob,
I'll bounce them off in a sec. So essentially, Ishbia's
dad started a mortgage business, lending, and you know, twenty
years in Ishbia grows up and he gets the CEO gate.
(35:57):
So I'm not saying he was born on third base,
but his dad started a company and made a lot
of money and he becomes a CEO. Now he did
coming out of college. Remember he was on the Michigan
State basketball team. Is like, you know, end of the
bench guy, but in the program, a gritty guard, you know, tough,
slap the floor kind of guy in high school who
(36:18):
was I'm sure a really really good player at any rate.
Coming out of college, he was so highly thought of,
like smart kid, knows basketball, fiery passionate. He had offers
to be an assistant coach in college. You're like, oh,
come on, you can make this, and he's like, dude,
come on, I got a CEO gig of my dad's
company coming around the corner. So he gets this, and
(36:39):
now when the company went public, I guess a couple
of years ago, he becomes a billionaire, him and his brother.
His first order of business once he buys his sons
is to just go get Kevin Duran and According to
some reports, Rob he didn't like cozy up to the
GM and be like, hey, what are you think? Okay Jones, Hey,
(37:01):
let's go get Kevin Durant. It sounds like it wasn't
anything like that. It was like, I'm gonna go get
Kevin Durant and the GM was not involved in it
at all. Now listen, I applaud that that's cool. Hey
you wanna go in make a splash, But then what
happens when you guys flame out? And now the coach.
You know, Monty Williams didn't have a great series, but
(37:21):
he's well liked around the league, highly thought of. People
like him, respect him. I don't know you think the
GM fired Monty Williams. I think it was the owner.
Take a guess. The billionaire born on third base is
gonna get what he wants, which is the title, and
Manti Williams, they could be the guy. So now you
got I'm doing this as the owner. I'm doing that,
(37:42):
and he's gonna be ticked off. The next question down
the pike, Rob, is what is he trading DeAndre Aighten for?
Because I said, I'm sure some of you guys saw
this clip. I saw it on the Graham and I
posted it on my account, but there is a video
behind the Sun's bench at game four, DeAndre Ayton is
sitting on the bench like just like frustrated, I don't know,
(38:03):
and Devin Booker's like not talking trash to him, but
being like, dude, you got like this is what Joker does.
You gotta be ready and like showing him in. Deandretan
clearly just doesn't want to be told what to do.
And ultimately I don't know if Deandretan rolls his eyes
or whatever, but Booker starts to get upset. Chris Paul
comes in and like pulls him away, and you're like, yee.
Aidan's like not even listening, doesn't want to hear it
(38:25):
from Booker, and Chris Paul is the voice of reason,
which is very strang. Chris Paul's usually one yelling and
that was in game four. Again they won. Two games later.
Deandretan is a no show, did not play with the
rib injury. Devin Booker has ducked the media. We know
that's a cowardly act. Ducked the media after game six
(38:48):
is like, oh, I gotta do my exit interview. He
has not talked to the media since they gagged at home,
losing again in a close out game by thirty. Coaches fired,
and I don't know that the GM's gonna get canned,
but I'll say this, and you know, the answer to
is Rob who was sitting next to Matt Ishbia during
(39:09):
that Yokich incident where he flopped? You know who was
sitting next.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
To I believe that's none other than New York Knicks
legend Isaiah Thomas.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
Well say Detroit Piston's legend, but yes, Isaiah Thomas, who
memoribly very very bad in the New York front office.
So I started reading a little more and Rob, I
was unaware. But Isaiah Thomas was not just at home
games with Ishbia. He was at road games with Ishbia.
He was at every playoff game with the owner. They're
(39:40):
fast friends apparently. So let me see if I can
connect this Isaiah Thomas, who's probably craving to get back
in the league. You could see him on NBA TV
like two nights a week. That's like what he does,
and then he gets in some media squabbles. That's what
he's doing. He's not a fossil. You know, you think
(40:00):
Isaiah Thomas wants to get back in the league. You
think the GM's feeling good about his chances right there? Now,
I got some other names for you if you don't
like Isaiah Thomas maybe coming into the front off. Maybe
it'll be a consultant role. And then you know those
shove out James Jones when he can't get something done,
Isaiah Thomas won won. I'm gonna toss a couple other
(40:20):
names that you ready for this. I'm not gonna say
tom Izzo. I don't think tom Izzo's He's not. I
don't think he's going to the NBA now, right, would
you agree? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (40:29):
No? Not.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
Budenholzer pushed out in Milwaukee any interest? If you saw
by the way Budenholzer lives, has like a place in Arizona,
and I guess is around there a lot Budenholzer to
the Suns. Does that do anything for you?
Speaker 2 (40:51):
Not? Really?
Speaker 1 (40:52):
Yeah, I'm not a huge bootonholder guy. Uh. Nick Nurse
still unemployed. I believe the Raptors guy. He's highly thought of,
thanks Kawhi Leonard. Other than that, I don't know. Does
Nick Nurse do anything for you?
Speaker 2 (41:05):
A little bit?
Speaker 1 (41:06):
Okay? So this would be the interesting one. Tyleru highly
thought of with the Clippers who are dealing with the
uh Kawhi Leonard. What's his health status again, Paul George?
You know we've we've seen his playoff Flaymounts. Sun's owner
with billions of dollars. Remember born on third base, He's
(41:27):
got all the money in the world. You think he
makes a hail Mary and says, gimme Isaiah Thomas as
my GM and Tylu as my head coach. Let's rock
and roll. Now if I'm ty Lou, I coached Lebron
and Kyrie Irving. Now I get Kawhi and Paul George,
and I could get Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. It's
not it's not a bad living. Huh not bad? Right?
Speaker 2 (41:49):
Rock d Well, you know what's funny is everything that
you've said it. You know, people they ave tinfoil cap on.
They forget this is the NBA. Well you people forget that.
When Ishbie was first brought in as the owner, Chris
Haynes from TNT, who hardly ever gets things wrong, oh
reported that Isaiah Thomas was going to accept the prominent
(42:13):
role in their front office, and he quickly had to
back off of that. I don't think Chris Haynes got
it wrong. And to me, in my opinion, I think
that when that news got floated out, the blowback on
social media was so fierce because of Isaiah Thomas's history
(42:33):
and the Robert Sarverus situation, and there's like the timing
of it would would have been horrible.
Speaker 1 (42:38):
Yeah, here it is February seventh.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
You're right, So I think that that was put on
the back burner. So as far as him coming into Phoenix,
I absolutely one that happening in this offseason. The Tylu
situation trip out on this one. I saw this one
right before we started recording. Multiple outlets had reported that
Russell Westbrook was scene with Rich Cleiman in Los Angeles
(43:03):
over the weekend. Rich Cleman, of course, is the manager
slash agent for Kevin Durant. So is it possible that
Tylu comes aboard with some kind of compensation attached. They
trade Chris Paul and his massive contract for two or
three role players that fit better when a cheaper contract,
(43:25):
and then you bring in Russell Westbrook as like a
mid level exception to be your starting point guard and
your third star on that team.
Speaker 1 (43:33):
Hmm.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
I think I think that the tea leaves are starting
to reveal themselves a little bit in this situation.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
It's interesting because I think I'm not one hundred percent sure,
but I think I asked which former KD teammate is
more likely to join forces with him in Phoenix, Kyrie
Irving or Russell Westbrook, and I don't. I can't. I
sure as hell hope that the Mads don't bring DeAndre
Ayton to help Luka Doncic because that is that's that's
(44:03):
not good. Backfire badly. If Devin Booker and Chris Paul
can't deal with Aden, what do you think Luka Doncic
is gonna do? So I'm ruling out Kyrie. I think
Russell Westbrook, who is a free agent, right yep, yes,
deals up like Kevin Durant or appreciates how hard he plays.
They're watching DeAndre Ayden not play hard. That video clip
(44:25):
that we talked about, I think it was game one,
maybe game two, where Ayton just like kind of got
during a rebound, was like kind of shoved out of
bounds a little bit, and he just watched the play unfold.
It's like ball's batting around he's just watching it. He's
not trying to go get it. It's like, geez, he done,
does he want? Well? Russell Westbrook, I'll tell you right now,
would have gone after it. He is like a dog
(44:45):
on at least he's going after everything.
Speaker 2 (44:46):
And they just saw at firsthand in that series Russell Westbrook,
without two stars was going balls to the wall. And
even whether it was inefficiently, I understand that, but he
was the Clipper's best player in that series.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
Man. Yeah, people people probably think like Isaiah Thomas and
ty lew as a package. And now you're talking Russell
Westbrook NBA. I think we're headed to a to a
wild off season, are robb g? All Right? So tomorrow
obviously will be a big day. We will preview Lakers
Nugs game one. Let me see if I can call
(45:19):
up the line real quick. I haven't actually looked. I'm
assuming Denver is a favorite. I don't think. I don't
want to guess who wrong here, but I would assume
they're like in the minus one eighty range in this series.
Have you looked, Robert.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
Now, I believe last night looked they were minus one fifty.
Speaker 1 (45:35):
Oh that's not that significant, huh. Let's see here. Game one,
the Nugs are oh minus five and a half. Wow,
Lakers have won the last two game ones in the postseason.
I don't think Denver will Uh well, it's the Warriors
(45:57):
are coming off a Game seven, so that was kind
of understand it. Yeah, I don't. I don't see Denver
getting caught sleeping here, do you? Uh?
Speaker 2 (46:08):
With the five and a half? I love the five
and a half.
Speaker 1 (46:10):
You would take it for the Lakers?
Speaker 2 (46:11):
Yeah, I mean we'll dive deeper into this tomorrow. But yeah,
if the Lakers are gonna win this series, I think
they almost have to win game one because of all
the rest they're gonna have every The game is now
every other day moving forward after that, so there's not
a lot of rest. No, So if they're going to
steal home court, which is what they're gonna need to
to win this series, I think they have to win
(46:32):
game one.
Speaker 1 (46:33):
Oh yeah, here's the schedule. Okay, so they played Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Monday, Wednesday. Oh,
you had no extra days baked in there. Okay, not
looking good for Lakers. But does your gut tell you
Lakers win the series?
Speaker 2 (46:46):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (46:48):
I think for my bank account, I have two Lakers
futures tickets, which is crazy. I have posted them, I've
mentioned them on the pod. So this is not like
me coming out of the woodwork. This is from like
February and for content. Obviously, Lakers over the Nuggets, but
I don't think the Lakers can beat these guys. But
then again, I thought the Warriors would happen too. All Right,
(47:09):
much more to dive into. Talk to you tomorrow.
The volume. This is straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. What
is up Straight Fire, fam, It's me Jason McIntyre. Straight
(00:22):
Fire for Monday May fifteenth, Ladies and gentlemen, this was
one of the most exhausting weekends I've had in a
long long time. We've got some clarity in the NBA
playoffs the Golden State Warriors. Can we say the Dynasty's over?
Rob g called it. I had faith in the Warriors.
(00:43):
I think a lot of it was me just thinking
that Golden State has never been beat in Kerr under
the Kurr era by a team in the West, and
it's official. It's done. Lakers route them Friday night. That
started the weekend, and Saturday was just chaos. Son had
a volleyball tournament, daughter had a soccer game, and I
had my dad's soccer tournament. If you follow me on
the gram, obviously you tracked everything. It was a glorious
(01:07):
day for soccer. I actually played better than I thought
I could, because I'm getting up there in age now,
you know, you start to lose it. We advanced to
the finals and we lose to a team that had
you know, there's only two ringers in the tournament, and
this team had a ringer who was just an awesome player.
Like I mean, he's like ten years younger than anybody
pretty much anybody on our team, maybe seven to eight,
(01:27):
ten years younger than anybody, and he's just dynamic. Scored
a goal like five minutes in and we're playing from behind.
They went three defenders. It's seven on seven and we
just couldn't break through. It was tough. So we lost
to the semifinals last year. Finals this year. I mean,
we're we didn't lose until the finals, and soccer is
a lot of fun. And then to Cap Saturday. As
(01:50):
if you I wasn't tired enough, there's this nerf gun battle.
I think I talked about it last year. Some YouTube
guy hosts a nerf gun battle at Sofi Stadium on
the sofa turf. So you sign up, you get tickets,
you bring a nerf gun, and you wear like goggles
or like I gear I protective eye gear, and you
just have a nerf gun battle with like, you know,
two thousand other people. And it was incredible. Now, I
(02:12):
was a little hurting with the legs and the body
from the soccer tournament, but it was awesome and I
will say this. I mean, I doubt this guy listens.
But you know, my daughter's Girl Scout Troop went and
my son had some friends and I was with some dads.
You know, we're just having fun whatever, and of course
the Girl Scout Troop gets in a battle with some
guys and one of them is like some kind of
maybe sixteen year old punk. But he had an awesome gun,
(02:34):
and I told my son, we're buying it. And so
the girls are going after him and they're like, we
need help. So of course the dads and my son
and his buddies we all gang up on this kid,
and he's starting to get ticked off, and I mean
he's like like really angry, chasing us, and like, I
don't know, I thought there was gonna be an altercation.
One of the other dads was like, dude, I thought
he was gonna swing on me. It's just some some punk.
(02:55):
But listen, NERF gun battles are fun. If you want
to feel like a kid again, go to a NERF
gun battle. A lot of fun. Now I need to ask.
I'll get the name of the gun, but it isn't
a NERF gun. It's one of those guns that shoots
the NERF those little yellow balls hyper or rapid, whatever
it's called. But this thing is powerful and it stings.
No no cap as my sudden likes to say, Nerf
(03:16):
got battled. Then Sunday, of course, a awesome Mother's Day,
and we had a game seven in the NBA that
I guess it was interesting for a half, maybe for
twenty five minutes, you know, before the Celtics went on
our thirty three to five run put away Joel Embiid
and the Sixers once again, Joel Embiid comes up short
of a conference finals. Doc Rivers third year in a row. Now,
(03:40):
depending on when you listen to this podcast, some of
you will listen to it. We're starting to put them
up at night after games because we've noticed there is
a bump in listeners people looking for takes. Because if
you noticed, if the game isn't on TNT, that the
TNT show's not on with Barclay and those guys, and
if it's not on ESPN, there's nothing on ESPN. So
people want re action, and obviously we provide it to
(04:01):
the games almost instantly, so he put him up. We're
seeing a bump in listenership. Now if you're listening to
this later on a Monday morning, say, I don't know,
closer to noon. Maybe you missed it on the morning
walk with the dog and you're listening to it late.
Doc Rivers might be fired already, because holy kill, all
that guy does is choking the playoffs. He has now.
(04:24):
Remember he blew three three one leads obviously, so that
means he's blown three three two leads. He blew another
one against the Celtics, and I don't know that I
can totally blame Doc, but this is what it what's
it called them's the shakes or that's how it shakes out,
or them's the breaks. Whatever they're saying is Doc Rivers
once again comes up short, and folks, Embiid was pretty
(04:48):
terrible five for eighteen in Game seven, missed all his
three pointers. And I put this on social media. I
don't want to hear, well, he's got the knee injury,
remember four to six weeks, because I didn't hear that
when he went for thirty three straight games and they
took a three to two lead, because I gassed him
up on her said, in't Beid's looking good. Celtics are
in trouble. I didn't bail on Boston. I was very clear, Hey,
(05:08):
nobody knows how to choke away a big lead like
Doc Rivers. Embiid was bad. And it's funny because when
Embiid played poorly in this series, well he's got the
knee injury. When he scores thirty plus, hey, Joel Embiid,
there's your MVP. We can't play these games. And what
I don't like about the Sixers year is there's always
an excuse. And if you remember Doc rivers first year
(05:31):
with Ben Simmons, oh, it's Ben Simmons looking in passing
away a layup against the Hawks. Ben Simmons is the
reason they lost, not Joel Embid. Embiid had eight turnovers
in Game seven against the Hawks, but you know it
was at home. But let's blame Let's blame Simmons. So
last year they lose to the Miami Heat in the playoffs,
and this year they lose to the Celtics. And this
(05:52):
year the blame game is going squarely on Jim Harden.
Now we don't call him James anymore. Rob g gets
credit with that one in just what is astonishing stat folks,
Harden in the wins. I'll just read off his stat
line in the three victories, forty five points in game one,
forty two points in Game four, and oh by the way,
(06:14):
he won both of those games with late three pointers.
And in game five, when they won in Boston, hardened
seventeen ten and eight. He attempted ten, got to the
line ten times, tied his high for the series, and
as it was efficient as hell. Those are the wins.
Now the losses. Jim Harden showed up three of eleven,
(06:35):
four of sixteen, three of fourteen, two of fourteen folks.
In the four losses, Harden twenty one percent from the field.
Game seven, Okay, this is money time, this is winning time.
Jim Harden five turnovers, three made baskets in the final
two games. The final two losses, Harden was one of
(06:56):
eleven on three pointers, one of eleven. Remember all those
two games he won. Harden goes seven of fourteen from
three and six of nine from three. How does that happen?
I know you want to say maker, miss league, but
I just find it absolutely befuddling that someone can be
so searingly hot seven of fourteen from deep. Next game,
(07:17):
Game two loss, they get smoked. Oh of six from deep,
they win game four, six of nine, they lose the
final two when he's one of eleven from downtown. So
the media obviously wants to blame Harden. Folks, I know
that everybody wants to talk about the end of the
dynasty of the Warriors. How about the end of the Sixers,
because a lot of the talk is Harden wants to
go back to Houston. I don't see a path to
(07:40):
success for these seventy six Ers, not with Boston standing
in the way, not with Yannis standing in the way,
not with the Miami heat culture still present in the East.
And oh, by the way, my Knicks, who did lose
in Game seven on Friday despite the an amazing effort
from Jalen Brunson. Gosh, what a fricking hero that guy is.
Jalen Brunton was amazing. I know he had a turnover,
(08:00):
but you had to do everything, carry them on his
back in Game seven in Miami and nearly pulled it off.
Brunton was incredible. But like the Knicks are coming. If
they can make a move and get crawling Antony towns,
they will definitely leap prog the Sixers. Cleveland is gonna
be better in year two with this Donovan Mitchell lineup.
I don't know, man, if I'm uh, if I'm the Sixers,
(08:24):
if I'm a Sixers fan, I'm really worried. You were
really gassed up after the Game five win, you go
up three to two, you think it finally we're breaking
through the conference finals, and then you poop your pants
in game six and seven, and Philly's going home, and
now Doc Rivers probably gonna get the acts, and now
James Harden probably leaving. I mean, listen, at some point,
(08:47):
Joel Embiid's got to look around and say, time for
me to get out of there, time for me to
get off the Titanic. This thing's going down, And I
wonder if that's sooner than later, because if you're the
six this is a tough question. Rob G and I
before the pod, we looked at the number ones in
this league. Can you be the number one, the alpha
(09:08):
on a championship team? And we counted seven. And now
some people will push back and say, well, they haven't
won a championship, like Luca hasn't won a championship, but
he clearly is a number one on a team that
got to the conference finals. Surrounded by an Lucas A one.
Steph Curry obviously a one that there should not be
(09:28):
any doubt. He's your best player. You've built around him.
You can get to the finals and win it. Jannis
a one. Lebron clearly a one. Gets a healthy Anthony Davis.
Look where are going? And I know some people will
dispute that AD is better than Lebron, but we've seen
a d As a one. You build around him in
New Orleans and his second round is a ceiling. AD
is a two. Oh, he's amazing. I think Jokic now
(09:51):
going to his second conference finals, he's a one. You
build around him. I mean, Jamo Murray, Michael Porter Junior.
I think I saw a crazy stat. I don't remember
exactly who put this out. It might have been one
of this guy named Goldsbury, Kirk Goldsbury, who used to
be at a ESPN. I'm not even sure where he
works now, but he put out a list of players
(10:12):
and the amount of help they've had, essentially, and Jokic
is like the only one without an all NBA player
around him, without an all defensive player, he's basically had
the least amount of help. Now, listen, Michael Porter Junior
is a good role player. Jamal Murray I like a lot,
but they're really like doing it around Yokic. And this
is two conference finals. So Yokich a one, Giannis will
(10:33):
one Lebron Curry. I think I'm sure some people would disagree.
Jason Tatum is clearly a number one. He's been to
multiple conference finals. He's on the cuspole, going to his
second NBA Finals. He's now set a record for most
points in Game seven, fifty one. I can't I'm embarrassed
that it took me ten minutes to get into the
podcast and start saying awesome things about Jason Tatum, a
(10:54):
guy who I am a massive fan of. Jayson Tatum
is a one you build around him. Hey, you know
what if it doesn't work out, well, he move Jaylen Brown. Fine,
that's plug and play around Jason Tatum. He has a
bag that is incredible. I mean, you saw him unstoppable.
Anybody on the Sixers stepped up to him in Game
seven and he was just torching him. Has he crossover
step back side step three, finishing with the left mid
(11:17):
range baseline like he has? I mean, the skill set
is unbelievable. Jason Tatum's a one and the seventh guy,
and it's just tough. I believe it's Jimmy Butler. I mean,
Jimmy Butler with the Miami Heat have gone to the
finals in the Bubble and now they're in the Eastern
Conference finals again. They were in the Easter Conference finals
last year. Like Jimmy Butler is a winner. The best
(11:39):
seventy six ers team they had with Embiid with the
one led by Jimmy Butler. Now, I know he's not
superstar in the regular season. That's fine. Jimmy Butler shows
up when the lights are the brightest. I think you
can build around him. Wisely, he's a one. Now, I
know he hasn't won a title, and I get it.
Tatum has at won ur title. Neither is Luca, neither
is Joker. But for my money, there's only seven ones
(12:02):
in the league. Now, I know people are gonna go
ape shit. Well wait, wha wha Kawhi Leonard? What's Kawhi
Leonard done? Can you count him? Is he reliable? He's
always hurt talent wise, if you make him your two,
you are really in great shape, just like ab Kevin Durant.
Why isn't he a one? Well, I don't know. We
drop him into Phoenix. The odds make Phoenix the favorites
(12:24):
to come out of the West, and I don't know, Robi,
I didn't see it unless we want to give a
pass for the eight and then Chris Paul injuries. But
was Durant like a difference maker? I mean, hell, I
thought d book was better than him in that series,
and I'm sure I'll get pushed back on that, but
I don't think Booker is a better player than Durant.
But given Durant's age, he's gonna be thirty five in September,
(12:46):
and you know, he gets the ball and he's a
scoring machine, but he's not like a Curry creating. He's
not snagging every rebound or making every defensive play like
Jimmy Butler. He's just not doing that. And again, it's
not a knock on him. I think Durant's an idea.
I think Damian Lillard's a two. D Book I think
right now is a two. He's very very good now.
He was the one when they went to the finals.
(13:08):
They only got there because you know, remember the upgraded
with Chris Paul. Things broke their way, ad goes down
Donovan Mitchell's two. There's nothing wrong with being a two
at all, but like Superstar number one, build around guys,
I don't think Joel Embiid makes that list. Now, Rob,
I'm sure you're gonna disagree, And a lot of the
Peanut gallery that will say, Jay, you've lost your mind.
(13:29):
Joel embie just won the MVP Award. How is he
not a number one? And I'll say, folks, we've had
multiple years in Philly now. We tried them with Ben Simmons,
we tried them with James Harden. He got Tobias Harris emerging,
Tyrese Maxey and James Harden is the guy giving them
(13:49):
two wins essentially, and Beid played good in three. I'm
sure we can make an injury excuse. We could even
blame Doc Rivers if we want. But for my money,
I think Joel Embiid is an awesome too, in the
same realm of Anthony Davis and Bead will play great defense.
He could give you points and boards, but you need
a wing player to create and lead that team. I
don't think Joel Embid's won, And Rob, I'm sure you're
(14:12):
gonna disagree.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
With me. Now, I am one thousand percent gonna agree
with you. This is the first, probably in months, where
you and I are in lockstep on something. Look Joel
Embiid on pure talent, absolutely, he's one level talent like
Anthony Davis. There's just something missing with him. And with
Joel Embiid, his playoff record is piss poor relative to
(14:37):
what his talent level is. You cannot have the kind
of teammates that you've had. Say what you want about
Ben Simmons, but he was an all NBA performer when
he was in Philadelphia. Jimmy Butler was there. You had
James Harden, Tyrese maxey Tobia's Harris Like the list goes
on and on of quality All Star to all NBA
level players all across his rosters, going back to two
(15:00):
when he's seventeen, twenty eighteen, lost in round two, lost
in round two, lost in round one, lost in round two,
lost in round two, lost in round two. Like, at
some point, it can't always be everybody else, right. We
saw this stat before we started recording. Joel Embiid averaged
thirty three point one points per game in the regular season,
which was great in the postseason, that fell to twenty
(15:21):
three point seven points per game. The drop off negative
nine point four points, the largest by an MVP in
NBA history. And it's not just this season. I looked
it up. He's played in fifty three NBA playoff games.
Eighteen times he shot under forty percent from the field
as a center, as a big man who lives around
(15:43):
the basket, shooting sub forty percent one out of every
three times he's in the playoffs, he is going to
give you a dud of a performance. And that is
precisely why he cannot be considered a one. And it's
it's exactly why I think you alluded to it a
few minutes ago. Things are going to get worse in
Philadelphia before they ever get better. Doc Rivers is gonna
(16:05):
be gone. That's probably an upgrade, to be honest with you,
James Harden, it looks like he wants to go to
my to Houston. Assuming he doesn't. Let's say he doesn't
and you're able to trade him unless you're able to
get another high level, number two level player like a
Damian Loward, which is not gonna happen because James Harden,
no matter what kind of picks you attached is not
gonna get you. Damian Lillard embid is as the cap
(16:30):
is there, he's a sec, he's a one and done.
He might win one round and then he's out like
there's no going up from there. So you're gonna see,
maybe even as soon as this time next year, Joel
Embiid is gonna realize that this is not gonna I'm
not gonna win a championship here in Philadelphia. He's gonna
demand the trade, and then the process is gonna start
all over again.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah, we we did see remember Drew Holliday with a
D New Orleans like they were a good tandem. They
won round and ultimately it was like, well, Drew Holliday
is really good. He's not a two every night. You
can make him a three. Oh, let's do that in Milwaukee, right,
And then Ad like, well, let's we tried him as
a one. Let's make him a one, b a two,
(17:10):
whatever you want. Alongside Lebron Boom title. And now they're
they're close to going to another finals. I do wonder, Rob,
can we find a move that will make Maury happy?
I know this is not gonna be positive, but trading
the MVP very unlikely this offseason. But if Harden Bales,
I don't know what you do. I guess you try
(17:30):
to reboot quickly. Tyrese Maxey's very good. I don't know
what you can get for Tobias Harris. But if you
look at a team like Denver, they have Superstar and Yokic,
you know, above average, but not a MAX guy in
Jamal Burray. And then you've got Michael Porter Junior. But
then you've got two other role players who are perfect.
Aaron Gordon, remember he was like a lottery pick. I
(17:51):
liked him a lot coming out of Arizona. And Aaron
Gordon's like, like, what is he like? He's not a
Max guy. He's like maybe a four, right, like a
role player who knows his role. Any defense boards and
you'll score some deal. Sign me up? Can I win
a title? Right? And then KCP, who already has a
chip with the Lakers, and you slot him in. If
you can build around embiid, maybe you keep him. I
(18:15):
just don't know really how you do that, because he
thinks he's the guy to build around mentally, I just
don't know if that's a hurdle he can get by.
I'm the MVP. I'm unstoppable, I'm a superstar. I put
up thirty three again. I want a scoring title. Like, okay,
do you want to get past the second round of
the playoffs. And that's a question, Like I mean, I
would take spare parts for Tobias Harris right now. I
(18:37):
know he had a couple okay games in the series.
I think he was their leading scorer in Game seven,
but they lose by twenty five. You know, like I
like those give me role players and a superstar and
a friend, and like look at the Lakers, Rob Listen.
I saw stat where when they were too intend to
start the season, they had like a point zero three
percent chance of getting with it to the playoffs or
(18:59):
the fine playoffs. Well, Polinka wisely said, all right, we'll
take a flower on D'Angel Russell. I think he can
plug in at point guard. Slight upgrade over Pat Bev
a little bit. We got Austin Reeves who's worked out great.
Jared Vanderbilt will be our defensive guy. I don't really
know where Vanderbilt fits into this series. Well, we could
talk about that tomorrow, but like that's he was instrumental
(19:23):
in Round one. He had his moments in Round two.
Dennis Shreuter. I think they have to thank Dennis Shreod
for keeping him given his idiotic contract situation that he
totally bungled. But the role players matter. Austin Reeves sitting
a half court shot like Austin Reeves was tremendous in
Game six. And I feel like Philly they just don't
have like you know, let's just listen. I like PJ Tucker.
(19:46):
He's that Austin career. He's tough. I would you know,
I would love to play with PJ. Tucker, But at
this point, I just don't know. He's like the Jay Crowder,
you know, like that tough, burly, good, rebounding, gritty small
ball four who is older and kind of limited, Like
I don't want that. Give me a Christian Braun from Denver.
(20:08):
I like him, young guy. Wings matter in this league,
and I don't know when you look at Tobias Harris
and who are there other wings? George's Niang, He's okay,
but they just don't. Philly doesn't have wings, and they're
they're not built really for what you need in this league.
And now they're out. Rob I probably should talk nicely
(20:29):
about the Celtics for a moment. I know most people
are like, oh, you gotta crap all over the Sixers. Well,
that's easy, everybody's gonna be doing that. But a lot
of people have wanted to bail on this Boston team,
a lot of people. And I'm not just talking about
cow Hurt and I'll say this to him on the air,
but like he's been trying to And I love to
reference this movie Lindsay Lohan in with Mean Girls, awesome movie,
(20:57):
and consistently the girl who's on Party of five keeps
trying to make fetch happen and ultimately the leading, the
lead ring leader. This girl. I had such a massive
crush on her, you know, you know what I'm talking
Rachel McAdams. Rachel McAdams, Oh my gosh, amazing. I basically
(21:17):
went through a phase where I would see any movie
she was in just because I thought she was like awesome.
I don't know anything about her as a person, but
she said stop trying to make fetch happen, and it
was funny. It was like a funny moment. It became
like sort of a meme, and I think we need
to stop trying to put Jalen Brown on Jason Tatum's
level because he's not. And that's not a knock on
(21:39):
Jalen Brown, who's a very good player. Jason Tatum has
now been All NBA First Team two years in a row.
He was killing with everything his I mean everything about
his game, and I know he had his struggles in
the series, and Rob even laughed, Oh, first quarter, he
can't get a bucket. I think was it three straight
first quarter games he did not make basket? That is correct, Yeah,
(22:02):
so he went through it. I get it. But when
the lights are brightest, who shows up with fifty one
the most points ever scored in a game seven in
NBA history, eclipsing Curries fifty from like two weeks ago.
And this, by the way, not to go off on
too much of a tangent, totally bolsters my argument that
this era of the NBA, this current one right now,
(22:23):
is better than any we've ever seen. And by a
mile a mile, it's not even close. Like we think
of Jason Tatum as like a really good player, I'm
calling him on one, folks, Jason Tatum would have been
like and I know people are gonna say this is
sacrilegious just because of the history. But like, Jason Tatum
(22:44):
is a better offensive player than Larry Bird. And that's
not like some major hot take. Larry Bird was amazing,
top ten player all time. Larry Bird's intangibles made him great.
Larry Bird's work, ethic, determination, trash talk, rebounding, passing, like
he was an amazing overall player. Tatum's not there yet, obviously,
But in terms of offensive skill set, I mean, Jason
(23:04):
Tatum's got to be up there with some of the
all time greats, like and he's ascending. Still, he is
literally unstoppable as an offensive player. And I know he
went through it. Listen, everybody has tough games. It happens,
but like, we need to appreciate Tatum for what he is.
And folks, Rob Mike, am I getting too gushy here.
It's fifty seven to fifty five in the third quarter
(23:28):
and Tatum goes. He hits a two on a layup,
a three, a three, two free throws. I think Jalen
Brown scores, and then Tatum hits another three, and all
of a sudden, a two point game is like fifteen,
and it's game over and Tatum basically vanquished Harden Embiid
Tobias hairs all of them, Tyrese Maxey, get the hell
out of here. Good don't you're not on my level?
(23:48):
Go go away. And I took Heath last week for
saying I take Tatum over and beat, and I stand
by one hundred percent, rob Am, I going two overboard
on Tatum. I you know I like him. I do
not personally know him. I did have his trainer on
the pod. I've followed Tatum's career very closely. I just
like everything about the guy. Man.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
I love me a future Laker, Jason Tatum. I think
he's great and look putting him in the same conversation
in with Larry Bird, even though I understand exactly what
you mean, and I think you're probably right in terms
of an offensive player, just because guys get bigger, stronger, faster,
more skilled as gears go on. I'm with you. I
just think that because of his career being so early
(24:30):
and Larry Bird being arguably like a top seven player
of all time, that might ruffle some feathers a little bit,
but looks sure. But with Jason Tatum, it's not just
that he performs well, right, It's not just that he's
a great a talent. His bag is deep.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
You know.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
It's that his best games in his career have come
at the biggest moments, and not a lot of guys
can say that, like Lebron can say it. You know,
maybe KD can say it. And that's about it. Like
(25:10):
Jason Tatum's Game six last year against the Bucks on
the road against elimination, drops forty six right Game six
this year, he plays terribly for three quarters and then
he becomes the second coming of Michael Jordan there in
the fourth this one Game seven against it, and he
(25:32):
hasn't really been great in the series, you know, I mean,
like outside of the fourth quarter of Game six, like
he's been kind of roller coaster. That's kind of been
who he's been in this series. The counting stats look good,
but if you watched the games, he hasn't really looked
like an All NBA First team player, which is why
I said Jalen Brown has been more consistent than him
in these posts in this postseason. But Game seven to
(25:53):
drop a fifty burger at when the game was close
at halftime, Like it's not like they came out and
he just blew him out of the water from the
beginning and he just you know, patted his stas there
at the end. No, they needed all of those points.
They He was awesome, And there's something to be said
when the talent is already there, but the ability to
(26:19):
rise to the moment matches that talent, Like that's special
and he is a special, special player. I can't wait
for him to sign with the Lakers in like three years.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
So we have a rematch the Bubble Finals, which were
so widely mocked. Oh the Bubble, what does it matter?
Come on, anybody could make it to the Bubble finals.
Boston and Miami same as the Bubble, Denver Lakers, same
as the Bubble. Boston, Miami starts Wednesday. We'll get into that.
Denver Lakers starts Tuesday. We'll get into that as we
(26:49):
get closer. However, there was some big, huge seismic NBA
news Sunday morning. Now, after the soccer tournament and the
NERF gun battle at Sofi, I did not have time, unfortunately,
to wake up and really check my phone to see
what was going on. It was like, you know, right
to church Mother's Day and we went to brunch. I
was like totally out of it. So I was late
(27:11):
on this. But I kept getting all these text jamrant
my smh Ja Morant shrug. People are like, I was like, oh,
wonder what happened to Moran. You go online and you
see that he is hanging out in a car with
one of his homies and they're listening to a song.
And I'll get to the song in a second, because
I heard it on the radio driving my son Sunday
(27:33):
and I was like, wait a minute, this is the
Ja Morant song. So I had to uh, I shazamed
it well. I had my son do it for me
while I was driving. I was like, this song is fire,
and I of course turn it up with my kids
in the car with me, and he's like trying to
turn it down because you know, he doesn't want people
to see like anybody knows who he is. Anyways, the
song is ain't gonna answer n Eli Choppa. I don't
(27:54):
know what that is. And Lil Wayne, I think I
told you guys about my Lil Wayne sent me up
message on ig about something I had said on Cowherd
and he was like, he was like, that's funny or something.
I was like, is this really little? You know? I
had to check you triple check and it was Little
Wayne apparently watching some coward after he watches Undisputed. At
any rate, this song is pretty fire. Ain't gonna answer,
(28:16):
but what John Morant did. They're rolling around and his
buddy decides, I'm gonna go live on Instagram because i
wanna be cool. I need to get my followers up.
I'm rolling with Jahn Morant. It's lit as a kids say.
And you know, I guess John Morant, for whatever reason,
is in the passenger seat of a It looked like
(28:36):
it was a jeep or something with like a sun roof.
I don't know, crop not crop top, but pop top.
But I don't know if it was I don't think
it was a convertible rob Do you know what vehicle
it was?
Speaker 2 (28:47):
I do not know.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Okay, anyways, John Morant's got a gun in his hand,
just waving it around while rapping to Ain't gonna answer,
And I'm like, the season's been over for two weeks
for Memphis. John was suspended two months ago, remember his
big apology tour. I mean, he's a mess. John Moran
(29:10):
is a total disaster right now. I mean the Memphis
suspended him instantly. But from what there's no offseason program
from Memphis, Like what, they're just putting this out there
like it matters. I mean, I think ultimately the question is,
like what does John Morant want to be? Does he
want to be like an NBA player and have a
great career, and you know, I know he doesn't want
(29:31):
to be a role model. Nobody signs up for this.
Charles Barkley famously I'm not a role model back in
the day, which was classic, and I kind of agreed
with him. John Moran didn't sign up to be a
role model. But thing is, people love him, kids love him.
He flies through the air, he dunks, he's acrobatic, he
is unrepentant with his trash talk. A lot of kids
like him and he didn't ask for that, but they
(29:55):
do anyway. And does he on some level need to
show the kids that, like, yeah, I should be waving
a gun around while I'm driving or while my buddy's
driving and I'm listening to music. And does he want
to be a gang banger? I don't know the answer.
I'm not even saying his friends in a gang, but
he's trying to give off that like I'm in nineties
(30:16):
in a rap group and I'm rocking guns like. That's
the vibe he's trying to get off. And if he
wants to do that, that's fine. Hey man, jeopardize your
career whatever you want to do, Bro. I will say this.
I saw multiple versions of this quote. I'm sure you've
heard it. Rob, show me your five closest friends and
(30:36):
I'll show you who you are. And the other version
of it is show me your friends and I'll show
you your future. Either one of those applies here. Okay.
I'm not saying he's got to be a choir boy.
I'm not saying he's got to be like Devin Booker
and date Kendall Jenner or you know, like he's got
to be like Lebron and hang out with Maverick Carter
(30:59):
and started to kill. I'm not saying he has to
do any path. He's gonna do his own path. I
get that. But who he's hanging out with is clearly
getting him in some trouble and if somebody doesn't step
up and stop him, this could end very badly for
John Moran. We've seen some of these ugly cases before.
I think there was some chatter that Steven Adams had
(31:19):
like called a team meeting during the season and was like, hey, guys,
we need to dial it back. Let's chill, let's not
be going out. Let's you know, we've got something special here.
And like that night, John Moran went out and was like,
you know, living it up. And I get that. It's
twenty three, You're twenty three years old. You got all
the money in the world. You know, you could do
whatever you want. But I'm just saying, Rob, like, I
(31:40):
don't feel good about where Jah Moran is right now.
It's pretty clear that that apology tour he went on
was just just smoking mirrors, doing it for the media
to keep the sponsorships. Let's see what happens to all
those millions that he's supposed to be getting in endorsements.
Let's see what happens with those in the coming days
and weeks.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
Yeah, it's really clear it doesn't get it. Like, and
you don't even have to look at this specific incident
to know that he doesn't get it right. When he
first came back from suspension, his dad was wearing a
sweatshirt with Jamaran's picture on it that said Redemption. It's like, Bro,
redemption for like, you're the one who did this, this
(32:20):
is not a league issue. This is not Oh, he's
like the victim of circumstance. Like, no, your son is
acting like an asshole and all of the things that
have come his way have been self inflicted wounds. And
so you had people like, you know, Shannon Shark was
one of the most vocal guys, like, hey, you're not
about that life, why are you trying to glorify it?
(32:42):
And someone other people were saying, well, it's up to
the ogs and sports and sports media to like look
after him, and it's like, no, it's up to your dad,
who's right there on the sidelines with a drink in
his hand, to put the drink down, take that sweatshirt off,
and say you are screwing this up for yourself. And
(33:02):
Jahn Morant is so in love with the the Gram
and he can't put down, you know, his cell phone,
and he's just continuing to show you that he is immature,
that he is not cut out to be the face
of an NBA franchise, the face of the NBA, the
(33:24):
face of Nike, pick whatever multi billion dollar brand you want.
He doesn't get it. And you know when he went
to that therapy, right he went to some you know, uh,
check in therapist, whatever it was, rehab facility.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
You know, he was there.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
He was there for two days. What kind like I
know people who have been in rehab. I know people
who have gone to you know, therapy sessions. You do
not solve the kind of issues that he has in
two days. Jahn Morant unfortunately looks like he is going
to crash and burn and flame out of the NBA
(34:04):
sooner rather than later.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
And I'll be real, Rob, He's only twenty three. And
I remember I was very dumb and did a lot
of stupid things at twenty three. I obviously didn't have
millions of my pocket. I basically had pennies in my pocket.
And I was trying to be cool and have fun
and date girls and enjoy life right outside New York
City and in New York City, and like, yeah, I
(34:28):
had some very very forgettable, idiotic moments that helped me grow. Luckily,
there was no spotlight. I mean, nobody cared in terms
of the media or team or anything to be like, dude,
clean up your act. But to act. I just want
to remind folks out there, like, yeah, John Marian's really talented.
He's just we're talking about a two time All start here.
That's it. He's a two time All Star. He's not MVP,
(34:51):
he hasn't been to the conference finals. He's not first
team ball NBA. He did make second last year. He's
a really good play. But we're talking about a two
time All Star. The league choose these guys up and
spits the bout. If he doesn't get his act cleaned
up soon, he's just gonna be He's gonna be a
cautionary tail, honestly, And I feel bad for the guy
because he's getting some pretty friggin bad advice. I don't
(35:12):
even know if we should do it quickly. But this
this Monty William situation in Phoenix. So he gets fired
on Sunday, I guess not a total surprise. I started
to read up on The Sun's owner, matt is Ishbia, Rob,
have you read a lot about him only recently? Yeah?
Interesting guy? So this company that he's got this hold up,
(35:33):
I have it in my notes. I had to sit
in a car for two hours await for my kid,
and I did a lot of reading on Ishbia. Okay,
so I got some name fun names in the Sun's search. Rob,
I'll bounce them off in a sec. So essentially, Ishbia's
dad started a mortgage business, lending, and you know, twenty
years in Ishbia grows up and he gets the CEO gate.
(35:57):
So I'm not saying he was born on third base,
but his dad started a company and made a lot
of money and he becomes a CEO. Now he did
coming out of college. Remember he was on the Michigan
State basketball team. Is like, you know, end of the
bench guy, but in the program, a gritty guard, you know, tough,
slap the floor kind of guy in high school who
(36:18):
was I'm sure a really really good player at any rate.
Coming out of college, he was so highly thought of,
like smart kid, knows basketball, fiery passionate. He had offers
to be an assistant coach in college. You're like, oh,
come on, you can make this, and he's like, dude,
come on, I got a CEO gig of my dad's
company coming around the corner. So he gets this, and
(36:39):
now when the company went public, I guess a couple
of years ago, he becomes a billionaire, him and his brother.
His first order of business once he buys his sons
is to just go get Kevin Duran and According to
some reports, Rob he didn't like cozy up to the
GM and be like, hey, what are you think? Okay Jones, Hey,
(37:01):
let's go get Kevin Durant. It sounds like it wasn't
anything like that. It was like, I'm gonna go get
Kevin Durant and the GM was not involved in it
at all. Now listen, I applaud that that's cool. Hey
you wanna go in make a splash, But then what
happens when you guys flame out? And now the coach.
You know, Monty Williams didn't have a great series, but
(37:21):
he's well liked around the league, highly thought of. People
like him, respect him. I don't know you think the
GM fired Monty Williams. I think it was the owner.
Take a guess. The billionaire born on third base is
gonna get what he wants, which is the title, and
Manti Williams, they could be the guy. So now you
got I'm doing this as the owner. I'm doing that,
(37:42):
and he's gonna be ticked off. The next question down
the pike, Rob, is what is he trading DeAndre Aighten for?
Because I said, I'm sure some of you guys saw
this clip. I saw it on the Graham and I
posted it on my account, but there is a video
behind the Sun's bench at game four, DeAndre Ayton is
sitting on the bench like just like frustrated, I don't know,
(38:03):
and Devin Booker's like not talking trash to him, but
being like, dude, you got like this is what Joker does.
You gotta be ready and like showing him in. Deandretan
clearly just doesn't want to be told what to do.
And ultimately I don't know if Deandretan rolls his eyes
or whatever, but Booker starts to get upset. Chris Paul
comes in and like pulls him away, and you're like, yee.
Aidan's like not even listening, doesn't want to hear it
(38:25):
from Booker, and Chris Paul is the voice of reason,
which is very strang. Chris Paul's usually one yelling and
that was in game four. Again they won. Two games later.
Deandretan is a no show, did not play with the
rib injury. Devin Booker has ducked the media. We know
that's a cowardly act. Ducked the media after game six
(38:48):
is like, oh, I gotta do my exit interview. He
has not talked to the media since they gagged at home,
losing again in a close out game by thirty. Coaches fired,
and I don't know that the GM's gonna get canned,
but I'll say this, and you know, the answer to
is Rob who was sitting next to Matt Ishbia during
(39:09):
that Yokich incident where he flopped? You know who was
sitting next.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
To I believe that's none other than New York Knicks
legend Isaiah Thomas.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
Well say Detroit Piston's legend, but yes, Isaiah Thomas, who
memoribly very very bad in the New York front office.
So I started reading a little more and Rob, I
was unaware. But Isaiah Thomas was not just at home
games with Ishbia. He was at road games with Ishbia.
He was at every playoff game with the owner. They're
(39:40):
fast friends apparently. So let me see if I can
connect this Isaiah Thomas, who's probably craving to get back
in the league. You could see him on NBA TV
like two nights a week. That's like what he does,
and then he gets in some media squabbles. That's what
he's doing. He's not a fossil. You know, you think
(40:00):
Isaiah Thomas wants to get back in the league. You
think the GM's feeling good about his chances right there? Now,
I got some other names for you if you don't
like Isaiah Thomas maybe coming into the front off. Maybe
it'll be a consultant role. And then you know those
shove out James Jones when he can't get something done,
Isaiah Thomas won won. I'm gonna toss a couple other
(40:20):
names that you ready for this. I'm not gonna say
tom Izzo. I don't think tom Izzo's He's not. I
don't think he's going to the NBA now, right, would
you agree? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (40:29):
No? Not.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
Budenholzer pushed out in Milwaukee any interest? If you saw
by the way Budenholzer lives, has like a place in Arizona,
and I guess is around there a lot Budenholzer to
the Suns. Does that do anything for you?
Speaker 2 (40:51):
Not? Really?
Speaker 1 (40:52):
Yeah, I'm not a huge bootonholder guy. Uh. Nick Nurse
still unemployed. I believe the Raptors guy. He's highly thought of,
thanks Kawhi Leonard. Other than that, I don't know. Does
Nick Nurse do anything for you?
Speaker 2 (41:05):
A little bit?
Speaker 1 (41:06):
Okay? So this would be the interesting one. Tyleru highly
thought of with the Clippers who are dealing with the
uh Kawhi Leonard. What's his health status again, Paul George?
You know we've we've seen his playoff Flaymounts. Sun's owner
with billions of dollars. Remember born on third base, He's
(41:27):
got all the money in the world. You think he
makes a hail Mary and says, gimme Isaiah Thomas as
my GM and Tylu as my head coach. Let's rock
and roll. Now if I'm ty Lou, I coached Lebron
and Kyrie Irving. Now I get Kawhi and Paul George,
and I could get Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. It's
not it's not a bad living. Huh not bad? Right?
Speaker 2 (41:49):
Rock d Well, you know what's funny is everything that
you've said it. You know, people they ave tinfoil cap on.
They forget this is the NBA. Well you people forget that.
When Ishbie was first brought in as the owner, Chris
Haynes from TNT, who hardly ever gets things wrong, oh
reported that Isaiah Thomas was going to accept the prominent
(42:13):
role in their front office, and he quickly had to
back off of that. I don't think Chris Haynes got
it wrong. And to me, in my opinion, I think
that when that news got floated out, the blowback on
social media was so fierce because of Isaiah Thomas's history
(42:33):
and the Robert Sarverus situation, and there's like the timing
of it would would have been horrible.
Speaker 1 (42:38):
Yeah, here it is February seventh.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
You're right, So I think that that was put on
the back burner. So as far as him coming into Phoenix,
I absolutely one that happening in this offseason. The Tylu
situation trip out on this one. I saw this one
right before we started recording. Multiple outlets had reported that
Russell Westbrook was scene with Rich Cleiman in Los Angeles
(43:03):
over the weekend. Rich Cleman, of course, is the manager
slash agent for Kevin Durant. So is it possible that
Tylu comes aboard with some kind of compensation attached. They
trade Chris Paul and his massive contract for two or
three role players that fit better when a cheaper contract,
(43:25):
and then you bring in Russell Westbrook as like a
mid level exception to be your starting point guard and
your third star on that team.
Speaker 1 (43:33):
Hmm.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
I think I think that the tea leaves are starting
to reveal themselves a little bit in this situation.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
It's interesting because I think I'm not one hundred percent sure,
but I think I asked which former KD teammate is
more likely to join forces with him in Phoenix, Kyrie
Irving or Russell Westbrook, and I don't. I can't. I
sure as hell hope that the Mads don't bring DeAndre
Ayton to help Luka Doncic because that is that's that's
(44:03):
not good. Backfire badly. If Devin Booker and Chris Paul
can't deal with Aden, what do you think Luka Doncic
is gonna do? So I'm ruling out Kyrie. I think
Russell Westbrook, who is a free agent, right yep, yes,
deals up like Kevin Durant or appreciates how hard he plays.
They're watching DeAndre Ayden not play hard. That video clip
(44:25):
that we talked about, I think it was game one,
maybe game two, where Ayton just like kind of got
during a rebound, was like kind of shoved out of
bounds a little bit, and he just watched the play unfold.
It's like ball's batting around he's just watching it. He's
not trying to go get it. It's like, geez, he done,
does he want? Well? Russell Westbrook, I'll tell you right now,
would have gone after it. He is like a dog
(44:45):
on at least he's going after everything.
Speaker 2 (44:46):
And they just saw at firsthand in that series Russell Westbrook,
without two stars was going balls to the wall. And
even whether it was inefficiently, I understand that, but he
was the Clipper's best player in that series.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
Man. Yeah, people people probably think like Isaiah Thomas and
ty lew as a package. And now you're talking Russell
Westbrook NBA. I think we're headed to a to a
wild off season, are robb g? All Right? So tomorrow
obviously will be a big day. We will preview Lakers
Nugs game one. Let me see if I can call
(45:19):
up the line real quick. I haven't actually looked. I'm
assuming Denver is a favorite. I don't think. I don't
want to guess who wrong here, but I would assume
they're like in the minus one eighty range in this series.
Have you looked, Robert.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
Now, I believe last night looked they were minus one fifty.
Speaker 1 (45:35):
Oh that's not that significant, huh. Let's see here. Game one,
the Nugs are oh minus five and a half. Wow,
Lakers have won the last two game ones in the postseason.
I don't think Denver will Uh well, it's the Warriors
(45:57):
are coming off a Game seven, so that was kind
of understand it. Yeah, I don't. I don't see Denver
getting caught sleeping here, do you? Uh?
Speaker 2 (46:08):
With the five and a half? I love the five
and a half.
Speaker 1 (46:10):
You would take it for the Lakers?
Speaker 2 (46:11):
Yeah, I mean we'll dive deeper into this tomorrow. But yeah,
if the Lakers are gonna win this series, I think
they almost have to win game one because of all
the rest they're gonna have every The game is now
every other day moving forward after that, so there's not
a lot of rest. No, So if they're going to
steal home court, which is what they're gonna need to
to win this series, I think they have to win
(46:32):
game one.
Speaker 1 (46:33):
Oh yeah, here's the schedule. Okay, so they played Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Monday, Wednesday. Oh,
you had no extra days baked in there. Okay, not
looking good for Lakers. But does your gut tell you
Lakers win the series?
Speaker 2 (46:46):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (46:48):
I think for my bank account, I have two Lakers
futures tickets, which is crazy. I have posted them, I've
mentioned them on the pod. So this is not like
me coming out of the woodwork. This is from like
February and for content. Obviously, Lakers over the Nuggets, but
I don't think the Lakers can beat these guys. But
then again, I thought the Warriors would happen too. All Right,
(47:09):
much more to dive into. Talk to you tomorrow.
Host
Jason McIntyre
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