September 17, 2023 • 42 mins
The start of NBA training camps is drawing near and this jam-packed show helps get you ready with a lengthy look at the Mavericks' challenging October travel schedule (and the reasons behind it) as well as interviews with longtime NBA scribe Howard Beck about all the latest league developments and a visit with 97.1 The Freak's own Skin Wade.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
Welcome to to a Saturday Stein Linewith Mark Stein, presented by Panini Trading
Cards and Collectibles. On ninety sevenone The Freak, the official home to
all Dallas Nevericks games, hosted bylegendary NBA reporter and publisher of his substract,
the Stein Line. Here's Mark Stein. Everyone, Welcome in to the
(00:26):
latest and freshest addition of the SaturdayStein Line, presented by Pannini Trading Cards
and Collectibles. I am Mark Stein, your humble host. We're not so
humble depending on whom you ask.Anyway, I am on my last Hurrah
(00:47):
getaway before the NBA season starts.Top secret location, although I will reveal
it with some pictures in the nextTuesday newsletter Extravaganza that I publish on my
substack, mark Stein dot substack dotcom. That's one word, mrc STEI
n dot substack dot com. Ifyou haven't already subscribed, there are both
(01:12):
free and paid subscriptions available. Enoughwith the promotion, though massive show plan
for your Saturday lunch hour. Herein the DFW. Two special guests on
route Howard Beck, who has beencovering the NBA almost as long as I
(01:33):
have. Little known fact Howard wasactually my successor on the Laker beat for
the La Daily News after I movedto town to join the Dallas Morning News
very late in Shaquille O'Neal and KobeBryant's first season together with the Lakers.
Hojo Beck as we call him,joins me in segment two to talk about
a very newsy week in the NBAafter Commissioner Adam Silver held a press conference
(01:59):
Wednesday in New York City to talkabout the new player participation policy and all
kinds of topics. Will also getHoward's take on the Mavericks and their offseason
maschinations. I figured you guys wouldwant to hear his educated view, but
also an outsider's view, someone whoobserves the league very closely but doesn't live
(02:23):
in DFW. Kind of get hisview on what awaits the Mavericks this season
in the West. We will goeven heavier on MAVs talk in segment three
when Skin Wade of Benin's skin Famejoins me. Skin will be on the
receiving end some of my questions fora change. All that to come,
(02:45):
But first I want to start offtoday's show with a closer look at the
Mavericks early schedule. I actually misunderstoodthis a bit initially. I have greater
clarity on this now. Some goodnews to share with fans of the local
NBA franchise. You have almost doneit. You've almost survived the summer,
(03:05):
if not the miserable heat. Becausethe Mavericks first practice everybody September twenty seventh,
that's only ten days and change fromnow. We repeat the Mavericks twenty
twenty three, twenty fourth season.It's been more than five months since we
last saw this team play a gameApril ninth. It starts for real in
(03:28):
less than two weeks. And here'swhy. The Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
They're the only two teams in theNBA playing preseason games abroad this season,
so they get to start before everybodyelse. And in the Mavericks case,
that means practices on September twenty seven, September twenty eight, September thirty
(03:49):
one session on October first, I'mtold before they fly to Abu Dhabi for
two games against the Timberwolves, theMavericks, as I understand it, play
and to hold seven practices before theyget on that plane to go to Abu
Dhabi, and they've also got tofold media Day in there on September twenty
(04:09):
ninth. And that was my mistake. When I was told Media Day was
September twenty ninth, I thought theMavericks would start practicing on September thirty.
But no, because they have thisunique schedule due to the overseas exhibition games,
they get to have a couple ofpractices first, then we even media
Day and then leave the country.So interesting breakdown. It's important to stress
(04:33):
though, this is going to bea really long trip abroad, almost two
weeks long. I do think that'sa cause for concern and the reason that
this trip is going to be solong. I reported on this on Monday
in my sub stack. Mavericks ownerMark Cuban, you guys probably know this.
(04:55):
He's been promising Luka don Chich fora long time that the maverick would
play an exhibition game at Real Madrid, Luca's former club, the team he
joined when he was still only thirteen, three years before Luca turned pro.
Mark Cuban has been telling Luca assoon as it was feasible, yes,
the Mavericks will play a game inReal Madrid. But as I reported Monday,
(05:18):
what I've been told is the NBAhas not staged an exhibition game in
Spain since twenty sixteen, And theway it was presented to me is that
the league made it a condition forthe Mavericks to play the two games in
Abu Dhabi first before stopping in Madridon the way home. The reality is
(05:42):
that in twenty twenty three, AbuDhabi is a much larger priority for the
NBA as a preseason destination than Spain. So the Mavericks were basically told,
you want the game in Madrid,you've got to be one of our two
teams that goes to Abu Dhabi,because then has made a multi year commitment
to do two exhibition games a yearin Abu Dhabi in early October of every
(06:09):
season. The upshot of all thatis this is a pretty grueling way to
start the season, especially for ateam that had such a rough season last
time around. And look, I'msure the Mavericks will try to present this
and try to convince themselves that thereis an upside to all this early travel.
(06:32):
They will espouse the notion surely thatnearly two weeks in multiple foreign countries
maybe that provides an extra bonding opportunityfor a team that, let's face it,
has several newcomers. I am lesssure that it's going to work out
that way because one more time,basically, you're starting the season with a
(06:58):
two week road trip to a veryunfamiliar place, two unfamiliar places. Obviously,
Luca's familiar with Madrid, but therest of the team isn't. And
the reality is practice time is goingto be very, very limited once the
team leaves Dallas. That's why Ithink they're so adamant about getting in six
or seven practices before heading abroad,because it's not just a Mavericks thing.
(07:21):
The same thing will apply for Minnesota, you know. In Abu Dhabi,
this is about the two games andleague mandated activities and promotional appearances. Both
teams are gonna have a lot todo in Abu Dhabi, and then the
Mavericks have to fly more than threethousand miles from Abu Dhabi to Madrid for
(07:41):
the Luca return game. So Iguess the good news here is, after
all that the Mavericks will be backon US soil. They'll be back in
Dallas for ten to twelve days straight. To get back on us time to
get reacquainted with being home. They'llbe home for that good ten to twelve
(08:03):
day stretch before the season opener Octobertwenty fifth at San Antonio against a rookie
you might have heard of named VictorWemanyama. Now, what I'd like you
guys to do? Because I couldn'tbe in the studio on this particular Saturday,
I would love it if you tookto the steinline text line now two
(08:24):
one four seven eight seven one nineseven one or eight one seven seven,
eight seven one nine seven one.Let me say it again two one four
seven, eight seven one nine sevenone or eight one seven seven eight seven
one nine seven one. I wantto hear what you guys think of the
(08:46):
mavericks challenging start to the season.I also want to hear what went through
your mind at the Feeble World Cupat the end of the tournament when you
heard Luca don Chich say that thequad injury in his left leg that has
plagued him really since March is stillquote not okay end quote me. Personally,
(09:09):
I tend to believe Luca will befine once camp starts, Once the
Mavericks have him back here in Dallasand can reintegrate him into the program and
you know, see him again,because obviously we have. You know,
Luca has not been in Dallas sinceApril, and I'm look, I'm purely
basing that on the fact that heplayed two extra games for Slovenia. And
(09:33):
I'm purely basing that on the factthat he played two extra games for Slovenia
after his national team's quarterfinal loss toCanada. And let's face it, I
think he looked pretty Luca like inthose two games. I'd also like to
hear from you via text about ChristianWood signing a veteran minimum contract to join
(09:56):
the Los Angeles Lakers. We reallyhaven't had much chance to discuss that yet
on this show, and I can'treact to the texts live this week,
given the technical limitations that I'm presentedwith. But if we get some good
ones, and I'm confident we willget some good ones, I will be
(10:18):
checking them from my secret location,and if there are some good ones,
I'm going to I'm going to tryto work them into next Saturday show,
which will also be conducted from abroad. And I'm already working ahead on the
guests for that particular episode. Igot one more topic for the texters out
(10:43):
there, Where does USA basketball gofrom here? After a very disappointing fourth
place finish in the Feeble World Cup, lost three of their last four games.
I wrote a big piece on iton my sub stack on Tuesday,
basically lamenting how we've reached this pointwhere you actually expect World Cup disappointment because
(11:11):
USAB officials they just can't get anywhereclose to their A team stars to commit
to anything except the Olympics. TheUnited States has won seven of eight gold
medals since NBA players began participating inthe Summer Games in nineteen ninety two,
and the next two Olympics are inParis, in la cities that guys want
(11:33):
to play in. Frankly, andit's largely because you know, the best
of the best are still good enoughto overcome the significant shortcomings that the United
States faces in terms of size andmost of all, in terms of continuity.
The World Cups a different story.It was in China in twenty nineteen,
(11:56):
just took place in Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines for the twenty
twenty three edition. In twenty twentyseven, the World Cup will be in
Qatar. The usab's having a muchtougher time assembling rosters for competitions in those
places. And you guys see theresults these thrown together teams. They've not
(12:18):
been able to overcome the size andthe continuity shortcomings. All right, I've
thrown a lot at you guys intoday's monologue. Let's make this more interactive
from here where you just don't haveto hear my voice as promised, Howard
(12:39):
Beck is next skin wade of Benon'sskin to follow. So I got two
great guests to liven things up,two great guests to come here as the
Saturday Stein Line presented by Panini TradingCards and Collectibles rolls on here on ninety
seven is the Saturday Steinline. QuizMark Stein presented by Panini Trading Cards and
(13:05):
Collectibles on your official home to allDallas Mavericks Games, The Freak, The
Saturday Steinline Dribbles Fourth Friends, presentedby my dear friends at Panini Trading Cards
and Collectibles. And I am sopleased now to be joined by one of
my dearest friends in the business,another fifty something like me. But that's
(13:30):
good. He's been around, he'sseen a lot. Now he's going to
share his wisdom with you. Youhave read him in the La Daily News,
The New York Times, Bleacher Reports, Sports Illustrated GQ. I hope
I didn't forget any publications. AndI have to address him formally because he's
(13:52):
the newly elected president of the ProfessionalBasketball Writers Association, the one only Howard
back El plesident tay olcome to theSaturday Steinline. Great to be with you,
my friend. That was a phenomenaland very kind introduction. Please just
tell me you're not overlaying hail tothe chief or anything on the president part
(14:13):
of it, because I would justknow. Actually, I don't think there
is any overlaying. We are wehave not worked that into our repertoire yet,
so there's no overlaying. You'll missthe You will miss the Dirk Novitsky
rejoin in the third segment. Iknow you're a big Dirk fan, so
you will miss that. I savedthat for a third segment, so don't
have that. But well, thereare multiple reasons why I wanted to have
(14:35):
you joined the show, but amongthem, beyond the fact that you bring
all that credibility that I listed earlier, you were in the room. Earlier
this week when Adam Silver had anews conference in New York after the Board
of Governors meetings, I am farfar away in my top secret locale to
recharge for the season, so Iwas not at the press conference. Really
(14:56):
wanted to kind of get your impressionsbecause the whole player poussy it seemed to
be the dominant story, the dominanttheme of that press conference. Put us
in the room and kind of tellme what your big takeaways were from the
preseason state of the Union from thecommissioner. So there was a lot that
(15:18):
we could have covered, and alot that we did cover with Adam in
the whatever twenty five minutes or sothat we had him. But the headline
of the day was, and sortof had to be, the leagues,
for lack of a better term,crackdown on player rest. And I don't
even like calling it player rest becauseplayers don't initiate most of this. And
this is something that I think fansneed to understand, is that all the
(15:39):
load management and resting and guys beingshut down on all this, it's very
rarely initiated by the players themselves.This is mostly the teams and sports science
staffs and their medical staffs and everybodyelse who are trying to for various reasons.
Sometimes it's in the interest of theplayer and their health, and sometimes
it's in the interest of oh,I don't know, standings, lottery positioning.
(16:02):
This has been going on for awhile, Mark, as we both
know, and we've seen this this, I mean, I could call it
a trend. Some people might callit the scourge. Over the last you
know, five years, in particular, maybe the last ten years, it's
been kind of creeping in and it'sgotten away from them. And I thought
what was really striking about what Adamtold us in that press conference earlier this
(16:23):
week was that he basically said it'sgotten away from us, and he also
admitted that the science is not thatclear on this. There's been this kind
of leap of faith or this blindbelief in the idea that well, if
you rest the guy in the secondnight of a back to back, if
you you know, give guys thisregular days off, that this is going
(16:45):
to prevent injuries, this is goingto extend careers. And some people have
gone to the nth degree with that. Some teams have gone to the nth
degree. Some players of course,Kawhi Letard notably. But what Adam admitted
on behalf of the league is thatthey have studied this, they have processed
all the data, they have goneround and round, and it's inconclusive in
(17:08):
the league's now official view. Butwhat is not inconclusive is that players resting,
superstars in particular, resting all thetime and sometimes multiple players from the
same team resting on the same night, is bad for the league. It's
bad optics, it's bad business,it's bad for the fans. It's bad
for their TV partners who are spendingbillions and will be expected to spend billions
(17:32):
more in an upcoming new TV deal, which is no small part of this
equation. And so yeah, youknow this. To me, this is
kind of a course correction, andit's kind of re emphasizing the regular season
matters. They're trying to get controlof this thing again, to try to
infuse some belief in and value inthe regular season, which is the same
(17:52):
thing that they're doing with the inseason tournament. You and I both have
high degrees of skepticism as grumpy oldmen about the inseason tournament. But to
put it mildly, to put itmildly. You may be grumpier than I
am my friend on this one far, but it's but it's it's it's basically
trying to re establish the idea.Whether it's the in season tournament, whether
(18:15):
it's these new player rest rules whichyou are going to come with fines for
teams that don't follow them, it'sall about trying to reinstill a belief in
an importance in the of the regularseason, and that to send the right
message to fans that these games matterand we're not just blowing them off just
because a guy feels like he needsa few days off or his team feels
(18:37):
like he needs a few days off. And look, I do tend to
think the measures will probably work.When you talk about now there's going to
be this fine scale that could quicklyadd up to some significant penalties if there
are resting violations, plus the measurewhere players have to play sixty five games
now to be considered for season endingawards. As you mentioned, I am
(19:00):
for dubious about the ability of thein season tournament to create regular season interests,
but yeah, you know, I'malso with you that I would have
liked to have seen, you know, more to me, there should have
been discussion at this press conference aboutEric Lewis, the referee, his sudden
exit from the game. You know, James Harden recently find one hundred thousand
(19:22):
dollars by the league and that fineis being challenged and supposedly going to an
arbitrator, and there was just somuch focus on the rest talk. Just
a reminder everyone, we're being joinedby the very wise Howard Beck, one
of the smartest writers covering the NBAfor more than two decades, and we
will get to his thoughts about theMavericks in their off season and their outlook
(19:44):
for the coming season. But let'sjust just to follow up one with one
more thing here. I mean,so you say you're less grumpy than me
about the in season tournament, reallygotten your I really haven't taken your temperature
on it. Give me your giveme your take on what you think of
the in season tournament in general.Yeah, I mean, listen, philosophically
and broadly speaking, I do thinkthe NBA is the idea is right or
(20:07):
the intent is correct, whether whetherit's the new rest rules, whether it's
the in season tournament, whether it'sthe sixty five game requirement, for postseason
awards. The intent is correct,I think on all accounts, in that
they're trying to make the regular seasonmatter again. Okay, right principle,
right philosophy, right solutions. Ithink that's where it's fair to question.
(20:32):
And on the in season tournament.Yeah, look, I fall on your
side on this, although I havetold some on my friends at the league
office. All right, listen,I will, I will, I will
check myself a little bit. I'mgonna be trying to exercise a little bit
of humility here and say, let'swait and see. But I'm but my
wait and see is from a standpointof skepticism, not optimism. I just
(20:55):
don't see how this NBA Cup,these special games a couple of nights a
week, and you know, breakinginto into into these pools and then whatever,
and then they're going to finally havea championship in Vegas, a championship
of what a champion like? Whatis really at stake here? Well,
for the players, there's a bunchof money. Okay, fine, I
(21:15):
guess if I'm going to be anoptimist about it, I would say that
if the players really amp up forthis stuff and really treat it seriously,
like there are real stakes and theyput in whether it's the the the effort,
or the emotional intensity. Right,we take our cues as as media
and fans from the players. Ifthey feel it's important and show that,
(21:37):
then I think the NBA will getwhat it wants out of it. But
if the fans are watching, going, hold on a second, this is
just another Tuesday night in November,but you're just calling it something else.
Even if everybody goes along with anunderstands and grasps the format, the question
still becomes why is this important?What is the value of winning the NBA
Cup? And the answer from theleague office when when I've I've you know,
(22:00):
debated my friends there about this islisten, what is the value of
any of these things? Right?It's you. You establish it over time
and eventually it just kind of becomesembedded in the psyche of the league,
of the players or the fans.And sure on day one it doesn't feel
like anything, but give it time. You know, everything is just arbitrary
that we have a championship at theend of a full season. Why can't
(22:22):
we have, you know, achampionship of of a three month stretch or
this or that. I get that. It sounds like a little too cute
to me when when they make thosearguments. But like I say, I'm
willing to be at least slightly openminded and see how the teams themselves respond
to this or approach it, andthen see how fans whether they take their
(22:44):
cues from them. It's a weirdthing. It's a weird thing to decide
that a subset of games in Novemberand December I think are going to somehow
matter more and result in somebody raisinga up a championship of something. I
don't know what that means. Nothingexcept the Larry O. Brian Trophy's ever
going to mean anything in this league. Longtime NBA scribe Howard Beck joining us
(23:11):
here on the Saturday Stein Line onninety seven one The Freak presented by Panini
America. Man, I actually didthe math in my head real quick.
You've been covering this league for morethan twenty five years now. We're both
we're both washed. I mean,look, you know where I stand on
this. My issue with it isit's not a tournament. That's the problems.
(23:32):
It's only a tournament in the semifinals, when four teams go to Vegas,
and they play two semifinal games andthen an extra final. The final
will be the eighty third game forthe two teams that make it. That's
my problem with this thing is thatthese all the pool play games. All
you know, they're just regular seasongame that count twice. But our poor
(23:53):
listeners have heard me ran about thisenough. I wanted it. I wanted
to get your perspectives because I didfigure it would be a little bit different.
And like you said, there's noharm in trying it. Let them
try it. They're always trying tofind ways, searching, grasping for anything
they can do to try to makethe regular season more meaningful. So let's
see what happens. Maybe maybe I'llbe proven wrong, Maybe everyone is gonna
(24:15):
love this thing. I just Iwanted a tournament. The word tournament was
presented, I wanted a tournament.But let's let's move on to the subject
that means the most to our listeners. The Dallas Mavericks. Two seasons ago,
Cinderella trip to the conference finals.Last season, absolute nightmare. They
fell all the way out of theplayoff Mix thirty eight and forty four.
(24:37):
A lot of changes in the offseason, so in beautiful Brooklyn where you are
ensconced, what is the what isthe what is the faraway view of what
the Mavericks did this offseason and whatthey're capable now a full season with a
Luca don Chich Kyrie Irving backcourt.So to evaluate this offseason, to me
(25:00):
can't get past the fact that reallyit's still just evaluating the deal they made
in February for Kyrie Irving, rightAnd I and of course you mentioned I'm
based in Brooklyn, so obviously Igot to see up close the full Kyrie
Irving experience in Brooklyn, which didnot go so well. Of course for
the Nets, we don't need torevisit all of that anything else they did
(25:21):
this summer. And I like alot of what they did, right,
Like, I'm a big Grant Williamsfan. Grant Williams is a really nice
player and a nice addition, andI think a position of need and a
seal set of need personality and leadership. I think of need like everything that
he brings to the table, Ithink is are things that that the Mavericks
needed, and so I like goodaddition. I even like the Rishaun Holmes
(25:45):
pick up. I don't know howmuch time he's gonna get, how much
running he's gonna get. But itwas a it was a solid enough off
season. Uh you know, doesDante Exum have a second life in him
in the NBA? All that's fine. All that's fine. It's still about
whether or not Luca and Kyrie makesense together, whether they will find the
right chemistry together, and how farthey can take this team. And with
(26:10):
any team that's got two established stars, you're always wondering, Okay, how
do the complimentary pieces fit around them? I think the complimentary pieces in this
case are fine, but I'm notblown away. And I always do this
exercise in the off season, andespecially as we get close to training camps
opening, and the question about anygiven team is like, oh, so,
(26:30):
where are they going to do thisseason that's better than last season?
And so you start looking at allthe teams ahead of them, and I
just don't like the Mavericks took me. There's almost no case to make for
them mark in my mind of thembeing a top four team in the West.
The West has gotten brutaled again,Like it's not where it was maybe
years ago, where it's just absolutelystacked. They're all super teams or whatever,
(26:52):
but it's super solid. And youknow, the Nuggets I think are
absolutely still the Uber one team inthe West. But you've got a super
team now in Phoenix. You've gota refortified Warriors team that's added Chris Paul.
You've got a refortified Lakers team thatfixed themselves at mid season and had
one of the better off seasons inthe NBA. Like where the Clippers.
(27:15):
I know, asterisk astersk asterisk ifhealthy, if healthy, if healthy,
but the Clippers have a really strongsupporting cast around Kawhi Leon and Nepaul.
George may still get James Harden.Where is the path for the Mavericks to
be a top four team? Andfor that matter, I'm not even sure
they're a top seven team. Idon't mean to be overly dower about them,
(27:36):
but one, I'm not sold onKyrie I Eving and Luca. Two,
I just think there are too manyreally good teams ahead of them,
and I can't make the case.As great as Luca is, I can't
make the case that Luca and Kyrieare better than Yo Kitchen, Jamal Murray
or the Sun's new Big three orthe Warriors. I just or the Lakers.
(27:57):
I don't see. I don't seehow they're leap frogging all of these
teams. I see them as alikely playing team and playing in this league
last season, notwithstanding with the Lakersadvancing in the Heat, advancing and go
into the finals. Generally speaking,if you're a seven or eight seed,
(28:18):
your fodder, you your first roundfodder. That's the case most of the
history of this league, and that'sI think where the Mavericks probably are,
unless some of those teams really falteror have injury issues. I warned you
in advance that this was going togo lightning fast, and it did went
way too fast. We should probablydo I really, what I really need
(28:41):
to do is change this to atwo hour show. But I don't know
that they're going to let me getaway with that. I don't know that
I quite have the license to pullthat off yet. So unfortunately, we're
gonna have to leave it there,and we'll be continuing the discussion in the
next segment when skin Wade joins us. But my profuse, thanks to my
good friend, long time chronicler ofthe NBA, Howard Beck, I knew
(29:03):
you would bring serious perspective and youproved it by calling me Mark three times,
which is the first time you've donethat and I don't know how long.
Thank you a zillion, my friendfor joining us, my pleasure.
Steen. There he goes Howard Beck. Next up, as promised, skin
Wade, it's the Satin Trading Cardsand Collectibles, your official home to Dallas
(29:26):
Mavericks Games. See the Freak.This is Dirt and Whisky and you're listening
to the Saturday Stein Line with myguys Steiny on ninety seven one to Freak,
thanks for sticking with us here onninety seven one the Freak. Thank
you to mister Novitsky for that kindset up for the final segment of this
(29:48):
Saturday Stein Line, who said hecan't be an assist man joining us now.
For this final segment on the latestedition of the Saturday Stein Line,
presented by p in the America,we will continue the MAVs discussion that we
just got gone, we just gotit. We just sneaked a little bit
of MAVs talk there in the endwith Howard Beck in the previous segment.
(30:11):
Let let us go to the manwho has not worked the MAVs sideline or
he has not taken his appointed spoton Press Rowe. It was part of
the Game proadcast since April ninth.If my math is right, Poor Skin
Wade, co host, of course, of the famed Ben and Skin Show.
Mister Wade, how have you cope? It's been more than five months
(30:34):
since you've attended an NBA game towork in your many capacity studio postgame.
During the game, you're all overthe place. How have you coped?
Well? I haven't said it.I've been able to I've been able to
do any of that for more thanfive months. It's just a lot more
difficult to have to deal with Benfive times a week, to be honest
(30:55):
with you, I mean, he'sthe one that just makes the sedam hard
Stein. I am so excited thatwe are creeping in on real, actual
basketball that is NBA ball. Imean, obviously the feet of stuff was
fantastic. I'm sure we'll get intoall of that, but you know,
I'm very excited, and I'm lookingforward to the season with great anticipation because
(31:18):
there are so many unanswered questions.But I think things feel like they're moving
in a positive direction. So Iwant to see some Dallas Mavericks basketball.
So I truly can't wait. Yeah, I mean all the fans that I
kind of talked to and engage withon my sub stack or wherever I run
into anyone, though, I mean, everybody just is so impatient to get
(31:40):
this thing going. It really hasbeen a long, long, long offseason,
even for those who do not haveto deal with Ben Rogers on a
daily basis. I mean, whatdo you you know? In our last
segment with Howard Beck, he kindof laid out that, yes, the
MAVs had a nice summer and madesome promising tweaks to the roster and a
lot of changes if we just countthem up on our hands, But how
(32:05):
much higher can they go? Onthe Western Conference ladder? The West is
a mess. So normally you're innormally you're in the position where you're you're
asking me, But today I'm inthe position of being able to ask you,
what do you What do you thinkis the ceiling for this MAVs team
the season ahead? Well, Ithink the ceiling is quite honestly, when
you look at the rest of theWest, I don't think, being objective,
(32:30):
they're a top four team, ButI also don't think that it's out
of the question that they could bea top four team, And it really
comes down to two things. Imean, I don't even want to say
health, because that's the case inany sport, right, But if Luca,
if slim down Luca, if youknow Luca that's focused on being the
(32:52):
best NBA player and leading a teamthat he can be, and he's done
significant work this summer to kind ofrise to the moment and answer potential criticisms
of him, if that is allas effective as we hope it can be,
and he is MVP like we getto mid season, it's like he's
the sure shot MVP. If thathappens as well as if Kyrie is available
(33:19):
to play in a lot of gamesand plays like the veteran that can take
pressure off of Luca, then Idon't think that there's a better offensive duo
in the NBA. You know,It's like, I mean, Okay,
Lebron and Anthony Dever. You canstart throwing names out there, but they're
right there in the conversation. ButKyrie. The reason Kyrie is a Maverick
(33:40):
is because he hasn't been available fora number of reasons to some of these
other teams, and so you know, I think it's fair to be cynical
and go, well, Okay,that's not going to happen. But if
this is the place he wants tobe and he feels connected to this community,
and I think obviously Nico Harrison,the GM who you know, sort
(34:00):
of put his neck on the lineto go get Kyrie, if he feels
connected to that and feels involved withthe team and those things you know of
a super engaged Kyrie. He's oneof the ten best offensive players in the
world. You know, his questionhas always been availability and these other things
that seem to float around in hisorbit. And if those things aren't there,
(34:22):
there's no reason to believe that teamsare going to really struggle to deal
with Luca don Chiz and Kyrie Irving. They still have a couple of obvious
holes. But Stein, you know, you and I did the draft together
going into the offseason. The Mavericksoffseason went way better than I actually thought
(34:43):
it was going to go. AndI want to take that into consideration.
And I'm not sitting here saying Iexpect these rookies to make all the difference,
but I expect them to contribute inways that they need. And I
cannot, from the standpoint of Mavericksoptimism, underscore what a eight edition Grant
Williams is to this team, becauseI've been in three different scenarios with him
(35:05):
now at team functions where I gotto spend significant time with him, and
I really believe that he can fillthe void that was created when Jalen Brunson
left. He's a very very uniquetwenty four year old. I keep kind
of like, looking back over,I'm going, you're not twenty four,
do you'd? I have friends thatare forty that aren't as mature as you,
(35:28):
and so I think that all thosethings matter. But back to the
original part of this conversation, theWest is really really tough, and so
if they are going to crack thattop four and not be in the six
or seven spot, it's going tobe that Kyrie played in seventy to seventy
five games and balled out, andLuca is that MVP guy, and then
(35:49):
I think everybody else will fall intoline with this thing. The one and
only skin Wade joining us here onthe Saturday Steinline presented by Fannini Trading Cards
and Collectibles only on ninety seven one. The Freak of Course, Skin,
the better half of the Ben andSkin show, which you hear every day
here on the Freak. But weconvinced him to add a quick Saturday shift
(36:13):
to help us get ready for thefast approaching MAVs season. And look there
will you know, Luca himself saidat the World Cup that the quad injury
that has plagued him since March isstill quote not okay the extent of that
injury. Obviously, the MAVs youknow, were you know, is it
(36:34):
is he fine? Is this somethingthat that lingers into the season. I
mean, the MAVs obviously they wantto get their own eyes on Luca don
Chich and that's going to happen herein less than two weeks the MAVs,
as I've talked about many times,because Dallas and Minnesota are playing the two
exhibition games in Abu Dhabi in earlyOctober, those two teams get to start
earlier than any other two on theNBA September twenty seven, first practice for
(37:00):
the Mavericks and the Wolves, whichis a good four or five days before
the other twenty eight, so lessthan two weeks before we get some answers
on just how Luca escaped the WorldCup. But you tell me, I'm
sure you watched every Slovenia game.What did you see? I think it
(37:22):
was fantastic obviously, Uh, youknow, ending the game against Canada by
getting you know, that second frustrationtechnical foul is not good. As you
sit there and go all right,what are the things Luca has to do?
Well? He has to make surehe's not getting in trouble with the
officials. Well, hell, thatdidn't work out well in the but in
the FEEDBA Cup. But look thatwas that game was decided when or pretty
(37:44):
close to decided when he got hisfrustration tech. But part of that experience
does There are three main things thatare I'm curious about, kind of like
I'm looking at it with a littlebit of a jaundiced diye. Is Luca
get beaten up in that World Cupand that feeble in those feeble games?
(38:05):
Did he get beaten up? Andis that going to carry over into the
season. The other thing I'm worriedabout you just mentioned. I don't think
it's ideal for a team that needsto come together to be fiddle farting around
in October over and Abu Dhabi andthen going to Real Madrid and all that.
That seems like a lot of extratravel and extra stuff. And I
(38:27):
don't think it's ideal to start theseason because, as we talked earlier,
the Western Conference is so tough.I don't think you can get off to
a slow start. And I thinkif this team gets off to a slow
start, then all the chatter startsgoing, and then Luca starts looking around
going am I happy here? Ithink those two things are things. I
go, h, what is thatall about? Should I be worried about
this? And then the third thing, and you know this Stein, you
(38:50):
and I have talked about this.The Mavericks didn't address their center situation.
With all due respect to r SeanHolmes, I think he can be a
part of a center situation that's positive, But where's the lead dog and they
don't have that. And so thoseare the three things that going into the
season I'm a little concerned about.You know, you're sounding more jittery and
worried, worried, you know,worry ridden. You're you're turning into Ben
(39:15):
Rogers on me in your old age. Well, what I think it is?
What I think it is is,I think I'm trying to look at
it with a very realistic eye,because you know, it is so tough
in the West, and I reallydon't think they can afford to get off
to a bad start, because man, the last two months of last season
were brutal. I mean those werebrutal. Dude, you you were there,
(39:37):
you saw it. You look you'reat I'm just giving you a hard
time. You're absolutely right. AndI spent the whole first segment talking about
the schedule because it is it isgoing to be very, very difficult now
when it comes to the center situation. I mean, they did make the
well chronicled run at Clint Capella,and the question, you know, hindsight
will be much easier to apply tothis later on and we see, you
(40:00):
know, the Mavericks would have hadto surrender both the number ten pick and
Josh Green to complete a trade forClint Capella. I actually agreed with their
stance that that was just too much. If they trade number ten, they
wouldn't have been able to do allthe moves that got them Lively and Omax
and do you do you you know, would Clint Capella move the Mavericks so
(40:23):
far up the West ladder if?I mean he would have to if you're
going to trade away both number tenand Josh Green. So again, hindsight,
you know, in two, three, four months, we'll be able
to answer that question a lot easier. Should they have done it or did
They might make the right move bynot making that trade, But I mean,
(40:43):
look, you're absolutely right the factthat they did not acquire a frontline
center. It is one of theheadline to this team is going to be
hearing about unless the three men platoonof Rashawn Holmes, Dwight Pale and Derek
Lively this second, unless they outperformexpectations. Yeah, and I think that
(41:05):
there's a chance that Lively is veryusable early on, and I think it's
going to be dependent upon you know, guys like Grant Williams and guys like
MAXI and people like that being ableto help him along to get like I
think he could conceivably start games.I just think he's going to have two
fouls at the seven minute mark,right, and so he quite honestly,
(41:30):
I think, oh, Max isprobably a little a little bit better suited
to start as a rookie than Livelyis. But you know, they're probably
going to need Lively more early on. And let's see, if you know,
I heard Tyson Chandler on this veryshow about a month and a half
ago, and he was saying verypositive things. But let's face it,
it's hard for rookie centers and sothat that's going to be a trick early
(41:50):
on. Can they get him importantminutes in the rotation, because I quite
honestly signed I think right now maxiCleeve is probably the guy that's played five
at the end of games. Theyjust need to keep his minutes down before
they get to the fourth quarter.Well, look, congratulations to both of
us because we will soon be spendingtime together in gym's. It's been a
(42:12):
far longer offseason for the fans,but yeah, it is. It has
been. It has been very weirdto have to not have made a trip
to the AAC since early April,at least not me. Yeah, well,
I'm ready to cook Stein. Ican't wait, baby, All right,
everybody that is going to do itFor this edition of the Saturday Stein
Line presented by Pannini America, profusethanks to our guests how Beck and then
(42:37):
skin Wade, who you just heardNorth Texas football coming up later tonight.
The Mean Green at Louisiana Tech pregameis at five, kickoff is at six.
Next up here it's the News Junkieson ninety seven one. The Free
Welcome to to a Saturday Stein Linewith Mark Stein, presented by Panini Trading
Cards and Collectibles. On ninety sevenone The Freak, the official home to
all Dallas Nevericks games, hosted bylegendary NBA reporter and publisher of his substract,
the Stein Line. Here's Mark Stein. Everyone, Welcome in to the
(00:26):
latest and freshest addition of the SaturdayStein Line, presented by Pannini Trading Cards
and Collectibles. I am Mark Stein, your humble host. We're not so
humble depending on whom you ask.Anyway, I am on my last Hurrah
(00:47):
getaway before the NBA season starts.Top secret location, although I will reveal
it with some pictures in the nextTuesday newsletter Extravaganza that I publish on my
substack, mark Stein dot substack dotcom. That's one word, mrc STEI
n dot substack dot com. Ifyou haven't already subscribed, there are both
(01:12):
free and paid subscriptions available. Enoughwith the promotion, though massive show plan
for your Saturday lunch hour. Herein the DFW. Two special guests on
route Howard Beck, who has beencovering the NBA almost as long as I
(01:33):
have. Little known fact Howard wasactually my successor on the Laker beat for
the La Daily News after I movedto town to join the Dallas Morning News
very late in Shaquille O'Neal and KobeBryant's first season together with the Lakers.
Hojo Beck as we call him,joins me in segment two to talk about
a very newsy week in the NBAafter Commissioner Adam Silver held a press conference
(01:59):
Wednesday in New York City to talkabout the new player participation policy and all
kinds of topics. Will also getHoward's take on the Mavericks and their offseason
maschinations. I figured you guys wouldwant to hear his educated view, but
also an outsider's view, someone whoobserves the league very closely but doesn't live
(02:23):
in DFW. Kind of get hisview on what awaits the Mavericks this season
in the West. We will goeven heavier on MAVs talk in segment three
when Skin Wade of Benin's skin Famejoins me. Skin will be on the
receiving end some of my questions fora change. All that to come,
(02:45):
But first I want to start offtoday's show with a closer look at the
Mavericks early schedule. I actually misunderstoodthis a bit initially. I have greater
clarity on this now. Some goodnews to share with fans of the local
NBA franchise. You have almost doneit. You've almost survived the summer,
(03:05):
if not the miserable heat. Becausethe Mavericks first practice everybody September twenty seventh,
that's only ten days and change fromnow. We repeat the Mavericks twenty
twenty three, twenty fourth season.It's been more than five months since we
last saw this team play a gameApril ninth. It starts for real in
(03:28):
less than two weeks. And here'swhy. The Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
They're the only two teams in theNBA playing preseason games abroad this season,
so they get to start before everybodyelse. And in the Mavericks case,
that means practices on September twenty seven, September twenty eight, September thirty
(03:49):
one session on October first, I'mtold before they fly to Abu Dhabi for
two games against the Timberwolves, theMavericks, as I understand it, play
and to hold seven practices before theyget on that plane to go to Abu
Dhabi, and they've also got tofold media Day in there on September twenty
(04:09):
ninth. And that was my mistake. When I was told Media Day was
September twenty ninth, I thought theMavericks would start practicing on September thirty.
But no, because they have thisunique schedule due to the overseas exhibition games,
they get to have a couple ofpractices first, then we even media
Day and then leave the country.So interesting breakdown. It's important to stress
(04:33):
though, this is going to bea really long trip abroad, almost two
weeks long. I do think that'sa cause for concern and the reason that
this trip is going to be solong. I reported on this on Monday
in my sub stack. Mavericks ownerMark Cuban, you guys probably know this.
(04:55):
He's been promising Luka don Chich fora long time that the maverick would
play an exhibition game at Real Madrid, Luca's former club, the team he
joined when he was still only thirteen, three years before Luca turned pro.
Mark Cuban has been telling Luca assoon as it was feasible, yes,
the Mavericks will play a game inReal Madrid. But as I reported Monday,
(05:18):
what I've been told is the NBAhas not staged an exhibition game in
Spain since twenty sixteen, And theway it was presented to me is that
the league made it a condition forthe Mavericks to play the two games in
Abu Dhabi first before stopping in Madridon the way home. The reality is
(05:42):
that in twenty twenty three, AbuDhabi is a much larger priority for the
NBA as a preseason destination than Spain. So the Mavericks were basically told,
you want the game in Madrid,you've got to be one of our two
teams that goes to Abu Dhabi,because then has made a multi year commitment
to do two exhibition games a yearin Abu Dhabi in early October of every
(06:09):
season. The upshot of all thatis this is a pretty grueling way to
start the season, especially for ateam that had such a rough season last
time around. And look, I'msure the Mavericks will try to present this
and try to convince themselves that thereis an upside to all this early travel.
(06:32):
They will espouse the notion surely thatnearly two weeks in multiple foreign countries
maybe that provides an extra bonding opportunityfor a team that, let's face it,
has several newcomers. I am lesssure that it's going to work out
that way because one more time,basically, you're starting the season with a
(06:58):
two week road trip to a veryunfamiliar place, two unfamiliar places. Obviously,
Luca's familiar with Madrid, but therest of the team isn't. And
the reality is practice time is goingto be very, very limited once the
team leaves Dallas. That's why Ithink they're so adamant about getting in six
or seven practices before heading abroad,because it's not just a Mavericks thing.
(07:21):
The same thing will apply for Minnesota, you know. In Abu Dhabi,
this is about the two games andleague mandated activities and promotional appearances. Both
teams are gonna have a lot todo in Abu Dhabi, and then the
Mavericks have to fly more than threethousand miles from Abu Dhabi to Madrid for
(07:41):
the Luca return game. So Iguess the good news here is, after
all that the Mavericks will be backon US soil. They'll be back in
Dallas for ten to twelve days straight. To get back on us time to
get reacquainted with being home. They'llbe home for that good ten to twelve
(08:03):
day stretch before the season opener Octobertwenty fifth at San Antonio against a rookie
you might have heard of named VictorWemanyama. Now, what I'd like you
guys to do? Because I couldn'tbe in the studio on this particular Saturday,
I would love it if you tookto the steinline text line now two
(08:24):
one four seven eight seven one nineseven one or eight one seven seven,
eight seven one nine seven one.Let me say it again two one four
seven, eight seven one nine sevenone or eight one seven seven eight seven
one nine seven one. I wantto hear what you guys think of the
(08:46):
mavericks challenging start to the season.I also want to hear what went through
your mind at the Feeble World Cupat the end of the tournament when you
heard Luca don Chich say that thequad injury in his left leg that has
plagued him really since March is stillquote not okay end quote me. Personally,
(09:09):
I tend to believe Luca will befine once camp starts, Once the
Mavericks have him back here in Dallasand can reintegrate him into the program and
you know, see him again,because obviously we have. You know,
Luca has not been in Dallas sinceApril, and I'm look, I'm purely
basing that on the fact that heplayed two extra games for Slovenia. And
(09:33):
I'm purely basing that on the factthat he played two extra games for Slovenia
after his national team's quarterfinal loss toCanada. And let's face it, I
think he looked pretty Luca like inthose two games. I'd also like to
hear from you via text about ChristianWood signing a veteran minimum contract to join
(09:56):
the Los Angeles Lakers. We reallyhaven't had much chance to discuss that yet
on this show, and I can'treact to the texts live this week,
given the technical limitations that I'm presentedwith. But if we get some good
ones, and I'm confident we willget some good ones, I will be
(10:18):
checking them from my secret location,and if there are some good ones,
I'm going to I'm going to tryto work them into next Saturday show,
which will also be conducted from abroad. And I'm already working ahead on the
guests for that particular episode. Igot one more topic for the texters out
(10:43):
there, Where does USA basketball gofrom here? After a very disappointing fourth
place finish in the Feeble World Cup, lost three of their last four games.
I wrote a big piece on iton my sub stack on Tuesday,
basically lamenting how we've reached this pointwhere you actually expect World Cup disappointment because
(11:11):
USAB officials they just can't get anywhereclose to their A team stars to commit
to anything except the Olympics. TheUnited States has won seven of eight gold
medals since NBA players began participating inthe Summer Games in nineteen ninety two,
and the next two Olympics are inParis, in la cities that guys want
(11:33):
to play in. Frankly, andit's largely because you know, the best
of the best are still good enoughto overcome the significant shortcomings that the United
States faces in terms of size andmost of all, in terms of continuity.
The World Cups a different story.It was in China in twenty nineteen,
(11:56):
just took place in Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines for the twenty
twenty three edition. In twenty twentyseven, the World Cup will be in
Qatar. The usab's having a muchtougher time assembling rosters for competitions in those
places. And you guys see theresults these thrown together teams. They've not
(12:18):
been able to overcome the size andthe continuity shortcomings. All right, I've
thrown a lot at you guys intoday's monologue. Let's make this more interactive
from here where you just don't haveto hear my voice as promised, Howard
(12:39):
Beck is next skin wade of Benon'sskin to follow. So I got two
great guests to liven things up,two great guests to come here as the
Saturday Stein Line presented by Panini TradingCards and Collectibles rolls on here on ninety
seven is the Saturday Steinline. QuizMark Stein presented by Panini Trading Cards and
(13:05):
Collectibles on your official home to allDallas Mavericks Games, The Freak, The
Saturday Steinline Dribbles Fourth Friends, presentedby my dear friends at Panini Trading Cards
and Collectibles. And I am sopleased now to be joined by one of
my dearest friends in the business,another fifty something like me. But that's
(13:30):
good. He's been around, he'sseen a lot. Now he's going to
share his wisdom with you. Youhave read him in the La Daily News,
The New York Times, Bleacher Reports, Sports Illustrated GQ. I hope
I didn't forget any publications. AndI have to address him formally because he's
(13:52):
the newly elected president of the ProfessionalBasketball Writers Association, the one only Howard
back El plesident tay olcome to theSaturday Steinline. Great to be with you,
my friend. That was a phenomenaland very kind introduction. Please just
tell me you're not overlaying hail tothe chief or anything on the president part
(14:13):
of it, because I would justknow. Actually, I don't think there
is any overlaying. We are wehave not worked that into our repertoire yet,
so there's no overlaying. You'll missthe You will miss the Dirk Novitsky
rejoin in the third segment. Iknow you're a big Dirk fan, so
you will miss that. I savedthat for a third segment, so don't
have that. But well, thereare multiple reasons why I wanted to have
(14:35):
you joined the show, but amongthem, beyond the fact that you bring
all that credibility that I listed earlier, you were in the room. Earlier
this week when Adam Silver had anews conference in New York after the Board
of Governors meetings, I am farfar away in my top secret locale to
recharge for the season, so Iwas not at the press conference. Really
(14:56):
wanted to kind of get your impressionsbecause the whole player poussy it seemed to
be the dominant story, the dominanttheme of that press conference. Put us
in the room and kind of tellme what your big takeaways were from the
preseason state of the Union from thecommissioner. So there was a lot that
(15:18):
we could have covered, and alot that we did cover with Adam in
the whatever twenty five minutes or sothat we had him. But the headline
of the day was, and sortof had to be, the leagues,
for lack of a better term,crackdown on player rest. And I don't
even like calling it player rest becauseplayers don't initiate most of this. And
this is something that I think fansneed to understand, is that all the
(15:39):
load management and resting and guys beingshut down on all this, it's very
rarely initiated by the players themselves.This is mostly the teams and sports science
staffs and their medical staffs and everybodyelse who are trying to for various reasons.
Sometimes it's in the interest of theplayer and their health, and sometimes
it's in the interest of oh,I don't know, standings, lottery positioning.
(16:02):
This has been going on for awhile, Mark, as we both
know, and we've seen this this, I mean, I could call it
a trend. Some people might callit the scourge. Over the last you
know, five years, in particular, maybe the last ten years, it's
been kind of creeping in and it'sgotten away from them. And I thought
what was really striking about what Adamtold us in that press conference earlier this
(16:23):
week was that he basically said it'sgotten away from us, and he also
admitted that the science is not thatclear on this. There's been this kind
of leap of faith or this blindbelief in the idea that well, if
you rest the guy in the secondnight of a back to back, if
you you know, give guys thisregular days off, that this is going
(16:45):
to prevent injuries, this is goingto extend careers. And some people have
gone to the nth degree with that. Some teams have gone to the nth
degree. Some players of course,Kawhi Letard notably. But what Adam admitted
on behalf of the league is thatthey have studied this, they have processed
all the data, they have goneround and round, and it's inconclusive in
(17:08):
the league's now official view. Butwhat is not inconclusive is that players resting,
superstars in particular, resting all thetime and sometimes multiple players from the
same team resting on the same night, is bad for the league. It's
bad optics, it's bad business,it's bad for the fans. It's bad
for their TV partners who are spendingbillions and will be expected to spend billions
(17:32):
more in an upcoming new TV deal, which is no small part of this
equation. And so yeah, youknow this. To me, this is
kind of a course correction, andit's kind of re emphasizing the regular season
matters. They're trying to get controlof this thing again, to try to
infuse some belief in and value inthe regular season, which is the same
(17:52):
thing that they're doing with the inseason tournament. You and I both have
high degrees of skepticism as grumpy oldmen about the inseason tournament. But to
put it mildly, to put itmildly. You may be grumpier than I
am my friend on this one far, but it's but it's it's it's basically
trying to re establish the idea.Whether it's the in season tournament, whether
(18:15):
it's these new player rest rules whichyou are going to come with fines for
teams that don't follow them, it'sall about trying to reinstill a belief in
an importance in the of the regularseason, and that to send the right
message to fans that these games matterand we're not just blowing them off just
because a guy feels like he needsa few days off or his team feels
(18:37):
like he needs a few days off. And look, I do tend to
think the measures will probably work.When you talk about now there's going to
be this fine scale that could quicklyadd up to some significant penalties if there
are resting violations, plus the measurewhere players have to play sixty five games
now to be considered for season endingawards. As you mentioned, I am
(19:00):
for dubious about the ability of thein season tournament to create regular season interests,
but yeah, you know, I'malso with you that I would have
liked to have seen, you know, more to me, there should have
been discussion at this press conference aboutEric Lewis, the referee, his sudden
exit from the game. You know, James Harden recently find one hundred thousand
(19:22):
dollars by the league and that fineis being challenged and supposedly going to an
arbitrator, and there was just somuch focus on the rest talk. Just
a reminder everyone, we're being joinedby the very wise Howard Beck, one
of the smartest writers covering the NBAfor more than two decades, and we
will get to his thoughts about theMavericks in their off season and their outlook
(19:44):
for the coming season. But let'sjust just to follow up one with one
more thing here. I mean,so you say you're less grumpy than me
about the in season tournament, reallygotten your I really haven't taken your temperature
on it. Give me your giveme your take on what you think of
the in season tournament in general.Yeah, I mean, listen, philosophically
and broadly speaking, I do thinkthe NBA is the idea is right or
(20:07):
the intent is correct, whether whetherit's the new rest rules, whether it's
the in season tournament, whether it'sthe sixty five game requirement, for postseason
awards. The intent is correct,I think on all accounts, in that
they're trying to make the regular seasonmatter again. Okay, right principle,
right philosophy, right solutions. Ithink that's where it's fair to question.
(20:32):
And on the in season tournament.Yeah, look, I fall on your
side on this, although I havetold some on my friends at the league
office. All right, listen,I will, I will, I will
check myself a little bit. I'mgonna be trying to exercise a little bit
of humility here and say, let'swait and see. But I'm but my
wait and see is from a standpointof skepticism, not optimism. I just
(20:55):
don't see how this NBA Cup,these special games a couple of nights a
week, and you know, breakinginto into into these pools and then whatever,
and then they're going to finally havea championship in Vegas, a championship
of what a champion like? Whatis really at stake here? Well,
for the players, there's a bunchof money. Okay, fine, I
(21:15):
guess if I'm going to be anoptimist about it, I would say that
if the players really amp up forthis stuff and really treat it seriously,
like there are real stakes and theyput in whether it's the the the effort,
or the emotional intensity. Right,we take our cues as as media
and fans from the players. Ifthey feel it's important and show that,
(21:37):
then I think the NBA will getwhat it wants out of it. But
if the fans are watching, going, hold on a second, this is
just another Tuesday night in November,but you're just calling it something else.
Even if everybody goes along with anunderstands and grasps the format, the question
still becomes why is this important?What is the value of winning the NBA
Cup? And the answer from theleague office when when I've I've you know,
(22:00):
debated my friends there about this islisten, what is the value of
any of these things? Right?It's you. You establish it over time
and eventually it just kind of becomesembedded in the psyche of the league,
of the players or the fans.And sure on day one it doesn't feel
like anything, but give it time. You know, everything is just arbitrary
that we have a championship at theend of a full season. Why can't
(22:22):
we have, you know, achampionship of of a three month stretch or
this or that. I get that. It sounds like a little too cute
to me when when they make thosearguments. But like I say, I'm
willing to be at least slightly openminded and see how the teams themselves respond
to this or approach it, andthen see how fans whether they take their
(22:44):
cues from them. It's a weirdthing. It's a weird thing to decide
that a subset of games in Novemberand December I think are going to somehow
matter more and result in somebody raisinga up a championship of something. I
don't know what that means. Nothingexcept the Larry O. Brian Trophy's ever
going to mean anything in this league. Longtime NBA scribe Howard Beck joining us
(23:11):
here on the Saturday Stein Line onninety seven one The Freak presented by Panini
America. Man, I actually didthe math in my head real quick.
You've been covering this league for morethan twenty five years now. We're both
we're both washed. I mean,look, you know where I stand on
this. My issue with it isit's not a tournament. That's the problems.
(23:32):
It's only a tournament in the semifinals, when four teams go to Vegas,
and they play two semifinal games andthen an extra final. The final
will be the eighty third game forthe two teams that make it. That's
my problem with this thing is thatthese all the pool play games. All
you know, they're just regular seasongame that count twice. But our poor
(23:53):
listeners have heard me ran about thisenough. I wanted it. I wanted
to get your perspectives because I didfigure it would be a little bit different.
And like you said, there's noharm in trying it. Let them
try it. They're always trying tofind ways, searching, grasping for anything
they can do to try to makethe regular season more meaningful. So let's
see what happens. Maybe maybe I'llbe proven wrong, Maybe everyone is gonna
(24:15):
love this thing. I just Iwanted a tournament. The word tournament was
presented, I wanted a tournament.But let's let's move on to the subject
that means the most to our listeners. The Dallas Mavericks. Two seasons ago,
Cinderella trip to the conference finals.Last season, absolute nightmare. They
fell all the way out of theplayoff Mix thirty eight and forty four.
(24:37):
A lot of changes in the offseason, so in beautiful Brooklyn where you are
ensconced, what is the what isthe what is the faraway view of what
the Mavericks did this offseason and whatthey're capable now a full season with a
Luca don Chich Kyrie Irving backcourt.So to evaluate this offseason, to me
(25:00):
can't get past the fact that reallyit's still just evaluating the deal they made
in February for Kyrie Irving, rightAnd I and of course you mentioned I'm
based in Brooklyn, so obviously Igot to see up close the full Kyrie
Irving experience in Brooklyn, which didnot go so well. Of course for
the Nets, we don't need torevisit all of that anything else they did
(25:21):
this summer. And I like alot of what they did, right,
Like, I'm a big Grant Williamsfan. Grant Williams is a really nice
player and a nice addition, andI think a position of need and a
seal set of need personality and leadership. I think of need like everything that
he brings to the table, Ithink is are things that that the Mavericks
needed, and so I like goodaddition. I even like the Rishaun Holmes
(25:45):
pick up. I don't know howmuch time he's gonna get, how much
running he's gonna get. But itwas a it was a solid enough off
season. Uh you know, doesDante Exum have a second life in him
in the NBA? All that's fine. All that's fine. It's still about
whether or not Luca and Kyrie makesense together, whether they will find the
right chemistry together, and how farthey can take this team. And with
(26:10):
any team that's got two established stars, you're always wondering, Okay, how
do the complimentary pieces fit around them? I think the complimentary pieces in this
case are fine, but I'm notblown away. And I always do this
exercise in the off season, andespecially as we get close to training camps
opening, and the question about anygiven team is like, oh, so,
(26:30):
where are they going to do thisseason that's better than last season?
And so you start looking at allthe teams ahead of them, and I
just don't like the Mavericks took me. There's almost no case to make for
them mark in my mind of thembeing a top four team in the West.
The West has gotten brutaled again,Like it's not where it was maybe
years ago, where it's just absolutelystacked. They're all super teams or whatever,
(26:52):
but it's super solid. And youknow, the Nuggets I think are
absolutely still the Uber one team inthe West. But you've got a super
team now in Phoenix. You've gota refortified Warriors team that's added Chris Paul.
You've got a refortified Lakers team thatfixed themselves at mid season and had
one of the better off seasons inthe NBA. Like where the Clippers.
(27:15):
I know, asterisk astersk asterisk ifhealthy, if healthy, if healthy,
but the Clippers have a really strongsupporting cast around Kawhi Leon and Nepaul.
George may still get James Harden.Where is the path for the Mavericks to
be a top four team? Andfor that matter, I'm not even sure
they're a top seven team. Idon't mean to be overly dower about them,
(27:36):
but one, I'm not sold onKyrie I Eving and Luca. Two,
I just think there are too manyreally good teams ahead of them,
and I can't make the case.As great as Luca is, I can't
make the case that Luca and Kyrieare better than Yo Kitchen, Jamal Murray
or the Sun's new Big three orthe Warriors. I just or the Lakers.
(27:57):
I don't see. I don't seehow they're leap frogging all of these
teams. I see them as alikely playing team and playing in this league
last season, notwithstanding with the Lakersadvancing in the Heat, advancing and go
into the finals. Generally speaking,if you're a seven or eight seed,
(28:18):
your fodder, you your first roundfodder. That's the case most of the
history of this league, and that'sI think where the Mavericks probably are,
unless some of those teams really falteror have injury issues. I warned you
in advance that this was going togo lightning fast, and it did went
way too fast. We should probablydo I really, what I really need
(28:41):
to do is change this to atwo hour show. But I don't know
that they're going to let me getaway with that. I don't know that
I quite have the license to pullthat off yet. So unfortunately, we're
gonna have to leave it there,and we'll be continuing the discussion in the
next segment when skin Wade joins us. But my profuse, thanks to my
good friend, long time chronicler ofthe NBA, Howard Beck, I knew
(29:03):
you would bring serious perspective and youproved it by calling me Mark three times,
which is the first time you've donethat and I don't know how long.
Thank you a zillion, my friendfor joining us, my pleasure.
Steen. There he goes Howard Beck. Next up, as promised, skin
Wade, it's the Satin Trading Cardsand Collectibles, your official home to Dallas
(29:26):
Mavericks Games. See the Freak.This is Dirt and Whisky and you're listening
to the Saturday Stein Line with myguys Steiny on ninety seven one to Freak,
thanks for sticking with us here onninety seven one the Freak. Thank
you to mister Novitsky for that kindset up for the final segment of this
(29:48):
Saturday Stein Line, who said hecan't be an assist man joining us now.
For this final segment on the latestedition of the Saturday Stein Line,
presented by p in the America,we will continue the MAVs discussion that we
just got gone, we just gotit. We just sneaked a little bit
of MAVs talk there in the endwith Howard Beck in the previous segment.
(30:11):
Let let us go to the manwho has not worked the MAVs sideline or
he has not taken his appointed spoton Press Rowe. It was part of
the Game proadcast since April ninth.If my math is right, Poor Skin
Wade, co host, of course, of the famed Ben and Skin Show.
Mister Wade, how have you cope? It's been more than five months
(30:34):
since you've attended an NBA game towork in your many capacity studio postgame.
During the game, you're all overthe place. How have you coped?
Well? I haven't said it.I've been able to I've been able to
do any of that for more thanfive months. It's just a lot more
difficult to have to deal with Benfive times a week, to be honest
(30:55):
with you, I mean, he'sthe one that just makes the sedam hard
Stein. I am so excited thatwe are creeping in on real, actual
basketball that is NBA ball. Imean, obviously the feet of stuff was
fantastic. I'm sure we'll get intoall of that, but you know,
I'm very excited, and I'm lookingforward to the season with great anticipation because
(31:18):
there are so many unanswered questions.But I think things feel like they're moving
in a positive direction. So Iwant to see some Dallas Mavericks basketball.
So I truly can't wait. Yeah, I mean all the fans that I
kind of talked to and engage withon my sub stack or wherever I run
into anyone, though, I mean, everybody just is so impatient to get
(31:40):
this thing going. It really hasbeen a long, long, long offseason,
even for those who do not haveto deal with Ben Rogers on a
daily basis. I mean, whatdo you you know? In our last
segment with Howard Beck, he kindof laid out that, yes, the
MAVs had a nice summer and madesome promising tweaks to the roster and a
lot of changes if we just countthem up on our hands, But how
(32:05):
much higher can they go? Onthe Western Conference ladder? The West is
a mess. So normally you're innormally you're in the position where you're you're
asking me, But today I'm inthe position of being able to ask you,
what do you What do you thinkis the ceiling for this MAVs team
the season ahead? Well, Ithink the ceiling is quite honestly, when
you look at the rest of theWest, I don't think, being objective,
(32:30):
they're a top four team, ButI also don't think that it's out
of the question that they could bea top four team, And it really
comes down to two things. Imean, I don't even want to say
health, because that's the case inany sport, right, But if Luca,
if slim down Luca, if youknow Luca that's focused on being the
(32:52):
best NBA player and leading a teamthat he can be, and he's done
significant work this summer to kind ofrise to the moment and answer potential criticisms
of him, if that is allas effective as we hope it can be,
and he is MVP like we getto mid season, it's like he's
the sure shot MVP. If thathappens as well as if Kyrie is available
(33:19):
to play in a lot of gamesand plays like the veteran that can take
pressure off of Luca, then Idon't think that there's a better offensive duo
in the NBA. You know,It's like, I mean, Okay,
Lebron and Anthony Dever. You canstart throwing names out there, but they're
right there in the conversation. ButKyrie. The reason Kyrie is a Maverick
(33:40):
is because he hasn't been available fora number of reasons to some of these
other teams, and so you know, I think it's fair to be cynical
and go, well, Okay,that's not going to happen. But if
this is the place he wants tobe and he feels connected to this community,
and I think obviously Nico Harrison,the GM who you know, sort
(34:00):
of put his neck on the lineto go get Kyrie, if he feels
connected to that and feels involved withthe team and those things you know of
a super engaged Kyrie. He's oneof the ten best offensive players in the
world. You know, his questionhas always been availability and these other things
that seem to float around in hisorbit. And if those things aren't there,
(34:22):
there's no reason to believe that teamsare going to really struggle to deal
with Luca don Chiz and Kyrie Irving. They still have a couple of obvious
holes. But Stein, you know, you and I did the draft together
going into the offseason. The Mavericksoffseason went way better than I actually thought
(34:43):
it was going to go. AndI want to take that into consideration.
And I'm not sitting here saying Iexpect these rookies to make all the difference,
but I expect them to contribute inways that they need. And I
cannot, from the standpoint of Mavericksoptimism, underscore what a eight edition Grant
Williams is to this team, becauseI've been in three different scenarios with him
(35:05):
now at team functions where I gotto spend significant time with him, and
I really believe that he can fillthe void that was created when Jalen Brunson
left. He's a very very uniquetwenty four year old. I keep kind
of like, looking back over,I'm going, you're not twenty four,
do you'd? I have friends thatare forty that aren't as mature as you,
(35:28):
and so I think that all thosethings matter. But back to the
original part of this conversation, theWest is really really tough, and so
if they are going to crack thattop four and not be in the six
or seven spot, it's going tobe that Kyrie played in seventy to seventy
five games and balled out, andLuca is that MVP guy, and then
(35:49):
I think everybody else will fall intoline with this thing. The one and
only skin Wade joining us here onthe Saturday Steinline presented by Fannini Trading Cards
and Collectibles only on ninety seven one. The Freak of Course, Skin,
the better half of the Ben andSkin show, which you hear every day
here on the Freak. But weconvinced him to add a quick Saturday shift
(36:13):
to help us get ready for thefast approaching MAVs season. And look there
will you know, Luca himself saidat the World Cup that the quad injury
that has plagued him since March isstill quote not okay the extent of that
injury. Obviously, the MAVs youknow, were you know, is it
(36:34):
is he fine? Is this somethingthat that lingers into the season. I
mean, the MAVs obviously they wantto get their own eyes on Luca don
Chich and that's going to happen herein less than two weeks the MAVs,
as I've talked about many times,because Dallas and Minnesota are playing the two
exhibition games in Abu Dhabi in earlyOctober, those two teams get to start
earlier than any other two on theNBA September twenty seven, first practice for
(37:00):
the Mavericks and the Wolves, whichis a good four or five days before
the other twenty eight, so lessthan two weeks before we get some answers
on just how Luca escaped the WorldCup. But you tell me, I'm
sure you watched every Slovenia game.What did you see? I think it
(37:22):
was fantastic obviously, Uh, youknow, ending the game against Canada by
getting you know, that second frustrationtechnical foul is not good. As you
sit there and go all right,what are the things Luca has to do?
Well? He has to make surehe's not getting in trouble with the
officials. Well, hell, thatdidn't work out well in the but in
the FEEDBA Cup. But look thatwas that game was decided when or pretty
(37:44):
close to decided when he got hisfrustration tech. But part of that experience
does There are three main things thatare I'm curious about, kind of like
I'm looking at it with a littlebit of a jaundiced diye. Is Luca
get beaten up in that World Cupand that feeble in those feeble games?
(38:05):
Did he get beaten up? Andis that going to carry over into the
season. The other thing I'm worriedabout you just mentioned. I don't think
it's ideal for a team that needsto come together to be fiddle farting around
in October over and Abu Dhabi andthen going to Real Madrid and all that.
That seems like a lot of extratravel and extra stuff. And I
(38:27):
don't think it's ideal to start theseason because, as we talked earlier,
the Western Conference is so tough.I don't think you can get off to
a slow start. And I thinkif this team gets off to a slow
start, then all the chatter startsgoing, and then Luca starts looking around
going am I happy here? Ithink those two things are things. I
go, h, what is thatall about? Should I be worried about
this? And then the third thing, and you know this Stein, you
(38:50):
and I have talked about this.The Mavericks didn't address their center situation.
With all due respect to r SeanHolmes, I think he can be a
part of a center situation that's positive, But where's the lead dog and they
don't have that. And so thoseare the three things that going into the
season I'm a little concerned about.You know, you're sounding more jittery and
worried, worried, you know,worry ridden. You're you're turning into Ben
(39:15):
Rogers on me in your old age. Well, what I think it is?
What I think it is is,I think I'm trying to look at
it with a very realistic eye,because you know, it is so tough
in the West, and I reallydon't think they can afford to get off
to a bad start, because man, the last two months of last season
were brutal. I mean those werebrutal. Dude, you you were there,
(39:37):
you saw it. You look you'reat I'm just giving you a hard
time. You're absolutely right. AndI spent the whole first segment talking about
the schedule because it is it isgoing to be very, very difficult now
when it comes to the center situation. I mean, they did make the
well chronicled run at Clint Capella,and the question, you know, hindsight
will be much easier to apply tothis later on and we see, you
(40:00):
know, the Mavericks would have hadto surrender both the number ten pick and
Josh Green to complete a trade forClint Capella. I actually agreed with their
stance that that was just too much. If they trade number ten, they
wouldn't have been able to do allthe moves that got them Lively and Omax
and do you do you you know, would Clint Capella move the Mavericks so
(40:23):
far up the West ladder if?I mean he would have to if you're
going to trade away both number tenand Josh Green. So again, hindsight,
you know, in two, three, four months, we'll be able
to answer that question a lot easier. Should they have done it or did
They might make the right move bynot making that trade, But I mean,
(40:43):
look, you're absolutely right the factthat they did not acquire a frontline
center. It is one of theheadline to this team is going to be
hearing about unless the three men platoonof Rashawn Holmes, Dwight Pale and Derek
Lively this second, unless they outperformexpectations. Yeah, and I think that
(41:05):
there's a chance that Lively is veryusable early on, and I think it's
going to be dependent upon you know, guys like Grant Williams and guys like
MAXI and people like that being ableto help him along to get like I
think he could conceivably start games.I just think he's going to have two
fouls at the seven minute mark,right, and so he quite honestly,
(41:30):
I think, oh, Max isprobably a little a little bit better suited
to start as a rookie than Livelyis. But you know, they're probably
going to need Lively more early on. And let's see, if you know,
I heard Tyson Chandler on this veryshow about a month and a half
ago, and he was saying verypositive things. But let's face it,
it's hard for rookie centers and sothat that's going to be a trick early
(41:50):
on. Can they get him importantminutes in the rotation, because I quite
honestly signed I think right now maxiCleeve is probably the guy that's played five
at the end of games. Theyjust need to keep his minutes down before
they get to the fourth quarter.Well, look, congratulations to both of
us because we will soon be spendingtime together in gym's. It's been a
(42:12):
far longer offseason for the fans,but yeah, it is. It has
been. It has been very weirdto have to not have made a trip
to the AAC since early April,at least not me. Yeah, well,
I'm ready to cook Stein. Ican't wait, baby, All right,
everybody that is going to do itFor this edition of the Saturday Stein
Line presented by Pannini America, profusethanks to our guests how Beck and then
(42:37):
skin Wade, who you just heardNorth Texas football coming up later tonight.
The Mean Green at Louisiana Tech pregameis at five, kickoff is at six.
Next up here it's the News Junkieson ninety seven one. The Free
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