What's Wright - Kyrie's injury disaster & LeBron's Michael Jordan problem

Nick Wright discusses the media's reaction to LeBron James' comments about being the the face of the league and the breaking news of Kyrie Irving's season-ending ACL injury. Then, Nick talks about LeBron James’ legacy and future as he prepares to become the first player to 50k points and what the Los Angeles Lakers outlook is now that they’re the no. 2 seed. Later, Nick weighs in on the Warriors turn around with Jimmy Butler and why Jayson Tatum gets so much hate. Finally, as always, Nick and Damonza answer your questions. #Volume

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome in What's Driving the Great Episode three oh five,
Fresh off vacation back from New Zealand, I have an
amazing ability to not be jet lagged at all while
on vacation, hit the ground running half a world away
in New Zealand, landed at five am Sunday, New Zealand time.
It immediately started traveling, traversing, exploring, and then since I've

(00:24):
been back to the States, I've slept for three hours
about every twelve hours and have no idea what day
it is or what's going on. So I'm actually grateful
of that ability that I don't waste my vacation sleeping
and jet lag. But it is made today. I don't
know what day it is, but we're back. I have
been waiting for the better part of a week to

(00:47):
discuss this story. We didn't even do it on the
TV show yesterday, in part because Brew wasn't back yet,
but also because I wanted to. I'm going to go
long on this face of the league's stuff. So first,
Demonse welcome in. Demanse also has some things he wants

(01:07):
to get off his chest about. I think Jason Tatum
and Shadora Sanders are both of these correct.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yes, both of those are correct, and then things, but
we're gonna hit on those naturally.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
Or right, We're gonna throughout the flow of the show.
I will admit this opening will I'm hoping to keep
this rant under twenty because I, in theory, would like
to be able to post the entire thing, not just
to YouTube, but to other social media because I think

(01:40):
it's I'm gonna sound self aggrandizing. I think it's important
and it's gonna be a little bit of history and
a little bit of a course correction from I think
some people who are playing fast and loose with what
actually has happened in the past and how we actually
in the past have treated other NBA superstars, which has

(02:04):
led to the current angst of this crop of NBA superstars.
Before we get to any of that, what missed the
cut The Bengals are franchise tagging T Higgins. I do
not understand what the Bengals are doing. More on that
on Thursday NFL Combine reactions. I didn't watch a second
of it all. Catch up on that this week and

(02:24):
John Cena turns heel fellas. I should have made this.
I should have made this note to the producers off
the air, but we can do it on the air.
I suppose the WWE doesn't even qualify quite for the
miss the Cut category. Nothing against our friends at Pro Wrestling,
but I'm not I don't know enough about any of
it in order to even have I don't know if

(02:45):
they I feel naked when it comes to analyzing that.
So that'll be your first and last wrestling update on
the What's Right Pod. But where we have to start
today is with what Lebron James said, what was said

(03:08):
about what he said, and how we got here. So
first the level set of what happened. Anthony Edwards was
asked about being face of the league and he was like,
I don't really have an interest in it. I just
want a ball. Lebron was then asked about that as

(03:28):
the face of the league, and Lebron said, yeah, I
don't blame him. Why would you want to be when
all the people who talk about our league And it
seemed like he was about to say former players, but
the and media, but instead it was just a catch all,
just shit on the players. And then as Bomani Jones

(03:53):
would say, hit dog, gone holler, and then all the
guys who Lebron was talking about doth protested too much.
So the first one was stephen A, who did a
five minute rant in response to Lebron that and I'm

(04:20):
not I am not exaggerating when i say this. In
the first ninety seconds of stephen A responding to Lebron
saying that the biggest voices in the media just go
after you repeatedly, particularly if you're the face of the league.

(04:41):
In the first ninety seconds of a response to that,
stephen A blamed Lebron James for the following the downfall
of the Slam Dunk contest, the lockout in twenty eleven,
and the Chris Paul Laker trade being mixed. He put
it all Lebron's feet. He's like ruin the dunk contests

(05:02):
because you wouldn't participate, and then said the decision was
what led to the owners locking the players out and
changing the collective bargaining agreement, and then threw the CP
three trade in as kind of a little dessert after

(05:23):
a delicious entree and didn't really, to my ear, address
any of what Lebron actually said. And then and I
couldn't believe this, and let me say this as well,
I have a really good relationship with steven A. I
actually texted with him this morning, but he is so
I don't want people to think that this is there's

(05:46):
like media beef. But he knows this. We both have
strong opinions. We disagree. I disagree with a lot of
what he says. He's a big boy, grown man. He
understands none of that's personal. And so I'm not I'm
not trying to start something. That guy's a friend of mine.
I just think he's out of his mind on some

(06:07):
of this stuff. And then on his podcast and this
I won't put on him. And you know, appreciate those
producers of that podcast because they put us on their
you know, friendly relationships. But and Demon's ay, this will
blow your mind again in addressing Lebron James saying that

(06:28):
if you're the face of the league, you get extra criticism,
get shit on. When Steven A brought that up on
his podcast, you know what video played alongside it, like
the soundless what we call b roll highlights. Hand to god,

(06:49):
it was Bronni's bad minutes against the Sixers. That's true.
Go look, go watch so like again, I don't think
that's stephen A's call, but it it doesn't exactly just
spell the narrative that, well, yeah, you there might be
a little a little unfairness here, And so that was

(07:11):
his part of it. Bill Simmons, who is as loud
and as respected and as important of an NBA voice
as there is, who is an unabashed, obvious, diehard Celtic
fan who has never really been what you'd call a
Lebron guy, and Lebron's never been a Simmons guy. Simmons

(07:39):
sent out the following tweets, Celts Cavs is a wonderful
NBA game between two excellent teams that's included some terrific
individual performances. This next game will be splendid too. We're
so lucky to be able to watch great players like
Luka Ancic, Lebron, James and James Harden battling it out tonight,
just basically making fun. It's being like, this is ridiculous. Oh,

(08:03):
everyone's got to be so positive. And then Bill went
on a long history lesson on his pod this week
where he was like, this is how it's always been,
and then explained how we went after guys who either
hadn't won or until they won, or very specific postseason

(08:28):
failures in the moment, which is not at all what
Lebron's talking about. Lebron was talking about the general conversation
surrounding the league being constantly negative. And you know who
totally agrees with Lebron that that's a problem, Bill Simmons.

(08:49):
You know how I know that because on December thirty first,
Bill Simmons did an NBA pod with the great Kirk
Goldsbear that is titled The All Positive NBA Show with
Kurt Goldsberry that he says at the beginning he's doing

(09:10):
because the conversation surrounding the league has gotten too negative.
So for some of these guys, even when Lebron says
something they agree with, because it's Lebron saying it, they
can't agree with it. And then Wilbond on the greatest
sports TV show that's ever existed, pardon the interruption, did

(09:35):
you know, did what he always does, which is whether
it is while he's on the broadcast, when Lebron happens
to past Magic Johnson for career assists, or when he's
addressing Lebron's comments, can't help himself but make it clear,

(09:56):
no matter how great these guys are. They're not quite
as great as the guys that happened to be playing
during my personal heyday covering the league. It's crazy how
that works out, and we're yet to see what the
chuckster's going to say, but we'll find out here very soon,

(10:17):
and my guess is it'll be more of the same.
So now that I've set the table on what happened,
oh yeah, and then Lebron responded with tweets. It would
appear this first tweet as a response to stephen A,
where I wrote, exactly made my point. But anyways, happy
this convo has started. It ain't about face of the game,

(10:39):
and it ain't about one person or one show. It's
about the culture of basketball. The most beautiful game in
the world. Our game has never been better. Incredible young
stars from all over the world and some older ones too,
laughing emojis. Steph Curry should be all we're talking about today.
This After you score fifty six, let's discuss how great,
okay seeing the cav have been this season, won two

(11:01):
complete different styles and breakdown why and how they have been.
Of course, if players don't perform, we need to discuss
that too and break that down even that can be
discussed in a way, and this is the important piece
of it. Even that can be discussed in a way
that's not to bring finality to that player's game, but
to leave room to see how that player responds, and

(11:22):
let's watch the journey of that player. This ain't about
me either. This is where I disagree with Lebron, and
I'll get to that in a second. This sayin't about
me either. At this point, I don't really care what's
said about me. It's always something. This is about the
impact the negativity is having on our beautiful game and
our fans. I know I speak for a lot of
the players, more importantly, a hell of a lot of
great fans that truly love and celebrate this sport around

(11:45):
the world. Hashtag mind the game than a cloud emoji,
a brain emoji, and of course a crown emoji, because
what would a Lebron tweet be without the crown emoji?
All right? He then went on with my pal Scott
van Pelt made a similar point after the Laker game,
and now everyone's caught up. So to me, the question

(12:06):
should be, is Lebron right that the coverage of the league,
particularly for the super duper stars, face of the league
caliber guys too negative and if he's right, how did
we get here? So I do think he is correct,

(12:28):
and I do think I have been a part of
the problem at times. I'll explain how in a moment,
and I think so where I disagree with him, where
he says this isn't about him, it actually is almost
entirely about him and one other person, because so much

(12:55):
about how we currently cover the league has to do
with how we covered Lebron James, because how he was
covered has impacted how every other superstar, true super duperstar
is covered. So this is a point I used to

(13:16):
make about Prime Klay Thompson. The better example right now
might be like Devin Booker, where I think those guys
who are in the Jalen Brown Devin Booker tier of
players like ten to twenty, if you were ranking them,

(13:40):
might be in the actual sweet spot because they get
the same MAX contract as the superstar as the super duperstars.
But it is not a daily legacy referendum. When they

(14:00):
play great in big spots, they're lauded. When they play
poorly in big spots, it we usually look to instead
the best player on their team and why didn't he
do more? And that's I think what ants comments are
referring to. While he wants to be this player on

(14:20):
a team, obviously he sees man heavy is the head
that wears the crown. And so that the reason I
say this is about Lebron and one other person is
the Lebron of it all? Is this? How many times
have you been watching sports TV and heard a version

(14:46):
of this? Sometimes by me? That's why I'll say, hand up,
I'm part of it. Well, after a guy misses a
big shot, or plays poorly in a big spot, or
doesn't carry his team far enough, whatever it is, how
many times have you heard this, Well, if we're Lebron,

(15:07):
we'd be killing him. Well, if Lebron did that, And
so the way Lebron was covered set a template to
where it's how then Durant and Steph and Embiide and

(15:27):
Giannis and Jokic, those MVP guys, Well, fair's fair did
it to Lebron? So then we get to this question
why did we cover Lebron that way? And that then
gets to the other person in this story. The only

(15:52):
name in all of NBA history bigger than Lebron's, and
that's Michael Jordan, because so much of our basketball, and
at this point it's not just basketball, it's overall sports

(16:13):
commentary has been twisted is probably too strong of a word,
but adjusted, tweaked, manicured to serve the legend of Michael Jordan.
You hell you saw it in some of the reaction

(16:36):
to the Super Bowl and Mahomes getting a loss in
the biggest game. It's like, oh boy, we all know
those super Bowl losses count different than divisional round losses.
That's a Michael Jordan argument. And when you look back

(16:57):
at how we have covered this league for four years,
there's only one guy, one guy who at each and
every turn has benefited from him, and it's Michael. Let's
go back to how we talk about the nineteen eighties

(17:17):
as a decade. Who was the face of the league
in the nineteen eighties, Oh, there wasn't a face. It
was two guys. We've turned two guys into one person,
Bird Magic. So why why was it not magic and
bird or bird and magic separately? Well, in part is

(17:39):
it because when we turn bird Magic into one person
and don't give Larry Bird his kind of individual standing. Folks,
right now, big enough, NBA fans to care about this,
to be watching this pod to or to be watching
this clip, probably don't know that Larry Bird and Michael Jordan,

(18:02):
their teams played in six playoff games against each other,
and Larry Bird was six and up, not in series
in games disease, you know bird magic in the eighties.
What we have totally erased one person's legacy from the

(18:23):
If you ask die hard NBA fans, give me your
top twenty five, twenty five players of all time, the
vast majority are going to have every single guy that
was the best player on multiple championships with one glaring omission,

(18:44):
and it will be the same omission Isaiah Thomas. Why
because part of part he is just he has been
turned into a bit player. In the story of Michael
Jordan partially erased a keeam's legend. Well, his championships came,

(19:06):
you know, when Michael wasn't playing. Even though one of
those championships came in a year Michael Jordan got MVP votes,
we've glossed over. When people talk about Shaquille O'Neill, Shaquille O'Neill,
does anyone have you ever heard someone make this point
about his greatness at twenty three years old, he out

(19:31):
played he was the best player on the court in
a playoff series with Michael Jordan and beat him. No,
we just pretend it didn't happen. And then the pia
stay resistants of all that is the guy who was
his wingman for the whole thing, Scotty. We we act

(19:56):
like he was a just a a nineties run our
test and that included in Michael's docs. So why am
I explaining that in relation to this, Because it's not
only that the guy that today's face of the league

(20:17):
or the potential faces of the league have to deal
with a constant teardown of what they have or haven't accomplished.
It's that the last the previous guy, the all time
face of the league, got the exact opposite treatment. And

(20:38):
it is again, if you really look at it, we did.
There's so much of how we consume today's NBA that
is colored by how we have discussed and talked about
these two players, Michael Jordan and Lebron James. When it

(21:00):
comes to Michael, we elevate lesser players like Reggie Miller,
who was a nice player. He was eighteen three and
three for his career. He made zero first or second
All Team nbas. That's who he was into a guy
with almost legendary status. Why he had that great one

(21:24):
series against Michael. You hear more about Craig Elo who
Jordan hit the shotover than Sidney Moncrief who beat him
in the playoffs. Was one of the best defensive players ever.
Why we talk about the nineties Nicks, who had one

(21:44):
All Star on their entire team for a decade like
this legendary opponent. Why to build up the legend of
the face of the league. Juxtaposed that to how Lebron
when he was rolling through the East the way Michael

(22:09):
was in the nineties. We didn't build up the sixty
win Hawks, or the Paul George Pacers or the DeRozan
Lowry Raptors into something bigger than they were. No, we
went the opposite. That's the Yeah, yes, you made eight

(22:30):
straight finals, but in that conference against those teams. What
is it again? It's it's not that it's always been
this way. It's not that it slowly became like this.
It's that it did a one to eighty. There are
just certain things that, again in service of one guy

(22:53):
at the expense of the other. We've just decided, like
someone in some bible, some sports bible somewhere decided coincidentally,
right around the time that this guy Lebron was lapping
the field in every category. Actually, you know what, longevity

(23:19):
is not a factor in any of this. It's just
you know what. And when it comes to how great
a player is, how long he was great, nobody cares
about that since when that was that was literally never
a part of any logical sports discussion until again, so

(23:42):
much of how we talk about today's league has to
do with these two players. And then we get to
the media piece of it, because Bill talked about this. Yes,
Michael was criticized until he won, and then once he won,

(24:06):
he was deified to a level an athlete in this
country has never been deified. And so the guys this
current generation, not this generation, the old guys of this generation, Lebron, Katie,
those guys who watched that growing up thought, man, I'm

(24:34):
gonna get that same treatment once I win and I'm
great and I'm the face of the league, universal praise
and adoration. And then the guys who gave that to Michael,
like Wilbond, now say we're not on your payroll. Were

(24:57):
you on Michaels because that's what he got people. It's
it's all projection. People. People say to me and Shannon that, uh,
you guys are They make up in their minds this

(25:17):
tight relationship with Lebron that we must have while denying
the reality of the pretend relationship that you're acting like
that we have with Lebron a moderate shod actually had
with Michael, my main man, Michael Jordan, the sideline reporter

(25:42):
for the finals, was his dear friend and golf buddy.
We we then act like people are being honest arbiters
of this God love him. Built a huge portion of

(26:05):
his career on a singular take, which was this guy
will never be Michael Jordan, and nothing that he can
do can ever change my mind on it. He could
never move off that it was. It was the only
through line other than his Cowboys fandom for his TV career,

(26:33):
and in Woje, who at a point in time was
not only a great reporter the best columnist in the
in basketball media, got iced out by Lebron's camp and
just eviscerated him for years and years and years. Simmons,

(26:59):
who crushed Lebron's family during uh back when he was
doing running diaries about the draft, and then Lebron never
had a real relationship with him, and then Lebron annihilated Simmons.
Celtics has always been a begrudging appreciator of what he

(27:27):
has or hasn't done. And then there's like, there's other
guys who's so much of their career is tied into Michael,
whether it's Wilbon or why does Barkley get a pass
for not winning while he ran into Michael Jordan? All

(27:48):
of this, so you have a whole medium machine, and
then folks have the audacity, the absolute audacity to act
like it's shocking that that it's shocking that Lebron might

(28:12):
occasionally push back or might say, you guys changed the
rules mid game and this isn't how you've treated guys previously,
and so that's what they're talking about, and I think

(28:33):
it's reasonable. I don't know if there's a fix for it.
I think maybe the fix for it is for when
Lebron retires, this whole thing resets, but honestly, maybe not.
All Right, we've got some breaking news here, Demons. Yeah, uh,

(28:58):
this sucks. If you want to break it to the audience.
Then we'll get into it.

Speaker 2 (29:04):
Kyrie. Kyrie tours ACL last night. I thought it was
a hyper extension, but way.

Speaker 1 (29:10):
Worse, way worse. So a hyper extension can lead to
a torn ACL. Uh like the when when when the
hyper extension happens, you can then uh, then the ligaments
are at risk and he tours a cl So for Kyrie,
obviously you feel sick for him. I think Kyrie has

(29:35):
handled the last couple of years about as well as
any player could have. And I've been so impressed by him,
and as far as on a dime, remaking his leader
reputation and maturity reputation and kind of sage wisdom and

(29:58):
all of that, I've never seen any like it like his.
Him going from a guy who it's like, well, great player,
but you're gonna have to deal with a bunch of
other stuff to a guy where the other stuff is
a huge part of his greatness. And it seemingly happened

(30:18):
like on the trade to the Maps, and so you
give him massive credit. You feel sick for him. I also,
he's a pending free agent. How this impacts the contract
he will or won't get. For a guy who turns
thirty three in a few weeks. Maybe it's craven to

(30:41):
talk about that immediately, but you think about that, and
it concerns you. And the other thing you think about
is this, since they traded Lukadncic, he was playing way
too many minutes because they didn't have another ball handler
and this is a and they left themselves with one creator,

(31:06):
one ball handler. And now I mean the minutes he
has played since the start of February. Let's go there, right,
Luca was traded on February first, Okay, so perfect since

(31:26):
the Luca trade forty two, forty forty two, forty four,
forty thirty seven, thirty two in a blowout, forty thirty eight,
thirty eight, and then last night, I it was now

(31:48):
he was playing big minutes prior to that as well.
Actually since Luca's injury, he was playing big minutes. But
Luca was coming back, and Luca would have obviously would
have been back, you know, well earlier than that.

Speaker 2 (32:03):
And going in on the maps, is this the maps
topic right now?

Speaker 1 (32:06):
Yeah? We do it right now, like we might as
well just get to it, uh, the because we have
the breaking news on it, and so I I don't
there's a lot of pieces to this Demon's that are
inextricably tied to the Luca trade.

Speaker 2 (32:28):
Well, and yeah, with them not having the extra ball handler,
but even the guy that they traded for was hurt
since he got there, he played in what a half
of a game, And I think with Nico Collins, with
Anthony Davis being a known hurt player, that's something that
you have to take into account, and like you're seeing
that firsthand, and I just it was it was obviously

(32:49):
a bad decision. Well, what was more likely to happen
Anthony Davis getting hurt or Luka donc is just completely
flaming out and being a entrance to your team.

Speaker 1 (32:58):
Well, so that so there were a million reasons that
Luca trade made no sense, uh, even if all of
your skepticism was correct about him. One was you were
worried about his body, and so you trade for a
guy who's six years older and Anthony Davis who has
really worries about his body. Another one was you actually

(33:21):
already had depth at center. What you didn't have depth
that was shot creator. You trade a shot creator for
the best shot creator arguably in basketball, and Luca for
another big Another reason it was risky. Was your window
with Luca was a decade? You then go Nico Harrison.

(33:42):
You said Nico Collins as the receiver for the Texans,
but I knew who he did? Uh? The You then
go on TV and say your windows three to four years? Well,
this year is done, now done, and next year's in jeopardy?

(34:04):
Like are you and also are you going to re
sign Kyrie Irving? Do you still have to? If you don't,
what are you doing? There was a lot of, you know,
kind of backburner rumors, demons that this could be a
Kevin Durant destination next year, that Katie get back with Kyrie.

(34:28):
You have Anthony Davis. From basketball standpoint, it would fit great. Okay, Well,
now that's massively in question, Like I don't know, you
tear your acl in March. If you're Kyrie, do you
just miss all of next year? And shout out to

(34:48):
Kyrie for shooting those free throws? You know, he obviously
is as big of a Kobe fan as any active player.
Kobe famous famously shot his free throws after he tore
his achilles. You really really hope that Kyrie's career doesn't

(35:09):
follow that same trajectory as far as Kobe was just
never the same guy after that torn achilles. But I
also think Kobe Kobe was thirty four when he tore
his achilles. Kyrie is thirty two about to be thirty three,

(35:32):
was Kobe? I'm looking up when so Kobe tore his
achilles in April of thirteen. Kobe was born in August
of Yeah, so he was thirty four August seventy eight.
So I I just will the MAVs make There's so

(35:57):
many tentacles to this and I'm reacting in real time. Well,
the MAVs make the play in they're three and a
half clear of Phoenix. Phoenix would be a at this
point a more interesting team because of the kdum Booker factor,
even though that team seems to just be ready for

(36:20):
the season to end. But now that whoever gets that
ten seed is dead on arrival, the MAVs have no
who on the MAVs can create a shot, honest to God,
Like last night after Kyrie went down, it's Dante exem
you you know who you also fe I mean Kai Jones.

(36:43):
Shout out to Kai Jones, by the way, who had
some real personal demons and issues I shouldn't. Demons is
too strong. I don't know that he had he had
a it seemed like he might have had a drug problem,
you know, and seems to have gotten himself clean and
is you know, resuming his NBA career. So you root

(37:06):
for young people like that, Like that was going down
the wrong track. He ended up playing big minutes yesterday,
or if they signed him, he goes nine to ten
from the field. But I mean Klay Thompson signs there
thinking I can catch and shoot. Well, who's who you're
catching it from? Now? This isn't I think you know what,

(37:32):
I think I did a bad job in my initial
reaction to this.

Speaker 2 (37:38):
This is a just like the Luca eight trade.

Speaker 1 (37:44):
No, the Kyrie injury. I'm just in the last ten
minutes because this is just an unmitigated disaster of historic proportions.
And you who can say the injury is just bad luck,

(38:04):
But that's only if you think that if Kyrie's workload
was different, if his responsibility was different, if his ability
to rest games, if need be was different, he still
would have torn his ACL. I don't think that. And
the MAVs, who are the defending Western Conference champions, decided

(38:27):
without the player forcing them or even asking them to
decided I am going to blow this entire thing up
and take a risk that's unprecedented in NBA history. And

(38:52):
within a month of the trade, the piece you traded
for who was injured when you made the trade got
hurt again. And the guard in this league that maybe
at this point honestly has more responsibility to his team

(39:15):
than any other guard in the league because of how
the rosters constructed post Luca, you use him in a
potentially reckless manner and his historically shaky knees get one
of them gives out on it, and now you're just cooked.

(39:38):
And you're a team that does not have your own
draft pick for twenty seven through thirty. So that's the
other like they MAV's future draft picks. I talked about
this the other day, so I kind of know it already.
But here's what it is. Outgoing draft picks. In twenty

(40:05):
twenty seven, it goes to Charlotte in twenty twenty eight,
okase can swap with them. In twenty twenty nine, it
goes to Houston or Phoenix. In twenty thirty. I think

(40:27):
the Spurs can swap with them, but twenty seven, twenty eight,
twenty nine, and thirty you do not have your own pick.
And two of those years, yeah you will have someone's pick.

(40:49):
But okay, the in twenty seven it just goes to Charlotte.
In twenty eight, okay, see can swap with you. In
twenty nine, Houston can swap with you, and thirty the
Spurs can swap with you. So if you bought them out,
it doesn't do you any good. I I don't know.

(41:12):
The only reason demons. I think Nico Harrison survives this
is because Patrick Dumont, the owner, came out and did
his own press conference where he was like, two thumbs
up to the trade. You gotta be a grinder like
Shaquille O'Neill and Larry Bird were never drank, never party
and just all ball and and I'm yeah, of course,

(41:41):
and I am just sick for Kyrie. Man. This sucks
and it's it's a lot of money. And I know
nobody cares about the money part of this with pro athletes,
but Kyrie had cost himself a lot of money the
previous few years and left money on the table, and

(42:03):
then because of his own excellent play and the desperation
of the MAVs post, Luca was in a spot where
he was going to get that max deal, and now
I don't know what it means for him. This is devastating.

(42:25):
Oh god, so oh hold on, So that's interesting. So
that's probably what he'll do. Well, I don't know. Yeah,
I mean, he has a player option, but I don't
know that. I so he could pick up the player

(42:48):
option for forty four million, but I think it's more
likely he opts out and still gets a new deal.
I just don't think it'll be a four year max
like so it's if it were a career ending injury,
which it's not, then you just opt into your player option.
I don't think that's what's gonna happen. But I'm just
devastated for Kyrie. I'm not listening, and I'm devastating for

(43:11):
MAVs fans. Thirty days and your entire basketball world is
just you went from having one of the brightest futures
of any team in the league to its as dark
as it gets. And all of a sudden, Anthony Davis
is back on the Pelicans.

Speaker 2 (43:27):
And they're raising the prices in the stadium for Fatigua.

Speaker 1 (43:30):
Well, that's another thing. I saw that story. It's just
a tone deaf timing of the announcement. I don't understand
that piece of it at all, but just joining us
Kyrie Irving torn acl that was the fear last night.
I am amazed by the way quick sidebar. I am

(43:51):
constantly amazed at how accurate those sports me Edison folks
on Twitter are by watching the video of something and
saying what injury the guy suffered. I think those guys

(44:11):
that I follow on Twitter bat like eight hundred. I
think four out of five they nail just by watching
one video. And it's listen, I know nothing about science
or medicine, but it's always impressive to me. All right,
So we'll get to the rest of the show here

(44:33):
in a minute, But first a note from our friends
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(44:54):
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I don't even remember who we picked before our break,

(45:16):
but I know we're picking tonight. So I looked at
these this morning. So there's two, there's one over, one under.
I like a lot tonight. I'm looking at Karl Anthony
Towns over twenty two and a half points tonight. So
you might say, why are you going Karl Anthony Towns
over twenty two and a half? Well, I don't know

(45:38):
if you guys remember, but not that long ago, the
Knicks were playing the Knicks were playing the Nuggets, that's
what it was, and Karl Anthony Towns was guarding Nikola Jokic,
and Draymond popped off on Twitter, essentially saying like, that's

(46:02):
the soft way to play defense. You'll never beat him
in the playoffs playing him that way, ignoring the fact that,
of course they beat them in the playoffs last year,
that Carl Lynon Towns's team did. And I know that
I know Draymond doesn't think. That's because Rudy Gobert was great.
So the reason I'm telling that story is I think
Carl Anthony Town's gonna have a chip on his shoulder tonight.

(46:24):
I think he's too big for Draymond. I think carlnon
Down's over twenty two and a half. And I'm gonna
take Austin Reeves under twenty and a half. Why coming
off the injury playing a terrible Pels team. I don't
think he plays big minutes. Because the Lakers have a
tough stretch coming up, they ease him back in. So

(46:46):
I'll take carlyon Downs over twenty two and a half,
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(48:13):
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slash b ball. All right, demons, let's go to a
different lebron story real quick again. We're gonna kind of

(48:34):
rapid fire through some of the end of this show,
but go ahead.

Speaker 2 (48:39):
Yeah, so he's one point away from being the first
player to reach fifty thousand points now that is regular
in postseason combined, but still obviously really impressive. And he's also,
despite being his age, playing some of the best basketball
of his career. Should we keep looking at stats with Lebron?
What's going on here?

Speaker 1 (48:59):
Okay? So, I don't think it's fair to say he's
playing some of the best basketball of his career. I
do think he's playing some of the best basketball of
his Lakers career. I also think that there is a
difference between compiling and continued excellence, and that is the

(49:25):
point that I will make when it comes to Lebron
getting to fifty thousand career points. So playoffs, regular season combined,
Lebron's at forty nine nine, which by the way, doesn't
include any of the points he has scored in the
play in games or the nd season tournament championship. So

(49:46):
he's passed fifty thousand already. But that's fine. So he's
at fifty thousand, Kareem's at forty four thousand and change,
Karl Malone is at forty one thousand, change, Kobe at
thirty nine thousand, Michael at thirty eight thousand, and Dirk

(50:08):
at thirty five thousand. Okay, those are your top six,
Kevin Durant seventh and thirty five thousand as well. The
reason I say continued excellence is Kareem when he scored
his forty four thousandth point was in the midst of
the worst season of his career, his final season when

(50:30):
he averaged ten points per game. Karl Malone when he
scored his forty one thousandth point, which was the end
was an injury riddled year with the Lakers, the worst
season of his career, when he averaged thirteen points per game.

(50:51):
Kobe when he scored the final the thirty nine thousandth
point of his career, again eleven thousand less than Lebron's
at he was in the midst of the final year
of his career when he shot thirty six percent from
the field and averaged eighteen points per game. Michael when

(51:16):
he scored his what was his number, sorry he get
thirty eight thousandth point, He was in his second year
with the Wizards, averaging twenty points per game, the worst
year of his career. And Dirk when he scored his
thirty five thousandth point was in his final year with Dallas,

(51:36):
shooting thirty six percent when he averaged seven points per game.
So it's not just that Lebron has been available and
played this much, it's that he is going to cross
fifty thousand in a year when he's averaging twenty five,
eight and nine, when he is one of three players

(51:59):
in the league in the top twenty five in points, rebounds,
and assists per game, when he is going to either
be first or second team All NBA, and where he
is going to finish fourth, fifth or sixth in the
MVP race. Probably to be playing at this level this

(52:25):
deep in your career, that's where the stats have to matter,
and that's where we can't get numb to it, and
when you're on a real contender, which gets us to
our next topic. Go ahead to manz La is now.

Speaker 2 (52:40):
The two seed and Lucas seems to be mentioned pretty
well with the Lakers. He's starting to pop out, looking
very comfortable. And now the Lakers are currently plus fifteen
hundred and tied for fourth to win the finals. They
do have the third hardest remaining strength to schedule. How's
it looking over there at LA Do we feel about that?

Speaker 1 (52:59):
I mean, I think they can win the title.

Speaker 2 (53:02):
I think you can get there for sure.

Speaker 1 (53:06):
I think Boston would be a brutal matchup. Yeah, but
I don't. But Cleveland might be a tough matchup for Boston,
and I so I think they can. So here's the thing.

Speaker 2 (53:18):
Beat up on the on the Calves, beat up on
them a little bit before they get there. Yeah, or
the Calves beat them right exactly.

Speaker 1 (53:26):
The Calves could beat him. What the Here is the
the perfect scenario for the Lakers, And it's gonna be
very hard to thread this needle because, as you mentioned,
third hardest schedule, it's gonna be hard to stay as
the two. The perfect scenario for the Lakers is to

(53:51):
stay as the two or the three and have Denver
drop to the four or the five and have Denver
Okse both on the other side of the bracket and
have to play each other in round two and have

(54:11):
that be ah because I think the Lakers could beat
one of those teams. I don't think they could beat
both of those teams. But they have the number one
defense in the league over the last twenty games, that's
a quarter of the season. You are getting elite production

(54:32):
on both ends from Lebron and Luca is slowly turning
back into Luca that and also, man, I the I'm
gonna eat some of your follow up questions here to
Monte because we don't have a ton of time anyone

(54:57):
still caping for Darvinham? Was dark just a Lebron scapegoat.
Did Lebron just hire his podcast buddy or did the
Lakers have a massive problem at the head coach position
the last few years and they're way better now? And listen,
I haven't been. I wasn't a big JJ guy. I

(55:17):
was really worried about his ability to handle the media,
which is weird from a guy who was in the media.
But and so I'm not going to act like I
thought this was a home run higher I didn't. But
I did think they needed to move on from Ham.
And I did hear people say Lebron gets his way again,

(55:41):
gets his podcast buddy as the head coach. Okay, if
that's the case, does he get credit? I'm just curious.
I just want to I don't know the rules of
this stuff. I know that Lebron made them trade all
their future for Anthony Davis? How did that turn out? Well?
Lebron making them trade for Anthony Davis got them a

(56:01):
championship and Luka Doncic does that at least even out
Lebron making them trade for Russell Westbrook and Lebron made
them higher. Jj Reddick, well, when he potentially wins Coach
of the Year this year or at least finishes in
the top three, does Lebron get to at least take
a picture with the trophy? I don't know. All right,

(56:24):
another team with that has skyrocketed on the championship ods
the Warriors. Let's do them Warriors.

Speaker 2 (56:31):
Jimmy Butler, Man, they're looking good as well. Steph Curry's
out there, Duncan, but Jimmy Butler might have given him
a little bit of life of Golden State is currently
plus fifteen hundred and also time for fourth to win
the finals. How we feel about them?

Speaker 1 (56:45):
I don't think they can win the West. I do
think that they now can win a playoff series, but
we got to see where they fall. So they have
fought their way out of the play in line for now,
but it's tenuous. I don't think they're gonna catch Houston.

(57:08):
So Houston is the five seed and is four games
up on the Warriors. I do think it is valuable
for the Warriors to stay the six, but that's six
line unless yeh. If Denver or the Lakers drop down

(57:30):
to the four to five, then the six line could
be valuable. If they don't, then that six line could
be deadly, man, because you're playing the Lakers or Denver
and round one, the Warriors, you know, don't have I
don't think the roster to deal with the Lakers, and

(57:51):
they've got no one to deal with Joker. Well nobody does.
And so right now they've got twenty eight losses, The
Clippers have twenty eight losses, the Kings of twenty eight losses,
and then the Timbrels are sitting there with twenty nine losses.
So do I think the Warriors in round one could
beat Memphis? Yes? Do I think they could beat Houston? Yes?

(58:12):
Do I think they could beat Okay see the Lakers
or Denver? I do not, So I don't. I to me,
there's three teams that can win the West Okay see
Denver and the Lakers. I do think the Warriors, though,
gave themselves a puncher's chance, which you are obligated to

(58:36):
do when you have one of the fifteen greatest players
ever in Steph Curry and he's still playing at a
high level. You're obligated. Go ahead.

Speaker 2 (58:46):
Well, do you think Jimmy Butler, being the player that
he is and how he is in with previous teams,
that this is just like the honeymoon phase. It's good
that you know the new car smell. Do you think
it'll flame out Jimmy Butler potentially gets.

Speaker 1 (58:58):
Oh, I mean listen at some point because everything ends
poorly with Jimmy. But they don't need to worry about
that right now. I think they that when they when
they signed up for it, like Jimmy at the end
will be bad, But if you get a couple of
years of playoff Jimmy, it's worth it. That's just who
he is at this point. So yeah, I don't think

(59:21):
in twenty twenty seven this looks good. But right now
you gave yourself a fighting chance. All right. Before we
get to a little Tatum and Shador, let me tell
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(01:00:51):
a bit. I now ask you a question, which is,
so you are you want to come to the defense
of your guide, Jason Tatum. So what's happening with Jason
Tatum that he needs defending and how do you want
to defend him?

Speaker 2 (01:01:07):
Yeah? See, that's what I wasn't trying to put on
a cape and they'd be like, hey, guys, stop making
fun of Jason Tatum. But at the same time, like
I just you know, they blew the game to the
Calves over the course of three quarters. The other day
he does the f out of here and everybody jumps
on that they went up over I think it was
like twenty five to three against the Calves. It's like

(01:01:28):
everybody's killing them, Like play the whole game through. They're
up twenty five to three in the first quarter. I
just don't understand it as like why everybody's acting like
he blew that lead in the last like minute and
a half the game. It's a long basketball game. People
are gonna talk mess. I feel like other guys don't
get killed for that. But it's it's just Tatum people.
People just love the back of them.

Speaker 1 (01:01:49):
He here's the thing, And like I can't explain it. Uh,
But I think people since an inauthenticity with him, and
it turns some of them off, Like so you know

(01:02:12):
what I mean. I just think I think whatever he
gets the opposite of what Anthony Edwards gets. So Anthony
Edwards is kind of a goofball on a lot of stuff.
He's already gotten suspence, He's already at sixteen textas gets
suspended for it, throws the ball into the crowd, curses

(01:02:32):
like a junior high schooler. Seems to be kind of
reckless off the court, let's say, but he seems so
incredibly comfortable with exactly who he is. People are drawn
to that. I think oddly people get the opposite feeling

(01:02:53):
from Tatum, like he's always performing, and so I think
people are more skeptical.

Speaker 2 (01:02:59):
When he said I out of here, I feel like
that was probably closer to him than wouldever the other
answer it. Like, I feel I feel like that was
him kind of coming out, I don't want to say,
coming out of his shell. Like it's like Jason Tamy's
obviously been in the NBA for a while.

Speaker 1 (01:03:13):
No I get the finals, but uh's and then maybe
so maybe he gets criticized either way. All right. Now
you also, so we have questions about Shore Sanders the quarterback.
Other people seem to have a questions about Sure Sanders
the leaders personality, those things. You have a different question.

Speaker 2 (01:03:34):
I think, go ahead, Well it's not really a question,
but I saw that where is that he was a
little difficult with the team meetings or whatever and the
combine He's like, if you don't want to change the culture,
don't get me. And my thoughts on that are just like, hey, dude,
wherever you go, please you better change the culture. Make
sure you do that, because I don't understand why people

(01:03:57):
do that, Like I understand, like you know, I don't
want to make it like I don't have that dog
in me and like be like why I put those
types of types of pressures on myself. But at the
same time, I feel like there's also a better way
to do that, that way saying it like that, it's
just what do you talk about, dude?

Speaker 1 (01:04:11):
Well it also here's the other piece of it. It does,
but it welcomes the question of did he change the
culture or did Dion because Dion ain't gonna be there,
and so like that there is that piece of it.
I like Shidor the kid. I thought he had some

(01:04:34):
crummy tweets about a year and a half ago about
some teammates.

Speaker 2 (01:04:37):
I didn't love that his dad, I'm pretty sure right,
but that was.

Speaker 1 (01:04:42):
But he's a I think for the most part, he
has handled fame and wealth far better than most young
people would. So I give him real credit for that,
and everyone that's been around him is really impressed by him.
I just don't know if he's going to be a
top flight NFL quarterback, and I think he could sl
come the draft way further than most people think. Uh

(01:05:06):
And so like there is that piece. I'm gonna add
one other thing before we get to the listener questions.
So almost a decade ago, right around the time that
I moved to LA and was commuting LA to Houston,

(01:05:29):
Demanse started playing for a high level A This isn't
about what you said last night. Demanse started playing for
a high level AU basketball team called Basketball University that
DeMont listened. Demanse went to a six A high school
in Houston and was team MVP in all district. Is

(01:05:54):
a junior for a school with three thousand kids. Demanse
was a legitimately high Major D one recruitable basketball player
and was playing on a summer team league team that
I think it's fair to say, tell me if I'm
you know, offending you here had seven kids who were
better than.

Speaker 2 (01:06:13):
You on that white team. Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's
that's what they were telling me. I'd be like the
eighth or ninth option.

Speaker 1 (01:06:20):
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, and I think and I think
it was fair. I mean I think they were. I
mean it was.

Speaker 2 (01:06:24):
I mean, they had a couple, might be a couple
that I might not have agreed with, but for the
most part sor but like at least.

Speaker 1 (01:06:31):
The day you walked in, there were seven kids better
than yes, whatever it was. So the point that I'm
making is demand was a legit awesome basketball player and
got with a team that had nothing but legit awesome
basketball players. And they were all your age except for

(01:06:52):
one kid. They were all kids that were going to
be seniors, except for one kid who was going to
be a sophomore, who was, to my eye, just so,
you better than everybody.

Speaker 2 (01:07:06):
Oh you said it. It's really funny. From the jump.
I don't know like what got the conversation started. But
back in that time, like we went back home or something.
Somebody had asked about practice, and somebody asked about Quentin
and you just finally said, like, the kid's gonna go
to the NBA. You're just like, yeah, he's definitely going
to the NBA. And yes, So there was one kid
there ruined a part of the story, but that.

Speaker 1 (01:07:28):
No, it's totally fine because he didn't say the full name,
who was fifteen years old, who was not the biggest
kid and did not have the best shot, but was
just clearly the best. And I was like, oh, that
kid's a pro. It was like, that kid is a pro.

(01:07:50):
And I and I told, I told demonsday after the
first practice, it's like, that kid's a pro. And then
I followed him and he was His name's Quinton Grimes
and coming out of high school he was the number
eight kid in the nation by Rivals five star. Went

(01:08:15):
to Kansas and had one of the weirdest years of
any player I've ever seen, because I really was invested
in this kid, because I really liked his dad, Because
I would the practices were so far away, it's like
an hour drive to go to the practice, that I

(01:08:37):
would just stay. I wasn't really like a helicopter dad
of this stuff, but I'm not. There's nowhere for me
to go, so I'd stay and watch Quinton. In his
first ever college game for Kansas against Michigan State as
a true freshman, had twenty one and four on fifty

(01:08:59):
percent shooting, hit six threes. In his second college game ever,
he had ten and ten, ten points, ten assists, and
then just never played well for them again. Had won,
like I lost law. I think it remained a starter,

(01:09:25):
but just was awesome his first two games and then
I don't know, like I didn't follow it enough to
be like, did he have falling out with the coach?
What was it? I don't know, But by game five
was playing fifteen minutes and then it just never in
the tournament, you know, was two for ten in the

(01:09:46):
first tournament game. It just didn't work and he ended
up uh transferring to Houston, and by the end of
his time at Houston he played. So he was supposed
to be a one and done, no doubt. Kid ended

(01:10:07):
up playing three years and being a late first round
pick and is now played for four NBA teams. The
Knicks drafted him, they traded him to the Pistons. He
got traded to the MAVs traded him to the Sixers.
And the reason I'm telling the story is because I

(01:10:29):
was in New Zealand and I saw that the Sixers
beat the Warriors. It's the only Warriors loss since they
have Jimmy, And I'm like, how the hell did that happen?
And I look at the box score and I'm like,

(01:10:50):
did Maxi go crazy? And Maxie had five points on
two of fourteen shooting, and I'm like, well, I know
Paul George didn't go crazy, So how did they win?
And Quentin Grimes had forty four points in an.

Speaker 2 (01:11:07):
NBA man Golden State.

Speaker 1 (01:11:12):
Against the Warriors, and it made me so happy. And
I text Demons and I was like, hey, when you
get a chance, check the Sixers Warriors box score.

Speaker 2 (01:11:23):
And so because when you texted me that, I was like,
all right, what's he talking about? And then I went there.
I was like, oh my god, Like that was a
It's forty four, man, that's the never that could never
be taken from me. Like forty four, No, I think anything.

Speaker 1 (01:11:37):
Game he's gonna get. So here's the other thing he's
gonna get. Good run with the Sixers. The rest of
the year. This is the final year of his rookie contract.
And now he's got a career, like you know what
I mean, Like now he's been the so like he's

(01:12:00):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:12:00):
What type of downfall kind of helping this. I don't
want to say downfall, but like, yes, lack of production
from him, right.

Speaker 1 (01:12:08):
Yeah, so like he uh, the fact that he has
reef kind you know, he's a reliable three and D guy,
and those guys in the NBA that now, even if
you don't do much else, he's gonna you know, they
make ten million dollars. Like it's just so cool. I'm

(01:12:31):
just I couldn't believe it when I and when you
saw the forty forty four point game against a team
fighting for playoff position that cares. I just it made
me happy. All right, Uh, let's do some quick listener
questions also a reminder like rate subscriber review, do all
that stuff. I mean, we really covered the gamut today.

(01:12:53):
But go ahead, demons, I say, Louis says, greeting from Portugal.
Appreciate that.

Speaker 2 (01:13:00):
Go to Max here, Max is, what was your favorite
thing you did in New Zealand. It's been on my
bucket list. Forever.

Speaker 1 (01:13:10):
The South Island and Queenstown in particular is the most
beautiful place I've ever been in the world. And we
took this little eight person plaine from Queenstown to the
Milford Sound, which isn't a sound, it's actually a fjord,

(01:13:30):
but doesn't matter, and you fly over these mountains that
have glaciers on them, even though it's the summer down there,
those glacier they're glaciers, so they're there forever that it's
these like reflective ponds that are like a bright turquoise

(01:13:53):
color because it's glacier ice, plus like the minerals from
the mountain, and you're looking at a place that like
it's like, oh, human beings have never set foot there ever,
right there's nowhere to land, there's no road, there's no anything,
you know, you're just looking at it untouched. And then

(01:14:15):
you land and you take this boat right around Milford
Sound and it's just one of the most remarkable places
in the world, and so there's not a lot to do.
Like I was also shocked at how many people in
New Zealand. I'm going to sound like a jerk here,
how many people in New Zealand watch American Sports TV.

(01:14:35):
That's what I'll say. But uh, it was just the
It was the prettiest place I've ever been.

Speaker 2 (01:14:43):
What are you laughing about? Yeah, exactly, I know. I
know you said you wanted to avoid people or avoid
places where folks say a be.

Speaker 1 (01:14:55):
At c yet no, no, no, but it was. It was,
But it was. And to me, I would say one
other thing on this and then we'll then we gotta
go because this is ninety minute pot because it's a

(01:15:15):
seventeen hour flight. It's doable if you're smart about how
you do it. So my recommendation for anybody that's on
one of those flights, stay up for the first four

(01:15:38):
hours if you can of the flight, like, watch a
couple movies, eat, don't go to sleep early in the flight.
And then what I did both legs was stayed up
those first four hours, had a couple cocktails. I don't

(01:16:00):
I don't know if I'm supposed to say this or not.
Now that I said I had a couple of cocktails,
I'll say what I did, had a couple of glasses
of wine and took one Advill pm uh and then
just slept for ten hours. So you stay up for
the first four sleep as long as you can, and
then you're up for the last two. And we were like, Nick,
you're flying first class. No I'm not. I'm not. Uh,

(01:16:23):
And so the the first class tickets were sticker priced
thirty thousand dollars a person, So I'm like, I don't
think anyone actually buys these, like you can then like
bid on upgrades or whatever. So the but the regular
tickets were, you know, a couple grand. So it's listen,
it's not a it's not a cheap trip, but it's

(01:16:45):
not it's not like, you know, undoable as long as
you can do with the flight, And so I thought, you, well, here,
I don't understand that. So I don't understand the the
This is the second trip I've been on where when
I went to buy the plane tickets the listed price
for first class was thirty thousand dollars and my for

(01:17:09):
one ticket round trip. And my reaction to that always
is like, doesn't everyone who has thirty thousand dollars spend
on a ticket already on their own? Like I just don't.
I don't know, Like maybe it's business travelers and companies
are paying for it, So I don't know what did happen.
I will say this. I flew quantas is. They then

(01:17:34):
let you because shockingly first class uh didn't sell out.
They then send you an email and like, hey, do
you want to bid? Send in a blind bid to upgrade,
and so uh you know what I mean. So I
did that, didn't get the upgrade on the way back,

(01:17:54):
and so the and but so whatever, like it was
totally worth it.

Speaker 2 (01:18:01):
And I I you know, I love everyone from the
pictures I saw.

Speaker 1 (01:18:05):
Yeah, your mom posted it. All right, great show, great
job everybody. I'll see you guys on Collins Show in
about ninety minutes. I will see you guys on First
Things First in a few hours. Brew is back, Wild
is back, whole crew back on First Things First, Like,
great subscribe review, do all that stuff. Talk to you
guys later. What's right,