August 17, 2020 • 36 mins
Clay Travis prepares for the FOX Sports Radio playoff bracket that you can participate in, by giving you all of his NBA picks, including his champ. It’s Monday, which means Jason Whitlock joins the show! Clay asks Jason about his beef with his new city’s cable company, the NBA‘s issues, and gets his bubble picks, including the Finals.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Outkicked the Coverage with Clay Travis Live every weekday morning
from six to nine a m. E Stern three to
six am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local
station for OutKick the Coverage at Fox Sports Radio dot com,
or stream us live every morning on the I Heart
Radio app by searching fs are you're listening to Fox
(00:23):
Sports Radio if you're just getting in your car to
start off your morning. I spent the first hour teeing
off on the Big Ten and why I believe all
college football should be played, and I'm sure we're gonna
be talking a lot about that all week. But also,
you got the NBA playoffs that are officially underway tonight,
(00:47):
really this afternoon, starting at around one Eastern time. They're
gonna be going all day. We've got sixteen teams that
are left. And if you watched over the weekend, the
Trailblazers fall their way in as the eight seed, eliminating
the Memphis Grizzlies. John Morant had a heck of a
game and defeat. There's a lot of reasons for optimism
(01:08):
if you're a Memphis Grizzly fan, giving all the injuries
that they had, but the Trailblazers in the nine games
that they have played in the Bubble, have found a
way to win seven of them, and all nine of
them feel like they have come down to the final
couple of minutes. It's one of the craziest things I've seen, uh,
And I think the Trailblazers are going to give the
Lakers a challenge, especially if we can continue to see
(01:33):
Damian Lillard playing anywhere near the level that he has
been playing so far. But I thought to start off
our two and we'll bring in Jason Whitlock and get
his picks on this as well as his discussion about
the Big Ten and the Pack twelve and all the
college football craziness as well. Will continue that discussion, But
I thought maybe I'd go ahead and give you all
(01:54):
my picks so we can keep this. We've got the
bracket challenge that is out there at Fox sports dot com.
Do you know the exact uh, the exact link dub
that I can give out for anybody who wants to
fill out a bracket. We didn't get to do the
n c Double A tournament, so we are doing an
NBA Playoffs bracket challenge for people out there who are
(02:15):
desperate for who have bracket envy? Basically, we didn't get
a chance for the first time in my life, for
the first time in your life, to fill out an
n C Double A tournament bracket. So we have built
a bracket allowing you to play for cash and prizes.
And I'm not even sure all the different things you
can win at Fox sports dot com. Uh sorry, Fox
sports radio dot com backslash something I don't know what
(02:37):
heck it is. They'll put up the link for you
at Fox Sports Radio. Uh the Twitter handle there. But
I filled one of these out. A lot of you
have as well. You gotta get your picks in before
obviously the first game tips. But I'm gonna walk you
through what I see happening, who I see winning, and
where and how I see it emerging. So I'm gonna
(02:58):
start off in the Eastern Conference. Uh, the Milwaukee Bucks
are obviously the biggest favorite, and if you heard us
talking last week, one of the biggest questions that's been
out there is what's up with you? Honest, the guy
has not seemed like he's his usual happy warrior on
the basketball court. He seemed angry, he seemed embittered, He
(03:18):
just just seemed like a very different person. Maybe it's
living in the bubble, maybe it's uh, maybe it's being
away from his family. I don't particularly know why it is.
I just know that it's definitely felt that way as
you've watched him play. But you were watching the Bucks
in a series against the local team that probably is
(03:39):
ready to get back. I think the Orlando Magic are like, man,
we've been in Orlando, We've been in this bubble for
a long time, ready to be done here. I think
the Bucks win that series in five. So I've got
the Bucks winning in five games, moving on to the
next round in the Eastern Conference. Uh the other team
(03:59):
that is playing that They will then face Miami Heat
and the Indiana Pacers. It's gonna be an interesting series,
but I think the Pacers find a way to get
it done there. Then the Pacers go up against the Bucks,
and the Bucks advance to the Eastern Conference finals. So
that is one corner of the bracket. Not a lot
(04:19):
of excitement there, not a lot of surprises. I have
got the Bucks advancing against the Indiana Pacers. Now here's
the challenge. In general, it's fun to fill out these brackets,
but what makes the n C Double a tournament fun
is in a one game setting, anything can happen. The
worst team can win, somebody can be hot from outside,
(04:41):
somebody else can miss seven or eight free throws. Next thing,
you know, the team that you would have never anticipated
anticipated finding a way to win. Does. That's what makes
the n C Double a tournament so much fun to watch.
The buzzer beater truly matters in a seven game series.
It's really hard for the best team not to win. Now,
(05:02):
you may have some situations where there's not much that
separates the two teams and it comes down to a
seven game uh, and you know that anything can happen.
That's why game seven is the best thing that can
happen in pro sports. But the challenges who actually knows
on a day to day basis how many of these
series are actually going to go to seven, especially early
(05:23):
on in the NBA. Now, the wild card this year,
of course, is I would think inferior teams would be
even more disadvantaged by the neutral site setting because the
better team, I believe, is going to be way more
likely to win by far than the the lesser team.
(05:44):
Because the lesser team may be more likely to be
impacted in a positive way by what happens from their crowd,
especially the yes the lesser team if they are young.
I don't think the same sort of situation is going
to exist with all these games in a neutral site.
Not to mention, it takes away all the uncertainty of travel,
all the challenges associated with that. I just think in general,
(06:07):
there's not gonna be as much suspense. The better teams
are gonna win more frequently without the crowd present, without
the home court advantage. And I think it's also gonna
impact the officiating. I think the officiating is gonna be
better than it ordinarily would because officials get regularly impacted
in general by the way that everything the crowd influences them. Overall.
(06:32):
So when you break out this top quartile there that
I just did, I think the Bucks, as the best
team in the East, are gonna advance the Eastern Conference Finals.
What about the bottom half of the quadrant here? As
you break down what's going on in the NBA Raptors
Raptors have been on fire. They've played phenomenally well. Anybody
(06:54):
who believes that they were going to lose Kauai and
still be as good as they are is lying to you.
The Nets are year away. Look when you think about
Laverte and how well he played, and how well he's
gonna play with Kyrie Irving and with Kevin Durant, I
think there's a lot of reason for the Brooklyn Nets
(07:14):
fans to be excited going forward, but not this year.
In the short term, I like the Raptors in five
over the Nets, and then I like the Celtics in
five over the seventies sixers and the Nets. Uh. Sorry,
in the Raptors and the Celtics series, small upset here,
small upset here. For me, I've got the Celtics advancing,
(07:35):
and so I have got the Bucks and the Celtics
as my Eastern Conference finals. All right, let's go to
the Western Conference. Let me walk you through how I
see the Western Conference playing out, uh and uh. In particular,
I think this Lakers Trailblazer series is gonna be a
lot of fun to watch if I am a Laker
fan like Danny g Is and if I am out
(07:57):
there paying attention to everything going on with Lebron and
and and Anthony Davis. Look, the Lakers have trouble scoring.
I know they got Kuzma is the third score, but
their guard play ever since the decisions by Bradley Uh
to not play and then region Rondo with the injury,
has been very questionable. Worst of all, offensively, the Lakers
(08:19):
have been the worst team in the Bubble, poor shooting,
even with a really efficient offensive set up coming from
Lebron and So I think there's gonna be a lot
of weight on Anthony Davis, a lot of weight on
Lebron James, a lot of weight on Kyle Kuzma. Meanwhile,
the Blazers can't defend anybody. I've loved watching their games,
but it feels like every Blazers game has been a
(08:40):
hundred and forty two hundred and thirty five. So I
think what's gonna happen here is it's gonna be a
battle of styles, and ultimately the Lakers have the two
best players. But I think the Blazers have the better
team and the better players are gonna win. But I
think the Lakers do it in six games. I think
the Trailblazers will take two. I love the Trailblazers in
(09:01):
the first game here on Tuesday, because they've been in battles.
I think they're more battle hardened. Wouldn't shock me at
all if they come out and win Game one. But again,
none of it matters from a home court advantage perspective.
There's not gonna be much of a home court advantage
at all for anybody, and so who wins a game
really won't carry forward. I don't think very much to
(09:23):
the next game, getting a home court win on the
rivals court. All those things are not gonna matter. Ultimately,
it's just gonna come down to a seven game series.
I think the Lakers find a way to get past
the Trailblazers, but I think this will be a really
fun series to watch. And if Damian Lillard plays like
he's been playing, and if c J McCollum, even with
a broken back, can actually make the plays that he
(09:46):
has been in, Nurkics can take control on the glass.
Guy had twenty and twenty against the Grizz. I think
this Blazers team has a lot of horses to it.
They're a lot healthier than they would have been uh
if they had not had this bubble say area, and
I think frankly, if the Blazers have been been healthy
all season, they would have been a four or five,
and one thing that's fun to watch in this Blazers
(10:08):
and in this Lakers series is how frequently they're gonna
double team Damian Lillard. But when that happens and he's
able to get the ball to Nurkics, I want you
to pay attention to how well Nurkic moves for a
big man and how well he passes out of these scenarios.
So Gary Trent Jr. Needs to make some shots. Carmelo
(10:30):
Anthony made a big shot down the stretch to basically
seal the wind for the Trailblazers. Those are going to
be stories that are worth following. Who can make plays
outside of nur Chick, Nurkics, c J McCollum, and Damian Willard. Ultimately,
I think the Lakers survive. I'm not gonna go full
Charles Barkley and argue that the Blazers are going to
(10:51):
the NBA Finals like he has to his credit taking
a big swing there. I think the Lakers get him
in six alright. Other series that are out there, Clippers, MAVs,
this gonna be fun to watch. Strong argument I want
you to think about this that you can make is
that Janice and Luca our modern day Larry and Magic,
(11:14):
except they're both foreign There is a strong argument that
by next year, the two best players in the NBA
are gonna be Nice and Luca, but both of them
are foreign born players. They're basically Magic and Larry in
the twenties, except reflecting the NBA's global business, they're both
(11:36):
guys who were born overseas and historically maybe this will change,
but historically that has impacted in a big way how
much the American sports fan embracism. Americans love American born
athlete stars. Will that change in the NBA? I think
Luca and Janice are really interesting test cases be so far,
(12:01):
both guys have been stellar on the court, but the
average sports fan has not tuned in to watch them
in big numbers. This will be an interesting series. Here's
the challenge. The Clippers are four no this year against
the MAVs and they have dominated them in all four
of those games. I think it continues. Clippers win one
(12:22):
and sorry the MAVs win one, Clippers win four, Clippers
advanced in five. Who are they going to go up
against the Jazz and the Nuggets are playing? I like
the Nuggets to get it done against the Jazz, Mike
Conley Jr. Leaving. He hasn't played particularly well for the Jazz,
but he just left the Bubble. Jazz have been an
enigma this year. I don't think they've played particularly well.
(12:43):
Nuggets haven't played that well in the postseason in general.
I think they advanced Nuggets against Clippers. Bad matchup for
the Nuggets. Clippers and five Lakers gonna go up against
the Thunder. My one upset pick as I think the
Thunder are gonna get past the Rockets. I think CP
three is going to get revenge on the Rockets for
moving him on. Russell Westbrook not particularly healthy. This Rockets
(13:06):
team is gonna shoot fifty or sixty three's. You have
no idea what's gonna happen on any given night. I
think it goes seven games. The Thunder find a way
to get past the Rockets. Thunder, Lakers, Lakers handle the Thunder,
and it is Lakers Clippers as many of us have
anticipated it would be in the Western Conference Finals. So
my final four in the NBA Clippers, Lakers going up
(13:29):
against the Bucks Celtics. I've got the Bucks coming out
of the East, and let me think about that for
a minute, I'm gonna reverse course. I'm gonna go with
the Celtics in seven over the Bucks. Alright, I'm filling
out my bracket as we go through. Right now, I've
got the Celtics in seven over the Bucks. And also
(13:51):
I think that the Clippers are gonna get past the
Lakers in six. So I have got a Clippers Celtics
NBA Finals, and I have got the Clippers hoisting the
hardware in six over the Celtics. All right, there is
the entirety of my NBA predictions. Put those on file, Danny,
(14:15):
g lock them up. We'll see how my predictions do
will bring in the crew tomorrow. Maybe get everybody's predictions,
even though the games will have already started. I'll give
you guys a one game advantage because I got Jason
Whitlock already scheduled to roll in with me next, and
Jason Whitlock is gonna be with me for the rest
of the show. You guys love Whitlock. Mondays. We are
(14:38):
halfway through the program now, and we have had a
lot of fun already, but things are about to get
spicy with Jason Whitlock joining me next. This is outkicked
the coverage with Clay Travis. Jason Whitlock joins us now
at Whitlock Jason on Twitter. You can read him on
OutKick dot com every single day. How is the new
(15:00):
place coming along in Nashville? Are you feeling like a
full on nashvilleon? Do you have cable? Do you have
the internet yet? I have Internet, I have a home
phone number. Uh, don't have cable yet. I'm debating whether
or not I'm gonna have cable. Yeah, I watched the
(15:21):
Saturday's Portland Memphis game online and it worked out well,
and so it's making me explore the possibility of cutting
the cord. So that let's get into this to cutting
the cord idea, because I've still got cable in my
house because I've got a lot of kids running around,
(15:43):
as you know, and they want to watch Disney and
everything else. But we also have Disney, plus, we have
the w W E Network, we have Amazon, We've got Netflix,
everything else, and we don't My kids watch the most
is YouTube. So it's really almost exclusively for me at
this point, and almost exclusively for sports that we even
(16:04):
have cable. Yeah, I'm trying to figure out how you
watch sports like I have an ESPN Plus subscription. I
think I can run that through my TV. I watched
the game this weekend or through my laptop, but I
think I can run that through my TV. Uh. And
(16:25):
so I'm just worried about the NFL. But I've got
the I've got like I think I have three or
four NFL Sunday ticket packages because I like to watch
as many NFL games as possible. And I used I
run those two roku on my on my TVs, and
(16:46):
so I don't know, I'm just debating on just cutting
the cord and just uh, the cable people didn't show
up at your place after they were scheduled to do,
and you're just bitter and angry. That's part of it.
But it's crazy that was Exfinity that screwed me over
and then someone failed me out over social media, and uh,
(17:11):
they got Comcast to come in and hook up my
WiFi and phone and sure enough, Comcast is Exfinity. Yeah,
so I ended up getting Exfinity anyway, I just I
just don't have cable at the moment, all right, So
what did you think? So obviously there's a ton of
stuff we want to get into with you, but you
just mentioned it, so I'm gonna lead with it. Damian
(17:33):
Willard has been playing out of his mind, and as
I have watched, because I watch everything, I'm like you.
I mean, I understand there are people out there who
are like, oh, I'm not gonna watch the NBA because
of the kneeling or the names, or the or the
you know, what's written on the court and everything else.
And I think we've talked about this a little bit.
The quality of play in the bubble and the overall
(17:55):
television viewing experience or streaming experience, however you watched, it
has been so fantastic that if the NBA had just
been focused on the product itself of basketball on the court,
I think there would be a huge percentage of people
they're like, man, this is fantastic. This is one of
the best things I've seen a long time. Instead, I
(18:15):
still feel like there's a huge part of my audience.
It's like I can leave it. I don't necessarily need
to watch. And that's unfortunate because Damian Lillard has been
on a hot streak that makes Steph Curry seemed like
he was never even on a heater. Look, you're you're
taking the words right out of my column that I
have not posted yet. That's goodness, right, I'm you know,
(18:36):
going to post this morning, so you're on the right
topic because I'm trying to and I haven't reached the
final conclusion yet on what's my advice to people that
don't want to watch the NBA? Because I get it
and and and just like you, I watched that Portland's
Memphis game, been watching with Damian. Fantastic game. Fantastic game.
(19:01):
The quality of play tremendous and Clay, it's for obvious reasons.
These guys aren't drunken, hungover, Like I think there's a
truth to that. They don't have to travel, they don't
have to travel, they're not up till three am. I
think there's a lot of truth to it. Yeah, and
all they're just playing basketball. And this is these guys
(19:24):
playing basketball at their highest level. And there's like this
optimism even though Damian Lillard's team, you know, had to
play a play in and make it in the playoffs,
but they authentically believe, like, hey, anything can happen here.
Avery Bradley is not playing for this uh Lakers, and
(19:45):
you know that there's a lot of upheaval in the NBA,
and who knows, it's just like this uh t J.
Warren or bubble Warren for the bubble Warren for the
Pacers that's been going nuts. Anything's possible inside this bubble.
And so yeah, I think they could be on the
verge of having one of their greatest playoffs in recent memory.
(20:07):
But I don't know how to advise people, because I
get it. The only thing wrong with this m p
A is this whole swallowing of the Black Lives Matter narrative.
I just don't need it. I don't need to be
thinking about police brutality and a bunch of tall people
(20:29):
wagging their fingers at me and preaching to me. I
just wanted to play basketball. I just want to enjoy it.
And so for the people that are having mixed emotions,
I get it. I'm trying to come up with some
advice for you in my column this morning or what
you should do, because if not for the politics, the NBA,
(20:51):
I think would be the whole the biggest success story
from the pandemic because people would see a level of
play and a level of enthusiasm and energy that they
had they're not used to seeing from the NBA even
in the playoffs. This could just be an incredible success
story for the NBA, but they're gonna dirty it up
(21:12):
by focusing on politics. It's crazy too, because they're gonna
have four games today, four games tomorrow, four games on
into the future. You know, it's exactly what it is.
It's exactly what it is, and if it were just
a basketball game, then I think most people would sit back,
like I went through right before you came on and
(21:34):
gave all my picks for who I thought was gonna
win each of the different breakdowns. We're doing a bracket
challenge with Fox Sports Radio dot com. You can go
sign up for your own bracket challenge if you've got
bracket envy because you didn't get to do the the
n C Double A Tournament this year. And it's just
like it's impossible to avoid because of the of the
(21:56):
names on the people be like, oh, well, you don't
you know, because I do think there's an argue. I'm
curious what you think about this. If you just have
people protesting the national anthem, you cannot like it, But
you can sit down like three or four minutes later
and you can pretend it never happened right in your
head at least when the NBA players protested national anthem whatever, like,
(22:20):
you can just pretend it didn't happen. But then they've
got statements on their jerseys and they've got Black Lives
Matter written on the basketball court. It's literally impossible for
you to just sit down, flip on the television, crack
open a beer, and only enjoy the basketball. And that's
the intent, but I just think it's a really bad
(22:41):
move because I think in this era where everybody's looking
for an escape and everybody's looking for entertainment and everybody's
looking for an opportunity to escape the real world, they're
just clabbering us in the head over and over again
with the real world and oh, by the way, it
ain't just the real world. It's a le the Wing
version of the real world. And then you got the
(23:03):
commercials where their choreographed them preaching and what they're gonna
change the world and they're gonna fix it. And then
you got the announcers that feel like at some point
they have to address it and have to say something
about a player and what he's doing for social injustice
and blah blah blah, and it's just cla. Something hilarious
(23:27):
happened this weekend. Are showed up on my Twitter feed,
uh Sunday or or maybe or maybe it was a
buddy texted me. Kevin Gardinett on NBA TV or t
n T one was doing some kind of Wheel of
Fortune type game and he had to read the word
(23:49):
on the on the spinning wheel and the word equivalent
came up and he could not pronounced. He couldn't read
the word equivalent. I mean this hysterical, Well, I think,
and and it's politically incorrect to talk about it, but
(24:09):
I could care less. I'm just sorry. And this is
my whole point about these really tall, amazing athletes, because
if I were really tall and amazing athletes, I'm just
telling you, I wouldn't have cared about school. I wouldn't
have been a good student. I would have developed my
talents physically and cast into the best of my ability.
(24:32):
And that's my point with these athletes, Lebron James, any
of them, nurging any They've been developing their physical skills
their whole life, because that's the smart thing to do.
There's a big pot of gold if they can develop
These aren't rocket scientists. These aren't leaders of the free world.
(24:55):
These are basketball players. Not call them stupid. They're making
decisions that were best based off the physical gifts that
God blessed them with. They hit the genetics lottery and
they did everything to cash in on it. But I'm
just sorry. When I saw Kevin Gardener couldn't figure out
(25:17):
the word equivalent, I was just like, and this is
the guy that's gonna help fix America. And I'm not
talking about Kevin Gardenman individually, but I'm like, this is
the group of people that are gonna fix America. People
that struggle reading equivalent. I mean, let'sten, and I know
that's not all of them. I used to be an athlete,
and but I just get it. If you got that
(25:41):
much physical skill, develop it. That's the smart thing to do.
But you're not a rocket science It's interesting to me
because when I was growing up, it seems to me
that every time one of the actors or actresses, I'll
take it outside of athletics, when an actor or actress
got to uh to make us to accept an award
(26:03):
at the Oscars and went off into some you know,
like whatever political belief he or she had like, I
feel like the entire country collectively rolled their eyes. Like
I can remember watching that with my parents and being like, Okay,
you know whoever this person is, I'm just throwing one out.
Jack Nicholas, Jack Nicholas, great actor, obviously also big NBA fan.
(26:26):
I don't necessarily think that Jack Nicholas understood American foreign
policy with Russia that well. Right, So if Jack Nicholas
has a real take about the Cold Cold War back
in the day, I think most of us would roll
our eyes. Now sometimes maybe Jack Nicholas is really and
I'm just using him an example. I don't even remember,
but obviously he was big in the in the eighties.
(26:47):
He could have been theoretically doing that, right, Everybody rolled
their eyes now. It's like whenever an actor or athlete
gets up accepts an award, Sorry, it's Jack Nils Sary Nicholson,
not Jack Nicholas. I don't know what Jack Jack Jack.
I've been I've been thinking about golf too much. I
don't know what Jack Nicholas is. Politics war either, Jack Nicholson. Sorry,
(27:11):
uh sits cordside with the Lakers. Everything else, all right,
everything else? I said the exact same, except not the
Golden Bear. I'm talking about the the the illustrious actor. Right,
everybody would roll their eyes. Now when an actor or
actress wins an award and they go up and they
make a statement, everybody's like, so brave of them to
use their platform, clap like, oh, it's so like when
(27:32):
did this? Is it just social media? Is that what
has changed everything? Because I still feel like the average
person out there rolls their eyes when an actor or
actress presumes to lecture them about particular political issues that
have nothing to do with actor or actressing. No, I
think that celebrity worship has just heightened during the course
(27:56):
of our lifetime. There used to be a time in
order for you to be worshiped as a celebrity, you
had to be Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, you had to
be Michael Jordan. You had to be really, really good
once in a lifetime. Well, now that all these celebrities
(28:19):
and basketball players, if you're the sixth man on the
NBA team, you're getting paid like you're a legitimate superstar
and you're this unique talent, and so it's made the
money has made us worshiped even more of these people
and placed them on an even higher pedestal, and it's just,
(28:42):
you know, it looks all of it. It was wrong
for us to worship Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney and
Bill Cosby and all these other flawed human beings that
we've worshiped. But it's now just gotten to the point
of ridiculousness that you don't even have to be that good.
If you're in the entertainment world, you can make a
(29:03):
lot of money. I sit there and think about looking
the money I made hosting a television show. It's more
stock Delvin show that you know didn't hell didn't have
a massive audience. And so it's just all gotten more ridiculous.
And so we take because of their wealth and because we've, oh,
they've achieved the level of success that's unprecedented. We just
(29:26):
take these guys more seriously when we should take them
less seriously, because their love for privilege, their removal from
normal society is even more pronounced now than it was.
There no doubt at all. And when we come back,
we'll continue to unpack this. I want to know who
Jason wentlocks picks are for NBA title and more. This
(29:48):
is outkicked the coverage with Clay's ravas. Who do you
think it's going to be in the finals in the
NBA playoffs this year? Jason wentlock, I'll tell you my pick.
I've got Clippers Celtics, and I've got the Clippers winning
it all. What about you? I'm I'm up in the air,
(30:14):
and I expect something unprecedented to happen. I really do.
And so I think the Toronto Raptors should not be
slept on. That's crazy to go from Kauai leaving everybody
thought they would regress into not being any good at all,
and you think they're a legit threat to make the
(30:35):
make the NBA finals just because I think something crazy
is gonna happen. Because this whole thing is just unprecedented.
We've we've never seen this, you know. I was talking
to an NBA coach last week about like, we're gonna
be facing a team in the playoffs who we're sharing
(30:58):
a hotel with, who who we see constantly at mills
and blah blah blah. This whole thing is just going
to be completely different. And look, let's say you were
a team and this is why. And again, I don't
know how mature the Boston Celtics are, but I do
think the the the some of their total or the
(31:22):
total is greater than their individual talents. But so I
think they may have a bit of a disadvantage inside
the bubble. Let's say you're the Los Angeles Lakers and
you're used to playing in l A. Or you're the Clippers,
and there's all these outside influences, the parties, the nightlife,
(31:45):
the celebrities, just you know, just keeping it all the
way real. There's just better tail in laws of insists
than there are in some of these other cities. But
now down in in Disney World, in Orlando, Florida, everybody's
on equal footing. Everybody, Yeah, everybody should show up to
the game as sober as everybody else for the most part.
(32:10):
And so I'm just expecting some chaos here. And so
Toronto would be my sleeper team to come out of
the East. I started out the year swearing up and
down the Clippers were gonna be this incredible team and
have this incredible season. It hasn't happened as of yet,
(32:31):
but you know, Montrese Harrow I think will be back
for the first playoff game. Lou Williams will be back
uh soon as well. I still like the l A
Clippers coming out of the West, and you know, I
I think the Lakers right now don't have a number three.
Kyle Kuzma tries to be the third guy, but I'm
(32:53):
just not sure if he's up to it, and so
I'm going Clippers Raptors. How desperately does the NBA need
Lebron to win or at least be in the finals,
and also how desperately does Lebron need this? Because I
think if you look around the NBA at all the
injury situations, this is his last chance really unless he's
(33:17):
like an aging veteran on a team who can still
be a good player to really win a championship, right,
because if you look at the Western Conference right now
in the NBA, the Warriors are gonna be back with
a vengeance. Whatever their final roster ends up, looking like
they could end up with the overall number one pick
if I'm not mistaken when the lottery actually gets done.
Unless has a lottery happened, I can't even keep up.
(33:38):
I don't think the lotteries happened, right, I'm a I
don't ask me Dub dub look up whether the lottery
happened or not. I can't even remember whether the lottery
happened or not, um, But I know the NBA Draft
didn't happen at least I think the lottery still has
to happen, um. And so, uh so when you look
(33:59):
at that and think about it, they're gonna be a
lot better. All right, doub is confirming that it hasn't happened.
You and I are all right there. So it's a
little ways away, um. And uh you look at you
look at the Brooklyn Nets, who are gonna be a
lot better Caris LeVert. They couldn't defend him, The Trailblazers
couldn't down the stretch of that game. He's gonna be
pretty good with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. I mean,
(34:21):
there are a lot of teams. The MAVs are coming
up in the world. I mean, we saw it happen
with the Grizzlies. I mean, I just think this is
Lebron's last best chance to win a championship. So I
think it's now or never, and then he's going to
start to fade off the stage. But I think the
NBA needs him desperately now to still be relevant. Do
you buy into it? I'm gonna say Lebron needs this
(34:45):
more than the n b A I'll answer your question
that way. I don't. I think this is such a
unique format and we've been so devoid of sports the
at this whole thing, Like at twelve thirty Central time today,
(35:07):
NBA Playoff, Basketball, Jazz Nuggets, and NBA all day, and
that's pretty much gonna be going on for several weeks.
I think they have a chance to create some excitement
and build some momentum as long as this political stuff
(35:28):
doesn't make them do o a dead on arrival. And
so I think they can survive without Lebron, particularly because
I think the level of play is gonna be so good.
And but for Lebron James, if it doesn't happen this year,
I think you're right. I think he's done as the
(35:51):
driving force of a championship team. Lebron could be trying
to force his way out of the Lakers to the
Ghost Day Warriors to try to steal another championship some
other way. Uh So, I think Lebron needs it more
than the NBA needs Lebron, and these playoffs I get.
(36:11):
I think this has a chance to be one of
the wildest NBA playoff scenarios we've ever seen. All Right,
when we come back, I want to talk about the
decisions being made for college football, Big ten, Pack twelve,
everywhere else, and also circle back around with some stats
that I think you're gonna blow Jason Wittwalks and your
(36:33):
mind about who's able to play high school football and
who's not. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk
lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at
Fox sports Radio dot com and within the I Heart
Radio app search f s R to listen live.
Outkicked the Coverage with Clay Travis Live every weekday morning
from six to nine a m. E Stern three to
six am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local
station for OutKick the Coverage at Fox Sports Radio dot com,
or stream us live every morning on the I Heart
Radio app by searching fs are you're listening to Fox
(00:23):
Sports Radio if you're just getting in your car to
start off your morning. I spent the first hour teeing
off on the Big Ten and why I believe all
college football should be played, and I'm sure we're gonna
be talking a lot about that all week. But also,
you got the NBA playoffs that are officially underway tonight,
(00:47):
really this afternoon, starting at around one Eastern time. They're
gonna be going all day. We've got sixteen teams that
are left. And if you watched over the weekend, the
Trailblazers fall their way in as the eight seed, eliminating
the Memphis Grizzlies. John Morant had a heck of a
game and defeat. There's a lot of reasons for optimism
(01:08):
if you're a Memphis Grizzly fan, giving all the injuries
that they had, but the Trailblazers in the nine games
that they have played in the Bubble, have found a
way to win seven of them, and all nine of
them feel like they have come down to the final
couple of minutes. It's one of the craziest things I've seen, uh,
And I think the Trailblazers are going to give the
Lakers a challenge, especially if we can continue to see
(01:33):
Damian Lillard playing anywhere near the level that he has
been playing so far. But I thought to start off
our two and we'll bring in Jason Whitlock and get
his picks on this as well as his discussion about
the Big Ten and the Pack twelve and all the
college football craziness as well. Will continue that discussion, But
I thought maybe I'd go ahead and give you all
(01:54):
my picks so we can keep this. We've got the
bracket challenge that is out there at Fox sports dot com.
Do you know the exact uh, the exact link dub
that I can give out for anybody who wants to
fill out a bracket. We didn't get to do the
n c Double A tournament, so we are doing an
NBA Playoffs bracket challenge for people out there who are
(02:15):
desperate for who have bracket envy? Basically, we didn't get
a chance for the first time in my life, for
the first time in your life, to fill out an
n C Double A tournament bracket. So we have built
a bracket allowing you to play for cash and prizes.
And I'm not even sure all the different things you
can win at Fox sports dot com. Uh sorry, Fox
sports radio dot com backslash something I don't know what
(02:37):
heck it is. They'll put up the link for you
at Fox Sports Radio. Uh the Twitter handle there. But
I filled one of these out. A lot of you
have as well. You gotta get your picks in before
obviously the first game tips. But I'm gonna walk you
through what I see happening, who I see winning, and
where and how I see it emerging. So I'm gonna
(02:58):
start off in the Eastern Conference. Uh, the Milwaukee Bucks
are obviously the biggest favorite, and if you heard us
talking last week, one of the biggest questions that's been
out there is what's up with you? Honest, the guy
has not seemed like he's his usual happy warrior on
the basketball court. He seemed angry, he seemed embittered, He
(03:18):
just just seemed like a very different person. Maybe it's
living in the bubble, maybe it's uh, maybe it's being
away from his family. I don't particularly know why it is.
I just know that it's definitely felt that way as
you've watched him play. But you were watching the Bucks
in a series against the local team that probably is
(03:39):
ready to get back. I think the Orlando Magic are like, man,
we've been in Orlando, We've been in this bubble for
a long time, ready to be done here. I think
the Bucks win that series in five. So I've got
the Bucks winning in five games, moving on to the
next round in the Eastern Conference. Uh the other team
(03:59):
that is playing that They will then face Miami Heat
and the Indiana Pacers. It's gonna be an interesting series,
but I think the Pacers find a way to get
it done there. Then the Pacers go up against the Bucks,
and the Bucks advance to the Eastern Conference finals. So
that is one corner of the bracket. Not a lot
(04:19):
of excitement there, not a lot of surprises. I have
got the Bucks advancing against the Indiana Pacers. Now here's
the challenge. In general, it's fun to fill out these brackets,
but what makes the n C Double a tournament fun
is in a one game setting, anything can happen. The
worst team can win, somebody can be hot from outside,
(04:41):
somebody else can miss seven or eight free throws. Next thing,
you know, the team that you would have never anticipated
anticipated finding a way to win. Does. That's what makes
the n C Double a tournament so much fun to watch.
The buzzer beater truly matters in a seven game series.
It's really hard for the best team not to win. Now,
(05:02):
you may have some situations where there's not much that
separates the two teams and it comes down to a
seven game uh, and you know that anything can happen.
That's why game seven is the best thing that can
happen in pro sports. But the challenges who actually knows
on a day to day basis how many of these
series are actually going to go to seven, especially early
(05:23):
on in the NBA. Now, the wild card this year,
of course, is I would think inferior teams would be
even more disadvantaged by the neutral site setting because the
better team, I believe, is going to be way more
likely to win by far than the the lesser team.
(05:44):
Because the lesser team may be more likely to be
impacted in a positive way by what happens from their crowd,
especially the yes the lesser team if they are young.
I don't think the same sort of situation is going
to exist with all these games in a neutral site.
Not to mention, it takes away all the uncertainty of travel,
all the challenges associated with that. I just think in general,
(06:07):
there's not gonna be as much suspense. The better teams
are gonna win more frequently without the crowd present, without
the home court advantage. And I think it's also gonna
impact the officiating. I think the officiating is gonna be
better than it ordinarily would because officials get regularly impacted
in general by the way that everything the crowd influences them. Overall.
(06:32):
So when you break out this top quartile there that
I just did, I think the Bucks, as the best
team in the East, are gonna advance the Eastern Conference Finals.
What about the bottom half of the quadrant here? As
you break down what's going on in the NBA Raptors
Raptors have been on fire. They've played phenomenally well. Anybody
(06:54):
who believes that they were going to lose Kauai and
still be as good as they are is lying to you.
The Nets are year away. Look when you think about
Laverte and how well he played, and how well he's
gonna play with Kyrie Irving and with Kevin Durant, I
think there's a lot of reason for the Brooklyn Nets
(07:14):
fans to be excited going forward, but not this year.
In the short term, I like the Raptors in five
over the Nets, and then I like the Celtics in
five over the seventies sixers and the Nets. Uh. Sorry,
in the Raptors and the Celtics series, small upset here,
small upset here. For me, I've got the Celtics advancing,
(07:35):
and so I have got the Bucks and the Celtics
as my Eastern Conference finals. All right, let's go to
the Western Conference. Let me walk you through how I
see the Western Conference playing out, uh and uh. In particular,
I think this Lakers Trailblazer series is gonna be a
lot of fun to watch if I am a Laker
fan like Danny g Is and if I am out
(07:57):
there paying attention to everything going on with Lebron and
and and Anthony Davis. Look, the Lakers have trouble scoring.
I know they got Kuzma is the third score, but
their guard play ever since the decisions by Bradley Uh
to not play and then region Rondo with the injury,
has been very questionable. Worst of all, offensively, the Lakers
(08:19):
have been the worst team in the Bubble, poor shooting,
even with a really efficient offensive set up coming from
Lebron and So I think there's gonna be a lot
of weight on Anthony Davis, a lot of weight on
Lebron James, a lot of weight on Kyle Kuzma. Meanwhile,
the Blazers can't defend anybody. I've loved watching their games,
but it feels like every Blazers game has been a
(08:40):
hundred and forty two hundred and thirty five. So I
think what's gonna happen here is it's gonna be a
battle of styles, and ultimately the Lakers have the two
best players. But I think the Blazers have the better
team and the better players are gonna win. But I
think the Lakers do it in six games. I think
the Trailblazers will take two. I love the Trailblazers in
(09:01):
the first game here on Tuesday, because they've been in battles.
I think they're more battle hardened. Wouldn't shock me at
all if they come out and win Game one. But again,
none of it matters from a home court advantage perspective.
There's not gonna be much of a home court advantage
at all for anybody, and so who wins a game
really won't carry forward. I don't think very much to
(09:23):
the next game, getting a home court win on the
rivals court. All those things are not gonna matter. Ultimately,
it's just gonna come down to a seven game series.
I think the Lakers find a way to get past
the Trailblazers, but I think this will be a really
fun series to watch. And if Damian Lillard plays like
he's been playing, and if c J McCollum, even with
a broken back, can actually make the plays that he
(09:46):
has been in, Nurkics can take control on the glass.
Guy had twenty and twenty against the Grizz. I think
this Blazers team has a lot of horses to it.
They're a lot healthier than they would have been uh
if they had not had this bubble say area, and
I think frankly, if the Blazers have been been healthy
all season, they would have been a four or five,
and one thing that's fun to watch in this Blazers
(10:08):
and in this Lakers series is how frequently they're gonna
double team Damian Lillard. But when that happens and he's
able to get the ball to Nurkics, I want you
to pay attention to how well Nurkic moves for a
big man and how well he passes out of these scenarios.
So Gary Trent Jr. Needs to make some shots. Carmelo
(10:30):
Anthony made a big shot down the stretch to basically
seal the wind for the Trailblazers. Those are going to
be stories that are worth following. Who can make plays
outside of nur Chick, Nurkics, c J McCollum, and Damian Willard. Ultimately,
I think the Lakers survive. I'm not gonna go full
Charles Barkley and argue that the Blazers are going to
(10:51):
the NBA Finals like he has to his credit taking
a big swing there. I think the Lakers get him
in six alright. Other series that are out there, Clippers, MAVs,
this gonna be fun to watch. Strong argument I want
you to think about this that you can make is
that Janice and Luca our modern day Larry and Magic,
(11:14):
except they're both foreign There is a strong argument that
by next year, the two best players in the NBA
are gonna be Nice and Luca, but both of them
are foreign born players. They're basically Magic and Larry in
the twenties, except reflecting the NBA's global business, they're both
(11:36):
guys who were born overseas and historically maybe this will change,
but historically that has impacted in a big way how
much the American sports fan embracism. Americans love American born
athlete stars. Will that change in the NBA? I think
Luca and Janice are really interesting test cases be so far,
(12:01):
both guys have been stellar on the court, but the
average sports fan has not tuned in to watch them
in big numbers. This will be an interesting series. Here's
the challenge. The Clippers are four no this year against
the MAVs and they have dominated them in all four
of those games. I think it continues. Clippers win one
(12:22):
and sorry the MAVs win one, Clippers win four, Clippers
advanced in five. Who are they going to go up
against the Jazz and the Nuggets are playing? I like
the Nuggets to get it done against the Jazz, Mike
Conley Jr. Leaving. He hasn't played particularly well for the Jazz,
but he just left the Bubble. Jazz have been an
enigma this year. I don't think they've played particularly well.
(12:43):
Nuggets haven't played that well in the postseason in general.
I think they advanced Nuggets against Clippers. Bad matchup for
the Nuggets. Clippers and five Lakers gonna go up against
the Thunder. My one upset pick as I think the
Thunder are gonna get past the Rockets. I think CP
three is going to get revenge on the Rockets for
moving him on. Russell Westbrook not particularly healthy. This Rockets
(13:06):
team is gonna shoot fifty or sixty three's. You have
no idea what's gonna happen on any given night. I
think it goes seven games. The Thunder find a way
to get past the Rockets. Thunder, Lakers, Lakers handle the Thunder,
and it is Lakers Clippers as many of us have
anticipated it would be in the Western Conference Finals. So
my final four in the NBA Clippers, Lakers going up
(13:29):
against the Bucks Celtics. I've got the Bucks coming out
of the East, and let me think about that for
a minute, I'm gonna reverse course. I'm gonna go with
the Celtics in seven over the Bucks. Alright, I'm filling
out my bracket as we go through. Right now, I've
got the Celtics in seven over the Bucks. And also
(13:51):
I think that the Clippers are gonna get past the
Lakers in six. So I have got a Clippers Celtics
NBA Finals, and I have got the Clippers hoisting the
hardware in six over the Celtics. All right, there is
the entirety of my NBA predictions. Put those on file, Danny,
(14:15):
g lock them up. We'll see how my predictions do
will bring in the crew tomorrow. Maybe get everybody's predictions,
even though the games will have already started. I'll give
you guys a one game advantage because I got Jason
Whitlock already scheduled to roll in with me next, and
Jason Whitlock is gonna be with me for the rest
of the show. You guys love Whitlock. Mondays. We are
(14:38):
halfway through the program now, and we have had a
lot of fun already, but things are about to get
spicy with Jason Whitlock joining me next. This is outkicked
the coverage with Clay Travis. Jason Whitlock joins us now
at Whitlock Jason on Twitter. You can read him on
OutKick dot com every single day. How is the new
(15:00):
place coming along in Nashville? Are you feeling like a
full on nashvilleon? Do you have cable? Do you have
the internet yet? I have Internet, I have a home
phone number. Uh, don't have cable yet. I'm debating whether
or not I'm gonna have cable. Yeah, I watched the
(15:21):
Saturday's Portland Memphis game online and it worked out well,
and so it's making me explore the possibility of cutting
the cord. So that let's get into this to cutting
the cord idea, because I've still got cable in my
house because I've got a lot of kids running around,
(15:43):
as you know, and they want to watch Disney and
everything else. But we also have Disney, plus, we have
the w W E Network, we have Amazon, We've got Netflix,
everything else, and we don't My kids watch the most
is YouTube. So it's really almost exclusively for me at
this point, and almost exclusively for sports that we even
(16:04):
have cable. Yeah, I'm trying to figure out how you
watch sports like I have an ESPN Plus subscription. I
think I can run that through my TV. I watched
the game this weekend or through my laptop, but I
think I can run that through my TV. Uh. And
(16:25):
so I'm just worried about the NFL. But I've got
the I've got like I think I have three or
four NFL Sunday ticket packages because I like to watch
as many NFL games as possible. And I used I
run those two roku on my on my TVs, and
(16:46):
so I don't know, I'm just debating on just cutting
the cord and just uh, the cable people didn't show
up at your place after they were scheduled to do,
and you're just bitter and angry. That's part of it.
But it's crazy that was Exfinity that screwed me over
and then someone failed me out over social media, and uh,
(17:11):
they got Comcast to come in and hook up my
WiFi and phone and sure enough, Comcast is Exfinity. Yeah,
so I ended up getting Exfinity anyway, I just I
just don't have cable at the moment, all right, So
what did you think? So obviously there's a ton of
stuff we want to get into with you, but you
just mentioned it, so I'm gonna lead with it. Damian
(17:33):
Willard has been playing out of his mind, and as
I have watched, because I watch everything, I'm like you.
I mean, I understand there are people out there who
are like, oh, I'm not gonna watch the NBA because
of the kneeling or the names, or the or the
you know, what's written on the court and everything else.
And I think we've talked about this a little bit.
The quality of play in the bubble and the overall
(17:55):
television viewing experience or streaming experience, however you watched, it
has been so fantastic that if the NBA had just
been focused on the product itself of basketball on the court,
I think there would be a huge percentage of people
they're like, man, this is fantastic. This is one of
the best things I've seen a long time. Instead, I
(18:15):
still feel like there's a huge part of my audience.
It's like I can leave it. I don't necessarily need
to watch. And that's unfortunate because Damian Lillard has been
on a hot streak that makes Steph Curry seemed like
he was never even on a heater. Look, you're you're
taking the words right out of my column that I
have not posted yet. That's goodness, right, I'm you know,
(18:36):
going to post this morning, so you're on the right
topic because I'm trying to and I haven't reached the
final conclusion yet on what's my advice to people that
don't want to watch the NBA? Because I get it
and and and just like you, I watched that Portland's
Memphis game, been watching with Damian. Fantastic game. Fantastic game.
(19:01):
The quality of play tremendous and Clay, it's for obvious reasons.
These guys aren't drunken, hungover, Like I think there's a
truth to that. They don't have to travel, they don't
have to travel, they're not up till three am. I
think there's a lot of truth to it. Yeah, and
all they're just playing basketball. And this is these guys
(19:24):
playing basketball at their highest level. And there's like this
optimism even though Damian Lillard's team, you know, had to
play a play in and make it in the playoffs,
but they authentically believe, like, hey, anything can happen here.
Avery Bradley is not playing for this uh Lakers, and
(19:45):
you know that there's a lot of upheaval in the NBA,
and who knows, it's just like this uh t J.
Warren or bubble Warren for the bubble Warren for the
Pacers that's been going nuts. Anything's possible inside this bubble.
And so yeah, I think they could be on the
verge of having one of their greatest playoffs in recent memory.
(20:07):
But I don't know how to advise people, because I
get it. The only thing wrong with this m p
A is this whole swallowing of the Black Lives Matter narrative.
I just don't need it. I don't need to be
thinking about police brutality and a bunch of tall people
(20:29):
wagging their fingers at me and preaching to me. I
just wanted to play basketball. I just want to enjoy it.
And so for the people that are having mixed emotions,
I get it. I'm trying to come up with some
advice for you in my column this morning or what
you should do, because if not for the politics, the NBA,
(20:51):
I think would be the whole the biggest success story
from the pandemic because people would see a level of
play and a level of enthusiasm and energy that they
had they're not used to seeing from the NBA even
in the playoffs. This could just be an incredible success
story for the NBA, but they're gonna dirty it up
(21:12):
by focusing on politics. It's crazy too, because they're gonna
have four games today, four games tomorrow, four games on
into the future. You know, it's exactly what it is.
It's exactly what it is, and if it were just
a basketball game, then I think most people would sit back,
like I went through right before you came on and
(21:34):
gave all my picks for who I thought was gonna
win each of the different breakdowns. We're doing a bracket
challenge with Fox Sports Radio dot com. You can go
sign up for your own bracket challenge if you've got
bracket envy because you didn't get to do the the
n C Double A Tournament this year. And it's just
like it's impossible to avoid because of the of the
(21:56):
names on the people be like, oh, well, you don't
you know, because I do think there's an argue. I'm
curious what you think about this. If you just have
people protesting the national anthem, you cannot like it, But
you can sit down like three or four minutes later
and you can pretend it never happened right in your
head at least when the NBA players protested national anthem whatever, like,
(22:20):
you can just pretend it didn't happen. But then they've
got statements on their jerseys and they've got Black Lives
Matter written on the basketball court. It's literally impossible for
you to just sit down, flip on the television, crack
open a beer, and only enjoy the basketball. And that's
the intent, but I just think it's a really bad
(22:41):
move because I think in this era where everybody's looking
for an escape and everybody's looking for entertainment and everybody's
looking for an opportunity to escape the real world, they're
just clabbering us in the head over and over again
with the real world and oh, by the way, it
ain't just the real world. It's a le the Wing
version of the real world. And then you got the
(23:03):
commercials where their choreographed them preaching and what they're gonna
change the world and they're gonna fix it. And then
you got the announcers that feel like at some point
they have to address it and have to say something
about a player and what he's doing for social injustice
and blah blah blah, and it's just cla. Something hilarious
(23:27):
happened this weekend. Are showed up on my Twitter feed,
uh Sunday or or maybe or maybe it was a
buddy texted me. Kevin Gardinett on NBA TV or t
n T one was doing some kind of Wheel of
Fortune type game and he had to read the word
(23:49):
on the on the spinning wheel and the word equivalent
came up and he could not pronounced. He couldn't read
the word equivalent. I mean this hysterical, Well, I think,
and and it's politically incorrect to talk about it, but
(24:09):
I could care less. I'm just sorry. And this is
my whole point about these really tall, amazing athletes, because
if I were really tall and amazing athletes, I'm just
telling you, I wouldn't have cared about school. I wouldn't
have been a good student. I would have developed my
talents physically and cast into the best of my ability.
(24:32):
And that's my point with these athletes, Lebron James, any
of them, nurging any They've been developing their physical skills
their whole life, because that's the smart thing to do.
There's a big pot of gold if they can develop
These aren't rocket scientists. These aren't leaders of the free world.
(24:55):
These are basketball players. Not call them stupid. They're making
decisions that were best based off the physical gifts that
God blessed them with. They hit the genetics lottery and
they did everything to cash in on it. But I'm
just sorry. When I saw Kevin Gardener couldn't figure out
(25:17):
the word equivalent, I was just like, and this is
the guy that's gonna help fix America. And I'm not
talking about Kevin Gardenman individually, but I'm like, this is
the group of people that are gonna fix America. People
that struggle reading equivalent. I mean, let'sten, and I know
that's not all of them. I used to be an athlete,
and but I just get it. If you got that
(25:41):
much physical skill, develop it. That's the smart thing to do.
But you're not a rocket science It's interesting to me
because when I was growing up, it seems to me
that every time one of the actors or actresses, I'll
take it outside of athletics, when an actor or actress
got to uh to make us to accept an award
(26:03):
at the Oscars and went off into some you know,
like whatever political belief he or she had like, I
feel like the entire country collectively rolled their eyes. Like
I can remember watching that with my parents and being like, Okay,
you know whoever this person is, I'm just throwing one out.
Jack Nicholas, Jack Nicholas, great actor, obviously also big NBA fan.
(26:26):
I don't necessarily think that Jack Nicholas understood American foreign
policy with Russia that well. Right, So if Jack Nicholas
has a real take about the Cold Cold War back
in the day, I think most of us would roll
our eyes. Now sometimes maybe Jack Nicholas is really and
I'm just using him an example. I don't even remember,
but obviously he was big in the in the eighties.
(26:47):
He could have been theoretically doing that, right, Everybody rolled
their eyes now. It's like whenever an actor or athlete
gets up accepts an award, Sorry, it's Jack Nils Sary Nicholson,
not Jack Nicholas. I don't know what Jack Jack Jack.
I've been I've been thinking about golf too much. I
don't know what Jack Nicholas is. Politics war either, Jack Nicholson. Sorry,
(27:11):
uh sits cordside with the Lakers. Everything else, all right,
everything else? I said the exact same, except not the
Golden Bear. I'm talking about the the the illustrious actor. Right,
everybody would roll their eyes. Now when an actor or
actress wins an award and they go up and they
make a statement, everybody's like, so brave of them to
use their platform, clap like, oh, it's so like when
(27:32):
did this? Is it just social media? Is that what
has changed everything? Because I still feel like the average
person out there rolls their eyes when an actor or
actress presumes to lecture them about particular political issues that
have nothing to do with actor or actressing. No, I
think that celebrity worship has just heightened during the course
(27:56):
of our lifetime. There used to be a time in
order for you to be worshiped as a celebrity, you
had to be Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, you had to
be Michael Jordan. You had to be really, really good
once in a lifetime. Well, now that all these celebrities
(28:19):
and basketball players, if you're the sixth man on the
NBA team, you're getting paid like you're a legitimate superstar
and you're this unique talent, and so it's made the
money has made us worshiped even more of these people
and placed them on an even higher pedestal, and it's just,
(28:42):
you know, it looks all of it. It was wrong
for us to worship Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney and
Bill Cosby and all these other flawed human beings that
we've worshiped. But it's now just gotten to the point
of ridiculousness that you don't even have to be that good.
If you're in the entertainment world, you can make a
(29:03):
lot of money. I sit there and think about looking
the money I made hosting a television show. It's more
stock Delvin show that you know didn't hell didn't have
a massive audience. And so it's just all gotten more ridiculous.
And so we take because of their wealth and because we've, oh,
they've achieved the level of success that's unprecedented. We just
(29:26):
take these guys more seriously when we should take them
less seriously, because their love for privilege, their removal from
normal society is even more pronounced now than it was.
There no doubt at all. And when we come back,
we'll continue to unpack this. I want to know who
Jason wentlocks picks are for NBA title and more. This
(29:48):
is outkicked the coverage with Clay's ravas. Who do you
think it's going to be in the finals in the
NBA playoffs this year? Jason wentlock, I'll tell you my pick.
I've got Clippers Celtics, and I've got the Clippers winning
it all. What about you? I'm I'm up in the air,
(30:14):
and I expect something unprecedented to happen. I really do.
And so I think the Toronto Raptors should not be
slept on. That's crazy to go from Kauai leaving everybody
thought they would regress into not being any good at all,
and you think they're a legit threat to make the
(30:35):
make the NBA finals just because I think something crazy
is gonna happen. Because this whole thing is just unprecedented.
We've we've never seen this, you know. I was talking
to an NBA coach last week about like, we're gonna
be facing a team in the playoffs who we're sharing
(30:58):
a hotel with, who who we see constantly at mills
and blah blah blah. This whole thing is just going
to be completely different. And look, let's say you were
a team and this is why. And again, I don't
know how mature the Boston Celtics are, but I do
think the the the some of their total or the
(31:22):
total is greater than their individual talents. But so I
think they may have a bit of a disadvantage inside
the bubble. Let's say you're the Los Angeles Lakers and
you're used to playing in l A. Or you're the Clippers,
and there's all these outside influences, the parties, the nightlife,
(31:45):
the celebrities, just you know, just keeping it all the
way real. There's just better tail in laws of insists
than there are in some of these other cities. But
now down in in Disney World, in Orlando, Florida, everybody's
on equal footing. Everybody, Yeah, everybody should show up to
the game as sober as everybody else for the most part.
(32:10):
And so I'm just expecting some chaos here. And so
Toronto would be my sleeper team to come out of
the East. I started out the year swearing up and
down the Clippers were gonna be this incredible team and
have this incredible season. It hasn't happened as of yet,
(32:31):
but you know, Montrese Harrow I think will be back
for the first playoff game. Lou Williams will be back
uh soon as well. I still like the l A
Clippers coming out of the West, and you know, I
I think the Lakers right now don't have a number three.
Kyle Kuzma tries to be the third guy, but I'm
(32:53):
just not sure if he's up to it, and so
I'm going Clippers Raptors. How desperately does the NBA need
Lebron to win or at least be in the finals,
and also how desperately does Lebron need this? Because I
think if you look around the NBA at all the
injury situations, this is his last chance really unless he's
(33:17):
like an aging veteran on a team who can still
be a good player to really win a championship, right,
because if you look at the Western Conference right now
in the NBA, the Warriors are gonna be back with
a vengeance. Whatever their final roster ends up, looking like
they could end up with the overall number one pick
if I'm not mistaken when the lottery actually gets done.
Unless has a lottery happened, I can't even keep up.
(33:38):
I don't think the lotteries happened, right, I'm a I
don't ask me Dub dub look up whether the lottery
happened or not. I can't even remember whether the lottery
happened or not, um, But I know the NBA Draft
didn't happen at least I think the lottery still has
to happen, um. And so, uh so when you look
(33:59):
at that and think about it, they're gonna be a
lot better. All right, doub is confirming that it hasn't happened.
You and I are all right there. So it's a
little ways away, um. And uh you look at you
look at the Brooklyn Nets, who are gonna be a
lot better Caris LeVert. They couldn't defend him, The Trailblazers
couldn't down the stretch of that game. He's gonna be
pretty good with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. I mean,
(34:21):
there are a lot of teams. The MAVs are coming
up in the world. I mean, we saw it happen
with the Grizzlies. I mean, I just think this is
Lebron's last best chance to win a championship. So I
think it's now or never, and then he's going to
start to fade off the stage. But I think the
NBA needs him desperately now to still be relevant. Do
you buy into it? I'm gonna say Lebron needs this
(34:45):
more than the n b A I'll answer your question
that way. I don't. I think this is such a
unique format and we've been so devoid of sports the
at this whole thing, Like at twelve thirty Central time today,
(35:07):
NBA Playoff, Basketball, Jazz Nuggets, and NBA all day, and
that's pretty much gonna be going on for several weeks.
I think they have a chance to create some excitement
and build some momentum as long as this political stuff
(35:28):
doesn't make them do o a dead on arrival. And
so I think they can survive without Lebron, particularly because
I think the level of play is gonna be so good.
And but for Lebron James, if it doesn't happen this year,
I think you're right. I think he's done as the
(35:51):
driving force of a championship team. Lebron could be trying
to force his way out of the Lakers to the
Ghost Day Warriors to try to steal another championship some
other way. Uh So, I think Lebron needs it more
than the NBA needs Lebron, and these playoffs I get.
(36:11):
I think this has a chance to be one of
the wildest NBA playoff scenarios we've ever seen. All Right,
when we come back, I want to talk about the
decisions being made for college football, Big ten, Pack twelve,
everywhere else, and also circle back around with some stats
that I think you're gonna blow Jason Wittwalks and your
(36:33):
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