Latest / Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast / Episode 65 feat. Urkel(Space Gang) - Warriors Season, Kuminga Trade Rumors, State of the Golde State Warriors

Transcript

Episode 65 feat. Urkel(Space Gang) - Warriors Season, Kuminga Trade Rumors, State of the Golde State Warriors · Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast

• 0:26
  Welcome to another edition of the Sports Ave.
• 0:28
  Twisted podcast. We have a guest who is a popular
• 0:31
  guy on Twitter or known as X and a knowledgeable person who is a
• 0:37
  Die Hard Warriors fan. Urkel, welcome to the show.
• 0:41
  It's an honor to have you on in this episode.
• 0:43
  How you doing guys? Nice, nice to be here.
• 0:48
  We're excited to have you, man. We've heard good things from our
• 0:52
  our good buddy Mike and and Rocky has told me good things
• 0:55
  about you man. And we're we're excited to have
• 0:58
  you and talk some Warriors basketball today with you.
• 1:01
  So thank you for joining us. Appreciate that.
• 1:04
  Appreciate that. All right, let's let's talk
• 1:07
  about your expectations for the Warriors prior to the season and
• 1:13
  you could reflect a little bit last year or two because the
• 1:15
  Warriors were in the playoffs, they beat the Rockets in seven.
• 1:19
  They'd however, they did get eliminated by the Timberwolves.
• 1:21
  But prior to the season, with the offseason they've done, they
• 1:24
  made a couple moves and now looking into the season now,
• 1:30
  what were your expectations and how do you reflect the season so
• 1:33
  far? Well, starting last season, we
• 1:38
  made a big trade. We traded for Jimmy Butler and
• 1:44
  last season we were kind of hovering around 500 and we made
• 1:48
  the Jimmy Butler trade. So I believe at a time that we
• 1:50
  made the trade, we were one game below 500.
• 1:54
  Now, last season we started off, you know, we were, I think we
• 2:01
  started off 12:00 and 3:00. We we had like the second best
• 2:04
  record in a conference for a good portion.
• 2:07
  And then after a certain point, I don't know what happened to
• 2:11
  the team. Well, I know what happened, but
• 2:14
  you know, they just went in a tailspin and and then after that
• 2:20
  they made the Jimmy Butler, they made a Butler trade.
• 2:23
  So after they made the Butler trade, they they went on, they
• 2:27
  started to get into a groove. They get in a a nice groove.
• 2:31
  But you know, from the time that they made the trade, they were
• 2:35
  playing essentially playoff basketball because they had a
• 2:38
  lot of ground that they had to make up.
• 2:41
  And they made-up some ground. And I don't remember the record,
• 2:45
  but I think they won, you know, they had a decent win percentage
• 2:49
  down the stretch. So, you know, we get we get the
• 2:53
  seventh seed. I believe we we lose, we win
• 2:57
  that playing game against Memphis.
• 2:59
  And, and after we won the game, then we face the Rockets.
• 3:04
  So so we are the number seven seed, right?
• 3:09
  And now playoff warriors kick in, right?
• 3:12
  So you know, we're looking great.
• 3:15
  And then Jimmy Butler falls on his butt, right?
• 3:18
  So you got he gets knocked out of there.
• 3:20
  He he falls on his butt. So from that point on, you know,
• 3:25
  the attrition really started to kick in, right?
• 3:29
  Steph Curry really went into heavy lifting mode.
• 3:32
  And I think once he went into heavy lifting mode, it it took a
• 3:37
  toll on his body, right? 36 year old guy, 30 I believe he
• 3:41
  was 37 at that point. So the 37 year old guy pulls his
• 3:45
  hamstring, right? Not not uncommon, especially
• 3:49
  with how hard you were watching guys playing the playoffs last
• 3:52
  year. And then you know, we go to the
• 3:56
  offseason and then we had the Jonathan Kaminga saga, right?
• 3:59
  So Jonathan Kaminga had, he was a restricted free agent and you
• 4:06
  know, we had a few guys that we needed to sign, but they could
• 4:09
  not sign until Jonathan Kaminga signed.
• 4:12
  So him and the team were just going back and forth in a
• 4:15
  contract dispute, right? So, you know, he, he, he pretty
• 4:19
  much didn't sign a contract pretty much until the 11th hour
• 4:23
  before the season started, right?
• 4:25
  So he signs the contract, goes to training camp and you know,
• 4:29
  from what I heard is, you know, they had, they had a, they had
• 4:34
  to like come to Jesus and saying that we can make it work and all
• 4:37
  of that stuff. That probably lasted around 12
• 4:40
  games. Then I think Kaminga, Steve
• 4:44
  Kerr, they butt heads. And then after that he, he
• 4:47
  actually was playing well. He was averaging like 17-7 and
• 4:51
  three. And for some odd reason Kaminga
• 4:55
  stopped playing like he caught DNPS and all of that stuff.
• 4:58
  So pretty much the, the tone of that portion of the season,
• 5:03
  we're just waiting to trade Jonathan Kamingo.
• 5:05
  Now, from what I've heard and what people have slipped to me,
• 5:09
  I, I don't, I don't see great, you know, trade outcomes from
• 5:15
  trading Jonathan Kamingo because every team is looking at him
• 5:18
  like a, a negative contract. So, you know, they, every team
• 5:24
  is just bringing their worst offer essentially.
• 5:26
  And I think the Warriors are looking at that and they're
• 5:28
  like, Oh, no, but it's kind of their fault because they
• 5:32
  probably should have traded them the minute they were sitting him
• 5:35
  in the playoffs. You know, they probably should
• 5:40
  have known that something like this was going to happen.
• 5:42
  So you sit a guy in the playoffs in his contract year and then he
• 5:48
  goes to the the games that you put him in.
• 5:50
  He was the team's leading scorer.
• 5:52
  I I don't think I've ever seen that before Where a guy, you
• 5:56
  know, gets it's DN PS, coach's decision, DN PS and then leads
• 6:01
  the team in scoring. That's probably one of the more
• 6:03
  most unusual things I've ever seen, right?
• 6:05
  So, you know, his camp, his camp came back and they were pretty
• 6:12
  stern in terms of not signing the contract, right.
• 6:14
  So we have a six, eight guy on the team that we probably need
• 6:20
  a, a guy like him to be on the team and, and, and he's just not
• 6:25
  playing right. Very unusual type of situation,
• 6:28
  right? So Steve Kerr pretty much is
• 6:32
  deciding that he's not going to play him.
• 6:33
  So that's been our season, right?
• 6:35
  So right now we're just hovering slightly over 500.
• 6:40
  I think we're like 3 games over and you know, it's been up and
• 6:44
  down season. Steve is playing like 50
• 6:46
  different line UPS. He settled in on a lineup of
• 6:51
  Steph Curry, Moses Moody, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green and
• 6:57
  Quentin Post, right? And the last time I checked that
• 6:59
  lineup data, it was a -4 right? The Kaminga stuff when he was
• 7:04
  starting Kaminga, I believe that lineup was like a + 19.
• 7:08
  So even when you go numbers wise, numbers wise, it doesn't
• 7:11
  make any sense, right? So so he's he's gone that route
• 7:15
  and you see what the team is doing.
• 7:18
  So I think they're going to trade him.
• 7:21
  But much like you guys, much like the Lakers, I think that
• 7:24
  they they need another wing in there.
• 7:27
  I mean, they have entirely too many guards on the team.
• 7:31
  And you know, it's the worst kind of guards because a lot of
• 7:34
  these guys can't defend, you know, and they can't guard on a
• 7:37
  perimeter. OKC has a lot of guards, but
• 7:39
  they're big and physical and they can guard, right.
• 7:41
  So there's a guy in OK C that you guys are familiar with, Alex
• 7:46
  Caruso. We need like two of those guys,
• 7:48
  right? And, and that's that's the issue
• 7:53
  that we're having all season long.
• 7:54
  And, you know, and then you have guys getting older.
• 7:57
  Draymond Green is getting up there in age and he, I don't
• 8:01
  think Draymond is having the same level of impact that he
• 8:05
  once did. And there is a there used to be
• 8:07
  a thing that this team used to do where they would, they would,
• 8:12
  you know, activate Draymond on offense, activate his his, his
• 8:16
  mind and his playmaking and all of that.
• 8:19
  And, and that's what they're trying to do.
• 8:21
  But bringing in Jimmy Butler, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green
• 8:24
  sort of do the same thing. Problem is, Jimmy Butler does it
• 8:27
  a lot better than Draymond Green.
• 8:30
  And, you know, they're struggling to find how to use
• 8:34
  Draymond Green on offense. On defense, he's still OK.
• 8:38
  But you can clearly see that, you know, he's an older guy and
• 8:43
  he's slipping. Not everybody is LeBron and
• 8:45
  Steph Curry, right? So you clearly see the slippage
• 8:51
  in in, in Draymond Green. So that's kind of been the
• 8:55
  struggle to, you know, to have like a high level defense and,
• 9:00
  and get Draymond involved on offense, right.
• 9:03
  So, but the crazy part is last time I checked, the warriors had
• 9:07
  the 7th ranked defense. I don't know how that's
• 9:09
  possible. I watch it every night and I'm
• 9:12
  not sure how that's happening. I I have no idea.
• 9:17
  Some nights you watch them fly around and then some nights you
• 9:19
  just watch them get obliterated by the pace of the league,
• 9:22
  right? So, so I don't know how they I
• 9:27
  guess no one in the league is playing defense because whenever
• 9:29
  I watch him, I'm I'm saying to myself, this is not a great
• 9:32
  defensive team. So I'm sure you guys say the
• 9:35
  same thing about your team as well, right?
• 9:37
  So but yeah, that's that kind of summed up the season so far.
• 9:41
  And you know, we everyday I get up and I go on the timeline.
• 9:45
  I'm just looking for, you know, I'm hearing people suggest this
• 9:49
  trade, that trade, but there's just complexities with trade.
• 9:53
  It's every year, man. I mean, sometimes you can get a
• 9:55
  guy that's disgruntled and you get lucky, but but this year
• 10:00
  it's going to be tight. And I think the only way to get
• 10:04
  out of it and you can get maybe a guy or two is if you're giving
• 10:08
  up three or four first round picks.
• 10:10
  And I'm not sure that the the management has the appetite or
• 10:15
  the stomach to give, you know, four first round picks away,
• 10:18
  but. With all that said, and you
• 10:23
  were, you know, you talk about the season and the way it's
• 10:25
  gone, every team has its flaws. You know, your net rating this
• 10:30
  year is 1.8, which is 12th in the NBA, which isn't really bad.
• 10:35
  Like you said, defensively they're one of the better teams
• 10:38
  in the NBA somehow, but what would you say that the flaws on
• 10:43
  on on this team have been if you had to category some flaws on
• 10:47
  this team and try to flaw? In those ways, well, the first
• 10:50
  flaw is, is that they have 8 guards on the team.
• 10:54
  I don't know how an NBA team can have eight of their eight, eight
• 10:59
  of their their 1514 players or whatever be guards, right?
• 11:03
  So yeah, that's pretty phenomenal.
• 11:07
  I don't know how they ended up in that spot and as they stand
• 11:11
  today, I think they are the 7th ranked defense 113.2 that a big
• 11:20
  a big win last night. So the net rating went up a
• 11:22
  little bit, but you know, it's still it like it's based on
• 11:27
  basketball reference right now. It's like the 10th best net
• 11:31
  rating in the league. Like if you look at the
• 11:33
  predictors or whatever, you know, we're three games over
• 11:36
  based on the predictors, we probably should be around two
• 11:38
  wins better. But still that's just not that's
• 11:42
  just not a position that you want to be in based on, you
• 11:46
  know, especially based on how we ended the how we ended the
• 11:50
  season. So you know that that is that's
• 11:54
  a challenge right now. And you know, the crappy part
• 11:57
  is, is that we're just going to do that's Sprint at the end of
• 12:02
  again, right? And you know, sometimes I watch
• 12:05
  this team and I watch how they coach.
• 12:07
  I watch the strategy behind it. And I'm thinking to myself,
• 12:12
  like, are they trying to be in the plan?
• 12:14
  Because you know, sometimes I feel like that's the attitude,
• 12:17
  like, you know, so other teams, like when I watch Laker games,
• 12:22
  right, I feel like the Lakers are trying to win games, right?
• 12:28
  Sometimes I have to wonder if the Warriors are trying to win
• 12:31
  games. Sometimes I watch them and it's
• 12:32
  almost like, you know, they're going at 70% purposely right
• 12:39
  with whether it be the output that the players are giving or
• 12:43
  is it the thing that Steve Kerr is doing, right?
• 12:45
  So I guess he's trying to keep the guys at a certain pace and
• 12:50
  then he ramps up at the end and I, I guess he's pacing them
• 12:54
  right. And you never know what can
• 12:55
  happen in the course of an NBA season, right.
• 12:58
  So I guess he's trying to keep the guys fresh.
• 13:01
  Last night they had a blowout win and and Steph and all the
• 13:05
  guys played under 30 minutes, I believe, right.
• 13:07
  So those games are are needed, right?
• 13:10
  So, but I look I, I just look at the season from the standpoint
• 13:16
  that and I had a number in mind. I was like by January 15th,
• 13:22
  tomorrow's the 15th And, and I was saying this in the summer
• 13:25
  because I priced in the fact that Steve Kerr was going to do
• 13:29
  this, right? So I was like, if we can be
• 13:31
  around 5, around 5 to 8 games over, I would be OK with that.
• 13:37
  Right now we're like 3. So we're slightly missing that
• 13:40
  target because I know that there's going to be a mad dash
• 13:44
  at the finish and you kind of have to strategize out the
• 13:47
  season, right? So towards the end, teams are
• 13:50
  going to not care and they're going to kind of accept their
• 13:53
  fate. So I think I'm just hoping that
• 13:56
  that they go on a tear. We get one or two more guys in
• 14:00
  there and, and, and we have we kind of swap out two of those
• 14:06
  guard positions for for some 6667 guys.
• 14:10
  You know, I'm saying like at least two of them.
• 14:12
  So that's kind of what I'm hoping.
• 14:14
  I'm, I'm sure the Laker fans are kind of saying the same thing as
• 14:18
  well. I mean, I'm sure they wanna,
• 14:21
  they would probably want like a a wing of some sort.
• 14:24
  Last year you guys had Dorian Finney Smith.
• 14:28
  He was OK for y'all, but I think you would probably want another
• 14:31
  guy like that. So yeah, we're kind of hoping
• 14:33
  for the same thing as well. Oh, I would just say there was a
• 14:38
  game I watched earlier this year.
• 14:39
  It was against Cleveland. You guys are playing in
• 14:41
  Cleveland and there was a get and you guys started like you
• 14:45
  guys had a bunch of injuries and guys sat and you guys started
• 14:49
  like a bunch of just, you know, random guys and you beat their
• 14:53
  ass. And is that the kind of stuff
• 14:56
  you're talking about when when you mean like you just wonder if
• 14:59
  sometimes that they're trying to win games like like they go on
• 15:02
  the road, but. That one that's happened a
• 15:05
  couple of times in a year, but that specific time I think guys
• 15:08
  were actually hurt. So stuff like that I don't mind,
• 15:11
  but stuff like that does happen in the course of the season,
• 15:15
  right? So, right.
• 15:18
  But earlier on we were playing a lot of three games and four
• 15:21
  nights, right? So I think Steve was looking at
• 15:23
  it and he was like, yeah, these are a lot of back to backs.
• 15:26
  These are older guys. Let me hold back some of these
• 15:29
  guys. But outside of that he he does
• 15:31
  do some funky stuff with the line up sometime.
• 15:34
  It was one of the most improbable wins I think I've
• 15:36
  ever seen. Man, it was like, it was
• 15:38
  unbelievable. Actually, it was.
• 15:40
  It was such a fun game to watch. Yeah.
• 15:42
  And that just kind of reminds you that if and that happens to
• 15:46
  us a lot too, where we lose to a team like that, where you don't
• 15:50
  expect, you don't know what to expect from a bunch of guys that
• 15:55
  are back at a bench or they're like two way guys sometimes
• 15:59
  because there's really not a scouting report for these guys,
• 16:02
  right? So you get these guys on like a
• 16:04
  random Wednesday and next thing you know, you know, they're
• 16:08
  collapsing your defense and the ball starts to move and they
• 16:11
  start to hit threes. You know what I'm saying?
• 16:12
  So so you don't have the paperwork on some of these guys
• 16:16
  so they can just come in on a on on a random Tuesday night and
• 16:22
  just beat you, right. I remember in the 2022 season,
• 16:27
  the I'm here where AD was hurt and the Lakers missed the
• 16:31
  playoffs and I remember there was this game that y'all played
• 16:34
  against Portland. It was like a January game or
• 16:38
  February game or something like that.
• 16:39
  Anthony Davis and LeBron was out there and Russ and Portland
• 16:43
  Beach up. It was nothing but G League
• 16:45
  guys, right? They right.
• 16:47
  And and these dudes just came in and a common denominator with
• 16:51
  that is that these guys just go balls out and they just shoot a
• 16:56
  bunch of threes and they're just making them right.
• 16:58
  So I think in a three-point era, a random team coming in and just
• 17:03
  going crazy that that tends to happen because there is a,
• 17:07
  there's a certain level of randomness that happens with,
• 17:13
  with this 3 point evolution, right?
• 17:15
  So that's kind of what I see, and that's been happening a lot.
• 17:19
  So we kind of reversed the tables on a team that you know,
• 17:23
  and it's not like the first time that we've done that.
• 17:25
  We've actually gone into Cleveland with a bunch of guys
• 17:28
  out and we've just won a game. I remember a few years ago we
• 17:32
  were playing Miami and we lost in Orlando the night and Klay
• 17:38
  Thompson, Draymond and Steph Sat and Jordan Poole and Kaminga and
• 17:43
  all of these guys, they went into Miami and they just look
• 17:46
  like the the next guys up, they've actually beat Miami that
• 17:49
  night. I think ironically enough,
• 17:52
  that's the night that Jimmy Butler and and Eric Spoelstra
• 17:56
  had like a big thing on the bench, you know, and a big thing
• 17:59
  was being made about that. So we actually went into Miami
• 18:02
  and we won that game and and it just happens sometimes where
• 18:07
  guys just don't know what to expect from some guys and then
• 18:10
  next thing you know, they're just playing over their heads.
• 18:12
  And we we did that a couple of times a season.
• 18:15
  But then Steve will see that and then he he starts to get this
• 18:19
  bright idea like he can just throw a two way guy into the
• 18:23
  starting lineup. CNN.
• 18:26
  There was a point in the season where he Steph came back and he
• 18:31
  started Steph hat Spencer and Buddy Hield.
• 18:36
  He had Buddy Hield at small forward and I was looking at
• 18:39
  that and I'm like, that's the stuff that I'm talking about
• 18:41
  where I'm I'm like, are you just trying stuff out?
• 18:46
  And then next thing you know, you're in a funk.
• 18:49
  Then you change the starting lineup and guys are uncertain
• 18:52
  and all of that. They're not in a rhythm and it's
• 18:54
  a creature of habit type of situation.
• 18:56
  So then guy, then you drop a couple of games that you
• 19:00
  shouldn't drop, right. So Joe Lacob had a situation
• 19:05
  where he had a fan e-mail him and he responded to the e-mail.
• 19:10
  And right after that, Steve, Steve, I think Steve kind of
• 19:14
  fixed up, you know, because the way that Joe responded in that
• 19:17
  e-mail, Joe was frustrated as we all were.
• 19:20
  And Steve kind of started to play with more consistent line
• 19:26
  UPS after that, right? Like, that's the type of stuff
• 19:30
  that I hear Laker fans used to complain about Darvin Ham, you
• 19:35
  know what I'm saying, where he would have these lineups and
• 19:37
  these lineups had no spacing whatsoever and he would just
• 19:41
  throw these lineups out there that had no spacing.
• 19:43
  And I think that ended up getting him fired.
• 19:46
  That's the type of stuff that Steve Kerr does.
• 19:48
  But because he's 1, he kind of has that rope, right?
• 19:52
  So. So that's where we're.
• 19:55
  At with the season so far and just kind of the ups and downs,
• 19:59
  but outside of that, I just don't think this team.
• 20:03
  Can do anything in the playoffs with eight guards on the roster.
• 20:08
  I think we need another perimeter play out there.
• 20:10
  And that's kind of the hope that I had with Kaminga.
• 20:14
  I mean, I get all of Jonathan Kaminga's flaws, but that is
• 20:19
  kind of the the hope that I had. You know, I'm sure you think the
• 20:25
  Lakers probably need somebody like that.
• 20:28
  I think everybody in the league needs a guy like that, which
• 20:31
  makes it especially challenging. Rob's a Raptors fan, so he he
• 20:37
  probably they need one of those too, right?
• 20:39
  I mean every, yeah. Yeah, we did center and you
• 20:43
  know, there's certain I can't go wrong with wing players.
• 20:46
  We got guards. So Scotty Barnes is a.
• 20:48
  Hell of a player, man. I mean, I like Scotty Barnes,
• 20:52
  man. Scotty Barnes.
• 20:53
  Is is. Is probably a player that we
• 20:57
  would need like like a player that can you guys that Scotty.
• 21:00
  Scotty Barnes, I think you guys could win it all, man.
• 21:03
  Again. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 21:05
  Yeah. Yeah, so I love.
• 21:09
  Him, man. Let's get to the next.
• 21:11
  Question here, so who did you say he's been the biggest X
• 21:14
  factors for? Like I know that we already know
• 21:17
  that Draymond, Jimmy and Steph are the main guys, of course, or
• 21:20
  you could say the big three, however you want to put it.
• 21:23
  But when you look at the stats, you got the Puds Ianski, so you
• 21:26
  got the D Anthony Melton's you got the you got what's his name,
• 21:32
  Buddy Hields, right and so on. So far, like who would you say
• 21:36
  has been an integral part of like the next man up and being
• 21:41
  available and being a big factor, especially if one of
• 21:43
  those guys were out of the game like the Curry's it's and you
• 21:47
  talking about? Anyone but Jimmy Butler,
• 21:51
  Draymond Green. Yes, yes.
• 21:54
  OK, I. I think so far it's been, it's
• 21:58
  been melting, Melting especially.
• 22:00
  Yeah, you know, I think our season kind of got torpedoed
• 22:05
  last season when Melton tore his ACL.
• 22:07
  But you know, I think Melton for this era for for what basketball
• 22:13
  is now, I think the things that Melton does is absolutely game
• 22:18
  changing. 1, you need a guy that can guard on a perimeter and
• 22:21
  two, you need a guy that can make a decision on the perimeter
• 22:25
  and he's, he's pretty good. He can put the ball on the
• 22:28
  floor, he can shoot, he he can make these .5 decisions, which
• 22:33
  is so vital to how we play our basketball.
• 22:37
  Melton is their pods. Pods is kind of up and down.
• 22:41
  Pods does things where he does it within the confines of the
• 22:45
  offense. But I would say if it's the main
• 22:48
  guy, I, I, I think it's Melton. I think Melton, they probably
• 22:52
  need two more guys like that. We, we had a, we have a second
• 22:56
  round pick, Will Richard. By the way, these are three
• 22:59
  guards that I mentioned. That's my guy.
• 23:01
  Man, I'm a Florida fan too. I like Will Richard.
• 23:04
  I love him, man. I mean.
• 23:05
  To to find a guy that deep in the second round is absolutely
• 23:10
  amazing. He's a hell of a player.
• 23:12
  And when he was drafted, I remember people were were it was
• 23:18
  high praises for him. You know, in the preseason there
• 23:21
  was some video and and Steve was kind of talking about how he
• 23:24
  loves Will Richard's game. Not a problem with real Richard
• 23:27
  is that will Richard is a rookie and there's a couple of guys
• 23:33
  ahead of him, right? So, you know, based on NBA
• 23:36
  politics and all of that, Will Richard, you know, caught a
• 23:39
  couple of DN PS But there's certain guys that I think even
• 23:43
  as a rookie that he surpassed already, right.
• 23:45
  But a player like Will Richard, the they are melting.
• 23:49
  Will Richard type of player I think is essential going forward
• 23:54
  because he kind of does the same things Like he makes quick
• 23:57
  decisions. He he cuts, he cuts when he's
• 24:00
  supposed to cut. He makes himself available,
• 24:04
  plays defense. So some guys just have it man.
• 24:07
  And, and, and he's one of those guys.
• 24:09
  He just knows how to start. Didn't you score like 30 points
• 24:12
  or something like that? He did, yeah.
• 24:14
  Yeah. He did.
• 24:15
  He did. I was.
• 24:15
  Really impressed by that. So, but again, these guys are
• 24:19
  rookies and I think a lot of these guys that we have on a
• 24:22
  team, they don't sometimes they don't get a consistent role
• 24:25
  because Steve plays so many guys.
• 24:27
  So you know, you just got to be doing everything to just stay on
• 24:32
  the court because there's only three guys that that that stay
• 24:35
  on the court on this team. It's it's a top three guys,
• 24:38
  right. So that's kind of where we're
• 24:41
  at, man. But we but from what we need
• 24:44
  standpoint, we need another like we need like a Andrew Wiggins
• 24:48
  type. And I know the Lakers have been
• 24:50
  saying that they need a guy like that as well, but that is what's
• 24:54
  needed, man. I think if we get a guy like
• 24:56
  that or another guy like that, like 2 guys like that, I think
• 25:01
  we'll be in a great spot. I am.
• 25:03
  I am less concerned about the center position than most people
• 25:10
  are. I think you can find a big,
• 25:12
  especially if you play a certain type of way where you can throw
• 25:15
  that big in there and they hold down the rim a little bit and
• 25:19
  they block shots. And then at the end of the game
• 25:22
  you just downsize, right? So I am less concerned.
• 25:26
  A lot of people are more concerned about the center spot.
• 25:29
  But my thing about centers is that if they don't, if if they
• 25:35
  don't have this crazy defensive impact like say like Anthony
• 25:38
  Davis, and they're not creating for themselves and teammates, I
• 25:41
  mean, you probably should go, you probably should spend less
• 25:46
  resources on the center spot. So I just think where the game
• 25:52
  is at perimeter wise, you probably have to, you know, get
• 25:56
  as many guys as possible that can guard.
• 26:00
  And I think that's the position that the Lakers are in.
• 26:04
  The Lakers need like 2 guys on the perimeter that can guard.
• 26:07
  Speaking of which, how do you guys feel about that Rich the
• 26:11
  Rich Ball comment? Well, I'll.
• 26:14
  I'll say because I'm the Lakers fan, so I.
• 26:17
  Think. That because LeBron, LeBron is
• 26:20
  represented by Rich Paul and he did say something after the game
• 26:24
  was done. And it's so funny because it
• 26:27
  seems like Rich Paul wants to get involved with the Lakers
• 26:31
  because they're the they're the bigger brand team, you know,
• 26:34
  historic franchise. And he kind of felt like he
• 26:38
  wanted to cause some ruffles because the moment because Lucas
• 26:41
  represented by Bill Duffy, right, and Lucas trying to get
• 26:44
  his guys. He got the what's his name,
• 26:47
  DeAndre Ayne. He got Marcus Smart.
• 26:49
  So he felt like he's doing service for LeBron to go get
• 26:52
  because Triple J is a is a clutch sports guy, right.
• 26:56
  So that's how I look at things. But I mean, LeBron, LeBron even
• 27:00
  said that he talks to Austin Reeves every day and he's the
• 27:02
  he's the longest teammate, 10 year teammate that he's played
• 27:05
  with the Lakers. But and apparently the Lakers
• 27:08
  front office was not happy or ownership or whoever in the
• 27:12
  upper brass wasn't happy at all about it.
• 27:14
  So I don't know how what to think of it, to be honest with
• 27:17
  you, But we'll see how it plays out because like it's, it's a
• 27:20
  long season to the trade deadlines another month away and
• 27:22
  it's going to be fascinating to see what where things go right.
• 27:25
  So I'm I'm like mixed reactions at the at this point, Like I
• 27:29
  just because right now it's all smoke, right?
• 27:31
  Nothing clear. Because if you look at Memphis
• 27:33
  right now, they're trying to trade John Moran, but teams
• 27:37
  prefer Triple J more than right, because Brad's such a toxic
• 27:41
  player and he comes with baggage, right?
• 27:43
  So, and teams wouldn't Triple J and he wants control.
• 27:46
  And I think they're trying to entice LeBron to stay there too,
• 27:49
  right? Rather, because he's he settled
• 27:51
  everything in LA rather than like go back to Cleaver or even
• 27:54
  Miami at this point, right? So I mean, he prefers staying in
• 27:56
  LA, but we'll see how it goes, right?
• 27:59
  So it'll be interesting. Yeah, it that that Rich Paul
• 28:05
  situation, because you were hearing rumblings about LeBron
• 28:09
  to start the season and then, you know, Luca and Reeves were,
• 28:13
  you know, they just look like the best backcourt in NBA
• 28:16
  history at one point, right? They were both in the MVP and,
• 28:19
  well, it's fashion. Brothers are right.
• 28:21
  So. I mean, at that point, the
• 28:25
  numbers that they were putting up were bro, damn near both of
• 28:29
  them were averaging 30s. Say what you want about them,
• 28:32
  but if you have two guys that that that are going to the free
• 28:36
  throw line 10 times each, it's like that's tough to beat,
• 28:38
  right? So right.
• 28:40
  So that's what they were doing. And then it's almost like.
• 28:45
  Maybe it was. Implied Maybe it wasn't, but you
• 28:49
  expect that if you don't have LeBron James on your team,
• 28:51
  you're probably going to take a big hit.
• 28:53
  And Austin Reeves just kind of filled that production gap.
• 28:57
  And then Rich Paul is not wrong, but I mean, it's just kind of
• 29:01
  weird to say as an agent and then it, it just creates like a
• 29:05
  locker room dynamic, right? So I, I found that fascinating
• 29:09
  that he said that a lot of people did and then LeBron had
• 29:14
  to do damage control. But you have to think that Rich
• 29:17
  and LeBron is talking about this.
• 29:18
  But I, I don't think it's great that you have a agent that's
• 29:23
  going on a podcast. That's crazy to me, but I guess
• 29:28
  there's only so many messages that you can get across.
• 29:32
  I mean, you just got to get the message across yourself I
• 29:35
  suppose, right? Yeah, for sure.
• 29:39
  I mean, we'll see how it plays out in the end game, right?
• 29:41
  That I think we'll find out more about it in the summer than
• 29:44
  during the season, the outcome of all this.
• 29:46
  So we'll see, Quentin. Post has been a key role for our
• 29:51
  key role player for the Warriors this season.
• 29:53
  He's been coming up in big spots when the team needed him to step
• 29:57
  up. He was drafted in 2024 out of
• 29:59
  Boston College and he's the first Dutch player since 2009.
• 30:04
  So talk about his development and how important a piece he's
• 30:07
  been for the Warriors this season, I think.
• 30:11
  He's been. Last.
• 30:14
  Season I'm a big fan of Quentin post.
• 30:18
  I'm I'm probably the flag barefoot Quentin post last
• 30:22
  season you there's a lot of talk about a stretch 5 and he was
• 30:28
  drafted in the second round and all of that.
• 30:29
  So he he he spent a little bit of time in the G League and
• 30:34
  after the Jimmy Butler trade, they kind of brought him up and
• 30:37
  lo and behold, he was literally the second best shooter on the
• 30:41
  team. He he might still be right.
• 30:47
  And. They were starting Draymond at
• 30:49
  the four and they were doing some stuff there.
• 30:51
  But the thing about Quentin Post last season is that he wasn't
• 30:55
  that physical on the glass. He got scored on a lot at the
• 30:59
  rim. And there was a lot of stuff
• 31:02
  that kind of went on with Quentin Post where you were
• 31:05
  like, like he he he has some warts defensively, right?
• 31:11
  Like a lot of centers have that, but he had some rebounding
• 31:15
  issues this season. He fixed all of that.
• 31:18
  And it's probably one of the best, you know, season to season
• 31:23
  fixing of your warts that I've I remember seeing from a role
• 31:28
  player. Like there was a point where his
• 31:32
  defensive rating was up there with the OK C guys, right?
• 31:36
  And you know, he helped, he helped to win us some games when
• 31:42
  a lot of the guys were out, Draymond was out for a while
• 31:46
  and, and he, he, he stepped up man.
• 31:49
  And you know, to have a center that shoots threes is, is, is
• 31:53
  huge because you can just use them in different types of ways.
• 31:57
  And the thing about post as well is that, you know, when they
• 32:00
  trap Steph Curry or they, they put him in a position to make a
• 32:04
  decision because his team is all about .5 decisions.
• 32:07
  More times than not he has he's done a pretty good job of making
• 32:13
  that .5 decision, right? So, so I, I like the stuff that
• 32:18
  he's done on both ends. You're still going to have those
• 32:21
  limitations with the foot speed stuff and all of that.
• 32:23
  But for the money and even if you were to pay a guy 10 million
• 32:28
  or a centre 10 to $15 million, I don't know that you would play
• 32:33
  any better than Quinton Post has right?
• 32:35
  So I think he's one of the bright spots of the team and
• 32:39
  kind of what what they've and shout out to him for improving
• 32:46
  the way that he has because a friend of mine on a timeline,
• 32:49
  Jim Park, Jim Park was really, really critical about Quinton
• 32:53
  Post and Jim Park is is is like the biggest Quinton Post fan
• 32:57
  now. So that is absolutely
• 32:59
  phenomenal. Oh, for sure.
• 33:03
  Oh yeah, Jim Parks, man, shout out to Jim Parks.
• 33:07
  I know that he always has this rampage about talking about
• 33:10
  Steve Kerr and every time he lose his game, he just lets it
• 33:13
  out man, social media, he is hilarious man.
• 33:17
  He is one-of-a-kind shout out to Jim.
• 33:20
  But the next question I want to talk about it.
• 33:23
  It's an interesting topic or player because Pat Spencer has
• 33:28
  come out of nowhere and has become a pivotal role player for
• 33:32
  the for the Warriors and surprisingly enough, like he was
• 33:36
  formally known to be a lacrosse player.
• 33:39
  In fact, he was the number one pick in the Archer Lacrosse Club
• 33:43
  in 2019. But the Warriors selected event
• 33:48
  and now he was started off in the G League and look where he's
• 33:51
  at today. What a journey.
• 33:52
  And how did you see him at first as a player?
• 33:56
  Like, did you know anything about him?
• 33:58
  Did you think that he was going to be anything?
• 34:01
  Or he was just like, another guy's like, OK, you know, the
• 34:04
  Warriors have these carousels, like, OK, one guy come, one guy
• 34:08
  comes. I just thought of him at first
• 34:11
  as just like another guy. At first I did think it was
• 34:14
  interesting that he played lacrosse, you know what I'm
• 34:16
  saying? And he was like, I don't know,
• 34:19
  vote of lacrosse damn near, you know, But you know, it's
• 34:22
  interesting when you play these field sports, like you play
• 34:25
  soccer, you play I played soccer growing up, right?
• 34:28
  So I think soccer, lacrosse sports like that, these field
• 34:35
  sports where you have to know angles and all of that stuff.
• 34:38
  I think in a weird way, it helps you in basketball, right?
• 34:43
  Like it helps you to to kind of read the game in a certain way
• 34:46
  and to anticipate. It helps your anticipation and
• 34:50
  it helps your mapping of the field or the court or whatever,
• 34:53
  right. So the fact that he's he's
• 34:57
  branched off into another sport and you have the hand eye
• 35:00
  coordination thing where you're dribbling left, you're dribbling
• 35:03
  right, you, you have to shoot the basketball run up and down
• 35:08
  the basketball court. I think that's phenomenal.
• 35:13
  But I, I think these other guys that play other sports where
• 35:18
  they have to, they have like 10 other guys on the, the field or
• 35:22
  the court or whatever. It does help you to, to, to kind
• 35:27
  of anticipate, map the court, know where this guy is, scan,
• 35:31
  scan the field and do that type of thing.
• 35:34
  And I think that's helped this basketball play.
• 35:36
  You can see it like like if you, if you played sports growing up,
• 35:41
  you kind of know what to look for.
• 35:43
  Like there's basic things that growing up, they tell you to do
• 35:46
  in, in, in sports, right? Like if, if you're like a
• 35:49
  midfielder in soccer, they know, they tell you to, you know, to
• 35:53
  scan, right? And then and then to pass the
• 35:57
  ball or before you receive the ball, you're scanning to know
• 36:00
  the next play that you're going to make.
• 36:01
  And you know, that's kind of what he does.
• 36:04
  And he kind of sneaks up on you because he's he's so assuming.
• 36:07
  And then next thing you know, he's just going by you and he's
• 36:11
  like dunking. You're like, where the hell did
• 36:12
  this guy come from? You know what I'm saying?
• 36:14
  Or he's, he's sizing you up and he's like shooting a three.
• 36:17
  So I've been impressed by him. But again, on this team, there's
• 36:23
  so many guards on his team. So I really haven't seen him
• 36:26
  play that much the last couple of games.
• 36:29
  But those games in Philly and Cleveland and all of that, he,
• 36:33
  he he was amazing in those games, right?
• 36:37
  And his brother is pretty good too.
• 36:39
  I mean, his brother is shooting like 43% from three, averaging
• 36:43
  like 12 points a game, something like that.
• 36:44
  So yeah, Ken, his brothers. Are playing from office, yeah,
• 36:48
  he plays. Yeah, they're both pretty
• 36:50
  talented the hell out of the ball.
• 36:52
  I. Think he's averaging like 12
• 36:53
  points and five assists or so. I I think that's phenomenal,
• 36:56
  man, where you have like brothers that that just have
• 36:59
  that kind of feel for the game, Yeah.
• 37:02
  That's great. Well, Steph Curry, let's talk
• 37:07
  about Steph. He's been playing in his 17th
• 37:10
  season now with the Warriors. And how important is it for the
• 37:13
  ownership to continue to compete?
• 37:15
  Well, Steph is still in his, you know, playing at a high level.
• 37:21
  I think the organization has has fumble maximizing the type of
• 37:28
  guys that they have put around Steph Curry in 2022, I think
• 37:36
  they pretty much got it right. I think they hit the nail on the
• 37:39
  head. They had a guy that was point of
• 37:42
  attack. They had some shooting in there,
• 37:44
  but ever since then and I think the Warriors had to switch
• 37:48
  course as well. Like I, I, I can blame them to a
• 37:51
  certain extent, but in the, on the other hand, they had to cut
• 37:59
  salary, right? Like they, this CBA, they had
• 38:04
  to, to kind of, you know, shed some salary, right?
• 38:08
  And they had a lot of salary to shed because no one wants to be
• 38:11
  in the 2nd or the 1st apron, right?
• 38:14
  And I, I feel like the Warriors were, you know, with Draymond,
• 38:17
  Steph and Clay and, and Andrew Wiggins, they had a couple of
• 38:22
  guys. So it's almost like they had to
• 38:25
  to shrink to shrink what they were going to pay guys.
• 38:28
  Because right now I think we're brushing up against the second
• 38:32
  apron and that kind of limits on what you want to do as an
• 38:37
  organization in terms of making moves, right.
• 38:39
  So even at the deadline in terms of making being in the first
• 38:44
  apron, that's going to hurt you. But that's how I think they
• 38:48
  fumble it a little bit. They've had some restrictions,
• 38:52
  but there's still some things that they could have done
• 38:55
  better. You know, I think both sides,
• 38:59
  the Steve Kerr fraction and the organization, I think the
• 39:03
  organization wanted to bring in younger guys.
• 39:07
  And there's there's also many Andre Iguodala's and Shaun
• 39:11
  Livingston's that you have out there.
• 39:13
  And I think Steve, Steve's vision and Steve's idea is to
• 39:18
  have a guy that can make a decision.
• 39:23
  You have a guy that can make a decision and and can defend.
• 39:28
  And I think we need more guys like that with some size.
• 39:30
  I think when you have more guys like that and you have like one
• 39:33
  or two more shooters, I think that's the best form of it.
• 39:36
  Not necessarily like All Star or a guy that needs the ball a lot.
• 39:41
  I think we need more guys that can make a decision and I just
• 39:45
  feel like the organization, they kind of messed up in terms of
• 39:50
  trying to find those guys, whether it be in a draft or
• 39:54
  whether it be in free agency or whether it be in a buy up market
• 39:57
  or whatever. I feel like they've kind of
• 40:00
  messed up in that sense surrounding stuff with some of
• 40:04
  these guys. But I think there's healthy
• 40:06
  blame to go around with the dream on punch thing, I think.
• 40:10
  That definitely put a dark cloud over the organization.
• 40:14
  But there's a few things and it just feels like the the, the
• 40:18
  coaching staff and, and the front office are just not on the
• 40:21
  same page, you know, and it's almost like it's a it's a thing
• 40:26
  where the the vets still think that they can win.
• 40:29
  I believe that there is a world and I'm sure Laker fans feel
• 40:32
  like this as well after watching Indiana do what they did and you
• 40:37
  watch what Miami did a few years ago.
• 40:39
  There there there is a puncher's chance where you can be one of
• 40:43
  those teams that right before the playoffs, kind of like the
• 40:47
  the O 7 giants, right where you get hot right before the
• 40:50
  playoffs and the next thing you know, you're winning a you're
• 40:54
  you're winning a Super Bowl. You know what I'm saying?
• 40:56
  So that's kind of how the NBA feels.
• 40:59
  And you know, that's how it felt last season.
• 41:03
  I mean, last year, I think around this time I was looking
• 41:08
  at the, the futures market and Indiana was like a + 13,000 or
• 41:14
  something like that. I mean, imagine if you put down
• 41:16
  like $200 on Indiana, you know, to make the finals.
• 41:20
  I mean, no one had them making the finals last year and you
• 41:25
  were. You were.
• 41:28
  Probably an Achilles injury away from having Indiana win that
• 41:32
  series, right? Like it, it, it, it came close,
• 41:36
  man, it, it, it really came close to having Indiana beat a
• 41:40
  team that won 68 games, right? So I just feel like, you know,
• 41:47
  they they haven't really maximized Steph.
• 41:49
  And then you, you look at what he's doing this year.
• 41:52
  I mean, 28 points on what is it 60, sorry, 58% effective field
• 41:59
  goal. I mean, that's amazing.
• 42:01
  So, so a guy had 30, he's about to be 38, I believe in March.
• 42:06
  And for him to still be at that level and, and, and still having
• 42:11
  that impact. I mean, right now there's like a
• 42:16
  new gravity stat that they came out with and he's leading that
• 42:19
  by a landslide. And the, the gravity stuff, I
• 42:22
  mean, I know a lot of people laugh about that, but I mean,
• 42:25
  he's still a nightmare to guard. He's still feared right where
• 42:29
  where he's drawing that much attention.
• 42:31
  But I just feel like the talent has eroded around him and they
• 42:37
  haven't done really a good job of, of, of drafting well or, or
• 42:44
  bringing in guys that can actually help.
• 42:46
  I think they were in a good spot and somehow they they kind of
• 42:50
  fumble some of this talent, you know, like we're looking for a 2
• 42:54
  guard right now and we don't have dream.
• 42:57
  We don't, we don't have Klay Thompson and we don't have
• 42:59
  Jordan Poole. Those guys were really, really
• 43:01
  good for us at one point, right? And we're playing musical chairs
• 43:05
  at 2 guard right now and none of those guys are available.
• 43:08
  So, you know, we did some things and we didn't.
• 43:13
  I don't think we necessarily maximize them to the greatest,
• 43:16
  but I don't think it's one thing.
• 43:19
  I think there is, you know, blame to go around with the
• 43:22
  front office. They kind of fumble some things
• 43:25
  the same time they had their hands tied and and you know, the
• 43:28
  Draymond punch I don't think helped anything.
• 43:32
  And Steve, Steve has kind of fumble some stuff as well.
• 43:35
  I mean, he's done a good job here and there, but he's fumble
• 43:38
  some stuff here and there. So I think there's plenty,
• 43:41
  plenty of blame to go around. But in terms of what Steph still
• 43:45
  does, I mean, you know, last year in that Houston series,
• 43:50
  right, we were in the seven seed and we were going up against the
• 43:53
  two seed. And I remember I was doing
• 43:55
  spaces and I had some Houston guys in there and I was so
• 44:01
  confident doing those spaces. I was like, yo, y'all are going
• 44:04
  to lose the series because I saw what it was, you know what I'm
• 44:06
  saying? And I was like, y'all are not
• 44:08
  going to beat us, man. I mean, you, you don't have an
• 44:11
  answer for Steph Curry, right? And the reason why I felt so
• 44:14
  confident is because of that thing that Steph Curry still
• 44:17
  did. I mean, Jimmy Butler missed that
• 44:19
  game three. And Steph just did an absolute
• 44:22
  carry job where some guy gets gets hurt, misses a game.
• 44:26
  And, you know, Steph just does a crazy carry job in that game.
• 44:30
  And, you know, I just thought that was the most phenomenal
• 44:34
  thing, right? So, yeah, they they, they've
• 44:39
  kind of fumble some things at the end here.
• 44:43
  It's not like they had Luka Doncic just, you know, fall into
• 44:47
  their laps, you know, you know, tell Yeah, that's what I tell.
• 44:53
  Let me. That's good.
• 44:54
  I know. No, I mean, so, so this is the
• 44:57
  thing and this will lead up to my next question.
• 45:00
  And I want to talk about your owner, Joe Lakeup.
• 45:03
  And he's been one of the most aggressive owners in the NBA, if
• 45:08
  not the aggressive owner in the NBA.
• 45:11
  And look at him, look at his track record and looking at what
• 45:16
  he wants to get to go get the player he wants.
• 45:18
  And he's done it before. You saw what he did with Jimmy
• 45:21
  Butler. You've seen in the past getting
• 45:23
  Kevin Durant and so on and so forth.
• 45:25
  And talk about him in this process.
• 45:27
  And do you think he would go under that same style?
• 45:31
  Because I know that there has been reports in the past about
• 45:35
  Laurie Markkanen and that didn't happen.
• 45:37
  And you know, Giannis, his name has been rumored to be in on the
• 45:41
  trade block. But like knowing about the
• 45:43
  owner, about Jay Joe Lake up and I'm pretty sure he's trying to
• 45:46
  find the next star. I would assume once Steph is
• 45:49
  retires, right? Do you think he would go go for
• 45:53
  the full moon and go get the guy he wants, or do you think that
• 45:56
  he's just going to play it off and see where things go in the
• 45:58
  near future? That's a part of why Joe Lacob,
• 46:05
  Giannis is, is kind of why we're we're not going to go all in on
• 46:11
  a move because I don't think Joe would forgive anybody if they
• 46:18
  they trade all their draft picks away and, and they don't get a
• 46:23
  guy and then all of a sudden you you don't get Giannis.
• 46:29
  Giannis becomes available and you don't even have a shot to
• 46:32
  get him, you know what I'm saying?
• 46:33
  So I think Joe would rather not trade for a guy and then go
• 46:38
  after Giannis. I think, I think the way that he
• 46:40
  looks at it is like. They don't.
• 46:44
  Really have much of a chance to win with the current team or
• 46:49
  they maybe he thinks that maybe they have a puncher's chance,
• 46:52
  but I think that he's looking to get like a guy like young.
• 46:57
  It's like like like I think his attitude is probably much like
• 47:00
  mine. It's either you know you you you
• 47:03
  swing big or you go home. You know what I'm saying?
• 47:06
  And I think that's the attitude that he has That's my attitude.
• 47:09
  A lot of people just want to make like these ancillary moves
• 47:13
  and just trade away every draft pick.
• 47:15
  I don't think he has a problem trading away the draft picks.
• 47:18
  I think it's he's saying that if you're going to trade everything
• 47:21
  away, make it be Giannis or, you know, a guy that's at least in
• 47:26
  the top ten, right? Like Warrior fans want to trade
• 47:28
  away four first round picks for a guy that never even made the
• 47:32
  All Star game. And I just think we're just at
• 47:35
  the grocery store and we haven't aid in 12 hours.
• 47:38
  You know, I'm saying like, I think that's what it is.
• 47:40
  And we're so starved to get Steph some help in here.
• 47:43
  But sometimes you got to be careful about that, man.
• 47:46
  I mean, you can get a guy and then he doesn't fit, right?
• 47:50
  Like, like I've seen that happen to this team a couple of times
• 47:53
  where you think a guy's going to fit and then he doesn't fit.
• 47:57
  And then after three games you're, you want him, you want
• 48:02
  him gone off the team, right? So you, you, you got to be
• 48:05
  careful and no, and actually no basketball to, to really look at
• 48:11
  a guy's game and say, all right, this is how Steve would use
• 48:14
  them. This is where he would fit.
• 48:16
  Does he fit with Draymond Green? You know, can he guard?
• 48:20
  Like those are the questions that you need to answer.
• 48:22
  Can he make .5 decisions? Can you read the game that well?
• 48:26
  So we play different from the rest of the league.
• 48:29
  I mean, when you watch a Laker game or you watch an OK C game,
• 48:34
  you typically have one or two guys that are controlling the
• 48:38
  tempo, right? We have players who we do it
• 48:42
  different. We we make a decision based on
• 48:45
  movement and you know, much of it is the advantage that Steph
• 48:49
  creates off ball, right? So that's kind of where that's
• 48:56
  kind of where we're different and we're unique and we just got
• 48:59
  to be careful about the type of guys that we bring in.
• 49:02
  So have they wasted? Yeah, they they've definitely
• 49:07
  fumble it a little bit. Sure.
• 49:13
  Let's talk about some of the trade rumors that the Warriors
• 49:16
  have been involved with lately, namely Michael Porter Junior.
• 49:21
  He's been linked to the Warriors in recent reports.
• 49:24
  And there's was was a report, I believe it was yesterday or
• 49:28
  today that came out and said pretty much what you said
• 49:31
  earlier about the Warriors are unsure whether or not they want
• 49:34
  to give up draft picks and a trade for, you know, certain
• 49:39
  because like you said, star players are are different
• 49:42
  category all their own. But So what are your thoughts on
• 49:46
  some of the trade rumors you're hearing?
• 49:47
  I also heard Markinen's name linked to you guys.
• 49:51
  Just some of the guys and some of the fits that you or even
• 49:54
  some of the players that you'd like to see them go after.
• 49:58
  If Lori Markin is if. Lori Markinen is available.
• 50:01
  Go and get Lori Markinen. Oh my God, I would love to have
• 50:05
  Lori Markinen on the team. Yeah, if you had to trade away
• 50:09
  two or three first round pixel or market, and at this point, I
• 50:12
  would take it in a heartbeat. Michael Porter junior is an
• 50:16
  interesting one. Michael Porter, junior.
• 50:23
  I think what Michael Porter. Junior has done.
• 50:25
  This season has been phenomenal. I mean, it's funny because
• 50:29
  Michael Porter junior last season when they made the trade,
• 50:32
  at least they made the trade for Cam Johnson, they were saying
• 50:38
  that Cam Johnson was going to be an upgrade to Michael Porter
• 50:41
  junior. You look at how Cam Johnson has
• 50:42
  played this season, especially early.
• 50:44
  I mean, he did not the case. Yeah.
• 50:46
  Yeah, it's it's. It it almost looked.
• 50:49
  Like Michael Porter junior was, was the better player.
• 50:53
  And the the thing that I think a lot of lot of fans don't
• 50:59
  navigate well is watching a guy on a bad team put up stats and
• 51:06
  in the inflation that it that we are in, in the inflation era of
• 51:11
  the NBA, right? This is where people can get
• 51:14
  fooled, right? Because everyone is putting up
• 51:17
  stats now, right? So you got to determine what are
• 51:21
  the quality of those stats, right?
• 51:23
  Like, because if you're on a team and like every team is
• 51:27
  running a 120 offense damn near, and you have a guy that has
• 51:31
  heavy usage, that guy is going to put up stats, right?
• 51:35
  And it's going to look like he's amazing and all of that stuff,
• 51:37
  right? But can you bring that guy on
• 51:40
  your team and can his game translate to where he's making
• 51:44
  those .5 decisions? He's moving off the ball, he's
• 51:48
  creating gravity, he's creating openings for other guys he's
• 51:51
  guarding, right? So if he can do those things in,
• 51:55
  in a championship setting and, and doing championship type
• 51:59
  things, sure, make the move. But like sometimes I, I'm
• 52:04
  skeptical about a guy that goes to a team and he's just
• 52:08
  launching up stats. You know, I'm saying not to say
• 52:10
  that's what Michael Porter junior is doing.
• 52:12
  I he's an NBA champion, right? But you, you got to be careful,
• 52:17
  you know, when you're making that decision, right?
• 52:20
  So I think he would actually fit on our team because he is a guy
• 52:25
  that is a movement shooter. And I think when you put another
• 52:29
  gravity type of player next to Steph Curry, I think it it it it
• 52:35
  really makes it hard to key in on a guy like Steph, a guy, you
• 52:40
  know, like Porter junior, and it frees up the other guys as well,
• 52:44
  right? And it makes it makes the
• 52:46
  reliance of like a the three-point line.
• 52:50
  It it it has to rely on the three-point list.
• 52:53
  So I think I think a guy like that would help.
• 52:58
  I think marketing would be amazing because those guys are
• 53:01
  off ball operators. I've heard him talk about Trey
• 53:05
  Murphy. I think all of those guys that
• 53:07
  would be a great fit too. Yeah, Trey Murphy.
• 53:11
  I mean, Trey Murphy came in here a few years ago and he shot our
• 53:14
  faces off. He was amazing.
• 53:16
  And he was hitting like these threes and you know, you, you
• 53:18
  look at his production. But again, you know, how would
• 53:21
  that translate on our team, right?
• 53:24
  So right, You never know. Defender too though, right?
• 53:27
  He's a great defender. Too.
• 53:28
  He's a pretty decent defender. I wouldn't say great.
• 53:31
  He's OK. I mean, I mean, he's pretty
• 53:33
  decent. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 53:34
  I get where he's there, so so if if, but the thing.
• 53:39
  Is is like when when guys like that are available, Teams just
• 53:46
  teams just. Go that route where?
• 53:48
  Where they? But they're trying to overcharge
• 53:51
  you, you know what I'm saying? It's like coming.
• 53:54
  They're trying to lowball the Warriors on Comingo.
• 53:57
  I want to talk about the the. Upcoming schedule and looking at
• 54:01
  the strength of schedule, I think the Warriors have the 4th
• 54:03
  toughest schedule throughout the way.
• 54:05
  I think we're in the midpoint of the season, I think and, and
• 54:09
  looking at the way they need to play.
• 54:10
  And like you said, we talked about the trade deadline coming
• 54:14
  up and we'll see what they do additionally wise and where they
• 54:18
  stand right now. I think they're what, 8th in the
• 54:21
  Western Conference. So they're pretty much in the
• 54:22
  play in right now at the moment. But that that that could change
• 54:25
  over the course of the season. But like, how do you look at the
• 54:29
  schedule and how tough is the Western Conference now?
• 54:34
  So compared to like the last few years?
• 54:37
  Because if you look at the way, I mean, right now, I mean, OKC
• 54:40
  is on the top of the food chain and San Antonio's arrived and
• 54:44
  you still have the Lakers in there.
• 54:45
  We've got the Rockets with the Kevin Durant acquisition.
• 54:48
  That's going to be interesting to see how the how the how that
• 54:51
  team plays out. But like overall, how do you
• 54:53
  look at that as a whole? There's a bunch of random stuff
• 54:59
  that's about to happen. Bro, like you look at the
• 55:01
  conference, especially the top eight, I mean, not many games
• 55:05
  are separating a lot of these teams.
• 55:07
  And so right, I mean it, it, it's literally going to be a.
• 55:13
  Matchup dependent. Crapshoot this year, last year,
• 55:17
  last year, I was looking at the playoffs and the game just looks
• 55:20
  so random, right? Like again, Indiana made the
• 55:23
  finals, man. I mean, and I think if you if if
• 55:27
  you go back to 2023, Miami made the finals.
• 55:33
  Dallas in 2024 made a hell of a run to the Finals, right this.
• 55:40
  Past season, Indiana. Right.
• 55:41
  So I think there's like a level of randomness that exists, like,
• 55:46
  like, like Cleveland last year, Cleveland looked amazing in the
• 55:48
  regular season, and then they just went to the playoffs and
• 55:51
  laid an egg, right? So I think now with fans feeling
• 55:57
  that and noticing that in 23, the Lakers made the Western
• 56:00
  Conference finals, right? So yeah, it could be a
• 56:04
  situation. Where you look up.
• 56:05
  And a team like Miami is in the Finals, don't put it past them,
• 56:09
  You know what I'm saying? So it it, it's, it's entirely
• 56:12
  possible because the talent difference between from one team
• 56:16
  to the next. It's not like when the Lakers
• 56:19
  had like Kobe and Shaq, you know what I'm saying?
• 56:21
  And they were just so much better than everyone else.
• 56:24
  I mean, you just don't get that sense anymore.
• 56:26
  I mean, OK, C is amazing, but you look at how they play and
• 56:30
  you see like they run up into a certain matchup and then they
• 56:34
  they look like they can get got the Spurs.
• 56:38
  Who knows what the Spurs are going to do?
• 56:39
  The Spurs were out of the mix last year, right?
• 56:44
  But they look like they have a few young guys in there.
• 56:47
  But again, they're young guys. You just don't know how these
• 56:50
  young guys are going to respond to a playoff setting, right?
• 56:53
  Like, you don't know if their game is going to be resilient
• 56:56
  enough for a playoff series, right?
• 56:58
  So you think about that stuff and the game is just going to
• 57:01
  slow down at some point, and then it's just going to come
• 57:03
  down to your best guys now. It's like, you know, it's just
• 57:08
  random now. And I think that's what a lot of
• 57:11
  teams got to negotiate with, you know.
• 57:14
  Yeah. Talk about Mike Dunleavy.
• 57:18
  Being the GM, taking over for and trying to fill those big
• 57:22
  shoes that Bob Myers left behind.
• 57:27
  Yeah, Mike came in at. A weird time.
• 57:29
  Because you had like everyone had to learn about the new CBA
• 57:35
  and I think I think he's done a OK job.
• 57:38
  I mean, listen, when you can find a second round talent, I
• 57:43
  think that's that should be commended.
• 57:46
  You know, absolutely. Here's where I'll.
• 57:50
  Give him credit. Though, when you have a owner
• 57:52
  like Joe Lacob that you can tell with Joe Lacob, man, he has a
• 57:57
  strong personality. He's and a lot of these guys,
• 58:03
  they're billionaires, what I'm saying?
• 58:04
  So they just think different, right?
• 58:07
  Like they think different from a great portion of the population.
• 58:11
  So most rooms they that these guys go in they, they, they
• 58:16
  usually have a presence in those rooms, right?
• 58:18
  So I think a function of you being AGM is you have to go in
• 58:24
  and you have to have an idea and you have to sell your idea,
• 58:29
  right? So the fact that Joe Lakeup when
• 58:32
  it or Mike Dudley went in there and sold Joe Lakeup on Jimmy
• 58:37
  Butler because he had to sell them, I don't think Joe Lakeup
• 58:42
  at first was too excited about the Jimmy Butler thing and the
• 58:46
  fact that he had to go in there and sell him on the idea.
• 58:49
  And, and that's where I'll give him credit.
• 58:51
  Now outside of that, I don't think he's done a, a great job
• 58:55
  necessarily. I think like some of the moves
• 58:58
  or some of the decisions that I've, I've watched him make,
• 59:02
  they have been reactionary, right?
• 59:05
  And I think when you're in that spot, you, you almost have to
• 59:08
  have like a particular plan, right?
• 59:10
  So you got to have like a certain presence over the head
• 59:13
  coach, which I don't think he does.
• 59:15
  I think Steve tells him what to do.
• 59:18
  And you got to have a whole a whole vision on in terms of what
• 59:23
  you want, right. But I mean, with the tools that
• 59:25
  he was given and the spot that he was put in, I think I think
• 59:29
  he's I would probably give him like AB minus on the job that
• 59:35
  he's done since. And I am grading him on a curve
• 59:39
  because he was put into a tough spot because everyone was
• 59:44
  transitioning during that time, right?
• 59:46
  So I think he has. An idea in terms of what?
• 59:53
  What Steve Kerr wants. But you know, I think some of
• 59:56
  the planning stuff, you know, not trading Cominga when he
• 1:00:01
  probably should have traded him, you know, stuff like that
• 1:00:06
  overabundance of guards on the team.
• 1:00:09
  Stuff like that. That's why I'd probably give him
• 1:00:12
  AB minus and I'm being, I think I'm being generous with the B
• 1:00:15
  minus. I want to reflect back a little
• 1:00:21
  bit and. I want to talk about the Splash
• 1:00:23
  Brothers and his time. And we could talk about Klay
• 1:00:26
  Thompson here and we know that he's with The Mavericks now.
• 1:00:28
  But we talked prior to to our recording and you talked a lot
• 1:00:33
  about what Claire Klay Thompson time was in this situation.
• 1:00:37
  Talk about like what went down and what happened that came to
• 1:00:40
  an end with with the Warriors organization and Klay Thompson
• 1:00:44
  as a whole. Yeah, I think.
• 1:00:49
  You. You in 2019 Klay Thompson in the
• 1:00:53
  Finals, which I've never seen him shoot the ball like that in
• 1:00:56
  a playoff series before. And he did it in the NBA Finals
• 1:01:00
  and he was amazing. We we damn near if you didn't
• 1:01:03
  get hurt, I think we win that series.
• 1:01:05
  But he, he, he was at the peak of his powers and then he tears
• 1:01:10
  his ACL after that point. I think it's been it's been an
• 1:01:15
  absolute mental nightmare for Klay Thompson, right?
• 1:01:19
  You got a comeback from ACL injury, then you tear your
• 1:01:23
  Achilles, and then the Achilles is like the the death blow,
• 1:01:26
  right? And he had to come back from
• 1:01:30
  that. So he came back from that and
• 1:01:32
  they won an NBA championship, right?
• 1:01:34
  So, but there was something that was happening with Klay
• 1:01:38
  Thompson. I'm not sure what it is, but
• 1:01:41
  it's almost like it was a battle with himself, right?
• 1:01:47
  Where he was just frustrated. And at times, I think it bled
• 1:01:52
  into his production. There was some physical stuff
• 1:01:56
  there. But I think like the injuries
• 1:01:58
  and all of that, like it bled into his confidence, right?
• 1:02:02
  And he was struggling mentally. And you could tell that he was
• 1:02:08
  just like, bro, if it weren't for that ACL injury, I wouldn't
• 1:02:12
  be having any of these problems. Like I would be aging out well
• 1:02:15
  and all of that. And I think that's a part of why
• 1:02:18
  Clay's time, you know, was so was so miserable for him.
• 1:02:25
  I mean, so many times you heard Steve say, you know, Clay just
• 1:02:29
  wasn't happy, you know what I'm saying?
• 1:02:30
  And and then he had the contract stuff, right?
• 1:02:33
  And I felt like he he was really hurt by what the Warriors were.
• 1:02:39
  Offering him. From what I heard, I don't think
• 1:02:42
  he necessarily wanted a big contract.
• 1:02:45
  I think he wanted the contract that or the type of money that
• 1:02:48
  he got, but he kind of wanted the years with it, like he
• 1:02:51
  wanted the organization to show him love from that standpoint.
• 1:02:55
  And I don't think they did that. That's another thing that I
• 1:02:58
  think they screwed up in that aspect.
• 1:03:02
  And and that's kind of where they screwed up with with Clay.
• 1:03:08
  And there's definitely bad blood between Clay and the
• 1:03:11
  organization. Last year.
• 1:03:13
  He he he played, he played against the Warriors and there
• 1:03:17
  was a game that they beat us and he was talking all types of
• 1:03:21
  mess. You could tell that he was
• 1:03:23
  beaking to the bench. He was doing all that type of
• 1:03:25
  stuff like he actually wants to beat the Warriors, right.
• 1:03:28
  So, you know, if, if I think that, that there is a chance for
• 1:03:35
  the Lakers to get him, I think there is because I, I think his
• 1:03:40
  time here, he, he, he, he really just wants to prove to the
• 1:03:44
  organization that, that, that, that he still has it.
• 1:03:51
  Because I think a lot of people wrote him off and I, I think he
• 1:03:55
  has something left in him. I mean, the position that he's
• 1:03:58
  put in in Dallas is just to be a corner guy.
• 1:04:00
  I think even to this day, I still think he can provide more
• 1:04:04
  than that. You know, if you put him in
• 1:04:06
  motion and you have him do that motion stuff, he's a much better
• 1:04:11
  player because there's like half of his game that's not being
• 1:04:14
  accessed, right. But you know, 90% of the league
• 1:04:17
  don't play like that anyway. So yeah, I think I think that's
• 1:04:23
  where Clay has had his struggles.
• 1:04:25
  Talk about Steve Kerr being one. Of the best coaches in Warriors
• 1:04:29
  history, his contract expires after this year, so where do you
• 1:04:33
  think they stand on on trying to bring him back and extend him?
• 1:04:39
  This is my belief as long as Steph.
• 1:04:41
  Curry is there, Steve Kerr is going to be there and as mad.
• 1:04:48
  As we can get. About Steve Kerr and the things
• 1:04:51
  that he does, I don't think he's going anywhere as long as Steph
• 1:04:55
  is here. But it it it.
• 1:04:57
  But if it were a time for him to not to not come back to the
• 1:05:01
  team, it will be the season because we we paid Jimmy Butler
• 1:05:05
  a lot of money and you know, we got that guy and.
• 1:05:11
  We're we're pretty. Much in the same position that
• 1:05:13
  we were last season, right? So that is something that we
• 1:05:18
  have to look at and say, you know, what can they do?
• 1:05:23
  What can they do from that standpoint, right?
• 1:05:25
  So I'm mixed on Steve. I think Steve.
• 1:05:31
  Just Steve does some interesting things that I think he could be
• 1:05:35
  better, but All in all he is an all time coach and I think he's
• 1:05:40
  going to he's going to do that. I know that sometimes Jim Parks
• 1:05:47
  has his. Rant about Steve Kerr and his
• 1:05:49
  game calling. And it's like, I was like,
• 1:05:53
  what's wrong with Steve Kerr? I was like, Oh my goodness.
• 1:05:55
  And you know, and it's like when you talk about the game and he
• 1:05:59
  has four championships, he's one of the winningest coaches in NBA
• 1:06:01
  history. And I understand sometimes it
• 1:06:05
  runs its course and and at the end of the day, you have to look
• 1:06:08
  at it this way. We'll see how it plays out
• 1:06:10
  because his contract expires, right?
• 1:06:12
  But I like to ask you important question.
• 1:06:16
  And this is, and we talked about this a little bit earlier, the
• 1:06:20
  state of the franchise and where things go moving forward because
• 1:06:23
  Steph Curry, you said he's turning 38 and what, March?
• 1:06:26
  And yeah, where would you say this team moves forward?
• 1:06:31
  Because you because I asked you earlier, like, how many more
• 1:06:34
  years do you think Steph has in him because he's still playing
• 1:06:37
  at a high level. I mean, LeBron at 41 is playing
• 1:06:39
  at a high level. Kevin Durant at 3037 going to be
• 1:06:43
  I think 38 as well later this year is going to is playing at a
• 1:06:46
  high level. Like how long do you think Curry
• 1:06:49
  has left? And also, is there a point in
• 1:06:52
  time where Lake Up will find that next superstar for this
• 1:06:57
  franchise? I don't know how much time Steph
• 1:07:03
  has left I. Mean How old was Ray Allen?
• 1:07:05
  When Ray Allen was in Miami, he was I.
• 1:07:10
  Believe 39 when he retired because I know that there was
• 1:07:15
  offers with him in 2000, I think it was 1415, yeah.
• 1:07:20
  And 14 after he finished in Miami.
• 1:07:22
  But I yeah, I think he was like 38 or 39.
• 1:07:26
  Or something like that, right? So right.
• 1:07:30
  Well, yeah. Ron with Steve with Steve.
• 1:07:35
  Or sorry, with Steph. Steph is Steph is at the point
• 1:07:40
  where he's at that Ray Allen age.
• 1:07:43
  Like this is the phenomenal part about it because Steph is third.
• 1:07:46
  He's about to be 38. Ray Allen was 38 in 2014.
• 1:07:51
  You know, he he retired at 41, actually.
• 1:07:54
  I just hold up. I actually got that wrong, yeah.
• 1:07:57
  So, so Ray Allen, when Ray Allen was in that role, right?
• 1:08:02
  Like, like he was, he was up there, man.
• 1:08:06
  I mean, he was. Definitely up there.
• 1:08:08
  So so. Hold up.
• 1:08:12
  Ray Allen retired. When he was 4141?
• 1:08:15
  Yeah, November 20. 16 at age 41, Yeah, he officially retired.
• 1:08:20
  I thought it was before that, yeah.
• 1:08:22
  And that's an. 18 year career in the NBA as the all time leader
• 1:08:27
  in three pointers. I think the last time that I've
• 1:08:29
  seen him like play. Basketball was when was in 2014
• 1:08:34
  and I think he was like 38. Yeah, yeah, he could have like
• 1:08:37
  officially. Retired two years later.
• 1:08:40
  You know how that goes, right? But yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
• 1:08:42
  yeah. The last time you met you could
• 1:08:44
  be. Right though.
• 1:08:45
  Yeah, right, right. The last time you played, you
• 1:08:48
  know. He was.
• 1:08:49
  He was playing in Miami at 30. 8 And he he.
• 1:08:55
  By the way, he was pretty good in in in the role that he was
• 1:08:59
  in. I think he was giving you like
• 1:09:00
  10 points a game at that point, right?
• 1:09:02
  Like, and he, I think he played like 70 something games and I
• 1:09:07
  expected Steph to be in that role at that point.
• 1:09:11
  And he's still carrying a franchise doing the thing that
• 1:09:14
  he does. And that to me is absolutely
• 1:09:18
  phenomenal. I think that's phenomenal that a
• 1:09:22
  guy does that. So, so that's the thing that I
• 1:09:25
  see with with Steph, I think, I think the Steph Curry, the Steph
• 1:09:32
  Curry thing, he talked. About this years ago.
• 1:09:36
  Where? Where?
• 1:09:37
  He he said that, yeah, at some point I'll be in a spot up
• 1:09:42
  shooter range where I give a where I give a team like 15 to
• 1:09:45
  20 minutes and that looks like it's nowhere insight.
• 1:09:49
  You know, I think he's tapped into something that a player his
• 1:09:53
  size and with his abilities never tapped into before.
• 1:09:56
  When when these guards get to like 3435 or whatever, you start
• 1:10:01
  to see a steep decline in what they do, you know what I'm
• 1:10:04
  saying? But more times than not, these
• 1:10:06
  guys are like, you know, on ball operators, right?
• 1:10:10
  Like they're running a pick and roll and you you get into a
• 1:10:14
  playoff series, a playoff series can grind on a player like that,
• 1:10:18
  right? And then when you look at at
• 1:10:20
  Steph, Steph is like on and off ball and he's still clubbing
• 1:10:23
  people off ball, right? So that to me is just something
• 1:10:26
  different than we've been used to seeing.
• 1:10:29
  And then he's in crazy phenomenal shape, right?
• 1:10:32
  So I think it's insane what he's doing, like even.
• 1:10:40
  Like like. Sure, you have like a player
• 1:10:42
  like LeBron, right, And don't get me wrong, what LeBron is
• 1:10:44
  doing is is phenomenal as well, right, But at least LeBron has
• 1:10:48
  the ability to fall back on the God-given physical gifts, right,
• 1:10:54
  And he has to maintain that and all of that, right.
• 1:10:56
  But the fact that a guy that is Steph size to to be still
• 1:11:01
  carrying a franchise where the franchise lives or dies with him
• 1:11:06
  playing or not playing, I think that's insane.
• 1:11:09
  LeBron can at least fall back on Luca and Austin Reeves.
• 1:11:12
  You know what I'm saying? Like there's no maybe you can
• 1:11:14
  fall back on Jimmy Butler a little bit, but if Steph is not
• 1:11:17
  there, I mean, this thing falls off of a Cliff, you know, like,
• 1:11:20
  yeah, we saw it in that Minnesota series, right.
• 1:11:23
  So it to me, it just doesn't make any sense what he's doing
• 1:11:26
  right now. He's been.
• 1:11:29
  Fantastic, Speaking of that. Though let's talk about tell us
• 1:11:34
  about some of your favorite Warriors of all time.
• 1:11:37
  Who are the best Warriors of all time outside of Steph Curry in
• 1:11:40
  your opinion? Well, who I watched played Tim
• 1:11:46
  Hardaway. Chris Webber is up there, even
• 1:11:51
  though he didn't stay on the team that long.
• 1:11:53
  I I love, I love Chris Webber, Chris Mullen, guys like that.
• 1:11:58
  We like Monte. I wasn't the biggest Monte fan,
• 1:12:01
  but Monte, yeah, you know, for a while was pretty exciting.
• 1:12:06
  I went to Arizona State and the reason why I started to watch
• 1:12:09
  the Warriors a lot was was this guy named Ike Diagu, Ike Diego
• 1:12:15
  and we went to school together back in the day.
• 1:12:16
  We had like Gilbert Arenas. Gilbert Arenas was one of the
• 1:12:20
  players that probably should have stayed, but that's a weird
• 1:12:23
  rule back in the day. Those are the guys that that I I
• 1:12:27
  remember watching, you know, you remember, you watched Mitch
• 1:12:30
  Richmond too, or it was. Yeah, Mitch Richmond.
• 1:12:34
  Mitch Richmond got traded. Mitch Richmond got traded.
• 1:12:39
  At what point did Mitch Richmond get traded?
• 1:12:41
  I forget when he got traded. Yeah, he was good.
• 1:12:46
  Yeah, he was good. Yeah.
• 1:12:48
  Yeah, he was. Late in his career, I think he
• 1:12:52
  got traded to Miami. I haven't had his shoes back in
• 1:12:56
  the day. Like, like I'm like he had like
• 1:12:59
  this red and black. Shoes they were.
• 1:13:01
  Pretty dope back then. I it's like me.
• 1:13:05
  I had Scottie Pippen's back. In the day, man.
• 1:13:08
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Big Bear on the side.
• 1:13:10
  Right. Yeah.
• 1:13:12
  Hell yeah, man. Yeah.
• 1:13:15
  Hey, speak. At which like.
• 1:13:16
  Talk about the the. The O seven O 8 time when Baron
• 1:13:19
  Davis and Steven Jackson those the underdogs beating The
• 1:13:24
  Mavericks in those times and what was the electricity of that
• 1:13:27
  crowd? The pre Steph era, talking about
• 1:13:30
  the like like Baron Davis was one of the most underrated point
• 1:13:35
  guards. I He was one of my favorite
• 1:13:36
  players to watch too, and he was good.
• 1:13:38
  Yeah, and I know Mr. Mike Formosi, if he.
• 1:13:41
  He's probably going to hear this, but I know he's a UCLA guy
• 1:13:44
  as well, and those times are a little bit different, especially
• 1:13:47
  with Don Nelson being a coach after being fired from The
• 1:13:49
  Mavericks and getting his revenge.
• 1:13:51
  Like, yeah, what was that time like during that time before the
• 1:13:54
  Steph era that was. That was a special time.
• 1:14:00
  That's right around. When so I live in Phoenix,
• 1:14:03
  right? But during that time, I moved
• 1:14:06
  from Phoenix to the Bay Area and and that's right around when I
• 1:14:12
  moved to the Bay Area. And if I had a time machine, I
• 1:14:18
  would go back and spend every last dollar that I had and gone
• 1:14:22
  to those games. Because when you watch those
• 1:14:25
  games on TV and you need to see what those guys were doing.
• 1:14:28
  I mean, you didn't expect much of much from the team back then,
• 1:14:33
  but they were it, it, it, it was just such an electric
• 1:14:38
  atmosphere. And it's funny because you watch
• 1:14:41
  the team back then and you saw what the crowd was like.
• 1:14:45
  And it was just it, it, it, it, it might have been the best
• 1:14:49
  atmosphere, I would say, in basketball, in all of
• 1:14:54
  basketball. And I was there.
• 1:14:56
  I it's probably one of the best atmospheres that you probably
• 1:15:00
  can be in, in sports in general. You know what I'm saying?
• 1:15:03
  There's some, some soccer teams in Europe or whatever.
• 1:15:06
  But the atmosphere that was going on back then, it was
• 1:15:08
  electric. Now I don't, I don't think you,
• 1:15:13
  you get that type of atmosphere at Chase Centre anymore.
• 1:15:16
  I mean, in the playoffs, it was pretty special that at Oracle
• 1:15:19
  back back then. But but those crowds, those
• 1:15:22
  crowds have, there were any, there were, there was nothing
• 1:15:25
  like that I've ever experienced before.
• 1:15:27
  I mean, when you just watch those teams back then and even
• 1:15:31
  when they were bad, people supported the teams, right?
• 1:15:35
  And we have the Valkyrie now and, and, and that's one thing
• 1:15:43
  about the Bay. Area, man, they they, they
• 1:15:44
  definitely. Support their teams and with the
• 1:15:47
  Valkyrie now, like you see the turn out that you're having at
• 1:15:50
  Chase Center for the Valkyrie, it just speaks to the type of
• 1:15:55
  fans that we have. But the games are just so
• 1:15:58
  expensive to go to that it kind of prices out the average fan.
• 1:16:03
  I mean, if I, if I leave from Phoenix and I, I've, I've done
• 1:16:09
  this a couple of times over the years, right where I'll leave
• 1:16:13
  out on like a Thursday night and I'll go to Chase Center to buy
• 1:16:17
  the plane ticket. To get a.
• 1:16:19
  Hotel or to, to, to get the tickets to go to Chase Center.
• 1:16:24
  That is probably a $1200 adventure, you know what I'm
• 1:16:28
  saying? So that's for me.
• 1:16:29
  But the tickets by themselves, you're, you're talking about
• 1:16:33
  four, $500 and then in sessions you're easily spending 100
• 1:16:37
  bucks, you know what I'm saying? So it's it's, it's not the
• 1:16:40
  cheapest night out, but no when the tickets are.
• 1:16:44
  Are affordable. People do like, like, it's a
• 1:16:47
  tough economy, man. So people do turn out.
• 1:16:50
  Back then, people weren't priced out.
• 1:16:53
  But I think once, once the Steph Curry thing rolled around, I
• 1:16:56
  mean it, there was still that crazy atmosphere, but it was
• 1:17:01
  just way too expensive. But before that, I think it just
• 1:17:04
  kind of snuck up on people. And I didn't go to those games.
• 1:17:08
  I was watching those games on TV.
• 1:17:10
  But the atmosphere in the Bay Area at the time, it was, it was
• 1:17:15
  absolutely insane what was going on back then.
• 1:17:17
  And you just wanted to be a part of it, you know what I'm saying?
• 1:17:20
  Like, like, like you, you just wanted to be a part of that.
• 1:17:24
  And I think being, being in the area back then, it, it, it was
• 1:17:29
  literally nothing like it. It, it felt like, it felt like
• 1:17:34
  it was like your high school team and you were from like a
• 1:17:36
  small town and everybody, you know, Friday night, everybody
• 1:17:40
  shuts down everybody there's like supporting like a, a, a, a,
• 1:17:48
  you know, town of like 220 thousand people.
• 1:17:51
  It felt like all 20,000 people were there.
• 1:17:53
  That's the type of vibe that it felt like back there or a
• 1:17:56
  relatively big market well. We appreciate you doing this.
• 1:18:02
  This was a man, there's some incredible stuff you talked
• 1:18:05
  about and it's interesting and some stuff I actually learned
• 1:18:08
  too as well. It beat you being a die hard
• 1:18:11
  Warriors fan. You doing these spaces.
• 1:18:13
  You always get that big fan base.
• 1:18:15
  There's a lot of things going on and other fan bases come along
• 1:18:17
  and they just go at what what's going on.
• 1:18:21
  But we appreciate you doing this once again, Oracle, and just for
• 1:18:25
  the viewers, the followers. Where can you find you in social
• 1:18:29
  media and everywhere else on on Twitter I.
• 1:18:33
  Am space gang 30 on Twitter and and on Instagram.
• 1:18:39
  I'm also I believe I'm space gang 30 as well so you can find
• 1:18:42
  me there and you know after warrior games I do a live watch
• 1:18:47
  on discord before it was playback, but it's no more
• 1:18:50
  playback. So I do I do a live watch on
• 1:18:54
  discord, but you can just come to my Twitter page and find me
• 1:18:57
  there. And I do I also do a post post
• 1:19:02
  game spaces usually for for for the warriors communities.
• 1:19:09
  I I think I've done damn near every spaces so and I've been
• 1:19:15
  doing that for. About four years now.
• 1:19:17
  So it's kind of like a job at this point.
• 1:19:19
  So yeah, yeah, no one of these. Days I have to make it out to
• 1:19:23
  your space, man. One of these days, afterwards, I
• 1:19:27
  watch. I watch.
• 1:19:28
  Yeah, man, I watch. The Warriors game sometimes
• 1:19:30
  because it's after my team plays early usually and it's on late.
• 1:19:34
  They show a lot of Warriors games out here.
• 1:19:36
  So I, I, I like watching them. They're good, man.
• 1:19:39
  There's a lot of there's a lot. Of a lot of warrior fans in in
• 1:19:45
  Toronto as well like any time I've gone to Toronto, you know
• 1:19:49
  there's there's like that Steph Curry Toronto yeah connection
• 1:19:54
  man it's. Always going to be there because
• 1:19:55
  his dad played here, right? And he grew, he grew up playing,
• 1:19:59
  playing basketball in the, in the, in the stadium, you know,
• 1:20:02
  just shooting around the ball. And you know what's crazy back
• 1:20:06
  in 2000? And two, I went to a game it,
• 1:20:10
  it, it was right before Christmas and like 2002, I
• 1:20:14
  believe 2000 and two 2003. And, and I have some family in
• 1:20:20
  Toronto and I went to this is when like Vince Carter was, it
• 1:20:25
  was like Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter, right?
• 1:20:27
  So my friend in Toronto got some tickets and me and me and him
• 1:20:31
  went to the game expecting to see Vince versus Kobe, right?
• 1:20:35
  Vince Carter didn't play. I was so pissed off, man.
• 1:20:39
  I went to Toronto just to see Vince versus Kobe and I didn't
• 1:20:43
  see it. And but one thing that I do
• 1:20:46
  remember is Steph Curry, we we went to the game early and Steph
• 1:20:50
  Curry was on the court shooting, you know what I'm saying?
• 1:20:53
  And yeah, that's cool. Yeah, it's it's just kind.
• 1:20:56
  Of surreal to see. It was like Lakers.
• 1:20:58
  And and and Raptors back then and I went to the game and it
• 1:21:03
  Vince didn't play. So pissed off.
• 1:21:06
  Yeah, that would that. Would definitely pissed.
• 1:21:09
  Me off too, spending all that money and all that time and and
• 1:21:13
  yeah, that sucks man, but hey, it was cool.
• 1:21:17
  You have to see. Mini Steph on.
• 1:21:18
  The court though, yeah, yeah, yeah, Mini Steph was out there
• 1:21:21
  and it. It was kind of surreal.
• 1:21:23
  And now we're all like big Steph Curry fans.
• 1:21:25
  So it's kind of surreal that you saw him like, like, I think
• 1:21:30
  Steph is a couple years younger than me, but it was right.
• 1:21:33
  It was kind of surreal to see back then where he was just on
• 1:21:36
  the court and he was shooting and like, like, that's awesome.
• 1:21:40
  Now we're talking him. Talking about.
• 1:21:42
  Him in, in terms of the pantheon of the greats, you know, So,
• 1:21:46
  yeah, kind of surreal to see for sure.
• 1:21:51
  We will. Place a description below where
• 1:21:53
  you can find. Space gang Oracle spaces and you
• 1:21:58
  can catch him on on on spaces on on X artist for a formerly known
• 1:22:03
  as Twitter. So till next time, take care, be
• 1:22:07
  kind to each other. Signing off the Sports Ave.
• 1:22:09
  Twister podcast on Wednesday, January 14th, 2026.