Latest / Small Ball with Kenny Beecham / Onyeka Okongwu On Playing At Chino Hills, and Trae Young All Star Snub

Transcript

Onyeka Okongwu On Playing At Chino Hills, and Trae Young All Star Snub · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

0:00
SPEAKER_03: I'm not gonna lie, we're walking them dudes down.
0:02
SPEAKER_03: We're walking them down.
0:03
SPEAKER_03: I was Lonzo a senior year, me and Melo doing our thing.
0:07
SPEAKER_03: You know, we had some dogs.
0:09
SPEAKER_03: And that mom verde, they're they're still babies, like they're they're little kids, you know.
0:13
SPEAKER_03: So they had Kay, Scotty, Moody.
0:16
SPEAKER_03: You know, I think we're walking them dudes down.
0:23
SPEAKER_00: Welcome, welcome, welcome back to the Kenny Beach and podcast, y'all.
0:28
SPEAKER_00: Another day, another, another guest.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: We go from Shawn Sharani until today having a Yeka Akangu onto the show, and we just wrapped it up.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: And I'll tell you, he was a pleasure to have him to the show.
0:38
SPEAKER_00: He had never done a podcast before.
0:39
SPEAKER_00: How is that possible?
0:40
SPEAKER_00: In 2024, where everybody's got a show, you've never done one before.
0:43
SPEAKER_00: So he comes onto the show and opens up a little bit about his time at Chino Hills.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: He talks about his time with the Atlanta Hawks and so on and so forth.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: But after we get done with that, I'm gonna come out of the interview and we're gonna talk about Zach Levine's season ending injury and what that means for the Bulls.
1:00
SPEAKER_00: I'm probably gonna rant a little bit.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: Just just be prepared, okay?
1:04
SPEAKER_00: Be sure to leave a like, subscribe to the channel, go over to Spotify, Apple, give us five stars.
1:09
SPEAKER_00: It does nothing but help the show out.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: We can send it over to these aides and say, hey, the King Vision podcast gets this many views per episode.
1:14
SPEAKER_00: You let the talent come in, we can help.
1:17
SPEAKER_00: Uh so I I appreciate that.
1:19
SPEAKER_00: You know what?
1:19
SPEAKER_00: Let's just get into our conversation with Inyaka.
1:27
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm gonna welcome in Atlanta Hawks on Inyaka Kongw.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the show, my guy.
1:32
SPEAKER_03: What's up, brother man?
1:33
SPEAKER_03: Appreciate you having me here.
1:34
SPEAKER_00: Of course, of course.
1:35
SPEAKER_00: Now, I like to do my due diligence, do a lot of research about my guests on the show and everything.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: You're somewhat of a mysterious guy.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: I I couldn't find a single podcast appearance or anything.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: So I'm going completely blind, but I'm I'm hoping that this is gonna be fun.
1:50
SPEAKER_03: For sure, man.
1:51
SPEAKER_03: This is my my first podcast I've been on.
1:55
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
1:56
SPEAKER_00: Well, we're we're honored here, you know, to have you.
1:59
SPEAKER_00: And anytime you're looking for another podcast to come on, we we really here.
2:02
SPEAKER_00: We're really here for it.
2:03
SPEAKER_00: For sure.
2:04
SPEAKER_00: Um we we catching you, catch you at the right time, my guy.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: You're having some of your best games your career the other night against the Warriors was a big one.
2:11
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, man, that was a uh big game for me and my team, you know, been on a you know, rocky road this season, you know, last night against the Warriors, you know, finally, you know, won fourth game.
2:24
SPEAKER_03: So just trying to continue to stretch, you know, trying to keep it going.
2:27
SPEAKER_00: I feel that, I feel that.
2:29
SPEAKER_00: Before we get into all of this, there's there's one question that the world has been asking for like the last two months.
2:34
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you've seen this question.
2:36
SPEAKER_00: 2020 Mount Verde or 2016 Tino Hills.
2:41
SPEAKER_03: I'm not gonna lie, we're walking them dudes down.
2:44
SPEAKER_03: We're walking them down because you know, I was Lonzo his senior year.
2:49
SPEAKER_03: Me and Melo doing our thing.
2:52
SPEAKER_03: Uh Jell-O, Eli, you know, we had some dogs.
2:55
SPEAKER_03: And that mom Verde, they're they're still babies.
2:58
SPEAKER_03: Like they're they're little kids, you know?
3:00
SPEAKER_03: So they had Kay, Scotty, uh, who was they over there?
3:03
SPEAKER_03: Moody.
3:04
SPEAKER_00: Moody, yeah.
3:05
SPEAKER_00: Dariq Whitehead is on that team.
3:07
SPEAKER_03: Him too.
3:08
SPEAKER_03: But no, they ain't know we ain't seen him before.
3:10
SPEAKER_03: We beat Mont Verde at uh Martina Hills year.
3:13
SPEAKER_00: Have you seen all of the uh I guess every high school prospect has been asked this question like a hundred times this year?
3:20
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, but you think about it like 2016 was like eight years ago.
3:24
SPEAKER_03: They didn't really see us in our prime.
3:26
SPEAKER_03: Like they didn't see how good we really were.
3:28
SPEAKER_03: They going off, you know, Mount Verde, you know, CAK, Scotty, all of them in the league now.
3:33
SPEAKER_03: You know, I think we're walking them dudes down.
3:35
SPEAKER_00: Are are you concerned if this fake uh game happened, that you and LaMelo are both freshmen, right?
3:42
SPEAKER_00: You're you're coming in at 13, 14 years old versus them.
3:45
SPEAKER_00: I think most of them were like juniors and seniors at that point.
3:48
SPEAKER_03: I mean, like I said, we took down our Mount Verde team back then.
3:52
SPEAKER_03: It had RJ Barrett, they had Bruno, it had EJ Montgomery, they had all these top five players.
3:58
SPEAKER_03: We had them down 20 at one point, so we wasn't worried about nobody that got on that uh 2020 team.
4:04
SPEAKER_00: So this is so interesting because that 2016 Chino Hills team was like one of the first internet sensation high school teams.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: And obviously, when we think about high school teams that are blowing up and doing great things, y'all are in an elite company of pub, that's a public school, and public schools normally aren't that good.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: So, in the moment in time, did y'all recognize how crazy things were going?
4:27
SPEAKER_03: At the Loma, not really, you know, because Cena Hills, we were always like, we were good, you know, in prior years, but that year, I think after we beat Mount Verde, that's how we knew we were really good.
4:38
SPEAKER_03: And then we continued to, you know, be teams by 20, you know, selling out arenas, um, having, you know, celebrities come to our games, you know, towards the middle of the year, that's how we knew like we were pretty pretty damn good.
4:52
SPEAKER_00: Well, uh, what celebrities?
4:53
SPEAKER_00: What what celebrities were pulling up?
4:56
SPEAKER_03: I'm trying to think.
4:57
SPEAKER_03: Um, I think Harding came out to a game.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
5:00
SPEAKER_03: You know, it was a bunch of league dudes that were coming out to our games, you know, coming out to supporting What where was the moment for you where like, oh, I might be league now?
5:09
SPEAKER_03: I always knew I had a shot.
5:11
SPEAKER_03: You know, I had you know, the natural gifts, the height, you know, the IQ, but I think when I got my first scholarship to USC, um that's when I really knew, like, yo, I'm about to about to really go with the league for a W was it always USC for you, or did you think about other places?
5:28
SPEAKER_03: For me, I always wanted to stay home.
5:30
SPEAKER_03: Uh either whether it be USC, UCLA, Arizona State.
5:34
SPEAKER_03: But, you know, USC recruited me hard.
5:36
SPEAKER_03: And I love, you know, Andy Enfield and Jason Hart.
5:39
SPEAKER_03: So I just knew that was right school for me.
5:41
SPEAKER_00: Thinking about that, that those years, so that freshman year for you, you guys go completely undefeated, correct?
5:48
SPEAKER_00: Then then Zo leaves to go to UCLA.
5:50
SPEAKER_00: Did you feel like there was there was pressure now after being the number one team in the world for a full year to like replicate that through your sophomore through senior year?
5:59
SPEAKER_03: I mean, not really pressure because, you know, obviously Alonzo was the best player on that that uh that freshman year team I had.
6:06
SPEAKER_03: But you know, that second year, my sophomore Mello really blew up.
6:10
SPEAKER_03: You know, he was the face of the team.
6:12
SPEAKER_03: But, you know, when we lost to Oakill, like my first high school loss, I went stung a little bit.
6:16
SPEAKER_03: I went stung everybody.
6:18
SPEAKER_03: But, you know, we were still right top 15 in the country.
6:20
SPEAKER_03: We're still doing our thing.
6:22
SPEAKER_03: You know, we only had like two losses.
6:24
SPEAKER_03: Oakill and uh the who else we play?
6:27
SPEAKER_03: The uh modern day Bobo team.
6:29
SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
6:30
SPEAKER_03: So they're they're pretty good.
6:31
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: Who's who was on the Oak Hill team?
6:33
SPEAKER_00: They have any NBA players in?
6:35
SPEAKER_03: I remember that too.
6:36
SPEAKER_03: They had Billy Preston.
6:38
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
6:38
SPEAKER_03: They had Lindell Wigginson.
6:41
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
6:41
SPEAKER_03: They had Dave McCormick.
6:43
SPEAKER_03: That's all I can remember right now.
6:45
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
6:45
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, they they have some they definitely have some talent.
6:47
SPEAKER_00: They had some talent over there.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: Um obviously the ball brothers were like this internet sensation on show, on this, on that.
6:54
SPEAKER_00: I I've been in the same room with LeVar like three different times.
6:58
SPEAKER_00: The man is a character.
6:59
SPEAKER_00: Do you have any LeVar Ball stories from the years that you played alongside his boys?
7:05
SPEAKER_03: Not really.
7:06
SPEAKER_03: You know, I love Lavar, honestly.
7:09
SPEAKER_03: I love what he's done, you know, raising the three ball brothers.
7:13
SPEAKER_03: Um I've known the ball since I was like eight, nine years old.
7:15
SPEAKER_03: I've known him since I was a youngin'.
7:17
SPEAKER_03: So I have a lot of history with them.
7:20
SPEAKER_03: And, you know, it's just LeVar, you know, always yelling, coaching from the sidelines, no matter who is out there, you know.
7:26
SPEAKER_03: You know, high school AAU, he's just always coaching.
7:30
SPEAKER_03: And one thing I respect about LeVar, you know, he's never gonna change.
7:33
SPEAKER_03: He's always gonna be himself.
7:35
SPEAKER_03: He doesn't care who the hell is out there, he's gonna be himself.
7:38
SPEAKER_00: With that, playing alongside the Ball Brothers and then eventually get into the league and playing alongside Trey Young.
7:44
SPEAKER_00: I are there parallels there as far as like being having a point.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: You've always hit like a great point guard, right?
7:50
SPEAKER_00: Um what's the difference?
7:52
SPEAKER_00: What's the difference between Alonzo slash a mellow and a Trey Young?
7:56
SPEAKER_03: You know, Alonzo, he's kind of unique because I can't really find anything like he can't really do on the court.
8:02
SPEAKER_03: You know, he can guard, he can shoot, he can pass, sneaky athletic.
8:07
SPEAKER_03: Mello, he's a flashy one.
8:09
SPEAKER_03: He's the one that you know has no fear.
8:11
SPEAKER_03: He's gonna do whatever.
8:12
SPEAKER_03: And you know, play with Trey, man, like he surprises you.
8:15
SPEAKER_03: Like, you know, he's you know six foot, six one.
8:19
SPEAKER_03: He's deceptively strong.
8:20
SPEAKER_03: Like he's stronger than he looks.
8:22
SPEAKER_03: And you know, he's a floor general.
8:24
SPEAKER_03: You know, you see the things he's putting up, you know, 30 and 10s, that little streak he had.
8:28
SPEAKER_03: You know, he's Trey's you know, so underrated.
8:31
SPEAKER_03: He should have been an all-star too.
8:33
SPEAKER_00: I I did want I did want to ask you about that.
8:34
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna jump around.
8:35
SPEAKER_00: I got I gotta run a show.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna jump around with the with the all-star stuff, because obviously last Thursday it was announced and Trey Young was on the outside looking in uh for the second year in a row after putting up some some crazy stats.
8:46
SPEAKER_00: Does that something something that's talked about in the locker room at all?
8:49
SPEAKER_00: Like the next day, do y'all be like, man, Trey, I don't know what else you could really do?
8:54
SPEAKER_03: You know, not really, but I think we all kind of like, you know, think the same thing.
8:58
SPEAKER_03: I'm not personally for me, I think he should have been an all-star.
9:01
SPEAKER_03: You know, I think right now where our team is at.
9:04
SPEAKER_03: You know, we're trying to make this run, trying to maybe lead to him not being an all-star.
9:08
SPEAKER_03: But, you know, I think Trey should know, like, none of that matters, man.
9:11
SPEAKER_03: We always, you know, have an end goal, you know, trying to, you know, what's the playoffs, make a deep run.
9:17
SPEAKER_03: So, you know, it sucks, you know, it's politics in the NBA, but I think he should have been an all-star.
9:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I'm I always wonder what it is because obviously it's not the first time Trey Young has not been an all-star after putting up ridiculous stats.
9:30
SPEAKER_00: Um, he was second in in voting amongst fans, so the fans obviously had his back.
9:35
SPEAKER_00: But every year he kind of ranks low on the media and he ranks low amongst his peers.
9:39
SPEAKER_00: And then obviously the reserves are done by the coaches.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: So it's uh I don't know what the disconnect is.
9:44
SPEAKER_00: Um and maybe I guess most people would say the fact that the team hasn't been as successful this year as some of the previous years, but like uh the talent is a talent.
9:53
SPEAKER_00: The talent is a talent.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: And and since then, the last two games uh you we talk about y'all on the four-game streak, he's been everywhere offensively and defensively in that one game against uh who not your last game against the Warriors.
10:04
SPEAKER_00: Was that the Suns before that?
10:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
10:06
SPEAKER_00: He had the the big steal down the stretch on Kevin Durant, obviously.
10:09
SPEAKER_00: So I I don't know what'll happen because um obviously Joel Embiid and and Julius Randle are probably gonna be out for the All-Star game.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he's a replacement.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: Uh does he feel okay with being a replacement?
10:21
SPEAKER_00: Like, does it feel differently, you think?
10:23
SPEAKER_03: I mean, I don't know what he's thinking.
10:25
SPEAKER_03: Honestly, you know, obviously, you know, being in a replacement, you know, isn't the same as you know, being naturally selected.
10:32
SPEAKER_03: But, you know, I don't know what his mind processes, I don't know what he's thinking about it, but nonetheless, I think he should still be an all-star.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: I want to go back before that because you you mentioned Lonzo as being a guy that can do everything on the court.
10:43
SPEAKER_00: Um which is which is interesting.
10:45
SPEAKER_00: I'm a Bulls fan here.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: So the we had 42 games of great Lonzo played, and obviously he's been battling it from his injury.
10:52
SPEAKER_00: Um, the way that Lonzo is talked about amongst other NBA talent, it's it's so interesting because it's a disconnect between like a normal NBA fan.
11:01
SPEAKER_00: You've said this, Paul George has said this, and so on.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: So everybody has mentioned the fact that Lonzo is so much better than what maybe the naked eye can see.
11:10
SPEAKER_00: And what do you think the disconnect is from that?
11:12
SPEAKER_03: No, I'm not sure.
11:13
SPEAKER_03: Maybe because you know, you know, he was a number two pick.
11:16
SPEAKER_03: Obviously, like, you know, number two pick is supposed to be, you know, franchise players and all that.
11:21
SPEAKER_03: But, you know, I think you guys, anybody in the league, like, like some Lonzo's a player that you want on your team, you know, six, seven, point guard, guards the ball, passes, shoots, slash.
11:34
SPEAKER_03: You know, can you think of anything he can't do?
11:36
SPEAKER_03: Honestly.
11:37
SPEAKER_00: Nah, nah.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: It's man, those 41 games in Chicago, man, we was on top of the world.
11:41
SPEAKER_00: There was nothing nobody can tell me.
11:43
SPEAKER_00: And then Zoe got injured, and then obviously the last two years, the last two years have been the last two years.
11:48
SPEAKER_00: So um, yeah, I got to see it firsthand.
11:50
SPEAKER_00: Like I went to a few games that first season.
11:53
SPEAKER_00: It was like a combination of um fans being in and fans not being in because of COVID and stuff.
11:59
SPEAKER_00: But uh I that time was the most fun I've had as a Bulls fan since Derek Rose's MVP season.
12:04
SPEAKER_00: So I I got to experience it for real.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: And um, the other night was the fur against the Sacramento Kings, the first time us Bulls fans really got a chance to hear from Lonzo because he's been um out rehabbing in California, from what we understand.
12:17
SPEAKER_00: And he was actually on the broadcast um and he was talking about things, and it seemed like he's in good spirit, and at the end of the day, that's all we could really ask for.
12:24
SPEAKER_00: Because two years without hooping when you're a hooper, I can't imagine the mental toll it can take on you.
12:30
SPEAKER_03: Right.
12:31
SPEAKER_03: Right, no, for sure.
12:32
SPEAKER_03: You know, I've I'll I spent time with Lonzo, you know, this summer, you know, seeing every once in a while.
12:38
SPEAKER_03: Man, he's definitely in good spirits, you know.
12:39
SPEAKER_03: I'm praying real hard for him.
12:41
SPEAKER_03: He's a good dude, man.
12:42
SPEAKER_03: Alonzo's a great dude, man.
12:43
SPEAKER_03: I love his ass.
12:44
SPEAKER_03: Like for real.
12:45
SPEAKER_03: I'm just praying that he can get healthy and come back next year.
12:49
SPEAKER_00: I want to talk about the draft process because you were in the most unique draft of all time.
12:54
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about the COVID year.
12:55
SPEAKER_00: You didn't get to walk the stage and and and shake Adam Silver's hands or anything like that.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: What was the draft process like?
13:02
SPEAKER_00: Did you do you fly out to do the real workouts?
13:04
SPEAKER_00: Is everything via Zoom?
13:06
SPEAKER_00: Because again, the world was closed down for two years straight.
13:10
SPEAKER_03: Actually, like pre-draft, I was hurt.
13:12
SPEAKER_03: So I didn't fly or do any workouts or anything.
13:15
SPEAKER_03: Um, I just had a few teams come visit me, had a few Zooms, and that was about it.
13:20
SPEAKER_03: And the actual draft day, I actually, you know, thought it was dope because it was from home, had a little draft party, you know, I had my little my family in this little guest house I was at, you know, for the camera to see.
13:33
SPEAKER_03: But then I had like 200 people outside, you know, cheering for me while my name got called.
13:38
SPEAKER_03: So, you know, it was cool to you know experience that with the you know people who support you and love you the most.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: Was it always Atlanta?
13:45
SPEAKER_00: Because I went back to look at some mock drafts.
13:47
SPEAKER_00: I saw you range from as high as four down to like 10, and obviously you you met in the middle there.
13:52
SPEAKER_00: Uh, did you know it was Atlanta?
13:55
SPEAKER_03: No, I actually didn't because it's so funny.
13:58
SPEAKER_03: I thought I was going, you know, to Cleveland or maybe DC.
14:02
SPEAKER_03: Uh Atlanta came in the picture kind of late.
14:04
SPEAKER_03: I talked to them once, but I didn't really know that I was going there.
14:08
SPEAKER_03: I told my agent, don't tell me, I want to be surprised.
14:10
SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
14:11
SPEAKER_03: And I'm just seeing, you know, Mello get picked, then Patrick Rillions gets picked, then O'Currell gets picked.
14:17
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, yeah, I have no idea where I'm going now.
14:20
SPEAKER_03: My agent says you're going to Atlanta.
14:21
SPEAKER_03: Here's Travis.
14:23
SPEAKER_03: You know, just waterworks coming, man.
14:25
SPEAKER_03: It was a it was a good night.
14:27
SPEAKER_00: It's yeah, it's good, it's good to hear.
14:29
SPEAKER_00: Um, you you brave though.
14:31
SPEAKER_00: I I'm the type of guy that's like, tell me as soon as you know, because now my anxiety goes down and all of that.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: Because in that draft, it was like it was gonna be the top three in whatever order.
14:42
SPEAKER_00: And then after that, it was I saw again you mocked at four, and then down at 10, and then Patrick Williams jumped up, and then Denya Bd, you fell down.
14:50
SPEAKER_00: So it was just all over the place.
14:51
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I would have I would have said, get give me the call ASAP because I I need to know.
14:56
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, for sure.
14:58
SPEAKER_03: Everyone's different.
14:59
SPEAKER_03: I knew I was gonna get drafted in a lottery.
15:01
SPEAKER_03: So, you know, I just wanted that surprise, that little build-up.
15:04
SPEAKER_03: You know, I wanted to see if I was gonna move to California or DC, Ohio.
15:09
SPEAKER_03: You know, I was just you know, excited to see where I was gonna spend the next four years.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: So I I let the viewers of the show know that you were coming on.
15:16
SPEAKER_00: Um, and one of the questions I got asked a good amount was what was the transition like between being a California boy to move to Atlanta?
15:26
SPEAKER_03: You know, it's so different.
15:27
SPEAKER_03: You know, Atlanta's like, you know, you can feel like, you know, coming from the city, LA, you know, where it's bigger to Atlanta, a lot more green.
15:37
SPEAKER_03: Kind of not rural, but like a little more country than, you know, California.
15:42
SPEAKER_03: Um it's definitely different.
15:43
SPEAKER_03: Definitely different.
15:45
SPEAKER_03: But you know, I love the city of Atlanta.
15:47
SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, better than most, no, not not most cities, but compared to like, you know, somewhere like Memphis, Oklahoma.
15:57
SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, I'm happy that, you know, I'm in a great city of Atlanta or a lot of things I can do.
16:03
SPEAKER_03: Fans are great, organization's great.
16:05
SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, I'm grateful to be uh in this situation.
16:09
SPEAKER_00: That's love.
16:10
SPEAKER_00: Um this is an another question from the audience, and I want to give this guy his shout out because he responds to a lot of the tweets about the show.
16:17
SPEAKER_00: He is a diehard Atlanta Hawks fan, so he's watching y'all more than pretty much anybody in the world.
16:21
SPEAKER_00: So shout out to at D uh 4-3.
16:24
SPEAKER_00: He's got two different questions for you, Nyeka.
16:26
SPEAKER_00: How much did Plan Will Amelo prepare you for the two-man game with Trey?
16:29
SPEAKER_00: We kind of talk about that a little bit, so let's skip that one to the second one.
16:32
SPEAKER_00: The Hawks are running a lot more dribble handoffs this season, which you handling the ball.
16:36
SPEAKER_00: Did you watch any other bigs to pick up some tips on the handoff hub?
16:41
SPEAKER_00: I didn't know y'all, dribble handoffs is up.
16:44
SPEAKER_00: He's watching like that.
16:46
SPEAKER_03: Um, not really.
16:47
SPEAKER_03: I didn't really watch nobody like that.
16:49
SPEAKER_03: It's just, you know, the more I do it, the more experience I have.
16:55
SPEAKER_03: And you know, I do it the most with Badonovich, you know, my dude Bogey.
16:58
SPEAKER_03: And I'm learning how to get him open, how I can get open.
17:02
SPEAKER_03: Um, it's just something I've started to perfect.
17:04
SPEAKER_00: What one of the last things you said, I think it was the end of last year, um, in your exit interview, you said, uh, next time you see me, I'll have a jump shot.
17:13
SPEAKER_00: Right?
17:13
SPEAKER_00: Uh you remember saying that?
17:15
SPEAKER_03: I do remember saying that.
17:16
SPEAKER_03: And the fans ended up too.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: And now you're attempting one three-pointer a game.
17:20
SPEAKER_00: Uh the other night you just hit two of four.
17:21
SPEAKER_00: The game before that, one of one, one of one.
17:24
SPEAKER_00: What is it like?
17:25
SPEAKER_00: Because now things are different.
17:26
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is where the nerd in me come out.
17:28
SPEAKER_00: Because the previous year, you played pretty much no minutes at the four alongside Clint.
17:33
SPEAKER_00: Five minutes total last year.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: And this year, y'all played 132 minutes together, and it's been pretty successful so far.
17:39
SPEAKER_00: Even last night, one, I think one of the big reasons y'all were able to pull out that win is because you and Clint were dominating together because they had the smaller Warriors.
17:46
SPEAKER_00: Do you think you add in that three-point shot is one of the reasons why uh coaching has felt more familiar or okay with you running the four?
17:53
SPEAKER_03: Definitely.
17:54
SPEAKER_03: Um, shooting me defensively as well.
17:57
SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, Q has a lot of faith in me, know a lot of trust in me, and I appreciate him that appreciate him for that.
18:03
SPEAKER_03: And, you know, I'm getting my percentage up a little bit more, shooting these threes.
18:07
SPEAKER_03: You know, I work hard trying to perfect my game in that aspect.
18:10
SPEAKER_03: So I try to keep, you know, knocking them shots down and making feels respected.
18:17
SPEAKER_00: Do you think that the evolution of the game kind of forces you to learn how to shoot?
18:22
SPEAKER_00: Was that something in the cards five years ago?
18:24
SPEAKER_03: Nah, not in the cards five years ago.
18:26
SPEAKER_03: I've always been like a slasher, had the best touch around the rim, but you know, definitely how the game's going now.
18:33
SPEAKER_03: I just want to expand a little bit, just see if I can do it.
18:36
SPEAKER_03: And you know, I'm getting more comfortable shooting threes.
18:39
SPEAKER_00: It's good, it's good to see.
18:40
SPEAKER_00: It's good to see.
18:41
SPEAKER_00: I uh um you and then the other night, same night, Evan Mobley also hit, I think he hit three for three from three.
18:47
SPEAKER_00: Like two two guys that when they were going through the draft process, a lot of people didn't expect to eventually learn how to shoot threes and hit y'all both are attempting them and making them.
18:56
SPEAKER_00: So um I it's so interesting how the evolution of the game is gone because I'm a little bit older than you, a little bit like maybe five years older than you.
19:05
SPEAKER_00: So uh a guy of your size shooting threes was just kind of different.
19:09
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's not it's not something I remember watching a bunch when I was a kid.
19:13
SPEAKER_00: So to see it across the entire association is is dope, if you ask me, because I I think scoring is is fun, it's the most fun thing about basketball.
19:20
SPEAKER_03: Nah, for sure.
19:21
SPEAKER_03: You know, funny you say Evan, man, because me and Evan played together when we were younger.
19:25
SPEAKER_03: Right.
19:25
SPEAKER_03: You know, I played with Evan for a few years.
19:27
SPEAKER_03: He's always had it.
19:29
SPEAKER_03: No, he's always had it, but you know, offenses are becoming different, you know, offensive schemes are becoming different, you know, where now you gotta learn how to shoot the ball.
19:40
SPEAKER_03: So, you know, I've always had a touch.
19:42
SPEAKER_03: I gotta keep working on it.
19:43
SPEAKER_03: Same as Evan, you know, anybody else who's coming up, you know, I feel like you should really prioritize shooting the ball.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: So we talk about offenses, right?
19:51
SPEAKER_00: So far this year, there's been some big games.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: Um Luka Doncic had a 73-point game against y'all.
19:58
SPEAKER_00: Um and and he was uh he was on a whole different level.
20:01
SPEAKER_00: As his opponent in that moment of time, what what is kind of going on?
20:05
SPEAKER_00: I know you're not necessarily a point of attack defender in a lot of cases, but obviously defense is a team thing.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: Um in that game, I'll I'll just I'll just open the floor.
20:14
SPEAKER_00: What what about that game is is notable, if that makes sense?
20:19
SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, Luke is a hell of a player.
20:22
SPEAKER_03: Um you know, he's really showing me what he can do on that game, you know, slashing, shooting.
20:28
SPEAKER_03: But I just feel like, you know, you're not even allowed to guard nobody no more.
20:31
SPEAKER_03: Everything is a foul nowadays.
20:33
SPEAKER_03: You know, league, you know, you touch anybody like one of these, like it's a foul.
20:40
SPEAKER_03: So, you know, I think that's what you know attributes to a lot of guys getting off, scoring these fifty, sixty, seventy point games, you know, it's hard to, you know, be able to really guard people without you know them calling it a foul.
20:53
SPEAKER_03: But like on another instance, like Steph Curry, like you know, he's shooting the hell out of the ball, hitting every shot, ten threes, you know.
21:01
SPEAKER_03: It's not much you can do uh about that, but you know, make everything tough for him.
21:06
SPEAKER_03: And still, just have one of those nights.
21:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think in that game with Curry, he dropped 13 straight points in the fourth quarter.
21:13
SPEAKER_00: I think he had 22 in the fourth, but then overtime came around.
21:16
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know if it was something that Quinn put together or whatever, you guys really locked in and and overtime, it didn't even felt like it was an overtime.
21:23
SPEAKER_00: Like y'all really took over that game.
21:24
SPEAKER_00: So um the difference in the score, like how do you prepare for a Steph Curry game?
21:31
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't get to go against Steph too much because you're you're different conferences, but um how do you how do you prep for a guy like Steph?
21:38
SPEAKER_03: You know, dude like you know, Steph, K D, they're gonna hit tough shots.
21:43
SPEAKER_03: Like, that's just what it is.
21:44
SPEAKER_03: But for me and my team, you know, we just try and make everything tough for these, you know, high caliber players in this league, you know, and not get to play that when they hit a tough shot on us, they're gonna hit tough shots.
21:57
SPEAKER_03: You just gotta keep making them work.
21:59
SPEAKER_00: One thing Before we get you out of here, because again, I know you're you're a busy, busy guy.
22:03
SPEAKER_00: I want to ask you to build a starting five, and you're at the center, so give me your top your one through four of players you've played alongside throughout the entirety of your basketball playing career.
22:16
SPEAKER_03: My playing career.
22:20
SPEAKER_00: So any compassion, even even if we talking, we talk talking open run.
22:24
SPEAKER_00: If you want on the same team as somebody in an open run and you want to add them to your starting five, let's do it.
22:32
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
22:34
SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna have Trey in my one.
22:36
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
22:37
SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna have Mello on my two.
22:41
SPEAKER_03: Mello about six, seven, six, eight.
22:42
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, put them on my two.
22:44
SPEAKER_03: Palonzo on my three.
22:46
SPEAKER_01: Right.
22:48
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I'm gonna go with Evan Mobley on my four.
22:51
SPEAKER_03: Emo.
22:51
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
22:52
SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's that's that's a big size on that team.
22:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, some size on that team.
22:58
SPEAKER_00: There's some size on that team.
22:59
SPEAKER_00: But you know what?
23:00
SPEAKER_00: We saw Zoe.
23:01
SPEAKER_00: He can run almost any position.
23:02
SPEAKER_00: He he don't need the ball to be a successful player.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: So I don't mind that.
23:06
SPEAKER_00: Who's who's a six man?
23:10
SPEAKER_03: Six man, six man.
23:14
SPEAKER_03: You know?
23:15
SPEAKER_03: I like size, man.
23:16
SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna throw into Jalen Johnson, my boy JJ.
23:19
SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
23:20
SPEAKER_00: Oh, so that was one of the things that was not on my list of things to talk about.
23:24
SPEAKER_00: JJ's having a ridiculous season.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: Um, most improved player candidate.
23:27
SPEAKER_00: I think that if he didn't miss that period of time during the season, that he'd probably be in in the top three.
23:32
SPEAKER_00: Um what what do you see from him differently this year than than last year?
23:36
SPEAKER_03: His confidence.
23:38
SPEAKER_03: No, they're really letting him go.
23:39
SPEAKER_03: You know, he's always been athletic.
23:42
SPEAKER_03: But I think one thing that stands out from last year this year is his shooting.
23:46
SPEAKER_03: No, he's been shooting the hell out of the ball this year.
23:49
SPEAKER_03: And that's one thing I really, you know, kind of him for expediting it for.
23:52
SPEAKER_03: Like, he ain't always gonna go down, try and put it on someone's head.
23:55
SPEAKER_03: Like, he's out there shooting with confidence.
23:57
SPEAKER_03: And he's handling the ball, passing the ball.
24:00
SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, he's gonna be a fourth of this league real soon.
24:03
SPEAKER_00: I agree, I agree.
24:05
SPEAKER_00: One of my first episodes of the show this season, I picked the seven most intriguing players for this year, and and Jalen Johnson was on, like, I saw what could have been, and he's been executing, which is real dope.
24:16
SPEAKER_00: Um, very, very last question.
24:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, obviously, there's so many rumors surrounding your team right now, um, between uh the DeJounte Murray, this or that.
24:26
SPEAKER_00: How much of that as an NBA player, and uh not specifically DeJounte, but just in the course of your career, how much of that do you really pay attention to on a night in, night out basis?
24:35
SPEAKER_03: I mean, you hear it all the time, you know, even if you don't want to, like you don't hear rumors, um, media talking.
24:42
SPEAKER_03: You know, at the end of the day, we all have one job to do, and um, we're trying to go out there and win games for real.
24:48
SPEAKER_03: So we gotta put all that to the side when we you know step in between those lines.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: Well, appreciate you taking the time.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: First podcast appearances done.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: Was that was it was it tough?
25:00
SPEAKER_00: Did you enjoy it?
25:01
SPEAKER_00: Talk to us.
25:02
SPEAKER_03: It was cool, man.
25:03
SPEAKER_03: It's always you know fun to talk about hoops, man.
25:05
SPEAKER_03: I could do it for days.
25:06
SPEAKER_00: That's love, that's love.
25:07
SPEAKER_00: If you ever want to come back, just hit us up.
25:09
SPEAKER_00: We got we got nothing but time.
25:10
SPEAKER_00: People at home, that's in Yekka, Kangu.
25:12
SPEAKER_00: Good luck for the rest of the season, bro.
25:14
SPEAKER_03: Appreciate it, dog.
25:21
SPEAKER_00: So we mentioned the Steph Curry 60-point game against the Atlanta Hawks.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: And I thought it was so interesting to see uh how the Hawks have had these games, right?
25:29
SPEAKER_00: The 73-point game from Luka Doncic and how they defended him versus Steph Curry, who, again, in that fourth quarter, he was as electric as can be.
25:38
SPEAKER_00: Um, right now he's leading one of the top guys in the league when it comes to fourth quarter scoring.
25:42
SPEAKER_00: I know people are gonna mention the stat about their record when uh they're in a two-point game and they're just not very good.
25:48
SPEAKER_00: But fourth quarters alone, Steph Curry has been amazing, other than like him dribbling off his own foot every once in a while.
25:55
SPEAKER_00: But he's been incredible.
25:56
SPEAKER_00: And then overtime came around, and it felt like Steph Curry just didn't get the touches that we just saw in that fourth quarter.
26:02
SPEAKER_00: Now, the Warriors, of course, are missing some people here or there, but that's not necessarily an excuse anymore because every single team is really banged up.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I always want to look at a performance like this.
26:12
SPEAKER_00: I said the same thing about Car Anthony Towns.
26:14
SPEAKER_00: I said the same thing about Devin Booker.
26:16
SPEAKER_00: When they dropped 60 in a loss, we've had three of those this year, by the way.
26:20
SPEAKER_00: We had never before this season had two.
26:22
SPEAKER_00: And now we got three, and we're not even at the all-star break, so we might get even more of those.
26:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, that though it came in a loss, like that experience when I was viewing it was just ridiculous.
26:33
SPEAKER_00: And I've said this before, and I'm gonna continue to say it at least until the eighth, because that's when the trade deadline is.
26:39
SPEAKER_00: The pressure is on for that Warriors team because it really was a bunch of Steph Curry and a bunch of other bricks.
26:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Clay, as much as we love you, it was it was a really rough outing um uh across the board for the guy.
26:54
SPEAKER_00: So um, I I did think that the Atlanta Hawks did a very good job coming out of that fourth quarter.
26:59
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it took them four quarters, Quinn, um, to really make some adjustments and and kind of deny Steph Curry quite a bit and say, like, okay, anybody but Steph.
27:08
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes coaches go into a game with this idea, right?
27:11
SPEAKER_00: Go into a half with the idea of anybody but Steph.
27:13
SPEAKER_00: But because Steph is such an electric off-ball mover and they have such a great system over there with these screens and everything, sometimes the anybody but stuff thing doesn't really work.
27:22
SPEAKER_00: In the fourth quarter, in this one, it did.
27:24
SPEAKER_00: And then DeJounte Murray went overdrive to even to force the overtime, and then in the overtime, him and Trey Young just did their thing.
27:30
SPEAKER_00: So uh, and then Yaka, I can't look past that with his what 20.16 rebounds or something like that.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: One of his best games of his career.
27:38
SPEAKER_00: But this week alone, this is how things are gonna work, y'all.
27:40
SPEAKER_00: Let me let me look in the this episode is dropping on the 5th, February 5th.
27:44
SPEAKER_00: Our next episode is a day after the trade deadline.
27:48
SPEAKER_00: A lot of things are gonna shift over the next couple days.
27:51
SPEAKER_00: The whole landscape of our association might be slightly different.
27:54
SPEAKER_00: Now, Shamsharania mentioned this before, um saying that him and Jake Fisher, they're not completely sure what type of deadline we're gonna get, but they're saying brace yourself for not as good of a deadline as last year or the year before that, because two years ago we got Tyrese Halliburton getting traded, James Hardy getting traded.
28:13
SPEAKER_00: Last year we saw Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving get moved.
28:15
SPEAKER_00: And those type of shifts really change things, right?
28:19
SPEAKER_00: This year, from all reports, we're not gonna have that caliber of player getting moved.
28:23
SPEAKER_00: So it's really about the trades around the edges.
28:26
SPEAKER_00: And I kind of find those trades a little bit more, more exciting when uh a contending team makes a small change here or there, and boom, now we look at them as a full-fledged title favorite.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: So next time we talk, after this episode, we gotta go through the full landscape of the association because things are probably gonna look different, you know.
28:44
SPEAKER_00: But you you know what's probably not gonna look different?
28:47
SPEAKER_00: My Chicago Bulls.
28:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, I was sitting upstairs in my in my other office playing a little power world.
28:55
SPEAKER_00: I gotta admit, I have 30 hours, 40 hours.
28:59
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that's light to some of y'all, but I got a lot of hours on power world, just chilling, trying to enjoy my day.
29:04
SPEAKER_00: Yesterday I already did a full day of work.
29:06
SPEAKER_00: This is my kickback, relax.
29:08
SPEAKER_00: The daughter was taking a nap.
29:10
SPEAKER_00: And then Shams drops this tweet.
29:12
SPEAKER_00: We'll say Zach Levine, in consultation with Team and Clutch Sports Group, has elected to undergo season-ending surgery on his right foot.
29:22
SPEAKER_00: And then, and then uh not really recognizing this, I went through the five stages of grief.
29:29
SPEAKER_00: Like not, so I swear to you, it was not intentional.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: But if you look at those tweets, it happened.
29:35
SPEAKER_00: The denial, the original tweet was just wow, no way.
29:40
SPEAKER_00: No, no way.
29:42
SPEAKER_00: This is no way, this is real.
29:43
SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm thinking about this from a couple different perspectives, right?
29:45
SPEAKER_00: I'm thinking about this as like having Zach Levine be one of the bigger names that could potentially be traded as a two-time All-Star.
29:52
SPEAKER_00: I'm thinking about this as the future of my favorite organization in the Chicago Bulls.
29:56
SPEAKER_00: And I'm also thinking about Zach Levine in person because I've met him a few times, and every time I've interviewed him, talked to him, he's always been as cool as can be.
30:02
SPEAKER_00: Quick story time as an as an aside.
30:04
SPEAKER_00: I was there before last season started.
30:07
SPEAKER_00: This is the media day.
30:09
SPEAKER_00: And the way it works in the United Center release is that we go down to where the locker rooms are, and if you're a part of a different media source, you go into these rooms and then the players walk down this hallway and poke their head into the room.
30:21
SPEAKER_00: Can X player come in here, right?
30:23
SPEAKER_00: This is my first year.
30:24
SPEAKER_00: I have a lot of respect.
30:25
SPEAKER_00: So it wasn't like I'm getting the top in players, right?
30:28
SPEAKER_00: And then eventually somebody from the PR team said, Zach is not having a great uh day.
30:32
SPEAKER_00: He's gonna go home.
30:33
SPEAKER_00: And I had thought in my mind I was gonna get Zach Levine.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: So I'm like, dang, but it is what it is.
30:37
SPEAKER_00: I wrapped up my shoots with the other guys, Patrick Williams, Devontae Green, Derrick Jones Jr., so on and so forth.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: And right as we were about to leave, Zach sticks his head in and said, Y'all want me?
30:46
SPEAKER_00: He had to do that.
30:48
SPEAKER_00: It was cool.
30:48
SPEAKER_00: He was having a rough time.
30:49
SPEAKER_00: And then later we found out the reason he was having a rough time, Bulls fans, if you remember this, Zach Levine didn't start last season.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: He was injured, he missed the first week and a half of the season.
30:58
SPEAKER_00: I think that was the day that he found out that he's about to miss opening night.
31:01
SPEAKER_00: So anyway, he's always been very, very cool with me.
31:04
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure a lot of people have that same experience with Zach.
31:07
SPEAKER_00: So um, I looked at it from a couple different perspectives.
31:10
SPEAKER_00: Then, after my denial, I was angry, not at Zach, not at Clutch Sports, but angry at the organization because we've done in the tunage Carney Shovis timeline, the Mark Eversley timeline, the Chicago Bulls have made it a total of six different trades.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: Five of those trades happened in the first five months of them taking over the team, getting rid of everybody.
31:34
SPEAKER_00: Wendell Carter, deuces, Larry Marketer, deuces, so on and so forth.
31:39
SPEAKER_00: But since 2021, the guys have done one singular trade.
31:44
SPEAKER_00: And that trade was to flip two second-round picks for one second-round pick so we can get Julian Phillips.
31:50
SPEAKER_00: That's not gonna be enough, especially when every person watching the Bulls and every person covering this sport has said the Bulls were on a highway to nowhere.
32:00
SPEAKER_00: Everybody knew it.
32:01
SPEAKER_00: But those first 40-something games of Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRose and Zach Levine, Vusevich was so very good that we're looking at it with rose-colored glasses.
32:11
SPEAKER_00: When Lonzo comes back, everything will be okay again.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: And what we know is after two years, there's no real timetable for Zoe.
32:18
SPEAKER_00: And everybody covering the sport is like, hey, get rid of your assets right now.
32:23
SPEAKER_00: Maybe not break it down to the studs completely, but let's just switch some things up a little bit.
32:27
SPEAKER_00: Because it's time.
32:28
SPEAKER_00: This team has a definite ceiling, and what we're seeing is this ceiling is that we're a playing team every single season.
32:34
SPEAKER_00: So I'm angry because we should have been making moves before all of this, right?
32:39
SPEAKER_00: For Zach's sake, cool.
32:40
SPEAKER_00: For by all accounts, he's ready to move on to his next team anyway.
32:43
SPEAKER_00: By all accounts, we should have moved Zach Levine before all of this.
32:47
SPEAKER_00: So I went to anger.
32:48
SPEAKER_00: And then I started to bargain.
32:50
SPEAKER_00: Well, okay, Zach Levine is done for the season.
32:52
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that means that we can move DeMar to Rosen.
32:55
SPEAKER_00: Nothing against DeMar.
32:56
SPEAKER_00: Love DeMar as a player, actually.
32:58
SPEAKER_00: But obviously there's a ceiling here, and I'm trying to just try to figure out what the next thing looks like.
33:03
SPEAKER_00: Okay, we're gonna have Zach on the roster.
33:05
SPEAKER_00: He's probably gonna go to go home to Cali rehab for the rest of the season.
33:08
SPEAKER_00: And so we might not see him traveling with the team.
33:10
SPEAKER_00: So maybe by February 8th, here we'll trade DeMar to Rosen, maybe get rid of Caruso, and I don't mean that in a negative sense, but he's our most valuable asset.
33:18
SPEAKER_00: Every team is calling at this point.
33:20
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we we sell high on Caruso, we sell DeMar before we get into the offseason because Dave offered him in an extension.
33:27
SPEAKER_00: He didn't like the number.
33:28
SPEAKER_00: So either we might lose him in free agency for nothing, or we might be pigeonholed to pay him a contract that's too big for his his production.
33:35
SPEAKER_00: He's 34.
33:36
SPEAKER_00: You give him a three-year day, he's gonna be 37.
33:39
SPEAKER_00: Nah, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not with that.
33:41
SPEAKER_00: And then I'm not gonna say depression because depression is such a strong thing.
33:44
SPEAKER_00: I I definitely didn't go through depression, but I was I was definitely sad about this.
33:50
SPEAKER_00: I was definitely sad about this.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: And then what did I do?
33:54
SPEAKER_00: The Bulls are about to play the Sacramento Kings, and I said, at least we got Kobe White.
33:58
SPEAKER_00: All five stages in a matter of six hours.
34:01
SPEAKER_00: I went through them all.
34:03
SPEAKER_00: At least the Bulls have Zach Levine.
34:05
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry, at least they have Kobe White.
34:06
SPEAKER_00: And Kobe White had another really good game, had a couple rough turnovers down the stretch against the Kings, but they were down by 30 and fought back to lose by they lost.
34:14
SPEAKER_00: Okay, whatever.
34:15
SPEAKER_00: But the Zach Levine news sucks.
34:18
SPEAKER_00: And since then, there are a lot of different reports and speculations about how we get to this point.
34:22
SPEAKER_00: Um, some people are speculating that because the Bulls were very, very close to pull off a trade where Bogdanovich and Joe Harris coming back to Chicago, the Zach Levine opted to the surgery because he'd rather just not play with the worst team of all time.
34:37
SPEAKER_00: Right?
34:37
SPEAKER_00: And and and and I tweeted something similar to that.
34:40
SPEAKER_00: And I got a few tweets like, well, why wouldn't anybody do that?
34:45
SPEAKER_00: Bro, this is the National Basketball Association.
34:49
SPEAKER_00: We have seen players straight up tell the front office if you do not trade me, I'm gonna have surgery.
34:57
SPEAKER_00: We've seen players, because this is the way it works.
34:59
SPEAKER_00: Zach Levine was probably given two different options.
35:02
SPEAKER_00: Either you have your surgery right now or you wait until the offseason because it's probably good enough to play on at least a little bit.
35:09
SPEAKER_00: You wait until the offseason, you do it then.
35:11
SPEAKER_00: Zach has been given this path before.
35:14
SPEAKER_00: And every single time in Zach's career, he's opted to play.
35:18
SPEAKER_00: Zach played with a bum hand.
35:20
SPEAKER_00: Offseason came around, boom, quick little surgery.
35:23
SPEAKER_00: Probably very similar.
35:24
SPEAKER_00: It was a surgery that he was gonna have to have eventually, but I'd rather just not be associated with the worst team of all time.
35:32
SPEAKER_00: So you know what?
35:33
SPEAKER_00: I'll have my surgery.
35:34
SPEAKER_00: And the reason people are saying that is because the report says Zach Levine, the bulls say Zach Levine in consultation with the team and clutch sports.
35:44
SPEAKER_00: How often do you you talk to your representation about having surgery?
35:49
SPEAKER_00: I know I ain't never done I ain't never done that before.
35:51
SPEAKER_00: Times I've needed surgery, I've needed surgery, ASAP, roll them in.
35:54
SPEAKER_00: Um, so get well, Zach Levine.
35:57
SPEAKER_00: Um, you're talking about a foot injury, and foot injuries are not easy to heal from.
36:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, a lot of people tell you like uh Kevin Durant is very open about his time with the fifth or sixth metatarsal and that recovery.
36:09
SPEAKER_00: And it's not easy, it's definitely not easy.
36:10
SPEAKER_00: So I'm wishing nothing but the best for Zach and his family.
36:13
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but the time has come, Artoonish Carney Chauvis and Mark Eversley.
36:18
SPEAKER_00: On me and Bulls fandom, we will be rioting in them streets.
36:23
SPEAKER_00: Back in the day, I made a full dissh track about the guard packs regime, dead ass on YouTube.
36:28
SPEAKER_00: Full dissh track about them.
36:32
SPEAKER_00: Make the wrong decisions, this deadline.
36:34
SPEAKER_00: Best believe I'm back in the booth.
36:35
SPEAKER_00: Now this time for a lot of y'all's favorite segment.
36:38
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna bring in producer Greg to give us his eye test takes.
36:43
SPEAKER_02: All right, Kenny.
36:44
SPEAKER_02: First one, people are sleeping on the Kings as a contender in the West, and I'll tell you why.
36:50
SPEAKER_02: I think they have four components of a real contender.
36:53
SPEAKER_02: First, they have a balance of youth and experience.
36:56
SPEAKER_02: They're super well coached, they have a great lead guard who also happens to be very clutch, and they have a real hunger for vengeance after last year's loss in seven games to the Warriors.
37:06
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm not fair just yet.
37:08
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I honestly this deadline could change a lot of that, right?
37:11
SPEAKER_00: They they are a team that have said to be pretty active, but since then, Harrison Barnes has been playing the please don't trade me type game.
37:18
SPEAKER_00: Same thing with Kevin Herter.
37:19
SPEAKER_00: But they don't when I when I think about contention specifically for the Western Conference, I think about if they were matched up against the Denver Nuggets, do I believe they have a real legitimate chance to win?
37:29
SPEAKER_00: And I don't I'm not there yet.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: If they matched up against the the Clippers, do I think they got a real chance to win?
37:36
SPEAKER_00: I'm not really just there just yet.
37:37
SPEAKER_00: And and maybe this deadline can change that, but I don't see them as a as a real contender, and maybe they prove me wrong.
37:44
SPEAKER_02: What do you think they're they're missing the most?
37:47
SPEAKER_00: I think that they don't some the the variance of scoring is maybe not as great as I would want.
37:54
SPEAKER_00: I do believe that they're missing some defensive, uh, some point of attack defenders.
37:57
SPEAKER_00: And shout out to Keegan Murray because he's been phenomenal there all season long, but it can't just all be Keegan Murray.
38:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, and and honestly, Sabonis, as good as he is, and he's I I'm I'm really actually upset that he was not an all-star this year.
38:12
SPEAKER_00: He's one of those playoff players that I'm like, I need to see a full series of you being as elite as we know you are.
38:19
SPEAKER_00: So maybe it's just a little bit of trust that I don't have with them just yet.
38:23
SPEAKER_02: Next one.
38:24
SPEAKER_02: The top six dunkers in the NBA in no particular order are John Morant, Aaron Gordon, Zach Levine, Shaden Sharp, Ant Edwards, and Derrick Jones Jr.
38:34
SPEAKER_02: So, first, do you agree?
38:36
SPEAKER_02: And what is your order?
38:38
SPEAKER_00: I I honestly would probably take Zach off at this point in time.
38:43
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't, he hasn't had like a like a really good, this is gonna sound so stupid to say dunking season in a few years now.
38:50
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think part of that is like him detaching himself from being known as a dunker after the 2016 dunk contest with Aaron Gordon.
38:57
SPEAKER_00: And we're like a lot of the times when he's on a break by himself, he's not trying to show out.
39:00
SPEAKER_00: He's like, let me get my two points.
39:02
SPEAKER_00: And some of those other guys you mentioned are like, oh, I gotta run way to the rim.
39:06
SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to don't go on somebody's head, I'm trying to do a 360.
39:10
SPEAKER_00: So I would, I would maybe, I would maybe take Zach out, but I did I think maybe the respect factor of what he has done in the in the past probably keeps him there.
39:18
SPEAKER_00: Um on the fly, trying to think of somebody that deserves like Dare Jones Jr., lock him in.
39:23
SPEAKER_00: John Morant, lock him in.
39:25
SPEAKER_00: Anthony Edwards, lock him in.
39:27
SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to think, is there somebody I would replace Zach with?
39:31
SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's so sad because in my mind, I I always still want to say Zion, but he's in a very similar vein as Zach at this point, where he's just not trying to do anything too spectacular.
39:41
SPEAKER_00: I would probably sub out Zach for Obi Toppin.
39:45
SPEAKER_00: Oh, Obi Toppin' Fast Break is something I look forward to whenever I watch the Pacers.
39:50
SPEAKER_00: So that's my substitution.
39:51
SPEAKER_02: He shows out for sure.
39:53
SPEAKER_02: Uh and I'll just pull up one, I just want to share one picture with you on my screen real quick.
39:58
SPEAKER_02: This was 2013.
40:01
SPEAKER_02: Can you see this?
40:02
SPEAKER_00: Is that DJJ?
40:03
SPEAKER_02: This is Derek Jones Jr., and below him is yours truly.
40:08
SPEAKER_02: This was an AU tournament at Spooky Nook in Jersey.
40:13
SPEAKER_02: Uh so at this moment in time, we were in a 2-3 zone, and I saw what I thought was a floater.
40:19
SPEAKER_02: I'm on the back left of the zone, and it was actually an alley oop, and all I felt was a foot kicked me in the head.
40:25
SPEAKER_02: And this, so there was a video of it, which I don't have, but the video lived on the Hoop Group website.
40:29
SPEAKER_02: Hoop Group was like an AAU kind of uh organization.
40:32
SPEAKER_02: It lived on the homepage of the Hoop Group website for about two weeks, and it was just Darren Jones Jr.
40:37
SPEAKER_02: catching a lob on me.
40:38
SPEAKER_02: And uh, I apologize for the 2013 Instagram filter here, but um I knew at this moment this dude was gonna be a future NBA dunk contest champion.
40:46
SPEAKER_00: That's insane.
40:47
SPEAKER_00: Like, look where his hand is at.
40:49
SPEAKER_00: That makes no sense to me that somebody should be able to jump that high.
40:53
SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
40:53
SPEAKER_00: He plays a lot of like four.
40:56
SPEAKER_00: He's he's like 6'5, he's like 6'5, 6'6.
40:59
SPEAKER_00: Like, it makes no sense the type of athleticism he really has.
41:03
SPEAKER_00: And and that's I I'm a I'm using this very, very loosely now.
41:07
SPEAKER_00: That's one of the guys, it's one of the homies, man.
41:09
SPEAKER_00: That's one of the homies from his time in Chicago.
41:11
SPEAKER_00: I got to to interview him a few different times.
41:13
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if he would call me his homie, but uh, but he's always been a really cool dude.
41:17
SPEAKER_00: And so you was really out there in them them them uh the hardwood really playing against NBA talent.
41:22
SPEAKER_02: Well, dude, Philly has those guys, man.
41:24
SPEAKER_02: Derek Jones, right now in the league.
41:25
SPEAKER_02: You got Lamar Stevens, uh, I grew up playing against.
41:29
SPEAKER_02: Um, obviously the older dudes like Kyle Lowry and the Morris twins.
41:32
SPEAKER_02: Uh Cam Redish is a Philly dude.
41:34
SPEAKER_02: Mo Bamba played high school ball in Philly.
41:36
SPEAKER_02: Um there's I mean obviously Jalen Brunson and the Nova guys, Dante DiVincenzo.
41:41
SPEAKER_02: I played against the AAU.
41:42
SPEAKER_02: We Philly has them dudes.
41:44
SPEAKER_00: Did y'all win the game?
41:45
SPEAKER_00: We did win the game.
41:46
SPEAKER_00: That's all that matters.
41:47
SPEAKER_00: That's all that matters.
41:48
SPEAKER_00: We didn't all that matter.
41:50
SPEAKER_02: We had a collection of dudes that were all like low-level D3 dudes, and like we just busted our ass and like ended up you know playing harder, and that's all we won.
41:57
SPEAKER_02: Um, all right, last one from this I test take.
42:00
SPEAKER_02: So all the all these series as a caveat, I believe, would would go to seven.
42:04
SPEAKER_02: They'd be really close.
42:05
SPEAKER_02: But the Lakers or the Warriors would upset either the Thunder or the T-Wolves in a first-round series.
42:12
SPEAKER_00: We we've I've had this conversation before with the the rest of the guys, and I could I could see it.
42:19
SPEAKER_00: Now, if if I was a betting man, which which I am, I probably wouldn't put money on it though.
42:25
SPEAKER_00: Like, if it happened, I wouldn't be like, oh, what a surprise.
42:28
SPEAKER_00: Because I think that both teams have their flaws, that a veteran team like the Lakers, even though they don't look amazing on most nights, or a veteran-led team like the Warriors, even though they don't look amazing on many nights, where they would have what it takes to pull off that upset.
42:43
SPEAKER_00: Where like I've watched so much Minnesota Timberwolves this season.
42:46
SPEAKER_00: A lot of the times that offense, that 20th rank offense, looks a lot worse than 20th in the last six minutes of games.
42:52
SPEAKER_00: And those are the type of games that you don't want to be in against LeBron.
42:55
SPEAKER_00: You don't want to be in those games against Steph Curry.
42:58
SPEAKER_00: So I feel more confident, and this is this is gonna be probably like going against what I'm thinking, more confident in OKC's approach to these teams.
43:11
SPEAKER_00: Um, but they're the youngest, one of the youngest teams in the league, and that's probably gonna play in some way throughout the playoffs.
43:18
SPEAKER_00: They have to just hope that they don't get the the Lakers.
43:22
SPEAKER_00: The Warriors, I think that they probably feel okay about both teams.
43:27
SPEAKER_00: I think that they both teams have enough perimeter defensive guy.
43:30
SPEAKER_00: Nobody's stopping Steph Curry, but like to give Steph Curry enough different looks to be like, okay, we feel good, but like those teams don't really have much for Anthony Day.
43:38
SPEAKER_00: Like Anthony Davis versus the Thunder is a tough series.
43:40
SPEAKER_00: LeBron versus the Thunder is a tough series, and I could say the same thing against the Tim Timberwolves.
43:45
SPEAKER_00: So I wouldn't bet money on it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happened.
43:49
SPEAKER_02: I actually think the Warriors would have a better shot against the Thunder.
43:52
SPEAKER_02: I think they would really struggle against a Timberwolves size, and I think the Lakers would have a better shot against the Timberwolves.
43:58
SPEAKER_02: I think that the Thunder are a smarter team, but obviously again, much smaller.
44:02
SPEAKER_02: Um, but I weirdly trust the Thunder's youth more than I trust the Timberwolves youth uh in terms of making good decisions in the in the in the big parts of the game.
44:12
SPEAKER_00: That's that's kind of how I feel too.
44:13
SPEAKER_00: Um the the major thing when I watch the wolves that bothers me the most, and again, I really do, and like I've watched so many games, I really enjoy watching them play, is that Anthony Edwards and Carnthony Towns turn the ball over way too much for my liking.
44:26
SPEAKER_00: And when I watch OKC the OKC Thunder, they feel like they don't nearly turn the ball over in those clutch scenarios where Ant and Carnthony Towns, they do it a little bit more.
44:38
SPEAKER_00: And also as as dope as he is, because he's one of the best players in basketball, Anthony Edwards' shot selection sometimes down the stretch is a is a part that I can't look past.
44:48
SPEAKER_00: He'll make them and you'll be like, great, but when they're missing, it's like, could we get something better than that?
44:53
SPEAKER_02: You know, I think it's the perfect example of the difference between having your best player as a one and your best player as a shot creating two.
45:01
SPEAKER_02: When you when you have the ball in Shay's hands, you know you're gonna get something good out of it just because he's he's a point guard at heart, where and as good as he is, isn't a natural point, and therefore there's gonna be some questionable decisions down the stretch.
45:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I feel that because in that little stretch where they didn't have Mike Conley, um, things were really, really rough in those clutch games.
45:18
SPEAKER_00: It was it was two of them in particular that I don't remember who their opponents were, but both games went down to what we consider clutch time, and and Mike is on the sideline, and it's like it's Ant, it's Nikhil, Alexander Walker, and I just don't trust them as much to facilitate an offense as Mike Conley.
45:33
SPEAKER_00: And the Tim Wills don't have that backup guy.
45:36
SPEAKER_00: Um, there's been rumors about them looking for that guy, and maybe that's at the expense of Cal Anderson, who's not having the best year.
45:41
SPEAKER_00: But if they can add another floor general, I trust him with the ball, low, low turnover guy for situations like that, I will feel a lot more confident in them as a team.
45:56
SPEAKER_00: I want to say thank you to Anyeka Kango for taking the time to really break down and talk some hoops.
46:01
SPEAKER_00: Shout out to Greg for his eye test takes.
46:03
SPEAKER_00: It's always an open conversation.
46:05
SPEAKER_00: What do you agree with Greg about?
46:06
SPEAKER_00: What me about?
46:07
SPEAKER_00: And uh leave a like, subscribe.
46:09
SPEAKER_00: Again, those numbers matter.
46:11
SPEAKER_00: Those numbers matter.
46:12
SPEAKER_00: I'll see y'all in a couple days