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Michael Porter Jr. Reveals Why The Nuggets Knew They'd Win · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I thought this would have been a tough series.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Probably would have gone six, seven um games.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: But against Miami, we were like, man, we can we can get them boys up out of here.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome, welcome, welcome back to the Kenny Beachum podcast.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: Y'all, it's another special day.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: It is another special day.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm always here to invite players onto the show.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: We got notes that Michael Porter Jr.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: might be injured.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: We said, Bring him up, bring him onto the show.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: And things to time, it was a bit weird.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: Originally, I was supposed to have him the day after Nikole Jokic got ejected with that crazy call, and we talked about that last episode.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: He got sick, and you might see that a little bit in this episode, but he dug it out and came onto the show.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: We had some really good conversations about his run as an NBA champion, um, his recovery period as a guy that at one point in Michael Porter Jr.'s basketball playing career, someone on the Clippers staff before he was drafted said this brother would never play basketball again.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: And now he's one of the most lethal shooters in all of basketball, of course, NBA champion, and they're trying to go for number two.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: So Michael Forta Jr.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: coming to the show.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: Let's just roll the tape.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: Now I want to welcome NBA champion, Michael Forta Jr.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the show, man.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: Man, appreciate y'all having me for sure.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: Appreciate you taking the time.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh this is our first time chatting, but this is not our first time meeting.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: I I want to circle all the way back in 2018, before you were an NBA player, you were going into the draft, there was a game between the Celtics and the Bucs, game four, the NBA playoffs.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: Do you do you remember being at that game?
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: I think so.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: I think I was uh I was doing um you know my training kit down in Chicago.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: We went to the game.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: I think I remember.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think I remember that.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Greg play the clip.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: So so that that was a little throwback.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a Bulls fan.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that year we weren't very good.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the homies had texted me, like, yo, MPJ is at the game.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, where you know, we're about to have a lottery pick.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: We're excited, you know, about where you could potentially go.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I gotta find them in the crowd.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: I find you, we get that moment.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: Again, I don't expect you to remember that because I'm sure you met a thousand people, but it's like a full circle moment for me to have you on the show now.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, nah, man.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I see you doing your thing, and I appreciate you, you know, having me on the show.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: So it's I didn't know we met back then, but that's cool that we're doing this now.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it really is, really is.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: My pops, my pops, that draft, um, obviously we ended up with, I think we drafted Window Carter that year.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's crazy draft class, you know.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but my pops, the moment we drafted, no shot at Wendell because he's having a great NBA career.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but he was like, MPJ is just sitting there.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: He's just sitting there.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: He wanted you in Chicago.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, now it worked out perfectly for you, you know, being an NBA champion and all.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: But we had we had love for you in this household at least.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: Man, I appreciate you, my dog.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate it.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I want to I want to go back to the NBA finals run because obviously big things happen.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I I know you're currently in season, you gotta change it very fast from being a champion to going and try to get number two, but was there a moment during the last year run where you were like, oh, this is a reality where we can really put it together and win that championship?
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, man.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: We I mean we knew it all the way dating back to uh when we first traded for Aaron Gordon, which was a few years ago.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: We kind of felt like he filled in a lot of gaps.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: And then we I think we had played like seven or eight games together, and then we had we hadn't lost.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: And uh we saw how good we could be, but then I think Jamal had got hurt, you know, and then later on, I think the next season I had got hurt, right?
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: So now we kind of always saw the the and this is how it is with a lot of teams in the NBA.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's really like when it comes down to playoff time, who could be the healthiest?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And for us, we saw we had the pieces, but we weren't all healthy at the same time.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: So we lost one year to the Suns.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think we lost another year to the Warriors in the playoffs.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but we knew as long as we could keep it together, that core together, we could, we could uh we could go the distance.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, this last year, everybody was healthy.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: We had no doubt in our mind all year um that we could do it.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember specifically E.T., um, motivational speaker, I'm sure you know who that is.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know who ET is uh he came down to training camp um and kind of gave us the motivational speech and was like, man, I see it in the Ayaka win a championship.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: And we was like, man, we we see it in us too.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: And then um it's crazy thinking back because that whole season last year, we really had no doubts.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Then when playoff time came, it was like, man, we were just we were just going crazy all playoffs.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: We had no doubts.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: What was that, what was your favorite moment from that run?
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: My favorite moment from the run.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, every playoff series has its own, like every every time you win a playoff series, it's like a feels like a little a little championship, you know, because you got past that series, you get to move on to the next.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I mean, they all had their special moments.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: I think um beating KD in book with the with the Suns was big because they were they were favored to win the whole thing.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we went in there, beat them 4-2, and then obviously, you know, going to LA and sweeping the Lakers, that was fun, but nothing compares to um, you know, when that buzzer goes off in that game five against Miami, and you realize you really you really want to chip.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: So uh it was that, and then all the stuff afterwards, all the celebration.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: What was the mindset going into that series?
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: Because Miami obviously had been doing crazy stuff.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: They didn't beat the one C, the four C, they didn't beat the two C, and this was a playing team making it all the way there.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: What was the mindset going into it?
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: Because they were not favored in any of their series.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: And once we got to the finals, I did see some people like, oh man, we didn't, you know, said that they couldn't do it here, couldn't do it here.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: So now I'm picking the Heat in the finals.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: So in that locker room, what were y'all thinking?
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, I think um we knew we had the matchup versus the Heat.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like we knew I mean, they're a great team.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: They're very scrappy.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: I've honestly like me, I wouldn't have picked them to beat the Bucs.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't have picked them to beat the Celtics.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and kind of when they were playing the Celtics, we were we felt like we matched up a little bit better with the Heat than the Celtics.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: We thought, um, you know, that Celtics would have been a tough series, probably would have gone six, seven um games.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: But against Miami, we were like, man, we can we can get them boys up out of here.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Not no disrespect because they're a great team and they're very uh and they you know, Jimmy and Bam, but they didn't have Tyler at that time, you know, they were filling in some gaps with some guys, so um, we really felt like we could we could we could do it.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um and you know, we did.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: So that's so interesting to hear though, because obviously I don't have experience being a professional athlete or nothing, you know.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: I watch it instead of instead of playing it.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: But I always wonder from that instance where like y'all are already cemented yourself as an NBA finals, or let's just say even the first round, right?
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: You beat the first round matchup, which I think was the Minnesota Timbulls, you waiting at home to see who your next matchup is.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: So you are actively thinking, like, we low-key would rather see this team than that team because we think we can stop this player versus this player.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, nah, every series is a little bit like that.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like uh, for example, um yeah, we played Minnesota first series, and then we either played the Suns or the Clippers next series.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: We kind of were like, Paul Jordan's hurt, they only really got uh, you know, they're they got good players.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: They still got Kawhi, they still got Russ, they still got Norman Powell, some dudes, but we were like, man, like if the Clippers could somehow beat the Suns, that would that would probably be better for us.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: We kind of felt like we had the Clippers number ever since the uh the bubble.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so it definitely goes like that, but at the end of the day, man, like in the playoffs, you gotta bring it against anybody because and it's like man, every team who makes a play has got some dudes that is tough to stop.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: You you're really not trying to see Kawhi in a playoff series, and at the same time, you're not trying to, you know, KD and Book are so-called.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Then you got LeBron the next series.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: So it's really like you're not really hoping for a team, but you definitely kind of look at the matchups and and kind of would prefer one team over the other.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: From my perspective, y'all's run was one of my favorite in recent history, just from like an adversity standpoint, because of course, of course, Yoke, of course, he's turned to the MVP, the best player in the league, but second rounder, Jamal's coming off his ACL.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: You had to go through your adversity with your injuries and stuff, where they were saying that you would never play again.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: AG had to get out of Orlando where things were bad.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we we could keep going on.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: If Smith has been on the, you know, all over the team, Jeff Green, so on and so forth.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: So to see y'all, especially in a market like Denver, to go on that run was kind of a special thing.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: Because not only did y'all win it, like y'all don't y'all dominated the entire way there.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm saying?
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: So it was it was just cool to kind of see it because for the most part, over the last 10 or so years, we've kind of had an idea of who was gonna be in the finals every year.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm saying?
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: Previously, if Braun was out east, it was Braun.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: And then the Warriors, it was the Warriors.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: And now to see some fresh blood the last couple years has been pretty dope.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, I agree with you.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, uh, like you said, that was that was my that was the first season off of my third back surgery.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: For Jamal, that was his first season back after that ACL injury.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: So it's not like we had tons of times.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Me and him were still both rehabbing during the season.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um so, like the adversity you talked about.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Bruce came to us from Brooklyn, and people were, and when when he was in free agency, people were talking about they didn't really want him.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: Ended up being one of the most valuable players on our team.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: You got Jeff, who hasn't, you know, who got his ring.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: You got DJ, DeAndre Jordan has been in the league forever.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: You got Ish Smith, um, you know, you got all these dudes, you got all these different little stories within our team that kind of make it cool.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: You got Christian Braun who just came off of winning an NCAA championship, and now he he's going back to back with the NBA championship.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a lot of cool little side stories in our in our in our run for sure.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: When y'all were here last week in Chicago, I was at the game.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, a big Serbian crowd.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: Uh there's pregame routines and stuff.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I again, I'm not trying to get you in trouble or anything about the how Yoke got ejected, but what is your mindset going into like the second half where you prepare to have Yoke for the entire game and then he's ejected?
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then for the second half, y'all would, you know, y'all were dominant without him.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: So what is the switch?
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think in that first half, you were kind of silent and low-key, and then second half you started to really put it together, and we saw like Reggie and so on and so forth kind of piece the parts together.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, nah, man, we got a good enough team and dudes, we got dudes who have accepted a role on our team, but are capable of so much more.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm one of those dudes.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: AG's another one, Reggie.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so like if a guy goes out, we're still we're still Gucci.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: So there's been plenty of games where you know Yoke might get ejected and we gotta we gotta get it, we gotta put a run together, or um, where he might get in foul trouble.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um we've played through all different types of lineups.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: So when one guy goes down, even if it's Joker, um we we have we're confident that we can um still make it work.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: And me and AG, when Joker goes out, me and AG have our own little chemistry of what we like to do.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: He likes to really, you know, play make and find me the ball.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um there was a run last night against the Thunder where Joker was on the bench and AG was playing the five, I'm at the four.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: So, and then we put a little run together.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: So uh that's nothing new for us.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: But it was crazy him getting ejected that game for sure.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: You never want to, you never want to see that, especially a superstar player.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: People come out to see him from Serbia and he gets ejected like that.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: It was it was a rough one for sure.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: I I was there to see him, and I'm a Bulls fan, you know, things ain't been great here, but I was there to see him.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: So to see him get ejected, I would I was kind of mad.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um But but there is a moment in this game, in that game, I don't even know if you remember it.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: Y'all were up by like, let's say 10 or 12 points.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: Y'all have been handling business, but you know, the Bulls had a little bit of a run.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: AG had like a between the legs step back three with like maybe a minute and a half, two minutes left.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I looked at my wife, I say, we gotta go.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's time to get out of here.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's time.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: If AG is doing that, it ain't no chance that these boys is gonna come back and win this game.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: So it was a great night, even though we didn't get a chance to, of course, see Jokic for the entire one.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, AG got his bag a little bit, and then he came back down and tried to do it again.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: He tried to do it again.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: One more time.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I I actually want to go back just a little bit when you talk about the injuries of you and Jamal rehabbing at the same time.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: I think as NBA fans, we kind of get accustomed to seeing a person being out for X amount of weeks and say, okay, they say four weeks, and four weeks I expect him to be the exact same player he was pre-injury.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: So, what is the mindset while trying to play the game and also rehab from an injury?
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, I would say, you know, you definitely want to give your body enough rest to where you can be a resemblance of yourself, but there's no basketball.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: You you don't get in basketball shape from from uh riding a bike or running on a treadmill.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta really hoop.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, you're playing against the best athletes in the world, so you can't be out four or five weeks, come back and just um be expected to produce exactly like you did prior.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: But um, you know, you also got really good trainers, so they get you in good enough shape to to resemble yourself, but it takes a few games.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, me and Maul coming back last year, we weren't 100% for a while.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then we kind of like built up to it, and then we kind of peaked in the playoffs when we needed to.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: So um that's kind of that's kind of how you want it to be, you know, take your rest in the summer, and then at the beginning of the year, you might not even be fully, fully uh producing like you will, towards you know, mid-season forms what they call it.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: So how so so things happen so fast, right?
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: You win the championship, and then maybe a month or two later the mindship have to shift back to like winning again.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: So as an NBA champion, um how how do you stay hungry?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: You or the entire team of the Denver Nuggets?
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, man, I was thinking about that question as well.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like, especially at the at the top, which is Joker.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, how do you go back to back MVP?
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, how do you finals MVP win a championship, get to only go back to Serbia for two months?
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like, especially in his case, I was like, how do you stay motivated?
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: But it really does become a you get addicted to the feeling of winning, so you don't feel comfortable losing.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's one thing.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then the other thing is, man, individually, a lot of guys still have goals.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: I still got goals, Jamal still has goals individually, Aaron.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: So even though we collectively won this championship, we're still trying to get better individually because um, and I think that's what still motivated a lot of guys to continue to work.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: But it is, man, we got a little bit of a hangover for sure.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: We didn't when you play those extra two months or whatever it is, that guys compared to you know teams that don't make the playoffs, um, and then you go all the way and win the championship, it cuts your summer.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: So it definitely you definitely have a little hangover.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Wish you had a little bit more rest for sure.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, speaking of that, it feels like you know, when you become an NBA champion, maybe there's an extra target on your back.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you guys have been in a lot of close games.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: The last, the one from last night versus the OKC Thunder.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: How how do you feel about them as like a young competitive team that they went from a team that might be on the playoff push last year to like pretty confidently that's a team that y'all gonna have to either see or see somebody that saw them in the playoffs?
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, they're they're good.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: Shea's obviously one of them dudes in the league now, and and Chet really helped put those put those pieces together.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because I mean, last night he had nine blocks, bro.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: I don't remember last time I seen nobody almost get a triple-double with blocks.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: So um he's a really, really good young player, really good feel for the game.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: I saw Chet this summer out in LA in some runs.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: It was like me, KD, Chet, Trey Young, um, Kyrie, uh a lot of other dudes will pull up to those runs.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, Chet surprised me then, so it doesn't surprise me that he's playing really well now.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: And uh they got really good players over there.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Jalen Williams, you know, Josh Kitty's going through some stuff right now, but he's a really good player.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um Lou Dorck, great defender.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: Man, and then uh yeah, they just they just play well together.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: They play it, they play unique style of basketball.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I was watching that and Chet did something I ain't never seen somebody do when it was blocking Aaron Gordon dunk attempt.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, oh no, this this this is different.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he put it on the backboard.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, put it on the backboard.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um the the before we get you out here, just a few more things.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: I I kind of want to talk about the big fella because he is in a very unique class of like he's an NBA champion, he's a two-time MVP, possibly three-time MVP after the end of this season.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: But if you look at all of the other MVPs throughout history, he's the one we as the media or the people at home know the least about because he's not really into being in the spotlighter and things like that.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: So, my first question about Jokic.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, he goes back home every offseason.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: Do you hear about those those stories when he's back in Serbia?
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, we do.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: And he's, you know, over the years definitely became one of the dudes on our team that, you know, he loves he's become a lot more social, a lot more talkative.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so we all we all know yoke pretty well.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: He's very active in the group chat.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he loves being home, man.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: He loves the horses, he loves being home.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: But as much as from the outside, you know, they make the memes like he doesn't like coming to work and he just is out there lazily getting a triple double.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like this dude, he he is obsessed with basketball.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: He loves it.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um I didn't I didn't know that at first when I first came here.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: It did seem like he was kind of nonchalant about it.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: But nah, he loves the game, he loves his routine, he loves working out.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: Probably works out besides me, probably the most on the team, you know.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, lifting after games, coming in the next day and getting his treatment.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh like that dude, because he may not look the part, but he I think he's one of the most in-shape basketball players in the NBA, which would be a surprise to some people.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: He, his load, like the amount that we rely on him as a team, and then for him to just he could play all 48 and be perfectly fine.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he's pushing the rock, he's making reads, he's you know, fourth quarter, posting up, and then boom, as soon as the game's over, he's going up in the weight room, getting his lift in.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: And he doesn't lift like do a set, take a little break, doing it, like he's set to set to set to set until he's done.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like he's going hard in the weight room.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so he he he loves it, man.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: He really does.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: Was there a moment where you were like, oh shit, this is the best player in the world?
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like, like I think that fans kind of realize that probably mostly during this current playoff run, he'd probably been the best in the world for a little bit longer than that.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: But in the playoffs, obviously hit another level for fan bases.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: But what as his teammate, was there a moment for you?
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, I think I knew it a little bit sooner than that.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, there was a couple other players that it was debatable with, but being on Joker's team and seeing the way he can score with ease, but also pass better than any other big man or any other player.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that was one thing.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: But I think I noticed it most when we played the Lakers.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, he matched up with AD because for a couple years, AD was his toughest uh matchup to go up against.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, AD's long and block shots, and the way we swept them and how Joker, you know, dominated that series with his passing, his shooting, you know, he had a couple of those one-legged, you know, launch shots.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I think after that series, I was like, man, yeah, nobody's nobody's touching this dude right now.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: In that series, when he did that one, it was like, I so I spent a lot of time on TikTok.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's part of my job to be a social media.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: I don't like it, but it's it's a fact.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: And there's so many edits of that moment where he hit the one-legged buzzer, and then Anthony Davis is like, like, what what do you want me to do?
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like, everybody around him has just accepted the fact that that shot is a normal shot for him that he can make.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it is.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I don't know what it is about overseas.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like Luca does that a lot too, where he just makes some really crazy shots, but but it's kind of normal for him.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, a joker's the same way.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, he does that often.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we we're not the biggest market team, so all our games aren't televised, but that's a pretty routine thing where he's doing that.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: You just mentioned the overseas aspect, actually.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's a conversation that we me and my guys have had a bunch about like the development here in America of basketball players versus I guess the European development.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, as somebody that's actively, you know, on the team with someone from overseas and playing against those players every day.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: Do you feel like there's a big difference in the way we developed talent here versus the way they do?
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, there's probably a little bit different style of play.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I don't know exactly how to put my finger on it, but they play a little bit different style of basketball.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: Because Faku was on our team for a little bit.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: He played a little bit different.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you got Luca, you got um guys like Ricky Rubio, or you know, even even like Franz Wagner, who plays a little bit different style.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think there's a few, a few guys.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um I don't know what it is.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: I guess it's the white, the white overseas dudes.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: The white overseas dudes got a little bit different style of play because they don't be the most athletic.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: So they develop all these little in-between skills, little touch touches that I don't know if American players really develop that type of touch that you know maybe Luca has or Joker has.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's definitely a little bit different for sure.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: I want to ask you, again, I mentioned I'm on social media all the time.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know about the MPJ memes that go around?
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: Man, uh, I mean, I know about a few of them.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: Which one specifically are you talking about?
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um there's one that went super viral recently of somebody like faking like they're you in the sense that when you get the ball, you got the green light.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: MPJ, I think it was like um uh damn, what is it?
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's like a specific nickname.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: But it's it's like the Michael, is it the Michael that never swinged the rock?
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's something like that.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: Something like that.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: I don't really think that's too new.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think I I peeped that last year.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I peeped that last year.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: So, what do you think about it though?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: What about the um I mean it's funny.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: I ain't I ain't going I ain't gonna debate.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like if I catch the rock and I feel like I'm open, I'm letting it fly.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like I ain't gonna I ain't gonna lie.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: But I mean, you know, in the NBA, if you look at my assists, like how much I average, it's no different than other guys in in the same type of role as me on other teams, you know.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um specifically, like, you know, maybe a Jabari Smith Jr.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: over in Houston or or different guys that play a similar role.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's Clay Thompson over in Golden State, um, who, you know, their job, you know, is to be a play finisher, is what I call it.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, when you get the Rockets time to shoot or make decisions, get to the hole.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm not really the one orchestrating the offense.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not really the one with the ball in my hands.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like, there's probably been games where I've had 30 and put the ball on the floor maybe 15, 20 times.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: So it's not like I'm really having the ball like that, but man, the memes is funny.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I think I don't know who came up with it, but yeah, people also don't realize like, I'm 6'10, what's a bad shot or what is a good shot for me, might not be a good shot for them.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: So uh that's the other part of it, I think.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, I I think about that all the time with like people like you and Kevin, Kevin Durant, where y'all just have so much of a size advantage based on the people that are guarding y'all that you're just shooting over people most of the time.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, it might look like a contest, but it's not really a contest because of the difference in height, and you you get a crazy amount of lift on your jumper too.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um speaking of that, speaking of that, the last thing we got before I let you you go again, I appreciate your time.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: One thing that I am fascinated with is different jump shot forms.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know, everybody shoots the ball differently.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: There's like a routine way, which would be more like a Klay Thompson, like the beauty in a Klay Thompson jump shot.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: So have you seen those games where people have to rank things without knowing what's next?
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna give you five NBA players.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: You cannot switch the order, and you tell me how you rank them.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's not on how good of a shooter they are, but just strictly on the shooting form.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense?
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, just the shooting form.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: Got you.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: The first person, it's yourself, Michael Porter Jr.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: Where would you put him?
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: One through five.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh for form, I'm gonna go like three.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: So what what about your form?
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: Would you I mean, obviously you're not changing nothing.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: You're 40% three-point shooter and everything, but like, what about your form do you not feel perfect about to put you at like number one?
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: I think um compared to some some, I mean, if you're talking uh professional shooting coach, my base is not very um wide.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like I have a very narrow base.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm not I shoot a lot of fadeaways, you know, it's not super just uh just um milit militant, you know.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's sometimes I'm fading, sometimes it's tough shots.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll put myself at three.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: The second guy I got is Devin Booker.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: D book, I'm gonna put D book at uh yeah, he has a pretty jump shot.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm gonna put him at I'm gonna put him at two.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: I like uh I like his shot because I like his mid-range.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: He gets some good lift on his shot.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um he has a pretty textbook shot, I think.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: The next guy got is the guy I mentioned earlier with the perfect jump shot, Klay Thompson.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I ain't never seen nobody with better form.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'm putting him at one.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: That makes sense, yeah.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: I I knew he was gonna be a for sure one.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: The next two guys, obviously both really effective in what they do.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_01: Tarry Talliburton.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: Five.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: Which is crazy.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like, because I don't he be shooting happening, I'll be like, yo, there's no way that's going in, but it'd be cash.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: Every time he's one of the he's one of the best shooters in the league.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I think uh people have tried to mess around with his shot, I've heard, and change it, but no, leave that man be because he got a strap.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: And he be shooting from deep.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Ridiculous.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: And the last guy who I think fits at number four because you got uh one through the other ones, is your boy Trey Young.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that makes sense.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: I put him at four.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's a good order right there.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think I did pretty good with that.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: Clay.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: I think you did two.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: Clay at one, D Book at two, me at three, Trey at four, and then Tyrese Fire.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: I think I nailed it.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: I think I think you did as good as I did.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: That was basically how I had him as well.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I think you did a great job.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: I think you did a great job.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, sir.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Mike, I appreciate you.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: I want to tell people at home Mike has his own podcast called Curious Mike, where he has a bunch of people on.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, I just talked to Peyton Manning and he he was talking because I was telling him that I got you on the show.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, Oh, I did a show.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I went to rewatch that.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, good episodes of Curious Mike, go hit it up on YouTube, it's on Spotify and all of those things.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: Anything else you want to uh promote for the people at home?
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: Nah, man, I appreciate you having me on.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, go check out Curious Mike.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to make the podcast pop on the side.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, got some interesting guests coming up, you know.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: So definitely check that out.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: Tune in, tune in.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you, bro.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, sir.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: Again, I want to thank MPJ for taking his time out.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, listen, this is this is what I want to say for the people at the crib.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I want to see y'all go crazy letting people know that Kenny Beacham is looking for them.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, he said he said he's been seeing the stuff we do, and that's that's because of y'all.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: Y'all tweeting out the clips, y'all showing the love, leaving the like, subscribing, and all of that stuff goes a very long way.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: So let your boys know I'm looking for him because I just want to talk to people at the end of the day.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know, this is a show that is really just me-centric.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: So anytime we can get a break and have somebody on that's knowledgeable or really good at something, I'm here for.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_01: So let them let them boys know.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: I now want to talk about three harsh truths, maybe realities going around the NBA in the current moment.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: Now, of course, I've been watching a ton of basketball as always, and actually got privy to this new um way of watching the game or of like kind of making sure I'm really locked in.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: Because I used to just watch basketball, like most people do, which is not a problem.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: Just watch the basketball is not a problem.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: But now, for every game that I watch, I'm taking notes.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: And boy, has it opened my eyes up to a lot of different trends around the association, some substitution patterns, some ways that teams are defending other teams.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm just saying, if you really want to lock in, lock in, I recommend taking notes.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's been a it's been a very long time since I picked up a pen and paper.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_01: I stopped going to school in 2017.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: Only time I picked up a pen after that was the sign contracts, if I'm being honest with you, until the last week or so.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: So let's get into the first harsh reality or truth of the first quarter of the NBA season.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: This one has to do with a team that we briefly talked about with MPJ, the OKC Thunder.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: And the harsh reality is that Josh Giddy is the odd man out.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if you want to just go back and go maybe a month into the season, or I'm sorry, a couple weeks into the season, I've mentioned this before, that it felt as though Josh Giddy was the odd man out.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: But I said, hey, I'm gonna give him more time.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: You're introducing a guy in Chet Homegren, who boy, Chet Holmgren is playing at a whole different level.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just becoming so uh, I guess used to seeing uh people come into the league and be great that we we just have it spoiled.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: Between Chet, Wimby this season, some people from previous draft classes, we always just see multiple people come in and be instant, instant greats, right?
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um greats maybe a stretch, but really, really good.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_01: Josh Giddy has yet to find himself this season with this current core.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I went back and look again, looking at my notes, I realized that in the last six games of the OKC Thunder, Josh Giddey has only closed out minutes in one of them.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: And and that's discounted like the game against the Jazz or they're up by 20 plus points, where I don't even think Shea Gills Alexander uh played in the fourth quarter or whatever.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: But like when we talk about games that are competitive going into the fourth quarter, when we get down to the last five to three minutes where you're really trying to hone in on this win, Josh Giddey has only closed out in one of those games.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: So, Kenny, what what did you see in that one game that Mark Daytonall has saw as well to say that he's not our guy for closing lineups?
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_01: That was a game against the Sacramento Kings a couple days ago where Mike Brown, only thing he did to kind of neutralize the OKC Thunder offense, was he stuck DeMontessa bonus on Josh Giddy.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: And what did this allow for?
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_01: DeMontisabonis to roam, roam, roam.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: And there was a couple possessions in this game where Shea Gius Alexander does what he does and broke down his defender, but there was a second line of defense now with DeMontis Abonis, and it caused a miss.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_01: Where now, when you think about the people that they have in Shea Gius Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and J Dub Jalen Williams, Josh Giddey's skill set is now redundant in those lineups.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_01: So they'd rather go with a guy like Mr.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: Isaiah Joe, who now spreads the flow out.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_01: You can't guard him the same way you're guarding Josh Giddy.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_01: You can't throw DeMontis Abonis on him and let him roam because that boy is one of the best three-point shooters in all the association.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: And if we're having that with Shay, with Dort, with J Dub and Chat, that is just spacing on spacing on spacing, and it allows their all-star superstar MVP caliber player and Shea Gives Alexander to do whatever the hell he wants.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_01: There's also been a game where they opted to not put Isaiah Joe in because he wasn't shooting it exactly well.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: But they said, hell, Aaron Wiggins, you're gonna close out this game and you're gonna play overtime as well.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: That is over Josh Giddey.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: Now, of course, Josh Giddy is dealing with a lot of stuff off the court that, again, we don't know the specifics of, but I'm I'm just specifically talking about his own court stuff, where if I am the OKC Thunder and I'm not got a guy that's gonna try to rush this timeline.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: Even uh Sam Pressey has said and before the season started that they're not trying to accelerate the timeline too much.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_01: But when you see them go into go into Denver and win a game against the defender champions, you see them go into uh, I guess San Francisco at Chase Center, which I guess is not a crazy place to win no more, and win these games, you're like, man, what can we do to go from a team that most people recognize as a playoff team, and some people recognize them as contenders, but what can we do right now during this current season to say we are that team?
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_01: As much as the Denver Nuggets are good and they're really good, and MPJ just talked about that that championship um hangover, the Western Conference is not like one super bully team, and then the rest are just waiting for them to fall.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_01: This is a year where it's up for grabs.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: And though OKC is one of the youngest teams in basketball, they showed me enough to think that with a move here or a move there, that this is a team that can really be in contention.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_01: And Josh Giddy is still a good player.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: He's having a bad year.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: He's still a player that if I am a selling team and I have an all-star caliber player, again, just getting rid of the off-court stuff because that's a thing in itself.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_01: Just talking about the basketball player Josh Giddy, that is a guy that I would want as part of a trade package if I am a selling team with an all-star caliber player that OKC Thunder might really be interested in trading for, right?
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_01: My guy Ben Pfeiffer, and Ben, I don't know if you're ever gonna see this.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: I don't even know if I'm pronounced your name right.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_01: He had this tweet that said Josh Giddey's 48.1%, which is fourth percentile.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_01: True shooting is the worst amongst regular starters.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: His assist rate is a career low and his defense hasn't improved.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I cannot agree more with like the last thing, the defense.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you're not gonna be a positive defender and you're also not gonna have the ball in your hands as much as your previous seasons, he's averaging the least amount of minutes per game of his entire career.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's just kind of interesting to see the shift in OKC's mindset where I went into the season thinking that this is a playoff team or at least going to be competing for a playoff spot, but ultimately they might steer on the side of development.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: They're not doing that anymore.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: Where instead of trying to develop Josh Getty further by giving him those reps in those fourth quarters when it's closed now, they'd rather go to win right now.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just interesting to see the shift.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_01: And you always think about the OKC Thunder as a team that's going to be really expensive somewhat soon.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe Josh Giddy is a guy that's not getting that extension.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_01: And he might be the guy out.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_01: Mentioned before, I don't know if it was on this podcast or just via Twitter or X, that if somehow Larry Marketer ended up in the OKC Thunder jersey, that is a jersey I am buying and I am not looking back.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe Josh Getty's a guy that can help you get to that point.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_01: Again, when you have 17 first-round picks over the next couple seasons, I mean you can use almost any player in the trade package if the picks are right.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: Especially if we think about Danny Anch.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_01: And now that we have rumors that Larry Marking is not as untouchable as he once was, that's a guy that I feel I can plug and play as a spacer, as a quick he's a he's a quick decision maker maker, maybe not an S-tier quick decision maker, but he's good enough on that team where I would feel really good about it.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: That is the trade, hypothetically, that puts them over the top, in my personal opinion.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_01: Let's get into my other reality.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_01: And actually, this one it's not really reality.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_01: All right, let's be real.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's not really reality.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_01: But this is just something I've been actively thinking about over the last couple weeks.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um the Boston Celtics is they're the best team of basketball.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_01: I can say that pretty confidently, at least right now.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_01: I wonder if there's gonna be a time, right, where we're after the NBA finals and we look back and say, we we should, we should have seen this coming.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I know this historically, this is a team that's made the conference finals.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, they got the one NBA Finals appearance and so on and so forth.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of people don't talk about the Boston Celtics as much as they probably should as being the best team in basketball.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_01: But there's been times throughout my life as an NBA fan where I would watch the entire season thinking like things might be different, things might be different.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_01: Specifically when you talk about LeBron James and Eastern Conference, my team was competitive, at least in some of those years, where I had just been used to LeBron doing his thing, but I was hoping or thinking that something different might happen.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_01: But I look back and say, one no chance.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_01: That team was better than everybody else.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: They had LeBron James, Warwin, the Warriors had Kevin Durant.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_01: Where you watch every single game, you watch every single Warriors playoff series and think like, oh, maybe no.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I wonder if that's what might happen with the Boston Celtics in the sense that they are so damn good that it's hard for me to look at a matchup via, you know, barring injury and think that there is a team out there that I feel super confident in beating them in a seven.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_01: Kenny, why do you say this?
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_01: Other than the fact they have the best record of basketball, and as I'm recording this, they're playing against the Orlando Magic on this other monitor.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_01: So if you see my eyes wondering, it's because of that.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but as of right now, they are 19 and 5, maybe uh 20 and 5 as this comes out because they're up by double-digit points at the end of the third quarter.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and they are 12 and 1 when they play all their starters, and potentially again, 13-1 when they're playing all of their starters.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_01: That that team has the best top six in all of basketball between Tatum, Porzingis, White, Holiday, Brown, and Horfer.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_01: That when those guys are suiting up, this team has been almost unstoppable.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_01: Now, we do have teams like the Milwaukee Bucks, and I'm very interested to see how that series could go, or even the Philadelphia 76ers, see how that series can go.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_01: But this team just feels so ridiculous as I watched him.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_01: When you have a guy like Derek White, who people are trying to give some all-star buzz to Derek White, I just don't think it's a reality.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_01: Is he playing like an all-star level?
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: Hell, hell yeah.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: The advanced stats say so.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_01: He is a plus 13.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_01: That's a leading net rating on the team with a bunch of great players that have crazy net ratings.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like they're outscoring their opponent by 13 and a half points per 100 possessions when he is on the court.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_01: And the smaller things, where if you look at Jason Tatum's uh overall statistics, it might not look like he's been significantly better or he's taken a leap or this and that.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_01: He has taken a huge step when it comes to finishing at the basket.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_01: Again, I want his volume to go up.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna always say that about every superstar caliber player that the getting to the basket, drawing fouls, and things like that, that's what takes you to the next level.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_01: He's been better at that, but I want even more.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_01: But the second thing, have y'all paid attention to Jason Tatum's post play?
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_01: Because as of right now, he's one of the five, again, just based on the advanced stats, he's one of the five best post players when it comes to points per possession when he's in the post.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh he's looking great.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_01: And as long as they are healthy, which is a big if when you think about Porzingis being on the roster.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_01: As long as they stay healthy, I feel really good about them being our NBA champions when it's all said and done.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I don't want to keep comparing it to previous years when they've made a run and came up short, or even last year, like what most people, not most people, everybody had them as the favorite over the Miami Heat.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, they came up short.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_01: This right here, this currently constructed team is different.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_01: I know that the core piece of Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown and Al Horford are the same.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I guess Derek White is the same.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_01: This is a team that has been evolving and evolving and evolving, and their current form is the best form of their team that we've ever really seen.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's not perfect.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they still have their third quarter roles when it comes to net rating.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_01: They're 18th in the league.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_01: And when you talk about a championship caliber team, if you look at the top of that list when it comes to third quarter net ratings, the top of that list are the other contenders across basketball, right?
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_01: So they have to get better at coming out of halftime and putting their foot on necks and continuing that.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_01: But last year, one thing they really struggle with was keeping leads and not blowing leads.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_01: It hasn't happened a lot this season.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_01: And Joe Mazzouli even talked about it a little bit.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_01: And now that they're not taking their foot off the gas.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that could go a very, very long way.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_01: They are, again, 19 and 5, potentially 20 or 5 when this comes out, and they've had the hardest schedule in basketball so far.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_01: 19 and 5 is hard to do, even if you have the easiest schedule in basketball.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_01: They've had the hardest.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_01: And eventually that's gonna shift.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: They got another really tough week and a half or so ahead of them when they go against some really, really good teams.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_01: But eventually they're gonna get to that cupcake part of the season.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_01: And again, we're talking about a team that has people like Drew Holiday and Porzingis as new players that we're seeing the early versions of these players playing together.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: So give it time.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_01: And they still have a little bit of wiggle room to get potentially better.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_01: Because of the Greg Williams trade, they have a$6.2 million player trade exception.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they don't have a ton of draft capital because they gave up a lot of it, but they have a couple second-round picks that can come in handy.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I've been trying to figure out, okay, who is a player that fits into this?
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_01: The the real thing is that there's as of right now, there are not a lot of teams that are telling us actively that they're gonna be making trades.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, not a lot of teams, you know.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_01: Eventually, people's um their opinions about their organization, they're gonna go through like their, they're gonna recognize their team's mortality.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_01: How about that?
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's time like this current core is not working.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm looking around the league.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_01: 6.2 million dollars is actually pretty good when you talk about their team because I mentioned their top six, right?
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_01: Their top six is really heavy.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_01: And though Sam Hauser and Peyton Purchill have been able to shoot the ball well, I'm not completely, completely convinced just yet as far as how much they can contribute come to playoff time.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I would love for them to use that 6.2 to go get a guy um that can just come in and contribute.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like I don't, I don't, I don't know.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_01: If the Bulls decide that this is the time, a guy like Tory Craig, where it won't cost you other than anything other than like two second-round picks, maybe even one second round pick is a guy that I would potentially look at.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I guess we'll we'll know a little bit more.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_01: We'll know a little bit more.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_01: The scary thing about this is there is a very small margin of error, right?
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_01: If Porzingis goes out for any time, this is not going to be the same team.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_01: If any of the top six players go out for a significant amount of time, it's not gonna be the same team.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_01: But barring injury, this team is the best team of basketball and should be the favorites.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_01: The last harsh reality around the association, for my eyes, is that the NBA has lost its jock value.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_01: I just want I just want to walk you through, and this is not a normal day in the association, do not get me wrong.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_01: But I just want to walk you through what happened on Saturday night.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_01: Keegan Murray dropped 47 points on 12 threes.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Kawhi Leonard had 36 and 7 in three quarters.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Carton Towns, 40 points, 12 rebounds.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_01: Jordan B, 42 points, 15 rebounds, three quarters.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_01: Luka Don said a 40-point triple double, Andy Davis had 37, Cam Thomas had 41, Steph Curry had 37, Trey Young had 35 and 10, Shea hit a game winner, and Jimmy Butler hit a game winner.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody, and that was a crazy day of basketball.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's one of the best days of basketball this season.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_01: So that's not the necessarily the norm, but because we're seeing so many people take off that a game like Keegan Murray's 47, 12 made threes, it's kind of getting swept under the rug.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_01: It is a harsh reality because it's like, okay, that happened.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_01: So what?
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_01: Because what's happening next?
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's so mind-blowing to really think about.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_01: And again, I don't know if there's even a real solution to this because when you have basketball that's gonna be 10 games one night, you're gonna see some crazy stuff happen.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_01: All of the things I mentioned were crazy high-level offensive things.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm sure there's some people at home that's gonna be like, Kenny, the way we remedy this is to put some more restrictions on offense to let defense go a little bit more crazy, a little bit and more handsy, better defenses.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_01: And now when you have a game like a 36 points and three quarters from Kawhi Leonard, we talk about it more because defenses allow to stop players and stuff.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_01: But like, man, think about everything I just said.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_01: Two game winners.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody mentioned Jimmy Butler's game winner.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_01: It was against the Bulls, so who cares?
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_01: But nobody talked about Jimmy Butler's game winner.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_01: Some people talk about Shays for sure.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_01: No, oh, okay, this is a prime example, and I know this team lost this game.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_01: Trey Young's 35 and 10 is just normal.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_01: Again, they lost the game.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_01: So why would we praise them for 35 and 10 if they lost?
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_01: I don't care.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_01: That has just become normal day at the office for NBA fans where it lost its spark.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_01: Last year, Jordan B went into Utah and had 59 points, 15 rebounds, like six blocks.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_01: I don't even know the exact stat line.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_01: According to Game Score, it was one of the top seven games to ever happen in NBA regular season history.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_01: Do I need to remind you how many games have happened in NBA history?
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_01: That was like number seven of all time.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody cared.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_01: Not there at the office.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_01: They had a 24-hour lifespan and it was gone.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_01: It was gone.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_01: And we're seeing that so often, and it blows my mind.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_01: Keegan Murray's 47 points because he didn't actually break the record is gonna be gone in the eyes of NBA fans relatively soon.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_01: And again, I don't know what the remedy is.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying it's a right thing or a wrong thing.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's just again crazy to me.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_01: We're like my favorite team, here we go.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_01: We ain't mentioned the Bulls at all this episode.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_01: That's not true.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_01: We talked about it with MPJ.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, where a guy like Kobe White, who's regularly putting up 25, that is chump change in our association.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_01: A player putting up 25 a night is like, uh, what else can you really do?
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_01: For better or for worse.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_01: That is just something that we have to become accustomed to, especially in a game or in a night like that night where it was so many games.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like when Anthony Davis dropped 40 and 20, when it was the only one game left, or one game on that night, everybody's talking about it because it was the only thing we got.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_01: So actually, maybe the remedy is stretching out these games a little bit more where we can have just four games, and those are the four games that everybody cares about.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_01: But I actually hate that idea because I love a good long slate.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, three harsh realities.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_01: NBA has lost a shock value.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_01: The Boston Celtics are damn good and should be the heavy favorite.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_01: And Josh Giddy is probably the odd man out.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, I appreciate you, man.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate you watching or listening to this episode of the Kenny Beach and Podcast.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_01: I almost said the name of the other podcast.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's crazy because that's how I close out the other podcast.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I appreciate you as always.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_01: Again, I want to say shout out to MPJ for taking his time out of his busy schedule to chat it up about hoops for like 30 or so minutes, you know.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_01: And our goal at the Kenny Beach and Podcast and crew is to get more um NBA players or just guests in general onto the show because it it's I learned a lot from MPJ, honestly, um, when it comes to like the rehab and stuff and everything.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I just want to continue to learn and continue to put together great content for y'all.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_01: Shout out to MPJ, shout out to you, and I'll see y'all in a couple days.