Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Gordie Chiesa on LeBron choosing the Sixers, Wise to team up with injury prone Embiid (?), Fall back for other LeBron suitors + more

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Gordie Chiesa on LeBron choosing the Sixers, Wise to team up with injury prone Embiid (?), Fall back for other LeBron suitors + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Peace out. Let's get the latest on the Utah Jazz
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: with former Jazz assistant coach Gordy Chiasa. He's forgotten more
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: about the NBA than any of us will ever know.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Let's not get crazy.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Come for the hoops talk. Stay for his list of
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: the day, My list today.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Here's oc with.
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  Speaker 1: Basketball sob on Gordy Chiasa on the Sean O'Connell show.
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: Not Mana with bond On. Welcome back to the Shan
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: O'Connell Show. Welcome in, Gordy Chiasa, our resident NBA guru,
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: brought to you by a Latin Industries. If you're looking
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: for a skylight for your home, for your cabin, maybe
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: for your motor home, they could put one in there too, Gordy,
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: Welcome back to the show.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: How are you, sir, Shoan? I'm doing well? Thank you
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: all right?
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  Speaker 3: Uh. The last time we talked, we were still wondering
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: where Lebron was going to end up, and now we
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: know he's in Philadelphia.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: Do you like to fit very much? Absolutely, it's a
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  Speaker 2: perfect fit for him right now at this point of
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  Speaker 2: his career, and for the seventy sixes, he gives them
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: an unbelievable scoring option and also the ability to make
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: these teammates better. So it makes house a bunch of
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  Speaker 2: sense both financially. You know, for the seventy sixes, they're
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: a proud franchise. The last time they won a championship
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  Speaker 2: was nineteen eighty three and last time during NBA Finals
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  Speaker 2: was a two thousand and one with Allen Iverson, So
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  Speaker 2: it's been a long drought for an East coach team
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  Speaker 2: that's a very proud, a Pride organization.
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  Speaker 3: So Lebron I was actually somewhat surprised that this is
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  Speaker 3: the direction that he took because you know, in LA
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  Speaker 3: he played with some really talented players that at times
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: had injury issues and at times were not available, And
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: I thought he might want to avoid associating himself with
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  Speaker 3: another player who, while incredibly talented, is not super reliable.
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: And of course I'm referencing Joel Embiid here. You and
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  Speaker 3: I have talked about this before. It feels like maybe
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  Speaker 3: Lebron can get you over the hump, but not if
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  Speaker 3: Joel Embiid is out for three quarters of the season
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  Speaker 3: or half the season again, And I wonder what you know,
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  Speaker 3: what you think about that about him attaching himself to
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  Speaker 3: a roster that has been plagued by their best players
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  Speaker 3: being unavailable.
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  Speaker 2: Is that Joel Embiid you mentioned earlier the second ago
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  Speaker 2: that last season unplayed six times consecutive games, so he's
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: injury prone. So with that said, there's a risk involved
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: by Lebron. So he knows that his history as far
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  Speaker 2: as Embiid being hurt, and he's willing to take that risk.
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  Speaker 2: That the flip side of it. The good part about
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  Speaker 2: it is that Teresa Maxi's very good. V. J. Edgecomb
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  Speaker 2: is excellent, Jellen Brown's an all star. Lebron is once
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  Speaker 2: in a lifetime generational, and they're is very good. Here's
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: the bench sewn, Anthony Simons off the bench, Coatavious Cole
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  Speaker 2: Pope off the bench, Justin Edwards, Dean Wade. A young
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  Speaker 2: big guy from Nikobocus that that signed with the seventy
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  Speaker 2: six is Ariel Aportie. So they have a he'll be
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: a backup center. Now you might go one more guy
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  Speaker 2: as far as trying to get a big just to
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  Speaker 2: help out Joel Lumbeid. So there are loaded other positions.
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  Speaker 2: The question is can Lebron get them over the hurdle, what.
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  Speaker 3: Would that look like? What would that take for Lebron James,
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  Speaker 3: Because obviously he's capable of giving you, you know, twenty
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  Speaker 3: plus on any given night. I don't know that he
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  Speaker 3: can do it for eighty two games anymore, or if
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  Speaker 3: he's interested in doing it for eighty two games anymore,
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  Speaker 3: I probably wouldn't doubt that he's capable of it. But
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  Speaker 3: what does it look like the role that they expect
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  Speaker 3: Lebron James to play in order to push them over
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  Speaker 3: a championship hump?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's playoff basketball. He's judged by the playoffs as
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  Speaker 2: far as his great and he's always produced that. And
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  Speaker 2: so the question is always is can the Sixes right
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  Speaker 2: now go against the Nickelboxers, the world champion, which would
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  Speaker 2: be an intense rivalry. Can they hold off the Celtics,
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  Speaker 2: the upstart Detroit Pistons. These are all teams that are
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  Speaker 2: very good. They're the staring at and they Lebron his world.
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  Speaker 2: We're talking playing roughly seventy games during the regular season,
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  Speaker 2: averaging between twenty one to twenty three points a game,
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  Speaker 2: dishing out seven assists, getting seven rebounds, and winning on
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  Speaker 2: the road and in the playoffs. The exact same metrics
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  Speaker 2: will be him. As far as fourth quarter plays, you
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  Speaker 2: and I have talked off in the last three years
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  Speaker 2: about him in the fourth quarter. As an elite player,
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  Speaker 2: you're judged by making two way plays, and let's that's
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  Speaker 2: Lebron's as far as absolute repertoire of doing that. So
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  Speaker 2: that's why they got him. His contract is absolutely obtained show.
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  Speaker 2: I saw a graphic the other day that twenty six
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  Speaker 2: players make more money and IL and college basketball than
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  Speaker 2: Lebron makes this next year for the seventy six ers
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  Speaker 2: John twenty six players, so Lebron makes the listeners. Lebron
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  Speaker 2: makes next year three point eight eight million, So there's
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  Speaker 2: twenty six guys and IL college basketball to make more
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  Speaker 2: money to him.
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  Speaker 3: That's completely crazy, but that's where we're at in Lebron's career,
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  Speaker 3: but more importantly in college basketball.
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  Speaker 2: Now much so it's fascinating. The off season in the NBA,
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  Speaker 2: it's it should slow down usually the first week, like
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  Speaker 2: next week, should next week August fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth,
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  Speaker 2: right around there, and so that's when it should slow down.
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  Speaker 2: But however, there's still some guys out there that haven't
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  Speaker 2: been signed or they're restricted free agents, and they they're
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  Speaker 2: waiting to try to get another offer or take that
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  Speaker 2: qualifying offer from their present team and then what played
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  Speaker 2: next season with the qualifying offer and then be unrestricted.
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  Speaker 2: July twenty twenty seven, I just described to Gelon Durham
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  Speaker 2: from Detroit Pistons. I just described also Benthic Matherin of
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  Speaker 2: the Clippers, and also I just described I just described
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  Speaker 2: Peyton Watson of the Denver Nuggets. Those three guys all restricted.
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  Speaker 2: All three teams want to resign their player, but they
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  Speaker 2: don't want to overpay traumatically. And that's that game. But
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  Speaker 2: the agents right now they're saying, no way, all client
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  Speaker 2: is better than the guys you have in your team
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  Speaker 2: right now overpaid, And so that's where they're going to
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  Speaker 2: try to negotiate and see how it all plays out.
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  Speaker 2: It's fascinating.
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  Speaker 3: Gordon James is our guest here on the Sean O'Connell
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  Speaker 3: show ESPN seven and ninety two one FM. All right,
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  Speaker 3: so we talked about this. The NBA was kind of
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  Speaker 3: waiting for this gigantic ron James shaped domino to fall.
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  Speaker 3: Where's he going to end up? There were four or
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  Speaker 3: five teams that were in pursuit of Lebron James and
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  Speaker 3: hoping that they could fit him in now because of
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  Speaker 3: everyone's knowledge that he wasn't going to demand a huge salary.
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  Speaker 3: It's not like you left a ton of money on
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  Speaker 3: the books and now you've got to fill that hole.
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  Speaker 3: But if you're the Warriors, if you're the Timberwolves, if
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  Speaker 3: you're one of these, if you're the Heat, you're one
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  Speaker 3: of these other teams that were hoping to get Lebron,
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  Speaker 3: where do you go?
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  Speaker 2: Now? Okay, now you go, you fall back now and
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  Speaker 2: you study, you study the different rosters. And so someone
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  Speaker 2: out there right now that everyone's trying to get is
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  Speaker 2: a demo de Rosen. Again, it won't command any money
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  Speaker 2: at all, probably be this just the minimum ten year contract,
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  Speaker 2: which is three point eight eight million. So if you're
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  Speaker 2: if you were the Warriors type people, you're looking at
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  Speaker 2: him and a guy named Bradley Beal that both guys
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  Speaker 2: are would add value as far as with a low contract.
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  Speaker 2: They already got paid a whole bunch of money of
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  Speaker 2: their career. And those guys are both shot makers, and
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  Speaker 2: so teams are looking at them to see where they
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  Speaker 2: are as far as getting them. The wild caught is
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  Speaker 2: Johnathan Kaminga not enough for your Warriors. They already had
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  Speaker 2: them ready. But Taminger is a young talented guy that
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  Speaker 2: is out there that the Cavaliers are staring out of
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  Speaker 2: trying to get. But the question is always says, what
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  Speaker 2: are their numbers? See right now late July, early August.
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  Speaker 2: There's the leverage now is with the teams, not with
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  Speaker 2: the players and the agents. And that's when it gets
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  Speaker 2: so interesting that you like so and so at a
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  Speaker 2: certain number, but a different number you dislike them strongly.
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  Speaker 2: But now there's the leverage now has changed shifted dramatically.
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  Speaker 2: Now it's team orientated versus the individual player. Also, we
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  Speaker 2: left out purposely Draymond Green. Now where Lebron not going,
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  Speaker 2: Lebron going to Philadelphia. He opted out. They're going to
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  Speaker 2: resign him the Warriors and also James Harden opt out
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  Speaker 2: to see if Cleveland gonna get Lebron James, and they're
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  Speaker 2: going to resign them. So the Cavaliers. So again it's
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: almost like the packing order of the NBA. And now
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  Speaker 2: it's going to make fast accelerate. The guys now have
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  Speaker 2: less options as far as doing things.
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  Speaker 3: Gordy, when you're looking at the dust settling on, you know,
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  Speaker 3: these rosters, and we're getting a pretty accurate picture of
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  Speaker 3: what everyone takes into the twenty twenty six twenty twenty
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  Speaker 3: seven season. Has the power structure changed radically? Has anyone
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  Speaker 3: jumped into contention on paper? Has anyone fallen out of
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  Speaker 3: contention on paper?
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  Speaker 2: For you, Well, no one's jumped out. As far as
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: the pop Dogs are right there. Again, it's always the
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  Speaker 2: Spurs and the Thunder and the West. In the East
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  Speaker 2: now though the seventy six ers are way up there
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  Speaker 2: also now with the with the Knicks, and also the
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  Speaker 2: Celts and the Detroit Pistons and the really upstart Toronto
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: Raptors who are vastly underrated. Scottie Bond is an all star,
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  Speaker 2: is a major talent all around game, and they could
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: be a surprise team. Also Indiana tremendous organization. You know,
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: Haliburton getting hurt, missed the whole season. Now they're back
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  Speaker 2: in play. And so those are the teams that are
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: all going to think. In the East, they think that
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  Speaker 2: they can regain some either either regain structure or add
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  Speaker 2: to it. And in the West, everyone else is trying
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  Speaker 2: to catch up to the to the to the Thunder
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: and also the Spurs. The West is bunched up and
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: the Jazz are right there. Everybody's literally you can make
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  Speaker 2: a discussion. They're all good teams, but not elite right now.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: So the question is always with the Nuggets, with the Clippers,
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: with the Suns, with the Jazz, with the t Wolves,
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: with the Lakers, everybody is really truly bunched up, and
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: we'll see how it all plays out. It's going to
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: be interesting. There's no more tanking anymore. That it's very
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: hard to do that as far as the rules and
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: that now it's going to be. It's going to be
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: really much more intense to games. So to win sixty
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: games would be very, very difficult. If the winners probably
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  Speaker 2: be more like in a fifty seven to fifty eight
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  Speaker 2: range versus sixty two, sixty three, sixty four, which will
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: make it much more fun for the fans.
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: Gordy, there's a bunch of hilarious videos out there and
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: people have to react when Nikola Jokic, he's happier when
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: his horse is winning a race in Serbia than when
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: he wins an NBA finals, which is something that is
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: just a high hilarious dynamic of his career. But when
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: players have these like off the court passions, things that
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: they're really really into, like he is into his horses,
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  Speaker 3: what is the appropriate role for a team to take
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  Speaker 3: in that? Do you just stay out of it completely?
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: Do you, like, you know, if you know this and
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: the guys on your roster and you're coaching him, are
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: you having horse racing conversations with a guy at practice, Like,
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  Speaker 3: what's the right way to either lean into this or
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: avoid it?
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  Speaker 2: No, you lean into it as an organization that star
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  Speaker 2: player has a certain passion and also economic rarethal to
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  Speaker 2: do these things. And you know, as a person in
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  Speaker 2: the organization, whether it's management, ownership or coaching staff, you
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  Speaker 2: talked about it because that's his other passion and that
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: you were asked some really questions sincerely about it to
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  Speaker 2: help them. So it's a lot of times shown with
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: different sports people love order racing. So that'd be a
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: class example of people Indy five hundred type situations where
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: they really enjoyed. Brad Daugherty, former NBA All Star player,
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: was a great player in the NBA. He had a
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: passion for Indy five hundred and order racing, he wore
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: forty he had number forty three, and uh he did
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: that purposely. And that's for Richard Petty, who is a
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: great car driver. And I remember the Cavalier people all
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: the time talk to him about it that he loved it.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: You know, he didn't, he didn't, he wasn't a driver,
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: but he actually was financially involved into it. And also
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  Speaker 2: he's a passion for it. And that's what you do.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: I call him Alonge example, when I coach call, he
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: had called some other interest. We asked him all the
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: time about you know, his trucking industry, et cetera, all
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: the different things that are called it in the off
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  Speaker 2: season to really enhance himself and also take it take
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  Speaker 2: his mind off sometimes basketball. Sometimes you're so driven by
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: a situation that you're overwhelmed that you need some other
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: slight outlets to occupy some of your time. That when
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: you go back to the main thing you always do,
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  Speaker 2: there's a there's a truly a break in it in
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  Speaker 2: a good way, and then you go back to much
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  Speaker 2: more passion all the time. It's that fine line invisible.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: It's based on your personality certainly also too, Gody, what's
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: your list today? Today right on cue about Nikolai Yogis
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: and other people the fifteen greatest all around players of
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: all time. So, Sean, I'm looking forward to people harassing you, Sean,
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: either via text or on the street about this list
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: right now, the fifteen greatest all around NBA players of
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: all time. You could have fifty guys in this list.
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: I counted to fifteen. HiT's a quick criteria. One scoring,
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: two passing, three defending including shop blocking, four rebounding, five
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: end of game clutch two way plays. And that's the
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: think of an end of game clutch two way plays.
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: Number fifteen. Oscar Robinson one championship, fourteen, greatest player of
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: all time, Kevin Durant with two championships, thirteenth greatest player,
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: Shaquille O'Neal four championships, number twelve all time. A team
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: allows you on two championships, number on eleven all time.
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: Nikolai Jokic one championship, number ten all time, Steph Curry
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: four championships, number nine all time, Larry Bird three championships,
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: number eight all time. Tim Duncan five championships, the seventh
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: grade player of all time, Bill Russell eleven championships in
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: thirteen years, number six all time, Magic Johnson five championships,
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: number five all time, Kobe Bryant five championships, number four
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: all time, Wilt Chamberlain two championships, number three all time,
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: Kareem Abdul Jabbar six championships, the second grade player of
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: all time, Lebron James now the seventy six is with
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: four championships, and the greatest player of all time NBA
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: basketball history, Michael Jordan with six championships. Quickly, Bill Russell again,
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: people will really see him because he passed away a
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: few years ago and he retired such a long time ago.
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: But I'll reach your Bill Russell statistics just quickly so
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: the director to really realize how great he was. Bill Russell,
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: five time League MVP ten to zero in game sevens
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: and history of basketball, the greatest all time. He averaged
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: fifteen point one points per game and twenty two point
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: five rebounds average for his career. And in block shots,
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: nobody knows because they didn't keep block shots until nineteen
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: seventy three seventy four season, So just guestimating he'd have
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: probably per game blocks like four per game. Wemby has
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: like three right now. One time marking and blocked five
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: point of three shots per in his season, so Bill
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: Russell would have like four blocks per game. That's how
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: great he was. But the list is unbelievable because you
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: could add twenty five other guys and have the same debate.
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: Thump thus, Sean, that's list of today, Gordia the man.
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: I always appreciate your time, sir, thank you.
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: Thanks showing peace out by.
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: Now wonderful stuff as always from Gordi Chisa. Lebron has
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: found a new home and we can move on about
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: our lives as NBA fans.