Latest / Small Ball with Kenny Beecham / 2024 NBA All Star Ballot Is Impossible

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2024 NBA All Star Ballot Is Impossible · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

0:00
SPEAKER_01: Let's get into our NBA All-Star ballot.
0:02
SPEAKER_01: This is saying if I had a ballot, which I don't, and I don't want one.
0:04
SPEAKER_01: I don't want the ballot.
0:06
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you're talking about the end of the season ballot, hit me up.
0:10
SPEAKER_01: Because I take awards very seriously.
0:17
SPEAKER_01: Welcome, welcome, welcome back to the Kenny Beach and podcast.
0:21
SPEAKER_01: We are filming this in the basement of my house where it's negative 17 degrees outside.
0:27
SPEAKER_01: And that normally would it wouldn't matter.
0:29
SPEAKER_01: But since we're doing this in the basement, you can't tell I got the hoodie on.
0:32
SPEAKER_01: I got two pairs of pants and then another blanket over, but the show must go on.
0:38
SPEAKER_01: I guess I could have put some space heaters down here, but it is what it is.
0:41
SPEAKER_01: The show must go on.
0:42
SPEAKER_01: Cold weather, I know a lot of people are experiencing it, whether it be uh in the Midwest or out east, everybody's got snow, everybody got cold weather.
0:50
SPEAKER_01: And it's times like this.
0:51
SPEAKER_01: Well, I've always been true to Chicago.
0:53
SPEAKER_01: I've always, for the 27, 28 years, 28, am I 28?
0:56
SPEAKER_01: 27 years of my life.
0:58
SPEAKER_01: I've never really contemplated moving away until days like this.
1:02
SPEAKER_01: Where I go out, I gotta shovel the snow, and I'm like, you know what?
1:06
SPEAKER_01: I can't even do it.
1:07
SPEAKER_01: I can't, I wanted to shed a tear, but I was afraid that if I did, it would just freeze up on my face instantly.
1:12
SPEAKER_01: There was a time where we were gonna move.
1:15
SPEAKER_01: We were gonna move as a collector.
1:16
SPEAKER_01: That's the story for another day.
1:18
SPEAKER_01: We're cold here in Chicago, but the show must go on.
1:21
SPEAKER_01: Today I'm giving my official NBA All-Star ballot.
1:25
SPEAKER_01: Yep, it's early.
1:26
SPEAKER_01: So what?
1:26
SPEAKER_01: So what?
1:27
SPEAKER_01: I think the announcement for the starters is at the end of next week.
1:30
SPEAKER_01: I done did my research.
1:31
SPEAKER_01: I got my 24 players.
1:33
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna do that today.
1:34
SPEAKER_01: This morning, there was a trade between two of the worst teams of basketball.
1:37
SPEAKER_01: We got to talk about that.
1:38
SPEAKER_01: And my Chicago Bulls fans let me down a couple nights ago.
1:42
SPEAKER_01: All of that coming up on this episode of the Kenny Beach and podcast.
1:45
SPEAKER_01: Leave a like, subscribe, go over to Spotify, go over to Apple, leave us five stars as we continue to grow this show.
1:51
SPEAKER_01: Let's get into it.
1:57
SPEAKER_01: I guess we start off with the trade.
1:59
SPEAKER_01: The Pistons and the Wizards are finalizing the deal to trade Marvin Bagley.
2:03
SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm laughing because I can't believe this is the deal.
2:05
SPEAKER_01: This is the second deal of the season, by the way.
2:07
SPEAKER_01: Marvin Bagley, Isaiah Livers, and two second-round picks for four Delano Gallinari and Mike Muscala.
2:13
SPEAKER_01: Now, this trade happened.
2:14
SPEAKER_01: My mentions went crazy.
2:15
SPEAKER_01: Come on, Kenny, we need a video talking about this trade.
2:18
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, no, I'm gonna wait until the podcast because this is not a trade that needs 10 minutes plus to talk about.
2:24
SPEAKER_01: It is one of the most mediocre trades you could possibly imagine.
2:29
SPEAKER_01: And y'all know for me, Twitter is more for jokes than for facts, but this podcast is a little bit of a but let's talk about the facts of this trade, man.
2:38
SPEAKER_01: Two of the worst teams in basketball making a deal.
2:40
SPEAKER_01: The Pistons had been rumored to be very active on the trade market, um, saying that they want veterans, they want people that can help them right the ship.
2:48
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of people speculate, ooh, does that mean they might be in a Zach Levine sweepstakes?
2:52
SPEAKER_01: That means they want to get Tobias Harris.
2:54
SPEAKER_01: Little did we know, all they wanted was Mike Muscala and Gallinari, two players that weren't even playing for the Washington Wizards.
3:00
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's a it's a very interesting deal.
3:02
SPEAKER_01: It is a very, very interesting deal.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: Now, uh, Troy Weaver, I'm gonna start off with the pissing side of things because they're uh still on pace to be the worst team in NBA history.
3:11
SPEAKER_01: Uh, Troy Weaver has made a handful of in-season trades.
3:14
SPEAKER_01: And I was looking at this and was like, this can't be the worst trade he's done.
3:18
SPEAKER_01: And I mean when I say worst, I don't mean, oh, he lost by a thousand, he got finessed, but just like uh meh, trade.
3:24
SPEAKER_01: We didn't get anything in return or we didn't give anything out.
3:27
SPEAKER_01: Every single one of Troy Weaver's in-season trades as his tenure as the GM of the Detroit Pistons have been just like this.
3:35
SPEAKER_01: Let me read them to you.
3:37
SPEAKER_01: Uh they sent Derek Rose back to New York.
3:39
SPEAKER_01: In exchange, they got Dennis Smith Jr.
3:40
SPEAKER_01: in the second-round pick, and with that second-round pick, they selected Isaiah Livers.
3:44
SPEAKER_01: Isaiah Livers, for a lot of people, is the worst starter in the association.
3:48
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's what my Pistons fans were saying on Twitter.
3:51
SPEAKER_01: Uh, then another trade he did was Fima Kyluk in a 2027 second-round pick from Houston to the OKC Thunder, and they got back Hami Dudiallo.
3:58
SPEAKER_01: Now, Hami did have some moments in the Detroit Pistons uniform, but still nonetheless, here we are, just two years later, and the brothers not on the team.
4:07
SPEAKER_01: I don't think he's in the association right now, but he was he was a blast to watch when he really had it going.
4:11
SPEAKER_01: Then they sent Delon Wright to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Corey Joe, some second-round picks.
4:16
SPEAKER_01: One of those second-round picks ended up being Luka Garza, who's not on the team, and a 2024 second.
4:21
SPEAKER_01: So maybe they draft the next Nikola Jokic.
4:23
SPEAKER_01: And I look back on this episode and be like, oh, Kenny don't know what he's talking about.
4:26
SPEAKER_01: And then the last deal before this current deal was Josh Jackson, Trey Lyles to the Kings for a second-round pick, another second-round pick, and they got that Marvin Bagley.
4:36
SPEAKER_01: So, so let me let me let me let me let me say that again.
4:39
SPEAKER_01: In order to bring Marvin Bagley into Detroit, they gave up Josh Jackson, Trey Lyles, and two second-round picks.
4:48
SPEAKER_01: Now let's go back to the original deal.
4:50
SPEAKER_01: The Pistons and the Wizards are finalizing a deal to trade Marvin Bagley, Isaiah Livers, in two seconds.
4:55
SPEAKER_01: So they threw two seconds to acquire him, and just a year and a half later, threw two seconds to get off of his contract.
5:03
SPEAKER_01: All right.
5:04
SPEAKER_01: Do I need to say more?
5:05
SPEAKER_01: Now they traded for Marvin Bagley, then extended him.
5:08
SPEAKER_01: Now his contract runs through the end of this season and next season.
5:10
SPEAKER_01: And Pistons fans, at least in my menstruals, like Kenny, yeah, we gave up four second-round picks to get and then get rid of Marvin Bagley, but we opened up$64 million in salary this offseason.
5:22
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
5:24
SPEAKER_01: And who's going based on the culture that is being built in Detroit as of right now?
5:30
SPEAKER_01: What free agent is like, you know what?
5:32
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to be the one to turn it around.
5:34
SPEAKER_01: Unless there are some people in the market that really love Monty Williams or people that are back, Chaser.
5:39
SPEAKER_01: DeMar DeRozan, you are a Detroit piston, my boy, because they got$64 million that could potentially get you half of it.
5:47
SPEAKER_01: Who knows what's going to happen?
5:49
SPEAKER_01: I guess the route is to go what the Houston Rockets did.
5:52
SPEAKER_01: They wanted the worst teams of basketball for the last couple seasons.
5:54
SPEAKER_01: Then they brought with Fred Van Vliet, they brought in Jeff Green, they brought in Dylan Brooks, Jock Lindell.
5:58
SPEAKER_01: They had a very eventful offseason.
6:01
SPEAKER_01: And now they're fighting for a playoff spot.
6:04
SPEAKER_01: They have more than$64 million in cap space to do that.
6:07
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know what's going on with the Pistons.
6:09
SPEAKER_01: I don't think that Gallinari and Michael Scala are going to be the people that's going to come and write the ship, but it is what it is.
6:15
SPEAKER_01: The Wizards, I like to deal a lot for them.
6:17
SPEAKER_01: I guess again, it's such a man trade that it's hard to say A plus F minus or whatever.
6:22
SPEAKER_01: But you get two second-round picks in exchange for two people that weren't playing.
6:25
SPEAKER_01: And then you just have to hold on to Marvin Bagley for an extra year.
6:28
SPEAKER_01: You weren't going to use no cap space anyway.
6:29
SPEAKER_01: You actually don't have any cap space when you look at Jordan Poole's contract and you look at uh Cal Kuzman's contract and so on and so forth.
6:35
SPEAKER_01: So cool.
6:36
SPEAKER_01: You get two second round picks for two people that weren't playing.
6:39
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not gonna try to convince you that Marvin Bagley's an NBA player.
6:42
SPEAKER_01: I can't.
6:43
SPEAKER_01: Because I don't even know.
6:44
SPEAKER_01: But at least you made a deal.
6:46
SPEAKER_01: The second deal of the season.
6:47
SPEAKER_01: We went from OG Ananobi to the Knicks.
6:50
SPEAKER_01: Wait, who's the best player in the trade?
6:52
SPEAKER_01: Usually, when you think historically throughout basketball, whatever team acquired the best player ends up winning the trade.
6:58
SPEAKER_01: Are we saying his bag?
7:00
SPEAKER_01: Because he's had some really good seasons or some really good performances, not seasons.
7:04
SPEAKER_01: He ain't strung it together for a full season yet.
7:06
SPEAKER_01: Um performances there?
7:08
SPEAKER_01: Or is Gallinari?
7:09
SPEAKER_01: Remember when Gallinari was a part of the OKC Thunder and they went from a team that had a 0.2% chance to make the playoffs and they made the playoffs?
7:16
SPEAKER_01: Now that was also what, 2020, so it's been a long time.
7:20
SPEAKER_01: Um, but the last time they played against each other, this is crazy because I remember this game vividly because I watched the full game of two of the worst teams in basketball.
7:27
SPEAKER_01: The last time these two teams played against each other, Gallinari was like the second to third best player on the court.
7:32
SPEAKER_01: So maybe they saw that and said maybe he can replicate it.
7:36
SPEAKER_01: The cool thing about it is that there was a video that released because these teams or the Pistons were in practice when this trade was announced.
7:42
SPEAKER_01: And to see how much of a brotherhood the NBA really is, even though Marvin Bagley and Isaiah Livers were being traded away from a team that just set the record for most consecutive losses in the NBA season, they had tears because they were getting traded away.
7:55
SPEAKER_01: Maybe because the situation they're going to is not that much better, but still, they got traded away from one of the worst teams in the history of the sport and they shed tears because of the brotherhood, which is it's something.
8:08
SPEAKER_01: So who knows what's gonna happen next?
8:10
SPEAKER_01: Before we get to my all-star ballots, let me take a few minutes to talk about my Chicago Bulls fans.
8:15
SPEAKER_01: Now, the other day, the Chicago Bulls put together this entire ceremony that was called the Ring of Honor ceremony, where they want the fans to know, hell, we're not very good right now, but we can give you a, we could put together a good event.
8:27
SPEAKER_01: And that they did.
8:28
SPEAKER_01: Where they invited some of the legends in Bulls history, whether it be players, whether it be people that were announcing, whether it be people that were part of the front office, they all got a celebration for their time in the organization.
8:39
SPEAKER_01: And when they told me about this a few months ago, I was really excited for it.
8:42
SPEAKER_01: I didn't know if Mike was gonna be there.
8:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, I got invited to go, and then I found out that Mike wasn't gonna be there, and I was like, I would rather stay home.
8:49
SPEAKER_01: And good thing I did because the Warriors in the second half made me so upset because they went out and dominated.
8:55
SPEAKER_01: Um, and if I was in attendance, I would have probably left out in the third quarter.
8:59
SPEAKER_01: Either way, I got invited.
9:00
SPEAKER_01: I said, no, no, thank you, but I'll be watching on TV.
9:02
SPEAKER_01: And the ceremony was pretty dope for the most part.
9:05
SPEAKER_01: Uh, these players were given their moment, they were given their time to shine because some of them, like Chet Walker is a name I recognize a part as well, a part of Bull's culture and Bull's history, but I don't know enough about Chet Walker.
9:18
SPEAKER_01: So in that moment, because he was there for the ceremony, or at least he was he was celebrated, I don't remember if he was there or not.
9:23
SPEAKER_01: Um, I got to learn a little bit more about Chet.
9:25
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I got to learn a little bit more about Jerry Sloan and all these other people, and it was pretty cool.
9:30
SPEAKER_01: Like I mentioned, Mike wasn't there, Rodman wasn't there, um, Scotty wasn't there.
9:35
SPEAKER_01: So maybe the three most important players in our franchise history wasn't there, but that's fine.
9:39
SPEAKER_01: It still ended up being pretty cool.
9:41
SPEAKER_01: And the way they were doing it is they were individually introducing every single person.
9:45
SPEAKER_01: We got Steve Kerr.
9:46
SPEAKER_01: Steve Kerr stand up and wave his hand, which is funny because his team just went into halftime and they were getting dominated at that point.
9:52
SPEAKER_01: He didn't even have a chance to talk to his team about what they could do in the second half.
9:55
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but he was just saying, hey, I'm back in Chicago and I love it here.
9:59
SPEAKER_01: And then um, it got to Jerry Krause.
10:01
SPEAKER_01: Now, for the people at home, Jerry Krauss is the general manager or president of basketball operations, I don't remember the exact title, of the Chicago Bulls throughout the 90s and the early 2000s.
10:11
SPEAKER_01: And obviously, he was a crucial part in helping or building the teams that eventually went on to win the only six championships in Bulls history.
10:19
SPEAKER_01: And when his face and his name was announced, the fans in attendance booed.
10:23
SPEAKER_01: Jerry Krause died back in 2017.
10:26
SPEAKER_01: So instead of him representing himself, because he can't, his widowed wife was there.
10:31
SPEAKER_01: And the shock on her face, she put her hands up and burst into tears.
10:39
SPEAKER_01: Because she did not expect the city of Chicago had that much hatred for her deceased husband.
10:45
SPEAKER_01: And it's it kind of disappointing to see.
10:48
SPEAKER_01: It kind of disappointing to see.
10:50
SPEAKER_01: Now I'm not on Greg Pops Island.
10:52
SPEAKER_01: I don't think the Bulls, uh, I'm not one telling Bulls fans not to boo because everybody holds their own own opinion.
10:59
SPEAKER_01: And I am a guy that recognized the stuff that Jerry Krause did for the organization, but also recognized that he spent 10 years after he destroyed he destroyed the Bulls trying to prove to Michael Jordan that he was more important.
11:14
SPEAKER_01: As good as he was to help us build the six championships, he also decimated the the organization for a decade.
11:22
SPEAKER_01: I understand that.
11:23
SPEAKER_01: But if I was in attendance that day, I wouldn't have booed.
11:27
SPEAKER_01: He's not there to defend himself.
11:28
SPEAKER_01: And the only person in this place was his widowed wife.
11:31
SPEAKER_01: Again, I'm not telling the people that were there that they that they couldn't do what they wanted to do.
11:35
SPEAKER_01: But it just, I don't think it properly represents the fan base that I've been a part of for the last 28 years of my life.
11:42
SPEAKER_01: And I was I was pretty disappointed.
11:45
SPEAKER_01: Now, Jerry Krauss is a guy that was the the talking head, the the poster boy for the Rheinsdorf family.
11:53
SPEAKER_01: The reality is, Bulls fans, though you may have lived through that moment where Jerry Krauss in the early 2000s was making the wrong draft picks and making the wrong trades and so on and so forth, the the people, the guys that you want to boo is the people up top.
12:06
SPEAKER_01: Because the Rinesdorf family, and and Jerry Krauss was like this.
12:10
SPEAKER_01: Whatever they said, he was like, cool.
12:13
SPEAKER_01: Job security, so on and so forth.
12:15
SPEAKER_01: Their their name is signed on my contract, on my on my checks.
12:20
SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
12:21
SPEAKER_01: And we as Bulls fans, as White Sox fans, if you out there too, know that the Rynsdorf family do a poor job in owning organizations.
12:31
SPEAKER_01: I was just at the end of the day, again, just disappointed that it had to go through that.
12:35
SPEAKER_01: Even though I'm not saying that Jerry Krause was a saint and that and that he did no wrong for the city of Chicago.
12:42
SPEAKER_01: Because he did do wrong things.
12:43
SPEAKER_01: He didn't draft Michael Finley.
12:46
SPEAKER_01: My major gripe with Jerry Krause is that he did not draft Michael Finley when Michael Finley was a Chicago legend, damn it, born and raised.
12:54
SPEAKER_01: And he didn't draft them.
12:55
SPEAKER_01: And instead, he drafted, I don't, was it Randy Brown?
12:58
SPEAKER_01: I don't remember.
12:59
SPEAKER_01: Again, a little bit before my time, but it is what it is.
13:02
SPEAKER_01: Um, I have had my fair share of uh documentaries watched about my Chicago Bulls during the 90s because I was born in '96, so I didn't get to experience it like my dad or my uncles or anybody like that.
13:13
SPEAKER_01: So I've watched my fair share of videoslash documentaries.
13:16
SPEAKER_01: I've read a few different books.
13:18
SPEAKER_01: So I have a bunch of different uh voices telling me what the Jerry Krause experience was like.
13:25
SPEAKER_01: And the one voice that is above all is The Last Dance.
13:29
SPEAKER_01: The Last Dance took the minds of us NBA fans.
13:33
SPEAKER_01: It was released during a time where we had no basketball.
13:36
SPEAKER_01: We were in the pandemic waiting to see when the season was gonna come back and the last dance dropped, and it was magnificent.
13:42
SPEAKER_01: But the one thing about the last dance is that if your name was not Michael Jordan, you look pretty questionable in the eyes of that camera and all of the interviews.
13:51
SPEAKER_01: Mike was executive producer, he said, hell, I'm the greatest of all time, and I want I want this documentary to show that.
13:57
SPEAKER_01: But part of that was talking about Jerry Cross in such a negative way, talking about Scotty and pretty much everybody else.
14:04
SPEAKER_01: And again, I've I've watched The Last Dance maybe five times since it's been released.
14:09
SPEAKER_01: It's an amazing piece of media, but it also you also have to recognize the voices that are there.
14:16
SPEAKER_01: Who is writing this, who's directing this, who's the executive producer, who had all of the finals say his name was Mike.
14:23
SPEAKER_01: So all I want people to do is maybe do a little bit of research on on Krause and recognize the good and the bad.
14:30
SPEAKER_01: And it wasn't all bad.
14:31
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't.
14:32
SPEAKER_01: So uh obviously Jerry Krause's widowed wife would never see this.
14:37
SPEAKER_01: Um, but if somehow she came across it, I apologize on for the sake of uh everybody that was there.
14:43
SPEAKER_01: And I mean, everybody has, right?
14:44
SPEAKER_01: Steve Kerr, Greg Popovich, um Stacy King, everybody that has had a voice about this have basically apologized to them.
14:53
SPEAKER_01: Um and that's a moment that I don't know if apologies even work for.
14:57
SPEAKER_01: You know, she lifted that, and it is what it is.
15:00
SPEAKER_01: All right, all right.
15:01
SPEAKER_01: Let's get into our NBA All-Star ballot.
15:04
SPEAKER_01: Um, we're a week and a half away from seeing who the starters of the game is for the people at home.
15:10
SPEAKER_01: You get 12 spots for each conference, and this year is different than the last couple because there's no draft, which I we'll see.
15:16
SPEAKER_01: We'll see.
15:17
SPEAKER_01: East versus West has been the thing for such a long time.
15:19
SPEAKER_01: I enjoyed the draft, I enjoy the performances to know who's Giannis gonna draft.
15:24
SPEAKER_01: Ooh, he drafted Dame, didn't he?
15:25
SPEAKER_01: And guess what?
15:26
SPEAKER_01: The boys are now teammates.
15:28
SPEAKER_01: And then LeBron drafted Anthony Davis.
15:31
SPEAKER_01: The boys became teammates like six months later.
15:33
SPEAKER_01: I'm just saying, things can happen.
15:35
SPEAKER_01: Um, but actually, I came up with the idea of putting together this ballot a couple days ago.
15:40
SPEAKER_01: And I've been spending the last couple of days putting names here, deleting those names, putting names here.
15:44
SPEAKER_01: This year is really hard.
15:45
SPEAKER_01: And the reason I'm saying that is because every year it feels like we have an idea who the all-stars are, but you can grant, you can count two to three in each conference are gonna be injured.
15:54
SPEAKER_01: So now the people that were on the bubble, the snubs, are no longer snubs because everybody gets credited to making an all-star appearance.
16:00
SPEAKER_01: This year, for the most part, all of the stars across the association have been relatively healthy or healthy enough to be in consideration.
16:07
SPEAKER_01: Now, currently we have Terry's Halliburton out with an injury.
16:09
SPEAKER_01: We don't know what his timetable really is.
16:12
SPEAKER_01: He's gonna be reevaluated very soon.
16:13
SPEAKER_01: Um, Jordan Bede has missed a significant amount of time.
16:16
SPEAKER_01: That's pretty much it.
16:17
SPEAKER_01: Jimmy Butler is a guy that's always an all-star candidate.
16:20
SPEAKER_01: He's not there, but everybody else, uh Kyrie Irvin, is a guy that's missed a bunch of time and his numbers look all-star-esque, but he wasn't on my ballot because I think he missed a little bit too much time.
16:29
SPEAKER_01: Um, but other than that, everybody's healthy, which just makes it extremely, extremely hard.
16:35
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think part of that is because it's like, hell, do I want my incentives to hit my contract?
16:40
SPEAKER_01: Do I want to make an all-NBA appearance?
16:41
SPEAKER_01: Do I want to win an award?
16:43
SPEAKER_01: Well, I got to play those 65 games.
16:44
SPEAKER_01: So the guys that notoriously may not play as much, whether it be low management or nagging injuries, or like, I'm just gonna hoop.
16:52
SPEAKER_01: And because of that, we got a crazy ballot.
16:54
SPEAKER_01: Okay, now I'm not telling you this is my prediction to the All-Star game.
16:58
SPEAKER_01: This is saying if I had a ballot, which I don't, and and I don't want one.
17:01
SPEAKER_01: There was uh a tweet that went on the Dunk Central, and uh Zach Lowe, Professor Zach Lowe, had said that he got rid of his ballot.
17:08
SPEAKER_01: He didn't want it anymore.
17:09
SPEAKER_01: And I got so many people replying, all right, Kenny, it's your time.
17:12
SPEAKER_01: I don't want it.
17:13
SPEAKER_01: I don't want this ballot.
17:15
SPEAKER_01: You're not coming for me.
17:16
SPEAKER_01: Now, the people that have the ballot only vote for the starters.
17:19
SPEAKER_01: The reserves are determined by um by the coaches and stuff.
17:22
SPEAKER_01: So I guess you don't really have that much power as a guy with a vote because I think you only get 25%, the fans get a percent.
17:29
SPEAKER_01: It's a lot of stuff.
17:30
SPEAKER_01: But I don't want the ballot.
17:31
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you're talking about the end of the season ballot, hit me up.
17:35
SPEAKER_01: Because I take awards very seriously.
17:37
SPEAKER_01: But I'll start, not not so much.
17:39
SPEAKER_01: I'm not trying to convince you either.
17:41
SPEAKER_01: I'm not trying to tell you that these are the guys and you should agree with me because there's so many people that are in conversation.
17:46
SPEAKER_01: And if you don't like my 10th player and you want to put somebody else, so be it.
17:50
SPEAKER_01: I'm not here to argue with you.
17:51
SPEAKER_01: That's how much talent is in the association.
17:53
SPEAKER_01: We got 15 to 20 different people that are having all-star caliber seasons in each conference, and only 12 in each conference can really make it.
18:01
SPEAKER_01: I digress.
18:02
SPEAKER_01: Uh let me know.
18:03
SPEAKER_01: It's always a conversation.
18:04
SPEAKER_01: Hit the comment section, hit me up on X on what you agree or disagree with.
18:07
SPEAKER_01: Now, part of this, the startup for the Eastern Conference is really simple.
18:10
SPEAKER_01: Four of the five starting spots in the Eastern Conference are locked.
18:14
SPEAKER_01: There's no if, ands, or butt, about buts about it.
18:16
SPEAKER_01: Tyrese Halliburn is the lead guard.
18:18
SPEAKER_01: The lead forwards are Joel Labid, uh, Giannis Edacumpo, and Jason Tatum.
18:23
SPEAKER_01: Those fours are absolutely locked.
18:24
SPEAKER_01: Again, Tyrese is dealing with the injury, so maybe he has an injury replacement.
18:28
SPEAKER_01: But I do I need to tell you why.
18:29
SPEAKER_01: Here's a one-sented summary of why each of these players deserve to be all-star starters.
18:33
SPEAKER_01: Tyrese Halliburne is the engine, the system of the best offense in the history of basketball.
18:40
SPEAKER_01: Currently, that is a fact when he's playing.
18:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, and obviously these numbers are inflated, right?
18:45
SPEAKER_01: The last couple years we've had the best offense in NBA history, but it just sounds good when you're making a making a case for somebody, the best of all time.
18:52
SPEAKER_01: Like last year, I remember the second half of the season, the Lakers was such a good defensive team, and they were like the third best defensive team of all time in that time frame.
19:00
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I said that a lot.
19:02
SPEAKER_01: I wanted people to know.
19:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, but obviously these numbers are kind of skewed.
19:05
SPEAKER_01: Just know that they are the number one offensive basketball, and all of that, not all of that, I'm sorry, majority of that is Tyrese at the helm.
19:10
SPEAKER_01: Now, he's missed a little bit of time, and they've still been pretty good.
19:13
SPEAKER_01: And I think that goes to a lot of um team building out in Indiana because on paper, that team shouldn't be as good as they are right now.
19:21
SPEAKER_01: And part of that is because no matter what second they are in the game, they're going to have a point guard on the court that you can trust to run your offense, and it's going to be zero bad point guard minutes.
19:32
SPEAKER_01: And I cannot stress to you how important it is that I'm like trying to figure out other teams in history that have had this, where your starter, your backup, and your third stringer all quality point guards as far as taking care of the ball and making the right decisions.
19:45
SPEAKER_01: It is Reese, it is McCollum, I'm sorry, McCollum, TJ McCollum, TJ McCollum, and then it's Andrew Nimhart.
19:52
SPEAKER_01: They always take care of the ball and they always do it right.
19:54
SPEAKER_01: Um, so Ty Reese is a lock.
19:56
SPEAKER_01: Jordan Bede is not the favorite to win MVP anymore, but when he was playing, he was an MVP candidate.
20:02
SPEAKER_01: He's one of these few cases because you can make an argument that because of the time he has missed so far, that maybe he shouldn't be on the ballot.
20:09
SPEAKER_01: I believe that when you are as dominant as Joel Embiid is or has been, I'm I'm okay with you missing some games to this point.
20:15
SPEAKER_01: He might have the least amount of games of anybody on my ballot, and I'm okay with that.
20:19
SPEAKER_01: Like I don't have a specific recipe for these types of things.
20:23
SPEAKER_01: And historically, I have.
20:24
SPEAKER_01: Like, if I look back at all of my other videos from last year, the season before that, where I was doing all-star ballots, I usually had like a recipe or a common theme of all my players.
20:32
SPEAKER_01: I am all over the place this season.
20:33
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's because I have so many different options that I need to like rationalize this, I need to rationalize that.
20:38
SPEAKER_01: Um, but Jordan Bede has been uh one of the most dominant forces in basketball, and the 76 are still really good, especially when he plays.
20:44
SPEAKER_01: Giannis is also one of the most disgusting forces in basketball.
20:49
SPEAKER_01: I do I need to give you a reason why Giannis is still doing his thing and the Bucs are still good, even though they might be worse defensively than all of us want, they're still winning a ton of games.
20:59
SPEAKER_01: Uh, they just ran the Celtics off the floor a couple nights ago.
21:02
SPEAKER_01: Granted, part of that schedule lost because they had just played the previous night in Minnesota and they had to travel or whatever.
21:09
SPEAKER_01: You you lose by 70 because that's what it felt like you lose by 70.
21:12
SPEAKER_01: And Giannis and company did that.
21:14
SPEAKER_01: Jason Tatum is the best player on the best team.
21:18
SPEAKER_01: Now, I obviously his case uh his case goes deeper than that, but one sentence tells you Jason Tatum is the best player on the best team.
21:25
SPEAKER_01: Cool.
21:26
SPEAKER_01: Now, the rest is interesting.
21:28
SPEAKER_01: Who is that last start?
21:29
SPEAKER_01: And at the end of the day, this who starts versus who's coming off the bench is not really relevant.
21:33
SPEAKER_01: At the end, it's always going to say your basketball reference X amount of all-stars, not X amount of starters, X amount of reserves, or X amount of injury replacement.
21:40
SPEAKER_01: Because that don't matter either.
21:42
SPEAKER_01: That don't matter either.
21:43
SPEAKER_01: So it I was trying to figure out it was basically between a couple different guards.
21:46
SPEAKER_01: It was Jalen Brunson, it was Tyrese Maxie, it was Donovan Mitchell, it was Damian Lillard, it was Trey Young.
21:53
SPEAKER_01: Five different guards.
21:54
SPEAKER_01: And spoiler alert, all five of those guards that I was trying to figure out who started and who's not, all five of them did not.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Make the actual ballot.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: We got snubs.
22:04
SPEAKER_01: So how did I determine between Maxie, Mitchell, Dame, and Trey Young Hood starts?
22:09
SPEAKER_01: I kind of went with with uh they kind of like a feel.
22:12
SPEAKER_01: I feel as though Jalen Brunson has been the best of this group.
22:16
SPEAKER_01: As far as being the number one player on one of the better teams in basketball, I know Julius Randle has been really good this season too, but Jalen Brunson for the past, I don't know, uh 18 months or so.
22:26
SPEAKER_01: Oh, let's say two, let's say 14 months or so has been phenomenal.
22:31
SPEAKER_01: Like it was like second half of the season last year, and then obviously all of this year, too.
22:36
SPEAKER_01: We talk in playoffs as well.
22:37
SPEAKER_01: Like he's been phenomenal, and that hasn't really changed too much.
22:40
SPEAKER_01: He is uh more aggressive than last year when you look at the grand scheme of things, and he is just as cool, as as calm, as collected, and I'm a little bit biased because I like left-handed shooters, and he's a left-handed shooter, so he's my all-star starter.
22:53
SPEAKER_01: Okay, cool.
22:54
SPEAKER_01: Now the guard spots.
22:55
SPEAKER_01: Because remember, it's it's five players, there's two guards, three forwards, the bench is two guards, three forwards, and then it's two wild card spots, which can be any position.
23:03
SPEAKER_01: The next lock for me, the next lock for me um ended up being Donovan Mitchell.
23:08
SPEAKER_01: Donovan Mitchell's been phenomenal.
23:09
SPEAKER_01: Even though his overall counting stats slash his efficiency has dropped a little bit this season, he's asked to do a lot more this year because they've had so many injuries throughout the year, whether it be through Darius Garland being out or Evan Mobley being out and then Kerry Slavert being out here or there, he's had to shoulder so much weight.
23:25
SPEAKER_01: And then after all of the noise of Garland and then after Evan Mobley went out with their injury, it's like, oh man, will they be able to be able to sustain their success?
23:35
SPEAKER_01: The answer is yeah.
23:36
SPEAKER_01: Because first of all, Jared Allen has been ridiculous.
23:39
SPEAKER_01: And that's a conversation for maybe next episode.
23:41
SPEAKER_01: We talk about Evan Mobley versus Jared Allen, but he's been phenomenal.
23:44
SPEAKER_01: He had a couple like 20, 17 games, just 20 points, 17 rebounds.
23:48
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, Jared Allen, I mean, he wasn't all set with two, three seasons ago.
23:51
SPEAKER_01: So it's not like this is completely unique, but we just hadn't seen it much with Evan Mobley as his front court mate.
23:57
SPEAKER_01: Either way, Don Ventu has been crazy.
23:59
SPEAKER_01: He went to Paris and dropped 40 something, just chilling.
24:03
SPEAKER_01: On an Instagram story, he didn't take the team playing back.
24:06
SPEAKER_01: He was on a private jet.
24:09
SPEAKER_01: He had his own private jet come back from Paris, not the team playing.
24:14
SPEAKER_01: Um, so he's my first lock.
24:15
SPEAKER_01: My next lock is Bam out of Bayo.
24:18
SPEAKER_01: If you know me, if you've watched my content over the last couple seasons, I am a guy that prioritizes defense more than majority of people, I would say.
24:27
SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm not all about the counting stats, the shooting, the offense, this and that.
24:31
SPEAKER_01: Bam out of bio gives me a good combination of really good offense and ridiculous defense.
24:36
SPEAKER_01: Well, if you ask me today, who are your top five defensive players in basketball?
24:40
SPEAKER_01: I'm not, I'm I'm not ending that sentence, that that list without mentioning naming Bam out of bio.
24:44
SPEAKER_01: That's how impactful he has been.
24:46
SPEAKER_01: And they're staying afloat, even though Jimmy Butler, who we mentioned earlier, has just missed so many different games.
24:51
SPEAKER_01: Tyler Hero missed so many different games.
24:53
SPEAKER_01: The one consistent thing has been Bam.
24:55
SPEAKER_01: Now, Bam also has missed time.
24:56
SPEAKER_01: Do not get me wrong.
24:57
SPEAKER_01: He's another one of those players that has missed some time and maybe doesn't have the same amount of minutes as his contemporaries.
25:02
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I'm just I'm just going with what I enjoy as a player and what I want to give an all-star nod to.
25:09
SPEAKER_01: And I'm making an all-star game, it's not unique to Bam.
25:12
SPEAKER_01: If he did make it this year, I think this would be his third one.
25:14
SPEAKER_01: He's really trying to get that all-NBA appearance.
25:17
SPEAKER_01: The unfortunate part is he probably won't get it because now it's positionless.
25:20
SPEAKER_01: Like he had a chance when it was like, oh, we need a sitter on every team.
25:23
SPEAKER_01: We don't need a sitter on every team no more.
25:24
SPEAKER_01: So, Bam, I'm giving you the all-star nod because I think you deserve it.
25:27
SPEAKER_01: The next absolute lock for me is Tyrese Maxie.
25:30
SPEAKER_01: Uh, Tyres Maxie took the next jump.
25:32
SPEAKER_01: He's probably the most improved player of the season so far.
25:35
SPEAKER_01: I'm saying probably, because I still got hope for Kobe, for Kobe White.
25:39
SPEAKER_01: Ah, probably not happening.
25:40
SPEAKER_01: Um, but Tyrese Maxie has hit the next jump.
25:42
SPEAKER_01: Even though I was looking, I was looking at his stats in preparation for this.
25:45
SPEAKER_01: And I wish I would have written it down because y'all know we team enjoy.
25:48
SPEAKER_01: Shout out to the network.
25:49
SPEAKER_01: Um, I don't really talk about the super negative parts, especially when you talk about like an all-star ballot, right?
25:55
SPEAKER_01: Um his his pull-up jump shot has been like the worst volume shot in basketball this year.
26:02
SPEAKER_01: Like lower than Jordan Poole.
26:05
SPEAKER_01: The rest has been phenomenal.
26:06
SPEAKER_01: So I guess you're just chilling with that.
26:07
SPEAKER_01: And that's just unlike Tyres Maxie.
26:09
SPEAKER_01: That's why I'm kind of chilling or chilling.
26:10
SPEAKER_01: Oh, was it?
26:11
SPEAKER_01: It was either his pull-up jump shot or his floater.
26:13
SPEAKER_01: It was one of the two that was worse in basketball.
26:15
SPEAKER_01: And I'm just like, he'll get it together.
26:17
SPEAKER_01: He ain't the worst at that specific skill.
26:19
SPEAKER_01: So he's a lock as well.
26:20
SPEAKER_01: So two of my guard spots up top are locked, and then one of my forward spots.
26:25
SPEAKER_01: The next one, and this was a point of contention.
26:27
SPEAKER_01: I've talked about this, or I was talking to myself about this for quite some time.
26:31
SPEAKER_01: My next two forwards, Julius Randle, who, again, if you get rid of the first eight games of the year, he's been phenomenal.
26:38
SPEAKER_01: Um the advanced stats don't say that, but the eye tests and then the the counted stats do.
26:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, and that's that was another thing.
26:45
SPEAKER_01: I tried to look at counter stats, advanced stats, eye tests, feel.
26:48
SPEAKER_01: It's a lot of different things in there.
26:49
SPEAKER_01: Because like some people that are snubbed, which we will talk about then once we get to the end of the Easter Conference ballot, had way better advanced stats.
26:56
SPEAKER_01: And I mean like blowing Julius Randle and Palo Benquero, who's my other guard or my other Ford, blowing them out of the water in advanced stats.
27:04
SPEAKER_01: But at some point, I have to be like, I'm watching Palo.
27:08
SPEAKER_01: That that that brother's doing some crazy stuff as the guy right now, because Franz Wagner has missed a bunch of time.
27:16
SPEAKER_01: When O'Card missed a lot of time, he might be getting moved because when he was playing, he wasn't very good.
27:20
SPEAKER_01: Um, they've missed Mark Hill Foltz for a great majority of this season.
27:23
SPEAKER_01: So, like, he's been the one consistent team thing on the Orlando Magic.
27:27
SPEAKER_01: And the Orlando Magic are in the playoff hunt currently, and they haven't been like this in the last couple seasons.
27:32
SPEAKER_01: I think that, and I didn't do this by like on purpose, but when I was looking back through it, it felt as though all of the playoff teams got at least one person representing them in the Eastern Conference.
27:42
SPEAKER_01: That wasn't by design, that wasn't like one of my missions, but when I was looking at it, I was like, oh, that does kind of make sense.
27:47
SPEAKER_01: So Julius Randle, Paulo Benquero, uh, Bear Mataballo, Donovan Mitchell, and Tyrese Maxie.
27:53
SPEAKER_01: That is my top 10.
27:54
SPEAKER_01: So now we get to the two wild card spots.
27:58
SPEAKER_01: I have four players that I was trying to pick between.
28:02
SPEAKER_01: And um, yes, like I mentioned, you're gonna get some snubs.
28:05
SPEAKER_01: Again, the conversations are open.
28:07
SPEAKER_01: Here are the people I'm picking between Trey Young, who we mentioned earlier, Damian Lillard, who we mentioned earlier, Scotty Barnes, and Jalen Brown.
28:15
SPEAKER_01: And this was tough.
28:17
SPEAKER_01: This was really, really tough.
28:19
SPEAKER_01: Damian Lillard is not having the same season that we're used to.
28:23
SPEAKER_01: And that makes sense, right?
28:24
SPEAKER_01: He's been in Portland his entire career, his first year on a different team.
28:26
SPEAKER_01: It's not gonna be the same.
28:28
SPEAKER_01: It's not gonna be as good.
28:30
SPEAKER_01: And his efficiency has dropped.
28:31
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, I mentioned how good Bam is defensively this season.
28:35
SPEAKER_01: I had always known Damian Lillard wasn't a good defender.
28:38
SPEAKER_01: I I don't know if I just personally have him under a magnifying glass more this year because he's playing with Giannis.
28:43
SPEAKER_01: And maybe I'm paying more attention to the Bucs because they're contender versus the last couple years where I would watch Portland Trailblazers basketball, but I wasn't like completely locked in for 82 games because they weren't competing for anything really.
28:54
SPEAKER_01: Now that the Bucs are competing for something and Damian Lillard's on the team, I'm watching him every single night.
28:59
SPEAKER_01: It's horrendous, y'all.
29:01
SPEAKER_01: The defense is bad, it's really, really bad.
29:04
SPEAKER_01: So it's like, okay, all most, not all of them, but the majority of the other people on my list have some way of two-way ability.
29:11
SPEAKER_01: Like Tyrese Halliburn, not a two-way, not a two-way player.
29:14
SPEAKER_01: Are you kidding me?
29:15
SPEAKER_01: Tyrese Maxie, not a two-way player.
29:16
SPEAKER_01: He competes, but he's not a two-way player.
29:18
SPEAKER_01: Um, Donovan Mitchell, not a two-way player.
29:20
SPEAKER_01: He competes, he can be at times.
29:22
SPEAKER_01: I've seen him sitting at chair, I've seen him make the right moves here and there, but they're not two-way players.
29:26
SPEAKER_01: But Damian Lillard is so towards the bottom defensively that it's so hard for me to kind of rationalize a lot of the stuff.
29:34
SPEAKER_01: Jalen Brown started off the season not to his standards.
29:38
SPEAKER_01: But since December 1st, he's averaging 24.7 points per game, 53% from the field, 39% from three.
29:43
SPEAKER_01: That's damn good.
29:45
SPEAKER_01: And the Celtics have dominated majority of teams this season.
29:49
SPEAKER_01: So I feel like when you have a team that good, where all of the stats, the advanced stats, the I test, the the actual record, their top three in offense and in defense.
30:01
SPEAKER_01: Like it, that's not a one all-star team.
30:04
SPEAKER_01: That's not a one-all-star team.
30:06
SPEAKER_01: So my one, my one wild card lock is Jalen Brown.
30:10
SPEAKER_01: And um shout out to our friend or the show, friend of the show, JJ Raddock.
30:13
SPEAKER_01: He's been pushing the Derek White all-star thing, and I thought about it.
30:17
SPEAKER_01: But I I didn't I didn't think it was it was me, you know?
30:20
SPEAKER_01: Even though Derek White is one of the best primitive defenders in all of basketball, he's one of the best connectors in all of basketball.
30:26
SPEAKER_01: Recently, if you look at his stats, haven't been amazing.
30:28
SPEAKER_01: And I think part of that is gonna come into play for him and some person that that we're gonna mention on the Western Conference ballot, too.
30:34
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna give the nod to Jalen Brown because he's Jalen Brown.
30:39
SPEAKER_01: If we're saying between Derek White and Jalen Brown, who would I prefer in the All-Star game?
30:42
SPEAKER_01: I'm going with Jalen Brown.
30:43
SPEAKER_01: He's been there before, and I know he is as good as these numbers I just read to you, um, says.
30:48
SPEAKER_01: So now we've got three players competing for two spots.
30:52
SPEAKER_01: Trey Young's case is we have the fifth best offense in all of basketball, and my team is awful.
30:59
SPEAKER_01: On paper, I did the Atlanta Hawks are just one of those teams.
31:02
SPEAKER_01: I was gonna put together a whole segment of this show talking about the Atlanta Hawks.
31:05
SPEAKER_01: I won't be for the sake of time.
31:07
SPEAKER_01: But while most people are watching the wildcard games in NFL, I was watching the Washington Wizards dog the Atlanta Hawks.
31:14
SPEAKER_01: A story for another day, I guess.
31:16
SPEAKER_01: But Trey Young is still an engine of a top five offense every single season.
31:20
SPEAKER_01: Um, if you ask him, he's playing the best defense of his career.
31:24
SPEAKER_01: He is.
31:25
SPEAKER_01: It still ain't good though.
31:27
SPEAKER_01: But he is an engine of the one of the top offenses.
31:30
SPEAKER_01: Scotty Barnes.
31:31
SPEAKER_01: All the advanced stats say Scotty Barnes is an all-star, and you're crazy if you keep him off the ballot.
31:37
SPEAKER_01: But I fought for him, man.
31:40
SPEAKER_01: I fought to get him on the ballot.
31:42
SPEAKER_01: It's like, for me, it was between Dame and Scotty.
31:45
SPEAKER_01: Sorry, Trey Young.
31:46
SPEAKER_01: I th you deserve it.
31:47
SPEAKER_01: I swear you deserve it, but it's only 12 spots.
31:48
SPEAKER_01: It's only 12 spots.
31:50
SPEAKER_01: And the two people that I'm leaving off are Trey Young and Scottie Barnes.
31:55
SPEAKER_01: They are playing phenomenal basketball on their respective teams.
31:59
SPEAKER_01: Those teams are bad.
32:00
SPEAKER_01: And I'm saying that now, and you're gonna clip it because we're gonna get to the Western Conference, and I got multiple long stories on bad teams on the Western Conference.
32:07
SPEAKER_01: But these two teams, the Atlanta Hawks and the uh Toronto Raptors, are just not there just yet.
32:13
SPEAKER_01: So I did give Damian Lillard the nod.
32:16
SPEAKER_01: Even though, again, it's a down year.
32:17
SPEAKER_01: And if you tell me you'd rather have Trey Young there, I ain't mad at you.
32:20
SPEAKER_01: If you tell me you'd rather have Scotty Barnes there, trust me, I ain't mad at you.
32:23
SPEAKER_01: But I did go with Dame Dollar and Jalen Brown as the last two spots in my Eastern Conference ballot.
32:30
SPEAKER_01: Now, before we get to our Western Conference ballots, I do want to do my favorite segment, hashtag AskKB.
32:36
SPEAKER_01: You can go on to Twitter, you can go into the comment section of this and use the hashtag A-S-K-K B, and I try to get some of my favorite ones and answer them.
32:43
SPEAKER_01: Now, these are two that are not basketball-centric, but y'all know that this is the Kenny Beecham podcast, not the Kenny Beachum basketball podcast.
32:50
SPEAKER_01: We try, we try to talk about a little bit of everything.
32:52
SPEAKER_01: Now, this first one comes from our guy, Andrew Houston, who I met in Houston a few months ago.
32:58
SPEAKER_01: Cool guy.
32:58
SPEAKER_01: Um, can you share how the enjoy brand works in to I'm reading it verbatim, and to what you're doing with Omaha slash ESPN?
33:07
SPEAKER_01: Is it like shared ownership?
33:09
SPEAKER_01: Are you wanting multiple podcasts tied to the enjoy brand that aren't related to your own pod?
33:13
SPEAKER_01: Uh, a bunch of questions there.
33:14
SPEAKER_01: Let me try to answer for you.
33:15
SPEAKER_01: So um, me and the guys team up with Omaha slash ESPN on our other podcast, numbers on the board.
33:21
SPEAKER_01: We just launched on Saturday.
33:22
SPEAKER_01: Quick plug if you're interested, numbers on the board podcast.
33:25
SPEAKER_01: We just dropped the first episode.
33:26
SPEAKER_01: Um, there's a couple of different ways these contracts really work in the industry and what we we've learned over the last couple of years.
33:31
SPEAKER_01: Um, there's a full loan like IP buy, which is basically what I did in our previous contract with House of Highlights, where they say, hey, your own salary for the next couple of years.
33:39
SPEAKER_01: We own the IP, we're gonna pay you handsomely, but it's not your show.
33:42
SPEAKER_01: You can host it, you can do everything, but we own the IP.
33:45
SPEAKER_01: Um, that's one structure to a deal like this.
33:48
SPEAKER_01: And the other structure is more like a licensing deal where that's the deal we're on now, where we, as numbers on the board slash enjoy basketball, own the show.
33:55
SPEAKER_01: Um, but Omaha slash ESPN is licensed.
33:59
SPEAKER_01: So um a sponsor of their is not our sponsor, it's their sponsor.
34:04
SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm saying?
34:05
SPEAKER_01: So they're selling ads on our show.
34:06
SPEAKER_01: And in return, we get nice salaries.
34:10
SPEAKER_01: Yes, we do.
34:11
SPEAKER_01: We get nice salaries.
34:12
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then they they have the incentive to, of course, help us grow our show because help growing our show means that they can sell different ads on our show.
34:20
SPEAKER_01: And it's it goes way deeper, but all you need to know is that we still have all creative control.
34:25
SPEAKER_01: Like the first episode, ESPN company, they didn't even look at the run of the show.
34:28
SPEAKER_01: It's not none of their business.
34:30
SPEAKER_01: They pay us to do what we want to do.
34:31
SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm saying?
34:32
SPEAKER_01: And that that's like the combination of uh relationship that I really wanted.
34:35
SPEAKER_01: Um, where like when we left House of Highlights, they weren't very interested in a license deal.
34:39
SPEAKER_01: They wanted to continue to own the IP, which again, I don't I don't blame them.
34:42
SPEAKER_01: Why why get rid of an IP?
34:44
SPEAKER_01: Why give an IP back when you already bought it, right?
34:47
SPEAKER_01: So I don't blame House of Highlights for that.
34:49
SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's not shared ownership.
34:50
SPEAKER_01: Again, we completely own it.
34:51
SPEAKER_01: That like in a couple years, if for whatever reason the Omaha slash ESPN conversations end in two years when our contract is up, we want to walk away, we will.
35:00
SPEAKER_01: We'll own the YouTube channel, we'll own the audio, we'll own all of that.
35:03
SPEAKER_01: But again, hopefully the Omaha ESPN connection is just like that.
35:06
SPEAKER_01: We only couple a couple days in and it's been phenomenal.
35:09
SPEAKER_01: Um, and it said, do you want multiple podcasts tied to Android brand that aren't your own pod?
35:13
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
35:13
SPEAKER_01: So right now there's only two pods under the Android brand.
35:15
SPEAKER_01: It is this pod that you're watching or listening to, and then it is numbers on the board.
35:20
SPEAKER_01: The idea is to eventually grow a podcast network that's not just Kenny Beachum led shows.
35:25
SPEAKER_01: Um, very similar to what Bill Simmons did a few years ago when he left ESPN to create the Ringer, which started off as just the Bill Simmons podcast or the Bill Simmons is it show podcast, whatever.
35:34
SPEAKER_01: It's his show, and then he branched off to have the Ringer um NBA show and then the mismatch, and then now they got a bunch of pop cultures and movies and stuff like that.
35:45
SPEAKER_01: I I think that's like the roadmap we're going for.
35:49
SPEAKER_01: Right now, our focus is on this show and then numbers on the board.
35:52
SPEAKER_01: We're probably a year out before we start thinking about adding new talent that's not my friends and family, basically.
35:58
SPEAKER_01: Uh, we just want to get these shows off the ground and get them running well.
36:01
SPEAKER_01: So, yes, eventually we will bring in more podcasts.
36:04
SPEAKER_01: So if you're in a podcast game, keep grinding.
36:07
SPEAKER_01: And maybe you get picked up by the Android Brand.
36:10
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
36:10
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
36:12
SPEAKER_01: The next one comes from Psychrad OW.
36:14
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if that means Overwatch, but maybe it does.
36:16
SPEAKER_01: I ain't played Overwatch in maybe three, four years.
36:18
SPEAKER_01: It's been a long time.
36:19
SPEAKER_01: It's only when YouTubers and creators retire/slash step away and they're talking about Matt Pac, um, um, Tom Scott, me can, and so on and so forth, that we hear about the grind they go through, the long hours, the recording sessions, the editing, the other processes.
36:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, have you managed to keep things fresh for yourself?
36:35
SPEAKER_01: Now, I'm not gonna come out here and act like I have one of the toughest jobs in the world because I don't.
36:39
SPEAKER_01: I have one of the easiest jobs, if you ask me, one of the most fulfilling jobs, one of the my literal dream job.
36:45
SPEAKER_01: Like I could not imagine doing anything else.
36:47
SPEAKER_01: So I'm not trying to make as a sob story about the amount of time that YouTubers put in because I mean, even though we put in a lot of hours, it's no different than a normal person in a lot of cases.
36:56
SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't believe I'm working eight hours more than eight hours a day, but maybe I am.
37:00
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
37:00
SPEAKER_01: I don't punch a time clock to even know that.
37:02
SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, you do get times where you put in long hours, you record for eight hours uh straight.
37:08
SPEAKER_01: And yes, it can be tiring and taxing and things like that.
37:11
SPEAKER_01: How do I keep things fresh?
37:12
SPEAKER_01: Uh, if you've been a fan of my content, you know that yeah, Kenny, Kenny Beecher, me, I'm I am not against just doing random stuff and creating content out of it.
37:21
SPEAKER_01: So there's a period of time where I was burned out to the T open a P.O.
37:26
SPEAKER_01: box, and this was two years ago.
37:28
SPEAKER_01: And I just did P.O.
37:29
SPEAKER_01: box videos.
37:30
SPEAKER_01: There was a time I was burned out and I was like, hell, I'm picking up manga.
37:34
SPEAKER_01: Let me make a couple manga videos.
37:35
SPEAKER_01: Cool.
37:36
SPEAKER_01: Hell, I'm burned out.
37:37
SPEAKER_01: Let I want to make bite-sized pieces of NBA content.
37:40
SPEAKER_01: I create a hint of hoops.
37:42
SPEAKER_01: So when I get burned out, I make more content.
37:45
SPEAKER_01: It makes no sense.
37:45
SPEAKER_01: It's probably not smart, but but that's just the way it is for me.
37:49
SPEAKER_01: Now, the people that are retired, Matt Pac, uh, Matt Pat, uh, uh, Tom Scott, their brands of content inherently is more difficult than mine, right?
38:00
SPEAKER_01: My job is to watch basketball in most cases, write things down when you watch it, and then regurgitate the things you wrote down.
38:07
SPEAKER_01: Pretty simple in the grand scheme of things, while theirs is like creating an entire script of different theories.
38:12
SPEAKER_01: Or Tom Scott dropped a video every single week where he was doing stuff that I ain't even thought about doing.
38:17
SPEAKER_01: He had to come up with the ideas, he had to make the trips, do the travel.
38:21
SPEAKER_01: My job is a lot easier than theirs.
38:23
SPEAKER_01: There's different scales to the YouTube world or the content creation world.
38:26
SPEAKER_01: And I would say I am in in the sports world in general and content creation, it's a lot less taxing than some of the other worlds.
38:33
SPEAKER_01: So I'm appreciative to the fact that I don't have to go through this insane amount of uh uh lag or things that that Tom or Matt Pac did.
38:42
SPEAKER_01: But it is a sad day to see Tom go and Matt Pac.
38:46
SPEAKER_01: But I I appreciate the time they gave to this platform.
38:49
SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm saying?
38:50
SPEAKER_01: It is sad to see them go, but I'm happy for them.
38:51
SPEAKER_01: Because at the end of the day, y'all, believe it or not, my goal is to retire one day, too.
38:56
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying when it's happening, because I think I'm at the very start of my journey, but eventually, my my goal is to retire.
39:03
SPEAKER_01: I think everybody's is at the end of the day, no matter what your job is.
39:06
SPEAKER_01: You want to be financially stable enough to say, hey, I don't need to work anymore.
39:10
SPEAKER_01: And hopefully that day come for me one day.
39:12
SPEAKER_01: I I don't really know.
39:13
SPEAKER_01: But um, I keep myself fresh by continuing to work.
39:17
SPEAKER_01: Makes no sense.
39:18
SPEAKER_01: All right, let's get to what you've been waiting for, the Western Conference ballot, because I mentioned how difficult it was for the East.
39:25
SPEAKER_01: The West was 10 times harder.
39:27
SPEAKER_01: 10 times harder.
39:28
SPEAKER_01: Okay, I believe um that the when it comes to starters, there are three or maybe four, depending on who you ask, that are absolutely locked out west.
39:37
SPEAKER_01: And is Luka Doncic as the lead guard?
39:38
SPEAKER_01: Do I need to explain?
39:40
SPEAKER_01: He has one of the the biggest loads in basketball as far as what he has to do on the offensive side of the ball.
39:45
SPEAKER_01: And continuously the uh Dallas Mavericks have been able to win games.
39:48
SPEAKER_01: And you look at their surrounding pieces, it's not great.
39:51
SPEAKER_01: Kyrie Irving has been hooping, though.
39:53
SPEAKER_01: Kyrie has been hooping, and if it wasn't for his game's play, he would be probably on my ballot.
39:56
SPEAKER_01: He's not.
39:57
SPEAKER_01: Um, Luca does so many different things.
39:59
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we're talking about games where he goes into halftime with a 20-point triple-double, it makes zero sense.
40:04
SPEAKER_01: Shagars Alexander is one of the top two players in MVP right now.
40:07
SPEAKER_01: Um, they're one of the youngest teams of basketball, and he's leading them to wins every single night, it feels like.
40:12
SPEAKER_01: No explanation there.
40:13
SPEAKER_01: And another one of the favorites to win MVP is Nikola Jokic.
40:17
SPEAKER_01: I need to explain.
40:18
SPEAKER_01: He's he's coming off a championship, uh, two MVPs in the previous years, and he's still doing great things.
40:23
SPEAKER_01: Even though his counter stats have dropped, if you watch Nikola Jokic, even though he had that two-game stretch between the Clippers and the Rockets, I want to say, where he could not hit a shot, like he was missing everything.
40:33
SPEAKER_01: Uh, his county stats have dropped a little bit, but if you watch them, you know he's as good as ever and he's doing as much as he ever really has.
40:38
SPEAKER_01: So boom.
40:39
SPEAKER_01: Those are my complete, complete locks.
40:41
SPEAKER_01: Another lock for some people, maybe, is Braun.
40:44
SPEAKER_01: Braun's 39 years old.
40:46
SPEAKER_01: Still amazing.
40:48
SPEAKER_01: Again, I'm not trying to predict it.
40:49
SPEAKER_01: Braun is 100% gonna start in the all-star game.
40:51
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's 100%.
40:52
SPEAKER_01: He's all you you can look at the return ballots, he's gonna start.
40:55
SPEAKER_01: Um, but some people might think he's not a star uh a lot to start, and you know what?
40:58
SPEAKER_01: Ain't mad at it because there are people that I would say are having better seasons than him, but Braun is Braun, he'll be there.
41:03
SPEAKER_01: Now, the rest, those, those, uh, that other starting spot at the fourth position.
41:09
SPEAKER_01: I tried the pick between three players.
41:11
SPEAKER_01: Uh, all three of these players will end up making a ballot.
41:13
SPEAKER_01: So I guess it doesn't matter who starts, who's coming off the bench.
41:15
SPEAKER_01: It is Anthony Davis, it is Kevin Durant, it is Kawhi Leonard.
41:19
SPEAKER_01: Again, all of those guys made it.
41:20
SPEAKER_01: So congratulations to him.
41:21
SPEAKER_01: But who deserves a start?
41:22
SPEAKER_01: It feels a bit weird to have the Lakers be as bad as they are.
41:27
SPEAKER_01: And not just have two all-stars, but have two all-star starters.
41:32
SPEAKER_01: That feels weird.
41:33
SPEAKER_01: Even though Anthony, Anthony, in my opinion, has been the better Lakers.
41:38
SPEAKER_01: He's been the best Laker.
41:39
SPEAKER_01: Again, part of that 39-year-old Brian.
41:42
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't hopefully, you know, he doesn't have to be the best player, but maybe he should because they're they're not very good right now.
41:48
SPEAKER_01: They have the same exact record through 40 games this year they did last year, which is crazy.
41:52
SPEAKER_01: Um, and that that was last year before the Russell Westbrook trade.
41:56
SPEAKER_01: I don't, I don't, I don't know if it feels right to have two starters on the team that is sub 500.
42:01
SPEAKER_01: So, because of that, let me substitute it.
42:02
SPEAKER_01: Kevin Durant, it's not like y'all are playing great hoofs right now either, but you can't you know who he is.
42:08
SPEAKER_01: He's Kevin Durant.
42:09
SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna put KD as my starter, and Anthony can come to the bench.
42:12
SPEAKER_01: Um, Kawhi Leonard, also, I mentioned to you, you are there.
42:15
SPEAKER_01: And if you were starting, I ain't mad at it because you are playing phenomenal ball.
42:18
SPEAKER_01: Um, they do not, they just rarely lose with him on the on the court.
42:23
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I think they've lost one game since the beginning of December with him.
42:26
SPEAKER_01: Now they are currently playing right now.
42:28
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I was supposed to have this up, but I I'm gonna see.
42:30
SPEAKER_01: Are they winning?
42:31
SPEAKER_01: The answer is they are losing by team with two minutes ago.
42:34
SPEAKER_01: It's wrapped.
42:35
SPEAKER_01: So they're they just lost another game with Kawhi Leonard on the court.
42:38
SPEAKER_01: But two losses with Kawhi playing in a month and a half, it's just absurd work.
42:42
SPEAKER_01: The Clippers are rolling.
42:44
SPEAKER_01: The Kawhi has been their best player by far.
42:46
SPEAKER_01: He's one of the best catch-shoe players in basketball.
42:48
SPEAKER_01: He's one of the best ISO players in basketball, and he's still coming off screens and hitting a bunch of shots, too.
42:51
SPEAKER_01: I don't need to explain to you.
42:52
SPEAKER_01: Kawhi Leonard's doing his thing.
42:54
SPEAKER_01: So, as of right now, with Lucas Shea, Yoke, Braun, A D, KD, and Kawhi, that's seven of my 12 spots done.
43:03
SPEAKER_01: Let's get to my reserve guards.
43:05
SPEAKER_01: Steph Curry's averaging 26, 5, and 5.
43:08
SPEAKER_01: Cool.
43:09
SPEAKER_01: That's pretty cool.
43:09
SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm saying?
43:10
SPEAKER_01: He's still Steph Curry.
43:11
SPEAKER_01: Uh, maybe it's a less than what we traditionally know for Steph Curry.
43:15
SPEAKER_01: And the Warriors are more um, I don't know, they're just worse than we're accustomed to.
43:22
SPEAKER_01: But he's still Steph and Curry.
43:24
SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm saying?
43:24
SPEAKER_01: Some of these players, and this is this is unfair.
43:27
SPEAKER_01: This is unfair for the first timers or the second timers.
43:30
SPEAKER_01: Some of these players, even if their numbers take a dip.
43:32
SPEAKER_01: And in Steph Curry's case, we're talking about a dip, but not like he went from 38 points per game to 26.
43:38
SPEAKER_01: He's taking a dip nonetheless.
43:40
SPEAKER_01: Some players just have it.
43:43
SPEAKER_01: Steph Curry's one of those guys.
43:45
SPEAKER_01: And if I go to my Eastern Conference, um uh who's who's that guy for me?
43:49
SPEAKER_01: Who is that guy for me?
43:50
SPEAKER_01: Uh, like Jalen Brown getting in there.
43:53
SPEAKER_01: It's just part of it is reputation.
43:54
SPEAKER_01: Again, Jalen Brown doesn't have the stats too at 25, 50, 40.
43:58
SPEAKER_01: But like some guy.
44:00
SPEAKER_01: Are just gonna be there, and it's just the way it is.
44:03
SPEAKER_01: And Steph Curry is one of those guys.
44:05
SPEAKER_01: So he's there.
44:06
SPEAKER_01: The next guy is Anthony Everett.
44:09
SPEAKER_01: I just mentioned how they're they're playing against the Clippers and they're winning.
44:12
SPEAKER_01: Oh, the Clippers are making a little run.
44:14
SPEAKER_01: Who knows what's gonna happen?
44:15
SPEAKER_01: They are the best team in the Western Conference record-wise, um, record-wise, and they deserve to have at least one all-star in Anthony Everetts.
44:21
SPEAKER_01: Uh, there's nobody that's gonna argue the fact that Anthony Everett's deserved to be an all-star.
44:24
SPEAKER_01: He is another lock to me.
44:26
SPEAKER_01: Um, if I see an Anthony Edwards list ballot, I'm assuming you're not watching hoops because he he has been the best player on the team.
44:33
SPEAKER_01: Now, there was a stretch, uh, a couple weeks' stretch where Carter Towns was the best player on the Minnesota Tim Bulls, and it may have been for like three weeks.
44:40
SPEAKER_01: But since then, it's been back to Ant-Man.
44:42
SPEAKER_01: Ant-Man has a shot where it's high off the glass for mid-range bank, and he's doing it more this year than any other year.
44:48
SPEAKER_01: And I don't even know if there's a stat to prove that, but I'm just saying as a guy that's watched a lot of Tim Bulls, because I'm a Rudy Go Bear fan, I've seen it, I'm seeing it a lot.
44:54
SPEAKER_01: I'm seeing it a lot.
44:55
SPEAKER_01: So, as of right now, we have nine, nine of our 12 spots, and those are my locks.
45:03
SPEAKER_01: Now, after this, it's like, okay, here are the here's the collection of talent that I am picking between.
45:10
SPEAKER_01: You see me keep glancing over.
45:11
SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to see if the clip is gonna make that run.
45:13
SPEAKER_01: These this is the collection of talent I'm picking between.
45:16
SPEAKER_01: It is De'Aaron Fox, it is Al Princi, it is DeMontis Abonis, it is Paul George, it is uh Brandon Ingram, it is Devin Booker, Carthony Towns, Chad Holmgren, Rudy Gobert, and Desmond Bain.
45:32
SPEAKER_01: I have 10 players for three spots.
45:37
SPEAKER_01: Now, this feels weird, right?
45:39
SPEAKER_01: The Lakers have two all-stars and they're bad right now.
45:44
SPEAKER_01: The Suns could potentially have two all-stars, and they're not very great.
45:49
SPEAKER_01: But these teams are so very top heavy that it just is probably the way to go.
45:57
SPEAKER_01: Brandon Ingram is not having this super phenomenal, phenomenal year.
46:01
SPEAKER_01: He's been really good.
46:01
SPEAKER_01: Don't get me wrong.
46:02
SPEAKER_01: His officially has tanked a little bit, but they're one of the better teams in basketball.
46:07
SPEAKER_01: And I'm gonna tell you right now, Brandon Ingram was not on his ballot.
46:10
SPEAKER_01: He did not make the official list.
46:12
SPEAKER_01: And he would be, he would be the only current playoff team not represented would be the Pelicans if I leave him off this ballot.
46:21
SPEAKER_01: And that feels wrong.
46:24
SPEAKER_01: Zion didn't even make my top ten of people that I'm fighting for these three spots.
46:28
SPEAKER_01: Brandon Ingram did, but he's not the guy, unfortunately.
46:32
SPEAKER_01: One of the guys that I do have at my last four spot before we get to wild cards, is Paul George.
46:39
SPEAKER_01: Now, before I came down to the basement to film this episode, Paul George started off this game one for 10.
46:45
SPEAKER_01: And maybe the part of them being back in this game was because he turned it up, but it was maybe not the greatest day to give you Paul George propaganda, but here it is.
46:54
SPEAKER_01: He is still one of the best catch-and-shoot players in all of basketball.
46:58
SPEAKER_01: We mentioned that in the last episode, I think it was 45% on catch and shoot.
47:02
SPEAKER_01: And he's not only been used that way, but man, he's getting a lot of catch-and-shoot opportunities.
47:06
SPEAKER_01: Right now, he is the best or top three in coming off screens and creating for himself or for others.
47:12
SPEAKER_01: The Clippers are one of the best defensive teams in basketball.
47:15
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of that is why.
47:16
SPEAKER_01: A lot of that is Brody, Russell Westbrook coming off the bench, and a lot of that is Paul George.
47:22
SPEAKER_01: He's one of those guys that I feel really good about having my last dedicated Ford spot.
47:29
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you didn't have him and you went with Al Princh and Goon, I'm not mad at it whatsoever.
47:35
SPEAKER_01: I'm not mad at it whatsoever because Al P is one of those players that I have advocated to make the All-Star game.
47:42
SPEAKER_01: But that was before I started to put together my ballot.
47:44
SPEAKER_01: When they played against the Chicago Bulls a couple days ago, they went on a huge run.
47:47
SPEAKER_01: I think Alperin Shangoon went into halftime with like two points.
47:50
SPEAKER_01: He ended with like 26 all second second half.
47:54
SPEAKER_01: Bucket, bucket, pass, bucket, bucket, footwork, lean and mid-range jump shot.
47:59
SPEAKER_01: He's got it all.
48:00
SPEAKER_01: If you had some bonus in this spot, I am mad at you.
48:03
SPEAKER_01: He's leading the league in rebounds.
48:04
SPEAKER_01: He's good for seven to eight assists per game and also giving you 20 points.
48:08
SPEAKER_01: He's nearly a triple double every single night.
48:12
SPEAKER_01: I understand it.
48:14
SPEAKER_01: My first wild card spot is De'Aaron Fox.
48:17
SPEAKER_01: Now, the last couple weeks of De'Aaron might ruin his case because reasons he biased is a thing, and he has not been good since the turn of the Cali Year.
48:24
SPEAKER_01: He just hasn't.
48:24
SPEAKER_01: Um, at least to his own standards.
48:26
SPEAKER_01: Because before that, he was averaging 30 plus points per game.
48:28
SPEAKER_01: He had a career high in three-point percentage, a career high on um on mid-range jump shots.
48:33
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry, on uh pull-up jump shots.
48:35
SPEAKER_01: He was playing great ball, but the last two weeks he hasn't.
48:38
SPEAKER_01: Now, when I mentioned the balance and stuff are in at the end of next week.
48:41
SPEAKER_01: So maybe the stretch of him not playing great ball is gonna ruin his case.
48:44
SPEAKER_01: Now, he did have a good game tonight, so maybe he's back on the swing of things, but I'm giving him that last spot.
48:50
SPEAKER_01: I wanted to give so so, okay, okay, we're down to Sabonis, Al Pavin Booker.
48:58
SPEAKER_01: That's it.
48:59
SPEAKER_01: I've I've got rid of Carnthony Towns.
49:01
SPEAKER_01: I've got rid of Rudy Gobier, Chad Homer, and Desmond Bane.
49:03
SPEAKER_01: Desmbain, I swear I wanted to get you in there too.
49:07
SPEAKER_01: But the team is one of the worst in basketball, and that's not because of you, but it is what it is.
49:13
SPEAKER_01: Uh Gobera, you might be the DPOY this season.
49:16
SPEAKER_01: It's not the year, I don't think.
49:17
SPEAKER_01: Cartney Towns was one of the few or the last 50, 40, 90 players in basketball.
49:22
SPEAKER_01: And they're the number one seed.
49:24
SPEAKER_01: And I mentioned earlier how like the Celtics have been so damn good that I wanted to get them two all-stars.
49:29
SPEAKER_01: I tried, I wanted to do the same thing for the Timberwolves.
49:32
SPEAKER_01: They've been phenomenal.
49:33
SPEAKER_01: They've been the best team out west, and it looks like they're gonna close out this game.
49:36
SPEAKER_01: It feels weird to not give them two all-stars.
49:39
SPEAKER_01: I'm not doing it.
49:41
SPEAKER_01: So I really boiled it down to Sabonis, Alprin, Shangun, and Devin Booker.
49:46
SPEAKER_01: And the guy I ended up with was Book.
49:50
SPEAKER_01: And the Suns, again, have not been great.
49:54
SPEAKER_01: And the problem I have with my ballot, and I'm the one that created the ballot, is that we have Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, two players on the Suns.
50:01
SPEAKER_01: It's not a great team.
50:02
SPEAKER_01: And we have Anthony Davis and LeBron, two players that are another team that's not very good.
50:07
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying I have the perfect ballot, but that's what I ended up with.
50:11
SPEAKER_01: Al P, hopefully next year's your year.
50:13
SPEAKER_01: Um, maybe this year's your year.
50:14
SPEAKER_01: Again, my this is not gospel.
50:16
SPEAKER_01: It's not set in stone.
50:17
SPEAKER_01: This is just my personal ballot.
50:18
SPEAKER_01: And Sabonis, it was one of the hardest players to keep off.
50:22
SPEAKER_01: It's one of the hardest players to keep off.
50:24
SPEAKER_01: He's been great.
50:25
SPEAKER_01: But it's only a limited amount of spots.
50:28
SPEAKER_01: Before we get out of here, we gotta bring it back.
50:31
SPEAKER_01: Greg's eye test takes.
50:35
SPEAKER_01: He's here.
50:36
SPEAKER_01: Some some of y'all have been agreeing with Greg lately.
50:38
SPEAKER_01: Some of y'all been hating his takes, but let's see why I stand today.
50:42
SPEAKER_01: Greg, how you feeling today, man?
50:44
SPEAKER_00: I'm great, Kenny.
50:45
SPEAKER_00: How you doing?
50:46
SPEAKER_00: Good, good, good.
50:46
SPEAKER_00: All right, let's start this.
50:47
SPEAKER_00: So, first one, the Andrew Wiggins 2021-22 season to me was an anomaly.
50:53
SPEAKER_00: The exception, not the rule.
50:55
SPEAKER_00: He's been a consistently underwhelming player for the rest of his career.
50:58
SPEAKER_01: Greg, I think the I think the eye test is right there, man.
51:01
SPEAKER_01: Um, Greg's a Warriors fan, so he's been dealing with Wiggins for the last couple seasons.
51:04
SPEAKER_01: I mean, the consensus when he was in Minnesota was like, oh, he's given us some good counting stats as far as points, but he doesn't rebound, he doesn't defend as well as he probably should, he doesn't pass, then he gets to the Warriors, and now we think that the system is gonna change him, and it did, all-star starter, but the last 18, 19 months of Wiggins has been as bad as anybody could imagine.
51:23
SPEAKER_01: So I think that the eye test is saying that's the truth.
51:26
SPEAKER_01: Um, could a change of scenery again, rejuvenate him for a second time?
51:30
SPEAKER_01: Maybe, but I'm not too optimistic about it.
51:33
SPEAKER_00: Where would you want to see him next?
51:35
SPEAKER_01: Oof.
51:36
SPEAKER_01: Where would I want to see Wiggins next?
51:39
SPEAKER_01: He I'm just, I guess he's just been so very bad, and he just got the extension that I can't even imagine him anywhere else because what team is traded for him right now, because exactly what you said.
51:52
SPEAKER_01: The everything else, other than the one championship run, says that Wiggins hasn't been very good.
51:57
SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna attach ourselves to three more years of that.
52:00
SPEAKER_01: Um, I like him as an athlete, and anytime I see an athlete, I want to send him to play with Tyrese.
52:05
SPEAKER_01: So let's say Indiana, even though they would never take on their contract.
52:09
SPEAKER_00: I like that.
52:10
SPEAKER_00: Uh second one, the NBA would be better with no timeouts in the last two minutes of games.
52:16
SPEAKER_01: I don't agree with this one.
52:18
SPEAKER_01: One of my favorite things is a um a sideline out of bounds when it's only a couple seconds left in the game.
52:24
SPEAKER_01: I love when a coach can draw something up.
52:27
SPEAKER_01: I love when we get the Tyson Chandler just throw it at the rim because we only got 0.9 seconds to make it happen.
52:33
SPEAKER_01: And without timeouts, we don't get none of that.
52:35
SPEAKER_01: Um, I understand where you're coming from, though, from the viewing experience, but I just think that there are so many different uh chess pieces that can move.
52:42
SPEAKER_01: Oh, we're gonna put our best defensive player in now and then get the offensive player in after the next timeout, that I kind of like the chess match between coaches.
52:49
SPEAKER_01: And I think without timeouts, we don't get that enough.
52:51
SPEAKER_00: Last one.
52:52
SPEAKER_00: Uh you you mentioned Dame earlier.
52:54
SPEAKER_00: So despite his, you know, I wouldn't say struggles, but he's taking time to figure it out this season.
53:00
SPEAKER_00: I believe he will become peak Dame in the playoffs.
53:04
SPEAKER_01: Every Milwaukee fan in the world is hoping that's the case.
53:07
SPEAKER_01: Um, he's always been a very phenomenal player in high-leverage situations.
53:12
SPEAKER_01: And nothing from this season makes me think that that would go away.
53:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, even right now, if you look at his fourth quarter scoring, he's one of the top three players in fourth quarter scoring, and the betting odds have him in the top towards when it comes to Clutch Player of the Year.
53:24
SPEAKER_01: And I think we're gonna continue to see that.
53:26
SPEAKER_01: Adrian Griffin also has to allow him to run more pick and roll with Giannis.
53:31
SPEAKER_01: And I'm just, I think every Milwaukee Bucks fanslash person that is watching Bucks regularly is just hoping that they start to do that more towards the end of the season into the playoffs, because that opens up Giannis as the role man.
53:42
SPEAKER_01: And obviously, Dame has an unlimited amount of range, and you can't you can't really guard that, especially with Chris Middleton playing as good as he has been.
53:50
SPEAKER_01: And then you add uh Brick Lopez, who's been a splash mountain for the last couple seasons.
53:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think we as NBA fans and the NBA media, a lot of times when it comes to ranking players or assessing the game, have pretty short-term memory.
54:02
SPEAKER_00: I think when it comes to guys like Dame, it's important to have some long-term memory and just understand what he's done and what he's capable of in the biggest moments.
54:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, other than the one uh abdominal year where he was injured with his abdominal injury, he's been ridiculous.
54:14
SPEAKER_01: Like um, for the majority of it, he's probably like what the third best point guard of basketball.
54:19
SPEAKER_01: Um, then he ended up being second because eventually Russell Westbrook had his tumble down from being one of the top ones.
54:25
SPEAKER_01: And then he's set towards number two for a long time.
54:27
SPEAKER_01: And then now we got like Luca, we got Shay, who probably classifies point guards, but he has been as consistent as ever.
54:33
SPEAKER_01: And then when you talk about walking off series, he has two of those in his bag like already, which is just crazy to really think about.
54:45
SPEAKER_01: I want to thank you so much for watching or listening to this episode of the Kenny Beach and Podcast.
54:49
SPEAKER_01: Again, this is a fluid conversation.
54:50
SPEAKER_01: You let me know what you think about the trade, about the Bulls versus their former general manager, the all-star ballot.
54:56
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I know the comments is gonna go crazy.
54:58
SPEAKER_01: I just looked at the box score of Milwaukee Bucks versus Kings.
55:01
SPEAKER_01: Sabonis had uh 21, 14, and 15 on 90 shooting.
55:06
SPEAKER_01: God, I left him off the ballot.
55:08
SPEAKER_01: Hey, I ain't say I was perfect.
55:10
SPEAKER_01: Leave a like, subscribe, and I'll see y'all in a couple days.