Latest / Small Ball with Kenny Beecham / The NBA Finals Are Set, Minnesota's Future, #ASKKB

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The NBA Finals Are Set, Minnesota's Future, #ASKKB · Small Ball with Kenny Beecham

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing really matters.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: No asset matters when you get to an NBA Finals score.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Win or lose once we get to June 6th and beyond.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Whether they win or lose, those traits, there's no revisionist history about a team that competed for a real championship.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: This is not.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, welcome, welcome back to the Kenny Beach and Podcast.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, we finally, finally know we've been watching basketball since what?
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: October to get to this moment.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: We're down to our final two teams: the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: The Celtics secured their spot a little while ago.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Tonight, we saw the Dallas Mavericks dominate the Minnesota Timbulls on their home court behind Luka Doncic dropping 20 in the first quarter.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, if the one thing about Luka Doncic is when he decides that he wants to end the series, oh, he's gonna end the series.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: He's gonna blow you out.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: He's gonna talk to your fans, and then he's gonna go on to the next level.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what he's doing today.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so it was just it was a cool series.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: I wish that game number, what, five was more exciting and had more things to talk about.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: But the reality was Carrie Irvin and Luka Doncic combined for 72 points.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: And the Minnesota Timbow side, well, you did get a decent Anthony Edwards game.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: You did get a decent Carnthony Towns game, didn't shoot the ball very well from three, but none of the others.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Jaden McDaniels had five fouls with what uh 22 minutes left in the game.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: And Rudy Gobert, listen, um, one thing about Rudy Gobert, and again, it's coming from a Rudy Gobert fan here.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I never, ever, ever, ever want to see this man get the ball if it's not one decision to make, and that is to dunk the ball.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Where in the first quarter, he had seven shot attempts.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: That should have been the moment in time we all looked at each other and said, let's get ready for June 6th, because we know what team it is that's actually gonna get out there.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like, the way the NBA is going right now after game number four, there were people legitimately asking, like, could this series go to seven?
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Given the fact that the first two games ended with a game winner and then a three-point game.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, the Minnesota Timbows can hang with the Dallas Mavericks.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: So the fact that they finally got one behind Anthony Edwards having his first really good game of the series and Carthony Towns having a really good second half, they were thinking, could this go seven?
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: No, it can't go seven.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because Luca Donta said, Luca Donta said it can't.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: All I want from you is to leave a like on the episode, subscribe to the channel, man.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: I again, I can't believe it that we are down to the last two.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: It feels like just yesterday we were talking about predictions.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: And it feels like just yesterday Damian Lillard got traded.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Didn't Drew Holiday get traded like two days before training camp?
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: And now he's gonna be playing in the NBA finals again.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: It just happened all so fast.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: Uh leave a like, subscribe, tell a friend to tell a friend that we are all things basketball over here.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: We have Ask KB coming back for the first time in about a month or so because, well, like I mentioned, it's not a lot to talk about with this series.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm gonna I want to talk bigger picture.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: If you want me to talk about specifically game five, Kenny for real channel, I want these two channels to work in tandem, so go watch that.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: I kind of want to talk about this bigger picture with the Minnesota Timbulls because, well, their season is is over.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, objectively, this was a successful season.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Of my lifetime, I've been watching basketball since the beginning of the 2000s.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: I've only really seen one Minnesota Timbulls team that were like really good.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like we saw the Jimmy Butler, Cartentony Towns year and Whigs year that got to the playoffs, but we saw how that went.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: So in my life, I really got to see one Timberwolves team be good.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I was what?
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: In 2003, how old was I?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: I was seven years old.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: So actually, that don't even count.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: This is the first time of my life, really, that we see the Minnesota Timbals put together a competent, and not just competent, but a really, really good team.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the Wolves, for a lot of my life, have been one of those little brother teams that are like, yes, they exist, but nobody really cares.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: They make bad decisions, they got front office stuff going on, they have a bad owner and so on and so forth.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: But then they ended up winning the first overall pick in the 2020 draft.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Is it 2020?
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: 2020 draft, 2021 draft, whichever one it was, and they made the right decision.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Because there was a time when they were shopping the pick, decided to keep it, and boom, Anthony Ericts comes in and kind of changed a lot of things.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Because they won the lottery uh um with Carnthony Towns, and we can't deny the fact that Carnthane Towns is a phenomenal basketball player, but there's something about Carnthony Towns that tells everybody that he's not necessarily gonna be a 1A on a really good team.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, they got that one A guy in Anthony Ericts.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I know the conversation around Anthony Ericts has shifted so dramatically in just three weeks, but let's be real, Anthony Ewards had a phenomenal playoff run.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna let three to four to five, I'm not gonna let a five game stretch, it'll be a five game, a five-game stretch really deter me from the fact that Anthony Ewards is going to be a force in this league for a very, very long time.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and they have that guy.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: But the problem is now, when you think about it, they've done a really good job of building that team.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Tim Connolly, everybody talks about the fact that he built the team to beat the Denver Nuggets, and now it's like he built the team to beat the Denver Nuggets, but didn't build the team to win a championship.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know how genuine that is, that that much of that conversation.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: But the team is extremely, extremely expensive.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And now, with this whole ownership thing, will it be Glenn Taylor?
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Will it be A-Rod and his group?
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: We don't really know.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: That determines so much about this team's future.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I know Minnesota Timbows fans know this, but I'm talking to the other fan bases.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Y'all don't really understand how important this management decision really, really is.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Because if I remember correctly, Glenn Taylor's only went into luxury tax one time in the 20 plus years he's owned this team.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: This team is set up with a a max contract from Anthony Edwards, a super max contract that Carnegie Towns is currently on.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you had a max contract from Rudy Gobert, who's I think has two more years than a player option.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: And you gave a max for Jaden McDaniels.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: You're looking at four max players, right?
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: And with the new CBA, and we're gonna talk about this new CBA later in the episode as well, it dramatically hinders your ability to have this continuity.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: If that continuity is four max players, three max players, another team that's gonna be going through this this offseason is the Denver Nuggets, a team that we thought might be building a dynasty, and now we're trying to figure out will they be able to keep their core together?
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: So, this entire offseason, Woo's fans need to gear themselves up for a bunch, and I mean a bunch of trade ideas that are gonna be thrown around.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: A bunch, and I mean a bunch of rumors.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Carnegie Towns ended up saving it a little bit, right?
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: The last two games, he was good.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: When you go through that five-game stretch where you shoot 20-something percent from three as the greatest three-point shooter big of all time, makes me feel like you might not be safe in a lot of people's eyes.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: When you consider how how much money this team is is spending, you know you're not trading Anthony Edwards.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: You you know you're not doing that.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: Rudy Gobert is the reason why you were, well, not the sole reason.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: That feels that that's not that's not uh uh really nice to Anthony Edwards and then Mike Conley, old self, and Jaden McDaniels.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: As the anchor, he was the reason why you were the top defense in the regular season.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: So that's probably not going anywhere because the alternative is not very good defensively.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Jaden McDaniels is one of the best perimeter defenders in basketball, even though Luka Donatis just made him look silly for a four or five game series.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think he's going anywhere.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: So, how do you get below that second apron?
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: How do you get to where whether it be Glenn Taylor or A-Rod are not paying the luxury tax, it's one guy.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: And these were conversations that were happening before the season started.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: And unfortunately, it's gonna happen again now that the season has ended.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I can't stress enough that whatever happens in this ownership is gonna determine exactly what happens this offseason.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: There are rumors beforehand that one of the reasons why Glenn Taylor decided not to give the organization over to Alice Rodriguez and company is because he thought that Alice Rodriguez and them were gonna try to shed salary.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: And Glenn Taylor is this just all of a sudden he wants to he wants to be the guy to pay the luxury tax.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what's true, I don't know what's not, but these are just the things that we heard um throughout the season.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: So again, one hell of a, hell of a year.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: You beat the defender champions, you get to the conference finals, the third as you have been in 20 plus seasons, a really successful year, but you win against a guy that again on last episode we talked about him being one of the few players in basketball that you cannot scheme against.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: In game number five, I don't, again, I do not believe the Minnesota Timbows could have done anything for that first quarter avalanche.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: Three of the shots that he hit were close to 30 footers.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what you do about that.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: You you ask him to start his pick and roll early because it gives him so much time to get the ball out of his hands.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: You trap him at the at the half court line.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: The idea is to get the ball out of his hands.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: You you get them to run action early, you feel very good about that.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: And for him to just pull up at the logo and splash a three, what are you supposed to do?
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: He hit two catch-a-shoot threes again.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: What are you supposed to do?
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: I know somebody tweeted at me after I talked about it last episode.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: Kenny, uh Luca Donja 40% catch a shoot, three-point shoot.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm aware that he's good at it.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: The volume is so very low that I don't even think about it happening often.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: But in this series, I remember off the top of my head, four different catch-a-shoot threes for Luka Donja shoot.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Four different ones.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: So we're going into the NBA finals, and the Dallas Mavericks, I just can't praise them enough for taking as many chances that they as they really did these last season and a half.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: The Carrie Irvin trade, I know we look back on it and be like, man, finesse and his special den where he is drawing Finney Smith, it's a first-round pick and maybe even a swap.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Finesse, finesse, finesse.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: But at the time, I want you to turn on your TVs.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Go back and watch people talk about this trade when it happened.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: It had nothing to do with Carrie Irvin the ball player.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: We know who Carrie Irvin the ball player is, but it's like, hey, he got some off-the-court stuff that that's a question mark, a yellow to red flag.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: He has not really been able to stay healthy most of his career, and you give up all of this.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: And now we look back on it and be like, brother, that was all.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: He just dropped 36 in the closeout game.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: That was all.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: And he had multiple streaks, but he had a 10-0 streak by himself and then an 8-0 streak another time.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Got it for nothing.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then we get to this year.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, first of all, again, we talked about the fact that they lost those last couple games of the season to get Derek Lively.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's a real legitimate conversation about Derrick Lively being the third best player on this team.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like the third most impactful, the third, the most important player.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think you can probably say PJ Watts is the third best, but it comes to important how important a player is.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: I think, I think Lively's really high on that list.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: So they lose those games to end up getting the perfect center for them, whether it be Tyson Chandler 2.0.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: I, again, my favorite thing about Derek Lively is his playmaking out of the short role.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: I've watched Tyson for the entirety of his career, part of that here in Chicago when I was a shorty, shorty.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: He was not passing like this.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe he's Tyson 2.0 with with a pass with a little bit of passing ability.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: And he also had another scary moment where he got hit today.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then you get to this year's deadline.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I think when they made the trades, they were the eighth seed, seventh eighth seed.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: And they made these trades.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's like PJ Washington is you gave up, you gave up a first-round pick for Daniel Gaffer.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: You don't even know if Daniel Gaffer's gonna be starting.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I think early into his tenure with the Mavericks, he wasn't.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a lot, not criticism, but hesitancy for people to say that these were good trades because you mortgage all of the draft capital until 2030 in order to get what two role players?
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: And now here we are, a few months out of that.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: That was back in in February.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: And now those trades look amazing as well.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing really matters.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: No mat no no asset matters when you get to an NBA Finals court.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: Win or lose, once we get to June 6th and beyond, whether they win or lose, those trades, there's no revisionist history about a team that competed for a real championship.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's just not.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: So whether you look at 2030 and now the Luca team is not as good, and you give up the third overall pick, there's no revisionist history that says they shouldn't have made that trade.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: Because I got no, I got no way to prove this.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: But based on the way basketball is in 2024, how it's been since 2019, 2018, or hell, we can go all the way back to 20 uh 2011.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: When you have a superstar player and he spent seven years, eight years in your organization and never really compete for a championship.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: And again, I understand that a few years back they made a conference finals appearance, but let's be real, when you have that and a guy of Luca's caliber and you're not putting competent teams around him, I think it's pretty easy to say that one day, without a championship appearance, that Luca Don just might have walked into that office and said, I've seen enough.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what I will say is that the European players, it doesn't seem like they're more likely to do the I want out type thing.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: But I think it's a conversation, like there is an article written by BR before the season started or during the offseason.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Again, not that BR articles are this, this, it's not the holy Bible.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's not this sacred, sacred thing.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: But there's an article.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: If, if, big if, if Luka Donchis requested a trade, here are the teams that would trade for him.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: That happened right before this season started.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: And again, it's not based on anything.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's not them uh saying that Luka Donch did do this or that he was about to do this, but because of last year, the way last year ended.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: And Luka Doncic, he was pretty vocal about not being happy about not competing for a playoff.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Luka Donch for his entire career has been like, I want to compete, I want to compete.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: This is before he even got to the league.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: So to have a uh a year where they basically took it off, he was pretty pissed about that.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: So it got people to write articles about, okay, what's the next team?
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I think without a finals appearance, there is a real legitimate world that a few years down the line, he might have been willing to ask for that next team.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: But now you got a finals appearance.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm telling you, I've never seen Luca Donta smile as much as I saw him smile these last couple games.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: Specifically when the game is over and he was getting given the uh Western Conference final MVP, whatever the hell they call it.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: I don't even know what they call it.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: He smiled a ton.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just great.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because it's it's pretty easy for um the star players to ask out, end up on one of the tempo teams that everybody knows these star players might be interested in going to.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Luka Doncic could be one of those.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's very early to say because again, he's only 25 years old.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: I repeat, he is only 25 years old.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: He's got probably a decade plus left in this association, where he could be one of those dudes that's a one-team guy.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: And again, it might be crazy to say when you still got 10 years left, but a championship appearance means a lot.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: You see how well they took care of Dirk his entire way, where even the last couple of years of Dirk, he probably shouldn't have been out there.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: But they let him, they let him rock because you are the greatest player in our franchise history.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: And Luca Donich is on his way to taking that crown away from Dirk.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: Let's be real.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Five?
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Five All-NBA first team appearances, that's more than Steph Curry has his entire career.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: He's got five out of 25.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: He's on that path.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm excited about this.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: But let's let's I I have until June 6th to really think about it.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, from what I just looked up, these two teams, the Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks, have not seen each other post-trade that line.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: So PJ Washington not there, Derek, I mean uh uh Daniel Gafford not there, uh Xavier Tillman not there, you know, those things are very, very important.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: So there's no real film for me to go back and watch.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm I'm really excited about this because I think these are going to be the best defensive teams that each of these teams have gone against.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: People forget that the Boston Celtics were the second best defensive basketball, only behind the Minnesota Timbulls.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: And the way they defend is obviously completely different than what the Minnesota Timbulls are.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: And when you think about the Celtics went against, it's Miami Heat, no Jimmy Butler and stuff.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's Cleveland Cavaliers, no Jared Allen, no Donovan Mitchell in the Vit.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's the Indiana Pacers who are better defensive team without uh Halliburton.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: You saw that in his last two games, but not a good defensive team.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: Dallas Mavericks are one of the top five defenses post-trade that line.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: So both of these teams are, it's I think it might be one of those grinded, grinded out series.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I think a grinded out gameslash series definitely favors Dallas a little bit more.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: When you think about the Celtics being this team that gets up so many three-point shots.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: So many three-point shots.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: The idea of having a below 100 scoring game, and they have done that in the playoffs.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to act like they haven't done that, but um, I think it favors the Dallas Mavericks if we have these super grinded out games.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but if we're gonna go and we gonna go go, I think the Boston Celtics have enough to really hang offensively for what the Dallas Mavericks can keep up or get up.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: The one thing I don't think the Celtics have, at least right now, but before me really thinking about this series completely, is if if the game is close, let's say, let's say you're down, let's say the Celtics are down by five with four minutes ago like they were in game number four versus the Indiana Pacers.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know, based on what we've seen from the Dallas Mavericks' entire run, if a five-point lead with four minutes ago is something the Mavericks are gonna give up many times.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: And again, the Celtics were able to come back against these lesser teams a few different times.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: They cannot, if they want to win the series, they could not, cannot play with a food the same way they did in these first couple.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: And we've already had this conversation.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Were they planned down to the competition?
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: Should we be worried about the fact that, I mean, they swept a team?
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to overlook that, but these scenes were beat up, and then, you know, some of those games are maybe closer to you would have won.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to look at it that way, but I think there's a real world that that could be the the situation.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: I think that they're gonna have the better that the Dallas Mavs will have the best player in the series, but I think you can you can say that the Celtics will have the second best player, the third best player, that's Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: I think Carrie Irvin probably slides in the fourth best player.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's interchangeable between him and Jalen Brown, who's third, who's fourth.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: I guess that doesn't really matter.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: But after that, between Drew Holiday, between Derek, um, Derek White, and between Chris Dasporzingis, who should be back, you could argue that the Celtics' depth is just a little bit much.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: But again, I think it will be a chess match between these two coaches.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: One thing I hated from the Celtics, and I think that benefits to Dallas Mavericks a lot because I think the Minnesota Timbs did this exact same thing late in these games.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: The Celtics have his tennis once it gets tough or when it's getting closer down the stretch.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: They start their offense so late in the clock, and that you're playing right into Dallas' hands when you do that.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: Minnesota did a lot over the last couple games, not game number five because it was not a close game, but whether it be game number two and game number three, and it worked out for them in game number four, but they started their offense so late, and I the Celtics do the exact same thing.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: They do the exact same thing.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: I also think that the gap defense that you see that the the Dallas Mavericks play, where they they want the Jaden McDaniels of the world, or they want Kyle Anderson to shoot.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: Kyle Anderson took what four threes today.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my God.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: They want these other players to shoot outside of Car Anthony Towns.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, they kind of let Kat shoot too, but outside of Anthony Edwards, the Celtics, I mean, they're running five shooters.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe you say to yourself, Drew Holliday is notorious for having one good game to three bad games, let him shoot.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: You just you might have to just reformulate some of that.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I want to I want to go to these odds, right?
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: If you go to FanDuel Sportsbook, you look at the NBA Finals MVP odds, right now Tatum is a minus 130.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: Dante's a plus 200.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, most people think that the Celtics, or the betting odds, think that the Celtics are the favorite in the series.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: And usually the MVP is gonna go to the best player on the best team.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: You do got 81, where Cedric Maxwell won it.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but you also got the Eastern Conference final, and that was Jalen Brown who has a plus 600, and Carrie Irving is sitting at a plus uh 2,400.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: I think it is a best bet to pick Tatum or Doncic, depending on who you think is gonna win that series.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I I'm not so mad of the sneaky plus 600 Jalen Brown after what we've seen for him in this entire entire playoff run.
• 19:46
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• 21:37
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• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: Again, we got a lot of time to get to the NBA Finals.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: We got until next Thursday, so let me really dive into it a little bit more.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: Next episode will really, really give predictions and things that I like and things that I don't like for each individual team.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: I kind of want to get through some news across the association.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: And this one's probably not news for a lot of people, but this just blew my mind.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Mind.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: This is from uh Sham Sharania.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: The Sacramento Kings have made a competitive offer to head coach Mike Brown on a contract extension.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Three years and$21 million due to 2026-2027, up to$27 million in bonuses.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: Sources say.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: So far, no agreement.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: Brown is believed to be seeking around$10 million annually.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: I do not understand how the Kings just don't give this man the money.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: Y'all went 16, 15, 16 years without a playoff birth.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: And the first coach, the first coach to get you there has a they have a down year.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: Let's be real.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: They missed the playoffs completely, right?
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't know if that's Mike Brown or the fact that this team thought that continuity was the best thing to happen when these other teams in the Western Conference are ramping up or coming back from injury.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: Mike Brown was not the reason why you missed the playoffs this year.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was just the other people catching up to what you did in the first year.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: So the fact that you're not willing to give this man this extra, because again, it's 27 with bonuses.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have an extra 3 million to give the best coach you've had in 20 years behind, um, or maybe not behind, but in conversation with Jaeger.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: Jaeger was really good for them.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then they decided he wasn't the guy after a rough season.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: But if it I don't want the Sacramento Kings to go into this goddamn perpetual loop of mediocrity because they can't get their head out of their own ass.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: Mike Brown, bro, Mike Brown won coach of the year uh last year.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: And if I'm not mistaken, there was not another head coach that got a first place vote.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: And you trying to tell me you don't think he's worth 10 million?
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be honest with you.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: $10 million is a lot of money for a coach.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: But across the association, that's just the going rate for good coaches nowadays.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: Hell, that's the going right for maybe not so good coach if you ask the the Detroit Pistons.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: So give the man the extra money.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: There's no salary cap on the coach's staff.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: Give the man the money, please.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: It makes no sense to me.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: No sense.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: The first day of practice, he had a clip go viral of him and his stance teaching these boys how to hoop defensively.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: You don't want to give him an extra$3 million, bro.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: You're playing hardball with the best coach you've seen since Fever ago.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's just, it's just a dumb way to run your organization.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I personally do believe they will cave in and give him this money.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: Because what's the alternative?
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna interview JJ Reddick, too?
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna go get James Morego.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: Just please give this man the money and let's let bygones be bygones because I know this is not sitting well with him or the players.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: Have we thought about that?
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: These dudes that bought into Mike Brown?
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: Are you trying to tell him that you might not bring him back because he wants three more million dollars?
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: How do you think De'Aaron and Sabones are gonna respond to that?
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: Give this man the money.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: Pay that man.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: The next one is more of a rumor from Win Horse, but y'all know Win Horse is pretty tapped into Cleveland slash Ohio Sports.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um Donovan Mitchell's role with the Cavs organization ranks among the most powerful of any superstar in the league.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: What Donovan has with the Cavs is what LeBron has with the Lakers.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, it might even be stronger.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: Whoa! Um, I I think we all recognize that there are certain players across basketball that are just gonna have the final say on most things.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: No matter what the reports say, there's nobody in the world that can make me believe that LeBron James has nothing to do with this future coach of the LA Lakers coming up.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot convince me of that.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: I know what people are saying, but I've watched LeBron for 21 seasons now.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: I was here from the very, very beginning.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: I know the way he operates.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot convince me that you're interviewing these three coaches, and LeBron doesn't have any say specifically because the the guy that's first is his podcast mate.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: So when you say that Donovan Mitchell is here as well, now Donovan Mitchell is probably sitting when it comes to ranking NBA players, he's probably somewhere between like 10 and 17, you know, depending on who you ask.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's a lot.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: I mean a lot.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's a lot of power for a player that is that high on the list or that low on the list.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: But even with that said, I understand it.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: When you are Cleveland, you're one of these smaller markets, you're not one of the, I mean, hell, the Lakers, again, the Lakers have Braun, and Braun is one making some of the decisions.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: And and you have a guy of Donovan Mitchell's caliber, you have to do what you can to keep him around.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: You have to.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the only hope is that he is better at this than LeBron has been throughout his career.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: Because LeBron has made some questionable decisions as legitimate.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you hope that Donovan Venture is a little bit better at this.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but if this is true, it is maybe exciting for Cavs fans.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: Because that makes you feel like, yes, Donovan, you're re signing.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: Get that extension, babe.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: We good.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: But also, it could mean that he could be going out there to get all his homies.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Mikhail Bridges, welcome to Cleveland.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, Darius Garland's probably gonna be out regardless.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, he's gonna be meeting with the Cavs if they decide to extend Don Venture anyway.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: But this is just a lot of power.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: And though I am so very pro-player empowerment, I don't think this counts as that.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's a it's one of the scarier things.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's just one of the scarier things because from my experience with talking to NBA players, their perception of certain stuff is just different than what general consensus is or different than what front offices is, right?
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's why you pay, you pay, who's it, Kobe Altman?
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: Is Kobe Altman still over there?
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that's why you pay people to make these decisions.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this could also just be saying that Donovan Mitchell gets to say yes or no to the trades, but Kobe Altman is still the one calling the team, whatever it might be.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: I hate taking the power out of the people that you pay to do that job.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm wishing them the best.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Donovan's my guy like this.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, why don't we haven't seen a player coach in 40 years?
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: Can we see a player GM coming up?
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: Can we see that?
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: Now we see coaching GMs.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's been a while since we've seen that.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: Stan Van Gundy and Tom Thibodeau were some of the last ones I can remember off the top of my mind.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: But that gets you to the point where John Lewis getting the three-year$27 million contract, or Todge Gibson is getting his 17th hundredth year in the association.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: The player GM thing may be just a little bit little bit too far.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: Before we get out of here, I've got my favorite segment is hashtag AskKB.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: All you got to do is go to the comment section, use the hashtag, go to Twitter, use the hashtag.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: Here's some of my questions.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: The first one comes from Isaac at Philly Isaac.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: Is it worth worth it for the Sixers to give a max contract to older Jimmy Butler and older Paul George?
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: I think it is.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_00: Because and and not because I think that Jimmy Butler's gonna age so gracefully and that by the fourth year of that contract, he still is gonna be great with the same thing with Paul George.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: But my question is, what is your alternative going into the 2024 NBA offseason?
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: I know you got three tradable first-round picks, but you don't got any players other than three players on the roster.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: So you can say that maybe the idea is to use those three first-round picks to trade for somebody that maybe fit the time.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: There's no time.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: Joel Abiat is a time on Joel Abida is now, right?
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: So if that means that this happens all the time in baseball, where a player would get an eight-year contract worth a ton of money.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: But they not, they're not paying him to keep him under contract and keep him great for eight years.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: They're paying him for that first four, their first five, maybe that first six.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: And they're willing to eat those last two because that eight-year contract was the only way that we can say that we're competing right now.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I think when we get to these older superstars, older all-stars, and Paul George and Jimmy Butler, yes, it might cost you a max contract that might look bad in three years.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: You're you should not be thinking about three years down the line when you have Joel Embiid right here, right now.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: You should not be thinking three years down the line when you have Tyrese Maxie right here, right now.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: So is it probably the smartest move financially?
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: Probably not.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: But if you want to get a championship with Joel Embiid, you saw what happened in that last series.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_00: You saw that they could use a guy like Jimmy, a guy like Paul George.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: Hell, anybody that can create for himself.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: So it's worth it.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_00: Because trading for somebody in your cap space with just three first-round picks, you're not getting the player that is of Paul George's caliber.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the Jimmy Butler trade is real iffy for me.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: I know the 76ers are monitoring him by all reports.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: I just don't know how you get there with just those three first-round picks.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't feel like Pat Riley's a guy that's going to go out there for draft capital.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we've seen Pat Riley make some trades where he's not looking to bottom out, but instead he's looking to get people that can either help him stay competitive and then make that bigger trade later.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's basically what he did to get Jimmy Butler, right?
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so those three tradable first-round picks is probably not something that Pat Riley's extremely interested in.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you're saying we'll route those three first-round picks to another team and that other team gives us a player, then maybe Pat Riley's interested.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_00: But the Paul George one, I think is a complete no-brainer.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: Is Paul George worth that amount of money at this time?
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: Probably not.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: And right now, and it's what you need.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's right now, in my opinion, that's what you need.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: The next question comes from Matt Barnes.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: My Matt Barnes.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, have you been keeping up with the WNBA?
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_00: And if so, who are your favorite players right now?
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I haven't gotten around to watching a ton of games live, but I have uh real apps, so I'm keeping up with scores a bunch, and I'll watch highlights after games.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Chicago Sky fan, as you could probably imagine.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I got to watch them, I mean I came, I came to the party a little bit late, right?
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_00: I got to watch them a little bit on their championship run a few years back.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I actually got to meet Coach at the time.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: I met him in the elevator in a randomly in Texas.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_00: And this was before I was really dive dove dove into the W.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'd known his face, I'd known his name and everything.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: Got on the elevator.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know that they were in Dallas to play against this, um, play play against the wings at that time.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm in the elevator and I said congratulations, uh Coach, uh, because they were playing some great basketball at that point.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then they were sitting at our hotel, and I walk out, and Candace Parker standing right there.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: And me, Candace, Candace grew up 20 minutes away from where I went to high school or so.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: So I used to go to her neighborhood, and there's a a um Raisin Cains restaurant where she's got a frame high school jersey and stuff.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: So it was cool.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: I said what's up to her.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: I told her that we kind of worked, kind of worked together because at that point she was working with Turner.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: And at that point, I was working with Turner.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: She didn't really give a damn.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yes, I am starting to watch the W a little bit more than it, well, more way more than any other year.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_00: My favorite players here, here's my top, top five favorite players in the W.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: Number one is Enrique.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I know she's leading the league and scoring.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_00: Kenny, of course, you're gonna pick the person that's leading the league and score.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: But I also worked with her on a show with Nike a couple months back, and she was just so very cool, so very down to earth.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_00: And she was telling me that she didn't do a bunch of TV TV slash streaming stuff.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_00: So she was asking a bunch of questions, and I was giving her my backstory and stuff, and she was she was talking, or we were just having this full conversation about what we do.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I had all obviously seen her on her little run.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, not little run, I don't mean that in a derogatory way, but her run in college where she was phenomenal.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and now she plays in Dallas and she's great.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and she's an absolute bucket.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I saw a tweet where people, where someone was putting like an NBA comparison to W people, and honestly, that helped me a ton as somebody that didn't know a huge amount about the W and they said Carrie Irving for her.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I then I watched it, like, yeah, that makes sense.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: So that's my number one.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_00: My number two is AJ Wilson.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: No, no uh explanation needed.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: She's phenomenal at every everything.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: I met her once, and I'm I'm I'm 27 years old, so I'm using this word to stay hip with y'all kids out there.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_00: That day, that day when I met Aja Wilson, I got to uh chill my boy Larry Marketer.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_00: I got to meet Jalen Brunson, got to chill with Tyrese Halliburn.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_00: None of them had the aura of Aja Wilson.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's all I'll say.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: Aja Wilson was in and out.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: She was there for two minutes.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_00: She did her Instagram post and she dipped out.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_00: But it was cool to meet her.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: She's she's phenomenal and just really, really good.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_00: So that's my two.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um is all of the people my favorite place because I've met them, maybe, because Nafisa with in Minnesota, phenomenal hooper as well.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: Did a did also did a shoot with her.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: She was so very great.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and if I'm being honest, when we when I met her for the first time, I was completely unfamiliar with her and as completely like I didn't know who she was.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: And then I, of course, with when my job, I have to go do my research, and that's when I start to find her highlights and all of her story and stuff.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, she was just coming back from maternity leave and stuff, and she's a hooper and she's great.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I I gotta give love to these jugger players too.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: I gotta get Caitlin Clark in there.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, she's one of the main reasons why I started to attach myself to the women's game.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: So she was just the gateway to get here.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: And then that last player, last player, oh my last player might be Jewel Lloyd.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because she's also just just a bucket.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_00: Next we call some Joe.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_00: Is it harder to go from a really from really bad to a playoff team or to go from a playoff contender to a legit finance contender?
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think there's anything harder in basketball.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_00: You talk about a team-by-team basis than becoming a real legitimate contender.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_00: Again, at the end of the day, only one team wins the season.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like we can we can say that it was a successful season for the Minnesota Timbows, but they didn't win this season.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's gonna be between the Celtics or between the Dallas Mavericks.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that jump from a really good team to a contender to a to like a real championship contender is so hard.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_00: Not many people are able to do it.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_00: To go from a bad team to a playoff team, that's not easy either, but it's way easier to than taking that that other jump.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you gotta think about it.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: There are some teams that can do it strictly off the fact that they have a bunch of money and free agency and they sign some people.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now, it's somewhat of a rare thing, but that could just happen like that.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_00: But to get from a really good team to a contender, I mean, you need one of your players to be a superstar, right?
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_00: You can be a playoff team with no star, no star.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_00: No real, real star.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like you got all-star, but like no real, real star.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_00: You can make the playoffs and just be fine, you know?
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_00: But to be a contender, to like a real legitimate contender, in most cases, in most cases, you need like a top 10 player.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you see how many people there are in the association, and you try and say I need top 10, it's just less likely for that to be the case.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_00: Rocco, this is this is outside of hoops, y'all.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_00: Rocco as uh, you can only have one console in three games on a deserted island.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: What you're choosing, no PC that's cheating, which I hate it because I'm a PC gamer.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_00: I very rarely use my, I have an Xbox in a PlayStation, I very rarely use any of those.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't really care which which console it is, PlayStation 5, I guess.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I am taking, so this is my thought process.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_00: If I'm on a deserted island, I need a game.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_00: One of my games has to have so much content that I will never be able to beat it, or close to never be able to beat it.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I think Red Dead 2 is one of those games.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I haven't played Red Dead 2 just yet.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_00: I played Red Dead 1, still haven't played two, and I know that the content in there is so large.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_00: So you talk about the main quest, the side quests, and all the fun things you can do.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm taking Red Dead 2.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_00: I need a game that's gonna take me a long time to beat.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_00: I need a game that might take me 200 hours, so I'm bringing Elden Ring.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_00: I tried Elden Ring when it first dropped.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not a soul type of gamer.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I get frustrated very easily, but if I'm on a deserted island and this is all I got, this is all I got.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm taking I'm taking Red Dead, Elden Ring, because that's just gonna alleviate a lot of time.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: And as much as I hate this game, bro, as much as I hate this game, I'm taking 2K.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine how fun it really would be to have a real association that goes 80 years?
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so I'm taking those are my three games.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_00: Again, I don't even like 2K, but it's a it's the closest way for me to stay in touch with the thing I do love the most, which is basketball.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I will play the hell out of some of my career.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_00: I will get to a night on a deserted island, I could get to a 99 overall with no VC, no buying VC, just straight up playing my career games.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_00: I could also rebuild the Bulls to win 80 straight championships.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's a lot I could do.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I would prefer if I could like exchange one of these for the entire series of a TV show.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_00: Ooh, kid, is that fun?
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm getting rid of Elden Ring and give me the entire series of The Simpsons, seasons one through season 34.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_00: I know they're not good anymore.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_00: I want all of it.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I would I would trade one game for an entire series.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_00: My next question comes from Meeks, and this is our last one of the day.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um Meeks asks if the Celtics win it all, does this put Jason Tatum in top three conversations?
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_00: Especially if y'all plays Luca.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_00: The answer is no.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_00: That is okay though.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_00: The one conversation about uh uh Jason Tatum, it's always so extreme.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's either he's the worst superstar in the league or he should be in conversations with these other dudes.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_00: In reality, he's just not.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_00: Even if they win this championship, I think it's okay to say, even if he wins finals MVP, that he deserves to win this finals MVP.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_00: And he was phenomenal in the series, he's this phenomenal basketball player, but he's not top three.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_00: Even this one championship would not make me think that unless this man averaged 50.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_00: Which is not happening.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_00: He's not gonna be better than Joker, he's not gonna be better than Giannis, and he's not gonna be better than Luca on this one playoff run.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_00: Again, he's great.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: He's top 10.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_00: Towards the bottom of the back of the top 10, but he's top 10.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_00: And that's okay.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's okay to not have him be top three.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_00: But also, the people that are acting like this man is just this bum because he had a couple bad shooting nights early in the playoff run is disingenuous, too.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_00: Because I saw what he did against the Milwaukee Bucks with that 46-point game and gain number six to force a seven.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_00: I saw what he did in the game seven when he had Joel Embiid on the island and drop 50 of them things.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_00: So it's okay that he's not top three.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_00: Y'all built this great team around him where he doesn't need to be top three to win a championship.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_00: And that's okay, like it's it's cool.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's cool.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_00: It would just take a lot more for Jason Tatum to get to that level.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's all I'm saying.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate y'all watching and listening to this episode of the Kenny Beach and Podcast.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_00: Again, we will be back before the NBA final start with some more in-depth analysis from yours truly.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm super excited about it.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_00: We could potentially only have four more basketball games of the season.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_00: No team is sweeping this series, right?
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_00: Neither team's getting swept, right?
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_00: No, okay.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_00: But there's a world where we only got four more games left.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_00: So let's really cherish these four to seven games.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, because after that, well, we get to draft us as lottery teams.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: We're excited about that, but we don't get real legitimate NBA level basketball that matters until the fall time.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_00: So let's let's cherish these last couple weeks, and I'll see y'all soon.