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NBA 🏀 Basketball Season Preview ft. Omar 'Sports Professor' Fonseca @BALLandBUDS (Audible Sports Podcast #80)
13 Plays29 days ago
NBA 🏀 Basketball Season Preview ft. Omar 'Sports Professor' Fonseca @BALLandBUDS
PLUS Shout-Outs, Honorable Mentions & STFU’s, Fit Friday & Mental Health Check-In
DON’T FORGET TO LIKE, SHARE & SUBSCRIBE: _________________________________________
And if you want to continue the conversation: Follow the fellas on Social Media here: X (formerly twitter) @Audible_BobbyG @KCWildCardMar @Audible_Podcast
More from Prof. Omar: I.G. - / ballandbuds YouTube: / @ballandbuds
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Appearance
00:00:41
Speaker
Thank you.
00:01:36
Speaker
What's up? What's happening? Oh, you hate us. It's Friday, and if it's Friday, that means it's time for you to be heard in Audible Sports Podcast, where sports meets life and culture. I am half of the world's most dangerous podcast crew. That is Bobby G. and Wildcard Mar. But today today, joined by our special guests from Ballin' Buds, the sports professor...
00:02:02
Speaker
Professor Omar, what's happening? Yes, Yo, yo. What up, my brothers? Thank you, thank you, thank you. I appreciate y'all having me on, brothers. It has been a long time coming. I've been looking forward to this day, and it is finally here.
00:02:21
Speaker
Hey, hopefully, you know, we make we make it worthwhile. and I know going to come up with some good content, some good sound bites and stuff for the masses. And some great knowledge for
Sports Highlights and Cam Newton Discussion
00:02:32
Speaker
your ass. Now, let be quick, because hate Cam Newton's guts, man. I ain't quoting that dude no more. Man, fuck Cam Newton. That's what it is.
00:02:38
Speaker
ah It's fine. No, i actually, Cam, he's been pretty decent lately. He's been pretty solid lately. He's been pretty solid lately, I can't... What did he do to me? He didn't pick up the damn fumble.
00:02:51
Speaker
That's what he did to me. He didn't pick up that damn fumble in the Super Bowl. He didn't lose me money, but my best friend who's since passed away was a Broncos fan. And you know, I had to give him shit and I couldn't. I had to stay silent and watch the Super Bowl as the Broncos stomped on the Panthers.
00:03:09
Speaker
So, Cam, you let me down, man. you You took my bragging rights away from my homie. And so for that, I will be forever ungrateful. Oh, no, I got freaking man in here bothering me, man.
00:03:20
Speaker
What's going on? i mean, first of all, I lost one of my best friends early, too. So my condolences for your loss, first of all. And second of all, I'm very also disappointed that you had to watch the Super Bowl silent because you couldn't even enjoy the game. And like, yellow peep, you just had to...
00:03:38
Speaker
Every time you wanted cheer, you just sit your ass down. It had to be payback, though, because ah when they played when they played ah the Seahawks you know a couple seasons earlier, um ah I gave somebody 20 points.
00:03:53
Speaker
twenty points I gave them the Broncos and 20 points. i was like, yeah, the they about to get stomped. And obviously I won the bet because they won, was it 40 to eight that Super Bowl?
00:04:05
Speaker
Yeah. forty um like Yeah. So it was probably just karma just paying me back. Okay. But, hey, appreciate you all tuning in. if you've been with us, you know what I'm about to say.
00:04:18
Speaker
And if you haven't, please do us the biggest favor, man. Go ahead, follow the rest of the screen. Hit that like button. Subscribe if you're new. Turn your notifications on so you know the next time that we are here talking whatever you want to hear, is every Friday, 7-ish Eastern, 4-ish Pacific, and 6-ish Central Time.
00:04:39
Speaker
Outside that, we got a good one for you today. There you go. you know Most of the time we are. It used to be Martin's fault. Today it was my fault. I'll take that blame.
00:04:49
Speaker
I ain't going to lie. Today, we got 25-26 NBA preview.
NBA Season Outlook
00:04:56
Speaker
oh day got our twenty five twenty six itba preview Basketball so season starts officially next Tuesday with the ah reigning champs. I hate the word defending, so I refuse to use it. The reigning NBA champ, Oklahoma City Thunder, tipping off their season against the Houston Rockets ah on banner night.
00:05:16
Speaker
So, ah yeah, that that should be a good one. And then the rest of the NBA schedule, you know, teams kick off. subsequent days, you know, your Wednesday, your Thursday, your Friday. And, uh, so yeah, we're going talk about it. Give you, give you what you need to know to get it get off to a good start this season.
00:05:31
Speaker
And if you, you know, happen to be a fan of one of those have nots. Yeah. I'm talking to you wizards fans. Uh, I'm talking to you, Blazers fans. Shout out to J.D.M.I.C.
00:05:42
Speaker
ah I'm talking to Sacramento Kings fans. You know, we're going to tell you what you should expect as well.
Mental Health Awareness in Sports
00:05:49
Speaker
And, of course, as usual, our shout outs and FTFU's.
00:05:53
Speaker
And, of course, we end the show with our Fit Friday challenge. Yes, mental health check-in. You know, we like to promote good mental health in the male community. So... Without further ado, y'all know how we get it going every time.
00:06:07
Speaker
Make sure I hit the right buttons because I be messing up sometimes. You know, players mess up. is what is but this one Hey.
00:06:17
Speaker
Shout-outs. And, you know, hey, since we got special guests in the bid, going to go ahead and let him lead the way. And today he wanted to shout-out this young lady right here. So, you know, have at it, Omar.
00:06:30
Speaker
Well, see, ah anyone who watches Ball and Buds, shameless plug, at Ball and Buds on YouTube, um you would know that we are a supporter of the WNBA.
00:06:43
Speaker
We always have been. um You know what? a Shout out to my brother, AP. Out here in the Grizzle. um So let me back up for a second because it's not just Nafesia Collier, right?
00:06:58
Speaker
It is a litany of ladies that have come before her and have put in the work and laid down that foundation that has now allowed them to get to the place where they can do things, like wear a wear shirts that say, pay what what you owe us.
00:07:18
Speaker
Right. Which is great. It's a great ah statement to make. And it is something that you should do as a labor force is advocate for better rights and more pay.
00:07:32
Speaker
That's what you should do if you feel like you are in the rights for that. And in the day and age that we live, gentlemen, With the increase in media rights deals for all leagues, for all sports, that means that everybody needs to be getting that money and that windfall.
00:07:53
Speaker
And just like we have seen within college sports with NIL and now... the new the newly the new program with the basically salary cap where they're allowed to pay players $20.5 million dollars that they split as a pool among the athletic department, basically as we know, going mostly to football and basketball.
00:08:20
Speaker
But what I'm trying to get at is everybody is getting this windfall. And so the WNBA players are like, well, where's ours? Now, we must also, as you know, if you watch, again, shameless plug, I apologize to Professor Samarana Almenti. You've heard me talk many times before um about how the NBA has subsidized the WNBA for a long, long time, actually since their inception.
00:08:50
Speaker
So if the NBA has been forking in hundreds of million dollars training facilities, sharing stadiums, so on and so forth in order to get to ladies to the WNBA, excuse me, to this point, well then in all recompense, the WNBA in theory could ask for all that money back.
00:09:15
Speaker
They could ask for those payments and installments to pay what you owe us. In essence, they're not going to do that because it would be a lot of money. It would crush the WNBA from where they are. I'm sure they will get it back over time through other avenues.
00:09:32
Speaker
That being said, the WNBA now is in their labor negotiation. The players want more money from the aforementioned media rights deal. The commissioner is stuck in. We know that a couple people, y'all told me, as we talked about, have been on the show, talked about Kathy Engelbert and where she is in her position. So I don't need to go into that. We know that, obviously, she has to be opposed to the players and the Players Association and Neficia Collier, who is the one that is the leader of said formation.
00:10:08
Speaker
um This all came into the limelight. Everybody's heard of it. They got into their little battle back and forth through the media. she He said, she said, no one knows what was truly said.
00:10:19
Speaker
Meeting set, meeting canceled, things starting to fizzle out. Now we are hearing that, not that we couldn't have figured this out anyways, but this,
00:10:33
Speaker
first of all, no free agents can be signed until this labor negotiation comes into set. But anyways, if this labor negotiation is not set and if it is not set before that date and if it is not come to a resolution with the players that they come to some sort of agreeance with kassy engelberg Kathy Kathy Engelbert better have a resume already pre-polished and ready for some kind of lawyer job. Maybe she need to go find a civilian job because she out.
00:11:04
Speaker
She done. You're gone. Peace. Bye bye. Whatever you want. Sayonara. Whatever you want. She out of there if she can't get this resolved in an am amicable matter.
00:11:17
Speaker
It's not going to happen. We're already past amicable. And my shout out is to Nefisia Collier and the young ladies of the WNBA for standing their ground saying, no, this is what we believe we're worth.
00:11:31
Speaker
And if you're going to get this much more money because you're showing us on the air, yeah, Maybe you maybe it's been a subsidization to this point, but don't act like we ain't put in the work and we put in the foundation.
00:11:45
Speaker
And Lisa Leslie and Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi and, ah you know, Tina Thompson and all the greats. Right. I put in all that work and laid all that found. And I know I'm forgetting so many more.
00:11:57
Speaker
um This is for them. This is a legacy that is going to be defined. And if the ladies did not keep their foot down, they would let themselves get run over and it would hurt their future because exponentially, if you were to extrapolate the losses they may take on this deal, that only compounds as you go year over year.
00:12:23
Speaker
So, Great job, Nafisa and ladies, for keeping your foot down. Continue to keep your foot down in the fit in the fight and get what they owe you.
00:12:35
Speaker
That's the professor's shout-out. So from the professor to Nafisa, guess what? And you're the real MVP. All right. i Hey, that's a tough act to follow, Amar.
00:12:50
Speaker
suffer a Tough, tough act follow. and I just got to be straight up and down with lines. Hey, shout out to the geriatric bowl that we got on Thursday. This was sponsored by Ben Gay.
NFL Game Highlights and Tributes
00:13:05
Speaker
What? Sponsored by AARP.
00:13:09
Speaker
It was sponsored by all of the citizens' products. No. That was crazy. That was how to live in the yesteryears of their life. But man, did they turn back their hands at the time. These boys was ballin'. They were ballin'. Shout out to that man, ah Joe Cool, Joe Flacco. I had it pop in. My man dropped three, what, 342, 352? tutties.
00:13:40
Speaker
I mean, a man damn near threw the ball, what, 50 times, and he was flinging that thing. He's like, you know what? I got Jamar chasing T. Higgins. I'm just going – hey, run around. I'm to throw it to you.
00:13:54
Speaker
Just run around. I'm going to throw it to you. I put it in there. I put it in the vicinity. You go catch it. Cooked up that they' still is defense. I know they got two sacks, but, man, they had to earn it.
00:14:05
Speaker
And somehow the Browns' whole line was playing magnificent. And, hey, Aaron Rodgers, if he – I'll put one interception on him. The other one, DK, you got to do a little bit more fighting on that one, dog. Yeah. but oh But he he was flinging that pill in. Hey, man, the – quietest cat looking at that Hail Mary throw he flung that rock now.
00:14:30
Speaker
a amy got it That's what I was saying. That's what I was saying. 70 yards man. And he got it down now. So, hey, man, hey some old gunslingers, until ready for their last shootout, they're still going gunsling. So I give it to Joe and Aaron for putting on the hell of a show in their senior years.
00:14:57
Speaker
I mean, that was fantastic football, man. They was just gunslinging, man. It was beautiful to see, man. I mean, we even saw Rodgers do the little old leprechaun leap. You know. Yeah.
00:15:08
Speaker
yeah yeah so yeah I care another and carry another Achilles I guess I'm saying you might want to cheer didn't he got tackled by his old line he was mad about that so good job fellas so from Roger the flag go from Marr guess what you're the real MVP for sure for sure um Mine is kind of adjacent to that. Actually, no. No, that's my STFU.
00:15:39
Speaker
maya My shout-out, little bit simpler, little more emotional. I hate to do it this early in the show, but, hey, we got it, man. And I swear, it's not on purpose, but it feels like the last three weeks now.
00:15:54
Speaker
My shout out has been the same. And as much as I enjoy giving people their flowers, like the circumstances got to change.
00:16:03
Speaker
We lost another one, man. Yeah, if you haven't heard or you've been on a rock somewhere, man, D'Angelo passed away. ah This one, probably, if any recent passing, this one hit me. I was a huge fan of D'Angelo's music.
00:16:20
Speaker
um
00:16:22
Speaker
The dude was a genius, man. He was a genius and I feel like this is the second time he was taken from us. Because we know he battled substance abuse and that was the first thing that kind of took him from us. like If he hadn't been going through that battle, man, what what would he have been able to produce?
00:16:48
Speaker
You know, like put out one I mean, your first album is classic. That's hard to do within itself. Then to follow it up ah with another one.
00:17:00
Speaker
You know, he was just one of those dudes, man. Like, few people can stand stand on their own in this business. Like, all that man needed was a stage and a piano.
00:17:13
Speaker
That's it. Well, a stage, a piano, and some of that brown sugar, so to speak.
00:17:21
Speaker
But, you know, condolences to his friends family and real condolences to his son. For those don't know you know, his son that he shared with Angie Stone also passed away.
00:17:36
Speaker
And as somebody who's unfortunately had to bury both of their parents, like, that's a different feeling, man. like for a while you can feel lost like like you really have nobody and and so that that's tough to I feel for for the young man but a salute to the legend and again just condolences to the friends and family you know in my mind D'Angelo you the real MVP yeah so some um
00:18:12
Speaker
And now that I've said all that. ah Go ahead, bro. Go ahead. I'll always remember him when I'm riding that pony. yeah Jump on it.
00:18:25
Speaker
Other legend. Wrong legend. Oh, wrong legend. Wrong legend. I'm out here disrespected D'Angelo. Stop it. Get some help.
00:18:36
Speaker
Stop. it get some help Yes! Yes, I got it! okay ra That's genuine. Genuine is still ticking, people. i mix up My bad. I'm mixeding up my mixing up my R&B legends. My bad. nothing happened there D'Angelo is is brown sugar lady.
00:18:57
Speaker
How does it feel? or Untitled as it was titled. no Devil's Pie. Yeah, that's D'Angelo, man.
00:19:08
Speaker
Cruiser. He remade Cruiser. Smokey's Cruiser. It's on point too. Okay. For sure. I don't actually know names of songs and I never have been one to know like titles of songs or even albums. Like I just I'll know them when I hear them.
00:19:22
Speaker
like even the albums I've ever had, like it's not one that I, no, I'm just like, not so much. No, I'm saying it's all good. that That's why you got your brethren here, you know? And another reason, yeah, that we have our brethren is every once in a while they need to tell us when to, shit shut you know, the hey, just zip it.
00:19:40
Speaker
And that's what we are also here to do. We've been blessed with that call to fellowship.
00:19:49
Speaker
and So we got some minutes to interesting ones. And once again, we'll let our guests lead the way. Let me hit a couple of these comments first, though. Let me tell you don't quite have enough for a retirement fund.
00:20:05
Speaker
That was from the Flacco and Aaron Rodgers. That's crazy. Big Ron, shout out to Big Ron. Charles Barkley ain't know what what he was talking about. I got Don from San Antonio. Oh, yeah.
00:20:16
Speaker
Talking about them um big old women down in San Antonio.
00:20:23
Speaker
and a Yeah, we let our Omar get to it. a Yeah, Mr. O'Reilly, you've been called to the floor. Charles Barkley, stop talking about my totes like that, okay? Get you a nice little totes, everything's going to be good, okay?
00:20:38
Speaker
it's Stop it. All right. Anyways, let's get. All right. So I didn't mean to make it political. Y'all watching out there and it's not a political one, but it does involve politics.
Stephen A. Smith's Political Engagement
00:20:50
Speaker
The other day, if you did not see it, Stephen A. Smith, Bill O'Reilly joined Chris Cuomo and a bunch of politicians for a town hall um to talk about just all different sorts of subjects.
00:21:04
Speaker
ah Look, it's great to have these town halls. You learn a lot from prospective people, especially Stephen A going out there and showing off his personality and also his intelligence and especially his knowledge when it comes to the political world. And I mean, hey, don't let me hold y'all.
00:21:21
Speaker
Stephen A. ain't far from being a presidential candidate in 2028. So there's reasons that he does things like this. Not that he would do it, but there's reasons that he does things like this, not only to increase his monetary worth, but also get his name out there more.
00:21:36
Speaker
So when he made the statement at one point, walking off the stage in a rush, he knew what he was doing. Stephen A. knew what he was doing. He was putting on a show for the crowd. That's a good show. That's a good point to make because it was poignant at the point that he did it, um you know advocating for the common man.
00:21:55
Speaker
But it's different when you take over the show and end up in some bland word salad ruminations. And you're taking over important topics, especially when you have two young men arguing over this racist, ah horrendous, abhorrent group chat that recently came out this week.
00:22:15
Speaker
You have two young men debating about this group chat. And you step in, step over the line. and start rambling like an old ass man for five damn minutes when don't nobody want to hear you ain't nobody come for your old ass so sit the fuck down and what
00:22:37
Speaker
do me a favor shut the fuck up Yeah, O'Reilly, he's also habitual, man. Hey, don't forget, we still need the sick loot on you. It's because of him a couple dollars.
00:22:48
Speaker
So, yeah, Bill O'Reilly, he's a habitual. He's from the old school of needing to shut fuck up. Hey, yo, that's wild, bro. Part of the HLS fraternity, huh? That's wild. And then another dude who is a cop, yeah, he's habitual, too.
00:23:05
Speaker
Mara. more No, you did not. I told you all not to do this to me. ah
00:23:16
Speaker
i mean, look, just some people, you know, they they do it to themselves. You know what I'm saying? ahmar left They get a microphone and and they start talking.
00:23:31
Speaker
Mid-range, off the dribble three, yeah step back, off the pick and roll. We're not talking about nothing. I'm just getting buckets. Right. I feel like game post-game, mid-game, elbow three, all the way out.
00:23:44
Speaker
I had no offensive weaknesses. Like not one. Take... all the top scorers take the best thing they do. Right. And you can take the best thing I do. See, the thing about me, you can't even tell me what's the best thing I do offensively because I think I do all of them the same. Really well.
Paul Pierce's NBA Legacy Debate
00:24:00
Speaker
You know what I'm saying? Like, you can say Curry, take the shooting ability away. Right.
00:24:04
Speaker
Okay. Jordan, what, his fadeaway or whatever? like you Like, what do you take away from me? Like, I can do... What's my greatest scoring strength? Nobody can even tell you because I did it all well.
00:24:17
Speaker
I'm push you to the three-point line. I won a three-point championship contest. I won a three-point contest. That ain't nobody guarding you, dude. I mean, I've dominated the games from the three. Yeah. Like, you know what saying? So I say it like that. And it's not a knock on the great scorers because I respect all of them.
00:24:34
Speaker
And, you know, want knock on Jordan because I respect Carmelo, Kobe, and all of them. But I'm like, I'm right there. Gassing that up. Don't be gassing.
00:24:45
Speaker
like paul pierce like you cool bro like you had a solid career bro like but ain't nobody in basketball world ever talk about your name with them names that you talking about never ain't nobody put you no conversation with no kobe ain't no put to it ain't nobody putting on conversation with no with no with no jordan ain't nobody putting you no conversation with no staff with no kd and don't do that I know you feeling yourself, that's cool.
00:25:12
Speaker
You did that. You had a nice career. Enjoy what you had. But stop stop this fooling this talk. Now I feel like you click baiting me. Now I feel like you click baiting me. Ain't nobody annoying that now the nail another hood. The part about you, no barbershop.
00:25:33
Speaker
What? No workplace. Ain't nobody, a man, pop here man. I take him over COVID, never. Hey man, I take him over on Jordan, never.
00:25:46
Speaker
I take him over Steph, never. I take him Kate, never.
00:25:54
Speaker
Hey man.
00:26:00
Speaker
Crazy though. Do me a favor, shut the fuck up.
00:26:08
Speaker
I gotta to go with you. Come on. you you You can love Paul Pierce all you want. He is not the most efficient scorer in the history of the NBA.
00:26:23
Speaker
He was sipping on that little party he had. He had to be sipping on that thing hard. Like, come on, man. No, i think I think he had some ah i think he had him some glass going.
00:26:35
Speaker
thank That was 48 was popping for him or something. I don't know. Come on, Paul.
00:26:49
Speaker
He said it with conviction like he meant it, too. And that's that's the problem. that that Yeah, that's that's the sad part. He means it. And I ain't, look, I ain't gonna knock nobody, you know, swag, you know, you feeling that way about yourself.
00:27:03
Speaker
ah Cool. But let's be real. Is Paul Pierce even a top five Celtic? Top ten even? There's conversations to be had.
00:27:15
Speaker
I mean, that's a long list of greats. I mean, I'll let i'll let the Celtics fans fight that battle, but. Yeah. ah We can't handle it. Omar's so mad he shut his mic off. oh I thought y'all could hear me the whole time. No, no, I will not let this happen any longer. I thought y'all were hearing me the whole time. no No, this will not happen any longer. No, I will not, will not allow the besmirchment of the great name of Paul Anthony Pierce.
00:27:47
Speaker
be taken down and denigrated on this, what I used to call a moral standing program. I do not call this a moral standing, you got no morals on this program.
00:28:03
Speaker
You bring a guest on I thought I was supposed to be special. And then you railroad me with Paul Pierce pictures of his worst time in his life. You couldn't have just given him a moment of respect, let him have some time.
00:28:19
Speaker
No, you had to take him out at like his knee got taken out. And now you're trying to rob him. of the legacy that he has set as one of the most efficient scorers in the history of the nba <unk> i cannot believe that you have said all of these things and don't get into standings as a celtic he is a top three celtic of all time and there is no that okay
00:28:51
Speaker
your face You know what, AP? No. I'm not letting this happen anymore. Man, if you would have caught me when the Celtics were, when Paul Pierce on the Celtics, we were battling the Lakers all the time. Shit, I was the one saying Paul Pierce was better than Kobe.
00:29:04
Speaker
That was me. That was me on the block saying that. I got a challenge. I got a challenge flag on. challenge I got a challenge flag. I got all four of my Pierce jerseys here. What, you want more of the Pierce jerseys? You want me to bring all of them out? No, wouldn't i wouldn't put him I wouldn't put them top three. If I was going top top three Celtics, Bird would be one.
00:29:27
Speaker
That's pretty. Yeah, Bird would be one. ah Russell would be two. As a matter fact, no, screw that. Russell would be one. um Bird would be two.
00:29:39
Speaker
Mm-hmm. I would honestly put Reggie Lewis above Paul Pierce. That's crazy. I just think he was taken too soon. Wow. Rest in power to Reggie Lewis. Reggie Lewis would have been able to finish his career.
00:29:54
Speaker
We could be having a... a Well, and rest in power to Lem Bias, if he was able to get his career started, they said he might have been better Michael Jordan. But things happen in life. Yeah, but we don't move. I have i have NBA proof of of Reggie Lewis giving MJ the business and shutting him down on the other end.
00:30:11
Speaker
I got proof of that. I i have proof of Paul Pierce beating your beloved Kobe for a championship. So what? What are talking about right now? I'm not. Nothing. I don't want to say I'm a Kobe fan. man I'm a Cavs fan.
00:30:23
Speaker
That Morris Kobe guy. But, i yeah, I mean, there's Pierce, but. As a basketball player, fine. But, I mean, he even getting like Reggie Lewis' game is better than Paul Pierce's.
00:30:36
Speaker
I mean, i don't think so. I think Paul Pierce probably a taller Reggie Lewis, if you're a being honest. But, I mean. Maybe he didn't made maybe it move as fast or as quick as him or have the agility, but I think he he was better, if not in anything else.
00:30:49
Speaker
Yeah, but ah co um' ah I'm pretty sure Kobe pays our back, though. You know. He did. Well, if Kendrick Perkins not got hurt, we would have won that championship. We ain't going to talk about that. We ain't going to talk about that. If Big Perk wouldn't have got hurt, if Big Perk wouldn't have got hurt, we don't want hear nothing about that. All right.
00:31:10
Speaker
It's good. We all hyped up on basketball. I love it. But before we turn it over full time. Hold on. Paul Pierce's career shooting percentage places him among the top shooters in NBA history with an overall shooting percentage of 44.5 on twos and 36.8 on threes. So I don't want to say You said 46? He was not a 40 per six.
00:31:31
Speaker
You can say 46. I said 36. Okay. I'm in surgery. My apologies. No, you good? You good? I'm just saying. He up there. He ain't number one. No, he's not. Steph Curry, of course not.
00:31:43
Speaker
He know not to say that. That's clickbait. But he up there. He up there. I I don't know because I'm trying to work with top shooting percentages and I can't find it. JaVale McGee is up there.
00:31:57
Speaker
air what everybody Everybody playing the NBA is up there. But the question is where? Yeah.
00:32:07
Speaker
But, hey, let's keep these basketball energy high. But before we get to that, let me close out the STFUs with, ah and I hate to do it because y'all know how I feel about this dude.
00:32:18
Speaker
But, ah you know, again, we are here, and it's all love. Sometimes you got to tell the people you love. um sit for And so Mike Tomlin, what he did was he spoke out of turn.
00:32:29
Speaker
And, uh, He kind of went at ah RGM for trading Joe Flacco to the Bengals. oh And see, ah the thing that hurts about this is Mike Tomlin is one of the greatest coaches for for keeping his players from ah giving other teams that bulletin board material, right?
00:32:54
Speaker
he He keeps his players in check. They don't speak out of turn most times, more often than not. and He fell victim to his own trap when he spoke an RGM You know saying well he must be smarter than than me or us ah Why would you you you trade you the quarterback that you thought was still good enough to start week one?
00:33:20
Speaker
To a team who was lacking in that area Well, I'll tell you why Mike Tomlin is because more than likely When Joe Flacco got benched up here because he was throwing, I don't know, two interceptions per game and got benched.
NBA Trade and Injury Impact
00:33:34
Speaker
Maybe they came to a gentleman's agreement, Mike, and said, you know what? Hey, we know this is probably your last year plan. So, hey, if we can find a trade for you or if you can go out there and you and your agent can find a trade for you, we would try to make that happen for you.
00:33:48
Speaker
And guess what? Somebody picked up the phone. It just so happened to be the Cincinnati Bengals. And guess what? We didn't have time to waste. We have two rookie quarterbacks that we need to play see play this season.
00:34:01
Speaker
And so, you know, we had to free up that roster spot and move Joe out of the way so Shador could be the backup. Yeah, it happened to be the Bengals. It sucks to go in division, but guess what?
00:34:14
Speaker
We're trash. We don't care who the trade comes with. Just give us the extra draft capital and we'll be happy happy to do that. Win-win for us. ah But what you did, Mr. Mike T, is as much as I love you, bro, you kind of showed the chink in your armor.
00:34:32
Speaker
Because by talking that crap, you didn't really embarrass us or put us on front street. What you showed us, you're afraid of Joe Flacco.
00:34:44
Speaker
And with good reason. Because Joe Flacco proceeded to embarrass your defense all night long. ah with the help of Jamar Chase, by the way, and T. Higgins, who almost had 100 yards.
00:35:00
Speaker
um He dog walked, no pun intended, your defense all up and down the field with the help of Jamar Chase and T. Higgins and Noah Fant.
00:35:13
Speaker
So, um you know, my T. in the future, you're just a coach. And not to say that you couldn't be a good GM, but you haven't decided it. We're trying to demonstrate that skill.
00:35:25
Speaker
You just want to coach football. And that's great because you're a great coach. So when it comes to the ways and activities and how people operate in the front office, especially outside of the city of Pittsburgh, do me the biggest favor.
00:35:42
Speaker
Do me a favor. Shut the fuck up. And pay attention to the Steelers, bro. play vote to Concentrate on playing varsity football against the Bengals. That's what you do.
00:35:53
Speaker
o that's what we like to do right my time you know yeah you know that's varsity football right there yeah it wasn't varsity last night like damn middle school defense y'all's playing my damn son go out there could go out there and do three touchdown passes on y'all defense
00:36:13
Speaker
so yeah
00:36:19
Speaker
ah Yeah, man, always fun. And now that we got that out of the I mean, i i feel like I feel like that's a little bit of just interdivisional rivalry hate, too, though. I feel like most people wouldn't even have known about that news story that don't that don't even follow. in I mean, we heard about it because we're football fans, but I mean, like most people out of that conference would have never even heard of about that story.
00:36:40
Speaker
Yeah, like I say, it showed more chinks in his armor than it did damage to us. Like, he thought he was getting at us. when she's in your armor that you're getting letting him get you upset in a decision. Right.
00:36:52
Speaker
Like, ain't nobody nobody and anybody worried about the Browns, don't we? The only thing people worried about in the Browns is Shadir Sanders. Ain't nobody give a damn about Joe Flacco until Mike Tomlin says something. As matter of fact, again, he was averaging two interceptions a game.
00:37:07
Speaker
You should have been looking forward to playing Joe Flacco. But we see why you weren't. So...
00:37:15
Speaker
And one more coming in from AP. You know that defense is booty juice. So why is everyone trying to embarrass the Browns anyway? They do that to themselves enough. You know where at? You were also a victim of the STFU.
00:37:29
Speaker
Don't you become a repeat offender. Hey, I got plenty to say about the Cowboys now. You know, before we get into the real talk, one more time, do us the biggest favor.
00:37:44
Speaker
Hit that like button, subscribe, and turn the notifications on as we now get into. That 25-26 NBA season preview. This is going be a weird season, man.
00:37:58
Speaker
there While there are a few good basketball teams, may be great. We have to see. um This might be, don't know about throughout, but coming into the season, I think this is like the most injury-riddled season i've experienced i can't remember so many big name players being injured coming into the season like i've seen seasons where we seen them get hurt during but i've never seen it where we came into the season and bit like we got tatum out we got halliburton out we got kyrie out we just dudes are just not there um how big of an impact
00:38:37
Speaker
Do you guys just off the rip just just see injuries ah playing in this season?
00:38:48
Speaker
hey Go ahead. hey Go ahead. Go ahead. You do this. Okay. My bad. Oh, okay. My bad. You ain't got to mute yourself. Huge, huge, huge, huge, huge. Look, y'all, in terms of the NBA, we just talked about it earlier with the WNBA and their new media rights deal.
00:39:05
Speaker
Everybody has media rights that they need to... get deals on and then live up to. Because if not, their next media deal ain't going to be as good. And right now, when you're looking at this, last season, we saw the beginning of the decrease in ratings in the NBA.
00:39:23
Speaker
We heard, oh, is it due to the three-point shot? Is it due to the amount of gains? Is it this? Is it that? Whatever it is that people think it is, in theory, the problem is that ratings decreased whether you like it or not.
00:39:37
Speaker
Now you're going to have a season that, excuse me, as you mentioned, one and we're going into a season and as you mentioned is now riddled with injuries.
00:39:51
Speaker
Well, what's going to happen when all your top superstars are out? Most people are going to tune out, especially the casual fans. The casual fans are what boost up your Saturday audience.
00:40:03
Speaker
Other days where mainstream games are on. And when you have teams like Boston, Indiana losing their superstars, it does take people out of the game. Now, Is he going to take the hardcore out? No. I already re-upped to my league pass for all the teams so I can watch all of them because I love basketball.
00:40:22
Speaker
But I'll also be watching my Celtics every day. I know we're going to suck, but I want to see the development. I want to see if Jalen Brown can at least carry us to a playoff spot, which I believe that he can. oh neither here nor there.
00:40:34
Speaker
It is very important to them because if their ratings continue to decrease, their next media rights deal will not be worth as much. um And they're already losing out right now to the NFL.
00:40:46
Speaker
The NFL keeps coming in and stealing all of their main days. They already took Christmas or they already took ah Thanksgiving. Now they're taking Christmas. Like you've got to put your foot down. You've got to have something else.
00:40:58
Speaker
And if you're already losing ratings, And now you have a bunch of people out there bring the ratings. I don't know y'all. Math was my favorite subject, but I'm no mathematician, but one plus one equals two, not three. So I don't know. Great point, man. now I never thought that perspective before. Absolutely right though. If if your best players aren't around, you know, it can cause a dip in viewership. And I mean, they're already faced dipping viewership during the regular season.
00:41:27
Speaker
Mark, what about what's your thoughts on the early injuries? No, Omar really pretty much the majority of the talking points, when i especially when it comes to that. Because, I mean, they're just as much as a sports entertainment entity, just as much as the NFL, Major League Baseball, WWE.
00:41:47
Speaker
So it's all about trying to maximize your your your dollar figures when it comes to viewership. so oh But ah to me, it also kind of hurts the, a well, I don't want to assume that because there are times where if there's a certain superstar, you know, that is missing, it it gives opportunities for it somebody else to showcase their talents.
00:42:10
Speaker
But, yeah I mean, but it does at the same time ah change the quality of basketball because, hey, some of these guys are, you know, they're box office and they're they're missing.
00:42:21
Speaker
Right. Right. That's a certain quality of basketball that you're just not getting no matter how you how you try to spin it. um But what it also does is kind of, you know, gives some teams that's kind of been on the cusp of, you know, being playoff ready or not. It might give them an opportunity because now there there might be a certain, you know, there was a certain gap that started kind of you know, shorten it.
00:42:52
Speaker
So I I'd be another team that might, you know, sneak their way in and make some noise, you know, so yes, that's up, though. All right, I'm gonna go division by division, you know, talk about real quick, real quick for you all, though, would that not be a testament to what you just said, though, Mar? And wouldn't that just increase decrease the quality of play. Now, next time around, we might have a Wizards team sneak into the back end of the play in tournament, or we might have and not would Well, even, you know, i'm getting little I'm getting a little too wild with that. I was trying to trying to help out my D.C. peoples, but that's okay. oh you know You get what I'm saying, though, right? Because those those better teams that were the top of the tier last time, but some of them won't be there.
00:43:39
Speaker
Like you said, that elevates the bottom teams, but that also also elevates the or decreases the quality by elevating those bad teams. Yeah. So, I mean, just at once.
00:43:51
Speaker
or Or it can make them raise a game. Like sometimes sometimes when you don't think something is attainable and you actually attain it, it makes it's going to make you want it that much more.
00:44:05
Speaker
I want that feeling again. out That was nice. So it could make them step their game up for the future. You would hope. Also, that's for the team and player standpoint.
00:44:16
Speaker
For the league as a whole,
00:44:21
Speaker
you now got to change your focus. um Instead of going to the same... I know we go through it every year. Why are the Celtics on TV every night? Why why are the Lakers on TV? Okay, now...
00:44:32
Speaker
hey, we need to show Apollo down in Orlando. We need to show Trae Young. We need to show what's going on in Dallas with Cooper Flett. We need to show, hey, the Cavaliers got something going. we need We saw that last year happening to happen, happen, no, we need to show.
00:44:46
Speaker
I think we had 11 games on TV that we weren't supposed to be on TV. They gave us 11 extra in the middle of the season when we got on that 20-game win streak. Like, hey, we need to see Ant-Man. You know, iss it's going to make them – It's gonna force the NBA to develop new stars.
00:45:04
Speaker
So that's a great point. Yeah, so we really good work in that direction When I say their point I can do that Yeah, but, you know, I will do it. Go division by division. Now, can they step up? You know what I mean? Can they step up? We'll see if they can. That's the question. Can Trey finally elevate his team to the playoff? He coming out with songs with Quavo and 2 Chainz like he a rapper. Get out of here and focus on basketball, fool.
00:45:34
Speaker
that That is the question. Pause from that on that podcast. Who was that that got up all up in him? Getting him upset? Y'all see that? ah I do not pay attention to Trey Young.
00:45:46
Speaker
Until he shows me he can do something other than win a game in the garden. What's the little defender? Oh, Pat Bev? Yeah, Pat Bev and him got into like a video war. I didn't watch of them, but they were going back and forth talking shit about each other.
00:46:02
Speaker
Shit was kind of funny. Pat Bev is hilarious. Yeah. but oh man go ah you good You're good. you good Speaking of Trey and Paolo, we're going to start right there with the ah Southeast Division.
00:46:18
Speaker
Paolo, definitely looking like he next in line. We got Miami. ki I mean, what is Pat doing, man? Does he have a plan for the future? this This is not your same reload and retool heat team.
00:46:30
Speaker
okay Can Charlotte ever get it right? What are they doing? And the Wizards, man, like what's going on? Is is this the ah Orlando invitation?
00:46:44
Speaker
How are we feeling about this division out the gate?
00:46:49
Speaker
Is it me? Do you want to start with me? Go for it. Okay. You know, we talked about this on my NBA season preview. We did it on Ball and Buds, Bobby G. But we talked about how Orlando may have, at that point in time, been the actual favorite as we went through all the teams in the East trying to figure out who might be good enough to take over that spot or at least compete with your beloved Cleveland Cavaliers.
00:47:19
Speaker
um But, right, it's a whole new season. We can't trust what we saw last season. Even Cleveland winning as many games as they did proved, ah you know, that to all of our teams, you know what I'm saying, that it does not matter.
00:47:35
Speaker
One game, one play can take a whole team out. And that's what we're seeing is now that there have been so many injuries that we talked about, it's going to be an invitational. Now, will it be invitational solely for the Orlando Magic?
00:47:53
Speaker
I actually would like to disagree. Now, I assume that we're giving picks at the end of the show, so I'm not going to give mine now. Going and as we go along, we're doing division by division. Oh, so I can... Well, I was talking about, like, my Eastern Conference champion. oh yeah, we would say that today. we We'll hold off on that. Okay.
00:48:10
Speaker
Well, in this division, yes, this is the Orlando Invitational. You were correct about the heat. Pat Riley needs to make a move. um He had the chance...
00:48:21
Speaker
To get Kevin Durant, he didn't do it. Fine, you don't want to necessarily bank on old legs. Well, what are you going to do now? Are you going to go out and get Giannis? Because that's your best shot at this point in time to to be able to field championship-level team.
00:48:37
Speaker
because um you don't have one right now, just strictly with, you know, look, ain't going hate on Bam and the rest of the crew, my brother, Triple J, Jaime, Jaquez, Jr. But, you know, yeah, it is the Orlandos to lose. The hope is that Trey can finally, as I just, know I guess that was a good segue on my part.
00:48:57
Speaker
That Trey can actually get the ah Hawks over the hump. I mean, if if it's this open, you should at least, at least be in the top six seats. if you're if you're If you're a Hawks team led by Trey Young, in your eye in your mind, at least.
00:49:11
Speaker
at least um The Wizards, my hometown team, will always suck for the foreseeable future because their ownership only their ownership cares more about the Capitals than anything else.
00:49:23
Speaker
um And LaMelo Ball, no matter how much I love the Ball family as a UCLA fan, and um yeah, they're never going to be anything.
00:49:34
Speaker
Michael Jordan realized that. That's why he got out when the getting is good. ah He's going to sell that team at some point. Or he already has sold it. and We're in the process. I'll go for it more.
00:49:48
Speaker
ah This is an easy division. It's Orlando's to lose, in my opinion. I think the Heat will try to compete for it. um But Atlanta and Charlotte and Washington will be fighting for last.
00:50:01
Speaker
More than likely, Washington is going to get that honor. i I just see it that way.
NBA Division Analysis and Predictions
00:50:06
Speaker
You think Atlanta will be that low? I'm sorry. I don't mean to step. Do you think Atlanta will be that low? I don't think Trey's going to finish there.
00:50:14
Speaker
OK. Oh, wow. OK. I don't think we saw it. They're already what saying that they're not even going to bother having contract negotiations.
00:50:25
Speaker
So I mean, they they just shut it down. So you think he's going to have a deadline? Wait. If I may, um he may get traded. But I believe I saw they signed him to an extension today.
00:50:38
Speaker
What was the date? I believe that news came out today. Yep. I think that news came out earlier today, if I am not mistaken. I believe so. I saw an email. I thought about it. Let me see if I still have mygiving man man my email. I said, Hawks, Trae Young receives bad news on possible contract extension.
00:50:57
Speaker
Oh, is that what it is? swear I did. My bad. didn't mean to interrupt. I swear I saw that email. That's what I saw. You might have seen something that I did. but No, I mean, look, I think...
00:51:11
Speaker
Charlotte, I like what what Miller and Lamello are doing. A guard combo that they got going on. But I don't know. They just never can make nothing really mature and turn into anything. So hopefully they can sell some tickets.
00:51:31
Speaker
yeah oh But yeah, this this is Orlando. pa a I just need Paulo to stay healthy, man. Yeah. get him get a full season if he do he won't ball out I can see it now yeah from what I just saw basically didn't get the deal done is he can't sign there maybe I read that wrong yeah all I see is he has to wait till the offseason if you my bad y'all if maybe I read that wrong well are you good you good damn that's two today two strong almost out y'all I got three stacks you out Jesus of Lee there you go
00:52:09
Speaker
Hey, for me, I'm with you both. I think this is Orlando's division for the taking. Paolo, what can I say about the young man? He's for my own team. He's the only power forward in the league I would I would trade Evan Mobley for.
00:52:23
Speaker
The dude is just talented. um I do have a surprise. though Look out. I must say look out for the Wizards, man. oh You got CJ McCollum. Hey, now you acquired Chris Middleton. These are two veterans. They've been to the postseason. Chris Middleton's the champion.
00:52:38
Speaker
You get them and them young fellas, man. You get them and them're them young fellas. That's sweet. Hey, look out for them to make a run at that 10 spot. i'm not saying they'll be one of the top eight, but they can make a run at the 10 and be in the play-in.
00:52:52
Speaker
ah this this about Again, This is kind of what Omar was talking about, talking about the entire league. One of those teams raising up somewhere where they shouldn't be because of the injury situation.
00:53:06
Speaker
They can take advantage of You got to see CJ's not trying to go there and play losing basketball. I don't think neither is Chris Middleton. They're either going to be plan trying to play their way into a trade at the deadline to to get to a contender, but they're gonna be playing ball.
00:53:19
Speaker
I think they'll kind of take the challenge like Chris Paul did when he got traded to the Thunder. Everybody thought it was just loss and he was to try and get out there. No, he turned the boys in into winners. Now, I don't think they'll have that effect, you know, to where, because the Thunder was super competitive that season.
00:53:35
Speaker
i see Yeah, them making a plan at the 10 spot wouldn't sp surprise me. oh The Hornets, yeah, they got issues. They just and need to manage.
00:53:48
Speaker
It just needs it's like a daycare. Like for real, like what one day they have to grow up one day. They got to grow up as a team and and and start, you know, playing. We we.
00:54:00
Speaker
We're going to lose interest in the behind-the-back pass. We're going to lose interest in the between-leg, off-the-back board, alley-oop on the fast-break mellow. That ain't going to work, man. We need you getting to get into some playoff games. like We need to start winning playing winning basketball.
00:54:12
Speaker
All that cute stuff, you're getting older, and not younger. That cute stuff, yeah. Hey, we are cute when we're babies. When we get up, air everybody's looking for foul. That's not usually how Pat Riley does things.
00:54:25
Speaker
He keeps things tight to the vest and in-house. That was out loud. That was in public. People kind of saw how you operate. And in this era of player empowerment, dudes ain't going for that.
00:54:37
Speaker
So, you know, do people really want to go to Miami anymore? You know, you've lost some superstars. Who have you brought in recently? You know what mean?
00:54:51
Speaker
Atlanta, tre yeah, I just need you to do. need Trey. His career highlight can't be, hey, I won a game in the Garden. that that's over. We get it. you You can score in the garden. You can beat the Knicks.
00:55:05
Speaker
Can you beat the you beat the Bucks when it matters? Can you beat the Pistons? Can you beat the Knicks? Can you beat the Cavs? Yeah, you can beat the Knicks in the garden, but that that that can't be your only resume point. so oh and that was ah that was And not the new Knicks that they had in the Eastern Conference Finals last year. so Yeah, this Knicks team, they got five All-Stars in the starting lineup.
00:55:32
Speaker
How the hell did that happen? But yeah, I got Orlando winning it probably. Depends on how Jalen Johnson comes back and when he comes back.
00:55:43
Speaker
oh I can see the Hawks finishes and the Heat fighting for that two spot. yeah Which are two Delphi's second or third. With the Wizards fourth and the Hornets fifth.
00:55:57
Speaker
no Moving on.
00:56:02
Speaker
The Atlantic. Guys, by the way, I just want to say I apologize for bringing incorrect information on your show. I read that incorrectly. They will not. Yes, you are correct. Will not talk this season before the season.
00:56:16
Speaker
I was talking. good player Players fuck up. You know saying? There you go. Be so hard on yourself, guy. i'm i'm having a bad game, man. I'm having a bad game. I'm just thinking about my mistakes. I'm like, shit, I've been thinking about this all night.
00:56:28
Speaker
anyway ah Atlantic Division. Obviously, we know what's going on with the Celtics. Jason Tatum, possibly out for the entire year. ah The Nets, what are we doing here?
00:56:41
Speaker
The Knicks, the new era. Mike Brown, Tibbs out. Mike Brown in. ah Philly, are we restarting the process? And the Raptors.
00:56:55
Speaker
What? I don't know what they're trying to do. They just got a hodgepodge of what the fuck likes going on. oh Amar, you kicked this one off, man. what What are we looking for with this division?
00:57:09
Speaker
Who you got winning? It's Knicks. This is the time. No, this is the time. ah it's ra If Boston is down, all right, ah you and like you just described the other teams in there, like, what are you feeling? they Don't know what you are.
00:57:29
Speaker
hey You don't know if you even don't get Joel Embiid for any point at the time of this season. ah He's bound to get hurt. i Brooklyn, you don't Mass, Toronto, Mass.
00:57:43
Speaker
This is the time. There lot of things that are going in your favor right now, and you are the only sign of stability in this division right now. Yeah. yeah Like, come on.
00:57:55
Speaker
Next. If you don't win this division, man, shut it down. Matter of fact, explode it up. Blow it up. Because this ain't going to work.
00:58:07
Speaker
Because if this roster can't take this division this year with a lot of factors working in their favor, blow it up.
00:58:18
Speaker
Big, big facts, man. You told no lies yet.
00:58:23
Speaker
ah to to What's your finishing order? um
00:58:32
Speaker
I know. I know Boston is down. Tatum, but I think they'll still compete. You know, can't still can't. There's a lot of championship DNA that's on their roster. and So I ain't just going to sit down and fold.
00:58:49
Speaker
Right. So I got the picking up second. By default, Toronto third.
00:59:01
Speaker
Billy Worth and Brooklyn fifth. no
00:59:08
Speaker
Sports professor, what got? Yes, yes, indeedy. I know this division quite well with my champion, most world championships, shall I say, in the NBA. Boston Celtics, where we have the legacy and the likes of great Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Paul Anthony Pierce,
00:59:36
Speaker
Jason Tatum. That was for you, Mark. Jason Tatum. And Jalen Brown. And Jalen Brown, my friends, is not a number two like everybody wants to call him. No, no, no, no, no.
00:59:51
Speaker
He just hadn't had the chance to shine and show he is a bona fide. Numero uno on this basketball court. Now, let's start at the bottom of this division.
01:00:02
Speaker
Doesn't really matter. Brooklyn, Toronto, both suck. Not going to anything. Moving on. I'm going to have to flip that order, though, ah from Marr between Philadelphia and Toronto. And I believe that a Tyrese Maxey-led team that may even be able to get some healthy games.
01:00:22
Speaker
ah possibly out of some of those older veteran players we talked about. um yeah You know, if they can get any games out of the rest of that core, then that'll be nothing but a help to possibly move them up further. But I think Philadelphia does take that third spot.
01:00:39
Speaker
And... Drum roll please, the number one spot in the Eastern Conference will go to the Boston! No!
01:00:49
Speaker
It will the hell not. We suck. We'll take second in the New York Knicks.
01:00:57
Speaker
All right, all right. And I actually think Philly could get above us, too, depending on how healthy they are throughout the season. Take that for what you want.
01:01:09
Speaker
Nah, I got more faith in the Celtics than that. But i do I do see in the Knicks winning division. ah if If they don't win the division now, then win. Like, it's just one of those situations.
01:01:22
Speaker
Even though, um to me, the biggest question mark is Mike Brown. Mike Brown had
01:01:33
Speaker
has done, he hasn't done the greatest things outside of LeBron James. A bulk of his success who's with LeBron James is his best player. And I know because I watched it in col Cleveland.
01:01:45
Speaker
um I don't know if he's approved his ability to get it done in the playoffs. and Bro, you got fired by Kobe. That's a huge indictment for most coaches.
01:01:56
Speaker
You got fired by Kobe.
01:02:00
Speaker
Yeah, man. i don't...
01:02:05
Speaker
I don't know. I'm kind of... I like the Mike Brown hire because if the Cavs and Knicks meet in the playoffs, I know exactly what to expect.
01:02:17
Speaker
yeah I know exactly what to expect from the Knicks if that happens. That's why I like the hire. But um he will.
01:02:31
Speaker
He will. He still. a lot of A lot of things they do and they're used to as Knicks fans will probably remain the same because Mike Brown is a de defense he's ah ah defense guy. you know Comes from that that pop lineage.
01:02:45
Speaker
um And that's one thing we did. All his teams, do they they they defend very well, above average.
01:02:55
Speaker
Cat, can we get ah some consistency? We're going to need you on the inside a little bit more. And it like ah that's almost ah thought like Cat doesn't really shoot as much as people think.
01:03:08
Speaker
He uses the outside to get to the inside, but I need you to sometimes start on the inside. i don't need you i don't need to see you pump and go the outside. I need you to turn your back to the basket, go down there, and receive the entry pass sometimes.
01:03:24
Speaker
um OG and McHale. Can they continue to lock down on on the perimeter? And Brunson. I think Brunson has to become more of a distributor.
01:03:39
Speaker
During the regular season so he can get these guys ready. Because in the playoffs, it can't just be the Jalen Brunson show. They tried that. And it didn't work. Not because he can't do it. because I mean, he's just like said, he's going to wear down. And if he wears down, you know. With your offense. Exactly.
01:03:57
Speaker
um The Celtics, again, don't think they're going to be as bad as people think. I think they'll still be a playoff team. I think they... Ironically, I think they could potentially compete for the three or four seed.
01:04:10
Speaker
Three seed at best. um That's just what injuries have done to the East. um If Jalen Brunson is really like that, if he really is a number one, yeah, I think they could still compete to be a three or four seed in the East.
01:04:23
Speaker
If he is that number two, I still think they they have enough, and I think zo Missoula is good enough as a coach. They'll definitely make playoffs. Philly. Philly. My high take is if I'm Philly, I'm trading with Joel Embiid.
01:04:38
Speaker
I need to get him off my books, off my roster, out of my city. Like, why why is he there? it's It's so time to cut bait with that. Like, got you Yeah, you got to start fresh, man. It's over.
01:04:51
Speaker
I mean, you shouldve yeah, should have yeah it's been it's it's way overdue. I completely agree. Yeah. I may try and move Paul George as well. Let's just cut. Let's move forward. Let's build around Maxie. Let's build around Vijay Edgecombe.
01:05:04
Speaker
And, you know, let's move let's move forward. Let's move on. ah With the Raptors, the Raptors, i i I think the Raptors and the Nets are ironically in the same boat. Like, what are we trying to do?
01:05:19
Speaker
yeah You traded Pascal. It looked like you were going to try and build around Scotty Barnes. I love Scotty Barnes. But then you go get Brandon Ingram. You might as well have kept Pascal Siakam.
01:05:33
Speaker
At least he gives you defense. And actually better durability too. Yeah. And he's a champion. Like basketball is probably literally top five in your franchise history.
01:05:47
Speaker
Like, so I need to know what the plan is. Brooklyn, same thing. I need to know what the plan is. Because, yes, Cam Thomas is a bucket getter, but he You can't build a franchise around him.
01:06:00
Speaker
Michael Porter Jr., you're not building a franchise around him. And it's just like you have all these draft picks. Now and what what is the plan? What are we doing?
01:06:11
Speaker
So, yeah, I got the Knicks winning in. I got the, um I'm going to Celtics. I think the Celtics are in the second. Second is the reason I got the Raptors finished third, Philly fourth, and Nets fifth.
01:06:27
Speaker
And next is the division with the future Eastern Conference champion. ah such Central division.
01:06:39
Speaker
Omar, let you lead it off, man. ah I mean, look. The Cavs being the front runners last year are obviously should be considered in the front running here this year.
01:06:56
Speaker
ah You can't, oh you can never, excuse count out Giannis Antetokounmpo. yeah and And the great, may I add, the great, and I don't need to hear anything from Hot Take Jake or anyone else, the great, the great,
01:07:13
Speaker
Glenn Dock Rivers, one of the greatest coaches of all time. You can't count out the Milwaukee. Don't look at me like that, Mark.
01:07:23
Speaker
The Milwaukee Bucks. What? Indiana Pacers, as you mentioned, Pascal Siakam. Look, they were a good team. um And yes, obviously, Halliburton made them a better team, but...
01:07:37
Speaker
I think they were still a pretty decent team without him, sort of thing like the Celtics too, with like Jalen Brown. You still have a fringe number one that can, as long as the rest of the team is built around them properly, take that next step.
01:07:52
Speaker
And then the young guys in Detroit only keep moving up every year and getting better. So we're looking at Cade Cunningham and that crew to obviously ah continue to ascend. But I would say...
01:08:06
Speaker
ah that's That's tough to say who's going to. I'll say the Bulls bring up the rear. I would say Detroit in four.
01:08:16
Speaker
I will say Indiana three. Milwaukee. Oh, no. You know what? I don't know. That Detroit, Indiana has got me. Milwaukee two and Cavs one for me on this. All right.
01:08:31
Speaker
Mark. I give me calves.
01:08:40
Speaker
Detroit.
01:08:44
Speaker
Yeah, I'm cool with that. Detroit.
01:08:49
Speaker
Milwaukee, Indiana and Chicago brings up the red game.
01:08:57
Speaker
i and
01:09:01
Speaker
No disrespect to your squad, Bobby. You know, yeah I can't keep having, man. Detroit is good. Hey, man, if K can get them boys going too, yeah, you can always look out for them. But, yeah, that's how i got the order for that for that Central Division right there.
01:09:19
Speaker
Fair, fair. oh
01:09:23
Speaker
it's this I think this might be the toughest division in basketball um overall, top to bottom. Like light the Bulls, I don't see them making the playoffs, but they're not going to be an easy win on nightly basis, man. They got some guys who can play basketball and they play good together.
01:09:38
Speaker
especially with Giddy running a point. Kobe coming off the bench, he's giving me 20 off the bench. So, yeah, they ain't going to be an easy win on nightly basis. obviously was got us I still got us taking the division.
01:09:51
Speaker
um As disappointing as last season was For me, it was still a successful season because ah most Cavs and here is like Cavs fans don't listen to what they think or say.
01:10:11
Speaker
If they listen to what they think or say, they can't call last season the disappointment because most most Cav seasons would have been like, hey, if the Cavs losing the playoffs to the Celtics, I'm good with that. Why? Because they thought the Celtics were going to go to the finals.
01:10:27
Speaker
Well, guess what? We lost to a fate to the Pacers. And the Pacers went to the finals. So it did like they did exactly what you thought they'd do. They just did it to it was a different team. so But now the entire team understands the severity of the of the situation, which is should it get off the pot?
01:10:44
Speaker
Like this is this. The universe could not have rolled you a better red carpet. Hey, we took care of Jason Tatum for you. we We took care of a Halliburton for you. um Milwaukee's in disarray.
01:10:58
Speaker
yeah like it's you you Orlando still playing catch up.
01:11:05
Speaker
The Pistons really shouldn't be a threat in theory, but here it is. Here's the East. All you got to can you beat the Knicks in seven games? Which is how this whole this is how how this whole thing started.
01:11:17
Speaker
A few years ago, us losing in the first round to the Knicks. And that's what brought all the questions about our supposedly core four. Well, you know, you got to exercise your demons if you want to take that step, right?
01:11:29
Speaker
Jordan had to get through Pistons. You know, Shaq and Kobe had to get through Spurs. and but Like, air everybody's got their demons. Can we beat the Knicks in the playoffs? That's the only thing people care about.
01:11:40
Speaker
And from all the interviews and just watching people in offseason, it's on their mind. They're conscious of it, and they know about it. And I love that. You know what you have to do. Get it done.
01:11:51
Speaker
And I think we can. I got the pen the Pistons finishing second of the division. I can say, J.B. Biggestaff is one of the most underrated coaches in this league. ah track We are where we are because he built the foundation. um Kenny Atkinson is just benefiting from that.
01:12:13
Speaker
He's doing the same thing in Detroit. And, yo, if you have never seen Cade Cunningham play basketball, Do yourself favorite. Yeah, because whatever you think about SGA, K can be better than that, and that's crazy to think of.
01:12:29
Speaker
That is crazy to think of. um Yeah, I don't know that I would go that far, but yeah. he can't Look at this guy. he He's a better shooter. as He's a better natural shooter. I mean, I've watched him play. I just think all around, though, SGA is the better. Yeah, right now. Right now. under sure Right now. I'm saying like three, four years from now, though.
01:12:50
Speaker
Possibly. He's a good player, no doubt. Yeah. The biggest question for me for them is when does Jaden Ivey come back and how quickly can he re-acclimate himself to the team?
01:13:05
Speaker
Because he's a key piece. He's that guy. He's one of the guys on the team. He don't need Kay Canahan to set him up. He can go get his own shot. He's explosive. ah he can he He can play off ball. He can start or he can come off the bench.
01:13:18
Speaker
So how quickly can he get back? How quickly can he acclimate himself and find a role that will help the team? um Indiana. I think to miss Halliburton too much.
01:13:29
Speaker
He's just, he's the run starter. When they're down, he makes them believe that they can they could do anything, right? But, yeah, their scab team, they they'll be in the playoffs for sure still.
01:13:40
Speaker
But you don't believe Pac-Coff Siakam can be that? No, don't think he's, he's not a one. Nah. He'll get them as far as he can, but if they want to reach the if the max potential with their ceiling, they need Halliburton. To this day, I'll swear, if he doesn't get hurt, they win game seven. He came he came out with 12 points in the first quarter.
01:14:03
Speaker
Four for four for three. He was busting their ass. He was busting their ass. You were right about that. So, but yeah, they they need, you can't, that'd be like us losing Donovan Mitchell, man.
01:14:16
Speaker
Like, yes, Mobley can do it, and with a healthy garland, yet but we still need Don, man. So, for them, yeah. ah Milwaukee,
01:14:29
Speaker
stop just stop trying to appease Giannis. If he wants to leave, he's going to go, and you're going to him. Like, he just signed with his nephews, his aunties, his cousins. Probably got his mom working working in in the front office somewhere.
01:14:43
Speaker
Like, stop it. Stop it, man. Stop it. Stop it. Get some help. Like, stop trying to appease If he wants to be out, he's going to be out.
01:14:53
Speaker
And you're going to let him out. Like, you can't cater to this dude forever. But, um... Signing his brothers, two of the worst basketball players in the and NBA, was horrendous.
01:15:09
Speaker
Right. And ah it will be interesting to see him, what kind of effect Miles Turner can have, though. um He's a younger, more athletic version of Brooke Lopez.
01:15:23
Speaker
And we saw how effective Brooke Lopez was able to be next to Giannis. And that's another thing that I think hurt the Pacers. um Not only did they lose a Miles Turner, we got a Thomas Bryant from him.
01:15:36
Speaker
And he was a very solid bid coming off the bench. so But yeah, I got the Cavs, Pistons. ah I think Go Indiana three, Milwaukee four, Bulls five.
01:15:49
Speaker
And cause that's the last in the East. We'll go ahead. East playoffs, who y'all got?
01:15:55
Speaker
Oh. Who want to go first? Go ahead. Okay. You don't mind me. Okay. All right. Cool.
01:16:06
Speaker
So I'll just give you ah my top four and then give you my champion. So obviously in in no particular order, cabs Orlando, the Knicks, and I believe, and I know y'all are going to kind of shit on this, I guess, but I actually think that with the moves that were made on in the offseason, um I think if Trae Young can step up,
01:16:38
Speaker
he can get them to that fourth position ah in the East. I mean, they they did a lot of work in the off season to try to work around him, adding Nikhil Alexander-Walker, Luke Kinnar to the backcourt, Jalen Johnson is underrated. So, I mean, Corzingis is there now.
01:16:57
Speaker
If he can step up, this can be a team in the top half for the East. So that's going to be my fault. And then for my championship game, i am going to agree with you.
01:17:08
Speaker
ah Bobby, it's going to be the Cavs and it's going to be the Knickerbockers. I don't believe the Orlando is ready just yet. I believe Orlando next year will probably be an Eastern Conference champion your representative, but I believe they need a year to get it all figured out, get it gelled, let Paolo Bancaro grow another year.
01:17:29
Speaker
And in the Eastern Conference Finals, going to your and NBA Finals, representing the Eastern Conference.
01:17:40
Speaker
Ah, man. Mike Brown has been the coach of this team
01:17:49
Speaker
for three months now. I can't believe I'm saying it. I am going with the New York Knickerbockers to get to the NBA Finals.
01:18:01
Speaker
Now going to go throw up. I'll be right back. and and Stop it. Get some help. oh You got more. No, I'm just going to go Nixon and Cavs in the East Conference Finals, but I'm going the opposite way and say that Cleveland rocks and gets back to the finals.
01:18:25
Speaker
a
01:18:28
Speaker
Finals. Hey, come on, man. No, Blee. moly machine gets them to the finals. So I mean, it's going to be a collective unit out there doing it and they're going to for the land.
01:18:45
Speaker
So, yeah, the Cavs in the finals. Alright, I got, I think, I think we can finish with one seed again. In a close race. I think we finish in the one seed. The Knicks finish in the two seed. I'm going go and give Detroit the finishing at the three seed and give Orlando the four.
01:19:07
Speaker
And, um yeah, I like the Knicks and Cavs to meet in the conference finals. ah And, yeah. I think we can exercise that demon. I think Mobley's going to take another step this season, and I think that can put us over the top.
01:19:24
Speaker
And I think we will come into the playoffs this year actually healthy and finish healthy. If we do that, yes, it will be a tough out. So, uh, we're on to that Western conference.
01:19:40
Speaker
Uh, starting home of the champs, man, Northwest. Uh, OKC again, defending, uh, reigning champs. Hey, Tim. Uh, Ant-Man and the Timberwolves. Ace Bailey in the Jazz. Uh,
01:19:53
Speaker
The Joker, the Nuggets, and A. Yang. I'm just calling him Yang. Yang. What should we call him? People have called Shingun Baby Joker.
01:20:05
Speaker
I think this dude is the new Baby Joker, man. If you watch him, man. this game His game is smooth. Like Joker. Shingun is a little bit more thuggish. oh Yang is smooth.
01:20:18
Speaker
It's fun to watch him play. Portland might have finally found him a new... uh franchise player but uh it'll start this time uh margo let's start this one off uh oh yeah uh let me uh so okc i think they they win the division again um look i love ant man but he he he don't he ain't got enough to get past denver
01:20:47
Speaker
you know, let alone get past OKC. This is my opinion. So ah Denver two, Minnesota three. And then Portland is the four, then Jazz get the five.
01:21:04
Speaker
I don't know, for some reason Portland always kind of, they almost end up being like the farm system for everybody else at the trade deadline. You know, know. You need some talent? Yeah, we got it right here in Portland. But they always – you stock with talent because they always got a whole bunch of draft picks they ain't trade-raised every year. So it's a revolving door with them. But, no, oh and sometimes talent just overcomes some circumstances. and in in the in the And for me in the NBA, I think is – I feel is when you got a nice amount of talent, it can win you a couple of games that over –
01:21:40
Speaker
I guess over skiing sometimes. Right. um So that's, yeah, ah Northwest is going to be interesting, but I still kind of see it, you know, especially with OKC really pretty much retaining a championship team.
01:21:55
Speaker
So for the most part.
01:21:59
Speaker
yeah Yeah, that's the key. The key is that they retained their championship squad. um And, you know, aside from the fact that eventually, as Jokic gets older and Ant-Man gets more into his prime, they're going to switch that position that Marr has them in.
01:22:19
Speaker
Other than that, as the kids say, no notes. Yeah. I agree with Mars order completely. No notes. I am with y'all. You know, did this I guess the only question this year for OKC fans, is it a dynasty or is it not?
01:22:38
Speaker
um So they're they're all about repeating. And it's insane to think about. I actually think there's one other question, though, you got to think about. What's 73 wins.
01:22:52
Speaker
They're young enough. Do you go for it? Or do you say, no, we already had that home-grid injury. we want to save ourselves for the playoffs. I mean, because those teams, the 73, the Warriors, the Bulls, all the teams that won a lot of games ah still won the championship.
01:23:10
Speaker
So it not like they lost the championship, no matter how much harder they had to play in the season. Yeah. ah Sir, you talk about your two strikes. Is that the third strike? That was your third. That's right. They didn't get the job done. That's right. No, they lost to your Cleveland Cavaliers. That's right.
01:23:33
Speaker
God bless. See, there's our third strike. All right, I'm out. I'll see you on the show. Stop it. Get some help. They they didn't finish the job. I need help. This is my worst showing ever. I'm sorry, bro. Y'all caught me off the bench, and I just came in shooting like Russell Westbrook. No shots, Brody. You know i love you.
01:23:53
Speaker
You know love you, Brody. Oh, God bless. ah But to your point, though, I hate that people use that as an excuse. Like that them going for 73 wins cost them like really, you really going for 73 wins.
01:24:10
Speaker
Stop them from winning one more game in the playoffs. Yeah, we couldn't win championship. We couldn't win that one extra game because we won 73. Really? People and people forget that that was completely necessary to people forget the San Antonio Spurs won like 67 games.
01:24:26
Speaker
That season. It's like the go the Warriors needed to win those games to get the number one seed. ah And that's tough, man. i I think they'll just play basketball. I don't think they'll necessarily go for the record, but I think it'll just be like last season. they'll They'll just play basketball and see where they are at the end.
01:24:45
Speaker
Okay. For future episodes, I just recommend you get one of those. You remember that game show? Press Your Luck way back in the day. No whammies. whammies. Just get an honorary whammy for anybody that messes up and call it Omar's Honorary Whammy Award. Because I don't even know to say about my performance, too. You're good, bro. um This... If the... Central is going to be...
01:25:20
Speaker
the ah think the the best division, I think this may be the toughest, if if that makes sense. I think overall, the Central, top to bottom, may be the best.
01:25:32
Speaker
But come on, man. You got the Nuggets, Thunder, and Wolves. Right there. Right. Yeah, it's going be tough. Yeah, those three, and I mean, it just so happens that it's bad luck for the Blazers and Jazz to be in this division at this time.
01:25:48
Speaker
Like, you basically got two juggernaut. I mean, but you got like two Jokers and a deuce. Right there. In that division.
01:25:58
Speaker
Big Joker, Little Joker, and a deuce. that the truth? Yeah, no pun intended. Oh, yeah. Good point. Yeah, yeah. And I agree with Martin. Like, Ant-Man, while Ant-Man may be my opinion on people, people, let me get this out of the way. What?
01:26:19
Speaker
Ant-Man may be the second best player in this division. Hmm. He doesn't have enough around him to overcome the depth of OKC.
01:26:31
Speaker
Like, I'm sorry, Julius Randle. Yeah, he's a dog and and you can do some things, but you ain't enough to beat Shea, J-Dub, Chet.
01:26:43
Speaker
It's just too much overcome. Same with Nas Reed. It's just not enough. He needs another superstar teammate to overcome that firepower. oh I do like a ah like the Nuggets getting Cam.
01:27:00
Speaker
I like them getting Cam over MPJ. I think that's an upgrade. Clearly, Cam's better defender, and I think he'll get enough open looks to give you the same offensive spark that MPJ does.
01:27:13
Speaker
I think he'll be more consistent. um And they got a Bruce Brown back. So I think that's huge also. yeah Playoff come down playoff time. But yeah, I'm i'm with you guys. i got the Thunder winning and division.
01:27:26
Speaker
I had the Nuggets finish second. Timberwolves third. I'm going to take the Jazz over the Blazers, though. ah They got more greedy players. they They have more players I believe in. Like the Blazers, what's up with Scoot? Still learning the game. Shade and shard.
01:27:42
Speaker
It's like their young guys are just trapped in being young. They're not really improving. they're just They're still young guys. yeah Whereas Utah, you got guys like Collin Suck. He's just trying to get buckets.
01:27:54
Speaker
Laurie Markkinen. These are proven guys. Just little bit more experienced in Utah. Yeah. yeah, I got to finish him fourth. i Moving on to the, think a lot of the, it's probably be the division most people pay the most attention to.
01:28:11
Speaker
Pacific got the Lakers year two or the first full year with Luca and Ron the Clippers the Clippers who are reminding me of the 2000 Trailblazers if anybody remembers that squad you Scotty Pippen Brian the Jailblazers she written yeah they they were like They were literally 15 deep.
01:28:34
Speaker
And ah this Clippers team reminds me of that. course, you got Steph and the Warriors, DeMantis, Sabonis, and D-Book, man, back to being all alone.
01:28:47
Speaker
Omar cracked this one over, man. We're sticking to the Pacific. Yeah, ah so... and I'll try not to be as much as a Lakers hater as I truly, truly am.
01:29:01
Speaker
ah Let's go ahead. and I'm not going to put them in last place. I promise I won't do that to you. ah All right. I'm going to have... This is tough, too, because you're right.
01:29:12
Speaker
Devin Booker is all alone after they got rid of Kevin Durant. But at the same time... ah Fuck. It's like the Sacramento Kings...
01:29:25
Speaker
have been, we're well, at least for a few years there, they were, had the, you know, the run where you're lighting up the beam and all that stuff. Uh, yeah, they traded away their main players. What in the world ghost was that?
01:29:38
Speaker
I don't know what that was. Something dropped. But anyways, um, I'll, but I'll put, I'll put Phoenix last. I'll put Sacramento fourth, but you, to me, I don't know. You could, you could change either to one, whatever.
01:29:51
Speaker
Um, Look, the Lakers are going to be in third. i As much as this Lakers team will get better in the future, LeBron is obviously going to be a morass on this team last year. That doesn't mean an ass.
01:30:05
Speaker
That just means another word for being an anchor and weighing them down. So I think he'll be more of a hindrance than a help, and that will have the Lakers in third.
01:30:16
Speaker
ah Both of these other teams, though, I thought the Warriors had it last year with the addition of Jimmy Butler. I thought that that was going you know, they played really well off the break once they got him.
01:30:28
Speaker
I thought that was going to help them further in the playoffs. It did not, as I thought it would. This year, what can they do? Wow, man. And then the Clippers, huh? The Clippers, if you were looking at this team back in 2015, man, you'd be like, this is a super team.
01:30:44
Speaker
ah But it's not 2015. So am going to go with the Clippers taking the division, staying healthy, and somehow, some way.
01:31:00
Speaker
Yes, I am. That is what I am doing. All right, Mark. And ain't nobody falling for that hype. Lakers, Lakers, Lakers. i ah yeah No, you are not. What? don't want to hear that. don't want to hear that.
01:31:20
Speaker
One going into his, you know, and getting into his prime. And, you know, he look like he trying to, you know, get get off them little snacks and and get a little healthier. but Because he in LA, you know, you got to get slim and trim for the honeys.
01:31:34
Speaker
You know, they they like They're like a bulging wallet and a fit man. So, you know, that's what they like out there. But, hey, Lakers to me get number one.
01:31:46
Speaker
ah Just because of the roster talent of the Clippers, they get number two. But they are going to have people in and out of that lineup. So that's why i think you just kind of load up on veteran talent. but It makes sense.
01:31:57
Speaker
oh But, yeah. I got Golden State 3, you know, Steph, he's starting to show that he, you know, there's going to some peers. He's going, you know, I hit it down and and is the I mean, he's getting older. and So body ain't red in the same way. He ain't running in and cutting through all them screens like he used to no more.
01:32:19
Speaker
um So. i ah than that, I don't know. was you know I guess ah ah a full season with Jimmy. Well, we know what Jimmy does in the regular season. He ain't turning the switch on to playoff time anyway. So he be chilling.
01:32:37
Speaker
Yeah. And then i give me
01:32:43
Speaker
give me Phoenix fourth and Sacramento fifth. Okay. I just think there's too much pride in D-Book, man. You know, I'm you know, I'm going to still show that like then I'm a hooper out here.
01:32:58
Speaker
I'm still nice like that. you know, you can't forget this man dropped 70-plus in the game, bro. He did. He did that. yeah Yeah. But wait, what were were weren't they, like, didn't they only have, like, 20, 25 wins before Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal came along? So how are they going to be better than that? don't understand That's crazy, bro. I mean, I'm just asking.
01:33:22
Speaker
Just asking. He ain't got all the distractions now. Yeah. Yeah, maybe because – and he's in his prime. Now he's in his prime. He was younger then. You could argue that he was too young back then.
01:33:34
Speaker
That's true. Good point. But – Anyways, you just worried about your Lakers. Just be worried about that. They ain't going to be in first. They definitely ain't going to be in first. don't know how you let that come out your mouth like that.
01:33:45
Speaker
Hey. Hey.
01:33:48
Speaker
Luca, man. Yeah, and DeAndre. And DeAndre. Hey, he he trying to. He going to be playing with. And DeAndre Aiton. Like he hasn't been on 15 teams already.
01:34:02
Speaker
ah
01:34:05
Speaker
ah For me, this this might be the most competitive division in the league. ah You can literally make an argument for any any team in it to win the division. You can make an argument for any team to finish in any place in the division, really.
01:34:20
Speaker
oh But for me, yeah I said it. Golden State Warriors. ! are going to win this division, and here's why. ah Steph is still Steph, but I like their pickups, man. They picked up Al Horford.
01:34:37
Speaker
um so Don't forget the timeless wonder. um He helps them on offensive and defensive side. um I'm going to count Jimmy Butler as a pickup. Yeah, they picked him up last season, but it was really for the future.
01:34:54
Speaker
ah more so than last season. Gets his full summer work in. Gets his start. And from the beginning of the season, because coming in the middle, you know, that can, you're trying to fit in. You're not really trying to do your thing. Like, now he gets to kind of, you know, from the jump, establish who he is and who the team is.
01:35:15
Speaker
ah Steve Kerr. Let Jonathan Kaminga play ball. Please. Please. Like, the dude can play just because he can't play in your system.
01:35:30
Speaker
Hey, bring him off the bench and just let him loose. yeah du This dude, man, don't matter how he gets it, he will give you 20 off the bench. oh He's the most athletic dude that you have. Let him get his experience so that he can be there when you need him in the playoffs.
01:35:48
Speaker
Like, don't don't treat him like Jason Tatum, man. Don't do that to yourself. Oh, that's wild. Yeah. gamed You gave him the money you thought he was worth, and let him go earn it.
01:36:00
Speaker
ah For second, and I'm going to go with the Clippers, man. I'm going with the Clippers to finish second.
01:36:12
Speaker
Yeah, this team reminds me of the 2000 Blazers. They're just too like, bro, they literally have two starting lineups. They don't even have a bench. They have two starting lineups. Like, you got James Harden. You got Chris Paul coming off James Harden.
01:36:23
Speaker
You got Bradley Bill. You got Bogdan Bogdan coming off of Bradley Bill. You got Kawhi Leonard. You got Nicholas Batum coming off of Kawhi Leonard. You got Evitza Zubat. You got Brooke Lopez coming off for Evitza Zubat.
01:36:38
Speaker
You got Derrick Jones Jr. And, oh, his backup or his backup is freaking John Collins, bro. Like, what is going on? That's a 2K squad.
01:36:50
Speaker
I told you, 2015. That is a 2K squad. No, today, that's a 2K squad. All they got to do is, like, average eight, nine points apiece, let Harden get, like, 20, 24, and Kawhi, like, dude, they're going to be tough out playoffs, man. They're going to be tough out playoffs.
01:37:09
Speaker
ah And for that, I got the Lakers finishing third. Luca's Luca. Mar, you know how I feel about Luca. One of the greatest episodes in the history of this program is... What I told Mar and Big Ron that Luca Doncic was better at basketball than Kyrie Irving. They both thought I was crazy.
01:37:33
Speaker
All he did was go ahead and take the Mavericks to the finals. That's all he did. Yeah, you know what? Yeah, yeah, I would say in their primes, though, like...
01:37:45
Speaker
a better basketball player was Luca in their primes. Luca's been better at basketball than Kyrie ever since he was 15. I'm sorry. Oh man, don't do that to him though. He has been.
01:37:57
Speaker
Yes. Okay. When he was 15, Kyrie was a rookie of the NBA. up That's not good. Don't do that. Don't disrespect him like that. He was playing pro ball. He was playing pro ball.
01:38:11
Speaker
I get it, but pro ball in Europe is a lot different than pro ball in the NBA. so Apparently not to him because he's treating it the same. um He was an MVP at 16. He ain't been an MVP in the league yet, but it's coming.
01:38:24
Speaker
It might be this year. It could be. You're completely right. He's going to get it some point. Yeah, he's going to get one. But ah I just don't think the Lakers have enough. I think their depth is just not as deep as the Clippers, and that's health permitting.
01:38:39
Speaker
Yeah, mean, of course you've got Luka LeBron. How consistent can Reyes be? How consistent can Aiden be? We don't know.
01:38:50
Speaker
But like the rest of that depth. How long do you hold on to that turtle head just poking out your ass and not letting go? You know, like... Yo, that's crazy. ah Stop it.
01:39:03
Speaker
Get some help. Get some help. I got the Kings fourth and I'm going to put the Suns in fifth. Only question I have for the Kings is, hey, make sure you call the Cavs first if you decide to trade Keegan Murray.
01:39:17
Speaker
and That's it. I like that kid.
01:39:23
Speaker
And that leaves one more. One more division to get through.
01:39:30
Speaker
Most intriguing division. This is going to be nice. I like division. KD, I mean, the Rockets are everybody's radar. You got Koot down in Dallas. They've working there or playing them at the point last couple of preseason games.
01:39:44
Speaker
Ja, can we stay on the court, sir? Please. Please. Hey, Zion. ah a za Finally got in shape. It only took eight years and $300 million later <unk> to get in shape, but he he did it.
01:40:03
Speaker
And Wimby, man, how's he going come back? Mark, go ahead and kick this one off. Oh, man. um Obviously, ah Houston was ah was already cream of the crop as it was last year.
01:40:19
Speaker
know an injury that we've been paying attention to, taoo that Fred VanVleet injury. So I think that kind of sucks right there. But hey, KD.
01:40:33
Speaker
yeah You do got KD, no lie. oh ah Houston still kind of hangs on to that. oh But give me Dallas at two. um Because I don't know if we somehow, some way, whether it's an injury or off the field or something, we don't get a full job lately.
01:40:54
Speaker
And... i Well, he I don't want to say he cleaned up his act. kind of He just ain't ah been as foolish as he was before, but he's he still got his moments. So that let's not act like he ain't a moment away from doing something crazy on social media. So but.
01:41:14
Speaker
I don't know. but My man, yeah I love his game, but I've been begging him to develop a mid-range so bad because you can't throw, you can't leap over everybody and you keep throwing your bike around.
01:41:30
Speaker
going to keep getting hurt. And until I can see that you consistently are trying to, you know, I'm not saying kill your attack game and get to the cup. That's not what I'm saying.
01:41:41
Speaker
ah You can't leap over everybody. And, like, bruh, get your mid-range. i you want to want to add another five six years to your career get a mid-range because that means you can pull up bam get to your spot you're not doing all that damage to your body throwing around then you can jump over every seven footer bro so um i will i'm gonna put them at third um
01:42:13
Speaker
That's tough because I think San Antonio squad, if they're fully healthy with like D Fox and Wimby and what they got going on, they can be nasty too. Yeah.
01:42:26
Speaker
Yeah, I'm going stick with that. San Antonio four and New Orleans five. ah Look, it looks good. Zion, you're doing the whole I'm getting myself back in into shape, but I – it
01:42:41
Speaker
You fall under that, for for me, that Embiid category where like I'll see it when leaving these things on the court. So yeah, until then, until further notice.
01:42:58
Speaker
Yeah, and and more the only thing that ah Zion is getting himself in shape for is to get his ass traded. That's it because he is not long for the New Orleans area, just like AD was and and just like every player that they draft that's good eventually leaves.
01:43:15
Speaker
That being said that, yeah, I agree. They will be rounding out the bottom there. And and and so I'm not even going to go through the division because, again um Mar has has pretty much touched on everything. I do want to give you one professor's ah fun fact that I found out about Ja Morant when I was looking it up the other day. But he has not played, get this, professor's fun fact, he has not played six consecutive games in a row since March of 2023 and has missed at least
01:43:53
Speaker
twenty games in the last four seasons so when you're superstar uh and we can question that now too when you got jaron jackson jr uh uh uh out here um so i will put them at I'm struggling between them and and San Antonio.
01:44:14
Speaker
A lot of people want to LA San Antonio all the way up to number two in this division. I think that's too early. I still think when Banyana and De'Aaron Fox need more time to gel. So I'm going to put them at four, put Grizzlies at three.
01:44:27
Speaker
um And yeah, Dallas is mad. They're being mad disrespected on right now. There are people I got them. People got them at six, seven in the conference. I'm like, are y'all kidding me? Like, look, I know Kyrie got the ACL and he may not play this season.
01:44:40
Speaker
But you still got AD. You still got Cooper flagged the number one pick, which by the way, what a Oh
01:44:52
Speaker
so they can have a face with the franchise and then give them them one bit we know what you're doing we know what david stern was doing that's why they've got tim duncan when the snetics should have got him thats why the nick scott pattrick ewing you ain't slick adam silver we see you continuing the legacy of davids stern may he rest in peace ah bless anyways la da ah ah Dallas coming up second. Yeah, I thought and we talked about this Bobby G on the end of review last season when we all said that the pick to be was the Rockets trading for Kevin Durant. and It happened a couple weeks later after we talked about it. And yes, it is a huge pickup.
01:45:34
Speaker
You pair him on that team with them young Gunners, A-Man Thompson, all the rest but good young defenders too. Alphysing, I don't even know how to say his name, but he's a beast. And you bring Steven Adams in to be an enforcer and bow people out the way like it's a mosh pit at Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1996. I got the Rockets winning this division.
01:45:59
Speaker
Let's go. Yeah, y'all covered it all. ah And I can't say that there's been no lies detected.
01:46:16
Speaker
As the kids also say. yeah You know what?
01:46:24
Speaker
I can't disagree. The Rockets, um they're almost... winning by default, right? Because Coop's too young. And as much as people want to say he could have a LeBron-like effect for the Mavericks, he ain't LeBron coming into the league.
01:46:43
Speaker
LeBron was different. And even he didn't take the Cavs to the playoffs his rookie year. That's a good point. That's a good point. Ja.
01:46:56
Speaker
Ja Morant. is literally might be the only player in the NBA right now casual fan from a casual fan to the hardcore fan if he is playing you are turning the channel to that game just to see what he's gonna do people can't do that if you're not on the court bro that's just what it is when he's on the court they are conference contenders When he is not on the court, they are a lottery team.
01:47:25
Speaker
And it sucks because they may be the only team in the league who has a built-in answer for Wimby. they got They got their own 7'5 monster down there.
01:47:38
Speaker
And, you know, I'm looking forward to see his development. Can he develop a outside shot so he can stay on the court and not have to be subbed out like the last two, three minutes of a ball game? So that's fun.
01:47:54
Speaker
Jared Jackson, can we learn to rebound? You know? That's fun. ah How much is the Desmond Bain trade going to hurt? You know, so they got lots of questions down there in Memphis.
01:48:08
Speaker
Wimby, yeah. Just watching him improve and get better yearto- year to year is fine. It is going to be fun watching D-Fox control that that squad down and see what he can do.
01:48:19
Speaker
oh New Orleans... I'm not sure if they want to trade him. I mean, you know, jeep Joe Dumas is their new GM. He's had conversations with the young man. But I will tell you what, if if he is off the path of the things that he discussed with Joe Dumas, yeah, Joe will get him up out of there.
01:48:36
Speaker
That's no question. but as long as We know no about that. Yeah, for sure. He'll get him up out there. But as long as, you know, he's on the right path and and Joe D is one of the better execs in the league,
01:48:48
Speaker
You know, as long as he's doing, you know, he's accused. And Joe Dumars has proven he can build a roster. He's done it in the past. So we'll see what happens down there. But, yeah, it's like default. The Rockets are they're clearly far, in a way, the best team in the division. Yeah, the VanVie, I'm with you. that thats That is the only thing.
01:49:12
Speaker
scott and So, uh, does the VanVleet injury cost them a high seed in the West, or does Udoka figure out a way for Houston to get a top three seed?
01:49:23
Speaker
I don't think so. That roster's just too talented.
01:49:29
Speaker
Um, OKC, mean, we're at the end, so I'll just go ahead kick it off with with that question then. I got OKC finishing as a one seed again.
01:49:44
Speaker
ah I think the Warriors will climb up and grab the two seed. no No, I'm going to go Houston. Houston's the two seed. I think Golden State gets three seed.
01:49:56
Speaker
Clippers get the four.
01:49:59
Speaker
But ah the one thing you know, man, Kevin Durant must be allergic to point guards because ever since lo leaving Golden State, can't keep one. Kyrie could stay healthy. ah He goes down to Phoenix. They never even signed a point guard.
01:50:12
Speaker
There you go. And then as soon as he gets to Houston, you know, Van Vliet goes down. Like, dude cannot. Like, Steph Curry must have put a hex on that dude. So he cannot keep a point guard next to him.
01:50:25
Speaker
But, yeah, that's my order. Yeah, that's wild, bro. I'm going to go with coming out West again.
01:50:38
Speaker
I definitely see OKC the one seed. Go ahead and give Houston the two.
01:50:51
Speaker
Vegas three and then I got Denver's. Denver's four. But in the West Conference Finals, go ahead and give me OKC and Houston.
01:51:07
Speaker
But um'm I'm with you, Bobby. OKC and Cleveland, that's my finals. Small market finals, man. yeah Back to back. Loving it.
01:51:21
Speaker
First of all, you know you're wrong. Okay? You know you're wrong. Stop with the Lakers, bro. Stop. Just stop.
01:51:32
Speaker
You're trying to force it. Look at him. Look at him and trim, man. Come on. Yo, if you try to force feed me Bron anymore, I'm tired of it. Retire.
01:51:46
Speaker
Take your son and go home. Hand your basketball. Take your son and go home. and We ain't doing all this. right Luca ain't beingin't good enough with LeBron to get a top four seed.
01:51:58
Speaker
Get them the hell out of here. i can't believe that even happened. um Anyways, i think we all know Oklahoma City bringing back a championship squad that, by the way, ah was heads and tails above every other team um aside from the Celtics in terms of like scoring differential and in terms of like offense, defense. People know that, and especially if you watch Ball and Bludgeon, you heard me talk anything about the and NBA.
01:52:25
Speaker
In order to be a worthy and NBA a contender of a champion, you've got to have... a a top five, sometimes top 10 offense and defense. You've got to have that because if not, if you don't have a balanced roster in the NBA, you're going a very, now there's obviously outliers. I know I've looked at the list. There's obviously times where one team is really good scoring and their defense, you know, whatever I've seen it, but for the majority of champions, you have a balance and you have a good, very good defense and a very good offense. So um that that they do at, at,
01:53:00
Speaker
For the other three, I'm going to that that the yeah that Houston's going to be two. I do think they're going to be two. i I don't want to put them there yet, though, because I think they still need to gel the young guys with Durant. So I still think they...
01:53:20
Speaker
May need one more. You know what? I just, yeah, I'm talking myself out of it. I'm going put them in number three. ah Number four, and only for a little bit, because like like I said earlier, Minnesota, Ant-Man, and the rest of the crew, eventually they're going to take over for the Nuggets, because the Nuggets are only going to get older as Jokic gets older.
01:53:37
Speaker
So they're going on different paths. The Timberwolves are on the upswing. upswing and the Nuggets are on the downswing but I'll for one more year put the Nuggets there at number four um and so what would I confuse myself the Nuggets of four um excuse me i had the Oklahoma at one had oh yeah and at number two i am going with the 2k squad and Making the Lakers look like some fools.
01:54:08
Speaker
The LA Clippers at number two, baby. So, all right. So, I got Oklahoma, l LA, Houston, and Denver. That's my top four.
01:54:21
Speaker
Boy, it's going to look like the 49ers it. Scott's question. yeah Scott said Minnesota is the team this year. He likes Minnesota coming out of West. Would you be shocked if that happened?
LeBron's Legacy and Player Impact
01:54:35
Speaker
ah For me, as constituted, I'd be absolutely shocked. Only way I can see Minnesota coming out of the West is if they make a move. if If that happens, that's an at-man MVP season loaded.
01:54:47
Speaker
Yeah. Well, and and honestly, they don't have a weak link really in their top seven. It's just the rest of their team, right? like I mean, i think ah I think in their top seven, they have a solid playoff team.
01:55:01
Speaker
Even the championship, not yet, but continuing squad kind of thing. but Maybe if I put a smile on. No, they're just a playoff team. yeah today they They got to make a move. They got to.
01:55:15
Speaker
Julius Randle can't be your second best player and think you're going to beat SGA and Jaden Williams. Is he the second best player? Yeah. I would have put him at three. I would have put Rudy Gobert as their second best player.
01:55:28
Speaker
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. I mean, look, he still makes a difference still makes a difference defensively. Get some help. No, no, no, no, no.
01:55:40
Speaker
He is still a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, and he earns it year in and year out. And if you want to go talk about JaVale McGee, let's bring it back around like a comedian would.
01:55:53
Speaker
Rudy Gobert got one of the top field goal percentages, two shooting percentages in the NBA, so I want to hear nothing. ah Yeah, but he's unplayable in the playoffs. Rudy, just because you gave the whole world COVID, don't let him shit on you. me stop. the country That's not true. That's not true.
01:56:08
Speaker
What? No, he just gave it to Donovan Mitchell. and every And the whole NBA. And then in in lieu of America. Yeah, but he's unplayable in the playoffs. And he proves it every year when they have to sit him in the last five minutes of the game.
01:56:22
Speaker
So, like, with that, it's Julius Randle. And plus, I mean, Rudy isn't a guarantee on the offensive end. Yeah, he hits you with a couple of pick and rolls and drops in the you know from the corner to the dunk spot. But, you know, he you can't give Rudy the ball and say, here, give me a bucket.
01:56:39
Speaker
That's Julius Randle. And to me, Julius Randle last year played to the best of his capabilities in the playoffs last season. I mean, yeah. To me he's not a he's not a he's not a star anyways. He's just a complimentary player to me. He's like number three. Right, and that's then that's exactly my point. Like, Julius Randle can't be your second best player if you think you're going to compete with the Nuggets, for that fact.
01:57:04
Speaker
Like, nah. They got ah they upgrade. If they upgrade that that with with somebody else, let's see who's probably the first player that's going to get disgruntled this season or who could be had at a fair play. Hey, Trae Young.
01:57:19
Speaker
They get Trae Young to Minnesota. and Now we're talking. A shooter. Yeah, shooter. Give them a nice shooter to pair with. i do like I do want to say i do I was trying so hard to put them in because I think they do deserve some credit.
01:57:36
Speaker
good Let's not count the Warriors out yet. They're not done yet. They're not cooked just yet. People sleeping on me. never know. I mean, you got three of the you know top players of the past 10, 15 years on one team. is Anything can happen is what I'm saying.
01:57:57
Speaker
Anything is possible. I love you, KD. Come on. Did he mean it? I mean, KG. Damn it. There you go. Did he mean it or did he mess up? How many strikes am I going to have?
01:58:12
Speaker
Yeah, um and I'm agreeing on that. Did KG do that on purpose or did he mess up the Adidas?
01:58:20
Speaker
No, he did that on purpose. KG is a man of his own. He's a wild man. I think he messed up. I think he supposed to get a bonus if he said possible is nothing. You think so? What was it at the time? Impossible is nothing?
01:58:34
Speaker
Yeah, you're right. didn't think about that. Wait, maybe he did. I've never heard that theory. always thought he said the right thing. Oh, that's funny. You know what? I never let the truth get in the way of a good story. I like that.
01:58:47
Speaker
Yeah, I think was supposed to get a bag if he would have said impossible is nothing. I like that that. That makes me pop. That makes me pop. All right, let's get some off seasons out of the way. MVP, who we got running MVP this year?
01:59:04
Speaker
Ooh.
01:59:07
Speaker
If I have, well, we haven't even picked our championship team, but I know who they are. I'll go first. I need second to think.
01:59:17
Speaker
I got Cavs, Thunder, in the finals.
01:59:23
Speaker
Got to get somebody from one of your top four teams, right? so I can't. ah That's a tough series, man. if we're honey i you're joking I know you're joking right now. I know you're joking right now, right?
01:59:34
Speaker
um and us You're on your own TV show. You're on your own TV show. Hey, more to tell you. I'm not a homer. You can do whatever you want. I know, but I'm just saying. That's tough. I think it goes seven games again.
01:59:51
Speaker
I'll leave it at that. OKC Cavs, seven games. And I'll be here for it. Whew. hmm mvp i don't i don't like giving people mvp twice in a row although the nba is known for doing that so sga would be your easy pick here right especially if the oklahoma city thunder leads um yeah that's tough Well, Mar, I'll let you go last on this one. i already know who my championship who my championship teams are going to be.
02:00:26
Speaker
So I have, obviously, Oklahoma City in in the West. And then in the East, I told you I had the Cavs and the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals.
02:00:39
Speaker
And you're right, that's ah that's a very, very tough series as well. And I think to the fact that you're you're right, Cleveland needs to get over the hump, right? They have come every year and, pause, very far, but have not been able to get over the hump and been able to complete the the journey and able to win the championship. And now is the time, um not that Cleveland is bereft,
02:01:07
Speaker
that they had, ah you know, the LeBron come back and win them a championship. But, you know, every every team wants to win more. So led by Donovan Mitchell, this is the time in this wide open invitational that we talked about of the Eastern Conference Finals.
02:01:22
Speaker
And then you've got the Knicks, right? Solid, solid, solid team. They traded Julius Randle. They brought in Cat. And like you said earlier, Cat not only needs to get off the three-point line,
02:01:36
Speaker
and and get into the block just stand your ass in the block half the time please but okay just at least half the time just post your ass in the block right when the play starts all right we don't need all the bullshit you wasting 10 seconds trying to show you fancy off the dribble man you are six foot ten you know whatever seven foot use your damn size and um Jalen Brunson, man, he's an MVP candidate. I can't believe the Dallas Mavericks and someone so astute as a businessman as Mark Cuban let him get away. But I know they were fancying the Knicks anyways. So, oh, God.
02:02:15
Speaker
oh I feels so feel myself getting sick again.
02:02:21
Speaker
I feel myself getting sick again, y'all. ah The New York Knicks win the Eastern Conference Finals and go to the NBA Finals. What?
02:02:36
Speaker
I'm back. Excuse me. Take all that falsehoods out. Take all that falsehoods out. yeah Yeah, I'm sorry. Anyways, Knicks beat the Cavs. Cavs again fail at the mountaintop.
02:02:49
Speaker
Knicks go on to face the Oklahoma City Thunder. I can't really, in in all honesty, as a realist, say that this is going to happen. But because I need to be a little different right now, because I am the guest on the show, the New York Knicks are going to win the championship, and Jalen Brunson is going to be your MVP of the league.
02:03:11
Speaker
Of the league? Okay. Wasn't that what you asked at first? Wasn't that the original question that's on the screen as MVP? Okay, all right, good. I don't expect that one, though, of the league. Okay, I got you. im Wow.
02:03:24
Speaker
I was going to go – I really think SDA is going to win it the second time, but I don't like to say that. All right, go ahead, Mar. um To be honest, this man, this might be a long shot.
02:03:38
Speaker
um Because the roster that is around KD, I can see KD just – you
02:03:46
Speaker
Snap. Interesting. I like that. or jimmy me That's i'm a hot take Jake. That's a hot take Jake MVP pick. I like that. That's spicy.
02:04:00
Speaker
um before i say my i'm gonna i'm gonna stand up i'm gonna say the calves won the championship because i just thought of something they got some extra motivation uh this is actually the 10-year anniversary of our championship team so there's there's no better motivation because all year they're gonna have to listen to how great lebron is and how bad everybody else has played for the calves is and how lucky it was that we came back and he got a championship And they're going to have to listen to this all year long.
02:04:29
Speaker
That's to make them hungry to want to go get their own. Especially Donovan, who's he's a real student of the game. So he knows the history. He even knows history of Cleveland because he was a LeBron fan when he was a kid.
02:04:42
Speaker
And he knows that if he goes and gets one, ah maybe not on the all-time tier list, but on the Cavs list, he can pass LeBron.
02:04:55
Speaker
He gets two rings in Cleveland. If Donovan Mitchell gets two rings in Cleveland. Wow. Get out of here. or If Donovan Mitchell gets two rings for the Cavs. I don't know. He could get five rings.
02:05:07
Speaker
No, he's now the best player to play for the Cavs. No, don't know. Yeah. And you know what opened the door for that? LeBron leaving twice. If LeBron's card said Cleveland all the way through and he only won one.
02:05:18
Speaker
Yeah, he'd be the greatest Cav But he left the door open. He left the door open for another player to come and get it. Let's not act like you are placating right now one of the worst owners in sports history, Dan freaking Gilbert. Get out of here with your Comic Sans letter of how you feel about LeBron leaving the organization.
02:05:41
Speaker
Y'all are lucky LeBron came back and blessed you with a championship. Because if i was LeBron, I'd have said, screw y'all. I ain't never coming back to this shit over. But isn't that what I just said? I'm sorry. apologize. I don't know. Isn't that what I just said in the speech? check on and They're going to have to listen to it.
02:06:01
Speaker
didn't i Didn't I just say that, though? How going to have to hear how lucky they're. That's the reason why no one will ever eclipse his legacy there. That's what I'm saying Okay, but you say see you're like killing your Paul Pierce argument because if you're saying that, then there's no way Paul Pierce can be top three in Celtics because there are so many Celtics who basically his accomplishments trash compared to.
02:06:23
Speaker
compared to No, I'm not even talking about accomplishments, though. I'm just talking about being the better player, being the bigger the bigger star. and the i mean, he was a star in Cleveland when he was in high school.
02:06:35
Speaker
So, again, and it wasn't his fault see yeah and that Dan Gilbert forced him out. Like, there's so many things. He would have stayed in Cleveland. He would have been in Cleveland lifelong. No, he wouldn't have. Don't make me put you on the SDFU list, man.
02:06:49
Speaker
see let live Let me give you the real. Let me the real. Let me you the real. On the program, I'm never allowed back on the Audible podcast again.
02:07:00
Speaker
Let me give you the real. The decision to leave Cleveland wasn't made in 2010. The decision to leave Cleveland was made in 2004 during the Olympics when D-Wade and LeBron decided they wanted to play play with a ah with each other.
02:07:15
Speaker
That's why their contracts aligned. Because it was supposed to be LeBron, D-Wade, and Melo. But Melo was greedy. He wanted to take the guaranteed money. That's why his contract extension was longer than theirs. So with that, they had to find a replacement. Who can we get? Oh, Bosh's contract is up.
02:07:30
Speaker
Let's get him. right So it he was never going to stay in Cleveland his entire career. That's what people don't understand. you were me that if Cleveland would not have treated him better, if the owner was not a better person, if they wouldn't have more money... Treated him better?
02:07:45
Speaker
If they wouldn't have put better teams around him, that he wouldn't have stayed no matter what he could have got with D-Wade at the end of the careers. They didn't have to do that shit at the beginning. It could have been at the end of the career. There was no timeline on that.
02:07:57
Speaker
There was. why do Again, why do you think their contract is in at the same time? Because we want to play together 20 years from now. I don't even know if you'll be healthy 20 years from now. Because remember, Dwayne Wade is like five years older than LeBron.
02:08:10
Speaker
I mean, there's a lot of conspiracy theories that go around. That's not a conspiracy theory. That is a i fact. That is a fact. I know they said they want to play together. I just, I don't know.
02:08:21
Speaker
Yeah. Mellow's confirmed it. No, mellows Mellow's the only one that's verbally confirmed it because he nothing happens to him. you They can't confirm it because it's tampering. See? Yeah, you're right. The NBA can come back. You are you're a Cleveland fan, so you get to rape them. yeah I should shut the fuck up, as you said. it's And second, LeBron is from Akron, not Cleveland. Let's stop that, people.
02:08:45
Speaker
Now, Donovan Mitchell ain't from nowhere over there. He's from New York. Yeah, but he can still be the best player in team history if he gets two rings. And what about Larry Nance?
02:08:58
Speaker
I got him on my Cleveland Who's up there? list. what about What about a little Mark Price action? He would probably be third. He'd be third. Top five. Yeah, he'd be third. I thought he would have been.
02:09:09
Speaker
Okay, what about a little bit of Hot Rod Williams? Hot Rod would probably be outside the top 10. Maybe 12. I'm going to give up now. Maybe 11 13 range. I liked him. I liked his cards. liked his Hot Rod. That was a great card. I love it.
02:09:25
Speaker
Well, moving it. MVP I got this year. I'm...
02:09:32
Speaker
um'm im
02:09:36
Speaker
Dang. I'm mad at Allen now. Not not the Cot. I'm not mad at his Cade Cunningham choice.
02:09:46
Speaker
He'd have to get busy. But um I like the Durant pick too. that that's Yeah, if he balls out, that could be a real thing.
02:09:58
Speaker
And there was SGA could be a good repeat candidate. Who's new?
02:10:07
Speaker
No, screw it. I mean, on the train. I'm going to on board the train. Kevin Durant.
02:10:13
Speaker
ah it I mean, that's that's... There's lots of logic to that pick. and Yeah, if he has a good season and and and they don't regress, yeah. So, wait, you like the Kevin Durant pick, but you don't like the Jalen Brunson pick? I'm confused now. I mean, that's a similar pick.
02:10:32
Speaker
Nah, Jalen Brunson. Both number two, number three teams in this division in this conference, led leading player on the team, leading scorer, bunch of complementary pieces. It seems similar to me.
02:10:44
Speaker
I know, but here's the reason. I believe Cade Cunningham is a better player than Jalen Brunson. And I believe Cade Cunningham is going to put up better numbers than Jalen Brunson and have an equivalent team. Wow.
02:10:55
Speaker
So if I give it to Jalen, I got to give it to Cade. Okay. You mean Kevin Durant, right? No. kevin Kevin will probably be on name recognition. I thought you said... I apologize. I thought you said you were jumping on board with Marr and you were picking Kevin Durant. I apologize. I did. oh No, i did that's what i I did. That's my pick. Kevin Durant.
02:11:19
Speaker
You said Jalen Brunson... It's not that I think he's a bad pick. I just think Cade Cunningham is better. so it's Oh, got it. Okay, so you were just inserting him into the... Right. It's like... if I would vote for Cade over Jalen. So that's why I would pick Kevin Durant.
02:11:34
Speaker
I'll pick Kevin Durant over both. I guess only because Brunson would have to split the ball with Cat. And that would pretty much be the reason there. No, i just think Cade's a better player.
02:11:46
Speaker
i always At the end of the season. If that wasn't on the team, you'd think that he would score more than Brunson.
02:11:52
Speaker
I don't think No, no. Because when Cat wasn't there, he he'll score the same. His production will be the same. But Brunson will be, what, 26, 9, and 4, right? Okay. K will probably average a double-double this year, whether it be with points or rebounds.
02:12:11
Speaker
I mean, assists or rebounds. So, whereas Brunson will be 26, 9, and 4. Like, is going to be, like, 27, 10, and 8. twenty seven ten and a okay And I think he's doing it with slightly less talent.
02:12:30
Speaker
Sure. Not a whole lot, but slightly less. The Knicks are a better team, sure. Yeah. So, that's all. Okay. What next up on the slate?
02:12:41
Speaker
Defensive player of the year. This might be easy and unanimous.
02:12:47
Speaker
If it ain't Evan Mobley, what we talking about? Oh. Hmm. It's not going be unanimous.
02:12:56
Speaker
What? I mean, wait, but you can go with Rudy? No, I'm going with Wimby. Because if Wimby hadn't got hurt last year, he would have won it. either I'm a Cavs fan, but i that's a fact.
02:13:10
Speaker
No, that's fair. notice Evan Mobley always wouldn't be one. I didn't look at it that way.
02:13:18
Speaker
Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. I was thinking Victor Brom and Ben-Bion was close last year. so yeah, that's who I was going pick too. Yeah, but I ain't mad at you more. we Matter of fact, we in the city of Cleveland appreciate you.
02:13:30
Speaker
Show us some love.
02:13:33
Speaker
Although, I could also see Jaron Jackson Jr. having a resurgent season and and possibly being up there as well. Agreed.
02:13:45
Speaker
the that's your final answer? Or you goingnna you're on the Wimby train? No, I'm sticking with that. Omar. oh Me? Yeah, no, I'm going with you. I'm with Wemba Yama. I think i don't think there's any— I mean, he dude's going average at some point in time 10 blocks a game. Like, this is like this. Yeah, that's very possible. mean, come on, baby.
02:14:09
Speaker
That is very possible. He's just too long to not be Defensive Player of the Year. I'm sorry, how are you not? Like, if you don't block everything that comes around you in a 20-foot span, then we got a problem. Shit.
02:14:24
Speaker
ah Alright. Rookie of the year.
02:14:37
Speaker
Ace is wild, baby. Give me Ace Bailey, baby. Okay. out of that. i'm mad at that I say... even though we know who they' give is um the der huge favoriteite And he will probably end up having the most team success. so that But just to to kind of go against the grain, I'm going to go with Vijay Eshkom.
02:15:04
Speaker
think he's going to get a lot of opportunities to score the basketball, especially. we knowt i mean, we know Joel's going miss time. Paul's to miss time. It's basically just going to be him and Tyrese Maxey running the show.
02:15:19
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, when you put it up there, we already know who's going to be the automatic pretty much as long as he doesn't get hurt. So I was trying to think of somebody else as well that could possibly be up there. And even though the team is going to suck, and i and they and and and I love my hometown team, but even though they're going to suck,
02:15:36
Speaker
um
02:15:39
Speaker
wow. I don't know. I've got to think about this. Yeah.
02:15:51
Speaker
No, never mind. I take that back. I got to think about it for a second more. Oh, I know a good one. We just talked about their team. um On the Spurs, Dylan Harper.
02:16:02
Speaker
I'll go with Dylan Harper. Okay, not mad at that at all. I like that one. I was going to pick somebody else, but yeah, I don't think so. Yeah, it definitely gets my... Matter of fact, I may go with him for the next one.
02:16:19
Speaker
Sixth man the year. Ooh, sixth man of the year. Because, yeah, I mean, you'll be in that role. Let's see.
02:16:30
Speaker
Who else will move into a six-man role? Try to think of other six men around the league because Peyton Pritchard ain't going to be a six-man this year. He's going to be starting for Boston. They're going to start him? Yeah, they're starting him for sure. Yeah, yeah.
02:16:44
Speaker
I didn't know those things. Most disrespected man in the last 48 hours. Give me Russell Westbrook. Watch Brody come back and get six men of the year. Let me put it down.
02:16:58
Speaker
Ooh, I like that. You know I love Brody. Know I love you some Brody. Interesting. Came up here and took him this long to get signed right before the season or week before the season. Ain't that the truth. Tell me about it, man. That's some bullshit. That's right. He going to be lighting the beam out there in satire. We're good. Go get help, Brody.
02:17:22
Speaker
I feel like it's going to be somebody on the Clippers with all the stars they've got. Who's going to be their sixth man? The whole bench. The whole bench is sixth man of the year. I'm going with the whole LA a Clippers bench for sixth man of the year. No,
02:17:39
Speaker
that's good. No, don't know. That's a good question. shit I'm going go with the most disrespected man in the NBA. I'm going to go Jonathan
Award Predictions and Coaching Strategies
02:17:45
Speaker
Kaminga. Okay, that's a good pick. That's a very good pick. I like that. I like that.
02:17:53
Speaker
I'm a big Camino fan. I was like, the I'm like, yo, like he can come up with all the juices and try to, why he can elevate his minutes. Like, yo, bro, like who's athletic? Like let him ball.
02:18:05
Speaker
Yeah. Jump at the gym. Shit. Yeah. I knew he was the savage when he was playing out here with the, uh, with the, the G league squad, the, uh, elite.
02:18:20
Speaker
Elite. Elite. be whatever Oh, I've got a great six-man the year, at least what should be the leading candidate if I was running the team. Let rip.
02:18:32
Speaker
LeBron Joseph James Jr. Let's go. Send his ass to the bench. get to make vi Send his ass to the bench. Don't nobody want him in the league no more.
02:18:44
Speaker
Take your son and go home. All right, please. He said Bronny James. Go back to Cleveland, okay? They don't even want you there, apparently, if he has Bobby. Hey, what what's in that cup?
02:18:56
Speaker
What? What?
02:19:01
Speaker
a I'm a Laker hater, I know. I don't care. I mean it freely. ah Did you say yours more?
02:19:12
Speaker
Oh, yeah, Brody. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And who you got, Omar? I know it ain't LeBron James Jr. No, it is LeBron James. It's LeBron James.
02:19:25
Speaker
No, not even Junior. I just said Junior. No, send LeBron's ass bench. Oh, actual LeBron? Oh, my God. Actual LeBron James. Put him on the bench. Stop it. Let him come bench. No, no, I'm being... Look, wait second.
02:19:39
Speaker
Wait a second. Think out the box of me now. Hear me now. Hear me now. Listen to the professor. Sometimes the professor will like to experiment with different types of mushrooms and LSD and things like that. And maybe this might have at one point in time came upon ah dream that he had.
02:19:54
Speaker
But Luka plays one. LeBron's on the second team. And you have two starting lineups that you can interchangeably run through the game and throughout the season without tiring old man Rip Van Winkle out.
02:20:11
Speaker
LeBron James not coming off anybody's bench. Put Rip Van Weeks on the bench, damn it.
02:20:19
Speaker
oh I'm trying so hard to get Mar to crack on me. This is great. Most improved player this season. You got me more worried about you, Omar, than anything.
02:20:36
Speaker
I'm not getting up to Tony levels of LeBron hate yet. I promise you. Where that dude been at? That dude MIA. He on the milk cart. On the milk cart.
02:20:49
Speaker
Chill, bro. What we got for most improver player? Damn. I didn't think of that. I mean, damn. The whole league? Shit. Hold on.
02:21:01
Speaker
Everybody's improver. God bless. That's a whole whole lot of people. um What's the rules on that? ah How you come over to candidate for most improver?
02:21:13
Speaker
just hate it Anybody you think I've seen like young players win it. I've seen veterans win it. and Injured. Oh, no, that's not most improved. That's a comeback. Yeah.
02:21:26
Speaker
Most improved. Most improved. Hell, John Morant won it after winning rookie of the year. He won rookie of the year and the next year he won most improved. That is true. Oh, hmm.
02:21:38
Speaker
oh I mean, maybe Tyrese Maxey because his I think his lows might. Oh, well, ah his work. yeah What?
02:21:53
Speaker
Workless. Holy cannoli. Billy ah in the 76ers basketball organization is going to increase.
02:22:05
Speaker
Let's take him. ah take you to get that happen. Oh my gosh, that was crazy. What? That was wild. Holy shit.
02:22:16
Speaker
holy shit I mean, it's always somebody that you don't know, though. cause like Not that you don't know. We know who they are. But it's always like somebody like a boy like a fringe reserve kind of player. Like Dyson Daniels won last year.
02:22:30
Speaker
yeah ah Who else was there? Ivaka Zubak was in the running. And your boy Cade Cunningham came in third last year. What? yeah You know what? i'm gonna go with hey i'm going I'm going with my brother. I named him earlier.
02:22:44
Speaker
I love him. Can I get a hallelujah? Amen. Thompson. Okay. Not mad that. Yeah, they've been trying to get him an award the last two seasons. That might work.
02:22:57
Speaker
oh Most improved, most improved.
02:23:03
Speaker
You know what?
02:23:06
Speaker
Yeah, because this dude, yeah, his role is going to be greatly improved. I'm going to go with Andrew Nimbhardt. from the Pacers.
02:23:18
Speaker
Ooh, I like that one. Because without Tyrese, somebody's going to have to step up. ah Yeah.
02:23:27
Speaker
Andrew Nembhar. Yeah. He's going to have to go from six-man to now in the starting lineup.
02:23:43
Speaker
Who you got, Marr? and not i was I was going with Tyrese Maxson. Oh yeah. Tripping.
02:23:55
Speaker
What's in your cup? What's in your cup? You know what's in my cup. ah
02:24:06
Speaker
That's brisk, baby. That's crazy. ah Final award. Coach of the year. Hmm.
02:24:19
Speaker
I'm going with Mike Brown. I know you said you don't like Mike Brown, but I think Mike Brown is being brought in in the perfect position to coach this team. I know all about Coach Thibodeau. Me and Mar talked about this on a program with Canteen a few months ago.
02:24:34
Speaker
Shout out to our boy Canteen. But Coach Thibodeau, as a Celtics fan, I know, is known to run his teams into the ground. And eventually those teams get very, very tired.
02:24:46
Speaker
of playing that style and that's what happened in New York and as you mentioned Mike Brown sure he won with LeBron and won the championship but he's he's been a coach that has taken people to the playoffs and has done well and I am saying that he will take them over the top and if Jalen Brunson is gonna be my MVP and if the Knicks are going out win the chip no they're not going to win the chip the loosestone can probably but they do you have a chance to win i'm going with mike ground to complete the next trifecta i can't believe i just said that i'll be right back i'm going to throw up again why are doing that to yourself just i don't know
02:25:26
Speaker
see it's here the real answer is because he made those It's such a damn good coach that he's going to make people forget that he was messing around with somebody's wife in Boston.
02:25:41
Speaker
What? Stop it. Get some help. Get some help. For the full redemption tour. The full redemption tour.
02:25:52
Speaker
You know. yeah Give me email. I think this is going to be kind of a this is kind of a ah payback award this year. ah You know, Kenny Atkinson got it last year, and it was well-deserved.
02:26:06
Speaker
We didn't come out of nowhere, but I don't think anybody thought we we would do what we did last season. And what got overlooked was the Oklahoma City Thunder. So if they finish with the one seed again in the West, I think their coach will take it home because the and NBA kind of owes him.
02:26:23
Speaker
So, you know, they'll pay for it this year. As a backup plan, though, if he doesn't, yeah.
02:26:33
Speaker
I could see it going to, I thought about Umei too, but I'm like, I don't know if he's on NBA's good side again yet. um
02:26:43
Speaker
I could also see, ah should the Clippers kind of finish in the top three in the in the West? I could see T. Lou getting that yeah that. Yeah. He's kind of one of the better coaches that doesn't have one yet.
02:27:06
Speaker
Question for you. Where hurts more Omar picking the Knicks to win the East? We're seeing Taylor Swift wear Chiefs gear. T.A.P. I A.P. I didn't want to come at you today, bro. Pause. I i don't need you being up in here.
02:27:25
Speaker
Are you a Swifty? About my baby Tay-Tay. Okay, Swifty. Don't be talking about my baby Tay-Tay. I'm a Swifty since teardrops on my guitar, which was written about me since we met back in Nashville back in the day with Fella Warren.
02:27:44
Speaker
And then Travis Kelsey's bitch of ass came along and took her from me. I still remember you took my woman, Travis. i will never forget it.
02:27:55
Speaker
And when y'all get married, you better watch out. There might be a sniper in the trees, and it might be my crazy ass with a... Okay, let me stop. Let me stop before I get it out and get arrested and shit. They might send somebody to my house.
02:28:10
Speaker
They might send somebody to my house, no wonder the way I'm talking. Hey, you gotta chill, bro. It's Allen's fault. Go get Allen.
02:28:22
Speaker
They both hurt equally, to actually. I never thought I would say the Knicks are good at anything. I fucking hate the Knicks. A wild, wild Friday. but a I do like the Imei Adoko bitch, though.
Mental Health and Personal Stories
02:28:35
Speaker
I do like that, though. Yeah, for sure. I wouldn't have it any the other way. And, I mean... Hell, we've been acting crazy. You know, when you act crazy, man, sometimes you got to check in with your mental man, get that together all the way together.
02:28:49
Speaker
I think we need it right now. ah think we all need it right now.
02:28:56
Speaker
Hey, if y'all know we're doing all the way, man, hey, we care about each other. We are big on mental health, especially in the male community and especially on black males, man, hey. You got to do more than just ask your homie what's up and say I'm good and just accept it. You know what i mean? Hey, find out what's going on with each other because today's day and age, you never know what people are going through. You never know what what may tip somebody over the edge. And for me, the
02:29:26
Speaker
the the the S word nobody wants to talk about, that rate is just a little bit too high. ah amongst people in general, but especially in the black in the black community. and And if you don't talk about what's going on, man, it just gets bottled up.
02:29:43
Speaker
And comes out in ways that you don't expect or that you may not want. And so, you know, we've devised a good way to check in with each other. And, you know, to get to the bottom. man And I think it's really helped me. It's paid dividends a couple episodes on this show.
02:30:03
Speaker
from For me personally, I know so. I will ask my brothers, hey, what stresses are you dealing with lately? What have you done to eliminate those stresses? And what do you need from me to help you get through?
02:30:15
Speaker
So you go ahead, Mar. Hey, man, nah. I guess, yeah you know, just
02:30:27
Speaker
trying to eliminate a a certain expenses that I no longer need hello or just in general. Right. you know, do away with something.
02:30:39
Speaker
Trying to clean up that credit, man. this so Yeah, man. it Just, you know, only thing I need is, you know, just encouragement. Be like, hey, man, it's going to be a process. It's something that's not fixable, like so instant. So, right.
02:30:57
Speaker
Yeah.
02:31:00
Speaker
So I'm just kind of in that mindset, just, you know, make sure that y'all there. Just, hey, bro, take it a day at a time, bro. It is what is. It ain't all meant to be fixed so instantly. So, yeah, that's all I need from y'all.
02:31:14
Speaker
So, oh you know, I'm throwing right back at you, bro, man. What are some of the stresses you're dealing with? How you, ah you know, trying to solve those things and anything, i you know, i can do to help you eliminate those stresses, man.
02:31:29
Speaker
What about you, Omar? Yeah, past I'm like, it's no pressure to participate. If you feel comfortable, go ahead. If you don't, again, it's no pressures. It is what it is. yeah well first of all let me say to my brother Mar for encouragement my friend I saw your post the other day about what would you choose very good choices by the way about what you would choose if you could i think it was like 20 12,000 hours a month or a credit score or whatever just that any other but I will let you know as a person who has worked at a financial corporation before that was completely centered around credit
02:32:01
Speaker
ah Credit score is not the end all be all, and it never will be. Even if your credit is 500, 600, 650, you are never truly of the game. you are never truly out of the game Don't let them tell you that you need an 800 credit score, this, that, and the other to be able to get shit because it isn't about that. It's more about your history and how you've handled your payments and things like that.
02:32:25
Speaker
Because I personally have 800 credit score, but I also have never owned anything really other than one than a couple of cars. So if I went to go buy a house and you went to go buy a house, you're gonna be approved before me because I ain't never owned nothing long-term than that.
02:32:43
Speaker
I just pay my credit card on time every month for the past 20, 25 years. And that's why I got such a good credit score. So don't let that ever get you down. It ain't an end all be all. And honestly, I hate that they portray credit score to be everything in society because it really makes people try to live up to something that they can't. Now, if you're late on your rent all the time and you ain't paying it, that's one thing.
02:33:04
Speaker
But if you are are mostly good and your credit score ain't shit, that's just a fucking number. So anyways. Yeah, that's a good game right there. That's your encouragement. so um as for As for my ah portion, if you don't mind, I would actually like to go off script a little bit. I've watched this show now for a while since I um since i first not first met with Mar, but I got Bobby G on the program, at least. I didn't know when I knew Mar first. But since I have been watching this program, nonetheless, this has been my favorite segment.
02:33:34
Speaker
Appreciate that, man. Yeah, why? I'm going get a little deep, if you don't mind, and kind of go on off script here for a second. So... Mental health is one of the biggest things, most important things in my life. It's one of the things along with homelessness that I advocate and fight for and volunteer for and donate most of my time and money to because I'd like to do a lot of volunteer work and those are like my my things I like to focus on, my specialties.
02:34:03
Speaker
um And there are reasons for that. ah aside from the fact of how my mom raised me to care for the people that have less and blah, blah, blah, blah. It's just sad to see people that are homeless on the street and have to deal with these mental illnesses that um that sometimes are too debilitating to be able to have jobs or to be able to live normal lives.
02:34:25
Speaker
But instead, these people are shunned and shit on in our society um and pushed to the side, which, okay, I... If that's how most of society wants to be, it's one thing to push a certain segment of the population to the side.
02:34:42
Speaker
It's a whole entire another thing to extrapolate what has happened to that population, which most of the time is mental health related, and then not use that data to help you in the larger segment of society.
02:34:57
Speaker
As you mentioned, mental health just keeps getting worse every year. And is it is it because we've noticed and it's become more prevalent along the way? Of course, yes. As people talk about it more, as more people are diagnosed.
02:35:09
Speaker
um Is there times when you know diagnosis has even been to a point where people were getting diagnosed with things that maybe they shouldn't have been along with? Sure, yes, that happens as well as it does with any type of medical thing. um but the But the thing is, is that we don't attack it at the root of the problem.
02:35:30
Speaker
And in this society, Mental health is one of the biggest issues in society of why we are having extended homelessness, of why we are having these mass shootings where people go out to to school and and and and unh hert and hurt children, which is the worst thing in the world.
02:35:47
Speaker
These are all stemming from a lot of different factors. But one of those factors in all of these different things is mental health. And mental health is not treated properly. It's not recognized properly. People would they would rather throw people in jail than rehabilitate them mentally.
02:36:08
Speaker
And it's why we have the pay for prison system in this country, which is a bunch of bullshit, first of all. so um I just want to say to everybody out there, I have dealt with mental health for a long time now.
02:36:24
Speaker
I've dealt with depression. I've dealt with anxiety since after I got out of the military and tried to transition to the college life. And I got myself into a bunch of different shit I probably shouldn't have and and went down into a a bad place for a long, long time.
02:36:39
Speaker
ah Get help. Call the 988 suicide line is there if you need it. As you said, call a friend, right? This is awesome what they do here.
02:36:50
Speaker
Always reach out because I am in a much better place now because of where my parents, my friends and other people helped me to be too. So be blessed, everybody. Take care of yourselves. be kind to yourself.
02:37:03
Speaker
Love one another. And yeah, reach out if you need help. Thank you for letting me share. right Awesome, man. Thank you for sharing. That is awesome to hear.
02:37:15
Speaker
Awesome to hear that you've recovered and and still advocate because I don't know if you've ever heard the story. is it The reason we do this is in my podcast journey. I started with my best friend at the time.
02:37:31
Speaker
He's since passed away, but he was diagnosed bipolar. And in our original podcast, it was important for him that we discuss mental health. And so after he he passed away and I decided how I wanted to continue my podcast journey, I made the one thing I knew that I was going to do was incorporate something like that for him.
02:37:53
Speaker
Because...
02:37:57
Speaker
At the time, I didn't know how important it was until he brought it to my attention. And so ever since then, then it became a part of my personal journey.
02:38:09
Speaker
And then looking back at my own life, yeah, I've been through depression. like My mom passed away. I was depressed for like three years. not even realizing Not even realizing I was depressed probably until I came out of it.
02:38:25
Speaker
Like, you know, and not feeling that I could talk to anybody about, you know, what was going on. Thinking can nobody gives a shit, nobody cares. And not knowing how untrue that that is And, you know, just thinking, man, I could have helped myself a long time ago had I just opened to opened up about it. So, um, absolutely. Currently, currently I'm good.
02:38:53
Speaker
same thing. I would kick, uh, words tomorrow. Uh, I've done that all this year. So I know if I can do it, you can do It just takes a little bit of self-discipline.
02:39:05
Speaker
And for lack of a better term, we are sports fans, so trust the process.
02:39:14
Speaker
um and Yeah, I've been doing all this year. And, I mean, over the last couple weeks, like you've heard, hey, because of the the work that I was putting in, just day by day, week by week,
02:39:25
Speaker
yeah cut a couple bucks out of refinanced my vehicle, dropped that freaking interest rate like crazy. think I think I dropped it by more. I dropped it by like 60%. So, yeah. So, yeah oh.
02:39:39
Speaker
and And, you know, mark
02:39:43
Speaker
had good credit. Got with the wrong person. who Credit went down. But, yeah. So, if I can work it back up from trash to where it is now, I'm straight.
02:39:54
Speaker
yeah You definitely can, man. Yeah, no doubt you can do it. So, yeah. Just just remember, it's ah it's ah it's a marathon, not a sprint. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
02:40:06
Speaker
As far as us what else was going on with me. Yeah.
02:40:12
Speaker
yeah so just loving and appreciating where I'm at right now. Uh, I had migraine the other day.
02:40:25
Speaker
ah Oh man, took away half my day. But after I came out of it, just, yeah, like appreciating the people that I have in my life right now, appreciating just where I'm at, the path I'm on, the journey I'm on, uh,
02:40:43
Speaker
even though I had to ground QB one this week, but it honestly grounding him kind of made me appreciate being a parent. Weirdly enough, because I know I'm teaching him the the the life lessons that I wish I would have had a male figure in my life to teach me at his age.
02:41:02
Speaker
Like, so yeah, man, just in a good space. And, uh, yeah just in a good space overall man life uh professionally um even though my wife is over there looking sad as a puppy i hope we good marriage wise uh that's to be to be decided She said maybe if you take me to dinner after this how long are you going to be on that damn podcast? Ashley is probably what she is saying. Tonight is our date night. We have a committed date night every other Friday.
02:41:39
Speaker
That's unbreakable date. so It is tonight. so yeah
02:41:46
Speaker
ah yeah That's about it man. Challenge for the week man. What you got for the people more? Hey, man. Nah, man. my Mine's just simple, man.
02:41:58
Speaker
Just make sure that you, you know, not focus on the things that you don't have. Focus on the things that you do.
02:42:10
Speaker
I think this a real simple one. <unk> be Be grateful for the things that you do because there's a lot of people that's struggling for just even the bare necessities right now. Yeah, because I yeah they Yeah, not not to be a Debbie Downer, but, you know, got to bury, bury uncle tomorrow. So and then meet up with the fam.
02:42:34
Speaker
So ae it's weird because now it's like, damn, man, we at the age where, you know, this. ah You never know what to happen. It's like start losing generations.
02:42:47
Speaker
So it's crazy right now, man. Obviously, he was uncle by marriage, but he's been my uncle my whole life. So my auntie, making sure I'm there for her because she's not a widow. So make sure that we show her love to mom. So just, yeah, man. Appreciate what y'all got, people, man, because you never know when that clock hits you over all of us.
Kindness, Community, and Personal Growth
02:43:13
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
02:43:16
Speaker
Yeah, told no lie. my My prayers and deepest condolences to you and your family for your boss, first of all. but um Also, yeah, gratitude. I mean, you can never...
02:43:30
Speaker
Never beat that. I don't even, there's no there's no way that you're going to get through life if you're not grateful for what you have, because as Mar said, there are so many other people out there that just dumped. But I will say, um first of all, because I'm not sure that I'll ever be allowed on this program again after my four strike performance today. I don't even know how you get on you not your four strikes. You only get three, Omar. What the hell happened? They allowed me one extra, and I still took it.
02:43:57
Speaker
So I don't know if I'll ever see any of y'all faces again. But if I don't, be kind to each other. Please go spread a smile. um I know people, I'm not going to tell you to give to the homeless because I know people are sometimes shady about that, whatever, whatever.
02:44:13
Speaker
But at least give a smile. If you see somebody down and out, give a hold a door. for somebody. um Be kind, spread love. um you know just if If we could all just love each other, and I know that's impossible because there's some people in life you're just not going to get along with, but if we can try at least,
02:44:32
Speaker
for the most people in our lives, the world would just be such a better place. And right now with all the division and hate in this world and you know you see the world wars and everything we got going on, we just need to try to just spread that love at least in our little circles um because you never know when that may generate and radiate out to other circles. And yeah, be be blessed and be successful this week. Go out and do something good, kind and and for yourself.
02:45:01
Speaker
Absolutely. I love it. I love it. For me, my challenge to the people is some sometime within the next week, something good is going to happen to you. That's just the law of averages tells me something good is going to happen to you this week.
02:45:18
Speaker
So my challenge for you for you is after that happens, pay it forward.
02:45:24
Speaker
you know whatever Whatever grace or act of kindness or blessing is placed upon you this week, pay that same blessing or grace act of kindness or blessing forward to another. And, you know, each one to each one, so to speak.
02:45:41
Speaker
And that goes into the quarter of the week. quoted loose week comes yeah may May I add on to your point real quick? Go for it. for so car ah Karma is real in life, y'all.
02:45:52
Speaker
I was back home For my birthday and we went out to dinner and there was ah me and my parents and there was a lady sitting at the other table with just her and her baby, right? So I was paying for me and my parents meal anyways So I just told them to throw her check on mine and I pay for hers, right?
02:46:08
Speaker
Whatever not thinking nothing about it. Just trying to be nice. I got to the airport and And i'm I'm in this conversation with these two ladies and we're just having such a great time talking, I lose track of time.
02:46:19
Speaker
I don't, because I'm sitting in front of what I thought was my gate. They happened to change the gate at some point in time during that past hour and I didn't realize it. And so I find out right before my flight is like loading and I got to run all the way to the other side of the airport.
02:46:34
Speaker
Well, thank God the ladies next to me offered to pay my tab for me so I could run. So I was played back in that blessing. So. Hey, for real. There you go, man. Hey, the universe talks.
02:46:45
Speaker
And it listens if you speak. Hey, man, man. Do whatever. The quote of the week comes from ah Karen E. Keyones Miller.
02:46:58
Speaker
uh and it goes as such when someone tells me no it doesn't mean i can't do it it simply means i can't do it with them one more time when someone tells me no it does not mean that i can't do it it simply means that i can't do it with them so hey take that for what it's worth and uh Hey, almost
Podcasting Challenges and Future Plans
02:47:25
Speaker
our time. And hey, if you enjoyed the sports professor, you want to hear more? Hey, head over to the Ball and Buzz YouTube page. Go ahead. Hit that subscribe button like I did right there.
02:47:36
Speaker
It's free. We both. Yeah. Hey, cost you nothing, but it but it means so much to us. And don't let them know what you got going on, bro. Yes, thank you, my brother. I appreciate you putting the YouTube up there. That is the most important thing, y'all. If you're are watching this show, that is where you will find everything Ball and Buds related. We also have Instagram where you can find pictures and stuff, but this is where all the videos will go.
02:48:01
Speaker
So when Mar comes on, I think we're actually going to it next week, Mar, because your brother is still working on his internet over there. Got some internet-like dial-up. He got some AOL going on over there.
02:48:13
Speaker
We're still waiting on him, but we'll have that show next week. And Bobby G will be on for our NBA season preview on the Ball and Buds channel, where we'll get Man Down Mel in the house as well. and we'll get my brother Jay from Unfair Sports. That'll probably be in a couple weeks.
02:48:27
Speaker
Also, check out our new show every Sunday, Sunday Showdown. It is our football show, so it's similar to here. When Bobby and Margo after the game, we go after the Sunday games and then before the night game.
02:48:40
Speaker
Every Sunday about 715-ish Eastern, 415-ish Pacific. So, yeah, please just subscribe to Ball and Buds and support the the channels. You're going to see Mar and Bobby on there until I guess I die and the channel doesn't go anymore.
02:48:57
Speaker
It's a blessing and thank you all for having me on. I really, really appreciate Hey, no doubt, no doubt. And if you want to hear hear more from Yann Carl Marr, hey, head over to the IOW Sports Network YouTube page. And, again, go ahead and hit that subscribe button, just like I did right there.
02:49:12
Speaker
Again, it's free, but it means so, so much to us. So, you know what you got going on, Brody? Hey, man, a whole bunch stuff. You just make sure you hit that subscribe button because I'm always dropping content, man. So, appreciate all the love and support, man.
02:49:26
Speaker
Be here. The hardest working man in the business. For real, man. Every time I turn my YouTube on and say this man's live. Right. like Dale. going to live five times a day, sir?
02:49:44
Speaker
That's great. And, of course, if you want to hear me run my mouth like you don't hear me talk enough in this month, now head over to the Game Time 2, 162 channel and go ahead and hit that subscribe button again like I did right there.
02:49:55
Speaker
ah Mondays and Wednesdays, me and Big Mike from the Man Cave. I'll give you all Cleveland all day. Mondays and Wednesdays at 2.16 Eastern. And of course, remember, we are now available on YouTube. now We can't can't stream on YouTube yet.
02:50:12
Speaker
We still got like... what about 50 something days or something like that stupid facebook regulations yeah facebook got their weird little regulations yeah i know then uh but you can go over there and follow and like the page you know again cost cost nothing yeah facebook has regulations you can't you can't go live on facebook for like 60 days after starting an account yeah Yeah.
02:50:41
Speaker
So I guess it helps them weed out bots and fakes. Weed out the bots. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That makes sense. So, uh... 60 days is a long time. That is, man. Can't figure that shit out in 10 days. The advanced technology y'all got right now. AI taking over. The robot overlords about to make us their slaves and you can't... I mean, what is happening right now?
02:51:04
Speaker
I gotta make sure you are precisely a human being. Yeah. and Without double bow. but But, yeah, man, we've been at it for, hey, almost three hours, aren't they? I don't mind. It just shows the big the big boys that, hey, we could do three hours worth content, too. Y'all ain't special.
02:51:24
Speaker
Hey. Ooh, yay. We can go ESPN late for time. Forget first take. Forget first things first. What about the Audible Sports Podcast? You know what I'm saying? What's happening? McAfee?
02:51:37
Speaker
No, I mess with McAfee. That's my dude, man. I do like McAfee. But I think, no, I think though, and this is this is this would be my next move if if we if I can get get us up there, get you get bought you know get situated up there.
02:51:51
Speaker
I think that they need a program on ESPN that's the exact same thing as Pat McAfee, but just with us brown and black brothers, just with us just brother us brothers, just one fool of the brothers. And you can't have one of the the the mainstream podcasts like like they have out there. no, no, no. no We need some Bobby G. We need some Wildcard Mar. We need some Omar. we need some Clubber D, we need all the hitters to be on there. yeah ESPN, come get us paid.
02:52:16
Speaker
Holla at you boys. There you go. I even take the crap, man. Hey, you give me that 1 a.m., 2 a.m. time. like carry I don't give up. and I got an insomnia. I'll be up. Long the check cleared, dog. Long the check cleared, dog. don't matter what time you put it on.
02:52:32
Speaker
know what I'm saying? That's damn right. And yeah, if we get out of here, again, do us a biggest favor. Go ahead, hit that like button, subscribe if you're turn notifications on so you know the next time that we are here, which is every Friday, 7 Eastern, 4 Pacific, 6 Central.
02:52:45
Speaker
And for the homie, Wildcard Marr, for the sports professor, amen. Appreciate y'all for hanging with us, and we will catch y'all next time. Peace.