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Raptors Talk
40 Plays1 year ago
Calling all LD NBA fanatics: we've got Lauren and Jonah going head to head a la Jordan vs Bird—fulfilling their lifelong dream of talking about basketball and actually having people listen. Hear how they became self-appointed experts in all things basketball, their 2024 season predictions, and a bunch of other contentious takes.
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Transcript
Introduction to NBA-Focused Episode
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to The Commute, everybody. I'm Lauren Steinberg, SVP of La La Digital. I am joined here today by Jonah Morris, Director of Product on the Helios team. And we are very excited to be the first to do a Commute episode on the NBA.
00:00:18
Speaker
This is very exciting. I'm about to step into the lane. I'm looking to take a charge. I know you have some questions, some topics. It's going to be a hot one, I think. Was that the surprise that you had? It's not the surprise. The surprise is coming. It's coming later. Okay. Well, so Jonah and I have like, we, we've never really worked on like any projects together, but you always, I always eavesdrop on conversations you're having about the NBA and vice versa.
00:00:44
Speaker
I've noticed by the way. Yeah. Passionate. Yes. Like we know, would you say we are the NBA experts of Lobo Digital? Top one and two right here. Top one and two. That is a challenge to everybody else, but top one and two right
Raptors' Current Events and Predictions
00:00:57
Speaker
here. Okay. Well, so I'm super psyched to talk about what's happening today with the Raptors. We're going to do some predictions for 2024 season. We're going to maybe do
00:01:07
Speaker
A little bit of a rapid fire of who wore it best, the Raptors being the Raptors uniform, obviously. But I thought we would start with talking about how we got into basketball. Where do we get off kind of sitting here today? Maybe share with me what was your first favorite team or your first experience? What got you into the NBA in the first place?
00:01:30
Speaker
Yeah, so, you know, first favorite team, first team that really got into basketball, Harlem Globetrotters. Oh. Saw them early, maybe 12, 13 years old at the Skydome. You haven't seen a basketball game until you're sitting in the 500 levels of the Skydome watching the Harlem Globetrotters. That was the first game. But the first NBA game was Raps Pissons again in the Skydome. It was a wild experience. Like, you know, this was a bad team.
00:01:57
Speaker
This is a weird introduction to the NBA. What year is that? This would have been 95. 95, wow. Mighty Mouse. Mighty Mouse, Damon Sottowire, so good. So good. How did you get into that? I actually one time bought a, what's those things where you can get a famous person to record one of those? The cameos. The cameos. I got a Mighty Mouse cameo for a friend of mine. I had the Jack Armstrong cameo.
00:02:26
Speaker
What a gem. How I got into basketball was when I was, I don't want to age myself too much here, but I guess when I was like
00:02:36
Speaker
14 or so. My parents bought me a TV for my room because my brothers had one. And I became obsessed with the Bulls. It became obsessed with Jordan. I know. Everyone's like shrugging. I'm like, yeah, obviously. But the weird thing about that was I actually really liked the jazz. I was like, yeah, I was super into Carl Malone, Hornacek, like Stockton. I don't know. They were scrappy. They were fast.
00:03:05
Speaker
You know, kind of like the underdogs. And I just got so into it. Like the flu game is obviously the most epic, but like I just became addicted. I didn't leave my room. I was just, I was obsessed. And then the first basketball game I ever went to, I was still living in Montreal, but the jazz were coming to Toronto to play the Raptors.
00:03:24
Speaker
Everyone was there to obviously see their actors. I was there to see the jazz, but at which point they were horrendous. I mean, you know, they still haven't kind of come back to life. But yeah, I was up in the, you know, high nosebleeds and it was a great game. I don't remember who won.
NBA Arenas: The Best and Worst
00:03:39
Speaker
I don't remember who played, but I remember enjoying it. Yeah.
00:03:41
Speaker
You know what I love about that? It's easy to cheer for the Bulls, especially when they're winning six champions. You got Jordan Pippen, the whole team. It's not easy to cheer for the Utah Jazz. Definitely not these days. A lot of scandals for those that know. Yeah, we've got a bit of an audience here, and none of them are giving me any positive reinforcement, so they don't know. OK, so let's just maybe, before we jump into it then, calibrate on expertise. How much Raptors are you really watching? How much NBA are you really watching?
00:04:11
Speaker
How entrenched are you in NBA culture? On a healthy amount. I'm on the athletic ESPN. I'm in the real deal. You pay for athletic subscription. I do. Wow, this guy's making too much money. You know, I'll say... So I used to work at TSN and I used to edit the TSN, the NBA page on the TSN. And so I value good journalism, I value good media.
00:04:39
Speaker
And so I love what the athletic does. I want them to succeed. Yeah. And so, yeah, I'll give them I'll give them my money. You know, if I pay for Netflix, I can pay for for the athletics. So, yeah, so I'm I'm I'm all over the place. I'm on the Twitter box all the time going going deep trying to consume favorite players. Tribune article.
00:04:57
Speaker
I'm like, well, I mean, Norm Powell's was awesome. Norm Powell's goodbye was like, there was like literally a tear in my eye. I'm not a very emotional guy, but there was like a tear in my eye. Yeah. Pascals, I was crying. I had trouble getting through it. Recency bias, of course, but. Yeah, I know. Are we going to talk about this right now? I mean, no, no, no, you're right. Sorry. Sorry. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah. So, so I love it. And then of course, you know, I'm going to do shout out to, you know, our own LD crew, the Tom bombs in the, in the slash, you know, the NBA channel on Slack are the best. It's the best coverage.
00:05:26
Speaker
Oh, the Tom bombs. Yeah. Yeah. Like the Woj bombs. Basically just repost all of the Woj bombs. Yeah. Yeah. But it's great. I love it. Tom knows Tom knows this stuff. Yeah. How about you? I'm deep. I'm unhealthy. It's an unhealthy. Absolutely. I watch probably three games a night.
00:05:44
Speaker
Um, I'm on, I have a Twitter burner account, uh, which I, where I do a lot of my really detailed work. Um, and yeah, I like have the stats open. Like I'm looking at percentages. I'm constantly like coming up with new narratives and stuff. I'm, I'm obsessed. I, yeah, I watch a lot of basketball. I go to a lot of games, like I'll travel, uh, to see a lot of games. I don't even care raptors playing or not. Like if I'm in a city that has an NBA game, I'm there. I'm going. Um,
00:06:13
Speaker
I have a list that I'm tracking of how many arenas.
Raptors' Challenging Season and Trades
00:06:16
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. So it's not great. I think I've been to 11 or 12 at this point, so it's small. So favorite non-Tran arena and least favorite non-Tran arena. It's going to be weird. So I love the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit because it's brand new. It's beautiful. The amenities are unbelievable. Actually, every arena besides Scotiabank Arena has incredible amenities.
00:06:42
Speaker
freebies like you buy like a lower bull ticket and you have like access to all of the like lounges and like it's no joke it's you get the wristband you're treated like royalty here you know yeah like even I mean it's not a good not a good vibe so I would say I love Little Caesars because you know the fans are always cheering for the visiting team which is kind of hilarious
00:07:03
Speaker
And then least favorite I honestly don't like I think it's called Cassias Cassaias Center now It was like the FT. I was like where Miami plays. Oh, yeah, it was like Bitcoin Center or whatever crypto scam.com arena Whatever it was FT X arena, I think it was Sam Bankman Fried shout out But yeah, that's probably my least favorite I thought yeah
00:07:28
Speaker
mostly just out of jealousy. I find that every arena, they're so loud. The fan base is so loud and so into it, and our fan base is just leaning back and chilling. I get into fights all the time. I could go on about the amount of fights that I get into. Matt knows. I get really upset with people who are just chilling, and I need energy.
00:07:49
Speaker
I feel the same way, I feel the same way. Worst arena I ever went to, the Amway Arena, is that the one in Orlando? It felt like a mini dome, it was huge, we were so far away, it was awful, I hated it. Low key, one of the best experiences. Go out to Mississauga, go see the Raptors, and then I know
00:08:08
Speaker
Yeah, Paramount. Paramount. I took my, I took my older son to it. First game you'd ever see. You can get great seeds too. It was like 20 bucks. We sat in nine different places because he used to try all different places. Yeah. And it was an awesome, awesome experience by the end. He didn't want to leave. I had to like, I'd like crowbar him out of there to get out of the arena. I've never been. It's, it's a lot of like kids. So it's a lot of like enthusiasm, excitement, and the basketballs.
00:08:33
Speaker
So I remember when Scoot was playing for G, whatever, and Ignite, and a bunch of people from L.D. were there. They saw somebody got tossed, I think in the first quarter, second quarter or something. Anyways, for another... What? What, Jacob? You gotta follow this?
00:08:56
Speaker
Yeah, saga City saga City, okay, so let's so it's been an eventful season for the Raptors chaos Mostly downs some ups but mostly downs. Yeah Probably the worst down was losing to Detroit the day that we traded OG, but okay Big blockbuster trades though. Yeah, like lost
00:09:19
Speaker
Basically, aside from Boucher, we're now, we've got nobody from the 19 CHAM team. We said goodbye to OG, we said goodbye to Pascal. Thoughts about those departures? Which one, if you could have hung on to one, which one would you have hung on to?
00:09:33
Speaker
No doubt about a Pascal. I mean, I know that people have loved the OG. You know, get it. He's younger. He can shoot. He plays defense. Look what he's doing on the Knicks. But, you know, Pascal's story, it hurts to see him on a different team. I mean, this is a guy who like, you know, he didn't start playing basketball till late. He came to the team. I don't know if you remember. They asked him, they're like, Dwayne Casey, what do you think about this player? They're like, you know, I think you could be like a good junkyard dog.
00:09:58
Speaker
Good JYD. This guy, five years later, is an all-NBA player, so top 15 player in the league, and wanted to be in Toronto, and at first to see him in another jersey. It just doesn't look right. It doesn't look right. He's not loving. I don't think he loves Indiana. I don't know if you saw that clip where he's like...
00:10:20
Speaker
I'll send it to you. Yeah, I agree. I honestly, last year, I was like, there's no way they're trading Pascal because they brought Yak back and that's his best friend. They have his brother coaching the G-League team. It's almost like they stack this world around him. And then over the summer, they just like,
00:10:38
Speaker
They kind of froze them out a little bit. Yeah, they froze them out. So it's hard. It's hard to see after that much investment in a player and you kind of see him grow up and grow his game. It's hard to see that. But it also wasn't working. It wasn't. Would you agree that it wasn't working?
00:10:53
Speaker
It wasn't working and I think that's maybe the cardinal sin of what's happened in the last couple of years is that the team just hasn't had a good handle. Management, so Masai and Bobby just hasn't had a good handle on the real potential of this team. And they made a couple of mistakes. A lot of bets. That's kind of what I'm like.
00:11:13
Speaker
A lot of pets. There's didn't work out. Hopefully mine do a little bit better, but yeah, I agree. Like it could have like another path they could have taken and don't hate me for saying this is like building up Scotty to where he's at now and dealing Scotty and getting like two pretty, like a little older, two or three older pieces to play alongside Pascal and OG.
00:11:35
Speaker
I remember a conversation you and I had and this was just before Durant got traded to the Suns. Would you trade Scotty? Would you have traded Scotty? What did I say? I think you said no way. I think you said no way. I wouldn't have. I wouldn't have. I mean based on the way KD is playing right now.
00:11:51
Speaker
Yeah, but I know I think the team is I think they've made a couple miss, you know, missteps in terms of judging, you know, they brought in. Yeah, because I thought they were okay. And then, you know, after Scotty's rookie year, I think that, you know, they went to the playoffs. They thought they were in good shape and it was just a miserable year. And they ended up losing Fred and then they traded picks for I was a medic. I was over. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Bully ball. I find bully ball. Yeah.
00:12:17
Speaker
I don't know. I feel like he was a bit of a ball hog, even though you could say, okay, the stats don't necessarily line up entirely. But I feel like he felt it was his team instead of trying to build a singular team, like trying to take Kyle's place, but also Kyle earned that over many, many years. So I don't know.
00:12:38
Speaker
I didn't like the, and Fred said it himself recently, right? He didn't really mesh well with the new regime. And I think that's a cop-out. Like I think that he could have been much better at kind of bringing everyone together. And instead he kind of chose taking Nick's side instead of the team's side.
00:12:54
Speaker
You know, I think Fred's a pretty savvy guy and I think he kind of, you look forward, he's like, look, they're giving this team to Scotty, you know, they can't pay me, Pascal, OG, they're not going to do that. So who's the guy that, you know, that they're going to cut? It's going to be the six foot point guard, right? And so I think he was like, I got to maybe, you know, show the league, you know, that, that I can do this. So, you know,
00:13:19
Speaker
I get
New Players' Impact on Raptors
00:13:20
Speaker
it. I think that's what Masai was talking about when he said selfish, but he wasn't. He misdirected, misdirected. But we got RJ, we got Quickly, we got our Kentucky guard. I mean, that's a dream. And in my, I mean, I'm loving Quickly. To me, Quickly is like Maxi 2.0. Yeah.
00:13:40
Speaker
I see huge potential. He's only now starting. Obviously, he's injured right now, but he's really growing into this role. I think him and Scotty are going to have amazing chemistry, despite the fact that he kicked Scotty's hand and it's now broken. I really love his, he brings playfulness to the team. Even though they're still losing, they're a little more fun to watch.
00:14:03
Speaker
Very serious question then for you. What is your favorite thing about Quickly? Is it, he's got a great nickname, IQ, is it that he can shoot or is it the strike? It's the Selly. It's also the evolution of the Selly. The Selly started, he was doing one Selly, he's doing another, he's doing another. I love
00:14:20
Speaker
That like I I'm a if you've ever heard me play ping-pong, you don't even need to see me You know, I'm a sore winner And he does like he's not afraid. I feel like the old team was like afraid to jinx it Yeah, I think you just gotta have fun out there
00:14:37
Speaker
You know what I love is he's breaking out the celly. It's a middle of December game in Minnesota. Doesn't mean anything. And he's breaking out the cell. He's going back and having a bit of fun. That's right. Yeah. The rest of the bench is getting into it. He's showing the younger guys like it's OK to have fun. And I also think like RJ's been a breath of fresh air. His numbers are incredible compared to where he was.
00:14:58
Speaker
at the in the Knicks he's playing in like you know it's the symbol you look at Precious and how he's all the sudden driving in the Knicks where he was like really drowning with you know Darko ball I think there's different players that fit to different kind of organizations and different ways of playing and I think RJ is just like he's he's powering his way through
00:15:18
Speaker
to really under the rim every single possession. He's not afraid. He's like hitting threes all of a sudden. He just has more confidence. I think it's really nice to see him blossom in Toronto.
00:15:30
Speaker
You know, I have a WhatsApp chat with my buddies and I've been advocating for RJ to come to Toronto for years. And one of my other buddies is a Knicks fan and he's like, I will drive him to LaGuardia and send them off. But I am excited. He looks like, and it's not just because he has all these booster juice franchises, but it looks like he fits here in Toronto, right?
00:15:52
Speaker
I suppose is next but you know it's it's the difference between the way the Knicks play it's a lot of ISO ball with Brunson a lot of ISO ball with Randall and so you know he's just kind of lingering on the perimeter and he's like maybe I can get a shot now here he's moving you know he's cutting to the rim
00:16:08
Speaker
You know, they're encouraging him to, you know, to pass the ball. I think I saw stat where like he's had more like six plus assist games, um, in like 20 games of Toronto than he had in 26 games with the next. And it's just, he's, you could just see that it just, it's a better system for him. It gets him in movement. He's already go out of the rim. I think, I think you're gonna, you know, it's, it's all about consistency with him.
00:16:31
Speaker
But I think if he can keep it up, he's kind of like a little bit of a hidden gem. I think he's going to be a great third guy. Also, Ben Stiller loves him. Do you ever notice? Ben Stiller is like hashtag RJ. It's not even a good hashtag, but he still posts it. And then Grady. Obviously, we didn't pick him up in a trade. We drafted him. He had a tough start.
00:16:56
Speaker
Sent down to the G League even there he was struggling came back stills I know they Darko put him through some regime that we don't really know much putting weight on but like They basically told me looks like a teenager out there, which he was by the way, he just yeah, honey But all the sudden he's shooting incredibly well. He's going to the basket. He's like he's passing very well his assists are significantly up like or I think he's a
00:17:21
Speaker
a major bright
Scottie Barnes' Leadership Potential
00:17:23
Speaker
spot. He's got this like, I don't know, when he runs down, but when he runs down the, like the court and his hair is just flowing in the way his mom and dad are always there. He's a bit of like, yeah, he's, he's, I think a lot of people counted him out and I'm really happy to see that the raptures made the right choice.
00:17:38
Speaker
Yeah, I'll say, like, whatever regiment they do. I want in on that. Bottle that. Sell that. Let's sell that down stairs a lot. Let's sell that, because he looks like a totally different player. You know, look, he came in, he was super young, and couldn't hit a shot, right? So, you know, he was really struggling. But now, you know, his shot's falling a little bit more. But more than that, these cuts that he's making, like, I love the way he just seems to find some space, and he gets to the rim. Yeah. There was a couple nice ones last night against the Nuggets. They almost won that game, but... Last night? Yeah. Yeah, that was...
00:18:07
Speaker
They didn't know. We all knew that was a comeback. We knew where that was going. It was really nice. He had some nice passes. He has some nice cuts. And so you kind of see your, you're starting to see, you're like, I can see where this, you know, this player is going, where this guy's going. I can see how he's doing. Him with Scottie, like Scottie being able to like actually use his size, Grady on the perimeter, like beautiful. Yeah, so far. Let me ask you, you mentioned Scottie, you know, obviously great year. He's an All-Star. You know, what does he need to do? All-Star like backup, but yeah.
00:18:37
Speaker
Well, he got the call only because of injuries, but yeah. That's true, but he's at the game. He scored some points. Oh yeah, I thought he was great at the game. I thought he played really well. So what do you think? Obviously he hit another level this year. It's his team, it's his franchise moving forward. What is it that he needs to kind of add to his game?
00:18:55
Speaker
Maturity maturity. Yeah. Yeah, I think he spends a lot of time actually when he came back from the all-star game I don't know if you noticed he wasn't complaining as much to the refs every time he didn't get a call He got back on D very quickly and obviously now he's injured so I'm not seeing it So I don't know how much it was like a moment or a new way that he's thinking or someone said something to him or something I don't know
00:19:17
Speaker
But it bothers me beyond belief when he gets in his own head because he gets frustrated with things. And I think that's his biggest barrier, to get caught up in a call he didn't get or something that didn't go his way. I think he's still very young. That's what scares me about saying this is Scottie's team. He's so young. I don't think he is leader. What I've loved seeing though is during this injury that he's on the sideline.
00:19:42
Speaker
He's yelling. He's screaming. I mean, I don't know if you see when he like screams in the players ears when they're taking that like corner three and stuff like he's still very immature, but he's fun to watch. So you don't want to, you know, you don't want to temper that too much. But at the same time, I think what he needs to do is is act like a leader. Yeah.
00:19:57
Speaker
grow up a little bit. I know that sounds super harsh, but like, you know, if this is going to be your team, I mean, it's going to take time for him to get comfortable with that. But he's got to, you know, we talk about it here, shadow of a leader, like you got to, you know, be the kind of the type of person that you want to see your teammates be. And I think, you know, it all comes with just not getting caught up in, you know, shitty ref calls.
00:20:19
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I think that's his biggest area of room. I mean, the shooting is unbelievable. I think he needs to use his size more, like take advantage of like powering. He doesn't get a lot of calls because he isn't as aggressive as he can be. And he needs to show like, like he not, you know, the flopping doesn't God forbid he ever becomes like a bead. But like you look at someone like Gogic and how he gets those calls. Yeah. That's what I want to see him do more of.
00:20:41
Speaker
Yeah, no, I hear you on the maturity thing. And, you know, how many times have we seen, you know, the play goes back, he gets a bad call on defense or something bad on offense. And the play is going the other way and he's back there with his arms, you know, up then. Yeah. You know, I think, I think, yeah, you can't be a leader. That's, that's what you're doing. You know, your team's going to take the tone from you. And so, you know, he needs to get back on, on defense or get back on offense.
00:21:02
Speaker
He's got to clean up those turnovers too. He's got to clean up those turnovers. And I think. Like he tries to be too fancy with the ball. Sometimes it's about clean execution. Yeah. And I think like a tighter handle, I think that would be a big thing for him. Yeah. He's looking for those fun. But I get it. He likes to be. I like that. He doesn't. Yeah. I mean, it's great. But he also needs to be surrounded by better players who build more chemistry over time before you're starting to try to read each other's minds. You know what I mean? Yeah.
NBA Season Predictions: 2024
00:21:26
Speaker
Let's do some quick predictions here. Let's go. Where are wraps landing this year?
00:21:32
Speaker
Well, okay, they're playing these they're 12 for these right now. Yeah trays injured though trays injured They probably can't get worse than Charlotte. So there I don't I think they're probably I think yeah, that's where I'm going down I think it's either 11th or 12. I don't think they get I think it's 12 I think it's 12 and what about next year? Obviously, there's an offseason. We have a lot of cap space. We got rid of a bunch of pieces like I
00:21:54
Speaker
I think they're in the playing conversation. It depends kind of what happens with that cap space. Do they do something with it? It depends a lot on what happens with their pick. Malik Monk. Oh, sorry. From a cap space for a second. Yeah, I think he's the only decent free agent that hasn't already been with the Raptors. Yeah, exactly. So how much is Malik Monk really kind of elevating your game? He might be six man this year. Yeah. OK. All right. OK.
00:22:19
Speaker
I think they're still, unless they make a pretty dramatic change, they're still squarely in the play-in world, and the rest is their whole thing. Like a play-in 9-10 or a play-in 7-8? Like 9-10. Ooh! Ouch. I think higher. You do? Yeah, I think like a 6 or 7.
00:22:38
Speaker
Really? Yeah, I'm very hopeful. Wow. OK, so who do you think? I'm also very, I think, very positively. Wow, OK. Do you see a team that's up there now that's going to drop, that they're going to leapfrog? Well, I mean, Miami's irrationably up there. Irrationally up there. How do they stay? I don't know. I don't know. Games just fly. Chicago's up there, they shouldn't be. There's a whole bunch of teams that are a little bit higher. That won't be. And then there's a bunch of teams that are low that are going to stay low.
00:23:05
Speaker
They're going to be bad. Yeah, like the Wizards are going to be bad. Pistons are going to be bad. Like there's just a bunch of teams that are going to be bad. Like there's just a bunch of easy teams to beat, which is why it's so frustrating to see that we're so low. You know what I mean? Yeah. And who knows what happens in the office. Like they could blow up the Sixers. Like if things don't work out, they could blow up the Sixers. If things don't work out, they could blow up the box. You know what I mean? Like we don't know what that could look like. So.
00:23:30
Speaker
Shit, if things don't work out, I mean, we're going to talk about 24 champ predictions. But anyways, let's yeah, so that that would be my that would be my prediction. This year, East and West, who wins each division? I'm going to say like, he's pretty obvious it's going to be the Celtics. I hate that. I hate.
00:23:46
Speaker
Let me just tell you. I can't even say it. I despise the Boston Celtics. Spies? Yeah. I would say, like, basically, if the Raps aren't going to win the championship, I would rather they just shut down the entire league and then, like, don't even record the championship. That's how much spying I have for other teams. But I think it's probably going to be the Boston Celtics. And, you know, in the West, the Nuggets, they just look so good. They just have everything. And Yokouk has just fired on all cylinders. And some of them were last night, just, like, heat up. Yeah, heat up.
00:24:15
Speaker
I don't know. Like, you know, I think the clips that, you know, the pain to say that there'll be some injuries and probably, I mean, I don't know, but we'll see. What about you? Well, wait, who do you have winning between that and that in that battle? I got the Nuggets. You got the nuggets going all the way to be the chance to get to beat the champ. Yeah. Back to back. Um, yeah, I mean,
00:24:36
Speaker
Like, I have the Celtics in the East. I know. I will spit on my water. You said it first. Yeah, Celtics in the East. And I actually think Minnesota, if Kat is healthy, I think Minnesota in the West, and then I think Boston's winning it all. I won Minnesota. I don't know. I have a soft spot for Minnesota. I mean, I hate Go Bears. You do?
00:24:56
Speaker
Oh, why does everybody hate him? Oh my God. Well, his fights with OG and then, yeah, the COVID thing, of course, the touching of the mic. So he's just, yeah, he's just so classic. I did like his, the ref thing with the money. I love that. Cause I genuinely believe it's all their own cahoots, but.
00:25:15
Speaker
Yeah, that would be my my prediction. So I've got boss and you've got nuggets and we'll see one put a hundred bucks on it or hundred bucks Yeah, okay. Let's do it.
Future Stars: Victor Wembanyama
00:25:23
Speaker
Okay done hundred bucks hundred bucks. We'll be back here to talk about it. Um, okay, and then let's do a quick rapid fire before we Kind of wrap up. Okay. I didn't send you this one. So just gonna okay Whimby yes or no Oh 100% yes. Yeah. Can I just clear up for a second? Yeah, this is like the worst he's ever gonna be. Yeah, I
00:25:44
Speaker
He's insane. They need to surround him in like two years, and it's going to be Dynasty. Dynasty. He is a freak, and I mean that in the most beloved way. Unbelievable to watch him. It's incredible to watch. Unbelievable. Yeah. Yeah, I'm so jealous. Me too. I'm so jealous. Not of him, but of the team that has him. I know. I wish I could go back in time and tell the Raptors to completely trade everybody away. We could have. We could have. We had the opportunity. Best basketball documentary you've ever seen.
00:26:12
Speaker
Oh, I love Hoop Dreams. Do you ever see that one? It was in the 90s. Chuck Swersky actually made a CD in it. It's about two kids in Chicago and they follow him for a couple years as they play through like middle school, high school, and then into university. It's wild. It's really, really good. Nice. I love that one with the
00:26:37
Speaker
Well, I love and one. Okay. Yeah, I love that one's good. Yeah, and then I also love what's the one with the bedding the the ref? Who's in he's like the Oh Tim Donny. Yeah Okay, so okay fine Demar or Kyle, okay
00:27:05
Speaker
Well, there's only one greatest rapper of all time, and I'm wearing socks that represent. Oh my god. Right here. Wow. Kyle Lowry. Kyle, these are my Kyle Lowry socks, number seven right here. Those are beautiful socks. Thank you. Yes. Beautiful socks. I wore this for today. Well done. There's only one greatest rapper of all time, right? I would agree. But I mean, that would be my groat question. I think I actually choose Demar. OK. Like if I'm going to pick a player? Yeah. Demar.
00:27:35
Speaker
pick a player to not win a playoff series or pick a player to not win a championship. Savage. Pick a player to have a daughter to taunt us and make us miss every free throw. Sometimes when I go to sleep, I still hear that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I love watching that. Uh, Scotty or Vince?
00:27:51
Speaker
Vince, there's nothing like the energy of like, Vince Sanity, a comedy like, and that dunk competition. I still think about that dunk competition, which again, shows how unhealthy obsession I have. Cultural moment, like every kid who's, every guy who's in the NBA now, like talks about that moment, worships Vince for that, like wanted to be Vince for that. Like Kevin Durant always says like that was the jersey that he had the team he wanted to be on. Like pretty much everybody's like, oh yeah.
00:28:18
Speaker
And I feel like it was the dunks. And then remember the reactions. Remember like Shaft. Shaft with the cam. Yeah. Yeah. I know. What a time. Yeah. What a time. Yeah. I would agree with Vince. Like what Vince did for Toronto. Like a 22 year career. Like four decades. Like just illustrious. No championship of course but.
00:28:39
Speaker
Going into the Hall of Fame. Going to the Hall of Fame wearing a Raptors jersey. I know. I know. We'll see. We don't know. Scotty's history hasn't been written. That's true. We'll see. Yak or Jonas?
Favorite Raptors Players
00:28:50
Speaker
Definitely like JV, gotta go Jonas, the summer three. I even remember the year they traded. I'm obviously from Marcus Soul. I was at one of the games. He came to the game and he sat in the front row because he was like still attached. Yeah, I remember that. Mench. What about you?
00:29:11
Speaker
Yeah, I would say Jamie. Just a great time, a great Raptors era, leading up to the chip, like just, you know, great memories. I mean, so much passion, played, had such good chemistry with the guys, like, yeah. I mean, I love Yak, but like he's, you know, he's just Yak. Also Jamie, the largest human being I've ever seen in person, stood next to him once. I could not believe that human beings come that large. He's also like a Travis Kelsey lookalike. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, Simon, very of the time. Matt or Jack? Definitely Jack.
00:29:40
Speaker
I love Matt, but Jack, you know, Jack. Matt's my guy. Is he your guy? Matt is my guy. Matt recognizes me. Matt always, yeah, Matt's my guy. Jacob, why are you laughing? I have pictures of me and Matt. I love Matt. I love Matt. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Jack obviously is a Jack. You really, you're right. You really can't lose. I'm Matt and you're Jack. Get that guy out of here. Bonjour. No, that's obviously you. But I had, Matt doesn't have anything.
00:30:07
Speaker
Leo or Alvin? Obviously a very contentious one by the way. Contentious, you know.
00:30:14
Speaker
Loved Alvin, Alvin Boogie Williams loved him as a player. I like Leo as the analyst. I feel like... That's an unpopular opinion. Most people don't like either. But that wasn't an option. The real answer is neither. I find that when I'm a very superstitious person, I find Alvin broadcasts a lot of losing games. And so I don't know if that's a jinx, but I'm calling it one.
00:30:40
Speaker
Take that sports mat. All the games. All the games. Exactly. Yeah, pretty much. Kayla Gray or Savannah Hamilton.
00:30:48
Speaker
You know, I mentioned I worked at TSN, Kayla Gray. I got to stay. Yeah, she's good. They're both awesome. Agreed. But I ran into Kayla in LA when I went to see the Raptors back to back. Yeah, and I went out to her. We were at a restaurant, and I went out to introduce myself. I must have been like the biggest loser. And then the next night she saw me at the big game. I know it's so embarrassing, you know what I mean? But I'm like, whatever. I've had a couple of glasses, beer bottles of wine, and whatever. Kobe LeBron Jordan ranked them.
00:31:18
Speaker
Okay. You know, Jordan, number one. LeBron, very, very close, number two, and then Kobe, number three. I would go LeBron, Jordan.
00:31:28
Speaker
I think Jordan culturally obviously changed the game. But from a player's perspective, just an ability, an all around incredible player. There's so many components, there's so many facets. The mentality, the leadership, the accomplishments, the accolades, obviously it's so hard.
00:31:52
Speaker
Now, LeBron, he's in your 20 or whatever. The fact that he is still playing at this level is mind-blowing. He gets a lot of calls, a lot of whistles, though. He gets a lot of whistles that he has earned. Yeah, I don't like that. No, a game is a game, and you don't earn anything. It should be a fair game. OK, let me ask you this, though. Equal playing ground. How do you feel about this? LeBron, LeBron and Bronny on the same team. How cool would that be, right?
00:32:20
Speaker
It's cool, but it's also so cheesy. Let the kid build his own career. Let the kid do his own thing. You know what I mean? Also, don't forget, there's going to be all these kids in the league that are kids of players like Keon Anthony. And I don't know if you saw whose kid was it that I just saw dominating. Now he's doing podcast. I can't remember. But I'm sure you think Bronnie wants that? I know it's cool. But does Bronnie really want to go play with his dad? I don't know. It seems weird to me. I feel like he's going to have to relax with that thing.
00:32:49
Speaker
Yeah, I guess I'm nostalgic back for the Ken Griffey, Ken Griffey junior days when they were on the scene. It's like a cool story. I don't know, maybe I'm old now and I got kids and I'm like, that seems fucking cool to play with your dad.
Reflecting on NBA Legends
00:33:00
Speaker
It's a little different on a baseball field when it's kind of like every man for himself almost, you know what I mean? Whereas when you're playing, I'm like, I don't know. I just feel like people are not going to like it. Obviously, I would draft Bronny to get LeBron on my team. No, don't get me wrong. But at the same time,
00:33:15
Speaker
I don't I actually don't think brawny's very good. Like I actually think his other son is way better. I've heard that. Yeah. I brought brawny feels a little borderline right now and it definitely wouldn't be double dribble the other night. Did he really. Yeah. That went viral. All right. Best piece of basketball memorabilia you own.
00:33:36
Speaker
Okay. I, I, I wish I had brought it today, but, uh, after the championship, went to the home opener, raised the banner and they gave replica championship rings. So I have like this big, this big, sick replica championship ring. Yeah. That's pretty cool. Now that's cool. What about you? Is it, is it yours a silent basketball or, uh,
00:33:55
Speaker
the silent basketball, but it is, you know, a friend of mine went to a flea market in New York state. And she, I said to her, if you, when you're going, like you're going there, like, if you see any old, unopened basketball cards, like pick them up for me, I don't care how much, whatever, just negotiate and just get them as low as possible. And she brought me back like 1990 Fleer, you know, like, that's just like hundreds of them. And I pulled some like,
00:34:19
Speaker
incredible Jordan cards and I just I there I love those like I think those are like there's something so retro about them that they feel like they're from my childhood even though they're not but yeah a couple signed basketballs I got a pair of OG signed sneakers and I'm hoping unfortunately had he not you know he got injured but you know but hopefully I'll be able to turn those otherwise I'll wear them in the office we'll see okay you know I look like a clown but yeah
00:34:42
Speaker
That's it. I mean, that's it. I think we're going to come back in a couple of months, I guess, and see, A, who was right, who's $100 richer, who's $100 poorer. Just give me the money now. I mean, the sad thing is, I'd rather you win. Let's put it that way, because that means Boston lost. So I'm happy to give you the money.
00:35:04
Speaker
But it was a pleasure. I hope you love NBA. If you love the NBA you want to be, you want to sit here and join us. Please reach out. I'm always happy to debate.
Conclusion and Future Episodes
00:35:15
Speaker
Jonah's a little too amenable. I'd rather someone who's a little more...
00:35:19
Speaker
I want some more conflict here, a little more anger. No, I'm just joking. You were amazing. He's such a pro. Yeah, nah, MJD's a pushover. You're such a pro. And I feel like I learned quite a bit here today. Maybe we'll get Tom here next time. And hopefully traffic wasn't too bad. You enjoyed this. And we'll see you on the next commute. Ciao, y'all. Yeah.