 Good morning and welcome to Run It Back. It's Thursday, which as we like to tell you is almost like a Friday for us here at Run It Back. The introductions. Stadium Insider, Shamsrania with the leather today. Why are you so excited? We like the change. We're just mixing it up. Okay, fine. Mix it up. Chalor P. Leather jackets, are they in? It never goes out. Ever, ever, ever. Lou Will on the end. I like this too. You got the sparkles. Always comfortable, Michelle. Always comfortable. I know. This is what we do. How about you? How about you? It's like a sweatshirt. It looks like a jacket. It looks like a suit. I came to party, but I want to be warm. Yeah. I don't think that was complimentary at all. We're definitely warm. I came to party. Turn on the air. We're sweating. But we have some news breaking news. It's not like football today. Thank goodness. Who can keep up with that? Kauai Leonard probably loved that he got overshadowed. What happened here, Shoms? Massive. I mean, it's classic Kauai Leonard. It came out of nowhere. No one had any idea of the announcement. The Clipper signed him to a three-year, $152.4 million contract extension. Clearly, he wants to be in LA long-term. And the two interesting details, I'm told, Michelle, no player option this deal. Usually, you know, Kauai Leonard, Paul George, they've had player options. He had a player option for next year at $48 million. He's going to make $52 million next year, then $50 in year two, and then another $50 during the 2026-27 season. He's under contract at least through 2027. And it's also $8.5 million under his max deal. So he had a chance to get up to $161 million. He signed for just under $153 million. And this sets the stage for Paul George now. This sets the stage for him to potentially sign an extension this season. They came together to Los Angeles. They signed the same extension a few years ago. And now, I think Kauai Leonard's commitment to the franchise sacrificed clearly as far as the money. They have a lot of issues moving forward. As far as you think about the second apron, you think about the cap, that's why them taking discounts is going to help Lawrence Frank and that organization as far as how they're building. Kauai Leonard has had a productive year. This is the most healthy season he's had in a while. And also career high at 35 minutes a night. That's glaring to me. He's been logging heavy minutes. He's been healthy for the majority of it. And these are all LA players. Him, James Harden, Kauai Leonard, and they all want to play and stay in LA. That's the thing. I want to get to the money in a second, too. But you mentioned it's the healthiest he's been in a long time. I almost am afraid to ask. I don't want to jinx anything here. But good move for the Clippers? I think so. And I think if I'm a Clipper fan, I'm a stat, I think you know how much medical background that these guys go through. How many tests, how many physicals that, you know, and they have all his record, right? They have all his medical history. So to me, I see that this is great because they fully think he's healthy and he's going to be able to play. And he's shown that this year, you said 35 minutes a game, he's having, he's averaging great numbers. He's efficient. He looks strong. So this is a huge sign moving forward. We all know about the new arena coming. We all know that they want to be the top team in LA. And this is the first piece to go and, you know, kind of making that super team in LA. And this kind of also answers all the questions we always talk, who's their guy, who's it? Clearly this is their guy. You think? Three years fit 152 million. And that being a bargain or that being a deal? Eight and a half million dollars. But that's a great point. He's the first guy, you know, him and Paul George, both contract and extension eligible. It wouldn't be right if Paul George signed his before Kawhi Leonard. Kawhi Leonard is the guy that came first out of the two. Then he brought Paul George in with him. That was a big reason why he ended up in LA was because Paul George was there. Kawhi Leonard signed his extension first the last time. And I think now this sets the stage for Paul George and more or less for Paul George, you think Paul George is going to have to take under the max contract to stay in LA. Eight doesn't seem like too big a deal to say. Same like that. Right? They signed the same extension a few years ago. They're going to say if Paul George signs an extension, it'll probably look identical to Kawhi Leonard. At this point, too, how much bread they've made is a really different lifestyle. Yeah. They'll be fine at eight million. They'll sweep that under the rug. Right. You know what I'm thinking about this whole thing? I mean, this entire time, Kawhi was right. He's been the poster boy for load management over the course of years. And now look at him. He's healthy. He's playing 35 minutes a game. Got a big, big bag on the strength of that. Maybe he was right the whole time about load management. I'm just scared to keep talking about Kawhi. I don't want to jinx anything. I really believe talking about it too much. I've had the privilege of sharing a locker room with that man and working with him. Super professional works his ass off despite everything that people think. Dude is like a robot. He works. He works. He knows his body. Knows what he was going through. And at the end of it, it looks good. And again, this is a risk, but you're paying for what you can potentially get from him. And hopefully, you know, for that organization, that franchise, in Kawhi Leonard, he stays healthy. Because when he's healthy, he's shown this season, he's one of the better players in the NBA. So he's getting paid off the progress and the potential that he's shown this year how he can stay healthy. And whether it's the load management or not, he's on the floor this year. And that's all they need from him. He's getting rewarded with a huge bag. Like this. People getting extensions. Do we know anything about the plans moving forward for one James Harden? James Harden isn't contract extension eligible until after the season. But when they brought him in, I know I said it at the time, you're not trading a first two first round picks and a bunch of role players for just a rental of James Harden. You want James Harden to be a part of your franchise moving forward. But this sets the stage now. Like three year deal near max, slightly under. That's what they're looking at for Paul George. That's where James Harden's deal is likely going to lie as well. When you think about the term length, three years, two years, whatever it may be. But James Harden, he wants to stay in LA. That's why he asked for a trade to the Clippers. He wants to be there. They want him there. And, you know, again, a lot of this still hinges on how far does this team go in the playoffs and what's their direction. They have hopes to get to the conference finals, to get to the NBA finals. You know, so if they lose before that, it looks and sounds good until they get blasted in the first round. Hopefully that doesn't happen for them. But again, when you look at these four guys, they have made so much money in their career. These are the perfect four candidates to be able to take a pay cut to have to form this good team going into that new arena and being a top team in the West. So when you look at how much money they've made on the court, let alone off the court, all their shoe deals and endorsements, these guys listen, but they can afford to take a little bit of a pay cut to play together and have a good team. All of these guys are LA-born and brave guys. That's huge. They are heavily invested in this community. If they have a hint of success, nobody's going anywhere. I promise you that. Yeah, why would they? I mean, look, there's a lot of time left, but... Kawhi's going to make that eight million up off the court anyways. It doesn't matter. Eight over three years, so it's not even. I mean, he's going to take them up on it, but he's going to have opportunities. It's not even a thing, trust me. No. We're not even thinking about it. It must be nice. Moving on, we had games. Pelicans were... Ooh, this is not good, y'all. Pelicans crushing, 141-105 up in San Francisco. Worst home loss during the Steve Kerr era. Ooh, Zion, 19-7. There were eight Pelicans last night in double figures, y'all. It's definitely had 15 and six, a very weird night for him. Here is Steve Kerr after the game. I think we're just lacking confidence right now. You get to a stage sometimes where you just kind of lose your belief, and it happens. And that's what's happened right now with our team the last few days. I think we've just lost the spirit, the confidence that has to carry you against talented teams night in and night out. That is, that's rough. Reactions to that? They sound like the beginning of the end. They all just sound so sad. Every interview, they're just defeated. They've been on top of the mound for so long, man, and now that you're getting humbled, and you're starting to come down that high when you come down is real. And I think as a coach, he's starting to see that. He's probably run out of speeches at this point. He's run out of motivational things to say to these guys, and he's probably, he just doesn't know which way is up at this point. There's nothing left to do here besides make a move. And it's, you look at Andrew Wiggins first, I guess, because he hasn't been there through the whole dynasty, like Dremon and Clay Thompson, but I think everyone should be on the table besides Steph Curry. And if Steph Curry wants to leave and he has to trade, I don't think anybody can be mad at him. He's never gonna do it, but can you blame him if he wants out? Like, and again, on the other side, the guys that are gonna get traded here, Dijonte Murray, Zach Levine, Siakam, all these guys that we keep hearing about, why would you wanna go here? They're just gonna compare everything to the years previously. They're never gonna be as good as that. They're always gonna be talked about comparing to that. So it's like, it's a bad situation right now. I think Steph Curry is a big selling point, though. So to piggyback off of what you said, some of these guys looking at an opportunity to play with Steph Curry, they don't really care what they're going through. They feel like, hey, look, if I have an opportunity to play with Steph, we can change just together. So I think that's still something that the Golden State Warriors have in their favor is you have one of the greatest shooting guards, point guards, whatever you wanna call them, of all time, and a lot of guys are gonna line up to play with them still. And he's not going anywhere. Like, I'm just thinking like, the Damian Lillard thing in Portland, like can you really be mad at him if he wants out of this dumpster fire? No one would be mad at Steph Curry. No one would have interest, but Steph Curry wants to finish his career with the Warriors. Chandler made a point. The mindset in Golden State right now is everyone, but Steph Curry is on the table. That's their mindset. Now, realistically, there's an asterisk, right? Like, Clay Thompson, would they wanna keep him long-term and keep him in Golden State? I think that's been their hope. They have not been able to reach a contract extension with him. We've talked about it. And Draymond Green just got back from an extension. Those have been their three core guys in the front office. They're big fans of Jonathan Komega, big fans of Brandon Podzemski. They're big fans of Trace Jackson Davis. But Wiggins and everyone else on that roster, except Steph Curry, has to be in play for this team. Two blowout losses in a row. They haven't even been close in these games. And so they're gonna be looking to make moves. The tough part is, if we know this, the other teams know that, they know their value is so low right now. If you're Andrew Wiggins, if you're Draymond after Clay, it's like, what can you even get for them? The problem also is like, you wanna make moves, you wanna be aggressive, but they also don't want, from what I've told you, they don't wanna take long-term money back. You don't wanna take another massive contract back. So you think about a guy like Zach Levine, who's making three years, he's got almost $140 million after this season. And honestly, hanging over all this is Steve Curry's contract status as well. He's an expiring contract. There's no sign of a new deal as of right now for him either. And so this Warriors team, they're teetering right now. As we're just under a month until the trade deadline, I think they will be active. Everyone but Steph Curry has to be in play. If Curry is smart, he's like Bob Myers and he's getting the hell out of there too. Go back to TV or coach somewhere else? Anywhere else, but I don't know, but this ship is going down and he's gotta... God, that's depressing. It's, look, Steph is obviously very aware of it as well. Here he is. He was asked about time running out as the trade deadline approaches. We have a standard that's pretty evident that if things stay the same, you know, that's a definition of insanity, right? Keep doing the same thing, expect a different result. So he knows. We don't usually see Steph Curry lacking confidence. And this isn't the first time we've seen him like this. Throughout his whole career, he's always the happy. Go look, he's always the voice of reason. He's always so positive. He's not. He's frustrated. He's not having fun. You can see his facial reactions on the bench, covered his face with a towel. He's not happy. And how can he be? He's had a pretty good year. And now he's even struggling lately, trying to do so much and trying to get them out of this hole. So it's, they need help. They need help quickly. They're not a good team and the future is not very bright. They have some good pieces moving forward, but they gotta make moves to have any sort of chances here. I mean, he doesn't have a big scoring night and they lose by 36. Like that's insane to me. All right, so trade deadlines coming, everyone but Steph. But we know Draymond is, what, around the corner? When can we expect that? They have a four game road trip coming up. They play in Chicago on Friday. They play in Milwaukee on Saturday. Then they're in Memphis from Martin Luther King Day on Monday. And then they play Utah on Wednesday. The expectation is Draymond will be back at some point on this four game road trip that's coming up. He's pushing for, I'm told, he's pushing to play soon. He's trying to get back on the court Friday, Saturday. I'm not sure he's gonna be cleared by the Warriors to play Friday, Saturday. Literally, this is his first week back ramping up. He's been practicing. He's been going hard with his teammates. But Steve Kerr spoke to him last night. They are lacking that leader, that creator, that swag, that energy that Draymond Green brings. And that's part of the reason why Draymond Green came out and said he'd let his team down. Like, you can't go the stretches of time. They've gone 19 games at least without him this year. Five games with the first suspension, 14 games with this suspension. You can't go without Draymond Green for that long without, like there's no injury. Like he put himself in this position and it's unfortunate for the Warriors because in a lot of ways it played a part in derailing what this year has been or could become. And unfortunately it's giving people reason to blame it on Draymond too. The whole reason that people are gonna talk about the end of this is a lot of it's gonna have to do with Draymond and Draymond not being there and getting to spend it, which isn't totally fair. And Draymond will help, right? He helps defensively greatly. He's had a great year this year. He's had a great year. He helps with the leadership, the communication, just the flow of the offense, how he can kind of initiate offense with dribble handoffs, with playing from the elbow. So he is gonna help. He's not gonna help enough. He's not gonna go and get 20, 30 points. He's not gonna provide that scoring. He's not gonna, they need to make a change and Draymond it will help. But again, it's everybody besides Steph. What can we get right now to help maximize Steph's couple of years left? I'm interested in knowing, you're in that locker. Like let's say you guys are Steph Curry. I mean, would you really co-sign a Clay Thompson move? That would be hard for me. That's my guy. We've been together forever. He's been nothing but a great teammate. When we talk about one of those things where Clay out. But what if you're not getting a deal done with Clay? If it happens, I think it's Clay's clearly okay with it. I think he's got that respect. He's earned that right. Like they're not just gonna go and ship him to Detroit. You know what I mean? That's not gonna happen. Oh my goodness. Yeah, that's not gonna happen. It's gonna be one of those scenarios like, Steph, what do you think? I don't know. You guys make a decision. And that's answer enough. You know what I mean? And so, also if I'm Clay, I wanna get out of there. Absolutely. Like it's a fresh start. It depends on where too. It does. But again, he only has a short window left to play. So why not maximize your minutes in your career? I guess I don't even understand what the game plan. I mean, we've seen them sort of shift around. You got young guys, you got vets. I don't, you can't bench the vets. But you know what else you can do. If I'm gonna go to stay warriors, I continue to do what I am doing. Let's just evaluate the talent that we have. Let's see what these young guys are really made of. Give them valuable minutes. Give them an opportunity to really see if they can help us win basketball games. And if they're gonna be on this team in the near future. And the issue with like, Kaminga's solid, Moody's solid, but they don't have like. What was that? Pizinski. Pizinski. They don't have that chat. They don't have that Wimby. They don't have even like a Brandon Miller that you can really be excited about for the future. You have great role players going forward, but they're kinda stuck. They thought they can just plug in guys around the big three. And it just hadn't worked for them. It hadn't worked in their favor. And so now you gotta slow that plan down and let's see what we really have in this locker room. And they've had a rough year. Chris Paul, he's out for the foreseeable future. Gary Payton II, he's, I mean, a major part of this team. Calf injury, now he has a hamstring strain. He's been pretty much out for the vast majority of the season. Everything that can go wrong this year has gone wrong. And it's, we're not used to seeing, this Warriors team is, we're not used to seeing this. It's, the way it's crumbling, we're not, we haven't seen this. The one year that they were bad a few years ago and they got the Wiseman pick. Okay, Steph Curry got hurt, Clay Thompson was out. They had reasons, this Warriors team, they, those coaches, those coaches on that side, they had championship expectations for this team. Yeah, of course. And they have not fulfilled that. You know, with all that said and done, I still feel like they can put a run together. That's just how, that's just how much confidence I have in Steph Curry. That's just how I feel about Steph Curry. When Dremaul's on the court, you have to have that confidence. You always dream on start. Absolutely. When he comes back. How do you bench him? Absolutely. The offense has run through him. Defensively, they're going to be a better team. Toughness, he might be a little too tough sometimes. You know, obviously that's been a thing, but it's needed. It's needed. They need somebody out there that can play bodyguard. They can play security for Steph Curry. And at the same time, he's going to be the guy that's going to anchor them on both ends of the floor. No way he comes off the bench, especially with them playing like this. And it's not like they're rolling. Yeah, especially with them playing. I mean, this is rock bottom. So if this isn't the IO of Dremaul, then there really won't be one. This is it. It's as bad as it gets. It looks like we're taking a quick break here when we come back from your Houston Rockets. Jay Chantate joins the show. Run it back, run it up, run it back, run it up. Run it back, run it up, run it back, run it up, run it back, run it up. On the run, I got this, Jay Chantate. Fourth season in the league with the Houston Rockets made the all rookie team. Jay Chantate joining us now from a cold Midwest area of the country. Good luck with that, by the way. The Rockets, 18 and 18. You guys are already four shy of last season's total. What's different? I mean, everything. I mean, I think Coach Udoka coming in shows you guys how much of an impact he's had on us. And with the additions of, you know, some veterans around us, our young Corey's has been everything. And our Princeton Goon coming into his own, playing at an all-star caliber, has really been great for us as well. Jay Chantate, like you said, it's Eme Udoka's first season as head coach of this team. What's the biggest thing that he's brought for you guys? I think he's just given us a defensive presence, identity. We really pride ourselves on that end. And I think we've been a problem for teams and, you know, there's gonna be growing pains and there's some games that we thought we could get away with that, you know, we have to learn from. But ultimately, we're in a way better spot than we were prior years and we're only gonna continue to get better. Jay Chantate, you guys had a tough loss last night. Sorry, brother, I just have a beautiful question. Oh, you? Yeah. Teamwork, teamwork. I just saw that. You had a tough loss last night in Chicago, but good news, you got the pistons coming up. Come on now. They got three wins, though. Is there some sort of pressure going into a game like that? You don't want to lose to those guys, right? I wouldn't say we're worried about them as much as it is about us. You know, Coach Silas is over there, so it's always good to see him. But, you know, we're trying to get more wins on the road. We protect at home at this point pretty good, but we're still trying to find a road identity. And, you know, it's a good chance that we do that tomorrow, I guess. JT, you're learning real fast, man. That was a great answer. Don't give him anything. I can put on the clipboard with some added incentive to beat you guys. I got to ask you this. You guys added Dylan Brooks in the summertime in off-season. What's that been like playing with Dylan? And what does he give you guys? Yeah, it's funny because, you know, I didn't really know Dylan before he came to the team, but I mean, he's one of the best teammates, man. He's one of the best teammates to take the floor with. You know, I enjoy being his teammate and what he brings for us to this team is important. And, you know, we're missing him out there right now, but he'll be back real soon. What have you seen him do on the floor with some of his antics or you like them? I'm glad just do it on my team and not the other way around. I mean, he just doesn't play, take plays off, man. I mean, he's full of throttle at all times. Like he's locked in from when we get there from shooting around until game time and, you know, his work ethic shows in the game. He just brings us that fire, that grit and we feed off of it for sure. He's a great, he doesn't break character. Like he's a great heel. I'm just, that whole pre, that pre-game stare-down thing, he never breaks. I think he stole that from me too, by the way, but that's another kind of guy. Yeah, but you're not, you're... Eddie? You're just so nice. I can't even imagine just kidding. He's not that nice. All right, earlier in the season, you were ejected from a game for, quote, an overt gesture and you question the integrity of the ref. We are huge fans of overt gestures here. So what was it and what did you say to the ref? Statute of limitations is up, you're safe. Oh, I think, man, so many games. I gotta even think that. So many games. Honestly, I think I literally wasn't even talking to her, but I said it's like we playing eight on five out here. That's how it goes. Yeah, that'll get you. Oh, that's gonna do it. Yeah, but anytime you insinuate the refs are cheating, they will get... They don't like that? Oh, no, they don't like that. So sensitive. All right. Jay Sean, you went on draft out of Ohio State. You had quite the journey. You played in Belgium. Like you're one of the great undrafted success stories in the league going right now. For you, what was that like playing abroad? Now you're playing in the NBA. You're a starter. You come off the bench, six man. Was it a big culture shock for you coming to the States and playing full-time in the NBA? Yeah, I mean, for sure. I mean, I think throughout my journey, everywhere I've been has been a different style of play. You know, my first year in Belgium, I really felt like I learned how to play the game, you know, really the importance of ball movement, being off the ball, spacing and stuff. And then when I went to Australia, I had the opportunity to be coached by Will Weaver, who also was an assistant coach here with the Rockets a few years ago. And he kind of molded me to be able to play that style when I got to the league. And, you know, I got to play with some great players who are on the way, some European greats. Andrew Boget was my teammate over there in Sydney, and then fast forward to now. You know, the last four years in Houston, I think my role has changed every year and the position. So it's just been a learning experience this year, has been a learning experience, and I'm just taking the hard dose. Food items in Belgium that you miss, any? I gotta say the first prize, people don't know first prize are actually from Belgium. With the mayonnaise, right? No, that's poutine, whatever, what do they call it, poutine? It's not rancher. It's not, no, the mayonnaise thing, at first you're like, I don't know, but it's gross. It's gross. No, it's not gross, dude. Yeah, it's trippy, both of y'all are trippy. He's telling you? He is telling you. All right, so you had a, look, James Harden has had quite the roller coaster ride in the league and you played with him in Houston. It was only eight games. What an interesting time for you to have to play with James Harden. I don't imagine he was thrilled in those days. Like, what was that like? Yeah, I mean, there was a lot going on. Coaches changed, you know, some players wanted change. And all I can really remember is just like, you know, that was my rookie year. So that first week, everybody caught COVID. You know, I wasn't even expecting to really play like that, you know, coming in on a non-guarantee and then half the team caught COVID. So, you know, I went out there, I'm like, yo, this is, I remember the first game was Portland versus us and, you know, him and them were just going back and forth at it. And I'm like, oh, okay, this is the real deal. And, you know, he, he definitely was, you know, helpful with me that first year for the eight games I had, just being able to play with a pro like him. And, you know, I wish him on, but success. All right, I know y'all had one incident in practice. What happened? It just, it was, it was just basketball. You know, the second unit was getting up on the first unit, you know, it just got a little competitive, but it was blown way out of proportion. We were cool. We always, we always tell these stories. Chandler and I, we always say like, trust me, if y'all really seen what goes all behind the scenes and practices when it gets heated and competitive, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Is it just because we don't see it? Like with the Jordan Poole dream, I think there was a video, but we don't see it usually. If you don't see it, yeah, like these things are- There's a story every day that could be used. It's something happening every day, you know, whether it's personal or whatever. Playing it going out of coach, whatever. Yeah. Let me ask you, you've, you've played next to Boogie Cousins, you have any good Boogie stories? I got a, I got a ton of Boogie stories. This is my guy. Have you got any good Boogie stories? I think the funniest story I got with Boogie is, we were in the training room one time and we got this full mirror. We got this like full body mirror. And he was by it, he double tasted, he goes, what happened to me? I used to look like this, I used to look like this. That was like one of the funniest stories that I got of him because he had the whole, whole training room. Boogie. That's the behind the scenes. Life comes out, you fast. It's a very, it's a very bubbling. Life comes out, you real fast. Jay, Sean, you've also, you've been compared to a few vets, PJ Tucker's one of them, Draymond Green's the other. Do you like these comparisons? What do you think about these? I definitely think there's some similarities, but you know, at the end of the day, you know, I'm just Jay, Sean, take, you know what I'm saying? There's definitely things that I try to, you know, take from them and learn from them from afar. You know, I got the opportunity to play with PJ for a year, my first year as well. And man, he was hard. He was hard on me that first year with the low man and how just being in defensive in the right position. So that was a learning point for me. So I definitely do that. I remember how he used to yell at me and then fast forward, I'm yelling at rookie just like he did. So there's definitely some similarities, but I think we're all different. It's all cyclical. All right, off the court for a second. Over the summer, you interned, you volunteered at a burger joint through the drive. First of all, why would you wanna, I mean, I did the restaurant stuff for a long time. People are mean. Did you like it? I'm not gonna lie. That was giving me a hard time. One dude wanted a Coke, then he wanted ice and then he wanted ice and Coke in different cups. Oh, God. Line was long. I wasn't there too long, man. It was a humbling experience. But, you know, shot off the bum bee. He has a great establishment going, man. And the burgers are actually tourist. I'm gonna go out on the limb and say, me and JT are probably only two people in this conversation that has had trill burger. Trill burger, yeah. No, you got trill burger. Shut up, Jailer. Wait, is that the show that James Harlan was having like, he had a bunch of burgers in his hand? Hey, man. I'm asking. I'm asking. He's genuinely asking. You guys remember that video? I went on the off topic here. Is it a good burger? Is it a smash burger? It's like a smash burger. Yeah, I'm rolling. It's actually a good burger. Shot off the bum. We got a vegan burger as well. See? Okay. No, thanks. No, thanks. I'm out. Okay, fair enough. You're very much involved in the community. You've got Christmas for Kids, a basketball clinic for special needs kids, local coffee, which we could use right now. Why, where does all that passion come from? Yeah, I mean, you know, Houston is like the first, you know, team to give me an opportunity. And this has been my home here for the past five years. And the community has shown nothing below to me and, you know, I've been blessed where I am and, you know, where I come from is always good to, you know, be involved and give back. So like I said, I got blessed to meet some really good people through coffee. David Brewer, who owns Blacksmith Coffee is one of the best baristas in the city. So if y'all ever go to Houston, you wanna check that out. He put me in contact with a guy named Remy Youssef who runs the Wander Foundation. Like you said, is a foundation that helps kids on the spectrum play basketball, have clinics and stuff like that. But also through just networking, I met a girl named Lily. Lily DeBull, I just wanna get her name right. A 14 year old girl who has a warehouse full of toys that she just gives out to the community. And she's been doing this for, you know, a few years now and it's grown every year. And this Christmas was a very great experience where we had a couple of families come in and give them some rockets gear and they got to pick up. I mean, they had so many toys that kind of felt bad for their mom. I'm like, I told them they gotta pick up these toys when they go home. Too many toys now. Oh man, so many toys. But yeah, it's just been a great, great experience for me being in this city. And you know, I love the city and when you give it, love it'll love you back. So. You got that, Jason, I got drafted there in 2011 and some of my best relationships are still the, you know, people I've met from the court side, sitting court side or these gallows. So you nailed it. That city in particular for me, you do, you show love. You do things that you're doing in the community and they're gonna love you always, bro. So keep doing that. So Jay Sean, everyone has a welcome to the NBA moment. I need to hear yours. Besides the Boogie Cousins moment, maybe that was, you know, interesting in your own NBA for you specifically. I got a good one. I can't remember which, which moist when it was. Oh gosh. Never a good start. I think it was the Lakers. It was like, Boogie Cousins actually in the story as well. But, you know, I'm a big team guy. So, you know, when guys cut, you're supposed to chuck them. You know what I'm saying? So guys, guys are going in and like, I'm chucking them, you know, to stop the cut. Man, I was about to chuck the wrong, wrong, wrong person. Yeah, I know. So I know, I'm, I'm, I'm there behind the basket. But I know, keep us at him. Yeah, yeah, it was, it was, that was definitely one of my welcome to the league moments. But, you know, Boogie, Boogie had my follow-up. And I'm like, yo, what happened? Like, I asked him again, he's like, yo, you can't be doing that out here. Like, you know, like, we don't do that up here. So that's definitely, definitely was my first one. I love that everyone has a story. It's so good. Jay, Sean, this has been a pleasure. Thank you so much. Good luck the rest of the way. Stay warm up there. Appreciate it. Thank you so much. Good luck the rest of the way, bro. Lou, you want to apologize to Sean? He was right. Sean was right. Same burger. Same burger. That's the burger in the picture. We're going to take a quick break when we come back. That man has a family. What is that time? That man has a family. First up, Jalen on Jalen Crime. I was going to go the other way. You did, didn't you? Wrong. Jalen Smith. You are. Jalen Smith with the goggles. Top 10 pick, right, Shoms? And the starting lineup. Clear one. Come on. Yeah. Shoms is not impressed, and I respect you for that, Shoms. Yeah, you saw this going the other way, though. How about the Ibu Baji block on Randall? How about the Ibu Baji? How about the Ibu Baji? I like this. Ibu was 7-1, 7-2. Ibu, Ibu Baji. That's fun. I mean, you know. I feel like Randall didn't jump very high, though, here, either. Yeah, that was like a lack of... That was a weak takeoff. Maybe he just didn't know that he needed to at that point. Now he knows. Good block. Oh, Rudy. You got some names in the name. Chuma O'Kee-Kee. This one, yeah. Chuma O'Kee-Kee. This is a nice little dunk right here. These guys. Oh, and what? Okay. Bang on them. Chuma O'Kee-Kee. Chuma O'Kee-Kee. It's O'Kee-Kee. Shout out to Chuma. Which is more fun to say than O'Kee-Kee. O'Kee-Kee. You see, you're blank. He's been a lot of time working out in Atlanta. He does. Damana Sabonis. Yeah. I took your word for... Hey, Shams, I know you had the news yesterday about the show, let's like, quarterbacks with the five players. Are we going to get real access? Because Damana Sabonis is one, right? Yeah, yeah, no. We're going to get good stuff. I mean, I heard there's tapings already begun. Really immersive. LeBron, James, Jason, Tatum. I want scanned ones. Damana Sabonis, Anthony Edwards. I'm in. Five players. I'm obsessed with my new details, like when we eat for breakfast. Come here, Mo. Oh, why? Come here, Mo. Oh, no, Mo. I'm mostly excited to see Anthony. I want to see him behind the scenes. You better take it. Day-to-day, game day, personal life. Want cameras in every room? How personal? As personal as Netflix wants it to be. Is that Mo Wagner? Mo Wagner. Got it. Don't try to. Not today. Not today. This is a naturally dunk, too. I think Omega on just all the pelagons. John, I think Omega had a couple of nice dunks. On pelagons is wild. On pelagons. Oh. I think on the last lap, though, so. Did Zeller actually think he was going to block it? Zeller. Look at how he gets off the ground. I didn't know you were into goggles, Lou. Not your thing. You can be Horace Grant back then. I'm more surprised I've seen two pair in five clips. In what? Exactly. With no injuries, either. Just actual vision problems. Jordan Warra. Oh, Noora. No, it's not Noora. I know it. That's why you can't hold us. That's why you can't hold us. It's a headband. I thought that was another set of goggles. I know these changes when I have them. I don't think we were familiar with this game here. Now. Now we know. Mm-hmm. We're going to go middle. Yeah. So you didn't have to. You're good on tape. Yeah, you're good on film. Yeah, you're good on film. That's not good. Gavin's got to get outside the line there. I do like this one. Wee. Yeah, he got himself done. The slow-mo is fantastic. Timber will sell to me that game. Meet him at the Dots. All right. So this one didn't have Gobert, Conley, or Porzingis. They were all out. Boston beats Minnesota. It did take overtime to do it. They're 18-0 at home. Jason Tatum tying his season high with 45 points. 26 of those came in the fourth. And overtime, Anthony Edwards with 29. Jason Tatum. I mean, 12 of the 16 points that they had in overtime were from him. Yeah. Statement-making? Yeah, for sure. And he's the best player on the floor pretty much every single night they play. So this is what he has to do. 45 points taken over overtime. He did miss the game winner in regulation there. And he didn't let that bother him. He didn't hang his head. He came out. And he dominated the overtime. But I'll tell you this. The timbers, there's no real moral victories. They looked really good last night. Okay. Without their two vets and Kyle Anderson came up huge in that fourth quarter. Make a big play after a play. Alexander Walker hits some big shots. Nasry. Their role-players seem to know their role. They fit in. They really play well. I thought it was a little bit of fool's gold early. But no, I think they're going to stick. Is this the best you've seen Tatum? In that fourth quarter, yeah. But as far as his game and his career looking, does it seem like he's comfortable with the boss right now? Yeah, I think we've gotten to a point where he's a household name. He's arrived. He's superstar level. And he knows that. But just a sample size. That game last night down the stretch where plays were needed going into overtime. They needed every single thing that he brought to the table. And so for him to step up, have 26 points in a fourth quarter and a five-minute overtime, big-time stuff from JT. Earlier in the week, he talked about they might not win an MVP or he doesn't look for that specific praise anymore. It was more about a title. I mean, that's what you want to hear. I mean, it's hard to focus on individual awards. The season is so long. You're talking about a six to a seven-month season. So that's a lot of time to be worried about yourself and trying to worry. And not only that, you can't really, you can't focus on everything because you can't control what Joel Embiid is doing. You can't control what Nikolai Yoko just doing or all of these other guys that are going to be in contention for this MVP run. And the only thing you can focus on is how well your team is going to play and what's going to be ahead for you guys as a unit. And so I'm buying this for a lack of a better word. I'm buying that this is the truth because it's just hard to focus on that for so long. Yeah, like Lou said, more games like this, these big exploding games on national TV, these are the games that kind of get those votes. And so he's going to win an MVP at some point. He's too good. His team's too good. They're going to win a lot of games. So I respect what he's saying. But like Lou said, just play your games. It's just a bonus if you get that. Yeah, it's awesome. But a title. Can you imagine how stressed out you'll be if you're playing your ass off and then you look up and Joe L and B got eight straight dribble doubles. Yeah, it's like you can't worry about that. Or you're just hearing what Joker did the night before. You're trying to top that the next night. That doesn't matter. Just play and win. Brad Stevens recently said that they still need a big wing, but that they haven't ruled out that that could come from internally. Are we expecting movement from them? I mean, we've talked about on the show, they want to go get some bench step. They have a few picks to play with. They traded away a couple of picks to get Drew Holiday, but they still have draft picks left. They also have two big trade exceptions. They have a two million dollar trade exception. That's a smaller player, but they also have a six million dollar trade exception. So they're active in the marketplace. They don't have the problem with them is they have on the bench Al Horford and they have Peyton Prichard and they want to keep those guys. Those are really their only main salaries they can trade. Everyone else is at minimums. And so it's hard to couple, you know, three, four minimums together to go get a player. So I think they'll be active. Now, will they add someone? They're top six, seven. I mean, they're as good as anyone in the league. Yeah. A big wing. They have two of the best big wings in the NBA. I think they need like a scoring guard off the bench. I go get a Jordan Clarks. Oh, you can take another big. Yeah. Or a big that can give me some security. Another five, six fouls. I mean, like that's what I think they need. I'd rather them see go and get, though, a Malik Monk, a Jordan Clarks and someone like that where you can go and get busy. Malik Monk is not moving. No, it shouldn't. But somebody like that that can relieve some pressure off these guys. Because again, we talk how is there a can shoot the ball? Pritchard solid orford solid, but like their issue is their depth. So get one more guy that can go put the ball in the basket. Anthony Edwards, by the way, zero points in overtime, went over three, had two turnovers. What do you learn from a night like that? That's just a tough outing over time. He had a good game leading up to this. He had some big shots in the fourth. Like I said, they made some huge plays where they were in position to win this game. And I think everybody stepped up last night and they had their self positions. They just had a couple lapses. Tatum took over in that overtime. This game shouldn't even have went to overtime, honestly. But this is something Anthony Edwards, he's going to have some big games, he's going to have some bad games. He could have done better here. Talon's actually stepped up last night. He had some huge long threes. But again, there's no moral victories. But this team looked really good to go into Boston and have a chance to win without your starting center and your starting point guard. It's pretty impressive. That's something to hang your hat on. But don't look now. The Thunder are coming. They played in Miami last night. They beat them by eight. They are 25-11 now. Just a half game behind the T-Wolves. SGA with 28-8. Shet 23-9 at three blocks. Bam, contributing 25-11 for the heat. They're half game behind them. So, better record come end of the season. Who do you think will be? Minnesota? Oh, Oklahoma City. I think Thunder. I think their youth is an advantage. When you have such a long season and back-to-backs and all this load management stuff, they don't have to worry about that. These kids, they showed the screen last night. They have like eight or nine guys that are 25. Lou, Shae is the oldest. He's 25 years old. It's ridiculous. Sanity. The second youngest team with the third best record. What more do you want? That's insane. I think they're going to continue to go. Again, the league, their energy, their young. They're not going to sit on back-to-backs. They have everything you want. And they have probably the most trade value in assets that you can possibly have. So, they couldn't be in a better situation. The fact that they are the second youngest team outside of San Antonio and have a chance to finish first is unheard of. Are we buying? It feels too good to be true. No, you know, every time I watch the OKC Thunder play or I see their highlights, it's always a backdoor clip. You notice that, Chandler? It's always somebody cutting backdoor. And that is a youthful thing. You don't see a lot of vets cutting backdoor. They got a lot of young guys that play extremely hard and they have the talent to do it. That gives them the advantage over a lot of teams for years to come. And this team is going to be a scary, scary out. Now, are they a title contender? Not yet. I think you had some veteran leadership in there. Or you just stay patient. You allow these guys to grow together for another two or three years and see what comes of it. But they're going to be a scary out for a lot of terror. Coach is even young. Everyone is young. It's ridiculous. What is he? Like 38? 38, yeah. He's 34. He got the job. I want to change course here. Because Chandler and I, we have a history of talking crap about small market teams. Okay, C is a great place to play. Okay, C is a great place to play basketball. Look at that. A great place to play. I would rather get traded there than Golden State and a heartbeat right now. Are you kidding me? This team is fun. This team is excited. I will thug out those six months of season to live in L.A. in the office. To go play with this car. No, we need a full compliment. Not a half-assed compliment. Can you try? No half-assed compliment. Give them their compliment. They're really, really good. I would like to side there. That must have hurt you so badly. Look, we love a big three. SGA, Chet and Jaylen Williams last night had 70 of the Thunders 128. I mean, is this something you could build around? Absolutely. Absolutely. Great pieces. Great pieces. If I'm okay, C, and I'm this fan base, I'm excited. I'm excited. I'm ready for the playoffs to get started just to see what we can do. You know, there's no pressure on this team to be a title contender. There's no pressure on those guys to beat anybody at this point. They're young. They're growing. They're getting to the point where there's your back door clip, where they're being respected. And so I think they're playing with house money. They're in a good spot. Look, they've mentioned it. They could not be in a better position. They have so much draft capital that they've been working on for years. What can we expect? Anything this season? They have dozens and dozens of first round picks. Dozens and dozens. Dozens and dozens. They're loaded. But they're focused on this team. They're focused on this roster. This team hasn't even made a full playoff run. They made their play-in last year. They haven't been in the playoffs yet. You want to see what your group has. And when I talk to teams around the league, they don't get any sense of urgency from the thunder. Why? It's a question I got around the league. Why would the Thunder make a move? They're already number two in the West. They're competing for number one in the West. They don't need to make moves. They've got their core already set. They've got their five guys. Shedgill, Sao Xander. Chet Holmgren. Jalen Williams. Ludor. Josh Getty. Then off the bench, Isaiah Joe. Kendritch Williams. Jalen Williams. Casey Wallace. I mean, there's eight, nine players deep. It's like, you're going to go trade for who? You're right. Who is that player going to replace? You don't need to. Also, I'm over the whole jet for rookie of the year. This dude is all NBA this year. Over it? He's running away with that. This guy's averaging 18, 7.5, shooting 55% from the field, 40 from the three. If they finish first, He's different. He's unbelievable. He plays defensive, blocks shots, he alters the game. Well, that's what happens when you have a whole year to work out with the team before they become a rookie. This is a whole other argument. If they finish, if they finish the first or second. The shade here is, she can't give a compliment either. Her guy's been a pro for years. Oh, stop it. Her guy's been a pro for years. European, it's different. My point is, if they finish first or second, this cat is not only rookie of the year, he is all NBA, which is unbelievable. He is scary, actually. He's fantastic. But did he have a triple double last night? Oh, gosh. No? Was it a dog fight with the Detroit fans? We'll get to Wemby. We'll take a quick break. We'll run it backwards. It's a dog fight. The only cat is a double double. I don't even know what the score that gay was. I just thought it was. It doesn't matter anymore. We've got to mention it. It happened. Wemby first triple double of his career. Probably going to be a lot more. 16, 12, and 10. 21 minutes. Boom. What now? Well, the most impressive part is the 21 minutes. Wow. Yeah, that is impressive. Are you really over this rookie of the year thing or is there a chance? Zero chance. Zero chance? He wins rookie of the year? Yeah. I think there's 0% chance. Yeah, I think maybe if Chet got hurt right now and missed the rest of the season, then sure. But that's literally the only way. That just seems unfair to me. Wemby's numbers are pretty crazy. He's got, they have six wins and we're talking about, we're talking about the best team in the West or gets arguably the worst team in the West. But he's like his second year, really. You know what, we're going to argue this. This guy's been playing against Pro since he was 12. That's more of a cheat code than being a second year rookie. It wasn't in the NBA. He wasn't on the facility. He wasn't practicing with everyone. It's like playing varsity in elementary school. Yeah. Fair Michelle. You guys are anti-American. I mean anti-European. No, you're very American. We have Celtics Bucks tonight. We just want to pick a winner. I would love to see, first of all, everybody play on Boston. Over time game, back to back. You want MVP? Well, he says he doesn't want MVP. But I think you want MVP? Go and play tonight. National TV and bust the honestest ass and get the win and really show the world you're the MVP. That's a good game. But that being said, I got the Bucks. What? Why? Because I don't think everyone's going to play. I don't think he's going to listen to me. All of that? What? I think the Bucks win, right? I'm going to stay with the Celtics. I like the Celtics. I'm just a Celtics. Too hot a return game. Yeah. Oh. Now there's a team bit. Now it's interesting. That makes me sway a little bit towards Boston or Boston. That'll do it. They'll do it. You don't think game is a little bit more amped up? I think Boston loses. Okay. Final answer. Final answer. No, okay. And I don't think I don't think everyone plays. Over time game, back to back. I don't think they do either, which will be disappointing. But maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised. We want everybody in the game. For us on a Thursday. Because we will be watching. We will be watching. We will also be back on Monday. Have a great rest of your week.