 Spencer Dinwiddie will be joining us so that Shaylor to his face can tell me he has no shot in the next round. I think that'll be a fun interview. Yeah, he's gonna see it. Oh, and run it back returns. See you, run it back. Oh yes, our guest today is starting point guard for your Brooklyn Nets playoff bound Brooklyn Nets. Spencer Dinwiddie is joining us today and but before we get started, I know you just turned 30. Ah, memories. Happy birthday. Hey, happy birthday. Did you celebrate or are you a birthday person? Like, how does that work? Uh, not really. You don't do playoffs? Yeah, yes, fair. That's how we're gonna do it. Okay, look, Shaylor, I'm throwing you into the bus because you did it to yourself, but you guys are playing the Sixers in the first round. Shaylor started the day already today with the smack talk said you don't have a shot. So I'm gonna go right to that. How do you match up against this Philly team? Shaylor. And you hate to see it from a good friend. You hate to see it. You just hate to see it. I mean, MB is the likely MVP. Um, so obviously we're going to have to give it everything we got in terms of stopping him. But to be honest, I mean, out of the the major seeds, we probably match up with them the best if we can limit him not fouling. Um, we feel like, uh, defensively there there's ways we can attack them as well. Um, a calisthen at a high level, we know they don't necessarily get back in transition. We're young. We understand we have no expectations. And we like our chances to be honest. Spence, you've had an interesting year. The first half of the year, you're playing alongside Luca Dacic. You're one of the leaders in three-point field goals from the corner. Um, and then the second half, you play more isolation basketball. You're one of the league leaders in isolation points, uh, points per possession. You're up there among the elite players. What was the adjustment like for you mentally, emotionally, physically from playing alongside Luca and starring next to him, versus being the lead guard again? Um, emotionally, I'll say it was probably a little bit easier just because I was coming back to a familiar place. Um, so, you know, thank God for Brooklyn. Um, I've always said, like, uh, Diles and Brooklyn have been the two spots that I've had a ton of fun in my career. Um, as far as adjusting my game, I think that's kind of been a hallmark in my career. You know, wherever I've gone, I've tried to do whatever was asked of me to, uh, help the team win. You know, I mean, right now, I think I'm passing the ball to pretty high clip, um, which is what this team needs. Um, you know, I've been six-man gunner. I've been, you know, lead a bad team to the playoffs, uh, you know, co-star, or not co-star, but be second under a superstar and catch you threes. It's, uh, to me, it's always been about winning and trying to understand just what the team needs at that point in time. So, you know, that's the reason for the adjustment. Yeah, Spence, uh, sorry about my colleague, Michelle. She likes to gas things up quite a bit. Uh, you hate to see that, but the next, you guys have been gelling, uh, a lot, and very quickly, I only have planned a few months together. How did that develop, and how did you guys do that so quickly? I think it has to do with just being really high quality guys who've experienced winning a little bit. Um, you know, the twins have gone to the finals, uh, me and Dobe in the Western Conference Finals. Um, you know, Nick and Joe are super high character guys, and just everybody around, right? So, you know, we've all tried to come together, understand that we have a kind of a daunting task that we haven't been together very long, but, you know, we believe in each other. Yeah, look, you mentioned the twins, you mentioned my cow bris is here as teammate now. I remember you guys getting into it a little bit. Does that stuff carry over? How do you address that when you get the young fella in your locker room with you after all these years? Um, it's actually funny, because we definitely had a little smoke in Phoenix. We actually answered during the game, too. Um, but you know, that's water under the bridge. I think everybody's been surprised with exactly how high level he's been. Um, you know, we all knew he was probably a 20 point of game scorer, but you know, to be in that 26, 27 range, um, takes us from, you know, just being a decent team to, you know, a pretty good team. And, um, I think we're going to need every bit of that in the playoffs, and I think he's ready for it. Spence, you had an exit from Brooklyn, signing trade, uh, when you get, you know, Washington threw your $60 million deal. Um, now you're back in Brooklyn. Uh, how, how do you feel as a player? Do you feel more mature? Do you feel like obviously you're a much better player than you were when you left? So you're, you're maturing that that, in that way. But leadership-wise, what has been your focus? Oh, man. I mean, I think, um, I learned a lot in, in the stops in D.C. and, um, and, and Dallas as well. Um, you know, when I was in Brooklyn the last time, you know, I was first under kind of D.L.O. obviously under Katie and Kyrie. So it wasn't really my team, so to speak. Um, like I said, I learned a lot in the other two stops and then coming back, um, I knew that in a short, uh, short time span, we were going to have to kind of pull the guys together. And so I think just having a little bit of elder statesman knowledge along with, uh, Joe Harris as well, um, just, just doing whatever I can to learn the guys and, and try to bring people together. Um, you know, but again, it's a, it's a credit to the high character guys that we have, right? And, and that have experienced winning and, and are jumping on board and, and the lead of, uh, our coach, Jagvon. So February 5th, you find out, you're going back to Brooklyn, traded for Kyrie Irving. What was that like? How do you find out? And is there something upon your return to Brooklyn immediately that you're like, well, can't wait to do that. Maybe it's food. I hope it's food. Oh, February 5th, I, I, I would say my sources probably told me like February 3rd, but I don't want to, I don't want to take, you know, I don't want to take Sam's job and everything like that. Um, yeah, I mean, I would say the, the most exciting part about coming back to Brooklyn was just like the holdovers. You know what I mean? Um, Jagvon, Sean Marks, um, Joe Harris, Nick Claxton, you know, guys that I've already obviously talked about, um, um, so far on, on this interview alone. And then, uh, since we want to talk about food, uh, Juliana's pizza, shout out to them. When I have my cheat days, I like to either get a pizza from them or, or get a walk from Clinton Street. Um, and then it's back to fruit and, you know, steak. I love it. I need food wrecks always. Yeah. Spence, you gotta be honest here. How do you feel about the Mavs not making the playoffs after trading, you know? Oh, I ain't gonna lie. I mean, there's a, there's a certain level of, uh, you know, happiness from the, from the pettier sides of my psyche. Um, you know, they're, they're my friends, though. So, you know, I, I didn't want to see it go down like that. Um, you know, on the, on the other side, you know, Theo Bullock, you know, Luca, all, all those guys, I mean, Javel, they, we went to war together. Um, they're, they're a playoff caliber team. Obviously, they had there, their mishaps and things that didn't allow them to see the postseason. Um, you know, but, but overall, like, you know, I wanted them to do well. I, I, but there, there is that little piece that I ain't gonna lie. I'm kind of a little bit happy. Yeah. I totally get that. And, uh, last thing for me, how's it been with Ben Simmons? Is he around? Is he practicing? Is he working out? What's the status on him? Um, he hasn't been practicing. You know, what we have is, uh, you know, up to him and what he's doing right now. He's got to do his best for his body. I think, um, we all know the type of explosive and dominant, uh, player he can be on, on both ends of the floor when, when he's healthy and when he's right. And I think for the best thing for his career is to get right. Um, you know, not, not sacrifice too much for, you know, a playoff run, but he's around the guys. He's, he's being a great teammate. You know, you see a lot of things in the meter, like that. And so far, that's been, uh, farthest from the truth. He's been a locker room every day. He's been, uh, you know, championing the guys on. Um, I've never personally dealt with a back injury. And so it's not really something I can comment on, uh, to the older guys that I know that, that have, um, they talk about, like, it's one of the worst things in the world, you know. So I think in some respects, I have a lot of, uh, sympathy for that. Um, and like I said, it's, it's, it's a topic that I had from earlier this year. You and Kyle Kuzma had a little back. Actually, what even a back and forth? He sort of came at you and you said they're not trying to play winning basketball. He responds on Twitter. The funny thing is they don't play winning basketball, but you didn't do anything else on Twitter. Do you have a response now that it's been some time? Uh, man, did I just say I was petty? Yeah, I know. Yes, please. So here's the thing, right? And I've just spent some time in, uh, what's that thing? Dreymont just said where he said, uh, insecurity is loud. Yeah. Um, so basically here's what happened, right? Um, we lost to them. I was on the Mavericks and obviously, uh, we have a MVP caliber guy and we're trying to be a championship caliber team just went to the West Congress finals, et cetera, et cetera. So I make a statement about, you know, we need to be better. Understanding the culture and how games are kind of played in DC and saying, you know, that's an unacceptable loss in that fashion. You know, he decides to respond because I guess he felt like it was a shot at him. Um, and I wanted to respond. You know, my agent told me to stand down that we had, you know, bigger fish to fry things to do, um, get to the playoffs, et cetera, et cetera. But, you know, now I'm not in that environment. Um, I'm in the playoffs. He's not. And, you know, to address, um, no, I'm just saying to address the socialite, right? Like there's a lot of guys in NBA that really poured their heart and soul into basketball or willing to do whatever it takes to win. There are a lot of guys that have different things that drive them and motivate them. I think if we look at, you know, him and the way he approaches, um, life, fame, all that stuff that we could see that, you know, his priorities tend to vary, right? Like that's why he dressed the way he does. He, you know, approaches basketball the way he does, the comments he makes. Um, and like I said with the Drake Montcote, insecurity is loud. Like you, you know that you're there, you know, shooting shots to try to get a contract. You're probably not, uh, even a third star really on a good team because if you were, the Lakers would have kept you, right? Part of the reason you left was to try to make more money. Like these are all things that are facts. And so at the end of my career, one thing that I want to be known besides a guy that did whatever it took to win and whatever spot he was at is a guy that was also very honest. And so, like, my complete response to, you know, COOS and all that other stuff to address it directly, I mean, I play with a guy. You know what I mean? We, we know what the priorities were. And you know, a lot of times people thought I was talking about Brad or whatever, anything like that. I, I look at Brad in the same light as I could damn. I think he's Lord of D.C. I think, you know, probably on a championship team, he's probably got to be paired with like a Giannis. He's probably 1B, um, which is no shot. I know on a championship team, you know, I'm probably the third guy, kind of like a drew holiday with a Chris Middleton and, you know, Giannis or whatever. Um, I'm very secure with who I am in my career. Um, I know on a really good team, I can be a number like we are right here with the Brooklyn Nets. We got McKell, we got me, we're still a playoff team. We're able to keep the ship right. Um, but in D.C., if you got three Max dudes, Porzingis, Brad and COOS, like how you miss the playoff? Like it doesn't, none of these things make sense. You know what I'm saying? Unless your priorities aren't in order. And so I would say that's my probably full monologue to that. Um, I hope you guys got everything. Oh, yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Cut out for a second. We say that again. My feelings are hurt. Like I said, I want to be known as an honest man when it's all said and done. Well said. Well said. And so, you know, if you're going to come at me and especially, I took the clown emoji personally, I ain't going to lie. That's fair. It bothered me because he knows who he is and he knows who I am. You know what I'm saying? Everybody around the league knows who I am. Look, Spence, we were hoping we're going to get some bulletin board material, but it was about this other topic. But you already gave your answer, your MVP is Joel and B. Can you tell us why? What do you think of the other candidates? You know, this is the biggest combo going. And I guess you're going to be a little more polite. You're about to play this guy. You gave us all your hot takes already. So I appreciate that. I mean, like I said, I view myself as honest. I'm not here to be polite. You know, I was hoping I can dunk on him again. Right. But because I'm playing the highlight, but in general, I think it looks to be a three-horse race. I think you look at Yoke, Chambide and Giannis. I personally think Giannis is probably the best player in the league. I think he gets a lot of flak because he's like skinny shack, but people want to see him like play like Katie with like a jumper and stuff. But like, if we really appreciate the fact he's skinny shack, then it's like really dominant as hell. But just looking at the year and beats had, I think it's his second scoring title. His ability to draw a foul is like 12 free throws a game, 33 points. He scores in a variety of ways. He's just an ultimate force. I mean, right now we're basically watching his highlight tapes to prepare for, you know, playing. And we understand it's a daunting task. And obviously Yoke has just went back to back and, you know, we understand media narratives and maybe they don't want to give him three times in a row. All that stuff plays a factor. And so I would just say like if I was a betting man, I'd choose Embiid. I think he's up there with the best players in the league. I think Giannis is probably the best, but, you know, that's just kind of how I view the whole race. Spencer, this has been an absolute... Oh, I'm sorry. Thomas, you've been in the playoffs. I see what Western Conference finals, how many of the last years? Four, four, five? How many... Playoff years? I mean, if you count the one I was hurt, then you have four, five, four. That's what's up. What? Was that your Chris Farley interview? What was that? No, no, no. I just wanted to add that context to the conversation. We had the deal year, the sixers, then I took them to the playoffs when the bubble stopped everything. Then, you know, we got the hurt year. Then, Western Conference finals, and now you play the sixers again. And then it begins. By the way... Context is important, Michelle. Context is very important, honesty is very important, and blowing people up is one of my favorite things of all time. Spencer, best of luck in the first round of the playoffs. This has been a pleasure, and we'll be watching. League assist leader in the second half of the NBA season. That too, assist leader. Exactly, perfect. Yes, that was awesome, and I enjoyed it. I'm watching your faces, by the way. It was fantastic. Yeah, thank you. We'll process all that in this break, and we'll come back with preview, because we've got more playing games tonight. Also, I'll probably mention that again. That was something. A soliloquy, if you will.