 five days left in the NBA regular season. Run it back, starts now. Run it up, they run it back. Run it up, they run it back, run it back. Run it up, they run it back. Good Tuesday morning and welcome to Run It Back. Look at this lovely panel of gentlemen who love hoops and who wanna talk about it. That's what we're about to do here on Run It Back, but we weren't, we didn't have any NBA games last night cause the national title game of which our own Eddie G was not particularly a fan, did not, not gonna lie, they could have played like four games today. And that would have been cool. Eddie, you didn't care for the national title game, it didn't live up to any hype. I was watching a Monday night raw. I was not watching that game after a while, but would have loved like a random Clippers Grizzlies or something, that would have been perfect. Yeah, Shoms, if you could figure out if we could just do that next time in case we get another one of these duds for a national title game, that would be great. Cause I also flipped Monday night raw for the first time in a long time. Let's, let's do some, some game stuff. Cause we do have games back tonight and every single one of these games that we're about to talk about counts is the three games that will decide the fate of the Western conference playoffs. It's Lakers, Jagsburg, Jazz, that's not a word. Well, Lakers can clinch a plan spot. Can't believe I have to say that. Well, they win tonight. They're only a half game right now behind both the Warriors and the Clippers. As far as avoiding the plan and grabbing the six seed, I don't even want to say how important it is, Chandler, but are you thinking they can do it? They have to do it. Yeah, I am for sure. You see this team just continues to get better and this is such a huge step for them going forward. If you look at these other teams around them, right, think about the expectation that the Clippers had this year with healthy PG or the healthy Kawai and the champs coming back with Clay Thompson healthy re-signing Jordan Paul. Lakers are right behind those two teams after everything they've been through after they've been dragged through the mud all year long. Trust me, as a newer person to the media, I loved hooping all over the Lakers all year long pretty much, but this is super impressive. This is unbelievable to turn around they've had and the fact that they can lock in a plan spot and then keep rising and get that higher seed and not to avoid the plan in general is really, really outstanding for these guys and they're playing really well right now and then the fact that they can possibly get the Sacramento Kings in the first round is just huge. Don't do it. Don't disrespect the Kings. Go ahead, Eddie. I'm gonna go even further. They control their own destiny. They have two games left with the Jazz. They have a game left with the Clippers and then the game Friday against the Suns. Nothing means Shams are gonna be there. With the extra fourth game, they control their own destiny. They can be the five seed and look, I'm not picking them over the Suns, but if they're really locked in and they're really the team that we're saying they are and they're a dark horse contender and they have the GOAT and they have one of the best big men in the league and they have all these shooters around them and they have guys that defend. They should wanna run the table and be the fourth and be the five seed and get out of the play-in and get right to it with the Suns possibly. I mean, the Suns could be passed as well, but it should be paramount for them to get out of the play-in. No need to have that extra do or die game or two. Let's get a week of rest. Let's get the legs under you. Let's get everybody healthy and get ready for the playoffs. And I think they're gonna do it. I don't look, there's a thousand scenarios left, but I think they're getting out of that play-in. Them having four games this week is huge because it gives them one extra chance to push themselves over the top. Four teams tied in the last column, which is pretty insane. And we get a week of basketball and a couple of them play each other. I can't wait. Again, this is why we did NBA games last night because there's so much going on in the Western Conference. The best news to be the Lakers tonight is that Daniel Russell is probable to play. He left the game in Houston over the weekend and he's been up it. When you talk about in and out of the lineup, there's been times he's been in and out, but when he's been on the floor, he's been such a vital component to this team. They need him on the floor, get chemistry and just build that up before the regular season ends. But yeah, these games are massive really across the league. If you're team like Dallas, if you're Oklahoma City, you're watching what's going on tonight in Utah with that team. If Utah wins tonight, that puts Dallas in a position where you look at tomorrow's game, you probably play your guys tomorrow against Sacramento and just see how you do just going back home. But if Utah wins, if Oklahoma City wins, you're then a game and a half behind Oklahoma City, essentially two and a half games out due to not having the tiebreaker, then Utah is tied with you at that point as well. Utah wins tonight. And then at that point, if you're trying to secure a top 10 pick and even higher, you move past Utah in terms of the odds for a top 10 pick. So there's a lot riding on these games that sometimes don't even have anything to do with the two teams playing. No, I think that's why we've been so excited for the playoffs to start, especially in the Western Conference. There's so much that changes on a daily basis, including today. LeBron was pretty honest when he talked about the chemistry of his team and that they don't necessarily have as much chemistry as some of the other teams around the league, Chandler. How important is this quote unquote chemistry to the success of a team? Yeah, chemistry is always a huge part for every team, right? But when you look across the board, every team kind of goes through this, right? Everyone's got guys in and out of line-up. Everybody makes roster moves. The Suns are doing it right now with Kevin Durant. The Mavs are doing it with Kyrie Irving. The kids are doing it with Zion in and out. The Clippers have had PG and Kawhi kind of in and out. So everybody goes through this. And the chemistry is important on the court. Every team does these team activities and group bonding sessions. And you have dinners and stuff to get to know the family on a personal level. And that part of it is a huge role. But the Lakers have handled it pretty well from everything that I hear, how they're playing. They're handling it a lot better than teams like Dallas. So it is important moving forward. But I think with this team, it's health. It's Anthony Davis being health. It's D'Angelo Russell being healthy. It's LeBron James being in peak shape. So when this team is healthy, they're dangerous out for anyone. I know I keep saying Sacramento because I think that's what any team in the Western Conference, when you look, you'd rather play them out of all the other teams. But the Lakers can hang with pretty much anybody if they're full go and they're healthy. So they put themselves in a very unique spot, too, where like Eddie said, they control their own destiny. Like they don't have to be like Dallas right now and watch the other games. They just got to win every game and they are just right there. So that's a great opportunity for them. I know that Anthony Davis, every time somebody says, as long as Anthony Davis is healthy, I always want to ask Lakers fans if they sort of say that with bated breath, just a little bit nervous, right? But look at what he's done right now, player of the week. In his last four of his last five games, he scored at least 37 points. So Eddie, if I ask you to fill in the blank right now, Eddie is a top what player? 20? I mean, there's a lot of great players at the top of the league. You're not putting him, you're not putting him above Joel and B, you're not putting him against Giannis. You're not putting him against those top tier bigs. And it's not for like a talent, it's just for what we've seen and the expectations we have to have with his health. But when he's on and when he's healthy and look, this is ifs, we're doing a lot of ifs here, but when, yeah, he's up there, he's higher. He's in consideration for a lot more than top 20. But I think, yeah, right now he's a top 20 player. And that's great. This is a talent rich league. It's a top heavy league. And that's right about where he should be. I don't know, maybe he's closer to 15 than 20, but he's up there, but he's a game breaker. He's an absolute game breaker on defense and offense as of late. The way he's pounding the ball in the paint, the way he's been rebounding, the Lakers are a scary playoff team because they're gonna get to the paint, they're gonna get to the line. And there's really nothing any team in the conference can do about it because they're too big, they're too strong and they get a good whistle. Like Austin Reeves is getting the Jordan whistle. But yo, if you out rebound a team and you shoot way more free throws than a team, you have a chance every night and that's gonna kind of be their game plan going from here on out. And a lot of that rest on Anthony Davis and he's been up to the task. Earlier in the season, I got ruffled for saying DeMar DeRozan isn't a top 20 player. And Eddie just said Anthony Davis. Hi, there we go. I think that's way more offensive. I think he's closer to like 10 to 15, especially that when he's healthy, obviously that matters. And him being on the floor matters. You're not gonna put him above, you know, Joel, Yoko, John, Sluca, Steph, Kevin Rand. There's still that upper echelon where Anthony Davis has to be on the floor for that. But when this dude's playing like this, I'm putting him top 10, you know, 8 to 12-ish because he plays defense, he can score the ball, he can do everything on the court. It's just a matter of how much he's gonna do it. But when he's healthy, he is on. Isn't that frustrating though, the fact that he's so good and so talented that he can fluctuate from 20 to top 10, depending on sort of him? Like that's gotta be frustrating at times for his teammates and fans. All right, let's talk a little thunder warriors because again, a lot of stake here. They are currently equal to say the six seed and would face the Kings in the playoffs. Now, if they move up to five, we've discussed, they would play the Suns. This is time to talk strategy, Chandler. Do you think they try to avoid playing the Suns at all costs in the first round? And how do you do that? Well, deep down, they should, they really should. No one wants to play the Suns because no one has even seen them really peeking. And they've seen what they're capable of with Kevin Rand. They see how dangerous they are of a team with Kevin Rand. The Warriors are the one team where if no one would care, it would probably be them. They have the experience, have the talent, have the roster. I don't think they're scared of anybody. But deep down, yeah, I think, like I said, the Clippers, the Lakers, the Warriors, all these teams would rather play Sacramento than Phoenix. That doesn't take rocket science, but this is the one team where they are arrogant and they are confident and they think they can beat anybody. So they have a different mentality than the Lakers do going into the playoffs. Even if they draw Phoenix, they're going into that series thinking they can win it. Yeah, I don't think they're afraid of the Suns. I actually think they're the Suns' worst matchup when I look at kind of the X's and O's of that series. And the way rebounding will be key. And I think rebounding will swing that series if it happens, if the Suns allow them to get the type of offense, the rebounds that the Timberwolves got a few nights ago against the Suns, the Warriors might blow them off the court, just open threes off those. But it's just a weird matchup for the Suns and the Suns don't have the continuity just yet to deal with that flow heavy offense and all off ball movement and just having to switch everything and keep up with those guys. With that said, there's no telling what happens with the Warriors. They have two games on the road to finish this season. We know about their road woes. I got killed yesterday for saying, yo, this is the best team and they have all their guys and there's no excuses, but I believe it. And if they can answer Andrew Wiggins back, he's coming to the game today, I guess, and all this stuff, they should be fine. They have all their guys, they're healthy just in time. We don't have to worry about continuity. This mob just won a title 10 months ago. We know what they can do. They won the title on the road. I don't care about the road wind stuff. When the playoffs start, these guys have everything they need, they're the best team. They should be one of the favorites. They're the reigning champs. Please do not bring the narrative that the Warriors are underdogged. I understand Andrew Wiggins has life going on and I sympathize with that and I understand that Steve Kerr said he's been working out. He's healthy, he's been playing, he's ready to play ball. So if that's what they're telling me, that's all I can go off of. That's what their coach told me. They should be good to go. I don't think they're avoiding everybody, but two road games, they might end up in the worst spot that they need to be, but they're definitely not avoiding the Suns. I actually think they would play really well against the Suns. That's interesting. I would have thought avoiding the Suns would be the thing that they're supposed to do. That was the Segui that we were looking for, Andrew Wiggins. We finally heard his name. We saw his name yesterday talked about and you heard Eddie mention he was going to the game. What does that mean exactly? What's the deal? Yeah, so Andrew Wiggins is flying back to the Bay. The plan is for him to go to the game tonight. They play the Thunder of course at home and he's not going to play in the game. It's unclear which of these last couple games he's gonna play in, but you would think he would use the next few days to ramp up, getting in shape and game conditioning. He hasn't been working out every day in Minneapolis with a trainer. That's what he's told the team. So they're gonna reassess him when he gets back to the Bay area. It's uncertain when he's gonna make his return. And the reason he's been away is that his father, Mitchell Wiggins, has been dealing with a serious medical condition from what I'm told. And so that's something that's still, I think, gonna be on his mind, something that he's still gonna have to deal with now that even though he's back with the team, but this is a major get. If he's 100% Andrew Wiggins physically, emotionally, if he's there, this team is as dangerous as any team to win the championship. There's no question about it, but there's really no controlling where you play or who you play, because if you try to tinker with it and you lose a couple of games on purpose, then you end up in the play-in and then what if you knocked out the play-in? So I think you take the shirt thing, you take a playoff berth. I mean, I don't, I can't speak for the Warriors, but I assume they would rather be the FitSea playing the Suns than play in, you know, as a play-in tournament seed seven or eight. Because then you still put yourself in a position where you could get knocked out, like they did a couple of years ago when they had home court advantage against the lake. I believe the Lakers in the Grizzlies. I mean, look, in years past, you could sort of manipulate it a little bit when there was a little more leeway in between spots, but you really can't do that this season. If Wiggins comes back or when Wiggins comes back, Chandler, what does that do for this team? It does a lot, because he gives it a whole different dynamic. He gives a whole different look. You can post him up on the block. He gets out in transition. He defends, he's long, he's athletic. He was arguably their best player last year down the stretch. He was incredible, and they miss him. They have a hole there with him gone. So it's huge for him to come back and to kind of provide that piece that they've been missing pretty much all year long. And again, I think it's important that he gets back in the lineup and he can play as in many of these last couple of games as he can, just kind of get his feet under him, get his legs, get his conditioning, because as much as you can work out one-on-no, five-on-five with the coaching staff, it's tough to simulate a game and it's really tough to simulate a playoff game. So I think the sooner he gets back, there's obviously big for him and the team. But yeah, this is a guy who gives them a whole new look when he's in the lineup. Let's switch sides over to OKC. Obviously, we all agree that this is a team of the very near future, right? But they've lost five of their last seven. So as far as hitting a wall looks like that, it might be what they've been doing in the last few, Chandler, but as far as making a play-in spot or just getting a lottery pick, what would you rather do here as an OKC fan or front office? I think at this point, you're committed to making the play-in and seeing what happens. And a lot of these young guys, they're core, they're gonna be there for the near future. So getting this experience this year, playing in a single-game elimination game, that's pressure and that's big time. That's national TV and to have that experience would be huge for them rather than getting a 9th, 10th, whatever pick they end up getting. That chip is kind of sale. And so I don't know if they've hit a wall. I don't know if they're just simply not that good of a team. I don't know if these other teams are better than them. Selfishly, I'd rather see Luca and Kairi in the play-off than this team. They're a better team right now. And I think they provided better series than against a lot of these teams. But this team has exceeded everyone's expectations. They could make the play-in and lose the first game and be out. They could not make the play-in. There's still so much excitement around this team and this roster and this future that it really doesn't matter what they do. Yeah, I think hosting a play-in game would be tremendous for this team and this franchise and the city. So I mean, that's the goal. And that's within the realm of possibility still with three games left. I think, look, when you have Chad Holmgren on the way, you have a lot of your pick. You have your Vector Wimbyama. You have your guy. You don't necessarily need the ninth pick when you can get the 14th pick. It's cool. You have somebody wedding in the wings already. You have a bright future and you have like 100,000 draft picks on the way anyway. So I think if they can get in there, especially if they can get into that arena and if you remember those old home crowds in the big three Thunder era and then beyond, that's a fun place to play in a play-off game in a do or die setting. And look, to take this back to the Warriors and to everybody else, that's what you're really trying to avoid. I don't think people are actively avoiding the Suns. I don't think people are, well, they're kind of actively seeking the Kings. Some teams have spoken about it, but you're really avoiding the playing and the danger of the one game, win or go home situation because a couple of these teams have lost to the Thunder recently. So you're avoiding that. You're avoiding that dangerous situation with a team like the Thunder, with a team like the Timberwolves, with a team like the Clippers or Warriors, where, yo, if we lose this game, we're done, whereas you could have a weak arrest and you could ideally play the Kings, but if not, you play the Suns. So I think that's what you're avoiding here more than anything. And if you're the Thunder, you like that challenge. You want to have that home game for the nine, 10 seed. You want to get a chance to try to get yourself in at the eight. So yeah, I much prefer that if I was a fan, if I was a team, if I was a player, let's try to win, let's try to take it home. What are we going to do with the 14th pick? It doesn't matter. There's another game tonight. Again, with a lot to watch, Kings at the Pelicans. Pelicans have won seven of their last eight. They can actually clinch a play-in spot with a win tonight against Sacramento. And you know what I'm going to ask you, Shoms. Tell me some stuff about Zion's. Give us some good news. So there's still no timetable for returning. He's going to be re-evaluated later this week. But the one bit of news is he did participate in some low-intensity three-on-three over the weekend. He did not practice yesterday with the team in New Orleans. So the goal right now for the Pelicans is making sure that he's in game shape. His conditioning is right. They're not going to rush him back though, Michelle. And I think the fact that he didn't practice, he's going to be re-evaluated later in the week. He went through low-intensity three-on-three. I don't know if that's a sign that he's on his way back, but if he feels ready to go for a game or two before the start of the play-in tournament, does he get there by the end of the week? There's been progress, no question, but is it enough progress? To my knowledge, he has not had any new setbacks with that hamstring. So these are all positive signs. The question is, has time run out? Will the Pelicans still have the confidence in him and his body and his conditioning to throw him out there? If it's just for the play-in, do they wait to see if they make the playoffs before they make a decision? So there's some ancillary factors that we don't know the answers to. But he did do some work, and he is making some level of progress over the last several weeks. I feel like that little nugget's like, maybe, I don't know, maybe I'm a little too optimistic, Chandler. Like, let's just say he gets them back. How much does it change the odds, the chances for the Pelicans team to do anything at all this season? Well, this was a team that we were super high on early in the year. They started out great, and Willie Green, we're talking, he was coach of the year Canada with Zion on end of the lineup. You can see that changes. When we were talking about Anthony Davis, what's he ranked? I was immediately thought of Zion because when he's healthy, he's damn near top 10, and you can't even put him really in top 25 because he just doesn't play enough, right? So he's the example of how good and how important he is when he's on the floor. And this team is super dangerous. When you look at their roster, they have a little bit of everything. They were rolling over early on. They were so fun to watch towards the end of the season last year and kind of got that confidence going into this year. I don't know if throwing him in the plan and rushing him back is the best thing because I still think it's gonna be a tough out no matter who they play in the first round. But this is almost a team where, again, like Oklahoma City, like Sacramento, they have something to look forward to. They have their core. They have their guys. They have enough talent to compete in the near future. I don't know if it's this year with Zion missing so many games I don't think his health concerns are going away anytime soon either, right? This is who he's been like this whole career. And it's unfortunate because we all know how good and how exciting is when he does play. But this team is dangerous, but I'm looking almost more towards next year with a healthy Zion. Yeah, that's a bummer. This season started out so differently than where we are now. Let's talk a little Kings here. We've talked so much about everybody else and what they think about the Kings, but what about the Kings themselves? They had a devastating loss to the Spurs this week. Sorry. Now, pretty much destined for that three seed, but how vulnerable are they Eddie? But also, if you're the Kings and you're Mike Brown, you hear what all of these talking heads, including you guys, are saying about them and how everybody wants them in these playoffs. Like, what are you telling your team? Hey, look, you can be as motivated as you want. You can have as much blackboard material as you want. And you can pin all the articles and quotes in the locker room that you want. But if you can't guard the pick and roll and you cannot guard in space in the playoffs, you're doomed. And the Sacramento Kings cannot do that. Now, they can score and they can try to outscore teams and they've had the best offensive of the league all year long. Off its rating, highest points scored, all this good stuff. And they have the guy who's probably gonna win the Jerry West Clutch Award in De'Aaron Fox. He's just been sensational in the fourth quarter all season long. But if you can't guard, it's just not gonna work. You're just gonna run into these issues over and over and overnight in and out. And the problem for them is you're looking at playing the Clippers, the Warriors, the Lakers, the Pelicans. You're not getting your typical eight seed. You're not getting your typical six seed in this matchup. You're gonna get a perennial title contender or the reigning champ or the goat, right? So you're gonna be kind of out and out right there. A lot of teams are looking at their chops and I understand why. Now, if you're the Kings, yes, you do feel disrespected. You are wondering what's going on here. You are feeling motivated and feeling like we can do it. But if you don't got the dogs to go out there and do it, there's not too much you can do with all that motivation. I think they'll fare well. I think they'll make a good account for themselves. They might win a game or two or three and they'll have a great crowd. But at the end of the day, they're just not better than those teams full strength and they cannot defend either one of them. Yeah, and you said it, you know they hear everything. You know, Mike Brown is telling them everything. Everyone's gunning for us. Everyone wants us. We're gonna be the higher seed, but the underdog. But that's the reality, honestly. Like the Warriors are, I think, better. The Clippers are better. I do think they'd be New Orleans. I think they'd be the Lakers, but I think it is gonna be a dog fight in that series. But that's not the important thing here. The important thing is they're off the snide, right? They're in the playoffs. They broke the streak. They lit the beam. This kind of like these other teams we're talking about, this has already been a successful season for the Sacramento Kings. And again, they have their guys going forward. Now next season, when they get to the playoffs and if they're a top four seed and they lose first round, then that's an issue. This, as long as they compete, they make it competitive. They have fun. They get the home, the playoffs in that arena. It's exciting. Any things are positive, really. But when you just look across the board on the Western Conference, these teams, they don't have a better record. They haven't had a good of a season. I'm still taking those other teams in a series. And I think I speak for America. When I say if you don't have a Western Conference team or your team perhaps didn't make the playoffs this year, we are all pulling for the Sacramento Kings. You're welcome, Mike Brown and company. We're taking a quick break here when we come back. Sean sat down with Jaylen Brown. Jaylen Brown has been doing some talking and we want to hear about it when we run it back returns. When you think about two guys that can star duos for the last three, four years, you guys been to conference finals together, last year the NBA finals together, what do you think allowed you to specifically to be so successful in sacrificing and trying to be the best versions of yourself? I think just one loving this game, I think we both love this game tremendously and want to continue to improve. We compete, we push each other, we learn from each other. And I think a lot of our relationship has been built off of that, dynamic of respect. And that's the beautiful part of it. JT, I get to see him come into work every single day and see him prepare for winning. He get to see me come in every single day and prepare what I'm working on, get better each year in the off season. I've seen him get better each year in the off season. I've seen him grow as a man. He sees me grow as a man. So I get why I guess in the sense that people always try to break up duos or people like that because so far we've been incredibly successful. Hopefully we can be even more. Only thing that will put the ribbon on top is getting the championship. What a lovely serene setting, Shams. Your biggest takeaway from sitting down with him? Well, aside from just the partnership with Jason Tatum, I think just how locked in they are on a championship and trying to get back, I think losing in the finals is gonna have a bad taste in your mouth. He told me, we think about getting back to the finals, winning the NBA finals, literally on a day to day basis. He says he wakes up thinking about winning the championship. He goes into practice thinking about winning the championship. So I think this is a team that's definitely hungry. They went through somewhat of a hangover midway point of the year. February, they had some struggles but the way I think they're turning it on now and his partnership with Jason Tatum, I think it's been talked about a lot. We had Evan Turner on the show recently and I think he gave some great insight into it in terms of just behind the scenes, those are two guys that are competitive in a positive way with each other, pushing each other and generally wanting to see each other succeed. Of course, that's not always what's out there but I think just hearing him talk about his partnership with Jason Tatum and just how much they've had to sacrifice to be successful was definitely a light. I mean, the best part of the All-Star game was when they were playing one-on-one on each other because you could see exactly what we're dealing with here but there's been a lot. A lot of Jaylen Brown sound this week. Some of it has seemed like he maybe wants out which I don't know about, Chandler. Do you expect these two to stick together in Boston or is Brown headed elsewhere? I hope so because it's arguably the best duo in the league and like Sean said, they went to the conference finals, they went to the NBA finals. Now you give these two a championship. I mean, there's not much else to do, right? So I accept to do it again and keep running back and keep growing together and keep becoming better teammates and better players. So I hope they stay together for a really long time because they're really exciting. They're both can do it all on the floor. They both play defense. They both score an array of ways. And I know Jaylen Brown's talking a lot but the grass isn't always as greener on the other side and you're in a great situation right now where you're in an unbelievable team with a great system, with the co-star, with Jason Tatum that can carry games when you're having an off night. So I think it's perfect for both of them. They play off each other and again, they are on a championship contending team for pretty much years to come. Yeah, a few weeks back, Logan Murdock did a story for the ringer about Jaylen Brown. He'd be working on for five months and he talked to everybody. He talked to Kyrie, he talked to D-Ray. He talked to everybody. He could possibly talk to about this story. And I looked, the quotes jumped out and I had to ask around. I got curious and I started asking around and the word it sounds like, it's like, yo, any idea of some disagreement, some fissure, some whatever wedge between them, it's way overblown. These guys, they get along, they wanna stay together, they're competitive, they know that being together is better for both of them than having these two separate teams and two separate entities. And they fully understand that. And honestly, all the words they've said publicly have essentially said that Jason Tatum last year was extremely vocal about that. Like, hey, the wing is the most important position in basketball right now and we have two of the best, why would we break that up? That's kind of weird. And that seems to be all the noise. Now things change and Jaylen has a contract situation on the way pretty soon and all of that. But for the Celtics, for Jaylen, for Jason, it makes sense for everybody involved to keep them together as long as they possibly can. They were two games away from a championship last year. Really, they were like a 21-0 run away from a championship last year. And they were right there tooth and nail with the Warriors. They are one of the best teams in the league. They're one of the best duos in the league. And they're both like 25. Like, why would you even ever consider breaking them up in that moment? So, yeah, I think it's a little overblown. I thought Shams' sit down was great and even fully explained and expounded upon that. So, good job there, my guy. And I hope to see these guys together for a long time. Yeah, but you know what I love that as media members, we're such vultures that based off the vibe that Eddie was just describing where it sounded like Jaylen Brown wanted, I read so many think pieces of how different teams could get, including the Spurs. Like, how could we get Jaylen Brown to San Antonio? It was just like, man, you guys says one thing that was taken wrongly. But we do have Celtics Sixers tonight. I mean, again, there's so many good games. I almost am glad we didn't have games last night. Chandler, which team do you trust more heading into the post-season? Philly or Boston? Boston. And that's not taking anything away from Philly. James Harden, he's got to prove to me that he can play at an elite level. And the playoffs, my brother's had some failures in the playoffs. And this Boston team is ripe to win a championship. And like we all just discussed, they could score, they play defense, they play on solvers, they play hard. They have guys on the team that know their role. Which is funny, because I took actually Billy tonight, but I do trust Celtics more in the playoffs in the series. And I think they're more title-ready than the Sixers are. Yeah, don't look now, but the Sixers have lost four of their last seven. And that game against the Bucs was really telling and really weird. And to watch James Harden put up a stinker, I think he scored 11 points, and it took like six shots or something along those lines. It was a little concerning. And the way the Bucs kind of cruised a win there, I know the score wasn't some massive gap, but it was clear they were in control of that game the entire time. There's some concerning stuff going on. And you've got to wonder what the wings they have on that team, how well they can defend. That's why we're asking PJ Tucker a lot in a potential series against the Celtics. We just saw the Celtics do this. We know what they are. We know they're playing the map. We know they're going to shoot 53s. And you're going to have to out three of them, because you're going to have to keep up one way or the other. They're going to spread out. They're going to play five out. And they're going to get great shots for their guys. I'm trusting the Celtics based on past history, based on just last year. Little hints of concern out there in Philly. Don't look now, but this is a big game. And they don't show up for this one. And the same way they didn't show up for the Milwaukee game. Yeah, let's put that on the sticky board and it can be concerned after that. It's that hard thing. Every time he has one of those games, we sort of have flashbacks. It's very Pavlovian at this point. Shams, we discussed collective bargaining agreement yesterday. There were a lot of aspects we didn't get to all of them. But one of them was the continuation of the one and done rule. Why didn't that go away? I think people thought maybe it would this time. Yeah, I think the league definitely wanted that to be a new provision in terms of decreasing the age eligibility down to 18 and allowing high schoolers to come to the league. I just don't think it was that much of a focal point for the PA. There was a way to bring in a veteran exception to make sure that the vets stay in the league. It doesn't diminish jobs and teams that have high school players on them that they're able to have the necessary veteran experience on that team. I think it was very important for the PA, just was not something that they could figure out a framework of with the league. And another thing is that the league wanted, at one point, for those one and done players, or not one and done in terms of high school to the NBA, those guys have five year contracts potentially. And I heard that was one point that the NBA did not reach an agreement with the league. So just a couple of these factors that did not align when it came to eliminating this rule. I love that I get to ask Chandler this question. Chandler, how do you believe the state of amateur basketball in this nation is doing right now? I mean, it's pretty good. When you look across the board, the AU circuit is very good. I love that the G-League is now a thing where you got guys like Scoote that are playing and it's fun to watch. And it gives kids a different option, you don't necessarily have to go to college now. You can sit out, you can work out, you can go to the G-League, you can go to an overtime and elite, or you can go abroad and do the middle ball and do that path. But I think it's very good. I think there's so much talent now across the country where they've given them a lot of options where they can get paid earlier, they can go pro, they can go to college. To me, I'm going to college, but I feel like nowadays it's different. I love March Madness. I love watching the tournament. I love the whole college experience. And now, especially with being able to get paid and go to college. That's true. I would, I mean, I stayed four years, I would have stayed eight years if I was, like if I was getting, I loved it. And you're playing for something, like you choose a school, do you get drafted in the G-League? You don't care about that team. You know what I mean? I love the Gators. Probably the biggest passion of mine is the Gators. And that came from my college experience, but the state of basketball is great. You can see the talent coming in each year. Just keeps getting better and better. If you don't make me go to class, I'll go to college. I watched the McDonald's All-American game. We don't need guys coming out of high school right now. They're not ready. They did not look like any NBA players running around that court. Let's send them to college. Let's send them OTE. Let's send them to G-League for a year. It's cool. I used to be pretty passionate about that. But yeah, these guys look all of 17 and 18, it's fine. We don't need that in NBA right now. I mean, it's that one year. Look, sports have four 19-year-olds on our roster. So like it's very, it's about as close as you can get to what we're discussing here. But they technically know what they had to do. Shoms, we thank you as always and we shall see you bright and early tomorrow morning. And we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, voter fatigue, we have not talked about it in a minute, but we are getting closer. That, when Run It Back returns. 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, run it back. Make the rest of the NBA season a slam dunk with FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get a no-sweat bet up to $1,000. That's up to $1,000 back in bonus bets if your first bet doesn't win. Now's the perfect time to join FanDuel. The app is easy to use. There are always great promotions and when you win, you can get paid instantly. So jump into the action and bet the NBA. Download the app and sign up to get a no-sweat first bet up to $1,000. FanDuel, official sports betting partner of the NBA. And of course, we will help you with your parlays. We're here for you. Drew Holiday had a lot to say about his teammate, Giannis Antodocopo and the MVP race, talking about that he's doing too much, but it feels like people get bored of it, kind of like the LeBron James effect and how LeBron did it so many times that people then think it's normal. But he says that Giannis made it look easy. The first couple of years that he got it, it's like, wow, nobody can do that. And it's still to this day that nobody can do what he does. But he's on the number one team, not just in the East, but in the league. Love seeing a teammate stand up for his guy. But are you buying Chandler that we are gonna see voter fatigue once again interfere? And this is why Giannis won't win. Yeah, he's pretty spot on and he's not gonna win. It's gonna be one of the two big fellas. And Drew has a point here because all year long, the Milwaukee Bucks have been the best team in the Eastern Conference, which makes them the best team in the NBA. And they've been the most consistent, state or the Boston had him early, but kind of been number one seed all year long. This is without Chris Middleton, really being Chris Middleton as of late. And we have gotten numb to Giannis's greatness. We saw, we'll see highlights of him and just kind of turned the page. And if anybody else did what he did, we would be blown away, but he has set the standards so high and we have gotten very comfortable just watching him and he can't shoot. And I think we kind of use that against him, but his length and his athleticism, the way he can go downhill and attack the basket is something that we've never seen before. And the fact that this year he's doing this without his second best player pretty much all year long, and they're still in the NBA and he's gonna finish third in MVP vote. So I do get it and that it would be frustrating. These other two guys have had great years and have also deserving to be in this conversation and to win an MVP, but Giannis has done such great things consistently for such a long time now. We've gotten numb to it. Eddie's like, I'm sorry, his phone wasn't, but no, I agree. I agree with what Drew's saying. I think we've got a little bit of the LeBron thing going. If a magician pulls a rabbit out of hat once, it's like, whoa, if you go watch him do it for a month, you're like, oh, here he comes with the rabbit in the hat. It's no big deal. That's kind of what we're getting with Giannis. You got a lot of doling perceptions of Giannis. And one of the major ones is that he's just a running dump guy and that's really persisted throughout his career. And like whatever amount of truth there is to that, dunks are fun. Like dunks are great. Dunks are hard to get to on top of that. Like he's not dunking just because he's taller than everybody. Devel McGee doesn't run around and do what he's doing. Rudy Gobert doesn't run around and do what he's doing. There's a lot, not a lot of guys, but there are other guys in the league with this body type and the capability of potentially doing this that can't. I think there needs to be a little more respect on his production. He's producing like wilt numbers in the modern NBA. There needs to be a little more respect on just his motor and just his willingness to be more physical than everybody else on the court. That stuff matters. That stuff wins you games. That stuff is productive. And yes, he's not dribbling, tween tween and doing all stuff. And I'm one of those guys who loves that stuff. I love Kyrie's game. I love Kevin's game. I love all these guys' game who get in their bag, right? He doesn't have the bag. That doesn't mean he's not productive. That doesn't mean he's not great. So I get what Drew's saying a little bit and I'm a little off put by the fact that they've been doing this all year long. Like, like Yannis has sat down a few times and said, oh, I'm just boring. So you guys don't like me. A lot of people seem to like Yannis. I don't know who just dislikes Yannis. We might go, hey, make a three, but I don't know anybody that just dislikes him. So I'm a little off put by that. I don't think he's going to lose the MVP because of voter fatigue. I think the media and the people who are voting on this have been screaming all year long that voter fatigue doesn't matter because they, because Jokic was the MVP for about 90% of the season. I think if he loses is because we have three great candidates and there's only one MVP and that's unfortunate, but it's also a testament to the talent we have in the league and the production for those three guys all year long. Two guys are going to have to lose. I'm sorry. And it might be him and it is what it is. He has the best record in the league. He's probably the best team in the league and is the title favorite as we sit here right now. Go win the other award. Go win the one that's even more important and don't even care about this later. So, I mean, I get what Drew's saying, but it's not the end of your guys' season. It's not the end of Yanis's run. He's going to have a lot of chance to show, improve that he's the best guy in the league over the next three months. And look, if he doesn't care about individual awards, it's a great place to be, right? That you're in a category where we assume that you're good enough to be the MVP, but you just might not win. That's a beautiful legacy to have. KD, speaking of legacies, had 35 points Sunday in OKC. He also dropped another 30 and a win on Friday over the Nuggets. They are a perfect 6-0 with Mr. Durant in the lineup. Eddie, you're buying that they are unbeatable with KD? No, I mean, they'll probably end up losing before the season ends knowing their luck and their situation. But they are a really, really, really good team and really difficult to deal with. What they've been going to a lot late in games is Chris Ball handling the ball with DeAndre Aitin setting screens for him. Because what do you do when they do that? And then you have Kevin Durant in one wing and you have Devin Booker in another wing. You really have to pick your poison. And we've watched different variations of, like, OK, we'll chase after C.P. and then we get a lob. Or, OK, we'll help just a smidge off book and then you get a three. And those are the problems they present. But they have defensive issues they need to figure out. And just like LeBron mentioned with chemistry and continuity, that's going to be part of the problem. They have a fifth starter that they just seem to wane about here and there. And they have a ton of wings. And Monty Williams cannot seem to settle on one night in and night out to help them. But they're off. It's a firepower. And the ability for those guys to get it off the bounce against pretty much any coverage is going to be huge for them in the playoffs. Unbeatable? No, that's a lot. But they're really, really good. Don't overthink this. Almost unbeatable. Does that work, Chandler? Almost. Yeah, I mean, they're undefeated with this man in the lineup. Currently, they are unbeatable. But no, they still have their flaws. They still have their flaws defensively. They have a lot of wing depth. But their bench isn't that great. But offensively, it's impossible, man. Especially with Chris Paul, Hanel Mabal, like Eddie said, you got three guys that are used to getting double team their entire career. And now you physically can't. So one of them are going to get a look. One of them are going to have a match up that they like. And they're going to expose that. And it's going to switch every single game. And you have Deandre Aiden, who's been great, going to the basket. So they have so many different ways to hurt you. And they just got to find that fifth guy that can step up. And Kogi's been pretty good. But they have to have someone that's ready to knock down open threes because that fifth guy is going to get a lot, especially in the playoffs. But unbeatable is the stretch. But they are very, very good. There was a moment yesterday. I think Shams maybe shocked a little bit at NBA Twitter when he mentioned the fact that the Mabs are considering shutting down Kyrie and Luca. It's a very black or white taut. You either say yes or no, Chandler. But are you buying that they should shut them down with just a few games left in the regular season? No, absolutely not. They just got Kyrie Irving. He's been playing good. He's been dealing with injuries. Luca's been dealing with injuries. And hasn't gone there. But they can still sneak in there. And this is a team that if they get into play in, that's all they need because they can win those two games. And then they're looking to a playoff series with one of those top two teams in the West, which are also beatable for the Dallas Maverick. So the idea of shutting them down, and listen, they're about to have five, six months off. It's a few or four games, whatever they have left. Tonight is big for them to be watching these other games, watching that Thunder game, to be watching that Utah game. And then if that hole gets a little deeper, maybe. But as of now, no, you have three to four more games left. It could be your last games ever with Kyrie Irving. Play the game, play the games, get the experience, get whatever you need to, and prep and plan like you're getting in that play-in and getting ready for those games. Yeah, grumpy old fan Mises. Grumpy old fan Mises, they need to play every game. What are we talking about right here? They're within a game of the play-in. We're going to shut it down within a game of the play-in. What? You traded away two starters and multiple draft picks for 19 games of Kyrie. And then the news breaks out that he's going to test free agency in the summer. What are we doing? This was not the point of doing this trade and just ending the season on a whimper. There's like the more literalist part of me and the more realistic part of me that goes, oh, they're going to shut these guys down. And whether it's tonight, whether it's Wednesday, whatever, they're not going to play every game for the rest of the season. They're dealing with injuries. They know it's a lost cause. Deep down, they know it's a lost cause out there in Dallas right now. Now they can tamper this summer, and then they can tinker, and they can add more things. But for this last month of the season, it's a lost cause. So yeah, they should play every game. They're not. They're not. Let's give me realistic. They're probably not going to play again this season. How stupid is that, though? Like it's like running a marathon and at mile 25, you're like over it, not going to finish. Like that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Just finish the three games and figure out what you're going to do next. It drives me crazy. Especially fans of the Mavericks that have paid a lot of money to do that. This next one, I love. I love if we have an anonymous Western Conference team executive. Always a good story when it starts with anonymous. He said, I honestly wish we wouldn't have won so many games this year. We're going to all regret not tanking every game to get this dude. And we're talking about Wemby there, Chandler. Are you buying that more teams, more of them, should have tanked for Victor Wiminyama? Yeah. And whoever said this definitely works for either the trailblazers or the jazz, because those are the two teams that early on wildly winning games and they had no business winning games. And then they kind of put themselves in that position to tank, do we not tank? And now here we are the last week of the season where they're both outside the plan. They're both not playing for anything. And they went from maybe having a top pick to an end of the lottery pick. So it is silly, but it's also it's hard to tank. It's hard to tell teams like Portland, like Utah, that do have talent, that do have stars, that they do had something there early. And when you catch fire like that, you want to ride that wave. But everyone knew the jazz weren't going to be a contender. Everyone knew the trailblazers weren't going to be a contender. And there's some other teams that are in that same boat. But you can't just lay down. You can't just lose. You can't, especially with that talent, if you're in a situation like Houston or San Antonio or Detroit where you have pretty much nothing, sure. But these other teams, whoever this guy works for, they do have enough talent to get excited, especially when they win games like they did early. But yeah, now looking back at it, it's like you see highlights of this kid's little day and they smoke that chance of getting him. So it's definitely at work. It goes either way. Danny Ains can't fool me. I know Danny Ains quote when I see one. I love anonymous quotes. Sometimes they're the worst. This one was a good one. Taking a quick break right here when we come back 13 games tonight. So it's parlay time. And we will most definitely pick the worst three when we come back. When you play table games with Fandall Casino, you can sit with a real live dealer. It's just like being in a casino in person only from the comfort of your own home. You can play all your favorite table games like Blackjack roulette with a real live dealer who deals real cards against real competition. And you guess it, a real money. Their deposits and withdrawals are so fast and secure. It's like being at a real life casino. Minus the annoying person next to you, am I right? All right, time for the parlay guys. So many games, so many chances. Eddie, take it away. I got the Lakers. I think they're locked in. I know it's a lot of points but I'm expecting them to be going straight at this and win this big. Mm, I like that one. Chandler? I think I'm gonna take my talent college basketball next year because I'm way better at that than the NBA I'm going six shirts, minus two and a half although I trust the Celtics a lot more. Yeah, you are a confusing man. Nets plus one against the, oh no, plus two. Sorry, I picked it earlier against the Wolves. I mean, one of us is guaranteed to get one of these right. That's all I can tell you. It's gonna do it for us today. Tomorrow is Wednesday. We'll see you right and early at 10 a.m. Eastern. Have a good one. Run it up. Run it back. Run it up.