 Run it up, they run it back, yeah. Run it up, they run it back, run it back, run it up. Oh my God, they let us hang out again in the same place, same time. Welcome, brand new studios. This is Run It Back. I will start, as always, with Shyam Sharania to my right. It's weird to just look at you right now. And then I get to look at Chandler. He and I are having some sweat problems. And then Eddie G on the end there, so we can talk a little NBA playoffer about to start. But really, we can't even get to that because of the day that was yesterday and the weekend we just had. Boys, seriously, stop fighting. That's where we start. The Minnesota Timberwolves literally falling apart at the worst possible time, playing the Pelicans. Look, they beat the Pelicans, but nobody cares about that. They got the eight seed, it's all fun and games. They're gonna face the Lakers in the plan. But Rudy Gobert, Eddie, I just wanna, I'm just looking at you, because this is your guy. You love him so much. Take us through what happened here. I've been waiting all my life for two NBA players to fight in a game. And it was Rudy Gobert. Like, I don't know how I got blessed. Like, this is incredible. I can't believe this happened in a do or die. Like, they absolutely needed this game to move up in the play-in. And they're fighting on the court. Let's, Chandler, has this ever happened in your entire basketball life? This is absolutely insane. I've never, first of all, Tori and Prince pushes him harder than any contact that was made, so it could for him. But no, I really haven't. I've seen Terps in, like, practice or in the locker room. I saw a crazy fight one time in Memphis. But this stage of the season, too, with everything they're playing for, two vet, like, leaders on the team, like, super uncharacteristic, just knowing these two guys, obviously there's reports of what's being said and whatever, but you can't let your emotions get the best of you like this. Not like that. This is just, again, this is this time of the season with everything they're playing for going in. These aren't the headlines that you wanna be talking about. No. And technically, we're starting with this, Shams, and it didn't end with what we saw in the court, right? Things kept going. Yeah, so we saw what happened on the court, and part of it was also Rudy Gobert had a back injury. He really was not even supposed to play from what I'm told. He plays, listen, he had back spasms. That's something Kyle Anderson missed time with this season, so it's ironic that now he's dealing with back spasms, and there was some level of pressure from teammates to play. So Rudy Gobert ends up playing, and then they go into the locker room at halftime. I'm told there was another heated altercation. Heated exchange there, didn't turn physical. His teammates separated them, but it ended in Kyle Anderson telling Rudy Gobert, I'll knock your bleep out. And thankfully they got separated. Mike Connelly Jr., great vet. I know Chandler spent time with him in Memphis. He played a big part in terms of separating those guys, but this is a situation that the Timberles are dealing with right now. Kyle Anderson seems ready to move on from this, and it's a big playing game that they're gonna have against the Lakers. You need all your bodies. Nasrit is not even, he's not playing, he's not gonna be back anytime soon. They need help up front, so they have a game to win. So it seems in the direction that Rudy Gobert will be there, but the Timberles have a lot to sort through today. And look, there's still more to get to, but I obviously have to ask you, should they suspend Rudy Gobert? Well, they can't. They have a do or die game. They absolutely can't not suspend him. And if you're the Lakers, you're watching this closely one, what is about to happen with this guy? I watch this tape like this is a purifier film, like there's so many things. First off, this is happening above their coach's head, by the way. Carl Denny Towns and Anthony Edwards are just watching like, huh? And then the way Tori and Prince pushes him, there's a little more to that. Let's not break these guys up. I'm like, you know, I wanna get my hands on this guy too, push him away. This is deep seated. This is something that's been bubbling for some time. You don't just be that upset with a guy. Look, you know you're on TV. This doesn't just happen on accident. And then the tape that comes out of halftime of slow-mo saying, yo, y'all got decisions to make this summer. The fact that even got out is like, whoa, like what are we talking about here? So there's a lot going on out there in Minnesota. And then they have to win a do or die game in two days against the Lakers. Like, look, I'm taking the Lakers, I'm hitting all the overs, I'm doing all that stuff because this looks terrible. Yeah, and I gotta say this and obviously this was right there for the world to see, right? Everyone saw it, but the fact that this video of Kyle saying that leaked, that's another issue. You gotta keep in house, you gotta have trust. So whoever did that, I fully expect like an investigation in that person. You think they'll be the same person that leaked the Dream on Green Punch video? Yeah, honestly, but you can't do that. Well, none of it paints a good picture of Rudy Gaubert standing within the team, right? Because even the Kyle Anderson quotes make it sound like he is not liked and perhaps not even really respected in that locker room. Just look at what happened. They were down 12, I think, when he subbed out and that incident happens. They win by five. They're eight and four without Rudy Gaubert this season. So this is a team that has shown without one of the bigs on the floor. I mean, to his credit, they've also played well at times with Kat out of the lineup. But without Rudy Gaubert, they looked pretty good. The offense was flowing well. Anthony Edwards had more space to work with. Kyle Anthony Towns went off in the second half. And that was really what I think went underlooked or overlooked. He balled out and you saw Dre Montgreen throw that. There it is. The pettiness. The petty betty is right there. And by the way, if you don't remember, this is a drawback from a long time ago when Rudy Gaubert had the exact same tweet. I do love that he remembers these things. That wasn't the only thing that the Timberwolves have to deal with now. Jada McDaniels. Another post. What is, I mean, what was in the air yesterday? This, to me, this is even worse because it's 1,000% self-inflicted. And I have to ask Chandler the effect that this will have now on this must win game for them. Yeah, to me, this is way worse. This is a kid that's had such a great year. He's long athletic. He's one of the better wing defenders in the NBA. And now you're looking at a matchup against LeBron James where this was gonna be the matchup, right? And now this onus falls on Anthony Edwards, who is a great two-way player. But now he's gonna have to do it on both sides of the ball. And this, I don't know what happened, what led to this, but you have to have the maturity. You can't get so frustrated to where you're now taking yourself out for the season when you're such a critical part of this team. Frustrated I get. And clearly these guys care. They want to win, but you can't let your emotions get the best of you here. And now it's a huge hole they have to somehow fill. I feel like this is a conspiracy that the Lakers are going to win something. Look, I don't want to be like the tinfoil that guy. But this feels very much like the league's up to something and I am on to everybody right now. And Anthony Edwards, we should be talking about guys like Ant. We're not talking about him. He had a moment as well with a block on CJ. I hate that we're not talking more about that, but as far as being the leader that clearly this team desperately needs moving forward, Eddie, is he gonna be the guy? My tagline always with Anthony Edwards is the league is in good hands. Like I don't know where the league goes in five years, but he's gonna be a key player in that. He might not be the face of the league. He might mess around and be the best player in the league. And that play that he made on the defensive end and then he went and made a bucket on the other end, the guy was as clutched as it gets. They're literally playing for their season. Oh, do we get further into the plan? Do we fall back? Do we play on the road? He has so much on the line for him to make that block on CJ McCullum and then make a shot on the other end. It just tells you how great he is. They need him to play well on Tuesday. And the thing is, when Rudy Gover is in the lineup, he takes way more threes. He drives way less, like statistically proven. And so now he's gonna have more space with Anthony Towns and it changes things. But I think Rudy's gonna be out there and they're gonna muck it up in the paint a little bit more. But Anthony, his ceiling is like absolutely top of the league, best player in the league. And the plays like that are just exactly when you see how. Yeah, listen, he's got the talent to do it. Like I just said, he can play on both sides of the ball too. And now a little bit more is coming on his plate with McDaniels out, but he's got the game. He's got the swag. He's got the confidence. He's likable. Guys are gonna rally around him. And this is what makes the play-in so exciting. You just got to do it one time. Right. He's got the team that's the Lakers that, everything seems to be going their way right now, but we know that inconsistencies they have. So all it takes is, you know, him to go off one game and they're in playing the Grizzlies. So we'll be excited to watch. Isn't it weird that Alex Rodriguez is like so bought into this team now and all this drama's happening? He can't be a coincidence. I mean, listen, he has no control of Rudy Gaubert going. Feels like he does. Doing what he does on the bench. He should have. Jamie McDaniels punching the wall. But you know what I'm curious about? A lot of, you know, Rudy Gaubert playing or not. A lot of it depends on Kyle Anderson and his mentality and how he wants to approach it. My sense is he wants to move on. But Chandler, as a player, if that happened to you, what do you, do you hold it on your teammate? Do you let him play? Yeah, you have to. Cause again, this is a winter go home. Well, I guess they have another chance against the Pelicans or the Thunder, but this is, there's no room for this. Like obviously there's what happened, happened. They're grownups, they're men. These are two leader veteran guys. So I do think you can swallow it and get away with it and kind of move on. But again, now then you're setting that tone that you can literally punch your teammate in the middle of an NBA game and there's no consequences. So it's, it's a sticky situation with everything at stake for them. Do they suspend one of their best players? We'll see. Man, you would think that they would have to and then it brings us to the Lakers. Beating the Jazz by a lot. The LeBron had 36, 6 and 6. They're the seven seeds. So as we mentioned, they will be facing Minnesota in the play in tournament. And now we've got all that turmoil coming out of Minnesota. The Lakers seem to be jelling, if you're me at the worst possible time, if you're from LA at the best possible time. But as far as like the chances you give this Lakers team, Chandler, give it all of it. Yeah. How do you feel? First of all, I think they beat Minnesota. Everything going around. I think they're peaking. They're playing good. We all talk about how much better they got at the deadline with Delo healthy, AD healthy, LeBron healthy. This team is hard to beat. I know you hate to hear that. It's not great. But again, this is I think it's already a success of how they turn this season around, but let them go in advance and move on this playoffs. And then they're going to get Denver, Memphis, they're going to get one of these teams. They can beat those in a series too. So it's very impressive what they've done and how far they've come from being kind of a laughing stock, all of us going at them all year long. To now they're sitting in control in their own destiny to literally grab that seven seed is pretty insane. So it's a little shocking still. Eddie, he said it's already been a success. Do you think it's already been a success or just something else have to happen for that to be called? They've had the best record in the West since the All-Star break. You see it, you can literally see on the court that they make way more sense. They surround LeBron and AD with shooters, with creators. And you can see like, yo, this is an offense that's hard to deal with and they defend. That's the thing. When you have Anthony Davis playing a championship level defense, you have a championship level defense. Like it's just that simple. When he can do all the things he does in the paint, when he can close out on shooters, we can do all that stuff. And then LeBron is motivated, they're a dangerous team. I think they'll beat the Grizzlies. And then they go into the next series and you're looking at maybe the Warriors. And then you're talking about a whole different thing but that is a tough team to deal with in this scenario. A one and done game at home. But I will say this, if we want to get a little negative. Let's do it. Do or die, life and death game with none of the Suns. Like all of the Suns, I think they might have tossed me and Jersey to get on the court. That went to the fourth quarter. Same thing with the Jazz last night. None of the Jazz. My guy, Walker Kessler wasn't even out there. Do or die and it went down to the wire. So look, there's cracks there. I asked the question on Twitter, who's gonna make jump shots in the playoffs for them? Jared Vanderbilt's gonna have to play a ton of minutes and he's not gonna be the one who does. Dennis Schroeder's gonna have to play a ton of minutes for defense. He's not gonna be the one who does it. Who's gonna make jump shots for that team as everybody packs the paint against them? That's gonna be what's interesting. The good thing for them, the Grizzlies are missing their two centers, Brandon Clark and Stephen Adams. And it's like, hey, things are working out for the Lakers. I'm sorry for you. Well, let me ask you this. And I ask you with all sincerity, of course, what is this in the middle of a game of the caliber that you just described? I mean, hey. No, you mean hey. I mean, hey. He had eight threes. You know, I'll give him that. He was shooting 31% from three this year, 32%. How to, you know, break out three point range game. Eight threes. Those are Wreck League teams. Seventh seed. I don't know if that's necessary for the time. Crown yourself when you have, you know, you're locked up to seventh seed. I don't know if that's the time, but do it once you beat the Grizzlies in the first round. Okay, fine. There we go. We can do that. Crown them after that. Then you can put your crown back on. All right. Oh God. They're eight and one. Oh God. Eight and one. Eight and one, Michelle. I don't want to do the positives though. Let's keep going on the lake. The best record in the west since the All-Star break. But they're eight and one with D'Angelo Russell, LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Lionel. So when those guys are playing and they're healthy, but to me, every time I watched Lakers and I saw them on Friday night, when AD is playing at an elite level, this team is going to be a championship caliber team. It's those nights when he has 15 or 17 or 19 or 20. That's the onus that's on Anthony Davis. So if he's able to play at an elite level, 30 points or more, if he scores 30 points or more against the Timberwolves on Tuesday, if he's doing that against the Grizzlies, they have a legitimate chance. It's the off nights for them that they struggle. Isn't it weird though, when you have a guy like Anthony Davis that you have to take into consideration off nights? Why? It's frustrating. So off nights happen though. Yeah, but they shouldn't necessarily for as many times. You're right, you're right. And this game, it can't happen. No. It can't happen this game. We just point over here. This game, so we have the brackets over here if you're wondering what we keep pointing to. That's how we're being driven here. No, you're right. He can't afford to have one for the rest of this entire however long this journey lasts, I would think. There it is. It's a self-match of Jared Jackson who a lot of people would feel is gonna be the defensive player of the year. He's gonna be match up right with him. And then several of us, like, you know, maybe we're seeing Rudy Gauver as his matchup. I'm pretty sure we are, but tough matchups for him, but I think he's the better player in both of those. All right, you wanna do some suns? Of course. Of course. Clippers and suns. Clippers did beat them. Kawhi with 25, 15 and six. Westbrook had 25, seven and eight. Clippers played for the win, the five seed and they now get the suns in the first round. They would have faced the Kings. It's almost like you question why not lose, but do you agree with the fact that they now have that five seed and now have to face the suns? I mean, Tyloo came out and said after the game versus the Blazers, we're gonna play everybody. We're gonna play the win. I think they had the option of dropping into the play-in which they obviously wanted to avoid. There's footage of him on the sideline asking, yo, what's the score in the Wolves game? Here in the score, thinking if he should pull his guys. This game went down to the wire. If you're a Clippers fan, you got to say, yo, if they played it this close without KD, Devin Booker, CP3 and Deandre, what are we doing when those guys play? But I love that they played it to the wire and played the win and they didn't do all this jostling for playoff position. And typically the basketball guys reward this. I don't think they're gonna reward this in this situation. They're gonna have to play. Maybe the best team in the West and maybe the best player in the world and it's a terrible matter for them. Shoms can tell us if PG isn't coming back, I know he's talking about announcing on his podcast if he's coming back. But if they've had to play this series without PG, like what are we looking at at that? I mean, you're down, you're arguably your best player and the Clippers are going into this series with the mindset that they're gonna need to win this series, get past the series to get him back into the lineup. So he just started the other day doing more treatment, more therapy on the court, kind of increasing his exercise level, but there's no contact work being done yet. There's no two-on-two, three-on-three scrimmaging going on as of yet from what I'm told. So they're gonna have to get out of this series without them if they want a chance potentially to get him back at definitely 100%. So without him, I mean, it's gonna be a tough climb, but Kawhi Learner is playing an elite level right now. And so I guess you have a chance if you have offnice from some of the sons. I gotta say, I respect it. Like Eddie said, you don't mess with the basketball gods. You don't try and outsmart the system, but this facts are facts. With Paul George, I think they can beat the kings in a series. Without Paul George, I don't think they have a chance to beat the sons. And you go from playing, you control your own destiny to here, and you had a chance to basically play the feel-good story of the year, Sacramento, that's just happy to be there, to now playing arguably the most dangerous team in the NBA. So I respect them going for it and playing their guys and trying to win as many games as possible. But at the end of the day, this was a poor decision because they would rather play the kings. Well, so let me ask you that, because nobody here seems to think they can beat the sons without PG. So that seems to be across the board here. But as a player, like in your psyche, your mentality yesterday, are any of them thinking that? Or is it just, we are out here to win games. It does not matter. They're all thinking it. And the NBA did a great job scheduling the games at the same time, so you can't sit here and wait and see the outcome and the result. But yeah, for sure. If I'm Kawhi Leonard right now, I'd rather go up against, you know, Kevin Herter and Keegan Murray and these guys rather than going now against Kevin Durant. So it's definitely as a player, you understand what's going around the league. You know who's tough team, who's soft, who you can go off against. And so I think they're confident enough to think they can hang with the sons. But no, player, coaches, fans, staff, I think everybody in LA would rather have seen the kings. Look, I've said it a million times, men and their emotions. Am I right? They can't just, they can't control them. And there was more of that in this game as well yesterday. What was the deal? Seriously, what was the deal? Why are Plumlee and Highland now getting into it, guys? Ah, I mean, see this is interesting for me because I've never heard one bad thing about Mason Plumlee, right? And Bones Highland got traded from Denver because of his character and nothing to do with basketball. And now you're getting into a physical altercation with a well-respected vet in the league who was also with you and then like, so this is a bad look for Bones and as talented as he is. Talon only gets you so far. You look across all sports. Antonio Brown, he's unemployed because he has zero character in it. So Bones Highland as good as he is. I love his game. He can shoot the ball. He's a critical piece to their postseason, but you can't go and do this, especially you on your second chance already. A team just moved you on your first deal. This is a bad look for him and I don't care what's going on. I know the coaches probably love the passion, love that they care, but this is a bad look. Eddie, you waited your whole life. You got two. Two in the same day and I'm going to tell you, I'm not a lip reader, but I guarantee you they're talking about defense in that thing. If I'm yelling at Bones Highland, I'm just saying, yo, you killed me on the pick and roll defense just now. And the funny thing about Mason Plumlee, he's like beloved around the league. Like everybody just understands he's the pick fella and he's going to muscle you down there and he might give you a shot that you don't necessarily like, but they love the work ethic. So for him to have to talk to a young guy like this, you know Bones did something. You know, look at Dante Jones, he immediately grabs him like, Bones, what are you doing? But look, they ended up winning the game. It was a tense game for them. They were going all out for it. And it's not the greatest sign. I hope they did. He worked it out, guys. It's not the greatest sign that they went down to the wire with Ishwain Wright and the sons that they were playing yesterday, but that's what they got. And look, now they got to play these guys for two weeks and the big fellas are coming back. So, you know, I'm confident going into it. I'm not on the sons, but if you're the sons, I feel like you're looking at this and going, all right, we got them right where we want them. I feel like yesterday was a weird day for you too. You're like, why are these things? No, there was a lot going on. And like, usually last day of the regular season, you're like gearing up for coach firings and things of that sort. And then, you know, you have players getting into altercations on the bench. But I mean, Bones Highland, like they spoke about me. He had incidents like this in Denver. I think the edge that he plays with, I think there's a gift and a curse to that. Obviously last night, he, yesterday he got into it with Mason Plumlee, who was a very well-respected veteran player. I don't think this will have the same carryover. This was not Rudy Gaubert. So I don't think there will be the same carryover as Minnesota. Warriors, they had a little history yesterday, had 55 points in the first quarter. That was an NBA record. What a perfect time to do it. Curry with 26, five and seven. They beat the Blazers by a gazillion points. They know they're playing really well the last couple of weeks and they know what's at stake. And so quite simply, Chandler, are they peaking at the exact right time? They are, and they got the matchup that everybody wanted. So, you know, they're getting healthy. Wiggins coming back. You can see how dangerous they are when they're shooting the ball like they are. They're still the issues of them on the road. And that plays, don't Sacramento, it's going to be whammin' in there. It's gonna be loud. It's gonna, you know, and defensively they're gonna have their issues still. They're not, I don't think there's a switch. They can just flip on. But yeah, they're playing very well. They're getting healthy. And again, they got the team that they wanted all year long. So it worked out. We've talked about this team, the light switch. I guess, I mean, the road thing is big and they are going to possibly one of the most hostile environments that's been desperate for 16 years to be able to do this, Eddie, but worries, concerns, no problem first round. Look, they won eight out of the last 10. They're peaking at the right time. They're getting Andrew Wiggins back. I mean, Shoms could tell us probably for game one. And we got a week down to figure that out. They're hopeful for that. They're going in the right direction. They, all of the jokes, all of the conversation about, yo, the regular season for them, whatever, whatever, they figured it out just in time. And they got all their guys and they're the most dangerous team in the league right now. They're the reigning champs. Like, don't forget that. They just won the title last year. They have all that firepower. They scored 50, what, 55 points in the first court crazy. Like, I know that this isn't exactly playoff intensity from the Blazers here, but those are five NBA players out there trying to guard these guys. And that just explains their firepower. Clay hit his 303 of the season. We need to give Clay Thompson love because he started the year off really slow. I think there were a lot of questions around him. Like Eddie just said, 300 threes. Leading the league in three pointers made. He became the third player ever to have 300 threes or more in a season joining Steph Curry and James Harden. So shout out Clay Thompson. He's playing at it in the, like, he's shooting the lights out right now. And I mean, I don't think I need to report. I think Dreymon, I think they've been public with it. I think they wanted to play the Kings. Not because they feel like they can definitely beat them, but just geographically, I think it's a bus ride away. Heck yeah it is. So I think from a comfortability standpoint, they're all four playing the Kings and we'll see if they can take advantage. When you say hopeful on Wiggins, is it? Yeah, I think the plan was when he came back, sit him basically, I mean, he's gonna get, he reported on Tuesday, Monday night, Tuesday of last week. If he plays, they're open on Saturday. It gives you about a week and a half, you know, week and, you know, almost two weeks of time to ramp up. And I think they feel like, you know, once they get to game one, he'll be there. Guys, road trip to one of these games. Who's in? Down. I'm down. I'm in too. I think that would be most fun. Get us our credentials, I'm ready. We just need a party bus guys, that's all we need. We're taking a quick break here when we come back. This is the story I thought we'd be leading with, but then everything else happened yesterday. The Dallas Mavericks, how do we punish them? That is the question, we're gonna run it back, returns. Run it back, run it back, run it back, run it back, run it up, and run it back, run it back, run it up, and run it back. Oh, welcome back. Just laughing at nothing, really, quite frankly. So the Dallas Mavericks was, that was the big thing, right? That, I was in New York over the weekend, people were angry shams. I even had tried to text you to get information on what was gonna happen, because they were so blatant about sitting everybody, and then they benched Luca very, very early. There were still things for them to be playing for, quite frankly. And then the fact is that they wanna keep their top 10 protected pick. Knicks fans, livid. Chandler, what do you think about the fact that the Mavericks didn't even bother trying to play for the play-in? Yeah, I get it business-wise, right? Like you said, they're trying to keep their pick, they were tied with Chicago, and that pick would have come over from the Przinga Steel, so I get it that way. Object number one is to sign Kyrie Irving this summer, maintain your pick, and kinda go forward with a fresh start, with a full training camp and a full season. The opposite, though, as a fan, you don't understand. You think we still have a chance to get in the playoffs. We have Luca, we have Kyrie, these guys can play, and it's based kind of a loser mentality to not even try, right? So I get the frustration from them, and I get the frustration, and I get the idea of Mark being like, this is a tall task, we're gonna go into the play-in, we have to win a game, we have to win two games, just to face Denver or Memphis in the first round. It was a tall task, and so I agree with it business-wise, but I understand that this is gonna piss off a lot of people when they think they have a chance and they think they have enough talent that they can go in there and they can win the play-in tournament, so I see both sides, but it's definitely frustrating. J-Kid wasn't really, I mean, he basically was like, not my call, not my call. When you make that trade at the deadline, and you say we're bringing in Kyrie Irving, one of the most talented players of all time, we're talking about a guy 30 years old who's in the prime of his career, that's supposed to be a win-now trade. That's supposed to be a, yo, we're trying to compete this year's trade, and we all know about their struggles, we all know what their record was, we obviously, they missed the playoffs. And look, at the end of the day, the Thunder won their final two games, so it was all for naught, because they were gonna miss out either way. But for them to say, yo, we're shutting Kyrie down very blatantly, the fact that the NBA stepped forward and said, look, we gotta investigate this, this is getting crazy, it's absurd, and Luca plays a quarter, and like, what are we doing at this point? But look, they did what they needed to do, they're trying to protect the pick that they may have, and then they need, it's top 10 protect that I believe, and they need that pick. They gave up a pick, and two second rounds going forward for Kyrie, like, they're in a crazy hole right now, and they're gonna have a big summer going up, and I know the rumor, and then the debunked rumor straight from Luca, that he's not looking to leave. I don't care, I don't care what he says, I don't care what the rumor is. If that team is not good next year, it's nothing for Luca to say, yo, I'm out of here. Send me anywhere. And no one would be mad at it. I don't think anyone would be mad at it. Shams, they have really dug themselves a bit of a hole here, as far as the off season, what's the main focus? Well, the main priority is resigning Kyrie Irving to a deal, they need his salary spot, there's really no other way for them to improve, even if they did not, let's say they did not want to resign Kyrie Irving, there's really no way for them to make this team better. So bring him back on a deal if they can reach an agreement. Then you try to go into the trade marketplace, they have two first round picks, they can trade this summer, you have some salaries you can use, and then on the other, they're gonna have a top 10 potential pick. You hope that you get some lottery luck and move up, and I know that's what the Mavericks, Nico Harrison, Mark Cuban, Jason Kitt, they're all praying that they get higher up and compete with their spurs to get Victor Wembeniano potentially. But they're gonna have a couple assets here to play with. The question is though, are they gonna make this team good enough this summer to be championship caliber? Do they have the pieces? You know, if they go get a, I think when you look at this team, you prioritize going and getting like a four, you know, a four or three that can defend, play at a high level on both ends of the floor, we'll see if they can get it done. Yeah, they got to resign Kyrie Irving, and then they do have to add those, they have to add the Jared Vanderbilt's, the Jake Crowders, they need toughness, they need defensive wings, they need rugged guys, they don't have anybody like that on this roster that can kind of fill that void. So I agree, the first order of business is to sign him, if you don't and you had a three month lease on Kyrie Irving, that didn't work out, it could go down as one of the worst trades ever. So like they have to resign him, and then they have to go on next season, this free agency with two top 10 players going into their prime and kind of build around that, but they have to, they have to. But why? Why do you have to resign Kyrie? I understand that it's a disaster. You already gave up so much, you gave up two starters, you gave up picks, it would all be for nothing if they didn't. But what if it ends up being all for nothing because you feel like you have to make this move and this move is ultimately what makes this team weak and Luca leave? Like what is the trade off here? I think Luca is more likely to leave if they don't resign him, I think, Luca needs help, he needs talent, he needs a guy like Kyrie Irving, he needs Jalen Brunson, it's a relief pressure. Oh my God, that would have been so nice. So, it would have been great. When you look at it on paper, you see, and they've had some highs with these two playing together, they just, I think a full off season, a full summer, a full training camp, they go into next season more positive than obviously, you know, how this season. We never thought we'd be here talking about the maps. We're talking about the Lakers like this and then they just switched. Yeah, well, once they did the Kyrie thing, I think there were a big group of humans that thought, no expectations though. I mean, once you get Kyrie Irving, you're expected with Luca Dodgers. A lot of former players didn't think that either. You're smarter than all of us, that's fine. That was without saying, but I'm talking specifically about this Kyrie situation. No, I remember thinking like this could be great, but I also think this could be absolutely disastrous. And here we are. It's a complete. I think Mark Cuban said it in his media thing. I think they underestimated how much losing a guy like Dorian Finney-Smith and just the defenders that you need on a team. If you're catering around two-star players in Luca Dodgers, Kyrie Irving, that clearly are offensively focused. You need to surround them the right way. And I think they were missing that depth and the defensive nuances that I think you need from if you're going to build around those two guys. I mean, we said it when they did, when they made the trade. They traded their best defender for a minus defender. Love Kyrie and everything he does. And he actually played incredible for them. He's 27 points a game. He shot 50-40-90. Just not great. 39% from three and like 94% free throw. He was incredible. He was the best version of Kyrie you can ask for. But he cannot guard the best perimeter players in league. He just is not that guy. You trade away your best defender. You're going to hurt. You're giving up 130 points to the Miami Heat. The lowest scoring team in the league in a game. You absolutely have to win. Like this is what you bought into by trading away your best defender for somebody who's a minus defender. And look, you've got a ton of great things from Kyrie that you are never going to get defense. And now, like Sam says, you have to think about that this summer. You have to look at the Jared Vanderbilt of the world, the Jaden McDaniels of the world. We need like three of those guys. And they need to defend everybody for these guys. And they need to hit threes. And I don't know that they can put that together this summer. They need to aim towards putting that together. Because these are two legendary talents between the two guys they have at the top of the food chain. And you have to surround them with exactly what they need. And we'll see. Look, Chandler, I know everyone's going to say the right things, especially right now. But true serum to Cuban, how concerned is he really about losing Luca at some point here? Well, he still has time. And again, that's why this summer is so valuable. Because you have to prove to him that we are for real. And we are going to give you the pieces and the assets to contend for a championship. Because when this contract's up, he's going to have the option to leave. I don't think it's crossed his mind yet. I think he's a very passionate kid. He plays hard. He wants to win. But as much as he wants that, he wants help. And a guy like Kyrie Irving, how he's played great this year, again, now it's building with these two guys going forward, getting those other pieces, getting actual reliable bigs, getting wing-defending guys that are tough that can relieve pressure that allow these guys to go do what they do on the offensive end. And so I think, again, another season like this, then I'd start worrying. Right now, you're still up time. He's going to be going into the second year of a five-year Super Max contract. I think they were just in Western Conference finals last year. Getting Kyrie Irving, I think, satisfied that secondary star. Now it's about, now the onus is really on Mark Cuban and Nico Harrison. How are you going to surround those two guys? He's making $50 million living in uptown Dallas. He's pretty, he's fine. Tell us about that. Is that good? Tell us about that. Is that, it's a good deal? It's not a bad gig. They have time. No state tax. Yeah, it's not that bad. But he could also be a Nick. That'd be kind of fun. He could be a Miami Heat. 50 million works well in Miami as well. It also works there. Take a quick break. When we come back, the most disrespectful moments that a man could possibly endure when that man has a family. Run it back for turns. Run it back, yeah. Run it off. Run it back, yeah, yeah. Run it off, run it back, run it off. Run it back, run it off, run it back, run it back. Oh, I just, I love mocking things. 11-year-old kids, the Northern Kentucky Gronk. These are all things I love to mock. But more importantly, thank you. You owe me five bucks. Dunks. Dunks are where it really happens. It's where disrespect takes it to a whole new level and it's time for that man has a family. But we have a little bit of everything I think today. Jalen Green, you're up first. God, I love that court, by the way. I don't care. First of all, he splits the pick and roll. He kind of bobbles it going up. This is a nasty, nasty dog. This kid has bunnies. Yeah, he's, that's what he does. Not the most serious. He is. That's who he is. Not the most serious basketball of all time going on between the Hornets and Rockets in April, but nice dunk. I mean, I love J.G. I think he's got a great future in league, so I'd like to see his highlights at school. I think that whole Rockets team is quite fun to watch in person. It may not be great record, but... Who's the kid that got drafted where he said there's three years away from being three years away? That's what the Rockets are, though. Jay Scrubb, the greatest sports name in history. Oh, no. Oh, Jay Scrubb with the lefty-banger. You're a nice boss here. No Scrubb, no more. Stanley, who is that person he's dunking on? Who's the person dunking? I mean, these are all good questions that we don't have answers to. Oh, I know. Yeah, no, no, no. I don't know. The one of these guys, I don't know. The one kid, he was... Was this on the final day of the regular season? Yeah, he was in the final four. Couple years ago, he was getting dunked on. Oh, there you go. Virginia, he went to Virginia. Oh, we're almost there, guys. We're almost got an answer. He's going, you're almost there. Sean, he's really a consummate, professor, though. Research. Sean, where did Jay Scrubb go to college? Jay Scrubb went to... He's on it. Hey, Siri. They leave him alone. You see, type that in the Google just now. Siri won't even know the answer. By the way, this is a very rare Aaron Gordon on the receiving end of it. Oh. Say that name. Nope. Higabajji. Higabajji. You had a nice game against the Lakers. He's defending. That's tough. Okay, yeah, no, I like that actually. Yo, they really threw Aaron Gordon into the fire the last week of the season. They said, yo, we're not playing anybody, but go do everything, my god. This is also the risk you were willing to take when you try the LeBron Chase Down block. It goes one of two ways. Bays. Oh. I like this, bays, back up center bays. Isn't Zubat on like a lot of these? Yeah, well. Oh, I see what you're doing, Jay. Yeah, I see what you're doing. When you try to block, you get dunked on, that's why. Yeah, but we shouldn't be punishing him or mocking him for effort. Oh, no, we're gonna mock him. Okay, fair. Like, look at what he's got diluid right here. I forgot what we were doing. We won the game, though. Shout out to Dee Bays. You get mad at Russ for the poor closeout. That's what a big guy gets mad at like the blowback. No cutoff there at all. And that's a guy who's not shooting that shot. Like, come on, come on, Russ. Yeah, you gotta know Scout. Darius Baysley can jump, though. He's had some nice shots. Ooh, Nora, ooh. Wait, is this my favorite one of the groups so far? Marvin Bagley, like, not the greatest contest of all time, like, come on. But even without it, it's still fun to look at. News flash, Noor is not on the Bucks anymore. He's on the Pacers. What? You weren't awake during trade deadline day. Oh, my God. What month are we? That was a blockbuster, Chandler. You missed it. I missed it. I was in Cabo. I'm just proud that you knew he was on the Bucks at all. Like, that's actually half the battle. And I feel like we're good. My guy bags. Number two overall pick, pick in front of Luca. Maybe lock that one. Maybe lock that one, my guy. That's a bad reminder. If you're him, you never want anyone to bring that up, I guess, to pose. Shoo. This was insane. Manga. This was nasty. Rupro. OK, I'll take that. That might be my favorite. Not exactly play-off defense from the Blazers, but whew. There was a business decision made by the kid getting out of the way underneath the hoop gear. Couple business decisions. That, Ezzy, was not all that, bro. Look at the Ben's reaction. No, it's fine. I like that one. That one's fun. Maybe that might be my favorite. They're literally up 50 points. Like, you know, whatever. Take whatever you can get at that point. Kobe 60. Oh, I shout out the fans still in the building. King and Murray against Olive Denver. That's nice. That's like a little bump. All right. The two feet, the two feet dunks for me. Who is that? Casey? No, that's not Casey. That is, uh, he is. It doesn't matter. I don't know. It's Olive Denver. Can you not read? It's Denver. It's first Denver. You see? See how the producers did it? We don't know what that is either. Alex Lynn? I feel like there's four Charles Barkley's out here. Alex Lynn minutes. King and Murray, the all-time leader in rookie three-pointers made. Shut up. Great one. Because Shaws didn't know where we're scrubbed with the college. Did we get that move? Do we know where scrubbed with the college? He's like, King and Murray is a Virgo, and you know, you get a lot of dreams. Tell me, you play with Alex Lynn at Atlanta? I did for like two weeks. He was your young fella for a minute? Yeah, somewhat. You know what? He actually, he was number 25, and he would not give me number 25 when I got treated there. I wouldn't give you anything. How much did you offer to pay him? There was a negotiation. You got up there? Five figures, six figures? Which would have been the worst deal ever, because I think I saw my jersey like five times. I'm hanging up the Chandler and Lena Hawks in the house. I'm doing that. Come on. Did you have 31 Parsons Hawks? You signed it for me? You signed it? I don't know if you could get one, honestly. Are we doing you buying that? Are we, should we do some? Oh, speaking of people with a lot of jerseys, actually one, Udonis Haslem. I kind of love this. It's his regular five. How many ziggy owns, but he has the one. Regular season game. He's finally played it. It's over with. He did have 24 points in it, by the way. He's a three-time champ. One, two seasons with the heat. That's hard to do. Are you buying that his jersey should be retired? Yes, I am. Just because of the longevity, because of the loyalty, because of the leadership, everything he's brought to that organization. I mean, three-time champ, 20 seasons, that alone will get you up in the Raptors with the Miami Heat Grades. One of the best gators of all time. He deserves it, and it's sad to see him go, but he was ballin' in his last game. He was dunkin', two feet, two hand lobs, hittin' threes. Look at the grade. UD, shout out, your goat, your legend. Wait, I can't imagine him not retiring it, right? This feels weird to say that. And he will have a job next year on that staff, whatever he wants to be. Yeah, he'll be forever a heat. Yeah, I don't think he's destined for the pitch. I think he's destined for bigger things than an organization, and that's dope for him. But yeah, your Gator brother went out. I laughed with Psalms yesterday. I said, yo, they actually had to play another home game in a few days, and maybe he's not gonna play that one. But I love them gettin' the swan song in game 82, despite the fact that they're playin' game 83 in Miami. I get it, it's cool. Because you just don't know. Yeah, he never knows. He's not gonna see the floor in the play-in game, like, he should not. Be cool for this. I mean, he got a lob dunk. How many have 13 points in the first quarter? He was goin'. He had four-three. It was gonna be like D-Wade. Remember when D-Wade was just shootin'? Yeah. Shots in Barclays? Why not? His final game? D-Wade put the jersey on backwards. D-Wade, we know who wears 40 in Miami. You can put it on the front way. Artemy thinks they wouldn't be in the play-in if they gave UD some minutes early on this season's show. There's somethin' here. Underused. Underused. Look at him. Miami bias. Let's see what's goin' on here. Bro, he's 42. I mean, that's not bad. He's 44 full. He's in great shape. He's looking best shape of his life, by the way. Yes. If you look at him, he took his shirt off of the locker room. He's in great shape. Of course he's in great shape. I love that he doesn't try to dye the grays out of the beard. That's a bad move. You don't want to do that. Nobody likes that. Just be a gray beard. It's fun. I think it looks cool and distinguished. Men can do that. Giannis, first player in NBA history, by the way, to average over 30 a game, 10 rebounds, and five or more assists on 55% shooting. He's also done 17 more exclusive interviews, which is amazing, because I don't know what that word means. Eddie, are you buying, he's the best basketball player on the planet? No, but I enjoyed the next exclusive interview. I shout out to Chris Haynes. He's done 10 exclusives and said the same thing. And Giannis is right. Like, what the hell is the MVP at this point? But is he the best player in the world? You guys know I'm biased. You guys know who I think is the best player in the world right now. It's 35 in Phoenix. Giannis is next. He's right there. You cannot argue against his production, but look, I get it, Giannis. You feel like you should be the MVP. You're not gonna be. Not gonna beg for it. You've been telling us for two months. We get it. It's cool. It's not an exclusive. Don't gotta call it that. Chandler, you look pensive. Is he the best basketball player? I think he is. And I think he has been the last couple of years. And he's not my favorite. Like, I'd much rather watch KD play. I'd much rather like Joelle. I love a lot of these other guys' games better. But when you look at what he does and how he dominates the physicality, him in transition, he's doing this without being able to hit jump shots. It really is impressive. And for whatever reason, we do sleep on him a little bit. And he was on the best team all year long, the best player. And he's been doing this for a really long time. So I do, if I'm taking a draft right now, number one pick, I'm going Yannis. I kind of like that. By the way, to be argued whether or not you're the best player, that's not a bad place to live. No, I mean, he has a case. I mean, he definitely has a case for sure. Have you voted for MVP? I have a vote. You're not gonna tell us? You're gonna spoil it? I don't even know yet. I'm gonna take all my time. Are you gonna procrastinate till the very last second? Oh, for God's sake. There's only one pick here. I'm gonna procrastinate. I know, I actually am too. But yeah, but still, I wanna know. Look, this is a kind of a nice one. Since 1962, this has not happened. That's how you know it's important. An NBA record, six players averaged at least 30 points a game this season. Six, having multiple 30 point per game players is a good thing for the league? I think so. I think it's great for the fans. I think it's great for the ratings. It's more fun to watch. I gotta say, if you told me SGA was gonna average 31.4 points a game, that is an insane season. This kid's an absolute star. But yes, I think it shows the talent that there is. I think it shows the pace that they play with, the way they shoot the three-pointer now. I think older guys are rolling their eyes at the non-defense and the toughness and the foul calls. But I think it's great for the game and the talent is higher than it's ever been. I can't imagine that's a bad thing. Don't forget, KD, Steph, they're right there, 29 and a decimal. They didn't qualify for this. They missed a bunch of games. The injury, they're right there. So we're talking eight guys. Look, I kind of scoff a little bit at some of these stats. I see games that are 102, 103, and the third quarter, and I go, what? But still, 30 points a game. That has been a benchmark since basketball has begun. And to go out there and do that for 82 games, you can't dismiss that anyway. And so shout out to those guys. Tatum, first Celtic ever to do that as well, just average 30 points a game. And SGA, like you said, one of the best guards in league getting the love he deserves. We also talk about all year. You'll see an over-under on a prop bet of 37 points. And you take the over and you win. It used to be like 25, 26 was like buckets. Now it's just, it's insane. That's, to me, it's kind of insane, too, that 37. We've done that a few times, although our picks are not good. So I don't know if that's a good example for us to be putting out there right now. Yeah, I can't imagine anyone complaining that this is a bad list to have, although now knowing that it's going to just get longer and longer as the seasons go on, which is partly how it happens. We'll take a quick break right here. We come back. Should the top seed in each conference have the ability to choose their opponent? Playoff edition of Convince Me when we return. Well, we left you with a heck of a tease. And I really actually am excited to get to it because channel you're up first on a little edition. Playoff edition of Convince Me, the first one up. The top seed in each conference should get to pick their opponent in the first round. I really like this. If you have the best, most consistent year, you should have the option. And I think, you know what it would create? It would create the most personal, offensive, rivalry beeps ever because if I'm the Bucks and I happen to pick the Nets, even though they're a five seed, not the eight seed, do you know how rattled I am that they think so less of me that they're going to go and draft me to play in the first round because we're such an easy cake walk to the next round? I love it. And I think they honestly should implement this starting next season. I do, too. Is anyone up here against this idea? No, that's the version I love of it, too. Like, yo, we're the one seed. I'm looking at the eight seed, but I actually want the three seed because they stink. Give us the two seed just because we want to knock them out early. Oh, give us the two seed. I love that. Let's make that happen. Adam Silver, come on, let's make that happen. Yeah, can you, do you have? New CBA? New CBA is always signed, soon delivered. So there's no way to implement this change, unfortunately. OK, the next one, next, next. No fun. All right, Eddie, convince me that the NBA should have a March Madness style playoff. All 30 teams would participate when in advance, losing go home. Like, could you imagine the regular season mattering even less than it matters now? Like, this is what we're setting up here. But I kind of love the idea of like the Nuggets playing, I don't know, the Mavericks in a game that they just cannot afford to lose. And then losing that, like, you can't replicate March Madness. But a one and done NBA game, that's why I love the playing. We were talking about this before the show. I love the playing, I'm sorry. Yeah, I do, too. This would create kind of that Cinderella, like imagine if the Pistons just got hot for like a month of the Spurs. And they win eight games all year, then they win the finals. That'd be kind of cool. If the race to Sase banners, of course, was the Spurs as a Cinderella story, that would be, what? You don't like that? No, I like that. That's what we live by that motto in San Antonio. I love it. Yeah, drive. I love that this exists. With the worst team in the league, I love the Pistons. Second. Shams is over here doing it. I'm just going to ignore Shams. He's like, I hate them. I'm going to do work. Get this beat, get this beat. That when a team wins a playoff series, Chandler, I love this. They should get to take one player from the team that just beat. This is amazing. That's actually pretty cool, too. Imagine if the Bucks beat, you know, the Nets that you could just take on. I don't even know who they'd want anymore. Bridges. I'll take Bridges. Take Bridges, and it makes the talent better. It makes each round. By the finals, it's basically an all-star game. That would be amazing. Can we do this? Can we do any of these? Shams, when does the next CBA happen? You know how motivated I am? Next CBA, 2029. Oh, we're all going to be dead. Like that's like 100 years from now. Motivated I'd be to beat the Sixers and say, give me Joellen B, what are you doing? Imagine, I mean, I guess you have to give one up. OK, that's fine. All right, Eddie, convince me that the night before the playing tournament begins, the two teams with the worst record should play for first pick in the draft. I actually love this idea. Yeah, Shams is back. I like that. This is great. Like, why don't we have this? This is the quasi-play-in tournament. They should play this game at, like, 11 a.m. Yeah. Oh, 100%. Imagine the taking to get into this game, and then the amount of, like, anti-taking. But to win this game. But the loser of this game gets the last pick. No. Well, that's. To lose some weight. Let's put real stakes. Let's put real stakes on it. Who cares if it's the second? So the winner gets the number one pick? Yeah. Yeah, so Spurs would play Detroit tonight. You might have the best NBA game of all time. I would be zero in this game right now. You'd be the most watched for sure. Are you kidding? I would miss a second of this game. I would not miss a second. Neither would he. This might be the best idea that we've come up with. Seriously. Honestly, these are my four favorite topics. Not one of these to me was bad. I like all these should be implemented. Yeah. We're so easy. He should be there. Like, he should be courtside. He should get to. At the Pistons Spurs game? Scoot, Miller. Yeah, they should all be courtside. We should let him play on one of the worst teams in this game. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no. See what's the better fit. No, because if he gets hurt, then the winner is going to be very, very angry. And he goes to, like, fifth. Yeah, no. And that seems to be the real winner. I don't want that at all. You guys, this is our first day back in LA. Anybody have any big plans for the West Coast here? Sleep. Okay. You know what? You guys want to come over? We can have dinner. You bailed last time, so you're next. You owe us a couple of years. Oh, we're out of time. Wait, we have KD on Wednesday? We have KD on Wednesday. I feel like we're jinxing it by getting too excited. We'll zoom in. Is that going to help? 7 a.m. I don't like yours. You barely made it. Oh, we have him on the show. I'm thinking of making it. Waking him up at 7 a.m. I don't forget. I don't forget what he said to me, how rude he was. Oh, that's why we're having him. You kidding me? That's going to do it for us today. I got something to say to him. We will be back tomorrow. Hopefully. See you guys then. That'll be awesome.