 Run it up, they run it back, yeah. Run it up, they run it back, run it back, run it up. Good Thursday morning. Thursdays are our, yes they are our friends. At least a little after Super Bowl and then everything changes. But we are here bright and early. Shom Sharani, we're gonna get to him in two seconds. Chailor Parsons, Danny Green on the end. At 5.13 this morning, I had a notification. That is too early for a Shom scoop, but yet. Was it really 5.13? I'll never forget it. What happened? West Onsull Jr. out as head coach of the Washington Wizards and this is something, this is a team that has struggled obviously this season to get wins. They're in a developmental stage in their franchise. Michael Winger came in as the president, Will Dawkins as the general manager and the firing was going to take place over the summer regardless of really how the season was gonna go. That's what a lot of people around the league believed. So the Wizards get a head start on their coaching process but also are able to continue their development from within, the job simply had changed from when West Onsull Jr. had come over. I mean, that was a team that was thought to be competitive in the Eastern Conference. They wanted to be competitive around Bradley Beal and at that point, Spencer Dimwit, Kyle Kuzma they had in. And so he did a great job with player development. I think you can credit him with Danny Avigia, Kyle Kuzma, Tyce Jones, Daniel Gafford. By the end of the day, the wins just did not add up. And this is a team that is trying to focus on development right now. Brian Keefe will be promoted as the interim head coach. I do think this job will have a level of attractiveness, stability, the structure. Also DC's, the market of DC, I think has a level of attraction. Now it's not part of Chandler's top cities list. No, it's not. But I think for guys, there will be some level of attraction to this job. Stability structure being too... It's a soft firing, right? Like he's not booted. Milwaukee opened the floodgates, right? They're like, if we can do it this soon, this guy definitely can go after two seasons. But look, that's a tough gig. I feel like this is a tough hand to be dealt. I will say, me and Danny were talking about before, the best thing about this job moving forward is they have time. You can't expect whoever you hire, it's not just gonna be this miracle switcheroo where now they're good and now they're competing. This team has a couple pieces. They don't really have that much talent on this roster. So I think everybody is kind of tradeable, except the rookie from France that people like the big upside. The La La Club. Yeah, there it is. I didn't want to even try to say this. Yeah, but I wanted you to. But yeah, listen, I think this is a tough gig from, he was doomed from jump here on this job. It's a pretty bad situation. And I don't, I think DC's fine, but I don't think this is a place where people are gonna want to go there, especially with this current roster. So again, I think the job that someone's gonna get, they have time. Kind of like at Jamal Mosey taking the Orlando job. There's no expectations early. And then when you have a start like this, then all of a sudden, whoa, you look really smart, you look really good. So I think it will be an attractive job to a point, but it's not a lot of talent on that roster. Yeah, I don't think it's that attractive. Interesting. But let's say, given the situation, the expectation is low. They do have a lot of time like Chandler said, but I just can't see, I don't know who you keep. I don't know who you build around. Who do you keep again? Who do you bring in? I don't know. Everyone on this roster is available for trade. Even Kulbalay? Bilal Kulbali. There it is. Their top draft pick that they picked last year, that's their guy. I mean, listen, they do have guys that I think teams individually would want, right? Like Kyle Kuzma, Ty's Jones, Daniel Vija, DeLon Wright, Daniel Gaffer. Oh my. These are all guys. I mean, that's five players I just named, Michelle. I think all three of those guys, they can get value for on the trading market. The question just is, how much value do you get? Do you trade Kyle Kuzma for just one first? Probably want two. Ty's Jones, you want one first. Can you get that? Do you settle for a few seconds at the deadline? These are all questions you'll have to work through. This is where I struggle. If I'm the Phoenix Suns, why don't I go and give up a pick and go get Ty's Jones right now? You know what I mean? Like why don't I go and get a DeLon Wright? I thought you wanted Kyle Lowry. Give something to help your team right now when you know this team's about to blow it up. You know everyone's on the board except the French rookie. Bilal Kulbali. Nailed it. But like, you know what I mean? There are, like, Kispert, like Lakers. You need some shooting? Shoot it right there. It's probably become available. So they do have Assets Oklahoma City Thunder. I can see Daniel Gafford as another big body. And both people leading that organization, Thunder Alums from San Presti's tree. So there are some pieces I think that teams will find attractive, but this team assembled here is, they're 7 and 36 for a reason. Just selling it for parts. I still think with the time, it's going to be tough. Whoever gets this job is going to be a tough situation, regardless of who gets it. As long as they're realistic. Even with the time, this is going to take a really long time, I think. And they're going to fill it in with an interim because assuming there's going to be some more firings this year, so they'll have a bigger pot to choose from. I mean, when the Thunder one with Mark Dagonal, I mean, he was out of nowhere too from the G League and now he's thought of as a coach of the year candidate. So I'm sure whoever that next coach of the Wizards is, I mean, they're not bringing in Doc Rivers. No, Doc Rivers have Van Gundy and they don't want this job. It's got to be someone like them. It's going to be a developmental guy. But I'm saying for that coach, a lot of stability there. As long as the expectations are realistic. Cause if you bring someone in and you're like, you're not getting it done in a year. That's, no, that's not happening. Oh, we had a game last night, Bucks played. Of course it was their first game after the big news. They beat the Cavs, 126-116. Giannis had a triple double, his seventh of the season, three in January, by the way, if you're keeping track. Damian Lollard had 28, Donovan with 23 and eight assists. Afterwards, Giannis tweeted, count your blessings. Oh man, is he going the cryptic tweet route? I can't get down with that. Look, the big three combined for 87 points. That's what happens, right? When you make a big move, you got to come out and show. Well, we said yesterday, now the onus is on the players. They got what they wanted. They got the trade. They got the coach out. Now, Doc Rivers is coming in. So now there's no one else to blame other than these players. So I expected them to come out motivated. I expected them to come out, play aggressive, you know, defend. That's been the big topic, obviously, with their defensive numbers being so low. And what's weird to me is this team has the talent. They have the defensive capability with Jake Crowder, with Giannis, with Pat Compton. These guys can defend. So I think now they're just having this concentrated effort on that end. Because you can see, when the big three is scoring 87 points, they are tough to stop. So you have to be able to defend. And when games on that side, when you're going to get big scoring on nights like this. Yeah. And you know the toughest game of the year is when you're playing against a team that just made a coaching change. Right. For some reason, they always come out free. Yeah, this was a warm dancing. Different energy, you know, refreshed. Dancing a little bit, having fun. You know, they're having a good time right now. But, you know, things will change as Doc gets there. They'll kind of get settled in. Hopefully they keep that energy. But, you know, the first game, after a coaching change, teams always come out firing on all cylinders. So we all expected that those who've played anyway, seen it. And every time we play against a team like that, like, you know what, damn it, we're in for a night. We know they're going to come out hitting everything, so. You have a takeaway from the game last night? Michelle, I have some news, actually. Oh, here we go. Here we go. Doc Rivers is going to sign a contract with the Milwaukee Bucks through 2026-2023. So the next three and a half years. This year, the rest of the season, and then three more years after that, no options, fully guaranteed contract in the range of $40 million. Sources tell me. So the Bucks are paying on Mike Boonholzer $8 million. Adrian Griffin, about $4 million this season. And now Doc Rivers will get a prorated amount on his deal. They're going to be paying just under about $18 million for these three coaches this season. Get a pretty good player for that. That's insane. Should we all work for the Bucks? We'll get you a defender for $18 million. Yeah, that's a, we're just wasting money. Will you talk about, you know, but I will say, I will say. Is Bud just old Bud somewhere or just right now? The only task on this team's agenda right now is winning a championship. And I think Doc Rivers, that's the pressure now that you have. You had Adrian Griffin as a first year head coach. And I guess, you know, you could say it's learning curve. There's some level of excuses. They didn't get the job done this year, right? He's a first year head coach. There's no excuse. And for Doc too, like this isn't the wizard. This is a picture inheriting this team. I mean, come on now. And again, the defensive side of it doesn't make, Lopez was in the defensive player of the year talks last year. Yanis can defend. Jay Crowder has been a great defender for his entire career. So it's like. He's been hurt though, he's been out for a while. So that's why they've been struggling. Doc at least has the roster. So now as long as he comes in and makes the proper adjustments, he goes over this locker room. He gets them enthusiastic and ready to play every single night. He's already going to be ahead. But man, paying three coaches. The three coaches. And a championship. That's on college football level. Do they all three get a ring? If they won't, they won't. Great follow. Well, Griff would for sure. Mike Boone knows it's been fired, but he's definitely getting paid out. But yeah, I mean, listen, $40 million for three and a half years. That's, that's. I'll take it. Just throw that out. Congrats to the university. Congrats. Keep it going, buddy. I would like some. Keep it going. There are 25th in the league in points allowed. And you played for Doc. And we know you just went through the list of dudes we know can play defense. Is he the guy to figure that out? I think so. But he's the one thing he's at a disadvantage of is the mid season, he's not able to get the assistance that he wants. A lot of his assistants that we had in Philly have jobs. You know, they're in Dallas. They're in Phoenix. They're in Detroit. They're in other places. So the guys that he's normally able to rely on, on that side of the ball, defensively with defense schemes and help him with that side of the ball are not available. I think he knows the schemes and can do it himself. But he usually has a good staff around him right now. It's gonna be hard for him to find the staff that he wants to go alongside and figure this thing out. I didn't even think about that. You kind of just have to do whatever's there already. The Cavs were on an eight game winning streak. Now that, of course, has been snapped. But some of the opponents that they had beaten, I guess you could argue maybe weren't the top dogs in the league. So does that matter to you? Does it show you something? Should we maybe not take them as seriously as we have been? Where are the Cavs in your listing? I think they're kind of in that four to seven range, kind of same as they were last year. And again, at least they went on this winning streak because there's all these rumors that Donovan Mitchell is not happy. JV Biggerstaff is gonna get the boot. Are they gonna trade Donovan Mitchell? I think at least for now, those rumors are done. They're gonna at least go ahead and make a run this season. They're gonna try and get fully healthy. They've been banged up kind of all year long too. And I think teams expected them to make this big jump being the four seed last year, losing to the Knicks in the first round. I think this team is young, but they got that valuable experience. They didn't show it early, but now they kind of went on the streak. Me and Danny just said, this is a tough game for them last night. This was a block for the Bucks to win. Yeah. They had to help with the spread. Did you bet it? I was trying to flush. Did you bet it? Yeah. Yeah, I did. I did. So I love this, but I think Cleveland, they're on the right to direct you now. And they seem to be playing better. They're getting healthier. So I don't think this is a panic game for them. They're playing better, but I don't think they're still reaching expectation. They were one of the teams this off season. Everybody said had a great off season with the signings. Them, the Lakers had a great off season. These two teams were the best of what they won the summer. And you expected them to be better than last year. Right now, they're playing well. They're playing better. Even with the injuries, I will say, Unfair, Darius Garland's out. Evan Mobley's out. So we won't see them the full health for a while. And we haven't seen them at full health. But with the fact that they added these additions from the summertime, we expected them to be better than last year, not in the same spot. So they are playing well. Sam Merrill's balling out. They have some, again, some from the other guys, George Neyang. To Christ's point, Greg, Craig, Porter, who's the stud. Oh, oh, funny you should say that. George Neyang we had on last year. Yeah, friend of show. Look at that. So they've been playing well, but they're still not at the expectation that everybody worked from this past summer expected them to be at. Well, they, all right, so the Donovan Mitchell stuff, we can put that over here now. But will they be buyers at the deadline? I mean, they don't have much to play with because when you think about it, they gave up a lot of assets to go get Donovan Mitchell. I mean, they're in the same boat as the Cavaliers as the Bucs in a lot of ways. The Cavs and the Bucs, they made their big trade. They went out and got Donovan Mitchell, just like the Bucs went out and got Damian Lillard. And you give up assets in that, you give up players in that. So at this point, a lot of it is going to be internal. The one player that would have a level of interest is Karris Lovert. That's someone that's on a team, you know, a controlled contract. Could you find a spot for him and potentially get a three and D guy. They made the moves in the summer too, getting Yang, getting Max Truce. It's tough too, because we all know Boston, Milwaukee, Philly, but now Miami's kind of in the picture with the Rozier. Of course they are. Indiana's right there. The Knicks are playing good, so it's going to be an uphill battle for them. It's going to be fun. Yeah, the East is good now. Let's fast forward to the playoffs, shall we? We had a game last night, Sons Mavs, no Kyrie, had a bad thumb. They crushed them, Phoenix did. Seventh straight win. Dallas scored Dallas 43 to 20 in the third quarter alone. Devin with 46, 22 of those came in the third. Luca, 34, eight, nine. They have lost three straight in Dallas. Chandler, do you want to share with the world what you came to the realization of during this game as far as what the Sons look like? They looked really good. They look like this is the team that people are going to be scared of come post season when they're clicking on all cylinders, when the big threes going, when they have different guy every single night, they can go and get you 40 points. This team was down, I think, at halftime last night, and then they started defending. They started moving the ball, making the extra pass. Guy stepped up. Bates Diop had a great game. Grayson Allen is leading the league in 3-point percentage this year. He's balling. And then when you have a guy, and I still don't love Devin Booker. Devin Booker is probably the best shooting guard in the NBA. Why are they trying to make him a point guard? And I understand that's the hand they're dealt so far, but I do look for them to go and get a point guard in the deadline. And then, yeah, I like this team. I love them and the Clippers in the Western Commonwealth. There it is. There it is. I don't know. I can't be, I'm not sold on one game. You know, I like to see the big picture. This is a good game for them. Hopefully they stay healthy. But as I said, they do need a point guard. This was a wounded Dallas team. No Kyrie and Dallas is still trying to find their rhythm. They're up and down all season. So I can't base this off of one game. They did look good last night, but there are some signs of certain games that I've seen that I'm not sold on them yet. The Clippers Denver for sure, but Phoenix, I think they still, not just the point guard, but they have some ways to go chemistry-wise to figure it out. Yeah, what is, what for you is the big turnaround? Well, I think health, the biggest things. Bradley Beal being 100% healthy in the lineup. You can just tell early in the season, when he was coming back from the back, you could see a start and go effect. And he just, you could tell he looked off. And then he had the ankle issue. But now he's back in the lineup and you can tell. I mean, he's put together multiple 20 points, points, games in a row. He's looking good. He's feeling good. He's looking healthy. He's looking like himself. That's a big plus for this team. Booker and Kevin Durant being in the lineup helps too. And I know everyone talks about their point guard situation. I'm told the son's mindset is this, we want the ball to be in the hands of our three best players. Devon Booker, Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant. We don't want another player getting in the way of those three guys. They are fully comfortable in having them be the sole ball handlers for this team. Sole playmakers for this team last night, 17 of 36 assists came from those three guys. Devon Booker, obviously, 46 points. He's 10 and 3 against Luca in the regular season. He's putting up some good numbers. I think he had 51, 52 the other night. Through like three quarters, I think. They're not giving him enough credit this year. I don't know why. You want him to have a point guard. I do want him to have a point guard. But again, they're so good offensively. Do they need one? I think they do. I think they need someone to set the table and get them in spots, run offensive sets. When it slows down, everyone's bogged down and they're getting double team. Last night, it was crazy. They were picking on Luca all game long. They were getting in. Any sort of pick and roll, whoever he was guarding, we're going to put him in a pick and roll and we're going to go right at him. So that's a huge, huge concern for Dallas. I guess there was a lot of complaining then as a result? Then there was a technical foul. A technical foul and a possible fan ejection. Yes, all that too. Was it a weight comet? It was a weight-shaming comet? He told me he'd get his fat ass on a chair. You didn't like that, huh? I can't be doing that. Although you could. Is that what he actually said? Yeah, he said. We're going to take a quick break right here when we come back. Cavaliers Guard, Craig Porter Jr. joins the show. You take treadmill comments are the best. Especially when you get a pen. I know, you dig it. I know, you dig it. That's right, from the Cleveland Cavaliers, Craig Porter Jr., not CP or CP. We have to determine that right now. Are you CP for the rest of this interview? Is that fair? Uh, yeah. Yeah, that's fine. Yeah, that's very good. You could take it. I'm washed up. We're going to get to the basketball here in a second, but because Taylor Swift runs the world these days, you're a fan of Taylor Swift. Is that real? Oh, wow. And yeah, like I told everybody else, it's really my girlfriend. Like, I don't want to give her a name. It's OK to be you. Just be proud of it, man. You could be a Swiftie. Say it loud and proud, man. If you're a Swiftie, bro, you'll own it. Saying you're not a Swiftie is scary. I'm not a Swiftie. I'm not. Are there any Swifties on the team that we can mock? Probably George. Probably George. I don't think there is. Oh, good. See, now I feel better about the state of the league right now. I was a little bit worried about that. Thank you. I'm done with my Taylor Swift question. It's contractually. Done. Craig, you guys are 26 and 16 despite last night's loss. Obviously playing at a high level, you're playing, well, what has been your key, your guys' team's keys to success this season? I mean, you know, since this year started, we've had injuries, you know, from the top to the bottom. And it's just really been a next-up mentality from everybody. And we've just had, I've been on Twitter a lot, looking at what the fans say, and they've just called it the power of friendship. And I think that's real, though, because, you know, when you've got a group of guys who can just connect on and off the court, it just makes, you know, a team click in different ways. And I feel like that's what's been going on ever since these injuries happened. Craig, I had JB Biggerstaff, and he just didn't have him at Memphis, one of my closest friends. How's it been playing for him? I never had him as a head coach. So if he's an asshole, you can tell me. No one will hear. I mean, he's been great to me. I mean, you know, coming in here as an undrafted rookie, you never know what to expect. But with certain situations that happened, I mean, he's just been somebody I can lean on. And, you know, he's been super supported and had, I mean, the most confidence in me for me to be starting and other things like that. So he just wants me to go out there and play my game. And, you know, I couldn't ask for anything better than that. You spoke of the injuries this season. You've had to play a bigger role with Darius being out. Speak about, obviously, your experience and how, you know, how is this playing with Don and Darius and how much you've learned from them? I mean, it's been crazy. I mean, for me to even think I would have started, I mean, in my first 20 NBA games, you know, it would have been, I would have thought anybody was lying if they told me that. But, you know, you got guys like those, I went through the whole summer, training camp, all of that with them. And, you know, it's a little different when me being 23, you know, me and Darius are the same age. So it's kind of different when we talk and stuff, but they don't treat me like I'm someone who's did one year in college. You know, they know I got a lot of knowledge and everything, but there's a lot of teaching points at times, you know, but it's just great to have guys like those because, you know, all-star level players, you know, sometimes people might get the memo that they might be cocky, they might do certain things different, but they listen to me and I listen to them and it's just the mutual respect, it's just the best part about it. Craig, what's it like being a two-way player and obviously you've been playing a lot in the rotation as well. Being a two-way guy, going back before the G League at different points, what's the difference between those two worlds? That's honestly a question that I really don't know how to answer because I haven't been sent to the G League at all. So, yeah, I don't even know how to answer. I see how it is, you go to Paris and then you forget what G League is like. I can tell you, you're starting point guard right now, you ain't going back to the G League, so that ship has sailed. Yeah, it is. You have Donovan Mitchell as well and your team, you mentioned earlier, we all know how great he is. What's one thing that you've learned from playing alongside him, playing with him? Just one of the things I picked up early on was his work ethic. Every day he's in the gym, he's probably the first one in there, every day the last one to leave and he's working on the shots he takes in games and he's going game speed, tiring himself out. So, really I just look at things like that and I see what people say is really true, you put the work in, you're gonna see the results and just little things like that just stick to me because five years in college you might have the wrong mindset coming into certain things, but at the same time you know the process is the process and seeing him do things that's just special to me. I'm happy hearing that. We're gonna play a video right here because I wanna know if this was purposeful on your part. This move right here, it's a bit of a Donovan Mitchell homage. Were you already doing this? Take us through it. That's definitely a Donovan move. Yeah, that's the Donovan move. I mean, I just see him doing it in practice all the time and every time he does it, I don't know how it works. I mean, it does and I tried it and I got some applause from somebody. Let me get into his back. Don standing up, you see Donovan in the back? Yeah, he's like a cop to it. Obviously, Craig, like you said you went undrafted, now you've worked your way into an NBA rotation. For you, did you come into the league with a chip on your shoulder and how did you, like what was your mindset to get to this point? I mean, it was a crazy just process, even going into the pre-draft stuff because I was already had my mindset on going overseas because being 23 and a lot of other factors that go into being drafted and getting into the NBA, you know, I thought they weren't in my favor, but you know, I just, just one thing after another just kept happening and doors kept opening. And I mean, I mean, it's the process and I just kept sticking with it and just fighting through everything and got me here. I told my agent like, you know, I'm ready to go overseas before the pre-jaff workouts even started. And he was like, he looked at me kind of crazy and I was like, I just didn't see a future really in the NBA, but he made some things happen, got me into the poor smile, the invitational. And I mean, really after that, the rest is just taken over so. What's crazy is he's like a perfect example of like a four-year, five-year guy that's more NBA ready now to help a team like Cleveland than a 17, 18-year-old rookie that, you know, has all this potential. Like he's more ready right now, it goes both ways. Yeah, we know, we did college for a little while. I did four years, I had no choice. I'm a four-year guy too. I'm a four-year guy, so I understand. In your bio, it says that Rajan Rondo was one of your favorite players. I got a chance to play with him. I would love to have played with him in his prime and longer and more years. He's one of my favorite guys and one of the highest IQ guys I've been around. What makes him your favorite player? I mean, you know, he just, he's one of those players, you know, he doesn't have to score and you know he's going to get you the ball in the spot you like. So like, it's just one of those, he knows how to compliment everybody around him. He can control the game without shooting the ball. And I mean, he can rebound, he can defend. He can really just do literally everything. And it's like, you don't have to look at the stat sheet to necessarily see the impact he made. That's just what I always, I mean, every team I've been on, I've had a different role because I'm really up until my last year at college. I didn't really get to be that star player. So I really understood how to fit a role on a good team. So it was always second nature to me. Smart young man. The dying breed of the pure point guard. Right. You don't have many of those anymore in the league. Greg, we pretty much ask everybody that comes on the show, what's their welcome to the NBA moment? We all, we both have one. What, was there something in particular that you have where you were like, man, this is different or something that was just crazy? Probably, I don't think it was necessarily anything bad yet. I mean, I got kind of dunked on. We ain't, but we're the same guy. So I can't get to speak on air. Then I'm probably just playing in crunch time against Joel and beating them and Philly. This is probably like my first 14 games or something like that. You know, just to be even be out there. And I mean, the atmosphere, I couldn't hear anything the coach was saying, you know, he's calling plays and I'm running half of them wrong. And I'm like, it was so much happening. And it was just like, I'm really out here. So that was definitely a good welcome to the NBA moment. Craig, Rising Stars game is coming up. Give us your pitch right now. Why do you belong in the Rising Stars game? I mean, you know, I'm not too much for the, for the, you know, persuade people to get me in. I mean, you know, the numbers speak for themselves, not trying to be too cocky or anything like that. But I mean, there's not too many other people doing what I do, given the minutes I've gotten and everything like that. But I mean, it'll be great to get in that. But you know, I'd rather one NBA championship. There it is. There it is. Plus, you know what? A couple of days off. Either way, you win. Like a four year college, you know? I mean, there's a three on the two way. Craig, this has been awesome. Best of luck the rest of the way. We appreciate the time. Good luck, man. Appreciate it. And we're taking a quick break. That man has a family when we come back. Run it back, y'all. Run it over. Run it back. Oh, wow. That man has a family. Rudy Gobert. Put it on his head. Put it on his head. All right. He's a big bully. Oh, on Nathan Minza. I want to see more of this from Rudy, man. He has to be more of a bully. Nathan Minza. Are you being sarcastic? I thought Rudy Gobert had a good year, though. He's having a great year. But I'd like to see more of this from him. Who, Minza? People stop, you know, trying to choke him. Minza. Oh, I just... Rudy's having it. You know what? The trade worked. Everyone was making fun of him last year. That's what it is. We motivated him. He's welcome. That was nasty. That's all right. That's good. Where's that man's head? Classic take-a-charge tea bag. I do not like that. Yeah. I don't even have the parts, and I still don't like them. Was he legal? He might have been outside the... No. Even if this is a charge, do we show it on this? Yeah, because it's still questionable placement. He was outside for a second and then ended up in... Yeah. Might be a charge. This one's fun. Whee! What was he doing? Right hand. At least he attempted the right-hand layup. Yeah, this is the first time at last time ever using... That was good. Using the right hand. This must have been the first time James attempted a jump. Right? There's no way he was dunking. No, he was trying to lay the ball. But I think he just thought D'Angelo wasn't going to play defense. Normally he thought... It does look like he thought that. D'Angelo's not going to jump. He's crazy. I've never seen him do that. Silence! Oh, boy. Whee! Oh, volleyball. That looks cheap. Look at him. He doesn't even jump. Doesn't need to. Video game is the video game-ish type of player. Oh, he's staring at him, too? That child over there. Chet. What's that? Silence. There's ball off. Oh, this is insane. How about San Antonio boo and giddy every time he touches the ball last time? Yo, he gets booed everywhere now. That's cool, man. I mean, we got some closure, but not a lot of closure. That's not a touch. I don't know what's going on. Well, he did, so... He cheated on my child a little bit. Take the ball from somebody like that. Damian Jones! Ooh, you know what? Anytime. That's a good one. Oh, Giannis? Yeah, that's... He's going to put that on his wall. Fun fact about Damian Jones. Big anime guy. That is a fun fact. I'm obsessed with anime. Wait, the good anime? Or like the weird... Is there good anime? There's like sus anime that's like... Whoa. It's all black. This is off an entire... Oh, this is insane. It's like Dwight Howard throwing. He might not even touch the rim. All right, that's... There's a discrepancy. This is the only play Nurgis did not flop on all last... This man, he could have got eight flopping fines last night. But I wonder if there's a... Is there a limit on flops per game, per fine? Watch him stay vertical even after the dunk. I don't think so. Do we know that? Four flops in a game. Can you be fine four times? You should be ejected. Okay, well then, yeah. You should be ejected. We can do that as well. Oh, we've got NBA All-starters coming up. Is that true? God, that seems like right around the corner. And it's later today. We want your picks, guys. It's three front-court players, two guards, Chandler. You will go first in the East. Yes, I will go... You know it seems a prize. My starting point goes to Tyrese Halliburton. I think just the rise of this kid from last year to the Wally Zerbiak comments he's leading the league in assists. 12.6 assists. He's made himself a bona fide star in the NBA. I love him. I think he's up there in boats as well. He's going to be the starting parker on the East. Okay. Then I went with the duo here. I rarely go to guys here in the starting lineup, but the Celtics have been the best team of the year of the season all year long. Both these guys are dominant and they're more efficient this year. They do it all. They're two-way players. I got them in the shooting guard, small forward spot. Ooh. Then we go Giannis. He's obviously doing his thing dominating, starting at the four with the new coaching change. I expect his numbers to even get better. That's so unfair. And then you're looking at the MVP of the season, back-to-back starting center, Joelle Mb, which that's a nasty team. That is a rough team. That is a nasty, nasty team. They can defend. They can shoot. They're big. Good lord. I like them. That is nice. Is there anybody that you were sort of wavering on that you left off? Yeah, the point guard. I like Jalen Brunson a lot. Oh, so close. I think the Knicks are playing really, really good. He's averaging like 26 points a game. So fun. So he's deserving. I mean, Tyrese Maxi you can throw in there. I know Trey Young has a lot of votes. I think he's kind of behind those three. But yeah, I think you reward winning with Tatum and Brown. All right. Oh, I see you got something different. My list isn't too far off from yours. Oh, you got, okay. I did favor with the waver with the Jalen Brunson of throwing him in there over. Did Tyrese or Donovan, because they've been winning. He's been playing extremely well. Donovan had a couple of small injuries and sicknesses, but obviously he just didn't take him. The boss is the number one team in the league. The honest MVP level, Joelle, should be back to be at MVP. But Tyrese, he has played an unbelievable level for the first half of the season, and it's hard not to put him there. He's one of the very few, people say true point guards, but assist first point guards, it seems, in the league. All-star vote, it starts too early for me. It feels like it, yeah. Like guys are all-stars, and then like not all-MBA, or guys don't make the all-star team, and then they're like second team all-MBA. I'm like, how does that, clearly it's going down too. But when would you not, you have to start it. Yeah, you do, but it's just going to be an ongoing issue. Yeah, it's weird. De'Andre Jordan wasn't an all-star but then he was third team all-MBA. It's like, that doesn't make sense. No, it doesn't make sense at all. All right, the East looks pretty good. West channel, you got it up there. West here. Yeah, I like Shea. And by the way, if I didn't have Joelle MVP, this kid's got to be right there. The things he's doing, the rise, the way he controls his team, is 25 years old, and he's that leader, he's that vet. He's taking this young team to the number one spot, the Western Conference. So you can't overlook that. He should definitely be the starting point guard. It's tough because Steph Curry is obviously out there, but I think you can't overlook what this kid's done. And you look at Luca, same thing, the gaudy numbers he's doing with Kyrie out, the amount of scoring he's doing as well and then leading that team to, you know, where they are is pretty impressive. Kevin Durant in and out of the lineup, you know, he's going to be consistent though. He's one of the better players in the NBA. He's got to be in there. And to me, this is a tough one. Really? I think LeBron, I think he's been so good and so consistent. And I think the age, I think it helps. I think people are going to want him in the game. Oh, like an emotional. They're going to make it more, it's more impressive what he's doing than anyone else at that age. You know, putting up the numbers he's doing, the big blow-up game. So I think LeBron deserves a spot here. And then you got Joker, who's also right there in the MVP talks, who's probably the best player in the NBA all around. He'll be the starting center. Danny, you have overlap? A little bit? No. I mean, I said, my list is a little bit different than the East. So, yes. I mean, obviously we have Cheyenne and Luca in the top spots of the guard spots. Okay, C's been playing extremely well. Nobody could predicted them being the top of the West by all-star break. Luca, obviously, but Kawhi, the difference I have, Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard, they've been available this year. And there's nobody better at their positions when they're healthy and playing basketball. Kawhi, one of the best two-way players we've seen in this game, Anthony Davis as well. So that's why I have them two, and obviously Yolkage, the MVP caliber player. And I don't disagree with Chandler. He is probably the best all around. All around. You know what's tough, too, is Anthony Edwards. Like, they're there. They've been here. That team's going it. So LeBron and Anthony Edwards were the guys that I wavered with. Obviously, LeBron should be a captain. I think he's still going to be a captain, regardless of being in the starting five. Yeah, that makes sense. But I think these guys are in their spot with being healthy in the way they've been playing Kawhi and Anthony. Okay, I'm looking at these. I just feel like the East feels stronger. Like, if I'm picking your two rosters... Yeah, I like the East. I know. Seemed like I'm picking the East. Shoms, I'm putting money on the East at that one. But no Kawhi... I'm surprised you didn't pick, like, Kawhi or AD. Like, neither. Yeah, it's tough. That was my... Either I could have went with Kawhi, I liked Anthony Edwards a lot. But again, Kawhi, he's been the best player on the Clippers who we know. They have, you know, since the trade, they had some struggles. But he's been consistent. And he's been healthy. He missed a couple of games, but he also deserves to be on the list. I mean, you could take nine or ten guys. It's hard. Don't touch that one, either. We're going to take a quick break when we come back. Don't touch me. Another edition of Convince Me. Oh, that is bad. What is wrong with you today? Yo, the reserves are going to be a little bad. That's good. There was a game last night between the Thunder and the Spurs. Thunder crushed him. That's fine, that's fine. 141-14, Chet Holmgren, 1793 blocks. Victor Wimbenyama, 24 points, 12 rebounds. And four blocks. We've got numbers coming up, Chandler, but I'll ask you, what does he need to do to convince you that he's just the rookie of the year? I just think he needs to play more. I think he needs to play more minutes. I think he needs to play more games, play back-to-backs. But also the winning games, it matters. And I think that's kind of the quota for some of these MVPs, and the agenda has to be winning games. Or else they would just give the MVP every year to a guy that puts up really good numbers on a bad team. He's not just a guy. No, he's not. Listen, he's going to be the face of the NBA in three years. He's unbelievable. I just think when you look at the big scale of their team, the success of the team, that has a lot of impact on these individual awards. It's easy. But it's easier to put up these numbers. Would he put up these same numbers on the Thunder? Yes. I don't think he would. Why not? Because I think he's got a guy averaging 33 points a game on his team. He's got other studs on his team. They would be even better if he was on that team. They would. The team would be maybe even better. I'm saying his statistical numbers, maybe they wouldn't even be as good as Chats. So it gets tough when you're on a bad team, a rebuilding team. Winning is the ultimate goal. So if you're on a losing team like them, again, he's got a great game. He can do it all. He's great defensively. But I just think that the lack of wins is going to hurt him with boats. Winning should be involved in any category when it comes to awarding someone, a group team or individual. You always have to have that. Winning should come into play. But in this award, it's a little skewed because most rookies that are good don't come into good teams. So Chats is in a difference, a unique situation. They also don't have a year to marinate. Exactly. So with that being said, I think winning shouldn't take as much of an impact on this award as much as it should. But winning does help. But most rookies that are good get drafted to worse teams. And you can't punish a guy for being on the team. He's right. With the rookie of the year, it's different to make an all-star. Like, Cade Cunningham's averaging 23, 7, and 6. Those are all-star numbers, but he's on the piston, so he's not going to get one vote because they're not winning the games. So numbers are one thing. Team success is another, but I think you look at it collectively when you go for an award like this. And when you have the disparity of one of the worst teams, and literally the best team in the NBA or the West right now, I think that guy gets the edge. For sure. What if... Can we show the chart? Because here's the thing. There's the chart. Because we know the minutes, right? He's playing like 28 average minutes, and then you've got Chet that's playing an average of some 30, a little over 30. Purse 36 minutes a season this season. And those are MVP numbers. I mean, he's... He dominates them. But this is what I mean by playing more. If he were to play more, and if he were averaging that on the right side, I don't care about his wins. I think that is so glaring. Those are so insane numbers. I think he wins rookie there with those numbers. But he's not. This is all hypothetical. It's just saying if he plays four minutes... Now, are these numbers different if they're not per 36? Yeah. This is just assuming what he's doing now if he played more minutes, he'd do the same thing. Can we see his real numbers? Yeah. We don't have the 36. Yeah. That's the point to me is he's not playing enough minutes to where he would be putting up crazy numbers if he got those reps. But they're smart. Antonio knows this isn't about the rookie of the year. He probably doesn't even care about the rookie of the year. He cares about winning, getting better and staying healthy. And reading books. And reading books. I will say he bothered after 9 p.m. I think we might see a rookie of the year push coming from Victor Romanowski. You know why? Because his minutes restriction is going up to 30. And he's coming up and he's soon to be off that back-to-back restriction as well. So he's, I mean, statistically. He deserves it. Just no doubt. But again, if there wasn't Chet and he wasn't on one of the better teams, I think there's no, who would even be third? You think Chet in the quiet of his own room when he's by himself thinks Wemby should be the rookie of the year? No. No. I think he thinks his team sucks, my team's good, this is my award. And I think he'll be pissed if they do happen to do the co thing we talked about yesterday. For Chet's first, I don't know, his first interview, what he said about who he thought was the best player in the world. Oh, that's true. He did say that, looking all weird and lurchy. Me and four months. Yeah, that was right. So I don't think he's looking at Wemby and saying, yeah. That's a good dude right there. I like it. It is fun. It makes like this rookie of the year race like, like real. I never cared who won rookie of the year and now I kind of do. So I hope this kind of creates a rivalry. That's what I was going to ask you. You think this will be a good forever rivalry? I think so. I think the league is basically centers. Joellen Jokic. Yep. Now you got Anthony Edwards and Shay kind of going at it. Two great guards. And he got Luca and Devin who also go at it. Yeah. Let's throw these two skinny unicorns in the mix and let them go beef. I love it. I love the skinny. That would be four epic rivalry. What is the best right currently going? It's got to be Devin Luke. Yeah. They're always chippy. They talk trash. I feel like it's Dylan Brooks, LeBron James. Dylan Brooks and everybody else. And everyone else. Although I noticed when they were playing no one on New York for him to sort of, they're no real like villain on the New York Knicks. So he just didn't have anyone. By the crowd. Yeah. It was like the crowd and they couldn't do that either because they were losing. So it was just like, oh man, I didn't get the good Dylan Brooks. You have to pick Wimby or Chet to start a franchise. Wimby. It's not even close. I think he's the best. I think Wimby Across the board. Against everybody. Yeah. I don't care if it's Luca. I don't care if it's anybody. I'm taking Wimby. Yeah. I have to agree with Wimby over Chet. But I don't know about anybody in the league. Who would you take? Yeah. Who would you take it over him? There's a, there's, we get Jokic. We get Joelle. We get Giannis. There's a lot of guys in their prime that I would say. That you would start. Yeah. That's a good fun question. And Edward's the potential. And you know, seven, seven foot five guys. It's scary. It's scary. It's scary. You just never know that's one we've seen. Yeah. And he had a good, what, eight, nine years? Yeah. You know, it's nice as Joelle's been healthy too. Which is still a good career. We're concerned about the foot. And now that hasn't even been a question. It's because of fingers. I also love to. It's not like, this is a rivalry because of, because of how they play their body type. It's, it's not like. They're freaks. Exactly. So they're very similar and their builds and their game and what they do, how they block shots, how they're long, the makings to be the best rivalry for sure. You ready for some convince me? Hypothetical time. These are, I mean, we're kind of playing these are hard. They're hard. Well, there's no wrong answer. That's the good news Chandler. The number of three pointers a team attempts should be capped. I like this because I think Steph Curry in ways has ruined the game. So now a lot of guys are shooting these awful shots. And I think if you cap the three pointers, then you'd basically the NBA 70s and 80s. So it's more physical. There's not as many three pointers, obviously. So you're getting to the basket more. There's more, you know, more flagrant bouts, more exciting to watch than just guys hoisting up low percentage 35 footers. It's so weird to enforce that too. That being said, I think there should be more and I think there should be a four-point line. Well, maybe we'll get to that one. That's a weird. Okay. Danny, you're next. Convince me, half of a team's games should be played out doors. This is a tough one for us. Really? In New York, you know, Rucker Park, Kingdom, you know, play on the boat. I did not play on the boat. Oh, yeah. I was after me. That was Harrison Barnes and, you know, those guys played on the yacht. But that's a lot. When the lockout happened, Katie, you know, went up into Harlem. He played during the lockout, played in the street outdoor course. Him and John Lucas had a hell of a little atmosphere. So those atmospheres, I think the game needs and loves last year. I think it would last summer. You know, it's great for the community. And they put it on TV. That's another thing on stream. But I think it's something you could do for definitely summer ball. I like it. Hockey does it. I actually like this a lot. I think, obviously, there's a lot of issues with, like, weather and injuries and security. Well, you play them all in Miami. But I do like it gives a different atmosphere, a different vibe, but kind of, you know, some mean heads doing pull-ups in the background. Oh, that would be awesome. That would be awesome. The water blading and the bat. Here's the hard part, though, because if you watch the hockey, the outdoor classics, there's the rink. And then every spectator's, like, 1,000 miles back. So that's the hard part is to make it a spectator. But for TV purposes, it's beautiful. So, you know, maybe do that. Chandler convinced me each team should have one contract that does not impact the salary cap. I love this. I love this a lot. I think they should do the salary cap at all. You can sign any player to what you think it's worth. You can load up teams. Depending on what one team does, another team can counter it by giving, you know, another guy, $200 million. Like, these soccer contracts we're seeing, I think it would be, it would make, obviously, the league more top-heavy because only certain, like, bombers of the owners would do it. But I love it. I think guys make a super team. I like to see this east-first, the west team in, like, a regular, in a full season. As a result of this, like, I like it more for veteran, like, and I might be a little biased because I'm older now, but I think teams need more veteran leadership. All right. I think for the groups that have young teams, the Portland, you know, teams that, and I feel like, you know, the league is obviously getting younger. I don't think it was forcibly getting younger, but we're seeing some, not great basketball at times with his blowouts and I think it's because inexperience and maturity. We use this position for a player to come in to be able to help the team with that. Guys like us. Go bring Shanlong. Yeah. Help. No, I don't count. And it doesn't go against the cap, you know? So you hurt. So then do it for free. You can just do it for free out of the goodness of your heart. Well, I'm actually busy that weekend. I paint out my garage. Well, who would be the highest-paid player if we did this today? I know Chandler wants to remove off the salary cap. Of the entire NBA, like, who did the most? Yeah. Probably Yolkage. Interesting. All right. I mean, you got to be the best player, right? Yeah. It's up to you. Like, I'm starting one team right now. You're basing it off one point. If I can play with one player right now, it's the dominating big that's also a point guard that gets his teammates involved that can do it all. He sees the floor. He's a brilliant, brilliant basketball support type. Yeah. See the Yolkage or Luka is one of those two guys, I think. All right. I kind of like the idea of it. Danny convinced me to prevent tanking. One lottery team should lose their draft pick. I love this, actually, because I think when you're watching or going to games, people don't even go into the games of the teams that are losing or losing on purpose. So in order to, in the lottery, I think should be changed a little bit as well because certain teams get the higher picks that shouldn't get it. The worst teams should get it. But in a sense, we shouldn't have teams trying to lose or not caring to win. And we should have teams fighting it out. We should have a, not a play in tournament or play out tournament where the worst teams play against each other to get the top pick. And I think that could be kind of fine, right? This guy, he purposely lost to then not make the playoffs, but then if he were to lose that pick, he wouldn't have done that, but then this wasn't implemented. So he got Derek Lively. It helped him by purposely being bad. I agree with Danny. I like this. I think they should have a play out tournament. You should be able to get the higher picks. And I do like that. Winner gets number one pick, second gets number two pick. But I even like, okay, Detroit and Washington, you guys both are horrible this year. You play and the winner gets the first pick. There's 16 in the playoffs. I don't hate it. There's another 14 out of the playoffs. The 14 have a tournament. Another tournament. Spurs, you're so bad last year, you still have to earn and win a game to get WinB. Fine. Ratings would be lit because the audience is sure would want to win. One game, one game. If their team is going to get the number one pick, right? But let me ask you this. Would there be a conflict because some of the guys that are currently in the middle of the season when the rookie would be there. So why do I care? True. There's always a money incentive. We're convincing you why. There's always a money incentive. There's always a money incentive. I'm just trying to think guys. I'm trying to think. Chandler, this one's weird. Teams should have the option to not take free throws when fouled. The only way I could possibly convince you is that everyone likes buzzer beater. So if there's a time where you can foul and you're up you would have to play it out and then possibly there's more, you know, heroics at the end of games that would make it more exciting. It would force more overtime because you can't just foul and win by one. So that would be my only thing, but I think it's stupid. But I guess, you know, if you're down three and you get free throws, you can have the option to, no, I'm not shooting more free throws. I need a three. So it makes sense, but like that's never going to happen. I'm sorry I got nothing. I got nothing. I tried so hard. We ran out of time. I can only tell you that they're not going to change their mind. They're never going to change their mind. Stop talking to the refs. Although the games would last so long. And then we'd have no one left on the bench by the time it was all said and done. That's going to do it for us. It's Thursday, so we will be back until Monday. Enjoy your weekends. We'll see you soon. Danny, you rock. Thank you. D.G. In the house. Oh, look at that. Big solo shot. I'm actually out on it. Thanks for having me. Of course. You've killed it, bro.