 Succession has returned we can all breathe right it back starts now Yeah, that's right I started a basketball show about the greatest show ever to be made on television minus the Sopranos you're welcome Good Monday morning everybody gentlemen by simply nodding. Did we have a great weekend or I? I Love it. I love that you actually just nodded. Thank you Shoms There he is as you might have told already It's a stadium insiders Shamsher on a Chandler P coming to us still from Mexico and Eddie G on the East Coast And we shall talk some hoops. I Like this first one. It's just got everything you want out of a basketball story heartbreak tragedy Comedy the Bulls with a win over the Lakers 18108 they spoil LeBron's Injury return. I mean, this was fun. It really did have a lot going on LeBron did have 19 points off the bench Pat Beverly, I think the story of the day for sure But let's concentrate on LA right now sitting in the 9 spot this loss at home Chandler in a time when they really can't afford any of These how bad was it? Yeah, it's bad. It's unfortunate that they're also they're playing teams that are kind of in the similar boat as them that are fighting For their livelihood as well. So it's difficult and no one's just gonna lay down for them Right that every game from here on out. They have to be perfect They have to find a way to try and get dealer back and be fully healthy I understand LeBron's coming off, you know, missing a bunch of games. I don't love him coming off the bench But at this point of the career of the season, I understand why and maybe having his minutes spaced out and things like that But this is a tough loss and this team has to be pretty much perfect from this point forward And there's some teams in the West that I'm sure we'll talk about that are helping their case because even when they lose a game Like this teams like Dallas and team other teams are also losing so it's kind of helping them But yeah, it's to the point of the season now where you know, they have to be damn near Perfect to kind of lock in one of those spots because obviously it's so competitive Everybody's fighting for all the tanking is pretty much done, right? You're either you're either in the lottery or you're fighting for that play in and they're playing these teams They're on the same side on the conference that need the same things that happen So it was a tough one at home and and their and their best players returning He didn't he didn't want to have this outcome of your the Lakers Yeah, I'm with Chandler the the thing that benefits them going on right now is the teams below them are done Essentially Dallas looks worse by the day Portland is literally quit They're giving up on their playoff chances. The Jazz are right there. They're kicking and screaming They're fighting and they got a shot, but we're talking about two spots for three teams and the Lakers now have LeBron I think for them when they look back at this season and they look back at this playoff run When they treaded water just fine without LeBron, that's really when they made the playoffs. They weren't great They took some tough losses. They took some ugly losses, but they got through they didn't go Oh a seven they didn't go all of eight. They treaded water and now they're a playoff team They just got to hang on now. I mean I see another L on their record still coming next week against the Suns But besides that, I think they're in good spot and they should they should push right in and LeBron look great Like you I know you lost the game and there's plenty to talk about in losing the game But LeBron's back. He looks great. You got to feel confident going forward even though you took a tough L I Thought it was really remarkable turnoff for LeBron team. I mean just last week He just began on court activities and and around around LeBron James The hope was within the last week or so the last three or four games of the regular season He'd be back. He makes it back with eight or nine regular season games He makes it back with a couple weeks here for them to get back that energy and he said after the game He had a torn tendon in his foot He met with with a couple doctors that said he needed surgery and I know him coming back this soon Was not the expectation only four weeks out. I think for LeBron James pretty remarkable I do think he didn't look like he was fully there defensively I think that could take some time But for them to get him back with all these games to spare it'll take him some time to get a rhythm back and Get back to his place of starting. This is the second time he's come off the bench in his entire 20 year NBA career So that'll take time But I think for them to get him back this soon has to be surprised everyone and really kudos to his recovery I mean imagine if he would have gone to the Michael Jordan of foot doctors might have been even better than what we saw Yesterday Pat Bev by the way. I mean the dude Just crushing and I love everything that he does his antics yesterday or everything Remember he said back in the day that his goal was to hurt the Lakers playoff chances I mean, I would say that he did exactly that. He also did the two small gesture right there till LeBron freaking james Amazing eddie. Would you think about what he did all day yesterday? I'm gonna be a hypocrite because I'm like the I hate Dylan Brooks, but I And he's like a worse player and he's even more dramatic But hitting LeBron with the two small like he backed up all stock though. He's been talking for weeks He went on his pod his podcast is hilarious went on his podcast and said hey I'm here to get them out of there. They're charming soft He talked all that crap and then he backed up He didn't have the greatest game but his team won and he hit him with the with the two small And yeah, man, I don't remember. I don't remember the random eighth eighth man Back up point guards in the league telling Michael Jordan. He's a little he's a little guy. So that's a little It's a little awkward right there for my goat Beautiful. Yeah, it's I mean if anything it's it's pure entertainment, right? It's it's comedy and He he played as well as you know, he can and this listen knowing him knowing the guys This is nothing personal. It's not like LeBron or any of these guys in the locker room Just like Patrick Beverly when you're on when he's on your team Man, you love him. He's just one of those guys. He's an absolute annoyance He is a pest to play against but you won the better team and And things like this again, this is how this is hilarious and the timing is perfect and He is probably a partner and has a deal with Charmin But just the idea that he's calling them soft and everything he said about going in there and It didn't end well and and and there he's he's been very Vocal about his time in LA and this was a dream scenario for him He kind of hurt their chances slightly They went into their place where he used to play got the win and talked a lot, but Eddie hit on the head I don't know how he does it, but he's got a way of Doing this trash talking where it's more Funny than obnoxious like Dylan Brooks. So I kudos to however his delivery or how he does it But he's gotten really good at it and and I'm a huge fan I love the way his brain works like he has the perfect troll brain and by the way As a as a fellow Charmin partner, can we just talk about how Freaking perfect the timing was of all of this yesterday and they play again this week in Chicago, I mean come on you can't you cannot time this any better Charmin got every pennies were Michelle Are you a charming every person? Yeah, you know just a paper of choice. That's that is a hundred percent my toilet paper of choice I would have done it for free shams. That's how much I love Charmin What do we predict when they get back to Chicago? I mean, this is this by the way schedule gods Thank you. Thank you. Eddie. Do you think Lakers have a shot to win it with the win one in Chicago? Yeah, I think they're the better team. They should win in Chicago But if we get another 10 point outburst from that It might be a little different, but the Lakers are gonna need to win. I think they're the better team I think they'll handle business and like Chandler said, I don't think anybody's taking this personal or serious They love pat when he was there. They love pat now. They're probably all laughing about it afterwards And he's gonna give us great content on his show afterwards too. It's like Whatever it is his delivery. We all just assume he's a teddy bear. I don't know but everybody just Likes his antics including me and like I said, I'm the guy who I absolutely despise Dylan Brooks And Dylan Brooks is better and like it's more like serious with him And I still like pat better. I don't know. It's it's just more fun this way Like a lovable nat and we love him for that Yeah, we're gonna we're gonna talk mavericks because they were briefly mentioned here the top of the show for just not I don't know what they're doing But the hornets were the win over dallas 1104 very undermanned hornets team by the way And it is dallas's fourth straight loss. We can get into the points I mean luka did finish with 40 12 and 7 kairi had 18 He also had a dude kicked out of the crowd But this downward spiral no matter how this season ends for them We are going to talk about it a lot. Who is at fault? Is it kid? Is it kairi? Is it luka? Chandler, you know, you have closer ties to this team than any of us Who do you think it's any of this blame? Honestly, I think it's a collective effort of all of them I mean, they have been in and out of the lineup with luka being heard kairi missing games and and this whole period of time Since the trade, this is a trial period This is a trial period for the dallas mavericks to see if they want to sign kairi Irving long term this summer And will it work? Will he mesh with luka? Will it will he be normal and not be a distraction? And it's it's a it's an audition for kairi Irving that he can prove that he can fit and if it doesn't work here No one else is going to give him that long term deal. He does want to get paid. He's turned down money He he's he's still young. He's still got a lot of good basketball years left So this is kind of a trial period now and they're now 7 and 13 with him since the trade And it's just flat out not working whether that's you know, the roster that getting rid of they got rid of dorian finney smith Who I think was huge because they're not good defensively and he was pretty much their only catalyst on the defensive end They shift him off. They get rid of spencer. They get rid of a lot for kairi irving's This is it's tough because this could go down as one of the worst trades ever if he just walks You know after this season and if they don't make the plan and this is a huge huge meltdown of a team Never all season long. We're talking about this plan. We're talking about the laker. We're talking about okc We're talking about new orleans never did we mention the dallas mavericks and the play in and now they're on the outside looking in With adding a kairi irving. So it's hard to pinpoint. You look at luke. He's still putting up crazy numbers You watch film kairi irving. You watch the games. He's still playing good and there's times where this team Can mesh and they can be well j kids had his up and downs coaching these guys But you can't really blame one person in my eyes and the crazy part is this team is so talented That's the only thing giving them hope now and you can see luke is frustrated. You can see everyone's frustrated But at this point now, it's just get in make the play in and see what happens But this has been a huge letdown since that trade happened and it hasn't gone the way they expected it to It's tough watching them play because this is not a team that looks like they're enjoying coming to work every day And not that that's everything, you know, you could You could you could have a case of the mondays and still win basketball games But they just look frustrated and then when they talk after the game They sound frustrated from jason kid to luke to kairi all the way down the roster even mark cuban looks angry Like they just look like it's not enjoyable at all And I know a lot of people will blame that on kairi But kairi is playing well. He showed up. He's done his job. He's been hurt. He's playing hurt planner Anybody who's ever had plantar fasitis. It is awful. I don't know how he's running up and down and jumping on a basketball court it's insane, but You know, that's his job to play through that. He's doing what he can luke has been hurt They just have so much going on luke is hinting at just not enjoying basketball He pulled the shot michael's and said they took a smile away and like he's got stuff Like it just seems like they all have just so much going on and they're just frustrated over the season Now does this fail the trial period? I don't know. That's from mark cuban and his front office to decide But it has not been great. I mean this is a results based business and the results have not been great But one thing I do disagree with what chandler said is like I don't think this is a talent rich roster and I think that's their problem dating back to when kairi wasn't on the team They put this roster together with a bunch of archetypes. They wanted to put shooting Around luke. They've tried the secondary ballhandler thing and that's something that I think you got to look out for We now have kairi and it's a little bit of odd fit But there's only been a few games spencer denwitte jaylen brunson going all the way back to like joss richardson They keep trying to find these point guards to play next to luke who can be the ballhandler and push luka to the side Sometimes they're in the game and it just hasn't worked like I don't know what the answer is there I always wonder about these players like luke like russell westbrook Really lebron is the only one that's able to overcome it That have to play a certain way and have to have a certain roster a certain type of teammates around them to be successful When you don't have the best versions of those guys, what do you have you have this pretty bad team That's falling their way out of the plan and we'll have a long summer ahead of them after this Yeah, the other guy that's going to have a long summer ahead of them if they they miss everything is shams I already feel for you because this is going to be such a long story. What do they do? I mean, maybe it won't be maybe they've already figured it out and they know what they're going to do But as far as missing the playoffs if they do shams, what will this team do next? Well, I think whether the mavericks miss the playoffs or make the playoffs or make the play in I think the goal is to just get to the offseason because getting kairi everyone was I think one step Of the process for the mavericks and mark cuban and getting a secondary star in there You have now you have luka dodge at you have kairi Irving They have three first round picks to play within the summer They have some some salaries that could be used in trades when you look at guys like tim hardaway jr Maxi cleaver potentially they have davis bertanz They have guys that you can go and trade with salaries and also About three first round picks that they can use they could have four potentially if they keep their pick from this year You know depending on if they fall out of the lottery fall out of the top 10 But I think when you look at this roster, uh, they have luka dodge kairi Irving jaden hardy josh green maxi cleaver Maybe dwight pal I think that's six guys outside of that the rest of the team could very well be turned over I think those are the five or six guys that you look at and say we want to keep those guys long term It's hard for you to build a really real camaraderie. I think a real expectation on this team When five or six guys are the only guys that you're really looking at Long term and when you look at guys at christian wood tim hardaway jr Both of their roles have gone up and down minutes have gone up and down So i'm curious from a perspective of internally. How has that impacted the group? Has there been complaining that's been going on as far as roles and minutes? Um, so I think right now the goal is to resign kairi Irving Use your first round picks use some of the salaries and get better and add to this team And like eddie said as I reported late last week kairi Irving has been playing through plantar fasciitis since march 8th Um, he really doesn't have a luxury to sit through that injury right now. You just place through it You manage it. You sit a game here and there, but you just played through it. I'm curious channel Have you ever played through plant plantar fasciitis and what is that like at the nba level? I haven't joe came know of my dear friend. He had it and it kind of altered his whole career You basically can't put pressure on it if you can't It doesn't heal until you are completely off it, which obviously kairi Irving is not doing So it's a very very tough. It's nagging. If it doesn't just get better overnight You really have to treat it. You have to operate you have to rehab and you have to stay off it Which he doesn't have that option right now, right? And the only reason I do think this might fall on kairi Irving is None of these issues seem to be Broadcasted before this trade right luke dark. It's never said Not smiling. He doesn't like basketball. He's so frustrated That's all new him at least verbalizing that which obviously the only thing to point to is kairi from everything I know I don't think there's a beef. I think he actually enjoys him But that's that's the only issue is that the trade happened. They were on the rise Now they're not the only big difference is that trade so it's hard to not look at that But yeah, the fact that kairi is playing this injury shows that he's he cares and he wants to he wants to compete He wants this to work out Um, but that that's a tough injury. That's not just going to heal and at this point of the season It can't not play so it's it's tough You plant your fasciitis as a normal person is not very fun because like you can't not walk You have to move around all day long luke very much in a deja vu moment got his 16th technical foul Which means he will uh, he'll miss the next game should nothing happen. I mean he look he's known for this eddie Can the dude stop complaining so much? I don't at this point. Is it even possible that he could No, it reminds me of the marcus cousins which might sound like a weird comp But they just can't stop talking to the referees And they're just bothered by every single thing that happens on the court And it's it's a frustrating watch for somebody who's as enjoyable of basketball players luke is When you watch him and he's whining the entire game. He's hard to watch. He's hard to root for he's hard to get behind I don't think he can shut it off. I mean we we look at dremon He just got the suspension for the for the tech kevin was on his way to getting it as well dealing with books like These guys are just they're passionate. I know I get it and it's fine But yeah, I don't think he's be able to turn that off to marcus never could And and you know the thing about luke too is he does get a lot of contact He does initiate a lot of company. That's his game is to do that And so he's going to constantly be dealing with the refs for his entire career I don't think he's ever going to shut off. Ideally. He doesn't get the 16 every year, but He this is the guy. This is who he is the luke block yeah I don't understand this right like there's replay refs or human beings are going to miss college right and you're frustrated Like they just said these these players are passionate, but whether you mother f the refs afterwards or not They're not changing the call and these refs are like I said, they're human They're going to remember that and now luke is getting this rep where he complains every play he winds and half the time He's wrong and there wasn't a foul or he created the contact So it is tough and now to get to this point where it's is he possibly gets suspended Now he's hurting the team right now He's hurting the fans now he's letting down the the organization because he's not available to play So it's it's the money signed even here with with the referee I don't know if he's just doing that as in like i'm not going to say anything So i'm going to get fined but he's still got fined anyways, which is crazy Uh, I don't understand it But now when it's becoming to a point like dillard brooks where you're getting suspended and you're not able to Play for your team Especially in this time like in crunch time right now where they need every single game going forward Now it's a problem and now it's something that he needs to address He's young and like eddie said it's tough to watch man. You can't complain every single call. It's Exhaustic and there's 2023. There's replay. You're gonna see you're gonna watch it Be like wow, I look ridiculous arguing this call that clearly wasn't a foul. So He's got it at some point. He's got to mature at some point and stop It makes a very uh likable player unlikable when when they do that By the way, it's weird that this gets you the same fine as pushing a camera man over and actually Hurting him. I think the NBA should probably look into that but After friday's loss to the hornets luka did have some words to say sort of along the lines of what you guys have mentioned I mean, yeah, it's really frustrating You know, I think you can see it with me on the court Sometimes I I don't feel it's me. You know, just being out there And I used to have really fun smiling on court But it's just been so frustrating maybe for a lot of reasons not just basketball That's just well, that's heartbreaking. Chandler. What do you think about that? Yeah Listen, there's a fine line, right like these guys need to play they need to show up They need to win games and that's what fans people media are looking at wins losses points. What do they contribute? There is a whole another aspect which I do get where there's this luka has a personal life He goes through breakups just like we do he goes through family issues And whatever he may be talking about and that's okay. Look look what Andrew Wiggins is going through You don't wish that upon anybody if it were to be true like and so these guys I think you know We're put on a pedestal a little bit too much where you're supposed to be this superhero Nothing's supposed to affect you clearly. There's something going on with luka We can point to many things we can point to the kairi trade how he's playing the techs, you know, mark cuba anything It could be we don't know and that's part of it And that's part of what you have to be as a professional athlete on the flip side Is you have to be able to deal with these things you have to be able to perform You have to be able to go to your job go to work and produce for your team and it's tough To see both sides right and then that's that's normal. You're allowed to have issues Kairi said like he was proud of luka for saying that and all this but like There's a fine line of kind of you know handling your own personal life going through all that But then also being there for your team and being able to perform perform and The everything's under our magnets a scope right now, right? Everything's under the magnifying glass Everything is because they're losing game. They made this huge trade. They're now out of the play And then and then it's it's all just coming to surface right now and it's frustrating and he's he looks beat up He looks emotional. He looks run down Something else might be going on with him. But As an athlete it is okay to go through that and that's going to happen You're going to have personal things that are going to linger into your career And it's just how you manage that and then what you do moving forward. So I feel for him because I've never seen luka like this I've never seen him that visibly upset and frustrated But I think the more they start winning games the more, you know The more he kind of gets back to winning ways that that'll all kind of help Hey, he's legitimately sad. It was just a sad boy up there Um, anyways, we had we had another game a spicy game young stars so much going on the grizzlies winning six Straight being the Hawks in atlanta jammer ant 27 3 and 6 desmond bain man bain's fun 25.5 assist Look Jaws back. Uh, and now I ask you eddy. Does this make memphis the most dangerous team in the west? Um for about two more days and until the return of kevin durant and the healthy phoenix sons, but And I mean that in all seriousness like we we still have yet to see what that full team looks like But we know what the grizzlies are and they are dangerous They are one of the more dangerous teams for all of the ups and downs they've had this season All the injuries they dealt with obviously the job moran situation They're still the two seed and they pretty much have a lock on it now They just continue to turn out wins. They have a great home court And one guy I want to mention who has been absolutely huge for them and it was a sneaky deal at the deadline Luke canard he's shooting 53 percent from three as a member of the grizzlies and that's an 18 game So it's not like he's just did that for a week and kept it pushing from there Had a great game last night four nine from three. He is going to be huge for them in the playoffs He's battle tested in the playoffs. Yes. He's a little bit of a deep into liability But when you can shoot it like that it does not matter We will put you on the floor. We will find out how to make it work Very dangerous team and with the ways the seeding might match up if the king's advanced and they get the king's in round two And then, you know, they're almost walking straight to the conference finals at that point If you feel like they're that much better than the kings But we don't know what will happen with the plan We don't know who they'll see as the seven seed could be the Lakers could be the warriors But they are very very very dangerous and they had their dynamic point guard back And he looked great yesterday and a match up against Another young dynamic point guard great game. Maybe you had a chance to catch that one It was a great really competitive game You could tell teams are starting to ramp up for the playoffs and the Grizzlies are ready. They're they're locked and loaded Yeah, I'm impressed with this team because when the John Morant situation happened, right It could have went one of two ways. They could have absolutely destroyed them They could have laid down. They could have thrown in the towel, you know, our best players out We don't know how long he's going to be gone But instead they they rallied around him and they all protected him the fans Embraced him the organization backed him and whether that's right or wrong or however the situation was handled This team I feel like grew from that and became even closer than they were And they are dangerous. They do have a star in John Morant And when Desmond Bain is knocking down shots coming off screens He's tough to guard Jared Jackson five block shots last night kind of controlling the paint And then you have these role players like Dylan Brooks like Luke Cunard who's shooting the ball great This team is very dangerous because they can score they can shoot the ball and they defend and they're tough And like I said, I feel like the the breaking point for this was rallying around John Morant They got their guy back and they're ready for the post season and they look really good I mean, it really was a bizarre stitch. It's just such a self-inflicted loss of your star player Not the normal thing a team has to go through every season, but Sticking with the Hawks for one second Trey young. It was like a sassy Sunday yesterday is what I'm going to call it Uh, this moment right here Saturday. Sorry. It's weekend. Um Oh, you know this got him ejected Do we have a reaction Chandler? Is that ejectable? I don't think so Did the ball like hit the ref in the head or something it looked like we don't know Obviously he's frustrated. He got the tee and again, this is kind of going back to the same thing luka He shot a threeer in this game and completely kicked his legs out in a non natural shooting motion And got a foul call and it was the right call So it's it it kind of blows my mind with replay and everything you have help guys still argue He's calling when it's right there on the jumbo tron in front of them. Um, but this was a little weak by the ref It didn't look like anything I didn't see if it hit him if he wasn't looking or what but obviously the ref knew what he was doing And he was frustrating and he was throwing the ball at him angry But I feel like to toss the best player in a game in a close game for this Is pretty wack. I mean his own announcer in defense of the ref. I think he said he fired it in to him Pretty rough there, but I don't know I ejecting him Eddie Seems like a lot, but maybe I'm maybe I'm just tougher than the average ref. I don't know This is like a weird ejection. We've seen a few times too Like where are we supposed to throw the ball if I put the ball down on the ground? I'm like I'm sassy too, right? Like I he threw it to the other ref I have to my velocity has to be correct. It's a really weird one and we've seen it a few times I think having to trade before as well through the ball It kind of made a bad pass at the guy's legs and got ejected It's it's weird if I just sit it right there on the ground I feel like that's way worse and way more sassy than than than that So like what is he supposed to do at that point? Just shoot the basketball hand it to a team I don't know what these what his options are, but I don't know the refs got a little carried away with this stuff this year And and we got to have some like, you know, we got to regress back to the mean at some point Yeah, we'll just we'll talk about this guy's boost of it, though This wasn't as bad as boost of it, though Like that guy was speaking from what I'm told he was speaking in Serbian to himself And they tossed him for that basically Tony brothers from the opposite side of the court tossed him for that And also because it's what I'm told also, you know bad demeanor bad body language and he got tossed So yeah, this is definitely an interesting time, right? Well, that's American paranoia whenever somebody speaks the language we don't understand We assume they're saying the absolute worst about us. I think we should probably get over that as a nation We're gonna take a quick break here when we come back the wolves Go one from the warriors and shams with the latest scoop on one of our faves Dame Lillard when run it back returns Warriors at home last night playing Minnesota, but a plot twist is upon us Warriors up to 27 seconds left. They turn the ball over and cat with that a huge dagger three Noz read with 23 points and six rebounds first team Go bear Eddie finish with 10 and 18 rebounds Look bigger headline channeler if you had to pick wolves come back or warriors collapse Probably the warriors collapse just because we have such high expectations of them and they're the better team And we know the potential that they have when they play but to to me I I love the wolves and I think they're getting their guy back towns who was my preseason mvp sleeper That's a big shot. They play hard Everybody loves Anthony Edwards. I love the addition of Mike Conley and this team is a dangerous team come playoff time where They're playing well. They're getting fully healthy. They defend They play hard and now with towns back who who's who's obviously an extremely dynamic player They're not going to be an easy out for whoever they draw. So The warriors they they got to close this game out. That was a huge turnover. They're late big shot by towns Uh But I like what the timbos are doing it seems like they're starting to play well now and then fully healthy going into the playoffs This was an incredible game and the rare the ultra rare two teams don't score 100 points game And it was fun to watch. It was a great test match all night the the uh Timberwolves went with their two bigs and they had to deal with all the motion of the warriors offense And they they struggled and they figured out ways to hedge out to Keep roti rudigo bear active and and how to deal with draymond green who was an absolute monster on defense Against rudigo bear. It was an incredible game. Now. I will say this It probably should have ended in a warriors win because Mike Conley absolutely tried to foul step curry and then was kind of annoyed They didn't call the foul and then two seconds later draymond green throws the worst pass of the game And then they lose they also to to not get a shot off late It was like pretty crazy for the warriors but great great great win for the wolves great show of the potential they have Anthony Edwards didn't even play all that great cat didn't even play all that great But he hit the big shot late. It was just a great team effort from them huge road win I always I always kind of like seeing the wolves in golden state If you remember there were the team who stopped them from winning 74 wins in the 73 win season They gave them their ninth loss and that was their final loss of the year A cat was there. I ancient wiggins was there. It was a whole different regime But they clearly get up for that game and in that city and it was a fun game last night It was probably the best game of the weekend Eddie I know like I want to ask you this because of your go bear fascination There's seven seed right now right the only a half game behind the warriors The western conference is just absolutely drunk But now that cat is back and we're winding things down and we're almost if you if you look at the standings Do you think they can make some waves? Are they dangerous enough? I Think they are because they they defend and they work hard on defense They're coached up and and like I said, Anthony Edwards had a bad game last night He has been great for the last three or four months And so he's dealing obviously with the ankle injury is working his way through that But he's one of those dynamic isolation type players that just matters in the playoffs They just matter more. He can go get a bucket on whomever is defending him And that changes things for them. That's that something they did not have Before as they were trying to make runs and now he's matured as a player He's better than he was last year. They can be dangerous that that That grizzlies match up if they end up at two seven that'd be a fascinating series to watch and and they're As much as I like the grizzlies they're a live underdog out there in minnesota, so it would be fun to see Chandler we want to talk a little bit golden state. They are in the sixth spot obviously put some math together there Steph's back gb2 made his debut Last night, I don't want to say are we back on the bandwagon because good lord We've been on and off that bad when I get all see the long But what are you thinking? What is your vibe right now from this warriors team winding things down? You know, I think they're just fine and it's They they smoke this game and and this is a game that they should have won But all year long we've been saying we're not worried about this team Wait till they start hitting their peak. They're getting healthy. We're seeing clay Thompson bags. Steph curry looks great They're the jordan pool, you know, they're so dangerous and the minute they get andrew wiggins back and to what he was They're going to take that next step and when you look at the western conference standings Whether you are the six seven or eight seed you're whoever that's going to be We don't know you obviously because I said the western conference is drunk but I think whoever I am the six seven eight. I think we can beat the nuggets in a series I think we can beat the grizzlies in a series and I think we can beat the kings in a series So it's a very rare year where it doesn't matter if you're a high seed or a low seed Every single one of those teams is Capable of losing a series and it's not like these there's no There's not a Milwaukee that's going to win a 404 one or even a boston That's going to dominate series all these series in the west are going to be so competitive And so the warriors I don't think they care because I think they think they're better than all those teams Which is hard to argue that they aren't especially if they're getting healthy and they get wiggins back And gary patin's now back. They're only going to get better So I think they're fine. This isn't a team you worry about with the history with with how talented they are the way they shoot the ball Uh, and it's gonna it's gonna be fun Usually when the playoffs the seedings come out you look and like I don't even watch one of the series because It's not like that this year in the west because anything can happen I know I I said it a thousand times. I wish they started today shams You had a busy weekend a lot going on off the court. We want to start with damien lillard seeing Seeing some news there. What's the latest on portland and what they plan on doing? So i'm told damien lillard, uh, essentially has been shut down for the remainder of the season They had nine games left in the year over the weekend as they've decided to to put him on the shelf He's been dealing with a calf injury, but I think more so this is a team That's now four and a half games out of the playing berth with eight games to go They're essentially eliminated since february 4th. They've lost seven games when they've been up by 10 points or more They're six and 16 since february 4th And they also have a lottery protected first round pick in this upcoming draft So there is an incentive for them to get to the lottery keep their first round pick this year potentially even get into the top five top three depending on what type of luck you have And see either you draft at that position or you end up trading that pick But I think when you look at this for damien lillard You have to wonder if he's gonna play another game for the portland turblasers Just based on how how much optimism there was going into this year after they got jeremy grant The start that they had and now not making it to the playoffs second year in a row for damien lillard He's 32 years. He's 32 years old right now 33 in july So where is his future going to be? I expect there to be some real conversations This off season about how this team can improve and if they can't where do they go with damien lillard and his future? There are definitely a lot of questions right now Channel has played a lot against damien lillard. I'm curious what he thinks of damien's future in portlands Yeah, well this year I get it right there. Like you said, they're out They're not making the play in if he's banged up if he's got a lingering issue all the loyalty that he's shown to this organization Shut him down and and there's nothing for him to play for especially like I said If he does have nagging injuries, why risk that going into the off season? But the real questions comes this summer do they look at moving him Do they talk to him and have an open dialogue of what he wants which i'm assuming that they will right everything he's done How vocal he's been about being there and being loyal and not ring chasing that that's who he is I believe him when he says that But he is getting older in age and he's got to maximize these last couple years of his career while he's still playing at an elite level so It'll be interesting. I I honestly can see it both ways. I could see them getting a good pick and kind of You know building this team one more year around him and giving it one more shot Or I could see them maybe moving him And do put him in a better situation Which he deserves and and everyone wants to see damien lillard on a great team that's contending so It's tough. I get the decision right now Season's over. Why what why why even play in but it's tough because I had high expectations for this team With the you know with with jeremy grant with the core that they had I thought they were a lock for a playoff team if you talk to me in october Yeah, channeler mentioned the point. I wanted to mention this absolutely disappointing season for the portland trailblazers is and yes They had their injury issues, but so does every other team and they're not even close to a playoff spot at this point They're barely close to the playing and have essentially punted on the very idea that It's got to be frustrating for damien lillard. He would if I was him I wouldn't want my portland trailblazers tender to end like this But 10 games under 500 nothing left to play for and I'll say this. I'm gonna be the skeptic I'm gonna be that guy damis third in the league in scoring right now 32 points a game great season He played the exact amount of games you have to play to qualify for to be in the scoring leaders 58 games and then called it it called it could put on the season so You know just a little interesting little tidbit, but Very frustrating Season for that team and and looking forward to the all season It does you do have to wonder what happened was a dam because to be honest He's their best asset if they want to build for the future and he said time and time again He's not leaving. He won't leave. He's just but he's toyed with it as well So I don't know it'd be interesting to see if his name comes up this summer And if it does there will be a lot of suitors third in the league in scoring That's just I can't even imagine. I mean I want to because for his sake I'd love to see him play on a contending team, but I don't know any trailblazers fans And I would love to ask them if you're gonna be cool if this happens I have to believe they would be but I don't know uh shams the name we haven't said in quite some time Ben Simmons What what's happening here? So he has a nerve impingement in his back I'm told he's gonna be seeing some doctors this week as far as what the next steps are with this back injury that he's got now newly diagnosed but I'm told the expectation is that he is done for the year essentially him the Nets They're gonna take their time time has run out on the season. He has not played since mid-February He's gonna see doctors this week next week is gonna be the last full week of the regular season So time is beginning to to run out. I think on the on on the season For ben Simmons and now you look into the summer You hope he figures it out You hope he figures out the right solution with his back and he gets back 100 healthy Clearly, he's been dealing with some physical Level because when you've seen him on the floor He hasn't been as explosive as he's been at his peak when he went to three all all all nba all star games and Multiple all nba's defensive player that you're running around. This is not the same player Do you hope that he figures it out? You know physically and you know with all the frustrations that clearly have existed around him this season We're so callous as as viewers and fans of this league, right? There was time when he was the next great thing and now we're just like man his career's over uh chaylor What do you think happens with ben Simmons? What's his future? A buyout I think he I think the biggest thing for him is he's got to get rid of these expectations and with that contract Huge expectations come with that and I think the minute he gets bought out and he goes to a situation Where he's on a minimum deal where he's coming off the bench? I think he'll find in a little bit I think the the ben Simmons of you back in the day of you know All-star level ben Simmons. I do think that is gone But I think once he gets off this contract once he kind of settles in once he gets on a minimum deal with way way way lower expectations to be a six seventh eighth man I think he still has some value. He still has a great frame when he's healthy. He's athletic he can handle he could pass the ball and I hope for for his sake that he he does find that and and finds joy in playing the game because he's a thrill to watch when he's on And and he's a really really high extreme talent the things he can do with a basketball at his size are really impressive but The weight of this contract and the whole situation Philly It really took a toll on him physically and mentally and I think the moment he gets in that better situation On a smaller deal It's like a huge weight off his back and I think he'll be able to play a lot better basketball But I'm pulling for him. I think I think he's a good dude And then I think he's a he still has some something left in the tank There was a ton of optimism coming into the season from the brooklyn front office and everybody involved there that He could be the Ben Simmons of old and there would see that and it obviously wasn't did not happen He only played 42 games came with events for about 10 of those as well And that contract is an absolute roadblock for the nets going forward. There's just no way around it He's set to make 37 million dollars next year 40 million the following year. No options If they buy him out, you're buying out 80 million dollars That's a tough pill to swallow for an owner if you're doing that and you're leaving that void on your contract situation But if they can find a way to trade it because it remains a roadblock in trades for all of the guys on rookie extensions All of the young stars they would want to get if they're piling up those picks and trying to trade somebody somebody like a luka Like a car not many towns Bam out of buy like all these guys they cannot bring them because he's on his rookie extension and they have that weird rule So they absolutely have to figure out something to do that Whether it's just a cut your losses trade whether it can be a part of a big trade Or whether he's going to come back and be healthy because at the end of the day He does have health issues that hampered him and he has to figure that out I agree with sandler if he ends up somewhere else less pressure smaller contract less expectations We could see a much better player but what the net's got this year was an absolute sunk sunk cost And that's exactly what george nyang was talking about that interview You cannot have a 35 million dollar hole on your roster and the nets did all season long Can we get a little sunshine shams? Can you give us a little kady update? I've got good news for you michelle kevin durex is targeting return on wednesday against the minnesota tomb rolls He's gonna beat that three week evaluation that the phoenix suns had announced So essentially he he's been ramping up. He's been doing much more on the court Stayed back from this quick road trip that they had in utah, and I think the the next couple days today tomorrow continue to ramp up Feel better assuming there's no setbacks get back on on the foreign wednesday And we might see lebron james against kevin durant on april 7th in la. We'll see what happens such a tease such a tease What channel are you saying something like that? Pull up channeler. I like that Oh, you know he's going to take a quick break here when we come back Are you buying that tonight's matchup between yokich and mb? We'll determine the mvp race once and for all when we return Important edition of you buying that right now so the sixers in denver tonight. It's yokich. It's mb channeler Are you buying that this game will determine our mvp for the season? I think it definitely has some weight and we all remember this last time they played where joeyland being absolutely dumb And him at 47 And knowing joel, he's coming out aggressive. He's starting to talk a little bit more. He's starting to vocalize how You know, he doesn't know what else to do and how Listen, he wants to win the mvp thinks he deserves the mvp The teams basically have very similar records and they both have had incredible years as has yaas as had a bunch of other guys But it's coming down to these two and I think everybody's going to be watching Everybody's going to kind of take this game and pick it apart and I think both of them are going to come hungry I'm ready to prove that you know, it's their award to win. So it's going to be exciting. It's going to be fun I don't think tonight has everything to do with it, but I definitely think there's some weight and some impact on it Wow, these are the only four people we can even bet on it's important eddie Yeah, I think it absolutely has impact on it I mean, what are you going to remember when you're voting in two weeks? This is this is going to push it over It's that close of a race too. This this head on head to head matchup should matter at this point And I'm with channel I actually expect jello and beat the dominate and if they can win the game all the better I remember the joke was when he was dropping 50 last time. He's winning He's he's he's he's playing great individual basketball and yokes is playing winning team basketball And then jello and beat won the game. So I expect him to dominate have another big game and and I'm literally betting on it In our next segment. So I'm expecting to do it and win the mvp Oh put your money where your mouth is shams. You sat down with mb for the athletic. What stuck out the most? Well, I think for sure he wants to win mvp But he is so he used the word winning like 15 20 times in the interview like he was Seems like he was obsessed and I think the pressure and the expectations that the sixers team has And we've been talking all year about this whole dynamic of him and james harden and when him and james When james harden left the team and got hurt. They were four and five He comes back there 12 and 11 and they've since been 37 and 14 with both of those guys They've really skyrocketed into a joel and beat. He also said everyone had to fall in line Once everyone realized this goes through me here in philadelphia It all fell through, you know, it all fell into place and we skyrocketed So that was definitely something I took and then listen There were some comments that he made about stat padding about defense that you can you can read into a little bit going into tonight's matchup As an mvp voter, I don't know how you look at tonight's game and not, you know, view it as as a potential Like if one guy outplays the other thoroughly and wins How do you not look at that with with a ton of uh, you know credence, especially with two weeks left in the year How much this game means this mvp race being so close. So Uh, I think it definitely matters the outcome matters how they play against each other really matters for sure Me thinks we'll be starting the show tomorrow with this topic All right, there we go. I'll be the bad guy. I like being the a-hole. Anyway, I like me I mean, that's the thing about him bead, right? Like he's he's pretty unfiltered shams I mean, I it had to have been a fun interview. He's one of my faves No, they're like five different times. I'm like, yeah, I love this quote Like I wish I could just write this up right now and just put it out But no, I mean he was like you said totally unfiltered you could tell he wanted to get a lot of stuff off his chest And he hasn't done that many one-on-ones this year, but I think it was good to kind of get him in that unfiltered position I've talked to him several times over his career. So definitely hopefully some comfort level there too Shams with the inside scoop. Thank you. Uh, as always, we will see you tomorrow We will be talking about these two guys for sure. But when we come back new week new opportunities To make you some money in part like I can't even stay with straight face when we return Oh Fandall casinos March weekly super sweeps is here and you can win a share of $300,000 each week from March 14th through April 2nd every Tuesday through Saturday opt-in and any bet of $200 or more gets you an entry to that sunday's sweepstakes drawing see fandall casino for more details on how you can enter the march weekly super sweep so uh, Wednesday's parlay I wasn't here. So I I finally don't have to take any blame. Um, but eddie yours Really just drew my attention. Uh, you had derosen with over 22 and a half He finished with four points and went 0 for seven. That seems like you should get a double loss for that I agree. I see michelle without your guidance here. I just had no clue what to do and Look what happened like the four points. I just It was I needed you here to help but this I'm strong now this week And I believe Joel and B over 34 and a half points. That's a big number But that's a big you know, he cares about this game like we just talked about I'm expecting him to score 40 again So, uh nice 33 point knight from joel. I'm sure I like that. I like that. Chandler I love that. I think joel cares about this more than yokas does. I think filly's Better teams getting five endeavor. I'm rolling with them. I also love eddies. I think joel dominates tonight I like that one. I like that too. Okay. You guys are both on that game I went with the wolves king's game for my wolves plus four at sacramento I don't know just feels like this is going to be a good little matchup two of western conference potential Opponents, but you went 20 bucks went a hundred. This feels good guys I don't want to jinx it, but it looks like we're going to get three big w's today Does everybody agree? Nice return from you I know No, no, the wolves are feeling good about themselves. They have potential I didn't want to say it, but that was the one that scared me too back to back as well by the way Shut up We'll be back tomorrow. I'm sure we'll get one of those wrong. Have a great night