 Good morning and get out of my face with your stupid angel Reese takes. Thank you. Run it back starts now Yes, yes, yes, this is running back happy Monday morning the all-black edition of the show well done guys on our t-shirts We really kicked it on that one out six days That's it six days left in the regular season and we will start out with some very very bad news for me The Lakers are doing everything. I said they wouldn't do they beat the Rockets yesterday 134 109 Anthony Davis with 40 LeBron with a triple double Hachimura had 20 and 12 the bench. Oh the bench had 50 And if you take a look at the standings right now out in the West Oh my goodness five through eight all have the same number of losses at 38 So the tiebreakers involved are many and the whole thing is nobody wants to play Well, they don't want the five seat because you play the Suns and as Eddie know the Suns are on quite the tear right now So Chandler if you're in this group this lumpy group down here. How do you navigate the last six days of this season? I mean you you win as many games as possible You try and control your own destiny and the Lakers have done just that when you really look at what they've done It really is a remarkable term They're becoming a bit in the laughing stock not working everything negative Westbrook doesn't fit To them making that move with the trade deadline getting Anthony Davis healthy getting LeBron James healthy And now they look for real and you got to give credit to polinka You got to give credit to the front office because that that did something to them and they've developed their players They've Austin Reeves has been unbelievable for them. They got deeper. They got younger. They got shooting And they made a leap and to sit here and say are they a contender? They're not a contender, but they gave Themself hope this year they gave LeBron James something to be excited about And they put themselves in a situation to possibly not even be in the plan. So it really is crazy How up and down their season has gone the fact that they Could just get in as a six seed and play sacramento and possibly advance is beyond me To me, it's anthony davis the way he's playing 37 points or more in four of the last five games They're nine and oh all time since getting him when he scores 40 points or more when he's dominant This team has shown going back to the first year. They had him when they won the championship in the bubble He was arguably the best player on the team LeBron James won finals mvp But anyone that saw those games knew that they weren't going to win a championship unless ad Was was playing at this elite level and then he has the injury prone 2020 21 season and it's been injuries ever since and even this year He dealt with a stress injury and then he comes back and now he's starting to regain form I think there's only one more back to back to end the season. We'll see if he plays in that But right now the lake there's like Chandler said they put put themselves in a position where they have a chance I don't know how far they can go But they've given themselves a real chance in these western conference playoffs And if you're them you probably want to see the clippers fall out of the of the playoff spots Try to get the six seed play the sacramento kings. You don't want to get the five seed and play the sons That's a that's a horrible first round matchup for any team You hope the warriors can get to that five And you can somehow sneak in there at six and play the kings with your veteran experience going up against sacramento But to me this all revolves around anthony davis and him staying healthy All right, you heard that eddie it all revolves around ad the big question is do you trust ad to carry this team through the playoffs? I Do I mean he's averaging 28 and 12 since the all-star game 59 from floor And there's been times in this stretch. He's looked like the best player in the world or one of them And that we've always known that's what his peak is. That's what his capability was He just had to stay healthy suffered a freak injury earlier in the season like turn his ankle midair It's like how does that happen? But but he's been absolutely amazing when he's had him on the floor There was a point in november a stretch before he got hurt again Unfortunately, same thing looked like he could be the best player in the league if he had that that leeway to do so And now lebron is back and then you start to look at this team and say What could they possibly be but I have no No issues with anthony davis at all if he remains healthy and I know that's always a question mark But if he remains healthy Nobody in the western convas can really handle him And everything that the lakers will do successful will trickle from there and it's it's a little scary at this point Yeah, I agree and if you're the lakers you have to trust him right that they're They're only going to go as far as he takes them and like everyone's talking about right now He has been dominant and he's shown flashes all season long when he is 100 And he still is a top five top 10 player in the mba So yeah, and as much as they're trying to you know Get to that six seed and play sacramento this team fully healthy. It's not an easy out for anybody Yeah, you can look at and and you can go from you know Making it and being excited to be out of the play in and play phoenix But if you do draw sacramento in the first round for the lakers you go from just being happy to getting into To thinking you're winning that series. So it's just it's again It's a huge turnaround and with anthony davis playing like this and they're bench giving them what they gave yesterday And they have all these younger guys and they're shooting the ball Who then they're having fun, you know, it really is an exciting interesting team But it all starts with anthony davis and and I do trust him and if he's healthy he is unbelievable Despite the king's losing in my spurs yesterday I do not appreciate the king slander and I do think at some point It has to stop until we see what they can do in these playoffs LeBron had a lot to say about the chemistry of this team and where they're going And then he said we just want to put ourselves in a position to be able to compete For a championship. I like what we've been building over the last month or so You've already talked a little bit about it chandler as far as they won't but let's be real Weirder things have happened if things fall correctly for the lakers. Can they make a championship run? Yeah, weirder things have definitely happened And it's it's all you got to do is get hot for a couple months and you can take off and this team has the talent This team has the experience if lebron james continues to play at that level anthony davis playing that level if they're healthy Anything can happen what they they go they get the kings and then they get enver in the second round or memphis I could see that being a series. I wouldn't just help the lakers out of that but one step at a time continue to Control your own destiny win these next four games Win as much as you want or win at least the next two and put yourself in that situation to be able to Rest players to possibly lose to get that six seed instead of the five seed if that is their plan And that's who they want to face so Again, they've done such a good job getting to this point To now it's like They're pretty much a lot right like they're in they're they're in the playoffs at this point, which is crazy Yeah, like more than any season I can remember in recent memory It feels like seeding's gonna matter a lot Like if the lakers have to go through the warriors then the sons then the nuggets That's a little different and it changes what you think their chances are But if they're playing the kings and then the grizzlies and then I guess the clippers on the other side of the bracket Now it starts to look a little more enticing now starts to look a little more possible What I will say is this they have all they need like let's not get to excuses later if they lose they have a solid Contending team they have a bevy of guards and ball handlers Which they've been wanting since they got LeBron and and then added Anthony Davis They wanted playmaking Assistance and they had that with Dennis Schroeder with d'Angelo Russell And and obviously with LeBron and now Anthony Austin Reeves who is apparently a megastar and gets a Jordan whistle Every scene every time you watch him play But they have what they need. They have a diverse set of bigs that can help them out They have guys who are defending they have LeBron back healthy looking like LeBron And they have Anthony Davis who can absolutely propel you through playoff series So they have what they need now if they see the warriors and then the sons and then and what it gets a little tricky And I don't think they're better than either one of those teams But can they make a championship run? I think they can it's pretty scary considering where they were in november when we were saying blow it up It's not working everybody hates each other or even just february When russell westbrook was telling everybody to have fun Even if they lose and lebron was like out of his mind hearing that So to do all that in two months and not even really two months in six weeks or so That's impressive and and they control their own destiny from here on out So they can be the five seed they just have to win out But they play the sons they play the clippers. It's it's a lot and we're gonna find out a lot about them this week Yeah, I'm not ready. I'm you guys are very positive. I'm not ready to go all the way positive on this one yet Here's the thing the lakers have done everything they're supposed to do and the dalis mavericks have just looked like garbage Since this entire thing went down the the hawks beating them 132 130 and overtime look kairi and luka played 43 minutes kairi had 41 five and four luka finished with 22 points But he did have zero points in overtime and they gave up 70 First half points. There's also a foul on kairi at the end of overtime. I get let's start there There you go. You can see the after effects of that. You agree with the foul that was called channeler I mean it is a foul right like he's definitely run into him. He sells it a little bit I hate that a game, especially in overtime ends this way But yeah, that's like that that's a that's definitely a foul It's just it's it's kind of weak to let the game be controlled by this and definitely sells it Definitely flops and that pretty much was the game. But again not one play Makes makes a loss or what it makes a win, but this was This was basically it. That's that's a tough break at the end of the game Yeah, I mean it's a foul. It's an unfortunate foul I don't know if kairi's trying to shoot the gap and chase this guy or or he was gambling for a steal I've seen him do both before so it's both possible But he just got caught on stuff in a tough spot What's even worse about this is the mavericks had about three chances to win the game at the end of regulation Christian Wood, mr. Freethrow Javill McGee mr. Freethow as well and then Javill McGee made a free throw to send it to overtime Both of these teams were dying to lose this game and just just trying their hardest But fortunately for the Hawks, they were on the right side of their their mid Marathon that they're on right now and so since they had lost their last game They're starting to win another game and stay 500 and of course they did but yeah, it's a foul It's an unfortunate foul Luca actually got a good shot on the other side of court What I am surprised about though Is what kairi scorching in the way he was and luke struggling in the way He was that it was just an outright pass to the corner for luke to throw up a heave Uh, maybe get the ball to kairi in that situation, but look it's over This season is over just punt it just move on mavericks. It's the damage is done Oh Yes, we'll talk about that too because they have to look a little bit into the future on that But dallas has lost six of their last seven They do have their last three games all at home against kings bulls and spur shams As far as the mindset of this team heading into These final three games. We won't go in the off season yet. That's coming. But what is it going in the last three games? Well, I think the mavericks have to seriously look at whether you shut down luka donchage and kairi Irving these last three games Maybe two games of the regular season. This is a team That is one game out of the play-in behind oklahoma city oklahoma city I believe has the tiebreaker over them So there's there's essentially two games out of the play-in We just three, you know four games left. So you have to see what happens With utah what happens with oklahoma city between now and wednesday the maves don't play again until wednesday at home against the kings I'm told that the organization is seriously considering the possibility of shutting down those three guys They have a top 10 protected pick. So being out of the play-in race It behooves them not to try to keep their pick and at that point you have the flexibility of having that Potentially top 10 pick you have three first round picks that you can trade this off season to go get A star and potentially more players in the marketplace. They're going to be one of the more active teams So you go get kairi irving who's playing at elite level you try to go get him luka donchage some help Uh, you have two guys in luka and kairi that have been playing through stuff luka's dealing with a thigh injury kairi's been playing through playing our fasciitis. So They clearly need more depth on this team. Um, you know kairi irving Even though he's played at an elite level most of his time in dallas He just has now clicked so far for this mav's team as a unit Um, and I think you're gonna start looking at them over the next few days look into what exactly they want to prioritize Going into the off season Yeah It's it's devastating the kind of the run that they're on right now And it's the exact opposite of what happened for the lakers has happened for the mav's they they mix things up They make a big trade they bring in kairi irving And it has just been bad. They've gotten even worse defensively They don't have depth. They still lack size. They're big guys don't give them a lot of production Um, and this doesn't all fall on kairi irving. They have to find a way to re-sign him They gave they gave up way too much to not but I'm also I can't just shut down these guys right now I I see what happens before wednesday before they play next You know, you're a better team than oklahoma city You know, you can hang with them new orleans minnesota into play and you have the talent If i'm them I ride out this season. I don't care about the picket I think I have enough talent with these two guys that I just get into the playoffs Anything can happen and and they've dug themselves a huge hole But I can't with those two guys on my team just shut them down when they're still even a glimmer of hope I'm just riding out. You're about to have five six months off riding out But man, this has been a fall from grace all year long We're talking about the lakers and how bad and they're not going to make the playoffs and the maps were a lock And now the last month they have just completely smoked it. They're dealing with injuries. They're dealing with chemistry getting guys You know comfortable with each other, but this has been a brutal stretch and absolutely devastating And it'll be even more devastating if they don't re-sign kairi irving See, I find that to be very interesting because you and chums have both now Alluded to the fact that they're just going to sign kairi and keep this thing rolling eddie I don't know. Do you run it back with both kairi and luka or do you try to change this thing? I mean, I think technically they almost have to as far as their cap situation goes and and If they don't use that money on him, they it's not like they can spend it elsewhere in the summer I guess they could do a sign and trade of sorts But then you run into that situation where what is the market for kairi? Can you trade kairi for 40 million dollars of stuff coming back? I don't know that that's true. I think the trade deadline told us it's kind of iffy And and things have gotten worse since then not even what kairi. He's actually played fine But there's just that marker of like what does he do for us? And I think kairi's a great player and I think he played tremendous I think it was ridiculous last night hit a clutch shot late That layup we just showed and he can be valuable to the right team But I feel like there's gonna be a lot of teams sitting there going I don't think we're the right team. So yes, in some senses Dallas is essentially stuck and then it turns into what do they do around those two players from there It's been tough. They've lost seven or their last eight games. They've been awful defensively They gave them 129 points in the low scoring team in the league the other day A team where jimmy butler may or may not be trying It's it's it's a lot and they just continue to have these issues and on top of that like Yo, the morale on that team like the quotes that are coming out of some of these scrums are just Like those guys are ready for vacation. I'm with channel. They should not Shut everybody down But I'm not gonna be shocked when shum sends out the tweet and tells us. Yeah, it's it's time kairi and lucar going home and enjoy these rest these three games mass fans Shoms you're sitting there like When it What when it comes to kairi Irving they gave up two starters a first round draft pick and they gave up multiple second round picks for him So like channel said to not bring him back I think would be so much more devastating for that organization than bringing him back I think the feeling that you would have if you if kairi Irving walks Let's say to a phoenix or to a clippers or another organization and you don't get anything back for him There's no such thing for the mavericks as let's see how life is with no kairi Irving and let's see if this team is better Because at that point you literally reach rock bottom and then you're looking at lucadot Like you literally have to look into rebuilding because there's no way to maximize that roster hold and that money from a financial perspective so I still believe the mavericks First and foremost priority this all season is bringing back kairi Irving on a deal And then from there you have three first round picks You have salaries to go out in the marketplace whether you want to go get a star player Whether you want to get other You know rotation type of guys they clearly need bodies in the front court on the wing So you have to try to rebuild this team around those two guys and figure out What kind of town you can get in here lucadot is still under contract with a player option through 2026 So it's not like they're they're here with with kind of the time running out on lucadot It feels to me like and look by the way I preface all of this by saying these are two Amazing players in the league, but that doesn't always work just because you put them together. That's not the right formula It feels like this maybe was a mistake But now we're going to double down on this mistake because you feel like you can't do anything else So it's it's almost depressing if you're a maps fan, but jason kid mark cuban Especially mark cuban right now because we know how competitive he is about his team How much pressure channeler is going on in that front office and to be a fly on the wall I would also like to add because again Jaylin brunson would have signed for four years 55 million dollars, but anyways, that's neither here nor there How much pressure do you think they're putting on themselves? There's a lot of pressure and it definitely hasn't gone obviously the way that they expected it They thought this was going to turn around. They were so excited They thought this made them one of the best teams in the conference If not the league and it just hasn't and it hasn't worked and again, it's not kairi Irving It's not luka language collectively this team's just not working. They don't have defense They don't have toughness They need they have so many holes where the talent of luka and kairi is not even able to carry them and Like we just touched on and you have to resign him if they don't and this is just a three month rental And you gave away two starters and all those pigs It's one of the worst trades ever if they don't resign him So I don't care if it's not if it hasn't gone as planned I don't care if it if you're going to not make the playoffs You have two generational talents and that's attractive to free agents this summer. That's attractive Wanting to make a move and come join those two guys and They're going to forget about this month. They're going to forget come this summer one of the they sign a third guy We're then talking about how good the maps are next year and they can't be that without resigning kairi Irving and losing all that stuff So this it hasn't gone It hasn't gone as planned, but yeah, they have to double down. They have to resign him or this is brutal Wow, what a what a weird circumstance to have put themselves in let's move to the eastern conference boys wizards nicks don't look now Eddie the nicks clean shall play our bird Beating the wales are 2018 109 four players for 20 plus points But over the weekend there was some bad news In losing julius randall with an ankle injury shams We're going to start with you there update and his time frame Yeah, so julius randall is out for the rest of regular seasons left the rest of this week going into the weekend And the expectation is he's going to be re-evaluated mid next week So right before the start of the playoffs and you hope with that type of ankle spray that he's going to be able to come back To at least start the playoffs But obviously given that he's going to be re-evaluated with that sprain right before it's not a given It's a tough loss, but they've still won without him over the last few games And with jail and brats are leading the way. This is a team that can still compete at a pretty high level Yeah, they've won one four in a row So far with I know a few of those are without him But channeler as far as being competitive in the playoffs without julius randall looks like they're going to play cleveland. What are your predictions? Yeah, listen, they're like like shams just said they're going to compete. They're going to play hard They still have great guys you're getting 21 from obi top and last night filling in they're still managing to I'm finding ways to win games I think regardless with or without julius randall It's not just going to be a cakewalk for the cap. His team is tough. His team plays defense jail and brunson is a lot to handle Big time not having julius randall not having that threat and that weapon out there Um, and I think either way it's going to be a great series But I don't I don't think they have enough with or without julius randall to you know survive an advanced gift pass Hmm Edward yeah, I'm with channeler. I'm with channeler. I don't think that was a series They were winning anyway, but they absolutely need julius to be competitive in that series I they they just need some secondary scoring shout out that i'll be topping for last night That's not going to happen with evan hopefully and jared allen following him around the court It's going to be just a little bit different and they were talking about the best defense of the league statistically But they're also a really great defense functionally when you watch them and you watch the ground that their front quarter is able to cover That's a huge testament to those two guys too because they're often playing with two really small not defensive guards at all And then that that small forward situation has been in flux all season long So yes, they need julius randall and as somebody who just watched an ankle sprain and watched it kind of materialize over about three weeks Uh, it's going to be tough for me to see him playing that first weekend I could see him gutting it out obviously and just saying hey I'm going to play in pain and I'm going to deal with it because it's the playoffs But still there's going to be a little bit of swelling. There's going to be a little bit of soreness There's going to be a lot of work happening on that ankle still so it is going to It is going to be tough to get him on the court and even when he does We're not going to look at at the same Burst and explosives and this immediately but ankle sprains heal and if they push that series longer and longer Then they have a chance I feel like you guys didn't see obi toppen's post game outfit I feel like there have been a lot more respect thrown on uh on the next Oh Overall if we were talking about obi toppen's outfit after the game We're going to take a quick break here when we come back collective bargaining agreement time and thank goodness We have shams to make us smarter on all of it when run it back returns We're welcome back to run it back shams you were busy over the weekend a lot of Serious stuff going on with the collective bargaining agreement. It's kind of nice to see things being agreed on Can you I would say can you update us? But this whole segment is going to be about this. So where do you want to start? Yeah, man, I think we can start with kind of the the rule for kind of curbing load manager When you think about we talked about it a few weeks ago the possibility Of of getting games played minimum when it comes to trying to get awards all NBA teams So 65 games or more players have to play moving forward once the collective bargaining agreement kicks in next season In order to be eligible for all the major league awards To be able to get on the all NBA team and the all NBA team. I'm told now will also be positionless So you won't have to deal with centers and forwards and guards and Joel and bead Not getting on the first team because nikola yokic made it It's going to be the 15 best players now moving forward And I think there will be conditions as well put in there if a player suffers a catastrophic injury or if a player in a team Some you know, if there's if there's a shutdown of a player and they're at game 63 I think there's going to be conditions in there to protect guys as well But 65 games and I'm curious from Chandler's perspective. Do you think this impacts guys will this impact guys mentality going in this season? I mean, it's roughly what you get to miss 20 percent of the season give or take Chandler So what do you think 65 games as a threshold will this work? I like it just because it takes out any question or doubt whether this person qualifies or not So like like right now if Embiid and these guys that are in the race right now They have to reach that threshold to even be considered. So just to me it takes out any Any gray area where oh, well this guy played more games, but there's still going to be an opportunity where Let's say Joel played 66 this year and yokic played 74 Are we going to knock him for those games like the difference of the difference? So there's still going to be issues with it, but I do like it just because it eliminates any question or doubt You know, I mean even allowed to get it I think this is tricky because now we're going to see a lot of 65 66 67 game seasons Why not we literally just saw Damian Lerner get to 58 The game where he qualifies to be in the leading scores of the league and say all right I'm done. Sorry guys and release a couple nice press releases about it This sound puts a cap. I think the other way if we're going to load man is now we can say as a team Okay, let's get his 65 Let's figure out his schedule for that or we get to the 65 and we're just talking about one team shutting down We're thinking about other teams shutting down We just see a lot of guys hovering around 65 games And so I think it's going to have that reverse effect. Do I think it's cool to incentivize playing more games? Yeah, I just think some ideas work different in practice than they do in theory But you do have a situation like this season where it looks like jaren jackson Is going to win defensive player of the year and he would not have if this rule was in place And so yes, it's going to work in some sense But it's going to be a lot of haggling and with shamsen. There's a little bit of gray area That scares me too because I can't wait till we have the first controversy where the guy goes Hey, I only played 61 games, but I actually got hurt So now I need to make first team so I can get my super max and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah And we just have to talk about it for three weeks and the NBA goes. Yeah, whatever Screw the rule and so it's happening. It's coming. I know it And uh, yeah, you know, sometimes you rub the genie you ask for a wish and it goes all out of whack And I think that we might get that a little bit here No, I love that the evolution is happening, right? Like because we this is the thing It's never going to be perfect But I'm pretty sure eddie's scenario will happen next season, right? That's it's going to be right away Like I feel like it's having What's also going to what's going to happen when someone like yana's in the all-star game just checks in And then gets right out and one possession, you know, it gets out Well, some people will why You know what I mean? If I'm at 64 games and I'm an mvp or I need to qualify I'm just going to do what yana's just did in the all-star game. I'm going to get in there I'm going to get my 65 my 65th game and I'm out. So there's still going to be controversy with it Well, yeah, so there's always To figure it out I would do it if I go ahead I was just saying to holiday did it last year for like 800 k or something Watch the tip off fouled a guy cool. We're out of there. We got enough games and we're absolutely gonna see that happen Do please believe it But yes, we would all do the exact same thing. That's what those incentivized causes are for I think they're amazing and good for you if you can get them Um, but as far as the positionlessness of the league moving forward This has been such a topic when even when just as fans we're trying to figure out how to vote chaneler Do you like it? Do you think this is a big good step for the league moving forward? Yes, it makes the most it can you imagine if mb and yokich only one of them could be first team all mba this year like that Or one of them could start in the all-star game or you know jason tata Yeah Didn't start because because yanis and kd and these other guys but like donovan mitchell got in but I'd like the five best players. I think when I look at all mba. I'm looking at the five The 15 top guys that had the best season. I shouldn't be knocked if you know small forward this year Is the deepest position and you know a two guard that has had not even close to good those years I have they get the awards because position. So I think they figured it out here I think they should do it for the all-star game as well But this makes the most sense Yeah, I love this. I'm glad this one got done shams. Let's talk a little salary cap and chaneler I know you're gonna want to chime in on this. So new rules that affect the salary cap moving forward are what? Well, it's basically even more difficult now if you're an upper spending team when you talk about the clippers you talk about Um, the nets the warriors It's more difficult to make trades spend at a high level You can't use your taxpayer mid level if you reach the second apron of the tax and even in trades It's harder to conduct trades. It's harder to trade picks Um, it overall it's good. It's really what one person told me It's really big owners versus small versus smaller owners And so I think certainly teams got their wish you're gonna get more parody It's gonna be a little bit more difficult for those upper spending teams Um, but I do think for the players they opened up hundreds of millions when you think about uh Money that wasn't there untapped money team players being able to invest in teams NBA teams WNBA teams Um, the the mid level exception money is going to be going up room exception is going to be going up Um, and there will be a minimum threshold that all these teams have to hit on anyway So you're not going to run into those problems I think as frequently as we have in the past where teams just elect not to spend I think in the next cba There's going to be written stuff in there that teams have to spend the money Up until I believe the 90% minimum. So, um, overall I think it's going to be a lot more difficult for those upper teams that are spending all this money Steve Ballmer Joe Psy Joe lake of that are just spending money at a ridiculous amounts to be able to retain guys, especially at the mid level type money You like it Jalen Even the playing field a little bit right it gives these smaller market the same opportunity and like Sean just said It's these the the richest guys not necessarily just going to win and get the best player now spend the most money It's great for players. I saw Ryan Smith here yesterday the owner of the jazz This makes draft picks even more valuable and and and and I think it's a very very good thing Moving forward because it's again, it's it's it's it's like the Yankees They have the they could just sign whoever they want. This makes things a lot more even and and I think it's a good thing Was breaking news uh jazz jazz and Cabo thank good. Thank you Chandler. That was very good Eddie What one one result of this is we're we're hurting the middle class a little bit We're hurting those MLE guys those guys who could have cash in seven eight nine million dollars and to play on a contender That's not there for them Now they're going to be in a situation where they can go get that MLE on a worse team Or a lower spending team or they can take a minimum if they want to win if they want to compete if they want to win So you're going to look at a lot of guys on that level who look the teams they know what's going on So they're not going to just willingly pay them more money than they would have Yo, you're either going to take this minimum or we have an extra two-way We're going to we're going to hope we strike big on a second on a second round pick or a two-way guy or whatever So you remove that a little bit, but I do appreciate that We're making it more difficult for teams to sustain dominance That should be the point here We want as much parity as we can look at how much fun We've been having with the western conference this season and the jumbled second half of of the standings That's what we want in league wide Now when you look at the the highest payrolls in the league You are looking at a lot of the contenders and then the oklahoma city thunder at 10 So look small market teams are not spending money They are but this is what we're we're trying to we're trying to find that parity We're trying to find we're trying to not let Steve Ballmer buy a title in perpetuity because he's Steve Ballmer And in that sense it works I just feel for those mid-level guys and the contracts they're going to be losing out on But they've also instilled other ways for them to make money which shams I'm sure we'll talk about and those guys can make ends meet Yeah, he is about to talk about that because we we've talked about this next one for a while And you're either for it or against it shams is the mid-season tournament happening Yeah, the in-season tournament is happening November December They're going to play games It'll be regular season games that are going to be basically hyped up and heightened as as as in-season tournament games So I think when you look at the longer term This is going to be an opportunity when you think about media rights for the league to potentially stream some of these games There's a amazon Um, there's an apple to someone buy into the in-season tournament But it's just raising the stakes of games that already existed And the two teams that face off in the finals, I believe will play an 83rd game as well But overall, this is a process that has been in the works for the last two years $500,000 per player on the winning team Is that enough to to satisfy the appetite? You think of players chain? I'm curious Oh, it depends on the level player if I'm one of these two-way guys. Yeah, I love that Especially I'm not even playing in these games and I can just put about 500 grand I would love it. It's just especially if these these games don't mean more There's still counts against your record and playoffs heating into ultimately get into the playoffs and win a championship I don't think it really matters that much. I don't think guys are going to take the game more seriously for the for the half a million dollars But again, like like how everything is so congested now Kind of gives a little, you know, a little spiciness to the middle of the season Sure that will I like tune in and watch every game like as the playoffs? No, but I It's fun and it's different and why not try out? I was skeptical on the play and also So whatever happened and now I love it. I think brilliant. So maybe this will be the same Yeah, I like it It's like they're building on the idea of what the plan has turned into by the way dream on very active on the tweeter box there, uh The mill you would have preferred a million dollars. So to hell with the the lower level guys This far straight month concerned 500 000 is not enough. I don't think this pertains to him necessarily but eddie as a fan Uh, when we talk about this mid-season tournament, does this get you excited at all? Uh, I mean, look WMA fans. They love the commissioners cup Soccer fans. They love all their mid-season tournaments and stuff NBA fans can be sticklers, but I feel like at the end of the day, they're gonna be games They're gonna be nice sponsored games to come in nice packages and fancy nicknames and all that but They're gonna be games And I do love the idea of a one-off game worth, you know A half a million dollars for everybody on the floor and and seeing how that goes And I also love the idea of like theo pinson at the end of the bench Getting a free half mill because he's he's really cheering his guys on like I don't know. I think the theater of that and if they do it on a neutral side and all this cool stuff I think that could be great It's gonna be tough to convince fans that like this is championship adjacent or whatever But I know for my arguments and all that having somebody giving this to to LeBron again Something Michael Jordan can't win. That's gonna make it funny to argue about and I mean we have we have playing MVPs we have like we have all this weird stuff now and we gave away bubble awards We're giving conference championship awards like I guess like whatever. Let's just do it Yeah, there'll be banners and there'll be rings Yeah, dude, and you do coaches get any bonuses if they went How's that work? Yeah, I mean, I'm sure the coach the coaches get you know, how it goes they get playoff bonuses So players are getting 500 000 for for winning the coaches will get bonuses too. I'll report back on that soon Yes, find out about broadcasters if uh broadcasters on lower level Find out what we can do on that as well. And then finally save the best for last shams What's new as far as marijuana in the league? Yeah, no marijuana testing no prohibitions. No Really, this is a continuation of what happened and what started in 2019 2020 The the bubble season where they temporarily stopped testing random testing for marijuana Well, now it is totally out of the anti-drug program for the NBA under the new collective bargaining agreement I think it's a way that the nbpa is told as players. It's a way to Um liberate, um you guys in terms of the anti-drug policy as well. So yeah, no marijuana testing under the new cba It's officially official. Um, you know, I I don't know how it'll impact games, but it's definitely, you know, very progressive for the league Yeah, yeah, can we play high now? What's the deal Chandler? Like are they there's no testing? What does this change anything? Yeah, look at my eyes right now. I thank god Yeah, look at my eyes right now and thank god No, it's it's it's legal. Everybody smokes weed. It's it's why would it be tested and frowned upon and shunned upon It's just funny that had the change of marijuana like back in the day growing up My parents wouldn't let me hang out with like the pothead the stoner kids and now it's like Live a healthier life. So Marijuana has made a more a more remarkable comeback for lakers this year. It really is great Yeah, like like newsflags they haven't been testing for a long Long long long time. It just doesn't It doesn't matter like if you wouldn't know or not gonna know the difference I look forward to like guys like endorsing weed. I look forward to guys this smoke. Yeah I look forward to all that because uh, your favorite NBA player probably smokes weed From time to time and and and fairly More likely so yeah, no way Eddie No way you're lying. How dare you Eddie When you you get like six failed marijuana tests too So it's like you really got to fail like an offensive amount of times before anyways before even public So like just stop testing Yeah, unless you're gonna test for wine. I think you should probably test uh stop on that as well shams That was a lot of information. Thank you so much We will uh, we will chat early tomorrow morning and we as a group will also take a quick break here When we come back a bunch of dudes with lots of family got embarrassed when we come back Well, you're looking at him the probable number one pick in the next draft. This is ridiculous. They put back after this three um Yeah, I don't even Chandler We're gonna probably ask this question. Hold on. I have to make sure that I'm properly dressed for this next segment I don't want to miss out on this. Have you seen this before? I I don't think I have this is crazy First of all, he's shooting a step back So he's going away from the rim as he pulls up And obviously guys follow their own mess like this but to catch this two feet one hand Outside the arch this is this is a video game and this is why he's arguably the most intrigued prospect of all times This isn't normal. This is this is not normal. I mean it does look like sometimes it looks like he's the only guy out there Like well, what's happening? Yeah, look, I don't know what this league is He's playing in how what the competition level is and and the twitter guys They can keep telling me he only scored eight points. I don't care that dude saw a step back three And then rebounded his miss and tipped dunked it in In the same motion. I I don't care what happened in the rest of the game. Shut the rest of the game down I've never seen that. I might I'd never see that again When t-max threw the ball off the backboard on purpose and then went and dunked it I lost my mind this right here. It's not supposed to be possible. This is just Ridiculous. I don't I don't need to see more if I was his agent I would never let him bounce a basketball again until he's doing in the NBA like stop running around. It's over It's it's yeah, this was all over the okay I just had to make sure I wanted to now that we're almost done with the season It's time to officially get into the spirit of what's to come So yeah, I was just you know, let's see more of those wimpy highlights as we keep this thing moving Uh, let's do a little Batman has a family by the way, I have no pull on what happens in the draft I'm just hoping for the best for everyone. Let's start with a bar running room on normal cow There's not much more I've been scorching lately A two foot two hand dunk just he was this this stuff Any game a little shove I look I my goodness. This is perfect. This is exactly what this this segment should be That happening to somebody Yeah, I like that one It's disrespectful, but not in your face. Disrespectful just enough Uh, Bryce McGowan's on Arusha, bitch Who oh my goodness sir Got gotta love april basketball, right? Like who I mean who's this wait wait Who yeah, but you know what the hornets are playing just for fun. They're they're doing some stuff It doesn't matter and it's for nothing They're enjoying being spoiler alert Just yeah, they are David Rowdy on Zubac. Oh Okay, that's right This dude he's got the NFL. He is so physical. It's so strong And this was violent and just another classic white guy getting backed on Yo, I saw this live this This is like the most perfect get your steps. Get your feet right dunk I've seen in a long time it just worked out perfect for him and boom like that's That's ridiculous. Wait does Zubac even jump? I mean, what are you doing? That's embarrassing Yeah It barely moves nasty Come on, dude. Uh, I can't believe we have a Grayson Allen moment. Oh Oh, what to do with this happy fail. I'm torn. I'm happy. He fell I mean that's pretty nasty. By the way, there's also the kill of Denver. I don't know if we have him on here But the Christian Bronn kid he has balanced too No, we don't have him on here. No joke I like no statue of liberty. Don't touch it with the other hand go. I like this kind of dunk You can't let Grayson Allen do it to you Grayson and Jorah are one in my uh bingo card I agree with you. Uh, Lou Dort Oh, I didn't know he had that He might not have either But here it is He's another guy who probably should be rushing the quarterback, but he got the bag playing defense and doing stuff like this. So Whew As a person with a pretty unsexy name myself Lou Dort Is not the best name in the league It's it's pretty unsexy. It's nothing you could do. I mean you could change it, but Lou dork Then you went moments like this state legend And yannis why not? Again the two feet two hand just shows me that yannis knew he was gonna dunk this ball and had zero fear of this kid Hey, he just sort of looked at him to disrespect Sometimes the league just works like this like like jailer made a great read He made a he made a great contest. He actually blocked it and he just still got thrown to the floor and dunked on like that's What do you do with that point? Yeah, that's just that's you're going up against one of the best So that's that's gonna happen. You did your best and you should go to sleep knowing that uh that night All right, we got a little blazers Uh talking points right now. This is like eddiel like it they defeat the wolves They were 19 and a half point underdogs going into this one Four starters for portland didn't even play and they still managed to win by four It's one of the biggest upsets against a spread since they started tracking those things back in the 90s. Um Look, the wolves are Heading into the playoffs here chandler. Is this a bad omen? I mean, it's a bad loss overall considering that they weren't trying to lose this, but it's it's it's again It's game and you look at these guys on the portland. This is their time to shine This is how they get, you know and and the coaches They play hard and they have performances like this. We're going into the all You can look back at this game And you know say look at my impact like I did here and so Teams trying to lose it's so funny when you see tanking and all this stuff These kids aren't just tanking teams are putting out guys that they think are going to lose These kids are trying like eat. They're trying to get their contracts or play And so it's funny to think I wouldn't think of all the games This game was the biggest the fact that the minnesota timberwolves are ever a 19 point favor It's more shocking to me than than they lost That's kind of insane. Oh, sorry, eddie. I'm like looking at that thinking what? It was a really weird game and maybe like examining the box score afterwards because Because these sounds only shot three shots. I'm like, what did I just watch right now? Anthony Edward shot 30 shots I don't know if there's a thing there or whatever But that's a game you absolutely can't lose after they gave up and collapsed Against the lakers as well. They collapsed to get the suns as well And it's like, yo, this was a team who could have been out of the play And who could have had the five or six seed and just last week were like man They're impressive after they beat the warriors and then they put up a couple stinkers And it's like, oh, I guess they're still the wolves and I could still make really go bear jokes. But yeah ugly ugly loss I don't know if it's an omen But uh, you know, I think it's it's one of those Oh, I guess they are what we thought they were and now we don't have to think so hard about them going into the playoffs And I'm wondering can they win a playing game? Like are they in that trustworthy and that was just after last week saying hey, man They might be the crazies that they play them. So You hate to see that This league is fun, isn't it? Well, they they do lose Nasred out for six weeks with the broken wrist channeler So as far as losses for the timber wolves, how big is that one? I mean, it's huge just because they are playing for something and they are in the playing and Nasred's had an unbelievable year Thank god, it's nothing serious. But you know, it's almost good for Nasred. Like you've done unbelievable You've had a great year. You set yourself up for a huge payday. Let's say they do get into the playoffs And he has an awful series that's just going to hurt his strike value this summer. So Honestly, congrats, man Like heal your wrist bones are going to heal and you are going to be a lot richer company Nice Yeah, I was at that game Nasred tried to catch up serious body and ended up, you know getting hurt in the fall I don't want to say he even mouthed his teammate. So yo, I think it's broke Finish the game finish the stretch made a free throw Uh, so shout out to him, but I'm with Chandler go get that bag big fella Don't don't worry about what's going on over here. It's a lot of money waiting for you in the summer. Go get that bag That was a nice lesson in teamwork you guys. I'm really happy that you're telling the kids We're gonna take a quick break here We don't have a lot of parlays none actually, but when we come back Chandler with his national title game Bicks when run it back returns Well, our last parlay was uh, wednesday a long long time ago, but uh, no No reason not to celebrate right guys anybody want to speak for themselves before I brag or Not a girl I mean Finally sun's sun's covering the spread is you know, it's like a win in life for me. So I had myself I guess wow I mean, I feel like because mine was such a big point spread and I got it I should get three wins for that But apparently that's not how these things work and that's fine. We'll take it. Uh, look no no I mean that's I don't get made very many of these feels pretty nice There are no NBA games tonight That's a good reason because now we all get to concentrate on the men's college basketball national championship game Yukon seven and a half point favorites going to this one against San Diego state They have won by the way by an average of about 20 points so far Chandler, but Who do you take in? I'm all over Yukon. I think they're the best team that was left in the final four. They looked unbelievable against Miami San Diego state I lost that game against FAU they hit the buzzer beat but it's been so fun And I think Yukon I think they cover the spread the money line I would I'm going to take but I think they still cover seven and a half Any shot Eddie any shot for a fun I got I got San Diego west coast, uh, please don't bring the rest from last night though anything But those rest from last night I just want a good game not a 20 point blowout, but that's gonna do it for us. We'll see y'all brighten early tomorrow Have a good one Oh