 good Thursday morning welcome to run it back we uh we have a show it's full of things I'm not one of those people says we have a great show in store for you because I don't know yet we don't know it's gonna be great but we're gonna do our best I'd like to introduce the crew stadium insider Shamsherania rock in the whole block on black I love this he showed up ladies and gentlemen the odds weren't good but Chandler Parsons made it post birthday celebration and pre birthday celebration Lou Williams on the end what a weird week for us here guys long night of basketball we watched every single second so we'd be prepared to talk about it yes we did including the big debut of the alien Victor Wimbanyama and man's first fans showed up early for this one hosting Dallas already a semi rivalry but they spoiled it Dallas winning this one 126 119 they scored the final eight points for the win bit of a dagger in that when we finished with 15 five five turnovers of one block Luca however well Luca and Kyrie but Luca 33 14 and 10 Kyrie had 22 points I know this is probably going to be considered a slow start for when be given all the hype but he did have nine in the fourth so let's just talk about what stood out first of all what's not to me is how much this dude cared and how tough he was getting the crowd involved everything he was doing like he was feeding off that energy and you could tell he was excited to be there and yeah he struggled a little bit early on and he's going to do that he's he had five turnovers he's gonna he's gonna make mistakes and as far as like the expectations they're not unfair because he does show flashes like that is something that he shouldn't be doing at that size facing you up bang bang between the legs and knock it down a three but he did show flashes in the fourth quarter and I thought it was a great debut I don't think we need to slow down any talk I think you need to be patient with this guy that you know I mean like just be patient but he's gonna have some huge games he's gonna have some bad games he's gonna have some bad turnovers there's gonna be a lot of different things going on in this kid's first year but I thought last night it was actually you know they were so much fun to watch between him and Sohan and Kelly Johnson and this is a fun team to watch and they're a lot better than I expected I love it man that was my first time I saw him with some emotion getting the crowd going being excited it was his debut a lot to a lot to build on a lot to work on but I thought the young guy played well I like that so none of us are lowering our expectations we're just chilling no if anything I they're like a top three team to watch I think going fun this kid's always going to get this guy he's exciting and he gave me he teased me a little bit last night with what's to come what I what I loved is like when you when you watched him walking off the floor how upset he looked about the loss and the fact that he he scores nine points in that fourth in that fourth quarter like the jumpers that he was making I mean it was face-ups from from mid-range in the corner threes his gate he's I mean he's got everything but just how frustrated he looked walking off the court there wasn't any post-game dapp up he looked like he was frustrated about the loss and it was just one game first one is settling it doesn't be plenty to see I think this is gonna be like you know said a fun team to watch but this is clearly still a rebuilding retooling team but I'm I'm curious like what was Victor women yama yama's first thought when he got a lot like you know I needed the ball right there like why didn't I get the ball he should have had more touches well yeah that's another thing I'd love to see him even more aggressive that he was very efficient but the as a young player you tend to force especially with him with all this pressure all this expectations people want to see him do more every single time he touches the ball and he didn't wish to me so it shows a huge sign of maturity that he's not gonna press he's not gonna force he's gonna take what the defense gives him and continue to do what he does on that end what do you tell a kid I mean he's he's obviously bigger than everybody else on the court and I one of the guys last night was talking about fouls are gonna be a lot easier on him as well they're gonna call him a lot more because just the size differential how do you just sort of temper expectations on that coming from overseas I think with the rule changes and how we allow to play in the NBA I think he'll settle in and it's always been a personal game to kind of get get rookies in foul trouble just to test their temperament to see what what's there and kind of play those mind games playing chess a little bit but I think he'll settle in he'd be fine and he'll learn he's not gonna get the same cause that a veteran guy is on the other team and it's gonna take him time just to understand angles more and his physicality people are gonna go right at his chest right so he did a great job first player second player the game he comes help side blocks Kyrie Irving's pull-up like you don't you don't see that I'll see that right for just comparison sake Tim Duncan's first game was 15 points 10 rebounds in his first David Robinson 23 and 17 do you guys remember your first games oh my first game actually was against the Spurs I didn't play well but I remember my first ever point I banked in a free throw I know I have it right here I just see if you remember you played 17 minutes here we go many points you think you had five whoa he's good I think I have four okay yeah let me see what yours you put you remember you play three minutes there it is definitely got a bug you made one shot one field goal in three minutes that's pretty good that's pretty good that's great efficient can't believe you got the five right who are you before the game I mentioned it the fans were there they were loud I think the the Jumbotron video they're bringing back y'all ready for this which is such flashbacks for me personally shams it's it's we knew it was gonna be big what's the last time or when's the last time you saw something kind of like this I mean I was at Koala Leonard's return game that was definitely very very energetic not in this way no not in this cheering way but I think I mean probably when they were getting to the finals I mean every single year I was I was at the 13 finals the 14 finals like those the crowds in San Antonio I mean you would you would you can attest more like they get lively when it's a team they root for when it's a team they feel like they can relate to they get really rowdy I can relate to an 8-foot dude a lot of people don't know that Antonio is a great basketball town so to see that again because it's been a while it's been a minute to see that again that was great guys has anyone ever gone nine years without a championship it's really hard but we're opening the show with the Spurs Michelle that's it that's progress I'm yeah I'm so happy you know patience it paid off on the map side of things Luca was there he was reminding everyone hey I'm still here and I'm kind of awesome a 30-point triple double and it's felt like especially at the end I mean he had the dagger once and for all Lou it's it's a reminder that he's top five or you know we're gonna do some top-fives today I think we're I think we're running out of space in that we are we have expectations for all of these guys but Luca had a great night he put everybody on notice you know he's he's he's on part I have a great year this is a this is a normal night for him you know 30-point triple double this is business as user for Lucas so that was a great night yeah I agree and this is obviously we're gonna continue to see a lot of this it's it's a very Joker s game right he does a little bit of everything he makes the big plays down the stretch and they kind of play very similar obviously one's a guard one's a big but no matter who's guarding Luca no matter who's guarding you can't speed him up right you can put a smaller guy under him he's still gonna use his size he's gonna slow it down put a bigger guy on him he can use the speeding it by him so there's no one way to guard this guy and you're gonna continue to see God he's that lines like this all year long yeah he's now the second favorite for the MVP running but yeah things will get it they're gonna change 48 out I know put you all your money on it right now I'm Derek lively if you were watching last night was a name you heard the entire time he had 16 and 10 I'm going to assume the maps did they know they were getting this the mavericks have been targeting Derek lively since they got back in that top 10 lottery positioning we know about what happened that last week the regular season we shot we I don't want to give us too much credit we foreshadowed we can the fact that they were gonna arrest these guys and they rested them and they got fined I think 750,000 by the league and it was a big deal that they were clearly tanking and they wanted that number 10 pick because they wanted a chance to go get Derek lively and then a moving back and that's it and they draft him and I mean Chandler could probably test this as well but all the workouts that Derek lively had in the lead up to camp they were raving about and they're like he's a starting caliber center he's like Clint Capella except longer taller lengthier a lob thread a guy that doesn't need the ball in his hands so lively last night looked so lively I'm not trying to drop too many balls show yourself he was he was he was everywhere and and I think this was the perfect mavericks game 17 and 6 for Grant Williams who they acquired Kyrie Irving hitting two clutch shots Luca Donchich having having a clutch moment at the end as well like I think it was a perfect maths game again they got to do it do this against contenders boom forward as well yeah it's crazy to think that the whole tanking thing the whole fine that mark out last year it worked and this is exactly who they wanted and this is why he's a perfect fit because he's not a big that requires the ball they're not gonna waste possessions by him going back to the basket he's a live body he's a rim runner he's a great lob threat when you have Luca and pick and roll and Kyrie and pick roll who are so good at that they can pick you apart and having him roll to the rim and just being able to throw it up while they space the floor with shooters with Tim Hardaway Jr. with curry with everything it's a great format for their offense and this kid was active he altered shots defensively he was getting to the rim he was physical like I don't know I thought he was starting all the reports all precinct that he's starting I think eventually he gets in that starting lineup but this is it's looking like a brilliant pick I want to move on to the next thing but really quickly they had Jason kid miked up for the entire second half would y'all think about that that's that was crazy to me it's scary right see yeah on national team I think they're doing that with a lot with with a lot of because the WNBA does it I guess so they're there I think they're trying to do it more I don't I can't see it last and long though because there's gonna be some loose lips all right yeah they're gonna use nothing the words the first game of the night was the Celtics Nix yeah Celtics with a spoiler in the garden 108104 Tatum finished with 34 and 11 poor zingas though might be the story here 30.8 rebounds four blocks played a lot Brunson and Randall combined for 29 the we've talked so much about all the offseason moves what's the best who did the best and then you see poor zingas last night play longer I think they said he played the entire first quarter which had not been done by him in quite some time would could this possibly be the biggest move of the offseason to quietly sure after 24 hours and after he put up you know 30 and eight against a very very solid defensive team but look he looked at good and this is the same thing that we're talking about with lively it wasn't just offensively with him he had four or five block shots he was altering shots he would come over help side he was talking this is the prison is that people expected actually it's just watching this I felt happy for him he's back in the garden where you you know he's had his ups and downs there and he just he looks confident he looked happy he looked just like just reinvented and it's a huge pickup for him because when you do have these guys like Tatum and Brown that can go and get you a bucket I so it's nice to have a seven foot too big that can stretch the floor and hit step back threes like that call glass there but this shot this shot was huge he's gonna get more wide open shots than ever he's gonna he's gonna get more wide open shots playing on the Boston Celtics this year than he did with playing with Luca just because the way they play those two guys on the wing it's it looks like a great fit but yeah if he's gonna average 30 and you know shoot 80% from the field and dying for 10th of the line it looks like it's gonna be a really good signing he was out there balling yeah for the first time in a long time it looked like he was having fun out there and you know team wise I think with how they play he gives them another big that can they can stretch the floor out without Horford out there open up those lanes for JB to go downhill for JT to go downhill but last night it was Brazilian show that's a that's a good point he looked like he was enjoying it look like it's nice to see Tatum you guys have already called it I'm just gonna have you reiterate why you think Tatum is the favorite for MVP finished with 34 and 11 what can you say look like MVP candidate to me made us look good made us look really good man 10 first quarter points it didn't force a lot I thought what it was there was one stretch in the game where he started forcing because I felt like he was trying to put the nail in the coffin he was trying to get he was trying to get New York out of there but other than that after that game MVP candidate for sure he's got third best odds maybe it's time now to take it yeah take it it's hot because it could get better you know I want to make all the money I can shams I love watching games in the garden I think it's always fun even the first game of the season the energy was good Celtics winning in that place kills nicks fans but what'd you take away from it I mean I took away that I think last year a lot of people forgot Cristos was in his average career highs and points 23 points career career high in field goal percentage 49.8 when you're playing for the wizards I think last season he got forgotten about you but he's you could tell the way he's playing it's it's different like he's I feel like he was forcing a lot of post-ups when he was with the Mavericks now he's fine being a floor spacer he's fine picking his spots and still he's putting up these these gaudy numbers most points all time for Celtics debut 30 points that's crazy five of nine I mean this could be every night where he's putting up eight to ten threes because of the wide open shots he's gonna get and I think when you look at the totality of the Celtics offseason they they essentially traded Marcus Smart Grant Williams and Rob Williams for these for this duo Drew Holiday and Cristos Prosing is they they doubled down on kind of wanting more star power wanting more guys that they can depend on because as you guys know when the when the playoffs come rotation shrink you know Lou Lou probably goes from a six man to like a fit starter like like come playoff time like rotation shrink and they went with two guys instead of three and I and I saw you Nick's fans on Twitter they were not happy with the officiating last night it was very very loud we hear you we saw you I the the flopping being a tech is an interesting one for me but they shot 37% last night and they did keep it quite close but without a superstar if they don't in the end do something this season what is the ceiling for them make the playoffs get a good matchup in round one and hopefully advance and it's tough when you don't have that go-to guy and as good as Jalen Brunson is we were talking about yesterday the day before top five point cards top seven never even mentioned this guy and he has had a he's gotten so much better each year and I love the next bench looking at the game last night honestly I have concern about the Celtics bench again Pritchard they got you know Howitzer Horford that they're not that deep there but I think the best starting five but the next bench kind of exposed them yesterday with Devin Chenzo with heart these guys quickly had a huge game so I love what the Knicks are doing I think they have this group that is very versatile they can go big they can go small I loved Hartenstein even off the bench coming in foul and hard like this was a this was a this was a great loss if that's possible on the first loss you know I mean like they look solid and they definitely can grow from this but yeah it's tough when you don't have a go-to guy when your go-to guy goes six of 21 it's tough to win games is that not good it's not great okay fair enough and then randall I mean five for 22 I mean you randall could be their best player you know is it the shoes or go on pelicans played the grizzlies and for Zion fans it was nice because you got to see him finally last time we saw him was january second he put up 23 he was nine of 17 and had seven rebounds you also had the last 12 points for the team which is nice to see a lot of injuries in this dude's career so I ask you this I want you to look into your crystal ball are we going to see are we going to get back the player that we that we all want to see about injuries yeah I am I am looking right at you because look at me the injuries got the hamstring he missed 29 last year uh foot injury eight six it's it's a lot the knee surgery and then of course the fluctuating weight which everyone seems to want to talk about all the time poor guy well here the thing is when he played this isn't about production or talent yeah when he is on the floor he is so good he is so efficient if he's playing 30 minutes he's having 25 8 and 5 you know I mean he is that good he is that talented it's just all the other stuff it's all how many games can he play how many minutes can he play what do they have enough to keep him healthy throughout an 82 game season to have him in the playoffs because when you look at their team too they're a sleeper in the west too when especially they get alvarado back they get murphy back they have that deep team they have shooting they have a little bit of everything but it's all dependent on Zion because it's again it's it's like a sad feeling because the NBA is better when he's playing and this team is dependent solely on him being healthy and dominating which he does when he's on the floor pretty much every single game we just wait for it there was a sequence of plays um where you get sort of a a flashback a glimpse I don't want to say flashback it makes it sound like he's 40 he's not there's a lot going on here we've got a lot left with him but here it is this is Zion sort of vintage oh god on jaren jack on the defensive player of the year by the way Lou take me through what you're seeing here just talent and I think what's needed from them you know on the pelicans in the long run is just for him to be healthy and be consistent uh this is back to back look at this good look at this oh my hold on with the right hand too and that's on the defensive player right it's not like it's well man efficient night 23 points nine for 17 from the field but again hate to be the dead horse but he has to stay healthy yeah and you know what I like too he's also another guy like zero threes last night he doesn't settle he gets he knows his strength he knows his weaknesses somehow when you play a guy it's like garden zebo you know he's going like you can't stop he's still getting left it's crazy how much you can force him right when he's so strong he's so physical he's he gets he can do he does what he wants that's got to be just demoralizing it's nothing you can do when he's there desmond bain on the other side of things led team with 31 points so between he and jaren jackson jr is there enough there to keep the team afloat while we wait for marant I say yes I think they're accustomed to playing without them that sometimes you know with with the injury that he had last year with the troubles that he's had um they played a lot of basketball without them so I think they keep it afloat and as long as they can defend right they have marcus smart on the wing they have jaren jackson down low so they have the the roster to be able to hold these teams to do I dare say under 100 points like you dare just that just doesn't happen these days but if they're gonna win games and they're gonna stay afloat without john marant they have to do it on the other end and then have explosive games from jay from triple j from bain all those guys marcus smart did have uh 17 it was weird seeing him come into the arena just as not a Celtic I had like a moment where I I forgot for a second uh blazers clippers another game that happened last night clippers with their first win here we go 123 111 um these are the guys you want to know about paul george 27 and six kawai 23 he was five for five from three and then scoot we wanted to see what he could oh I think I got that wrong didn't I he had 11 points four assists four turnovers oh did he end up with 11 points did you go to this one I went to that game and he didn't have his first figure I think till the third yeah I thought I thought he struggled but look he's a young guy at that age your debut you're looking at koala and paul george russo westbrook hey look at him probably all of us in the house here you are imagine live shout out to my son six I don't know we had we both had funny faces in this pic but no it's good yeah man and we had a good time at the game but I I thought scoot was uh he just looked like regular rookie nerves I think once he settles in catches a groove I think it'd be just fine but last night he you just looked like he was trying to find that play to get over the hump and never could and also I don't care how talented these rookies are how they have so many expectations right and this is the NBA this is what they've dreamed about as a kid playing in these situations like we just said this is first he's going against kawai Leonard paul george arguably two of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA so there's definitely a level of nerves same with women yama same with these other rookies they play this night but he's gonna figure it out he's gonna get more comfortable every single game Michelle just said what were our debuts oh they were pathetic they were great it probably took me 30 games to play I banked in a free throw so nervous there we are these kids are gonna be fine well I think you can see it in the way the numbers progress the first three quarters were nothing really and then he sort of maybe found himself a little bit and look he's got a a former finals MVP point guard as his coach in chauncey billups I know coaches aren't everything but they can also be a problem so how big is it that chauncey is the guy yeah I've been with chauncey as a coach a great voice um great temperament as a coach somebody that you easily can listen to because the the proof is in a pudding when you watch what he's done over the course of his career I think he's in good hands yeah and as a guard obviously you have just a different level of respect from playing for someone who's who's done it who's done it it's not just someone telling this guy's done it he's been in the trenches he's been in that film room he's been on an island with a great guard you know so he's he's been there before so it's a great role model it's a great coach for scoot just as j kid is for these other guys you know I mean so it's it's definitely better having someone that's been in your shoes before the clippers go as their two stars go and that is of course kawai and paul george but the injuries and when you think of injuries in the league it's always clippers first in most of our minds so I mean are they contenders or is that window gone no I think if those two guys are healthy they're contenders now we'll see how they you know beef up the team do they get james harden at the end of the day we'll talk about that a little bit later but I think overall if you have paul george kawai Leonard on your team they're on the floor and like shout out to rustle westbrook 11 points 13 rebounds five six give us flowers rebounds as well I throw rustle a good last night I thought he was I thought he was the key to how they play they played very fast up tempo he picked his spots to to create and transition and attack the rim rustle was the guy last night five of eight from the field like he said like he picked and chooses spots and and they got bones highland also shout out to him 17 points I think like he he's playing with a different type of energy he's kind of playing like how lou did back in the day bring that spark really he's not worried really about playmaking he's just scoring doing his thing so this is a team that has a good energy like whether they get james harden or not I think you can see there's there's an energy here I think the only problem is the health thing yeah gotta stay healthy the two main guys gotta stay healthy if they're allowed if they're able to get through this season and be intact I think they give somebody a lot of trouble if you're their teammates do you go into I mean maybe you take it week by week but are you preparing mentally like there's gonna come a time he was there I mean I was yeah so like how do you wait are you waiting for the hey these guys aren't going no it was a roller coaster it was a roller coaster did you roll your eyes something be honest no because because we got used to we were numb to it okay that's you know if we would come in if kawai had some issues and you know he's obviously the face of this low management thing he would go out and PG would step in and then PG would go out k was step in and so it was just hard to find that consistency where we needed because we were in a championship run we felt like we had the group to do it and so it was hard to just get our our feet up under us but other than that we played well but they gotta stay healthy that's frustrating and that's for those guys Terrence Mann, Norman Powell those guys have to have the understanding that there are going to be some nights where I'm going to be the guy because those guys are not going to play and they're going to be banged up but you look at this roster too they're built to win now they're not like the youngest team they're Westbrook Paul George Covington Batum Leonard like this feels like their window is getting smaller and as long as they stay healthy especially obviously those two guys not one of them they need both of those guys to be a contender at the end of this without a doubt well Lou was there at the at the front end mental game yeah he was there at the front end of this whole regime now you know these guys are both extension eligible they have not like you saw what the Lakers did with Anthony Davis they extended him right away Kawhi Leonard Paul George have been extended extension eligible for the last couple months neither have signed their extension and I think you know when you see Paul George's comments like kind of gearing up for you know they could both end up being free agents this this upcoming summer I think whatever happens this year has a lot to do with their futures with the Clippers or not going into year four with with those two guys I think they're just waiting to see what happens you know like like we just said they haven't been healthy they haven't had an opportunity to really get themselves there that championship run that they've been looking forward to when they both when they bought both of those guys in and so I think they're just holding the car seeing what happens I know we're gonna go to break but I find that interesting you both saying they're waiting to see what happens aren't they the waiting to see what happens part injury problem because what like what are they waiting to see I mean we're all waiting on that both of those guys have had major injuries and I've watched both of them fight day in and day out trying to stay healthy yeah dealing with those injuries you know so Kawhi tears his thigh up has a knee issue uh Paul George that catastrophic foot injury he had then to get injured again after that you know those guys had some real some real issues that you know I think for the first time in a long time that they they feel like they can go into the season healthy and stay that way it is interesting that like how much longer do they need to be healthy for them to get the extension another month like what's the timetable on finally being like you know what these are our guys for the next three years we see what we need yeah I mean you look at the way they're playing this out I mean if these guys have a healthy playoff run and let's say they get to the conference finals again as a duo or the NBA finals then at that point you know but again only the Clippers can answer that what their timeline is if these guys are all healthy there's a number one seed in the west at all star break and everything's good do they extend them then but they're clearly like Lou said they're holding their cards a little bit they want to see how these guys perform and I think it goes both ways I think both Kawhi and Paul George want to see how this year goes how like what's the direction for this team and with that new arena coming they don't want to be tanking and rebuilding they need these two guys they need the excitement going into that new situation so fingers cost of these guys can stay healthy because they are a very good team when they are good luck to the guys man I hope it works out I'm personally invested in that so I hope it works it'd be no I know and I think we want to see them go as far as possible and maybe it'll be with or without James Harden when we come back the latest on him and how did Ben Simmons look oh man when run it back returns I truly wish I got paid extra every time I asked the next question because I'd be rich shams what's the latest on James Harden so James Harden was away from the team we and we spoke about this live he reported back to the team after 10 days yesterday but there wasn't really much the Sixers held the practice James Harden did a little bit of pre-practice drills he really stood on the side for most of practice I sold at one point he was sitting in a chair watching five on old drills didn't participate in that but then he wanted to travel with the team and want to accompany them they have a two-game road trip Thursday in Milwaukee Saturday in Toronto uh source told me he had his bags packed ready to go he made multiple efforts to travel with the team but the team asked him not to travel to stay home he wanted to be around the team work out with the assistant coaches the team wanted him to be essentially at home training and working out with their medical staff with their performance team and so this is just another you know aspect of this whole saga that we've been tracking for now a couple months and then the Sixers did not want James Harden to be a distraction for this team on the road they play on national tv tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks to me there's no sign that James Harden is going to play anytime soon as he tries to ramp up and the question really becomes when and if Daryl Mori just eventually moves him I think it's moving into that inevitable stage does it finally happen uh do we think he'll train super hard uh when he's home alone or how do we think this will go listen it just seems like a constant battle and now it's like James Harden can say he tried right he went to the plane they I'm picturing the way I'm picturing it play out my head is hysterical but now I now in his head the balls in Daryl's court you know I tried I want to be there I want to retire six years so it's eventually I think it's not going to get cured anytime soon I think it's only going to continue to get worse he's going to continue to miss more and more games um but yeah this it's it's it's funny when you say like he went to the plane and they didn't let him on the plane like if that's how do you know that I give this to his credit despite popular opinion jh works extremely hard so he will be doing he does all the good things when they're gone he won't be mad and sort of this is the thing they talk about ramp ups I heard james harden been doing two days in houston for the last week so he works man so it's just purely they don't want to and that doesn't just happen overnight right he's not gonna if he we'll see right we'll see what kind of shape he looks and we'll see if he puts up crazy numbers and like like the yokich thing acting like he's had to create an off season doing horses that guy clearly was grinding james harden's no dummy he knows that at the end of the day he's whenever he comes to play he's got to produce and he's got to be that guy all right so back into the minds of the players um the ones that are carrying on the show how do you handle that you knowing that we're probably never going to have him back as a teammate but what happens now nobody knows you're trained for it um when you play on teams we always have that next man up mentality that you know those guys watch tv as well they've been watching the saga over the summer and getting ready for the season so him not being there i think they were already prepared for that yeah and james again this aura this this reputation he has he's this bad guy he's not i play with him i i love james harden he's also one of my favorites yeah he is one of my favorite teammates i've ever had it's just he's put himself in this kind of situation where he's under a microscope and he's this light shines on him and and has he handled everything perfectly no but when the more the longer this continues and keeps going i don't think it lingers in the locker room i like tyrese max he's not mad at james harden you you get to a point where you understand it's a business and james harden's doing what's best for james harden and that's not personal to nurse or or tyrese or joel he's doing what he wants to do for his career and it's just as a teammate like lou said you get numb to it you get you train to it and if i'm another guy with an opportunity as a younger guy i'm almost kind of happy i kind of want him to stay away but do you talk like like would you guys text him and be like hey what's going like what's going on we know what's going on but you don't it's not like i because i would wonder how sometimes that works i i'm a pro too yeah so i gotta get ready i gotta get ready for the season i gotta get ready for games and road trips as well so i can't be wrapped up and worried about what james is doing and again like i'm kelly ubré i'm de anthony melton i'm these guys this is more opportunity for me so take advantage of it now while you can there was uh some news yesterday that the all-star game is going back to east versus west because feelings were definitely hurt i told you guys yoke itch was mad last year you can't get big last um why why why well no no no more player draft and i think they looked at indianapolis being the you know uh naysmith you know revolutionized basketball they're made basketball popular there and i think that was one of the one of the reasons but adam silvers said yesterday the player participation rule we want guys that play harder in the all-star game they feel like east versus west could be an answer to that um so no more player draft it's going back to the traditional east versus but that's where we started and like good luck like if i'm on the rockets you think i care that the west conference is wins the all-star game there's no real solution here i will say why can't you do world versus the us i like the idea one east versus west or giving finals home court advantage something has to be a state i mean you'd have to cut 12 all-stars i mean you're not gonna have a 24 guy and the minute someone actually plays hard and god forbid gets hurt in this game like it's just there's no solution all-star weekend it sucks and it's i like going back to the jerseys where even wear your own jerseys they're never gonna play hard never hold on you guys you're ruining it for everyone else at home so you're telling me you're never gonna this doesn't do it this doesn't make it more interesting no but i do say i hated the draft i think i finally make my all-star game and i get shit on on national tv getting drafted last like i think that's i think that's hilarious i think that's the facial expression it's sad it was sad last year the peak of your career you make an all-star game oh my god and then the most embarrassing thing you get drafted last on national tv it felt very um like just two white dudes were sitting on the stage yeah and the mvp and the mvp goes last sick draft it kind of made me feel bad for everybody involved like uh this is honesty time truth serum how do dudes really feel about all-star week would y'all just rather have just give me the week off just give them the week off i'd rather be honored with making the all-star game while getting the news in turks and kekos for the week off you know i mean you go there to build your brand to make money to go to parties you don't go there to like compete against the western conference you don't care san is dead even the practices are like it's a spectacle is the fans are there it's a sold-out crowd for practice like how serious can you take the game could you just make it two days like y'all fly in you do one day you play and you're out then you have i mean you can cut yeah it's kind of you know others do fly on saturday play the game and then go vacation the reality of it is you're 50 plus games in at that point you want to break yeah it's kind of like an interruption when you know for a fact the rest of the league is somewhere having a ball that's true too oh just make it i know it makes a lot of money it creates a lot of revenue fans love it but to make it like all mba just tell tell me who's an all-star and then just have nothing no game no slam don't it's just it's so it's such a i like the game like it's i like the pageantry of it i just don't think they're ever going to play hard it's never going to be a good competitive game where you see the top 24 mba players in the world play we're sad these are two players i know i can't speak so i can't argue from from the experience of it but uh you listen the dunk contest i think was fun last year a couple years ago in chicago chicago all-star weekend like because the city was Chicago that was the first elemending and also chicago for sure but elemending first year of that that game was that game was live even the dunk contest last year ended up being cool but like i didn't know two of the people in it like can i tempt you with one thing we ran out of dunks have we ran out of dunks no someone's going to start going between the legs twice i was doing a lot of stuff out of nowhere and he's got stuff in the bag who's he playing for that a i didn't say i didn't say he's a nice player now no it doesn't matter so there's the there's an issue you know the fans are there to see the people that they really love and admire even though he put on a serious show he did a lot of things but it's kind of like i want to see jodd dunk i want to see zion zek what if we do it in a like a like one city that everybody loves what if we change the city the host does that well that's another thing we haven't got into that like it's february and cleveland for all-star weekend when my teammates are in bombers well it's indian apples this year it it isn't it isn't the bay next year though that's awesome that's a little better don't stay that's better yeah indian apples this year it's indian apples we're not doing that right okay good um i just want to make sure we've seen wemby and chet but how did the thompson twins look that's coming back when run it back returns well we had uh we had more games and we heard about ben simmons in the off season so everyone's curious first game since february 15th but the calves win this one it was a thriller how about that first game of the season mitchell with 27 6 and 4 ben simmons hmm four points ten assists nine rebounds and camp tom has had a night 36 uh points in 25 minutes look ben simmons was back in the starting lineup and it's you know in his defense it's been quite quiet because we've had so many other things to talk about but what do they need from him for things to work having aggressiveness like i think i think the nets want to see more aggressive ben simmons um i think you know you you saw a little bit of it in preseason shooting jumpers a little bit more but uh you know kudos to him he had nine ten assists ten rebounds um but i think you know late in games last season jock bond went away from ben simmons because of the of the liability potentially on offense he did so again last night uh ben simmons benched down the stretch of the game they went heavy with mckell bridges camp thomas camp johnson with the ball in their hands so ben simmons having more aggressiveness but if you if you're the nets you know continuing to you know having ben simmons as your point guard leading your offense i can't count how many point guards in league today are not a threat offensively as far as being able to shoot being able to score um and and the nets kind of have that in ben simmons you know is a point forward roll more more apt for him uh you know this is all for for jack wall in the nets to figure out have you given up on the version of ben simmons that we may never see like all star version yeah the best yeah that ships out and it's i love to see him out there playing but like shan said it i just don't understand where's that aggressiveness where's that versatility when he and it's the power of social media too right i almost started believing seeing these highlights videos i'm like oh shit he's back he's back then the game starts and he's he gets timid and he's six ten and has this frame and can go coast to coast and has great vision drop in dimes and he just it's he plays scared and i don't know what happened when how we got here but the fact that he's playing and he's healthy that's that's a good start but yeah the idea of that he's just going to turn into 20 and 10 all star ever again is is not possible i was part of the beginning of the end that that sixes hawks uh oh that match up where you didn't take the lip oh we were having a ball with that i'm not rooting against ben simmons i would like for him to really find middle ground in um how he's portrayed and just being healthy again and being on the floor having an impact what is worse to be hyped and to disappoint or to never have been hyped at all to be hyped and disciplined yeah i mean it's you don't ever want to be labeled a bust right you don't want to have all this talent that just doesn't pay it out people had such high expectations that would be a hard burden to carry on the other side uh cavaliers talented young core but donovan mitchell's the dude and the question is quite simple can he be the number one guy on a contending team lou i think so i just don't think it's this group fair enough yeah i just i just don't think it's this group i think they're talented i think they're going to make some noise in the east um but i think he could be a number one guy on a really good team built around yeah i agree and i think the experience they got last year in the post season and going through that i think it's really going to help them but looking at the eastern conference there's a huge gap between them and the top and they're kind of right jumbled in the middle so it just shows you how top-heavy the eastern conference is but yeah i love evan mobley i think the max truce pickup was great yeah i think he had a big nine threes last night so i do think there's garland was an all star last year so i think they have the pieces to continue to get better but like lou said there's still there's still a ways away but it's something is there's something specific missing i think they just need they need something else they need that one two punch they need they need some they need more vets they need a deeper bench and and they need a collection of things it's just the the the conference is so loaded where it's tough it's tough to compete they're going to be kind of in there in the middle and they're going to be fun to watch they're going to be a tough team to beat four times in the post season but they're just missing one or two pieces uh thunder bowls at the thunder team might be kind of fun to watch i'm not gonna lie um they crush the bowls 124 104 chat all eyes 11 points four rebounds zero blocks nice sga finished with 31 10 my god of 18 there he is there he is top five so a lot top five top five look channel we know chet chet missed his rookie season his quote unquote rookie season blake griffin also did that and then came back and won rookie of the year i know he's very much on the running for favorites of this kenny i think so and i thought he was my pick pre-season and i just think that the year that the thunder will have as a team puts him ahead of those guys again scoots gonna have a great year with numbers wimby's gonna have a great year brandon miller's gonna have big games so is chet and he's gonna be on a you know a six to eight whatever see they end up getting so i think that helps him a lot and again that year of just practicing with these guys being in the weight room being in an mba facility all year long is huge to his growth it's it's it's he almost shouldn't be eligible to win rookie of the year i mean like feelings about it it's not really fair like blake it was so good but like he's not a rookie he's already been through the whole year of shootarounds and i mean but you can make that case with a glee guys too yeah but they're playing against other glee and overseas got like wimby's has been a pro five years already yeah i just 12 she's still a pro i actually do i get it like i intellectually i understand why he's in the running but you're right it's kind of he's he's been somewhere for a year he's been with those same coaches in that system when he knows that offense even though he didn't play it i disagree he literally has seen those practices for a year and again you know i respect college i respect your league but like the mba is another level and he's had a year under his belt that brandon miller hasn't the alabama university alabama doesn't have the same things that the Oklahoma city thunderduce i think it's a huge advantage i don't know i i'm i'm gonna stay on the international guys i think this is where my this is where my argument is gonna live because i'm i'm just picturing luca in my head as 16 years old playing in the olympics yeah that that experience is worth more than i think the university alabama or being in that practice facility for a year so i say no i say it's cool okay i might i can't argue with that i mean that that is fair he had a moment last night is is it his welcome to the nba moment it's the official one this is a thing uh let's check out chat right here trying to i don't know what do you guys think is this the moment oh that's it come on you gotta give germany credit for that he's 6 11 moving like that come on let's give him credit hey howie ouch i think it's more of a slip okay so we don't count it break them off it just looked bad yeah i think did you have did you guys do you remember your welcome to the league mine was similar to that really nash put me clean on my ass you've nashed it yes he did quick crossover i was a little excited putting me down we need the footage of that yeah i'd like to see that i know i can't we'll find it within the four minutes that i played we'll get it we'll find it quickly we'll get it it's somewhere in there wait do you have one do you remember yours not like a comment honestly i think just banking a frito is almost like embarrassing that is not a welcome to the league moment no i don't remember i don't remember the exact where i got you know my ankles broke or dunked on bad i don't remember exactly that but i'm there was plenty okay fair enough there was plenty you want to talk a little sga top five um mvp wise realistically what do you think no should no not there yet um i'm i'm going stop i'm all in stop all in you can't win mvp on the 10th seed why not but you can win it on like four that's true like four you can win it wait plus 1800 ooh that's a good the odds are the gamblers paradise wait listen we go for it is but we talked about all these guys in the top five joking around but really we'd name like nine people yeah that's fair it's a tall task is it possible sure but i think there's too good of talent too good of teams for you know the thunder to have a rep a guy rep whatever he's gonna have the publicity machine behind him though now he dress like carries himself league fit he's yeah he's turning it he's turning into a pop culture type of first team league he's gonna have that attention on him he just did the modeling shoot for scams he's scams too he's scams this is scams by the way did you get paid for that no wish trying to right now that was a good call the bulls already had some drama billy donovan left the locker room at the players request what was going on in there i think a lot of frustration last night with the bulls is that it was the same old and players led by nikola busovich i'm told they expressed that the offense was the same as last year they thought it was going to be a different offense they disliked what happened last night and there were some pretty poignant remarks when i'm told last night from the players about the fact that they weren't passing the ball enough and the fact that they feel like they need a true point guard in chicago and so when you think about the future of the of the bulls they have zac levine locked in long term they give nikola busovich a two-year a three-year extension in the summer demarger rozen is on an expiring contract right now he's extension eligible the bulls want to bring demarger rozen back whether that's in an extension or free agency they've been talking about an extension but i'm told that the sides are apart right now in on multiple fronts years salary and also demarger rozen wants to see where this bulls team goes they're all in one to start the year they had a players meeting after game one of the season and so that that's not the way to start the year but demarger rozen wants to see where this is going we like ready we said this last year this is the team's really off to the start they're going to blow it up and then they didn't have a great start and they have the same team back of course it's the same offense it's the same team like i don't know what didn't they know it was gonna be the same offense or the whistle like a whole camp during it so why wait why not i don't know but i i like it let's let's get it out the out the way now usually with with player player only meetings is a little too too late ten games and two and eight yeah when when it's already set and done and nothing can really change so to try to get on the same page after game one i'm cool with it and this is a vet team these guys are these these guys have been there before and they don't want to lose but this is a team i fully expect that is disappointing when's the earliest you guys had a play yeah like meeting in a season one game i think like yeah like yeah like three and seven start then you're panicking yeah i think we we usually go like ten game increments so it's like after our first show on monday like guys we need to talk about what just happened we're talking about mvp odds after one game of course they're talking they're they're it's but it's weird to me to be like we've had an entire time we practice we had training camp we did all these things and then go out there and be like huh it's the same offense y'all knew it's also interesting when a team that you know just doesn't expect you think the bulls just magic you're going to be good this year like what do you think it's delusional but when you have a player's only meeting and the coach isn't in there i don't think that he's the topic of discussion i think they're getting some things understood within themselves and i played for that man for four years he he will get and he will eat through you he will go nuts so it's probably best that he stepped out of the room because he's got that new york thing where he's not backing down i'll be right back thanks so much uh we will be right back with uh some picks and some see how we did on our first round of those when run it back returns wrapping things up our first week in the books lou how you feeling i'm amazing oh he's feeling that's about me i'm him and it's your birthday tomorrow you called me out guard i didn't expect you to ask me a question what what do you mean exactly you got to be on your toes on this set i'm not on the script i'm not on there we're doing this on the script first week was amazing thank you guys we did it hopefully we'll all be back next week and we are going to the laker lakers game tonight is that what's happening i think i think another is a game time decision i think i'm a late scratch but late scratch i don't know if that's confirmed i think he's still going to be pulling this over this afternoon i need six gallons of caffeine is ejected into my veins and we'll be fine we'll see you guys on monday enjoy the weekend