 We are live from the L.A. studio, so for the first time, Chandler and Eddie are wearing pants. Congratulations, boys. Run it back starts now. We're not wearing pants tomorrow. By the way, in fairness, I never wear pants at home either, do you, Shoms? I always wear pants. I'm the boring one here. He's so professional. That's Shoms Sharani, of course. My name is Michelle Beatle. That's Chandler Parsons. Eddie G down there on the end. And the good news for Eddie is that we get to start today's show with the Nets losing to the Lakers, but I won't go to you first. I want you to sort of simmer in your misery for a second, and I will start with Shoms. Your biggest takeaway from the Nets loss to the Lakers last night? Well, I have two. One on the Lakers side. Like, when you think about what the Lakers have gone through with LeBron James out, I think they're really looking at 20-25 games in. So the fact that Anthony Davis is starting to play better, he's healthy now. And Dennis Schroeder, Thomas Bryant are expected to play on Friday from what I'm told. So the fact that they're getting those two guys back, LeBron James hopefully will be back a little after that, either on Friday or Sunday against the Spurs. So they're training more to me in a positive direction. With the Nets, I mean, they're without Ben Simmons last night. Kyrie Irving still remains out. He still has to complete the tasks that they've set out for him. The fact that they're going to be without him for an indefinite period of time, no Ben Simmons. That's $70 million out of your lineup. That's like, to me, what jumps out in a very significant way. They need both those guys back on the court and playing at a high level. If this seems going to be anywhere close to what they want to accomplish. $70 million out. There's a lot of money. Yeah, it is a lot of money. Yeah. And last night, honestly, to me, the first thing I thought was, this was the first time I've ever felt bad for Kevin Durant. Every time this dude was crossing half-core or got an off the block post up, they were sending bodies at him and he was passing to guys that don't really know how to kind of step up and score the ball. That's a really nice way to put that. This is where KD is really missing. Obviously, Kyrie Irving, not so much Ben Simmons offensively, but anybody that can create and can score, it looked miserable for him last night. I saw him frustrated. There was one play in the fourth or third quarter. He didn't even cross half-court when like AD was kind of face guarding him. And honestly, same thing with Shams, Lakers. This was a step forward for them last night. AD looked like the old AD. The Nets have always been thin, but he completely dominated the game from start to finish. And this was definitely a step forward for those guys. Look, first time, second time in Jack Vaughn's tenure that they've given up over 100 points. I'm not going to say this is a game they just assumed they would win, but it's a game they felt like they should have been the better team. I'm going to kiss Chandler, like it's a back-to-back. I don't know how much that matters, but I think what you mentioned is a great point. This roster doesn't have a ton of talent. It has some guys that are, you know, trying to get after it, but Edmund Sumner is starting games for them. This is a guy who didn't play at all last year. He's been dealing with injuries. Great guy, talented, but is this a starter in this league right now? Should it be when you have a 70 million worth of point guards sitting on the bench in that home? They were just lacking playmaking last night. I mean, you talk about you feeling bad for Kevin Durant. I mean, he's getting double, triple teamed all the time with regular frequencies. He brings the ball up to court. He can't get to his spots as easily. Obviously, if he's got multiple guys around him and still, he puts up, you know, over 30 points last night. So they need to get guys that can, you know, command attention, which they had with Calgary Irving. They just need him back and, you know, the game plan. When's that happening? Do we have any, any knowledge, any insight? Where is he? What's going to happen? It's really indefinite. He's not going to be back on this road trip. They finish up the road trip. They'll play again against Memphis on the 20th. And it's really uncertain whether he'll be back then too, because they've laid out six steps that they want him to accomplish. I have no indication that they've backed off those six steps. Even though Josiah tweeted on Friday that he met with Calgary Irving on Thursday, everything went positively and they're moving forward. You know, and he's not anti, or he has no hate beliefs and, you know, whatever the statement was. But I think right now there's really no timetable. Also, just to touch on like the, these teams of throwing one or two stars out there and surrounding with these other players that aren't really NBA players, I feel like it's not working. You look last year at the Celtics, the Warriors teams this year that are having success, they're deep. They have a bench. They don't miss a beat when their star players go out. Last night I'm watching, even the Lakers, they had a time where they had Austin Reeves, Max Christie, Matt Ryan, Wendell Gabriel, and Russell Westbrook in the game. And I'm just, it's not going to work. It worked last night for them. But like, I just think the teams with the deeper rosters, with the more depth, with the more rotational players, that I think is kind of the blueprint going forward. Because this thing, which is throwing anybody out there with stars, it gives too many options for them to double team and triple team. And those guys got to step up and they've never been in that situation before. This is a great point. Team building has completely changed. The Miami Heat, they tried to cheat that in a sense. And they ran it the same way. In that first year, they lacked depth. They had to find pieces that made sense. And we've seen that happen over the last decade. The Warriors are so dominant, they drafted all those guys, were able to fit those guys under their bird rights and make it work. But even they're looking now, and they're a little bit talented, they're a little bit talent depleted with the guys they've drafted, Kominga and Moody have only given them so much. They're playing two-way guys. So there's a great point. I think we're seeing it with the Nets and we're also seeing it with the Lakers, which is why we end up having these combos. Like, what could you get for AD? What could you get for Kyrie? How do you handle that? Because if you have three guys eating up 90% of your cap, yeah, you're going to struggle to put together a great roster unless you really hit on some of these picks or free agents, onions. But the first couple games, when they got the coach switched out and everything like that for the Nets, they didn't look awful. And it was without Kyrie. And then there were some people like, oh, maybe they're better with that. So now we're back to know they need Kyrie. Is that where we are now? I think for sure. I mean, this is not going to lose every single game. They're going to win some games and these guys are going to play hard. There's going to be nights where they make shots. But no, you're still, I don't care how crazy and how nuts Kyrie Irving and what he's been doing, he's still a top three point guard when he's playing in this league. And it showed last night, KD is unbelievable. He needs Kyrie Irving. He needs someone to relieve the pressure. And it's not the guys that they're throwing out there with him right now. And to say they're better without Kyrie Irving, I think is silly. Pessimists says they beat the Wizards. They beat the Hornets. Like, who did they really beat? Right? So, yeah, they need that secondary scorer, that secondary playmaker. They need that guy who, when Kevin's getting doubled on the back end, can attack closeouts and create offense for other people. Now, I think the real question is, is Kyrie going to buy in on defense with the way they're playing right now? Because they're flying all over the place on defense. I know they gave him a lot of points to Lakers last night. But when Anthony Davis gives you 38 and is rebounding everything that comes off the rim, it's a little tough. But is Kyrie going to buy in on that end? Because if you watch earlier this season, he hasn't been so great on defense either. I think you can say, you know, I think it's a great argument, right? Is the vibe better on the team? Because when I talk to people on the Nets, they talk about the energy that you have right now over the last, you know, week and a half without Steve Nash there with Jack Bond there, no Kyrie Irving there. So I guess you can point the finger a little bit at Kyrie Irving. But I think I would put a lot of it on Jack Bond and the coaching chains that occur. I think he hasn't implemented a different culture there, different environment. But they need Kyrie Irving. And honestly, you know, Eddie speaks about defense to me. It's also the relationships when he comes back in that locker room. I mean, he hasn't played in two weeks. So the fact that you've been away from the team that long, you're not just going to come back and this is going to come like that. And, you know, especially the way he left the team. Oh, awkward, right? Yeah. It's like, it's just super awkward. Hey guys. A team suspension. This isn't like he, there wasn't like misconduct technically. No. There was something, there was a tweet and then he was just away. There's really been not much conversation with the team and him. Sean Mark said the other day he hasn't even spoken to Kyrie. So I think there's a lot, you know, that needs to be mended even when he's back. I mean, look, we've barely been working together for that long. But if you sent out a weird tweet and got in a whole bunch of trouble and then just walked by, I mean, that's awkward. It's so awkward. Hey, Eddie. Eddie's not doing that. But I think another thing to keep in mind is the last time we saw Kyrie on the court, he was almost refusing the shoot. He played a really weird game against Chicago Bulls. And then we have not seen him since the next day. He did media and that was that. So that lingers in the player's mind too. Like you went scoreless into the fourth quarter. Like this was pretty odd for you, for a guy who was jacking them up before that in the season. So yeah, I think there's a lot to mend and it helps to get on court and score buckets, but there's stuff behind that as well. And also it's NBA's short term memory. It's what have you done for me lately? So the minute he does come back and he... Balls out. No one's going to talk about this. Everyone's happy. He's back. Everyone's happy we're winning and healthy and playing. So I think he's dug himself a hole, but once he just needs to get back on the floor, he needs to get his teammates back and his good gracious and then moving forward, I think. And then we just... We start the count for how long until the next thing. And that's like one of those signs at a workplace. Like without incident. But you know what? There was some good stuff for Joel and Bede because I'm going to keep an eye out on him. 59 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, seven blocks. All of that to beat the Jazz. By the way, that's an awesome sentence to say. He had to do all of that to beat the Jazz. But is he back? We know that the MVP award is very important to Joel and Bede. He's been vocal about it. Is he back in that conversation? I mean, listen, this game didn't hurt. That's a crazy game. Crazy court. That crazy fourth quarter. Historic. You saw Doc saying that's one of the most dominating performances he's ever seen. And listen, I think we've all been talking about is he in shape or is he healthy? And he's looked a little sluggish early on, but this game last night just kind of shows his potential. He showed last night, I'm still the most dominant big man in the league. He's not even moving like totally fluid. That's the scale apart. Yeah, exactly. And obviously, listen, they're going to need him healthy. They're going to need him not scoring 60 and 11 and eight and seven every night. But this, when you get a combination of this with Maxi and James Harden healthy, I still think Philly will figure it out. If he can get Kelly Olenek every night, single to, right, we saw some of those clips. I think he'd be fine. Laurie Markinette on Kelly Olenek? Yeah. Looks great. You mean MVP candidate, Laurie Markinette? He's the all-star for Laurie Markinette. Laurie's not the all-star. Laurie Markinette. Laurie the all-star. I see it. I like it. But yeah, I think they need Joel to be close to this almost every night. And even when they get James back, they need to find the rhythm to have, enable him to be that when he can. It's very interesting. 26 out of 27, four-quarter points. I don't think I've ever seen that happen. That is crazy. I don't think I've ever seen it. I don't think I've ever seen it in five blocks in one quarter. Yeah. That close to the quadruple. Like, I don't, that's that line. That's a video against that line. Yeah. That doesn't seem human. I mean, listen, shout out Joel Embiid. He had a great game. I think the real test for this team is going to be when James Harden back. We've talked about it before. They haven't, when those two guys are in the lineup so far this year, they haven't found that, that cohesive offense that works, because it's two totally different styles. And you can kind of see it on the floor. And now when Joel Embiid's, I mean, when it's just him, they're really just dumping the ball at him. And it's his show. It's vice versa when James Harden's in the lineup. So how can they find that fluidity? I'm very curious to see. This seems to be the million-dollar question for a few teams. If one guy's out, a big part of that's out, then we wonder, ooh, how's it going to be when he comes back? Is it that complicated? It's just hard, especially as a role player. It's, you've got to find your rhythm. You've got to find your role. And when the star player who usually carries most of the load is in and out, it kind of changes your role night in, night out. I remember when I played with James, when he was out, I was kind of the primary ball handler. And it kind of changed my approach to the game. I was going to be more aggressive. I was going to play more pick and roll with Dwight. And then some nights, most of the nights, I was playing off the ball on him. And kind of, you have to be ready to do a little bit of everything. And obviously the more you play together, the better off you'll be. But yeah, it's just guys having, and like with Kawhi and with the Clippers, it's like with him in and out of the lineup, that's tough to get that rhythm and that chemistry and that gel when people are on minute restrictions and load management. And it's, it's tough and it takes a toll on you. If you truth serum these guys, is Joel going to say I'd rather James not be out there or in vice versa? I mean, what do you, do we think that? Like, depends on what you replace James with, but I think most of these guys wouldn't mind having their own team be in the middle of the marquee and getting to get their game off. But, but I think Joel understands they do need James if they want to contend him with a title. As their roster is currently set up, it would they like James to play a little bit different style here and there and maybe, you know, play Kate to Joel for sure. But it's hard to replace that and that amount of scoring and that amount of, you know, playmaking for their team. Do not look now at the Oklahoma City Thunder are in the play-in mix. What is y'all doing? Okay, they're not supposed to be, but they dropped 145 points on the Knicks yesterday. And I don't even know what to ask other than, is this a playoff team? Should they be a playoff team? I thought we knew the plan, but here we are. It doesn't seem early. It's early. It's, it's still early. I mean, they still have, have moments. I mean, they've, they've, you know, they've been putting a lot of effort in, you know, benching SGA to start, you know, the second halves and limiting players like Giddy's minutes to like 20, 25 on some nights. So you can't say that the focus, you know, hasn't been there. But listen, when they're playing, Josh Giddy's really, really good. SGA is playing like an all-star. There's no question about it to me. And that's why teams like the Lakers and Raptors and Knicks are all thinking about when is he going to become available, even though the Thunder have no plans to trade him. It's like, when can we get him? Still. So I think he's an unbelievable talent. So when they're playing, they're going to be competitive. It's just, you know, on the nights where they're being a little funny. When you, when you look at SGA, he's 24 years old and that's old for this team. So it's like, yeah. So it's like, do we package him and trade him and go even younger? And, and, and, but they're kind of now on the situation where there are no man's land, where they're like the jazz, where they're kind of accidentally winning. Oops. And now they're going to find them. So it's like, it's like, you know what she, it reminds me of SGA. It's like Brad Beale the last couple of years on the wizards. He's playing just good enough to kind of get them in like the middle of the law area, which honestly sucks because you want, you either want to be really good or really bad. It's the worst place to be. It's the worst place to be. And he's absolutely balling right now. And they have so many young pieces going forward that like, yeah, it's interesting. Like, do they make a move and trade him to finally get the guy like him that they brutally need? They're waiting. Yeah. So it's interesting to me because they're kind of now in that situation where like they've won so many games now where it's like, they kind of got to keep their foot on the gas. Like, why though? Here's the thing. I find the garden fascinating. There are certain players that go into that building and just thrive and shine. Giddy is now, he's kind of crushed it when he's been in there and talks about. Yeah, what is it? I mean, you know, like, what is that? Triple doubles in their first two. I mean, it's the Mecca. It's the coolest, dopest place to play basketball in the world. And so when you go there and all of the court is lit up, the lights are dark, you see every celebrity that you've watched on TV your whole life. If you're ever going to ball out, it's at MSG. And it's pretty easy to ball out against the Knicks in the recent years. Usually, yeah. That's the other side of the equation, right? The Knicks, the Knicks are kind of really up and down. It's not that hard to get off on them. We talked about them on our last show. They were perfectly mid. They were five and five. They were, you know, four and four against the East. The one and one. Like, you kind of wonder what's going on with Thibodeau there. If there's going to be a decision they make, they went out their way over the summer to say, hey, we're not firing him. A lot of people thought they were going to get rid of him. Then he's had... That's the kiss of death, by the way. When you say it out loud, I just feel like it's coming. He's bumped heads with players on the team over and over and over. They traded for Cam at the deadline. Who's balling for Cam? Cam, this is nice. You go a little bit, yeah. And Thibs essentially refused to play him. He's played him this year a little bit more. Various team over there in New York, and especially for all the money they paid this summer to be something better than they are. Right. They invested in RJ. They obviously invested in Jalen. So, yeah, where do they go from here? They're supposed to be a team that's a playoff team. They don't look great at all. Well, 145 points for a Thibodeau coach. I mean, it's supposed to be defense, right? Like, that's his whole thing. Oh, he's going nuts this morning. Giving 145 to that team. But you got to think about who he's playing. Like, these aren't like vets, you know, Emanuel quickly and Obi-Tapin. Like, these are a lot of young guys that anyone that has seen Thibs history in Chicago and Minnesota, he's used to playing vets. Like, that's usually all that he relies on. Jimmy Butler played like five minutes his rookie season. Right. I'm exaggerating, but he really relies on his vets, and this team has been built through youth. You know, it's kind of an interesting juxtaposition between the foreign office and what, you know, Thibs and his coaching staff want. Yeah, and a guy like RJ Barrett, you get that extension, they invest in you, and you expect him to kind of take that step forward, and he really hasn't this year. I don't know. If you pay me all that money, I'm just going to chill out. Yeah. Like, I already got my checks. That's his habit. That's his habit. We're good now. I don't need to do anything. Yeah. That's a horrible attitude, Chandler. He's done it. No, that's fair. That's fair. Guaranteed, buddy. Guaranteed. Guaranteed. Luca Dunchich. He's leading the entire league in scoring, and as we always tend to do eventually, we talk about his usage rate, his own coach, Jason Kidd, a little bit concerned about it. Can he keep this pace up? Is it even feasible to do so? I personally don't think he can play another style. So he's going to keep this pace up one way or another. These stats come out over the weekend where he drops shooting percentage in each quarter, and it's just gradually worse as the game goes on. We've always wondered about its conditioning as his careers went on. He looks to be in better shape, but yeah, that's a taxing style of basketball to play to have the ball that often all game historic usage rate. And of course, he's leading the league in scoring. You have every opportunity to do so. What I always wonder is, can you win a title doing this? We've seen these guys, James, we've seen it a little bit with LeBron and now with Luca the last few years. They run into the real contenders and then they get sent home. Conference finals was great, but that wasn't a close series at all. The Warriors knew exactly what to do with them and they ran away with it. And Luca went from the conference finals to international basketball to now doing this. And he's not really like this physical in shape specimen either. So I do think it's going to wear on him. He did talk about it too. Was it last week? He said, I'm tired already. Kuzma even said something like, yeah, they're not that hard to guard when it's just this one guy. I keep missing it. So it's like, it's really not. And if I'm him, it's wearing on me a little bit. And I'm starting to get the point where I'm frustrated where I had this secondary ball handler with Jaylen Brunson and you let him go. Now I have these guys like Spencer Denwitte who I love, who's a great player, Christian Will. But those guys aren't second best players on championship teams. And when you go to the conference finals, you expect to take that leap and get back there. And the Mavs got worse and they are just riding Luca. And he's balling. He is a generational talent. I think he's the MVP right now. But at what point is it too much and this guy is going to wear it down? So Denwitte, he's not the guy. You don't think that's enough? The second best player? No, I think he's a great player. I think he's a great sixth man. I think he can go get you 20 on any given night. But to carry a whole load for a season and deep into the playoffs, I don't see him being that guy on the championship team. Yeah, I mean, it would have been great to have Jaylen Brunson on this team. But I do think Spencer Denwitte, Christian, it's weird. Christian Wood's coming off the bench. He seems like he wants to start. So I think for him, how does he get into position where he's going to be a starter? This team is going to be at its best. He's bought in defensively, offensively, and he emerges as a starter. But right now, he is coming off the bench. So I think once they get their rotations figured out, I'm curious to see what Luca's usage rate is going to be. And also, guys have been hurt in and out of the lineup. Christian Wood just sat out a couple of games, came back over the weekend. So I'm curious to see when they're fully healthy, exactly what Luca Donchez's usage rate is going to be. And this is Javel McGee. Signing also is kind of head-scratching. Yeah, he hasn't even played much in the last week. Anything. Yeah, like, we're saying I'm against Denwitte. I think he played three minutes to start the game. He never played again. I always wondered with this style of play how frustrated it is to be Dorian Finley-Smith with Tim Hardaway Jr. You're literally just in a corner watching Luca do what he does. Waiting. And yo, you might get some open shots. You've been there. You'll get some open shots. You'll have an opportunity here and there. But a lot of the game, you're strapping up, you're playing defense for Luca in a lot of ways. And then you're going to the other side and hoping he passes you the ball. It seems like a frustrating style of play. You've done it. Yeah, and some nights it works. And some nights and everything's going. And he is making that extra pass. It's fantastic. And the game comes to you so easy. You're getting wide open shots because he's creating so much attention. But yeah, most of the time you're frustrated. You know, you got people in your ear saying you can be doing more. You want this and that. And it definitely weighs on you. But for a guy like me, I love playing with James Harden. I think he made the game so much easier. He created so much attention where guys got open looks. It was just up to him or not to play unselfish that night and to make the extra pass. That's tough. And that's out of our hands as a role player. That's just like a relationship. Which mood are you in today? Great. Can't wait. Eddie, MVP, Luca, right now? Yes, no. I'm going to go with Steph. I'm going to go with my preseason pick still. He's killing it. We'll talk about him at some point. All-in-seven on the road. First NBA champion in NBA history to start off all-in-seven. Oh, there's your... There's your cloud right there. I'm going to heat today. So you're saying yes to Luca? I'm not... No, I'm not giving... Yeah, he's not going to do it. I'm going to say Joel and B. Okay, I like that. If it's not Karl-Anthony Towns, it's Luca Dargish. That was my preseason pick. What? That was never my preseason pick. Yeah, I know. Remember when I was like, that's not going to happen? It's still not going to happen. Yeah, probably not. I like Luca. Right now, yeah, but I do worry about how long he can do that for. Coming up next, Shams will have some of the scoop. Plus, who made Embiid and Zion look silly? Plus, we have dunks, dunks, dunks, dunks, all of that when Run It Back returns. Eddie, why don't you take us through this one? Look like a foul from here. Oh, no, that's all clean. Look like a foul. I will say this, Kevin got him back later in the game, so let's say that. But he's blocked him a random amount of times. There's been pictures going around all day. Okay, so you go on state days, too? Yeah, yeah, he's got him a few times. Hey, look, when you get beat, you got desperate measures, I guess, and there you go. I mean, it's pretty... Congrats, Russ. Yeah, it's a nice moment. I don't know if they're friends or not, but we do have a lot more where that came from. It's time. For that man, has a family. Some of these are embarrassing. Some are not as bad, but we have a little derosin here for those of you who are interested. I love it, DeMar, Dunk. Right? He's still doing it all these years later. He, yeah. He'll catch that thing all the way back. He's a very, very, very good in-game dunker. DeMar DeWhat. I will never forget that. It's a nice cross, too, on her. And you don't even know that he still has it, because he plays so much on the perimeter as far as mid-range, and then he'll do something like that. That's still good. Just every once in a while to remind everybody who I am. That'd be great, right? Still got it. Still got it. Right? Don't forget. I wouldn't know. It looks fun, though. Doesn't it? It does look fun. It looks fun. Definitely a floater guy, you know. This one, I mean, that's science. This was nasty, too, because he hit it with a couple bang-bang-hezzy cross and then finished opposite foot, hung on the rim. This was about as disrespectful as it gets. Big Z got to learn how to slide in puppies, man. It's been a few years. I know he's a bigger guy. Also, his Druski interview kill. Right. I was dying watching this, man. I've never heard him talk at all. No, it was perfect. It was like a sketch. I loved it. Shout-out to that reporter for lying, giving him a B-minus on defense. But how cute. It was so quick, though. B-minus. I was like, B-minus. B-minus, you can see. How do you think my defense? Every time the Zion speaks, it shocks me that that voice comes out of that human. There you go. All-star, Lori Markinin over Clint Capella. But they call it charge, right? Offensive thought. They took it alive? I hate when they call offensive fouls on dunk. Anthony Edwards had one. Yo, dunk of all time. Also, if you're a center at Clint Capella, you should not be allowed to take charges. You got to go up vertical and try and block this. Okay, I like it. Yo, my hot take is the game is just way better if we remove charge block. Like, let's just get it out of there. And the refs got to see that this is a nasty dunk. They can't take this away from him. You know, it's such a buzz kill. Right. And that's an all-star Lori Markinin. Thank you. That is, have some respect for that, man. Right. Put some respect on his name. The calls will get better, Lori. I really hope that this lasts throughout the entire season. Yanis. Oh, my goodness. He's only good for one or two of those again though. This is just becoming every day for him. What do you, is there nothing to do? That's it, right? Like, just let it happen. On both of their big guys, like. Yeah, that's nasty. Yeah. Blue by one. Shout out to John Collins for giving it a good go. Giving it a good effort. I can't believe you just gave that a shout out. Shout out for getting dunked on. Shout out for getting dunked on. Yeah. Shout out for, I guess, being there. I wouldn't have made that rotation. It would have been, you know, we won the game. I'm out of here. A Kong would have been, you know, he can kind of. Yeah. He didn't do him any favors there with that close up. Oh, well, Bartone. Well, sneaky dunker. He's been doing this for a while. There was some body there too. All right, that's a foul. That's definitely a foul. That's a hand one. Did he get the rim or is that like a super layup? Let me see right here. Did he get it? That was like a Dwight Howard throw in. I see. That's a little better than that. See him hanging on that. That's a layup. That's like a really nice floater. So you're not counting that as a body if you do that? No, no, no. You got to go there. Really, you still don't count it? No, that's something. There's a picture taken of it. It looks like a poser, right here. Like right here? Looks me. That's a body. I'm hating. I'm hating on that one. I'm hating on Blake. The old Blake dunk, you know. Dunk it. Dijonté. This is nasty, but I'm going to give Joel and Vee some, I'm going to give him some bad for the doubt. You know, he kind of got tangled up. You know, it's his feet. He's a big man. You know, we do a plantar fasciitis. You know, we got a history. We got to cut him some slack on the show. You know, plantar fasciitis is why we're going to say no to that. We did not convince him is any slack. I'm not cutting JoJo. There was a wet spot. Hold on. Those are two of our feet. All right. Like, come on. Come on, Joel. Come on. Joel told us in the off season he practices falling for the sake of being healthy. So yeah, maybe he felt on purpose here. Maybe it was his plan. Honestly, it wasn't even that crazy of a move. He literally shot faked and Joel fell. It's not like he actually broke him off. I think once he fell, he just leaned into the floor. He just gave it up here. Yeah, yeah. He's like, all right. Yeah, he did. Actually, if you see that right there, he's gorgeous. Yeah, he fell, honestly, at the shot fake. And then he didn't even see the spin here. He was already on the deck. Yeah, that's nasty. We're not going to count that one either. I like it. All right, that's a move. Look at the score, though. If I'm the Johnson Murray, I'm posting it for sure. You dropped me down 20. Like, all right, whatever, bro. Yeah, I don't even care. No, you're right. You're right, you're right. Coming up next, we've got DJ Khaled with the best NBA highlight of the entire weekend. And can Eddie beat us all at Survivor? The answer is no. Oh, well, we'll be back. What? Daniel McDaniels. Now, who could that possibly be? He's got a pillow for their feet. Come on, man. I bet my 17-year-old daughter, DJ Khaled. Oh, yes, we should have known. Another one. That's ridiculous. Is that a real phone call or no? No, no chance. No, no, no chance. OK, the pillow. Love, hate. Where are we on that? I have a pillow down here under my shoes as well. Oh, sure. No pants, but I hate it so much. I hate it so much. You got a shoe cap? I hate it a lot. You hate it. I hate it. What? You've clearly walked already on. Out of the tunnel, out of the car, your feet come to the ground. This is absolutely ridiculous. I mean, it is a great matching set. I hate it. I love the pillows. I don't know if it came with the shoes. Who on the set could rock that, though? I feel like Eddie. Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. I could find an outfit for that. I could make a look. I had to, you know. I mean, their shoes, his Jordans, right? Like. Is he the happiest person in the world? I just, he's an interesting character. He might be the most tortured person. I mean, we just don't know. Right? What if he's secretly at home? He's not mean. Kicking puppies. He's not mean with the smiley face in the set. Yeah, when he catches a charge, it's all going to be fraud. OK, we're going to have to talk. Sorry, we're done making sure. No, we're not. No, we're not. I know I didn't hate the shoes at all or the pillow. Time to, are we hitting the panic button? Maybe we are. Maybe we aren't. Chandler, start with a little Clay Thompson, shall we? 35% from the field. That's a career low in case you were wondering. Are you hitting the panic button? I am. And I think Clay, I love Clay Thompson. I think he's the second best shooter of all time. And we've talked about this, you know, kind of all season long. He went through two very, very serious injuries. And we're one of the season now. And so this is something that's kind of becoming the norm for him. And I've been through injuries before. And as much physical as it, it's also mental. And there were times in Memphis where I was shooting the ball not to miss. And when he had 39 points in the quarter, and he's going berserk in those highlights, he's not thinking. And you can kind of see him putting pressure. He's taking some contested shots. And as much as it is physical, that weighs on you mentally in and out of the road, in and out of the minute restrictions, not playing a lot. Guys like Jordan Poole and Wiggins, you see kind of like the future of this team going another direction. I'm hitting the panic button just because he's a year older and he's coming off a lot of very, very serious injuries. And the teams struggling. And the team struggling. And everything's magnified when you're losing. And this team's not accustomed to losing. And he's been a huge part of their success. And look, he's a hall of fame. Or like I said, he's one of the best shooters of all time. But this is concerning when you go through what he's been through and still not been able to snap out of it. Is there anything you can do? I mean, I feel like when your team's strong, it just seems to downward spiral. Everything seems to pile on. Is there anything to do? They've been trying to mess with the rotations, trying to tweak it. You're seeing Anthony Lam on a two-way contract, Ty Jerome on a two-way contract. Like they're playing significant minutes right now. Or Anthony Lam is for sure. They have Jim Michael Green's not playing. He's a veteran on the team. James Wiseman is not playing right now. He had a, I thought a big pre-season and a summer league. He hasn't played at all over the last couple or week plus. So I don't know. I feel like this team is going through a lot of transitions, especially with the rotation. What a weird time. And it's tough because earlier I kept saying, oh, they're just doing this. They're getting these younger guys valuable burn. And it's going to pay off. Now they're not even playing the young guys anymore. And they're still losing to these kind of bad teams. So like. Little lost. Yeah, a little lost. Lost in the sauce. Eddie, we got Chandler's MVP here, Carl Anthony Towns. Averaging nine rebounds a game, career low. 21%, which is lowest in 17 to 18 from the field points per game. Are you hitting the panic button? Don't do it, Eddie. Just because I'm not that big of a Carl Anthony Towns, I'm not hitting the panic button. This is pretty much what I expected of this season. Oh, that's even more hurtful. OK. Yeah. I mean, he's adjusting to Rudy Goldberg being there. Obviously, Rudy lives to gather rebounds and protect the paint. And I think he's adjusting to a little bit of Anthony Edwards is that dude. And you have to give him his due. Dave underachieved. Obviously, D-Lo finally had a good game for the first time this season yesterday. I'm not panicking in that sense, but I do think this is a little bit of what we're going to get going forward. He has to share a little bit of the pie, and he's going to have to adjust. I think you should panic. I think you should say I'm panicking. I'm not panicking. I'm not panicking. This is good for them last night, but overall this year, I mean, there definitely got to be a little bit of panic. I think you are right. I don't know what else was expected. What is the actual ceiling, realistically, that people have put on that team? The two big move, it's a weird move. Like no one's doing it. Everyone's also going smaller and switching pick and roll and shooting threes, and they decide to go the exact opposite. Well, if it was working, we'd be like geniuses, but that's the problem with trying something that no one else is doing. If it doesn't work, we're going to make fun of it, and that's unfortunately the case right now. Chandler, the LA Clippers. This is weird. The worst offensive team in the league, 104, just under 105 points a game. Are you hitting the panic button? Not yet, because they're missing their best player and who knows when he's going to come back, but and they're still kind of staying afloat. Paul George has been great for them. Ruddy Jackson has been good. John Wall, I'm so excited to see him back more. This is a very deep, versatile team. They got guys like Robert Covington, Luke Conard that aren't playing much. That would start on Brooklyn and start on the Lakers. They have such a deep roster that I'm not panicking quite yet. It is weird that they were the number one three-point shooting team in the NBA last year to going to this, but I like the Clippers. I think they're a little bit kind of trying to figure out their way and trying to get healthy and trying to do everything they can to get Kawhi back, but I just think I expected a lot more from them and they kind of haven't reached that potential yet, but I'm not panicking quite yet. Yeah, good news for them. Ty Lusa that Kawhi Leonard should be back very soon. What? He did five-on-five the other day. He's supposed to do a few more five-on-fives, and the goal is that he's going to be back soon. It's like I want to be excited because I want to see him play, but I'm scared to get excited because how long is that going to last? I'm not excited. He's going to come back and we'll see how many games he plays. That's right. I hate that I have that feeling too. I love Kawhi, but it seems to just be what it is now. It's just a bad reality because you're just waiting for the next Wednesday out. There were other draft picks last year in the top three, and not just Paolo Bencaro, Eddie. Jabari Smith was one of them, and he's not doing well. Just over 30% from the field, under 30% from three. I know he's probably hearing so much about other rookies, but are you panicking? Yeah, I'm panicking. I mean, there were some concerns when he was picked about the fit out there, and obviously with Jaylen Green and Kevin Porter Jr., it's going to be tough to get the ball. Those guys are going to have the ball most of the time. He's not exactly put in a position to thrive. He's doing a lot of that, catching and shooting. I think the issue for him, and the issue coming into the league for him, was not a lot of shot creation. Anyway, people were wondering, could he get shots off the dribble? Is he just going to be a catch and shoot guy? Because you're taking him number three overall, and that's pretty tough to pick him there. It sucks for him how the lottery shook up, because I think in Oklahoma City, with a little more time and a little better roll that made more sense for him, would have been better, but he ended up in Houston, and he's got to deal with the little bit of action he's getting, and he's not exactly thriving with that. Yeah, it's a tough situation for that guy. There's no leadership. It's a bad team. They're very young. They're all ISO. They're all trying to get off. Like, this is a tough situation. And you think this guy was maybe going number one. Yeah, I mean, day of, we still didn't know. I thought he was going number one. He shot the ball really well in preseason, though. That's why I'm kind of, he had like a game in preseason, he had like six, seven, three, so that's why I'm kind of surprised that he got off. I think it's there. He showed in summer league, too. He's just, for whatever reason, regular season basketball is different, though. The bright lights, they're scary. Different in preseason. Okay, I can see that. It happens in basketball. And again, he doesn't really have anybody creating, making things easier for him. It's Jaylen Green, Kevin Porter. These guys are all getting buckets themselves. He doesn't have like a system and an offensive team to teammates to kind of get him going. A lot of grenades being thrown to Jabari, and this is what you get for a rookie. Chandler, we're not going to talk about just Clay Thompson. Now we just need to take the entire Warriors team and just figure it out. Six were defensive efficiently in the league. Just nothing is going well, maybe other than Steph. So now we hit the panic button on the entire team? Yeah, I'm panicking because you know what? It's Traymond Green and Clay Thompson. They've been the anchor of this defense for years, and Clay's always been one of the better two-way players, and they're just not. They're a year older, they're coming off injuries, and they just can't seem to do anything right. I think this is a team obviously that it's still early and they could figure it out, and they could be laughing at all of us in June when they win it again. I also wouldn't be surprised if they did that. But yeah, for now I'm panicking because this isn't them, this isn't their DNA, this isn't what got them winning championships and being who they are. So I'm extremely concerned if I'm them, just because the two guys that have helped us defensively, especially, they're not really the same guys anymore. And on the road, what is the deal? Well, that's the deal. It should be told they look like they're panicking, right? At this point, yeah. They're doing all the adjustments, the rotation, some of the quotes coming from guys like Clay. Yeah, like we should panic because clearly they're changing things up. They're not playing the young guys, they're playing the young guys. They're like... When the pilot starts to panic, that's when we panic. Yeah, I'm panicking. It's not a good time for anybody. DeAngelo Russell, Eddie, let's talk about him for a minute. Averaging 14 points a game, that is his lowest since his rookie season. Panic. Another guy on that team adjusting, trying to figure out... I think this is more about Anthony Edwards than anything. He's not being able to be the primary ball handler that he kind of needs to be for his style of play. You know, we've seen him flame out a little bit in the playoffs as teams key in on him and realize he's not that great of a shooter and he's really not going to ever really drive so I think, yeah, there's definitely reason to panic here. Thankfully, luckily for them, they have Anthony Edwards who they feel I could take that role if need be and they can slide him to the background a little bit. Time to play a little, convince me. You guys know the drill. I give you a premise. You may not believe it, but your job is to convince me anyways. Chandler, this is sort of the theme for you today. We're sticking with the Warriors. They will miss the playoffs. I mean, listen, if they continue to kind of miss shots and kind of try and force things going with Clay and I think the biggest reason they'll miss the playoffs is because these teams like your Spurs, like your Kings who are so thirsty to make the playoffs, they're younger, the Thunder, these teams have youth and it's funny because we're talking about all these teams tanking, but like they're not trying to lose. They're just playing young guys and getting experience and hopefully they lose, but as these guys are NBA players, they're talented and they're young and they have energy and they're playing hard. So listen, do I think the words are going to make the playoffs? Yes, but I think. You are the worst. I mean, come on. This is a tough one. Of course it is. They're not supposed to be easy. I think the way they don't is with these other guys, they kind of just say, okay, we won this too many games. We're not tanking anymore. We're going to move forward and keep our foot on the gas and the Warriors are out. Okay, first. They're happy. I mean, it's, no. The Warriors have missed the playoffs two years ago and then they lost in the play. I'm like, yo, it's not completely out the round possibility. Yeah, I mean, look, it's still hard. That's one of those teams that they have enough equity, I think, with all of us. They still figured out, right? At some point, maybe we panic, but I'm not there yet. Eddie, yours. I like this one draft picks should be able to have one veto selected team. They don't want to or have to play for. Convince us. I absolutely love this. Yes, this is draft night is already too long. Shams has ruined it every pick like we know we have. Imagine if I have to report on vetoes. Yeah. What if it's just the same two cities and it probably would be rejected to play for Saturday? I mean, right? I love it. Let them do the push from Jerry Maguire. I'm not buying it. I'm not buying this one. I like the Eli Manning rule. I think it would be fun. Eli Manning, let's shake it up. I'm all for this. I'd love to see some scrambling on draft night going. Oh my God. I would lose my mind. Paulo just won't play for Orlando? I mean, Chandler, give us your two veto cities if this wasn't an effect when you were going. You've been to every city, Chandler. There's got to be two. It's funny because I chose this team. I would veto Memphis. Sorry, guys. And I would probably veto Cleveland. Oh, that's right. You're on the record of that one. Listen, there's very nice people there. Some of my best friends live in Cleveland. There's good people there. But there's just a lot of other more fun, interesting cities in the NBA. Not visa-only Minnesota is insanity. Well, that's the thing when you start thinking about it. Is it? Yeah. Minnesota is, they got action over there. All right. I believe you. Yeah. We could do an entire hour of just the cities and breaking them down. Oh, for sure. Breakdowns. Actually, we should. One by one. One market. We should have a show. We all have opinions on all of them. Oh. Good Lord. Because those aren't my two vetoes. Chandler convinced a number of three-pointers a team is allowed to attempt should be capped. Yeah. You know what? This would even the playing field a lot. And it would honestly really help teams like the Lakers. Imagine if you could only shoot 20 days, 25 days. They would be a lot better. Anthony Davis last night had a really good game, not taking one three-pointer. OK. And so the game's kind of getting bogged down a little bit. Everyone's takes. Steph Curry has ruined the game. All these kids I'm watching highlights, they're shooting half court shots. The game has changed monumentally. And I think it would kind of even the playing field, if they just eliminated it or the number that they're allowed to take. And like I said, I think it would actually make teams better if they had a cap. What an odd thing for somebody to have to keep track of. Yeah. Imagine saving it. Right. You don't have to save these slash two threes for the last minute. The or being wide open and can't take the three. And I've got to take a dribble flow. It just counts as one? That's actually, yeah. That's worse. You've got to wide open. OK. When you lose points, if you tip, you take an extra three. That's the thing. Are we going to manage points or foul? Imagine being the coach tracking that, though. This is a tough game. You need one guy just one woman in the map. You mess it up like you get fired because you messed up the amount of threes. It was 24. Oh no. That's a weird thing to have to keep track of. Eddie, convince all of us, actually, that you would outlast the three of us on Survivor. OK. So they always target the athletes. Chandler's gone. Are you all ready? They got Cliff out of there. And they get everybody out of there. I feel like Psalms is just like, you know. I'm a survivor, though. See, I was going to go a little bit. I feel like Psalms is like, you know, Hollywood, he's not going to enjoy the sand. Wow. See, the shot's fired. But I just think like, I love this show. I watch it all the time, too much. I'd be like ruthless. I'd be looking for the idols. I'd be blindsideing everybody. I'd play like that. I feel like you don't understand how mean I am as a person. But that's OK, because if we ever end up on Survivor together. Now I'm learning. You're dead. Now I'm learning, yes. You got one thing right, because I would finish fourth place. I need a Wi-Fi. I need air conditioning. I need air conditioning. I need my latte. Survivor. Wi-Fi most importantly. Survivor's not for me. Oh, no Wi-Fi. I won't survive. OK, there you go. So he's out. We know that from the brief. I might be out with no Wi-Fi, too, though. Right. Actually, I'm eliminated, too. Chandler's gone. One, one. Yeah. I talk to Psalms after like a two hour plane ride with no Wi-Fi, and he's just losing his mind. So I think that's about it. All right. Sounded any of you. I would love no Wi-Fi. No one to bother you for days and days. Please bring that. OK, we're taking a break. The City Editions, they were out in full force over the weekend. We're going to rate them. We're going to break them all down. Good, bad, and ugly when Run It Back returns. All right. The City Jersey looked like it was copped straight out of the flea markets. OK. That one's not great. Mind you, you took your jerseys in, by the way. OK. Well, yeah, but then you get rid of. That's what I understand about that one. That's what I'm saying. Half of the design is already going to be hidden. It's going to be gone. That's what I don't understand, either. Who did that? I don't know if it's helping, though. It doesn't help at all, either. That's a shitty jersey. That's fair. There were a lot. There were a lot of jerseys that we got to. We get to judge them all, and we're going to start with the San Antonio Spurs. Careful what you guys say about this one. I wonder who set it up to start with this one. Right. I mean, I did. I love those. Yeah, by the way, those are fired. Zero things wrong. The colors are perfect. Kind of got those old grizzly green colors. I love the logo right there. I love the side. This is the first time I'm seeing this. This is dope. Are jerseys still fashionable for casual wear? Because I think you wear that. You wear that? Wait. Tomorrow I'll lose it? You wear a shirt or something. There was a jersey on the Spurs, though. Would you get it? How dare you. Customs. I'll get the Beatles. Keldon Johnson. I'll get the Beatles. I'll get the Beatles. What are you talking about? It's all we're Beatles. Guys, we have people. Yacob Pertle, though. There you go. He's from Raja. Blockup. We call him Blockup. What number is he wearing? It doesn't matter. Do they have the courts to match that? I think they do the, see how the font's kind of funky? They do the funky. It's kind of a Flintstonian font. This is fun. I like it. I do, too. I like it. Well, it's my favorite color. So obviously it's perfect. How about New Orleans? Showing off. Okay. Purple. So it was very festive in New Orleans. I like New Orleans. Yeah, this isn't bad. This is cool. Yeah, it does feel like New Orleans to me. Yeah, it's a little Mardi Gras color. Very Mardi Gras. Okay, I don't hate it. You know what I hate? It's the backdrop they use for these photo shoots. Why is this the place you put these jerseys at? That's a great question. I don't want this one. It's like an abandoned warehouse. Yeah, this isn't bad. Yeah, it's a creepy background. Good jersey, though. Good jersey. That looks like every scary movie where they keep the prisoners. That's like where Saul was filmed. I'm not sure I get the choice. We weren't there to say. So Pacers, I can't decide which... They have an obsession with this color scheme that they've been doing even since the Danny Granger days. That I'm just, I don't know. I don't get it. I'm not really feeling that. Like, is that black? The black and the blue? Yeah. That's a weird mix. Is it a chain? Is it a rope? Is it a... What is the thing that's bordering? I bet there's some real deep, meaningful reason they went with this. I just don't understand it. I bet there's no meaning. What was it though? I don't know. It's just a bad design. Just not great. Yeah, just not cool. Yeah, I don't love that one. It's got a weird cartoony vibe. Yeah. But not in a good way. I'm going to pass on the half. Okay, we're passing on the Pacers. No thank you. Don't send those. How about... All right, Eddie. Nets. Look. That's clean. That's fire. The black boss gadgets is obviously really dope as well. Yeah, put the shorts up for sale. I need a pair of these shorts. Yeah, this is clean. It's simple. Oh, I like the font. You do like the font. Yeah. Okay. I'm going to have to make a call. I'm going to have to get one of these dresses for sale. But why do they write out BKLYN? Why not just BKN? Yeah, it is a weird... Yeah. It is crayon-like in its... Maybe it's a stickler. I'm just a stickler for that. No, but you're right. Why add the other... You're right. I kind of see what you're saying. It's simple, almost like a child in it. No, I really, really dig the jerseys. Is that why we like children doing art? Okay, cool. I'm glad we're on the same page on that. The horde... Don't do it, Tammy. I'm going to do it. I would like to shout out Zach Harper, whose tweet went viral when this came out. He said, men everywhere are having a hard time finding this jersey. And maybe we all just toast that. The fact that there was multiple meetings... I thought it was the Celtics. It's so good. Did anyone look at this before they said, yep, do it. Nike, the team, the NBA, multiple meetings. They've brought this for over two years. Like, how did you see this? And they stuck with this. You can say it's the airport code, but we don't wear airport codes on our shirts. Nobody knows the Charlotte airport code. I don't understand. I'm confused. Yes, yes. Are you? That's what you're supposed to be. That's the airport code? That's not good. That doesn't work. That's what I'm saying. Look, shout it out, people. This was a bad idea from the beginning. Nobody knows the Charlotte airport code. It's the worst one we've seen. I'm not cute, but also hilarious. It's the worst one we've seen. They gave me much laugh. How's the pinstripes? What do you guys think about the pinstripes? I didn't even see them. I can't get past it. I can't even get past it. I didn't see pinstripes at all. Never noticed them once. All right, Miami. That's fresh. Okay, yeah. I'm personally liking it. Okay, I hate this. One time to me. I hate this. Why? It's very similar to Brooklyn. And you like Brooklyn. Right? Oh, of course I like Brooklyn. It's very blue sizzle, you know? It is. It does look like a ransom letter. A ransom letter. But I don't hate that. Is that about what I'm about to say? A colorful ransom letter. I love that the three's, the pink pops, it's clean, it's light. They're also different on the back. It's tropical. The numbers are different on the back. It's tropical. I do think you're being a little hypocritical, Eddie. I do think it's very similar to Brooklyn. No, not me. No way. Byness? No way. No. Zero chance. Oh, I feel good about that. We're going to sign off for today. We will be back from the LA studios tomorrow. But before we go, Eddie, can you share your coffee order with the group only because the words were weird? Go. It's not a coffee. It's a mango dragon fruit lemonade. All I know is the word dragon. Yeah. I remember when we had that. Just a cup of sugar. It's very good. You have a cavity after drinking that. We learned a lot about these guys this morning and there's so much more to learn. We're going to bond tonight. That means tomorrow's show will be the best show that's ever aired on any television anywhere. Until then, enjoy the games. Enjoy your Monday. Be careful out there. See you manana.