 Run it up, they run it back, yeah. Run it up, they run it back, run it back, run it up. Good Tuesday morning and welcome to Run It Back. We are here live in Los Angeles. Look who's back, y'all. Anything you wanna share? No, no, no. Just happy to be back, work with you, Michelle. That's okay. That wasn't even heartfelt. I've been Turner Chandler Parsons, Eddie Gonzalez, and Shyam Sharania joining us from Chicago, where hopefully he's busy, I don't know, finagling some ping-pong balls in favor of myself. Shyam, how are you doing this morning? I'm good, Michelle. Teams like the Spurs right now are just fretting tonight. I don't know if they're sweating. I don't know if they're angry. They're going through a lot of emotions, so I just wonder what you're going through. And there's nothing you can do. We're just gonna wait on the little, you know, not gonna do it, because it makes too many jokes. But we do finally have basketball tonight, which is, oh, thank goodness, we have something to talk about. And it's preview time, lakers, nuggets, you know, the Western Governments finals we all thought we would have. 830 Eastern over on ESPN. It is a rematch of the bubble. They did split the season series two and two. By the way, home teams won each of those games if you're keeping track. It's obviously a Yokic versus AD matchup. Chandler, I'm gonna start with you. Who has the edge? I mean, it's gotta be the Nuggets. They've had the better season. They have the better team. The lakers, the turnaround that they've had has been so impressive. It's crazy that we're even talking about them in the Western Conference finals against the Nuggets. But you look at these two matchups, these are insane. These are two of the most elite bigs. They can do it all, they're versatile. And it's honestly a battle of who gets who in foul trouble, the quickest for me. It's the thin bigs on both sides. I don't know who else is gonna guard one another when both of these guys go out of the game. They're gonna be matched up every minute they're in the game. So this is definitely the most exciting matchup. You can't really contain Yokic. He's still gonna do what he does. He's still gonna get everyone else involved, which I think gives him the advantage. But this is what it's all about. It's the two of the top three big guys in the NBA and they're gonna be going at it. Yeah, I agree with Chandler. You can't really contain Yokic. You really have to just worry about what you can do. And right now, I think AD, just as a last series, he's been playing active. He's been activated the whole time. And whenever he's into it, he's dominant. And he goes as the team goes. You see last game, he was 17 and 20. Only had 11 shots. And to this point, when his energy is up and he's defending that paint and he's energetic, I think he puts the Lakers in the best position to succeed. Yeah, I think when you think of AD's defense, he really helps on the perimeter. He really helps to help defender. He staves off the paint. He's not necessarily body and a guy 30 feet from the basket who can make threes and who can also put you under the rim. I think about the other side as well. Yokic's just gonna have to guard Anthony Davis because there's no other option out there for them. Aaron Gordon's gonna have to guard LeBron and then you forget smaller and worser at that point. So how is Yokic gonna handle that? If Yokic is ever in foul trouble, what do they do? If he has to come off the court for an extended time. So it's on Anthony Davis to be aggressive, to take more than 11 shots, like you just said, and to push his team to the finals. And I think he's got a good chance that he's gonna. God, what has happened to the season? Shams, you were in the bubble. You are obviously, I know. You're gonna have to do what I say. Our bubble boy. The biggest differences between the series we're about to watch starting tonight versus what happened back in 2020. What do you think? Yeah, I've been speaking about the nuggets, being in the bubble and seeing them down there. So I'm not, I haven't been surprised all year. Hopefully you guys can attest to that. I feel like the prime, this team is deep. But I think the one difference you have from this year and 2020 was in 2020, the Lakers had waves of defenders to throw at Nikola Yokic. You had Dwight Howard who wasn't at his peak, but he was playing at a very high level that season for the Lakers. Javeo McGee, he started for them. He played very well. Both of those guys played very well on Nikola Yokic splitting time. And Anthony Davis would guard them in spurts, but it wouldn't be all that much extended throughout the game. And this year, the Lakers don't really have that luxury. They don't have that size. And Mo Bamba is, it seems to be out in game one. He's listed out. He's a guy that they acquired at the deadline. He thought he might play a backup center role. That's what they were needing at different points. So not having those waves of defenders, I'm very curious how that puts AD in terms of foul situation. And just overall having the depth to throw different guys than Nikola Yokic, which I think worked out very, very well in 2020. Yokic in all of his answers, this entire playoff run has been my favorite. To be honest, I don't even remember what he learned from facing Lakers back in 2020. Look, it's the number one offense that Denver has. It's the number one offense or defense that the Lakers have, which is just some interesting science matching up their Chandler. How does that work in favor of the Lakers? Well, the good thing for the Lakers is defense usually travels. And this is something that it's not a talent. It's an effort. It's a will. And the Lakers seem to be doing that on the defensive end. And then we talked about all year long, the only holes the Nuggets really have is their defense and Jamal Murray and Yokic in pick and roll. And now Yokic, again, like Eddie just said, AD's got to make it a point to come out so aggressive. He's got to try and get him in foul trouble. He's got to absolutely dominate the paint and make him play on both ends of the floor. He can't be comfortable or he's just going to pick them apart all series long and it's going to be quick. So there's also an onus on the other, the guards on the Lakers with Austin Reeves, D Lo Schroeder, they collectively have to offset Jamal Murray because he's also playing well. He looks more like the bubble Jamal Murray. And when those two guys are going, they are tough to beat. You have to find a way to make Aaron Gordon beat you. You have to find a way to have Michael Porter beat you. Guys like Bruce Brown and they stepped up last series. But I'll take my chances if on the Lakers, I'm going to defend. I got to cut the water off on one of those two guys. And then I have a chance. But it's easier said than done. These guys are elite. These guys play unselfish. These guys make all the other guys around them better. So it's going to really test the Lakers' defense. I know they're number one right now, but they haven't played it off, defended against an offense like the Nuggets. Yeah, I agree with Chandler. I think one thing that occurs from, you know, game one is coming in and setting tone. You can't let officers or players like Yokic come in and be comfortable, pick his poison, try to figure out how he's going, you know, to, you know, infiltrate your defense. I also think, like you said before, Chandler, they have to come in and make sure Jamal Murray isn't comfortable. He's a dangerous scorer. Literally the second he gets going, the energy changes. And he can go from five points to 25 real quick. And you mix that in with a Yokic 30, 15, and 10. It could be a long night. And Aaron Gordon's playing great basketball along with Bruce Brown. But I think, you know, if the Lakers come in and set the tone, I think everything will go their way, especially on the offensive end. Get stops and get out and run. This part I think is fascinating. Both these teams are 6-0 in the playoffs. And the road thing. Who's going to be the first? We've had multiple guys who've played out there on this show say the Denver home court advantage. It actually is. It's no joke. It's real. Lakers are an older team. They push the ball. They do play with pace. They are an older team. We've seen the big fella look a little old in these playoffs. So I think their home court will win out. But that is not to say the Lakers can't win on that court. What I am interested in is how they defend that pick and roll we keep mentioning. They had a ton of issues with Steph Curry with that pick and roll. Now, Jamal Murray is not Steph Curry. And you don't have to guard him to the timeline. But they have to figure out what they're going to do about that because Yokic is a master at slipping. If he gets the ball out the nail, it's basically a basket for somebody. And they've got to figure out what they're going to do with that. And that's the series to start. After that, the adjustments will happen. And we'll go from there. But it's going to be a tight game one. And that home court is going to matter. And we always talk about this home court because of the altitude. But it's also the way this team plays, right? They play fast. They're often they don't you can't take a playoff on defense with this team because they can hurt you in so many different ways. And one game in between each game, that is tough. That's tough for LeBron. He's old. And I don't put anything past him because he just continues to get better and better somehow. But the one game with that flight with that altitude, that is a lot. And not to mention the Nuggets have lost all seven of their playoff series against the Lakers. So maybe they could finally get the monkey up their back and do this. But it's not like playing any other team. There's an amount of pressure that you get when you play against the Lakers. It packs a bigger punch. And not only are you knocking off the Lakers, you're knocking off LeBron James. So this is a tall task for the Nuggets, even though I do think they're a better team and have the edge. The one day off is kind of nuts. It does feel like a lot. Yeah, I thought Brown would have had that handle in advance, got himself a few days off. Maybe. You know what I mean? Put something in between, but part. Script. The script was broken during the scheduling of this series. Shams, biggest question mark for this Lakers team is what? Well, I think you saw at the end of that second round series when Dalvin Ham made the adjustment, started Dennis Schroeder in game six. I'm very curious, do you stay with that and stay with Dennis Schroeder when you talk to people around this team? I think there's more of a sense, Jared Vanderbilt. You start bigger. You have a bigger defender potentially for Michael Porter Jr. So just the battle of adjustments, which Eddie just mentioned, I would be kind of surprised if you go with Dennis Schroeder right off the bat. I think that was a good adjustment for the series against the Warriors against Gary Payton the second. But seeing how the adjustments take place over the course of the series, because the Nuggets, for the most part, they're locked in with their starting five. There's not going to be much starting five change for the Nuggets. I think the Lakers are going to be the ones who might have to tinker at different points. I mean, who's feeling this more as far as maybe we have more to lose or it feels like we have more to lose. Denver or LA? Be honest with you, in my personal position, I feel like Denver, whatever happened a couple of years ago with the Lakers and everything, that's old news. But since then, I feel like the Lakers have been having to work their way out the mud, and they're in a position where none of us thought they'd be. And with Denver, you're dealing with a two-time league MVP. You're dealing with guys that are really trying to earn and write, earn their stripes. And to kind of not make it over this hurdle versus Asian LeBron, it kind of sets you back a bit, because come next year, you're going to have a different look of Western Conference teams and different groups that might not be as advantageous this year. Yeah, I think it's definitely the Nuggets. I think they're the better team, they're the number one seed that no one even put, it's crazy to me still, we're talking about the Lakers in the Western Conference finals, it's already a success for this team. And so, Jokic, also, he's got pressure. He just sold you LMB, they've got the MVP, he's out. Everyone talks about, you've got to put your in a different character and a different cast when you win a championship. This is his year, it is wide open for him. We're talking about playing the Lakers in the Western Conference finals. Would they start off two and 10 this year? Pressure's all on Denver, it's all on Jokic. And also too with Jokic as well. We joke and everything, but he's going up against Anthony Davis. Yeah. So it's going to be a tough, it's going to be a tough, this is real, he's going to bring his Munch Pell, you have to bring his Munch Pell to really get that rap and kind of slay the kings of the West, to be honest with you. I'll be the guy and say, I'll be the guy and Michelle, I'm going to say just for you, it's because of LeBron. When he steps on the court, it's history on the line. He's getting closer and closer to try to get six rings, which we all know is hollowed ground, which we all know is the Michael Jordan situation. Well. But this might be his last chance to win a title. This might be his last chance to make a deep run into the playoffs. As you may have heard, he's 39 years old. What? Horace Chandler says old, just says old. So I do think a wrestling is a historic franchise. There's a date with the Celtics after this as well and to have the most titles in franchise history. And look, the Lakers, they've had, it's been up and down. It's been up and down and this is what they do. This is what they've historically done. They compete for titles and they want to win. So I do think it is a little more pressure on them. The Nuggets, I think they're the ones that are happy to be here. Yo, the MVP got here, he's happy to be here, but. I'll say this, do not let the Lakers win this championship because if he wins this after everything they've been through this season, tell me he's not the best player of all time. I'll tell you. Score the record? Score the record? And with the team, this wasn't even his team two months ago. And if he takes this team, some man, I know they got better. I know other guys are playing well. I know Austin Reeves is playing very well. I know Anthony Davis, but my god, if this dude finds a way to knock off number one seed and then goes and beats Boston, who it's going to be. How do you know it's going to be, but you got, you all are disrespecting each other. I don't know if he's going to win. He's culture though? Put an end on the whole debate because if LeBron James was the championship this year, after everything this team, they were the laughing stock for four months. They made a couple moves. This hurts. And they win the championship this year. We thought they were going to be in the victor sweepstakes. Over Michael's. That would be, come on. Over Michael, Jeffrey Jordan. Yeah, listen, come on. What else can I do? What are you about to say? What else can a guy do, Evan? He would, I mean, he would. Well, look at Evan right now. He's struggling. You know what I feel about my top, top, top, top. Your top five, eight, seven. Yeah, yeah, it'll be a great 1A, 1B. Oh, here we go. Who's that? Just starting. Michael, Jeffrey, Jordan. Thank you. And that's why Evan's my favorite. You're over here starting things going on. Look, right now, the nuggets are the favorite on the Fandals Sportsbook. Yolkich to be the Western Conference MVP. Is anybody going against that? Here we are. I forgot that exists. I forgot it was like that. Yeah, I know. Well, there are awards for everything these days. I'm not, I'm taking my little change and I'm a bat with AD. Oh, are you? Wow. I love that matchup. I'm not going to lie, because I think the Lakers are going to win. You really? Okay, so we got Lakers, AD. Nuggets in five. Nuggets in five. Nuggets in five. Nuggets in five. That's aggressive. I think they get both at home. I think they steal one in LA and it's a wrap going back. One game in between, going down three one. If they're down, if they're up three one, it's a wrap going back to Denver with one game in between. Against Lovar, Jan. Defense wins championship. Defense travels. I got Lakers in seven. What? Oh, whoa. We have two Lakers up here? Lakers in seven. Well, if they go seven, they're definitely not winning the finals, because a Bron can't do two. Sacrifices need to be made for our grown adult child, Jason Tatum, seven, and Denver too. If they go to seven, they have no shot, Eddie. Oh my God, I wish we could fast forward this, figure out who we're having. I can't say a one-off game, just like Steph earlier this year. Little Bron James in a one-off game. I'm not picking against him, I'm sorry. That's fair. Like just one game. Oh, this is awful. Okay, yeah, well, at least it starts tonight. We're once that closer to figuring it all out. The East starts Manana, Miami and Boston, which I don't even know why we're gonna talk about it. Everyone up here has already told me that Boston's winning, I don't know why. Third time in past four seasons that they have played each other in the Eastern Conference Finals. They too have split the season series into a piece. Tatum obviously from the second half of the fourth quarter of game six, all the way through game seven was amazing. How do you slow him down? It's tough, and he's had some inefficient games where teams can get him to settle, he takes long twos, but he's gotta make an effort to get to the basket. He's gotta get to the free-to-line. And again, if he shows anything like he did in game seven, it's gonna be tough because I feel like the Celtics are this team that had a very good season all year long. Outside of Milwaukee, they're arguably the best team in the NBA all year long, and then the playoffs, I feel like we haven't even seen them kind of scratch the surface. So I think they're the toughest team to beat. I think they're the best team of the four remaining. I think they should be the favorites to win the championship this year. But when you got Tatum being efficient in playing how he's playing with Jaylen Brown, doing what he's doing, it's the best duo in the league, and they also defend. So I think they're very tough to beat, but the heat are tough as well. I mean, as an eight seed, a play-in winner, everything Jimmy Butler's done this postseason, they're also extremely tough, and they have that DNA to match up good with Boston. But I just think Boston has too much and Tatum and Brown are gonna be too much. Yeah, I agree too. And it's not even so much of slowing Tatum down, it's just stopping him. If you look at game six versus sixers, I mean, he was like what, one for 14, going into the fourth, he made four shots, and that game was as close as anything. That could have ended their series. So I think one thing that's gonna encourage, you can't slow him down, you gotta stop him, send two people at him, get the ball out of his hands, because even with that, he's playing a full game. He's bringing home 13 rebounds each night. He's getting six assists, and he knows he can score. So he's literally like, it's not if my shot's gonna fall, it's when it's gonna fall. And usually the team has them within four or five points at all times. Yeah, what I loved about what he did in game seven, he had in-between game working, which you rarely see from Jason Tatum. You know, I joke about it, he's just like a robotic hooper. You can see the training he's done. But he let it go, he was hitting floaters, he was in pull-up mid-range, and then he's obviously gonna take his sidestep threes and make those two once he gets it going, but it looked like he just was taking what he could get rather than getting to his stuff and just doing whatever. When he's making jumpers like that though, there's nothing you can do. I think people don't realize how tall he is too. Like he's like a legit 6'10", and looks it and plays like it. I don't think that he'd have anything for him, all due respect to Jimmy Butler, but this ain't the Bucks with the hurt, to be honest, and this ain't the overwhelmed mix. This is a team that just played in the finals, they know what they're doing, so. I think they're rightfully favored. I think you're making Jimmy mad. We'll get to that in a second. Turning point for Boston, though, against Philly, and really the crushing of the spirits of the Sixer Shams. What was that turning point? I think the entire turning point, Michelle, the entire playoffs was when they put Robert Williams back in the starting lineup, because last year, Ime Udoka, he leads that team to the NBA Finals, and they have Robert Williams, Al Horford. That was the new mechanism that he found with this roster to take them to the next level. And then Joe Mozzula kind of goes away from that a little bit, and it takes them 11 games into the playoffs to start Robert Williams. He had a good finish to the Sixer series, and I think now you have a Celtics team that's prime. They're doing the exact same thing they're doing last year, and I think they're in position right now, for sure. I mean, definitely against the Heat, no Tyler here or no Victor Oladipo. Maybe Eddie needs to get on here and give Jimmy Butler some more motivation. He might have to, he needs to go like another level and he went against even Milwaukee, I think, to beat this Boston team. I mean, can he go another level, though? Is there another level? Playoff Jimmy. He almost set the playoff record for points in a game. There's more. He can actually set the record against the Celtics. The problem for him is there's so many defenders on this Celtics team, and the collisions between him and Marcus Smart are gonna set basketball back 35 years. This is gonna be great. It's gonna be ridiculous. But I mean, it's hard to bet against him, but at some point, this team is just overwhelmed with the talent of the Celtics, and that's how I see it. I love the guys they have over there. I hate how effective Kyle Lowry is and can be. But the Celtics are too deep for that, and the two wings they have, it's tough to beat. There's a reason why, like Chandler said, we've looked at them as the best team in the league for most of the season, and now they're finally locked in. Oh no. They're looking like it again. You guys seem so sure. I don't, I don't. Yeah, I'm pretty sure about it. I'm not gonna lie. I mean, the only thing I can see is, you know, the dominance of Jimmy and his presence. You know, our superstars are, he's a true superstar. You'd like to think the game goes how they go, you know, in certain instances. So if, you know, you mix that in with Spoe, you know, play calling Jimmy again, often into the right running. When it comes down to, you know, Jimmy fears nothing and, you know, he's an alpha. And you know, the same way when he was down six, telling Drew how they one of the best offenders I've ever seen, I own you. He might snap into a swim gym and make it about the heat culture. He's still a bam at a bio. He's still a Max Struce that's been shooting a lights out. Oh my goodness. Shout out Duncan Robinson. He's getting to the rat drop and dimes and hitting three or four threes. You know what I'm saying? And then you got Gabe Vinson getting his little, you know, Fred Van Fleet on, you know what I mean? So from there, I think there's something that could happen if lightning strikes the right way. I think lightning strikes the right way. I just think this is the series where they need Tyler Hero. This is the season where they need Eladipo. This is the- We need Tyler Hero to put a uniform on. Yeah. The Celtics, they have too much. They have too much depth. They have too many tough defensive guys that can play in pick and roll. They can knock down shots. I respect everything that he have done this year from a play-in team to this, you know, to the eight seed knocking off the Bucks who I thought were the favorite to win it all this year. I just think that the Celtics, they played too well on both sides of the ball. And as good as Jimmy Butler is and everything he's done, there's two of them on the other team. They're Brown and Jason Tatum. So I just think they have too much. Well, speaking of Gabe Vincent, Shams recently sat down with him. Let's take a listen from that interview. You've recently become the starter for the Heat in these playoffs. Kyle Lowry has been a very accomplished veteran leader. So what was that like? Was there a conversation that you two had? Was there some leadership that was displayed by Kyle Lowry? Yeah, I mean, at the time, I think he was out with injury. That's when I really stepped into it. Any time that he's missed a game ever since he's been here or even been there, he's been in my ear, whether it's a coverage or this team, they like to do this or this coach is known for that. And, you know, he's been giving me bits of wisdom left and right, you know, even off the court stuff. So in terms of mentorship, he's been huge for me and my development. So I'm definitely grateful for Kyle. And this is a team that's kind of full of leaders, right? Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry. What does it say about the situation that, yeah, you guys have a group of young guys but to have an established culture and leadership as well? Yeah, it's huge. We got a lot of alphas in one room. And, you know, sometimes it could look crazy on the outside when you're looking at it. We kind of get a little animated, but sometimes that's just the way we need to communicate at that given moment. But it's been great. You know, Jimmy's been wonderful. He's been one of the best players in the playoffs. You know, he's playing. So we're rallying behind him and he's leading us. Sean, what was your biggest takeaway from that? Well, I think this is a guy in game business and later in the interview, he talks about free agency and how, yes, he's locked in on the playoffs, but he's going to be an unrestricted free agent. He's played four seasons in Miami. He came up as a guy that was undrafted, had to play in the G-League, two ways, minimums, and now he's going to be in a position. He's the starter for this heat team, took Kyle Lowry's spot when Kyle Lowry was out. Now Kyle Lowry's playing an effective role, like Eddie just said, coming off that bench. He's playing at a pretty high level, but Eric Spolster, this heat team, they're sticking with him as a starter. Gabe Vincent moving forward and this is a guy that's going to go into unrestricted free agency. He's going to have a significant market around the league as a guy that can not only potentially start, but also come off the bench. This heat team has seven undrafted players in their rotation, which is easily the most in the playoffs. This is sacrilegious for me to even ask, but has Eric Spolster the best coach in the NBA? Oh, he's up there. He's definitely the best. Eddie, shut up. He's over there. He's definitely the best coach left in the entire playoffs. That's good wording. What he's done, what he's come from, from a video coordinator to everything he's created in Miami, like you just said, the fact that they have that many players that they find and they develop through their system, it's like a farm league team, where they just find these guys that no one else wants and they turn them into bona fide players like Duncan Robinson, like Struse, like Gabe Vincent, these guys, and they find their role and they buy into everything that Spoe teaches with the toughness and the culture and the identity. You don't really hear that very often about teams throughout the NBA, but the heat, one thing that they have is that. And that comes a lot from Spoe. He's great managing the game. He's great with the offensive execution at a timeout. So it really is impressive what he's done and players like him, the players like going to the heat. They love the system. They love everything that he presents. So he's done such a great job and a lot of their success has to do with Spoe. I mean, you look at what he's done over his career. He's had the super team. He has this team now with seven undrafted guys like you mentioned. Very different. And the way he's able to find success with each, it's a team that always comes prepared. It's a team that rarely makes mistakes. It's a team that's never rattled. And that's a lot for a team with, again, seven undrafted guys with unheralded guys like Bam. Bam was undrafted to be a superstar in their light and they were able to develop him into that. So he's the entire package as a coach. You watched, you know, I know Twitter fans, they love out of timeout plays. And it's like, oh, a guy's open. That's stuff you can see. But the things Chandler mentioned as well, the culture they've created there, the fact that they can plug in and play guys, the fact that you can sit Duncan Robinson all season long, put him in the dog house, say, yo, you can't play, we can't play for us. And then dust him off on the playoffs and he's happy to go and he's actually producing for you. That's a testament to coach and also a testament to Duncan's professionalism. But it's a testament to your system and what you've situated there for over a decade now. I think he's the best coach in the league. I'll do respect to pop and what he's done. But I mean, you know, the worst record in the league, sorry, pop. Wow, you hate to hear that. We'll get to why in the next segment. You hate to see it. No, you don't. We don't see it. We do not see it. Evan, do you want to fill in anybody on this? No, no, I agree. He said everything, he said everything. But one thing you spoke on versatility, you know, you went from a super team to going to, you know, teams we need to rebuild to positions where, you know, you're in the Eastern Conference finals after being in the playing game. It's a testament to the culture, to the flow into the player scene ready. So besides pop killing it for most of the early thousands, it's a difference of change of eye to guard. It's pretty crazy to watch. By the way, that picture of him, black and white picture with the HS tapes. That was something to see. I mean, first of all, he looks 14 in this picture when he was a video coordinator, which I know everybody starts for young, but what are we, what is this? I love it. Everybody works on him being a video coordinator. But he's also a Hooper in college. One like player of the year. But that's not as cool. It's not as cool, but it's a reason that he knows basketball. You got to, you got to do to play soccer being a video coordinator and talking about it. That could be me. It's like, no. No, you'll be next to him. On the other side of the court, of course, is Joe Missoula. I don't know if it's fair or not to talk about pressure on him, but let's not kid ourselves there always is. How much pressure is on Missoula for this thing? It's a pretty decent amount of pressure. Anytime, you know, you have championship aspirations in a city like Boston. There's always going to be a lot of pressure, especially considering when you get so close. And there's so few teams playing. You got to throw the gun, quote, I mean, no pun intended. Somebody's left to put the blame on. And, you know, sometimes, you know, we're starting to look at the sideline even more. And I think he'll have it worked out. I think the guys, you know, listened to him well. They won a lot of big games this year, and they responded. You know, they just came out of a series where they're down 3-2. And he had to adjust and buckle in and so did the rest of the team. And he did that. So they're in this position right now. And I will say, he's been blessed with a very, very talented, great team. Not saying he hasn't done a great job, but a lot of people would love to be in his situation. Guys that are just like, you know, Silas gets fired. He took the wrong job. He got the rockets. He gets punished for that. It's hard to say that he would do a bad job if he was the Celtics coach. And he kind of inherited this team that Missoula did. But he seems to be doing the right things. Players seem to like him. And they're having a heck of a season under him. So it's tough to say he's a great coach yet because he's just now starting. But I would love to coach that team. No, it's about to change this and Joe. You would hate to be a coach. No, I couldn't. But if I could inherit any team in the NBA, that would be it. It would be the Boston Celtics. So it doesn't seem like it's that hard of a job. That's insane. Wow. Okay. That's, there you go. There's the comment. We're going to take a quick break here. When we come back, we're going to bring out some wizards, warlocks, a Ouija board. We're going to conjure and manifest the ping pong balls. And San Antonio's favorite. Run it up, run it back, run it up, run it back. 8 o'clock tonight, over on ESPN. It's time to see magic happen. So seven of the last eight years, the teams with the best odds of winning have won this year. Lottery Shoms, you're out there. You'll be there. What are you looking forward to? Well, obviously whoever gets the number one overall pick, I'm definitely looking forward to. But just the value that that has for an organization, not only to improve your team, but also the value of the team. You think about a team like the Charlotte Hornets, who Michael Jordan, his company has come out with a statement in recent months that they've engaged in conversations potentially to sell. Well, they haven't sold yet, and they're still waiting to see what happens tonight. You get the number one overall pick. What happens to your team in terms of valuation, in terms of whether you want to keep the team, sell the team for even more money than where you might be pegging this organization at now. So I think for Houston, for Charlotte, for San Antonio, Detroit, the list goes on and on. Your spurs, Michelle, are among the teams that have been waiting on pins and needles for tonight. And I think there's a value for the team as a whole that's gonna take place with whatever team gets Victor Womanyama. It's such a crazy night, Shoms. Like you just sort of sit around, there you go. Thank you, Shea. And by the way, I do have my pop camo, and it is ready to be lit. So I'm not joking around with Shea on that one. Shoms, thank you so much. Enjoy the night. It is a crazy, weird night. Like you're just watching like a bingo haul machine and a ball pop out. But the probability of winning for tonight, they're three top teams, we'll top in this sense. Pistons, spurs and rockets, all of the 14% chance at getting the coveted one spot followed by the Hornets and the Trail Blazers. So let's just take those five right now. Let's, Chandler, what do you think? Best fit for Victor Womanyama? I think it would be the Blazers. And I think that would be great for Victor. And I think it would be great for Damian Liller. We've all been wanting him to get a player to play along with. He had guys like Evan Turner that were great, but they ain't Victor Womanyama. Yeah, I mean, I think this kind of pro longs him staying there. I don't think he leaves if they end up getting this guy. We're talking about a franchise changing type of player. Obviously have the worst chance of these top five teams. And but as far as fit, it's tough. I feel like coming in with this many expectations and this amount of pressure this kid has, he would benefit greatly having Damian Liller kind of take that pressure off, take that, you know, the scouting report, not being the number one guy. You go to one of these other teams, it's going to be a long year. You're going to get a lot of reps. And I think he's going to do well wherever he goes because he's that good. He's that talented. But I just think playing along a guy like Damian Liller who can relieve so much pressure in his first year would be huge and really beneficial for this kid's growth. Yeah, I only agree. I agree with the Damian Liller situation because you want to make sure his development is on the right path. You see a lot of these young guys come into this game nowadays and you know, you get with the wrong group, with the wrong culture, you know, you don't really go on the right path to learn about winning. But the next step, Michelle, you will love this. I think Coach Pop would be great for you because at the end of the day, the path and trajectory that respect them will go on, you know, you really have to be around people that have seen it done. You know, you see David Robinson, Tim Duncan and all the other greats they was able to coach and also work with over there. I think there's something once again about the culture that is, that would be unbelievable. I'm going to go up the deep end here a little bit. I'm looking at this beautiful graphic we have on the side of here. I'm going to go with Dallas Mavericks. Okay, you know what? I'm going to go with Dallas Mavericks. Can we put him with Luca running pick and box? Three percent? We've seen crazier things happen. But if we're talking about the best fit on this beautiful graphic we have, put him with Kyrie and Luca and watch what they do next year. Why would you want to send this kid into that poop show? Like, that's not fun for him. Just tell us about Dallas Mavericks. No, not about the fun part of Dallas. I'm going to go with Dallas Mavericks. And it's true, the best fit is the best team in the lottery, which is the Dallas Mavericks. So it's a cheap answer. But yeah, I mean, I think they immediately go to a playoff team adding this kid, adding Kyrie. I kind of like that. How do you feel? He said Porzingis 2.0 in a sense. He doesn't even shoot us while it's Porzingis yet. You understand what I'm saying? How do you feel about the young fellow being under the tutelage of Kyrie and Luca Dancic? Yeah. I don't. You get a little swagger from your vets. It's one way to really make it a PG-rated thing where we say how leaders should look. And it's another way where he's going to teach them a league and what is really up and down. Like, to a certain extent, you might want a Gordon Hayward to be the vet, but Chandler's going to teach you a lot too. Oh, god. Yes, yes, I will. And Chandler can teach you a lot too. And you know, we had the Joe and Kim Noah conversation. And you know, it all helps in the end, you know? All right, speaking of Chandler, let's take a look at this beautiful graphic, as Eddie put it, and let's rank them the cities as you would party schools go. Cities? OK, I got it. Oh, my god, so excited. Z Dallas, number one, for sure. Number two, yikes, this is not good party times. Two, I'd probably go Houston. Well, Tartan loves it. Three, three. Detroit off Pure Ratchet, man. Dang, god, just so I don't know. You're going to stumble on that one good block near the waterfront. All right, I will throw that in there. Austin Portland has nice little nightlife, little too hippy for me, a little too weird, but. DC some love? No, Charlotte, DC, Andy, Utah, you can't get a double, let alone stay out, a drink past 11 PM. That's tough. And San Antonio, the Riverwalk is just not dope. Nobody goes to the Riverwalk and San Antonio. I mean, that's ridiculous. Not one human being that lives. Oh, my god. The rodeo, Riverwalk. I'm not here to defend San Antonio all to my death. He better off standing prance. It was good enough for Tony Parker, who, by the way, he's very close to, so I'm just saying you guys are missing out on what could happen. Is there a chance in hell that whoever gets the number one pick does not take Victor Wimanyama at one? Zero to no. Okay, wait, come on. I like Scoot Henderson. You know I like Scoot a lot. You're not making a mistake with a Scoot Henderson, to be honest with you. Somebody, where they see that? I mean, the Pistons can't draft a point guard for the third straight year. I don't think you're making a mistake with Brandon Miller, but you're not going to look at those number one pick and not take this guy and all of the potential. We know how the league works. You're making the seven-six guy. You're making a huge mistake taking anybody other than this kid. I know Scoot is good. I know Brandon Miller is good. He's got length. He's got game. We're talking about a career franchise changing player that could, is arguably the greatest prospect of all. It's way too much pressure. Sam Bowie? Bowie for Sam Bowie. See, there you go. That's what we're worried about. That's what we're worried about. His body does scare me a little bit. He's got the chat at home grid. He's very thin. He needs to put on weight. And again, when you go to one of these teams, he's going to be getting a lot of reps, a lot of minutes, a lot of load on this frail body. So I think it's better for him to go to a better team, like a Portland, like a Dallas, someone like that, where he doesn't have to go and play so many minutes and just get beat up all season long. So it is tough. It's a risk. It's a risk. You look at guys with his size and his frame. It's tough to stay healthy, but I'm taking it. I'm rolling the dice of this kid. Like everyone. All right. Do you think on that list, Portland and Dallas are the only two teams that would become contenders immediately if they add him? I don't know. Or anybody else? No. They're still not contenders with him. Maybe Dallas, but yeah, no, those teams aren't winning. So nobody up there becomes something. I mean, you go, you let them go to Houston, then James Harden weirdly wants to go there and they get him and then they can add some pieces. But no, we're talking about contenders. No, none of this. What about the Pacers? No. No, not even with that all-star point guard. You got to shoot her like Buddy Hill. Maybe keep Miles Turner. I mean, we're forgetting there's eight teams in the playoffs that are better than all of these teams. This rookie, I get it. It's going to take some time for this guy, though. He's not just going to go and make a team a contender right away, I don't think. And I just know what happens when you make it to the second round. We swear everybody, we forget the history and we swear everybody got a chance. Couple injuries. Yeah, what is it? I mean, look at this season. Look at this season. These playoffs are crazy. So I feel like that's not... Is there a better way to do this, by the way, is the draft lottery still the best way to figure out the order? No, just, we got really just, it's entertainment. So like, let's just be realistic like put the big fella in New York. You know what I mean? Why not take these 10, what is that, 10 teams? Take these 10 teams and then put them in a tournament and you have to win this tournament. Fine. The bad teams to get him. I like this. It's like you lose all year long but then you got to come together and show your potential. I like Dallas, though. Well, 10 teams, no, it's gonna take. Yeah, exactly. But then Dallas is... I think you do five or six teams because 10 is the little bit. Yeah, take those six. Stop at Orlando, take those six teams and then they have just a dog fight for Victor. I mean, Dame's gonna go great. You can't leave Dame alone with those kids. Yeah, then I'm taking Portland if you take them six. So the question is how hard do you play if you're the power forward of the Smurrs and you're like, oh yeah, this is my starting job and my $40 million. Also, you have load management and you just wait to get in that bottom six and then you play all your guys to win that tournament. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. There's no real, real... So this was not a good idea. Imagine the shamelessness of a team that can win playoff games going, you know what? Let them do a day scan. I'm Portland, I'm wrestling Dame, I'm wrestling Jeremy Grant and then I'm just playing them in this tournament to get them to what point they'll stop. By the way, don't do that movement again on TV. That's just some advice from a veteran. My bad. That's a gift, that's a gift. You always gotta go there. I'm so sorry, up next. You even got a crowd reaction, that's crazy. We got a live audience. Anthony Edwards says he's going to France to train with Rudy Gaubert during this off season. That is a reality show that should happen. We'll discuss when we come back. Run it up, run it back, run it up, run it back, run it up. All right, James Harden, bring it back to Fats. Oh, wow, forced trade out of Philly next week. Look. You didn't even want to read that. I know, I've got halfway through. I was like, no, we're not. But yes, we are going to talk James Harden because look, sixers are done. The rumor that just seems to not want to go away is that James Harden has mad interest in returning to Houston and the Rockets. What do you do with this information? Do you buy it? No, and I love James and I love Houston and I guess I get it. But you only have what, three, four, five more years? Just move there, retire there. You have no chance of winning there. You have a young, especially a rebuild situation. I get maybe if they happen to snag the number one pick tonight and they get victor, then it makes it a little bit more exciting. But James Harden is a Hall of Famer and only thing he's missing is a championship and he has zero chance of winning a championship on this current roster. So I don't really get it. I don't see it. I don't know why. But again, he's 33, 34 years old. Go retire there in two or three years when you're done. But to go play there, it doesn't make sense. I mean, I assume he has some sort of a beautiful compound as it is already. Oh, he does. He's got restaurants. He's got a nice house. But you can go there in the summer or retire there. This makes no sense to me. Now, I agree with you because right now he's in a position where we're talking about legacy. So if you're going to leave there, go somewhere where you can go play for a contender or do something along those lines. But we're talking about Houston Rockets. I mean, the streets ain't missing you that bad. You'll be straight. Someone call me liar. The streets might be missing them a little bit. We don't have the wrong legacy, I think. But if he wants to go back, he wants to be with his family, I guess. I mean, the way he lost this series is disheartening. Nine points, three of 11 shooting. You would think all that's left for him to do in the league is win a title. So if anything, he's taking short money somewhere trying to win a title. But it's not been James's way. It took a little bit of a discount this year. And he going to get that money back at some point. I do love the Reddit conspiracy theory that this is all a grand scheme to stockpile assets for the Rockets, to take out the Nets, to take out the Sixes, and make his way back in two years. I don't believe it. But I think that's the type of entertainment I sign. You going to bank all that on a game, seven hardy? Two years sabbatical to go back to Houston. But then I see reports to Phoenix, which that would make more sense to me, right? That would put the stamp on his career. That would give him a real championship contending team. He doesn't have to do as much with Book and Katie. That makes sense. Going to this rebuild in Houston, I don't see it. Come home, Uno. Come home to Phoenix. You're good out there. That's so easy. So easy. Look, Joel and Bede, of course, also had a bad playoff. Same team. And then it makes us think, should we be giving the MVP award after the season, after the playoffs? Evan, you're buying that? No, because we should have been done that. So we might as well just keep it the way it is. Why? We can fix it now. I mean, I guess they remember the big hoopalai when Dirk Mavisky won it after getting eliminated by the We Believe Warriors back in the day. But I mean, it's like what we say. It's a season award. It's not anything else, obviously. That's player to season. I just think you should keep it that way. Unfortunately, they lost in the second round. It is what it is. I think you could change it. I think you could make it. I don't think you should. Again, I think Joel and Bede deserved the MVP. He was the best player all year long. And he just took the Celtics to game seven. And yeah, it didn't go their way. But this guy dominated. He was healthy. And he kind of exceeded expectations for this team one one away. And they're going to the Eastern Conference Finals. And I think they beat the heat. So I think it was a successful season. It just didn't end the way they wanted to. But this dude dominated all year long. He's the MVP, no matter if he loses his first crown or wins the championship. He was the best player all season long. I guess there are rewards for everything else, too. Just don't bring the banquet back. Give the award away whenever you want. Don't bring the cringe-worthy banquet back. But no, it's a regular season award. We've seen worse flameouts from MVVs and the White House. So it is what it is. But I will say this. If Jokers goes to the finals and he wins, then we've got to transfer all that energy of, yo, should he win the MVP if he writes as Joel and Bede over there in the East. Oh, it will. I think it will. I think it'll be very fair if that happens. And we have to do all that. There was a recent interview where Jimmy Butler said that the Heat had offered to unretire the number 23, which of course was for MJ, when he joined the team. Eddie, you buying that? No, he's a historic capper. And he's known as that. Wow. I don't believe that. And he said Pat Riley himself did it, which made me think, maybe there's a little bit of animosity still in there for old Pat. But no, they made the really strange decision to just retire Mike's number. And I think they're just going to honor that forever. Yeah, Jimmy, for that lot. That's a good lie. That's like a nice fit. That's a good lie. I also don't want to be the dude to unretire Michael Jordan's jersey to then take that number. No way I want to be that guy. I think it was weird that they retired the jersey in the first place, but I'm not going to be the first dude to wear a 23 after they unretire his jersey. Especially after when LeBron showed up and didn't do it themselves. And then they do it for Jimmy. Why did they do that? Everybody, they're tweaking out there. That's not a real story. Nobody has saw Jimmy Butler. It's like, you know what, bro? Grab that. That's for you? Bring it down here. No shot now. There's no what? I love Jimmy Butler for sure. And every now and then, if I was like had enough training, somebody would say, I don't enjoy it. But not in that sense. If what? If he'll wear faux dreads, he'll tell this story in the essence. That's a great point. Take Jimmy for a grand assault. Jimmy's just fun. He's enjoying this life. Yeah, Jimmy's living his best life. Not like Chandler, but it's the best life nonetheless. We, Anthony Edwards, look. He's going to France. Nice to train with Rudy Gaubert during the off season. Are you buying that this is a good idea? You know what's great? Right when I think I can't like this kid anymore, he says some stuff like this where it's, I believe him. And by the way, France is a great place. Right? I'll go to France. Yeah, he should do this. For the entire off season. Even just publicly saying this, we know all the stuff with Rudy. We know everything they've invested in Rudy for Anthony Edwards at his age to take on even this leadership kind of comment, to go there, to be with him, to support him, to get familiar with him, to get in the gym with him. Y'all are getting conned. This is huge though. No, this kid's like, I want to go to France for three months. I think he's going to definitely break curfew some nights. On Rudy's dime, by the way. On Rudy's dime. But this shows, this honestly shows me his maturity and his growth, the fact that he's even thinking. Maybe he doesn't know, but the fact that he said it means something. Yeah, and I'm not going to hold him accountable for how the results turn out. You know what I mean? Yeah, or even better. Rudy just comes back. He's trying. No, no, Rudy, I appreciate you showing up. I'm sure you'll get some chemistry, but I think Anthony Edwards, like you said before, there's a couple of moments this year, whether it's like the All-Star snub and stuff like that, where I think he responded very maturely and showed what type of level he's at. And I think from the sake of the OGs and the great players, I think he's tucked his tail enough and showed enough respect to show that he's going to do the right path and earn it. And I think they got a real star in Minnesota. He's unbelievable. I'll tell you this, Kyle Anderson somewhere rolling his eyes at this conference. I mean. He picked his side. This looks like Rudy knows what a money's at on that team. That's how I'm taking it. Unless Carl Anthony Townsend goes out and says, yeah, guys, I'm going to France too. He's making the right decision. Does it feel like there's pressure on Carl Anthony Townsend to now go to France? I don't think, I don't think Kat feels pressure in general. I don't think he's. By the way, we're talking about going to France. It's like if we're going to. If Kat doesn't go now, it's like he's kind of a bad team. And the whole team should go. And the France that Rudy go bare will invite him to. That's an entirely different France than like the one where we expedite. Can you also give credit? Do you have to go? They might not like Rudy. Do you want to go hang out with Rudy in France for like a month? No, but it's about that's the point though, isn't it? Like the team. Yeah. And yeah, you do want to go to Paris. Yes. With Rudy go bare on his dime. Yeah, with the Max contract. By the way, why haven't you offered us the Cabo compound for us to go and build team spirit? Let's record from the finals instead of coming here. Let's do it in Cabo. Let's do it. How come we haven't done that? Well, Jason. All right, we'll talk about it in the next break, I guess. Darvin Ham said, of course he did, that LeBron should have been all NBA first team. You buying that? Here's my problem. No. No, but. No, he shouldn't. But I do agree that there was plenty of years that he should have won the MVP that he didn't. So this happens every single year where there's someone that got, Joken should be first team all NBA. You know what I mean? They shouldn't do it. Will be after this position. They shouldn't do it position. You're telling me Yokech is not on the first team all NBA when he was runner up for MVP. It makes no sense. But I get what Darvin Ham saying. LeBron James is one of the best players in the NBA, but he didn't deserve to be top five this year. Yeah, I agree. I don't think he should have been top five either. It goes out, Sam, but we understand it's great. But he also could have three or four more MVPs. If he had six more, if they just took the best player every year, then he'd have them all for a decade. But that's not how it works. He made third team. He missed a bunch of games. It's fine. Like, give it to the young fellas. Jason Tatum should have been above him like he was. I believe Jaylen Brown was above him. I think he should have been above him as well. LeBron's had won many awards. Like, whatever they send you for this, it's collecting dust and some cellar in his compound. So it's fine. No idea what the hardware looks like. All right, perfect. Up next, we're going to chat and we're going to end the show on some happiness and some laughter. That's the tease, guys. Does that make you want to keep watching? Do you want points for Jason? I'm changing. Yeah. Hey, Dad. Get in on the NBA Playoffs action. Ow, from the first in with Fandall right now, new customers can get a no sweat first bet up to $1,000. That's $1,000 back in bonus bets if your first bet doesn't win. There's no better place to bet all the Playoffs actions than America's number one sports book. So download the app and bet on the NBA Playoffs today. Fandall, official sports betting partner of the NBA. We have 30 seconds left to go. Western Conference Finals, game one picks, Chandler. Go. Denver, by the way, six point favorites. Nuggets cover six point. I think they've pushed them out tonight. I think they win by double digits. OK. I'm going to Lakers. Still home court right away. I'm going with them. Really? You guys are really on this Lakers training. Yeah, I'm going to Lakers. What's happening right now? I just like. You're going to have to see me tomorrow. I want the chaotic world where the bronze up in this conference finals. I just want the most banter and BS possible. This gets real dicey. You want to see me get five? Lakers win game one. Because it sounds like Denver you want. I kind of do. I got Denver. Let's go. Dude, Chandler and I will remain hating until the very end. And they grab these microphones out of our dead corpsey hands. Because this is ridiculous. I'm sorry. Two more of it. You're right. I take it back a couple notches. But yes, Denver, LA tonight. We've got two for Denver, two for LA. No matter what happens, we'll be back here tomorrow 10 Eastern to discuss. Two of us will be right.