 Oh, y'all are so cute. You were watching a boring college football game last night. No worries. There was fun basketball being played and we watched it all. Let's run it back now. Good Tuesday morning and welcome to run its back. I would like to introduce the esteemed panel. I was going to say of judges, but what are we judging besides everything? Shamsherani, a stadium insider joining us from his beautiful little office layer. Chandler Parsons from a very stark and almost serial killer like blank room and Eddie Gonzalez on the end. They're killing it. Chandler, I know you're in a new house, but we got to put a poster up something. It's freaking me out. It's my second night ever here, Michelle. Give me a break. I know. It's, it's pretty. I'll hold up a newspaper. Yeah, set up something. I'll send you something. We got to get things started right away because nuggets. Oh, the nuggets. Oh, Jamal Murray. How about 34 points for him? Big win over the Laker. I have big a win over the Lakers. Yolkic with 14 11 and 16 LeBron sat that one out with ankle soreness. Look, Yolkic only needed five field goal attempts last night to earn that triple double. They're tied for the best record in the West. And the West is obviously a flip flopping up for grabs thing right now. But are they the best team in the West, despite what it might say? You know what, Chandler? Let's start with you. It's tough because like you just said, it kind of switches every single day and switches weekly with this Western conference. It's so jumbled up and it just seems like the nuggets are the most mature and consistent team right now, but they're only going to go as far as their defense. And they had good guard defensive players like Bruce Brown, like Kabul Pope, but it's going to come down to that. We all know how special Yolkic is offensively. Last night, I don't know if I've ever seen a guy play that well, just taking five shots, perfect from the field, perfect from the free throw line, perfect from the three point line. The guy is just a next level unselfish star who cares about nothing besides winning and helping his team win. And then you see a guy like Jamal Murray who's starting to slowly get his legs back. And he had a big game last night. I love that he took 29 shots. That is a huge sign for him to kind of start feeling it, getting his legs into it and becoming that second best player on a contending team. And again, it's kind of all chaos right now. And every week I feel like there's a different MVP and a different team in the West. But right now, yeah, I like them as the best. I trust them a little bit more than New Orleans and Memphis in a playoff series. And it's hard to bet against Yoko right now. Let's let's be honest guys, they beat the Lakers without LeBron, without AD at home. Shout out to Jamal. Great game. 29 shots. Like you said, he took care of business. If you look at some of those clips, those shots are wide open. The Lakers were not there trying to compete. This was never a close game. They made it closer later in garbage time, but it was just like everybody was going through the motions. Are the Nuggets the best team in the in the Western Conference? I mean, I guess they're tied with the Grizzlies right now. The Grizzlies have won H straight, by the way. The Warriors are still making it happen without Steph Curry. They got comp out there. And I'm going to sound like a broken record until they prove me wrong. But as long as we can run Jamal Murray and Nuggets in the pick and roll in the playoffs, I'm going to feel strongly about about three, four other teams about against them in a series. I've seen this movie before. Congrats to them for the regular season. It's probably going to be a third straight MVP if he keeps this up. But yeah, it's only so excited I can get about this team. So a couple things. One, this is like the perfect game for LeBron James to sit in terms of like the home game for Denver. I don't know if there's as much of a for sure win in the league right now. Like the Nuggets bring it at home. And that was going to be probably an L regardless of whether LeBron James played or not last night. But you know, I'm going to go the other way with Eddie. I saw this and I might be biased. I saw this Nuggets team in the bubble. I saw the way Jamal Murray played down there. I saw the way Nicola Joachim played. They made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals. They stung everyone. Everyone that year was hoping for Lakers Clippers and they get there. And I think once they got Aaron Gordon, who's basically played like an all star level, I think this team was really on the cusp. And now you're starting to see them put things together. Jamal Murray's healthy. I'm on the bandwagon. I don't know if they can get by Golden State and some of the other elites for sure. But they're right there to me. And I think what Jamal Murray, what he's capable of gives me that assurance. Yeah. And at the same point, I feel like there's a lot of teams in the West right now like Phoenix, like the Clippers, like the Nuggets where they get healthy and they can hit that stride at the right point. There's not a clear cut favorite to me. New Orleans is fun. Memphis is fun. They're so young. I don't think they're the clear cut favorite. Like if I had to pick one team out of the West right now to come out, I would probably go the Nuggets. And do I think they're gonna dominate and they're clear cut favorite? No way. But I like what they're doing. I like how Aaron Gordon is playing. I like Michael Porter back in the lineup. And I just think they're going to continue to get better. And again, defensively, there's huge holes there that they're going to have to fill to even have a chance. But it's so competitive and it's so even there, you could go with any team. I think that's why this season is so fun. I couldn't pick who's coming out of the West. I wouldn't even begin to try at this point. But Shoms, on the other side of things, you had reported that AD was going to miss a month, maybe probably more, or about to hit that four week mark. Do you have any updates? So he's going to try to progress over these next few weeks. I mean, a return isn't really imminent. I think a lot of it is going to depend on how he rehabs, how he feels over the next two, three weeks and see if he can make it back at some point later this month before the All-Star break. But this is a guy that's dealing with a bone spur fracture, as well as a stress reaction in his navicular bone. That's, you know, that navicular bone is very central to a lot of things. You've seen players in the past deal with stress reactions, stress fractures in that navicular bone. So they're going to be cautious and make sure for the long term he stays healthy. But I still think we're several, you know, a couple, two, three weeks, four weeks away from potentially seeing Anthony Davis make a return. But again, it is a good sign he is feeling better. The pain is subsiding. But without Anthony Davis and knowing exactly when he's going to be back, there's a lot up in the air for these Lakers for sure. You want to Google navicular, Chandler? We can. We can sit here. It's like a band name, navicular bone. Chandler knows every human body part. Yeah. And especially with his past of medical, they're not going to rush this back. And where they're going with their season, I don't blame him. He's kind of their only piece moving forward. And you see, you see Ham saying, well, am I willing to put an update on after the game? And he says no. So that just tells you right there. It's not going to be anytime soon. And this team is going to continue to struggle. And I mean, last night, you look at that roster, again, Garvin Ham saying after I'm just proud of the way and kudos to the way these guys played, they played hard. And they said something like they tried as hard as they could until they couldn't anymore or something. I'm like, that's that's not, that's not how you should be talking about your team after a loss. But yeah, they're a complete disarray. And if I'm AD and I'm watching things like last night, I'm not rushing back. Heck, no, guys, I'm typing. I'm typing the tweet now. Shum says AD's return not imminent. I'm going to beat them to this one. Are you allowed to do that contractually? I feel like you're going to get fired. Don't do me like that. Don't do me like that. You know what? The Knicks had a nice little four game win streak, but buzzkill. It's over. Bucks erasing a 17 point second half deficit. They snap it 111, 107. Yanis 22 points. Joe Ingalls a season high 17 and remind everybody he missed the first 29 games of the season. So he seems okay. Confidence level in the box. It's oh, Eddie, I want to start with you. I feel like you and I feel the same about the Bucks. And it's just to say that it's like a meh for both of us. How do you feel about this Bucks team right now? Yeah, I mean, you know what you get with the Bucks. This is a title team. We've watched them win a title two years ago. We know that Yanis is one of the best players in the world. None of this is surprising. This is actually a really great game. And I understand when people say, yo, the league is better when the Knicks are better in the garden is lit up like this, but it's also a very Knicks game. They blew the lead late and Drew Holiday show why he's a champion. And this is kind of what makes them so dangerous. You have somebody like Drew Holiday who had a rough game. He's making three banking threes off the backboard and just looking crazy. And it's two big threes late. Steps up on defense. I mean the continuity with this team will be huge for them. And if they do make one of these traits that Sean says that they're in all of these conversations and they improve a little bit on the wings and on the friends of their roster and get Chris Middleton back, there's dangerous as any team in the league. Shams. Oh, I thought that were yeah, are you going to Bucks Heat Thursday? Is that the is that the plan? I am. I'll be at the game. And what I'm really looking forward to is potentially the return of Chris Middleton, you know, from what I'm told, he's going to be back here sooner rather than later. He's missed the last several weeks. And I think there's been a lot of confusion as to why I'm told he's been dealing with irritation in that knee. It sprouted up really shortly after he made his return. And thankfully for Chris Middleton for the Bucks, it has subsided and he's doing more on the court, taking on contact. And I think he is really nearing and on the cusp of a potential return. But clearly when he was playing, he just was not right shooting 32.5% from the field in the seven games when he made his return this season. So it's going to be very important to get him back in the lineup there on a four game road trip that ends on the 14th, getting him back playing at a high level. This team, this organization really believes that they had Chris Middleton last year, they were going to make it to the finals. They were going to win back to back championships didn't happen. So getting a Chris Middleton healthy back is a contract here for him potentially. I think it'll be very interesting to see when he's back and how he performs when he's back. No pressure on Chris Middleton. Everything depends on you. Don't worry. On the next side of things, we know how Tibs likes to coach his teams, but here's the deal. Jaylen Brunson with a career high 44 points, but that's not really the focus right here. The Nick starters accounted for 80% of the total minutes played last night, Chandler. Is this a sustainable way to do things? I don't think so, but this is just a classic Tibs kind of putting his foot down and he's playing five, six, seven guys that at least tried to defend. You know, Cam Reddish is out of the rotation. Four and gays out of the rotation. You know, guys that don't really give the effort and kind of multiple efforts like, like Tibs likes, he's, he's cracking down. He shortened up and this is a heck of a game from Jaylen Brunson. You know, guys 44, 74, we're getting numb to these stat lines, but that's such a good signing and he's such a solid piece going forward. And like, are the Knicks a contender this year? No, I think so many teams in the East made that jump. There's so many talented teams. And again, like the West, it's jumbled up, but the top is heavy. Like there are four or five good teams where I wouldn't be surprised if they got out with Philly, Brooklyn, Boston, Milwaukee, and Cleveland. They could all win these. So it's tough. And the Knicks are kind of in that second, third tier, but I would think you'd start playing the bench a little bit. You know, these type of minutes this early to kind of just be banging around for a seven, eight seed. I don't think it's a recipe for success, but who knows? I mean, I loved Cam Reddish in Atlanta. I think he's super talented, but a young guy like that does a lot of frustrating things on the court that Tibs just won't stand for clearly. Yeah, look, this is a promising game for the Knicks. I know they lost and they lost kind of frustratingly at the end, but Jaylen Brunson was going shot for shot with them late. He obviously had the big game, 50, 40, 100 from the field for the game. They showed what they could be. I think Julius Randall, you'd want a little bit better game for him. He shot nine to 29. I know he finished with 25 points, but it was a rough 25 points. And I'm with Chandler. They kind of need to find places in the rotation for some of these guys. I know as the organization has to be frustrating, they went out and got Cam Reddish last year at the deadline. They gave up. They didn't give up a lot for him, but clearly they had ideas of him playing for this team at some point. And yeah, Tom Thibodeau, I mean, he has the power there to decide no, and he hasn't. But they do need some depth on the wings to help them in games like this. I love Jaylen Brunson, but he still is 5-10, and he's still going to struggle in certain matchups, and he's going to need help on the wings. And they're just not getting that right now. But here's the thing. We all, you know, Thibs Hanks has had on defense, this defense, that that is the mantra. That's the most important thing to him. But you gave up a 17-point second half lead. Like that's what I don't understand is throw away how much time everybody played. But Chandler, the fact that you do that, and it's not the first time we've seen the Knicks give up a pretty decent lead in one of these games. I mean, they did it San Antonio not that long ago. So that's got to be worrisome too, right? Not just the way he's using his bench or not using it, but the defense didn't seem to be there either. That can't just be fatigue, or can it? Yeah, it could have a big factor into it. Obviously, when a team goes on a run like that, it's on him to kind of make the proper substitutions. It's on him to call the timeouts, to kind of stop the bleeding a little bit. And yeah, these guys like Cam, Fornier, Obitop, and these guys that aren't playing, listen, they're not going to blow the game by just giving them, you know, four to six minutes stints to give these starters. Breeders, especially with RJ Barrett out last night, you're still not finding five minutes for Cam or for any of these other guys that aren't getting any burn at all. It seems tough. And listen, it's a long game and playing against Milwaukee, the way they defend, the way they move around, that is exhausting. And I think for them to kind of have more success here and stay in the thick of it, they're going to have to go deeper. They're going to have to play more guys. And it's not like they have this all time great starting five either. So it's, I would start kind of working those guys in, this is Tim's M.O. This is what he does. I like that. I like that tweet. All right, we're going to move on to a little Boston, a little Chicago, the Celtics. Oh, they're hot again. They're just, yeah, beating the Bulls 107.99 Tatum with 32 Levine. How about Zach Levine? 15 of his 27 points came in the fourth quarter, obviously not enough. However, but it was not that long ago, Shoms, that you reported about this disconnect in the Chicago locker room. They've won eight of their 12 since that report. We got about 30 days till the trade deadline. Are things better? Is this just a bandaid? What can we expect? Well, I'm told this concept of them blowing it up, that's just not in their mindset right now. Isn't really a likely proposition. This is a team and organization that does want to compete for the playoffs, compete to potentially make it past the first round, not really toiling the lottery night. And I think if you look at the roster that Artur's Cognitioners has put together, Lonzo Ball, yes, he's out, but DeMar DeRozan, Zach Levine, Nikola Rusovic, they've got some level of talent on the bench. This is a team that has the talent. And so for them, it's a lot internally and figuring it out, you know, in-house and seeing how they can improve. And unless there's a deal of the magnitude of a DeJonte Murray, a Rudy Gobert package that comes together where you have to listen, that's just not an area that they want to go when it comes to like moving a guy like Zach Levine for two first round picks with the Lakers or whoever else might drop one or two first round picks to them. They want to compete. Yes, there are issues that they have to sort out, but you're seeing some level of progress being made right now. Yeah, they're playing much better. I just still think and can they get into the playoffs and can they make some noise and possibly win a series? Sure, they're so talented with those wings. I think they're missing Lonzo Ball majorly just, you know, as that floor leader, that point guard to kind of initiate everything. But I've kind of circled Chicago as this team from the beginning where if they didn't get off to a hot start, I think they're in blow-up territory. They have a lot of trade assets. They have a lot of guys on that roster that I would want. You know, if I was another opposing GM, they don't get their pick this year. It's going to Orlando, I think. So I don't see them competing this year. Everyone around the East has made so much progress and the Bulls are kind of just there stagnant. I would do the, I would, I would look for the, to make a trade and to make a splash and get this thing moving in another direction. Eddie, does the pup have anything they want to add on the Bull side or do you want to go Celtics? Well, the Bulls played 10 guys, 14 minutes or more last night. This is clearly a team that cannot decide who their best seven players are. So it makes sense if they can get some addition by subtraction. But I think the idea, like Shams mentioned, of them trading away their stars and just like, you know, giving somebody to the Lakers or whatever. I don't understand that. I don't see that happening. I'm with Chandler. If they get Lonzo Ball, that could help place that a lot of things, but we've heard nothing about Lonzo. We know nothing about what it is. And he's coming off a major knee injury when he comes back. So how much can you realistically expect when he does come back? Even at full strength, even in their happiest of days, there's still a tier or two behind the best teams in the East with the juggernauts that they have out there. Last night was a really good example. They kind of played it tough, but it took some amazing shots from Zach Levine late. And then they ended up losing off of Zach trying to make more of those shots late. And so it's just, you know, they were outclassed by a better team on the road like you would expect. And yes, they've won more of their games as of late. And that's great. But they're also starting from about as low as they could get and have improved on that. So, you know, are they the playoff team? Yes. Are they a title contender? I don't see that no matter what they do and add, whether it's Lonzo Ball, whether it's, I don't know, John Collins or whoever the other guys are that are available in the league, they're going to be this, you know, they'll top out it, you know, maybe win around one series against the right team. But that's it for them. There's your John Collins drinking game mentioned anytime John Collins is mentioned as possibly being traded bottoms up, ladies and gentlemen. So the Celtics, that is they are the one of the juggernauts, if not the juggernaut in the East right now, they've won three straight, seven of their last 10. Chandler, I know you love to make predictions, but are you taking them or would you rather have the field at this point? I would take the field just because I also love Brooklyn. I love Milwaukee. I love Cleveland. And I love Philly. Do I think Boston's the best team right now? Yes. I think they have the best defense. I think they have the best duo. I think they're deep. I think they have so many versatile players that can defend and switch and play the right way. I think they're very well coached. But the field is tough because what Brooklyn's doing, we all know Milwaukee, people don't talk about Cleveland enough. They're such a young, young, fun, exciting team. And Philly's only even better with the healthier they get. So I would take the field, but I do if I had to pick one team to come out of these, it would be Boston. That's okay. Yeah, this is pretty much, I mean, look, the safe bet is to say the field, of course, because there are teams that can beat them. We've, there's a team out there that did beat them just a few months back in the playoffs. So yeah, you mean you want to see the field, you want to see the healthy bucks, you want to see the healthy nets. And you also want to see what happens at the deadline. I think the other team to mention is the Sixers, who I think is a really tough matchup for Boston. But yeah, they're atop the East, rightfully so. They've had their struggles as of late and they still remain there. They showed last night, you know, Jason Tatum had a great game, was hitting some tough shots. They started their too big lineup without Marcus Smart out there, slotted Derek White in and really didn't miss a step. So they're not whole just yet. And when they are, we'll see a much better version of them. But I mean, yeah, I liked 29 to one odds, a lot better than, you know, the other way around. But they're a great team, they're forced to be reckoned with and they're only going to get better as the season goes on. We got to talk America's team, the Sacramento Kings last night, a big blowout win over Orlando, very much in part to a franchise record 23 threes, Harrison Barnes with a season high 30 Kings right now sitting in the fifth spot with a record of 21 and 18 Eddie, your hometown Kings. Good story. Good team, which great, great story. Maybe even the best story in the league, but also a good team. And when they added Mike Brown, that was such a coaching upgrade for them. You just knew things were going to change for that franchise and that roster as well. And getting some bonus at the trade down line is a little harder to implement. And they were already behind the eight ball when they did that, but with a full camp and a full season to get this right, they've shown, you know, they might get home court advantage in these playoffs. They're that good right now. It's great for the city. It's great for that organization who again, we've said this a bunch of times, longest playoff drought in the four major professional sports. You want to see that in one way or another. And it looked like it might not have to be the play in. So, you know, like the beam, all that cool stuff, but they look great. And when they shoot it like they shot it last night, they've done this a few times this season, they did it to the nets and everybody thought the sky was falling for the nets that happened. They're really hard to beat. So it's a well put together roster and they have opportunity to add some more pieces if they feel like they want to. Yeah, I agree. I think this is the best story of the NBA so far. I think Sacramento needed this and it's just a good time right now in Sacramento. It's fun. It's positive. And they do have a very good team. I love Sabonis. I love Fox. I love the addition that Kevin Herter, Harrison Barnes is one of those guys that you know what you're going to get. He's going to be solid. He's going to do multiple things out there on the court. And they got a lot of young guys that can play and they play the right way. And Mike Brown's got them playing extremely hard and unselfish. And it's fun to watch. And this is definitely a feel good story. I feel better about them being good. So I think they're a contender. Probably not. But you know what, in their situation, I don't think it matters because it's a huge step forward for them. This is a bunch of progress that they've made. And it's been a long time coming for this franchise, for this city. And I'm just happy to see them doing well. And they are going to get into the playoffs and maybe they get a good match up and they can advance. But for now, you know, they're exceeding everyone's expectations and they're playing extremely well. Yeah, I think the idea that they could perhaps shock a few people in the playoffs would be amazing. It would also add to what Mike Brown's been able to do this season. And it's a year in which we're seeing a lot of great coaching. But it's never too early. Coach of the year. Would you give it to Mike Brown, Chandler? He's up there. It's hard to go against them. It's tough. I like J.B. Biggerstaff and Cleveland. I like Malone and Denver. Can John Vaughn get coach of the year for what he's done and that turnaround there? There's a lot of guys that are doing a good job. But Mike Brown is right there with the transition he's made with just the complete culture change, the way they have. You see the clips of him, you know, interacting with the players. It's fun and it's a happy time and it's positive. And that has a lot to do with Mike Brown's presence there. But you could go one of many ways. But yeah, he's in there. Yeah, Willie Green's up there too. It's gonna be a tough race. I mean, he's deserving as well. But if Willie Green gets the one seed, the two seed, it's gonna be hard to argue against that. Jack Vaughn, like you mentioned, for all the reasons we've talked about before. I like them alone mentioned as well. You know, this is a team that is supposed to be good. But you get credit for that as well. You get credit for making your team even better. And they're already supposed to be good. It's a tight race, Joe Missoula. I was actually talking to Shiles about this the other day and we thought it might be a two guy race. But you know, Mike Brown is right there and deservingly so. And I'm happy he's getting this. I'm happy he's getting this kind of like second life in the NBA as he sat back as an assistant. Remember his Lakers tenure ended and people were not excited about that. Obviously he had the Cavs run and people were wondering if he could win the big game and all that stuff. So his time with the Warriors obviously worked out well for him. And now he's getting his chance and he's showing what he is. He's one of the better coaches in the league. We did text about that the other day, Adina. I kind of slept on Mike Brown, but that's one of the best stories in the league for sure. So we look at Willie Green, Jack Vaughn, Mike Brown, Mike Malone, JB Biggersab. I mean, that's probably your top five right there when you look at Coach of the Year rankings as of now. I mean, it all makes sense because we're talking about any given team could take away either conference. And so I feel like given that, then there are a lot of coaches that are up for grabs as well. We're going to take a quick break when we come back. The latest on Kevin Durant from Shams and which Hornet is heating up the trade market when running back returns. Welcome back time for Shams to make us all a little bit smarter. Let's get started with Kevin Durant. I think that's the one everyone most wants to know about and the Nets. So what's the latest? It's an MCL sprain injury in that knee and he's going to be out at least three to four weeks. The good news for the Nets is that this MCL sprain is not as severe as it was last season. And the goal and there's optimism around the team that he will be able to play before the All-Star break, maybe in a few games and then playing the game itself in Salt Lake City. But this is a guy that's been super durable this year. He's only missed one game all season. So this is a tough time for the Nets to be without him. But I think the one saving grace is they're in a much better position right now to be without him than they were last year. They're 14-1 in their last 15, 18-2 in their last 20. Kyrie Irving is full-time, not part-time. They've got some more depth, some more talent on this team. So there is good news for the Nets, but they'll be without KD for at least the next three to four weeks. And he does feel like different, right? Yeah, I would see Kevin yesterday and he was in good spirits and I think Shams is dead on. The severity is a lot less than last year and that's given a lot of optimism to both him and the team going forward. He's going to take some time to get it right and be reevaluated in two weeks, like everybody said. But he's feeling good about everything. I know last year it was pretty scary. He left the arena on crutches and it was a whole thing. Everybody's feeling better on the team now. And yeah, the schedule breaks a little bit of well for them. It's unfortunate. He probably won't be playing in the Warriors game. That's exactly two weeks on the dot and that makes it three years now. He has not played in that arena with fans since he's left. And that's unfortunate, but maybe he'll make the trip. Who knows? Yeah, this is bad timing for him and for Brooklyn because they're hitting their stride. They're playing so well, but if I'm Brooklyn, this is a big picture. They showed that they can compete. They have other guys to kind of tread water while he's out, but take as much time as you need. Heal that knee up and come back with the month, two months, whatever you need and be 100% in the playoffs. And this is a team that nobody wants to see with the healthy KD. Yeah, I suppose it's a completely different vibe than it was this time last year. Shams, what else you got for us? So one guy to monitor on the trade market is Jalen McDaniels forward with the Hornets, six foot nine wing that can shoot threes, can defend multiple positions, averaging almost 11 points a game this season, making over one three a game, five rebounds to assist per game as well. And I'm told one team to monitor is the Phoenix Suns. They've been a team that has expressed interest in Jalen McDaniels, has pursued potential avenues to go get him in multiple different scenarios with Jake Crowder. Could it be a third team? But that's a guy that is starting to get interest on the market. He will be an unrestricted free agent in July. There's going to be interest in him for sure as a two-way wing player. But we'll see the Hornets, of course, would want him to be a part of their future. But the Suns have tried to see if there's an avenue for them to go get him. I love it. So the breadcrumbs begin for the trade, Shams. It's going to get really good. Only 30 days left. Shams, we'll see you tomorrow bright and early. Thank you as always. Guys are obviously sticking around because it's time for that man. Has a family. Yesterday we showed you some great dunks today. The even more disrespectful blocks and ankle breakers. Here we go. Derek White. I like the attempt here on Spencer too. I like the fact that he tried to go up and throw this down, but that's a great defensive play by Derek White. Lovely. Yeah, it is. Spence kind of lost it. Did you see the ball kind of roll out? I'm shocked to see him attempt this dunk as well, but you know, great, great block by Derek White. Good, good stuff, my guy. I can't tell Derek White. I love when someone like Derek White, who doesn't block many shots is like kind of talk trash. Like he's offended for trying on him. That's what I was going to say. I feel like it was a very kind of underek white, dereg white moment, and I loved it so much. Okay. I like it. Robert, well, yeah, I mean, I don't, this is stupid. Robert Williams with the block on Malachi. And I believe it was after this game where Robert Williams was like, why would you even attempt that? You know, I'm going to do that. You know what? He should get a block. He should get a rebound. He should get an assist in two points all in one play. Oh, shut up, Chandler. Looks like me and Chandler playing basketball. Well, they got the win. Okay. So you got to get one of your dreams. Yeah, it was, you know, that's at the arc, though, dude, let the man have a three. Although at that point I would have tied the game, so maybe not. This is like blocking the nephew and this is like blocking the nephew in the driveway here. It was such a great right in his face. I love that pop is just unfazed in the back, like it's whatever. Right. That is what it is. Things happen. Benedict Matherin. Okay, let me see the drop here. Oh, well, I think that's embarrassing. No, the delay fall is almost worse. Like he's trying to catch himself and up. You never want to touch the earth on a nice cell. Yeah, it's weird. Lomo. Look how he like see like pats the ground and he fell all the way on his back. Like that's that's pretty bad. No, let a rookie do that to you. Even a great rookie like Benny. I mean, that is yeah, it's like you want his body. What he did is kind of just like a straight line drive here. He got off balance, but yeah, you can't fall. Why don't the key? I mean, his body is definitely trying not to. That's fair. Jamal Murray. I love that we're talking good Jamal Murray highlights. This is what I've been waiting to see. Wow, this is good. God, I'm exhausted. That's a lot of jerseys to drop off. Oh, Neto, like, can I give Neto a little bit of credit? Yes, you can. I think you should. That's good defense. And that's the shot that you want to give up with your Cleveland, but that's just classic good D better. Oh, yeah, he actually almost blocked the jumper. This is really weird, but yeah, I mean, nice, fancy dribbling, I guess. Nice, fancy dribbling. Oh, we should get a new graphic. That's what we should call the segment. Nice. It's a new segment called nice, fancy dribbling. People will be talking about it everywhere. We're taking a break. Sponsors for that one. The biggest sponsors. This story when we come back, there's a Euro League official who was suspended for four games for a bad call. Now we're doing it. Now we're doing it when we return. I'm not really. I mean, I watch some NBA games, but I was, you know, I watch more Euro League than NBA, but if it's a really good game and it's on TV, I'll watch it. Dun dun dun. Controversy here, Chandler. He watches more Euro League than NBA. How does that make you feel? Does he? Like, does he really? Like, like, I'm sure he's got friends over there. I'm sure he has teams he pulls for over there. But listen, being in the NBA is a full-time job, and every player has league pass. I'll tell you right now, every player gets free league pass with the username and login. It'd be silly to not watch basketball. It's free scouting. It's free basketball that you're going to end up playing all these teams. Does he watch Euro League? I'm sure he does, but if that's something that I can nitpick and say that's stunting his growth as a professional. And my coaches all my career would say, watch as much as you can. Obviously, they're going to break down film in the locker room. They're going to show you everything you do to know. But why not study your peers? Why not watch all the other teams? Why not see what you can see on a random Tuesday night? You know what I mean? Like, it can only help you watching NBA games. So if he's not watching, I'd highly recommend that he does because it can't hurt. And watch both. Stay up and watch the Euro League. But also, I would watch as much NBA games as you can. I'll say this. If Lucas is not watching his scout and not watching league pass, it almost explains the defense. I'll just say that. But so in that sense, I almost believe him, but he's surely lying. Like, what are we talking about right now? Well, it's probably chalking up to time zones. Like, he's sitting around, you know, at Newnish, probably a Euro League game on. I'm just gonna, maybe it's just that. Maybe that's what he, I don't know. I'm trying to give him excuses. But there have been players that I think have committed like they don't watch. I know. I'm like, I'm going to come up with something. But the Euro League also giving us a story right now that I kind of love. Okay. So there was an official over there that missed a call and was reportedly suspended for games. So he missed the fact that Miricic stepped out of bounds, then he hits a buzzer beating three and then that sends the thing into overtime. Oh my gosh, Chandler, can you imagine a world? Should we adopt this policy? And we've had a couple of games in the last week that had some questionable calls at the end that were then two minute reported. So what do you think? Yeah, I mean, I love it. I think for games is a little steep. I'm not sure like rules here. I'm not sure if there's a replay. I'm not sure the Euro League rules, but I mean, yeah, why not hold the refs to the same accountability that the players are? It's only going to make the game better and more fair and even if the refs are on it and have those highest standards that the players do. So I think it's fair. I don't think it'll ever really happen in four games. Like I said, seems a little intense. But yeah, why not? I feel like the refs miss calls should be public. The refs should also have some consequences for when they make mistakes just as players do. Yeah, I'm all for accountability from the referees. Like let's please introduce something that does that. The two minute review doesn't do that at all. It really just frustrates people. I'm with Chandler like suspending is a little dramatic. I think like a public shame or whatever. Just give me just give me one of those guys is Instagram like that that would do the job to be told because he would hear so much from these fans that he might want to get the call right next time. But I mean, I think implementing something like this, I'd imagine there is something similar to this that isn't public. Maybe they're not getting suspended, but I'm sure they're being remanded in some way. But I love like the public version of this and the accountability of that. So yeah, let's do something. We've seen some bad calls as of late. Let's let them get the consequences. Yeah, because here's the deal for games feels like somebody lost money and took it personally. But we had these calls that just happened. And in the two minute reports, basically the bulls were on the bad end of these. How about this? If the two minute report comes out the next morning, and in fact, the call was wrong, shouldn't a fine, it doesn't have to be a monster fine. I know they're not making the same as the players, but some sort of a punishment be in place. Otherwise, again, I've said it a million times, what is the point of the report? Yeah, exactly. And especially to play like that, Jared, I would travel. Who do you blame? They all they all missed it. So like, do you point out the rest that was closer to all of them get reprimanded? There's a lot of gray area here. I think something should happen. I mean, four games is a little bit much, but some, some sort of a fine. If you don't do your job right, or you make a big mistake, then what is the punishment? There's none. I agree. Yes, we're fixing the league one day at a time. A time for a little you buying that Lori marketing step on up averaging 31 a game over his last 10. He's shooting 50 40 90 only NBA player with at least 70 don'ts and 73 is this season. Chandler, I mean, you're buying him as the face of the Utah Jazz franchise, right? Yeah, maybe buying him as the face of this franchise. Look, he's having a great year. He's got so much size. He's put on a lot of strength. He's efficient from from the field. He's efficient from three. He's having a career year. And I hope he continues to do this. And this isn't just flash in the pan. He has this, you know, one spectacular season and we don't hear from him again. And he bounced around a little bit, but I think this kid is a good dude. I think he works extremely hard. I think he's got the size and the talent to be a very good player for a really, really long time. A number one guy on a good team, probably not, but I think he's a great two or three option on a very good team. Yeah, I'm with Chandler. You know, I think I think they're ideal is to have a player that's better than him to really stewardship. But he's shown out and he's shown why he was drafted in the lottery and was touted as a great prospect. Diversitility and he's such a modern big. He's a legit seven feet. And like Chandler mentioned, he's put on some muscle and become a bigger, stronger player. 73, 70 dunks. It seems really arbitrary, but it does accurately depict like his ability to hit both of those situations on the, on the offense. So yeah, I don't know if he's the face of the team going forward. I think they would ideally have Victor, women, Yama or school, Anderson or aiming Thompson or something like that. But he's definitely a foundational piece going forward for sure. And he's the prize of that trade. And they're going to go forward with that. We're going to talk some Lakers, but not who they should go get, who they already have. Oh, changing it up a little, are we? Yes, we are. Thomas Bryant. He's doing some things for them with AD out. He's averaging 21 on 72% shooting, 14 rebounds a game. That was during that five game win streak, of course, that just snapped, but entering his fifth NBA season, he's got a base salary of right now of about 2.1 and will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. Eddie, are you buying the idea of the Lakers extending his contract? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, before Thomas Bryant towards ACL in Washington, he was on the way to a pretty big contract and, you know, things just break that way. And he missed almost a complete season after that as well. And they kind of, he kind of fell in their lap. I believe they had him earlier in his career and then let him go and watch him flourish, become a better player. And now they've got him back. They might get him on a good contract now that he's went through the stuff with the knee, but he's a great modern big and he's a really good compliment to Anthony Davis. You obviously would like to see them more together when AD comes back, but he can pop out. He can hit a three, he can protect the rim. He's obviously mesh with LeBron. You need to keep him on that team. You don't have too much youth over there. So him at only 25 years old, you want to hold on to him. Yeah, I agree. He's kind of that only bright spot of a future piece that they can, you know, manage to keep right now and extend him for a team friendly deal. I would do it. Like, like we just said, he's, he's a modern big. He's got great size. He's all over the offensive glass. He doesn't shoot the ball. He just takes great shots. He finishes, he blocks shots. The fact that he's averaging plus 13 and seven and 20 plus 20, 21 minutes. He's got potential and then he's got size. He's got length. And like Eddie said, he's 25 years old and the future of this Lakers team isn't really promising. So if you can lock up this kid and at least have that piece going forward, why not? I mean, we just all but guaranteed the Lakers are not going to let him go. So you're welcome everyone. Next up, NBA teams. This is the hottest topic of the season so far because it's points, points, points. There are so many points being scored on a nightly basis. 113 points a game right now is the average. That's on pace to be the most in 50 over 50 years actually. We've seen 1450 point performances and over 75, 40 pieces. Chandler, are you buying that the surge is good for the league? Yeah, I love it. I think it's great for the league. I think it's great for the fans and as much as defense wins championships and how important defense is, which is true. That's not what people go to games for us. People don't want to go see a 93 to 87 finish. They want to see guys score 50 60 70 points, which you know, players are providing this year and then the three point shooting is out of control. Teams are shooting it at a high clip. Guys are getting to the free throw line. Pace is an offensive pace is super fast. And it makes just the game more exciting. There's so many talented players that are scoring in so many different ways. That layup right there by Luca, like just every everything that's happening offensively should some old heads, you know, are going to be kind of like rolling their eyes and wish there was more defense guys die on. Yeah, for sure. And they're still going to be that. But I think it's awesome. I think it's fun. And I think it's really exciting. And like Jaylen Brunson last night, 44 points and we're kind of just like plays right over it. Yeah, we did 44 points. I mean, it's insane. What's happening and it's fun to watch. Yeah, I think it's great for the league. I mean, if you look at all the rule changes they've made in the last 20, 30 years, they're all to make put more offense on the court. And this is exactly what they want. And like Chandler said, the players are growing exceptionally well as well. They've added different elements to the game with the sidestep three and then have the one legged three and all this new footwork. It's just ways to get space and shoot jumpers and make them, you know, back when I was growing up, if you dribbled into a three, you'd likely get pulled and sat next to your coach. But now that's a modern shot. So we want Charles Oakley back, apparently. I mean, I would love Charles Oakley to play an ABA game today. But I mean, this is exactly what the league wants. We've officially reached the time saying back when I was growing up. We're there. We're there. We're our uncles. We're officially our uncles now. I looked, I worked with Sean Elliott every Spurs game and he is the biggest back in my day guy. Like, but it's hard to, well, I don't want to not see scoring. Look, if you were allowed them to just be a little more physical so that we can get the Charlie, Charles Oakley esque of it. But then I also love the point. So figure that out. Make that work. How? I don't know. Good balance. Good plan. Good plan. Make it work. You guys figure it out. But here's the thing. The playoffs is a whole different animal, right? Do we expect it to slow down a little bit once we get to that part? I mean, yeah, I think I think it's hard to do that four to seven times against the same exact team. I think the scoring will go down a little bit, but I still think guys are so talented now. Guys are so crafty and creative the way they can score. They're still going to find ways to put up gaudy numbers even in a playoff series. And I think they'll crack down. I think the game will be expanded. I think there'll be longer possessions in the playoffs. But I don't think guys are going to shoot less threes. I don't think guys are going to make less shots. I just think maybe they'll tighten up defensively and kind of slow the game down a bit. But I still look for big games in a playoff. Same Z's. Same Z's. Taking a quick break here when we come back. We lost our parley, but score about how we played the game when running back returns. Every day wins make your day so much better. That's why FanDuel Casino has a daily free to play game. Reward Machine is a free game that gives players the chance to win up to $2,000 in casino bonus every day. FanDuel's reward machine has already given away over 10 million in prizes and has over 250,000 winners. To get in on the action, all you have to do is log in daily and spin for a free chance at rewards. FanDuel wants you to win. Play Reward Machine for a free chance that every day wins only on FanDuel Casino. Well, we have to be accountable for our mistakes and we did have a three leg parley. Three leg it. What? Parley yesterday. Eddie, as the sole big fat L, would you like to explain yourself? Well, I made the mistake of betting on anything successful happening for the Lakers and I paid dearly for it. So dearly. I own that. I don't. Russ led the team in scoring, which is absolutely perfect because I wanted him to pass the ball, but it's a new day and a new parley and a new chance for Michelle, maybe to finally miss on one. So it's not just. By the way, I love that we're supposed to be a team, but we're just really, I mean, I've been turning on you guys since the beginning because now we're just waiting to see when I get one wrong, which is not the point of a three leg parley. And Chandler, Chandler as close as you can get on that one. So that was nice. I've been sneaky hot. I've been sneaky hot lately. Just clip that guys. We're going to play that as like a something promo later on. All right. So Eddie, you got another shot. Go. All right. I tried this bet earlier in the season and missed, but I'm going Donovan Mitchell over 29 and a half points against his former team, the Utah Jazz. This time it's actually in Utah. So I'm expecting Donnie to shoot 30 shots, not just scored 30 points, which of course means he'll score 29 on the dot and we'll miss again. He sat the fourth quarter last time. I can't believe it broke the way it did, but I'm going Donovan Mitchell over tonight. I like that one. I do too. I like that one. I think he goes nuts. I like the Suns plus 11 and a half at the Warriors. Listen, it's not like the Warriors are exactly healthy either. 11 and a half is a lot of points. And the Suns do have guys that will play that kind of carry the load to 11 point loss. I don't care. But Chandler, what if stuff plays tonight, which is a rumor? Are you going to be worried? Then I'm going to send a text to Danny and I'm going to switch up my drink before it took off. Okay. All right. Well, we reserve that right. We'll have a screenshot tomorrow if that is the case. Just cross it out. Mine is super easy. Mine's easy. Mine's just the OKC in the heat game. I think Oklahoma City plus four and a half. I don't know. I just, I have faith that they, that's not that big of a, of an ordeal to overcome. I think they would be all right. But yeah, stuff does play. I don't know what our cutoff is. Do we have our cutoff? No, it's, there it is. It's in writing, Chandler. You're screwed. 20 bucks when you're 19. I'm not even trying to hate. I hate Thunder plus five. You hate what? I hate Thunder. I think the Thunder get walked by me. All right. So you heard that, America. Double down on my leg of the parlay. We will be back.