 Much like Dejante Murray's Instagram, we too show no accountability for this show. Run it back, starts now. Run it up, do run it back, yeah. Run it up, do run it back, run it back, run it up, do run it back, yeah. Oh, happy Wednesday morning and welcome to Run It Back. Wednesday is our Friday. Trust us, it's the math that we understand. Chandler Parsons, Eddie Gonzalez joining me. Shams is with us, but he's on the phone right now. Lord only knows what he's discovering for us to find out here in a few minutes, but we're going to get right to it because there was a shocker in the NBA world last night with the Hawks stunning the Boston Celtics in Boston. Trey Young, that's a five pointer. It's not a three pointer. I don't know why we're saying that, but 119, 117 win for the Young Hawks squad. Young finished with 38, Brown with 35. And remember Dejante Murray was not on the court, was not in the city because he had been suspended for his body check of a ref at the end of the last game. Look, this final sequence, Chandler. It's very dramatic. What were your thoughts on it? Well, you got to give credit to the Hawks because they took advantage of some late mistakes by Boston and this game seemed to be over every time, you know, something would happen, the Hawks would just keep battling and they kept sticking with it. And this is, if this shot doesn't go in, it's a whole different story today. We're talking about how it's a horrible look and he's got to get to the rim, but this is what makes Trey Young special. And this is why you have to take the good with the bad with him is because who else in an elimination game goes into Boston, has 38, dominates the fourth quarter and even has the nuts to take this shot with your season on the line. So like Trey's kind of been dragged through the mud and some of that is on him with the character stuff that everyone's been talking about. But this is why it's hard to trade him because he is an elite talent and he does have the star power and the shooting and the scoring and the playmaking to carry a team. And this just went from a boring four to one Celtics advanced series to this going back to Atlanta to possibly a game seven. So this was a huge, huge win for Atlanta without their second best player on the road against one of the better defenses. And this kid just goes in there and he's a Hooper and he's fearless and that's what makes him him. So I'm super happy with Trey. Like that shot right there, that's a tough shot that not many people in the league would even take let alone make. So this was a big game for them. And you know, I'm as a fan, I'm happy to see this series going longer because I gotta say I didn't expect it to get this to this point. Hell no, I'd already written this series off. And look, Eddie, we've talked about Trey all season long and as we entered these playoffs it seemed to be that he was sort of almost on a tryout for his job there in Atlanta and how would things go? I used to think the legacy game was shushing the MSG crowd but now we have this. Is this a legacy game for Trey Young? I mean, I think it depends on how the series goes but this was superstar stuff. This is what you think of when you say we're gonna give Trey Young a super max and we're gonna build our franchise around him. He had 13 assists and he bounced around between attacking and getting his guys involved and it's not like they provided much in the way of support. Chandler made the right call with John Collins. He got 22 points out of him last night but when it all came down to it and the season was on the line it was Trey versus Celtics. He scored the Hawks last 14 points. The last three minutes, 18 seconds. He scored those 14 points and it was just a barrage of ridiculous shots in long range threes. And look, even me, the pessimist, he took a three in the last minute, almost the same shot and I rolled my eyes like see this is why they lose and then he makes one, he drills one for the game and it was funny because if you watch the play they rolled the ball out. He takes a second to kind of conserve time and wait for the ball. I'm thinking he's gonna drive. I'm thinking he's gonna go to the cup. He's only down one, he has seven seconds left. No, he's just jailing up to drill him with a 40 footer. That was ridiculous and this is exactly what you dream of if you're the Hawks and you say this is our franchise star. This Barraza scoring, then incredible types of passes he was making last night. He can really carry a team like this and I've seen the narrative. The Kyrie and KD Brooklyn Nets could not get a game off this team. I think the Celtics are actually better. I think this Hawks team is actually worse than what those Nets were. So I usually hate these like switch them and make the comparison situations but this is crazy impressive by them and they got a real shot in this series now going back home. That shot's crazy. I've watched it a thousand times. It's so Trey young. Just so Trey young. Sorry, Jim. You know what's crazy? It's like we keep talking about this legacy game and Trey being traded like how many legacy games does this kid need? He's still, he's been an all star. The players just voted him the most over rate. Players that are home on vacation right now are voting this dude that's hitting daggers from 35 feet against the Celtics most overrated player. So I love a little clap back. I love that he is just going about his business. And again, I don't think it has ever to do with Trey Young's talent. He is as close to Steph Curry as we have at time where he has that kind of star power. It's just, it's the character thing. It's the teammate. It's the maturity things, which again with age and with other with great surroundings and a new coach, I think that's gonna help him. But games like this, I love it. Silence the critics and there's nothing you can say bad about Trey Young after this because he just willed his team to win without their second best player against that team who has multiple guys that can defend them and switch and be physical with them. And he was unfazed and he got to his spots and he got to his floater and he got everyone involved. It was a, it was a beautiful game and I'm happy for him because he's kind of been dragged through the mud a little bit. And this just kind of was a statement game like, trade me if you want, but not many people can do what I just did. Yeah, I'm sure we'll talk about it all off season, whatever happens in this one. Now they go back to Atlanta. Dijonte Murray will be back on the court. So I know that the Celtics are still very much favored to win the series, but momentum-wise Chandler, are you giving this to Atlanta? Yeah, for sure. They just went into their place, snuck away and now they're going back home and they're canceling a Janet Jackson concert. I'm sorry to do that. Yeah, but yeah, the momentum is here. And again, this just went from a 4-1 boring season that no one really even paid attention to because they thought Boston was the clear cut favorite and that they were one of the better teams in the conference and in the whole NBA. And now things shift and it shifts quickly in the NBA, just like these other series where as soon as one gets one game back, that changes. And I do think, yeah, this is hilarious. I do think Boston, it's basically a two-game series now and Boston I think is not going to lose two more. But yeah, this was huge for their off-season. This was huge for their confidence. This was huge for every player. This was huge for John Collins to finally have a good game. So they have all the momentum, but yeah, Boston's still the better team and still the favorite. Can we talk about the disrespect? Look, I know that booking arenas and trying to juggle scheduling for buildings is probably my worst nightmare of a job. But that being said, Eddie, the level of disrespect to just assume that your team would be done by now and book the great Janet Jackson on the night of this game is how high? I think it's actually low because if I can get Janet Jackson in my arena, I'm booking Janet Jackson over the NBA. I'm sorry, but I do think it was one of those things where the NBA playoff schedule was an available in time. Janet's been on tour for some time. It's like a ludicrous opens up for her, which is actually a big deal for Atlanta. And it's a whole thing. I'm siding with the arena. We got to get Janet. We got to get the Janet tour. You kidding me? But shout out to the Hawks. I don't know if they knew this. I hope they did. I hope it was a little motivating. Shout out to the Hawks for putting them in this predicament and it's hilarious. I mean, like you said, it's complicated booking an arena like that. Is it highly inventive to make her the halftime show? Dude, you are going to get so much hate right now. Legendary hats on performer. No, no, yeah, don't let me do a pre-game concert there. It's hard to reschedule something like that. No, I'm actually shocked. Like whoever books her tour is quite good at their jobs because they had it where Friday was available. So now the concert will just be the next day and all tickets will be honored, yada, yada. But it's like, man, to think Janet Jackson was that flexible. Joel and B, how happy is he today? Two more days of rest. What are we giving him? A 10 on a 10 scale of happiness? Yeah, he's the biggest winner of all. Someone that's banged up, someone that's been sitting there on the shelf, getting, you know, healing that neem. This is huge for them. And the fact that he gets, you know, two to four or five more days of that rest and treatment is, you know, monumental for him and the Sixers. I know we didn't play the Dijonte Murray Instagram live thingy from last night. It was very short clip, but I just, I want to hear y'all's thoughts because I know he was very, he said all the right things after the ref bump, you know, accountability, sorry, yada, yada. But then just like every other human being, he then goes on his own social media account and it's just like, it wasn't his fault. They're trying to like kill my name. Yeah. Guys, why are we doing this? Why are we doing this? It was like really aggressive with the ref. I don't know what he expected was gonna happen. I don't know why he felt like he was wronged. You can't just go tower over a ref and bump him and say whatever you're gonna say. So this wasn't some travesty of justice for Dijonte Murray. Trust me, the NBA would love the teams to be full strength and for them to duke it out. But yeah, he was excited they won. I don't know. Like we all lie in our press conferences, I guess. And then we tell the truth on IG live and maybe get fined again. So good job, DJ. Also, this doesn't make him a horrible person. This is he. No. I mean, it happened, you blacked out, you were frustrated and you know what? You paid the piper and there were consequences for your behavior and that's fine. But it is funny when you see kids just not own up to it and then say something different on their own social platform in the press conference. It's a little strange, but you know what? He did his time and now he'll be back and they'll be fully loaded in there. Well, it's not San Antonio. You know what I always say? I mean, can't blame pop. So I know that. You know what I always say is the way we talk to referees, there is no other situation in the world we would talk to another human in that way. So yeah, he's not a bad person. We just hate referees, like naturally. Like we just do. It's the comment section of social media, but in real life. It's like between the players and us. We're gonna get to Clipper Sun's Game Five as we move on to the next series, but Shams has been working the phones and I believe you have some news for us. Yeah, Michelle. So Kawhi Leonard, he's been diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his right knee. Sources tell me. And so this is an injury that clearly popped up in those first two games of this playoff series against the Suns. He has 35 points per game. He missed the last three games of this series with this meniscus tear injury that was revealed. And so it's just a disappointing year of finish considering that how well Kawhi Leonard looked finally got on the floor at a high, high level in these playoffs after missing all of last year with the torn ACL. So it's the same right knee he had the ACL injury in, but it's not the ACL, it's not a ligament. It's his meniscus. And so you look at this Clippers team, they're going into a summer where Paul George Kawhi Leonard will be going into the last years of their deals parts, fully guaranteed contracts. They've got a player option in 2024. That's the same year that the new arena it will be, will begin in LA. So there's gonna be decisions to be made for the Clippers this summer. Do you give this Kawhi Leonard Paul George regime another year to see if they can get past this hurdle? Because when they've been on the floor, we know how good they are. But the last two post seasons, they have played zero playoff games together. They're just finished up year four of this partnership together. Paul George spoke yesterday. He clearly wants another year with these two guys. Tai Lu spoke afterward talking about how Kawhi Leonard went through everything to get healthy and try to play Paul George and everything they could. They just could not put it together with a healthy season. So Kawhi Leonard, now we know exactly what this right knee issue was. It was not a right knee sprain. He had a torn meniscus in that knee. Dude, Chandler, what do you, I mean, your thoughts, what would you do? That's brutal. Well, first of all, if I'm on the Clippers, I think I'd give it one more chance. You could see these guys are back. Kawhi Leonard was as good as I've seen him in years. Paul George shown flashes of his greatness. It's just tough because the biggest concern and question with this team and those guys in particular has always been health and now Kawhi goes down. But I will say this, the meniscus, I've had 12 of them, it's the least concerning. The rehab is not that strenuous. It's 30 minute surgery and he should be back at this point for the beginning of the season. Listen, I think they showed enough and it's a tease, right? They showed flashes of being the best team in the Western Conference sometimes and then someone would get hurt and they had the depth and they had guys off the bench step up. And I just think their biggest concern was health and this is obviously a setback, but you're not gonna go out in the market and get much better than Kawhi Leonard when he's healthy and Paul George. They have to find a way and then he's one year older. So it makes it even more difficult, but you explore the trade markets, see your options, but I fully expect both of them to be back in a Tupper's uniform. At least one more year, give it a go and see what happens. But this is a tough break for Kawhi because he was awesome this season when he was healthy. Yeah, the full version of this team is enticing. I mean, you watch them when game one without Paul George, you go, oh man, imagine if we had him. I saw Paul's podcast co-host Dallas saying, that's a sweep if we have both guys. But it's a lot of ifs. It's a lot of ifs. And I hate to tag injury prone on to anybody, these guys don't wanna be hurt, but they're both on the wrong side of 30. They both have a long, long track history of just random ailments and these things build up. And when you've torn every ligament in your knee, it matters. I'm with Chandler, I've torn my meniscus. It's the least damaging thing you can do. It's quick recovery. They do, it's not even a major surgery to fix that. But that's a lot of damage on one knee and then on the other side with Paul George, same thing. Paul's actually older than Kawhi, which I think a lot of people don't realize. And I think you have to figure out what's out there in the trademark. You have to figure out if there's something available to you for Paul George. There's a lot of teams that can use a great two-way wing who could score, who can defend just about everybody in the league. I think that's probably the best bang for your buck right now. You're looking at what you gave up to get him. You gave up to Shay Gilles Alexander, who may be first team all NBA this year, who was an all star, who was a 30 point per game score, who was a point guard who they could use right now. And all the draft picks, maybe you get some return on that. Maybe you move into the next phase of your organization. They're moving into a new arena in two years. You want to show up to that arena with something nice and shiny, not two old guys who continue to be hurt and a bunch of what-ifs. And that's what they have right now. And it's unfortunate because they look like a title team when they have everybody. They only have everybody for about two weeks a year. And that's just how it's been working out for them. Only so many times we can say what-if before we have to move on to the next phase. Yeah, there's a lot of what-ifs. It's not just those two guys, Shams. They have other questions, right? The Clippers do, heading into the off-season. Yeah, I mean, I think overall, you look at the roster. What do you do with Russell Westbrook? Does he come back this upcoming season? That's going to be a question mark as well. But most of this core is pretty much intact. Zubac is under contract for the long-term. Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, both have one year left as well. I think if you're the Clippers, you clearly have two routes right now. One route is keeping this group as is and holding onto this core of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George. Because when they are on the floor together, listen, this team is a championship quality team. It's just getting them to the point where they can play kind of similar to the Pelicans. You're dealing with a situation where if you have this one player in Zion Williamson, if you have Kawhi Leonard, Paul George on the floor, you're a title contender. You have those dreams. It's just how do you get to the point where you have a perfect summer, you stay healthy, any issues that pop up, you stay on them for medical staff, performance staff, more than ever, this is where this summer is gonna be big for this Clippers organization. So you kind of have to potentially bank on one more year and see if you can get healthy with these two guys just because of how dynamic, how good they are as a duo and the potential that they have. So and the other route is potentially going the other way and moving those two guys, you don't know what you can get. They're both on the other side of 30. They both clearly have dealt with injury issues the last few years as well. So what can you realistically get? Do you wanna go into that new arena without having two shiny stars? It's a lot of questions for Steve Ballmer in this foreign office to answer for. That's gonna be fun. That's gonna be a fun off season for the Clippers. But let's discuss the actual game because Phoenix took care of business. They closed out 136-130. Devon Booker, we can talk Kevin Durant, we can talk Chris Paul, we can talk everybody. But Devon Booker finished this thing with 47 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds. He was 19 of 27 shooting. Look, I'm not just talking about this series, Chandler. Has he been the best player in these playoffs so far? I mean, 37 points per game on 60% shooting from a two-guard that takes a lot of jumpers and a lot of mid-range. Yeah, it's hard to argue and I gotta be honest, I legitimately went and showered and turned the game off when I saw them put up 50 points in the third quarter and Devon Booker basically help score the Clippers by himself in that third. And it's unbelievable what he did last night. Just the shots, the array of different mid-range shots, him getting to the basket. He went down a lane and dunked the ball more aggressive than I have seen him do in a really, really long time. And I gotta give props to him too because when you train for a guy like Kevin Durant, who is that good offensively, you have a hard time kind of taking the bag. I see picking your spots. When do I shoot? When do I get him involved? I've been here for longer. I should be the one that's getting him comfortable. And Devon Booker doesn't force shots. You can see that he enjoys playing with Kevin Durant. They play well off each other. When Devon gets going, huh? And they start trapping him, pressure on him. He gets off the ball quickly and he lets Kevin Durant go to work. So the first thing, this duo is really, really working and they're both playing unselfish. They're both picking their spots and choosing, letting each other rock. And for Devon, it's great because he's never played with a guy this good that draws this much attention that allows him to get one-on-one coverage like he is. And nobody can guard him. He's one of the best ISO players ever. And now he has that chance to do that without seeing four bodies every time he gets to the paint. So last night it was sublime and it was incredible to watch. And there was just heat check after heat check where I just knew he wasn't gonna miss. And it was truly sped up. And on the flip side, they definitely, they played with their food a little bit. And I think that's a good test moving forward, but they can't have let-ups like this next series against Denver because I don't know if they'll let them come back and I don't know if they'll miss those layups at the Clippers at the end of the game. And this series could have continued. But besides that, I mean, he was unbelievable. I just said series again and my series about to go off again. So I'm so sorry about that. I hate your series. She is broken. And you need to fix that. So they're second in the playoff. I didn't get that. Could you try again? Tell her. We're busy. Yeah, don't try again. Tell her no. Shut up. Anyhow, the Suns are second in the playoff in points of game 120. Their field goal percentage, their three point percentage. If we're looking ahead to what's left, who's left in these playoffs right now? Are they the best offense? They might be. And I see a lot of people saying, yo, they need to shoot more threes. Points is not their issue. They're scoring plenty of points. They're shooting really well. They're two of the best scores in the world, two of the best mid-range shooters, maybe the two best mid-range shooters in the world as well. And this is what you envision when you trade for KD and you open up the offense like this for Devin Booker. And Chandler knows what's the easiest thing to attack on offense when you have the ball. It's a defender running at you like a bat out of hell. And he's getting a lot more of that than he's ever had in his career right now, just attacking closeouts. But they're sensational and they have this situation where they can go off and on. They can switch, they can, if they're gonna rotate the book, which most teams aren't gonna do, then they can go to Kevin on the weak side one-on-one. But with Kevin's the hub of the offense, Devin Booker's gonna get a ton of open shots. Points is not gonna be their issue. They're gonna score plenty on Denver. They got guys they can attack with Michael Porter, with Jamal Murray, and then obviously Nicol Jokic. That's not the issue for them. They're going to need to defend this team though. Do not overlook the Denver Nuggets if you're a Phoenix Suns fan. They're gonna have to defend that team. And that's a well-oiled offensive machine on that other end. And they're gonna need a ton of communication. They're gonna need to figure out Jokic, which nobody has done. And they're gonna have to be running all over the court because they use a ton of movement and they shoot a ton of long shots. So they're gonna, that's where the series will lie to me. I don't think Denver can defend Phoenix. Really nobody can. But Phoenix is gonna need to defend Denver it. And you can see last night, when they need a bucket, when they need a bucket late, they will find them all over the court. And they're gonna do that to Phoenix as well. It was, it got hard for me to watch the end of this game. I just, there were a lot of shots of Westbrook. Westbrook had a tough night. He swatted at a dude. And then they sat on the bench and you just thought about the season that he had. He finds himself in LA with this team with really high hopes for the playoffs and then fizzles out, right? So I guess, Chandler, if you could describe Westbrook's time with this Clippers team, how would you do so? A huge success. This is a guy who's been dragged through the mud, has been a lapping stock, who the media, the fans, everyone's been going at all year long because his time with the Lakers didn't work. And he just went right next door and you found something here. And there were flashes on the Lakers where we were talking about he was going to be sixth man of the year and he adapted to that role really, really nice and handled it very professionally. But I saw a stat with him on the Clippers. He basically led their team in every statistical category in these playoffs. And he's been the most consistent player. And I'm sitting here watching this team and plumly bones, rust. These guys weren't even on the team and their season's on the line with these guys kind of carrying the load. So they kind of got thrown into the fire here in an unfair situation and rust struggled from the field and he's going to do that. But this is the type of player where you take the good with the bad kind of like Trey Young, three for 18 is gross and that's not good. And that is, you're not going to win a lot of games for the guy shooting that poorly. But he also impacts the game a lot other ways and he plays defense and he plays hard and he brings energy. And from a guy that was just kind of dragged all season long, he's going to be on a roster next year and he's going to, people are going to want him next year and he's earned that right. And he showed that he can still play. So it didn't end the way I'm sure he wanted to end and they're eliminated and he's going home. But you best believe that teams want Russell Westbrook on their team next season. Yeah, I will always be a fan of Russell Westbrook. So there was another game. This bull's nugget. So a lot of games last night, y'all. And this one was tied in the final seconds. Anthony Edwards gets a look to possibly tie things up. But Denver squeaks one out by three, moving on Murray and Yolkic combine for 63 of those points. Shoms, we went into the postseason with a bunch of doubt for Denver. So, and by the way, I don't even know where all the doubt comes from, but there's a lot of doubt. And it starts with Yolkic and all the MVP controversy and what have you. But did they legitimize themselves as contenders this series? I personally think they did because of this reason. Because Jamal Murray, he looks like Jamal Murray. I saw him and I might be biased, but I saw him in the bubble the way he emerges as a superstar player, how he played in that postseason. 35 points last night. Is this fifth, a 35 point game in the last four years in the playoffs? Clearly he's a guy. When he's healthy, when he's on, he can be a leader of this team. And I think he can be a number one option. He can close games. And we've seen Nikola Yolkic talk about, Jamal Murray's are closer. And so now that he's healthy, you clearly see that he's beyond any ACL issue, any reoccurring, lingering thing that he's been dealing with. And so I saw it in the bubble. I think he's back being bubble Jamal Murray. I think he used what people said about him, whether he was just a bubble star. I think he used it as slights. And he's clearly shown that whether they're an underdog or not, they're a team that can upset Phoenix for sure. Because they've done it before in 2020. Everyone thought the Clippers were gonna beat them in the bubble in the second round. And they beat the Clippers, they get to the Western Conference finals. So to me, I do think they're legit. And I think a lot of that is because of Jamal Murray. It's funny because we're considering it an upset. And they're the number one seed playing, a lower seed, but it's true. And Phoenix is that scary offensively. We know that and we know the Nugget strength is necessarily defense. But they do have Gordon and Porter that will at least give size and length on Katie. And they have Brown and Kabul Pope that can pick up book full court. And so they do have the roster and the players to be able to guard them. They just haven't shown it enough that they focus on that side of the ball. And Jamal Murray is back. He's been unbelievable. Jokic needs to be the best player in this series. But I don't think this, I think this is gonna go six or seven. I think this is gonna be highly, highly competitive. Both of these teams are extremely explosive offensively. And same thing for the Suns. They're gonna have to sit down and guard these guys. They're not easy to defend either. And they can hurt you in many ways. And Michael Porter has been great in the fourth quarter, especially shooting the ball. They got to get stuff from Aaron Gordon. He's got to continue to play like he's played and give them 12 to 20, you know, and be a contributor. But Shom's head at Jamal Murray, he looks like bubble Murray and they're gonna have their hands full with Phoenix guarding him. Eddie, look right now, Suns are favored on Fandall's sports book. Who are you giving the edge to? I mean, no surprise, I give the edge to the Suns, but this is a tight series like both guys just said. And I'm with Shom's. I think Jamal Murray is the key here. The Suns will need to figure out how to defend and trouble him on offense. And watching them defend at the point of attack against the Clippers, it's gonna be quite the task. When he's scorching like he was yesterday, he completely changes with the Nuggets are. And they were able to overcome a really sloppy and kind of non-salon game from Yocates. Yocates ends up making the biggest basket of the night. And I want to make sure we mentioned that Rudy Gobert, he flopped for a foul, he fell in the front row and he let his team lose five on four in the biggest possession of the season. So that was a big part of it. But Yocates came through when he needed the most. He fouled both centers out on that team and he just made life rough for them when he needed to. But Jamal Murray, yes, the head of the snake and the Clippers will need to find, not the Clippers, the Sons will need to find a way to combat that. And I don't know that they have that answer just yet. What I like about in the Nuggets favor is exactly what Chandler mentioned. They have wings. They're gonna play Aaron Gordon on Cavanaugh. They're gonna make him beat that match up and they're gonna help as well. But they have Braun, they have Bruce Brown, they have Contavis called with Pope. They have guys on the wing that they also are gonna like for book. I watched them play the Sons twice at the end of the season this year in Phoenix with no Nicola Yolkets. And they gave them a hell of a hard time and they defended them tough. So this is not gonna be easy series. I say it goes at least six. I could see seven, just like Chandler said. I favor the firepower for the Phoenix, the Phoenix Sons but the Nuggets are no slouts and they're proving themselves just like Sam said. Anthony Edwards is just a star. And he talked about the last game. He refused to be swept in his professional career. You saw him in this game. He got that final look and then ran off the court because dude does not wanna lose, Chandler. His ceiling is what? There is not a ceiling for this dude. He can do it all. He's a young star that enjoys to defend and that's rare in today's game. And he can, I saw you like you just saw right there. Get out and transition. He's one of the more athletic guys in the league. And I wanted nothing more than that shot to go down into the buzzer. And by the way, it was dead on. It was just a little bit long. And after the whole hot mic thing, him just saying that the series isn't over. If he hits that and he takes things back to Minnesota, I think he carries them to another win and the series goes seven. So I couldn't, if I had to rank who I'm the biggest fan of and they behave right now, it might be Anthony Edwards, just how he carries himself, how he plays the game, how he's a two-way player, how confident he is. The kid can even act. He can do it all. I love Anthony Edwards. I'm with Chandler. I love everything about him. If I was going to make a superstar that I wanted to see carry the torch of the league going forward, he's only 21 years old. He's only 21 years old. Think about that again. He's only 21 years old. He's having playoff moments already. That left hand scoop layup over Yocus. That's maybe the most impressive shot I've seen all season. Like Chandler said, he can act, he can market. He's funny on the internet. He's everything I'd want from a star. Please build this team around him. I want to see just how high he can take them. He's incredible. I mean, we just assume they're going to, Shoms. The Timberwolves go where from here? Anthony Edwards, to me, is the only immovable piece. I keep coming back to what Kyle Anderson was caught on video or, I guess, on audio saying as far as this organization has decisions to make this summer. I think those decisions, Anthony Edwards is the one saving grace. He's your one pillar. You know he's a max contract guy. I think he's ending his third season. He's going to be extension eligible this summer. He's a max out guy. But then what do you do with the rest of your roster? How do you supplement Anthony Edwards? Is Carl Anthony Towns part of your future? Rudy Gobert, I think there's this sense. Like I've done media and people are like, oh, are they going to move Rudy Gobert after the punching incident? He's got, I think, three years after this year, like 45 million a year. I don't think that's a contract that you're just going to move easily. And they traded four first round picks. Another first round pick guy and Walker Kessler to go get him. So, and it's tough because I do think for different parts, Rudy Gobert was useful for them. Is this, do you view Carl Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert as your future moving forward? How do you add depth? Jaden McDaniel's emerging, I think was a bright spot for this team as well. But there's no doubt they have decisions to make. And a lot of that revolves on this roster and its construction. Yeah, I got to be honest with you. That contract of Gobert, that's going to be tough to move. So I think they made their bed and now they sleep in it. I do think they could get a lot for Carl Anthony Towns. He's still in his prime. He's younger. I think you go in and you see what that market is because you do have a guy like Nas Reid who showed that he can play and he's going to be much cheaper than Carl Anthony Towns. They found something with Alexander Walker. Jaden McDaniels, think about how many guys this team just missed in the playoffs and how different the series could have looked if they were fully healthy like the Clippers. And I know it's part of it and it always happens, but they do have pieces here and they have a future. And I think that the easiest move and what they get back the most is moving Carl Anthony Towns. And like we just discussed, no one's going to want Gobert and he could still be solid. Not at that price, but they did that. And they already just traded it and they gave up so much for him. They almost in a way can't give up on him because it's admitting that it's a horrific deal. So you see what the next best option and the only other player that would be available in my eyes that people would want is Carl Anthony Towns and you could probably get quite a bit for him. So I wouldn't be surprised if they looked at that and then built around with these other pieces and let Anthony Edwards kind of be the face moving forward. Yeah, I'm with both of you guys. I don't think they can trade Rudy Gobert. So then you look at Kat Chandler just nailed it. And I'm looking at teams like New Orleans. I'm looking at teams like Washington. I'm looking at teams with the wings who maybe want to get out a little bit. This grunt will maybe kick the tires and want to hear about Carl Anthony Towns and go from there. But you can get a lot for him on the market this summer. There's a ton of draft picks floating around. There's a ton of disgruntled guys just waiting to maybe not ask for a trade publicly, but maybe nudge the team and say, hey, I wouldn't be upset if you traded me. But you got to build around Anthony Edwards at this point. And look, when Kat was out this year, they traded water just fine. And he figured out a way to make it work for Rudy Gobert and the wings they had out there. And they turned into this defensive team that was just a monster. And if you can build the better version of that, you got something interesting out there in Minnesota. Shams, I know you were busy earlier breaking news and we were talking about the Atlanta Hawks and their big game in Trey Young. And you've reported so much on him and we're sort of all just anticipating what will happen next for him there in Atlanta. But what was your perspective of that big time shot the game winner? I mean, it's clear when Trey Young is on and he's feeling it, it's a treat to watch. He makes basketball look beautiful when he's making shots. And I think the biggest thing, the moment they brought in Quinn Snyder was how was that relationship gonna be between Trey Young and Quinn Snyder? And from everything I'm told, they've developed a pretty great bond. I think both are fond of each other. I think for Trey Young, he really loves Quinn Snyder as his coach, I'm told. And I think the best thing to really look at the confidence that Quinn Snyder has instilled in Trey Young is near the end of the game, those defensive possessions, those are usually plays where Trey Young gets subbed out on offense for defense subs. And Quinn Snyder left Trey Young in those games. If you look back at those final defensive possessions, he was still in there. And I think the confidence that that exudes in your player, I think it does go a long way. And I think the Hawks are gonna keep having to monitor Trey Young, his habits, his day-to-day commitments, his leadership. But yeah, I mean, when he's on, it's a treat to watch. And so far, both him and Quinn Snyder appear to be on the same page. Okay, I mean, I feel like Dijonte Murray took a little bit of that, the smoke away, at least for a game or two, and just let Trey Young be great. We're gonna take a quick break here while we come back. More playoff breakdown, more playoff preview, and I'm sure we'll mock something or just Chandler when Run It Back returns. Welcome back, time for some scoop with Shams. We left yesterday with the Deer and Fox Bad News, but you do have an update, Shams, for the night, tonight's game. So Deer and Fox, he told reporters yesterday he plans to play in game five tonight against the Warriors. He's dealing with that fractured left index finger. So he will have a splint on the finger, and we'll see how much that left hand is gonna be impacted. But like Chandler said yesterday, you have to give some level and effort to try to play. We see him shooting around there, and he was trying to dribble and shoot yesterday at practice. So he's gonna make an effort here tonight to go out there and play. To me, this just shows how gritty this king's team is for Fox to be playing on a broken finger. DeMonte Sabonis is playing with a fracture in his thumb. Two-two series. This is a very, very pivotal game tonight. Yeah, I think we expected him to play, right? Like, even if it was just to come out for five minutes, just try your expectations, though, for Fox, Chandler playing with the injury. I mean, we'll see. It's gonna be different. We're talking about a splint on the last finger that is touching the ball when you're shooting and when you're passing and when you're dribbling. And we'll see if they kind of have him off the ball a little bit. We'll see if the Warriors force him left now, make him use that finger more. There's a lot of unknowns here. But like we said yesterday, this isn't a career injury. This isn't jeopardizing his future. This is something that I respect him, but I also expected him to at least give it a go. This is game five in this arena, in this city. Everyone knows the amount of how much it's meant to his team. This is the series. I fully believe whoever wins this game, wins the series. Your best player, it shows a lot. And I think the guys in Sacramento rally around him just and support him of at least giving it a go and seeing how long that lasts tonight. All right, so that is a perfect segue into our guests today who will be joining us. And this is awesome that this is happening. Rapper, producer, super Golden State Warriors fan. And really, a game is not complete until the music is playing throughout the entire arena. Let's welcome Tshort to run it back. It is a pleasure and an honor, sir. And Chandler's over there talking about De'Aaron Fox. And I know the Warriors find themselves in a weird predicament where America's sort of rooting for this other team that's just really an underdog for the last 20 years. But your expectations for game five tonight are what? Well, you know, as a Warrior fan, we're all concerned about the road games this year. But I don't know, it's the playoffs and it just, it got a different vibe. But I feel like it's three different seasons. You got before the All-Star break, after the All-Star break and the playoffs. This is season three, third part of the season. So we know what the Warriors do during the playoffs. We got a pretty good track record since, you know, 2015. And I just, I just roll with the team. We just roll and we believe in coming back from large deficits and having big quarters. And, you know, we just, I love the integrity of the team, how they just always just, they just play, they fight. Sure. First of all, it's an honor. I'm a Sacramento native though. So I know the relationship SAC has with the Bay. I know there's a little bit of little brother syndrome and a lot of stuff going on there. What is your, what is your perception of Kiggs fans? And do you think they're a little obnoxious, banging the cowbell behind Bob Myers yelling at Dre Ma? How do you feel about the Kiggs fans? I think they're doing what they're supposed to do, man. You're supposed to be intense. That's how, that's how the crowd is the sixth man. You're supposed to do that. So I wouldn't expect anything other and excitement. I remember, you know, Chris Webber and, and that crew back in the day, you know, running up on the Lakers. And I, I got, I can't lie. I, I root for California teams, but I can't root for you when your California team is playing my California team. So I'm a West Coast guy all the way. And you know, I, I, I rooted for those old Sacramento teams. I really did. So I'm, I'm happy for the city, but at the same time, I wish you guys would have met up with somebody else and we wouldn't have this newer Cal rivalry thing, rivalry going on right now. Maybe this is a change into the guard. Maybe it's not. Let's find out. Right. That's awesome. Sure. Again, like Eddie said, your legend manager honored to ask you questions to talk to you. You were in my ear throughout my whole career, bro. So appreciate that. But another Bay legend, E40, obviously, him getting ejected in the earlier in the series. What were your thoughts on that? Did you think it was warranted? Did you think it was crazy? I thought, wow, we're going to win the next game. That's what I thought. And sure enough, they had T shirts and social media posts and it was, it was part of the energy of, you know, game three. So I think that, um, uh, no matter what the truth is about what happened as warrior fans, we all were like, I don't care what he did. You don't kick E40 out the arena. You know, he's just, just don't do that. You work it out and figure out what the problem is. And, uh, we going in as fans, we watched the game. So I don't know if he's showing up at the game tonight, but if I was him, I would, I'd be right back up in there. Like, let's do some more of this. Sure. Sure. Like they said, it's an honor. It's a privilege. Appreciate you coming on the show. Um, obviously this has been a crazy series overall. When you look at what happened with Dremont Green and Damata Sabonis and the suspension that happened. What was your reaction when it came out that Dremont Green got suspended for that game? I know that's been your guy. That's someone you've, you've battled out of love for. What was your reaction? Um, I thought that, you know, I wasn't too surprised. I personally know, uh, big fan of Dremonts. I know a lot of people don't like him, but I, I, you know, the, the pushing off of the weight, you know, it was a bit much. And like they said, it wasn't really so much as what he did. It was who did it. So, you know, you gotta, you guys, you know, scold him sometimes in the playoffs. But like, like he said, man, I'm coming right back, yelling and screaming and getting more text, whatever. That's just his game. So let's, let's just roll on with it. I'm an old NBA fan from the old days, from, you know, the 80s and, and, you know, the 90s and stuff. And that kind of play was just normal. So we know the new NBA, we, you know what I'm saying? It's a little more protective in sports right now, but the old NBA, they just fought it out and kept on playing. Sure. Another thing, you've been a Warriors fan for decades, of course, when you think about the team, Steven Jackson, Monte Ellis, and that whole, we believe team to now, what has it been like for you emotionally being a Warriors fan, seeing that we believe team to now winning championships and being a dynasty? So even only back to run TMC, I think that when Mark Jackson molded the new culture together, you know, and him and all the guys who were working on the staff in the 2014 season and, you know, I guess a little bit before that, when they started putting this new team together, Monte, Leff and Steph was the new guy. I just think that as a fan, we have no shame in being proud of our team. We have no, we don't care about the people who love the Warriors when they were the underdog. And then all of a sudden when Katie joined, they were like, ah, we hate the Warriors. And then, you know, so many people around the country, I hate Draymond, I hate the Warriors. I mean, when I travel, people hate the Warriors. Like they hate them. And I saw that early 2015, 16, kind of love just go away. But as a Warrior fan, I mean, we suffered so many seasons. We watched so many, you know, good teams not get there and terrible teams and terrible seasons. And I don't know if you're very familiar with Oracle throughout all the years of the ups and downs of the Warriors trading away the greatest players and, you know, just always being at the bottom of the division and even the years we got the good teams, we just couldn't get out those first round or two. You know what I mean? There's no remorse in the celebrations we're having. There's no remorse. We don't care about the haters. We don't care. We don't care that. We slipped in and got one last year and you guys are like, oh no, how do they do it again? Like we don't care that, you know what I mean? It's not looking good this year. I mean, the West is competitive. That Denver team and that Phoenix team now, I mean, it's looking, you know, ain't no telling what these Lakers gonna do. It's like, it's about to get dangerous in the next round. So I think that the Warriors are equipped for that next round. And if the Sacramento Kings go on to the next round, good luck, y'all, because it's gonna be tough past this round. Sure, I want to go back to Draymond for one second because I always thought he's the poster child of if he's on your team, you love him. If he's not on your team, you hate him. And I was in the building on Sunday when he came off the bench and it was deafening. Is there ever a fan, as a Warriors fan, is there ever a time when you sort of just roll your eyes at his antics or is it just straight support, no matter what? It's almost like being with a friend who unjustly starts a fight while you're with him. And you're like, what's this guy fight? Cause he's way in wrong, but you just gotta make that decision. So I think warrior fans have decided that, you know, we just, we get a lot. Whatever Draymond does negative, we get a lot more on the positive side. So as fans, we see it as a opponent. You probably just gravitate towards all the negative stuff. My homeboy from Cleveland, who is long over LeBron and you know, he's still a Cavs fan for life. He just texts me the other day, like for no apparent reason, he just texts me, I still hate Draymond. Yeah, we weren't even having a conversation. That was just text of the day. Like, okay. Yes. Awesome. Sure, you went to the White House in January with the Warriors, E-40 was there, of course, Sway was there as well. What was that day like for you, man? Well, I was surprised at how many Bay Area people were in the White House that day. Like people who live and work in D.C. work, you know, got their access to the event and it was a real Bay Area day. Like I didn't know so many people from the Bay worked in the capital, you know, worked in D.C. And it was just a really good vibe. You know, a lot of the players mixed and mingled with us, you know, the vice president from the Bay. She was in there celebrating and, you know, I got to talk to her, you know, she's from Oakland. So I got a couple of words with her. And that was, it was just a lot of, it was a warrior day for real. Like I was expecting to go as a warrior to a D.C. event, you know, but I didn't think it was gonna be so Bay Area up in there. It was, it was, it felt real hometown that day. Feels like the Bay Area is everywhere too short. This has been awesome. We appreciate the time and good luck tonight. We'll all be watching. It's gonna be a good one. All right. We'll take a quick, we'll take a quick break. Run it back returns after this. Run it up, they run it back, run it back, run it up, run it back, run it up, they run it back, yeah, yeah, run it up. I mean, we're all gonna be on our couches all night tonight cause there are a thousand games. Heat Bucks being one of them. And the last we checked was Yannis played last one, but how was he feeling afterwards, Shoms? Yeah. I mean, he went through a lot, I think, just to be able to play. Clearly there was some back discomfort for him. He missed eight straight days, the back issue, then he had to play over 38 minutes and he dealt with body cramps throughout the game, I'm told, and that's one, those are all reasons why he had to have IV fluids administered after the game in the post game locker room in Miami. He didn't do his media availability because he was getting IV. So, you know, he clearly left it all out on the floor, even pushing himself to the point of literal exhaustion, but he's probable tonight to play. He's gonna be out there. We'll see how he'll play and how he'll perform on that back. But yeah, this is a Bucks team that clearly has their backs against the wall down 3-1. I mean, I'm curious from Chandler's perspective, is it normal for guys to get IVs after games, deal with cramps throughout games and play? Like, what goes into that? Chandler's IV situation is a whole different thing. Go ahead. We're talking about getting my IVs. I've definitely done some IVs for other hydrating purposes. But yeah, most guys do that when they're sick or if they're dehydrated for getting cramps, things like that, which is often in the playoffs. But a back is tough because a back is just nagging you throughout the whole game. It kind of restricts you, but he looked pretty good and he looked like himself at points of that game. So, I fully expect him to play tonight. I mean, season on the line, at home, you know, one versus eight seed. And after what Jimmy did last game, I fully expect guys to come out tonight, come out aggressive. And I think Milwaukee gets it done tonight. Yeah, that Jimmy performance, I just got to be at all of his motivation. Lakers Grizzly is also happening game five. Talk to me, Eddie. Who steps up the most tonight? Probably that guy right there, LeBron James. I mean, he knows that if he wraps this up, they got some time to rest and they won't be playing until Monday or Tuesday. And he knows that. He's got to know that. I think they feel real confident against this team and all of the chatter and this moment right here, everybody's bringing it up. Dylan said he couldn't go left. He went left and gamed him with it. So, I think the Lakers are walking in there confident. They know they can play even better than they've been playing. I expect them to take it home. That team knows what it means to close out a series. All right, so Dylan Brooks deleted his social media. One of us needs to be super mean about this, Chandler. I appoint you. Rip him to shreds. It's super, it's super weak. You can't one minute be calling yourself Dylan the villain and then you go highland and you don't do media and you poke the bear and let the bear basically game winner you. You're an adult, you're a professional, you're responsible for your actions and you're responsible for your words and this is just, this is a bad look. This shows me that he doesn't really like being this guy. This shows me that he's trying to point his finger to the fans and the media making him this guy, which is just the furthest from the truth. So, he's eating his words right now and he's in a dark place and he's about to possibly lose into the seventh seed. So probably a bad idea from the start. I feel like too short had a song that would have been a good moment for us to reference on Dylan Brooks on this one. You gotta be that guy, Dylan Brooks. I wish I could assert myself and become the bad guy. It's the best part to have. Guys, we are back in LA next week. Get your alarm clocks ready. Get the under eye creams good to go. We will see you bright and early Monday morning from Los Angeles. Enjoy the games. Run it up, run it back, run it up, run it back like a running back. She knowin' all over the map cause she make it clap with a short zone or the skin tight jeans.