 If you're going to report that the Spurs broke an all-time attendance record last week, put a little respect on it. 68,323 Warriors fans did not fly to San Antonio. Good God. Run it back. Starts now. Good morning and welcome to Run It Back. Look at this chipper and sunshiny group of young men. As always, Stadium Insider Shamsherania joining us back at home. Chandler Parsons still has not been released from whatever camp he's been detained. And there's Eddie. Eddie, you look great today, bud. Thank you. The Celtics fans also took over an arena this weekend, but don't feel bad. Dude, when I tell you though that thing last week was awesome and it was such a big memory lane and it was only because San Antonio, look, let's not, we're not having secrets here. The San Antonio team right now is not going to win the championship. So people showed up to have like a big memory party and it felt very emotional. I just, I used to be the national media and I didn't like us then. And now that I'm not really on that platform anymore, I don't like them even more. So that's all I have to say about that. But let's get this bad boy started right away. Look, Sixers Lakers, let's just start there. And let's just start with what happens at the end. Play it, please. That's what surprises me the most, that you get possession. You don't call the timeout and set something up. It's a great shot at the broad. Already in the showers. Look, Westbrook says he was fouled and Bede says he's unlucky. Chandler, what say you? Yeah, this is tough. This could go either way. I actually like the no timeout call here. I don't like giving the chance to set up. You know the ball is going to either go to Russ or LeBron in this situation. The defense is getting back in transition. I like the no timeout. If you're Russ though, you got to get a better look than this. You got to get a shot at the rim. This is the worst possible outcome here. I'd like to see LeBron obviously with the ball in his hands here. But even if Troy Brown gets that pass, I don't know if it's going to be the best look. I don't think he got fouled here either. I think it's pretty good defense from the big man. But look, you have your second best player, point guard on a mismatch against the center. I don't know what out of a timeout you could get better than this. But yeah, you got to get a shot up to give yourself a chance. I would even win a little quicker if I was Russ. But that's not how you want the game to end. It's sloppy, Eddie. Like, I mean, what were you thinking? Yeah, I mean, look, coaching is hard. And the easiest things to coach from the couch are subs and timeouts. So everybody sat there and watched the Mavericks game and said, yo, why didn't he sub anybody? And over time, I didn't call a timeout. And then this game as well, they said, why didn't call a timeout? I actually liked the matchup. It's fine. Russ played a great game yesterday at triple double. He shot 50% from the floor. He was good. He helped keep them steady. Again, they're competing with a contender in the east. And then they just did the same thing with the Mavericks a few days before. They're not as bad as, like, we would like to think. But you've got to get that ball on LeBron's hand at that point. I get it what he said afterwards. He's trusty. Russell Westwood is a former MVP. It's a matchup he likes. Look, Joanne Beat is a great defender. And in that situation where, look, he knows the shot cock is short. He knows Russ only got a certain amount of time. And Russ can't shoot jumpers. It's a little bit easier for him. Call a timeout, get the ball to LeBron, and figure it out from there. I don't like it. I get his rationale. And again, it's so easy to armchair coach when all we're thinking about is timeouts and subs. But my whole thing is LeBron has to touch that ball at that point. He also had a great game, a better game than Russ. And he kind of deserved that shot. But hey, it is what it is. LeBron was clearly, very clearly not happy with the decision walking off the court. And so, yeah, you hate to relegate LeBron to a bystander with the game on the line. This is like two really, really tough losses for the Lakers in a stretch without Anthony Davis, where you need everyone you can get. And so the Mavericks loss, this loss last night, like they're going to be kicking themselves weeks from now when these two games are very important. But I think, listen, the no timeout call, I agree with Chandler. It was a good call. But once Russ tries to drive once, then has to bring it back out. We've seen that movie before with this Lakers team with Russ Westbrook, when he tries to get by someone like it's not like how it used to be, right? So that's where you call the timeout, where there's still four or five seconds left. And, you know, he gave Russ, you know, Darvin Ham gave Russ multiple chances to get to the basket. I don't know if that's the most prudent move in that moment. And like Eddie said, LeBron James, that's a moment where he has to touch the ball some former fashion. So Chandler, that's the thing. I think people are, whether you like the timeout, no timeout, what have you at the end of the day, that seems to be a moment where Darvin Ham should be stepping in. And a lot of people are kind of questioning that today. Where do you stand on his coaching there at the end? I mean, look, again, like Sean just said, once he kind of fumbled the ball and didn't have a straight line driver, a good look, that's maybe where I agree. Burn the timeout, draw something up. I don't care if the defense gets set. I don't care if they know it's going to LeBron or Russ. You got to get something and you got to get a look at the hoop. Not getting a shot off again. That's the worst possible scenario. And that's a nightmare for a coach. And if Russ happened to hit a step back or got to the lane and got fouled, we're not even talking about should he have called a timeout. It just didn't go his way. But again, I'd like to see Russ have gone quicker. But yeah, knowing what we know now, you'd love to see him burn a timeout there and put the ball in their best player's hands. But you got to get a shot off there and at least give your team a chance. On the Embiid side of things, he had 35 and 12. Seems like this team is turning things around, Shams. What do you think the biggest reason for that is? The biggest reason I think is the communication and just the energy and the flow that you're seeing right now with James Harden and Joel Embiid. They're talking after every game raving about each other. That line of communication has never been better. And we were talking all year at the beginning, at least, about just the two different styles of playing. You're starting to finally see how this team is coexisting with one another. This is the best stretch they've had that Joel Embiid's had with a co-star in a while, at least the last two, three years. So kudos for them to figure it out. And we saw last night, Tyrese Maxey came off the bench. That's a level of sacrifice for this team. He's clearly a starting caliber player who's made the decision. Doc Rivers said it was more on Tyrese Maxey to come up with the idea to come off the bench. He's sacrificed. And we saw his answer after the game. He said, I want to be a professional, whether I'm starting or coming off the bench. This team is probably a little bit better suited with D'Anthony Melton as a starter. And then Tyrese Maxey can take over coming off the bench. So you're starting to see a lot of the things aligned for this team from a sacrifice perspective and role and continuity. Yeah, I mean, this team's just getting healthy. They're hitting their stride. A month ago, we were talking about Tyrese Maxey's their second best player. And James Harden is their third. And this just shows you how good James Harden still is when he's facilitating, when he's on. And when him and a big guy like Joel, they're getting along. They're having fun. They're winning games. And you haven't seen this before with this duo. And it's going to take time for Tyrese Maxey. I think he's, he is their second best player. And I think he shouldn't be starting, but I do love the options of a Milton, of a Melton, people like that, that they can sub in there with the defensive mindset because they struggled defensively last night. It wasn't pretty for them defensively. That was a game, honestly, they could have easily lost. But this is a team that's super dangerous. They have a great big. They have great guards. They're deep, you know, Neang, guys like Neang had a huge shot last night. And the more, the more comfortable, the more legs Tyrese Maxey gets, this team is going to really be dangerous. I feel like they have a really good problems to have, like that team does. On the LeBron side, second player in NBA history to score 38,000 points. The Kareem countdown is officially official right now. Here's a jerk question I'm going to ask, but I'm going to enjoy it, Eddie. Would we enjoy these milestones more if perhaps he would have stayed in Cleveland? I don't know. Like LeBron kind of represents the modern mercenary NBA. I get the whole thing of like, you know, a guy stays with a team his whole career. It means a little more and yada, yada. But that's for the local fans, for everybody else. It's like, oh, when he breaks this record, it's kind of cool that he's doing it and stay moves and whatever. But I don't know that it would mean more. I think it'd mean more to Cleveland for sure. But LeBron is a team unto himself. And so it's going to mean more to the LeBron fans, whatever day and team he does it for. And I think that's what it all comes down to for the most part. Yeah. I think it would be cooler if the Lakers were good, too. And these games were exciting. Yeah. That's fair. They were winning and playing in these big, meaningful games while LeBron's breaking this record. I think that would pack a little bit more of a punch. But no, I don't think going from Miami, Cleveland, Lakers, I don't think that matters. But this is an unbelievable accomplishment. It just, it feels like that's why the Lakers are playing this year for LeBron to break this record. And it would mean a lot more to be a lot cooler. To me, if the Lakers made a push, it got into the playoffs and had a better season. But regardless, it's a hell of an accomplishment. And he's on pace. And he's going to be the most ever in the history of the game. But it's nuts. It's like a moral victory for Lakers fans. Like, there's something to root for us, I suppose. If you're into that. Yeah, there's something to do. Shams, you know we're not getting out of the Lakers topic without me asking you the latest on Mr. AD's return. So, Anthony Davis is expected to start running now. So once that happens and he's back onto the floor running full speed, that point, he's going to progress to contact work in the relative near future. And so I'm told that the hope is that Anthony Davis is going to be able to get back out on the floor with a handful of games left before the All-Star break. So that puts you out at about early February for a potential return for Anthony Davis to get back on the floor. He's got a bone spur issue. He's got a stress reaction in that foot. And so he's one of the guys that should be in the All-Star game this year, voted in. He's already among the leaders in the fans. So you've got to come back before the All-Star break if you want to play in the game itself. We'll see if he's going to be able to make it back. But right now, the goal is for Anthony Davis to be back out on the floor with about a handful of games left. And that puts you right around trade deadline. And we'll see how that impacts which moves the Lakers could make. Oh, it's going to get good. It's going to be fun. Moving on to the next. What is going on? Ben Simmons, late scratch. Hello, Backstornis. They fall to the Thunder 112. Eddie, on a disappointment scale, I'd like to hear what you think about this one. It's pretty up there. Even with Kevin and Ben out, they were there in the game the entire night and just faltered down the stretch. And we're watching the shots. Now these are easy shots for the Thunder over and over, dunks and dunks. And it's like, what's going on there? It was a frustrating watch for sure. And it's a game. You don't overlook the Thunder. They're a competitive team. They're just out of the playing right now. They're ahead of the Lakers. We've spent 10 TV minutes talking about. They're a good team. This is not a bad team. So you always knew it was going to be a tough game, tough night for Kyrie, tough night for a couple other guys as well. Very disappointing loss. And you're looking at, they said at least another week until they evaluate Kevin and then however further along he goes with that. So you're looking at some time now. You're looking at some tough games coming up as well. You played the Warriors. You're going to play Lakers at home. You got some stuff coming up. They got to find ways to win some of these games while he's out. And it's frustrating that they lost that one because going in, you think you still have a chance as the better team and at home against the young Thunder and didn't go their way late. Yeah, this was a tough loss, but the Thunder are good and the Thunder are playing for the future, but they play so hard and they're having fun. And SGA and Josh Giddy, those kids are absolute Hoopers that play the right way, that see the floor, that are making the game easier for these other guys that don't have a lot of experience in the NBA. You got a guy like Lou Dore who I feel like is a vet. He's also still young and he just grinds defensively. I really like what they're doing, but yeah, on the flip side, this is a time for Brooklyn where it's dangerous or missing your best player and you just have to sustain and you have to tread water and they've now dropped a couple and Kyrie Irving can't have 15 points in a game like this. He's got to dominate. He's got to take over games like this and he's going to be the reason why they stay afloat with KD out. But this was a tough loss. But one thing I learned is I'm not saying another bad word about Yuta because this man base is out of control, but he did go over two of the three point line last time. If you're going to be one of the best shooters in the NBA, you got all these people getting your back. Got to step up, make some shots. But no, these are games that the Nets have to win. I don't care who's in, who's out. This is KD's out, Kyrie's out. This is a game they got to win. We got to keep a three chart behind you. Since you have a blank wall anyways, we might as well turn that into like a Yuta Watanabe three chart and then we just keep track as we go. It's my room to go there. It's my room to go there. Everybody has one except for Shoms. Shoms is not biased. By the way, speaking of Kyrie and not being able to just have 15 in a game like this, he did have an interesting answer to reporter's question post game. Here he is. To that point, it's kind of easy to look at last year when Kevin goes down, you guys lose 11 a row and then look at how you guys started. How do you, what can you take from the way things kind of fell off the wheels last season to kind of maybe ensure that it doesn't happen this time around? Well, I'm consistently in the lineup that helps. We also don't have halfway in or halfway in anybody in the locker room. And there's just a primary focus on the big picture here. I like that whole vibe that was going on there. Look, they have a five game road trip that starts Tuesday here in San Antonio. I don't know what fairness is in this one, Eddie, right? Is he supposed to fill Katie's shoes? Like what exactly is a fair expectation for Kyrie? Well, Kendrick Perkins is arguing with the world about this right now, but if Kyrie is a superstar or an all-star, and I think he's an all-star, I think he's a superstar. Yeah, you should be able to carry the offense a little bit against these teams and win some of these games. And I think it's fair to expect that. I think Kyrie expects that of himself. We're talking about somebody from the Kobe tree of influence. So he's feeling like he can do this. It had tough night last night, obviously, and you don't expect that every night. But yeah, I think it's absolutely fair to expect him to be able to tread water at least while Kevin's out. I think he and the rest of the Nets and the rest of the league understand that, yeah, Kevin's their best player, and he kind of makes the boat float. But Kyrie should be able to handle some of that as well. We're talking about two-week, three-week strats and some winnable games coming up on the schedule. They play yours first in a few days here. You expect to win that game. But I think it's absolutely fair. And I think Kendrick Perkins thinks it's fair as well. Yeah, I agree. Kyrie Irving is a superstar. He's an all-star. He's a go-to guy. He's a number one option on a lot of teams. So it's definitely fair to say that he needs to step up. He needs to kind of orchestrate the offense. He needs to go and get 30, 40, 50, have some of these crazy games that all the guys are doing. But it also falls on the other guys. It also falls on everybody on that Nets roster where it's a collective effort. When you've got a guy like Kevin Durant go out, everybody needs to step up. Guys are going to be playing more minutes than the crunch time, but they're not used to playing. So it kind of falls on everybody. But yeah, a lot. Now, Kyrie Irving, you're the best player. This is your team now for the foreseeable future. And a lot of it is on him to kind of produce and keep them afloat if they want to continue to stay in that home court advantage area. I think there's an understandable fear with Katie out of a repeat sort of of what happened last year. And so then I ask you, Shams, when's he coming back? Well, I think the hope and the optimism is still right before the All-Star break with plenty of time to spare before the All-Star break, which is good news for the Nets. It's not as serious as it was last year when he missed six weeks. But there's no doubt, like you said, Michelle, like these guys have to step up in his absence. 25% or 75%, 25% or 75% from three, that's 33% from three-point range. That's unacceptable. You're just not going to win many games like that. Kyrie Irving is going 16 to 44 in the two games without KD. That's 36% from the field. That's just not going to cut it either. So for sure, him stepping up his game, two back-to-back off-nights is tough. Off-nights from three-point range is going to be tough without him, especially Seth Curry had a big game last night. But Joe Harris, Utah, there were a few guys that just did not shoot the ball well. So they're going to need all hands on deck. This team is much better equipped to play without Durant this year. They've just got to go out there and prove it now. I'm sure he'll have a career night here on Tuesday. You're welcome ahead of time, Eddie. How about we move on to the Warriors? What is going, why? Other than what they did here on Friday night, the Warriors on the road are just awful. They only have four wins so far away from home. They lost to the Bulls. They're four and 17. That's below 500, sitting eighth in the West. Shoms, you were at this one. If you could put it into words, what's the most noticeable thing or notable thing that you were able to notice in this game? Period. Why? Well, on both sides, for the Warriors, what I'm seeing is just the attention of detail, especially on the defensive end, is just not there. Guys just aren't, it doesn't look like they're on the same page. There was a lot of vocal players, especially on the sideline. Dremont Green, second half of the game, was very animated on the bench. Not quite sure what he was upset at, but he was very animated. And you could see the frustration was boiling over at some points in the second half of the game. This is a Warriors team that's one in 10 against the Eastern Conference on the road. Not a good sign, not a good look. This team is night and day at home versus on the road. It's just not a sign of a championship contender, but we'll see. They have the pieces to turn it around. Clay Thompson said after the game, I'm not worried. We'll find our stride. Dremont Green, likewise, I think they're all optimistic that they'll be able to figure it out. And on the other side, the Bulls. Like, Nikola Vukovic had a 40-in-10 game. Zach Levine had a solid game as well. No DeMar DeRozin. He should be back here this week. But I think this is a team we spoke about last week. I'm told it's not in their mindset to blow it up. They want to be competitive. Want to try to see if this team can make a playoff run. You look at the roster, it's not an issue about talent. It's an issue about connectivity and this team figuring it out. And maybe they need to get Nikola Vukovic more involved every single game. Yeah, and the Bulls, they looked like a really good team last night. When they have that big three and they have Vusevich playing like Jokic, they're really good. And I do think Lonzo Ball is critical to this team. When you have two-wing scores, like DeMar and Zach, you need someone to set them up. You need someone to initiate offense. And they're missing that kind of real point guard. But like Shyam said, they have the talent. They have the depth. They have size. They have the roster to be good. For whatever reason, they are just not playing well this year. But last night, they were flying around. They were better defensively. And when you go to the Warriors, you can't give up 132 points to the Chicago Bulls and have Vusevich give off like that. And it's defensively. These guys, we know how explosive they are offensively. They have so many pieces that can get hot and beat you. But they're not rotating. They're not talking defensively. They're not giving that second and third efforts defensively. And they're horrible on the road. So yeah, I'm not worried either, like Clay said, but it's January. Like when are we going to worry? Because this is starting to become who they are. So they got to get it in gear here. But this was not a good start, a good finish. They did not play well. Does that surprise you, Eddie? By the way, Vusevich, DeMar, Levine, the fact that when they are on, they're able to do what they are. But they're just sitting, what, 10th in the east? Is that what I just said? Yeah, 10th in the east. So do you think that they have enough to actually make some noise, especially if, based on shams, they don't really plan on blowing anything up? So what do you think they can do? Missed tough for them because they dug such a hole. And much like the Warriors, they seem to be inconsistent night in and night out. Between the three guys, I mean, 43 points is magic, but we don't get that from Vusevich every night. Their issue, and it's funny, we didn't see it as much against the Warriors. I mean, they still get 118 points. Their issue has been defense all year long. Just their effort on defense and kind of waiting on Lonzo Ball for that and then expecting Alex Caruso to carry a ton of the load there. And I love Alex Caruso, but he cannot be your defensive anchor on the team that you want to win playoff games with. So it's, if they can show up their defense, you know, but I don't know that they're equipped with that. I don't, with Vusevich and with the way Zach Levine has defended over the last few years, I don't know that they're just set to be a defensive stalwart in the playoffs. Can they climb up the standings? They're right behind the Hawks and who else, the Pacers. The Pacers look better every night and then the Heat who was just slowly getting better. So it's going to be tough for them to climb up the standings anyway. You know, I don't know if they can make some noise. They can maybe get that playoff spot that they want. I get why they're not giving in. Like they've invested so much money into these guys in this lineup. And it was just last year, they were, you know, home court advantage this foreign to the season. And so they probably, we see the potential there, but I don't know about making noise. Their next game, it's Thursday in Paris. Not at all. God, Chandler, these one off international games, they just, they're all over the place. But as a player, I mean, they seem very happy. They're on the plane. Would you want to play in Paris? I mean, Paris is awesome. There's there's a big deal over there. I don't know if I'd want to do this in the middle of the season. Like I went and did a Taiwan in Philippines when I was on the Rockets for a preseason and it was a blast. And the fans over there are so passionate and it's a great opportunity to kind of, you know, learn and see different parts of the world and play in front of new fans. It's a, it's an incredible experience. This in the middle of the season with, you know, the flight, the jet lag that, you know, piling in a couple of games that you missed here and there back in. It's tough, but it's definitely fun. It's definitely a great experience for these young guys. I bet you a lot of them have not been to Paris. So just the simple fact of going to sightseeing and do all the things that, but in the middle of your season, it would be tough. Yeah. I mean, I, I get what's Ellis going for. The NBA is just going to keep doing these games. They're clearly focused on like global expansion, both in the way they market their players and things like this. They played a game in Mexico City last month as well. And, you know, there's always been rumors like, yo, maybe they'd have a team in this city and in this country and all of that. And, you know, I wouldn't be shocked. We live to the point where planes get faster and they actually have a plant, a team in Paris or something like that. But they're going to keep doing these games and, you know, they get a good couple of days off before and get a couple of days off after to deal with the jet lag. And, you know, not the worst job in the world. I get, I get what you're saying though. It is tough to throw into the middle of the schedule as you're coming up on the break here. Guys, you lay down on the plane. You fly overnight. So there's your eight hours of sleep. When you land, it's a beautiful day in Paris. What are we talking about? I could be there by tonight. You guys just let me know. Well, I'm mad that the San Antonio Spurs didn't get to do this trip. That's probably the only thing I hate about this. So Michelle, Michelle's got to be out there. It's going to, it would be, it would be dangerous for Michelle on the streets in Paris. Yeah, I need no excuse. No, and there's a chance to have brunch with Tony Parker. I already saw the NBA tweet that out. So there you go. Moving on to the, what looks like the third time MVP, Nikola Jokic, game winning three against the Magic. Time expiring. Also had his seventh career triple double last night. Magic head coach Mosley said after the game an MVP type player makes the MVP type play. That's what it came down to at home. This conversation will go on until the awards are handed out. But Chandler is Jokic starting to really distance himself in this thing. I think so. And I think this season it's so close because every night, every week, one of these MVP finalist guys has an explosive night. Has a crazy night where it makes this thing. Maybe, you know, maybe he's in the lead now. Maybe he's, you know, you know, so it kind of keeps going back and forth. But when you watch Jokic last night, the guy took 11 shots. He went eight for 11. He's so efficient. The way he plays, we really have never seen a big play like this where you can initiate the offense through him. He hits the rebound. He takes it coast to coast. He's the guy shooting 62% from the field because he doesn't take bad shots. He doesn't force. His vision is unbelievable. At the beginning of the season, I was finding every excuse to be like, no way I can give this guy a third MVP. Someone else give it to a Luca. Give it to a Tayden. He's having a great year on the best team. I can't. This guy is unbelievable. He's averaging 25. He's averaging a triple double. They're the best team in the Western Conference. And he makes everybody around him so much better. It's not just one of these guys with Gotti Stast is putting up 40, 50. This guy is making his team better. He's making his team the best team in the Western Conference, pretty much for the majority of the season. And it's so impressive what he's doing. So yeah, I think it's him. And I think it's truly remarkable that he could possibly win three in a row. That is unheard of. Look at that. Yeah, I think he's running away with it. I mean, I've been calling the MVP a narrative award for some time and the narrative is building. And the only narrative block he had was voter fatigue. And now the voters are fighting back at voter fatigue. They're saying, yo, that's not a real thing. That shouldn't exist. This is in a vacuum. Doesn't matter. Like suddenly we've shifted the narratives. Last year, the narrative was like, yo, they would have never been in the sixth seed if he wasn't there. And he wins the MVP. This year it's, well, he's the one seed and he has the best stats. So now he's the MVP. I'm not trying to diminish what he's doing. He's playing incredibly well. But if you just look at the way people vote and the things that they weigh when they do that, Luca is seven games back in the standing. So if you had him as close, that's a big enough gap. Jason Tatum, we're already kind of writing him off as a competitor here for the award. Kevin just went down for two, three, maybe four weeks. And so who is left? Giannis, they're slipping in there up and down all season long. The MVP is his to lose at this point, halfway through the season. And it's kind of like the coronation of Yolkets right now. And like all the things Chandler said, he's averaging a triple double. He's got the best record in the West. He's looking incredible night in, night out. And so I get it. I can hear the noise. I can see the noise. I can see the narrative already building up. If he remains healthy, that award is his. Let's talk about the other awards and the combo is already over as far as I'm concerned. Wow. How about how stoic? How about how stoic he was? Like he hits that. It's a crazy shot game winner. And he's just has no reaction at all. I love, I love the fact that Nicola Yolkic is going to just be him unabashed. And so shout out to Nicola Yolkic for that. But I think if this team is a number one seed in the West, it's hard not to look at him as the MVP for sure. And I know if you're Nicola Yolkic and the Denver Nuggets, the expectations that they've set on themselves is trying to win a championship. So they've been to the conference hours before if they get the number one seed, individual accolades are cool. But I know what this team is going to be going for, what Calvin Booth is going to be aiming for is try to get this team to a championship. And so those are going to be the expectations, especially if they get the number one seed. But it's going to be tough to deny Nicola Yolkic of an MVP if they're the number one seed in the West. By the way, the Nuggets have been doing a good job of putting out content. There's a pop culture contest between he and Jamal Murray that just shows his person. I mean, his personality, it's something. It's funny to watch and it's adorable. And that's all I have to say because it sounds creepy after that. Taking a quick break right here, but we've got the latest on my favorite thing in the whole wide world, the slam dunk contest. And the latest edition of that man has a family when we return. Welcome back. This is a run it back. And the slam dunk contest is taking shape slowly, but surely shams wow us with the latest. So this is a little bit of history. There's a guard by the name of Mack McClung on the Philadelphia 76ers G League team, the Delaware Blue Coats. He's accepted an invitation to be in the dunk contest, not the G League dunk contest, the NBA dunk contest. From what I'm told, and he becomes the first outright G League player ever to be in the NBA dunk contest. He's accepted this invite. So this is a bit of history. He's known as like this internet phenom. He's definitely a phenomenal athlete at six foot two, but he's a guy that gets a lot of traction on the internet, on social media for his dunks. So he'll join Shaden Sharp with Portland, KJ Martin of Houston. So he'll be the third participant so far committed. Look for a fourth participant to round out this list. The league is looking at OB Toppin really strongly. The guy, he won last year's dunk contest and he was in it the year before as well. So it could be a third straight year for OB Toppin. But yes, Mack McClung, a little bit of history here. When you say the league is looking at OB Toppin, have they just all been given up on the superstars? I mean, should we just give up on superstars being in this? Is that the deal? Tell me now. I mean, we haven't seen a history of that. I mean, I guess Zach Levine, Aaron Gordon were like the last two starter caliber players to be in it at a high level. I mean, OB Toppin did it last year. Diamond Mitchell did it a few years ago. So, I mean, it's just tough when guys reach a certain level, right? Like a John Moran. I think everyone's clamoring for John Moran to be in it. But once a guy reaches a certain level of stature, it's like they just don't want to do it, I guess. Chandler, your reaction to the news of Mack McClung. Eddie, if you don't stop laughing right now, I swear we'll come through the screen. It's a cool thing what they're doing, whether giving these guys that aren't household names, that now have an opportunity on national TV, on a huge stage to perform. And it's, Tom's just introduced Mack McClung. A lot of people don't know who that is. I don't know if that's the guy that you want for a dunk contest. But this is a kid who I've heard of just from the internet. He's like a millennial, Gen Z viral dunker. And I knew about him from Instagram and Twitter before he even went and played college basketball and went to Georgetown. I had heard about him, but I think there's a G-League dunk contest as well, correct? Sounds like it, yeah. There has been years past, but I think they stopped it in the last few years. So I don't know if it's still around, but it was for sure at one point. That's the last first thought when I heard the news. I'm like, it's got to be the G-League dunk contest. There's no way it's the American dunk contest. Yeah, I think it's cool. It gives these guys in the G-League, you know, hope to be able to do this. And I think with his viral kind of reputation, I think that's the reason this kid particularly is in. But again, I think the dunk contest is kind of, it's getting watered down now. And guys want to see stars. Guys want to see household damage. But like Shyam said, all-star weekend is kind of a weekend to kind of chill, to party, to make a lot of money and doing events and appearances. A lot of big games aren't going to participate anymore. So it'll be interesting to see. I hope he does really well. I hope it's exciting. But I just don't know. I don't like the idea of not knowing who these kids are in a dunk contest. Yeah, look, I like Mac. I remember his Instagram saves. It's cool to see a short white dude dunking. Like, I get it. I get the whole appeal. It was fun when he went to Georgetown. He's not an NBA player. He's had an NBA chance. He's not an NBA player. I'm not exactly sure why he's in the NBA dunk contest. If you're going to do this, go get some of those viral dunkers. Go get Guy Dupuy. Go get the guy who does the 720 or between the legs. Go get those guys. Just do a dunk showcase, if that's what you're going to do. This is a little strange to me. I get it. Mac probably put on a great show. And it's kind of funny that in the highlight reel, it's just a bunch of like simple two-handed dunks and not much splash to it. Anyway, go get Jericho Sims. He's touching the rim with his shoulder so we see that he can jump this high. Go get him. Go get guys. I promise there's four guys in this league and they might not be starters. They might not be great players, but they want to do the dunk contest. Get four guys that want to do it. And hopefully he can put on a show. But yeah, isn't Obie Topping hurt? Like, I'm confused about this whole thing. I'm so confused. And not only that, but if these NBA guys lose to a G-League dude, that just changes this entire thing forever. You know what? I stick to my original idea. Go get Dominique Wilkins. Go get Brent Barry. Go get the old guys. I will watch them dunk. Get Vince. Vince, I know for a fact Vince could still dunk. I just saw him like two weeks ago. He looks fine because that I would rather watch. So Mack McClung wins the dunk contest here. Next year, they're just going to let the most athletic G-League guys participate. Like it's not NBA players. Or we just call it a showcase. Like Eddie said, we call it a show. Or like maybe you buy a TV at Best Buy and you get to enter the dunk contest. Like we're just going to let anybody in off the streets to be in the NBA dunk contest. I'll start a weekend dunk contest, because it's not the NBA dunk contest. We're just letting anybody do it. I can't wait. Just put the trampolines out and bring celebrities. Like let Meek Mill do a flip at a dunk. Just do that. Slam ball. I'm in. Slam ball dunk contest. Don't want to see that. Let's make it happen. Nobody wants to see this. Shops. What's it do with this? All right, I don't want to get tricked. Mack stuff pops off on social media though. Like his thing, like if the league is going for that Gen Z audience and millions of viewers on social media, like that's not a bad guy. He's, I mean, he might get more views than anyone else in the dunk. I mean, I hope he kills me. I really do. I hope he kills me. Vince Carter dunking will get more views than Mack McClung. Period. Fact science. See, that I agree with. That I agree with. I think they got a petition that. Make it happen. I think Michelle, you're onto something. Let's get this out. All right, fine. There's some, you know, real basketball news to talk about. Lakers working out both Myers Leonard and Boogie Cousin Shoms. Any shot in the world that either one of these guys gets to play? I think the Lakers are looking at which guy they want to sign, how imminent they want to do it. If AD really is on his way back here in the next few weeks, do they even really need a big, maybe you sign a big to buy time? But both those guys worked out. Darvin Ham said they look great. Myers Leonard, of course, has not played since January, March of 2021. He had the anti-semitic slur on TV. He had shoulder and ankle surgeries as well that derailed him. He was literally unable to step foot on a court and be cleared for workouts until this past week. So he's back on the trail. DeMarcus Cousins had been working out in Vegas from what I'm told. Teams have been looking into him. He does appear in great shape. But this is his first formal workout. We'll see if either gets signed. They do have an open roster spot as of today. Sterling Brown, who signed a 10-day, is no longer on his 10-day contract. So we'll see who they sign. I'm curious. Chandler has played against both of these guys, knows, I'm sure, both these guys. Who do you think is the best fit for this team? I mean, I like shooting. And a Myers Leonard can shoot the ball. He can space the floor. He can defend. I haven't seen any of them, and, you know, quite sometimes. I don't know the shape that they're in. But yeah, I think the Lakers could use a lot of help, especially with AD out. I don't know if it would be for the rest of the season. But why not throw a big body out there of that? I'd like to put a good positive locker room guy there. So, you know, it's, you know, one of them, I think, could help. And they're both talented. They both, they both actually, Boogie can shoot the ball too now. But are any of these guys putting them over the top? I don't think so. But yeah, I think both these guys can still play in the NBA and help. You know what? I like that workout. I'm curious, are either of these guys even going to play over Wayne and Gabriel? You know, this is a guy that they've been closing games with because he's a little more mobile, he's a big and he actually can pop out into three from time to time. You know, I'm very curious why they feel like they need a big and they're working bigs out when Anthony Davis should be returning imminently. And Thomas Bryan and Wayne Gabriel have been playing well for them over the last month or so. So it's just, you know, we're like all things in the Lakers, just curious team building. But I guess they feel they need a big guy who kind of shoot. I like that. It's curious team building, as we say about the Lakers this year. Shoms, thank you as always. We shall see you bright and early manjana. But guys, we have to do a little, that man has a family and it's sort of a tease to all of us because it's the all dunk edition. What could have been? Oh my sweet, sweet, no. This was one of the nastiest bodies I've seen in a really long time. It's so good, it's so good. I did like a real facepalm when I see it. I couldn't, if Jog gets to jump off two feet, just move. Right, don't bother. I love that he leans into it too. He tweets about it and he says, you know, if you want to go viral, come jump in. By the way, that's a great tweet that he had. I also, and when I look at this, I just think of poor strength. His core strength is stupid. Even like the move to like kind of split this little pick and roll right here, is everything about this play is insane. It's the whole team. The stat that he has now dunked on every team is like one of the most weirdly impressive stats I've ever heard for a guard at that height, you know, even though he jumps that well. That's insane. This is why we need guys like him in the dunk contest to see more of this. No defense. Right. I know with no defense. Let me watch him shine. Yeah, that's a 45 for me. It's going to be weird. It's going to be weird. How about Lil Nas read on Mr. Jared Allen? No. Wait, is that on Jared Allen? I don't, it's on anybody. Oh, here it goes. Oh, this one. That's, oh, these are all like that's not. I have mobibles. Okay. That's a lot. All right. These are a lot of dunks. Well, there's Jared Allen. So there he is. That's a nice in and out. That's a nice in and out. A collection of bangers. That's fine. Please. Nas read on a real team. Kawhi's playing you guys. Kawhi's playing. Bram, bram, bram. Why? I love to see Kawhi doing this. Me too. Kawhi is a great resume just dunking on God's head. No flash to it. Just I'm going to jump higher than you. I'm going to bounce that ball off your head. I mean, you think Yolkich doesn't show emotion. Good Lord. This is a robot all the way. I love it. I like it. Kawhi is my, my guy. I like it. Moments later, by the way, same victim. This, this almost seems like we're piling on Zeke at this point. But John Wall, why let this man live? Oh, that's right. Put left hands is what he does. This kid is just getting body left and right this game. All right. Poor guy. He must have gone home and had a real come to Jesus moment in the mirror. Which is what he puts down. Two legends to send you home in the same night. Poor guy. But I, I appreciate it. I should see John Wall do that as well, though. Yeah, I agree with that. All right. Last but not least, Mr. Julius Arundel. Oh my. Oh, he left that man down. Help him. I love the Daniel Gafford tries. Kevin dropped him earlier this year. He had his own crazy dunk off the hoop. And then, you know, it just comes back. The pendulum swings. That's disgusting though, Julius. That's just me. That's a big guy to get dunked on by. Yeah, right? No, no wonder. Is that guy okay? He's Daniel Gafford. Okay. I'm just checking on him. I told you, I told you this before. Stay down. Stay down. It's tough though as a big guy, because you are getting ripped in film tomorrow if you don't try and block attempts like this. Right. And so you get a bow right to the face. But I feel like you're getting made fun of either way. So I'd rather just not try. You hear that, kids? It's better not to try than to be mocked. Okay. We're going to take a quick break. Coming up next, a little you buying that is James Harden, a lock hall of fame. And how about a little Lori Markinon? Are we locking him up for the All-Star Game? Welcome back. We're going to do a little you buying that with Start Things Off with James Harden. Recorded his 100th 30.10 assist game on Saturday. So Chandler, I ask you, are you buying that he is a lock hall of fame guy? Yes. He's a lock 1000%. I think he's the only player to ever win six May of the year, a scoring title and MVP. Pretty much the only thing he's missing is an NBA championship, which he has a pretty good chance this year to get. Obviously there's holes in his game defensively. And like I said, he's never won a championship, but the things that this dude has done offensively, the way he scored the ball, he's one of the best scores of all time. His career numbers are great. He's played on the USA team. His resume speaks for itself. Obviously I think a championship is the icing on the cake for this guy, but there is no doubt about it. He is generational talent. He is incredible. And he is a lock for the Hall of Fame. A lock Eddie. Yeah. No, absolutely. I know James is a little bit of a punch line, you know, when we see his belly and pitchers and he flops and all this stuff. But it's really easy to forget how great a career he's had. Three times scoring champ. He did that back to back to back years, scored 36 a game one season. He's phenomenal. He made the 75th anniversary team. He's made all NBA seven times, 10 times all the time. He's it doesn't matter the class he goes in. I don't care of him, Kevin and Steph all retire in the same season. He's the first ball of the Hall of Fame. He's a lock. There's no debate about it for me. That'd be a fun night if they all go at the same time. That'd be great, actually. Moving on to Lori Markinon, who's getting so much shine this season, averaging 30 a game, nine rebounds in January. Are you buying him as a lock Eddie for the All Star weekend? Yeah, I think he'll get it as a reserve, even if he gets some hometown love there. And I think he deserves it. 24 points a game this season, eight rebounds. He's kind of taking that step that, you know, everybody who had stock in him early on was hoping he would take it. Yeah, that wings body. It'll be a fun time for him to play a couple minutes in that game and he deserves it. He's been great all season long. Yeah, I agree. I think being in Salt Lake helps a lot. I think his numbers are great. You know, he's really blossom and flourishing and having a great year this season with the injuries in the Western Conference. I think he's a for sure lock. He's not going to start. He's not going to play much in the game. But yeah, I think the hometown kid and the season he's having, he deserves to be in that game. Well, I can't help but hear a lot of caveats on why he will make it and why he's going to be a lock. So I give you this over under 1.5 all-star appearances for Laurie Markinen. Eddie first. Oh, man. I'll say over because he's going to get one this year and has a lot of time to get another one after that. But that's a nice little bed. Fandal, is that on the books? I might want to get in on that. It can be. Chandler, you didn't sound so sure. I'm not because I don't think they're going to be good for a while. I don't think they're supposed to be good this year. And this kid's kind of come out of nowhere and had a hell of a year. But considering he's going to get in this year and he's young, yeah, I'd probably take that over because he's got a solid eight to 10 years to make another one. But that's tough. This could be lightning in a bottle. This could be for him. We will find out. Time to take a quick break. The good news and the bad news is either way, we've got our parlay when we come back. Take it as you want. Sometimes they're all far. Football fans, when you bet NFL same game parlays on the Fandal Sports Book from now through January 16th, hey, it's tonight. You can get up to $100 in free bets. Win or lose. All you have to do is place a total of $20 or more on the NFL same game parlay bets during the wild card round. The more you bet, the more you'll get back in free bets. Make every moment more with Fandal, official Sports Book partner of the NFL. So as we'd like to end each show with a three leg parlay, we did exactly that on Wednesday. And we'd like to just pretend like we didn't because it was hot, stinky garbage, guys. All three of us just pooped the bed. I mean, ethically, quite frankly, it's not even close. Why would we even show this? This is so long. I don't know. I mean, Eddie was the closest in fairness. You and I, we lost by like double digits, Chandler. That was gross. That's good news, though. Throw it away. We're starting over today. Eddie, you could just please kick us off on this fine, beautiful MLK Monday with some good news. Please go. Yeah, the good news is Beedle finally missed on a pick. So she's joined the group officially. And I like that. Team's the worst. I'm doubling down with the Pacers. I'm taking the points tonight against the Bucks. I know they've lost three straight. I know that they have not looked great. I know they lost the Barley for me last week. But fool me twice. Let's see it happen. There's too many points. It's too enticing. That's a lot of points. I like that one. Yeah. All right, Chandler. I like the heat. I like, I think the heat are honestly a better team. I think they're playing better right now. I think they're kind of hitting their stride. They're figuring out, they're getting healthy. I think the heat will win this game easily, which is scary. Which is pretty scary because I'm not the most accurate picker. Do you know what I love imagining is some serious betting people just stumbling upon our faces on the television, listening to us make these picks. And we're just like, I don't know, try this one. But I'm going to try. I'm going to try again. I'm going to do Pelicans. I believe in this Pelican squad plus six and a half at Cleveland. I mean, I like that one too. All right. I feel like it's going to be a great game regardless. It's probably what I'm going to watch because that football game has two evil forces in it and I can't deal with it. Bet $20. Win a hundred and, well, 16 really. Guys, last chance to make any changes. We feeling it? Oh, I love them all. Let's ride. I don't know if Brandon Ingram is back. I don't think he is. So when we lose, I'll blame Beetle. But I like them. I like the other ones. That's not the point. I know he's not. Is Jose Alvarado playing? Oh, hello, Marguerite. My God. Oh, that's a great win. And every single show that face is ridiculous. That's going to do it for us. But as always, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 10 Eastern a.m. See you in Mugna.