 Good morning and welcome to run it back. This is a fact. Run it back. My name is Michelle Beato coming to you from my dorm room. It looks like a shams in Chicago, Chandler in LA, Lewin Atlanta. We are probably the only show covering only the NBA. That is this nationally based. And by the way, shams, um, what's the deal with the NFL stuff last night? You know, you're stepping on toes when you break NFL news. You're not allowed to do that. Yeah. I'm not trying to piss anyone off. I was just anxious for run it back, uh, on a Wednesday. You know, I was just, I was just feeling really anxious for the show. So I just, I mean, Are you bored? I feel like you get one night off. You get election night off and you're like, no, I can't handle it. I need to be going into this. Well, Chandler hit me with Cowboys news because he runs Dallas. And so I had to, I had to do it. There it is. Out of my source. And Chandler, whoever did your hair today, they did your hair today. You know what? I had a little time to not even shower this morning. I just woke up with a great hair day, Michelle. It's just how the cookies come. There's the behind the scenes secrets of television. All right. We did not have that. I shower daily. So we go ahead and get started on the games. What we do have tonight and we do have a full slate as you can only imagine. And thank goodness because it gives us our first Dylan Brooks sound. Roll it. Ready to lock them up. Shootin the ball. Well, I've been playing well. So I'm just there to make them tired, make them get into that, you know, fourth quarter early. Fourth quarter early part. I this look. I've literally never heard of that before. Yeah. Okay. Lou, we're starting with you because you're shaking your head more than anybody. Well, I don't, what does that mean? I have no clue. He made that up. I've never, I've never heard that terminology in a basketball game. Make a, make the fourth quarter come early. I don't, I don't know. Dylan got to relax sometimes. He just got to relax. Wait. So nobody here is buying that he's about to lock up Lambron. You know what? I kind of like this one, if I'm him, because if he does, he looks brilliant. He looks like he actually, he followed through, but no one expects him to. So it's like, if he goes and gives him 30, 40, it's like, all right, whatever, he's supposed to do that. Anyways, this is actually, I don't know if this is plan, if it's a plan, click, click bait, um, but he thought, what are we doing? This is just, at least he's giving us something to talk about. But it's not, yeah, I wouldn't really poke that bear. I think Dylan's the only one involved in his rivalry. I don't know if, um, LeBron woke up in Houston this morning and excited for this game. I think this is business as usual for LBJ. And I think it's circled on Dylan's, Dylan's calendar, man. I don't know if Bron even realized that this is a thing. Well, okay. So you guys know I, he may not back it up. He may sound ridiculous. He may get on people's nerves, but I do appreciate that the dude stays on brand. He's consistent with the weird smack talk. It does not seem to work for him necessarily, but has there ever been a case where calling out the star player on the other team is a good idea? Chandler? I mean, no, but again, it's November 8th. It's a Wednesday. Like, do you think LeBron James cares about this game against the Houston Rockets? Like, no, this is, like, Lou hit it on the head. This is something that's going to get him maybe going. This is going to get his teammates riled up. It's going to get the crowd more involved. It's going to get the media talking about it. Sure. That's a smart play. If that's what you're looking for. But we're talking about the greatest basketball player of all time. I don't think he cares about Dylan Brooks calling him out. All right. So that being said, since we like to guess things here and prognosticate, how many points is LeBron dropping tonight, Lou? Under, over, over, under 25 and a half. I got him over 25 and a half. Shum's had been told me what the AD is planning that tonight. So I know LeBron is going to, he's going to spearhead this, this team good road game for them. I don't know if the Dylan Brooks thing is part of this. I just know he's going to go out and be a pro. I give him 25. Yeah, I'm going, I'm going with the over. I think this is a team that is going to be shorthanded if AD doesn't play without Dylan Brooks saying this or with Dylan Brooks saying this, I think LeBron goes over tonight because they need this win and then they need to get going. Yeah, no matter what, no matter what Dylan Brooks does or says it's happening. Shum's, you're here in the AD. We had the growing spasms, your words. What's the latest on Anthony Davis? Yeah, they had a travel yesterday. He underwent testing. The plan for right now is for Anthony Davis to play tonight. I'm told. And so he's going to go out there and we'll see just how mobile he's going to be, how agile he's going to be. But down the stretch of that game in Miami, he just didn't have the mobility that you need from Anthony Davis. I mean, you look at overall this season, having 24 points a game, 12 rebounds, 44% three-point shooting. Like he's had a stellar year. Sometimes it gets lost in everything that's going on in Lakersland. But I think for Anthony Davis, he needs to be mobile. He needs to be agile. And so right now, he said after the game in Miami, I'm definitely going to play. And so the plan is for him to be out there and play tonight. Do you ever have a growing spasm, Lou? Can't recall the time I have. I mean, I assume it isn't as severe as a strain. If it's a growing strain, he's missing time. So again, you guys, what is the spasm? I mean, when you have a growing spasm, I mean, yeah, a back spasm or muscle spasm. Yeah, I'm not sure about a growing spasm. I think they might have made that one up for, that's the 80s special right there. Chandler, you're a jackass. I'm honestly curious. I just never have heard that term on an injury report. Interesting. Well, if you guys have never heard of it, then I'm, then certainly listen, we're learning a lot today, a growing spasm. And we got fourth quarters coming early. And it's only Wednesday. Oh, look at us getting good. All right, we also get Celtic 76. We got some fun ones. This is a good one. Boston and Philly, I think will be fun. We all know that Tyrese Maxie has been allowed to shine. He's been set free with the removal of one James Harden. He's averaging 25, 7 and 4. So, you know, Max Deal next summer, Shoms, how likely is that? No, it's very much trending toward Tyrese Maxie being a maximum contract player. And when you look at everything that's gone on this year, how he's performing like you said, Michelle, 26 points per game last year, he was at 20. And he's averaging 50, 40, 90 in terms of field, 0% 3 point percentage and free throw percentage. He's gone from three and half assists to well over seven assists. He's gone from two rebounds a game to almost five rebounds a game. And so, Philadelphia keeps the top seed. Yes, Joel Embiid is going to be an all-star, but you can very much make a case that Tyrese Maxie will be there as well. And so, let's rewind right before free agency starts. The 76ers let Tyrese Maxie and his camp know that we will not be extending you. We're not going to be offering you any extension, any max. They decided to bypass an extension. And so, Tyrese Maxie had to huddle with his camp, huddle with his agent Rich Paul. And they needed to figure out how he was going to move forward. And I think the best course, everyone knew this season was going to have a level of chaos. We know what happened with the James Harden, opt in, and then eventually he was traded. So, there was going to be some drama going into the year. So, what Tyrese Maxie did is he locked in on the season. And I think he understood that there was going to be a level of distraction. So, how about I should just shine through that distraction? And he's been really a saving grace for them so far. And he's just focused on himself. And I do think Philly needs more. And we'll see as this year goes on. They have three first round picks to play with. They have contracts to play with to get better. They still probably need one more star to compete with Boston or Milwaukee. But Tyrese Maxie has been an absolute star so far. That's such a good, healthy attitude to have instead of sort of just shutting down mentally. You know what? I don't want to push you because God knows I want you to live in the present, Shams, more than anyone. But is it likely that Philly is going to try to add at least one more piece at some point? No, that's accurate. They will look to add one more piece. And I think as we get closer to trade deadline, we're going to see which star players. There's always stars that become available as year goes on. For Philadelphia, the question is going to be, is there a player that emerges out in the marketplace that you want to trade two, three first round picks for? Do you want to trade two, three, four contracts for? That's going to be the dilemma. Or do you just roll it over into the summer? Say you have enough with Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxie. And this is the crew we're going to roll with. And so that's the, the, the give or take that Daryl Mori and the Sixers are going to have to deal with for the rest of this season and then going into the summer. Well, you know what? Sixers are our six and one. The only loss was opening night against Milwaukee. We've talked about Tyrese Maxie. Joel Embiid looks amazing. Chandler, you know the question I'm about to ask you is coming. Is this team better without James Harden? I think they're better just by eliminating that whole distraction. There's no longer this, this black cloud over their head of, when is it going to happen? Is it going to happen? Who's going to be moved? Now it's like he's been moved. He now, we have our team moving forward. And this is giving great opportunity to guys like Kelly McBride, guys like Tyrese Maxie, Tobias Harris, they now get this opportunity that they simply weren't getting without James Harden. And that's not a knock on James as a player. He clearly just fit somewhat well with him to be able to help Joel Embiid get his MVP. We know how good of a talent James Harden is, but sometimes in that locker room, when there's a story every single day, especially of this magnitude, it's frustrating and it's just a distraction. It's taking away from the team doing what the team needs to be doing. And so I do think they're better. And look at their six and one Tyrese Maxie's have an absolute blow up year. He's on track to get a huge contract, most improved player. He's doing everything he can and Darryl Morrie, he's never done. So I agree with Shams. He's going to keep adding pieces till he thinks he has a championship team. So, so yeah, I think, I think they're better just by subtraction of getting that move done, not because James Harden's not there anymore. What a very diplomatic answer. Well done, Chandler. Well done. Celtics also sitting at six and one, Lou. And we know, you know, Jason Tatum, you guys have him, you have him as your MVP. The duo is great. The starting lineups are solid. But the depth situation, is that going to end up causing big problems for Boston? We got to go through the season to see. So far as being well, they're playing six and one basketball. They've always been a top heavy team to me. I don't recall a time when they've had a very deep bench and a lot of guys that they can go to off the bench to give them scoring. They've always been a team to really rely on their star power to get them over the hump and to get them through those deep playoff runs. And it's worked thus far. And so I would like to see them get more production out of Pritchard. He's a guy that's been in that system that's getting the opportunity to play some games now and play some, play some meaningful minutes. I would like to see him step up. You know, obviously Al Horford is going to be one of those guys that's going to be in and out of the line up for this group. But again, like I said, they've always been top heavy. They've never really had a deep bench that we can really even rely on to begin with. And so I think they keep pushing for how they are. Well, last several years, these two teams have had some pretty good battles, guys. Let's see our visions and vibes. What are we predicting for tonight, Chandler? I like Philly. I like Philly at home. I think it's going to be a great environment. I think this is the first statement game with post James Harden era that we're for real. And they can put people on those tonight. And when you look at the matchups, I don't know who they're going to send a lot of double teams at Joel, but besides Horford, Przingus, maybe they go to Luke Cornette to get some size on Joel. But there's going to be a lot of open shots for those other guys in Philly tonight because Boston has nothing for Joel and B. Yeah, I like the Celtics in this one. Good bounce back when it was a hard fall loss the other night in Minnesota. And like mentioned before, this has been a great rivalry between these two teams. And this is going to be a great game to kind of see who's who going into the Eastern Conference playoffs. And so I like Celtics to respond to that loss and get back on track. I just got to piggyback off what Chandler said, like Joel and Bita, I think we're also down playing how dominant he's been this year. I mean, he's averaging 33 points a game. But then even more than that, six and a half assists a night so far this year, you can see kind of without James Harden, the low that Joel and Bita has had to have passing, scoring, assisting, playmaking, like doing everything on the floor. So I think for Joel and Bita, the fact that he's been able to up his game, I mean, Nikola Jokic is the king of the triple double as far as big man. But Joel and Bita, his line right now is pretty crazy. I love the beginning of the season. Everyone's great. We got two games out here in New York area. Clippers Nets, we're going to talk that one first. And Shams, we know Terrence Mann hasn't played yet. We know he was untouchable during all the trade talks, all off season is listed as questionable. Is there a shot that we see him tonight? Yeah. I mean, today might be the day of returns. The plan for right now is Terrence Mann will be debuting. He's going to be under a ministry restriction, most likely, I'm told, with that ankle. And so this is a guy that was expected to be the starter before the Clippers went out and got James Harden. He's the guy that can play three and D-roll. He can slash. He can do multiple different things. Tai Lu likes him in that lineup. And so the question is going to be for the Clippers as he gets reintegrated. Does he fit better with the starters with James Harden? Does he keep with the sixth man role? I mean, Lou Will, you were one of his vets. You know him better than all of us. Like, where do you see his fit best stat moving forward for the Clippers? How big is he as far as his return? Yeah, I think T-Man is going to get those guys. He's going to give him a glue guy. You know, T-Man, he's going to rebound. He's going to play defense, play with a lot of energy, going to play up and down, give them more of an up-tempo pace that they're going to need in order for this team to be successful. I thought what we saw the other night with the four superstars in Zubeck. I hate that that sounds like that, but it is what it is. The four superstars in Zubeck, I think they were kind of playing slow, kind of playing like the feet were in the mud a little bit, trying to figure everything out. And so with T-Man and Lina, he's going to be the guy that knows how to play off the ball. He's going to eat off the land. He's going to do all the dirty work, get off and some rebounds. And I think he gives them that look to get them through some of these days where that ball kind of gets stagnant with those guys. You know what's interesting to me about Tarras, man? I love his game, too. Everything Lou just described, I'm sorry, I have a cough drop in my mouth. It's a role-player. Usually role-players aren't untouchable. So they clearly value him super high more than what we see or more than the fancies because Tarras man is that guy that does a little bit of everything. He's versatile. He can play point guard, he can get out of transition, but he's not one of their top four players yet. Somehow he was untouchable. So they clearly have high, high standard for him and see a lot more potential than the average eye does, which is great for him. But he, to me, on this roster, every team needs a Tarras man. So there is a high value there, obviously. I thought it was hella flattering. I don't know if you guys at your level get flattered, but I was like, man, that's nice to hear that you're untouchable in this trade. Yeah, I was happy to see that they stuck, I was happy to see that they stuck by him because this is a kid that I've watched grow into the player that he's become. And now he's such a valuable piece. When I played with him, he was a valuable guy. I knew I can count on him to go out there and do all of the dirty work. Well, I scored all of all the bad skits. And he was one of those guys that gave Pat there an opportunity to breathe on defense because he would take on assignments when Pat would get tired and they would flip fly back and forth. And so I enjoy watching the maturation of Tarras man. And so I hope tonight he comes back plays well and gives them that that spark that they need. So whether he plays or not, I mean, we've seen now one game, got one game of film to look at from the other night. Lou, if you're Ty Lou, what are you, what adjustments are you making? Are you just letting this thing play out again and see what you have? What happens tonight? If I would like to see T Lou just make adjustments on the offensive end and put those guys in a position to be more free flowing, get that ball moving from side to side where it makes sense where why they're playing together. If you're going to have three or four guys out there just taking turns ice on, I don't think it's going to work that way. I think you need to put them in a system where the ball is moving, guys are cutting, we're posting up, we're splitting off of the post-ups. We're playing a more open style of play where everybody is touching the ball and you're playing with more more speed and using your athleticism to your advantage opposed to just slowing it down, slowing it down, taking turns on who was going to shoot the basketball. I would like to see that. But I also know T Lou as a coach, he really believes in his abilities as a coach and the things that he's put into position as far as his system goes. So I don't see him making huge adjustments tonight. I see him making some small things done, but I think they still stick to the game plan and play how they've been playing. The other night, the big thing was, I mean, we had so many eyes on James Harden that Paul George started to slip down the radar, but he only had 10 points against the Knicks channeler. I don't know, other than get the ball more, shoot the ball more, make that. What do you do? How do you make sure that Paul George is a big part of whatever happens tonight? Yeah, you got to get him going. And I think you get the ball in his hands early, whether there's going to be a mismatch somewhere on the floor, whether you're Camp Thomas, whoever these other guys, whoever Mikhail Burgess is not guarding, that guy needs to get the ball. And I saw those guys need to get the ball in transition. Those guys can really look to be aggressive. And I said the other night, the Knicks game was the first date. The magic happens on the second date. So I looked for them to be a lot more comfortable tonight. I like for the offense to be clicking. I don't think it's going to be so unselfish and so sharing and passive of the ball. I think these guys are going to come out aggressive. I think they're going to pick and choose their spots. And again, I feel like they were just getting their toes wet against the Knicks the other night. Now it's time to get going. They're three and three. You don't want to be below 500 ever. I just, yeah, second date magic. Okay. I'm trying to keep everything positive, but we got to talk Ben Simmons here for a second. Chandler, you said that the days of Ben Simmons being an all-star long gone. Now he's scored 10 or fewer points in five of his six games. And it was not that long ago in Philly. He was averaging just under 16 as a net, just under seven. Can you recall a falloff as drastic as what we've seen with Ben Simmons? It's such a mean question. It's what? Oh, really? You're the one that set up the foundation for it. So you're welcome. Listen, there's been guys that have been hurt that sure that have been falling off. I know one very well because I'm looking at it right now on the screen that their game just wasn't the same. But I don't know about the fall from grace like this, where you had a guy who not much change, right? It's not like he had a crazy knee injury or leg injury. And he just stopped doing what he could do very, very well. Like when I look at Ben Simmons, he's still this 6'10", very physical, athletic, can still get the ball out on the break. He still has good vision. So no, in that aspect, I haven't seen it because, again, he hasn't torn his Achilles. He hasn't had one of these dramatic injuries that have set him so far. Well, he had the back thing. He had the back thing. Was that he had like a back surgery? I believe he had surgery on his back. It was like a lingering thing too. I like we weren't sure when he was coming back or yeah, I don't remember the exact injury. But listen, guys get hurt and that's part of it. He went through a whole bunch of mental struggles. That's part of it. And to me, it's again, it is a drop off because he still can be valuable. He still can be a 10 and 8 and 7 guy. What I'm saying is he's not going to be an ulcer anymore. That's not a disc, but he just went from a high level to what he is now. It's just fine. He can still be a contributor on a team, which he is now. He still can play off these other guys on Brooklyn, but it's just confusing to me on this one because he still has the tools. He's still young enough and he just hasn't been able to bounce back from whatever the issues were. Yeah, I think that window of him being an all stars past and I think that's been cemented. I think mentally he just doesn't really want to be that person and it shows in the type of play that he has or I'll be there was African and I say, maybe this is who he always was. Maybe he was just a facilitator and he was a defensive type of guy and that's that was his calling card and he just had a lot of success early on and we put a lot of expectation on him. Maybe he's settling into the player that he actually has always been. I mean, couldn't that still work? You have bridges. You have Thomas. I mean, if if if in fact, Ben Simmons is not the offensive juggernaut that perhaps we thought he was, he still has a very significant role right as a facilitator with Chandler smirking. Maybe I'm wrong. Why are you smirking? I don't say I don't think he was ever offensively. He was never. We built him up as such a, I mean, I remember thinking, my goodness, I've never even seen this. Like what is this kid about to do? And then everything after that was drama. And I've known him from the high school days at Montverde to his freshman year at LSU. He was electric. He was kind of Zion like where he was just athletic and long and could get to the basket. He still has that same body. That's where I'm confused where that's where I'm confused. He never was this shoot, step back, come off a pick and roll, hit a 35 foot three. That was never his game. So I don't expect him to do that now. But yeah, I expect him to still be able to get to the free throw line, get out and transition, get easy buckets. When you look at their team between Bridges, Thomas, Spencer Dinwitty, Lonnie Walker, Cam Johnson, they don't need him to score. He's that's not that's definitely not his game. And we got to give the league some credit. The scout reports sit in. Everybody just backed up 15 feet away from the guy and dared him to shoot the basketball. You know, how do you play basketball at a high level when people are literally guarding you from in the paint when you're at the three point line? So you're not able to go down hill as much. You're not able to play the style of play. And so I think like looking at these clips, this is the basketball right here. He's getting into the lane. He's creating opportunities for his teammates. He's training, rolling handoffs. He can be this type of guy. And listen, if he buys in and he say, Hey, Cam Thomas, Michael Bridges, you guys are the guys. I'm going to facilitate this thing. I'm going to be the point guard and make sure you guys get good looks. I think it can work. I think they can be successful with it. If I'm if I'm Ben Simmons, I'm looking, I'm watching a bunch of film of Ray Jean Rondo. I'm scars like that that couldn't necessarily shoot the ball, but still had a huge impact defensively and the dunker in transition. He still has valuable. Like I said, he still has the body type. He still has the youth. He can still be a contributor on a good team. He just got to find, he's just got to find his role. The coaching staff there has got to put him in comfortable positions where he can thrive because whatever it was in Philly and whatever it was last year, it just wasn't working. We just changed the expectation a little bit and then he thrives and whatever that is. Another game tonight happening at the garden spurs are here playing the Knicks tonight. It's Wemby's first game at Madison Square Garden. You guys, let's predict reactions. Chandler, what do you think he gets? I think they're static. I don't think they boo him. I think the Knicks fans are hyped to see him. I think the stars will be out. I think Spike will be there talking his shit. I think it's going to be an electric environment. I'm sure he's well aware of, you know, MSG being the Mecca and how special it is to play at that place. So I don't think they boo him at all. If anything, I actually think they cheer for him. I think they embrace the kid. Man, that's one thing I really love about playing at Madison Square Garden. Those fans are truly, truly Nick fans. And on the flip side of that coin, they just love really good basketball and they cheer and they celebrate really good basketball. I look for him to do his thing tonight. He gets a great ovation. Ovation. You guys, I have to ask you if you remember your first game at the garden. Chandler, do you? Absolutely. You do, Lou? No? I do not. What? Neither one of you? I remember my first game at Staples and I just remember being just mesmerized by all the famous people in the crowd and how the Staples split up and on all the crowd was dark, but I don't remember that actual game. Okay. Staples in the cultural icon of the world is like going to a McDonald's and the Coliseum is sitting right there. What is wrong with? I will tell you this, Chandler, you had nine points and five steals in your MSG debut. Five steals? What it says. I'm only going off what it says. I can't even believe it myself. Lou, you had five points in one minute. I always make a place. Yeah. That feels good to me. I feel like that's a really good little line to have. You know, every night. I scored every time down the court sounds like. And yes, that was a career. It had to be a career high for Chandler's steals. Yeah, that makes total sense. It was. They must have just turned the ball over and I was just in the right place at the right time because I don't, I don't, that wasn't really my game. It's just better when you say it though, instead of one of us, you know, it's just a nice revive. I'll tell you a fun fact. I'm the, I have the, I have the steals leader. I'm the steals leader for the Clippers. I have the most steals in a game for the Clippers. What is it? And Doug Rivers hates it. I had 10 steals in one game. He hates it that I have a defensive record on that team. 10 steals in a game. You must have been so annoying. And I think I got it from him. Okay, that's actually had 10 points. So you had a double double with steals, which is, which yeah, that's pretty awesome. Yeah, we need to get footage of I want like a montage of just boom, boom, boom, the 10 steals back to back. Okay. So every night that when he plays, it's going to be who's defending when the Mitchell Robinson will have some fun with that tonight. He said he's going to treat him. He said like a porzingus bull bull type of dude. I mean, look, what other game plan is there? Chandler, like I don't know what else you're supposed to do. You have to say some words to fill that question. What do you think about his? I wouldn't treat him like those two dudes. I mean, I don't know because I definitely not given him space. He's too long. He's too tall. I don't want him to be able just to survey the court and be able to do what he wants to do. Anything on Mitchell Robinson? I'm using my advantage over him, which is strength. I'm trying to body him. I'm trying to push him out, not trying to give him anything easy. And I'm trying to be aggressive early on the class. I'm trying to make him pick up a cheap foul box in me out. Someone like this, someone like Yogers, it's so good offensively, but that just has a, he's got a thin body. He's not as physically gifted as Mitchell Robinson. Be aggressive, deny him the ball, make it miserable for him as much as you can. But a player like this, again, he's going to be able to do what he wants to do. He's going to be able to get to his spots. Mitchell Robinson, I'm assuming his coach are telling him be physical, not let him catch the ball close to the rim, all the things that everyone else is going to tell him, but this kid's going to find a way, ma'am. Yeah, it's going to be good. Nine and a half point underdogs for San Antonio. Anybody up here think they're going to steal a win, Lou? Yeah, I got him on a steal. I like that. I like, yeah, I don't, I like them winning the game, not even covering the points. Yeah, you don't have to do. We have a parlay and it's a, it's got a bunch of doozies on it. We'll see. It's a wimby specific parlay because he's just a video game in human form. Here we go. This is what we have to score 20 or more points, record. Oh my God, any more rebounds or two? Okay. The blocks thing. I feel pretty good about that. Are we buying this? I like this parlay. Yeah, I do too, actually. I feel I like this part. I like this parlay a lot. We're going to win a gazillion dollars off this, you guys. And also I'd like to appeal to everyone at Mass since we're garden, please one day just let our NBA passes get us in the building. That's all. I'm not being mean or confrontational. I'm just asking on behalf of my media brethren. Thank you so much. We're going to take a quick break right now while we come back. Paula Famer, Chicago's guy head coach, Teresa Witherspoon joins the show. It's going to be awesome. And run it back for returns. Yeah, run it back, run it back, run it back, run it back, run it back. Yeah. She's a basketball Hall of Famer. She's a national champion. She's an Olympic gold medalist. She's a five-time WNBA All-Star and she is now the head coach of the Chicago Sky. Teresa Witherspoon, ladies and gentlemen. She is here and look, this is a new gig last month, right? So talk to us about what excites you the most about taking on this role. Well, I think when you take a look at it, I think about full circle starting in the W and that getting another opportunity to coach in the W. This has been a dream of mine is to be a head coach. So it's exciting, exciting to be a part of such a great group of young women that I have an opportunity to lead. Teresa, you spent the last four seasons as an assistant with the Pelicans. What did you take away from your time in the NBA? I know you worked very closely in development as an assistant. So what was your time like in the NBA for the last four years? I had an incredible time of learning and trying to find my fit. Find where my experience could be of help to each and every one of the young men and have an opportunity to be a part of. And then finding and understanding the game on that side, it's a tremendous production. It's a tremendous production and you learn a lot and you kind of take those things and then once you get an opportunity, you see where it can fit with what you're trying to do as well. Willie Green said they could be the best deal on the NBA as far as Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram. I know you worked closely with Zion. You two had an unbreakable bond. What do you see from Zion? What do you see from those two? And also just Zion specifically, he's gotten a lot of shade at different points, but just working with him closely. What can you say about his work habits? Yeah, he's a great young man. I think a lot of times people just come up with their own ideas and thoughts because of what they read and what they don't see. But I know him very well. I know him from a deep place. And he's an incredible young man. He wants to play this game. He wants to be great at this game. He wants to put in the work for this game. And he understands now how to hold yourself accountable for what you want. And when they talk about the best duo in the game, they are by far the best duo in the game. I can actually say that those young men are incredible basketball, but incredible. They can do some things that is not so often seen or done. And they can be known as the best duo in this game. In my mind, they are, no matter putting in the work to be known as such. Yeah, Coach, having such a great relationship with Zion, how frustrating was it when you would hear media talk about how he doesn't have the right work ethic and doesn't work hard? Well, I didn't allow it to frustrate me. I wanted him to see me as the example. Frustration, we don't allow that to happen. You just allow it to motivate you. You cannot live to the expectations of others. You have to have the expectations of your own. And that was my message to him is the expectations must come from you. If you want to live between the handclaps of other people, I don't think you're going to live too long. You can't live between that. So always have the expectations of yourself and know that someone's going to say something that doesn't fit what you think should fit. I like that between the handclaps. All right. So when Stan Van Gundy lost the gig in New Orleans, a lot of people thought this was yours. And I'm over here sitting here waiting like, let's go. Let's make this happen. Did you have the same expectations? Did you did something fall through at the end? What did you know and think? Well, some things I wish I could answer for you, but I can't. But what I do know is I was ready. I was ready if my name was called. It's about putting in the work. I don't mind having to put in the work. I don't I don't really care about people googling up what I've done because a lot of times I really don't matter. It really doesn't matter what you've done in the game. It's a matter of you waiting your time, knowing that you're ready, trusting in your value and your words. And I was ready if my name was called. I was ready to go. Coach, as you know, the W keeps growing. So many different exciting players. Who would you call the face of the WNBA at this moment? The face of the W is Asia. Asia Wilson. She's amazing. She's absolutely amazing. Everything she does. And I think a lot of times she gets a bad rap. She gets a bad rap because she has fun. And she's authentically herself. She reminds me a lot of myself with the energy that she plays with, the joy that she plays with. And sometimes people take that the wrong way. But that's her approach. And that's why she's so good at what she does. And she is the face. Teresa, the MVP race this year was so close. I mean, you had Alyssa Thomas. You had Breonna Stewart. You had Asia Wilson. Who would you have gone with for your MVP this season? For me, Asia was the MVP. The things that she's done. But the one thing I will not do is discredit anything that any one of those players have done in this league this past season because they were all great. But when you look at what Alyssa Thomas had done, AT was amazing. She was absolutely amazing. It's hard as heck to average a triple W. She was almost there every night and the position that she played, what she had to do for her team, you can in any way overlook what she's done in this league and the excitement that she brought for her team and for people to see what she can do. And I think people also feel to realize that she was playing and has been playing with her labors being torn in both arms. That's a lot. That says a lot about that young lady. It kind of sounds scary if both of those arms are well. I don't know what else you'll be able to do because she's amazing. It sounds awful to go through in the first place. Look, they used to beat the Liberty in the finals and then afterwards a lot of the players for the Liberty didn't want to speak to the media. They got fined by the league for that. I know some media people were upset about it. What have you? Do you think they should have spoken with the media? How do you look at that sort of, I guess, obligation by players? Well, I'm sure that if they had to do this all over again, that they would, that they would at that moment. It's a moment of heartbreak. And you just, you actually just act on that moment and do exactly what you feel at the moment. But I believe once they take a look back at it, they'll be like, you know, I should have done what was necessary and that's to speak to the media and really just let you know how you feel at that moment. Just allow your feelings to flow. We've all been in that position. It's very painful, but the same way when you win, you go to the media. You have to have that same approach when you lose and go to the media. It's not the best feeling. But I think if those young ladies would have thought about it, I think they would do it all over again and it changed that process. I can't wait to hear your opinion on this one. A few weeks ago, Moran and then his minions started the whole narrative. It's been played out, but that the champs, the aces, would be beaten by the best high school boys basketball team. I don't need to answer that. What do you say to that? You know, there's no need to even give that energy. You don't need to give that energy because whoever this person is, I don't want to call them by their name. Well, this person is, they know that we're darn good at what we do. That's the only reason you're saying anything because they are the measuring stick. So you want to be a part of the measuring stick. So we don't give it any energy. We know people are going to have things about what we do and how we do it, but we know we do it well. This year, there were five number one picks on the floor in the finals. Obviously it's huge. That's a huge thing to get the number one pick. Caitlin Clark, if she decides to come out this year, obviously number one pick, how impactful will she be right away? These immediate impact, immediate impact. I don't have a shadow without my mind. It's her mentality. It's her approach. I don't think anyone pays attention to that. I think a lot of times everybody just pays attention to the talent, but it's her approach. Without the approach, the talent sometimes doesn't really come to the forefront, but her approach is unreal. She believes the moment she steps on the floor, this is my house. I don't care where I am. I'm coming to destroy it. And she's going to be an immediate impact in sleep. If she called you and said, coach, should I leave this year? What's your advice? Come on. Come on out. It's going to be great for our league. As you can see, our league is growing. It's a tremendous amount of talent in this league. And she brings a lot. She brings a lot. She brings a lot of excitement. And it's going to bring an incredible fan base as well. Kaitlyn, Clark, Angel Reese, they had a pretty good back and forth rivalry in the championship game. I mean, that has the makings of a great college rivalry, but also at the next level. So how good are those matchups? I mean, when you talk, you know, about, about two stars going at it against each other on the college level, WNBA level, how great is that for the game? It's awesome. It's a great excitement. You want to, fans are going to come just to see what's going to happen. They want to see what's going to happen between those two. That excitement alone brings them to sit in the stands to see what's going to happen. You know what they're going to bring, scoring a ball, playing D, leading their teams. You know what's going to happen there. The fans want to see what's going to happen next. Is someone going to throw the ring me? Is someone going to cut your throat? Is someone going to send you out the gym? They want to know what it's going to look like. So it's going to bring a lot of excitement. And that brings the butts in the seats as well. Who was one of your biggest rivals as a player, coach? Dang comments. Dang comments. Cynthia Cooper, she was, she made you think all the time. She made you stay on your toes. She made you dream about her. She wanted to put the locks on her because she was so good at what she does. She was so good at stretching the game, getting to the rear, putting the ball on the floor. Now, she'll tell you, she never played any defense, so we were going to attack her. But she was one that was amazing offensively and she made you really have to think the game. Teresa, before I let you go, what kind of practices are we looking at? You look so nice and sweet right now. And I just feel like these women are in the off season. They're chilling. Should they be scared? No, don't be scared because it's all about the process. I try to keep in touch with each one of them as I can to let them know what the expectations will be. We're just going to work hard. We want to be the hardest working team. We want to be the most exciting team. We want to be a team that gets up and down the floor, so we will be a well conditioned basketball team. And we will be known for hanging our hats on the defensive side of the ball. I love it. Teresa Witherspoon, you guys, thank you so much for the time. We appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Appreciate you guys so much. Best block and run it back comes back when we do. Love you guys. Appreciate it. Run it back. Run it up. Run it back. Run it back. Run it back. Run it back. I'm out at CP3, who's arguably the most, the best point guard in this generation. Arguably, arguably. I like that he's hedging his bets. All right, do you agree with him that he is arguably the best point guard of his generation? I mean, Steph Curry is the best point guard of my generation, but then, yeah, you look at the list. Chris Paul's probably second. It depends how far back I want to go. Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, I think are right there. Chris Paul has had an unbelievable career. I think he's a top five, definitely top 10 point guard ever. And he's been doing it for so long. So, yeah, I don't disagree with him, but I got Steph Curry at the top. Fair. Yeah, for me, the beginning of this generation, it was Chris Paul. And then as time went on, we had the emergence of Steph Curry. I think Steph Curry of this generation is the best point guard. But he's not, he's not being outlandish by saying Chris Paul is arguably the best point guard of this generation. But Steph Curry still gets my vote. He's just covering himself. And I love that. Kenny Smith had something to say recently said, quote, Russell Westbrook is the most underrated player in the NBA right now. That's a statement, Lou. Do you agree? And if not, I mean, who is? No. Listen, Russell Westbrook is still getting guarded as Russell Westbrook every single night. Nobody thinks that Russell Westbrook is an underrated player. But if I'm gonna say somebody else, the most underrated player in the NBA, I would say Brandon England. Brandon England is an all-star level guy, super quiet, carries himself very under the wraps, doesn't get a lot of attention. But, you know, give me Brandon England for the most underrated player. Russell Westbrook, not so much. Every young kid that sees Russell Westbrook, whether it's going to be a Scoot Henderson, whether it's going to be a Winby, they're going to respect him and they're going to guard him and treat him as Russell Westbrook. So I disagree. Yeah, I disagree. Russell Westbrook is a star. He's too famous and is too rich to be the most underrated player in the league. To me, underrated is like Kavon Looney, like Kyle Anderson, Alex Cruz. That's underrated to me. That's someone that's not known, that is very, very productive. Russell Westbrook, he's an absolute star, first ballot, hall of famer, Olympian, MVP. How can he be underrated? He's very rated and he's very, very good. So now I fully disagree. He is very rated. We disagree collectively. All right, Draymond Green recently said, and I quote, last year we had an awful team as far as chemistry goes. Last year was horseshit. Hard to come to work, not fun this year. You see the joy on guys face when they come in the building. This is a group that likes being together. Chiller, do we think Draymond knows why the chemistry was bad last year? Why did start that way? Some undertones in there. Draymond, Jordan Poole, he's gone. He's in Washington. You're not going to hear much from him from that team for a really long time. Let it go, my man. You won. They kept you. I understand that he was difficult time. They clearly still have beef. The whole world saw you punch him in the face. He's gone. And you're back to your guys with Steph and Clay and no, no young arrogant, uh, you know, guys that you don't like in Jordan Poole. So yeah, I mean, he clearly doesn't like him still. They have clearly some beef there, but he's gone bro. Damn. I'm cool with it. Put an address on it, Draymond. That's all I gotta say. Put it. I know Draymond has no issue with putting an address on it. Put an address on it. It'll get us going. It'll give us something to talk about. I mean, I do appreciate it. It's just funny. I'm like, yeah, the chemistry is bad when a punch in the face happens, but whatever. Lou Bones Highland had this to say about James Harden. He led the league in assists last year and that proves he's unselfish. There's a logic there, Lou. Do you agree with it? Listen, two things can be true. Yes, James Harden definitely led the league in assists last year, but it was almost as if he was being sarcastic while doing it. This man is going to be a top scorer in this league. We know James Harden as a score. He's the passer next. He gets his team involved, but we don't want to know James Harden as a league leader in assists. So yes, that can prove that he's unselfish, but he's also said I am the system. I am not a system player. James Harden doesn't want to be known as this. And so, yes, that can prove that he's unselfish, unselfish, but I don't think that's who he is. That's good counter. There's two sides to this, right? You can be self, you can be an unselfish player like he has been. I played with them very unselfish player, loved him, would kick the ball, move the ball. I had my highest points per game playing with James Harden. He just played with the MVP, Joellen Bean. So clearly he knows how to play, but then it's, he can be selfish when you now become a distraction, your behavior off the court, whatever it right or wrong, that can be selfish. So I think there's two aspects to this. Someone can play unselfish, but then act a certain way that can be looked at as selfish. So I agree he can be capable of, you know, leading the league in assists again. He's that good. He had the ball in his hands that much, which I don't think he's going to have as much with Paul George, with Kawhi Leonard, with Russ, but he is capable of, you know, dishing out assists and playing that role. But like Lou said, he's a, he's a scorer. He is the system. He is the system. Quick break time. When we come back, we will wrap things up right here on Run It Back. Well, like I said, Spurs are at the garden tonight. We got that little parley for you, you know, making people some cash money. Nine and a half points. The more I think about it, I know they just got bombed the other night, but nine and a half seems disrespectful guys. Am I wrong? Am I being defensive? I always like a team. Yeah, I like a team coming off a bad embarrassing loss like that. I like, especially a young team where, you know, that film session was not pretty. I love the next I love this birds get nine and a half tonight. I like it too. I'm also here for the pictures. I think the Spike Lee Wemby pictures will be amazing when we wake up in the morning. So I look forward very much to those that might be the best juxtaposition of humans. So far, I saw, if you saw Wemby and Brady today, Brady looks like a mere mortal, but Spike, Fat Joe, Michael, Michael Rubin next to him. That's what Spike is going to look like. Exactly. That's what it's going to look like. All right. That's it for us. It's been a Wednesday, tomorrow's a Thursday, and we'll see you bright and early right back.