 run it up, run it back, run it up, run it back, run it back, run it up. Well, hello, I love a matchy match today. Right here on Run It Back, Fandal TV. My name is Michelle. We've got stadium insider, Shamsharani, a Chandler P, Lou Will on the end. Guys, look at us. We're sort of becoming one. How does that feel? Blackout. Like what? It's a thing, Blackout Tuesdays. I like it. We're going to, we're making it a thing. It's a thing. We're going to start with some basketball today. I don't love this first game, but I understand why we're talking about it. Warriors at Spurs. Yeah, no Steph Curry, 112-102 win for Golden State. Chris Paul with 19-9 rebounds. Adesis, Kaminga with 22. That was fun right there. And Wemby had his 27 and 14. But this was a very vintage Chris Paul performance. We've talked so much about him coming off the bench, play, and all that good stuff. But you don't have Steph right now. So Chandler, is he a difference maker while they waited out? Yeah, for sure. And this was nice to see Chris Paul have one of these vintage games where he was in control. He was the playmaker. He picked his spots where he could be aggressive. 19-9, if he could get anything close to this, when you have a season like this and you're kind of dragged through the media and everyone's talking about how it's not your year, you're older, the dynasty's over, you find anything to make a bright spot and give this team energy and a push towards the end of the season. And that's what Chris Paul, he did last night. So if they can build off this and he can continue to have these productive games, it's gonna help because again, we always talk about Steph and his use rate. Is he doing too much? Is he playing too much? He's banged up. When you get a balanced attack like this where Wiggins has 16, Kaminga has 22, CP 19, Thompson 21. When you get a balanced attack like that, first of all, it makes you that much harder to guard. And when you have Chris Paul controlling the pick and roll, everyone's moving, everyone's touching it. It's a fun way to play basketball. So as big of a hole as Steph Curry is when he's gone, when you can get kind of four or five, six guys in double digits and you can get Chris Paul playing like this to protect the ball and not turning it over, it's huge for them. And this is something moving forward that they know Chris Paul still has enough in the tank to go out and have games like this and carry a team to a win, even when Steph Curry is out. You wanna add anything, Lou? Are you saying enough in Chris Paul and what he brings that the postseason, this could be an X factor? Yeah, and Chandler can attest to this. When guys go out with injuries, you know you don't have a sub. So you're playing with house money, you can go out there and play free, play loose and be yourself. So this was great to see Chris Paul having a great night out there, especially being injured majority of the season. So to go out there and play with a lot of confidence and will them to a win against a struggling Spurs team, I think this was good for them. So Lou, I'm gonna start with you on this next one. Chandler mentioned Clay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins, another different starting lineup. They had their 37 points combined. This is their 21st, by the way, different starting lineup for this Warriors team. If this is what they go with, let's just start there. How does it change the outlook of this team in this final stretch? Well, this should be the standard, right? Like they expect Clay Thompson to play really good basketball. They expect Andrew Wiggins to be effective on both ends of the floor. So these are two guys that they pay handsomely to do exactly what they did last night. Unfortunately, it's been only a sample size for the season. They should be more consistent. So if they can get all three of these guys, Chris Paul, Clay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins all on the same page, along with the season that Steph Curry is having, they can be disruptive, come playoff time. Looking at the standing, they're gonna be in the play unless something catastrophic happens and Houston catches them five games behind to get in that 10 spot. They're gonna be in the play-in. So they're gonna have an opportunity to be disruptive to a lot of these different teams. So if they can get all of these guys on the right page, it can be scary for a lot of those top seats. Yeah, and Lou, they're only doing this because of the struggles, because of Andrew Wiggins having the season he's having, because the up and downs with Clay Thompson, because Jermaine Green being in and out of the lineup. So I'm sure they want consistency. I'm sure Steve Kerr wants the same starting lineup. And obviously with Steph Curry in there and Chris Paul, you then have Chris Paul carry in that second unit with those young guys and Steph Curry starting. This should be their starting lineup. These are their five best players. This is their team. Kaminga is the bright spot of the future. You mix him in with these championship DNA guys. So this should be their starting lineup. It's just throughout a course this season, injuries and suspensions and things like that. Steve Kerr's hand has been kind of forced to adapt and adjust and kind of go on the fly and make some changes. But when you see these guys clicking like they did last night, I think they had a 19-0 run to start the second half last night. They were moving the ball. Their calls and turnovers are getting on transition. They looked like the old school Warriors last night and that's without Steph Curry. So again, I think there's a lot of panic and because they've set the bar so high. The expectations are so high for this team, for these three guys in particular, that when they do have bad games, bad weeks, bad months and they're in the 10th seed, it's like, whoa, we never expected the Warriors to be here. But this should be their lineup going forward. Chris Paul being healthy, being productive on that second unit with Pozinski, with Trace Jackson Davis, who has been a real bright spot for them to find him at the end of the draft. This should be their method going forward. Yeah, the Steph Curry of it all shops. Look, there's no good time for an injury. But when you lose a guy like Steph at this point in the season, when you're playing for everything, it can't be great. He's now missed both games against the Spurs. Any word on when we can expect him back on a court? Yeah, you thought timing-wide, this was the perfect moment for him to miss these games, right? Two back-to-back games against the Spurs, but then you go one-on-one against the Spurs. Now you play the Mavericks on Wednesday in Dallas and Steve Kerr said last night, it's not expected that Steph Curry will play. So that would leave the Lakers against the Lakers on Saturday in LA as the next available opportunity for Steph Curry to make a return. I'm told it's not a super serious ankle sprain, but it is an ankle sprain that would cost him some time. So we're already gonna be at at least three games if he sits out Wednesday. So we'll see is a week a good enough amount of time for him to be ready to go by Saturday. I think they're gonna try to be cautious with it, but Steph Curry's gonna wanna play once it gets Saturday, especially because of how meaningful that game's gonna be that 9-10 matchup in the playing tournament. That could very well be something that we see as a preview going into the play-in tournament. But also, like Lou said, they have a five-game cushion, right? So if it's another two games, three games, another week for Steph Curry to get that ankle, right? I don't see a reason for him to rush. I think they know that they're in the play and Houston's not gonna make a five-game comeback with what's left. So if I'm him, I'm getting fully healthy. I'm leaving enough time a week, two weeks, whatever that is for him to get back, to get on the floor and to get ready to play, you know, the Lakers or the Mavericks or whoever this is gonna be because it's gonna be one and done. So that to me is more important than him rushing back now and having this ankle linger into the play-in. So you're not rushing to get back to play the Lakers over the weekend? You just, it's fine. Oh no, I'd rather be fully healthy and play when it matters. Fair enough, Chandler, being the ass that you are, you sent a message to the thread last night. When this moment happened. I mean, listen, we praised his cat all the time every day and he had a great game last night, but Trace Jackson Davis put him on an absolute poster. And when you watch, he did kind of puff his right arm right here. So he did get away with little offensive foul, but that's a nasty play. My boy James Dunley reps him. He believed them. He got him to a great situation, AKA with his brother late in the second round and he's been a real bright spot for the Warriors. And this kid's got a real future. He does all the little things. He's so bouncy. And this, this is a nasty play. Luke, come on. This is on that man has a family segment. It's his own segment. Listen, I kind of want to disagree with you. I think this is clean. I don't even think he used it all for. This is a clean dunk. Let me check him out. Watch that right arm. All right, all right. That's a nice dunk. You're going to get, you're going to get, you're going to get banged on though. You get, when you go for blocks on every play, you're going to get, you're going to get. That's the one thing a shop blocker has to realize is you're going to get dunked on 20 to 30% of the time, but 70% of the time you're going to have nice blocks. You're going to save the day, but there's going to be some embarrassing moments like this. It's part of the game. Yeah. And look, everybody wants a piece of one. But yeah, the bench is ridiculous. The bench is ridiculous. No, that's good. That's a pretty good dunk. Shom's pop said last night, unsure whether or not Wemby would be playing tonight. Any word on that? Good news for San Antonio. Victor Roman Yama, the expectation is he will be playing tonight in this back to back against the Rockets at home. And, and I think the ankle is doing well. It's, we'll see how many minutes he ends up playing. I think all that's going to depend on the flow of the game, how his ankle feels as the game goes on. But Victor Roman Yama said last night, he feels like he owes it to his teammate. He owes it to his team, the organization to be available every single night. So the expectation, the plan is that he will be playing tonight on the back to back. And you think about his last 10 games. These numbers right here, 23.4 points a game, 11.9 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 5.2 blocks, two steals, 49% field goal percentage, 41% from three point range over these last 10 games. You're starting to see him separate himself from the pack. And I think you have to put a lot of credit into how much he's actually playing. And he's finishing the year strong at a moment where a lot of rookies, some rookies are, are telling all, but you see him and Chet Holmgren right now. They're, they're at another level when you think about rookies in this class, as well as Brandon Miller. That rookie wall doesn't exist for Wimby. I'll tell you that. No, he's, he's out there. By the way, I just like to put it in the universe every morning, my Drupal double, my Drupal double. We're going to get one and I need it to be him. It's going to happen and I really hope it does. You know, for selfish reasons, sons, calves, wow, we got the big three back. Don't look now combined for 88 points, a win over Cleveland, Kevin Durant 37 and eight, Devin Booker with 27, seven assists and Bradley Bill with his 24. Devin Booker is back from the ankle sprain and they combine for those 88. If, if Chandler, we could keep this big three on that court, how much damage are they capable of doing come playoffs? A lot, a lot. And then when you get the big three, like you got last night, I know the calves are banged up. They're missing three starters and they've been dealing with their own issues, but this is what makes this team so scary. I don't want to play this team four to seven times in the playoffs when they have three guys that can go and get you 40 on any given night. And you have guys like Grayson Allen have a career year. You have Nurkits that's being, you know, just dominating the glass, having a hell of a season two, but this is what makes them the scariest team, I think, in the NBA. They're not the best Celtics, Nuggets. I think they're better teams, but when you get them rolling like this and you get them in the playoffs, you can't stop them. You can't stop everything. You can't double team KD or Booker because then the other two are gonna have wide open shots. When you have a guy like Grayson Allen who's arguably the best shooter in the NBA this year, he's getting more open looks than he ever had. And he hasn't, he's taken full advantage of it. So it's tough. And this is why Frank Vogel was sitting here after the game saying, listen, we can be really elite. And I believe him because they haven't been on the floor that much. And when they are and they have games like this, you're like, oh, damn, this is something special. So I hope they stay healthy because the Western Conference is stacked as it is. I think this team has a chance to be a top, you know, Clippers, Nuggets and them. I've said that for the last couple of months now. It's those three teams to me. And that's no disrespect to the Timberwolves. It's no disrespect to the Thunder. I just trust these three older experienced teams more and the talent, the offensive firepower that Phoenix, it's undeniable. So when they get going like this, I said, you can't take away every option. Someone's gonna eat that night and you can't control all of them. Lou, look, we disrespect, I don't even know that we're purposely disrespecting the Pelicans, but Chandler mentioned Nuggets, Clippers, Sons. And the Sons, as we know, we haven't gotten to see the big three over and over and over again. But for you, I know you're big Clippers, you've got them going through the West. You giving the Sons team a chance at all? Hell yeah, when they play like this, you gotta be mindful of what you're seeing. You're seeing three of the most elite mid-range players of all time and playoff basketball comes down to half-core offense. So when you've got three weapons like that that you can post up, you can play in the mid-posts, in the mid-range that can face up and make shots over guys, make tough shots and can play together, you're gonna have a very dangerous team. And so I look forward to it. My only problem with this Phoenix Sons team, we just hadn't seen enough of it. Can they be very dangerous? Sure, but right now we're looking at that lion and the glass. We need the glass to be broken right now and put some real fear in these teams and they gotta start putting a run together where you're like, oh, they're dead serious. This is for real team, because right now we've only seen it in spurts. We hadn't seen the consistency being a big three and a great team. But if they can do what they did last night and put pressure on teams like this, come post-season, it's gonna be a scary sight for anybody matching up with the Phoenix Sons. What's crazy, Lewis, they were getting smacked in the second. They were down, I think, 20 points, but they're all like, like I said, those three guys, I think they went on like a 45 to 10 run or something because you cannot stop them. So they're never out of a game. I don't care if they're down eight, they're down 28. They are never out of the game to that. So that is a luxury to have this much offensive firepower with really good role-players like the Royce O'Neill, it's like the Nurkish. So they're in a really good spot. If they can stay healthy, I'm telling you, Lou, like if they get the three-seat and the Minnesota Timberlodger Thunder are the six-seat versus the three-seat, you got them beating them in the playoffs? It's gonna be tough. It's gonna be tough like, it's gonna come down to half-core offense. And who would you want better than Devin Booker, Bradley Bill and Kevin Durant to be the guys that you say, okay, the game is slowing down a little bit. We need a bucket every time down the floor. Close your eyes and pick one of those guys, man. They're gonna get a bucket. Doesn't matter. Yeah, literally, it does not matter. And no, there's no three defenders on any team that can match up with those three offensive players. So like you said, it's crazy. And we're just now kind of seeing it. We haven't seen it all year just because of injuries, but it's, especially in the playoffs, you know, when it slows down the half-core, you can't take away every option. So if they're all three cooking like they did last night, they're not losing many games. They're gonna have a mismatch. No matter who their play, one of the three of those guys are gonna have a mismatch. You know, a lot of teams, you might have one or two elite defenders. Nobody has three. You know what I'm saying? Nobody has three elite defenders. Somebody is gonna have a field day every single game in the playoffs. It is crazy how much more different it is when Booker's out there. Because we saw Durant over the weekend trying to get it all done and he had a monster game and it was a loss. And now you put Devin Booker back in and like you guys are saying, there's no stopping him. Kevin Durant, by the way, at 35 years old, let's not underestimate what it is he's been doing so far. He's averaging 28 and a half points. He's shooting almost 53% from the field and 42 and a half percent from three. Are we not talking enough, Lou, about KD in the season he's having? We're not, you know, he shouldn't be getting more attention. I think he's just, I think he's a victim of just being quiet, you know? When you look at Luca, you look at Joker and you look at what SGA's been able to accomplish over this season, they got really big, gaudy historical numbers. And then you throw in a Winby as well, who's a rookie who's changing the landscape of the league as well. Kevin Durant has only did one thing. He's been consistent and he's done his job and tried to give the Phoenix Suns an opportunity to win games each and every night that he's been healthy. So I think he's having a consistent season, but he's just a victim of other guys being a lot louder and a lot more gaudy. And it's crazy, it's 53% from the field, the shots he takes, it's not like they're easy. He's posting up off the block, he's stepped back, he's taken long threes and Kevin Durant, he's on the floor, he's played 58 games. And no matter what, talk shit, say what you want about him going to super teams. He went to the Warriors, he was the best player on that team. And I went to the Suns, this big three with Devin Booker, he's the best player on this team. So everywhere he goes, he's the guy. Everywhere he goes, he carries the load. And everywhere he goes, he puts up MVP first team, all NBA type numbers. So the guy is unbelievable, he's been doing it forever. And the fact that he's healthy and he's been in the lineup with a guy when Devin's been out, when Bradley Beal's been out, he's been the guy consistently for this team. So he's having a great year, he's having an efficient year. Like I said, 53 and 43%, that's insane because he's getting doubled. He's taking step backs. He's not taking high percent shots yet. He's shooting a high percentage. So we're not talking about him just because SGA and Yolkic and Luca are putting up these nuts numbers. But this guy is all NBA and we should be talking about him more. If the Suns were winning more and if they were healthy this season, we would be talking about them more because they would be a top three team in the West. It only takes five minutes of watching a Suns game to remind yourself, like, oh, that's right, he's fun to watch. I like watching Kevin Durant. Your biggest takeaway, Shams, from this win for Phoenix? I mean, I think we've hit on it. Kevin Durant, massive season. Just think about it. In 2019, he has the Achilles Tear and now he's in his age 35 season. He's got the most 30 point games for a player in his 35 years of age. Like what he's doing this season is remarkable, especially the last four games or so. He's been taking it up and even another level with Devon Booker out. I mean, 38 points a night, 54% from the field, 47% from three. So he's doing everything. This team is 19 and nine since January 8th and even though they played 41 games this year without the big three, just 24 with them. I think these next few weeks, it's like just building momentum with those three in the lineup. You have to have them and they've struggled down the stretch of some of these games and like Lou and Chandler know, a lot of that is because they haven't built that level of consistency. Well, now you have a stretch of about a month. If these guys can stay healthy, build some momentum and chemistry down the stretch of games, learning how to close games out. The last thing you want to do is put yourself in situations where these three guys are having to close games out for the fourth or fifth times in the playoffs. They can do it, they have the talent but a lot of that comes through chemistry, repetition and hopefully they get that opportunity over the next month. Wubble wrap and ice. Chandler, Cavs, look, it was a really good feel good story but unfortunately for them, they're five and seven and their last 12 bucks seem to have figured some things out. We know Boston's dominant. Is the Eastern Conference really just Boston and Milwaukee in your mind? Yeah, I do. Unfortunately, I love Jimmy Bigger staff and I love this young team. They just haven't been healthy. They haven't, you know, even last night, they have three, they have streus, they have Wubble, they have Donovan Mitchell and when they were fully healthy, let's not forget about that run that they went on where they got real hot and jumped all the way up to the second seed but they've just been too inconsistent. You know, they left a bad taste in our mouth and they passed you in the playoffs, losing to the first round to the Knicks and we thought they'd kind of make that jump early and they just didn't and they haven't been healthy, which is a huge issue, obviously. When you're missing three starters, you know how hard that is to go out there and compete in one game so Donovan Mitchell is there everything and now he's now missed, I think his 18th game last night to where he's had a great year but when you miss that many games, it's hard to get in a flow. It's hard to get in a rhythm and this team has the talent. They have the youth. I hope Donovan Mitchell stays around because I think this nucleus in this court can be very, very good in the future but when you look at this, it's even the up and downs with Milwaukee, the coaching change, Doc, they're a better team and the Boston Celtics are a way better team so I think they'll get a nice favorable matchup in the first round. It doesn't look like, you know, the Knicks or the Magic will catch them so they're gonna lock up the three seed there. Then we'll see and they can get a Philly, they can get a Pacers now with Mathera now so they should at least get that playoff experience advance in the second round. Then who knows? Then we'll see what happens but they gotta be healthy to have any sort of chance. The Donovan Mitchell of it all, Lou, is a bummer. It's his seventh straight game that he's missed but the bigger issue here is the fact that he's now missed 18 which brings back the old topic of eligibility for post-season awards. He is now ineligible for all NBA despite the numbers that he's had which is averaging about 28 a game, fifth in the NBA. All of these great numbers but he's out. So we're gonna talk that topic again and I'm sure it's gonna come up numerous more times but what are your thoughts on the fact that he is no longer eligible for that? I'm torn because as a former player, anybody can play really well for a stretch of games or for a stretch of the season and then they can fall off and then they kinda come back to Earth and reality sets in but on the flip side of it, it's like you miss a quarter of the season and you can come back and then your legs are healthy, your body feels good. So you can put a lot of pressure on teams that you can have really big nights because the NBA season, it comes down to traveling, it comes down to wearing tear, it comes down to so many different things outside of basketball that can give you a competitive advantage and so I think Donovan Mitchell is an all NBA talent but with these new rules, I don't know, I'm just, I'm torn because like I said again, you can miss 20 games, anybody can play well for 55, 50 games and put yourself in that position. The special guys that set themselves apart, those are gonna be the guys that play 70 to 75 games and they've been able to do it over the course of the season and being consistent and so I'm torn, he's an all NBA guy but the rules are the rules so it's a little weird for me. Yeah, I get it. Like I understand what the NBA is doing. They want the star players on the court, they want them to play the majority of the games and to reach these bonuses where they get paid, you know, fat checks at the end from their shoe deals. What's gonna bother me is like, okay, Donovan Mitchell misses 18 games, so he's ineligible but like Steph Curry misses 17 and he's eligible. Like when that happens, there's gonna be like this gray area where like, okay, like the threshold is one game difference and one guy's eligible and one guy's not and that's gonna happen. But again, those are the rules, they've been established, guys know this so I don't know if it's a great thing that you're telling these guys if you wanna be rewarded for all these rewards after a season you have to play through certain injuries because then if they get worse and then you miss the playoffs and you missed the most important games of the year that's gonna be a whole another bag of worms. But again, it's like Lou said, you can get hot for two, three months but it's the guys that play the five, six months that play 75 plus games that they deserve it more. So if there's a guy that's averaging 26 and six and five and he played 80 games, he's probably more deserving than Donovan Mitchell who's gonna miss 20 or so games. So I can see both sides but it's gonna be really annoying when one guy plays one more game than the other and that guy gets rewarded all NBA. Yeah, mathematically it's gonna happen. And then we're gonna have to have that conversation as soon as it does. Guys around the league we go. Yolkich, woohoo, 35 points, 17 rebounds, 12 assists, leads his team to a 21 point comeback win over Toronto, 125, 119, 21st triple double for Yolkich and 126th of his career. He also had six deals if you wanna keep track of that as well, but I'll go ahead and say it Lou. We're numb, I mean, I know I am because when I go and open up my FanDuel app for me it's a given that he gets a triple double which is a good thing, but it also feels like what a world to live in that we assume he's gonna get another triple double. Are we a little bit numb? No, we're very numb. And Shums, do we have scoops? Do we have scoops? We don't have anything. It's an alert for me to call someone though. So I'm gonna make that call after this show. It's coming. We're working on a scoop. All right, but listen, we're so numb to it. I think this works in SGA's favor for MVP. Call me crazy, this is gonna be a hot take. But because this is so normal, I think we're bored to it. We're just like, eh, okay, another great game from the Joker, this is what he does. And then if Shay Gilgis Alexander does anything remotely close to this, we're like, yeah, that's what I'm talking about. The young guy in OKC Thunder, I'm turning the corner. That's how we are. I think that's just how we're programmed to be. He's playing at such a high level, so consistently. It's just like, okay, another big night for the Joker. That's insane though, Chandler. It has to be insane to think that way. I mean, the voter fatigue thing, it's real, right? Like you just, it's the same stuff every single game. And it's unbelievable. I will call Luke crazy, because I think it's his yokutsu MVP. And I think it's not even close. I think he's gonna win it, and which is insane, it's gonna put his resume at such an insane high level. But we do get numb to it. We get numb to all these new historic offensive stats that we're seeing every single night. Think about it, we're talking about a quadruple double. Like we're just waiting on it to happen because we know it's gonna happen soon. It's crazy. So when you see 35, 17 and 12, like, and it's consistent, this like, there's guys that have had great years that this would be their best game of their career. And this guy does it every single night. Like I would have got a max contract off this one game. I would have got a channel. I would have never even stepped to stat line like this. What would you do for a 35, 17 and 12? Like I would, I'd give my left arm. I would have my agent just play this game over and over again until they've paid me a huge bag. But you're right, we are getting numb because he does it so often. He does it efficient. Because damn, you're shooting 60% from the field. Like it's unbelievable what he's doing. Like I said, that stat line, that would rock my socks off if I saw that a couple of years ago and I saw it. And now it's like, oh yeah, Yoka's played good. How many did Murray have? And I thought, oh, Monk Porter, it's crazy. I don't even bat an eye at this cat stats. God, we're brats. Sports fans are brats. We just spoiled and rotten. But guess what? Another guy that's got a lot of numbers coming up next because it's Luca. Are we bored with him too? He had 27.12 rebounds, 14 assists, his seventh straight 20 point triple double. That ties the NBA record for consecutive 20 point triple dubs, snapping a streak of six straight with at least 30 in a triple double. They did beat Chicago very, very easily, but he checked out midway through the fourth quarter. Lou, should J-Kid have left him in just to, you know, get a couple more and get that 30? Nah, nah, get him out of there. Cause chasing that, listen, I've been on the other side of this playoffs. I was on the Sixers and they were up about 20-25 with about two and a half, three minutes to go in the fourth quarter of the game one of the playoffs and Derrick Rose towards ACL. And that eventually led to us upsetting the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the playoffs. So you don't want to leave a guy in and risk it based on numbers. Luca got plenty of stats. He doesn't need another 30. So no, get him out of there. It's a fireball offense if you leave him in there, just smack a team and he gets hurt. So I think there's a bigger picture here for Luca and the Mavs and look, he's got plenty of time to break and to set his own records. They're thinking post-season. This is the time of season where you don't play around these type of things. You get the win, you get off, you get ice, and you get ready for the next game. You try and get the highest possible seat. This isn't about chasing records. And the Mavs faithful, they got on me the last couple of days cause I said it must be exhausting playing with Luca. It's not an insult to me. Look at everybody there too, Sandler. I'm just saying, it's not an insult to Luca. I think the Mavs to be the best team they could be, they have to be balanced like the Warriors were last night. They have to have Gaffer. They have to have Jones, Tim Partway. They have to have all of them contributing and wanting to feel wanted and to needed to have the ball. And so the shit Luca's doing with the basketball, it's unbelievable. Him and Jokic are so similar, just the way they can't be sped up, the way they get everyone involved. And by the way, when I say exhausting to play with them, I'm saying watching the same, my best years with James Harden, it was exhausting to play with him, just watch him do the same things over again. It was awesome. And I average, most points I ever did playing with the guy, even though he was very ball dominant and his usage rates was through the roof. All I'm saying is for the Mavs to reach that next level, I think they have to be more balanced and they can't depend on Luca doing this every single day. It's hard to do. It's really hard to do for one individual to sustain this. So, listen, I'm hopeful that he's... You will see somebody in every show. I think he's just... Who is he wrong? He's not wrong. I really don't think I'm wrong in this case. I really don't think I'm wrong. You're not wrong. Chandler's right because the Mavericks, when they win at a high level, it's when all these guys contribute and they're just not gonna be a championship team. If it's just Luca Dacic going for 30 point triple doubles, that's not their recipe. The recipe is Kyrie Irving, Tim Hardaway Jr., Lively, Gafford, PJ Washington. They have, I think Chandler said it the other day, they have probably as deep of a team, well-rounded of a team as they've had around Luca Dacic in the last few years and he was a big proponent of getting PJ Washington in that trade. And I think Luca Dacic wants to win and I think this team is just about figuring out and really handling the rotations the right way, tightening up on defense, but I tell me Chandler's right. And by the way, when they do have this balanced attack and when the floor opens up like that, Luca's gonna naturally still have these stats with everybody else getting theirs too. So I think when you see like back in the day, the James, the Westbrook, when they just dominate the ball, it gets a little stagnant, it gets a little boring for a teammate. So when like you just said, Shom, when guys are in the balls, moving and zipping and you're playing offense like you're supposed to do, everyone's touching it, everyone's happy. That's when you start winning at an elite level. So back to the point, imagine the message that J-Kid is sending if he leaves Luca in there to try to get a 30-point game, right? You got a big lead, let somebody else get theirs off. Get out of here, Luca. You know what I'm saying? This is a team sport. Yeah, J-Kid leaves him and he's basically saying Luca's individual records are more important than us winning and being healthy in the playoffs, which you just can't do. You can't risk it. Shoms, now we're just gonna bug you as soon as you leave us to find out what it is you're about to do and call back, but we say goodbye. We'll see you bright and early in the morning. Thank you, sir. We'll be back with a little who you got with Chandler and Lou on Run It Back. Little who you got for the guys. Two choices, you pick one first up, better rookie season. I'll be honest, this feels like a win-win for everybody involved. So Victor Wemmonyama versus Tim Duncan. Now, Timmy D was a little older. His team was a lot more established when he got there. We know Victor's a kid, but let's go. Talk to me. No, no, no. Don't do that. What are you, Victor's agent? Don't do that, Biddle. You're trying to, you're leading the witness here. You're leading the witness. I'm just pointing it out in case y'all forgot. It wasn't on the screen. Lou? It's clearly Tim Duncan. It is clearly Tim Duncan. He was an All-Stars rookie year, you know, allowed them to get to the second round of the playoffs. Victor Wemmonyama is not going to sniff the playoffs. Went on to win a championship in his second season. Maybe there are some light at the end of the tunnel for Victor Wemmonyama if this is the standard being set. But this is clearly Tim Duncan. Yeah, it's a different era, it's a different time. But the guy also played every single game. He played a few games his rookie year and played damn near 40 minutes. That matters. And they won, like Lou said, I think they went, they beat Phoenix in the playoffs and they went on to win a championship their second year. I don't know, I know we're talking rookie year, but I don't think San Antonio's going to do that next year. But as special as Wimby is, even the numbers alone, the numbers alone, Tim Duncan's are better. But the future is bright. Who's in town, you know, Michelle? The future is very bright. Like I said, very rare that we have a choice on this show where I like both of them. So win-win, woohoo, goes first go. Moving on, more impressive streak, love a good streak. Demonus, a bonus, you are up on this one. Your 46 game, double-double streak, that's kind of insane. Or Luca Doncic's seven straight, 20-point, triple-double. But six of those were 30 points. Chandler, you're up first. It's a tough one, because they're both really, really insane. The 46 games, that's damn near half a season. This cash is throwing in double-doubles every single night. I think it's harder to do what Luca's doing with that clip of triple-doubles. And, you know, six of them being with 30 points and it could be even more if they weren't, you know, blowing teams out. Wow, this one's tough though, man. This one, right? Again, stats are so magnified now where there's a little bit watered down. I feel like with the usage rate you could argue either way. Wow, Lou, I don't know what to go here with. I know, Lou. Okay, listen, he's supposed to get 10 rebounds every game. So I'm going with Luca's seven straight, 20-point, triple-doubles. So bonus is, yeah, you can easily get... He's flackin'? Is that what you're saying? He's flackin'? It's true, it's a big if you're playing 25-point. 10 rebounds, that's something you should do every night if you're a marquee center in this league. You're gonna get four or five rebounds just by being in the right position. So for Luca to have 20-point, triple-doubles in six or 30s, give me that, I'll take that for sure. So bonus didn't have one game where he didn't, or one game where he came out of the game, 46 straight is a crazy clip. But you're right, I think with Luca, with Luca, the triple-doubles and the six straight, 30-point, triple-doubles, that's literally a record. It's never happened before. That's gotta be more impressive. Yeah, it's kind of silly. We need some merch. All right, moving on, we got some numbers for you guys to consume digest process. Here we go, better season. SGA or the 13-14 MVP season. Hmm, for KD. This one's interesting, guys. I was reading it as I was doing it as well. Chandler, you wanna go first? Yeah, what's interesting here is again, I look at what happened that season, which I shouldn't because the award is given before that. And the Thunder that year went to the conference finals, and I don't think the Thunder are gonna do that. So I think KD's season was better because I think he's gonna go further than I think the Thunder go. They're both in same season. And by the way, I think SGA is going to finish second in MVP voting behind one of the greatest centers of all time of our generation. So again, you could go either way here. I like that the Thunder went to the conference final. I think these awards should be given after the season. So when you see what actually happens, because winning is a huge part of definitely the MVPs. How about rookie of the year, whatever, not mattering. MVP matters winning. So like if the Celtics happen to blow through the playoffs and then Tatum is unbelievable for those two months in the playoffs, I think he should deserve some real MVP consideration. So it could go either way here. The numbers are spooky similar here, but I have to go, Kevin Grant. I'll just, I'll die on my SGA sword and I'll just say SGA. I think Kevin Durant was always Kevin Durant, right? Like coming into the league, he's always had an expectation of excellence. We haven't had that for SGA. People are still kind of surprised in shell shot that he's having the season that he's had. He hadn't had the fanfare coming into the league that Kevin Durant had. So that MVP season, I think was expected. And I think what SGA is doing, it's an amazing feat for him to be put in a position to even be in this MVP conversation. So I'll give it to SGA. I'd love to go back, have some researcher person do this and look at all the MVPs and then take the context of how those teams finished ultimately in the post season and see if it would have been the same. If we did what Chandler said and gave it after everything. Which I also don't disagree. I know, I wonder how many of those would not have worked out the way it did. All right, more important player for the Lakers as we head down this final stretch. I'm just reversing the order on everything. Is it LeBron James or Anthony Davis, Lou? It's gonna be AD. You know exactly what you're gonna get out of LeBron. You know, LeBron is gonna show up and show out. AD has to be the aggressive bully that we've been seeing in these last couple of weeks. You know, maybe he's gotten to a point in his career where he's bored with the regular season. You know, you kind of see that with veteran guys. If they've had success at the top of the mountain and won a championship, you kind of coast through the regular season until it's time to start revving it up and you're turning that corner. You flip that light switch on and it's go time. And I think that's what we're seeing from Anthony Davis. So for them to move forward, for them to be the dangerous team that we think they are, he's gonna be the most important player. X Factor. You agree, Chandler? Yeah, I do. I agree. And I think LeBron, again, LeBron's not in his prime. Anthony Davis is. This is his team and he showed the other night. He can dominate a game. He can impose his will. He can clean up the glass. He's so talented. He's gonna score his points. He's gonna get his rebounds. But he can impact the game so much more defensively, altering shots, helps side defense. So I think he needs to be the guy where, again, like Lou said, LeBron's gonna get his. LeBron's gonna get out in transition. He's gonna get downhill. He's gonna hit these crazy step back threes. He's gonna have 25, eight and eight after every game. Doesn't matter. Anthony Davis is the X Factor where he's gotta have these 25 and 15, 30 and 20. He's got Anthony's capable of doing that. And we always talk about it. We criticize him a lot because we know it's in there. We just want to see it more often. This last one, I feel like we're trying to start a fight here and our producers chose violence this morning, but we're gonna go historical. Peek Kobe versus Peek T. Mac. Got a lot of numbers for you if you want. They're right there below Lou, but. Oh my God, I didn't even see this one on the script. I know and it's it. Yeah. Lou said, I could already tell from Lou's face what's happening here. You want me Chandler? Let's let's hear what you guys say. My face. Are you not an Orlando Magic fan? I had every T Mac shoe in the book. This shit isn't even close. I love T Mac, but Kobe is one of the greatest. He's a different dude, multiple champion, played defense. It's not even close and T Mac was special. T Mac was so tall and long he go get a bucket. He had crazy highlights, but yeah, this one I feel like is clickbait here, honey. I want to touch this one. No. Oh wow. I'm just saying, go Kobe and leave it at that. Kobe, Kobe. All right, it's all Kobe. Well, you know what? We just wanted to shut out T Mac because the numbers are impressive, but whatever. You ever have the T Mac shoe? Lou, I used to wear one blue, one red one. Remember those T Macs? And you ever have those for so dope? I was a Nike guy through and through, but I love watching the guys playing the T Macs and then they were missing matching. The padded leather blue ones you're talking about with the three strikes across the top. By the way, did you guys donate those? What? Did you know he's cut? Him and Vince Carter are actual cousins? Yeah. Yeah, they're blue. Did you know the sky is blue? What's wrong with you, bro? I don't know. I thought I just dropped a little thunk bag. I was always late for the party. Did you know Trace Jackson Davis is Dale Davis' son? Yes. Anything else you want to share? Go. You know what? Let's take a break. We'll get more fun facts out of Chandler on the other side of this one. I don't want to run it back. Returns. I'll just shake it across the road. Ha ha ha ha. All right, you buying that, Charles Barkley? Woohoo, he said that to fix the depth problem that Boston has in their bench, they should bring Porzingis off the bench, Chandler. Buying that? No, I'm not buying that. I think he's had a great year. He's putting up great numbers. He's perfect compliment to be able to pick and pop, stretch the floor, space the defense out. I think what they should do is sign someone like a Malik Monk, sign the deeper, better bench. I don't think you disregard KP for having a great year moving him to the bench. I think you keep their starting lineup as one of the more elite, just like Denver. Their bench isn't great. You're not just gonna all of a sudden start Aaron Gordon. So I disagree with this. I think KP's having a great year and I think their starting five is good enough to win a championship this year with their weak bench. So I don't see the need for this. Only time will tell. Chandler Liu, you're up next. Carmelo Anthony believes that only Anthony Edwards and Jason Tatum could be the faces of the league. What? Are you buying that? Nah, I'm not buying that. For him to say only, you know, they're gonna be two of them, but you got SGA, you got Wimby, you got the Chets. Luca is still considered a young guy. We don't talk enough about Paolo down in Orlando. It's a lot of guys that can potentially be the face of this league. So these two guys is a great start, but not the only two. So nope, not buying. Yeah, that word only is a little bit weird. Chandler Magic coach Jamal Mosley said Paolo Bankero can pass like LeBron and score like Carmelo. You buying that? Yeah, this is what David Visdale said about me when I signed in Memphis too. That's what head coaches do. They gas, gas, gas. Listen, I love Mos. I think he just signed up for your extension today too. So he's gonna be there for a while. This is what he should do. Gas up your franchise player. He is a hell of a talent. He can, I see similarities in those two guys. But whoa, like let's pump the brakes a little bit, but that's Paolo. I love that my coach is saying shit like this. Well, yeah, it beats the alternative in saying nothing or worse. Allelu, you're up next. Tyloo said that Jalen Green and Cam Whitmore remind him of when T-Mac and Vince Carter, who are cousins, got to Toronto. Are you buying that comparison? I'm not buying in no disrespect, but I'm not very familiar with Cam Whitmore. As I was with T-Mac, when T-Mac came in the league and the things that he and Vince were able to do in Toronto, like they were so good together in Toronto. Them being cousins was a footnote. They were, they were establishing sales individually. Like, so it wasn't a, that's Vince Carter's cousin. No, like, no, that was Tracy McGrady. You understand what I'm saying? And so Whitmore here, he got some more proven to do. Jalen Green got some more proven to do. If we're just talking about them guys playing over the rim, okay, cool, sure. But the totality of their talent and what they were able to accomplish, nah, I ain't buying. If we find out that Jalen Green and Cam Whitmore are cousins, my head's gonna explode. Okay, now that would be breaking news, Chandler. If you could bring that to us tomorrow, that's huge. Work on that. Maybe that's what Shams' call is. Chandler, Gilbert Arenas. Oh, I love a sentence that starts with Gilbert Arenas says, LeBron was a rental for greatness and that his quote, Laker resume doesn't have a statue. You buying that LeBron ain't getting a statue in LA? Well, I'll say this, I think if he signs an extension, he stays there longer, it's gonna help his case, but no, that's a pretty long rental. He got a championship, he's broke crazy records there. I think he's gonna get a statue. He's arguably the greatest player of all time. Me and Lou think he's the greatest player of all time. So the fact that he's been on the Lakers for this long, brought a championship to them, has put up insane numbers. He's doing at 39 years old, but nobody else will probably do in that Laker uniform. In any uniform, the guy's getting a statue. I gotta follow this, I'm sorry. You don't think the Los Angeles Lakers are gonna claim the all-time leading score? They're gonna let Cleveland claim him? No chance, he gets a statue. And there will be no spelling errors on his statue either. Thanks. This will be perfectly the... There's no way the Lakers let's just walk out of their building, no way. Can we just spelling check all statues from now on? It's not hard. The mistakes on the Covey letter are disgusting. James Harden, channeler, said that he would shave his beard for a championship. Are you buying that? Have you seen pictures of James Harden without the beard? Unrecognizable. Listen, I'm pulling for the clippers because I would love to see this. Yes. So you know, I'll shave my beard if the clippers are just shaving their beards. I would love to see it. And I buy it. Listen, James Harden is the first ballot hall of famer. All he needs is this championship. So I love him to go off the beard. It's got a great opportunity to clover first. I'm buying it. I think he would... Oh, now he has to. That was for sure. He has to. He has to. Plus, I want to see it as well. I'm with you. All right, we'll take a quick break, wrap things up a little more, run it back when we return. And on all the NBA buzzer beater ankle breakers and Tomahawk jams with Fanadule, America's number one sports book. Right now, new customers get 150 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place a $5 bet. The app's easy to use and there are so many different ways to bet like live same game parlays, find bets in the new explore tab, make a parlay in the parlay hub, the best way to find popular parlays and more. So download the app and make your first bet and lay up Fanadule official partner of the NBA, Manana Darius Miles joins the show. Enjoy your Tuesdays, guys.