 Looking for James. He's got it. Coming to the end of the third quarter. LeBron James, a shot at history. Run it up, run it back. Wednesday morning and welcome to Run It Back. Let's get these intros out of the way, shall we? Stadium Insider and a man who's super, super busy right now, Shamsherania. I need scoop shams. We've got Chandler Parsons. Great sweatshirt today and Eddie G there on the end. Does anybody want to get their emotions out of the way and by cry last night? How are we all feeling? We're actually just going to cry to you, Michelle. I was hoping for a lot more, you know, tissues, the whole water works out. I was actually expecting that from you. Oh, yes. No, I was very emotional last night as we, as you saw, we started the show. He did it. We can talk about it today and then we can all move on with our lives. LeBron James, 38 points. Breaking Kareem's all-time scoring record. It was big moment. About 10 seconds left in the third. They stopped everything. There was speeches. There were tears. There were cameras in the air. Kareem was even there handing the ball over. Chandler talked to me. Significance of him becoming the NBA's all-time leading scorer. What is it? It's huge. I mean, it's insane just to think that nobody ever really thought that this Kareem record was going to be broken. And I can confidently say I don't think this will now ever be broken by LeBron because this guy's not stopping anytime soon. And it just speaks volumes. We've said it all week. We've said it all year. It speaks volumes of this dude's work ethic, his longevity, the coaches and teammates, how he's done it with three different teams. This is a huge, huge stat. And I think it's probably the most impressive stat in all of sports. I think it's more impressive than the most home runs or the most touchdowns. I think this kind of puts him even more in an elite status and elite level. And it's awesome. And this was a whole show. Everybody was watching this. I got to be honest. I didn't think he was going to come out, got it and be an aggressive like he did. I thought he was going to wait till Thursday and do it against Milwaukee. But clearly he was on a mission. The conversation with him and his kids at halftime, I was going to go get it. I thought it was really cool. But this is huge, man. And to me, I said it yesterday. To me, this puts him at the top as the greatest of all time. And I know everyone has their opinion. And I could easily argue that Michael Jordan also is the greatest of all time. But this is super impressive and just speaks volumes of the longevity and just the consistency that this guy's had for the last 20 years in the NBA. Look, and that argument will always be it's personal, right? At the end of the day, it's who we loved and who we think is there's no science necessarily. Eddie, speaking on Michael Jordan, where do you think he was last night? Do you think he was paying attention and how does he feel about the record being broken? You know, I think if anybody's confident in his basketball resume, it's Michael Jordan. And I'm sure he's happy for LeBron. I mean, you know, we saw them share a lot of love. I was hoping we were going to post this game last year and there you know, I thought all-star game was kind of telling there was such a reverence for Michael Jordan when he showed him. He showed him passively late. Of course, people were wondering if he was going to show up for the 75 team and everybody was excited to see him. Every mega star of today and the past, even Magic Johnson ran to, you know, make good with Mike. So it was interesting. So in that sense, Michael's never going to be shook off his confidence and he's going to always feel like he's the greatest of all time and he should. But LeBron should as well. This is one of the greatest records in history of sports. It's a record, like Chandler said, I never thought would be broken. And it's a record that I don't think will be broken anytime soon, if ever. You know, we're talking about shortened seasons coming and things of that nature. And then it's just, it's a ridiculous mark. And for him to still be at this level as he breaks this record is pretty absurd. You know, when Karim was doing his farewell tour, they were bringing out rocking chairs for him at games. And it would almost be offensive to do that to LeBron right now with as well as he's been playing. And I'm so happy he didn't do the hookshot. They tried to set it up. I don't know if people can tell, but they absolutely tried to get him on, you know, the left block so he could do a hookshot. And, you know, he ended up doing it his own way. And for his contrived as it felt going in, it was a great moment for the league, a great moment obviously for LeBron. And look, his basketball resume, we'll start with that X amount all star, X amount champion, leading scorer in NBA history. And in his goat conversation, it starts right there as well because there's only one at the top of that list. And it's now him. It's going to be him forever, probably. Forever? Yeah, I mean, to me, it's always going to be him or Jordan. Like, it's got to be Jordan, right? Like, you always have to talk about Jordan. But I think what LeBron has done right now in his career is it's definitely going to be a debate. He's put himself in a position where you're always going to have that conversation. Is it him or MJ? But I think you have to give a lot of, you know, credit to LeBron James, how he's taking care of his body, to play at this level at this stage of his career, to be in this position. And he's playing at an elite level. It's not like he's kind of just trucking to this moment. You know, like Eddie said, like you're taking him out in a wheelchair. No, like he's looking really good, really crisp or early in the game. I really thought he wasn't, I thought he wasn't going to break it initially. I thought he did not look sharp at all to start the game. And then as the game wore on, you can see that that number became so much important to him to reach last night. And I think, you know, he kind of got that monkey off his back. Do we think at all? Well, you know, I'll ask you, Chandler, because it's a personal record, right? But the team still lost the game. Shout out, OKC. Does it matter at all? Not now. Not now in the moment. I mean, you saw the parade they basically had during the game. That was serious. But I mean, listen, does it make it a little bittersweet? Yeah, because this is the Lakers that are in a peculiar situation where they need all these games. And this is a team that they should be beating and that they are right there neck and neck with getting into that play. And so, yeah, it's supposed a little bit, but this was such a special night. This was such a celebration, such a party that, you know, in the current time, no, I don't think they're thinking about that. I think there's a couple of players on their team that seemed a little upset. Not all there, but they're, you know, this again, this as much as a distraction as it was, you almost have to take a backseat for a record like this, a game of this magnitude to kind of celebrate LeBron. And now it's over. Now let's move forward. Now it's, you know, trying to win as many games trying to sneak into that plan. But yeah, videos like this that are surfacing, there's something there. Yeah. And this isn't good. Yeah. Can we talk? I want to talk about that. What's up with AD? Was he tired? He just needed to sit, Eddie? Like what's going on here? Seems kind of odd. I mean, it is odd and it looks odd and it could be as simple as he was tired. It looked like he was coming from the tunnel. Maybe he went to the bathroom. I don't know. But I wouldn't think too hard of it. I mean, those guys are tired. And I think last night, you know, I know this is a team game and I know they're fighting to get in the playoffs and that Thunder have now passed them in the win column. So they're ahead of them. But this is one of those moments that is bigger than, you know, a Thunder and Lakers game in February. And it just is what it is now. Would have love for them to close out the game. Absolutely. I mean, LeBron said it when he got done with his ceremony. All right, now let's go win it. He looked like he gassed out a little bit. He didn't finish the game. Something going on with his foot. But testament to the Thunder and their composer to get through that moment and all of the fanfare that was going on and go on a huge run in the fourth quarter after they lost their lead and win that game. This is a good young team and they're learning how to win and what more contentious environment could they have than last night. And they figured out how to win as well. They're right behind the jazz now. There's a good chance that these guys are going to be in the play-in and they're dangerous if anybody has to win a one-off game against them. Like the Lakers found out yesterday. I gotta say though, Eddie, this is a huge night, right? And the fact that Anthony Davis knew that this would be a situation, right? And knew that this was going to look poorly. There's something here, man. This is an exhaustion. This isn't hurt. This isn't sick. And then you hear the encounter with LeBron being mic'd up about him just saying, I just want to know I love you. Like this is very, very strange to me. And again, this is probably a distraction This is probably very frustrating. LeBron, they weren't running their usual stuff. It was LeBron getting to free-throw the line. LeBron head down. But you have to know on a situation like this that that's what's going to happen. But I think there's something here with the Anthony Davis thing. This is not normal behavior, especially on a night like this where he clearly didn't care about how this looked or how this was being perceived. Look, if anybody knows the cameras are always watching, it's those words of clutch. They know the cameras are on them. So I hear you. So what do you think it is then? Do you think it's simply the one night? Like that night was just like, oh, okay, yeah, let's just get it over with. Or do you think there's, because in every other encounter we've seen them, everything seems completely and totally fine. But knowing that this is historic and this video will last forever and these pictures will last forever. What else could it be? Is there a bigger issue or it's just, I just want this night over with? Joms, we need you to find out. Joms, get on it. I don't know exactly what went in at this moment. I'll do some work. But listen, I think the microcosm of last night, yes, LeBron James made history. But the fact that they lost this game at home, this is a pivotal game. Dennis Schroeder just said earlier in the day, we have to win 19 of our next 28 games. Well, they just lost another game. So now they have to win 19 of their next 27. So this is a Lakers team that we're two days away from the deadline. You have all day today, most of tomorrow, and I think what Rob Palinka and the front office are trying to determine is what move can we make that really makes this team better and takes it to another level because losses like last night do not give you confidence in this team. Kyrie Irving was the one trade. I think everyone, LeBron James, everyone on this roster, members of the Lakers potentially too could understand that that takes them to the next level. They did not get that done. And so now you're 25 and 30. You're two games out of the play-in. You're four games out of the six seed. We were just talking last week. They were like two games out of the six seed, the fifth seed. Now there are four games out. So they're losing a cushion right now. And I think when you look at the scenarios, Utah, Detroit, Charlotte, what scenario out there, Toronto, what scenario really takes them to the next level and that's what you're going to see the next two days be about and I don't know if there is one. At least they got an easy game coming up this Thursday with Milwaukee coming to town. Listen, it's not getting easier. And again, we talked about all year long how what they need. They need shooting. They need this. They need that. I think last night, this looked like a deflated team. Maybe Anthony Davis has pissed off. They didn't go and get Kyrie Irving. I saw a video of him working out pre-game and he wasn't in it. I don't know if he was joking or what, but he just wasn't in it. He wasn't aggressive at all last night. In a must win game, your second best player that didn't show up. And this was a huge loss moving forward. But yeah, honestly, they've dug themselves such a huge hole. I don't even know if, you know, if a by Donovitch trade is going to magically get them out of this rut they're in. But I don't know, man, they're in a sticky situation. And can we all just joke all season long? We've joked all season long that this season was about the record and that's all they should be playing for. The record is broke now. We're really going to find out how into this the Lakers are going forward. And we already have LeBron grabbing his foot after the record. We know AD. We know Russ is frustrated. We know all that. And they've got a real chance to pack it in just as much as they had a chance to make a run. And we're going to find out a lot about the Lakers in the next week or so here. Well, I think the great Michelle Beatles said at best at the beginning of the season, they will not make the playoffs. I stand by that just like I stood by last year. I don't even know what we're discussing at this point. And I'd also like to say to all of those people who were trying to sell their tickets for tens of thousands of dollars for Thursday's game. I am so sorry. You're missing out on a big one. He could have waited, you guys. Just get 30 points and then make a bunch of money for a bunch of people. There was some other good news last night. The return of one Devin Booker. Oh, are things looking up in old Phoenix? Maybe. How about DeAndre, 8 and 35 points, 15 rebounds. Sons beating the Nets. Devin had 19, 6 and 5. He played 26 minutes. He missed 21 games. That is no joke with that growing injury, Taylor. So where are we on stock buying in the suns? Are we back in? I mean, I'm as high as I would say I've been on them all year long. I still don't think they're a contending team yet. But listen, they have the pieces to be a very good team. But they play the way they played last night, which they actually end up almost smoking this game at the end there. But DeAndre, 8 and dominated. Chris Paul was solid to get Devin Booker back is everything to them because these other guys have got reps. These other guys have got used to the system. These other guys have got, like, Mikhail Burgess has really grown the last 21 games Devin Booker has been out. And you see it afterwards. DeAndre, 8 and Sam, we got this thing rolling back. We got our guy back and now we're locked and loaded. Like, they're confident right now. And they are playing very, very well. And when you look with them, and I look at the Western Conference, it's wide open. I'm not scared of anybody. There's a lot of really good teams. I don't think he's going to go John Morant and say we're good in the West because they're not that necessarily, but it is wide open. And I think anything can happen in this conference and they just need to stay healthy. The Cam Johnson being back, they need to get campaign back. And the more healthy they get, I think they're definitely going to continue to win games because they have that experience. They have versatility. They have one of the best pure scores in the league. So they are definitely trending in the right direction. And to me, the West is wide open. Yeah, I think when you look at the standards, we love the Sacramento Kings. We all have loved them on this show. And they're just like a game and a half behind them from the three seed. And they're half a game behind the Clippers from four seed. As bad as we feel like the Suns have been and they had a rough January and a rough December and you're losing your best player for 20 games. They've tried at water. We say that a lot about the Nets. We say that about the Bucks. We say that about a bunch of teams. But they have actually tried at water and turned it around a bit of 1-8 of their last 10. That's a dangerous team. And he looked at the top of the conference, the Nuggets, the Grizzlies, the Kings, the Clippers. You wouldn't be crazy to pick the Suns over either one of those teams in a series, especially if they go in healthy. If we know Devon Booker's back and Chris Paul continues to look rejuvenated. He started the season and we were wondering if he was going to be on this team or starting for this team by now. And it looks great now. He's figured it out. He's got it back together. And if they remain healthy, and you do not want to see them in April or May because the top of the conference out there, I'm not sure either one of those teams could beat the Suns if they're fully locked in and they have all their guys. They have a really strong defensive versatility. They have two great leaders on their team and an incredible score in Devon Booker. They have all of the ingredients of a strong playoff team. We've seen them go to the finals two seasons ago, even last year. If they don't get COVID or whatever happened in that game seven, we don't know how they end up as well. So that's a dangerous team and teams need to be worried about seeing them in the opening round of the playoffs. I want to talk a little Cam Thomas, just because what a week this young man is having. 21 years old. What does it become the youngest player to have three 40 point straight games, by the way? Eddie, I'm assuming you were at the game. What's it like out there right now? How insane is this for this kid? I mean, back to back to back 40s is ridiculous. And we're talking about stuff that only LeBron and like Kobe have done at this age. And it's pretty absurd. You know, people who follows him, they feel like he always could have done this. He was stuck behind the rotation behind Patty Mills and sometimes someone like David Duke Jr. But he's always had this talent. He was the leading scorer as a freshman in the in the conference in the nation when he was at LSU. And that was his reputation coming in. He's a bucket. He's a pure bucket. He's been that on every level of basketball. Now 40 points for a week straight. That's a little ridiculous. But one of the things I do like and shows just how well of a score he is, he gets to the line a ton. He shot over 10 free throws again last night. And that's, you know, obviously with a couple of touch fouls at the end because they were up three and wanted to hold him too. But it's been pretty absurd. The question going forward, I think, is can he do this if he's not a dominant ball handler? Can he do this next to Spencer Denwood? He next to Kevin Durant, next to whomever else is going to be there handling the ball and bid as a secondary or third scorer? That's going to be interesting. That's where he's going to have to pick his spots. But he's absolutely shown what he can do if given the opportunity. And that's scored the basketball. Yeah. This has been so impressive. This is the closest thing to insanity that we've seen in recent years. Ooh. Three games in a row of over 40 points, you know, in New York, big market. This kid hasn't really had much opportunity. We've all known he can score the ball. Like Eddie said at LSU, the kid was a bucket. He's a high-ish draft pick. Like this is what the kid does. He has a professional score. And then one thing I will tell you then, he's in the rotation for the rest of the season because he, you know, outside of Kevin Durant, he's arguably their second best scorer on the roster. Maybe third with Spencer now. So he's going to get Venice. I guess he needs to find out ways to kind of, you know, play within the system. He's going to have to figure out how to play with Kevin Durant, how to play with Spencer Denwood. But looking at their roster, he's better offensively than 95% of their team. This kid deserves to be playing. And it's really an outrageous week that he's had. I mean, if they've lost to think two of the games, this guy's player of the week by far. Like he is putting up crazy numbers. And like I said, this is Linsanity. This is very, very similar. And I hope he continues to do it. And I weirdly think he will. Watching him play this kid is a hooper. I don't think he's going to average 40 points. But this kid is a proven bucket getter. This kid scores in so many different ways. He gets to the free-to-line. He can shoot. He can ISO. He can go one-on-one. There's nothing offensively that this kid can't do. And he deserves 25 minutes a night, at least going forward from this team. Well, he's certainly thriving in this post-Kairi era shams. But as far as the team and the front office, what's the mindset over there with, you know, little more than 24 hours to go before the deadline? Cam Thomas has probably been a great positive distraction for this team. And like Chandler said, he's been unreal the way he's been playing. And it's not like he's doing it against slouches. He's done it against the Clippers. He just did it last night against the Suns. He's facing McKell Bridges, Cam Johnson, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Terence Mann. So he's doing it at a high level. And I think this team all along viewed him as a six-man type of guy on a championship contender. Well, I think that vision is starting to finally come true to some extent. We'll see how it looks when they're healthy. But I think this team, they're still trying to navigate and scan the marketplace. What kind of star can they go out and get, whether it's a Pascal Siakam, Ogyana Nubi, John Collins, like what name is out there that you can go get? The tough part for them is right now they've got a few draft picks that they can play with. But come summertime, this is a team that's going to have four or five first-rounders that they can use. They're going to have contracts that you can trade. So it's this weird middle ground that teams like, you know, Dallas, teams like the Nets have found themselves in, you know, over the course of this year and going into the summers, you're going to have way more draft picks come summertime than you do now. The Lakers, same thing. The Lakers will have more draft picks than just two unlocked come the summertime. So what's the risk and reward? But they're going to weigh trying to see whether they go all in now or wait for the offseason. Yeah, I think Shams is right. You know, look, you have the clock ticking with Kevin and the rumors are that he's not going to play throughout the All-Star game. So now you have another two weeks. We have to play without him. You've got to make it work. You're going to get a spancer, you're going to get a scorer in soon and be a much better team. But they need to find a way to continue to keep winning these games. And when you have a mega star who's 34 years old, who's been playing at an MVP level, you do feel the pressure to add now. But they may just be limited by the market. You know, I think in the moment right now, they probably can be beat with a few offers for OG, for Pascal Siakam, for whomever that other star is that's on the market. And everything below that, I think Shams mentioned it yesterday, there are one draft pick deals, you know, you're talking about Boyan Bandanovic, the other Bogdanovic, you're talking about these guys that are going to cost you one pick and aren't mega stars necessarily get you over the top. They're probably adding depth. So they have to weigh that because this summer they can offer more and who knows who could become available this summer. We know this is the league of disgruntled stars. And there's always this list of 25 to 26-year-old guys who are just waiting to get on their next team and are going to cost you four, five, six draft picks. So yeah, maybe it is smarter and more measured until June and say, hey, we have all these draft picks. Can we get X superstar? But you also got to wonder, are we going to waste another year of Kevin Durant by saying next summer? After already saying that last summer, you have to really consider that. But unfortunately, yeah, it sounds like we're not going to see Kevin until after the all-star break after the trade down line, obviously. And they continue to slip down the standings. They quietly just dropped to five last night. And another four or five games without Kevin, who knows where they end up? They're going to need those wins. And they could use some help right now if they can go get it. How quickly everything changed out there in Brooklyn, seemingly overnight and seemingly by one man. And he made his first appearance yesterday. Kairi in Dallas, first time as a Maverick as we're seeing him. And he spoke on his time in Brooklyn. Let's take a listen. You know, the reporting and the journalism that was going to come out of why I left. I knew that was going to be speculation. But for me personally, just sitting in the seat today, I just know I want to be places where I'm celebrated and not just tolerated or just kind of dealt with in a way that doesn't make me feel respected. And there were times throughout this process when I was in Brooklyn where I felt very disrespected. Hmm. Isn't disrespected two-way road? That's an interesting comment. Eddie, he broke up with you. So how are you feeling? I mean, Kairi handled the presser in ways that I expect he would. You know, he said a lot, but he said a little. He tried to keep the cordial kind of couldn't help himself. You know, and then he talks about Kevin and, you know, set out to achieve certain things and didn't accomplish everything, but had a great time and all that stuff. But, you know, what else is he going to say at this point? Unless he's going to do scores, sure he's going to have to try to play with the middle ground a little bit. I think that's what he did. I think he's happy to be in a new team. I think, you know, it's interesting he said he's not talking contract stuff until the summer because apparently that was the issue in Brooklyn. But it's all whatever. I want to see him on the court. I want to be entertained by, you know, that roster and what they can do going forward. And the press conference is the press conference. He had to finally face the media. It's one of the reasons why I was almost positive he was never going to play the game last Saturday because if he had to play for the Nets and then talk about the Nets to the Nets media after very publicly asking out, we've already seen them keep him away from media before I just didn't think it was a habit. You know, look, he said all the stuff he had to say, whether he was disrespected or not. I mean, I think there's a good argument that he was. But there's also a good argument that, you know, he's complicit in the disrespect as well. So it's frustrating all around. I think it's even frustrating for him. But, you know, soon we'll be back at basketball and can watch that. Yeah, I think the disrespect comment is going to rub a bunch of people the wrong way because then you ask yourself, well, how exactly did you respect your teammates or throw away the front office? Who cares what your relationship? But like your teammates, dude, you quit on your teammates a bunch of times, Chandler. He also mentioned that his work ethic is underrated. How did you receive that? Yeah, I don't think anyone's ever questioned anything about his on-the-court production, about his work ethic. You don't get handles like Kyrie Irving. You don't get an offensive game like Kyrie Irving without working extremely hard. I don't think anyone's ever questioned that. And he knew like when this trade happened, he knew he was going to have to discuss these things. And he knew he was going to have to kind of recap everything that he's went through. He's now dealing with a new organization. He's dealing with new media. Like Eddie said, he kind of said a little, but he said a lot and he's disrespected. He's frustrated and he stands by who he is. And that's why he apologized for the whole anti-Semitic things. He knew he was going to get these questions and you can just tell he's kind of over. He's frustrated. He wants to just move on. He wants to just play basketball on a fresh start. So hopefully that's his mindset going forward. Listen, he addressed the media exactly how we thought Kyrie was going to address the media. He's there to play basketball. He's there to help Luca Donkic. He's there to win games for them. And that's exactly what he needs to do. He needs to keep his head down and play basketball. Dominate and play exactly how you're playing in Brooklyn. Just be a good dude. Be a good teammate. Be a leader. Help these young guys do whatever you can for the next three months. Because as much as the Dallas Mavericks want this to work out for him, he's auditioning for them too. And then whatever you say, he wants to get paid. And Dallas is really the only option for him to get paid now if this works because if this doesn't work, no way a team has taken another flyer on them after another team. So he's found himself in an interesting situation. And I do think it's perfect fit. I think the guys that he has with Nico and his relationship with Michael Finley, with Mark, guys like Derrick, they have a lot of guys. They have the best sports psychiatrist, DK, who's going to definitely be listening to him and letting him vent. And like he said, he wants to be seen. He wants to be heard. He wants to be celebrated, not tolerated. This is who he is. And I think the Mavs have the resources to get the best out of Kyrie Irving. And again, it's a dice roll for both. If Kyrie doesn't behave, he's not getting paid from anybody else. And if he does it, then the Dallas Mavericks just made a really, really bad trade if he walks in three months. So it's kind of an open-ended situation and you can't really ever know what's going to happen with Kyrie Irving. The biggest thing here is he's getting a fresh slate. And I think that's what Mark Cuban, Nico Harrison, Jason K. That's what they bring him. There was just so much toxicity, so much that went on. And like Eddie said, for sure, it's both sides. Both sides are going to be, you know, at fault at the end of the day. But I think when you look at this situation, you know, to an extent, I think when you look at the situation, when you think about the contract extension from last summer, those talks, the extension talks recently, the tweet link. There's a lot that I think principally, and I think the conversations that were had, where yes, Kyrie Irving did feel disrespected. But again, on the other side, it's, you know, where you're available, where you're around all the time. So both sides, you know, I think are probably better off moving on and moving to different paths. And now Kyrie Irving gets a clean slate with a new organization, different culture, different energy, different vibe, different co-star, and I think everything, it sounds like everything in Dallas right now is on the up and up and very, very positive. Only time will tell. We're going to get to the Shom Scoop here in a second. Before we do though, I wanted you to hear what Pat Beverly said on his latest podcast about our teammate. Yeah, Shamsman on his ass. Like Shamsman, like, bring on Shamsman, breaking out, like, quicker, faster. The look of it looks better. And woes have just come with, like, one woes bomb that would be, like, four Shams and one, like, damn. You know what I'm saying? So, like, they got a little... Wow. Ooh, tail of the tape, Shams. Are you liking it or what? By the way, his pants were something. Do you want to address that or do you want to just move on? You tell me. No, I want to get Chandler's thoughts on it. Chandler was a Patrick Beverly teammate. So I'm going to pass the ball here. I don't pass the ball much, but I'm going to pass the ball right here. I also love Pat for having his phone on the bench last night recording the bra on as he walked off. Well, why not? He's a circuit. I thought I was the only one who noticed that. He's getting material for his podcast is what he's doing. His bar stool podcast is the perfect fit, the platform for Patrick Beverly, because he gets to say what he wants and say what he feels and things. And we get to listen and it's awesome. Yes. We are the beneficiaries of that. All right, Shams, you do have some scoop for us today and a little dunk contest drama. Please be good. What is it? So Jericho Sims, the next second year, second year center. Jericho Sims has entered the NBA dunk contest. We saw a picture of him a few weeks ago. His head was over the rim when he was jumping. So he can definitely get up there. He has entered the dunk contest, but Shaden Sharp, the Portland showbizers rookie, he has dropped out. He's decided to focus more on the second half of the NBA season. His rookie here and really avoid that rookie wall from what I'm told. So no Shaden Sharp in the dunk contest. Jericho Sims in. I know this breaks Chandler's heart. I know he put all the money he had saved up for the rest of his life on Shaden Sharp. So, you know, I'm sure this is an unfortunate outcome for Chandler. It is Chandler. First of all, he was going to win this thing. I told you guys this couple of weeks ago and he was not put on that rising stars game. I said, Chandler, I said, I wouldn't do the dunk contest then. Because he's, I'm petty. Now that I know he's petty, I like it even more. Chandler, tell me this. Chandler, tell me this. Tell me this. Do you think he's really focused on the second half of the season or it's about rising stars? I want to hear from a player perspective. He's not doing it because they snubbed him on the rising stars. You know, when the Salt Lakes hit, he did dunk six times. He deserves to be in that game. He deserves, again, he has made himself a real player. He's a valuable piece on the Portland Trail Blazers. There's guys playing in that game that haven't had as good of a year and that aren't as good of a player as him. And he's frustrated and he's bitter. And I honestly, again, I'm petty. I would do the same thing. And to me, it was a no-brainer. He was the headliner. He was for this kind of weak dunk contest class. He was the only one I was excited to watch. And again, I think he's not focusing. He's 19, 18 years old. He's not focusing on the second half of the season. You're ridiculous. Right? Like the idea of 30 minutes of your life. I know. You know what? Petty beddies. I love me. I'm going to bring him to LA and have him hanging Malibu for the weekend. I love the move. Wow. Hold on. You didn't ask for any of us to come hang out with you and Malibu. This kid does this one thing and you're like, come on out. That's the worst. Anyway, I'm in Toronto right now. I'm in the hotel. Upstairs, a few floors. The spurs are here. But I'm going to ask Shoms. Hey, Shoms, what are my spurs up to? So they made a trade yesterday. I think they're going to be in a lot of these types of trades. They got Dwayne Deadman from the Miami Heat. Dwayne Deadman has only played one game since January 10th. She had that incident where he got into it with the coaches through the massage gun on the court. This is a return for Dwayne Deadman. I do not think he will play in San Antonio though. So look for the outcome of that situation post-trade deadline. But the one thing to watch with the spurs, they're going to be a team. They have ample cap space. When you look at salary dumps, the spurs are going to be right there for that. And I think another thing to continue to keep your eye on, Michelle. And I know your eyes are wired on this. Jakapoto, Josh Richardson, Doug McDermott. Where do these guys end up if anywhere? That's what, you know, those are three really good names of monitor ahead of the deadline tomorrow. Michelle, how did you celebrate this trade last night? I don't know why you're laughing, jerk. Okay? Just chill out. We'll never see him anyways, according to Shoms. So I'm not even going to get excited, but I also, I do dread certain guys leaving when they have to leave. Pour a drink out for him, Michelle. Pour a drink out for him, Michelle. I know. Just a little bit. Shoms, you have, I don't know, 27 hours to just go crush the world. Best of luck. Best of luck. And we'll see you next week. All right. We're taking a break. Coming up next. Yolkich, another triple double last night. And he did it in three quarters. Quick break. And we'll talk about it when we run it back. Returns. We are back. That man has a fireball. Oh, that's okay. Guys, little man, big man. This was nasty, too. The way he, the way he caught this, the ball was like lower than the rim. And with, to do this with one hand, two feet, bring it all the way up and cock it back. And on a big guy. Like. Yeah. I feel like this is quiet. It's got to feel amazing when the tip in bounces, like the perfect way for you to have a poster. That's. That is the perfect story. That's ridiculous. The perfect moment. It does exist. Yeah. That must feel great actually. And. Oh yeah. Yeah. I'm in on that. All right. Little man, big man always gets a win. How about Tori Craig? A rejection is always fun. Hmm. Stand over after you block. Yeah. It's like a guard. You almost never block shots this emphatically. So I, I love this even though it's against the nets. I still love it. And I'll say it's, it's, it's a tough position for the offensive player to be in because you legitimately do not see this man coming and he sees exactly what you're about to do. Right. There's nothing. By the way, it's not even, it's like a mini stare down, but I almost feel like the idea of he's bored was even more disrespectful. Drew Bakes on show angles. By the way, this kid has bounce. My boy, James Dunleavy is his agent. And I saw him work out this summer. This kid should be in the dunk contest. He is an absolute freak. I mean, might as well. Yeah. Throw him in there. Come on. I love that it's like no frills. It's two-eyed dudes. And it's just like the most, you know, just simple dunk, but right on his, on his head, like, this is great. Yeah. Like this is the game for the Blazers though. Still shot of this. This poster would not even be dope. It's just meh. But he's locked in. That's all it matters. All right. Got Kenny Martin. Okay. Okay. Now here we go. Yeah. This is nice dunk contest participant. He might be the favorite now. Yeah. He might be. This is good, good genetics. It's crazy how he plays just like his pops, but left handed. It's, it's pretty ridiculous. Clones. It's crazy that there's a lot of gene pool going on between both of these guys. That's kind of awesome. See science kids. It does work. Second generation. Both guys. Stay in there and change. Those guys. I like this. I'm just saying. Sometimes it works. I know he's left handed, but a lefty dunk just always looks better. Well, that's just. Yeah. Yeah. Cause everything looks weird. Lefty. So it just makes it look much more difficult. I get it. I totally get it. Do you see the video where they put like KD shooting, but it was like him shooting left handed backwards. Yeah. That was really trippy. That's just weird. Yeah. It's trippy. I feel like I'm drunk or on drugs. All right. I know who's played the nuggets, but we really want to talk. Yoke. It's because man, this dude's crazy. Another triple double a 146 112 win. Goodness. He had 20 points, 16. This is 12 rebounds. His 19th triple double of the season by half time. Are we dare I say, are we almost bored at this point Chandler that we don't even make a big deal about it? I mean, we are. It's kind of like the honest effect. These guys just continue to do what they do. And to have this, I thought it was half time. Maybe it was three quarters to have a triple double. And that short of minutes is so insane. It's just becoming like clockwork for this guy. And this game was over, you know, early. But one of that is because the way he came out and he dominated and Michael Porter had a big game. Aaron Gordon had a big game. They're really starting to find these guys that mesh and play well with your kids. You could throw a bunch of talented guys together and it doesn't always work. These guys have found their way, picked their spots, play off and move without the ball. And obviously everything goes to Yoke. And you're right. We are we're getting numb to his greatness. We're getting numb to the way he plays and he plays so brilliantly, so unselfish. It really is remarkable what this does, what this dude does with his size and his basketball IQ and his vision. It's crazy. This is almost one of the dangers of the media world we live in, right? Where we're just constantly bombarded with this content and constantly talking about it, hearing about it. It's like at some point we're like, ho hum, like whatever, another triple double. But that doesn't mean it's not amazing. You know, if you see him, if you see a magician pull a rabbit out of hat four times, he still pulled a rabbit out of hat. Like he pulled a rabbit out of hat, then it's still amazing. And that's kind of where Yoke is at with this. It's ridiculous how he plays and he plays, you know, I hate to do like the right way, wrong way conversation, but he plays such a pure brand of basketball and he can be so passive and he can be affected in so many ways. I mean, a lot of the same reasons why we go, hey, LeBron is great because he gets rebounds and he does all this stuff on the court. Yoke does a lot of the same stuff and I think deserves some of the same reverence. He's been great. He's been incredible to watch. I think, I think there actually might be voter fatigue as we go forward despite people fighting it and it might cost him a third MVP, but even if he doesn't win it, he's still been amazing this year and deserves all the praise he's getting. And I love the turtleneck with the suit. Thank you. I love that look. I don't like the hat, but the turtleneck with the long jacket, that's fire. No, the whole look is very like, it's a modern peeky blinders, which I have nothing but great things to say. Chandler, tell me that's not classy. In the world of Kyle Kuzma's, we need a couple of yoke-itches, right? He could do no wrong in my eyes. This guy, he dresses to the nines. He plays to the nines. This guy has figured it out. He is class, class, class, Michelle. Chef's kiss. I love it and the hat's good, Eddie. You don't know what you're talking about. We're going to take, we're going to take a quick break right here. John Moran, he says stuff. This time he says the Grizzlies are the most hated team by the media. Well, we're media. We'll talk about that next when we run it back returns. Well, Bulls played Memphis last night. John Moran, 34 points. It's a 104-89 win for Memphis. Grizzlies second win in their last 10 games. Is this the beginning of the bounce back, Chandler? Yeah, I mean, they did what they were supposed to do. Again, this is a team that they should be. This is a team that they're ahead in the standings. Obviously, a different conference and a team that's been kind of up and down all year long. But, yeah, listen, the Memphis Grizzlies are an interesting team. They have the talent. They have the pieces. They just haven't really been consistent. They've had guys in and out of the lineup. You know, they've had a lot of drama and a lot of stuff kind of surrounding them. But yeah, this is a top four teams in the Western Conference. They're going to, they're obviously going to get in. They're going to advance. It's just a matter of if they can stay healthy and if they can kind of get a good matchup going into the playoffs. But, yeah, I mean, I like this team a lot. I love John Morant. I love Joseph Bain. I love Jared Jackson. They've had a very good year. They're young. They're exciting. They're fun. They talk a lot of trash. They kind of created this whole identity and they're running with it. But they're going to get people's, people's best shot every single night, just the way they talk and the way they act. And it's, they're just going to have to back it up. Yeah, they're not surprising teams anymore. They're on the Scouting Report. They know what these guys are going to do. And like Chad said, they're working through injuries, suspensions and the like. And they've only won two of their last 10 games. But they can easily turn this around. I think the All-Star break will be good for them as they go forward. And even with all that they're dealing with. They're still the two seed in the West. They still haven't even lost any ground. So they're going to be just fine. And they're really going to have their chance to prove themselves in the playoffs. We're not going to really care about what they do in February, to be honest. Please give us Grizzly Warriors first round. Oh, yes, please. And nobody do anything stupid that you get like ejected or suspended because we want to see it. Jaws good for quotes, right? I mean, he's given us already a few this season. Here's the latest. You see it on social media. Anything that has to do with the Grizzlies is frontline national TV and national people putting it out. Anything else? It don't be said. So wait, what? I don't get it. They're not just getting negative attention. You guys just said amazing, glowing things about them. Eddie, why? Why is he being so sensitive right here? You know, when the little girl in Memphis got her basketball stolen and in job, brought her to her game set or courts, I gave her his shoes and all the stuff. I heard about that too. Just like I heard about the laser or whatever it was that they're applying. He's overblowing this. And at the end of the day, there needs to be a little bit of accountability. We only talk about jobs supposedly beating up some 16-year-old over the summer. Because jobs supposedly beat up some 16-year-old over the summer. We're only talking about them trash talking and getting pushed around after they do it because they trash talk and they got pushed around when they do it. They were the ones arguing with Shannon Sharpe. They were the ones getting pushed around by Donovan Mitchell. We're reporting what they're doing. When they win games, we go, yo, it's amazing they win games. Last year, everybody loved the Grizzlies. The act is a little tired. There's no way around that. Clearly teams are getting annoyed by it. Clay Thompson, this book up there. Ron James has been vocal about it. The Cavs are vocal about it. Many teams have been vocal about it. So is it negative attention? It's because it's probably negative actions. When they're doing great, we talk about them doing great stuff. A lot of people came to Jerry's actions defense about the whole block controversy and think he's the new physical player of the year. So it's, you know, they're not a look inward with some of this negativity stuff and all that. We're not being overly negative. Trust me. We wouldn't much there. They talk about job and rent in a dump contest. Job and rent fighting the teenager over the summer and thinking he's a thug or whatever you want to call it. So that lies at their feet. Not at mine. Yeah. And everything they've done is self-inflicted, right? Everything they've done is kind of brought on by themselves. And like I just said, they've created this identity and they almost embraced this identity. Like I was there. This isn't a national media negative ambush on them. I feel like we don't even really talk about them honestly. We talk about the Nets. We talk about the Lakers. We talk about big markets. Memphis Grizzlies are a very small market that we talk about the issues that they provide us with. We watch Dylan Brooks play and he's going to do something that's going to irritate somebody and we talk about it. That's just how it is. And again, that's just the culture and what they've established there with they are tough and they do talk trash. And they kind of have this identity now of the new bad boys of the NBA. And to me, I think they did that themselves and they like that. And they say things like we're good out West and they say they have a dynasty and they made this beef with the Warriors who's arguably the greatest team of all time. They kind of shoot themselves in the foot a lot with this stuff. But on the same time, they're fun. They're young. They're exciting. They have probably the most entertaining basketball player in the world to watch and John Morant. And they are going to get attention because of that. So they create these situations and stuff. And then the media, again, I was a player once. I used to be so confused why this media or why this guy's talking about me, why he's saying we're just simply commentating on what we see. And a lot of times what they give us is negative stuff. Look, if anything, I think that laser story got buried yesterday. So that's probably a good thing because and secondly, in any good story or wrestling, the heel is the best part. Embrace the heel. This is a good thing. I don't know why this is a negative at all. But this is a very simple question. We have a game tonight between the Sixers and the Celtics, Chandler. The simple, simple question I ask you is right now, which of these two rosters would you rather have? Boston, for sure. I think they're younger. They have the best duo, I think, in the NBA. They have the leadership. They carry a different charisma and they have a different kind of confidence and maturity than Philly. And Philly, to me, has to prove something. I think Joelle's had a great year. They've been banged up a little bit. But to me, I think Boston's roster moving forward and currently is better. And currently. You agree, Eddie? Yes. I do. But the part of it is that they're two guys are just younger, you know? Joelle and Beat, I think, is the best player between the two rosters. But when you look at Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum, they've been battle tested since they were pups in the league. Jason Tatum has played in the conference finals against LeBron as a rookie. So I think they are more battle tested. I think they've shown more in the playoffs as well. And James Harden has made some great runs. But those guys are just in the finals last year and they're only getting better and they only look better this year. So yeah, I'm going with the younger roster and I actually think they're going to win tonight, too. It's going to be a great game, though. And I'm definitely not missing this game. Yeah, that's a good one. For sure. Oh, I'm sorry. You're not watching Spurs Raptors? How weird. We're going to take a quick break when we come back. We make picks. You make money. I almost said it with a straight face. We return. Get at a piece of $10 million in bonus bets with FanDuel's kick of destiny. All you have to do is bet $5 on Super Bowl 57. And if Gronk kicks a field goal live during the game, you'll get a piece of $10 million in bonus bets. It doesn't matter if you're new to FanDuel or already have an account. Gronk kick. You win. It's really that simple. Make every moment more with FanDuel, official sportsbook partner of the NFL. I just, I can't, I can't get over that picture. All right. So we had our, um, our parlay, our picks yesterday and in channel, guess what? You and I, huge winners. Eddie, gigantic loser. How does it feel? Just another day. Just another day in the office. Just another day. I blame Danny. Maybe switch my pick. Danny. So I would have won. I would have won. That's actually true. I would have won the best gambling sentence ever put together. I feel like I've said that a thousand times in Vegas. Okay. Good news is it's our Wednesday. It's our Friday. This is our last one for the week to go out. Strong boys. Eddie, what you got? I'm going LaBello ball, chucking and making at least three threes tonight against the Wizards. Over three. Excuse me. Uh, two teams that are not going to play defense that don't really care about what's going on. And LaBello ball has no conscious. So I'm expecting way more than three and a half threes. Dang. That's a pretty good one. We haven't had one of those in a while. All right, Chandler. Um, I have Paul George over 23 and a half points. I will be at this game. Kyrie Irving is playing and I just think their defensive assignments, rotations going to be a little all over the place tonight and PG is going to go get some buckets against them. So Paul George over 23 and a half. You think the Mavericks defensive strategy is going to be off tonight? Okay. I'm here in Toronto and they're giving the Spurs double digits. So I'm taking it. Yeah. That's right. Plus 10 and a half at Toronto. We did it. This one's going to hit. I know it. We are done for the week. Enjoy the rest of this one and trade that line tomorrow. Woo. See ya.