 bad news for America. Cowboys want to play off game. Good news for America. We get to watch them attempt more extra points. Run it back. Starts now. Run it up. Run it back. Run it up. Run it back. Run it up. Run it back. Hey, happy Tuesday. It is Tuesday. Yes, it is. This is run it back. And I'd like to introduce everyone to the gentleman as always stadium insider, Shamsherania. And the rating of the backgrounds is getting, it's getting worse. Chandler, but he's got extra light and Eddie's got a new vibe going. You're on the West Coast. I understand it. But I am. I'm right, right, right around Chandler's neighborhood apparently. Stalking him. He's right outside. Okay, this is good. I expect some, I expect some drinking to happen tonight at some point. All right, guys, we're gonna get right back. There was a nice, a nice full docket of games yesterday. It was like a good day because they were all day. But Jason Tatum with 51. Here's the MVP chance in Charlotte now has the most 50 point games in Celtics history, but he's only the fourth favorite right now in that MVP race on Fandall Sportsbook. So I ask you, Chandler, what, if anything, would need to happen for him to overtake Yochitch at this point? It's, uh, honestly, it's Yochitch. Like we said yesterday, he's kind of pulling away with it, which it's, it's Tatum's having such a good year. This dude's averaging 31, 8, and 4. It's pretty efficient. 47% from the field, 35 from 3, and they have a nice cushion there as the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. They've been the most consistent best team all year long. Uh, it's just Yochitch. The way he's doing it, the triple doubles, uh, it's tough because there's four guys right now that could easily win it in my book. And for, for whatever reason, just the way Yochitch is doing the way he's playing these huge eruption of games he's having. Uh, it's just, I think he's pulled away with it, but I don't know, maybe, uh, the nuggets take a slide here. They stopped winning games. Jochitch gets hurt, misses time. It's going to have to take something because right now Yochitch run away with it, but Tatum games like this can only help. And again, they're the best team. They've been the most consistent team and he's the best player on the best team. So he should, I think he should be higher than the fourth, to be honest with you, but I think he should probably be second, but, uh, more games like this and more wins for them will kind of translate to him kind of staying in the hot and staying on, on, on Yochitch's tail. Yeah, he's got a uphill battle as far as the MVP goes, you know, Yochitch, as I said yesterday, he's kind of has the narrative going just to interesting player. I was wondering about him last year about how could he win an MVP? You know, the MVP is several formulas. He's going to have gaudy stats or win a ton of games and have really good stats. Well, he has that now, but unfortunately, even 31 points a game, he's third in the league and scoring. There's two guys ahead of him, even having great stats and being first in his conference. The other guy he's dealing with has gaudy stats and he's first in his conference. So it's an uphill battle. I mean, it might take some injuries. Who knows? Um, he's having a great season. He's being recognized for having a great season, but there's MVP candidates that start at the season ready to make that leap and did. And it's just unfortunate for him. They did it the same time as him. I think the one way Jason Tatum can have a more bigger say in the MVP conversation, more games like last night, like we've seen Nikola Yochitch have marquee games. Yes. Jason Tatum has had those big games as well and has them, uh, you know, with the Celtics number one, firmly all season long. But I think you saw him last night, like he had a chance to just have 40 and he goes for 50. And I think that cemented him is another 50 point player in the NBA this year. I think having more performances like that, but yeah, I mean, it would probably take a Denver nugget slide at some point, uh, during the second half of the year and for Boston to maintain their number one seed because other than that, when Nikola Yochic is doing right now with that team number one, it's easy to say, yes, he's won it twice in a row. It's hard to give him a third time, but he's making it increasingly difficult to look past them, uh, in Denver. I do think Tatum being fourth on that list is probably more of a sticking point at this point. He should be higher on that, but he did talk about going for 50 specifically last night. Uh, and here's what he mentioned that he had talked to Jamal Crawford. He texted me after the heat game. He's like, if you're ever that close to 50, nobody's going to remember the time and score. They're just going to report if you got 50 or not. And that's what was going through my mind. Jamal telling me, if you get that close to 50, go get it. Uh, he shot a three. They were 30 seconds, 38 seconds, really. And they were up 13. Chandler, do you have any issues with him going for that 50? I don't. Honestly, Jamal is completely right that, you know, obviously he still had a great game regardless, but 50 is kind of a headline number and nobody's going to remember how no one's going to remember that shot a couple of weeks from now, a couple of days from now, maybe the Hornets, the next time they play him, if they were any good and there was a rival, this would be an issue. Uh, but in a game like last night where he's on the road, he's getting MVP chance in their building, they're not a good team. This was the perfect game for him to do something like this. But yeah, if you're doing this against Milwaukee or you're doing this because Brooklyn, you're going to have to see them in the, in the playoffs. A shot like this could be personal and could be offensive, but a game like this where it's such an uphill battle like we just talked about for him to be in this MVP talk, he needs to get 50 balls like this for that resume and he did it. Yeah, I think you guys are right. He needs these type of games. He needs these signature moments to kind of build up his narrative, his story, his claim for the MVP. And I'm with Chandler. I'm a, I'm a stat chaser. I don't care. I'm, I'm captain of the stat chaser team. If you're close to 60, stay in the game. I don't care how much you're up. Uh, you know, not Ricky Davis quite throw the rebound off the backboard stat chasing, not booked the way he got his 70 and they're fouling their down 17 and they're trying to just hemorrhage points. But yo, if you're close, if you're there, if you're in the game and that number is inside, you see guys do this all the time. They're looking up at that scoreboard. They're trying to figure out how close they are to their triple double to their double, double to 40 to 50 to 60. Go get, go get it. It's fine. And then like Chandler said, it's not like the Hornets can do anything about it. They got it. They got to just accept it. Players, players during the game always know how many points they have. They always know how many rebounds they always know if they're close to a double, double, triple, whatever. So whatever they say, they don't. They're lying. Are you telling me that they're lying a lot, Chandler? I feel like that's what you're saying. I get it. I totally get it. Look, on the Hornets side, I know we thrown a lot of shade at them. They have lost five straight. They do have pieces, those shams and Michael Jordan still is in that building somehow some way in spirit. So what, what's the deal? What direction is this team headed? They're a clear rebuilding team. I mean, when you look at their record, they've been without miles bridges all season long. They've had extended injuries. Lamello Balls missed a lot of time. Dennis McJune's missed a lot of time. Gordon Hayward has missed a lot of time. They've just dealt with an onslaught. Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong for this team. They've got the worst record in the Eastern Conference, the second worst record in the league. And I think as you move toward the deadline coming up in less than one month, teams are expecting the Hornets to listen in on a lot of their key players. Terry Rosier, I'm told, is going to be a guy that the Hornets will listen on conversations about. Can you get young players and picks for guy like that? And then when you look at expiring contracts of guys nearing the end of their deals, Jalen McDaniels, Mason Plumlee, Kelly Ubre Jr., Gordon Hayward, of course, I think they're going to be open minded with all those guys and seeing if there's a market, there's interest for those players, some of which are on expiring deals. But look for the Hornets to really move toward a rebuild in the second half of the year. And you know, there's going to be playoff teams that are going to have a level of interest in some of these guys. Yeah, they're not a good team, but they do have pieces and they do have assets. Like if I'm a contender or if I'm a team that's in the hunt, I'm looking at this roster and they have pieces that can really help a good team. But there are ways away. But you know what, this season could all be washed if they get that number one pick with Victor and kind of start to rebuild fresh there with him moving forward with Lamello and with guys like that. That could be interesting. But yeah, they're they're plummeting and they're plummeting fast and it's kind of number one pick or bust. That's a big gamble. Steph Curry, Warriors, this is a weird turn of events when we're talking about the Warriors and this being a big win. So he had 41 yesterday, the matinee, they're five and 17 on the road now and Curz, the guy that said he said it is a big win when you're 500. Every win is a big win. Look, we all know what the Warriors struggles have been so far. But man, eight games under 500. That's what the Wizards are and they're calling it a big win. Where are we with this team, Eddie? How is this even possible to say this? I mean, Steve Curz, right? And he sent in a message to his team and he's kind of poking the bear a little bit because he knows they have to be frustrated as well. I think for them, it is a big win, not because they beat the Wizards, but to see Steph look like this again. I think it's first two games. It's a little passive and people are wondering, you always the shoulders still hurt a little bit or is he just, you know, catching up, got a little rust. But to see him attacking in the way he did, it was encouraging. When you have your best player looking like the best player in the world, that makes you feel like you can win every single game. It is kind of a funny quote on the state of the team and where they're at. But I mean, that's reality right now. They're a 500 team and they played like it. They've been inconsistent. They've been lackadaisical. They had a failure for attention to detail and they've been flawed all season long. And you know, maybe this is the beginning of a turn. They're one of those teams who can hit the switch and have hit the switch and it's frustrating, I guess, as a fan and it sounds like it's frustrating as a coach as well. But this is where they're at and this is what they're going to have to snap out of. They really don't have a choice. Yeah, when you're struggling like this, especially on the road for this team, every win is a big win and they need every win going forward. And you're right, Eddie, Steph showing games like this after the injury is huge. Jordan Poole having game like this at the same time as Steph Curry is huge. Dreymond Green played really, really well last night. He had 1710 and six or something. He was scoring. He was knocking down his free throws. He made two threes. This is the kind of attack and recipe that they have to have, especially when Wiggins is getting his legs back. Clay is out. This is a team that's not concerned. They don't care who they play in the first round. Did they think they can beat anybody? And I don't doubt them. I think they are a team that can flip the switch and they're a tough matchup nightmare for pretty much anybody in the Western Conference. So yeah, just just to be able to get a win like this and have your best player play at the level he did last night was huge. Yeah, I don't know if the flip the switch thing is something that Warriors can just get used to. Chandler made a great point right there. I think that's really what this team is starting to do, though, you know, like, and it might just be a dog days of the season type thing. Yes, they've got all their guys back. But when I saw them the other night in Chicago, you can kind of see it came in ebbs and flows. And yesterday in DC, there was a fan joining with Dreymond Green during the game. And you just saw the energy level of Dreymond Green and that Warriors team shift. So I don't know if they need a fan in the audience every night kind of joining them, motivating them for championships in what nine, 10 years that they've been going here, not eight years during this run, like it's exhausting. It takes a lot of mental fortitude on a nightly basis. So maybe this team just needs motivation on a nightly basis because second half of the game last night when that fan was at Dreymond Green, he had a stellar half. The team one going away. And I think it was a big one for the Warriors, I think now two and 10 against the East on the road. And apparently it was sort of that good fun heckling like Dreymond didn't have the dude thrown out. So that's nice. Got some growth going on the parts of both sides. Jordan pulled with 32 and seven last night right now on the Fandals Sports Book site. He's he's second for six man right behind Russell Westbrook Eddie. So right now, who are you picking between those two? I'm picking Jordan pull. I think it's kind of crazy to me that those are the top two guys. I think, you know, I would really want to see Mathern win the award. But you know, he's going to be better now that now that Stephen Curry is back. He's going to be better now that he slotted it back in that six man role. And he also has a nice stats boost from those games he started. But I'm going him over Russ. But look, we back bash Russ all the time and everybody is trying to trade him and all that. He's had a good season. He's had a really good season. I know he lost the game the other night. He clearly got grabbed by Joe and beat. I know the NBA said it wasn't a foul. It was something. But yeah, as far as if these are the guys, I'm a big Jordan pull, I think he's going to have better opportunity. Yeah, I think he's going to have bigger games like this. He's going to have better numbers. I just he's started half the games, right? So I don't know what the look how do you how do you justify that if Clay's in and out of the lineup. If Steph misses more time, he's going to start, which would be the only reason I don't think he runs away with this award. But yeah, I like Russ just because of kind of everything he's done, how much he's been just shit on in the media and how much he's been kind of just dragged. And ever since they made that move to for him to the bench, I don't know what switch, but he has been aggressive. He has been playing confident and he has been producing. So they could go either way. I'm with Eddie. I love Matherin. I think he's an absolute stud. But you could really go either way with these guys. Yeah, it's crazy. He's not even on that. The ticker, the graphic. Guys, let's go west, shall we to the crypto dot com arena. A very heartwarming moment last night, share between an old man and a young man. Here it is. You play against my dad first, your first NBA game ever really Sacramento. You feel Oh, don't you? It's the you feel old, don't you? That really kills me. Look, LeBron went on to score 48 against Houston Lakers snap in their three game losing streak. He said afterwards that he was extremely exhausted, really tired. His body sore that he could have taken the night off, but they can't really have him taking the night off sadly. The fact that LeBron can't take the night off and needs 48 against the Houston Rockets team Chandler says what? That they're not very good. And we're done. Right. Also, I don't like that he's saying he's extremely tired. We all know what he's doing. We all know he can't have a game like this and then go and say that you almost didn't play like I don't love that. But listen, he had an unbelievable game last night. The way he was scoring the things the way he's producing at this stage of his career and this age really, really is remarkable. But yeah, you're looking at a completely tanking horrific team in the Rockets that are so young that aren't even trying to win games. And no doubt in my mind, if LeBron did sit this game, the Rockets win that game. So this is just where they are. But at the end of the day, look, this was a win. And this kind of keeps them right there that they get things to try and squeeze in that last spot. And this is what they are. They are who they are at this point. They're not a great team. They need to get Anthony Davis healthy. They need to get a lot of their guys healthy. But these are the these are the type of games that LeBron unfortunately has to have in year 20 for them to even have a chance at beating. They were arguably the worst team in the NBA. I get LeBron's comment and I get the concern over his minutes. Yes, you don't want him to play 35 plus minutes on back to back days. But he clearly can do it. And I'm kind of with Chandler like, you know, you don't have to tell us that it was tough. You had to play back to back. Of course he does. You are the goal. You clearly could do it. You went out there and almost dropped 50 on these young boys. So I mean, look, they need that they needed at the end of the day. They need it. He knows they need it. That's why he was out there. It's pretty much what he said. I do like the moment with Jabari. I do think it's funny. It kind of reminds me of like being around my my son's friends and just like, you know, I think I'm cool and tell him around a bunch of 16 year olds and I'm actually just an old Goober. But I my favorite part is that he's not mic'd up. So that was probably about as natural as we're ever going to get to hear LeBron. And he was just like, tell me that, man. Like I feel LeBron everybody in their mid to late 30s hates to be reminded that they're in their mid to late 30s. So yeah, great moment. I don't think that's true though. I knew can do back to back. It's cool. Like it's it's in the contract. You can pull it off. Yeah, but LeBron can't claim that because he's literally riding this I'm 38 ride all the way to the end like this. I mean, we have to hear about it 24. I think during the broadcast last night, there must have been a drinking game internally because we know he's 38. He spends a million dollars a year on his body, blah, blah, blah. Like you can't do all these things and then sit there and tell everybody that you're talking, you know, it's like taking nine jobs you don't need. And then calling yourself a hero. That's weird to me. But whatever. Okay. It's Choms. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cut you off. I think a couple of things. One, that moment to me is dope. Like the fact that Jabari Smith's dad is at the game and the bar is Mr. Says that Tim during the game, like awesome kudos to the Mike crew to find that footage and then have the dad and like, you know, kudos everyone all around for that. I think, listen, the way LeBron's played this year, though, the numbers he's putting up the last couple of weeks, like 48 points. I know when he signed that two year hundred plus million dollar extension this summer, I think part of that was we knew this Lakers team was not going to be a surefire playoff team. No doubt about it. Like this team did not look capable from a roster of construction standpoint to be a shoe in for the playoff. So it's like, why did LeBron sign that extension? Well, it's like, listen, you secure some money. And at the end of the day, I think even those around the Lakers didn't exactly know how LeBron would play this season as you're going into year 20. Yes, he was going to surpass Cremium Duelger Bar at some point this year. I don't know if everyone expected it would be this soon. I mean, it seems like it's only within the next 10 games or so at the pace he's at now. So I think the level LeBron's playing at now has to be a surprise to even the Lakers. And that has a lot to do with the fact that now that AD is going to be on the way back in the next few weeks, right before the All-Star break, how does that position them before the trade deadline and what moves they could make? I'm glad you brought up trade deadline leads me to my tease because the Raptors have won four of their last five. But CJ McCullum says they're going to be sellers as we approach this trade deadline. That on running back when we return to send a game in overtime right there from RJ Barrett. But Brunson's game winning attempts off the mark. The Knicks end up losing this one to Toronto. The Raptors have won four out of five. They do have 10 of their next 12 out on the road. And CJ McCullum who has a podcast was speaking on this Raptors squad and said there's rumblings about certain players on the team not being happy. And due to tampering, I can't speak to that. But I think they're going to move someone. That is a very spicy, spicy quote shams. Any insight to share on what CJ had to say here? Well, real quick from Chandler's perspective, like if you're a player on the Raptors, this is the NPA president. What like how do you feel hearing that from CJ McCullum, a guy on another team who could actually have a team that can make a trade for one of these guys? Yeah, well, if it's if it's true, then obviously, I'm kind of salty that he's kind of airing it out. If you know if he does actually know something is happening. But yeah, I've never really seen something like this. Clearly he knows something that we don't. They are severely, you know, not playing well and underachieving this year. And they do have a lot of young pieces and a lot of trade assets. So I feel like if it smells like fish, it's probably fish and there's something going on here. But I don't know. This this one's weird to me. I know that the fans aren't happy. They want Nick Nurse fired. They're they're not even in the play in right now. And they have really, really high expectations this year. Michelle, you didn't like that fishy comment. That's not the phrase because it could be something else. That's not the phrase. Well, I'll break it. Go ahead. Yeah, I'll break it down. I mean, I mean, the matter of the issue is that, yeah, the Raptors want to be competitive. They want to be a team that's making the playoffs like Messiah Jury is history. This this is a group that wants to compete and contend. And yeah, like Chandler said, they've been underwhelming this year. And that's why when you look at it, there are four games under 500, they're out of the playing tournament right now. You look at the talent that they have on the scene. Pascal Siakam, Ojean Anubi, Fred Van Blyth, Gary Trent. I think all those guys are being monitored across the league to see just exactly when Toronto could flip the switch on the season and move more toward a rebuild. You have Fred Van Blyth going into the lot. He's going to be a free agent in the summer. Ojean Anubi next year will be in the last year of his deal. Same as Pascal Siakam. Gary Trent is also going into a free agency here. So they've got decisions to make on a lot of these guys and you can't really pay all of them if you're not going to be even a playoff team. So Masayu Jiri has a lot of decisions to make. I think these next two to three weeks, if this team can turn it around, then you could see Masayu Jiri giving some, you know, some hope and some commitment to this group to try to ride it out. Because we saw last year they got off to a rough start. They turn around second half of the year. They make it into a position where there are four or five seed. This year we'll see. They have a two to three week window right now where their season is going to come into form, whether they're going to sell or they're going to buy and everyone around the league is watching. Yeah. And it's interesting because I like their team. Look at the standings. I like them more than Chicago, Atlanta, Indy, New York. Like they're a better team than than they're showing right now. So that's what's confusing about them. But what what what happened Shams when when, you know, one of these guys gets traded to New Orleans? Like, is that tampering? Like, what happens then? Yo, Chandler, are you calling tampering on this? Like, I don't know. This is just interesting for me. I've never seen this before either. It's not tampering because nothing's happened yet. It's not like he's you know, he's just saying what he thinks. I don't think this is tampering. I just think maybe it's it's almost just gossip. It's rumors at this point. But it will get interesting if one of these guys do eventually get moved and they kind of look back at this quote, especially if it's to New Orleans. That's my thing. They have 10 or 12 on the road coming up. I mean, if you're New Orleans front office, David Griffin and those guys, like, and you were planning on maybe trying to poach a couple Raptors or at least one. You must and look, CJ is not known to be a reckless dude. So for him to say this at all is like, oh, OK. But it is interesting because you have no idea what your own front office is maybe planning to do or not planning to do. That's what I think this gets interesting. And could anything happen to CJ? I mean, is there any punishment? I mean, what I don't even know what you do with this. Where do you put it? There's not going to be a punishment. Like Chandler said, it's players gossiping about players. But when you look at New Orleans, they actually have assets. Like, if they want to go and get serious with an Oji on a newbie or Pascal Siakam, they've got all their picks. They've got the Lakers picks. That's why when they made, you know, they're one of the teams that did call the nets about Kevin Durant. They just didn't offer full design, Winston or Brandon Ingram. But they have all the picks in the world. They've got young players. So theoretically, this is a team that has what it takes to get a guy like that. Yes. See if he can't hear us, but he looks fabulous. And that's really all that matters at this point. But we can say whatever we want about him, guys. So that's fine. Go ahead and do it now. Walker Kessler. And there's a button. We need him on this next topic because Walker Kessler is up as he normally is at any point in a basketball show. 20 points, 21 rebounds lifting the jazz to a one point win over the Wolves. Becoming the first rookie to have a 2020 game on 65 percent shooting since Alonzo Morning Chandler. Not bad. How impressed are you? Yeah, I'm super impressed because he's just one of those old school bigs. He's 21 years old. He's super efficient. He's long. He blocks shots. You know, he wasn't necessarily that high of a draft pick. He's great value and to kind of have this for the 2020 game that that's a huge game, especially for a young guy kind of learning his way, getting comfortable. He's mobile. He can defend. I like him a lot. The guy's shooting 71 percent from the field like that. He's not taking bad shots. He's finishing. He's dunking everything. He's a great asset. At that point of the draft, too, just going forward. And listen, is this guy going to be a star player? Who knows? But for what he's doing now and the way he's producing on this team where they're at, he's fantastic pickup. We have our friends over at Stapmuse. These are some these are actual fun facts. Malik Beasley leading the league in threes off the bench. Walker Kessler leading the league in blocks off the bench, both acquired in the Rudy Colbertrait, Colbertrait. But that's not all they got. They also got Jared Vanderbilt for four first round picks. Eddie, I'll go to you first. Is it too soon to call this trade a failure and perhaps maybe the worst trade in NBA history? No, like I thought we were going to ask those. Is it too soon to call it the Walker Kessler trade? I there's like a Twitter joke that's real easy to make about Walker Kessler doing this and Rudy Colbert going out with a groin five minutes into the game. But it's fine. The haul for Rudy Colbert, it will be ridiculed for years to come. There he's almost no way he can play as well as that trade. So no, it's not too early to call it a failure. Yeah, the expectation once this trade went down, Colbert would have to have a Yolk it's, you know, crazy type year to kind of justify and validate, you know, giving up all those assets and players. So yeah, right now it's it's not looking good. I love Rudy Colbert. Eddie, Eddie goes at him all the time. I I I understand his value. I think he's just it's not the way the NBA's go away, especially where they already have towns. It didn't really make sense. But he's fantastic defensively. He rebounds the ball. He block shots just to give up that much for a guy like that. And you gave him really no chance to even, you know, kind of validate that trade because it's not like he's going to produce these crazy numbers. It's not like he's going to dominate games like that, especially offensively. So to give up that much for a guy like that didn't really make sense. And probably going to go down as one of the worst in to ever happen. Shoms and Walker Kessler. Yeah, I mean, you have to give it up to Danny Ainge. I mean, what he got for down to Mitchell, what he got for Rudy Gobert. I mean, when you think about the package you got from Minnesota, you get Walker Kessler, Jared Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, two very good rotation players, two guys that are desired by other teams around the league. Walker Kessler is looking like a guy that's going to start at center for either them or any other team for the next 12 years. And then you get a boatload of picks for first round picks. They get they get they get more first round picks for for down to Mitchell and you get a franchise type cornerstone in Lowry marketing and you get draft swap seconds, whatever it was, like they've got everything long term moving forward. I think this is literally what Danny Ainge did a decade plus ago with the KG Paul Pierce trade in Boston to reboot that franchise around Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown. So you got to give it up. Like like this this tweet is exactly, you know, what I think sums up what Utah just did in the last six to eight months. Danny Ainge knows what he's doing. It sounds like that's we agree. We're all on the same page there. Yeah. I mean, listen, it's looking that way. And for a team that we, you know, we thought was going to be rebuilding and which they are, but they're still winning game. They all of a sudden have this talent to start player in Lowry market. And then they've really just put together a great rebuilding team. And now you can add a few other pieces and you have picks going forward. I love what they've done. Oh, we lost it. Eddie hates us. Goes to the West Coast. Big times us the entire show. That's fine. We're going to take a quick break. Anyways, because coming up next, George Carl says that Michael Jordan would average a 40 point triple double. Are we buying that? Find out. We had to show them. These are Jason Tatum's first signature Jordan shoes. They were leaked online. Little mini fitter brick. I don't know what to take this one first, but fitter brick on this. Eddie, you there? Yeah, I get why guys sign with Jordan brand. They want to get that nice shipment every two weeks of all the Jordans of all time. But then you end up with this and it's like, are you getting your ROI there? JT, are you getting what you need? I mean, Jordan brand has essentially never made a great signature shoe for anybody, but the man whose name is on the shoes. So that's the risk you take, but he'll get every Jordan one that comes out for the rest of life. And when I look at guys like Quentin Richardson or something like that, who have long since retired and still reap the Jordan benefits, guess it makes sense in the long run. Yeah, you sign with Jordan to get all the Jordan his shoes, all the team, all the team, the mellows, the blade griffins, they're usually pretty trash. And these are kind of in that category. These are not it. I really don't like those. I hate being that dude. I hate being that dude, but I think Jason Tatum said that this leak wasn't real. But you know, I hate being that dude, but he did say that. I mean, that's good news. That is good. Hopefully, that's a positive. Yeah, those are weird. That's a lot of plasticky rubbery yuckiness on the side, but that's okay. That's okay. You still get Jordan's for life. Guys, we've got some of you buying that. Last night Shaq was worked up about John Morant saying, you know, his play is amazing. He's upset. All the experts talk about MVPs. You don't say John Morant's name enough. The kid can flat out play. Yeah, I mean, we don't. We don't mention him really at all, Chandler. Are you buying that he deserves a little more MVP shine? I mean, yeah, he definitely does. And he's having a great year. He's just kind of in that similar boat as Tatum, where I think Bill Kitch, you know, is doing are just a little bit more special and a little bit more impressive. But yeah, the way that he's, I think they're tied right now with Denver for the number one seed. They have that cushion on the three and four seeds. And with his second and third best player, Desmond Bain and Jared Jackson being in and out of the lineup and him basically carrying the load with guys like Dylan Brooks and other guys on that team for them to be in the position they are right now is huge. And there's no doubt his value to this team. There's no doubt he's one of the most exciting players to play in the league right now. And yeah, he definitely deserves more shine. It's just he's up against other guys right now that are having, you know, great, if not better seasons than him. Yeah, he definitely deserves to be higher. There's no doubt about that. Now it's just tough with him because the Grizzlies, yes, they've won 10 a row. They look amazing right now. They look like a well old machine. They were a top two seed last year. So it's tough unless Memphis somehow was a runaway at number one and just totally destroying the league. You can make a case that he is your MVP this year. But the fact that Denver is one, Jason Tatum is balled out in the Eastern Conference as well. But he deserves to be high on the list for sure behind those two guys. Yeah, when Shaq says this, I wonder in what sense, should he get like some low level votes? I guess, you know, but he's not the MVP right now. We know he's not the MVP. That's why he's not in the conversation. The problem for John Morant and players like that, like Chandler said, is we're in the era of truly gaudy stats and guys putting those up and winning games on top of that. And the MVP race has been kind of clear from day one. I mean, we have guys hopping in and out. But unfortunately for Ja, who is entering his prime, he's dealing with five, six, seven guys that are in their prime right now and performing like that. And that's fine, he'll have his time. It just won't be this year. Yeah, and the only other guy that's in the hunt right now is Luca, whose team's not that great. Besides that, all these other guys are on real contenders and doing the same thing Ja is doing. So it's tough. It's funny that we just don't take the, it's like we're not taking the grizzly seriously is what I'm hearing, which is interesting to me considering what's happening right now. But Eddie, did you just do the TV equivalent of a costume change? Like what just happened here? I switched the backdrop up. I got your bad backdrop great. So I kind of, you know, turn around. So fancy. So you're doing the show tomorrow, but not done yet. I know, right? You just randomly pulled that off. All right, moving on, another fun fact. We have so many fun stats today in the show, but this, I think you guys will be happy because it's about the rookie, Matherin. He's averaging 17 and a half points a game off the bench, okay? That's the highest average for a player off the bench with a minimum of 30 games played. So he's got to start the last few with Halliburton out. Eddie, you buying, he should be a starter for this team. Did we lose Eddie? Oh, Chandler take away. I'll take it. Eddie speaks this over, Eddie speaks this over, Matherin. Listen, I think there's a method to Rick Carlyle's madness. I think he is a brilliant mind when it comes to offensive sets. There was a stat when I went inside and played with him in Dallas that everybody who plays for Rick Carlyle their first year, their points per game skyrockets. And this kid is now, he's coming off the bench. He's extremely talented. He's going against second strings most of the time and he's comfortable and he's got that rhythm. Is he eventually gonna be a starter? Yes, he's the first or second best player on the team. But I think the way Carlyle is kind of slowly working him in, keeping him off the bench, keeping him comfortable, keeping expectations low in the beginning of his career, I think was smart. But you can't doubt it. The kid is a starter. The kid is a possible all-star one day. And eventually he is gonna end up in the starting line, especially on a team like Indiana. I can't wait to see if Eddie can hear us. Go. Yes, talk. I think he's perfect in the role he's in. Let him play against backup units. Look, they have a starting backcourt. That's the unfortunate issue for him and Rick Carlyle is gonna go with his vets. And as much as we wanna see him on the floor and on that lineup, his starting backcourt is a longtime veteran and a sniper and a guy in Tyrese Halliburton that's probably gonna be in the all-star game and people think he should start the all-star game. So Benny has his time coming and he closes games, which is important. So he'll have his time and he's just gonna have to wait. You know, Buddy Hield is always in trade rumors. Maybe they'll finally get rid of them, pull the trigger and then Benedict Matthews can start it to that. But I think he's exactly, he's fine with where he's at and he's a rookie of the year contender as well. Like, there's gotta be no chance anybody's ever won six man and rookie of the year in the same season. And he might be able to pull that off. That'd be amazing. Yeah, again, it's the finishing of the games. I think that's just so much more valuable. I don't know why we worry about starting. George Carlyle is one of my favorite follows on Twitter. He just likes to stir things up. He's been doing that for the last couple of weeks lately. He said that Michael Jordan would have averaged a 40 point triple double in this league if he played today. Now, I just want to tell you this before Chandler, the closest he got, 88, 89, he averaged 32, eight and eight. Now that I've said that, are you buying it? It's hard to argue because first of all, obviously we know how great of a scorer he was and the things he could do. In today's age, he would probably shoot 20 to 25 free throws a game, which would bump his points per game close to 40. So it's hard to argue, especially at the clip and the pace and how fast the league is now. I'm assuming he would shoot more threes as well. But I think the biggest thing is just the physicality back in the day. Half the times he wasn't even getting to the stripe. Nowadays, he would live at the free throw line where he's going to knock down a high clip. So it's hard to argue against that. He would be putting up a lot of gaudy numbers that the guys are today. You know what, Shoms, you're the youngest one on this panel. So when the rest of us talk about Michael Jordan as much as we do and as glowingly as we do, what is your initial reaction? I mean, you're also in Chicago, so it's kind of an interesting perspective. I'm a Chicago guy, so I'm partial to Michael Jordan anyway, even though I didn't see his prom, I didn't see him play in the 90s, so I can't even say that, you know, oh yeah, I watched this moment, it was like transcendent. So it's tough for me. I was four years old when he won the 98 championship. But what I will say is when I see the clips, when I see the tape and you see the way, like Chandler said, defenses are, it's an offensive league now. The league is positioned for scores, for high numbers, for high stats. And there's no doubt, like the numbers Michael Jordan put up 36 and five, that would have been, you kind of multiply it by two. I don't think he'd averaged 60 a game, but definitely the rebounds, the assists, there's more rebounds to be had, there's more assists. There's probably a little more focus and attention to detail to being a more well-rounded player now than even before, as far as statistically. So yeah, I think, I think, would he average a triple-double? I think so. I don't even know if Eddie, do you want to chime in at all or just give us your face? My connection is so iffy, I mean. Just go for it. Michael would have gotty numbers, of course. I mean, he's Michael Jordan, 40 point triple-double. I mean, like where do you find the situations to do that? And he's that great. He could pull it off. I mean, I could see it, but the fact that we haven't seen it yet and guys are clearly gunning for that, makes me a little more reserved. Don't just double them. They couldn't hard double like that back then. They would just double him and that would be all the difference in my eyes. Am I on, are we all drunk today? Like, is this a rehearsal or are we on the air? Yeah, I'm sitting there. I don't know, I don't know, but we're going to take a quick break. And when we come back, something will be said out loud and some pictures will be on the screen. What those things will be? I have no idea. Welcome back. We've got to talk a little suspension time here. Houston Rockets Guard, Jalen Green, and forward Jay Chantate both suspended a game because they left the bench during an altercation with the Kings. This was fourth quarter on Friday. Garrison Matthews fouling the Leake Monk. Then there's just a scuffle and some fun and some shuffling going on there. But it's weird because they appear to be actually trying to break this thing up. We get why the rules in place, right, Chandler? But do we like the rule given how it's being enforced here? Yeah, I get it because most times I feel like guys are coming off the bench to kind of protect and defend their brother and their teammate out there. And usually that's going to escalate the situation. This was a rare example where they were actually just kind of trying to break it up and they weren't trying to fight anybody. And this wasn't a lot. This was pretty petty. No one, most of these things are fluffing and nothing's going to happen. But I get the rule. I mean, it kind of protects everybody in a way and just kind of keeps things under control. But this was just a tough break because they really didn't do anything wrong. They were just trying to help. Right? Plus they can't afford to have guys not play. Come on. This seems silly. I think part of this is on the coaches, too, though, right? Like this is on the coaches to make sure that Jay Chantay and Jaylin Green aren't getting to the bench area. You saw what the King's coaches, they were up and like they got their guys. It wasn't the same with the Houston guys. So I'm not trying to put blame, but that's usually what goes in these situations. Yeah, look, if Amari Sotomayor is going to miss an important playoff game and kind of change the course of history because of this weird rule, they're not going to change it over Jaylin Green and Jay Chantay. And that was like a toe on the line on the court. These guys ran on the court. I mean, you know the rules. Just like Choms is saying the coaches know the rule. Just don't do it. There wasn't a fight. It was like a dumb thing. And you guys are down 20. Like whatever. But stupid rule, we know that. But like most stupid rules that we have right now, we have the pistons and paces to blame for that. You know what? Eddie looks better like that, you know? He just looks better. He just looks better when his face is paused. So I think- Just frozen. The Zoom guys are looking out for us. Choms, thank you as always for hanging out, especially long today. We'll see you tomorrow. We come back. Our parlays are straight garbage. If it smells like a fish, I guess it is a fish. We'll do more before we get back. Every day wins. Make your day so much better. That's why FanDuel Casino has a daily free-to-play game. Reward Machine is a free game that gives players the chance to win up to $2,000 in casino bonus every day. FanDuel's Reward Machine is already given away over 10 million in prizes and has over 250,000 winners. To get in on the action, all you have to do is log in daily and spin for a free chance at rewards. FanDuel wants you to win. Play Reward Machine for a free chance that every day wins only on FanDuel Casino. Well, some of the greatest have fallen hard and that looks like what's going on here right now. This is a second one in a row of just straight, big, fat, red Ls. Gentlemen, I mean, I'm taking a moral victory and that my loss was the closest of the three. I mean, do we get points for that? The sad part is I really, really love those picks. Like I thought those were some of our better picks. That is the sad part, Chandler. That's why we're so great at this so far. Okay. I mean, we were like, as the games kept going, I was just like, man, we are not good, but it's okay. We are now on an ugly, ugly, mini streak, but sometimes that's what you need to get better. Is that right? Okay, great. We have another chance today, Eddie. Let's start with you. I'm going with the home team. Nick Claxton playing against yours first. Somebody has to get some of these extra points with Kevin out. He had a great game against the Thunder. He's already had a great game against the Spurs this season. So I'm going with the over for him in 14 and a half points. Yeah, I mean, I think this is the turnaround because the Spurs are that bad. You know what? When is his signal going to go out again? Is that happening soon or? Chandler, what do you have? What do I have? I have Anthony Simons over 20 and a half points. Listen, he averages more than that and he's playing Denver, who's not very good defensively. So when you combine those two facts, he should have over one and a half points. Why can't we get through this without laughing? Because we're awful. That's why we can't. I just went straight Clippers, money line. I'm gonna, I feel like. No, I just feel like, I need a fresh start. I need to like zap some energy to this. Okay, Eddie, first of all, number one, don't think I didn't notice that you just skipped coming to San Antonio and went straight to the West Coast. That's fine. We can talk about that privately offline. Secondly, would you like to make a friendly wager on tonight's game? Oh my God. I think that's a hard, you know what, Chandler? That, you know what this means? You get to take his wager and give it to me. What would you like Eddie to wager me? I like the Sixers over the Clippers, Michelle. What? Are you serious? The only one I like tonight is mine, if I'm being complete. Okay. And money lines are usually the safe pick, but. Yeah. I mean, I like the Sixers. The Sixers are finding their steam right now. Nick, we're betting on Nick Claxton to have 15 points. That's where we are. Yeah, well, I mean. We're betting on. I do get the logic of him. We're betting on two days of, how long has James Harder been in LA? We're betting on that. Are we? That's a great point. Some of some of guys best games are when they're hung over and drunk, Eddie. That's when I'm starting to show tomorrow. Eddie, would you like to make a wager on tonight? Because anything could happen. Just a friendly wager between besties and their teams. But if we, oh, yeah, let's make one. You use my wife by tomorrow if the nets win. Hell, no. Actually, that's fine. I just take the night off and her day off and like holiday. No, I think the loser gets a tattoo of the winner's choice. That's an easy one to make every single time. I'm down. I have a lot of checks. I'm down. Me too. I'm in. Chandler, how are you contributing? I think I'm losing service right now. I can't hear you guys. Man, if there are awards given out for shows that barely got through and on the air, then we just won the grandom of them all. And I'd like to say that, by the way, it's if there's smoke, there's fire, or if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck. That fish thing that you said, Chandler, hot ass mess, hot ass mess. That's going to do it for us today. We're going to see you guys tomorrow. Hopefully have a good one.