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details. Welcome

1:13

in, What's Right with Nick? Right Episode 238. JAMPAK

1:16

show today. We have a

1:19

conference finals. We are

1:21

going to have a new champion

1:23

for the first time in the

1:25

history of the NBA. There

1:28

is not in the final

1:30

four a single person

1:32

who has ever won a league

1:34

MVP. It's the first time we've

1:37

ever had a conference finals that

1:39

does not have someone who has already

1:41

won a league MVP. It's

1:44

almost like maybe we've been giving those MVPs

1:46

out to the wrong person. But listen, that's

1:48

not what we're talking about today. We're talking

1:50

about the games. DeMansay's here. I'm

1:52

fresh off a trip from Los Angeles. It

1:54

was great to see you. Bit of a

1:56

surprise. I surprised DeMansay

1:58

at work. I don't know

2:01

how much he appreciated that. I also think

2:03

there's probably some weird inner office

2:05

politics he has to deal with when I come

2:07

in, but that's fine. I don't mind making a

2:10

few other people feel a little uncomfortable

2:12

at times if need be. But it

2:14

was great to see you. We shared

2:16

two outstanding meals. A

2:18

nice little crawfish feast,

2:20

even though it's not really the season. And

2:22

then, you know, some great dumplings, so

2:25

that was wonderful. I

2:27

played in a poker tournament. We'll see if

2:29

we have time to get to that. But we've

2:31

got to get to Nugget Simberwolf, so let's

2:33

get to what missed the cut. Here is

2:35

what is not in today's show. The

2:37

NBA All-Rookie team being announced don't care.

2:39

These other two things I do care

2:42

about, actually. Thursday's show

2:44

is going to be an

2:46

odd one, because I

2:48

didn't want to discuss

2:50

the Harrison-Butker thing in,

2:53

you know, just a small sound bite.

2:56

And then the Scheffler thing happens.

2:58

And so, Thursday's show, we're going

3:01

to talk about the cops and

3:03

Harrison-Butker. Just letting you guys

3:05

know right now. So it'll be a little

3:07

bit of different show. It'll be a good

3:09

show, but that's what we're doing on Thursday.

3:12

Also, the Red Lobster, please

3:14

America, do

3:16

not buy into the

3:19

stupid, inaccurate headlines. That

3:22

Red Lobster, American institution, it

3:25

went belly up because of

3:27

endless shrimp. They went belly up

3:30

for the same reason. Countless

3:32

of our institutions have gone belly

3:34

up. They got bought and stripped

3:37

clean by private equity. Private equity

3:39

bought Red Lobster, then bought the

3:41

land that the Red Lobster stores

3:44

were on, then leased the land

3:46

back to Red Lobster at an

3:48

exorbitant rate. They couldn't service the

3:50

debt. They couldn't pay for it.

3:53

And now, Cheddar Bay Biscuits are

3:55

gone. That's what happened. DeMondre

3:57

somehow just slid off the screen.

4:00

I don't know what's going on in

4:02

that in that regard. I do

4:04

see Timberwolves there. Maybe that was on purpose

4:07

Damanze, let's get to the

4:09

actual show He's

4:12

back. I'm okay. Thanks. Bell. All

4:14

right. So a classic two by you Denver

4:17

was bounced by Minnesota and had the

4:19

largest blown lead in a game seven

4:21

in history Yeah,

4:23

you're celebrating like you nailed the

4:25

series or like Denver didn't get

4:27

swept or did Minnesota Didn't get

4:29

win by the skin of your teeth. Sorry, but

4:31

you didn't even make a pick So

4:34

go ahead and take your victory lap I know

4:36

there's gonna be plenty you got to talk about

4:38

with yo kitchen probably even LeBron somehow So

4:40

we're gonna put 35 minutes up on the clock For

4:43

this topic alone and the fans will

4:45

be able to vote on the side if you'll make the time or

4:47

not Okay, so

4:49

you're giving me 35 minutes discuss under

4:51

over to be specific. Sorry guys. Okay. Yeah,

4:53

so people can vote in the chat

4:56

That's fine No,

4:58

I this wasn't a classic two by me Because

5:01

you're right. I didn't pick I didn't make

5:03

a pick in the series and then when

5:05

I did I think I ended up saying

5:07

Nuggets in seven At

5:10

the very end and so no, I don't get

5:12

credit for where this series pick and

5:15

I am NOT going

5:18

to Do

5:21

anything unfair or

5:23

untoward when discussing

5:27

One of the biggest Collapses

5:29

in NBA history what I am going

5:31

to do is give

5:33

a fair appraisal of what happened

5:35

and The

5:39

Timberwolves obviously deserve credit

5:42

and so let me give that on the

5:44

front end but as

5:46

Often happens in sports the bigger

5:48

story is the loser particularly because

5:50

we're gonna have more time to

5:54

talk about the winner and Listen,

5:57

I haven't bought so much into

6:00

the Anthony Edwards Michael Jordan

6:02

comparisons but if this

6:05

guy is going to be able to be you know

6:08

pretty damn inefficient in a massive

6:10

spot and then get all the

6:12

credit for the win maybe he's more like

6:14

Jordan than I thought I mean my goodness

6:16

gracious but in seriousness Anthony

6:19

Edwards finding a

6:21

way to put his imprint

6:23

on the game despite being six of

6:25

24 is what great players

6:28

do as

6:30

far as biggest game 7 comebacks

6:35

on that list is

6:38

some iconic games biggest second half

6:40

game 7 comebacks this is the

6:43

biggest by far 20 points

6:45

in the second half but on that

6:48

list are the 22,000 Timberwolves I'm sorry

6:54

Blazers Lakers the game that

6:56

kind of culminated in the

6:59

shit Kobe to Shaq lob and

7:01

then Kobe or Shaq running up the

7:03

court pointing at Kobe that was

7:05

the 2000 Blazers Shaq

7:09

and Kobe came back there another game in

7:11

the Western Armaments Finals another game

7:13

7 comeback was

7:15

the 2010 NBA

7:18

Finals Celtics Lakers

7:21

where Kobe was exactly

7:23

6 of 24 like Anthony

7:25

Edwards was but added 15

7:28

rebounds run our test now met a

7:30

world piece hit the huge 3 and

7:32

the Lakers get that title I

7:36

so Anthony Edwards was not the

7:38

star of this game but never

7:40

lost his confidence the two guys

7:42

on the timber side of things

7:45

that I want to give massive

7:47

credit to are two guys that

7:49

I have been very critical of first

7:52

one is Rudy go bear and

7:55

unlike Draymond Green just because I've been

7:57

critical of go bear in the past

8:00

I'm not going to be dishonest

8:02

about his impact. He

8:04

in these playoffs has the

8:06

best plus minus differential of

8:09

any player. In this

8:11

series, the Timberwolves crushed when he was

8:13

on the court and side from game

8:15

2 got crushed when he

8:17

was off the court. In

8:19

this series, his ability

8:21

to roam, which is

8:24

his defensive assignment, allowed

8:26

for them to shut off

8:29

the water for everyone but

8:31

Joker and this idea that,

8:34

oh well if you're the defensive player of

8:36

the year, it is

8:39

your responsibility to shut

8:41

down the best offensive

8:43

player in the league

8:46

is belied by history.

8:48

A fun fact for you, and again,

8:50

I have been critical of

8:53

Rudy Gobert in the past because of

8:55

his playoff deficiencies, they did not show

8:57

up here. There are not many 4

8:59

time defensive player of the year. Rudy

9:02

Gobert is one of them. Another

9:05

one is Dikembe Mutombo. Dikembe

9:08

Mutombo once in

9:10

the NBA Finals had to

9:12

play the best player in

9:14

the league, Shaquille O'Neal. In

9:17

those finals, what did 4 time

9:20

defensive player of the year Dikembe

9:22

Mutombo hold Shaquille O'Neal to? The

9:24

answer is nothing. He

9:26

didn't hold him to anything. Shaq averaged

9:29

33, 16, and 5 on 57% shooting. Also

9:37

the idea that the defensive player

9:39

of the year must

9:41

have an ego where I am

9:43

going to abandon what my team

9:46

wants me to do, instead

9:48

I am going to guard

9:50

the other guy's best player,

9:53

Draymond knows better than that

9:55

because in every damn finals

9:57

he played LeBron James. He

10:00

didn't guard LeBron James. Andre

10:03

Iguodala won finals MVP

10:05

for holding LeBron James

10:07

to 36, 13,

10:10

and 9 for the series because

10:12

the Warriors defense was unlocked

10:14

by Draymond guarding the other

10:17

team's worst player and roaming.

10:19

The same thing the Timberwolves

10:21

do with Rudy. So shout

10:24

out to Rudy. The other

10:26

guy is Kat. Kat,

10:29

who I have considered a good

10:31

stats, bad team guy, not a

10:33

winner, not committed defensively, kept them

10:36

in this game in the first

10:38

half. When Anthony Edwards had

10:40

nothing, when Rudy was fumbling with the

10:42

ball, there were multiple times when it

10:44

looked like the Nuggets were going to

10:46

blow it open. And

10:48

there was one possession in particular.

10:51

The Nuggets had just gone up

10:53

15 late second quarter and

10:55

Kat hit a 3 to cut it to 12. Kat

10:58

also, because of his strength, was

11:00

able to do something so that

11:03

when the Lakers played the Nuggets, the

11:06

Lakers had Anthony Davis doing what

11:08

Rudy does, or they tried that

11:10

multiple times. You roam, but then

11:12

Rudy had to do what Kat

11:14

did, which is you guard Jokic.

11:18

The problem is, when Jokic would

11:20

back into Rudy, Rudy would get

11:22

knocked backwards 5 feet. When

11:24

Jokic knocked into Kat, Kat

11:27

stood his ground and

11:29

was able to stifle him a bit. Now

11:31

again, Jokic was phenomenal

11:34

in games 4 and 5, and

11:37

was I thought good, not great, but good

11:39

in game 7. But Carl

11:42

Anthony Downs kept them in this

11:44

game, played solid

11:46

defense, winning basketball. So

11:48

those guys get credit. No

11:52

question about it, they get credit, and now we

11:54

get to have what will go down

11:56

as one of... the

12:00

greatest series in NBA history

12:02

from a sh** talking perspective

12:05

between Luca and Ant. I

12:08

mean, it is going to be in

12:10

multiple languages, it is

12:12

going to involve snarls, it

12:14

is going to involve, I imagine,

12:16

bad breath. I can't wait

12:18

for it. But we'll talk more

12:20

about that later when we talk

12:22

Luca. Now, we

12:25

do need to do the Nuggets piece

12:27

of this. This

12:31

is a historic collapse. There

12:35

is no way around that. There

12:38

is no out for that. There

12:41

is no excuse for

12:43

that. You

12:46

are the defending champions.

12:49

Up 3-2 against

12:52

a team with no history,

12:55

no pedigree, no champions. In

12:57

fact, the only guy on

12:59

this team who had played

13:01

in a single game bigger

13:03

than every game of this

13:05

series was Mike

13:07

Conley a decade ago. And

13:11

once you go up 3-2 with

13:14

a fully healthy team,

13:16

and that part is important,

13:20

you are down by 50. 50 in game 6, and

13:28

you lose game 7 at home

13:30

despite being up 15 at

13:32

halftime and 20 in the second half. The

13:35

Nuggets starting lineup, DeMansay,

13:38

going into this series had

13:42

lost two games ever

13:46

against Western Conference teams in

13:48

that building. Ever. When

13:51

it is Jamal, MPJ,

13:54

Gordon, Jokic, KCP.

13:56

That's starting 5.

13:59

At home. against the West

14:01

playoffs and regular season combined

14:04

had lost twice ever they

14:07

lost three times in this

14:10

series including

14:13

a historic

14:16

collapse in

14:18

a game seven at home so

14:23

how and why does that happen go ahead DeMonte

14:25

if you want to jump in real quick? I

14:27

used the history I don't know how much more

14:29

history the Nuggets have than the

14:32

Timberwolves I guess I guess

14:34

they won the finals last year I mean

14:37

they're the defending champion that's the history the

14:39

history is the right now they're the defending

14:41

champion every single guy playing

14:43

for the Nuggets played in

14:46

games bigger

14:48

games 11 months

14:50

ago zero guys

14:53

playing for the Timberwolves except for Mike

14:55

Conley had ever played in a bigger

14:57

game in their career they

15:00

were at home they had a lead

15:03

and this was not a scenario

15:05

where the other team gets red-hot

15:07

and runs away and hides no

15:10

and this is what makes the

15:12

collapse harder to swallow

15:16

this game was

15:18

a possession game the

15:21

bulk of the fourth quarter and

15:24

the Nuggets did not

15:26

have answers so

15:29

the Timberwolves go

15:31

on the great run at the end of the

15:33

third quarter to cut a 20 point lead to

15:35

a 19 point lead they

15:38

then take

15:40

a three-point lead early

15:42

in the fourth quarter Michael

15:45

Porter jr. hits the one shot he

15:47

hits seemingly the whole game to tie

15:49

the game at 70 72 apiece

15:51

they then just don't have answers They

16:00

have opportunity after opportunity

16:04

and their possessions go like this Joker

16:08

missed three and Joker

16:12

shot 26.4% from

16:14

three this postseason. It

16:17

was a weakness for him this postseason last

16:19

year He couldn't miss this year. He couldn't

16:21

hit it that 26.4%

16:24

by the way is the exact to the

16:26

tenth of a percentage that LeBron actually shot

16:28

from three Last postseason when

16:30

folks were speculating should they give LeBron

16:32

the Dylan Brooks treatment there him to

16:35

shoot Great

16:37

players go cold from three at

16:39

times it happens, but it hurt

16:41

him Yo, Kitch misses a

16:43

three next Denver possession Michael

16:45

Porter misses a three next Denver possession

16:47

Yo Kitch hits his one third. I

16:50

think it one of his two threes

16:52

for the game now again eight

16:54

minutes left down to The

16:57

next possession is when Rudy hit

16:59

the turnaround and you're down

17:01

four That

17:03

then led to a Aaron Gordon

17:06

miss layup followed by an Aaron

17:08

Gordon turnover Joker however

17:11

follows that up with his other

17:13

made three of the game and

17:15

again, you're down just three points

17:17

and They

17:19

just can't connect MPJ

17:22

misses a three Joker misses

17:24

gets his shot blocked and

17:26

then when Jamal makes a

17:28

couple plays and again You're

17:30

down three it goes Joker

17:32

miss layup turnover Jamal Joker

17:34

miss three and all

17:36

of a sudden you're down ten and Anthony

17:39

Edwards is mother effing that old man

17:41

in the crowd and it's good night.

17:43

Good luck So

17:46

so so how did you get here? so

17:49

what happened and how

17:52

rare is this and What

17:56

do you do moving forward? Those are

17:58

the questions for Denver? So

18:00

I want to start with how rare

18:03

is this because right

18:06

now what everyone is saying, oh man, six

18:08

different champion in the last six

18:10

years. This is

18:13

the new NBA. Not

18:15

really. So how

18:18

rare is it for

18:21

a whole defending

18:26

champion that is

18:28

healthy to get, not

18:31

follow up their title defense with

18:34

anything? We can go

18:36

through it guys and we can go all

18:38

the way back to 1980. The

18:40

80s are very simple to go through.

18:43

The Celtics were in it at, you

18:45

know, won three titles, went to five

18:47

finals. The Lakers won five titles, went

18:49

to eight finals in the

18:52

80s. The Sixers didn't

18:54

defend their title well, but it was

18:56

their fourth trip to the finals. That

18:59

was kind of their last stand. The

19:01

Pistons obviously went to three straight finals,

19:03

one, two. The Bulls

19:06

defended their title every year that

19:08

Michael Jordan started the year with

19:10

the team. The Rockets won

19:12

a title and defended it, right? So

19:15

now we're through the 80s and 90s. In

19:19

the 90s, the Spurs won

19:21

a title and then ran into the

19:23

Lakers repeatedly. The Lakers win three. The

19:26

Spurs then, you know, win another one

19:28

on the back end of that. The

19:30

Pistons win a title and

19:32

then go back to the finals the very

19:35

next year in a game seven. The Heat

19:37

did not defend their title well at all.

19:40

And it's a kind of a weird spot for them.

19:43

You can say Shaq got old, but he played another

19:45

like four years. The Shaq

19:48

dewayed Heat did not defend

19:50

their title well at all. The

19:52

Celtics went, the Spurs obviously won

19:54

five total titles. The Spurs, I'm

19:57

sorry, the Celtics go

19:59

into in 2008, they're injured in, or went in 2008, they're injured in 09,

20:01

they're back there in

20:05

a game 7 NBA Finals in 2010. The

20:08

Lakers win a title and defend it when

20:10

another one. The

20:13

Mavs, 2011 win that title and don't defend it

20:15

at all and it's kind of a weird one,

20:17

right? Obviously the Heat

20:19

win too, the

20:22

Spurs win their last one, we then have

20:25

the Warriors go on their run, the Cavs, how

20:27

do they defend their title? They go back to

20:29

the NBA Finals and then

20:31

we get to this weird era,

20:34

right? But over the last 40

20:36

years, there was the 04 Heat

20:38

where it's like what the hell happened not 04, pardon

20:41

me, the 06 Heat, like what the

20:43

hell happened there? The 2011 Mavs. Okay,

20:48

2019 Raptors, they didn't defend their

20:50

title at all, Kawhi Leonard left. The

20:53

2020 Lakers, they didn't defend their title

20:55

at all, Anthony Davis injured in the

20:57

playoffs. The 2021 Bucks,

20:59

they didn't defend their title at all.

21:01

Chris Middleton injured in the playoffs, misses

21:03

all of round two. The

21:05

2022 Warriors, they didn't defend their title at

21:07

all. What happened? Well, Draymond Green punched one

21:09

of his teammates and the season went to

21:12

hell from the beginning. The

21:14

2023 Nuggets didn't defend their title

21:16

at all. What happened? Well, that's

21:18

the question. What happened? Was

21:22

it injuries? No. I

21:25

think the Bucks was a little weird. They still had Giannis.

21:29

I guess they lost Chris Middleton,

21:31

but they still had the best player, was

21:34

considered to be the best player at the time. Yeah,

21:37

but we know what happened. We

21:39

know their second best player was out

21:42

and they lost in round two. You

21:46

can say they shouldn't have lost it and by

21:48

the way, we can

21:51

pause on the Bucks thing because I'm

21:53

good with a lot of these Bucks

21:55

conversations. I'd like to have them, but

21:58

I still think at least they have them. had

22:00

a, you can say the Bucks

22:03

looked like the overwhelming favorite.

22:05

Chris Middleton gets injured early

22:07

in round one and does

22:10

not come back. And

22:12

they end up losing in seven

22:14

to Boston. If Jamal

22:17

Murray had missed the last

22:19

10 games for the Nuggets, it

22:22

does feel differently, flatly

22:24

it does. And

22:27

so what, so the question is what

22:30

happened? Why

22:32

were they not good

22:35

enough? And

22:38

I know folks are going to expect right now

22:40

that I'm going to hang this on Yokech. I'm

22:42

not. Yokech

22:44

was, Yokech

22:47

game four and five by Yokech in

22:50

this series were as

22:52

close to perfect offensive

22:54

basketball as

22:56

one can play and game

22:58

seven, he was good. I don't think he was

23:01

great. I, but I thought he

23:03

was good in game seven. Exactly

23:06

right. Exactly right. The,

23:10

so, but here is what I, so

23:12

what happened was in

23:14

my opinion, was

23:18

nothing happened. This

23:21

is about what

23:24

is supposed to happen for

23:28

any team in league history.

23:30

That is not

23:33

either a legendary

23:35

all time dynastic team

23:39

or any team that doesn't have

23:42

one of the seven or eight best players in the history

23:44

of the sport on it. This is how it can

23:47

go. You

23:49

won a title. It

23:52

was unbelievable. You were

23:54

the deserving champion, but you're

23:56

not the best. dynasty

24:02

and the questions all of a sudden are about

24:04

to get a lot harder because

24:06

when you look at the Nuggets

24:08

moving forward what

24:11

are they going to do with

24:13

KCP who is a

24:15

pending free agent assuming he

24:17

opts out you desperately need

24:19

him are you going

24:21

to pay him because you

24:24

weren't able to keep Bruce Brown

24:26

and Bruce Brown if he

24:29

were playing in this these playoffs

24:31

maybe you win you missed him

24:35

Michael Porter jr. is on

24:37

the books for 35 million

24:39

38 million 41 million

24:43

is that the best use of

24:46

that money Aaron

24:48

Gordon has a player

24:51

option after next season you

24:54

desperately need him making

24:57

25 million a year and Jamal

24:59

Murray you have to

25:02

extend this offseason and

25:05

then you have to delicately gently

25:07

say hey Jamal if

25:10

for the first time in your career you

25:12

could come into a season in shape rather

25:15

than play yourself into shape it would be

25:17

helpful it would be

25:19

I mean everyone's like man Jamal Murray he just

25:22

goes to this different level in the playoffs

25:24

like well he goes to a different level

25:26

by the end of the season because he's a peak

25:29

condition he's at his

25:31

peak playing shape and caught

25:33

up to him a bit this year and

25:36

so it gets hard

25:39

and it gets tough and

25:41

that's why sports are great but

25:43

it's also why and

25:47

now I will circle back around

25:50

it's also why so much

25:54

of the commentary and the

25:56

accolades about this team always

26:00

felt like we were

26:02

two steps ahead of reality. It

26:05

always felt like we

26:07

were trying to press fast forward on

26:10

eras

26:12

and places in history

26:15

and throwing terms around like

26:17

better than a key melodia

26:19

one and I

26:22

just wanted us to wait a beat. I

26:25

just wanted us to know

26:28

definitively. The

26:31

simple question of is

26:34

Niko Lyokic forget

26:36

where he is in history. Is

26:39

he the best player of his own era?

26:42

Because I don't know the answer to that. I

26:45

do not know who is going

26:47

to be better him or Janus and

26:49

let's see how this next month goes

26:51

and whether or not my guy Luca

26:53

really throws himself in that conversation because

26:56

right now yokich Janus are one is 43

27:00

and 36 in the playoffs one is 44 and

27:06

36 in the playoffs. One has

27:08

three MVPs one has two MVPs

27:10

and one defensive player of the

27:12

year. They one has

27:14

two conference finals appearances one

27:17

has two conference finals appearances

27:19

one defended their title by losing

27:22

in seven in round two the

27:24

other defended their title by losing

27:27

in seven in round two both

27:29

guys had epic all-time

27:31

championship runs culminating

27:34

in brilliant NBA

27:36

finals and

27:39

one guy hasn't been

27:41

close to being back there since

27:43

the other guy we'll see. Janus

27:46

has six all-MBA

27:49

caliber seasons. Yokich

27:51

has five. Janus

27:54

has five first team all MBAs.

27:56

Yokich has three. Right

27:59

now on

28:01

the pyramid on the lists they've

28:04

got to be neck and neck and I

28:10

am not gonna sit here and Kill

28:13

Joker for them not defending

28:15

their title just like I didn't sit

28:17

here and kill Giannis for him Not

28:19

defending for them not defending his theirs

28:23

but let's just Take

28:26

a beat on

28:29

the anointing and on the

28:32

greatest offensive player we've

28:34

ever seen stuff just

28:37

up just a breath and Let's

28:41

also Remember

28:45

for the guys in

28:48

that upper upper crust

28:52

They lived in

28:55

late May and early June after

28:58

a ton of

29:00

long seasons Magic

29:05

went to nine finals cream

29:08

went to ten bronze been

29:10

to ten Steph has been

29:12

to six Shaq

29:15

went to six Six

29:18

Kobe went to seven. Okay

29:22

Duncan went to six Anybody

29:26

bird went to five

29:29

Jordan went to obviously six Russell

29:34

I know it's you know, we don't we don't

29:36

talk about Russell Russell went to 12. Okay We'll

29:41

went to five Let's

29:44

those guys that we

29:46

are so quick to elbow out of their and

29:48

the dream who I didn't mention Dream

29:51

went to three Dr.

29:55

J who we throw out went

29:57

to four in the end NBA,

30:00

two in the ABA, so that's six. Durant

30:07

who has been just cast aside

30:10

entirely for

30:12

Jokic, entirely. Durant

30:15

has been to four. Well,

30:20

one with the Thunder, three with the Warriors.

30:23

So because Durant took the Thunder

30:25

there when he was 23. So

30:29

again, right, long

30:31

time ago. So let's just, all

30:34

I'm asking, Dirk,

30:37

now Dirk, Dirk

30:39

said to me, a guy

30:42

Jokic has ascended past

30:45

but it's not

30:47

miles apart. Dirk went

30:49

to two, one, one, one,

30:51

a single

30:54

league MVP for him as opposed to

30:56

three for Joker, but so, and this

30:58

is why the MVP stuff, I

31:01

must admit, does

31:03

hurt me just a bit. Well

31:08

because so much of the commentary

31:12

around this player and

31:14

this team would

31:16

have been more measured

31:18

and would make more sense

31:22

if he was, as he

31:24

probably should be, a two

31:26

time MVP. It's like, okay,

31:28

then we can have a real conversation like

31:30

Durant versus Joker, one's got one MVP, one

31:32

has two but he did this. Dirk

31:35

versus Joker, one has one MVP, one has two but

31:37

he did this and I'd have Joker added Dirk, those

31:39

things. But it's

31:42

the premature MVPs on the front end

31:44

and now the deserved ones on the

31:46

back end add it to

31:49

where, it's like well, the guy

31:51

does have the same number of MVPs as Larry

31:53

Bird and

31:55

Magic Johnson and

31:58

so. What are

32:00

we talking about here? He

32:02

does have as many as Durant,

32:05

Shaq, and Kobe combined, so

32:07

what are we doing here? All

32:12

I want is

32:14

an accurate reading of the story.

32:17

The story here is Joker

32:19

was good enough for

32:21

his team to advance, his

32:24

teammates were not, I

32:28

also think Jamal

32:30

Murray and Michael Malone needed

32:35

a bit of a reality check, both

32:37

of them. Both

32:39

of those guys, while

32:42

excellent, had

32:46

been living in

32:48

a luxury

32:50

penthouse paid for

32:52

by their best friend. And

32:56

while, listen, they kicked in

32:58

and they helped and

33:00

they were good at what they did, both

33:04

of those guys started,

33:06

in my opinion,

33:09

carrying themselves as

33:12

if it was a big three

33:14

situation. When

33:16

it was more, yeah,

33:19

that is Bruce Spring's name and you're

33:21

the E Street band. What do you

33:24

mean? What's unfair to the

33:26

home Murray? Tell me. I mean, he's hitting game winners, he

33:28

carries a little when he needs to. I think he might

33:30

be in a little, like to the

33:32

Denver, I think he might be in a little

33:34

unfair to the surrounding cast. Because they had a

33:36

bad game 7, I get that, but they did

33:38

get it to a game 7 after going down

33:41

0-2 from home. And

33:43

it's like those guys usually perform. How did

33:45

they fall down 0-2 at home? How

33:47

did they, wait, wait, wait, wait a second. How

33:49

did they fall down 0-2 at home? Were

33:52

they absent from those games? Part

33:55

of the reason they were in the hole. And then,

33:58

hold on. I'm

34:00

being unfair to Jamal Murray tell me

34:03

the mate again. I'm gonna keep

34:05

up with this honest You're a

34:07

bucket conversation. Okay, tell me

34:09

tell me the the massive distinguishing factor

34:12

between Jamal Murray and Chris Middleton I

34:14

want to know it because I

34:16

thought first Middleton hit game winners in

34:18

the playoffs I saw Chris Middleton be

34:20

an awesome awesome Robin to

34:23

a clear-cut Batman. I saw all

34:25

of it What

34:27

I didn't see Was

34:30

Chris Middleton handle the adversity the way

34:32

Jamal did I didn't see

34:34

that and what I didn't see

34:37

from coach Bud was him the

34:41

Finally, it's like oh Kind

34:44

of deal. I didn't see coach bud when they

34:46

won Prene the

34:48

way I saw Michael Malone and

34:50

I didn't see coach bud when they lost It

34:54

throw a tantrum I didn't

34:56

see those things and so what

34:59

I what I am not saying again

35:01

Jamal Murray is as good

35:03

as any player in NBA history to never

35:05

be an all-star He's probably

35:07

the best ever in that group. So

35:10

that's kind of a it's like being it's a weird

35:12

category to be in but he is an excellent

35:16

number two Who had

35:18

a rough postseason? It's fine but

35:24

There there was a level of

35:26

to me Unearned

35:34

I don't know if arrogance is the right word but stature

35:39

That I felt I felt Joker

35:43

every step of this journey once

35:46

Joker became Super

35:49

high profile. I didn't listen Joker early

35:51

in his career got thrown out of

35:53

a playoff game because of a nasty

35:55

flagrant and The shoving on the Morris

35:57

twin in the back. I didn't love

36:00

years ago since Joker has

36:02

been face of the

36:04

league adjacent he has

36:06

conducted every step perfectly perfectly

36:10

he has a tried to bait him in

36:12

the post game into saying Denver was the

36:14

better team he wouldn't do it he

36:16

was like no we play a seven game series we

36:19

lose that means they're the better team I

36:21

so I I either I've

36:24

got no I've got no arrows

36:26

for him because he doesn't deserve any

36:29

arrows I have some arrows

36:31

my a lot of my Joker angst

36:34

cut is really media criticism

36:36

is really talking less

36:38

about him and more about my

36:41

colleagues that I think were so

36:43

in such a rush to press

36:45

fast-forward on something they didn't let

36:48

it play out and a little

36:50

bit of almost Yannis protectionism because

36:52

I thought Yannis Yannis scored 50

36:55

points to win a championship the

36:58

next year looks like they're gonna win it again he

37:00

doesn't have his Robin for the playoffs they lose and

37:02

then all of a sudden people are like well Yannis

37:04

is great but you know what I mean if you

37:06

need a bucket can you count on him I'm like

37:08

I don't know the guy average 42 points

37:11

a game for the final five games of the

37:13

finals like I think you can count on it

37:15

so there was a little bit of that I

37:17

will admit where I felt like one guy was

37:20

being elevated way ahead of the other but these

37:22

are these are real

37:25

questions now and if you're the

37:27

Nuggets how strong of

37:29

a position are you in moving forward

37:32

that's a real question too because

37:35

I watched these

37:37

playoffs and Christian

37:40

Brown is fine

37:44

but doesn't want to

37:47

shoot and can't shoot and

37:49

that could be a problem Peyton Watson

37:53

eliminated from the rotation Justin

37:55

Holliday's 34 years old now We'll

38:00

see what Najee and strawther and

38:02

these young guys who got no

38:04

playoff run whatsoever what they evolve

38:06

into but

38:09

life comes at you fast in this league man and

38:13

That team is about to

38:15

be a second apron super

38:17

expensive team that When

38:21

you get down to brass tacks on this to

38:23

Monza the question they have to ask themselves is

38:25

this It's

38:28

really only one question for the offseason Well,

38:30

I guess it's two one is do we

38:32

want to you know overpay to keep KCP?

38:35

The answer that is probably yes, you have

38:37

to But the other question

38:39

is this are we shopping

38:41

Michael Porter jr? Can

38:44

we turn his 35 million dollars into something

38:49

better That's the question. They're

38:51

gonna have to ask themselves because

38:55

Am I ready to say like oh this team

38:58

can't you know they've hit their ceiling

39:00

they can't win of course I'm not ready to say that

39:03

no Like they were like

39:05

you can say it again for a DJ. I feel like you

39:07

get some good stuff for a DJ Yeah,

39:10

I think he's got a yes, and

39:13

I think you could I also

39:15

think It's a unique

39:17

spot because He hasn't

39:19

shown the ability to

39:21

create off the bounce at all the

39:24

play Right

39:26

and so and he's a Lack

39:29

of days a cool defender, so I he's

39:32

super valuable in Certain

39:35

like they have two guys in MPJ

39:38

and Aaron Gordon Who

39:40

might be more valuable to

39:42

them than to almost anyone

39:44

else? Like Aaron Gordon would

39:46

never be more valuable to any team in

39:49

the league than the one he's on with

39:51

Denver You know what you don't have to

39:53

run a single play for him. He's gonna

39:55

guard the other team's best wing He's

39:57

got no you know he's gonna do the dirty work

40:00

Toughness, huge asset. Right,

40:03

huge asset for them specifically.

40:06

Now that doesn't mean there's no other team like that

40:08

But they're at the top of the

40:10

list and that was a great trade they made

40:12

in acquiring him. MPJ again

40:16

like You

40:18

need to find the right fit and

40:20

it needs to be a team that can

40:22

have one of their wings Never

40:25

need the ball. I mean the

40:27

team that I would imagine would love to have

40:29

him is the Suns not because they could use

40:31

them at all But because they just want the

40:33

same, they just want worse version of the same

40:35

archetype on down the list. But

40:38

uh And so they

40:41

my point is it's real questions they have

40:43

to Monza. It's real questions.

40:45

So I've got a question for you.

40:49

So Denver losing to Minnesota this is how

40:51

are the Lakers looking at this point? Doesn't

40:53

that make them look even worse? And

40:56

then you also say they've got like a top

40:58

five top ten change the game type of guy.

41:01

They play the Nuggets and they

41:03

lose. And bad. Wait,

41:08

when did, what do you mean a top five

41:10

top ten change the game type of guy? Top

41:12

ten LeBron. LeBron you're saying that he was like

41:14

one of the guys that still impacts the game

41:16

on a super heavy team heavy level and

41:18

then ended up getting a he got the

41:20

gentleman sweep from Denver. Yeah I don't think

41:22

the Lakers would have lost to the Nuggets

41:25

with with peak LeBron.

41:27

I think that I don't. I mean

41:29

maybe I'm crazy but I

41:32

don't think I think I saw I saw

41:34

peak LeBron uh dominate

41:37

the league for a decade. No I don't

41:39

think they would have lost. I don't think

41:42

right now the Lakers have one

41:44

of those guys. They obviously

41:46

don't. They have the oldest player in the league.

41:49

And here's the thing that

41:51

folks I think get frustrated by when

41:55

it comes to trying to troll

41:57

me on basketball things. a

42:00

s*** about the Lakers. I

42:02

am not a Lakers fan. Lakers

42:04

fans mostly don't like me because

42:07

of the old Kobe stuff. I

42:10

have no loyalty to the Lakers. I

42:12

am a basketball fan and LeBron James

42:15

is my favorite player ever. Nothing

42:17

would make me happier than LeBron

42:20

leaving that organization that has run

42:22

like the family dollar. Like I

42:24

don't, so I, yeah, does

42:27

it mean the Lakers were further from

42:29

a championship? Sure, but it's also one

42:31

of the reasons why nobody

42:33

in their right mind was picking the

42:36

Lakers to win the championship. Even when

42:38

I picked them to beat the Nuggets,

42:41

I had the Mavs winning the championship and we'll

42:43

see how that one turns out. Um,

42:46

but yeah, I don't, I don't care. I'm not,

42:48

and I'm also not really trying to do the

42:50

transitive property of, of series. I don't think that's

42:52

the story though, but go ahead. If you have

42:54

more questions, maybe ones that don't annoy me as

42:57

much as that one, go ahead. You

43:01

got mad at the producers for the Chiefs

43:03

Denver comparisons, but it seems like that could

43:05

still be true. If Ant

43:07

and the T-wolves equal Joe Burrow

43:09

and the Bengals. So

43:12

here's the problem with a number of those

43:15

things, of those, uh,

43:18

Mahomes and, uh,

43:20

comparisons and this is the, or

43:23

the Chiefs comparisons. So Patrick

43:26

Mahomes is 28 years

43:29

old and he has

43:32

his three championships and has been to

43:34

four Super Bowls,

43:36

the equivalent of the NBA

43:39

finals and six conference finals.

43:42

Nikole Jokic is older than

43:44

Patrick Mahomes. He's older than

43:46

him. So it's

43:49

not like, Oh, they're on the

43:51

track. The chiefs were on the

43:53

chiefs were on that track when

43:55

my guy was 23 years old.

43:58

So if we want a retroactive be

44:00

like, oh last year was the

44:02

nugget 2019 year and this year

44:05

is their 2020... in fact no

44:07

also that's not even the history

44:09

of it. The Chiefs followed up

44:11

their first championship by getting back

44:14

to the championship is what they

44:16

did. The burrow thing happened the

44:18

following year and then they won two

44:20

straight. So no. And

44:24

also that is where I'll get

44:26

irritated. Patrick Mahomes at

44:29

worst, at worst

44:32

is going to finish as the second greatest player in

44:34

the history of his sport. They're

44:38

not in the same grouping guys.

44:41

They're not. And

44:43

so again it's

44:46

like that it's it

44:48

is not fair to Joker. It's

44:51

not fair to anyone

44:54

with the IQ over 70. It's

44:57

not fair to people who appreciate

45:00

the games to compare

45:02

these two. One

45:04

is already a minted

45:07

dynasty. The other has

45:10

won one title. That's

45:13

okay. That's where that's where we're at. And

45:16

that's fair. That's fine. If

45:20

you want to right

45:22

now the far better

45:25

comp for the

45:27

if we want to go cross sport the

45:29

far better comp for the Nuggets is

45:32

the rooms. Won

45:36

a championship. Banner hangs

45:39

forever. Had a very

45:41

disappointing championship defense and

45:44

then is trying to get back

45:47

to that place. And

45:49

last year I thought the Rams could have but the end is

45:51

the last thing I'll say on this but then I'll move on.

45:56

Man you

45:58

don't want to waste. the

46:01

healthy seasons and

46:03

this is where the Nuggets maybe got

46:10

unlucky already. Maybe

46:13

the Nuggets feeling is

46:15

our championship window was

46:17

cracking open in the

46:19

bubble when we made those conference finals. When

46:21

we had the back to back 3-1 comebacks

46:24

against Utah and the Clippers made the conference

46:26

finals get cracked by the Lakers. Jamal

46:29

Murray got hurt and

46:31

two of our contention years

46:33

were ruined by Jamal

46:35

Murray's injury which is probably accurate. Now

46:40

we've had the next two years

46:43

when we've been fully healthy we

46:45

won a title

46:48

and then we blew the biggest lead in the history of

46:50

a game 7 at home. The

46:55

point I'm making is this

46:57

team doesn't have the depth in

47:00

order to deal with somebody

47:03

spraining an ankle and missing 3 weeks

47:06

of the playoffs. They

47:08

don't have the luxury

47:10

the Celtics have which is

47:12

we could lose a guy like

47:15

Chris Dab Sporzingis and

47:17

it doesn't matter because our path

47:19

to the finals is so laid

47:22

out for us. The

47:24

West is going to be brutal

47:27

every year and

47:30

some hard financial realities

47:33

are coming for the Denver Nuggets and

47:36

we'll see how they respond. But

47:39

defending your title by getting

47:41

50 balled in a closeout game and

47:44

then blowing the biggest game 7 lead in the history

47:46

of the sport, it's

47:49

on the resume. It's not

47:51

the first thing on the resume but

47:54

it's before the

47:56

old story continues on page A7

47:58

part of the resume. It's

48:00

on there. How

48:03

long did we go, DeMansay? Went 43 minutes. So

48:08

it's mirrored for me. So I... Okay,

48:11

I've got it. We went 43

48:13

minutes. I

48:15

bet the kids college fund on the over,

48:17

where do I collect my winnings? 57%

48:21

said over. Those 57% were winners.

48:23

Take a quick break. Talk about

48:25

the other series. What's right? This

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50:04

right, welcome back in what's right with Nick right

50:07

episode 238 again a reminder

50:10

and it's a reminder because I'm putting

50:12

I'm saying it multiple times because I

50:15

Sometimes I say I'm gonna talk about

50:17

something on the pod and then

50:19

I'm just like I don't have the energy

50:22

It's gonna be a heavy topic, but I'm

50:24

pot committing myself to it Thursday show. I'm

50:26

gonna use what happened with uh Scottie

50:31

Scheffler pardon me. Thank you. Uh,

50:33

and we're gonna talk a little bit about the cops and

50:36

also We haven't had a

50:38

pod since Butkers

50:40

comments at the graduation because we didn't

50:42

have a pod last Thursday. So we'll

50:45

talk a bit about that as well So

50:47

we'll do both of those things speaking of

50:49

by the way The

50:52

Chiefs and an offseason that has

50:54

been you know, not

50:56

without some news blotter

51:00

This front on pro football talk the

51:03

the photographer who said initially that Rishi

51:05

rice hit him at the club Evidently

51:09

the photographer wants the charges dropped

51:12

So that was a weird one Where the

51:14

initial allegation was that Rishi texted the

51:16

guy come back to the club the

51:18

guy came back to the club and

51:20

he clocked him in the face But

51:22

then the next day the owner of

51:24

the club was like like what? Yeah

51:26

because the yeah So it was it

51:28

wasn't like paparazzi photographer. It was

51:30

like club foot. You know what I mean? You're

51:33

out a nightclub and they have like the person

51:35

who does it for like the club social media

51:38

something like that That

51:40

type of thing I guess. Um Yeah,

51:42

because at first when you hear allegedly hit a

51:45

photographer You think it's one of those things like

51:47

walking your car someone's taking a picture you push

51:49

the camera That's the image at least I had

51:51

in my head But then the

51:53

allegation was this guy was

51:56

working at the working left

51:59

was Texas old to come back came back and

52:01

Rishi hit him in the side of the face

52:03

like well that's pretty bad

52:07

you're already in trouble it's pretty bad but then

52:09

the next day the owner

52:12

of the club came out

52:15

and said none of this happened he

52:18

said I was there and I reviewed the

52:20

videotape none of it happened but

52:22

then the police report came out and

52:24

the police report said the photographer had

52:26

a visible mark on his face so

52:29

seemingly something happened to him so it

52:31

was an odd story to

52:33

begin with now according

52:36

to Tom Belocero of NFL media

52:38

says that the man said

52:45

there was a misunderstanding and he wants

52:47

any and all charges dropped so

52:50

that's not gonna go anywhere I

52:52

don't know what did or didn't happen

52:54

right I think

52:56

that's the thing the

52:59

thing is this even

53:02

if he is

53:04

100% innocent

53:06

on this okay and

53:08

this is where I'm gonna oh you know what

53:10

I'm gonna ask your opinion DeManse and then we'll

53:13

get back to the basketball but there's a little

53:15

breaking news on it and I get annoyed with

53:17

people who think that there are

53:19

some people that's Rishi rice address Rishi

53:21

yeah I mean it's yeah I mean

53:23

it's like guys I do like you

53:25

the folks who say that they

53:28

they act as if 100%

53:30

of the content I produce is

53:32

like the seven minutes of clips

53:34

a week at first things first

53:36

puts out of me on anyone

53:39

I said I'm like guys there's been a lot

53:41

of dress that did not make it into your

53:43

Twitter feed but um but I so

53:45

let me ask you this if

53:47

I sound like an old man here if

53:50

you think what I'm saying is reasonable if

53:52

you think you're honest to

53:54

God opinion okay okay if

53:59

your Rishi race and

54:03

the street racing thing happened

54:06

and is hanging over your head. From

54:10

the moment that happens until

54:13

the moment it gets resolved

54:15

with the NFL and

54:18

with the court

54:20

system, I

54:23

don't want you at clubs at doing the thing. Yeah.

54:30

Is that a reasonable take in your opinion? It's

54:36

a reasonable take if you think

54:39

the guy has the ability. It's

54:41

a weird one, but yeah, I'd say that's

54:44

reasonable. Are you saying like as a coach, Andy

54:46

Reid, front office, whatever, yeah, I'd say that's fair

54:48

to have that stand. I'm

54:51

saying if I were his dad,

54:54

if it were you and

54:57

you had made a big mistake

55:00

that the consequences were pending

55:02

for, right? That

55:04

we don't know how much trouble you're in

55:07

and within a month you're

55:09

like out partying, I

55:12

am nervous. And

55:16

I think this is, and I think

55:18

my stance on that is

55:20

proven by this exact thing

55:23

because either within a

55:25

month you were out partying and

55:27

made another egregious decision or

55:29

within a month you

55:32

were out partying, did absolutely

55:34

nothing wrong and

55:36

now get drawn into more controversy. You

55:39

know what I mean? Like either way it's

55:42

kind of evidence of let's

55:44

just chill on the hanging out

55:46

with our buddies in Dallas. Like

55:50

let's just chill a bit man.

55:54

And so yeah, so there's that.

55:57

Hey man, you just run the Super Bowl, man.

56:00

having a good year. I know.

56:02

You know, having a good time.

56:04

Yeah, exactly. Alright, let's get to

56:06

the back to the basketball. Alright,

56:09

so the Knicks players can finally get some

56:11

rest. The injuries were just too much. I

56:14

think Josh Hart got injured, OG was injured,

56:16

and then Brunson fractured his hand at the

56:18

end there. So they

56:20

have their superstar, Jaylen Brunson, in a

56:22

good supporting cast and a lot of

56:25

assets. So with that said, LeBron

56:28

James to the Knicks next year? God,

56:30

I'd love it. I mean, it

56:32

would be awesome. I don't think it's gonna happen. I

56:36

think it is on

56:39

the board, but not at all likely

56:41

in the least. I think it's possible.

56:43

I think he would fill a massive

56:45

need for them. They

56:48

need another piece. They obviously

56:52

should spam the

56:54

son's phone calling for Kevin Durant.

56:57

I understand a lot of folks

57:00

want McHale Bridges because he's

57:02

the Nova guy and if

57:04

I'm being honest, I don't think

57:06

the Knicks are on the McHale Bridges away

57:09

from being champions. I think

57:11

then you have this awesome roster,

57:13

but you don't have the guy.

57:15

Listen, Jaylen Brunson has made himself

57:17

the guy, but if he's gonna

57:19

be your guy, you need a

57:21

better number too than McHale Bridges.

57:24

Right. Right, exactly. I

57:27

do want to talk about the injuries though because

57:30

I think people are being

57:32

so intellectually dishonest about the Tibbs

57:34

piece of it. Which

57:37

is folks are

57:40

acting like because of what

57:43

the injuries were that

57:45

Tibbs playing his guys these insane

57:47

minutes has nothing to do with

57:49

the injuries and

57:52

that just that

57:56

defies the obvious

57:58

logic and the most basic

58:00

point of this Are

58:04

you more likely to suffer a

58:06

basketball related injury when you're playing

58:08

basketball or not? You're on the

58:10

bitch, right? Yeah,

58:14

like people are like oh

58:16

well only OGs was an

58:18

overuse injury Yeah, but

58:20

I and so this was the analogy that I

58:23

that I used On

58:25

the show that I'm gonna use again If

58:28

I run a delivery business Okay,

58:31

a courier business in New

58:33

York City and

58:36

my business is known for Working

58:39

my guys Incredibly

58:41

long hours having them

58:44

run or do more deliveries

58:46

than any other company and

58:48

I don't give them water breaks and at

58:52

the end of the year I've

58:54

had I've lost ten couriers

58:56

to injury or other and

58:59

And I'm like, well hold on a second guys Only

59:03

two of them who was dehydration

59:05

exactly the other seven

59:08

Got hit by cars or turned an ankle.

59:10

You can't say that's on me. It's like

59:13

well, no, but they had more opportunities To

59:16

get run over by somebody on

59:18

an e-bike because they were out

59:20

in the streets more there

59:22

are more opportunities for these guys to get

59:24

hurt because of the minutes they're playing and

59:27

if I did to use could take

59:30

the tips analogy further if Every

59:32

year I ran this business around

59:35

September People wrote

59:37

articles like oh my goodness Nick's

59:40

delivery business overachieving again

59:43

Everyone said he couldn't if you

59:45

hit these quotas with that number

59:48

of employees But look what he's

59:50

doing and then every year by

59:52

Christmas time My customers

59:54

are disappointed and I'm like, well, what do you

59:57

want for me? All my guys are hurt What

1:00:00

do you want for like well, I don't

1:00:02

know adjust a Just

1:00:05

I respect him as a coach.

1:00:07

He's obviously an excellent coach. He

1:00:09

needs to tweak this one thing,

1:00:11

man There is

1:00:13

every coach they get there with their

1:00:15

best players all the minutes Say

1:00:18

to you they get do that. Do they get there without

1:00:20

him playing the players the way he does But

1:00:25

I guess my point is what is there do

1:00:27

they get to round two? Yeah, maybe

1:00:31

Like this is like this was not

1:00:34

a you know a Historic run

1:00:36

and I like the

1:00:38

Knicks but you the

1:00:40

this whole thing of and we saw

1:00:43

it with the we've seen

1:00:45

it throughout his career and so

1:00:48

I just I Just

1:00:50

chill a little bit, bro Especially

1:00:53

when a fight you you you wouldn't

1:00:55

play out like the Josh Hart family

1:00:57

members Kidnapped and then you finally play

1:01:00

my Alec Brooks like I'm alright I

1:01:03

might miss a few defensive rotations, but I I'll

1:01:05

help you out like it's just

1:01:07

too much. Um, alright, let's move on

1:01:11

All right, so your large the minion son has a

1:01:13

chance to make it to his first finals But

1:01:16

and the Timberwolves obviously stand in his way

1:01:19

So everybody's ready to crown ant but if Luca

1:01:21

ends up winning the series does it belong to

1:01:23

Luca? Well,

1:01:25

no, um winning this

1:01:28

series Winning this series

1:01:30

won't give Luca the best player in

1:01:32

the league crown I don't

1:01:34

even know if winning the championship

1:01:36

definitively will I think

1:01:38

that I Think that

1:01:41

if Luca wins the title That

1:01:44

crown is up for grabs with

1:01:47

Giannis and Luca

1:01:51

and Jokic vying for it.

1:01:54

Jokic I think is

1:01:56

still in the pole position Fairly

1:01:59

because Yes, they lost, but they

1:02:01

didn't lose because he no-showed. So,

1:02:04

I don't think you can't, it's not

1:02:06

just the guy who wins the

1:02:08

title becomes the best player in the league. That's

1:02:10

not how it works. Um...

1:02:13

But it puts Luca in that territory.

1:02:15

And I, and here's the other thing I

1:02:17

want to say about Luca. The

1:02:21

guy... twice in his

1:02:23

career... has had

1:02:25

an all-star-ish teammate. And

1:02:28

both times made the conference finals.

1:02:32

When Jalen Brunson was ascending, they go to

1:02:34

the playoffs, they make the conference finals. Last

1:02:36

year was a bad year, no doubt about

1:02:38

it, missed the playoffs straight for Kyrie mid-year.

1:02:41

This year, Kyrie, who's

1:02:43

not even playing that great this postseason,

1:02:45

they make the conference finals. Luca's

1:02:48

played seven series, playoff series in

1:02:51

his career. Six of the

1:02:53

seven were against top nine

1:02:55

defenses in the league that year. And

1:02:58

now they're playing the number

1:03:00

one defense. He already has

1:03:02

beaten the number one seed

1:03:04

twice. He's already just the

1:03:06

tenth guy in NBA history

1:03:09

to be the best player

1:03:11

on a multi-time conference finalist before

1:03:13

he turns 26 years old. Like,

1:03:18

the guy's a legendary player. And...

1:03:23

I think they can win the title. Go ahead, Demaze.

1:03:26

You think he stops... Oh, yeah,

1:03:28

if Luca wins the finals, will he be the

1:03:30

runaway MVP for next season? Well,

1:03:33

he's always in contention for it. I think he'll

1:03:35

start with a lead. Yeah, absolutely. But what was

1:03:37

the other question you were going to ask? He

1:03:41

stopped... Jalen Brunson, like, I feel

1:03:43

like Jalen Brunson left Dallas and

1:03:45

immediately sprouted. Do you think

1:03:47

that Luca was responsible for any of his...

1:03:51

So here's the thing on... Jalen Brunson...

1:03:56

So I don't... The... I

1:03:58

think Jalen Brunson... What

1:04:00

happened with him was he got way better

1:04:02

as a player, right?

1:04:05

So Jalen Brunson was...

1:04:08

was he a second round pick or in the first

1:04:10

round pick? I don't... hold on, I

1:04:12

gotta look. I don't... I think it was a second round pick,

1:04:14

but I gotta look. So Jalen

1:04:17

Brunson was an

1:04:19

early second round pick. Yes.

1:04:23

And so

1:04:25

his first year in the league, he was

1:04:28

nine points a game. His second year in

1:04:30

the league he was eight points a game.

1:04:32

His third year in the league he showed

1:04:35

something, was thirteen points a game, and then

1:04:37

that year... Let me make

1:04:39

sure I have this right. Yeah. That year

1:04:41

in the playoffs was brutal. Was

1:04:44

brutal. And wasn't

1:04:46

really all that playable in the playoffs.

1:04:50

But you know what? Brutal's unfair.

1:04:52

He wasn't brutal. He... Carlisle

1:04:56

didn't trust him, is what it

1:04:58

was. He didn't get many opportunities.

1:05:00

He was sixteen minutes a game and

1:05:03

eight points a game. So it's

1:05:05

unfair to say, but it was a tough

1:05:07

matchup for him against those Clippers. And

1:05:10

the Mavs didn't pay him because of that. And

1:05:13

then the next year he

1:05:15

ascended and in the postseason was twenty-one

1:05:18

a game after in the regular season being

1:05:20

sixteen a game. He's

1:05:22

just gotten better and better as a

1:05:24

player. Now would he have turned into

1:05:26

this alongside Luca? No, because...

1:05:28

No, because they're... But

1:05:31

I think he... But I think that's because

1:05:34

of the style of players they are. They

1:05:36

both need the ball so much.

1:05:39

Right, exactly. And

1:05:42

so I don't... But I don't think Luca

1:05:44

was holding him back. I

1:05:46

think he's a very undersized,

1:05:49

score-first guard that took a lot

1:05:51

of time to develop. Alright,

1:05:55

let's... And we'll talk more... What

1:06:00

would you describe Kyrie's game as? Because I know

1:06:02

he's been like shape-shifting and playing different to what

1:06:04

they need, but what would you say? Because

1:06:06

I was like, I'm kind of... Is

1:06:09

that not what Kyrie is? Slightly? It

1:06:13

is, except Kyrie had

1:06:15

those three years playing with LeBron. So

1:06:19

he learned how to be his

1:06:21

best self alongside a guy

1:06:23

that's going to have the ball in his hands

1:06:25

a ton. And Kyrie's more

1:06:27

of a dead-eye shooter than Jalen.

1:06:31

And so those two things I think...

1:06:34

But yeah, that's why I thought the Kyrie-Luca fit

1:06:36

wasn't going to be a great one. And

1:06:38

Kyrie's had to take a lesser role. And

1:06:41

Kyrie to his credit man... He's playing to

1:06:43

it. And

1:06:46

his maturity and leadership has

1:06:48

been awesome. Like I

1:06:51

really think Kyrie... I

1:06:54

think that post

1:06:58

the video when

1:07:00

he was with the Nets, when

1:07:03

I think that was a really...

1:07:06

I think that was a really hard moment for him

1:07:09

because he was

1:07:12

being accused of being anti-Semitic

1:07:15

and I think... And I said at the

1:07:17

time, and I'll say it again, I don't

1:07:19

think Kyrie is a hateful... I don't

1:07:21

think hate is part of how he

1:07:23

operates at all. I

1:07:25

think he can be stubborn and hard-headed.

1:07:28

And I think that to this

1:07:31

day, I don't believe Kyrie actually

1:07:33

watched that two-hour movie. That

1:07:36

he posts a clip on Instagram. It

1:07:38

turns out that the movie he's talking

1:07:40

about actually paints

1:07:43

Hitler in a positive light. He's

1:07:45

then asked about it because he's kind

1:07:48

of anti-establishment. He's

1:07:50

more like, bleep you, yeah I watched it, yeah I

1:07:53

believe... And then it snowballs

1:07:55

on him. I

1:07:57

think that was a bit of a...

1:08:00

Scaring experience from him and I think

1:08:02

he grew because of it and

1:08:04

I think that Kyrie trying

1:08:07

to he clearly takes being a

1:08:09

leader a cultural

1:08:11

leader seriously, and

1:08:14

I think that that finally has He

1:08:17

has matured to the point of understanding

1:08:21

So much of his ability to lead

1:08:24

and to impact communities financially

1:08:27

and otherwise is Generated

1:08:30

from his brilliance as a

1:08:32

basketball player and that was

1:08:34

being put into question because

1:08:36

of You

1:08:38

know that he was missing games and wasn't

1:08:40

the on playoff runs all those things and

1:08:43

I think he's a more committed Defensive player

1:08:45

than ever before I think he's been more

1:08:47

mature I think he's

1:08:49

been trying to be like the wise

1:08:52

elder He's the oldest star left in

1:08:54

the playoffs at 31 years old

1:08:56

like But I've

1:08:58

been super impressed by Kyrie

1:09:01

super impressed and

1:09:04

we'll turn around he hasn't even played

1:09:06

great and Despite that

1:09:08

the Mavs find themselves in the conference

1:09:11

finals. All right next All

1:09:14

right. So my Celtics continue to stretch her

1:09:16

his path to the finals. They've got the

1:09:18

Pacers up next Boston open

1:09:20

at minus 1200 Favorites

1:09:23

is it worth watching or should I just tune in to

1:09:25

June 6th? For

1:09:29

game one of the finals I will yeah, I mean,

1:09:31

I mean it's worth watching but they're gonna give them

1:09:34

They're gonna give them a game or two. I Honestly

1:09:37

think they might give them two. I know they're gonna give them

1:09:39

one Well,

1:09:41

listen, it's hard to sweep There's

1:09:45

there's no there's no doubt about that.

1:09:47

It's hard to sweep I

1:09:49

mean, yeah Yeah,

1:09:53

I know I am easiest I want to

1:09:55

sweep should possibly be good.

1:09:59

Yeah, I mean and Pacer fans, I get

1:10:01

why you're annoyed at how

1:10:03

game 7 was presented because

1:10:06

the game broadcast should

1:10:08

give each team equal time so

1:10:10

to speak. But this

1:10:12

isn't the game broadcast, this is my podcast

1:10:14

and I'm not interested in the Pacers. I

1:10:18

mean, I'm just

1:10:20

not. I mean shout out to

1:10:22

Halliburton for rallying in that series against

1:10:24

the Knicks after a really tough start

1:10:26

to the series. They're a

1:10:28

good story but they're multiple answers away.

1:10:33

They had the most efficient shooting night in a

1:10:35

game 7 win in

1:10:38

the Magic Square Garden. I'm happy

1:10:40

for them but they don't have any chance.

1:10:44

Something to look out for there. But

1:10:48

I'm not going to pretend like they have a chance to

1:10:50

win the series. They don't. And

1:10:52

so the Celtics are going to be

1:10:55

in the finals and we'll talk more

1:10:57

about the Celtics as we get closer

1:10:59

to the finals. Alright, I'm not

1:11:01

going to do the poker thing today because I don't

1:11:03

have time to do it. We'll

1:11:05

take a quick break, come back and answer a

1:11:08

few questions next. What's

1:11:15

up everyone? It's Nick Wright and I got something

1:11:18

exciting to talk to you about today. Angie,

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their jobs done well. Alright

1:12:37

welcome back in what's right with Nick Wright. Alright

1:12:39

Damansi let's get to a few listener questions before

1:12:41

I go. Shams

1:12:44

reports the Lakers think that JJ

1:12:46

Riddick has Pat Riley type Pat

1:12:48

Riley like potential. What do

1:12:50

you think of LeBron's

1:12:52

sorry the Lakers opinion. So

1:12:55

I think that the Lakers the thing they

1:12:58

most like about the idea of hiring JJ

1:13:00

Riddick is it'll create buzz and

1:13:02

if it doesn't work out they can act

1:13:04

like LeBron made him do it. When

1:13:06

I know definitively for a fact LeBron

1:13:09

has not commented one time to the

1:13:11

Lakers about this coaching search. The Lakers

1:13:13

are a poorly run team that make

1:13:16

a lot of their decisions not based

1:13:18

on what's the best possible decision but

1:13:20

what's the decision that if it doesn't

1:13:23

work out we can keep our jobs

1:13:26

despite it. So that's what I

1:13:28

think I'm not excited about the

1:13:30

idea of the Lakers hiring a

1:13:32

first-time head coach who's never even

1:13:34

been an NBA assistant. It's also

1:13:36

why I hope LeBron James is not on

1:13:38

the Lakers next year but I think he

1:13:40

will be. Next. Scott

1:13:43

Murphy asked the Celtics are a

1:13:45

lose-lose with non-Boston NBA fans. If

1:13:48

they don't win it'll be a failed season

1:13:50

but if they do it'll be chalked up

1:13:52

to an easy path against the injured weak

1:13:54

East. Scott Murphy asked the question. Here's

1:14:00

the thing, are you talking about

1:14:02

the conference finals or the finals? If

1:14:05

they don't win the conference finals, it

1:14:07

will be a failed season. If

1:14:10

they lose as minus 1400

1:14:12

favorites to the Pacers, it

1:14:14

is a failure. Okay, let me make

1:14:17

that clear. Now that you get

1:14:19

to the finals, it's

1:14:22

not lose-lose if you win the

1:14:24

championship. If you

1:14:26

win the championship, no

1:14:29

one will care what the path to

1:14:31

the finals was. You will

1:14:33

be playing either Luca or Ant

1:14:35

in the finals. And

1:14:38

if you win, the way to

1:14:40

make it not a lose-lose is to win. But

1:14:43

if you make the finals through this

1:14:45

path and then get rolled

1:14:47

by one of these two teams,

1:14:49

yeah people are going to say

1:14:51

that you made the finals but

1:14:53

were you the fourth best team in the sport

1:14:55

that year? Were the

1:14:57

Mavs, the Thunder, the Nuggets all better

1:15:00

than you? And that will be a

1:15:02

fair conversation. So go

1:15:04

win the championship and it's not a problem.

1:15:08

Next. Bradley Hammond asked, can you give us

1:15:10

a few players whose future with their current

1:15:12

team is most tied to how the season

1:15:14

ends? Might not even be a player

1:15:16

on one of the remaining teams. Well

1:15:20

you always have to include Jalen

1:15:22

Brown because if the Celtics don't

1:15:24

win the championship, his name always

1:15:26

comes up in trade conversations. So

1:15:28

there's one. Kevin Durant, I

1:15:30

don't know what his

1:15:32

future with the Suns is going to

1:15:35

be. Donovan Mitchell as well. As far

1:15:37

as teams, players

1:15:39

on the remaining teams, no Jalen Brown is

1:15:41

the only one. Alright

1:15:45

let's go to Dylan DeMaze.

1:15:49

Dylan L. Nick, what historical NFL team

1:15:51

is your comp for the Wolves so

1:15:53

far? Please playoffs. great

1:16:00

answer. Cam Newton's

1:16:02

like a... Sorry,

1:16:05

that's a bad one. No, that's not

1:16:07

a bad one. But that

1:16:09

team was 15-1 and Cam was the league

1:16:11

MVP. This

1:16:15

is like a team based on defense that seems to

1:16:17

be there early. Russell Wilson's Seahawks is my answer. When

1:16:24

in year two they win the whole thing. And

1:16:27

they beat Peyton

1:16:29

Manning in Denver. Oh, they beat Denver

1:16:32

in the Super Bowl. So

1:16:34

off the top of my head, Russell

1:16:36

Wilson's Seahawks. Alright, last one. Genghis

1:16:40

Khan asked, Nick, what happens to your

1:16:42

Scoot Henderson over Wimpy Kaul? Yeah, it

1:16:45

was a bad rookie of the year pick. I

1:16:48

mean, by the way, it was not a

1:16:50

career length call. That's

1:16:53

what I thought it was for a second. It

1:16:56

was for that I picked Scoot to

1:16:58

win rookie of the year because I

1:17:00

thought he was going to be more

1:17:02

NBA ready. And I thought that Wimpy

1:17:04

might not play the requisite games. But

1:17:06

I clearly undervalued Wimpy and clearly overvalued

1:17:08

Scoot. Again, folks try to

1:17:11

be like, ah, gotcha. Guys, when I'm wrong, it

1:17:13

doesn't happen that often. But when I'm wrong, I

1:17:15

admit it. The Scoot over

1:17:17

Wimpy thing is all kinds of category three. What?

1:17:24

No, I know that he's another. Do

1:17:26

you think Wimpy would be good with the Knicks? Yeah,

1:17:29

I think he'd be good with every team. But why are you bringing that

1:17:31

up? Oh, if you were

1:17:33

saying like the Knicks, that piece there, they're missing. I know that.

1:17:36

Yeah, I think Prime Bill Russell would

1:17:38

be good with the Knicks, but he's

1:17:40

not available. I mean,

1:17:43

RIP. But I

1:17:46

mean, Wimpy's not available. They

1:17:49

could offer the deed to Madison Square

1:17:51

Garden. He's not available. So yeah,

1:17:53

there's a lot of guys that could. I think Joker would

1:17:55

be good with the Knicks. They should call and see if

1:17:57

they can get him. There he

1:17:59

is. No,

1:18:02

I'm sorry. I was

1:18:04

ending the show and you threw out do I think

1:18:06

Wimpy'd be good with the Knicks? Yeah, I think Justin

1:18:08

Jefferson be pretty good with the Chiefs. I don't think

1:18:11

they're gonna be able to get him Sorry

1:18:13

pal. I didn't mean to flame you at the

1:18:15

end, but is he just threw that out there

1:18:17

is this bad take? Yeah, I

1:18:19

think you'd be great with the name. Did you

1:18:22

call go could tell worldwide West and you call

1:18:24

San Antonio See what it'll take a couple future

1:18:26

twos. DeMaze great job. Everyone great job. Daniel Sorry,

1:18:28

your team ended up being a one-time champ. No

1:18:31

problem with that though There's you still get to

1:18:33

hang that banner. Talk to you guys on Thursday.

1:18:35

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