This is the Baseline discussing the hot button topics of the NBA. Welcome everybody,
your tune to the Baseline Callie Warrenshaw discussing the hot button topics of the
NBA. And it is uh, it's done. It's pretty much a rap.
As we are recording this, we can finally say goodbye to the NBA
regular season and hello NBA Playoffs. But before we get there, we obviously
have to deal with the NBA play ins. But you know, listen all
of the other shows that are out there, and we love them, no
disrespect, you know what I'm saying. They're doing their thing while they fixated
and totally focused on the play ins and giving previews and stuff. Hey man,
the Baseline. You know, we basically make rhythm to our own drums,
right, We don't take the same path as everybody else. And so
obviously we had to throw in a show that's definitely going to get the mind
and the fan them perculating. This is our coveted Baseline Awards show special where
we get to dig in on the type of awards we want to see handed
out, and they will also you know, dabble in with what we probably
are going to predict to be the regular NBA regular season awards that are going
to be handed out by season's end. But as always, man, special
shows call for special guests, and who none better than to do this with
than the ogs of it right, the original trifecta, the tress Letches of
basketball podcasting. Let me first go ahead and roll out the red carpet to
my right hand man's www. Dot shaw Spot satin netpick bicker Hunapi and see
my man, mister Warren Shaw, rapping out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
What's good Shaw? I know you are totally geeked up for this episode.
You know what it is, man, Year two of the baseline awards were
coming out here firing on all cylinders, and as you alluded to, no
disrespect through those out there are doing the play and stuff. But so your
content is going to be old and right, she recorded. So we're trying
to take a higher in different approach for this joint and we got our man's
back up in the building. So excited, man, here you're two basedline
awards and what a good friend. Absolutely, man, and listen, who
none better than to basically do this show with. It's it's been a while,
but my man has been cooking in the pot like you know what I'm
saying. I mean, he's been coming up with succulent flavors for the for
the basketball ears. And if you haven't been checking him out lately, oh
shame on you. But listen, he needs no introduction quite honestly. I
mean, his name and his fame is taller than most even speak of.
You know what I'm saying. They should probably have a Marvel Book character ready
to go for this dude right here, because you know, even the initials
themselves as badass. But that's our man, Jabari Davis. You know what
I'm saying. If you have not been catching him, man, he's been
doing wonderful work with iHeartRadio, with him and his his his his people's producing
shows. Um, it's it's just awesome again, man, to have our
man's back on here in the fold. It's giving me the warm fuzzies.
What's up, Jay? Hey? I appreciate you. I appreciate both of
you guys having me And let me just say for the record, if they
need to, you know, if they need a Kang replacement, you know,
give me a few months in the gym. You know you'll put you'll
put me on a program. We can make this work. Now, I'm
happy to be here, always, always an honor to be here, you
know, in the baseline with you guys, and excited about this episode.
Now, are you excited about the episode because of what we're going to be
discussing, or are you excited about the episode because you just want to make
sure that there's enough purple and gold? You know what I'm saying draped over
in the background, you know what I'm saying in the context of the conversation.
I don't know. I just I sense a theme in your neck of
the woods there, buddy. I mean, y'all know hard role. Man.
I love the NBA at large, but this is Lakers over here.
Man. I grew up in the year. I grew up in Los Angeles
during the showtime Lakers. And that's just a reminder for anybody that maybe didn't
hear me when I was a you know, an honored member of the year
of this show. So it's always going to be that. No look for
fans. I'll just say this for the record, we could celebrate just a
little bit, man, Like this was a rough season. This was a
rough one. So even though I don't know if they're going anywhere, I'm
definitely gonna celebrate along the way. I'm surprised you ain't got to bodily yacht
right next like your man, like your man, Shay Shayn't. I don't
know anybody who who beyond it quite like it's either you or Shay Shay.
But y'all are two of my favorite lakers. Okay, y'all can speak truth
to it whenever you feel like it's so, have at it if you will.
But as always, man, we really appreciate everybody for hopping on board
with this this week. Um as always be sure to get him my man
Shawshaw spots NBA get at me a game fasically the shows Twitter on the NBA
baseline. Um you can also catch my man Jabari. You know what I'm
saying as well too is you know he has just got a plethora of great
shows and content on iHeart Radio. Until we always encourage you guys to not
obviously check out his fold. I mean, if you're checking us out,
you definitely checking out a manager Bari. He um he's he's He's one of
the originators in this so we always appreciate him taking the time to come out
here and help us break down this this episode Shaw, And I'm really excited
about this because one, it's a marker in the road with regards to you
know, how we look at the season, the regular season and its totality,
and I think more importantly as well too, just give us a little
bit you know, opportunity, you know what I'm saying, to kind of
like take take you know, pull take, let the hair out a little
bit, you know what I'm saying, Relax, chill, have some fun
with it, um, and really touch on some things that obviously, the
way that the NBA news cycle operates, there was not enough room or opportunity
for us to be able to delve into those things, um, and to
be able to do it with great friends and have great content about it.
Well, you know, as I said, man, it's it's it's that
time of the year, um. And there's a lot of highly debatable conversation
when it comes to awards specifically. Well for us, you know, we
like to have fun, um, and I think we had a lot of
great, great fun last year and kind of creating some of our own awards,
so to bring in you know, the distinguished you know, Jamari Davis
to join us in that in that conversation. This year should be a lot
of fun for our fans and listeners, and we'd love to hear what people
have to say, you know, after the conversation that's taken place. So
after you've tuned in and listen to us for about an hour, you might
like what we had to say, and you might now, but we want
to hear about our hour socialist to let us know, get get out of
us on Twitter and Instagram as well. All right, now, before we
start getting into you know, the way that we have the show laid out
for our listeners, we're going to get into the actual NBA awards first,
right the who we are giving our predictions that are going to be uh,
you know, the trophies are going to be handed out too, and then
we'll delve into the baseline awards, which obviously we are going to have so
much fun having conversations, got some lovely topics selected curated for your listening pleasure.
So that's how we're going to basically build things out before we do that,
Jabari man, I know it's been long overdue, you know for our
people who really haven't had an opportunity to keep up with you and all of
the different projects you're doing. Talk a little bit about what it's like doing
your thing over there at my Heart. You know, what have you got
on the docket? You know the show's production where people can get at you.
I want to make sure people know who you are, what you're about,
where you're at, everything and stuff like that, because you know,
there's not too often that you were able to get all of us together on
this on this stuff, I would say we should happen more often, but
I'm always appreciative of the opportunity in times when you do come on. Honestly,
cal guys, I definitely appreciate it. I don't want to take up
too much time with this. The easiest way to find my stuff is Agibari
Davis NBA on Twitter, uh if any anywhere you get your podcasts, you
can check out Miles and Jack Got Mad Boosts. It's a hell of a
lot of fun. It's a weekly podcast for the league that's distributed through iHeart.
We have all types of fun guests on there. You know the man,
the myth, the legend Warren Shaw has been has been on there,
you know, talking up y'all Celtics. Um, we may have we may
have to find a way to get you to get the entire your crew back,
you know for the summer, especially if you guys win it. Let
you'll let y'all you know, talk your talk a little bit. But either
way, um, you know NBA Finals file, you know, And we
got a couple of the things in the work that I can't necessarily get into,
but definitely appreciate this opportunity absolutely. So thank you once again for our
listeners for supporting us. But as always we encourage you to support our families
as well too, and that includes our man Jabari Davis. Be sure to
get them at Twitter at Jabari Davis NBA. All right, let's get right
into it, shaw Jabari. Let's start talking about who we think going to
be getting those NBA awards. And the first one that we're gonna kind of
you know, sink our teeth into is going to be the sixth Man the
Year award. Um. But pretty you know, pretty nice selection. I
will have to say, I'm kind of glad that that we're in a different
space. Maybe with the performances of these individuals, it will usher in a
different way that we approach and and look at the NBA Six Man the Year
award. But I'm gonna start with you, Jabari. You know who do
you have slated to walk away with that award? Now, I appreciate it.
I think all the main characters deserve to be in the conversation for what
they did for their respective teams. So, you know, like I absolutely
love what IQ brings in New York, what Norman Powell does for the Clippers,
and obviously what you know Bobby Portis does for Milwaukee. And you know,
even though he's no longer in the conversation, I was, I was
ecstatic, you know that Russ he got to love, you know, within
the conversation for a good portion of the season as well. But ultimately,
while I think everyone is deserving I personally, and look for the record,
the league does not give me your awards picks. They know better, they
know damn well better than to do that. But if I were, if
I were picking out, would honestly go with Malcolm brug didn't, uh,
you know, at least from a distance, it felt like he was the
steadiest and probably the most consistent over the course of the year. Uh,
you know for you know, from the outside looking in, you know again,
you know, he's exactly what the Seeds needed heading into the year.
I was there was a little bit of foamo. I was a little bit
I was hating on y'all. I'll be straight up, I'll agree with you
when y'all when y'all got him to start or in the off season, I
thought, man, that's exactly the piece that they needed. And I think
that he proved to be that, you know, on on on a night
in, night out basis for your Celtics. Yeah, I'll jump in and
say, you know, and you know, a lot of our shows and
we have Jabara, they end up with me and him agreeing at least to
start off with. This will be no different. Unfortunately, I guess if
you're looking for some dissension. My problem with quickically not a problem, is
that he started twenty games for the Knicks, right Brogden could have started for
Boston, but Mossoula kept him in that role reserve all sixty seven games he
played. Bobby Porters started a lot of games for the Bucks as well too,
to circumstance, So I'm not trying to knock those guys. But if
you're going through the true altruistic aspect of what the award means, Brogden forty
four percent from the three point line, you know, almost fifteen points per
game, as the Jabbari alluded to very much with Boston needed coming in off
the bench. So and again no disrespect on those those guys too, but
I think it's Brogden for sure. Yeah. I don't see any reason why
to disagree with you, guys. I will those say I think the person
who's going to come close system will be normal power for the Los Angeles Clippers.
And let's not make any bones about this, had not had not Russell
Westbrook, you know, come into the picture to help you know, kind
of round out what the roster is going to look like for them getting into
the playoffs. You can make the argument that the best player for the Los
Angeles Clippers was Norman Powell, even though the focus and the attention has been
on Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, who while they had a pretty decent season
right and they are the pillars of the of the Clippers, the most consistent,
dependable player that Tyron Lewis had in his arsenal prior to getting what they
got from Russell Westbrook was the play of normal Powell. You can kind of
match up the numbers a little bit and see that he's running neck and neck
with Malcolm Broaden. The Clippers are a fifth seed in the Western Conference.
I don't think that they get there without those critical minutes that normal Powell has
exhibited for that team while they were going through all of these different tamped transitions.
So you know, again, I'm a agreeing with you, but I
wouldn't be surprised if normal Powe snuck some first place votes and really made this
a much closer race than I think we were probably looking at from the way
that Malcolm Brogden had performed through the course of the season, and I think
maybe because of what he did in the beginning, if we're looking at the
total body of work, that's the reason why Malcolm Brogden will walk away with
the sixth Man of the Year award. All right, let's go ahead and
focus our attention to most clutch Player of the Year. I think this is
an added an added one in right shaw like this one is, yeah,
this one this year it will be interesting. Son, I'm gonna throw out
the name Shaw, and you let me know who you feel is going to
walk away with this trophy. Daron Fox, Jimmy Butler, Kyrie Irving,
Demarda Rosen. So at the end of the day, what this boils down
to is a lot of this is all right, who scored the most points
in the fourth quarter while Fox and Irie where the top two guys, and
that I think it's hard when Kyrie gets moved, obviously from one team to
another, and now that team he got moved to didn't even make the playoffs.
Sacramento cannot win the Pacific Division. Sacramento cannot get into the playoffs for
the first time in sixteen years without dear Fox doing what he did. So
it's a runaway conversation to me, while Jimmy Butler, you know, I
think has come on here, especially since All Star Break. Fox has been
doing it all year long, and Sacramento has been great all year long.
Sw I put a fox Man clutched paraily. We were brother ve all right,
what you got on it? You know, it's almost like we've been
doing this show. Yeah, yeah, I would like to I would like
to say, like, oh yeah, you know what, shouts to Dumar
even your boy Kyrie, as you just mentioned, you know, for the
moment that he had, you know, but the fact that they didn't even
make the postseason makes it difficult, you know, makes it difficult to go
there for me. The guy that's done it from start to finish has been
has been the year in Fox. He's a huge part. Obviously, he's
a huge part of what they do throughout, but when it comes to game
time, get your game on the line, he been. He's been absolutely
spectacular for them, And I couldn't be happier for dearon Fox and the Sacramento
Kings. Yeah. So, I think the other thing as well, too
is the best ability is availability. And when you look at the plethora,
when you look at the number of the guys that are that are part of
this conversation, you can make an argument that really Jimmy Butler and Demarta Rosen,
maybe to some extent next to dearon Fox, were probably you know what
I'm saying, the most available, right, But dearon Fox elevated his team
to the levels that the Sacramento Kings are currently at. And I don't want
to spend time speaking about this whole thing with Kyrie Irving. But I think
that's the reason why I put the emphasis about you know, your best ability
is availability, and dearon Fox not only showed that, but he also exhibited
that because that was what was needed for the Sacramento Kings to have the kind
of season to have. And listen, I'll be remissed if if we even
have this conversation guys and say, if there are more awards being handed out
out, we're gonna be talking about Kings. You know what I'm saying,
Sacramento Kings, the conquerors. You know what I'm saying for this NBA season,
simply because of what they were able to accomplish in the first year of
with head coach Mike Brown. So I'm just I know I'm spoiler alert.
My apologies. Sorry, all right, let's keep it moving. Most Improved
Player of the Year our fitness Shaw's favorite category, m my second favorite category,
and Jabari is what the f category? So most Improved Player of the
Year. Shay gillis, y Gilji Alexander excuse me, Laurie market In,
Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Haliburton, Jabari. I'll have you started off, all
right, So this one you know, I mean all awards, it's it's
it's subject to like the interpretation of golf course, you know. So if
we were to go by the actual recent history of the award, guys like
you know, and you know, for the record, in case anybody has
not been paying attention, but if you're listening to this show, you're probably
in tune. But it's been job uh you know, Julius Randall, you
know, brandon Ingram, you know Janie wanted a few years before that.
You know, if we're going by that, it's the all Star level guy
that ascends to the all NBA level guy. You know, that would and
that would probably lend itself to SGA getting the award. And quite frankly,
I wouldn't have any problem with that whatsoever, and I wouldn't be stunned by
that. But say we were to go by what I think the actual spirit
of this award is, then it should go to a guy that's you know,
he you know, he you know, he's been in the league,
you know, so like you know, taking nothing away from you know,
from these other names, you know, but they're you know, they were
more considered league average or still developing, uh to basically jumping to truly establishing
themselves, establishing themselves as a force, and that, in my opinion,
is along the lines of Jalen Brunson the Laurie. I think the voters ultimately
go with Laurie marketing, you know, and and and I think he absolutely
deserves, you know, that love if they end up, if they end
up going in that direction. But for the sake of this show, give
me Jalen Brunson for what he's done. You're here in New York. We
knew that he was talented coming out YO, coming into the league. We
thought he would, you know, like, and we can all be honest,
like, we don't have to be we don't all have to be on
Twitter, be on the bird app saying like, oh, she told you
told you. I don't think very many of us thought that he was going
to be the impact player as a number one or one A is or your
one B or whatever you however you want to delineate things there in New York.
I don't think a lot of us saw that. So that to me,
I'd be again, I'd be lying if I say I anticipated that.
For me, I think he has actually had the biggest leap and has shown
the most improvement. So I will give it to Jalen Brunson, even though,
like I said, I think it you know, I wouldn't be shocked
if it went to SGA or Laurie Market. Chaw. Do you want me
to jump in or do you want to jump in? You go first?
Okay, So you said a mouthful Jabari. I don't no, no,
no, in a very good way because you basically took a lot of what
I was going to emphasize. But I'm gonna disagree with you on Laurie Market
and get that award. I'm like, stand on your principles, Jabbari.
Jalen Brunson's gonna get the damn award, and you know what, he damn
well deserves it. Right. There's one thing that I don't think that that
is going to be kind of like I guess used as a as a measurement,
but this is more of an intangible and it kind of represents again maybe
a direction that the NBA is gonna take, is gonna implement in how they
evaluate not only those that they are considering as you know, candidates for the
award, but also as as a tool, as as a way to say,
hey, this is why this person deserves it more than the next person.
When I look at all of these guys and I look at who they
are playing for and what they represent. Listen, SGA, by all standards,
probably should have received Most Improved Player of the Year like four years in
a row. Okay, if we're going he's like, he's like he's a
he's a candidate like every single year, right, So I'm not at this
particular point he should be more in the other All Star kind of categories,
which is so why this is farcical. But the reason why I would automatically
give it to Jalen Brunton, while Laurie Marketing is a very close second.
The reason why I give it to Jalen Brunson is look at the lineage of
the New York Knicks in their inability to get a quality point guard. Then
you look at what Jalen Brunson did as a Dallas Maverick playing next to Luca
Docke. Can nobody tell me after seeing what happened to Julius Randall the season
previous to what he has given you this season, and to what you've even
seen from Jalen Brunson exponentially scoring the basketball more but significantly making the Knicks basketball
team a better team with literally the same pieces from last year. It's hard
to argue, and I'm not taking anything from Dalaris Halliburton or Marketing or Alexander
the circumstances by which Jalen Brunson coming to New York in that market, doing
all of what he did and scoring the basketball and essentially being the quintessential piece
to even legitimize the Knicks as a playoff threat. To me, I just
say definitely most approved. He could have folded under pressure. He could have
basically like most guys would come in. It's supposed to be the Garfa Knicks
just tank. But ultimately we have to give this guy his flowers. He
basically made people second guess the idea that if the Knicks balked at Brunson only
to go after Mitchell Donovan and not get Brunson would have been the greatest injustice
for the New York Knicks as far as making people believe that they're serious about
putting together a contending basketball team. Oh, you guys were great? Are
we bringing the easter ham for you? Shaw? In some ways, you
make me want to change my pick, but no, I will not.
I think you're one thousand percent correct. I have to acknoledge that because those
are great points. I think if you think about the impact of winning specifically
and the numbers that we saw Brunson kind of put. To me, though,
it's still about who did I not see this ish coming from at all?
And that's marketing. I'm sorry. If you would have told me marketing
it's gonna be twenty five and nine, I would say, get all the
way the hell out of here, even on a bad We're gonna give him
a Legit award. But is he gonna make one of our baseline awards?
Okay, okay, okay, but I remember in our season preview, we
all thought Colin Sexton was going to come to Utah and cook. We were
wrong. It was Laura Marking who said, hold my beer, get the
hell out of the way. This is my team, and to me,
twenty five and nine from where he came from. And you know, yes,
he had a good year in Cleveland after having some crappy years in Chicago
or the final two years in Chicago. I'm just gonna I'm going that way.
But your point about how Brunson has impacted winning in New York and unlocked
something and Uli and Julius Randall is very very very well taken. So I
couldn't be mad if Jillen Brunson got the award as well. Good stuff.
I love it, man, And we haven't even gotten to our awards,
you know the end. Listen, hey, Silver, give us a call
when you need somebody to to. You know what I'm saying to tone exactly
exactly, no hot lines here, trust me, he would have. He
would have walk me a long time ago. But shout out to you know,
shout out to that, to that pig, you know, shout out
to Lowrie Marketing being the first guy. If I'm not mistaken, I think
I saw this on the timeline. You know, two over two hundred threes
and over one hundred ducks and they season the first flight first player to ever
do that. That's and bretty and pretty damn impressive too. That if if
the I mean, if the Jazz obviously made it to the playoffs, you
know, he would have had to postpone his military service for the Finland Finland
RB, so you know, shout out to him, man like it.
One last thing though, I thought coming into this year, this was Halliburton's
award to lose, honestly, especially with him saying twenty and ten, and
he more or less did that. But you know, these performances by these
other guys were just so impactful, so it kind of left Haliburton probably third
or fourth. In this conversation, absolutely your tune to the baseline, Callie
Warrenshaw discussing the hot button topics of the NBA, and we're doing our coveted
NBA Baseline Awards, sprinkling in with our predictions for the NBA Regular Season Awards,
and along with us our special guest o g one of the best to
do with our Managebari Davis, So be sure to check him out at Jabbar
Davis NBAUM. Let's go ahead and get right into the Defensive Player of the
Year awards, So Brook Lopez, Jaren Jackson, Junior bam Adebayo Shaw,
let you go ahead and weigh in on this one. Who do you think
is hoisting that trophy? The media wants to give it to Jaren Jackson.
Um like, I think it's a it's a done deal in that regard.
I'm not an official member of the media. So I don't care. I'm
going with Brook Lopez. I think he was just so consistent. And yes,
while he doesn't average three blocks a game, you know, like Jaren
Jackson does or whatever what he does do, he's always, always, we
talked about this on the show at the time, one of the league leaders
in defending it's just clearly like defending jumpers, defending the paint. It's he's
He's the lynchpin of what Milwaukee does. And they still have, be honest,
you know, out there as a literally a Greek freak out there running
around defensively, but Lopez allows that defense to really be even more in tune
and more synergetic. And while I love Jaren Jackson, and you know,
he's been on our on our list for a lot of a couple of different
things, and we want for that guy. He's had a great year,
special year. But to me, what Lopez does, even from the intangible
standpoint, is really really immense. I'm going on Brook Lopez, all right.
I'm gonna actually I'm actually pivot here. You mentioned that, you know,
like the media wants to give you know who you know, wants to
give Triple J that award. It's me, Hi, I'm the problem.
It's me because I want I want him to get that award. And I'd
looked straight up each of these guys much like you know, any other categories
that we've mentioned. You know, they deserve that, they deserve all the
love that they've received. And you know what, to your point, Brook
Lopez has been absolutely spectacular, not just as a weak side defender. He
is the lynchpin to you like, to their schemes in on in most cases.
But the argument for me, you like it goes to triple J specifically
because I was so impressed by the growth that you like from his game.
Within his game, the second and third efforts, you know, the on
shot contest, you know, as well as on the backboard, on both
sides, offensive and defensive backboards. I've never seen him be more, you
know, more or even as consistent with his efforts. He's an absolute ballhawk
on the defensive end as well. Now, again, you're right, it's
not just a matter of the total numbers. Yes, he did lead,
you know, lead the league with three blocks per game, but it's it's
not it's not just a matter of it's all right, So here's one for
you. You know, like when you're watching a game where you say,
like, not all buckets are created evenly or equally, or not all blocks
or not all insert whatever you want to say. The the level of impact
that he has on his team, especially when he's got it going on the
defensive end, especially when he's got it going on the backboards, I still
think it's higher than everybody else. And this is coming as someone that you
know that has has you know, sworn up and down that Anthony Davis is
the most impactful player on the defensive end when you really, you know,
factor all these things. I think Triple j has ascended to that level all
over the court at all times whenever he's on the court, and you know,
to kel's usual point, availability is the best ability. If I'm not
mistaken. This is the second most games played in his career and he's been
fantastic throrout. So that's my somewhat weak effort to say, let's give it
the Triple Javis time. Yeah, so I think we can collectively say Bama
to Bayo is out of the picture for the race, right. This is
really between Brook Lopez and Jaren Jackson Junior. I'm going to agree with you
jabari that Jaren Jackson Junior is going to probably wind up getting this award.
But I'm gonna say this in respect of that, I don't think that when
you actually look at the deeper metrics, what brook Lopez has brought to the
table for the Milwaukee Bucks, to me, would be more deserving of him
being the Defensive Player of the Year. I will say this, right,
Jaren Jackson Jr. Has had more wow moments than brook Lopez. But when
you look at the numbers, when you read in between the numbers and some
numbers, for example, minutes on the floor playing with playing you know,
minutes played with foul trouble, how much you want to bet that that brook
Lopez has been far more reliable and has been better than that of what Jaren
Jackson Junior represents. So what I'm saying is is that Jaren Jackson Junior,
for every one wild block he does, mitigates these type of metrics that I
think in any other situation, in any other circumstance, brook Lopez, if
he is the person that everyone is looking at and the focal point is on,
we would be talking about him be Defensive Player of the Year. Oh
there's also one other thing that I'm going to throw into this mix. This
is what happens when you play next to a dominant force like janisat to Kumpo,
he essentially ruins the game, right Because where was it ever that we
said that brook Lopez could evolve in being the defensive force that he is.
Everyone will still lean on Janni Santa to Kumpo being the reason that the Milwaukee
Bucks is a top ten defensive team, a top ten defensive team. But
again, you look at the numbers, you read the metrics properly, brook
Lopez is directly responsible to allow Jannis to continue to ascend an MVP conversation,
but more importantly, to maintain the defensive proudness that the Milwaukee Bucks has shown
us, which is exactly the reason why the Milwaukee Bucks will continually be a
contender as long as those two are playing next to each other. It's remarkable
because you would think that brook Lopez's game would regress as he's obviously getting older,
and yet he has found another way to reinvent himself. It may not
matter in the grand context of things when it comes to the defensive Player of
the Year, but I do think that and this will probably be the only
year that he'll get this type of consideration because this is not going to get
replicated again. But I to me personally think that this year, specifically,
it really should go to brook Lopez given what he has shown us as a
player in that role, in that position for that team. He held it
down and really again sneaky metrics I think would wind up putting in any other
year he would get it. But Jaren Jackson Jr. Way too many while
moments. You know, I'll say this, it's not even in rebuttal,
it's actually in agreement with you about brook Lopez in the extended conversation, do
you all remember what brook Lopez was like when he was when he was a
New Jersey net right, It's like this is where his game is and and
look, guys can get smarter, guys can get wiser about the game.
They you know, they continue to work on things, which obviously has When
he added the deep ball, I never saw that coming. When he added
being not just a defensive helper, being a defensive stalworth, I didn't necessarily
see that coming. But honestly, kudos to him and props to him.
I recognize that folks are like, what does this have to do with the
award? It's really it was really just a matter of like as soon as
you when you were breaking him down, it was like, you know what,
damn, that dude has had the back half of his career is better
than the front. The front half of his career, and not just because
of ultimate team success. He is a significantly better player at this stage.
Yeah, I mean, he couldn't have picked a better partner to to to
basically, you know, re redefine his career as as one of And I'm
gonna say this. I know that we can have these kind of conversation later
on down the road, and I know we got the MVP coming up in
a second, but I'm gonna say this, man, we may have to
really start talking about brook Lopez being one of the great centers in NBA history.
Not the greatest. I'm just saying being in the conversation because that kind
of evolution does not happen overnight. You know what I'm saying that what brook
Lopez came into the NBA being an offensively blessed and a player to then go
to being more one of the more defensively reliable players in the NBA speaks volumes,
you know, and his numbers are going to measure up to a lot
of other guys that are already in the Hall of Fame. He's gonna be
a Hall of Famer, may not be first ballot, may not be unanimous,
but he's gonna have numbers that are going to speak to the fact that
he was one of the great centers that played this game of basketball. And
this is one way that has surely put him on that path to that conversation.
All right, guys, let's get right into the MVP. Obviously,
it's the three man race. Joel MBI call the Yokis janisat Sukumbo Jabari.
I'll let you lead off on this one. Who do you think voice in
that trophy? I'm gonna be straight up with you, guys. I didn't
even do any notes for this one because I, like most other people,
or like many other people, I was so sick of the like some a
good portion of the conversation on this one, you know, over the course
of the year. And it wasn't simply because it wasn't because I don't like
debates. It wasn't because I don't enjoy like these types of back and forth.
It's because people started throwing dubs on things and putting all types of things
into the conversation that had nothing to do with the actual players out there.
So I will I will just say this straight out. I think Nicola yokis
if he ultimately wins this award, and I'm not hedging just to be clear,
but if he ultimately wins this award, I would not be upset because
I like, I think when people are throwing out there like, well,
no one's ever done it three times in a year, you know, three
times in a row, or or not since nineteen eighty six or whatever the
case may be, I think that's kind of bogus because that has nothing to
do with the actual impact, his actual impact on his team this year.
Um, I do not think that you can discount uh, you know pretty
much. You know, wire to wire. You know, you're running the
West regardless of whether the rest is fantastic. You know, I think that
should be celebrated. Now, I say all of that to say, I
think Jannis is the best player in the league. So it's difficult for me
to look at anybody else other than that, especially when the Bucks have been
great Yannis two has been great. Yes, you know, did he have
you know, a couple of ups and downs over the course of the season
when it came to, you know, his scoring. Sure, but they
were still finding ways to win, and specifically because not just you know,
not just do they have a great team, because he can impact the game
on both sides of the court. I've said all of that to say,
Joel Mbing is your MVP, and you know why, because David he's been
great on both ends. But I don't know, I don't I don't know
what to do anymore, Man, What else more do I need to do?
I'm sorry to say exactly, exactly, always the bride made, never
the bride. When you know what, God dang it, we're gonna rectify
that this year. Give Joel embi deady m V. I'm not even gonna
qualified that because I've already spoken too long on the subject. Okay, four
love it, love it? Well, you know, I get to just
more or less re re reiterate what Jabari has said, only from the from
the man mindset of Jabari was. I mean, Joel was my preseason MVP,
and while he started off the year a little bit rough, Um and
you started to wonder, always're gonna miss too many games, etcetera, etcetera.
Skin with the new Skinnish, the new rules and minimum sixty five games
for awards that takes place next year. Well, Joel play sixty six this
year, so we don't worry about that. He's qualified. He's a league's
leading scorer. And we talk about wold moments. He's had more wild moments
I think this year than anybody. And while we talked about this on the
last show, he didn't win it in this last week, as a lot
of people have been trying to say, just because of some more special performances,
it is a total of work. There is some narrative here, but
similarly, can't be mad if if Yo kich orianas win it, but to
me it's Joel Embid. Yeah, I'm the only thing that I'm gonna I'm
gonna add to what you guys are saying is look at the narratives to which
we would probably be selecting between yokich and Embiid. While at Kumpo is rightfully
in this conversation, I think at the end of it, he just didn't
do enough. There's still no question if you ask me who the most dominant
player? And then get in the NBA. In basketball, it's still yannist
to Tokompo. That doesn't necessarily mean that he's the most valuable player. And
when I think about value, value doesn't necessarily mean money. But think about
value like this, How more valuable is the NBA with the Denver Nuggets being
one of the top teams in the Western Conference. How more valuable is the
NBA when a guy like Joel Embiid, who's basically been part of quote unquote
the process, loses a part of the process where everyone thinks that he is
not ready to be a leader, he's not ready to take the bull by
the horns. Two years in a row, he's basically watched that award being
given to another big and people say that that big is actually better than Joel
Embiid. And then in this particular stretch of the season where there are critical
moments where we're questioning if he's deserving of it, he comes out and he
shines. He drops two fifty pieces. You know, he becomes arguably one
of the more dominant players in basketball, and he elevates the conversation about the
Philadelphia seventy six ers being a valuable threat for this year's run to the NBA
Finals. To me, Joel Embiid, no question, I think is going
to wind up getting the MVP Award. But I will say that if not
for Nicola yokich the validity of Joel Embiid getting this award, I don't know
if it happens because we're always saying this is when Joel Embiid has to step
up. Joel Embiad has these tendencies to flame out, Joel Embiid is too
burnt out, Joel Embiad suffers an injury. This is not something that's just
happening out of thin air. This has just been what we've seen happen over
the last few seasons during the course of us trying to push him into the
MVP conversation. I think he finally gets over the hump, but I'd be
remissed in not making sure that we cautioned the tale a little bit by telling
people, Hey, it's not like Nicola yoki did not push it to the
absolute limit, because he literally averaged a triple double as a center in the
NBA, so you can imagine what Joel Embiid had to do. In order
to leap frog himself to being the number one guy. Well said, but
nine point eight assist he didn't get to ten. Hey, do me a
favor, take that shoe and just throw it at his head. Man.
On that famous Aunt dunk when he went baseline, what was the shooting percentage
in that game? Warren say that again? On that famous aunt dunk when
he went baseline on Walton, Now be what was his shooting percentage in that
game? Long off? You are tuned to the basse, all right,
Kaylee warren Shaw and our special guest Jabari Davis coming up. Now we get
into the good stuff. Baby. We got the Baseline Awards, where we
basically have our rendition of the proper awards that should be given out to this
game that we love watching the NBA. You don't want to miss out here
on the Baseline, we are back Callie warren Shaw and our special guests Jabari
Davis. But he's really not a guest. He's one of the ogs.
He's one of our people's. He is helping us host the NBA Baseline,
the Baseline NBA Awards, which has been long overdue. Can't wait for us
to get into it. Shaw if I had drum rolls, I do them.
But you know what I'm saying, we're pretty much live. We're working
with it, yeah, as we go, so we'll just run with it.
There these times I kind of wish like I had like Dougie Fresh,
you know, all Roseal, you know you can really give us stamp it
up a little bit. All right, So let's get right into These are
the categories that have been curated by the fam here the baseline boys. We
think that they should be implemented in the NBA Regular Season Awards, but that's
another conversation for another day. Best shit Talker. I'm glad Jabari is gonna
be our presenter of the award. Jabari who is the best shit Talker of
the NBA? All Right, So I love this award, guys, I
absolutely love it. I appreciate this one. So if we're talking about the
best shit talker, this award really belongs to Patrick Beverley. And here's the
reason why on that because in Pat it's kind of like the six Man of
the Year award back and beck in the day, it was the Lou Wood
the lou Williams Award, and before that it was the Jamal Crawford Award because
those men were built for the award. Anytime you're talking about shit talking in
the NBA, it's Pat Beverley, whether it's taking the camera to the show,
you know the should the raffet that you know the call at the end
of the Boston game, or claiming you know that his goal was to keep
the Lakers out of the postseason and damn near doing it, or too small
and lebron the very next time he saw the Lakers. It has to be
that I don't really want to even have a conversation. There's really nobody else
in the discussion. But if you guys want to say somebody else, go
ahead and say somebody else. For me, it's that Ben well done.
Nothing enough to say that bev in a runaway and a slide in in an
absolute landslide. Awesome, awesome, all right? Next, couldn't come up
on one, Steven? All right? Next? Next, none of your
awards? We got you best Bench award. Of course Shaw would be the
one that would be presenting this. Well, you know, I'm just trying
to be I can't following up. Jabari is a little bit tougher, Steven,
Ai You know, my apologies, but got you award. So ironically,
you know, we're trying to take this into the same vein of almost
like the sixth Man is it is. It gonna be the bench and the
scores the most. It's going to be the bench that has the best net
rating. Um. Incidentally it's Phoenix Suns if for those who who were wondering,
but they're not on my list, indienda, I actually scored the most
amount of points this year off of bench. That means their starters are probably
not that good. Um, So I'm gonna actually go three three teams they're
gonna put into this clip, the Clippers, Lakers, and Celtics, and
I've actually going with the Clippers. I think what they did, especially at
the trade deadline to solidify that bench. Um, you had Norman Powe who
was actually the leading bench scored at sixteen point sixteen point game. But you
got Bones Highland coming off that bench. You got probly coming off that bench.
This team is a man coming off that bench. To me, they
are the deepest team where when those when those starters go out, you're like,
ah snap, because you're going to get just as almost just as much
as works as as as when the starters were in there as well too so,
but shout to the Lakers, shout to the Celtics as well too.
I think those are two very very deep teams who do a lot with what
they have on their bench roster. But to me, the Clippers are the
best bench tough the bottom, especially offensively and defensively. Nice one shot,
a nice one, any any rebuttal mister Davis. No, it's tough to
Rebut because the Clippers, like, I'll pull you right, I'll tell you
right now. If they still had lukear Nords somehow, I mean, it
would be an embarrassment of riches. But I would be saying, like,
damn, their second unit, it might be as good, you know,
across the board. I'm talking about yo, like average wise uh you know,
to the you know, to their starters. Cannot argue that at all.
Absolutely great choice. All right, next up, gonna get award.
Clearly I'm gonna be the one that's gonna have um so, no drum roll,
damn it, man, I just really wish rise that was anyway for
the gone and get award. I'm gonna give this to my man Ben Simmons.
I mean listen and look, there are a couple of people who we
could have thrown up in there, but they don't need to be named,
right, They could be They could be co conspirator, unidentified, you know,
number one, two, three, whatever. Ben Simmons, you need
to call him out by his government name. All right. This is let
me tell you something. I don't want to accuse nobody of anything, but
this is clearly an individual who has really just tapped out of playing the game
of basketball. And quite honestly, and quite frankly, if I'm the Brooklyn
Nets, I'm good with that. Hey, my man, take a vacation.
I'm saying, just just just take the career off, all right,
because just simply just simply put man. It's one thing when a situation occurs
like what happened with Ben Simmons, where we have been saying for the longest
time that he really should not be the point guard of any basketball team.
You can certainly utilize him because of his unique skill set and his freakish athletic
ability, but he does not have the temperament and the mentality, especially in
this in the NBA, not current in BA, just in the NBA period
where he's going to be able to lead other men to go out and execute
and compete and win basketball games. It's very It's the same reason why Joel
Embiid, you know, felt some kind of way. And it's clear that
Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and I can't believe in putting that in the same
breath. Kyrie Irving and James Harden to some degree, all never felt you
know, comfortable, you know, with where his state of mind was going
to be about playing the game of basketball. Clearly, to me, when
you look at the body of work, Ben Simmons has a personal agenda that
is counterintuitive, counterintuitive to any basketball franchise that has a purpose and has you
know, a very strict line in the saying about what they need to do.
He's gonna beat you know, he's gonna do his own thing, and
I'm fine with that. But it can't be at the expense you know,
of the Brooklyn Nets. It can't be expensive any other basketball team except for
anyone that's just got money to throw around and say, you know what,
maybe we can use him, maybe we can figure out a way to rehabilitate,
revitalize his career. But as far as I'm concerned if he if he
if he doesn't play another game of NBA basketball again, I'm not crying over
it. He then made enough money that he can get off into other ventures
of his own. What I don't want is him coming back and pulling the
nonsense that he's pulled over the last couple of seasons and really not take the
time necessary to get his act together to go out and compete and play basketball
like a lot of other guys that have been trying to do to even get
an opportunity to play in this market of the NBA. All I'm gonna say
is, obviously we gotta jump. But is I didn't expect for you to
put him out of the league, So that is, But I think that
is. But he just said, listen, this is my last year,
right, like, so well, you know, at at least at least
you donnas knows, you know, even though you know he's getting like all
of ninety five and everything being given to him. But I'm just saying,
look, I'll just be quick about it. I never thought we were going
to be here with Ben. Like I after it all went down in Philly,
there was a part of me that said, like maybe he's you know,
he's you know, maybe he's not a star, but he's at least
still a serviceable guy that you know, that you can depend upon to run
an offense and you know, be an effective high levels you know, an
interchangeable defender. Uh, you know, with a you know, with a
live body. But I wish that I could argue with you, cal I
think that's where we are and people and people will listen to this and say,
you guys are going way, you know, way above and beyond.
He's only twenty six years old. We've seen this before, We've seen this
movie, and the only thing missing is that I don't want to be here
tweeting like that's the Do you know, do you know why we're at this
point? Again? I don't want to believe it this because we got other
awards to get into, But do you know why we're at this point?
At least I am you know what most other guys with mental health with CTEs,
Guys like Calvin Johnson walked away from the game at a relatively young age
from playing football right a far more violent sport, but recognize within himself how
short lived an opportunity he has, how many opportunities has Ben had and has
been afforded himself to be able to take time to do what he needs to
do for him to come back and actually play the game of basketball right,
So how many more opportunities before he recognized properly within himself that I'm not ready
to do this. So it's at the expense of another team paying him money
to keep himself away to get right to me, and just speaks more that
he's not taking enough time, he's not taking enough consideration about what's necessary for
him. And again, I'm not trying to be harsh, I'm just being
realistic. The purpose of this award is saying, do I want to see
this dude out on the basketball court come next season? I don't because unless
someone tells me differently, what the Brooklyn Nets told us is they don't want
to see him on the basketball court for the rest of this season. And
that's a problem. That's a big, big problem, especially with the way
that Brooklyn Nets have ended the season and what they've got lined up playing in
the play offs. Why would we want to be talking about Ben Simmons come
next year when you've got a promising future with the talent that they've accumulated in
this and in the trade deadline. I don't want Ben Simmons coming in and
then all of a sudden we got this cloud of controversy hanging again. I
want to feel good about the Brooklyn Nets moving forward. All right, let's
go right into the mcgiver Award. I'm shocked by this because I thought Sean
would do this one. But Jabari, get out your your your your switchblade
brow show us how this is done. This is the player who does the
most at least, so I may have a surprise for you guys here.
And I'll be honest with you. When I saw this award category, I
said, all right, hold on man, They said me up. Because
this is in depended upon the conversation. This could very easily be Oh well,
are you saw you like the Austin Reeves. Alice Crusoe, you know
you'll deal. I think you know, guys like Malcolm Brogden, you are
in the same type of conversation he's not getting He's not getting two awards in
this deal here. There's a yeah, there's an obvious reason why I'm bringing
you know, I'm mixing it up a little bit. But the answer to
this is Dylan Brooks. Love him or hate or absolutely hate him. Talk
about the fact that he was thirty nine, you know, under forty percent
from the floor, under thirty three percent on six attempts a night from deep
all of that. You want to discuss the fact that you know, excuse
me, hopefully you can cut that out. You want to discuss the fact
that you know, if you don't have him on your team, you probably
have a certain amount of contempt for him. Yep, that's fine, I
understand that. But he's also a starting, main contributor in a lot of
different ways to a very good Memphis team that has shown such resiliency that I
quite frankly did not anticipate, especially with everything they've had going on this year.
So for the first year. If I'm not mistaken, on the baseline,
Dylan Brooks, my Canadian brother in christ is your it's your guy for
this award. I absolutely, I absolutely love it. Uh. There's a
lot of obviously angst and and disdain for mister Brooks out there, but not
here, not today. On the baseline, you're doing the most with the
least, mister Brooks, and we applaud you for it. Nice all right.
Next up, this looks good on me, award. I really thought
that we were going to give that to Dylan Brooks, especially when he had
this, especially when he had those stone Cole Steve Auston moments. Okay,
should not support that corny to me, And I'll admit I'm old. So
like I said that, I'm like, sit down and just go undercut somebody,
or do come on? Well, I listen. First of all,
First of all, he he fft it up with the shorts because yes,
because because stone Cole doon't be wearing those those those all right, We're gonna
keep this relatively pa. Yeah, so all right, yeah, okay,
fair enough, all right, this all right, this looks good on me.
Award best fit on a new team. This one is pretty close,
man, because I gotta look at it in two ways. Shaw. If
we were we're determining this based on who came on board from the beginning to
the end, then I was gonna I would give it to Laurie market In,
you know, marketing. Just to me, man, like, he
looked like he's built to play for the New York for the Utah Jazz.
And I think Danny Ainge is like God dang it, I didn't struck gold
right like, he's just a happy dude. Um, if he can replicate
this for the you know, for the following season. But I'm also going
to give this award to Michal Bridges for the Brooklyn Nets, given the circumstance
of what happened to him in Phoenix. And I don't think anybody saw this
coming from Micaal Bridges. I think if the Brooklyn Nets got something, they
got a good two way player, a guy who could probably get you,
you know, eighteen twenty points per game. The offensive explosion that mcaal Bridges
basically exhibited since coming over to Brooklyn, and we can, you know,
talk about how he doesn't have any other talent around him. He basically unsaid,
screw you, Devin, screw you CP three, screw you DeAndre Ayton.
I could put the ball in the basket about as good, if not
better than you dudes on any given night, if given the opportunity, and
if that is the mentality that Michaal Bridges is gonna exhibit, especially when we
talk about this about the playoffs. Man, oh man, I'm talking about
looking good in Brooklyn. Man, they might have to start coming up with
an album from Michal Bridges out there, boy, like you know, he
may be best, stayes finest by the time that we finished this conversation,
I'm just gonna jump in real quick. I think that's an excellent pick.
Honestly, Bridges has looked like he wants to be that dude. Bro,
he really wants to be that dude. Like seriously, he's hooping. And
they made they clearly made the right decision by not moving him at the trade
deadline and keeping him and utilizing him as a building rock of what they're going
to do moving in the future. Um, I think that's an excellent,
excellent pick here, mcel Bridges, one thousand percent absolutely all right. Coming
up, we got a few more that we obviously got to dig into,
including Glue Guy of the Year and y'all must have forgot award, oh the
Robbin Award. Yeah we got. I mean we got a Selentiney Awards to
get through. You don't want to miss out. Keep us locked here on
the baseline. We are back Callie warren Shaw and our special guests Jabari Davis
here doing the baseline NBA Awards as we kind of delve into the categories that
we felt are best suited to honor all of these great NBA players who basically
gave us a great NBA season, so as we keep things moving along,
Shaw glue Guy of the Year, who is your Elmer's of the NBA.
Ironically, at some point if we we when we immortalize these awards and they
do get picked up by the NBA, it will actually be named after Jamond
green Um. I think he's probably the quintessential glue guy. You know in
the NBA history, you know, in a lot of ways. But for
me, you know, to kind of keep it, keep it, keep
the conversation pushing. I really came down to Jared Vanderbilt and Josh Hart.
Josh Hart really does a lot m on the the intangible, is one of
the better rebounding guards in the league. But to me, I'm going to
go with Vanderbilt. He helped keep a Utah team together for for a good
part and then dramatically, I think change the the energy we're getting going over
to the Lakers. So interesting when you pick Bridges on the other half of
this as well as a guy who played on two teams this year, I
think what Vanderbilt has done um just by virtue of a guy who can defend
multiple positions, can not obviously not a great offensive thread in any capacity,
but just does the dirty work man and it really really is helpful and impactful
for teams, and doesn't complain about his role. So Jared Vanderbilt, man
who got of the Year? Any second thoughts the Jabari, Yeah, I
can't argue with that. Look selfishly, you know that I was happy to
pick Vanderbilt because no, like, like listen, thing, if you just
look at the numbers or the box score on a given night with Jared Vanderbilt,
you're not going to necessarily be impressed. There are some where he'll put
crooked numbers up across the board, but there there's a lot of nights where
it's like if you're just looking if your box score, hund, you're not
going to see it. You actually see the impact that he makes out there.
Uh, you know, it's it's difficult for me to argue with that.
I think, you know, the same conversation could have been held for
you know, Josh Hart, you know, being second half guys, Uh,
you know, like to have tremendous impact, you know, kind of
alluding to which you know how you delineated it earlier, Cal as well,
you know second as versus you know, full impact um. But you know,
I also like the point that you made, you know, to start
this. This is a Draymond Green Award. I cannot think of a better
or more solid absolute glue guy in the history of the league. So if
they do it, if the NBA does bring it in, they need they
need to credit you. And also you know, name it after Dre.
Hey, they must have forgot about Dre. I listen to rest, I
think we'll look like we'd love to forget about Drain all right. Coming the
next one is we I got next award player who we think is gonna take
a massive leap next year? Jabari, Who do you have on dot docket?
So I actually have a few guys, and this is one of This
is actually one of my favorite categories. It's one of the things I miss
about you know, you know, about your being on the baseline with you
guys, especially over the course of the summer when we're kind of projecting and
we're you know, like who's got next or who's gonna have at you know,
a bust out year. You know. So I actually have a few
guys. I think Austin Reeves. I'm gonna get that one out the way
right off the bat, because if you know, for one, I know
for a fact that there's a certain percentage of your over your audience that's gonna
say, what are you saying that? Because it's the Lakers guy. No,
go go watch the games that you know the kid can play, you
know, and I shouldn't go him the kid. You know, he's in
his twenties whatever, but you know, I'm in my forties. So the
kids thought you were gonna I thought you were gonna say the homie can play.
You know, my dog, my dog my Alabama or Arkansas dog.
No, So he's one of them. Another guy that I expect big things
out of next year. I expect some growth. In particular, it's from
Trey Murphy the third Like, look, man, I will I will openly
acknowledge that prior to you know, like you know you're coming in, I
didn't. I didn't. I wasn't familiar with you know, like you insert
the shack meme, I wasn't familiar with your game. I must apologize or
whatever the case may be. My man like what they have there with both
he and Herb Jones as a duo, as a tandem. You're like,
I'm actually a little bit scary, you know, like, you know,
for them moving forward. But I expect great things from him. He can
play both sides of the ball. He's shown that he can explode from an
offensive perspective and if he gets hot from deep, you know, you know,
go ahead and watch out. So I'm excited to see what, you
know, what he brings the table moving forward. But the guy that I've
been caping for from the start is the guy that I'm gonna end it with.
It's Big Al Shing Goon. Y'all know, I love Big Al.
I think that he's going to continue to work, you know what, r
I p and not really rip, but you know, shout out to gay
Steven Silas And I know he's not going to be back. I wish him
the best and I hope he gets another opportunity at this level in this league.
But moving forward, it I do think it's going to be pretty clear
that Big Al is going to be a part of what they do there in
Houston as they continue to develop. Uh you know, you know, he
doesn't you know he's not gonna wow you from an athleticism standpoint, but he'll
be honest with you. He's like a great value baby Yokis. You remember
how Yokis played back in the day, with the footwork, with the balance,
with the you know pace, you know, you know, you're kind
of catching you off guard, you know, in different ways. Being able
to put the ball on the floor, being able to distribute, being able
to create for others as well as himself. Finish around the rim with both
hands, finished in the key with both hands, drop step over each shoulder.
I say all of that to say I'm excited about Big al Shangoon.
So that is my trio. But the name one is big al Right.
I'm a man's guy. You got him on a pedestal, like, I'll
be sure. Man, o girl, you're gonna be in the next R
and B sensation, man, watch watch out for that, all right?
Next up the Robin Award Best Second Option, Shaw, who you have laid
out for that award? Man, This is such an amazing, amazing conversation
to have. But again an interest of time, will just kind of run
through the names. Drew Holiday is not my guy, but Drew Holiday had
an amazing year with with with Chris Middleton just being out what Drew was able
to do on both ends. You know, he had a fifty piece you
know earlier this years, I don't think as a season kind of closed out
and obviously what he does defensively really really really stepped up as the true number
two this year when he really is supposed to be, I guess the third
option for Milwaukee. But Anthony Davis, Jallen Brown, and James Harden.
I'm gonna go Anthony Davis had a hell of a comeback season, but he's
not my pick. It's going to be back to back years for our guy
out of Boston. Jallen Brown just just too much. There were times where
he took over, and especially when the Celtics struggled in the second half of
the season. Here with with Tatum went unable to find him this shot.
Brown was that consistent, even with the broken face. You know, I'm
playing with the Zoro mask. Jaylen Brown out to me hooped hooped this year
and he may still not even make an All the NBA team just from how
deep things are, you know, when trumps of the guards and forwards in
the wings. But general Brown to me, man, he hooped his ass
off this year, but no disrespect to Anthony David James Harden as well to
two amazing second options on two very good basketball teams. You know, it's
a little it's kind of ironic show that the very next award that has to
be presented was the y'all must have Forgot Award, in which our man Jabari
is going to get into. And that type of award really could go either
way right when you slice it, when you think about someone like Jalen Brown.
But the purpose of this award is comeback Player of the Year. While
Jalen Brown really doesn't need to be a comeback Player of the Year. His
whole attitude this year, and especially with everything that's circulating on whether or not
he wants to remain a Boston Celtic, he has basically been given people that
y'all must have forgot. I'm that feff and dude, not just Jason Tatum
award. Right Like, so, Jabari, you can speak to who you
have slated as y'all must have forgot. I'm just saying that if I had
to give that award out, I'd have been given it to Alon Brown.
Because he's making people damn well. Remember there's a reason why the Boss and
Celtics made it to the NBA Finals last year, and it wasn't just because
of Jason Tatum. And this year he could very well be the quintessential reason
why they may even be able to repeat that same feat again. If they
don't, if they can't get that type of contribution and play that Jaylen Brown
has exhibited all season long. Show yeah, one percent, So it'll be
it'll be great. It's a great conversation to have a lot of great options,
a lot of great players out there, but you know, not letting
the Celtics fandom seep in here really just really took took a holistic look at
it. Still played more games than a D and everything like that as well
too. So but again Ad was right up there for me. So I
don't know if we're setting anything up here, but we'll go ahead and do
the baton pass here to Jabari. Y'all must have forgot come back player of
the year who you got JD. So you would think I was going there,
but I am not. And one thing I will say about Jaylen Brown,
while he's not necessarily a y'all almost forgot you know, candidate in my
book, I absolutely think he's been the second you know, he's been the
best second guy. And the reason why I say that, think about it
like this, Bosson, While they didn't end up with the best record,
they're still one of the best records in the league. Jason Tatum never really
actually had a chance for the MVP conversation, and the fact and and and
that's not taking anything away from Jason Tatum. What I'm saying is they get
so much from a guy like Jalen Brown. They get so much from those
other guys that Tatum didn't have to exert himself and overextend himself over the course
of the regular season. And that's testament to how great Jalen Brown is.
But if we're bringing it back to this, I got two guys in mind
for this one as well. Fund This is gonna be what's up cow.
Julius Randall finally has shown my big adult son, has shown that he deserved
all of those needs, everything, every last cent of those deals. I
look, I will take nothing away. And actually, you know, to
your credit, cal you mentioned it earlier, the impact of Jalen Brentson cannot
be I think it was you, and if it was you, Warren and
I took to be a juke York credit by the impact of Jalen Brnson cannot
be denied. When it comes to Julius Julius Randall, uh, you know,
returning to form. So I don't want to I don't want to make
it all about like, oh, well, you just flipped the switch.
I think he's in a better spot right now. He has a running mate
right now. He has running mates right now, so that's fantastic. Much
like the other guy and the guy that I ultimately would give the award too,
but it's a little bit different because I did not think that this man
had this in him. I thought he had gain left, but I didn't
know how much. It's James Harden. I have to give it to Big
Jim Harden. You deserve your flowers. You know, we're not talking about
the postseason. We're not talking about you turning into your terrya turn into a
pumpkin in the biggest moment of the post season. We're talking about what you
did, of course, of this regular season, and you absolutely deserve it
as much as much love. If I was given as we have all given
to Embid over the course of this conversation, I still think you also have
to circle back and say, you know what, dammit, James Harden was
fantastic for his role in what he was asked to do. He was spectacular.
So he is my y'all must have got comeback Player of the Year for
this. All right, I'm gonna throw something in real quick with what you're
saying, Jabari. Let's keep in mind that if James Harden does not play
the majority of the games that he plays, we don't know what version of
Joel Embid we would need to see that we would be seeing on the back
end on the back end of this regular season, right because the knock on
Joel Embid is that he's flamed out because of the burden that he's had to
shoulder carrying the basketball team new midway point, when the team is struggling and
gone through extensive losing streaks. This is actually the first time that we've seen
Joel Embiid actually play with a level of pace and dominance of how he plays
the game, and I think a lot of that can be contributed to the
health and to the resurgence of James Harden, you know, being a contributor
and really just basically saying, y'all must have forgotten I can still you know
what I'm saying, to step these emofos to death. It's basically what he's
saying. So let it. Let it not be overlooked. James Harden's value
to the Philadelphia seventy six ers again has made them a lethal combination to make
a run for the Eastern Conference. Finally, we got the last award to
throw out there. This one is the MVP BT. I mean, of
course we're gonna put some extra letters in an MVP, you know, it's
just that's what we do. But the MVPBT most Valuable Player on a bad
team, it's dame time. All right. Look listen, this one's a
no brainer. Maybe like last year where we had a couple of people we
can speak to these things. It's hard to put it on the Detroit Pistons,
they didn't have Kay Cunningham. You really can't put it on the Atlanta
Magine. Actually, you actually have a promising future the Washington Wizards. Actually
we're in the playing picture all the way up until like maybe the last week
and a half of the season. The Charlotte Hornets is the Charlotte Hornets.
I mean, what more can be said? You basically saw the Portland Trailblazers
look like a team that wanted to compete. They had some flashes, but
then when you really look at that roster and you really looked at what they
were working with, you just say to yourself, if Damian Lillard is not
on this team, how bad would this Portland Trailblazer team really be? And
minus Anthony Simons is this really would not be that great of a basketball team.
They'll be decent. You may even make the argument they'll be competitive,
but I guarantee you that those thirty three wins that they already have right now
very hard to come by if they don't have a Damian Lillard. So listen,
Damian Lillard has proven, without a shadow of it out that the Portland
Trailblazers need to basically go find him another landing spot because it's not good for
his career and it's definitely not good for the Portland Trailblazers. If these two
guys are still simpatico with each other, something miraculous has to happen to change
that narrative. But when you look at this team, the Portland Trailblazers basically
looks like Thanos when he snaps his fingers. The rest of everyone else's existence
as being viable NBA players and you know, legitimate players and guys you may
consider moving or whatever the case may be, suddenly just disappears when on their
rosters and just it's it's amazing, But that's just how damn good Damian Lillard
is. That doesn't necessarily mean that as a beautiful thing. That only just
highlights just how great Damian Lillard kind of was when he was healthy and before
they decided to shut him down. Yeah, the only verbot I have,
I guess, is depending on how bad you think the Dallas Mavericks are,
because they also didn't didn't make the playoffs. Um, but I think I
looked at this, looked at Portland's roster and thought they had no chance.
Thought I was gonna be proven wrong. Even flipped and said, hey,
well, Dame seems going to be dragging them into the play and kicking and
screaming. Then they had a couple of ls and they're like, yeah,
you know what, Tank time, So which ended Dame time. Unfortunately.
So I think this is a great pick, maybe the most obvious of them
as well too, Jabari. Any closing thoughts, I mean, it's really
just simple we kind of discuss just before the show. For me, with
them, they've been in a rebuild for what feels like five years. And
that's not an exaggeration, that's not hyperbole. They've literally been oh eight,
you know, next year, we're gonna do this, and you know,
you know, you know, Dame still great, and hey, Dave is
fantastic days one of my favorite players in the league, straight up like like
like no qualifiers when it comes to that um And I do respect the fact
that, you know, he's a grinded out guy. I respect the fact
that, you know, like Portland, they continue to say, we're just
gonna keep we will find a way as at a certain point, I would
like to see Damian Lillard play um meaningful basketball in the postseason at least one
more time. And that's pretty pretty much all that come. Yeah, and
I will just say this, you don't want to what really makes this look
bad for the Portland Trailblazers. Danny Ainge goes to Utah and he completely guts
that basketball team, and yet their team was what a game or two from
possibly being in a play in you know what I mean? Like that speaks
more to the Portland Trailblazer organization and what they're doing, um as it pertains
to how they are utilizing Damian Lillard and how they're building around Damian Little.
And that's the reason why I think now is the time that you really have
to reconsider this process that you're going through because Damian Lillard is not gonna is
not gonna want to do it, and it doesn't need to do it.
But for the sanctity of us watching the greatness of Damian Lillard, you need
to move them. What I'm hearing, got it, and I'd be hearing
Danny Ainge we get We'll get out man, Tony Jones on it. He
owes, he knows. You know what I'm saying. Absolutely, this has
been an awesome show. Oh my god, it's been awesome. Um we
probably have to do another award show, like, you know, maybe for
the maybe for the NBA playoffs, just for the sake of getting Jabari on
here. Because I love shows like these. Let me know, I'm definitely
a lot of fun man. Yeah, I hope our fence listeners can can
tap in with us, let us know, and we always want to know
what some awards would you think of and maybe make those make those suggestions to
us as well too, so maybe we can institute them for the playoff time
as well. But this was a lot, a lot of fun, as
we alluded to, we didn't I hope we didn't over promise an under deliver.
I know I had a good time with my brother's man. So definitely
tap in here with the baseline awards you a year after year. Absolutely,
once again we like to thank you and yours for hopping on board with us
this week for the baseline. Callie warren Shaw, our man Jabari Davis,
we appreciate you guys, enjoy the play in and the playoffs, and we'll
catch up with you next time