WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.720 --> 00:00:03.040 All right, were lave today, Tim Dally Nissan Here in 2 00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:05.839 Salt Lake City. It's forty five twenty eight South State Street. 3 00:00:05.879 --> 00:00:09.119 It's their year end clearance event. Even though it's February. 4 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:12.759 They've extended it special financing as low as zero percent 5 00:00:12.919 --> 00:00:14.880 and no money down, no payments for two months. So 6 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:17.320 if you're in the market for a car, coming out 7 00:00:17.399 --> 00:00:19.800 and say hello, it's forty five twenty eight South State 8 00:00:19.879 --> 00:00:22.399 Street here in Salt Lake City. Our next guest knows 9 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:25.800 Salt Lake City is a small town called a small town. 10 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:28.559 Last week, let's welcome him in, Howard Beck on a 11 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:32.159 Friday afternoon. Howard, Happy Friday. Which large city do we 12 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:33.920 find you in on this Friday afternoon? 13 00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:40.479 I am happily ensconced in the Borough of Brooklyn in 14 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:43.759 traffic on my way to the arena, where I will 15 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:49.640 see the Barnburger between the nets and Portland trailblazers who 16 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:51.119 also hail from a small city. 17 00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:54.560 By the way, Okay, if Portland's it was the town 18 00:00:54.759 --> 00:00:57.119 thing that got me, the small town. If Portland's a 19 00:00:57.119 --> 00:00:59.280 small town, I think that's fine with us out here 20 00:00:59.280 --> 00:00:59.799 in Salt. 21 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:04.959 Lake I love all the small towns equal, you know. 22 00:01:05.719 --> 00:01:06.200 I know you do. 23 00:01:06.359 --> 00:01:08.560 Well, if you're in traffic in Brooklyn, we get you 24 00:01:08.599 --> 00:01:10.640 for what forty five minutes to an hour today on 25 00:01:10.680 --> 00:01:11.079 a Friday. 26 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:16.040 According to the lift drivers mapping, we're six minutes out, 27 00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:17.959 which means it'll actually be fifteen. 28 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:20.959 Okay, fair enough. Well let's get into it then, because 29 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:24.319 obviously time is of the essence. So I wanted to 30 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:28.560 get your take on some comments Lebron made about you know, 31 00:01:28.599 --> 00:01:31.400 Anthony Edwards said doesn't really care to be the face 32 00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:34.200 of the league, and Lebron, I'm paraphrasing, said, well, who 33 00:01:34.200 --> 00:01:35.599 would want to be the face of the league when 34 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:37.799 everybody talks about the league just takes a bleep on 35 00:01:37.879 --> 00:01:41.560 it on a daily basis. So I think this is 36 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:44.400 an interesting topic for somebody like you because you'll be 37 00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:46.480 good with it. I think there are a lot of 38 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:50.040 things to criticize right now with the modern day and 39 00:01:50.120 --> 00:01:53.239 age of the way that the business of basketball is 40 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:56.400 being run. I get feedback and I have a sense, 41 00:01:56.439 --> 00:01:58.079 and it's a league I love. It's a game that 42 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:01.000 I love that most people feel like the modern day 43 00:02:01.079 --> 00:02:03.480 NBA has run like a Fortune five hundred company that 44 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:07.159 only cares about creating value for shareholders. 45 00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:08.240 Now, look, I'm a grown up. 46 00:02:08.280 --> 00:02:11.680 I know this is a front facing, revenue generating entertainment product. 47 00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:16.199 But does Lebron have a point or is he, you know, 48 00:02:16.319 --> 00:02:20.319 reacting a little bit in a soft way as it 49 00:02:20.439 --> 00:02:23.319 pertains to a league that sometimes deserves to be criticized. 50 00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:28.319 There's a lot of different pieces of this that are 51 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:30.120 worth talking about, in a lot of different paths we 52 00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:32.479 can go down. So I'll give you my first reaction 53 00:02:32.840 --> 00:02:35.360 to what he said, and then we can hit the 54 00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:36.960 other parts of it if you want. But let me 55 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:40.479 start with this. I'm glad you asked, because one of 56 00:02:40.520 --> 00:02:43.039 the things Lebron said, the thing that struck me most 57 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:45.919 is the thing about why would you want to be 58 00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:48.520 facing the league when everybody's always basically crapping on it 59 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:50.280 and all this, and just feeling like, if you're the 60 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:52.840 face of the league as he has been, you put 61 00:02:52.840 --> 00:02:54.960 yourself in a position where you are just in the 62 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:58.319 crossfire every day. I get that part of it, But 63 00:02:58.439 --> 00:03:00.360 to me, what it speaks to is some thing that 64 00:03:00.520 --> 00:03:02.879 has been a growing concern of mind for a very 65 00:03:02.919 --> 00:03:06.360 long time, going back years, which is that players today 66 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:09.759 feel that kind of criticism and feel that kind of 67 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:14.360 siege from what they believe to be like Capital M 68 00:03:14.360 --> 00:03:19.479 media because they are flooded every day with whether it's 69 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:23.960 TV debate shows or maybe some podcasts, radio, Instagram commenters, 70 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:29.039 Twitter commenters, anybody. They are constantly feeling like everybody's just 71 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:31.960 kind of criticizing them all the time, and then they 72 00:03:32.280 --> 00:03:36.240 put this on the Capital M media and then lump 73 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:40.360 everybody together. The reason I view it that way or 74 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:44.479 I'm concerned about it from that standpoint is there are 75 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:46.039 a lot of us who cover the league and Lebron 76 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:48.240 actually use that phrase. Those people who cover the league 77 00:03:48.360 --> 00:03:50.560 are the ones, you know, crapping on us every day. 78 00:03:51.400 --> 00:03:53.039 The vast majority of us who will cover them league, 79 00:03:53.080 --> 00:03:56.520 especially as reporters, beat writers, are not the ones he's 80 00:03:56.520 --> 00:04:01.479 actually talking about. It's the TV debates show, It's people 81 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:04.639 on Instagram, it's aggregation accounts that just take things out 82 00:04:04.680 --> 00:04:06.520 of context and then use it to tee off on people. 83 00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:07.840 It's all this other stuff. 84 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:10.759 The people who are dedicating the most time and effort 85 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:13.840 to reporting and writing and actually going into the gym, 86 00:04:13.879 --> 00:04:17.199 actually going to practice and shoot arounds and games, doing 87 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:19.160 the job that I used to do for sixteen years, 88 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:20.839 which is, you know, be a beat writer covering a 89 00:04:20.839 --> 00:04:24.279 team from start to finish, all eighty two games plus playoffs. 90 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:27.639 Those are no other people who are firing off takes 91 00:04:27.639 --> 00:04:31.439 and living on the hot take economy. And my concern 92 00:04:31.879 --> 00:04:36.120 as a twenty eight year writer covering this league, my 93 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:38.920 concern as presidents of the Pro Basketball Writers Association, is 94 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:43.839 that we have a growing problem where players view just 95 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:48.759 this big noise machine as one big conglomerate and it's not. 96 00:04:49.160 --> 00:04:55.360 It's hundreds, maybe thousands of voices. But we are taking 97 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:57.079 the brunt of this because what's happened is it makes 98 00:04:57.079 --> 00:04:59.040 it harder to cover the league when players are always 99 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:02.800 on the defensive or cut off or or too reticent 100 00:05:03.160 --> 00:05:05.680 to give their time and their thoughts because they fear 101 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:09.560 being in the next spin cycle. And that is a 102 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:12.279 that is a problem, and that is a massive concern 103 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:13.319 of mind. 104 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:19.680 So what is what's fair to be critical of in 105 00:05:19.720 --> 00:05:20.360 your opinion? 106 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:20.920 You know? 107 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:25.160 Because yes, to your point, when these players are hearing 108 00:05:25.639 --> 00:05:29.000 a million different voices and they're on social media, they're 109 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:32.879 on Instagram, they're on Twitter or Blue Sky or whatever, 110 00:05:33.079 --> 00:05:36.480 and they are in their echo chamber and the algorithm 111 00:05:36.519 --> 00:05:40.199 feeds them, you know, whatever it does and suddenly, you know, 112 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:44.199 a very small group of people in their mind represents 113 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:47.000 all of us right that cover the league, and then 114 00:05:47.079 --> 00:05:50.040 suddenly we're all thrown in the same category. But as 115 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:53.040 I referenced, I do believe there are things that are 116 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:56.319 very fair to criticize, and I think there are things 117 00:05:56.319 --> 00:05:58.560 that are fair to criticize with the way Lebron at 118 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:01.439 times handles themselves for all of the brilliant So your 119 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:04.040 points are well taken, But I will ask you what 120 00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:07.000 is fair to criticize in your opinion about the modern 121 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:09.680 day approach of NBA players and the way the league 122 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:10.360 the league is run. 123 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:15.519 Now, I'm not I'm not trying to be cute here, Spence. 124 00:06:15.639 --> 00:06:18.839 I don't know how to answer that. Because everybody has 125 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:21.839 their own view of what might be wrong with the league, 126 00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:23.839 or what needs to be improved, or what they think 127 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:27.079 is broken, or whatever it may be. I've got my 128 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:28.920 views of it. You and I have had various discussions 129 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:32.160 over you know, the months and even years about how 130 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:34.279 we viewed certain aspects of the league and the state 131 00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:38.199 of the game. What's fair, I mean, everything's fair. It's 132 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:40.639 not that anything is off limits to criticize, although you know, 133 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:43.399 times people get a little too personal or a little 134 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:46.000 mean spirited or so hot taking that they lose track 135 00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:49.319 of the fact that these are human beings playing this game. 136 00:06:50.040 --> 00:06:52.240 But also I would separate cover you know, the criticism 137 00:06:52.360 --> 00:06:56.199 of you know, the game written large, that the league 138 00:06:56.240 --> 00:06:58.279 and what the league is doing at a given time 139 00:06:58.480 --> 00:07:00.800 changes it's making or the quality of the products. That's 140 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:04.240 a different case or a different issue than how the 141 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:07.439 players are feeling about being ripped apart on a maybe 142 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:11.279 sometimes daily basis by some people who again have no 143 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:15.680 interest in it other than their ability to market their takes. 144 00:07:16.600 --> 00:07:18.519 Do you think any of this has to do directly 145 00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:21.199 with the way that some of the inside guys handle it? 146 00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:23.680 The inside, you know, the inside of the NBA on TNT, 147 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:27.480 which is still, in my opinion, the most entertaining studio show. 148 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:30.240 Out for any sport, not just pro basketball. 149 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:33.319 But it seems like there's a lot of players now 150 00:07:33.480 --> 00:07:36.639 that don't necessarily appreciate some of the gut they get 151 00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:38.199 on that show. Do you think any of it's deeped 152 00:07:38.199 --> 00:07:39.120 with the inside stuff? 153 00:07:40.439 --> 00:07:42.720 I don't know. I mean, I think it's everything. I 154 00:07:42.759 --> 00:07:45.360 don't think if any one thing, and I don't want 155 00:07:45.399 --> 00:07:48.519 to like, you know, get into names of various on 156 00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:52.879 air personalities on any of the networks. But there are 157 00:07:52.920 --> 00:07:56.560 people who obviously have made a living off of just 158 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:01.319 you know, firing off takes on players and test sometimes 159 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:06.120 taking it to uh, illogical or unfair extremes, and you 160 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:10.439 know that's that is the unfortunately the media landscape we 161 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:13.480 live in right now. I don't know, like you have 162 00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:16.199 to ask you to ask Lebron. I don't know whether 163 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:21.160 he's referring to Turner inside the NBA, whether referring to ESPN, 164 00:08:21.319 --> 00:08:24.720 whether referring to Fox debate shows what I don't I 165 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:28.040 don't know. I think this is more about this is 166 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:32.559 less about how the game is being talked about in 167 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:34.919 terms of what he said, than than the way he's 168 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:35.639 been talked about. 169 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:36.120 I think he was. 170 00:08:36.120 --> 00:08:38.360 Referring to his own experience as the face of the league. 171 00:08:39.519 --> 00:08:41.759 Yeah, now that that that makes sense. Hey, porter, will 172 00:08:41.799 --> 00:08:44.320 you effort Lebron. Let's get Lebron on to kind of 173 00:08:44.360 --> 00:08:47.320 ask him. Uh, we'll get him on to cask him directly, 174 00:08:47.960 --> 00:08:51.000 obviously tongue in cheek. Now, Look, I'll tell you what, Howard, 175 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:54.120 Not everybody covers a league through the prism of negativity 176 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:57.279 and the last couple of weeks, I have turned on 177 00:08:57.399 --> 00:09:00.960 basketball and I have watched basketball players seem to care 178 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:04.480 about playing basketball, and it is a reminder, look, maybe 179 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:06.960 this is just the world of basketball now that we 180 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:09.240 all should just say, look, we'll touch you after the 181 00:09:09.240 --> 00:09:11.120 All Star break, We'll hit you up in late February, 182 00:09:11.159 --> 00:09:14.000 early March. But the past couple of weeks, when these 183 00:09:14.039 --> 00:09:16.399 guys have been locked in, it is a reminder of 184 00:09:16.440 --> 00:09:18.519 what this league looks like and what this sport looks 185 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:20.799 like when the best players are playing hard with a purpose. 186 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:24.879 I mean, there were great games in October, November, December too, 187 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:27.320 So I don't know, like I do think that there 188 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:29.559 is such a thing as the dog days of the season, 189 00:09:29.639 --> 00:09:33.399 especially in January. I do think that when we get 190 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:35.879 back from the All Star break and there's it's not 191 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:38.200 even the midway point, it's it's beyond the midway point. 192 00:09:38.200 --> 00:09:42.000 There's usually like thirty thirty five games left. And when 193 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:45.799 when the teams that especially know they're they're locking in 194 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:49.200 for the postseason and have you know, the spring to 195 00:09:49.240 --> 00:09:51.919 look ahead to and it's getting closer, it certainly brings 196 00:09:51.919 --> 00:09:55.039 a different level of focus and intensity. But like we 197 00:09:55.039 --> 00:09:57.279 were all raving about certain games back and I'm trying 198 00:09:57.279 --> 00:09:59.279 to remember, like there was a bunch involving the Warriors, 199 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:03.240 some involving Under, like there were good games earlier in 200 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:06.360 the season like it. I'm not I'm not sold on 201 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:09.679 the idea that that suddenly the whole landscape changes the 202 00:10:09.720 --> 00:10:14.519 second we get back from the All Star Game. But 203 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:18.879 you know, I there the problem is in the in 204 00:10:18.919 --> 00:10:21.919 the context of the bigger conversation here, people's complaints about 205 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:23.840 the league might be that, oh, we don't think guys 206 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:25.720 play hard on the given night, or maybe because they 207 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:27.759 didn't play hard in the All Star Game, or it's 208 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:30.639 guys are load managing too much or whatever. Like there's 209 00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:33.519 bits and pieces of all of this, and everybody's got 210 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:36.440 a little bit different version of what's bothering him about 211 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:39.720 the league at any given time, And so I just 212 00:10:40.440 --> 00:10:42.000 I don't I don't know which part of that is 213 00:10:42.279 --> 00:10:45.320 the one that needs to be focused on. All right, 214 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:47.200 I'm getting out of the car here real quick. 215 00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:50.200 Hold, hon say all good. Howard Beck is our guest, 216 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:53.000 one of my favorite riders. He's joined my show for 217 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:55.720 a number of years. You can get him on Blue 218 00:10:55.720 --> 00:10:59.879 Sky mostly. He is technically on Twitter, but he has, 219 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:02.720 it's been at a number of different places. He always 220 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:04.799 does his job at a high level, and he does 221 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:07.279 his job so well that he's going to see Brooklyn 222 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:10.000 and Portland play tonight in person, which is very impressive. 223 00:11:10.440 --> 00:11:13.000 So let me just ask you point playing your opinion then, 224 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:17.120 instead of dancing around it, do you feel like from 225 00:11:17.159 --> 00:11:20.919 your vantage point, you know the league is in a 226 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:23.840 healthy place, you know, as opposed to what anyone else 227 00:11:23.879 --> 00:11:26.600 has to say about What does Howard Beck have to 228 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:29.720 say about the current state of the NBA. 229 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:33.840 I think it's fine, honestly, I really do. The game 230 00:11:33.879 --> 00:11:35.840 has changed, and some people don't like the way the 231 00:11:35.879 --> 00:11:39.679 game has changed stylistically. The load management part of it 232 00:11:39.720 --> 00:11:44.159 is an absolutely legitimate issue and concern, especially for fans 233 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:46.440 who pay a lot of money go to a game. 234 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:49.600 I'm bringing my daughter to a game soon and I 235 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:51.440 don't want to say which game am I gonna do? 236 00:11:51.559 --> 00:11:55.799 But I'm sitting there going like, are the players that 237 00:11:55.799 --> 00:11:57.120 I'm hoping are going to play that night going to 238 00:11:57.200 --> 00:11:58.759 be there? Because I worry about it the same way 239 00:11:58.759 --> 00:12:02.000 as anybody else does, right, I bought tickets like that. 240 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:05.039 That's a serious concern and the NBA. They've tried to 241 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:06.679 deal with it. We know that. You know, it was 242 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:11.080 a you know, starting last season when they instituted all 243 00:12:11.080 --> 00:12:13.240 these rules to try to make sure that players were 244 00:12:13.240 --> 00:12:17.240 playing more often than not and not abusing the latitude 245 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:18.080 that teams have. 246 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:18.840 To rest guys. 247 00:12:19.480 --> 00:12:20.519 So those are issues. 248 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:24.600 But the state of the game, honestly, it's fine. Like it. 249 00:12:24.679 --> 00:12:26.679 I think it's mostly depends on who you're rooting for. 250 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:29.519 But thunder fans are thrilled with the state of the game, 251 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:33.240 Sixer fans probably not so much. Suns fans probably a 252 00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:37.039 bit depressed right now. The Nets fans that I'll see 253 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:40.120 in here tonight, you know, they they're just happy that 254 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:42.519 their team is playing their butts off despite not having 255 00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:46.279 any stars, and you know they're hoping for lottery balls. 256 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:49.600 Like I don't. I don't think the game is in crisis. 257 00:12:49.960 --> 00:12:53.559 I think that has been wildly overstated based on some 258 00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:56.240 early ratings data earlier in the season, a lot of 259 00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:58.840 which has kind of evened out. It's still down, but 260 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:01.639 it's not down dramatically. And the league lucked in a 261 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:05.559 seventy billion dollar media rights deal. Like you know, that 262 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:08.360 goes back to your your view of the cynical take 263 00:13:08.399 --> 00:13:10.840 of like, yeah, it's just a business and they're just 264 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:13.679 accruing value, and I think there's something to that, But 265 00:13:13.960 --> 00:13:17.919 I don't know where the crisis is here, all right. 266 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:20.639 I will ask you because I often ask you these 267 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:25.240 philosophical questions on how to fix certain issues, because I 268 00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:27.759 was talking to and your point about who you cheer 269 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:30.679 for and where you're at currently, as it pertains, your 270 00:13:30.679 --> 00:13:32.480 opinion of the state of the league is really good. 271 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:34.960 And obviously out here there are a lot of people 272 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:38.519 that are frustrated that we're in year three of this rebuild, 273 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:41.519 and we focus on the good stories when they manifest. 274 00:13:41.639 --> 00:13:43.799 Walker Kester had a great game the other night against 275 00:13:43.799 --> 00:13:47.039 El melsa bonus, and there's some stuff with Isaiah Collier 276 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:50.759 and Keyante George that are pretty exciting. But it does 277 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:54.639 feel like every year about a third of the teams 278 00:13:54.840 --> 00:13:58.120 are just unseerious about winning. And I get it, and 279 00:13:58.200 --> 00:14:00.120 certainly out here I get it, and I think the 280 00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:02.120 JASH should have done this two years ago, as we've 281 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:06.279 talked about. But is there is there any fix to 282 00:14:06.840 --> 00:14:10.159 this scenario? Where and John Hollinger wrote a good piece 283 00:14:10.200 --> 00:14:12.000 for The Athletic about this, where you're either in the 284 00:14:12.039 --> 00:14:14.720 halves or the have nots. And it seems like every 285 00:14:14.759 --> 00:14:18.000 year about a third of the league as this this 286 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:21.159 situation where they're not serious about winning, they're trying to 287 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:25.039 develop young players, and then a rebuild is hope that 288 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:28.279 some young players pop, acquire assets, and then hope you 289 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:31.360 get lucky in the lottery. Is this just the NBA 290 00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:33.559 where about a third of the teams every year are 291 00:14:33.639 --> 00:14:35.080 just not going to be able to compete with the 292 00:14:35.080 --> 00:14:37.960 top shelf team, so they go young, try to develop, 293 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:39.320 and try to get lucky in the lottery. 294 00:14:40.919 --> 00:14:44.360 I wrote a very long piece last week during the 295 00:14:44.440 --> 00:14:47.240 Ringers NBA expansion Week, as we called it. We'd all 296 00:14:47.320 --> 00:14:49.960 packed the stories about it. The idea of expansions been 297 00:14:50.679 --> 00:14:53.320 talked about so much, and it seems to be on 298 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:55.879 the horizon, although as I reported, I think it's actually 299 00:14:55.879 --> 00:14:58.559 three to five years out still if it happened. But 300 00:14:58.600 --> 00:15:01.320 the piece I wrote was about kind of this, which 301 00:15:01.399 --> 00:15:04.759 is that there still aren't enough stars to go around, 302 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:07.080 especially when you know stars like to join up with 303 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:09.000 each other on U given teams or teams you know 304 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:12.679 are able to get them on their own. Yeah, it's 305 00:15:12.759 --> 00:15:15.399 it's stars are a finite commodity. This is a zero 306 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:18.720 sum game. So we can look at the Jazz or 307 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:20.840 the Nets and the Blazers, two teams I will see 308 00:15:20.840 --> 00:15:23.840 either tonight or the Wizards and say, well, they're rebuilding, 309 00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:25.679 they don't have enough talent whatever, They're in the have 310 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:28.720 nots category. They're hoping for lottery balls, they're hoping for something. 311 00:15:29.720 --> 00:15:31.919 The fact is, whether you're doing it intentionally or just 312 00:15:31.960 --> 00:15:34.039 because that's just where in the life cycle your team is, 313 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:39.559 naturally you're you're you're trying to pursue stars that aren't 314 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:42.399 there because they're on somebody else's team. It's a zero 315 00:15:42.519 --> 00:15:44.919 sum game. And we can talk about the fact that 316 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:49.639 there's more talent than ever around the league today than ten, fifteen, 317 00:15:49.679 --> 00:15:52.639 twenty years ago, and there is, but it's not franchise 318 00:15:52.679 --> 00:15:56.399 star level talent, Like the Jazz have Lowry Markinen, who's 319 00:15:56.440 --> 00:15:59.279 a really good player, all NBA caliber, but that's not 320 00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:02.559 enough for them to win enough games to be in 321 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:06.639 the playoff hunt. And you know, the Nets and the 322 00:16:06.679 --> 00:16:10.080 Wizards certainly traded away players to do their rebuilds. But 323 00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:10.799 the fact. 324 00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:16.759 Is there's so few true superstars or stars that you 325 00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:18.799 can do that and have there still be a bunch 326 00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:21.879 of other teams that are still searching for talent as well, 327 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:24.399 Like this is just the state of things. You can't 328 00:16:24.440 --> 00:16:28.320 possibly have thirty teams competitive at the same time, no 329 00:16:28.360 --> 00:16:30.759 matter how much Adam Silver has tried to engineer parody, 330 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:32.759 And there is more parody now than there has been 331 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:36.519 in the history of the league. But it doesn't ensure 332 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:38.720 that every team is going to have a chance every 333 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:41.159 season to be a five hundred team or a playoff team. 334 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:44.360 All right, I know you got to go. So let's 335 00:16:44.360 --> 00:16:46.279 get a couple of things that are actually going on 336 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:48.600 in the league. John Embiid is going to miss the 337 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:51.679 remainder of the season due to a knee injury, and 338 00:16:51.879 --> 00:16:54.159 it feels like this was the only course of action 339 00:16:54.279 --> 00:16:57.279 for a Philadelphia team that was just firaling out of control. 340 00:16:58.000 --> 00:16:59.840 What's next for Philly? What's next for MB? 341 00:17:01.720 --> 00:17:04.119 Who knows what's next for Embid because I don't think 342 00:17:04.119 --> 00:17:06.799 we really know the true extent of his knee problems, 343 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:10.839 and he is notoriously private about his health and about 344 00:17:10.839 --> 00:17:14.839 whatever's going on any given time. So the Sixers are 345 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:17.759 not very forthcoming on these things and haven't been because 346 00:17:17.880 --> 00:17:20.839 MB doesn't want them to be, which is his prerogative, 347 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:22.559 but it's frustrating if you're a Philly fan and you 348 00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:25.000 have no idea whether he's ever going to be himself again. 349 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:26.839 So we don't know the answer to that. And if 350 00:17:26.839 --> 00:17:28.839 he's never himself again, and he just signed a massive 351 00:17:28.839 --> 00:17:32.200 extension last summer, they are screwed for the foreseeable future 352 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:34.039 on that alone. On top of that, they signed Paul 353 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:36.640 George to a max four year deal, and you know 354 00:17:36.680 --> 00:17:41.400 he's on the downhill slide too, so they're shutting down 355 00:17:41.400 --> 00:17:44.519 EMBIID is the practical thing to do from a health standpoint, probably, 356 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:46.440 but it's also the practical thing to do from a 357 00:17:46.519 --> 00:17:50.160 draft standpoint because they owe a pick to Oklahoma that 358 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:55.640 is top six protected, So if the Sixers pick lands 359 00:17:55.799 --> 00:17:58.079 in the top six, the Sixers get to keep it. 360 00:17:58.440 --> 00:18:02.000 If it's seventh or later, it's going to Oklahoma. So 361 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:04.720 the the the insult to injury here for Philadelphia is 362 00:18:04.759 --> 00:18:08.319 that their their seasons already toast and beat us on 363 00:18:08.359 --> 00:18:11.799 the shelf, and if the pick a seventh or lower, 364 00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:15.680 it's going to Oklahoma instead of them getting the benefit 365 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:18.880 in Philly. So uh they are it is to there. 366 00:18:19.400 --> 00:18:21.440 It is in their best interests to shut down everybody 367 00:18:21.480 --> 00:18:23.920 at this stage. Do whatever you have to do, take 368 00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:26.680 the fines from the league, but do everything possible to 369 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:30.319 have the worst record possible. And even that doesn't guarantee anything, 370 00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:33.119 because the lottery balls could bounce the wrong way and 371 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:35.359 it could drop the six ers to seven or eight 372 00:18:35.400 --> 00:18:38.160 or nine or whatever, and they could still lose the pick. 373 00:18:38.359 --> 00:18:41.880 So uh, they do need to increase their odds of 374 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:43.559 having a top six pick. 375 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:45.839 All right, before I set you loose, I'll let you 376 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:49.160 get to the game. Uh, who keeps Mark dagnalled up 377 00:18:49.160 --> 00:18:50.279 at night the most? 378 00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:53.480 Is it Denver? Is it La with those two? Is 379 00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:56.440 it Golden State with Jimmy? I mean, Oklahoma State clearly 380 00:18:56.519 --> 00:18:57.920 is entrenched themselves. 381 00:18:57.559 --> 00:18:59.440 As the favorite. But who keeps Mark up at night 382 00:18:59.480 --> 00:18:59.759 the most? 383 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:04.119 In your opinion, probably Denver because they've got the best 384 00:19:04.119 --> 00:19:06.279 player on the planet in Jokic, and that the team 385 00:19:06.279 --> 00:19:09.359 that won a championship within the last couple of years. 386 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:12.200 I think, you know, Look, I'd be the first to 387 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:15.759 say I don't want to face a Luca Lebron tandem 388 00:19:15.799 --> 00:19:18.920 at any time, but supporting cast is a little questionable. 389 00:19:18.920 --> 00:19:23.279 They don't have any size and you know, Lucas still 390 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:25.119 trying to get his legs back under him. He's not 391 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:28.200 shooting well yet. They'll probably come around. They look pretty 392 00:19:28.200 --> 00:19:30.119 good so far, but you know, let's check back in 393 00:19:30.160 --> 00:19:32.640 a few weeks or you know, a month or so. 394 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:36.160 I don't I don't know that the Lakers as constructed 395 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:39.359 have enough to make a run this year. They didn't 396 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:41.440 make that trade for this year. They made that trade 397 00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:45.559 for the next ten years. And you know, with the Warriors, 398 00:19:45.799 --> 00:19:48.799 that one's interesting, like they're playing their butts off. They 399 00:19:48.839 --> 00:19:51.319 look really good. Steph goes for fifty six last night, 400 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:56.799 and Butler's fit in perfectly. They have a little bit 401 00:19:56.799 --> 00:19:59.400