WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:05.240 I love these guys. Oh man, I gotta say once. 2 00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:08.160 I took the four down to Brooklyn out of French 3 00:00:08.199 --> 00:00:12.199 seventy five and a Mancho Lte just checked him out outdoor. 4 00:00:12.279 --> 00:00:15.560 Venue is small, two thousand people. It's one of my 5 00:00:15.560 --> 00:00:17.120 favorite bands. Who this is? 6 00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:19.679 This has to be uh, this has to be the 7 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:22.760 airborne toxic event right as you know I introduce. 8 00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:25.280 You to them. I liked him two minutes ago. I 9 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:27.719 liked him before. It was cool? Man, you did? I did? 10 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:30.079 And yeah, you showed me them at the commercial break? 11 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:32.280 Who's on? Who's our next guest? Mister Howard Beck? 12 00:00:32.359 --> 00:00:36.439 Oh, what a coincidence on a Friday, Howard? 13 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:36.880 How are you? 14 00:00:36.920 --> 00:00:37.079 Sir? 15 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:43.960 That was a great bit? Did I fantastic? Did great? 16 00:00:43.960 --> 00:00:45.280 Did I check all the boxes? 17 00:00:47.320 --> 00:00:51.520 I'm not a Macha guy. My daughter who is born 18 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:54.119 and raised in Brooklyn very much a Macha person and 19 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:57.920 a Mancho Latte person. Not me. I'm like, clearly not 20 00:00:58.039 --> 00:01:02.679 quite Brooklyn hip enough. But I do appreciate being brought 21 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:09.200 into the uh phenomenal uh tones tunes of everyone talks 22 00:01:09.239 --> 00:01:11.719 the event. I believe I mentioned to you just a 23 00:01:11.719 --> 00:01:12.359 week ago at this. 24 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:14.239 Time you did, and you caught me off guard. So 25 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:16.000 I did my research because you know me, I do 26 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:16.760 my own research. 27 00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:19.959 Me and stock. That's how we roll, and uh jammed 28 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:20.359 out to some. 29 00:01:20.599 --> 00:01:22.879 They're very good. So I appreciate you bringing them into 30 00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:23.200 my life. 31 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:27.719 Uh, you're welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed them. There there's 32 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:31.200 quite a broad catalog of theirs to explore, so very nice. 33 00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:34.319 So, Howard, the best time to do what the Jazz 34 00:01:34.359 --> 00:01:37.040 are doing was two years ago. The second best time 35 00:01:37.079 --> 00:01:39.439 to do what they're doing is now. I'm ordering my 36 00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:43.000 Cooper Flag Jazz uniform. I am all in now. We 37 00:01:43.079 --> 00:01:44.760 have a fan base that's bummed out. But I have 38 00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:47.159 not been this optimistic about the Jazz for a number 39 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:50.439 of years. Oh and six baby stack those el's. 40 00:01:51.719 --> 00:01:55.040 I mean, they're doing a fantastic job of tanking without 41 00:01:55.079 --> 00:01:58.040 even like they have even pulled the plug on marketing 42 00:01:58.239 --> 00:01:59.680 yet or any of the other vet they have been, like, 43 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:02.799 you know, traded Jordan Clarkson for five second round picks 44 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:05.599 yet or any of that, and so plenty of still 45 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:08.680 you know, tank delicious maneuvering to look forward to. 46 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:11.159 This has to be the deal though, right, I mean 47 00:02:11.240 --> 00:02:13.840 I've talked about this earlier. Somebody who has been on 48 00:02:13.879 --> 00:02:16.360 this side of a microphone for eighteen years, but spent 49 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:19.240 years on the other side of the doors, where some 50 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:24.280 decisions are made. Teams will tell you what the message is, 51 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:26.599 but you have to watch what they do to understand 52 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:29.759 the actual deal. So when they say things like developments 53 00:02:29.879 --> 00:02:33.639 and youth movements, it's like NBA lingo for we're probably going. 54 00:02:33.560 --> 00:02:35.280 To lose a lot this year. This has to be 55 00:02:35.319 --> 00:02:36.080 the deal, doesn't it. 56 00:02:37.639 --> 00:02:41.680 Yeah. I mean, like we've talked about this that the 57 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:45.960 youth for the last couple of years, and I think 58 00:02:46.039 --> 00:02:49.039 even the messaging coming to this season. The Jazz were 59 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:51.479 not in the category of say Brooklyn or Washington, who 60 00:02:51.479 --> 00:02:54.960 have made their intentions very clearly known by what they're doing. 61 00:02:55.800 --> 00:02:59.240 Neither of those teams have, say a lowry marketing. The 62 00:02:59.319 --> 00:03:01.479 Jazz have been try trying to kind of like be 63 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:03.479 cute with this or play it down the middle, or 64 00:03:03.560 --> 00:03:05.879 maybe do what we call the middle build where you're 65 00:03:05.879 --> 00:03:08.240 still good and you're not terrible, and you don't tear down, 66 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:11.840 you don't play the lottery game. But I mean you 67 00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:14.599 are by default, if not by design at this point 68 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:20.039 and maybe by both. And you know, it's fine. I 69 00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:23.280 hate to say it, but it's fine, and it's probably not, 70 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:26.479 you know, real enjoyable for jazz fans. But I think 71 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:31.240 Jazz fans, like Nets fans, like Wizards fans, probably sitting 72 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:33.759 back at a certain point, going, you know what, there's 73 00:03:33.800 --> 00:03:35.879 no point in winning thirty or twenty five. We might 74 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:37.680 as well be bad. There's a great and it's not 75 00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:40.120 just Cooper Flag, right, like the two guys from Rutgers, 76 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:44.039 Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper are you know, it firmly 77 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:46.240 in the mix and like it's not all or nothing. 78 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:47.960 You know, this is not one of those drafts where 79 00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:50.520 it's like, well we're gonna we're gonna tank, we're gonna 80 00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:53.120 have a terrible record, and oh man, we didn't win 81 00:03:53.159 --> 00:03:55.599 the lottery and now we're gonna regret it all. Now 82 00:03:55.719 --> 00:03:58.240 there's like at least three really good players and maybe more. 83 00:03:58.280 --> 00:04:00.520 And you know, as you know, I'm not the draft 84 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:03.120 expert here, but I talked to scouts and talk to 85 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:04.960 people who followed the draft, and they're pretty excited to 86 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:08.120 blot three of those guys and possibly more so. It's 87 00:04:08.199 --> 00:04:11.319 it's a good year to be bad, and there's more 88 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:13.960 than one potential price who could change the trajectory of 89 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:18.079 your franchise, and you know, it's it's just the reality. 90 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:18.839 It's where they are. 91 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:21.360 Yeah, yeah, for sure. And you know, for me, I 92 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:23.759 actually think it's great news. I wasn't sure if they're 93 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:25.639 at what they were ever going to do it because 94 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:27.959 the DNA of a coach is he always wants to win. 95 00:04:28.120 --> 00:04:31.240 And you know when you hear the ownership group or 96 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:34.959 front office talk about their desires, it's big game hunting, 97 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:37.680 it's ad vets and there was never a realistic avenue 98 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:39.839 like this has to be the deal. But I did 99 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:41.439 want to ask you one thing because I always hear 100 00:04:41.480 --> 00:04:46.360 people say like, well, in Salt Lake you have to draft, develop, retain, 101 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:49.319 and yes, you do have to do that. But isn't 102 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:52.759 that what Golden State did. Isn't that what Boston for 103 00:04:52.759 --> 00:04:55.319 the most part has done. And I think and we 104 00:04:55.399 --> 00:04:58.079 actually did see this a little bit now Mike Conley, 105 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:01.040 of course at twenty five would been a bit different here, 106 00:05:01.240 --> 00:05:05.560 you know, at thirty three, thirty four. But once Donovan Gobert, 107 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:08.800 you know, Quinn, really good coach. Once that group started 108 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:11.720 to evolve and rise a little bit, then Dennis Lindsay 109 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:14.800 was able to expedite to rebuild or excuse me, expedite 110 00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:18.120 the process by trading for Boyan, Bogdanovich and Mike Conley, 111 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:20.839 and those were really good teams. So once you draft, 112 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:24.920 develop and retain like Golden State did. Yes, you added Durant, 113 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:27.800 which which makes it unfair, but draft, developed, retain is 114 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:30.480 not just a Salt Lake ethos like kind of doesn't 115 00:05:30.519 --> 00:05:31.439 matter where you are. 116 00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:35.839 That's more or less what you have to do everywhere. Yes, yes, 117 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:36.160 and no. 118 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:39.639 If you're a small market, it's pretty much your your 119 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:43.360 only path. They Oklahoma would be another great example of it, right, 120 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:46.800 both the current version and the earlier iteration when they 121 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:50.439 drafted Durant and Westbrook and Harden and Ibaka. All that said, 122 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:54.319 if you want to shortcut it and you're in a 123 00:05:54.319 --> 00:05:58.319 big market, you might be able to do it differently. 124 00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:02.240 Right now, we've seen big market teams flail and with 125 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:06.279 over and over and over by clearing cap room and thinking, oh, 126 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:08.079 just because we're the big market, they'll all want to 127 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:10.519 flock here, and it doesn't work. We saw the Knicks 128 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:12.399 fail at this, We've seen the Lakers fail at this. 129 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:15.399 The Nets quote unquote succeeded at it when they got 130 00:06:15.480 --> 00:06:18.959 Durant and Kyrie Irving and it still did not end 131 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:22.600 so well. And the Clippers similarly, where you know, Kawhi 132 00:06:22.680 --> 00:06:25.000 was the free agent and came with Paul George via trade, 133 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:27.920 and you know, we could have a whole other discussion 134 00:06:27.959 --> 00:06:31.920 about how to qualify or assess that experiment, but like 135 00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:34.759 it was a success on some level and didn't go 136 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:39.040 where they wanted it to go. The Sixers drafted Embiid, 137 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:43.720 developed EMBIID, drafted Maxi, developed Maxi. But because of the 138 00:06:43.720 --> 00:06:46.279 success of those guys, it enabled them to then land 139 00:06:46.360 --> 00:06:48.600 Paul George. And again, you know it's early, we'll see, 140 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:50.720 you know, wait for Embid and Georgia get healthy. But 141 00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:54.600 if the Utah Jazz or the Oklahoma City Thunder or 142 00:06:54.600 --> 00:06:57.680 the Memphis Grizzlies tried to do the same thing, I 143 00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:00.399 don't think Paul George is joining embiid in Maxi in 144 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:03.800 Memphis or joining m beating Maxie in Charlotte. Like that's 145 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:06.480 just the reality of the NBA. It might happen, It 146 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:11.120 occasionally happens. But the truth in what you were the 147 00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:13.680 premise you were putting out there about, oh is it 148 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:18.079 it just a Utah thing? It's small markets have to 149 00:07:18.120 --> 00:07:23.519 assume at the outset we're probably not landing superstar free agents, 150 00:07:23.639 --> 00:07:25.959 so we're gonna have to get talent the other ways, 151 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:28.759 drafting them and developing them or trading for them and 152 00:07:28.759 --> 00:07:29.759 hoping they want to stay. 153 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:33.959 Yes, yes, well well said, all right, moving on now. 154 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:37.639 So San Antonio was in town last night, and you know, 155 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:40.079 for me, as you and I have talked about and 156 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:43.360 I talked about pretty often, you know, it became pretty clear. 157 00:07:43.959 --> 00:07:46.639 And the jazz knew this because they had freaking Rudy 158 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:49.279 Gobert here and wem ben Yama kind of burst on 159 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:52.000 the scene when he was young and he was French 160 00:07:52.040 --> 00:07:55.040 and there was this video of him beating Gobert one 161 00:07:55.079 --> 00:07:58.120 on one and then I'll never forget the first time 162 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:01.000 I saw the side by side of Wembenyama and Rudy 163 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:04.079 and I'm like, he's like four inches taller than Gobert, 164 00:08:04.120 --> 00:08:06.720 who is huge. And so the best time to do 165 00:08:06.759 --> 00:08:08.959 what the jazz are doing now was two years ago. 166 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:10.199 The second best time is now. 167 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:13.040 So the jazz fans had a front row look at 168 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:14.800 what they could have at least been in the mix 169 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:17.839 for and there's no guarantees. And he rolls in and 170 00:08:17.879 --> 00:08:21.000 he puts up the dumbest statellite twenty five points, nine boards, 171 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:23.279 seven assists, five steals, five blocks. 172 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:25.519 There were plus forty three in his thirty four minutes. 173 00:08:26.279 --> 00:08:29.120 What do you think this process is going to look 174 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:32.200 like with San Antonio as they now have the next 175 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:35.039 great thing and now it's on a very good front 176 00:08:35.080 --> 00:08:37.759 office and coaching staff to make sure he's properly surrounded 177 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:39.679 by players that will allow him to grow and what 178 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:40.639 we all think he can be. 179 00:08:42.039 --> 00:08:45.759 I think what's interesting Spence about this moment for them 180 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:49.440 is that they know exactly what they have. The whole 181 00:08:49.480 --> 00:08:54.279 league knows exactly what they have, and the potential for 182 00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:57.879 weemen Yama to anchor a contender for the next ten 183 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:00.679 to fifteen years is right there in front of us. Right. 184 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:03.320 We can all see what he's capable of, what he's 185 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:05.960 already done, and with all the growth potentially to go. 186 00:09:06.840 --> 00:09:09.519 The interesting part to me is how quickly do you 187 00:09:10.279 --> 00:09:13.039 go into this phase of o case surround him with talent? 188 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:15.559 Right is it? Are you developing young talent? Are you 189 00:09:15.639 --> 00:09:17.600 trying to go out and attract free agents who might 190 00:09:17.639 --> 00:09:19.639 want to play with them min Yama? Are you trading 191 00:09:19.639 --> 00:09:21.480 for guys, and how soon are you doing all that? 192 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:25.200 What's the urgency? And it's funny, like it's not funny, 193 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:28.000 but it's so telling. It's the time that we live 194 00:09:28.039 --> 00:09:30.559 in that already within the last few months somebody had 195 00:09:30.600 --> 00:09:33.919 written one of the you know, how long can can 196 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:37.600 the Spurs afford to wait to create a contender? When? When? When? When? 197 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:40.159 Man Yama? That's like, man, I understand, we're in a 198 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:44.720 time where everything's accelerated and guys get impatient and asked 199 00:09:44.759 --> 00:09:48.399 out sooner and sooner. But man, nobody's asking out while 200 00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:51.000 still on their first three years of their rookie deal, 201 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:56.440 like they have time. The urgency is not that high, 202 00:09:57.000 --> 00:09:59.000 but that is that is the world we live in now. 203 00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:02.320 And so you know, look, Devin Vesselle is a really 204 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:04.000 great player or a really good player for them, and 205 00:10:04.039 --> 00:10:07.960 he's hurt right now. Kelton Johnson's you know, got got 206 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:11.600 some some promise and was produced during their bad years. 207 00:10:12.919 --> 00:10:15.440 Do they have the right pieces? Are they looking for 208 00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:17.639 the you know, for the right pieces immediately? You know, 209 00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:19.879 Chris Paul is obviously just a stop gap and somebody 210 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:23.200 who can help mentor Webb Yam and the other young 211 00:10:23.240 --> 00:10:26.159 guys but you know he's he's you know, very close 212 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:31.600 to retirement. So they're they're they're not through their actions 213 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:33.919 so far, they're not showing an urgency to say we've 214 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:37.120 got the pedal right now and become a contender immediately. 215 00:10:37.559 --> 00:10:39.399 And I don't think they have to either. Like I, 216 00:10:39.879 --> 00:10:43.000 you know, Weyama strikes me as a very smart, very 217 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:46.519 savvy guy, and I think he understands he's got a 218 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:50.159 long road ahead of him. And you know, there's any 219 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:52.759 franchise you should trust on day one as a rookie, 220 00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:57.279 it's the Spurs. So I'll be curious though, to see 221 00:10:57.480 --> 00:11:00.320 when do they finally hit the gas pedal, you know, 222 00:11:00.360 --> 00:11:03.799 when do they think it's time. I think it makes 223 00:11:03.799 --> 00:11:06.480 sense to not try to rush this right now, partial 224 00:11:06.519 --> 00:11:08.840 because they've got some young guys who you know, could 225 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:12.879 develop into foundational pieces, but partially because you know, the 226 00:11:12.919 --> 00:11:17.000 West is stacked and you know, trying to be all 227 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:21.559 in right now when you're when you're you know, still 228 00:11:21.799 --> 00:11:24.720 kind of on the on the rise, you don't you 229 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:26.320 don't have to rush it. There's gonna be other teams 230 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:27.120 that are going to start. 231 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:27.440 To fall out. 232 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:29.639 Like you know, again, we may have talked about this before. 233 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:31.840 So you know, excuse me to the listeners if I 234 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:35.519 if I'm repeating myself, but you know, the Warriors and 235 00:11:35.559 --> 00:11:40.279 the Lakers, the Clippers, the Suns all built around older stars, 236 00:11:41.080 --> 00:11:43.399 and you know the Clippers are already you know, they 237 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:46.919 let Paul George go. Kawhi is hurt. The Clippers are 238 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:50.200 are on their way down right. The Warriors, I think 239 00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:53.080 has done a really nice job of reloading right now. 240 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:55.360 We'll see how much longer they can prolong their their 241 00:11:55.399 --> 00:11:58.919 time with Steph Curry. But it's a matter of single 242 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:01.480 digit years, you know. And on the you know under 243 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:04.639 five that they have left with him, and Lebron is 244 00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:07.759 turning forty soon like there's you know, the West is 245 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:09.799 going to start to open up, and so you I 246 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:12.440 think it makes sense to try to time your build 247 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:16.120 around Wembenyama for when you see the opportunity to actually 248 00:12:16.200 --> 00:12:18.440 join the elite and have you know, the decks are 249 00:12:18.440 --> 00:12:20.440 not going to be clear, like the Thunder aren't going anywhere, 250 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:23.440 and the Mavericks aren't going anywhere. Timberwolves may not be 251 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:25.840 going anywhere, but you can you can kind of see 252 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:27.399 the outline of where the West is going to be 253 00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:28.960 in three to five years. 254 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:31.720 I want to follow up with something you referenced as 255 00:12:31.720 --> 00:12:34.799 far as Webbin Yama's mentality and his makeup. I have 256 00:12:34.919 --> 00:12:37.720 never met him, and i've never I don't know anything 257 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:39.600 about him other than the first time I saw him. 258 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:42.240 I'm like, oh, it reminded the fruit. It reminded me 259 00:12:42.279 --> 00:12:42.519 of the. 260 00:12:42.440 --> 00:12:45.360 First time I saw Lebron when ESPN televised his high 261 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:47.240 school game and Walton was on the call, and that 262 00:12:47.320 --> 00:12:49.159 was the first time I saw it with my own eyes, 263 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:51.960 and it's like, yeah, I know he's eighteen, but he's 264 00:12:51.960 --> 00:12:55.039 different at seventeen or whatever. So you can tell he's different, 265 00:12:55.080 --> 00:12:57.360 you can tell he's next. But have you ever been 266 00:12:57.399 --> 00:13:01.080 able to kind of ascertain how this was created in 267 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:03.639 the lab, what the makeup is the people around him, 268 00:13:03.639 --> 00:13:06.360 and why he seems to have had this reputation for 269 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:09.159 having the perfect mentality to complement his skill set. 270 00:13:11.480 --> 00:13:16.799 Great question. Don't know have met him once and have 271 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:20.000 not done any You know, I'm not one who's who's 272 00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:22.799 gotten the nice junket to France to go do the 273 00:13:23.159 --> 00:13:26.919 big deep dive on Wemby. So I don't have anything 274 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:35.559 firsthand to tell you. But he it's so clear like that. 275 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:39.080 It's there. There are play of guys who are really tall, right, 276 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:40.559 there are play of guys who have been really tall, 277 00:13:40.679 --> 00:13:44.240 really skilled or just really skilled or whatever, the guys 278 00:13:44.279 --> 00:13:45.960 that succeed in this league. And the guys have become 279 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:49.840 superstars because they've got other special elements to them. And 280 00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:54.279 and Whenben Yama's case, you know, his parents clearly raised 281 00:13:54.360 --> 00:13:58.879 him very well. He's very steady, he's thoughtful, he seems 282 00:13:59.399 --> 00:14:02.639 incredibly humble for all that that he has already been 283 00:14:02.679 --> 00:14:05.639 able to enjoy through his success. He clearly works hard. 284 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:09.039 He's about the right things. And so you know, every 285 00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:12.360 team hopes to get a player at some point who 286 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:17.559 has like, you know, transcendent athleticism, transcendent skill, just you 287 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:21.960 know talent that that is you know, you know, off 288 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:24.440 the charts, right, they go without the fine cool, great 289 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:26.679 you can there are guys like that every year in 290 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:30.200 the draft, but you want to get the ones who 291 00:14:30.279 --> 00:14:35.399 actually care and work hard and are coachable and easy 292 00:14:35.399 --> 00:14:37.519 to work with and are good teammates. And he seems 293 00:14:37.559 --> 00:14:40.000 like a dream because he seems like all of those things. 294 00:14:41.399 --> 00:14:44.799 The chemistry behind putting all that together from his you know, 295 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:48.240 his earlier coaching his family, whatever else, all that that 296 00:14:48.360 --> 00:14:53.000 fed into that. I don't know. But whoever, whoever helped him, 297 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:56.679 you know, along the way over the first whatever twenty 298 00:14:56.759 --> 00:14:58.200 years of his life, did a damn good job. 299 00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:00.919 It's something else to see him, man, I'll tell you 300 00:15:00.919 --> 00:15:01.559 what it is. 301 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:04.240 Uh, Like I said, it's like nothing I've ever seen before. 302 00:15:04.279 --> 00:15:05.279 But we can move on. 303 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:07.679 I wanted to get your I'm not a huge Like 304 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:10.080 the ratings are down, so the league's in trouble, guy, 305 00:15:10.600 --> 00:15:12.879 But the ratings are bad, and you know, we have 306 00:15:12.919 --> 00:15:15.120 the deal in Philly with them beating Paul George, and 307 00:15:15.159 --> 00:15:19.679 I just I will never ever fully accept basketball players 308 00:15:19.720 --> 00:15:22.600 went healthy deciding they just don't feel like playing basketball. 309 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:25.000 And I'm not being dismissive of injuries because those things 310 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:29.799 are real. But look, it's also fall NFL college football. 311 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:32.960 The World Series numbers were through the roof. But any 312 00:15:33.080 --> 00:15:35.759 Howard Beck thoughts on why people at this point don't 313 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:38.759 seem to be consuming NBA basketball the way they used to. 314 00:15:39.960 --> 00:15:44.159 No, don't because it's we're a weekend, and like reading 315 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:46.679 anything into ratings right now, reading anything in their early 316 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:51.679 season trends right now, statistically, fouls, free throws, whatever, like 317 00:15:53.080 --> 00:15:55.000 it's such a small sample size, none of it means 318 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:57.960 anything yet. And you know, we had the overlap of 319 00:15:57.960 --> 00:16:01.519 a World series involving two major markets. Is that part 320 00:16:01.559 --> 00:16:04.159 of it? I don't know. And that's the thing too, 321 00:16:04.200 --> 00:16:06.360 Like there are the people who are way smarter about 322 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:09.799 ratings and how to parse them than me, and they're 323 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:15.200 so contextual and subject to I'll just put it this way, 324 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:19.399 people who cite ratings good or bad usually have a reason. 325 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:23.799 That's usually an agenda, so and I just don't want 326 00:16:23.799 --> 00:16:27.080 to feed into that. Like, you know, if the ratings 327 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:30.759 are dramatically down a month two months from now, and 328 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:32.440 it looks like it's going to be a season long 329 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:35.440 trend and something has changed, then there's a discussion to 330 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:39.440 be had. But right now, there's plenty else for people 331 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:41.559 to be talking about. I'm not blaming you, Spence. I'm 332 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:44.080 just saying, like, my exasperation is more that I can't 333 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:47.039 believe sometimes how little data we're going to go on 334 00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:51.720 to start trying to you know, divine meaning from a 335 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:55.000 handful of numbers over the course of one week of games. 336 00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:56.039 It's a little much. 337 00:16:56.120 --> 00:16:58.799 And it's also silly to annoint or dismiss the team 338 00:16:58.840 --> 00:17:04.759 after four or five games. However, Milwaukee Milwaukee Howard and 339 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:07.279 we're Dame fans out this way. He played his college 340 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:10.920 ball about thirty miles north. So like, look, I know 341 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:14.519 one in four only you know only five games so far. 342 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:17.640 And I'm a doc guy, but I might be alone 343 00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:19.839 on the island at this point. And yes, we'll see 344 00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:21.559 how it plays out. But you've got to be a 345 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:23.839 little bit concerned at the way they've looked so far. 346 00:17:24.680 --> 00:17:26.839 No, I think you gotta be a lot concerned. Listen, 347 00:17:27.079 --> 00:17:29.960 there's a difference. We always do like overreaction theater at 348 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:35.279 this course, this stage of the season, right, and it's 349 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:39.680 fine sometimes it's just for discussion purposes. But there's a 350 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:43.799 difference between overreacting to a team. Like if you're freaking 351 00:17:43.799 --> 00:17:46.519 out about the Sixers, I think you're overreacting. Two of 352 00:17:46.519 --> 00:17:50.279 their three best players haven't played yet. They're gonna get healthy, 353 00:17:50.279 --> 00:17:51.880 they're gonna play, and then it's just a matter of 354 00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:53.799 can they stay healthy. But you can't freak out about 355 00:17:53.799 --> 00:17:57.920 the Sixers. That's ridiculous. I'm being worried about the Bucks 356 00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:00.359 or the Nuggets. I think is totally justifiable because you 357 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:03.319 look at the fundamentals and the fundamentals don't look great 358 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:09.039 like the Nuggets have, you know, demonstrably eroded since their 359 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:11.640 championship a year and a half ago, and the Bucks 360 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:15.640 have demonstrably eroded since their championship, you know, three and 361 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:21.920 a half years ago. The the Yiannis game fit is 362 00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:25.119 not as great as certainly they hoped or as a 363 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:28.279 lot of us expected. Their defense is not what it 364 00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:31.319 used to be. Middleton's hurt and when he comes back, 365 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:32.880 maybe that makes a little bit of a difference. But 366 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:37.400 I mean, Chris Middleton alone isn't going to fix the Bucks, 367 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:39.440 to know, I think there's reason to be concerned. And 368 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:41.680 on top of that, my buddy Bill Ryder at CBS 369 00:18:41.720 --> 00:18:44.920 Sports reports yesterday and I've checked with a few people 370 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:48.559 and they pretty much confirmed that, Yeah, there's a lot 371 00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:51.480 of buzz around the league that the clock's sticking on Yannis, 372 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:54.640 that you know, he's certainly not agitating for a trade yet, 373 00:18:54.680 --> 00:18:58.440 but that that day could come sooner than later. And 374 00:18:59.319 --> 00:19:02.720 that is worry some for a team like Milwaukee Torison, 375 00:19:02.839 --> 00:19:06.000 for any team with a player of his caliber. And so, 376 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:08.680 you know, you take all of that and then you 377 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:12.240 take you know, three coaches in a year and you 378 00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:14.640 know Doc has now had them from training camp on, 379 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:16.759 so you can't just say, well, he came in mid season. 380 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:18.079 They had to try to figure it out the fly, 381 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:21.920 like no, you know, Doc had Dame Doc Damon Giannis 382 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:25.200 have now had you know, half a season plus training 383 00:19:25.240 --> 00:19:28.920 camp and this you know, first week together and it 384 00:19:28.920 --> 00:19:32.000 still doesn't look good. Like that's legitimately concerning. 385 00:19:33.319 --> 00:19:36.480 So since you referenced Denver, let's move over there for 386 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:39.119 a moment, and you know, maybe we shouldn't be all 387 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:43.079 that surprised based off the talents Excuse me, they've lost. 388 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:44.079 Over the past couple of years. 389 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:46.039 They're clearly one of the teams that does not want 390 00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:49.160 to touch financial implications of spending too much cash. And 391 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:52.319 we've seen it, you know, with Bruce Brown and Contavious 392 00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:54.640 called we all Pope, but they have in my estimation 393 00:19:54.799 --> 00:19:57.759 still and honestly, when I watch him, it's kind of 394 00:19:57.759 --> 00:19:58.359 by far. 395 00:19:58.240 --> 00:19:59.880 The best player in the world in Nicole Yak. 396 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:02.839 Are we seeing the potential of what the Colts did 397 00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:05.240 with Andrew Luck are they gonna They already won a title, 398 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:07.039 so he's got a ring. But I mean, this is 399 00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:09.440 the guy that with a market like that and they're 400 00:20:09.480 --> 00:20:11.640 bigger than we are, but not by much. You pray 401 00:20:11.799 --> 00:20:14.079