Lakers Being Slept On? Plus, More First Week Impressions | Real Ones

This episode is brought to you by Sony Pictures Classics. A perfect crime film, says the Daily Beast, John Turturro gives a career-best performance. Don't miss the acclaimed new thriller, The Only Living Pickpocket, in New York. Turturro stars as an aging master pickpocket whose latest score puts him in the crosshairs of a ruthless crime family. Also starring Giancarlo Esposito, Tatiana Maslany, Will Price, and Steve Buscemi. See the film that the LA Times calls instantly classic, The Only Living Pickpocket, in New York. Opens only in theaters October 23rd in New York and Los Angeles nationwide, October 30th. What's poppin'? Real ones. Logan Murdoch here, Howard motherfuckin' back there, Raja Bell over there. It was a fun start to the season a couple days ago, and it was reacting off of the opening night games. Now, we are here to give our impressions of the first week of the season. We're gonna do a round-robin style. We wrote down some things in the rundown, me, Howard, and Raja, and we're gonna just get to it. This episode is presented by Sam's Club. During the holidays, everyone's in a club. The last-minute gift-givers club. The cool aunts club. The food coma club. Whatever holiday club you're in. Again, Sam's Club is the club that helps you pull it off. Need to get a meal on the table in under two hours? Done. Shopping for the brands they want, like Dyson and Lego? Without blowing your budget? Check and check. Sam's Club helps you make the most of the holidays. Come join us. Sam's Club. We got a lot in this show, man. We're really excited for it. Let me start off really quickly with my first impression. I think it's gonna go a little bit into Raja's, but I wanna talk about LaMelo and Ant. They were awesome in Miami, and there's probably some impressions throughout the pod on what Miami is doing and how they look. But let's start off with this. I was watching the other night, and this is the most fun I've ever had watching Timberwolves offense in the Ant era with LaMelo ball in the fold and the playmaking ability of LaMelo and just the electricity that we have inside. And it got me to thinking, because I watched a lot of LaMelo in the preseason, and just to see how this was going to go, and it seems like he's muted his scoring offensive game for the good to acclimate himself into this offense. And the question that I have, and I wanna start with Raja, if LaMelo was like Steve Nash 4.0 in this offense, and just like, I'm gonna playmake as much as possible, and when it's time for me to go off. Does that unlock this offense in a way that can be deadly throughout this season? And what did this first game kind of prove to you when you saw it? Yeah, I mean, I don't think he's gotta be Steve Nash 4.0. He's just gotta be him. And I know, like, you know, Howard and I will probably get into our normal back and forth about him, but he does things with the basketball that not everyone can do. In a league full of dudes who can do things with the basketball that not everyone can do. Like, he's a special talent with the ball in his hands. Now, you know, the question for me was always, and I don't know the answer to it, was like, in Charlotte, were you having to do too much because you didn't think you had the type of help and support that you needed? Because regardless of what we say sitting behind a desk, and what numbers we point to, and what, you know, analytics, what players do is they look around. They look around that locker room, and by their daily, you know, practice slash beat up on each other kind of experiences, that's how they shape whether they should defer or not. Like, it don't matter what we're saying. They're looking around at their peers. They're looking around to the motherfucker that they're passing the ball to saying, like, should I throw it to that cat? Or is it better if I shoot it? And so, you know, I think LaMelo fell into that for stretches of time. And Charlotte, where he's looking around, like, yo, this bad shot for me is better than that motherfucker shooting, you know, like, whatever I'm going to give him. Well, he's now with Ant. And so, like, organically, you're going to look at Ant, and there's a level of deference and respect. Like, you probably still think, like, I'm not saying he thinks Ant's better than him, but you certainly think he's a peer in that way. And so, you might relinquish some of those bad shots that you were shooting on other teams. And, like, you know, Jalen. Jalen McDaniel is a shot creator, shot maker. Like, they have players now, you know, where I think he's got a healthier level of respect for their ability to do things with the ball. And it puts him in a better place in terms of, like, being an efficient player at times, right? Like, I don't have to shoot a lot of inefficient shots. I'll still shoot some. There's time and score and low shot clock. You know, I got to get these off. But, you know, I can play a more efficient, more streamlined game because I have dudes that I trust can go out there and cook, too. Yeah. Hat tip to the great John Krasinski. In the preseason, LaMelo Ball dished out 23 assists, and he only took 27 shots the whole preseason. Now, that is obviously, you know, it's in a vacuum in a style of game that isn't similar to regular season. But it kind of gets to what you're talking about in terms of his playmaking. You also left out LaMelo has a lob threat in Rudy Gobert, and that is awesome. And I don't think Rudy's ever had a lob threat. And it was really, really cool to see LaMelo just in videos in the preseason talking to Rudy like, hey, man, I got you. And Rudy's telling LaMelo, just go a little slower, just be a little patient, but I will get you. You can see that chemistry flowing. And one of the things, Howard, that I think I underestimated, because, you know, everyone knows on this pod that I was a LaMelo and am a LaMelo skeptic, but it seems like the underplayed thing here is the chemistry. That is kind of building on this team, right? At least during the preseason and kind of the togetherness. Now, it's going to be a long season. It's one game. But I feel like that that is going to be a factor here where, you know, it's the old adage. You just put a whole bunch of basketball players out there, just let them play basketball. And I think you're seeing it with this group, at least in the first game against Miami in a small sample size. Great thing about this Timberwolves team is that they now have LaMelo and Kuminga. So like the potential for Raja. And me to just like fucking fight every week about something Wolves related about players we've disagreed on. Like, you know, that's that's two of our top five battles. Hey, Howard, not only you, I think LaMelo Ball is going to break Mike Breen's brain, dog. I think that's going to happen. Last night when he did that travel and when he did that, let us step step back. I don't I don't know if Mike. I think he just wanted to quit basketball and watching basketball. I think it broke him. All right. Hold on. Who's who is he breaking first, Mike Breen or Chris Finch? Like, that's the real. Yeah. Like, although Finch so far has been very complimentary, right, especially about like some of the intangibles that we're that we're kind of alluding to here. And I think that Raj is kind of hinting at, which is like LaMelo is just he's a fun personality and he could be a really fun player and also a very frustrating player. But the the brightness of his personality and like the electricity of his game, all like the like like if you want to even say like his game is sometimes immature, it's the immaturity of his game that kind of makes him such an attractive player in some ways. Right. Not always a winning player. We've seen. But fun. There's there is a joyfulness there and a hop to his step. And Finch kind of did that comparison contrast, which he then had to explain because it was like, are you taking shots at Julius Randall? Because it was like we were a very moody team and now we're a pretty upbeat team. And it was like, so they said, oh, we were all moody. It was it wasn't just any one player like LaMelo has changed the vibe of that team or has contributed to a vibe change just the way they're carrying themselves. So there's that there's obviously just the absolute. You know, potency of that one two punch of Anthony Edwards and LaMelo together. And we saw it on display very vividly last night. I do think like, look, he took 17 shots. LaMelo. It was a pretty contained version of him relative to his track record. And maybe that is deferring to Ann Edwards and deferring to I've got a lob threat and Rudy Gobert and I got a capable score here in Jaden McDaniels. And I don't remember how much time he'd shared with with I would assume last night. But like, there's a lot of. There's a lot of guys around him and veterans established veterans around him. So maybe that context does just kind of push him in the right direction. And he's probably still going to have those nights or those moments where we're like, you know, that you didn't really need to launch that shot off one leg. Sure. You know, 10 feet behind the arc at that moment. But can I. Sorry. But like, yeah, jump in. I mean, he might more. But like, in fairness, every star has those moments. Yeah. He's probably an often. But. Yeah. Like, you know, Ant, Luca, Shea. Like, I watch Shea. He's phenomenal. And I'm like, hey, probably shouldn't have shot that one. You know what I mean? Or make that decision. Yeah. I mean, look, you it's it's a sliding scale, right? Yeah. Some guys get more latitude from us, from their own coaches than others do. And part of that is because, like, when Luca does that or maybe even LeBron hasn't taken that many bad shots in his career, but he's taken some. But like the all time greats, you give them more latitude because. The winds have come behind it because overall efficiency is still there and because they limit how many of those they have in a given sequence or game and lamellos have been i think excessive and haven't produced enough results so he doesn't get as much latitude and i think that's fair um the the um the travel the non-travel uh within minutes before we got hopped on this pod the mba referees account and this is not the official referee account that's run by the mba but rather by the the referees union which is by the way a really bizarre dynamic i love that they do it but like they're not always on the same page with the league and this is not league officiating uh management that's weighing in it's just the the referees association but it's interesting they said for everyone asking how is this legal it's not so they're indicting their own their own guys uh he gathers with his right foot on the floor and would be would be permitted two steps by rule he takes four steps after gathering the ball and travels so um great to have official confirmation of what we all saw with our own eyes i'm going to say it wasn't right that shit was awesome though from like what from from him actually doing it and getting away with it talking and then pretending it then i proposed game he's like that wasn't a travel yo man there's gonna be so many braids broken by december watching this team and they could be they could be one of the top teams we're going to allude to raj's uh oppression at a second that he put into it to the chat um logan let me let me just i want to follow up real quick before you go because you asked me up a pretty direct question and i'm not sure that i answered it but if while he doesn't have to be steve nash 4.0 what he what he does is what he what he gives them though is um a true conductor like he you know for everything that he isn't uh or that you would have hoped he would have been at charlotte he has the ability to conduct to organize to run offense to run a team to to keep your pace and your flow going you know all these things point guards are responsible for and ant is not a pg you know he's a scoring guard and so you know in the absence of a of a true youthful like high high level pg you know they could get really bogged down when it was just throw it to ant and let's see what happens and if if if he if lamello is out there conducting at a high level um then yeah it does unlock them i want to make sure i answered that question for you you know i was i got to i was thinking about a game last year that i was watching with the timberwolves where i think they played against i think it don't quote me on this but i believe they played against detroit where he had a similar game the 45 but it was a hard 45 right where it's like we're gonna i have to get everything i have to be their offense um the timberwolves offense throughout um the season and i'm i think ant has complained about that in recent years it's like hey man we got to get the ball flowing because it felt like over the last couple of years especially last year with julius randall where we'll be like oh you get the ball julius okay you're just gonna go to the cup i get the ball there was really no symmetry within the offense or no imagination within the offense because there was no playmaking now like you see lamello as the constant and like there's some lineups when ants off the floor and it's it's um it's lamello and desumu and you see that playmaking ability and you're able to get open shots for desumu not only are you able to get out and run like you're you're alluding to you get the desumu shot and then the other and you get the lobs to go thing that i think is really good i've been i was talking to cliff pre-pod one of the things that also unlocks is like lamello can still score so like if say if somebody's having a bad night we're like hey lamello can you just go on a heater real quick he's like cool yeah i got you that really really unlocks it but i want to go back to the impression that you had roger can you say tell people in the chat or in here what you said in the chat that i think people are gonna be like oh shit are you sure i don't know if you got a little ahead of yourself but like no i didn't i thought about it i thought about it a little bit i said that they have the best three guard lineup in the nba um and i look i there are a lot of two guard lineups that we could sit here and and kind of like debate but i i third i threw jayden jayden daniels in that um because and i gave it some thought the way he started the game now they didn't they didn't ride with him scoring like throughout the the game but when they asked him to step into that role last season in in the playoffs um way more to his game than than than people i think give him credit for offensively everyone knows what he does defensively but way more to his game offensively and so i think they're the best three guard um lineup in the nba and i think i think you know quite frankly i probably should have put it in the chat i fell asleep because it was getting late on me there i think they're the they're the best vibes now they they have they like because if it goes bad it could be just the antithesis of that but like vibes and and and fun to watch like i think they're they're top three team in the league from that perspective not necessarily for winning the championship perspective so i was a little tired on the west coast i thought you said they are the top three team in the western conference no that's what i thought you said i was a little groggy that's why i was a little excited for this take but also you know that was that was a kind of a lukewarm take i'll i'll we'll figure it out let's see let's see how it goes they are electric though like when they're one of those league pass teams where it's like if they're on a heater you have to turn it on right we're talking about like you know when steph is gone and when all these people are gone like who are going to be the like who are going to be the guys that like kind of galvanize us as a basketball community on a given night there's wimby there's this team there's a couple others we'll figure out as the as a team as the season progresses but let's go to uh howard what is your um what is your first first impression i mean we might as well stick with that game which is just like yannis still fucking yannis man like it'd been a while since we'd really seen him and by the way since we'd seen him in a mode where it was like um yeah i am still one of the best players in this league if not the best in his own mind obviously best player in this league like he's reminding everybody there was a lot of reminders the last couple of nights i'll get into that later maybe but like i felt like yeah they got their butts kicked um they lost it's an incredible game complete roster i think everything we suspected might be problematic about the heat right now post yannis trade and everything that they lost in terms of depth and supporting cast all of that was valid and it's just one game but they definitely are going to have some concerns some challenges but in the meantime yannis is still a freaking wrecking ball maybe to their detriment a little last night i thought maybe he overdid it a little bit yeah he had one assist and he's probably their best playmaker um so maybe you know ratchet that down a little bit three turnovers which you know two of those were offensive fouls which again those were sins of aggression he wanted to take it to the hoop every damn time and he pretty much did 35.6 rebounds 13 to 19 from the field um i i know we're all gonna say okay he's got to stay healthy and all this stuff but like he was my sleeper mvp pick when we did the uh we did our whatever it was obvious mvp pick and then sleeper one like our real one in our deep cut uh on the ringer.com and i went with yannis on the deep cut because like he can pull it together if they can manufacture enough offense over the course of the season and their their record is good enough to justify it he's gonna put up mvp numbers again he's got to hit the 65 game mark too but um man he looked freaking awesome and inspired and rejuvenated and ready to just remind everybody what he can do when he's at full health and with the right cast around him the right cast remains i think a little bit of the concern here but um we'll see uh but i as much fun like the timberwolves stole the show but it was really fun to watch yannis be honest again yeah it's it was a really it was a bittersweet watch right because especially in that first five minutes i think i've become the king of um sending the text and shit going bad for the team that i send the text about i think i feel like you said some i said some wild early texts where i get in the moment and i'm really really excited i might as i don't know if it was the real woods like oh shit the heat are awesome like this is really cool and immediately went downhill from there the thing is though which is the second half for these texts sometimes i do and then they come back and the other team comes back at the second half or it's like six minutes to go up like oh this team has it in the back i may or may not have sent a text like the calves are going to take this over the knicks and then the og and anobi um comeback happens um but no but the thing that i saw uh the other night was i was like oh my god i'm like oh my god i'm like oh my god i'm like oh like janice is singularly great right and then you you surround him around shooters and and you have bam and like you can make yourself you feel like this is going to be a great team the problem is the people that are the supporting cast have historically been very very inconsistent right like you have clay thompson who hit his first three and got the crowd involved and then he kind of trails off right like and then you haven't have a wiggins who can go on a heater for about a week and a half but he's not going to be there for a week and a half and then he's going to be inconsistent right then you have davion mitchell who is a really great defender but is he a starting point guard in this league probably not right so i feel like the 11 assists last night yeah still i you know it's still a long season right you know yeah you know but the thing is but my the thing that i get with them is i'm excited because the blueprint for them is to play amazing defense be one of the greatest defenses of all time and get out and run right and just get out and run giannis uh leads the break he has shooters around him 83 85 games but the problem is if another team kind of blitzes them offensively and they have to have a shootout those games are going to be really really hard for miami to to be in they have to rely on their defense and that's just going to be hard with some of the legs that they have and the people that they're relying on defensively raja like clay is good he's always been a historically good defender but he's coming off the achilles coming off the acl tear wiggins is a really really good defender but sometimes just inconsistent as a basketball player on the other and you don't get that offensively so it's just it's it's going to be tough and they're going to be these ebbs and flows that i'm afraid of with them um yeah i mean look you you in a in a league that as i watched over the last couple nights um so many of these games swung on a barrage of threes being made by one team or the other um when that happens to you in this league if you can't keep pace you are in and it's not like you know in my day you were in trouble you were down 12 like 11 like if somebody just got hot when they get hot now you're down 22 quick you know um and and if you can't match that you're in trouble i do think defensively for for a team that's going to hang their hat on defense they are relying on some some maybe not past the expiration date i don't mean to say it like that but some longer in the tooth defenders you know like you you got some age out there defending um i'm glad howard did the honest i i didn't want to be cheesy and use two first impressions from the same game but one of mine was the honest too because he was a freight train like he he came out to just put the nba on notice that he was still there and i think you hit a really like important point there howard to the team's detriment last night i think like and i don't begrudge it like i'm not mad at him for that i'm not holding that against him because like you know you had a point to prove you prove you proved it hey i'm here but i don't know if that's the recipe for them like bam there's got to be more meat on the bone for bam agreed you know like there's got to be yeah i mean but like you could totally see it though right and i think even spolster would probably i didn't see any post-game comments but probably you're going to allow for that right like you understand like there's all this like just pen up emotion and pride and ego and just need to kind of like unleash again like it shit ended badly in milwaukee and like he wanted to play at the end of the season so he could play with his brothers and they wouldn't let him come back and all this like so like yeah now he's got that out of his system maybe or like got to just kind of express himself a little bit yeah from here it's now find the balance right because they need him as a playmaker badly correct correct and so like i agree with everything you just said like look like probably the coaches be like yo bro he's gonna be all one tonight and everybody's like yep let's get it out of our system let him let him let him cook and but but then i've got to wait to see what that looks like when he takes a more you know team oriented role if you will like how is it going to look when he decides all right man i don't have to prove that to them anymore but i do on this team and i am going to be responsible for a lot more of the of the orchestrating playmaking you know point forward type of things not just raw aggressive energy coming downhill at you which is absolutely incredible to watch and there will be time and place for that right but like that team's going to need so much more out of him and i would just say again i kind of talked about the jalen brown of it all on the last pod just needing a little bit more room to be who he needs to be for you guys to reach your ceiling i would say the same for the heat with bam like bam's got a real skill set now he might not be a number one but he's got a real skill set and there's got to be a platform provided to go alongside yannis's you know number one uh kind of marquee you know player role raja adding to that real quick what is i think you're gonna understand this question i'm about to ask you what is a uh a best case scenario tuesday and january scenario for them right like what do you want to see from them maybe interior passing what does that look like what is this what are adjustments and tweaks that you would want to see from a team like this that's so reliant on their bigs like how do you what is the best case scenario for how they how they evolve you think i don't know i i i mean that's a big question um i don't coach in the nba so like i'd have to watch them a little bit more um i like when like devion you talked about devion um his yeah but his pace is incredible with the ball i mean he is flying up the floor um i do feel like and this is this doesn't mean this isn't a knock i don't mean to slight but i feel like that is a change of pace back like to use a football analogy like i do i do think you need yeah i do think you need an uh like a a a a more you know steady force at at the lead guard position there something that has a little bit more nuance in terms of its pace a little bit more experience in terms of orchestrating and and not unlike what i was saying about lamello's ability like just ability to to get us where we need to go make sure people are getting the touches where they want them not always just having to rely on on just sheer pace but just having the ability to get us where we need to go make sure people are um i think that organically puts them in a better space um how they would have to play i don't know logan i mean i probably didn't give you a good answer but like i don't know what they need to do um bam's a pretty good passer and a lot of those guys aren't shot creators so you know some some action a la not golden state but the heat played like this before where they throw the ball in and then they start moving like the heat have a good setup for being able to play with pieces that don't all create for themselves um with with people who can pass uh and yannis and bam can both do that so you know it'll be funny like i think uh i was watching last night and you know i don't know if you guys know this but like i'm a sucker from for interior passing among bigs um and i was watching uh the pacers play last night and between zubach and um and siakam the interior passing was just amazing right like picking rolls uh into into lobs picking rolls from the guards into um passing between bigs i think that there's something that can be had like within an offensive structure that just has actions around right and i know it sometimes is hard with a yannis um base team to have actions because he's just so fast it's like three seconds in a cloud of dust when he plays right but if we could just have actions and getting mismatches and also just you know making the defense have to make decisions in in their interior and taking advantage of bam's passing and also taking advantage of maybe a lob threat from ganas and just making some traditional sets i think that could prove dividends um for this team yeah to your point like if you you know i started to say golden state but clearly they don't have steph but if you watch that game last night a lot you know steph steph was like living back door he was incredible to start the game but like you know they're topside in him because he's such a good shooter and then he's back door and and draymond's putting it on him like both of those Giannis, they have a step and they can go by their man. So theoretically, if you gave one of them the ball and you ran off-ball action with the other, and he was screening for some sort of proficient enough shooter a la Clay, because people still play Clay that way, you should get some sort of advantage, right? And while everyone's watching the off-ball action, that gives Giannis or Bam the opportunity to go and beat their man with people occupied, so help can't load to it. And if they do load to Giannis, then something over there is open. They've either got to come off and guard Clay or the shooter, or you got Bam slipping. They've got to find that rhythm, where one of them can have it, he gets an advantage if you guys aren't honoring him, or if you are honoring him, they've created an advantage on the weak side, and so they just got to figure that out. The Ringer NBA Show is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA is back, and this is your most rewarding season ever on FanDuel. How rewarding are we talking? More rewarding than a half-court buzzer. More rewarding than a 29-point comeback. Maybe even more rewarding than a center knocking down a three. I mean, come on. Everybody loves it when the big man lets it fly, and this season, that feeling doesn't stop on the court. Look out for FanDuel Rewards Club, exclusive offers, surprises, and more. All right, let's take a look at the Friday slate. I am going to go look at Bulls, Bucks. I think I'm going to take the over on points for Caleb Wilson, and I think I'm going to take them for. Rookie of the Year. We'll see. Knicks-Celtics, I think I am going to take the over on points for the Knicks. I think I'm going to take the under on points for Peyton Pritchard. That's really random, but that's what I'm going to do. So every week, check the FanDuel app to see what's waiting for you. Make sure this is your most rewarding season ever with FanDuel. Download the app to get started. Must be 21 years and older in select states or 18 and older in D.C. or Wyoming. Gambling, call 1-800-GAMBLER, call 1-888-789-7777, or visit ccpg.org in Connecticut. Okay, let me take one, the first impression that I have. Let's go to L.A., because it'll go back into. Let me talk about both teams. So, Luka Doncic, Howard Beck, already an L.A. legend, right? He's at least trying for it, right? He takes out a full page ad at the L.A. Times. He pays for parking for the team. Can I just. I want to. I'm going to stop you there. I know you got a whole thing, because you mentioned the newspaper thing, and friggin' Kenny Smith clowned the idea of it on the broadcast, like, who reads newspapers anymore? Kenny, man, come on. Like, right now, we don't need this. It's hard enough out in these media streets. We don't need your clowning newspapers. Thank you, Luca, for taking out a full-page ad. Take out many more of the LA Times. Needs all the ad dollars it can get and all the support it can get. Everybody go subscribe to the LA Times and every other newspaper in your hometown, please. Kenny, please tamp it down just a bit. Sorry. Go ahead, Lou. You need to get a message to Kenny. My son plays for him now, so I'll text him. Please let him know. That hurt. I was yelling at my TV. Kenny just told millions of people that he just don't read. That was hilarious. But no. Anyways, takes out the full-page ad in the LA Times, pays for the parking of the fans at Crypto.com Arena, then balls out. I know these things in terms of just a small thing, but LA is a place that wants to be loved by the people that represent it, right? And we just went through a whole era of LeBron where it felt like, do you really rock with us like that? And I'm speaking from people from LA, right? Like, oh, man. Like, it didn't seem like he really ingratiated himself. Luka is automatically doing it. It seems like a new era for him and the Lakers. And we'll talk about the game and the other team and stuff that happened within the game. But that alone, Howard, just feels like a step in the right direction for a star in Los Angeles, right? Like, that seems like something that a star should do or at least should want to do, especially if they're a Laker. Yeah, it's so weird, right? Like, we're still. Luka's been there for, like, it's only been like a year and a half. Is that right? Like, a season and a half. Yeah. I know. It's still, it's so, it's so strange. So new. But it's, but any team LeBron's on is still LeBron's team. And so, like, he came in, there's this kind of weird power sharing, spotlight sharing, everything else. And, like, I've said it, like, again, on TheRinger.com, we did, like, our entry survey for the season. Who has the most pressure on them or was one of those kinds of questions? I said Luka because, like, he, this is the first time that he owns this franchise. And in Dallas, he was just, you know. The Wunderkind who came in and lit everything up and became Dirk's protege and, like, he could do no wrong in Dallas. Lakers are a championship or bust franchise. That is a championship or bust fan base. There is no other way in L.A., right? They expect the world. And especially if you're a top five player, which he is, you are now coming along in the lineage of LeBron who won a championship and Shaq and Kobe who won championships and Magic and Kareem. And on and on. Like, like, you, you, there's, there's, this was smart. It was a smart play. It's his moment. It's his franchise. It's his team now. LeBron's gone. This is a team built around him. He has all the responsibility, all the burden. Yeah. Time to take out the full page newspaper ads. Do it daily if you want. Can I, can I read it real quick? Can I read the statement real quick? Yeah. All right. Tonight, we start our run for a championship. Every player dreams of holding that trophy. To do it for all of you amazing fans would mean everything to us. Each of us understands. What it means to put on this purple and gold Jersey and follow the players who wore it before us. It means so much because of the passion and dedication that generations of you all have shown for this team. I see it everywhere. The hats, the flags, the murals on the cars. This city has people from all over the world speaking every language and the Lakers are the thing that brings everyone together. We have a special team. We know what you expect and we are going to do everything in our power to deliver it. From the moment I arrived in LA, Luca, that is. You welcomed me with open arms. That is something I will never forget. So here's my promise to you. We are going to give you everything we have every single night. No excuses, no nights off, but we cannot do this alone. You guys are the best fans in the world and we're going to need you. Every game, bring it with us. Let's go, Luca Dachas. Show me some, we're crying right now, Howard. He's shedding tears, real tears. Every, every fan base is the best fan base in the world. If you're a player in that, in that city. We're a podcast, real fans, the best fans in the world, best fans in the world. So we're the sun, we're suns fans, then the best fans in the world. So we're the real ones for the one game I played. And I'm Charlotte, Charlotte, Bobcats, best fans. Damn right. Yeah. Damn right. And I love this. I love, I love the message from Luca and I love the way he backed it up to just the great game, fun game from him. We'll get into some of that along the way here, but yeah, sorry. Go ahead. It's a great game. It's a great game. I look, I'm filing that in the cat. I'm filing that in the cat. I'm filing that in the category of can't hurt. Like can't hurt to do it. I mean, doesn't really move. Like 35 years ago before everybody had a publicist and a fucking PR team, that might've meant something. He ain't write that shit. Look at that cynicism coming through. Like Luca didn't write that. So like it can't hurt. I ain't mad at you for doing it. Like I think that is a, a, you know, it does say something to fans for sure, but what they're going to care about. Is ultimately what every best fan base in the world cares about, which is all of you guys win or not. Like that's what it's going to be about at the end of the day. You write all the fucking letters. You want, you can write one daily one, but you out there losing, they're not going to care. So, um, I think, you know, Luke is a great player that doesn't hurt at all. Um, I don't mean to like poo poo it or take anything away, but I just file it in the category of, I can't hurt. Yeah. It's good PR. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Why not? Um, I think whoever came up with it. Yeah, no doubt. I think, yeah. Whatever chat box came up with that, that statement. No, um, Howard, uh, uh, I think this goes right into, well, first off, I want to, before I get to your first impression that leads into this game, I do want to ask, what did you think of the Lakers? What did you think of how they played? Um, this seems like a, a, a more Lucas centric team. Kessler was great. Granted, he was playing against a frontline that doesn't, that probably doesn't exist. It basically, the equivalent of. It's me and Howard and you playing frontline at this point, but like, what did you think of their performance? I mean, I, you had to like what the Lakers did. I mean, Luca looked great. Austin looked great. I mean, they got some nice contributions from other people, uh, uh, around the perimeter. Uh, Walker Kessler's game spoke for itself last night. He was all over the rim. Um, it's hard for me to know exactly what they look like because of who they played. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, it's impossible for me to get. Give you a really, really good, like, uh, uh, uh, astute breakdown of who they're going to be because you, you have a 36 year old Draymond green out there playing center, dude. Like Ross is so bad. Seven inches. It's a lot to ask. Like, yes. Giving up the size he's given up and, and you know, we'll, maybe I should have like, I should have woke up and got back in the chat this morning. That's my bad. I'll get better at this. This is the first year we're doing that. But one of my takeaways was I was. I was right when I said, Steph should have like, get the fuck out of there, dude, like you might have other motives, you know? And, and I, I am, I, I feel you from the perspective of like, Hey, I want to be, this is, this is my legacy, dude. I'm a, I'm a, I'm a warrior is where I did it. I did it for the entire time here. If that's all that matters, I get it, but you bought don't you, you will waste the last few years of this bro messing with dumb. Anyway, get back to the Lakers. I have no idea. They look great. Here's the thing, but I don't know. Roger. Look at it. There's. You're not going to have any idea what they are going to be, bro. They're good to start. It's so easy for them. They have the Clippers, uh, tonight when you guys see this podcast, they have the jazz, they have the trailblazers, they have the Clippers again, and they have the warriors and an NBA cup. Then they have the Raptors November 1st and the heat November 2nd. So it's going to be a minute before you actually get some, some, and then after the heat, they have the Kings blazers and then pistons on the eight. They have like a pretty cakewalk of a schedule to start. Are there at least some centers and some legit? Seven footers in that group you mentioned. So the hills, like, cause that's the thing for me, right? Like, yeah, the Lakers need a stiffer test before we really appraise them. You know, we're overreacting to one game. Uh, it's, it's week one. This is what we do. Um, but yeah. Uh, can Walker Kessler be just as effective when they're playing the thunder, the spurs, the nuggets rockets with Steven Adams out there? Like, let's see, you know, like, um, that was a great debut. That was exactly, that was the, that was the dream. The dream of what you hoped for when you traded all those picks and gave him that big fat contract. That is exactly what you wanted. And it feels like, you know, a momentary vindication at least, but let's see when they're playing teams that have actual seven footers. In a weird way might not be exactly what you wanted though. Yeah. Because it was a cakewalk. You ain't getting that every night. You just, you just back up center was like GPT two GP two was like their backup center last night, dog. Just terrible roster. But in fairness to the Lakers though, like all jokes aside, but you know, you don't make the schedule and you roll out there and you play who's in front of you. And from that perspective, good teams do what they did last night to what should be a bad team. You, you, you make them look bad and you put them to sleep and they did that. I mean, if I listen, but we can clown the warriors for whatever you want, but like, obviously they were not expecting Chris to have sports thing is to be like, you know, like five. You know, steps into retirement possibly with an auto-immune disorder that he can't seem to solve. So one that he also had last season and they do before they gave him a new contract. I'm just saying like they, they tried, it failed. Shit happens. Um, but if, if he's out there, is, is it a little bit different look, you know, as Walker Kessler is just like fucking flying to the rim on every possession. So, um, okay. Your first impression, Howard, I think this leads into it. I mean, it comes right off of the Luca thing. because part of the most-- most memorable some of the most memorable moments of last night's game were luca mixing it up with a rookie trash talking a rookie yaxa lindenberg you're my new hero in the nba you're my new favorite player not not because he went head to head with luca so just like that alone but like i i listen i had to go to bed it was getting late that wasn't until i woke up in the morning that i saw like oh post game he went at him too like yax was talking trash saying like he winds the whole game by the way welcome to the club yaxal many of us have been saying this for some time in fact everybody in the nba especially the referees have been tired of luca whining so but a rookie calling that out and this is like not this is not aj debancer darren peterson or somebody with like like this incredible uh you know a resume and a top three pick whatever like this is what was the 11th pick in the draft he went hard at him but he's 27 yeah exactly he's like he's a grown man he's not a kid when he gets his rookie extension he's gonna be like 30 yeah yeah i mean he's as old as luca let's not get carried away no i listen in all seriousness um because like you know obviously the warriors having a bit of a rough spell here in terms of being able to to as raja just alluded to this isn't the greatest um you know twilight roster for steph to be playing with while he is still a very effective player um and it's it's looking like a lost season before it even begins unless there's some miracle jimmy butler comeback if they can just tread water until he gets there but like they've already you know porzingis is now gone probably horford's really old like it's just there's there's just so many downsides here so much negativity around it and it's not like yaxa lindenborg is going to be like the future post steph but to the extent that they can compete every night or try to and you've got a guy who's like six nine out there and you've got a guy who's there who's actually fearless feisty a little bit of like draymond kind of like a way he's carrying himself like he's not like he's not gonna be draymond nobody is but like i love it i i love a player who's actually not afraid to be himself who's gonna come to the post game podium and speak his mind like we love candor anybody wants to say like don't poke the bear fine i get it i'm not his player i'm not his teammate i'm not his coach as as a fan of the game and as media i want people to actually speak their mind and and tell us what they're really feeling and like his post game quotes were spectacular and also i like the way he went at luca and not for nothing according to uh the nba's box score which does it like the uh the the matchup stuff luca was i think one for five against him i'm looking at one for six one for six i read maybe it wasn't the advanced box score said one for five it was the half court shot it was yeah yeah and so it's like he did a respectable job so when he's saying like no man he you you didn't you didn't get me i like he did a respectable job like i think if you're a warriors fan if you have any hope for this team like being able to kind of like at least tread water at least you're like there's a young player who's giving you something while you're waiting for guys to get back and he's gonna be fun to watch and he's gonna be fun to listen to and i i love it it's fun i'm i'm on two minds of this as a media member fucking love it give it here come here like come through pull up pull up i've interviewed him a couple of times he's a great quote love going to his pressers i will say this though i have to pour some water on like the the excitement level of like what happened last night if i'm a warriors fan because a couple of things one sure like he did the advanced box score says what it says like he did i think he at times did play great defense um against uh luca there were two just terrible fouls that he had against luca too and luca was just baiting him the whole time like he's a rookie playing his first game against one of the best players in the game i mean yeah i don't but like hold on let me finish um so he got baited and put on a string and then got embarrassed and i i i want my rookies to do that but i also want them to be solid and play play good if you're gonna play against luca what you need to do is what you you just need to play solid defense i think there was there wasn't solid defense being played on him in stretches okay cool it's one of six but you also let him get to the line you got a technical foul because you were that should have been a double tech that's a bullshit tech that's absolutely bullshit tech but you get a technical it is a bullshit tech but you but you get a technical foul you get completely thrown out of you get completely thrown out of your rhythm in your game because you ran into a guy like luca who was used to this right like i think when i think uh draymond said like what lesson does he need to learn i think the lesson he's learned is just a little bit of balance on that and i think that's a little bit of balance on that one of those two things, right? Yes, talk trash, but don't let it overpower your game is what I think happened, right? And the other thing is, it's cool for that to happen in the first part of a season, but that type of stuff, especially on a team like Golden State, as the season progresses and you continue to go at players like that and get put in your place, as rookies do, because he is a rookie at the end of the day, that's going to wear on those people that are in that locker room that are in, especially when you're not showing up on the other end. And I'm not saying that he didn't show up, show up. He showed up as a rookie should. But as that goes on, especially with a team like this who has, who at least there are guys that are established that want to win a championship, that's going to wear on them. And I think that he has to find a balance of both having his game, right? Versus like just always getting in shouting matches with other guys, right? Like it's cool for us, like I said, but for him in that locker room with those guys, with that organization and everything that's going on in there, frustrations are going to rise. Yeah, they're saying the right things right now, but that is a tough thing to consider because no matter what, how you slice it, it's really cool from a media standpoint. Luka won that matchup, bro. Like it doesn't, it, he's supposed to. Yeah, he's going to win that matchup. But you still have to fit, you still have to play within yourself and find that balance. Because he did have two, he had two fouls and he got a technical. Yeah, but like Luka, Luka gets a foul out of everybody. That should have been a double technical, by the way, because they're both rapping, right? Like they're going down the court, both of them are running their mouth. It should have been a double tag. I kind of feel what you're saying, Logan, but I would say this to that. Anybody wearing thin of anything in Golden State, it shouldn't be at Yaxl Lindaborg. Absolutely. Like there are a lot of other, there's a lot of other reasons y'all should be frustrated and starting to lose your cool as a team if things don't go well. I could make an argument though, that like you know, it kind of supporting Howard a little bit. I'm not always all the way disagreeing with you because I do think you have to learn in the NBA, the art of what you tried to accomplish last night. You wanted to match that energy. You wanted to show that you weren't no punk. I respect all of that. I'm with that. But you let the, you let the interaction tilt you. I've been there. I've been tilted by an interaction where I can't do my job anymore. Yes. No, not that one. Fuck that. That, that, that one was fine. I'm talking about other teams. I'm talking about other times where like, nah, I ain't no, no apology. Um, but like I I've been tilted like, and that's what happened and he's got to learn how to, how to manage that a little bit. I thought he did a respectable job on Luca when he was matched up with him one-on-one. Like I, I really did. Uh, Luca absolutely won the match up and, and torched, you know, uh, his team, but in golden state with the only real personality you have there, you know, Steph is Steph is a personality, but I'm not going to count him in this. He's his own thing. Is, is Draymond. Like you have Draymond and Draymond is, you know, I said 36, but I'm not sure that's how old he is, but like Draymond Draymond's been around a block a while. Like everyone's used to hearing that you can make an argument for a team like that, meeting a character and a personality and some vibrance and some, some, some shit to it to the point Howard made. Right. And look, they're not winning anyway. Like that's not going to be why they lose there. It's not, you know? And so I've been in locker rooms that suck. Everybody's in that shit. Like there's like just mopes. And some sometimes having a character like that, somebody young, you know, he's got a nice game. Uh, that could, that could be refreshing is all I'm saying. I'm not, you know, um, what happened last night happened, dude. Like I, I, I don't really have a stance on that. If you felt like you needed to be into that with him, who, who am I to say you shouldn't have been, or you should have been, I don't, I don't wait in those waters, but as a character, as a character in a locker room, someone that stands up and stands on business as they see it, um, you know, that locker room might be able to use that. Yeah. Also not for, not for nothing for a team that does not have a lot of, of defense among other things. Like there's a lot of things that are missing right now, but having a guy who's like six, nine big mobile and can defend multiple positions and is going to fight every night, it's, it's not nothing like that is like in a season again, in a season that is probably already lost before it began where we, none of us expect them to make the playoffs. Like that is something where you can at least be, uh, a little bit excited about respect. He's going to be respectable out there. Um, they need it. They need, they need a guy who can do the things he does. The thing is like, it's, it's really tough for him. And that's going to get back to, we're going to talk like an extended thing on warriors, but the thing that is tough for Yaxel is if he was on the team that golden state, I don't even know if it's want to be, because you know, their front office doesn't seem like they want to be anything, uh, related to contention, but like on a team with Steph Curry, that is hopefully trying to compete for a title like Yaxel's not going to be a starter on that mythical team that won't exist he would probably be like the eighth man he can he can kind of get figure his way out or figure his way into the fold in a different way there's so much pressure on him right now as it's currently stands to be a guy right to be what what you're describing Howard is like a guy that can you know be a six guy guy that figures stuff out it could be like a defensive anchor it's a lot to put on a rook right so it's he's gonna have to go to through growing pains in real time on a team with Steph who wants to win a championship and he doesn't really have time to develop players on the fly and I think that that's going to be a tough thing at least for the first few months if like there's a scenario where the Warriors just suck and they say Yaxel just we're gonna shut down everybody actually you just go be our guy that's a different conversation but in these early few months it's hey man we're trying Steph in his mind like I'm trying to do something I'm trying to make the most of my last few years and I think there's a tension this episode is brought to you by the Home Depot the Home Depot has everything you need to launch your holiday season in style upgrade your yard with this year's hottest holiday decor including the show-stopping towering Santa oh I like that one and his impressive reindeer both 8.5 feet and both designed with incredible detail that stands out day or night when you want decor that delivers impact the Home Depot has it make your home Santa's favorite stop with the holiday decor you want all waiting for you at the Home Depot this episode is brought to you by boar's head what if we told you the taste of deep fried turkey is now available at your local deli well boar's head just did that bursting with flavor perfectly seasoned with that indulgent taste that usually means planning your whole day around it presenting the fryer's turkey breast only from boar's head backyard tradition now available behind the counter visit your local deli today discover the craftsmanship behind every bite boar's head committed to craft since 1905. the big news story of Wednesday before the game which is ESPN um reporting that Golden State has started to explore trade routes for Kristaps Porzingis who is now seriously contemplating his future in basketball as he deals with recurring symptoms from an autoimmune condition term POTS um and then there's also some really good reporting from uh Slater at ESPN talking about how um Porzingis was distant and um in preseason workouts um with the team also was distant for months of training camp just in LA in conversation with only Mike Dunleavy and Rick Celebrini the the trainer and wasn't really uh around practices he was in LA where the team was in San Francisco and now he's contemplating retirement and now all of a sudden the Warriors are trying to explore trade options for a guy that that they knew when they traded had an injury history and also he was dealing with this auto order last year which was uh which made him miss games and at times the Warriors didn't know when he was going to play on a given night and Mike Dunleavy still decided to sign him to a two-year deal um and now all of a sudden they are trying to find trade partners for him and not expecting him to play this season in any capacity and that is just a little bit of the hubris that is going on in Golden State uh where are we right now Howard? I mean we're going to talk through this let's just figure out what the fuck the Warriors are doing in real time here because I I've been around this team and I'm still trying to figure out how the hell they are expecting to put a team around Steph it's because they're not right like it's just like they're they're saying we're just gonna sign they're not we're gonna sign you to this hundred billion dollar deal we're gonna sign uh Draymond we're gonna give all you guys this bread you guys are gonna be happy because you have this bread and we're just gonna fuck everything else up like it's it's just a sad state of affairs for Golden State and a lot of that has to do with their front office because they put together just a terrible roster to to surround uh Steph and Draymond they there's no imagination there they refuse to trade their picks they refuse to do anything to improve this roster for whatever for a future that like is without Steph I I just I can I can't it's nonsensical what's going on in his basketball malpractice what are you guys thoughts start with Howard? I mean the Porzingis thing becomes a massive misfire um obviously going all the way back to when he was with Boston um we knew there were some concerns here and then over the last couple of years from Boston to Atlanta and then to Golden State like there was something that he couldn't kick and it's this this autoimmune condition and you know you make the trade it's fine right like you like Kuminga was kind of a sunk thing for for that franchise that needed to move off of him Porzingis fit them in so many ways but if you're then extending him and everything else then by that time you're supposed to know and have some confidence in what his actual health status is and how viable it is to have him be a central figure in in your rotation or in your starting lineup so look we're we're not privy to him and we will never be privy to because of medical privacy laws um what the hell happened there what they knew when they knew it what they didn't know why they didn't know it but it's a massive misfire and you can't explain it any other way or or describe it any other way. Um and look this season was always going to be somewhat of a lost season because of primarily the injury to Jimmy Butler secondarily much less extent but still the injury to Moses Moody you lost you know your your third most important player in Butler an important rotation guy and one of your best young players in Moody they started off the season without Pajemski you know it's like they've still got like what you know once they're whole-ish like like it'll be better a more complete rotation than what we saw last night but that's not saying much I like listen we're still living in a world where if not for Jimmy Butler going down in January this was a viable team so when we talk about what they didn't do what they should have done the roster they put together they put together a roster and then their third most important player taking up a massive chunk of their salary cap went down with a blown ACL like like you you could say don't trade for an older guy because it's going to happen but fucking younger guys blow out their ACLs too like shit happened what they could have or should have done this summer differently is hard to assess because I don't know of any credible reporting out there that they were too precious about their picks what was on the table that they could have traded their picks for I don't I don't I've not heard of any any deal that they turned down and they're in a tough spot because they're down to what is the last year or two of Stefan Draymond and and Jimmy's on an expiring they did get Steph to agree to an extension that that gave up enough of what he could have made to give them more room next summer. Like to me it looks like everything is about treading water for now hoping and praying that Jimmy Butler comes back sooner than later and and can give them a respectable season and then next summer having all the cap room in the world to play with to see if you can get a couple more guys next to Steph and that will be the finale this season is not that this season they didn't have the option really to do anything because the cap is too tied up and they're up against the second apron so I don't I don't know what else to say about what they could or couldn't have done because again I don't know of any deals that they turned down involving their picks I think that it is a combination of a lot of things man I think that the Mike Dunleavy like era is going to be fascinating because yes they did get Jimmy Butler and yeah they have dealt with some um bad luck like the Jimmy Butler injury is just it's really hard right and that's that's a hard thing there's a hard thing to balance you want to make sure that you send Steph out the right way and he wants to play for the Warriors and as long as Steph Curry's on the team you want to make sure that you have a championship roster right um but I just feel like the Warriors in an era where every where we've talked about this we get a long time with the apron you have to be nimble like you just have to be right and for them to their biggest asset which is these picks right it is what it is and them to just say well that's something that is going that could get us a star that could get something and we're just going to say right now like we're not using them we're not going to use them at all you have to pivot in this league and for a front office like I don't know the front office knows about all what could have it could not have happened and what trades I interviewed Steve Kerr and he was talking about there there may have been some deals where you know we could go all in but it just wasn't working and I think that's what's going to happen and I think that's what's going to happen but for a front office in general to just be like just put our hands up like huh we tried like we can't really do anything damn and just give a gap year to Steph like that's not a sellable thing like if you're saying oh this is a gap year that's one thing if he's 35 34 but he's 39 years old he's going to be 40 next year and you're over here like hey man maybe we have cap space next year we could figure something out like there's nothing from this front office that tells me that they're savvy enough to put together a of that and I'm not even just talking about the Jimmy Butler trade I thought that they were good but I didn't even when they were good right there that didn't seem like a championship level roster it just didn't and you have to be savvy not only with the stars but you have to round out that roster and they haven't they haven't done that they simply haven't done that and I think it's malpractice to just be like okay we're going to do a gap year I'm sorry guys damn um Steph you're 39 I get it but shit we'll wait another year and maybe we can try to go after and And this is them saying this, like Draymond is. alluded to it and other people oh yeah we might just go get try to get Jokic or somebody the thing is and they should learn this lesson from last year if you don't put together a team that can at least be attractive to free agents they're not gonna come like you you tried to court LeBron last year and just be like oh hey you want to play with Steph you want to play with Steph guess what Philly did they were like you know what fuck that we're gonna go trade for Jalen Brown we're gonna get basketball players in the building and we're actually going to try something this the Warriors are in I get it they're saying we're gonna keep our picks and stuff like that but that is something from another era caps and cap space and draft picks is just from another era dog that we're gonna say save caps room so we can get a whole bunch of people that's not the era we're in you have to be willing and dealing and the Warriors have been sitting on their sitting on their hands and this last two summers they sat on their hands they said hey I guess we can go get them and they're like oh yeah we're gonna go get them and they're like oh yeah we're gonna go get them and then the year before that you had a big stale bait try to sign Jonathan Kaminga and win a negotiation and now look where you're at like you're not doing any real things to do to get the roster in a good place like the fan base don't want to hear oh man we tried but we we actually handcuffed ourselves because we don't actually want to spend any assets to get people so that's the the biggest thing that I think is annoying if you are in that in that building or an observer of that building is like hey man doesn't seem like they tried and they have a guy that is 39 with injury history and you want to do a gap year so you can see if you use cap space to get somebody come on man come on Roger what are your thoughts I'm just rambling at this point the writing was on the wall for me with Steph like you had a decision to make you want to be a warrior for life I respect that if you if that's what's important to you then you you know it's going to be tough down the stretch it's you know it's going to be what it is um but if you're if your objective was to continue to chase championships and try to play at the highest level and win games regardless of where you were then it was time to leave there and that writing was on the wall two years ago for me and so um I you know it is what it is man you guys can speak more to the stuff you guys just spoke about but like from a player's perspective you know it was time it was time a while ago but that that that's not my call or anyone else's call quite frankly to me that's Steph and his family and his and his team's call and I think that's what I'm trying to call and if they wanted to be lifers let's do it two more impressions I think Beck had one that was really good and I know Roger had one I think we can end on um Beck do you have an impression about uh some of the slept on folks nah just you know what over the last couple of nights like we're just seeing over and over like like first of all it's just awesome as a just as a human being watching guys come back whether it's Dame or DeJounte Tyrese Halliburton Anthony Davis like um a lot of guys like I know Anthony Davis like it wasn't like he had some like terrible injury like like Dame or Halliburton whatever did but it's just we've had a lot of remember me kind of game ones already um so I just kind of want to shout those out right like Dame playing his first game since April of 2025 puts up 25 points six assists um they absolutely destroy the Suns he and Ja actually looked good together or good enough I'm still skeptical of the whole Portland thing very very skeptical of the whole Portland thing but Dame is awesome and he's a great all-time player and a great all-time dude it's just wonderful to see him back and thriving again it ain't easy coming back from an Achilles and especially at that age and I don't know if we thought this was going to be possible again Halliburton much younger so you know easier relative but still Achilles are tough man and I think everybody wondered there too like what's he going to look like when he's back and we saw some flashes in the preseason but Halliburton putting up uh 23 points 12 assists 8 for 15 from the field um hits the eventual essentially the game winning three-point play to beat the Pelicans on opening night and then he got really emotional and his post game uh walk off afterward because it just it meant this much to him again like I just we can talk about X's and O's and everything else but this is a game played by people and it is it is you know their triumphs and their emotions and um everything about that that I think is always what keeps me coming back to the game um does not say Murray funny thing he's got a lot of success he actually played 14 games last season but it feels like he hasn't played in two years fact he was playing in New Orleans to be fair it was playing it's kind of like not playing at all um I love New Orleans but still uh he's played 45 games over the last two years so it's it's many more missed than than shown um so 23 points and seven assists for them and they're in that loss to Halliburton and the Pacers Anthony Davis just uh wrecked the Bucks 34 points and 12 rebounds and like again he hadn't played since January and maybe that's just because the Wizards were tanking and didn't want him playing once they acquired him but you know he'd gotten hurt in Dallas and again because of his age and his injury history I think a lot of us have kind of like written off Anthony Davis as a force and that was cool to see Fred Van Vliet back for the first time since April 2025 and he helps uh the Rockets route the Mavericks didn't shoot well but 11 assists and zero turnovers and we have spent so much time in this pod talking about how much the Rockets need a guy to organize them and uh welcome back Fred Van Vliet again one of the one and then of course Kyrie Irving back they lose to the Rockets he was okay not great not Kyrie like but still enough of those flashes there he hadn't played since March of 2025 so um just kind of want to shout all those guys out just like nice to see some of these guys especially the the veterans back and doing their thing and reminding us of uh all of who they are I I I rock with the Pacers real quick I I'm really excited from what I saw and we'll talk about them as it as it goes on but I am uh Roger you want to round this out with your your first impression of the week uh yeah I mean I'm not going to take up too much time with it it was just a very very competitive more competitive than I remember across the board for a first you know couple nights of games than I can than I can remember like it was super competitive it was super um and competitive isn't really capturing what I'm trying to say so like it was intense there was a chippiness to it dudes were dudes there were multiple almost fights I mean there was an ejection last night like guys guys were getting after it in a way uh that felt really personal and and you know maybe it's been so long since I played but I don't I don't remember coming out of the gates with that level of of of um just just yeah like we we didn't you kind of eased into that but like cats jumped out of the gate across the board you saw it OKC San Antonio boom it was just you saw it last night with multiple teams popping off yeah just like around I don't think he should have got ejected though he should not have gotten ejected I'm sorry I get it but like nah chill I mean to the running start and I'm not I'm not gonna be but like the the the temperature was a lot higher for a first couple nights of games than I remember it and I try to think about like like why that would be I don't have a great answer but something just popped in I mean the the league itself is at a at an interesting spot like no one really knows what's going on right like you know like it's it's kind of up for grabs I was gonna say like I was gonna say like it's getting it the star power is getting younger and the the the faces of the league are starting to get younger it's up for grabs right now yeah it's up for grabs like supremacy is up for grabs and I and I I don't know that that's the reason why but well also I will say this too I will say this too Roger I think the NBA did a really good job of scheduling this first week right like you put you put OKC in San Antonio the first game of the season like after all that we've seen in them hating like of course they are gonna they've been chopping combustible to get at each other yeah bro like for sure um and there's just a lot of great matchups like you put you think about the Rockets and the Mavericks that is an historic rivalry right like you put that on they hate each other maybe not like you know they're all people but you know what I'm saying like there's a there's an angst there um and I think that that was definitely a pardon as well but you couldn't predict like you know Yaxel you higher than normal was my takeaway from watching those games i did too i i appreciated it yeah yeah yeah wait you think did you want to put the sneaks back on and go back 15 years real quick oh okay all right all right roger roger was ready to forearm somebody hey talk your ass over here let's go one-on-one real quick let me let me show you something we we should we should not rap without uh at least one quick shout out to ty freaking jerome scoring 45 points yes can i just say a real quick rant bro real quick rant because ty jerome did his fucking thing and he is we don't have a real one of the week because we just haven't done it's too long but real one of the week to ty jerome right now fuck on the other side of that holy utah what the fuck man we got all this fucking this the smokewood that was blown up the jazz's ass all off season by us in the media by by everyone they saw all these darren peterson performances and games that didn't matter it was like oh shit the second coming you and we had we forgot about roger bell what he said like you still got to learn to win you got still got to figure it out they've been trying to lose for like the last three years there's an adjustment there you can't like turn the switch on um and they didn't figure it out but ty jerome i can't wait 45 points career high in the first game of his eighth season um after missing a ton of time do you know what his um his previous career high was 33 do you know how many other times in his career he'd scored more than 30 in seven plus seasons twice just those two games no other no other 30 point games in his career aside from that career high 33 which was uh for cleveland in january of 2025 and then the 45 um in his opener with the grizz um he'd only had eight games of more than 25 points or 25 plus eight games his entire career so like and he only played 15 games last year after signing that big three-year contract with the grizz after his um runner-up candidacy for for six man of the year with cleveland um just just fun not not for nothing in the first game of the post john morant era he broke a john morant record for most points on opening night of a season damn john had had 44 in uh in in 2020 so um pretty cool and you know look grizzlies it's it's gonna be a rough ride probably most of the season they're a rebuilding team um but they've got a lot of fun talent i think they're they're one of the most intriguing teams to watch i think and um yeah wild i'm i'm sad because i get to see i'm seeing him on friday and i'm pretty sure there's gonna be a regression and i'm sad because i wish i could have seen you're gonna get like maybe not points and seven assists night but also like with the warriors see that we saw uh on wednesday maybe he might go for 50 like who knows who fucking knows right um anyways uh on him right yeah um we'll see we'll see um that has been another edition of real ones we will see you guys next week we're going to be throwing out some um some of these type of shows with some some new categories some new segments or we're rocking and rolling man we're getting started it's the nba season for myself raja bell and howard motherfucking beck we'll see you guys next week ah all the shits bye let's see 21 years and older and select states for kansas and affiliation with this kansas star casino or 18 and older and present in dc or wyoming opt-in required bonus issued is now travel profit boost tokens restrictions apply including any token expiration and max wager amount see terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com gambling problem call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-GAMBLER my reset call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org backslash chat in 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