Luka’s Scoring Barrage, Early-Season Apologies, and the Grizzlies' Surprising Start | Real Ones

What's popping ruins Logan Murdoch here Howard Beck and Roger Bell in a second we talk about our favorite storylines over the weekend we talk about Lucodont just look at magic how far is the how far are the Lakers going to go we talk about golden state and the great vibes there is Jordan pool going to return to the Bay Area. It's a big talking point. If you can imagine. And then we're going to go to the Bay Area. You can imagine and then we get into talking about apologies and a whole bunch of hubris around the league James Hardin just got the bag and I wouldn't say ran but you know he got the bag and disappeared and doesn't want to run back on defense we get into that as well then we get it back into into Roger's stories from the road and he does a little reminiscing. It was a great show. The ringer NBA show is presented by FanDuel. It's the NBA season and FanDuel is calling it your most rewarding season ever. I mean more rewarding than watching a center pull up from three and actually knock it down. That's good stuff. With FanDuel rewards clubs offers surprises and more there's plenty to look forward to all season long. Download the FanDuel app to get started 21 plus in select states 18 plus in DC or Wyoming gambling problem called 1-800 gambler. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat in Connecticut. Let's pop it real once Logan Murdock here. Back from the road Roger. Back from the road Howard. How are we guys? How are we doing man? How's life? What's going on? How was your weekend? How did you guys do? What's up? I think I saw Roger on a boat or something. I was out here maxing and relaxing having a great time a great Florida time. Yeah, my son's birthday man. So we went out. We had a good time. Yeah, between college football Saturday was like one of the bigger college football like weekend or days of the year. So it's been a lot of time watch football and someday hit the boat. A little birthday celebration. I had a good weekend. How are you doing all right? I was not on any boats. I'm not living Roger's life. Not jealous. Well, maybe a little. We just see a great movie last pickpocket New York. John Tutoro. Very good. Excellent. Features all five burrows of New York. Fun movie. Good movie. Ultimately a little melancholy movie, but very cool. Let's get into storylines. I want to get into first. We'll go round robin like we normally do on our Tuesday show. And then I will start off with Luca donches who had a hell of a weekend. Over the last five games. He is averaging 44 points eight rebounds, eight assists, 50 nearly 52% from the field. And Atlanta had like a decent 32, 10 and eight and a few obscenities to dice and Daniels couple more stats for Eurasia through nine games. This is going into the game against Atlanta. No NBA player has scored more points than Luca donches. He scored three to 61 points in the first nine games of his career, which is 14 more than Jordan in the 87 season when Jordan averaged 31 or 37.1 points. Only Wilts Chamberlain has scored more over a nine game span to start the season. This seems like another level for Luca in general. He's always been the guy that has been the singular orbit. This. Harden Esk in the way that he can dictate offense, but I don't think Harden has ever put the fear of God and a team or an opposing team in the way that Luca has, but it seems like he's hitting another level of that. Like I've said, all summer, this feels like the perfect roster for him. Finally for the Lakers. And what do you see for him this season? And what do you see going forward? And what's the ceiling of him and this Lakers team? What is the ceiling for Luca? I mean, he's averaging 40 points a game. I don't I, you know, I think this is the ceiling for Luca. And it's not Luca centric. I mean, if anyone were doing this, I would tell you, I don't know how much more meat there is on the bone in terms of their ability to score basketball and and just manipulate the chess pieces that I talk about all the time. He is a one of one in that way in the NBA or one of four, but I would say in terms of being able to move the chess pieces and create his own and just control it, he is one of two or three people that can do that. And so, you know, I don't know how much more growth there is in that, but that is not meant in any way, shape or form is a slight. I mean, he is incredible with his ability to do those things with the ball in his hand. The team itself is very, you know, it's a dynamic offensive team. I mean, they, he went out this weekend. Who did he sit against? Was that Detroit? That's right. Yes. 43 points. Correct. So like they, you know, you know, Colin, Colin Sexton is back there hooping. And so they've got pieces that when they spread you out the way they do and, you know, they have the space to operate and that ball starts moving. They are, they're hard to guard. They are number one in the league in terms of offensive efficiency, I believe. You know, they're a middle of the pack defensive team, but when you have Luca healthy in shape, engaged, seemingly with something to prove to people, that is best case scenario. And it gives you the opportunity to be the best version of yourself as a team. And I think they have all those things aligned right now. Like with any team, health is going to be critical. You lose a Luca, you lose Austin Reeves, you lose one of those like integral parts of what you're trying to do. And clearly that's going to have an effect, but, but right now, the way they can come at you with ball in hand, playmakers and creators. I mean, they're tough to, they're a tough cover. One of the things though that I really, and I think that I was banking on this season two things for the Lakers Howard was one was, you know, I thought this was just a roster that was just going to be centered around Luca this season in a way that we haven't seen over the last few years because, you know, the trade kind of just through shockwaves throughout the Lakers and the league itself. And then you have LeBron that you have to integrate. And once he was out of the pitch, you could finally make a team that was suitable for a player like that. And they have a lot of dudes, right. Roger talked about Colin Sexton, who is having a really, really great start to the season, Zyra Williams is also really good. They got dudes like LaRavie is really good. The Walker Kessler has been more of a revelation isn't the right word necessarily because he's kind of we kind of always knew what he was going to be. The way that, you know, he can, there was a video that I saw recently on on X talking about the gravity that Walker Kessler has in the interior because he's such a lot threat, right. And so I thought one of the reasons why I thought they were going to be good is because the roster set up the other thing that I thought was going to help them is just like, we don't really talk about this a lot when it comes to Luca donchage, but when it comes to pure like team vibes when he's on, they're pretty high for a Lucascensure team, right, where he is a guy that can galvanize a group say what you want about like his weight and things like that. And, you know, how he is taking care of his body, but by and large when you see him in a pregame setting or you see him with assistant coaches or you see him with the group of guys, they tend to really, really like him like there was a. There was a story that Dan Wickey, our friend from the athletic wrote on Luca and he talked about how Luca's relationship with assistant coach Michael what wexler and he was talking about how in Oklahoma City. Luca was so juiced to just go to, you know, his hotel room to see like old clips of his assistant coach back when his assistant was in high school and like he, it seems like he brings up a group. How have you seen that with this guy with Luca and like does do you do you believe that that is going to help carry them because I think that they are a sneaky conference finals team, you know, I said that going into it, but like how do you feel like. Are we reading too much into the vibes right now, or do you think that they can, that they can continue this all season. Yeah, I mean, look, we're 10 games in, so we are halfway to the usual mark that we consider to be substantive, right, 20, 25 games is where you want to get to before you start drawing wild conclusions. And by the way, people before we should start having fucking MVP discussions, but that's a beside the point actually is not beside the point it's actually part of the point of this discussion. So we're 10 games in, right, like there are some anomalies, we will not know what the anomalies are until maybe 10 more games to 15 more games from now, but they've been awesome. And the fact that Luca can take a game off to rest up whatever it was ailing him that night and Austin Reeves can just be like put on like, you know, the Luca replacement show, like, you know, hi, I'm just going to do my best Luca impression and beat one of the East's best teams. It's super encouraging, but also just like, you know, like I think JJ Reddix pushing all the right buttons, I think despite the fact that like there was reason to be skeptical of the off season, I certainly was. Remains to be seen long term, right, there's a lot of season left, but like they gave up a lot in the Walker Kessler trade both in terms of trade assets, all those picks as well as. the contract that they gave him, and there was definitely some skepticism around the league about that. Colin Sexton, always been a scorer, not clear if he was necessarily a winning basketball player based on his performance with a couple of other teams before he got to LA. Quentin Grimes, I always like Quentin Grimes as like a three in D guy, but it seems like every year and a half to two years, he's on a new team, which means teams for whatever reason keep saying like, yeah, we liked the experience well enough, but we're ready to move on. And so it's not an indictment of any of these guys. It's just to say that none of them had a real substantive track record. Even Walker Kessler, their third best player now or third most important player, however you want to frame it. Like he's been, he was injured so often in Utah that we only got to see what he could do in small doses. And there were like questions about his desire to actually play basketball long given nights. And it never played high leverage games. And when they finally get to the playoffs in April, for a lot of these guys, it will be their first time in high leverage games or, you know, scant experience in the, in the many way. So there was like reason to wonder. Emut Matisse Thibal, like always been an intriguing player, especially with his, his, his, just his length and his defense and everything, but it could he shoot like everybody's kind of like become the best version of themselves through two yet through 10 games in terms of the supporting cast. Because individually, you look down the road and it's like, yeah, Zaire Williams, he's bounced around for a while, Jake Laravia, like none of these guys pop off the page or have great resumes and certainly postseason resumes. But like, it's all working. They are fitting together very well. And Luca is, of course, the center of all that and a little bit Austin reefs too. And I do think like you have a responsibility. When you have a usage rate over 40, which by the way, has only happened three times an NBA hit, well, twice for a full season. So Luca right now is at exactly 40 usage rate. The only two times that's ever been for a full season. James Hardin had 40.5 in the 2018-19 season. And of course, Westbrook the all-time highest usage rate 41 points. I was going to say like his Westbrook in there and he has to be. Yeah, you go down, you go down the list and there's all of the top usage rates of all time. It's a lot of Westbrook's, a lot of Lucas, a lot of Hardins, some Iverson, some some Yanis. But when you have that high usage rate, you damn well better make a high percentage of them and Luca does. He's a super efficient score. And you better pass occasionally less anybody else fall asleep while they're standing in the corner waiting for a pass. It doesn't come. And what struck me when I've watched the Lakers this season so far is, okay, his usage rate is what it is. But I didn't really say it was that high until I looked it up guys. It doesn't feel like he's like pounding the air out of the ball. And so like, is he shooting a lot? Yes, is he using a lot of possessions, right? These are possessions that end with him, you know, either shooting or taking free throws. But like, it's not, it doesn't feel like he is draining the life out of the rest of the lineup when he's out there. The ball is still moving around. He just happens to be taking a lot of shots. And I think that that's it's a it's a subtle distinction, but it's an important distinction when we talk about guys who have a really high usage rate. And that goes to the joy or the fun or the camaraderie that Logan was alluding to also. And like, listen, man, like you watch Luke on the court at his best. He's smiling. He's laughing. He's having fun. His teammates are enjoying him. That's all great. It's just that at his worst, like you're saying, like, oh, you up, lifts everybody. Logan, yeah, everybody except for the referees who he is chewing on literally, but they're not so, but they're the ops. They in this discussion, like they don't matter in this discussion. I know. I know. I know. I get it. But it is hard. Like the total Luca experience, you have to like decide to shut that part of your brain off because it's really easy to get annoyed with that. He by I've been doing this for 30 years now. He is by far the whiniest star I've ever seen in all my years covering the game. But he's also one of the greatest players I've seen. So like, you can get away with a lot. But like, I don't can probably help that title. Tim Duncan probably. Hey, hey, hey, hey, you didn't get offended though. Look at dig it. A fan injected for being ironically mean to the reps and throwing a ball at the rep. And then got the technical of the next game for I think. That was a sack. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, Roger, you, Roger, were you saying sorry? No, no, no, I was going to say he's the kind of guy like when vibes are high, I don't know Luca at all. Just the archetype player like of Luca. When the vibes are high, it's great. But I think I talked about it a couple of shows ago, the type of dude that like because because they could get moody and because there's a lot of whining going on like if it's not if it's not working, can also have that the, you know, the opposite effect on a team. Yes. Yeah. That can wear on people eventually. But I would say this to to to the point Howard made and maybe to my own point. The reason it doesn't feel like he's dribbling the air out of the ball Howard is. They don't because of the players you talked about the roster construction, you know, it would have, it would feel more like he was doing that if you had another star with him in Austin. The platform to do it would feel different. Like I don't know how I could articulate this in that way. Like but if you saw, let's say LeBron for instance, like if you saw LeBron standing over there in the corner more than your eyes used to seeing him stand in the corner, you'd then get the feeling that Luca's overhandling the ball. But in the absence of that like the, and this is kudos to them. I think they constructed that team in a way that gave him, you know, not unlike the Alan Iverson teams that I talk about all the time. Like there has to be platform to do what he does at the highest level if you're going to commit to riding that to a championship, right? So like it's a credit to him because he is one of a very few amount of people that can actually do that. Austin Reeves is incredible. Like I was wrong, Austin, I'm sorry. But also like, you know, if you had another piece there that was a viable enough player that your eye just said, man, I've watched him over his career and I'm used to seeing him do this and that and he wasn't doing it, you probably feel different about the experience. Does that make sense? Yeah. No, I know it's funny. Go ahead. Go ahead. I was just saying, like I feel like what you're describing Raj's every team that has been successful around Luca, the makeup of every team that has been successful around Luca, right? Because I'm thinking about Austin Reeves. He's in the archetype of the early Jason, Jalen Brunson, who before we even knew Jalen Brunson was a star. He was a very perfect compliment to a Luca because you again, like you said, you didn't have that expectation. Like, oh, if he's in the corner, why is he in the corner, why is he not involved? No, he could just go pick his spots when he wants to. And the numbers on Austin Reeves and Luca were always great together during Luca's time. It was when it was Luca, Austin Reeves and LeBronce sharing the court where the numbers kind of took a nose live offensively and you could see why, right? But like when I see this team and I also got to mention this is also the similar makeup and the second content, the second conference finals of the finals run at the Mavericks had when Luca had Kyrie at a stage of his career where Kyrie was like, you know what, I will take a backseat and I'm here if you need me. So I think that there's, I think if I'm looking at this rationally, it seems like the Lakers just were like, yo, man, we're just going to carbon copy what they did in Dallas with a slimmer, more invested version of Luca on it on a given season. And I think this worked out really, really well, Howard. Yeah, I mean, listen, not for nothing. He's also shooting like 40% on threes, which would be a career high by quite a, quite a big margin. So that helps a lot. I also think, and I did not look up, you know, you can, you can see in the tracking stats time of possession these days, it doesn't feel like he's dominating possessions. He may be dominating usage rate, right? A lot of possessions are ending with Luca taking a shot. We're drawing a foul, but it doesn't feel like, again, the pounding the air out of the ball thing. I don't think he's dominating entire possessions. And I think that helps too, because the ball is moving around a little bit more than a lot of guys who have like 35 to 40 usage rates would, would sometimes have. So it doesn't, it doesn't feel as stagnant. And like you guys know me, like I generally kind of like, wins at like the super high usage rate seasons. I don't like guys like super dominating the ball. In general, I did this, this, um, I just story about this like six years ago. Um, it was centered around Harden, but it was just the idea that like the super high usage rate seasons, like I think 35 and above never result in guys going to the finals or winning championships because there's something about that either you wear yourself out or your teammates aren't in rhythm or you're easier to defend because defense is know how to key on you. Now in Lucas case, like go ahead, try to key in on him. Go try to shade your whole defense toward him. Like you're, he's going to fucking get the shot off and score anyway, because he makes impossible shots. Um, and or he's going to pick you apart. So maybe this will break that mold. But in general, the, I don't mean high usage rate, like oh, it's 25 30. I mean 35 and up. The highest usage rate seasons on record. They usually don't end well for that player and his, and his team. And so will he come down. So the quick cure, I said, I have again, we're 10 games in, right? Like, this is we'll see things might even out a little bit more. And it's some of these role players that we're talking about, like not established. Maybe, maybe somebody pops a little more settles in more or maybe they just find a different distribution. Maybe, maybe look it backs off and Austin Reeves picks up a little more. I don't know where it will go. But if the, if the season ends with him out of, out of 40, I'm going to say history says that that there's going to be a limit to it in the post season. And maybe they'll break that mold too, because Lucas, I don't really, like, based on history, a limit based on, like, recent history on Lucas body. Or else, big workload. Yeah. And he's, he seems to be in his best shape too. So he can, he can maybe say he looks amazing. Yeah. All I was going to add to that, I don't really have a lot was you, and you touched on it, Howard. Um, that's a lot of work. Yeah. Yeah. It's a lot of work, man. I mean, we just marvel at how gifted he is and how, how incredible some of those plays he makes are, or is. It was, but it is an incredible workload to do that night in and night out and so, you know, that's something to watch like maybe for sure Even even with not over get out of this segment even with JJ Reddick who was doing and the medical staff on the Lakers who are doing everything They can to manage his health right like it was a second out of a back-to-back last night and Atlanta and he sat out that Detroit Game because of Detroit Atlanta back-to-back seems like you're basically going, you know one side of the country to the other But they're doing that as well like they're really trying to manage this Raja, who what was your biggest observation over the weekend? I feel like you have an old tour. What the wait did I see that? Yeah, I mean like I try to be I try to keep it a buck right like so if I have jumped out too early and I'm going to call Logan out for Disappointment at one point maybe I'm my biggest and it is my new favorite segment Yeah, I'm just gonna apologize to the Warriors in general. It is early So I want to qualify this with let's see how let's see What this looks like in to how it's point 10 to 15 more games, but After night one when I said I could not fairly judge the Lakers Based off of who they played and then I went into a rant about Steph needing to But you know have left because you're not going to be playing in Viable like championship and that remains to be seen But they are they are playing really good basketball right now and they are winning games and I you know, this is kind of selfish and Steph centric. That's all I really care about in terms of that And that's that was my point at the time. I want to see Steph who is remarkable at his age for you know What he's doing out there on the court? I want to see him in games that that matter and and they're chasing W's like so I apologize because here's the other thing Yeah, a lot of my frustration was in the blueprint and how you were gonna execute Logan I've heard you talk about it as as well like I didn't see where you were going with this roster around Steph Howard and fairness to you you've been To to to to the large degree on this pod kind of trying to get us to like See that they had a plan and where they were gonna go if Chris daps with help was healthy I would say this if Butler was healthy too if Butler. Yeah, well, that's where I was going next but like if with Yaxle and I don't know if you locked into this or if you're just a great scouting But when you plug him into that lineup and it allows other people to kind of do what they Normally as a role should do in the NBA and he can also play really well with Steph If you had Chris stabs and Jimmy Butler That that could be that could be for real. Are you cooking with grace if if if those are fifth will you all be drunk But like the point is I see it. I think I see it now. So I must apologize for for the way I jumped out after one game Yeah, I mean listen I'm gonna guess that if we gave them true serum the Warriors brass didn't know Yes, it was gonna be this good or this effective this productive this efficient this good this soon You know, he's a he's a grownup right? He was like 24 Yeah, it's like like they knew they were getting a finished product But like also like not a lot of track record too. So like obviously look they drafted him They drafted more they did like they and I've seen some illusions to like other Who what the debate was on draft night if a guy had fallen to them blah blah blah, but like They couldn't have known this was coming right like so they want a mora. They want a mora Howard Right, okay. Yeah, that was that was one of ours. Okay, so yeah, so Which you know by the way good instincts there good instincts there, too, but Mars not gonna be able to like Have an offense run through him or that was the yard would not ever not solve these problems Yeah, so the argument was that Yaxel to going back to Howard the argument for Yaxel was that he was more NBA ready It could help there. Yeah right now and which is but also skill set also just skill set, right? Like Mars really graded a couple of things and Yaxel can do a lot more I think he's not gonna guard the rim that way never but like anyway That's all bonus and yeah look. It's a lot of this still depends on We're 10 games in Steph staying healthy for the majority of the season dream on staying healthy for the majority of the season Jimmy Butler coming back sometime during the season and still being Jimmy Butler and being able to sustain a certain workload Maybe they get Moses moody back along the way too and if everybody has like been able to stay upright At the moment that happens that gets a really fun interesting discussion for the Warriors and their fans in like February or March But like we're a long way from that and it came winning streak is nothing to to sniff at especially after starting the season Oh and three and everybody's ready to bury them and I think we all had like to varying degrees like I would have been obviously a little kinder to the broad strokes of what the Warriors were doing or not doing than say Logan was But we all agreed like this was not a playoff team and probably not even a play-in team and if they were a play-in team It was gonna be a low play-in team and lose their play-in game Like I don't and that was we all respect the fucking hell out of Steph Curry and you know to a degree out of just what that that team has been about with Steve and drama but like There was no reasonable Preseason prognostication that had this team much higher than low play-in and they may defy and blow up all of that It's been really fun to see I was just surprised when I saw the rundown that it was Roger apologizing to the Warriors and not Logan since by That you by far been the hardest on like you you may have to apologize to like Mike Dunlavy Jr Mike Dunlavy senior Kirk Lake, Joe Lake, up other Lake. I'm about to I'm about to pull a howard It's too fucking early to make apologies right now He just he just turned on my nuance and logic right back on my ass This is why we'll say this right because it's way too early to be to make it these apology declarations In large part because we've seen this before in recent years for the Warriors right? I'm looking at the 23 24 season. I had to look I was like they've been doing playing haven't getting off the hot stars 23 24 season they get off to a five a six and two star Finish with 46 wins and that was a tough year right the next season They start off 12 and 10 and two then they go on a huge losing streak And then the season after that last season They start off four and one that didn't work out so great the only one 37 games right so like that's why I'm disappointed Yeah, I heard jumping out here in these streets. Well, I always say yeah the second to the second thing the second thing I would say the vibes are so good howard that Jordan pool wants to come back No family reunion. I heard that I heard that he said what? He talked to like three different newspapers after his I believe scrum and was like I will come back guys I left you know I'll be back. I love it here. This is home. He still has a he still has a crib out here in the bay He said if I believe you know I wasn't at the game last night, but like you know when when vet players have a have a crib in the market They typically spend the night there with the team spins the night at the hotel So he was talking about how great it was to drive in over the bay bridge and go to the go to the arena and You can't beat it, right, but there's you know, there's a And the dream on set also, you know, he would walk up a back, right like it and then and then Steph Said that you would walk up a back. Yeah, he said he wouldn't stand in the way of a reunion I have I have my thoughts on it But I just want to get you the panel's thoughts on a Jordan pool return Well, not no small thing like how much this is about going back to them and how much is just like getting the hell No, I will say so I will say this I will say this I do have some I do have a little bit of intel on this But I will say like this did wreak of like Jordan has been wanting to get out of New Orleans desperately trying to get out of New Orleans for the last Does everyone on that roster? Probably absolutely him in particular? I mean apparently there was two trade offers for Jordan pool that was being considered preseason and the Pelican said no and Jordan is like Oh, what that like Jordan wants to leave he wants to get out. He wants to get out of New Orleans So I was I was sitting through Howard. I was sitting through like the copy from last night. There's a few stories We're Jordan gave exclusives to and it read like not necessarily. I will just come back to the bay and I'll do it It's I will go anywhere Take me Please he's on an expiring deal, by the way, so maybe it gets moved or bought out first time his first time is a contract He's been tradeable in a while too. Yeah, so yeah 34 million, but I let's just say if you were to come back to Golden State I it would be it would just it would be weird. I think that um very you know For a number of reasons most of which what we talked about pre-pod that I don't know was gonna come on to the pop But let's let's leave that discussion where it was chief of augnive is the Jordan pool draemon relationship and you know draemon is so showed at least public remorse But the private remorse part hasn't been sufficient enough for Jordan I don't think on a personal level though ever be good But just pying the sky if it were to happen. There's not even also there's a lot of things that I would have to happen for that to happen And Jordan and I Jordan draemon might not even be on the roster next season. So you know, we'll see but It was just it was very interesting to see that last night Would you welcome a background? Would you welcome back in the background? What I welcome, I mean if I if typically if I punch somebody in the face, I don't care You know what I mean if someone punched me in the face, that's a different story, but I think if you're the one that punched someone in the face, I typically don't think you give a shit whether he comes back or not. That's already established, right? Right. I guess fate all say, I don't know, it's weird. Their relationship is weird because I feel like this is the first time Jayman has done something like this and he felt real remorse for it. And I at least that I've seen where he's, you know, ran somebody off and did that, you know, we'll see. It's just, yeah. Pelicans. Yeah, I know. Pelicans. Yeah, that's, I think it's more of a Pelicans conversation. I, like, listen, to your, to your point and it's, yeah, it is 10 games in, but the reason I did, we have to do a pod and we, we jump out all the time and all I could do is judge them off of what they've done up to this pod, do you know what I mean? So like, I do reserve the right to like, if it doesn't, I said, like, we'll have to watch. But to this point, when we're doing this pod, yeah, I'm giving them credit, by the way, you talk about the vibes discussion, like Steph Curry is the Lee literal vibes curator for a team. And like, when they are on there, did you see last night, like Jimmy Butler was in a, uh, coaches outfit. It was, it was, it was running. It was drawing plays and the play that he drew, it said on the, um, it was, it made it on screen. It said, give Steph the ball. And it was just, uh, it was beautiful, right? Got a meme off of it. They, the lawyers, this is the thing about the lawyers and that narcotic is that, like, when you on it, you feel great. You think about, they think like it's 2015 all over again. And it's going to happen and then, you know, they, by January, they disappoint you. That's all I'm saying. Anyways, Steph Curry, Steph Curry is 28.6 minutes per game. What is he? 38 about 39? Yep. Like, um, they sat up in the beginning, they sat him and Jremon in the beginning of a overtime just to conserve the minutes. 28.6 minutes per game, 30.6 points per game. Like that's, that's a pretty incredible, that's pretty incredible feed. This episode is brought to you by McDonald's. Every basketball fan has their own opinion on what makes a great team. But when it comes to breakfast, a sauce is being muffin with egg, crispy hash browns and a coffee is a tough lineup to beat. And right now, you can get all three for just five bucks. You'll love to see it. Get a sauce is being muffin with egg plus hash browns and a small coffee for just five dollars. Only at McDonald's for a limited time. Prices and participation may vary. Promotion prices may be lower than meal pricey. Powered observation from the weekend. Oh, I got to get this one in here because in keeping with the theme of it's only 10 games in and we should reserve like apologies, praise everything else, tap the brakes a little bit. I got to do this now just in case it goes off the rails because it's been so much fun and interesting and impressive to start, which is the Memphis Grizzlies. And I thought I was going to have to cross this one off permanently because they won like their first six games, then they lost three in a row and it was like, we've seen this kind of thing before like a young team kind of just gets out to a hot start and, you know, they catch catch teams flat footed and teams are unsettled and then it's, but they beat Toronto last night. Granted, Toronto without Kawaii Leonard or Scotty Barnes were manual quickly, but still like they've recovered. They're seven and three. I don't know how much longer this will last, but I think it's worth noting and worth praising, um, regardless, but especially in case we don't get another chance at case this thing. You pouring out some liquor real quick, you know, just before we go before it's, you know, the size of Rome era is still here, it's still kicking, but it's on its last legs. Here, here's why it's worth discussing right now or calling out right now. This is a rebuilding team. They traded the face of their franchise a few months ago, John Morant. They traded Jared Jackson Jr. back in February. They traded Desmond Bain like 15 months ago. Like they tore the core of this team out, got mostly picks and return, right? Like, John, the best thing up back for John was Jeremy Grant, who by the way, he's actually got a ball in right now. The best thing they got for Jared Jackson was picks, um, but like the only player they kept from the Jared Jackson trade, you couldn't name him if you tried. Do you know the only player they have left from the Jared Jackson trade? Taylor Hendrix. And if you say who Desmond Bain that was mostly picks trade, they're the second youngest team in the NBA, but this is their best starts since the 21-22 season when they also started 7-3. And like some of this is, yeah, just the Ty Jerome doing a Jeremy Linsanity kind of thing for a few weeks here, having this out of body experience. Like this is a guy who's been, he's on his like fifth team was a second round pick, um, and he's averaging 26 points a game. But there's the cool thing about them when you watch them. So they get, you know, camera boozers, like by far, like they're most important or significant and um, marquee player right now, third pick of the draft, he's a rookie. But they're not like, this is not a booster centric team. It's not even a Ty Jerome centric team. It's not an anybody centric team. Like it feels like they're building something bigger than that. You can watch them like the ball moves around a lot. It doesn't look like anyone is seriously like trying to score, trying to call their own number. Kind of running the offense, looking for the open shot, um, not a lot of ISO, not a lot of post up, um, just, just playing good fundamental solid basketball. Uh, they're very high in three point makes, but not volume. So they're just really efficient with their threes. Um, yeah. And like other than like, and they defend, they defend like I had, uh, where did I, where did I jot down? Or eighth in defensive efficiency, a ninth in offense, like they're top 10 in both categories. Again, probably won't last, especially the offensive side, but who knows, man? Like, boozer's just going to get better as he goes and maybe Ty Jerome keeps up some percentage of what he's been doing. But like also like, guys, like this is a, this is like a whole, like outside of like ED and boozer. This is not household names. This is like the ultimate who he played for rotation. Like check controls. Barkley. Don't know who any of these people are. Um, like, hey, hey, how are you? Like, hey, Howard, who was your biggest on this roster, the who he play for? Who was the biggest one on this roster when you were going down the list, preparing for this? Um, give me five names of like dude, like, whoa, oh shit, oh, okay. All right. I didn't remember. I wasn't familiar with the game. Um, I mean, Javon Small probably like last night, he threw this great alley, you, I'm trying to remember who, who finished it. And I was like, Javon, who? So like, uh, Javon Small is probably the answer to that question. Like also, by the way, like Scotty Pippin Jr., who was like a great find for them within the last year or so. He's been out the last five games with the, with the back injury. So they haven't even had him. Uh, Isaiah Stewart. I loved the offseason pickup of, of beef stew, but he's been out, banged up for the last couple of games. Cedric Howard's been fine, but they've got like five guys averaging like between 10 and 16 points. Um, again, last, last note on this, um, the dread, the draft, uh, positions of just some hot, again, like, I just think it's really interesting for a rebuilding team. Like, all right, Edie was 9th, Cedric Howard was 11th, Isaiah Stewart, not drafted by them, but was 16th, uh, Ty Jerome was 24th, not a second round pick, 24th in the first round, back in 2019, um, Jalen Wells, second rounder, Jeremy Grant, second rounder, you know, 12 years ago, uh, Javon Small, second rounder, cam Spencer's a second rounder, Gigi Jackson's a second rounder, Scotty Pippin Jr. undrafted. All these guys are playing rotation minutes, uh, they're just like the ultimate scrappy underdog team. And they have a shit ton of picks and cat flexibility. Um, I just, I think they just done a really masterful job. Again, we're 10 games in, but a really masterful job of like putting together a team of like, guys who will play hard and play and, uh, play selfless, selflessly. Um, and then they'll, they'll augment as they go. And Cameron Booser might ultimately be the star in the centerpiece of this team, but right now, just a bunch of dudes going out there and playing ball and a team like that, a young team, and I would juxtapose this like with a team like the jazz who like came in with the chest, uh, stuck out and like really just like, Hey, we're gonna be something kind of bottom to the noise a little bit. This team was like, you know what, man, we're just gonna go into this season figure it out as we go along. And I feel like they've done that. I've seen them play in person. Um, that I did have a similar experiences Howard, um, that the ultimate, oh, that's bro team. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's bro. That's bro. Um, but I do like what they're doing. I do like, uh, I have been impressed. Well, what I've seen from Campbell's it, but the question that I have for Roger on this one is how important is a start like this for a team like, like Memphis, not necessarily. I'm not, I'm not saying that they should have like playoff implications or anything like that. But in terms of just like the trajectory that you want to see out of a young team like that, how important is a start like this regardless of how the season ends? Yeah. Well, I think it's, I think it's critical. Uh, because you're, you're just in evaluation mode as a franchise right now, right? Like you're building, you're building from the bottom up. Um, and if you can play winning basketball, uh, we talk a lot about those teams that they're, they're not winning, right? And, you know, in fairness to talent evaluation, it's really difficult for some people to determine whether what you're doing out there on the floor on a losing team can translate to putting that into a winning environment and you having the same level of success. So like, I think the fact that this team is competitive, um, I think they're outplaying kind of to some degree the roster right now. Like I do think there's going to be a little bit of leveling. But like I, if there isn't, I'll be happy as hell because I look, I, you know, I was a player like a lot of these guys, but the point is getting to see them in, in a winning type of culture and contributing to wins does give you a better idea when you start to use those draft picks or, you know, whether you're drafting or you're flipping those to bring in, you know, higher level guys who can play roles, um, and have that role contribute to winning. Um, it will be interesting. though because you know with the roster that they have I think it's a lot easier for a coach to come in there and sell playing a certain style of basketball for sure you know and as you add pieces that have a better maybe overall skill set and therefore a bigger ego as it relates to skill set you might get a little more pushback so selecting if that's going to be who they are DNA wise as a franchise selecting the right stars and the right you know people to plug into that with maybe higher ceilings in terms of overall talent becomes really important Howard because you know like we're gonna share this ball we're gonna move this ball everyone's gonna eat like and that's reflected on the stat sheet and then you know tied Jerome winds up with the ball a lot at the end because you know he's our best creator/finisher cam gets what he gets that that's great until you get a guy that's like yo no I'm used to having a ball and I'm good at it that's why you brought me here yeah you know and and that's that's just going to be really interesting but they're they're fun to watch and you know my son Ty goes to cam's high school and they worked out together like pre-draft I played with booze so I'm tapped into that and I and that kids won everywhere he's ever been we used to play him when he was in the third grade and it like it's been just remarkable to watch his path and he's always won and he's always done things that contribute to winning so I'm tapped into that team in a way that maybe I wouldn't be otherwise if he wasn't on it so it's a cool story just can be really interesting to see after this year plays out how they continue to try to level that up for sure um okay I the next one it's my turn but I think I'm gonna take somebody else's from the rundown because I have to make an apology it's we're taking games in you're not supposed to do you it's got mad at me for apology unless you're unless you're apologizing to us I don't know why I would do that at this position I don't know what I don't know what I did wrong yet but I apologize it's a little mellow ball yeah there you go now I knew what the fuck I knew what the fuck you were doing I do it I didn't see this happening I didn't get how we get can we get how to cosine on that no Howard like going once going twice do you do you rush do you know I was holding down I was praising the bellos hot star and Logan was throwing all kinds of cold water on I've tried I have tried to break the bell with time okay come on we got 10 we're telling again let's let's have it let me have 11 11 games in let me have 8 and 3 uh Anthony Edwards is still out for the foreseeable future and lamellos holding down the fort man he has become I didn't know it's one thing for him to become or not become because he's always been a bursard of this it's one thing for him to be an offensive hub when you have a guy like aunt on the team right and have a ceiling for your team uh a certain ceiling for your team but when you take aunt out of the equation I wasn't prepared for his level to remain consistent playing winning basketball and granted he has a lot of help like the sumo has been really really good over this stretch I was going to ask a couple of weeks the sumo has been really really good um uh uh go there's been really really good Jaden's been good like they're supporting cast like both I gave a lot better more yeah I gave a lot of mess even um over this summer about like the supporting cast and not knowing if the the timbrels would have enough but they have they they finally have a team that can carry without their best player and not in derogatory way whatsoever but you you see that but also Roger LeMelo balls playing winning basketball and I meeting my words all right well what you want me to do it's 11 games in no no I'm here I'm here I appreciate it I appreciate it I I mean sure Milamello doesn't care but I will appreciate it for LeMelo um and if you know look obviously like anything that you haven't seen huge sample sizes of before it remains to be seen right but you know my thing and this is a collective you guys you alluded to it Logan like you know everyone has taken a little extra on their plate in ants absence um you can never make up for losing a talent like that um I think their point differential is like from 17.7 plus 17.7 to like plus seven so like there's a noticeable difference but they're still defending and collectively you know everyone's just taken a little bit more upon themselves like and and you know Jada McDaniels is a guy I talked about him after the first game that in that Miami game he came out kind of looking like he did in the in the playoffs last year times right where like he was like but then ants it go in and so you kind of fade into the background because that's your role you know but like there's clearly a level of offensive ability that he has that goes untapped at times it's just the nature of the way the game so it's so you get to do it a little bit more right like and and the someone gets to do it a little bit more and everyone gets a chance to step up and they've done that um so far so good as far as the mellow goes um look everybody matures and and and develops at a at a at a different pace um both in life and on a basketball court and so you know I've talked about this before it's not on like your household when you get into an organization and you know if you're not necessarily doing the things in your household to help a young person mature quickly that child will be relatively immature for a while it doesn't mean they can't mature you just got to get to work or you know in some instances it takes a child leaving you know going out on their own hitting college and now they got to do some shit on their own and figure it out in a way that it didn't have to crib and then you see the maturation take place I say that to say that I didn't always think it was a lamello issue I've said that before I think sometimes you can be in organizations early that aren't ready to maybe wind in the way that you would need as a young player to see winning um and and that kind of infrastructure or lack thereof can contribute to kind of your stagnation as as it relates to maturation um I think he did mature last year I think he was playing really good basketball with the Hornets I think um if you ask or if you watch the Hornets play they look like they miss him like they really miss him at times right like I would argue that um and so I just I think because of the way his game aesthetically looks at times and two things can be true he can be inefficient um at times and and you know he could take some questionable shots at times um but it's also a really awkward looking game at times and I think those two things bleed into each other more often than they should right because some people don't like those one-legged shots he shoots well people didn't like one-legged runners either until Steve Nash and Thurknewix he started making them all the time and then people were like far right I would also make the argument Roger I would also make the right argument Roger that they didn't like him whoever they is they didn't like love mella and well well they don't like love mella because they don't like he's daddy like like that's a bigger conversation you know what I'm saying like they if we're doing that they ain't like his daddy so like he come into the league name or like him but yeah I just wanted to give him some grace because he I've only ever said he's a remarkable talent with the basketball in his hands and sometimes not being the best version of yourself as a mature efficient basketball player can be related to the circumstances and the situation around you and what they're asking you to do in that situation and so I'm I'm I'm not all the way surprised I hope it continues um but I I do defend him in a way because like I did think that video of him behind the scenes shaking everybody's hand and uplifting everybody within the organization not only his players like those type of things we don't we don't choose to like OD on those type of things from LeMelo and and I'm not saying we in terms of the three of us but like we as a media tend to OD on all the negative about LeMelo and sometimes this is players in general like any player but like those type of things I think are a great insight if you're really looking into who someone really is versus who they project him to be or who they portray him to be I think those things are important to peek into and I'm happy for sorry I was saying no you just give a strike fire Dilan so I think that one of the things that I was saying you said this to your point about um you know him where he where LeMelo went um in the draft and how that educates you know the rest of his the rest of his early career I think the hornets were just not the best organization to take on a guy like LeMelo for you know the obvious on court reasons but we're also like this is a guy who was taken out of high school was had to play in Lithuania had to play in his we forget like it seems so long ago had to play in a league that his dad invented out of thin air right and no man it was a wild time but all that to say man LeMelo seemed like a kid that probably could have used just a very structured environment right like and I think that that goes to the argument if like if the warriors got him at a certain point in time right that could kind of absorb all of that into their locker room they've been able to absorb big personalities before but you put him in a place like Charlotte like it's just I could imagine that it feels like yet another stop for him as opposed to a place where he could build at the time that he was drafted, right? And so you see, even in all of the pre-season stuff in Minnesota, got me seeing like, "Huh, I was still on the take, Roger. I still was committed to the take that I had." But I was looking at all the stuff like in the off-season, then going to Paris, the off-season training camp videos where it seemed like, "Huh, he seems to be a basketball player now." It also seems very grounded in the fact that like, "And nobody going nowhere. This is the team that we are going to have, and we have a goal that is bigger than any other goal that I've honestly had since I was at Canyon Oaks going for a state championship because it's a modern day back in the day, right? Like, it finally felt like when you put a basketball player to position where they can actually win something, you'd be surprised how they change. And I see that Willemello because he's in an environment that has a chance to win." You know, it's as players, you know, it's coach-player relationship, organization-player relationship, it's business, right? Now in college, now in the pros, like, it's business all the way around now. But I live this, and I can't say definitively that this is what happened to Lemello, but, you know, there's a part of me that was watching it wondering if it if it were happening or if it was happening. I played early in my career in college for a guy who, you know, I love coach Willem, now, and I was rough around the edges, not unlike Lemello. Like, I did some things that people were like, "Well, what the fuck is he doing?" Like, "Why is he, like, that's crazy?" "Oh, he didn't drive like him." "No, I didn't have a car over there, but what the point is, like, you know, as a talent, I was important to what they were doing. They needed me out there to do what I was doing. But I never felt like who I was, like, as a player or a person was all the way embraced. It felt more like tolerance and less like embrace, if that makes sense. And then, you know, as I went to another place, you know, there was more embrace on the college side of who I was as a player and how I got down and understanding of that being in search of wins versus, oh, that's a selfish attitude, right? The same thing happened to me in the NBA. When you find someone that sees you for who you are as a player and a person, I think you get a better version of that player and that person. It's all I would say to that. I've lived that multiple times. It's my truth and it was my experience, not only in college, but in the pros. And so I see, I see Lamello's always had like this kind of gregarious, like, he always happy and whatnot. But like, I do see even in his interactions with Ant, like, I don't, because obviously I'm not privy to the behind closed doors, but like, I see somebody who he feels like, you know, this dude gets, like, they get each other. And that's really important. Yeah. You know, I don't, I want to add to that point, but it feels like we're pressed for time. But I do think I will say this though, man, when you have two guys that are, there's something to be said when you get two guys. And I think you could put this on the Lakers as well. When you have guys that are coming in at the right times at their career, right? Like, at this point, Ant just want to win, right? At this point, Lamello just wants to win, bro. Like, he doesn't want, especially got a taste of it last year. He just wants that. And you can see that permeating throughout. You know, isn't playing winning basketball, though? Got to be the name of James Harden Howard. That's to bring this pod down, which I tend to do. But we watched a clip pre-pod Raja and Howard of James Harden playing like me. And I don't want James Harden to be playing like me on a court. Okay. I go on the basketball court when I go, you know, at a local YMCA. And I'm just trying to get cardio, right? I'm not going for rebounds. I'm really just there. And there is a clip last night, where James Harden is just getting cardio, Roger. What are your thoughts on James Harden clip against the Charlotte Hornets? Who, by the way, weren't playing pretty much any of their starters last night and beat the break soft of the calves. And you, the calves can go 75 and whatever. And I'm never going to believe in them to do anything. But anyway, what did you think about the clip? That was my tangent. What do you think about the clip? It was a hard clip to watch. I saw the clip right before we hopped on air. That's a hard clip to watch. I want to be fair to James Harden. I did not watch that entire game. I didn't see any of it. And so I don't know what he did for the rest of that game. I did not look up the stats for that game. But that level of effort is a hard thing to watch on the basketball court. Like one of those, you don't get to close out, you don't get to rebound, and then you don't close out fine, but then you're just standing there ball watching. That one was tough for me to watch. He had 11 points, three of nine from the field, two of seven from three point range was a minus 22 on the floor Howard. They were losing this game guys by 33 points at one point. By 33 points to a team that was being led by Nazaried and Grayson Allen. Like that was the one two punch last night. I was looking at this morning. I go on Tom Zillard's newsletter. Go mix you guys. Check that out. But I was going on the newsletter at the at the bottom. They have all the clips of the NBA YouTube clips. And then they have like the key players from each team. It was not of a Mitchell and Nazaried. Like, huh. Okay. All right. That's what we're at. That's the sport of the season that we're in. The starting lineup for the Hornets last night. That at one point had a 33 point lead against the Cleveland Cavaliers who were supposed to be a contender in the Eastern Conference. The Hornets started sion James Nazaried, Ryan Cochbrenner, in for the injured Musadee Abate, Grayson Allen and Kobe White. Like some of these good players, but some of these guys are supposed to be bench players. Several of them, in fact, they're missing a lot of their important players. They have struggled to your earlier point, Roger. They have struggled to find their footing without Lamellabal this season. And some of that was like Kobe White started the season on the shelf and so did Conconniple and then he came back and got hurt again. They're not whole, but they're also not very good. Did I mention they were up 33 on the fucking Cleveland Cavaliers last night. So the game ends with it. It's only a 12 point loss in on this, you know, in the box score, but it was much worse than that. Kenny, I could said, bench the entire starting lineup for the fourth quarter, just pulled the plug. You want to play some who he play for? These are the guys who finished the game last night for the Cleveland Cavaliers. All right, Malik Thomas, they're draft pick, fine. Riley Minks, excuse me, Minnex. Riley Minnex. Oh, yeah, that's bra. That's bra, huh, Rob? That's home. That's. That's brilliant. Craig Gordon Jr. Been around for a little bit. He's been with them. He's crazy. Yeah, he's, you know, decent player. Thomas Bryant, obviously, veteran, whatever. And Norshad O'Mear. I'm, I apologize to him and his entire family, if I'm not pronouncing any of the first or last name correctly. I don't know who that is. If you play with Chrissy, Miami and then he played at Texas Tech or somewhere like that, I think maybe Venezuelan or something like that. That was the closing lineup for your Cleveland Cavaliers after a hardened Mitchell and the rest of them just laid a complete fucking egg. It's 10 games, or excuse me, 11 games for them in. I'm mildly alarmed. They're 5 and 6. They're 10th and offensive rating down from 6 last year, 17th and defensive rating. There were only 15th last year. So I didn't realize they were actually kind of mad defensively last year. James Harden, 15 points of game would be as lowest since the 2010 11 season. That's like when he was 6th man for the Thunder. That's a thousand years ago. 5.7 assists of game for Harden would be as low as since 2011 12. He's shooting 35% from three, which he's never been a great three point shoot. He's a volume three point shooter. He's never been like a really good three point, but that's that's low even for him. He's shooting 37% from two, which would be a career low by far. And as a result, his effective field goal percentage would be a career low by far too. He's not getting the line as much. But like guys, he's 37. So maybe we should expect this, which is why you don't give him a three year, $97 million extension over the summer, which he got. And this is a promise is like promise Howard. By the way, by the way, Derrius Garland averaging 21.7 assists and shooting 37% on threes for the glippers. Just saying. I was at a Derrius Garland legacy game last week. It was great. It was always a good Derrius Garland. It's early, but you know, hello. All right. Before we get out of here, we have a little new segment that we like to go to called on the road with Raja presented by the streets. Howard said he has a twist for this segment this week. I'm very curious to see what happens. You said you would not divulge pre-pod. And now we are here during the pod and me and Roger are both curious. Yeah. Don't pop before the pod. Don't give anything away. Roger Cludison that he hadn't didn't have any real travels this weekend. He was on a boat. He did not have to he was on a boat. He did not have to go rent any cars that would then not be there or pay through the nose to park on somebody's front lawn. So in lieu of that, there's a question I kind of I like to ask guys now and then I just spent a long time since I asked a player or former player this. And it's road related, Raja. Because last night I was watching the Lakers at one point struggling a little bit. against the Hawks in Atlanta. And I started to think, oh yeah, Atlanta. That's one of those places where you might have a road loss because Atlanta's got other things to do. - Which makes the Lakers win all the more impressive to be honest. - For, for sure. But there's a lot of different kinds of schedule losses, right? There's second out of a back-to-back schedule loss. There's whatever tough travel. There's all kinds of different ways you can get a schedule loss, which we talk about that phrase. The one that's never talked about officially because the league likes to pretend it doesn't exist. It's like places you lose just because the club lost. - It's the club, like, and Atlanta's one of the top three places to lose a game because everybody was maybe having just a little bit too good of a time that I before. - Yep, let's see, I don't. - New York, Miami, maybe Atlanta, maybe Atlanta, but like, you got L.A. Toronto? - Toronto. I was waiting for you to say it's Toronto. - Yeah, there are many. - Riders and players get in trouble in Toronto. - Yeah. - Let's Houston? - Yes, James Harden will it test? - Not even a road loss for him. Those are home losses. - What I've heard. - Man, yeah, New York was a New York's toughest. - There's a lot of stories going on in Roger's head right now that he can't do all of them. But it's a lot of going on in his head right now. - I can do all of that. - New York L.A. Miami, we know Houston, we know Atlanta, is there one that we would be shocked by? Like Toronto, maybe people didn't know, but like Toronto's obviously a huge city with a lot going on. But like, what's one? Like, is it like, look, oh yeah, actually. - Give me a second. -. genver or something, you know? - Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. He's barculating, he's barculating, he's barculating. - We just should look up where Roger went over 11. - One round of like, I'm trying to think. Yeah, I don't know. Like, I played on. I've said this before. I played on teams where. When we got into town, I was a young player. It didn't matter what city you were in. It was a party, DC, DC could get you. - Hmm. - DC sounds different. - DC's the sneaky one, DC will get you. But like, I played on teams where it didn't matter what town we were in. There was, I got the bags to your room as I had to help as a rookie. And then it was like, go change and meet downstairs to get in the limo. - Hey, Roger. - You know, back when the limo was worth things. So like, you could find it in any city. I guess is, what's up? Did you hear this? Did you ever hear, did Stack ever tell you the story of how he created Charlotte? - Dallas. - No, how he got char. Dallas. How did Stack Jack ever tell you the story about how he got traded to Charlotte? - When we got traded for each other? - Yeah, do you ever tell you that story? - No, no. - So he, they were in Milwaukee. The Warriors were in Milwaukee. - Right, and I guess they were thinking about trading him or something like that. And as he's telling the story, he told the story a couple of weeks ago on Golden State, but he was saying like, yeah, man, I went out in Milwaukee and I got thrashed, absolutely thrashed, right? And Matt Barnes interrupts him and is like, did you, you got thrashed in Milwaukee? And the extra response was, brother, you could find trouble anywhere. But the end of the story. So he gets back to the hotel, right? And he gets a knock on his door and he's thrashed and it's Don Nelson. And Don Nelson knows that he's been partying. And he says, bro, he says, son, it's the end of the line. Maybe I'll see you down the road one day. It says he got traded. It's back to him on the face like a doubt. Like just looks like this. And then it walks off. Then he goes to Charlotte. So man, I'll say this. If that might have been that while I can answer that question for sure, Nellie could probably equally answer that question. Yeah, because that was a day and age where even coaches like, you get on the buzzer, be a six pack under the front seat. Like what time Nellie cancelled practice? Because it's what time Nellie cancelled practice because this dog, either urinator or pooped on the practice court. Yeah, bro, have I told that? Have I told the story about when I was coming back from injury after I got traded to Golden State? And I was, remember how they used to have the practice facility at the time I played for Nellie? At the Oakland Marriott. It was at the Oakland Marriott. Absolutely. So I had played for Nellie and Dallas. I hadn't been to a practice yet because I had been, I stayed at home for almost a whole year. I was rehabbing my wrist. But I went to occupational therapy somewhere out, somewhere else other than Oakland. And I was getting back kind of late to the practice facility. Five minutes till practice started. And so I parked my car and there's a truck, like an old kind of smaller cab truck sitting right next to that back door, the door from the parking lot in that Oakland practice facility, Logan. And it was running and there was smoke billowing out of the window. And I was like, oh shit. What was the smell of the smoke, Roger? Well, I wasn't close enough. So I was like, yo, that car might be on a fucking fire. What's going on? So, you know, I kind of hustle over as I'm going in and I peek in. And Nellie's just sitting in the truck. Just chilling. Just chill, it's five minutes before bragging me. Smoky cigarette, just chilling. The smoke coming out the window. He's one of my favorite coaches, don't they? His initiation, how he would initiate a season was he would take the whole team up to Lake Marriott over by Grand Lake did or play shuffleboard and get the team faded. Just thrash that was bad. It's bad, but Nellie, I don't know stories. I'm one and a million to the original question that you asked. Howard and you guys might be able to test to this more than me. Like I was told by dudes that like today's players aren't, you know, we were still beers in your hot like you don't want a game. Like we'd be in the cold tub and and Stephen, I like, maybe not on a back to back, maybe on a back to back, but we'd be three beers deep getting out of the coltum. Yeah, like that, but it's so like it was a different day. Well, not you know what they do now. I know these guys aren't really on that. They go on stream and just talk shit on the internet to people. That's what that's what they want to do after a game. Yeah, we get Jalen Brown versus Jason Tatum tonight speaking of which. I'm excited for that. Should be great twitch stream afterwards. Wait, before we get out of here, I have a continuation of a story from yesterday last week that Raja roasted me about. You know, I was really tired after the back back, but I didn't, I got two things. I got my pre-game nap. I got it on the, I got it on the plane from Burbank to SFO. And the second thing was I was really still really tired going to that to that to that game. So I go in there. I may or may not be doing a Miami heat story that's coming out this week. We'll see, but I've been and I may or may not have been following them all last week, but we'll see. But anyway, all I have to say was that the Warriors' heat game, and I'm just tired, bro, and I look at them out of bio and I go, "Hey, bro, I don't know how y'all do these back-to-backs, bro. I have no idea how y'all do this. In the look he gave me." He did that. He said, he went like this, he said. So now you feel me. No, I feel the same. It was like, it was like, I resisted. You did text me. I was expecting the text. I resisted the temptation. The text lived through with Bam out of bio, just giving me, he was like. All right, that has been another edition of Real One's. We won't real long today. It was a really, really fun episode. We will see you guys later in the week. Ah, 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 in President D.C. or Wyoming opt and required. Bonus issue does now draw a profit boost token. Restrictions apply, including any token expiration and max wage or amount. 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