NBA Lottery Karma Rankings, Jaylen’s Future, and a Blistering Wolves-Spurs Series With Nick Wright

The Bill Simmons podcast is brought to you by Fandall. We're also brought to you by the Ringer podcast network where I put up a new rewatchables on Monday. We did. There's something about Mary, which is also on Netflix. It was me and CR and Sean. The OG crew had a great time. A lot of fun discussions. You can go check that out on Spotify and Netflix wherever you get your podcasts. For next week, just giving you the heads up now, we did Tropic Thunder. So that is coming on Monday. I think it's on Netflix. I'm pretty sure that's why why we want to do it. It's a pretty easy movie to find. Almost 20 years since it came out and a really fun one to revisit. So that's happening. If you like narrative podcasts, we put up the last episode of Legata. That went up on Tuesday. If you missed it, please go check it out. Great one to power walks driving the car with really, really good, really proud of this one. So check that out whenever ever chance. Coming up on this podcast, the one and only Nick right is here. We're going to talk about the San Antonio Minnesota series. We're going to talk about my Celtics and what that will happen and what's happening with Jalen Brown does even want to be a Celtic. We're going to talk about LeBron. Are we evaluating him correctly in the ringer? Nick was upset that we probably weren't a lot on the San Antonio Minnesota series, which we both feel like something really crazy might be happening there. And then last but not least, I do this every year. Usually we do it on a Sunday, but the lottery is on a Sunday this year. Zack Lo is going to be at it. So instead, we're doing the lottery karma rankings today. And that was the last part of this podcast, trying to figure out who should win the NBA lottery just from a karma standpoint. So that is all coming up next or take a break and then project. It's been a wild playoff from not over yet. Fandall wants to bring you closer to the court to make all of that action come to life for you, the basketball fan. Fandall, the best place to bet the teams players plays during NBA post season, build the same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout or try live betting and jump into the action right after tip off, whatever you want. That's the whole point of live betting. Download the Fandall Sportsbook app right now and play your game. 21 plus leg states are 18 plus DC Kentucky or Wyoming. Game problem code 1-800-Gamber called 888-787-77 or visit ccpg.org/chat Connecticut. Alright, we're recording with Nick right about an hour so after we did first things first. I like when you're a little groggy. I feel like I have an advantage. You know, you basically played a whole game. Now you're doing a double header. This is good for me. Correct, which is why, you know, I have a light rule that if I'm potting after 6 p.m. Eastern. I drink red wine while I'm doing it. But I really, I need to be have, you know, all my sensibilities to be able to combat whatever stuff you throw at me. So I have a big glass of pink lemonade, a backup bottle of water. I'm going straight sober to deal because I don't know how you're, I don't really know the state you're in. This is your, the Celtics who I picked to win the title. And I know now you're like, ah, they weren't ever going to win the title. You thought they could maybe win the title. They're out. And so I don't know how you're doing. Terrible. Yeah. Yeah. Excited. I mean, the Lakers are still playing the Celtics are at home. It's a can. It's a toll. I woke up at four in the morning and I was just lying in bed staring at the ceiling. And I just woke up. I went for a power walk at like 730 in the morning. It was walked around, talked to my dad two days after the game. Real furious at everybody. My dad. This is the man. He's ever been after a series. I mean, Ron Harper, Jr., not going to save the season. It turns out, I, I, so, I'm, here's the thing I think I'm most stunned by. You could argue of every, I couldn't read with this. Sorry, were you sorry? No, it's alright. Go. You, you could argue of every contender in NBA history. There was not one better prepared for oh shit. Our best players out for game seven. What are we going to do? Then there's your Celtics. Yeah. Who had 65 games up that scenario. So I don't, I didn't understand that from Mizzoula starting lineup. And I, how do you grade four years of Mizzoula year two, crush everyone in route to a championship? And every other year, horrifying defeat as huge favorite. Yeah. Did you see the numbers? It's like plus 500 plus 900 and plus 1000. I think we're the few. Something like that. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's pretty bad. It's real. It's, and so I don't, you know, and, and then, and you, and you did a very, I feel like you don't want them to break up Tatum and Brown, but you acknowledging that it might happen really kelp the conversation, get going. So it was journalistically, I respect it, even though it caused pain for you. But I think Jalen Brown, I think Jalen Brown, I think there isn't very interesting trade where Atlanta sends a bunch of stuff, including Milwaukee's own pick back to Milwaukee Atlanta gets Jalen Brown, who would fit with them perfectly. Who's from the honest goes to Boston. That probably makes more sense than Janice for Jalen Brown straight up, because why, why would Milwaukee necessarily want to do that? That I think for Boston's a really interesting possibility here. I have it in my notes. I mean, we hinted at it on on the Sunday pod. As we were doing the Sunday pod, Zach and I, Jalen was doing this Twitch stream. It did not go over well with the fan base. I'll just say that. Look, it's a free country. Do what you want. But over and over again, the theme from him this year has been, this has been the most fun season he's ever had time of my life. And even the game seven stuff of that was the pace we should have played all along. I liked how I liked the style we had that game. And it's just very, it's becoming very clear to me. And I think to a lot of other people that he wants his own team. And that's fun. But I think we can accommodate this. The trade you mentioned is the most logical trade because you left that one thing. They also have a almost $28 million dollar trade exception. So they can trade with Milwaukee. And they can also take a contract back and actually save Milwaukee money because they got under the tax this year. They can actually go over the tax, right? So they have Kuzma for one year left, like 22. You could just take that as part of the trade and absorb it. Or you could take my, hey, did you not like the Miles Turner experiment? We'll take him off your hands. He fits in that thing too. The trade, who has the trade exception? The boss. Okay. So Boston could basically get Yannis any year of Kuzma. Yeah. Send Jalen out, send a pick to Milwaukee. And then Atlanta sends, you know, Risa Shay, Dyson Daniels and whatever that picks. Well, so yeah. And the thing is it's super valuable in this regard because we'll see what that Atlanta pick for, you know, we're going to, I know, talk a lot of it later. They have potentially a really good pick this year. But since they have Milwaukee's 27 pick Milwaukee being able to get that back and be like, all right, next year, we're going to suck and reap the benefits of it before we get going. And I think Jalen would be great with Atlanta. I think that would, I think that would have him and Jalen Johnson. You bring McCollum back. Yeah, that's something. It's his, it's where you were. Why are guy? Yeah, of course. So I used to do this thing when I had McCollum back with my fingers worked about Durant and Westbrook, about wondering if, if the stringer Avon thing was going to happen and bring them down, right? And I was writing about this. And it really did not go over well with, I think, either of them or anyone in O.K.C. But the whole point was like the balcony scene in the wire where Avon comes back, but stringers kind of been running the show. And they start sideying each other a little bit. My fear with the Celtic season was that they were, it was a little like the wire thing where stringer was running the show. In this case, Jalen. Tatum comes back like Avon. It's like, okay, guys, we're a partnership again, but stringer got a taste to run in the show. I didn't really fully think until that twitch stream that this is kind of what Jalen wants. So I want them to stay together, but maybe this is just how the league goes. So I want to talk about the twitch stream for a minute. Yeah. Okay, so because I find Jalen to be both of these guys, Tatum, I find, I found Tatum's openness and vulnerability in his recovery process. One of the most remarkable and endearing things from a star athlete I've ever seen him flatly saying before the New York game, yeah, you know, I, it's in my head, but I need to get over it like being back on the court like to I thought it was stunning his approach there. And I thought his recovery that obviously hit a wall here at the worst time was remarkable. - So, and then I would also add just him traveling with the team everywhere and being kind of needing to be on the team and to be involved and watching them and being a part of it. Other guys just would disappear, he didn't. - He's the blueprint now, I think, for how you deal with something like this. - I agree. - Jalen, I find fascinating because I truly believe if all 450 MBA guys took an IQ test, I bet Jalen's in the top couple percent. I think Jalen is a very thoughtful and guy and a guy whose off court causes, I think are really important and does, like he does is a smart thoughtful guy. - Well, and also the stuff he does in the city of Boston is the highest possible level of an athlete's relationship with the city. That's another thing you have to think about after trading. - Right, so all of that is true. And here's what's also true. He has some of the wildest takes I've ever heard. Like the part of the Twitch stream where it was, yeah, there was basically a conspiracy against me from the league 'cause I've criticized the reps. Like, are you serious? - Yeah. - And where he's like, yeah, the reps confirmed it to me 'cause before the game they said we're watching, my buddy, that's not because you criticize him. It's because the other teams like, hey, he pushes off so they're letting you know they flagged it to us. Him, the fact that he is that smart and yet thought it would go over well to be like, yeah, I know I've won a championship here and been to six conference finals, but the year where my running mate was out with the torna killies and we flamed out of three one leading round one best year ever. Even if you feel that way, that ain't gonna go over well. And then the decision to do it and to do it with those three dudes just standing like, none of it made any sense. It was, and so I'm like, I know he's a smart, thoughtful guy yet he's doing this, which is. - Well, so, but you have to flip that around. So why is he doing it? - Correct. - And he is a smart guy. And I think that's my takeaway after that was, he's probably okay with moving on. And you forgot to mention with that thing about the best year of his career. This is my dad, I was talking about, my dad was like angry for my dad, but then started talking about how the NHL ladder is tonight and if the Maple Leafs fall to six, we get their picks. So he's moving on, but my dad was like, we won the title two years ago. We were on a statistically the best teams of all time. We ran through it, he was a huge part of it. He won finals MVP and conference finals MVP. How is that not the most fun year of his career? Like, my dad was like, I just don't understand. Like I would love for him to explain how this was, and Jaylin was saying like, look, everyone counted us out. There was this adversity. They were calling us the gapier Celtics and we banded together. But the way the season ended, there's no way that could be your most fun year. Correct, and it'd be one thing if Scotty Pippin said, hey, 94 was the most gratifying year of my career. I was always number two, Jordan won, every award always. And in 94, we overachieved, we had a great season, we won around, that'd be one thing. - I think that would also be insane. Well, I understand that, that you probably wouldn't say it, but I would get it more than if Scotty had in 93, one finals MVP and people thought he was awesome. Like, it was. - Well, let's say you get hit by a bus tomorrow and you're recovering for nine months. And as this is happening, the first things first has to resolve revolve around wilds. - That's what I said. - And all wilds is doing is like, this is the most fun I've ever had doing TV. - People would be like, well, he must hate that great. Let's go ahead. - That is the exact comp. I said, I do, the podcast I do, what's right with the one blog? - Yeah. - No, so I do that podcast with my son. And I said to him, I said that to him this morning. I was like, if I got pneumonia, it was in the hospital for two months, and you're in the hunt. - You're in the hint of virus, you run a cruise ship. - Exactly. - You're stuck at a cruise ship for six months. And you're doing the pod without me. And I keep seeing these clips of you saying to the producers, boys, I don't think the show's ever been better than right now. (laughing) I'd be like, what the fuck? Like a buddy, like I'm trying to get back. And so, but that's what it was. And you said throughout the year, and I think it's right, he was like 10% too happy about how it was going. - Yeah, he almost needed like a crisis consultant to say, hey, every three weeks, don't forget to talk about your brother, JT. And how great it's going to be when he comes back. But you could feel it in the playoff series 'cause they did slow down. They did play a different style. I was talking about it on my podcast. Everyone I did. I was like, I don't really like how they look. I don't, something's different. We're not using the bench. And this is, you know, some Missoula stuff. But like I said on Sunday, I think they were using that six or series as a tinkering lab for the next series, not realizing Philly was going to blossom into this. I mean, Philly might not win another game in the playoffs. This might have been a five day Philly run that is just this crazy blip, right? - Yeah, I mean, that's, game one was obviously a disaster for them. - Yeah, even if I lose. - Right, that's the thing. I think they can win the series, but they were drawing dead to win that game after three one come back. We'll see what they look like in game two. They also might be when even be healthy. That's a legit really good top four guys. Like Paul George playing the way he is, and be Maxi and Edgecomb, that's legit. They don't have a bench, but they have those guys. Here's my question for you on Boston before we get to the stuff you wanted to get to. - Well, I have a, and I have a honest thing we should talk about too, but God. - Okay, let's do it. 'Cause obviously the hot button thing is the threes, all the threes, all the threes. - Yeah. - Do you think that while, when our pal, Darryl, did that against the Rockets? And did it, or did, I'm sorry, did that against the Warriors with the Rockets? What was underlying all that was, we're the underdog. We need, we are not, they have more talent. We need to add more variance to the equation. Are the Celtics underselling their position in the Eastern Conference by adding so much variance to these playoff series? Should that be the strategy, if you make the finals against the Thunder, but not the strategy in round two last year against the Knicks, or round one this year against the Sixers Team without Embed. Like, it felt like an underdog NFL team that's like, we're onside kicking every time, back in the day, or we're going for trick plays, but you're not the underdog. - Right, well they're doing five led receiver every down, never running the whoever. - And so that's my question for Missoula. Can you throttle it down when you have the better team and then throttle it up when you do need to add the variance because the other, because you're overmatched, and he's just never done it. It's just all gas at all times. - In 24, it made more sense, 'cause the players they had were so good, and they had a horror for it in Przinga's Drew Holiday. Three guys who weren't on this team, they felt like they had to do it a little more with the math before Tatum got back, but when Tatum got back, I think they were trying to change it a little bit, and yet the habits in the games didn't reflect it. They shot, in game two, they shot 53s, I think. That was with no Embed. I was just the coaching strategy stuff, and it's weird 'cause like, I think Missoula's a really good coach. I just think he kind of whiffed on the series, but I don't think it was, doesn't make me think they should fire him or I think. I just think he, I think he misread it, 'cause I think the way to beat the Sixers, especially those first couple games of that and beat, is like, you just gotta stop maxi. Like, we have all these wings. You have Hugo, you've Walsh, Shireman. Let's throw Derek White on him. Let's just not let him go get going ever. And instead, they're like, "Hey, I wonder if Vousavitch can hop out in time on these threes." It's like, I can tell you right now, I can't. - Yeah. - Definitely not happening. - So yeah, but your bigger question is, do they need to game the math like this? We saw it in San Antonio, I'm in a soda last night. We're taping this on a Tuesday. You know what's really nice? Sometimes, they're like 12 foot Julius Randall, you know, banging to the body, shots, just to keep going. You know what's really nice for Philly? Like, Mb, just getting nice, easy eight to 10 footers. And you need to balance to that and they lost the balance. And there is one last thing before we do your honest thing. Three is worth more than two, but a one point lead, the difference between trailing by one and leading by one in a playoff game is 10 miles wide. And the difference between leading by one and leading by two is six inches wide. So when you, when you had six possessions in a row, down one point in the fourth quarter of a game seven, I don't give a shit if I can be up to. I just, I just want to be up. I just want really half the ball. I want Philly to be like, oh, no, did we blow it? And, and it's what we have seen. And I just think teams have screwed that up. And I think I am, I'm stunned Boston lost the way they did. And it does make you wonder. Like you said, the honest would fix a lot of this just by virtue of the fact he ain't shooting threes. He's giving you that fast breaks. The problem. I went back and I watched up fourth quarter again. And the shots were actually good shots. No, I can see, like, Jaylin had a couple of two pointers that he just made all year. They were like 12 footers. Now, the one where I forget who someone falls down. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was a timeline job. Pritchard in the corner. I would bet my life on that shot. He missed it. So you can go to the summer and be like, oh, we, we usually make those shots. But they lost the series in game two and game five. That was when their style went sideways. So the honest piece, which I did a whole thing about it. I don't know, maybe six weeks ago talking about my fears for trading too much for him because I think he's going in. It was 14th season. The track record is terrible. It's basically like just even guys doing 23 and 10. There's like four of them ever. Not to mention he's been injured in some capacity. I think every year for the five of the last six, something like that, since the title at least three of the years majoring a lot of miles. And then you think about big guys with you think about Dwight Howard, the second part of his career. You think about Shaq, the second part of his career. Like big guys, they don't necessarily age in the greatest ways. So I don't think he's worth as much as we thought a year and a half ago where it was like, oh, my God, you trade everything for that guy. I don't think that's the case. I don't think you're going to approach it that way. But you would trade Jalen Brown. I think that my point is I think the Celtics have enough to get him without gutting the entire, whatever, because I think his values dropped, especially because here's the other thing. The reason why I think the Celtics have enough to get him because a shingoon package looks less attractive today. No question. How about even mobile is looks less attractive than it did a year ago. He's the same guy who was a year ago. Right. And so the like who you're competing with and how that now Atlanta putting together the package, we're discussing and cutting Boston out. I guess is interesting. If they decide that's the move that's going to be this Sunday and we're talking louder a little bit later. Sunday, if Atlanta gets into that top four, they're out of the J I'd rather the top four picked the Jalen. I think it has more trade value. Oh, interesting. Yeah. There's no question. Jalen's making 60 million a year. And you could have Cam Booser or I love Caleb Wilson. I actually have Caleb Wilson higher on my board. I'll show. Wow. I have a board. No, I don't. So my my fake board. You have those guys for 10 million a year on a rookie contract versus paying Jalen 60. They'd be irresponsible to trade that pick for Jalen. I think the so yeah, I mean, I feel like I feel like four is where it's interesting. I think top three definitively has like this intense value. I don't know you you you're going to get on board with Caleb Wilson. Okay. All right. I think he's I think he is higher than four on multiple teams boards already. No, but that's what I'm saying. It's I'm what I'm I agree with you on that. I don't I'm not as in love with Booser as everyone else. I think if the draft the thing I do when you're watching the playoffs and you try to imagine the guy in the game you're watching, I was trying to imagine him in the San Antonio Minnesota game last night. I was like, well, all right, I could see him guarding Randall. I mean, I know this is going to sound pretty dumb or obvious. You know who Cam Booser reminds me of? Guy named Carlos Booser is dad. That guy that is going to have a really solid. Yeah. 12 year NBA career. I think it's a better passer. Sure, the game's changed. But my point is a guy who I think of all the top prospects. Cam probably has the lowest bust potential. Like the least likely to be a bust. Yeah. But I think he's also the least likely to be an MVP. Like and so that's why I'm not as high on him. Maybe as other guys. I would take Caleb's second. Now I've reserved the right to change by mine. Yeah. I think Caleb's going to be unbelievable. The same thing with Caso was similar where it's just like the guys two competitive. He's too athletic and he's too competitive. Those guys always win. We see it. Doesn't matter what team it is, what draft. Like he's got that. I know what that is. And he's like a combination of like Sean Kemp and Chet. I think he's going to be really special. So I'd be careful passing on him. But yeah, for the honest thing, Bum and Lina. Now if I'm in five, six, seven, eight, nine, now I could really think about the Jayland thing because you think like now I could have because Jayland Johnson as much as I like him and I voted for him on NBA. He's kind of a one B. I'm not sure he's a one A. You could feel it in that playoff series. It's not like, hey, clear out guys. I got this. He's not that's not the type of player he is. No, he's his ceiling is like a better off into big Wadala, right? Yeah. He's in like a better Jayland Williams. Like that's like his. Yeah. A guy who can do everything is a winning player, you know, can definitely be a key part of a championship team. What is your best player? You've got no shot. No shot. No shot of winning a title. So what would you give up? How, how much would you, how crazy would you get for youngs? For if I'm what team? Pick a team. I mean, I think if you're Miami, would you gut everything you had and I don't know what that I just know. I know because I don't know what that achieves. Now all of a sudden, the honest is Justin Milwaukee, South. Like I, I mean, the nicks would have been the one that were like, fuck it. We have a window. We got to do this. But the nicks are going to make the finals, I think. I don't, I don't see anybody stop it. And also I don't love any of the nicks trades. Right. Like the, because they traded their picks. No, I, if I were Detroit, would I give up a sorry, you know, I haven't done the trade. No, it's that's that you're looking at Durin and all your picks, basically. I give up Durin and all my picks. And I don't even know if Milwaukee, if that, if that's, I don't know if that's right. If that, if Milwaukee wants it, I think the easiest trade is going, it would be the reason I think the Celtics are very live here is because it's so easy. Yeah. The he and Jalen and the honest make the same amount of money. You can, you, you have a third, if you need a third team Atlanta makes a ton of sense at like, there's just, by the way, you can get out New Orleans, New Orleans might be like, we've always loved Jalen and all the sudden they're in it. Like, they're capable of anything. That's when we do this lottery karma thing, I've got something on that. So I, but no, I agree with you that Yanis is right now, the fifth best player in the league and oddly does not have the fifth trade value. No, not at all. And I think there's teams that are would maybe be like, we're good. Like, okay, see San Antonio. I don't think those teams would trade for him. Well, let me hold on. So that's an interesting, San Antonio is an interesting one. I think they love their culture and their young guys. I don't think they, I think that obviously love to win the title this year, but I don't think they'd feel like the season was a failure if they lost. And they're looking at the long runway, you know? Not the seasons of failure, but let's just, let's just say Minnesota beats them in six and Fox struggles and get the way he didn't game one throughout the series. Then Fox is the fall guy after the series. Yes. And added bonus. Wimby gets pushed around a bit like I he didn't game one. You mean when he shoots five for 18 and and short arms every big shot down the stretch like it's right like that. And well, and gets, you know, physically pushed around. Like that's the thing for Wimby is a he was exhausted at the end of that game following that all over the place. He's not used to playing big minutes and and he's so he's doing all that. B go bear is strong as hell. And Nazaried and Julius Randall was strong as hell and they were pushing him around. If I do wonder if San Antonio loses in bad fashion, if they feel like we're not listening, we're not abandoning our future or our plan and we're keeping Harper, Castle and Wimby. But Deerren Fox, another contract and a bunch of our picks for Yannis. So, you know, so there isn't such a heavy offensive load on Wimby and oh yeah, by the way, we just become, you know, better defensive team than OKC like that. That's something I would think about. I would. I'd be more excited to just play Carter Bryant for next year and ride this out. And I would, Yannis feels like a panic move to me. Like that, like Sam Presley to me, I always say what would Sam Presley do? That is what Sam Presley would not do that. He would probably, he would would probably look at the Harper situation because we all love Harper, we're going to expound on him. But as like, okay, Fox, Fox was our training wheels. Now we got to send Fox off. Let's get like another score in that spot. Maybe somebody with a little more size than think about it that way. We got to take a break. I want to talk about San Antonio, Minnesota, and I think you and I are feeling similar about this series. Perfect. Fandall giving you better payouts on same game parlay's all NBA playoffs long with more ways to build and more value every time you play, you can stack your picks your way every game, every matchup, every single moment from spreads to player points to threes and more build it all into one same game parlay and go for bigger payouts. So if you're betting same game parlay's this NBA post season, bet them on Fandall, more options, better payouts, all NBA playoffs long had to fandall.com/BS to get started. Fandall official partner of the NBA player again. 21 plus select states are 18 plus DC. Kentucky are Wyoming restrictions, pi c terms at sportsbook.fandall.com. Game problem cut 100 game bar call 888 78777 or visit ccpg.org/chat Connecticut. This episode is brought to you by PayPal. On the court, the pitch, the track, even the pool. National athletes show extraordinary physical flexibility. For us normal people, we've got PayPal's flexible monthly payment plans. Pay nothing a check out that enjoy a flexible monthly payment plan that works for you with no sign up or late fees. And it's available in millions of stores pay monthly with PayPal subject to approval pay monthly consumer loans made by web bank available through PayPal Inc. NMLS 910457. Learn more at paypal.com/paymonthly. The Minnesota Timberloves who were such giant underdogs for the series and for the finals that Nick Wright has a story for us from his trip to Vegas. Well, okay, so I so I went to Vegas to see the Benavita's fight, who is one of the scariest boxers we've had in the last 20 years. Unbelievable. He broke the guy's face on Saturday night. No, he destroyed it. He broke his orbital. The guy, the guy we fought Zerto had never been knocked down. Much less knocked out was a total warrior. And Benavita has just annihilated him. And I, by the way, I had Benavitas by knock out a nice little ticket with my buddy Nick Shulman, the world's greatest poker player. Oh, it's a no brain. That's like an automatic bet. And but so I'm in Vegas Saturday morning. And I'm on my way to the sports book or I'm at the sports book to bet Benavitas. And I and I see the championship odds. And I see the, you know, okay, see minus one 25, whatever they were at the time spurs, but the Lakers at 28 to one. And then 28 to one. Well, that's because the California people come and they bet the Lakers, but that's still important context for what I'm about to say. Then I see beneath the Lakers, the Lakers who play OKC and Luca is injured or 28 to one. Minnesota is 200 to one Saturday morning or Lando was 400 to one. This was 12 hours after Orlando played the worst half of basketball in television history. There's never been a televised half of basketball worse than what they did. They're not even going to make can we count fictional shows for that. 437. I think by the bar. Yeah, say by the bow or fresh pants. We need a fictional basketball. So I'm like Orlando's 400 to one. Yeah, I'm like, what the, I was like, so I'm staring at it. I'm like, hold on. I watch speaking of Yannis. Yannis suffered this same injury. Anthony Edwards did. He missed seven days. Came back for game one of the finals and averaged 35, 13 and 6. I was like, I think Anthony Edwards might come back sooner than people think. I think that there is just always this weird specter of injury looming over Wimbee. I was like 200 to one. He's seven foot seven. Any, any, any point he could get her. Correct. I was like, it's 200 to one. So I'm like, I had one in poker the night before. So I'm like, I think I'm going to put like a thousand bucks on this. Yeah. I'm texting my buddies. All of sudden, cut my buddies want and want in. And they're like, hey, see if they'll take $10,000 on it. And I'm like, okay, my guess is the story. I was like, my guess is they won't, but I'm not sharp action. Like, you know what I mean? It's not like they're like, oh, this like I come to Vegas to play cards. They see my history. I went a little in poker. I spill it off playing Blackjack at four in the morning. They don't think all of a sudden I have like, you know, I have inside info. Yeah. Vacuum, vacuum blackjack when they're vacuum under it. That's exactly what your buddy went. They see on their cards. They're like, my God, we've got this guy, $1,200 and packs of new ports over the last year. These are the vacuum hours. So, so I walked to the window and I'm like, Hey, oh, and the Derby and I, and people are betting the Derby. It's a couple hours for the Derby. Yeah. And I say I'm like, Hey, I'd like $10,000 on the Timberwolves to win the title. And the lady pulls it up and she's like, Oh, she's like, I'm gonna have to get a manager. She's like 9,000. I don't, I think once it gets to five figures, they get freaked out. No, well, what she said was any ticket that'll pay out more than a million, which $5,000 would have paid out a million because it's $201. We have to get a get permission. Oh, geez. Okay. So I'm just sitting there. People are betting the horses. Ladies, like I think they'll, she's like, I'm sure they'll take at least $5,000 of it. So I'm texting my buddies because we're going to split this ticket four ways. Like I, you know, here's what it is. I don't know. Five minutes later, guy comes, he's like, you're good. They printed the ticket. So I have in my possession on the Minnesota Timberwolves, I believe 10,000 to win 2,000,000,000. They were 200 to one. It's been three days. What are they on Fandall right now, Bill? 25 to one. 35 to one. So great investment. The ticket right now, the ticket to worth $65,000. I mean, I would never hedge. I'll never sell it. And it'll probably lose. But that's it was just mispriced. It's like it's just a mistake. Yes, he is. You can at least try to hedge that with OKC. Like there's moves you can. Well, I'll tell you another thing that you will laugh at me about. I have not from Vegas, but from, you know, a gambling app the day before the playoff started $100,000, just of my own money, $150,000 to one on the Los Angeles Lakers. So I just need a Lakers. The Lakers TV was Western coverage finals and I am free rolling. But I was watching last night and I swear like the watching Minnesota play so well and then almost blow it and then champagne. He have a shot because I now think Minnesota is going to win the series and had he made that shot. I think they would have lost in five right. I think it would have been such a good swim stomach punch. Yeah. Yeah. So look, the Celtics had an awful loss on Saturday. My daughter turned 21. I don't like to apologize to my listeners that often. I really regret not studying the Minnesota San Antonio thing way longer. The Edwards thing's a great point. It was basically the same. He came back in nine days. They said it was going to be 14. He was really only on paper, probably only missing game one. But the thing I realized last night I was watching and I was kicking myself. I was trying to think of 21st century Hall of Fame. Fuck you basketball teams. Just teams that just have fuck you. All of everything they're doing the way they're carrying themselves everything. And I think the three I had were the pre-Mayway Pacers, which ended up the fuck you spoke in the crowd. But yeah, the way they carry that first month before the fight, they looked like they were going to win the title and they looked like a more dangerous, scarier version of the O4 pistons. The O7 warriors in the, in the, we believe season, ironically Steven Jackson on both of those teams. Yeah. And I think the 2020 heat had it too. And it was interesting because when that was the series, I screwed this up a pod before where droggage got hurt. But there was something about that heat team that they were just, they carried themselves like dragon slayers. Like do you watch Survivor? What? No. Oh, there's a survivor care contestant coach who tries to, he calls himself the dragon slayer and tries to carry himself like a fuck you guy. And I know his backfires on them. There's teams that actually carry it and can do it. Yeah. And I was made a griddle. The stuff they said after the game where Shannon's like, I'm going to fucking drive to the basket. And when he might block some of them, I'm going to keep coming. And he can either block them or I'm going to score. But I'm never going to stop coming to the basket. It's like, I think that's exactly how you have to place San Antonio. Keep coming. And you can't, because here's the thing, A block shot. not does not kill a possession as much as a shot clock violation because you won't put anything up. You make it the ball back. One of the biggest shots of the game last night was after a block shot. I think it was Conley, the corner three. Shout out, Mike Conley, by the way, the rockets could have had him. They probably saved their season. I would add maybe to your list, the grit and grind Grizzlies, who one time another great one didn't they didn't have their best player for a game. Twenty Allen someone in the head in game six of all the series. Um, that's a great one. So the the 2011 Grizzlies, I apologize, that's the perfect ad for this. And so I, here's the thing why I feel so good about Minnesota. I don't think they played great yesterday. They were all for the first place. Yeah, he was bad after the game. They were awful from the free throw line. McDaniels was in foul trouble the whole game. So he couldn't do all his shit. Yeah. And was just getting back into the flow of it. You could see it, but he ran out of gas at the end and almost blew it and he only played 25 minutes. Right. And they still and by the, at some point I think I was going to take those bones Island minutes and bones Island. He hit the one three. They took it off. But he's over six. Like, and he left out two other things. They have nobody believes in a synergy. Like they're like a football team. This is like watching an NFL playoffs. They pinch what he said after the last series where he's like, they wanted to play us like that's this is what they wanted and that really made us bad. And now this series, same thing were the spurs huge favorites, the darlings. That's one. The other is you don't really realize that sometimes they're watching it. The spurs are going to need Carter Bryant to come back and actually play real minutes or they're going to lose the series because Minnesota has a physicality advantage with Randall and with Edwards and and to me goal, San Antonio last night three guards for sell and Webby. It's not going to cut it. They're not big enough. Well, and and there's, there's two, there's two other kind of and I'm not like an X's and O's guys guy, but there's, it's very obvious. There's two things that jumped out to me before the series and now after watching game one. When, when go bears on the court, he really is going to give Wimby trouble on offense. However, him being on the court fully unleashes Wimby on defense because go bears never going to be anywhere but by the basket. So Wimby can just play safety and block everything. However, when go bear is off the court, they can mitigate Wimby a bit because they can go five out. They can go five out and because everybody can shoot. So that's the first time. And then also multiple physical guys that can come in. You just want to beat him up. He's 22. He's never been in played 10 straight weeks of playoffs like this. Zach, I listened to Zach today. Zach said last night was the third most minutes he's ever played in any game in his career. It was 40. What in 46? It was 40. And at the end, he looked a little, the final possession, Derek Harper gets the rebound, he gives it to Wimby. Wimby gives it right back to him. Like I know, and he was gassed. And they didn't remember the Denver, the Saturday game against the back and forth, but Joker have the same thing happened. He got cast in the OT. Right. The game of the year. And by overtime, he's out. He's just out of it. And you are how many elbows to the ribs. And he had those bruised ribs, which at the very end of the year, is he going to have from Go Bear, Randall and Nazaree. How about how many guys going full speed driving into him, knees, his legs, elbows, push offs? I think their whole game plan is to beat the shit out of him. And which is why winning, which is why they couldn't blow that first game, Minnesota, like they couldn't have done all that and then lose. Well, that's my five game role where it's like, if you lose that game, now you basically have to win five games at a seven game series, you're not going to win. You have to. And so I, and I just think, and I'm going to say one other thing that I think is like psychologically just true. And this is a problem probably for a lot of Kevin Durant teams to be totally honest. The best teams take on the personality of their best player, whether he wants them to or not, like the, my, my team, the Kansas chiefs. You know why there's never any bulletin board material because my homes is the most boring press conference there's ever been. And everyone just falls, falls in line. Brady was like this, too. Right, right. They, they, they're, the, the thunder, Shay is kind of a unique personality. I don't want to say corny, but whatever it is, he's got his own thing. Everybody's like, you know what, we're doing group photos, we're doing group commercials, we're doing that. And is so goddamn fearless. Yeah. And confident that not only does the whole team take on the personality, you know who I think it is great for is go bear, who go bears just like man, I've just been a fucking punchline. Everybody make me, my own team, when I was in Utah, it seemed like sometimes my own teammates didn't like me. The, the, the inside the NBA makes fun of me. Dremon chokes me. I don't get the respect. And now I started COVID. But yeah, well, that was, I mean, that wasn't great. That was, that was not great. And now I, like, it's like I've got the toughest crew. And guess what? Joker come deal with me. This is, this is for go where's going to be in the hall of fame. And this is the everyone's in the office could be the crew. What do you say? Everyone makes the whole fit. No, right. I understand. But four time defensive player in the air is going to make this is the moment where he can really puff his chest out and doing it against like, I don't know if Wendy's his protege, but you know, this, they're both French. Like he's known him since he was a kid, like, I don't know. I don't know. A little bit brother, a little brother thing to that. Like when you know somebody when, you know, when, when they were 12 and you were 25 or whatever it is, like you're always going to kind of see them that way. What you just described with the go bear thing with the aunt, it's one of my favorite basketball things. The best one ever for this was Bill Lambeer, who ends up on a team eventually with Mohorn. And then Isaiah, who was probably the toughest guy of the 80s, even though he was six foot two in that whole team. And then all of a sudden Lambeer is like, by 1990, Lambeer is like, I think I can fight Charles Barkley and gets like, he's throwing actual punches with Barkley. He's closed landing dudes. That, that, you know, when you, you could do that when you have those guys around you. And then in the early 90s, those guys weren't around him and what happened? The next, they come in the Riley Nicks and they basically just snatch their souls like a boxer. But it's, it's so authentic from aunt, Jaden, and Julius Randall. Those guys are like, we're bad asses. And we're going to beat you up that it is infectious for everybody. Randall and the Joker fight, sit like Randall was going to, they're near fight. It seemed like Randall wanted to fight everybody in that. Yeah. It's a tough day. Yeah. And so I just, I don't know, man. I am. So here are my concerns. Yeah. Okay. They ramp up Edwards's minutes enough. They're relying on zombie Mike Conley, who played a good game sex and played decent minutes for them yesterday. But old guys in a series always makes me nervous. Um, what's going to come, as I'll going to be able to come back and actually play the Shannon thing, what he brought to the table in different Chenzos place. I kind of liked like just, it just felt like another relentless guy who just all he wanted to do was ball and get to the rim. Um, San Antonio, three point shootings, always going to make me nervous with them. The youth and the inexperience, including the coach. And then, uh, the fact that they need Carter Bryant, who's a rookie, I don't even think he's 20 yet, but they're actually going to like genuinely need him in this series. And then the big thing is Fox, because Fox killed them yesterday. And I felt like they didn't want to bench them because they didn't want them to become a story, but they should have. And they should have played Harper down the stretch. I don't not going to say Harper's better than Fox, but Fox was so bad in that game. And it's going to be a story now because he knows he'll be the fall guy if they lose. Yeah. The Fox thing's really disappointing. I've, um, yeah, I lived in Houston when he, uh, we've talked about this a bit. My son was a big time, uh, high school and then college basketball player. And so they, I was in a lot of the same A U events as Deer and Fox. Yeah. Uh, and he's a little, uh, just a little bit older than my son. Um, I mean, I watched him score 40 points in the first half of a running clock A U game. I've never seen anybody like him on the court. And so I've always, I rooted for him in Sacramento. Yeah. I've always liked him. But he is the fulcrum of this series because, yeah, I don't care about Harrison Barnes experience. Harrison Barnes is not a key part of the rotation. Luke Cornet has experience. He's a backup center. the only guy with playoff experience that should be on the court and crunch time is five you would trust. Yeah. And if he's not, if he's not up to it, it's such a, you're going to have moments like the end of last night. Can we spend a minute talking about the very? He's going to get Mike Conlan instead of IO. Right. When IO comes back like this would be that should have been the easiest game in this series for you. What did you make of the final possession for San Antonio? Young team I'm calling time out. A lot of times I'd like to let the clock go in that situation. I think you do it. If you have an older team, experience team, like if you're the next young team I'm calling time out. And I didn't think Champagne Shot was going in. Even though it was wide open and it was the best possible shot they could have gotten in kind of that, you know, Harry, Harry kind of situation. I would have called time out. But I, I don't, it's like, it's like staying on 12 and blackjack. You kind of have to decide, is this who I am with this moment? You can't just be like every time I do something differently. So that's apparently what they do. So I, so I have two takes, I guess. If I mid Johnson and I see Harper get the rebound and throw it to Wimbee. The moment I see that, no, the moment I see that Wimbee has now just passed it back timeout. Yeah. Like if he threw it to him and Wimbee's ripping up the court, like, all right, you know what? Winner die with what this guy decides to do. Either way, it's important moment for him. But once he gave it back, I'd be like, okay, let's talk it over. My other, I normally think down to go for the three because over time, like try to get the win. It felt to me like, because the one time I am a bigger fan of playing for over time is when the other team has just absolutely melted down. Well, it also has a guy in a minutes restriction. Who's their best guy? I mean, I know Kasslet fouled out which works against it. But it just like when, when LeBron hit the three and game three against Houston, it was 100% that if Houston did not win in regulation, they were losing an overtime because it was such an emotional devastation that you were there. Minnesotals of Saturn say their momentum doesn't matter though. That I don't give a shit. There are certain things that you just, you, you know, you know it every time, especially if you're in the building for that. Right. If you blow it, if you're a big underdog that had a game one and then lost it, but and it goes over time, you're, it was pretty missing the three in the corner. I knew we're gonna lose. Game was over. And so I just, I wouldn't have hated a timeout draw and the other thing is this. Here's nothing a timeout allows for you to have. If you are like you're saying San Antonio trying to win and also trying to win next year and like develop something. A good moment for Wimbee either way. Hey man, draw on this up for you. Win or lose. When you're 518 and they're going to put root to go bear in now that we call timeout. All right. So that's fair point. That's fair point. Keep and go bear off the court. But this is the issue with them is who is your I'm going to create a good shot going downhill for us on our team. And the answer is it's still in Harper who's 19 years old. Even in that moment when he got the rebound, five years from now, he's going to know in his head exactly how much time is left. And he's off. He gets out. He doesn't throw it to Wimbee. He's just going because he knows like I have eight seconds. I gotta go. He's 19. He was like, Hey, oh, shit. There's seven seconds left. And you could see it the way that's the problem with relying. I know. Yeah. I think I've been calling Dylan Harper Derek Harper. You didn't want to say, listen. Listen to the old guy cast our use for used to old guy things like that. So it's fun. I have a really important question for you about this series. Yeah. Who do you think will Casey wants to play after they watch that first game? What a great question. I was thinking about this all day. And I don't even have an answer, but I think they would want to play Minnesota because San Antonio was such a weird matchup for them. But after watching that game, I think I'd be afraid of the fuck you with the Minnesota team. Man, it's going to feel if Minnesota wins this series, it will feel a little team of Destiny-ish and we assume Ant will be by the end of it in the best, like the healthiest he's been. That team, I would want nothing to do with. How about the run of beating Joker and beating them to the point that Shams is on Sports Center next day going, they'll take calls on everyone on the team except YoKish. That's round one. Round two is we've cut the legs out of this. Wembee juggernaut that everybody was just assuming it was going to be. Then round three, you beat the back-to-back potential champs. We've just won, I think, 140 games in two years or whatever it is. And then round four, you beat the next. It's about as good of a run as you're going to have. Certainly would be as good, it would be as good of a run to a finals as we've had in, yeah, since Dirk's. Dirk and 11 are Hakeem and 95. Hakeem 95 is the all-timer. The, oh, yeah. And because they're the 60, but this is the 62. Yeah. And by the way, it came in 95 also ended with the nicks. Well, here's the other question. Well, answer that one. I keep it 95 ended with the magic. Sorry, go ahead. So who do you think they're rooting for? I think they, as crazy as it sounds because San Antonio owned them, I think they'd want, I think at this point, they'd rather play San Antonio. Who do you think the NBA is rooting for? Because I think you could make the case. It's better for the NBA of Minnesota wins this series because Wembe's already going to happen. Wembe's inevitable. But Minnesota elevates. Yeah. And it gives, I think that is true. And I think there is, there is a authenticity and charisma to aunt that is just infectious. And that is impossible not to be drawn to. And it is, I also feel like Minnesota winning it gives a lot of fan bases hope because Minnesota is not as like considered as they're just smartly put together. Like it's like they get a number on pick in the draft. Yes. And it's a great, great player. Don't get me wrong. But they don't look at him like an alien like Wembe. Yeah. And it's not like, okay, see, it's like, oh, well, yeah, they have a billion picks and pull it off this ice. It's like, no, actually, we had a smart GM. We just lost the most improved player in the league with left our team. We lost him and had to replace him in Nikhil Alexander Walker. And we were fine. So I think that is, I think Minnesota winning it. I also, again, as your audience, as I just told him, you know, I have a half a million dollar worth of equity in it. So I guess maybe I'm a little more awesome story. I could not believe. Sometimes I watch like, you know, right away with a playoff series Orlando Detroit, it was just clear they were even. Yeah. And you could watch game one and I'm like, oh, shit, this is going to be a good series. Boston, Philly, game three was the game that worried me. And then Bede came back and messed them up for a game. But game three, even though the Celtics one is like, ah, they seem really comfortable against us. Like, this is a bad, bad sign. And I think that game yesterday, I don't think it was a flu. Castle fouling out, you could point to Fox was terrible. No Carter Bryant. Those are three things that can fix. But I agree with you. I think Minnesota could absolutely win this series and gone to my head. I think I would pick them. Listen, I think it is Minnesota was like plus 800. And then the ant news came down and they were down to like plus 400. And then right before tip off was down to like plus 350. Yeah. And now right now, I think they're like plus 160. And the only reason I don't think it is even is because it's all right. If they started as such dogs, it hasn't totally fully over corrected. But I think plus 176 right now. Okay, plus 176. So it's fair. Considering they have three home games left. The guys come back. We got to take a break and we have two more big topics. All right. Pretty good NBA playoffs so far. In case you didn't know, I'll play have a song. I'm looking at the Slates sharing my favorite picks on Twitter. I almost hit everything last Friday and ended up Tatum gets hurt in the third quarter and doesn't hit his points rebounds over which he was very close on everything else hit. This is what happens. But this is also why same game parlays are so excited to do. I'm posting my picks on Twitter usually on for the Wednesday games and then maybe Friday over the weekend. So I'll be looking at San Antonio, Minnesota putting some sort of pick. I really think Minnesota every game is a live underdog because they are absolutely convinced that they can be at San Antonio. So stay tuned for that pick. When I bet I bet with Fandall brand, I trust easy to build your NBA bets on Fandall. You know, You're getting great odds. payouts on your parlay as many boost options and you're going to get your winnings instantly. Fandall, play your game. All right. I want to do lottery karma rankings with you, but you wanted to do LeBron in the ring or 100 quick. So go ahead. You have the floor. Yeah. Well, I don't know how quick you're going to have to come. Yeah. Make it kind of quick. Wait. I know you're going with it. I, I just have a request to the founder CEO and president of the ringer to convene in an emergency ranking session and be like, hey, real quick, everybody. I just wanted to do a status check. Do we still think all the old guys are better than LeBron? Because all fucking year I've had to look at this and see, oh, Steph Curry is better than LeBron. That's cool. Kauai. He's obviously better than LeBron. Kevin Durant. Oh my god. He's clearly better than LeBron. James freaking hardened better than LeBron. I'm looking at it. I don't know. I live in New York City. I saw Steph Curry yesterday at the Met Gala, Kevin Durant. I didn't see him. But I know what he's doing. Hang it out somewhere. Rowan in a locker room. Be a Twitter. Yeah. Hey, Kauai Leonard is winning your, your, our buddy, Pablo Apulitzer. Yeah. James Hardin's going three for nine into game seven and LeBron's throwing goddamn Allie Ups to his son in the same game. He hit a series clenching three. And I got to say, he's not a top 20 player in the league. Give me a break. Can LeBron please be the highest ranked old guy, please? Well we do the list every month and it's a snapshot of where everybody is at that moment when we do the list that I'm sure it'll be much higher when we do the list again. I think we need to add another list though, which by the way is always great content. But we have the ringer 100 that's over here. So somebody like him beads not going to do well in the ringer 100 because he plays 30 games a year. Like at some point you got a durability has to become a huge part of the wrecking. I think we should start a list of best guys. If I know I'm getting them 100% healthy for one playoff series, what's your list? And then LeBron LeBron moves up really high on that list. I think by that metric, first of all, I hear what you're saying about durability really matters. Not for the ringer's favorite child Steph Curry, he can miss 35 games. Nobody cares. He's not neither in or there fair if that were if that were the list. What you said exactly, I think LeBron right now is still a top eight guy. What you said, I think I think he's 14 to 15 range, but you could talk me into 10, 11, 12 just because I fucking smart is yeah, like that Houston series and I should have probably talked more about in this pod, but Houston was so disgraceful with the whole everything. It was also brutal. It was, I mean, it was so mad about this. It was the two critical moments in the series were Friday nights, which are terrible for TV shows and pods. Yeah, you're right. Game three, the steel and game time three is a Friday night. And then the masterpiece in game six is a Friday night. So it's just bad for content. It was, I, I understand how many times have we seen him just do that to a team where it's just like, you Jordan would do it with like his prowess LeBron kind of will do with this prowess, but his brain and he just kind of unlocks the other team. And you give him a team like that messed up rockets team with no point guard and a weird coach. And I'm not sure the chemistry was great. And it's like fucking red meat for LeBron. Yes, and that's why, and so that's why I like is Cade Cunningham better than LeBron right now. Yeah, sure. Of course, he's Cade Cunningham. His first team all NBA. Got it. But Cade Cunningham and Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Maxie, all these guys who are better than LeBron, even but I would say so, could not have after a game and a half just been like, well, here are the fatal flaws of Houston. And now you can't win, and I am going to, I am in the, I'm going to be in such full control. I'm creating memes with little kids on the bench. I'm mortifying Shin Goon in front of his teammates saying everyone else can complain about me flopping, but not you. Well, your teammates can, but not you. I'm doing all of this and it is juxtaposed to one of his primary rivals of the era. The story around him being, wait, he's on an underwater treadmill during game three. Yeah. Wait. This tough. The team, and I like Cade Cunningham a lot, but oh yeah, as it turns out, him, you know, him shit talking his team actually bad for chemistry. I did kind of hurt the lock. No, we learned, we learned on ESPN.com feature day that the young guys and the team are used to criticism. So it didn't bother them as much as you think in that same feature. I would have fucking hated him after I read that, and I'm playing basketball with them. I've been like, fuck this guy, dude, of course. But also that feature was wild because that feature also said internally, the Rockets view, read Shepard with Steve Nash upside. You know what Steve Nash could do early in his career, dribble and pass like even, and so I, so, yeah, I mean, I never got that off my chest. I'm glad you did too. And I do think we should have a, I know I'm getting 100% healthy for this playoff series list. Yeah. I think it would be good. I don't know what number he'd be, but he'd be, I don't think I would have Ms. Hyase 8. But he. Well, no, I mean, okay. Ladder's karma power rankings. Let's go. First wrote this column in 2007, back when my fingers worked. I had more things on there. The basically the concept is who should win the lottery, and we have four chances. They do the lottery for the first four picks. Yep. The big questions, I used to have more questions, but for karma, number one, is your team overdue to win the lottery, great. So like Utah has never moved up. That's the team I would say is overdue. And I don't think he's ever had the first pick. That would be another one. Has the team's big picture game plan made any sense? So Sacramento, for instance, paying the luxury tax for one of the worst teams in the league and not having a future, they would count as a not making sense. Like the bulls. The bulls? Not making. Well, the bulls actually makes sense because they're like, we just, we just want to cheap out every year and our fans are going to pay for checking. Yeah, I don't know if, uh, I owe was that expensive. He probably could be. Seven years was too pricey. Gotta cut that out. Well, at a playoff moment, but go ahead. Sorry. This one's a big one. Did they handle last season? With dignity. Oh, that's going to be a tough one for a few of these. Number four, did they ever make you say why can people divorce their spouses, but they can't divorce their teams? If any of these teams that we have made one of their fans say that to another fan, we have to measure that in the karma rankings. Then finally, um, do you honestly believe the karma gods would feel bad for this team? Is our fifth one? That doesn't happen all the time. But I think Indiana would be a good case of, oh, man, they were game seven in the finals and their best guy blew out as a killies. So is that the full list of rules? Cause I have a question. Those are just five questions, kind of thought starters to think about. Is there any factor of? It would be catastrophic for the league if this team wanted. It's a good ad. I think I used to have it catastrophic in the, oh, you're, so you're talking OK, so you specifically. Yeah. Yeah. Normally would not apply. So we have that cover. I'll give you the categories cause we have that cover. And I'll just give you my list and you can, you can be my conciliary for the lesson. Love it. First category is no karma points whatsoever. So you're big goose. OK, C is our first team. They're in the 12th spot right now. They have a 1.5 chance to win. Um, there's also scenario or OK, so you get to the top four and Indiana gets stays in the top four, a K the clippers apocalypse where they follow by some sort of ruling the next day. Um, but yeah, OK, C's had the in the last 20 years, second, second, fourth and third. So they've had some lottery. I give them no karma points at all. They're really good. They're probably going to win the title again. They don't just work to get a top four pick. The other one I have in there and tell me if I'm right. And I say this with advanced apologies to the Maverick fans who loved Luca did not want to trade him. They got Cooper flag last year. And I think that was the make up call for the horrible trade. Nico got fired. They just brought him a side you hairy. Things are OK. Kyrie's going to come back. I think they used up all their karma points last year with the flag thing, but I'm willing to accept other arguments. No, it's, I have no other arguments, but I think I don't think they used up the karma points for the flag thing. I think they had karma points, even after winning the flag. So you think they have residue karma points? I think they did what happened. And then I think Nico Harrison said, and I quote, I hope people are seeing the vision now. Oh, that, that, that, that, that, that. And then they were like, you got to be kidding. This is, so I'm with you, they're out. - All right, so they have the eighth spot, they have a 6.7% chance to win. - 45.2 for top four. No karma points for them. By the way, they'll get the seventh eighth pick, they're gonna get a great guard, they'll get somebody really good. All right, next category is a small vial of karma points. Charlotte, who's in the 14th spot, 2.4% chance to move up. But they've picked, Conn was the third pick, Miller's second, and Lamello's third. They don't really need another top four pick. - They don't need another top four pick. You do give them credit though. - For the dignity of the season. They really put together a smart team. - And the, I mean, a smartly constructed roster. - Yes, yes, exactly. - And set me up, and also the fact that those guys, if you redrafted, they'd made smart picks. - Yeah, they went three for three. You could argue Haliburne for Lamello, but nobody would have taken Haliburne third. - Nobody would have taken that at the time. That's a different type of thing. So, yeah, so they made the right pick in those. - So they get a little karma for how well they've run the team, the last co-beers. Next one is Miami, who's in the 13th spot, they're not gonna win anyway. They haven't picked higher than 10 since 2008. They did get the decision and all the stuff with the bronze. I think they're still dining on the karma points from that. I had them at zero karma points just in general, but BAM scoring 83 points on the tanking wizards. I think they won karma points for that. So I'm gonna give them a little vibe. - That's what I was, I was so hoping you were gonna go there. - Yeah, that is correct. - They get points for that. So if they get in the top four, it'll be like, oh, it's 'cause of the BAM 83. - It is because they said, oh, you're gonna shamelessly tank, are you Washington? - Yeah. - Well, we are, we're gonna scarlet letter you. - Yeah. - We're going to show you there's a penalty for trying to lose basketball games. - And then unapologetic afterwards. - Unapologetic and the penalty is roughly, and again, this off top my head. The 374th best score in the history of the NBA is gonna score 83 points on you. And you're just gonna eat it. - So I'll give them a little karma for that. Memphis in the six-pot, 9% to win 37.2 for top four. So Jawa's the second pick, and Triple J was also the top five pick. They also took Kevin Love, five, and the beat two. From 95 to 2002, they picked six, three, four, two, two, two, six, four. They've had 12 top six picks in the last 30 years. The Grizzlies franchise. 12 top six picks in the last 30 years. This is their second tear down slash rebuild in seven, eight years. Sorry, Christopher, and it's true. Karma points four. Wasn't their fault Jawa flamed out. Everyone would have taken them second, and I don't know what they really could have, what they really could have done differently. So they get points for that. They're one of five teams that have never made the finals. And recently, LeBron crapped on their city. And I think they get points for all three of those things, where if they won one of the top four picks, I don't think people would be that upset. So I'm gonna give them a little vile. Can I give them a little extra? Yeah, okay, we can move them into the next category if you want. I would like to rep for Memphis for a moment. Let's hear it. So my sister-in-law lives in Memphis. I go there a lot. LeBron's comments really, really hurt the feelings of folks in that city in a way that I thought was a little too much, but it really bothered them. There is a very, yes, it is a very tough city, but it is a prideful city. And they did everything they could to really support and love the jaw grizzlies. And through no fault of the, in my opinion, the organization and certainly the fans just screwed the whole thing up. And so you, we'll move them higher. Okay, you're selling me. I would like Memphis to have another shot at this. And so yeah, I would like to. All right, we'll move up. So we'll revisit a little bit later. So that list was just Charlotte and Miami. You know, the thing about the LeBron comments, it was like the, it was almost like a sucker punch. It was like somebody punched them from behind. Is there just walking down the street and they just woke up the next day, like what happened? LeBron punched you in the back of the head. But what, why did he do that? Like there was no warning at all. And listen, as it turns out, 'cause I then, you know, what followed that story probably closer than most. Man, NBA guys really do hate that hotel. That's it. And I'll come down to the hotel. That's all that matters. Just build a poor story Mandarin and you're good. Right? It's just the hotel. That's it. But LeBron, he was golfing, he was trying to make people laugh. He shouldn't just really focus his critique on just the hotel. It wouldn't have hurt his bed. So yeah. I didn't mind it 'cause I think LeBron's, one of his issues over the years is like, I don't feel like we see the real LeBron and some of this stuff. Like authentic LeBron that I'm sure he's actually like versus what's presented to us. And I thought in that golf video, it's just, I think that's what he's like. So I was like, this is, I wish he did more of this, but then he ended up, you know, picking the entire city feel terrible for a week. Everybody got mad at him. All right. Next category is soup cup of karma points. So Milwaukee is in the 10th spot, 3.0%. Top four would be 13.9. Ironically, they get the worst of their pick or Atlanta's pick or the Pelicans pick that goes to Atlanta. Yes. So I don't even know how to do the karma points here because if they go in the top four Atlanta takes the pick anyway. I give them a little though. They need two teams to go in. Two teams to go in. Yeah, they need both picks to go in. So they need both, so they, so they need a lot of help. Here's, yeah, I, I'm fine with them not having a ton. Yeah, and here's why. Let's see, go. Everyone in the media has landed on G's Yannis enough already. Ask for a trade, move on. All the pressures on Yannis, when everyone I think acknowledges, yes, it's best for Yannis to move on. It's also best for Milwaukee to move on from Yannis. It's best for both parties. And there is, so there should be just as much if not more pressure on the party that actually has to execute the trade to be like, you know what, Yannis, we're going to move on from you. But they don't want to be a bad guy. And everyone's like, well, of course, you don't want to trade Yannis, but I'm demanding it. And Yannis is like, well, I don't want to be a bad guy either. So I just think pardon me, the organization hasn't been great. Also, Jimmy Haslam bought, you know, bought into the team. A karma's not coming his way anytime soon. So yeah, they don't need any extra karma. But the Jimmy here, so we can move them back then. That's fine. Yeah, put them where you had Memphis. Yeah, the the Yannis Milwaukee thing was like the benevolent version of the Justin Baldoni Blake Labley lawsuit that finally got settled. Neither one wanted to admit that they were the one that wanted to settle it, which is basically where we are with the bucks. Okay, next one is Sacramento. I was very curious where you were going to have. Fifth spot, LEM.5%. They had the fourth pick in 22, Murray. They had second and 18, Marvin Bagley, one pick ahead of Luca. Luca. And then a lot. I said, Luke is a big market guy. Can't do. Sacramento wasn't a big enough market. Can't take him. Got to take him more loyal, worse player. What are the craziest takes I've ever heard? I was like, how could Sacramento fit worse about this? How about this podcast interview for eight years later? And then Fox was the top five pick. So from 2019 to 18, they picked four, five, seven, five, seven, eight, six, eight, five, two. And I'm just tired of this team and this franchise. But the karma points, and this is why they're in the soup cup. They're fans, this 20 year run for them. Just for the fans only, there has to be like a significant amount of karma points. Like this. 20 years of just, ugh, they've never had the number one pick, right? Never had it. Oh. And no, they had it once, never nervous perverse. Oh, okay. So yeah, that was late '80s. 89. So they haven't had the number one pick in 35 years. They've certainly been bad enough to get it. There's six teams that haven't had the pick. Denver, Miami, Utah, the Hornets, the Lakers, and the Pacers. The Lakers not having ever had the number one pick and having had nine number one picks on the team in their history is just bananas. Right. Yeah, I'm fine with that for Sacramento. Okay. Now for a special part of today's episode where we unpack a six pack or rather six of the biggest things happening on and off the court during playoff season, brought to you by Michelobaltre, the official beer partner of the NBA in a superior light beer. I had a couple of them last weekend and it really is a pair. Let's get started. Here's my six pack. It's possible trade candidate fall guys for round two. As round two evolves here over the next two weeks, who not only might take some of the blame for a playoff loss, but also it would open the door for them to potentially be trade bait to improve the team. I'm going to rank from one to six for the six pack. Number one, Jared Allen on Cleveland because of Cleveland cannot get by to trade. That will mean they probably have to decide between Mobile and Jared Allen as their quote unquote big. Maybe you could trade one of them to either change the team, get somebody like Yannis. If you put Mobile on the table or just trade Jared Allen for somebody, it was a little bit cheaper. But I think Cleveland would have to decide between those two guys because over and over again, it would have been the same story with them. That's one. Number two, Deer and Fox, which Nick Wright and Todd talked about on the Tuesday pod. He just cannot rise to the challenge against a Timberwolves team that has zombie by Conley and I had a soon move who's battling injury if he can't figure out a way to really impact that. He would be a potential guy. Maybe they turn him into a shooter or somebody with more size. Number three, Nas Reed. I don't know if anybody on the nobody believes in us, Timberwolves would even be on the trade block, but this would be the one guy you would maybe think about because for what he's making and doesn't play a ton of minutes and you have Go Bear and you have Randall and maybe you could flip him into more guard help or something else. But I'm not even trying to really believe in this one. Number four, Evan Moby for all the same reasons I mentioned with the calves. Number five, Carl Towns on the New York Nicarbockers just because if they somehow blow this six or series, I assume there will be a fall guy in the next and Yannis trade rumors and he's the logical person that would be in a trade. I actually like the way he's playing in the playoffs, but I had to mention him. And then number six, I have Isaiah Stewart on the pistons who reasonable salary is banking like 15, relic at advanced stats could probably be the starting center for somebody and maybe you see his usage gets yanked around undetroid with Durin. Maybe that's a piece they would want to put in a trade to get the much needed second score they have. So Kate Cunningham doesn't have to shoot 35 times. I don't mention Austin Reeves as a sign in trade, sad to throw him out there in case the Lakers decide, maybe we do want to keep the LeBron. Anyway, that's it for today's six pack. So now you can go grab your own six pack of Michelobultra plus Michelobultra is giving you a chance to win exclusive prizes, including courtside tickets and more. Enter now. Michelobultra dot com slash court side, Michelobultra superior is worth playing for Michelobultra court side 2526. No purchase necessary open the US residents 21 plus begins on October 1st, 2025 ends on June 30th, 2026, multiple entry periods, see official rules of Michelobultra dot com slash court side for free entry entry deadlines and prizes and details. Next one is Brooklyn, I didn't really know where to put Brooklyn 14% during the third spot. Top 452.1. They've only had one top three pick really in the last 20 years, Derek favors number three. Karma points for building the 2024 Celtics inadvertently karma points for really trying to make a legitimate run with cap space and K.D. and Kyrie, they trade everything for hard and they get hoes. I'm going to give them the merits for I just think they're incredibly poorly run. I don't understand just about anything they do and so I kind of put them here. I'm willing to be talked about. Sean marks, he just needs a 13th or 14th year and he'll nail it. This could be the year he might have figured it out for others. So I agree with you in that I do want to give credit for the fact that Brooklyn twice in the last 15 years has been like we are going, we're going all in, we want to win the title. We're brazenly going after the time. So I want to give them credit for that. I want to give them non credit for the fact that they had five first round picks last year and I don't know who any of them are. I live. I want to, I don't know them. Trey, are you guy? I want to give them non credit for the fact that the first year that they had Kyrie, Katie and Harden, I got pretty good season tickets to the, to the nets and midway through the year. They were a good team and midway through the year. My wife said to me, next year, do you think it'd be better if we just spent the money on 10 good next games? And I was like, really, I mean, you could say five, five good things and she, and it was, and it's not like she's a, you know, a huge fan of anyone on the next anything like that. And she was like, it just feels so much more fun there. Like here, nobody's really into it. They had Katie, Kyrie and Harden, they had no fans like they, and so we don't even get worse. The Liberty games are fucking awesome. They're the exact same arena, same arena. My daughter and I went to when the Liberty, the clinching game for the title, it's electric. So that does work against them. It would though, they do have to get a superstar to have any chance of getting any type of attention there. So yeah, a little bit. I mean, they've gone for it. I just don't, I don't think it's, I'm going to keep them in this category. Yeah. We'd all be better off if they just moved to Seattle and we didn't have expansion. Next category is a salad bowl of karma points. You might, you might disagree with this. I have golden state here, 2.0% 11 spot, top 4, 9.4%. They did have wise men as the second pick six years ago and coming a number seven. Those are the last two really good picks last 15 years. This is just about, this is where you're mad. Yeah. I don't want to see Steph just be on shit teams for the next three years of his career. I'm not going to get mad. I totally agree with that. Let's get him more good guy. So I, I'm Steph, so I don't know what category is bigger than salad bowl. There's two more categories. There's, okay. Oh, no, this is, this is the second last category. Okay. Steph individually, his karma deserves the biggest. What works against him and brings it to this just second tier is the team. No, the team being so smug in that we've got one of the 12 greatest players of all time. He's still awesome. Let's try to win while also preparing for our most staff life. It was the same shit. I'll never forget, never the cabs in 2018. When Kyrie wanted out and they could have had Paul George and the owner, Dan Gilbert was like, well, no, we need a post lebron life. And so we need a, a pick that turned into Colin Sexton and they got little Isaiah Thomas of that trade they did with bosses, that was, that was your guy though, Lebron. What do you mean? What do you mean? Because he was going to leave after the year and they're like, we'll do the trade if we know you're staying. And he would come in. Yeah. I understand. And guess what? Whether he was leaving or not. You know what you should try to do when you have Pete Lebron James, win the title that year. Instead, they were like, no, we have to be okay afterward. He could have waited one more year and then gone into Lakers in 2019. He could have done all these things. He's been like, I'll sign a one year extension if you do this trade. Yeah. He could have done all those things or the caps could have just made the better. First of all, it would have been the better trade. Right. Second of all, planning for a post, a, a, a, a future post your all time legendary players done. So I hated what the Warriors did with Kurt to Curry. Like this, I'm not maximizing those young players for win now guys. So he deserves extra karma. Okay. That's where the station deserves less to leave it where it is also a little tiny douse of negative karma for Dremond having the audacity to be like, yeah, you know, Steve Kerr held me back. What? What? Are you? Now that's awesome. He only did that to get talk show segments out of it. Well, he got it. He got it. There's content all over the place. They got it. Austin Rivers and Dremond, they might, they might be meeting in Temecula soon. They're, they're going after it, but it was, but so go ahead. So you're fine. I'm fine. All right. Next one, Chicago. Top four for them is 20.3%. They're in the nine spots. So 4.5 to win it. They've picked a fourth and 20, 20, 20. They had a stretch from 99 to 08, one, four, four, two, seven, three, two, nine, one. They've been the cheapest big market team in any sport. If you think the three biggest markets are in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Yes. They've been the cheapest of anybody other than the Sterling Clippers. It's been 28 years since Michael Jordan retired. Their fans deserve better and all of those are reasons they should have karma points. Conversely, do the Ryan Storfs deserve the top four pick? Where do we put this? This is way too high for Chicago. But can you blame the fans though? So you would put them where Sacramento is basically. Yeah. All right. I'll move back. I don't blame the fans, but listen, bulls fans, there are also bearers fans. You just got Caleb Williams and Ben John. and you got you got hockey team, you got two baseball teams. Honestly, that's their attitude. They've just moved to the Cubs and they've moved to the Bears and the Bulls. They just assume we're going to go 42 and 40 every year and that's the NBA team now. Yeah. And so the Ryan's doors. All right. I moved them back. All right. So we have Golden State, moved Memphis into this category. Utah. Thank you for that. Fourth spot, Utah. 11.5% top four, 45.2. 15 years, they picked fifth last year, fifth and 14, Takedante XM, and canter in 2011. They have never moved up in the lottery ever and they bastardized the sport to the point that they finally had to actually change the lottery rules and do this three to one thing. I think they got karma points for that. They're the catalyst. Why? Yeah. They're the catalyst for changing the lottery in a good way. It took them. What if you were a break to do it? This is a little bit of, you love Danny Amge and want good things for him. I mean, they were deserted us and took our, took our best assistant. All right. So maybe they. I mean, here is why they, the fans of the jazz deserve, do deserve good lottery luck. The fact that the team, that quite literally for all of NBA past, present and future is going to have the hardest time signing free agents in perpetuity has never moved up in the lottery. Seems like a sick joke. Although, some like what? Some like, some like, it's red hot right now. You know, I believe in, I get a baseball team. It's really cool to go there. I believe, you know, there are reality shows Wyoming is sick, is super hot right now too. You know where, you know what demographic? It's not super hot. I'm up around NBA players NBA free agents, 27 year old NBA superstars. Not very often being like, Hey, guess where I just got a spread, Salt Lake. And so I, they need some luck there. Okay. All right. So keep as is. If it's Utah in this category, I have Atlanta via the New Orleans pick. So they had a good season. They did win the lottery two years ago, so they lose points for that. Top four, 29.3% chance to move up, 6.8% for the seventh spot. And the case for them for karma points, they built a really fun team. They did a good job for the most part. They have fun nucleus. It would be fun if they got one of these guys. And I think this is around the right area for them. So when you first told me we were doing this, my gut was, I was going to say Atlanta should be number one. Oh, well, let me give you the other two teams then, but I'm going to, but I know I think you have it right. I know because so my gut was, it was such a savvy trade with Joe Dumas and New Orleans just to get this pick. I'm having the guts to finally move off tray young, the fact that they, you know, CJ had this moment, all that work for him. And then what kept sticking in my head was, yeah. But they took Zachary Risa, Shay, number one overall. So they probably third is a good spot. So we have two teams left, two karma teams left, two karma teams. One is in the same category. The Washington Wizards. All right. First, Joe House, LEM.5% to win. No, that's not right. They're in the first spot. 14% chance to win. Yes. 52.1 for top four. They picked star two years ago, number two. They got the six pick last year with Johnson. They've had 12 top six picks in the last 35 years. Since they made the 1979 finals, they have five playoff series wins in 47 years and they've never made the conference finals. And their fans are in about as dark of a place as it gets. And they're probably upset that they couldn't even win this. So I have them second. And Anthony Davis is talking as if he's never going to play a game for him. Yeah, he's like, he's on Redfinn in every NBA city, looking at houses. They have a poor, certainly a better place in Portland. Figuring out where he's going to be. They're also about to have the Trey Young experience, which I don't think is enjoyable. Can I tell you something about Trey Young? Sure. I think we've all blocked it out of our mind. I was just looking this up randomly the other day because I was looking at Yannis stuff. The Hawks won two games in the 2021 conference finals. Yeah. That series was four to two now Yannis the cup of them. But if you go back and look at the box scores, they look like two eight seats. Compared to now, it was, but it was two. Yannis got hurt in game four. Yeah. So it was, it was two to with Yannis out for the rest of the series at Lanna. It was going to be, you know, Chris Paul was going to be a champion. That's what was going to happen. Right. If Atlanta wins that series, um, yeah, it was two to win the conference finals. It's remarkable. I think the 2020 and 21 seasons, 50 years from now, people are going to be in basketball reference. Like, wait, what, what's going on here? Yeah. I mean, 20, I think I think people will probably remember 20 is probably the final title for the greatest player of all time. But see, they're here and right there at Lanna. What's working against it, Lanna is, or I'm sorry, what's working? It's washing. Pardon me, the, um, the shamelessness, the embarrassment of being scarlet lettered by bam. I mean, they have, they have just been, but their fans don't deserve, it's not on their fans. All right. I'm fine with them being there. Would you put your land over them? Yes. Okay. I would put a land as a second spot. Okay. And I love who you have number one. Yeah, so this is the last category, a swimming pool of karma points, Indiana, 14 percent there in the two spot, top 452.1, an amazing wrinkle where they only keep the pick. If it's top four, they could drop to five or six, otherwise it goes to the quippers. Little similar to, I don't know if you watch survivor, but Devon's flipping the coin to basically try to stay in the game is kind of what they did with that pick. They flip the coin and if it comes up heads, they're away and they get a top four picked and they get Zubat's and they get Tyrese Halbert coming back. Yeah. Like they're, they're probably going to be like the number two favorite in the east. Well, yeah. And they, if there is ever an acceptable reason to throw a season away, it was them. It's like, hey, we, they, we made a finals the year before that. They made the conference finals the year before they made the finals. We made the finals and our best guy risked everything to play in game seven, take a chance and the worst possible outcome happened and ruined our next season. Ruined our next season. And so we snap recalibrated, we're not, we didn't tear it down. We just took a gap year and we also also didn't they, they had their pick only because of a trade, they made during the finals, during the finals to get their pick back. So they had, they did that with like a little, maybe a little premonition of what was to come. That came across conspiracy bill's desk last summer, what did they make that trade during the finals? Was it like Halbert in protection, like getting protection in Blackjack or something? It's, it was, it's crazy how it happened. It was days before the guy gets hurt. Their well run, they, they have a plan and it, it is, it's not quite the O3 lottery where Jerry West is sitting there. I either get LeBron James or it's the all time, so all time either or, I don't know it. Now we know LeBron would have been out of there and O7. Maybe they know. Can I tell you something? Not only would LeBron not have been out of there, they would have a 30 foot, a 30 story, seven star hotel with what that's downtown would have been if LeBron was there. The, the mimpses montage, it's Indiana being like, all right, they're going to be watching the lottery just knowing. If three teams move up, yeah, if they come like five or six, it's over. And then if you're, so the best thing they have going for them is the clippers would benefit from this, which wouldn't, I don't know if the league would be doing backflips that the clippers got the fifth pick in the draft. So, and then could, if, let's say a ruling came down, they decided the clippers did all this stuff. Could they then just say you don't get the fifth pick that's going to be part of the penalty? I don't know. So I think Indiana, Indiana, I don't, they don't have to get the number one pick, but they've got to stay in the top four. So I like them. I like them being number one on this. All right. So I'll recap note from no karma points to a swimming pool of karma points. Yeah. Okay. See Dallas, Charlotte, Miami, Milwaukee, Sacramento, Chicago, Brooklyn, Golden State, Memphis, Utah, Washington, Atlanta, Indiana, having the most karma points. So that's a good. list. It's a good list. Congratulations, Indiana. Good luck, Atlanta. Memphis. I hope this made Chris Vernon. Everyone happy that there is, you know, somebody repping for Memphis. What does conspiracy Nick think would be the fissious outcome? Last year we hit the fissious outcome when Cooper flag went to the Dallas Mavericks. I think it's Golden State getting a top four pick. It would be the one that I think can go, oh, yeah, if I was running the lead, that's what I would have done. All right, so let Golden State, Golden State certainly is the one that's best for the lead. Yeah, there's no doubt about that. Like them just getting to Bansa? The who could play right away for them? What about what about this one? And I don't know again, I don't know if they would do it, but maybe they would. What about Brooklyn getting a top four pick and using that for Janice? That's a trade for Janice. Like that is. Well, here's the thing with Brooklyn. They don't have their pick next year because Houston can swap it. Oh, yeah, it's part of that weird deal they made. So they actually have to be good next year. So yeah, Brooklyn would be another one. I'm not sure they're anxious to help out Brooklyn. No, that's probably true. Dallas can be the other one. It's like, hey, you OS for the rest of the Luca trade. We know, we know you promised us one lottery, but it was actually two two batteries to send Luca to Los Angeles. Just so you know, I just clicked SIM lottery on tankathon. And the result was Milwaukee moved up to one. So that goes to Atlanta. Wow. And the clippers moved up to two. And that goes to O.K.C. That would not be great. That's when it just came up in the one that I just did. Oh, my god, Milwaukee to the goes to Atlanta's one, the clippers, which goes to O.K.C. it to Washington three, Utah four, poor Indiana drops to five. And it goes to the clippers. Oh, then gamut of emotions for the clippers, gamut of emotions. Okay, say moving into the top four of this lottery would enrage people. I it would be a catastrophe. I was on the air when Cleveland won the 2014 lottery. And I kind of melted down for like a minute. Yeah, I remember. I remember. I was like, he had to be kidding me. This is the third time in four years that they won the lottery. Um, real quick. Is it weird to you that it's on a Sunday? Yeah, I hate it. I hate it. It's supposed to be Tuesday night or Wednesday night, right? Well, they're going to have so it's a 12 30 game lottery after the or 12 30 Pacific 330 Eastern game lottery. And then the next game. And I don't like that at all. I don't like it. I don't know. I liked when it was the middle of the week and we could get content out of it. But yeah, all right, Nick, right. I took enough of your time. This was a true pleasure. Thanks for doing the karma rankings. Thanks for talking basketball with me. It was great to see you as always. Oh, you know what? You as well. I'll tell Kevin Wilde. How about this? You say hello and you tell Joe House who I've never met. But in my head, we're friends. I say hello. All right, we'll do that. All right, great to see you. Thank you. Yeah, bye. All right, that's it for the podcast. Thanks to Nick Wright. Thanks to Gahau and Eduardo as well. Don't forget about the new rewatchables we put up. There's something about Mary. Don't forget about Legata finally ended. Uh, the conclusion in the last seventh episode of the series is up and you can rip through all of them now. I'm going to be back on Thursday with one more podcast. Can't wait. Must be 21 plus and president select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas star casino or 18 plus and president DC Kentucky or Wyoming game prom call 100 gamble or 1 800 by reset call 888 7977777 or visit ccpg.org/chat Connecticut or mdgamblinghelp.org and Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gambling helpline ma.org or call 800 327 5050 for 24 seven sport and Massachusetts or call 877 8 hope and why or text hope and why in New York for Louisiana call 877 770 7867