Wembanyama Makes History, Warriors No Longer Paying Porzingis, and Russell Westbrook Will Get His Jersey Retired In OKC | Real Ones

AI is moving fast across the enterprise. But without visibility, it's just chaos. Different tools, different models, different teams using AI in completely different ways. ServiceNow turns that chaos into control. With the AI Control Tower, you see all your AI across the business in one place. What it's doing, what it's done, and what it's about to do. So you stay in control. To put AI to work for people, visit servicenow.com. What's poppin'? Real ones. Logan Murdoch here. Howard Beck and Raja Bell in a few. Really, really fun episode where we talk about the magic of Wemby. Then we talk about the confusion with Cooper Flagg to start the season. And then we talk a little bit about the Warriors and this Porzingis situation. And then we get into a Russ discussion and we, one other housekeeping thing, make sure you tap in on realonesmailbag at gmail.com, realonesmailbag at gmail.com, realonesmailbag at gmail.com. We'll be doing a mailbag episode really, really soon. Don't know the date yet, but you guys should tap in. We'll be doing a mailbag episode very, very soon. All right, that's it for me right now. Let's get to the episode. Cliff, Isaiah, Victoria, please play the theme music. The Ringer NBA show is presented by FanDuel. It's the NBA season and FanDuel is calling it your most rewarding season ever. I mean, more rewarding than watching a center pull up from three and actually knock them out. Knock it down. That's good stuff. With FanDuel Rewards Club's offers, surprises, and more, there's plenty to look forward to all season long. Download the FanDuel app to get started. 21 plus in select states, 18 plus in DC or Wyoming. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. We'll see you next time. to get to San Francisco and I complained that I was going to miss my pregame nap and he laughed in my face. I'm still laughing. Why are you laughing in my face? You can't keep saying it. You can't keep saying it like that. Now, once you gave it some context, which was really. Let me throw the context out there. To the nap. Okay, so last night I was. But can I. Before you throw the context, before you throw it, let me say what I heard was when you said that and maybe you didn't mean to was like I. take a pregame nap before every game as a journalist. Like that was your routine for that and that did tickle me. Then you gave the context. Okay, two things on that really quickly. First of all, I do take a pregame nap as a writer before games. No matter what the circumstances is. And second off, I will give the context. Last night, I went to. I went. No, no. Let me get my context off. Let the streets and the viewers decide. It still matters. It does matter. And the viewers decide. So last night I went to the mid-off of all mid-offs. The Miami Heat versus the LA Clippers at Intuit Dome, right? I'm staying in downtown. The arena is in Inglewood. Went into overtime. Had to do the postgame. Rig a moreau for press conferences and locker room access. Didn't get to the hotel till about 1230. Didn't go to sleep till about 2. Had to wake up at 6 to get to this studio which we're recording on a Thursday before our Friday published date. And then circumstances be under control. I'm having to switch my flight back out to San Francisco. And that kind of messes it up. So that is the context of what we're going through right here, Raja. And I feel like you're poo-pooing on that. And Howard, I know, feels me on this. This is something that we actually have to go through. We cover the games too, damn it. And we're tired just like you are. Back-to-backs are hard for everybody. I'm going to split the difference here. I'm going to split the difference. I just want to say, one, yeah, Raja and players get their nice, fancy private jets. They get to leave right after the game and then get to sleep in the next town that night. Whereas we scrub ink-stained wretches have to be up till one in the morning on deadline riding. Then we have to go wind down, go to the hotel, a not as nice hotel as yours, Raja. And then the next morning, we got to get up a few hours later to go fly to the next city that you've already been sleeping and or partying in. And then we have to go to the hotel. And then the next morning, So, Raja, you're already in the four seasons of San Francisco right now. You're already sleeping. I'm not wrong. I talk about I'm less than. I love the four seasons of San Francisco. So, back to back, and especially the back in the day when we did four games in five nights was just fucking brutal because four in five meant four different cities. So, you are flying basically every single morning and it wrecks your ass. All that said, Logan, I didn't take pregame naps. So, I don't know what's up with you. That's funny. I do. I'm going to. I don't. I'm telling you just full disclosure. I'm going to fire you like a laughing emoji out of nowhere later in the day. It's going to be because I fucking thought of that. But I understand that now. Like, you know, context matters, man. Like, that's a brutal travel schedule and I would be tired, too. So, I would take some of that back. I cannot help but I cannot help but genuinely feel the way I felt when I heard it. And that's going to make me laugh all day. That's all I can say. I may or may not give you that. We got to deal with like TSA. We got to deal with like the social media. We got to deal with civilians at the airport. We had like back in the day. We got to deal with Miami airport food. That's a nightmare. I have a nightmare. Any listeners send us any clues about the green saran wrap yet? Send us the clues to the green saran wrap at realonesmailbag at gmail.com. Realonesmailbag at gmail.com. You know who did play like they got a pregame nap, Raja? Wem Benyama? That's right. He surely did. He showed the importance of sleep in the modern NBA. He had 52 points, 24 rebounds, eight blocks last night. All jokes aside, he's a professional sleeper like that. Like his, his, I mean, he's that athlete that is dialed in with every single part of his regimen, right? I appreciate that, but you messed up my transition. So anyways, um, he became the first player, he became, he became the first player with 50 plus points, 20 plus rebounds and five plus blocks. It's Bob McAdoo in 1974. Um, he's also the fifth player in NBA history with multiple 50 point games at age 22 or younger, um, having put up a 50 ball and a win over the wizards in November of 2024. Um, this was against the Mavericks where he just, it was one of the best early games of the season, I would say, but go for the Spurs perspective first. And Dylan Harper did not mince words with how he felt about when he's performance. He said he. He meaning Wimby is basically wilt. The other team tries to do everything they can to stop Victor Wimonyama. They throw out every adjustment. It's hard to keep the big fella out of the paint. He's so dominant when he screens and rolls, he knows how to get to his spots. He's great at the free throw line. So for us, it's just how we get him to ball. And do we have a low man away from him? And this was like, obviously a really good game, but like, you know, how great of a game this was afterwards on inside the NBA. Shaquille O'Neal said that he has never seen a player play like this at his size in his career. We got a Shaq compliment for a big man. That's how, how great this was. Um, and it also came, um, as we've seen the amazing three guard lineup between, uh, Fox Castle and Harper and Vassell and Wimby, um, defensively. All right. And, um, they're the best defensive lineup in the NBA. They're the best. Point differential in the NBA, only behind the, uh, Minnesota Timberwolves starters with Ant Edwards. Um, all that to say historic, uh, performance from Wimby. I'll start with Roger. What did you think of his performance and how much more of a ceiling does he have right now? Right. Because it seems like he is a guy that is just doing this with just, just pure raw ability at this point. And once it gets refined, it feels like he's going to average 60 and he's going to actually average world numbers. But what did you think of the performance and what does it say about where he is as a player? Yeah, um, as a ceiling, I, I'm afraid to know what that looks like if it, if there's way more development that can take place. I'm not saying there isn't, but like, I, no one ever knows. So like if, and he's, he's, he's a pretty refined player, but you know, I think he does have a lot of room to grow in the NBA where it goes. I have no idea. And that's a scary thought. Last night was outrageous. Um, I was sitting there watching it. I, Ty was in the kitchen and I was sitting there in like the den watching it. And I forget to play. Like, I think it was the one where he like block Cooper flag shot. He like went behind the back against the kid from Florida. Um, he took like two dribbles and he was between the legs or he's, and then he, and then he just two hand dunked it, like almost broke his back. Cause he was like, it was the wildest, how do I say this? He has more. holy shit sequences in basketball games than anyone I've ever seen in my life. And by that, I mean, you know, you're going to get this incredible block or if it's not a block, he's switched on your guard. He's held the drop coverage. Now he's back in the lane protecting against a shot and he almost blocks it. And then he's grabbing a board and he's pushing it out. And then on the other end, he's either cashing a Hezzy pull three or he's, you know, diamond someone. He does every single thing on a basketball court in a game. It's really cool to watch. I don't have great words. I know that's not poetic, but watching him last night, I'm with Shaq. I've never seen anything like that. Like I've never seen someone that can do everything out there. There were sequences where he was the facilitator. And dropping real dimes on giving go actions off of, off of a side out of bounds. Like give it to me, pop, slip to the basket. I'm going to hit that looking like a PG. There were other times in the open court where he had the ball and, and, and he was doing his thing clearly at the rim off of any kind of lob action. He doesn't have to dunk it. Like he's so big and he's so, his touch is so incredible that he's like corralling the ball in that mitt and like touching it up as he's getting fouled. I loved last night, how often, he wanted to get to the nail on the floor. Cause that seems to be where he likes to catch the ball and, and work the post up. Um, you got better vision there. You can see where people are coming from, but he was even looking to get, you know, posted in other areas on the floor last night. And I love that he's still got up eight threes and he didn't even shoot the ball. Well from three, um, he was what, like one for eight from three, but, but even those misses are back rim back rim. Like they're, they're great. This is, um, it's outrageous. That, that's an outrageous thing. That's scary. Do you have any more superlatives for him, Howard? Can I just point out before I forget this particular thread that, um, while Shaq was sitting there, as you pointed out, declaring Wemby, like the grab, it was, it was the greatest big man he's ever seen. Greatest big, my performance, whatever it was, um, that on opening night of the NBA season, uh, Shaq singled out Walker Kessler as quote, the best big man in the NBA. That was awesome. He dubbed him. Milk Chamberlain. Um, he, no, you know what? That's the thing with Shaq. He didn't actually mean that he's the best. He just wanted to get the milk Chamberlain pouring off. Right. So he was just building. He wanted to get that off. I'm just saying, I'm just saying, you know, you know, in a, in a week when Yoko rebounds, it'll be Yoko again, and then it'll be Embiid. And then, you know, it's whoever Shaq watches that night that impresses him is the best that he's ever seen. It might be, it might be Jackson Hayes. So, um, God bless. Yeah. Wemby, Wemby was incredible. And, um, like he's been kind of coming around, right? Like the Spurs started off. Oh, and two, they've won now what? Like six in a row, something like that. Um, and it was a lot of like, uh, you know, Wemby doesn't quite look the same. Like he's, he's, you know, taking too many threes. We're getting back to that stuff. Like what's going on? Like, are they having trouble just with this new lineup with all the guards jammed in there? What's up with the Spurs? And then lo and behold, here they are. They look fantastic. He looks absolutely freaking dominant. Um, I had been in touch with a scout, uh, earlier in, in, in the week talking about Wemby and he was basically saying like, yeah, he doesn't look as aggressive. And you know what? Maybe the Knicks showed a little bit in that finals how to defend him, right? Like guys getting into him and under him and getting physical with them and like just keeping them on the perimeter and whatever. And, and all this like trying to break down what is going on with him and whether Wemby is just not quite the same to start the season, that same scout texted me in the middle of the game last night saying, uh, that he's making me eat my words, uh, most aggressive I've seen him all year by far. So somebody, you know, Wemby might've gotten to himself. Maybe Mitch Johnson got to Wemby, maybe somebody else, but like somebody has gotten into him and be like, dude, like just take the ball to the fucking rack. Nobody can stop you. Um, it was interesting last night because at one point he like missed a pull up three in transition. And I was like, man, why are you even taking that? The very next possession, he'd like plowed three straight through Daniel Gafford for the end one. And it was like, okay, all right. Self-corrected really quickly there. Um, he still took a threes last night and missed seven of them, but like, there's nothing to complain about on a night that, you know, he made whatever, 15 of 20 from two and, um, just was absolutely devastating. And I think it's, it's a, it's like any player of that caliber when you see him do what he did last night. And especially given his makeup, right? Strength and or not the strength, the size and skill and just his coordination, everything else. He is one of one. And when he does it the way he did to its best effect last night, you think, why can't you just do that every night? But that's just not the way it works. You know, Hey, even Shaq had his bad nights, right? Like everybody, uh, Luca at some point, eventually, presumably we'll have a rough night. Um, but the, the greatest in the game make us, uh, you know, they, they, we, we've said this last week about, you know, we've Luca being, making us numb to his, his, uh, his, his greatness. Like when we can do these things and they are going to be nights. Yes. That, that defenses might, uh, do a little bit better job of getting physical with them and keeping them on the perimeter and making him set a little bit, but like, man, when he is just locked in, absolutely incredible. Um, that was a really fun game or at least fun, really, really fun through the Wemby lens. Yeah. Um, I w I would like to, uh, before I get to get to Raja, um, I would like to present my updated Lolo MVP. Power rankings. Um, I know I had Luke at the start. Um, I now have it. It's now, it's now, it's now Wemby, Luca, Shay, Ty Jerome and KD. That's what I'm going with. That's what I'm rolling with. Um, but in all seriousness, this game was incredible, but if I got a pool, like if I'm going to critique a little bit from what I saw from the Spurs, um, in a lot of ways, they look like the team from last year, from what I saw. Right. And I've watched them a little bit throughout the season. Um, and that they could win these overpowering track meets against anyone, but I really want to see the maturation of their guard play and by extension, you know, just Wemby in the, in the half court. Right. Um, you know, last year, a lot of times where it was like, it was, it was Harper, it was castle. It was, it was a Fox three steps in a cloud. Speaker 2 : Right. Speaker 3 : We're just going to get to the cup and just physically overpower you and with our athleticism and our pure talent. Right. And they remind me a lot of the 2011, 2012 thunder. And that is like, this is so overwhelmingly talented team, but when they get caught in a playoff setting where they do have to be slower or where they do have to be a bit more methodical, I'm concerned Raja about that part of it. Right. I'm, I've concerned that, that they're not going to be able to do it. They haven't there. I'm concerned that they won't mature to that point this season. I think that's just my concern level on that. We'll see, obviously they're a really well coached team. They'll figure it out. But I, I don't know if the, the evolution is there yet where I would like to see them where, you know, like Dylan Harper, sometimes maybe he's like, you know what, let me just reset offense really quickly. Right. Like maybe not, let me not just go one on five on a, on a, on a, on a transition play. I kind of want to see a little bit more and see the maturation of their offense. Abilities. Well, I don't think last night was a true track meet, but what I'd say to that is like, you know, it's really hard to score against set NBA defense. It's really hard. Dudes, dudes have great perimeter defenders in a lot of instances. Especially in the playoffs, they have real, real tendencies that they've drilled down on in terms of what you like to do and what they want to take away. They have game plans that they're trying to execute that, that have been worked on for extended periods of time. So sometimes that transition bucket for someone who's really good in transition, Logan is as good as, as good a look as you're going to get on a possession, you know? So like it really becomes about the quality of the look that he winds up getting in the transition. And then, you know, based on that, we can determine whether or not it was the right play or not. But as long as he's doing, getting to the front of the rim on those, um, cause he does it one on three, like, but, but you'd say normally to most people, Hey, don't go one on three, except that he's finishing that, like he's on top of your rim. So I do understand what you're saying. Um, big picture wise with them, like if someone were to catch them in that kind of game and really be able to slow them down, how do they operate? I think, I think what I was saying about Wemby last night, um, is the answer to that. Like if, if you are going to be the guy that only wants to shoot threes and catch lobs, we're, we're going to struggle in half court when, when push comes to shove. But if you're the guy that we can get the ball to in different areas of the floor, and you can just go to work there and then play out of the double team, if they come or play one-on-one and use your gifts, I think that makes any NBA team a much better offensive half court playoff basketball team. You know what I mean? Like, Hey bro, some, I said this for years and years on this pod. Sure. We want to run our. Um, but what a lot to is do you have a dude you can give the ball to and can he get you good stuff whether that's him scoring or somebody else scored um then the last point i'd make about it is you might always worry about that with them logan because teams want to play certain styles yeah and for them to win they want to play to what they believe are their strengths and that might be you know transition and and like new york for for instance might be in the half court and so the the game in a lot of instances hinges on who gets to play their style most of all and more times than not teams that are relatively evenly matched the one that gets to play their style for four out of the seven games is going to win the series you know what i mean so like it's kind of how they're built um but i do think wimby and his ability to get down there and and and not just settle all the time for the three you can shoot that shit whenever you want and i'm not mad at you for for some of them but his ability to get to different spots on the floor when we have to go into half court becomes critical yeah i think the other thing that i that i see when i'm with the spurs is like the great teams the great teams that are perennially great have two things one it's what i've said you know with the sixers this season is like they can just take on multiple personalities offensively and the second thing is just get easy shots right and they on some level like they do get easy shots because i mean dylan harper is is leading the league and um shots at the rim a shot makes at the rim at 83 which is insane but outrageous it's crazy but what i more mean so right like i was watching miami uh last night and one of the things that you know it was just so hard for them to get shots down the stretch right and there's something to be said about like on a possession where you can just go get a quick duck in and a quick play to just get you a shot and i think that's just the evolution that i would like for them to see from them right like especially when stuff gets tough that's what i would like to see but i would like to push it back to you roger before because i want to talk about cooper flag for a little bit but what is the the the utopian vision of the spurs offensively when they do if they do have those multiple personalities like what do you want to see the spurs offensively when they do if they do have those multiple personalities like what do you want to see the spurs offensively when they do hit that ceiling what does that look like in your eyes right now oh oh man i know that's that's a big question i think what what it looks like is there's enough space on the court and in the game plan um for everyone to kind of do what they do well you know and you know wemby can play a bunch of different styles um you know dylan has to have the room and he's got the green light to search those attacks at the rim and and get to his cheese stefan castle um there's got to be an element of pace i think um i think darren fox is best when he's out and he's and he's running um i like them in the half court i'm not worried i like them in the half court last night they they were running um you know i talked about wemby just being silly how often do you see someone pinning away for a 7-5 dude who's coming off of like a we used to basically someone goes and pins away from the ball and brings him on like like a curl to to try to catch it on the move and see if he can get downhill or shoot his jumper like they were running stuff like that they had wemby with the ball ball running pick and roll with him handling shooter set in the screen like they were they were doing some things that i thought were sustainable in the half court so to your point logan half court your three guys that can really cook with the ball in their hands have to be put in positions to do what they do um there's got to be an element of obviously you know that that that lob threat if teams haven't prepared for that and aren't going to take wemby away at the rim but pace it unlocks your other players when they can get up and down now those three-point shooters start start hitting that's when we're our most open yeah you know that's why we shot all those threes in in in phoenix because if you can get out and go um and wemby wemby is a cheat code because he there's not even an outlet pass like he's taking it off the rim and he's two dribbles in the front court well that puts a lot of pressure on the rim if you're not going to build that wall and commit bodies then he's on the rim and if you are that's when champagne champagne and all of those dudes are like toeing the line and they're shooting you know so so they've got to have just you know a good mix of all of that it's a silly answer but like that the answer is they you know they gotta do a little bit of everything yeah throwing it back to you for cooper flag started out one of 11 i think last night got to step together but he's kind of figuring his way into the season um and figuring his way just with this version of the dallas mavericks what have you seen from him so far what did you see from last night last night he looked a little um i don't want to use the word overwhelmed but but he looked he looked um a little unsure last night offensively like there were some opportunities even the broadcast i think legs was on the broadcast he came off of one was right in front of the bench uh relatively late shot clock but he he caught it on a on a curl off of one of those dribbled to the to the elbow and he looked to spray it out and i thought that was kind of a microcosm of his night because you could even see dusty may behind him like yo dude you have to shoot that yeah and the broadcast said he had to shoot it and there were multiple plays like that you got into the second half he's in transition the ball's moving around it goes inside comes back out off of an offensive rebound they throw it to him he's on the three-point line and he doesn't let it go like he kind of like pause at it head fakes now he's in the paint and they wound up getting a shot but not as good as the one that he was gonna have and i think wimby affected him early in the first half like a lot of those floaters and stuff he likes to shoot they tried to get him on the mid post and wimby was like shadowing him so like none of that was easy but then i thought he got in his head a little bit and and just stopped being as aggressive he still competed he still made plays um it's not saying that he's not the goods because he is but last night i thought he was a little indecisive offensively um and on that team and for his development don't ever second guess it real real g's don't second guess themselves i did i wasn't a star like you know what i'm saying like i could get into that but like you're you're gonna be a star don't ever second guess it bro go ahead and like shoot that ball the thing that that struck me last night yeah real quick the thing that struck me last night raj i don't know if you noticed this and i haven't watched i think you probably watch a little bit more mavericks than i have so far this season but it was the first time where i season kairi is there and you know took him a while to get kind of ramped up and back to to his full uh compliment but like it seemed to me like and i know we want cooper flag to be able to do a lot without the ball in his hands and not have to carry the entire thing like he did as a right if i don't know what like time of possession was somewhere on tracking stats and mb.com i think i could probably find it but i'm not gonna do that search it seemed to me like the ball was not in cooper's hands that much like even walter clayton jr seemed like had the ball in his hands initially more and i don't know how much that is intentional or is that cooper not going and getting it um kairi took way more shots than he did it was like 27 to 19 yeah yeah look uh it's a great point howard it was really interesting because i i had that thought watching and i don't have a definitive answer clearly i'm not there and i haven't spoken to anyone but what my eyes saw was you know walter clayton was was hooping i mean kairi kept them afloat in the first half with um with uh man why am i pj like they were they were they were doing their work early right yeah and then it really became you know walter clayton was making a lot of plays late kairi had his moments coop chimed in a little bit but what's my man the wing i'm drawing a blank on names today um he got really hot nazi marshall oh no yeah nazi got nazi was the one he had a really nice stretch he was looking to like get to the cheese and i the way my eye saw it was a bunch of cats kind of looking around at coop like you know kairi had his moments coop chimed in a little bit but what's my man the wing i'm drawing a And he, for whatever reason, doesn't have it tonight. Does that make sense? Like not in a disrespectful way, but in a way that it's like we get a feel if you want that ball. And if you're that dude, you get that ball. So if for any reason we get a feel that you don't want that ball. You overcompensate a little bit. No, but like look, some dudes are just waiting for the opportunity for the ball to be theirs. That's a good point. You know, if you don't want it, cool, I'll go do what I got to do. But I was with you, Howard, a lot of him off the ball last night. And, you know, who did I watch them play? Was it Chicago? Did he win the game late in the Chicago game with like big buckets? But I forget who it was, but I was watching that intently because Kyrie had shot a couple shots down the stretch. And then they burned a timeout. I thought I saw a little frustration from the coach. They burned a timeout. And they came out. They get the last for the last. And that ball was in Coop's hand. Like it was like, yo, give him the fucking ball and get out of the way. And he made a really nice play with it. And last night was just kind of the opposite of that to your point. Yeah. Bears watching. I wonder, Howard, like, you know, what the path forward is for the Mavericks too, right? Because Kyrie doesn't necessarily want to get traded. You know, they tried to trade him over the summer. He was like, nah. And by all intents and purposes, it seems like he loves it there. He's going to be there as long as they'll have him. And that creates a tension, or at least like from our vantage point of like, hey, man, what does the Mavericks want to be? And does Kyrie want to stick it out with this team? Does he want to ultimately get traded to a Miami who could probably use him or another team that is in contention mode? But is the path forward just keeping him around, right? Like it feels like they seem to be figuring themselves out with him, and they seem to be competitive in a lot of games. And that's the other thing. Like this team seems to want to win. And in a Western conference that, you know, it's very early, but it's very wonky right now, right? Like I feel like if you want something as a team, you can go get it in this Western conference because there's not a clear, clear-cut team, I guess, underneath the Rockets in San Antonio right now. But the West is there for the taking. And I'm not saying they're going to win the West necessarily. I'm just saying that they can compete in the Western conference, like maybe a play-in at some point if they continue to play hard or if they want to. I think the strength of the Western conference is actually an argument for the Mavericks just to keep slow rolling, this and maybe to trade Kyrie. Like you're not winning the Western conference in the next year or two or three probably pending the Thunder's health and the Spurs staying upright and everything else. But like you have Cooper Flagg who already looks like a top, whatever you want to put him, top 10, top 15, wherever he is. Cooper Flagg is already, you know, top 20 minimum. And so you need to start building around him, making sure that you have a roster that's worthy of that talent, right? He's super young. You got a long runway, but you know, as we've seen time and again, you know, the window can be much smaller than you think it's going to be. So the time is always now. But as the time is now mean Kyrie, Kyrie's 35. Like how many more elite games and seasons does he have in him? So I still think, and I've thought all along that the best play for the Mavericks big picture is to flip Kyrie for whatever you can get in terms of younger players and picks. And kind of reassess too. And look, Masai Ujiri just got there. He and Mike Schmitz in that front office, I think are probably still assessing. Like, you know, PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford, like the guys who were brought in to help Luca and Kyrie get to the finals that one season. Are those the guys you still want going forward? Is that Cooper's supporting cast too? Or do you want to reimagine this? And do you want to like retool and kind of like figure out your cap a little bit, get a little bit of a break? A little bit cheaper along the way? I don't know. And I don't think they have to make that decision right now, obviously. And they've got plenty of time between now and the trade deadline to decide what to do with Kyrie. But like, yeah, like Kyrie's 35 and Cooper's 20. Like they're not on the same timeline. And like, I don't think that's a problem necessarily. Like you could say, oh, Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington. They're young enough that you could have several great years of them with Cooper. And eventually, hopefully Derek Lively gets healthy too. He's obviously much closer to Cooper age-wise. But Kyrie's at the back, back end here. And I, like he is, he is the piece that if you want to try to replenish, like their pick is out the door, right? Like they have no, obviously tanking incentives are changed in any way because of lottery reform. But the Mavericks pick at 27 is going to Charlotte. I think from that PJ Washington trade. So they don't have any real incentive to, to lean into losing. They definitely have incentive to try to chase like a play-in. But the West is really deep still, even with some teams. Struggling early. And yeah, I think long, you still have to have the long-term view because of how young Cooper is, which I think means, yeah, you should trade Kyrie if you can get the right package. What would you do, Roger? Look, I, I like Kyrie and, and Coop together right now. I think Kyrie is the type of player, although he is so electric and so gifted with the ball in his hands. He, he doesn't, I think he has the ability to kind of do the dance of like, I'm not going to thwart someone else's ability to grow in an offense. Like I, I, I, I think they play well together. I've watched them a couple of times. I think they're good together. I agree with Howard though. If I'm looking at that roster, I think we can achieve a couple of things. Like we can be really competitive. Kyrie continues to play well and play well. So it's not hurting Coop's development. We're super competitive, which I talk about all the time. I want Cooper flag. I want him to be playing and developing under competitive, trying to win basketball games. You know, kind of a culture, you know, if that makes sense, right? Like we want to be, we want to be good enough to come to compete and think we can win every game. I want him playing under those circumstances. And so if we're doing that, I think it's a, it's a great market or marketing platform for Kyrie, for some of these other teams. And I would too. Move Kyrie, not because Kyrie is not great. Like as a Kyrie fan, it's not a reflection. Yeah, not at all. And if I'm Kyrie, if like, if I was talking to Kyrie, like, yo, Kai was good. I'd be like, yo, my boy, like go somewhere where you really have a shot in the next few years of like contributing to chase in another championship. So I think that could ultimately be a win-win. And right now to every point Howard made and you yourself, Logan being super competitive, having them. Have a good chemistry, uh, I think helps show to other teams Kyrie's value in that, in that scenario. And then provided we got the right deal, I definitely would try to replenish and get the picks or the young players or whatever I thought would be beneficial to coop long-term. Just to fact check myself in real time here. I've aged both of them a little bit. Cooper's not 20 until the end of December and Kyrie's not 25 until March. Let's take a quick break. And, um, we're going to talk a little warriors and then we're going to talk about Russell Westbrook and hope that this is not the last episode of the pods history. This episode is brought to you by Sam's club during the holidays. Everyone's in a club, the last minute gift givers club, the cool aunts club, the food coma club, whatever holiday club you're in Sam's club is the club that helps you pull it off. Need to get a meal on the table in under two hours done shopping for the brands they want like aura ring and kitchen aid without blowing your budget check and check Sam's club helps you make the most of the time. Come join us Sam's club and we are back. Um, I don't know how this segment is going to go probably off the rails because Roger just got the news of what I'm about to share with the rest of the group, which is Christophe sports Zingas, um, and the warriors, uh, well, the warriors have, um, stopped delivering the semi-monthly payments to the veteran center on his $20 million salary league sources told ESPN ruling that the currently absent sin, uh, center is not rendering his services. Um, and you know, this is a bad thing when even the players association isn't, um, on your side, um, where Zingas has, uh, there's been reported that poor Zingas, um, during workouts over the off season, wasn't as present. He hasn't been around the team during the training camp, um, was in, uh, came up for a little bit, then went, was in San Diego and was just MIA for days and days on end. What's made went to Europe for a little bit and all, um, in all likelihood is, is like probably the last time we've, we're going to ever see him play basketball. Um, Raja, do you have thoughts on this? What's, what, what, what is, what are you thinking about? You just told me in the, in the pre, in the break, just go like, so what are, what do you have? What do you have on this thinking about this now? I don't, I don't, I don't have it. What are we doing? What this, this, what he's just MIA. Like yes. Has, has this, I mean, you guys follow this. Better than me. Can you remember who, who's the last person that just went MIA and the team said, Hey, we're not paying him anymore. Uh, Ben, not Ben Simmons, Ben Simmons got paid. All right. So this is pretty unprecedented. I mean, most, most dudes look, there are a lot of put the money in the bag dudes by that. I mean, like that was what we used to say about dudes who'd show up and play for like half of their contract year. They'd get the bread, put the money in the bag, put the money in the bag, put the money in the bag, put the money in the bag. Like they're not on the court. They're injured for four years. Like they, you know, they don't want to be there. They're just, but most people in that scenario for sure. But I mean, most dudes are still decent pros about it. Like they're not going to completely rub your nose in the fact that they just stole 40, $50 million from your club. Um, there's a level of like respect that has to go, you know, along with your robbery. Like it's a gentleman's game. Um, if they've decided their rules to this shit, bro, like, like, come on, bro, we we're just not around and they're not going to pay you anymore is, is, is wild. I have not prepped for this segment. You, you told me right before the camera turned back on. That is crazy to me. Like, that's crazy. If I was in that front of, I don't even know what I do, man. Like I'm trying to put myself in that Cleveland front office. If they had said to me somebody was like, just missing, not coming around anymore. Like, yeah, I just don't know what I don't have. Very conflicted spaces. Like, yo, this play, we're not going to pay this player no more. And you as a former player would be like, ah, I mean, he's not here, but damn. Right. Like I think, yeah, I don't know what the path forward is. Howard, there's a lot of people to blame here. Obviously like on the surface, you blame poor Zingas, but also like the Warriors really, really, really, really, really, really fumbled this summer, like this is just another example of that um and like they knew that he had this illness before the season started and they still signed him right like they still signed him to 20 million knowing that he had the health issue knowing all of these things were in play i'm sure they didn't foresee him going mia but they knew that his availability was questioned what's the path forward here i i i don't think it's a great characterization of it to be honest logan like i they they acquired in middle of last season they knew he had those health issues that has been going on ever since he was in boston so it's been a couple of years so you give the guy the physical before you make the trade or concurrent with making the trade you get him in house you get him up to speed he plays some games you decide over the summer to to resign him obviously you've had him in house for months so you have evaluated him multiple times they have a pretty good medical staff rick celebrini is one of the best in the league i think so like they've done their their due diligence all along the way i'm sure at the at the moment that they sign him to the extension they had every reason to believe that the autoimmune issues were in the past or were manageable or managed and then something changed because obviously they thought he was okay enough he thought he was okay enough and then things have just evolved over the last like six weeks where it went from not going to be available but he's going to be around the team to not being around the team to not paying him but it's not even a dispute like the story from espn says porzingis is not actively disputing the lack of payments and the players association has no plans to dispute either so clearly porzingis is in a headspace and and a physical space where he's like i think this is just it and i'm probably not gonna be able to get this back so he's doing whatever he feels is necessary for him right now so he's away and like yeah like it was it it was a bad bet like there's no just there's no uh ambiguity about that they made a bad bet with that contract but i i i don't think they would have done so blindly no nba team does that last season they didn't know on a given night if he was going to be in the in the lineup as well right like there were there were games where one day he would play and then the other days he wouldn't right and i was late into the season that's why i say like sure he was dealing with these lingering issues and they still made the commitment right like that they made the commitment because obviously they had evaluated at some point and decided like we think he's good enough so like either something some new thing happened maybe there was some sort of regression or yeah maybe they missed something who knows but like we're not privy to that so i just i don't like it's a bad bet on the on the face of it in that it did not work out but like saying like they they like fumbled this whole thing like i think if they hadn't signed him somebody else probably would have based on the available information sometimes shit just happens it would be like saying like the king's fucked up by signing ben simmons because they blew out his fucking knee but like like or acl like sometimes shit just happens well well it's a it's a little bit of a difference because you're paying you're paying ben simmons vet minimum versus paying to do 20 million so i get that i'm just logan i'm just saying there there are things that cannot be foreseen and like just because a guy has an injury history or in this case had this autoimmune thing that was going on they had him in house long enough to evaluate it they obviously had enough reason to believe that he was going to be able to overcome it and then it didn't happen so like fucking shit happens like sometimes shit happens i don't know i don't think there's a lot to make of this like it like they're it just is what it is like the warriors are are not a major factor this season probably the yaxo lindenberg thing is now revived i think their their short-term hopes it's given them something new uh new reason to hope um and yeah it's like a like you know yin and yang of it all right like uh porzingis out and and a bad bet out the door lindenberg way better than anybody could have anticipated who knows maybe the next thing that happens is jimmy butler comes back sooner i'm not i'm not weighing in at all on whether they should assign him or not i'm simply so i'm not mischaracterizing this myself like this is like a mutually agreed upon like he's not going to play anymore go ahead and do your thing chris dabs we're not going to pay you anymore or this is he just stopped showing up and went and did his thing and they're just like we ain't seeing him we're not paying him anymore it's the latter that's crazy i have nothing else to say on that like that's crazy i don't think we've seen that's the other thing is is i don't know when we've seen this before or both are just like you know or at because usually you notice raja if somebody they go in the nba you're gonna get paid so for a player and the association to be like you know what we're not even going to dispute this man it's you know you got it that that's the which is why it's by it's by default mutual at that point like i mean order of events matters too like you didn't show up and then you stop but like well 100 but everybody but everybody basically just decided like okay this is this is just what it is and he's if he's not disputing it it means he gets it he's like yeah you shouldn't pay me like i'm i'm i'm i'm not around the team i'm not trying to get back i would just say again i understand still crazy because order everything when you were describing this situation does this affect no but like how what this is my question to you raja does this affect what the players association has to deal with in general for future players right like this happens i don't know this happens and then i'm thinking about the ben simmons thing it's like yo man you guys aren't helping yourself for you know future like you guys have fully guaranteed deals man like at least i'm not saying play but at least go into the building to collect your check like like like the like the homies you described in the past right at least go to you know the arena throw up some shots yeah get your money i think we need to we need to have a league-wide memo to like the the the players from the associate look from the players association mental health is nothing to be played with i do not know what's going on with chris staffs um anyone that's suffering from from from something like that um it should should you know communicate that in a way and should be you know they see fit to either get right or take some time away what what have you um you you just can't go missing um on your team like that like you you have to say something to someone there's a contract in place you understand what i mean like they're like and because to your point logan like i i mean if your owners and maybe there are not enough instances of it for them to be like hmm but you know you can't just have people not coming to not coming to work and not telling you and you having to wonder where they are i've never i mean this and i don't i don't mean to be hyperbolic i played 13 years i was on some teams with some characters like no one ever went awol and and that's the other thing it's not even just the the your responsibility to organization like these are your like teammates and brothers right like this is this is even more than that and i mean there was also like when he got signed to that deal over the summer there was some from the established guys like yo man you know i opted out of my deal and to get you and all we did was get you paid after last year when we didn't know when you were going to come every on a nightly basis and now you pull this like you know when that happens in a locker room man like they they really can't also bring him back after what's going on right now even if he was healthy it's kind of too far gone but you're right roger like this is it's pretty unprecedented it's crazy the ringer nba show was brought to you by fanduel who's going to be fanduel's hardwood hero because all it takes is one player having a huge scoring night to unlock another reward on fanduel here's how it works use your profit boost on any eligible nba bet then if any player across the nba drops 40 or more points that night you'll get another reward and here's a fun part it doesn't even have to be the players you bet on hey man if i'm a betting man i think i'm going to take you to the ringer nba show take the over on wimby scoring rebounds and assist for this season i'm also going to play my place a bet on him being the mvp seems like a good bet check it out on the fanduel app to get started make this year your most rewarding season ever with fanduel must be 21 years or older in select states or 18 years and older in dc or wyoming opt-in required bonus issued is now withdrawable profit boost tokens restrictions apply see terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com gambling problem call 1-800-GAMBLER or call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org backslash chat and connect i'm scared we'll see let's see if we're all buddies after this and we can still figure it all out all right we're here to talk about a subject that is near and dear to one of our hearts and polarizing two other hearts and that is russell westbrook whom the oklahoma city announced that they will retire his jersey number zero and the rafters on february 7th westbrook was the first pick of the organization in 2008 probably the team's most popular player at this point or at least pre-shay um but probably the players most the organization's most important player in my opinion um it was funny because we were in the pre-pop meeting yesterday raja and you said something that was really really interesting that i hadn't even really considered which is we all know how russell westbrook is from a media standpoint from this podcast standpoint and all the above but one of the things that you said was that college coaches now are looking for players to emulate Russell Westbrook or some version of him. Can you talk about that? And, like, what does that mean about – I want to talk about what that means about his impact. But, first of all, what have you been hearing in the streets about Russell Westbrook's impact? And why is it so impactful to the next generation considering how polarizing he is? Yeah, I don't necessarily have specifics. I've – taking a young PG around and hearing what college coaches like about, you know, PG play and players in general from that position, I think a lot of them have a lot of respect for the way Russ played the game. And in some instances, I was joking yesterday, maybe more respect for the way Russ played the game than the media gave Russ for, like, later in his career when – you know, there were certain things on the court that he wasn't good at doing. And what they like about Russ is what I've always said about Russ. Like, the game at its essence is about competition and competitive spirit and willingness to lay your body on the line for the good of the team, whether that's chasing rebounds or endlessly searching a paint touch that collapses defense and gets other people, you know, the ball in spaces that they like to be in, pushing tempo, whatever that looks like. He embodied a lot of that. And people have a lot of respect for that is what I'm finding out out there. Can you explain that divide, Howard, for the people that don't know? Because on one hand, it feels like there's always been a gap between what players think of Russ and what, you know, I don't know, some basketball people think of Russ. Like, I saw this quote from Charles Barkley. Kind of sums it up of what, you know, all-time greats think about him. He said, This kid gives 150% every single game, and all he does is get criticized. Charles Barkley said this on Mike Greenberg's podcast, Get Up. Is he the perfect basketball player? No. But that guy gives maximum effort every night. And as an old player and a fan, I'm always going to admire that man. And, you know, Charles Barkley is one of a number of greats that have sang Russ's praises. You know, Kobe Bryant is another person that a champion in him. Even his shot selection. But it always went back to, like, how hard he played. But there's always a gap there, right? Can you explain that? I don't know if there's actually a gap. I think that Westbrook is polarizing. But I think most of the same people who would be criticizing him, who then people like in Raj's camp would then criticize the critics, I think those same people always praise him, too. Like, I don't think there's any of us out here, and I have been a critic at times of Westbrook's game, I don't think there's any, but, like, he's polarizing not in a, you're either for or against him. He's polarizing in that his game is just fucking polarizing. Like, there's a lot to love and a lot to kind of wince at. And that's just it. Like, to Chuck's point, or his contention, all the, you know, all the criticism he takes, it's so unfair, whatever. Like, listen, like, that just comes with being an all-time great. Like, not for nothing, he was voted onto the 75th anniversary team. He's a nine-time All-NBA player, which means we, the media, the people who are being so mean to him, allegedly, voted him All-NBA nine times and voted him MVP. I did not have him at the top of my ballot that season, but that's beside the point. The media has, Raja, the media has done more than give him his due. He has gotten his due. Like, there's no one, no one has, like, cheated him of anything here. Nine All-NBA selections and an MVP for a team that was sixth in the Western Conference. Um, just saying. So, like, no one disputes he's an all-time great talent. But, like, with that comes responsibility and also comes the criticism that comes with it. Like, fucking, LeBron James is arguably the greatest player or at worst, number two of all time. And no one has been criticized more in the last 20 years than LeBron James. So, some guys, I think, just handle it better. And some of their, uh, camps handle it better. I think, in LeBron's case, it's just like, this is just comes, comes with it. And LeBron is still cool about it and still, like, you know, very engaging and accommodating with the media. Whereas, Russ was like, everybody who criticizes me is my enemy. And all the people who, uh, speak on his behalf, whether it's, you know, media members or players or whatever, all take that, too. It becomes this, like, us against them thing. But that's part of what drove him, too. It's what fueled him. Like, that was part of his fire. And I respect it. I don't respect the way he treated, uh, the media with just, I think, completely unnecessary and over-the-top contempt at times. Um, but whatever, that's what drove him. And not everybody's going to be nice to us. It's cool. It's fine. He was still an incredible player at his peak. Super fun to watch. And the one thing that no one can ever dispute is that this guy brought it every possession of every night. Like, nobody cared more. Nobody played harder. And it was, he's like a version of Iverson, right? Much, much bigger than Iverson. But it's that same kind of thing where it's like, there are flaws in the game. There are, there are things you can pick apart here, but the one thing you cannot question with this player is his heart and his drive. And, and then we can start separating out what made each of them great in terms of, of, of talents. And, and Westbrook's like talent, uh, uh, array, I think is just as broader than Iverson's was, um, partially because he's just bigger. Um, and just so incredibly athletic and explosive, but like, he's a mixed bag. He's a mixed bag. And part of that is he is a large part of the reason why Kevin Durant left. I reported that, wrote that at the time. I have absolutely no doubt about that. And that was it. It was a team that had great potential, even, even after they traded Harden to Houston and, you know, they can't finish the job against the Warriors, you know, Kevin Durant leaves to the Warriors, all that stuff. But he left in part because of frustrations about the way things were going between the two of them and the way that Westbrook played. There was a lot of my turn, your turn. And I think every team that Westbrook has been on, it ends up being a lot of either, if it's not my turn, your turn, because he has another star, it's a lot of me. And then eventually you, and like, that's part of it. It's part of the flaws of his game. And it's okay to talk about those two. It's okay to talk about the fact that he's the worst volume three-point shooter in the history of the game. It's just a stat. It exists. It's okay to talk about the defense. It's okay to talk about bad shot selection in fourth quarters. Those are all there, Raja. They're there. Fine, fine. But like, if we're going to say it's a lot of my turn, your turn, and then it's a lot of my turn if I don't have a star. Luka's a lot of my turn, your turn. And if there ain't no star with him, it's all my turn. Like, a lot of stars are like that. But also Luka's efficiency is much higher as a shooter. So if he's taking too much of the offense and he's making more shots, then it's hard to criticize if you're taking much, if you have that high usage rate, if you keep making shots. But Luka's going to start, listen, if the Lakers don't break through, like, he's going to start, it'll turn on him. It turns on everybody eventually if you can't deliver. That's fair. And I don't, I didn't mean, Luka's not the only one. My point was, and your point's taken, that efficiency plays a role in that. Right? But there does come a point where if you don't have a true other guy with you, like, doesn't really, I mean, your efficiency is what it is. You've got to carry. Right? Like, you've got to figure out how to get that shit done with what you have as a number one skill set. I would just say this to Russ, and I will believe this. I wasn't, I can't speak to his relationship with the media. Like, you know, I was playing for a large part of that. And when I wasn't, I wasn't really tapped in in that way. I didn't have to interview him. I didn't have to be there. I do. I do feel like it is fair to say that all stars get criticism, and that comes with the territory. I'm fine with that. I do believe, though, that there's a faction of the media that were turned off by Russ and the way he treated them, and to some degree made what they tried to characterize him as a player personal. And I feel like there are very few stars that, that, or the wrath of that, like he did. There was an absolute assault on who he was as a basketball player for years. He became like a meme, a gif, whatever, whatever those bullshits are. He was everywhere. And that's media spin. And I do think that he bore the brunt of that in a way, for whatever reason, could have been by his own doing. But his job, quite frankly, isn't to write the truth. His job is to play basketball. Media members can be hurt and feel like he didn't treat them well. But your job is to not spin narratives, in my opinion, but to write the truth. And I'm not saying you, Howard, but the broad, the broad media, I thought, like, went after him for years. I don't know how true that actually is. And when you talk memes and gifs, that's social media. That's not the news media. That's like just fucking people, masses. And we have a real problem with that in this ecosystem anyway. But that's a trickle down, Howard. Players merge this stuff. They think that what's, what all the bullshit in their feed is somehow the media, when it might just be, like, some 12-year-old shithead in his mom's basement. It could be. But the, look, I've listened to enough people on TV talk about Russell Westbrook. I've listened to enough people on podcasts that I've listened to a lot of people to get in front of a mic and say they are basketball people talk about Russ. And I still feel the same way. Like, we don't have to agree on that. But I'm not moving off of that stance. I heard enough of it. Like, right? And we can disagree. It's not all about memes and GIFs, maybe I shouldn't have said that. But like, the point is there are media members out there that were, It was an assault on that man as a basketball player. I will say this. I think that Russell Westbrook even acknowledged this as well. It wasn't the entire media, but it was the people that were on television because he did say it in his showtime doc that, hey, man, Skip Bayless had me messed up. And that is the – I think that is the – I think beat writers, and we've talked about this before, beat writers and people around those teams bore the brunt of what was in Russ' feed and also on television during that time. The take culture was coming of age during that time. The first take culture was coming of age during that time, and it was always pick a side, pick a side. So to – I don't know if it's even an effort to build up the league necessarily, but as this is coming up, you're saying, are you on KD's side? Are you on Russ' side? There is a battle that is going on that was perpetuated in probably an unfair way by people that weren't – that had a vested interest to get ratings, and then the trickle-down effect goes down to social media as well. Not to say that some of the criticisms weren't valid necessarily, but it was supercharged when, like, every morning it is a question of what is going to happen, especially during that 15-16 season, right, where KD's coming back, there's rumors. KD is in OKC, and there's rumors that he's going to go to Golden State, and there had to be a villain in that story. And Russ wound up being that villain. For better or worse, right? And, you know, he fed into it a lot in a lot of ways. But I do feel like he took it out on the people around him and not necessarily the people that were actually doing the perpetuating of the stereotypes of what he was as a player. And I think that, you know, we bore the brunt of what First Take was saying to him every day, and not only First Take, but, like, all of the Take shows because that's what he was watching on a daily basis. It's all good. And I'm not – Howard knows I love him. Like, I don't want to argue about him. Like, Russ, man, I'm glad he's getting this. But there was a time where, I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm listening to all of this at the time. Like, this man was averaging a triple-double, and people were trying to belittle his triple-doubles in a poo-poo-able way because he's chasing rebounds down. He's stat-stuffing. Like, we don't do that to – we weren't doing that to other people that were – that were having 15 assists and 12 rebounds. Like, no one was – no one was trying to belittle their efforts in the way that I felt at times. We're not. There's not the same energy for him. It's just a fact. And so, like, that's all I'm saying. Like, yes, there are flaws in his game. He is – yeah, but he didn't win a championship. Like, there are huge holes in who he was as a player, you know, as it related to maybe ultimately winning that championship. But I still stand on there was a moment of time where not everybody, but there were some, and they were pushing really hard to try to discredit who he was as a player. I do feel like – and I want to go talk about the Oklahoma City of this right now. I feel like there is a – there was such a complicated relationship with that first run of OKC contending teams, right? Because on the one hand, like, you know, Harden gets traded really early. KD leaves. It was very – It was very just – I don't know the word. There's a lot of tension there. And, Howard, it feels like there's some healing going on with Oklahoma City. I think a lot of that had to do with the title, right? A lot of that also had to do with these players getting older, right? But KD is starting to kind of ingratiate himself back into the OKC fold, right? It's been a long road, but they're kind of getting there. Russ is starting to get his jersey retired. It remains to be seen how they're going to celebrate Harden. But how are you reading this right now from the OKC standpoint? Is it just a fact of just time passing and we're getting older and they're just starting to celebrate their legends as good franchises should do? Or is there more to it? Well, first of all, this is a great opportunity to plug our buddy Jonathan Abrams' book about that era with Westbrook, Harden, and Durant, When We Were Young and Fearless by Jonathan Abrams on bookshelves now. He's having an event tonight. Trying to get my thing signed. I will fly to Brooklyn to get my shit signed. I will go. You know what? I'll have him sign one. I'll be with him in a few hours. I'll have him sign one for you, Logan. All right, bet. There you go. So people can go read up on that era. It's a phenomenal book. But if you want to get into what happened, the rise and fall, basically, of that era, Durant, Westbrook, and Harden, it's time to celebrate it. And it's time to kind of reflect on it, right? That era rose and fell. The first era of Oklahoma City basketball in their franchise history. And now they've won a championship. They've won a championship in the Shea era. But enough time has passed. We can kind of get a clear view of what happened back then. And yeah, it was a complicated team, man. Look, a team that had three eventual MVPs who won MVPs separately because of a lot of different things, not least of which was the first really, truly harsh luxury tax system hit coming out of the 2011 lockout. And that's what put them in a position. And that's what put them in a position where the Thunder decided to trade Harden instead of paying him the full amount. And it just goes from there. But Westbrook, obviously, of the three of them, should have his jersey retired first. No question. Harden is not complicated because he didn't force his way out or anything. He wanted to make more than they were willing to pay him as a sixth man at that time. But I don't think there's any bad blood there. Durant is really complicated, to say the least. But I have. I assume eventually Durant's going to have his jersey retired there soon. It would be shocking if they didn't. It would be shocking if he didn't want it. It would be shocking if they didn't want to do it. I think it's. Like, organizationally, you can get over everything, right? It's a question of can. Like, Vince Carter in Toronto had a really bad breakup, but eventually they honored Vince Carter there, right? The Lakers and Shaq had a bad breakup eventually. Like, time heals all wounds in this league for the organization and the players. It's the fans. It's the fans that I always wonder about. Like, are the fans. And I think they will. Like, the fans in Oklahoma will. Even though, like, that was one of the all-time, like, harsh breakups with Durant leaving, I think they will. So, yeah, I think it's just a matter of time. It was funny. I just saw that, like. If they. If. No, go ahead. I was just saying, they have to. No, they have to. They don't. Who will? They have to. Like, who. No, the Golden State will retire his jersey. The Golden State is going to retire it. They'll retire it? They're going to retire it and give him a statue. That's happening. But. Say what? I remember in 2022, this was actually the trip where me and Howard had a great, great dinner. You can plug the spot if you want to. It was amazing. So, Seattle, on Court Street. That's right, baby. But I was in Brooklyn, and I interviewed Kevin. And this was, like, when he was in Brooklyn. And I remember this was, like, a really contentious time. Like, you know, he had just left Golden State. The stain of him leaving OKC was still just alive and well. And I remember asking him, like, what is it like being a nomad? Like, it doesn't seem like you belong anywhere. And he responded. He was like, OKC has to. He says, OKC has to retire my jersey. It wouldn't even be good for the game of basketball if they did it. The same with Golden State. This part of the quote didn't age well. But he said, I'm still doing what I'm doing here in Brooklyn. But if I continue to do what I'm doing for the next four or five years, and I feel the same way about this program, I better have a home because I feel like I am basketball. I breathe it. This is my DNA. I put in the time and respect. And so I remember, like. Like, that happening. And then, like, a day later, I think that was the beginning of the healing process between those two sides. Because a day later, there was, like, an alumni event in Oklahoma City. And Sam Presti goes. He didn't put out Kevin's name. He didn't say it by name. But he said, every person that plays here is welcome here. And is always welcome back. And threw up a toast for them. And I think time will heal all on this one. Like, in the moment. Like, in 2016, you never thought this was going to happen. Just because, you know, the fucking stupid-ass burning of jerseys. That's just weird. And just, you know. I remember even feeling it when I would go with Golden State back to Oklahoma City. Just how much disdain they had for him. But I do think Howard at this championship really, like, kind of healed all of that. Right? Like, I mean, they got their chip. Time has passed. We're in a good place. I think. Now, is Kevin going to live in Oklahoma? Is he just going to be going there all the time? I don't know. But I think he's going to. Whenever they make the call for the Alumni Nights, I think he'll pull up. Yeah. You know what's funny? I already think of him as a rocket more than I think of him as a sun or a net. Yeah, sure. To me, it's almost like Oklahoma to Golden State to Houston. And the other stuff is just some fucking, like, you know, fever dream we all have. How long was he in Golden State? Because I said no one knows. Three years. And you were really quick with that? Three? Two chips? Two chips and three seasons. And three finals, three appearances. And possibly, you know, it could have been three championships if not for his Achilles. Yeah, the Achilles. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't. That was a silly thing. But, like, it felt really brief, but I admittedly had forgotten. I mean, I feel like it's weird in those three seasons that the Warriors. He's probably the most defined by his Warriors run. And it's weird because he was there for just. It was so fast, right? But I, like, that felt like a. It feels like a. I mean, that's always something that he always comes back to. He always, like, references Golden State, whether he's, like, Matt, whether he's trying to rewrite history or whether he's trying to, he looks back on it in reverence, but it's something that he's always asked about. so weirdly like more than he's asked about oklahoma city now because it's just so far away from now it's just so it's it's it's gonna be so fascinating when we have the real ones kd retrospective it's just gonna be fascinating to talk back on his nba lore nba lore baby can't wait but um uh shout out to russ all i had to say shout out to russ and just i'm gonna be excited to see that you know that that that ceremony and see who shows up um because i'll be there he's we know we know that's the only you won't go to miami you won't go down to miami for a game but you're gonna take your ass to oklahoma city and take tickets all them flights we can't wait to hear the road trip uh raja stories from the oklahoma city trip ai is moving fast across the enterprise but without visibility it's just chaos different tools different models different teams using ai in completely different ways service now turns that chaos into control with the ai control tower you see all your ai you across the business in one place what it's doing what it's done and what it's about to do so you stay in control to put ai to work for people visit servicenow.com see russ before we get out of here it is a uh this is a friday show so you know what that means rowan of the week time howard what is who is where is your rowan of the week i'm giving this one this is gonna say a little cheesy i've been very critical of the league for a lot of things the last couple years and of adam silver so i'm just going to give them their praise for this one real one of the week is adam silver in the nba for still taking election day off and like i heard some people including a national radio host like give the league shit for this like why can't we have basketball why can't put a couple of games on we don't need 15 games on monday and whatever then only and zero on tuesday it's the right thing um it's the fourth time in the last five years that they've done this this all stems from during covid and coming uh out of black lives matter and the social justice commission that they created for the nba one of the things that they did early on was we're gonna have you know the a lot of nba arenas uh volunteered to become polling sites and then that fell by the wayside but they just decided to make it kind of a tradition we're just not playing on election day and this was an incredibly important election and the league taking it off meant that all of us as fans but also as citizens of this country were going to be able to play in the nba and we're going to be able to play in the country could pay the attention that was i think warranted to a a truly important election a huge night um it was a historic night and no matter how much any of us love basketball or no matter how much or no matter what you feel about the results of the election um some things are more important than the nba on a given day and deserve our our our full attention and so credit to the league for continuing this tradition they've only skipped it once i think it was last week last year because it wasn't like a massive a major election they're usually doing it i think midterms presidential elections and and major election cycles but um yeah and by the way just like selfishly as somebody who was going to watch the election returns regardless at a certain point i'm glad i didn't have to worry about uh missing nba games that i am uh duty bound to be watching so yeah kudos to the league amen true that raja who's the rule of the week yeah i'm really super prepared for this but i'm gonna go with caleb williams quarterback for the chicago bears um watch him play seattle on monday night um he's a special talent with the football in his hands i know he's missed some games this year the bears are playing well um but the reason i'm giving him real one of the week is because just culturally we live in a world where they hype you up hype you up hype you up and then if you don't look exactly the way they want you to look exactly the moment they want you to look at they try to tear you down and especially in the nfl you know him especially in the nfl especially at that position happens in the nba too but um you know ben johnson seems like the right coach for him the system is is one that he continues to develop in and now you can see um why he was the number one pick and why everyone uh believed in that talent so much and and systems matter and fit matters and he's he's getting it and you're starting to see it and um he looks really good so i gave him real one of the week for for for what he's done especially performance against seattle really really he's one of the guys you talk about we talk about must watch tv uh with wimby earlier in the in the episode caleb williams let's watch tv at all times all right and shout out to the bears for finally getting a quarterback worth of shit um i have two real ones of the week um one and this is 1a for sure the golden state wow oh yeah jeez um they made sports history by winning the 20 uh 2026 wmba championship um they become the first team ever to win an nba title without a single player earning all wba honors that season which is crazy um and the fastest uh team to expansion team to win a category is uh gabby williams um who just went just pure flow state in game seven scored 28 points in the second half to go get that and this was not like a like a barn burner by any means it was like 20 to 20 something at halftime and so she damn near scored all the points um in that second half to deliver a championship i was not in the bay area for the parade on wednesday but i saw it was cracking had a lot of homies over there and well deserved from them also gonna stay um at least eight adjacent for um this next real one of the week dylan brooks i want to give him a real one of the week for standing up for his his teammate after draymond green um just what we call the move that he did i don't know who's into wrestling on here what was that move that he did to like tackle the rookie like have you ever seen anything like that he's i just hold on one second he said something he said that he fouled um the suns rookie come on maluk uh to command respect some of those fouls just had to happen in order to command respect when you're protecting the rim but the reason why dylan briscus is for standing up for his teammate man that's a young rook that didn't deserve to get slammed like that just for normal uh physical play underneath the basket that is just very normal and dylan brooks he gives a lot of stuff but honestly really though like it feels like he there's a turn on the how we feel about dylan brooks um league wide but i just thought there was that was dope that he just came to the defense of his young teammate for the suns and i think a lot has been said of him but like his teammates always seem to love him and because he does these types of things behind the scenes um and so real one of the week for dylan brooks can i give one more absolutely i should have done this i didn't have time to think about it i want to give real one of the week to lamello remember the clip i sent you guys yes of of uh him walking through the bowels of of of their arena and knowing everyone's name and dapping everyone up um i think that's really really cool man and i i this isn't for like just as an organization and when you're people working in those buildings um to have your stars know who you are and have personal relationships and different handshakes with you guys like that that's more rare than you think so i give him real one of the week for that people forget that the team isn't just what you see on the floor you see on the floor it's everybody in the hallways security guards to hold it down it's the the um the people to give out the popcorn it's it's a whole holistic um organization and if you know you're an asshole to those people it really reverberates you know and so shout out to him that clip was great oh okay um that has been another edition of real ones friday edition um we will catch you guys next week we do this every tuesday and friday recording on thursdays for friday's show so keep that in mind. Make sure you tap in. We will be doing a mailbag episode very, very soon. So make sure you tap in with all your questions. I'm not going to tell you the date because I don't know yet. I just know it's soon. So see you guys next week. Ah, ah. All this shit. Bye. Must be 21 years and older and select states for Kansas and affiliation with this Kansas Star Casino or 18 and older and present in D.C. or Wyoming. Opt-in required. Bonus issued is now travel profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply including any token expiration and max wager amount. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org backslash chat in Connecticut. Or visit MD Gambling Help in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelpline ma.org or call 1-800-327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts. Or call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPE-NY in New York, Louisiana. Call 1-877-770-7867. When you shop? 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