Distractions

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2:01Have you guys heard about Chat GPT work? It's the new way to use Chat GPT for bigger multi-step projects. And when you need more than just answers, you have Chat GPT work access to your apps and files and it can create real work documents like spreadsheets, slides and structured reports. And it started at chatgpt.com by selecting Work Mode, Available on Plus and Pro Plants. My Assignment. Uncover why the association inspires more conspiracy theories, in volume and salience than any other US sport. Are you for to be a Luminati? The truth is out there. But so are lies. Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them. The NBA has always been controlled by about eight people. The N.B.A. is the most predictable of all human responses. If you're only using 10% of your brain, you don't even know that you're using 10% of your brain. The NBA, Luminati. If co-incidences are just co-incidences, why don't they feel so contrived? The Aluminati.

3:02But you start to follow the money and you don't know where the f*** is going to take you. It is unspoken. They have influence among other players. The NBA, over what I've heard. I don't have time for your convenient ignorance. Maybe I'm a conspiracist now as well. That's all it took. Oh, you got books, we got schools. You saw a video on you. You did. My eyes, sir. You've never used them, man. We had an ascertaining in the N.B.A. It was just a saying. This is basketball, Luminati. I am Tom Habershiro. Dr. Tom Habershiro still have that certificate on the wall. Thanks to my Shakeyul, Juss Alexander investigations.

4:02We are always joined by the Pulitzer Prize winning and more award winning. I mean, Elhassen. Edward Armoros. Not, please see the whole thing. Edward Armoros award winning journalist and podcaster. Elhassen and Anthony Mays. Still here. So, boys, back in the States, just got back from a little vacation, little Euro Trip. Oh, I love that movie. Yeah, that's a good one. No road trip, Euro Trip. Tommy does now. Landed in Paris. I saw a billboard for Jay-Z when I landed because Jay-Z was there when I was there. Did not go to the concert. No. But I didn't see any no-wembee. Nothing in Paris. Really? No jerseys, no billboards. Really? I was a little taken aback by that. I think it's also a European thing. Like, even in London, I went to a Chelsea match. You didn't see people wearing jerseys. The fashion in Paris and London is such that in the States, you would see people wearing Yankees, jerseys, or basketball jersey out in public.

5:05But you just never saw any of that. And maybe it's the offseason and Wembee plays in the NBA, not in Paris anymore. But I was a little surprised that I didn't see Wembee stuff when I was there. He needs to make a transition into fashion. There needs to be a Wembee fashion uprising that occurs. Because that's what Paris is about, is fashion billboards. It's not about sports billboards. Did you see any embape or French national team stuff? Now that you bring it up, no, not really. Probably during the World Cup, that was going on. You have to imagine. It's not a lot of Travis Kelsey, Tommy Hilfiger billboards. Oh, really? Yeah. Maybe you were in the non-sports side of town, but then you say that. I'm like, wait a second, what's happening here? Parisians, they're the, about their wine, their food, their cigarettes, the brasseries, the bullonjories, the, am I nailing it? You're doing so good. They're the T-series and all that. Farmer seas. Yeah. Yeah, just didn't feel like they had too much of like the sport culture within the city.

6:08And I didn't go outside of Paris and I was in the 11th arrondissement. I don't know, whatever. Arondissement. Arondissement. They're not looking at their phones. Really? It's so amazing to see what American culture is when you're outside of America. You can't get coffee to go or drinks to go. In America, you'd see people with their O'Wallers or their water bottles and they're walking around. Yeah. Or with their coffee cups, their Starbucks, their ice coffees. Do you don't see that in Paris? Everyone's sitting. They're sitting in the cafe on the sidewalk, sipping out of comically small cups, doing a lot of this. The little water cups, you know, and then they're sitting there with their glass of wine, which the stems on the wine glasses were very thin. As my wife and I have our GPS up on her, we're trying to walk around, trying to figure out what road we're the Rude de... Nailed it. I know. Well, there's a certain focus that the French culture is that there's no phone culture and there's no distractions whatsoever in Paris.

7:08You're in America. A lot more people can't stand in lines without looking at their phone. If they're at a restaurant, they got their phones out or if they're at the bar, they got their phones out. In Paris, they're just sitting out by the street, tables lining the streets with chairs facing the road in ways that we don't see. There's just a lot in America that is different than Paris. You're back as to the establishment, your face is to the world, your face in the world, your taking in life as it is. Now, my question for you, Tom, is London. How does London compare to what you say is more like us or more like the French? More like the French. Yeah. Really? They don't have a phone culture either. No. Really? That surprises me. It's more of a pint culture is that everyone's at the pub, the pubs, and they're drinking pints and it's different. Is it a coffee and wine? It's just beer. Beer and meat pies. American culture is different. I think people are just more locked in in Europe. This is not to say that in other countries around the world or other cities, but in terms of Paris and London, these old cities,

8:08there's just a lot more personal interactions and not as many distractions. Delightful. Huh. I wonder. I mean, obviously they have more leisure time. Their time is spent enjoying life more. Four weeks off of nursing is this constitutionally required that I have paid vacation for four weeks. When I was in Avignon, I went to a cafe that is open only for lunch on weekdays and dinner maybe once a month. And it's run by two women. They're open for three hours a day, two, three hours a day. They run it by themselves and they have enough time to raise their kids and live their lives outside of running that cafe for such a limited time. It's nice to not have so much going on, so many distractions around. One thing came in though when I was over there was Steve Balmer,

9:11holding up to his that translator. He owned up to the penalties. You got that alert in the morning, didn't you Tom? Yeah. He was weird. I couldn't sleep one night and I was like, oh man, it's like two through three in the morning in Paris. And I looked at my phone, of course, because I'm an American. And the Rams game San Francisco. It was odd. Sorry, that's just bizarre to me. Yeah, it's called time zones and that was in Australia being played in the morning. Yeah, I like the idea of the Balmer capitulation coming to Tom via text message from Nick Baton. Hello Tom. I know you are very interested in this overall as well. Enjoy. Hola Tomas, se Nicolas. Como se va? Bonjour, Nicolas. I don't think Rudy is still hasn't gotten over, you know, starting COVID for the pandemic by touching all the reporters, recorders. Okay, so you bring up Rudy. This is interesting. You guys know Kofi, right? So Kofi went to the NBA R&D people and they tried to use Jersey numbers to predict the champion.

10:15Is there a Jersey number that every championship team has on the thread from 2000 to 2014? Every championship team except for couple had a Jersey number from 2013 until today in 2026. Every championship team had a number nine. That's the common thread. Common thread, it's like three times itself. Wait, it is three times itself. Whoa, here we go. Okay, so three to the power of what equals three. Uh-oh, one? One. That's the first era. Three to the power of what equals nine. It's two. Now we have three to the third power, 27. We figured it out. You want to win a championship? You better have 27 on your team. Well, it's luck could have it. It's only one number 27 in the league. It is Rudy Gobe. That's why that's such a great. Okay, so you're saying there's only one player with 20. I wonder what the story is there. Well, okay, Jamal Murray. Oh, they misled me. Yeah, I got Jamal Murray here as 27 as well.

11:15Well, there you go. Thanks a lot, Kofi. I tried to catch you out. I thought you guys did something fun. Instead, you misled me because I'm currently Kevin Hunter of War 27 as well. What did that happen? I mean, you just derailed us with a distraction there. And I think you need to take full responsibility and accountability for that. I won't do that. Not only one, not do that. I'm going to sue. I'm suing Kofi. I'm suing MPR and D all of them. What? And I'm suing you guys. Can you at least take accountability for Kofi and people in your social media feed, providing bad information? No, no, I can't do that. Well, you screwed up and you did something wrong. You're holding yourself accountable for that, right? There are a lot of disagreements about what happened, but what I will say is my role here is to support and not to distract. And so I don't ever want to be a distraction. That's what I would say. You just want to move forward. I'd like to move forward. Yes. You want to put this chapter of the cold open behind us. Behind us. Yep. Let's move forward. All right.

12:15Is Kofi going to still be in your inner circle? And are you going to apologize for the people in your inner circle? Let's just say that they're going to, they're people who are serving suspensions. They may not be back at the end of them. Man, I love accountability. I love accountability after punishment when I have accountable for being punished. Not why for. I'm not taking accountability for what I've done. I'm taking accountability for the punishment. Well, this is kind of in the same realm of I apologize to those that were hurt by this for the pain that I caused. If I caused any pain, it's not a real apology. If you say I apologize if you were affected by this. Yeah. It's placing the blame on them for being so soft when you say it that way. Tom. Tom. It's not accountability. It's not. It's like saying no disrespect, but fuck you. That's what it is.

13:16You've used the word incorrectly. And I get it, you know, Steve Balmer as detailed in all that's what we were talking about. As detailed in today's episode of public toy finds out with Mino Hassan, Pulitzer winning podcaster and Edgar Marl. He is potentially facing a long road of investigation from the DOJ and or the SEC. So you don't want to take accountability for wrongdoing if that wrongdoing could be applied in a different arena. It's a very difficult time for us here at basketball, Luminati. And I mean, for that, you apologize. I left him a forward. Also, I need Adam Silver to come up and say actually, he's dealing with some other things. So maybe he was a word of, that was crazy. Oh, shit. Yeah, he might have chosen some of his words carefully given the other inquiries that are happening. Here's my theory. I think once I watched your episode, I'm already revealing that I haven't finished it.

14:16So you guys probably already hit this. But if you hadn't, I would love to point out the NBA's ruling came down after apparently the subpoenas or at least one subpoena went out from the DOJ. And I'm wondering, do you think that was what sealed the deal on the ruling is once the NBA League office caught word that the DOJ was going into Steve Balmer's role. With the different contracts with Kauai, maybe that gave the NBA cover to drop the hammer. As Adam Silver said, I think he's got some other inquiries that he's got a separate from the NBA has nothing to do with the NBA that he's got to worry about, which is why I think he chooses words very, very carefully. And as everyone has noted, Adam Silver himself is a lawyer. So everywhere that he chooses about this is very carefully chosen, which is why he chose those words carefully about words that Balmer chose carefully. Because he didn't want to cause a distraction. Yes. You know who doesn't mind causing a distraction? A distraction from dull drums, distractions from lack of information.

15:17He's the most welcome distraction of all. It's Bruce Arthur. He's going to join us next. This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online makes sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up require compatibility and availability varies 18 plus. This episode is brought to you by chat GPT. Hey, it's Bill Simmons from the Bill Simmons podcast. Have you guys heard about chat GPT work? It's the new way to use chat GPT for bigger multi-step projects. And when you need more than just answers, you have chat GPT work access to your apps and files and it can create real work documents like spreadsheets, slides and structured reports. Get started at chat GPT dot com by selecting work mode available on plus and pro plans.

16:21Imagine a left brain and a right brain got together and came up with an incredible banking solution. The innovative minds at Silicon Valley Bank and the pragmatic ones at first citizens bank have put their heads together so they can deliver solutions tailored to your unique financial needs. You want deep innovation insights paired with the financial power of a top 20 US bank? Now you can have it. Silicon Valley Bank and first citizens bank. It's the best of bank worlds. Before this. There's this. As you celebrate the game, take a deeper look at its roots. The people grow in the grass. They've in the lots, weld in the gold posts, inspecting every football. The hardworking people to make every Sunday possible. Carhartt is proud to outfit the crews behind the game. Visit carhartt.com slash join the trades to learn more.

17:21I'm not giving up. I am selling the building. The final season of FX is the bear. Restaurant is flooded. Everything's either going to be okay. No. No. Or not. We are outgunned and we are out manned but we have each other. FX is the bear. The final season. All episodes now streaming on Disney+. You all think I'm late? Well I'm not late. And I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause. Even if this wound gets filled with wires like these. And the tailors and all their armies come marching in the place. Somebody else listen to me. There's no better way to overpower a trickle of doubt than with a flood of naked truth. But the complexity and the great lie not in the truth. What you do with the truth once you have it.

18:26What is true and right is true and right for all. You and I both know that that's just not the truth. You can't handle the truth. To messy keeps me up late. I'm here because in the end the truth is worth the risk. I think a little truth when people lose their mind. I'm a grown man. You can tell me the truth. Why is it people who want the truth? Never believe in one thing here. So you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to do something really outrageous. I'm going to tell the truth. The NBA is a different place than when we last talked. Bruce Steve Balmer is suspended. I don't know if you caught that. He Lawrence Frank is six months suspension. The CFO for the Clippers. A one year suspension, co-ilater. It not get suspended at all. Bruce and not only that. He's now a Toronto Raptor. So congratulations. You don't have to deal with Uncle Dennis anymore Bruce. Because he hasn't been there for five years.

19:26One under reported part of the entire punishment to the Clippers is God bless the power of organized labor. Because Kauai deserved more than a $700,000 fine. Kauai was sitting in the meetings when all this stuff got asked for. At least for the Raptors. I presume also with the Clippers. When Uncle Dennis was asking for this stuff. For the $10 million no-show contracts per year. For the slice of the Toronto Maple Leafs or whatever he was asking for. But the union, it sounds like, fought pretty hard. And so Kauai gets to write a check. Which is probably still mad about. He's a very frugal person. But he walks away. The punishment though. And publicory has argued this. I mean, I think you agreed with this. I think the Clippers probably you can make an argument they got off light. They got off easy. Like this. I throughout all of this I've wondered what would David Stern do.

20:27And I honestly. I think you would have come down harder from the start. I don't think you would have tried to make a deal which the NBA apparently did try to do. Except the Clippers kept saying no, we're not making a deal. But I think I think they got off easy. And I'm really excited to see what else comes out. Because Walk Tell only goes to 2022. There's still lots to discover. Yeah, it is interesting. First of all, that the report left it open ended. This is not the end of our like this is just what we've got so far. There might be more stuff that comes out. We haven't like that it yet. But the what would David have done question? I go back up for them that one because on the one hand David inspired fear. And part of inspiring fear is meeting out punishments that are even beyond perhaps the actual scope of his jurisdiction.

21:32But the other part of David was being this like real shrewd behind the scenes like power broker. Meaning I don't have to make an example because you will all fall in line. And so within that how far would this investigation have gone under David before he got basically barmered and capitulated now you owe me forever? That's the thing I think about a lot. But from the quiet side. I like I'm I'm torn because I think the only other punishment that was more harsh that was available to them was avoiding the contract. But avoiding the contract. Okay, yeah, he would what would they would you have to pay back probably not it's just the money that he's owed on the rest of his current deal. But then it invites this chaotic element.

22:33Whereas one of the best players in the league is now an unrestricted free agent at a time where all the free agency money has been spent. What does that mean? How does that imbalance impact the league in an effort to like meet out justice? Have we actually fucked things up more had they done that so part of it I think yeah part of the obviously was a settlement so that they could box Steve bomber in the clippers in. I think part of it also is the realization if if you go any further you actually risk ruining more of the balance of the game then then the whatever justice is served by you know punishing him. And he screwed the raptors right by doing that and it would it so it would have cost quite about fifty million dollars there's probably I think to me there's probably just a number between seven hundred thousand dollars and fifty million dollars. That you probably could have gotten to right like seven hundred thousand feels like it's like a parking ticket.

23:35Because the amount of money that we know he got outside the salary cap is really like. I think we're up up to like fifty or sixty million dollars. Yeah it's around fifty. Yeah and I honestly everything I've ever learned about this I think there's way more. Yeah but you're right like the fact that they didn't void the contract one there was no kind of mechanism for that other than like the power of God stuff right. But to it allowed the clippers to get two picks and two swaps back plus two second round picks allowed the raptors to trade for the guy that they wanted. Everyone gets to walk away the clippers just have to pick up the pieces that's all. Yeah it seems to me that Kauai Leonard got a slap on the wrist so to speak and I also think Kauai. I mean has made this point many times is that players have every right to ask for things.

24:35And it takes a team to cross the line and break the rules to capitulate to those illegal asks. And for Kauai Leonard he got investigated back in 2019 or at least Uncle Dennis was. And there was like things have been circling around Kauai Leonard for so long about how he has handled his business out of San Antonio and a mean and I had a podcast with Michael C. Wright at the time about how how messy that got on the exit to from San Antonio to Toronto. And so it's not like this is anything new that the NBA has been has understood that what Kauai wants or what Uncle Dennis wants he will get or at least ask for it. Now with Uncle Dennis out of the picture. How do you think that changes things Bruce that is are we about to find out how much of this was Uncle Dennis and his demands into getting as much under the table with Kauai Leonard allegedly.

25:37Or do you think this is look it was always Uncle Dennis the whole time and Kauai Leonard just wants to play basketball and make a bunch of money but it was never him making those ask. I mean he's in the room for the asks right which means that they go into the room having presumably discussed these will be the asks which I've always presumed that meant Uncle Dennis said. Well there's I mean there's two options there one is what do you want Kauai and he said you I want more money okay this is how we're going to do it or. Or maybe just as are you okay if I ask for this either way Kauai is in the room. The interesting part of this is I put like I presume and I don't know this but I presume that every contract with the Clippers came with something extra because that's what we've seen all the way along we just haven't gotten to the bottom of that yet. That obviously won't happen with the raptors because when they asked this in the first time when they asked for all the stuff the first time the raptor said look we can introduce you to sponsors that's literally all we're allowed to do like as soon as as soon as Dennis said oh no we don't want to do anything for the for the advertising contract.

26:47The raptors were like well we're fucked like we can't do that I go there yeah like that's a dead that's not how it works. What's been interesting is all along the understanding that I've I've understood that this will not be the maximum contract right Kauai is eligible for whatever it is two years 120 I think or all around there as an extension the expectation is it will come in under that how far under nobody knows yet but that is there's no one who's disputed that yet that they will come in under and the raptors are right up against the first apron that like to eventually get under the luxury tax unless it's less they're going to go for it that's the only time they've ever done it. But this. This seems like the start of a good relationship right because it's the place Kauai wanted to go there were very few places I think Kauai was willing to go and the only place he was willing to go that was willing to extend.

27:47Yeah it's funny because the other teams I want to say Minnesota was one and what was the other team that had inquired and basically got the answer that we're not going to extend there you trade for him. It was Minnesota and there was one more team wasn't I don't think it was a good way no it's not golden state. I can't remember you're right it was an eastern I believe it's an eastern conversation but but just the idea that I mean I mean twice comments he said oh my son was born in Toronto and he's asked oh when are we going to go back and there's. There's something about this place that he'd like. And so Bruce for a guy wasn't there that long right got there he remember famously he got traded and did not show up for quite a while there was a question remember there's a trepidation not is he not going to make this is he not going to show up but then he remember the picture of him and Messiah and Bobby Webster and I believe it was like late August at a boys and girls club or something like that and then he plays that season they win the championship in June.

29:04July by July the first weekend of summer league he's made his decision that he's going to LA so we're talking about really end the end about 10 months. Oh yeah actually being a Toronto Raptor what was it about that experience minus a championship that made him feel like oh yeah this is this is the place. I mean one is the Raptor's sports science and body guys Alex McCackney right yeah and he he pioneered how to keep Kauai healthy. Kauai plays 60 games the championship area plays all 24 playoff games you can see him worrying down at the end if you go watch the final. The Golden State series he's not the same guys he was against Philly or even against Milwaukee. Part of that stream on green part of that's just he's you can see him worrying down but they kept him healthy and he was embraced the thing Raptor's fans are a great fan base tremendous fan base and he will and I think he'll be embraced again this time like I think they're going to the fond memories are going to outweigh everything before you get to the fact that he's still really good.

30:14In terms of relationship with Toronto and I've said this all along I said this at the time. Kauai was closer to staying in 2019 than most people said or thought at least that's how the Raptors looked at it is all the way during negotiations they were still talking to him every day. It was still an open channel of negotiation till very late in the process at which point they went okay something's going on and what we've since learned and I think I kind of knew a little at the time was what was going on is the clippers were making the deal for Paul George the Raptors were asked if they could make a deal for Paul George the initial ask on that was Pascal Siacum Fred Van Villeet. Five first run picks four five. I can't remember now and then other stuff to make it work so not that dissimilar to what the clippers wound up giving up without a two time MVP in the mix on the Raptor said no they never felt like they were really up on it but if the Paul George deal doesn't happen and absent the Kauai under the table payments.

31:33I think he goes back like he wasn't going to go to the clippers without another guy the other guy he looked into at the time was Jimmy Butler and Jimmy was going to go to my hand. So without Paul George he wasn't going to go that's what makes it all happen and if Kauai goes back that is the alternative theory of the NBA. It changes NBA history to me one shame never goes to OKC. That is a a league swinging decision to I think the Raptors if they don't win the title the next year they're very close in the bubble year. They played the Lakers so well that year they had they had they had a team that could absolutely take away either LeBron or Anthony Davis that year you add Kauai to that Raptor team the next year that's a title team and then all bets are off who knows right who knows how the league unfolds from there but it changes Raptors history it changes OKC history it changes clippers history it changes championship history to me.

32:34Let's go back to that trading for Kauai in the first place was San Antonio what what made the Raptors so sure that this would work out maybe they didn't know but yeah. Yeah the Margarose and Cala area comes to an end they make the trade for Kauai and in retrospect is a steal but the front office Messiah Jerry Bobby what Webster had I don't think people were pegging the Raptors as the most likely destination for Kauai Leonard it just didn't make much sense but obviously it worked out so. In your years reporting about the Raptors and the front office it just it doesn't seem like a likely marriage of these two sides but ended up being historic. Well the Messiah been chasing star chasing for a long time because they needed that right the Raptors before that deal are Kyle Lowry de Mar de Rosen Jonas Valentinus the development system which is bringing up Pascal seeakum Yakup portal Fred Van Villeet Norm Powell.

33:35They've got a good team they get to one conference finals where LeBron treats them like clowns they keep losing to LeBron and the playoffs. They are just they're they're the Atlanta Hawks at their best right that idea of the team that is good but it doesn't matter fundamentally it doesn't matter and so they had just they had determined internally that the Margarose wasn't going to be a part of the long term future of the team. And so they were starting to look around the league I believe I reported at one point they offered to Mar to the Clippers for those two back to back picks they added the back end of the lottery was 12 13 I think. And the Clippers said no we're not interested then they offered them for one and they didn't get it. They had kind of internally determined that tomorrow wasn't going to be they weren't even necessarily going to resign. One of this contractors up and so they were they'd hunted for they looked into the Marcus cousins they looked into who the other guys they always wanted to honest.

34:36They were looking to upgrade because they had contracts and they could move stuff and then when Kauai came up they talked about it and they talked about it and they talked about it and there was real doubt in the room. And remember at that time Kauai's health was a bit of a mystery yep no one really could see inside that box and at one point in the talks when they were discussing whether they were going to do it. Missi goes to Alex McKecney and says Alex what do you think Alex goes we can keep him healthy we'll make it work when they went okay and that that was the biggest part of making that deal. Is that McKecney believed it could they could keep him healthy the front office believed they could deal with the rest of the Kauai situation they could get him in they could make him happy they could have a program that he would enjoy being a part of. Yeah the Lakers is out of discomfort in the room when they were talking about that.

35:36And McKecney piece is so underrated I mean maybe most underrated person in the NBA you talk about the Lakers used to call him the silver fox. Yeah and she called him the resurrector because his I think it was a core was all messed up and he said his he was basically his career was dead and then he trained with McKecney in the offseason I think it was a Vancouver and he was like the Canadian top physiotherapist what what have you he's Scottish and the raptors bring him in house and for Missi just like go to McKecney and say Hey whatever you say goes and then we'll go after Kauai. If you look at the Toronto Raptors Raptors bench it's this this white hair dude that's sitting at the end of the bench has resurrected so many careers and is such a big piece of this. And I've talked to him for stories and stuff he's he's harder to get to before Kauai than afterwards but it's it's a you talk about sports scientists and trusted officials around the league Alex McKecney is if not the number one name on that list and his resume speaks for itself if you are able to turn Kauai Leonard from I'm not really sure he can even be an all star again his knee is so messed up after all the time off in San Antonio into that.

37:01Postseason run and the stuff he did with the Lakers it's just he's he's one of those figures that people don't know about but should know about. Well it's a big reason they're doing it again right because Kauai is seven years older lots has happened he's torn as he say on that time he didn't finish three playoffs series it's a degenerative quadricep right it's not just the knee it's like the quad is actually degenerative and so. Kauai played a ton of games not just last year but three years ago i mean he's better in contract years I will say so yeah the extension works but out having Alex part of what msai built in Toronto was eight. I mean he built a championship team with a championship front office like Bobby Webster is one of the smarter guys in the league and toldsman's a really good talent scout they had they did they've done well in the draft they've been. Well in terms of managing their cap like it was a route and Alex McKekney as a guy who could run your body program like think about what's happening in the league what's happened in the league since think of how many guys under 30 or snapping Achilles think of how often because of the increasing pace in the league and how the league how the game is played now health is so it's more important than it's ever been because the demands on the players are greater than they've ever been and the one thing with this raptor scene that actually all the time I think it's a lot of time off because of the increasing pace in the league and how the league how the game is played now health is so it's more important than it's ever been.

38:17Because the demands on the players are greater than they've ever been and the one thing with this raptor scene that actually also works is they got a lot of guys you can play forward so why doesn't have to play 35 minutes a game you could easily play him 30 I don't know what the plan is I haven't talked to them about that but like you could play him 30 minutes a game play him 55 to 60 games and keep in theory keep him healthy like we'll see but having Alex McKekney in the front office changes how you can approach players. How will it change this time around though you got no Messiah no Nick nurse but Bobby Webster is still there Scotty Barnes is there like how how will things look different for why this time around good and bad. Well also the Bobby piece is interesting because Messiah is a guy who has aura and has command and Bobby is still like I have a great deal of regard for Bobby I don't think he has that yet he's just too young still he look it's it's not even he's too young he looks young Bobby's Bobby's biggest obstacle is that he looks like he's 24 and he's fresh out of college even though he's like 40 and he's been at this for quite a while.

39:29Yeah one and the good news with him is that he does have like his intellect is obvious right away but you're right he looks like a kid. But the front office is still largely the same as entirely same Theresa rushes left but tools been still there a lot of the other people are still there I think that'll be comfortable for Kauai in terms of the on court like he'll be able to find a house last time I think he lived in. Live near Kyle last time I can't quite access that in my branch he'll find a lovely place to live and then in the on court fit. So if you look last year I wrote this down so I would remember look at the offensive rating of Scotty with different guys right. And it's all like the Raptors were completely average offensive team last year they were right in the middle of the 15th and offensive rating they were fifth in defensive rating like this is a this is a really good defensive team but with Brandon Ingraham on the floor like it didn't do that much like it was fine.

40:31In terms of the Scotty and one other guy like this of the of the seven guys who are kind of coming back this year who are still a part of the core. They are the second best offensive rating with Brandon Ingraham and Scotty on the floor and the defensive rating was sixth worst right of those seven guys they just adding quiet this team it's the same thing as last time last time with the Raptors they didn't have someone who could come back to the court. So if someone who could command an offense that are really high level and therefore give everyone else space to operate and that's what co I gave them last time think about it like who's the second best offensive player in that championship run. It very very between Kyle Lowry Pascal see at them. Yeah but like neither of those guys are number one offensive guys but they had been that and then they were that after again same thing with this Raptors team now Scotty's not that guy he's not a number one offensive score or he just isn't. I say Demard erosion and Brandon Ingraham are not totally dissimilar offensive threats is just that they they're great offensive creators who have a knack for the mid range and love that pull up shot and haven't been able to be kind of that high efficiency engine in the playoffs and so then co I comes back in replaces Brandon Ingraham who has some similarity to

41:54Demard erosion in terms of the inefficient score but hasn't been able to translate regular season success into both seasons success and he steps in right away with a slow of really good forwards and as you wrote it felt like yeah it would have been nice to have co I Leonard come back after the championship but without him that offered them an opportunity to draft Scotty Bardsforth overall. And Scotty's playoffs was everything the Raptors always thought he was going to be right just the level of command of a game offensively and defensively that he has is really high at its best and what I love about the fit here is if you look at co wise isolation numbers last year per possession they're not like crazy good right that like he's still quite Leonard he's still an incredibly efficient offensive player but he's not just a one on one guy anymore like you have to kind of build some other stuff into offenses for him but the Raptors offense is built that way where with the stuff that Scotty creates the movement that they use like it's it's a sophisticated offense when it wants to be and I think he'll fit in so

43:06beautifully because they'll maximize the fact that he is one of the most efficient players who's ever lived ever like I think I think it's also I think why took more pull up three spragane last year than the entire Raptors team. Yeah, like they're right. It's great. I love it. It's like their offense is not it was was like just kind of stuck together last year. Like how much can you get out of quickly how much can you get out of barrett how much can you get out of dummy yeah right like it's and it's still a funny team because there are so many forwards on this team but if you look at what the defensive rating. The love this the defensive rating of Scotty Barnes plus Colin Murray boils or the defensive rating of Scotty Barnes plus Jamal shed or the defensive rating of Scotty Barnes and Jacobi Walter watch how he guarded harden in the playoffs last year the kid can guard. All those numbers are when those to any of those two guys were on the floor it was an Oklahoma City level defense right it was in the 105 for 100 possessions range.

44:18You're adding Kauai to that group so there's going to be times when they can be able to put out Scotty Barnes Kauai Leonard and Colin Murray boils up be a little bit small at center. But they have three guys who can switch in guard and anybody in the world right and who can't be bullied physically who are all strong as hell and in the east right now you're playing Philly LeBron and Jalen Brown and like just size of the wings you're playing New York with size of the wings Raptors have size of the wings man. Bruce obviously Scotty stands to benefit probably the most who's going to get hurt the most on the current roster by the rival Kauai Leonard. I feel like it's got to be RJ who was good in the playoffs and I'm not the biggest fan of how he plays because there are certain there's just a hard limits it feels like to his game. But he when he has the ball in his hands he's a really effective battering Ram player like he comes downhill at you he gets the Ram in the playoffs you can kind of see how that was more effective even in the regular season to become a more efficient offensive player in Toronto there's lots of good stuff there.

45:27But I just think that now he is last year you could argue he was the second most important offensive player on the team and now he's third and that's a big drop I feel like because they need more perimeter they need shooters around Kauai he's not quite that they need guys who can play off Kauai and and either work the offensive boards are cut better he's not quite that. If you're going to look at a second move and the Raptors looked into that last year they looked into like the Anthony Davis and people like that last year just to see what could work. RJ is obviously the most likely candidate to move because if you look at the roster composition now so you're back court you got a manual quickly and you're either starting RJ at the two or you're starting to Kobe Walter and Walter is going to be I think a really effective three point shooter as well so maybe that works. And then your front court is Scotty and it's Kauai Yakka Pertles going to play call and Murray boils is going to play right like that's your core as a team Shed your backup point card RJ all of a sudden is kind of where does he fit in all that and if you were going to make a move it's him like the three guys who you could see moving is Pertle RJ.

46:51RJ or quickly any three any one of those three RJs kind of the easiest he's going to be an expiring contract. He's in a he's an effective player he's still really young. I feel like he's he's the guy who's going to kind of get hurt by this. This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome you think you know a browser but Gemini and Chrome that's new it can help you with practically anything on the web like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50 page restoration block or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks Gemini and Chrome is here for it ready to make anything online make sense there's no place like Chrome check responses set up required compatibility and availability very 18 plus. This episode is brought to you by chat GPT hey it's Bill Simmons from the Bill Simmons podcast have you guys heard about chat GPT work it's the new way to use chat GPT for bigger multi step projects and when you need more than just answers. You've chat GPT work access to your apps and files and it can create real work documents like spreadsheets slides and structured reports get started at chat GPT dot com by selecting work mode available on plus and pro plants.

48:06Before this there's this as you celebrate the game take a deeper look at its roots the people grow in the grass they've in the lots well in the goalposts inspecting every football the hard working people to make every Sunday possible car heart is proud to outfit the crews behind the game visit car heart dot com slash join the trades to learn more. Imagine of having your cake and eating it to was about banking not baking silicon Valley bank and first citizens bank have created a recipe that blends decades of innovation economy experience with more than a century of stability now you don't have to choose between deep sector expertise and lasting financial security instead you can enjoy them both silicon Valley bank and first citizens bank it's the best of bank worlds.

49:06I'm not giving up. I am selling the building. The final season of FX is the bad restaurant is flooded. Everything's either going to be okay. Or not. We are out gone and we are out man but we have each other. FX is the bad the final season all episodes now streaming on Disney plus. Any stories from the Kyle Lowry Jersey. Retirement and all that this this off season because I think co-I Leonard seals that he's going to have his now that he's coming back I can't imagine. That now that he's back in Toronto that co-I doesn't have his number to retired or am I already getting too excited about this. That's a really interesting question. Like so outside the building this is slightly separate thing but outside the building. The least in the raptors owned by the same people so the least finally decided they were going to have some iconography outside the rink and so they built this thing called legends row so that's a statue of like a hockey boards and a bunch of players behind the boards.

50:16Really good like that's kind of thing you should have go outside staples and you get all those different statues like it feels like a place that matters right like check her is outside the staples center that's awesome. With the raptors there is nothing outside the arena of any player in franchise history. It is still such a young franchise and especially young franchise in terms of achievement. So like what they've tried to do with Vince Carter bringing Vince Carter back and the way that. I mean Kyle's not loved the same way anywhere else he was always going to come back but they're doing it right right they're doing this the right way. He's like it's the idea of Kyle I've always loved he finally found a home right like he finally found a place that he could trust it took a lot. Kyle's a guy who's going to have his he'll be the first Jersey retired in franchise history they will eventually bring DeMar de Rosen back into the fold would be my prediction and in terms of like as an aging player. And I kind of the end of that. Why let's say he plays three years in Toronto three more years in Toronto yeah let's say they contend for at least one of those years who knows what else.

51:27He becomes one of the most interesting small sample size high impact players of any franchise you've ever seen right and I'm sure less like that idea. I'm always reminded that we're she was played one game for the Atlanta Hawks. Yeah. Traded to Detroit. You should put that on the rafters. But no like when you do the list of the greatest rafters in history it becomes all these competing kind of criteria because Kyle's obviously now number one. And then who's number two on that list and it becomes like is it DeMar. Is that funny though Bruce that before the trade like in 2018 in June of 2018 if I asked anyone in the Toronto area inside or outside of the rafters organization building. Who's the greatest rafter of all time the answer is DeMar de Rosen. Yeah. And then he gets straight into what's Twitter still said Vince Vince against played five years right right like five years.

52:32And so it actually becomes analogous so Vince played five years but they were so impactful not just on the rafters but on the state of Canadian basketball every Canadian basketball player. Right. Of a certain age like Steve Nash influenced some people but nothing like Vince. Yeah that's it with with the rafters. If coi plays four years for the rafters wins a title is an all NBA player two to three of those years you can argue that it's similar to Vince. Because the difference between pre coi and post coi is so big they just never mattered before on a league wide level they never mattered. Um coi. So we'll see what happens with this contract he's the only guy in franchise history who has made them matter at a league level. Bruce we had spike asking on the show after they got LeBron and he lamented the concept of a mercenary championship.

53:34Meanwhile coi is literally the embodiment of the mercenary championship. And now he's being welcomed back with open arms so I guess I wonder. Is there is there an awareness that like the derosen team had reached its ceiling and that you were open to a mercenary championship or. Is there any way that like you wish that they had stayed and figured it out with the Rosen. So raptors fans still have a really soft spot for Kyle and tomorrow because they tried those guys build themselves into really really good players and they tried and they had a beautiful friendship that was really public. And they. They did their best but I don't think anyone ever thought they were going to win a title. When the raptors won the title so in the Toronto the joke is always whenever the Leafs win two or three games is playing the parade. Right everyone gets really excited whenever the Leafs are good for 15 minutes right plan the plan they haven't won a Stanley Cup since there were six teams in the league in 1967.

54:40The league expanded in 68 they have not been back to the Stanley Cup final it is an incredible run of utility. When the raptors won so it was the first championship parade in the city since the blue jays in 1993 like a generation right. There were between two and a half and three million people on the streets of Toronto and the parade took six hours because no one planned. They didn't put up barriers properly the car so I'll sit you. Mark. All was complete me. I'll have a right mark assault on stage unbelievably drunk the Prime Minister's 15 feet away incredible incredible scenes. So I lived, I moved to Toronto in 2001. I had never experienced a day like that in Toronto. There was, there's nothing even close. Like when we talk about this thing about how sports brings us together, it can be kind of amorphous and it can be all of us watching the same TV show, I guess. This, if you looked out at that crowd, I have pictures of that crowd from that day because

55:41I was doing TV, I wasn't even supposed to write and it was a shooting and I wrote. It was one person died. It was, I don't know, it didn't die. Can't even remember now. God. I was about random violence thing. But when I wrote it, when I look back at those pictures, it looks like the city to me. That's always what the raptors have been in Toronto. If you go to a leaf scheme, it looks like the lawyers and the stockbrokers and the bankers. It doesn't look like the subway. The raptors always look like the subway and when the raptors one, it looked like the most ethnically diverse city in the world because that's what it is. So quite even though he left and people were hurt broken when he left, what he gave this city was something that had not experienced in more than a generation. This isn't Boston, right? Where you get a parade every other year. This isn't LA. This is a place that especially in basketball was a backwater, right? It wasn't outpost. Yeah, Bruce, I mean, let's talk about top five in windshares in Toronto Raptors history.

56:48Top five you have Siacum, four you have Vince, three you have DeMar de Rosan at number one Kyle Avery by far. Yeah. Number two is a guy we haven't even mentioned because it's... It must start him up. No, Chris Bosch. And just the idea of a relevancy, you're coming off of Chris Bosch who left in 2010 to join up with LeBron in one two championships and became a totally different player and revered all time in a totally different fashion. He reached another level that arguably he was never going to reach in Toronto. And so coming off of that and seeing CB when it... Be immortal for two championships and beloved in South Florida and you're watching him reach that glory and you watched your Mar de Rosan and Kyle Avery become LeBronto. It feels like that's all part of the same story.

57:49It's deeper than that because we mentioned Vince Carter but the legacy of Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady and they missed out on my and any other Raptor of notice at some point they want out. And part of what made DeMar and Kyle so beloved especially DeMar because DeMar was drafted there is like, I love it here. I'm never leaving. That's why they really like glombed onto him. Well, he has great play all-star and all that stuff but it was really because this is a guy who's not going to break our hearts the way these other guys did. And of course, the irony here is that he didn't. The organization broke his heart by training away. Right. But in Kwai, like we could call him the ultimate mercenary champion but the reality is that's returned and I asked Bruce earlier like, you know, what is it about Toronto because Kwai is the first guy to be somewhere else and say, send me there because even DeMar didn't

58:53get that choice. DeMar was drafted and Kyle was basically like, he was traded there but he was, you know, he had been bouncing around like Bruce said, he finally found a home in Toronto. Kwai is very realistically the first major NBA talent to say, send me there. I want to be there. And I think that maybe that answers our question about is this jersey going to get retired? Like, yeah, he chose us. If you're to run, he chose us. Well, they had a natural statue opportunity. You got the boards and you got the board man. So put him there with his check and now you've added on to the statue and you can just keep building up. Maybe put some apples. I'm saying, he's holding a check. Amazing. It's got to tell you what it is. It's Kwai Leonard squatting like after the shot, right? Yes. But in his back pocket is a check from aspiration.

59:55There's a table as well that he's getting the check under the table that he's squatting in. Be amazing. Yeah, the ball is, there's a rim somewhere in the ball is like just off the rim. That would be, I mean, I asked that because I just, I feel like him choosing Toronto again, his, his fate is sealed as if not the, the best player to ever play. I mean, I know Kyle Larry more revered, but man, it feels like if, if Kwai Leonard doesn't get his jersey retired, I just don't know what the bar is. I guess more than one season, but he's in his back. Yeah. So what a mean said there is everything about the Raptors, he said was true. And I think it's really important because when Messiah came, one of the things he talked about every year was you guys got to have confidence in yourself as a city as a country because Toronto felt like, like Chris Bosch was the starting center in the 2008 gold medal game for Team USA.

1:00:57And two years later, he's in Miami and he, and he handled the departure poorly. Like he was very little public communication, even within the organization where people were mad at Chris after he left because of how he did it. And so it was, that was a bad breakup. And he was such a lovely kid. He still has a great, like a really great interesting guy. And Vince, people loved Vince in a way that that argument over Vince has only just died down. Like he left. He got booed forever, right? There was so it was such an emotional argument for the Raptors fans. And he left in 2004. Like, but he was, he was their first of, Dimasautomer is one thing. Vince was different. He was their first real love, right? Basketball lands in the city and Vince is this comet and then he leaves and that's ugly. I mean, everyone who came, no one wanted to stay, right?

1:01:57And you can argue that it's justifiable. Like the Raptors didn't win playoff series. They had won, they beat Detroit in five games in 2002. They got out of the first round against the NICS in 2003. I believe, or 2001 rather. 2001, yeah. Yeah. And that was it until they beat Indiana, I believe with Paul George. Yeah. In Miami in 2007. Miami in 2007. Yeah. I believe it was. Yeah. Right. It was a long time where this was a very poorly run organization. Messiah changed everything with his team, changed everything. And everything that is still going right is in large part a reflection of the organization he built. Raptors fans like the other thing with Kauai is there just had never been a guy who was that good. He was that good. I always tell the story that halfway through the Philly series, one of the Philly executives

1:02:59walked over to me in a back room after like game four or something and went, Kauai's got to start missing eventually, right? He said like the numbers like they showed that like Ben Simmons was inside his jersey on every shot. They were helping nothing worked. Nothing. Yeah. There's never been a guy who made the city feel this way because no one's ever been as good as him. So title contenders. Yes. We're going to do the parlor game. Do you feel it's a year from now when we see whether this team can really compete at the highest level? So there's a couple things I think about there. I think in terms of talent in the east, the east is going to be amazing. Like going to be awesome. It's going to be so tough. I don't think anybody has any clear idea of how the top eight to ten teams are going to shake down, but I think the rafters are going to be in there. If I presume health for Kauai, which based on Alex McKecney, I will, I will presume that Alex McKecney will keep this guy healthy. I think this is going to be an elite defensive team with a better offense than it had last

1:04:00year because you're going to have not only putting Kauai in the brand at Ingram Spot, which is a giant upgrade of the number one guys in the league, offensive rating when they were on the floor. Kauai was fifth, I think. Yokech was better, Shay was better. I have a list here somewhere. Offensive rating, when he was on the floor at the Clipper's scored, the rafters are going to score and they're going to be an elite defensive team. I think they're going to be really good. I also think that the thing with this Kauai deal is they gave up two picks and two swaps. They still have picks they can trade. They still have contracts they can trade. You can make an RJ Barrett deal for a guy who's who fits maybe a little more structurally. Where you want to fit that, that's the question. But they could go for it. They are still in a position to add to this team. So I think they're going to try. What do they need Bruce? So they have a lot of people. They're going to suck last year, right?

1:05:01And he's actually a really, I think he's a, when he's healthy and when he's right, he's a really good solid connecting center. He just, he's completely unselfish. He does a million things for you. A good passer. Like, if he's not right, you need an upgrade at the center position. A manual quickly does a lot of things well as an incredibly low turnover guard. Is again, another connector who can be a volume 3.3. They don't have enough of those, but he never touches the paint. Does it matter as much with Kauai there? Maybe he fits better with Kauai because Kauai does get into the paint because Colin Murray boils gets into the paint because Scottie gets into the paint. Maybe he doesn't need to. And that fits better. But that's in the back court, him and Jacobi Walter. Is that a championship back court? Walter's still young. Quickly isn't quite, maybe what you want there. That's the question. Then this, the RJ question is, is he a surplus piece? Like if you traded RJ straight up for Tyler Hero, same age, similar contracts, similar

1:06:02player in a way and like more of an offensive than a defensive player. His team looks structurally way better, right? And that you go quickly hero and then your big, burly front court. And if you act a pearl, can play and you get a little bit off your bench like you're in pretty good shape. If you can attach two picks and you get Trey Murphy, right? What does this team look like for RJ Barrett? All of a sudden you got another volume 3.0, length size, all this stuff. Like they can still go pursue this kind of thing. And I think, I think they think they're close. I think last year if Anthony Dave, if they make that Anthony Davis deal last year, which doesn't cost you that much in terms of pick equity really, right? In terms of what Anthony Davis actually went for, it's costy contracts. They beat Cleveland in the first round. They might get to the conference finals. And that's without Emmanuel quickly in the playoffs last year. This team's got guys.

1:07:03And now you have two stars at the top who push everyone else down in terms of responsibility. And all of a sudden your team looks that much deeper. They're going to be real good. I think. Man, if they get, if they call Portland and say we want Drew Holiday and Shade and Sharps on the sideline and Rob Williams, I mean, he's got a trade restriction until December 30th, I think it is. That's a great, that's a great potential fake trade. Oh, man, because Portland's got like 18 point cards and Drew Holiday would be perfect on Toronto just as a Kyle Lowry type where it's just he's such a solid and everything. And a veteran who's already won multiple championships just feels like that's a great acquisition. But you're going to have to give up some young players and RJ bearer probably have to be in the deal that Portland would need a downhill creator. There's a lot of things that Danny does, but Rob Williams deserves to be on a title contender. He's that good. And man, imagine a defensive team like let's say you don't give up Chikoby in that deal.

1:08:08Let's say it's more of an RJ of Drew Holiday, Chikoby Walter, Scotty Barnes, Kawai Leonard, Colin Murray Boils. You are a nightmare. Yeah. Like everyone thinks about how you're going to guard a team like Philly, right? So they've got all these different guys. One of the things in the league now is if you can't be physically bullied, if you are big and strong enough with guys who can move, who can move their feet, who understand concepts, who are smart, like this is going to be a really smart defensive team. Like that was the number one underrated thing about that 2019 Raptors team is that was one of the smartest teams I've ever seen in the NBA. Kyle Lowry, Kawai Leonard, Marcus Saul, Pascal Siacum to this day is a really smart player back then he was still learning, but he was right there for Ed Van Vleet. They had the ability to almost be shape shifters on defense and adjust on the fly as quickly as any team you've ever seen to figure stuff out. They lost the two first two games against Milwaukee and got blown out, changed things and

1:09:12went for a straight. They just figured Milwaukee it. Then then Fred Van Vleet's son was born and everything changed. That's the hard one to change. Like this team will be smart. This team will be a really smart and distinctive defensive team. You've got your mouth shed by the way still as a, if you ever learn to shoot, that's a really good player. Hey, Bruce, we haven't talked about it. This has been a great trip through memory lane and trying to project home and forward, but in the near term, did you hear if there was any whispers of the trade being hung up through picks and negotiating the deal? Yeah, why wouldn't the Raptors pull the Darth Vader's a maltering the deal, pray that I don't alter any further? It doesn't, I never heard that they were that interested in changing it. Partly because like you don't really have that much more, I don't think there was a lot of extra leverage there for the clippers. If anything, the clippers maybe try to change the ask in terms of future picks, but you're already given them a fair amount of pick equity there.

1:10:13You can't move the contracts around really, so it's the pick equity as the stuff you're negotiating with. There wasn't really a huge opportunity, I don't think to change it a lot because again, maybe you can say you guys can't keep Kauai. There's no way you can keep this as a, and there was nowhere else that he was willing to go. So maybe we used him a little bit, but it just feels like the Raptors were happy with his deal. Like they're getting a guy who went healthy as a top 10 player in the league still. And do we have any more clarity on how that went down is when the trade got pulled off the table, just like, hey, let's see what happens here with the Kauai investigation. Before we move forward, anything is the dust settles here on the trade as it's official, anything that you've learned since it all went down. The attitude always seemed to be, we just don't have to do this right now. He doesn't want to go anywhere else. No one else is willing to extend them of the teams that he would even consider.

1:11:15We're the only game in town. And for the Raptors, again, they have to still manipulate the cap a little bit, right? They'd like to get a little, a little more breathing room under the cap. So they could spend that time looking at other deals like taught, see, can you expand this? Can you add a third team? Can you do this? Can you do that? They just never felt like there was an urgency because they, they always counted that the union would keep Kauai's contract from being void. It was the only thing that was really going to screw up the deal. Now, it was a non-zero chance, but remember, Bobby Webster used to work at the league. He still knows those guys, right? Like he, the Raptors didn't go into this with their eyes closed, right? They just, there was never an urgency to it for them because they knew they had their guy if they wanted to. And so then what's the worst case scenario? That's what they wound up with, which is also the best case scenario. They wound up with the guy they wanted. What do you think about the idea that Kauai, for the first time in his career, will have

1:12:21a more traditional agent and management team around him. Now that he's, you know, accepted full responsibility for lapses and judgment by having to do with an inner circle, now that he's finally realized that they maybe don't have the best judgment. How does that play into off the court dealings with Kauai? It'll be easier because one thing about that 2018, 2019 year, Uncle Dennis loves calling front offices. He loves calling the organization. He loves being around. During that playoff here, I remember during the playoffs, people overheard Dennis talking about going to the Clippers after games during the 2019 playoffs. That is a distraction. That is a problem. It was a veteran team and it didn't bother anybody, at least not enough. But like, Uncle Dennis is a shockingly colorful figure within the, even within the confines

1:13:22of the NBA. Without him in the picture, you're just dealing with Kauai, right? You have a pre-existing level of trust. You have a relationship already. You know what he wants to do. He knows what you want to do. Like, this is going to be way easier in terms of a fit, I think. The big question is, what's happened to his body in seven years? Like, he's a better shooter than he was seven years ago. He's a more efficient offensive player than, or at least as efficient. I think last year in the regular season, he averaged 43 points per 100 possessions during the playoff run in 2019 when he was setting fire to the earth. It was like 37 or 38. Like, he killed teams last year. This is, I think the fits really good. I think it's going to be easy. Yeah, how's your body after seven years since you were out here? Yeah, that's not great. You're more efficient though, Bruce. I have been walking more in the last year. I'm over 10,000 steps a day over the last year.

1:14:24Yeah. I think it's important. I've taken up golf, because it's the harder sport. You're in the Bronx? Because I can't play basketball anymore because I wrecked my body playing, pick up basketball over the years. But yeah, golf, hard sport, me actually. And I honestly thought that LeBron would pick golf as a huge part of where we was going to go on free agency. Because I was like, if he loves it, like I love it, I would have been like, I'm checking the weather. Yeah. Charles Barkley tells me that the golf in Philadelphia in the summer is actually incredible. Golf everywhere in the summer is incredible. It's whether you can golf through the season. Like indoor golf. Yeah. Like you can probably golf Minnesota in the summertime is wonderful, right? Gray City. But the winter is different. Yeah. All the brands got to get that Doc Rivers golf simulator in the facility. Yeah. No, I mean, like that's something. It's just not the same as playing a real course though.

1:15:26Like you can do that, I guess. I also would worry about bronze back. That's from that's my because like he's a lot of spine twisting in golf, man. Like he better better be careful there. That's cold tiger about that one. Yeah. Take a look at step swing. It's beautifully efficient. Like it is exactly it is his jump shot almost in a swing. He is not putting any extra stress on anything. Everything's easy. LeBron. It's a little violent, man. It's a little like you can see like. It's difficult. Well, I can't wait for your calm about golfing with Kauai. Can't wait. That was a dream a few weeks ago, but now it's a reality that you can ask him. Imagine Kauai holding a golf club. Like how does that work? Gingers are going to go around twice. Yeah, let's say it's just holding a toothpick in the very little. You know, like putters, you can have like that fat grip on a punter. You can get those on the other clubs, I guess. He would need like the most special.

1:16:27Oh, some of the most specialty clubs anyone's ever had. Who is it? There's the former NBA player who's really, really big who's now taking up golf. It's like a really tall guy. Can't remember now. It's like a seven footer. I think he's taking up like semi competitive golf. Oh, you got that one at the fingertips. It makes me so much more correspondent. I'm checking it out. You John Lone. Yeah, I think that's it. No way. No way. You started it all. Well, that's a good news about golf. You don't have to worry about having the chair to the defeat. If you look at for example, well, we're on subject of Ron and golf. I've seen now film of Bronny golfing and of throwing baseball. So we've seen that. They're throwing baseballs one. Yeah. Yeah. Fantastic. I sent it to my baseball guys. They're like, holy is that a two-seam fastball? Every sport that Bronny plays that isn't basketball. I'm like, why didn't you play that sport? He's watching in Georgia.

1:17:28Would you do that fastball? I'm doing it. Bruce, in this day and age, there's so many videos. I'm like, that's AI. I thought that was AI of Bronny. I was like, that's someone just did a, if Bronny could be a 95-minute hour fastball, plug it into chat, G, B, T, and Cloud, and be done. I thought it was that strong that I was like that can't be real. Like it's again, bit of a violent delivery, probably eventually something would break. But man, that kid's an athlete. He's just six, too. Hey, this was great. I know we've worked pretty hard this, this off season, but they're going to be good this year. They're going to be really good. That defense. Now in grades, I think it's going to be awesome for them, too. So it'll be fun. We'll have you back. East is going to be amazing. Sit back a lot.

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