The Daily Zeitgeist - MJGMB #122: Las Vegas Summer League and More with Jacquis Neal

Episode Date: July 17, 2024

Jack is back and is joined by Producer Jabari and actor, comedian and host Jacquis Neal to discuss Las Vegas Summer League and more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

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Starting point is 00:00:00 I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry.
Starting point is 00:00:20 Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. There's so much beauty in Mexican culture, like mariachis, delicious cuisine, and even lucha libre. Join us for the new podcast, Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12-episode podcast in both english and spanish about the history and cultural richness of lucha libre and i'm your host santos escobar emperor of lucha libre and a wwe superstar listen to lucha libre behind the mask on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you stream podcasts captain's log stardate 2024 we're floating somewhere in the cosmos but podcast. identity, and the human spirit. With a hint of mischief. One episode at a time. Buckle up and listen to In Our Own World on the iHeartRadio app,
Starting point is 00:01:27 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Trust us, it's out of this world. Well, well, well. Guess who's back? It's me, Jack. I'm back. And Miles is gone because we cannot be in the same room together. We are like cats and dogs. But we are here. I'm back and Miles is gone because we cannot be in the same room together we
Starting point is 00:01:45 are like cats and dogs but we are here I'm here with a super producer Jabari Davis and it is summer league baby full swing Team USA has a few more basketball showcases before heading to party at the end of the month. Teams are still making moves and free agency. We'll get into all of that and more with actor, comedian, one of the great podcasters, one of the great singers. He is Jaquis Neal
Starting point is 00:02:15 on today's episode. I'm Jack O'Brien. And I'm producer Jabari in for Miles. And this is Miles and Jack got mad. Yeah, I think we knew that. And Luca Dacic hits 10 K.
Starting point is 00:02:37 There you go. And be driving, spinning, fading. The Browns got it with five is going to try another three. Mr. LeBron James. The honest with the take. Oh, uh jakeith what up man how we doing how we living i'm doing i'm doing all right man i'm doing all right i was i was talking before you arrived on the call that I am unfortunately I have been pulled back in
Starting point is 00:03:09 as a 76ers fan you've been pulled back in I mean look you guys got PG we got PG you know gracefully go toward that that Eastern Conference Finals exit one of these days
Starting point is 00:03:23 that is the dream an Eastern Conference Finals exit. One of these days. That is the dream. An Eastern Conference Finals exit. That would be an improvement. That's what we've been working for. That's what we've been... When the 76ers get in the huddle before the game, if we just work together
Starting point is 00:03:40 as a team, you guys this year, we are going to be able to lose in five in the Eastern Conference Finals. Of course. Is PG one of those players? We just worked together as a team. You guys this year, we are going to be able to lose in five in the Eastern conference finals. Of course. Is PG one of those players? Is PG one of those players who we think won't ever win one? Won't ever win one? Because like,
Starting point is 00:03:55 so yeah, because when I was growing up. She just joined the best team in the NBA. I don't know if you heard the first part where I was talking about, uh, the, the finals, the championship fate. No,
Starting point is 00:04:04 go ahead. Okay. No, you're... No, go ahead. Okay. No, you're right. You're right. He's going to win next year with the 76ers. I mean, you know, listen. The 76ers every year
Starting point is 00:04:13 have the potential on paper. So, you know, if they can put it together, then, you know, who's the coach right now? Doc, right? No, Nick Nurse. Oh, Nick Nurse.
Starting point is 00:04:23 Where's Doc at? Oh, Milwaukee. All right. Milwaukee. You guys got a better chance now that Doc is right? No, Nick Nurse. Where's Doc at? Oh, Milwaukee. That's got a better chance now that Doc is not in Philly. Yeah. I think Nurse... I feel good. I feel like they have the proper
Starting point is 00:04:37 pieces to put it together barring injury, which makes me think this is the injury ravaged season. Probably. Hey man, you're in a much better place than I am. I am
Starting point is 00:04:52 so excited to root for my Chicago Bulls, who should barely get 16 wins this year, probably. As our entire team gets decimated, which let's blow it up and tank
Starting point is 00:05:06 that feels like where we're at it feels like they're like we're three steps ahead of you bud we are in it but I should mention in addition to being an actor, comedian podcast extraordinaire
Starting point is 00:05:23 host of Comedian Feud, host for Dropout TV and from Grand Crew, and also a Chicago Bulls fan. Which is the most important thing, because this tells you how sad I am. So I gotta ask, is this
Starting point is 00:05:39 SAG for Flag? Is Cooper Flag the desired target there? You mean for Bull bulls yeah i mean sure i guess though i mean at this point i don't really have faith in the bulls organization to do anything to develop any player or build around any player or anything like that and you know the last time we were competing was the d rose era and And like we had is it's funny, like the Bulls organization post Jordan has always been like, you'll have all the pieces and everybody will seem right. one or two people do wrong and we won't go away from it or deviate from it.
Starting point is 00:06:25 It was like Tibbs just running his players into the ground during D-Rose era. At this point, it would be dope, but my best hope is to see what happened to the Blackhawks all those years,
Starting point is 00:06:41 happen to the Bulls, and then maybe we'll actually progress and turn the corner and something good will happen to our organization. Because until then, I don't have faith in our organization anymore. Yeah. The best name I've heard for SAG for Flag was from a friend of the show, Carl Tart's podcast, The Flagrant Ones, where I forget who, it's
Starting point is 00:07:07 one of their friends came up with white flag for white flag. The white flag for white flag. It works. That's funny. Did you guys talk about his performance against Team USA? Yeah, Miles was going off about it, in particular because pretty well. That's funny. Did you guys talk about his performance against Team USA? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:07:27 Miles was going off about it, in particular because he dotted AD's eye in that one clip. He's like, we'll allow him on the Lakers. No. Wouldn't that be sad? I think we'd be okay with that. But honestly, much like Jaquese, I
Starting point is 00:07:43 don't have all the confidence in the world that we do that. Right. So, you know, yeah, we'll be real about it. So this is the best time of the year for everybody except Celtics fans, because it is the time of year where we can be unrealistic and hope springs
Starting point is 00:07:56 eternal. And we can just tune into the summer league to, uh, just have visions of sugar plums dancing in our head about our off-season acquisitions. The Summer League has some... I mean, it's not Wemby this year, but the winners and losers aren't important. It's just fun seeing these draftees in their first action. Zach Eadie is my first person
Starting point is 00:08:25 who I wanted to highlight. Two-time wooden award winner, but somehow kind of under the radar. I remember when I finally got to watch it, I don't really watch a lot of college hoops. Me either. When I finally watched him
Starting point is 00:08:41 play this year, I think it was in the NCAA tournament. So it was like in the NCAA tournament of his second year winning the wooden award. So like being the best college basketball player, I was like, well, so where,
Starting point is 00:08:56 where do they have him going in mock drafts? And it was like late second round. Like people were like, this guy's gonna, this guy's gonna stink. Yeah. I didn't quite understand that i still don't understand where that was coming from um i i guess people think he might be a little bit slow but i don't know he looks like he can play so he he had one summer league game and then he twisted his ankle but in that game he had 14 points 15 boards like
Starting point is 00:09:25 a couple really convincing and important blocks uh a game saving tip in like uh intentionally missed free throw down by two uh he tips it in um i don't know and, and he's, he's now the favorite to be rookie of the year. Um, because he's coming right in. I think, did he go eight or nine to Memphis? So, um,
Starting point is 00:09:53 yeah, he ended up like rocketing up the, but Memphis has a need at center. So he's going to get burn if he can stay healthy. If he can stay healthy. Yeah. I think he'll be a good player you know he's not gonna win rookie of the year that's going to brony james jr you know what i'm saying
Starting point is 00:10:09 but uh but i'm just saying but uh but uh but yeah no he i i did see i saw highlights of the game ed played and like he looks he looks like a center like he looks like a center. And I think with somebody like Ja who I think just started playing again or just resumed basketball activity or something I just saw or something like that. I'm not sure what I saw with Ja. But like
Starting point is 00:10:37 yeah, man. I think that can be a good team. Memphis can be a fun team. That's the thing. They didn't have a great season last year, but when they're all healthy and they're all there, that team plays very fun, and I think he'll fit in with that good style of basketball.
Starting point is 00:10:54 When Ja was healthy for a couple weeks there, they were right back at it. They looked like they were going to maybe sneak into the play-in game, and then he got hurt again. So it's... I think they're going to be in the mix.
Starting point is 00:11:10 I think they might be in the mix for a top six seed next year. And a 7'2 person who's just always in the right spots and can put the ball in the basket seems like
Starting point is 00:11:25 he's going to be useful there. Yeah. I'm not really sure why there was hesitation or why those mock drafts had him in the second round. It's not like he's a Taco Fall guy. No disrespect to Taco Fall. Shout out to him. He's playing overseas somewhere.
Starting point is 00:11:42 I don't know, man. It sounds like disrespect. Sometimes it's no disrespect. What I'm saying is just by comparison it's not like it was like that guy where he's just a huge guy that you know took up a lot of space but didn't really know what to do like or didn't seem you know to know what to do on the court he's a guy that you know to your point you know two-time wooden award winner and they you know like you can actually get it done so He's slow in plotting, but he's got game. I remember when Andrew Wiggins, when it was Riggin for Wiggins
Starting point is 00:12:14 and it was Wiggins was playing I think Jabari, what's his name? The number two pick. Jabari Parker in an early season game and it was an Jabari, what's his name? The number two pick, Jabari Parker, in like an early season game.
Starting point is 00:12:29 And it was an event. It was like a TV event. And I remember tuning into that and being like, who's the big guy on Wiggins' team? And people are like, oh no, he's that big goofy guy? He doesn't know how to play. He's only been playing basketball for like six weeks. I'm like, well,
Starting point is 00:12:49 he seems pretty good for only having been playing basketball for six weeks and that was Embiid. But everybody was tuning in to see Wiggins because that was the target and then, of course, Embiid just rapidly improved at an exponential rate.
Starting point is 00:13:07 So, I don't know. There's something we don't trust about extra big men sometimes. Yeah. So, you heard it here first. ED is going to be the next. He's going to be the next Joel Embiid. That's what I'm saying. Watch out for them knees, baby.
Starting point is 00:13:21 Uh-huh. No, I don't think he has that touch, and his game seems pretty settled at this point, but I just think he'll be a useful starting center. That used to be all you needed. You had a guard like Ja. Yeah. You had a guard, you had a forward,
Starting point is 00:13:40 and you got a center, and a center just needs to get rebounds, clog up the middle when they need to. I mean, well, now everything is stretched, and you got a center and the center just needs to get rebounds Clog up the middle when they need to I mean well now where everything is stretched and you know You got stretch fives and everything like that. It makes it a little bit harder But like I think we've been seeing over the past couple seasons I mean yoke is just a different case but like we've been seeing over the past couple seasons big men playing more big men roles Yeah and it actually working.
Starting point is 00:14:08 And you know, a center that can shoot a three is going to be great, but I think the big man is starting to re-evolve in the game in a way that can help a team actually compete. I agree. Anybody else? Jumping out
Starting point is 00:14:23 to you guys, have you been watching any summer league i i i've only been seeing clips i was gonna try to go to summer league this year then i asked somebody oh man we were talking about going to summer league like yeah you want to like plan that he was like yeah yeah let's look when it is oh yeah it's in two days i was like oh then i guess we're not going to summer league, it like snuck up on me like yeah, cuz I think everything is I think like I've still just been in Like the mindset of talking about the draft And like all the storylines that came around the draft and then like, you know
Starting point is 00:14:59 A couple of the big moves and then the USA team, whereas almost like the Summer League has been one of the least stories in basketball over the past couple weeks. Jabari, who's jumping out to you? I know you stay plugged in on this. The only other person I wanted to mention was Reed Shepard.
Starting point is 00:15:19 He looks a little in over his head on defense, but his shot making and his passing is pretty awesome. He had it going with Cam Whitmore, two man game against the wizards. It was pretty impressive. Yeah. I mean,
Starting point is 00:15:32 it's really there. Like, don't get me wrong. The rookies are fun. You know, it's their first action, but I don't have a great deal of, of expectation for them.
Starting point is 00:15:40 It's kind of just like, you know, let you see what they have. The second and third year guys are the ones that I'm usually looking forward to see if there's been any progress see you know see what they've developed you know like over the off season last year you know you know we were looking at jabari smith you know for houston uh this year you already mentioned him cam whitmore you know i liked him as a yeah i liked him as a rookie he looks he looks like and it's cliche now you know when you say too good for you know for summer league but He looks like, and it's cliche now when you say too good for Summer League,
Starting point is 00:16:06 but he looks like a guy that's like, okay, yeah, we saw what we needed to see, and we don't necessarily need to see a ton more from him. By the way, that is why our show is not at Summer League this year. Last year we did go to Summer League, saw Wemby, but the NBA decided this year that we are too good for Summer League, so that's why we're not there. Just wanted to clarify that. That's real.
Starting point is 00:16:30 And speaking of those Spurs, I saw him as a rookie, and he jumped out to me. But Siddy Sissoko, I pray that I said that the right way. Watch out for him. I think he's going to be ā€“ he played in a lot of G League action last year. I think he's going to be with the big team this year, and I think he's going to be you know like he played in a lot of g league action last year i think he's going to be with the big team this year and i think he's going to play a big role oh really i do i do um where's he out swiss army knife guy uh you know what you brian's gonna have to edit i have no idea where he's from but i'm gonna say france just because because it seems like every player player is coming from France now.
Starting point is 00:17:06 I'll look it up. What's his name again? Cidi Sissoko. Yeah, that's France. Yeah, that's French. Yeah, that's French. He actually was right. He's a French football player. There we go. Shout out to all the people with French
Starting point is 00:17:21 names. You know, Jacques. There you go. When I hear French, Iquees. You know, I hear French. When I hear French, I know it. I know it. You know, Ken Whitmore is out there just trying to hurt people's feelings. He had some
Starting point is 00:17:34 just amazing stuff. There was one oop from Reed Shepard to him where he caught it at his hip and just cocked it back one-handed and yoked it. It was awesome.
Starting point is 00:17:52 I do. You know what's funny for me when I watch Summer League and I think it's even more evident this season is the older I get, the more, the more watching summer league is just like watching college players play basketball. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:18:13 Like it's like watching college pickup, like to a degree. I know it's a little bit better than that, but you know, they are just kids, you know, like watching Bronnie. And, and a big reason for that is because of brawny because students and all these other kids who are sons of nba players who i was a teenager when they got drafted like not even like a kid i was a teenager when some of these kids fathers got drafted into the nba and so like the summer league is becoming more interesting to me because like I'm starting not to equate it as much and this is just me equated as much with uh with the
Starting point is 00:18:53 NBA like as I do which is kind of like college and G League almost and I know like you know that's not the case for a portion of those players but But but yeah, it's really is and it's fun It's fun It's it's still like players playing for the love of the game until they get to game one of the NBA season It's like we plan for love of the game, but also let's get these fits off. Let's get our money. Let's get You know, let's get on the road. We're NBA players now You know, they're in the show. They're in the show They're in the show now But Summer League is still just
Starting point is 00:19:28 We just play it because we just love Basketball And we're trying to make the team Do you Have you watched any of your Number 11 pick Matas Buzelis No, I'm pretty pissed
Starting point is 00:19:42 I'm pretty upset at the Bulls I'm not going to lie to you. I keep up with his stats and just what they say they're doing, but yeah, I just don't like what we're doing as a team right now. I gotta say, so he had one
Starting point is 00:19:59 dunk that somebody helpfully put to the beginning of They Not Like Us, and he just put somebody on their rear, and then dunk that somebody helpfully put to the beginning of They Not Like Us and he just put somebody on their rear and then landed on his butt and then just stared
Starting point is 00:20:13 at the person who he had just dunked on and that was in a game where he had 28 on four or five threes. So I'm kind of a fan. I'm going gonna be checking for booze ellis i also just like saying his name it's not so much i don't think he'll be a good player uh i think he he'll fit in i just think he's gonna have to come to this team and play a bigger role
Starting point is 00:20:35 than he should right for his talent level um like he's gonna the way it's looking he's gonna be like our second option like with you know yeah a lot can be developed over the course of a reset season you know yeah that's true
Starting point is 00:20:59 you don't want to develop bad habits but you know getting that type of run and you know being featured like that even in losses you, it's still silver lining. That's why we're looking forward to 2025-26, baby. How about Dalton Connect, aka Dalton Netched, is what it looks like it should be pronounced. That's your silver lining, Jabari, for this offseason. A.K.A. Dalton Netched is what it looks like it should be pronounced. But that's your silver lining, Jabari, for this offseason. Yeah. He's played
Starting point is 00:21:30 well. Yeah, number 17. He slipped to you. I think a lot of people thought he was going to go higher, and his game looks smooth. Because I'm on the same kind of vibe as Jack East, I'm like, same kind of vibe as Jack
Starting point is 00:21:45 East, I'm like, okay, so when's the other shoe going to drop? You know what I mean? I can't even allow myself to be as excited as I should be because they did. Look, whether it was their fortune or other teams' misfortune, he looks like a guy that can step on the court and contribute right now.
Starting point is 00:22:01 I mentioned it in the pre-show. There's going to be some questions on what he's going to do defensively, but that's really the case with any rookie guard or rookies in general. He's from the offensive side of things. He looks like he's a guy that can step on and actually be one
Starting point is 00:22:17 of their better players, which I don't know what that says about their chances this year, but at least they got one. You know what it says about their chances. We, but at least they got one. Yeah. You know what it says about their chances. We're just not going to admit that. Amazing. All right, let's take a quick break.
Starting point is 00:22:34 We'll come back. We'll look around the league at what's happening. Jabari's going to explain what the second apron means, and we're going to look at where other people are landing. We'll be right back. Do you ever wonder where your favorite foods come from? Like what's the history behind bacon-wrapped hot dogs? Hi, I'm Eva Longoria. Hi, I'm Maite Gomez-Rejon.
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Starting point is 00:25:33 Locatora Radio. We're so excited for you to hear our brand new podcast, SeƱora Sex Ed. Listen to SeƱora Sex Ed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast and we're back and man i have heard a lot of people talk about the second apron so the big thing that feels new to me about the cba this time around is like you get punished by like your draft pick gets moved to the end of the round if you violate the apron if you're a repeat offender that you're
Starting point is 00:26:15 a repeat offender but that's that's a big deal like that's you can't just be like i don't care i'll take the hit i just want to keep keep going and you know it's like no now you're actually getting punished in terms of what you're able to do and where you're able to draft what it feels like to me is that the the owners got their hard cap that they probably always know why am i saying why am i being nice that they want it all along yeah like technically they could still you know you know uh deal with these penalties but no one's going to so basically if you have a team right now that you know is paying a ton of players um and you know like on max money like like say for instance the boston celtics uh part of the reason why it wasn't a surprise that their owners uh decided to
Starting point is 00:26:56 go ahead and pull out and and and or at least exploring the idea of selling the team um yeah but if you have teams like that get you know don't get used to it because it's, it's just not going to be the norm. Like, you know, in the, in the pre-show, we were talking about the Denver nuggets all of a sudden next year,
Starting point is 00:27:12 they've got a decision to make with Jamal Murray. Obviously they're going to make the decision to keep him. But what that does is it puts them in a position to where they're going to have to make difficult, you know, they're going to have to have difficult conversations about guys like Aaron Gordon or even Michael Porter Jr.
Starting point is 00:27:30 I couldn't explain all of it to you, but what it feels like, like I said, is it's a true hard cap and it's allowing owners to say maybe parody isn't the worst of ideas. Yeah, which is great. I mean, listen,, listen the NBA is NBA is
Starting point is 00:27:47 in a more fun era Of its existence right now than it has been, you know in a long time and and for me, you know There's certain errors that are every era is fun. You know, the 90s were great. I Was barely alive in the 80s, but the 90s were great i was barely alive in the 80s but the 80s were great you know the the the the kings and the lakers were fun um you know those even the detroit you know or going to the 2010s you know lebron versus steph for 25 times like you know it, it was all fun errors, but like the one thing that the era before this, one of the black spots on the league, in my opinion, as a fan was that it was just so predictable. Yeah. You come into the season and you were like, oh, it's going to be calves versus golden state.
Starting point is 00:28:37 Yeah. And it was, it was every year. Yeah. And no matter, and no matter how it looked like it was going to shake out, it all settled to be exactly that at the end. Where it was just kind of, it was fun to watch, you know, like great basketball, but it was boring. As a fan, so just like, you know, get your hopes up and then like lose to the two teams that everybody knew was going to get there. lose to the two teams that everybody knew was going to get there. In the past
Starting point is 00:29:05 five seasons, especially the last four since the bubble, it's not been that. Why are you taking out the bubble? Why are you taking out the bubble? Since the bubble, you know what I'm saying? Since the Mickey Mouse championship.
Starting point is 00:29:23 But I'm saying the reason I'm saying, but the reason I'm taking it out of the bubble is because that season was just stopped midway through. And then it was a weird season as far as standings and playoffs and everything like that. And you've always said that you don't think it should have stopped.
Starting point is 00:29:38 You thought the plandemic was overrated. Yeah. When they sent Rudy Go you know as a plant to cough on all the mics you know yeah that was that was that was all part of the plan people don't know he did that at every nba arena he was yeah they flew around everywhere yeah they flew that that uh that mic cover around and just like squeezed it in every locker room rung the covet out of it just rung the covet out yeah so the only
Starting point is 00:30:07 argument i've heard against this is from uh a very famous boston sports fan who's like you're not going to be able to like keep keep the team together anymore it's not fair like this should be more like the nfl where like you know uh you can keep a core together and the problem with that is that the nfl has variants built into it because it's a winner take all one game playoff and championship so you have variants built in and you're not going to have the same team in the finals every single year with the same core. Whereas the NBA, as we saw, like you were talking about, if the NBA makes it so that these teams can keep the exact same core together for 10 years, it might be the same team in the finals for 10 years.
Starting point is 00:31:03 Because that's... Yeah. And it gets boring. It gets boring after a while. In a seven-game series, the best team is going to usually win. Look, man. Look. When the sixth player on the team is making
Starting point is 00:31:19 more money than Michael Jordan made in his last season as an NBA player, not keeping your core together is falling on deaf ears. Take less money. Then take less money. Like, y'all getting paid so... And I'm not saying don't get paid what you're worth,
Starting point is 00:31:36 but the real reason it's hard to keep a core together now is because players are getting paid $40-plus million a season to play basketball. And this is part of the deals. I know it's not just black and white. This money is coming from somewhere, and the players should get their share.
Starting point is 00:31:56 But that is going to be a downfall to it. When every player becomes a max player, then you're not going to be able to have a bunch of max players on your team anymore. That's just the way it is scotty barnes and uh what's his name from orlando both got maxed out right crazy franz wagner scotty barnes yeah like that really is a case you can't have it both ways if you want you know if you want parody in the nba you don't want you know like the dynasty teams then you're gonna have to open it up for this if you want guys to get paid
Starting point is 00:32:24 in you know the way that they should you know commiserate to their talent and what they're contributing to the product, then you're not going to be able to stack everybody on the same team. To me, the argument or the complaint there, it falls on deaf ears because it truly is a, you can't have it both ways. because it truly is a, you can't have it both ways. Yeah. The complaint is basically, I want the Boston Celtics to be able to keep the Boston Celtics together for the rest of my natural life. Yeah. I don't know how many people are in that same boat. And I'm, you know, look, man, I grew up, look again, I'm a Chicago guy.
Starting point is 00:33:00 I grew up in, I grew up in the nineties dynasty, man. So I'm used to seeing a team win over 50 percent of the championships in one decade and i know austin fans are used to that too i know warriors fans have that spurs fans have that there are teams that have it but like even as a bulls fan as much as i would love to see my team rattle off five championships like i think as a basketball fan i think it's better to see a team win one or two and then like you know move on we don't need to see a team win three four or five championships in a row anymore like it's not fun it's not good for basketball not in this era of basketball
Starting point is 00:33:40 fanship where our attention spans are so short and there's so many ways to watch and And enjoy the game and just know so much about the game and his players Um, it's not it's not it was a very top heavy league back then right? Jordan was so much better than the next best players and you know, uh magic and bird and you know in the 80s so it's so wild that the bulls are like you know just while we're on the subject of like caps and hard caps and it's just so wild that the and this is a point that i think i heard uh bill simmons making was that like chicago should be one of the best teams
Starting point is 00:34:25 in the league perennially. They're like the second or third biggest market. The third biggest market in the country. The Knicks get a lot of attention for having ownership that doesn't want to spend money and is bad and does...
Starting point is 00:34:41 But the Bulls' ownership is unbelievable. That was one of the things that The Last Dance, I think, reminded a lot of people of. Even as they're going into the sixth season of this amazing dynasty, they're like, we want to break it up.
Starting point is 00:34:58 We don't want to keep paying for these guys. We think they're overpaid. This guy Jordan's dime a dozen. We can do it again. We built Yeah, we can do it again. We build this. We can build it again. It's like, okay.
Starting point is 00:35:10 Sure. Eddie Curry. Yeah. And the thing about it, so Chicago is the third largest market in the NBA in most sports leagues generally. I don't know about hockey. And New York is over that. I think New York will probably be number one, to be honest, or two.
Starting point is 00:35:28 And L.A. is obviously rounds out the top three. But unlike New York, Chicago has more success than the Knicks have had their entire existence as a franchise. Like we have more championships. Granted, all in one decade, but we have more championships. You guys had one decade, but we had a good run We had a great run, but we have that after that success We we've made like more playoff runs than the Knicks have in the past 20 years you know not right now, but like for the most part we have and You know like we have more famous
Starting point is 00:36:07 players the knicks are dope they got good players mellow grateful you know like d rose was dope uh mike was great scotty was great like field like this and so it's just it baffles me and i'm saying all that which sounds positive but i'm about to take a poopoo on the bulls it baffles me. And I'm saying all that, which sounds positive, but I'm about to take a poo-poo on the Bulls. It baffles me how we fumble so many free agents when it comes to coming to the Chicago Bulls. It baffles me. It's like they're not even in the conversation. The conversation happens around the Knicks
Starting point is 00:36:38 where people are like, well, you know, and somebody's going to get extremely famous by bringing the Knicks back to glory. It's been way too long. But the Bulls, I guess maybe it's because Jordan's imprint was so massive that people are just like, well, you're just in his shadow forever. It's not crazy to bring the Bulls back. When D. Rose was playing, it was looking like we might go to the promised land with D. Rose.
Starting point is 00:37:04 I'm telling you. I was in Chicago. I'm telling you we was ready like we would we would have crowned d rose yeah like i guess i'm talking about how the national media covers it it doesn't really make sense yeah we were ready we were ready to crown him and like i'll see often like and i'll see this question often you know like the would you rather and I'll see this question often, the would you rathers. And I answered this honestly. Would you rather take one or two championships away from Jordan just to give one to D. Rose? And I routinely say yes. Wow.
Starting point is 00:37:37 I would. I would. To give one to that team when Rose was that MVP level, oh my gosh. Yeah. Dude. that team when Rose was that MVP level. Oh my gosh. Dude. And from Chicago, the kid from Chicago who says, why can't I be the MVP? And then he becomes it and leads the team to the championship. Bro. It would have
Starting point is 00:37:55 been beautiful. So we're ready. We're ready. As much as we love Mike, we are ready to crown somebody else like we want to want to so bad. Yeah. I do think the Knicks are, I don't know. So they, Brunson has reportedly left about $30 million on the table in order to make things easier for the Knicks with the salary cap. I heard it was like $113.
Starting point is 00:38:20 It's because, like, he signed it a year earlier. So, like, basically, he'll eventually get that money. It's just that he signed it a year earlier. So basically, he'll eventually get that money. It's just that he signed it early. So I think it was somewhere between $30 and $35 million is what he's actually losing. Which is $35 million. And then Mikael Bridges is expected to also take a salary cut so that they can all play together. So now people are like the Knicks. Are the Knicks the second best team in the Eastern Conference?
Starting point is 00:38:47 Do you guys think? I think if they can put it together. I mean, the additions they made this offseason were dope. And I think if they can put it together, I don't trust Milwaukee anymore. Yeah. Who else? Besides, I mean, I guess Philly, and and yeah philly new york and boston
Starting point is 00:39:08 but i think that's your top three like just on paper right now that's your top three and i can't i'm not i'm not knocking it i can't knock nicks because i literally just said this five minutes ago like if you want to put a team together that can win and a core that you can keep together like players Are gonna probably have to take less money or less or different type of deals to do it and the Knicks are like we want We want to win. So let's go. Let's do it. I respect that. I respect what they're doing now From a broke man's perspective. What you doing, bro? From a broke man's perspective, what you doing, bruh? Hey.
Starting point is 00:39:45 Doing, bruh. The anonymous nobody on Twitter tweeted, they don't teach economics at Villanova? I'm sorry. Oh, man. I think it's going to be an interesting year in the Eastern Conference next year. I guess Indiana is still there. Indiana is still there. I don't trust. I'm not that high on them, to be honest.
Starting point is 00:40:09 I don't know. I'll tell you the person that just having lived through the series where we got beat by the Knicks, Hartenstein was the person who really I have bad dreams about still. I think that's partially
Starting point is 00:40:24 because Embiid was hurt and slow to the rebound and Hartenstein just got every rebound. So the fact that he's gone makes me feel a little bit better about how Philly stacks up against them. But not, I don't know, they're going to have some shooting now that's going to be pretty tough to contend with. And Brunson's so good. Yeah. And, you know,
Starting point is 00:40:48 Brunson and Halliburton may have a WWE match one day. You know what I'm saying? They were just on Monday Night Raw or a pay-per-view. I can't remember which one. Maybe it was a pay-per-view. Yeah, boy, they got to race. You're a fan of wrestling in addition
Starting point is 00:41:03 to the NBA. I have to say that this immediately gave me less respect for the acting of wrestlers because they were immediately just as good as wrestlers in terms of acting. They sold it, man. I was like, oh my God, are they going to fight each other? They were good, though. They sold it. Listen, that's cool and all, but it was also who they were who they were in the ring with you know what i'm saying yeah for sure let let uh let brock lesnar's big butt get in that ring with him they gonna be like oh
Starting point is 00:41:36 yeah dude but that was fun really quickly on the knicks. It feels like they're set up to honestly defend everybody except for Philly, which, you know, whether they're going to address that or not, or they don't necessarily think that they're going to face them like in a, in a post, in a postseason situation. I love what the Knicks have done.
Starting point is 00:41:58 I do think that I do think they're the clearly the second best regular season team. Clearly. Oh, when it comes, but when it comes, yeah, I'll go out on that limb. this is after trying that you're trying to get you to stay stick with the sixers every year yeah well now that i've said i'm sticking with them you're like okay i can
Starting point is 00:42:16 be honest now this is the one year where i'll say i think the sixers match up really well with a lot of the teams in the east so this is the first year in a long time where I'll say the Sixers look like a 16 game team, as opposed to just primarily being the 82 game team where the, where the Knicks, they're going to cause a lot of trouble for a lot of people throughout that regular season. Now.
Starting point is 00:42:35 Yeah. I, especially because the Sixers, I think our best strategy is not to play Joel Embiid in the regular season. Yeah. You know what I do? You know, like every, to play Joel Embiid in the regular season. That would be my nice table. You know what I do? Every major sport has a really dope thing about their season
Starting point is 00:42:54 that's fun. I think MLB does this the best out of the top four. The trade deadline is so fun in Major League Baseball because it is truly just like all right all the teams that suck are dumping off players and all the contending teams just go get that one last piece they need to like take them over the hump for the second half of the season
Starting point is 00:43:19 it's like such a fun like in 2016 the cubs did that we get in a role to Chapman and like that took us over the hump When that World Series, right? I wish that I wish the NBA had more of just Like I can see the Knicks I can see that like the Knicks playing well and then like taking those first 40 games to see like Okay, what do what what do we need to like get us over the hump? Now that we've seen ourselves play or we've seen how this team operates and then make one move and then it's off to the races in the second half of the season, I think that would be so
Starting point is 00:43:54 fun in basketball if that happened more. There's just a whammy day where all of a sudden one player just got shaken loose from their team and everybody had to like go around. Yeah. Like compete together.
Starting point is 00:44:09 Um, yeah, that would be fun. Uh, all right. Should we take a quick break and then we'll come back and we'll do the rapid fire round of questioning. Oh, that sound good.
Starting point is 00:44:18 Oh yeah. Oh, you forgot. Yeah. We should mention to Keith that you haven't been on in 121 episodes. This is our 122nd episode. You were on our first episode. Oh my gosh.
Starting point is 00:44:32 OG is back, baby. A couple things have changed around here. Not really that much. You mean if I went in, and I'm looking at my list right here, and it says, if I answer the most questions, I get season tickets. That's right. The NBAba season tickets to recordings of miles and jack where you can just sit in permanently invited i got you okay okay yeah let's do it uh all right
Starting point is 00:44:55 we'll be right back senora sex ed is not your mommy sex talk this show is la platica like you've never heard it before. We're breaking the stigma and silence around sex and sexuality in Latinx communities. This podcast is an intergenerational conversation between Latinas from Gen X to Gen Z. We're covering everything from body image to representation in film and television. We even interview iconic Latinas like Puerto Rican actress Ana Ortiz. I felt in control of my own physical body and my own self. I was on birth control. I had sort of had my first sexual experience. If you're in your seƱora era or know someone who is,
Starting point is 00:45:40 then this is the show for you. We're your hosts, Diosa and Mala, and you might recognize us from our flagship podcast, Locatora Radio. We're so excited for you to hear our brand new podcast, SeƱora Sex Ed. Listen to SeƱora Sex Ed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It was December 2019 when the story blew up. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, former Packers star Kabir Bajabiamila caught up in a bizarre situation. KGB explaining what he believes led to the arrest of his friends at a children's Christmas play. A family man, former NFL player, devout Christian,
Starting point is 00:46:19 now cut off from his family and connected to a strange arrest. I am going to share my journey of how I went from Christianity to now a Hebrew Israelite. I got swept up in Kabir's journey, but this was only the beginning. In a story about faith and football, the search for meaning away from the gridiron and the consequences for everyone involved. You mix homesteading with guns and church and a little bit of the spice of conspiracy theories that we liked. Voila! You got straight away. I felt like I was living in North Korea, but worse, if that's possible. Listen to Spiraled on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Starting point is 00:46:58 you get your podcasts. Do you ever wonder where your favorite foods come from? Like what's the history behind bacon-wrapped hot dogs? Hi, I'm Eva Longoria. Hi, I'm Maite Gomez-Rejon. Our podcast, Hungry for History, is back. Season two. Season two. Are we recording? Are we good? Oh, we push record, right?
Starting point is 00:47:20 And this season, we're taking an even bigger bite out of the most delicious food and its history. Seeing that the most popular cocktail is the margarita, followed by the mojito from Cuba, and the piƱa colada from Puerto Rico. So all of these, we have, we thank Latin culture. There's a mention of blood sausage in Homer's Odyssey that dates back
Starting point is 00:47:37 to the 9th century B.C. B.C.? I didn't realize how old the hot dog was. Listen to Hungry for History as part of the my cultura podcast network available on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and we're back and jakequise, the Olympics are here. So in this rapid fire round of questioning, which by the way, is fastest segment in podcasting. You just don't think, just answer.
Starting point is 00:48:15 We're going fast. Bing, bang, boom. Picture a bullet ricocheting around the room in a movie. That's how fast we want this conversation to flow. If we slow things down, you need to get us back on track. Okay. Okay. Okay. Jabari, you want to start? No, you go ahead and start.
Starting point is 00:48:34 Okay. We got two teams. You got Team USA 2024 or the Redeem team 2008. 2008. Oh, sorry. The answer is correct. Team USA 2024 or the Redeem Team 2008? 2008. Oh, sorry.
Starting point is 00:48:47 Go ahead. The answer is correct. Okay. So I just want to name some of the players who are on 2008. We've got Carlos Boozer. Deron Williams. Yeah. Are you starting with him?
Starting point is 00:49:04 Michael Redd Chris Bosch Dwight Howard okay Tayshaun Prince oh yeah defense baby all right you also got Carmelo you got Prime
Starting point is 00:49:20 LeBron you got Jason Kidd or Aisyn Kidd i think this was the period where he still didn't have a j uh somebody named cobe bryant or something um coba coba b bryant that's right uh dwayne wade and chris paul so that's team 2008 um you think they're beating this team? Actually, now that I'm thinking about this. And now that I said all those names. Now that you got me thinking about this.
Starting point is 00:49:51 Now that you got me thinking about this. That team, that's a tough team to try to beat. A team with Steph Curry on it. I'm going 2024. I think that's right. I kind of agree, but Jabari is hard 2008.
Starting point is 00:50:08 Now, this might be because he's a big Kobe fan. You got Kobe, and that's what I was going for 2008, but you still got LeBron, who obviously isn't as good as he was in 08, but still top five player in the world right now. He's just different. I mean, he's definitely
Starting point is 00:50:23 not as good as he was in 2008 but like he's also so smart i feel like in 08 the in 08 basketball was still slightly uh slower pace wasn't the three-pointer hadn't become king yet and you put that team against this steph curry team man nah i i think i gotta go 2024 give me 088 LeBron locking Steph's little butt up, man. I'm sorry, man. 08 is smashing this team. Man, smashing. LeBron can lock up Jason Terry.
Starting point is 00:50:52 He ain't locking up Steph Curry in 2008. Not in 2008, bro. Maybe 2014, 2015, but not in 08. Previous season had LeBron in. No, no. 08 was pre-Heatles, right? Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:51:08 Not 08. 08, Boston won. Oh, that's right. Yeah. Yeah. LeBron ain't locking up Steph. That LeBron, offensively great, he ain't locking up prime Steph Curry. A combination of LeBron and Bean
Starting point is 00:51:25 and D-Wade. I'll take it. This LeBron, LeBron is not as good. He really needed that loss to Dallas to become the full player.
Starting point is 00:51:41 That's prime LeBron right there. It's 2011 through 15-16. It's prime LeBron. That prime LeBron right there. It's 2011 through 15-16. It's prime LeBron. That's LeBron at his peak offensively and defensively. I need y'all to go back and watch some 08 LeBron highlights, man. I'm sorry. Trust me.
Starting point is 00:51:57 You're 100% right in terms of 2012-2013. It was ridiculous. But 08 LeBron was still so nasty. Still pretty nice. Offensively, he was great. He was disgusting. He was yelping on people. Yeah. I still gotta go 2024.
Starting point is 00:52:14 Let me ask this as a follow-up. By the way, this is a rapid fire, so this was supposed to be just quick. Now we're discussing this stuff. I'll get it off of that, but stick with Team USA. What is the one moment or game from Team USA history that you wish Twitter had been around for? Oh, I wish it would have been around for that game
Starting point is 00:52:33 where Charles Barkley was like, I forgot what the name is now, but I don't know them. We're going to beat them. I like when he said that quote, and then to see it happen would have been amazing. It would have been so funny uh and then also and then also the second second response is uh and i just saw this on twitter um but i wasn't big on twitter when this happened was like the new zealand team did like the little
Starting point is 00:52:59 tribal dance before like before the game and the nba players were just watching like what the heck is this and this dream team it was i think it was the dream team yeah and or the or like the usa team and then uh and then they beat them by like 30 points 2012 or 2016 but i think it was like 2012 yeah i think it was 2012 it was so funny they had the haka they were doing the haka dance which was dope but it's also meant to intimidate and be intimidating and imposing
Starting point is 00:53:32 I know what you're talking about that's the team you were saying they were just looking like oh cool and then whoop that would have been great it's what we do best as a country is basketball and then whoop them. Yeah. That would have been great. It's what we do best as a country is basketball.
Starting point is 00:53:49 It's the one thing we have left. It is the beautiful game with all apologies to I'm not even apologizing to soccer anymore man. I just watched the Copa Americas or whatever man. It's not a beautiful game. We got the beautiful game.
Starting point is 00:54:05 I need more scoring, bro. As much as y'all running up and down these fields, man, I need to see more scoring. Jaquese Neal, what a pleasure having you back on Miles and Jack on Matt Boosties. Listen, it's been a beautiful time. It's been a beautiful game.
Starting point is 00:54:21 It's been a beautiful time. One of the most beautiful guests on any podcast. Jaquese, where can people find you, follow you? You can find me at Jackie's Kneel on everything. You can also find me in these streets. Wherever you're looking, I'm probably
Starting point is 00:54:38 there, but maybe not. You just gotta look around. You just gotta look and see and look around. That's all you gotta do. But yeah, at Jackie'skeys, Neil. That's where every show that I do, everything that I'm doing, stuff that I'm projects, new projects and stuff like that. That's where everything will be.
Starting point is 00:54:55 And then, yeah, check out some stuff on Dropout TV. If you like, you know, nerd comedy and just weird, fun, silly comedy, it's a fun time for you it's a good time to go check out so check me out check them out uh you can give us a follow on twitter i'm at jack underscore o'brien uh miles is that miles of gray jabari where are you at at jabari a davis
Starting point is 00:55:20 all right and then you can uh search hashtag mad boosties for show links and updates and be sure to join the conversation on discord you can also find the link for the discord when you search hashtag mad boosties that's another one in the books another from way downtown swish
Starting point is 00:55:40 LeBron we are back next week and we'll talk to you all then. Bye. Bye. I'm Carrie Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese.
Starting point is 00:56:06 Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.
Starting point is 00:56:28 Captain's Log, Stardate 2024. We're floating somewhere in the cosmos, but we've lost our map. Yeah, because you refuse to ask for directions. It's Space Gem, there are no roads. Good point. So, where are we headed? Into the unknown, of course. Join us on In Our Own World as we uncover hidden truths,
Starting point is 00:56:45 navigate the depths of culture, identity, and the human spirit. With a hint of mischief. One episode at a time. Buckle up and listen to In Our Own World on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Trust us, it's out of this world. There's so much beauty in Mexican culture. Like mariachis, delicious cuisine, and even Lucha Libre.
Starting point is 00:57:08 Join us for the new podcast, Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12-episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of Lucha Libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Santos Escobar, Emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE Superstar. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts.

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