The Tyrese Haliburton Heartbreak: NBA Finals Drama Unfolds

Sorry this is a pod recorded on the 24th of June that for some reason never posted. Its some old topics but listen if interested!

When an NBA Finals series reaches Game 7, we expect an epic battle between evenly matched titans. What we witnessed instead was heartbreak personified as Tyrese Haliburton crumpled to the court with a torn Achilles, having already sacrificed his body playing through a calf strain in previous games. His emotional response as he was helped off the floor encapsulated the cruel reality of championship basketball – sometimes your greatest effort still isn't enough.

The Oklahoma City Thunder emerged as champions, the youngest team ever to hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Their path to the title wasn't just about SGA's MVP-caliber performance or their suffocating "piranha-like" defense that overwhelmed opponents. It was built years ago through a series of masterful moves by GM Sam Presti, including the pivotal Paul George trade that brought SGA to Oklahoma City. But there's an unsung hero in this story: Kawhi Leonard, whose behind-the-scenes manipulation in 2019 forced the Clippers to offer a king's ransom for George, inadvertently setting OKC up for future success.

Beyond the Finals, the NBA landscape continues shifting dramatically with Kevin Durant joining the Rockets, the Celtics dumping salary after Tatum's Achilles tear, and the Lakers ownership changing hands from the Buss family to the same group that turned the Dodgers into baseball's "Death Star." Meanwhile, in the NFL, court documents revealed apparent collusion among owners to prevent fully guaranteed contracts – a stark reminder that while players put their bodies on the line, billionaire owners protect their bottom lines at all costs.

Whether you're fascinated by championship journeys, front office chess moves, or the business of sports, this episode delivers insights you won't find in typical highlight reels. Join us next week when Jace returns for our NFL predictions and position rankings series!

Chapters

• 0:09 Welcome Back and Solo Podcast Intro
• 3:55 NBA Finals Game Breakdowns Begin
• 17:35 Halliburton's Injury and Game 7 Heartbreak
• 29:05 Thank You Notes: Who Built OKC's Championship
• 49:20 Kevin Durant Trade to Houston Analysis
• 1:05:20 Lakers Ownership Change and Impact
• 1:31:53 Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers Discussion
• 1:42:02 NFL Guaranteed Contracts and Collusion
• 1:51:08 Podcast Wrap-Up and Next Episodes Preview

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:09

welcome back to the jb sports podcast. Today is tuesday, june 24th, and we're back for another one, and if you've listened for the podcast for last, listening to the podcast for a while, uh, you would know that I'm not the one that usually does the openings here. Usually it's both me and jace. Jace can't be here. I figured like it's a little bit early from when we usually podcast. But the way I look at it is is that we haven't recorded in like the last two weeks or so, so I really have been itching to get back to it and sorry for not being here last two weeks. By the way, it's that that first week I think that was a week of the 13th, that was my birthday week, so I was hanging out doing different things, didn't necessarily, didn't necessarily find a time to podcast. Then last week I wanted to but then started trying to do like the oh, do it around the playoffs thing, where around the finals, where I was like trying to like, oh, let's wait till after game six or game seven, and it wasn't gonna make it work last week. So I'm really I really started getting itched to come back to it, so I wanted to go ahead and do a podcast by myself here talk about a lot of basketball. I think, if you've listened to this podcast, a lot. We're mostly a football podcast, but with everything going on right now, there's not a lot of football. I think I have a couple football topics to talk about at the very end. But I think this podcast here, especially with it just being me usually Jace is the one that, like, truly hates talk about anything basketball. So this is my time to kind of go ahead and talk about everything I want to talk about when it comes to the NBA, especially with now, finals being over, the NBA season is over Well, at least every the actual basketball is being over, but now we have the, we have trades going on, we have the draft NBA draft is tomorrow. So there's a lot of things I wanted to talk about, including the finals. So this is my time to kind of go ahead and get it all out, without jace sitting here looking at me scoffing and saying, oh, let's do something more fun than this. So so I, if you don't under, don't listen to me talk about basketball. I totally understand. Go ahead and listen. Uh, skip this one, go on to another pod. I think we'll. We'll be definitely be doing. If not late this week, we'll definitely get back to both me and jace being here doing the podcast next week, getting back to do more nfl stuff. We'll do more of our like uh, our nfl, the um, what is our nfl predictions when it comes to winning divisions, what the records are going to be, and I think we're also going to start doing our position ranking series when it comes to like ranking position, obviously position by position. Uh, for quarterbacks, we'll do all 32 starters in the NFL, and then for the other position, we'll do like top 10s or something like that. So we'll start doing that, as well as doing our predictions for win totals and all that for the uh NFL.

Speaker 1: 3:00

So with that, I'll stop rambling. Actually, I'm not going to stop rambling on. This is probably going to be an hour, if not more worth of this. I'm not going to necessarily try to limit myself to any type of time, because we all know that I usually go over that. So I'm not going to put any type of number on how long this is going to be, but I'm just going to keep going until I can't. No more so and but I will say I do have a lot of stuff written down. So hopefully this should not necessarily be a big drag, as I'm like with like dead time look me looking for things to talk about. So let's go ahead and get onto things here Again, mostly NBA stuff, and then we'll get to a little bit of football here at the end.

Speaker 1: 3:40

But we'll kind of get back to our regular scheduled programming when it comes to our podcast end. But we'll kind of get back to our regular scheduled programming when it comes to our podcast, if not late this week, early on next week, with both me and jace being back on the pod talking about sports in the dumbest way possible. So without further ado, I'll get to business here. So, since the last time we podcast, I think the last podcast we put out was in like early June, because the before game two. So game two happened on the 8th of June. I think we released a pod like maybe a day or two before that, um, right between game one and game two.

Speaker 1: 4:13

So there's been a lot of things that have happened in the NBA that we haven't had a chance to have to uh react to. So this is where I'll kind of go through going, going to each game, not necessarily like very detailed as to what was going on. But I'll kind of go through going going to each game, not necessarily like very detailed as to what was going on, but I just kind of want to give my thoughts as to game by game, what I was thinking in between them, and then kind of give my overall thoughts for the whole series once I get through all the games that have happened. So we'll start with game two, um in so happens. So we'll start with game two, um in. So obviously we'll go back to game one where, uh, the pacers stunned the thunder in game one to go up in that series one, nothing.

Speaker 1: 4:54

Going into game two, we're like, okay, fine, the thunder worth were caught, kind of caught off guard, um, especially with the um halliburton hitting buzzer beater. It wasn't a buzzer beater, it was like 0.3 seconds left, but he hit the game leading shot there at the end that the Thunder weren't able to come back from. So, going into game two, it was like what are the Thunder going to look like? Are they just going to come out, dominate and do everything they have to do there? And that's kind of exactly what they did.

Speaker 1: 5:21

Going into game two this is still in Oklahoma City the Thunder dominate at home with a suffocating defense. I'm talking when OKC is playing at their best. It's like they're a bunch of piranhas on defense. It's like they are getting steals. They're not necessarily trying, they're trying to take away any type of air that an offense has to believe they can either not only get a shot up but even pass the ball between each other. And that's how suffocating this Oklahoma City defense is, because they have so much length, uh, they have so much athleticism and they're all pretty young, so like in even their center with like um, with, uh, chet Holmgren and why am I forgetting oh no, no, no, not the other guy's name, chet, and what is his name? Oh no, I was doing Isaiah Hartenstein. Even their big guys can move. So their defense is like very, they swarm a lot like piranhas.

Speaker 1: 6:23

And that's exactly what they did in game two to go up and to end up tying the series up and going into that game three in Indiana with like okay, fine, oklahoma City looks like they have kind of like they have their bearings. Now let's see if Oklahoma City can kind of take this out, be a gentleman sweep, because that's kind of like what was going on between game two and game three, everybody's like, well, they're going back to Indiana. Is Indiana going to be able to kind of put up a good performance at home and is Oklahoma City's defense going to be able to translate from Game 2 to Game 3? Are they going to be able to keep this going, maybe finish this whole series in a gentleman's sweep, which is what a lot of people guessed before the scene started. Because before this series started, because everybody believed that like the thunder was like the biggest um, what do I want to call it favorites to win this series in like the last like 30 years, something like that. So like the thunder was really looked at as like that team in this series they should, should be able to dominate, and that's not necessarily what happened. This is probably the toughest series they had to play this whole playoff run, probably this and the Denver Nuggets series. So we'll get to that in a minute. I don't want to go too far deep into what thoughts I have for later.

Speaker 1: 7:42

Game three Pacers run away with the game, giving the public a real thought that they do belong in this series. So before this game three, it's 1-1 going in. Everybody's like, okay, fine, oklahoma City should be able to kind of win this out here. But the Pacers like they handed it to them in that game three I think it was. Let's see here, make sure I'm not crazy. Oh no, I did that wrong, didn't I? So in that game, three Pacers were able to run away with the game. Go to the NFL here, playoffs, bracket Hit. That that's what I wanted. Okay, game three Pacers won that game 116-107.

Speaker 1: 8:32

It wasn't like Halliburton hadn't necessarily had a great game. They gave like 14 points in that game. He was good. He was very good. He did what he had to do. He was the leader for that team. He opens up the whole offense for everybody on this team. Math room was probably the biggest offensive weapon that the Pacers had in this game. I think he had 27 points in 26 total played minutes for himself. So, uh, benedict Mathurin was like the surprise of this game to kind of help overpower the OKC in that game. Um, jay williams played well, but it was.

Speaker 1: 9:05

This was the game after this one where the pacers went up 2-1, where people were really starting to get behind the idea that maybe the pacers really belong in this series. But not only that, but really do have a chance that, depending on how game four goes, they can really take control of this whole series and go up 3-1 and really have this one in the bag. It was just like when this Pacers team and what I talk about, okc, in the way that they play with their, with their great defense. They're led by SGA, who some people say he's a foul merchant. I've said, I've definitely said that at times, but like there really is an art to his game, like in the mid-range, doing whatever he has to do, even if that does come with him trying to manufacture some fouls for him to get to the free-throw line.

Speaker 1: 9:50

The Pacers do it in a different way. Tyrese Halliburton doesn't really dominate the ball that much. He is the one that they run at a very quick pace. They get the ball moving and Tyrese Halliburton does not hold on to the basketball. He's passing it up very quickly, getting assists. He hits threes when he needs to and some of his best games, like even like the 30 point games, like he had a three-point game in the last series didn't really have one in this one because of different reasons, but like the Pacers are just like a barrage of like everybody offensively and their defense still pretty good too. They were able to kind of hold, um, okay, see up at times with like being able to stop SGA from being able to do normal SGA stuff when it comes to scoring. And then they were kind of making especially in their best times playing defense, were able to make SGA make good decisions and make the other guys on that Oklahoma City team kind of carry the torch for them, and they kind of weren't able to, which is how the pace were able to keep this one close.

Speaker 1: 10:51

But offensively is where the barrage really does happen, because if it's not Halliburton, it's Matherin, it's it's, uh, pascal Siakam, it's's heck, their sixth man. What is that guy's name? Oh no, rootbox Gore, it's TJ McConnell. He comes off the bench and almost guarantees you 10 points or more, because he's kind of like the little Energizer Bunny. As soon as you think a backup point guard comes into the game, the other team thinks, oh, should be easier time here where it's not gonna be a a madhouse when it comes to offensive production. But tj mcconnell does everything, man. He scores the ball. He can get to the rim, he just does everything. He steals the ball like if you're inbounding a pass as a team and like in mcconnell's around, he's going to be able to jump up and grab it. He just plays smart basketball and he plays hard, he gets to the paint, he knows his spots and, like he's a like I said, he's an energizer bunny when it comes to coming in being an offensive barrage and then maybe he doesn't give as much defensively but he's able to do everything else he possibly can, especially as a backup. But this Pacers team just has a. You just don't know where it's coming from offensively.

Speaker 1: 12:08

Like I said, in this game four it was Matherin having his 27-point game to. Really, was that it was a game four? Right, yeah, this was game four. So Matherin coming up having a big game, on top of Pascal having 21 and Halliburton having 22 points. So after this game people really did start having the thought like, hey, the Pacers really have a shot here. They're up 2-1. If they can win this next game at home, they really have a commanding lead 3-1 in the series and they just have to win one of the next three games after that and they're in their NBA champions. So after that game, going into game five, am I crazy? Sorry, no, that was game three. Sorry, that was game three I was talking about.

Speaker 1: 12:58

So game three was the one where Mather had the 27 point game and the patient ended up winning game for the thunder come in and blow out, like they really take control of the pacers in their house. When this game 111 to 104 um and you know, I wouldn't say blow out because there was a point in this game for where, because it was because it wasn't a blowout the Pacers actually had the lead for most of the game up until like the middle point of like the around the middle of third quarter where OKC really started coming back. Shea had a 35 point game in this one and especially in the fourth he kind of like exploded. It kind of helped put OKC over the top to not only be able to tie the game back up but take a lead and then never look back. In the fourth quarter it was like 31-17. Okc. It was a scoring differential between the two. Okc scored 31 to the Pacers 17.

Speaker 1: 14:01

And this was a spot where I think the Pacers lost their opportunity to go ahead and really take a commanding lead. They could have gone up 3-1 in this series in that game and they didn't. And then you have OKC kind of. On the other hand, they saw their opportunity to come back from that deficit and that's exactly what they did and SGA was the main component in making that work and they did that. They came back in the game and they ended up. They came back in the game and they ended up winning to tie the series up 2-2, going into game five back in Indiana. So, like this was, this is potentially the turning point where that this if that didn't happen, that SGA explosion didn't happen in that fourth quarter the Pacers could very well go into that game five with a 3-1 lead, only having to win one game, one of the last three games to win an NBA championship, but instead the Pacers kind of fluttered there. At the end, like I said, they only scored 17 points to OKC's 31 in the fourth quarter. So, with all that being the case, they really did allow OKC and SGA to come back, put themselves in a good position to win that game, and that's exactly what they did. And I think that with that, it just was the first time that not the first time, but I think, one of the big times in this series where SGA really showed up and did what he had to do, in the waning moments series where SGA really showed up and did what he had to do in the waning moments. And I think it also showed that OKC even though they're going to have their young team moments again I don't think I said this yet in this, on this pod is that the OK Oklahoma City Thunder are the youngest team ever in finals history coming in, let alone to win it, and all of that. So I just think that the fact that OKC was able to come through in this game, get over their offensive lulls they had in the first half and then come back in the second half and really do some things, led by SGA, was definitely a big deal and I think this was considered the turning point for the Thunder to like again. If they didn't go their way they'd be down 3-1. So that game four was definitely a big one.

Speaker 1: 16:10

Game five Halliburton, early on in this game, sustains a calf injury, a calf strain, and continues to play through it. He doesn't necessarily play a bunch of minutes, but he ends up actually I think he ends up playing like 20 something minutes after that and he only scores like four, has like six assists and like five rebounds, like he had one of his worst games that he's had in this whole playoffs run, like he's been absolutely amazing in this playoff run, but this game you could consider the one where he truly had a dud and people really questioning after this game is that like he was still moving pretty good. So why wasn't he doing this, that and the other and why wasn't he more effective offensively and why couldn't he do more defensively? But I think that really was a. I think the injury definitely messed with him right and again, if you already, if you listen to this podcast now, you probably already know what happened. But I think maybe this is me kind of saying this, hindsight being 20-20, but I think, from what I know about calf injuries and all that, just from being a guy that's like an observer of stuff like this when it happens I just think that even with him having as bad as a game he did, I think that injury definitely hurt him and he was definitely trying to learn to live with it. That injury definitely hurt him and he was definitely trying to learn to live with it.

Speaker 1: 17:27

They couldn't Let me think how I want to say this OKC defensively in that game, especially after Halliburton got hurt just turned up the heat. Turned up the temperature offensively and defensively, and they were definitely swarming again. And if Halliburton did not feel right in that game which it's pretty obvious he wasn't, especially in comparison to Game 5 and what he was before that Sorry, that was Game 5. Yeah, that was Game 5. Well, they were in Game four and then before that. So I just think if Halliburton didn't feel right, especially on that calf and but he felt good enough to go out there and play because he was still out there running, like it's it is, it looked like he was a little bit off, but it wasn't anything distinct enough to be like, oh, he's an agonizing pain out there. So he goes out there, he plays after the injury and a lot of people start giving him crap for it.

Speaker 1: 18:36

So after this game where the Thunder really kind of take control in this series and they end up winning that game in pretty astounding fashion in game five, people start questioning hey, why? Why would Halliburton play this badly in a big playoff game like this, especially in the finals? Like is he a choker? Is he where does he like? Where does this? On the worst playoff performances I've ever seen. And I'm sitting there like man, but he did have a calf strain. Who knows how much that affected him and how that changes the way he plays a game. And like nobody wanted to hear that.

Speaker 1: 19:12

Everybody like the, the main talking point between game five and game six. Going into that game six where the Thunder were a game down, going back home to try to win a game there and then have to go back to Oklahoma City and the phrase either he said it or somebody in the media said it if he can walk, he can play. That was the main. Everybody was talking about how that changes his legacy and this, that and the other, and I'm just like I just don't think that's the right way to handle this. But that's just kind of. Again, we live in a society where the hot button topic is what gets talked about the most and this was definitely one of those things because everybody was worried about what the injury could be and if it'll stop them from being able to play. People have money on these games like that and the other and I really do feel like that. It was just a lot of outside pressure. Whether Halliburton was listening to it or not is a different question, but there was definitely a lot of pressure there for him to go out there and give it a go, even if he didn't feel right about it, especially after that game five going into game six and nobody was certain what was going to happen.

Speaker 1: 20:36

Halliburton comes out and plays an absolutely amazing game six and he has like a 14 point game, but he also has a ton of assists and a good amount of rebounds too, and he's just kind of a facilitator for this team. He didn't necessarily have to go to the bat, like get to the basket every time and play. With crazy athleticism he was able to run that offense as effectively as he could. When it comes to his body, that was it. That's what he did, and I just think that in that game six people gained a lot of respect for him, not only going out there putting his body on the line, but really like going out there and showing that he could still play good ball and I think almost too good to where people were questioning how hurt he was in the first place and they're like, oh, it was never that bad and the, the, the not the Warriors, but the Thunder were playing games, that's whether he was going to play or not, to kind of make it hard on us, and I just think that, with that decision having to be made, I think Taliburton had to know what the risks were and he went out there and played a very good game, uh, helped out his teammates, did everything he had to do. He played very good defense in that game as well, in game six, and I think that the it was very, it was very obvious that the pacers knew that their backs were against the one.

Speaker 1: 21:55

I think the thunder kind of lost, lost sight of that a little bit and I just think that the Pacers were able to take advantage of that, not only what Tyrese Halliburton gave them from a playing standpoint him being out there opening up the offense and really playing with a lot of high energy, even with the calf training he was playing with but I think they were also helped by an OKC team that was young, like I said, the youngest team to ever be in the finals. They were having their young moments. They had their offensive lulls. Sga had like 14, like I said, the youngest team to ever be in the finals. They were having their young moments. They had their offensive lulls. Sga had like 14, 15, 17 points in that game.

Speaker 1: 22:30

He didn't necessarily play a great game. Jalen Williams didn't necessarily have a great game, so the Pacers were really able to take advantage of how that whole thing went in that sixth game to really kind of get out ahead and really run away with it in game six. They ended up winning that game one 108 to 91. So and I think people were like how hurt was he really if he's able to play this well in this game? And I I never really questioned that because I'm sitting like man. Everybody's injuries are different and who knows what they had to do to get him ready. What he had to do to get ready, be able to play had to do to get ready, be able to play in this game. But I'm like man, I just hope it goes well, because if this thing goes, how some people think it might go is definitely a question that I have. And after that game six, like I said, that's the narrative is that the Pacers have a real opportunity to win this series and how would this mess up the OKC's legacy if they didn't win because of how things have gone? But in that game seven it all kind of came to this.

Speaker 1: 23:35

The Pacers looked very good early on in that game seven, especially coming off that game six where Tala Burton only had to play like 20 something minutes because of how good the whole Pacers team played and then like just kept grabbed the lead and held tight of it. Um, in that, in that game six against OKC is that okay? People start like really, looking at this game was like this is this may be the moment for Halliburton to come out and play a very good game and if they could do that they have a shot to win a championship. But he ends up getting hurt early on in that first quarter. I think halfway through the first quarter he goes down to the ground tears what? Honestly, when you look at the replays, it looked like right away you can look at his calf that had that same calf string. I'm sorry, it was a calf strain. It was the same calf that had that calf strain that you could see the pop pop, like you would see the pop that like that's what the ACL does. When you're looking at it from the outside, you could see that pop in his on his on his leg and like he went down to the ground right away.

Speaker 1: 24:44

He was very emotional. He was saying this is my fault, this, this, that and the other and I think that he gave it all man. And I think when people were going with the talking point that if he can walk, he can play, and people were looking at him for play tough, and you have one more game to go win a national championship, but an NBA Finals championship and you have to go out there and put your body on the line to do it. And that's exactly what he did and he paid the ultimate price for it. He ends up tearing his Achilles, not ACL, it's Achilles Tearing his Achilles and it's a very sad moment. And in that first quarter I couldn't help but just feel sad because we all know without him in that game we're like, oh, okay, season, I'm going to dominate. They don't have their main offensive guy and this, that and the other. And I think I have to give a lot of credit to the Pacers for playing as well as they did, even after that big injury happened, losing your best player to that type of injury. I do think that they played hard, thinking that we have enough pieces to go and win.

Speaker 1: 25:54

But as this game went longer and longer ahead, it just became very apparent, especially in that third quarter where the OKC was really able to turn up the defense and they were able to get to. Um, why am I forgetting that guy's name now? Oh, no, uh, they were able to get to. I'm forgetting his name. This sucks. Um, that's where I went wrong TJ McConnell. So they were able to get to TJ McConnell because he's not used to playing the long minutes that he had to play in this game to be able to kind of help subsidize what Is that the right word, I'm not sure To help make up for what Tyrese can't give you if he's not out there playing, up for what Tyrese can't give you if he's not out there playing.

Speaker 1: 26:49

This Thunder team was especially in that third quarter when they had the barrage of defensive plays, so that Pacers offense does not run nearly as well without Tyrese Halliburton in there as it does with With Tyrese Halliburton. He gives you the shooting, he gives you the space, he gives you the great passing, like he just makes sure he raises that floor for that whole team and I just think that when he went down he really dashed, especially, I guess I would say in the first half. I think the Pacers went up at halftime with a point ahead and they managed to really stay in offensively and make some very good plays and all that. I just think that, with that being the case, in that game seven, in that game seven in that third right, in that third quarter, the OKC defense was able to get after them. They don't have their guy to kind of set everything up and they took advantage and they ended up going up by like 20 something points in this game and just kind of took control, never looked back and with that I just have to give and it was kind of like. It was just like with everything, how this whole playoff series, playoff season and how the regular season went down and how this whole series was going.

Speaker 1: 28:19

People really thought we were about to get an all-time game seven and I think it was the Thunder that were that were ahead. Not, not, they were favored by like four points in the in that last game game seven. So people really did think that the we were going to have a close game and I think Tyrese Halliburton, early on that game, hit three, three pointers. They were going to have a good game and he was already starting hot. Which is usually a good thing for Tyrese is that if he starts off hot in a game, he usually ends the game hot and he makes a lot of big plays and he gets the ball to everybody else on this team. So it really was looking like he was going to when he got hurt. It was almost a foregone conclusion and that part sucked about it, not only because you feel bad for Tyrese Halliburton that he really took on the risk and it kind of blew up in his face when he was making the ultimate sacrifice, but also like hey, we don't have the game we thought we were going to get anymore. So this is so.

Speaker 1: 29:18

This is where I kind of give my whole synopsis of the game, of the last game, last series. I'll start with the Pacers and then kind of go to the Thunder. The Pacers slash Halliburton have to feel gutted, uh, for getting this far and not winning the title. And I think for this, not only this series but this whole, this whole playoff run, the Pacers had to be like the big talking point, like the Pacers were. The surprise in every stage of the game is that nobody thought, coming to this playoff, the Pacers were going to be the team to come not only come out of the east, but really push the NBA's best team in the Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games and like, really at times look like they really belonged in this. Not only belonged, but were better than the Thunder, especially when led by Halliburton Like they, the Pacers, really like really proved themselves at every stage of the game.

Speaker 1: 30:14

People kept doubting them and they just did more and more and Tyrese Halliburton hitting like four game tying or game winning shots in like the last seconds of the game. In the playoff it happened like four times. So it was almost a magical run for this Pacers team but it just didn't end with the title. That would have definitely been the icing on the cake of what they accomplished in this playoff run, and I think it was probably more than icing, because winning the championship was what all of this is worth. Right, this is what they're all looking for.

Speaker 1: 30:52

But I really do think the Pacers were really the talk of the whole playoffs for how well they played. Because the Pacers weren't looked at as one of the best teams in the NBA coming into the playoffs, like they were kind of middling and they had played post-January 1st. They played a lot of good basketball, but it wasn't anything to where people thought, oh, this Pacers team is really legit, they're really NBA finals bound. They kind of snuck up on everybody. And you compare that to the Thunder, who are kind of the best team all year.

Speaker 1: 31:26

They did their thing, got to the playoffs, the number one seed, won a 60 something games and they like led by sga who was the mvp of the uh of the regular season, like it was just two very contrasty things and the pacers just have to be feel gutted by getting as far as they did, as unlikely as they did, as magical as they did, and it ending in a way that like it wasn't close, not like every other game in the in this playoff run and not like in this series. They had a lot of close games, got a couple blowouts, but like that's had to suck for this Pacers team and for Halliburton, and I'm not not going to sit here and like blame anybody or anything like that, as to like somebody should have held Halliburton out and I'm like on one hand, that was my thought was that like this did take me back to the KD situation when he had a similar calf strain in the playoffs and missed a month's worth of games and then came back in the play. It came back in the finals to try to help the Warriors in his last year there to try to go win a title, and then he ends up tearing his Achilles in the same same way that Tyrese Halliburton did. But I think in a certain I think I came to this conclusion that it was a little bit different for KD and the fun with KD and the Warriors when he did it was because he was leaving there no matter what. Anyway, the writing was on the wall that that was going to be his last season with the Warriors. So I think the Warriors, in a way that if they were to ask him to play for that team in that finals run, was a little bit more selfish because at the end of the day, they know that he wasn't coming back and I think that they they can bring all the, they can squeeze all the good juice that KD had out of his body by asking him to play as much as he possibly could, and it didn't work out well for anybody. I think it led to the Warriors losing that series. On top of KD getting hurt, clay also got hurt as well with his injury. So it ended with the Warriors not necessarily winning championship ball and KD lost over a year of his NBA career with that Achilles tear Halliburton's in a tab of different scenario here.

Speaker 1: 33:41

Halliburton is still very young, he's 25 years old, he's already been paid, he's on the first year of like a $250 million deal and I think that everybody by now understands that. I think even if you're not a doctor, I think if you're an NBA fan you understand just a little bit about the game. That, especially with that Katie situation and like a tight heck, the Jason Tatum situation, he, he, uh tore his Achilles and earlier on in this playoffs the calf strain just kind of lead to it. If you keep playing through a calf strain, this is something that can happen. And I think between game six and game seven Tyree Saliburn was like hey, I know the risks, I know that this potentially could be a problem, but I'm like he and he ended up tweeting after the game was that he would do it over and over again because the idea of him not going out there with his brothers would be too much. So, like I said, I'm not going to blame anybody.

Speaker 1: 34:35

Calibur knew what the potential issues were and he went into it with his eyes open and his mind clear about it and sometimes you take a risk for what you want to do and it works out great. Sometimes it doesn't and unfortunately in this moment it didn't work out well for him. It didn't work out well for the Pacers and they not only don't win a championship, but now they're going into next season without their best player. But with all that being the case, I want to say how bad I felt for the fact that he, like if anybody ever says, like go put your body on the line for it and I think especially in in pro sports, like that's like a very well you like a often very used term, without necessarily having the meaning that what it did for Tyrus Halliburton Halliburton truly put his body on the line. He knew the risks and he went out there and did it anyway because he wanted to play with his quote-unquote brothers on his teammates and he wanted to play for that Indiana Pacers fan base and that organization and he was so close to a championship. That's what he wanted and that's the main goal for anybody and there's no necessarily a guarantee that, like you're not, you're going to get back.

Speaker 1: 35:52

So I can understand the internal pressure. I'm not going to say that it's external. I don't think do I think the Pacers were like telling him you have to go out there and play? I don't think so. I do think the Pacers, management and their coaching staff and what their owners were like hey, we're right here, we're close to a championship. If you can play, we'll leave it to you. And I think the Pacers that's probably how they handled it. I don't think there's any way that they really forced him to go out there and do it and they really pushed for it. I think they just let him make a decision. If you want to do it, you can. We'll support you either way, whatever you want to do.

Speaker 1: 36:28

And Tyrus Halliburton decided to go out there and play and he paid the ultimate price not ultimate price, but he paid a price for it. And Tyrus Halliburton tweeted afterwards, like I already said, like he would do it over and over again to go out there and have that opportunity to play with his brothers. So that's where I feel more okay with this in this scenario than in the KD situation, where it felt like, even though he would have got a championship out of it, I think the Warriors were going to gain more than what KD ever was and what he was going to get for winning that championship with that team, because he was already gone I think Halliburton was still trying to get to that mountaintop and he made a different decision and it made a similar decision what I think in a different circumstance. I think that he did what he had to do, he knew what he wanted to do and it didn't work out, and he's made that claim. So I'm not going to sit here and blame anybody for, like, I don't expect anybody to drag him off the floor in that situation, because it's these competitive sports like this is competitive at the highest level. These are the guys at the top of their, their top, their food chains. Man, they're all lions and if he really want to, really wanted to play, I don't think there's really gonna be anybody that was going to be able to stop him, at least not for a, especially in the finals, and I don't think anybody wanted to stop him because that's the main goal.

Speaker 1: 37:49

So I think we need to give Tyrus Halliburton a lot of credit for doing what he did, and I think this could be. I'm not like, he's not going to have the potential downsides. He's still very young. I think he'll come back better than ever. He's 25 years old, like KD was still like. He was still a little bit older than that and it was still a little different, and I think medical technology every day gets better and better. So I do think Halliburton will be able to come back better hopefully better than ever and be able to play his game the way he wants to, and hopefully the Pacers will be able to get another opportunity to go out there and try to win a championship in the finals again, which is why it's so hard already, which is why I think Tyrese Halliburton was more moved to go ahead and try to make this move to play through the calf strain and try to go win a championship before anything like this ever happened. But unfortunately that's not how life works sometimes. So this is where I go to the Thunder.

Speaker 1: 38:47

I think the Pacers had an awesome season, awesome playoff run, and it just kind of ends in disappointment. There's only one team that can come out of the season in the NBA being happy. Just like the same thing with any sport, there's only one winner standing at the end, and it's the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder deserve a bunch of credit for looking like the best team all year and managing to overcome some offensive lulls with defensive intensity to win. That's what they did all season. Sga was the MVP of the whole season because of how well he played. I think he won the scoring title this year, was an MVP, ended up winning finals MVP.

Speaker 1: 39:24

I think he did everything he had to do and I think this team did everything they had to do, and especially in the playoffs, where the two series that they had that were very close. Like I already mentioned, was against Denver, where that series went seven games, and I think in this finals, where this finals went seven games and they really had to fight to go ahead and win. I think they had to fight through a lot, like I said, young team and they fought through it all and they did what they had to do and they're NBA champs and I think that this team may go down Like this may be like. When anybody thinks of this finals for the next 10, 15, 20, 30 years, the first thought that comes to your brain for this series is going to be Tyrese Halliburton going down in Game 7. It's not going to be like with LeBron when they won their championship against the Warriors. When he was with the Cavs, lebron's big block of the dunk was like one of the like the storied moment of that championship for that team and I'm not sure that there is like a standout moment for this Oklahoma City Thunder team that will will kind of have a have mainstay, have really like a stain on history, like will be remembered like that. I think the halliburton part will be the more remembered part of this whole, this whole finals, this whole fight, this whole final series.

Speaker 1: 40:52

But they did what they had to do and I think there was something boring about what the thunder did throughout the season, because not only do they not necessarily have a ton of personality, but they're all good dudes. I I say personality as and it's like not quirky, it's very. I'm not gonna say they don't have personality, but it's a. They're all just like. They're there to play basketball. They're not the bad boys, they're not going out making stupid decisions off the court. They're all there, they're very business like they're playing their ball and they're going home. And sga is their leader. He's a, he's a grown-up like. He's not out there saying stupid stuff, he's going out there. He's very buttoned up.

Speaker 1: 41:29

I think this team is buttoned up and I think they kind of dominated so much throughout this season that there wasn't a sense of like them overcoming a huge hurdle to win this, to win this championship. They got to. It seemed like it was like they were the best team in October. No, like they were the best team in October. No, sorry, they were the best team in November and they're the best team now. So it just kind of just felt like they. It wasn't a big mountain to climb and it wasn't a they were scandalous or like they had a lot of storylines. They just went out there and played basketball over and over, and over and over again until they finally ended up with a championship trophy in their hands.

Speaker 1: 42:08

All the credit to them. They made it. They made it look as easy as it looked for people on the outside, but it's not. It's never that easy if you're in the fight. I have to assume and that's what players say whenever you're playing a sport when you're in the fight, it's a lot worse than what you see on the outside, and I'm going to take them at their word on that, not only from just like having general wisdom, but like just from what they say.

Speaker 1: 42:31

So, like they did they winning a championship is hard and they made it look easy and you have to give the thunder a lot of credit for that, because they did it in their own way. They did it with crazy defensive intensity. They did it with SGA being the player he is. They did it with Chet. They did it with Jay. Uh, not Jalen Williams, it's um. The other Williams, it's no Jalen. There's two different Jalen Williams on this team, which is crazy.

Speaker 1: 42:56

They did with Jalen Williams being the number two, like having his monster game in this series, like they did it in a way that may not go be remembered in history like it should, but at the end of the day winning the championship is all that matters. And I think they, like, I don't think these players really maybe they they'll care one day about how they're remembered and how people will go back and remember, if they'll remember fondly on this series like other um championship runs throughout NBA history. But like for right now, okay, so you shouldn't give a damn about any of it, because they're the champions and they deserve it, even with the Pacers having that horrific taliburton injury to kind of put a downer on it. But it shouldn't change how Oklahoma City feels about it, because there's too much work that kind of went into this for them to feel bad about it whatsoever, about anything that happens. They don't have control over somebody on the other team getting hurt, like they can only do play the hand that they were dealt and they played it and they did it the best they possibly could and they won a championship with it, so that's all that matters for them. So I had this thought in my brain okay A couple days ago, and I was thinking about wanting to podcast again and stuff like that, and I was thinking about, like hey, if you if not only a person, but if you go and do something great, right, you go past high school or you go to college and get your, get your bachelor's or your master's Like there's usually people along your road, people like places, like there's different things along your road that you give thanks to or that you understand have a huge impact on where you're at to get that thing or to complete that goal, that task right.

Speaker 1: 44:50

And I kind of thought about it as like, when, like you get something big, you like start having thank yous. You have people that helped you along the way and I have this in the form of thank you notes. Okay, so you get something. Usually, it's like something like you have a wedding or something like that. You get a gift and you send back a thank you note thanking them for everything they did for you and this, that and the other.

Speaker 1: 45:15

So my main thought, after the Oklahoma City completing the ultimate goal winning the first championship for that team in that city is that I think they have a few thank you notes to write and I have this in like the, in like a top three. I have three thank you notes. They, they should be. Obviously there's gonna be a lot more that they should have, but I think there's three main ones that I think that they should write. The owners should write for them winning this championship and having the, the glorious days they have right now of being NBA champions. I have them numbered and, from, like, most most important to least, again, it's up to three. So they're all very important and I just kind of want to like think this out for you real quick and hopefully it does. This doesn't make this isn't totally stupid, but, um, again, this is a podcast where I don't think a lot of people are going to listen, so who knows? But this, I thought this was a decent idea for it. So for the first thing you know I think should go to steve prestey.

Speaker 1: 46:17

This is the gm for the thunder. He's been there for a very long time. He not only created this team that just won a title, but he also was the same gm that created that, drafted and created the kd, westbrook and harden thunder uh trio that managed to go to the finals for the Thunder against Miami. That was back in 2011. 2012. That was back in 2012. So he was the GM then. He's been the GM this whole time. He got them. That team didn't do what they needed to do. They had a couple shots at it. Um had a shot in the finals against Miami, didn't get it done and then got back to the conference finals the year after. Um, no, it was like two years after they managed to get to the conference finals again against the Warriors. They lost that.

Speaker 1: 47:14

Katie asked um, katie ended up being a free agent and going, not a free agent. He ended up asking out didn't he? Oh, was he a free agent when he went to? Oh, yeah, he was a free agent. Kd ends up leaving as a free agent to go play with the Warriors and Presti has been the GM ever since. Kind of building up that team Ends up building the Harden and PG Warriors team that gets tore apart I'll talk about that more in a minute and he ends up with all the crazy picks that he gets, gets SGA trades for him and creates this team with a lot of young players and what some people are kind of looking like. Okc has a chance to have a dynasty now with all the youth they have on their side and all of that.

Speaker 1: 47:59

But I think Presti deserves a lot of credit. He keeps building this team up from scratch and he's had a couple of opportunities where things could have gone in the dumps and he didn't Heck after the Westbrook and Paul George thing. He had a lot of youth. They made a lot of good draft picks. They had a bunch of youth. They made a lot of good draft picks. They had a bunch of draft picks with all the moves they made and they've done good with them and Presti is definitely a big reason for that.

Speaker 1: 48:25

So I think he deserves the number one thank you note for building this team and kind of like being the steward of this whole organization for a long time and he keeps doing it and keeps doing the job very well, I think thank you card two should go to SGA, obviously being the leader of this team, the youngest team to ever win a finals. He won the MVP this past season for, I think, scoring over 30. He was a scoring champ, averaged the most points in this regular season and then he was the finals MVP for playing as well as he did. So he did everything he possibly could for being the leader and being the best player and honestly, being the whole offense to a certain degree, like when he wasn't doing something like this team really did struggle and I think he was a part of that. He plays well defensively. I think SGA is the best player on this team. He is the leader of this team. He's a little bit older, like he's still only like 27, but like the rest of his team is like in the 23, so like he has to be kind of like the adult in the room. That's exactly what he's been, so I do think he deserves a huge thank you note for being the guy to be the leader of this team.

Speaker 1: 49:32

To get them where they are now hoisting the, the trophy at the end right and this is where I think it gets juicy, because obviously the first two are a given right. The GM of the team that creates the team great. The best player on the team that wins the championship great, awesome. That makes a lot of sense. But I think thank you note three is where I think it gets very juicy, and I think that third thank you note should go to Kawhi Leonard. Why Kawhi Leonard? Is anybody that is listening to this podcast? I wouldn't be surprised if it's nobody. Why Kawhi? Why would he be the one that they need to thank? He never played for them. He never was anywhere near the Thunder. So why does it matter? Because there is one thing that he did right. That is probably he had an impact on this team that created the building blocks for this team to happen.

Speaker 1: 50:27

Okay, and let me tell this story from what I read happened. This was the year after Kawhi goes to the Toronto Raptors and they win a title. Kawhi made it very clear before he went to the Raptors like this is a one-year thing. I want to go to LA, I want to go back to where I'm from, like that's where my ultimate goal is. And the Raptors said okay, we're going to do that, we're cool with that, we're willing to only rent you out for a year and let you go on as a free agent. And they said cool, they got what they wanted out of it. They got their championship, kawaii won a championship and now he's going to the clippers. I think this was 20 when the one of the raptors won a championship. I want to make sure Toronto Raptors championship that was 2019. 2019, so this is the offseason.

Speaker 1: 51:22

After that, kawhi says hey, I'm picking between. This is the whole story about how this happened. I'll get to the main point. I got to tell the story the way I need to, just in case you don't know. Kawhi says hey, I'm either going to the Clippers or I'm going to the Lakers. Those are his final two. He wants to go to LA. That's the place he wants to be, and he can either go to the Lakers with LeBron and AD or he can go to the Clippers. And he looked at the Clippers and, hey, I would rather come to the Clippers, but I need to have a team that's going to be able to win. So I could go play with the Lakers, but I won't be the best player there and I want to be a little more competitive than that. I want to build my own team here with the Clippers, but I need you to get me a running mate.

Speaker 1: 52:19

So Kawhi starts looking around for a running mate and he wants to get a player of his stature to go with him to go to LA. And this is might be the most ingenious thing because, like, when you think about Kawhi Leonard, you think of a robot, you think of a guy that doesn't talk, you think about a guy that's not very funny. You get that one meme of him having the weird laugh, but like nobody really has. Like he does his interviews but he doesn't. Really, he's not really a big talker, ok, so the idea of him being the silent assassin that he is making this move is absolutely insane to me, which is why I kind of had this main thought of having thank you notes to begin with. So let me get a drink here. So Kawhi To told the Clippers hey, I'm going to get me a running mate to come here, but you're going to have to make sure he gets here for me to sign with you, or I'm going to go sign with the Lakers and be with LeBron in AD on an 8-8. So Kawhi goes calling a round.

Speaker 1: 53:22

Kawhi ends up calling Paul George, who was just then with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was with Russell Westbrook, I think they were in the second round of the playoffs and they were playing against the Trailblazers with Dame. There, dame hits a game winner from almost half court to send them home and Oklahoma City loses in crazy fashion against a undermanned Trailblazers team. Crazy clip of that game winner from Dame Kawhi calls Paul George and says hey, I'm going to the Clippers, do you want to come with me? Paul George, being the little guy that he is, says hey, I thank you for the offer, but I want to stay here with Russ. We are building something here. So I think I want to stay here in Oklahoma City with Russell Westbrook and really build something. But Kawhi comes back and says hey, are you sure about that? Because I hear Russell Westbrook is looking to try to get out as well. And that's insane. Right, because as far as Paul George knows, hey, we're trying to do this together. So Paul George hears that from Kawhi and says hey, maybe if I haven't talked to Russell, but if he's thinking about leaving, I'll go ahead and leave.

Speaker 1: 54:43

But the problem was what? The crazy? Not the, basically the problem, but the crazy part was was that Russell Westbrook wasn't thinking about leaving either. What actually turned out to be the case was was that Kawhi had called Russell Westbrook first and gave him that same offer. Hey, russell Westbrook, you're one of the best point guards of the game right now. Do you, after this bad season you just had with the Oklahoma City Thunder, would you like to come to the LA Clippers with me? Westbrook tells Ka, tells kawaii, leonard. No, but because of that fact, kawaii, when he ends up calling paul george, says hey, I know you think you want to build there with with russell westbrook, but I hear that russell westbrook is looking to leave, not telling pa Paul George that it was actually Kawhi that called Russell Westbrook.

Speaker 1: 55:41

So Kawhi used that moment with Russell Westbrook as the little carrot to help convince Paul George that he needed to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder to go to the Clippers. So once that becomes the case, now you have to trade for him, because he's already signed there. He's, he's good to go, he's under contract. He's not a free agent like other guys were that can just go to any team that they want. They're free. Now the Clippers have to trade for him. So what do you want all that?

Speaker 1: 56:11

But here's the thing there's a lot more pressure on the Clippers to have to get this job done, because that was the condition to get Kawhi to go there in the first place. Because it wasn't like Kawhi went and signed there first and then said, hey, go get me a guy. It was contingent on them trading for Paul George that Kawhi would go there too, or he was just going to go to the Lakers with LeBron and AD. So with that pressure on them to get this done to also get kawaii, oklahoma city was like, hey, we want the farm and let me go ahead and get the uh, let me see, um, paul George trade from. Okay, see, let me get with it.

Speaker 1: 57:03

So under that pressure, the Clippers had to give up the farm to get Paul George, and the Thunder knew that and they asked for it and that's exactly what they got. So in that trade to get Paul George, the Clippers sent SGA, who is now the MVP slash finals MVP of the championship winning Thunder squad. They sent Shea, they sent Danilo Gallinari and five first round picks in two pick swaps for Paul George, two pick swaps for Paul George and the Thunder used that moment, those picks and them being able to get out of the having, because once Paul George left Russell Westbrook's like hey, I need to get out of here. So they ended up trading him as well to go play with the Rockets and James Harden.

Speaker 1: 57:58

So, using that moment that Kawhi Leonard was able to split apart Russell Westbrook and Paul George from each other and from the Oklahoma City Thunder, that Oklahoma City was able to turn that into a bunch of picks and then turn that into even more picks. And's what started the them getting all these crazy for amount of first and second round picks, getting Shea and being able to build this young, very athletic and spry team that they have now. It was because of Kawhi breaking them apart that they have this team that they have now and that's why I think Kawhi deserves a thank you note from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Without him doing what he did to the Clippers to make them trade for Paul George, the Oklahoma City Thunder would not have gotten Shea to even go there, because Shea was still with the Clippers at that point he was signed. He was a young guy that hadn't ascended to the point he is at now.

Speaker 1: 59:03

Shea wouldn't be on this Oklahoma City team without that trade happening and they wouldn't have had all those first round picks and pick swaps to be able to use to get all the players that they have now and trade and draft and do all that they've done over the last few years to build this team that they have now. So I think that's why Kawhi deserves a huge bit of credit not necessarily a credit, but, like he deserves a little, a nod, a nod of the cap for building this and help build this scenario to where they were able to build this team out with having a great GM in Sam Presti. That was a a I said Steve. I said Steve before. That's crazy Having Sam Presti as the GM be able to help draft and build a great team to get to this point and on and getting Shea in that trade to be their best player. So I think quad deserves a decent amount of credit in that crazy story that I heard and read about. That I think was a huge deal. I think it was a very huge deal for that, for this whole thing and how it ended up. And it just goes to show how different things here or there can kind of all culminate into one big moment that now this Oklahoma City has and now it's racking my brain that I was saying Steve Presti before, but it's Sam Presti, the GM for the Oklahoma City Thunder. I feel bad. It's not as if he's ever going to hear this, so, like in anybody that's listening to the pod. I apologize for giving the wrong name out before, but it is Sam Presti and hopefully you can excuse my idiotness for having the wrong name there. But I do think Kawhi deserves a lot of credit, especially for that story.

Speaker 1: 1:00:32

I think that story was insane the fact that a guy was looked at as a silent assassin. He wasn't even doing his own like deal when it comes to setting up his own contract Like he had. He didn't have an agent. He had his, his, uh, his uncle doing stuff for him. And then everybody was looking at like, oh, kawhi can't speak for herself, why do you have to have his uncle doing the knowing all this like the Kawhi's a silent assassin man. Crazy how he set up that whole situation to happen. But again, oklahoma City is not mad about that now. Now they have a championship.

Speaker 1: 1:01:07

So those are my three. Those are my three people that probably deserve three big thank you cards from the Oklahoma City Thunder for winning the title. Oklahoma City probably has the first two down. Obviously because they employ Sam Presti for doing what he did and they say they pay him a lot, oklahoma City Thunder for winning the title. Oklahoma City probably has the first two down, obviously because they employ Sam Presti for doing what he did and so they pay him a lot of money. And they also have SGA. They paid him a bunch of money, he's their guy, he has the MVPs, so I think they have the first two down pack. But I don't think they're necessarily going to listen to me by sending Kawhi Leonard a thank you note for them winning this title. So that part I don't think they'll listen to it. But I do think it is a very fun concept to be able to think about from having that decision being made years ago by Kawhi Leonard, like getting Oklahoma city to where they are now. So, with that being the case, that is all I have on the playoffs and the Thunder winning their championship and the Pacers getting through having that very bad injury for Ty Salbert and hopefully he'll be able to take this next year.

Speaker 1: 1:02:02

Get healthy, get back. He's very young. I do think he is on a very like if anybody it's. If it's going to happen to a young dude, they have a much better opportunity to come back healthier and stronger from it than if you're older and later on in your career like Dame Lillard. Dame Lillard tore his Achilles earlier on in the playoffs and he's over 30 years old he's 31, 32, so he's going to have a lot harder time coming back than Tyrese Halliburton or Jason Tatum, who's like 27 years old. So the older you are, the harder this injury is to come back from. So I am hopeful that Tyrus Halliburton will be able to come back and have the good rest of his career he's supposed to have, even if he doesn't have the title to show for the ultimate sacrifice that he made competitively for this Pacers squad in the finals.

Speaker 1: 1:02:54

And again, all the credit to the Thunder for doing what they had to do all year Shea and all their players playing very good basketball, playing ferocious defense. By the way, I think that was probably the most terrifying part about that team was that offensively they can go through lulls, it didn't matter. But because their defense was just absolutely insane, especially at home. They just had a bunch of dudes that were able to guard and get after passes, get steals, and they were suffocating when they were playing at their best defensively and I think it was a very fun type of play to watch, even if at times it was against an undermanned Pacers team that it wasn't ready for, especially in that Game 7. It ended up being a bad game in that game seven because of it, but I do think you have to give the Thunder credit either way for doing what they had to to have to win this title. That's all I got on that. I got a couple other uh. So outside of that you have a couple more NBA things.

Speaker 1: 1:03:56

So there has been a bunch of trades going on, and not necessarily a bunch of bunch, but you have notable trades that have happened around the finals and it's all. It's funny is that the fact that a trade that was so big happened around this finals and it almost takes away from how big like a team winning a championship should be the biggest deal in a sport, and I just think the trades and having the draft tomorrow kind of takes away a little bit of the shine from oklahoma city, not as if they like I don't think they care like they they wanted the championship either way. It doesn't really change what they did, but let's take some of the shine away that they have. Like so many newsworthy items is happening around the same time that actual basketball is being played from only two teams left, but the biggest one, the biggest of them, is Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant has now found a new home. It was news a month ago that Kevin Durant was looking to seek a trade away from the Suns to try to get one last chance to kind of go play for a contending type team where he can go try to win. And again, I think and this is before I'll get to the actual trade I have to.

Speaker 1: 1:05:07

The Suns are a butt of a lot of people's jokes as of recently, and I think it's because when they traded for Kevin Durant, they already had Devin Booker, like when Devin Booker and Chris Paul made it to the finals. I think it's because when they traded for Kevin Durant, they already had Devin Booker, like when Devin Booker and Chris Paul made it to the finals. I think that was against the Bucs. Yeah, that was against the Bucs in 2021. Yeah, it was 2021. They made the finals against the Bucs. The Suns lost in crazy fashion. The Bucks ended up. They went up, won that series, like four to one or something like that. Um, the Suns were like, hey, we need to make a move, we need to get better. And they go and trade for Kevin Durant. Okay, they trade for Kevin Durant and then they end up trading Chris Paul away for Bradley Beal and, like I, just like people want to make fun of the sons about how bad this has gone and I do think they kind of threw all caution to the wind of having a team and they decided to get a bunch of stars together and they're just hoping it comes together and does well. Just hoping it comes together and does well.

Speaker 1: 1:06:18

But I think, with the way that the new cba is, I think people are effectively starting to call it a hard cap. Now. Is that what I think? With a lot of the rules that they have with the cba? I do think it really does. It's not a soft cap, it's not what it used to be, where you can, just as long as you want, to pay the tax, it doesn doesn't matter. It really is close to what the NFL is, where if you keep overpaying, going over the luxury tax, there are some real consequences that make it very hard for you to do any maneuvering and get out of it or anything like that.

Speaker 1: 1:06:49

So I do think that the Suns maybe through caution to win a little too much. I think it limited their movement and I think it kept them from being able to win a little too much. And I think it limited their movement and I think it kept them from being able to put a great team around Kevin Durant and Devin Booker as a team and then they trade for Bradley Beal, which looks like a good deal at the time, but it turns out to be terrible. Bradley Beal has been awful, he's been hurt, he's been all of it, and I think this really has turned into a disaster where everybody thought that when they got all this talent together, that it was going to be great, and I think I just don't want to blame the Suns for trying. Okay, did they do it in the smartest way? No, it was very dumb.

Speaker 1: 1:07:30

And their owner, matt Ishbia, kind of came in as a new owner. I think he just bought the team. He decided, hey, we're going to make a bunch of big moves, get Kevin Durant here, get some stars here, and it's all going to work out. I think it's a lot harder than that. It's not that simple, and I'm just not going to sit here and blame a team for going out there and trying, because there are teams that are perpetually not trying to win anything substantial. Think about being a Sacramento Kings fan right now, think about being a Trailblazers fan right now and I think they've tried at moments, but, like they're never, ever, never, truly able to like really throw their hat all the way in to where they're doing everything possible. So I don't want to sit here and blame. I just don't want to sit here and make the Suns the butt of every joke by saying it didn't work out, because sometimes things just don't work out, you know.

Speaker 1: 1:08:25

So now, kevin Durant, now this experiment hasn't worked out, and Kevin Durant knows that the Suns will know that and they're like hey, now, because the Suns have traded so much away, they don't have any picks, they don't have any maneuvering, they're already so far over the luxury tax, they really can't do anything to fix that part unless they just start getting rid of players. And I think Kevin Durant now, knowing that he's not going to be able to win in Phoenix like he wants to, is like hey, I want to get out of here. I want to go, try to play for a contender and really get my last shot 37, 38 years old, to go try to win a championship. So I think the suns, being smart, realized that, just like him, that it wasn't going anywhere. They're kind of a kind of running on a wheel here, have decided okay, fine, we'll make it work. And they have traded kevin durant to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Jalen Green, their first round pick in tomorrow's draft. So the Suns had traded so much away between trying to go get Kevin Durant and getting Bradley Beal that they had lost their first round pick for this upcoming draft, literally the one happening tomorrow. So before this trade happened, they didn have their first round pick, which ends up being the 10th pick overall. But because of this trade, the team that had that pick was the Houston Rockets. They traded Kevin Durant for that, jalen Green, that first round pick, and then five second round picks, which isn't a lot.

Speaker 1: 1:09:53

I think if Kevin Durant was a few years younger, I do think they would end up getting a lot more for being able to trade a guy like that, of that stature. But I just think that with his age him being 37 years old, and I think that it does come a little bit of risk he's a little more injury prone than what he was before. I do think they didn't give up a lot. Jalen Green, as good of a player as he is, like he's nowhere near the best player on a championship winning team and I think, with his potential, like difference, like his offensive woes at times, I think what the Rockets need most is a guy that they can give the ball to and say get me a bucket. And Kevin Durant will probably be able to do that until the day that he dies because of how talented and how skilled that he is. So even at 37 years old, I think he can do that in more. I can't think he'll average 20 something points for the next four or five years, if you wanted to keep playing. So I think he'll be able to do that very easily with this Rocket Squad, and I think the fact they only gave one of their young players away was a very good thing.

Speaker 1: 1:10:57

They still have this Rockets team. They earned the two seed throughout the regular season last year. They were a two seed going into the playoffs last year. So like this was a good team that had very good defense. They just needed a score and I think with this trade, I think the Rockets have gotten a lot better. I think Kevin Durant's going to give them a kind of a senior type of presence that'll be able to help the young guys out, because that is still a very young team around Kevin Durant. But I also think that he is a bucket getter and I think that's exactly what they need. They still have their defense, they still have a great center in uh Shingun. They still they have a point guard in Fred Van Vliet and I think that he kind of fits exactly what they need If they're trying to go in this next, let's just say a one, two-year window that they're going to have Kevin Durant as close to what he is as possible right now.

Speaker 1: 1:11:49

I think they have a chance to try to go win a championship with a guy of his talents on that team, and I think what the Suns would have liked to get more in a trade for trying to trade away Kevin Durant, for sure. But I just think the teams that they were looking at, I think the teams that were in on this was the Rockets, obviously the team that got him. I think the Heat were an option and I think the Spurs were also an option, but I think the Spurs are a little bit too young on their trajectory, with their best player being Wemby, I don't think they're necessarily in a spot where they really feel like they have to win the championship now and give up the assets to do it. So I do feel like that's why they kind of dropped out. Um, the Heat wanted Kevin Durant, but they weren't willing to give up anything substantial for him in players, so like they kind of were blown out. I think the Rockets kind of came in with their best offer, which wasn't necessarily the best of offers, but I think this was an impasse where the Suns felt like we have to like just telling Kevin Durant you were going to stay here, no matter what wasn't going to work long term for them. So once they decided, hey, we have to trade him, they took the best that they could. I think the Rockets was the best trade.

Speaker 1: 1:13:01

I think because of that, the Suns now get at least get their own first round pick and I think in a draft that's happening tomorrow, that I think a lot of people have said is like they have a lot of very good players that can turn into being like potential stars, if not superstars, even if they only have the 10th pick overall in tomorrow's draft. So at least they get that and they get all those second round picks Again. Second round picks don't always turn into anything all that great, but at least that gives them a little bit of. They have some picks to be able to use to try to maneuver and try to make that team better around Devin Booker. Do I think they're going to like the most well-equipped to do that? I don't think so, but I just think that this move in general will at least give Kevin Durant a final opportunity to go out there and try to be competitive once again in the playoffs.

Speaker 1: 1:13:48

And again, he's probably one of my favorite players to watch in big moments Again. The last time that he had one of those moments was against the Milwaukee Bucks when he was in a Nets uniform and he probably played some of the best basketball I've ever watched. So that, like on that in that game where he, like his toe was just over the line, like his big toe was just over that three-point line, because if he would have hit that shot and it was a three instead of a two, they would have won a championship that year. Most likely they would have went on and beat the sun, the suns in that, in that finals, um, but it didn't happen that way. So, like I want to, it would be nice to see Kevin Durant in a big competitive situation with everything that that Rockets team is. I do think they will have an opportunity to have Kevin Durant in that spot and to be able to see a guy like that and that satchel be able to go out there and get buckets at the highest level when it matters most is what I love to see, and I think the Suns got an okay something okay back for it, but that definitely wasn't as much as they probably would have liked.

Speaker 1: 1:14:57

Next thing, the Celtics are offloading contracts to save cap money. I think the Celtics going into next year, with Jason Tatum, having just recently tore his Achilles, is going to be out all year next year, and I think the Celtics are using this opportunity as a way to say, hey, we're going to be bad neck, we're not going to have our, our best player, we're not going to go win a championship next year, so we may as well just start getting cheaper here and kind of get rid of some of these players. So again, there are new. They are under new ownership. I think I've talked about this on this pod before is that they have a new ownership group that came in and bought the team and with that, that being the case, they kind of want to get cheaper, because I think, with what they have to pay, not only in salaries but also payroll tax they've been in the luxury tax for so long I think getting rid of some of these players will just make it so much cheaper. I think they were paying more in payroll and luxury tax than they would have earned as a club next year if all those contracts started kicking in and all those players stayed on this team. So with the injury, I think they're using this as a perfect opportunity to say, hey, let's just start getting rid of players, start getting younger, maybe cheaper, and kind of build to the future around Jason Tatum here in the next couple years, and I think that's exactly what they're doing. They got rid of KP yesterday. I mean that was today. Let me see how I can get these trades here.

Speaker 1: 1:16:25

Boston Celtics trades. So last night they traded away Drew Holiday. They traded away Drew Holiday to the Portland Trailblazers in exchange for Anthony Simons, and what did they? Also, it was Anthony Simons and a pick right. Let's see here Let me make sure I have it right Anthony Simons in two second round picks. So obviously I think Drew Holiday is the better player all around player right now, but Anthony Simons, he has like one more year left on his current deal. So this is definitely a salary dumping type of move. I don't think they're willing to sign him long term, but even if they do, I think he'll be cheaper. So I do think they're just trying to get rid of some of these higher tag players on their squad to be able to get cheaper going into next year. And that was the first move that happened last night. And the move that happened today was that they traded Chris Stapps Porzingis in a three team trade. Um, let me see here. It was a three team trade that included the Hawks and the Nets. So the Celtics are trading Chris Stapps Porzingas and a second round pick to the Hawks. Terrence Mann in Atlanta's 22 pick in tomorrow's draft is going to the Nets and Georges Niang in a second round pick are going to the Celtics. So again, chris Asporzingas.

Speaker 1: 1:18:15

I was just talking to my friend that's a Celtics fan today. He was like well, he's pretty, he's hurt all the time and I'm like, well, when he is playing, he does make the Celtics a very scary team to play. Again, that's what he did last year when they won a championship, but he was like he's not healthy, so what does it matter? And again, I think this is off the backdrop of the fact that the Celtics just won a title, so like I think the need to have to win one again is probably not as high, and I think that with Tatum tearing his Achilles next year is a wash anyway. So it's like they're getting rid of two of their better players on their roster and the question is whether they will go ahead and get rid of Jalen Brown yeah, jalen Brown Whether they'll get rid of Jalen Brown as well, going into, like, if they have to make that decision, try to go get more picks and try to get even cheaper and just have Jason Tatum be their number one guy.

Speaker 1: 1:19:09

And again, I think he's the number one guy anyway, but they're just trying to get cheaper overall. I don't know, man, I feel bad because I'm sitting here, not bad, but I'm just like questioning it a little bit, because I'm like competitively, but also, at the same time, like if you're a new ownership group, you want to make money off of this team and if they're gonna have so much in payroll and all of that, I feel like they have to make. They have to swallow the pill at some point and kind of get point and either get rid of some guys or really start paying out the cash. And they decided, hey, next year, no Tatum, this is the time to do it. And I don't know, will Boston fans be complaining in the middle of next season when they suck and they have no guys in their squad? They probably will, but I just think that in the long run, this was going to happen anyway. It's just they, they, they're doing it sooner rather than later.

Speaker 1: 1:20:02

And what was the other trade that happened? Um, I hate it's crazy to say, but jordan pool is on the move and I'm saying I'm not saying that wrong. Jordan pool, the former uh, the former golden state warrior, who then got traded to the uh, the, the wizards, the, yes, the wizards is now getting traded from the wizards to the pelicans in exchange for CJ McCollum. I feel like it's also somebody else too. Hold on, it's CJ McCollum and another player. No, no, sorry, it's Jordan Poole and a different player that's going to the Pelicans in exchange for CJ McCollum going to the, and I think CJ McCollum in a pick, is going back to the Wizards. I don't know, that's a weird one, it doesn't really matter.

Speaker 1: 1:21:07

In the grand scheme of things, I think the Pelicans are trying to get a little bit cheaper. They're not sure what they're going to be doing with. Why am I forgetting his name now? Oh no, no, no, oh no, no, no, no. What's his name? I'm not forgetting his name right now. Oh, no, it's. They're not sure what they're going to be doing with. Uh, zion, sorry, zion williamson. Sorry, I had a brain fart there. I'm surprised it didn't happen earlier. Um, they're not sure what they're going to be doing, zion Williamson, whether they're going to keep him long turn or not. Is he going to be healthy? Is he going to be able to keep the weight down? I feel like there's a lot of questions with this Pelicans team. So I feel like they're just trying to get a little cheaper as they can and hope that Zion can come back and do something, or they're just going to blow up the team altogether.

Speaker 1: 1:21:57

But it was just a weird trade. In general, it was just weird, but the fact that Jordan Poole was a part of any trade is insane, because I just don't know how you want that guy on your team whatsoever. I don't think he's very much of a winning basketball player in general. I think ever since he left the Warriors it's always been. When he was with the Warriors he was just making very dumb decisions and shooting the ball crazily, like he's the new version of Nick Young, and it's just. It's weird. But you know, the fact that he's a part of a trade at all is absolutely insane, which is why I had to mention it.

Speaker 1: 1:22:32

And since we started the podcast, there is a new set, a new piece of news Kyrie, who was going into this offseason with a. He had a player option that he was going to have going into this offseason. It was like a $43 million player option. He is coming off of having an injury himself and I think, with the Mavs trading Luka away and now they're going to end up drafting Cooper Flagg tomorrow with the first pick overall, they're going to need to have a guy that's a little bit more veteran, that can hold the, that can kind of like run the basketball team, and so I do think that they just they really needed to keep him longterm, I feel like he will be the guy to do it. He's still a little bit. He's still in his younger thirties, so he's still a little bit of time. So Kyrie Irving's intending to sign a three-year $119 million deal with the Mavs to stay with them for the next three years, be the guy to help Cooper flag along for them and obviously with AD as well, to try to build out a decent team there. So that is another piece of news that has happened in the NBA while I've been doing the podcast here. So that's about it. On the basketball stuff, it's a good deal.

Speaker 1: 1:23:56

I think Kyrie Irving was playing his best ball with the Mavericks. He wasn't really getting in a lot of trouble, wasn't doing anything crazy on social media or anything like that to kind of get himself under deep water. I think he's the happiest he's been. He's been playing good basketball. He was doing well with L? Uh, with um, with Luca, but you know, for other, for different reasons, they decided to send Luca off to the Lakers, um, but you know I do the oh Lakers. They also sold to, they also sold. They're selling their majority shares, um. Oh, I do want to talk about that too. Sorry, that was another piece of info I forgot that hadn't been on the podcast to talk about.

Speaker 1: 1:24:32

But trade, but keeping Kyrie definitely a good move to be the guy to be that point guard to help Cooper Flag along be with AD. I think Cooper Flag can kind of come in and be a good player right away. I think it's again the West is very tough but I do think that the Mavs can kind of make a make a dent and be a decent team in the West. So that's definitely what they're trying to do and I think Kyrie is down to do it, especially coming off his injury. I feel like being able to sign that deal and have an injury guarantee of having that money coming his way, no matter what, is definitely a big thing for him, especially coming off his injury that he had last season. It definitely makes a lot of sense for both sides. And so I brought it up off the cuff. But that is something I wanted to talk about.

Speaker 1: 1:25:16

The Lakers, the Buss family, are selling their majority stake of the Lakers team to the same group that is the majority shareholder of the Dodgers. So the same ownership group that owns and runs the Dodgers is now going to own the Lakers. And why does that matter? I say that matters because as much as the Buss family. When Jerry Buss was the owner and he was alive, he was the guy that was spending a bunch of money doing whatever they had to do to bring the Stars to the Lakers and all that, but under his kids' leadership. I think Jeannie Buss is his daughter that's now running the team.

Speaker 1: 1:25:56

They've been a little less than that. They've been called a little bit more of a mom-and-pop shop where they're like a family-run organization. They're not spending a bunch of money everywhere. They're not really like over going crazy. I think they've been running that team kind of being cheap, off of the what is it? The um, the reputation of being a glamorous franchise that is sitting in the middle of Los Angeles. But they haven't necessarily been the team that's really spending like that, not only when it comes to their books and getting the best players and spending in the luxury tax, but also when when it comes to facilities and coaches and everything, like everything from top to bottom.

Speaker 1: 1:26:38

And now the new ownership group the same ownership group that runs the Dodgers is going to be able to come in. They have very deep pockets and they're going to come in and be able to actually spend and really provide like they are the Lakers. So imagine like everything the Dodgers are right now, the Dodgers are the freaking death star of baseball right now and again, do I think they'll be able to come in and do that same type of process in the NBA? No, because the MLB is much more of a free like, not a hard cap. If you spend as long as you want to pay the taxes, you're good, the luxury tax you're fine, but in the NBA, like I said before, I think it's more of a hard cap. Now, with all the restrictions you have if you stay over the luxury tax for multiple years in a row.

Speaker 1: 1:27:26

I don't think they're going to necessarily be able to take that same model and come in and just build a great team with a bunch of great players and be able to do it that way. But I do think they'll be able to get better facilities, get better people in the front office. They'll be able to potentially pay more for coaching if they need to. Again, I think JJ Redick did very well as the head coach for that Lakers team last year. But if it ever happens, they'll be able to go and hire a coach and pay them whatever they want because they're willing to spend money. I just think that they'll be able to bring a little bit of the glamorous back to the Lakers in a way that they haven't had in a long time once Jerry Buss died. So I just think that it'll definitely give, it'll have the actual pocketbook to match the reputation that the Lakers have. Being in the middle of LA, that's what I think it is and I think, with the sale, more on the bus side of it. So all the kids I think there's like six kids, I think the majority agree that it's time to sell. They want to get out of owning a team business and I get it Because it's not like all of their business is coming from owning the Lakers.

Speaker 1: 1:28:34

It's not like they are a billion dollar family and they own something, that they have something else. It's like the prize of the breadwinner of bringing in all the money for that family and for them as an organization. The Buss family is the Lakers. It's not like the owner for the Clippers, who was a billionaire on his own. Why am I forgetting his name? Steve Ballmer, I believe his name is. He is a billionaire who was a former executive for Windows their name.

Speaker 1: 1:29:17

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. Uh, not windows, windows, xbox. Uh, it's not. Like it's a crazy billionaire owner that already has a bunch of money and that the bascow team is their toy, if you know what I mean? Right, it's not. It's not Windows. Why am I going insane? It's not Windows, it's not Dell, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. Sorry, I'm losing my thought process here. So it's not like the Buss family has a billion. They have a billion dollar business that funds them, having that team that they can spend money in, like they don't care about losing money and all that, like the Clippers, like some of these other teams do.

Speaker 1: 1:29:58

Now that they're going to have an ownership group that has a bunch of money, with pockets, with money ready to burn, I feel like they're going to be able to bring that glamorous back to the Lakers in a way that they haven't had in a long time and with the Buss family, they'll be able to get out of owning the Lakers business and they'll be able to take their checks and go home Again. It's more than they're right. They don't necessarily have to keep the team under that family name forever if they don't want to. Especially, it's a little bit harder when you have so many kids. It's not like all of them can run the team. So if they decide it's not like all of them can run the team and like, so if they decide it's time for them to get out of the business and like, go ahead and sell, it makes total sense, especially when they got a 10 billion dollar evaluation. It's not like they'll actually get 10 full billion dollars, but with the sale that's what the team is evaluated at. So let me tell you that bus family will get a bunch of money in their pockets and I think that it'll kind of suck for the NBA when that ownership group does come into power, because I think they'll be able to do some things that some of the NBA teams may not not a good portion of the NBA teams will not be able to match. Obviously there are some very rich owners that are in the NBA that are able to do that as well, but it's definitely not all of them. And I think the teams that are not on that level of being billionaires on their own and just having the team as kind of like a side thing, I think it will make a difference having an ownership group like that that knows what they're doing and that has owned multiple teams and that knows how to win at different levels in every different sport. So it's definitely going to be a shock to the system, but I do think for the Lakers in general. If you're a Lakers fan, I think you should find that to be a very positive thing.

Speaker 1: 1:31:44

Luka came out with a tweet later on that said he's very excited for the new ownership group. So I think he's definitely down. I don't think he was leaving anyway, because they still LeBron, I think they. I think Luka is definitely trying to stay with the Lakers long term. So I don't I think they should have no quorums about like worrying about if he'll stay there. So I think it's just.

Speaker 1: 1:32:03

It was definitely a newsworthy item that I wanted to talk about. Okay, so, as I said earlier, I didn't necessarily want to get into any of like the. I want to wait until Jace gets back on the next pod to kind of go back to talking the win totals and all of that, because that's definitely what Jace is into and I think it's better when me and Jace are doing that. So I just have a couple NFL news item-y things I want to talk about and then we'll end the podcast. So on to the NFL. All right, so with it being the 24th of June today I'm not sure if you heard or not, but I definitely did Aaron Rodgers has it's now been confirmed.

Speaker 1: 1:32:42

He is a Steeler. I think we talked about that in the last pod or not, I'm not totally sure, but he's officially a Steeler. He's signing for the year. He's only getting paid I think the $10 million contract with up to 13,. I think it's like 13 million base salary with like up to 20 million with incentives. So he's not getting paid a lot. He's in his age, 41 season, and he's going to be the starter for this upcoming season with the Steelers.

Speaker 1: 1:33:07

And again, I've been negative about this whole time. I've been pretty much saying this is going to happen for a while now. It's pretty much been a guarantee. It's just whether it was when it was going to happen, not if. And it's happened. He's the guy and he has this. He comes on to the Pat McAfee show and has a little bit of a but again he's done this before. But he's come on, talk to Pat and talked about everything going on in his life or whatever. And this it's kind of sparked something in me to want to talk about this because, like and especially with jace not here, because it makes a lot easier for me to talk about, but he's never. He's not gonna listen to this, but I have seen this.

Speaker 1: 1:33:43

There's two thoughts for me. One is with what he said. He was talking about how this is most likely going to be his last season. He again he didn't totally lock in on that but he did kind of put up a. He put up the thought, the um, he has the intention of this being his last season in the NFL. Cool, fine, whatever. I think, even in best case scenario I was thinking only up to two years of him playing anyway because he's 41. But also with what he was talking about. He was talking about wanting to kind of help Will Howard to potentially be the next guy for the Steelers and how he really likes the team. He likes Mike Tomlin and he wants to be a part of the culture. But he doesn't necessarily want to take over. And I'm like he's saying all the right things and again, I'm not gonna get too locked in on that because he said all the right things with the Jets too and it ended up as bad as it was.

Speaker 1: 1:34:32

But I think my main thing with Aaron Rodgers where I have a little, a little bit more confidence in what how this will go with him being on the Steelers is that Aaron Rodgers doesn't have to set the culture in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh doesn't need that from him. Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh needs a guy to stand there, hike the football and get the ball to their playmakers as the quarterback, and I think even with Aaron Rodgers being 41 years old, I think he can still do that and that gets.

Speaker 1: 1:35:03

My other thought is that I've been seeing clips of him when they were in minicamp and him throwing the wide receivers and doing stuff like that. I haven't seen a quarterback in Pittsburgh's dealer colors do some of the throws that he can make at 41 years old. Since Ben Roethlisberger and even with Ben here his last few years, he wasn't able to make some of the throws that Aaron Rodgers can make. Now, again, I get it he's 41. He's more fragile, he's cut, he has the Achilles tear a couple of years ago, and so there's no guarantee. There's no way. He's 41, he's more fragile, he's cut, he has the Achilles tear a couple years ago, and so there's no guarantee. There's no way he's gonna be able to get away from defenders, but I think in my wildest dreams if the Steelers can protect him and keep him upright, I think he can still make any throw on the football field and he'll be able to bring it a quarterbacking arm, a talent to our offense that we haven't had in a while. That's including the last few years of big Ben, where he wasn't nearly himself and his his elbow was shot and he wasn't able to throw more than 10 yards down the field consistently. So that with that, it gets me a tad bit excited again.

Speaker 1: 1:36:08

Even in my wildest dreams, I just want to win more than one playoff game. That's not necessarily a guarantee, but we have done a lot. We've done a lot with a lot less. When it comes to our quarterback position, we took Duck Hodges and well, I'm forgetting the quarterback's name, he's on our roster now. We've taken a lot worse quarterbacks into winning barely over 500, if not 500, football and getting into the playoffs. So being able to have Aaron Rodgers come in, at least just talent-wise from what he's able to do, is a lot better than what we have had in a long time. So that is what gives me a tad bit of confidence as to what we could be able to do this season.

Speaker 1: 1:36:49

Again, it's not guaranteeing anything. I'm not necessarily going to go into the season with any type of very big expectation. I'm going to go in here, go into this season, with a game-by-game mentality. I'll be happy when we win, I'll be sad when we lose. If we lose more games, perfect. We'll have a better draft pick for potentially getting a quarterback long-term if we don't already have that guy in the roster.

Speaker 1: 1:37:10

If Will Howard won't be that quarterback for the Steelers long term which I think I hope that the if Rodgers is going to be here for the year that he'll be able to impart some knowledge on Will Howard if he can make his job a little bit easier to really help him potentially be the next guy. I would definitely love that. Obviously, being a Buckeye fan and all I would love for a Buckeye to be the quarterback of my team for years to come. But I just think, with all that being the case, I just really wanted to sit here and get my thoughts out as to like I think there's not. I don't think it's a guarantee that Aaron Rodgers will screw over the Steelers team and I just think it's because of how strong the Steelers locker room is when it comes to the people running it and the leaders in that locker room. And again, again, even in the best case scenario, what is it for? If it's only a one-year rental, I don't know.

Speaker 1: 1:38:00

Again, the Steelers are, are there on a never. They don't want everyone to go into a season, think we're going to lose and on some, on some levels, that's amazing, but on other levels you're like hey, can we just lose for one season, get a great draft pick and get our quarterback or something like that. Again, it's a two-sided thing, so I'm not gonna say you're gonna like it's not necessarily like guaranteed to go badly, but I don't think it's not guaranteed to go great and like go in a Super Bowl, but I also don't think it's guaranteed to go terribly either. Because I do think, just with Mike Tomlin and with that, with the leaders on that squad, i't think they're going to let the Aaron Rodgers take over like he did with the Jets and screw that up. I think the Steelers have a little bit more against that. I don't think they didn't need him to come in and be the crazy leader. I think they just needed him to come in and be a quarterback and I think that may make it a little bit easier on him to potentially not screw things up like he did with the Jets. And again, at the end of the day it's still the Jets. The Jets are a crazy franchise to be a part of because they're not ran well and I think the Steelers are ran well. I just think they've been holding on to the never say lose mentality. I think it's really kept them in a rut because of the whole Ben thing and kind of this is the spot they're in now trying to get age old quarter, like older quarterbacks, to come and play for them. So I don't know, don't have a ton of confidence, but I just think that I hope that it goes well. I do I just hope because nobody wants to go into a season think they're going to lose every game. But I'm again. If it happens that way, I would like to have a top five, top ten draft pick. That would be nice too. But, um, that's all I got on that.

Speaker 1: 1:39:32

Next thing chador sanders caught speeding twice this month. Thoughts um, I really don't have a lot. He's speeding. Young guys speed, they have nice cars do? Am I gonna make this a whole big soliloquy about how he's not a starting quarterback in the nfl and all that I'm not going to. Um, not only would that make me a hypocrite, because there's plenty other players doing stupid stuff and still playing on football teams that I've liked. Um, heck, my heck.

Speaker 1: 1:39:58

Ben roethlisberger had his own troubles with the law and doing some things that are much worse than speeding potentially. So I'm not going to sit here and be a hypocrite and like, make a big deal about, uh, shidora sanders having some speeding tickets, but I just think he needs to make some better decisions. I think the Browns will go to him and try to help him have a better thought process when it comes to stuff like that. I think they said that he wasn't driving anymore. He was getting a driver and all that. But again, he's a young guy. He's going to make his mistakes. You can just hope it's never going to turn out like the Henry Yugg situations where his mistake will end with somebody losing a life or something like that, because guys are gonna make mistakes. You just got to hope that one mistake will not change the outcome of your life for the rest of it. Not sure if that made sense or not, but you know. But hopefully Shador Samson will learn to make some better decisions and I think, again, I think he's been in the spotlight for so long that I think he knows what he's doing here. He's not new to this. I think it'll just make some better decisions and I think it'll go well. I'm not sure that doesn't have any impact about what I think of him as a football player. I'm not necessarily the biggest fan of what he does, but again, I think off the field he is a stand-up dude that I think will make better decisions. More often than not he's having a little bit of a bad run, but I think he'll get it fixed.

Speaker 1: 1:41:15

And my last thing is why isn't more people talking about the apparent collusion in the nfl of a guaranteed context? It was like a little news item that came out today that I think it was a court case with arbitration. Like a couple years ago that happened, that was going on, and it just now came out that the arbitration guy like said that hey week, I can't necessarily deny that there was collusion going on. This was in specifically when it comes to guaranteed contracts and they were going off of the this is three different contracts that were going on and kind of things are going back and forth between Kyler Murray, russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson. Remember Deshaun Watson getting that fully guaranteed 250 something million dollar contract was a big deal, not only for the fans at large, because we're like, hey, does he deserve that money With all the legal trouble he was having, like is he a person you could trust and like and is he good enough and has a bunch of money to give to one guy and all of that but it's also for the ownership groups that's a huge deal.

Speaker 1: 1:42:21

The NFL has fought long and hard for so long to not have to give out guaranteed contracts Because, again, injuries and all that, but also because they're money hungry, crazy people that don't think that the players deserve, but also because they're money-hungry crazy people that don't think that the players deserve anything, so they're trying to keep as much money as they possibly can. So, with Deshaun Watson getting the fully guaranteed contracts, because the Browns are desperate and stupid, that sent shockwaves throughout the NFL and the NFL fan bases at large that like, oh, what does this mean for my quarterback of my team? Do, well, they have to pay him like that. And how does that impact the cap for the other guys and all of that and it was found that in this whole thing for this doc I think there's like 61 page document of the whole trial that there were texts between owners that were saying, hey, I'm glad that. And then it kind of goes into Kyler Murray and how he contracted, he got, and how owners were texting. That owner was like, hey, we're happy you didn't give Kyler Murray fully guaranteed money, because that means good news that we don't have to do it for our guy and that it was I.

Speaker 1: 1:43:24

If you go and just do a little bit of research, watch a couple of videos, it's very apparent that even though the NFL is supposed to be 32 separate teams, ownership groups that are trying to be competitive and doing everything they can to go and beat each other to go win a Super Bowl that's what the NFL is supposed to be. But when a case like this comes out, it has made it very apparent that the NFL on certain things they are colluding. They are not just 32 separate franchises, businesses trying to do something and like, try to go win a Superbowl. There is a closing of ranks of sorts for the NFL owners and that's not how this is supposed to go. It's against the law. That's a monopoly, and again, I'm not really great with all the business terms, but that's not how this is supposed to go. It's against the law, that's a monopoly, and again, I'm not really great with all the business terms, but that's like I think I'm getting.

Speaker 1: 1:44:19

The general sense right is that this isn't legal, that's not competitive balance, that's not how businesses are supposed to run, and this thing has kind of been left under the rug and people aren't really paying attention. And I think that for the long term, this makes a lot of sense because it just shows that the NFL owners are willing to do things underhandedly in order to get what they want. And I think, to a certain degree, if the players are also willing to do things to get what they want as well, it only leads to, potentially is there going to be a lockout? Is there going to be a stop, stoppage of games and things, stuff like that and I think that's what makes us a big deal is that when stoppages happen, who do fans blame?

Speaker 1: 1:45:07

Fans blame players. They don't blame owners. Do you know why? I mean, yeah, they ban players, not owners. Do you know why it's easier for fans to blame the players? Because, guess what? The players are only for their teams for a finite period of time. I think the saying is rooting for the laundry rather than the name on the back of the jersey. I can be a Steelers fan because when Ben is here, as great as he was, he's not there anymore and I'm still rooting for the Steelers. So if something happens in football, it comes around to August, september and NFL football isn't going to happen because there is a dispute when it comes to CBA agreements.

Speaker 1: 1:45:53

The fans go against the players, the fans go against the players, the players go against the players because the players don't want to start losing game checks and I think there is too much power on the owner's side to get what they want. I think the owners are finally realizing that as long as we are able to pull the plug on the season, that is the trump card that we have that the players aren't willing to go with, because I think the owners can last a lot longer than players can on not getting that money coming through with an NFL season. And as long as that happens, as long as that's the case, as long as the players aren't willing to take that step, the owners are going to keep getting what they want and I think, again, all NFL players deserve guaranteed contracts, just like the nba, just like the, just like the mlb, because their their sport, that the nfl players are playing, is even more dangerous than those other sports and I think they put even more on the line when it comes to their bodies. So fully guaranteed contract is something that players in the NFL deserve and I think, if players really need that, I think I think most fans can understand that these NFL players really do deserve everything they're getting, because they are the ones putting their lives on the line for our entertainment. But again, fans don't always realize that they again want to root for the laundry because that's their only option.

Speaker 1: 1:47:17

Owners don't move back and forth. If an owner is being a bad owner, the only way that team is not his anymore is if he sells or if he dies. Players are moved back and forth like like cheap underwear all the time and I feel like fans need to kind of get, get it under their get, get on to this idea that they, if they want I'm not going to say that they want, because fans aren't going to root for the right thing all the time because they they start comparing themselves to NFL players that NFL players are multi-millionaires, so how are they complaining? They deserve more money. Because I'm working my nine to five every day and I'm not getting anywhere close to what this guy gets. I can work for a year and get the money that this one guy in the NFL is getting for a game.

Speaker 1: 1:48:09

But I just think that fans need to get kind of smarter on this aspect that the players are the ones putting their lives on the line. And why are you going to root for billionaires in comparison to millionaires? How you're going to use that argument against a millionaire when there's a billionaire out there getting a ton more money and nobody wants to blame them. And again, maybe that takes a bit of nuance in a way that most people don't have. I can totally, totally understand. If that's just the case, that's not really possible for us dumb humans to really think critically about. And I'm not just saying those dumb people, because I think humans in general are just dumb, dumb. In general they're not willing to think outside the box a lot, at least as a collective. But it's just. If you just give it a tad bit of thought, you just have to understand that the players deserve a lot more than what they're getting, and a fully guaranteed contract is probably one of the first things on the list.

Speaker 1: 1:49:03

And if the players really do decide to get big on this and, like, really try to push for it, fans shouldn't be blaming them. They should be rooting for them because they put their lives on the line for our entertainment man and I just feel like they deserve a pretty penny for it and I'm never going to poo-poo a guy, poo-poo the players for trying to get what they think they deserve, and I think they do deserve it. At the end of the day, those owners that are owning these teams are not putting their lives on the line. They're not. It's just not happening. So I don't know it's, it's a. It's not the biggest deal when it comes to a story, but it is something that caught my eye and I hopefully that if you manage to listen to this podcast all the way through and get to this part, that that story kind of caught your interest and you go read about, up about it and then tell your friends, because I just think if we can be smarter about, if fans can be smarter in general, I think it'll just lead to better fandoms overall. If that makes sense. That's it. That's all I got.

Speaker 1: 1:50:03

Um, hopefully, if not late this week, early next week, sometime next week, um, we'll get jace back in here to talk about sports and kind of like the normal way, talking about football and going to talk about the like I said before, like talk about win totals, winning divisions. We'll start doing our um ranking our players in the nfl when it comes to best quarterback, position by position in the nfl. So I definitely will be looking forward to doing more of that later this week. If not, no matter what, the what the next pod, that's what we'll be doing. We'll have Chase back. We'll be doing our thing. So, with all that, let's go ahead and end the podcast here.

Speaker 1: 1:50:40

So if you guys have been listening for a while, we appreciate you. If you're just now joining on, hopefully you like us and enjoy us enough to join us on this ride to talk about sports in the dumbest way possible. Hopefully you don't just get down. You don't get downturned by just this pod. Hopefully you can go and listen to a different one. That kind of gets gives you, gives you a better idea of what me and J spring, when we are both here on the pod, talk about sports in the in the way that we do, and if you like us and enjoy us enough to stick around, we'd appreciate if you could like our podcast, subscribe to the podcast, rate the podcast five stars wherever you listen to us. We're pretty much available on all audio platforms right now.

Speaker 1: 1:51:17

What I need to start trying to get youtube figured out, but, um, that'll come at a later date. We would love if you could do all those things for us like, like, subscribe, um, and do all that for us, and if you could also share our podcast. Friends, family, enemies, anybody you feel like can enjoy the content we put out on a weekly basis without being not here the last two weeks. Not that notwithstanding, um, if you could do that for us, share some people you think would like what we do, we would definitely appreciate that. And then, finally, follow us on twitter and or x, whatever you'd like to call us.

Speaker 1: 1:51:48

We need to get on tiktok too. I think we need to do that as well. But you know one thing at a time here, um, but if you could follow us on twitter and rx at jb sports pod is the podcast handle. At giovanni boozer is my handle, at jace boozer, one is jason's handle, and uh, that's about it for the pod y'all. So, um hope you all, you guys, have a great day, a great night, and we'll see y'all next week. Goodbye y'all.