Built, Bought, or Traded? Spurs-Knicks, Giannis Rumors & NFL Power Moves

The NBA Finals are set, and Jed is taking a well-deserved victory lap after correctly predicting the matchup.

This week on The 50/50 Club, Jed and Mark recap the Conference Finals and break down the unexpected championship showdown between the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks. They discuss the biggest reasons both teams advanced, make their Finals predictions, and identify the players who could decide the series.

The conversation then shifts to Oklahoma City and the biggest offseason question in basketball: Should the Thunder pursue Giannis Antetokounmpo? If Milwaukee is listening, what should OKC be willing to give up, and is Chet Holmgren untouchable? The guys apply a little Marine Corps Logic to one of the NBA's most fascinating roster decisions.

They also dive into Rich Paul's comments regarding LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Scottie Pippen, debating whether Jordan's supporting cast gets overlooked and whether LeBron's legacy is judged differently.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

All right, y'all. Welcome back to the 50-50 club. You know, this is a place where two devil dogs get together and argue sports like they're still living in the barracks. I'm Jed. I'm down over here in Blue Springs, and I'm in a I'm in the DFW representing. Absolutely. You know, um, I'm I'm an occasional basketball prophet. Um, also we'll get into that in a second, too.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Uh I'm occasional Negro Dominance prophet, and we can keep moving.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

All right, so today we're gonna be talking about Spurs Knicks finals, you know. We're gonna be talking about um my correct conference finals prediction, which you can find on our pre on our last um podcast. Um, and then whether OKC should go after Giannis, what the heck they should do with Chet Holmgren, who's out how many, how many, yeah, what should they do with him? And LeBron, LeBron versus Jordan. Here we go again. It's not because of something that Jordan said, right? Nope.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Right. It's something his gym slash owner, slash, agent, slash, do everything, Paul said.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

Rich Paul.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Absolutely. So we'll get into that. We're gonna hey also, you know what? Monday was a big day. I don't know about you guys' phone notifications, but my ESBN notifications were going crazy yesterday with NFL power moves. So we're gonna get into that, and then we're gonna get into a little Marine Corps logic, which we um which we auditioned um uh in our last in our last broadcast. You ready to get into this, Mark?

SPEAKER_00 1:36

Let's do this, devil dog.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

Yo, hey, I'm just gonna take a victory lap for a second because in this last in our previous podcast, I predicted uh Spurs and Knicks in the finals, which is crazy.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

And I predicted the Spurs and Wimby, which is half crazy.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

Yeah, man. So these these um the these conference finals were wild. Was there anything that surprised you in the um in the Western and Eastern conference finals?

SPEAKER_00 2:09

What surprised me was uh let's start with Minnesota, how I thought they'd put up a better fight.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Yeah, that was a little surprising. I know Ant was a little compromised, uh, but you know, yeah, you would have you would have thought they would have given him a little bit more of a go, but dang man, that Wimby. And we're gonna get into him in a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

So a man amongst boys.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

So how did how how did San Antonio beat OKC? This was the defending champions, right? Took them seven deep. What do you think the keys to to to the them winning this series was?

SPEAKER_00 2:46

Do you want the politically correct answer or do you want the street answer?

SPEAKER_01 2:51

I mean, I'll take both. How about that?

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Okay, politically correct. Uh once they took their heart, they took the game.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

Okay, so when? Or what are you talking about? What game are you talking about?

SPEAKER_00 3:05

We're talking about game six, for an example. When Castle dunked on Chet Holmegrim and then blocked two of his shots, the series was over. Yeah, you know, I go back and look at the tape. I believe that was the end of Chet Holmegrim.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Okay, so so that was politically correct. So what's your what what's what's your street?

SPEAKER_00 3:25

If everybody doesn't know, uh me and Jed are the dark-skinned brothers. So um San Antonio's light-skinned brothers are tougher than OKC's light-skinned brothers, if you know what I'm saying. They out light-skinned them.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

Shout out to Wesley Snipes. Uh, he's a godfather for us. Nino Brown, baby.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

King, king of the dark-skinned brothers.

SPEAKER_01 3:51

Yeah, man. So, like for me, this the surprise for me was that was that okay, was that the Spurs were able to win two games at Oklahoma City.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

That to me was the beginning and the end. Yes. It was something.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Yes, they bookmarked, they they they they bookended it, and um, it was that was that was pretty impressive. And you know what, Mark, when I look at it too, like now I look at OKC's championship, like Indiana took them seven deep. If Halley doesn't get hurt, they lost. Yes, because remember, like Indiana didn't have any back down, remember?

SPEAKER_00 4:29

None.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

Yeah, that was that that none.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Once he went out, that was it.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

So, hey, like, so all right, so what about these? Let's talk about the Knicks. Or do we have to say go New York, go New York, go? What's that lame? What's that lame thing that they saying around there?

SPEAKER_00 4:44

I I will not repeat it, and I can't wait. Let's say 21 days from now, we will never have to hear it again.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

We're gonna see. What's hey man? So what what is going on with New York? They were they have been dominant. So what's the what what's what's the key to this? I know you got Mike Brown who's an offensive-minded coach, but they they are just housing people.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Uh the key is the East is weak. And when Detroit was not at full strength and got upset, it paved the way for the Knicks to go with Boston bailing out with injuries. It was just the perfect storm for the East to get them to the East Championship.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

Well, okay, so so are you okay? Like, so so you're on this Draymond Green thing talking about the talking about the East this week, so that's why they did it. Like, that's just it alone.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

But I'm on my eyeball test. I don't like purple lips. Uh my eyeball test says that uh Embiid was hurt, Tatum was hurt, and Detroit was just coming back off the dude with a collapsed lung. So that made it easy for New York to by default win them all.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

Yeah, I was I I was I was very, very disappointed with with Detroit. I mean, that that was to me, that that series right there is what catapulted New York to to the to the finals once they were gone, you know? Yes. So yeah, man. So look, man, look, so question for you. Was I right because I know basketball, or do you think I got lucky? I'm gonna say I know basketball.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

I'm I'm gonna say the perfect storm. You guessed it, you predicted it, and people don't know. We used to call you stormy weather in the Marines. Nugget.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

Yeah, man. All right, so hey, move moving on to these NBA finals, right? So we got the Spurs, you know, they got Wimbenyama, they got this Spurs culture, you know. Everybody talks about heat culture. It looks like the Spurs got some kind of culture going on over there, too. They got Mitch Johnson, and you know, they're just getting started as well. What do you think about them going? What do you think about them going into these NBA finals?

SPEAKER_00 7:07

Going to these finals, you have a guard who went to Stanford, which makes him smart and a reliable coach because he knows what he's talking about. He worked under Popovich, he spent his time, and it looks like he knows how to manage four guards and a center. That makes it hard to beat. And they're all tall, lengthy, and young.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

Yeah. And you know what? Mentioning Mitch Johnson, let me, I want to go go back to something too, man. In that in that game seven, when Wimmy got that fifth foul, and it was just like, no, we're we're going with you. I was like, oh my God. I I thought that was a uh just a ballsy move by the coach to say, no, we're not gonna immediately take you out. We're gonna let you work through this. We I trust and believe in you that much.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

So yes, confidence in your young player, confidence in the next phase of the NBA. Uh hey, you don't have to block every shot. You can just stand there, and that will intimidate every other shot.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

Yeah, absolutely. Because like he was what what he was doing is he would he wasn't going up to block the shots, but he was contesting. He was going out to contest, but then there was no foul to be had. So that was that was pretty good. I you know what this team, for being as young as they are, man, 21, 22, I mean, you know, you know, they they do got enough old heads there, but man, this this team is they are so young and hungry, and just just a lot of spring in their step, man. They're so explosive, man, and so aggressive.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

Who has their last three first-round draft picks starting or playing major minutes? And then the fourth one who came from Philly, who dumped him for that McClun kid who could nothing but duck. We got him for nothing. And look what he's doing.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

We have four players, the last four drafts, all considered double figures and lots of minutes.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, they've they've they've made a lot of great moves. That's the thing with these draft picks, and we're gonna talk about the drafts here, draft here in a little bit. But you can have all these high picks, but what are you doing with them, right? Are you drafting the right players? Are you developing? And they're obviously doing both of those very, very well.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

So And even the youngster, the Kobe kids, he got drafted last year. That was their second pick.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

Right. Yes, yes. So let's talk about the Knicks, right? So we have um the Knicks, we know they're gonna bring that New York toughness defense. They they hey, they're ranking number one in a lot of these, a lot of these stats, offensively and defensively, and the Spurs are ranked two. Um they're you know, they're their physical style, they play very physical, so they're saying that OG Ananobi is gonna be a tough matchup for Wimby.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

And then they they're gonna just stop. They play, you're right, they play OKC physical, not San Antonio physical. It's two different types.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

All right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:05

Because I'm gonna explain. We all know Kent couldn't hold MB's draws. He averaged six fouls a game when MB'd in there. And I don't understand why people think that he's gonna walk up to Wimby and guard him and not get two fouls in the first quarter. Let's just start there.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's I mean, it's something to be said. I mean, because he's, you know, Wimby is a that is the one matchup that there's no answer for, you know, and the Knicks, man, finally be it back in the final. So the last time the Knicks were in the final, I could still go to the barber, man, and have him cut my entire head. So 99. And so we're looking at them back in the finals. What's the biggest matchup that you look that you're looking at?

SPEAKER_00 10:49

When uh the matchup is Brunson the guard versus whoever guards him. And if I'm the Knicks, um I don't want Jalen Brunson dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble. Let somebody else bring it up and save his energy. And if you bring Crosby Towns to bring it up, well, you still got a problem because Santorino's got four guards, it'll just ripping. And that's just Dunk City. Yes. If I was the Knicks, I would try a faster pace to get it past half court and then run your offense.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Yeah. Um, so the back to the matchup, so so you're so so you're thinking the biggest matchup is gonna be the Spurs guards um against um um Jalen Brunson and and how both are gonna navigate through that, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. That's what, yeah, that's that that's fair. I just I'm just gonna go with the obvious, and I and it's probably gonna be my answer on a lot of these questions is Wimby, what's what's the who and what and how? And so it it's it's just that that is gonna because that's gonna be the tell for everything. And like you were alluding to about um him and him and and like with towns bringing the ball up and how that's gonna work. But yeah, Wimby's gonna be tough.

SPEAKER_00 12:08

But I do Mitchell Robinson with a broken finger. You're not blocking Wimby's shots with a broken finger. You might break two. Yeah, yeah, that's that's not gonna be a that really hurt New York as much as I like their chances. Your next big goon only has nine fingers, which means he can't dribble, he can't pass, and he can't shoot.

unknown 12:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:29

And if I'm saying, every time I see you touch the ball, I'm smacking you on that hand, which is legal because the hand is part of the ball.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

Yeah, they said it's like that they say that that that injury um after that surgery takes like 15 days to probably properly heal from, and he's gonna have like six days before he's playing in an NBA final, so that's gonna be really tough. Um, so so the biggest so we you know we talked about X Factor, because we i is there a different X Factor for you, or is it Wimby, Wimby, Wimby, or do you think there's something else that we're maybe I'm not seeing?

SPEAKER_00 13:01

I'm saying um, as far as I've been watching in the East, San Antonio and Oklahoma City were the only two teams that had six or seven players that averaged double figures. New York has three or four. That's a problem.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Yeah, but man, that those three or four must have been it must have been hidden on something, man, because Danny scored a lot of points.

SPEAKER_00 13:24

But that but that but that's a yeah, well, that's Jalen Brunson, his 30, and give somebody else 20 something, and then Hart might have been 10 or 15, and then once the game is over with, your scrubs can all get eight points.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

You I and I'm gonna I'm gonna backtrack on my X factor. I have another X factor, actually. I think it is OGN and Obi, man. Like, you know, we talk about this this hamstring or whatever, and we know, like, oh yeah, he's healthy, but is he really healthy? And we're probably we're gonna find out quickly here, but I think that's gonna be the X factor. Is that is that leg gonna hold up, you know, in a in in a in the NBA finals?

SPEAKER_00 14:05

In a seven-game series, he had nine days rest. The typical hamstring takes three to four weeks just to get 80%.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

Right. You know, hey, hey, we saw it. You know, we saw it with um with Luca. He's on over a month, over a month, and still wasn't able to get back on the court. So, yeah, I think that so and so who who who do you think is good? Well, you know what? That's the wrong. Let me ask. Who do you think has the most pressure on him?

SPEAKER_00 14:32

New York uh or the Spurs? Because they haven't won since what, 72? Yeah, I think it was people paying 20, 30, 40,000 a ticket.

SPEAKER_01 14:47

I was on um I was on Stub Hub looking at that, and I was I was I was shocked and appalled about the ticket prices in in in New York. Like people can literally, I think you're gonna have a lot of New York fans in in um um in San Antonio tomorrow because they could literally fly down, get tickets, and go for cheaper than and pay for hotel and food than they could to watch them in New York. So I think you're gonna have some Nick fans in the house tomorrow.

SPEAKER_00 15:20

Especially the courtside guys, if they used to paying 30,000, what's 15,000 plus a flight hotel and food?

SPEAKER_01 15:29

Yeah, it's nothing, man. Nothing. So, like, so I and I I I tend to agree with you with the pressure. I just feel like the Spurs are not playing with house money, but I think they're coming in here really, really confident. They just beat the they just beat the champs, and they got the best player on the planet. So I don't I feel like they're I feel like they're coming in here playing free. You are right, man. When New York, that's that's a lot of ghosts and a lot of people like standing on your shoulder. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

And with nine days off, uh, if you're not ready for them bullets, game one. So if you don't keep it within three or four points, game one, that doubt creeps in. Like, let's say Santonian waxes them by 20 easily. You're thinking like, oh, oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

Yeah, yeah. So and so let's let's let's move on to who is who is winning the championship.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

I'm picking the spurs in five if everybody's healthy.

SPEAKER_01 16:35

So you got spurs in five. Um I I I agree with you. And people are telling me that this matchup is gonna be it's gonna be tough, but I still I have the Spurs in five as well. Like people are telling me six and seven. I'm like, I don't see it. I just don't I don't see the Knicks being close to as good. Well, I shouldn't say not close, but they're not as as good as Oklahoma City, man. And I just don't see it, man. And okay, and the Spurs have home home court advantage.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

Yes, yeah. And then so I I'll ask you this. So uh I guess finals MVP, are you gonna go? Are you gonna go somewhere else, or do we know that that's gonna be unanimous?

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Um Wendy.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

Yeah, man. It's gonna be fun to watch starting tomorrow night um on ABC, and I'm look, I'm looking, I'm looking forward to it. And I'm also I'm I'm gonna say this, I'm not taking a shot at somebody, but I am taking a shot at them. I'm glad we're getting I'm glad we're getting off NBC because I'm tired of the Paisan um Mike Tarico. Um and I was tired, I was tired of Rick and Reggie Miller too, and Jamal Crawford, man. I wasn't feeling them. I wasn't feeling feeling them at all, man.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

So it was Reggie's a hater. Quiet hater. If you listen to him throughout the whole broadcast, he really didn't want the Spurs win until they won.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

Yeah, man, I was wondering why was he why why was he like that? That was just weird, man.

SPEAKER_00 18:07

I I don't know. But as before we switch topics and change to another sport, we all know the unlucky Charles, he chose New York. So for all you better out there, go look at Charles Barclay's winning percentage on Crucial Series Games and Finals.

SPEAKER_01 18:27

Who's listening to Charles Barclay when it comes to their paper?

SPEAKER_00 18:31

There are some people.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

I tried to warn them. All right, look, I'm gonna stop the show for a second. Listen, if you if you were out here and you listening to this show right now and you are listening and taking betting advice from Charles Barkley, stop. Okay, I'm done.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

Well, he picked the name.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

Good luck.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

So I'm done. I was so glad when he came on record and said that. I said, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

Goodness, man. All right, man. But you know, hey, we we are we are gonna stick with round ball for a little bit. I want to talk about okay. What happens should they should they pursue Giannis? Now we're gonna we're gonna implement a little Marine Corps logic. So you know this is Baric's philosophy. So Marine Corps Logic says that it that if you got a championship caliber roster and a mountain of draft picks, you either go get the best weapon or you stop talking about it. What does your Marine Corps logic tell you?

SPEAKER_00 19:31

My Marine Corps logic, and we spoke about this as soon as the game was over with, before Stephen A. anybody else got on record. I said the first thing Oklahoma City needs to do is dump Hogram's $40 million or the other guy's $28 million in any package, any graphics, ship them off to Milwaukee for Giannis, and let's reload with the rest of them.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

Yeah, they the package that they could give up is is is franchise changing or restarting for Milwaukee. I would make the deal in a second. And Oklahoma City has to do something because they know, unless they believe that that with uh Mitchell and and um and J Dub being out, that that was a factor and that they could beat them as constituted. Do you think they can?

SPEAKER_00 20:27

Well, let's rephrase that. Fox missed the first four games, and had Castle not turned them balls over 10 times a game, it's not the question, Mark.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

It's not the question.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

Well, no, they cannot. You don't think they can't?

SPEAKER_01 20:42

All right.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

Because a healthy king versus a healthy team, I still take the spurs.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

Yep, yep. And and I and I don't disagree with you. I think that is true, but I think that it is a fair question. But okay, OKC has to do something. You can't stand Pat because what's down there in San Antonio is only gonna get better. And they've already beaten you once head to head in the in the conference finals.

SPEAKER_00 21:07

It takes a big man to beat a big man, and it's better when it's two foreigners going at it because they it ain't nothing personal. Greece versus France.

SPEAKER_01 21:18

What do you mean, foreigners? I don't call them foreigners, I call them the best players in the NBA.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

Well they are, but they they at Come Olympics, one of them's going to France, and one of them's going to Greece, or wherever the freak played last year.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

Oh, hey, look. Listen, you you um you do refereeing, and I don't know what's going on with AAU here in the United States, but we are not producing this. And I know Wimby is a is a unicorn, but it's all the other European players, man. We need to be better. We need to do better down at AAU.

SPEAKER_00 21:57

Our refs need to go see what in the International rest due and emulated. So you said looking at the American traditional dribble, dribble, dribble, step back, jump back, shot. That's a travel. Okay. Start looking at the goaltending and the foul. The Olympics are the only place where it's kind of fair.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

Okay. Alright. Alright. That's some great insight. So if if so if Giannis is available and OKC doesn't make the call, then I'm like, what are you saving the freaking picks for? What do you what like to me, what are you saving them for? If you could get somebody who, you know, coupled with SGA, can at least make it a little more difficult for Giannis. I mean, for Wimby, not to say that it wasn't difficult for him, because they did, but you know, in a better way where he was two options.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

Uh, like I said, Homer's 40 million and three draft picks, or Hartenstein's 28 million and two draft picks.

SPEAKER_01 22:59

Yeah, like and yeah, so that just begs the question. Would would trading for Giannis actually make them worse long term? I don't think so. I think it's still gonna make them better. I think it well, I think it makes them better in a in a three to four year sp you know spurt, but you know, we'll we'll we'll see how it goes. But I they've got to be a player in this, uh, you know, I I feel like because they hey they they don't want them to go to anywhere else in the West, I guarantee that. So no. I mean, they don't want them to go to LA, they they probably don't want them to go to Golden State. I mean, you can name some other teams out here, Dallas, especially with especially with Masay Yajiri over in Dallas now and having that relationship with with Giannis.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

If Giannis went there, and the rookie, you you got a big three there. Come to build with you.

SPEAKER_01 23:49

Yeah, man, and that's so that I think that's what OKC's gonna be looking at as well, man. But so all uh we're talking about this Giannis thing because of the the Chet Holmgren problem. So if Milwaukee says that the conversation starts with Chet Holmgren, what are you gonna do?

SPEAKER_00 24:08

I need more first-round picks. Like I said, I need three. I'll take Chet 40 million and give me three first rounds. Yeah, I'll take Hartenstein and two first rounds.

SPEAKER_01 24:19

What do you think Chet's ceiling is? What do you think his ceiling is? I I think he's a Hall of Famer.

SPEAKER_00 24:26

Um Hall of Shamer. You cannot get punked by a six-core guard. And then if you look at the camera, you saw film game six. After he jumped on him and blocked his shot, he looked at him on camera and said, What are you gonna do, punk? And Cat's eyes just sunk in his head like I don't know what to do.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

He's done. It's like a a fighter who just got knocked out. Now you got a glass job.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

Well, is he an elite uh complimentary player at least?

SPEAKER_00 24:58

He's a great role player and a filler against what there's 28 teams, 32 teams?

SPEAKER_01 25:06

Third team NBA. Um, all NBA this year.

SPEAKER_00 25:09

I I know that, but guess what? In the finals where all the elite play, he until he proves me wrong, he's gonna be known as a choker.

SPEAKER_01 25:19

So what you're gonna I mean, he won a championship, dude. Like you're saying he's a choker.

SPEAKER_00 25:23

Well, yeah, but guess what? Like I said, we said had Halliburton not got hurt.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Yeah, so like I mean, he he he was going up against a unicorn, and and and they do have some history, but I get it. So would you rather have Giannis for the next three to four years or Chet for the next ten? No. Like that's why I was saying short-term, long-term.

SPEAKER_00 25:44

Next three or four. Because with all them young guys and all them draft picks, you're gonna have the same problems Santana's gonna have in two or three years. How are you gonna pay them all?

SPEAKER_01 25:52

Yeah, can't pay them all. Some people are gonna go away.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

Yes. So you better get your four-year window where everybody fits under the cap and do the best you can.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

Cool, man. Well, you know what? Speaking of superstars and, you know, supporting casts and role players. Let's talk about um this guy Rich Paul and his interview that he did, you know, about um about LeBron and Jordan and saying that Jordan, if Jordan doesn't have Pippen, then you know Jordan does has over six in the final.

SPEAKER_00 26:30

So go Rich Paul, read the history book. Name one great player that didn't have another to get him to the final or championship. Preach one.

SPEAKER_01 26:40

Preach, preach, preach.

SPEAKER_00 26:42

That's it's even we can start with SDA. You paid Hogan $40 million, so he is a number two.

SPEAKER_01 26:50

We can go up and down. I mean, Magic and Kareem, Shaq, Kobe. I mean, it just the list goes off. Bulls, Lakers, whoever. It's every team.

SPEAKER_00 27:02

Houston had three or four.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

I'm gonna name okay. I I think I got one. I got a one-off I'll throw out there. What about Kawhi? At Toronto, maybe that one.

SPEAKER_00 27:15

Well, who else he had up? No, he had um, he had Vlad Fleet, he had Fland Fleet makes 40 million dollars. Um at the time, what's his name? The guard went to Miami. He was making 30-something million dollars. He had two guards and himself, and he had something to prove because he got kicked out of San Antonio.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

Hey, look, I was just I was I'm just thinking it through, but like I I agree that yeah, like you you need you you gotta have to. And I don't think this has anything to do, like the problem I have with this whole LeBron thing, especially when when his people come out the woodwork, is that the greats, the all-time greats that I know, they don't talk about themselves and talk about say, oh, I'm the greatest. They no, they don't. No, they they let their they let their game, their stats, all of that, their be their their resume speak for them. Why does Rich Paul gotta come out here and even say something that's stupid?

SPEAKER_00 28:15

Y'all make too much money for you to be a hype man. You are not Jerome, Rich Paul.

SPEAKER_01 28:21

You got him with the mirror.

SPEAKER_00 28:24

Yeah. You are acting like the mirror.

unknown 28:29

Stop it.

SPEAKER_01 28:30

So look, hey man, so like I think part of this, this all this GOAT debate is part is it it's the social media stuff, these debate TVs, where when you're watching every when you when you turn the TV on and you're listening to this stuff, everything is hey, is this the greatest? Man, no, it's probably not. Like, but it's really, really good. We know when we see something great, right?

SPEAKER_00 28:55

Right. And stop giving everybody yellow jackets and hall of fame. Stop that mess. You gotta earn it right. Go ask Eli. He's got two championships. He's been turned down, what, five times? Yeah, yeah. So anybody below Eli, stop talking.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

Jim Plunkett, he won two, he won two championships. He still ain't in either. Um but you know how they do raiders. Um, they they wait for him, they wait for him to pass away and then they then they let him in. They did that to Cliff Branch. So um, but no, dude, like the you know what I kind of look at it as, Mark, is is the each generation man kind of writes their own stories. And so like this, like so LeBron's generation's kind of writing its own story. Okay, you you were the man, you've been the man in this generation. Your longevity, we get it, right? Jordan had his, Kareem had his, Wilt, um, you know, Bill Russell, all these guys. We don't have to compare the errors because it's almost impossible to do.

SPEAKER_00 29:59

And the modern day players all stay with one team.

SPEAKER_01 30:05

It was harder for him to move to, though, but yes, they did. Yes, they did, you know.

SPEAKER_00 30:09

Okay, but he could have stayed in Miami. I I didn't have a problem with you leaving Cleveland, but you could have stayed in Miami.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

He should have never left Miami. I'm okay with him. I'm with you. I'm okay with him leaving Cleveland, but he should have never left Miami. And Mark, once he got back to Cleveland, he should have never left Cleveland to go come go to LA.

SPEAKER_00 30:34

There you go. And that's what separates him from everybody else. Absolutely. Even when you went back to Cleveland, you could have stayed there and died.

SPEAKER_01 30:41

Yes. Yes, but you know, he but but he wanted to go to our franchise and run it into the ground. So whatever.

SPEAKER_00 30:49

Well, you you're not.

SPEAKER_01 30:50

No, no. So I'm I'm just I'm I'm really disappointed in Rich Paul and and and his and his camp for just just this whole GOAT debate. We've seen it. Okay, I saw I saw them both. I know who I believe is better, but it's it's better for a lot of different reasons. It's not just the stats.

SPEAKER_00 31:11

So I mean with the game on the line in the fourth quarter, who calls for LeBron?

SPEAKER_01 31:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:18

Well, they'll they'll say Steph, Mike, and Kobe.

SPEAKER_01 31:22

Yeah, for sure. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 31:24

I'm waiting. I'm waiting for somebody else. Name somebody else with the game on the line in their primes, Steph, Mike, and Kobe.

SPEAKER_01 31:33

Yeah, 100%. I'll throw Kareem in there. But um, you know, the sky hood.

SPEAKER_00 31:38

Most people have seen him uh past my age, so we try not to say Kareem and Russia.

SPEAKER_01 31:43

No, well, well, well, I saw him, so I'm gonna I'm gonna champion for him. Kareem Abdul Jabbar, the most the most unstoppable. Yes. But hey, so you know what? Let's hey let's let's switch it up a little bit. All right, so this in a in an NBA tanking rule. All right, so we so they so they've changed, so they've changed the draft and their relegation, and I don't want to get too deep into it, but one more Marine Corps logic. Marine Corps logic says that if your strategy is to lose, then you're already losing. What is going on here?

SPEAKER_00 32:15

If you have a loser mindset, you already lost.

SPEAKER_01 32:19

Look, man, this stuff is tanking, has been going on, but what I want to say is that it's just it's not just the NBA. We just watched the Raiders do it last year. They the NFL everybody's doing it. But it's you know what, man, everybody always has a problem with the NBA. Do I have a problem with with loser franchises? Yeah, I do, man. But we don't have a problem with them.

SPEAKER_00 32:44

Baseball. If they lose, lose. We don't care. Yeah, playing games. If you broke, you broke. That's not our problem. Baseball, you don't have that problem.

SPEAKER_01 32:53

Come, yeah, yeah. Come here to Kansas City and go see the Royals play right now. Whoa. But but yeah, man. Like I just feel like these, like I understand it, but I don't think I so I think Philadelphia is the one that freaking ruined all this because of the trust of the process. And that's gonna get you no championships. Absolutely. So I don't, I don't, I don't have, I understand why they're doing it, and I I do agree with them doing it, but I just want these teams to try a little harder and be better, run your franchise better. Do your job, GM.

SPEAKER_00 33:29

Draft, pick better.

SPEAKER_01 33:31

Yes, yes, and if you do that, you can win. Like, look, man, we have these other teams winning. We saw Milwaukee win, we saw Indiana get get good, right? Look at look at um Charlotte, what they have over there cooking, right? Like teams be better.

SPEAKER_00 33:45

So look at San Tony and OKC in the last four years and Detroit. All four of them teams suck. Look where they're at now within four years.

SPEAKER_01 33:54

That is okay. Thank you for hitting on it because that's the point. Is that listen, if you do it right, if you hey, hey, look, man, we're just bad right now. You and you don't have to even tank for that. We're bad. But you make good decisions and you rebuild your team and you move forward.

SPEAKER_00 34:10

That's it.

SPEAKER_01 34:11

Yeah, man. All right, man. Hey, look, quick hitters. Let's do some quick hitters. We're gonna hey, we're gonna go to the NFL because, like I said, man, yesterday, I don't know about you, but my phone was working overtime with ESPN. I didn't know what was going on.

SPEAKER_00 34:25

Blowing up. And I'm not a Cleveland fan.

SPEAKER_01 34:28

Miles Garrett trade, who won? Was it worth the money? And does it move the deal for the Rams?

SPEAKER_00 34:35

Yes and yes for both teams. I I'm glad that Miles Garrett did it the professional way. After he demanded to get traded out, well, they made him the highest play player. And then after they lied to him, he said, Well, if you can get me out, I'll sign this extension and we'll worry about an offseason. I won't talk, you won't talk. Uh the two trade picks they got, plus the player they got, that was a good, good for Cleveland. Bad for number eight, who had to go to Cleveland, but great for Miles Gear.

SPEAKER_01 35:07

Jerry Versus, man. He's good. He was he was at LAX mad as hell, you know.

SPEAKER_00 35:12

I think he texted Max Crosby and said, no, how do I get out of these deal?

SPEAKER_01 35:16

Exactly, right? How do I fail this physical? Hey, man. He but no, I I think he, you know what, they they did they did good, man. And look at the Rams, man. The Rams are like they say, F them picks. But they what they do is they get rid of picks, then they make a trade in a a year or two down the road, get more picks. But dude, right, they right now, they have the reigning MVP and the reigning defensive player of the year on their team. It's wild. Yeah, it's wild, man. That's why it's gonna be hey. I'm mad that he went to the NFC. I I know you should be mad too being a cowboy for NFC.

SPEAKER_00 35:53

We like Well, I'm not because we have to play him in the playoffs and once in the season. So go beat up all our opposition. Thank you, Rams.

SPEAKER_01 36:00

All right, well, okay, well, we'll we'll see. I don't I don't know about if I want to see him in the playoffs, though.

SPEAKER_00 36:05

But you know who is take our chances. We play him December 20th for the record in LA. So it will probably be flex. I'm just gonna tell you right now, it's a three o'clock game. It'll probably be prime time.

SPEAKER_01 36:17

Well, you know, cowboys fans, you you myopic fans, you guys, you guys will tune in for anything. So I get that, I get it.

SPEAKER_00 36:25

Hey, we're good until December 29th. This game's December 20th.

SPEAKER_01 36:30

Yeah, man. So like you know, but they are they are going to be a juggernaut, but you know who I think was the who was the happiest was Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson was having a party yesterday.

SPEAKER_00 36:41

Everybody in the AFC North. And even Ann Rodgers, he's like, you know what? I'm good. I'm good.

SPEAKER_01 36:51

I'm good. So true. Hey, um, so all right, so AJ Brown, the worst kept secret in the NFL, ends up going, ends up going to the Patriots, where they've been talking talking about forever. Who won that deal? What's your thoughts on that? And all that drama in Philly.

SPEAKER_00 37:11

New England is notorious for getting one-hit wonders. So um AJ should put up 1,600 yards because he will be the alpha male as long as Drake Nay's healthy and standing up. So he's with his former coach from Tennessee. They like him, they're gonna run plays for him. And if any if New England can go to the Super Bowl with four nobodies, what do you think they're gonna do with Michael Jackson added to the rest of the Jacksons?

SPEAKER_01 37:39

I feel like I feel like New England was blessed with a with a crazy easy schedule last year, and they got lucky with some of those playoff matchups. I yeah, every playoff, every game that I saw watched with New England, I thought Drake makes sucked. And I and I will stand by that. And I also watched them lose to the Raiders at the beginning of the season last year. So I I think this is gonna be a disaster in New England. And I'm and but me, I can't stand New England, but Boston or anything, Boston. And and so I'm gonna enjoy this. I'm gonna enjoy this meltdown. And and the Vikings, we have them, we have them in November on a Thursday night in Foxborough. So I can't wait to get done because it because I feel like the implosion will be in full effect by that time.

SPEAKER_00 38:31

And I'm just gonna piggyback on that. I'm gonna say for other reasons, karma. If the head coach can't do what he did, get away with it, and you expect to go back to the Super Bowl.

SPEAKER_01 38:43

Thank you for mentioning this. Because let's let's let's let's call it out by name. The Vrabel Roussini connection. She was she was reporting on on this for the longest. She had the storyline, and now we know why. So now, like, do these relationships drive reporting? And so, what are we doing here? And I don't want to break it, make say, okay, make it um make this, you know, about just women reporters only. Because even the male reporters, I'm like, what are you guys doing? What are these what are these relationships and how do you guys build this to get these stories and to break this news?

SPEAKER_00 39:22

They will never tell us. But, you know, um unofficially, there are a lot of people who look like us in Afrostatue, but are not us who get those phone calls is the best way I'm gonna put it.

SPEAKER_01 39:39

Yeah, yeah, man. I I just I just feel like I feel like it was leaked into she was leaking information intentionally because Vraeba was like, hey, leak this because we want to push the narrative this way. And that's what happened. And then and it's almost the league didn't do anything about it. And you know what, dude? Like they were saying, well, it you know, it was uh an affair or whatever this was, but he he didn't do anything like you know, it at it wasn't a work environment thing. I'm like, how is not being the coach and like and like having a relationship, inappropriate relationship with a report a national reporter and who's married, and you have all this information being leaked out, and then they you know they took it back where they they went back in the Wayback Machine and saw all the stuff that was being leaked by her when he was with the Titans. Yes. So, dude, like this was this is bad, and I agree with you. He should have been fired for this.

SPEAKER_00 40:33

So let's look back. Is that why Tennessee let him go out of nowhere? Probably didn't want to put it out there, Mark.

SPEAKER_01 40:41

Yeah, it's a it is a it's a valid question. All things are it's it's all tainted at this point. So you got it, so you can't you you have to look at all of that, and I'm looking at all of it with a side eye. But this is the New England Patriots. We know how they get down, we know what their get down is. So, you know, you know, we have you know, we know what their owner does when he's in, you know, in Miami and strip malls and strip at Massage, yeah. So whatever with them, man. But all right, man. So, dude, I think we'd have made it to the end. We got we we have our um we we have our predictions in for the uh for the NBA finals. We we talked about this NFL carousel that keeps moving on. Oh, one other thing. So do you think that you mentioned Max Crosby? Is there a chance the Raiders move Max Crosby here within the next couple of days before all you know?

SPEAKER_00 41:35

I don't think so. If his knee is hurt, like he said it's hurt. And then recently I heard some chatter along the lines of that Max Crosby's views were similar to Jackson Dart's group um views, and they didn't mention it, but it might have hurt his case unofficially, and we will see, time will tell.

SPEAKER_01 41:59

So we you know, but we're good with you know, we're good with allowing um, you know, uh Fernando Mendoza to have these um these texts, and um, well these these Twitter liking all this stuff from the president calling the president saying he's sorry for not coming, being able to come to the White House, whatever. Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_00 42:18

Well, um history says go ask David Carr. Yeah. What happens when your political views get in the way with your offensive line and some of your teammates?

SPEAKER_01 42:28

Yep. We getting ready.

SPEAKER_00 42:29

I'm not gonna say another word. You get what you get.

SPEAKER_01 42:32

Absolutely, man. But yeah, man, we you know what? Hey, good episode, man. What I do want to tell everybody and where you guys can find us. So you can find us um on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, right? Just go um type in 5050 Club and look us up. We do have some previous episodes in um there in the hopper. So if especially if you want to go back to our last episode where we made these predictions so you guys can see how smart we are. Um, but yeah, you go go there, let us know. You know what, and and get in touch with us. You can get in touch with us uh at um at our Gmail account. It's 5050club at gmail.com. And if you guys have any questions, or you or you can or you can get in touch with me um or mark, and we will definitely um you know take a look at what you guys are saying and give you guys some shout-outs. You got anything to say before we get out of here?

SPEAKER_00 43:18

It was a great episode for those that listen, Jed and Mark, once again, June edition, go Geminize.

SPEAKER_01 43:26

No doubt, man. And you know what? While we on here, one the last thing is I want to wish you a happy birthday. I know you got a big one coming up here um here in the next um week and a half or so. So wishing you a happy birthday, man. Um, and hopefully I get a chance to see you. Maybe maybe we'll do this um San Antonio thing.

SPEAKER_00 43:43

You might see me gain five San Antonio for my birthday. Look out.

SPEAKER_01 43:48

All right, man. We're gonna try to do that. But at this time, it's 5050 Club. This is Jed and Mark, and we are out of here.

SPEAKER_00 43:55

Out.