0:05

A recap of Chris's trip

0:08

to Milwaukee, fresh

0:11

turmoil and tumult in

0:14

Golden State, surrounding Draymond

0:16

Green, the latest on

0:18

the sale.

0:19

Of the Minnesota Timberwolves, that is now

0:22

the non sale of the

0:24

Minnesota Timberwolves, and the afore mentioned

0:26

Chris Haynes. He's got stories

0:28

for us, involving Malik Beasley,

0:32

involving Lebron James, and

0:35

involving home

0:37

life. All of that is next. You're

0:40

on the latest edition of This League Uncut.

0:48

Welcome to this league cut

0:51

in the rule of twenty four hour NBA.

0:53

News You, Chris

0:56

Hanes. Let's go time, Cork

0:59

time, Chris time. This

1:05

leaguean cut is underway in fire.

1:09

It should be a good one.

1:11

Hey everyone, welcome in

1:14

to another edition of This League

1:17

Uncut. Mark Stein here

1:19

with Chris Haynes. We are recording late

1:21

Thursday night before a

1:24

pretty stacked Friday schedule

1:27

of games in the NBA. But honestly,

1:29

this whole week, as

1:31

tends to happen this time of year, it's

1:34

been pretty chaotic. There's been crazy stuff

1:36

happening day after day

1:39

after day. Thursday, even with only two games

1:42

on the schedule, a very eventful

1:44

Bucks loss at New Orleans and

1:47

Atlanta with another

1:50

win over the Boston Celtics,

1:53

this one in overtime and

1:56

another crazy ending forty four shots

1:59

for Dejonte Murray en route to forty

2:01

four points. But the Hawks will take it

2:04

another victory over the Celtics

2:06

with.

2:07

No Trey Young.

2:08

But first, I

2:10

think before we proceed into all

2:12

of the madness happening around the league, Chris

2:16

Haynes, Welcome back to Sacramento.

2:19

You are home in time for

2:21

a Friday night quite a

2:24

quite a Friday night game in your

2:27

home city. The Kings will

2:29

be playing host to the Mavericks in

2:31

the second half of

2:34

a two game baseball series after

2:36

the MAVs probably played their best game

2:38

all season running away from

2:40

the Kings in the first game Tuesday

2:43

night. We'll see how the MAVs coped with two

2:46

nights of Sacramento nightlife

2:49

because there's this two day break in

2:52

between the games.

2:53

All Right, I babbled on too long. How

2:55

was you were

2:57

in Milwaukee for most of the week? How was it?

3:00

Weather was Okay, it didn't snow, so

3:02

no complaints there. But obviously that

3:04

was a great game, double overtime. It

3:07

looked like we were head to triple

3:09

overtime at one point, but Lakers

3:12

came back. I believe they were down by nineteen

3:14

in the second half, came back and got that

3:17

huge victory on the road with no Lebron

3:19

James. That was definitely a

3:22

fun night. Fun night for sure, good atmosphere

3:24

to be a part of in Milwaukee, and

3:27

it's funny.

3:28

So Steyne.

3:28

So I've been a couple of last couple of games,

3:32

I've actually been sitting depending

3:34

on the arena. So sometimes

3:37

you know, they'll have the sideline reporters

3:40

sitting at the scorers

3:42

table, but some arenas they'll

3:44

have you like tucked in a corner where it's

3:46

like a bad view. And when

3:48

that happens, typically

3:50

I'll I'll get a seat and

3:53

I'll sit next to the broadcast

3:55

crew, which was last

3:58

game, it was Spiral Deats and

4:01

Reggie Miller. So I'm sitting right next

4:03

to Reggie, and it's it's funny

4:05

and interesting to see Reggie

4:08

do his thing, like sitting right next to him.

4:10

He's standing up, he's getting up

4:12

like he's he's pointing, he's doing

4:15

it all. He's like he's real theatric uh

4:18

when he's calling the game. And then you know, at a certain

4:20

point, Like so, now I'm sitting there to

4:22

his right, and so when there's like a

4:24

big shot.

4:25

About the there's about.

4:26

To be a big moment, he's grabbing my shoulder

4:29

and squeezing it hard and getting up and he's

4:31

just using me as a prop. And so

4:33

it was just cool, cool to see the game up

4:36

close and personal.

4:37

You know. Ass he's calling the game, So

4:39

that was a treat.

4:41

So they don't mind when you slide a chair right

4:43

next to the right, next to their little table.

4:45

They're good with it.

4:46

Yeah, yeah, I do that. You

4:48

know, I do that occasionally throughout

4:50

the season. But you know, I'm not right,

4:53

you know, I'm you know, so like if sometimes

4:55

you know, the camera shows a

4:57

two shot of the broadcast crew. Some

5:00

you know, I make sure I'm out of sight

5:02

where you can't see me there. But yeah,

5:05

for the most for you know, sometimes I

5:07

say on the side of them, and it's just cool

5:09

to watch them in their element

5:12

do their thing.

5:13

What was the mood in that building when the Bucks

5:15

let a nineteen point lead slip.

5:18

This hasn't been you know, they had

5:20

turned things around. They were playing really well,

5:22

and I think in the grand scheme of things. They still

5:24

are in a much better place than

5:26

they were before the coaching change.

5:29

But to lose

5:31

such a big lead to the Lakers when Lebron

5:33

James is in street cloths, you

5:36

know, that certainly raises

5:39

some eyebrows and gets people chattering

5:41

about the Bucks

5:43

potential shortcomings and vulnerabilities.

5:46

What's the mood around that team right now?

5:48

Yeah, well, they just lost Thursday

5:51

night. They lost to New Orleans in

5:53

New Orleans. You know, that was a

5:55

game they that they were well with

5:57

it, that was well within their grafts. So

6:01

it's not looking good right now. The mood in that locker

6:03

room, what was that

6:05

Tuesday night? You know, it was what

6:07

you would expect. It was very quiet. You

6:09

know, guys had scattered out. There

6:12

weren't many in there to begin

6:14

with, you know, when the media was allowed

6:16

in, you

6:18

know, you know, of course, you know, I talked to Dame after

6:20

the game, and you know, he said it was one of those games.

6:22

He had an offshoot night. So

6:25

that's just one of those games.

6:26

Man.

6:26

You gotta look, you gotta quickly look to the next

6:29

turn the page. And uh

6:31

but yeah, I mean I think overall

6:36

they haven't lost confidence I think they

6:38

still believe that they're

6:41

forced to be reckoned with come playoff time,

6:43

but they definitely need some

6:45

more time to come

6:47

together, and particularly the big three of Dame

6:50

Giannis and Chris Middleton. Those those

6:52

three haven't had a lot of time to play significant

6:55

minutes together, so this is

6:57

going to take some time.

6:59

Well, the good news for the Bucks is despite

7:01

all of these ups and downs through the regular

7:03

season, they're still the number

7:06

two seed. I mean, both

7:08

the Bucks and the Celtics lost on this

7:10

Thursday night that we're recording

7:12

on, so the Celtics still have an eleven

7:15

game lead. The Celtics are obviously going

7:17

to win. They've already clinched

7:19

the top seed in the East,

7:22

and I do think the Bucks hang

7:24

on to number two, though the Knicks are within

7:26

a game and a half. Even though the Knicks have had

7:29

their share of injury woes with Julius

7:32

Randall being out so long and ogn and

7:34

Obi clearly still plagued by an

7:36

elbow issue, I think the Bucks

7:39

are going to hang on to that number two seed in

7:41

the East.

7:42

The Knicks could move up.

7:45

Cleveland's done a really good job dealing with injuries

7:47

for the bulk of the season, But now that we get near

7:49

the regular season finish line,

7:51

I think it's been harder for them, and they've you

7:54

know, they it's been harder for

7:56

them to win shorthanded recently, although

7:58

it sounds like Donovan Mitchell is going

8:01

to be back as early as Friday

8:04

for them, which they obviously need.

8:05

But yeah,

8:08

look the East.

8:09

We focused so much on the West,

8:11

but the East it really is

8:15

just as interesting with you know, we talked

8:17

about this the last time we did this pod, and you basically

8:19

said you didn't think that

8:22

Miami or Philly could. I

8:24

think he just said Philly that you were doubting

8:26

Philly could get out of the

8:29

play in zone. And the

8:31

Sixers still stuck down

8:33

at number eight, fuming

8:37

and with justification it

8:39

would appear about the way their loss

8:41

to the Clippers ended and the officiating

8:43

in that game. Kelly Oubre certainly

8:46

made his feelings known in a way

8:49

we won't soon forget. I

8:51

guess the ray of hope for the Sixers,

8:54

you know, Nick Nurse said he does. I

8:57

think very good likelihood was

8:59

the phrase he used to describe

9:01

the idea of Joel Embiid making

9:04

it back into the Sixers lineup.

9:05

Before the end of the regular season. Only

9:08

nine games to.

9:09

Go though for the six Ers to

9:11

work Embiid back in before

9:14

the play in. But yeah, just looking at the standings

9:16

to see Miami in seventh and Philly

9:18

in eighth.

9:19

And Indiana hanging on.

9:23

At number six. I mean, if Miami and

9:25

Philly end up in the play and that's just crazy.

9:28

And look, the Hawks, the Hawks are starting to put

9:30

things together.

9:31

So the Bucks have the Hawks Necks

9:34

on their three game road trip, and

9:36

there's a chance game might not

9:39

play that game, potentially

9:42

for personal reasons.

9:43

So that's something to look out

9:45

for.

9:46

Yeah, So look, there's tons

9:49

in the East as well as the West if we're

9:51

going to do scoreboard watching, if

9:53

we're going to analyze the standings.

9:55

But one of the other major developments

9:58

this week that crazy

10:00

Wednesday night for the Warriors in

10:03

Orlando, the

10:05

night you were in Milwaukee. The

10:08

Warriors won in Miami, but the

10:10

Heat were severely shorthanded. So second

10:13

night of a back to back, the Warriors

10:15

are in Orlando, Draymond Green gets

10:17

tossed inside

10:19

five minutes, the second first

10:22

quarter ejection of his career,

10:24

which, if my memory is right, that's never

10:27

happened I don't know where exactly

10:29

you works. I know yesterday was a travel day, but

10:31

I'm guessing you saw the clip of how

10:33

emotional Stephan Curry was

10:36

when Draymond Green was ejected.

10:38

He pulled it together by the end hit the dagger

10:41

put him to sleep shot. But what

10:43

was the Chris Haynes reaction when you saw that clip

10:46

of Steph struggling

10:49

to contain himself, let's say, right

10:51

after Draymond Green got ejected.

10:54

Yeah, honestly didn't know what to make of

10:56

it when I initially

10:58

saw it. Definitely raw

11:00

emotions. I don't think I've ever seen

11:05

that type of display, not just from Steph,

11:07

from any player in a situation like

11:09

that. There's

11:12

Steph, you know, he kind of addressed

11:14

it after the game and saying like, you know, this

11:17

is an important time right now. We need all

11:19

of our guys into the

11:21

fold because we understand

11:23

what we're up against right now. So

11:26

I just looking, you know, looking at those raw emotions

11:29

and the way he just left

11:31

it all out there. I

11:33

think it details exactly

11:37

the urgency and the struggle

11:40

that they're up against.

11:41

And then to Draymond, you

11:44

know, you just wonder, like when

11:47

it's enough enough. It's

11:49

tough. You know, the.

11:50

Warriors, they know him better than than anybody

11:52

else, and you

11:55

know they want to make sure that

11:57

Draymond doesn't lose his edge. You

12:01

know, he plays with edge. You don't want

12:03

to take that away from him. But

12:05

that edge has also gotten him in the

12:08

team in trouble and put them in compromising

12:11

situations. It wasn't a good

12:13

look. It wasn't a good look considering the circumstances.

12:16

So you know,

12:18

it's just tough. It's like you just wonder,

12:20

like when is enough, Like is

12:23

there something else that needs to be done?

12:25

I don't know.

12:26

Yeah, And look, it was so shocking, and it's hard

12:28

because you don't want to try to step into Stephan

12:30

Curry's head and say

12:33

definitively, yes it was about A, B and

12:35

C, because really only Steph knows, and

12:37

he didn't expound on it that

12:40

much. But just if we're going to

12:42

try to observe it and

12:44

play armchair psychologist, I mean,

12:46

to me, it just looked like the enormity

12:49

of the season, the occasion,

12:52

how much pressure that these

12:54

repeated Draymond absences

12:57

and situations,

13:01

how much tougher that has made

13:03

it for the Warriors, who are now.

13:06

I mean, it was only a couple of weeks ago the Warriors

13:08

were hoping that they could still get into the mix

13:10

for a six seed. Right now,

13:13

they are hanging on for dear life at

13:15

number ten in the West

13:17

because the Houston Rockets absolutely

13:20

refuse to lose a basketball

13:22

game. Ten wins in a row for

13:24

the Rockets, eight of them

13:27

without Alpa and Shengoon, who is widely

13:30

considered the Rocket's best

13:32

player, although the way Fresno's

13:35

Jalen Green has been playing, I

13:37

don't know, we might have to revisit

13:40

that description because

13:42

Jalen Green continues to play the

13:44

best basketball of his career with

13:47

Houston playing faster. They got Jabari

13:49

Smith Junior back from suspension to

13:52

step into the five for Shengoon and

13:55

man emeo Odoka.

13:58

This is only Emo udoka second

14:00

season as a coach.

14:02

In the NBA.

14:03

In March of his one

14:05

season in Boston, the Celtics

14:08

went eleven and three. In

14:10

March of his first season in Houston,

14:13

the Rockets are eleven

14:16

and one. There is no coach

14:18

in America, college

14:20

or NBA who likes

14:22

March better than Ema Udoka.

14:25

So tons and tons of pressure

14:27

on Golden State to just hang

14:31

on to a playing spot at

14:33

this point, because the Lakers have won five in a row

14:35

and have put some distance between

14:38

them and the Warriors. Lakers at

14:40

the nine seed, Warriors at the ten seed.

14:43

And look, Stephen

14:45

Curry's care factor is fifteen out

14:47

of ten, and I think we all

14:50

saw that. But man, this

14:52

is just this has been seventy

14:56

two games in for the Warriors. This has been

14:58

a really, really, really

15:01

long season. And even

15:03

if they are able to hang on to a play and spot

15:06

at this point and hold the Rockets

15:08

off, I mean, how far

15:10

are they really going?

15:12

How far are they really going?

15:14

You say, if they're able to get into the playoffs

15:16

start, is that what you're saying?

15:18

They got to secure the play in spot first,

15:20

And just yeah, you know, we always

15:22

do this every time we get together and just talk

15:24

about it. You know, again, going into Friday's

15:27

play you got

15:29

Phoenix at seven, Sacramento at eight,

15:31

Lakers at nine, Warriors

15:34

at ten. If Sacramento beats the Mavericks

15:36

at home on Friday night, Sacramento

15:39

jumps back into the top six and

15:42

the.

15:42

Suns are all over the place.

15:43

But just as we speak, as we stand,

15:45

I mean you're playing matchup. The

15:48

Warriors are going to have to beat the Lakers

15:51

and then play the seven eight loser

15:53

just to get to the playoffs.

15:54

I mean that is a that

15:57

in itself is a tall order. And

16:00

then you know, if the Warriors do

16:03

all that, they're.

16:03

Probably looking at the Nuggets because I

16:06

think the Nuggets are going to win the West, so just

16:09

getting in the playoffs it's

16:12

brutal. And yes, I think the Warriors

16:14

are a sneaky, tough matchup for

16:16

the Nuggets. I don't think the Nuggets

16:18

particularly like having

16:21

to defend the Warriors

16:23

with all the movement that

16:25

Stephen Curry imposes

16:29

on another team and forces them to deal

16:31

with. The Warriors

16:33

actually are not afraid of that matchup.

16:36

But you know, is

16:38

that how you would want to start a playoff run if you're

16:40

the Warriors. Great got to win an away

16:42

game against the Lakers, and then beat

16:45

the seven eight loser and then likely

16:48

first round series against the defending

16:50

champions with four of the

16:52

seven games in Denver's altitude,

16:54

I don't know, not a very appealing roadmap.

16:57

It's not definitely not the

17:00

way you want to go into the postseason

17:03

with those type of obstacles ahead of

17:05

you. But Golden

17:07

State and the Lakers are two

17:09

scary teams that I

17:12

would think will pump fear in

17:14

most teams in the Western Conference. Not to say

17:16

that the Warriors or Lakers will be favorite favorites

17:19

in any matchup, but just

17:21

the fact that there's history, there's championship

17:24

pedigree, there's experience, and

17:27

those factors I would think would

17:29

instill some fear. So I would I would

17:31

still think they will be a scary out.

17:33

Well, the thing I feel most confident about when

17:36

we talk about the Warriors, like you

17:38

knew this was going to happen, and look, there

17:41

is no defense.

17:42

Draymond cannot be getting kicked out

17:44

of.

17:44

A crucial road game that

17:47

the clock hasn't even reached the five

17:49

minute mark. I mean, it's unacceptable

17:52

on a lot of levels. But like anyone

17:54

who thinks that this is some sort of last

17:56

straw or the Warriors

17:58

are going to get sick of him him, or.

18:00

He's gonna lose, like he

18:03

ain't gonna lose.

18:04

Stephen Curry's support Draymond

18:06

Green to me, is

18:08

going nowhere. And you

18:12

know, in the moment, was there considerable

18:15

frustration from Stephen

18:17

Curry and Warriors coaches.

18:19

I'm sure there was tons, but like.

18:23

I really am not looking at this as some sort

18:26

of last straw.

18:27

Moment of all the potential

18:30

last straw moments. What

18:34

just happened in Orlando is not

18:36

to compare to what we've already witnessed. We've

18:39

seen some real situations

18:42

with dray Bond that you probably would think

18:45

should have been the last straw moment. Getting

18:48

ejected in Orlando in

18:50

the first quarter doesn't even

18:53

qualify as some of the real

18:55

potential last defining

18:57

moments.

18:59

Yeah, I think we're in agreement on that

19:01

one. All right, Let's

19:03

shift gears to another headline

19:06

grabbing story. It emerged

19:09

Thursday that

19:13

the Minnesota Timberwolves in the end

19:15

are not going to be

19:17

sold to Mark Lauri and

19:20

Alex Rodriguez, so says

19:25

longtime Timberwolves owner Glenn

19:27

Taylor. The

19:29

Wolves had basically

19:32

it was an end of March deadline for

19:34

Mark Lare and Alex Rodriguez

19:37

to make the final payment

19:39

needed to assume majority

19:42

control of both the Timberwolves

19:45

and the WNBA's Minnesota

19:47

Lynx.

19:48

But well it's in

19:50

dispute, of course.

19:52

The Lorre Rodriguez side said

19:54

they did meet all the requirements, the

19:56

Glen Taylor side insisting they

19:58

did not meet all the financial requirements.

20:00

But look to be honest, and it's

20:02

funny this week helping us. Actually, for the last

20:05

two weeks Minnesota

20:07

Tim has been pinch producing

20:09

for us, and he

20:12

is a long time Wolves

20:15

fan and not the

20:18

only Wolves fan in our organization.

20:21

But I think

20:23

even pinch producing Tim, like

20:26

me, was not at all surprised

20:28

by these developments. Honestly, from

20:31

the moment this arrangement was

20:33

introduced, was

20:35

it two years ago? Glenn

20:39

Taylor struck me as a reluctant

20:42

seller of the team then. I don't

20:44

think he really wanted to sell

20:46

the Timberwolves then. And there

20:49

have been questions and doubts

20:51

about the Lori Rodriguez

20:54

side of this being able to finance the

20:56

purchase of the team.

20:57

I mean, there have.

20:58

Been doubts for ages

21:00

and from the lore and

21:02

Rodriguez side. They came out today and said

21:05

that seller's remorse on

21:07

Glenn Taylor's part is at the heart

21:09

of all this. And yeah,

21:12

the value established when this

21:14

sale was agreed upon was only one

21:16

point five billion. That's way

21:19

low for an NBA franchise

21:21

sale. So even though Glen Taylor was adamant

21:24

in speaking to multiple media outlets

21:27

Thursday, Glen Taylor said,

21:29

over and over to anyone in

21:31

the Minneapolis media who would listen, that

21:33

the team is not for sale. He

21:35

doesn't want to turn around and sell

21:38

to someone else, and now he wants

21:41

to keep the team and run

21:43

it and retain his majority

21:45

ownership. The

21:49

suspicion is there's certainly a

21:51

curiosity. Let's say, there's

21:54

a lot of questions percolating wondering

21:57

was the real motivation here that now

21:59

Taylor wants to sell at a much higher valuation,

22:02

because obviously the Wolves,

22:04

had they gone on the open market today, would

22:07

be valued in a lot more

22:09

than one point five billion. So that's the long

22:12

background of all this. But

22:14

you know, then there's the question of here

22:16

are the Wolves in the midst of arguably

22:20

the best season in franchise

22:22

history, and now

22:24

they've got to deal with this potential distraction.

22:27

How do you think the team will

22:29

deal with these kind of headlines in this kind

22:31

of story.

22:33

Honestly, Stein, I

22:35

don't think it matters much to them. Doesn't

22:38

change what they do their

22:40

preparation. You know they're trying to No,

22:43

I don't see it being a distraction at all for the

22:45

team. Does a Ross still

22:47

come to game? Does he still have that court side

22:50

seat? Is he

22:52

still a Timberwolves fan? What did

22:54

things stand with him and his fan

22:57

hood?

23:00

Know?

23:00

Stan, Now, I'm hoping

23:02

you've got a Wolves game or two left on the schedule

23:04

so you can track him down, because I think

23:07

if they want to make people think that they did

23:09

everything right and had the

23:11

money they needed and still want this team, I guess

23:13

he still has to go.

23:16

You know, that'd be awkward.

23:18

That'd be awkward, you know, because he was

23:20

sitting in those seats with

23:22

the thoughts that

23:25

he would be the

23:27

owner coming up soon. Does

23:29

pride getting you away from here on out? Like?

23:32

You know, I

23:34

could see him, you know, taking off from

23:36

here. But I will say to Stean, throughout

23:38

this process, the selling process,

23:41

you know, I kept hearing rumors about

23:44

like payments being laid,

23:49

you know, giving Alex and his team a little bit

23:51

more time to come up with a payment. You know, I

23:53

was hearing rumbles like I don't know if that's something you were

23:55

hearing as well, but I was hearing rumbles like about

23:57

that throughout the process. So

24:01

if those were concrete rumbles. Then

24:04

that means that this final

24:06

straw was just that

24:08

that it had to been other instances

24:11

of Glenn

24:15

Taylor just feeling like this process

24:17

was going playing out way too way

24:20

too you know, too long, longer

24:22

than expected or anticipated. He probably

24:24

felt like he's given many

24:28

opportunities, he's given a

24:30

couple more extensions, and he probably

24:32

felt like this process wasn't

24:35

going the way it should have been. And then

24:37

to your point too about the evaluation like

24:40

that he probably could get more

24:42

now on the market.

24:43

You know, maybe that does play a factor as well.

24:46

But yeah, I mean I'm not I wasn't surprised

24:49

when I when I heard the news of this.

24:51

Yeah, And look, Sid, I don't think there was

24:53

much surprise around the league about

24:55

this. I think it's kind of been There

24:58

have been suspicions from

25:00

the start that this would

25:02

be potentially what happened

25:05

here, because again, you know, I think the initial

25:07

kind of talk was that.

25:09

Glenn Taylor.

25:12

Was initially looking for a buyer

25:14

because you know, he's

25:16

obviously getting up there in age,

25:19

he's been running this team forever

25:21

and reportedly there wasn't

25:24

any significant interest within

25:28

his family for taking the Wolves

25:31

over. So meeting a

25:33

succession plan. You know,

25:35

he had been seeking new

25:37

ownership struck

25:39

this deal with Lori and Rodriguez.

25:41

But again, from the minute this deal

25:43

happened, there

25:45

were questions about the

25:48

Lori Rodriguez tandem

25:51

and whether they would be able to meet

25:53

all the financial stipulations

25:56

of this agreement.

25:58

And I guess it's three

26:00

years, almost three years now that it's

26:04

that this has been percolating.

26:06

And you know,

26:08

when you read some of Glenn Taylor's statements

26:10

Thursday, it's clear why he doesn't

26:13

want to step aside.

26:14

He wants to.

26:14

Keep running this team. And again, this Wolve's

26:17

team. It's

26:19

arguably the best team they've ever had.

26:21

As we've talked about on this podcast before,

26:24

both with Chris Finch and Mike

26:26

Conley recent guests,

26:28

in thirty four previous seasons

26:31

of Timberwolves basketball, only

26:33

one of those thirty four teams

26:36

has ever gotten out of the first round. In two

26:38

thousand and four with KG and

26:41

Sam Cassell and your beloved

26:44

Latrell Spree, well, they got to the Western Conference

26:46

finals and that's it.

26:48

That team won two playoff rounds, lost

26:51

in the conference finals. No

26:53

other Timberwolves team has ever won

26:55

so much as a first round series. And

26:58

then there's this team with the Anthony

27:01

Edwards

27:03

still winning games without Karl Anthony

27:05

Towns, one of three fifty win teams

27:08

in the West, one of only four to fifty win

27:10

teams in.

27:11

The whole league.

27:13

And you know, they've led

27:15

the West for nearly one hundred days

27:17

during the season for

27:20

a franchise that has I

27:22

think it was ten days. They

27:24

had held the number one seed as a franchise

27:27

only ten days

27:29

in thirty four years coming into this season.

27:31

So they have this really

27:33

good team, and I look, I tend to agree

27:35

with you. I don't think it's going to cause an immediate

27:38

distraction. I don't think this

27:40

current team is going to get too

27:43

hung up about this. But in the

27:45

offseason, I mean, the Wolves have

27:47

major, major, major financial decisions

27:50

to deal with with how expensive

27:53

this team is getting, and

27:55

so they need clarity on the

27:57

ownership situation sooner rather than

27:59

like, so, yeah, short term,

28:02

is it really a big deal for the

28:04

players who have had such a great

28:06

season.

28:07

Probably not, But I

28:10

think.

28:12

It won't be long before this does become

28:14

a pretty significant story.

28:16

Any more, Wolves on your schedule.

28:18

So my final two games of the regular

28:21

season next week I have the

28:24

Kings at the Knicks next

28:26

Thursday, and then

28:28

the final regular season game is

28:31

a King's home game. They

28:34

play let me see, they play

28:37

New Orleans Pelicans. So

28:39

those are the final two games in the regular

28:41

season. But I do have I

28:44

do have the first playing game for the

28:46

Western Conference, whichever matchup

28:48

that is.

28:50

And I think you said you will be

28:52

representing this league uncut

28:54

as opposed to a TNT assignment.

28:57

But Friday night King's

28:59

playing host to the map Rick, you are

29:01

going to represent this league uncut at that

29:04

game with huge playoff implications

29:06

at Golden One Center.

29:08

No, that's that should be a really good

29:10

game. The Kings are looking for a bounce back

29:13

performance. No, I'll

29:16

be there.

29:17

How much trouble you think the MAVs got into these last

29:19

two nights in Sacramento.

29:22

In Sacramento, yeah,

29:25

you act like you act like we in Miami.

29:27

So I

29:31

think they are fine. Yeah, I'll

29:33

think a lot of room service.

29:35

I think I think they're fine.

29:38

I think.

29:49

Before we go and look, you know there's another huge

29:51

you know, speaking to the Timberwolves, there's another huge game

29:53

Friday night Minnesota at Denver,

29:56

the first of two more games

29:59

where the the Nuggets are hosting the Timberwolves

30:01

before the end of this regular season, so I

30:04

know the focus is on the college game right

30:06

now. The college game has

30:08

invaded my city. Spoke

30:11

to your colleague Grant Hill today. Of

30:14

course, by the time this pod

30:16

airs, Grant will probably be

30:18

heading to the arena for Houston

30:22

against Duke on Friday night, huge

30:24

game here in Dallas. He was disappointed

30:27

with me to hear that I will not be attending

30:30

Houston against Duke.

30:32

I am not going to make it

30:34

there.

30:34

I will be feverishly preparing

30:37

for my Saturday morning radio

30:39

show, which there will be some NCAA

30:41

coverage since we've got

30:44

Sweet sixteen and the Elite eight here

30:46

in my city. But man,

30:48

there's just the focus.

30:50

Is on the colleges right now.

30:52

But the NBA, the

30:54

night tonight madness, chaos,

30:57

jockeying for seeds.

31:00

I think it's pretty wild myself.

31:03

Before we get out of here, Stein, let me empty

31:05

the clip a little bit. This is something I didn't

31:07

get to bring up.

31:09

You know.

31:10

It was a cool It

31:12

was a cool family oriented story

31:14

that I didn't get to mention. During

31:17

the broadcast of the game. I was

31:19

working the Bucks Lakers game

31:22

last Tuesday. So on

31:24

Tuesday, Malik Beasley's

31:27

son, Micah,

31:29

that was his birthday. On that day, he

31:32

turned five years old and

31:36

the one birthday present he wanted from

31:38

his dad was for his dad

31:41

to hit five.

31:42

Threes for him in

31:44

the game.

31:44

Wow.

31:45

Yeah, they hit five threes for the game.

31:47

That's a high bar.

31:49

Yeah, is a high bar.

31:50

At Malik got

31:52

test fifth three in

31:55

the second overtime period and

31:58

at one point star At one point

32:00

during the game, Maleek

32:03

had looked over to me because again I'm sitting over there

32:05

by Reggie.

32:06

He looked over to me. He said, what I

32:09

got? What I got? What I got?

32:10

And I had to I had to point he had he

32:12

had four at the time, So I had to point four figures

32:15

throughout it at the time. But uh,

32:17

you know it was a losing effort, but uh,

32:19

that was pretty cool. He was able to get his son

32:23

the birthday gift he wanted his son,

32:25

his son, Micah turned five,

32:27

he was able to get make five threes

32:29

for him.

32:30

So you're playing scoreboard for Malik Beasley,

32:33

You're texting Lebron.

32:34

You were active on tam.

32:35

Oh Lebron Lebron that came about

32:38

so okay, you know, so Lebron, we knew

32:40

Lebron wasn't playing that morning, Tuesday

32:42

morning, and so I go to shoot around

32:46

and Lebron is there, but

32:48

you know he's in He's in

32:50

street clothes, you know, sweats

32:53

and stuff like that. Wouldn't say street clothes, but sweats

32:55

and everything. You know, he didn't he didn't

32:57

participate in shoot around and

33:00

and you know he was he wasn't available for media,

33:03

and so I asked him out, you know, you know,

33:05

you know how I go pull Bron to side, Hey,

33:07

Bron, man, come on, man, you know I

33:10

need something on you.

33:11

Help a brother, I need something on you. You know.

33:13

He started laughing and everything, and

33:15

we was talking for a little bit. But

33:17

he was like, I'll get something for you

33:20

before the game. I'll get something for you. So

33:22

that's what he said. So I'm like, okay,

33:24

all, I appreciate it, Bron. So I'm

33:26

thinking that, you

33:29

know, I got to try to find him. So, you know how with

33:31

star players like well Stian, you know, so

33:33

let me explain for everybody else, like when

33:36

star players aren't playing that

33:39

day, but they have to be in the building, they have to sell on

33:41

the bench now, but they can show up

33:43

at the arena whenever they want

33:45

to. There is no obligation,

33:47

no stupid so they're not coming in with

33:50

the team. And so my thing

33:52

was like, damn, So you know, I have a lot of obligations.

33:55

I got people to talk to before the game,

33:57

and so I'm like, Damn, Now I gotta i

34:00

gotta chase Lebron.

34:01

I gotta figure out when he's gonna come to the arena.

34:03

You know how I'm gonna catch him.

34:06

You know, team officials they don't like you talking

34:08

to a star player when he's

34:11

not playing because he's he's

34:13

supposed to be unavailable to media. So

34:15

I'm just like, man, I you know, I'm just I'm

34:18

not stressing, but I'm just trying to figure out when

34:20

I'm running to Bron, when I'm a bumping

34:22

to him, when he's gonna show up at the arena.

34:24

We're doing our our

34:27

meeting.

34:27

It's a meeting we have, we have an addressing room with TNT,

34:30

meet me, Reggie Miller, Spiro

34:32

Deep.

34:33

Sponge, the game producer.

34:34

And I just get a text out

34:37

of nowhere is from Lebron, and

34:40

it was in that text he was detailing like his

34:42

approach to this this stretch,

34:46

at this end of the season stretch and

34:49

how he's approaching his ankle slash

34:51

foot injury. And I was like, WHOA,

34:54

Okay. I appreciated

34:56

that because he didn't forget about me, you know what I mean.

34:58

He didn't forget like this is Bron here,

35:01

Like Bron is a guy that is pretty

35:03

untouchable. You know, you hear about guys

35:05

and like, trying to get in contact with him,

35:07

you got to get through. You

35:10

know, there's usually a force field around

35:12

Bron. There's people you got to go through to get

35:14

to him. So for him to like

35:19

not just keep his word, but

35:22

you know, he went the extra mile and

35:24

just text me because I wasn't expecting that.

35:27

I just I thought I was going.

35:28

To run into him and then he'll remember

35:30

then you know, at the arena and

35:33

then you know, give me a quote.

35:35

But I thought you guys were going to get

35:37

together and trade podcasting strategies.

35:40

But I guess that's for down the road.

35:44

Listen, start, do not make me

35:46

ask him to do a swap

35:50

a podcast swamp.

35:52

He'll come on our podcast and then won't come

35:54

on him to him and.

35:55

J what's

35:57

the harm in asking shoot

36:00

your shot?

36:01

Shoot your shot, Come on, Dal, Yeah,

36:04

that's one.

36:06

That's one I think we can probably safely

36:08

assume would be

36:10

a hard No.

36:11

Yeah, I don't like and I don't like rejections

36:14

just to hear it, you know what I mean. Like it's

36:16

enough for our job, but rejection is

36:19

part of it, you know what I mean. But you shoot

36:21

your shot.

36:22

You miss the shots you don't

36:24

take.

36:25

Yeah, but then there.

36:25

Are some shots you just know you're gonna miss, and

36:28

there's no there's no need of going down that road. We

36:31

already got some rejections coming up anyways,

36:33

you know, let's not add an extra one

36:35

just to add it. Stein, Before

36:38

I let you go, I need to tell you about something.

36:40

Sty I'm

36:42

afraid. Go ahead.

36:43

I'll tell you about some sty. So I

36:45

remember Stein, and

36:48

I think a lot of men can relate.

36:52

Maybe some women I don't know, but me and in

36:54

particular Stein, I

36:56

remember whening me and my wife

36:59

before when we were married. You

37:02

know, we were nineteen eighteen

37:06

around that age. You get into arguments,

37:08

right, You get in arguments, and

37:11

you see it on TV, see it on movies when you

37:14

know certain women do this. But

37:16

you get in an argument and

37:19

my girlfriends, you know, is my wife, my

37:21

girlfriend in town. She had a habit of when we're

37:23

driving, we're getting an argument. It

37:26

doesn't matter where we're at, where we're at,

37:29

she'll get out that car and start

37:31

walking. Let me out the car, let me out the car, and she'll

37:33

get out the car and start walking. And

37:35

Stein, at that point, you

37:37

have a decision to make. You

37:40

either gonna drive away. Oh you got

37:42

out the car. Okay, go ahead. You ought

37:44

to gonna drive away, let

37:46

her walk, let her find a way home

37:48

or whatever. Or you're gonna do

37:51

what I think what most men do, and

37:54

you go pull up. Baby, come get in the car.

37:56

Come on, baby, stop it, stop it, Come get in the car.

37:59

And every time Stein, every time

38:01

she pulled that wanted to get the car for a argument.

38:03

Back in our teens and young twenties, I

38:06

had to pull off to the side.

38:08

Baby, come on getting a car. Come on, but let's talk about

38:10

this. She'll get in the car. Stein every

38:12

time. But Stein.

38:17

Two days ago, we.

38:20

Were at the drive through

38:23

and Popeye, Stein, me

38:25

and my wife got into it. Stein and

38:28

I had enough. I

38:30

got out the car. So

38:32

I got out the car. I was like, this is the let

38:34

me out. I got the car, and now, I

38:36

mind you our home. Our

38:39

home is three miles from where

38:41

I got off at.

38:42

So I got off and start walking.

38:45

And while I'm walking, I'm thinking in my

38:47

head, why in the world did I do this?

38:49

This was stupid.

38:50

But I'm walking, and when I'm

38:53

thinking back to the moment of

38:55

times that she used to do that way

38:57

back in the day. So I'm thinking, Okay,

39:00

I'm walking a little bit. She's still at Popeyes,

39:02

and to drive through, she's going to have

39:04

to drive by me, and she's

39:06

gonna come over and and

39:09

try to talk to me, talk some system to me, and

39:11

get into the car. Stein,

39:13

don't you know, she just drove right past me. She

39:23

drove right past me, and I was

39:25

so heated. U'm like, no, she didn't

39:27

just drive past me. All those times back

39:29

when we were younger, I would pull

39:32

over to the side and Mabbie,

39:34

come on, get in the car, and she would get in.

39:36

She'd drave I walked three miles,

39:38

three and a half miles.

39:39

Okay, time out, time out? Time out.

39:41

First of all, yes, based

39:44

on my very rough math, what

39:47

I really took from this conversation is she

39:49

has put up with you for more than twenty years.

39:51

I guess I have that.

39:52

Right, yes, but you can

39:54

say it's vice versa as well. But go ahead.

39:57

Second of all, in your teens

40:00

or your young twenties, as you put it, there

40:02

was no uber.

40:03

Why didn't you just uber?

40:05

After?

40:08

I felt like I thought about that, but I

40:10

felt like I had

40:13

to see this through.

40:14

I had to walk the hole.

40:16

You walked the full three miles home.

40:18

Walked through full three and a half

40:20

miles home.

40:21

I feel like I had your food like I was in her

40:23

car.

40:24

Food was what.

40:26

She didn't even order my food. It

40:29

was that she got that mad. I got

40:31

out the car. I ain't I ain't get any food. So I

40:34

get home no food. And

40:36

so when I got home, I

40:38

said, oh, so you you wasn't going to he

40:42

didn't think the stop by and

40:44

pick a brother up. She said, you gott

40:47

the car, that's on you. I figured

40:49

I figured to give you time to cool off. I'm

40:51

like, ain't this something?

40:53

All this all that?

40:54

All those times she used to just get out the car, get

40:56

out. I'm walking and I'm I'm the gentleman.

40:59

I come over.

41:00

I pull up to the side. Baby, Come get in the car.

41:02

I open up the door.

41:03

Come get in the car. We'll work this out. We'll work this out.

41:05

And when it was my turn, she

41:08

just drove right past. That's

41:11

something, boy, that's something.

41:13

He didn't specify what the dispute was, and that's

41:16

probably too personal, so we don't need to

41:18

specify. But just let's just let's

41:20

just mean whose fault was it?

41:22

I swear I don't remember. I swear I don't remember,

41:24

but I'm gonna tell you right now, Stan, I

41:27

felt empowered. I had, like I said,

41:29

I couldn't uber at this point,

41:32

I ran towards the smoke of getting

41:35

out the car and looking at it.

41:36

Three and a half mile journey in the

41:39

sun I had now.

41:41

Three and a half. It started out three miles, now it's

41:43

three and a half.

41:45

Oh, it took me a long time three and a half. It took

41:47

me a long time to get there, Star. It took

41:50

our thirty minutes to get home. I

41:52

had to do it, and I felt empowered. But

41:55

start, I'll.

41:55

Tell you this.

41:56

I'm not doing that again. I'll

41:58

wait until we get home to

42:01

pitch a fit.

42:02

Something tells me a listener

42:04

or two might just want a weigh in on

42:07

this tale and share

42:09

their opinion.

42:10

So we'll see. We'll see what kind

42:12

of reaction this gets.

42:14

Chris

42:16

unscripted script Steine

42:19

check us out, because listen, listen when the

42:21

shoe was on the other foot.

42:22

Ladies, y'all way in listen. I know

42:25

it's a lot of husbands or men

42:27

who have significant others

42:29

out there. Y'all been in these situations.

42:32

And you know, when they get out that car,

42:34

Stein, you know, if you just take

42:36

off, even though they jumped

42:38

out the car and I don't want to take this anymore.

42:41

I'm getting out.

42:41

I'm walking, even though they stepped up the car

42:44

style. You know, if you leave and go home,

42:46

the relationship is over. It's

42:49

over. Even though they stepped

42:51

out the car, it is over.

42:53

If you leave home, go ahead

42:55

and think she's just gonna be all rational

42:58

when she gets back from that three mile

43:00

walk.

43:01

Hey, y'all just go work it out. It is over.

43:04

So you have to go to the side and

43:06

say, baby, come on in. But it doesn't

43:08

work that way for us. If we get

43:11

out the car, we are walking. That's

43:14

just the way it is.

43:16

Yes.

43:17

Indeed, if you listen

43:19

to This League Uncut regularly,

43:21

you know that this is really

43:24

two podcasts in one. This

43:26

League Uncut, which covers

43:28

the NBA twice a week, and

43:31

Chris Haynes Unscripted, which

43:34

you never know what kind of tales you're gonna

43:36

get.

43:36

And I promise you this one

43:39

was not on the rundown. I did not know this

43:41

is where we were going.

43:42

I kind of knew we were going to talk about the lebron

43:45

Tech situation, did not know

43:47

about the Malik Beasley story, and I certainly

43:50

was not expecting life advice

43:52

from Chris Haynes. And again,

43:55

well, we will see something

43:58

tells me, we will see what the audience has to say

44:01

about the choices.

44:03

That you made.

44:05

I'm here to help, that's all.

44:06

Here to help others and

44:09

maybe get yourself in trouble along the way.

44:11

Okay, that is going to

44:13

do it for this edition

44:17

of This League Uncut. As always,

44:19

please follow

44:21

the show, rate the show, review

44:23

the show. We would love a five

44:25

star review.

44:26

Chris Haynes deserves.

44:29

A five star review for repeatedly

44:32

baring his soul and taking us

44:35

deep inside

44:37

what's going on. What's going

44:40

on in the life of Haynes. He alone,

44:43

that kind of candor alone merits a

44:45

five star rating. All right, that is going

44:47

to do it for This edition

44:50

of This League Uncut Again taped late

44:53

on Thursday night out Friday.

44:56

Chris and I will be back together again

44:58

very soon.

45:00

Thanks so much for listening everybody.

45:04

And that'll do it for us. See you next

45:06

time. This League

45:08

UNCUTTA is an iHeartRadio production.

45:12

SCA Loka, Chris

45:15

Haynes and Mark Stein