0:00

Curious to know what it's like to

0:03

be in Michael Malone's huddles

0:05

in Denver. This podcast can

0:07

tell you exactly what it's like.

0:09

And we've also got pulse checks

0:11

of the Phoenix Suns of the Boston

0:14

Celtics, highlights from

0:16

all of Chris haynes travels this week

0:19

through the Rocky Mountains, and to review,

0:21

regrettably of all the injuries

0:24

that are stacking up across the association.

0:27

All that's next here on this edition

0:29

of This League Uncut.

0:31

Welcome to This.

0:32

League Uncut in

0:34

rule of twenty four hour NBA news, this

0:37

news, you'll Chris

0:40

Hans, it's so time, works

0:42

time, it's so time. This

0:48

League Uncut is underway and on fire.

0:52

This should be a good one.

0:55

Everyone, Welcome

0:57

in to another edition

1:01

of This League Uncut. Mark

1:03

Stein here with Chris Haynes.

1:06

I'm a little rattled. I have to admit, did

1:09

a radio interview earlier today. We're taping

1:12

this on a Friday, and they kept calling

1:14

the pod the League Uncut instead

1:16

of this League Uncut. So that has me shaken

1:18

up.

1:18

Then you just stopped you just stopped them

1:20

in that track.

1:21

Now, correct.

1:21

I was too polite, even though it was twice

1:24

I was too polite. And then you know,

1:26

even though I'm on the run and traveling

1:28

and running around and.

1:31

It's been a crazy week, but then

1:35

I see that.

1:37

What Chris Haynes reported on this pod days

1:39

ago about the Nuggets not

1:42

being able to go to the White House, but

1:44

it's on TV and then it causes a national

1:47

firestorm.

1:47

So I'm just I'm

1:50

shaking by all this.

1:51

Man, the aggregators,

1:54

they dropped the ball on that episode last week.

1:56

I don't know aggregators

1:58

a day. Usually up to the time, they're

2:00

usually on point. Sometimes

2:03

I want them to tone it down sometimes but

2:06

most times.

2:06

But in that case, you know what, it's actually

2:09

my fault. Maybe maybe now that now that I think

2:11

about it, I probably should have put

2:13

it. I probably should have written

2:15

it after the pod, which

2:17

I do sometimes when you when

2:19

you drop some gems on here, and then I'll put

2:21

it in my next notebook and say, hey, you should have listened to

2:23

our episode. And Chris Haynes said a b or C. I

2:26

did not do that this week, and

2:28

so maybe that's my fault.

2:30

And we didn't. I don't think we tweeted that

2:34

tweeted out that we didn't

2:36

tweet that tip bit out.

2:38

Also, well, you

2:41

know why promoting the pod, So it's ultimately

2:43

Ryan's uh, Ryan,

2:45

Ryan's not in charge of.

2:47

It's not Ryan's fault. I'm just I'm just trying to go at

2:50

him. I'm just trying to go at him and get him rolled

2:52

up since he blamed you for

2:54

the whole Aaron Haynes incident.

2:57

Yeah, that's true. Well that's fine.

2:59

Didn't go ahead. You well within your right

3:01

to do so. But yeah, Ryan.

3:07

The tweet tweeting the notes, Well,

3:09

how are you man?

3:10

You had four days in Denver.

3:12

I'm tired.

3:12

Man.

3:13

You did two games, you had a one on

3:15

one with Kevin Durant, you did a live

3:17

stream with KCP. I'm sure

3:19

there were multiple large breakfast

3:22

consumed like tell us about your Yeah,

3:24

tell us about your trip to the Rocky Mountain.

3:27

I'm exhausted. I just got home not too

3:29

long ago. But that KCP interview

3:32

I had with the Bleacher, the Bleacher

3:34

Report live stream stein I

3:36

had it scheduled to do that at

3:39

twelve pm Pacific time. So

3:41

new and Denver,

3:44

Denver all week. I was there Monday through Friday.

3:46

Denver all week was great. The weather was excellent

3:49

and you know. That's one of the reasons why I don't like going

3:51

to Denver, because I don't like I don't like the snow and all

3:54

that stuff. I'm not a fan of it. I lived in Cleveland for two

3:56

years, been there, done that. But the

3:58

weather was good. But Friday morning, snow

4:02

is popping off. So I'm like, damn, all

4:04

right, But my flight was

4:07

supposed to land back here

4:09

in California at ten thirty am, which

4:12

I'm like, that's fine. It takes me thirty minutes to get

4:14

home. I'll have an hour before

4:16

I got to sit down with KCP. But

4:18

you know what, due to snow delays,

4:22

another delay, another delay,

4:24

stein And

4:26

not only that, my flight didn't

4:28

have Wi Fi, so my

4:32

flight was scheduled to touch down

4:34

at noon. So I'm like, fuck,

4:37

man, damn, like what I'm

4:39

what I'm gonna do. So right before my

4:41

flight took off, I text my

4:44

producer a tell KCP, you

4:46

know, I'm gonna be about ten minutes behind. I

4:49

don't want to cancel. I'm gonna be about ten minutes behind,

4:52

and I'm going to do it at the airport.

4:55

I don't think she. I don't think she told them I'm gonna do it

4:57

at the airport. I just told him justa be ten minutes

4:59

behind. My plan was to find a lounge

5:01

in the airport, a quiet lounge,

5:04

but of course no such

5:06

thing. And so I'm in the

5:08

food court area. I pick a table

5:11

way in the back and starn. There's

5:13

just people on the intercom. Hey gate,

5:15

see six thirty seven, your

5:18

gate chains going to LA going

5:20

all through.

5:21

You thought the airport should just stop functioning because

5:23

you had a live stream.

5:28

I thought, I don't know what I was thinking. I thought

5:31

I could find a quiet.

5:32

Attention all Southwest customers.

5:35

Chris B.

5:36

Haynes a Bleacher Report needs thirty

5:38

minutes of quiet for his live stream.

5:41

We will delay all updates.

5:45

A further note, so if if

5:47

you could go to go to bleacher Report or even

5:49

YouTube, believe that the interview, the full

5:51

interview is up on YouTube, bleacher Reports

5:54

on bleacher reports page. So

5:57

you could see me interviewing KCP

5:59

TA say, people sitting right

6:01

behind me talking, chatting, and

6:04

I'm just muting, unmuting, my my,

6:06

my, Mike the whole time. Mutant, I'm

6:08

muting, mutant, I'm muting. It's just a whole bunch

6:10

of chaos going on. The back and I

6:12

had to apologize to the to the viewers

6:14

for that, for that display.

6:18

Or was he just rolled?

6:19

He was? He was laughing. He was laughing at all. He was

6:21

he was laughing. He rolled, He rolled with it.

6:23

Man, I couldn't.

6:24

Well, he should be laughing because the Nuggets

6:26

look fantastic. They

6:29

just took care of Boston

6:31

in the supposed NBA Finals preview.

6:35

That Jokic guy is a problem, breaking news.

6:37

He's a major problem.

6:40

He is. He is

6:42

a problem. Stein. Let me tell

6:44

you this. I was gonna say this story since we're talking

6:46

about the Nuggets. You know, I

6:48

get to listening to I've

6:51

listened in and heard almost

6:53

every coach in the NBA as far as how they

6:55

conduct their timeouts and their huddles.

6:58

Mike alone, if he's not number one, he's

7:02

definitely one of the

7:04

top two as far as

7:06

far as inspiring, motivating

7:10

coaches in those timeout huddles.

7:13

Coach Malone is cussing people out in

7:15

those huddles. He's like he

7:18

is just but he does it in a way. It's

7:20

a loving cussing out way. You know what I'm

7:22

saying, If that makes any sense, It's

7:24

a loving cussing out way that you're

7:26

just motivated and you just like he just

7:28

he has the words to galvanize

7:31

a team and starting so the

7:33

way the Nuggets in their

7:35

break before they go into you

7:37

know, go back into the game, they'll go

7:40

one two three together, one

7:42

two three together. And so I'm listening,

7:44

I'm in the back listening to Malone

7:47

and he's just going off, inspiring

7:49

his guys, encouraging them, going

7:52

off of them again. And then he's

7:54

like, all right, let's go one two three. And

7:56

I said, I said,

7:58

silently together. I thought I was

8:00

part of teams. Don I did?

8:03

I said it. I said it silently. I was together,

8:05

like I was in it. He had me

8:07

transformed like I was about to get in

8:09

there and helped him

8:11

doing this five minute stress side

8:16

side. I kid you not, I said together,

8:19

I.

8:19

Said, I'm the guys are from what

8:21

you see, their guys are locked in.

8:23

They're not tuning him out. They're not rolling their eyes.

8:26

They oh no, no, no no. And

8:28

he's one of the rare as you know, he's one of the

8:30

rare few coaches who

8:32

can be himself and do that.

8:35

No he does. They're not tuned out. They

8:37

listen or another thing too. So I asked

8:39

him about his approach after the

8:41

game because I was just curious cause I'm telling

8:44

he had me ready to go to war.

8:47

And he was like, you know, he said, all I can

8:49

do is be myself. He said, it's definitely

8:51

helped that I've had success and I won a

8:53

championship and I got I have some tenure,

8:56

So that definitely gives you confidence that you could

8:58

continue to be yourself, he said. But Chris, another

9:00

thing that I do. He says

9:02

that when I'm in those huddles, I

9:05

touched the players. I may touch them on

9:07

the knee, pat him on the

9:09

leg, pat him on an arm,

9:12

and the players will look up, look up at you.

9:14

And he told me who. My

9:16

mind is kind of gone

9:18

now, but he told me who he got that from. But

9:21

he said, that's like a personal that's

9:24

a personal touch, a personal interaction

9:26

they have. And when the players look up, and

9:29

he said, it does something, just a

9:31

tap on the leg when he's in that time of huddle and

9:34

Stile, I'm telling he's one of the best motivating

9:37

these guys, getting them ready. I said

9:39

together, I was with them for that

9:41

two seconds. He's really good.

9:44

Well, look, the Nuggets know exactly

9:46

who they are. They have ultimate

9:48

belief at the toughest

9:51

times, and that's something that the Celtics frankly

9:53

can't say they have.

9:54

The Celtics have been the most.

9:55

Dominant team in the league this season, but

9:59

what are they lost for thirteen games? Amid

10:01

those fourteen losses, there

10:04

have been no shortage

10:06

of games that crunch time. Didn't

10:08

just look bad, it looked ugly, and

10:12

they are still a team that generates

10:15

a lot of skepticism and questions.

10:18

Whereas you know, that's why as

10:20

stacked as the West is, I

10:23

just don't see how you can pick against

10:26

Denver because they

10:28

have a level of belief now

10:31

and that's what winning a championship does.

10:34

And I'm glad

10:36

Mike Malone admitted to you that the championship

10:39

is a factor. Michael Malone, let's

10:42

say it properly, because

10:44

I'm sure that gives him

10:47

the confidence to coach

10:49

the team exactly the way he wants

10:51

to, which is doesn't happen in every

10:53

city. Not every coach in the NBA can

10:56

coach his team exactly

10:58

the way he wants to with as

11:00

much freedom as Michael Malone

11:02

surely has. So I mean, it's just yet

11:04

another element of what makes the

11:07

defending champions from Denver dangerous.

11:09

But they've got a great duo. I

11:12

mean, Jokic is Jokic

11:15

is the MVP.

11:15

To me, at this point, teams are basically

11:17

down to their last eighteen to twenty games.

11:20

I think Jokic is at the top

11:22

of the MVP charts. I guess we can argue

11:24

about that if anybody wants to, and SGA

11:28

is up there, Yannis and Luca

11:30

I think a little bit further back, But the

11:32

MVP award, to me, it's Jokic's

11:35

to lose now Oklahoma City. If they

11:37

win the West or the number one seed, that's certainly

11:39

going to help SGA's case. But

11:42

I mean, whether you know what, it doesn't

11:44

even matter whether Jokic wins the MVP Award

11:46

or not. He's the best player in the world. I think if

11:48

you polled the NBA, if you polled

11:51

thirty front offices, and if you pulled

11:53

players, and if everybody was

11:56

telling the absolute truth, they would say

11:58

that Jokic is the best player you're in the world. So

12:01

they've got a star

12:03

at the peak of his powers, a

12:05

tag team partner in Jamal Murray who

12:08

plays off him, so well, they function

12:11

so well as a duo. They've

12:14

got role players who know

12:16

exactly what their their roles are.

12:19

With KCP and Aaron Gordon at the top

12:21

of the list, they've got a great home court

12:23

advantage.

12:24

Probably the best home court advantage.

12:26

Do you when you're walking the sidelines, do you feel it

12:29

at all?

12:29

Yeah, I lose I lose

12:31

breath.

12:32

Yeah, if you've got to hustle between the benches or run

12:34

after something.

12:35

Yeah, run after it. And I know no,

12:38

and I know people may think you're exaggerating,

12:40

and you might be exaggerating, but.

12:42

There are times as the sideline reporter that

12:44

you have to actually run and

12:47

get somewhere. You could be on the opposite

12:49

side and the team

12:51

at the far bench there's an injury. You got to

12:53

run over there.

12:55

Yeah, and you lose you lose

12:57

your breath. It is definitely an adjustment,

13:00

even walking up the stairs, you know, walking

13:03

up the stairs, if you if you're see there is like

13:05

when when I was when I was on the beat, our

13:07

immediate seats would be probably about twenty

13:10

seats up and you have to walk up

13:12

the stairs to get to it in Denver, and now

13:14

you feel it. It's definitely a factor.

13:16

That's why I said it might be the best home court advantage.

13:19

Although I will say Stein,

13:22

I've never experienced road

13:26

fans that traveled

13:28

like the Celtics did last night. I don't

13:30

know if you heard the game or saw the game from

13:33

I genuinely did not, Stein,

13:36

they had less go Celtics

13:38

chance And if you close your eyes and

13:41

heard it with the sheer amount of

13:43

people there, you would have thought you

13:46

were in a Celtics arena like

13:48

they they travel it

13:51

was that loud. But I

13:53

still will argue that Denver, because

13:55

of that altitude factor, probably has the

13:58

best home court advantage.

14:00

Well, look, the other big story of the week, and you

14:02

know, obviously we're going to focus I know

14:04

we've been talking about the Nuggets a lot on here lately.

14:06

But if you if if half

14:09

of this podcast, if this podcast franchise

14:11

player spends the whole week in Denver, we're gonna

14:14

we're gonna obviously talk about the Nuggets.

14:16

So there's no way around that.

14:18

But I mean, the other big,

14:20

really the big not the other the big

14:22

story in the week in the NBA this week is

14:25

just the injuries, injuries, the

14:27

lore and you know, let's I

14:29

think because the West is what we need to focus

14:32

on, we should.

14:33

You know, Evan Mobley.

14:35

With a out and

14:37

definitely with an ankle injury is obviously

14:39

a significant injury for the Cavaliers, who've

14:42

had numerous significant

14:44

injuries to deal with this season. And then

14:47

the Nets announced that Ben

14:49

Simmons would be shut down for the rest of the season

14:52

because of the back issues that have limited Simmons

14:54

to fifteen games. But we're gonna put those

14:57

injuries aside and focus on the West because

15:00

Devin Booker was already

15:02

playing with an injury he sustained last week.

15:05

This week, Karl Anthony Towns

15:07

in Minnesota likely out

15:09

for the rest of the regular season with a torn meniscus.

15:13

Lebron James, shortly before you

15:15

and I got together to start recording this podcast,

15:18

ruled out of the Lakers game against

15:20

Milwaukee because of this ankle

15:23

injury that has been bothering him since leading

15:25

up to the All Star Game. And then

15:27

Stephan Curry sustains an ankle injury

15:30

Thursday night. The word is it's

15:33

not necessarily serious, but

15:35

I would counter and say that any Stephan

15:38

Curry injury, even if it rules him out only a

15:40

game or two is a massive

15:42

deal for the Warriors who are fighting

15:45

for their lives. And look, all these teams in

15:47

the West are fighting for their lives. I

15:50

mean, not playing zone is

15:52

ridiculous. The Sons have gotten

15:54

themselves into the top six, but

15:57

the fact that they have only

16:00

been able to have their star trio together

16:02

for twenty three games this

16:04

season, I think is a

16:07

major concern. But I mean, Denver

16:09

just has to be just feeling so

16:12

confident because of

16:14

all this injury chaos happening around

16:16

them. And again just that there's

16:19

no team in the league that knows its

16:21

identity better than the Nuggets.

16:24

Yeah, and what I will tell you Stein about

16:26

the Nuggets again again, I know you don't

16:28

want to spend too much more time on them, but everybody's

16:31

been talking about their bench, their bench, and that's

16:33

that definitely is a concern. But

16:35

Stein, Peyton Watson that

16:38

if people don't know who Peyton Watson is, if

16:41

you've been watching these the Kolakis

16:44

commercials and you have that

16:46

one kid that's always with him in these

16:49

commercials, that's Peyton Watson,

16:51

that guy. He was the one that jumped

16:54

over the kola Hey

16:56

yesterday to block Jalen Brown's

16:58

shot. Peyton Watts

17:01

guys athletic, He's long plays,

17:04

he could defend multiple positions. He's

17:06

going to be a stud. He's going

17:08

to be a stud. Now will

17:11

he be able to will he have the maturity to

17:13

really help them out in the playoffs? I don't know, but they're

17:15

they're banking on him and they're trying to

17:17

give him a significant role to

17:19

see if he can to help help them

17:21

out, because that, as we know,

17:23

the bitch is probably going to is probably the weakness

17:25

of the duggets. But if Peyton Watson could

17:28

come of age pretty pretty

17:30

quickly and he's he's looking really good

17:32

in spurts, there'll

17:35

be a problem.

17:37

When you look at Minnesota,

17:40

the expectation is I think that at

17:43

least their hope is that they get Karl

17:45

Anthony Towns back for the playoffs. I

17:48

mean, they look, they've got nas read there.

17:50

In the short term, they can probably survive

17:53

this. I would still wouldn't I wouldn't be shocked

17:56

if the Wolves still.

17:57

Found a way.

17:59

To hang on to the number one seed in the

18:01

West. Is certainly not going to be easy, but they've

18:04

got three games against the Nuggets though, three

18:06

games left, I believe.

18:07

So that's that's going to be a

18:09

huge deal for sure.

18:11

Yeah, and that all that all goes back

18:14

to Denver, you know, skipping the White House

18:16

for that that matchup in Minnesota

18:19

on March nineteenth.

18:21

They're going for it. They're going forward.

18:24

And yeah, and I think stein Towns

18:26

is an All Star player, but

18:29

you know Na's over there. He's no joke that

18:32

that guy probably the best

18:34

backup big in the league,

18:36

stretch big. So they're

18:39

definitely still going to be a force. And Anthony Edwards

18:41

probably just going to even this is

18:43

the opportunity for him to even take his game to

18:45

another level because I do believe

18:48

he has another level to go. He

18:51

probably is going to have to carry this team a little bit more

18:53

offensively, but I think he's up for the task, you

18:55

know. So, So March nineteenth, dismiss of Minnesota.

18:58

March nineteenth, Denver, Minnesota.

19:00

That's the game where the Nuggets,

19:03

as first reported on

19:05

the This League Uncut podcast and subsequently

19:08

reported on TNT,

19:11

reported by the same guy, though in both cases

19:14

Chris the

19:17

Nuggets the invite to the White House was

19:19

the seventeenth, Is that right?

19:21

And they felt like.

19:22

The eighteenth They know it was the eighteenth.

19:24

They play on the seventeenth.

19:26

They could have gone to the White House on the eighteenth, but

19:28

they felt like they needed to go straight to Minnesota.

19:32

That's it.

19:32

First March

19:34

twenty ninth and April tenth,

19:38

those two games are in Denver.

19:39

So it's going to

19:42

get really interested. But this is this is why

19:44

this part of the season is so great

19:47

because you you know, teams are going

19:49

for it right now. This is this is the

19:52

coaches start shortening up their rotations,

19:54

getting their rotations ready for the playoffs.

19:57

Uh, there's not much experimentation

20:00

during this junction of the season. It's you playing

20:03

your guys. Playoff is you

20:05

know, just like you know, these last

20:07

couple of games last I'll probably already say

20:09

the last three games have been for that I've

20:11

covered have been playoff atmosphere type

20:14

games. Sons at the excuse

20:16

me, Different Nuggets playing the heat,

20:19

Denver Nuggets playing the Suns. Nuggets

20:21

and Celtics been really good atmosphere,

20:23

you know, playoff atmosphere type

20:26

game. So I'm ready, stin, I'm

20:28

ready for the playoffs.

20:29

Are you doing two games a week basically from

20:31

here till the playoffs or no

20:34

producer Ryan shaking his head. He's memorizer.

20:37

Producer. Ryan has memorized schedule.

20:40

Producer Ryan is on top of it.

20:41

We should bring on Charlotte Haynes and we

20:43

should quiz them. Who knows your schedule

20:46

better? Ryan Music.

20:49

All my money will be on Ryan. She

20:53

has Charlotte's beauty supply of stuff

20:55

on her mind. She's not worried about

20:57

my schedule. No, I I

21:00

have for the rest of the

21:02

rest of the calendar. I only had three games left for

21:05

the rest of the season, the regular season, that is

21:07

three but a game

21:09

each week, no,

21:11

no, no, no, two weeks.

21:15

Well, as tired as you are today, maybe that's good. Maybe

21:17

we maybe we got to dial you back to one game

21:19

a week.

21:21

I need that because it's going to get Last

21:23

year, I think I didn't

21:26

come home really until, I

21:29

want to say, until the conference finals.

21:31

The producer Riots keeping it real in the

21:33

group chat, which I forgot.

21:35

March madness is coming, and that's.

21:36

Why that's why I'm

21:38

on my Yeah, my high madness.

21:40

Is going to bump you down.

21:42

Yeah, That's why I'm on my hiatus.

21:52

You had a little chat with Kevin Durant. Give

21:55

us the state of Durant at this point.

21:59

Caught up with k D very

22:02

optimistic about what

22:05

this team can accomplish.

22:07

You know, he was very reflective and

22:09

talking about his background because I asked him,

22:12

like, you know, how long can you keep going?

22:14

What? What still what motivates you at this

22:16

age? And he was like, man, I still feel

22:18

like I'm great at this game. And

22:21

I love being great, you

22:23

know, KD. I love

22:25

the way Kat talks about himself. He said, I

22:27

love being great and

22:29

uh, he

22:32

said, and I wake up

22:35

enjoying the process every day of

22:37

being great and being town. And they

22:39

talked about like, you know how you

22:41

know, there were people in

22:44

his neighborhood, in his community that kept him away

22:46

from the streets, that told me, you know, focus

22:49

on ball. And he said, as he gets

22:51

older, he appreciates

22:53

still more and more because he loves

22:55

his life and love loves what he what he does.

22:58

And then he also, you know, you

23:01

know what to talked about the people

23:03

who criticize or

23:06

critique him, stating that

23:08

he's not a leader or he doesn't have

23:10

a competitive drive. And

23:13

you know, he said, listen, I don't listen to them.

23:15

He said, everybody needs something to talk talk

23:17

about. He said, my focus is

23:19

on his team, and my

23:22

my concern is what everybody within

23:25

my organization think. He said,

23:27

And they see me, they know me,

23:30

and so they know how bad

23:32

I want to win. And he said he

23:34

puts them. He said, if

23:36

they're going they're going healthy. He likes

23:38

their chances against anybody and

23:41

so, but he did say there is an adjustment

23:43

period, you know, trying to

23:46

blend, blend, blend

23:48

all their games together with Bradley Booker and

23:50

dev A, Bradley Booker, Bradley

23:52

Booker, Bradley Bill and

23:54

Devin Booker. So he says it's an adjustment,

23:57

but he's he's enjoying the process of learn and he

23:59

said he feels like the team is forming

24:01

some cohesion, and you know, he credit the coach

24:03

staff. So this is a very optimistic and

24:06

positive KD with twenty

24:08

games before we hit the.

24:11

I'm gonna read two of the quotes for your piece. The first

24:13

one was quote,

24:15

I just love this game. I love the challenges,

24:17

the obstacles that come with it. I enjoy the process.

24:21

So that was pretty standard

24:24

stuff. But then this is the I think this

24:26

is the quote.

24:26

You're referring to.

24:28

I just enjoy getting up every day to do this

24:30

shit. Durant said, there

24:32

are going to be days where it to struggle, and

24:34

there have been great days. I could be doing a

24:36

lot of other shit with my life. I'm talented

24:38

at this shit, and I enjoy being

24:41

talented. I enjoy the camaraderie

24:44

and the brotherhood that comes with this game.

24:46

It's that simple.

24:49

I enjoyed being talented. I

24:56

love KD. Man, I love that

24:58

guy. Love KD. Did

25:01

I tell you my KD story? Stein, I'm

25:04

not sure? Okay, I'll

25:06

explain it. Me and

25:09

KD. We we you

25:11

know. That's my guy. I will always

25:15

I will always have

25:18

him in high regard because

25:20

of what he did for me six

25:24

seven years ago something almost

25:27

probably about six years ago. And

25:29

no matter if we have semi rifts

25:32

in between, because we've had we had, we

25:34

had semi rifts in between, that I

25:36

will always hold him in high regard for this six

25:39

years ago. So it is

25:41

he's with the Warriors at this time, and

25:46

this was I was

25:48

at Yahoo. I had just signed with Yahoo,

25:51

and Yahoo gave me my

25:53

my podcast. It was the

25:55

post it up for Chris Haines's podcast. First

25:57

time I ever had my own podcasts. They gave me

25:59

a podcast, and so I

26:02

asked KD, would

26:04

you be my first guest on my podcast?

26:06

And he was like, yeah, I got you. Cool.

26:08

I'm like great, great, So I tell Yahoo,

26:11

I tell my production crew and everything, and

26:13

that's when we were traveling. When I

26:15

had my podcast, we would travel camera crews

26:18

to go like we did it really legit,

26:21

legitimate, So

26:23

everybody knows. Everybody's pumped up. I'm pumped

26:25

up. Kdi's about to be my first guest. Like

26:28

great, great. So

26:31

two days later, the

26:34

incident happens where Draymond

26:37

goes off on him in LA

26:41

It says, we don't need you.

26:43

We can we won before you, we

26:46

don't, we don't need and you know,

26:48

like when kd's mad, when KDE

26:50

gets into his mode, like he'll

26:52

just shut you out, he'll cut everybody off.

26:55

And so that happened,

26:58

and KD didn't speak

27:01

to media for that whole week after

27:05

that Dremond incident. Katie

27:07

refused to talk. He did not speak that

27:09

whole week. Meanwhile, our

27:14

podcast episode was supposed

27:16

to record probably like in

27:19

another four or five days. So

27:21

I'm like, oh shit, damn,

27:24

he is not speaking to media and not

27:26

just not speaking to media. You know how KD is

27:28

sometimes Like even when you see him

27:31

walk into the locker room, he ain't gonna

27:33

look. He's not gonna look at you.

27:35

You will clearly tell he doesn't want to be bothered.

27:38

So I'm like, damn man, So

27:40

my podcast is on a Monday. Now

27:43

it's Thursday. He hasn't

27:45

spoken all week, and I'm

27:47

trying to be sensitive. I don't want to be texting him

27:49

like hey, you're still doing it. I'm trying to be Since

27:51

then, so the Warriors are on the road

27:53

trip and they ended up in Houston

27:55

over the weekend. I wasn't

27:58

going to attend that game, like

28:00

this will be the last time I get to see him

28:03

before Monday, when we're supposed

28:05

to do this pod. So I go to Houston,

28:08

fly to Houston and

28:11

before the game, pre game, he's

28:13

over there in the corner. Nobody is talking

28:15

to him. He's at his locker stall. You

28:17

can tell he doesn't want to be bothered, has his earphones

28:19

on. But I'm like, I gotta go

28:22

say something, and not just go

28:24

say something, I have to bring it, bring

28:26

up that we got this pod

28:28

scheduled in two days. So

28:31

I go over there, tap on the shoulder,

28:33

which forces him to take his headphones

28:35

off his ear ears. He just

28:37

looks up to me, looks up at me. I'm

28:39

like, how you doing, bro, I'm all

28:42

right, what's up? I'm

28:44

like, eh, nothing much. Uh.

28:47

I just want to know if you're

28:49

still gonna be able to do the pod in a couple of days. He

28:52

said, Man, what the fuck? Man? I got a game. I ain't

28:54

worried about that shit. Man, I got a fucking game to play.

28:56

Man, leave me alone. Chris. I'm like,

28:58

okay, well, you know, good to see

29:00

you too. So I walked. I walked

29:02

away in So I walked

29:04

away not knowing anything.

29:07

He didn't give me any

29:09

confirmation or clarification nothing.

29:12

That was it. So I'm like, fuck man.

29:14

So I told the company, I said, well listen. KD

29:18

hasn't responded. He

29:23

I don't know. I don't I don't think it's happening.

29:26

So Monday comes around,

29:28

and it was supposed to we were supposed to record

29:31

Monday after go to

29:33

State Wars. Practice was probably around noon.

29:37

He's still and to this point he's still

29:39

hasn't spoken to media. I'm talking

29:41

about basic media, like answer

29:44

a question after a game. He did none

29:46

of that the whole week, and

29:48

so I hit him up Monday morning, just

29:50

the last ditch text because

29:53

also my camera

29:55

crew was already at the They rented a hotel

29:58

suite so we can do the recording.

30:00

So they just went anyways, and

30:03

so here I'll make a last ditch effort

30:06

Monday morning before practice cinema text

30:09

Katie Man, I'm sorry to bout you, bro, but I

30:11

just got to ask. Man, we got the crew there,

30:13

just got to ask, if you know you're gonna be able to do it,

30:16

text you back right away. I'll be there. He

30:20

came and

30:22

delivered one of the spiciest interviews

30:25

that he's ever delivered before and just

30:27

revealing everything,

30:29

you know, the Draymond stuff, everything,

30:32

and you know, he was talking about retiring.

30:35

That's a golden state war. He could tell his

30:37

his mindset went another place later,

30:39

but yeah, he was. He just

30:41

it was just great. He gave me an hour or so

30:44

and it was the first time he talked about the

30:46

incident, first time he talked, and

30:49

he was my first I was able to start my

30:51

podcast with a bang first episode.

30:53

So I'm forever grateful

30:57

for him, regardless of whatever we get into

31:00

to get into it about the

31:02

future now whatever. Him

31:05

doing that meant so much to me, man, So

31:07

uh yeah, that's my KDE story.

31:09

And I gotta go back and find that episode because I

31:11

I sort of remember, but I don't.

31:14

I don't remember all that backstory. Did

31:17

ESPN credit you when they used the quotes?

31:20

Yeah? Everybody, Yeah, everybody had

31:22

to Yeah, that was he. That

31:24

was the first time he addressed it. He did not talk

31:27

to anybody the whole week. And

31:30

he came and he sat there and we were We're

31:32

in a hotel suite, me and him sitting

31:34

down and what was cool too?

31:37

Starve the day before

31:39

that, The day before that,

31:43

that episode, he

31:46

had did something to a reff I'm

31:49

not a cuss the reff out during the game or something like

31:51

that, and I was able to

31:53

break I got a clip of it and it's in the

31:55

it's in that podcast too, But

31:57

I gotta I was able to break that.

32:00

He was being fine a certain amount of money.

32:02

He was like seventy five thousand and something like that

32:05

right there on the spot before

32:07

you know. So I broke it before

32:09

it got announced, and everything right

32:11

on the spot to him. And it

32:13

was funny because people

32:16

were commenting about it, it was like, dang, look

32:18

how Katie didn't even flinch when he found

32:21

out he just lost seventy five thousand dollars, Like

32:23

that must be nice.

32:28

He's like, yeah, yeah,

32:30

right, please please,

32:32

but yeah, that's my Katie's story. And so he's

32:34

always you know, I always hold him a high

32:36

regard for doing

32:39

that and keeping his word. Man.

32:41

So when you were around the Suns, I

32:43

mean, look, the Suns, to me, there are multiple

32:45

issues.

32:46

I mean, and you.

32:48

Know, as great as Durant remains

32:50

at thirty five, ridiculous,

32:53

just ridiculously good. But

32:55

again, the main three guys

32:57

there are they gonna get third

33:00

games in as teammates before the playoffs.

33:03

I mean, I think

33:05

thirty is is a pretty safe over

33:07

under, considering it's only at twenty

33:09

three and there's less than

33:11

twenty games in the season to go. So let's

33:13

see if they can get over thirty.

33:16

But then the other thing is, you know, they're in

33:19

the best case scenario. They're gonna be the five

33:21

seed and they're gonna have to win. They're

33:24

gonna have to win on the road in

33:27

three straight rounds, and I

33:29

just you know, just

33:31

to get to the finals on

33:34

the road three straight.

33:36

Rounds without continuity.

33:40

Questions about their depth, their

33:43

bench, the reliability.

33:47

I guess we'll see.

33:50

I still maintain that

33:54

they should have gotten a point guard.

33:57

I will say this. I did report during the Sun's

33:59

game and that they are looking

34:02

to feel their

34:05

last roster spot, that fifteenth

34:07

roster spot. They're looking to feel fill

34:09

that with a veteran player who has

34:11

playoff experience. They're

34:13

not they're not. They're

34:16

not looking for a point guard or a

34:19

wing or whatever. They want the best

34:22

player available with some postseason

34:24

experience, not somebody that's going to play a

34:27

lot, but it's more of a locker

34:29

room presence. So that's something to

34:31

look out for as it pertains to

34:33

the Suns.

34:35

Well, Marcus Morris is out there, Isaiah

34:37

Thomas is in the G League trying to get a look.

34:40

Yeah, there's veterans out there.

34:43

Isaiah makes a lot of sense. Sean

34:45

Isaiah. I think he just scored like thirty something

34:48

in his G League debut

34:51

yesterday. Isaiah

34:53

makes a lot of sense. He's a point guard,

34:56

has playoff experience. Somebody

34:59

who's going to come in and be a good locker room

35:01

guy like Isaiah makes a

35:03

lot of sense.

35:06

So I kind of said we were going to stay

35:08

away from the East, but now I'm going back on

35:10

that because you

35:13

just saw this epic battle that

35:15

so many of us were treating

35:18

as a potential finals preview. And look, I mean,

35:23

to me, if the Celtics don't

35:25

make the final, I mean, the Celtics have to win at

35:27

all to really validate their season.

35:30

But you

35:32

know, I would say, at a minimum,

35:35

they've got to make the finals and win

35:37

the East.

35:38

What was their temperature after this game? What was

35:41

it? You know, they blew that huge

35:43

lead against Cleveland. Okay, fine, that happens.

35:45

I mean they were forty eight and twelve and lost a

35:48

big lead against Cleveland. Whatever, But to

35:51

go into Denver after the Nuggets had gone

35:53

to Boston and won there. And

35:57

you know, Tatum went under the microscope this

35:59

week and has not been a fun experience for him.

36:01

Everybody's now questioning his ability

36:04

in the clutch. And look, I never really saw

36:06

Tatum as an MVP a

36:09

huge MVP threat anyway. Even

36:11

if Boston would have gone to Denver and won,

36:13

and even if Tatum had played an

36:16

amazing game, I just

36:19

I And the reason why

36:21

is just I just think again, I'm trying to step

36:23

inside the head of voters. I

36:25

just think Boston is so good and has

36:28

so much high level talent around

36:30

him, not just Jalen Brown,

36:32

but you got former All Stars, Drew

36:35

Holliday, Christoph porzingis

36:38

Al Horford, They've all been All Stars, Derek

36:40

White. They have so much high level talent

36:42

around him. I think that's the kind

36:45

of thing that really hurts Tatum's case

36:47

more than anything, more than his clutch numbers,

36:50

more than a game.

36:51

Like last night.

36:53

But this has not been a fun

36:55

week for the Boston Celtics. So, like, what was

36:58

the vibe you took from your time around them?

37:00

Jason Tatum told me that even

37:03

though they haven't lost much this season, he

37:05

said, this is the first time where each

37:08

loss really hurts.

37:12

He said, because they're they're far and few. And

37:15

he said that you know, he hasn't he

37:18

said, he hasn't felt that way about losses

37:20

in other seasons, which I

37:23

think speaks to the fact that this is a

37:25

dominant team and they have high

37:27

hopes and they've been there before and they

37:30

believe this. You know, this is the best team

37:32

that they've ever assembled since

37:34

he's been there. But he also told me this.

37:37

This group is great at

37:41

getting over losses quickly

37:44

and move it on to the next next

37:47

game, and so they

37:49

still feel good. Coach Missoula told

37:51

me this. He said, who are we

37:53

supposed to lose to? Like, you

37:55

know, when you go through? He said, when you? When you? He

37:57

said, how they say it? He said, when you look at the

38:00

schedule, when the schedule first comes out.

38:04

He said, we're not going undefeated. He

38:06

said, so we're gonna lose some

38:08

games. He said, who do you want to lose to? He

38:11

said, we've lost the good teams? He

38:13

said, what would it be better if we lost the bad

38:15

teams? He said, you

38:18

know what, what what would you expect? And so,

38:22

yeah, we expect. I guess

38:25

that's reasonable. Yeah, that's

38:27

a reasonable TA.

38:28

But you know what, you know what, you know what.

38:29

The lesson out of this podcast is I

38:32

like when you do two games a week, because

38:34

now I'm just I've been I've asked you about the

38:37

Nuggets, the Suns, the

38:39

Celtics, and you

38:41

just saw these teams.

38:43

It's beautiful. I think you should. I think

38:45

you should do two games every week.

38:48

Yeah, well, I would like to get to another city.

38:50

I don't want to be well cases

38:53

Miami. I'll stay in Miami for a week.

38:56

Why don't you pitch that they took me off

38:59

of my Miami assignment that I had

39:01

April fourth. They switched

39:04

it to a Atlanta

39:06

at Dallas.

39:09

Can you believe that's tun Atlanta at Dallas.

39:12

But I

39:14

was able to contact

39:17

a hierarchy at TNT,

39:20

and I found out that that game could possibly

39:23

could possibly be moved as well because

39:26

they assigned they reassigned

39:28

me to that game, not just me, the whole

39:30

broadcast crew. They

39:33

reassigned us to that game. Thinking Trey Young,

39:36

you know, before Trey Young went out with the injury,

39:38

so I can get off. Most likely

39:41

I might be off.

39:41

Why are you rooting to get off a game that would

39:44

send you to my city?

39:46

Yes, Tine, you know Stein

39:48

Listen, Dallas is nice, but

39:51

Miami would that would have been my only time

39:54

being in Mif.

39:54

You're already off Miami. So why

39:58

well, well, let me tell you're not gonna touch back

40:00

in Miami.

40:01

Hold on, hold on, hold on, now, hold

40:03

on. Remember this game is April fourth,

40:07

Miami. It was Philly at Miami.

40:09

There's a chance Joel and Bed could

40:12

be back by then. Why

40:15

wouldn't they switch it back? And so I

40:17

again, I contacted some hierarchies

40:19

and they are I just

40:21

want to let them know, Hey, let's

40:23

not rule out.

40:25

Are you saying you think there's a chance Joel Embid

40:27

could be back in early April?

40:31

Slight? Very slight, very

40:34

slight. But listen, I'm telling

40:36

you, I'm

40:38

telling the hierarchy come on now, let's

40:41

not you know, let's come on, let's give us time.

40:43

Be patient. You know I don't just leave.

40:45

Be patient. That could be a big game. Joelan

40:48

Bid back with Philly. Miami is playing

40:50

well, let's not get too hasty now.

40:52

So are you basically telling me that you're you're

40:54

not going to be in Dallas that night.

40:57

I'm telling you I don't want to be in Dallas that night.

40:59

I don't know what I will be. That's

41:03

what I'm telling you.

41:04

The last time came to Dallas,

41:07

I sent him to an A plus steakhouse. Now

41:10

he won't even come to my city. He's asking

41:12

to be reassigned to avoid coming

41:15

to the two one four.

41:17

Stei Miami April fourth,

41:19

that's around spring break in Miami.

41:23

Stei. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, there's

41:25

just no there's no competing against that man.

41:27

Come on, now, you should You should understand,

41:30

goodness sakes, you

41:36

understand everybody else know where I'm coming from.

41:38

All right, Chris Hanes, Before

41:40

you say anything else, I think we're going to put a

41:42

bow on this one.

41:43

But we covered some good ground here.

41:46

Unless I just want to am I my cutting

41:48

this off too soon? Is there anything else that.

41:50

You need to say or discuss before

41:52

we go?

41:57

M my

42:00

team in my Filipino league, we made it to the

42:02

final four. I actually set you my

42:04

stats from the last game. I was

42:06

Player of the week in the last

42:09

the last weekend's game.

42:10

Wait a second, Wait a second, wait a second. First

42:13

of all, I misread what you said.

42:15

I didn't realize that the twenty five

42:17

next to your name was your point total and not your

42:19

jersey. As

42:22

our eagle eyed producer producer

42:24

Ryan Music spotted a teammate

42:26

of yours, Liam Mecdo.

42:29

Is that his name? Yes, he

42:31

had thirty four? So how did you win player

42:34

of the week? Who's voting on this?

42:37

Let me explain stot I mean, Lember reaching

42:39

my stat line again? Twenty five points,

42:43

eleven rebounds, eight assists,

42:46

aight assists somebody's

42:48

going to score off of those eight assists.

42:51

And it was Liam Leon.

42:55

Not yes,

42:58

all those I can't say.

42:59

It's well, the rebounds

43:01

that assists were not in the box score that we saw. We

43:03

only saw points.

43:04

Yes, no, no, see Stein,

43:07

that's why you don't be opening the message. Ryan,

43:09

loose, Ryan, get on here, set them

43:11

straight.

43:12

Or maybe or maybe I just maybe I cannot

43:14

read is the real the real message

43:17

here?

43:17

I was with you, Stein when I first looked

43:19

at this graphic that he sent

43:21

us. I only saw the twenty five points

43:24

and the final score, and then it's at

43:26

the very very bottom, twenty

43:29

five points, eleven rebounds, eight assists, Player

43:31

of the Week, Week six.

43:32

Christy, Look up and look at the pride

43:34

with which he is beaming right now.

43:36

Just look at this man. Look at this man. Look

43:39

at this man. The number

43:42

he told a story about getting.

43:43

He told a story about getting KD on his podcast,

43:46

his first podcast ever, so good

43:48

and so explosive that every other outlet

43:50

that covers the NBA had to credit him.

43:52

He wasn't smiling that big, not even

43:55

close.

43:55

When we were talking about close, We're talking

43:57

about twenty twenty five eleven in

44:00

ate in a rec League game, and he looks like

44:02

he looks like the proudest papa

44:04

in the world, like he just became

44:06

a father or something.

44:08

Stein people lie, numbers,

44:11

don't That's all I'm showing you, right,

44:13

Oh my goodness, That's all I'm showing you.

44:15

So we made we made it due to my performance

44:18

player of the Week. We made it

44:20

to the final four and we

44:23

play at nine to twenty. We win

44:25

that game. We playing the championship game

44:27

at noon. So I'm I've

44:29

got here back home today. I'm

44:32

gonna take a nap after this pod. I'm

44:34

tired. I'm gonna go to the gym, get

44:37

some shots up, may run a few games

44:39

here, but I'm gonna get ready.

44:40

For you can't tonight. But if

44:42

you get hurt, I'm.

44:43

Not gonna play. I'm not gonna play hard. It's just like shoot

44:46

around, you know, shoot around, shoot around.

44:48

That's all shoot around. The shoot around shoot

44:50

around is not playing.

44:52

Yeah, let's you know, just mo I'll just

44:54

roam around the floor. You know, I won't

44:56

be a big factors. Just get some shots up, get

44:59

a little cardio.

45:00

So you got to play at nine in the morning the

45:03

morning.

45:04

And so by the time we do our next pot.

45:07

I will either be a champion or

45:11

I will be a chump.

45:13

You guys have made the final four before in this

45:15

league.

45:16

No, this the first time we did this.

45:19

You're talking about the Sacramento Rec League, not

45:21

the Filipino League. The Philipino

45:24

League. No a, Stein,

45:26

we have a chance to make history because

45:28

we had a really bad regular season. I missed

45:31

like two or three games because of travel schedule.

45:34

So we're the lowest seed. We're the sixth

45:36

seed. So the sixth seed

45:39

made it all the way to the final four. And

45:41

the team that we're playing at nine to twenty Stein, we

45:44

beat them during the regular season by twenty.

45:48

So you're basically in the title game.

45:50

I'm not see. That's what you don't do, Stein.

45:52

You do not disrespect the opponent. You

45:55

don't do that.

45:55

That's what we do on this pod. We try to get you in trouble,

45:58

lead.

45:58

You, and you don't do that. You

46:01

don't disrespect the opponent. Man, you'll

46:03

know what can happen. The basketball guys

46:05

will come for you. But no, we're feeling very

46:08

confident about what we can accomplish

46:10

if we all come together for the common goal. And

46:12

I'm gonna deliver before the game a Mike

46:15

Michael Malone type pregame

46:19

speech to get us riled

46:21

up, which means I'm cussing everybody

46:23

out before the game because

46:25

we got we gotta get as.

46:26

Long as you end with one, two, three together whatever

46:29

you.

46:29

Say, Oh

46:33

yeah, okay, wait.

46:35

Well, Producer Ryan, I think we can truly say

46:37

we covered many many bases today. Everyone.

46:40

As always, please remember follow

46:43

us, rate the show, review the show.

46:45

We'd love a five star

46:48

review from you on Apple podcasts or

46:50

Spotify wherever you

46:52

get your podcasts. Chris

46:54

and I am producer Ryan will be back

46:56

together again as

46:58

soon as possible after.

47:02

The playoffs. Do you even know the name of your team? I was gonna

47:04

say, I don't know the name of your team. What's

47:06

the name of your team? He's looking

47:09

it.

47:09

Up for why

47:13

you ratting me out? Star? The

47:16

name of my team is Genebra.

47:19

I don't know what that means. And

47:21

and uh.

47:23

You're not curious. You didn't ask anybody like,

47:25

hey, what's our team name?

47:28

All I want to know is who's on my team? That's

47:30

all. And then I'll take it from there.

47:33

All right, Well, try to remember the speech

47:35

because we might ask you to. If

47:38

you guys win it all, we might ask you to like redeliver

47:40

it to Ryan and I.

47:42

Okay, all right, I can't

47:44

wait. I had to be a championship next

47:47

part.

47:47

All right, everyone, thanks for joining us, and

47:51

again we will be back very very

47:53

soon with yet another edition of

47:56

This League Uncut.

47:57

As we draw ever closer to

48:00

the NBA. Thanks for being with.

48:02

Us, and

48:06

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

48:09

This League uncutt is an iHeartRadio production

48:13

Put a Suck a Locket Chris

48:17

Hanes and Mark Stein