0:05

The NBA's version of

0:07

March Madness, which really means the

0:09

night to night jockeying for playoff

0:11

positioning in both the West

0:14

and the Eastern Conference. Plus

0:17

a deep dive on the intricacies

0:20

of voting Most Valuable Player,

0:22

Coach of the Year, and other year

0:25

end award categories, and

0:28

a Pat Bev story as only

0:31

Chris Haynes can tell it all.

0:33

Coming up next on the latest edition

0:36

of This League Uncut.

0:52

Welcome to this league,

0:53

to the

0:55

rule of twenty four hour NBA news,

1:00

Chris Haynes, Cork

1:03

Stein. It's some time this

1:09

leagueln Cut is underway. In on fire.

1:13

This should be a good one. Hey,

1:15

everyone, welcome in to another

1:18

edition of This League Uncut.

1:21

Mark Stein here with Chris Haynes.

1:24

March Madness is fully

1:27

underway. But I'm

1:31

not sure that either one of

1:34

your co hosts on

1:36

this trusty podcast can

1:40

bring too much insight to you.

1:43

On the collegiate front, I

1:46

am an absolute NBA snob

1:48

who once Cal State Fullerton season

1:50

is over, my college season is over. So

1:53

my college season ended March

1:55

ninth. I do not fill out

1:57

a bracket. Chris Haynes, how

2:00

is your bracket looking.

2:02

There's nothing on it. I haven't filled out

2:04

a bracket. I don't think

2:07

I ever have. I just, you

2:10

know, it's cool to see all the hoopla surrounding

2:13

March Madness and seeing all these contests

2:15

and all that stuff, and I like to

2:17

hear about it. I like to hear about how everybody's

2:19

bracket is. But I've never participated

2:22

in one. I did want two years ago,

2:24

a few years ago, I wanted to start

2:26

a trend with my wife. She

2:28

doesn't watch college basketball at all. I

2:30

wanted to start a trending with her and

2:33

where we would you know,

2:35

have our bracket and the winner of the bracket would

2:37

would make the other do something that the other one

2:40

once done. But we never got

2:42

that off the ground. So but yeah,

2:44

I mean it's fun for everybody else, but I just

2:46

never really got involved into it.

2:48

Yeah, we're kind of I probably should move on because

2:50

we're people love

2:52

this time of year so much, and I do not do

2:55

not want to bring people down.

2:56

We're we're being with a couple

2:58

of grints.

2:59

And so look when my school's in

3:01

it. You know, cal State Fullerton

3:03

has made the NCAA Tournament four times

3:05

in school history, three times in the twenty

3:07

first century. Whenever we

3:09

make it, the three times we've made it, most

3:12

recently, I was

3:14

there and proud to be in attendance. The first

3:16

time we made it, I was just

3:18

a young kid, so still years away

3:20

from actually attending cal

3:22

State Fullerton. But yeah,

3:26

let's just politely say that neither one of us

3:28

is a college hoops expert. So let's move

3:30

on to the NBA's

3:33

version of March Madness,

3:35

which certainly isn't

3:39

known for capturing the

3:41

nation's attention with the same fervor.

3:43

But for our

3:46

jobs, this is a very important time of year

3:48

because what's really happening. There's

3:51

the jockeying for playoff seatings, which

3:53

is a night to night scoreboard watch that

3:55

is very important. Last night,

3:57

we're recording this on Friday afternoon. Last

4:00

night I was watching

4:04

Utah in Dallas to play the Mavericks

4:06

and just a stunning result the Sacramento

4:09

Kings on the second night of a back to back. But

4:11

even so, you would have never expected

4:14

Sacramento to lose at Washington,

4:17

but the Kings did, and the Mavericks,

4:19

with a win over the tanking

4:22

Utah Jazz, were able to move up and take

4:24

the number six spot, which is not

4:27

just surprising, but look, it's only

4:29

one night, it's only one game for both

4:31

teams, but leading into next

4:33

week in your neighborhood, in your backyard,

4:36

the Mavericks play the Kings in

4:38

a huge two game baseball

4:40

series. Huge for the purposes

4:43

of that race for number six. In

4:45

the West. The two kinds of March madness that I'm

4:47

really focused on. It's the jockeying for the seedings

4:49

like that, and then the MVP race.

4:51

This is when the MVP race really

4:54

comes in to focus. We'll get to the

4:56

MVP stuff in a minute, but you

4:59

know, I know you're not even gonna be there. You're on the

5:01

road next week, so you are gonna miss I

5:03

mean, these are two huge games the way I look

5:05

at it. Really in the West, we're talking

5:07

about three races. Really in the West,

5:10

you could even say maybe four, because

5:12

the Houston Rockets insane. Even

5:14

after losing Alpa

5:17

and Shngoon, the Rockets have won

5:19

seven in a row. Okay, some of

5:21

that is favorable schedule, but the

5:23

Rockets have kind of thrust themselves into

5:26

the playing race when it was thought that their

5:28

season was over. So we got these three races

5:32

in the West, the race

5:34

for the number one seed thunder

5:36

Nuggets, Timberwolves. Then

5:39

there's this battle for four or five with

5:41

the Clippers and the Pelicans, and the Pelicans

5:43

had got within a half game

5:46

I think, or at least got within one game

5:48

of the Clippers, and now

5:50

the Pelicans are dealing with the terrible

5:53

news that Brandon Ingram just went down with a hyper

5:55

extended knee and will be out for at least

5:57

two weeks before he's evaluated again.

6:00

Could have been worse THI yeah, for sure,

6:02

that was Yeah, that looked bad.

6:05

It looked bad. So yeah, I mean, if it's only a

6:07

matter of weeks and if Ingram

6:10

can indeed come back, not to say he'll be back

6:12

in two weeks, but reevaluated in two weeks,

6:15

certainly that was best case

6:17

scenario news for the Pelicans. Then

6:20

we got this race from six through ten

6:22

and again if we want to extend it even a little further,

6:25

nine, ten, eleven, because Houston is now

6:28

decided that their season is not over and

6:30

even without Shnghu and the Rockets are still

6:32

trying to steak into the

6:34

play in zone. If

6:36

I had to ask you,

6:39

you know, who do you think gets the

6:41

sixth seed in the West, which

6:44

is so important because it keeps you out of the

6:46

play in tournament. So you got Dallas, Phoenix,

6:49

and Sacramento. Those really are the

6:52

three teams in battle for

6:55

six through eight. Then

6:57

the Lakers and the Warriors. It just doesn't look like

6:59

they're to be able to lift themselves out of the nine

7:01

to ten range. So you

7:04

know, if you asked me before last night, I would have

7:06

said Sacramento. But that was a bad loss

7:08

for the Kings, who on top of everything, the Kings

7:10

have also lost Kevin Herder in definitely

7:13

to a separated shoulder.

7:16

It's tough. It's tough. I mean,

7:18

you got the Mavericks playing playing

7:20

really well, the Pelicans

7:23

with the brandon ingram you whether how to ask going the effect

7:27

the rest of their season. Phoenix,

7:30

you just I can't get a firm

7:32

grasp on if they're

7:34

legit or not. They're good, they're

7:36

a threat, but you know, well

7:39

they play it consistent enough basketball. Who

7:41

is last threats to get into

7:43

that sixth spot? I don't know. So if

7:46

I had to guess the

7:48

Pelicans suffering that injury, Phoenix

7:51

being kind of hit and miss,

7:55

the Kings, I

7:57

will probably lean towards saying

8:00

I'll probably give the ads to Dallas. They're

8:03

playing really good basketball right now. I

8:06

had Jason Kidd on my Bleacher

8:08

Report live stream.

8:09

I was just gonna say, that's the reason, that's the reason you're

8:11

picking the Mavericks at six, because you on

8:13

your live stream.

8:15

No, I'm looking at I'm looking at that stile,

8:17

I'm looking at the Pelicans. I'm looking at the Suns

8:19

and the Kings, and the Dallas

8:22

Mavericks are playing better ball than all three of those

8:24

teams. So I think

8:26

I have to go there. I just don't have

8:28

the comp Like, I don't know camp

8:30

Pelicans sustain what they've been doing.

8:33

Potentially possibly the Suns

8:35

again, they you know, they've been hit and

8:37

miss. And the Kings right now, I don't know what. I

8:39

don't know what's going on. So I think

8:41

Dallas is probably the easiest bet

8:44

right now. But you know, I don't know for

8:46

sure, but I like the way they're playing.

8:49

One thing about the Mavericks, man, they're athletic. Now

8:51

they got that aerial threat, you got

8:54

Kyrie and Lucas. Seems like they figured

8:56

out a good balance of how to

8:58

attack angst each other.

9:01

So they're looking good right now. But yeah,

9:03

I am. I am kind of pissed

9:06

at the fact that I won't be able to

9:09

be in attendance for the MAVs Kings

9:12

Matt Day next week.

9:14

The schedule is bizarre

9:17

that basically on

9:19

Monday night, Dallas

9:22

and Sacramento are both playing, the Mavericks

9:25

are in Utah,

9:27

and then Tuesday night, on the

9:29

second night of a back to back for both teams,

9:31

the Kings will host the Mavericks for the first

9:33

time. I think you will be in

9:36

far away Milwaukee, your second

9:38

home to cover Lakers

9:40

at Bucks on Tuesday night. Miss second,

9:43

you will miss the first of those games. But then

9:46

there's two days off. The Mavericks have

9:48

two full off days in Sacramento,

9:51

and then the teams play again on

9:54

Friday night. Now, Sacramento

9:56

has already won the first two meetings in Dallas,

9:59

and so the Kings only to win one of these two

10:01

games to clinch the head to head tiebreaker.

10:04

But again, there are so many interesting

10:06

little intricacies

10:10

when we look at this race,

10:12

and just just to hit you with a few of them,

10:15

because this this actually shocked me. My

10:17

sub stacking pal Tom Ziller came up

10:19

with this one, which I was not aware of.

10:21

Only three teams in the league this season

10:24

have lost to Charlotte,

10:27

Detroit and Washington. Charlotte,

10:31

Detroit and Washington. Only three teams

10:33

have lost at least once two

10:36

those three teams at the bottom

10:38

of the.

10:39

Standings are these are these good

10:41

teams.

10:42

Only one of them is Portland Brooklyn.

10:45

And

10:48

sorry, sorry, I didn't know you. I did

10:50

not want to do trivia time.

10:52

Yeah, I did want to do trivia, but I

10:55

might have got I might have gotten

10:57

sacer Midal because you said Zilla.

10:59

Yeah, yeah, probably

11:01

that's that just happened. But like, if

11:04

Sacramento doesn't get

11:06

the sixth seed, they're really

11:08

going to point to those losses to

11:11

the Hornets, Pistons, and Wizards

11:13

at what probably cost them. And

11:15

now when you go to Tankathon and you

11:18

look at remaining strength of schedule, Phoenix,

11:21

with twelve games to go, has

11:24

the second hardest remaining schedule in

11:26

the league in terms of opponent winning percentage

11:28

five seventy four. Sacramento is third

11:31

thirteen games left for the Kings a

11:33

five sixty two opponent

11:35

winning percentage. Dallas is all the

11:37

way at number twenty two. The

11:39

Mavericks remaining schedule. In

11:42

their final twelve games, the opponent winning

11:44

percentage is four to seventy seven

11:46

and Dallas needs a nine to three

11:49

finish to get to fifty

11:51

wins. So it's funny that you were

11:53

talking about the Pelicans before because I had basically,

11:56

you know, the Pelicans have been so good

11:58

since February, first of the

12:00

best teams in the league, with Zion

12:02

Williamson playing as

12:05

well as he ever has and most importantly

12:07

just playing just being out there. Zion

12:09

Williamson, as we're recording this,

12:12

has played in fifty eight games.

12:14

His career high is sixty one, so

12:17

he is on pace to set

12:19

a career high in games play.

12:23

People will obviously point to the fact

12:25

that his rebounding numbers are still

12:28

sub part. Zion is only

12:30

pulling down five point eight rebounds

12:32

per game, that is a career low, but

12:35

the balls in his hands more. He's up

12:37

to five assists a game. Scoring's

12:39

a little bit down. His minutes are a little bit down. He's

12:41

only playing thirty one minutes

12:43

a game compared to thirty

12:45

three minutes the previous

12:48

two seasons, and there was a season

12:50

in there that he lost completely to injury.

12:53

But they've cut his minutes down just a

12:55

little bit, and they're getting the

12:57

most all around productive

12:59

play that the Pelicans have ever had

13:01

for Zion Williamson, and he's headed for a

13:03

career high in games played and his

13:06

first playoff appearance. But I had the Pelicans,

13:08

I basically had just considered them. They

13:10

were going for fourth in the West

13:12

to try to bump the Clippers down. And now

13:15

with this brandon Ingram injury, that

13:17

could drag the Pelicans

13:20

back down with the MAVs

13:22

and the Kings and the Suns in

13:24

the six to eight race, because

13:27

the Mavericks, as

13:29

of the Friday standings were only a game and

13:31

a half behind New Orleans. I mean, this is what I'm talking

13:34

about. This is again, It's not the

13:36

kind of March madness that leads to office

13:38

pools all over the country and

13:41

commercials on your TV all day long.

13:43

But every night in the NBA you

13:46

have to dial into the standings because

13:48

weird stuff is happening and things are changing.

13:51

A couple of weeks ago, Stein, you

13:53

know, talking about the Sacramento Kings. I

13:56

don't have the numbers on me at hand right

13:58

now, but you know they struggle against

14:01

lower level opponents, and

14:03

they exceed against the high level

14:05

opponents. So my brother, who Mark

14:08

Kings, who covers the Kings for the Sacramento

14:10

Observer newspaper, he

14:13

asks, Dearon Fox a couple

14:15

of weeks ago, does it concern

14:18

you guys that you guys

14:20

don't seem to play

14:23

with the ferber needed and energy

14:25

level needed to beat these lower

14:27

level opponents, but then you guys rise

14:30

to theication against high

14:32

echelon teams. And Fox

14:35

said, yeah, there is a concern. You know, we

14:37

definitely need to

14:39

take our opponents seriously. But uh, you

14:42

know, on the other end, you know, we're playing good

14:45

against high level teams. So if

14:47

we get in the playoffs, I guess we'll

14:49

be playing good because

14:52

all the days of the playoffs. So

14:55

Kings just want to get into the playoffs. They feel like they would

14:57

be in a good shot. They just got to get

14:59

past the the Washington's and the Toronto's

15:02

and the Charlottees. Once they get past

15:04

that, they feel like they'll be in good shape

15:07

when they have to face Denver and OKC

15:10

in Minnesota.

15:12

Well, I'm not sure that I can

15:15

echo that pretty optimistic

15:17

view from the Yaron Fox, but look, he is correct

15:20

what you cited about your brothers reporting

15:23

and just the Kings in general. Look,

15:25

it is true there are only eight teams

15:27

in the league with winning records

15:30

against five hundred or better opposition,

15:33

and the Kings are one of those eight teams. The Kings

15:35

are twenty two and twenty one against

15:37

five hundred or better opposition, And again

15:40

that's true, there are only eight such teams.

15:42

Sacramento can feel good about

15:44

being one of those eight. But like I said,

15:47

if they end up seventh

15:49

or eighth or just and look,

15:52

if they end up seventh or eighth, they're gonna have to go

15:54

through the playing round, and that playing round

15:57

is brutal. They're

15:59

really going to rue the fact that they

16:01

dropped games to the Charlotte

16:04

Hornets and the Detroit Pistons and

16:06

on Wednesday night in Washington to

16:08

the Wizards, like you just you know,

16:10

those are particularly damaging

16:13

losses. And no

16:16

bracket here but scoreboard

16:18

watching, and I feel like I click on the

16:20

NBA standings like ten

16:22

times a day looking for hints,

16:25

clues, trends

16:29

that might tell us what's going to happen next,

16:32

because I mean, this is another crazy stat.

16:34

The Chicago Bulls thirty

16:37

four and thirty five before they lost

16:39

Thursday night to Houston, so

16:42

that loss dropped the Bulls to thirty four

16:44

and thirty six. But Chicago

16:48

is now flirting with getting over five

16:50

hundred if the Bulls can

16:52

finish eight

16:56

and four, which is

16:58

probably optimistic given their injury

17:01

woes. No Zach Lavine, no

17:03

Patrick Williams, obviously no Lonzo

17:05

Ball, although this week our guy

17:07

Casey Johnson and Chicago reported

17:09

that there's some kind of the

17:11

first rumblings of positivity about

17:14

Lonzo coming back next season, which I think, obviously

17:16

people would love to see. But if let's just say

17:18

the Bulls can muster an

17:21

eight and four finish, if they do,

17:24

that will give the NBA nineteen

17:26

teams with a winning record this season.

17:29

That would be a single season record. There

17:31

has never been more than nineteen

17:33

teams in the NBA with

17:36

a winning record in one season. I mean, even with

17:38

eighteen, that would tie the records. I mean not just

17:40

think about that that it's a thirty team league and

17:43

there's a chance that nineteen of the

17:45

thirty teams are going

17:47

to post a winning record this season.

17:49

It just kind of also shows you what the

17:51

bottom of the league the Charlottes, the Detroits,

17:54

the Washingtons, the San Antonios have just

17:56

been so bad and

17:58

have struggled so much. You got through Portland

18:00

in there as well. Whereas in Memphis,

18:03

I think Memphis, which has had

18:05

this hollacious string of injuries,

18:07

obviously John Morant only playing in nine

18:09

games, the Grizzlies play super

18:11

hard and are a tougher out, But these

18:14

the bottom five have just been such

18:17

bottom feeders that it's certainly contributed

18:20

to the possibility that night. I

18:22

can't believe nineteen teams in the league the

18:24

winning record, it's probably gonna end up eighteen. I

18:26

don't think Chicago really has

18:28

an eight and four finish in them, but let's see, let's

18:30

see if they can surprise us.

18:32

I have a question for you regarding

18:34

that. So the eighteen and nineteen, whatever

18:37

number it is, do you think

18:40

the play in format has anything to do with

18:42

that?

18:43

Well, I

18:46

think yeah. I mean, I guess you would have to say more

18:48

teams are trying. You know, teams

18:51

that are in range of

18:53

the tenth seed certainly have

18:55

more incentive to play

18:59

all the way through the eighty two game finish

19:01

line. And that's one of the things that the league definitely

19:03

prioritized and why the league loves

19:07

the playing tournament because you know, the

19:10

NBA loves to put out

19:12

lines that say, so, what is it now? Eleven

19:15

teams in the West, and

19:18

this is actually, you know what, it's actually low for this

19:20

season. Normally at this point

19:22

in the season, you know, the league

19:24

would love to say there are still twenty four or

19:26

twenty five teams who are still alive,

19:29

and it really is only

19:31

there are only twenty one teams available

19:34

for the twenty postseason spots. In the

19:36

West, you know, again, Utah

19:39

has you know, they are not trying to

19:41

win games right now, Memphis, Portland,

19:43

San Antonio, they're already out of it. So in the

19:45

West, Houston has made

19:47

this unexpected surge that

19:50

they're still in the play in mix. But

19:52

in the East, you know, we know

19:54

our ten teams. Mathematically,

19:57

you could say Brooklyn is still in the race

19:59

for the number ten seed, but the

20:01

Nets were four and a half games

20:04

behind number ten Atlanta entering

20:06

Friday's play and the Nets

20:08

have been trending in the wrong direction since

20:11

December. So again, mathematically,

20:13

the Nets are still in the race

20:15

for a top ten spot. But I

20:17

really think in the East, our

20:20

top ten is decided, and again

20:22

in the West, I think most people

20:24

thought that the top ten was

20:26

decided until the Rockets kind

20:29

of went on this late surge, and I have to say, like

20:32

Coach of the Year, I don't think emy

20:34

Udoka is gonna win, but to have

20:36

Houston this competitive

20:39

this late in the season, he

20:42

should at least be mentioned. You know, Coach

20:44

of the Year I

20:47

think is probably I

20:49

would say Orlando's Jamal Moseley, Oklahoma

20:53

City's Mark Dagnault, and Minnesota's

20:55

Chris Finch. I think they're probably at the

20:57

top, But I would say Willie

20:59

Green in New Orleans, Emi Udoka,

21:02

and Houston JB. Bickerstaff

21:04

in Cleveland. I think these guys deserve

21:08

shout outs too. And then you

21:10

know Joe Missoula kind of like Jason

21:13

Tatum's MVP case. The

21:15

Celtics are so good that in a weird

21:17

way, that's probably gonna work against Joe

21:19

Miszoula in the Coach of the Year chase.

21:23

When it comes to Coach of the Year, we typically

21:25

see teams that overachieve

21:28

in surprise and win more

21:30

than they were supposed to. It's it's

21:33

rarely given to a

21:35

team with the runaway best record.

21:37

But I guess we'll see. I guess we'll see how it plays

21:40

out.

21:41

All right. So I'm glad you brought that up.

21:43

I agree with what you said just now, and

21:46

it reminds me of a conundrum

21:48

that I've been thinking

21:52

about contemplating over the last couple of days.

21:54

So this new award has been around for last

21:57

few years, the Clutch Player

22:00

of the Year award. Right, So,

22:06

just like all other awards, different

22:08

writers or different coaches

22:10

or who's ever voting, they

22:13

have different requirements, They're looking at different things,

22:15

they evaluate the game differently, they're looking

22:17

at different metrics, so to each his

22:19

own. But with this clutch

22:23

award, right, so you got leaders,

22:25

you have players who are the leaders

22:27

in clutch points. I believe Steph

22:29

is number one. I want to

22:31

say DeMar Derozi number two, Damian

22:34

Lillard maybe three. But

22:36

my question to you Stein, obviously

22:41

there's value in having the most

22:43

clutch points, but

22:47

are you really clutch if

22:50

your team doesn't make the playoffs,

22:53

Because the way I'm looking at it, I would

22:55

look at it. Yeah, clutch points definitely

22:58

you have to have. You have to be top five

23:00

clutch points. But then I'm looking at your

23:02

team as well, and

23:04

so how how do you think most

23:06

people are how do you evaluate

23:09

that role?

23:10

Stan normally, as you know, I

23:12

like to think that I've got an answer for anything

23:15

you're gonna ask me. But it's interesting, I have not

23:17

officially voted since twenty seventeen.

23:20

The Clutch Award did not exist

23:23

when I did it, So I have to confess I haven't

23:25

given huge thought to

23:28

the Clutch Player of the Year, which is now heading

23:30

into year two, I believe because

23:33

I never had to do it before, and so I

23:35

didn't, you know, and then last season, I

23:39

just remember Dearon Fox was a runaway

23:42

candidate in that award, Like it was just so obvious.

23:44

Fox's clutch numbers were jump

23:47

off the page, and so it was so obvious that

23:49

he was gonna win. But there

23:51

has been a lot of Derozen talk in

23:53

the Clutch Player of the Year conversation.

23:56

And you know, your point is obviously

23:59

valid because the Bulls, whether

24:01

or not they can get to forty two

24:03

and forty at best, they're

24:05

going to be a playing team, so they might

24:07

not even make the playoffs. And then yeah,

24:10

there's your you know, there's your

24:12

conundrum. Should DeMar DeRozan be

24:14

the Clutch Player of the Year if

24:17

the Bulls don't even make the playoffs

24:20

and ballots have to be turned in April

24:22

fifteenth this year is not only National

24:24

Tax Day, April fifteenth

24:26

is also the day that voters

24:29

have to turn their ballots in the day after

24:31

the regular season, so the ballots

24:33

for all the regular season awards will

24:35

be turned in before the

24:38

play and round takes place, so we won't

24:40

even know if the Bulls are

24:42

a playoff team. I tend

24:44

to think DeRozan is going to win it. There's just been

24:46

I just keep hearing his name for

24:49

this award more and more. But I

24:52

don't know that I have a great answer on this one.

24:55

Yeah, that's that's one that I'm stuck

24:57

with. And I haven't voted in the last few

24:59

years, but I will vote this year.

25:02

You will, so one there will be There

25:04

will be one official end

25:06

of season awards ballot cast by

25:08

the cast of this league uncut.

25:12

Yes, I'll represent both of us.

25:14

I haven't did much digging on

25:17

numbers in stats and metrics yet,

25:20

but I'm just trying to figure out

25:22

for this award,

25:26

should winning be a high priority

25:28

or not because you

25:30

can score a ton of points in

25:32

the clutch and your team still

25:35

loses. You

25:37

know, you can score a lot of

25:39

points from the five minute mark to

25:41

the two minute mark, but the last two minutes

25:43

or the last one minute you

25:45

go over.

25:46

Well. Look, I think winning and success

25:49

should and has to be a priority. If we're

25:51

talking about clutchness, can't we make

25:53

the case that the Bulls have been shorthanded

25:56

all year long, no Lonzo

25:58

ball at all, barely

26:01

any Zach Levine,

26:03

and so DeMar de Rosen has had to

26:06

carry a huge load without

26:09

the two guys that were supposed

26:12

to start next to him in the backcourt. And

26:16

I would say he's been clutch enough to deserve

26:18

it, even though the Bulls are again

26:21

just a thirty four and thirty six team.

26:24

Okay, I'm not disqualifying Jamar. I'm

26:27

not. I'm trying to for the first time

26:29

having to vote and evaluate this

26:32

award process, Like I'm trying to figure

26:34

out, like what do I really value

26:36

or what should be valued when it comes to this

26:38

award. So, using your

26:40

example, you're saying, hey, Jamar

26:43

is doing a hell of a job with the team

26:46

that he has available because a lot of their big guns

26:49

haven't been able to suit

26:51

up. Okay, now, take a player who's

26:53

averaging thirty

26:57

five for the season, is clearly

26:59

probably the best player in the league, but

27:03

his team hasn't shown up.

27:06

He had key players injured, But

27:09

you can make a case that he's the MVP because

27:11

he's the best player. So I don't I

27:13

don't know that that Like, I don't know that I buy

27:15

credence to that argument stint of

27:18

a person that is doing you. You play

27:20

with what you have, You play with

27:22

what you have. I don't know that I'm evaluating based

27:25

off of who's not in the

27:27

lineup. You play with what you have

27:29

and the results speak. So

27:32

again, I'm not disqualifying tomorrow. I'm trying

27:34

to figure out, Okay,

27:36

how do I evaluate this

27:40

award? How do I evaluate, like

27:43

what really matters?

27:45

I'm glad that you voting and not me.

27:50

I'm trying, you know, I want to you know, I want to

27:52

do my due diligence, that's all. This

27:55

is just a tough one because if

27:57

you you know, you could be clutched on again

27:59

said you can be clutched, but your

28:01

team is not in the playoff picture. I'm

28:04

like, were you clutch enough, Like

28:06

I don't know, I'm just thinking out loud. Just think it out loud.

28:08

Look, clutch is a hard one. And again

28:11

I'm fully admitting here that I

28:13

haven't studied it super

28:15

closely or formulated what my

28:17

philosophy would be on it because I've never

28:19

had to do it. Whereas MVP,

28:22

even though I have not voted, this will be the seventh

28:24

year in a row that I haven't officially voted.

28:27

But I do have a

28:29

better idea when it comes to what I consider

28:32

the six traditional

28:35

individual awards that I've always

28:37

voted on MVP Coach

28:39

of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Defensive

28:42

Player of the Year, most

28:45

Improved Player of the Year, and

28:47

six Man of the Year. So I'm much

28:50

better versed in those

28:52

six and I'm gonna let you figure

28:55

out Clutch Player of the Year. You

28:59

you can come up with formula, you

29:01

can come up with you.

29:02

I appreciate that.

29:03

This league uncut formula, unclutch

29:05

Player of the Year MVP.

29:07

Now I did earlier this week, I did

29:10

a whole tvessay for

29:12

Bally Sports Southwest on the MVP

29:15

race. I really feel as

29:17

we've now moved inside a

29:19

month to GOO basically,

29:22

as of Monday, there were four

29:24

full weeks left in the regular season,

29:26

so we're almost down now to

29:29

three full weeks left in the regular

29:31

season. My feeling at

29:34

this point, I think only

29:36

three guys can win MVP. I think Jokers

29:39

in the lead. SGA

29:42

is his closest pursuer, and if

29:45

the Thunder end up with the number one

29:47

seed in the West, that is certainly

29:49

going to help SGA's case and maybe

29:51

sway some votes away from the Joker. And

29:54

then I think Luca is the only other candidate

29:57

who could get in there and

29:59

real realistically, even though the Mavericks

30:01

had a slew of injuries

30:04

for the first part of the season before

30:06

the trade deadline, before they changed their

30:09

roster. And you know, this

30:12

speaks to some of what you were talking about with the Clutch

30:14

Player of the Year award. You know, should Luca be

30:16

punished for that that he was playing with

30:18

such a severely understrength

30:21

roster around him, because Lucas gonna

30:23

win his first scoring title. But

30:26

typically, you know, I hear a lot

30:28

of talk the question gets posed often in

30:30

Dallas. What seed do the

30:32

Mavericks have to be for Luca

30:34

to win the MVP Award? And I have to say,

30:36

in my experience, at least voters

30:39

my age, or what I would consider my

30:42

generation, I never really

30:44

heard voters focusing

30:46

on the seeding, whether a team was fourth, fifth,

30:48

sixth, seven, third. The

30:51

bar always was fifty wins. Does

30:53

a player have fifty wins to

30:56

be in the MVP conversation? And Dallas,

30:58

as I mentioned before, the Mavericks would

31:00

need a nine to three finish to get

31:03

to fifty wins. But there are then the two

31:05

very recent examples that people

31:08

cite of MVPs who

31:10

were not on teams that won fifty.

31:12

One of the Jokers two MVPs, they

31:15

didn't win fifty. I'm

31:17

pretty sure that was the year though he had to play a lot

31:20

without Jamal Murray. And

31:22

then Russell Westbrook is the even

31:24

more prominent example because

31:27

Westbrook won MVP on a forty

31:30

seven win Thunder team the year

31:32

after Kevin Durant left, and

31:34

of course, Russell Westbrook averaged a triple

31:36

double. He was the first player to average

31:39

a triple double going all the way back

31:41

to the Big O Oscar Robertson, and

31:43

with forty seven wins and a triple double

31:45

average, that was enough for

31:48

Westbrook to get through

31:50

and win the MVP.

31:52

So I think for the

31:54

most part time for me, I

31:57

would speak for me, and I think a lot of voters feel

31:59

this way. That you know, winning is big,

32:01

winning is its significant. That's why most

32:05

should I say most Without knowing the numbers,

32:08

I would say a lot of MVPs

32:10

have come from teams who hold

32:13

the number one seed in either conference

32:15

whatever. So with that

32:17

being said, winning is important. But

32:20

there have been seasons where

32:23

as you mentioned, the Joker won with a team

32:25

that was in the high

32:27

forties and wins Russell Westbrook

32:30

his year. But I think those years

32:32

right. Whenever an MVP

32:34

comes from a team that's in

32:36

the forties in the win category,

32:39

typically, to me, that means

32:41

that there just wasn't a clear cut

32:46

another MVP candidate out there,

32:49

Like it was open. It's wide open, just

32:52

like this one. I think it's pretty open.

32:54

Yeah, I think the

32:56

favorite right now is the Joker,

33:00

but there's room. Like we see

33:02

scenarios if this played out,

33:04

if this played if this situation played

33:06

out this way, if

33:08

this other situation over in the East plays out

33:10

that way, then we can see this player

33:13

leap fraud the

33:15

Joker hypothetically, right, so we

33:17

see scenarios of which where

33:20

things can happen, you know, But

33:23

a lot of times when again, when you see players

33:26

that win from the team

33:28

from the mid forties and in the victory category,

33:31

a lot of times there's just not a clear cut

33:34

MVP opponent out there prospect,

33:36

I should say, so, I think that's the case.

33:39

But this year, yes, I think the Joker is

33:42

his to lose. There's

33:44

still time for him to lose it. I don't

33:46

know if he's going to lose it though, And

33:49

Luca, I don't

33:51

know. Stein I would like to give

33:54

Tatum, show Tatum some love over there,

33:57

what they're doing with Boston. You know, I

33:59

know he's not probably

34:01

in people's most people's

34:03

top three.

34:04

Yeah, how mad is he?

34:06

I wouldn't say he's mad. He

34:08

he he gave credit to

34:11

the Joker. He he actually

34:14

called him out, unprompted, called

34:16

out the Joker, said what he's doing, he's

34:18

having an unbelievable year. You can't

34:20

dismiss him. He

34:23

called out SGA as well. So

34:25

his problem is just like with a lot of other

34:28

players, it's that like he

34:30

wants to know, how are you judging? He said,

34:32

because for a long time the trend

34:34

has been the MVP is

34:37

mostly coming from the team with the best

34:39

record, and

34:42

he was like, and then something changed, He

34:44

said, so what is it now? You know? So,

34:46

and that's hard, Like, that's hard to answer

34:48

because each voter has their own

34:50

different set of requirements

34:53

that it takes to get their vote. So you know that

34:56

that's that's what he's frustrated about. But

34:58

he gave credit and

35:00

he acknowledged those two in

35:02

particular. He definitely

35:04

believes he should be in a conversation though.

35:06

All Right, I've got to do a little bit of clarifying

35:09

here because I made the mistake of trusting

35:11

my memory, which, as

35:13

you know and as listeners of the show, no, probably

35:16

never a good idea at this point because my

35:18

memory continues to fade by

35:21

the day. So it was actually the second

35:23

of Jokic's MVPs

35:26

in the twenty one to twenty two season

35:29

that the Nuggets only

35:31

won forty eight games and Jokic

35:34

won the MVP. Yokic beat out Joe

35:36

l Embiid in the twenty

35:39

twenty one to twenty two MVP race, and

35:42

the Nuggets did not have fifty

35:44

wins. They were only a six seed, So

35:47

why did Yokic win MVP

35:49

that year. It wasn't just because he

35:52

averaged twenty seven and fourteen

35:54

and eight. The Nuggets played

35:57

the twenty one to twenty two season without

36:00

Jamal Murray at all. Murray missed that

36:02

entire season, and also

36:05

they were largely without Michael Porter Junior.

36:07

So that's why again the two

36:10

times it's only happened

36:12

twice since the

36:14

early eighties. Before

36:17

Westbrook in twenty seventeen and

36:20

before the second of Jokic's

36:22

two MVPs, you had to go all

36:25

the way back to the early eighties for

36:27

an MVP who did not play

36:29

on a fifty win team, and that was Moses

36:31

Malone in Houston early nineteen

36:34

eighties. After that, every MVP

36:37

to Tatum's point came from

36:39

a fifty win team. The

36:42

two exceptions in

36:44

that forty ish year span. The two exceptions

36:47

Russell Westbrook on a forty seven

36:49

win Thunder team averaging a triple

36:52

double for the season, the first triple

36:54

double since Oscar Robertson,

36:57

and then Nikola Jokic on

37:00

a forty eight win Denver team. Okay,

37:02

fine, they were seeded sixth if you want to focus

37:04

on seedings, but they won forty

37:06

eight games, playing the entire season

37:09

without Jamal Murray his main

37:11

sidekick. So that's why Russ

37:14

and Jokic won those MVPs.

37:17

And look, I feel sympathy for Tatum

37:19

because he's had a great season, He's had a great

37:22

leadership season. And I'm

37:24

sure this isn't fair. I said similar stuff

37:26

when we were talking Coach of the Year about

37:29

Joe Mizzoula. But the Celtics

37:31

have been so good that,

37:33

just as an observer, I think it's going

37:35

to work against Tatum

37:38

in MVP voting because when you look

37:40

at Tatum's team, not only does he have an All Star

37:42

next to him and Jalen Brown, you've

37:44

got Porzingis and Drew

37:46

Holliday, former All Stars

37:48

that are flip flopping between third

37:51

and fourth best player in the league. Derek White

37:53

as your fifth best player is he's an

37:55

incredibly valuable

37:57

player as your fifth best guy.

38:00

And so I think, both for Tatum and MVP

38:02

discussion and Missoula in

38:04

Coach of the Year discussion, Boston

38:07

has such quality in its top

38:09

five to six guys and we haven't

38:12

even gotten to Al Horford as the

38:14

sixth man. Old head. My

38:17

suspicion is. It's probably going to work against

38:19

him.

38:19

Peyton Critch is pretty good too. Uh

38:22

yeah, no, it probably will. And I

38:24

think he could largely understand that. He just

38:26

wants to like, Okay, what's the criteria?

38:29

What do you guys? How are you guys evaluate?

38:31

Well, and look, he's asking the

38:33

question that voters

38:36

have been asking for decades. There is

38:38

no criteria. Yeah, you

38:40

know, you've seen the ballot, you get it. You know there

38:43

is no listed criteria. It is an

38:45

eye of the beholder. Every single

38:47

voter can bring their own rules to

38:49

it, and so there are no rules, and

38:51

it really does change season

38:54

to season, and every voter has their

38:56

own criteria. So that does complicate

38:58

the process. And I do certainly

39:01

understand Jason Tatum's frustration.

39:15

Did I tell you about my running

39:18

with Pat Bev a few days

39:20

ago? Starn? No, you did

39:22

not, So do

39:24

you remember recall because I did this,

39:27

I think we were doing this podcast then we

39:29

might we might have missed it. So

39:33

when Pat Beab was with the Lakers,

39:36

when he had just signed with the Lakers, so I was doing

39:38

media day for NBA TV, and

39:41

you know, you get to when

39:43

I'm doing media. When I'm doing media day for NBA

39:45

TV or TNT, they'll

39:48

arrange for players to come over and

39:50

spend some time with me and give me some interviews.

39:52

So that year I got Lebron

39:55

to come over. I got a d and

39:58

they had just signed Pat Bev and I got Pat and

40:01

so there was a question that NBA

40:04

TV needed me to ask players

40:06

about Lebron. So the question

40:09

was I had to ask each player who came over,

40:11

what's your fondest memory of

40:13

Lebron James? No,

40:15

no, no, no no. The question

40:18

was what is

40:20

your best highlight moment by

40:23

Lebron James. So everybody had to come

40:25

and say, hey, it was the time he blocked

40:27

equal dollars shot in the finals,

40:30

it was the posterized

40:32

dunk over Jason Terror whatever.

40:36

So I asked everybody. Everybody's cooperating.

40:39

Then I go to Pat Bell. I asked

40:41

Pat Bell, same question, was

40:43

your favorite highlight of Lebron James? And

40:46

Pat Bev says the

40:48

block I had against him last year. So

40:51

he talked, he's talking about

40:55

he knew what he knew what I met with my question, but

40:57

he goes, he flipped it. Talk about

40:59

the block he had against Lebron. That was the best

41:01

highlight you've seen of Lebron.

41:04

So and this

41:06

is where I have to take some blame

41:08

for this because this is where me and Pat

41:10

kind of got into it. So I go Lebron.

41:13

Lebron's the last player I

41:15

get on media day, and

41:19

I told him what Pat Bev said.

41:21

But the way I said it, I was like, Hey, Bron,

41:23

I'm asking players this question

41:27

and everybody's saying this. And

41:29

then I said, in this food, Pat Bev is

41:31

going to say, Hey, the highlight I like

41:34

the most is when

41:36

I blocked him last year. And

41:39

so that went on. Lebron laughed.

41:41

It was whatever, it was right, funny

41:43

moment, and I'll

41:46

tell you why I take some blame. I got

41:48

too comfortable, That's what it was. I just got too comfortable.

41:50

Anyways, about

41:53

three weeks later, the Lakers

41:55

come to Sacramento and

41:58

they played the Kings, and

42:02

after the game, I forgot who won or not. After

42:04

the game, I'm going to the Lakers. I was doing this.

42:06

I was doing something. I believe it was destroyed

42:09

with the earn. So I didn't have time to go in the

42:11

Lakers locker room after the game, and

42:13

so I was like, dang, okay, it's late.

42:15

I know the Lakers are probably gone. Let me go in there.

42:18

So I go in the Lakers' locker room and

42:21

Pat Bead is only there. Nobody

42:23

else is there. And so I looked

42:25

in there all right, seeing nobody was in there.

42:28

Then I took off. Pat

42:30

bad was like, come call me a food of my

42:32

face. Come call me a food of my face.

42:35

And I'm like, what like, I'm not

42:37

thinking nothing, thinking nothing, nothing, But it didn't hit

42:39

me. I'm like, oh, oh okay.

42:42

So I go in there right, so it's

42:45

me and Pat. So Pat was

42:47

like, you calling a grown man a fool.

42:49

You call a grown man of fool on TV? I

42:52

said, Pat, you know I didn't mean it like that. Pat,

42:54

you know that's not the way I intended it. No, man,

42:57

you don't call no grown man of fool. You know he talking

42:59

like Pat, I apologize.

43:01

You took it like that, But I didn't mean

43:03

no disrespect. I got too comfortable,

43:06

blah, you know that's what Nah. Don't

43:08

don't don't give me that apology here. You

43:10

know you said that on TV. Apologize

43:13

on TV? I said, Pat bro I'm

43:15

into it here, man. You can take

43:17

my apology or not that's it,

43:19

man, I slipped up and got too comfortable.

43:21

That's on me, all right, all right,

43:24

And so you know, walk we go our separate

43:26

ways. I leave, and so Pat ends up

43:28

talking about it on the on his

43:30

podcast by probably a month later, say

43:33

yeah, I had to check Chris Haynes and blah blah blah

43:35

whatever. So it's funny whatever. I even shared

43:37

the clip. I even shared the clip. So

43:39

anyways, I say all that to

43:41

say that was what two years ago, year

43:44

and a half ago, when he was with the Lakers.

43:46

So he's in Sacramento last week

43:50

and it's pre game and every

43:52

all the players are shooting shooting out on the court

43:54

before the game. Pat bears out

43:56

there shooting for the Bucks Bucks

43:58

Kings game. And

44:01

he gets done shooting and

44:04

he walks by me. I'm

44:06

sitting down front road.

44:09

He walks by me. You ready to cut

44:11

work for a fool? I'm like, what

44:15

you say? You're ready to cut work for a fool? You

44:17

know I got money over here, you know TNT and I may

44:19

pay you what you should be paid. I got

44:22

money over You're ready to cut work for a fool? Okay,

44:24

Well, if you're ready, you know where to find me. He

44:27

took off. Sam

44:33

ain't been sitting next to me at this time, Like Sam

44:36

was that passed Wayam offered me a job.

44:42

You know, we made that offer to Draymond Green, which

44:44

you know last season I think I think

44:47

clinched me a podcast Executive of the year

44:49

war. But we offered that lopsided trade to

44:52

Draymond Green come on our

44:54

podcast and will come on yours.

44:56

And Draymond Green did join

44:59

us on this league uncut, but I

45:03

don't think he feels like he needs us.

45:09

We haven't been invited to fulfill our

45:11

half of that trade. So basically we got we

45:13

got a Draymond Green appearance. We didn't

45:15

have to trade anything. Do we dare?

45:18

Do we dare? Do you want to? I

45:20

mean, I don't even know if Pat BEV would want

45:22

me, but maybe he would want you to come on his pod

45:24

and then he comes on our pod. Should we should

45:27

we make that trade offer?

45:28

Well, we were talking about dra Ma. I

45:30

don't I think it's safe to say. I don't think he's

45:32

holding us to the other end of that

45:34

that deal. I think I think his long

45:37

gone is forgotten about, I

45:39

think.

45:39

Which makes it an even better trade for us.

45:43

I think, Okay, I'll be in Milwaukee

45:46

early next week. I'll bring it

45:48

up the PET. I know Pat does

45:50

his He

45:53

has a co host he does his pod with,

45:55

and they usually when I see

45:57

them, they usually do their pod when

46:01

together.

46:01

Yeah, I think you have to. I think I think you have to

46:03

be in person to be on his podcast.

46:06

Yeah, yeah, I think so. I

46:08

think. So it's start. You know, I only see you

46:11

twice a year, if that so,

46:13

I don't know, if you know, that would be

46:15

hard for both of us to be there.

46:17

Well, because let's not forget that

46:20

you've been to Dallas once this season. I saw you

46:22

for about seven minutes total, and

46:24

then you were assigned to a second Mavericks

46:26

game and somehow you got switched off it.

46:29

Yeah.

46:30

Maybe I'll see you in the playoffs hopefully.

46:32

But we did. We did get to spend time together at

46:34

the All Star weekend.

46:35

That was cool. That was cool. That was cool. Yeah

46:38

we did.

46:39

Yeah, Well that's a good question. Will we Will

46:42

we end up in the same place. I mean, you obviously

46:44

have no idea yet where you're going for the playoffs.

46:46

Yeah, and.

46:49

You know, I have to be honest traveling

46:52

for the playoffs, I just don't know how

46:54

much of that I'm really doing my

46:56

old age, but we'll see, we'll see what happens.

46:58

We'll see what the matchups are. Let's before

47:00

we go, So, as you mentioned,

47:02

you have Lakers at Milwaukee

47:06

and then Tuesday.

47:07

And then I have Tuesday and then the

47:09

next day I'm joining the NASAs

47:12

on his podcast, Oh live

47:15

the next day that Wednesday.

47:17

But is it the analysis podcast podcast?

47:20

That's all right, analysis. So

47:22

I'm looking forward to Uh,

47:26

I'm looking forward to getting with my other cousin doing

47:29

our pod together.

47:30

Man. Unbelievable.

47:34

Unbelievable. Yeah, all

47:37

right, So we will have plenty to talk about

47:39

next week when we do this again. We're working on

47:41

some special guests as well.

47:44

Were we're in talks. We're

47:46

in talks with three prominent guests.

47:49

I don't want to spoil who they are, but

47:52

hopefully at least one will come to Fruition

47:55

very very soon. That's going to do it for

47:58

this edition of this

48:00

League. Uncut, Stein

48:02

and Haynes will be back with you again.

48:04

We'll be back together again very

48:07

very soon. Until then, remember, please

48:10

leave us a five star review. Please remember

48:12

to rate and review the show. Follow

48:15

us via Apple podcasts

48:17

or Spotify podcast wherever you

48:20

get your pods, and thank you everyone

48:22

so much, and

48:25

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

48:29

This League Uncut is an iHeartRadio production

48:36

Chris Hanes and Mark Stein